Chapter: 1

Renowned throughout Phentar was Shadewood; the region’s only school of magic. And within one of the school’s courtyards, the annual entrance exam was being conducted.

Within the spacious courtyard, four groups of about 200 youths were scattered about. The test was simple; all one had to do was successfully perform one of the basic elemental spells. Each participant was allowed 6 attempts, and upon succeeding just once, they’d be admitted into Shadewood.

Among a certain group, a young man of about thirteen years stood slightly panting. Retrieving his outstretched hand, he wiped the sweat off his brow. His expression was slightly dejected as he stared at the unscathed training dummy a couple of meters away from him.

‘That makes five failures' He thought to himself before sighing.

With an average-looking face and common blue robes, the youth was ordinary in appearance. The only thing that set him apart from most people in Phentar was his dull red hair.

The youth sneaked a glance at the man next to him. The man wore a luxurious purple robe with golden trimmings, which signified him as a senior apprentice of Shadewood. A student had to be a fourth-grade magician before being allowed to graduate.

“Junior Rine, this will be your sixth, and final, attempt. Do you understand?” The man’s voice was cold and his expression indifferent. The man’s overall attitude radiated a feeling of deep-rooted pride.

“Yes, understood.” Rine replied anxiously as he gathered more origin energy.

The youth named Rine began to recite the teachings of his book. [After gathering the necessary energy, it is time to refine it into the desired element. It is during this refinement that the magician imprints his own [self] into the spell. After refinement, the magician must utter the spell’s unique chant while envisioning the spell’s unique mental model. Among all known spells, the basic four are known to be the easiest to learn, as they lack a complex mental model. A magician simply has to expel the spell towards a certain direction.]

‘Above all else, a magician must remain calm during his casting.’ Rine took a deep breath.

Hardening his resolve, and galvanizing his will; he expelled the spell towards the dummy while exclaiming “{Fireball}”. From his hand a small, yet roaring, ball of fire erupted and dashed towards the training dummy. Rine’s face grew animated as excitement blossomed within his heart.

‘Finally.’ He thought ‘I finally get a chance.’

Yet reality proved too cruel as the spell dissipated a mere two feet away from the dummy. The dummy’s outer layer was slightly singed, but that was the extent of the damage.

“You have failed, you’re welcome to try again next year.” The senior spoke before promptly turning around to leave.

Rine hung his head low as he made his way out of the school’s courtyard.

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Randa released her breath as she sat with her back against her implanted great-sword. Her hair hung close to her scalp as sweat and blood caused it to clump together. Her once beautifully intricate golden armor now hung loosely on her body in shambles. Yet despite her wretched appearance, her beauty was in no way diminished.

She sat in the middle of a training field that was marred with the signs of battle. The field’s ground was disturbed and gouged, and strewn here and there were the corpses of their once-proud army.

‘One hundred and twenty soldiers and one guardian.’ She tallied the death count in her head as she surveyed her surroundings. ‘Plus eighty injured.’

Finally, She rested her eyes on a certain corpse, it was equipped with armor similar to hers.

“Who would have thought that such a day would come.” A solemn voice interrupted her thoughts. Beside her stood Sid, the golden guardian’s second in command, and her right-hand man. He was a handsome middle-aged man with graying sideburns. His armor, like hers, was riddled with bullet holes.

“Yes.” She grunted a reply.

“He looks so young.”

“Yes, too young.”

She looked towards a certain direction. There, among the rubble, an unfamiliar figure lay still.

He was dressed in a skin-tight black fabric while his chest was covered in a similarly colored vest. By the youth’s side, a dark-colored bag rested. Randa shivered at the sight of the bag. During the battle, that bag was a constant source of agony. She remembered the scene so vividly. The youth haunted the battlefield with superior skill and speed, he was like a ghost as he roamed about the battlefield. The only trace he left behind was the smoke being emitted by his handguns. And when they wouldn’t do the job, he would simply pull another weapon out of the bag. It took four of the golden guardians and a couple hundred soldiers to finally kill him.

‘What will the people think of this?’ Sid thought as he stared towards the sky. ‘One man caused such irreparable damage? He even killed one of the twelve golden guardians.’ He shifted his gaze towards the youth’s guns. ‘Are they really the worthless little trinkets our king deemed them to be?’

“This is bad.” He said mildly

Randa opened her mouth to respond, but she was interrupted by a loud and furious voice. “No shit!” she turned towards her back where another guardian, Primigenix, stood nursing the stump that used to be his left hand.

“Primigenix, calm yourself.” She said sternly.

“Yes Prim, now’s not the time.” Sid chimed in.

“I told you to never call me that you bastard.” He stood with a labored breath. “And is that all you have to say? Now’s not the time? She’s dead, Sid! Jaeny is fucking dead!” He grew angrier.

