Arcane Advent: The Mage, The Girl, and The Ruined City by R Kain
“You mean like a flashbang grenade? You’re applying simple techniques in a way to make them useful in active battle. ”
“Exactly. By constantly using your abilities, you find yourself branching out from the spell’s intended purpose. You gain a new skill.”
“Think outside the box,” Leidolf confirmed.
“Sometimes the only way to defeat a stronger opponent is to find an unorthodox approach. Your next test will be a demonstration of that. How many runes can you use?”
“Kauno, Algiz, and Uruz, those are the only three I know, and only at a basic level at that. I can use the defensive properties of Algiz to make a fragile shield, Uruz for basic strengthening and healing, and Kauno for creating either a ball of passive flames or destructive flames.”
“That’s not bad for nearly three months of practice. Especially if you take into account the fact that you only recently started learning to use your channels. You might never be a top-class mage, but you’ll at least be able to defend yourself.”
The man left, leaving Leidolf to practice. Considering all the possibilities that his three runes would allow, he started with the Algiz rune…
Time passed and the sun set. In a park, within an enclosed space that was isolated from other people using an Othala rune, the pair was ready to clash once again.
Showing no hesitance, Leidolf’s master drew a gun and loaded it with a glass bullet filled with crushed Onyx and engraved with the Hagalaz rune. The hammer of the gun fired when the trigger was pulled, and a storm of frozen stone was launched.
“Algis!” Leidolf summoned the glass shield of light. The ice hammered at it relentlessly, cracking it with each hit. The shield was nearing its limit when he put twice the normal amount of energy to reinforce it…And then he overloaded it with three times the power, forcing the shield to explode outwards with concussive force.
“Turning a defensive spell into an offensive one by destroying it, while redirecting the explosion forward. It’s perfect for a counterattack, but the backlash of destroying your own spell will cause you a migraine.” The man took out a cigarette and lit it.
“It’s reckless, dangerous, and unexpected. I approve,” the man proclaimed with a sly smile. “It may be because I’m running out of time, but I feel that I can trust you with one of my treasures.”
Leidolf sat on the ground tired, when his master walked closer to him and told him something interesting. “As a bonus, I’ll show you what an Alf-shot is. You’ll probably find it useful.”
******
The journey back to Leidolf’s home had been halted by the pack surrounding him. Leidolf found himself facing against at least a dozen wolves. After placing the child within a barrier created by an Othala runestone, he drew his blade and ran towards the hungry pack.
These numbers are too much for an extended battle, he assessed the situation. He was still weakened from fighting against the Guardian of Fire. Nevertheless, to protect the child behind him, he swung the blade without pause.
The wolves just kept coming. No matter how many of them fell, they kept pushing forward. Driven into frenzy by their orders, they threw away their false lives for the sake of their master.
Claws met steel, fur met flames, and fangs met flesh. Fending off mad beasts was something that humans would struggle against even with weapons. A single mage at Leidolf’s level shouldn’t be able to hold out on his own.
This was the reason he carried enchanted items. The runestones were his key to surviving the onslaught with the child in tow. Generating a fiery explosion to incinerate them, a barrier to protect the child, and a torrent of water to wash them away—the stones drank his blood for nine months and became a threat to the creatures.
Unfortunately, the number of stones was limited, so he couldn’t use them recklessly. Carefully rationing the remaining stones, he relied on the blade for the majority of the battle. But even then, at the five minute mark, his blade felt heavy.
His lungs burned from the lack of oxygen as he continued his breathless rush. Lactic acid building in his muscles made it hard to move. Pushing himself harder and harder, he relied on his unenhanced body to deliver killing blow after killing blow in hopes of saving his remaining energy for an emergency.
The pack died slowly, but surely. Their efforts to bring down the stray mage had not been in vain. Even with the protection of the cloak, blood was trickling down his arms from the constant clawing.
Struggling to the very end, Leidolf cut through all of them after being driven to his breaking point. Seeing her hero being keeling on the ground and covered in sweat and blood, she was tempted to leave the barrier to go to his side. As her hand passed through it, Leidolf yelled at her. “STAY!”
A sudden wind blew through the air. The light breeze became a terrifying gale that slammed into Leidolf and sent him into a wall. Coughing up blood, he shielded his eyes in an attempt to see beyond the wind.
There, inside of a raging tornado, was a large bird. It was the same as the ones from before, but much bigger. With each flap of its wings, a huge gale threw up debris and launched them with deadly velocity.
Incoming death stood before him in the form of a wall of air. People do not fear the gale upon their backs, but facing it head on makes them realize the true terror that it holds. Facing this terror, Leidolf wanted to drop to his knees and cower, praying for help.
“The strength of aurochs run through me,” he started the spell so that he could face the wall of air. “Let your proud strength mend bone and flesh!”
Cowering in the face of death solved nothing; neither did praying for a miracle or hero. In the end, the only one he could rely on was himself.
“Awaken!” The bracelet shined once again, and warm relief flooded his body as the injuries healed. Stomping his foot on the ground, it made a crater from the force of the impact. Shouting at the top of his lungs, he charged ahead into the wall of death.
