Soul of a Human

When the stone barrier was erected, and Ambor scaled it for his part of the fight, Orth turned to his opponents. That there were now two of them was not planned, but he felt confident he could manage. Because giving an enemy time to prepare or listen to their idiotic rambling is stupid, Orth charged them.

However, he had underestimated his brother and his f-buddy. Both of them concentrated on Orth's stone armor, and his movements slowed to a crawl, even if they were not powerful enough to stop him altogether. This came as a surprise for the two older and definitely more powerful mages because, usually, a more potent mage can dispel a weaker mage's magic. At least, this is how it should be. However, Orgen and his lady toy didn't consider how polished Orth's spell is or how interwoven his magic is with his granite armor.

Still, the difference in reservoir size gave Orth a disadvantage in this stalemate. He would run out of power far earlier than his brother. It's a good thing that he was not fighting completely alone, and his "keep numbers advantage"-strategy came clutch. Sodalor couldn't support his squad lead because the rest of the stone wall was blocking his line of sight, and while Labradorite was busy supporting Ambor, Obsidar was out of power for now. Leaving no earth affinity mage to destroy it quickly. While the rest of the squad was sharing power, the idiot duo was getting supplied with it in case another big shot was needed. It was a risky plan, but they needed a line of sight to see what was happening, so Solador hoped he made the right decision.

"I need the wall gone!" he shouted, and, as expected, the two earth mages told him to figure it out himself.

So he looked at the Jaspor brothers and cursed.

Orth pushed against his brother's magic but knew he had overestimated his chances. Still, he was more observant of their surroundings, and his eyes widened in shock. The wall next to him started to glow, and Orth quickly gave up on his spell, letting the granite armor crumble away. Instead, he used the dig well spell to get into cover.

Orgen's and Miss Shungine's reactions were not as fast, and their effort to concentrate on stopping the stone armor had distracted them. Orgen was the lucky one, as he was not directly in the way of the spray of molten rock. While the woman reflexively dodged, she was too slow for the highly accurate water shot, which flew through the hole and knocked her out instantly.

Solador smiled. A perfect shot and the woman making trouble for his leader was out cold. As they had promised, the fair fight between the two Obsidian sons was on. Well, fair in the sense that he wouldn't intervene as long as his leader was winning. After hearing something flump to the ground, Orth climbed out from his spontaneous fox-hole and took in the situation.

To his delight, the whore was out cold, even if he was a bit disappointed at the same time that he wasn't the one to take her out. However, he didn't have much time to think because his brother shouted in a fury.

"How?! How are you winning?! You're nothing!"

But instead of answering, Orth encased his fist in stone and threw a punch, which connected with his brother's hand and then crumbled to dust as Orgen disrupted the spell. Then Orth had to retreat from a barrage of stone pillars, driving him back and away from his brother. His first instinct was to recast his granite armor, but Orgen didn't let him. He was pressuring Orth with wild attacks, which the younger Obsidian evaded with his physical prowess alone, his trained flexibility helping him.

Orth cursed in his mind, thinking quickly, but he came up short. The difference in experience using earth magic worked against him right now, and his advantage of constant surprise attacks was gone. However, instead of despairing, it strengthened his belief that if you only concentrate on one affinity, a stronger mage can easily take you out and, with it, his desire to be with Clair.

It took Orth a moment to recognize this strange thought and the distraction it provided. Once his vision, which he didn't remember blurring, cleared back up, an instinct told him to move, and because he was on the ground for some reason, he rolled out of the way.

He was just in time to evade the big boulder crashing down where Orth's head would have been. And after quickly getting up, he felt something wet on the side of his head, and slowly, the memory of the last few seconds returned. Orgen had hit Orth on the head with a spell, but Orth's trained constitution helped him not to be knocked out. This drilled the point home for Orth to do anything, but all he could think of was, "What would Mor do?" and the answer was easy, something impossible.

Orth remembered the lessons Sophie had taught her son with the ice weapon spell, but because Orth couldn't use wind, the spell was unusable for him. Still, in its core, it was a double element spell, meaning a single affinity mage would have trouble blocking it, and Orgen was the perfect example of a single affinity mind. Orth growled, concentrated, and gripped at the ground, and before his brother could stop him, Orth completed his new spell. However, instead of a blade made of ice, Orth held a mace and shield combination made of molten rock, creating the first lava weapon spell.

Orgen threw a rock thorn against his brother to skewer him and win the fight. However, when the thorn connected with the shield, its tip melted and lost all of its force. This surprised both Obsidian brothers, but Orth quickly reacted and tried to close the distance again, smashing and blocking his brother's spells using his superior physique to fight. The battle has turned back to Orth's advantage, and the thundering shield bash he delivered to his brother let him stumble back, badly hurt but still in the fight.

The onlookers gasped at this development, and even with Lord Obsidian's displeasure, a murmur started. However, the Lord couldn't let this go on. He guessed that another hit would give the win to his youngest, and this made him act.

Orth got ready to charge his brother again and end the fight, but then he stumbled, as his legs wouldn't move. A quick look revealed that both his feet had sunken into the ground and remained fixed there. However, noticing his brother's surprised face, Orth knew he wasn't the culprit.

