CHAPTER VII
WHITE BLOOD CELLS

SOUNDTRACK- Crimson
        Several weeks had gone by, Janus training under Canen’s wing. He was learning quickly, and becoming quite skilled. During the final lesson in hand to hand combat, Canen and Janus were to fight until one was on the floor, unconscious. The two were in the main chamber, Abant, Audrey, and Fox watching from a stone balcony.
        “It is time to test the knowledge I have given you,” Canen said, removing his black robe. “You must understand, Janus, that the world can be a very peaceful utopia of prosperity.” He then loosened his yellow tie. “However, it can also be a cruel, vile, and unfair place.
        “Let the spirit energy flow into your lungs- through your body, and out in a cycle of purity,” Canen said, strapping on black gloves. He then began warming up his muscles. Janus did the same. “Now hit me, if you can...” Canen grinned as his white eyes ignited into a glow that resembled diamonds sparkling in the sun!
        Janus leaped in the air and threw a massive kick, but Canen cunningly dodged it with ease. Throwing several punches, Janus’s attempts to hit his master were futile. Canen’s reflexes were phenomenal- the speed, the accuracy, the agility of his moves astounded Janus. Of course, the mage master did more than just block the beginner’s simple attacks...
        The leather of the gloves covering Canen’s fists smacked onto the skin of the pupil in rapid attacks! The master’s boot met Janus many times as well; in the gut, chest, head, joints, and spine, forcing several bellows of pain from Janus’s throat! Canen could perform wondrous kick-attacks that were unlockable by his apprentice! His fists and feet moved so fast that they blurred until there seemed to be several sets of them!
        The pupil threw a punch headed for Canen’s face! The master’s palm smacked into the fist of Janus’s fierce punch, stopping his attack. Canen wrapped his fingers over the attacking fist in a grip that made Janus’s knuckles crack!
        Canen shouted, “Come on! Stop trying to hit me and hit me!” Canen shoved the hand away from him, and reengaged in battle.
        The mage master was tearing Janus apart in ferociously sonic strength! The pupil’s mind could not keep up with Canen’s brute power and incomprehensible speed! What really caught Janus by surprise was when Canen seemed to defy gravity towards the end of the battle. The master leapt into the air twenty feet or more, scale the stone pillars and walls, even the ceiling! This state of dumbfounded wonder made Janus even more susceptible to attacks.
        Soon, Canen’s fists glowed yellow. The punches to the face and body became more like rapid bee stings, which would keep repeating...and repeating...until a burst of yellow light made Janus go blind for a few moments. The pupil flew threw the air and crashed into a stone pillar, breaking it right in the middle! Janus fell to the stone floor, unconscious and near death!
        He lay there, covered in bricks and bleeding severely from the wounds on his face, his broken bones, and the broken skin of his body. Janus was out cold. If he didn’t receive any help soon, he would most certainly succumb to death...
        The master towered over his pupil, watching him die. He sighed, “You have much to learn, my friend.”
SOUNDTRACK- No Music
        Canen waved his glowing hand over Janus’s body. Just before Janus died, his body became illuminated in the same mystical glow as Canen’s fists. The injuries of Janus’s mauled body healed almost instantaneously!
        The young squire blinked, realizing he was not dead. Janus sprang to his feet, holding his fists by his face. Canen laughed as he stood there. “Janus, you have courage and determination! That’s good. But I also dropped you very quickly.” Canen turned behind him, looking up to the stone balcony. “Abant?”
        Abant was holding a gold pocket watch in his hand. He called back to Canen, “Twenty-eight seconds.”
        “You see?” Canen said, placing his hand on Janus’s shoulder. “Everything you worked for in life, all the pain, anguish, strives, etc..., would be all for not. They would be meaningless within twenty-eight seconds. This is why running into a battle out of rage, or stupidity as I like to call it, is the cause of the fall of so many.”

SOUNDTRACK- The Mana Acropolis
        Canen and Janus once again went back to the gardens of the Mana Acropolis. The birds were singing and the hiss of the nearby waterfalls quieted Janus’s soul for Canen’s words of wisdom.
        “A mage is the strongest, fastest, most cunning warrior in all the land. If you wish to aid us, you must become stronger. Modern weaponry does not consist of swords anymore, and seldom do they use hand to hand combat. They have developed projectile weapons. They’ll burn a hole straight through you, no matter how much muscle or armor.”
        “What about my grandfather’s armor?”
        “I would guess that the blaster’s beam could penetrate the Skybolt Mage Armor you wear. Sa’gaht has retired from a mage’s life, becoming a man named Dr. Doan. The countless years of evilness in his heart has crippled and deformed his body, while withering away his soul. He is a physical weakling, but Intarma’s most brilliant scientist. Doan has utilized yellow-mana to its full to produce the most advanced technology to date. Surely he would have tested his inventions against magic; he developed the modern ion blaster.” Canen sighed. “Of course, I must admit- I fought you with magic, while you knew none.”
        Canen brought down into the garden, Janus’s sword. He hid it behind huge plants. The mage master handed it to his apprentice. “The weapon you came here with, the weapon of Winston, the Onyx-Blade: a powerful weapon of strength and valor.”
