Millions of people have powers you don't possess, but the only thing that can make you stronger than them, is to believe and improvise.
In a stormy night sky, An elf with black wings was flying over the thundering clouds with an artefact in hand. Chased by 3 other leaves, their wings coloured white. The silver light of the moon blends with the white wings.
The black winged elf has black hair with black eyes, although the eyes weren't visible. She was wearing a black and gold blindfold, the pattern resembling three stars.
The winged elves are hooded, and have long swords and bows in hand.
One of the assassin elves cast a spell. They chanted, "Fulgur.. Flectere!" The spell redirected a bolt of lightning up above the clouds and hit the wings on the chased elf.
The elf grunted before falling through the clouds into a mysterious dark and gloomy landscape. Chased by the 3 elves she was forced to use her artefact, a circular shaped disc with an orb and incomplete rings surrounding it, the rings and disc were gold.
The orb in the middle glowing with a gold light. The rings roared around at rapid speeds, before expanding, the golden centre glowed brighter before the rings and discs morphed into a portal.
The portal transported the sky elf and closed right before the chasing elves could reach. The relic ended up on the other side and back in the sky elf's hand.
However the elf's mana was drained, she couldn't hold onto the artefact, falling out of her hand to who knows where. She herself landed in a pond.
"Hey Grandpa.. What were those owl people?" Soren asked, sitting beside Rose in his hospital bed.
"They.. are known as the Sicarius. They are Assassins who.. well, their motives aren't known. All we know is they attack kingdoms for what seems to be no reason." Rose answered, for the first time Soren and Kieran had prodded on a topic Rose didn't have much information on.
"So, what were the powers they had and we had?" Kieran inquired, tentatively hearing. He saw Soren make a sword out of fire and he himself used the ground itself as a weapon.
Rose sighed, before answering. "People have something known as the Gift of Mana. Mana is used in Gladius arts, Divinae arts and even Concursus Arts. However, there are two other applications of mana. One is Virtua. It's a gift...very few have, there are two types of Virtua..." Pause.
"Artificial Virtua and Natural Virtua. Artificial is more common, harnessed through rituals, hereditary and other methods I got mine after a ritual in Altriche. Natural is highly uncommon, they are awarded their Virtua from a higher more powerful being. Which is what happened to you.. I believe."
"So like, god gave us our powers?" Soren asked, his expression lighting up completely.
"Yes. You may not remember it, but I assure you.. one day you will." Rose said, patting Soren on the back.
"You said mana is used for another combative application, what is that?" Kieran asked, showing his interest.
"That is Merus arts. There are many types of it, but the most common ones are body parts like super hearing eyes or see through wall eyes but what anyone with enough will can get, Spiritual Merus. I don't know much about it.. but maybe when you become a Divine Knight you will." Rose said, now what? Divine Knight? What was that about?
"Huh?! Divine Knight!? I thought we couldn't be one!" Soren said in excitement.
"At first I was against it. I thought it's too dangerous, but after what happened yesterday with the attacks.. I encourage you, it will teach you to protect yourself." Rose said while glancing out the window.
As the kids were asked to leave by the doctors to treat Rose, they left with a much more "deeper" understanding of their Powers.
But what shocked Soren was that Rose now encouraged them to be a Knight, it just showed how much their Grandpa cared for them.
Outside the hospital, they saw a feather float over, unable to determine what bird it was, they looked up to see blank skies. They however saw multiple feathers in the air, coming from a pond.
Upon closer inspection, they would find a winged woman in the pond, unconscious. Soren, being the enthusiastic and energetic kid he is, jumps straight into the pond, and drags the girl out from the pond.
The girl had a circular shaped object in her hand, as Kieran and Soren stood over the girl, her blue eyes slowly uncovered themselves. In a soft almost soothing voice she spoke, "H-H..? Where am I? Who are you?"
Soren stammered while speaking, either his brain was being overloaded from speaking to a girl, or he genuinely did not know where they were or who he was, both are equally possible.
"You are in the kingdom of Vonheim, Olvark District. I am Kieran, this is my brother, Soren." Kieran spoke before firmly smacking Soren's head, snapping him out of his ever going quest to remember where they were.
"Ye-Yeah! We are Vonheim in the Castle of Sore- wait no.. ah!!! Kieran said this already just used whatever he said.." Soren spoke, pretty embarrassed.
