Manifest War: The Weapons Within

“Sarah, onto the other side. Let’s go!” Jorah yelled, quickly pointing her to the opposite end of the arena.

Sarah was startled by the sudden demand, but she swiftly made her way over.

“We’re going to do a little combat test first. I want to see exactly what I’m dealing with. Don’t hold anything back. Got it?”

Jorah stretched her arms and back as she barked orders. Sarah nodded and immediately pulled out her Manifest, now ready for combat. The match started and neither of them made a move as they sized each other up.

“Aren’t you going to take out your Manifest?” Sarah questioned, noticing that Jorah was just standing there unarmed.

“Worry about yourself kid. Now, come at me already.”

She slightly scowled at Jorah's response and aimed Marabel towards her, firing off a volley of wind arrows in quick succession. Jorah sidestepped every single one of them effortlessly, flipping and dashing around the arena with great speed. Her simple movements made Sarah’s assault look amateurish, not even remotely getting hit by the arrows.

Sarah grew more and more frustrated that she couldn't hit her target. In her anger, she decided to use her Manifest’s special ability. Sarah exhaled slowly as she pulled the string back as far as it could go. The air pressure around the tip of the bow increased significantly, swirling around in a violent fashion. An ethereal scope appeared around her eye, glowing a light teal color as it fixated on Jorah.

She took a big breath and held it, continuing to build her Core Energy to impressive levels. Sarah fired off the arrow and with tremendous force, it exploded from the bow. The arrow careened towards Jorah with incredible speed, making a loud shrieking noise as it cut through the air like a harpoon.

The ground split and cracked while it barreled toward its target. Just before it connected with Jorah, she simply held up her prosthetic arm in a blocking fashion.

The arrow collided with her arm and with great strength, Jorah parried the attack and sent it flying towards the ceiling. The ceiling exploded and debris crashed down, shaking the ground deeply. Sarah stared with incredibly wide eyes as she struggled to catch her breath.

“T-There’s n-no waaay….” She muttered under her breath, dumbfounded that someone blocked such a devastating attack.

The dust settled and Jorah was standing there with her arm up, barely scratched and lightly smoking.

Her prosthetic glowed a faint blue color, revealing runic style accents dancing along the forearm. Then in an absolute instant, Jorah bolted toward Sarah. Her speed was immaculate and before Sarah knew it, Jorah was standing in front of her.

'W-What!?!?'

She was caught completely off guard. Jorah reared her fist back and punched Sarah in the stomach with an unfair amount of power. She flew straight off the arena and into the wall, destroying it completely.

“SARAH!!!!” Carmen and Rivell yelled out, rushing over to the destruction of the wall.

Sarah pushed some debris off of her before slowly getting to her feet and wiping blood from her mouth.

“Are you okay??!” Rivell asked, helping her walk out of the mess on the floor.

“What the heck are you doing!?!? She could’ve been killed!!” Carmen exclaimed at Jorah, angry that she hit her with so much unnecessary force.

Jorah approached silently, looking down at Sarah with a fairly impressed expression.

“I wanted to see how much damage she could take… You’re pretty resilient huh, kid? And no, she wouldn’t have been killed. I know how to hold back my power, don’t worry.” Jorah said as she looked at Sarah’s wounds. She then turned her head toward Rivell with a curious smirk.

“Besides, this was a two-part test. Rivell, now it’s your turn. I hear you can heal people, show me.”

Rivell was surprised by the request, not expecting things to play out like this. He nodded and quickly summoned his Manifest. He turned to a specific page and forced his energy into it, causing Sarah to get surrounded by a green circle. She was enveloped by green petals and within a few seconds, she was fully healed, not a single scratch on her. Jorah looked highly impressed by his Manifest’s ability.

“Oh my, nice job kid. Looks like I don’t have to hold back at all with you around.” She softly remarked with a devious smirk.

The trio glanced at each other, not feeling good at all about what she meant by that. Jorah then fixed her gaze towards Carmen, staring directly into her red eyes.

Carmen, sensing something approaching, immediately leaped upward and out of the way. Suddenly, multiple steel rods flew up from the ground, taking aim at her.

'Hmm, nice senses. How did she know my attack was coming?'

Jorah was surprised to see that Carmen had this much awareness. Carmen dodged the steel rods with graceful movements as they shifted and impossibly bent around her. After assessing Carmen’s nimbleness, Jorah aimed her prosthetic arm outward and the steel rods stopped their assault, receding back into the ground by her command.

“Alright, I’ve seen what I need to see. Everyone, line up and we can begin the lesson.” She said, walking back to the middle of the arena.

“Huh!? That wasn’t part of your lesson???” Sarah exclaimed with great confusion.

Jorah smirked and lit another cigarette, the flick of her lighter causing the trio to get more nervous. The trio reluctantly lined up and prepared themselves for what would be a grueling three week training session.

The sun was just about to set as Azhane Belouis was returning home from a multitude of meetings with various noblemen and large business owners. Over the past few days she had been tasked with reassuring them that things would continue on as normal and guaranteeing their safety, despite the growing Boundless situation. She stepped foot into her carriage followed by Graymoor of Two, taking a seat next to her.

