Explosions shook the earth, and aether sang an ominous song, as ice, vines, fire, and a multitude of elemental and non-elemental forces clashed on the grim battlefield.

Buildings were torn asunder, the remains of what used to be humble abodes now reduced to rubble; a town no more. The smell of blood tainted the air, a permanent reminder of the grim reality that was this perilous battlefield.

A thick palpable sense of murderous intent sank into the bones of every human, civilian and slayer alike as the forces of light and darkness clashed with one another.

On one hand, creatures of various shapes and sizes teamed up with humans dressed in navy blue stylish coats with the occasional flashes of luxurious armour mixed within these masters of combat.

Of course, these coats were enchanted to act like body armour as was the minimum defence requirement for any member of the Elite Guard deployed in a fight against demons.

In addition to these enchanted armaments, the humans were armed with a littany of weapons varying in shapes, sizes and lethality yet all forged for the sole purpose of slaying demons.

On the other hand, dark monstrous abominations tainted with jet-black darkness rampaged all over the ravaged town destroying everything in their path and lashing at anything with a heartbeat.

The demons varied in size and appearance, bearing many insidious abilities as well. Each one was a force to be reckoned with, some more than others.

Somewhere closer to the edges of this ravaged town, inside a battered house with its roof half-torn open, a particularly nimble sandy-haired boy dressed in a navy blue coat gripped his sword tighter and gritted his teeth, sweat dripping down his forehead.

He could feel his lungs burning for air, his muscles screaming, the sweat burning into the scrapes he’d so far gathered in this battle as well as the slight limp in his leg where a pair of bloody holes had been made.

In front of him, a serpentine creature slithered up onto a cupboard, glaring at him with hate while it eyed the dismembered black arm the boy had just managed to cut off. From the stump of the severed arm, black ooze leaked out, tainting everything it touched with something dark and sinister.

‘I have to finish this quickly,’ Finn thought to himself as he took in a deep breath. It was bad enough that he’d been bitten by the abomination when his guard was down but now he was running out of time. Fighting while poisoned was a double-edged sword since exerting himself only made the poison work faster.

The air in the half-open room shifted as he burst forward with a quick step. The demon slithered off the cupboard and leapt high into the air, trying to distance itself between itself and the boy.

A look of fear flashed through its eyes almost as if it recognized the mirage of a mongoose striking with lethal precision.

Finn liked to think this might have been the last thought on the creature’s mind as its head slid off its neck and landed on the ground. Not thinking much on where to land, the attack had sent Finn flying through the open hole in the roof of the damaged building and onto the roof of another.

He looked around, then sighed with a grim expression. It was as though the world was ending. Screams mixed with growls filled the air, punctuated by the hum of aether.

Taking a deep breath, Finn allowed the incantation of the words of the spell ‘Search’ cross his lips in the Old Tongue, then clenched his fists as the exhilarating rush of his draining Aether reserves sent shivers all over his body.

Feeling a bit dizzy, he cussed, ‘Damn it! Got it wrong again.’

[ Darla said to put more emphasis on your breathing when you use this spell ] A voice echoed through his mind.

[ I know… ] the boy breathed.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Mastering the small nuances of Spell Casting in the Ancient Tongue was taking its toll on Finn. In battle, mistakes this small were enough to mean the difference between life and death.

Fortunately for him, the Search Spell brought back a favourable map of his immediate surroundings. The same could not be said for areas further away though.

He turned his eyes to another building much larger than the one he’d just faced the Serpent in. With the demon subdued, its poison was a lot less lethal which bought him some time.

He pondered using the Healing Spell for a bit, then decided against it. Unlike his best friend, Alaric, Finn was not blessed with bottomless reserves of aether. He had to be careful in the way he used aether lest he risked passing out from Aether Depletion.

Crouching, the boy shot off the roof and landed several meters away only to leap once more. He looked at the ground for a bit, observing clashes between slayers of the Elite Guard and demons. He recognized a few faces and sighed in silent prayer.

Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t hesitate to help… but right now…

[ Hurry, Finn ] The voice came once more.

The boy dashed forward, pushing his body to his limits while circulating aether through his limbs. As he reached speeds higher than humans should have been capable of, he found himself feeling somewhat lacking… ‘Alaric was faster than this.’

[ You’re not Alaric. ]

While the guardian’s voice was soothing, it wasn’t enough to completely banish this feeling of inadequacy that plagued the boy’s mind. A small part of him wished he could just magically get stronger than he was.

The bigger part, however, saw through opportunity in this very moment. On this battlefield, he was awarded the chance to forge his strength through combat. There was nothing better at improving one’s experience and combat skills than a battle where one’s life was on the line.

It was a suicidal tactic and one that warranted a mental checkup but Finn was running out of options. He vaulted over a group of three slayers teaming up against a rogue black mass of tentacles and teeth.

On top of that, this thing had a mass of eyes on its head that stared in all directions at once, swivelling in their eyeballs independent of each other. Brandishing his sword, Finn sliced at a tentacle shooting for his flying body and severing the demon’s appendage before it had the chance to rope into a fight he had no interest in joining.

“Basement… The man’s in the basement. Hurry,” one of the hunters dealing with the demon yelled out at him.

The boy nodded and gracefully landed on the window sill of the building he’d been running to. This was where his Search spell had led him, into a rundown two-storey building with a helpless civilian trapped in the basement.

Fortunately, the man was bright enough to hide himself from the demon searching for him. It was only a matter of time though, before it would be too late for any of the Elite Guard to save him.

A loud boom resonated through the battlefield, capturing Finn’s attention for a brief moment as he stood on the window sill. For no more than a second, he allowed himself to steal a look at the source of the deafening boom.

Far from his current location, at least half a kilometre stood a calamity Finn had no business getting involved with. A grotesque amalgamation of stone-like boulders at least the size of a four-story building crawled on four legs in the distance. Its maw let out a great roar as it faced off against much smaller creatures as well as humans.

The boulders on its back bubbled and grew larger before shooting off into the sky when they’d grown big enough. Once high enough, however, the boulders would explode to release flying pests.

‘Perhaps I could fight the flies,’ he thought to himself as he zipped downstairs running as fast as he could with his sword at his side. His ears were peeled, listening for any slight changes.

Another word of the Old Tongue passed his lips, this one altered to work more as a small-area Search Spell. He aimed to locate the demon hiding in this building as well as the civilian trapped by its insidious presence.

His eyes snapped open, ‘There you are…’

[ I could… ]

[ You stay put. I can handle this ] the boy yelled back at his guardian. In a softer tone, he added, [ Let me handle this. You can show off when we find stronger ones. ]

There was a sigh in his mind before the guardian conceded, [ I don’t what’s scarier. Your ambition or the danger you’re running into. ]

The boy just chuckled before slamming right into the door of the basement. The wooden door went flying off its hinges. On the other side, a creature much like the one the other slayers were fighting outside turned to meet the edge of the door slamming right into its face.

Finn shot forward in a blur and started hacking at the creature’s body. Tentacles shot out in all directions, stopping him before he could reach the creature. It crashed into the wall but that didn’t seem to stop it from unleashing its neverending wave of tentacles.

Finn’s sword changed trajectory, slashing one tentacle after another. The sound of splintering wood told him the demon had gotten rid of the wood.

“GET OUT NOW. I’LL DEAL WITH THE DEMON.” Finn yelled out.

From behind a table, a dishevelled man emerged, shaking from head to toe. The demon gave him one look and he went screaming his lungs off and out the door. His disappearance came with a palpable pressure filled with rage and murderous intent.

Finn clicked his tongue, “Ugh! Screw you! I missed breakfast for this. This makes us even.”

The demon let out a gurgling growl, then came barrelling towards the boy, tentacles looming over him like an avalanche of ominous darkness.