Fan Fiction ❯ The Mana Knights ❯ Less Than Cuddly ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

"MAGNUM LASER!"

Carlos reeled as a ruby-red laser erupted from the tip of his gun, much to Alan's shock. The beam tore through the air, slamming straight into Alan's chest. His pupils shrank as he felt the massive energy blast tear straight through his chest, igniting him from the inside. Alan began to feel himself start to go unconscious as he flew back from the blast - completely off the edge. Alan stretched his arm out, his mouth opening in a breathless scream as he arced downwards and plummeted down the cliff to the accepting tides below.

Alan's mind began to lose control as he could feel the shattered remnants of both his spirit and his ribcage leaving him. He slowly reached his arms in front of him, inadvertantly causing him to pivot slowly in the air. He faced downwards, giving him a prime view of the surface of the water beneath him as it raced towards him. Summoning the last of his energy, he let out a pained scream as he picked up speed, smashing down into the rolling sur-

"GAAH!" Alan suddenly lurched forward, nearly throwing the blankets across the room as he was violently thrown from his trance. He sat stiffened in his crude bed, breathing in ragged gasps as he slowly began to return to consciousness. He glanced around. He was still in the chamber he had entered... how long before? He slowly reached over, scavenging through his belongings that sat on a wicket nightstand next to him. 4:35. He had been asleep. It was all a dream. He began thinking the other day itself was a bad nightmare until he again realized he was certainly not in his bedroom.

He swung out of bed, planting his bare feet on the antique carpet beneath him. Syphlid was still buried deep in his jacket across the room, in a far more uncomfortable position than Alan had left him. It didn't seem to bother the djinn terribly, however, who still let out high-pitched snores from time to time.

Alan watched the Syphlid for a moment before turning himself back towards the bed. Reclaiming his sheets, he slid deep beneath them, nearly strangling himself as he hid deep inside, trying desperately to scavenge what sleep time he could.


********


Alan awoke twelve minutes later.

"Awwww..." Alan buried his head in his pillow. "Now what..." he took a deep breath - unfortunately doing it through his nose. "...smoke?!" once again, Alan catapaulted forward, this time disembarking from his bed. He tore his shirt from the floor, fitting it over himself haphazardly as he leapt for the door. He twisted the handle hard, throwing the door to the side and leaping through the open frame. His feet hit a cold floor, much to his bewilderment - no longer was he standing in the hallway that lead into his bunk. He was standing in a kitchenette, one that looked very much like the one in his own home.

Ryuen stood at the far end of the room, humming to himself as he held a skillet over the stove, jostling it from time to time. Finally he looked over his shoulder, noticing Alan out of the corner of his eye. "...my, you're an early riser."

Alan wasn't sure what to ask first - where the hallway had went, or why there was an ominous tower of black smoke hovering over whatever the keeper of the Mana Shrine was cooking. "Wha-how-huh..."

"...oh, the creators of this temple have had everything streamlined quite nicely, with all the arcane convieniences one could ask for. Instantaneous transportation between any room of your choosing within the headquarters, for one thing."

"How about a fire extinguisher?" Alan gestured towards the rapidly combusting frying pan.

Ryuen glanced backtowards his pan. "...hm..." he gingerly lifted up the lid, causing a great cloud of black smoke to billow directly into his face, and a great flame to rise after it. As the air cleared, Ryuen shook the ashes from his face. "...drat... well, it's done, anyways..." he turned the pan towards the table, where Syphlid had already set up residence. Syphlid blew on it, the 80 MPH winds nearly instantly extinguishing the flames. Ryuen raised the pan back up for Alan to examine. "...how do you like your eggs?"

Alan sweatdropped. "...low-carbon."

Ryuen shrugged. "Oh, well. Syphlid? Would you like some?"

The genie removed a hard, black disk from the frying pan, and took a big bite out of it - and promptly spewed the ashes on the floor.

"...well.. I guess I'll have to make something later." Ryuen turned back to Alan, holding up a bag of bread. "Something for the road?"

Alan took a slice of the 12-grain bread, munching on it slowly as he watched Ryuen circle around to the door. Ryuen cast his sight upon Alan yet again. "...are you rested?"

