"Senex Ignem, son of Vetus Ignem, you are trespassing on grounds where you are not welcome. Leave at once," the golden flame repeated, gently floating above a previously unseen podium.
I lay there, dumbfounded. Was this ball of fire, speaking? Am I going insane? Did I hit my head? What in the fallen gods is happening? I try to sit up and manage to get my head a few inches off the ground before my head fell back down, the pain too much to bear. I try again and fail even to get my head up this time. Desperately I attempt to open my mouth and speak, but even with my mouth open, no words could form, just an incoherent groan.
"I see that your physical body is in disrepair. This could be an opportunity… anyway, due to your body's state we shall communicate in other ways," the flame says matter-of-factly, beginning to float toward me.
'Other ways? What other ways are there?' I thought as the fireball glided over and gently stopped above my solar plexus.
Surprisingly, the proximity to the flame wasn't in any way uncomfortable. In fact, it gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside my beaten and bruised body. I relish this comforting warmth, savoring the tranquility it gave, and I slowly forgot the events that had left me here. The memories slammed back as I hear a "Tsk" and the comfort quickly turn into pain as the fire dove into my chest. Immediately the feeling of the life force being ripped out of my body began. The pain, too much to bear, I black out, only to instantly regain consciousness. Was the pain…gone? I look around, I was standing up, and I appear to be significantly taller than usual, it was…disorienting. Looking down to see why I was so tall, and instead of the long legs that I was somewhat hoping for, I saw my body, beaten and bruised. And it didn't look half bad.
I stare at the prone look-alike. It was strange, looking at your own body. It was as if you were staring into a lake, but it was tangible and clear instead of a distorted reflection. And with my new perspective, I could see the many wounds and chips in my armor that I had accumulated in the last hour. Yep, that sure looks like what I would look like. Unsatisfied, I peer closer at my face and look deep into my eyes. They looked empty and dead. Wondering about the implications of this, I stand up and turn to look at the surroundings, it was bright and clear compared to the dark and miserable hole I had fallen into.
"This is so surreal," I say to myself, my voice distorted and completely different from what I was used to.
I look down at myself, searching for any other notable changes. I was transparent, completely see-through, and if that wasn't any weirder, do you remember that talking fireball? It was in my chest, pulsing like a beating heart. I grab at it, only for my hand to be forcibly moved away without my willingness to.
"What the he-"
"You are not in control Senex Ignem, son of Vetus Ignem," the flame spoke making my left hand into a thumbs down, "I have commandeered your spiritual form to examine who you are, what has happened in the world, and to see if you are worthy."
"'Worthy'? What do you mean 'worthy'?" I ask, using my right hand to try to move my left, to no avail.
"That is for me to know and for you to find out," the flame says, keeping a completely calm tone.
I float there, completely lost. Am I just supposed to sit here and wait for the vampire to kill all of my soldiers? I don't think so. As I try to move again I feel a deep-rooted ache as the flame locks me in place and looks deeper into my soul, my very being. The pain was slight at first, just a small sting here and there, but after a couple of moments, it grew unbearable. I silently scream. I can't do anything, the flame was in control, and I have to bear every moment. It was as if little pinpricks were stabbing every part of me with the force of a Rapax's bite, crushing and unendurable. I sit there, wallowing in pain I would never wish on my mortal enemy. After what felt like hours of continuous pain, the fireball eventually floats out of me and settles back on the pedestal it came from.
"I see," the flame says, gently resting on top of the dark stone of the pedestal, "so that's how bad it is…
"If you're referring to the war, then yeah, it's pretty bad," I say bitterly, as I gasp in pain.
"That too," the flame says, as it began slowly spinning in place, "but I was referring to the cores you humans have."
"What do you mean?" I ask the featureless fireball.
"Your cores are much stronger than what he intended," the flame says, floating back in forth as if it were pacing, "from what I have learned your core is among the weaker of your rank"
You're not wrong, but you didn't have to say it out loud…
"You said that our cores were 'stronger than he intended' what do you mean by that?" I ask, floating around my prone form, looking for a way back inside.
"Hm, did the records of human creation get erased…" it mumbled to itself before getting on with the explanation, "Well, back at the beginning of your world there were eight–"
I ignore the fireball's explanation.
