"Are you sure you can just... show her?"
"Well. The most I can do is show her what I did to get better control over my mana. And that is relatively easy to teach someone - the only thing that concerns me is if she's even willing to put the time it takes into actually developing your grasp on your mana flow."
"Wait... you thought yourself bending?"
"Not entirely... I was nudged in the right direction and was lucky to figure out the rest."
Skye eagerly trotted forward, even though it had an endearing quality to it - seeing her like this was still an odd sight to the both of them. She may seem impulsive, unlike him; however, she had an actual goal behind wanting to grow stronger - from what he put together, someone, and most likely the Water Kingdom, was transporting her kind forcefully out of the forest they lived in and keeping them in the territory of the Wind Kingdom.
"You said their technology was the most pristine. In a match between a Water Kingdom knight and one of the Wind Kingdom - who do you believe would win...?"
"I have never seen an actual wind knight before with my own eyes, but from what I read, their armor is much sturdier than the one used by the water knighthood. It is said that, since they live on most likely the most expansive mountain range there is, they possess all kinds of rare metals, which allows them to find all kinds of new alloys to experiment with. Their only real rival in that regard would be the Metal Kingdom; the mountains they mine are slightly further away from their capital, but it is still the second largest mountain range there is."
The large ceremonial building in which student gatherings are held now stood right in front of them; the same curving path they took would've taken them straight back to the large cathedral if they wouldn't eventually break away from it. Doing exactly so, Midas and Foulard followed Skye as she awed at the deep red roses that sprouted along the tall rising hedges, almost acting like walls; they created an enclosed part of the campus, rising up nearly twice Midas size. Sturdy thorny vines clung to the larger branches of the hedges, warping and looping between the sticks and leaves - the blood-red flowers sprouting from it.
In the middle of the space stood a fountain spouting water; the stone it was made out of was aged, something one could see even with it being restored; however, the person that shored the shrubs around them also tried their best to keep the weathering to a minimum. Awing at the reflection of herself in the water that is held inside the pond's basin, Skye eventually found a seat on one of the benches that lay on the sides of the space, leaning back as she enjoyed herself at the peaceful scenery.
"Do I intervene...?"
"I don't know... I don't want to annoy her, so you do it..."
Foulard wasn't a big help to find out more about how she functioned, the two of them awkwardly standing on the side as they watched the pink-haired girl bask in the muted sunlight that shone from the greyish sky. Rubbing the back of his head and having a promise to return, Midas eventually sat himself on the other side of the bench - unable to relax like her as he sat and leaned forward.
Eventually turning to her after a long while, his breath caught in his throat as she suddenly sat right beside him, her expression suddenly very eager - almost excited - as she stared at him. Frowning slightly, he eventually looked forward again as he started.
"Listen... mana can be used either as a null ability or to activate a mana stone. Those are the usual things mana is used for. Reinforcing your body to withstand blows, heightening your senses by guiding mana to your eyes, for example, or charging up your muscles for a strong blow are all considered null abilities."
Looking around his surroundings briefly, Midas pulled out a green, glassy stone from his pocket and carefully held it inside his palm as he showed it off to Skye, the green of the stone glowing dimly - as if it reacted to the skin of his palm. Seeing this, Foulard formed a proud grin on his face, eagerly showing off the blue gem sitting inside his gauntlet.
"Anything elemental, such as bending water or stone, can only be done with stones like these, known as Mana-Stones." You charge them up with mana and alter your surroundings - however... why only certain stones target specific things? I can't tell."
"Yeah, nobody can really give a definitive answer to the way these stones work... most of the veins concentrate themselves in singular locations where humans have lived in for a long time already - at least most of the time. And to add to that... it is said that they formed the moment the great Fracture started, which makes finding any explanations or findings even more complicated."
The two of them looked thoughtfully at their stones; even the sun shard had a complicated history. The only thing he heard of was tales of a sun priest that found these at some undisclosed location and distributed them to the people that followed his teachings - eventually, this tale was most likely just a way to make the teaching of the sun sound more important.
"So... whether I possess a stone or not, I will need to get ahold of my mana right...?"
She muttered, almost to herself, as her dark eyes sat straight on the green gem on Midas palm, seemingly not scared of the lack of explanation but intrigued by it instead. Her thought caused him to nod approvingly, slowly staching the stone back into his pocket.
"Exactly. I started out by meditation; that way I was able to locate the mana in my body first and then eventually distributed it around my body."
"Oh, really...? I was just handed a stone and tasked with charging it up with mana - it took me a while, but it eventually worked out. Even though I have to say, I can barely feel anything travelling through my body and would most likely fail if I were to try to charge up one of my limbs with it."
"I thought the nobles had their own teachers that explained the use of mana to the heirs..."
At Midas words, Foulard's expression turned slightly sour, quietly looking aside onto the ground as if the rubble path that wrapped around the fountain was suddenly very interesting. Skye quietly looked up at Foulard as his hand grasped the scarf around his neck, her head slightly tilting to the side as the expression on Foulard resembled some kind of shame.