"About as good as I'll ever be." Alan sighed as he laid the crust on the counter.

"Alright. While you're up, I suppose we can put a few finishing touches on your Armor form. You have been granted a weapon, but you have no real idea how to use it, correct? Even if you do, there are certain abilities that Syphlid has bestowed upon you that you are not aware of yet. Come with me." Ryuen turned, opening the door, stepping through it and closing it behind him. Alan and Syphlid exchanged glances as Alan stepped up to the door, opening it himself.

Beyond lied what looked like a simple arena, only fairly larger than both the kitchen and his bunk. The ground was adorned with various archaic symbols, but otherwise was about as plain as a wide-open area could get. "...anyways, this might take a while. Could you activate Syphlid?"

Alan nodded. Syphlid emitted a shrill hum as he turned a bright white, his form turning liquid as it rapidly reformed itself. As the light diminished, Alan's longsword lied on the ground where the spirit once stood. Picking up the weapon with both hands, another bright light enveloped Alan as his bright magneta armor seemed to unfurl out of thin air and over his clothes. Soon the full plate completely sheeted Alan from head to toe, just as the previous armor summon had carried out.

Ryuen tilted his head. "Do you feel any more comfortable?"

"...to tell you the truth..." Alan shifted his arms. "...a little bit. It's still heavy as hell though."

Ryuen nodded. "That problem will cure itself in time. You possessing the powers of Wind and Lightning, coming to terms with your new form can make you gain the according speed. Syphlid is already beginning to feel more comfortable around his new master, and accordingly you will feel more comfortable with it. You mentioned your armor was slightly less heavy?"

"...slightly."

"Well, we're on the right road then," Ryuen shrugged. "Still, you have no training with the innate elemental powers of the form that you possess while integrated with Syphlid. For one thing... you have the ability to command Wind, if not fully... though still enough to vastly improve your mobility."

"...you mean I could fly if I wanted to?" Alan asked.

Ryuen raised his hands. "Concentrate, Alan. Concentrate. Find what power Syphlid has in storage."

Alan appropriately closed his eyes, suddenly in deep thought as he concentrated on himself. Feeling no effect, he turned his attention to the armor itself - Alan suddenly felt his adrenaline perk. "...whoa... I think this is what you're talking about?..."

"...you've tapped into Syphlid's mana stream. While you have control of that outflow of mana, you can direct anywhere across your armor to where it is needed. If you think about it as some kind of mechanized armor, it becomes a bit easier to understand - direct energy to systems where it is best suited to your situation. Your armor is equipped with mana-amplifying nodes near the back of your shoulders."

"Back of my shoulders." Alan repeated, reaching behind himself. He felt around, eventually finding what felt like a pair of domed appendages. Returning his arms to his side, he began to focus himself again, this time trying to pry what energy he could away from the nexus deep in him and diverting it to approximately where he had detected the devices. Slowly he felt a trickle of his own energy being drawn, before he suddenly lost contact with the mana. "...whew... crap, I lost it..."

"That should be enough. Don't worry," Ryuen gave another affirming nod. "Practice makes perfect. At some point your will should become bolstered enough by your link to Syphlid that you should be able to switch mana nodes on the fly. But that'll have to wait for another day. You have your mana condensed where it is needed... now expell it. Gather your focus and break it."

"Well... that should be easy." Alan once again gathered his thoughts... and purposely let his mind wander. He yelped as he suddenly felt his foot suddenly lift slowly off the ground, a loud electronic hum ringing out as two great, five-foot arched shafts of light pierced downwards at an angle from the pair of nodes. Alan started to wobble in the air, but quickly righted himself. Alan glanced around himself impatiently as he continued to bob up and down in the air a good two feet off the ground, the giant blades remaining rigid.


