IDWTBTHQ Chapter 79 - Be Careful Who You Call Ugly In Middle School

The village of Stonebarrow was a lone island of green in the middle of a gray sea of mold-wax. Marcus had decided to keep the place as he had found it and surrounded by a few trees for the sake of his friends, who may have otherwise found the landscape unsettling.

That said, there had been a few modifications here and there.

First of all, there was a huge stable built near the central square, in which Marcus kept his Wyvern Drones, and a few other houses had also been converted from residential buildings into storehouses. Then, a bit away from the village, there was the place that Felix had used for his magical training, a small parcel of land which had been completely razed to the ground, with the earth itself being scorched and blackened.

The Vex Queen smirked. It had been a good call to not have Felix try out his powers indoors during the first months, otherwise he'd have burnt down the house.

The Wyvern Drone flew down gently in a wide spiral before finally landing just in front of the old inn in which Marcus and the others had taken up residence. With practiced and elegant movements the Vex Queen jumped off his steed, landing gracefully on the dirt road before walking towards the inn. He could feel two presences inside the building, one exceptionally strong and burning almost like a flame, and the other feeble and stealthy, almost imperceptible next to the other.

“So Felix and Hoggs are inside.” He thought with a smirk as he entered the building.

A wave of heat hit his face as soon as he opened the door. The inside of the inn was unnaturally warm, especially when compared to the chilly air outside, but that didn't really come as a surprise since it had been this way for at least a month now.

The main hall of the inn had been converted into a living room using furniture taken from other homes. There were only a couple of dining tables remaining and the rest of the room was occupied by various sofas, bookcases and smoking tables, while many carpets covered the stone floor and gave the room a cozy, warm feeling that was emphasized by the lit fireplace, in which a bright flame was dancing wildly. The only thing that suggested that this had once been an inn was the bar counter, which was now covered mostly in books and writing material. And sitting there on a couple of stools were Hoggs and Felix, each holding a mug of beer in their hand and chatting with each other, though they immediately turned when Marcus entered the room.

“Oh, hi Marcus!” Felix greeted him by raising his mug.

“Nice to see you, Sir Marcus.” Hoggs said a bit more formally.

“Hi Felix! Hi Hoggs!” The Vex Queen replied, closing the door and ditching his coat before walking towards the counter to reach his friends. And as it always happened when he looked at him, he felt surprised at how much Felix had changed during the winter.

The once short, scrawny boy had somehow bulked up considerably, going from being gangly and awkward to looking like a greek demigod. His shoulders were at least twice as wide as they were before and somehow, despite spending most of the winter inside the house, the young man had become much more muscular and tanned, enough so to make a professional surfer envious. Even his face had changed, and his delicate features had gotten much stronger and definitely more hunky, especially after he had gotten some stubble on his chin. The only thing that hadn’t changed were the boy’s eyes, who were still as curious and intelligent as they were when Marcus had first met him.

All in all, despite definitely not swinging that way, the Vex Queen had to admit that Felix had gotten really, really handsome. But he didn't feel comfortable following that line of thoughts, so he started talking in order to focus on something else.

“Say, is there any chance to find some hot coffee around?” He asked. “It's chilly outside, and I definitely need something to warm me up!”

“Yeah, we figured it out that you could need some, so we brewed some earlier.” Felix said, pointing at a pot behind the counter. “Help yourself. It should still be warm.”

“Thanks Felix!” Marcus said in a cheerful tone, and he walked to the counter and proceeded to pour himself half a mug of coffee.

“Careful with that.” Hoggs suggested. “It's a strong brew, and you remember what effect it has on you, don't you?”

“Yeah, don't worry Hoggs, I know. I’ll contain myself.” The Vex Queen replied, taking a sip out of his mug and then making a long, almost purring-like sound. It tasted like heaven. “Mmmmmmmmh. By all that's holy I needed this!”

“Say, Marcus, didn't you happen to see Klara while you were out patrolling?” Felix asked.

“No.” The Vex Queen replied, between a sip of coffee and the next one. “My drones saw her entering the forest early this morning and she hasn't come out yet as far as I know. I guess she's not gonna come back before dark, as usual.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” The boy mumbled, and Marcus could feel a strong sense of sadness and worry radiating from him like heat from a stove. This wasn't really a surprise, since the young man's emotions had become much more powerful after his awakening, but the sheer strength of those feelings was enough to make the Vex Queen uncomfortable.

“I'm sure she's fine.” He said, trying to comfort his friend and simultaneously quell his emotional volcano. “She can take care of herself. Besides, I've got a lot of drones patrolling the borders of the forest, and as far as they can see there is nothing overly dangerous lurking in there.”

“Yeah, I know.” Felix sighed. “It's just... well, I don't know why she always spends all day in the forest, lately.”

Marcus thought that he probably knew the reason but it wasn’t his place to say it, so he just looked away from the young man. An awkward silence ensued, but luckily that was interrupted by Hoggs, who loudly finished his beer before starting to talk.

“I suppose she's got to find a way to keep herself busy while you two are studying under me.” The telemancer said. “After all, she's the only one not training her aura right now. Speaking of which...” He turned to Marcus. “Sir Marcus, it's been a while since our last lesson. Would you care to resume them any time soon? Or would you prefer brooding a bit longer?”

