"Arrrg," Alioth grabbed his head, doubling over in pain.
His head was being bombarded by thousands of signals from spirits, screaming desperately.
He could hear how they asked for help, how they suffered.
That Asurastra had the ability to suck in air, generating the opposite phenomenon to a whirlwind.
It was an antithesis.
It was a suction of air that, in its process, erased the spirits it trapped.
That's why they screamed desperately when the technique was used.
"Are you okay, Ali?" Nora asked with a worried tone.
The white-haired boy just nodded. It had been a while since he'd heard spirits scream like that.
"Yes, don't worry," he responded, trying to reassure her.
Nora narrowed her eyes, as if trying to analyze whether Alioth was telling the truth.
But she wasn't in a position to worry about her friend. Their enemy wasn't going to give them that privilege.
He no longer looked like a Vanir. He was more similar to a demon, but with the soul of an abomination of Xoth.
The reason for this was simple. He had used the pill when he was lacking Ka, causing the necessary balance between keter and Azoth to break, tilting toward Azoth.
At this moment, that boy had lost all form of reasoning.
"KUAHAHAHAH!" the creature laughed frantically, while propelling itself at monstrous speed toward its prey.
With a gesture, the creature tore through the air, creating a gap in it as if it had clawed the atmosphere itself.
A momentary vacuum was created that created a suction that attracted both toward him.
Nora hurried to grab Alioth and get away from there, heading toward the small forest.
"Y-you won't escape," a voice then said.
It was Eirian.
He had been hiding all this time, unable to find the courage to fight.
But now, he had decided to intervene, aiming at both with his bow and firing multiple fire arrows.
"Shit," Nora cursed, while brandishing her sword with one hand and holding Alioth with the other.
The girl instinctively deflected each arrow to one side while continuing to advance toward the forest.
"Damn it... Flaming rain!" the fire-haired boy exclaimed.
On his arm, his tattoo shone an intense scarlet color, while he aimed his bow upward and fired an arrow.
The igneous projectile pierced through the air swiftly, emitting a sharp whistle to finally curve in the air.
Upon doing so, it began to fall while multiplying, dividing into hundreds of fire arrows.
Alioth already knew that attack. He had seen it before.
However, this time he couldn't count on Abzu. He was too far away to protect them.
'Think, Alioth, think!'
The boy hurried to think, though the wind spirits weren't making it easy.
Then, he began to hear how the tree of Ished began to creak and grow.
At that moment he knew what he had to use.
"Svalin!" the boy exclaimed forcefully.
Upon doing so, the spirits around him reacted.
Hundreds of jade-colored glows tinged the air, shining with intensity as they began to spin around Nora and Alioth.
The air obeyed the spirits, or rather followed their movement.
After all, all elements of the world are composed of spirits.
A dome of wind formed around them, beginning to spin forcefully and deflect the fire arrows falling from the sky.
The arrows broke or deflected, but didn't reach their target. Each explosion they made upon reaching the shield was deflected by the air, without damaging those inside.
"Wow! That was great! Are you a spirit mage?" Nora asked enthusiastically while continuing to run.
A spirit mage was one who used spirits to do magic, instead of using heka.
However, Alioth couldn't use that magic since to do so you had to give Ka to the spirits in exchange for their help.
The white-haired boy shook his head.
"Not really. It's something much less impressive," the boy said, as the shield began to vanish.
He had no Ka, so he couldn't use magic.
He could only grant a name, a destiny, in exchange for forgetting the story that sustains it.
They were one-use tricks.
He would no longer remember what Svalin means. He could no longer use it.
Or so he believed.
'Wait... Svalin?'
The boy remembered. He remembered why he had used that name.
Svalin was from Norse mythology, a shield that was in front of the world and protected the earth from the sun's rays.
Without Svalin, the earth would burn.
The Norse were right. It was true that without Svalin, the earth would be a hellish place to live.
Though more than Svalin, the Norse should have been talking about the atmosphere.
That Svalin was a way of describing the atmosphere was a valid interpretation. Therefore, by applying that name to wind spirits, Svalin acquired the meaning of "wind shield that protects from heat."
However, how was it possible?
How was it possible that he still remembered that story?
Alioth felt very intrigued about it, since it could be the solution to creating magic that didn't require using Ka.
Was it because he had used that name on spirits?
Was it because of Nora's influence?
Or maybe the naming didn't work this time and the spirits simply decided to protect him?
Alioth didn't know, but he also didn't have time to reflect on it.
"Watch out!" Nora warned, while throwing Alioth against Eirian and turning violently.
Her sword blocked the claws of the wind abomination. Its appearance was much more inhuman now.
Its tattoo had deformed and extended over its skin, forming multiple disturbing runes, and its aura was even more unpleasant and dense, covering its body like a viscous armor.
"You entertain that one for a moment!" Nora requested, while pushing the creature with her sword.
Alioth landed on Eirian, who fell to the ground.
"Done!" Alioth affirmed, while throwing a punch at the redhead, though upon doing so, he felt as if he'd hit a rock with his bare hands. "Ouch."
The boy complained, with his hand hurting. He had forgotten he had no orgone.
"Get off me!" Eirian demanded while pushing Alioth with such force that he sent him crashing backwards against a tree.
The boy fell to the ground in pain. The pain reminded him how useless he was.
He was a glass cannon who couldn't do magic.
Was there anything more useless than that?
'No, enough self-pity.'
He told himself.
He had discovered he had a weapon he could use.
The boy pointed at Eirian with his finger, who was starting to get up.
The silver spirits pulsed light calmly.
"Gae Dearg," Alioth pronounced, pointing at Eirian with his finger.
The spirits' glow turned scarlet.