Austin led Gavin to an area just outside the camp. It was a good place for the two to practice without disturbing everyone else’s activities in the camp. Austin realized from their earlier discussion that Gavin needed to see something to understand it. He was not the type who liked long-winded explanations.

  ?

  “I can tell you're a man of action,” Austin said as silver light enveloped his arm. As the light dimmed, Austin’s shield covered his arm. “So I think it is best to show you the benefits of our affinity.”

  ?

  “And how do you plan on doing that?” Gavin asked.

  ?

  “You are going to attack me, and I will defend,” Austin said as he entered a fighting stance.

  ?

  “Not sure what I am supposed to learn from this,” Gavin started to crack his knuckles. “But I have been wanting to fight you since you got here. Don’t blame me if you get hurt.”

  ?

  Gavin kicked off the ground and started to swing his fists at Austin. The first thing that Austin noticed was the speed of Gavin’s movement. Austin could tell that Gavin was close to reaching Copper because he was moving much faster than he had seen Maya and Josh move. Despite Gavin’s speed, Austin was easily able to keep up with his attacks.

  ?

  As Gavin swung his fists, Austin blocked each blow with his shield. Austin made a point of only blocking with his shield. He did not even dodge out of the way of the punches. As each punch landed on the shield, Austin could feel Gavin’s Essence flow through the shield. The shield absorbed each punch until Austin started to notice the shield could barely hold any more Essence.

  ?

  “I’m gonna need you to back up,” Austin said with a worried expression as he started to make distance from Gavin.

  ?

  “Why? Are you getting tired?” Gavin laughed. “I guess you aren’t as great as everyone thinks!”

  ?

  Austin could feel his shield pulsing like a heartbeat. The Essence inside was growing more and more uncontrollable. As it grew, the pulsing became more and more rapid. This was Austin’s first time experiencing this with his shield, and he was unsure what to do or what was going to happen.

  ?

  The only thing Austin could think to do was throw his shield upward into the air. He figured that the best thing to do with the shield was to throw it as far as possible. The shield moved in a blur as it cut upward through the trees. The accumulated Essence made the shield move faster and further than ever before.

  ?

  “What are you doing? Why would you throw your shield away?” Gavin asked. Gavin seemed almost insulted that Austin stopped their sparring match to throw his shield.

  ?

  Austin did not respond as he watched his shield carefully. As the shield reached the peak of its flight, silver light exploded out of it. The explosion let out a thunderous sound and caused the top of the trees to be blown downward with an aggressive force of wind. Red and purple leaves glided downward on the pair as Austin’s shield came flying back down.

  ?

  Before the shield could hit the ground, Austin channeled his Essence to call it back to his arm. He glanced over his shield and noticed all the Essence that it stored was now gone. He felt a little satisfaction at the new lesson he learned about his technique. While he could not constantly block with his shield, he now realized that he could create an explosive counterattack.

  ?

  “Sorry about that,” Austin said as he brushed leaves off his clothes. “That was the first time that happened.”

  ?

  Gavin’s eyes were wide in shock. Austin noticed that his hands were shaking. He could not tell if Gavin was shaking from fear, awe, or some combination of both. It took Gavin a moment to even say anything in response. It was as if he was still trying to process what happened in front of him.

  ?

  “What the hell was that?” Gavin managed to ask.

  ?

  “Well, that part was new to me,” Austin admitted. “But you got to see what metal can do as an affinity. What is the first thing you think of when you think of metal?”

  ?

  “I don’t know, I guess that a lot of metals are pretty tough,” Gavin responded with slight confusion. He could not tell what Austin was getting at.

  ?

  “That was my first thought, too, but it helps if you think bigger,” Austin responded. His tone was like a college professor going through a lecture. “The first thought a person has when they think of metal is how hard a substance it can be. Which is great, but also with the inherent nature of Champion techniques, any affinity could achieve the same level of hardness. The thing that really makes metal special is its qualities of magnetism and conductiveness. Did you see how my shield used those qualities?”

  ?

  “I guess I saw the magnetism at the end there,” Gavin’s answer sounded like he was unsure and still trying to understand what he saw.

  ?

  “Correct, my shield is imbued with an effect that lets me call it back to me when I channel Essence. Essentially, I act as a magnet that draws my shield in,” Austin responded. “So, I’ll give you a hint on the conductive property. How does your Essence feel?”

  ?

  Gavin’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but he decided to check his Essence. He closed his eyes and took a moment to reflect on his Essence. Once he did, his mouth opened wide in shock and confusion.

  ?

  “I did not use that much Essence! How did that happen?” Gavin asked in frustration. “I know how to manage my Essence, and that has to be wrong!”

  ?

  “Oh, but it’s not,” Austin smirked. “You can use the conductive aspect of metal to conduct Essence. In a defensive way, it allows me to conduct the Essence of an opponent for better protection. Not only does it weaken a strike, but it draws on the Essence from the person attacking. Which leads us to the offensive application of the conductive aspect. Typically, I can conduct Essence through my shield to allow it to move faster and further when I throw it. But we both just discovered something else: what happens if an object can’t hold the Essence anymore? Well, it has to be released.”

