image [https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/n9zhqhtlihn9ffunte6ti/00642-3803240512-best-quality-masterpiece-detailed-red-armored-dragon-with-metal-wings-and-armored-breastplate-on-a-grassy-field-s.png?rlkey=38yyax7lfn8k3ubdpd3462rdq&st=vo669st1&dl=1]
Even with a dragon staring down at them, the bold mages of the crimson army did not seem at all intimidated. About half of the army brazenly folded their arms and smiled at the audience who were viewing from above, as if proudly declaring that they could deal with the triple threat from the indigo army with just fifty percent of their fighting force.
“Are half of them really just going to stand there, doing nothing?” cried out Jonas. “I mean, there’s a meteorite threatening to squash them, a column of burning light just about to incinerate them, and an entire freakin’ dragon just casually snorting smoke down on their heads before probably grilling the lot of them for lunch. I know the crimson army is trying to show off their strength, but it feels like they’re taking it too far…”
“Jonas. My man. Chill,” came Clem’s calming voice. “Don’t forget who we be talking about - it’s the Heartspell mages! They know real magic.”
Half of the mobilized crimson army further split themselves into three groups. A third immediately flew up to the sky - much to the surprise of the gawking audience, who for the first time in this battle saw any aerial magic at all - and instantaneously opened up a portal to the same hellish world that the meteorite was summoned from. With the flick of one mage's dismissive palm, the meteorite was flung back to where it belonged. The prospective students roared with loud cheers and exclamations, thoroughly impressed by Heartspell's demonstration of magical dominance. No chanting, no artifacts, no spellbooks needed.
Another third snapped their fingers, and they suddenly vanished, before re-appearing in a neat, organized circle around the obsidian obelisk, a perfect demonstration of short-ranged teleportation. They then forcefully thrusted their hands outward, and the outer surface of the obelisk shattered before its central structure crumbled into dust. Immediately, the column of prismatic light fizzled out and dematerialized, just inches in front of the rest of the crimson army. The indigo mages near the obelisk fell to their knees, seeing how their painstaking efforts were so quickly reversed and unravelled.
Clem nudged Jonas in the ribs and said, “See, I told ya.”
Jonas did not reply. His jaw was agape and he was staring at the field dumbfoundedly.
Clem couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of an awestruck Jonas. “Bet you didn’t expect that level of domination, huh!”
The boy shook his head, his eyes still wide open and pinned on the battlefield, and said slowly, “No… no… I didn’t.”
“Well, sit back and enjoy the show! They still have that dragon to deal with. And damn. Would be great to have some popcorn about now.”
All eyes were now on the final third of the mobilized crimson mages. There was only a single thought running through Jonas’s mind: how on earth would the Heartspell army deal with a dragon?!
With an equal measure of ease and confidence, the mages in crimson focused their attention on a large, empty expanse just next to their green, reptilian foe. The crowd held their breath as the mages pointed their outstretched arms to the ground, and slowly raised their hands higher.
“No way, they can’t be.” said Jonas, covering his mouth with one hand.
An equally gargantuan creature materialized from bottom up, with red-scaly skin, spikes along its spine, and powerful wings on its back. Its vehement roar was buoyed up further by the wild cheers of the crowd. A swipe of its powerful tail sent dust scattering up over the field, and it laid its front claws down in a proud, dominant pose.
“I still can’t believe that the indigo army took ages to summon their dragon,” said Jonas, “and the crimson army just… what, raised their hands and called one up like it was child’s play - ”
“Oh, that ain’t child’s play at all,” said Clem. “That be some hard ass magical engineering behind the spell, and the prep for it was probably killer.”
“I’d imagine it was.”
The arena had an atmosphere of tensed silence as the two beasts stood facing each other, sizing the other up.
Jonas studied the newly summoned dragon, and noticed that unlike its green counterpart, the red beast was adorned with a stout-looking cuirass on its chest, sturdy pauldrons on its shoulders, and even vambraces and greaves for all its limbs. The spikes running down its back and tail seem to have been augmented with additional metallic parts. And the tips of its wings were the most intimidating, as it was armed with what looked like sharp, menacing spearheads.