        Canen sat down on a nearby rock as Janus examined his blade. “You have not discovered its main feature, I’m guessing.”
        “It’s main feature?” Janus looked at Canen. “The glow?”
        Canen nodded. “The charcoal-colored blade has grains of yellow-mana tempered into its metal. However, this mana needs powered by the mana within your body.”
        “I have mana in my body?” Janus looked at himself, bewildered.
        Canen replied, “A long time ago, before everyone could bear magic, Vako gave the first order of mages white-mana. The world gathered in the Great Mana Feast. Ingesting this glistening powder altered the genetics of the entire world’s humans. The offspring of all of the people on the planet were now mystical. Everyone today has magic potential, even the hybrids. The Great Mana Feast allowed us to utilize the mystical energy that flows through the world. This same energy is thought to be a by-product of the parallel dimensions of the afterlife.”
        “You mean...”
        “Weather it be heaven or hell, or the paths spirits travel around the world for reincarnation, the afterlife has a energy resonance that could be harnessed in this world. Before the Great Mana Feast, bloodline kept magic exclusively to mages. That has changed. The white-mana in your blood requires something to activate it in your cells.”
        “Will this sword activate it? Or the mana in my armor?”
        Canen shook his head. “You must learn to use the magic within your own spirit. Winston was an Ice user, like Abant. But magic ability is unique to everyone.”
 Janus asked Canen, “What other types of magic are there?”
        “The subtypes, which everyone has, are Heal, Restore, Revive,  Earth, Poison, Gravity, Time. However, the five main types are Lightning, Fire, Ice, Wind, and Shadow. I use Shadow, and so did Sa’gaht.”
        Canen shrugged. “It basically can take some of the mystic energy from a living thing and spew it back at them in a form of pain.”
        “When can I learn how to use these?”
        “Be patient.” Canen stood. “The white-mana inside you...you are already familiar with it.”
        Janus’s face was blank as Canen continued. “Intarma rewrote history in the memory of all. In reality, they were the ones that lead the world into the war. They, with Mensa, abused magic. In the end, even they couldn’t take it. So they decided to replace everyone’s memory of the horrible war of magic with a war of something much simpler. They did it with an early version of their DreamSeed technology. Abant and I were immune to the DreamSeed broadcasting towers on Intarma Island, for we were in the mystic realm at the time.
        “Even so, the world forgot magic- no matter what they remember or believe. The method of utilizing the mana was also dismissed.”
        Canen looked down at the rich green grass. “The heredity of the mana altered a fraction of your blood, turning it white. Doctors today call them white-blood cells as they fight off illness from your body. But they can do more than that.  Intarma doesn’t want the world doesn’t to know that they are actually the key to using magic!”
        “My armor? Is that why it glows?” Janus asked.
        “Your armor holds the glittery yellow version of the substance. It is stored in those two tanks on your shoulders. Once you fight, you can feel the mana inside you harness the mystic-energy. In other words, this is now called an adrenaline rush. Your mana supply must be running very low. The exhaust burners on the top of your shoulders expel the used mana as a gas back to the earth. This gas heals the planet and returns Vako’s blood.”
        “Those reactors- is that all its doing? Burning yellow-mana?”
        “…” Canen nodded. “The planet is already fully healed. It only took one year for the reactors to burn enough mana for the planet to recover, for Vako to receive enough blood to heal from illness. Now, Intarma is swindling all of the kingdoms, but Mensa.”
        “So now everyone is still paying for the planet to be healed when it is already as good as new?” Janus’s mouth dropped.
        “It’s theft. Not only that, but Abant and his Zetan scouts have discovered that Intarma is still drilling Vako for more mana. They’re not using it for the reactors...they must be using it for something else. We believe they are saving the exhaust in tanks for the DreamSeed technology. Thus, Vako isn’t getting her blood back.
        “Vako usually brought the yellow-mana up from the ocean; we would harvest it like we do salt. When she took away our privilege of magic, she kept mana within herself. Intarma has been drilling the core of the planet, where Vako lives, extracting her blood. By the end of the Mage-War mana was being used at a rate too fast for the exhaust to recirculate into the core, to restore the planet’s health. That is why crops failed, trees died, grass turned to mud, the sky turned gray. Intarma is doing exactly the same thing as they did before, but they must have something planned with the DreamSeed technology that will compensate.”
        “And if they don’t?”
        “Then the planet will become sick once again, and Vako could possibly die.”
        Janus sat down in the grass. He cupped his hands in a nearby stream of crystal clear, ice-cold water. He drank from it and smiled. It was the best water he had ever tasted! “If the planet becomes sick, and Vako does die...what will happen?” Janus asked.
        “The planet dies.”
        “Does that mean we’re all dead too, or could we manage to survive?” Janus took another drink.
        “After Vako dies there will be no more hope.” Canen shook his head. “She can not be brought back, nor healed in any way. The soil will turn to rock and the seas will flash-boil. Without Vako’s mystical energy, all is lost. Forever...”