The Path Forward

Well this person was new.

Vandrad had not expected to find anyone else in the training room. It was rare for any of his guildmates to make the trip over to the extraneous room because no one else cared that much about training as much as he did. Sure, Mura had gotten better about it and Mercury came over from Silver Wolf but they specifically came to work out with him. He couldn’t recall a single time he’d come in and found anyone else occupying it. So Vandrad had come in with that expectation in mind, already planning out the regimen that he would take part in. He came to an abrupt halt as he opened the door and caught sight of a blond woman in there, pounding her fists against a sandbag she had set up. His brow furrowed in confusion as he stood in the doorway watching.

If she sensed him, she didn’t seem to care. She kept right on throwing jabs and working out her body. The prince took a moment to watch before he continued his way into the room, tossing his things on the ground near the entryway. He walked a little further before he came to a stop, crossing his arms over his chest and watching her. His eyes scanned over her, watching her form flow in the midst of simulated combat. They focused on the robotic limb, the synthetic replacement for what had been lost. Had she been born without it or was it an injury? That wasn’t easily figured by just looking at her. After a few moments of consideration, she finally finished her exercise and walked over to refresh herself. It wasn’t until after she had drank a significant portion of her water that she finally turned to look at him, dabbing herself lightly with the towel. She greeted him with a simple nod of her head and a misnomer for ‘what’s up’.

He stared at her for a moment before he stretched his neck out to each side, the muscles cracking and popping. "You’ll hardly get any kind of workout from punching a bag filled with sand,” he explained as he rolled one arm and then the next. "If you want to really get some exercise in, you need to fight someone who can make you work for it.” He then got himself into a fighting stance, clearly offering her a different method of training without actually asking her.

It always seemed that Vandrad came across people that caught his eye at the strangest time. He never expected it; in fact, most of the time, the prince actively tried to avoid people. In spite of his new position, he still wasn’t going out of his way to interact with people that much more than he already had before. He had his priorities and his responsibilities and he actually found that he was capable of handling tasks and assigning them could come virtually. He didn’t necessarily need to go and talk to someone, face to face. And when it came time for training, it was safe to say that Vandrad was always on a one track mind. Get through his workout and get back to his other tasks. When something got in the middle of that, it would usually cause problems.

But when a possible prospect managed to catch his attention, no matter the place, he gave it serious consideration. This woman was on the younger side but well built; she had already put some effort into strengthening her form. Her synthetic arm was interesting but frankly, was the least of Vandrad’s concerns. He’d seen plenty of disabled people before, several of them getting similar new attachments to keep them from losing a step or still allowing them to get a hand up, to put it one way. There was a potential power within her that seemed oddly familiar, a resonance that spoke to him and called out to him. She seemed… disinterested in him at first, focusing on refreshing herself and cleaning away her sweat before she turned and greeted him.

It was barely a greeting but it wasn’t like he wasn’t used to it. How many greenhorns in the army would reply with half-interested, prideful remarks when they were first meeting him or another superior? Too many to tell. But this wasn’t the army, it was the Fairy Tail guild and despite his placement as Ace, he didn’t expect anyone to just know him and his position by sight. Arcanos knows it took him some time to realize who everyone was in his own guild. Still, he continued to observe her for a moment longer before he started speaking, already taking on the role of instructor without offering or even introducing himself. He informed her that she would only find a true challenge in someone that could hit back and put himself in a fighting position.

She let the challenge hang in the air for a moment, watching him and thinking about what his offer meant. Continuing to let him wait, she took another swig from her bottle before she finally spoke, asking him if it was commonplace for him to go to the gym and challenge people he didn't know to a fight or if she just pulled the short straw? "Considering I am the primary occupant of this training room most days and host most of the training sessions, yes,” he stated simply. "As for luck, I suppose you won’t know about that until the match has concluded.” Without getting out of his stance, he watched as she deposited her bottle and towel to the side before getting into her own stance. She stepped forward, reaching out and offering her hand in a metaphorical gesture to start the match.

