“What a vulgar method of fighting!” He spat out and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. “And you call yourself a mage! You stain your honor with mud!”
“Honor?” Leidolf let out a small sigh at the mention of honor in a situation like this. “Even if it’s a dirty way of fighting and I’m covered in mud, I’ll be the one alive in the end. While someone else’s life is on the line, I’ll fight the way I deem most effective for me.”
Snapping his finger, Leidolf summoned five Algis shields and used them as jumping platforms. Closing in on Armel, he sliced through the stone platform and chased him as he fell to the ground. Armel narrowly avoided being impaled and used the axe-sword to drive Leidolf away.
“Besides,” Leidolf added to his earlier speech, “I don’t think anyone who slaughters an unsuspecting city has the right to criticize me.”
Armel slammed his stone blade into the ground, sending a large number of stone shrapnel towards Leidolf, who used his Algis spell to summon the translucent shield to block.
“Arcessere!” Leidolf saw two shadows approaching him from the side. He swung the blade and cut through the first wolf, before twisting his body and stabbing the second. When he looked ahead, Armel was in front of the shield and swung the axe-sword down diagonally, tearing through the shield before Leidolf could overload it.
With an effort, Leidolf barely blocked the stone blade from slicing him in two. It had cut just under his rib cage and narrowly avoided his lungs and heart. He was knocked to his right and into ground.
Armel stabbed the axe-sword into the ground and Leidolf sensed a surge of energy moving through it towards him. He rolled out of his current position and avoided having a sharp cone made of stone impale him. Struggling to catch his breath from the relentless assault, Leidolf planted his sword into the ground to hold himself upright, staring down Armel as blood leaked from a cut on his head.
Armel was no weakling. He had earned that Class B title through sheer practice and motivation. He had to fight and kill many others to get where he was today. He was a true mage in every sense of the word.
Leidolf was underdeveloped as a mage, but an excellent fighter. His footwork from his years of Hapkido practice had left him with a decent method of evasion, and he was alright with a sword. He had potential to grow.
The differences were starting to show themselves. Potential does not equal experience, as it has yet to be developed. If that were all that mattered, the victory would go to the better mage—in which case, Armel would triumph.
But that’s where luck and being prepared factored in. Leidolf still had his right glove. If there was an enemy you couldn’t keep up with, then you bring them down to your level.
Armel raised and slammed the axe-sword into the ground again, sending a shockwave through the ground towards Leidolf. Cursing under his breath, Leidolf discharged some of the energy that Tyrfing drank from him and sent a shockwave of his own towards Armel. The shockwaves crashed into each other and threw dust and stone in all directions.
Running through the storm of earth and stone, Leidolf charged his right glove and a reverse Uruz rune appeared on it. Breaking through the storm, he drove his fist into Armel’s face. The mage flew backwards and hit the ground bleeding.
“Why won’t you just die?” He screamed in anger. Despite overwhelming the weaker mage, he wouldn’t go down. Before he could raise his weapon again, his body throbbed.
His axe-sword and body felt heavier than before, leaving him wondering if his strengthening spell was wearing off. He put more effort into it and raised the blade to combat the mage rushing at him. They clashed once again.
Looks like ‘Mage Breaker’ was effective, Leidolf thought as he exchanged blows with Armel. The impacts were lessening with each hit, forcing Armel to spend more energy to maintain his current level of fighting. He would be drained before Leidolf.
Mage Breaker was a spell that was engineered based on the principle of an Alf-Shot, an illness curse caused by an Alf’s arrow. It weakens the mental and physical status of the enemy, but only for a short time. He had to finish this.
Swinging the blade faster and faster, he drove his arms to their limits and ignored their pained screams to his brain. Armel was forced to pick up his own pace and the two mages entered a delicate state. At this point, a screw up by either one would result in death.
Armel feared he was nearing the end of the ten minute limit. Soon, even awakening the demon would be out of the question. So he took a gamble and leapt back.
He followed up with throwing the axe-sword at Leidolf, who shattered it with a single swing of Tyrfing, scattering the pieces in all directions. Leidolf charged at Armel, thinking he had lost his weapon, when Armel revealed the pentacle in his hand.
