Luis sat atop the tree branch, the scent of the fumes burning his eyes as he looked down at the lake. He climbed the tree to better look at the famous Sulfur Lake that he had only seen in stories.

He had traveled from the west and landed on this massive island. But it wasn’t without reason as he had come to partake in the Myriax.

The Magical Tournament attracted mages from all over the world. The prize was a single wish granted by the Holy Grail, one of the most powerful items in the entire eastern region and kingdoms. Luis had come for the same and was determined to get it. The problem lay with his mana capacity. Luis was barely a mage and almost had no capacity for magic spells. What he lacked in magical prowess he made up for in martial arts and smarts.

The governor of the tournament had not given any more details than they needed, leading some to question whether the Holy Grail was in their possession or not. The Holy Grail was last held by Josan Luckenberg, one of the most powerful magicians in all of Midaria.

He was granted the Holy Grail by the King of Midaria but went into solitude soon after. Word of his death had traveled throughout the kingdoms and the fate of The Holy Grail was up for question. It was last heard to be moved into the hands of the hands of an enigmatic but powerful wizard hailing from the Midaria. Han finally decided to come down from the tree and decided on finding a safe place to find shelter.

He had been on the island only 5 days and he had seen corpses lining the ground everywhere he went. The power difference terrified Luis but he was determined nonetheless. As he shuffled through bushes, he heard a voice coming from out in the open, it sounded like a fight. As he peeked out through the bushes, he saw a man drive a long sword through another’s chest.

“Who’s there?!” the man shouted. Luis retreated instantly into the safety of the bushes trying to muster a plan to get past this man.

“Come out before I lose my patience,” the man said menacingly. Luis had crouched down in the bushes, having trained his stealth, but that could only go so far against a magician. Luis realized that the man carried a long sword meaning he was an enhancement user.

These types of magicians were able to imbue their mana into weapons and their bodies to significantly enhance their physical prowess. This made them good at close combat but their capacity to learn more ranged spells were limited. Luis sprung from the bushes his hands up and he observed the man’s weapon further.

“What’s your name boy?” the man asked, his glowing red eyes sending a prickling sensation down Luis’s body. He had heard of this before, “Dominance”.

The ability for all magicians to inflict a sense of compulsory fear into the mind of another so long as their magical ability is strong enough.

“My name is Han Colton, but my enemies call me Razor”.

Luis was no stranger to the name Colton. It was the name given to one of the clans that resided in the Eastern Kingdom of Iona. They were barbaric warriors who took pleasure in flaying their enemies.

Without hesitation, Luis flung his knife at Razor as he tried to close the distance between them. Razor blocked the knife with little effort and laughed as he watched Luis run towards him. It’s clear that he was underestimating Luis, and he saw fit to use it to his advantage.

“Is that your best scum?” he said mockingly.

“I can barely sense any mana coming from you”.

Luis darted towards him throwing a punch to his face. Luis felt a sting in his knuckle as enhancers were able to increase their durability, but he only expected this.

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Razor swung his sword at near blinding speed with Luis barely dodging it. Razor had been so busy ridiculing Luis he neglected to realize Luis pull out a dagger from his back pant pocket. The dagger had gems embedded in it and the words Lapis Philosophorum engraved on the hilt.

By the time Razor realized the dagger had already been driven into the thigh. He yelped in pain as Luis dealt a devastating blow to his head no longer filling the sting from his enhanced durability.

Enhancers were able to improve their physical prowess and weapons with ease but they required a certain amount of concentration to maintain their durability. Luis was no ignorant fool and spent years studying magics and their complexities to the best he could.

With no hesitation, Luis drove his dagger into the Razor’s throat killing him. He watched as Razor desperately tried to grab his sword as he choked on his blood. Luis was no stranger to murder, being drafted into the military at a young age, and being a prodigy in hand-to-hand combat. He had tried to forget those days but he would be lying if he didn’t admit he was kept awake at nights remembering the faces of some that he’d slain.

Han removed his dagger and wiped the blood from it. He quickly patted him down finding stale bread, gold coins, and a severed human ear necklace. With that, Luis was back on his way.

The details of the tournament were not fully disclosed but people knew that they were participating in the tournament due to a psychic message being sent out the moment they stepped foot on the island. He trudged forth leaving the body of Han Colton behind anticipating the next enemy that he might encounter.

It had been two days of moving from place to place. Luis took in mind carefully to avoid fights especially without knowing the strength of the other mages. He was still waiting for more instructions to arrive on what to do next for the tournament, eager for what was to come.

He maintained his hidden path using the bushes for traversal but it wasn’t long before he realized the thick smell of smoke. The fog blocked his vision but he could hear screams. His legs moved on his own as he almost instinctively moved toward the screams of terror.

A village had been set on fire by a group of mages that had been ransacking it for supplies. Luis was frozen. He had no chance against three mages and they seemed to have an Enhancer, Summoner, and by the looks of it an Elemental Mage. The risks of engaging in battle were deadly and there was almost no chance of winning. Luis searched his mind for an idea as he watched a mother and son get killed right in front of his eyes.

A split second later, he saw one of the mages fall to the ground. He was confused as to what was going on he looked around to see if anyone else was there. He saw a figure move towards the Summoner with blinding speed, raising his sword to attack. The Summoner quickly ordered the demonic dog in front of him to protect him but the mysterious figure was too fast, cutting him down in an instant.

Summoners were able to bind magical creatures to do their bidding, having no limit to what they could use to hunt you down. However, the more powerful the creature, the more mana it consumed, and if not used carefully you could be drained of mana instantly. The strongest Summoners were said to have forced dragons to do their bidding.

As the man cut down the engaged in battle with the elemental mage, Luis started to get a closer look at him. Luis could already tell that he was much stronger than Razor.

He wore dark black full-body armor and his skin was bronze with piercing blue eyes and black hair. He was strong but Luis couldn’t decipher what class of magician he was. The battle was intense between the two mages as the mysterious man quickly zipped around the environment staying out of the elemental’s mages’ line of fire.

The elemental mage was deadly in his use of earth and fire, but he didn’t seem to have mastered any other elements. Elemental mages were known to be one of the strongest classes of magicians but the discipline and practice it takes to master all the elements were no simple task. The battle went on for some time as he the mysterious man finally cut down the elemental mage, with Luis watching in awe from the distance.

The man seemed to have been cut a few times and was bleeding a little. Luis was shocked when he saw the man start to heal his wounds. It was clear that the man was an Enhancer so to see him healing himself like a Healer could only mean one thing. Luis had read about it before, with mages having two classifications due to their parents but it was a rare phenomenon. Luis was too lost in thought to notice the man’s blue eyes settle in his direction as he began walking toward him.

“You can come out I’m not going to hurt you!” he shouted. Luis seldom trusted mages but it was not like he could escape him either way so he decided to step out into the open. It was upon seeing his face that had put the pieces together as he realized who this man was.

“Greetings, my name is Dagon Elder,” he said skinning his pearly white teeth.

“And you are?”.