Moving on to live test subjects was an eye-opening experience for Cyrus. One that he was unlikely to forget anytime soon.
It was one thing to practice his enchantments on raw pieces of flesh and training mannequins, but doing them on living creatures was something else entirely. And it was only then that he truly began to understand the power that he now held in the palm of his hands.
As the young 'tree magic' user gazed upon the now deceased pig that was currently lying on the ground before him, he finally understood why people considered the sorcerer's art of enchanting to be so dangerous. It was truly a power that went beyond any conventional form of reason and wisdom.
"Well...good work, I guess. You put too much power behind it, but you did manage to get the desired effect." Elaine said to Cyrus with a satisfied smile on her face.
"Thanks…" The young man said in a low tone while still keeping his eyes on the animal he had just accidentally killed.
The 'wind magic' user gave the young man a curious look. She had a pretty good idea as to what might have been going through his head at the moment. And to be honest, it was a pretty normal reaction for a situation like this. But even so, it was nice to see that he was still making good progress when it came to her teachings.
"Something wrong?"
Cyrus hesitated for a moment before responding. "N-no…it's just…I wasn't expecting the reaction to be so violent."
"And this is why you need to be extra careful when it comes to how much mana you put behind your enchantments. The effect that you give it is directly correlated to how much juice you put behind it. It's just like how it is with ordinary spells. And this is a perfect example of why enchanters like us shouldn't try to rush to practice on human targets."
The freckle-faced teen silently nodded as he did his best to absorb those words. But to be honest, he was still reeling from the fact that he just brutally killed an animal with his own hands.
Right now, the two sorcerers were in the backyard of Elaine's mansion, testing out the limits of Cyrus's newfound abilities. This was the beginning of the next phase of the man's enchantment training. Applying everything that he learned so far to living creatures to get some practical experience when it came to using the enchantments that he learned.
Elaine had somehow managed to procure some pigs, dogs, and cats to serve as their testing dummies for the day. All of which were currently locked up in some nearby cages, waiting to be the next victims of Cyrus's progress. This was something that was apparently a very common practice among sorcerers who needed to get in some much-needed training for their powers. To most, it was a safe, easy, and cost-effective way to test the limits of their powers without having to put anyone in danger.
"It wasn't like this with the mana disruptor, though." Cyrus then said.
"That's because hexes and curses are much different than blessings and enchantments." Elaine began to explain. "Enchantments that apply a negative effect typically have a more severe reaction. It's why most of us only use them when facing a direct threat. And the effect is exacerbated when trying them on creatures that can't use mana."
"Wow…"
At the very least, Cyrus now had a greater understanding of what this kind of power was capable of. It was truly like having the power of a video game character in the palm of your hands.
The corruption enchantment, the one that he just tested on the pig, was basically a way for him to use his mana to apply a sort of poison effect to a creature's body. By flooding a bit of unstable foreign mana directly into the creature's muscles and circulatory system, it would cause it to start experiencing what could only be described as a sudden seizure. One that came with a nasty side effect of distended veins, muscle spasms, and some internal bruising for good measure. It was one of the more basic hexes that he recently learned about. But its effects were devastating to witness.
"And your grandfather came up with this stuff all on his own?" Cyrus then looked to Elaine.
"Not exactly." The woman replied. "Most people don't know this, but he really just copied what he learned from my grandmother and put his own magically-enhanced spin on it."
"Really?"
"Yup! My grandmother, Maxine, used to be a voodoo practitioner. She even trained under one of Marie Laveau's descendants for a while. My grandfather used to be really into the stuff before he awakened. And after the two of them met, they started experimenting with his powers and ended up discovering enchanting as a result of it."
"Your grandmother wasn't a sorcerer?" Cyrus asked, genuinely curious about that little detail. From what he remembered Evan telling him back at the beach, their grandmother was previously a member of the Owens family.
Elaine couldn't help but chuckle. "Kinda crazy, right? She never awakened her mana core like her brothers did, despite still being able to see cryptids and mana. But she was still pretty involved in sorcerer society back in those days. She actually invented some potent cryptid bait recipes back in the day. Most of which everyone still uses whenever they need to draw out a cryptid."
"Interesting."
"Anyways…let's get back to work. There's still a few hexes that I want to see you try out. Depending on how today goes, we might have you move on to live cryptids by tomorrow. Well…that's assuming if Quintin can actually get one from Mikayla on such short notice."
Naturally, Cyrus still found it more than a bit unsettling how Elaine and her crew were still actively using the services of Hannah and her two flunkies while actively training him to take them down. It reminded him that these people were indeed criminals who were more than capable of manipulating and backstabbing those who worked under them. Something that made it very clear how he shouldn't trust them in any capacity.