"Seems like father is displeased with you," Origen said with a cough.

"All I see is that honor is lost on this family," Orth replied.

"You are the one behaving dishonorably. It is your duty to support your family with all you have. Your life is nothing but for me to use. I'm the rightful heir, " his brother stated with a smile of superiority.

"So I just have to give up, marry the whore and be thankful to raise your kids?"

"Exactly," Orgen replied and readied a final spell.

"Fuck that," Orth stated and ducked down to the ground dispelling his weapons to get his hands free.

Solador took aim. This was precisely the situation he had expected, and with Labradorite's notice, stating that their leader was rooted to the ground. He prepared his water shot to end this farce of a fight. However, before he could invoke his magic, Orgen's head snapped back as another projectile hit him in the face, knocking him out cold and giving Orth the victory.

"What was that?" The high-precision water mage asked himself, but even if he had asked out loud, nobody could give him an answer.

Orth closed his eyes as his hands closed around a stone on the ground. He silently thanked his friend, who, even when gone, helped him through the worst situations. He stood back up, locking eyes with his brother in defiance.

"Glare as much as you want. Your defiance means nothing." Orgen taunted, just before Orth cast rock throw, and having seen Mor use it to devastating effect, he knew what that spell could do.

The rock collided with Orgen's head with great force, almost killing him if not for the protective barriers of the battlefield. Orth took a deep breath and smiled. He had done it, but now he just had to force his father to stay true to his word. At least with Orgen's loss, Orth could move again. After regrouping with his squad, he congratulated them all for a job well done, winning without taking a single loss. This fight would also have some ramifications for this specific squad of Soul-kin, which Orth would only learn of a year later.

The victorious Obsidian boy walked over to the onlookers and his father, and before Lord Obsidian could take the initiative, Orth addressed everyone.

"As promised, I won, father. So my engagement to Miss Shungine is no more."

"What do you mean?" A woman asked, and after Orth had taken a quick look at her, he noticed the resemblance to his would-be fiance.

"Lady Shungine." He said with a slight bow. "My father and I had an agreement that if I prove that, I can beat my brother. I will be allowed to choose my own bride."

"That was only to get you motivated enough to win. Those two things have nothing to do with each other." Lord Obsidian quickly said.

Orth looked incredulous at his father and, to the Lord's surprise, shrugged. "I see. Then thank you, Father, for motivating me. However, if this is the case, I can't take my brother's beloved from him."

"What are you going on, boy?" Lord Obsidian asked, furious.

"You don't know?" His son asked, surprised. "Orgen and Miss Shungine were hard at work producing the next heir."

"You're lying!" Lady Shungine shouted, but the calm, assured tone of the boy made her question it at the same time she uttered it.

"My daughter is still pure."

"I'm very sorry to disagree, but their relationship is pretty well known to the whole officer barracks." Orth disagreed.

"Orth, I told you to stop spouting such nonsense!" Lord Obsidian said.

"My lady." A withered old man interjected. "I must advise you to at least make sure. Otherwise, it might diminish your status in high society."

Lady Shungine wanted to protest, but another thought entered her mind, and she nodded instead.

"As always, your wisdom is very welcome. Could you please make sure?" She asked of her advisor, who nodded and walked off.

"And for you. I hope the boy is lying. Otherwise, you must take responsibility and let my daughter bond with your firstborn son."

"That is quite impossible. He is already promised to someone else!" Lord Obsidian protested.

"Then he should have done such things to his promised and not my daughter." The woman huffed, and from the murmur of the other nobles, Lord Obsidian knew that if Orgen had been that stupid, he had no choice but to agree to those terms or lose much of his power and status. It might not be enough to remove the Obsidian family from the highest four, but it will give the other three an edge on his family, which he couldn't allow.

It took only a few moments when the withered mage returned, and having used illusion magic as well as asking the other combatants, except Orgen, who was still out cold, the conclusion was just as the young Obisidan boy had said. Lord Obsidian wanted to protest, but the withered old man was one of the best illusion mages the Soul-kin had, and if he said it was so, then it was. Leaving the Lord really no choice, as much as he hated it, his plans were now completely derailed by one son's idiocy and the other's stubbornness.

Still, he had to give it to Orth reluctantly. Orth had performed admirably and showed incredible promise, so even if he was now furious with his son, he was also in charge of the military. Therefore, Lord Obsidian had to acknowledge his boy's ingenuity. Maybe it was time to give his youngest the place as the next heir because his oldest was an idiot, the middle a wimp, and stubbornness was the least problematic characteristic.

"You win." He told his son. "I will adhere to my word, and you are hereby free to choose your wife for your own. However, how did you do it? How did you win?"

Orth smiled as everyone gave him an expectant look. "A friend of mine gave me the idea. He was weak, but it didn't deter him. Instead, he focused on what he was good at and made it work. I did just that. My squad was free to train whatever spell they wanted to, as long as it was somewhat useful, and my job as their commander was to use their powers to their utmost potential."

"I see, good thinking." Lord Obsidian said. "I might want to meet that friend of yours someday."

"That's impossible. He's gone forever," Orth replied, his grief still visible in this short sentence.

"I see." Lord Obsidian stated again and was relieved now because his son must have meant the commoner who had died.