The First War Mage: Skyline Trials

"Fight!" Nearly as soon as the words hit my ears I was hit with a wave of power that left me dazed.

Kendrick had unleashed an incredible wave of his mana out, sinking it into the earth and air alike. His power flexed as I shifted to the side, sand and dust began boiling its way off of the ground before entering into a howling storm.

In only a few seconds Kendrick had cut nearly all visibility in the arena, only vague shadows danced at the edges of my vision while sand and dust alike bit into my flesh, threatening to blind me even further.

"Not good." I thought to myself, my breath hitching in my throat as dust rushed into my lungs.

It took several moments before I could focus my mana enough, forming a thin shield around my head that blocked off the worst of the sandstorm. During which time I knew Kendrick was moving—I just had no clue where he could be in the storm.

The arena wasn't small by any means, Kendrick and I had entered from points nearly two hundred feet apart. That meant that with his speed? He could honestly be next to me by now and I could do nothing about it if that were the case.

A shadow raced across the edge of my vision. I barely brought my halberd up in time, catching the edge of his blade along the shaft of my halberd.

I could barely hold his strength back for more than a moment, with a shove he sent me staggering backwards with his blade raising up and poising itself for a thrust.

My heart pounded in my ears, visibility was so low that I struggled to make out the finer details of what Kendrick was doing in each given moment—His thrust came, aimed for my gut with the sharp edge of his blade. I had very little doubt that he would kill me if given the chance here.

I brought the haft of my halberd across, the butt of it smacking into the side of Kendrick's blade near the tip. It wasn't a powerful hit, but the electric mana I sent surging through the hilt of my weapon did what I needed it to.

Kendrick visibly winced, halting his thrust as he was thrown off by the sudden shock that leapt into his body. I jumped in, using the opening as well as I could in the split-second moment I had created.

With the tail end of my halberd already aimed at Kendrick my best option was to step in, shifting my body while more mana shifted into my being—It reinforced my limbs, making my thin, taut muscles just a little stronger as I landed the first proper hit of the fight. The blunt rear end of my halberd slammed into Kendrick's chest just below the base of his ribs.

I could hear the air race out of his lungs from the strike, but he didn't let me get away without pointing out the mistake I had made.

The very earth itself shifted around me, a stone column launching out of the ground next to me. I barely reacted fast enough to turn my shoulder into it, taking the blow mostly into it instead of my head.

I was still sent sprawling by the force of the blow, my right arm was now completely numb from the shoulder down. I didn't have time to register the ache in my arm however, not when I could already feel the ground starting to shift again.

My left hand slammed into the ground, magic burst out of my hand in an unfiltered wave of raw magic. The burst of mana sent me to my feet just in time to avoid the wave of stone that would have completely crushed me.

I looked around wildly, my halberd was gone—Lost somewhere within the sandstorm after I was struck. Kendrick was similarly nowhere to be found, the sandstorm obscuring his frame just as well as it hid my halberd.

"Focus…" I thought to myself as I tried to push the panic racing through my body. "Think—I need to think." A slow breath left my lungs, blowing a small amount of warm air up into my face thanks to the shoddy construction of the shield covering my head.

The sand cloud made everything look the same, everything was painted in a pale yellow hue which was made all the more difficult to see through thanks to the intense light coming down from above.

The ground shifted again. I was forced to kick off to the side as a pillar of stone once again launched out of the earth, aimed for what would have been a brutal impact into my spine if I hadn't moved in time.

"How can I clear the view…" I thought as I leant into a sprint. I couldn't stand still, not now that the entire arena was being used as a weapon against me. Energy was racing through my body, ready to be sent out—But I couldn't just waste it, not when I had no clue how long Kendrick could last.

Another piece of stone rocketed up from the ground beside me, forcing me into a tight turn that nearly led to a roll from how much I stumbled.

Catching myself just before I fell I turned, raising a hand towards the shadow I caught out of the corner of my eyes.

