Cursed Soul: Ch.6

Personal Magic is achieved when one's own Ethernano container synchronises with your mind, body and soul, resulting in your Ethernano being transformed into a new and unique presence that feels similar to others that use to the same kind of magic

For example, those that use Fire Magic each have their own unique warm presence about them, but some feel like you're standing next to a comforting campfire while it feels as if you're being burned with others.

Some believe that the factor of love is what causes this feeling of warmth or pain, but many speculate that it is simply because some use their magic to protect and cherish while others use their magic to destroy and plunder.

'Huh, so the moment I figure out my own personal magic, my presence will shift to better fit it. That must be why it feels like I'm standing next to a sturdy wall when I'm with Titan or why the air smells like a fresh morning after rain when I'm studying with Elise.' I thought with a hum as I closed the book I was reading.

It's been about two months since I've enlisted into the rough training process that was becoming a Rune Knight, something that I was still not sure was real as I was still in both shock and awe that I was in the actual Fairy Tail universe.

I mean, I was at a point in the timeline where most of the good waifus were either fawning over someone or in a committed relationship and considering the issue of what happened with Fairy Tail the first time I met them, my decision to join Lamia Scale or Quatro Cerberus is as strong as ever.

Yes, still a bit miffed about that. Not much, but a bit.

Anyway, during the two months that we've been busy training and studying, over half of the trainees have been deemed failures and thus unfit to become Rune Knights.

That's right, over half of them.

I was surprised at the numbers too until I was told by Vergil that only the top ten percent of a group are deemed fit to serve, i.e. only one platoon.

There was sometimes exceptional candidates that stood out, but unfortunately, it appears that this year was not one of those years.

“Damn, still stuck in here, huh?” A bald guy with dark gold eyes and a chin beard asked with a smirk as he sat down next to me and I rolled my eyes as I stared at the man with the lightning tattoo on the side of his neck.

Kane Speedo or as we call him 'Kane the Train' of Platoon/ Team #7 and as one could guess from his name, he uses a form of Speed Magic.

It was not the same Slow Magic that Racer from Oracion Seis used nor the High Speed magic of Jet, but it was a slight mixture of the two as he could create arrows on the ground that rapidly moves him in one direction for five meters.

However, just like a train, he can only shift himself in one direction before he has to slow down in order shift himself into another direction as his body still carries the momentum from one direction even if he shifts into another.

The science kind of worked so I left it as is.

“Yep, trying to figure out what I wanted my personal magic to be focused around.” I said and he snorted as he saw the book before shaking his head.

“Oh, you don't get to decide. I wanted to have laser eyes or super strength but instead I can shift myself forward for a few meters. You may want one type of magic, but your subconscious mind wants something else and that's the part your ethernano listens to.”

“Wait, really?” I asked with a raised eyebrow before turning as I heard another voice chime in, Dante plopping down next to me as he spoke up.

“Yep. Vergil and I wanted the same Battle Magic that our Dad uses since it looked cool to us, but then he got Requip: The Swordsman while I got Requip: The Gunner.” As if to prove that he was speaking the truth, a red crest appeared above his left hand before an ivory white pistol appeared in his grasp, the guy gripping it with a smirk before it shattered into motes of light.

“I don't hate it since guns are cool too, but transforming into a demonic beast was far cooler to young me.”

“See? You might want one thing, but it's all about what you really want that determines what your personal magic will be.”

“Well, I have a fond memory of being healed by Mr. Adonna's magic so perhaps I might get a version of that.”

“Ooh~ I wouldn't want to have any kind of healing magic. If you're ever deployed to Fiore's border patrol units and you get involved in a border skirmish or war, I can bet you one billion Jewels that the enemy would rather die than not attack you all out. The moment you die, we lose someone that can heal us which means that they feel motivated to attack more.”

“That…is true. Urgh, then what is a good magic?”

“Elemental magic never disappoints, especially if you choose the right one.” Kane added before smirking as I simply gave him a deadpan stare.

“What kind of elemental magic? There's so many elements I don't know which one would fit me best.”

“Eh, you look like an Earth Magic guy. You know, stubborn and hardheaded.”

“Nah, he's more of a Fire Magic guy. Hot-blooded and with a burning passion for study.”

“Oh, fuck both of you.” I grumbled as I closed my books, leaving the two goofballs to laugh their asses off as I walked to the bookcases at the far back and put the book back.

“Still stuck on personal magic discovery?” Elise's voice came from besides me and I turned to see her putting a book on weather phenomena down, an amused snort coming from her as I nodded with a sigh.

“Yeah, how did you get yours?”

“My aunt fired lightning bolts at me and forced me to learn how to control the winds to block it.”

“You're…you're joking, right?” I asked with a hesitant smile before blinking as she simply smiled and shrugged.

“It was messed-up, but it worked.”

“…I feel like I'm the only sane one of our group…and that scares me considering how little sanity I have left.”

“Eh, don't worry about it. Dante, Vergil and I were trained by monsters so you, Titan and Danny have to pick up the slack.” She said with a grin and I frowned as I remembered the surprise test that happened last week and was also the reason why over half of the platoon was gone.

