113 Tattoo Magic
They chatted openly about that, and even though Wisa and Jane were okay with it, she wasn’t ready yet to take the next step.
Arthur felt it was normal, as Jane was younger than Wisa, so he did not mind it. He shared his plan of getting into a city, which surprised both of them.
“Isn’t it too early? I know you’re strong, but the rest of the students will not survive the journey. I think we should stay here and teach them more before leaving. Jane, what do you think?” Wisa said.
Jane was thinking about other things, but quickly recomposed herself and said, “I agree with Wisa. The students are too weak, and this place surely is much safer than outside. Plus, it is easier for you to protect them.”
What both of them said made sense. Wanting it or not, Arthur was stuck in that tribe, at least for the time being.
“All right. We shall focus on getting these students strong.”
Wisa wanted to rip Arthur’s clothing right there and have a moment with him, but she wanted to wait for Jane to be ready so that all the three could do it together.
So Jane and Wisa left Arthur’s cabin and went to their own. If they wanted to make these students strong, a rigid training was required.
With lots of ideas inside his mind, Arthur slept.
He woke up with noises from the outside. Screams, to be more precise. Sully, who was flying all over the desert in these past days, returned, and all the tribe members were shocked to see such an immense beast.
“What type of beast is that?”
“I don’t know, never seen one before.”
Arthur walked out of his house and said, “everyone, calm down. This is my beast friend, Sully.”
All the tribe members were already worshiping his strength, but now? Only a messenger of the gods could have such a beast under its command.
It took a while, but all the people there got used to Sully’s presence, and even the kids tried to play with him. When that happened, he always came with the excuse he needed to hunt, and flew away.
A rigid training method started on all the students. They would practice more hours than before, and all the teachers would help them with anything, such as sharing spells, giving tips, and even helping the students absorb mana.
They needed them to become stronger, so providing help in a time of crisis was the best thing they could do.
Arthur, who always only watched the classes, taught too. Something was happening with him, and he couldn’t understand why.
Since he arrived at that desert, he had weird dreams of where he was a dragon. A particular dream where he saw a weapon specialist from humans wield all kinds of weapons.
He watched that specialist fight for a long, long time. It felt like countless years. Then, something incredible happened.
The dream was more real than he thought, and he could use all weapons like a true master.
Wisa was the most shocked among all, as she knew Arthur better. The students only felt that their president always knew how to use these sorts of weapons, so they were less surprised.
They had little knowledge about melee fighting. Among the students, only Kai stood out. Arthur did not know if it was beneficial for them to learn, but he taught them anyway.
Constant fights between the students to hone their skills, alongside the rigid training and the tips of all the teachers, improved their skill greatly.
It was still not enough for them to travel across the desert, but it was a good start.
After one week passed, Ahanu called out Arthur to speak in private, and the subject was something he long wanted.
“This is the manual for the tattoo creation and removal. Want to hear how it works?”
Arthur did not know if these tattoos would be useful to him, but he was someone that seek knowledge, and wanted to learn new things every time he got the chance.
This type of magic was not present in other places, and one could only learn in the Shukar Empire. It was an opportunity he did not want to miss.
“These two skills are not the main part. They are just instructions on how to remove the tattoo or make it work. The real thing is in the tattoo itself,”
“Each tattoo has its unique effect, and the effect can vary in power. After you inscribe the tattoo on your body, all you have to do is use the technique to activate it.”
“You’ll need a higher manipulation of the mana to create the stronger tattoos.”
Arthur listened to all of it carefully and understood most of it. Ahanu gave him two scrolls that had two techniques, one to activate the tattoo, and another to wipe the tattoo, presumably if one wanted to get better tattoos.
Now, the tattoos were almost like spells one had to draw on the body. The tattoos all had its unique effect and ranged between different tiers as well.
Ahanu gave Arthur a scroll that contained all the tattoos the Jinzaka tribe had. The highest one was roughly at the tier 4.
The curious thing about these tattoos is that the person did not need to use the mana in their body. A tattoo was like a magic item, and after the effect ended, it would recharge, gathering the mana from the atmosphere.
It was an awesome triumph card to have, especially when one ran out of mana.
“This will increase my power when fighting using my dragon form. But these tattoos are all trash. Where will I find better ones?” Arthur thought as he bowed and said thanks to the tribe leader.
One of his goals was finished. Now the next step was to conquer all the surrounding tribes while making his students grow stronger.
~~~~
In a distant place where a race of giants lived, a tiny skeleton appeared out of thin air.
“Where am I?”
It was all covered in snow, and beneath that snow laid a city that looked rather similar to the one Arthur had just found in the desert.