A bright flash started from my palm. For an instant the entire arena was set alight with a blinding silver glow, a moment later stone shrapnel pelted me in the face from the shattered stone pillar.

I could see the other end of the arena as I let out a soft huff, the far wall had taken my mana burst without any issue—The sand however seemed to be struggling to fill in the gaping hole I had made.

"Maybe that will work…" I thought to myself as I started moving again—Standing still for any amount of time was a risk in this arena "Just need to find a moment…"

—

Carmine crossed her arms as she sat, watching the screen with a serious, focused expression. Her posture was stiff, filled with focus as she tried her best to watch each little motion of the fight.

"Is everything alright, Miss Carmine?" Panna asked softly from her side, grabbing Carmine's attention yet not pulling her gaze away from the screen.

"It's a fight, Panna. There's never such a thing as 'alright' inside of one," Carmine said calmly. "I'm just paying attention, playing the paths that I can see coming out as the blows are thrown." She added after a slight pause.

"Oh—So, Kirin isn't alright?" Panna asked, not quite seeming to understand.

"No my little rat, of course Kirin isn't fine." Everyone's gazes turned towards the doorway, greeting the black and gold dressed figure of Lushia.

"What are you doing here, Lushia." Carmine spat with venom, her eyes narrowing into thin slits when she saw Lushia.

"Now now, what's that tone for? Hm?" Lushia said with a sing-song voice. "When have you ever been so offended by someone saying the truth? Kirin clearly isn't fine, she's fighting Kendrick after all." Lushia's smile spread like a snake's while she spoke.

"I'll ask again, what are you doing here?" Carmine hissed, pushing herself to stand as she spoke.

Panna and Tulip both shifted back—Panna only because of Tulip pulling her by the arm, shifting towards the edge of the couch. The air in the room began growing in pressure between the two women, even as the fight went on behind them. Tulip also managed to Keep Akemi in her arms even as they moved.

"Oh, I just wanted to have company while watching my son brutalize that scum," Lushia crossed her arms, walking closer to the couch as she spoke. "Can't have that much fun when I'm alone, you know?" Lushia smiled, looking almost kind.

"You can watch on your own," Carmine spat back, but Lushia clearly didn't care as she invited herself onto the couch. "Ugh…" Carmine scoffed, but with a deep breath she pushed her aura back down slowly.

"Now, where's that good little Kitten, hm? I should have a drink already." Lushia turned her gaze towards Panna, making the beast-kin girl flinch back. Her feline ears folded against her head, her gaze turning towards the floor.

"Ignore her, Panna," Tulip said with a clear, disinterested tone. "Lushia can't order you around." Tulip turned her gaze slowly away from Panna, settling a crimson-eyed glare onto Lushia.

"Lushia, I do hope you haven't forgotten that Beastkin are citizens," Tulip took on an almost regal tone. She didn't bother standing, remaining seated upright while her posture exuded an aura of royalty. "And you really should have been paying attention to the fight, Kendrick isn't faring too well now that Kirin started fighting." Everyone smiled softly at that—Well, everyone other than Lushia who turned towards the screen with an absolutely shocked expression.

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—

My legs pumped beneath me, mana rushing through my body in waves alongside the pulsing of my heart. I could see the clearing in the storm just a dozen feet in front of me—Even if it was already closing, it was a moment for what I needed.

Stone erupted out of the ground, pillars shifting up to slam into me or stop me in my path. Electricity ran through my veins, the world seemingly slowing down even as my body sped up immensely.

Kicking off my feet I hopped between the pillars, leaving a faint trail through the sandstorm. Even as the stones arose into my path I felt confident in my agility, sliding between, jumping or or rolling underneath them before they could slow me down in the slightest.

Finally I reached the clearing, my vision becoming clearer for several heartbeats even as the writhing sandstorm tried to close in around me.

I slammed a foot into the ground, turning and stopping hard when I reached the clearing. It felt like I could breathe again—Especially when I loosened the shield still hovering around my head slightly.

