I looked out from the top of the North Eastern Watchtower as Argon quickly closed in. All around me were men of the Black Castle running about preparing various things for the incoming battle. Lord Winthrop, was stationed at the front of the Eastern wall giving commands and organizing all men for the battle.

Argon reached a threshold, and an uncountable number of soldiers began to spread out. They would surround our Castle and siege it from all sides. Tower Master or not seeing that got my heart beating rapidly.

On our side we had archers getting in position on all four walls. They put their arrows through arrowslits set throughout the four walls of the Castle, and they waited for Argon's troops to reach a close enough range. The four corners of the castle had Ballista knocked with enchanted bolts, each one manned by three to four people ready to fire.

I took deep and long breaths to keep my heart calm and prepare my body. Elijah was near Lord Winthrop on the Eastern wall. He had his sword at his side and was equipped with a large spear meant to stab soldiers as they climbed up. Tobias was at the opposite wall to the West.

The enemy soldiers had gotten close enough to make out some faces with extraordinary vision. It was time.

"BOWS AT THE READY!"

The archers knocked their arrows and aimed. I decided to be proactive and took out my own crossbow from my side and knocked it. I held my breath as I prepared my shot.

"FIRE!"

Breath in, breath out my bow fired.

"GET READY! BOWS AT THE READY!"

We repeated the arrow volley at least two more times; before their siege weapons got in range of the walls. The most dangerous siege weapon Argon brought out was a magic cannon protected by the Mud Tower Master. Victor responded immediately, and so did I.

"BALLISTA! AIM AT THE CANNON! FIRE WHEN READY!"

I loaded my crossbow with an enchanted arrow, intending to slip my shot past the Tower Master after he defended against the volley from our Ballista.

"FIRE!"

My eyes focused; as the volley traveled at tremendous speed towards the enemy's cannon. Explosive magic arrays were placed on the volleys to create an even more powerful impact. The Mudlord Sternbright moved. His arms came together as though he were praying, and a gray wall erupted from the earth. It completely surrounded the cannon and hardened before impact. I made my move.

"Ballista of Fire!"

I shot a Fiery Ballista that was far faster than the volley from before.

"Come on!"

All the Ballista bolts struck the earth wall and exploded at the same time. I fired a crossbow bolt right before the volley landed just in case our attacks didn't break through. Sternbright's gray wall was destroyed, but there were smaller minor walls that remained. My crossbow bolt pierced through the remaining walls and struck the cannon directly on the tip near the breach. It exploded. I could see Sternbright trying to react and encase the arrow before it exploded, but it only made the explosion more pronounced! The most annoying siege weapon that Argon had brought to this battle was gone, but a few more still remained. Commander Victor glanced at me before yelling, "BALLISTA AT THE READY! TAKE AIM AT THE SIEGE TO THE RIGHT!"

The enemy made it to the wall while we dealt with siege weapons, and they began to produce earth ladders from the ground rising up. Smaller rocks were the first to be dropped on the first soldiers that began to climb the earth ladders. Enemy archers started firing arrows that landed too close for my comfort. I set up a small barrier with several enchanted charms and fortified my position. I focused my crossbow on any soldiers or knights I could see from the top of the watchtower. Magic was scarce this early in the battle as it was a valuable resource for knights and mages. I couldn't afford to use any mana, if I didn't absolutely have to. The rest of Argon's siege machines were finally in position. Lord Winthrop screamed, "GET READY! INCOMING!"

The enemy's siege weapons shot large Ballista bolts and explosive materials at the wall. The Black Castle was built to sustain heavy damage and was nearly as tough as the Tower I had painstakingly built. The bolts and explosives landed, some of which struck near me. Elijah quickly moved. "Spear!" He fired an earth spear at the projectile to make it explode further from the wall before casting, "Earth Wall!" Elijah produced an expansive earth wall covering himself and over 20 soldiers from the impact. The explosives went off. The wall he had made blew apart from the impact spreading rock shrapnel in every direction. Many soldiers were injured, but not one died.

The battle's second stage began. Argon sent their knights. They sent 300 of their Bronze Knights per wall. They galloped towards the wall behind the regular soldiers using them as human shields. Winthrop screamed, "KNIGHTS COMING! PREPARE THE DEFENSES! ALL KNIGHTS AT YOUR STATION!" The Bronze Knights made it to the wall. The total number of knights stationed at the Black Castle was six hundred. The Black Castle could only defend against the onslaught with 150 knights per wall. "HOLD!" Argon's knights leaped from any remaining premade ladders to the top of the wall. "DROP THE ROCKS! MAGIC AT THE READY!" Argon's Bronze Knights engaged with the Black Castle's Black Knights. Chaos quickly ensued.