It was quick and out of the blue, with all of us being forced to attack the MPF and any score under four hundred was knocked out of the running.

I had managed to score a 683, more than double of what I had last time and the others had managed to get higher scores as well, with Titan and Daniel scoring 539 and 532 respectively while Dante, Vergil and Elise finally showed their true strength at 1123, 1143 and 1110 respectively.

Their scores individually broke the previous records of 1100 each, with Vergil having been smug about his higher score and lording it over Dante who was sour for a few hours right before we got a soda to him and he was happy again.

However, that was all the happiness there was that day as the rest of our platoon failed to get over four hundred, with Nova having gotten very close with a 397.

Man, it was hard to watch them all be escorted off of the training, but at least we can say that we only lost half of our platoon as everyone other than us and a few members of platoons #4, #7, #9 were completely wiped out, leaving only about 21 members still here.

Like I said, we did good, but not good enough to be considered exceptional…other than the aforementioned trio of monsters that got over a thousand.

'Then again, they were trained since they were young by two Generals of the Rune Knights who are supposed to be the best of the best so it would make sense that they're far ahead of us.'

“You really got to stop going into those mental monologues.” Elise's voice pulled me from my mind and I looked at her with a blink before giving a chuckle as she simply raised an eyebrow at me.

“Sorry about that. What were you saying?”

“Hah, I'm saying that if you want to figure out your magic, you just have to wait. Sometimes, it takes a while before it shows up. Besides, in your case, you've only even been fully practising your magic for three months where most of us have had three or more years to figure it out. Just give it time and it will show up on its own.”

“I suppose you are right.”

“Not suppose. I am right. Now, be a dear and bring my books to the barracks. I've got a bit of studying up to do before our final physical exams in a few weeks.”

“Books?” I asked as she walked away and followed her finger only to raise an eyebrow at the thick stack of a dozen or maybe even thirteen textbooks that were the size of my head.

“And when we do graduate, I'll put a word in for a quick promotion~”

“You said our barracks, right?” I asked as I picked up the stacks with a grunt, shuffling a bit around to get used to the weight before ignoring Dante's laughter in the background as I quickly shuffled after Elise.

He might be laughing now, but we'll see who stays a private for a few months and who gets to Sergeant Major or even Captain.

'Wait, the bastard was going to become a mercenary so he wouldn't care and even if he did, his dad's a general so a quick promotion would be nothing for him. …Hah, you just gotta love nepotism, huh?'

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“I have to say to you lazy maggots that it has been a pleasure to train some weak sons and daughters of bitches such as yourself! I tried, and the gods knows I tried to break your damned spirits, but you are some of the toughest bastards I have ever seen in my entire goddamn life!” Lieutenant Draco shouted with a happy yet harsh look in his eyes as he paced in front of us, to which I continued looking forward and not at Dante who stifled his snickering.

“However! Today is your last exams and with that, it is also my displeasure to say that there are eighteen of you…and each General is only looking for one candidate.” This time, he didn't shout to show how serious it was and most of us caught on as Vergil instead of Dante cursed out loud while Elise sighed and Dante frowned.

“Mr. Lieutenant Sir! Do you mean that we're…?” Kane trailed off before scratching the back of his head with a disgruntled look as the Lieutenant nodded with a frown.

“Unfortunately so, trainwreck! You eighteen are going to have to fight for that last spot! Here are match-ups! Dante vs Euclid, Vergil vs Vidus, Elise vs Emil, Titan vs Dreyton, Lazur vs Lapiz, Kaiser vs Mikael, Azur vs Quin, Kane vs Pietra and finally Daniel vs Eric! All nine of those matches will be happening at the same time! Other than lethal blows, anything else is permitted and your job is to either make your opponent submit or knock them unconscious. Whichever one you choose is your choice. Now, spread out to the nine circles!” He shouted as he pointed to the nine chalk circles drawn out on the ground and I took a deep breath as I ignored the crowd of family members, friends and loved ones cheering around us as Daniel and I made our way over the circle behind him.

“Whoever wins, wins. No hard feelings.” I said with a hand held out and the lazy bastard simply chuckled and nodded as he shook my hand.

“I thank you for the congratulations in advance.”

“Yep, still the lazy smartass as usual.” I muttered as we both took a few steps back, watching as nine of the Rune Knights dressed in some kind of priest outfits with sceptres walked over to each of the nine circles before slamming the butt-end of their sceptre onto a circle.

The moment they did, a large array of purple light shot out and rose up into a cylinder chamber around us, locking us off from the outside as I marvelled at the jutsushiki before shaking my head as the Lt. raised a hand.

“Are all of you bastards ready?”

“Sir yes sir!” We all barked in unison as each of us gave a final salute before I took a deep breath and bounced on the balls of my feet with my fists raised up.

“Then may the strongest nine win! Begin!” The instant he swung his hand down, the ground shattered under me as I quickly fuelled ethernano to my legs and lunged to the side, barely dodging his first attack as an orange cube of his ethernano appeared around my initial position.

