The sounds of explosions filled the tundra’s usually silent and at-rest soundwaves. Boots of marching soldiers seemed to accompany the disturbance. As far as the eye could see, destruction could be witnessed - even in the most rural and out-of-the-way places of the nation.
At this point, the Minister of Agriculture in Atothic, Solimus, was not only infuriated but also incredibly tired. Clenching his fist, he could only look back at how this all started.
…
The International Commision had declared the nation of Atothic a rogue state after their actions against their neighbors.
Although justified, the leaders of countries had put on what could be best described as a “pity show”. After that, an uncountable number of soldiers showed up at the western border.
…
On the very day that happened, the President of Atothic had run off and declared he was held hostage by the government members. And now, anarchy only added to the swirled mix that was Atothic at the current moment.
Losing total control, all the remaining government members could do was sit and wait along with the few loyal members of the military, which did not include any figures of leadership, in the former Central Government Administrative Building.
There was a depressing atmosphere in the former Government Council room. The Minister of Commerce sat with his back against the wall, which had a floral design as wallpaper, staring off into space. Bags were under his eyes; one could even swear that gray hairs were already sprouting from the man’s hair.
Meanwhile, the Vice-President, now the President, continued to mumble and pace around the room. He bit his nails with every step taken, a bad habit gained from being trapped inside such a confined space.
“They’re really going at it.” Solimus stated as he looked out the window, down towards the battlefield lit up by magic of all kinds. “I think I’ve started to lose track of how many days we’ve been cooped up in here, actually.”
“It’s been thirteen days or so,” responded a soldier, his white uniform speckled with crimson red stains, “or at least I think so.”
Solimus sighed before scratching his head. “Looks like we’re going to be staying here for another few weeks if it keeps up like this.”
Solimus watched onward while the battle outside continued.
Solimus watched as an Atothician soldier mowed through enemy after enemy. It seemed that they would simply stand no chance against such a powerhouse! An enemy behind the soldier rushed him, but he simply evaded the oncoming attack. It was then that the soldier buried the enemy soldier in the surrounding snow. Another rushed him from in front, but the soldier picked up the belligerent and threw him to the ground.
Solimus’s eyes lit up with hope and excitement for a split second.
“Guys, I think-!” Solimus started, but never finished.
He continued to watch the same soldier, except for the fact that he was getting bombarded with spell after spell. Solimus watched as the soldier casted a spell to protect himself, a visible barrier of fire encircling him. The snow beneath and surrounding the soldier melted swiftly. However, within a mere two more seconds, the soldier fell to the ground - either a subject of magic overuse, or an incorrect combination of fire and creation.
Solimus inhaled through his teeth before looking away from the scene; he knew what would happen next.
“Nevermind…” said Solimus with a pained voice.
Solimus continued to look out the window, averting his gaze from the soldier that had just fallen. In the distance, he had spotted a group of seven marching towards the building. His eyebrows raised.
More curious to Solimus, however, was the attempts the soldiers of Atothic made to attack the group. Every single one of the soldiers went down within an instant, their faces turned down into the snow. The group of seven halted after taking down eight of the Atothician soldiers.
From the hands of one of the members formed what appeared to be a large flame from afar. However, Solimus was an intellectual. An intellectual who knew that this wasn’t simply a flame, but a fireball if created correctly with a greater amount of destruction.
Quickly, Solimus started to move away from the windows, not tempted to run the risk of being disintegrated by such a simple, yet powerful, magic. However, he did also know that the Minister of Security had put up his defensive magic on the entirety of the building. So, he decided to stay.
The fireball approached quickly, but Solimus did not flinch or worry. He was completely confident in the Security Minister’s magic. Along with this, the trajectory of the fireball was not towards the room he was staying in anyways.
Abruptly, glimmering shards of magic seemingly started to fall from the sky. Solimus’s eyes widened - the security had been broken.
A loud boom reverberated throughout the building not a second later. The building rumbled before laying silently once again.
The people of the room rose from their seats and rushed to the window. Murmurs, among other statements, were let loose.
“Does anyone have eyes on the Security Minister?” someone in the room questioned, in a worried tone. Looking around, Solimus looked behind him but could not see the minister in question. “I thought his magic was impenetrable!”
“Look! There he is!” yelled someone who started pointing out the window, hands on the window rail itself.
Turning back around, Solimus witnessed the minister wave his arms at the enemy. It seemed as if he was surrendering - perhaps he had cracked under pressure?
“Surely… you must be joking…” another faintly said, hand on their head as if about to actually faint.