"Where is he?" I wondered, my gaze shifting around. There were multiple shadows shifting through the storm, most of them however seemed just a little off. Either too tall or moving slowly, I didn't trust any of them to actually be Kendrick.

"Are you just going to hide and attack from the back?!" I called into the storm. My focus however wasn't on the immediate world—It was inward, observing the world of mana, the spiraling torrents from within my origin. It was a mesmerizing sight as always, colors within colors spiraled alongside one-another. A tiny black speck sat within, almost like it was taunting me to try and look closer.

"Not right now…" I thought as I pulled at the veins of mana. They came surprisingly easily, following my will as I raised my hands slightly.

"Fine, if you want to be a coward, then let's open the field up." I called out once more, smiling softly when I heard some solemn cheers from the crowd.

There were so few—Few enough that I could honestly recognize the voices. One was a bit louder than the rest, truly bringing a smile to my face as I raised my arms all the way.

Electricity crackled across my entire body, leaping off of the tiny hairs along my arms and neck before curling back into my skin or into the ground. It sounded like a thousand tiny bolts, all of them striking at the same time.

"Focus the aura…" I could feel my own mana, how it was wafting off of my body—It created a sort of cloud, one which I could feel being pressed down from the storm.

"Is Kendrick using his aura to make this storm?" I wondered slowly. My eyes, even while split between two worlds, turned to gauge my surroundings.

The storm was closing in again. The impossible walls of sand singing my fate as they tried to encircle me, yet there was still no sign of Kendrick since that first clash.

"If this is the result of his aura…" I couldn't tell the mana apart. My own aura appeared like a kaleidoscope, the mana outside of it however? It was all a teal blue. The same, impassable coloration that choked out my view—But it all moved as one.

"This is a stupid plan…" Even as I thought that I leant forwards, feeling the pull of mana all the way through my body. The way my heart pounded faster than it should've been capable of. The muscles in my legs strained, my entire body thrummed with power as embodiment took over.

I shot into the storm with a cloud of dust in my wake. The sand greeted me with open hostility, picking up speed and power as if to match the pace I just set. Yet the sand was clearly slowing as soon as it entered into the radius of my aura.

I kept my focus split between two worlds that overlapped like liquid, the swirling colors of mana bringing out blinding lights that illuminated the path forwards.

I ducked low, sliding under a pillar of stone that had suddenly lit up in the world of mana. It was the exact same color and feel as that storm—Just, heavier in a way. It was like it just impacted the world a little bit more, bending strands of it in ways that made it stand out just enough to avoid.

They stood out so much that I easily dodged the second and even third pillars of stone. What I couldn't dodge however was the fourth, coming straight out of the ground with ferocious upwards force. It slammed into my ribs, sending me almost a foot into the air before a second cracked into my shoulder from the side.

"Uef—" I let out a sharp grunt when I hit the ground, Kendrick's aura pressing down violently against me in the moments where my concentration was shaken. It pressed in with choking force, the sand obeying Kendrick's will as it tried to snuff out the electricity racing across my body.

"Come on…" I thought desperately as I rolled to my stomach. My arms straightened as quickly as I could make them, pushing me back to my feet and forwards into a jog. Yet, before I could get a real footing under myself or any momentum I heard it from my side.

"Is that really all you have?" Kendrick's harsh voice spat out. "You called me a coward, then you run headfirst into your problems with suicidal abandon?" I could see him, hiding in the shadows of the storm.

I fell to a total stop, my still somewhat numb and now very sore right arm shifting to rest against my ribs. I ached already, but I stood my ground, waiting for the chance I needed.

"You hid in a storm from the second this fight started," I said calmly back. "You're scared, aren't you?" I smiled softly at him, flashing my teeth with some satisfaction when he flinched.

"Do you think that's going to get under my skin?" He said with a steadying breath. His eyes narrowed into thin glares as he lowered into a stance with his blade poised before him. "You're an unknown, it's only sensible to be cautious of you." He said with surprising neutrality—Far from the harshness of moments ago.

