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BLACK LEAVES FLEETING

Kapitel 1: Chapter 1

A severed hand lay before Maxwell, blood warm to the touch. His eyes desperately searched the scorched earth. Vague shadows fell into view. Heavy breaths stole the air laced with anger and helplessness thundering to his ears. 'My arm!' He barely grasped the thought amidst the swirls of thoughts rampant . Sweat rippled across his face against the biting cold. " Is this retribution?" He asked. His head a mountain resting on an ice floe. His blood gushed joining the streams of dried blood. The hand of fate had shown its back side. And somehow this had happened to him.

'Not the time.' A subconscious thought echoed in his mind. 'Yes, now is not the time for such thoughts.' He had to figure out a way to survive. He grimaced at the pain in his left shoulder, the upper arm bone was cut in half. The humerus split. Blood dyed the sky blue military uniform as his eyes caught no bone in sight only fragments. "Haaa" With heavy breaths he sat down. Puddles of murky water splashed about, murky with tears and blood. Before him lay the body of the enemy soldier with an ice lance imbedded in his chest, his face nonchalant about death. "At least he can cut cleanly." Maxwell muttered.

Maxwell's POV

'Fantasy. That accursed word. I hate that word. This world is neither heaven nor hell, it's worse. No feelings, no pride, and no life. Only dead eyes gazed back at you . Logic left years ago, he ran. Rights, haven't seen him since planet Earth.'

A shout brought me out of my stupor.

"Maxwell, GET THE HELL UP!" roared Ralph. Why? why! WHY?!! My eyes felt heavy, the sensation of rough line cloth gnawing at me.

"Haaa." I took a breath.

Turning to the battled field. The battleground no longer vague fell into view as I tried to stand up. The pain got worse as I thought of myself going six feet under right there. Soldiers brandished their weapons clashing about coved in grime and blood. Ralph's voice louder than the clashing thunder of swords, as he rushed towards me while navigating the damp soil, damp from blood, tears, and muck from men's terror of death. His halberd reaped lives as he ran, corpses sunk underneath as he stepped over. We fought. We fight. No more no less. Ralph came from the orc folk, a species that excelled in combat, his armor barely held in place threatening to collapse. Humans in the Rynberg Empire's army were the most hated species, why? They were the cause of the war.

Though not all humans lay at fault everybody knew that but did they care? Fuck no, they just needed someone to blame and I was that person. We were all summons, called forth by summoning magic from our worlds, our homes, then enslaved and forced to fight in a war that was not our own by the High humans of Mergard. Prime humans they called themselves, the audacity! If it wasn't because of their greed for power none of this would be happening right now.

(AUTHOR NOTE: A summoned creature/person is being translocated from one dimension or solar system to another via magic.)

It was the year 1015 R.R.E (Rynberg Reformation Era) and I have been in this world for 5 years. This world is called Mergard, lungs collapsed at the richness of air. Nature thriving and it originally consisted of two species, humans, and the elves. The elves, yes, mother nature's favorite. Ears adept for reconnaissance and the ability to be dryads had stacked mountains of mergard human corpses.

The mergard humans, they could also wield magic however they could not dominate and conquer the elves. After countless expeditions the humans eventually gave up and coexisted with the elves each isolated in their own domain.

The elves lived in the domain Destria separated by a mountain range and a forest from the human domain Vlaris. The mountain range and the forest beneath it, that spanned 41 075 kilometers was called The Slumbering Highlands, its massive height unknown.

The king of the Arz kingdom discovered summoning magic in a record found in a labyrinth. Labyrinths held records of previous or lost eras yet despite the risk, the idea of having summoned creatures as an army was too much of an allure and then everything went sideways afterwards.

=Present POV =

"Maxwell! You fool. Why are you drawing enemies to you, keep it down!" Ralph raged as he reached Maxwell, huffing afterwards. Ralph rapidly wrapped the wound with a ragged cloth then lifted him up, supporting Maxwell by his shoulder, he brought him back to the barracks of the Rynberg empire's army. Their proximity to the rear eased their retreat.

Silence reigned as they withdrew from the battle.

At the barracks soldiers were rushing forth and back into grey tents. Shadows cast by the setting sun. Getting into the Med Bay tent, littered bodies of soldiers covered the ground overflowing with some outside even. The white robes of the clerics had turned crimson, burnt flesh and broken bones etc.

"My family, say goodbye to my family!" "YOU! STAY AWAY FROM ME!" As you can see madness was here, he came earlier than expected. Soldiers cried their silent hopes and wishes as death made his presence known however for others death was but a mercy of freedom and rest.

"Sit here, I will go get a medic." Ralph said as he rushed off. Maxwell sat besides the other soldiers welcoming the scene before him, his mind wondered off as he began reminiscing about the past, when life was good and not this hell hole.

A few minutes later Ralph returned with a nurse in tow and she proceeded to take care of the wound. Afterwards Maxwell fell asleep in the Med Bay and honestly this was not how he imagined the day going at all.

==The following day==

Maxwell's POV

I woke up to the throbbing pain of my left shoulder, looking around I was still in the Med Bay tent and it was early morning and the sun had risen. The air was pungent with iron as the smell of rot settled in.

My rage had subsided and replaced by acceptance, of how I would die in this unknown land full of unknown beings whom none were family. I am a mage and my role was to support the vanguard with spells so to how I got injured from the backlines..." Let's focus." I muttered.

Worse had befell my fellow earthlings as the result of our comrades neglecting their duties in the hopes that we may die and their anger would be sated somewhat. 'Our comrades' what nonsense, pathetic bastards. They only bullied the weak. Fact was that these suckers did not see us as comrades only objects to relieve their wrath upon. Summoned humans had the highest mortality rate in the army.