The room went silent after this. They continued to watch, nearly mesmerized, as the minister was taken away from the battlefield escorted by enemy soldiers.
The people of the room, after watching for at least a couple of minutes, proceeded to run out of the room in a frenzy.
“A safe way out!” exclaimed one of the people who left the room right after.
“Don’t know if it's safe, but I’ll take that risk!” yelled another. “I can’t stay in this place another minute, let alone a day!
The foreign army, along with the minister, had seemingly moved out of their positions already, though, making way for something - or someone. Solimus was the only one who continued to pay attention to this, as everyone had already ran off.
The situation continued outside; Solimus watched intensely. One by one, the soldiers saluted seven figures that Solimus could barely see. As they came closer into view, somewhat, Solimus attempted to note their interesting appearances.
By aligning the Mind and Vision Variables with his constant interior magic flow, Solimus could see they had a blue and white insignia on their arms. Their outfits were a combination of colors, mostly black and white with a tint of blue on the sleeves.
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“Elite soldiers?” Solimus asked himself out of curiosity. Suddenly, an overwhelming presence of fear and astonishment overtook him.
“W-what is this?” Solimus felt sick to his core, to the point of near fainting. The room seemed to spin around him. In order to recollect himself, Solimus smacked himself on the face one good time.
Snapping out of it, Solimus managed to pick himself up enough to see out the window.
As Solimus observed, he realized the aura was, in fact, coming from the figure on the far left of the formation. Solimus’s mouth opened with shock yet again - this was no mere man. His power was unlike anything Solimus had ever seen in his lifetime.
Interrupting Solimus’s silent viewing, the sound of rumbling footsteps was heard coming up the stairs. In reaction, he turned around, readying himself for combat.
However, much to Solimus’s relief, it was simply those who had left the room. They had returned, but with sweat running down their faces like the burning wax of a candle. They seemed to be incredibly more alert as well as they scanned the room before sighing.
“Who- No- What the hell is that thing!?” the Vice-President questioned in a fearful tone, back against the door.
“I don’t know, but I’m not going out there!” the Minister of Construction exclaimed as he began the mental preparations for several instances of barricade magic. “Screw it! We need more! Solimus, can you construct any magic that can be used as a barricade?!”
Solimus continued to look out the window, not listening to what he considered to be unimportant going on behind him. The elite soldiers simply stood there, Solimus observed. But, after this observation of stillness, the elite soldiers suddenly and seamlessly teleported away from their position.
Alarmed, Solimus jumped back.
Now standing on his feet again, Solimus prepared himself for the worst. Quickly, he began to form his magic. First, he united the core of the magic with its element - stability with ice. With this newfound thin line of magic confined into a mental image, Solimus added in the variable of Protection. For extra effect, Solimus took the risk of adding an Anchor to increase his magic’s ultimate power.
Solimus held the palm of his hand outwards. Ice soon started to pour out in two curving lines from his palm, which soon engulfed him fully.
Before anyone else could do the same, the door to the Government Council room was destroyed by an unsettlingly strong force. Without notice, shadowy figures rose from the ground and started to take those in the room. Most went out with a muffled scream before disappearing from sight - possibly for good.
A shadowy figure came for Solimus too, but only took the shield of ice he had encased himself in with it.
“Advanced shadows?” Solimus questioned as he examined the figure before it went down into the floor. “Did the caster use a Confluence Point?”
“I see you are knowledgeable, unlike most of the people in this room.” an unknown figure stated. The tread of footsteps filled the now destroyed room. Once the dust from the door settled, Solimus could see the uniforms of the elite soldiers he had seen outside just minutes ago.
As he got a clear view, Solimus felt a heavy fist hit his right cheek. This simple action sent him flying into the snowy landscape outside. Dazed, Solimus attempted to get up from his laid out position. However, one of the elite soldiers teleported to his side before crouching down.
“Shhh. You should really rest.” the elite soldier stated before a fireball began to form in his hand
Moving out of the way at the last minute, Solimus rolled onto his side. The fire felt hotter than any other he had experienced before, even though it did not hit him at all. Getting up with adrenaline running through his body, Solimus saw no other option except to fight it out. If he were to run, he would surely be caught immediately; there was no use teleporting away, for no one in the country had even begun to master such an art!
“You have a quick reaction time.” the elite soldier stated. Getting a better look, Solimus could make out several defining features. Short, white hair which was most likely a wig, pale skin, and red eyes. “Hello, dear minister!” the elite soldier exclaimed before starting to chuckle.
A cold, yet stunned, look on Solimus’s face appeared to fit somewhat perfectly with the oncoming snow.
