The town of cultivation was situated on a somewhat flat plain with crops and grass surrounding the town. A single dirt road entered the west side of the town through their now closed metal gates. The town was massive, boasting a total population of around 100 thousand people. The town was packed with famous guilds. But the most notable thing about this town was its church of cultivation.
This church serves as both a school for Mana users and a point of worship for most of the town. It is the churches belief that humans are endowed the ability to bring out the best of themselves through dedication and work. That hard work and dedication will one day give salvation to many if they dedicate their lives to it. However, they find that those who are not dedicating their lives to their craft to be sinful.
However, their belief is not the part which everyone knows them for. It's the fact that they can output experienced Mana users every year. Their education and dedication has allowed the church of cultivation to teach and educate hundreds of Mana users throughout the years.
However, decades of dedication to their craft may now end. Outside this grand town of cultivation lies a huge army from the western region. Thousands of knights, squires, and mercenaries are all preparing to siege the town. The defending side has been battered for the past couple of days from arrows and a couple of attempts to take the walls.
However, today the forces were adamant on pushing onto the western walls of the town. Along side the ladders which were used previously, the western forces erected a huge siege tower to latch onto the walls to let their forces storm the walls. The defenders were finally panicking after witnessing such a tower.
"Captain!" One of the guards on the wall was running towards the western wall's captain.
"They built a damn siege tower! We need help from the church of cultivation immediately!" The guard was clearly shaken about the situation, however looking at the person behind him, he was shocked.
"Captain this is...."
"This is sir Raphael who is adept at using fire in combat." The captain introduced the man in dark robes. The man gave a slight nod.
The guard had a clear look on his face reading "That's it?" It was clear to the captain, but not the Mana user.
The main reason that the western region was attacking the town was because they were aiming for the church of cultivation. And yet despite all the losses so far, they only send one Mana user? Furthermore, this man didn't look that old. Meaning he was either a prodigy or an inexperienced user.
The captain could feel the guard's skepticism.
"We just need to burn down that siege tower right? He will do the job. Now just make sure he doesn't take any arrows from the western region's forces." The captain walked to another portion of the wall while leaving Sir Raphael with the guard. He led Sir Raphael to the top of the wall where they could clearly see the approaching siege tower.
The massive structure was being pushed by various men clothed in metal, chain, or leather with shields on their back. Somehow this massive siege tower was moving without falling from its own weight. The wooden structure gave upmost protection for those inside. At least more than just the ladders.
The many days before, the defenders of the town had various cauldrons of boiling water to douse the attackers in. It worked well in the first wave. However, doing that again won't work this time for this siege tower.
"Don't worry, I will have that tower down in no time." Sir Raphael gave reassuring words to the guard, however the guard was still not fully convinced. Then it happened.
Sir Raphael held his hands up towards the siege tower. He concentrated on the approaching wooden siege tower. What formed was a smoldering ball of fire a bit away from his hands. The ball of fire grew until it reached an unimaginable size. Sweat could be seen trickling down the side of his face.
The guard could only be awed by the Mana user's ability. It was quite impressive to form such a strong fireball at such a young age. Sir Raphael must be quite gifted the guard thought.
Soon, the ball of fire acted like it was pushed with great force and flew towards the giant siege tower. One could see the faces of the people pushing the siege tower at this distance. The fire ball continued to fly true towards its target, however the siege tower did not blow up into flames.
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What they saw was a huge blue ripple across the siege tower as the fire ball tried to push into the siege tower. However after a couple of seconds, the ball dissipated into thin air with a fully intact siege tower still left behind.
The guard was shocked. He turned to see Sir Raphael. The guard saw him holding what seemed to be a glowing light red Mana crystal that hung from his neck. He seemed determined, and without a second thought he held his hands in front towards the siege tower from before.
He created an even bigger fireball than the last time. It again was shot forward with an invisible force and flew towards the siege tower again. The same happened.
The guard must have seen Sir Raphael do this another five times or so before the crystal around his neck faded into a clear colorless crystal. Sir Raphael saw this and could only sigh.
