A Summoner's Heart - 11. Chapter 11: Mana Dual, Part II

The sky suddenly darkened as clouds rolled in above the courtyard. There was static in the air as the winds picked up. Thunder could be heard from above as the whole courtyard was entranced. Fayth lifted up his right finger and pointed at the ice sphere and drew it down in a slashing motion, “Thundaraga!” as lighting flashed across the darkened sky and multiple white hot bolts of lightning struck down onto the sphere, breaking it into hundreds of tiny pieces. The spell left a huge charred spot under where the ice sphere was before, leaving nothing of it behind. As the atmosphere cleared and went back to normal, the whole courtyard was in a deafening silence. A few students had their mouths agape while others stared in disbelief. After a long pause, the crowd broke out in roars of cheers.

“That is impossible! How dare you teach him such advanced levels!” the Head Master harshly whispered into Master Alton’s ear. Even he couldn’t reach such magnitude in such spells. The most he could do was at best summon the winds, never controlling the elements in such a precise manner. He was ill informed. Someone was going to be losing their job soon, he thought.

“I swear to you that I have nothing to do with this!” Master Alton whispered back. He was just as astounded at how the Prince could accomplish such feats. None of his students could demonstrate such technique through all his years of teaching. It was scary the amount of sudden change in the Prince’s ability.

“SILENCE! SILENCE!” the Head Master bellowed to the crowd. After a few minutes the crowd was able to settle back down. He looked across into the student body lost in thought. This was not what he predicted. If he didn’t do anything soon then he was the one that would be shamed. Elders were not supposed to be equaled by any other Magji. “Well done, well done you two. That was a spectacular performance wouldn’t you say Alton?” The teacher nodded with some agreeing faces in the crowd. “I will have to conclude it to be a tie,” he said as the crowd broke out in boos. “SILENCE! I will have order!” as he shouted, restoring order to the student body. “Now since it looks like we have two very exceptional Magji here, let’s give them something a little more... difficult if you will,” as he motioned for Master Alton to retrieve the two potted plants on the side of the platform. Master Alton set the each of the pots in front of the two Magji. “Bio!” the Head Master cast just as soon as Master Alton was out of the way. The soil of the two pots seemed too boiled and a vile poisonous stench escaped into the air. The odor soon took its effect, leaving the rose bush completely withered and dead. “Now I want you two to bring your plant back to life. The one, who returns his plant to its original state, wins.”

Darrell was stunned, still in shock of the situation. He was bewildered. Through all the years he had known the Prince he never demonstrated such abilities. Was it all just a ruse all these years he thought? All of a sudden he was angry. How dare the Prince trick him! He wasn’t going to be shamed any further. If he lost such a performance, his family would never forgive him. Gathering all his wits, he pulled himself together. White mana was his specialty after all. The Prince couldn’t surpass him here, he was sure. He reached inside and found his mana core and channeled as much of it out as he could and breathed out, “Life!” as the heavens seemed to open up and shone down upon the plant. It was as if the plant had its own faint spotlight. The simmering light that was cast down on the rose bush was slowly healing it. Soon the bush had its green color back as the stems looked healthy and new. Leaflets appeared all around the plant as if it was a new seed and a few rose buds grew randomly around the newly restored rose plant. As the spell finished, Darrell fell to his knees, breathing heavily. He was completely exhausted but he forced himself to look over at Fayth showing the Prince he wasn’t going to be beaten.

Fayth looked over at his opponent. He could tell that Darrell had used a very large amount of mana to complete such a spell. Darrell was sweating profusely, barely able to hold himself up. Fayth was worried. He knew such magic was very dangerous and at times can be fatal. White mana has always been looked upon as the healing arts. It was a rare gift among the Magji; few had the talent that could go beyond healing a simple wound. But there was a dark side to such mana arts. Life magic was one of the most dangerous.

Yes, such magic could be very helpful if used in the right way like restoring crops for harvest due to plagues but it was another thing to bring something more complex back to life. Such arts were only used in a life and death situation and even then it was looked at with very strict caution. It was possible to bring a living being back to life but it was limited to the time frame in which the living being passed away. Once the spirit has left for the Afterplane there was no going back. And the more elaborate the life in questioned, the more mana consuming it was. Once started in certain situations, the breath of life or mana used to bring back the dead, there was no stopping it until the spell was completed or the caster died due to over drawing from their mana core.

