Once again, Kiefer was sitting in the grasslands outside the city of Alluviate. He had just finished his magic runes class and had a 5 hour break before his swordsmanship class. While he would usually spend his time holed up in the library, the academy had become unbearable to be around ever snice he defeated the 4 noble kids in the training ground.
The news spread like wild fire through the first year students during the 2 weeks after the incident, with the student body splitting into 2 main factions. One side admired Kiefer’s talents and abilities, while the other side was convinced Kiefer had cheated somehow, that he may have bribed one of the academy teachers to help him.
Either way, Kiefer was unhappy because his plan to remain unnoticed backfired on him. So now, he’s started spending time outside the city, just practicing his skills. Looking at the tarsus grazing peacefully, and Shearwood chasing some draeries, Kiefer smiled, and started to think of new ways to implement his magic.
The draeries were a small dragon race, no larger than his palm, they had no magic, feasted mainly on insects and fruits, and were wicked fast. Even with Shearwood’s speed, the draeries were always out of reach, cutting sharp corners, displaying their superior manoeuvrability in the air. Watching Shearwood chase them gave Kiefer an idea for another control type skill that he might be able to develop.
However, try as he might, Kiefer was not able to come up with a new skill, partially because he did not fully understand the physics behind it, and partially because deep down, he had actually doubted the very existence of the illusive subatomic particle – Graviton.
Finally giving up due to lack of time, Kiefer got up on his tarsus, and rode it straight to the academy stables determined to try again on a later occasion. Today’s lesson was going to be the first one wearing armour. For the past 2 weeks, the knight candidates had been taught a total of 8 sword forms, practicing against wooden dummies. To increase the difficulty, the students were going to wear armour to practice from now on.
Everyone had their own armour, specially crafted by their family blacksmith. Kiefer was no different. The school would however issue armour to students without one and most students avoided that because it was old and heavy and looked ugly. Wearing his mithril armour, without his mask and shield, Kiefer stepped into the training grounds.
The armours varied between chain mail and platemail, with the stronger bigger built students wearing heavy armour to show off their strength and family status. Kiefer’s mithril looked like steel, so he did not attract much attention.
Out of the 200 or so students clad in armour, a particularly large boy was staring at Kiefer’s armour. As soon as Kiefer made eye contact with him, the young man started making his way towards Kiefer.
Expecting trouble yet again, Kiefer put his guard up, but noticed that only the young boy was coming over and that his group of friends were not following him. Within moments, the boy was towering over at 1.8m tall, looking down at the tiny 1.71m Kiefer.
“Hey there. I’m Rashan.” (Rashan)
“Hi, I’m Kiefer. Is there a problem?” (Kiefer)
“No, not so much your problem, as it is mine. I’m just curious where you had your armour crafted. I’m the son of a blacksmith see, and I am familiar with the works of almost all the famous smiths in the continent. However, I have yet to see one with your design and intricate skill. So, I’m wondering where you had it made.” (Rashan)
“I’m sorry, but my smith has expressed his desire to remain hidden and do not wish to be flooded with requests. He is kind of an introvert. So I can’t tell you his name or his whereabouts.” Kiefer lied hoping that that would be enough.
“Oh.. that’s a shame, but I understand. Blacksmiths do like to keep secrets, especially about their crafting methods. My whole family are blacksmiths, and I’m the oddball, choosing to be a knight instead. However, if you are free after this, would you mind following me to my family’s workshop? It would be a great honour for my father to see a work like this and I’m sure he would greatly appreciate it.” (Rashan)
“I had plans after this, but if it doesn’t take too long, I do not mind. As long as you do not make a big fuss about it. I want to keep a low profile you see.”(Kiefer)
“Haha. Ok deal, but I must say you are doing a pretty bad job at that. Rumours of you being a genius magus has already spread to the knights department you know. Most of us here are actually afraid of you.” Rashan laughed out, as he turned his head back to look at his group of friends. They were all staring at him, slightly worried for him.
“Well, class is starting soon, Varn is already walking over, so I guess we’ll meet after class?” (Kiefer)
“Sure! You can even have dinner at my place. We usually order food from next door though. My family may be genius at cooking metal, but they are absolutely the worst when it comes to food.” Rashan replied, running back to his friends.
The class was standard as usual, with 500 strikes of each form including a break between the form. It was usually not a problem, but at the end of this class, most of the students were panting on the ground, tired from the extra weight there were wearing. Kiefer was no different, but he recovered the fastest.
“That’s … not… fair…… how are you… fine after… all that…” Rashan huffed, as he saw Kiefer walking towards him, with barely a sweat on his brows. With his body enhancements, and a little wind spell, Kiefer recovered astonishingly fast. Not wanting to wait too long for Rashan, Kiefer proceeded to cast a spell.
