The First War Mage: Skyline Trials

By the time the sun came over the horizon I was already up and ready to start moving. The events of the previous night were still raw in my head—Something I couldn't stop thinking about no matter how hard I actually tried to do so.

"What did he mean when he said I needed to make a bond with you?" I asked towards the Kitsune who was already laying lazily on my shoulder. I hadn't paid much attention, but I could tell that she was starting to get bigger. Where she had been the size of a particularly large cat, now she was approaching the size of an actual fox.

I only got a yip from Akemi, as always when I tried to ask her things. It was something I had honestly grown used to, and now with that strange conversation in mind I was left to wonder if Akemi understood me more than she let on.

This time, I got a sense of sass from her—Almost like she was asking how she should know. Frankly, I was impressed by Akemi's ability to exude sass like that and just gave a soft sigh.

"Alright, fair enough…" Without another word I began moving. My miniscule camp had been packed up in moments, and now I was a little curious to see just how fast I could actually move.

It took only a moment of focus to begin drawing on my origin, a pulse of mana accepting the gentle call to be drawn forth. Warmth rushed through my body, a soothing feeling of static confidence that ran across my body in a circuit.

"Lets go," Akemi barely let out a panicked bark before I took off. Her claws digging into my shoulder with a vengeance as the forest turned into a blur around me, my motions accented by cracks like thunder.

O'Neille stood at the edge of the forest, looking out into the plains before him with a disgusted expression. His soldiers all gathered around him, trepidation clear with every hesitant breath they tried to make.

"Sir… What do we do?" Frederick asked as he took his position to O'Neille's right. Twin Sapphires pierced into Frederick, leaving a cold silence before O'Neille mustered words together.

"We found the Beast, it's time we put the bastard down." O'Neille held no remorse in his tone as his gaze was cast once more to the fields before him.

The sight was rather beautiful to take in, a field full of flowers of every color he could imagine. Reds, blues, purples and yellows all intermingled into a visual cacophony that was nearly enough to drag his gaze away from what truly mattered in the field.

The first of the things he could recognize in the field were people, Soldiers even. A dozen stood together, weapons in hand while they were clad in the strangest sort of colors he had ever seen. Vibrant colors of pink, blue and orange all sat together in an unfamiliar symbol emboldened on their chests. All dozen of them wore horned helmets, hiding their features from any sort of identification.

And of course, there was the beast at the very center of that formation. An inky monstrosity built almost like a hound, its jet-black hide pulled taut over a muscular frame. Surrounding the monstrosity were Ghouls in the dozens, docile by some vile magic thanks to the beast leading them.

"Split into two groups, those with defensive capabilities follow me, we're going to be a distraction force. Frederick, lead the second group of offensive units and encircle them." O'Neille's orders came out like a well practiced speech.

His soldiers, much to their credit, obeyed their commands without question. They all knew what roles they were capable of playing, leaving O'Neille to plan things out as the fighting soon began.

My steps fell like drums of thunder through the forest, leaving shockwaves and cacophonies in my wake. I knew I was being anything but subtle in my mad sprint, but I at least had a reason to move as quickly as I did.

A reason that was simply emphasized when a globule of magma forced me to dive to the side, just to once again redirect as a stone pillar erupted into my path.

Erick and Kendrick, or at least I assumed it to be them, were both chasing me. I hadn't managed to see them directly, but I could recognize their magic well enough. They hadn't managed to actually land a blow yet, however they were rather quickly pulling away at my supplies of mana.

That was something I was beginning to quickly come to realize—I had a lot of mana, for all intents and purposes it seemed like I had more than any of the other students.

But I was also starting to realize how brutally inefficient I was with that mana. Especially when something efficient, precise and potentially lethal was being thrown at me with such indiscretion.

Another chunk of magma forced me out of my thoughts, a bar of solid lightning forming at the soles of my feet to kick off from before it disappeared back into my ring. I was launched bodily upwards with far more speed than I knew how to properly control, upwards straight into a maelstrom of stone.

My arms were raised the instant after the first rock dug into my skin, leaving a deep furrow in its wake while the rest of the momentary onslaught was deflected by a thin directional shield of raw mana.

I whirled around as yet more magma was launched out of the tree line, drippings of fire sailed away from the sphere as it approached me.

"Shit…" The words barely had enough time to escape my lips before the molten rock hit me. Only the fringes of its molten mass managed to strike true, burning a multitude of holes through my uniform as I unceremoniously plummeted back towards the ground.

