Flamelord and Renose Collab (Part 7)

Thomas rose as well, cracking his knuckles before picking up the sword once again. He watched and listened as Serin explained what they would be doing next and returned the stone seats to the concrete they had spring from. Eyes widened at the revelation he was given, that he was going to be the third person to ever learn this technique, though a tad dimmed by the fact that he was retreading the ground that someone in the group had already covered, though Oner had been suppressed this entire time. still, it would be something that the rest, and the Six Senses, wouldn't see coming when he did break it out. 

Time to go again. Thomas nodded, holding the blade comfortably and having to hold back a chuckle at the intense look he recieved, though for what reason he didn't know. Hopefully Serin hadn't noticed. He nodded and focused, remembering what he had just finished doing, following what he had learned. then he unleashed it, a clear blast of lightning flashing forth as a solid, crackling stream from Thomas' blade to where Serin was standing, blue and super heating the air with static. Certainly, more power than he had ever used or had the need to use before in an actual fight. 

Serin smirked as he felt the lightning magic come forth, feeling the will and power behind it. Much stronger than what Thomas was using when Serin first arrived. The lightning would hit Serin's blade or be pulled into it by the Runic over his body, but it did not disappear like normal. No instead another change took place. Serin's blade was now crackling with the same electricity as Thomas' magic was now trapped within, seemingly imbuing the blade with its power. "Your magic is mine now". He swung the sword to demonstrate, the blade seeming to rip and move through the air as he swung it like a lightning bolt. 

"And now... you can take it back!" He then suddenly slashed the sword downward towards Thomas, the lightning magic that Thomas had just used now being sent right back at him, a bit stronger than it was before as Serin had put some of his own power into it. Serin wanting to see how Thomas would react in this situation. 

That was also unexpected, as Thomas ended the spell to see Serin standing there with a blade crackling with sparks of electricity, yet it didn't dissipate like normal Runic. It hit him like a hammer as he understood. So, keep the spell around, make an elementally charged blade for your weapon. Cool. And that it was, though he did find it a tad bit hard to believe that Oner and Serin were the only other people in the various realms that could do something like this. But he wasn't gonig to voice that thought either at the moment. 
Eyes widened as Serin threw the magic back from where it was held on his blade at Thomas. The situation warred with instinct, his normal reaction had this been a combat situation to dive out of the way and then retaliate. But this wasn't normal combat, it was training. And he had the feeling that Serin expected him to catch it with Runic, since that was the whole point of what they were doing. So he did that. But time was wasted and he couldn't catch everything, and he recieved shocks with tingling aftereffects for his effort. He looked over to Serin as he waved the feeling back into his fingers. "Nice."

Serin was hoping that Thomas would catch the spell with Runic, which he almost managed to do. He only missed some of it, but not too much to where it would hurt. "Heh, glad you liked it. That skill is called the Mahou Ken, or Magic Sword. You'll have to forgive me for the... less than creative name. It was four AM when I named it after first developing it, and after weeks of work on the skill and a less than healthy lack of sleep your creativity begins to leave you". Serin scratched the back of his head a little awkwardly after saying this, giving a small chuckle. 

"Anyway". He cleared his throat to move on with the conversation. "This skill involves catching a spell with Runic. Instead of simply dispelling the spell you truly claim it as your own and trap it within your sword. You see as I mentioned before when you capture a spell with Runic it becomes your spell. This skill takes ultimate advantage of that as it is used to power your weapon, giving your attacks with it new properties. Not only that, but you can also either send it back from your blade bolstered with your own magic or you can dispel it and absorb the mana at anytime as you would with Runic". 

Serin then took another stance, looking at Thomas again. "Close your eyes, I am going to throw another spell at you, but I won't tell you which spell, nor will I tell you when I am going to throw it. You are to capture it as you would with Runic, but instead of dispelling the spell and absorbing the Mana once its inside your sword like you normally would keep it trapped in there. Naturally it will charge your blade, giving it new magical power. This practice will not only teach you a new skill, but also train everything else that I have been teaching you as well. Now then, whenever you are ready". 

Finally getting that needed feeling back, Thomas shrugged. "Not everything needs a cool name. Elegant simplicity, or something like that. So I've been told anyway." He listened on, interested, though a thought occured to him yet again, and he debated the application of it, but decided to wait for now since he wanted to cinsider the implications and the possibilities himself. For now, how to make magic swords. 

THomas nodded, a bit more uncertain now. He hadn't really done this with his eyes closed before, though he knew in his mind that it should make no difference since his eyes didn't play a roll in the actual process itself. it was just the anticipation, the not knowing when it was going to hit, how much time was left, it was unnerving. But he followed the instructions and closed his eyes, the sword held in a ready position. "Go," he said.

