Steel and Mana

The city of Vash'Rah, sealed away from the winter, looked like an empty ruin in the middle of the jungle, with no discernible movement atop its walls or around its streets. Surrounding the volcano's side, it was as if those who lived here simply disappeared from view. Which was not far from the truth, as they were indeed hiding inside their homes, underground, within the volcano, where it was warm. There, the air was hot enough to keep them comfortable, even allowing them to dress lightly. At the same time, their bodies, regardless of whether they were the youngest children or the oldest adults, were protected from any gases that sometimes escaped the magmachamber. Their ability to withstand what would kill a regular human included the air they could breathe, even if it would be poisonous.

It was a generational gift passed down from their ancestors. Their bones were just like those of a monster's, decorated with runes since birth, their blood diffused with magic, generated in their marrow. They were able to take it from the air, allowing them all to be born with the capability to become a mage. They were forever changed by it as they looked human... but deep down, they were no longer one.

But that was knowledge, buried and eradicated by those who chased them away. With the help of time's natural eroding effect, by now, if anybody were to mention the word 'sect,' nobody would know what they really meant by it. Yet, thousands of years ago, it was what most kingdoms called themselves before the end of an era, marked by the fall of the Vasa. The phrase was discarded, just like their people, and all the sects that once dotted the continent were transformed into kingdoms and empires, ushering in a wholly new era.

But the last of them, here, in the land of the beasts, were still living, following the same customs that died out a long time ago.

Deeper inside the mountain, forges were currently operating at maximum capacity as crafting masters held raw CC, using their inherent magic to make it strangely malleable, shaving off thin threads and then weaving them into armor, crafted from monster scales and bones. In another part of the hidden city, children as young as five and six were training, already learning spells, fighting techniques, and weapon arts. As for their numbers, gathering under their instructor, there were barely twenty of them, a clear tell that even though the bloodline lived, its ability to reproduce was abysmal. Every death of a Vasa was a blow...

"Sect Master," a voice called out, and Zah'Ratil turned away from watching the youngsters, continuing his walk, listening to the report of one of his own disciples.

"Two days ago, our scouts shadowed a tide, one that was dangerously close to us... It was a migration of hundreds of beasts pouring through the jungles toward the mountains in a frenzy."

"Sizes?"

"From medium to big." The man answered, his voice barely showing his apprehension, but it did manage to slip through, "That is why we kept following them... Those types of beasts usually don't form such hordes because of the constant infighting."

"Drawn by the divine lure..." The Sect Master whispered.

"Master... We were spotted."

"How many?" Zah'Ratil asked, without flinching.

"Manageable. The scouts had kept their distance as per our training, but from that frenzy, four broke away after latching onto the scent of their blood."

"We will hunt them down before they alert more by smashing into our barriers."

With that, the Sect Master snapped a finger, which rattled not his bones, but created a tingle within the spine of four of the Vasas' greatest warriors, transmitting his thoughts and orders in literally a snap of a finger.

The answer was straightforward, as four, red-haired figures burst forth from behind their barrier, flashing through the sky, flying or jumping, it was hard to tell as they soared over the canopy of the trees, nonetheless. As they appeared, crimson light burst forth from under their skin, and scaled armor covered them from head to toe. Bone-made weapons then manifested, emerging from their palms and taking shape according to their minds' desires. As they flew, they separated, silently choosing one of the four monsters, heading directly towards the volcano.

One of those was a bear-shaped creature, almost twenty meters in height, with thick fur that had frost and snow clinging to it, making it resemble a block of blue ice. To its right was a red, lizard-like beast running on two clawed legs, folded wing-like protrusions on its back, while its elongated jaw was constantly smacking together, like an overexcited, hungry wolf, following the scent of... food.

A bit further away, not as fast as the other two, came an armored, but similarly big creature, best described as a mix between an armadillo and a rhino. On its head, a beaklike maw was hanging open, ringed with fractured horns, few completely broken off, most likely battle damage from running with the tide and getting into scuffles.

And as the last one came, it was a serpentine creature, slithering through the snow and trees without legs, following the three with a much more cautious speed, sometimes stopping, sticking a long, bony, forked tongue before moving again.

Despite its carefulness, it was the snake that was struck first. The first of the Vasas, the slimmest-looking warrior, clearly a woman, flashed before it like she was always there, holding a glaive, burning with fire. When she appeared, she was already slashing down mid-air, aiming to decapitate the beast in one swift movement. Yet, the creature was fast enough to react, pulling back, resulting in its forked tongue being sliced off, causing it to hiss and roar in pain. Angered and bleeding, its head opened wide, and from its fleshy and musky interior, it was spraying a stream of acidic, green venom directly at its attacker. Yilren, being the fastest Vasa warrior, tapped her feet in the air, forming a magical ripple that allowed her to pivot even though she was standing on nothing. She danced aside, her glaive haft twisting as a magical chain appeared from its end, looping around the serpent's neck, glowing runes forming it. With a sharp yank, she hauled the beast sideways, its next spray arcing harmlessly away, causing trees and snow alike to melt into a pool of bubbling nothing while she began wrangling her prey.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

At the same time, a low howl came from not that far away, as a flash of red picked up speed, the raptor-like beast's wings half-folded on its back for more speed. It was met by Korrath, the sect's greatest sword wielder, bracing his two-handed blade with all of his strength. The beast, opening its mouth again, this time not for howling but to breathe orange fire at the coming enemy, feeling the magical power emanating from its sudden opposition. It was probably the worst choice it could make, as Korrath pushed through the heat without a desire to dodge, twisting his body and swinging his blade, which caused a sharp shockwave that pushed wind away, cutting down the forest around him. With that one move, he took the left, folded wing at the joint in a single cleave as the creature shrieked, spiraling sideways into the snow, its legs buckling, rolling, unable to do anything about Korrath already moving in for a secondary strike.

