Armored figures rushed around the humongous courtyard, weapons and equipment gleamed in their hands under the moonlight. A battalion of robed figures with staffs in their hands walked into the open. The air around them hummed with power and thrummed with their every step, indicating their absolute status as mages.
They approached and kneeled in front of a crowned figure adorned in golden armor and a velvet cape bordered with fur seated on a makeshift throne.
This man, who stood like a giant and bore authority bursting in his every move, with golden hair and a clean shaven face was Ion Turia, the Human King. Young in age, but wise beyond years and beloved by his people, this man was Ion Turia.
The courtyard was silent for minutes as the mages continued to kneel with their king watching them and saying nothing. Silence crept even across the enthusiastic soldiers loading up the quivers and performing final checks on each other armors.
"You have finally come. Pray tell, who gave you the right to make me wait for so long?" King Ion finally spoke with a clear voice. He unsheathed his sword and quietly ran his finger along its edge softly.
"Apologies your majesty!" The head mage kowtowed and touched his head to the ground. "We faced some delays due to the teleport location being at the opposite end of the country."
"Excuses!" King Ion roared "My people die as we speak, brave soldiers face off the horrific Demonkind, staking their lives." He spat, "While you mages, proclaim yourself the strongest, but sit in your silver tower, doing nothing but act mighty."
The others in the courtyard echoed his sentiment, the men and women there had lost their friends, family to the selfishness of the mages.
"By Royal Decree, henceforth all mages affiliated with the tower and above the age of sixteen must participate in the war to protect the people of this great kingdom." King Ion announced to cheers from his soldiers and a frightened expression from the mages who knelt before him.
"General Urse, guide these mages to the barracks and bring me their numbers."
"At once, my liege, your wish is my command." General Urse guided the mages to their barracks while collecting the data the king had requested.
"My King" One young mage stopped in his tracks, a malicious glint in his eyes. "May I dare speak of a mage, talented even more than the Magus Grandus?"
"Silence, Taranali" His elder hissed at him, but the words fell on deaf ears.
"You may" King Ion turned back to look at Taranali.
"Raven Raffal, although not associated with the tower, is perhaps the most talented mage the continent has produced in a long time. He defeated even me, the Magus Grandus' personal disciple, and the Elf princess, in a match of magic."
"My king, if we must win this war, we require Raven Raffal of Alansvale and his overpowering strength. I daresay he's a monster comparable to you."
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Raven dragged his rapier through the dirt, drawing runes as Ophelia instructed. They glowed a bluish white and exuded a cold energy from them.
Ophelia appraised his work as he continued to draw, giving pointers and tips every once in a while. Lydia sat on a nearby table, her hands weaving together straws of different magic plants. She stopped when she heard Ophelia sit beside her.
"Before you continue from this step Lydia, I want you to practice the seven basic wishes and experiment with what kind of charm you want this to be."
Lydia nodded and continued weaving, she was making a bracelet of good luck, so those were the wishes she need to include while weaving.
Charm magic worked on the principle of manifestation, the stronger the charm maker's will, the stronger the charm. The seven basic wishes were 'Happiness, Protection, Good Luck, Health, Wealth, Peace and Hope' these wishes could be interwoven to form many different kinds of charms that worked differently.
Lydia picked up the unicorn horn extract and coated a strand in it. "I wish for Raven, Good Luck." She muttered three times over the strand and wove into the mesh she had prepared.
Then she took out a brush and drew the glyph of good luck on it: a four leaf clover. She quietly rose, walked to Raven and tied the bracelet as he tried to correct the runes.
"This was supposed to work, why isn't it?" He muttered to himself, lost to the world.
Lydia thought her brother was brother was cool and suave as he pondered with a hand on his chin, his icy fluffy hair drooping over his eyes.
With a grunt and a 'Thanks', he stepped to make a few changes, but accidentally drew a gash through the wrong rune.
To everyone's surprise, blue light flared up across the runes and icicles rose from the ground, almost impaling Raven and Lydia.
"Oh, guess my charm worked. Yay!" Lydia grinned to an approving look from Ophelia.