I woke up back in my family home. It was an old-fashioned Victorian style house. The insides were filled with obsidian marble. There were three stories and each had a spiral staircase with blood red carpeting. I was sitting in a rocking chair on the second floor in the room I had when I was super young. The walls were plastered with pictures of me as a child as well as paintings that I made when I was in kindergarten (talk about embarrassing). At the end of the room was my pure white crib. There was someone in it as well, someone way too big for its puny frame. His shaggy black hair gave him away.
"What are you doing in there, dad?" This scene felt familiar. It had definitely happened before. It was probably a few years back, maybe my first year of high school?
He closed his eyes and scratched his neck, "We used to read to you like this when you were little. Don't you remember? You were so cute as a child. Our little Viri."
His smile was just as stupid as always. Always trying to act like such a cheesy and typical father, but that was all an act. My parents possessed various types of magic which allowed them access to the upper echelon of mage society where only the elite, the retired from the Ministry of Magical Defense, the Mage Corps or even one of the big universities resided. Of course, I didn't know what types they had or why they had so many types when every other family only had only one type of magic. They were definitely an anomaly...
๐๐ต ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ.
I tried to remember what had happened the first time I was in this situation, but I couldn't remember it for the life of me. It was if something was sealing off the doors of memory inside my head.
๐๐ข๐บ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต'๐ด ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด. ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ค.
"Uh dad. Where does my magic come from? I have never heard of anyone having a living shadow, nor have I heard of you guys having them either.
My dad smiled and stepped out of the crib.
"It's really not that simple you see. Your mother and I had magic that resembled yours, well the ability to gain multiple magics, but you were the first to have a living shadow. We are very proud that our wish finally came true."
"And what ab- "
"Did I ever tell you about the celestials?"
My silence was enough to make him continue. He walked up to me and got on his knees as he reached the chair. I really wanted to know how he truly acquired his magic and why they were happy for a shadow that only took from others. He didn't talk about that though, he continued with what he mentioned before.
"The Celestials were an ancient race of beings, made purely of magic. You could think of them as angels or something of the sort."
I nodded, "Uh huh."
"After thousands of years of life, the celestials got bored and so they created humanity. They then bestowed a select few with some of their magic."
I couldn't see where he was going with this, but I didn't say a word.
"Eventually, some of the Celestials decided that they wanted more magic and attacked humans to acquire it. The high council of their race was very biased towards their creations and decided to punish these rogues heavily. They were stripped of their celestial power and were dropped into the ground of the human world, The Chasma, a place where all the evils of the world were stored. Over time these fallen celestials consumed the evils they were trapped with and regained some of their lost magic. These celestials became known as the Gorgos or how mankind always saw them: Demons. In time, some mages who were weak or sought more power made pacts with the Gorgos. This relationship was symbiotic and allowed some of the Gorgos to make it back to the Celestial plane and..."
"And what." I asked
"And that's all we know." He said sheepishly.
๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ. ๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ญ๐ด? ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ฐ๐ด? ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ.
I continued to rock back and forth in my chair before my vision began to dwindle.
"Wait, dad. What were the kinds of powers people could gain from these pacts?"
"See you again son," waving away my question with his outstretched hand.
Just what important information did this conversation yield?
2
My eyes fluttered open once again. I felt a weird sense of Deja Vu.
๐บ๐, ๐๐๐'๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐. ๐พ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐'๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐.
๐๐ถ๐ฉ? I looked around.
"What the hell."
My back was perched upon a tree. It was probably 15 feet up in the air.
"Shadow, where are we now?"
I analyzed my surroundings. Below me was a large pool of water with more trees surrounding it. The arid air filled my lungs with the thirst for water. Past this 50-foot-long tropical land laid a barren desert., stretching out for miles.
๐๐ฎ ๐ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐จ๐บ๐ฑ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ? ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ?
๐ป๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.
๐๐ฐ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐'๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ด๐ช๐ด.
I got to my feet on the fat branch I was laying on. I held out my hand, open-palmed and waited for results. A fat grapevine appeared from the lake below up to where I stood.
"Looks like my ride's here."
I hugged the middle of its green body and commanded it to shrink down again. Once I was near the bottom I decided to experiment. I wanted to create a boat and I now had the magic to do that. It seems I didn't need to cut myself like Sanguino used to in the past. The blood just trickled out of my hand and expanded in size; shifting and changing shape until a little row boat was formed. It didn't hurt either.
"๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐."
"Whoa, don't spook me like that. And what's up with your skin. You practically have human legs and arms now."
He had appeared in his physical form, but this time his arms and legs had human skin covering them.
"Ah that. Well, it's not important, just camouflage for later."
He snapped his fingers and his space-like body came back into view.
"It's still creepy, but whatever. Let's move on."
The boat slowly rode through the large pool of water, exotic trees I have never seen. Something like this shouldn't exist in a barren wasteland and yet it did. The water dazzled under the intense ray of the sun as I pushed through it. Sweat was flowing from all over my body. It was annoying, but the view had me distracted. This was a paradise and it pained me to push past it but I had to. While my body didn't need water and food, my throat still felt like it was filled full of sand paper. The sun blazed down through the holes of my tattered uniform. I really wanted to get out of the desert.
๐๐ฐ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ถ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฐ, ๐๐ช๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๐ข๐ด, ๐๐ญ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ณ๐ช, ๐๐ช๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ชs, ๐๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฎ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐บ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ด๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ด. ๐๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ.
"I can't believe I have made it this far."
"๐๐ข๐ค๐๐ฐ๐ข๐ฌ๐."
"Hey you're not supposed to say that!"
"๐๐จ๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ง๐ฎ๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ฒ."
We finally reached the end of the lake. I glanced to the end of the horizon.
๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ, ๐ด๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ, ๐ฐ๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต: ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ!
Shadow did say that he detected an enemy nearby, but they would be pretty easy to spot them with all this sand.
"There's also no way I'm going to walk through all that sand."
I closed my eyes and thought about what I could make with all this new found magic. I can't use ice because it would melt. I have no way of using electricity since I would have nothing to store it in. Any plant I make wouldn't last without water in this climate and I knew blood would easily get absorbed by the sand. That just left my shadow magic.
"Hey shadowโฆ. Wanna carry me?"
I opened my eyes to be greeted by his physical form.
"๐๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ , ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐๐ง'๐ญ ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐."
His form flickered and distorted from my view. His body morphed and changed shape to something a lot less humanoid. In no time at all a four-armed insect looking creature with a flat back was in his place. Each of its legs were six feet high.
"๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ? ๐๐จ๐ฉ ๐จ๐ง."
I was slightly repulsed by the ant-like creature he had become, but he lowered his body for me, beckoning me to go.
๐๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐จ๐จ๐ข๐ณ๐ด ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฉ?
I climbed onto the creature.
๐ฏ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐.
I immediately regretted asking for a ride. With wicked speed, his feet screeched across the desert. We covered ground so fast that I thought I would fly off.
3
Woah woah woah! Slow down, will ya!?" I said fiercely.
At the pace we were going, I think we could give a Nascar racer a run for their money. That was until we were ambushed. Everything was going so smoothly. Shadow made quick work of the sand, his legs piercing through it with blinding speed and vigilance. It really felt like we were on a normal road. Then something rose up from below.
It was too fast for my eyes to process, but Shadow reacted as best as he could.
๐ณ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐! He screamed in my mind.
His legs propped us into the air, though the projectile still collided with us, well with Shadow at least.
I was tossed to the ground, Shadow following my wake. My hair became a hive mind for sand grains and I was introduced to a new type of taste as well.
"Ugh, what happened? Shaโฆ."
"๐๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ข๐ง ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐โฆ.. ๐๐ ๐ก ๐ ๐๐จ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ฑ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ง."
A sharp object was sticking out from his large underbelly. It shared the same color and texture as the sand I took a bath in. As I inspected closer, a vaguely familiar voice perked up behind me.
"Looks like even the greats like myself miss, it would seem. Well the next volley should hit the intended target."
My head creaked towards the voice. There was a pitfall about 10 feet from us. I couldn't tell how deep it was from my spot in the sand, but half a body was peeking out.
๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ด๐ต, ๐ช๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ.
๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐.
The projectile that had pierced Shadow was nowhere to be found. The body of Shadow disappeared into a whip of shadows, returning to where he belonged.
I pulled myself to my feet and began to clean myself up.
"Pft ew! I hate sand and I hate you even more, Jiang!"
Ben Jiang adjusted his glasses. "So, you do remember me after two years, it would seem."
"How could I not," I shouted back. "You acted like you were a king or something stupid like that after your power was upgraded!"