I had only asked in the hope to buy time, I never thought it would actually work, it should have seen that info from my very soul. Perhaps it didn't care for the trivial information that I know and just looked for the rundown of what had happened in the last few decades, or perhaps it just couldn't glean anything else from me. Anyway, the records of what each of the fallen gods had spoken to their creations were kept in the safest places on the globe. There was no way we would forget or purposefully destroy the world's most valuable part of history and the purest form of information. At least, that was before the ruler of the Obitus Empire, Terreus Lacero, destroyed some of the earliest records of human history. I also know why the flame mentioned the increase in human core capacity. It probably noticed that mine was larger and denser than the last human it had seen. Comparing the recorded magic of today to the Primal Age, today's is far more abundant and richer than in the past, and it is gradually increasing every day. We don't know why it is increasing, but that's something the greatest magic wielders on Ardor have to deal with.
With these thoughts kept in mind, I continue to float around my body, looking for an obvious entrance, to no avail. I glide closer and poke it, first in the hand, nothing happens, then the stomach, nothing happens, then the face, nothing happens…? When I had poked my face, instead of a visible reaction, I had felt something tug at my spiritual form. Quickly glancing at the flame, and seeing that it was still in the middle of its explanation, I quickly lay down to let the tugging do its thing.
"...everything was fine until one of Fire's chosen decided to– Hey! The area around your body is not prepared for what will happe–" the voice of the flame was cut off as I became one with my body.
-Bob Fractum-
"Keep them at bay! Show them the power of Undra!" someone in the charging crowd roars as I chase down the cowardly enemy in front of me.
This soldier–no, this was not a soldier–this fool tried to turn tail and run away from the fight while I was on the outskirts of the central conflict, making sure that cowards like this couldn't escape.
The nerve of these Imperials.
With the flick of a wrist, the whip in my hand wraps around the enemy's ankle and with a firm yank, they go crashing down onto the ground. I run over and step on the fool's back and stab them in the neck with my dagger. I look up to see two more enemy soldiers try and run, thinking they could. Throwing my dagger at the closest enemy, I charge, having the whip armed and ready for any retaliation. When the dagger was about to strike the closest's neck, however, the soldier quickly and suddenly ducks below my attack.
Wait…
They didn't duck, they fell! They had tripped on some random stone! If they weren't even smart enough to pay attention to their surroundings, how were they expecting to get away from a Rank 2 Scout? Did they even think that far? No wonder they were running, they were too dumb to actually face an experienced fighter. And sadly for them, I was just the thing they were too dumb to fight. Never stopping my stride, I run over to the prone form of the coward, straddle them, and snap their neck.
I look for the other coward and spot them a couple of dozen yards away. I flick my wrist, and with that motion, the fall of the whip wraps around the hilt of my dagger. I then use my whole arm and fling the dagger at the enemy. Striking true, the dagger dispatches the cowardly excuse of a soldier. I jog over to the dead fool, grab my trusty dagger, and look back at the main conflict. It looks like we're winning, by a lot. These enemy soldiers were really weak, I thought we would be struggling. The most feared enemy in all the world is being easily pushed back and killed.
Breaking my path of thought, a large shaking of the earth disrupts the fight between kingdoms. I hear the breaking of earth and stone from behind me, I spin around and see the majority of the noise is from past the camp. Where the general and the few of the strongest in the expedition were…
"By the gods…" I say as I activate my innate ability.
[Innate Ability: Sight Beyond Sight]
Feeling the quick and paralyzing consumption of the magic from my core, I let the color around me fade away and everything come out of focus as I scan the canyon for anything unusual. At the top of the leftmost cliff, there appears to be a small ball of magic inside a blurred figure. It looks like there is a mage. They might be what caused the earthquake, but it's too hard to tell from this distance. All I can gather from my innate ability is that they are structured like a mage. What I am sure of though, is that they had to be the one that made the smoke that I spotted earlier today.
"No rest for the wicked," I say as I return the remaining energy to my core and begin to run toward the canyon wall, "Looks like it's up to me to stop the mage from interfering any more than they might have already."
"I hope the general and the rest are alright though, we'll need them for the journey ahead."