“Primigenix, enough!” Randa roared.

As he was about to reply, he saw the tears welling up in her eyes. He gritted his teeth and shut his mouth.

Moments passed as the three of them stood silent. Their tempers calming somewhat.

“Do we have anything on him?” Sid broke the silence.

“Berta is looking into it.” Randa replied coolly after regaining her composure.

“Where did such an individual come from? With his skills, it’s difficult to imagine him remaining unknown.”

“Probably from some organization, Tigerclaw maybe?” She muttered.

“Unlikely they wouldn’t have the balls to att-”

“Is he really dead?” Primigenix asked impatiently.

“Look at his wounds. He’s lost too much blood to stay alive.” Randa replied

“Still, Primigenix has a point, we should make sure.” He thought for a bit before moving forwards.

Subconsciously, Sid gripped his sword tighter the closer to the boy he got.

“It doesn’t make sense.” Randa said as she watched Sid move away.

“What do you mean leader?” Towards the leader, Primigenix only felt respect. Being the strongest of them, it was natural for her to assume the leadership position.

“Our armors are normally immune to regular weapons. It’s because of them that we, so willingly, switched from guns to swords.” She caressed her sword.

“Yes, it is odd I guess.”

“When all this ends, we’ll have Berta look into his equipment.”

“What about Jaeny?” His voice was low and tinged with anger.

Randa replied with a sigh.

As Sid neared the youth, he came to an abrupt stop.

“What’s wrong?” Randa asked as she noticed his actions.

“He’s moving.”

Her eyes widened. “Sid, Primigenix return to me!” She ordered as she stood up while plucking her sword from the ground. Sid arrived by her side and adopted the Kingdom’s orthodox battle stance with his sword at hand. At her other side, Primigenix readied himself with his dagger.

The three stood still as they watched the youth.

Blood spilled from his wounds as he stood up while wincing. After standing there blankly for a few moments he began to look around, spotting his bag, he made his way towards it.

“He seems hurt” Sid said

“Are we sure it’s not an act?”

“Do we have time to think about this?” Primigenix interfered.

“No, we don’t. Sid, attack his side with me, we will flank him. Primigenix will attack him from the back when the time is right. Avoid his bullets. Move out!”

“““For the kingdom!””” The three warriors bellowed as they charged forward.

But alas their charge proved useless as the youth reached his bag. He strapped the bag on his back and looked towards the three warriors before smiling.

The smile sent chills down the spines of Randa and Sid, but to Primigenix such a smile was the ultimate provocation.

“You bastard!!” He roared as he sped up his pace. Soon, he overtook both of his companions.

“No, get back!” Randa increased her pace as well.

But he ignored her and drew closer to the youth.

Sid, the calmest of the three, noticed an oddity. ‘Why doesn’t he reach for his weapons?’ He thought silently.

Primigenix reached within range and he prepared to attack. He knew for a fact that gunslingers were weakest at close range.

He thrust his dagger forward, but as the dagger approached the youth’s skin, a sense of weightlessness assaulted him.

Randa’s eyes widened at the scene before her. Both men seemed to suddenly pop out of existence, as their figures disappeared. The act was silent and sudden.

“W-what happened?” She asked aloud, confused.

“I don’t know” Sid replied solemnly.

The guardian’s leader looked around the area with a shocked expression on her face, when suddenly her earpiece came to life and a bell-like voice sounded. “Leader, there is a problem.”

“What?!!” She snapped at Berta impatiently.

“Multiple invaders have been detected at the southern border.”

Randa took a deep breath and calmed herself. “Send a med crew to this battlefield, Also deploy half of the guardians towards the southern gate while the other half will be spread between the remaining major gates for protection. Both Primigenix and Jaeny will be absent from the fight, while I will be going south. Make the necessary arrangements.”

“Yes, Leader!”

“Looks like this was just the opening act,” Sid said.

“How is your condition?”

“Good enough to fight.”

Randa nodded. “Go monitor the five sent towards the other gates, I’ll go south.”

“Yes, good luck!” He ran towards the transport vehicle.

The leader of the twelve golden guardians strapped her sword behind her back and wore her helmet as she got onto her bike.

The engine roared to life as she made her way towards her destination. Along the way, she began to reflect on the day’s events. Slowly her bloodlust grew more potent and her blade began to vibrate. She gripped the handles of her bike hard enough for her knuckles to grow white.

‘You come to my kingdom….and you kill my men!’ Janey's face flashed through her mind. ‘I will quench my blade with your blood.’

“I will kill you all!” Her roar resounded within the kingdom, shaking its foundations. Her name was Randa Everheart the leader of the kingdom’s golden guardians and bearer of the trait slaughter.

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