The First War Mage: City in the Sky

“Oh my… Now that was rather selfless of you,” Dread rushed through my body as I heard the voice speak. There was an inhuman chime to it, as if it was speaking with an echo or from behind a wall of glass. “Selfless but pointless.”

My eyes slowly settled upon the figure as they approached. At first the figure looked blurred by the sand swirling around them, the pressure of the mana in the air felt like it was physically blinding my eyes like I was staring at a figure backed by all the power of the sun itself.

But slowly as the magic dissipated and revealed a figure that began to even register as a living thing. They were a male, at least judging by how their body was shaped with broad shoulders and far less defined lower body. Their skin was dark in coloration, a deep tanned color that spoke of someone who had lived under the sun's hateful gaze for their entire life.

They stood tall, not unlike Levi, albeit they were easily shorter than him by a few inches. Wearing no shirt and only loose fitting pants I could see every muscle on their body, they almost looked artificially inflated from how exaggerated they were in some areas around his arms and chest.

A smile sat on his face, his teeth were an unnervingly bright white white his eyes were a deep brown. His head was barren of hair and his forehead was outlined with a crown of gems that looked physically embedded into his skull.

“Who… who are you?” My voice sputtered out while I desperately tried to shift underneath the sand that was still trying to swallow me whole.

“Who am I?” The man paused with a heavy chuckle, his gate slowly guided him forwards until he was barely a foot away where he crouched down. His arms placed on his knees while his eyes burned into mine. “A question with so many answers, not a single one really answers everything.”

“I suppose a simpler answer is just ‘Geldin’, that should suffice far more than enough,” his pearly white smile widened as he looked down at me, pausing for a few moments before he spoke again. “Though others enjoy calling me by a title, ‘The Aftershock’.”

I could only feel dread rushing through my body as his words reached my ears, the overwhelming pressure and power from him made it feel like I couldn’t even breath, like my chest was being crushed slowly.

“Now I want to know something about you,” He shoved his hand forwards, an accusing finger pointing at me. “So much mana and yet they want me to just kill you? Why would someone want you dead so desperately?”

“What?” My eyes widened as his question raked against my brain, Tyrosa had said they were here for us… But why would they be out to kill me specifically?

“You heard me, someone powerful is paying for your death and a Princess to be kidnapped. Quite the conspiracy I would say,” Geldin paused as he stood up. The sand shifted around underneath me, pushing me upwards until I was on solid ground again. “Such a waste, now go on, show me what that mana can do! Show me something interesting! Maybe you can even stay alive.”

“What do you mean?” My heart, which felt like it was frozen in place, refusing to move a single beat, refusing to even let me breathe, refusing to even let me think, suddenly started pounding in my chest. Every single instinct inside of my body was screaming at me to run, to hide, to curl up and just die instead of getting caught in the middle of this.

“I mean I want you to fight me,” Geldin smiled even wider as he stepped backwards, giving some space between the two of us while the pressure slowly lowered down. His deep brown eyes settled on me for several moments before it settled at a level that felt, almost manageable, almost possible to fight against. “This should be about the same level, yes? Oh yes it does feel right.”

“Go on,” Geldin gestured with his hands raising, demanding for me to stand. “Fight me. Stand up, and fight me,” his voice continued, far more firm. “Fight me!” His foot stomped into the ground with his shout as he charged forwards, his fist flashing across at an angle that impacted in the center of my chest.

The impact despite the speed felt almost muffled, like he was pulling his punch. Yet despite that the force sent me rolling backwards for just over a dozen feet before I slowly caught myself.

Desperately I tried forcing my mana out, to get any sense of protection around my body. My shield sputtered out from my skin, slowly trying to get any protection out while I desperately tried to form any form of cohesive mana into my body, electricity, a burst, anything.

But the instant my eyes managed to refocus it was just to see the outline of Geldin, backed by the sun directly to his back as he stood over me. A shadowed outline so imposing, so all encompassing it was like the sun itself, like the entire desert was throwing hatred into the strike flying straight towards my face.

I could hear a whistle from the pressure of his fist flying through the air as it approached me. My arms raised up as fast as I could move them in a pitiful attempt to block the strike, the sound of shattering glass met my ears. In the same instant I felt my arms crumple backwards as I was shoved back into the ground with brutish force.

My body was already growing tense in anticipation of another strike that never came, my arms were throbbing but despite the strike they weren’t shattered. My eyes slowly opened to watch Geldin step back, his arms crossing while his eyes appeared filled with disappointment.

“Get up,” He spat out with anger. “Get up and fight, or you’ll just die a meaningless death.”

My body was already screaming, every instinct was screaming inside of my head to just run. Every part of me knew that this was suicide, that I was going to die, that I couldn’t physically win this. But my mind wouldn’t agree with my instincts, my body was demanding to stand, to fight.

My foot raised slowly, planting on the ground to slowly push me upwards to stand. Defiant not of my opponent but of my mind that screamed to run. Defiant of my wish to turn and run, I stood with hands slowly rising, my shield slowly trying to reform around my body while electricity slowly crawled along my shoulders and arms.

“Why do you want to fight me so badly?” I asked as I slowly settled, for a moment I thought of trying to bring my sword out before it hit me, my sword never went back into my ring. I had lost it somewhere in the windstorm that dragged me and Tulip out here.

“I wish to fight everyone, and everything that has potential,” Geldin spoke as his head cocked to the side with his smile returning. “And you, child, have enough that I am oh so very curious. It would be such a waste to kill you without even indulging a little.”

I shuttered as I heard his words, as the weight of them settled onto me. I was only alive because it was a game, a game that I had to somehow win.

Tulip slowly pushed her hands forwards, the sand was rushing around her so violently that she took several moments just to find where the handle sat on the heavy set stone door. The echoing bell above her head left her ears ringing.

As she grasped the handle and pushed it open she was quickly relieved of the screaming sounds of the wind, with even the echoes of the bell calming down as the stone muffled the noises. Slowly she began walking forwards into the tower, the entire room around her was pitch black with no sign of light.

She slowly walked through the tower's base, the occasional outline of reflections from the miniscule light that broke in from the windows bouncing off of the shine of blades and arrows sat around the tower.

The air was unnaturally still, the hairs on the back of her neck were shifting, something felt off to her and she wasn’t quite sure what.

Making her way over to a wall, she reached a hand out to guide herself along the wall, careful to avoid the few shadows she could faintly make out, though it hardly saved her from walking straight into a table leaving her with a pained grunt.

She took in a sharp gasp, trying to avoid making too much noise but to her dismay the table scraped sideways with an infuriating high pitched screech that anyone near her could have heard.

With her heart racing and legs shaking she was struggling to keep herself moving, the sounds of stone creaking left every step to end with an anxious glance over her shoulder into nothing but absolute darkness.

She could hear murmurs, faint whispers of talking above her through the thin, presumably wooden flooring above her.

“Something… Sound,” She could barely make out a handful of words, but it was just enough to make her heart race even faster.

Without hesitation Tulip brought her blade out from her ring, her grip tightening on it so firmly with it in her left hand that she could feel that her knuckles were turning white. But finally she found her way to a set of stairs.

Just as she began approaching them she saw a flicker of light spreading down the stairwell, slowly crawling towards her as the shadows parted away. The echo of heavy boots and the soft clinks of metal approaching slowly.

As quietly as she possibly could Tulip drew in a gradual breath, her eyes fearfully settling on the mouth of the stairwell, annoyed grunts met her ears before a mutter in a horrifyingly familiar voice reached her ears.

“Pompous bastard… Why’d it have to be the one contract I accepted for us…”