I couldn't exactly fly to keep myself airborne, nor did I have any means to gain enough energy to keep moving—At least not without falling nearly all the way back to the treeline.

There were rustles in the leaves beneath where I was falling, the branches of the tree swaying with unnatural motions. With only a split-second to think I mustered another solidified pole of electricity from within my ring.

I hissed through clenched teeth as my shoulder was wrenched as I caught the pole, barely able to hold on long enough through the pain to throw myself forwards. I didn't have time to retake the construct back into my ring, instead I released control of it as I gained distance.

I let out a slow, satisfied breath as I heard the energy dissipate behind me. The electricity was wild and uncontrolled, ravaging through the treeline with the winds carrying surprised and pained cries alike.

It took a moment before the sounds properly registered; there had been far more than just two voices in pain.

"Defensive spells high!" O'Neille's barking orders reached Gerald's ears. His reflexes, honed to utter mastery over the years he spent training in military academies paying off as he obeyed them.

Mana channeled into his left arm, his right hand beginning to trace an intricate pattern into the air itself. Runes upon runes interlaced within each other, forming a pattern of impossibilities that snapped into reality as a brilliant white shield.

The half-dome had no issue halting the rain of demonic black spikes, their corrupting essence of mana washing across the shield harmlessly on impact.

"Formations forward!" O'Neille's next orders were punctuated with a cacophonous scream of steel.

However much Gerald hated being ordered around, however much he knew he should be the leader. Even he had to admit at some point that O'Neille knew how to lead a fight.

O'Neille's onslaught of steel was closely followed by more formations. It was a simple trick, one far less subtle than using a chant, but incredibly effective for men like them.

Steel surged forth alongside high-pressure water, blasts of compressed flames and great erupting walls of stone. All of these moving pieces worked together into what looked like a well-practiced maelstrom.

The Ghouls and Men alike were trapped firmly within the grasps of the walls, their screams the only things left to remember them by after their immolation of ice and fire. Yet even through the desolation, the bruised and blackened figure of the Unspeakable still paced forwards. Its maw opened in a deep, growling, snarling bark that sent a shiver through the spines of every man before it.

"Defenses forwards!" O'Neille's orders came once more without hesitation, the soldiers however didn't share their unwavering commanders' steely resolve.

Gerald and all the other men around him froze, they locked up with the terror that the beast before them represented. Its golden eyes like a basilisk moved across the soldiers. It was a gaze so intense that Gerald felt his blood turn to ice.

Three green lights rose into the air behind me, gently gliding through the sky towards the speck that was the school in the distance.

One amongst the trio was screaming in anger, hammering their fists against the glassy dome surrounding them.

"I wonder how many got taken out overnight…" The thought came to mind as I kept my momentum, each step through the air met by the momentary existence of another construct.

My momentum continued to carry me until another flash of lights caught my attention. Far in the distance, just beyond the edge of the forest I could see another fight unfolding. Even from the distance, I could tell it wasn't a fight between students.

The air moved and felt immensely heavy under the pressure of the fighting, laying on a weight I hadn't felt since Brimrose and Geldin had fought. My heart was already racing in my chest, I had no choice but to go forwards

I let myself drop towards the ground, slowing my forwards momentum substantially as I walked towards the edge of the clearing.

Flowers spread out as far as I could see, casting multi-colored hues across the rolling hills that made up the great fields. It was a farm, I could tell that much from just a glance at it—However, my gaze was far more focused on the sight near the center of the field.

A great, inky-black beast lay in intimate combat with an elderly soldier. His grayed hair laying flat to his sweat drenched body, his blade firmly lodged in the beast's maw to hold its jaw at bay. Other soldiers lay on the ground around him, some crushed, others without heads.

The Beast's black hide was bleeding, oozing out deep crimson liquid across the ground as it wrestled against the strength of the mage against it. The mage wrestling the beast dug his heels in, pressing and wrenching his blade violently to the side.

The motion drew the longsword out of the beast's jaw by cutting cleaning through its cheeks. Its jaw was left dangling down before it, its voice projecting a pained cry that echoed so intensely that nearly everyone who heard it dropped to the ground.

Even from the distance I was forced to my knees, my hands moving to cover my bleeding ears as my own pained cry left my ears with nothing more than the feeling of my throat vibrating telling me that I made a sound.

