"Kotori, remember to use your magic only for emergencies, okay?"
"Why should I do that?"
"Because, if someone finds out about your magic abilities, it'll end in catastrophe."
Liston, witnessing Kotori preparing to finish off Riko, jumped down from the second floor, about to slam on top of her. Kotori wasn't bothered by this and had anticipated this prior. Her eyes darted to Liston, midway into jumping on top of her. Her mean glare shocked Liston, not expecting her to notice his attack so fast. "Try all you want, trash is still trash." she says, aiming her palm at Liston. Firing a minuscule-sized ball of gray mass at Liston, he didn't bother trying to put up his guard. "This is merely a bluff, she's trying to distract me from the real attack!" he thought, making an impact with the ball. The results of this didn't come to plan though, as the ball immediately made a huge implosion within Liston, creating a shockwave that scattered everything on the first floor. Side-stepping, she avoids the limp, bloodied body of Liston, still retaining its momentum from his initial attempts to surprise attack her. She stomped on Liston's head, increasing the pressure by every second. You could hear the tense sounds of Liston's head nearly about to pop; her intentions were deadset on killing him.
Keisha regained her consciousness from the explosion, forcing the rubble off of her. She felt a sharp pain in her head, probably due to her colliding with a wall as she tumbled backward. Regaining her composure, she looked up to see Kotori, forcefully crushing Liston's head with her shoe. The cracking noise of his skull terrified Keisha, alongside the oozing bloodlust coming out of Kotori. "I-Is that Kotori?! W-Why is she so different right now?" Keisha watched in horror as Liston's eyes began gushing out blood and the cracking noises intensified underneath the pressure. Too horrified to scream or even move, all she could do was traumatize herself with the sight.
"I can't have you doing that." a voice spoke out from the corner of the room. Kotori's head turned in the direction, only to be met with a strong gust of wind. The wind was powerful, crashing her into the wall. "Who goes there?" Kotori asked, waiting for the dust to clear. "Riko and Liston are fine assets to our corporation; I can't have you disposing of these two." he says, appearing right before her. It was another crow mask, this one appearing different than Riko and Liston. He had a surge of mana flowing in his body—so powerful that even Kotori could tell his mana storage was massive. Keisha's eyes widened, recognizing the voice immediately. "Kotori, we need to go, it's Leon!" she screamed. In the back of Keisha's mind, she had hoped he wouldn't come, but unfortunately, they were unlucky.
Kotori raised an eyebrow, upon hearing the name. "Leon? Who's that?" Either way, it was a dire situation for Kotori. Her mana storage was about half the amount it was previously, and she was heavily wounded. Seeing how strong the force of Leon's wind was, she knew that he was an incredibly powerful magic user. "It seems to be our lucky day as I've encountered you, Kotori Stellarsky." Leon said, looking directly at Kotori. Leon knew of her name, which startled Kotori. Her identity wasn't well known on this continent, and she made sure to hide it well, but it seems that only one glimpse of her magic identified her in an instant.
"The one who wields what people consider the queen of all magic—Aether magic."
Keisha's jaw dropped, speechless at what her ears had processed. "Aether magic? I heard that was a magic lost in history..."
"You know, billions of people died fighting for the privilege to wield such a power, I hope you realize that." Leon reminded.
Under the mask, Leon smirked. "Yes, the entire reason why the Battle of Synone even happened in the first place was due to nations wanting YOUR magic." he said, pointing his finger at Kotori.
Keisha was even more baffled listening to this new information. "N-No way... that can't be true! One of the most brutal wars in all of history cannot be caused by such a simple thing, there's no way! The war was caused due to conflicts with land!"
"Oh dear, if you believed that was the case, you're sadly mistaken. History is rewritten all the time, do you not realize?" Leon replied. "That's right, you were the cause of billions of people to die, suffer, and have their lives changed entirely. You are a curse to this world, Kotori."
The sentence struck Kotori like a cord being snipped apart. A heavy burden weighed on her, making her anxious. Her breathing accelerated, and the visions of the massacre that she witnessed back then started to appear in her mind. Keisha hollered out to Kotori, saying, "Kotori, don't listen to him; he's just trying to get in your head!" she said, trying to warn Kotori. But it all came to no avail; Kotori was now drowned in her thoughts, full of guilt and sorrow. Leon dashed in, taking the opportunity to strike. "If you don't struggle now, I'll keep Keisha unharmed!" he shouts, preparing to strike.
