Episode Seven: Showdown in the Monastery

Manifest: A Shattered Future

 Episode Seven: Showdown in the Monastery

 

“Please do not take my words as judgment, but there are countless concerned citizens since the fall of this city. Now that it is too late for Aegea to save itself, its people cling to a hope that they cannot fulfill. I mean no disrespect, but is there anything that differentiates you from the others who have come asking for more power?” the monk asked both firmly but politely.

While Altair watched with a gaze of intrigue from the corner of the room, Elena took a moment to contemplate her response. The white walls of the monastery room amplified every word the monk spoke, and even Elena’s anxious tremor created an audible clack. She balanced a portion of her weight on the sturdy cane in her right hand. Countless words and reasons argued in her head, striving to earn her attention, but all of them seemed wrong. Even the truth would deter the monk from taking her seriously. He stared expectantly at her from the other side of the room, and his white robes practically camouflaged with the monastery’s walls.

Elena finally answered, “I am new to this city, but Romulo believed in me. He believed that I could be the one to save everyone. I’ll be honest; I don’t know if that’s true. That might not be true. But he used his last wish to save me, so I have no other choice. It’s not that I want to save this city. It’s that I have to save this city. Romulo was all I had. I’d never forgive myself if I let his death be in vain.”

The monk remained silent and motionless for a short while, causing Elena to further doubt the words she had chosen. She looked over her shoulder at Altair, but she nearly lost her balance in the process. Instead of matching her gaze, Altair stared intrepidly and unwaveringly at the monk.

“I must admit that your reason is more selfish than most. Most people who have come through here have vied for power, explaining that they want to save everyone they know and love. They want to vanquish evil! You’re different. You already lost the only thing you care about; you just want to ensure that you didn’t lose him for no reason. It’s both better and worse. I will give you a chance to prove yourself in battle, but there is only one reason that I’ll even give you that,” the monk explained.

“What’s your reason?” Elena asked.

“It’s because you claim you are new to this city. Everyone else had years to fight back. They had years to strengthen themselves. It’s only now that they see the enormity of the threat that they finally decide to do something. As far as I’m concerned, they had their chance and they wasted it. The least I can do is give you the chance they had but never took,” the monk said.

Elena shook her head slowly and muttered, “It sounds like I didn’t earn this at all… but that doesn’t matter. I know my goal, and I don’t care if someone else opens the door for me. I don’t have the luxury to say I want to do it right.”

“Very well. But before we bother training you, we need to assess you. Both your skills and your heart. If you have no objections, I will take the first move,” said the monk as he took a backward step.

Elena nodded and hobbled backward as well, balancing her weight as she walked. Once she reached a comfortable distance, she passed her cane to her left hand and then leaned to the left, balancing her weight on her cane and her left leg. This left her right hand free to ready her monoliths and her spell cards.

At the same time, the monk extracted a violet monolith from his robe and then struck it with a miniature hammer. Elena could detect its reverberation from a distance, and then the monk set his monolith on the ground and unleashed a spiral of violet light. The monk manifested a shadowy figure in the violet light, and the silhouettes of sandcastles stood around the sorcerer’s feet. After the sorcerer emerged from the violet light, it forced a spell card to materialize into its right hand. Elena noticed that her opponent held five cards in his hand – at least until he passed a pair of them to his sorcerer.

“Just as our monastery is meant to bring order to a world which seems to have none, we also have a method to organize the chaos of these battles. The structure for our matches is as follows: We both start by drawing five spells into our hand. I make some moves, then it’s your turn, and we alternate as if we’re taking turns. Except for our first turn, we will both start each turn by drawing a spell. If you plan to defend the innocent, then you must learn to work with minimal resources,” explained the monk.

Elena nodded and spoke her agreement, watching carefully as her opponent compelled his Phantom of Lost Sandcastles to approach her. After briefly considering her options, Elena drew five spells and hurriedly examined them. She noticed an abundance of water-type spells, so when the monk ended his turn, Elena banged two monoliths together and then clumsily lowered her blue monolith. Her opponent watched with intrigue as her monolith vibrated at just the right frequency. An eruption of blue light emerged from her monolith, and then the Underwater Illusionist materialized before her.

“Interesting opener; I’ve seen others manifest that sorcerer before. What’s your strategy?” asked the monk with an entertained smile.

After passing a pair of cards to her sorcerer, Elena smiled and answered, “I’ve got two steps; there are two steps to this one! Illusionist, race forward and cast your Scroll of Searing Steam!”