  ?

  “So that was that explosion when you threw your shield in the air,” Gavin concluded.

  ?

  “Exactly,” Austin nodded. “Does that help give you an idea of the things you can do?”

  ?

  “Actually, yes,” Gavin said. He seemed to want to say more, but Austin noticed that he struggled. It was as if words were stuck in his throat until he finally said, “Thank you.”

  ?

  “No problem at all,” Austin smiled. “Just don’t go stealing any of my techniques.”

  ?

  “Like I would even want to,” Gavin replied. “I’ll try to think of my own.”

  ?

  “Good, you know what would help you do that?” Austin said with a mischievous grin.

  ?

  “What’s that?” Gavin asked with a raised eyebrow.

  ?

  “Reading those stories,” Austin laughed.

  ?

  “Fine, I’ll read some,” Gavin groaned. “I need a little bit of a break anyway.”

  ?

  The pair walked back to camp. When they did, Gavin grabbed the book that Austin lent him and sat with some other scouts while he read. Maya was spending time with people in the camp, and Elliot was playing with the other children. Since everyone was busy doing their own thing, Austin took this chance to take out his enchanting supplies and practice.

  ?

  Austin felt calm wash over him as he practiced writing the script for enchanting. The simple act of writing was therapeutic to him as it took him out of the current craziness he felt thrust into. When he returned from training with Artas, he thought his newfound skills would give him a moment of peace. At the very least, he thought it would scare off those who meant him and his family harm. Instead, he felt like he was pushed into a leadership role that he did not feel suited for. While they made it clear that he could act as a third party, he already felt like people in the camp were looking towards him. Even the scouts that he met with looked at him for guidance more than friendship. Austin wondered if that was the real reason Natasha invited him and his family into the camp. He imagined that her leadership also came with loneliness as people looked up to her but did not see her as a friend. The thought of Natasha’s experience made Austin feel lucky to have Maya by his side.

  ?

  Austin continued his practice on enchanting and was actually starting to make progress. He watched as the characters danced off the pages like little glowing sprites. The silver light of the rising characters broke apart into several tiny lights before they dimmed. Austin was not successful at every attempt at writing a character, but he soon found he succeeded more than he failed.

  ?

  After practicing for a little more, Austin noticed someone walking up to him from the corner of his eye. He set his stylus down on the sheets of paper in anticipation of a discussion. Once he looked up, he noticed it was Mike approaching him.

  ?

  “Working on enchanting?” Mike asked as he leaned over. “I tried to work on it when Natasha showed us but I never could get the hang of it.”

  ?

  “I think it is difficult to start but worth it,” Austin replied. “You should give it another try.”

  ?

  “Maybe, but I don’t think my hands are steady enough for it,” Mike said as he sat next to Austin. “Kinda hard to do if your hand is shaking.”

  ?

  “I guess so,” Austin nodded. “That could change when you hit Copper, though. My body went through a pretty drastic change when I did.”

  ?

  “If I can find the patience for it, then,” Mike laughed.

  ?

  “That’s a whole other problem,” Austin chuckled slightly. “But I still say give it a try. I think it’s a good break from all the craziness.”

  ?

  “You could be right,” Mike nodded. “Everything here has been pretty crazy. It would be nice to have something to break me away from it all. Speaking of a break, it seems like those boys you lent books to are enjoying them.”

  ?

  “What makes you say that?” Austin asked.

  ?

  “I passed by, and they were all talking about the stories in those books,” Mike responded with a smile. “They all seemed excited about the stories and the potential for their future training. Even Gavin seemed pretty excited, and you’ve seen how he acts.”

  ?

  “I’m glad to hear that,” Austin smiled. “My master was pretty strict about my reading those books. While he said it was to inspire me, I think it was also to give me a little break. We have to find those little moments to break us from everything when we can.”

  ?

  “Also,” Mike’s smile turned wider as he spoke. “They were talking pretty favorably about you. You made a good impression.”

  ?

  “Oh wow,” Austin felt shocked. “I didn’t think I did much to leave an impression.”

  ?

  “Natasha does not have a lot of time to talk with people one-on-one. I think they really appreciated it,” Mike said. “Sometimes it’s just the little things.”

  ?

  Austin was about to respond when he noticed someone entering the camp from the forest. He thought Natasha was returning from her expedition and felt excitement rise inside of him. Once she returned, he would be able to go out with his own group.

  ?

  Austin started to stand to greet Natasha when Mike was already on his feet. Mike ran towards the line of the camp, and Austin realized that it was not Natasha. Instead, it was a young man who was sent on a standard patrol, but the rest of his group was not with him. Austin moved towards the young man as he felt worry grow inside him.

  ?

  “What happened to you?” Mike asked as he wrapped an arm around the young man. The young man had bruises all over his body and seemed to have trouble standing.

  ?

  “We were on a standard patrol,” the young man struggled to explain the situation as tears welled up in his eyes. “When we were ambushed by a group of three. They completely overpowered us, and it took everything I could to get away and get here to warn you guys.”

  ?

  “Chet,” Austin’s eyes filled with fury as he clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white.