"Sir Maxwell." Bringing me out of my engrossed thoughts was a nurse standing next to me, she had dark hair with dark circles under eyes and bangs of disheveled hair radiating a smile of helplessness. Her presence felt drained of life, turning my head towards her she continued, "The captain of squad 316 is calling for you sir."

" Haaa, alright." Wincing at the pain, I stood up wobbly my balance off and walked a bit and stopped to thank her and I continued to the barracks of squad 316. The camp site was like an abandoned graveyard, the atmosphere gloomy without 1 soldier in sight. Standing outside the large grey tent "Maxwell captain, you called for me Sir." I called out. "Come in" a deep voice resounded, walking into the dimly lit tent Maxwell saw seated behind a pile of paperwork the squad captain Warren Bale. A beast man ,3 meters tall the sapphire blue military uniform couldn't conceal his bulging physique. No medals though.

"I heard what happened." Warren said not looking at me directly in the eye. He continued "I called you here to tell you that you should let it go, we are comrades and as such you should be understanding. Am I clear?" "FOR WHAT REASON?!" I screamed frantically in anger. I couldn't help but lose it. "We, no fuck that! I had no part in the war yet I must sit by and watch as my fellow earthlings die of sins not their own. Die for freedoms not their own against their own will. Why?" I couldn't accept it. "We are all enslaved so why, why do we bear the brunt of your anger and not the humans of Mergard. Do you only lay your hands on the weak, is that it?!" I was huffing with cheeks flushed. Warren stared at me in silence not saying a word. "We are done here." He said after a moment. He gestured for me to get out. Thanks to the injuries I received I was also exempt from the front lines for a while. I returned to my tent and sat in meditation.

There were basic elements in existence; earth, wind, fire, water, and the variants that emerged from those basic four being; ice, lighting, plant, metal, light, and darkness elements. A person could only have a talent for two at most, by talent it implied affinity for those elements.

Mages harnessed the power of mana present in this world to bend the laws of existence however they imagined. Though mana quality and quantity as well as understanding of those laws affected the degree to which one could bend those laws. mana defined every existence in mergard.

To use an element, one had to have an affinity for that element. Affinities are ranked on a scale of one to one hundred. My affinities were the basic elements Ice and wind. Though none of that mattered because of the loss of my arm I had to somewhat fix the magic circuits in my body to able to use magic somewhat.

'Quintessence.' Maxwell chanted silently; a holographic display appeared in his mind. Quintessence was a spell which belonged to the unorthodox path of soul magic which quantified a body's characteristics. You could shape your traits to appear however you wanted.

[ Name: Maxwell Beaufort

Age: 36

Rank: Mage apprentice

Mana: 40(weakened)

Mana recovery: 0.1 mana/hour (Magic circuit damaged)

Affinities: Ice (77%), Wind (43%)

Spells: Ice lance, Ice spear, ice shield, ice spike, wind blade, wind barrier.]

Present POV

Looking at his abilities Maxwell could only sigh, his magic recovery was a tenth of his peak and besides a few offensive and defensive spells, there were no support spells.

"Haaa" Maxwell sighed as if to cement that reality and looked at the tent ceiling. His life was bleak, mana circuits were created and laced based on the veins and artery pathways located throughout the body and to store mana and purify it one had to have a complete mana circuit. With his arm amputated there was little/no way to cast magic.

He knew he was going to die as cannon fodder and nothing he could say or do would prevent that. He was a magician so never mind a sword; he had no close combat capabilities.

"Maxwell, I'm coming in." A jubilant voce came from outside the tent, parting the folds, the owner came in. His body shook almost collapsing as he saw Maxwell.

"Hey Max, it's Charles." Charles came in and sat opposite to Maxwell who had his head hung low, facing the ground, a bandage on his left shoulder. Charles clenched his jaw and fists. His eyes reflected harrowing loss and rage, he had seen and unfortunately it seemed like one more of his friends would be led to the guillotine.

"The guys were wondering where you were since we didn't see you after the battle but Ralph told us you were alive and in the med bay tent." Charles said after a sigh. "Max, buddy I know that my sympathy does not amount to much but why don't you sleep for a bit, rest its been tough . The end is near." Charles said, contemplating his last words. He paused for moment hesitant on whether to say more or not but Maxwell interrupted him shouting furiously "THE END?! WHOSE END? FIVE YEARS OF MY LIFE STOLEN! TAKEN! HECK, WHAT DO I DO, THERE IS NOTHING I CAN DO. THAT'S HOW POWERLESS I AM, I CAN'T EVEN TAKE MY OWN LIFE! MY LIFEE!!"

Charles clenched his fists, raising his voice he responded "YOU? WHAT ABOUT ME, I WILL HAVE TO LIVE EVERYDAY KNOWING THAT MY FRIEND DIED YET I WAS POWERLESS TO ANYTHING TILL I DIE. DID THEY NOT TAKE FROM ME AS WELL, FROM ALL OF US?"

"AT LEAST YOU ARE DYING MAXWELL, HOW MANY BATTLES DO I HAVE TO GO THROUGH JUST TO DIE, TO CARRY THE BURDEN OF LIVING LIKE A CAGED ANIMAL, EVERYDAY FIGHTING!! AGAINST MY OWN WILL!!" Face full of fury, Charles locked eyes with Maxwell. Like how he was feeling Maxwell could see in Charles' eyes the anguish and regret of his friend. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he spoke in a lighter tone "I am sorry Charles I did not mean to take it out on you, it's just that I'm terrified and I don't know what to do."

Charles left without a word. Maxwell stared long into the distant skies.