"Rank...three..." Charles immediately sucked in the words he had whispered, afraid that if they knew, his generals, and all those other unreliable individuals would think of fleeing.
'Now that it has come down to it, even if I have to sacrifice every single soul present here, I cannot allow that woman to intervene in the battle of her master!'
Agnes completely stretched out her arm to the right, at the centre of her palm were a bunch of blue particles; Charles gulped, "Dodge!" he shouted to the many bewildered subordinates around him.
He crossed his arms in front of him, fire spewed forth and wrapped itself around them, forming a shield, while the generals jumped to the side, though they were somewhat confused by the order, they faithfully listened to their master, Serka had been even faster than them, he hadn't spared a second thought after being told to step aside!
Agnes' smile widened seeing that her target stayed put, she flung her arm forwards, and as the particles escaped her palm, they transformed into a cold breeze, that increased in size over the course of its path.
The ice collided with Charles shield, his arms trembled, both from the impact, but also because his fire wasn't hot enough to supress the cold.
Once her spell ended, the battlefield fell into silence, neither she nor Charles rushed to cast another spell as they observed the effects.
The back of Charles' arms was coated blue, he took a cool breath, though he could still use them, it just showed him the difference between himself and that woman.
But much worse was the state of the many soldiers that had taken cover behind him, the reason why their surroundings had become so quiet, was because more than half of them had been frozen solid from this singular attack.
Many of the survivors had been at least partially affected, unable to feel an arm or a leg, their lips trembled, and their gaze towards Agnes was fearful.
Serka wasn't hit, but he who watched them from the sideline was frozen with fear, he knew he would end up the same as them if he got struck, it didn't matter that, unlike them, he was a rank one mage...
Charles focused back onto Agnes, it wasn't surprising that those regular humans couldn't survive a single strike, but to him her attack was strangely... weak?
'Could it be? She newly advanced and cannot properly wield her strength yet?' he thought, perhaps hoped, 'If so, then I still have a chance!'
"Attack!" Charles roared, fire gathered at the tips of his fingers, his generals heeded his call and rushed towards her, the first conjured a ring of fire around Agnes' location, the second commanded the fire particles above her head to form into swords, about to plunge down towards her, and the third sprinted even closer, his palm burned brightly, its colour changed from red to purple as he was just a meter away from her.
Charles pointed his fingertips at Agnes, waiting for an opening during his generals' assault, but the expression on her face irritated him, she wasn't the least bit concerned!
Agnes released a breath of cold air as her sight settled onto the nearest general who was rushing right at her, she let go of her staff, allowing it to hover above the ground, as her other hand made a snapping motion, and instantly her surroundings warped...
The circle of fire burst apart, in its place appeared thick white mist, sharp crystals that spun within glistened from the sunlight they reflected.
With his spell broken, the general stumbled backwards, he covered his face to stop the blood from rushing out of his mouth and nose.
Fiery swords tried to pierce into the sudden snowstorm from above, but just moments after entering, the second general lost all connection to them, his face warped from the pain!
The third general pushed his burning hand into the mist, the purple fire managed to clear a path ahead, he clenched his teeth, prepared to suffer some damage from the icy crystals in exchange for landing his blow.
His palm struck!
A giddy feeling spread across his body, as the mist enclosed him, blocking his allies' sight.
Charles grumbled, the glow on his fingertips was getting brighter, more and more particles gathered to fuel his next attack... 'Come on, show me just a brief window!'
He closely observed the mist Agnes had created, after several moments the mist stopped expanding, and gathered at a single spot, as a tiny bubble of ice within Agnes' hand.
Charles took the shot, while her vision was still slightly obscured, five lightning-fast projectiles detached from the tips of his fingers, shooting across the space in a single breath, but his eyes weren't following his spells, but turned slightly to the right, where he momentarily stopped all actions.
The general that had come close to her, who had attempted to strike her with his burning palm... he was a perfect ice statue; and as his eyes trailed back to Agnes, not only were there no signs of burns on her body, but he shuddered as the projectiles he had launched were suspended in the air right in front of her.
"Come to think of it, you haven't told me your name yet." Agnes said, nonchalantly.
Charles touched his forehead, it was drenched in sweat, his vision was trembling and somewhat blurry, "Ch... My name is Charles Ironhoof." his heart was beating unbelievably fast.
"Charles? Allow me to express my gratitude." her words scraped within his ears; this was the greatest mockery he had ever been objected to, and it was also the first time he felt too powerless to retort.
Not giving him an opportunity to ask what for, she continued, "It hasn't been long since I managed to break through."
'Ah.' his mouth was completely dry, and his ears started to buzz, 'As expected.' his judgement had been right... but what was this?
Hearing her words, Serka fell to his knees, silently, tears streamed down his cheeks, 'Broken through?' he couldn't breathe, it felt like this was the end.
