The Blade of Wind clashes with the Serpent of Thunder

"Klei," a voice called as the little orc boy cleaning some blades turned to it.

"Yes, father?" The boy responded. The creator of the voice was a middle-aged orc, with scars all over his body and head. His face grimaced as he tightened his fists.

"The commander has assigned me to be on the front lines tomorrow." Instantly dread came over the boy's face.

"B-but that's too dangerous, you'll d-die, just like brot-" But before the boy could continue, his father reached out for him, grabbing his shoulders.

"Klei…" he exclaimed, his voice full of emotion, as tears started to fall from his face, "If I do not return tomorrow, please, live on, keep our name alive, even if you are the last of the Ja clan."

Those words still resonate with Ja'Klei, even as years have passed. The last Ja, a title he gave to himself to constantly remind himself to keep pushing on, to keep living. But even with that desire and the weight of the entire clan name on his shoulders, Ja'Klei was willing to throw it away, to the man he deemed worthy enough to serve.

So as Ja'Klei, and his rival, the Zanian swordsman squared off to battle, he prepared himself, "Before we begin," Ja'Klei remarked, "Could I ask you, what is your name, and why do you fight?"

The question threw Bok off guard, but seeing how Ja'Klei wasn't planning to suddenly attack, he replied, "I am Bok, and I have no memory of my life up until a few months ago, and I fight to find out who I truly am." A stunned expression came over Ja'Klei's face, but he quickly shelved it.

"So why fight for Zan?" He asked, as Bok himself hesitated.

But as he looked upon the last few months, he got his answer. Unsheathing his blade, Bok replied, "I was a leaf, floating with the wind. It might have been a coincidence or fate, but the first one to ever catch me, was Zan."

Initially, Ja'Klei got a bit angered, but as he looked into his life a bit more, he realized he was just like Bok, once a floating leaf, that found itself a tree to stick to.

"I understand," he remarked, as mana surged around his staff, "Now then, let us finish this." The air howled as Bok went straight towards Ja'Klei. The rain began to fall as Ja'Klei quickly dodged away.

"Fire Serpent," the orc cast, using a bit more mana than usual, creating an imposing serpent. As it came crashing down on Bok, its strength took the swordsman back a few feet.

But as he Coated and Channeled his blade, he redirected the serpent. But when the serpent passed and Bok turned to Ja'Klei, his vision was then covered by a swarm of fire sparks. Ja'Klei grinned as his plan worked.

The Hundred Fireflies all surrounded Bok, but before they could touch his body, Bok swung his blade around him.

"ENVELOPING GALE!!" Wind protected him, as his mana clashed with Ja'Klei's. But when he had thought he was fine, Bok's Perception detected a cluster of mana up above him. Bok stopped casting Enveloping Gale as he gathered mana unto his sword and looked above him.

There, a bolt of thunder was about to descend. But due to Bok's preparation, he knew he wouldn't be hit, for he fired a concentrated Rend towards the bolt. But as the two mana clusters met, the thunderbolt suddenly disappeared.

"Fell for it," Ja'Klei taunted, now only a few feet away from Bok, his staff pointed at the swordsman, "FULCRUM!!" He cast, sending the wave of flames toward the swordsman. Bok thought he was safe, but as he was about to guard with Aegis, his body was bitten as fire surged into his body.

The Flame Serpent from earlier had redirected his arm just in the nick of time, to where only Bok's Channeling protected him. Still, the damage was high as Bok was forced to dash away, a Rend strike finally killing the Fire Serpent.

But as Bok was recovering, Ja'Klei grinned, reaching out his hand, "SHO-" But before he could say anything more, his Perception made his mana surge with danger. In the nick of time, the orc mage cast Aegis, stopping a Rend slash to cut him.

But as Ja'Klei stepped into position, Bok drove all his power onto his front leg, and with one strong stomp, he came barreling toward the orc. Ja'Klei didn't even have the time to register as Bok's blade descended upon him. A swing caused a deep wound to form on his chest, his body's natural Channeling saving him from dying.

But as Bok was about to swing again, Ja'Klei caught him first, putting his hand on Bok's face, "Blast." The shot was unexpected, yet Bok still managed to fully channel in time, but with the same hand, it surged with thunder, "CRACKING BOLT!!" Ja'Klei moved his hand just a bit, stabbing Bok's stomach instead.

Due to Bok's armor, the spell was somewhat mitigated, but it was still powerful enough to send the swordsman a few feet away, far enough, for Ja'Klei's staff.

The orc grinned as he pointed his staff towards the swordsman, "FUL-" But before he could even cast, Bok swung his blade again, to move the direction of the staff. But as he swung at it, the figure dissolved.

It had been an illusion, instead of pointing the staff towards Bok, Ja'Klei was about to swing it like a greatsword. This all happened in under a second, so Bok was still in the middle of his attack, so he knew he couldn't dodge the upcoming shot.

Ja'Klei's staff burned with a bright flame as he swung it, "FLAME SHOT!!" The strike was the most powerful Flame Shot Bok had ever seen, even stronger than Dyrin's. But as a staff was coming towards him, Bok remembered something Artefus had told him.

"Bok, you are about to fight their side's strongest Yutro user, but before you go, let me tell you this. As a Kutha user fighting a Yutro user, your mana presence will most of the time, be less than your opponents, because of their wider-reaching spells. But that doesn't mean you will be controlled by them, for what you lack in expanded mana, you make up for it with your more dense mana attacks. Your battle will be a battle of control, either Ja'Klei overwhelms you with pressure, attacking you from all angles and making you answer to him, or, you take the initiative, moving like an unstoppable object, creeping into your opponent until they fall. But for you to do that, you need to win your mana battles, let them consume more, while you counter with less."