Both conjurers watched as Elena’s sorcerer unleashed a powerful burst of steam which engulfed her enemy. The temperature and humidity both spiked at once, but she compelled her Underwater Illusionist to race through the steam. The monk watched with interest as the sorcerer raced straight past his Phantom; it instead sprinted toward the violet monolith which upheld it. By Elena’s command, the Underwater Illusionist thrust its spear against the monolith with a forceful strike, and then it raced back into the cloak of fading steam.

“You’re aggressive! That should keep this interesting. Most conjurers I battle feel the need to fake tranquility. They mistake a slow pace for wisdom, but nothing is ever that black and white. Is your turn complete?” asked the monk.

“Yes, yes it is! I can’t wait to see what you’ve got,” Elena answered.

The monk smiled and said, “Then I’d like to give you a brief lesson in the history of these cards. Long ago, when conjurers used their new power to plunge this world into warfare, a great monk named Aniya closely studied her sorcerers. While most sorcery is exotic to our world, she sequenced the magic of some alchemists. She even managed to craft some new spells of her own! Now we are still unable to cast these spells ourselves, but thanks to her, our grimoire is loaded with spells that Aniya crafted. As a reward for listening to my story, I would like you to see one up close! Chain Reaction: Healing Magic!”

               Elena watched with disinterest as her enemy’s sorcerer healed a small portion of his damage. But to her surprise, a second spell then materialized in the Phantom’s hand, almost as if one spell had invoked another. Instead of attacking or showing any aggression at all, the monk urged his Phantom to advance a very short distance. He then conceded play to Elena, but she drew a card and stared at him suspiciously. Despite her concern, she compelled her Illusionist to race forward, but the monk had prepared for this; he sprang into action as soon as her sorcerer entered the vicinity.

               “Cast your spell, Curse of Haunted Ground,” the monk instructed his Phantom of Lost Sandcastles.

               Elena watched with shock as a vicious curse engulfed her sorcerer, and even when it took another step forward, she could see the curse take its toll; her illusionist grunted with pain and left a trail of blood. For the sake of her sorcerer, Elena decided not to advance him deep into enemy territory; she instead attempted to strike her enemy from nearby.

               “Don’t bother with the monolith, you can strike from right here! Go ahead and strike from right here!” Elena exclaimed.

               “Defense of Jagged Rock!” yelled the opposing monk.

               Elena groaned with concern and forced her sorcerer to retreat two steps, even though she knew that each step would pain him. He grew weaker every time he moved, but Elena had convinced herself that she had no other choice.

               Noticing her despair from a distance, the monk explained, “I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but I could have done that earlier. I am more interested in the way that you fight than the results of our fight.”

               “I see that. I should have figured that. You’re very very good at this! But I can play defensive if I have to, and I’ll show you right now. Go, Illusionist! Wall of Fragile Ice!” Elena commanded.

               The monk watched with intrigue as pillars of ice emerged from the ground, forcibly separating the two sorcerers from one another. Elena then ended her turn, but she trembled as she balanced on one leg and a cane; she could not help but feel like she was giving a poor performance. But when she glanced up to watch her opponent draw a card, she saw an intrigued smile on his face. At the very least, she had not bored the monk.

               Choosing to press her advantage, Elena said, “Aniya sounds like an amazing conjurer! It’s crazy to think that she invented spells for sorcerers to cast.”

               “I could not agree more! In the beginning, it was difficult to compel sorcerers because we did not know which commands to give. The story goes that people learned spells mostly from Rampagers, and some conjurers learned how to inscribe the magic they saw into spells. In the history available to this monastery, Aniya is the only person to invent spells of her own without watching them first. On that note, allow me to demonstrate another scroll from the grimoire she invented! Chain Reaction: Portal Formation!” announced the monk with a wide smile.

               Elena watched with an enthralled smile as the Phantom of Lost Sandcastles unleashed a shadow magic that created a dark vortex. It swirled in the space just left of the Phantom as if it were a portal, but then another spell card materialized in the sorcerer’s hand. When the monk compelled his sorcerer to strike, it used a ghostly magic to shatter the icy pillar. However, broken ice rained down from the fractured structure and lightly pummeled the Phantom. But instead of advancing, the Phantom of Lost Sandcastles stepped aside. Elena tilted her head and glared at the portal still swirling in the middle of the battlefield.

               “What is that? I’ve never seen that. I’ve never seen anything like it!” Elena commented.

