The Gems of Element

Part 2: Earth Region ~ Chapter XIII

"Magic... Huh? Of course, I probably should've expected this. Haha..." I space out as my mind tries to process the fact that magic really does exist. I shake my head to snap myself back to attention and ask them another quick question. "Well, what exactly do you mean by "Magic"?"

"What I mean is that regular weapons made from regular materials: be it wood, stone, iron, silver, even diamond or gold could not kill a Void Spawn completely. You need weapons with Elemental Energy embedded within them."

Even after she says her explanation, I still remain confused. I look at Amice and see her in thought, taking a few seconds before she stares back at the generals with wide eyes. "Of course! No wonder none of our men were able to kill the dastardly bastards! They can only be killed with Elemental Energy-!"

"I'm sorry, question?" I say, abruptly interrupting Amice in the middle of her realization. I awkwardly raise my hand and ask: "What's Elemental Energy?"

The generals blink at each other confusedly, giving me judging stares as if it was common sense to know what that is. 'Did they forget I'm not a part of their world or something?!' To my surprise, General Xirad is the one to answer my question. He straightens his hunched back to the best of his ability, before explaining it to me with stars in his eyes.

"Well, Princess, I will most happily tell you about it! I am more than sure you are already aware of the four main elements. Elemental Energy is present in those four, it is essentially the essence of it! Similar to the blood in your veins, it flows through everything." He says, using hand motions in order to emphasize his point. "It can be controlled by humans and animals alike, although there are only a few very special species who have the ability to manipulate Elemental Energy. You can also transfer or funnel it into any weapon of your choice, if you do not favor commanding it in its raw state."

My eyebrows furrow together as my brain quickly tries to process every word he's telling me. He obliviously continues on, just as I was about to think it was over.

"For example, I can control Wood Energy. Wood Energy is a subclass of Earth Energy. Which means I can conjure small amounts of wood at my disposal, move trees out of the way, or move them in the way if I wanted to. You see, the four main Elemental Energies have certain subclasses to them. Those subclasses are the energies humans and animals can control. Only the Elemental Guardians possess the ability to manipulate the main four energies. And so-."

"PAUSE, PAUSE! TIME OUT PLEASE-!" I yell out as I extend both of my arms into a stop motion. Thankfully the old man does stop, looking back at me with a confused expression on his face. My hands fly up to grip my head in order to stop it from exploding from stress. "C-can I take a minute to process everything you're saying?! This info is coming at lighting speed and I feel like I'm about to blow up if you say another word."

I take a glance up at General Xirad and see him nod his head before promptly bowing his head before taking a step back. The sound of a sigh comes from my right, making me whip my head in that direction to see General Folia taking a step forward. She takes in a breath before she speaks.

"I think we should stop here for now. It has been an exceptionally... eventful day, and so we should all head in for the night. It is about time we all get some proper rest. Come along now." Going around the table, she comes over and places a hand on my back and leads me and Amice out of the tent. She turns to a guard that had been situated right outside the door and instructs him to take us to a vacant tent. The others follow behind us, and the generals bid us a quick goodbye before we head off in separate directions.

It doesn't take long for the guard to take us there. We stop at another triangular and wooden tent, surrounded by hundreds of identical looking ones. He pushes aside the two pieces of green fabric that act as our door and lights a candle lantern situated in the corner of the tent with the torch in his hand, brightening the inside. Green fabric lines the floors, with a pole in the middle to help support the entire thing. Two sleeping bags take up the rest of the space inside, and that's about it. I look up to see a sign with the number 068 placed on the front.