The Villain Wants to Quit

The Gems (4)

Marc and Marie were the ones who Terrell deigned to allow to stay with Theo. It took three more days for Theo to be able to stay awake consistently. Theo accepted Henley's betrayal and his new situation under Terrell so calmly that it made Marc and Marie feel even worse.

In another two days, Theo was well enough to visit Carrot. Though Marc hated to report their movements to Terrell, his brother didn't resist the trip to see the unicorn. That day, they spend a long time at the stables. The following week was spent helping Theo regain his strength and practice his mana control while Scourge made progress sampling as many palace desserts as possible.

Before long, their deadline was drawing to a near.

"I heard that a Count in Ingells has a bracelet matching the rest of the jewelry you've stolen," Marc briefed Theo on the upcoming job. "Unfortunately, our relationship with them is strained at best, so they aren't willing to hand it over.

"So you need me to steal it?" Theo asked.

"Actually, we are going to try a diplomatic envoy," Marc said. "But if that doesn't work, yeah, you'll steal it."

Marie fidgeted, uncomfortable that they may have to steal but logical enough to know that leaving the gem in Ingells would only make them a target for Dullahan.

"On the way there, we're going to collect Lord Laender's gem," Marc said. "We'll transfer both the gems to the royal treasury, where at least three members of the King's Guard will guard them at all times."

"Maybe we should just destroy them," Theo suggested. "Then we could be sure that Dullahan can't get his hands on them."

"But they're part of a divine dagger made by Numen herself," Marie said. Marc nodded in emphatic agreement. "We can't destroy something the goddess herself bestowed on humanity – if it's even possible."

Theo grimaced. He would much rather just destroy the potential threat, but it seemed he was alone in his opinion, so he pushed his thoughts aside and helped Marie and Marc pack for their trip. When they left the following day, Theo was thankful for the normalcy of being reunited with Carrot on the road provided. He was less thankful to be reunited with Stabby, the divine dagger who immediately started screeching lectures about almost dying and having ignored him for two weeks.

Traveling with others was a new experience, and it certainly felt different, but it was actually pleasant. They had to travel a bit slower. Apparently, Giselle was the only other group member who frequently rode a unicorn, and Scourge got a little jealous of the others. But he also enjoyed the extra attention from Marie and Marc. Setting up camp was easier with more people, and Marc was surprisingly good at cooking camp fare.

However, it wasn't all easy-going. Marie insisted that Theo keep training his magic while they traveled. He had to meditate while riding the horse, practice mana manipulation while keeping watch, and complete practical exercises during breaks. Marc forced him to work on theoretical studies while he was cooking.

"I think you're getting less catastrophic," Marie said when they had stopped to camp about a day's ride from Lord Laender's castle.

Theo smiled at the compliment, but he was still exploding bullets he attempted to load with mana about ten percent of the time.

"Yeah, you're probably getting about ready to try an actual spell," Marc agreed.

"I can do that?" Theo asked.

"Of course," Marc said, "All mana users can do formal spellwork; it just suits some more than others on a day-to-day basis.

Theo nodded. He had learned a bit about this already. Giselle had explained that she didn't typically use formal spellwork since her magic revolved around communicating with sprites. On the other hand, Marie often used formal chants when she needed to load a bullet with a particularly complicated piece of magic.

"Since spellwork is about helping mana users channel and process mana into spells consistently, whether that's through magic circles or chants, it might be beneficial for you," Marc said.

"Right," Marie added. "Normally, mana users start out with simple, harmless spells, but given your circumstances, I think it would be better to jump straight to techniques that can be used to fight."

"I want to learn, too!" Scourge poked his head out of Theo's pocket, woken up from his nap.

"What's a little kid like you going to fight?" Theo thumped Scourge on the forehead. Scourge didn't argue back but climbed on Theo's shoulder and observed the lesson.

"This is a chant to produce fire," Marie said before demonstrating a chant while holding one of her bullets. When she was done, she passed the bullet to Theo. "Since I use bullets as a medium to control my magic, I focused on containing the spell within the bullet." Marie took the bullet back, loaded it in her pistol, and shot at their firewood. The wood was immediately ablaze. "The effects are seen when I shoot the bullet."

"But Mortal Theo does not use anything like that," Scourge pointed out.

"Since Theo doesn't use a medium to control his magic, he will have to work harder to visualize and direct his mana," Marie responded. "More complex and precise spells will help with that if you aren't skilled at visualization, though they take more time to complete, leaving you defenseless."

"So, would it be better if I used a medium?" Theo asked.

"Not necessarily," Marc looked up from where he was preparing a stew. "I use a sword as a medium, and Marie uses a gun. It's helpful, but then all your spellwork has to suit that medium."

"Then why do you use mediums?" Theo asked.

"A lot of people don't have a choice," Marc said, "Almost all ambient mana users need a medium to help facilitate the process of drawing mana from the environment and processing it into magic for spellwork."

"Now, let's have you try that spell," Marie refocused Theo on the lesson.

Only use a tiny droplet of mana. Stabby said, joining the conversation. Your mana reserves are far different than any other mana user.

Theo grimaced. He tried very carefully to pluck the tiniest bit of mana, less than he used even on the bullets. A drop of sweat rolled down his back as he concentrated. Then he changed the spell Marie showed him while visualizing fire appearing between his hands.

"Mortal Theo, you succeeded!" Scourge cheered. A small flame was flickering between Theo's palms.