Chapter 7: "Even the dullest stars can shine the brightest..."

"ISKATL! WAKE UP." Oh no. It was that time already, wasn't it? She had spoken about it briefly, then over the course of this week, it had been planned for today, but today was already here? Katja planned to teach all the village children, especially teenagers, about magic, welcoming anyone who was interested. The problem? Well...

"Come on, you're helping me teach, whether you like it or not!"

This woman was exhausting…Iskatl groaned as he pulled his blanket up to cover his bare chest. He thought to sleep in for once, but with Katja around, there was never room for relaxation. He waved her off as he growled softly, "At least let me get dressed, okay?"

He noticed Amani peering out from behind Katja. The whole gang was here, weren't they? Katja accepted and nodded, "Hurry up! Five minutes!"

A soft sigh escaped Iskatl's lips as he sat up in bed. Various furs on a wooden frame. This tribe that he was in was surprisingly advanced. He was always curious how far advanced humans were, if this was considered the sticks. As he got out of bed, the wooden frame creaked. He muttered "Hydro," and water splashed onto his face before glancing down at his body. Patches of red skin on his hips and stomach. They were always there, something he'd ignore. Reaching down to feel his red skin, it was tough yet had a texture that felt like that of a snake's skin. It almost felt unsettling to him. He'd never met a demon before, and he hoped he never would; as far as he knew, demons were all freaks of nature, almost as terrifying as dragons. Though from what he could tell, dragons seemed to be the dominant force in this world.

Sighing, he pulled his fur coat on, followed by his pants, and shook his head. He hoped some day he'd have softer clothes, maybe something similar to clothes from his old world, but that may be asking too much, especially from Katja and Skartha. So many mysteries to this world, yet he couldn't seek them out. He found himself shackled by obligation. Hopefully, things changed when he turned 18. At the very least, he was learning valuable skills for the journey he was to embark on. There was a war between humans and dragons, and he was supposed to end it.

Exiting his tent, he stretched with a deep groan as he looked around at the village around him. Katja and Amani were glued together as Katja went to various tents and gathered children who were interested in learning magic. There were quite a few children. Most young and would probably give up quickly. But some Iskatl could tell, they wouldn't give up so easily…he could tell just by their demeanor. One that immediately drew his interest was a boy around his age, Kouga. He didn't even notice him at first due to one simple thing. Everything in this world possessed mana; it was almost equivalent to a measurable form of one's life force, but Kouga? When Iskatl's eyes gazed upon him, there was nothing. Kouga didn't possess even a single drop of mana.

Iskatl, being the man he was, decided to investigate, and so he'd make an approach to this anomaly of a man. Kouga was actually quite intimidating in stature. A mountain of a man. Even at just sixteen years old, he was over six feet tall, around his grandfather's height, maybe even a little taller. Iskatl walked over to the group Katja gathered before patting Kouga on the shoulder. Kouga had a caramel tint to his skin, with bright blue eyes that seemed to lack the light that was typically in people's eyes, and this was more than likely due to his lack of mana. Iskatl and he were never friends, per se, due to the fact Iskatl typically kept to himself, but he remembered when they were young, whilst Iskatl was training his ability to block out the sensory readings from mana, Kouga was interested in what Iskatl was doing and kept breaking his focus.

The other boy looked at Iskatl and immediately gave a wide smile; his long black hair flowed down his back like a mane of sorts. Right. He was always a nice boy, wasn't he?

"Hey, Iskatl! Where's Elder Skartha? Is he not going to help Miss Katja?" He seemed excited at the prospect of learning magic. Hopefully, he wouldn't be discouraged by his obvious inability to use magic.

"Mmm... No, Kouga. Miss Katja has me helping her as her student, I suppose. She said something about repaying her for how much she's done for me. That woman is quite greedy, isn't she?"

Kouga tilted his head as his ears perked up through his shaggy hair, "I don't think so. Everyone helps each other around here. I think it's fair that she asks you to help her for helping you…"

Iskatl offers a hand to Kouga, who takes it; the boys then began squeezing each other's hands as Iskatl responds, "I don't have a problem with it, Kouga. I'm just saying Katja always makes sure you help her after doing something for you. Surely you can agree with the principle behind it?"

