Time began slowing down as I flowed the mana into my neurons, removing the friction of their impulses. I was entranced by the flames slowly crawling upwards, as sparks zig zagged in the breeze, vanishing in the midst of their journey.

"I have come to make a truce. The demons will bring war in three days," I broke my silence, attempting to remain neutral.

"Hah! Human, we have battled demons for centuries. The Soul Eater is nothing but an ancient legend. We have grown beyond your history," he curled his lips, while sliding the pair of swords up from their sheaths, twirling them out. The golden blades, curving wider at the center, shimmered from the reflection of the flames.

I bowed my head slightly, "We only want peace."

"Peace is not free, show me you can earn it," he declared.

I sensed his posture shifting, as I guided more mana towards my head. In a flash, he darted forward, thrusting his right sword poking through the flames. His body floated through the fire, disappearing for a moment in the blaze, but continued piercing forward. The sword glistened a pinstripe blue at its edge, as it hummed towards my neck.

I watched as it slowly grew closer. Right at the last moment, I pivoted to the right, and swung my left leg towards his shins.

Feeling his second blade moving through the air, glowing a hint of purple, I lept backwards immediately. The sword arched towards me, slicing the air, as a shockwave escaped away from where I had just stood. The sound of metal ringing permeated to my ears.

Adrenaline filled my body, as I focused on the swords, grabbing their silhouettes and yanking them high into the air.

Caught off guard, the elf grunted, but never let go of the handles, as he rocketed high into the sky.

Pursuing him up into the sky, I raised my arms straight above and unleashed dual blades of plasma. Increasing my speed, aiming straight for his stomach, the gap was shrinking between us.

Suddenly, his body vanished, leaving a mist in its wake. The hairs on my arms stiffened through the wind, as a mounting killing intent slid its tentacles at me from the side.

Turning my gaze towards the ominous air, the man was paused in midair, motioning with his hands. Quickly, I increased the hardened shield of mana around me, when a sudden whiplash struck at me. Something caught me, attempting to crush the shell I built.

Violently swirling mana inside my body, I increased the density of my shield, growing it larger, pushing away the obstruction.

In an instant, I released the shield completely and propelled myself towards the elf, balancing the flow towards my arms and legs. The air crackled behind as the invisible force slammed shut.

BOOOM

Five meters.

Three meters.

One meter.

The distance closed quickly, as I swiped my plasma blade upwards, deflecting both his swords raining down at me. Without missing the opening, my right fist squeezed tightly, as I sent the plasma fizzling away. My knuckles connected into his stomach, colliding with a slight resistance.

Time froze for a moment, while his breath forcefully escaped and a spicy scent invaded my nose, as I dug further into his abdomen.

The elf bursted away in a straight line through the clouds. I wasn't sure if I should follow, as I sensed him disappear into the distance.

Heading back down to the fire pit instead, I looked around searching for a teleportation device, but it seems the place had been evacuated completely of equipment too.

The air suddenly shifted, as the elf appeared back on the stump trying to catch his breath, both swords sheathed away.

"A-any harder-" he choked for air, "and I wouldn't get t-to enjoy ghost reaper curry anymore!"

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This man teleported twice. Yet his sword had a blue aura around it. Does he have both purple and blue auras!? I guess it would be natural through the generations for people to be born with more than one aura type.

"As I was saying, we want only peace," I stared at him, sitting back gazing at the stars.

"You wiped out ten-thousand of our countrymen…" he paused, turning to face me, "but the threat of the demons is a concern for the King. Wait here for a moment."

With those words, he disappeared, leaving me alone with the fire. There was no plan going forward, only to trust in building a relationship.

I closed my eyes feeling the swirls of mana in the atmosphere. An odd pattern caught my attention above the stump. Inspecting closer, a whirlpool of aura was left behind, fading into itself.

My curious mind reached into the torrent, glowing gently, starting to lose momentum. Feeling it with the silhouette of my palm, I stirred it around.

I could feel its energy reigniting, accelerating as it rotated faster and faster. The spinning spread out like vines, grabbing onto my magic. It began pulling me in, dragging my body, as I attempted to resist. In an instant the scenery changed and I collided with something.

"-eace, aahhh," a voice cried out. It was the elf I bumped into! We both stammered and fell to the ground, as I heard my box bang onto the floor next to me.

"""Protect the King!""" Men shouted out in unison.

Guards in golden armor quickly surrounded us, aiming their short spears, with glimmering yellow tips, pointed close to my head.

Creating a thin, dense shield, wrapped around me, I slowly stood up and raised my voice, assisted with mana, "We don't have time to waste your majesty. The demons are launching a full invasion in three days."

The guards paid no attention to my words, as their killing intent grew more violent, inching their spears forward, itching to strike.

"Halt!" An old voice roared from behind the men.

The guards immediately relaxed in unison and stood up straight, spears by their side. As if performed many times, they split into two columns, opening a path.

The King and I locked eyes on each other. He was wearing a thin gold crown with red robes and adorned a well-groomed white beard. The man had the eyes of a warrior.

Out of respect for the intrusion, I bowed and spoke, "My name is Joe, known from legend as the Soul Eater. Dear King of Doron, the new Kingdom of Sarconia, run by the lost ancients, my friends, offer you a gift in a show of goodwill."

I pointed to the box lying on the floor. Everyone's eyes jumped to see the box. The guards stiffened at the thought, perhaps they were a bit suspicious of its contents, or of myself.

"Three weapon prototypes were developed for the three types of battle– Long distance, medium range and close combat."

A man standing to the right of the King, wearing a blue suit and black dress shoes, signaled one of the guards. The man in armor walked over to the box and slashed it open in a single strike.

SWISH!

The lid popped up and tumbled to the side.

He peeked inside and lifted up the rail gun. Eyes widened in the crowd.

"Th-th-this is just like demon technology!" The right-hand to the king spoke up.

I wasn't sure if it was the shape of the rifle or if they knew about rail guns.

"No, this is ancient technology," I corrected him, and continued, "this is called a rail gun, it can launch metal projectiles over a few mountains, the impact will penetrate solid steel about-" I paused to think what measurement to use.

"About the thickness of my arm," I concluded, spreading my right arm and gesturing with the other. It would bore through steel like bread, but this estimate would have to suffice.

Gasps rose up from the room.

"Impossible, our sorcerer-smiths claim such efficiency in a puny device is impossible!" Another man spoke up, standing back at the wall with many others, which I assume were part of the council.

"The demons only use technology our lost ancients invented many millennia ago. Bring out the next one." I spoke towards the guard.

They were less impressed with the next two weapons, but I still saw some of the councilmen salivating over the armaments.

"What is that tiny device?" The King spoke up. It seems I have his attention.

I couldn't help but smile, "That targets and destroys the electrical circuits in all their science-based technology, including aircraft and ground vehicles."

I swear I saw question marks popping up above their heads. The empire must be controlling the level of education of this world for even this Kingdom to be stuck in the medieval ages.

"It disables their technology," Hopefully that oversimplification did it.

One of the councilmen fainted, as others quickly held onto him, preventing his head from cracking open on the ground.

Perfect, I used this momentum for my closing request, "We are prepared to arm the Kingdom of Doron with these and many other weapons, in exchange for a majority supply of manite."

I was not going to teach a man to fish, I was only going to give them a fish. Human potential is blazing fast. I can understand why the demons controlled the world's knowledge. If not kept in check, it could quickly surpass the empire's unimaginative efforts. Global domination requires balance. If the side we help wants genocide, I probably wouldn't be able to stop them without superior knowledge and imagination at our disposal.