I know you hate announcements... Bear with me. For a month, especially the past few weeks, I have been struggling hard with some RL issues. Unfortunately, I lost my house job today (courtesy of the understanding HOD) so I am in dire straits. I am not abandoning this story, but further releases will be highly erratic and unscheduled. In the case I find myself unable to continue I will reveal a summary of the entire storyline (What is Boris? Why were four summoned? What are dragons? etc. etc... even why Violet is a loli)

The sidestory below is about "heroes" so do not read if you do not like. It is now abandoned because it does not fit in the story line. I am also posting an incomplete chapter after that (read at your own risk). I plan to do a release as soon as I can.

PS: Thanks for the reviews and comments, I've read all of them. Love them..

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Sidestory 1

Ray stood vigilantly on the open stony grounds. This battle arena was a practice area meant for soldiers, but they had been vacated out for him and the other two. He peered across the circular arena to see Sylvia and Claire, both enthusiastic for battle.

Ray had clearly not expected this. When he had asked Knight Guardian Arthur for further instructions, Arthur had asked him to smoothen what he had already learnt and put it into practice. Ray had garnered it to mean a daily repetition of moves and maneuvers but he was instead advised to have a three-way duel with Sylvia and Claire. Ray very much doubted they would take each other seriously if they fought, but the situation turned out otherwise.

He could feel the tension in their eager eyes, an earnest desire to duel and a formidable will to win. It was astonishing to see two of his good friends turn into warriors. What he did not realize was that each of them had been promised an exclusive day with Ray, in the event that they won the duel. He would learn later that he had no inkling of choice in the matter.

The arena was much simpler than the summoning chamber. There were no seats for audience and no boundaries, only a rough outline on stone to mark its extent. It stood farther from the residences of soldiers and closer to armory and utilitarian facilities, the gap between the two places left open to train. Small stone pedestals sat on one side, possibly for commanders to sit if they were observe.

The only one observing today was Grey, his robes still gleaming with lunar radiance. “Alright, the rules are the same as before,” Grey spoke as he held his hand in the air, creating anticipation among the participants.

Ray placed his grip firmly on the hilt, his left hand held a buckler as he took a stance. He stood in full body steel armor for defense. Sylvia stood obliquely to his right, about twenty feet away. He could cover the distance in a blink, if she allowed it. Claire stood obliquely to his left, more than thirty feet away. She would be difficult to deal with, especially if they decided to team up.

“Begin,” a soft voice resonated through the air, jerking the participants into action.

A lightning bolt tore through the air even as Ray jumped avoiding the yin restraints that had emerged at his feet. The shielding barrier clashed with lightning, deflecting it well. An arrow followed in its wake, following Ray’s trajectory in mid-flight. Ray flipped back in the air, missing the arrow easily as he arrived on the ground. A fireball hit the shielding barrier and lost itself. A second arrow awaited him eagerly but lost him. Ray turned with an unimaginable speed as he jumped. The arrow passed through the air where he had been, colliding with another fireball that had arrived.

It did not look like a jump, Ray was hurled almost horizontally through the air. A small cloud of dust burst out of crushed stone that had hurled him and his parabolic path lead towards Claire. But he found no surprise on her face, he did not even find her face.

Claire was already darting sidelong, circling his path as another arrow left her bow. It arrived with precision at his landing spot. Ray paid it no heed, it was just a warning shot. His metal greaves met the arrow in heavy splendor, countering its assault with their weight as he skidded into a run.

Claire did not even confirm the result, the yin thread upon her thumb efficiently pulled a second arrow right after the first one discharged and she adjusted her aim instantly, targeting Ray’s legs again.

Ray jumped slightly in the air as the next arrow arrived, avoiding it by a narrow margin even as the trail of ice behind him halted and erupted up. He spun in the air, swinging his sword in a wide imprecise arc of a semi circle. A gash of air erupted all around. It crushed the ice behind him and pierced through it towards Sylvia, distracting her momentarily out of her next spell. On the other side, the same gash stepped into where Claire should have been, but Claire had already left that spot, her next arrow nocked for action. It was a slower, more deliberate action. Ray immediately pulled up his buckler even as he strengthened the shielding barrier to full force. He darted headstrong towards Claire all the same.

The arrow arrived in a moment and passed by the buckler, Ray cast a suspicious glimpse as the arrow then curved in and exploded, hurtling against his barrier with a screeching sound. The hexagonal symmetry of the barrier shone briefly out of translucence. It distracted him enough for the next arrow to arrive.