"ENGAGE!"

I watched the overall situation as several knights confronted Elijah and Tobias. Elijah always impressed me with his fighting style. He would activate one spell at a time, and then keep each spell active. It was a difficult skill that required intense focus. He started with Wind Steps which allowed him to dodge and weave through various attacks. Elijah dodged a downward sword strike while parrying several flame arrows and a wind blade. A knight dashed behind him and tried to stab him in the back, but Elijah cast a simple earth armor to cover the spot that was struck before moving into the space of one of the knights to his right and slashing at incredible speed. He had moved the effect of Wind Steps to his sword and increased the speed of the slash giving the bronze knight no chance to react. Three other knights cast 2nd circle spells while one was attempting to do a 3rd circle spell. Elijah reacted quickly by covering himself in earth armor from head to toe before sprinting towards the knight trying to cast a 3rd circle spell. The knight tried to back away, and two of the other Bronze knights tried to intercept Eli's attack, but he simply let their attacks hit his armor and slashed through the advanced knight's eyes. "ARGHH!" The knight's screams reverberated through all the noise of the ongoing battle. Elijah quickly took out the remainder of the knights one by one. I watched my knight's battles just in case one of them needed me to step in, but it didn't seem like they needed me to help them.

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Tobias used a different strategy. He set up a water barrier while preparing two 3rd circle spells. The knights broke through the barrier quickly, and he defended most of the attacks with his sword leaving nonlethal attacks to land on his armor and body.

"Greater Freeze!"

The water from his barrier came down and froze all of the Bronze Knights along with any straggling enemy soldier in range of his spell. Tobias quickly dealt with the frozen knights in short order. The other battles weren't quite as good as my knights. The Black Knights were outmanned two to one, leaving our knights helpless. Elijah and Tobias ran free and helped as many of the Black Knights as they could find. The Black Castle boasted the strongest knights in Elion, but Argon's Bronze Order could match our knights blow for blow. I was tempted to join the battle, but no matter how many of our knights died I held firm. If I moved now, Sternbright would take advantage of my mana deficit to hit our side even harder. I closed my eyes to the insanity to compose myself when a few punks joined me on the watchtower.

"The Legendary Salamander! I wonder how much of a bonus we'll get if we bring his head today!"

"Don't underestimate him! Strike him with everything we have right off the bat!"

Seven Bronze Knights enclosed me in a semicircle formation. They drew their swords and crept towards me an inch at a time. I opened my eyes and looked at the goons surrounding me.

"Your confidence astounds me. The only knight that could trouble me is Argon's, Guardian Knight, and you all think you can take my head? Dead are the fools who roam too close to fire."

"Ohhh you sound quite scary! Are you sure you can focus too much attention on us? The moment you're weakened, Lord Sternbright will take advantage and slay you himself!" The sweat on their brows dripped to the ground.

"NOW!"

Seven knights charged at me all at the same time.

My glasses filled with fog as I chanted, "Serpent."

I made a single 3rd Circle flame serpent and had it whip around each knight's weapon before wrapping around their necks.

"Burn."

The seven Bronze Knights were no more as I refocused my attention on the battle.

The battle continued until the sun started to set. Argon slowed down their advance after the first attack. When the dust cleared, and we could witness the aftermath of the battle, we could see that half of our knights had fallen on the first day, and most of the Bronze Knights that made it to the top of Black Castles' walls would never leave again.

We were going to collect the wounded and the dead when we saw Argon retreating for the day. Then Sternbright moved. The Castle's Walls began to vibrate and shake as a massive stone came out from the earth. The massive building-sized stone flew up into the sky at a slow speed directly above the Eastern wall. The sheer mass of the stone itself was as impressive as it was terrifying.

"Sacrificing speed for mass, huh?"

I breathed in, "I call upon the Great Spirit of fire! Manifest the fiery Salamander! Breathe into him your life and breathe out the spirit's white flames! SALAMANDER!"