"Yes... normally that is... but for some reason my parents thought it wasn't needed to also teach me - only my siblings were thought to use mana. Fils had taught me the basics of how to use the water stone. His explanation was vague, but it was enough for me to actually activate it, so I didn't bother any further; at that time, simply finishing the task he gave me was more important."
He shrugged, awkwardly scratching the back of his head as he visibly felt regretful of something he couldn't place for sure. Midas looked at Foulard for a quiet moment; Fils knew most likely of his familiar situation and banked on the fact that this boy was desperately trying to find something that gained him some kind of recognition.
For some reason, Alma crossed Midas mind as he thought about such a kind of practice; after all, without him, he would've never crossed the old man that first discovered the mana inside his body to begin with. As he thought to him, Midas looked down at his bandaged right hand, stretching his fingers out and then forming a fist in this quiet morning that was disrupted by the crowing of a nearby bird.
Able to tell she was now also looking at his hand, Midas glanced up to Skye and put the green plant-stone away eventually. Before he knew it, her fingertips rested on the skin of his wrists, able to feel her caress over his arteries for just a brief moment before one of her nails slowly hooked into the bandage.
"Eversince I saw you in Cascrender, you have been wearing it... back then I never had you use your right hand at all. Sometimes I watched you as you sat in your seat and tried to move one of your fingers - it must've happened over the time I was gone and beside Fils, but now it seemingly healed up, and you can use your right hand without problem. But you still insist on wearing the bandage..."
Slightly distressed by the observation, Midas hand-drew away from her, frowning slightly at her. He should've been more cautious during the time at the university - having completely missed her, even turning to glance in his direction during one of his lectures. Ever since the insertion of the rune, Midas hand was swollen badly and nearly completely numb - it was a miracle to begin with that none of his fingers died off and his body adjusted to the foreign object placed in its flesh.
"It's for the better."
Answering quickly in a hushed tone, he stared straightforward, his sterned brows making his gaze look sharper as he stared right onto the wall of a bush on the other end of the gardenspace. Skye chuckled slightly, eventually sitting straighter and leaning back with a quiet hum to herself while Foulard's attention was drawn to the black birds that settled on the edge of the fountain's basin, sometimes dipping their beaks into the rippling water to drink from it.
"Hey uh, Midas... you said you wanted to go west, right...? Are you interested in technology, or why are you focusing on going there?"
To be frank, I know very little about technology. But... the only surrounding landmasses outside of this continent are the desert, Wind-Kingdom and... the western continent. And I'm not interested in being stuck on some island... from what I have heard, the west would be the safest place to live in - I don't want to get entangled in the politics of the Water-Kingdom."
Holding his chin as he weighed his options, he glanced at Skye, her smile growing softer - after all, before he could even get to the point of reaching the west, the naval blockade stood in his way. Then there was also Uteli and his promise to her to bring her back to her family. And most prominently, he had to still find out more about himself - which, if he stayed longer in the water kingdom than necessary, could become much harder given recent events.
"Yeah, I have heard some stories and legends from the Island of Thunder... it's crowded and dark, and whoever ends up there typically gets stuck there for at least a few Trestempo of their life... and the wind kingdom will most likely reject you right at their border. Then there's the Stone-Kindom, but reaching it will force you to find your way through the northern desert... and that place is riddled with bandits and Water-Kingdom knights... which makes sense that the western states are the only option left."
Midas sighed, getting up eventually as their lunch break neared its end. Hands in his trousers of his blazer, he eventually led the others out of the enclosed space - awing quietly at the deep red roses on her way out again. They walked along the paved walkway that led through the garden between the ceremonial building and the main school building. Light blue flowers were planted along the way, patches of blue that ranged from light and soft to deep and vibrant - almost violet. Here and there stood shaped hedges and statues made of foliage that almost made the garden look like a display of fine art.
"Brat. Get out of here immediately..."
The metallic rasp of Gilts' tone suddenly wripped through his mind, momentarily making Midas stop, stunned mid-step - his first instinct being to clutch the handle of his sickle as his eyes scanned the open field of flowers and the hedges that surrounded them. Nothing notable was able to be seen besides an old wooden toolshack that sat on their left, stone slabs laid down on the grass leading up to it. The singular window was dark, with nothing able to be seen through it, and the metal joint that held the door to its frame was already beginning to rust.
"Why... who's here...?"
"You fool, just do it..."
The golden skeleton sounded genuinely distressed for once, not in a panic, but in a certain dread of someone he couldn't see at all. Skye noticed his change in demeanor first, looking quietly worried as her brows softened at him. Foulard gulped audibly at the sharp gaze of Midas - mentally already readying himself for some kind of danger.
