The sun hung high at its peak, pouring heat over the forest path.
Branches swayed lazily in the breeze, scattering shifting shadows over their feet.
Reiji and Rowan tightened their gear, they were finally ready to head for the ruins of Caledon.
Reiji tightened his tunic to cover the mark on his neck.
Meanwhile, Rowan prepared himself for combat.
Rowan inhaled and exhaled. "Finally. I can't wait to see what's in this village."
Reiji gave a silent nod.
Then Rowan met his eyes. "Reiji, do you know how to use a weapon?"
He shook his head.
Rowan pulled a stick and threw it to him.
"That was dropped by a springgan I fought yesterday. It's a reinforced branch– it's uncommon." Rowan explained.
Reiji snatched it up and started swinging it in wild arcs.
It bent in his grasp as he tested its weight and balance, but it did not break.
It sliced through the air with a whoosh, sending ripples up Reiji's arm from the force.
He twirled and whipped it around, putting it through its paces.
"You said you don't know how to use weapons. Where did you learn that?" Rowan asked, amazed by Reiji's rhythm.
"Books," Reiji responded, then added, "It's good. This will be helpful. Thank you."
"We won't need this in the village, but it's better to be prepared," he reckoned.
After a short stroll, they arrived at the crooked, crumbling stone walls of the village.
Rowan halted.
"Exi flamma, et consume in me voluntatem." He cited.
His hand intensified in heated air, like a conduit of flame.
Rowan entered the village slowly, with Reiji following closely behind.
Something screeched at the shaded part as they walked.
"Fireball!" Rowan hurled a fire projection towards the sound.
A monster wailed.
"There must already be a couple of monsters in this village," Rowan stated.
Reiji raised an eyebrow in shock.
From the same spot Rowan hurled a fireball, a springgan suddenly appeared and charged toward them.
"What?" Reiji was stunned.
Rowan immediately cited, "Flameball!"
*WHOOSH!
A big ball of flame exploded the monster.
*Graaahhh!
The monster cried before collapsing.
"That spooked me a little, my awareness is drastically different without Proprioception." Reiji wavered.
"You're not going to surprise me twice." Rowan was resolute.
Reiji stepped back a little, assuming Rowan might get suspicious of him if he suddenly used his power.
The moment he stepped back, two more springgan charged towards Rowan.
"Flameball!" Rowan chanted.
*WHOOSH!
One springgan down, but the other one continued to charge.
"Flameball!" Rowan chanted another.
Both monsters went down.
But the crystal in his staff turned grey after his last spell.
Reiji watched him helplessly.
He decided to use his spell anyway to be of some help.
"Forma allineata, precisione assoluta, proporzione divina. Proprioception."
Blue rings flared to life around his eyes and his perception expanded.
At the same moment, he realized that the infestation of monsters in the village was far worse than Rowan had thought.
There were hundreds, perhaps even a thousand monsters within the village.
Skeletons.
Treants.
But there was one monster that stood out for him.
It was a small creature, agile but emitting an energy like none of the other monsters.
But what struck him most was the idea of his father possible dying on the same land he was standing on.
Reiji grew anxious.
Then, his breathing became heavy.
His head was suddenly crushed by a wave of pain.
"Something's wrong with me..."
Rowan turned and saw his state.
He ran toward him.
But before he could reach him, Reiji had already blacked out and collapsed.
"Reiji!" Rowan called.
The next thing he knew, he was lying down on the campsite they've built and it's already dark.
He stood and walked out of the tent.
Rowan was sitting in the campfire roasting meat.
He walked closer until Rowan noticed him, "Reiji!" surprised by his sudden approach.
He looked at Rowan confused by his reaction as he join him.
"How come you're already awake? Wow."
Reiji, still groggy, asked, "Why?"
"You experienced Drainea," Rowan explained.
While calming himself down, Rowan followed his question. "Did you just try using magic like I did?"
Wondering, he asked. "What's Drainea?"
"No wonder you don't know– you grew up in the wild. Now this makes me wonder how did you even survive this long." Rowan clowning him.
Then he began explaining. "Magic is not something you just use on a whim. You have to be in a state of mind before you chant."
He explained five different types of magic.
Offensive like Flameball and Fireball.
Defensive like a Firewall.
Supporting like Golden Fire.
Self-boosting like Pyrogenic.
Then the rarest type, Inherited.
"Not everyone is fit for each type, then there's elemental compatibility."
He continued his explanation about it.
Fire.
Water.
Air.
Terrain.
Light.
And dark.
He expounded that someone has to learn their elemental capabilities first, then learn what type of magic they can cast, and finally stabilize their whole being before even thinking of using magic or else it would put them to Drainea state.
A state where all energy within a casters body is absorbed and dissolved by magic due to lack of control.
Reiji listened intently.
"I didn't know about this. I was freely able to use that power without a problem before."
Then Rowan detailed one more aspect of magic.
"Even when you have compatibility, and you can use certain types. You can't just simply abuse yourself to it. You need to have a level of physical fitness, mental wellness, and emotional state to continue using magic."
Reiji tried to recall. "Was it because I started to be confused and unsure, that's why it consumed me?"
"I actually should not joke about this, Reiji." Rowan turned serious. "If it is a severe case, in which someone uses a magic beyond their limit and failed, they never wake up again. They don't die, but put in an eternal slumber."
He looked at Rowan wondering, "Eternal slumber?"
Then he asked, "How will you know this? How can you identify eternal slumber or Drainea?"
"Twisted, anguished expression, like they're trapped in a never-ending nightmare. That's what they normally look like," Rowan paused with mix of amusement and confusion on his face.
"Wait," his hand froze mid-air in realization. "You were peaceful, like you'd just drifted off to sleep. There were no worries, no pain, just a calm, relaxed face."
His jaw dropped as he chuckled, "You keep puzzling me, Reiji. It's crazy."
Reiji just shook his head and chuckled. "Maybe I was not in that state, Rowan. But I apologize for dragging you down and carrying me back to camp."
"Maybe. I'm just glad you were able to come back. And maybe it was also why you surprisingly woke up faster than the normal." Rowan got curious.
"Thank you, Rowan."
After the conversation, he offered Rowan to take a rest while he kept watch.
Rowan agreed but supplemented Reiji's guarding duty with a cinder spirit.
Reiji spent the night reflecting.
"Drainea, huh?"
"Nevertheless, I still passed out using that inherited power. Was that because of the doubt I have of who I am? or was it because of the fact I learned about my father?"