“Asviran wier suklos tiente” (By my will, wind, circle my target)
Kiefer controlled his mana output to adjust the strength of his spell. A cool breeze swept over Rashan and his group and one could see their faces full of bliss. The spell had come from an intermediate wind theory book he had dug up from the corners of the library and was meant as a wind prison to entrap a target.
Not long after, both Rashan and Kiefer were making their way out of the academy grounds, Rashan leading and Kiefer following beside.
“Just a heads up though, my family’s kind of loud. And since I’ve been living in the academy dorms, this is my first time going back, so there’s going to be some shouting and yelling.” Rashan warned. Kiefer just smiled back, thinking that it reminded him of a family he knew.
As they approached the workshop, a familiar smell of iron and oil assaulted Kiefer’s nose. Just as luck had it, it was the same blacksmiths’ that Kiefer had been to. Kiefer however, just kept quiet, following closely behind Rashan.
“DDAAAAD!! SIS! GUYS! IM BACK!!” Rashan yelled at the top of his lungs, almost matching Celena’s volume from Kiefer’s memories.
“HAHAHA!! THE PRIDE OF THE BALAZAAR FAMILY IS BACK!!” Rashan’s dad responded equally loudly as he stepped out from within the workshop. Kiefer being smaller in physique was well hidden behind Rashan.
“Oh, if it isn’t Mr. Adamantium!” Celena called out from behind Kiefer, carrying a large tray of bread and soup. “And my little brother! When did you return!?”
“Mr.Adamantium?” Rashan looked at Kiefer quizzically. Kiefer just stared back at him and shrugged. Kiefer could hear the distinct stifled laughter coming from inside his breastplate.
Soon, when all the yelling had stopped, the family and Kiefer were gathered around the only clean table and eating a hearty breakfast. Kiefer’s portion was the smallest, although it was already a little too much for him. The Balazaar family however, were guzzling beer by the drum and throwing soup-soaked bread into their tummies like it was a bottomless pit. Even Celena was eating a portion almost twice of Kiefer’s.
With dinner out of the way, Kiefer was silently grateful and secretly glad that despite all the alcohol, the family was still sober. He couldn't hold his liquor as well as the Balazaar family.That’s when Rashan introduced his ‘friend’.
That word struck a chord in Kiefer’s heart. No one in this world has ever called him a friend. Even Shearwood only refers to him as ‘master’, as if to make their status clear. Slightly happy, and a little unrestrained from the alcohol, Kiefer smiled, a genuine smile of happiness as he kept drinking.
“KIEFER! You must absolutely tell me who crafted your armour! Especially those gauntlets! I’ve never see such fine work. Where’d you get them?!” Celena’s dad was shaking him by the shoulders. However, just as Kiefer was about to speak, a little blue snake came flying out.
“Stay back! My master is not feeling well right now.” Shearwood interrupted before Kiefer could reveal the secret. In her opinion, it was a better situation to reveal herself than reveal her master’s abilities. Kiefer was indeed a little loose-lipped from all the drinking.
All staring wide eyed at the floating talking snake, the entire Balazaar family switched from Kiefer to the snake and back at Kiefer. Kiefer now suddenly aware of what was happening, immediately stood up and bowed deeply.
“I apologise if my companion has been rude, she is just trying to protect me. I can let you inspect the gauntlets, but unfortunately, like I have informed Rashan, I am unable to provide you with the details on how I acquired it. i also hope you would not ask too much about my companion.” Kiefer broke the silence. He then proceeded to remove his gauntlet and pass it Rashan, who then circulated the piece of armour.
“No way… is this steel? How is it so light? No wonder you weren’t that tired after today’s exercise.” Rashan commented, before passing it onto his father.
“OH wow. Now this is new. The blacksmith even managed to pull the iron to such thin threads. I’ve never heard of a method that does that. Even the glove is woven out of iron. This is really a masterpiece. I’m so honoured to be able to inspect such a fine piece. Shame the smith did not put his mark on the armour.” (Duran Balazaar)
“Dad… there something odd about this metal…” Celena started whispering as soon as she touched it… “It’s not iron or steel, and yet I don’t know of any other sturdy metal that is silver in colour”.
Kiefer was now alert, he quickly took the gauntlet back from Celena before she could inspect any further. “Sorry Celena, I would prefer if you didn’t dig too deep into this armament.” Kiefer once again apologised.
Celena leaned in to whisper to Kiefer “Could you at least tell me what it’s made of? I promise I wont reveal it to anyone, not even my family.”