--------
EAGLE WINGS
Element: Wind

"If Alan directs Syphlid's mana current to the Syphlid armor's shoulder nodes, it will be converted to wind energy. This also triggers the armor to gather any 'loose' mana from its immediate surroundings to produce a low-frequency, perforated field of antimatter in a set area around each of the nodes. As a result, the extremely-dense wind energy is still free to react with the air, providing vast amounts of lift to its host, but also regulated in such a manner that precise manual control is still possible. An arcane jetpack, if you will."
--------


"Yes... you can fly. With some practice, of course. There's just one thing to note, however. The mana itself is a very fickle thing to manage and the power nodes are extremely sensitive, so you shoul-"

Alan tilted himself forward, causing him to screech as he rocketed forward, straight through the solid stone wall with an echoing crash. Ryuen shuffled his feet, nuding a stone block away. "...you should regulate your direction and velocity by adjusting the output of mana, as opposed to physically forcing it."

Alan climbed out of the wreckage, coughing out a cloud of dust. "...gotcha."

Ryuen tilted his head. "Come. You can practice later. We need to move on."

Alan slowly slouched over to where he was standing moments ago, deactivating his Wings. "...I guess I'm up for that. What do you have in mind?"

"...you have a sword. I think it'd be in your best interest to learn how to use it effectively. You may be able to pass against the minions of Vinsfeld... but it is extremely important that you learn how to properly handle your blade and integrate it with the abilities of your armor, lest you come in contact with his higher legions... and that is only due in time."

"That guy... with the rifle." Alan vainly tried to size up his previous attacker. "...Vinsfeld just summoned him out of the ground. Would that be classified as a higher-up?"

"It was he who inflicted your wound?" Ryuen folded his arms. "I see you've already come in contact with one of Vinsfeld's Generals. Indeed, you'll need more power in your hands. The man who Vinsfeld sent at you was one of his oldest subordinates - the warrior Carlos. I would advise against fighting him, or any other of the Generals that Vinsfeld should sic on you. But that is another story for another day... for now, we have another issue to take care of."

There was a faint squeal as a small metal cage phased into existance, placed at the far edge of the room. In it was some kind of creature, what looked like a small, nearly bodiless rabbit - it was more of a floating head with obnoxiously large, beady eyes, and ears to match.


--------
RABITE
Size: Tiny
Endurance: Abysmal
Hostility: Kamikaze
Threat: Threat?

"The Rabites are the simplest minions of Vinsfeld. Easily summoned, easily hidden, easily mistaken for a stuffed animal, and easily obliterated. Though not speedy, they're cost-efficient scouters for Vinsfeld's forces. Though one can be brushed aside with literally no effort, they've been known to travel in swarms in a vain attempt to pose some kind of hazard to unwary opponents."
--------


"As you may have noticed by now, this is just one of Vinsfeld's..." Ryuen suddenly dropped off. He glanced over, heaving a sigh as he noticed Alan poking at the stray Rabite in the container.

"Ooooh.. aren't you a cute widdle bunny-wunny? Hoohoohoo... I'm gonna tick-" the Rabite suddenly turned, sniffing Alan's hand before viciously biting it. "AAAH AHA AH AH AH FUCK GOD DAMN SHIT OW OW OW OW GET OFF GET OFF GET OFF GET OFF!!!"

Ryuen shook his head. "...ANYWAYS... you should know that I found this one on one of Heronburg's backroads late last night. It is evident that Vinsfeld is looking for something else within Heronburg, but I'm not entirely sure what he could desire. He has already summoned the General locked within the earth here... in any case, I think it may soon be time for you to take to the defensive. Whatever Vinsfeld has planned for Heronburg in the near future, it cannot be good."

"Can I kill it?" Alan said flatly.

Ryuen shrugged. "Be my guest." he snapped his fingers, causing one side of the cage to disappear. Alan shrieked as the Rabite leapt out of the cage, latching firmly onto his face. He watched blankly as Alan flitted around the chamber, desperately trying to pry the rabid rabite off of his face. With one herculean pull, Alan ripped it off, taking special care to throw it across the room. Grabbing his sword, he lunged at it, making inhuman screeches as he proceeded to slice it into ribbons.

Ryuen rubbed his chin. "Crude. But effective. You could use some work, though."

Alan regained his breath as he held his sword firmly, watching the solid pieces of the rabite dissolve into the air. Oddly enough, there was no gore of any kind. "To tell you the truth, I'm wondering whether to practice flight or practice new and exciting ways to rid this world of vermin."

