The sun had already vanished behind the mountains in the distance as Narlou sat around a campfire with Ethron, telling stories and laughing about some bad jokes.

After their display at the plains, the Noxians were in high spirits, chattering around fires, exchanging stories and playing all kinds of games. It was as if the last days full of hardship had not even taken place.

Narlou smiled widely as Ethron continued his story about his adventures of his youth. He was able to genuinely relax for the first time in days, and he wanted to hold on to that moment.

"-the guy! I was furious and wanted to-"

The man suddenly stopped and looked around, seeming alert.

Narlou narrowed his eyes, tensing his muscles as he waited for whatever Ethron sensed, but nothing ever came. Confused, Narlou wanted to ask what that had been about, only to swallow his own words as a person suddenly appeared next to them.

"I knew it was you! Long time no see, Katarina."

Narlou tried his hardest to no stare as the light of the fire revealed the person to be a beautiful woman. Her hips swayed with every step as she approached them, eventually coming to a stop besides Ethron.

She was easily one of the hottest people Narlou had ever seen. Smooth red hair shone in the fire's light, long legs moved with purpose and deep green eyes glowed brightly in the darkness, showing confidence and power. Her revealing cloths only contributed to her appeal.

Narlou could immediately tell, this woman was a champion. She had the same aura as Darius, the aura of a person with powers beyond that of a normal human.

While he continued to throw glances at her, Ethron had engaged in a conversation with the red head, showing that they seemed to have some history together. Narlou awkwardly sat next to them, not really knowing what to do while waiting for them to finish for a few minutes, until the champion suddenly turned to him, a smirk on her face.

"Well, aren't you going to introduce me to you hot friend over there?"

Narlou perked up, throwing a smile at the champion, who in turn, licked her lips, letting her eyes roam over the young man's body.

Ethron sighed, rolling his eyes with what the teen assumed to be exasperation. Narlou could already tell that this was not her first time doing this.

"Katarina, this is Narlou, my student. Narlou, this is Katarina, one of Noxus' best assassins and a champion, though I don't think I need to tell you that."

"Hey there big guy." Katarina said, her tone lowering to seductive levels. "If we both survive this, how about I take you to a nice tavern I know?"

Narlou blushed, not knowing how to react, causing Katarina to chuckle lightheartedly.

"Don't tease him too much kata, you know what kind of effect you have on young men." Ethron said, a fatherly tone in his voice.

"You are such a spoilsport sometimes." Katarina pouted.

Narlou didn't say it out loud, but he thought that her pouting face was incredibly cute.

"Oh well, If you are ever looking for some fun, contact me through Ethron. You are seriously sexy, you know that? I gotta go though, prepare some stuff. See ya guys!"

With those words, Katarina walked off, giving Narlou one last seductive smirk over her shoulder.

Narlou watched the assassin go, trying his best to not stare at her shapely ass, while also leaning forward. What Ethron said was indeed very true, Katarina did have quite the effect on him.

"Seriously, this woman is too much sometimes." Ethron said, acting exhausted.

Narlou chuckled, still a bit perplexed about the encounter, but they quickly got back to telling stories and laughing.

As the night went on, more and more people went to bed until the camp was completely silent. Only the random cracks of sticks being stepped on indicated the guards going around the place, making sure that nothing happened to the Noxians.

As the birds sang their quiet songs and the winds gently swayed the trees, a certain truth settled over everyone on the battlefield, both Noxian and Ionian.

This was the last night before the fight, and for many people maybe even the last night of their lives.

It was the day of the battle.

Everyone was prepared and ready, only waiting for Darius' command to descend onto the plains. Some were nervous, some scared and some even excited, but regardless of the emotional state of the people, every individual was ready to sacrifice their lives.

Narlou stood at the front of Darius' unit with Ethron. He had decided to fight with his enhancement magic for today, so Ethron wanted Narlou to be near him in case something happened.

As they stood there and waited, Narlou looked at the quest he had received earlier.

Quest Alert!

The Art of War: (1/?)

Survive the clash with the Ionian Army and contribute something each day.

Day 1: Defeat an expert enemy Enhancement fighter.

Reward: +10 Levels, +1 Rank in Enhancement Magic

…

It was the first time he had received a quest that could span over multiple days with different sub-quests each time, and if the rewards for the first day were already that good, he wondered how good they would become for the days after that. But that of course meant that he had to survive the first one, and Narlou was unsure if he was strong enough to do that.

'I got this!' He thought to himself, trying to get some confidence back.

The last thing he needed was insecurity during a fight.

The young teenager let his eyes fall onto the field they would soon be fighting on. The other side had already been filled with Ionia's army and from his vintage point, he could see the true numbers of enemies. He knew that it was not as big as Noxus' army, but Noxus was known for its strong military. Ionia on the other hand was known for strong individual fighters. He had heard lots of stories about how the Ionians would easily win the war if they had the same numbers, but they didn't, so he was not that worried. Plus, they had Darius as their leader, how could Noxus possibly lose this?

Just as Narlou finished his thought, Darius stepped in front of his army, causing everyone to go silent with anticipation.

A pregnant pause followed, during which Darius looked at his army with judging eyes. Eventually, he seemed satisfied, turning towards the Ionians.

"Descend!"

That was all they needed to start marching onto the plains with Darius at their front. Narlou was sure that it looked very intimidating from the Ionian's perspective, seeing the massive Noxus army approach them. He did indeed not envy them.

Once all the soldiers had reached the plains, Darius stopped, and the army stopped with him.

"Make today's battle be our win! For Noxus!"

With the shouts that followed, Darius charged into the enemy, his axe raised high. Regirou on the other side also started running at the Champion, his sword ready to strike down anyone who crossed his path.