She wasted no time as his hand brushed against hers. Her arms shot out in a flurry of quick jabs and Vandrad used a single hand to bat them away, his arm slithering in front of him quickly and efficiently to keep her from landing a square hit. Still, it was an impressive strategy; attempting to keep him off balance from the start and see how quickly he could react. On his last deflection, his other arm snapped out in a punch towards her gut, followed by a turning kick to her side. Then he dipped down and spun with his other leg out, attempting to sweep her legs out from under her and knock her on her ass. "You’re new to Fairy Tail,” he stated, once more a simple remark without much depth.

It was clear this woman was trained enough in self defense and martial arts that she was capable of defending herself justifiably. His punch found nothing but air as she leapt away from him, putting enough of a distance for her stomach to be out of harm. As he snapped his leg out to kick at her, she raised her arm up to block the attack, pushing through the strength of it to hold it from her softer, more vulnerable parts. And as Vandrad slid down into a sweep at her legs, she chose to tank the damage from it, her legs unmoving as her clearly stubborn nature forced her to fight against it. It also opened up a perfect opportunity for her to strike at him as he came back up, her leg coming up and unleashing itself in a sidekick for his body. Rather than block it, he let the foot land true, the heavy thud of her limb meeting his muscle deafened more than it normally would be. He glanced down at her leg, still victoriously planted against his chest, before he knocked it down and away, getting himself back into a fighting stance.

He wanted to see what kind of strength she was working with. No doubt she was holding back; trying to get a read on him at the same time he was analyzing her. But it gave him ample opening to feel her physical strength. It was modest but not unimpressive. Her style, her stance, was all forged and crafted from training. She knew where to aim and what to aim to hit. As he stated that he hadn’t seen her around, she chided him for just figuring that out on his own. A slight narrowing of the gaze was her only answer, a remark that seemed all too familiar to something his Silver Wolf partner would say, though this girl seemed more amused more than anything else. His arms slid back to his chest as she moved in to pepper him with punches, the prince moving in tandem to block her strikes.

Apparently she had just joined recently. She’d never been in a guild before, as they weren’t commonplace in Bosco. An alien to the land as well -- something he shared with her. One arm moved to protect against the synthetic arm but it proved to be a feint, her body twisting to launch a back kick with an added spin at him. He turned into it, his free arm coming up to catch the leg at the heel. And then, mustering a bit more strength than he was using before, he turned his frame and attempted to throw her, holding her leg with the intent of tossing her away from him. It would hardly be a worthy throw; at best, it would send her rolling on the ground a few feet away.

But either way, he would move back in, this time launching punches at her from all directions. He even added in his knees, looking to slam them into her core and drive the air from her lungs. It would drain her, weakening her will and focus. He made like he was going to sweep for her legs once more but, instead, came back up quickly, a rising uppercut aimed directly for her jaw. "It’s been about a year since I came here from Bellum. Guilds aren’t a thing there either but I was part of a fraternity of sorts. The army.”

She recovered from his toss rather expertly. Managing to get back onto her feet, she threw up her arms to block his attacks rather than attempt any kind of dodge or counter attack. But what was the strangest part of it was that he could feel her absorbing an extraordinary amount of ethernano from each of his attacks, suctioning it down into her body like a sun panel with the natural rays of the star. It seemed she was allowing him to hit her, for the sake of building something up inside of her, set on release. A crafty technique, one that he’d utilized a bit in the past but not in great quantities. Once she had absorbed a courteous amount of ethernano from him and the air around her, she quickly dodged his uppercut, clearly not wanting to take the brunt of that attack.