His body continued to rise from the ground.
๐๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ง๐ญ๐ฐ๐ข๐ต, ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฑ๐ช๐ต๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ญ?
His chubby body was almost completely visible now. He was of average height and Asian descent. He had large cube shaped glasses that contrasted with his relatively round face. His dark brown hair was covered by a strange looking hat with goggles on top. Maybe some sort of moped helmet? He had black eyes that seemed intelligent, but was always squinting so you never really knew what he was thinking. His black uniform and red tie were nowhere to be seen. Instead his uniform jacket was tied around his large waste. The sight of his undershirt didn't take away from the main attraction: his giant smile. He was always smiling and everyone was annoyed by it. It was just creepy some of the time while other times it was just far too annoying. I guess I could say I wasn't a fan of this guy just like Sanguino, more for a different reason though. He still wore his backpack from school, he really never took it off. That's probably how he was able to live in that hole for so long.
"A king should always be above their subjects. That's what the internet said and it looks good, it would seem."
I almost gagged.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐น ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ.
A little background on Benjamin Jiang. He started off as one of the laughing stocks of our school with how weak and lame his magic was. I wasn't in his class for my second year, but Fiona was and she told me all about it. Originally, he could create things depending on what kind of element he was around. Elements like you knowโฆ. water and fire and stuff like that.
Anyway, in class the closest thing to being useful with it was to create little metal or wooden bars (since that's what desks were made of) and could manipulate how they moved and so on.
Even Jiang felt bad about how little he could do and how he would need a specific scenario to even have a desired outcome. Then our third year came. He was in my class that year and was one day called into the headmaster's office.
When he came back, something was different about him. For one, his smile seemed genuine, but it still creeped everyone out.
The very next day, we had magic training and that's when it happened. We were in the gym, right next to the school pool. We were one on one battles to measure how far our power had grown. I sat out, like I always did, since I was listed as "late bloomer" (I knew what it really meant).
One of the matches had one of the two protรฉgรฉes of our year, Gil Fulmen and his opponent, the loser, Ben Jiang.
Honestly. I don't even know what Fulmen's magic even was exactly. From what I saw when I was actually paying attention, he could create weapons from thin air or the ground, but he can even summon them at different ranges. The teachers forbade him from ever going all out for fear that he would kill someone. Gil said he had a good handle on his magic, but he had to listen to the school. That resulted in him summoning wooden weapons to make up for it.
I felt bad for Jiang when I saw who he was up against. Projectile weapons would be scary to anyone. However, Jiang still had his genuine annoying smile.
The battle started with Fulmen crossing his arms with a satisfying smile, his signature pose.
"I'll make this a quick match so it won't hurt too much," He said sincerely.
Gil was a pretty nice guy by nature, but he took his battles seriously. Wooden swords appeared from above him, ten in total. They flew towards Jiang just like arrows. The rest of the students covered their eyes. Unlike my baby classmates, I watched eagerly to see Jiang get his ass handed to him.
Before the swords could reach him though, multiple weapons fought back and reduced the swords to near splinters.
"What in the hell?" I said aloud to myself from my spot in the back.
Five people that looked like they were made entirely of water were standing in front of Jiang, forming a v-shaped line.
"I found, well, a new way to use my magic. Meet my elemental subjects. Loyal, aren't they? And I'm their King, it would seem."
๐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ช๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ.
They did really look like soldiers. Their outlines had the shapes of helmets and armor. In each hand was a short sword, adding up to ten in total.
"I must say. I was not expecting you to use your magic like that. Good on you, Ben." Fulmen said cheerfully.
He turned over to our teacher, Mr. Wehr.
"I won't be able to damage him without going all out. Is it ok if we call it a draw?"
A gasp was let out by the thirty other students. Mr. Wehr put his hand to his bearded chin.
"I suppose that is alright."
After that day, Jiang acted like he was some sort of new found god. Everywhere he went, so did his elemental body guards. Of course, they couldn't be too far away from their element which is why he used wood and metal soldiers the most.
Every day I would see him being carried to and from class. It seemed like they were his replacement for friends, even though they were pretty much just mindless copies of himself. I never knew how many soldiers he could summon at a time, but it didn't matter. His reputation changed after that. From one who was looked down upon to one that looked down on others. And if someone ever needed proof for his newfound strength, Fulmen would happily vouch for him because that's just the kind of guy he was.