The silence was broken by a snort of smoke - it was the indigo army’s green dragon that moved first. Without any warning, it unmeshed its jaws and breathed a blazing stream of fire at its crimson nemesis. The red dragon was caught off-guard, and took the attack directly to the chest. But to the indigo army’s chagrin, the flames simply splashed off its shiny breastplate, causing not much more than a minor annoyance. It shook its upper body and neck, as if warming up for battle, and replied to that fiery attack with a fierce roar, wings now spread out to posture for dominance and strength.
“So that’s what all the armour is for,” mused Jonas.
“Easily strong enough to withstand the heat of dragon fire,” said Clem. “I don’t think that green boy’s gonna waste his time with ranged attacks anymore.”
In reply to the armoured dragon’s ferocious posturing, the green beast drew open its wings in an intimidating display. It seemed to know instinctively that in this battle, it could not afford to look small and weak. Their roars sent shockwaves through the arena, and Jonas could feel the parapet that he was gripping on with his clammy hands vibrate. He watched, completely absorbed, as they strode closer to probed the other for weakness.
With wings still opened wide, they snapped at each other’s vulnerable neck with quickly clamping jaws. Their sharp, beady eyes were trained on the other’s movements, and their necks would dodge to the side before lunging forward for a counter-bite.
“They aren’t gonna get anywhere snapping at each other like that,” said Clem.
“Yea,” replied Jonas. “Their reflexes and speed are evenly matched here.”
“I mean, can you imagine if the battle came down to whose neck muscles were faster?” said Clem with a sarcastic grin. “They are winged dragons. Give me an aerial battle already!”
Sure enough, the grounded phase of the battle did not last long. The red one was the first to take to the skies, flapping its powerful wings and inadvertently sending some of the indigo mages to their knees. They braced themselves against the explosive gusts of air, each flap threatening to send them careening backwards if they did not lower their center of gravity by kneeling on the ground.
Although its entire body was decked out with heavy metal armour and spikes, the red dragon was able to ascend with surprising speed. Its body was close to vertical, nose pointing toward the sky. And save for the occasional flap of the wings, it looked completely streamlined.
“Just like an inverted nosedive,” muttered Jonas as he watched in awe.
Not to be outdone, its green counterpart kicked up into the air with its muscular hind legs, flapped its wings, and flew. Jonas noticed that it was struggling to close the gap, despite being unburdened by any additional weight. Each wing flap had a weaker propelling force than its red rival; its ascent looked clumsy by comparison.
“Imagine the layers, and layers of spells involved to make a beast as grand as that,” said Clem, nodding in the direction of the upward climbing red dragon. “A summoning duel be one of my favourite ways to see that gap in knowledge and preparation between the two parties.” He spread his index and thumb out, then squinted through the space between them, drawing a chuckle from Jonas.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“Are you implying that the gap between them is that small?”
“Actually,” replied Clem, “I’m understating by quite a lot.”
The red beast was now at a safe distance away from the two ground armies, and its green assailant was doing all it could to close in fast. Instead of climbing further, the armoured dragon resumed its horizontal posture and gradually widened its wings to slow down its unearthly momentum. There, it maintained its height through occasional wing flaps, while looking down at its green foe with a steely gaze.
There was no better time to resume the battle.
It dove down at its foe without mercy, crashing against green wings in mid flap. The green beast shrieked, but managed to bank to the side and absorb some of that impact. They began circling each other in the air, tearing at each other with a claw or two when they could.
“Seems like an even match so far,” said Jonas.
“Nah,” replied Clem. “Look closer.”
While it seemed like the green dragon was able to keep up, it became apparent that time was not on its side. Every bite and swipe that it failed to block turned into bloody gashes on its body, but even when it managed to successfully land a hit on its opponent, it failed to do any meaningful damage. The red dragon’s metallic armour gave it an edge that was simply superior.
Eventually the two legendary creatures came at each other with their hind claws, grappling onto the other while their wings kept them bobbing in mid-air. The contest was a stalemate for a few seconds, but using a powerful twist, the red dragon broke its rival’s balance with sheer strength, and sent it spinning downward for a moment before it could regain its aerial bearings.
As the magical cameras zoomed into the green dragon’s visage, Jonas saw its yellow, beady eyes darting about frantically, and could sense its desperation. Sure enough, instead of turning back toward the armoured dragon for another round, it aimed for the crimson army, and dived down.
