Solspire

Down in the bowels of the Coliseum, far from the Queen’s luxury, the air was thick with tension.

Dozens of contestants stood in the prep area. Some stretched, some meditated, others sharpened weapons. The tournament was unique; it was not limited to mages. Anyone who passed the initial trials, overseen by Chernobog himself to weed out the weak, could enter.

Silver stood in the corner, leaning against a wall, cleaning his fingernails with a dagger. He looked bored, but his eyes were darting everywhere, mapping exits, assessing threats.

Next to him stood Vanessa. She looked pale. The "Prime Suspect" label Arachna had placed on her felt like a target painted on her back. She kept glancing at the door, expecting the Royal Guard to burst in and arrest her.

"Breathe," Silver whispered without looking at her. "You look guilty."

"I'm terrified," she hissed back. "Do you see who is out there? The Queen."

"She's just a woman with a fancy chair. The Japanese royalty have always been like that, ever since they invaded Darkspire decades ago." Silver lied. "Focus on the fight. Focus on survival."

Across the room, Noah sat on a bench, staring at his hands.

He looked… hollow.

Since waking up in Ezekiel’s office, he felt a strange numbness. He knew he was sad. He knew he had lost something important. But whenever he tried to reach for the face of the girl he loved, his mind hit a wall of static.

Why does my chest hurt? Noah thought, rubbing his sternum. Why do I feel like I've forgotten how to breathe?

Kami stood near him, silent as a statue. He placed a hand on Noah’s shoulder.

"Are you ready, Noah?"

Noah looked up. His crimson eyes were dull, but a spark of the old rage, the rage of the "Spare Heir", flickered there.

"I don't know," Noah whispered. "But I have to win. If I win... maybe I'll remember what I lost."

The trumpets of declaration flared in the academy’s grounds. Announcing the decree that every single citizen had been anticipating since the beginning of year. Today would decide who among the young blood would take the next step, to be their shield and sword in this world of the mystical and unknown.

Would the new figure of authority bring about good in the system, enabling the poor and weak? Or would it crawl on its knees to pledge its dignity to the crown yet again, just like Musashi had done ten years ago. Formerly Lazarus, a citizen of Darkspire, the 33rd degree mage had given up his identity to become one with the Japanese, putting on the blindfold of luxury.

There was a palpable pause in the breathing of the audience when the giant gate of the Colosseum opened, the symbol of a giant sun soaring high above its peak, symbolising the control of the Japanese on the land, the arm of authority drawn even over the grounds of Sol Academy. The chains reversed, pulling up the giant enchanted wooden gate.

The colosseum was divided into three circles.

The lower level was occupied by the commoners, closest to the field, the mud, so to speak, and closest to the accidental attacks towards them. The head mage however was a kind man, having laid out protective barriers on each division to avoid any such accidents. Akiko and Kenji could be seen scampering among the crowd, looking for the best seats in the house to enjoy the show. While they were Japanese by birth, they were far detached from the wealth of the nobles.

“I can’t wait to see Silver in action!” Akiko fangirled, memories of him dragging Renji’s battered body to the village fresh in her mind.

The middle ring consisted of the nobility. With their opulence, luxury and money, they were provided with befitting hospitality. And then finally, the upper ring, the VIP box, consisted of the church, the headmage and the queen.

As the audience took their seats, the 31st and 32nd degrees patrolled the area for the protection of the people, while the 33rd degrees stood guard near their masters.

The Colosseum was the embodiment of the sun, beautifully embodying its name: The Auredrasil. An arena harbouring a rich history, it was built underneath the largest tree of the Darkspire kingdom, on the roots of Solspire!

The Colosseum was the possession of the Valentinos for centuries, claimed by the Japanese after conquering the Kingdom in order to draw mana from its magical roots. The history books say this tree was the mother of this once barren land, where people starved and died in its absence. There was no life to be found before its birth, a time when the founder of Valentino family prayed to the sun God to spare the land from being burned, until the sun God showed pity, sprouting in the form of a miracle, a giant tree emerging from the barren soil over night, spreading life across the plains and sparing the inhabitants from death and starvation. This one incident singlehandedly transformed the Darkspire kingdom into one which was rich in wealth, magic and life, drawing the gaze of the Japanese who marched in to claim it as their own.

This tree came to be known as the Solspire tree. Unlike other trees, it had spiral veins with gold blood, leaves sparkling with translucence and the roots that shine in the midnight with bioluminescence.

As the Darkspire kingdom progressed through generations, the Valentinos built the Auredrasil under the Solspire tree, in respect of it and in hopes for future generations to be blessed by it, which is why magic ran rampant through Darkspire. Much like the Solspire tree, the Auredrasil was built by the bricks of pure darkness, obsidian, scribed with golden spiraling veins on the walls.

“Are you ready!?” The golden eyed man echoed, his voice brimming with excitement. The crowd roared back in solidarity, commoners and nobles alike as the contestants began to make their way to the stage.

