Arthur Leywin POV
Six months later
I was in the middle of the canyon as we just reentered the mind realm. Regis jumped out of my chest and sat beside me like usual.
"I must say I am impressed, prince Arthur. Not many have been able to effectively use the rune of destruction in such a short amount of time." Kol said as he stood in front of me.
"Well, I have a good motivator," I said, shrugging with a smile.
Kol nodded as he said this. "Yes, I'm glad you didn't take our advice when you first came to us. Now, let us continue and see what you've learned." Kol said.
Kol turned around and walked forward a few steps. He waved his hand, and an aether platform formed right before him. Kol stepped onto the platform and turned around. I watched as he raised his right hand, as his left was at the small of his back. The platform raised into the air, carrying Kol with it. I followed Kol with my eyes as he stood on the platform above us.
"Are you ready to begin, prince Arthur?" Kol asked.
I looked at Regis. "Ready, Regis?" I asked.
"Ready, princess. Did you want me to go first?" Regis asked.
"No, I'll go first, then you, then together," I said.
Regis nodded. "Sounds good."
I looked back at Kol, who was staring down at me from the platform. "We're ready," I said with a nod.
"Very well," Kol said as he waved his right arm.
I looked back down straight in front of me. I watched as aether gathered, and about one hundred aether warriors formed in front of me. I took a breath as I activated my destruction rune. I felt the power of destruction course through my veins, and my rune burned hot.
Amethyst flames flared to life in my hands and coursed up my arms. I shut my eyes as the voices of destruction flooded my mind.
'Kill them all.'
'They are nothing compared to you.'
'Bend them to your will.'
'Art?'
I smiled at hearing Tess' voice in my head, feeling a calming sensation. I pictured Tess in my mind as I opened my eyes.
"Stay in control, Arthur, for her," I told myself. My eyes flicked up to Kol, who was staring at me intently. I watched as he nodded, and a smug smile formed on his face.
I looked back to the group of aether warriors in front of me. I leaned down, gathering aether in my legs, getting ready to burst forward. I needed to be quick; I couldn't hold the destruction rune for long without losing control.
I bust stepped forward into the middle of the group, leaving a line of destruction fire in my wake. I looked around me with determination not to fail, to control this power, not let it control me.
I waved my left arm to my back left as a wave of destruction burst from my hand. I watched as the destruction flames consumed the first group.
I then waved my left arm to my front left. Another wave of flames of destruction burst forward, consuming the group.
My eyes flicked to my right as I waved my right arm to my front right. Flames of destruction burst from my hands and consumed the warriors, leaving nothing behind.
'Consume them all!'
'Leave nothing behind!'
"Ahh, stay in control, Arthur," I said to myself through gritted teeth.
"Aye! Princess! Do not be consumed; you have one group left. You got this!" Regis yelled.
"Thank you, Regis," I said, struggling to stay in control. Regis and I had a rough partnership at first, but over time, he indeed became a reliable companion.
I turned my body to face the final group. My back was burning hot at this point as amethyst flames danced up and down my arms.
"Ahh!!" I yelled as I waved my right hand forward. A constant flow of destruction flames flew out from my hands like a flamethrower. I watched as the group was consumed in destruction flames, leaving nothing in its wake.
"Stop," I said to myself as I tried to stop my attack.
'No.'
'Destroy everything.'
'Leave nothing in your wake.'
"Don't lose control," I said to myself. I shut my eyes closed.
'I promise, Art.'
I heard a soothing voice say. Memories of Tess and me in the Dragonspire inn appeared in my mind.
"Tess," I whispered to myself with a smile. I opened my eyes with determination. I willed the attack to stop and stood straight as I clenched my fists. I stopped the flow of aether into my destruction rune, shutting it off.
I took a breath as I watched the destruction flames on my arms slowly die down. The burning sensation on my back subsided, and my mind became clear. I looked around and saw the entire group of aether warriors were gone. I smiled at my accomplishment.
*clap* *clap* *clap*
I looked up to see Kol clapping while smiling brightly. "Perfect, prince Arthur. I must say I am impressed. You may take a step back and rest. Regis, it is your turn." Kol said.
"Thank you," I said with a nod as I turned and walked towards Regis. "You ready, Regis?" I asked as I walked up to him.
"I was made for this, remember," Regis said smugly as he stood up.
"Ya ya, good luck," I said.
"Thanks, princess," Regis said as he walked forward. "Aye! Ready when you are blondie!" Regis yelled.
Kol raised a brow at him. "I'm glad you're not my weapon."
"Too majestic for you?" Regis said with a smirk.
Kol looked at me. "I apologize, prince Arthur. He has taken the personality of the one the horn belonged to." Kol said.
