Nick felt a little awkward at being asked that question and replied:
"I'm doing great but I could be doing much better If I weren't trapped like this."
Samuel replied:
"Oh."
Samuel snapped his fingers and Nick was released from the tree's branches. Samuel then asked:
"My name is Samuel. What is your name, student? What brings you to Serene Lake?"
Nick felt his ability to control his magic power return to him but he was still uneasy because the man standing in front of him was obviously far more powerful than him. Nick awkwardly looked around at the group of soldiers then placed his attention on Samuel and replied:
"May name is Nick Capitol and I'm spending some time at this lake in order to train, that's it."
Nick didn't feel the need to lie since Samuel was already aware that he was a student and his answer shouldn't raise any suspicions. Samuel nodded his head and said:
"Well, Nick, my unit and I will be camping at this lake for the rest of the day, would you like join us, our mechanic over there will need a hand checking out our equipment, helping her would surely be good experience for you?"
Samuel pointed at Tracy and looked Nick in the eyes as he said that. Nick sighed internally, the look in Samuel's eyes made it seem as if he was not really asking Nick but commanding him.
Tracy looked at the situation and opened her mouth as if to say something but closed it soon thereafter. After being in this unit for sometime, she knew that it was common for Samuel to force students that they met to help them with their work in order to move things along quicker.
(I think he once called it 'civilian duty'.)
George shook his head and ignored the situation, thinking:
(I wonder what I should eat for supper.)
Nick felt weird about the situation.
(Why does he want me to help when there are so many people in his unit? Also, what rank is this guy at, being able to temporarily seal my magic powers is no joke?)
Nick knew how to read the room, so to speak, he knew that refusing would likely not end well for him so he calmly replied:
"Sure thing, mister. How can I help?"
Samuel smiled at Nick's tact and replied:
"While the the rest of the unit and I enter the lake to do some 'cleaning', Tracy will give you instructions. Oh, and don't worry, as long as you do well, you will be rewarded before we leave this place."
Nick sighed internally but nodded his head in assent for Samuel to see.
(It would have been better if the group consisted of magic beasts. Humans are far more terrifying. Out in a place like this, the strong control the circumstances and the weak have no right to refuse their instructions. Damn!)
Tracy moved to Nick's side and remarked:
"Nick, as the saying goes, a wise man submits to the circumstances. Don't feel wronged, I will make sure that you get your reward for helping us."
Samuel responded to Tracy's words as if he had been wronged:
"Don't speak like that, we are not 'forcing' him, besides, Nick is just doing his civilian duty."
Everyone in Samuel's unit smiled awkwardly in response to Samuel's words, knowing that it was bullshit but they all thought:
(Who here is going to rebuke a rank 3 Magician.)
Nick spoke at this time:
"I will do my best, sir Samuel."
Samuel laughed:
"Ha. That's the right attitude, Nick. Alright, lets begin."
Samuel tapped his space band and a large truck that had a metal container hoisted on it was summoned. Samuel nodded and shouted to the others:
"All of you except Tracy, come with me into the lake. Cast your underwater breathing spells as soon as you enter and I don't want to see any foul ups!"
Samuel led the others as they marched to the edge of the lake and then they jumped in one after the other. Nick turned to Tracy and asked:
"Miss, what did Samuel mean by 'cleaning'?"
Tracy replied:
"Ours is one of the units stationed at Shelter Town that is responsible for information gathering and keeping the magic beast population at various locations in check. They are going into that lake to make sure that the magic beasts that have gathered down there are at acceptable numbers."
Nick felt that this might be a chance to have one of the questions that had been gnawing at him answered, so he asked:
"How comes there are so many kinds of magic beasts in the lake? Based on my readings, magic beasts of different paths usually inhabit different locations."
Tracy smiled and answered:
"There's actually a network of tunnels in that lake that lead to other areas of the Never Ending Battlefield. The magic beasts are attracted to this lake because of a few interesting resources at the bottom of it."
Nick felt that that made sense and moved on to the other matter at hand:
"How do I help you miss Tracy?"
Tracy laughed at Nick's uptightness and said:
"You can drop the 'miss' and call me Tracy. The container on that truck houses a workshop that I will be using to check all of our equipment so just follow me."
Tracy led Nick to the back of the truck where the entrance of the container could be found and opened its steel double doors at which point Nick and her entered the container, closing the doors behind them. Tracy turned on the lights by flipping switches on the wall and the entirety of the interior was revealed. The space was filled with all sorts of machines and other equipment and was definitely bigger than the size of the container would suggest from the outside.
Nick said out loud:
"This is space magic."
Tracy responded:
"Bingo, that's correct. This is a Ministry of Magic standard issue mobile workshop outfitted with space path laws that allow us to fit all sorts of necessities in here. Follow me."
