84 Storm Aura

"I'm up against the Crimson Prince?!" The young man stepped back as he took in the scene.

The place where his sword had hit Will was covered by a pitch black fabric which was embroidered with royal gold. It looked like a cloak would, shrowding Will in its darkness.

"You are doing well to keep up with me." Will said as he smiled at the young man. "I haven't had this much fun in a long time." He allowed his swords to meld with his cloak. "I think I'll answer your question now."

The young man stood at the ready. Even though Will looked defenseless without weapons, now that he knew who he was, he knew better than to believe the prince could ever be helpless.

"You really only need one of those crosses." Will pointed to the pendants around the young man's neck. "Just a little piece of that metal is enough for an entire arsenal of weapons and armor."

Will let his imagination run as he talked. His cloak of darkness hardened around his body, becoming a suit of armor without a helmet. He then imagined his two usual swords in sheaths on either side of him. On the front and back of his belt, he had pin like needles which lined to either sword.

"This should be impossible." The young man said under his breath. "But if you can do it, so can I!" He touched another one of his pendants and imagined a suit of armor which surrounded him in seconds. A brilliant silver suit now engulfed the young man as he again drew his two swords and took a battle stance.

"Not bad for your first suit!" Will clapped enthusiastically. His armored gauntlets sending a metal on metal sound into the crowd. "How well do you think it will stand against mine?"

The young man charged Will with unrestrained strength. He swung both blades down on Will's armor with as much force as he could. Both affinities exploded on the armor. Wind blew as fierce as a tornado while the fire exploded outward.

Outside the cage, murmers could be heard from the crowd. "Don't you think he used a bit much against the prince? What if something happened to him?"

Maya's eyes were locked on the cage, yet not out of nervousness. She too was excited to see Will go all out.

As the flames and wind subsided, the crowd gasped in shock when they noticed the scene in front of them.

"How?" The young man could barely word as he stared at his two swords. Though they remained unscathed, so did the armor under them. "That was my full power." The swords returned back to the pendants around his neck.

"Please tell me you have more of those crystals." Will said with a smile on his face. "I still have to show you my new strength."

Will looked his dumbfounded opponent. The young man had been shocked still. His mouth had dropped and he could only slowly shake his head.

"Well, that's no fun." Will's eyes narrowed in disappointment. Suddenly, his features lit up once more. A smile plastered to his face. "You can test something out for me!" He said enthusiastically.

The young man stared slack jawed as Will rummaged through his pocket. "There it is!" He brought a crystal out and held it up for the young man to see. "I want you to test this one out for me." He threw it to his opponent who stared at it for a moment.

"This is!" He stared inside the crystal. To his amazement he saw a tornado blowing fiercely with flames surrounding it.

"You can wield both wind and fire properly," Will said as he prepared himself. "I want to see what you can do when they're combined."

The young man took a ring from his hand and removed the crystal, replacing it with the one Will gave him. Putting it back on, he clenched his fist. Red lightning crackled around his knuckles.

"This is incredible." He said to himself as he imagined a blade from one of his pendants. A rapier appeared in his hand in seconds. "Thank you for letting me test this out." He said as he released the aura of the stone into the weapon. The wind and fire combined to form red lightning which surrounded the thin blade. "You might have to dodge this one, I'm still not sure of how to control this." He pointed the thin sword at Will. A small ball of lightning formed at the tip, releasing in a split second towards Will.

"So that's how you can mix them." Will said as he dodged the lightning. The moment it hit the cage, it exploded in a shower of lightning sending it in every direction.

The sparks traveled to Will's feet and he greedily absorbed them. Within his mind, he could feel his understanding of both wind and fire grow. Within the crimson flame sky, he could see flashes of red lightning play.

Will stood as still as a statue as he thought of the practicality of such a discovery. He reached upward in front of him. His black gauntlet sparked madly with the red lightning. He then condensed all of the lightning into a ball and shot a long beam upward.

Will stood with a four foot long saber of pure energy. Red lightning sizzled around the blade as he inspected it. "This could be useful." He said to himself as he inspected his handiwork.

The young man stared openmouthed as he watched Will familiarize himself with his new ability. "Did you just learn that?" He asked as he too was investigating the blade.

"Thanks to you, yes. I have been trying to merge auras for a better part of a year. Even had a god try to teach me." Will said as if he were talking about a nice dinner he had not long ago. "I could never merge them though. I think I had to see it in action for me to be able to do it myself."

"A god?" The young man had already lost his wits the moment Will absorbed the power of the attack. It only made him more aware of his lack of strength.

"If you concede this match, I may be able to do something for you." Will was still mesmerized by the new ability. "I want to test whether or not if I can transfer this storm aura to someone else."

"I can't just give up." The young man said. Will saw the pain in his eyes as he spoke. He knew something was wrong the moment the kid wanted to keep fighting even though he found out that Will was the prince. Will had seen the look of determination in the young man's eyes. The strength that couldn't be shook.

"Why not?" Will asked, his voice went slightly lower. "I can see the look on your face. I know you want to concede, yet something seems to be holding you back. What is it?"

"I can't." The young man started. Will could obviously see that he was holding back. "I need the money."

"Fine then." Will released the storm blade and took out his storage crystal. Taking the large pouch of gold from within it, he poured twenty pieces of gold from the pouch into his hand, walked over to the young man and gave it to him. "Will this be enough?" As he withdrew his hand, a red spark jumped from it onto the young man.

The young man's hand shook under the weight of the gold. He looked from the small round coins back to will. Silently shaking his head, he went to the end of the platform. "I concede!" He shouted.

The gate unlocked and he stepped out. Turning back to the Crimson Prince he mouthed 'thank you.'

'You're welcome.' Will sent a transmission to the young man. He looked at Will with wide eyes. 'Why don't you tell me what you need that gold for?'

"I'm not sure what happened folks, but it looks like the winner is The Crimson Prince!" The announcer shouted. The whole crowd cheered as Will left the arena to stand next to the young man.

'They have my sister.' The young man said to Will through his thoughts. 'You gave me enough to buy ourselves out of service.'

Will registered the last few words and his face dropped. 'You are slaves?'

The young man nodded. 'The announcer bought us after our parents died when they couldn't pay the taxes. He kept adding to the total, telling us when we paid off what we owe, he would let us go.'

'What's your name?' Will asked the young man, his voice was deep with anger, even in his mind.

'Alex.' He replied. Looking at the prince, he could tell the fury that was brewing within his eyes. 'My sister's name is Lucy.'

Will nodded. 'I want you to continue to do what they say. I will be watching from the background, so don't worry.' He said as he shook Alex's hand. 'You show more promise than most of my recruits, so I'll help you out.' He patted Alex on the back. 'So just wait for me.'

Will grabbed Maya's bags from where he left them and jumped off the platform. "Ready to go?" He asked his companion as he continued to walk away.

"Did you have fun?" Maya asked playfully.

"Trust me." Will said with confidence. "The fun has just begun."