31 Chapter 13 - A Muggles Magic (1/2)

”You know, I am shopping for your present,” Vincent said with a sigh. ”Can't you leave me alone for a bit?”

The two of them were currently in a normal shop, with no magic whatsoever. Vincent had visited a few shops that morning, just looking around for anything he could get for Arnya. Which was difficult considering that she followed him all the time.

”Why can't you give it to me after you buy it?” Arnya asked curiously. ”Why wait till Christmas to open it?”

”It's a tradition,” Vincent shrugged. ”I don't know a lot about how it started and all, you can ask someone else for that, but it's a season of giving. It's also a lot more thoughtful this way. Haven't you gotten anything for Christmas?”

Arnya, after some thought, answered, ”I received some guns from Axel every now and then.”

”...” Vincent went speechless. In his mind, an imaginary scenario was thought out.

”Merry Christmas little sister! Here you go, a gun!”

”Wow thanks big brother, Imma go shoot some people now!”

”Haha, see that dad? She loves her present. look, there she goes, showing it off to all her friends.”

Vincent groaned. ”I don't think that a weapon is the ideal gift.”

Arnya tilted her head. ”But when wizards reach eleven, they receive wands.”

Vincent opened his mouth before closing it. ”Point taken.”

A few hours later later, they both came out of a shop with Arnya carrying a stuffed bear.

Arnya looked at the plain old teddy bear with confusion. ”This is my gift?”

Vincent looked embarrassed as he scratched his head. ”I saw you looking at it for a while and thought you wanted it, was I wrong?”

”I was just thinking about all those teddy bears at the orphanage,” Arnya explained. ”I remember how comfortable it was to hold one. Warm, soft, comforting.”

Vincent stopped scratching his head and let his hand down. ”Well, if that's the case, this is my gift to you. It's a bit early, but Merry Christmas.”

Arnya hugged the bear close and felt how cosy it was. A faint smile slowly made it's way to her face as she nodded. ”Thank you.”

The scene of her smiling while holding the bear made Vincent smile also.

...

A slim man with piercings on his ear sighed as he walked around some cages, cages of children shivering in fear. He brushed aside his shoulder length red hair and looked up, eyes glinting as he looked at the moon, licking his lips.

”It's almost time for dinner,” he muttered. He knelt down in front of a young boy and grinned. ”Why, don't you look tasty.”

The boy started crying.

The man gave a savage smile. ”Don't worry, I won't eat you, yet.”

He got up and walked outside where people stood, their eyes blank.

”Load the children into the trucks now,” he ordered.

Everyone there started manually moving the cages into the back of the truck.

”M-mum?!” a girl yelled at a woman moving another cage. ”Mum, what are you doing?!”

”Dad, don't please, I'll be a good boy from now on!”

”Help us....”

The man smiled as he looked up at the cloudy sky. ”Ah, muggles, so easily manipulated.”

...

”Never thought I'd spend this season staking out this place,” some officer shivered from the cold. ”So what are we looking for?”

A police squad hid around some docks, watching as the workers there went about their business.

”Some note attached to whoever attacked those three men had a date and location,” one other officer answered. ”We're keeping them in custody until we figure out what that note means.”

Another officer frowned. ”So for all we know, this could be a trap?”

Suddenly, two large trucks pulled up right at the waterfront. The men at the docks stopped what they were doing and immediately opened the back of them.

”Those sons of...!” An officer cursed as he spotted dozens of children in cages. He turned to another officer. ”Make contact with the station for reinforcements.”

He then turned back. ”How the hell did all these children get captured?! Not a single missing person report came in out of all these people?!”

...

”What do you mean unnatural?” Arnya asked Vincent who hid in the shadows of a nearby building.

”When someone goes missing, usually their family alerts the police,” Vincent explained. He wore a hoodie due to it being much easier to move in then a cloak. ”Not too sure of the exact details, but with this many people here, why has none of this been brought up by the news?”

Vincent's eyes narrowed when he noticed a singular guy with red hair and piercings on a single ear smiling happily to himself. ”That must be the boss.”

”Vincent,” He turned to see Arnya pointing at the man. ”He has a wand.”

”!” Vincent's eyes widened as his head shot back. ”A wizard?! No! The police—!”

The sound of a gunshot echoed, making the red haired man look in the direction of a police officer who, along with others, surrounded the whole dock.

...

”Everyone get down on your hands and knees! Release those children and give yourself up! You're surrounded!” The officer ordered as he and the others took aim.

However, as if they didn't hear them, the workers continued to move the cages filled with children.

”Wh-What are you doing?! The officer yelled, his instincts telling him that something felt very off. ”Get down on your hands and knees now!”

The red haired man started laughing. ”You muggles have no idea what's happening do you?”