I just laughed a little. "Ah, I'm used to it," I said with a shrug.
"Pffft. I'm way better than that horned freak ever was." Regis said.
"How do you know? You never met him?" I said.
"Because I also absorbed his memories," Regis said.
I looked at him, surprised. "Really? That could come in handy later." I said.
"Are you ready, Regis?" Kol said, getting our attention.
"I already said ready when you are. Or did you forget?" Regis said.
Kol just rolled his eyes as he waved his right arm. I watched as another one hundred aether warriors formed in front of Regis. Regis shook himself as he took a ready stance. I watched as he took a deep breath, and purple flames danced around him. Regis grew double in size and smiled at the group of aether warriors.
"Hahaha! Let them burn!!" Regis yelled as he dashed forward. I watched as Regis quickly ran around the ground repeatedly in a circle. Flames of destruction bounced off Regis creating a small cyclone of destruction flames. The flames from the cyclone closed in on each other, consuming all of the aether warriors.
"Show off," I said, watching how easily he destroyed the warriors.
Regis jumped out of the cyclone, and I watched as the flames died down, leaving nothing left. The amethyst flames on Regis dispersed, and Regis shrunk down to half his original size since he shrinks when he uses his aether.
I laughed a little as I approached him. "I think you shrunk a little there, Regis," I said.
"Ha ha ha." Regis laughed sarcastically. "How many times are you gonna make that joke," Regis said as I stood beside him.
I shrugged. "Until it gets old, so never," I said, smiling.
"Excellent, Regis," Kol said, getting our attention. We both looked up at him as he stared at both of us, with both of his hands at the small of his back. "Now that you have gone individually, it's time for your joint attack," Kol said.
"Don't worry, the princess and I got this blondie," Regis said.
"Do you?" Kol said with a raised brow. I saw him look down as he held his chin with his right hand. He looked deep in thought until he looked back at us with a smirk. "Very well. Then let's see what you can do." Kol said with a hint of excitement.
Kol lifted both of his arms while chuckling a little. I watched as a large quantity of aether began to form in front of us like a pool of aether. My eyes widened as I watched a giant amethyst draconian arm jump out of the collection of aether. The arm slammed into the ground, and I watched with widened eyes as a giant amethyst dragon crawled out of the pool. The dragon stood directly in front of us and spread its wings wide. It stood about a hundred stories tall and had a wing span of five hundred yards.
"Rrrraaaaawwwwwwrrrrrr!!!!!!" The dragon roared as aether particles flew out of its mouth. I created an aether blade that I plunged into the ground to keep myself from being pushed back from its roar. Regis sunk his claws into the ground to stay in place as well. The dragon finally stopped its roar as it stood up tall, looking down at us.
Regis and I stood up and looked up at the dragon. I took a long sigh as I looked over to Regis. "Regis," I said.
Regis looked down and sighed. "Yes."
"Next time. Don't taunt the instructor." I scolded.
"Yes, princess," Regis sulked.
I looked back at the dragon. "Still think you can handle it?" Kol yelled down with a smirk.
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Alright, Regis, let's try our combo move," I said.
"Got it," Regis said as amethyst flames appeared over his body. Regis jumped into the air and turned into a ball of shadow and amethyst flames. I created an Aether blade in my right hand and plunged it into Regis. Regis and my sword became one as I held a flaming sword of destruction in my right hand.
'You doing good, Regis?' I asked mentally.
'I'm fine, princess. Just get this over with quickly. I don't like staying like this.' Regis said.
'You got it. Let's go!' I said mentally as I burst stepped forward.
The dragon growled as it shot amethyst lighting at me from its mouth. I jumped up using aether energy and created an aether platform mid-air. I landed on the platform as the dragon's attack hit the ground with a large explosion.
I jumped up high into the air from the platform using aether. The dragon followed me with its eyes as I jumped off another platform. I continued jumping off platform after platform until I will about one hundred feet above the dragon.
I created another platform above me and landed upside down. I looked down at the dragon as I pushed myself towards the dragon off the platform. The dragon got ready for another attack as I approached it with high velocity. As I neared the dragon, I took my blade in both hands above my head. I swung the sword down as I crashed into the dragon with a large shockwave. The dragon crashed into the ground as flames of destruction danced over the dragon. I jumped away and fell through the air as the amethyst flames consumed the dragon.
I looked down to the ground as it quickly approached. As I was about to land on the ground, there was a bright amethyst light. My eyes shot open as I noticed I was back under the aether dome in the palaestra.
My eyes fell on the aether figure sitting in front of me. "Very good, prince Arthur. You have done well. You have passed my final test." Kol said as he stood up. He waved his hand as the aether dome dispersed.
