Chapter 10 - The Strongest

The weekend passed by Aramis and Kali in a blink of an eye. It was a very busy two days as Aramis got into the swing of things. It had been certainly hard going straight from lazing around and drinking till he blacked out in random bars; to waking up before the sun rise to work at his new job, studying and discussing on what their plan was on solving one another's problems. 

The biggest obstacle with figuring out how to solve one another's problems was the fact that Kali was pretty closed off when it came to life back in Teras. She wasn't at all guarded when it came to the normal conversations they ended up having to get to know each other better. The moment they steered towards Kali's problems in Teras, she instantly pretended nothing was amiss and changed the subject. Aramis hadn't said anything about it nor did it exactly bother him. 

It was a selfish mindset to have but he had his own problem to solve. If she was willing to help him with his problem then he had nothing else to worry about. As much as he liked Kali, he wasn't on planning on making this a long-term relationship. Of course, he'd already learnt how to keep his thoughts under a leash and these were the ones he kept to himself. Kali was great. He connected well with her. But she was also from the Lands of Teras. Those were where the Beasts, the enemies of humanity, resided. Second of all, she was the Priest of a Goddess that he didn't even trust. This deal was nothing else but business. He would do no such thing as pledge allegiance to a Goddess of the enemy's side. As far as he was concerned, helping Kali out with her problem was the price of this deal. Their relationship would end there. 

Another thing Aramis had learnt was that Kali was smart. She was actually very sharp, an intellect just like Cory ( perhaps not that extent, but still far beyond the norm ). She was the reason why he'd been able to finish all his missing assignments within the span of a single day. Maybe they had school over there in Teras, who knew? He had asked if there were any other humans where she was at. She had answered him vaguely, telling him that they could barely be considered humans any longer. He hadn't pried further. 

The day was starting off strong that Monday morning. He'd woken up before the crack of dawn and immediately headed over to the bakery. The old woman was already prepping for the day and he was there to help her where he could. After an hour or two, he left for school. The streets weren't as crowded as before, considering it was still early and the rush hour hadn't kicked in just yet. He'd also decided it would be better if he took the normal route of walking along the pavement this time, just in case. 

He was to meet the principal first thing in the morning. He wondered what punishment the old man was going to give him. An in-school suspension maybe? He could work with that. Gave him a lot of time to brainstorm and do a little revision here and there if he was up to it. He was still thinking about it when he stepped into Saxton's office. Oh Eos, could he have been more wrong. 

He first realized he wasn't the only one seeing the old man there and then. Kali's thoughts immediately screamed at him to be on his guard but he already was. The man sitting in the chair opposite of the principal was someone he recognised. It was the man who had saved his life just two nights ago. He clenched his fist but took a step forward instead of back. If a human's instincts gave them two choices: fight or flight? Aramis always chose fight. 

He was clean-shaven now and his long hair was tied up neatly in a bun. He was dressed in only one layer of fitting clothing with a military jacket draped across his shoulders, like the cold did not bother him.

Anyone with any sense of magic could understand what was running through Aramis and Kali's heads. It wasn't anything he did but it was just simply what he was. He was not normal. He was not supposed to exist. There was no one who could live without even the tiniest amounts of Mana within their body, that simply just went against the laws of existence. And what people did not understand, they feared. Aramis feared him but at the same time, Aramis felt a surge of excitement. If he were to fight him, what would the outcome be? Kali cursed his foolishness, praying he would not be the death of both of them. 

"My name is Savah, Aramis. You seem fired up. How about you cool down for a bit?" The man said and in an instant, he was right beside him. Aramis sworn he'd been standing at least a couple of meters away fro- 

Before he knew it, he was flying out of the principal's window and crashing down to earth with an enormous KABOOM! He rolled twice before drifting to a stop in the snow. There was no way. This couldn't be real. What the fuck was going on. He saw a shadow looming over him and the only thing that broke him out of his trance was Kali's voice. 

"MOVE!" 

He rolled out of the way as Savah's foot landed with enormous impact that caused an explosion of snow and ice all around them. When the crystals settled back to the ground, he saw that the man was stretching as if he were about to work up a sweat. Aramis let out a strangled squeak as he scrambled to his feet.

"I hear you're pretty sturdy. I wanna see how much of that's true!" Savah remarked as he packed a ball of snow in his hand. Without warning, he hurled it in his direction. Dodging one was easy as Aramis stepped aside right in time but it hit the ground like a boulder hundred times its size. The lunatic already had two more lined up for him. 

He was thinking, maybe choosing flight would be the better option here. Kali agreed. So Aramis began to run, thinking that the day was not getting off to a good start anymore. 

