by Andy Nadir
Chapter Seven
Laxus strode into the training field. On the left were several targets placed about every hundred meters. The middle was a plain section of field, with several rings drawn out with chalk.
On the right was a field with several logs sticking out. It was probably for training your spells. Laxus headed to the right side of the field.
He sat down before a stone log. He pulled the flute Tabitha gave him out of his pocket. “Now what?” He sighed.
He closed his eyes, and tried to clear his mind. He remembered how his instructor at Black Dragon had told him to use the hate from his parents’ death to fuel his spells. But, that was no longer him; he needed a new way…
The world swam, and everything went black. It was as if someone had pulled a sack over the sun. Laxus tried to stand up, but found he couldn’t move. He opened his mouth to hell for help, but a hand covered his mouth.
He watched as his shadow began to shake. Slowly, it rose from the ground. It took form. “Hello Laxus.” His shadow hissed.
“What happened?” He asked, his mouth now working.
“I pulled you out of the stream of time. You cannot move your body, but you can talk.”
“Why would you do that? I’m taking your advice! I need to learn new ways to fight!”
His shadow nodded. “Exactly. That is why I am here. I represent your power. If you want to be able to learn any new ways to fight, it will be through me.”
“What do I have to do?” Laxus asked.
“A contract. We want a contract with you. The contract will be that you shall never return to Black Dragon, and we will be able to make one request that you will not be able to refuse when the time comes.”
Laxus frowned. “Deal, but only if the request does not force me to hurt innocents, or my friends.”
The shadow thought for a moment, and nodded. “Deal. You will be able to achieve some new spells by meditating. They will come to you. Some will aslo appear in times of need. But, these are not like your old spells. It will be much harder to control the shadows, but once they are made, they will solidify unless specified otherwise. If you mix and match parts of spells, it can make stronger ones, but also could make mass destruction. Be careful, if you wish not to hurt your friends.” The shadows quavered, and dropped something on the ground. Then the flickered and faded back into Laxus’s normal shadow.
He hesitantly reached down and picked up what his shadow dropped. It was a sheaf of papers. He glanced at the title at the top of it. “Within this packet, you will find three bundles of papers. They will be “Stealth, Melee, and Mage. Each of these has different types of spells contained in it. You may choose a ratio of: full, one half of one class, and one half of another, or three quarters one, and a quarter for the next.” He read aloud.
“To choose, simply say which class(s) aloud with their quantity. Choose wisely, you will not have another choice.”
Laxus thought for a moment. “Well, last time I think I was pretty much a mage. My shadow said that It would be harder to manifest the shadows, and they would stay longer. That means I should probably have either stealth, or melee. I don’t really like Melee, and I don’t feel like constantly working out. But, stealth isn’t perfect, and it probably doesn’t have any strong long range attacks. That leaves…”
“I will have three-fourths Stealth, one-fourth Mage.”
Two bundles of paper slid from the sheaf. The rest of the sheaf sparked, and disintegrated. Laxus raised his eyebrows, and picked the two bundles. “That was…strange.” He said.
He looked at the larger of the two packets. He opened it, and began reading.
After a few hours, he set it down. “Man, those spells are complicated! But, I think I play this tune like this…”
He pulled Tabitha’s flute from his pocket, and began a tune. A second later, a shadow shuriken lay in his hand.
Laxus grinned. “I wonder how well this flies…” He threw it sideways, and it slashed through a wooden pole to his left.
Laxus winced. “I think I’m going to have to work on my aim.”
He walked over to the pole, and picked the shuriken back up, and began practicing.
Six days later, he met Niko at the training field. “Hey, Laxus! How is your training going? I learned how to make a minor illusion actually affect non-living objects! Is that cool or what?” He cried.
Laxus nodded, and grinned. “Guess what? I found out that I don’t have to play songs to summon my power! Its sound, not song. That means that words do fine, if I know which ones to say!”
Niko bounced up and down happily. “Hey, let’s see how strong we each got!”
Laxus shrugged. “Sure. Let’s see what you got!”
