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Chapter 746: Fire and Steel
🕑 Added 2023-12-23 21:59:18 +0000 UTCAlex and Bjorgrund came at each other at least a dozen times in an hour, each time the giant was moving a little faster, reacting a bit more aggressively.
Alex continued using the Mark of the General, seeing his speed and combativeness increase in bounds. The last three years spent battling monsters—dodging and foiling attacks with dance moves that translated to fight positions, time spent learning anatomy, and even longer perfecting his abilities in the kitchen, all came together. Those skills blended, taking him to a new path of using offensive attacks, adding them to his well-honed defensive ones.
A strong body that had grown accustomed to defending itself, was quickly learning how to take the fight to an opponent, and quicker than he’d thought possible—the sword felt more natural in his hand, like the natural extension of his own arm.
The Mark of the General was helping him learn, and he was taking to the lessons well, continuing to read Bjorgrund’s body language, eagerly watching and predicting his moves. Openings were now easier for him to take advantage of.
The General of Thameland was creating a new fighting style all his own: one combining the flourish and agility of dance, the knowledge of different types of anatomy, and the precise strikes involved in carving a carcass.
And, Alex Roth was feeling high from all of it.
‘I can fight back! If I’m attacked, I can finally fight back!’ he thought. ‘I don't have to only dodge, I can hit back! Now, I can be the one doing the attacking! And it’s about bloody time!’ He screamed in his mind.
Feeling of moving his body through the motions of battle felt good, like a natural extension of what he'd been doing all along…but as the sparring went on, he was noticing something changing.
The Mark was honing his fighting style each time he and Bjorgrund fought, and he was getting stronger and more precise with his strikes…but Bjorgrund was also improving.
He’d stopped holding back, enthusiastically striking at Alex the faster and more aggressive the young wizard became, yet, the giant’s blows were becoming harder to dodge, though Alex had met deadlier opponents before.
The young giant was attacking with full force, but he was having trouble matching Alex’s blows. Bjorgrund’s smiles and laughter abruptly stopped, his eyes fixed on his opponent.
His rune began glowing.
He soon began catching Alex, improving steadily.
His strikes were faster, more exact. His body language was harder to read. Tactics and responses began changing, the giant’s skills growing.
He was using his natural advantages better; strength, toughness and reach more effectively. The giant turned offensive—rune blazing—bearing down on the young wizard.
Alex was still growing, but it was now harder to reach the giant’s vital points. The General was sweating, weaving around Bjorgrund’s blows, coming closer to being hit. He danced around the massive axe, but the young giant used his reach to keep him away, backing him into a corner of the room.
The two fighters grew together, but a problem still remained.
For all the young wizard’s speed, grace and agility, the giant had trained in hand to hand combat for many years and had a far greater reach that was at least twice or three times that of a human’s: things that Alex lacked.
As Bjorgrund began to recognise Alex's moves, it was harder for the wizard to close with him.
He jumped back, calling for a time out.
“Hold on, hold on!” Alex said. “You're getting really good, holy shit!” He took a deep breath, sweat dripping down his face.
The giant’s massive chest rose and fell; his eyes were shining as a grin spread across his face. “I tell you, Alex, I haven't had that much fun in a long time. Not since I reached a point where I could outpace my father.”
“Yeah, I guess you haven't had many sparring partners,” Alex panted.
“Only father. So, what are we doing, stopping for the day or just taking a bit of a break?” the giant asked. “I'm good to keep going! You've gotten so much better and so have I! I’d like to see where we can go!”
“Yeah, progress is addictive, isn't it?” Alex said, frowning. “But I’ve got a problem. Your arms are too damn long.”
“And…?”
“Look, I'm not going to be offensive here. Or at least I'm going to try not to be: you're good Bjorgrund, very good, but the kind of foes we have to fight are on a completely different level,” Alex said.
The young giant made a face. “Well, I'd be lying if I said I could keep up with that First Apostle guy, so, I see the problem: if you're having trouble closing on me, you're gonna have lots of problems with someone that much faster and more skilled than me”
“Yeah,” the young wizard said. “Normally, I'd solve the problem by just using magic on myself like flying, or even teleporting. But—” He looked at the sword in his hand. “—the entire point of learning how to fight hand-to-hand is to be ready if all my regular tactics fail, and to have a surprise or two waiting for the enemy. If I go back to old tactics, then I'm not going to have an answer if the First Apostle gets through all my spells and defences. It'd be better if I could keep a distance even if he closes in…and have a way to strike him through his guard.”
