Blade Over Magic

Explanations and Comprehensions

Xander’s eyes snapped open, and he sat up with a start. He looked around, only to be surprised at the scene before him.

He was back in the tent’s living room, his body on top of several blankets that had been repurposed to act as a makeshift mattress.

On his lap, both Mia and Keir had taken their positions. Meanwhile, Aubrey and Falael slept with their heads on the center table. Lastly, Mary stood dutifully a few feet from Xander, and he saw her let out a small sigh of relief when their gazes met.

’You’re alright, Milord.’ She spoke telepathically while giving a small curtsy. At this point, Xander knew her well enough to deduce that she was quite happy about his awakening.

Xander was silent for a moment, then he asked.

’What happened? And where is Curtis?’ Having expected the questions, Mary immediately answered.

’Mia seemed to know what the results of your battle was, as she brought you and Curtis here at some point after she sent you away. However, both of you were in suboptimal states. Granted, he was much worse off than you. Your other teammates, Aubrey and Falael, were understandably shocked, both by the form Curtis had taken and the states both of you were in.

Either way, as Curtis is still in his canine form, Mia healed him before teleporting him somewhere. She healed you, as well.’ Hearing this, Xander’s mouth twitched. He wasn’t exactly sure what ’teleported somewhere’ entailed. He just hoped that Curtis wasn’t currently floating in some empty void.

Regardless, he nodded slightly as he recalled.

’Right, I’m practiced using that state I was in until I ran out of Mana. I must have passed out the moment it happened.’ He thought to himself and clenched his fist slightly. All things considered, he felt very happy.

’At some point, Mana Breathing had just become a good training tool for me rather than something to properly augment me. Granted, what happened wasn’t standard buffing. But regardless, I’m quite happy with it.’ He rubbed his chin.

’That said, thinking back, it’s not something I can use casually. For starters, the mana cost is obscene. Even if I used it with a full pool of mana, I’d barely be able to sustain it for a few minutes. There’s also the high concentration requirement. If I were to slip up using it even a little, my body frequencies won’t return naturally, leading to backlash. Hm. More tests are required.’ With that, he spoke to Mary again.

’Speaking of Curtis... I have a few questions regarding what happened.’

’I’ll answer to the best of my ability.’ Mary nodded curtly.

Xander was silent for a moment, then he asked.

’He’s a Lycan, right? I’m confused, I thought Lycans were still primitive and barely sentient. But he seems pretty intelligent to me. Moreover, his personality and what I remember about Lycans seems very different.’ He pointed out. He recalled that Lycans were quite territorial and weren’t exactly fond of non-Lycans. Heck, they barely got along with each other.

Once more, Mary seemed to expect the question.

’Under normal circumstances, yes. However, after seeing him again, I’ve come to the conclusion that Curtis is somewhat of a hybrid.’ Xander’s eyes jumped.

’Hybrid? Like, Human and Lycan? That’s possible??’ His surprise was palpable, only for Mary to give him a deadpan stare.

’You’d be amazed by the number of things humans can breed with.’ Hearing that, Xander suddenly shuddered as he recalled a saying used by certain... odd people back on earth.

’If there is a hole, there is a way...’ He ripped that thought away and silently cleared his throat.

’A-Anyway, what about his power? To be frank, Curtis while transformed was a force to be reckoned with. I haven’t encountered Lycans before, but it seemed quite exaggerated.’ This was something that perplexed Xander. Lycans were deemed as mid-level threats by the kingdom. But if the power Curtis displayed was normal, then he was pretty sure that assessment was grossly incorrect.

’While Lycans aren’t as weak as most might assume, I can guess that Curtis most have been especially powerful if he left you in the state he did. So I have a theory, but I’m not 100% certain it’s correct.’ She paused for a moment, then she explained.

’Lycans are particularly powerful in terms of physicality. While they do have mana, they very rarely use it to practice magic. At least, not in the way we are used to. However, with him being a hybrid, not only does he have the mental faculties of a human, the innate quality humans have to develop different elemental affinities, like his ice affinity, also appeared.