-Hydrus Fructus-
I had pushed General Senex in the hope that he would survive using his innate ability to lessen the fall. Now, as I face off against this vampire knight, I'm not confident if it was the best decision; in the odds of my survival that is. If the general managed to catch himself on the wall of the crevice and climb out, it would be far too late for him to do anything. Even if he got up here before the fighting was over, his strength would be wasted from the climb and he would be killed. We need our generals to live, they are one of our strongest assets in this war. General Senex may have been among the weaker generals, but he still gave us a chance. Without him, most of the remaining soldiers would be dead.
"I'm impressed," the vampire says, sounding amused.
"To think that one of his men would betray him like that," the vampire continued, mocking in tone, "and so merciless in nature."
I ignore the vampire's taunts. I ignore my limp arm and purposefully forget the pain in my body. I need to steady my breathing. I have to focus and regain as much of my core as I can.
Breathe in. 'Keep your eyes on the vampire, and wait for any hostile movements.'
Breathe out. 'Sense the magic around you and wield it with your will.'
Breathe in. 'Guide the magic into your core, strengthen your control.'
Breathe out. 'Harden your heart to the death of comrades.'
Breathe in. 'Prepare your weapon. Prepare to take the gift of life away from another. This is what a Fighter must struggle with. Push past it a persevere.'
Breathe out. 'And strike with the intent to kill.'
Like a flash of lightning, I step forward and swing with the general's mace. To no surprise, the vampire blocks and counters. Dodging and making sure the blow didn't contact me I keep my focus on the magic in the air. Even a graze could damage me greatly and I would lose my focus, so I need to make sure that I don't get hit, at all. The vampire, anticipating my dodge kicks to where I was headed.
Without hesitation, I activate my innate ability.
[Innate Ability: Uncanny Dodge]
My core surged as the energy flows through my body and I duck under the kick. I immediately return the energy to my core, saving every last drop. Launching another blow, I aim for the left side of the left knee, hoping to limit its maneuverability. The blow firmly landed, causing the vampire to grunt in pain. An unbalanced feeling comes over me as a sharp pain springs from my limp arm, and I almost fall over, but barely I catch myself. The vampire, taking advantage, strikes out with a lightning-fast jab. With no other choice, I activate my innate ability and duck down, kicking at the vampire's weakness I had made. The kick landed and the knight took a faltering step back.
I continue the barrage, letting my magic guide me as I land strike after strike using both mace and foot. My ability lets me dodge all of the quick and deadly attacks the vampire could throw, allowing me to continuously build momentum for each strike. However, constantly activating and deactivating it is draining my psyche. I can't stop though, I need to keep this up as long as I can, but I need more energy for my core and there just isn't enough for me to easily get. As I desperately search for more magic, I sense something rising deep underneath my feet. I move my focus downward, trying desperately to grab at it with my will. When it had risen to where I could, the influx of pure magic almost overwhelmed me.
This was magic that hadn't been tampered with in any fashion. It was as if it hadn't been to the surface since ancient times. My core was revitalized and the strain of my mind was lessened to almost nothing as I drew from this untapped source of power. This knight was nothing more than a training dummy now.
-Bob Fractum-
I am currently scaling the side of the canyon, making sure that I was climbing swiftly, yet safely. Shuman Canyon wasn't the largest canyon in the world, only 2000 ft at its deepest, so when I accidentally looked down I wasn't as horrified as I thought I would be.
But it didn't change the fact that I was still horrified.
In the short time from when I had started, only around 10 seconds of complete concentration, I have managed to make it up to around halfway to the top. With this pace, I could make it to the top fairly quickly.
Oh, are you wondering how I was climbing so quickly? It's actually quite simple. Due to the magic infused into my body, King Undra managed to make me…
"Oh crap-" I say, losing my path of thought as my foot slips on the canyon wall.
What was I talking about? Eh, if it was important I would've remembered.
Anyway, I fix my footing and continue the climb, scaling the wall with ease, and at around three-fourths of the way up, I notice a shift in the magics around me. It seems to be coming from below, which was odd because magic usually descends onto the surface, revitalizing all that it comes into contact with. So for it to be rising from the ground to the surface…what was I talking about?
Wait. What was I doing?
Oh right! Killing the mage.
I successfully make it to the top, and without giving myself a chance to breathe, a bolt of magic strikes my left shoulder, sending me skidding across the dirt and sand.
'Woah! Why's everything's getting a little woozy…' I sluggishly thought as I sway on my feet, falling to a kneeling position.
My eyes face the ground, nausea building with every passing moment. I can hear the light footfalls of someone with light armor approaching from my left.
