The Journey Of The Foolish King Solomon

How Mages Fight

Ether is the life energy that flows throughout the world and all its inhabitants. The only reason living things are able to exist in the first place is because of the ether flowing through them. They unconsciously leak and emit ether through their breaths and the motions of their muscles and as they grow older, the rate at which the ether seeps out increases. Sometimes strong emotions can lead to a higher amount of ether leaking out.
Some of the inhabitants of the world have acquired mastery and control of the ether that flows throughout their body. They stop the flow and leak of ether within their bodies and channel and direct it into a form known as magic. Using this magic they rewrite the natural laws of the world and overwrite reality in their favor.
These people are known by many names but the blanket term that many people use is ‘mage’.
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Aberewa stood face to face with her opponent, Friedrich. They were a few feet apart, a distance that would have enticed a regular fighter to move closer but they were mages and a distance such as this was nothing to them.
Aberewa raised her cane and Friedrich raised his wand. Then they both began to chant. While it was possible to use magic without it, the chants made it easier to visualize and enhanced the power and effects of the magic. However, some chants are widely known meaning a mage’s opponent will know what they are trying to do before they even finish speaking. Which is why some mages create their own specialized chants.
“Solvis, strengthen my winds, let them strike true and blow away my enemy, ‘Heavenly Tornado’.”
“Decadent flames, corrupt and purge my enemy of their sense and power, ‘Will-O’-The-Wisp’.”
They both finished their chants at the same time. Aberewa’s ether discharged from her body and seized control of all the air in the tavern. Bright green ether could be seen everywhere. Then it gathered and spun in front of Aberewa’s cane. Friedrich’s ether spilled out and formed small embers around him. The two mages attacked at the same time.
While the destructive and combat power of mages is high, most of that strength comes from the learning and studying of magic theory. Less experienced mages like Friedrich do not bother with training their bodies and are often physically weak. Aberewa was also physically weak but that had more to do with her old age. As a result they were both unable to dodge their opponent’s attacks.
The winds Aberewa gathered took the form of a swirling tornado and shot out, sending Friedrich flying out of the tavern wall while the embers Friedrich launched hit Aberewa directly in the face. Strangely enough, Aberewa didn’t feel any pain from his attack and walked out through the hole in the wall.
All of a sudden, her already poor eyesight began to get worse and her breathing became ragged. She thought it was her old age getting to her but she soon realized that it was the result of Friedrich’s spell when she completely lost her eyesight a few seconds later. Soon she couldn’t hear, taste, feel or smell anything.
Friedrich slowly stood up from the ground. It was clear that he was still dazed from Aberewa’s attack. His robe had been torn to shreds and he was bleeding from all over.
“Hah…Hah…Hey, old lady..why don’t you just lay down and let me put you out of your misery.”
“...”
“...Oh right, you can’t even hear me.”
Friedrich pointed his wand at Aberewa and focused the ether in his body. He didn’t bother chanting for he was sure she would die from his next attack. However, moments before he launched his attack, Aberewa pointed her cane downwards and a small cluster of wind ether hit the ground. The resulting burst sent her flying straight up in the air. Then she swung her cane like she was slashing with a sword.
A flying slash of green ether shot straight at Friedrich. He countered it with the attack he had prepared earlier. The clash of the two opposing attacks covered the area in smoke and dust. Now they both could not see the other or at least that’s what Friedrich thought.
Friedrich wasn’t exactly the most studious mage. While it was true that he had studied quite a bit to reach this level of mastery, most of his power and skill came from his natural born talent and because of that he had not learnt one of the most crucial abilities in a mage’s arsenal, ‘ether perception’.
Ether perception allows mages to sense the ether that leaks out of other living things and while it can be hard discerning the ether of one individual from all the living things in an area, it is easy to identify the large amounts of ether that mages use in their magic. Some mages acquire this skill through years of study and research and others through constant battle. Friedrich had done neither as most of his battles ended relatively quickly since most of the people he fought were ordinary slum dwellers with no knowledge of magic or martial arts.