Anyway, Jiang can control soldiers that are made out of whatever element he is closest to or something like that. Right now, that would be sand.
I then realized why it looked like he was floating. at least ten of his sand soldiers were pushing him up from the ground, making him look like a chubby messiah or something.
They dispersed into grains as he stepped out of the hole. I greeted him with a face of pure disgust. Ever since he thought he was hot shit, I wanted to get back at him. Now look here, I'm not a violent person, but I just can't with Jiang. And now, I finally have the power to put him in his place.
"You know I have been waiting to wipe that dumbass smile clean off your face since I first laid eyes on you, Jiang."
His calm demeanor didn't waver, "Now look here, I know you don't have any magic and I am probably the first opponent you will face and the last, it would seem."
He then pursed his lips and paused for a moment.
"Wait a second. If you don't have magic. What in devils name was that black creature that one of my subjects pierced when they sensed you coming over our base. That was strange, it would seem."
I held my hand up to stop him, "Before I show you my magic. Please explain why the hell you were inside a goddamn hole in this massive desert? Better be a pretty good reason."
Sweat trickled down his forehead, the same as mine, "Well you see. I was teleported... uh... here and didn't want to have toโฆ have toโฆ uh I know! I didn't want to travel the desert during the day because I would be tired by the time I got out. It would be easy pickings for someone else if they saw me, it would seem."
He placed his hands on his hips to act as if he was making a valid point.
I put my pointer finger to my lip, "Well you see. I did indeed just come from a battle and it was well past four in the afternoon and beginning to get dark. Now don't quote me on this, but there's no way this desert wouldn't be covered by the moon by now, in fact it should be pitch black from how long I was out. I think you just hid here for a day, waiting for someone unlucky enough to cross by you, so you could ambush them, haha."
My devilish laugh had returned.
๐ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ฅ๐ช๐ฐ๐ต๐ช๐ค ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ.
"Silence peasant!" He hissed.
"You have angered the Emperor and shall be punished accordingly. My soldiers, arise!" As if on cue, ten soldiers materialized from the sand; half of them with swords, the other half of them with spears.
"Attack, my minions!"
They moved through the sand like they were on wheels.
In no time at all they reached me, but I was prepared.
"Shadow!"
He appeared as an infant of me, blocking three of the attackers. I created an ice wall in a small area around myself to block the attack. It didn't do much though, the soldiers melted into sand and appeared inside my wall. They must have reformed from the sand below me.
๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ? ๐๐ข๐ช๐ต. ๐๐ข๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ?
I quickly skimmed through the possible alternatives in my head, but nothing that was of use came to light. There was just no way to deal with them permanently.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ด๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ข๐ต ๐ข๐ด๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ. ๐ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ?
๐พ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐? ๐ฐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐.
๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ. ๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ง๐ข๐ณ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐จ๐ฐ?
๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ , ๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.
I bit my lip as I moved backwards to dodge the sand soldier's attacks.
๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ต. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ค๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฃ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ต ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ง๐ช๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐บ.
Jiang stood back from his soldiers, their range seeming massive. The attacks kept coming my way from the remaining seven that were not fighting Shadow.. I had created a sword of blood in the air to try to keep their attacks at bay.
๐ป๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐.
๐'๐ฎ ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.
He told me his proposal and I agreed, instantly. I just needed to find a way to plant the seeds of the plan.
I activated my shadow armor to buy me more time. I also summoned blood spears and lightning bolts from above to fire back at my pursuers. Of course, I would have loved to send them at Jiang, but their range is barely more than five feet as of now.
The sand soldiers were destroyed, but reassembled just as quickly.
"Gah!"
A spear pierced my armor and made it to my thigh. It didn't seem deep, but it still hurt like hell. Why can sand hurt this much?
"My soldiers can't be killed by any of your weak magic and man, do you have a lot of magic. Some of them remind me of other students, it would seem."
Shadow was nowhere to be seen now, which left me fending off against all ten.
๐๐ข๐ฏ, ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต s๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ช๐จ๐ข๐ด'๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐จ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐จ๐ถ๐บ.
This was no time to complain though. The web for Shadow's idea was slowly being spun.
๐๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ, ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด.
It would still take some more time, which meant I just had to survive. I ended up canceling my shadow armor since it seemed to be doing less good than bad vs these specific enemies. I sent more projectiles, but they were unrelenting.