“Cloak” Laxus said, and he faded into one of the shadows cast by the poles surrounding them.
“Hey, no fair!” Niko called.
He raised a hand, and disappeared from sight.
“Caltrops!” Laxus hissed.
A mass of shadowy spies worked their way out of the ground, and scattered across the field.
“Ow! Gah, shoot! Really, Laxus?” Niko cried.
Laxus chuckled, but leaned against a pole. “Blast, this is tiring. Niko doesn’t even sound tired. I need more stamina.” He muttered.
“My turn!” Niko called.
Niko faded back into existence. With a wave of his hand, there were hundreds of his copies around Laxus.
Laxus laughed. “That won’t work! Only one of you is real, and that means only one of you can attack me.”
The copies all grinned. “We will see about that.”
They each bent down, and picked up a caltrop. They all threw them at Laxus. “Well, one caltrop won’t do any damage, especially from this distance. So if I just see where the pain comes from…” He muttered.
He covered his head. The caltrops hit him, and he yelped in pain. “What the heck? How did you do that? Those are only illusions!”
The Niko clones laughed. “I also learned that if you can make someone’s mind believe the pain is there, it will be. And with the pain, the body will be damaged as well. I don’t really understand it though.”
Laxus shuddered. “It’s good that my cloak shielded me from his sight, and most of the caltrops missed.”
“Vine”
Shadowy vines rose from the ground, and lashed out at each of the Niko clones. The vines passed through each of them other than one. The vine wrapped around the real Niko, and the thorns dug into him.
“Owch! Laxus, what is it with you and spiky objects?”
Laxus chuckled. “Pentagram!”
A star etched itself from shadows around Niko’s feet. “What’s this?” He asked.
Laxus just grinned. Ropes shot from each end of the star, and wrapped around Niko. Laxus dispelled his vine, and it melted back to shadow.
“Now, Possession!” Laxus said.
Niko tried to move, but found that his body was frozen. “Hey, Laxus! What’s up with this star thing? These thin ropes shouldn’t hold me, and definitely not stop me from moving!”
In answer, Laxus raised his left hand. Niko did the same.
Understanding dawned on Niko’s face. “You took over my shadow, and wrapped me up with it?” He asked.
Laxus nodded.
“Take this! My finishing move, Slap!” He called.
Niko reached up, and began slapping himself in the face.
They both burst out laughing. “All right, I give up.” Niko called.
Laxus released the spell. Niko jogged over to Laxus. “Hah, I think you could probably beat Tabitha tomorrow without my help.” He grinned.
Laxus shook his head. “We can’t get cocky. I am not sure how strong she has gotten since I last fought her.”
Niko shrugged. “Meh, I still think you could beat her.”
Suddenly, Niko fell to his knees, and groaned. “What’s wrong?” Laxus asked.
“Food!” Niko groaned.
Laxus burst out laughing. “All right, lets head to
the bar”
They sat down on the stools in front of the bar. “Hey, can we get something to eat?”
The bartender shrugged. “What do you want? Today we have lamb, beef soup, and bread fresh from Cedar Town’s bakery.”
Niko grinned. “One of each!”
The bartender nodded, and turned to Laxus. “And what would you like?” He asked.
“I’ll take the soup” Laxus answered.
The bartender grinned at them, and headed into the back. Niko groaned. “Man, this food is the best!”
“What do you mean? Have you been here before, Niko?” Laxus asked.
Niko nodded. “You realize that you have been practicing for days, and tomorrow is your fight with Tabitha, right?”
Laxus reddened. “Oh, man. I totally lost track of how many days I worked.”
Laxus’s stomach rumbled. Niko snickered. “Did you forget to eat as well?” He asked.
Laxus nodded. Niko paled. “Wait, really? You never left the field that whole time?”
Laxus shrugged. “Yea, I told you. I lost track of time.”
Niko sighed, and shook his head. “It appears that my friend is needs to be taught the importance of eating.”
Laxus laughed. “Weren’t you the one who wouldn’t eat anything when we were in Black Dragon?” He asked.
