The day after the fight, Numa woke up in the village chief's guest room with a head-splitting headache. He tried to sit up, but his body felt like it was made of lead. Even the tiniest movement could trigger a terrible jolt of pain that spread all across his body.
"Ah, this is not good." Numa covered his eyes with his right hand. "How many times has this happened already? I can't keep passing out on the battlefield whenever I run out of mana."
"You goddamn right!" said Jules, who had been sitting beside his junior's bed since before he woke up.
Numa tried to wake up and greet his senior, but Jules put his right hand on the young man's left shoulder and pushed him back down.
"Take your time. You pushed yourself too hard, and now your muscle is screaming in agony."
"Sir, do you have any more of that potion that you gave to me yesterday?"
"I sure do. I always have a couple of bottles on me," said Jules while pointing at his breastplate at the other side of the room. "But I won't give it to you."
"... May I ask why?"
Jules looked at his young recruit with a serious face. "That potion works great, but you shouldn't rely on it too much. I gave it to you yesterday because we had a job to do. But that is not the case now. You should rest, eat, and move around a bit. Let your body heal itself naturally."
"... I understand, sir."
"Still not satisfied, eh? Youngsters like you really have no patience." Jules stood up and slowly walked toward the door. "Anyway, I did tell you to rest, but don't take too long. We need to get to the Magick Knight HQ before the end of the day."
"Yes, sir. I'll be ready soon."
After Jules left the room, Numa stood up and started to stretch his muscles. The pain was certainly uncomfortable, but his mind was still occupied by the fight yesterday. Specifically, about his thunderous jump. He couldn't forget that insane speed. One second, he was still on the ground, and the next second he went through the body of a monster. He'd been using Avara for as long as he could remember, but that was the first time something like that ever happened to him.
"I need to ask sir Jules about this."
After moving around for a while, Numa finally put on his scuffed armor, and headed out to meet Jules. He was not in the perfect condition yet, but he knew he didn't have the luxury to just rest and recuperate.
The whole village gathered to thank them and bid them farewell. Now that the fog had gone, that place felt so much more cheerful and relaxing. There was no longer a sense of despair and helplessness in the air. In its place was a feeling of relief and hope. The village chief wanted to give some kind of reward to them, but Jules firmly refused it.
"This is our duty as a Magick Knight of the Arkhain Empire, Chief," he said with a proud smile on his face. "I'm sorry we couldn't help with the reparation effort because we need to be on our way. But don't hesitate to contact the Magick Knight Corps if anything similar ever happened again."
The village chief shook Jules's hands and gave Numa a warm hug. "Thank you very much gentlemen. You two will forever be remembered as the saviors of Brightmeadow Village."
After that farewell, Jules and Numa left the village and walked back to the dragon. The fog only affected the village, but interestingly enough, once it had gone, the surrounding area also felt brighter and joyful. This made their steps through the road and the woods easier and much more enjoyable.
Ashara didn't seem to have moved an inch since they left her the day before. "Dragons are lazy creatures," explained Jules as he climbed up to Ashara's back. "They rarely move unless they have to."
Numa climbed up and sat behind Jules. "What about eating? Don't they need to hunt or something?"
"Not really. You see, they could eat solid foods like any other animals, but their main source of energy is the mana in the air. All they need to do is to absorb it, and they won't need any other form of sustenance." Jules pulled the reins gently and patted Ashara's back. In a matter of minutes, they were already gliding in the air.
Numa was already quite used to traveling with a dragon. He didn't even need to hold on to anything now. Since he had a lot of things on his mind, he decided to ask Jules about it.
"What do you mean with mana in the air, sir?"
"What? Didn't they teach you about this in the academy? Ah, right, you didn't go to the Magic Academy, did you?" Jules scratched his head. "You see, every living creature continuously produces mana throughout its life, no matter how miniscule it might be. Even tiny insects like ants and wild plants like grass have mana inside them."
"Does that mean anybody could learn magic? I thought there's not many people who could use magic in this country?"
"No, that's not how it works. Yes, everybody had mana inside their body, but only a handful of people had the ability to control it. Think of it like a natural talent. You either can do it or you can't. If you could control your mana, you'd be able to cast a magic spell. If you can't, then that excess mana would simply dissipate out of your body and fill the open air."
Ashara actually picked up the pace quite a bit, but the two men were so heavily invested in their conversation that none of them noticed it.
"Can't we absorb the mana in the air like Ashara?"
"Young man, are you a dragon?" asked Jules with a little smirk on his lips.
"Uh, no, sir."
"Then you can't do it. That is a special ability that only dragons can do." Jules paused for a bit and looked at Numa's pensive expression. "You are thinking about your limited mana, aren't you?"
"... Yes, sir." Numa looked at his own hands. "I'm no good in a fight if I can only go all out for about thirty minutes and then pass out."
"Speaking of going all out, what's with your ludicrous speed yesterday? I didn't know it was you until after you hit the ground. I thought it was an enemy attack or something. You never told me you have a spell like that."
"To be honest with you, sir," Numa scratched his head, "I don't even know what that was yesterday. All I remember is the feeling of wanting to reach the Pallwyrm as fast as possible. Next thing I knew, I felt a numb feeling on my legs, and then I launched forward at a blinding speed."
Jules was a bit surprised with that revelation. "Really? That's surprising. So you mean to say that move was still part of your body-strengthening spell?"
"I guess so? I don't really know."
Jules let out a big sigh. "You know, for somebody who said that he'd only been using a single magic all his life, you don't seem to know anything about it. Anyway, I'm interested to know what you did yesterday. Try to remember what you felt and what you did, kid."
"Well, I remember concentrating heavily on my feet." Numa looked at both of his feet. "It felt like I try to shift the enhancement from my body to my feet and my hands."
"Try doing it now."
"Now, sir? While we're still flying at high speed on top of a dragon?"
"Sure. Why not? I can always catch you if you fall. So don't worry and just give it a try."
Numa lost for words. But he knew Jules won't drop this topic until after he demonstrated what he did the day before. So he straightened his back, took a deep breath, and activated his body enhancement.
Avara!
Numa's body was covered in faint blue light. He felt no different than any other times he used Avara before.
"Ok, so this is the default state, right?" asked Jules. "Based on what you said earlier, try to divert the enhancement away from the rest of your body and focus it solely on your hands."
Numa looked at Jules with a confused expression. "Uh, how do I do that?"
"Magic is all about vision and imagination. You can recite the spell as best as you could, but if you can't envision what it will do in your head, that spell won't do a thing. But if you can create a clear vision in your mind about what a spell should do and how it looks like, you'll be able to execute it flawlessly."
Numa looked at his senior with a doubtful eye. "That sounds like something that is easier said than done."
"You little brat, of course it is," said Jules as he flicked Numa's forehead.
"Ouch..." That was the most painful head flick that Numa experienced in his life.
"Bah, don't worry about it. I'm not good with words. Besides, you'll learn all about it when we're at HQ anyway."
"Oh, right. The Magick Knight Corps Headquarters. I wonder what it looks like."
"Well, you don't need to wonder any longer. We're nearly there. I was looking forward to see that special move of yours, but it appears we are running out of time." Jules pointed toward something at a distance. "Look, there it is."
Numa squinted his eyes. He could see a massive black castle that sat neatly atop a steep hill.
"Kid, welcome to the Magick Knight Corps HQ," said Jules, smiling from ear to ear.