"Oh. I am Vynx, Vynx Merlotte.. Do you think you could take me to a less cold shelter?" The girl, whose name being "Vynx" spoke, her short sleeves and mostly exposed back for her wings not suited for Vonheim's cold. It was clear she was not from here.
"Oh yeah sure! Hey Kieran, where do we take her?" Soren spoke confidently before asking his brother about locations.
"Hospital, she is drenched in water, and in this climate? Hospital is the best choice, what if she has Corziyal's Curse?" Kieran said while walking towards the gate, concerned but also confident Vynx does not have it.
"What curse?" Soren asked.
"Corzyal's curse. When someone's blood freezes due to the sheer cold, if the frosted blood spreads it's cold, one may lose control of that limb, and if it reaches the brain, then they become a zombie. Corzyal, the goddess of Frost and Cruelty is said to puppeteer these mindless husks." Kieran replied
Soren's eyes opened wide as he looked at Vynx before letting off a girly shriek. "WE HAVE A ZOMBIE FOLLOWING US?!!" Soren asked in his utter confusion and horror.
"No... I said she MIGHT have it.. and she probably doesn't. Do you see any of her limbs moving out of control?" Kieran said, leading Vynx to the warm interior of the hospital as Soren blew a sigh of relief.
"So Vynx, what are you doing here, and that artefact?" Kieran asked, realising immediately she is not from here due to her attire and lack of understanding of the weather or layout of town, and also the artefact looked nothing like he had ever seen. His knowledge about magic allowed him to read some of the draconic words carved into the disc.
Sensing that the truth about herself had been found out, she sighed before covering herself with a hood. "I am a Sky elf, our people have lived in the empire of Caelia for many centuries, protected by the Archdragon of the Skies, Reginae Caelia. This artefact was the sceptre of a Great necromancer, who wanted to revive the almost dead corpse of Reginae Caelia. She was killed when an Assassin with a rapier, used an absurd technique on her, which left her soul partly stuck in the rapier."
Pause
"The necromancer failed to bring her back, the rest of her soul being absorbed into his staff's sceptre. Eventually, the power burdened the mage, leaving him no choice but to leave the sceptre behind.." Vynx said, a hint of concern shown across her face.
"Oh! So it's like an awesome cool relic type of thing!!" Soren exclaimed excitedly.
"Yes.. I had to use it to get away from assassins chasing me.. I was carrying the artefact above Nocenus.. I stole it, they chased me, and I had to use this artefact, which I guessed creates a portal to anywhere? And now I'm stuck hundreds of miles away and below Caelia." Vynx said in a disappointed and almost panicked tone.
"Hmm. Truly a predicament. Well, Vynx, have you heard of the Divine Knights?" Kieran asked, brewing up a plan.
"Yes.. the Caspian Alliance has them and they protect the four kingdoms.. why?" Vynx said, confused.
"Well, if you become a Divine Knight, you could possibly get enough money to go to Caelia or be stationed in one of the Ambassadorial outposts." Kieran said, although Vynx did understand and consider it, Soren's face contorted in confusion.
"Hey pal, what the abyss were those weird words!" Soren asked confused
Kieran sighed, "The Caspian Alliance, they have outposts in other kingdoms called Ambassadorial outposts. They are there to inform both parties of ongoing affairs, and if there is any political tensions, the guards are the first to tell them to be prepared. However, the moral code of the Divinate prevents the guards from launching an attack on the Ambassadorial kingdoms." Kieran said before shortly realising Soren was still confused.
"Knight goes to kingdom to inform his kingdom if war is incoming." Kieran said, utterly exhausted.
"OHH! Well why didn't you say that earlier then!" Soren understood what Kieran meant.
Vynx considered the thought, but having to give through training and academy just to return home seemed excessive, but then again, the kingdom of Caelia had no other way to enter unless you can fly a couple hundred feet.
"Grandpa said we can be Knights! But uh...how do we become Knights?" Soren asked, he wanted to become one but didnt know how, classic Soren.
"To become a Knight, you must apply to enter the Academy's next session. The Divinate Academy spans a whole district, if you pass training. You can become a Divine Knight." Kieran answered.
"Well.. I'm guessing you don't want to go?" Soren asked, his reasoning for the assumption being he had never seen Kieran being much interested in the whole Knight world.