"It seems I have betrayed your trust sir knight." Sir Raphael had to take a bit of a breather. The guard couldn't help but ask.
"Why did none of your spells work Sir Raphael?"
"Some Mana user must have caste some sort of barrier on that tower. But that just can't be possible!" Sir Raphael looked perturbed.
"Why can't it be possible, its right in front of us! In fact it repelled nearly seven of your attacks!" The guard was confused at the baffled Mana user.
"Do you know what kind of master you would have to find to pull that off?! Not to mention the sheer amount of Mana and expertise required to do so, its simply not worth it to put it on a temporary siege tower."
"What does this mean though?"
"It means they must have a ton of Mana crystals or Macana wood to get the Mana required to pull it off or.... They have a Mana blood user on their side. However, I don't know of any Mana blood user other than the royal family of the kingdom."
Sir Raphael looked tired and just baffled at the situation in front of him. "I think the barrier is much weaker than before, but I need more Mana crystals if I want to do that. This crystal was supposed to last me another couple of months damn it!"
The guard was again baffled. "Why don't you just ask for more then?"
"Don't you understand how valuable these crystals are? There isn't a single Mana beast in the kingdom of Astra. So everything comes from overseas. Furthermore, once they are drained, they are completely useless. It's a miracle that I get one Mana crystal every couple of months. These things are worth more than what you would make in half a lifetime!"
Sir Raphael was even more sad at hearing his own explanation out loud. "I will go ask the church then. Although I don't think I will get any more." However, before Sir Raphael could go down the wall, a huge resounding explosion came out of nowhere. In that moment, the siege tower which they could see simply blew up. Wood and mists of blood flew about as men inside the siege tower were mangled by the explosion. The two men were shocked.
"What the hell happened." Everyone on the wall heard the explosion from the siege tower, however they didn't know where the explosion came from. Soon, more explosions resounded around the western region's forces. Men all over the tightly packed formations were blowing up seemingly out of nowhere.
The only sign of an incoming impact was a weird high-pitched screeching sound from the sky. These explosions were occurring at regular intervals around the western region's forces.
The situation became so chaotic that some men immediately started to flee in any direction. Any other option would be better than facing random explosions at regular intervals.
However, even though they are seeing the very enemy they were fighting before, The guards on the wall were terrified at what they were seeing. Hundreds of men were dying right before their eyes, however they had no idea why or how.
All the defenders could do was watch the western forces formation become swiss cheese in a matter of minutes. However, soon the explosions stopped. The field became quiet. Only the occasional groans could be heard.
Everything was still, as if time itself had stopped. The sheer force of nature that was just unleashed on the western regions forces was unbelievable. The guard and Sir Raphael could only look at the carnage in disbelief.
The knights, mercenaries, squires who were excited and ready for battle were now too shocked to even move. They could only relish in the peace and quiet that was right now. However, the peace and quiet they had was soon interrupted by a low rumbling. The western regions men who were low to the ground heard it. A low but slight rumble.
It was unlike a stampede of an animal. It was constant and low. But nonetheless confusing for the knights. One knight who was too curious looked around to find something unbelievable.
A somewhat spread line of tan like artifacts were coming towards the western forces. There were not many of them, just around two hundred. Compared to a sizable force of nearly 10,000 men, this was puny. But after what just happened, the knight had an ominous feeling. Soon, that feeling reinforced by a resounding boom from a couple of the artifacts.
The knight instinctively jumped down onto the ground. Unfortunately for his comrades, they just stood upright like normal and in another second, a huge explosion blew up a few meters away from him. He looked back to see only corpses.
The western region's Duke saw what unfolded in front of him. Completely shocked by the constant explosions, he wanted to run away. But he knew that it would mean a complete defeat and route. His position and livelihood would be compromised if he did such a thing.
Unfortunately for him, he then saw the tan artifacts appear suddenly. It didn't take too long to notice them since they contrasted heavily with the environment. He then saw the artifacts blowing up his force. He couldn't stand this any longer.
"Get me Sir Longman. I need him to get rid of those abominations!"
"Yes my lord."