               “It’s funny you should say that, since this is not at all the only spell that can make a portal point. It’s a special landmark that can connect two points on the battlefield, but it’s got another use as well. I don’t plan to warp my way past your ice wall – not at all. Instead, I’ll launch a warrior straight through it and take down your Illusionist,” answered the monk.

               “But how? Your Phantom already got out of the way!”

               “Because this portal can serve a second purpose, and it’s well worth breaking the chain reaction. Are you ready, girl? Are you ready to see the Creature Born of the Chain Reaction?” the monk asked.

               Elena nodded excitedly and answered, “Of course I am! And you can call me Elena. Elena Estrada!”

               But in that moment, the Phantom of Lost Sandcastles cast a spell which conjured a second creature in the heart of the portal point. Elena nearly stumbled on her cane when she saw an ethereal creature emerge from the portal and then move slowly across the battlefield. Another tremor coursed through her because she had never seen one sorcerer manifest another. The only thing that came close was when she watched Adder Neonia materialize a monolith from thin air, and then he had used that same sorcerer to defeat Romulo.

               Elena nervously watched the Creature race through the opening in the ice wall; it then struck her Underwater Illusionist with an alchemic burst. She expected this attack to end her fragile sorcerer, when the plasma faded, she saw her sorcerer still clinging to life at the edge of the ice pillar. As she gazed across the battlefield, she saw a white monolith sitting by her opponent’s foot. It looked almost exactly like the one Adder had materialized in the fight she watched.

               “The monk from your story, this… Aniya, was she the one who invented these white-monolith sorcerers?” Elena asked as temerity seeped through her voice.

               “Can I safely assume that you’ve seen a colorless monolith before?”

               Elena nodded slowly and answered, “Twice before. Twice in the same battle. When the enemy leader killed my only friend. He glowed with some energy and then… made the monolith from thin air. A white monolith. Then he used it to manifest sorcerers just like your Creature.”

               Though this admission caught Altair’s attention, the monk stayed stoic and said, “It’s unfortunate that that was your first exposure. It is rare to find a spell which can conjure the colorless, but they do exist. You’ll come to accept this time, but there’s no logic in detesting a sorcerer just because of the way someone else used it.”

               “I don’t know if I can agree with that,” Elena muttered.

               Unwilling to further the conversation, Elena drew a card and glanced over the battlefield. Her Underwater Illusionist was clinging to life, and she knew she could not move him; his curse would burn through the last of his life if she did. Instead, she compelled her sorcerer to strike with all its strength. The Underwater Illusionist crashed its spear into the ravenous Creature, but it was not enough to overcome the creature. Without wasting another moment, Elena hobbled one leg and struck her green monolith with her case, forcing it to reverberate. And once she stabilized herself again, she tossed her green monolith onto the ground and let it erupt with a spiral of green light.

               As soon as the Dancing Wind Priestess materialized inside the vortex of light, Elena compelled it to race sideways across her reason. Her sorceress then struck the Creature Born of the Chain Reaction with a gust of enchanted air. And though the attack was weak, it dealt enough damage to overcome the enemy. Elena watched as the Creature shattered, but she was not done yet. She then advanced her sorceress to stand in the same spot as the fallen foe. The Dancing Wind Priestess enchanted itself with a cyclonic gust which would protect her from outside attack.

               When the monk drew his next card, he realized the conundrum. He could not attack the Priestess, but he also could not reach the Underwater Illusionist – not with the pillars of ice in the way. For that reason, he compelled his Phantom to shatter an ice pillar and then retreat.

               “If you plan to grow your skills as a conjurer, then you can’t blame a weapon for the way that it is used. I don’t just mean the colorless sorcerers; I mean sorcerers as a whole. Don’t forget that they were used to ravage this world long ago. Old texts speak of a time when we had luxuries and technology beyond anything we could imagine, but when conjurers learned to manifest, those luxurious lives ended in fire. Just by using these sorcerers to do battle, we wield the weapon once used to break the world. We follow in the bloody footsteps of monsters. At the end of the day, you cannot blame a spell or a sorcerer. You can only blame the man who chose to inflict harm,” explained the monk.

               After taking a deep breath, Elena nodded and said, “I know you’re right. Of course you’re right. I’m still wounded, but… you’re right. It’s the fault of those who inflict harm. And those who cannot protect the ones they love.”

