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When he opened his eyes, he was greeted by a chaotic scene. There were battles happening in isolated arenas all around him. But before he could get his bearings, a loud explosion nearby sent a powerful shockwave that rocked the very ground he was standing on. Yelping, he put his hand against the wall to stabilize himself, and barely avoided falling.
“Careful now,” said Clem. “Them big boys ain’t holding back here, it seems.”
In the distance, Jonas could hear even more explosions which sent the tremor of smaller shockwaves to his feet. Sounds of beam-type spells tearing through the air and sizzling balls of energy hitting their mark bombarded his auditory senses. Every now and then, the acrid scent of burning wafted through the air, but it quickly disappeared before becoming bothersome.
“Are they doing something with the smells too?” asked Jonas.
“You bet your ass they are,” replied Clem. “I mean, what be this lavender scent doing in a place where live fire demonstrations are going on? Has gotta be a couple of PurifySmell spells being set on auto-cast every now and then.”
Multiple arenas were visible from the entrance portal alone. They were stacked up across at least three to four levels, and as Jonas turned a full three sixty degrees, he could see that literally, battles were happening all around him
Just as the cacophony of sounds and kaleidoscope of colours began to be too much to bear, Jonas looked down, and saw a lightly glowing pathway along the floor tiles. “I think that’s the path they want us to follow for now.”
It led them to a FloatingScreen that had an informative animation running on loop.
“Ah,” said Clem, as he watched the short animation, “it shows here that all the battlefield simulations and live fire demonstrations have invisible barriers around them.”
“Phew. I guess I don’t have to worry about getting decapitated by a stray laser beam,” said Jonas.
“Figures. They can’t have prospective students getting wounded at an exhibition, can they?”
The lightly glowing pathway now branched out to multiple paths. Clem pointed at the one that drew the largest crowd, and the two made their way towards it.
“That arena looks huge. I bet there’s a full wargame going on there,” said Clem.
“Yea, but it’s impossible to see what’s going on in there from here.”
As they walked closer to arena, they had the feeling that it would be multiples the size of those smaller ones that greeted them at the entrance portal. In fact, all that was visible now seemed to be just the top row of an arena so large, it rivalled the stature of a sports stadium.
When they finally reached the invisible barrier, Jonas joined the crowd of prospective students all around him and looked downward. Instead of seeing rows and rows of seats, he saw a flat metallic wall that descended diagonally until it reached a spacious, flat field at the bottom.
The flat area had trimmed green grass growing on it, and was at least twice the size of a regular football field. There on the gigantic field, stationed at each end and poised to clash at each other, stood what looked like two infantry armies. Jonas inspected them closer, and saw that instead of the usual uniform of a soldier, they were all wearing mage robes.
“It’s gonna be large-scale mage battle, isn’t it!” exclaimed Jonas.
A commentator's voice cut through the constant chatter of the crowd, and the prospective students started to quiet down in anticipation for what was to come.
“Welcome, one and all, to the most exciting demonstration in the entire Warfare exhibition. On the left, we have the indigo army. As per their namesake, all the mages in it are draped in indigo robes. They comprise of the mages that hail from the other top ranking magic schools in both Nostriva and Pendulus. Why are they here, you might ask? Despite coming from different school, they’ve been practicing for months on end for a single purpose – to show you, our dear prospective students, that their magic schools are better than Heartspell!”
The crowd cheered and jeered in equal measure.
“On the right are our heroes in crimson robes, the crimson army. Its rank and file are populated by none other than our very own final year Warfare majors from Heartspell. They have so graciously sacrificed their time and mana to prepare for this demonstration, where they will show you why, ladies and gentlemen, exactly why you guys have shown up in Heartspell in the first place – to learn superior magic from the best magic school in Nostriva!”
The crowd laughed at the commentator’s unabashedly biased praise, and cheered for the demonstration to start.
“As you can see, there are experienced medical mages on standby,” said the commentator, “because while both sides have prepared hard on their own, this battle is by no means staged or rehearsed. Both sides are fully invested in the outcome of the battle. Because after all, what is at stake is their honour, their pride, and the potential enrolment of you lot – you precious, precious batch of S Tier mages - in their respective academies! In case the battle gets out of hand, the folk dressed in white robes are ready to heal or resuscitate any combat casualties. So please rest assured, and enjoy the epic magical showdown between the indigo army and the crimson army!
A thick black number “three” appeared out of nowhere in midair, and a beeping countdown started. In rhythmic order, the number transformed from “three” to “two”, from “two” to “one”, and finally to a big, fat “zero”. And at zero, the battle began.
