Siegfried Fors
Sometimes I find myself standing on a cliff. Down below, I see a man pushing a huge rock up to the top of a mountain at dusk. Just as the first rays of dawn pierce the horizon, the rock falls, and the man begins to push it back up the mountain again, destined to repeat the struggle as the sun rises...
A path of anguish and hopelessness...
I often find myself wondering what fuel burns within that man's heart to keep him moving.
Why does he endure such relentless pain?
Is it duty, or is it a curse?
"Fua."
The familiar voice brushed against my ears, pulling me back to the present. I opened my eyes, and Faux drifted into my vision.
"It's time," I said. I let the mana breathing cycle come to a gentle stop and straightened my posture, easing out of my meditative pose as the wind magic kept me suspended above the world.
I looked down at the arena. A fair number of stone benches were already occupied by soldiers. Some stared up at me with wide eyes, but the most important thing was that they had all brought their weapons.
All preparations are going well.
A murmur rose from the arena's main entrance. I shifted mid-air, rotating my body to watch the procession. My family walked in with noble grace, flanked by Tavian, Ashar, and Blake. My gaze swept over them, lingering only for a heartbeat on Aifa before locking onto my mother's axe, which my uncle was currently carrying.
My eyes shifted then, moving toward the figure leading the group. Grandpa walked with a solemn, distant expression, as if nothing in the world around him could truly hold his interest. He looked like a man walking through a dream he couldn't wake up from.
So Granny actually managed to drag him out for this.
As they settled into their seats, I adjusted the flow of the wind around me and drifted closer to the stands.
"Grandpa," I called out.
He lifted his eyes to meet mine, the clouded distance in them clearing for a moment as he looked at me. I could see the lines of grief etched into his face, but I didn't look away.
"If I win today, let's eat together from now on, like we used to," I said, my voice steady despite the flutter in my chest. "It will give me motivation to win."
He stared at me for a long moment, his expression shifting as if a thousand thoughts were warring behind his eyes. Finally, a small smile touched his lips. "Okay. Make sure you give your best."
"That is quite the confidence you carry… I do hope it is justified."
I turned toward the voice to see Miss Serena descending from above with a effortless poise that made the air itself seem to bow to her.
"You will find out shortly," I replied.
"Arena occupancy confirmed: Both fighters detected," Miss Serena's blue orb announced, flanked by red and yellow companions. "Standby positions required. Relocate immediately."
I descended slowly, my feet touching the ground.
Serena did the same landing a few yards away.
"Preparation phase initiated. Duration: five minutes."
Placing my hands on my waist, I arched my back slightly. A satisfying series of cracks ran through my spine.
Now, everything depends on my luck and how well I could read the flow of the fight. I have done everything I could and pushed myself to the absolute limit this past week. Sleep has been a rare luxury barely finding an hour of rest between the cycles of learning and practicing, everything for this exact moment.
But not without a cost.
A constant heaviness throbbed in the back of my head.
I may have overdone the potions just to keep my body moving and my mind sharp.
A faint breath left me.
Just stay awake for one more hour. Once today is over, I will sleep for a lifetime.
"Your wind based flight has become quite the topic of discussion. I had assumed it to be little more than embellished hearsay, but I see now that even unlikely claims can bear truth. How intriguing."
Serena stood tall, her staff gripped loosely in her hand as she watched me with an analytical look.
I didn't feel impressive. It had taken me five grueling days just to get off the ground, and even now, I was only capable of floating or moving in straight lines. Tavian mentioned there are those who have mastered the art of flying in far less time than I have. He even told me about Duke Merlinus's daughter, a girl my own age who had learned to fly in just two days.
I am just too mediocre. At this rate, the gap between me and the rest of the world will only widen until I'm left behind.
I needed to be better. A single month of learning from Zayn is no longer enough to carry me forward.
To reach the height I seek, I need a teacher who could push me past my limits, someone truly powerful and knowledgeable.
And even though I don't want to admit it, the only one…
"Surely you don't believe that mere flight magic would suffice to impress me," Miss Serena continued, her voice sharpening. "You will have to surpass that, considerably." Her eyes narrowed. "Though I trust there is some rudimentary plan taking shape in that small head of yours. You invited all these soldiers, correct?" She glanced around at the arena full of soldiers.
I remained silent. I had no intention of confirming my tactics before the first strike was even thrown.
"Are you about to proclaim something along the lines of 'I am the will of Fors' and set these soldiers upon me?" she asked, a smirk playing on her lips. "Do allow me to tell you, numbers are utterly inconsequential."