               The monk nodded in agreement with a small smile, but then he removed another monolith from his robe. He struck it with a miniature hammer, forced it to vibrate, and then set it on the ground with a burst of green energy. Altair and Elena watched an entity ascend from the green glow, but it was a high-speed sorcerer with whom they were both familiar. The monk manifested his own Quicksand Carrier, and then he passed it a pair of cards. Elena smiled widely when she saw its familiar face, even as it raced across the battlefield with a frightening speed.

               “In the name of protection, I will borrow from your strategy. Quicksand Carrier! Unleash your Chain Reaction: Earth! Use your magic to complete the wall,” commanded the monk.

               Elena watched with intrigue as the Quicksand Carrier cast a spell which caused a spire of rock to emerge from the ground; it then materialized another Chain Reaction card in its hand. The rock spire looked much frailer than the remaining ice pillars, but it still served to block a portion of the battlefield. By standing in line with the fragile defenses, Quicksand Carrier effectively made a wall across the room. It then unleashed a fearsome strike on the Underwater Illusionist, causing it to collapse and shatter in the next moment.

               The monk ended his turn, but Elena could barely draw another card because of her nervousness. When she drew her card and glanced upon it, she took a deep breath and reached for her violet monolith. She considered her options, but when she remembered fighting a Rampager a short time ago, she quickly determined the easiest solution. She smiled brightly, banged her violet monolith, and then tossed it onto the ground with an eruption of violet light.

               “Come on out, Princess of Swirling Cinders! I think I know the perfect card for you; you can turn it all around,” Elena cheered as her sorceress raced across the battleground.

               By Elena’s command, the Princess of Swirling Cinders materialized a spell card in her hand as she ran right up to the Quicksand Carrier. But instead of casting the spell she searched, Elena commanded her to pass the card to the Dancing Wind Priestess. In the next moment, the Princess struck Quicksand Carrier with a scourge of searing sparks. Elena then smiled and compelled her Dancing Wind Priestess to cast the spell at the center of her plan.

               “Priestess, take them all down! Dance of the Fiery Gust!” yelled Elena.

               As her protective cyclone ignited with scarlet flames, Dancing Wind Priestess struck the rock spire and reduced it to gravel. She then flung herself forward, struck the Quicksand Carrier with a fiery whirlwind, and then advanced a short distance into the center of the battlefield. She unleashed the same attack on the Phantom of Lost Sandcastles, but it could not withstand the strike. When the Phantom shattered, Elena compelled her sorceress to return to her vicinity. The Princess of Swirling Cinders also took a backward step, and Elena gave her a single card of protection.

               But to her surprise, the monk did not retreat. Instead, he compelled his sorcerer to advance and then make a turn before casting another spell. Elena recognized the spell as another Chain Reaction: Portal Formation, and it spawned a second portal deep into her territory.

               And while Elena felt another wave of anxiety course through her at the sight of the portal, she also noticed a new card materialize in the Quicksand Carrier’s hand. Even the monk seemed delighted with himself as he compelled this sorcerer to cast his newest spell.

               “It may break the chain reaction, but I need you to see one of the most powerful spells Aniya invented. Are you ready? Quicksand Carrier, cast your Product of the Chain Reaction,” said the monk.

               Elena watched in horror as the newest spell enchanted the Quicksand Carrier, but it did more than just this; the latent magic of five scrolls poured into the Quicksand Carrier. She could tell that every Chain Reaction spell strengthened the enemy sorcerer, and then it marched toward her green monolith. The monk commanded his Quicksand Carrier to unleash a full-force strike, but Elena desperately intervened.

               Elena yelled, “Princess, do it now! Cast Counterattack of Fire!”

               And though this attack would ordinarily punish the Quicksand Carrier by using its own attack against it, the monk shook his head and said, “I’m afraid not. Quicksand Carrier! Lock that spell down; use Subterranean Chains!”

Not only did this newest spell cause Princess’ magic to fizzle; chains ascended from the ground and locked her arms behind her back. At the same time, nothing could stop the attack of the Quicksand Carrier; it struck the green monolith with enough force to shatter the connection. Dancing Wind Priestess locked eyes with Elena before she faded away, causing another nervous tremor to course through Elena.

“No wonder you guys don’t bother to teach anyone else. You’re brutally powerful. I… didn’t know someone could be this good,” Elena whispered.

But the monk simply shook his head and answered, “My turn isn’t over; I didn’t set up those portals for no reason. They give me direct access to your vulnerable back region, and it wouldn’t be fair if I started going easy on you now.”

(To be continued)