Soul of a Human

Gorn looked at the Soul-kin in front of him, holding the big metal rod, and nodded.

"Then show me what you can do." He asked.

This led the two watching Ice-kin youth to pay more attention. However, Lize, who had also joined, had an expectant smile Gorn couldn't place. Elly and Jorgen were both very much interested in what their team comrade could do while using his full magic. Mor took a deep breath and got ready.

°Let's go easy and charge this thing first?° The human offered, and Mor nodded.

Gorn smiled as the rod the boy had chosen started to get that classic hum every charged Ice-kin weapon makes. Then his smile turned into a confused frown when the boy didn't stop. Then the rod started vibrating visibly, and the low hum rose in pitch. Ultimately, Gorn and the two young Ice-kin looked shocked, their faces lit by an ominous red glow, while Lize laughed at their stupid faces.

°I really need you to train a specific spell.° The human decided.

°Which one?° Mor asked.

°Well, you keep your secret, and I keep mine.° The human teased.

°You realize if you don't tell me, I won't be able to train it?° Mor asked, and there was a stunned silence for half a heartbeat.

°Shit.° The human realized. °Well… Let's keep it on the back burner until we have mastered the new stuff, but I will get unlimited power!°

°Haven't we already established that there is no unlimited power?° Mor asked.

°Different kind of unlimited power!° The human answered, again shouting the unlimited power part.

Gorn stood there, his mouth wide open, looking at the boy. The boy had done something he had never seen before and showed no sign of discomfort after charging the rod until it glowed an ominous red. Lize stopped laughing and strolled to her husband, pushing his mouth closed with gentle strength.

"You look like your brain has stopped working." She said, and Gorn nodded slowly.

"I'm going to run naked through the village," Lize added.

"Of course," Gorn replied, still focused on the boy's glowing weapon.

Lize chuckled at that and continued teasing a bit more until the three surprised Ice-kin shook off their confusion.

"How did you do that?" Elly asked excitedly.

"I just charged it like Lize taught me. Though doing it to this degree is draining my overall power reservoir." Mor answered.

"Can I hold it?" Jorgen asked, and Mor handed over the glowing rod with a nod.

"It feels a bit warm, " the boy said, making a few swings with the improvised weapon.

"Really?" Mor asked, having not felt any heat.

°Now, what should we do next?° The human asked.

°I could show off how hard we can hit with it or show you my idea, ° Mor said, already knowing the humans' answer.

°Then don't keep me waiting. Show me what you have thought of!° The expected answer came.

Mor took back his "weapon" from Jorgen and said. "Watch this. My mother taught me this little trick."

As Mor channeled more energy, a cold mist formed around the rod, then suddenly solidified into an ax-head made of magical ice.

°Holy shit! That's genius!° The human shouted.

°Why use a complete weapon if a handle gives you more versatility and is still heavy enough to work as a bludgeoning tool?° Mor stated, and the human had to agree to that reasoning.

"How long can you keep that up?" Gorn asked, and Mor scratched the back of his head.

"This all costs a huge amount of power, so maybe five minutes if I continue supplying power to the ice weapon spell. As far as Lize taught me, the rod will lose its "charge" over time, but it does take a bunch of my energy to get it going that far." Mor answered honestly.

"But if I only produce the weapon part when I strike and let it shatter when it has dealt the most damage, I can last longer and add much more force. At least, that's what I hope to achieve. Right now, I don't have the timing down on when to empower my strikes."

"I see." Gorn mused.

"Yes, this is my big disadvantage. My reservoir is small compared to other Soul-kin. However, having a small reservoir also means I can refill it faster." Mor explained.

"How fast?" The Ice-warrior asked.

"From empty to full, about 2 hours, for a quick low-energy spell in a pinch? About a minute." Mor explained further, keeping the far more dangerous option secret for now. It was simply too risky for untrained and unsupervised usage.

°Let's list what we need to concentrate on for the first step of the plan "fuck this shit! We're getting you home".° The human stated.

°First, reducing your basic energy demand by min-maxing your spell usage.°

°Min-what now?° Mor asked.

°Min-maxing. This means getting the most value for the magic you use.° The human explained with a sigh before continuing.

°Second, training your combat efficiency because monstrosities are most vulnerable against combination attacks of physical and magical power. Right?°

°Yes. As far as we know.° Mor agreed.

°With third being the culmination of it all. Training our new techniques and maybe revisiting old spells we had discarded for now.° The human finished the explanation.

°Sounds like a promising plan.° Mor agreed. °And I guess this "infinite power" will be some spell we have ignored for now?°

°Indeed, but first, concentrate on the important stuff. We can do the funny bits when we have the time, ° The human said.

°So this will be a big joke for you?° Mor sighed.

°Gotta have fun. Also, the others are looking at you funny.° The human stated.

"Is this normal?" Gorn asked his wife.

"Yes, he sometimes does that, and it looks like he talks to himself," Lize answered.

"Strange," Elly said, waving her hand before Mor's face.

"Must be a Soul-kin thing," Jorgen added with a shrug.

"Excuse me. I just had to sort my mind for a second." Mor pouted.

"Good, he's back!" Elly said with a smile.

"Then, let's get back to business. What else can you do?" Gorn demanded to know.

Mor shrugged and picked up a stone, much to the delight of Lize, who again knew what was coming. After an air-splitting whoosh and a sharp crack, the random piece of rock was firmly lodged inside an old training target, which was already needled with broken and left behind arrows.

And again, Gorn looked in surprise at the force of that attack, just as surprised as Elly was envious. She still couldn't wield a bow with so much draw power.

"I told you he was interesting," Lize said proudly, like a mother praising her son's accomplishments.

"I would say scary," Gorn said. "Can you do that with arrowheads?"

"No, only rocks," Mor said with a shrug. "But it should be good enough as a distraction and is cheap in energy demand."

Gorn nodded, then got a big grin, which Mor didn't like to look off.

"Well, kids, it seems you have a very strong taunter, meaning you also have some catching up to do. But if you train hard, we're looking at history's strongest first-time hunting team.