"i see that you are not one that likes to waste time. Let's get straight to it, then." Aaron said. The fact alone that he was able to speak while Raymond's aura was still active was a massive feat in and of itself.
He had just proved that he could withstand the aura of an S-rank mage, and supported by his earlier demonstration, it was apparent that he was at the very least comparable to an S-rank.
"I challenge you, Raymond, to a duel." Aaron issued a challenge while pointing at the count. He pulled out his great sword from where it was on his back and stabbed it into the ground.
*Boom*
The earth shattered with a loud boom, accompanied by the timely ascent of dust and debris in yet another showing of great power.
The other men clothed in black had taken this as their cue, and charged straight at the count Raymond's guards. On paper, the two opposing factions would be equally matched, but the Swordhearth guards had already gone through a grueling battle earlier which drained most of their strength and Mana.
The worst were completely drained and unable to stand without wobbling while the best had burned through more than two-thirds of their reserves. They were practically sitting ducks.
Nevertheless, there was no sign of fear on their faces. The opposite actually as they had an expression devoid of worry, and that was as a result of the presence of two individuals who were currently stood at the batrle front.
"Place your title of sword saint on the line in a fight to the death, against none other than me!" Aaron said. His great sword still planted in the floor.
The cloaked men were rushing forward like a wave. Their Mana, fully unleashed as various spells were being activated. Both long and close range. But their gutsy charge was stopped in its tracks by a single individual's intervention.
A speedy chant and a fluid wave of his hands was all it took to cast a powerful spell.
"Frozen blizzard." A fourth tier spell.
Suddenly, several spikes made of pure ice formed and burst forth. Colliding head on with the fore runners of the charge. The bottom of the ice spikes were all connected to each other like the branches of a tree as they sprung forth, impaling or injuring a good few of the incoming forces.
"You are not worthy of challenging the count." Alvin said as he clicked his tongue in annoyance and charged forward at Aaron who had offered the challenge.
He had cast the second tier ice spear spell as he rushed forward at the Aaron who still stood unfazed. He raised the spear so that it pointed forward and lunged at Aaron, the later did not even flinch though.
*Clang* Crack*
The sound of weapons colliding with a clang was heard, followed by the prompt cracking and shattering of the ice spear as Alvin's lunge was blocked by a sword— a rapier to be more exact.
'what!' Alvin could not help but think as he watched the shards of his destroyed weapons being flung into the distance.
Even though it was merely a second tier spell, it was still being wielded by a master of the arts. And besides, certain properties of a spell could be modified depending on the amount of Mana pumped into it.
Alvin had poured more Mana into the weapon, supposedly making it much more durable than usual. Yet, it still got broken by a structurally weak weapon such as the rapier!
'just who is....' Alvin's thoughts trailed off as a sudden realization came over him.
"You...you damn captain." Alvin yelled out as he glared into the eyes of the person with whom he had just crossed weapons. It was the damn captain of the magic Knight squad based in Torrent.
The mage association, as the name suggested was one which governed all a activities related to mages and magic. They were an organization of their own and they had a headquarters in four out of six countries on the continent.
Before one could call themselves an official mage, they had to have graduated from one of the many magic academies and received the mage liscence from the association. The liscence contained their names, affinity(s), specializations and rank as at the moment of issuance.
There were several career paths for liscenced mages. They could either stick with the mage association, and depending on their specialization the could join one of the magic towers or the order of magic knights.
They could also join the royal army of their country and serve directly under their rulers. And if they were tied to a noble who may have sponsored their education or the like, they would go in to become private guards of said noble. They were also the others like Alvin who volunteered to serve under a noble, even though the royal army and the mage association would definitely treat him better.
Another option was for them to join the Adventures guild. Though not many even considered that option as the adventurers guild was seen by most, especially nobles, as a gathering place for unprincipled ruffians and commoner filth. The adventurers guild was part of the illustrian continent's big three, but that was a story for another day.