Kouga thought about it for a bit before nodding. "I guess I can see that, then! Y'know you've got a way with words and stuff, Iskatl!"

He looked almost unamused before he shook his head, "I'm not that eloquently spoken…I just read a bit, y'know?"

Kouga laughed before playfully punching Iskatl in the arm, causing the redhead to yell out in pain. "Careful!"

Kouga gave almost a yelp as he patted Iskatl's arm, where a bruise now seemed to be, trying to remedy the pain in some way. It was clear this gentle giant didn't even know his own strength. "Sorry, sorry!"

Katja walked over and looked at the pair with a laugh as her tail wagged, "What are you two doing?"

"I was just talking to Kouga, Miss Katja. He seems pretty nice." Iskatl stated with a soft smile as he looked to Kouga, who had a wide grin. He was pretty nice, yeah.

Katja shook her head slowly as she offered a soft smile to the pair before holding out a hand, gesturing for them to follow. "Well, come now. We're to begin in the meadow, so I'd like to leave now. Nine younglings, five teenagers. Some seem promising, others seem... Less so." She looked to Iskatl and subtly gestured to Kouga with that last statement before a grimace fluttered across the boy's face.

"Hell yeah! Magic! Oh, it's gonna be so cool to do all the stuff you and Iskatl can do, Miss Katja!"

Kouga was the first to head to the edge of the village, in the direction of the meadow Katja spoke of. He was extremely excited, which pained Iskatl's heart to watch before sighing softly. Amani was close by, and she'd close her eyes then open them, the distinct shine that followed extrasensation in her eyes as she gazed at Kouga. "Iskatl. You have to say something. He's your friend, isn't he?"

Iskatl shook his head. "I don't know the boy well, and I'd rather not break his heart. It'd hurt my own too much. I can't be so harsh."

Amani looked away from Kouga and directly at Iskatl, "You're quite the selfish one, aren't you? Disappointing. I'll tell him, then." She bounded over to Kouga, her full attention on that single task, only to have her wrist grabbed.

Amani turned to Iskatl, who held her wrist in his hand as her brow furrowed. Amani was a traditional kind of woman, kind to everyone, honest, yet she could be so dense. "Amani. Trust me. He needs to see it. Please?"

This is the man who saved her life, and he was telling her to stand idly by while such a joyous boy got his hopes up, only to have them sent to the very Abyss. What was his aim? "Fine," she responded curtly and with a tinge of distaste. She clearly didn't agree with this method, but she decided to go along with it regardless.

Kouga led the charge, with Iskatl following close behind him. The gentle giant was surprisingly quick for his size, like a flash in the night. Iskatl had to weave his mana into all of his leg muscles just to barely keep up, a trail of harmless flames following the path behind them as the kids pointed in awe at the two boys racing ahead.

It didn't take long for Kouga and Iskatl to reach the meadow, Iskatl panting heavily whilst Kouga was just letting out soft little pants as his tail wagged quickly, and Iskatl glanced down at his waist and sighed at his lack of a tail. Why was he the black sheep of the village? No tail, no wolf ears... if his grandpa weren't the Village Elder, he'd probably be an outcast. Thankfully, he has the privileges he does. Though these wolves were so loving and welcoming of everyone that he can't help but second-guess if he would be an outcast.

"You're pretty fast, Iskatl!" Kouga laughed before Iskatl nodded, saying nothing as he still struggled to catch his breath.

"You guys! Don't rush ahead like that!" Amani was the next to meet the pair; of course, she was. The moon was out, so she was quite fast during that time. He couldn't exactly place why, but there were some guesses he could make quite easily.

"Sorry!" The pair said in unison before looking at each other, tilting their heads in unison before they also blinked twice in unison... What.

"What?" They both said. "Huh?" They said afterward.

"STOP DOING THAT. IT'S CREEPY." Amani stamped her foot in protest as she squealed at the pair.

"Sorry!" The two said in unison once again before turning to each other and growling. Then, they'd grasp each other's hands, interlocking fingers as they started wrestling, testing each other's strength, all of Iskatl's muscles becoming swathed in intense red flames, but even still, Kouga overpowered him quite easily; veins throbbed in his muscles as he easily slammed Iskatl to the ground, pinning him there before laughing. "I WIN." What was this monster made of???