So as the Flame Shot came towards Bok, he Channeled enough mana onto his blade, as he lifted it. The blade met the staff of fire, its mana barely enough to keep the steel strong, but instead of clashing, Bok's blade guided the staff above his head, as the mana of the Flame Shot dispersed away from him.

Ja'Klei's eyes widened in shock, but there was no time to hesitate as Bok swung his blade two times, casting two Rend shots toward Ja'Klei. The orc dodged both as he saw Bok coming in.

"Persistent one aren't you?" Ja'Klei remarked, as he pointed his staff towards Bok, "HUROM!!" A powerful bolt of thunder came from the staff, as Bok's blade rose in order to block it. But as Bok put a bit of mana into his blade, Ja'Klei immediately surged more mana into Hurom.

As Ja'Klei's Hurom and Bok's blade met, Ja'Klei had condensed all his mana in order to overpower Bok. So as the thunder came upon Bok's blade, the swordsman could not overpower it. But as he shifted his blade in order to redirect it, Ja'Klei one-handed his staff, as he used his other hand.

"FIRE PILLAR!!" He cast, and though Bok was successful in blocking the now weaker Hurom, the fire below him surged, hitting him in an exposed area. Ja'Klei grinned, "YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING BOK!!?" Ja'Klei taunted, yet Bok was not dismayed, "KUTHA AGAINST YUTRO!! A TALE AS OLD AS TIME FROM WHEN ELIOS BATTLED TEMUS!!"

Indeed a story as old as time, when the Bright Dawn Elios, Father of all who breathes, battled his older brother, Temus, Creator of magic. It was a battle of epic proportions, for Elios' unrivaled Kutha challenged the unrivaled Yutro of Temus, their battle created the present-day five continents. It was a tale even Bok, who knew very little, knew.

"And tell me?" Bok replied, his voice sounding confident, "Who ended up winning that battle?" Ja'Klei's smile disappeared at Bok's confident reply. Bok took a deep breath, as he prepared his blade again.

And two fought a long battle, lasting twenty minutes. Ja'Klei's spell selection, mana control, and casting speed, made Bok fight for his life, as if he were in a tornado of flames and thunder. It almost seemed impossible in Bok's mind for someone to be stronger than Ja'Klei in Yutro.

But in contrast, the orc battled with fear and disbelief, spell after spell he threw at the swordsman, yet he kept on going. Bok's swordsmanship was the best Ja'Klei had ever seen during his years as a warrior, making him wonder more about what kind of monster Bok was before forgetting all his memories.

In contrast to the other fights, because of Bok and Ja'Klei's mana control, they had preserved their mana pools greatly. But Ja'Klei, who had more mana than Bok starting out, knew they were now equal, "If the fight continues this way, I'll run out sooner than him."

But this was the exact thought Bok wanted to implant in Ja'Klei's mind, and as he felt his mana start to surge with danger, he knew it was time.

Serpents of fire and thunder surrounded Ja'Klei, his staff carrying an obscene amount of mana. Ja'Klei's final push, Bok's plan, to make Ja'Klei start to panic because of his mana levels, so that he would become desperate. But this was step one, step two, was to endure, "Let's end this swordsman."

The rain around the battlefield was suddenly halted, as a rush of wind came toward Bok, Ja'Klei spamming the spell Zacada over and over again. Bok was being overwhelmed, his defense was tight, but not tight enough to dodge and block everything. Then with his hand, Ja'Klei cast A Hundred Fireflies, all while pointing his staff at Bok.

As he finished, he put his hand on the staff again, and with an obscene amount of mana, he cast, with his hands and eyes cracking, "FINAL!! FULCRUM!!" A massive surge of flames, the size of a small mountain came out from the staff, as Ja'Klei commanded his serpent spells to come down upon Bok.

The swordsman was being hit left and right, one hand casting an Aegis to protect himself from being burnt, the other cutting and slicing at the fire sparks coming after him. But as he picked up a bunch of big mana clusters coming towards him. Bok gritted his teeth as he held his blade with two hands.

Bok took the full force of Final Fulcrum and half of the Hundred Fireflies, yet he didn't waver, his blade swirling with a ranging whirlwind, "RAGING TEMPEST!!" Bok swung his blade, sending a force of ripping wind, cutting apart Ja'Klei's fire and lightning serpents while also disintegrating his Fulcrum.

Ja'Klei saw the rushing winds coming at him, but he gritted his teeth as he knew he wouldn't die. But the wind was so strong it produced hundreds of cuts on his body, "GAH!!" He exclaimed in pain, for his left eye was cut, yet what was important was his hands, though missing some fingers, were still usable, "HUROM!!" He cast.

At the same time, Bok swung his blade two times toward Ja'Klei, "SPLITTING GALE!!" Firing two wind projectiles as he moved in. As Bok was about to be hit by the Hurom, he gritted his teeth more as he dove into it. The lightning burst inside his body, causing blood to explode out from it, "AHHH!!" He yelled as it felt like hell.

But as he made it towards Ja'Klei's position, he straightened his blade, intending to pierce the stomach. But Ja'Klei saw it, lifting his arms; but before he could do anything, the two Splitting Gales hit his two shoulders, stunning his arms just a bit for Bok to drive his blade into the orc's stomach, and with a swing, sliced out the side.

Somehow Ja'Klei kept his consciousness even as he was practically cut in half, he tried to aim his hands towards Bok, but the swordsman cut both of his arms off, and in a position to pierce, drove the blade onto the orc's chest.

Ja'Klei fell to his knees, bleeding from everywhere, his eyes emotional, for he had failed Dyrin, with the nubs he once called arms, he tried to reach for the sky, as the coldness of death came in.

During the battle of Ja'Klei and Bok, the swordsman Bok had won.