CHAPTER 3: CHAOTIC DANCE

Another two years had passed, by now my sister Trisha was getting ready for her coming of age banquet, as a member of a Noble family thirteen was considered old enough to marry or move out on one's own, and often times within poorer families was the age third sons would be forced to move out with only a severance fund to make their names.

The villa was filled with life as elegant adornments were strung up and the many servants busily moved around preparing and cleaning each room, while the preparations took place my father and mother were already dressed in beautiful suits.

My mother wore a purple dress that exaggerated her curve and long gloves that added a mist of mystery to her body which was complemented by the expensive diamond necklace she wore.

While my father wore something similar to a tuxedo however his tailcoat had two tails extending to his knee pits, that plus a red and gold scarf across his left shoulder running to his right hip, this was only worn by archdukes during official ceremonies to signify he was the head of the household.

My mother laughed as I tried to fight her and my dad off as they forced me into a white shirt and brushed my hair at the same time. I hated having to dress fancy, between the ridiculous look of the clothing and pricing much less their uncomfortable nature, it was hell. However, for my sister’s sake, I swallowed my pride and got dressed.

The banquet started at seven in the evening, however the majority of the noble families did not start to arrive until eight.

One by one the guests of the Noble families arrived, being an archduke my father greeted them all with his noble etiquette that was filled with swagger and elegance, my mother by his side made her presence known without being intrusive.

As the banquet went on it was time for my sister to perform her coming of age talent exhibition, she was especially nervous because even a prince of the Royal family had come to watch her performance this time around, it was nothing like her usual show she would have for one Noble representative.

This time it was a villa filled with the upper echelons of the kingdom, needless to say her nerves were already standing on end.

Trisha stepped into the middle of the performance floor, her black skin-tight suit allowed her free movement while showing off her still underdeveloped body, her hair was caught up into a bun and its slightly dark purple hue which was the same as mine and my fathers seemed to shine even more on this occasion.

The nobles looked down from the balcony while my sister was on the lower floor surrounded by eyes looking down.

She took the center stage and took a deep breath trying to calm her nerves as she began to sway to the drum being played at the side, as she swayed her shadow magic along with the darkness of the night made it appear as though she was teleporting about the open area, she danced in and out of the visible view of the guest they clapped as she swayed rhythmically with the beat, as the drumbeat hastened, the rhythm rolled faster and faster she “teleported” farther and farther on the stage until a loud beat was heard and shadow engulfed the stage and as quickly as the shadow rose it disappeared leaving an empty stage.

Until a bright flash of purple electricity was born for the center of the stage and as it dispersed Trisha appeared at its center with arms wide open and head looking up, her breathing extremely rugged and hair now disheveled, it was obvious her mana was hardly enough to maintain the performance she had just kept.

The audience was in awe and shocked as they watched Trisha, the balcony was filled with low whispers

“Another dual-element wielder?.... In the same generation?”

When Trisha expelled her lightning it was obvious that the ancient households were more terrified than impressed.

- Clap-

The applause started with the Royal Prince and like a wave of infection the other nobles joined in until Trisha had a full house of applause and cheers, she was elated to see the nobles pleased with her performance.

During the banquet my father was continually congratulated for having such a talented daughter while I as the one unfavored by the Gods faded into the background.

The nobles continually shook hands and mingled with Trisha trying to earn favors with the daughter of an archduke not to mention a dual wielder, it was a known fact that all the dual wielders in history became famous magicians, everyone of them was destined for high positions within militaries or Noble ranking.

The current dual wielder in the family was my father’s brother Zetra. He was currently the major general of the army, the head of the Royal armed forces and the war hero of the ten-year-long war.

Zetra approached Trisha his large body intimated everyone within his immediate vicinity, a scar on his face showed he was a battle-hardened warrior, not to mention his short stubby dark purple hair that was a signature of the Dimachaerus family, his rough demeanor shattered as he hugged Trisha and lifted her off the ground and spun with her, Trisha had changed in a cute pink dress with frills after her performance and now as she was swirling about her dress danced as he moved in the air.

Zetra chuckled as he spoke

“It’s great to see we have another Miracle in the family. I’m proud to see how far your training has come, this is my gift to you little pumpkin.”

He placed Trisha down and handed her a sky-blue ring.

“It's a spell ring, you can store one spell with it and also store a small amount of mana in it for future use. I know as a dual wielder that our magic takes a lot more than the average magician.”

He slid the ring on her middle finger as he spoke softly.

The ring being a magical item was extremely expensive, lesser Noble households would have one or two of these magical items as family heirlooms to be given to relatives going to battles not for children to parade around with but in an archduchy, these were trivial items.

Trisha hugged Zetra tightly to thank him for the trinket and immediately stored a lightning spell within the ring. As she did so the ring changed from a pale sky blue to a dark purple hue, for Trisha lightning was the most exhausting element of the two, and required the most of her mana and mental reserves, it was a relief to have such an item on her person.

Sneaking up behind me while I picked at the table of food Zetra picked me up with one hand and smiled as he ruffled my hair and greeted me, I was always annoyed by my uncle’s manhandling of me just because I was trapped in a child-like body, but I understood this was how a childless man would treat his beloved nephew.

“Ah. I have a gift for you too Alric, here you go lad it’s just a trinket until you reach your own coming of age.”

He shoved a simple smooth looking gray ring at my face,

“This here is a healing ring, during my younger days this ring helped me get out of a lot of tough situations, it can cast up to fourth circle healing spells, just be careful to ensure you have enough nutrients to make up for the cost of healing.”

