*THUD!*
The sound of Cyrus's back slamming against the mansion's training room floor echoed throughout the area. And not even a second later, the young man was already on the receiving end of his opponent's next attack.
The force of Quintin's fist slamming against Cyrus's forearm sent a sharp jolt throughout his entire body. One that was certainly painful, but still manageable, all things considered. As quickly as he could, Cyrus let out a low grunt before rushing to get back to his feet. The moment he had his legs up under him, he shifted into his preferred fighting stance while trying to anticipate the next strike.
Just as Cyrus had expected, Quintin barely gave him any room to breathe. The freckle-faced teen moved to try to counter a right jab, feinted low, and tried aiming a mana-infused palm strike toward Quintin's side. However, the redheaded man effortlessly twisted his body, almost too fast to follow, and caught Cyrus's wrist before flipping him back onto the mat in one fluid motion.
Cyrus hit the floor hard, and the air rushed out of his lungs before he even knew what happened.
"Again." Quintin said, already stepping back to allow Cyrus room to stand.
The mansion's training room echoed with both their breath and the muffled thuds of precision strikes and clumsy footwork as the two sorcerers exchanged mana-enchanced blows with one another. The already humid air reeked of sweat, dust, and pain as Cyrus tried his best to get the upper hand and the man before him. But no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't land a solid hit on the guy.
After once again being sent to the floor, Cyrus did all that he could to push himself back up onto his feet. And although his muscles protested such an action, he fought through the pain to avoid looking weak in front of his new coach. This wasn't the time for him to lie back and catch his breath. Especially not against someone like his opponent.
Quintin Vuur, among other things, was a blur of both precision and power. Despite being about half a foot shorter and noticeably leaner than Cyrus, the man moved like a striking serpent. Controlled, coiled, and lethal. His strikes were surgical. His footwork was perfect. And every time Cyrus tried something new, it was like trying to move around a brick wall. No matter how hard he hit, every attack would simply slip by the man before he slammed him back down from another angle.
It was no wonder that the man was Elaine's personal bodyguard; he might as well have been a living weapon. And he wasn't even using his 'fire magic'.
Still, Cyrus had lasted longer than he had an hour ago. So that counted for something.
"Take a break." Quintin announced before deactivating his body reinforcement.
Not even a minute later, Cyrus collapsed onto the bench that sat against the far wall of the training room. Sweat was clinging to his skin like a second shirt, and he was starting to wonder if he had ever felt this exhausted before. He never even felt like this from all of his years of playing soccer.
The young man then let out an exasperated breath as he pulled the headband off his skull and let the damp strands of curly black hair fall over his scars as he grabbed his water bottle and took a long pull.
Soon enough, Quintin decided to take the seat next to the young man. The 'fire magic' user stretched one leg out and tucked the other underneath. His breathing was calm and measured, almost as if he wasn't the least bit tired.
"You're pretty good." Quintin said, cracking his neck. "I can tell you've been properly trained. You've got good instincts and some decent footwork. Plus, you're not afraid to take a hit, which is rare."
Cyrus gave the man a half-hearted smile while rubbing his shoulder. "That's a nice way to say that I'm still getting my ass kicked."
Quintin chuckled. "Well, yeah. You are. But that's not the point. You're a quick learner, and that's a good quality to have. Most people take at least a few days before they figure out my attack patterns. The only exceptions were Evan and Nick."
Cyrus's gaze dropped to his knuckles, which were still red and raw from the last few hours of sparring. "But I'm still not good enough, at least not yet."
"Dude…you're recovering from a month in captivity…" Quintin then said. "You're lucky you're even walking right now, let alone throwing punches. But…if we want you ready in a month, we need to push. Harder than this."
Quintin then leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "For the rest of the week, we're going to be doubling down. Pure physical training. Strength, speed, and endurance. We forge the weapon before we sharpen it, and right now, you're still pretty raw. Then, after that, we start magical combat. I want to see what your 'tree magic' can really do. I've heard enough about it from the Boss. She said that you're more of a support type than a direct combat specialist."
Cyrus gave Quintin a quick nod before the man continued.
"We're going to be working on that. You need a style that bends around your strengths, not one that fights them. Something that can maximize your magic while also taking advantage of your weaknesses. One that's not too dependent on your magical attribute."
