Black Onyx - Forgotten Magic

The atmosphere on the cliff was intense, so intense that you could almost cut it with a knife.

Everybody had their eyes glued to the little vial of Bottled Thunder. It was flying through the air, almost like in slow-motion, slowly spinning, until it reached the peak of the arc when gravity finally won over and pulled it back down.

The bottle was flying towards Doven and the three unconscious red-armored bandits.

"Nooo! Doven!" Derrick yelled as he watched in horror as the bottle was falling closer to his brother.

Gritting his teeth, Doven lifted his shield and placed it in front of his face, holding it with both hands. He did not have time to move away and this was the most he could do in the short second of time he had. He closed his eyes and prepared for the explosion and pain.

Bang!

Dust and smoke, as well as blood and flesh, were blasted into the air. Derrick froze as he watched the blood flowing from where his brother used to be. Just as he was to go berserk with rage, he noticed something that wasn't there before, and it shocked him even more.

The sound of the explosion rang in Doven's ears, but weirdly enough, he didn't feel a thing. As he slowly opened his eyes he was surprised to see a massive stone wall a few centimeters from his face. The explosion happened on the other side and he was completely unharmed.

"Heh, just in time…" Gerald chuckled from the side. It was him, who cast the Stone Wall spell to protect Doven.

Just then, Derrick quickly ran to look and when he saw his brother was fine he gave a big sigh of relief.

He turned to face Gerald and bowed deeply as he stated, "Brother Gerald, we only knew each other for a day but you saved my younger brother from certain death. I swear to the heavens that I will return this favor, even if it would cost me my life!"

Gerald was somewhat embarrassed by his words so he replied, "I'm just doing what I can to help, no need for such gratitude." He wore a casual smile on his face.

Then Doven too bowed and said, "Thank you! I will forever remember what you did for me today!"

Gerald rolled his eyes as he thought, 'Come on guys, you are making me feel really uncomfortable…'

"Nevermind that… What should we do with that guy now? He is the only survivor…" he said and pointed at the bandit on the ground. The three that were tied together were now just a bunch of meat, blood, and bones.

"Right…" Derrick straightened his back and gave the remaining bandit a deadly stare with squinted eyes. He was currently itching to kill.

"Oh my gosh, guys, what happened?"

The remaining party members came up to check things out. The many explosion sounds made then feel worried for their friends, so they decided to look.

"Urk!" Nina immediately turned pale at the gory sight, and reacted by covering her mouth while quickly turning around so she wouldn't have to see the bloody scene. Owyn quickly came to her and hugged her across the shoulders and escorted her get back down while trying to calm her down.

Meanwhile, Derrick sat on the remaining bandit again and questioned him, "Who. Is. Your. Master? Who sent you here?!" With every word spoken the punched the bandit.

"Haha…" the bandit laughed while blood was flowing out of his mouth. He had a mocking smile on his face, even though he was bleeding all over. He gave off a feeling like he was the sole winner and was looking at the losers around him. It angered Derrick even more.

"Forget it… We won't get anything out of him." Gerald placed a hand on Derrick's shoulder and speculated, "He probably killed his own companions so they wouldn't speak…"

The unusual way these guys were fighting made him suspect that something bigger was going on and that this wasn't just a random attack. They were too well organized, and for a bandit gang to have the same uniform… It was unlikely.

'Who would attack a small group of travelers and waste so much gold on explosives for no reason, it just doesn't make sense!' Gerald thought.

'Even if they tried to rob mister Rulgo… But he is only transporting a bunch of tools and wood, this is not worthy of such an attack… I don't get it!' He was getting frustrated just thinking about it because it really made no logical sense.

"Hmm, I guess you are right. These guys are crazy, that's for sure," Derrick responded. He looked at the bandit below him one last time and then stabbed him through the heart, killing him.

After the deed was done, people from Silver Phantom collected whatever was useful from the bandits and shared it equally among everyone who participated in the battle.

Weirdly enough, the bandits didn't have much. They all had the leather armor, an iron sword, and a few Bottled Thunders. The bottles that contained the two substances were sold as a pair, and before the fight began, they had to be mixed to achieve the desired result.

Apart from that, they didn't have any money, food, or potions. It was like they were sent here on a suicide mission.

The red armor was quite damaged from all the fighting and explosions, but boots and gloves were still in quite a good shape.

Gerald did not feel like taking clothes of his opponents so, after a bit of discussion, they decided to give him two swords. Everyone else took just one.

Metal gear was much more expensive than leather, but since Gerald did most of the work, everyone agreed he should take a bigger share.

After a while, they continued on their way. Luckily the cart and donkeys were fine, even though they came close to turning into a paste just recently.

"We wasted too much time, we need to hurry!" mister Rulgo said. Although he said that, the donkeys didn't move any faster and they slowly continued on their way. He could just curse helplessly.

The rest of the day was really quiet. Nobody felt like talking since they were quite mentally drained from a fight. It went like that for a few hours when Gerald finally remembered that he wanted to speak with the fellow Spellcasters.

"Hey," he started, turning to Owyn. "I noticed you were quite good at controlling your Earth magic during the fight. And I was wondering about the chant you spoke at the beginning… I never heard anything quite like it, such a long chant. Is it something new?"

"Oh, man…" Owyn scratched his head in embarrassment. "I'm actually not good at all when it comes to using magic, that's why my chants are long… Hahaha…" he laughed self-mockingly.

Gerald lifted his brow, for he did not understand what Owyn meant. 'How can he claim he is not good with such great control... And what does chant length have to do with it?' he thought.

At that time, Nina, who was listening from the side, joined in the conversation and asked, "Did you not learn chants in the Magic Academy in Geldern? I thought they teach it there."

Gerald was a bit surprised but he shook his head and stated, "I am self-taught, and when I spoke with the headmaster of the Magic Academy and I don't remember him mentioning anything special about the magic chants."

"Wow, a self-taught mage! So cool!" Nina's eyes sparkled like she was looking at a treasure.

Owyn, on the other hand, became quite uncomfortable looking at his girlfriend compliment another guy.

He quickly tried to stabilize the situation. He hugged Nina around her waist and said, "You see, we both studied at the Magic Academy in the capital. We were lucky enough that our parents were wealthy enough so we could learn there. That's also where we met."

Nina giggled and hugged him back in response. These two did not hide the affection for each other at all.

Owyn continued with a voice that contained melancholy, "Unfortunately we weren't the best and after a few short years we had to abandon the magic studies. Now, because the living expenses were too high in the capital, we decided to join the Warrior's Guild in another city where we could afford to stay."

Gerald nodded in understanding, "Yes, money rules no matter where you go…"

"Exactly!" Nina voiced enthusiastically and then lifted her staff, speaking "Our Earth staves were a gift from our families when we joined the Academy. Unfortunately, we can't really afford to buy much else now that we are on our own."

"So, where do long chants come into play?" Gerald asked doubtfully.