Ryuen tilted his hand. "I suggest a happy medium."


********


One day passed.

As time passed by, Alan quickly began to think less of the outside world, and more of expert flight, and said new and exciting ways of killing said vermin. Ryuen watched intently. Though his magically-created rabites were certainly less powerful than the real forms, Alan began to make quicker and quicker work of them. As most days did, it eventually finished and Alan was once again subjected to his bunk, where him and Syphlid slept, this time somewhat more comfortably than before.


********


The sun rose, and once again Ryuen stood in the kitchen, hard at work. He shook his skillet again, whistling as he turned to look at a picture on the wall - it, like everything else outside of the kitchen, was extremely ancient - which had odd, archaic patterns carved into it on top of the fine paint. Not even Ryuen was sure what to make of it, though it did comfort him some.

"...where is that boy..." Ryuen glanced down at his watch. It was already past 9 AM, and there was no sign of Alan - even after strict orders to be set for further training before 7. Letting the pan sit on the stove, he walked over to the door, opening it wide. The hallway was back in place, although it ended abruptly to his right, and stretched off into infinity to his left.

".....HOWDOYOUSTOPTHISTH-" Alan suddenly screamed by, again smashing clear through the wall. Ryuen muttered to himself, picking up a large stone block from the wreckage - Alan's head poked out. "...uh.. hi?"

"Where were you, Alan?" Ryuen murmured. "I clearly stated we were to continue training at 7 this morning."

Alan stood up, dusting his armor off. "Well, I got up at 6. I just decided to take the scenic route."

"...as much as I applaud your improved flight, there are still things we need to take care of. But before that, how about some breakf-" he suddenly dropped off as black smoke began to pour out from underneath the door.

"...I think I'll pass." Alan sighed.

Ryuen was ready to open the door anyways, until a bright pulse of red light filled the hallway, followed by a loud siren. The alarm was over as soon as it had started. "...this is not good." he turned, going to the other side of the hallway where another door had appeared.

"...what's not good? What's going on?" Alan slowly followed Ryuen through the open door. Alan found himself and Ryuen in a simple den. A simple rug stretched across the floor, several bookcases were up against the wall on his left, and there was a large sofa directly in the center. Directly in front of that was a fairly large television. Alan slowly took a seat.

Ryuen held the remote control with one hand, turning on the TV. "The Dark Matter is active."

Alan's eyes moved to the TV. True to Ryuen's word, the image slowly brightened into an active news broadcast. The camera was quickly becoming shaky, letting both know that whatever was happening was live.

"An odd predicament has grown on Highway 42, as early as half an hour ago..." the camera quickly switched over to the female broadcaster. "...traffic on the exit to Bassville has been slowly mounting since a large semi trailer swerved at the exit, toppling and cutting off passage to the main interstate. So far investigations have revealed that no one was harmed in the accident at the time of occurance, but what is baffling police is the mysterious lack of a driver." the camera wobbled once more as the cameraman climbed up on something, providing a wide shot of the chaos. Indeed, the semi was flipped, barricades were established, and police were slowly starting to back up the four lanes of traffic that stretched over a nearby hill, turning back towards Heronburg. "A search team is already in action, spreading out in an attempt to find the owner of the vehicle."

"...wouldn't a crash like that damage the fuel tank?" Alan leant forward, pointing towards the fuel tank. Indeed, the device was completely smashed, though not a drop of fluid was present around it.

"Maybe it wasn't driven at all." Ryuen said.

"Huh?" Alan glanced back at the screen.

The reporter turned as a loud creak echoed out. "...what's this?... it seems that the back doors of the trailer are opening... and... what is IN there...?"

A single repeating squeak crackled over the camera's speakers. The caster turned again as the doors completely fell off their hinges - and a wave of rabites poured out, squeaking in a maddened frenzy. Almost instantaneously, cars began to back up, a good portion of them losing their drivers as they bailed from the vehicles, running from the rapidly advancing legion of rabites.

"This is bad," Ryuen said calmly. "Rabites may pose little threat to you, but these people are defenseless."