”Who the hell are you?!” The officer pointed his gun at the red haired man.

”So rude, you would usually introduce yourself first, but I'll play along,” the man mockingly bowed. ”Names Roden.”

The officer felt like something dangerous coming from the man. ”Shoot that one man, now!”

Bang! Bang!

Multiple shots rang out as the rest of the group followed the command without hesitation.

”N-no way...” The officer muttered as all the bullets stopped in mid air, barely an inch away.

”You can have them back now,” Roden smirked as he pulled out his wand and flicked it.

”Get down!” The officer commanded as the bullets were shot back at them. Multiple shouts of pain came from all around him as sparks flew everywhere.

He cursed as he looked around at all the downed officers, all hit. He groaned in pain when he noticed a red stain on his shirt getting bigger.

”That's all? How disappointing,” Roden muttered as he walked up to the officer, picking up the gun. ”How does this thing work? Like this perhaps?”

Bang!

”Arghhhh!” The officer yelled in pain as he held his leg.

”You know, these things are actually pretty fun,” Roden said thoughtfully to himself. He turned to the workers who were still unloading the cages. ”How long till the boats ready?”

”Half hour, sir,” someone answered, his eyes blank.

”Good,” Roden looked at the gun and back to the officer lying on the ground. ”Let's see how long you can last.”

He aimed at the officers shoulder, making the man grit his teeth for what's to come.

”So I guess I pull the trigger like last time—!” Roden felt a chill and turned around, just in time to see a rod centimetres from his face.

”Who—?!

A large crack sounded out as Roden felt a searing pain on his face. A bang sounded out along with something blowing him away.

He tumbled to a stop and got up to see Vincent catch the rod and kick towards him.

...

Vincent's eyes widened when Roden block his kick, no signs of actual injury on his arms.

”You little brat!” Roman yelled in anger as he pointed his wand at Vincent. ”Avada Kedavra!”

Green lights shot out of the wand, straight towards Vincent. Feeling danger from those spells, Vincent ran for cover, throwing a rod as he dived behind a crate. ”For a wizard, he's as strong as me.”

Roden sneered as he aimed his wand at the incoming rod, only for his eyes to widen when he realised he couldn't affect it. He blocked with his arms as the rod collided into him, causing another pulse that blew him away.

Vincent didn't want to give Rodan anymore time to think as he rushed out.

”So your the Trespasser I've been hearing so much about?!” Roden grunted as he got up. ”From your smell, your definitely a Muggle, but these weapons, their full of magic.”

Vincent didn't answer as he caught his rod and started pressuring Roden with attacks from all sorts of angles, most of them blocked by Roden through his arms and magic.

”I need to get some distance,” Roden thought as he flicked his wand. ”Accio, barrel!”

Vincent looked behind to see a large metal barrel that shot towards him. He jumped on Roden's shoulders and kicked him into the oncoming barrel. With a loud bong, Roden stumbled backwards in a daze and felt a kick at his back which sent him tumbling to the ground. Vincent then landed on him, holding him down with pure strength.

”You fools, help your master—?” Roden yelled before realising that every one of the workers were out cold.

”Good job Arnya,” Vincent nodded as he noticed a small red mark on everyone's neck and forehead, just the size of a bullet.

”Now,” Vincent looked at Roden with a small hint of anger in them. ”Who exactly are you?”

”Roden, now if you don't mind, I'd appreciate it you'd get off!” Roden aimed his wand at the ground.

A gust of wind knocked them apart, sending Vincent and Roden tumbling away.

”Avada Kedavra!” Roden yelled. A lighting bolt like spell shot straight towards Vincent who barely had enough time to raise his gloved hand, creating a transparent shield that halted the incoming lightning.

”Magic?” Roden looked taken aback before he grinned savagely. ”But, the killing curse is not known for being unblockable for a reason!”

Vincent was being pushed back by the bolt, the shield he held shattering bit by bit. He looked at the gem embedded in the glove, the power source of all the spells that came out of the glove. It's light was getting dimmer by the second. ”It won't hold on for much longer!”

Vincent directed the spell to the side and dived for cover behind a large crate.

”What the heck do I do?” Vincent thought, feeling tense due to the situation. ”I don't want the people around us to get caught up in the thunderbolt potions blast so that's out of the question. Arnya is only here to observe me, what she did earlier was just a favor so I can't expect any more help. What potion can help me now?!”

”Is this all the so called Trespasser can do?” Roden scoffed as he approached Vincent's hiding place. ”Well, it's to be expected. Although I don't know how you did it, but that magic wasn't your own. Ha, no matter what tricks you use, someone like you could never match up to a real wizard. You may borrow our knowledge, our power, but listen here, you'll always just be a cheap imitation of the real deal.”