Ray focused the shielding barrier towards his back as he kept running, his sword curved around his buckler to deflect the next arrow, he pushed it aside with enough force to crack it in the middle and brushed aside, wary of any explosion that would follow soon after. What followed was another arrow accompanied by a barrage of fireballs from behind, but Ray was ready now. He sprinted as the shielding barrier deflected a few fireballs that caught up, his buckler was held upfront and glowing with magic to repel projectiles as his sword swung upon the next arrow curtly, diverting its arrowhead to the ground near his feet. It would explode immediately.

Ray augmented strength to the limit, his feet crunched into the stony ground as he pumped them hard with mana. He pushed right when the arrow exploded disastrously, the combined force hurtling him suddenly at Claire faster than she could react. A curtain of dust and a rumble followed him. He tore through the next incoming arrow with brute force, parrying another with a buckler even as he missed the next barrage of fireballs. He landed straight before Claire, his sword tracing an arc into her as his feet gripped hard at the ground.

His sword met the crossed dirks of Claire with a sharp clang of metal against metal, his momentum only impeded by the yin restraints that had erupted the last minute. Ray immediately augmented the barrier around his feet, repelling the yin restraints that had him. Strong magic overpowered weak magic, and only one could exist at a point. His barrier was much stronger than most spells, depending on the amount of mana he poured in.

Sparks screeched as the blades clashed. Claire pushed the dirks as she drew them part in opposite arcs. The sword twisted back out of the force, leaving both of them open. Ray reacted faster. His hilt rushed in as his sword twisted out from the impact, Claire’s dirks finding a new enemy in his buckler. The hilt crashed into Claire in a pummeling strike that threw her hard over the ground and out the arena circumference.

One defeated, one remaining.

Ray turned to Sylvia immediately afterwards, continuing his sprint in a circle. He dodged the incoming barrage of fireballs, deflecting some with the barrier. Those fireballs were powerful magic, he was losing a substantial chunk of mana each time his barrier deflected them. He would run out of it faster than Sylvia, she had an enormous reserve after all.

Ray chose to conserve his mana as he toned down his barrier and concentrated it on a smaller area before him. He dodged most of the fireballs and the few who passed through the barrier were weakened and easy to deflect with the help of his sword. A wave of ice surged outward, providing him no corner to dodge. He leapt in, carving the ice into shreds with continuous strokes and creating a pathway through. He had augmented resistance at his feet and the yin restraints that repeatedly snapped behind him were given little chance to confine him. But his mana was draining fast, the attacks were getting more aggressive every moment.

Ray doubted his priorities as he pressed onward through the blizzard of ice that continued its assault. His advance was slow but steady, the small barrier was directed towards targeted lightning spells as his sword deflected and scattered other elemental attacks. Sylvia could not contain him but he had no way of overpowering her yet.

The ground was soon covered in ice, trying to freeze his movements. Ray concentrated mana at his feet, creating a thin layer of heat that melted the ice. There was not much time left. He augmented strength once more and pushed, softer against the ice. It exploded as he slid forward with force, concentrating all is efforts into the barrier that deflected more blows of ice and lightning. Lightning blasted ice into pillars of steam. The explosions were avoided as he turned, using his sword as a support and bending his knees.

The zigzag route put him out of Sylvia’s direct aim and he pushed with augmented strength every now and then until he was near her, skating on the ice. Sylvia conjured away the ice immediately and he felt friction retard his approach as his shoes skidded on stony ground. He plunged again with augmented strength, the last of his mana reserves were about to extinguish. It was time to employ it.

He was within five feet of Sylvia as she prepared her spell, a blast of air probably. He reined in every modicum of mana as he stepped forward, a picture of intimidation formed in his head as he let it loose like a wave. It spread through the air carrying fear and dread. Sylvia froze over in visible shock as the spell dispersed, her hands gripped her staff as she raised it in defense against his sword. The staff still touched the ground as Ray swept in, too slow to intercept his sword.

Ray waved his sword confidently, ready to strike the staff aside. The next strike would make Sylvia surrender. But he was jerked back abruptly. The ground caught his feet in surprise as Sylvia extended her staff further, intercepting his sword mid-swing. She bent forward weakly and snapped her fingers, they exploded with sound. The shockwave threw him off, armor and all, out of the grounds.

Sylvia had expected him to use Warrior’s Spirit and that had saved her, though it was still unnerving.

Ray lay disconcerted on the ground as Sylvia smiled, it was dangerous but she had won herself a date. All was fair in love and war.

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