The Wanderer unbuckled his belt, letting his sword clatter to the sand. In an instant, his mana flared. Using his magic lightning to enhance his speed, he launched a flurry of strikes toward Valak’s head and torso. Each knuckle-blow was aimed with lethal intent, but Valak’s hands moved like shadows, parrying and sweeping the strikes aside with precision.
"Are you from Lythra, by any chance?" Valak asked, his voice steady despite the exchange.
The Wanderer paused for a fraction of a second, brow furrowed. "Why?"
Valak’s response was a flaming palm slammed into the Wanderer’s chest. Before he could straighten his spine, Valak vanished and reappeared behind him, sending a flame rising kick to his thighs, as the Wanderer was launched upward, Valak appeared above him in mid-air, snapping a brutal heel-drop into his abdomen.
The Wanderer hit the dirt with a sickening thud, a cloud of dust and grit erupting around him. He sat up slowly, spitting a thick glob of blood into the sand.
"Monks use Qi to reinforce their skin and bone," Valak said, standing over him, his arms crossed. "They keep the energy tucked inside like a secret. But magic is different. It must circulate outside the body, woven into an exterior shield. You’re doing the opposite. You’re trying to contain lighting in a bottle. Hence my question."
The Wanderer forced himself to his feet, his eyes darkening. "I despise Lythra."
Valak’s grin returned, wider than before. "If you’d said anything else, I would have killed you on the spot. Now, do as I said. Move it out."
The Wanderer reached into that diagonal ring piercing his heart. He drew the mana out, it manifested as a buzzing current of blue lighting that swirled around his limbs.
Valak moved again, but this time, the Wanderer’s senses were heightened. He could track the displacement of air. When Valak launched a barrage of magical fireballs, the Wanderer traced the trajectory of the punches and deflected the flames with sharp, sweeping motions of his forearms.
Valak’s expression shifted to one of genuine interest. He stomped his boot, and the sand beneath them froze instantly into a sheet of ice.
The Wanderer’s balance faltered for a blink of an eye, but that was all Valak needed. The Sergeant slid across the frost, his legs sweeping upward in a violent arc. He drew a circle of fire with his feet, creating a thermal updraft that caught the Wanderer and sent him spinning helplessly into the air.
The Wanderer landed hard, wiping a fresh trail of blood from his mouth. "I thought you were a fire user," he grated.
Valak laughed. "Big mistake. Magic is the manipulation of the world’s rules. You can conjure anything; the only limits are your mana capacity and your imagination. Don't put me in a box, recruit."
The Wanderer nodded, closing his eyes. He focused on his mana nature, his eyes snapping open as they turned a raging blue.
Suddenly, the earth groaned. Rocky spikes erupted from the ground beneath Valak.
Valak reacted with the speed of a man half his size, leaping atop the spikes as they rose. He used the highest point as leverage, bolting forward like a bolt of lightning toward the Wanderer.
In response, the Wanderer brought his hands together, forming a hollow circle, manifesting a void. A vacuum tore open between his palms, sucking in the air, the dust, and the light itself.
Valak’s feet hit the ground as his momentum died. He felt his active magic being devoured by the dark sphere. He tried to jump away using pure physical strength, but the pull was too great.
"Tch!" Valak flared his mana to its absolute limit. Sensing the void was still hungry, he surged with a wave of raw mana.
The resulting shockwave cracked the void out of existence. The release of energy was so violent that a nearby storage building was leveled, its walls crumbling into the sand. The Wanderer was thrown backward, rolling across the dunes until he came to a stop, his body shaking.
Valak appeared in front of him instantly, a heavy punch connecting with his cheek. "You made me use more than I intended," the Sergeant growled.
The Wanderer stayed down for a moment, then pushed himself up. "Another round?"
"Arrogant all of a sudden, are we?" Valak sat down in the sand, his own hand trembling slightly from the exertion. He looked at the Wanderer with curiosity. "If we continue, I’ll have to kill you just to survive that thing you pulled. What was that?"
"That's what's inside of me," the Wanderer replied, his voice raspy. "A copy of it, anyway."
Valak punched him again, a lighter hit to the shoulder. "Don't resort to that thing unless your life is on the line, you idiot. It felt... wrong. Out of this world." He sighed, looking out toward the horizon. "You need to value your life more. I can see it now, you could be the next apex of Daemir. But you need control. That energy... It's an abomination. It will eat you first."
The two men stood, brushing the grit of the duel from their uniforms. They walked in silence toward the trial grounds, the atmosphere shifting as they approached. The scent of blood reached them before the cages came into view.
Valak spotted a veteran leaning against a stone pillar, cleaning a sword. "How many did we lose?"
"Only three, sir," the man replied looking up.
Valak let out a short, sharp grunt that might have been a laugh. "A strong patch of recruits, then. Usually, the beasts are more vicious."
He stepped toward the survivors, who stood in a ragged line, their faces pale but their eyes bright with the rush of survival. "Good job, everyone!" Valak shouted. "Your magic training begins in earnest tomorrow. Go. Enjoy your win while your limbs are still attached."
As the recruits began to disperse, talking in hushed tones, the Wanderer moved toward the heavy iron door of the cage. He pulled it open.
Inside, the dim light revealed a grim scene. The war beasts were finishing their "meal." Among the tangled remains, the Wanderer caught a glimpse of a jagged scar on a severed chin, recognizing Jax among the corpses.
He walked past the carnage, his expression unchanged. He stepped toward the largest of the giant hyenas. The beast looked up, its mouth dripping with gore, and let out a low chuff.
The Wanderer reached out, his fingers disappearing into the fur of the creature’s neck. The hyena leaned into the touch, rubbing its massive head against his chest and shoulders, staining his legion uniform with the fresh blood of his comrades.
"Missed me, friend?" the Wanderer murmured, his voice low and devoid of the coldness he showed the men. "I hope you had a good meal today."
He stayed there for a while, the beast whining softly as he scratched behind its ears.
"Come out, Wanderer, or spend the night in there!" Valak’s voice echoed from the threshold.
The Wanderer began to move toward the door. The hyena followed at his heel like a loyal hound until he reached the gate. He turned back one last time, looking at the beast. "I'll try to visit more, but I have to go now."
With a final chuff, the blind beast retreated, vanishing back into the shadows of the cage. The Wanderer stepped out and slammed the iron door shut.