Seeing as She’s not going to let it go and that she’s promised to keep it secret, Kiefer whispered back to her, “Remember the mithril ingots I brought to you a few weeks back? That’s what they are made of.”
“IMPOSSIBLE!!” Celena immediately exclaimed, and the silently apologized again. She knew mithril armour were usually coloured and dull, based on what affinity the magic used to craft it and how well it was crafted. She had never heard of an attribute that is silver colour, and shiny at that.
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Feeling that he’s already wasted enough time and that he’s already fulfilled what he came here to do, Kiefer abruptly stood up. He thanked the Balazaar family for the meal and alcohol, and then swiftly left heading towards the academy in the night. In order not to alarm Rashan, he had left his tarsus there and was on his way to retrieve it.
Enhancing his liver, the alcohol was quickly broken down and he cursed at himself for letting his guard down. Had Shearwood not taken action in the nick of time, he might have revealed his secret. He thought he had learnt his lesson with regards to being careless, but it was apparently not true. Rashan had been a miscalculation on his part, a variable he had not expected.
“Friend”, the word rang through his head as he led the tarsus back home. Marley greeted him cheerfully and helped guide the tarsus into the stable. Unknowingly, Kiefer realised he had begun to let people into his heart. Though they may be strangers, he had never once thought he would be emotionally affected by them or their actions.
With only about a month’s worth of stay time left in the inn, Kiefer began to make plans to maybe include a few people in his travels. Those that might be useful.
“Sher, I have a job for you. It’s almost time for me to leave. I’ve learnt most of what I need to know from the academy’s library. I need information from the other provinces.” (Kiefer)
“Yes master, whatever you need from me.” (Sher)
“Head towards the borders of Rashael province. Observe the Alluvian guard’s patrol routes and burn the crop fields of the border villages a day before the patrol arrives. Make sure no one from the village dies, even if you have to expose your true form.” (Kiefer)
“Yes at once.”Sher quipped, as she shot out the inn’s window. Kiefer was alone once again as he prepared for the night.
[Shearwood border forest]
It was in the middle of the night as Brett and his patrol group slowly made their rounds between the border villages. The forest separating Shearwood province from Rashael Province was thick and damp, often covered in a thick fog, with swamps littered around in no specific fashion.
The forest floor was covered in dead leaves, trees fallen from being too old, and vines hanging everywhere the eye could see. There would be an occasional thorny poisonous plant here and there, but the real threats were bandits and wild magical beasts.
There were demon bears that tower at 6m tall, hide as hard as iron, claws that tear through iron like paper. Crystalline wolfs from the same family as the tarsus called Fientrals that hunted in packs of up to 5. The crystalline body was hard as a rock and they could use illusion magic, making the pack seem like 30. The worst of all was a lone Seraplor, a giant lion-like creature that was one with the nature. It was at least 3m tall, and up to 10m in length, with powerful limbs and agile reflexes. The seraplor would normally be grey in colour, but could change its colour and shape to blend into the surrounding like a mimic octopus.
The patrol group consisted of 8 experienced knights and 2 exceptional trainees from the academy that were there for experience. The trainees were often left to manage and guard the supplies that were meant to last the group 3 weeks of assignment. This was a speed team that differed from a defence team in that they did not have a magus slowing them down.
Just as Brett and his group was about to set up camp for the night, assigning shifts for guard duty, the group started to smell burning forest and smoke in the air. The breeze was blowing from the north. They were already 1 week into the assignment and were about to head back to Alluviate in a few days, with no trouble so far.
Squinting his eyes, the trainee shouted frantically. He spotted smoke through the thick canopy and could see the faint light coming from the direction of one of the villages. Many scenarios were running through Bretts head – was it bandits? Drigor skirmish? Rashael skirmish? They were not prepared nor equipped to fight an army, but it was their duty to protect the citizens of Shearwood. With resolution in his heart, Brett gave out swift orders for everything to be packed and to hurry in the direction of the fire.
What greeted them was utter despair. People were rushing around with pails of water trying to save what they could from their burning fields and warehouses. Even though it was winter and there were no crops to be lost, the ground had melted and it made it difficult for the farmers to plant crops when spring came around.
Unsure of what to think, Brett sent one of the knights on his fastest tarsus to get word to Alluviate city leaders. The rest of the team would assits in any way they could. As is now, the ground was still molten and nothing could walk on it. Through the thick smoke, a small serpent shot into the night sky, unnoticed by the group.