Aberewa had acquired this ability after decades of living in the slums so losing her already poor eyesight in a battle against another mage was inconsequential.
‘How did she know where I was?! Is my spell not working?! No it has to be working, there’s no way it wouldn’t be… Calm down, I just have to hit her with my strongest attack, then it’ll all be over.’
Friedrich started casting. He clapped his hands together and spoke. Under normal circumstances this would be a good call to make since Aberewa wouldn’t be able to hear him cast his spell but with ether perception, that didn’t matter. Not that Friedrich knew that.
“Infernal flames rise, consume and destroy everything. Let your decadent flames burn until there is nothing left. ‘Hellfire’.” As soon as Friedrich finished casting, the surrounding area around him became hazy and hot. Purple embers spread around Friedrich growing larger and larger. They covered everything in his immediate area in a dome and burnt everything except for Friedrich to a crisp.
Though Friedrich’s attack was powerful, calling it ‘Hellfire’ was pure exaggeration on his part. But that exaggeration was why he was able to use magic this strong. Chants are all about affirming a person’s strength to the natural world before overturning its laws so the more pretentious and over the top a chant is, the greater the power and the easier it is for the mage to warp reality.
Once the flames stopped, the area surrounding Friedrich was covered in ash. What little life that existed there was gone without a trace but Aberewa was still alive. Before Friedrich finished casting she sensed the ether emerging from his body and simply stepped out of range of the encircling dome.
There were many thoughts running through Friedrich’s head. Unfortunately he would never get the chance to organize those thoughts as he would die in a matter of seconds. In the time it had taken for his spell to finish, Aberewa had finished casting.
“Air Bullet.” It was elementary wind magic which meant that its cast time was effectively zero. It was the first spell most inexperienced wind mages learnt during their training. Air gathered around Aberewa’s cane. The air compressed and split off forming small green orbs of wind ether. Then they hurtled towards him. The air bullets pierced through his flesh as if it was paper. They pierced through his eyes, lungs, brain, heart, liver and stomach.
Friedrich collapsed to the ground and once he fell, the spell afflicting Aberewa wore off. She walked closer to him and looked at his cold, lifeless body. Her hands were still shaky and she tried to convince herself that it was from the aftermath of Friedrich’s spell but she knew better. She had taken the life of another human. Eligor’s words ran through her mind. ‘You’re just another human with more thoughts of killing. How very disappointing.’
It was not her first time taking a life. Living in a hell like this required people to do unsavory things but that did not mean they would get used to it. Anyone who could get used to such depravity could only be considered a monster.
Aberewa questioned if she would be able to kill Naamah. She wondered if this quest for revenge was pointless. All those thoughts vanished as she remembered that day three years ago when she lost everything.
Aberewa silently swore to herself that she would accomplish her goal even at the cost of her own life.
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Skinner charged and punched Eligor right in his visor with all the strength he could muster but Eligor did not budge. “That armor of yours is tough but it won’t save you from my next attack!”
“Enough talking, this is a fight. Words are not needed on the battlefield.”
Skinner smiled. “Alright then, YOU ASKED FOR IT!”
“My fist is the rock that shatters diamonds. It crushes everything it touches, leaving nothing in its wake. ‘Earth Crusher’.” Skinner’s right arm turned into solid rock.
Despite how he looked, Skinner was a mage. He had spent years learning about magic but he also trained his body to keep up with the knowledge he had acquired. Skinner was the polar opposite of Friedrich. A man who would prove to be a worthy adversary for anyone he crossed paths with.
Skinner lunged and hit Eligor right in his chest. An attack like that reinforced with earth magic was sure to kill a regular human with or without armor. There were many ways for Eligor to deal with Skinner’s attack. For one, he was much faster so dodging the attack would have been no issue. Eligor could have also diverted the attack or simply hit Skinner before Skinner could hit him. Yet he chose to take it head on. The reason for this was that he wanted to gauge the strength of the inhabitants of this world. Solomon had gotten injured and nearly died before summoning him so Eligor wanted to see what he would have to contend with in order to protect his master.
