"Hey, this place sells cigarettes!" Grey said, looking in the stall of a street vendor. He sold many different things, not just the cigarettes. There were knives, daggers, food for journeys, some delicacies to be enjoyed while relaxing, and more.
Arthur looked at him, seeming rather disgusted. "You actually use those things? Even the previous king, who was known for indulging himself stayed far away from these…" Arthur stood beside Grey and looked over the weapons carefully.
Grey bought a pack, still having some of the gold left over from when they first caught the thief in that small village. They had been traveling for a week or so, stopping here and there in villages along the way, getting rooms in inns. However, no unlucky criminal managed to cross their path since the first thief, so they were running out of funds faster than they would have liked.
The owner of the stall also gave Grey a match. He put a cigarette between his lips, lighting the end, and taking a slow drag before exhaling the smoke with a sigh. He whispered to Arthur. "Any of these weapons worth it, or no?" Then, he recoiled at the taste of the cigarette. "Ah, shit… Tastes like dirt…" Cigarettes on earth were a lot more refined. He brought it to his mouth again anyway.
"No… Just cheap. Not very durable." Arthur said, looking over the few knives and daggers that were on sale. Grey didn't know how he could tell the difference honestly. They had stopped in this village in particular due to the fact that it was apparently the "best place to get weapons in this country." Arthur had said it like it was an indisputable fact.
"So, what are we even looking for, exactly?" Grey asked, walking next to him as they went through the streets.
Arthur looked around, from house to house. "A place where you'd get actually good weapons… I'm thinking a spear would be good."
"For you?"
"No, you."
"Oh, okay. Wait, what? We're looking for a weapon for me?" Grey looked at him incredulously. "Dude, you saw me against that thief, I couldn't even land a punch."
"I know." Arthur shrugged. "I'm gonna train you. Both physically, and also with your mana."
"My what?"
Arthur sighed in frustration, wondering if he should just abandon him tonight when they sleep at whatever inn they check into. "Mana is the energy behind magic. That time I shot lightning at the thief? That was magic fueled by mana that I concentrated into one singular point, then shot out." He looked at him as if this was an ordinary thing.
"Yeesh, no need to get all mad about it… How the hell would I know what it is when I come from a place where it doesn't exist?" Grey shrugged. Then, he froze, and smiled. "So, hey… Does this mean I'll be able to throw lightning bolts too?"
Arthur only sighed again. "Maybe. We have to see if you can even manage to control your mana."
-
They had walked until they were out of the village, in a large grass clearing now. The wind was blowing slightly, and the skies were clear. The air smelled different than it did in the city back home on earth. It smelled sweeter. Cleaner. Grey inhaled slowly, taking in the new smell.
Meanwhile, Arthur dropped his pack onto the ground, and turned to face him. "Mana training. Now. We'll look for a spear for you in a bit." He raised an eyebrow as he watched Grey sniff at nothing.
"Oh, uh, yeah." Grey also dropped his pack, standing in front of Arthur now. "So… How does this work, exactly?"
Arthur crossed his arms. "Mana works on elements, and runes. You're born with a rune for an element. You can get more later on, but it's best to first train with that. I was born with the rune of lightning. So, my mana condenses in the form of lightning." He snapped his fingers, yellow sparks forming around his hand, then disappearing.
"The better you get at controlling the mana inside you, the more you can bring out and manipulate outside of your own body. Like so." Arthur raised his hand, and a bright light emerged from it, the form erratic. He was holding lightning. He aimed his hand forward, and shot the lightning out at a boulder. The shot connected, and left a charred mark on the stone, along with several cracks. "Elements aren't the only form. But the others are… Exceptionally difficult to master. The runes that you have to carve onto yourself aren't given to the general public."
"It's not? Oh, right… There's an Academy, isn't there?" Grey looked at Arthur. "So… I'm born with a rune?"