"Of course I have to go. To protect my bumbling brother, and to serve justice and all that." Kieran said, a smile appearing on his face as he patted Soren on the back.
"And uh.. Vynx? Yeah Vynx! Do you wanna go to the Academy?" Soren asked excitedly.
"There isn't much of a choice other than it.. so I guess I'll go.." Vynx answered.
Although Vynx seemed to have warmed up to the two quickly, inside she harboured quite a bit of distrust for them.
"And uh.. how do we sign up..?" Soren once again asked cluelessly.
Kieran sighed before answering, "We have to go to the district's Divinate Office to apply." Kieran answered, walking over to a map in the hospital and pointing out the office.
"Nice- oh wait, Vynx! You got any cool powers? What was it called.. uh.. oh yeah! Virtua!" Soren asked.
"I can perform semi-basic level Wind Divinae Arts or simply put, Wind Magic. And my Virtua is.." Vynx paused before holding out her hands in both directions, a blue portal appeared, she stuck her hand through one and it came out of the other, it's different from the artefact however.
The artefact can go wherever whenever and be as big as one can want it to be. Her portals however, can only go within her Mana's reach, and a set size.
"THAT'S SO COOL!!" Soren jumped up excitedly immediately trying out the portals by sticking his limbs through them.
"Alright that's enough Soren, we have to go now, y'know to the office?" Kieran said, reminding him.
Soren muttered under his breath about just wanting to see her powers a bit more, but Kieran dragged him away. As the now trio walked down the streets, they saw people swirling around them in the sky.
"Uh.. Vynx.. you're like a sky girl or something right.. what's that?" Soren said, pointing to more winged elves flying around.
"Those are the Assassins, they aren't the ones that you know to be the Sicarius, they are the Revenators. Relic hunters. They hunt artefacts and Relics, they are obsessed with "bringing the golden age" back.. I was chased by them.. and just as I thought I lost them.. I didnt.." Vynx said, her face contorting in frustration.
The elves were noticed by the civilians, as chatter began almost immediately. One of them pointed at the sky and screamed, "ASSASSINS!! SICARIUS!"
It was easy to come to conclusions too soon and get them mixed up, but those words stir a great deal of disarray around town, people running around, finding shelter.
One of the elves held up Lynx's blue blindfold, casting a tune on it, as the blindfold fluttered in the air before guiding the elves to Vynx.
"Hey.. whatever your name is.. get the relic and run.." Vynx said, basically shoving the relic onto Soren before flying off to let them escape.
Kieran and Soren understood the assignment and began to run for their lives, in the distance the elves descended onto Vynx like a pack of vultures.
"Kree! We got you now Vynx!" The assassin with the sword spoke, she looked as if she was the leader of the 3 underling Assassins.
Now, Chaos erupted in Olvark. People running, elves fighting and soon, Divine Knights arriving.. hopefully..
"Too bad for you, Marlene.. I dont have the relic.." Vynx said, with a smug expression and tone.
"I know you hid it somewhere.. Oi you two.. go tear up these houses.. and you! Bow boy, give me support." The leader, whose name was Marlene, commanded, as the two elves with swords started breaking into houses and the "bow boy" being a elf with a bow rose up into the sky to provide aerial support.
"Yo Kieran.. I got a bad feeling.. we should help her.. it's 4 against one over there!" Soren said pointing at the now high up archer.
"Fine.. use the relic then.. " Kieran said, as Aoren and Kieran shared a glance of "Oh man we don't know how this works."
Soren started fidgeting with the disc like relic, trying to pull and separate the discs in an attempt to use its powers to create portals, which Soren wasn't paying attention to.
Meanwhile at the brawl with the sky elves, the two underling elves reported back to Marlene, unable to find it. "Well well, Vynx. It seems you did a good job hiding it. Maybe your corpse can be made into a relic.." Marlene said before rushing as Vynx, the two underlings as well charging.
As the three elves attacked, Vynx created two long portals, making them go into it. The exit portal was summoned behind the Archer elf, knowing him out of the sky due to the sudden impact. As all the elves were about to lose and fall to the ground, Soren figured out how to work the relic through utter luck, and used a portal to stave the elves.. for some reason.. Soren and Kieran too were sucked into the portal and launched into the sky where the elves got saved.
Vynx in a moment of panic, created an updraft to slow their descent so it didn't hurt.
The fast wings allowed them to return soon, as Marlene held out Vynx's blindfold.