Now, you might not know this, but the larger a creature is, the larger its mana pool. It’s why elemental spirits like myself are massive when we assume our true forms. Granted, this rule isn’t absolute. Most of the main races are exempt from it.’ She inhaled slightly before continuing, and Xander listened in rapt attention.

’Humans can grow their mana pools without needing to increase their size, but being part Lycan, which has this size rule, by transforming, his innate mana pool as a human swells dramatically, allowing him to use far more spells and magic. Then, coupled with the spike in physical abilities from his Lycan form, I can imagine he was indeed quite formidable.’ Xander’s eyes widened in slight amazement.

’Whoa... so you’re saying that since he’s a hybrid, rather than his two sides diluting each other, they instead enhanced themselves?’ He summarized.

’In essence. Hybrids aren’t necessarily worse off than their parents. It’s one of main reason interracial breeding is still allowed.’ Xander nodded calmly. He also suspected it had something to do with dominant and recessive genes interacting weirdly with each other when mana entered the equation, but biology was never his strong suit.

After a moment, he glanced at the clock and realized there were still 2 hours until sunrise.

’I could probably get some training in...’ At that moment, Mary narrowed her eyes at him.

’I’m sorry, Milord, but while your injuries may be healed, your mana pool is almost completely depleted. Physical exertion will only worsen the absorption process.’ While her words were polite as usual, Xander could easily read between the lines.

Don’t be stupid and rest properly.

Suddenly, Xander felt indignant. He was about to complain when he paused.

Keir had exhaled and shifted slightly, but he didn’t wake up. Still, seeing the baby dragon. He suddenly recalled.

’His flames could end the target without harming the body directly. A soul attack, then?’ His brows knit together as he felt as though there was a lightbulb over his head, but it was flickering on and off like the idea was struggling to form.

’Possible soul flames... non-physical damage. That’s relevant. But why? Come on brain.’ He tapped his forehead a few times as he took the comprehension of Keir’s flames and started applying it to different problems.

Then he had his Eureka moment.

’The Azure Tree!’ He turned to Mary.

’Mary, how viable do you think it would be for Keir to use his flames on the Azure Tree? Can it heal from soul damage?’ His sudden question and enthusiasm took her by surprise, then her gaze turned contemplative as she started considering the question.

’... That’s under the assumption that his flames indeed deal soul damage. That said, they do seem to inflict a form of non-physical damage that’s clearly lethal. From what we’ve been told, the tree can recover from physical attacks. But there was no indication of it being immune or having any resistance to non-physical attacks. Granted, no one has actually attacked it with such an attack. So it’s hard to say.’ She looked at him curiously.

’Why are you suddenly bringing it up?’ Hearing this, Xander exhaled.

’My hope is that my father can arrive here before the ants run out of food and start swarming this place. But if he can’t, we’ll inevitably need to defend this place until he or someone else arrives. If that happens, we’ll have our hands full with the ants alone, meaning the Azure Tree and the Ravine will be left unattended, which will be a recipe for disaster. If possible, I’d like for us to resolve both problems before that happens. That way, we can focus our full attention on the ants.’ When he said this, Xander was surprised to see Mary’s gaze almost... soften, slightly.

’... You’re an admirable person, milord.’ Xander blinked, unable to react for a moment.

While Mary served and even respected him to a degree, she rarely gave such heartfelt comments, so he wasn’t sure of how to react for a moment.

It didn’t feel bad, though.

’Uh, thanks. I’m just... thinking ahead, that’s all.’ He scratched his head and sighed. Then he looked at his teammates. The sleeping Aubrey and Falael. The small form of Keir. And Mia, who he had the sneaking suspicion was completely aware of the conversation but simply chose to—or rather—didn’t care to participate in.

He also thought about Curtis who—if he remembered—would probably have a meltdown after he was brought back upon returning to normal.

He also thought about the possibility of there being a traitor among the higher-ups in Landor, and the unsuspecting soldiers and civilians unaware of the massive bomb under their feet.

He thought of all the problems needed to be dealt with in just a week or so, and he closed his eyes, took a deep, deep breath. Then he exhaled calmly, and his eyes were filled with clarity when he reopened them.

’Alright, then. Let’s deal with it smoothly.’