"I am well aware," I replied, my voice sounding older than I felt. "It will be just me..."
A soft thud sounded against my hair as a familiar weight settled on my head.
"...and this guy against you."
A "Fuuaaa" of confirmation came from above me, Faux's will mirroring my own.
A small smile tugged at my lips.
"Rules: Combat will conclude upon directive issued by the Great Lady."
The blue orb descended, accompanied by red and yellow orbs.
"If, by solar descent, Subject Siegfried Fors fails to meet evaluation standards, outcome will default to loss.
Subject Siegfried Fors is authorized one familiar. The Great Lady is restricted from utilizing Time and Space magic.
Red will intervene upon escalation beyond acceptable thresholds.
Yellow will administer healing to you in the event of injury."
Did it say the last part while looking at me?
A spark of annoyance flared in my chest. The blatant assumption that I would be the only one needing a healer made my teeth grind together.
Watch me, you overgrown marbles. By the time I'm done, you'll be looking for someone to heal her pride.
"Barrier up."
At those words, a faint pulse spread across the arena. A purple veil rose around us, enclosing the space before fading from sight as if it had never been there.
"What?" My eyes moved across the field.
"Do not concern yourself," Miss Serena said calmly. "It is one-sided. Entry remains possible from the outside."
I sighed internally in relief.
This could have been problematic.
"Wands ready," the blue orb commanded.
I pulled the wand mother gave me from the holder on my waist.
"O unseen threads of the world..." I whispered under my breath.
The incantation felt familiar like an old friend, yet my voice carried a slight tremor. I could feel the tension in the air, like something invisible pressing against my skin. Hundreds of eyes were fixed on us, filled with a hunger for anticipation and excitement.
"Fight."
I swiped my hand. The wand yanked against my grip before her body was jerked sideways.
"O wind."
I kicked off the air, rising higher as calm currents gathered around me. I locked onto her trajectory, certain she'd break against the barrier like a bird against glass, but she twisted in mid-air and landed softly on the surface of the invisible wall standing straight as if the force of attraction was nothing more than a light breeze.
"O mana–Mana Missile!"
Mana concentrated around me in hundreds of brightening points. They shrieked forward like a storm of light towards her.
A handful of points appeared around her moving precisely and fast, cutting through every single one of my attacks and snuffing the concentrated points around me into dust.
"How did you...?"
"I heard this is your favorite spell, but it looks like you don't even know what it can truly do," she said. A smile spread across her face, one that made the hair on my neck stand up. "Let me motivate you a little."
"Faux!"
At my call, emerald barriers surged forward from every direction, closing in, layers upon layers compressing the air around her. I doubled the force of attraction, trying to pin her to the wall, but she moved through the crushing green plates and my force.
She pushed off the barrier, rising high into the air, raising her staff toward the sky. In a heartbeat, a giant fireball manifested above her, radiating a heat that turned the air into a furnace.
"Try not to die."
Shit!
The miniature sun started to descent, a roaring wall of orange and heat. The air screamed as it was displaced by the mass of the flame.
"Faux! Do it!" I screamed.
"Fua?"
"No better time than now! Open wide!"
My arm whipped forward, my fingers digging into Faux's soft form. I didn't wait for his permission. I shoved him forward at the coming disaster.
We have only practiced this with small-scale spells. Please, let this work.
The fireball reached us, but instead of incinerating my flesh, the lead edge of the sphere began to warp. The flames spiraled, caught in a sudden, violent vacuum as Faux unhinged his jaw. The roar of the fire turned into a high pitched whistle as the massive spell was funneled into his tiny throat.
"Fa... fra... fa!"
Strained, muffled cries escaped him as his belly ballooned, his body trembling under the sheer pressure of the contained energy.
The last of the trailing embers vanished into his gullet. Before the fire could backflow, I lunged forward, snapping his mouth shut with both hands, forcing it close with everything I had.
Flames spilled from the corners of his lips, a shaking orange that threatened to burst through.
"There!" I aimed Faux directly at her and wrenched his jaws open.
Fire burst from his throat, no longer a sphere but a concentrated, hot beam of pure destruction. Serena's finger moved in the air, tracing a glowing symbol with impossible speed.
Rune magic!
A torrent of water emerged from the symbol, colliding with the pillar of flames. A sharp hissing sound filled the arena as steam billowed outward, masking the world in thick, hot clouds.
At the same time, I pulled my fist back.
"O mana."