It was until a vision from the past flickered in her mind, lifting her burden away. The warm clutches of Chad's arm and his reassuring voice from years back.
"Kotori, they're mistaken. You were never a curse to this world, and you never will be. To me, you are the greatest blessing this world has to offer."
The dry air shifted through the valley of the dead, breezing against her hair. All but one thing that she could focus on was Chad's bloodied face. "So don't wish to die; wish to be happy, okay?" he said, smiling. Tears descended her cheeks, just like it is in the present day, remembering the old memory.
Snapping back to reality, Kotori balled up aether in her hand and smashed it into Leon's chest. A huge explosion followed right after, blasting Leon through the abandoned hotel and into the city streets. She wiped the tears off her face, recomposing herself for the battle. Leon initially was on his knees in the aftermath of the blast. He stood up, dusting himself off. "It seems that the rumors weren't false. Your power is gargantuan compared to the average magical abilities. Even though I fortified my body with Aura and used my magic to block the blow last second, you still broke through those two barriers." He observed Kotori, stepping out of the hotel, panting heavily as she struggled to stand. "The difference maker in this battle is how much you lack mana in the first place. Your mana storage is way too little to use your magic at full potential, am I correct?"
Kotori's expression changed, she was surprised that he could figure it out already. Her mana storage was lower than the average a demihuman has to offer. Currently, the attacks she had been using were at a minimum of 3 percent of the maximum potential her magic could be doing, but due to her drawback, that is the best she can do. Another thing also surprised her. She could sense no other presence in the area, only Keisha's and Leon's. "Where did everybody go?" she asked Leon, demanding an answer from him. "Oh, you're wondering why there is nobody in a once bustling city like this?"
"The pigeons flying above the skyscrapers, the humans in their vehicles, people roaming around the city streets—I can sense none of their mana!" Kotori said.
"Well, you're going to have to figure that out yourself; I'm not going to reveal any of my tricks; only a cocky fool would do that."
Kotori started to profusely sweat as anxiety struck. Her physical state was horrible, and she barely had any mana to run by. "How am I going to get through this?" she wondered. Using wind to propel himself forward, Leon goes in for a roundhouse kick at Kotori. Seeing this, she dove down, feeling the strong shockwave that the kick produced. Seeing Leon's leg wide open, she goes in for a takedown, using her arm to bend his leg down. As they both fell, Leon fell onto his back, being pinned down by Kotori. "I got you!" she said, readying to thrash him with her fist while he was down. Raising his arm, a strong force of wind smashes Kotori in the stomach, pushing her off of him. Falling on her side, she constricted her throat, trying her hardest not to vomit from the stomach blow. Leon, propelling himself with wind again, goes in for a devastating soccer kick to Kotori's head.
With no time to react properly, Kotori could only think of resorting to using up her last bit of mana on an aether blast. Shooting the blast, Leon had to resort to sidestepping away from his original attack, avoiding the blast. As he avoided it, he noticed from the corner of his eye that the orb of aether vibrated. Its gray spherical shape turned into a blur from the speed of its vibration. "Don't tell me, is it going to detonate-" he noticed too late as the aether orb exploded right next to Leon, blasting Leon back. Standing up, Kotori coughed up a little bit of blood onto her hand. Looking at her hand covered in blood, she touched her chest. "That was the last bit of my mana... if I resort to using any more magic here, my body will slowly destroy itself from the inside." She had no other cards left. Since she has no mana, she cannot use either her magic or Aura to defend herself. She can only rely on her physical capabilities.
As the dust settles, it shows Leon in a defensive state, taking his cape off. The left side of his body had been completely burnt, trembling under the extreme damage it had to endure. "No wonder people desperately wanted your magic. Its destructive capabilities are unmatched." Swiping his right arm to his side, a blade of wind emerged within the palms of his hand. Kotori, still trying her best to keep herself standing, saw this motion. She figured he could only make wind gusts, but now he's also creating wind blades. "No way, you can make a wind blade too? Don't tell me you're a..."