The wind howled, pushing against him with all it could. The debris and rubble it engulfed along its path rode the wind with enough force to penetrate Leidolf with ease, becoming the weapons of the wind.
“Algis!” The shield of glass mounted itself on his arm once again, protecting him as he charged towards the enemy. Every hit cracked the shield, bringing it closer to destruction, and he was forced to expend more energy to reinforce the shield and mend the cracks.
The distance between the two closed. With all the strength he could, he jumped into the air and flew like a bullet towards the Guardian of Wind.
But he wouldn’t make it. The distance was still too great. Calculating the point where the mage would stop ascending, the Guardian split its protective twister into four and aimed for him.
The four spiraling winds would rip the mage’s body apart and scatter the remains throughout the air. The moment he jumped, he lost the ability to change directions and avoid a direct attack. The instant the wind touched the shield, it would drill through it and the stray mage would face his death.
Yet, even facing death, he pulled out a stone that held the power of the sun. With a mighty throw it climbed into the sky. Covering his eyes, the runestone detonated and filled the sky with a bright light.
The creature was blinded by the spectacle, but it didn’t change the fact that Leidolf would be dead in mere seconds. In desperation, he detached the shield, which hung flat in the air. Using the shield as a stepping stone, he shot even further and faster into the air. The four winds of death missed him and tore the shield apart as he hovered above the Guardian.
Switching his grip on the Japanese sword, he fell on top of the bird and stabbed it. The Guardian let out a screech and flapped violently. Leidolf gripped as many feathers as he could and used them as a brace while he pulled out the blade. With another swing, augmented by the bracelet, he cut through one of its wings and it dropped from the sky.
Riding on it as the Guardian fell, he braced for impact as they fell to earth. The two hit the ground with a thundering crash
When he finally stood before the grounded bird, he weakly raised the blade and brought it down on the dying creature’s neck. Something splashed up onto his face as the blade hit. He raised the blade once again, with his shaking arms, and struck it again—and again, and again.
After the first four times, it started to turn into black sand from its legs. Still, he continued to chop at it until its head came off, out of breath and covered in whatever served as its blood.
Finally sure it was dead; steel slipped through his weakened fingers and fell to the ground. His vision began to fade as the world seemed to spin around him, not even realizing that he fell to the earth. His consciousness left him and his empty eyes stared into the sky.
Chapter 6: The Sixth Hour
Was it mere chance that Leidolf met that man? Or was it fate that he would meet him on that night of the full moon, two years ago.
Under the night sky, at the deep end of a certain park, the sound of clashing wood was echoing within the labyrinth of trees. Standing with a bokken in his hands, Leidolf swung the polished wood like a hammer onto the trunk of the practice tree. The impact sent a tremor through the blade and into his hands.
There was no elegance in the strikes. They were raw and unfettered, a method of releasing the stress of the day. There was no other reason for coming out that late at night. As sweat began on fall onto the ground and his hands started to ache, he dropped the wooden sword and laid on the ground.
The classes at college weren’t that difficult, but they were boring. In addition to building up his portfolio with smaller projects, the main issue was the cost of the classes. Once his loans had to be repaid, he would be in major debt.
After thinking over his future, Leidolf got up and started to walk back home. Maneuvering around the trees, he was a few meters away from the entrance when a sickening smell reached his noise. Four silhouettes stood wavering in the moonlight—swaying as if drunk, they let out a garbled moan.
At first Leidolf merely thought of them as drunkards that stumbled into some kind of filth and tried to walk past them. “Excuse me.”
With only the sound of shifting grass, one of the silhouettes lashed out at him. Dropping to one knee, Leidolf avoided the strike and launched one of his own to the ribcage.
Crack, was the sound of bones being broken. He found it weird that, even though he had hit the drunkard hard enough, the figure didn’t scream in pain. Instead, a smile was working its way across his face, revealing stained teeth.
Withdrawing the wooden blade, Leidolf took a few steps back and got into a fighting stance. They began to advance on him, hiding in the darkness. By chance, a ray of moonlight hit one of their faces, revealing dead skin.
Zombies, Leidolf thought. Something that should only exist in videogames or movies was standing in front of him with a sick smile on its face. His grip on the bokken tightened as they began circling him like feral beasts. He knew that these were predatory actions—meaning he was their prey.
Taking a deep breath, he charged forward towards the enemy. They should have been no more than frail bones and skin. In that case, he would crush their limbs, so that they couldn’t chase after him.
The first one was a man from what Leidolf could tell. He aimed for the right shoulder, hoping to dislocate it. Reacting much quicker than he expected, the zombie avoided the strike and launched one of its own. Blocking the blow with the wooden sword, Leidolf’s hands resonated with pain.
What a heavy blow, he thought. If that strike had landed on his head, it would have killed him. He wanted to take a step back, but he heard twigs snapping behind him. They were on his back now—he would be overtaken if he stepped back.
Raising his leg, he threw a side kick at the one in front, and followed it with another swing of the bokken, unleashing a two-strike combo. The blows connected with success this time, and the creature stumbled back. Taking the opening, Leidolf dashed past it—
Or at least he attempted to. He felt a sharp tug on his leg and looked to see as another zombie—a woman this time—grabbed him. With a monstrous groan, the female zombie threw him into one of the larger trees.
