Solomon drew a magic circle on Leo's neck and surprised him.

Leo said, "It's so... warm! You're a fire mage too."

"No," Solomon said, "Only earth. Out of the five elements in existence, I'm most proficient in Earth."

"But that doesn't explain why you can use the fire element too..."

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"Well," Solomon said, "While the cycle of all the elements is still the same, the truth of the matter is that they're more connected than people realize. For example, what did your tutor teach you Leo, or did you go to a n.o.ble's school?"

"I had a tutor," said Leo, "he said, 'Water and fire counter each other, Wind and Earth beat each other. Void is the weakest and most unpredictable."

"Well, the truth of the matter is," said Solomon, "My body's natural affinity for the elements leans towards the earth element, but I discovered a different system. I call earth ground. My system starts by training ground first."

"Actually," Solomon said, "I discovered this system in a book called Musas.h.i.+'s book of five rings. First and foremost it's a book on strategy, but deep within, the principles can be applied to just about anything, like magic, or even life itself..."

Solomon said, "For ground Musas.h.i.+ writes, 'As if it were a straight road mapped out on the ground, the first book is called the Ground book.'"

"For water Musas.h.i.+ writes, 'Second is the Water book. With water as the basis, the spirit becomes like water. Water adopts the shape of its receptacle, it is sometimes a trickle and sometimes a wild sea.'"

"For Fire Musas.h.i.+ writes, 'Third is the Fire book. This book is about fighting. The spirit of fire is fierce, whether the fire be small or big; and so it is with battles.'"

"For Wind Musas.h.i.+ writes, 'By Wind I mean old traditions, present-day traditions, and family traditions of strategy. Thus I clearly explain the strategies of the world. This is tradition. It is difficult to know yourself if you do not know others.'"

"Finally," Solomon said, "Musas.h.i.+ writes on the last and most powerful, the element of void. He states, 'Fifthly, the book of the Void. By void I mean that which has no beginning and no end. Attaining this principle means not attaining the principle. The Way of strategy is the Way of nature. When you appreciate the power of nature, knowing rhythm of any situation, you will be able to hit the enemy naturally and strike naturally. All this is the Way of the Void. I intend to show how to follow the true Way according to nature in the book of the Void.'"

"This is all so confusing," said Leo, "Actually If the Fire element is so fierce, why wasn't I burned by your magic circle?"

Solomon chuckled, "Now you're getting into the rhythm of things! That's right, and that's the essence of the last and most mysterious element: void..."

"What do you mean?" said Leo.

"I mean this," said Solomon while he stroked his white beard, "Once one fully learns the way of the four elements, the magician can likewise depart from normal ways of using the four elements! When the way becomes void, the void becomes the way!"

"I still don't know what you mean old man!"

"You will one day. One day..." said Solomon with a forlorn look in his eyes.

His brow wrinkled, while gloom hovered around his features in the dark, obscuring most of them even with the light s.h.i.+ning bright on his face.

Suddenly, Leo turned. He heard a large gallop of horses. He heard the shouts of rough men. He saw the flames from fire magic shoot into the sky every now and then, and they were coming closer!

Solomon cast an illusion. Leo noticed that the old man was using all four elements at once to cast what Leo thought was a simple magic: refractor. 'AMAZING!' Leo thought to himself, 'So that's the power the four elements are capable of when used together.'

Leo realized in that moment what the old man meant with the phrase "when the way becomes void, the void becomes the way."

Leo thought to himself, 'In other words, the void is just mastery over all four elements... he can use the elements in ways that defy the imagination! What kind of old man am I traveling with!?'

Meanwhile, the old man was listening to the conversation of the bandits, while they rested.

"Boss Fang!" One shrill voice said, "I can call you that right?"

"As long as it's not Dad or uncle, we're fine. What do you need?"

"What I need?" said the voice, "I'll tell you what I need... I need your gold!"

"Why... you!" said a voice Leo would have remembered (it belonged to the lanky man).

Fange did something to quiet the group, because everyone turned silent. The sound of a metal pistol clicking resounded through the night, while the night clouds rolled onward...

"Hahahahahaha!" A group of the bandits laughed hysterically, "You really think a pistol can stop a group of mages and high level swordsman like us! We're not weaklings like you all... You're not even fit to be called bandits! We're more vicious than the lot of you combined."

"You!" Said Fang.

"What do you mean? 'You!'" Said the shrill voice, "You're soft! You couldn't even kill that Rachel woman her husband tried to sell for his precious life. What's a pregnant woman to the mighty Fang?" Mocked the shrill voice.

Leo came to his senses. He could've sworn he heard the name Fang before... But! Never in his life did he think he would meet the bandits that destroyed Little Vicious Village!

(I'm not as surprised as I might sound: I do this for you the readers...)

Solomon narrowed his eyes, while the sound of pistol shots and clas.h.i.+ng metal shook the prairie. Solomon turned off the illusion after erasing the lantern's light, and the two of them waited beneath the tall prairie gra.s.s a mile away from the road, waiting for the fight to end.

The sounds of fireb.a.l.l.s and clas.h.i.+ng metal and wind blades and water bullets shook the night, while the clouds rolled on without mourning the death of one-hundred and fifty bandits that night.