As for the bear-like beast, it was already facing its own nightmare. Veshra, the second woman in the group, stood before it in the snow, looking like an ant before an elephant as the creature reared on hind legs, claws slashing down at her, wanting to obliterate her. Without needing to bother, she moved, flowing through the thoughtless, predictable attack, her spear piercing the tendon above its rear knee. Even though it looked like a toothpick against a tree trunk, her spear went in, despite the thick fur, the ice, or the massive muscles. Her attack caused a wet snap, followed by a pained roar, and the sound of how the giant beast toppled forward from that one strike.

As for the most armored variant, it was hooting and tooting, its body becoming a tremendous, spike-covered ball. It curled into almost a perfect sphere and ricocheted across the forest, slamming into the last Vasa, whose name was Druvak, looking the closest to how Avalon's elite warriors carried themselves, thanks to his own massive size. Unlike the others, he wasn't quick nor flashy, but he welcomed the attack with two hands raised, smashing him into the snow and trees behind them. When they stopped, the beast unrolled, lunging to crush him, but Druvak's gauntleted fist shot out like lightning, catching its lower jaw the moment it unfulled. With a loud roar, he raised the creature as if it were nothing, slamming it back down into the ground in a piledriver.

Close by, Yilren's chain glowed white-hot as the runes began burning like a new sun, biting into the snake's scales, leaving blackened, scorched marks. The serpent writhed, tail whipping the snow, trying to get free, but the chains kept coming, covering its entire body, stiffening... something that was usually done by the beast and its prey... and not something to be done to it... But it was too late. With another yank on her glaive, the chains contracted at once, cutting the beast apart, creating minced meat out of it, killing it right there and then.

"Hmph." She snorted as her angled, sharp helmet parted automatically, revealing a beautiful face with sparkling, green eyes, watching the chains she summoned from her glaive slowly melting into nothing and disappearing, "Weakling."

Not far from her, Korrath pressed the maimed lizard, his greatblade tracing arcs across its body, cleaving it apart just the same. With every swipe, something came off. Another wing, a tail, and part of its jaw. Soon, it spasmed on the forest floor, painting the snow red and exposing the core inside him. With a final whimper, it died when Korrath simply slashed a last time, letting the core fall out of its body, rolling in the snow, ready for collection... as if he was merely butchering an overgrown chicken.

Just as the others, Veshra danced around the immobilized bear-creature, each stab of her spear causing it to lose another function of its body, going limp. Soon, it could not summon any kind of magic, even if it wanted, as Veshra's attacks were not only deadly, they destroyed the beast's natural runes, etched into its bones, causing its magic to become unstable and ravaging the bear from within. She didn't need to do much more... just stand and watch as the beast died on its own...

Unlike Druvak... Who was perhaps the most brutal amongst the Vasa warriors. He hammered his prey's plated skull with blows like falling meteors, each strike denting armor, breaking down another horn. He was handling it like it was made of straw, flipping and pummeling it, tearing its eyes out or, after breaking down a horn, pushing it back into its skull... By the time it stopped moving, it looked like a lump of ravaged meat and not a monster.

The whole encounter, at best, took just a few minutes to conclude.

Right behind them, more warriors poured from the invisibility barrier along with four-legged beasts, tall as a house. Unlike the ones they just killed, these monsters looked different. Their eyes were blank, almost hollow-looking, without any actual light, pulling giant sledges. Atop their heads stood multiple people while a human figure between them was half-fused into the creatures' necks, like some weird... attachment. They headed towards the defeated monsters, as hooks and chains were attached to the carcasses, dragging them back into the city for processing.

"You made a mess." Zah'Ratil said, appearing above the 'battlefield,' standing in the air, while behind him, a pair of flaming wings were gently flapping. His voice was calm, echoing only in the minds of the four who replied the same way, transmitting their voices.

"You ordered quick action. Those usually aren't clean and smooth."

"I am not blaming you, Yilren." He waved a hand and signaled that the conversation would end here. "Bring the cores back for processing."

Without hesitation, the four helped the others gather the corpses, and after everybody was gone, the leader of the Vasas stretched his hand down at the bloody jungle. A ring of fiery magic formation appeared without any incantation, and fire burst forth like water from its middle. It was actually flowing like a river, sneaking around the trees, the snow, and the ruined earth. If anyone were to watch it, they would see that it didn't burn the snow or singe the trees, and there was no sizzling of snow or any actual heat either. Instead, it simply burned away anything that was magical. The blood of the beasts... Any scent that would bring more to their home.

"How many..." Zah'Ratil asked, sighed, looking towards the mountains in the distance, "How many more winters do we need to endure? Haaah... We need the blood of our descendants... before we run out of time..."