Iskatl exhaled deeply as he looked up at Kouga, who continued to laugh, getting off the red-haired one before helping him up. "You're really strong too, Iskatl!"

Sighing softly, he pinched the bridge of his nose. Did Kouga think his strength was natural? Even Iskatl had trouble keeping up with him... The boy with the Arcane Seal had a body that got stronger the more mana flowed through it was getting overpowered by some brute. Kouga was some form of anomaly; that was for sure…

Finally, Katja and the other kids had caught up to the trio, only to look confused at the scene before them. Iskatl had just noticed that where Kouga had slammed him down was a small crater. His back had flames all across it, as if they were trying to repair his body before he leaned up and flicked Kouga on his forehead.

"Be careful next time, you brute." A whimper from the other boy; he was almost like a puppy of sorts, honestly.

Katja sighed softly as she snapped her fingers; Iskatl immediately went to her side, Amani too. Amani raised her hand and sighed softly as it came into contact with the moonlight. She was anything but subtle... Iskatl looked at the children. Originally, they left with fifteen of them and now there were... Four?

Looking to Katja with a raised eyebrow,the elder would turn and whisper to him, "A lot of them didn't even want to make the walk. Lazy pups... Need more discipline and drive, it would seem."

Iskatl shook his head and laughed before Katja gestured for Kouga to fall in line with the others. "Right! As you all know, I am Katja. I am our Tribe's Herbalist, as well as a studied mage! A treasure trove of knowledge, both magical and practical, is what I am. I will now be teaching you all the basics of magic, so pay attention! If you have any specific questions, ask me. Iskatl here will be here to help this process go more smoothly. 'Kay?"

The kids looked brimming with excitement as they nodded softly. "First is Enhancement. You saw Iskatl here use it earlier. His mana has the properties of fire, so when you saw his body covered in fire earlier, that was actually his Mana Enhancement. Mana Enhancement is the act of weaving your mana into your muscles and your body, primarily to enhance three things. Can anyone guess what three?"

"Strength, speed, and endurance." Iskatl answered before Katja glared at him. "Oh, I didn't know I was asking you, Iskatl. Would you like to teach my class, then?"

He slipped up, shaking his head in worry. Katja was always so intense when she was in her teacher mode; it was scary.

"Anyways. Yes, kids. Strength, speed, and endurance. Next is projection. Allow me to demonstrate." Katja raised a hand, and electricity formed on her hand as it crackled and intensified before she held a ball of lightning in her hand.

"My mana has the properties of lightning, and so this ball of what you see as lightning is merely mana to me. This is what mana means to me, and what you see when I let you see my mana. Iskatl has flames, as you saw and I believe Amani here has some form of light. Hence why these two are helping me help you. 'Kay?" A soft smile as the ball vanished, and retreated within her body before she'd look to the five before them.

"This next one is harder to demonstrate, but it's something we beastkin do as naturally as we breathe. You just all don't know it; Extrasensation. Weave mana into your senses to enhance them, and allow you to sense mana through them. We beastkin can smell mana naturally, sensing it like we do our prey. Of course, when we weave mana into our noses, this is even stronger. Most human mages discovered Extrasensation by studying more civil, less dangerous beastkin. You lot are quite scary to humans!" She'd laugh softly as she closed her eyes.

"There exist other forms of Mana Manipulation. As human mages call it. But these are the core three. If you master these three, what you can manipulate your pure, raw mana to do is limited only by your imagination. Now, I want you five to close your eyes and picture this. Your body is a river, brimming with cold water and flowing forward. Now, imagine water flowing out of you through your palm, as if to expand into a deep waterfall, your palm being the precipice of such."

Katja talked like some nerd; maybe she rubbed off on him, and that's what Kouga meant earlier. Watching the kids before him, he saw a teenage boy with ginger hair and, though they were closed, Iskatl remembered the boy had green eyes. His skin was paler than most other wolves' skin.

Then, one was a slightly older girl with dark hair which had a blue hue, and fur of a similar color covering her forearms as well as her fingers, which resembled more a wolf's paws than hands. Come to think of it, she seemed familiar. They hadn't actually met before, he didn't think, but she seemed extremely familiar, and he couldn't place why. Then there was Kouga, doing his best but clearly failing, as was expected... poor boy.