"Weird…" I thought, lowering into a steady stance myself. I greatly disliked the idea of engaging with Kendrick without a weapon, but I had no choice when my Halberd was nowhere to be found.

"I'm not losing," I said resolutely, my hands tightening into fists.

"I'll be the judge of that." Kendrick scoffed, leaning forwards slightly before his legs flexed and he exploded with speed.

The world once again felt like it slowed down when I pushed mana through my body. Each second dragged on for many times longer than it should have, each slight movement of my body far faster than should have been possible.

I sidestepped Kendrick's overhead swing, electricity lighting up my leg as I turned to bring a knee up into his side. But a stone wall formed over his skin in an instant, shattering under the blow from my knee yet stopping Kendrick from taking the brunt of the damage.

He turned and swung at me again in the momentary opening, forcing me to jump back. The edge of his blade just barely missed my gut, slicing slightly into my top before I landed and leapt back in to close the distance before his blade could come back across.

When I moved in close, getting well and fully underneath his guard his elbows dropped and tucked. He reflexively protected his sides while turning his hip towards me, effectively blocking all of the easiest weak points of his body and forcing me to take a less advantageous hit.

Of course it still hurt when my open palm smacked into his shoulder, sending a ferocious jolt of electricity through him that visibly loosened his grip on his blade. Pressing this advantage I turned and swung a kick into the back of his knee with similar effect—I couldn't take him down, I barely made his leg bend, but at the very least his muscles were twitching now.

I was forced to move back again when he started accelerating to match my pace. A flurry of swordswings came my way, overheads leading into jabs that fluidly turned into diagonal slashes. They were for all intents and purposes executed perfectly, I was only able to avoid them because I was a little faster.

However, with each swing I could feel the storm waning. Kendrick's focus was growing more intent, his speed and strikes more ravenous—All until I saw a split second to act.

When his next thrust came in I moved in low, feigning like I intended to get under his guard again even as I pulled as much mana as I physically could out of my origin. He assumed a defensive position again, perhaps sensing that I was pulling much more power out as I saw his body take on an earthen shine when I closed in.

My skin felt like it was on fire, tingling with electric fury that begged to leap out into every direction at once. There were a million bolts of lightning, each one begging to be freed—Each one a mere fragment of the whole I tried to pull at.

I could hear Carmine's words in my mind, her warnings against embodiment. My body certainly hadn't suddenly become ready for it, not in the few weeks of training I had managed to put in. The lower power like what I had been using was something I felt confident in sustaining, but now?…

"I need to stop trying new things every time…" I thought to myself as the world slowed even further. The sun seemed somehow brighter when the world slowed, the ground somehow darker and further away. Everything was just… more, more than it should have been. A split moment, a heartbeat where a substantial portion of my origin's mana flowed through my body, spread out like an eternity.

Then with a clap of thunder, I released the breath I had been holding. Thousands of bolts of light leapt through the air—Most of them crashing back down into my skin or into the ground, but more than a dozen found their way into Kendrick's skin. He let out a sudden, shocked bark of pain as he stumbled backwards.

Even still the mana from my body spread like a wave, pressing outwards as it swelled my aura for several heartbeats until it covered nearly the entire arena. In no more than a few heartbeats the sandstorm fell apart, blasted outwards as my overwhelming aura sent a physically palpable shockwave that whipped the sand into the walls.

I fell to one knee, breathing heavily as sweat beaded my brow. My heart pounded painfully in my chest, aching with a righteous fury about my idiocy in acting the way I did. Yet when my cloudy eyes began to refocus, I could see that Kendrick wasn't faring much better.

He was on his rear, his blade on the ground beside him. His arms and face were visibly burnt in several areas, filled with spiderweb patterns like shattered glass made of reddened, raw skin. He was breathing heavily, but already standing.

I knew just from the look of fury on his face, the first clash was little more than a draw. Let alone when he screamed loud enough to be heard over the cacophonous cheers that were quickly filling the arena.

"YOU PSYCHOTIC FILTH!" Kendrick's booming voice made me shiver, now the fight really was about to begin.