"No!!" Alan stood up, still bewildered by the chaotic wave of minions. "...he's already attacking innocent people!..."

"Were you expecting any different?" Ryuen responded. "Alan, you are the only Mana Knight present at this time. It is your duty to return to Heronburg and defend it."

"...we could use less vermin." Alan leapt off the couch, turning and striding back towards the door. Ryuen opened it for him, watching as its destination changed again, this time exiting out of another door on the front of the Shrine where the massive gates once were. Alan started into a jog, and then a run as he gained on the edge of the small island. Leaping, he fell a short distance while he quickly formed his Wings - his fall stopped, and he rode the currents as he suddenly arced up, cresting the cliff where he once fell from - and flew high over the town of Heronburg.


********


Vinsfeld stood atop a freeway, his arms folded. He watched the chaos that was rapidly developing just below with eyes of stone. His robes flapped in the wind - a storm was on the way.

Carlos stood some distance behind, watching silently as well. Finally he stepped forward, clearing his throat. "...I'm sorry, but I still don't understand what you're trying to accomplish by blocking transit to the interstate. Can we not go for bigger targets first?"

Vinsfeld remained mute, turning his eyes back to Carlos. "...you do feel it, don't you?"

"...feel what?"

"...you've lived upon this earth countless times and you still can't make sense out of anything I've ever said to you," Vinsfeld scoffed, turning back to the edge of the freeway. "...power levels are gathering. Already the currents of mana are redirecting themselves to new targets. It is only a matter of time before.. THEY arrive."

"The Mana Knights have awoken?"

"...no." Vinsfeld said dully. "...I myself lack the power to actually detect them, but it is easy to notice the life force in the air... agitating. They will be gathering soon, and I will not have the courtesy to grant them that oppritunity. I find in this age it is that much easier. Look, Carlos... no one can walk. They have become so wrapped up in their contraptions and vehicles that no one would THINK of using any other form of transportation. Mankind has become increasingly slothful in my phases of life."

Carlos nodded. "...ah..." he strained his eyes as he glanced down to the ruined semi. "...looks like the critters are getting impatient."

Down on the road, one particularly fat man was poking at the herd with a large stick. He shrieked as half a dozen leapt forward, latching onto him as he fled. Gradually the entire wave of rabites began to advance on the traffic jam, chasing away most of those who were left.

Vinsfeld's stare became more cold by the second. "Ah. Here we go."

Carlos glanced around. "Wha..."

Down on the road, one car with all its passengers intact, had stalled. Not only did the power-locking not work, but the wide-open windows couldn't be rolled up. The rabites slowly began to surround it, stacking each other and climbing up to the openings in the vehicle.

"..STUPID... THING!!" the father continually twisted on the ignition, with little to no response.

"...daddy..." the little girl in the back shuffled to the other side of the car as the rabites quickly scaled the window, preparing to enter. As one began to squeeze through the opening, it suddenly halted as the stack suddenly collapsed. A thunderous crash rang out across the road, grabbing the eyes of everyone nearby.

Vinsfeld shrugged his shoulders. "See. What did I tell you."

Alan kept his eyes on the ground, knelt as electricity crackled around his body. Slowly he began to stand up, his Wings fading out. His impact against the hard pavement sent fissures out in a short radius. Gripping his longblade tightly, he glanced around him. Most of the people were already gone, and the rabites were already in short-order chaos. Finally the car started with a rumble, backing into another adbandoned car, and driving forward again off the highway. Mud started to fly as it sped off in the other direction, not bothering to question who this person was who just dove out of the sky like a jet and was covered head to toe in runic armor.

"It's that kid!!" Carlos bellowed.

Nearly all the rabites halted their retreat, turning slowly to the visiting Mana Knight.

Alan smirked. "Did I drop in at a bad time?"

All of them bared their fangs.

Alan frowned. "Eep."

