Chapter 2: Ranok and Tolkien
"Void Trust," Ranok whispered. His body flickered and reappeared with his rapier thrust forward, a few inches from Seth's face. Paralyzing fear swept over his lithe body and rooted him firmly in place, as the blade approached his head.
Tessa frame flashed in front of her stunned brother and blocked the thrust.
"Boom"
The Marble walls vibrated as the rapier's tip collided with her shield. The blast sent Seth flying, forced Tessa down on one knee, and pushed her back several feet. Her sabatons scratched the marble floors as she skid. Her shield rattled in her hands, and she quickly steadied herself.
She huffed in surprise and exhaustion and looked up to face her opponent. He had a wicked bloody smile, and a sickly pale face. The aura of death enshrouded him like it had always been there, and he waited for her blade in hand, gesturing her to come.
The second figure disappeared as she ran to meet her challenger, 'he was going to fight her brother,' she thought. But, she never turned back or wavered as she sensed him zip past. She had to kill the monster in front of her so that she could protect her brother later. There was no way she could face both of them at the same time.
The blast numbed Seth's senses. His ears rang, and his gut wrenched. He was too disoriented to notice the wind blade ripping through the air. It crashed onto the side of his armor, jolted him awake. He scurried to his feet and summoned his shield. Eyes wide and nose tucked below the rim of his shield, he searched his surrounding feverishly, trying to predict where the next attack would come from.
Across the room, Tessa activated the heart of Malum, the pendant she wore around her neck. The corridor was bathed in light and thick layer of mana wrapped around her.
Tolkien cursed under his breath. She didn't hesitate at all. She knew she was weaker than her opponent and wasted no time. Although they prepared for her, he did not expect her to be so decisive. He had to capture the weakling and use him as leverage before she overpowered Ranok.
He lanced at Seth and mentally chanted, "Withering echo." Tolkien opened his mouth and used a high-frequency sonic attack to knock him off guard, creating an opening. "Blood Wind bolt," he mentally chanted. A small horizontal cyclone appeared in front of his hand, it narrowed until it was the width of an arrow, and a shroud of red mana bathed the wind arrow. It fired.
Seth chanted, with one arm pressed against one of his bleeding ears, the other stretched out front, "holy barrier," a small two-meter-tall shield of light materialized in front of him. Tolkien smirked and flicked his wrist, the bolt speed up, twisting mid-air. It tore through Seth's barrier, destroyed his shield, and slammed into his chest. His body flailed in the air and tumbled down the corridor once more. Hot smoke hissed from his shield as it bounced off the marble walls, and settled beside him.
He spat blood and clutched the hole in his right chest. He quickly summoned a healing pellet from his ring and crushed it in his jaw. A greenish light erupted from his chest, and it scabbed his wound. He managed to pick himself up moments before Tolkien appeared in front of him. Tolkien's viciously clawed downwards. He wore a blood gauntlet spotting intricate designs with massive razor claws that oozed reddish mana. Seth matched his wide scratch with an equally aggressive upward slash from his blade that he finally managed to clear from its sheath. He groaned as his sword bounced off the claws. He rocked backward before he was clawed in half.
"I don't time for this child. Don't be stupid. Give up, and I promise I won't kill you. All we want is your sister; you don't have to die." he pointed to Tessa, who, despite using the heart, was injured. Only her chain mail, her gauntlet, and greaves remained. The rest of her armor had been stripped by the sickly looking man holding a rapier oozing with black mana.
"What do you want from her? I will not surrender. I will not submit to the enemy of the Empire!" Seth declared.
Tolkien rolled his eyes. His gauntlet condensed in his palm, and it extended, changing into a sword. He dashed forward with a huge horizontal slash. Seth blocked with his blade, tip facing the marble floor. The blood blade easily overpowered him, his stiff body was pushed back a few extra feet. Tolkien attacked again. This time he appeared beside Seth and aimed for his neck. Seth shot downwards with a crouch, the blade sliced through his thick wavy hair. Tolkien rammed his feet into Seth's side, sending him, side first, into the marble wall.
"Holy…" Tolkien dashed forward and grabbed his throat, interrupting his spell. He pinned him to the marble wall, choking him. He lifted Seth up and whispered, "I will kill him if you don't stop fighting this instance." His words traveled hundreds of meters, and it reached Tessa's ear. He sounded as though he stood right next to her.
Tessa paused, her sword inches from Ranok's neck, the Halo on her head was fading, and she was almost out of magic. Ranok coughed, blood oozed from his curled lips, and he spoke. "I was beginning to think you forgot all about the plan; you almost killed the boy."
"I was holding back, the same way you have been toying with her," Ranok smirked.
"You got me," he admitted. The darkness faded from the wall lamps, and grey and black transformed into a star-white. There were about ten spears floating in the air. They were all made from darkness, with no excess mana oozing from them.
Tessa's eyes widened slightly, "you could have killed me anytime you wanted. Why didn't you? " Her voice was calm even as the blades hovering overhead.
"We would like not to kill you if we don't have to," Tolkien answered. "We came here because we need something only you can give. Your mana core has certain unique properties that we plan to nurture. Slaughtering, you will only draw more attention than we need."
"What do you want with my mana core?"
"We need you to come with us. As long as you do," he tightened his grip around Seth's neck. "He doesn't have to die."
Seth began to turn purple, and he whispered, "Hear them out, sister."
Tolkien smiled, "See the child is reasonable. Like I said, no one has to die here today."
"Hurt him again, and I will poke holes in your friend's chest. He might be stronger than me, but I know his blades won't reach me before I kill him" She twisted her blade, and blood oozed from Ranok's chest.