Tracy took Nick to a section of the workshop with a variety of mechanical equipment. She took off her uniform's greenish jacket and laid it aside revealing her fairly toned upper-body that sported an all black tank top. Nick looked at her with slightly wide opened eyes.
(Women with muscles can be hot too?)
As if Tracy read his thoughts, she laughed and said:
"You know, I am wearing infra-red monitoring contact lenses right now and I can see that your lower body just heated up. Don't get any stupid ideas."
Nick's face flushed with embarrassment but he tried to straighten it a few moments later, trying to become as serious as possible. Tracy whistled as she gathered some equipment and tools. A few minutes later she placed them near a work bench and instructed Nick:
"This is how we are going to do things, I'm going to work on this equipment here and when I ask you to pass me a tool or help test something, you do it. That might seem simple but if I were doing this alone, it would take almost double the time so your help is actually much appreciated."
Nick nodded his head and seeing that, Tracy began her work inspecting and working on the equipment. She occasionally asked Nick to pass her a tool or get something from another area in the workshop or even test the functionality of a piece of equipment. Over the next six hours, Nick saw a whole other side of magic which involved its use in machines and other tools.
Nick had experiences with magical items since young since they were also a big part of non-magician society, for example, magic toothbrushes that could clean your teeth without toothpaste were commonplace but what Tracy showed Nick was different. If he was to describe her actions in the past few hours working on the equipment in one word, he would say: 'complex'. Nick basically understood nothing that she did, even more so when she was drawing laws on some of the equipment's' components.
Nick asked without thinking:
"What does it mean to be a mechanic?"
Tracy heard him and stopped what she was doing, saying with an amused smile:
"It looks like someone has been awestruck by my skills. Hmmm...a mechanic is basically someone who focuses on developing and maintaining magical tools, mainly machinery. Although magical tool development is a field on its own and does not only attract mechanics, it is mostly mechanics that develop machines that are infused with magical capabilities. I spend most of my time working on these babies, inspecting, fixing or building. Does that answer your question?"
Nick replied:
"Barely."
Tracy laughed and said:
"Well, that's the best I can explain it to a novice. We are basically done here so I'm going to take a quick shower and we'll go see if Samuel has returned. Oh, do you want to take a shower too?"
Mick didn't feel comfortable doing that here so he shook his head in refusal. Tracy responded:
"Your loss."
She left Nick alone at the workbench and went into one of the bathrooms on the other side of the workshop and closed the door behind her. Nick thought:
(How long am I supposed to wait here for? Hmmm...she said that she was taking a shower, right? Man, to be a fly on that wall.)
Suddenly, Nick had an idea but cringed a moment later, thinking:
(No, I can't do that, that would be wrong...but this could be a chance to test my understanding of my soul path inheritance. That's right, I'm just going test my method on a worthy subject. I'm going to do this for magical progress and nothing else!)
After convincing himself, Nick began forming the laws for a soul path spell that he had come across in his inheritance some time ago but had never used because he did not see much utility in it as well as the fact that it required a permanent cost.
Nick spent the next eight minutes forming the laws of his spell and when they had formed completely, he cast it:
(Minor Split Soul.)
Nick felt an intense pain as a very small portion of his soul was slit away from the rest and exited his body, resting in his right palm. Nick wiped off the sweat from his forehead, reeling from the pain of splitting his own soul even if it was a minuscule portion that was split off.
(Minor Split Soul is a basic apprentice grade spell but is still fairly complex. It allows me to split a small portion of my soul off of the rest and eject it from my body. Now I can move it at will.)
Nick watched as a tiny ball of almost translucent miasma moved around in his palm as he wished and was satisfied.
(Although, usually this spell would be useless and not worth the cost of casting it, to use it against a stronger rank 2 Magician, it is well worth the cost.)
Nick didn't know for sure that Tracy was stronger than himself but it was a safe bet, after all, the Ministry of Magic was semi-military and trained all of their recruits in combat while Nick was still just a student. He cast his other spell:
(Soul Vision.)
Within his mind, Nick now had another visual perspective of the workshop which originated from the split soul in his palm. While the split soul shared senses and memories with Nick, it was just a soul and did not really have a sense of sight so to do what Nick planned, he had to cast Soul Vision that had laws that temporarily granted a soul sight if its host did not have any or it did not have a host. Nick did not realize this use of Soul Vision until recently as he went through his soul path inheritance and examined its laws closely.
Nick willed and his split soul left his palm and floated towards the bathroom that Tracy entered; soon it reached the door and continued moving as it went through the wall. Nick smiled.
(Souls are ethereal objects so they can move through solid obstructions.)
The split soul arrived in the shower area and Nick was able to see the surroundings clearly; it moved past the shower curtain that hid Tracy and what Nick saw immediately forced him to put both of his hands into his lap to hide his erection. Tracy's firm and fit naked body was on full view to him as his split soul hovered over her without Tracy being aware of its presence while she took her shower. Nick looked on for another two minutes before he started to feel bad about spying on her.