Two of them quickly sped past me and appeared at my back. I felt Shadow trying to come out to defend me.
๐๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ค๐ถ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ญ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต.
Instead, I covered my back in blood to try to absorb some of the attack.
It helpedโฆ at least a little bit. I was still knocked to the sandy floor though, blood flying out of my mouth.
"My my my. Will this be the end for Viri Inumbro. The first prey of the Emperor who shall become the mage. It can't be helped, it would seem."
I wore a blood-stained smile. Jiang caught onto it.
"What could you be smiling about. I think I'll end it here. Those were your last words, it would seem."
All the soldiers pointed their weapons towards my downed body.
"Hahaha!"
I couldn't help but laugh. It did sound a little crazy, which surprised me more than Jiang.
"All I can say, I fucking hate your smile."
"Wha-"
I snapped my fingers, "Vermillion Bloom!"
The ground around us rumbled, like the earth was rocking to its core. Below me a hole appeared, throwing me and the soldiers to the side. The verdant maw of the creature could swallow a car whole.
"What the flying fuck!"
I wiped the blood and sand off my uniform. "Ladies and Gentlemen, minus the ladies partโฆ and the gentlemen part too. I present you with the VENUS FLYTRAP!"
I didn't plan to put this much emotion into my voice, but It just happened. It was a plant I knew Fiona could never summon and it took a lot longer to grow in the sand, especially to that size.
Its large neck darted towards Jiang, ready to snap him up.
His smile was wavering, but he didn't seem defeated.
"So that's what your plan was huh. I haven't put all my cards on the table. I need to go all out, it would seem. Soldiers return!"
Like a candle going out, they all vanished. That didn't seem to be the end to it however. The sand around Jiang began to kick up in the air like a twister.
"Now as the Emperor, I'll show you my prized beast. Show yourself, Sovereign."
A massive robot looking sand soldier exited from the twister. It seemed around the height of Gigas and hefted a massive great sword with both hands.
It easily intercepted the flytrap's attack and went on the offensive. With a quick horizontal arc, way faster than it should have been for its size, the giant severed the flytrap's head from its long neck.
"Mad, are you? Shocked perhaps? Maybe even ready to cry. I would too if I was in your position, it would seem."
"Would you shut up with that "it would seem" already, it doesn't even make sense half the time. Oh, and I knew you would have to recall your soldiers to fight something big like that. Just like Shadow said."
Jiang looked around nervously, "What do you mean? I killed your trump card. it's over."
I laughed again like a typical cartoon villain. I was on one knee now.
I have many trump cards; did you really think this was it? I'll show you a new one I made up just now. The stage is set and it's time for the final curtain call."
I closed my eyes and once again entered the zone that lurked around my consciousness. Instead of looking through all the levers, I wandered off to the very left side where a well stood by itself. I peeked inside. It truly looked bottomless, black vapors oozing out.
"Well here we go."
I descended into the dark depths, slowly returning to reality after each passing second. I hoped to imagine a weapon that could take down Jiang from that range. I opened my eyes again. Something was forming. A black handle was placed in my hand, a large string in front of me attached to something that curved down on both sides.
๐ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ.
A long-range weapon of the ancient times. A spherical shape appeared at the front of my bow, with a long body.
"๐๐๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ ๐ซ๐ข๐ฉ."
"With pleasure, Shadow Bolt!"
I let go of the arrow. Even faster than his travel form, his arrow form flew fast and true towards Jiang's body.
"Sovereign!" He shouted squeamishly.
It obeyed his command and dashed to block the arrow for him. Shadow paid it no mind however and flew straight through the sand warrior's body, now ain't that ironic. Jiang realized what had happened and attempted to turn tail.
"No this is not my end. I am the emperor, you cannot k- "
The arrow of the abyss collided with him. His entire body disappeared with a flash of darkness. Shadow returned to me.
"๐ ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ, ๐ ๐ ๐จ๐จ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ฅ,"
"So, you ate all of him, that meansโฆ. sweet!"
I summoned a soldier of sand. The only reason I could even use magic now was because of the new nutrients I had just received. That shadow bolt took everything I had. I had once again avoided murder, at least by my own two hands. Looking at the shadow reminded me of that stupid smile so I quickly dismissed it.
"I wonder what else I make with Jiang's magic that even he didn't think of?"