Lastly, Stolas would be relaxing on an open field. Rainfall came down as soft as petals from a flower. His body and mind would wash alongside with it, as he closed his eyes and admired the booming sound of thunder, bathing in its freshwater. It's been ages since he's dealt with a proper rainy season, more so with such purity. As he looked up at the sky, the water ruffling his feathers with each pitter patter, he would notice someone was close by. An old friend he recalled, one that rolled against the grass and became by his side. A girl in a poncho and black feathers, a reminder of their encounter. "Oh! Hey there, Beaux!" Stolas greeted, a big smile on his face as he'd bob his head in the same side-to-side movement, savoring the tranquility. Beaux would lay down by his side as she followed the same motions.
"Never thought I'd see my friend here again! What's the hold-up?" She'd ask.
"Well, if you couldn't tell, we wanted to get stronger. Two kingdoms are warring each other and-"
"Stop. Heard enough. I know EXACTLY what that experience is like." As she spoke, another thunder boomed across the sky, a lightning bolt falling across the distance. Beaux would be somewhat jumpy upon seeing the electric strike, yet Stolas merely watched on, smiling at it. The girl can't help but be amazed at the child not being afraid of such phenomena. "If I have to guess though... You're aiming for the big guy huh?"
The Stellar Magician stood silent, taking a deep breath as he'd lift his body, stretching his arms out. "Yeah... He's the one who trained my Dad, after all. It's no doubt that he's probably the best to teach me how to get stronger. That is, if I live against him..."
"You know about his magic at least?"
"Barely. It's actually kinda crazy how, even after my pops spent so much time in his army, he never got any information regarding his specific style."
Beaux would scoff a bit, a small chortle out of her beak, prompting a confused look from the Avian. "Think he's a big ol' scaredy cat, then? I couldn't imagine hiding my magic away like its some horrible secret."
Stolas can't help but laugh at such an assessment. "Heh, nah. Otherwise he wouldn't have shown up. It IS a funny thought of the guy being a fraud underneath all that bravado!" The two exchanged such laughter as another lightning came down, the joy they felt being enough for Beaux to handle the strike and loud noise. Despite such a joke, Stolas would steel himself, knowing full well that King was more so holding himself back from destroying everything by accident. He'd ponder at what kind of style exactly allowed him to make such a potent pressure to keep them down. In that moment, Beaux was quick on making something, using Uranus to freeze some of the water droplets in mid-air, nudging at the Avian, allowing him to draw what that experience was like. Stolas, in response, would set up his stars, letting it extend as his own talons as he drew the depiction: The very hall the children stepped in, arrows pointing down to signify its powerful pressure, wavy lines to act as the King's aura.
Beaux took a good look at the depiction shown, her eyes closed as she tried to remember what style would do such a thing. "May be a bit of a reach, since I doubt any regular person could even reach such a state, but it sounds like this guy's got Dominion Magic."
Stolas raised an eyebrow towards Beaux's statement, a first time he heard of such. "Dominion Magic?"
Beaux nodded in response as she'd let the ice demonstrate it. "It's.... really hard to explain. It's like one of the most complicated styles anyone could really master. It's like an acknowledgement of... your self."
"In what? Heart? Body? Energy?"
"No, no, Your SELF. As in, The three components that makes you as... you. You're right about the Body, that's actually one of the key things. The other two are the Mind and the Soul." Beaux's words would be matched by the ice shaping into such components, a visible hole in the center of the body and the head, where both would be filled by a smaller piece, acting as the respective mind and soul. "It's actually what I felt when you were attacking me. Every punch you landed felt like an asteroid coming down on my body. That's the Body portion, where your physical strength broke a personal limitation and exponentially grows the longer you train it."
Stolas would be a bit stunned that he's acquired such a style in himself, looking down at body, his talons, as he'd wonder what exactly let him achieved this state on his own. The most he could recall was choosing physical strength over magical styles during his time in Synoni, where his body was growing at just as much a rate with how its age worked. "What about the other two?"
Beaux would answer Stolas' question with the same diagram, the arrows pointing down around the body as the mind began to grow. "The Mind is the next stage. It's that big pressure you showed me. It's like an act of Judgement on your body, where it compares each other's consciousness and actions they took, weighing you down if one is more sinful than the other."
"ITS A PERSONALITY THING!?"
"Mhm! Make matters worse, you can't really find a weakness or a counter to this one. The only thing that I think would work is if you somehow DIE, then come back and be reborn a SAINT. Since, obviously, NO ONE can do that, the best option would probably be having that same magic style and judge the opponent just as much. Everyone has done at least SOME amount of evil, so whoever this 'King' is, no matter how noble, must have some skeletons hiding in his closet." Stolas would be taken aback by such knowledge, looking up and remembering the acts of terror he's made alongside both his friends and by himself. He has to learn this second stage if he wishes so much as to be on par with King. A Magic based around one's character and personality, rather than strength and tactics.
What kind of sick joke was this?
"The last would be the Soul, basically becoming the living representation of your heart's desires. Think like that artifact your friend has, but now on your own body." Beaux demonstrates this again with the soul now expanding, as the body began to change, morphing into a hypothetical wish. For Stolas' case, she changed the body to become a proper human being. The Avian's eyes widened as he saw what such a transformation can do, realizing this can also be his true chance to become a proper man.
He shot himself up as he'd shake off the water, a stance in his side. "Alright. That convinced me. Talons up! I need as much training as I can here." His declaration would cause the girl to laugh as she followed suit, the ice shattering as she took aim.
"Alright, Alright. I see your game. I better get something good in return, though!" A hidden meaning in her words, as the lightning struck down once more, meters away from each other. The starting bell for them, as they'd rush each other and prepare their respective Space Magic.