The Wielder of Death Magic

Vanished into the midnight with the land around turned into a dessert. Destruction, the way of Lord Death. The boon of immortality; broken by two divine weapons – fueled by their symbol of power. Only a god had the right to kill another god, even then, tis was as if breaking a mountain with nothing but hay as thy pickaxe.

“Wake up,” a voice called.

‘Who’s there,’ the eyes opened, ‘-I’m in ethereal form,’ he stared towards the arms and legs; semi-transparent with a greenish hue.

“I’m all and all is me,” it added with an echo, the voice changed from male to female and differing in accent each word it spoke. Abyss below and Heaven atop, in the middle was where he levitated with no control.

‘Who are you?’ he tried to articulate to no avail. The silence reigned supreme.

“Worry not child,” the figure; an orb of various colors and forms. It took on many appearances whilst speaking.

.....

‘Can you read my mind?’ Staxius wondered amazed by it who faced him.

“Yes,” he replied, “-we’re conversing through our minds,” it hovered over. “I see,” in a circle, the entity examined every inch of him.

‘I do apologize for the sudden rudeness,’ he stared, ‘-care to tell me who you are and if I’ve died or not.’

“My foolish child,” he went back to the original spot, “-I’ve said it before. I am all and all is me. You from the mortal realm must know of Creation, yes?”

‘The strongest entity that keeps the peace between all who live in the universe.’

“Correct,” it said sarcastically, “-before you ask, I didn’t call upon thee. Only gods are allowed an audience; a one-time agreement. All who’ve to awaken a symbol of power must past through my test to be worthy, else,” he stared down, “-the abyss awaits new souls.”

‘I understand,’ he looked up with confidence, ‘-the evaluation to becoming a god or demon; a test under thy rule.’

“Pretty sharp for a human,” he stared which felt more like a glare, “-Lord Death sure has gone senile. Choosing a human soul as his heir, what utter foolishness. Nevertheless, as Creation, my job isn’t to destroy, but tis to create. I can only grant whilst my partner, Death, takes. I give life and he takes lives. Hence the division, I rule over the path to heaven, he rules over the path to the Abyss.”

‘Basically, Creation and Destruction are different faces of the same coin,’ a glance as cold as Niflheim. ‘Are you truly number one?’

“Yes,” it turned, “I’ve been number one since the day of awakening. Many tales speak of me, many worlds worship me, and many realms depend on me.”

‘Wouldn’t it all be compact if a destroyer didn’t exist? What would happen if Death disappeared, what would become of the all-mighty Creation,’ an inconsistency, he had figured a hidden truth through the man’s words.

“I admire thy intellect,’ he approached again, ‘-It’s as you say, child, Death, and Birth are bound by one another. If one is to suddenly disappear, the scales would tip and bring about calamity,’ hands on his shoulders, Creation stared into the distance. “The first God of Death, she who was my partner for millenniums upon millenniums; grew tired of the monotonous life. Her boredom took charge and she went on a destruction spree. Many would-be civilizations died by her hand. In that instant, I placed a Curse onto her, since I can’t destroy, I created a curse meant for destruction. That is to say, she died; leaving the scales unbalanced. To stop Calamity, the Death Element grew to be inherited by many, many entities till the current Lord Death came. A pleasurable fellow with a sense of humor. Not blinded by greed and lust for power, the perfect candidate. Down the line, I altered the curse to only kick in when the Death Reaper grows too powerful. This affected the following Gods; the pain to start over again and again. Many succumbed to the pressure and asked to be killed – Daemonum Gladio, the weapon many killed themselves with. I thought that the current Death would give; imagine my surprise when he found a way to stay under the limit of the curse. Constantly keeping an eye out, any more growth and he’d start over from scratch,” the attention changed to Staxius.

“Then you came along,” the gaze felt warm, “-someone foolish enough to try and break something I created,” *snap,* the egg inside had been shattered, “-the curse I created was destroyed,” a face appeared, mixed with many features from male and female, it showed a smile, “-could you please recount to this old being how you managed it?”

‘To be honest, all I wanted at the time was to train. Then, a dream, I heard the voice of Lord Death. In turn, it triggered a reaction inside my mind, I suddenly felt many, many voices speak. Voices of previous wielders of death I presume. Each had researched how the curse worked; Clarity, starting over, the symbol of power – he had planned it all when I became the heir. He’d knew all along that I’d one day be able to break through the barriers he had built. Quietus was the first step, then came the Symbols of power, three of them which hold unquantifiable strength and knowledge. Time and Death, Sickle and Scythe, one that split heaven and earth and one that splits life from death – they alone had the potential to break thy egg. The third power, Wings of Nike, was assurance for it came from the Goddess of Victory. So, you see,’ he stared up, ‘-all I could do was to act upon the changes. I felt it all, since day one, slowly ailing my insides, a quest to resolve the Curse of the Death reaper, one that was accomplished by a Vampire.’

“I see,” he nodded, “-a vampire you say,” the gaze grew stern, “-nevertheless, you are to pass my test first. Bear in mind, since you’re blessed with three symbols, it shall be harder than ever before. You’ll fight against thyself, not once, but thrice. The duration is all of eternity, I care not if it takes a few seconds or centuries, thy soul is bound to me, a potential ally, go and destroy, tis what thy art for; prove thy worth,” hands pressed together, a sphere engulfed they who hovered.