With that, the balance shifted and she was back on the offense, dashing in at him and letting her limbs rain down quick, unpleasant strikes at him. Vandrad smoothly moved his arms to block the upper appendages, while he cracked his knees against her to prevent her from getting a solid blow on his abdomen. She said that she had been in the army as well -- the Defense Force. It was an impressive detail, one he knew about given his studying of Earthland’s differing standing armed forces. She admitted to an honorable discharge recently and the prince could only wonder if it had something to do with her mechanical arm. Before he could think about it too much, she brought herself even closer, her leg choosing to snake behind his and lock them together. Then her fist came rushing forward, meeting his forearm but releasing a pulse of kinetic energy that she had been brewing.

It was enough to knock him back and cause him to lose balance, thanks to her precisely planted leg. It was clever, even he had to admit that. Instead of fighting it, he let gravity pull him back and threw his arm down, catching the ground and flipping the rest of his body backwards. At the same time, he stretched out his hand to the air and took hold of the release particles of ethernano that had struck him, the remnants of the energy she had used to strike him. With a great deal of focus, he pulled the energy back towards him as he popped out of his backflip and thrust his hand forward at her. Another burst of kinetic energy erupted from his palm, the reverberation shaking the ground as he unleashed a near-invisible wave of familiar ethernano at her.

As she dealt with that, he rushed in at her from the side, leaping at her with a flying punch. His own magic took hold of him, allowing him to levitate in the air as he twisted around and sent a scorpion kick at her head. Then, with another twist of his body, he lashed out a side kick at her side but before it could impact, he released his own version of her attack, a pulse of kinetic energy with an aim to knock her down.

Saffron had managed to put her arms up in a defensive stance when his counter-attack hit her but it still managed to push her back several feet. Yet it also served to blind her to his offense, as Vandrad took to the air and assaulted her quickly. His fist hit her solidly, putting pressure on her to defend herself or suffer similar injuries. She managed to block her head from any extra damage and then make a wild grab for his leg. Unfortunately for her, his mastery of the air and combat within it gave him plenty of room to move out of the way and deliver towards her another kick, which she managed to block. But she’d lost her grounding by using her leg to block and as the prince unleashed another near-invisible blast, she was sent flying backwards from the full force of the spell.

She managed to get herself into a semi-defensible position fairly quickly, rolling over her body and winding up in a half-crouch. But before Vandrad advanced to keep the spar going, he felt an extreme amount of magical pressure emanating off of her. Not only that but there was an aura of golden light wrapping around her limbs and body, outlining her entire form in its glow. Not only that but her hair had taken on a bright sheen as well, as if she had funneled energy into it. Yet, from his quick observation, he could tell this wasn’t something that she was intentionally doing. As she got to her feet, ready to continue, the overwhelming force within her became too much and she collapsed onto her knees.

Vandrad could feel the ethernano in the room lean towards her, being sucked up at an abnormal rate. His eyes widened just a tad as he realized that her ability to absorb the natural, magic-gifting particles in the air was just as keen as his. Her magic felt different but it was eerily similar to Energy Monarch. No doubt some kind of branched magic that had originated from the source where his magic power came from. She didn’t seem to understand that, though. If anything, she seemed to be suffering in an attempt to keep it under control.

Brief flashes of his childhood ran through his mind, as he recalled just how tumultuous his attempts to control his magic had been. Even when his other magic had come to the surface, his instinct had been to grapple it and wrestle it for control. He knew quite well that doing so only compressed the power further and made it that much more uncontrollable -- and dangerous. She warned him to stay back, her words a struggle through a tense jaw and body. Vandrad studied her for only a moment longer before he walked forward towards her. As he went down to one knee, his Empowerment overtook him, instantly transforming him into a shining golden beacon not unlike her. His hair had even magically grown in a flash, as long and bulky as Saffron’s. And his eyes were a shining teal as he got down to face level with her.

