The Crimson Prince Awakening - v3 Chapter 66

Will

As the sun began to rise, the sound of swords clashing together and the reflection of flame off the treeline was all Will could register as Ragnos sent wave after wave of his flame aura crashing into him.

To mix it up, the god would send tiny pellets of flame covered in a thin layer of air towards Will. When they came close enough, the thin protective layer exploded, leaving the flames bursting out as if a grenade went off in front of him.

“When are you going to teach me any of this?” Will yelled as he parried a blow from Ragnos’s greatsword. “We’ve been at this for hours!”

“You will learn when you start paying attention!” Ragnos roared as he used his strength to send Will flying.

Before hitting the ground, Will used his aura to catch himself in the air, just in time to block yet another blow from above. It seemed impossible to keep up with the old man’s movements. His speed was unlike anything he had ever encountered. Following Ragnos’s movements was like following a pebble of sand in a gust of wind. The moment he found the god, he had mere moments to deflect a blow before continuing to look for him. Will had absolutely no time to go on the offensive.

“How can you hope to spar with me when you are trying to look left and right at the same time, boy?” Will heard Ragnos yell from a distance while only a second later he had to deflect another blow.

They had been sparring since Will agreed to be taken on as an apprentice in order to get stronger. The moment he said yes, Ragnos attacked him. It had taken him hours to figure out how to block the god’s blows, let alone see the blurred image of the man speeding around the field.

Will’s aura was working on overdrive as he parried each blow, but as he brought his sword up for a counter, he would only strike air. Even with the long reach of his scythe, he couldn’t make up for the difference in speed. Though he couldn’t touch the god, his reaction time had improved well enough that his weapon shifted from sword to scythe in a span of a thought. The real problem he faced was Ragnos wouldn’t give him the second he needed to think.

“You are trying too hard William!” Ragnos yelled out from a tornado forming around Will. Two knives flew in his direction. Will brought up his sword to deflect the projectiles. The moment the blades touched his own, a short sword slashed at his stomach. “You were open for one second, William,” Ragnos said as the wind around them died down. “That is enough time for many enemies to find an opening.”

Will felt the warmth spilling out of him as blood soaked his shirt. The slash was enough to pierce his black coat which had always felt strong enough to be considered armor. He didn’t have enough time to think of the slash, as the god had already drawn his long sword to match the short sword he had already used to cut him.

Ragnos resumed a stance with the long sword reaching for Will and the short sword raised above his head. “There will be no breaks, William.” He said as he waited for the young man to protest. “If you plan to heal, do so while you defend. This exercise will end when you land one blow.”

Will didn’t even have enough time to nod as the swords started their dance upon his own blade. He blocked most blows, yet Ragnos didn’t seem to have to try in order to land a slash upon his jacket.

“Think, William.” Ragnos said though his dance. “You know others who use two weapons.” The short sword dropped above Will’s head. He had half of a second to raise his sword to block the fatal blow, yet the long sword was the one to pierce his body once more. “Are they special? Is Roy any different from the rest of your soldiers? How can he have two axes when the prince only has one sword?”

Before Will had the chance to think about it, something clicked within his mind. The gold wiring of his sword seemed to melt into a pool within his other hand leaving a completely silver sword. The pool within his other shifted into a sword of the same length. Both had the same gem sockets filled.

“Great!” Ragnos roared as he went for another lunge. “Though you could do without all those theatrics!” His short sword once again found itself brought down upon Will’s head. This time when he blocked, his new sword was there to parry the second blow with the long sword.

“Now we can start your training.” The god said as he returned to his double sword stance. Will said nothing as he mirrored the stance of his teacher. Ragnos let out a bellow of a laugh as he launched himself towards the prince. Together, they danced a dance of blades.

Each sword thrust was met with a counter as the danced upon the open battle field. No move was wasted as Will deflected each slash Ragnos brought upon him, though every return swing was met with the absence of the god. Will was at his maximum speed as he jumped from crater to crater, blocking each blow.

“You have no idea what you are capable of, boy.” Ragnos faded and reappeared as Will desperately tried to keep up. “As of now, you have bȧrėly surpassed those who follow you!”

The speed of the god increased slightly. Will had a hard time dodging him as his aura couldn’t keep up. To the untrained eye, Ragnos seemed to disappear from the battlefield, yet he made sure his student knew differently. As Will scanned the area, small cuts formed on his jacket, his shirt and strands of hair began falling around him.

“What happened to William Carter?” Ragnos asked from seemingly no where. “What happened to the boy that entered this realm? The boy that believed in the magic of imagination?” Another cut appeared on the upper right sleeve of Will’s jacket. “I seem to remember you making a machine gun out of your flames. I remember you with your three balls of flames which you condensed to increase the damage. What happened to that imagination?”

“William Carter never existed!” Will yelled out to the god. “He was a foster child in a land he was alien to, he was wasted potential in a world without magic!” He thought back to the many years he had spent with Jonathan. All of the training that he had endured after his mother left, the many questions that couldn’t be answered, having to wait for years before getting any straight answers. He had given up on William Carter when he realized just how many people needed him in Crystallia.

“William Carter believed in magic.” Ragnos said just out of earshot of Will. “William Carter trained himself to use his gift without needing a teacher.”