“These meetings are getting a bit too much. I understand people’s fears, but there is no reason to panic just yet. So far, nothing Boundless related has occurred in Volaire and we plan to keep it that way. It's so surprising to see such a lack of faith from people in powerful positions.” She said with a yawn, clearly exhausted from the long day.

“True. But I do feel like their worries are quite warranted. We’ve never had to deal with a situation like this, Your Majesty.” Graymoor replied, hoping she could see things from another perspective.

“I guess so..”

The carriage started to move and make the short journey back to Ariana city. Graymoor turned his attention towards the Queen and saw Azhane dozing off, her eyes getting heavy.

“Your Majesty, couldn’t you teleport us back to the castle? There’s no need for you to suffer through fatigue in this carriage.” Graymoor softly offered, wanting her to be more comfortable.

“*Yawn* No, I need to keep up appearances. The council tells me that my presence needs to be seen and felt all throughout Volaire. Seeing me ride around fills the citizens with hope and helps them put a consistent face to their leadership. I can’t do that if I teleport everywhere…”

“Ah, I see… Makes sense. The council really seems to be adamant that you follow their instructions to a T. Do you find that to be burdensome at all?”

His expression grew more curious as he wondered what her response would be.

“It’s fine. To be honest, if they weren’t giving me so much guidance over the past year, I don’t think I would be able to properly run this nation. Burdensome or not, there’s still so much I don’t know.”

Azhaned sighed before shifting her weight over and closing her eyes. Moments later, Graymoor felt something lightly touch his arm. He looked over and saw Azhane falling asleep on his shoulder.

“Y-Your Majesty??”

He was greatly surprised by her sudden forwardness.

“Wake me when we get there…” She softly replied, feeling completely tuckered out.

Graymoor didn’t say anything in response, he just admired her rose scented perfume and cherry colored lips. He gently brushed her hair out of the way and smiled, letting Azhane enjoy a quick nap.

The carriage arrived at Castle de Belouis and Graymoor nudged Azhane awake, notifying her of their arrival. She sat up and stretched while thanking him with a warm smile. The door was opened by a guard and Graymoor stepped out, thankfully nodding to the guard. He held his hand out for the Queen and after Azhane took it, they walked towards the castle entrance. As they entered the grand foyer, Nadine greeted them with a motherly smile.

“Welcome back My Lady, I hope your meetings went well today. I went ahead and ran your bath. Shall I escort you to your room?” She asked with a bow.

“Thank you, Nadine, and no, that won’t be necessary.”

Azhane’s smile showed a great amount of fatigue, prompting Nadine to step aside and allow them to continue on. The two entered Azhane’s grand and lavish bedroom, closing the door behind them.

“The documents I need you to deliver tomorrow are on my desk.” She said to Graymoor while pointing over at her desk.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Graymoor walked over and picked up the folder, quickly thumbing through the papers inside. He glanced up and saw Azhane reaching behind her, struggling to unravel the tight bow of her dress.

She exhaustively sighed after multiple failed attempts and curiously touched her chest, teleporting the dress off of her body. Graymoor’s eyes went wide as he saw Azhane’s perfect and slender body on full display. The lacy black underwear she wore hugged her curves, not leaving much to the imagination. She looked over and her red eyes were incredibly alluring, causing Graymoor to be at a loss for words.

“Sorry, I’m too tired to go through the trouble of undoing that cumbersome dress. Did you find the documents?” Azhane said with a light laugh, feeling a little too comfortable in this situation.

“A-Ah, yes.. Your Majesty.” Graymoor replied, still not believing that the Queen was standing there in such a vulnerable state.

She glanced over at the couch and saw a towel draped on its side.

“Graymoor, could you hand me that towel? I want to take my bath before the water gets cool.”

He nodded and quickly grabbed the soft towel, walking it over to her. He handed it to Azhane, respectfully averting his eyes to the left after seeing her deep cleavage. She chuckled softly and took the towel.

“Lighten up would you? It’s not like this is the first time you’ve seen my body.” Azhane playfully quipped as she stepped a little closer, her tight body mere inches away from Graymoor.

His heart rate began to quicken as she brushed some hair off of his shoulder cape, her sweet perfume filling his space.

Azhane smiled and then stepped away, now making her way towards the bathroom on the opposite side of the room. However, she stopped just before entering and looked over her shoulder at Graymoor with an enticing glare.

“Care to join me?” She asked with a flirtatious cadence, still not feeling embarrassed by her provocative display.

“Uh, what?? Your Majesty, I-.”

“I’m joking. Thank you for your hard work today. You are dismissed.”

Her laugh was incredibly playful and made it clear that she was trying to tease him. Graymoor was dumbfounded as he watched the Queen walk away, her curvy bare hips swaying with each step.

“Why does she always do this? I don’t think I’ll ever get used to her teasing.” He said with a loud sigh, shaking his head in disbelief.

He composed himself and walked out of the room, locking the door behind him.