Even if Elaine had some sort of grand scheme that directly involved Cyrus and his magic, she was still a duplicitous crime lord at the end of the day. Someone who would stop at nothing to get what she wanted. And someone that he needed to get away from as soon as possible.
"Sure, whatever you say."
It wouldn't be long before all of this nonsense was over and done with. And when that time came, Cyrus would do whatever he could to make sure that he exposed these assholes for who they really were. Even if he was grateful for all of their help so far, that didn't change how he felt about them. These people needed to be put behind bars sooner rather than later.
And he was going to make sure of it.
-(o)-
[DPA Station Nine, Charlotte, North Carolina (November 2022)]
While Cyrus was busy mastering the esoteric concepts of enchanting, Valerie was busy with something far less complicated and a bit more straightforward.
As the tall blonde stood in the center of one of the station's many training rooms, a thin bead of sweat slid down her temple before evaporating into the dry heat surrounding her. The scent of scorched rubber and singed fabric stubbornly clung to her body, mixing with the metallic tang of mana in the air. And the low hum of the room's air conditioning filled the silence that surrounded her.
"Come on, Valerie!" The young woman growled. "Get it together!"
Her muscles ached. And her mana reserves were starting to run low. But quitting wasn't an option. It wasn't even on the table as far as she was concerned.
Once again, the tall blonde closed her eyes and focused as she allowed the mana to flow through her body. For her, it felt like wildfire in her blood, uncoiling from her stomach, up to her sternum, and racing down her limbs. She'd already mastered the basics of the body reinforcement spell a long time ago, but total armament? That was another beast entirely. One that was proving to be more trouble than it was worth.
It was like trying to catch lightning in both hands and holding it still.
For a moment, her body glowed, and a faint glimmer of molten orange veins lit beneath her skin.
Her aunt's voice then echoed in her mind. Calm, measured, and annoyingly precise like it always was. "You're not just reinforcing your limbs like usual. You're bathing your entire body in mana. Every nerve, every muscle, every cell. Everything needs to resonate with your mana while staying perfectly in sync."
Easier said than done.
Suddenly, a burst of uncontrolled heat exploded around her, blasting a nearby training dummy into the wall with a thud. The light around her flickered out, and Valerie stumbled forward, coughing as smoke curled from her fingertips.
"Damn it!" The young 'fire magic' cursed. "Another dud!"
She rested her hands on her knees, chest heaving. The training room hummed softly, indifferent to her failure.
She had been at it for two hours straight.
Her hoodie was tied around her waist, soaked through with sweat. Her long, braided blonde ponytail clung to the back of her neck. And scorch marks danced up the sides of her workout leggings. A testament to both her stubbornness and to how far she still had to go.
As it turns out, the next level of the body reinforcement technique was not as simple as Valerie originally thought it would be. It was one thing to pump mana through your muscles to momentarily enhance your speed and strength. But doing so to a point where your entire body was coated in mana that operated like a second layer of skin was something else entirely. It required a level of control over her power that she didn't know she was even capable of.
But Valerie wasn't going to stop.
Not today.
Not ever.
The Iznana operation was quickly approaching, and Valerie wasn't going to miss her chance to strut her stuff. This would be her first big-time mission as a DPA agent. And the tall blonde wasn't just going to be there; she was going to make a difference. Some of the best that their unit had to offer were going to take part in this. Hell, even Cyrus was apparently going to be there despite still recovering from his injuries, if the rumors were to be believed. And if he was going to be out there, then she would need to be as well.
They didn't hand out badges easily at the DPA, especially not to nineteen-year-old nepo-babies with a reputation for being unable to control their own powers.
She had to prove she deserved to be there. To herself, to her aunt, and to everyone else in the station.
Still, though, Valerie wasn't making as much progress as she would've liked. And the clock was steadily ticking down to the day of the operation. It was already hard enough trying to get a handle on the new workaround that Evan devised when it came to her flying ability, even with the new shoes that Elizabeth made for her. But trying to master a skill like total armament on top of that just made things even harder for her.
It didn't matter, though.
She had to be ready.
But she was getting better, and she knew it. The failures didn't define her; the progress did.
And if Valerie could fully master total armament before the mission, then maybe she could prove, not just to her squad or her aunt, but to herself, that she really did have what it takes.
That she could be more than just a defective youngster.
That she could be great.
The future head of the DPA, whom everyone both feared and respected.
Valerie rolled her shoulders and cracked her knuckles before standing back up and getting ready. She braced herself again, legs shoulder-width apart, with her hands clenched at her sides. Her breath came in steady, deliberate patterns. Inhale, focus. Exhale, release.
"One more time." The woman said to the empty room, her voice firm now. "Let's make it count."
Training wasn't over. Not yet.
Not until she could walk into battle fully armored, in both fire and in purpose.
And with that, her mana surged once more as her skin began to emit a faint orange glow.
The training room lit up again. Not with chaos this time, but with purpose.