Horrible chaos was breaking out in the basement, the sounds of clashing swords not stopping for even a second. Clara, who stood atop the stairs, jumped their whole length in one fell swoop, positioning herself in front of the woman who wounded Cassius.
"I was hoping I would never have to see you again in my life… Khiara." Clara gritted her teeth, before clutching her hand in a tight fist. From it emerged a large blade made out of pure blue light. "I told you that next time, I'll kill you."
"My, my, Clara. As rowdy as ever, aren't you? I can't believe you're still caught up in this damn cult mess, can't you see it'll never give you any good?" Khiara stood atop of Cassius' body, who collapsed after her sword strike. "Imbue, 4 units!" the blade shifted into a serrated edge once more, although this time seeming weaker than before.
"Only four? You underestimate me." Clara's blade suddenly transformed into an almost spear like shape, as she attempted to stab Khiara in the chest from afar. She quickly dodged, the spear's tip narrowly missing her by just a few millimeters. "Construct is much more powerful than it used to be."
"However powerful it may be, it's unstable. I just need to keep dodging until it falls apart, and we both know I'm more than capable of doing that." Khiara was confident in her abilities, and not without reason.
The person Clara was looking at right now, was none other than Khiara Al-Zaydan, the fourth highest ranking officer in the Oracle's Offense Corps. Oh, right, I suppose I never explained that, did I?
How do I explain this without taking too long? Uh… The Oracle is an organization situated and operating from Dawnvale City in Ardenia. It is considered a collection off the strongest Astarean people at any given time. It is divided into three Corps: Offense, Defense, and Medical. Each Corps contains 7 members, ranked from 1 to 7 based on strength among themselves. Aiden's father, Aldegar, is the second highest ranking officer, also in the Offense Corps like Khiara is.
"Don't worry, I know your speed. But don't forget you're the one who taught me how to fight!" Clara's spear reshaped into a large mace, and she began rapidly swinging towards Khiara. "I'm just as strong as you are!"
"I taught you everything you know, not everything I know." Khiara dashed to the left of Clara's weapon, and Clara began swinging in that direction. But, it was a stunt. As quickly as she dashed left, she dashed right. Her reflexes and acrobatics were beyond reason, and Clara was left wide open. "Focus, 4 units!" shouted Khiara, as the teeth lining the edge of her wakizashi retracted and her blade became straight once more, the yellow Essence now permeating edge from the very top, all the way to the hilt. Clara noticed her sneaky move, but didn't react quick enough to dodge, and she was severely wounded by Khiara. A sliced wound that stretched almost her whole torso.
Clara quickly reacted and pushed away the blade of Khiara's sword with her mace's hilt. "Those reflexes, don't tell me you're using…"
"Of course I am, you act like you don't know me!" Khiara raised the hair off of her forehead, revealing a large Roman 'II' etched onto her skin. "Swiftstride. Gotta say, not an easy technique to keep up."
The technique she was using right now is called Swiftstride, and it was created and given to humans by the Deity of Energy, Livva. Swiftstride allows the user to surge Essence straight into the brain, supercharging it, allowing for reflexes and reaction time to be incredibly improved. However, using it for too long can result in permanent damage to the brain. It's as useful as it is dangerous.
"I guess you were right, then. You really didn't teach me everything you know." Clara's mace now transformed again, but this time, her goal was to copy Khiara's moves. It changed shape into a wakizashi identical to Khiara's, and it was shining much brighter than the mace ever did. "But let's see if you can hold your ground when I go all out!" The two dashed at eachother again, clashing swords, with no clear victor to be noted. However, Cassius was on the ground unconscious, Clara was wounded, at least a dozen other cultists were killed. The Cult of Feyr was losing.
Aiden laid on the ground, peacefully asleep. Everyone was purposefully trying to fight as far away from him as possible, since he was incredibly valuable for both sides. How funny is it, the powerless boy who saw himself as worth nothing, now had dozens of people fighting for him without a second thought.
The head mage who began the entire ritual saw these circumstances as unfavorable, and figured it was his job to help complete their greatest goal. "I know what I must do, however it much pains me to…" He turned his cane upside down, slamming it onto the ground as hard as possible.
"Lord Feyr, although I know of no spell that'll fulfill my goal, words will suffice! Please, Lord, take my life, and use my strength to protect the boy! Your promised Vessel must not be wounded in battle, isn't that true!? Consider me a martyr, oh Lo-"
The mage didn't even get to finish his sentence, before he suddenly collapsed onto the ground. His idea succeeded, and it wasn't long before all the energy he had within him began oozing out of every orifice, and crawling along the ground to Aiden's body. All the fragments eventually touched him, and were promptly absorbed. Aiden now had a blue layer of Essence covering every part of him.
All the blood they spilled over this, so much sacrifice, but yet, no one of them understood - it was all for nothing. The ritual had been interfered with too much, and it wasn't able to finish. And so, this meant another war about to unfold… one in Aiden's very mind.
As the clashing of the swords all around him turned into nothing more than pure silence, Aiden was now in a place all too familiar to him. "The Manor?!" He shouted as he awoke in his bed, back at the Silvius' Manor in Emberfell, or so it seemed. Looking out the window, everything seemed like usual. "Was this all… a dream? No, it can't be."
Aiden got up, and went to take a tour of the house, to check whether or not his eyes were fooling him. But, everything was in place. The Manor was exactly the same as the last time he saw it, before leaving for Sylvanwood. What surprised him was the emptiness of the house, since he seemed to be alone here. He descended down the stairs into the main room, and as he was running, he intuitively looked at his feet.
"It's marble, not granite. Don't worry." A voice echoed, scaring Aiden. He thought the house was empty, but, for some reason… he knew exactly who was calling out to him...