Jonas blinked in surprise as a dozen or so humongous FloatingScreens suddenly manifested in midair, positioned just perfectly at the spectator’s eye level. In unison, they flickered and turned on, displaying close up shots of the various platoons in the indigo army preparing their spells at a frantic pace.
“Dang! That’s handy,” said Jonas.
“I mean, the field is rather far away,” replied Clem. “I’d be more surprised if they didn’t have ways to showcase all that sweet action that’s happening on the ground.”
A row of seats automagically manifested behind the prospective students, and they had an option to sit and comfortably watch the close-up scenes on the FloatingScreens, or stand up and look down to get a bird’s eye view of the battle. Clem reclined into a seat, while Jonas remained standing, excitedly keeping his view on both the FloatingScreens and the entire field.
It seemed to him that the indigo army was active everywhere at once. There was a group of five mages at the corner inscribing a magic circle onto the field. Another small group of three were assembling a large, obsidian obelisk. Somewhere near the back, there were about a dozen mages with eyes closed, chanting an elaborate spell in an eerie-sounding, otherworldly language.
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At the front of the indigo army stood the vanguard, who were well-equipped with various mediums and artifacts, such as spellbooks, staves, and trinkets.
“I’m guessing those guys at the vanguard hold the front while the mages at the back are preparing the more powerful spells,” commented Jonas.
“Yea. Standard battle tactics,” said Clem, stifling a yawn.
“They’re so organized though. Seems like every one of them know exactly what to do,” said Jonas.
“Oh, they had better. They be going up against Heartspell after all,” said Clem.
Jonas inspected the FloatingScreens and saw a few close-up shots of a number of the indigo mages. On their faces were a palpable fog of worry, inevitably emanating through the frantic pace of their spell preparation efforts.
He turned to the right side of the field where the crimson army stood.
I can see why the indigo mages look so worried.
In a somewhat lackadaisical fashion, the crimson army began to not even march, but walk to the center, eschewing all the hustle and bustle that was characteristic of an army in the midst of battle. Their faces were the epitome of fearlessness, and Jonas even sensed a bit of impudence when a cheeky smile or two was captured on the FloatingScreens. Indeed, the crimson army was advancing forward with no shields in place, as if challenging the enemy to fire straight at them.
Not wasting a single opportunity, the indigo army's vanguard eagerly began the rituals needed to send the first volley of magical projectiles their way. On the FloatingScreens, Jonas observed chanting, hand seals, waving of wands, and all sorts of preparations that he did not understand.
“Damn. They’re taking their time, aren’t they?” he commented.
“Oh? That’s typical magic for you,” came Clem’s snarky reply. “You should expect the first shot to be fired after say… a minute or two?”
“The crimson army should be able to react to that, right?” said Jonas. “They just need to break ranks and scatter, or turn around and stay out of range of those attacks.
They did not. Instead, they continued advancing daringly.
Soon enough, from the indigo army’s side of the field, bolts of electricity crackled through the air, balls of blazing fire whooshed by in speedy succession, spears of sharp, freezing ice rapidly closed the distance, threatening to put the crimson army’s advance to a halt.
“Are they stupid?!” protested Jonas. “The crimson army’s just gonna take that head on?”
The crowd’s excited chattering rose, and a number of students got up from their seats to get a fuller view of the battle. But just as things were looking bleak for the crimson mages, all of the attacks were stopped short by a shimmering wall of vermillion light that seemed to appear out of nowhere.
Every magical bolt, beam, and spear crashed into the powerful barrier, and fizzled out immediately, failing by far to connect with their targets. The crowd cheered, and a few students let out loud whistles of approval. One of the FloatingScreens captured a scene of just three crimson mages.
“There, the heroes who saved the day,” said Clem, pointing to that screen.
Jonas looked in time to see those three mages put down their hands. As they did so, the vermillion barrier disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.
“Wait, so the crimson army only needed three mages to put up a barrier that could withstand the barrage of multiple platoons?” asked Jonas, incredulously.
“Not to mention, they did it in a tiny, tiny fraction of the time,” said Clem, putting his thumb and index finger together and squinting through the sliver of a gap formed between them.
“The crimson army’s that strong, huh,” said Jonas.
“You think?” came Clem’s reply with a smile on his face. “Why else am I just chilling on my seat when those indigo posers were taking pot shots at them?”
This almost-farcical cycle continued, with the indigo army sending wave after wave of elemental attacks, only for them to be easily neutralized by the strong shields that were elegantly summoned just in time by the mages in crimson. As this went on, the crimson army continued their adamant stride forward to the center of the field.