"Lark...you damn bastard." Alvin spat with annoyance laced in his voice.
"As always, you are quite perceptive. Alvin." Lark said. He was bloodlusted.
"Hmph. I don't have time to waste with you. Ice spear." Alvin said and conjured up about four more Lance's made of ice. Using up more Mana, he added a few more layers of thick ice for extra penetration, before shooting it at the yellow haired noble.
*Fwosh*
A sound was heard as the ice Lance's soared through the air at tremendous speeds. But alas, it was not destined to hit it's target as Lark quickly crouched and muttered some words.
"Magma wall." A thick wall made from the combination of fire and earth rose up from the ground in front of Lark. It was second tier spell of the deviant elemental; Magma.
But that alone was not going to be enough to stop Alvin's attacks.
"Fool." He said as he flicked his wrist. The ice spears immediately changed trajectory to go around the wall of hot magma. Since the spells were made out of purely Mana, it was possible for the caster to manipulate it. If the caster had sufficient skill to do so of course.
"I knew you would try something like that." Lark said as he saw the curving ice Lance's out of the corner of his eyes. He responded in kind by waving his own hand.
The wall of magma immediately split apart and seemingly slid to both of Lark's sides, protecting him from Alvin's spell.
*Hiss*
A hissing noise sounded as the ice spears dissolved in the walls of magma.
"It seems that our elements make us a bad pair. Don't you think so too, eh Alvin." Lark taunted while flashing a sly grin at the ice mage.
"Did you not attend basic magic theory classes in school. Because if you did, you would know very well that with enough mana, one could overcome their elements limitations. Well, I guess I should not have expected much out of a person with merely two brain cells." Alvin retorted with a cold tone.
(AN: Emotional damage! Don't cry Lark! You can still do a comeback!)
It was like spear had been sent straight through Lark's heart. It hurt.
Who knew words could be so brutal!
"Y-you bastard!" Lark fumed out as he released a wave of scorching moist heat.
"We should take this somewhere else." Alvin said.
"No! We are finishing this, right he-." Lark vented out, but he was cut off.
"Sorry, but you never had a choice." Alvin said cooly, and proceeded to seemingly disappear from existence.
'huh? Where did he g-kueok!" Lark went from thoughts to speech as he received a powerful kick to the ribs from behind. The kick was so strong, it sent Lark flying... literally.
*Boom*
An exploding sound rang out as Lark's body crashed through the cement wall and into the other tunnel, leaving a large human sized hole in his wake. The underground was built in such a way that there were spaces behind every wall
The leg which Alvin used to deliver the kick was steaming as he had unceremoniously powered through the layer of heat that Lark had used to protect himself with his own ice fusion. The pain stung, but not enough to make someone like Alvin bat an eye.
He was about to cross over to where the battle between himself and Alvin would take place, but then he stopped to look at his subordinates. He looked each of them in the eye before opening his mouth to speak.
"Win. That's an order." Alvin said. He didn't even wait for a chorused response or anything and just walked through the large hole. He had issued an order, and as mages who went through the magic Knight course at their various academies, they had been taught to always obey an order from a superior. No matter the cost.
They had rested a bit as a few of them had recovered quite a bit of mana, and were now prepared for one more battle. This time, against the cloaked men.
Several battle cries filled the air as the two forces locked themselves in intense combat. The clash kicked up a lot of dust and debris, and there was no lack of he occasional flashes of lights as a result of spell casting.
As the fighting went on, Raymond made his way through the battlefield and walked up to where Aaron was stood. Yet another great feat, he had just made the count come to him.
"What took you so long. I was getting tired of waiting." Aaron said as he drew his sword from where he had planted into the ground, and pointed it at Raymond.
Raymond did not say anything and just readied himself for battle.
A/N:
Special thanks to Deeen for the power stones. Thanks bro and I also encourage others to vote, lets make this book popular. Also, feel free to notify me on any errors on any aspect, I would do my utmost best to prevent it from happening once again or i would provide my own perspective and we try to reason.