Healing items were next to impossible to get because anyone who has one would never let it go. After a brief explanation from my uncle it seems the ring can heal myself or someone else but is very limited in power and has no range along with a long recharge time.

If sold this ring would be worth a small fortune while if stolen would be worth a ransom.

The night ended as swiftly as it came; the darker the night grew the more nobles left for their humble abodes; the laughter died down as they left one after the other.

Only the main members of my family along with the servants remained, each of us in our exhausted states fell asleep randomly within the villa.

-Bang!-

A giant bright green ball of flames crashed within the villa shocking every member of the household from their respective slumbers,

“What's happening?”

My mother awoke to ask as she spun her head to gain an understanding of the situation. She realized that all the servants that were around her had already had their throats slashed and the entire room stained in blood.

I fell asleep on one of the balconies to the main room so when I awoke to the strong smell of death and blood and gazed below to see dozens of maids dead my dinner became one with my clothes drenching it in disgust.

It was my first real encounter with death so blatantly shown before me, the bodies were stiff and devoid of life just the sight brought disgust. Before I could gather myself I saw silhouettes of dark figures drawing closer towards me, quickly without a thought I jumped over the balcony and used my gravity magic to soften the landing.

I landed Infront of my mother. She was surprised to see me so suddenly, at least that was what I thought to be the reason for her widely opened eyes.

Until I saw the sword protruding from her abdomen, she fell over as she tried to reach for me one last time, the man in the black outfit smirked as he brandished his sword with her blood.

Shortly after he withdrew his sword from her body it lit with a green flame and her scream of agony echoed through the halls of the villa.

I was paralyzed as I stared at the torching body of my mother, the assailant lifted his sword over my body. I looked up welcoming death once more, ready to restart life in another body.

The hand that lifted against me was shredded to bits, gliding down on some invisible current was my father he was visibly injured and bleeding profusely from many areas of his body it was obvious he had been through quite the ordeal, before my father could waive another spell more silhouettes appeared from around the room, forcing him to redirect his magic towards myself.

I was lifted up and pulled towards him,

“We have to get you to safety now!”

My father tried to escape the black silhouettes when uncle Zetra landed between my fleeing father and black silhouettes his eyes lit up in a purple hue and magic from within the atmosphere turned into sharp electrical impulses, seeing this the assailants halted in their steps, they hear Zetra with a murmur under his breath hardly auditable.

The electricity within the air formed into a dragon that ran through the room instantly vaporizing all black silhouettes.

The electric dragon rampaged around the room instantly tearing through walls and men leaving a trail of charred bodies and demolished walls.

However when the dragon fell upon the swordsman with my mother’s blood it was vaporized by green flames, Zetra eyes opened wide as his dragon dispersed back into thin air, normally he would have enjoyed a fight with such a unique talent, however with the life of his nephew and niece at risk he needed a quick escape.

Another round of electricity emanated from uncle Zetra’s body and flooded the entire room.

The swordsman summoned a wall of fire around himself and by the time the electricity and fire canceled out each other Zetra, my father and I had already made a clean escape.

“It seems all we had feared has finally come true, all the noble households within the kingdom have allied themselves to take out our entire bloodline in one sweep while we are still weak in numbers and experience.”

Zetra explained as he caught up to me and my father.

“Dammit! After all, we sacrificed fighting a war for Them!”

My father was deep in rage as we ran, he was frustrated he had spent most of the war on the battlefield with the family and had lost most of his cousins and other relatives just to defend and expand the kingdom now those nobles who had profited off the Dimachaeri family during the war had come again to steal even more.

After a minute or so we caught up with another distant cousin of mine, he was called Sigfreed he was only a twenty-odd-year-old fellow and wore an ordinary army standard armor his dark purple hair that flowed down his face made it clear he was a Dimachaerus, he held Trisha’s hand tightly as we rendezvoused, his tattered armor long with is blood dripping face and a few dead assailants about showed he had been through his own battles.

“Great work Sigfreed, take both of them through the passage behind the mirror, we will hold off the assassins and catch up as soon as possible.”

“Yes Sir.” Sigfreed looked at the two with a worried expression before he touched the large dressing mirror which turned jet black and stepped in, as all three of us passed through the mirror returned to its reflective like surface.

Looking through I could see dad and Zetra being surrounded by dozens and dozens of assassins. I could see their lips move however sound did not pass through the glass. After being surrounded a large vortex of wind surrounded Zetra it shredded the assassins that got close and then lightning from the vortex stabbed through rows and rows of assassins until the vortex was slashed through by two warriors whose swing was powerful enough to tear the vortex to pieces.

when Zetra saw the swords descend he stepped back and pulled a sword made of steel out of thin air while my father guarded against the other sword with a green light that shielded him. While the swords did not touch either of my relatives directly the impact was strong enough to blast them back several steps only for them to then be bombarded with minor spells from the reinforcements that arrived.

Both my sister and I were in shock as we saw both our father and uncle with tattered bodies leaning against the mirror unable to help we cried out but it fell on deaf ears.

Even in their tattered immobilized states they chanted spell after spell, wind and electricity cut and lashed through the men that got close.

Both Zetra and my father smirked at each other in their bloody states as they protected the mirror behind them.

Finally The swordsmen came over, this time three men each wielding a sword and fire element of a different colour, then with one great swing, both their heads were sent rolling.