Agnes' words rang in the ears of everyone present, the two generals looked to their master for directions, but he was unresponsive "Thanks to your help I was able to get a bit accustomed to this power that I wield. So, to express just how grateful I am, to you and your family, I will show you my full strength."
She clasped the small orb in her palm tightly, cracks formed on its surface, and the sound of breaking drove chills down her opponent's spines.
Charles could feel it; he was aware of the power within that orb just from the tiny bit of aura that it leaked, his fist trembled, he did not intend to defend himself, against such might all defence he could muster was pointless, "Hurry up Simon, before our plan falls apart..."
The orb within Agnes' hand shattered, the wind around her came to a screeching halt, and not just her opponents, and not just the gate, but the entire side of the city that was facing her had become white, from the ground in front of her a giant cone had spread out.
"Ha... ha... ha..." one single person was left unaffected, standing a mere step away from the blast, Serka was retching on the ground, his body convulsing over and over, as he was covered in sweat.
He turned his head, the regular humans, the rank one generals, they all wore expressions of confusion, they never even realised what they were up against, and even Charles had died within a single blink of his eyes.
Serka slammed his forehead against the ground, again, and again, until he started to bleed, "P-please... I... I am begging you... have mercy..." he felt numb, even if he wanted to run, he wasn't sure whether it was even possible to move his legs at the moment.
The unaffected grass rustled as Agnes came closer, "There are no grudges between us, you are not from the Ironhoof family, are you?" she asked, and Serka shook his head harder than at any other instance of his life, "NO! No! I am not!" even if it wasn't the case, and he for some reason did belong to Ironhoof family, there was no way he would tell her!
He pressed his head as far down as he could and only raised it after he could hear her steps getting farther.
Agnes walked down the half-frozen city, she observed the doors and windows.
Many had obviously been busted open, and she could make out several pairs of eyes that were glancing back at her from the windows, as soon as their eyes met, they shirked back and hid themselves behind their curtains, or slammed the windows shut.
Although she had told Charles that she would show them her full power, in the end she chose not to.
The fact that she had reached rank three might spread, but her new type of magic shouldn't be disclosed as easily, it was a much more important secret to keep.
She tilted her head as a carriage in the middle of the road caught her eye, though it was as white as could be, Agnes made out the Ironhoof insignia on its side.
After approaching it, and feeling that there was actually something inside, she pried open the frozen door, and spotted an elderly man, backed into a corner, hugging his legs, "Don't come closer! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I should have kept my mouth shut!" he looked at her as if she was the incarnation of death, and soon she recognised him too... he was the old man that had escorted her.
Agnes looked at his hands and feet, as well as upper body, all of which were littered with wounds, and most of his nails were gone.
She let go of her staff for a moment and took something off her wrist, then tossed it just in front of him, "I cannot turn back time, but please accept this artefact as my apology." it was her poison-warding wristband, and then she turned to leave.
The old man, with shaking hands, reached for the artefact, and tightly closed his fingers around it.
Agnes continued walking, and as she passed the gate on the other side of the city, a thought entered her mind, 'I won't make it in time on foot...' she considered for a while, then gathered particles.
... ...
Atop a rocky mountain, there was a circular pit in the middle, covered in grass, and at its centre rested a broken and rusted sword, where only a short part of the blade itself remained.
At the edge of the summit stood Cykrus, his short brown hair fluttered in the wind, and the warm sunlight illuminated his figure, he was wearing light battle-garments, a few leather straps connected everything, and his family's crest, the green peacock, covered the entire back of his clothes.
Right next to him was a stunning lady with long blond hair, hanging down to her back, she was clad in grey full-body armour, though the metal itself was extremely thin, black hide was visible underneath, and with the royal crest engraved on it, it looked more like ceremonial armour, than combat oriented ones.
She was no other than Duchess Vivienne Debora, the overseer of this fight, and just like the trial, she was appointed by the royal family.
They looked down the side of the mountain, Cykrus with his arms behind his back, watching as hundreds of soldiers moved towards the base in an orderly fashion.
The sound of drums controlled their pace, and before long they were marching on the spot.
Both the sound of their stomping, and the drums echoed up all the way to the peak of the mountain.
Cykrus used his palm to shield his eyes from the sunlight to gain a clearer view as the formation of soldiers opened up to create a single file.
He spotted two people that came walking down that line, neither donning any armour.
Fire appeared in the palm of the first, which he aimed at the ground, as he took to the skies, rapidly approaching the summit and Cykrus, while the second took a moment longer; the soldiers below stopped, as did the drum, in their stead a cackling could be heard, and then the second person was engulfed by a dazing yellow light, the spell took on the form of a snake with wings, and quickly caught up with the fire-user that had departed first, before overtaking him.
The flying serpent twisted itself unnaturally, then with a thud it landed ten meters away from Cykrus, the spell was cancelled, and a man with blond spiky hair revealed himself.