"His techniques are far superior to any vampire or darkness mage I've ever seen, so he must be a blood mage." Her eyes turned to Tolkien. "But there is something wrong with him isn't there. I should have died instantly if he was as powerful as the blood mages of legend. He should also be healing as soon as I nick him. He is sickly and pale, sloppy. He's about to die, isn't he?
"Damn Holy Knights," Tolkien cursed under his breath. He flung Seth to the side. "Blood construct: Prison. " Blood flowed from a glowing glyph on Tolkien's arm, and it formed a small prison with spaced bars that wrapped around, confining him.
"Why do you have to be so difficult? His body flickered, and he appeared in front of Tessa. "Put the damn blade down."
Tessa grin widened, she twisted the blade. "You mean this one." Tolkien's eyes glowed in anger; he took a step forward.
"Ah ah ah," she warned, "we've been over this. What do you think is faster, my blade or any of your blood spells?"
She was right; if he used a spell to try to get the upper hand, there was no guarantee that it would hit before the blade did. She used light magic, and his fastest was sound. He couldn't risk testing her.
"You are not making it out of this alive. Either way, you are going to do what we want. Will you give up before I kill your brother or after I wring his body dry of blood?"
Tess laughed joylessly, and her eyes narrowed to a silt. "You are awfully emotional for an immortal blood mage." Her face hardened, "You kill him, and I kill your partner."
"Get the kid Tolkien," Ranok croaked.
"She has a magic blade to your throat. Her magic speed trumps mine, you know that!" He fumed.
"Not her, you dolt, her Brother."
"Armor of Aegis," Seth roared. The air in the corridor vibrated as light flooded the blood prison and evaporated it with a sudden hiss. Tolkien looked back in the direction of the blood cage.
Exploiting her brother's spell as an opening, she chose to finish off the rapier wielding mage in a single shot. "Holy magic: pulse." White light shot from Tessa's free hand and blasted through the blood and darkness shield that Ranok conjured to protect himself as soon as he sensed his opponent's mana stir. It pierced through his waistcoat, burnt his chest, and sent flying off into the distance.
"Shit!" Tolkien realized too late. The light was a distraction; he quickly turned back to face Tessa and inadvertently left his back vulnerable to attack. "Holy magic: Holy ray." Seth chanted as he fired off a spell. "Argh," Ranok exclaimed as hot holy magic seared his unguarded back. His black leather coat melted onto his skin, and he recoiled in pain.
"Yes!" Seth exclaimed. His ceremonial armor was covered in a layer of solid light from his Armor of Aegis spell. The Armor of Aegis was the only high-level buff spell Seth knew. His sister forced him to learn it when he was fifteen, five years before he joined the borderlanders. It was his trump card, and it lasted for 7 seconds in total. It buffed everything. From his elemental spells and tier two spells to his physique. While the buff was active, he felt invincible.
He dashed forward, breezing past several wall crystal lamps. He planned to take down the mage before his spell ran out. Tolkien's healed back came into view with 4 seconds on the clock. Seth activated another spell, this time through his blade, "holy magic: luminaire's lance." Light coated his sword, and he stabbed forward, aiming for Tolkien's heart.
Seth blade bounced off a blood shield that swirled and formed from tattoos on Tolkien's healed back; he was expecting the cowardly borderlander. He swung outwards with his hand, aiming to swat the brat that was interrupting his battle with the junior knight, but he was interrupted.
A thick stream of light stabbed deep into Tolkien's shoulder while he was distracted. It seared his skin and almost cut straight through his shoulder. The knight that launched the attack entire body erupted in a blinding tower of light. The light wrapped around her and coalesced into an armor that replaced the one lost to battling Ranok. Tolkien found himself beset on both sides by knights clad in armors of light.
"Enough," Tolkien screamed. His bloody aura poured forth from his body. A high-frequency blast mixed with ferocious darkness mana erupted from his mouth and sent the siblings flying. Tolkien tore his shirt and jacket off. "Blood spawn: Wolf," he hissed.
A large mass shot out from his body and a 6 feet tall mass of blood shaped like a wolf formed in front of Seth. "Keep him at bay, don't let him interrupt. If he pushes too hard, kill him." He commanded before focusing his full effort and undiluted fury at the holy knight that attacked his master.
The wolf's mane was an ever-shifting field of blood and red mana. Its fangs and teeth were hardened blood, and it snarls was vicious and bursting with deathly mana. Seth shuddered at the sight of the beast, but he did not dismay. Though his knees wobbled, and he felt his bladder press hot against his lower abdomen, he did not despair.
Seth got up and chanted again, "holy magic: luminaire's lance." His blade shone with light. He dashed forward, jumped, and plunged his sword into the blood beast's snout. 'Die beast,' he exclaimed. The beast howled and slashed vertically with one of its paws. It dug into his light armor and shattered it. He felt his ribs crack, and his chest wound reopen.
Seth coughed blood as his body trashed mid-air, and thumped hard on the marble floor. He wheezed in pain and looked up to the bloody wolf standing before him. He knew he was going to die if he tried to attack again. He lost all hope when he watched the light of his blade he buried in the blood wolf's snout turn blood red and wither.
He cursed under his breath, "I am too weak." The remainder of the light armor that still clung to his back and shoulders crumbled and fatigue overtook him, his seven seconds were up. He tried to get up again, but dropped down to one knee and coughed blood. His hot eyes fiercely twinkled as he fought back the tears. 'Was this all his years of training amounted to?'
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
RaedaX_1
RaedaX_1 I know this is an unconventional beginning, but I am not so big on info dumps. I prefer to slowly peel back the layers and introduce the world, which frankly, I'm still figuring out to you.
Cough, cough, give me your power stones, cough.
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