Flapping its gigantic wings to stop itself just a distance away, it took a huge breath. Unlike its previous breath attack, the green dragon’s chest now started to glow, heralding perhaps an attack with far greater intensity than the previous one. Directly in the path of fire stood the crimson army, who still stood firmly and refused to buckle from the constant gusts of wind. Jonas couldn’t tell if it was sheer willpower or just another spell that kept them from falling.
“I gotta give it to the green dragon there,” commented Clem. “If the red dragon ain’t taking damage, just go for the jugular - the crimson army itself.”
“Stop playing with your food!” yelled out Jonas to the red dragon, “Now your entire team’s about to die!”
Clem burst out laughing at how invested Jonas was in the battle. “I’m not worried one bit,” he confessed. “And not just because of the safeguards in this arena.”
Jonas winced in worry as the red dragon took a second longer to respond that he would like. But the moment its beady eyes spotted the glow in the green dragon’s chest, it did a quick corkscrew in midair and dived back down to deal with its foe’s antics.
Without wasting any time at all, it shot down diagonally like an arrow, pressing its wings flat against its body to cut through the air. Then, right as it passed by the green dragon, it extended its wings. The timing was perfect. A metallic spearhead at the tip of its augmented wings was angled towards its foe's exposed neck, and at the speed that it was going, the bright metal stabbed right through.
The crowd let out a gasp, then there was silence for a brief moment. The FloatingScreens around the arena replayed the scene in slow motion for those who missed that split second of decisive action.
It was clear to all who saw; before the green dragon could let any of that incinerating breath escape its jaws, the sharp spike of the red dragon’s wings had already rendered its scaley neck asunder.
The brief moment of silence ended with mind-numbing shrieks so loud that Jonas had to hold his hands to his ears. As if only now registering that it was stabbed, the mighty green creature flailed in mid-air, convulsed in pain, and finally crashed onto the ground.
The armour-clad victor landed gracefully, and in a triumphant gesture, lumbered towards its defeated foe, trampled on its limp body with its front claws, and let loose a roar of victory amidst the crowd's thundering applause.
“Wow. That was wild,” said Jonas, standing up and joining in with the crowd’s applause.
“Of course,” said Clem as he leaned back in his chair, looked up, and appeared to be dreaming about something else.
One by one, the indigo mages accepted their defeat and exited the battlefield by the corner portals. The crimson mages took a bow before exiting on the other side of the field.
With a snap of the fingers, one of the Heartspell mages instantly dematerialized the red dragon on her way out. Some of the indigo mages stayed behind, head hanging low, to cast their dematerialization spell for the defeated green dragon.
Jonas heard the commentator's voice wrapping things up for the viewers: "And as you would expect, it's a unanimous, undisputed victory for the Heartspell army! The indigo army has shown some pretty impressive magic this year, an improvement over last year's efforts, but as usual, they just can't beat Heartspell." The crowd laughed at his jabs at the other schools. "They had no chance at all, but we fully respect them for trying. Come back in two hours for Round Two of Heartspell versus the other top schools!"
Jonas sat back down on his seat, watching as the rest of the prospective students streamed out of the arena. He wanted to make a snarky comment, but stopped himself when he saw Clem with a pensive, far-off gaze that felt out of place on his usually alert face.
“What’s going on?” asked Jonas.
“Nuthin’,” said Clem, before continuing. “I mean, real war ain’t that pretty.”
"Oh, I thought that was pretty gnarly already,” admitted Jonas, who winced as he thought back on the yellow goo that spurted out from the green dragon’s neck.
"Ain’t it strange? The only blood we saw today belonged to a summoned creature. And if you didn’t know already, summoned creatures are fully restored once dematerialized into its magical subspace.”
“So technically, no magical creatures were irreversibly harmed in the making of this battle?" noted Jonas.
"Exactly.” Clem paused again, before saying, "I know they said at the start that these two armies be going all out, but I can tell that they be following some sort of gentlemen’s agreement or somethin’. It was tame. ‘Cause they don't be wanting you to see it.” There was a small quaver in his voice. “Real war is ugly. Real war is broken limbs, ruptured organs, crying widows, mourning orphans." He pulled a part of his long fringe back, revealing his right eye which was usually hidden behind that tuft of hair. Wordlessly, he continued staring out into the distance, as if lost in some memory.