Seconds passed and Skinner was sure he had killed Eligor but then Eligor spoke.
“Okusie, is this man strong?”
Okusie was stunned at how casually Eligor was speaking at him yet he answered all the same. “Um yes, he is very strong. There aren’t many people stronger than him in the slums.”
“I see…Bwahahaha.” Eligor laughed. His sinister laugh brought fear into the heart of his opponent and the man he was supposed to be protecting.
‘I was worried when I saw lord Solomon injured. I thought the residents of this world were unimaginable beasts but it turns out my master just needs more training. I look forward to training and watching over his growth but for now I have a fight to finish.’
Eligor pulled his right arm back. Then he slowly folded each of his fingers until they formed a fist. Eligor punched Skinner in the face and sent him flying. Skinner went through the tavern wall and was sent tumbling out into the street. He skidded across the ground for a few meters until he finally stopped after crashing into another wall.
‘What the hell was that?! How did Okusie get someone like him to protect him?! This isn’t a fight I can win easily, I have to get out of here and think of a plan.’
The moment he finished that thought, the knight in ebony armor appeared before him. The embers in his visor were flaring and were much more visible than before. Skinner realized there was no escape unless he somehow defeated Eligor.
‘He’s incredibly fast and strong. How much time did he devote to his body to get that strong? With that in mind, there’s no way he would have had the time to learn magic. I have the advantage here. I can do this, I can win.’
Skinner was right. Eligor could not use magic but that was because Eligor had not fulfilled the conditions to use his magic in this world. Though even without magic, Eligor was more than a match for Skinner, not that he knew that.
“Earth Bullet.” Ether flowed out from Skinner’s body and took the form of sharp, jagged stones. The stones launched straight for Eligor. The stones didn’t do much damage, actually they didn’t damage Eligor at all but the constant barrage of ‘earth bullets’ slowed him down for a bit.
Skinner took this chance to sprint away from Eligor and cast a spell. “My body is the temple that houses the god that is my spirit. I ask for that god to flow out and cover the temple so that it may better protect it. ‘Moldavite Might’.”
Skinner’s body became encased in dark green rock. For the two minutes that ‘moldavite might’ is active, all his physical abilities and especially his defense are enhanced. Also he could now freely cast his earth magic without chanting. It was his trump card. He barely used it because it though because this spell forcibly drew out more ether from his body than was physically possible. Naturally, doing such a thing came with a huge side effect. Skinner would not be able to use his magic for an entire week. Skinner usually never used this spell but he felt that it was the only way to beat Eligor.
Skinner knelt down and touched the ground. When he did so the ground trembled and a giant arm twice the size of Eligor rose from the ground. The arm slammed into Eligor and shook the earth again. Any normal person would have believed that to be the end of Eligor but Skinner knew better. He braced himself for what Eligor might do next.
The arm that slammed into Eligor rose again and this surprised Skinner for he had not commanded it to do so. The reason why the arm was rising was Eligor. He lifted the giant arm with one hand and casually tossed it away. He dusted his hands off and turned to face Skinner.
At this point Skinner was profusely sweating. He tried to cast another spell but was interrupted by an attack from Eligor. Eligor had instantly closed the distance between them and punched him right in the gut. Eligor didn’t stop there, he punched Skinner under the chin. Eligor followed that up with a punch to Skinner’s right cheek and then another punch to Skinner’s left cheek. While Skinner was in a daze from his attacks, Eligor drew his fist back, focused his might into that fist and unleashed an uppercut that sent Skinner soaring past the nearby buildings. Each hit from Eligor knocked Skinner out but the ether forcibly being drawn from ‘moldavite might’ kept him awake.
Eligor jumped up high just a little bit past Skinner and grabbed his leg. While midair he spun around and threw him into the ground. Skinner’s crash back onto the earth left a large crater in the middle of the street.