He looked at Bjorgrund’s long arms. “It's hard for me to get close and hit you…you kept striking me whenever I tried to get closer. If you were faster, it’d be hard for the First Apostle to ever hit you with his much shorter reach. Hmmmm…a longer reach.”
He remembered the long-hafted weapons Cedric, Claygon and the mercenary, Kyembe, used. Alex looked down at the Traveller’s sword in his hand. “I’m thinking a longer weapon would work better with the dance positions I use for fighting: after all, it's called the Spear-and-Oar Dance, not the Sword-And-Oar Dance. I kind of wish that Hannah had used a spear or some kind of other pole weapon rather than a sword. Hells, I wish I'd gotten a chance to look at Kyembe’s weapon: with a simple pull of his hands, he could turn that sword of his into a long sword-staff.”
“I never met that guy you just mentioned, but spears are pretty handy,” Bjorgrund said. “And turning a sword into a sword-staff sounds powerful. Too bad you can't do that with your stuff.”
“My stuff?”
“I mean,” the giant said, nodding to the aeld. “You've got a sword…and a staff. Too bad you can't just stick one on top of the other to make a sword-staff!”
Alex blinked once.
Then twice.
Then he looked at the aeld staff and back to the sword. “Oh by the Traveller and every single god or goddess in the world…Bjorgrund, you’re a genius.”
“You keep telling me that…not that I’m complaining,” the young giant grinned.
“You totally are!” Alex grinned back, getting excited. “The First Apostle isn't gonna know what hit him! And I’ve got a new alchemical project to tackle…plus all the equipment I need to pull it off.”
He laughed evilly.
The staff gave off waves of confusion and concern.
“I think I'm going to let this cook in my mind for a bit, but speaking of cooking…” He looked at his spell-guides. “There's one last thing I want to do before we quit for the day.”
“What's that?”
“So far, with the Mark, I’ve learned quite a bit about how to enhance my spellcasting, and I’m learning how to defend myself in hand-to-hand combat. Now, it's time for some combat magic.” Alex sheathed Hannah’s sword and rubbed his hands together. “I think it's time for me to cast a fireball for the first time.”
“Oh! Can I stay and watch?” Bjorgrund asked.
“Sure, it'd be even better with an audience,” Alex said, walking over to the books and picking up the third-tier spell guide. He ran a finger down its spine. “This should be interesting.”
“Big, fiery explosions do sound real interesting,” Bjorgrund laughed.
“No argument there, but, I mean because I've never learned a combat spell before. Well, I guess learned force missile way back, but never really could cast it, and force missile's certainly no fireball. It’ll also be the first time I’ll be learning a spell since I got rid of the Mark of the Fool, so I want to see how many tries it takes,” He said, with a mixture of excitement and nerves.
Cracking the book open, he ran his fingers over the diagram of the magic circuit. Unsurprisingly, it was very different from any other magic circuit he’d ever learned. He had to focus, channelling mana in quick pulses, igniting flames from nothing.
Alex checked every word of the incantation carefully, studying each one, quickly committing it to memory.
‘The spell-array is very different, but it looks simple enough. It’s certainly a lot less complicated than a sixth-tier summoning spell,’ he thought. ‘Maybe that’s because it’s…simple to learn?’ He shook his head. ‘No, You shouldn't give yourself false expectations, Alex. This is going to be your first combat spell! Don’t trivialise it!’
The young wizard conjured Wizard’s Hand with a few twitches and a single syllable, and paused, appreciating how quickly the spell had formed.
‘It's gonna take me a while to get used to how easy spellcraft is now,’ he thought, willing the glowing Hand to pick up a notebook and flip it open. He conjured a few more Wizard’s Hands, had them take up a pen and begin recording a progress note.
First Combat Spell Attempt.
Fireball.
Progress through spell array: 0%.
Attempt 1.
He speed-read the rest of the spell-guide, focused the Mark of the General on the task of memorising the words and diagrams in it, then faced an empty corner of the large room.
“Bjorgrund, you're going to want to get behind me. I don't know how this is going to go,” Alex said, getting ready to teleport them away if the explosion was too big.
The giant quickly stepped behind the wizard.
For a moment, Alex thought about Selina. ‘If I learn fire spells, I'll be able to help her with them when I get back to Generasi. Whenever that is.’ His mind went to the First Apostle, the Ravener, and other enemies. ‘Seeing them all dead will be worth the world to me and combat spells are going to help make that happen.’
Alex took a deep, steadying breath and, for the first time, began casting fireball.