Stars clouded my vision when my eyes opened, my mind was screaming with nearly as much agony as the panicked adrenaline in my body. Nothing but the intense and continuous ringing filled my ears.

Even in my clouded thoughts, I knew exactly what just happened with horrific resolve. I had almost died, from nothing more than the pained scream released by whatever this beast was.

As my vision cleared, I could see that I was far from the only one to be affected so severely. If anything I had gotten off easier than most thanks to how far away I was.

Most of the soldiers who had been standing closest to the beast, barring the man fighting it directly, now lay face first on the ground. Some of them spasmed violently, the rest lay completely still. Others, a bit further from the beast looked to be doing better, yet most of them looked to be left in shambles from the attack.

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The man who stood across from the beast was down on one knee, heaving heavy breaths in and out while the beast stared at him with a derisive sneer. Its eyes narrowed upon the gray-haired man with indignation, one of its massive, talon-covered limbs raising for a strike.

My mind was already starting to scream, my body begged to start moving—I had to do something. It was a suicidal instinct, one which screamed for me to throw myself forwards. An instinct that drove my body faster than my mind could register, before I even knew it I was moving.

Lightening surged with my steps, energy raced through my body with each resounding drumbeat of my heart. It felt like the world itself was starting to slow down, the struggling soldiers pressed themselves upwards. I could nearly watch the motion of their eyes moving to look at me, mixed expressions of shock and bewilderment overcasting their bloodied faces.

It wasn't until I turned my shoulder forwards, aiming towards the side of the beast that I fully registered what I was doing.

"I'm going to die." That was the only thought that managed to cross my mind before my shoulder made impact.

No sound reached my ears, but I felt the powerful burst of mana that rushed out of my body. It was wild and uncontrolled, cascading into countless individual bolts from every inch of skin that would bear to let it escape.

Yet somehow, the beast caved to the impact. I felt its weight receding away from my shoulder. But, as quickly as that weight moved away a fiery pain raced through my body. My shoulder ground painfully against itself, aching in such a way that I knew I had just broken it.

With the world still moving at a snail's pace, I was able to throw myself to the side in order to avoid landing on top of the beast. Instead killing my momentum with a slide across the loose topsoil that tore deep furrows into the ground and left flowers upended.

I looked up with my lungs screaming for air, the world settling back into a much more familiar pace.

The soldiers around me all looked stunned—All but the gray-haired man, he was already moving to capitalize on the momentary opening. I watched with wide-eyed hope as he launched back to his feet, his jaw opening into a scream that I could only just begin to hear.

As he took a final step forwards, his blade poised to strike I felt a powerful wave of mana from him. Its resolve was unyielding, defying the very world itself as countless thousands of symbols imposed themselves upon the world around him. They formed the loose shape of a half dome, growing brighter and brighter until they unleashed with a single violent flash.

Pillars of sharpened metal screamed forwards, slamming down from a thousand positions at once. Yet they all aimed for a singular point within the Beast's hide, an aim with utterly lethal accuracy as the Beast's heart was torn to shreds.

The Beast managed to thrash a handful of times before growing entirely still. In nearly that same instant I felt the adrenaline flee my body, bringing the fiery pain in my shoulder up with a vengeance.

"Girl!" I slowly looked up, wincing from the volume that pierced through the endless ringing in my ears. The gray-haired man was marching towards me, a mixed look of fury and worry laden on his face. I almost backed away reflexively he raised his arms up, I wanted to back away even more when he dropped to one knee and bowed his head low. "Thank you, you may very well have saved the lives of all of my men and myself." His voice was soft, almost caring as he spoke.

"Y-You're welcome?" My uncertainty was clear in my voice as I spoke. But he took my response in stride, his gaze moving upwards before looking me over appraisingly. His piercing blue gaze studying my features, taking careful interest in my hair, eyes and insignia blazened on my breast.

"Is there anything we can do to help you?" He asked after only a moment of silence.

"You could point me in the direction of Ferilis?" I asked with a little too much hope in my voice. I knew the general direction I needed to go, but having an exact direction would be a massive improvement.

"...Ferilis?" He asked, looking confused for a moment. A moment that passed almost immediately when two figures blasted overhead.

"Shit—Quick please! I need to catch up!" I turned my head, watching the two figures go. I could recognize Tulip's hair from the distance, and the graceful flames that raced just behind her could only belong to Silva.

