Ryan looked at the several figures, taking a stroll in mid air like it was the most natural thing to do. Alex nudged at him, holding his index finger over his mouth. The other man looked at the sky, with the deadpan eyes and straight face that had become his trademarks.

He wasn’t always a dead man, but he couldn’t remember a time he hadn’t been suffering. Abusive parents, being an orphan, army training, abusive superior and finally he was free. Yet, the odd uncomfortable feeling in his chest never went away.

Zane looked at the mages in the sky, as a frown appeared on his face. One of the few emotions he could display without trouble. Damn mages. These were clearly hostiles, that meant he could kill them.

As the mages passed, some distance between them, Alex said.

“They are dark mages, very dangerous. Don’t engage with them.”

Ryan nodded with a serious face.

“We’re going to capture them.” Alex said, throwing a key and a smoke launcher to him. “You go check my room. The files are under the rug, if they are there, then you should fire a green and red if there isn’t. Dispose of it immediately after checking.”

Then he proceeded by running through the street, using the buildings as a cover. Zane could only shake his head at his futile attempts to hide. Everyone knew that mages could sense the surroundings without actually looking.

Thus, the two higher ups decided that they would chase the mages away, completely forgetting about the existence of Sonya, left alone with Ryan.

“Hey, brat. This way.” Sonya said as she turned, walking towards the direction of the castle. Ryan followed. She couldn’t attack him now that he was seen by the general, or so he thought and followed her trails.

The eerie silence reigning supreme in the once bustling city greatly unsettled the boy. It was just like a… ghost town. Everything was in perfect condition, but no one was here to inhabit them. A loud sound of an explosion from behind them greatly hastened Ryan’s pace, Sonya keeping the same distance despite the rise in speed.

‘Is she moving faster too?’ Ryan asked himself. The lack of weapon on his belt in a foreign land felt dangerous to him, but he still had his legs if the need arose. Ryan would use the secret move of the family that his father taught him.

It was only when another blast came from a little closer this time, did Ryan notice she had started sprinting, leaving him at the back. But he wouldn’t lose to anyone when it came to running away. And so, the one-sided racing game begun.

Throwing a look at the back, Ryan noticed several figures floating in the air, creating giant fireballs which split in two pieces due to some unseen force. The explosions had been caused by some misdirected ones hitting too close to home for his liking.

And so, within a small time frame, they had appeared before the castle. It was truly the home field of the crazy woman as she never stopped to take a breather and ran straight in, Ryan forced himself beyond his limit to catch up to Sonya, but mostly take shelter from the constant explosions.

An explosion from his side sent him flying into a wall, hitting his shoulder, injuring it in the process. The pain was hellish to say the least, most likely a fractured bone.

Ignoring the pain, he looked to the side to see where Sonya had been running to had… been destroyed. Completely and utterly destroyed, the stones making up the wall had rained upon the other side, damaging the buildings within greatly in the process.

The lack of Sonya’s corpse greatly unsettled Ryan, but he shrugged it off as the woman being blown away a bit too far as she was standing in the middle. One thing was for sure, he didn’t want to be hit by this.

“Well shit, I don’t know where the office is.” Ryan cursed as he looked up at the tower slowly collapsing down at him.

“Oh crap.” He cursed as he got back on his feet, proven surprisingly hard by the fact one of his arms was mostly dysfunctional. Ryan realized he had never really used his left hand to stand up, losing a few seconds.

That’s when he realized it was falling to the other side. A sigh of relief escaped his mouth as he looked at the fallen tower, some stray rocks hitting him on the body. The pain was minimal, at least compared to his shoulder, though he could bet he had a few bruises here and there.

Ryan looked at the fallen tower, an idea entering his mind. This might be where the offices are. The fact there were four towers, of which two had fallen didn’t help either. He had to search every one of them to find it.

‘Higher positions means higher floors, right?’ Ryan asked himself, nearing the fallen tower. It had fallen so that the door had ended up facing down. Nobles fancied windows as Ryan knew so well. He had heard too many of them mumble on and on about his house being a nuisance in their backyard, but he didn’t care. Except he had a fond understanding of their love for windows. Circling the structure, he then realized the only place where it could be: the top.

Climbing the three meter tall monstrosity wasn’t something Ryan looked forward to. He actually despised the idea, but he had to do it. There was no one else who would.

The arduous task of climbing it without any equipment, with one hand to boot, gave him a headache. He wouldn’t have minded if it was his right hand, but it just happened to be the left one he was left with.

“Here goes nothing.” He mumbled to himself as he grabbed a loose stone, falling on his butt, cursing profusely. Having hit his tailbone, he cursed his own unluckiness. Ryan looked around to find something he could use, his eyes falling on the countless scattered rocks as a grin appeared on his face.

Who said he should climb it?

***

Alex pointed his sword at the heretics before him. They were cultists, using some impossible kind of magic by sacrificing their lives. He knew they couldn’t be reasoned with, let alone captured, but it was in the knight’s code to do so.

“You are under arrest for using illegal magic. Come along peacefully, or we will have to use force.” Alex said. He never bothered with a fighting stance. That would just be an unnecessary crutch, especially in an aerial battle he was engaged in currently.

“Oh, I would think your mage friends already said hello.” Said a high-pitched voice, most likely that of a woman.

“It was you who launched an attack first!” Said Alex, raising his voice. Covering up for an Imperial mage was never a bad idea. Never. And from her tone, he knew they were most likely just those mages rather than another group. Those words held so much spite.

“I was merely getting the innocent bystanders out of the way. I don’t see how that is wrong.” The woman said, producing a wand in her hand and pointing it at Alex. The hood had a strange effect of obscuring the face, not giving him a chance to read her facial expression.

Alex could only clench his fists tighter and bite his lip. It was true, yet it was wrong. A duel was the way these matters should be concluded. This was certainly a war. And no one wanted a war with mages, they knew it more than anyone.

“Is the hero of justice now doubting his beliefs? Ridiculous.” Said the woman, a giant ball no smaller than a grown man appeared before the wand in an instant. Alex’s brow sweated as he noticed that it wasn’t fire.

“Why would a church attack the city?” Alex asked, charging his blade with Aether. The gentle blue color gave him a peace of mind, gave him hope he could defeat this voiceless caster.

“Phantom Range!” He shouted, slicing the air. The ball of light split in two, exploding. He loved these when priests had his back and hated these when the opposing side had it. These explosions were the real deal.

The power of the explosions sent him flying away, only to return a few seconds later. The range of his weapon wasn’t far, but he could only imagine what would happen if the priest before him turned her attention to the city.

The answer was: absolute ruin.

He frantically looked behind, to notice the fool known as Zane actually punching away the balls. That would cause too much collateral damage. Then again, a gauntlet couldn’t cut and dodging would prove the same. Alex sighed.

He would have to cut loose to defeat them as well as much as he hated to admit it.

“Hurricane Devil!” He shouted. He wasn’t obliged to, but still liked to watch the face of the opponent change at his perfect naming sense. This time around, the enemy’s face was covered by a layer of shadow though.

Several beads of water formed on Alex’s face, the wind around him swirling violently. Every little thing about the technique could be seen from Zane’s face from the startling power to the fact that it couldn’t signify anything good.