It felt strange, different from other spells. His mana had to flow in ways it never had before. The incantation’s syllables were largely unfamiliar.
He focused on his skills with languages, letting the Mark guide him through the pronunciation of each word of the combat spell.
While the Mark did help, he soon realised he had no need to call on it.
The spell was easy.
It was unfamiliar, yet simple in comparison to all magic he’d ever cast before. Syllables were effortless to pronounce. The three magic circuits came together, with no difficulty. No interference from the Mark of the Fool, and the spell flowed; with no interruptions in crafting the spell array.
The final details of the magic circuits completed.
Suddenly, magic blazed to life.
In the palm of Alex’s right hand, a tiny bead of orange light appeared, flickering like a firefly.
His jaw dropped.
He could already feel the power in that tiny orb of light blazing, churning, threatening to explode. The young wizard threw the bead across the room—far from himself, Bjorgrund, and his supplies.
Trailing orange light, it sailed through the air, bursting a safe distance away.
A blast of heat suddenly erupted in the corner, radiating searing light and crackling flame, filling the air; the fireball exploded.
“Wow, that's incredible!” Bjorgrund cried. “I wish I could do that, you made it look so easy!”
“I…I suppose I did, didn't I…” Alex murmured.
He was numb, yet full of excitement.
“Again!” the young wizard cried.
He cast the spell again, focusing the Mark of the General on applying his language skills to the new spell.
Another fireball exploded on the other end of the room, this one forming faster.
He cast it again.
It appeared even faster, another fireball exploded.
Then another, and another.
In minutes, the new General of Thameland was casting fireballs with the twitch of an eyebrow, and a few quick syllables, watching them explode in a flurry across the room.
He was able to cast a third-tier combat spell faster than some people could throw a punch.
Alex welcomed the new power.
He could use it to fight with.
To improve with.
To make it his own.
###
Author's Note
Hello thirty-six cool fools, almighty chosen, wise sages, and mighty champions! Thank you for your support!
This chapter was fun to write. Also, happy holidays, everyone! :D :D :D :D
I'll see you all after Christmas! Wooooo!
Comments
MasBoss
😁😁
David
the TOC for chapter 745 leads to Ch 725
lenkite
So he is going to be like Matt Cauthon and wield an Ashandarei. [Polearm Wizard]
Brandon Baer
I think they would assume it happened while they were away and feel that Alex made them fail their god and let him die. I see it strengthening their hatred and leading them to petition higher powers like aenflynn or however that is spelled to kill Alex or his loved ones
Julien Fellegara
I did like this chapter a lot
Isiah Debarros
I mean, the sanctuary is filled with traps, so I don't see why he would move waiting for them to be able to break into it gives him enough time to practice new things him not getting the others is annoying because they also have beef with the Secret church them not being involved in a dangerous investigation is one thing but not getting them for the possibly final fight with the secret church is a dick move in my opinion
Isiah Debarros
He doesn't want to get other people involved. If you get other people involved into something that has to do with him willingly he is an asshole
Isiah Debarros
He's gonna have a glave Honestly, I love that for him you never see main characters with interesting weapons that are actually practical
Andrea Calcagno
pretty setup, like father-like son, both with a sword spear/war spear
Patrick G
Didn't the Ravener try to send the First Apostle to see Uldar a few chapters ago? I wonder if seeing dead Uldar might break their faith.
Allastin
It would be a fun thing to see him spar with Baelin after a time skip. Even if Baelin is going easy, it would be a spectacular sight to see
Bob Bryan
I think it still hasn't been that long since the surgery and he is seeing all he can do. Could be wrong though
Jordan Jones
This a good point. When an organization is after you, you are in constant mortal danger unless they voluntarily end their pursuit, which basically never happens, or you completely obliterate the organization. Every member would have to die, or the target and their loved ones are never safe. Only way I see that happening is if you break their faith in Uldar, and I have a hard time believing they would stop even then.
Jordan Jones
To be fair, they were trying their best as far as I can tell. Stalker is to blame here.
Fleetpanda
Hmm, he really has no reason to stick around now. The ideal spot of him rn is the school. Lots of people to learn new combat things from and an archdemon waiting to step in whenever he’s attacked. I get he doesn’t want to endanger students, but the alternative is sitting wiping out the hidden church completely… which I don’t see happening in one fight.
SherbertSheep
YESSS WERE GETTING A SPEAR/SWORDSPEAR IM SO EXCITED!! Cant wait for the next chapter!!!
