Chapter 6A: An Understanding

1 Week Four Days Since the Battle of the Grey

Abel wiped the sweat from his brow and narrowed his sapphire-like eyes as he stood shirtless in the field of freshly moved earth, the surroundings of the cabin completely terraformed into tilled soil.

“Another six feet and that should be it,” Kane said, watching from on high as she glided effortlessly through the air.

“Alright,” Abel said as he turned and clapped his hands, his ki circulating through his body and connecting with the mana in the air to heed his will.

Then, the soil began to shift, the ground bending to the call of the Hero in gold as he visualized what he wanted, and the world responded.

“That’s enough,” Kane said before flicking her wrist and summoning the hundreds of seeds the pair had gathered from a few squashes. On wind, the tiny pellets flew like kamikaze aircraft, the seeds moving in squadrons through the air only to slam into the dozens of mounds dug up by Abel. “Now, watch how I water them.”

Abel stepped backwards, each step taking him upwards as droplets of water condensed into floating particles of ice he used for leverage.

“Aquaranous, terin le’firmia,” Kane whispered, her eyes glowing with crimson as the air grew dense and droplets began to form in the air, the water mana answering her will as greenery nearby began to wilt.

“You need incantations to use water magic?” Abel pointed out, his tone more of curiosity than an insult. Still, Kane couldn’t help but be slightly annoyed by the comment, especially since it came from her former archfoe.

“I just never had a reason to really master lower entropy magic,” Kane grunted.

Unlike magic in most forms of media, it wasn't something one studied in this world, but rather a source of power one talked to. Like a language with different dialects depending on your affinity or natural inclination as a species. With enough willpower and understanding, one could level mountains, call upon typhoons, or even reverse time.

For humans, they had the omnipresent ability to be anything, able to excel and adapt until their bodies evolved into a specific path. While demons like Kane, were naturally powered by the forces of change and knew the language from their birth. Dwarfvens, elves, and beastren also had unique advantages to their species, but it was nothing compared to the raw power of a demon. As long as one knew how to communicate one’s will into mana, they could shape it however they wanted based on the limitations of their ego and power.

Of course, if one didn’t have the affinity for the specific element than it became much harder to use it.

Before long, a large torrent of water formed around Kane, a massive tendril akin to a snake that she expertly weaved through the outcroppings where the seeds were buried until every mound was colored in black instead of brown.

“There, did you see what I did?” Kane said, turning to Abel.

“It looked like you just splashed water everywhere,” Abel said.

“Of course, why would I expect you to-”

“I’m kidding. So they need a lot of water,” Abel said, summoning a neatly folded tunic and putting it on.

Kane scowled, looking over at the shirtless man whose chest and back were covered in scars. Relics of their clashes.

For a moment, Kane nearly asked why Abel hadn’t healed himself, but decided against it, instead turning back to the situation at hand.

“Yes, but they need to be kept cool otherwise they'll wilt. Preferably around sixty fah…renheit…” Kane explained before trailing off.

“What?”

“Nothing… just, haven't used the word fahrenheit in two decades,” Kane replied, the measurement of temperature used in this world different than the one they knew. “Did you find any roaches?”

“Y-yeah…” Abel said, frowning as he nodded towards a large mound of earth where every insect he could find had been moved by his earth magic. “At least a dozen or so.”

“Good, then we can start on the habitats,” Kane said as the pair descended. “Can you make sand?”

“I’m… literally able to do anything,” Abel grinned as Kane’s eyes rolled and she took out a sketchpad and began drawing.

“Good, then let's start by making some glass.”

Abel raised a brow.

The first step of creating their farm was to make a containment for their bugs. More specifically, the roaches. Although disgusting, roaches were high in protein and calories, easy to breed, and easy to feed. All one needed was a way to contain them.

“So… how do you plan on making glass?” Abel asked as he raised dozens of stones from the earth and began grinding them together to create tiny particles. “We don’t particularly have a smithing station around us, and don’t you need extreme heat?”