His eyes darted from left to right, but nothing moved - Gilt was dead silent, not elaborating why or from whom he should run from. Taking a shallow exhale, he eventually closed his lids, focusing his mana into his eyes as he tried his best to find some kind of mana signature in the distance - his sickle slowly drawing as he turned to the shack. The shape was blurry, but from what he saw, there lay a body motionless, and whatever mana circulated through it was faint but still healthy.
"Foulard, I'm going to look at what's inside of this shack. I can't tell for sure, but someone might be nearby."
"You think it's the broadly built older student from the south...?"
"No - this feels completely different... just cover Skye."
Hearing him mumble a stiff yes, Midas glanced at the stone slabs that made up the path to the shack. Upon leaving the main paved way that wound through the flower fields, a shiver ran down his spine. Quayid is strong physically, but Gilt never reacted to his strength - even when Midas was attacked by him directly, so why now?
Due to what most likely was caused by a null ability, Midas felt a heavy presence of mana weighing down onto him - each step he took from one stone to the other, the harder it seemed to move, simply breathing already making him sweat just slightly. With a shaky hand that felt twice as heavy now, he eventually managed to press down the rusted handle of the door - light falling into the crammed storage space of the shack as the door slowly opened with a weathered squeaking noise.
Frowning at the weight, he squinted at who lay there - finally finding none other than Uteli, motionlessly lying there, most likely crushed by the heavy presence of mana that lingered over the gardens. The top of her head was bleeding slightly; kneeling down with a labored huff, Midas fingertips grazed over the red spot to find out that the blood that sprouted from the wound was already dry, which could point to her lying here for quite a long time now.
Grasping the axe and stuffing it under his belt, he looped his arms under hers - dragging her out, bit by bit as his knees buckled at the amplified weight of both her and her weapon. Huffing, as one of the black birds that sat atop the shack's roof crawled at him, he looked down at her with confused worry. How she even got here and by whom she was hurt were his first questions; her pulse was still there even though her body was slightly cold, and they didn't seem to have taken anything valuable from her, if she even had anything on her, that is, as well as even allowing her to keep her weapon.
Finally making it out, the weight sharply decreased, almost stumbling over himself as he tucked Utelis motionless body onto the stones that paved the pathway that led through the garden. Foulard's hand was stretched out, biting his lower lip as his eyes darted from one corner of the garden to the next. Catching his breath, Midas handed Skye the axe to at least have something to defend herself with, watching her as she tried her best not to look too excited at the heavy weapon in her hands.
"Gilt, do you know who is responsible for this null ability?"
He asked into the fog of his mind as he leaned down to carry Utelis motionless body in his arms and looked forward with a stern expression - slowly nudging at the other to follow him as they made their way out of the garden. Not hearing it respond, he ducked his head slightly - was the sheer intensity of their mana alone enough to alarm it?
As they wound around a hedge, the path curved around; they were met with rows of trees on the left and right of the pathway that led back onto the central space of the main building. Each of the trees was unordinary on its own, a local species that grew on the central plains of the kingdom; however, their shape was eerily perfectly identical - even mirroring their counterpart on the other side of the path perfectly.
A lanky man tended to one of the trees, his skin pale and his beige trousers stained with dust and mud as his wide eyes stared completely focused onto a branch that split off from another - promptly cutting it. A tiny shadow lay over his face because of the straw hat he wore, shielding him from a sun whose rays were muted by clouds most of the time anyway, even if absurd - the way he halted on his wooden ladder to stare down at them with focused, blank eyes before they snapped onto Utelis face, made Midas stress out slightly.
The hand that clutched his shears suddenly began to tremble wildly, a vein becoming visible on the side of his head as he let out a sharp, strangled sound of pure anger at them stealing who he must have abducted.
"Get her out of my sight... before I decide to make you pay for what she did to my flowers..."
The words he muttered through clenched teeth made Midas simply continue to walk without question - keeping his head low as Foulard frantically nodded at him and ran straight for the gate. Skye, on the other hand, did clutch the handle of the axe tighter; her expression was mostly bland from what Midas saw as he briefly glanced over her - but her eyes never left the gardener, watching his every twitch of his limbs closely as they passed by and eventually made their way out of the gate on the other end of the garden.
"All of this over trampled flowers...?"
Foulard asked in slight disbelief. Skye's grasp of the axe loosened again, the heavy head almost slipping out of her grip while Midas glanced up at the tall academy building - squinting slightly as he looked at the roof and the muted, grey light that shone from above it.
"He seemed devoted to his craft..."
Noting calmly, Midas glanced down at Uteli - watching her with sterned brows as he tried his best to find a reason why Gilt was so alarmed about a simple gardener. Slowly turning his head around to look at the open gate, he suddenly heard multiple glasses of the grand building beside them shatter - rivaling shouts sounding from the hallways.
"There...! On the roof..."
Skye pointed out, her voice more surprised than stressed as she pointed her finger at a boy whose tussled hair flowed in the wind - while Midas tried to make out who it was, the boy let out a loud cry that hulled through the plaza and caught the attention of every student that either walked along its paths or lounged on the grass, screaming against an enemy no one else saw.