The Anomaly of Ignotus

Chapter 2

Tusan rose up from his bed.
A beautiful new day arose, the smell of fresh air, the sun rising on the horizon, the flowers blooming, and some people were up and... yelling? He went down the stairs to see his mother yelling at his father, which was a usual occurrence.
"Fulko Helio, you forgot your son's birthday?!" His mother roared at his father. A mumbled "Yes" was his response. "Go to town, and get some bread, dear." Luce calmly, oh so very calmly said. A mumbled "Yes, dear" later, and Fulko ran out the front door like his life depended on it. "Good morning Tusan. Had a good sleep?" she warmly smiled at him like she wasn't angry a
second ago. "Yes mum" He lied through his teeth. He didn't sleep well at all, he tossed and turned all night, only managing to sleep after a while. His mother hummed, and said "Happy Birthday. you're finally four years old, my baby is growing up so fast." she cooed and hugged her son tightly
'Air, air I can't breathe!' he screamed in his mind "Your father's group is going to visit us for your party. Go and take a shower, I'll prepare the food." she seemed excited, and an excited Luce is bad news. Shortly after taking a shower and getting dressed, he went to the garden to water the flowers. "Happy birthday Tusan," Lamia greeted him, "you're finally gonna learn magic in the academy." "What? Don't you need to be six to enter the academy? And those are only for prodigies like you." Tusan confusely asked. The academy, or The Council's Academy of Magic, is an academy that teaches the brightest
students of magic. It was rumored that the heroes of the world were taught here. Lamia is a prodigy in magic. She entered the academy at six years old and became one of the current most powerful students in the academy.
"Yeah but grandpa is one of the directors of the academy." She spoke like it's a well known fact "You won't be enrolled in the academy. Grandpa himself will be the one to teach you magic." "What? No way!" he was excited now, looking a lot like a puppy wagging its tail after getting
treats. "Yes way" his sister responded.
"Ye~s!" he shouted out his joy, jumping up and down. "But for now I'll be teaching you magic" Tusan stopped jumping and looked at her like she was a
hero. She swore that he had stars in his heterochromatic eyes."The first lesson is unlocking your magical core," He was vibrating in place "which can take you
several years to accomplish" He visibly deflated "without help but when a very powerful and experienced magician like grandpa or someone whois a master or more powerful helps you..." She shrugged. "I unlocked mine in one year." his sister announced. "Wow." Tusan heterochromatic eyes were sparkling.
'Magic is so cool' the albino haired boy thought. 'One day, I want to be a strong magician.' "Hey there sport! What's the birthday boy doing out here?" a woman clad in armor approached them. She had golden hair shining in the sunlight, a broadsword she easily wore on her belt, and golden eyes glowing with magic.
"Good morning, Miss Claudia. How are you this morning?" Lamia, who is often formal to everyone but her family, responded politely. Claudia giggled and waved her hand "How many times have I told you, Lamia. You don't need to
be formal around us." "It was a habit in the academy." Tusan responded for his sister. She had used that excuse several
times that he knew what she was about to say. "You need to break that habit, young lady. You don't need to be so formal," Claudia muttered angrily "except around those arrogant nobles."
A brief pause with Lamia nodding her head solemnly in agreement. "Well, Tusan, want to have a one-on-one sparring session with me?" Claudia asked Tusan. "U-uh y-y-yes?" Tusan hesitantly and nervously answered. He won't regret this right?

___This story is by Haleth3 and Illustration by Millennium Doctor Who___

He's regretting this. Jay and Claire arrived fifteen minutes later and were talking about how badly
Claudia would beat Tusan's pride, if he had any. Jay was a brown-haired man who wore casual clothes. His eyes were a deep brown and he looked like he was relaxed, though if you know him, he would always look at his surroundings.
Claire was part elf, part human. She had a beautiful dress that resembled a flower and she had a ribbon tying up her hair.
"There you are, you two lovebirds. The match is about to begin, come take a seat, take a seat" his father greeted them. They sat at a wooden bench that was overseeing the sparring field. Tusan wore light leather armor and he was holding a wooden sword with two hands.
Claudia was wearing a shirt and pants. She was holding a wooden broadsword casually swinging it around. Fulko, who was the one to hold the sparring session, stated the rules "No magic is allowed," This was fair to both opponents. Fulko continued "You will win when you hit your opponent five times, when you break your opponent's weapon, or when your opponent is pinned down." "You will begin, Now!" Fulko, who was supposed to be counting down, started the match quickly, startling Tusan. Luce held her frying pan that she materialized out of nowhere and began pounding on the poor poor man. The two sparring partners watched Luce pound Fulko to oblivion. There were cries of "I'm sorry!"
and "Someone please save me!" and one cry of "Where do you put that thing?!".
Fulko fell to the ground, bruised and battered while Luce, who does not have a frying pan in her person and does not look like she just beat a man, declared "The match starts now."

(Millennium's note: Where does she put that frying pan?!) (Author note: How should I know?
Maybe in a pocket dimension?)(Millennium's note: They're you're char- ... Just continue the story.)

They both warily stared at each other.
The gold haired-woman started "Look kid, I'll go easy on you but don't think that-" Claudia, faster than the average eyes could see, arrived in front of Tusan who was startled but quickly dodged to the side. His hesitation cost him as Claudia was still able to hit him hard enough to bruise "- I won't hit you hard" Claudia finished. 'This is bad. That's one hit.' he thought, 'How is anyone able to move that fast?' Claudia quickly swiped at his side and Tusan barely managed to block. He wasn't fast enough to block the golden-haired woman's swipe to his other side. He was greeted by a third swipe to his ankles. Claudia thrust her sword and hit the ground when the albino haired boy rolled away. Tusan quickly stood up and blocked a vicious strike to his throat but was still hit when Claudia thrust her sword to his stomach.
Tusan stumbled but was still standing.
'That's four hits.' he thought 'I don't want to lose'. In his desperation, he didn't notice that Claudia-no, time was slowing down. He felt something giving him power. His movements became a blur, and he was still getting faster. He swiped at Claudia who was shocked but blocked by reflex. He thrust his sword, slicing and swiping at Claudia. Parrying
attacks faster than Claudia was attacking. His muscles burned but he was determined to win. He hit her
with a thrust, parried an attack that was aimed at his temple, then swiped and hit her body. Claudia moved back to avoid another hit. 'He's fast, and he's still getting faster' she thought 'he doesn't even realize he's augmenting himself using magic.' The heterochromatic eyes glowed with barely concealed power as the boy was breathing heavily and kept on attacking his opponent. Claudia parried a strike and thrust her sword quickly but... 'An after image?' she was shocked at the speed the albino haired boy was showing. Her senses were screaming at her to dodge. He appeared
behind her quickly thrusting. She rolled forward but was unable to dodge completely. 'That makes three
hits' she thought. She heard a thump behind her and quickly looked back, but it was a feint. With her back to her opponent again, he thrusted and hit her back and was about to hit her again when she dodged forward. 'One last hit' Tusan thought. The wooden sword glowed purple, its edges sharpening. He thrust the sword with all his might one last time and the golden-eyed woman barely managed to block. There
was a 'Crack', a burst of purple, and Claudia's wooden sword shattered to pieces. Tusan's vision was swimming. He looked ragged, like he ran miles and miles. He was breathing heavily, his lungs felt like it was burning. He fell forward and blacked out.