“Uhm... well...” The Vex Queen muttered, feeling a little guilty. “If... if that's not a problem, I guess we could. Resume the lessons, I mean.” He paused, took a breath and then added. “Sorry if I took such a long pause. I had... well, you could say I'm a bit disheartened since nothing I do seems to work.”

“Don't worry about it.” Hoggs encouraged him. “And don't feel ashamed about taking a pause. If you thought you needed it, you needed it and that's it. Besides, with an aura as strong as yours, it's not surprising that you have trouble controlling it. Keep practicing, and the results of your effort will eventually show up! You just have to be patient.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Marcus sighed. “It's just that... well, not making progress is one thing, but right now I'm actually getting worse.”

“Well, your aura is getting stronger so that makes sense.” The telemancer nodded. “You just have to get better until your level of control matches it.”

“But what if my aura keeps on growing?”

“Then you have to keep on getting better.” Hoggs replied with a smirk.

Marcus groaned and rolled his eyes.

“Well, look at the bright side!” Felix chimed in. “At least it is a very simple solution!”

“Yeah yeah, that's simple alright.” The Vex Queen replied in an exasperated tone. “The problem is that it's not easy.”

“Nothing worth having comes easy.” Hoggs pontificated while drinking the last of his beer.

“Everything I have is very much worth it then.” Marcus sighed. “Well, fine. I guess I can resume my aura training at your earliest convenience.”

“Good.” The telemancer replied. “We can start this afternoon, if you'd like. Just after lunch.”

“That's fine.” The Vex Queen nodded. “But what about Felix? Doesn't he have any training planned for today?”

“Not really, no.” The old man shrugged. “From now on he can train on his own. He's got enough control on his power that he can fix whatever mistakes he’d make.”

“Yeah, don't worry about me!” Felix said. “I promise I won't burn down anything too important!”

“Gee, thanks Felix. That sure puts me at ease.” The Vex Queen replied sarcastically, but in truth he wasn't overly worried. In the last couple of months, Felix had actually managed to acquire a great deal of control over his powers and now he was able to use them in subtle and delicate ways. For example, it was him who kept the whole house warm, somehow amplifying the heat that came from the fireplace and distributing it all over the building. He also could use his magic to instantly heat any liquid and make it stay warm for a long period of time —a skill which Marcus particularly appreciated since it could be used both for brewing coffee and for preparing hot baths.

But that was just the tip of the iceberg. In addition to these rather utilitarian feats, Felix could also use his magic in much more flashy and destructive ways. Throwing fireballs, summoning localized firestorms and even manipulating flames and shaping into whatever he wanted, from fiery lions to flaming eagles, he could pretty much do anything as long as it involved fire. And his sheer power... well, honestly it was pretty terrifying. The young man could be a living engine of destruction if he wanted to, and Marcus had no doubt that it'd take hundreds of drones to take him down in an open battle if he were to turn against him —an eventuality that the Vex Queen fervently hoped would never occur, as he wouldn't have liked to fight against his friend.

As it always happened whenever he thought about the boy's newfound power, Marcus started to feel hot and bothered, something which made him deeply uncomfortable.

“Shit!” He thought, desperately struggling to keep his blood from flushing to his cheeks. “Keep it down Marcus! Keep it down! Try to think about something else!”

He drank another sip of his coffee and focused on the taste, managing to exclude the previous line of thought. Then he turned to Hoggs, hoping to further distract himself with conversation.

“So... uh... Hoggs, what kind of training do you have in mind for this afternoon?” He asked.

“I was thinking about tackling your problem from a different angle.” The telemancer replied. “So far I've tried to teach you what I would teach to an apprentice sorcerer, but maybe you would benefit more from an aura warrior training.”

“Interesting.” The Vex Queen nodded. “And how does that differ from the training I've been doing so far?”

“Well, maybe I'm a little biased but in my opinion the way aura warriors use their aura is a tad more primal and crude compared to sorcerers.” The old man explained. “But that’s mostly when it comes to the most advanced applications. As far as our training is involved the biggest difference is that I’m gonna include physical exercises as well as mental ones. After all, if your powers are a result of your biology, then acquiring a greater control on your own body could help you control them as well.”

“Well, I don’t know much about my powers, but I guess it’s worth a shot.” Marcus said with a smirk. “What kind of exercises do you have in mind?”

“Mostly running, doing push-ups, that kind of training.” Hoggs replied. “The exercises themselves don’t really matter. What’s important is obtaining a perfect synchronization between mind and body.” He paused, and then added: “ Oh, and I'd put on some more comfortable clothing if I were in you since I’m gonna make you work up a sweat..”

“I should have a shirt and a pair of shorts somewhere in my room.” Marcus replied after thinking about it for a moment. “Would that be fine?”

“Perfect.” Hoggs nodded. “I’ll see you in front of the inn in a couple of hours then.”

“Good!” The Vex Queen said. “I’ll go searching for those clothes then.”

And, after finishing the last of his coffee, he left the mug on the counter and went upstairs to his room.

Surprisingly, he was actually looking forward to this new training. In his past life he did hit the gym and jogged from time to time, and the prospect of resuming this kind of activity felt pleasantly nostalgic.

“Eh... maybe this is the chance to get in shape and gain some muscles!” He thought. “This is gonna be fun! Or at least, it's gonna be better than those boring meditation exercises!”