Arthur walked up to Grey. Then, he grabbed the hem of Grey's shirt, and pulled it up, revealing his stomach. Beside the middle of his stomach, there was a rune on his skin, looking almost like a scar. The word was written in a language that Grey didn't seem to understand. But, Arthur did. "Hm. Ice. That's… Actually rather rare. Your mana will come primarily in the form of ice."
"So… I can freeze things?"
"Well, yeah. You can freeze things, and create ice at will. Of course, learn another rune, and you'll be able to manipulate a separate kind." Arthur looked at him curiously. "You said this body is different from the one you lived in previously, right? In your own world?"
"Yeah, it's quite different." He looked down at himself. "Why?"
Arthur narrowed his eyes, thinking. "Ice magic is rare, that's why. Every person in the world can use mana. But, only one in every one thousand people is born with an ice rune."
"Is mine really good, then?"
"No one mana is better than the other." Arthur sighed. "Ice may be able to beat a water specialist in a fight, but it would lose terribly to a flame user. But, a water user would beat a flame user. It's all got a balance."
"Oh, I see…" Grey stood there, thinking for a second.
"No one mana technique is all powerful. And being born with one kind of mana doesn't mean that your birth mana will be stronger than a person's same mana if they learned it. It all depends on practice."
-
After hours of training that was a lot more difficult than Grey thought would be, they went to an inn together. His entire body was sore. But, not just a regular soreness you would get from a regular workout. His soul felt tired too.
Arthur didn't exactly hold back when he was teaching him how to fight, often hitting Grey harder than what he could handle. And on top of that, he also made Grey meditate until he could bring mana out at will, in the form of small icicles. He made him do this until there was none left to bring out. Then, told him, "it's extremely exhausting to have all of your mana depleted, but after sleeping, most of it should be back. Resting will gradually produce more mana. So you technically won't ever run out."
"Damn asshole…" Grey mumbled to himself as he fell onto the straw bed. It was different from the beds on earth. But… Still surprisingly comfortable. He sighed, and rolled onto his back. They weren't even halfway to Thravos, and he hadn't even gotten himself a weapon yet. He was hoping not to need one. Grey fell asleep without much effort due to the exhaustion.
-
The next day, Arthur had woken Grey up early. He had his arms crossed, looking at him with a critical eye as the sun started rising. Grey yawned, "What are we doing that's so important that we need to be up this early?"
"We're no longer getting you a weapon."
Grey froze, suddenly feeling wide awake now. He remembered how it felt to suddenly be stranded after stepping out of the van with his friends, in a world he didn't know. Magic users much stronger and faster than himself could hurt him. And having no weapon to defend himself meant certain, painful death. "What the hell do you mean?"
Arthur sighed. Then, uncrossed his arms, and took the sword out of its' sheath from his hip. "You were born with an ice rune. You're an amateur, and don't know what a good weapon is. So, you'll probably grow old before finding the perfect weapon for yourself in this village. So…" He pointed the silver blade at Grey. "Make one."
It suddenly clicked in Grey's head. The idea made sense. But then, he remembered yesterday. How he could only form icicles. And they were frail, only the size of his fingers. "W- Wait, Arthur- I'm not skilled enough to do that yet."
"You'd be amazed to see the things humans pull off when they're desperate." Arthur stepped forward. "I'll attack. You either visualize and form a weapon and defend yourself, or you die, and never see your friends again."
Before Grey could say anything in response, Arthur had already swung. He dodged backwards clumsily, almost falling onto his back. Arthur didn't relent, and kept swinging at him. "Arthur, stop, seriously-" But of course, the man with golden eyes didn't even falter.
Then, Grey felt his back hit a tree. He was cornered. Arthur raised his sword again, and started to bring it down. Grey raised his hands, and closed his eyes. But, after a few seconds, he realized he didn't feel any pain where Arthur would have cut him. Only a cold sensation in his palms and fingers. When he opened his eyes, he realized he was holding a spear made of incredibly dense ice. Dense enough to stop Arthur's blade from cutting through the nearly transparent shaft. Arthur only smiled.