Devol saw a silver glow around him, while Jazai’s was a deep-blue. His sword began to glow brighter.
“It’s a good thing too,” the man noted. “A strong Anima is one of the few things that protects one from my power. If you did not have one…well, I could simply snap your neck in an instant.”
He held his blade up. “Why are you telling us all this?”
The man shrugged casually. “Well, I suppose that in my line of work, people not knowing my identity is quite useful. I don’t often get the chance to have a good fight and fully sate my bloodlust,” he explained with a grin that grew more deviant by the moment. “I see promise in you three and I want to have a little fun, so I’ll give myself a handicap as it were.”
“You think this is fun? You take lives for pleasure?” the young swordsman demanded.
“For work as well,” Koli added and glanced at the trees. “I am an assassin, after all. It’s what I’m supposed to do. Still, I hope you can amuse me, at least for a while. But I don’t think a sneak attack is very sporting.”
“Sneak?” Jazai looked confused but his eyes widened when he realized Asla was missing.
She bounded out of the woods and the orange Mana around her took the form of a large, feral tiger. Both arms extended to rake her claws at him but he looked calmly at her as a small smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. In the next moment, the wildkin flipped and fell face-down. She tried to pick herself up but seemed to be held in place on all fours. “There’s a good kitty,” the man whispered
“Asla!” her friends shouted and Devol lifted his sword, ready to attack.
“This is exciting,” the strange Magi said thoughtfully. “Her Anima is keeping her alive against my malefic’s power, but how long will it last? If she runs out…well, I hope she is quite flexible.” He glanced at a fallen tree and it elevated sharply and broke apart to create several spears that pointed toward the boys. “Now, satisfy me.”
Vaust leapt back as a whip of flame ignited in the place where he’d stood and a small pillar of fire flared. He spun Myazma and released the dark fog to snuff out some of the flames. Salvo had not held back and had cast his fire in different shapes and forms and with abandon. He strolled casually through them as the mori weaved and dodged around the fiery pits and attacks.
“Man, this forest went up fast,” the man stated when he noticed the many burning trees around them. “The village has probably noticed by now. I wonder if they can put it out?”
The Templar saw his chance and sneaked the fog around several of the flames outside of his adversary’s line of sight. He needed to strike him with his weapon to ensure the kill, but infecting him with the fog would deplete his Mana and break his control briefly, which would provide an opening. The fog surged toward the fire Magi, who noticed it when it was only a few feet away.
Quickly, he flipped his wand and tapped it against his jacket, which set it aflame. The fog met the garment and began to snuff the flames rapidly while he slid the jacket off and moved away from the fog. “Clever bastard.” He grinned at the Mori. “You’re wilier than I gave you credit for. And even amongst all this fire, you don’t look like you are breaking a sweat. Is that a mori peculiarity?”
Vaust made no response and simply recalled the fog to the kama as he approached his opponent. “If this is your only trick, I’ve had my fill.”
“I have a specialty,” Salvo retorted. “But more than one trick—take a look.” He held the wand skyward. The flames launched from the trees and they elevated above the two men, where they formed into a multitude of fireballs in different sizes. “My majestic allows me to control fire, not merely create it,” he explained. The mori made a hasty count of the orbs—fifty-five in all and some were rather sizeable. This much pyro could potentially burn the entire forest down. “Doing something like this with Mana alone would be too much for me, but throwing a few of these orbs around to spread the fire makes this much easier.”
He closed his eyes and rested Myazma against his shoulder “It is indeed impressive,” he admitted. “A pity you use it for simple mercenary work.”
The man’s grin faltered. “This is more than turning in a bounty, mori. I’m doing a mission for someone, same as your brats.”
“And who might that be?”
“It won’t matter to you in a minute,” Salvo stated and his grin returned. “Besides, even if I do use it to get rich, it’s better than what my master was doing—simply studying the damn thing all the time.”
“That is your master’s majestic?” Vaust asked.
“Former master. It’s a little hard to teach when you’re dead. But it doesn’t matter. I had more of a knack for it than he ever did. He once said it took him seven years to master it. Then he spent over a decade studying it. I could use Kapre the first time I picked her up, almost like she wanted me to wield her.”
“So, I take it you never progressed very far in your training?”
Salvo began to twirl his wand in the air. “I got the gist, you could say. Natural talent beats book smarts any day.”
“I see.” The Templar held Myazma out to his side. “And you may be right in some circumstances. But in our world, you strive to learn all you can or you will never evolve.” The black fog consumed the majestic before it spread around him.
“Wait, what are you—” The man felt intense pressure and a feeling of terror overcame him.
“I’m going to show