Niko shrugged. “Meh, that was then, this is now.”
The bartender came back to them. He placed their food down. “The name’s John. Nice to meet you, Laxus” He said.
He nodded at Niko. “Hello again, Niko”
Laxus shook his head. “Niko how is it that it takes you six days to make friends with the bartender, yet you still barely know anyone else here?” Laxus asked?
Niko shrugged. “He has food. I like food.”
John roared with laughter. He passed them each spoons.
Laxus dug into his food. “Man, this is really good!” He said between mouthfuls.
“Mmmmph” Niko said
“So Laxus, Tomorrow you fight Tabitha to see if she can join your team?” He asked.
Laxus swallowed and said, “Yes. Master Lairno said we need at least three people.”
John nodded. “Yes, the basic rules for the guilds say that all teams must be composed of three to five members.”
“Have you decided on your first job yet?” He asked.
Laxus frowned. “What do you mean? I have been wondering about these “Jobs”. What are they?” He asked.
John grinned, and pointed to a wall on the right of the building. “Over there are the jobs you can take. They all have different rewards and difficulties. I can show you a little more after dinner.
Laxus finished his dinner, and glanced at Niko. Niko saw Laxus glance at him, and tipped the rest of his soup into his mouth. He then crammed half a loaf into it as well.
Laxus fell over laughing. “You didn’t have to do that, now you won’t be able to chew it…” He started, but stopped as Niko gulped, and swallowed everything.
Laxus shook his head. “Man, you are hopeless. Hey John, can you show me more on the jobs now?” He asked.
John nodded, and stepped out from behind the bar. He followed Laxus to the board. “On this board are essentially three types of missions. The first, is retrieval. It can vary in difficulty because it ranges from finding a lost item to getting it back from a thief. If the thief is a monster, it might be hard for a weaker ranking such as a Wizard. Then, there are the battle quests. These are much like retrieval quests. You have to go and exterminate something or someone that is causing trouble. Most of these quests are suitable for meisters and higher. The final type is the Misc. These quests are only for Spellbinder and higher.
Laxus nodded, and grinned. He pointed at a retrieval quest near the top of the board. “Lost amulet- One thousand Ryu reward” He read.
Laxus grinned. “One thousand Ryu is quite a bit! And this is for any rank, since there shouldn’t be any battles. This looks great for my first quest with Tabitha and Niko!” He crowed.
John chuckled. “Man, you’re pretty confident, aren’t you?” He asked.
Laxus shrugged. “Yep. I trained for almost a week. And I have that secret technique…” He trailed off.
“What are you going on about?” John asked.
Laxus shook his head. “Nothing.”
John shrugged. “Ok, that’s cool.”
Laxus turned to Niko.
“Hey, why don’t you show me our rooms at the dorms?” He asked.
“Whoa, you mean you haven’t seen them yet?” Niko asked.
Laxus grinned sheepishly. “I haven’t left the training field for the last… six days you said?” He asked.
Niko nodded. “You have your key?”
Laxus felt the key on the rope around his neck. He nodded. “Great. Follow me, but don’t get into the habit. I don’t intend to lead you to your room constantly.” Niko said.
Niko led Laxus out of the Guild hall, and headed to a building to the left of it. It was a large square building, several stories tall. Niko and Laxus went in, and turned left.
“This is room 111, and that is room 112” He said, pointing to two adjacent rooms.
“I already took room 112, so you can have 111.” He said.
Laxus nodded, and put his key into the keyhole of room 111. The door opened, and he went in.
Laxus glanced around at the room. It was rather plain, with a bed, desk, and a few more things. There was a lamp with a flame burning in it. Laxus sat down at the desk. On it, there was a black book with a purple engraftment of a dragon’s head on it. Laxus opened the book, and a note fell out.
“This book is for you to record spells you discover. However, remember that you will not be carrying this book around. You have to have the spells you want to use memorized. – BD” Laxus read.
Laxus shrugged, and wrote down a few spells he had gotten from the packet that his shadow gave him. He put the book on the corner of his desk, and got into bed.