Thinking back to the months he had spent with Maya at her cottage, Will thought of the large tree where he did most of his practicing. He would make a flame within his hand and allow it to grow. He strengthened his gift by practice and will alone.

“Do you get it yet?” Ragnos appeared for a split second, long enough for Will to catch a glimpse of the gods eyes. “You can’t keep up with me, not because of your lack of ability to.” He said as he once again disappeared from sight. “But because of your lack of belief.”

“I trained myself to use the aura,” Will said as he noticed yet another tear in his jacket. His left sleeve feel off from the shoulder, leaving his dark shirt as his only protection. “But that didn’t save Maya, she still died in the end.” The wounds of losing Maya only just started to heal since getting her back. “If it weren’t for the teachers I’ve had,” he looked at his sword and thought of the wind aura he had attained. “I would never have gotten this strong.”

“Your abilities are in a league far greater than any teacher you have had!” Ragnos said as he separated the right sleeve of Will’s jacket from his shoulder. “You should never stop believing in your own ability! How did you attain your wind aura?”

Will thought back to the fight he had with Aremesis when he possessed Jake. He had been so desperate at the time, it wasn’t much thought that activated the other aura as much as it was something else. “Instinct.” Will said silently to himself. “I didn’t do it on thought alone.”

“That’s not all you’ve done on instinct.” Ragnos slowed to a stop next to his student. “Think of your sword, William. Was it truly Michael who taught you how to summon it? Or rather did he just show you what was around your neck?”

Thinking back to the time within the cottage with Michael, Will remembered the lessons he had endured. His uncle taught him to hold his own in a sword fight, also how to increase his flames. For months he had strengthened his mind, body and spirit. He did weight training as he ran, he sparred with Michael and he meditated.

Of all that he learned from his uncle, Ragnos was right. It wasn’t Michael that showed him how to activate his sword. It took desperation and a will to protect Bianca after the pain of losing Maya.

“Is the sword really the last clear example?” Ragnos questioned as he took a seat at an empty crater and beckoned Will closer. “Don’t worry,” The god said with a chuckle. “I’ll make an exception to the no break rule.”

Shrugging a shoulder, Will went to the crater Ragnos sat at and took a seat next to him. “There are many different examples of you stepping over the rules placed to manage the aura.”

“I get it,” Will said as he thought back to the sword. “The time that I summoned the sword was kind of like acting on instinct, I’ll give you that.” He said. “But I only achieved that by the training my uncle gave me.”

“Did your uncle teach you how to siphon off someone else’s aura? How to dissipate a corrupt aura?” Ragnos raised an eyebrow. “How did you know to siphon off Jake’s corrupt aura when you sparred with him the first time?” He raised one finger. “And how to siphon energy from a second lineage weapon along with someone else’s aura to increase your attack?” He raised a second finger. “How exactly did you unlock your wind affinity?”

Will thought back to the times the old god mentioned. “I was desperate.” He said as he thought of each time. “I had those I needed to protect, there wasn’t any time to think.”

“There it is!” Ragnos slapped Will on the back. “You had no time to think, instead you felt what to do, correct? You allowed the situation to take over, you took shotgun.”

“If that’s true, how exactly are you going to teach me to use the other affinities?” Will thought of how he learned wind. “I bȧrėly have a second element learned, how am I supposed to learn the rest?”

“You think you’ve mastered the wind element?” Ragnos chuckled quietly. “Maybe you know how to tap into the element, but do you truly know how to use it?”

Will brought his cross out and shifted out his scythe. Ragnos only smiled. “You still believe that the type of weapon you wield has anything to do with the aura you use. I already told you, the weapon is just the tool.”

“This is the way I learned to use the wind element.” Will said as he created a palm sized tornado in his hand. He then let it dissipate and instead shifted the scythe into his sword. Instantly he felt the heat of his fire element course through the weapon. He then willed the gold wiring to melt off and become his second sword. “This is the only form of weapon manipulation I’ve learned so far.”

“All of these theatrics are unnecessary.” Ragnos said as he rose from his seat. “I think I’ve finally figured out how to train you, young William.”

Will watched the god walk a few paces away, with every step, a gale of wind blew stronger. As the wind grew, all sound was muffled and yet he could still hear Ragnos speak. “I’ve been going about this the wrong way,” he said as he turned to face Will. “I’ve been thinking that I’m enough to teach you how to rewire yourself.” A tornado surrounded him. Dirt rose from the ground and obscured Will’s vision. “When we all know, the best teacher one can ask for,” Will could hear the god’s voice change from a husky old voice to a familiar young voice. “Is oneself.” A mirror reflection of Will stared back at him.

Instead of a blazing glow of crimson and gold, the Will within the tornado glowed silver. Noticing the swords within the false Will’s hands, Will’s eyes grew wide. They were the same swords as he held in his hands, yet they gave off the presence of wind instead of the flame which he was so used to.

“Allow me to introduce you.” Ragnos said within the visage of a Will with a wind aura. “This is what you could be, if you came to this world with the aura of the wind element.” He raised his swords at Will with resolve in his eyes. “Prepare yourself, young William,” he swung one sword as a gust of wind blew a fresh crater within the ground. “For if you wish to continue, you must defeat yourself.”