Cyrus nodded slowly as he allowed the words to sink in. He then looked down at his hands again, scarred, calloused, and still twitching slightly from the fatigue. It was hard not to agree with what the redhead was saying. Cyrus had learned a long time ago that relying solely on his magical attribute in a fight was basically asking for him to get his ass kicked. It was the reason why most sorcerers focused so much on basic techniques when it came to fighting and hunting.
That being said, Cyrus's 'tree magic' was going to be his trump card against Hannah. His mana absorption ability was going to give him an advantage that he'll need to exploit when the time comes to finally take her down. So the fact that they were going to be spending some time focusing on what he could do with it did give him some room for hope.
"I've got a long way to go…." The 'tree magic' user then said quietly.
Quintin nodded. "Yeah. You do. But you're on the path."
Cyrus sat back, feeling the weight of his own breath inside his chest. One month. That was all the time he had. Thirty days to become someone who could not just survive, but win. His body was healing, slowly. His mind was still slower, though. The pain was manageable now, but the fogginess still hadn't faded. And the nightmares were still coming in full force. Every single night, without fail.
Fear and anxiety had rooted themselves deep into his psyche. Doubt was still coiled around his spine.
And yet, under it all, something else was growing.
Resolve.
He didn't need to be better than Quintin. He didn't need to be the strongest or the fastest. He just needed to be ready.
Cyrus then looked toward the mats, already drying from their sweat and the heat. The pain he experienced now was only a means to an end. And his revenge was right around the corner.
It was waiting for him.
"Alright, let's get back to it." The young man said, standing again despite the protest from his joints and muscles. "No holding back either."
Quintin grinned. "Good. Because I won't."
And neither would Cyrus. Not now. Not ever again.
-(o)-
[Meanwhile….]
"What's up with you?" Mikayla asked Hannah right when the strawberry-blonde sorcerer walked through the door.
"Nothing." Hannah replied while failing to hide the sour look on her face. "Just a bit annoyed."
At the moment, the two Iznana operatives were in Mikayla's apartment, which was only less than a couple of miles away from the laundromat she owned. Hannah had just gotten off of work. And like usual, she came over here to chill out with her best friend while she waited for traffic to die down. Honestly, the worst part about working in the middle of the city was having to deal with all the people. And that only became worse when it was time for everyone to go home.
"Why?"
"The Boss cancelled our video call today." The 'ice magic' user began to explain.
"That's not like her. Any idea why?"
All Hannah could do was shrug. "No clue. All she said was that she had other matters that required her attention."
"I guess that makes sense." The 'bone magic' user gave a slight nod. "I mean, she is a branch head after all. I'm sure that she has a bunch of stuff that hits her desk all the time. To be honest, I still find it crazy how she has the time to run all the operations here in North America while still going on tour every year. Must be exhausting."
"Can't argue with you there."
For some reason, Hannah still found the whole thing to be a bit weird, though. The Boss rarely ever had to bail out on one of their meetings before. The only time she ever did so was when something really important came up. So, no one could fault her for thinking that something might've been wrong.
Now that Hannah was officially one of the Boss's lieutenants, she was given a lot more responsibilities when it came to overseeing things in her area. And if something was happening, she assumed that she should've been kept in the loop. That being said, the strawberry-blonde sorcerer was certain that she would be brought up to speed eventually. So, there really wasn't any point in worrying about it too much.
"Anyways…here's your guys' cut from the car we boosted. The buyer also threw in a little extra to make sure that we come to him first the next time we come across something good." Mikalya then said while sliding Hannah a small briefcase full of money.
"Thanks!" Hannah gladly accepted with a smile on her face. Leave it to Mikayla to score them such a nice wad of cash to play around with. Times like this made the 'ice magic' user greatly appreciate her friend's affinity for all things money. "So, we're still heading out to the club tonight? I heard that ladies get in free before twelve!"
"Sure, why not?" The 'bone magic' user said with a shrug and smile before the two sat back and started watching one of their favorite television shows on the curly-haired woman's massive flat-screen television.
-(o)-
No matter how many times he said it, Cyrus would always be amazed at how wonderful the art of enchanting was to him.
It was truly a wondrous thing. One that made him question not only magic, but reality as well. The ability to apply what were basically status effects to other living beings was something right out of a video game. And the fact that he could tap into such an amazing power made him feel almost giddy at times. Even now, he couldn't help but wonder what the limits of this skill were. Or what he could do with it with enough time and training under his belt.