Pain radiated throughout his body. His left arm was fractured on impact, with the bone was protruding from his skin. He wanted to stand, but his body wouldn’t listen to him.
The zombies closed in slowly. The fear of dying encroached on him, eating away at his other emotions. It looked like Leidolf would meet his end here and now.
“I-I don’t want to die like this!” Leidolf’s pride left him, and tears began falling from his eyes in fear. No matter how prideful a man was, there was something that he feared. For Leidolf, it was dying a meaningless death, where no one would know he existed.
As they were only a meter away, he found himself looking into the blood red eyes of the living dead. Strength left his body quickly; it felt as though something was being pulled from inside him. He nearly blacked out, and then a gunshot rang through the air.
The male zombie was knocked back, slightly disorientated by the impact, before spontaneously combusting. Letting out a death throe, it tried to move away but its legs snapped and it fell on the ground, clawing at it, until there was nothing but ashes.
A figure descended from the cloudless sky and landed between Leidolf and the remaining zombies. His frowning face and piercing eyes were illuminated by the burning glow of a lit cigarette. In his hand was a customized revolver, engraved with runes on the barrel.
“I hadn’t planned on getting involved,” he removed the cigarette from his mouth, “but it’d leave a bad taste in my mouth to just leave someone at the nonexistent mercy of Draugar.”
The man pulled the trigger faster than Leidolf’s eyes could keep track of, firing three shots that nailed the female in her head, chest, and stomach—engulfing her in a bigger burst of flames that illuminated the night sky.
The two remaining Draugar attacked. The tallest one was a teenage boy, around sixteen years old, while the short one was a small girl, maybe around eight years old. The two undead charged the man who slew the other members of their pack, fueled by fear and rage.
The mystery man threw the cigarette at the boy and whispered “Kenaz”.
The cigarette erupted into a nine foot pillar of orange flame, roasting the undead, while he shoved the revolver into the last Draugr’s face. Leidolf closed his eyes before the man pulled the trigger, unable to watch the final kill.
“Don’t close your eyes in the middle of a battle…If you do—” He flicked open the cylinder of the gun and inserted six more bullets made of glass and crushed bloodstone into the chambers, “—you won’t see the rest of them.”
Numerous eyes opened all at once, surrounding the pair on all sides. The Draugar stepped forward slowly, eyeing the mysterious man with the gun.
“What the hell…how did so many zombies—”
“Draugar,” the man interrupted.
“Draugar,” Leidolf corrected himself, “how did so many get here without causing a riot in the city?”
“They were cloaked from normal eyes. No one came even after hearing gunfire either,” another revolver appeared out of thin air and into his free hand. “They also tried to rip out your soul instead of simply eating you, so they’re definitely under someone’s control. I’d say this was a hit.”
The man spun around and aimed the new revolver at Leidolf. Before he could react, the man fired four shots.“Uruz! Elhaz! Kenaz! Othala!”
‘Uruz’ hit Leidolf his chest to heal his wounds, while ‘Elhaz,’ ‘Kenaz,’ and ‘Othala’ landed in a triangle around him, erecting a pyramid barrier that would fry anything that tried to penetrate it.
The Draugar exploded onto the battlefield. It was a large mass of living dead that would swarm and devour the gun-wielding man. Raising both
Shot after shot after shot, the man unleashed continuous fire with the twin revolvers. When the chambers ran out of bullets, more instantly appeared to replace them. Releasing a barrage of different shots, the man fended off the horde.
One bullet shot a string of fire that tore through a group and instantly turned them to ashes. Another sent out a streak of light that ate through a couple of Draugar—actively chasing as many as it could—while they shrieked in pain. Some instantly turned whatever they hit to dirt, while the others ended up skewering the Draugar with icicles that froze them into fragile ice sculptures and shattered them a few seconds later.
“Holy sh—” Leidolf was cut off by the sound of gunfire, but his shock was still the same. One man was holding back—no, smiting would be the proper word for it. The man was smiting the living dead, as if it their existence was a sin.
Leidolf could only watch in awe while he slowly began to loath his weakness. He couldn’t even defend himself and had to rely on luck to save him. It was only because of a literal miracle and the whim of this man that he was still alive. By the time the last one fell, the tree-laced grounds looked as if they were torn apart by every natural disaster in the book.
Was this a Valkyrie’s doing, the man thought to himself, banishing the guns from whence they came. The pyramid sealing Leidolf was gone and he stood up to confront the man.
“Who…no, what are you?”
“Just a man who’s committed an unforgivable sin. As for what…I’m a mage.” A new cigarette was lit. “And the question isn’t my identity, but yours.”
“I’m Leidolf. Leid for short.”
“The wolf descendant? That’s an awkward name.”
“It is?” Leidolf said, rubbing his head. “Well, it came to me in a dream, so…”
Thus the student and master had met, forming a bond that was created in less than a year, and would last a lifetime. It would be a grueling nine months under the man’s tutelage, but Leidolf studied and trained harder than he could have ever imagined.