Lives flashed before Nico's eyes. His mother's smile. Eleanor's indifference. His optimistic proclamation. Everything replayed over and over.
SLICE!!!
Nico fell back first with his gaze facing upwards. The beast's head dropped on his chest. The body trashed around for a while before dropping dead.
Torvald slowly got out of his pose. The pose of mages with wind elements.
Torvald had created a wind disc to slice off the sand dragon's head.
"The beasts sense your fear and agitation and they use it against you. Your fear fuels their destructive capability." Torvald explained and walked towards Nico whose gaze was still facing upwards.
He was still rearranging his thoughts when hot lines of tears strolled down his ears.
If only someone this strong was in his village during the time of attack. Maybe. Just maybe his family would be alive by now.
"If you're feeling angry at yourself for being weak, it's natural." Torvald said sternly and when he'd gotten close enough he sat down beside Nico.
"I want to become stronger!" Nico declared, still looking upwards.
"I want to avenge my mom. Eleanor. I want to kill the man in the straw hat!" The killing intent in Nico's words stunned Torvald.
For a seven year old, he was dangerous.
"To go on living your life, you have to pay your respects to the dead." Torvald reminded him and stood up, making his way into the cabin.
Nico wasn't surprised that Torvald knew about the incident in the village. After all, the man pulled him out of there but he was still curious as to why Torvald didn't want him talking about it.
The following day, Torvald walked Nico back to his village to give his family a proper burial as a show of final respect. From a distance, Nico could already perceive the smell of coagulated blood.
His stomach rumbled.
But he summoned courage. His face was emotionless, cold, detached.
"Let's bury them all." Nico said as soon as they stopped.
The dead bodies were already being preyed on by scavengers. Torvald was taken aback by the kids' show of affection for the dead villagers.
Torvald raised both arms and the floor began to rumble. Beneath every body, a hole was made– six feet deep. The bodies fell in.
Nico stared in awe as the man used his earth element to create graves for the bodies. He was indeed a dual elemental mage– a strong one at that.
"Thank you, Mr. Torvald." Nico's voice was cold, holding no emotion.
Then, Nico walked to his mother's grave and he fell on both knees and bowed. Torvald clenched his fists tightly and sand began to cover the graves.
Nico didn't stop bowing until the graves were covered completely. Then the boy slowly lifted his head, his irises glowing blue faintly.
From where Torvald stood, the pressure emitted from the young lad was pulling his feet into the soil.
Torvald mouthed, 'Magnificent.'
He admired the kid. Even with an unrefined mana core, his spiritual energy was already this powerful.
"Mr. Torvald, what must I do to become stronger?" Nico asked and slowly got up to his feet.
"Whatever skill you can teach me, I'm willing to learn." His gaze was still fixated on his mother's grave.
Did the kid really not know about his mana core? He could choose to practice magic yet he wanted to learn martial arts?
"If you survive, that is." Torvald said coldly to test the boy's spirit.
"I'm not bothered by that. Will you teach me or not?" Nico replied almost immediately stunning Torvald. The boy wasn't even looking at him.
"I will teach you the ways of the sword. Whether you're a conjurer or an augmenter, the best way to use your powers is by channeling it through a medium." Torvald said and dropped a soul shattering gaze on Nico.
Nico sensed the killing intent and his irises glow became darker, revealing the deep hue of blue.
Torvald was impressed. The kid was holding his own.
"We're heading back to the cabin. Whoever arrives last cooks dinner." Torvald said with a mischievous smile.
With that, Torvald sped off. Propelling his speed with wind element. Nico soon realised that his training had already begun.
Nico began to run. He could tell he was faster than a few nights ago. Unsure of the changes, Nico sped on trying to keep up with the old man.
They soon got to the woods. The hardest part of the hurdle.
Nico didn't know his way around so he just sped on trying not to lose sight of Torvald. Surprisingly, he wasn't getting tired. Whatever brought him back to life the other day must have sharpened his muscles too, he thought.
Torvald looked back at intervals as he ran. Nico was slowly keeping up. A seven year old amateur was about to beat him, a veteran mage in raw speed.
Torvald took a sharp turn, increasing his speed to maximize the distance between them.
Nico took the same turn but he was blown back by a strange force.