(She was actually fairly nice to me. I should stop.)
Nick willed and his spit soul returned to him at which point he cancelled Soul Vision and broke the split soul apart which caused a nauseous feeling to erupt within him.
(This is the permanent cost of Minor Split Soul. Once a split soul is created, it cannot be joined to the whole again and leaving it intact has more risks than destroying it so I broke it apart, basically destroying a part of my own soul permanently.)
Nick spent the next few minutes coping with the nausea that resulted from his actions. Tracy came out of the bathroom after having spent about thirty minutes showering and was fully uniformed; she looked over at Nick with a strange expression and walked over to him at which point, Nick asked:
"When do I get my reward Tracy? Since we are done, I would like to get back to my own business as soon as possible."
Tracy ignored his question and caressed Nick's chin with her right index finger and thumb, saying:
"You know, Nick, where I come from, when a man sees a woman naked, he usually has to take responsibility and I'll have you know that I am a very traditional woman."
Tracy squinted her eyes sharply as she said that and a shiver went down Nick's spine. She spoke domineeringly, in firm contrast to her usually flippant tone:
"Speak truthfully young man. Did you spy on me while I was showering."
Nick sighed internally, thinking:
(Magicians are really troublesome to mess with.)
Nick answered with a straight face:
"Yes, I did."
Tracy's eyes erupted with anger momentarily before going back to normal; she said:
"Well, Nick, looks like you've earned yourself quite some trouble for the foreseeable future. Lend me your student ID."
Nick was stumped by her reaction.
(Shouldn't she be scolding me, I wouldn't even be surprised if she killed me, sending me back to Shelter Town.)
"What do you want my ID for?"
Tracy's expression became slightly angry again and Nick sighed internally and handed over his ID. Tracy looked at it for a few moments and muttered:
"Richter Order Academy, huh? Not the most prestigious but that's fine."
She returned Nick's ID to him and said:
"My full name is Tracy Belmont, do you know what that means?"
Nick replied with a bland expression:
"No idea."
Tracy smiled a little and said:
"You'll find out very soon. In any case, when you and I are both in Shelter Town, we will have a proper discussion then. You do not get to look at my naked body and just walk away, do you understand?"
Nick openly sighed:
(Looks like I'll have some problems to deal with later...worth it.)
Nick responded:
"Yeah, I get it. If you're not going to kill me, can I get my reward so that I can get back to my business?"
Tracy took out an old model cell phone with a key pad and handed it to Nick, saying:
"I was going to have Samuel give you something else but considering your little imposition, this is more suitable as your 'reward'. That cellphone can make and receive calls to related models within the Never Ending Battlefield, I will contact you later on that phone. Don't you dare lose it."
Nick's face wore a weird expression and he asked:
"Contact me? For what?"
Tracy remarked while motioning Nick to leave the workshop with her:
"You'll know later."
Tracy and Nick left the workshop and discovered multiple tents erected on the outside; evidently the rest of Tracy's unit had returned. A man wearing the same uniform as Tracy came over upon seeing her and spoke:
"Tracy, while we were cleaning up monsters in the lake, George got hit with with an attack from a soul path magic beast and he's now in bad shape. We'll probably have to make an emergency retreat to Shelter Town to get a healing Magician to take a look at him."
Tracy's face became serious and she responded:
"Where's Samuel?"
The man replied:
"He's with George in the main tent."
Tracy nodded and said to Nick:
"You can go after I have a talk with Samuel, follow me."
Nick was becoming annoyed with how domineering Tracy was being but he hid his negative emotions and followed her while she and her peer went towards a large tent that was erected a few meters away from the lake. All three of them entered the tent at which point they heard a boisterous scream:
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
George was chained onto a makeshift bed, squirming and screaming, seeming to be in severe pain. Most of the unit was present including Samuel who was shaking his head at this time, saying:
"We've tried all our available methods to remedy George's situation but neither potions nor any of our healing spells are working. Even my most powerful healing spell only gives him some slight comfort before the intense pain returns."
Tracy frowned at hearing Samuel's words, she interrupted:
"What happened sir?"
Samuel turned to Tracy and Nick wearing a somber expression. He just remembered that he had left a civilian with Tracy to help with checking their equipment but he did not want to waste time speaking to a student right now but he did answer Tracy's question:
"There was a fairly strong soul path magic beast hiding in the lake that struck George with some kind of attack before I was able to kill it. He has been like this ever since; although the problem should be related to soul path, I have no expertise regarding that path and neither does anyone else here, at least not enough to solve George's affliction."
After understanding the situation clearly, Tracy's frown deepened as she said:
"We will have to return to Shelter Town and even then, there might not be anyone that can solve George's problem. If he dies, the Rico family won't be pleased."