Fayth look at the Head Master and Master Alton with an uneasy expression. Master Alton looked back worriedly. He knew he was in no position to question the Head Master but he knew the Performance Trial wasn’t a trial anymore. They must have broken a dozen rules by now. He just hoped now that the situation didn’t worsen but it seemed unlikely. Once the trial was over, he would have to have an audience with the King and hopefully if he could explain what happened, the King would be more lenient on him before he found out.

“Do not worry little one,” said the voice of Evan. “I will not let you down.”

“I trust you, but I just wish the situation was different. I am afraid for Darrell, he doesn’t look so good. I can tell he has lost too much mana and it seems like he isn’t regenerating back quickly enough...” Fayth replied sadly.

“Do not worry for him, little one. You must concentrate on what’s ahead,” Evan reasoned with Fayth soothingly. He was astounded with Fayth kindness. Even when facing the enemy, his goodness still shined through. Evan loved such traits but he knew at the same time it could be Fayth’s downfall. He must be there to guide the Prince if he was going to survive the upcoming events.

“If I must...” Fayth said and took a deep breath. His core was once again supplied with a vast amount of mana. It was so comforting to have the mana fill him up and knowing who was supplying it. Their mana was so warm and soothing, filling him up with life and energy. He steadied himself for it was a very delicate process and just one mistake could be disastrous. Even a small break in concentration could sever the spell, leaving him badly injured or worse dead. “Full-life,” Fayth whispered as he slowly leaned down onto his knees and steadily blew out the breath of life onto the dead rose bush. Then the heavens opened up and a bright light shown down onto the area of the courtyard. At the same time as the rose bush was being restored back to life, all of the life in the courtyard felt a sense of euphoria. The rose bush grew bigger than before, its leaves maturing fast with blossoms everywhere. The plant was more beautiful than ever before and as all of the plant life in the courtyard was treated with the same boost of life. It was breathtaking as everyone in the courtyard saw the changes as golden light enveloped the whole courtyard. As the spell faded away, there was a collective sigh from the entire crowd. Everyone was affected; even the Head Master couldn’t resist the calm feeling. As everyone was released from the spell’s hold, they all noticed the glowing eyes of the Prince, his new angel like wings and a brightly shimmering golden halo levitating above the Prince’s head. The same halo which matched the one on Evan’s now.

The Prince collapsed onto the ground, barely able to hold himself up on all fours. He was panting heavily and his head was swimming. He tasted the coppery taste of blood as he was completely depleted of mana. Fayth had never felt so exhausted in his life. An arm was suddenly on his shoulders holding him comfortingly as it lowered down to the small of his back, gently moving in a circle motion. Glenn came into view, holding out a waterskin as he carefully lowered it to the Prince’s mouth. Fayth took careful sips, letting the water cool his parched mouth. After a few minutes, Fayth was able to pull himself up to his feet with help of Evan as the Head Master approached.

“What is the meaning of this?!” the Head Master demanded pointing to the halos and wings on Fayth and Evan.

Evan steadied Fayth behind himself and said calmly but with conviction, “That will be enough; he does not have to answer to you.”

“Step aside! He has been cheating!” the Head Master yelled accusingly, trying to get in between Evan and Glenn.

“You will back away from the Prince if you know what’s good for you!” Evan warned. He was getting very tired of the old man and if he was thinking of laying a single hand on Fayth, it would be the very last thing he would ever do. Glenn was also tired of always standing on the sidelines. He was Titanian after all and apart of the Arms. He feared no one, especially some old elder who was far beyond his years. The two stood there like an impenetrable wall.

“You will stand aside or he will be expelled!” the Head Master threatened. “He would have to be cheating. There is not a student of his age who could do that” he said waving his arms around the courtyard.

“The King will decide on it himself, I will make sure of that. Also I am sure he will find it very interesting to know how many laws you’ve have broken today and also endangering two student Magji, one of which from the Royal Family!” Glenn spat at the Head Master.

“How dare you spea-”

“Enough! We are leaving now!” Evan interjected, lifting Fayth up onto his arms as Glenn lead the way.

Darrell distraught with his defeat got up onto his feet. All he felt was pure hatred. He was the best in his class and some underclassmen wouldn’t take that away from him. In the rush of the moment, and without thinking, he drew upon his strength and suddenly screamed out, “Ballista!” as three chunks of stone from the courtyard floor broke off and formed into sharp spears that went straight for Fayth and Evan.