William Saxton watched on from above in his office, feeling a little sorry for the young boy. But it was necessary. The boy needed to learn how to control his strength and the only one who could do that was someone who had controlled strength even greater than the one Aramis wielded. Savah also needed someone to trust. Someone in his ranks that he could truly rely on and Saxton thought it could be Aramis. He sighed, hoping he hadn't just made the wrong decision. He could only pray, for Aramis' sake, that Savah would not end up killing the boy. 

The man the old man had enlisted to be a mentor for our dear Aramis Morricone was not a random warrior. This man was the Fourth and the youngest Captain of the Riders, the one regarded as the Strongest in all the Human Realms of this day and age.

He had not remembered the last time his heart beat so hard he could hear it pounding against his ribcage. These weren't just warning shots, Aramis could feel it. Everything the crazed man threw at him, they were meant to break him down. If for a second he allowed himself to take a hit, it would hurt. He didn't want to feel hurt. At first, panic had enveloped his every rational thought and he barely avoided his attacks simply through pure survival instinct alone.

Kali was a live saver. There wasn't a single moment where she wasn't acting as his second set of eyes. What was happening could barely be called a fight, it was...a test. If he'd wanted to end it, Aramis would have bit the dust long ago. He was pushing him, slowly increasing the pace of his strikes and the speed of this fight. There was nothing else the boy could do but defend to the best of his abilities. 

ON YOUR RIGHT!

There wasn't any time to speak, thoughts travelled faster and a single second could make the difference when it came to reacting to the attacks that were coming his way. He leapt into the air, avoiding a kick that would have sent him sprawling. There was no end to this! The scary part about all of this was that he had to trust Kali with every single cell in his body. There was no time to rely on his own senses because they weren't able to keep up with all this. Kali, on the other hand, was someone who could levitate high enough to gain a bird's eye perspective on the ongoing battle. 

Though he'd started to build up some kind of rhythm, like a puppet controlled by the strings that were Kali's thoughts, he could only dodge for so long. Soon, a hit landed. He had braced himself for the eventual impact, his arm raised to soften the blow. Immediately, he fell to his knees. With or without the guard, the force of it was sent through him regardless.

What the fuck was this? Which man was allowed to possess such strength? Was he a southerner? Even if he was, Aramis had faced people from the South before and they had never been this strong.

Aramis could deal with the pain. Even as a child, he'd been forced to fight to prove his strength and those victories had not come without agony. This was more than just the feeling of anguish however.

It was combined with the same feeling he'd experienced when the man had grabbed his arm that night. It was the cold numbing sensation that ran through his body as if warmth of his breath were being sucked into the void that existed within the man who called himself Savah. 

The man had a curious look on his face and slowly rounded his fist back. He was preparing to strike him down where he knelt. He wanted Aramis to know he could take his time to deal with him. He wanted Aramis to know that he could not beat him. The man was going to finish him. 

Was he going to die? Had the old man really let this happen? A new emotion rose up within his chest, forcing his blood to run hot like molten embers. This was there he would meet his end? He couldn't even see where they were any longer. The school had been long left behind them and now they stood within mountainous regions that he was unfamiliar with. He was going to die without seeing his sister's face again? He was going to die just when he had been given the opportunity to change his life? 

The cold feeling melted away and he felt the rising energy within him. There were times even the Curse could not contain the immense power from spilling out. He would later learn that since the Mana could not travel through his Tree, it had found other ways through his body. His rage became the single push it needed to flow out and it found its way into his very muscle fibres. His very body now empowered by the output that allowed him to be called the greatest, he clenched his fist with renewed vigour. 

His body steamed and his veins glowed with the light of a thousand Suns. Savah realized it too late because Aramis had already swung his fist. The boy had only one purpose in that moment and it was to punch this guy in the fucking face.

The only thing the man could do was tilt his head to the side and it was a good thing he did. 

What came after the punch was a release of simple force but its magnitude was what caused all the destruction that followed. The ground shook with a giant tremor, there was a sonic boom of a detonation and the mountains behind them...were blown away. The rocks that made up these giant landmarks were completely shattered and now the only thing that stood in its wake was a gaping valley filled with debris. 

When the dust fell, Aramis had no more strength to stand. What...the fuck was that? Did he do that? He'd always been powerful but he'd never...been able to do that. His muscles ached like they never did before and he felt like throwing up blood. Above all that was the feeling of disbelief at the scene that was displayed before him. 

"Do you understand now? Just because you do not have magic does not mean you are not strong, kid. If you can do that, imagine what you can do to someone if you lose control like that again." And the man was right. He said nothing. He was too exhausted to speak. 

"Now you understand what you're capable of, I'll be teaching you keep it under control. Come on now, you need to get Saxton to look at you." With the man's help, they limped back to the school. 

Kali hadn't said anything again, she seemed too bewildered to understand what had just happened. 

"If you can do that, why the fuck do you still need your magic for?"