Time froze for Leidolf. He couldn’t stop or change his direction at this speed. He had gotten overconfident and left himself open.
“Calculus Consurgo!” Armel shouted and poured most of his remaining energy into the pentacle. A large hexagonal pillar rose from directly underneath Leidolf, slamming directly into his body. The impact was sudden and hard—cracking his ribcage and rattling his brain—knocking him out.
A sinister smile came across Armel’s face.
“Terra Pluere!” The pillar violently cracked and collapsed on itself, raining stone onto the ground and catching Leidolf’s unconscious body in it. Leidolf’s cloak broke apart on impact with the ground and he regained consciousness, only for the falling stones to bury him while crushing a few vital organs.
He was lucky it missed his head, but the rest of his body disagreed since it would have been a quicker end.
The seal beneath the land began to form, and the ground rumbled violently. With every fading beat of Leidolf’s heart it grew stronger, releasing hatred and malice from it like smoke from flames. Armel laughed in triumph, not even caring about the potential terror he would unleash onto the world.
The ground felt as though it was spinning under the white moon. Leidolf’s vision tunneled on Armel’s insane smiling face. That image was burning into his mind.
I can’t die without accomplishing anything, he thought as his body began shutting down. At the very least, let me take this bastard with me! Move! Move, you stupid body!
Leidolf tapped into his life force and strength began returning to his transformed body. With a roar, he forced himself up and grabbed Tyrfing once again.
“You’re still—” Armel started, but he was cut off by a large surge of energy that exploded outward and blew him away. He crash landed into a building, barely able to shield himself. Armel began to put the last dredges of his energy into the pentacle, preparing one last spell to kill Leidolf—even if he died in the process.
A pink flash tore through the sky and penetrated Armel’s heart. Looking down in disbelief, he saw the bolt of condensed magical energy shaped into a spear. He recognized it instantly.
“Ma…ster…why?” Were the last words he muttered before dying, as a feminine figure appeared next to him and pulled out the energy spear, causing it to vanish.
“Sorry,” she told his corpse. “You’re a loose end right now. We’ll talk later.”
There was another flash and Armel’s head fell off his body and into her arms, covering them in blood. She had plans for him; even if his body died, she could still use what was in his head. She turned towards the fully formed seal and saw Leidolf standing there, raising Tyrfing into the sky while radiating power.
“So, he plans on using his life as a weapon against the seal before the demon fully awakens. There’s no point in stopping him since I can’t even control the demon now. If that mage survives, he’d make an excellent tool as well.”
The woman vanished in one final flash.
******
“One of them was near death, but pulled out of it. Then a third magical signature appeared and killed the other one.” Luna spoke in fury. “That was that woman, I’m sure of it. She wanted the demon to awaken!”
Luna put toge
ther that the female mage leading the combat force came in alone to ensure that the awakening went off without any problems. With no solid evidence though, there was nothing she could do about. Right now, she had to somehow stop the demon from awakening.
A bright scarlet pillar arose with a loud noise. Shooting skyward, it shattered the summoning seal and penetrated the replacement barrier like it was nothing, blowing everything—including Luna—away from the area. She could barely make out the single figure standing in the pillar.
******
It’s done, Leidolf thought to himself as he fell to the ground. Whatever was hiding down there won’t be getting up now.
Surpassing his limits, Leidolf tapped into his life force and sacrificed about fifty years worth, converting it to energy to empower Tyrfing. It was a good thing mages had lifespans ranging centuries or longer if they didn’t push themselves too hard—or get killed by a disease or in battle.
Leidolf’s master warned him, since using runic magick involved the principle of sacrifice, he could theoretically do it while in his transformed state. But the price was high.
He couldn’t use Tyrfing or his transformed state again for an extended period after overusing it normally. Considering how far he pushed himself, he wouldn’t be able to use it again for another year or two at least. His greatest weapon was lost at the cost of stopping the demon.