"Oh Vynx, I know your people wear these to hide your faces.. but it seems I found your identity, so it's of no use now!" Marlene said, casting a fire spell rune to burn the blindfold.
The blindfolds are made of Reginae Caelia's fur, when one is burned, it is said that the Archdragon gets significantly weaker.
"You bastard.." Vynx charged at Marlene, ready to punch her.
The archer from above launched an arrow a bit in front of Marlene, striking Vynx's fist, and bringing her down to the ground making her stuck.
Kieran and Soren's eyes were now full of rage, determination and for Soren, heroic-ness.
Soren threw the relic like a frisbee straight at Marlene. Hitting her nose quite hard and dropping down towards Lynx's hand for her to grab.
"I don't know what I did but it was cool!" Soren said charging at the elves, trying to summon his blade once more to no avail.
Kieran used a spell rune, "Minorem continentiam!" He screamed, as a Divine chain of mana held Marlene's hand in place, so she couldn't grab the relic.
"You.." Marlene said, as the two underlings charged at Kieran and Soren.
In a moment of panic, Soren held out his hands, as the similar fire burned again, glowing on his white hair before materialising into a blade, blocking the elves.
"What the.. you have Virtua too?!" Marlene said, realising that to her knowledge so far, Vynx and Soren had Virtua. While Kieran had basic Divine Magic.
The difference between Magic and Virtua is there are only 6 elements of Virtua. The Arcane elements of Fire, Water, Earth and Wind, and the Elder magics, Divine and Cursed. Cursed is not known to many, only necromancers and warlocks for the most part. Divine magic is known by many, its two superior forms being Faith Magic and Holy Saint Magic.
Marlene looked visibly scared, realising she was fighting two Virtua users (to her knowledge) while none of the minions she had knew even basic Divinae Arts.
Vynx smirked, slowly removing the arrow as blood trickled out, realising it was not such a good idea. No matter, she tore off a piece of her scarf given to her by the Hospital and used it as a bandage.
Soren swung his sword down at one of the underlings, breaking their flimsy sword. Kieran now used his own Virtua which would have looked like Magic if not for its immense power (compared to basic Arcane Magic). Kieran lifted up to pillars of earth, and levitated them before smashing them down onto the elves.
Marlene looks a bit scared by this point, and orders the archer Elf to fire. The archer shot 1 arrow down from above, "Just one? Pff-" Soren thought, however midair, the arrow glowed bright and then split into 3, and then 6, and then 12!
It was impossible to dodge it and it was too late for Vynx to create a portal.
Just then, a yellow slash was seen, as each arrow was knocked out the sky and there stood Horus holding his hand out casting a spell rune, "Divine Protection, Deos Ignotus Maxima" as all four elves felt a slash on their abdomen, as they all looked down to see a slash applied without much effort.
"I introduce you to, Ignotus. The ranged form of Gladius Arts!" Horus said his blonde hair and blue eyes glistened in the sun from the roof.
Ranged form of Gladius arts? Gladius arts is swordsmanship. Ignotus Gladius or simply, Unknown Slashes is a technique to inflict sword like damage without even getting close. It is a mixture of Divine Magic and Gladius Arts.
Soren looked in awe as Horus seamlessly cut down his foes without even taking a step close!
Marlene started to panic, without even informing her comrades, flew off hurriedly, and before anyone could do anything she was up in the clouds.
Her minions were left with Horus, as his squad rushed in, imprisoning them.
"Oh hey, Champ! Huh, it seems you finally did get a sword, hey?" Horus said, referring to Soren of course. Soren excitedly jod as Kieran stepped in.
"Sir. We want to be Divine Knights. However our altercation destroyed the Divinate office of Olva-" Before Kieran could finish his sentence, Horus interrupted by taking down their names one by one. Vynx Adel, Soren Fischer, Kieran Noel.
"Alrighty kids. From next week you'll be sent to the Divinate Academy. I have seen your prowess, no entrance tests.. except maybe a short written one for Soren here. Don't worry, I will recommend you three. Now, I have more important foes to battle, so bye!" Horus said, before jumping into a bridge.
"Well uh.. that was easy.." Kieran said, to which Soren and Vynx nodded. Vynx gained a slight bit more trust for the two now.
(Vynx's appearance is pale white skin, blue eyes, black hair for any doubts!)
To be Continued.