I'm not in the best position to fight right now.
I wait and listen, hearing every footstep, hearing every slight shift in their armor, focusing with all my might to hear any chants or the strange fuzzing sound of magical energy; and as I sit there, tensing my body, I feel the nausea slowly relent to my constitution. The lightning hadn't done that much damage but the quick shoving of my body had caused me to feel motion sick. With this in mind, I conclude that this was a Rank 1 Mage, but this doesn't mean that they're weak in any way, just that they can't immediately kill me outright.
I grip my whip, which was thankfully on my right hip, and readied to strike out. The mage was continuing their approach, but I just couldn't understand why.
'Why were you getting into melee range? You're just asking to die,' I thought to myself, tensing and preparing for what was to come.
"Fulmen!" the mage roared as they blasted a bolt of lightning toward me, the air exploding with sound as it flew.
With instinct on par with Lieutenant Hydrus, I lash out with my whip and the mage cried out in pain as I struck their casting hand, redirecting the lightning bolt into the canyon. With what looked like a growl, they cast a spell I couldn't hear, my ears ringing from the previously casted lightning. I try to rush forward and attack but I slip on the now muddy ground beneath. As my face crashes into the mud, I faintly hear the mage cast a spell as the ringing continues to encompass my hearing.
"Fulmen Aes Catena!" the mage yelled, their chainmail jangling as they probably waved their hands around like a fool.
With the chant finished and the power surging, pain blossoms in both my wrists and ankles. Slowly, I get lifted, the pain deepening, as the chains of brass coiled with lightning pull on my wrists. I don't struggle as I get put face-to-face with the mage, they look, young. The mage looked around sixteen, maybe seventeen, which was far too young to be participating in head-to-head combat. Was the Empire brainwashing kids and sending them to war?
"Hey, are you happy?" I ask point blank.
"What? What are you talking about?" the mage asked, confusion covering their face.
"Are you happy? Do you like what you do?" I ask, repeating what I had meant.
"Of course I'm happy!" the mage yelled, spittle spattering on my face.
"Are you certain?" I ask my final question, concern, and regret riddling my voice.
They pause at that moment, just long enough to make me hope that I wouldn't have to kill them. To hope that I wouldn't have to take a life from someone so young and full of potential for good.
But my hope was misplaced.
The chains tighten and more begin to appear and rap around my torso. I grunt in pain and discomfort as the mage steps back, away from me.
"You think that you can use your words to convince me to change sides? Join you and run away? You're insane. My allegiance is to the Obitus Empire!" the mage says, no shame hidden in their tone.
"I wish you hadn't said that, those were the exact trigger words."
"The trigger what-" the mage is cut off as a dagger stabs into their neck.
The lightning-coiled chains immediately disappear as I drop to the ground, beginning to breathe heavily as the implications of what I had done weigh down on me.
"I killed a kid. Fallen gods, I killed a kid," I whisper staring at the hardened mud of the ground.
It took me a moment to garner the will to stand. And as I did so, I raise my left hand out, palm open, as my dagger in the neck of the kid I had murdered flew to my hand. Gently grasping and sheathing it, I stand up and look down, into the ravine.
This Empire was going to pay for what they had done. They had forced my hand and gone against the Kingdom of Undra's principles of war.
Before my brooding could spiral into something worse, the earth shook and the magic in the air surged as an eruption of pure white energy shot from the crevice, into the sky. The force of the blast launches me back, along the edge of the canyon wall. I activate my innate ability on almost instinct to understand what was going on. But instead of answers, I see something I would have never wished for in a thousand years. Down in the canyon, I see a bright, powerful, red core, covered in back, inky tendrils, inside a large blurred figure, and below this figure is a smaller and limp figure, inside them is a core with a large slit down the middle that completely cuts the core in half. The magical energy that powers every creature was spilling out of the two halves, slowly pulling out their vibrant pink and green coloring. They say that the eyes are the windows to the core; and that the magical energy that helped create your core needed to go through your eyes to settle inside your solar plexus.
I know whose core that was.