Serin just nodded, staying silent. He walked around Thomas for a few long moments, building up magic and dispelling it to keep the mage on his toes. Training with his eyes closed would help Thomas hone his magical senses. This wasn't a beginner lesson on Runic anymore. This was an advanced lesson and thus the training would only get harder. After what seemed like forever, but was only around a minute or so, Serin suddenly cast his spell with one quick motion. It was an air spell, not that Thomas could see it, a blast of wind shooting right at Thomas as Serin hoped that all of his Runic training had paid off to allow him to do it with his eyes closed and with a spell he didn't know. 

Thomas had to force himself to hold his eyes closed, ears perked as he listened for an indication of where Serin was, his magical senses picking up the flow and dissipation of Mana as he stayed still, he hair on the back of his neck prickled in anticipation. For him as well it seemed like forever, but it was almost a relief when the blow did come. He reacted, embracing the strange yet increasingly familiar nature of the Air spell, but misjudged how long it took, how long he had, and he was not fully successful, forced to hold his ground against the buffeting of wind as he let it pass silently, anger at himself growing as he waited for the next hit. 

Serin was not surprised that Thomas couldn't get it on the first try. Runic wasn't exactly an easy skill in the first place, Mahou Ken being an even further advanced version of it. Serin said nothing as he built up that same suspense, this time a shorter amount of time passing as this time a swirling 'drill' like blast of flame shot at Thomas now, a bit of lightning mixed in in the middle of the swirling blast, not that Thomas could see it with his eyes, but if his senses were honed enough he could feel it with that sixth sense for magic that mages possessed. 

The silence went on, Thomas's determination to get it down growing amidst his anger at himself for failing before. More time passed, still imperceptible besides the huff of his breathing and the sounds and feeling that reached him from Serin. when the spell came he was prepared, reaching out and aiming for speed, to get it as fast as possible even if he had to do brute force to make it happen. But this time he succeeded, pulling the spell in and dissipating it for Mana. But he had to do better, prove it wasn't a fluke, so he waited for another spell, or further instruction. 

"Good. It seems you noticed the lightning inside as well. Keep your eyes closed. This time, instead of absorbing the spell with Runic you have to keep it trapped in your sword, where it will then charge your blade with magical power. Remember everything that I have taught you thus far and you will get this". Serin then went silent, proceeding to walk around Thomas slowly, making sure to go all around slowly, every now and again making a small leap to go into a different position on a different side of Thomas to keep him sensing, building up and dispelling Mana every now and again. 

Then this time a blast of air shot from Serin, heading straight from the mage. The air was condensed into a sphere and swirling rather quickly, so it would most likely pack a punch if Thomas wasn't able to absorb it this time. 

THomas grunted a response to Serin as he kept his eyes closed, drawn back into that anticipatory waiting, the sensing of that concentration of magical energy, trying to hear where he was, not a fun experience but one he accepted if it would help him get better, get stronger, win back some respect. When the orb of air came, he went to work again, speed and brute force chosen over finesse to whatever detriment that might bring, though he had yet to see one. But he was sure it would be revealed in time. the hard part was not absorbing the orb of air, but rather shunting it over to his sword, to ttrap it there. There was some leed over and loss of spell power, of mana, but he did succeed in imbuing the sword with air magic, for whatever that did.

"Good, you may open your eyes". When Thomas did open them he would see his sword, air swirling around the blade. Despite how heavy it was it now felt very light in his hand and in turn it would make him feel a little lighter as well. "Give it a few swings, then after that..." Serin drew his own sword. "Come at me". If Thomas swung it around a little he would discover that the blade was light like the wind, able to cut and move through it much easier than it could before. Once Serin figured Thomas was ready he took a stance, waiting for Thomas to make the first move. 

"Show me now your skills as a swordsman. This will allow you to better hone your skills with the sword and with keeping magic in your sword while fighting, allowing you to also hone everything else I have been teaching you. Now then... whenever you are ready..."

Thomas did as requested, eyes peeling open to reveal the sword with wisps of white wind swirling around cold steel. He did as requested, noting how light and quick he could move it, despite how much it should weigh. "Alright," he replied, testing it a bit more to see how the new light weight affected the balance, then he moved in to attack Serin, using his admittedly unsophisticated style, augmented by the air spell, to try and overwhelm him, though he had a feeling that this wouldn't see much success. But he had to make the effort, so he went at it, trying to use his speed to get past Serin's guard and land a hit.