I began to stand up and stretch as Regis jumped out of my body to stretch as well. I didn't feel sore this time since I wasn't in the mind realm for the whole six months. I would be pulled out from the realm occasionally after the flames consumed me and I failed the training.
I looked around as Kol walked back to his original place, and the other Djinn stood around me.
"How are you feeling?" Mom said as she approached me.
"I feel good," I said as I stretched my arms over my head.
"Good," Mom said as she looked at the Djinn. "He is to rest now?" She asked.
"Yes. He may take the night to rest. We will start again in the morning." One of the Djinn said in a female voice.
Mom nodded and looked at me. "Come on; I'll make some dinner for us, then you can rest," Mom said as she began to walk through the transparent wall.
Regis and I followed mom as we made our way to her room, which was across from mine. We walked in, and I sat down in the kitchen. Mom walked over and started gathering cooking supplies.
"Where did you get the supplies?" I asked.
"I went to Xyrus a few days ago while you were training," Mom said.
"You did? Do you know how everyone is doing?" I asked.
"No. I know how the war is going, but I stayed away from everyone." Mom said.
"Why?" I asked.
"Because we both need to focus on your training. We will see everyone together once you're done. Besides, I can't be gone for long. I need to keep the crystals active." Mom said, looking at me with a smile.
I nodded, "Ok." I looked down at the table as mom prepared some food. I couldn't help but be worried for everyone back home, hoping they were safe.
————————————————————————
Tessia Eralith POV
Boom!!
Grandpa jumped out of the way from my wind blades as we were sparring in the training room. "You'll have to be faster than that!" Grandpa yelled as he ran around in his second phase.
Six months, I've gone through six months of this training with grandpa and grandma. They haven't been going easy on me, knowing I would be on the front lines. With grandma's help, I was able to understand the Alacryan battle tactics. With grandpa's help, I've developed and sharpened my skill set.
Grandpa dashed towards me, and I spun my staff over my head. I created a wind barrier around myself that grandpa crashed into. As he crashed into the wind barrier, I slammed my staff into the ground. The wind barrier blew apart around me, pushing grandpa back.
I watched as grandpa landed on his back with a thud. With my right hand holding my staff, I quickly raised my left hand and wrapped vines around grandpas ankles. Without giving him time to rest, I lifted grandpa into the air with the vines.
"Ahhh!" Grandpa yelled as the vines spun him in the air in a circular pattern. I waved my left hand down as the vines slammed grandpa into the ground with a thud.
I spun my staff in front of me, creating wind blades getting ready to continue my attack. If I give grandpa even a second to rest, he will go on the attack. I watched as grandpa slowly stood from the dust cloud. We were both getting ready to attack, as we knew neither of us would surrender.
"Release!!" I heard grandma yell.
"Arg," Grandpa said as he fell to his knees as his second phase deactivated.
"Grandpa!!" I yelled, concerned as I ran to him. I put my bladed staff back into my dimensional ring as I approach him. I knelt next to him as grandma and the emitters approached us. "Grandpa, are you ok?" I asked as grandpa looked at the ground.
Grandpa looked up at me with a tired smile. "Good job, little one, I'm proud of you. And don't worry, I'm fine." Grandpa said as he began to stand up.
I grabbed grandpa under his right arm, helping him up. "Are you sure?" I asked.
"Yes, I'm fine," Grandpa said with a sad smile. He let out a sigh as he looked down.
"Grandpa?" I asked.
Grandpa looked back at me and smiled again. "You have passed the test, little one. I will now permit you to join the trailblazers." Grandpa said.
I smiled. "Thank you, grandpa," I said with a nod.
"I will send word to captain shard. I'll have her send a group to bring you to their position. You won't get any special treatment from her in the field, understood?" Grandpa said.
I nodded. "Understood."
"Good, now until then, how about we get something to eat," Grandpa said with a smile.
"I'd like that, grandpa," I said with a smile.
"Tessia," Grandma said, getting my attention.
I looked at grandma as she brought me into a hug. "I'm proud of you. I'll make sure to see you off." Grandma said.
"Thank you, grandma, for everything. Will you join us for dinner?" I asked as we broke the hug.
Grandma shook her head. "No, you go eat with your family. I have some more training to attend to." Grandma said with a smile.
I nodded as I looked back to grandpa. "Ready to eat?" He asked me.
I nodded. "Ready."
I gave grandma one last wave as we walked out. I took a breath, happy I was finally joining this war. Now, I know I'll actually be able to help instead of just sitting in this castle.
I subconsciously grabbed my necklace that Art gave me with my right hand. I smiled as I thought about him.
"I miss you. I'll be here when you get back, don't worry." I said to myself with a sad smile.