Caius walked forward, the massive roots holding James smoothly receding back into the dirt under his command.
They had drained a substantial amount of magic from James's supply; a close look revealed tiny, vibrant flowers blooming along the woody fibers that had just been squeezing him.
James stumbled slightly as his boots hit the grass, rubbing his wrists.
The roots hadn't left any bruises, but he felt a strange numbness, as if the energy in his limbs had been completely siphoned off.
Even though it felt like a small river's worth of magic had just been violently stripped from his system, his core reserves still felt remarkably deep.
However, now that the adrenaline-junky high was fading, reality hit him hard.
His muscles began to tremble, and a sudden wave of exhaustion washed over him.
Without his magic actively boosting his physical frame, his human body felt incredibly heavy and drained.
So, having a massive chunk of magic ripped out of you instantly makes you feel like absolute garbage, he thought, watching his hands shake.
Caius stopped two feet in front of him, fixing his clinical, unblinking gaze directly on James.
"Where did you learn to compress magic like that?" He gestured toward the devastating path of destruction cutting through the trees behind them.
"To force your darkness to slice so effortlessly?"
It was a fair question. Darkness magic could be used for cutting, but that was typically an advanced application.
James had, at best, four days of practice with his native element—and that was stretching the truth, considering the first few days were entirely controlled by his inner beast.
This fight was the very first time he had actually taken the wheel himself.
James blinked, struggling to find the words. He couldn't exactly explain that he was just operating off a vibe, a bit of basic science, and a lifetime of being an absolute nerd.
Come to think of it, he had only released the technique when he felt a sudden breeze shift around his hand—like an instinctual voice telling him the timing was perfect.
Deciding to lead with the physics approach, James cleared his throat.
"Oh, well... you know how when water is compressed to an extreme degree and forced through a tiny nozzle, it gains enough pressure to literally slice through solid steel?"
Caius nodded slowly, his expression analytical.
"Yes. Hydro-resection. There are advanced, high-tier spells within the Water and Wind orthodoxies that utilize that exact mechanical principle."
Compression was a universal booster.
If a mage wanted hotter fire, they didn't just add more fuel; they condensed the flames down, packing the energy tightly until the resulting explosion far exceeded their standard output.
"Right, exactly!" James said, his hands animating as the enthusiasm took over.
"I basically tried to do the same thing with my own magic. I didn't have a weapon, so I forced a massive amount of darkness to compress tightly along the outer edge of my hand, holding the pressure back until the absolute last millisecond before releasing it in a single, concentrated swing."
Caius stared at him in silence for a quiet beat before shaking his head.
"If that was all you did, it would not have produced a clean, physical cut.
At best, compressing standard magic and releasing it like that would simply result in a concussive burst of blunt kinetic energy.
It would have felt like getting pushed by an explosive wave—essentially the equivalent of a Ki blast.
For an execution to carry a true slicing attribute, the element itself must be altered."
Caius was right. Wind naturally cut, fire burned, water crushed, and lightning caused muscles to seize violently.
The natural attribute of darkness was its vacuum—the pulling sensation.
"Ah, well, that's where the darkness attribute comes in," James added, a small smirk playing on his lips as his mind flashed back to a very specific, badass anime captain.
"I didn't just compress it; I used the vacuum property of the darkness to actively pull the edges inward, sharpening the density with the literal intention of cutting. I was basically trying to replicate Yami's Dimensional Slash from Black Clover."
James secretly hoped Caius understood the reference.
"Oh, I see," Caius murmured, the mechanics finally clicking in his mind.
He looked James up and down. "So, do you have a name for it?"
James tilted his head, confused. "Not really."
He wasn't planning on naming it anytime soon. In his mind, keeping the move nameless meant it would always be a complete surprise to his enemies.
Caius nodded, extending his hand toward the remaining roots.
The wooden cage trapping Mira withdrew into the earth, dropping her to her knees.
She gasped for air, her flames completely fizzling out now that the adrenaline had faded and the roots had drained her mana pool.
Dark, blunt bruises were beginning to form across her skin. Now that her magic wasn't masking the pain, she was suffering the full after-effects of James's earlier blows.
While James's advanced biology had already healed the damage she had dealt him, the blunt force he had inflicted on her was far more potent. His raw strength was terrifying—surging past the output of someone who had been a werewolf for over fifty years.
Then again, he was a newborn Alpha, and those guys were legendary monsters for a reason.
"Your logic is structurally sound for a human scout," Caius countered seamlessly, crossing his arms. "I understand not wanting to give your enemy a warning before an attack."
As the last of the roots disappeared, they seemed to transfer the stolen magic back into Caius.
The captain walked over to Mira, his hands glowing with a vibrant, soothing green energy.
The moment he touched her shoulders, her wounds began to knit together at a visible speed.
The dark bruises vanished, and her drained magic pool surged back to one hundred percent.
"You learning healing magic was the best damn choice you ever made, Captain," Mira said, her eyes lighting up.