Decide
I'm expecting Alex to cast fireballs from his wizards hands now. Or maybe he can form force arms on his back like an asura and cast magic with those body movements. I can dream.
Dennis
I'm hoping that he trains in the sanctuary but choose to lead the church and hunter to another location where he can set traps and go to war. The Sanctuary seems like to good a place to just let be infiltrated.
Catherine
Thanks for the chapter. It’s so good to see Alex free of the Fool. :) Have a wonderful Christmas!
Thomas Keller
It's a combination of available resources and- well, fear of consequences. He has quite a few spellbooks that he stole from Magic!Not!Russia, so he has access to quite a few to learn from and to push to even higher spell levels now that the Mark is an aid rather than a load, so in terms of developmental resources Alex is basically set. He *could* seek Gen City resources, but he honestly doesn't need to between the Mark, his spell guides, whatever might be in the Sanctum, and the Bro Giants. That leaves the fear of consequences. Alex *very* personally knows and understands that the Secret Church is hunting him and will stop at nothing (as far as he knows) to pursue and kill him. They're laser focused on *him* right now, but if he retreats to the safety of Wizard City then either they sneak around the outer defenses and attack Alex while he's around innocent bystanders, putting them at best at risk and much more likely getting them harmed and killed, or the Secret Church comes into conflict with Wizard City's protection force and *they* come to harm and probably die on behalf of protecting Alex. Politically, Alex could honestly eat the blows to his reputation/favor economy without too much issue, but there's more going on than practicality, which may or may not be unfortunate depending on the reader's own views. Alex ran the calculus and came to the conclusion that staying in Wizard City, or even coming back to Wizard City between excursions, would almost certainly put innocent people in harm's way, would put his friends and loved ones in harm's way, and decided that he's not about that. While going to Wizard City would put more resources in Alex's hands, from Alex's point of view it would also put his loved ones at risk and put innocents at risk (which is bad for both moral reasons and political reasons). Now that Alex has the Sanctum to rest, recover, research, and refine his abilities within, he has *less* incentive to go back, because now he is able to meet his obligations while also still being a target away from his family and political connections. As things stand, while I would expect Alex to have some concerns and contingencies for if the Secret Church goes after his loved ones now that he's more difficult to pursue, the current plan of "Grind Skills, Spells, and Combat Ability While Preparing For Fight Against The First Apostle: The Third" is honestly the best move with the Metaknowledge we have available of the current methods and objectives of the Secret Church+Fae Bastard, so the current arc is basically going to be a training montage and trap preparation session until the bad guys show up to the Sanctum and the General goes out rocking and rolling.
stardast24
the smart things to do is to go back to Generasi from the readers point of view not Alex's
Enif
I can see he's powering up for his battle with the 1st apostle. Looking forward to seeing how that goes.
Axim
Love it
Sam
I am not sure honestly, don’t think it has been mentioned
Nick Youngstrom
I think it's only been hours since he changed the mark, right? Or has it been days?
Lola
I want to see Alex learn sword fighting from Theresa and the Champion!
mag28
That's true too. If he plans to fight the church there at tge sanctum doesn't it make more sense to grab the heroes, his cabal, claygon, and idk a bunch of mercs/war golems and bring them into sanctum too. Also there is at least another whole book after this so he isn't spending the next whole book holed up here.
George R
Great chapter, so awesome to see Alex use offensive magic. I also wonder if the mark will make him a good teacher like could he teach others more effectively now with the ability to see mistakes and successes?
Sam
It seems strange to me that he is still hiding out in the sanctuary but I suppose it is the most defensible place he can find and he still presumably wants distance from his family. I am looking forward to see him tackle tier 7 spells and above. I want to see him set Asmaldestre The Unmaker (the war spirit) on the hidden church.
Sébastien Kingsbury
Especially since it takes a while for the church to catch up on the fae roads. He'd be pretty save going to generasi for an evening and teleporting back with more people/supplies right?
mag28
2 problems with that. One the secret church said they ain't going to city, but alex doesn't know that 100% to be fair. But more importantly he can go to the city and just not see family, I meant the city would be a better place to train and have more resources.
stardast24
Keeping family safe. That is what Alex said 10 chapters back
mag28
Okay, what the fuck is the logic of not going back to the city. He can go get all the magic spell he needs and actually hire real fighting teachers, hell his magic teacher would help too Or hell meeting up with the other heroes might be helpful too
Bob Bryan
Yeah, see this is why you don't play with your food and take put your target first go. The idiot brigade, the apostles, done goofed
Justin Barnett
Good, but short.
Kronos
👀