"Ah," The man chuckled as he stood up. He slowly raised a hand, a strange metallic object forming in his hand which he soon offered forwards. "Take this, the arrow will point you to Ferilis."

"Thank you!" I cried as I reached to grab the object, just for him to close his hand around it and pull his arm back.

"First, I—We need to know the name of our savior." As if on cue, all of the capable soldiers began standing at once. I felt their eyes landing on me, a mix of trepidation, respect and anticipation almost emanating from them all.

"Kirin," I offered, meeting the gray-haired man's gaze. But he didn't look satisfied in the least about the answer. "My name is Kirin Vulender. Can I go now, please?" My voice came out pleading, my heart racing as the man's face contorted with momentary surprise.

For several heavy moments he stood there as if contemplating, then when another student came racing by—When Kendrick came racing by, he offered his arm forwards.

"Go and win that race, Kirin," The man spoke with a smile on his face. In his palm was the object he had made. It was a small compass bearing a single arrow, one which pointed in roughly the same direction everyone had been moving. "You'll have all of us rooting for you." I heard the other soldiers, his soldiers beginning to nod and murmur their agreements.

"Thank you!" Not a moment after I grabbed the compass with my good arm I spun and started sprinting with everything I had. My body was absolutely screaming with pain, but I wouldn't listen to it, not until I made it all the way to the end.

"Vulender, huh?" O'Neille mused to himself slowly. It was absurd, but it was an absurdity that he needed on a day like today. His gaze slowly moved back, taking in the destruction of such a short battle, a fight that had been turned around by a girl who was barely even an adult.

"Sir, what do you want us to do?" Frederick asked as he walked up to O'Neille's side. Frederick was holding one arm close to his chest with the other, long red marks showing where his limb had been mangled.

"Get anyone able-bodied enough to stand. Carry those too injured and the dead with us, I'll handle transporting the Unspeakable." O'Neille's orders were almost gentle now. His men deserved it at this point, especially the ones who lost their brothers in arms.

"Yes sir," Frederick answered, but he paused as he began to turn to relay the orders. His gaze was almost curious as he looked upon O'Neille. "And Sir, do you think she'll win?" Frederick asked slowly.

"No, no I don't think she will," O'Neille answered nearly immediately. He could hear Frederick's disappointment, even as O'Neille continued. "I know she'll win. I saw more conviction behind those eyes then I've seen behind a thousand men twice her age," O'Neille chuckled slowly. "Frederick, that right there, that's the type of kid I fight for."

"I think that's the type of kid we all fight for Sir." Frederick replied with a melancholic smile of his own. But he didn't stay around for much longer, the man needed orders. Not to mention they had a lot of land to finish covering over the next few days.

"Fight on Kirin, fight on."

I never quite realized how painful running could be, not even when I had to endure Levi's borderline tortuous attempts at training. Having to run with an injured shoulder, feeling every impact send a jolt of pain through my body was bad enough.

Using magic wasn't helping either, I was certain of that much now.

If my mana was laden within my body, then I was certain now more than ever that an injured limb couldn't use magic. Electricity tried to surge through to my arm from my broken shoulder, but it failed and sent painful dissipations through my skin that nearly threw me off with every step.

It was a dance of agony as I kept running, a sprint fueled by nothing but spite and competitive fury. I could see the shadows of Tulip, Silva and Kendrick all just ahead of me. Levi had managed to catch up to the two girls in about the time that it took me to catch up to all three of them.

Now we were all left within eyesight of each other, all within the silent agreement and knowledge that this was going to be the final stretch of the race.

That final stretch however also meant something else entirely—They would be doing everything they could to inhibit one another. Tulip and Silva had long since entered into a dance like dueling birds, one which saw Silva casting brilliant flames towards Tulip who was able to effortlessly dodge them while dragging physical shadows into existence which Silva simply burnt her way through.

Meanwhile Kendrick and I had also entered into a sort of dance, albeit with Kendrick as the conductor and myself as the hopeless dancer trying to keep up with ever more complex motions.

The earth underfoot raised and shifted around with effortless ease under Kendrick's control, the very ground turning into a weapon that threatened to consume me if I made a single misstep. Pillars of stone barred my path while the soil became softer than mud, stones arose into the air just to be sent into complex patterns that forced me to stay near the ground.

I could see rather clearly that Kendrick wasn't trying to eliminate me, at least not yet. He could have done so easily but he kept leaving narrow paths just open enough for me to sneak through mostly unharmed. Instead he was trying to exhaust me either of physical energy, or of mana.