Just like that, the woman was bouncing on her heels, completely refreshed. She stretched her limbs and flashed a dangerous grin.
"Okay, pup, one more round. This time, I won't hold back."
"No. There will be no more fighting today," Caius said calmly, cutting her down with a single look.
Mira's face fell into a deep, irritated scowl.
"The fuck do you mean, 'stop holding back'?" Talia chimed in from the sidelines, completely incapable of passing up an opportunity to roast her rival.
"He beat your ass at one hundred percent, fair and square!"
"That's a blatant lie! I wasn't going all out!" Mira shot back, her voice rising defensively.
She absolutely refused to let this smear stick to her reputation.
Talia stepped closer, her face split into a massive, mocking grin.
"Oh, you absolutely did. You went into your ultimate fire-shroud form and got your ass handed to you by a guy who doesn't even know the absolute basics of aura stabilization."
Talia let out a sharp, breathless laugh. "Look at you, you're practically vibrating."
"I didn't lose!" Mira roared.
"Oh, really?" Talia purred, her eyes narrowing as she perfectly set the trap.
"So what are you trying to say, Mira? That you actually need to go full, monstrous werewolf form just to handle the new pup?"
Mira opened her mouth to deliver a furious counter-argument, but the words died in her throat as the sheer, horrifying weight of the conversational trap settled over her.
If she claimed she wasn't going all out, she would have to admit that she needed to unleash her full, giant wolf form just to overpower a rookie who had zero control over his system.
Admitting she needed her ultimate biological trump card against an untrained human-turned-wolf was humiliating.
But if she denied it, she was effectively admitting that James had completely outmatched both her human and hybrid forms, forcing her to rely on raw transformation scaling just to survive him.
She was completely cornered.
"Come on… Mira," Talia teased, leaning in close, her voice dripping with pure satisfaction. "Say it. Tell us you need your big wolf form for the baby toddler."
Mira's face flushed a deep, furious crimson. "Shut up, you little bitch!"
Unable to counter Talia's flawless logic, she whipped around and locked James in a fierce, burning glare. "And you… you owe me another fight. Hmph!"
James blinked. Was that… a literal pout?
Talia completely burst out laughing, the sound echoing loudly through the training grounds.
Stung by the relentless teasing and red-faced with embarrassment, Mira turned on her heel and leaped completely out of the clearing, vanishing into the trees.
James watched as Mira bolted into the forest, his mind trying to process the sheer velocity of her exit.
"Huh..." he muttered, completely at a loss for words.
"Ignore it," Caius said smoothly. He wasn't in the mood to dissect Mira's legendary mood swings.
He knew exactly why she was throwing a tantrum—her pride had taken a serious hit.
Caius glanced at James, feeling a brief flash of sympathy for the kid.
The pup was going to have a brutal amount of mandatory sparring sessions coming his way in the near future.
Oh well, the newbie would manage; with his insane growth rate, he would handle the beatdowns just fine.
"Now, about names," Caius continued, wanting to get this lecture over with.
"Yeah, you said they were helpful," James said, scratching the back of his head.
"But like... I'm still not trying to give my enemies a heads-up before I swing."
Caius stopped and looked at him.
"You are failing to grasp the scale of true authority, James. Some spells in this world are simply so overpowered, so absolute in their structural execution, that even if the enemy knows the exact name and function of the strike, it will not save them from its effects. The name isn't a warning for the opponent—it is a vocal contract that binds your will to the laws of the universe, forcing the magic to manifest perfectly."
That sounds suspiciously like a Binding Vow or a Nen contract, James thought, but he decided not to push the anime comparisons just yet.
The captain took a step closer, his voice dropping into a solemn, chillingly serious register.
"Names carry immense weight in this world. For example, if a high-tier Fae or a demon were to obtain your full name, they would gain total, absolute control over your entire existence."
James blinked, staring at him. Yo, what the fuck? "Wait, isn't that a bit harsh? Just for a name? The price seems a bit absurd."
"It may seem so. However, by now, I am sure you are aware—or Selene has already told you."
At the mention of Selene, her past words flashed through James's mind.
"You are born a blank slate," Caius explained, mirroring her logic.
"When a soul enters this world, the first defining anchor it receives is a name. To put it in terms more familiar to you: think of yourself as a save file inside Mother Nature's cosmic archive. Your full name is the exact title that specific file is saved under. If a Fae or a demon gets ahold of that title, they can do whatever they want with the save file. In this case... you."
James's brow furrowed as he found a loophole.
"But what about people with the same name? Wouldn't that just mean there are multiple identical save files floating around?"
After all, almost no one had a truly unique name, unless they belonged to an ancient tribe with highly specific naming traditions.
"The names written on paper may be similar, but your soul's digital signature is not," Caius countered.
James let out a wry laugh. "I see."
"The inverse is also true," Caius added, a cold glint in his eye. "If you were to somehow discover the true, hidden name of a Fae or a demon, you would command absolute authority over them.