”Imitation?” Vincent took some deep breaths to calm himself. Time seemed to slow down. ”He's right, because I don't have magic, I've looked for ways to gain and use it's power. I've succeeded, but I know, I know that their cheap knockoffs from the real thing.”

Each footstep that Roden made seemed to have echo as it approached. The sound triggered a memory in him.

...

Footsteps sounded in an alley as Vincent, extremely young, walked up to a blond haired teenage boy with tattoos across his face. The teen leaned back against the wall, eating some kind of bread.

”You want me to teach you how to fight?” The teenage looked down at Vincent who looked up, eyes cold and lifeless. The teenager finished the bread in his hands and dusted the crumbs off. ”I'm a genius when it comes to battle, but when it comes to teaching, I got nothing. Everything I've done is self taught.”

”Any advice then?” the teenage boy took out another piece of bread and broke it in two. He looked thoughtful. ”Well, I guess, improve on what you've got. If all you can do is run, run faster. If all you can do is jump, aim to jump higher. If all you can do is throw a rock, aim to always hit the target. In short, if you have something that you can do, improve on it, even if it's just the little things.”

He then looked down. ”Wish I could've learned how to cook.”

The teenager shook it off before handing the bread to Vincent who looked confused. ”Have a bite. As my follower, this king will never abandon you.”

...

”Ever since I found a way to use magic through equipment and potions, I've started to overly rely on them,” Vincent muttered. ”I've been chasing after something I never had, I haven't been improving everything I already had.”

”My skills, my knowledge, and the one thing that I've neglected...

”...Analysing.”

Vincent closed his eyes, going through everything he knew about Roden through this fight. His actions, his breathing, the spells he used so far, his speech pattern, personal strength, nothing was left out. Through this, Vincent has understood, the man called Roden. All this in a mere seconds.

He soon opened his eyes.

...

Arnya frowned from atop a rooftop. ”He's just sitting there. He doesn't look like he's given up, so what's he doing.”

Vincent's figure in the distance could be seen perfectly by Arnya, his breathing, his posture, all of it was visible in her eyes.

”Should I help him?” she thought as she took aim with her pistol. ”But father told me to only observe. Even knocking out all those men earlier was a bit excessive. Why did I do it? Because he asked me too? Who do I listen too, father or Vincent?”

Arnya didn't know why this feeling frustrated her so much. She noticed Vincent start to move and made her decision. ”If I judge that he can't take it, then I will save him.”

...

”Oh, coming out into the open now?” Roden mocked as Vincent stood in front of him, wand pointed at his chest. ”Given up? How disappointing—?!”

Vincent rushed him unexpectedly with his two rods in his hands.

”Avada Kedavra!” Roden sneered. ”Foolish kid, at this range, the spell would be faster than you can react...”

”...He'd think, and due to it being a killing spell, anywhere it hits would be instant death. So he'd aim for where it's more likely to hit, that means...” Vincent smiled from under his hood.

Roden felt his mind go blank when his spell dissipated on contact with Vincent's rod, blocking his chest, right above the heart. ”How did he—?”

Before he could think any further, Vincent was already in range, swinging a rod to his face. Instantly putting his guard up he felt pain as his stomach caved in from a punch from Vincent who used both hands to pull his head down and kneed him in the face.

Recoiling back from the pain, he struggled to aim his wand. ”Avada Keda—!”

A black streak shot past, snapping his wand in two, leaving Roden with his mouth hanging out in shock. ”What?”

The black streak was caught by Vincent who smashed him in the face with the iron rod.

Roden was sent sprawling to the ground, coughing as he struggled to stand up. Vincent stomped on him, making him scream out in pain as his ribs broke under the pressure. ”He must have thrown it when aiming for my face earlier. How did he know that my wand would be in its return path?!”

”Y-you-!” Roden muttered in agony under the pain. He looked up to see Vincent's golden eyes boring directly into his.

”Avada Kedavra, the killing curse, seems to be your favorite spell,” Vincent said coldly. ”You seemed far to confident in being able to beat me with just that, otherwise you'd have apparate away if the situation got out of hand.”

”H-how'd—?” Roden asked while gritting his teeth in pain before getting cut off.

”—I block the killing curse?” Roden stared in shock as Vincent guessed his next line.

”As if I'm telling you,” Vincent said while inwardly sweating. ”I was betting that my rods could at least stop the spell, I didn't expect the magic nullification to be so powerful that it'd negate a killing curse.”

”Can he see—?!”

”—the future?” Vincent glared. ”Your face says it all. Look, in this short amount of time, I've gotten to know you so well.”

”I still haven't lost,” Roden, though still in pain, started grinning. ”You say you know me? You don't know a thing about me. Ah, I really didn't want to do this, but remember kid, this is all on you. Look in my left pocket.”

Vincent narrowed his eyes. ”What?”