The golden-eyed man raised a gloved hand, silencing the masses with a theatrical flair. "Then let us waste no time with pleasantries! Tradition demands we separate the chaff from the wheat before the true contest begins. The First Round is a Grand Melee, a battle royale where every combatant stands alone against the tide! There are no brackets, no turns, and certainly no mercy. You will fight simultaneously until the herd is thinned and only the strongest sixteen warriors remain standing. Magic, steel, or fist, use whatever you must to survive the storm! But be careful! If you are knocked out of bounds, you will immediately be eliminated! And now, let’s welcome the contestants!"

The massive iron portcullis groaned upward, and the floodgates of war were opened. A chaotic sea of combatants spilled onto the obsidian floor, a stark contrast of styles and disciplines clashing even before the first blow was struck. There were hulking juggernauts encased in plate mail, their greatswords dragging sparks against the black stone, marching alongside robed mystics whose fingertips already crackled with volatile elemental energy. Lean assassins with daggers hidden in their sleeves stared down monk-like brawlers who brought nothing but calloused fists and disciplined breathing. From the graceful to the grotesque, the magical to the martial, they fanned out beneath the shimmering roots of the Solspire, a hundred different stories all ending in the same desperate desire for glory.

Then came the students of Sol Academy, excited to take on the opportunity to ascend to greater heights. The first student came, a flip of her high-ponytail behind her hair. Boasting with firmness and confidence, she looked up at the crowd. Her heart thumped against her ribcage. Aureli did not introduce any of the others, but derived special enjoyment in introducing the academy’s own as he roared with pride!

“Rain Sol! The aspiring specialist in magic weaponry and the granddaughter of our very own headmage!”

The crowd cheered for the oldest of the class with a majority of the cheers echoing from the commoners section. Rain gave a pleased smile, meeting her eyes in the crowd with her biggest supporter, her mentor, Silver. She was a maiden with a beauty unlike any other, charismatic and powerful, something the people of this country acknowledged.

Then came the second student, a hand over his mouth, he yawned audibly loud.

“This is so unnecessary…” he mumbled, his unusual charms causing the crowd to hoot in unison,

“And there comes Azrael Noor of the Noor family, the sole heir to the biggest mana mines of this country and a master in illusion and hypnosis magic!” Aureli excited the crowd as Noor ran a lazy hand over his dark hair, mixing up the few grey strands. However, his lackadaisical arrival was immediately shown up by the crowd’s favourite brunette, who arrived on the scene with a front flip, exciting the masses with her acrobatics.

“Runa Reliquor! A devotee from church, well wisher of the common people and a member at noble counsel from a very young age! She is the only person in our kingdom with full control over gravity magic and a great affinity for cosmic magic!” The people hooted for the idol-like-petite girl as she bounced around waving, finding her instructor Lilith in the barracks waving back at her with a smile. Runa blew happy flying kisses at the crowd, causing many to faint with a “happy coma.”

Then, with a gentle smile and a small wave towards the crowd, came the ginger haired young man, his freckles shining brighter under the sun, perhaps the only boy in the Darkspire kingdom that made freckles a mark of beauty.

“Kami Kanzaki, the only commoner blood that has made it this far in the academy! A part of the noble strategist team from an early age and a specialist of invocation magic, the boy is a prodigy!”

Kami’s eyes took in the crowd, feeling accomplished despite the void in his heart as a woman with a hood on her head stared at him with a smile. It was Vanessa and he could feel her warmth, causing his smile to deepen.

“Now I may be biased here because the next student is someone I'm mentoring but she is truly a talent like I have never seen before! Summer Ravencrest, the next in line to be the countess and a master of the rarest type of sigil magic!” Her platinum hair shone like a star in the bright sky, a deep blush over her features after hearing the praise her instructor had ringed out loud for the crowd, akin to a father embarrassing his daughter in front of the whole school. The people found it wholesome while Summer wanted to hide but waved anyway, avoiding the flying kisses blown over from her father-like instructor.

“And finally! The underdog of the Arknight family! Though from the families of knights, Noah Arknight shows great potential as a mage. With high affinity molding magic, Noah here can master and make any weapon!” Noah's crimson pupils stayed dull, the sun reminded him of something missing, something he didn't know. He should have been happy, full of vigor to be here finally. To show everyone that he was meant to be someone important, someone who had value. To prove his family- no, prove everyone wrong! To be a man like his teacher! A man worthy of respect! But.. something was not here.. something that always drove him to do his best.

Yet the roaring of the crowd didn't stop. Everyone cheered as the trumpet honked once again causing coloured smoke to boom into the air, signalling the entrance of Sol academy’s finest who arrived in illustrious fashion. However, they were to be overshadowed by the arrival of the Japanese students, fresh out of the Dojo, lest the Queen be displeased. Aureli knew this, preparing himself to give the Japanese a similar warm welcome.

“These are our very own shining suns from Darkspire! Now introducing the students of Dojo- Ryōzan!”