01.03 - Father and Son

“Looks like the large meteor from before spawned a Greater Fire Elemental,” Aurelius said.

“Isn’t that an enemy usually taken down by a Throne?” Luc asked, his voice shivering with exhaustion.

“And the Fire Elementals would usually be tackled by a small group of hunters, yet look how you took care of two.”

“But I am all out of Aura. In a real fight, I’d be a sitting duck.”

“This is a real fight,” Aurelius said. ”Just thank the Lord on High that you picked the winning team.”

The Greater Fire Elemental now stood on the hill its smaller brethren had vanished on, and with a wide swing, threw a series of fireballs at the two puny humans standing in the distance.

Aurelius grabbed his still-exhausted son and evaded the attack with a short dash to the right while preparing a response of his own.

“Take a deep breath, and don’t exhale before I tell you,” Aurelius said, then took a deep breath himself. He estimated the distance to his opponent and poured a small amount of Aura into several Cores attached to a bracelet on his right arm.

Luc could barely comprehend the scene that followed.

As if drawn by a sudden force, all the air surrounding them rushed away toward the position of the Greater Fire Elemental.

The Elemental, and the flames surrounding it, were violently drawn to a tiny point of space slightly in front of the Elemental's body and vanished into nothingness. Only its Core remained. A fraction of a second later, the air that had rushed into the spot rebounded. Then shockwaves emanated from the spot and reverberated throughout the area.

“It’s over,” said Aurelius.

Luc finally exhaled and took a deep breath again.

“What the hell just happened? How did you do that?”

“Take a guess,” his father said with a smirk. “You didn’t think your mother fell for me just because of my good looks and great sense of humor, did you?”

“I… honestly, you could have at least bragged a bit. I thought… you know… since Mom is the only one to ever go on hunts… and you being a body double...”

“I’m retired.”

“That didn’t stop you from obliterating an enemy that would usually be taken care of by a Throne with a single spell, all without even breaking a sweat or exhausting your Aura.”

“Like father, like son, they say... You handled those Fire Elementals quite well yourself.”

“But I am all out of Aura.”

“To be fair, you have been training all day. You probably could have taken on another one or two Fire Elementals if you started fresh.”

“Probably, but I wouldn’t bet on it,” Luc said. “And I wouldn’t have been able to muster much of a resistance against that Greater Fire Elemental had I been on my own.”

“But you weren’t on your own.”

“Thank the Lord on High, I wasn’t. Do you think I could learn to use that spell of yours myself?”

“Maybe in a hundred years.”

Luc pouted slightly.

Then he recognized the faint sound of footsteps closing in on their position.

Moments later, three Thrones, piloted mechanical golems, from the nearby garrison appeared in the distance. The 19-meter-tall, silver-armored, black-framed, humanoid giants were a sight to behold, despite their age and wear and tear.

“I’d say we should intercept the remaining Elementals, but I guess the cleanup crew has arrived,” Aurelius said, while he slowly walked to the spots where the Fire Elementals had perished and retrieved their Cores. “I might not be a great hunter like your mother, but I think we should treasure our spoils of war.”

He tossed the Greater Fire Elemental’s Core to Luc, who looked at it, then back at Aurelius, then back again at the Core. It had five small orbs within and began to glow orange after Luc sent a bit of Aura into it.

“Exotic Orange Tier,” Aurelius said. ”Quite a good catch. It should be compatible with your Energy affinities, albeit a bit of a different flavor. I am sure you’ll get the gist of it sooner or later. Think of it as an early birthday present.”

Luc rolled the Greater Fire Elemental's Core between his fingers, feeling its latent warmth. Five orbs swirled within the orange glow. Exotic Orange, so much closer to his own internal Core's Rare Blue than the Royal Indigo Core he'd been using before.

“What Energy path affinities do you think this Core has?” Luc asked. “Maybe I could write an energy destruction spell? Or manipulate heat energy for ice or fire effects?” He paused, his gaze distant. “Or maybe potential energy creation for some kind of levitation?”

Aurelius's lips curled into an amused smile. “One spell at a time, Luc. Even spells with high affinity require patience to master.”

Battle noises echoed in the distance as the garrison's Thrones engaged the remaining Elementals. Occasional flashes lit up the darkening sky, followed by the delayed rumble of impacts. The smell of charred wood and scorched earth still hung in the air, though now mixing with the cool night air breezing through the surviving trees.

As they walked along the forest path, Luc kept glancing at his father with more questions than answers.

“Dad... that spell you used. It was incredible.” Luc kicked a small stone out of their path. “I know Mom is called 'Shadow Legion' because she mainly uses a spell to create long-term autonomous copies of herself. But what you just did...” He shook his head in disbelief. “Are you both about equal, or is one of you stronger?”

Aurelius chuckled. “Power isn't as straightforward as you might think.”