It is Lieutenant Hydrus'
-Senguis Ferrum-
I stand over the limp worm, breathing heavily as I hear my charred back steam and bubble, slowly restoring the damage I had taken. While the worm and I were attempting to kill each other, an eruption of pure magical energy burst out of the crevice, causing both of us to be flung through the air. Due to my enhanced physic and armor, I only took minor damage, but the worm was not me. The worm was unlucky enough to have fallen on its own broken sword that it had tied to its now limp hand. I can't see the magic leaving its core, but I can see the effects when it did. The worm is becoming paler every moment, their eyes losing their pink and green tint. It's sobering, watching as a formidable warrior lay dying on the ground. This worm had managed to temporarily outwit and outmatch me, one of the Emperor's knights, with a limp arm and a few broken ribs. I have nothing but respect for this dying creature.
As undead, we can't grow in strength. We are limited by the power that keeps our soul bound to our body, and we can't grow any stronger than the energy that was initially used to restore our lives. So to have this weak and damaged worm almost overpower a being ten times stronger than them is almost unheard of. They had been winning and yet there they were, dying on the ground before me. It isn't their fault in any way, it's just unfortunate timing. If they were undead they would've been an amazing warrior, but even a beautiful flower will wilt and die in front of the Chilling Death.
I reach for my sword and draw it from its sheath. Raising the blade, I prepare to strike down this wor…human. They will be put out of their misery by the hands of me. But before I can strike this warrior down at the pinnacle of the moon, a voice calls out from behind me.
"Senguis Ferrum, daughter of the Undead, you will drop your weapon at once." the voice says, commanding in tone and threatening in nature.
I turn to face the fool, wondering who would be dumb enough–
There stands a creature I wouldn't have thought was still alive, the soldier that was thrown into the crevice. It carries what looks to be a slim stone pedestal in one hand, with a strange golden flame floating atop it. The flame illuminates the area around the soldier, which contrasts with the moonlight that bathes me from behind. The soldier looks furious, and unless they can speak calmly after falling down a large crack in the earth, I doubt he is the one who spoke my name.
"How are you alive? I was certain that a fall that long would have killed a worm such as yourself," I ask, absentmindedly stroking my sword, which I still haven't dropped.
"I'm a lot tougher than I look," the soldier growled, their unwavering fury aimed at me.
This is either going to be really fun, or really annoying.
"I will not repeat myself, Senguis Ferrum, daughter of the Undead," the voice that had spoken before sayd to me, their tone stern and unflinching.
"Where's your friend hiding, worm? Are they too scared to face me head-on? Do they need to hide in magical shadows to escape my sight?" I slowly spin as I taunt, trying to figure out where that voice was coming from.
"I never understood why Libers always wanted to be diplomatic with the undead." the voice spoke, its words nonchalant as if I weren't a challenge.
I ready my blade, but before I can say anything to taunt and take a jab at the human worm, the golden flame floated upward, and the voice says something I was not expecting.
"You will not yield, how fortunate, I have always hated the undead." the voice spoke, their words filled with amusement and disgust.
Faster than anything I've ever seen before, the golden flame shoots behind me, and as it flew, it left a streak of heat, the air popping where it had once been. As I stand there, dumbfounded, I stare at the streak of heat that it had left, while I also hear a loud rushing and see that there is a strong golden light from behind. I try to turn around and see, but I immediately get blinded by the light and punched in the face.
I black out.
When I come to I was on the ground teetering on the edge of the crevice. I try to stand, but a firm foot, steps on my chest and stops my attempt. I look up at the figure, my eyes widening as I took it all in. The one who was stepping on me wore a silvery gold plate mail. The armor, carved with strange calligraphy on the chest piece; depicting a man with spears in their back reaching out to a golden flame. I don't understand, how in Apothos did this person appear out of nowhere, deck me in the face, and then pin me to the edge of a deep hole. As I continue my mental dissection of the situation, my gaze shifts upward to the face of this warrior.
The helmet was wreathed in a pink and green flame as if it were a mane of pure fire. And the flames themselves were coiling and writhing behind the helmet as if impatiently waiting to be unleashed. The helmet itself had two narrow slits for the eyes, with a strange piece of parchment on the forehead. When I focus on the slits, I see eyes stare back at me, pink and green eyes, the pupils now gold. This was that human that was dying, what had they become? They became a warrior unlike anything I'd faced, they exuded a presence of pure power and they had their focus entirely on me. The fury in their eyes was on par with the Emperor himself.
I felt fear at that moment, a fear so primal and pure, that I began to shake.
This was not something I could deal with.
This was out of my hands.