“Well, I have an idea for the container. So, you’re going to shape it, and then I’m going to flash fry it.”

“We’re talking temperatures of about two thousand degrees.”

Kane paused.

“So, you don’t know about farming but know how hot it needs to be to turn sand into glass?”

“I am… a man of many mysteries.”

“Uh-huh. Since you can’t use fire magic, you’ll be in charge of cooling and containment,” Kane said as she handed Abel her book with a crude drawing of a dome on an open page.

Abel narrowed his eyes and scratched his chin, his attention on the dome that sported a hole atop it with wiggles coming out that signified flames. Below the dome was a blueprint for the container itself, a glass box reinforced by mana and coated with ice at the tips to prevent bugs escaping.

“Normally, one would use vaseline to prevent the roaches from crawling out, but since we don’t have that, we’ll have to use ice to keep them in check when we open the container,” Kane explained, pointing out parts of the image.

“This… really sucks as a blueprint,” Abel said as Kane scowled, “But I think I get the gist of it. You need me to hold the container shape while creating a barrier to contain the heat?”

“Correct. It seems you have some brains after all,” Kane said, “The hardest part will be holding the shape as I build up fire and containing it so it doesn’t spread out and then cooling it.”

“So I have the hardest part of this.”

“What? Don’t think you can contain my flames?” Kane goaded.

“Ha! On the contrary, I look forward to us working together!” Abel smiled, much to Kane’s chagrin. Suddenly, Kane felt uncomfortable, an itch that started at her spine as the image of the man smiling at her was replaced with a blood-drenched smiling figure in white and gold, his eyes all but friendly.

“Sato?’

Kane blinked, the specter of Abel’s past gone.

“Look, let's get something straight here. I’m only working with you out of survival. Not out of want. Once we’ve fixed our food problem, we can go back to ignoring one another.”

“Ah… right right,” Abel said, still maintaining a half grin as Kane floated away. “Hey.”

“What?”

“What if I don’t want to ignore you?” Abel said, his expression serious for once.

“Fallen for me have you?”

“Ha, not at all,” Abel replied and shook his head, “But, we can’t pretend that neither of us are okay with ignoring one another.”

Kane frowned, a conversation budding that she had been hoping to avoid.

The demoness sighed. Better to get this out of the way now.

“So what? You want to be friends? Make up? Seek closure?” Kane spat, “You massacred thousands of my soldiers, terrorized the demon lands, and put my people to the sword. Or did you forget your atrocities, Hero?”

Abel cocked his head to the side, “Thats not fair. We were both pawns.”

“Yet it still doesn’t change what happened. It still doesn’t change the fact that when I look at you, all I see is a monster.”

Was it fair? No? Harsh? Perhaps. But after years of conflict, it was hard for Kane to reconcile the pain of their history so easily as it seemed to be for Abel.

At the word Monster, Abel’s expression waned as the man blinked repeatedly and looked away before seeming to find the resolve to look back at Kane.

“Look, we’ve both lost people, or did you forget Kairo? Lisuet? Port Hope? The cities you razed? Countless innocents incinerated by your flames. Men, women, and children.”

“It was war,” Kane hissed, her eyes dancing with flames as the air cackled with lightning.

“A convenient excuse when the accusation is sent back at you,” Abel replied as the temperature fell, “You played your part, like I played mine. Which is why we’re here isn’t it? To escape those roles. For freedom.”

Kane’s eyes narrowed at the word freedom.

“I’m not asking for your forgiveness Sato,” Abel continued, “Hell, I don’t even want it, all I want is an understanding.”

“Then understand this, I will never forgive you. I can’t. But I do understand Abel Wright, which is why we’re even having this conversation in the first place. Now, if you’re done, we’ve got work to do, so be a good hero and get to work,” Kane said as she raised her hands close to her chest and called forth the spark of war.