None of the crimson army mages were holding any staves, spellbooks, or trinkets, while the indigo army mages were desperately brandishing theirs. The ever-advancing mages from Heartspell finally ended their march right at the center of the field, so confident in their defensive magic that they would deliberately forsake the usual advantage of mage armies - fighting from a distance.
“So this is the difference between – what do they call it again?” asked Jonas.
“What?”
“That magic style.”
“You mean, emotion-based casting?”
“Yes that!” Jonas tried again. “So this is the difference between emotion-based casting and ‘typical magic’.”
“Of course,” said Clem. “You not only get the efficiency of skipping the rituals and all that jazz, but with deeper understanding of the essence of magic, you get more effective spells.”
“So how does emotion-based casting work? I mean, those crimson mages didn’t look very emotional when they were casting.”
“Well,” started Clem with an amused grin on his face, “if I knew, I wouldn’t be here looking to enrol in Heartspell, would I? Anyhow, looks like the indigo clowns are finally done with their big spells. Let’s see what they be up to.”
Something changed in the atmosphere. The indigo mages at the back seemed to have calmed down. Their vanguards held back on their relentless casting, feeling certain now that they have bought enough time for their superstar mages to make their debut.
First up was the group who was working on the white, chalky magic circle. The patterns were elaborate and almost resembled a mandala. Blue mana was flowing from all five mages into the inscribed pattern, and it started to glow. Then it flickered, and disappeared, completely as if it was never there.
The spell was complete, and silence fell on the entire stadium. Jonas held his breath, unable to anticipate what was to come.
From the top corner of the stadium, a menacing, red portal opened up to the gasps and cries of the prospective students in the audience. It revealed the harsh and inhospitable world that it was connected to, with fierce wyverns patrolling the skies, chunks of burning rock pummelling the red ground below, and volcanic lava occasionally spewing from the cracks of the earth.
A large, flaming meteorite fell through that hellish portal before it finally sealed back up, and the fiery rock slowly but ominously descending toward the center of the field, threatening the entire crimson army with extinction. On its descent, it collided against one of the FloatingScreens, which crackled, split in two, and caught aflame. Before its debris could fall to the field below, it was de-materialized in midair.
“That meteorite’s gonna spell disaster for the crimson army,” said Jonas, holding his breath.
“Wait. There’s more,” whispered Clem, who finally got up from his seat to get a better view of the action in the arena below.
Without pause, the next group of the indigo army unleashed their attack. The three mages who were erecting the obsidian obelisk had finally completed their task, and a yellow-green light began to emanate from the runes inscribed onto the obelisk's front face. An oddly pitched dissonant sound resonated throughout the entire battlefield before gradually dying down into a low hum, a sound that Jonas assumed was originating from the monolithic structure.
In an instant, the black structure was completely engulfed by a tall column of prismatic light, causing Jonas to shield his eyes from the sudden brightness. He watched in wordless awe as the entire column of light moved with purpose at a steady pace towards the crimson army, leaving a trail of grassless, scorched earth in its wake.
“I now get why the Warfare exhibition’s so popular,” said Jonas.”
“Mmhmm,” replied Clem, his eyes fully transfixed on the battlefield.
It seemed like a blazing meteorite and a column of incinerating light was not enough to quench the indigo army's bloodlust - there was still one more trick up their collective indigo sleeves. The continuous chanting of the dozen or so mages at the backline had finally ceased, and in perfect unison, they began to raise their hands toward the center of the field.
“Look there,” said Clem, pointing to the empty patch of grass right in front of the crimson army. “It’s a summoning circle.”
Jonas spotted a large white circle. It was filled with multiple concentric rings, and runic symbols that Jonas could scarcely understand. All he knew was that it was almost the size of the entire crimson army itself, which meant that it must be heralding the arrival of a gigantic creature.
And before that creature even fully materialized, the entire battlefield was shaken by a fierce roar. Green scales eventually became visible, and the yellow, beady eyes resembling that of a large reptile took form. A mouth lined with razor sharp teeth, and a snout that blew hot smoke was next to materialize. Its entire body followed, scaly, sizeable, and intimidating in stature. Large wings flapped once, before folding up behind its back.
There was no doubting it. Standing dauntlessly in the middle of the field, and inflicting a sense of dread and awe in all of its captive viewers, was a legendary creature of myth - a gigantic, green-scaled dragon!
“Surely the indigo army’s going to win this, right?” whimpered Jonas, almost as if he was afraid that the dragon would hear him.
“Ha! Hahahaha!” Clem laughed out loud, to Jonas’s bewilderment. “My man. You ain’t seen nothing yet.”