[Alluviate city]
It has been more than 2 weeks since Shearwood had left on her mission. Reports and rumours were starting to sift into the common populace within the city and naturally, it the hottest topic amongst the academy students. Reports of border villages being attacked, or being completely encased in ice, were floating through the academy. There were speculations of a powerful magus attack from Drigor, and that war was imminent. Witness reports however indicated that it was an attack from a magical beast of proportions never seen before. Gate security had been doubled and tripled as time went by since the first report from Brett came in.
Kiefer’s progress with elemental magic had reached a plateau within the academy, having gone through most of the books in the academy library, even the ones from the restricted section which he secretly pulled out using his mana threads.
While he made almost no progress with magic, Kiefer was intrigued by the history of the continent. The 4 warring states had been going at it for almost 200 years, with reasons for the war contradicting every several decades. While the older books mentioned the reason being religious extermination, other newer books reported greed for territory and resources as the reason. The most recent reason being the refusal of supplement of Magical armaments by Rashael.
While the humanoids were at war, it would seem that there were never records of the titans taking part in any form whatsoever as their lands burnt and wasted. There were even speculations by a few authors that the capital of Drigor – Diantes was actually under the influence of a demon, harvesting souls lost from the war while building an undead army.
The mention of undead sparked a fire in Kiefer’s chest, as he made a decision to visit Drigor at least once. Zombies had always fascinated Kiefer and he was not about to pass up a chance to study them up close.
Aside from the history and search for information regarding undead, Kiefer had been spending his breaks training either his mana manipulation, or his body. He had implemented an effective way to train both at the same time and showed phenomenal growth in his swordsmanship skills. He placed 3rd in the weekly tournaments, sparring even against older students. In the meantime, he had completely integrated into Rashan’s group of friends, but he only ever spoke to Rashan. His friends had gotten used to it and accepted Kiefer as one of their own, training with him and inviting him out for drinks. Rashan was the youngest in the group at only 18, and yet he was the strongest in terms of physical strength.
As more and more reports came streaming in from patrol teams, people were getting worried that the culprit was never caused. Entire villages and thousands of lives lost within a span of a few weeks, all to a fire and ice magus. Kiefer was confident the fire was Shearwood’s handiwork, but he had never known of an ice related ability of Sher’s. Regardless, he went on with his training as if it did not bother him at all.
Winter had nicely settled in on the city of Alluviate. Varn was personally training Kiefer, the only candidate from the new intake that had mastered the 8 basic sword forms. The sparring session though conducted in the cold winter during their break, was spectated by over 200 Knights candidates, both from older intakes and the newest intake.
As Kiefer circled around Varn, leaving only a footprint in the snow, he swung his sword upwards in a diagonal slash. Varn reacted equally fast not only turning to block Kiefer, but also using Kiefer’s force to distance himself.
“Why don’t you chant something boy! Hahaha, I told you, you can use magic in these fights of ours.!” Varn yelled out while laughing as if he was toying with Kiefer.
Not letting up, Kiefer gave chase to the veteran instructor, closing the gap of 20 metres within a second to deliver the next blow. This time however, his sword left a mark on Varn’s old armour. Right at that moment, Varn pulled out a dagger from the back of his waist and stabbed it straight at Kiefer’s breastplate, causing Kiefer to withdraw.
A magic enhanced match between veteran Varn and genius Kiefer was something the knights get to watch almost every day and they would often predict who would land the first blow. The result was always unpredictable, with either Varn or Kiefer pulling out an unknown hand every match to outplay the other.
“huff… huff… Damn kid! What is your armour made of… not even a scratch on it after my attack… my old breastplate isn’t going to last me much longer.” (Varn)
“huff… haha…ha… Instructor, it’s my win today don’t you think? Though that dagger was unexpected and a little underhanded I must add, but nonetheless I still landed the first blow.” Kiefer replied, out of breath and avoiding Varn’s question. There’s no way he could have told Varn it was made of mana. “That last attack was powerful though, piercing 3 layers of my armour.” Kiefer thought, and wondered how much more powerful Varn actually was.
With the match ended, the knights all applauded and dispersed soon after. After Varn and Kiefer rested enough, Varn turned to kiefer with a serious look on his face.
“Kid, do you want to experience the world for yourself? It’ll be much better for improving yourself than these sparring lessons.” Varn paused for a moment, considering whether to continue or not.
“I’ve been assigned to lead a heavy patrol group to the border villages to investigate the recent rumours. 15 villages have been attacked in the last month alone and they want the culprit caught. I’m recruiting members for the task force and want to personally invite you.” (Varn)
“Sure that’ll be really exciting.” Kiefer replied, with his characteristic grin growing on his face. His primary objective was in sight, as he knew he would be leaving the academy soon enough.
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Next chapter : The Fight and the Teacher.