As the late afternoon sun spilled in through the open windows of Elaine's enchanting studio, Cyrus couldn't help but tune out the world around him as he focused every bit of brainpower he had on the task before him.
Right now, the young 'tree magic' user was leaning forward over the desk, brow furrowed, as he carefully used his index finger to carve a single rune into the flesh of a slab of pork that was laid out before him. His hand trembled slightly, not from fear, but from focus. And he could feel the mystical energy of the rune radiating off of the meat like something out of an old comic book he read a long time ago.
"Hmm." Elaine hummed with a neutral expression on her face.
The resident 'wind magic' user was standing behind Cyrus with her arms folded across her chest. She had been watching him work for the last five minutes or so as the young man did his best to create the rune that she had taught him. And even though he couldn't see her face, Cyrus was sure that that woman was watching his every move like a hawk.
A few seconds later, Cyrus let out a low sigh as he pulled his finger up from the piece of flesh.
"Well?" He asked after turning toward her.
Elaine stepped forward to inspect his work. Her fingers gently hovered above the rune, never quite touching it as she examined the magical creation he had made. After a moment, she muttered something under her breath before straightening out her posture and looking at the young man with a satisfied smile.
"You're either unusually gifted or very good at pretending not to be a complete novice." The woman said. "Basic enchantments are one thing, but being able to make a servicable rune on your first try is something special."
Cyrus looked up at the woman and grinned. "I'll take gifted. But I'll admit, your instruction helps."
Elaine couldn't help but chuckle, one that was dry but not unkind. "Flattery doesn't get you past the backlash when a rune collapses, though. But… you've got a steady hand, and more importantly, you listen. That's rarer than you'd think."
Even though she wouldn't say it out loud, Elaine was genuinely impressed by what she was seeing. She heard from her sister that Cyrus had already started to learn enchanting from one of her old notebooks. But to think that the guy was this talented was simply crazy to think about. In all honesty, she had gone into their first study session expecting him to completely fail at creating a basic rune. In fact, she was counting on it as a way to show him how serious the art of enchanting was. However, the woman was pleasantly surprised to see that the guy appeared to be genuinely good at it.
Cyrus flushed slightly at the compliment while brushing a strand of dark hair from his eyes. "Thanks. Really. I didn't expect to be any good at this run stuff, but after listening to explain the basics, it just clicked."
He turned back to the glowing green rune on the slab of meat. A basic one that Elaine had shown him in one of her notebooks, not even half an hour ago.
"It's like… painting with magic. But it does something. A real effect."
"That's exactly what enchanting is. It's art with consequence, as my father would say. Symbols with will. You're not just drawing pretty lines, you're setting intent. This one…" The woman then pointed to the rune. "Increases physical durability for about five minutes if etched properly onto skin or cloth. It's a basic protection rune."
"That could certainly come in handy." Cyrus then said with a slight grin.
"Believe me, it does."
Cyrus still couldn't believe that he was finally getting a chance to properly learn about this stuff. All of his previous ventures into the world of enchanting were pretty surface-level compared to things that he had learned in the last few hours. And even then, they were only halfway through today's session. Even with his skepticism toward Elaine and the rest of her band of criminals, the young man was absolutely ecstatic about the chance to be able to learn more of this stuff in the near future.
To him, enchanting was more than just magic; it was something else. Something that words wouldn't properly be able to do justice to. The idea that you could etch symbols into a person and change the way their body or mind worked was nothing short of fascinating. In fact, he would dare say that it was as close to divine as one could get. He genuinely wondered how Ezekial MacNamara was able to create something so wonderful only a few years after getting his powers. Or how he was able to even conceptualize such a thing in the first place.
"Alright, let's take a quick break." Elaine then said before sitting down in her seat on the other side of the desk. "We've been at this for a while now."
"Good idea." Cyrus agreed as he leaned back in his chair.
The two sat in comfortable silence for about a minute or so before Cyrus decided to ask a question that had been on his mind for a while now. Even though he was still very much excited to learn more about enchanting as quickly as possible, his desire for more knowledge wasn't enough to distract him from the reality of his situation.
"So…" The 'tree magic' user said while focusing his gaze on the woman. "Are you ever going to tell me the actual reason why you're doing all of this?"