Once again, hundreds of mana points ignited in the fog. This time, I didn't fire them. I called them home. Beams of raw mana extended, slithering through the air like glowing serpents before weaving themselves into a dense, vibrating shell around my fist.
As the last of the flames poured out, I launched myself. I used everything at my disposal: attraction to pull me forward, mana reinforcement to harden my limbs, and haste to to move faster than I ever have.
My vision smeared as I cut through the clouds between us.
For a fraction of a second, I saw her eyes widen as I appeared in front of her.
I got her.
With unnatural speed, she took a single sidestep, her spine bending back like a reed in the wind. My fist cut through the space where her heart had been. Before I could register the miss, her fingers clamped onto my forearm.
Huh?
The world flipped. Before I could process the movement, I was upside down in the air.
I used wind currents to straighten myself up, but she was already there, looming in front of me. I thrust my mana-concentrated fist forward in a desperate strike but she simply used the back of her hand to deflect the strike, slapping all that built-up energy away as if it were a bothersome insect.
Impossible—
Her hand straightened, drove deep into my stomach.
"Ooof."
The air left my lungs in a ragged burst. I couldn't follow her movements, I could only feel them. One, two, three, consecutive strikes rattled my ribs before a final, heavy fist slammed into my gut, the force throwing me backward through the air. I crashed into the invisible barrier, the impact ringing through my bones.
"Ugh."
My hand moved to my stomach on instinct, my fingers digging into the fabric of my tunic as I fought to keep the wind from dropping me. Every nerve in my gut was screaming, even a small movement felt like a needle pressing into my ribs.
I feel like I'm going to vomit blood. One more hit like that and my organs will just give up.
"Is that it?"
She hovered in front of me, close enough that I could see the calm in her eyes. She hadn't even broken a sweat, while I was struggling just to keep my eyes open.
She moved closer, her shadow falling over me. Multiple emerald barriers appeared from every direction, boxing her in and taking her attention for a fraction of second to dismantle them.
I didn't waste the opening. I let my control over the wind magic slacken, sliding down the surface of the barrier, putting distance between us.
"Fua?"
Faux zipped down to my level, his voice small and full of worry. He nudged my shoulder, his small body trembling as much as mine was.
"I am fine," I wheezed.
Even if my body disagreed.
I forced myself to look up. Serena was peering down from the above with the same confident smile etched onto her face.
Should I use it…
I hesitated, my heart hammering against my bruised ribs.
No. Not yet. I only get one shot at this, and she's still too fresh. I need to make her exert herself more to get her to drop the guard.
I dropped to one knee and pressed my palms against the cold stone of the arena, my wand in my right hand.
For a moment, I couldn't help but hesitate.
Sorry, Great-grandfather. I know you worked hard to build this place, but this is the only way I can reach her.
"O earth."
I submerged my consciousness into the foundations of the arena. I poured as much mana I could into the ground, a rising tide of mana raced toward the perimeter until the entire field was under my thumb.
"Listen to my call!"
The ground beneath us buckled and groaned.
"Earth Spikes!"
The arena erupted.
Stone tore upward.
In a single, violent heartbeat, the flat ground vanished, replaced by a jagged forest of towering stone spikes. Thousands of razor-sharp spikes shrieked upward, filling the air with dust and the scent of pulverized rock.
I looked up, my chest heaving, searching for any sign of a lucky hit. Through the narrow, shifting gaps of the stone canopy, I finally caught sight of her.
Several spikes had converged on her position, their lethal tips shattered just inches from her skin. She looked like a butterfly caught in a briar patch, yet she remained perfectly untouched. Not a single scratch marred her robes or skin
...Of course.
A quiet breath left me.
It was never going to be that easy.
I won't stop.
I poured even more mana into the ground, reaching for the stones surrounding her and forcing new spikes to arise in her direction faster and more denser.
She simply glided through the air, clean and effortless. Slipping through them as if they were nothing, making my efforts look clumsy.
No…
You don't get to escape that easily.
[Master Alchemist: Transmutation II]
The spikes groaned, their mineral composition warping as the spikes bent unnaturally, their paths twisting mid-motion as they turned toward her, chasing instead of striking once.
She reacted instantly.
Her staff ignited, flames roaring to life as she swung.
Each strike shattered the spikes apart, reducing them to fragments before they could reach her.
I sent more.
From behind.
From below.
From every blind spot I could create.
She rose higher.
The spikes followed.