"Yes, I am a Primordial magic user, I wield Wind magic." He points his blade at her, saying, "Unlike other wind-based magics, I can use essentially anything related to wind. That's the absolute power a Primordial magic user wields." Raising his blade, he swiped down at the air, sending a devastating wind slash at Kotori. Surging through the air, Kotori managed to dash to the left at the last second, only to be grazed by the slice. Wincing in pain, she grasped onto her cat ear that was grazed by the attack—a clean cut it was. Looking at the slice continuing onwards, she saw it easily cutting through the floor and buildings; it passed as if they were like butter. "That attack is deadly! If it connects, I'm done for!" Leon slashed the air with his blade again, this time he slashed horizontally. Coming at her torso, she had no choice but to duck very low, feeling the gust of wind blow against her nape as it nearly connected.
Before she could stand again, Leon was already in front of her, startling her. Going in to stab her neck, she pushed her feet against the floor to attempt to avoid the blow, only for him to redirect the attack to her abdomen. Kotori groaned in pain as blood splurged from her wound. "You're now like a rat scurrying around, pretty ironic coming from the cat demihuman." Leon says, his blade still piercing through her. Kotori began to cry and felt herself beginning to have a panic attack. "A-Am I going to die? I don't wanna die! I just want to be with Chad... save me Chad, please save me!" All she could think about was Chad, viewing him as her only beacon of hope. Attempt after attempt, still praying for Chad to appear and save her as he did in the past, she squirmed around in his blade's grip, trying to break loose. Her struggle was futile as she no longer harbored enough strength to move efficiently. The injuries caught up to her and she was losing consciousness by the second. "How sad, seeing your struggle with your face filled with despair. Cause of this, I'll make your death quick and painless." His blade radiating with a green light, it appears that he's charging up another wind slice, this time infused with Aura. "S-Stop, I don't wanna die!" Kotori pleaded, starting to sob uncontrollably. She sobbed hard in the barren city, tears streaming down her face as if someone had poured water on her.
"Sorry, but, you have to be dead if we're going to extract your magic; don't take it personally, it's just a part of the process." Leon says, about to finish her off. It was until Keisha stealthily came in with a frying pan, hitting Leon as hard as she could in the back of the head. Disoriented, he stumbled back, only to see Keisha charging at Leon with hesitation, her face full of unease. "Still too scared to attack someone, you never learn..." Leon says, still rubbing the back of his head. He stumbled around, clearly affected by the surprise attack. Keisha, continuing her assault, swings her frying pan again at Leon, swinging with horrible form. Managing to dodge the second attack of the frying pan, Leon wasted no time retreating. "Y-You caught me off-guard, but I'll come back!" he said, flying away with his wind magic. As he flew away, Keisha took a deep breath and collapsed. "I'm so glad the hotel kitchen still had cooking supplies..." she said, looking at the frying pan in her hand.
A loud crack could be heard in the sky as the area began to shatter apart. "W-What's going on?!" As it shattered into pieces, the city went back to normal. The bustling streets, cars honking at each other, people arguing; everyone was suddenly back. "Were we in some kind of illusion? What's going on?!" Keisha asked herself. She then remembered Kotori, who was on the brink of death. "Oh no, Kotori!" Rushing over to her, she was bleeding heavily. A pool of blood formed underneath her, drenching her body from under. "I need to take her to a hospital..." Grasping her wounds, she changed her mind. "No, she's too injured, going to the hospital will take too much time!" Trying to think of a solution, she desperately looked around. Everyone stared at her, seeing the concerning sight of a bloody mess in the middle of the road. "E-Everyone is staring at us!" Keisha squealed, covering her face with her beanie. She kept covering herself up until realizing that Kotori was on the brink of death. "N-No, I need to save Kotori!" Lifting Kotori on her back, she remembered that their school had a great nurse there. The school had gotten a great nurse solely due to how many intense fights go on in that school. "Only time I appreciate their violent tendencies..." Keisha thought.
The school was only a block away, compared to a hospital where it's way farther. As she started to run through the crowd, carrying a bleeding woman, she faced her fears. "I-I just want to disappear, I need to hurry this up!"
//
Magic Name: Wind Magic
User: Leon Rook
Type: Primordial
Rank: Ascended
Description: Conjure and manipulate wind.
\\
//
Magic Name: Aether Magic
User: Kotori Stellarsky
Type: Primordial
Rank: Godly
Description: Conjure and manipulate aether.
\\