A small White Salamander manifested in front of my right hand. The heat emanating from the spell was so hot the ground beneath me quickly grew molten and liquid from the intensity of the heat. My natural magic resistance and protection against my own magic didn't work properly. This always happened when I used this spell. The black protective glove I had specially prepared on my hand quickly melted, and my flesh burned. The small fist-sized salamander on my hand opened its mouth and grew in size until it was the size of my body. The salamander's mouth quickly inflated just as a dress would in the breeze, and a brilliant multicolored flame shot like a beam as it hit the stone. The moment the fire hit the stone it pierced straight through, and the stone partially melted as it exploded.

"Everyone defenses!" Thankfully Winthrop had already been prepared for the aftermath as thousands of both big and small molten rocks fell on us above the walls. My knights and some of the other surviving Black Knights set up barriers and spells to defend against the aftermath. The watchtower I stood on was unusable so I had to move from the North Eastern watchtower to the South Eastern side.

I looked directly at the Mud Lord, and after enhancing my eyes a bit with some mana, I could see the frustration plastered all over his face. That was a good face for the Mudlord to have.

We took the time to recover after the first battle. Thousands had already been lost on our side, and only half of our knights still remained. My knights were exhausted with small injuries all over their bodies. Victor was a disheveled mess himself. There were hundreds if not thousands of soldiers getting treated for major injuries. I looked at my right hand which was bright red from severe burns. I covered it with healing ointment and bandages that were on my person. Looking at those on the verge of death my injury wasn't serious enough to have a healer look at it. If I managed it well it would probably heal with just a little outside help.

"Eli, Tobi, rest well, eat well and look after your wounds this war has only just begun."

"Yes, Lord!"

"Victor, in these next few days: there will be grueling battles, hardships we can only begin to imagine, and mourning for those we will lose. I hope to see you alive and well when this is all over."

"Darien, I can only hope the same." He had looked slightly broken from the damages received in just a few hours, but his face quickly recovered. It would be a long few days.

Lord Sternbright POV

The fools by the prince's side gave us a stupid strategy contrary to what we initially planned. We might suffer heavy losses, but if we send the entire Bronze Order in the front with the regular soldiers behind them, we could probably take the Black Castle in a few hours. The Salamander would have to choose between taking care of the invading soldiers or dealing with me, either way, we would win. A conservative strategy doesn't make any sense. The foolish prince spoke, "Are you dissatisfied, Tower Master?"

"This strategy gives them too much space. If we leave Elion's Fire Lord too much room, this battle will only grow to be a bigger and bigger problem."

"Ha! It sounds like you are afraid of the Red Tower Master, are you? I never knew the Iron Turtle to be afraid of anyone."

"Imperial Prince, I mean no disrespect, but there is a reason the Emperor sees Elion as a threat. The Red Tower Master is that reason."

"We'll see about that. Send the knights!"

He had just seen the Red Tower Master destroy our magic cannon, yet he still acted like a fool. I watched as only six hundred of the two thousand knights we had been given were dispatched into battle. It was difficult to tell how the battle was going from the ground as we watched throngs of soldiers climb the Black Castle's walls. The sun began to set, and we realized that the battle hadn't gone as smoothly as we had hoped. A retreat order was given, and our side came back beaten and battered. I couldn't leave our first battle so horribly lost.

I stepped one step forward and chanted, "Great Spirt of Earth, Rise up! The Stones of the Present draw forth! I call upon the stone Leviathan! He that brings forth destruction! He that brings forth calamity! Stones of the Giants hail down on my enemies! Leviathan Stone!"

I launched my most destructive spell directly at the Black Castle when they were trying to recover from battle.

"Lord Sternbright! What are you doing!? No one ordered you to attack!"

"Imperial Prince, you don't have the authority to order me."

Out of all the spells I've seen, this spell was the most destructive. Its only flaw was its speed. It could never be used in combat, not even against a novice knight, but a city? Could a city move? Could a Castle?

"What will you do, Salamander?"

I watched as he stepped forward on the Castles watchtower in plane view. He started chanting something as he stretched out his right hand. The reason he was called Salamander, and not fire turd or fire lord came into view for all to see. A blinding bright light appeared above his right hand. It quickly grew to be as large as he was and then expanded rapidly before shooting out what looked like a shooting star. My stone was blown apart and melted. I looked around me, and everyone looked as though they had seen a ghost. They had seen the Salamander use a spell comparable to a 6th circle spell. This was why he was feared. The prince looked as though he finally understood the magnitude of what he was up against as he was gulping the saliva he had accumulated into his mouth.

"Imperial Prince, that's the Salamander."