The cluster of small animals parted, allowing a large clump to bound through the air at Alan. Alan grit his teeth as he picked up his sword with both hands, winding up and delivering a home-run smash into the bundle of flying fur as it launched at him - the cloud broke up violently, rabites flying in all directions. Another wave came from the other direction, Alan spinning and slashing forth with his blade. The group divided, half flying uncontrollably over his head and the other scattering across the ground. Eyes wider than ever and squeaking wildly, a third of the group broke off, fleeing any way they could. The remaining began hurling themselves at Alan one by one, while Alan shifted his sword to one hand to bat away rabites as they came at him. Alan stepped backwards and shifted his weight accordingly, directly impaling one as it flew at him, spun and smashed another one out of the way, turned again and slashed one completely in half, turned again and backhanded one as it came at his face, pivoted and booted another half-dozen across the interstate, spiked another one hard against the pavement, speared another one down against the hard asphault, perfectly managed to headbutt one as it launched at his face, grabbed one by the ears as it flew by, flipping it around and swatting several more away, threw it at another paralyzed cluster sending them flying, elbowed one as it striked at Alan's throat, threw his fist back forward and clocked another, kicked behind himself and sent one flying forward, juggled it on his foot and launched it at another crowd, clotheslined another on his sword in the meanwhile, threw his sword spinning into the air, catching it and throwing it as hard as he could, spearing another three against the door of a nearby sedan, grabbing another two and smashing them together, and finally reclaiming his sword. He turned to watch the wave of remaining rabites bounding away over the vehicles nearby, while one sat and stared at Alan, his head tilted.

Alan stuck out his hand, suddenly flapping it. "Shoo."

The rabite screeched in mortal fear, following its comrades.

"He just WIPED those little bastards!" Carlos exclaimed. He was already leant far over the railing on the bridge, watching intently as Alan dusted his hands off, returning his sword to his grip afterwards. He suddenly raised it up, thrusting it forward.

"You!" Alan shouted. "You started this!"

"Thank you, master of the obvious." Vinsfeld called back.

"Get down here!!" Alan yelled. "We have some things to settle... and I'm a bit better armed this time!!"

"Oh!" Vinsfeld laughed harshly. "I don't seem to recall stooping to your level lately! For a Mana Knight you're pretty cocky about what you do! Well, since you're just getting started on your road to knighthood, I think I'll give you a few pointers." Vinsfeld stepped up onto the edge, hopping off the concrete barrier. His form quickly lowered to the ground, landing with a thud on the road.

"I won't bother asking why you do what you do..." Alan dropped off.

"...because it's been asked for many millenia." Vinsfeld finished. "I'm surprised the Mana Knights are aligning this early. Well, maybe not SURPRISED surprised, I could sense the mana stream being displaced for miles around. Not that it particularly matters. I thought I could go a while just provoking havoc with the rabites alone, but I see that's been delayed. What matters is that you, you alone are trying to defeat me before gaining any shred of knowledge about my very existance."

"You've plagued this world many times before," Alan held up his sword. "And I won't let you do it again."

"You're hopeless," Vinsfeld scoffed. He raised up his own hand, a bright shaft of purple light suddenly appearing in it. "If you're so much the blade master you think you are, you should have absolutely no trouble ousting me on your own."

There was a clash of blades.

"Going for the quick and dirty kill?" Alan grunted. In a fraction of seconds the sword and the beam met, sending sparks of energy every which way.

"If the shoe fits, wear it." Vinsfeld formed another blade, swiping it in to lock against Alan's own blade as he spun, slashing at Alan with the other weapon. Alan leant back, narrowly evading it as he fell back onto his hands, flipping backwards as he did so. He landed, letting out a yell as he charged Vinsfeld once more, raising his sword with both hands for a vicious two-handed slice. Vinsfeld crossed his blades, letting the Syphlid sword clap hard against the solid energy. The air crackled as Alan desperately tried to force his way through Vinsfeld's guard. Vinsfeld simply frowned as his feet launched into the air, smashing Alan directly into the face. Vinsfeld literally flipped in place, landing again on his feet softly as Alan reeled backwards, gripping his nose.

"...fuhing chea!" Alan painfully held his bleeding nose tightly.

"I think cheap would constitute as me running up and decapitating you before you could blink. Or perhaps stabbing you in the eyes, kicking you in the groin, calling Carlos down here to double-team you, and/or any combination of the above."