After were two kids: one girl with silver locks and piercing blue eyes, and one boy with dark hair and pink eyes. Of all the unique-looking children, Kouga and the dark-haired girl stood out most to Iskatl. He couldn't help but think about that girl and why she seemed so familiar... He couldn't help but wonder, Third Descender? What if she? No. That couldn't be.

Iskatl sighed softly as he watched. First, the two younger kids; the dark-haired boy had lightning emanating from his palm, which quickly fizzled. Trying again, it only fizzled again and again. He wasn't concentrating hard enough, so Iskatl sauntered over and knelt down. He'd fix the boy's stance before whispering in his ear, "Imagine a storm. Imagine you are the storm. Now, imagine lightning gathering within the clouds that are you. Then, unleash it."

Imagining this, he'd then form a ball of lightning in his hand, similar to how Katja did. Looking over to the girl, she had a ball of energy in her hand. She had no elemental property, but she caught on much quicker than the boy beside her. Looking at Kouga, there was nothing. The boy beside him was struggling, but a small ball of ice escaped from his palm. Tiny, yet he managed it regardless. Iskatl prowled around the group as he examined them, looking to Katja before giving a nod.

Finally, the girl with the paws. An intense red energy coursed through her body, then a large red ball, the size of her torso, came out of her hand. Quite frightening, but it was beautiful in its own kind of way. She'd open her eyes; crimson eyes shimmered as she looked at him. She was older than he was; that much was obvious. Before being instructed to, she even made that red energy escape into her body just like Katja did before. Two prodigies. Two boys with elemental properties, then... Kouga.

Iskatl came over to Kouga and whispered to him. "Come with me, Kouga."

He said as Kouga still struggled to form his ball of mana. A sigh escaped Iskatl's lips as he grabbed Kouga's wrist. "We need to talk. Over there."

Kouga relented, and he would follow Iskatl. The two went deeper into the woods and away from the group as they could hear Katja continuing the class in the distance; her voice quickly became farther and farther away from the pair. "Kouga. Stand tall with your feet shoulder length apart from one another."

Kouga did so without question before Iskatl continued. "Now hold your hand out again and picture it: a river." Kouga did so.

"But the river has no water, doesn't it?" Iskatl asked before Kouga opened his eyes. The normally happy-go-lucky and joyful wolf had a scowl on his face. "What is that supposed to mean, Iskatl?"

"Answer the question, Kouga. You can feel it. Can't you? You feel empty, don't you?" Kouga looked up at Iskatl; tears began to stream down the larger boy's cheeks as he sniffled. "I..."

"Kouga." Iskatl offered a hand to the other, only for it to be declined, and Iskatl gave an annoyed growl, "Kouga!"

Kouga was now crying quietly. "I just wanted to be a mage, like you and like Miss Katja. That's all. You two are just so amazing, and-!"

Suddenly they were interrupted by Iskatl, "Are we amazing because we use magic?"

"No..." The disappointed wolf looked up at Iskatl, who held a neutral expression. He was calm and trying to be compassionate, but Kouga only saw someone he looked up to looking down on him.

"You shine so bright, Iskatl. I wanna shine that bright too!" Kouga shouted.

"But Kouga. You're nothing but a dull star, aren't you? Not an ounce of light coming out of you. But you want to shine?" Harsh, but this is what Kouga needed to understand. He had a harsh reality in front of him.

"Why are you being so mean to me? I thought we were friends..." Kouga sniffled as he continued to cry quietly.

"Mean? No, Kouga. This is a challenge. You can't use magic. There isn't an ounce of mana in your body. You're a dull star. No light behind those eyes. Even still... Even the dullest stars can shine the brightest." He didn't stop offering his hand to the kneeling wolf, offering a soft smile to him.

"Kouga. Shine brighter than anyone. Shine the brightest! You can't use magic, but who cares? Who cares about that, Kouga?! You're the strongest I've ever met, so why let that hold you back, Kouga? Shine bright, and never surrender. Never let your limitations define you!"

Kouga reached up and gripped Iskatl's hand tightly, "HELL YEAH! I'M THE STRONGEST!" That cheered him up really quickly! What a brute…heh, a loveable brute.