His body faded back to normal and was covered in the injuries of the battle. He figured that Armel was dead since he couldn’t feel his presence anymore—although he thought he felt another one before Armel’s disappeared.
I need to get out of here before someone comes, but I’m so tired that I can’t stand, he thought. The world slowly faded to white and he felt as though a great weight was pushing him down.
“She was right, he does sleep a lot,” someone spoke.
“Well, all things considered, we really can’t complain,” another voice.
Leidolf recognized the pair of voices. Struggling, he wearily lifted his head to see two people he assumed were killed: Luke and Lucia. “You two…you’re dead…”
“We…were killed early on,” Lucia told him, her face somber as she recalled her own death. It wasn’t pleasant.
“Since then, our souls have been trapped inside that seal thing. From there we could see what was happening within the barrier…like we were a part of it.” Luke continued in Lucia’s place. “When you broke the seal, you freed us. All of us.”
Several people began fading into existence. He didn’t know the majority of them, but they surrounded him in all directions. All of them had peaceful smiles on their faces. With their physical bodies destroyed, they couldn’t return to the world of the living.
They would have to leave the physical plane, but at least now they could pass on.
“So…at least I managed to do some good.” Leidolf had a tired, small smile on his face.
“But you’re still not done,” a man he didn’t recognize appeared next to him. “Didn’t you make another promise to us?”
“That’s right,” said an unfamiliar woman, who appeared on the other side of the man. “That silent promise you made in front of us earlier today.”
Leidolf recalled the promise he made today and a bigger smile appeared on his face. “Yeah, I promised to look over Aria. I saved her life, so I should take responsibility and see that she lives a happy one outside of here.”
“If you understand that much, then stand up and finish what you started.” Aria’s father told him.
“Not to sound lazy or anything, but there’s this weight pushing me down. I simply can’t stand.” He replied.
“That weight is death, a representation of the burden you took on to free us from our imprisonment. I think we can even the scales this time…” Luke grabbed Leidolf’s arm.
“I think Scion would cry if you stayed like this.” Lucia told him, grabbing his other arm. “If you see her again, make sure you tell her everything. She deserves to know.”
With the twins’ support, the weight felt lighter. Aria’s parents helped ease the burden too. The rest of the fallen slowly helped him up as well. By the time he stood up, he was out of the world of white and standing on top of the battlefield where he put his life on the line—underneath the night sky.
Stepping down from the pile of rubble, his body ached. The patch job from expending his own life force would keep him alive, but only for a few more hours until his body gave out. His only option was to get emergency treatment. But the first thing he had to do was reach Aria and stay with her until she was out of the city.
Walking into the cold night, he headed towards his home with his blade on his back.
Epilogue
Aria sat patiently at the door, waiting to thank her savior for everything he did for her. It had been over two hours since he left for the battlefield.
She didn’t move from that spot. She wouldn’t until he came back. Because she knew he would return.
The door handle turned. The door opened and there he was. He looked horrible, but he came back.
With tears in her eyes, she smiled. “Welcome back…And thank you for everything.”
He gave her a gentle smile as well. She was his responsibility now. He’d watch over her until she was safe.
He reached down to pat her head, when something pierced his left shoulder, numbing it. Turning, he saw Luna, dressed in a cloak to conceal her features, pointing some kind of cyberpunk bow at him with an energy arrow nocked.
“Move and I’ll shoot again,” she warned Leidolf. “You’re coming with me, mage!”
###
To Be Continued in Volume 2
Author’s Note
Hi, and thanks for reading the first volume in the new edition of Arcane Advent. As most of you can guess, the name R.Kain is a pen name I established solely for this book series and somehow it stuck. I came up with the early story as a potential videogame, but then I discovered the miracle (and burden) of self-publishing.
Arcane Advent will be a novella trilogy centered on Leidolf, before it splits off into a new direction with a different protagonist, occasionally following Leidolf's story. It’ll be a thrilling ride, and I hope you’ll follow along for future stories.
See you next volume!
Other Works
Arcane Advent II: The Dark Bible
Novum Aevum: The New Age
Arcane Advent Website
R.Kain Webpage
Blog
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