He was wearing a gown that was a mix of white and bright blue, and most importantly, he was exuding the aura of a fully-fledged rank three mage, he bowed his head towards Vivienne, but Cykrus did not linger on him for too long, he turned to the slower of the two, who was smiling wickedly even before his first words, "Cykrus! Haha." Simon Ironhoof landed gracefully next to the lightning-mage, "This day has finally come. I must admit, I was worried that you wouldn't show up."
Cykrus shook his head, "Baron Ironhoof, I would appreciate it, if you didn't speak to me so flippantly."
"Oh Cykrus, we've known each other for so long, is there really a need for that?" Simon shrugged his shoulders, either way didn't matter to him.
"Hrm." Vivienne cleared her throat, drawing the three's attention to herself, "Ah, where are my manners, I humbly greet Duchess Debora." Simon smiled at her.
"Greetings Baron Ironhoof, may I ask who that person by your side might be?" she already had an idea, but there was still a bit of doubt in her mind.
The man she spoke of bowed once more, "I am but a humble servant to the Ironhoof bloodline, and was selected to represent my master, the Baron, in this fight." he did not reveal his name, and though there were only so many families that wielded lightning, Vivienne had never seen his face before and couldn't accurately place him anywhere.
"Represent the Baron? Forgive me, but I do not understand, wasn't it agreed upon that the families themselves would be fighting? As in, direct bloodline?" Vivienne asked sceptically, but Cykrus had already expected something along these lines.
"Indeed, it seems there was a bit of a miscommunication since we did not properly lay down the rules, however this man is most certainly a member of my family, so why should he not be able to participate?" Simon began twisting words.
Vivienne grumbled, "This does not sit right with me I don't think that I can allow such a situation, even if we did in fact overlook some rules."
"Not to mention forcing a rank two mage to face a rank three mage, with that the fairness this duel was supposed to contain is gone."
Simon's face turned to one of ridicule, "Fairness? Duchess, there is no such thing as 'fair'. Do you believe that the court will suddenly change their opinion if you manage to call this fight off? No. What comes after will be even worse for everyone, including you."
Vivienne strengthened her aura, forcing Simon to take a step back, "Are you threatening me, Baron?"
The rank three lightning mage stepped in front of Simon, shielding him from the brunt of her aura, his face was apologetic, "Of course not Your Grace, what my master was trying to convey, was, that the royal family would dislike an important matter such as this to be further postponed."
"Tch." she clicked her tongue, "We are done here-"
But Cykrus interrupted her, "I will do it."
"What?! Cykr- Lord Aventia?!" she was baffled by his decision.
"There is no point in delaying, if the Ironhoof family doesn't achieve their goal above-board, they will resort to much more underhanded means to get what they want." he glared at both Simon and the unknown man.
Simon grinned from ear to ear, "Well Duchess? As you can see, both families have consented to this battle."
She ignored Simon and simply stared at Cykrus for some time, trying to understand his reasoning, "Alright…"
'I trust you.' she thought while looking at Cykrus, he fought against many renowned, as well as hidden experts during his youth and early adulthood, surely this wasn't like that… a fight he took for the thrill of it, to determine his own ability while competing against others.
"Baron, come and stand beside me." she called out, they both knew that she didn't trust him, but he obliged without acting up.
Vivienne clasped her hands together, "Then… Lord Aventia, and representative of Baron Ironhoof… you may begin."
Without skipping a beat Cykrus wrapped himself in a thick coating of earth, luckily his element of choice was of great abundance on this mountain.
Big rocks rose out of the ground, that flew at the lightning mage after a single of his punches.
The air around the man cackled, and he turned back into the winged serpent, effortlessly evading the couple of rocks that were sent his way; as he landed and turned to his opponent, another rock appeared in his vision.
Cykrus had closed the distance, and with a loud smack, the man was sent flying.
His serpent spell was broken, and he returned to his usual appearance, but Cykrus did not let up, he slammed his foot into the ground and propelled himself after his foe.
The Lord of Aventia caught up, and raised his rocky fist, then launched it downwards into the man's unguarded stomach.
A loud crashing sound and a dust cloud spread out from the collision, 'Is it… over?' Vivienne was astounded, even though the opponent was a rank three mage, they were physically the same as a regular human…
But several coughs reminded her that it wouldn't be that easy.
The dust cloud settled, Cykrus' fist was pressing into the man's abdomen, but his face looked fine; the lighting mage waved his hand, as if to clear out the dust, then he opened his mouth, "My bad, I nearly underestimated you, Lord Aventia." his hands wrapped around the rocky fist, then with brute force he pushed it away!
"What?!" Cykrus mustered his entire strength to drive the man back into the ground, but it felt impossible.
"Your reputation of being a terrifying physical mage was not exaggerated; you might truly be the strongest rank two mage in the world… but I am afraid the vulnerability of physical defence, that regular humans and even mages have, no longer applies to me." the man's words didn't sound arrogant, but for some reason respectful…
He lowered his voice, ensuring that only Cykrus could hear him, "Lord Aventia, I have a proposition for you."