Eligor landed back on the ground and in doing so kicked up a cloud of dust and rock. He walked over to the crater and grabbed Skinner’s leg. Then he broke into a run. Eligor dragged Skinner along the ground while running. Bits of the rock that made up Skinner’s body kept on breaking apart. Following that, Eligor threw Skinner and brought him crashing down into the earth again.
Laying on the ground and with Eligor’s arm still around his leg, Skinner dug his fingers deep into the earth. Immediately, many hands formed in the ground and stretched towards Eligor. Eligor tried to hold his own but the relentless onslaught of punches proved to be too much for him and threw him off balance. During his fall, Eligor noticed the ground beneath him open up. Skinner emerged from that hole and hit Eligor with an uppercut right in his jaw. Next Skinner grabbed Eligor and threw him down the hole he came from.
Eligor felt like he was underwater. It was a strange feeling as he expected being underground would feel more solid. He tried to move but his body was met with much resistance. Suddenly something hit him. Then it hit him again and again. Eligor caught a glimpse of what was hitting him. It was Skinner. He swam as freely through the ground as a shark does in water.
‘I just have to keep him pinned down here and eventually he’ll run out of air.’ Skinner continued to hit Eligor and each time he did so, the embers in Eligor’s visor grew larger and larger until they were no longer embers. They were now roaring wildfires. Although Skinner wanted to keep pressing the attack, his body refused to move. It felt like something or someone was warning him against continuing this fight. But he ignored that warning and attacked Eligor again.
Right before Skinner’s attack landed, Eligor grabbed his hand. Floating next to Eligor, Skinner was able to see into the embers that made up Eligor’s eyes and he was able to see Eligor for what he truly was. Eligor was a being far beyond the understanding of mere humans. A being with unimaginable power that could have eradicated a man like Skinner at any moment in their fight yet he chose not to.
Eligor was about to hit Skinner when he saw Skinner’s body return to normal. The two minutes were up and Skinner could no longer use magic. The ground returned to its natural state and Eligor crawled out of it while holding on to Skinner.
“Wait wait wait, I don’t want to fight anymore!! Please just let me go man!”
Eligor sighed and the embers in his visor returned to normal.
“That’s…disappointing. I thought a man of your stature would have more fight in you but it seems I was wrong. Very well then, I will bring you to my master and we’ll see what he has to say about your fate.” Eligor walked back to the tavern dragging Skinner across the ground all the way.
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Solomon, Eligor and Aberewa all returned to the tavern. Okusie was waiting for them there. “Well damn, I didn’t think ya guys would be able to win. I invited Aberewa here so that I could escape with her if things became dire. Never in my wildest dreams did I think some random kid and knight could hold their own against Skinner and his goons. Hahaha!”
“It was a simple task for a knight such as I. By the way my lord, what should I do about this thing? Should I end his pathetic life right here and now or do you have some other plans for him?” Eligor pointed to Skinner. “I don’t know, Okusie what should we do with him?”
“Skinner is a debt collector working for Naamah which makes him a rather valuable source of info so I would prefer to keep him alive. Oh, by the way what did ya do with your opponent Aberewa?”
“I killed him.” Eligor chuckled at her reply. “Do you have something you want to say to me sir Eligor?”
“To you, nothing.”
The pair glared at each other and naturally it unnerved Okusie so he tried to distract them. “S-solomon what did ya do to the one ya fought?”
“Oh I left her there.”
“I see, so ya didn’t kill her.”
‘Glad to see that at least one of these three isn’t insane.’ Okusie was relieved to find that although Solomon was strong, he wasn’t as bloodthirsty as the other two.
“Yeah, it just wouldn’t be fun to kill her, you know.”
“Yes, yes, it wouldn’t be…fun.” Solomon’s reply shook Okusie to his core. The reason Solomon hadn’t killed his opponent was not because of some regard for morality or anything like that. He didn’t do it because it wouldn’t be fun.