‘This fight is rigged from the start,’ he thought, ‘-three versus me with the same amount of strength,’ a smirk could be seen, ‘-the only one who can kill me is me.’

“BEGIN,”

Meanwhile, down in the mortal realm, a new day had come too. The date, 8th of February. Preparations for the tournament began. “Send the invitations to all Royalty and nobles around the continent. Queen Gallienne has expressly said to send one unique to Queen Shanna of Arda,” Josiah ordered. Backed financially by the royal family, it had to be grand for both commoners and nobles.

“On it, uncle,” Sophie ran out with letters. Workers helped in keeping the school ready. Both as a festival and grandiose event, the yard towards the left was fitted for stalls and more. The town of Claireville boomed with activities, traders came from all over to make a living.

Since Josiah didn’t care about the disparities between Nobles and not; no particular care was given. Only a VIP seating arrangement since the Royal families of two kingdoms would arrive. On top of that, stars across the continent were also invited. On the 10th, a reply came from the mainland. Prince Ernis would come to stay as well. As per rumors, he remained adamant about personally attending the event. Many influential figures were coming to Hidros.

In preparation, Queen Gallienne and Raulf sent out a quest request. One that asked adventurers to be in charge of guarding the academy and its people from monsters and humans alike. Blade’s End jumped on the opportunity without much trouble. It would be from the 24th till the 28th. All the major guilds joined the fray since the Prince was visiting.

“Are we participating?” asked Achilles.

“I’d prefer to take a break and enjoy the event. After all, my niece is participating. Too bad that the two-versus-two was canceled. In any case, I’ll be taking the days off,” her voice seemed relaxed.

“What about you guys?” she turned and asked.

“I’ll be taking a break. I heard that Queen Shanna might also be one of the guests,” Avon voiced, “I’d prefer to be as close to her. She is my Master’s wife, I’ll be on guard.”

“On guard, you say,” Achilles narrowed her eyes, “-aren’t you just wanting to go out and visit all the food stalls?”

“No,” he averted her gaze.

“In any case,” Undrar jumped in, “-let’s just enjoy the festivities,” the television played Autumn’s Blossom in the background.

“The lady sure looks a lot like father,” mumbled Lizzie.

“What do you mean look like?” asked Emma.

“She has black hair,” added Emmy.

“I mean her eyes,” she pointed.

“I see,” they noticed it as well.

Similarly, Julius, Fenrir, Millicent, Autumn, and the Silver Guardians got ready. Castle Garsley became the capital city of Dorchester. More and more people came over to enjoy the moment of peace it gave. People living harmoniously without prejudice.

“I’ll finally get to meet Master,” in the wind, Fenrir waggled her tail and ears.

“I don’t think so,” argued Adelana, “-isn’t he royalty now? I doubt the man will have time to meet with old acquaintances.”

“Still on the same old stuff, aren’t you, sister,” argued Ayleth.

“Could you girls just cut it out,” added Millicent, “-the man abdicated his position and left because we couldn’t make heads or tales about what person he was. We’re going there to support Eira, that’s final.”

“You ladies do what you want,” Julius interjected, “-I’m going to meet my friend. I care not what you have to say; Staxius and I will have a drink and reminisce. I did take over Dorchester for his sake; I’d say he more than owes me that favor.”

“I’m in with Julius, I’ll cover his majesty with my saliva,” after which Fenrir howled.

“Same here,” voiced Autumn.

“We too want to see him again,” everyone else agreed except Adelana. She always had a few misgivings towards Staxius. Ones that forced him to leave them behind and not turn back once.

Wednesday the 12th came around, “Scott, where’s Staxius?” Aceline asked before Ocher time.

“I tried to contact the guild master and Kniq. They all had one thing to say, Staxius disappeared from Hidros on the 7th. For all we know, he might have died, is what Raulf said with a chuckle.”

“Finding a bodyguard is going to be hard. At least try to get someone from Kniq, they might be of help.”

“I asked, all said the same thing; we want to enjoy the festivities. ”

“What about Achilles, the rumored hero of justice?”

“I’ll ask her once more,” on that, the idol headed into the booth and began her show. The days flew by one after the other; so many things to prepare for. Eira trained hard, students who fought bravely were on their way. Stars and more cleared out schedules to view the long-awaited Inter-magical tournament.

“Majesty,” on the 15th, an audience was called, “-are you sure it wise to stay for around a week in Oxshield?” asked Ruslan, the representatives were anxious too.

“We did enter an alliance, not showing up would be bad form,” her mind didn’t change.

“As you wish majesty,” the old sage interjected, “-King Staxius will be there as well. Why not take time to enjoy and support thy daughter, Princess Eira,” on that, the matter was settled.

‘How long do I have to keep fighting,’ stood with mortal injuries and lightheadedness, it had been eight days since Staxius fought. The trio remained untouched and ready to lash out, ‘-if I don’t win this, then I’ll miss Eira’s tournament,’ the face turned blank, the eyes closed. ‘-That can’t happen,’ he charged, *Oh sword, severer of life and death, heed my call, I, Staxius Haggard, call on thy help: Daemonum Gladio.* A flash of purple light later, the weapon of the Death Reaper came forth. Swing after swing, he fought for the chance to return home. Never did he know that this day would have come. A test for becoming a god before accomplishing anything of value in the Mortal Realm. Still, it didn’t matter, what was to be done; had to be done.