"How is this possible? I've never been able to emit my energy before!" said Raya.
Raya, who had reached 3-Star level not too long ago would have never expected to reach this level so soon.
"That's because of the blade's strong affinity with you." Pulgin explained.
"It has a strong lightning element affinity, so it amplified the power of your technique, boosting its power to that of a 4-Star warrior."
"That's so incredible!" said Raya. "So by using this blade, I'm at the level of a 4-Star?"
"Yes, and by continuing to practice using your energy with this blade in hand, you will naturally become a true 4-Star soon. I would say you'll reach that level in a few months give or take." Pulgin said.
Raya was happy as ever.
Now, with this blade, Raya would become the first member of the Flyers, besides the guild master, to reach 4-Star level.
All because he decided to trust in Reon.
"Reon. Thank you." said Raya.
"No problem." Reon said.
"Alright, Master Pulgin, how much for this blade?" Raya asked.
"I'll give it to you for free, as long as you recommend my shop to your friends." replied Pulgin.
"Deal!" said Raya.
This was a greater boon than Raya could have hoped for by looking through the shops.
He was now extremely grateful that he was the last to say 'not it' that morning, or else he would have missed out on this.
"What about you Reon? Maybe if you find a weapon with a high affinity to you, it could help you reach 3-Star." said Raya.
"That would be great but, unfortunately I don't think any of Pulgin's items have too much affinity with me. It's alright though I'll just find a weapon to buy another time."
"Wait boy. Reon was it?" said Pulgin.
"If you have the ability to ascertain affinities you may have an inherent magical ability that you were unaware of," said Pulgin.
"What do you mean?" Reon asked.
"I originate from Daimo, and there, some mages possess innate magical abilities before they ever formally practice magic. Rare abilities like that, that only few possess." Pulgin explained.
"Although this is extremely rare, and most mages have to practice basic magic before choosing a specialty, which usually aligns to their affinity," he said.
"You possess the same innate ability as me, "Gauge Magic", although I don't sense any mana within you."
"Innate Magic ability? Gauge Magic? I was just using Kinshi Sense, but I guess there are mages with abilities that can emanate Kinshi Sense, that is quite interesting." thought Reon.
"There is much potential value in that ability, and you can make a lot of money as a tradesman. If you do decide to pursue that I'd welcome you as my apprentice." said Pulgin.
"Thank you for the offer, but my goal is to be a warrior, not a tradesman." Reon shot down the offer.
"Although, perhaps if knowing affinities is that valuable, I should use that 'innate power' to make some money at some point, I'll keep it in mind Pulgin." Reon thought.
--------------------------
Reon and Raya were waiting at the port now.
"Reon, since you helped me to get this new blade, and you wanted a new weapon for yourself, I want to give my twin blades." said Raya, taking his previous weapons off his belt.
"I know they don't have the length or weight of a long blade or sword like you wanted but you should be better off with them then with your long dagger." Raya said.
"This is perfect." said Reon, grabbing the twin blades, relieved that he wouldn't have to purchase a weapon anymore.
Although not his first choice of weapon, twin blades were a definite step up compared to his long dagger.
Both blades were almost twice as long as the long dagger, and there were two of them which would increase his versatility in a battle.
He gave the blades a couple of test swings before equipping them onto his belt.
Both Reon and Raya were excited to try their new weapons out.
Especially Raya.
Now that he was a pseudo 4-Star warrior he felt like he could easily beat Hyo in a duel and become the 2nd ranked member of the Flyers.
This wasn't his priority though, as according to the Pulgin he could reach true 4-Star level soon, and this is what Raya wanted more than anything right now.
"I will take a spot at the Trial of 10 this year, and become a fang of Crux for the first time." thought Raya.
The trial of 10, was a competition to decide the top 10 strongest fighters within a given village, called the Fangs of the village.
From there the Fangs could compete at higher levels for honor and opportunity.
In previous competition only two members of the Flyers guild ever became Fangs, the guildmaster and the current 3rd ranked member.
Finally a large ship with a red, orange, and white mast appeared on the horizon. This was the Inferno Family's ship.
Raya, Reon, Gole, and Spryta were on the docks waiting for the ship to dock.
As the ship anchored, the team saw many people on the ship, all wearing white suits, as if that was their uniform.
Two men let down a gangway from the ship to walk onto the dock.
When they walked down, Raya greeted them first.
"Who are you people?" one of the Inferno Family servants asked.
"I'm Raya, the 5th Ranked member of the Flyers guild." said Raya showing his esteemed golden plaque.
"We were sent by the Village Lord of Crux, Dai GreyAllen, to escort the children of The Inferno Family," he said.
"Ah, so you are the elite members of the guilds of Crux, why is there a kid with you?" the servant asked.
Reon pulled out his number 10 plaque and showed it to the man.