"Do not try to push it down,” he told her, his words not unkind but certainly not soft. "You are trying to hold a door shut on an explosion. The more you push against it, the greater its strength grows. Let it out, bit by bit and truly feel it in you. Feel it pump through your veins, invigorate your flesh and bones; let your body understand that this power is coming from you and is a part of you. And instead of trying to shut it down, focus on it. Focus it inwards and outwards. This magic power is yours. And when it absolutely has to be released in a direction…”

"Aim it at me.” Vandrad spoke the words easily and confidently, unafraid of what she could throw his way. She needed to know that by embracing her power and letting it out at a target, she’ll finally begin to understand how to utilize it fully. And the prince was willing to be the one in her sights.

The woman was caught in a whirlwind of power emanating off of her and she had no means of catching it. She had a lot more strength within her that she was attempting to keep within but it was quickly getting the best of her. She could barely even move, her warning to him quick and concise but using the last bit of outward focus she could express. Vandrad knew that all too well and while he couldn’t claim to be a master of it entirely, given how his control over his own dark energy had been a trial and was still ongoing. But the energy manipulation she was going through was all too familiar to the prince and one he could help with.

He transformed himself, giving her a peek of precisely how capable she would be, once she attained control. The ability to morph his physical form based on his own choices and distribute the power accordingly would greatly benefit her in the future. But he had to gain her trust and he decided to do so by showing her what lay for her down the line. And then he took it a step further; giving her all the advice he wished he’d received when he was younger and then giving her the opportunity to release everything she’d been building right at him. It was not an easy ask on either side but he knew she needed it. It was whether she was able to take that risk.

She wasn’t able to accept or decline, her body rigid and overwhelmed with magic. But slowly she closed her eyes and turned her attention inwards, breaking down her body into segments within her mind. She funneled the power, the prince sensing it as she found a way to pour her magic into her gut. It was a slow, methodical process but she managed to accomplish it with great amounts of focus; attention that she had only used prior to try and slam the lid on her energy. Vandrad watched as she brought up her arm and faced it towards him. Giving a small nod, the prince brought his energy to the surface, his aura simmering down as it wrapped around his body in a protective layer of magic. From the palm came a small release of energy, pouring out in a slight trickle. It was something but not what they were going for.

She seemed to pick up on that and after a moment, her eyes snapped open and her hair flared with new vigor. Her arm pulled back and then, as it snapped forward, she released a primal scream along with the magic that had been boiling up. From the fist came an explosion of power, slamming into Vandrad’s chest and sending him skidding back on his heels. His hands rushed forward and grabbed the invisible force, his own magic allowing him the ability to feel it physically. He dug his fingers into it and then, with his own grunt, he ripped it apart. Another explosion rocked the room as the kinetic force instantly evaporated but not without letting out a dying scream in the form of a shockwave. The prince glanced backwards and found his back near the wall, the barrier having been several yards away from where he’d last been.

He glanced back to Saffron and, once again, cracked his neck before stretching and cracking his fingers together. "Good,” he said as he started to walk back towards her. "Again.”

Vandrad imagined that him coming back around and practically demanding that she repeat her expulsion of energy would earn him a bit of a shocked look. He understood that what she had unleashed was something she had never done before and she was probably more interested in celebrating the achievement than anything else. But Vandrad was not one to throw a party over a single step forward, especially one that had been so guided. A lot of people he’d trained usually were so flabbergasted at the result of their efforts that they were resistant to continuing. Saffron certainly had the look at first but then, after a moment, she righted herself and insisted that the only way she was continuing was if he hit her more. His brow lifted slightly at the statement but then he nodded, giving in to her demands.

And so they continued to fight, sparring at the same speed and with the same energy as before. The woman continued to push forward, as little as she could, grasping to gain some kind of control or recognition of what it was she had. Her attitude aside, she seemed to be a hard worker that was unwilling to give up until she had used every ounce of her energy. And they found that point rather quickly, lasting only a few minutes before she raised her hand and stated her intent to give up. Vandrad swiftly stopped his approach, halting on his heels as she caught her breath. As she remarked about how hard he could hit, her snorted softly and relaxed, though his Empowerment remained around him. She practically crawled over to get her water bottle, drinking from it as if it was the only fountain she’d come across in weeks.