Though, finding such a thing is nearly impossible, as they guard that information above all else."
James swallowed hard, quickly making a mental note to never, ever introduce himself with his first and last name to anyone with pointy ears or horns.
"Right. Note taken. Names are dangerous nuclear codes. Got it." Then he paused, picking up on a specific detail.
"Wait... you said full name."
Caius smiled faintly.
"Oh, you catch on quickly." He turned his gaze toward the sky.
"Using a pseudonym or a partial name is safer, yes. But it is still a fragment of your identity, so you must remain vigilant not to let the rest slip. A partial name can grant partial leverage."
"You mentioned Nen contracts earlier," James said, leaning into the concept.
"Yes," Caius replied. "Think of incantations similarly. In exchange for giving your name away—effectively revealing the nature of your technique and alerting the enemy that an attack is imminent—the attack itself receives a massive power boost. The more thoroughly you explain the conditions or the mechanics of the spell to your opponent, the stronger the execution becomes."
Okay, that is incredibly good to know, James thought.
"Wait, can that logic be applied to anything? Like, can I make a contract where I completely give up my ability to use wind magic, and in exchange, my fire magic gets a permanent buff?"
"Yes," Caius nodded. "But the scale of the boost depends entirely on sacrifice. If you have nothing of value to lose—meaning your wind magic was practically non-existent to begin with—the buff to your fire will be completely negligible. But if your wind magic was exceptionally powerful, the resulting buff will be immense."
Yeah, this is literally just Binding Vows, James confirmed mentally.
"What's the absolute limit of what can be traded?"
"Anything of value to the world, and anything of profound value to you."
James froze. His mind suddenly violently derailed, flashing back to his civilian days.
He remembered sitting in his gaming chair, completely tilted during high-stakes lobbies, screaming into his headset.
He had uttered some incredibly out-of-pocket, devious shit over voice chat.
"On my soul, y'all are absolute dogwater!"
"I swear on my literal soul I'm landing this clip!"
A cold sweat suddenly broke out across James's neck. His eyes went wide, and his chest tightened with pure panic.
Oh my god.
Did I accidentally sell my soul to a Call of Duty server?
Does Activision own my spiritual essence right now?!
Talia, noticing his sudden, horrified expression, raised an eyebrow. "Uh, pup? You look like you just saw a ghost."
"Captain," James stammered, his voice cracking slightly as he looked at Caius in sheer terror.
"Hypothetically... if someone were to say 'on my soul' while playing a video game, or swear on their soul that their teammates are garbage... does that count as a binding contract? Did I accidentally give my soul away to a corporate server?"
Caius stopped.
He stared at James for a long, agonizingly silent beat, his usually stoic expression twitching into something utterly bewildered.
Talia's jaw dropped. "You did not say that on a regular basis."
"I was tilted!" James defended himself, genuinely terrified that he was now legally owned by an esports franchise.
"Am I sold? Am I a slave to the universe now?!"
Seeing him completely spiraling, Talia suddenly burst out laughing.
She laughed so hard she had to lean against a nearby rock, wiping a tear from her eye.
"Oh my god, you are so cute when you're this scared! Look at your face!"
James blinked, looking between her and the captain.
Caius let out a soft, barely audible sigh, a subtle hint of amusement dancing in his eyes.
He had completely pulled the kid's leg by letting the silence stretch.
To ease the pup's genuine panic, the captain clarified,
"Rest assured, James. As long as those phrases were uttered around oblivious humans with no magical tether to the universe, the laws of magic do not recognize the contract. You still own your soul."
James let out a massive sigh of relief, wiping actual sweat from his forehead.
Note to self: completely scrub 'on my soul' from my vocabulary immediately.
He never knew someone as serious as Caius could pull off a deadpan joke like that.
"Well, enough on that," Caius said, bringing the conversation back to reality.
"If you spend the next two weeks simply trying to intellectually explore the magic system of this world, you will not be ready to face Raze."
Right. James winced internally. He had an official, high-stakes fight coming up fast.
"So, for the next two weeks, it is best if you focus entirely on your fundamentals. Master basic aura stabilization and gain steady control over your inner wolf, and you will do fine."
Talia stopped laughing, her eyebrows raising in skepticism. "Uh, Captain? That's a massive workload. With his current level of fine control, getting all of that down normally takes months, not two weeks."
Caius nodded calmly. "I am aware. But it can be brute-forced."
James tilted his head, wondering what exactly his co-captain meant by brute-forced. It didn't sound pleasant.
"The pup clearly learns best while he is actively fighting," Caius explained, a faint, dangerous smile touching his lips. "So, for the next two weeks, that is exactly how he will learn. Continuous, high-intensity combat."
A/N This came way later than i thought, in my defense, i had like 5, 10 ish hour shift since last friday, so i didnt have much time to write
But hey, 2.9k words this chapter.