'The moment I stand still is the moment I lose.' I thought to myself as I continuously and erratically leapt from foot to foot around the arena, making sure to never be in the same spot as Danny was going to try his best to seal me off in a cube.

The moment he did, he could just seal off the air flow in the cube or compress it to the point that I had to forfeit lest I want to die.

Unfortunately for me, what I was doing was just exhausting myself so I had to do the best thing I could do: Punch the shit out of him.

Quickly leaping from left to right to dodge another cube, I rushed forward in a zig-zag before appearing crouched below him, feinting an upper cut as I dodged to the left before swinging a hook to his right side.

However, the barrier creator simply smirked as an orange barrier appeared at his side, but what he didn't expect was for me to grab the edge and pull myself out of the way right as he tried to seal me off.

Going for a leg sweep, I simply grabbed a bit of sand from the ground before leaping up and chucking it into his face, Danny wincing and flinching back as he covered his face with his hands right as I leapt forward and went to grab him.

To my surprise, the bastard quickly created a barrier around himself instead and forced me to back off, cursing under my breath as I continued to jump around while frowning as I watched him frantically rubbing his eyes for a few moments to get most of the dirt out.

“Urgh, I forgot you don't fight fair.” He grumbled as he stared at me with slightly red eyes and I frowned as he kept the barrier up while continuing to try and aim where I was standing to get me sealed.

'Just one hit. Just one hit is all I need and he's out.' I thought with a frown as I looked at the area around us, frowning at how little there was to work with before smirking as an idea came to mind.

With a grin, I surprised him and probably everyone watching as I spun around and leapt towards the side of the barrier closest to me, grinning as I landed feet first on the wall before rapidly leaping from wall to wall high up until I reached the top about twenty meters up.

Grunting as I leapt up onto the top, I quickly leapt back down to a side of the wall as I saw him trying to create a cube, the man realizing too late what my plan was as I rapidly leapt back down from wall to wall while charging ethernano to my leg.

At the final jump about five meters up, I clenched my leg muscles as hard as I could before head first toward the ground, spinning rapidly while tucking my legs in as I spun like a beyblade right before straightening my leg out and bracing for the pain.

With a roar, my heel smashed into the ground and sent the entire dirt floor we were fighting on high up into the sky, barely able to hear Danny's surprised grunt and being launched up high into the air as the aching pain from my heel and knee drew my attention first.

However, I forced myself through it and began leaping up from wall to wall again up to where Danny was still rising up, the man looking surprised from inside his barrier as I shoulder-banged it and sent it bouncing off of a wall.

'There was one weakness you shouldn't have told me about, Danny boy.' I thought with a smirk as I continued to leap from wall to wall while kicking and punching Danny all through the air, making sure he was never still and suspended in the air as I watched him getting queasy which in turn created cracks all around it.

The one weakness Danny had is that his barriers are focused on his mental state and the more disoriented he was, the weaker his barriers became.

Unfortunately for him, they sealed off our area from the outside world which meant that the entire world around me was one platform.

'Now have you ever heard this words, Danny boy?'

“Left!” I grunted as I pushed towards him and shattered his barrier with a punch, the man barely able to hear it and he began to repair it only for me to pull my right fist back as I spun around and leapt at him once more.

“Right!” Another grunt and another punch shattered most of his cage this time and he tried his best to create a spherical barrier around him, but I spun and dove head first right through it and into his chest right before I quickly pinned his arms to his side and held us close as I pointed us down towards the ground.

“Here's a little Eric Creed Special, Danny!” I exclaimed as I spun us through the air, his eyes widening as I headbutted him to stop him from creating a barrier while looking down to see us reaching the end.

'Primary Lotus!' Instead of letting him fall head first into the ground and break his neck though, I put my legs to his chest before stomping down, sending us flying into opposite walls.

However, where I spun around and landed on a wall before rolling with a grunt, he flew back first into a wall before rapidly bouncing from wall to wall until he fell back first into the ground, to which I wince as I saw the bumps on his head.

“…You goddamned crafty bastard! Eric Creed wins!”

A/N: And we're done with training~! Like I said, the training wasn't going to last long so I just finished it off.

Anyway, I hope you guys like the little combat strategy I showed there since Eric doesn't have his own magic yet.

Like I said, it's going to take him a while to figure it out but until then, he'll be stuck with enhancing himself with ethernano…which one could say is kind of a personal magic in a way but not quite at the same time.

Eh, we'll figure it out later.

Also, the fight might have looked a bit too one-sided since Danny just tried to seal him off instead of fighting, but personal magic has more to do with what you truly are and Danny is a lazy person that would try to take the easy way out which is why he tried that approach.

That and he didn't feel like he could go fist to fist against Eric even with his barriers so he wanted to take a way where he didn't have to do too much work and still win. Just wanted to clarify that.

Anyways, next chapter is being a Rune Knight and the first two months of being a Knight.

As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one…

Ba-Bye~!!