"Hmmm?" Elaine looked at the young man with a confused expression.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that you're going out of your way to help me with my rehab and training. But I'm not dumb enough to think that you're going through all this trouble just to spite Hannah and the others."
Elaine was silent for a moment as she tried to find a way to respond to Cyrus's words. But after a couple of seconds, all the woman could do was laugh at how the young man had the gall to ask her such a brazen question without even the slightest hint of fear in his voice.
"Man…" The woman said in between chuckles as she rubbed her hand through her perfectly twisted dreadlocks. "You're just like my brother, you know that?"
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"Well, if you must know…no, I'm not doing all of this just to get back at Hannah for disobeying my orders."
"So, what are you doing all of this for then?"
Elaine knew that she couldn't tell the man what her true goal was, at least not yet. It was still too early for him to know what she and her friends were really planning. There were still too many variables and loose ends that needed to be dealt with before she could fully bring him into the fold. But for now, she saw no reason not to at least give him a vague answer. One that wasn't a lie, but not the entire truth either.
"Let's just say that I have a particular goal that I'm trying to reach. One that I've been working toward for almost a decade now. And that goal is something that I'm going to need you to help me with."
"But you're not going to tell me what that goal is?"
"No, not yet." The woman replied. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I still don't trust you yet. Especially since you're planning on ratting me out to Chief Zoe the moment you're done getting your revenge on Hannah."
Cyrus paused for a moment. "Am I that easy to read?"
"Oh, please." Elaine rolled her eyes. "Do you think that I would've made it as far as I did if I couldn't tell what you were thinking? You're only being compliant right now because we're helping you get what you want. The moment we're no longer of any use to you, you're going to rush back to Station Nine and start blabbing to Lucas's wife and Theo about who we are. It's the reason why I haven't gotten rid of that enchantment on your tongue yet."
"Oh? And here I thought you were being honest about training me up to the point where I'd be able to break it myself."
"I was. But I gotta keep my basis covered, right?"
"Good point."
"But, since you asked so nicely, I can tell you this much." Elaine then said while leaning forward in her chair. "For my ultimate plan to work, I need your magic for it. I can't tell you all of the details, but your 'tree magic' is a key part of what I want to accomplish."
"Why?"
"Because it's special. Far more than what you know. And I need it to be able to make my dream come true."
"And let me guess, you're willing to go through significant hoops to make sure that you have it when you need it?" Cyrus countered with a slightly nervous smirk.
"I am." Elained nodded. "It's the reason why I'm going to convince you to start working for me by the time this Hannah business is over with."
Cyrus had no clue what to say to that. And to be honest, he wasn't expecting it the slightest. Of course, he knew that Elaine had some other plan for him outside of just dealing with Hannah and tying up a loose end. But to think that she actually wanted him to join her was simply crazy to think about.
"Y'know…you're remarkably straightforward for a leader of an international criminal enterprise."
"So I've been told." The woman smiled. "Don't worry, though, you'll be mine before too long. It's really only a matter of time. I know that it'll be hard to convince you to see the light, but I promise that you'll be able to understand what I'm all about and what I hope to achieve."
"Right, right…."
This was, without a doubt, the strangest conversation Cyrus had ever been a part of in his entire life. Here he was, casually talking to a wanted criminal, about how she was going to get him to join an organization of terrorists as if it were already a foregone conclusion. As if the woman had already decided what the outcome of everything was going to be before he even had a chance to try and disagree.
"Anyways…" Cyrus then said while trying to switch topics. "Can I ask you one more thing?"
"Go ahead."
"Are you really a sorcerer supremacist?"
"I am." Elaine replied without even a hint of hesitation in her voice.
"So, you hate regular humans?"
"No, I don't." Elaine's response caught Cyrus off guard for a moment before she continued speaking. "My time is much too valuable to waste it hating on inferior creatures. Although I'm not as radical about my beliefs as other Iznana members, I have no love for them or their kind. And honestly, the fact that I have to spend so much of my life singing and dancing for their entertainment makes me sick. But, I learned a long time ago to put those feelings to the side and just deal with it."
"Crazy how you can just say something like that with a straight face."
"Probably. But at least I'm honest and up front about what I think." The woman replied. "Anyways…let's get back to it. We still have another hour left in our training session, and I want to go over some more basic enchantments before it's time for dinner."
"Yeah, sure…" Was all that Cyrus could say to that.