"So even a kid can become an elite member of your guild, have the Flyers fallen in recent times?" said the servant.
This time Raya spoke up to defend Reon.
"I assure you that he earned the rank through a duel just like everyone else, so don't look down on him." Raya said.
"Ah, my apologies." said the servant.
The team walked up the gangway and onto the ship.
Looking around there were multiple servants handling cargo, it seemed like transporting the Inferno kids wasn't the only mission of this ship.
Walking out of the lodge of the ship were two red-eyed teenagers wearing the crest of the Inferno Family, a crimson pink rose.
One had red hair with gold tips, while the other had all gold hair.
The red and gold haired was named Roland Inferno, and his brother was named Richard Inferno.
Roland wore a black and red vest over a pristine white suit with a blue tie. All of this was covered by a thick red and gold cloak with white fur around his neck area.
Richard dressed less extravagantly and wore a well fitting black mage robe that was covered by majestic red metal armor in key areas except the stomach, and upper legs.
Roland was 15, and Richard was 16.
The servant who had been talking to the escort team, approached Roland and Richard, and explained the situation to them.
The escort team followed behind him.
"Greetings, you must be Roland and Richard Inferno. We are the elite-guild members from Crux who will be escorting you on a hunt, and showing you the ways that warriors do things." said Raya.
Everyone cordially introduced themselves, and walked down the gangway onto the docks, and then to the carriage.
There was plenty of room in the carriage for six people as the carriage could seat 8.
The carriage would take two hours riding west to arrive at its destination, the Apple Forest, a place that was full of mostly 1 and 2-Star creatures.
"So you two are from a noble family of Daimo right, what kind of magic can you use?" asked Reon.
Roland and Richard looked at each other before Richard spoke.
"Don't ask such foolish questions so casually, commoner. We are from the Inferno Family, of course we specialize in Flame Magic." he said.
"I see, and how do the mages of Daimo actually rank the power levels of mages?" Reon asked.
"That's such an stupid question, you must have no education," said Roland.
"Of course we use Star-Levels the same way Akram does, it is the standard of all nations of the Ornam Continent to use Star-Levels to rank power, everyone knows that." he explained.
Reon continued to ask the boys questions and learned much about how Daimo operated from them.
He even learned how magic cultivation worked.
Mages would consume something called a Mana Stone, which would allow them to sense mana.
Once the mana stone was fully digested, mages would be able to create a Mana Circuit within their bodies to harness mana and use basic magic.
As mages continued to practice using mana they would discover their affinity and from there choose their specialty.
Their internal mana circuit would develop to support their specialty, allowing them to raise their proficiency with their specialty while blocking them from honing other types of magic.
Reon already knew this from Pulgin but in rare cases there were those that were blessed with an innate magical ability.
Those that were blessed, could practice their innate talent and still develop another chosen specialty.
In a way they were cheating the system, as they had multiple pathways they could cultivate while most everyone could only specialize in one.
"So what Star-Level are you two at?" Reon asked to gauge their strength.
"1-Star of course, most mages don't reach more than 1-Star until their 4th year at the magic academy." said Roland.
"Hmm, and do you guys practice with weapons or train your bodies at all?" asked Reon.
"Ha, why would we? Daimo's mages are more powerful than you Akram warriors at the same level anyway." said Richard.
"But what if your opponent is too fast for you to hit? And what if you run out of mana? You two would just be useless from that moment forward in a battle." Reon deduced.
Roland wanted to say something but couldn't as he realized that what Reon said was true.
"If I was you guys I would take this coming to Akram as an opportunity not only to develop my flame magic, but also to learn to fight as the warriors do." Reon said.
Roland and Richard thought this was a bad idea.
"Imagine it, you could have the best of both worlds, becoming some type of Mage-Warrior Hybrid, and far outmatch any of your peers once you go back home to Daimo." said Reon.
Hearing that last part turned the faces of the Inferno boys from confusion, to slight eagerness.
"You might be right, Reon, but we've never practiced with weapons or trained our bodies before, we wouldn't know where to start," said Richard.
Reon smiled as this was the first time either of the Inferno boys had called him his name, a sign of respect.
"In the time you guys are here, I'll train you," said Reon.
"We'll start you off on the path of a magic-warrior, but it will be hard and require discipline and obedience, once you agree there is no going back." Reon declared.
Roland and Richard both hesitated at this for a moment, but then, images of them as adults with big muscles wielding swords made of flame entered their minds.
"We'll do it Reon!" they said simultaneously.
"Just, Reon!?" Reon yelled, partly to get back at them for their early insults, but mostly to establish a chain of command.
"Master Reon!" They said with a deep bow.
"Ha, I didn't think these guys would be so easy to tame ." thought Reon.
Raya, Gole, and Spryta were equally impressed as well as confused. They had noticed the arrogant attitudes of the young nobles and hardly wanted to speak with them, but somehow Reon had broken through.