Alan regained his bearings, charging Vinsfeld once more. He held his sword down to his side, his arm suddenly making a wide arc as he attempted to slash down across Vinsfeld. The elder being matched the attack with grace, performing a wide sweep of his own. Both swords clashed, and readjusted their trajectories to meet each other once more. Alan suddenly reared his sword back, attempting to impale Vinsfeld. Vinsfeld simply raised his arms, allowing Alan to plunge his sword deep into his chest. Alan's eyes grew wide as he watched the blade simply sink through Vinsfeld, with no conceivable damage otherwise.

"I think you'll find me a bit harder to eliminate." Vinsfeld hissed. He pulled both fists back, encasing them in another field of energy as he slammed them hard into Alan's face once again. The sword fell from Alan's hand as he was launched backwards, flying into the hood of another nearby vehicle, virtually smashing the front half of it to pieces. Vinsfeld slowly advanced on Alan as he began to pry himself from the wrecked automobile, pulling Alan's sword out of him as he did so. He threw the blade to the ground, the arcane weapon clattering hard against the pavement.

Alan growled as he raised his fist, energy starting to crackle around it as he quickly started to channel his energy into it. Yelling, he leapt from the car high into the air, diving down at Vinsfeld. As he hurled his fist down at the ground, Vinsfeld caught it - and held Alan up in the air by it. Vinsfeld frowned as he suddenly spun, slamming Alan viciously into the ground, sending fragments of asphault into the air as the ground rippled underneath the force. Vinsfeld continued to grip Alan's hand, finally letting it drop lifelessly to the ground. Beginning to walk away, he kicked Alan's sword, letting it spin to a stop just next to its onwer's hand.

"...that was a rash mistake on your behalf." Vinsfeld finally coughed.

Alan slowly raised from the ground, his movement shaky as he gradually began to prop himself up on his arms. Vinsfeld suddenly reared back, landing a kick directly into Alan's face. The Knight collapsed to the ground once more. Vinsfeld dissiapated his remaining sword, beginning to move away again.

"To think of such fine swordplay, bestowed upon such a rambunctious young man. Your generation never ceases to amaze me, or lack thereof." he glanced up at Carlos, who was still watching in disbelief as Vinsfeld had single-handedly thrashed the same Knight that was vastly destroying his minions minutes before. "You disgust me and intrigue me all at once."

Alan slowly started to pry himself from the ground, trembling. "...I'll g-get.. you event-tually.."

"...well, this is the earliest I've heard that for a long time." Vinsfeld began to move away. "If you had half as much common sense as you do motive, you'd be a threat to my cause. Lie down, have a rest. And while you're at it, rethink your position on this matter. I think some brain exercise could have some positive side effects. Feel free to come back to me if you feel you possess any vague fragment of power required to warrant my attention." Vinsfeld unfurled his robes, continuing to walk away.

"You're just gonna leave him there?" Carlos called out from above.

"..." Vinsfeld turned over his shoulder. "...IF you possess any will of a Knight..." he reached up, snapping his fingers as him and Carlos both began to dissolve into the air, leaving Alan crashed against the crowded road.

The wind howled once more as Alan remained motionless. Finally he began to pull himself up once more, dragging himself up the side of the same car he had destroyed. Resting over the shattered hood, he lifted his head, feeling the wind pierce at his face. "...how... what the hell.. was I thinking?" he raised his head further, examining where Vinsfeld had once stood. He had gotten his first taste of the ancient dictator in action. While he knew Ryuen wasn't kidding about the ferocity of his skills, he also had another thought drilling at him - that he was nowhere near his full power.

Alan finally was up on his feet. Ignoring his battered armor and the pain that stemmed from it, he started to channel mana once more - his Wings flickered out of their slots, fizzling before reaching full power. Alan hopped up, hovering off the ground, and quickly began to ascend. Incapacitated, beaten and otherwise nullified, Alan quickly began to hover away on the Wings, his destination the Mana Shrine - a long, long nap was in order.

Alan wanted more than ever to stick his blade into something... just not Vinsfeld.

For the time being, anyways.