Though his reply was not malicious, it made Okusie realize that Solomon had no regard for the life of others. To Solomon, all life had the same value and that value was zero. Okusie was scared because he believed that neutrality and indifference were worse than outright evil. At least for evil people you could predict what they would do. They would always do what benefitted them the most. However, Solomon’s neutrality made him an unpredictable and risky factor in Okusie’s plans. He began to have doubts about the people he was associating with but he pushed those doubts aside after realizing that he could not be picky when choosing allies for his goals.
“W-well that’s enough chit-chat for now, let’s head back to the base.”
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“So what’d ya think?” Eligor raised his hand high.
“Yes, knight in the back. What is your question?”
“If I may be so honest, I do not believe a building such as this is suitable for a base of people plotting to kill a gang leader.”
Okusie sighed and placed his hands on his hips. “Yeah it’s kinda ass, ain’t it? But here in the slums, we work with what we have. I know people that would kill to have a roof over their heads.” Okusie had brought them to a dingy little two floor apartment building. It was clear that the building was in dire need of repairs but compared to the surrounding buildings it wasn’t too bad.
“I’m sure ya guys are pretty tired after all that fighting so why don’t we head inside.” Solomon’s hand shot straight up.
“Actually, I’m not tired at all.”
“Um, Solomon, I was just trying to be hospitable.”
“Ooooh. Sorry about that.”
Okusie sighed and rubbed his forehead. ‘I can already tell this shit is going to give me a headache.”
The interior of the building was as dirty as the exterior. The only furniture on the first floor was a torn up sofa and a large wooden dining table. The table had no chairs around it which made the visitors question what was the point of even having the table there in the first place. After they entered, Okusie directed Eligor to tie up and throw Skinner down the basement. He groaned in pain as he fell down the stairs.
“There are some things I wanna discuss with Aberewa so the two of ya should head upstairs. Since the others are busy doing their own thing right now ya can pick any room ya see.”
Once Solomon and Eligor left, Okusie collapsed onto the sofa. “Those two are something else. I genuinely dunno how ya found people like that, let alone convince them to help ya.”
“I do admit that they’re not exactly the most…normal people but I think their strength will play a huge role in defeating Naamah. Also, if I remember correctly you’ve never been one to be concerned about who you use to accomplish your goals.”
“That’s true. But at the same time, those two terrify me.”
“They terrify me too but it’s not like we can be picky. Now let’s get straight to the point, any word on Naamah?”
“I was wondering when ya were going to ask that. Don’t worry I have someone tailing her as we speak and even if that doesn’t work out, ol’ Skinner should be able to help us out.”
Watching Skinner stretch out on the sofa, Aberewa could only shake her head at how casual he was taking this. Naamah was dangerous and Aberewa doubted that some goon of Okusie’s would be able to come back alive with any substantial information.
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Solomon and Eligor entered the last room on the second floor. It was small, cramped and the only thing that came close to a bed was a thin mat on the floor.
“Maybe we should look through the other rooms to see if there is anything more comfortable for you my lord.”
“I sincerely doubt that there is and I honestly cannot be bothered to.”
Solomon laid down on the mat and stared at the ceiling. Then he thought to himself. ‘Watching Eligor and Aberewa bicker has allowed me to see more upfront and personal emotions but I don’t think it’s enough. I need something more. Something raw and powerful.’
He closed eyes and thought of all the sights he had seen in the past couple of days. Solomon had seen people with no hope for the future, people whose present circumstances forced them to only think of what their next meal was going to be. He thought of them and realized that observing the emotions of people that had suffered so much, people that had never known happiness might help him better understand himself. Essentially, Solomon was going to treat the slum dwellers as his test subjects.
‘But how do I go about it? The people lying on the streets barely move. What can I do to make them exhibit their emotions? What makes people happy? What makes people who barely eat happy…Oh, now that I think about it, it’s pretty obvious.’
Solomon stood up quickly and turned to face Eligor.
“Is there something wrong my lord?”
“Nothing at all Eligor. I just realized what we’ll be doing tomorrow.”