"I’m sorry. Sounds like you’ve been to hell and back,” said Jonas. “Being honest though, I didn’t know there were still wars going on. It’s peaceful in Western Caschian.”
“Nah, it’s fine, my man,” replied Clem. He sat up straight and sighed. “You must’ve heard of the Power Bloc, the Novice Bloc, the Experimental Bloc, and the Religious Bloc right?”
Jonas nodded his head. It was common knowledge to have at least heard of the four largest political blocs in the entire world, and besides, his cousin had lectured him endlessly on the subject.
“But there be also countries that chose to be independent,” continued Clem, “and those independent countries are in none of these Blocs. That be where the wars are fought. Since they ain’t as big as the four blocs, they ain’t always reported on.”
“Let me guess,” said Jonas. “The Religious Bloc wants new people to convert, the Experimental Bloc wants more resources for their scientific experiments, and the Power Bloc… just wants to expand for the sake of it.”
“Exactly. That’s why there would always be wars. Looks like you ain’t just the new kid on the block, eh!” commended Clem.
“Yeah, my cousin tells me about this stuff.”
“Good for you. Anyway, my family’s from one of those independent countries. You might not have heard of it, and that’s fine - it don’t exist anymore.”
Jonas gulped, “That’s not fine.”
Clem continued. “Rivosh, the religious Bloc, had been looking to annex us for decades. But we ain’t blind to that and put up a strong front – managed to scare ‘em off for a long time. A couple of years ago though, they started up their crusades again. And that’s when they finally invaded.” Clem sniffed and rubbed his face, still maintaining a grim look as he tightened his lips. “A lot of my friends…” he frowned, struggling to fight off tears that were forming in his eyes. “A lot of my friends didn’t make it. I even watched some of them burn before my eyes, and I couldn’t do anything.” He choked. “Curse that ‘holy fire’ Rivoshian magic. Curse it!” His voice became strained and he struggled to speak, “I was lucky – I was lucky that my mum was a strong mage. She… she saved my family and brought us here. To Nostriva.”
“Damn, that’s tough,” said Jonas, frowning in concern. He couldn’t even begin to imagine the suffering Clem must’ve gone through. His own family might’ve had some dark times, but the scent of death was never close by.
“No, it’s all good.” Clem quickly wiped away his tears and regained composure. A tuft of hair fell back down to obscure his right eye once again. “All that happened for a reason. At the very least, it gave me conviction to be a strong mage. Just like my mum. As my people used to say, ‘There ain’t no peace without war.’”
“You sound like you will be a badass mage one day,” said Jonas. And he meant it. Despite Clem’s laid-back demeanour, Jonas could sense that he was internally guided by an uncommon sort of determination.
“Yeah, I will be. That’s why I’d be majoring in Warfare. Not because it be cool or exciting. I just want nobody to touch the people I care about ever again.”
“What a way to turn things around.”
“Thanks, my man. You don’t mind me telling you this, do you? I feel like I can trust you.”
“Your story’s safe with me!”
“Now. That’s enough about me. What about you, Jonas - what are you gonna major in?"
“Hmm. That’s a good question.” Jonas recalled the various booths and exhibitions he had seen earlier - from transportation, to fashion, to civic utilities, and now warfare - but nothing quite caught his eye yet. “Honestly, probably something that's more commercial, and safe, and boring.”
“Hey! Don’t put yourself down, my man. To each his own.”
“Yeah, I mean - I think my family wouldn’t be happy if they hear that I was going to major in Warfare or something dangerous like tha-" said Jonas, before he was interrupted mid-sentence by a surprisingly well-built old man.
He was dressed in a floral, pink shirt, with fuzzy chest hair spilling out from its unbuttoned top. The white beard revealed his age, but the chiselled chest and muscular forearms warned that he was someone to be respected.
"Hello Jonas!” His voice boomed loudly through the empty corridor. “It's nice to finally meet you!" The man grabbed his hand and shook it enthusiastically. Jonas winced before relaxing; his grip was firm, but thankfully not painful.
The man turned to Clem and said, "You must pardon us; I have some business with this boy. Please, I will give him back in just a moment. I promise you: it will not be long!" Before Clem could reply, the man swirled his fingers, and the two of them vanished from plain sight.