She turned around and thrust her spaff downward. A shockwave of pure force descended. Faux's invisible barrier formed in time, but the impact was staggering. The shield spider-webbed with cracks, and the sheer force of the blow traveled through the air, rattling my teeth and my body strained under it, the pressure forcing the air from my lungs.
The spikes didn't stop. I created more, reinforced them, making them denser, faster, until the air around her was more stone than sky.
The fire on her spaff began to rise, glowing with a terrifying intensity.
I raised my hand, my voice a raspy snarl. "O green tide of ever-growing life—lianas!"
A thorn-covered vine shot out from my palm, thick and fast, cutting through the air.
It coiled tightly around her spaff. I planted my feet and yanked with every ounce of my desperate strength.
For a moment.
Just a moment.
She slowed.
That was enough.
That single, sudden tug was enough.
The spikes converged and slammed into her from every direction.
The impact shattered the air as the stone collided.
Dust and debris exploded outward, swallowing her form completely.
Did it reach…?
Something glinted within the shroud of the explosion. It looked like a... A rune?!
A screaming tornado burst from the center of the impact zone, shredding spikes into gravel and hurling the debris outward.
Faux shrieked, instantly weaving barrier around me.
It cracked instantly.
Lines spread across it as the pressure slammed into us.
The very next second, everything stopped.
The air went still as Serena appeared, hovering calmly within a perfect, spherical barrier. Not a single hair on her head was out of place.
As expected. Even that wasn't enough.
"Faux," I said. He gave a determined nod from his position near my shoulder.
I called upon the wind, and both of us shot upward.
Multiple emerald barriers slammed into her sphere in rapid fire succession of bone-jarring impacts, keeping her occupied as I conjured a blade of pure mana over my hand.
[Swordmaster: Sword Aura]
I poured my willpower into the blade, coating it with sword aura. I spun in the air, using the momentum of my flight to put every ounce of my weight into a massive, wide slash.
Sword aura is capable of cutting through magical barriers. It should go through.
The slash connected, the aura screaming as it shredded the sphere like paper, but before my blade could reach her, another barrier manifested instantly in its place, catching the attack and halting my momentum.
Her staff thrust out from the center of the sphere, a fast extension of wood that caught me squarely across the jaw. The impact left my head ringing.
The ground rushed up, air whistling past my ears until my boots slammed back into the ground.
The force traveling through my legs, but I forced myself to stay upright.
Serena descended slowly. The barrier still wrapped around her like it belonged there.
"Come on. Go ahead, try breaking it," she taunted.
Ugh. From what I have seen, this barrier is composed of multiple layers. The moment the first one was breached, a second one took its place instantly. I simply don't have the raw firepower to shatter through all of them at once.
I pointed my hand toward her, my fingers trembling slightly from the strain.
[Hacker 001: Spelljammer]
I gathered my resolve and threw a concentrated wave of willpower at her, hitting it with enough force to make the air wobble. I watched the mana ripple across the surface, hoping for a crack, or any sign of weakness. But it did nothing. The barrier remained as solid as a mountain.
"The difference in our Soul Crucible is too great for your Spelljammer to do anything," she said, her voice carrying a note of cold pride.
I thought so.
Spelljammer also exists as a technique outside of my arcana, requiring a person to possess and mix five elements to send out a mana wave that counters spells. But my version is different. I can use it with my elements through mana, or I can use it entirely with just my willpower. But even the strongest will has its limits when the gap in power is this vast. Even if I poured every drop of my mana instead of willpower into the wave, it would be like throwing a cup of water at a forest fire.
I looked at the soldiers in the stands, then at the axe Uncle Erik was holding.
My fingers curled slightly.
The weight in my head pressed harder.
Looks like I have no choice.
Both me and Faux shared a look, understanding my intentions, he settled over my head.
"O wind."
The air answered.
I rose higher until the entire arena spread beneath me, broken stone and scattered spikes looked like a bed of needles, the soldiers and my family looking up.
In the past, Force magic was known as gravity magic, but the Founding Emperor renamed it to Force magic because, beyond controlling gravity, this magic allows one to create and control forces of attraction and repulsion. But was that all?
I closed my eyes bringing my hands together, fingers clasping tight.
I have been studying Force magic since I awakened, and beneath all the known information, I found the unknown.
The night before we entered the time dungeon, I tried to speak with Mother about my theory. She didn't give me a direct confirmation, but there was a look in her eyes and she told me, "I was on the right path."
"O unseen threads of the world..."
My hands pulled apart slowly.
Emerald strands stretched between my fingers, snapping and crackling as they leap from one to the other.
Force Magic: Electromagnetism.