As the prince brushed some sweat from his shoulders, ignoring her stare as she contemplated, he glanced over at the wall. He was already thinking about grabbing the portal datapad and reading some of the readouts when she spoke up, pulling his attention back to her. He looked over his shoulder at her as she explained that she had never channeled power in that form before nor with as much strength. As he knew, Bosco was lacking in mages and those that did possess the ability to use magic were practically worshipped. Saffron had just been starting out with the Defense Force but she was already being considered for the Magia Squad, Bosco’s elite soldiers that were composed of the wizards that did come from the country. And because of the limited numbers of magic users, that meant learning more about her power had been a hard task. She had to train herself to use it, to understand it and she never quite felt like she made any real, tangible progress.

She continued, bringing up her mechanical hand in front of her face and explaining that she had nearly been killed in Pergrande and rightfully should have been. She had been tasked with joining the Magia Squad, as a means of testing her potential for initiation. But rather than come out with flying colors, she had seemingly lost her arm and got herself beat around by a pair of Paladins. It seems the Paladins all had the same strategy -- deploy into battle once the enemy had worn themselves out on the fodder. It was brilliant when it worked, though the two of them there proved it wasn’t always successful. A new robotic limb and honorable discharge later and Saffron had accepted that she needed to move forward with her life, as she wasn’t going to get any answers for her mysterious power. That was until she had run into him and as her eyes met his, she asked him what she possessed, seeking some quantifiable answer that would relieve years of questions and mysteries.

Unfortunately, Vandrad didn’t know exactly what it was she had, at least not every detail. But he could provide his observations. "You have a magic similar to mine, which means that it is very rare indeed. It doesn’t operate exactly the same way; perhaps a magical relative to my own, to put it in layman’s terms. Your body absorbs the energy that is used upon you, though seemingly that is limited to kinetic energy for the moment. Think of it like a sponge; you’re soaking up the water and bolstering it for your own means. The problem is, as we’ve seen and you’ve explained, you lack control of it. You soak up too much and aren’t able to properly circulate it. I imagine your telling me to get away earlier was in case you accidentally went critical and exploded.”

He didn’t need her to confirm what he already knew. "When I first started using my magic, I had a similar issue. I absorb the ethernano from the world at an increased rate; not only that but I can absorb loose particles from attacks used against me. It was named ‘Energy Monarch’ because hypothetically, I can utilize any element that exists. But it’s been built around my standards, my goals so it is used a little bit differently.”

Vandrad allowed his Empowerment to drop for a moment, reverting his features back to their normal dark selves. "Your features seem to change accordingly as well, though it seems that might be more subconscious than you actively making that choice. My spell, called Empowerment, takes all the magical energy I have and buffs my abilities.” His eyes seemed to trail off for a moment as he concentrated and then, in a flash of gold, his hair turned blond and his eyes a pale green. "There are different tiers, based on how much magic I’m funneling into myself. This is the lowest and it’s, admittedly, difficult to attain nowadays. It’s a bit like picking up a dumbbell that’s too light to provide any stress; I feel no benefit or gain from it so I can’t switch it on easily. The one you saw is the highest level of what I call my ‘golden form’.”

"And this…” A rush of ocean blue exploded from his feet and overtook him, replacing the gold draping his body in a glowing sapphire. "Is my maximum level. You can probably feel the difference.” After a moment, he let the Empowerment drop for good. "If your magic is as malleable as mine is, you should possess a variety of possibilities for what it can be used for. What you require is training though. Luckily for you, I’m the guild Taskmaster -- the one responsible for making sure each Fairy Tail wizard is operating at their peak magic and physical performance. So if you want answers, then I’m the one you need. I can help you get the control you want and more… so long as you desire it and you’re willing to put in the effort.”