“You’re rather stoic, aren’t you?” asked the elite soldier, who stared intently at Solimus.
Solimus felt slightly intimidated. He had just been flung from the Government Council room with much force. Never in his life had Solimus experienced a power stronger than himself, except for the very rare master that wandered through the streets of the capital. And, then again, Solimus never visited other countries and was somewhat of a hermit.
“I suggest surrendering. Even if you do manage to defeat me, my squad won’t let that slide very easily.” the elite soldier affirmed in a humorous tone. “And we’re all at least at Tier Nine, so your incapacitation and capturement is very assured here.”
Solimus had heard about this. Despite being a recluse, he was actually very knowledgable of the outside world. Different countries use different ranking systems according to their customs and culture, some harder to advance up than others. Atothic used a scale of 1-5, with five being the strongest.
“If you’re trying to be funny, it’s not working.” Solimus replied.
Solimus, as far as he was concerned, was 4.6 on the scale. He was one of, if not, the strongest one alive in the country, even when considering the few prodigies that appeared now and then. It’s what allowed him to rise the ranks so quickly. The only thing that was preventing him from being the leader of the country was his age, 22.
There was only one country who used Tiers for ranking, as far as Solimus’s memory went back, which was the small island country of Gulf Hodie. Converted on their scale, Solimus would only rank Tier 7-8 of twelve Tiers, seeing as Hodie’s scale was based off of a higher expectancy of mastery.
“Some of these guys are better mages than me then?” Solimus asked himself, startled.
Before Solimus could think more, a blaze of fire was lit underneath his feet. This snapped him out of his thinking as he jumped back.
“Ah. I see you’re back with us, sir!” the elite soldier jokingly proclaimed. “Look, buddy, I get you’re a minister and your pride gets to you sometimes and all of that. However, I’ll give you the count of five to surrender now.”
“No.” Solimus responded, now readying himself for an attack. If Atothic was going down, Solimus wanted to go down with it. It was at this moment his loyalty was at its highest.
“Well. I tried, I really did.” the elite soldier stated, as he shook his head.
Shadowy tendrils formed at the tip of Solimus’s shoes. Solimus dodged back quickly, leaving a trace of his slide in the snow.
“Scared ya, didn’t I?” mocked the elite soldier. “What a scaredy-cat!”
Solimus leered at the elite soldier.
“I’m tired of your antics!” exclaimed Solimus, his eyebrows furled. “Shut your mouth!”
“Did I strike a nerve? Total gold mine!”
Quickly, Solimus formed a mental image of the core of his magic - water with destruction. He unwound this core into a line, thicker than his previous one. Though he could already feel some mental strain on his mental space, he continued with the creation of the thick line. Solimus added in three variables this time - Continuous, Rampage, and Warmth. He witnessed the line fragmenting into three as they were unrelated, but Solimus anchored them back together with the Anchor.
Within seconds, water came shooting out from Solimus’s hand, which was pointed directly towards the elite soldier. The elite soldier continued to mock Solimus, not paying attention to his movements.
When the elite soldier finally opened his eyes, all he saw was a rapid stream of water coming his way. The elite soldier’s eyes widened in response, but that was all, for the elite soldier found himself shot back into a wall of the ruined government building. And there he laid, covered with rubble.
“Tier 9? What a bluff! He really had me scared for a second.” Solimus thought to himself as he smiled, trying his hardest not to find the situation funny.
However, he found himself at a loss of what exactly to do now. He had defeated an assailant, but the rest did look as if they would come. The government building was in irreparable shape, so much so that the country’s greatest architecture could not rebuild it.
The aura appeared again, though. Solimus felt his heart skip a beat.
Frantically, Solimus began to search around for the source - that guy. He found himself going in circles, attempting to prepare for an attack. And yet, he saw nothing except the flat terrain of the snowy tundra and the government building. It was to such a point that Solimus was unable to properly focus on creating a mental image.
“I know you’re nearby!” exclaimed Solimus, who had conjured all the courage he could. “So, just come out already! Face me!”
Solimus felt a hand on his back, a harsh grip placed upon the spot where the hand was. Quickly, Solimus turned around and faced the elite soldier.
The elite soldier had an expresionless look on his face, and a dull gleam in his eyes. Solimus suddenly felt as if he was in a staring contest he knew he would lose. This feeling intensified until the world as he knew it seemed to be darker than ever known before… he found himself being scared.
“Goodbye,” the elite soldier whispered, the words striking Solimus’s mind like pins and needles, “and....”
Before he knew it, Solimus was flung through the air.