The Forsaken Hero

Taking a deep breath, I turned toward the walls of the Heartland, barely a quarter mile away. Korra moved to stand beside me, and together, we headed toward the gates. The forest was soft and still, stricken with a winter breeze. Korra shivered, and I cast a first-circle spell, shielding us from the chill.

"Thanks," she murmured, "I was starting to question my choice of apparel."

I glanced at her, eyes lingering on her exposed, finely-toned stomach, and nodded. "I can’t believe you gave up magic. That must have been like cutting off an arm. When Lord Byron took away my mana, I..."

I broke off, staring at my feet as we walked. Korra smiled gently, reaching out to ruffle my heart. "It wasn’t easy, but now that I’m here, it was worth it. Besides, I managed to invent a new kind of magical technique. Or, at least, I haven’t heard of anyone else using something like it before."

I accepted the change in topic gratefully. "What kind of technique?"

"Honestly, I got the idea from watching you. The way you cast magic is so intuitive, it almost resembled magical techniques more than traditional spells. So, I thought, what if I applied my skill and experience casting spells, but only used magical techniques? It took some practice, but after a bit, I came up with some weird hybrid that lets me imbue my techniques with a few simple magical effects. The only problem is that it takes a lot of time and experimenting to create any given effect, making it a lot more restrictive than spellcasting."

I nodded, my mind flashing with possibilities. I recalled the water prison she’d created to contain me, and the armor-breaking spell she used on the Blade Demon. The weakness of magical techniques is that they were incredibly simple, almost exclusively used to reinforce one’s body or create raw, flashy effects. An explosion of fire, an ice sword, hardened skin, or strengthened muscles. Spells required far more study and skill, not to mention the time required to actually cast them. In return, they gave diverse effects, from summoning extraplanar spirits to acting as bug spray.

"So anyway, I figured out that I could use raw mana to replicate certain simple effects, skipping the cast time and actual magic circles. Considering water magic’s application in battle, most of my study revolves around debuffing my opponents and supporting allies from the front lines. All I have to do is land a good punch or kick, and I can weaken and inflict all sorts of nasty surprises on an enemy."

I rubbed a horn, my tail swaying back and forth. "And you call yourself a...monk?"

She nodded, rubbing her neck, cheeks a bashful pink. "Yeah, it was something from my other world. Some kind of spiritual warrior that punches people. They seemed to have everything else in this world already, so I figured I might as well give it a try. But hey, now that we’re on the topic of new magic, what’s that thing you’ve been doing with your spells? I was more than competent as a priest, but I can’t figure out what you did with your magic circles. Are you just crafting them so fast I can’t see them?"

"Oh, that’s a technique I created called Soulcasting. When the inquisitors caught me, they forced me to teach it to them, so I assumed you knew. It’s based on the way demons and monsters use magic, and..."