Forcing a deep breath in, I aimed to steady my resolve. I only had one of those things in excess, my origin lay roughly half emptied. My body however was running on fumes, kept going by nothing but my wavering resolve as we raced through the fields of growing density.

We were all moving fast, frankly to an incredible degree as one field simply bled into another like a blur. Flowers gradually turned to crops, dense forests turning to small villages off in the distance. Yet on the horizon the vestiges of our real goal was coming into sight.

On one of the largest hills on the horizon I could see the distinct outline of grand structures, underneath which lay the impressions of streets and walls. Ferilis was in sight, and it was quickly filling me with entirely new resolve to keep going.

I wasn't the only one hit with that resolve however. But somehow the others had come to a silent agreement without me as they all noticed the same sight—An agreement to stop attacking, and simply let this be a real race to the end.

Silva and Tulip both began blasting forwards with speed that strained my eyes to keep up with. Kendrick began putting on speed to a similar degree, each powerful lunge he took propelled him forwards by dozens of feet just to be immediately followed by a second and a third in a frighteningly fast succession.

I was being left behind by all three of them, I could see them growing smaller and smaller in the distance while my body felt about ready to give out. I was exhausted, I could see the end goal in sight, but my body ached. Every breath brought intense shocks of pain, ones which were matched only by the intensity of my landings.

"Am I really going to lose a race?" I thought to myself, feeling my body starting to give in. "I know I can move faster than this, so why can't I just call that out?" It wasn't hard to think about, I had just moved faster, faster than any of the others were moving right now.

"Just one more burst, I can see it over there," My body screamed, but my mana obeyed. I was able to pay more attention to it this time, the way my mana built up in density, compressing itself just outside of my origin. It was a dense bubble, one that grew closer to being popped every instant I spent charging it. I could already see the world slowing down—Or was my view of the world speeding up? I wasn't sure which it was, or if it even mattered. "Just one more."

The single thought brought everything out at once. With only a slight lean forwards my Origin gave everything I asked for, my mana came flooding out in an intense wave that raced down from my back to my legs. Once my legs straightened bursts of lightning slammed into the ground, propelling me forwards with even more energy than I thought possible.

I left charred marks in the ground wherever I went, my body screamed for me to stop. Every muscle was on fire, every inch of my skin felt like it was tearing under the pressure of the wind. But I was moving fast—Fast enough that it took only ten strides before I left Kendrick behind entirely, his surprised expression barely registering in my peripherals as I launched past him. I was moving fast enough that I was able to blast past Tulip, I was moving fast enough that even Silva seemed slow.

I could see it in the distance now, the city was taking shape. The walls of Ferilis lay before me, growing closer and closer every instant that I was able to keep this sprint going. But I was able to tell nearly immediately that I wouldn't be keeping this sprint going long enough to reach the city.

It felt like my body was starting to fall apart at the seams, energy was searching for any possible exit, even where no exits were to be found. My monstrous reserves of mana were quickly growing thinner and thinner, but I could see the walls of the city.

So I kept running, I kept running even as I grew slower. I kept running even as I felt the intense heat of Silva getting closer. I kept running even as the shimmering haze of Tulip's flight was brought closer and closer. I kept running even when my body nearly ran out of mana, my maddened sprint falling to such a low speed that I may as well have been crawling.

The gates of Ferilis lay a mere hundred feet away. I could see the people beyond the gate, gathered together and watching with amazement as four utterly exhausted figures tried in vain to race one another to the entrance of their city.

I couldn't spare the energy to glance at the others, I could barely spare the energy to keep myself from falling over. I just had to follow the insane instincts and the vestiges of adrenaline that still raced through my system. I was in the lead and I wasn't about to give that up, not for anything.

One step fell in front of another, a thump reached my ears behind me. My knees buckled, threatening to give in as Kendrick's broad figure showed itself in my peripherals. I couldn't lose, not to him, I kept moving.

My jaw clenched down hard, a breathless scream escaping my lips as every last ounce of energy I had came out all at once. One step after another landed again and again and again, only falling to a shaky stop when well trodden gravel gave way to paved bricks.

I knew undeniably in that instant that I had won, even as I heard Kendrick mere feet behind me. For that moment I was able to be happy as I gave into the blackness that promised to save me from the agony my body was in.