Between Spirit-realm and The Great War

Spirits, they can dwell within us, and lend us their strength. Only four types of spirits are recognized—Fire, Wind, Water and Earth. Each embodying one fundamental force that governs the nature.
Yet, one cannot use spirit-arts just by possessing it. The user and the spirit must share a trustworthy bond—a connection forged not by force but clear mind. One can meet their spirit within the depth of their subconscious, known as spirit-zone.
Though, not everyone can walk on the same destined path. Spirits are not something one can buy in the market or steal from others. The one and only way to receive such a boon: be granted by one of the spirit guardians.
Even so, the limits imposed by the nature are absolute. Even if one is worthy enough, it is impossible to inhabit more than one spirit. Spirits, though potent, are not beings of higher intellect. They are primal forces, they fight with each other and become uncontrollable, if they are put in one single vessel.

But the story wasn't always like this. Our world, Elarothen, didn't have their spirit guardians until The Great War against the demons nearly five hundred years ago.

The demons are not from our world, they descended into our world, bringing destruction with them. Once they arrived, they declared war against us. They laid waste to village after village, town after town. No one was able to defend their lands. The power of the demons was unworldly.

The chiefs of the four races—Feron McLain of human, Dwargon Gillard of dwarf, Eleaser Oakenheel of elf and Pholomin Lenard of beast-kin gathered the survivors in the Sacred Plateau.

They prayed to the gods for salvation. And the gods answered.

The gates to the spirit realm opened, and the spirit guardians emerged.

The four representatives of the four races got their spirits from them.
Feron received Sirena, the water spirit. Dwargon was gifted Magnus, the fire spirit. Eleaser called upon Zephyr, the wind spirit. And Pholomin was granted Terris, the earth spirit. The most powerful spirits granted to the mortals which could be passed on to the successors.

Some other worthy survivors also got spirits.

When the demons attacked the Sacred Plateau, they used their new strengths to defend themselves. For the first time in our history all four races formed an alliance and fought back. After a devastative war known as—The Great War, they were able to protect themselves from extinction.

The Great War ended.

But the demons weren't lost. Even with the powers of the spirits and the support from the guardians, they could not defeat the demons completely.

One could say that the demons just retreated for that time. But it is not clear till this very day, why they didn't attack us again in this long interval of these years. Though, they established their rule within their claimed territory, a vast land once belonging to us.

With fewer land, and depleted resources and of course less population, the leaders of the four races decided to split the remaining lands and rule their own lands. Peace was formed.

***

In the years that followed, the hatred between races began to fade. Travel between countries became possible.

And to symbolize the end of racism, the humans established the McLain Spirit Arts Academy, in the human kingdom, Veloria. Where race doesn't matter.

The first spirit guardian of the spirit realm, Dryope became the supervisor of the academy. The greatest part of this academy, besides independence of race, is the spirit granting ceremony held every year. Those who were to pass the admission test would be granted a spirit by Dryope as a crest of their determination and hard-work.

Those who already had spirits, were examined via different series of trials.

The academy is divided into two sections:

Combat Section – Focused on swordsmanship, combat-skills and direct spirit use.
Technical Section – Based on strategy, research and usage of spirits for advancing technology.

The required age is twelve or higher, to take the admission system and the course lasts five years.

My brother, Pholomin V Lenard, passed the tests easily and got admission to the combat section, when he turned twelve. He said that his fellow classmates are all pretty talented and the teachers are amazingly strong.

I really hope to go see for myself soon.

***

I, Basalin Lenard, became the second heir to the throne of Beaster when I was a year old. In my first year, I received the sword Hellframe and claimed the fire spirit Vulcan from Lady Temina, our forest guardian.

In the other hand, brother received the heirloom Amberocule and inherited the earth spirit Terris from uncle, King Pholomin IV Lenard.

My brother was always five steps ahead of me. Maybe even more. He started his training with sword at the age of three.

Meanwhile, I couldn’t even walk properly until after my second birthday. When I finally picked up a sword at the age of four, I could barely keep up my balance with the footwork of wielding sword. I was always behind my age.

Brother was natural—a prodigy with both the sword and spirit arts.

Whenever we sparred, I always ended up getting beat. I could never even hope to win. Not only did he had more experience than me, he also had control over Terris.
Unlike him, I could not even summon Vulcan, let alone using fire spirit arts. I never reached my subconscious to meet Vulcan, no matter how much I concentrated. It's like... Vulcan left me after that accident.

Despite my failure to even call myself an heir, my brother never once looked down on me, he is the one who always cheered me up.

I still remember that day vividly—

***

After a lot of desperate tries that day, when I could not even land a single hit...
…I felt like I had lost long before I could even get started.

"Basil," Brother's hand rested on my shoulder, his gaze steady and unwavering. "It doesn’t matter who becomes king. Power, legacy... those things don’t define us."

He smiled faintly, the warmth in his eyes cutting through the chill of my self-doubt. "I'll always have your back. We’re brothers before anything else. And that will never change."

His words struck deeper than any sword. The weight of them settled in my chest, steadying the storm that had been raging inside me for so long.
His words were the reason I kept on honing my skills.
His belief in me made me not give up.

***

I think that's why I have managed to keep up till now.

Clang!
Our swords clashed.

We both jumped back to a distance only to lunge again at each other.
Blades singing through the air, swish!

My opponent—Lumier, a wolf-kin—was strong.

But for the first time, I felt like my hard work was finally paying off. I was winning!

The reputation of the royal family was at stake, I couldn’t afford to lose.

Just as I closed in to deliver the final blow...
…a sudden pressure filled in the air leaving everyone shocked.