Samuel rubbed his forehead with his right hand, feeling a headache coming on.
(This George is one of the children of Demar Rico, head of the Rico family and a rank 6 Regular Magician. If his son dies on my watch, my career will implode.)
Samuel then spoke with no room for negotiation:
"We will start to head to Shelter Town tonight and hopefully we will get there before George succumbs to whatever the problem is."
Tracy nodded her head, this outcome was not surprising.
(Although normally people from Grand Earth cannot be killed here, that was not necessarily absolute as there were people who were killed here in strange circumstances in the past, not to mention, dying from damage to the soul is entirely different from being stabbed in the heart or having your head cut off; a heart can be mended, a head can be reattached using magic. The soul is the very core of a person and once it is broken down, death is final, there will be no revival. Looking at George's sorry state, his soul must be breaking down or something similar.)
Samuel looked at Nick and said:
"Sorry you had to see this Nick but I'll keep my promise. Tracy, what reward should I give him?"
Tracy opened her mouth to speak but before she could sound any words, Nick walked past her and straight to George's bedside; Tracy closed her mouth, deciding to see what Nick was going to do before she spoke. Nick ignored the annoying screaming and focused on the feeling that he was getting from George.
(I can feel soul magic continuously radiating from him so whatever malignancy is acting on him is still active. Hmmm...if its just the attack from a rank 2 magic beast I might be able to help.)
Nick knew that this was not impossible since he was a soul path scholar, an attainment that he obtained from the true meaning of a rank 6 Hero Magician. Thoughts raced through Nick's mind as he had some slight inspiration after thinking back on what he did in the workshop. He quickly turned to Samuel and said:
"I can help him, I just need some time and some space."
Samuel raised his right eyebrow in surprise that this student would dare say such words. Samuel responded with an eerie tone:
"So you're saying that you, a student, can do what I, a rank 3 Magician cannot do?"
Nick felt the disdain in Samuel's words but he nodded his head with a serious expression anyway, saying:
"I'd bet my life on it."
This time, even Tracy raised both her eyebrows, not expecting Nick to have such guts.
Samuel's somber expression lightened a bit and he said:
"Good, good, good, if you can heal George of his affliction, I will personally hand you a reward of your choosing as long as it is within my power to do so."
Nick was a bit surprised by Samuel's declaration but after thinking for a moment, he did not feel so good about it.
(He probably assumed that I'm lying and is going to teach me a lesson if I fail but still threw out a carrot on the off chance that I can fix George. This man is shrewd.)
Nick asked Samuel:
"I don't really want too many people seeing my methods so can you clear out the room?"
Samuel thought for a moment and then ordered everyone else to leave the tent, leaving only George, himself and Nick inside. Tracy turned to look at Nick before she left but stayed silent. After everyone else had left the tent, Nick grabbed a nearby stool and sat beside George's bed, thinking about the situation. Despite George's screaming, Nick's mind moved his thoughts at an incredible speed and after an hour, Nick got up and asked Samuel who seemed to be running out of patience:
"Can I have a permanent marker and can you help me clear the objects from around George's bed?"
Samuel silently nodded and tapped his space band, handing Nick a red permanent marker; he also went around the room and stored the unnecessary objects within his space band and then he stood at the side to see what Nick was planning to do.
Nick breathed in deeply and began drawing a magic formation on the cloth floor of the tent.
(In the past hour, I managed reformulate my Break Soul Formation and the Minor Split Soul spell to try and configure a solution to George's malady. Now, it's safe to assume that the magic cast on George's soul was done by a rank 2 magic beast which means that the problem shouldn't be all that complex from my perspective so my method should work.)
Nick spent another hour drawing a magic formation on the ground that looked similar to the Break Soul Formation. When he was done, he sat at the edge of the formation and began to chant some words in Valteese, activating the formation which now glowed with a bright silver light while George screamed at its center.
Samuel was very surprised at seeing this.
(This kid actually knows a soul path formation, he is not as simple as he seems.)
Nick poured his magic energy into the formation and activated one of its methods:
(Sense Soul.)
A moment later, Nick was able to sense the condition of George's Soul and was able to confirm that it was being broken down by foreign magic energy but only a small portion of it had actually been affected so far.
Nick then activated the formation's other method:
(Slice Soul.)
George's screaming immediately intensified which almost caused Samuel to interfere with what Nick was doing but he held himself back, reminding himself that soul path methods often involved a fair amount of pain.
Nick could sense his magic energy penetrating George's soul via the formation and soon he was able to concentrate it at the area of George's soul that had been tainted by foreign magic energy. Nick willed and that area was immediately severed from the rest of George's soul and a few moments later, that clump of George's soul dissipated. George screamed loudly throughout the whole process and eventually passed out from the pain.
Nick stopped chanting and the formation stopped glowing and deactivated.
"It's done."