CH 4 Defeating the Dark Wizard

Alcor decided to calm down and make a few plans. It was still the middle of the night, around 2 am. Based on his habits, the wizard would be fast asleep for another 6 hours, unless something disturbed him.

He checked the improvement in the skills he had put skill points into.

The first skill he checked was his first and most favorite skill: Mana Manipulation. He found that after reaching LV20, his control over his Mana had increased greatly. He could form translucent solid construct with a little concentration now.

But his greatest gains were in Power Boost, Automatic-Recovery, Fleet Foot, and Enhanced Spatial Awareness. With the combination of these four, he would transform from a novice to a professional close combat fighter in an instant.

As long as he manages to trick the Dark wizard into coming close to him, the Dark Wizard will die.

'However, things rarely go according to plan.' Alcor thought and decided to have a backup to protect himself. With a deep breath to calm himself, he asked System to deposit the remaining 7 skill points into Curse Resistance. As an afterthought, he also dumped the remaining 23 attribute points into LUK.

With preparations complete, Alcor decided to execute his Plan A. Calling forth his Mana, he fashioned it into a pair of hands. These hands would perform just like his real ones.

This was the most wonderful part of Mana Manipulation that he loved. As long as he had enough Mana, Imagination, and Control, he could practically do anything he wanted with Mana.

Slowly making the Mana Hands move forward, he made reach the foot of the bed the Wizard was sleeping in. If he remembered correctly, this wizard kept his wand in a holster on his left arm, hidden within the long sleeves of the robe he wore.

Slowly and carefully, Alcor moved the Mana Hands with absolute concentration. One of Mana's hands gently pinched the edge of the robe's left hand sleeved and raised it bit by bit.

When it was raised a few inches, Alcor was finally able to see the wand holster. A fire seemed to burn within Alcor's eyes as he looked at the instrument that gave the Wizard power to hurt him.

"No, the longer will I be suppressed by someone like this," Alcor said as a change was seen in his aura. The aura that was like a Cautious Fox suddenly turned into a Roaring Lion.

With absolute determination, Alcor sent forth the other Mana Hand, which caught the Wand Holster, and the arm it was strapped to, with a vice grip. The pain caused by the muscles of his left arm woke the Wizard up and he screamed like a banshee.

Before the Wizard could gather his wits, Alcor made the Mana hand, which was lifting the robe's sleeve, grab the wizard's throat. The banshee-like scream was cut off with a gurgle as the mana construct choked the wizard with a machine-like grip.

While the wizard struggled to breathe while hitting the mana hand with his right fist, Alcor made the mana hand holding the holster rip it away from the wizard's arm. The straps of the holster lacerated the wizard's left arm as the holster was pulled away with great force.

The wand holster was carried by the Mana Hand to Alcor, like a humble servant. Under the horrified gaze of the wizard, Alcor calmly took out the wizard's wand from its holster.

Alcor raised his head to glance at the wizard and the mana hand grabbing the wizard's throat loosened by a tiny bit to allow the wizard to take shallow breaths to barely maintain his life.

"You know," Alcor said calmly, making the wizard get cold sweat from the unexpected turn of events "Wandlore says that if a wizard bests another wizard in a combat that was not a spar, then the wand of the losing wizard has a high probability of submitting to the winner."

Walking up to the wizard, Alcor stood a few feet away from him and raised the wand to point at the Wizard.

"Shall we test this theory?" Alcor said with a maniacal grin, as he pushed a bit of his mana into the wand "Lumos!!"

A burst of bright white light bloomed out from the wand, flashing in the wizard's face like a high-powered searchlight that had suddenly been turned on. Adding to the Wizard's misery, he had his eyes opened wide while staring at the wand, so his eyes got the full blast of light at close range.

"AHHHH!!!!" the wizard screamed, feeling immense pain from the retinas of his eyes. both of his eyes felt like they were on fire and were being pricked by blazing hot needles.

Alcor was pleasantly surprised by this result. He was only playing a gamble as he didn't know if Mana would really allow him to activate Traditional wizard spells. From what he knew, wizards from Potterverse generally used mental energy or willpower mixed with emotions to power their spells.

'Maybe Mana is a more evolved and stable version of what they utilize.' Alcor thought 'Also, it seems that with mana I can limit the requirements for wand movements a great deal. Mana combined with appropriate chant and intent seems to accomplish the same effect.'

However, Alcor felt the limitation to this method. While it was easy and required negligible concentration, it lacked the flexibility and versatility of his techniques with Mana Manipulation. He had tried manipulating Lumos's spell's light but had no success.

'Either I need to be a stronger wizard to do that, or maybe the 'spells' are limited in the manner they can be used.' Alcor thought. But he could not reach a conclusion as he was practically less than a newbie when it came to Magic.

While Alcor was thinking all this, the wizard's hoarse cries finally stopped as he slowly got used to the pain from his eyes. As he peered blearily through his bloodshot eyes, he saw Alcor lost in thought while holding his wand.

"Kid!! What do you want?" The Wizard asked hoarsely, making Alcor's attention come back to him.

"What do I want?" Alcor said in a steely voice as the mana hand on the Wizard's neck tightened its grip again.

"You came to me, tortured and treated me like a plaything, and now you have the guts to ask me what I want??" Alcor thundered, his anger making the Mana-hand grip the wizard's throat even tighter, making his face turn purple.

"Honestly I wanted to kill you a little while ago.." Alcor admitted, making the wizard nearly pee in fright "However, I realized I don't want your dirty blood staining my hands."

Before the Wizard could rejoice, however, Alcor's following words made him feel like he was dropped into an icy pit, "….So, I will let your fate be handled by the very 'Muggle' you treated like a servant like a puppet for so long."

The wizard turned his head to the side with difficulty and saw that the ferocious-looking man, who had been put under Imperious by him, gaining the light of comprehension back in his eyes. The man's calm apathetic look gave way to a sea of rage.

Alcor looked at his 'Boss' and said with a small smile, "A belated New Year's Gift for you, Boss."

The 'Boss' came forward with slow and deliberate steps. His entire powerfully built frame shook with barely held back rage.

As he reached the wizard, he first turned towards Alcor, "What is your name, kid?"

"Alcor Celesta," Alcor replied with confidence as he looked into the man's eyes confidently.

"Good name." the man said with a nod "I am Kane Birchwood. I am indebted to you. From today onwards, you are my sworn brother."

Saying as such, the man turned towards the wizard and his aura transformed. Even Alcor dropped a sweat against this imposing aura. If this wizard had not surprised this man with the sudden Imperious Curse, Alcor wondered who would have won in an actual confrontation.

Seeing Kane wanting to take the wizard away and deal with him, Alcor made the mana hand release the Wizard's throat. However, a human hand soon grabbed the released throat, with even more force than the mana construct.

As Kane dragged the Wizard out of the room, Alcor gave a sigh of relief. He was glad that he was able to defeat the wizard without a true confrontation. While he did have other backup plans, the risks associated with them were also more.

So, Although he was slightly disappointed that he could not beat up the wizard in a 'Muggle' way, he was glad that the threat on his life was resolved. Now he could completely focus on his new life as a Wizard.