Both armies didn't move, watching as the first attack was being carried out by their strongest fighters. The two figures came closer, and Narlou readied himself. Once their attacks would meet, he would sprint to the front as well, fighting alongside Darius!

Or at least that was his plan.

What he didn't consider was the aftermath of the first attack.

Darius with his axe and Regirou with is sword finally met in the middle of the battlefield, and their weapons clashed.

The earth trembled and dirt was flying everywhere around them. The shockwave that followed forced everyone to shield themselves with magic, while the weaker ones were forced to their knees. Furthermore, a powerful sound accompanied the shockwave, kicking up dust everywhere and causing the winds themselves to howl in pain as it was pushed around by it.

Narlou stared at the two leaders in the middle of the field once the dust settled, their weapons interlocked into a battle of strength.

These two were not human, they were something way above that, something akin to gods.

Narlou found himself kicked out of his staring as both armies started to move, his blood pumping with excitement.

The battle had begone, and he was ready to fight.

Meanwhile, Riven's army had met with Irelia's, with the two leaders battling each other in the middle of the battlegrounds.

Riven's army, just as Darius', was superior in numbers, but that only made it scarier that the armies were in a deadlock, one not pushing the other back.

"You will only win over my dead body, Noxian!" Irelia shouted as she clashed her blades with Riven's sword, creating shockwaves of destruction. There was a reason why no one fought near a the two.

Riven on the other hand took the strike head on, counterattacking with her own huge sword. The runes on it glowed as she shoved the flying blades away, pouncing forward only to be blocked by more blades. She growled angrily, baring her teeth at the enemy commander and fellow champion.

"Fuck you!" Was her only answer.

Irelia took a step back to collect herself, ignoring her enemy's words.

This would be a difficult battle to win.

Back at Darius' army, Narlou quickly caught up with the other enhancement fighters, charging into the enemy alongside them. This time though, Narlou prepared himself to face stronger enemies than the ones he fought at the beach. The people who too fought at the front were likely also the strongest Ionian enhancement fighters, just how he and Ethron were the strongest from Noxus, so he had to be very careful.

His worries proved to be correct as he clashed with his first enemy, their enhanced fists meeting midway. Narlou poured his entire strength into the punch and enhanced it with his magic as best as he could, yet he was being pushed back by the middle-aged man.

"Shit!" Narlou cursed as the other man finally won the battle of strength, causing him to fly back and hit the ground harshly, rolling to a stop a few meters away.

He quickly rolled to the right, barely dodging the fist that would have hit his head and jumped up. It had hurt less than expected, but his pride as a rank 9 enhancement user was damaged.

"Come at me you dumb fuck!" He taunted, trying to make this enemy lose composure, but the man just stared at him, a neutral expression on his face.

It irked Narlou to no end.

"Whatever."

He charged at the man, this time not meeting him head on and instead feinting a punch to the left, only to uppercut the man. He clearly underestimated Narlou, because he did not expect the young-looking teenager to fight smart like that at all.

The force behind the blow made the man fly back a considerable distance, but Narlou did not wait for him to reach the ground, instead sprinting under the falling enemy and delivering a devastating kick to the man's back, sending him flying again.

While his enemy was airborne, Narlou focused on the battles around him, seeing if anyone would attack him from a blind spot. The change of focus from a single enemy to the battlefield around him made Narlou aware of the destruction going on everywhere.

Magicians were throwing powerful spells around, supporters were blocking incoming attacks and healing people while melee fighters were battling everywhere, causing havoc and chaos. And in the middle of it all, not too far away from Narlou himself were Darius and Regirou, clashing weapons with so much power that Narlou had to wonder if they could fight the enemy's army by themselves. Each strike shook the battlefield and shaped the plains anew.

'I wonder if I will ever reach that level of strength.'

Narlou focused back on the enemy enhancement fighter that had already stood up again and was now sprinting at him, blood flowing from his nose and an angry expression on his face.

They continued their back and forth, with neither one getting the upper hand. The man was stronger and definitely more experienced than him, but Narlou was faster and had better battle awareness. They both tried to use their advantage to beat the other, but neither got a deciding hit in.

Wounds accumulated on both of their bodies as the fight went on, and Narlou noticed with shock that he was slowly becoming exhausted. If the fight dragged out any longer, he would not be able to win this battle.

A sudden thought took shape in his head as he dodged a frontal punch by stepping back. He remembered the old magician Charly back in Drugne, who had told him that one could strengthen enhancement magic with Nature magic. He only had pure magic at his disposal, but who said that one couldn't use pure magic with enhancement magic?

"You are starting to get on my nerves boy." The man said, speaking for the first time since their fight started.

At any other point, Narlou would have gotten offended by that, but the excitement he felt after his discovery quickly squashed any anger. Wanting to try it out immediately, Narlou took a step back, summoning his pure mana but not releasing it.

He quickly ended his experiment though, because the man came jumping at him, trying to blast his head away by the look in his eyes.

Narlou backed up again, resuming his experiment, only to stop again as the man barely grazed his thigh with a kick.

"Fuck! Let me concentrate for a second!" Narlou shouted annoyed, but the man didn't answer, instead coming at him again, his fist raised and ready to beat Narlou up.

The next minute continued in the same manner, with Narlou dodging and trying to figure out how to infuse pure mana with enhancement magic and the man attacking him with seemingly unending stamina.

Concern started to fill Narlou as the fight went on. He was getting more and more out of breath, and he still had no clue how to use pure mana with his enhancements. He had of course tried to use his pure magic to gain the upper hand, but the pace of the fight was just too fast for Narlou to effectively utilize it. He would not be able to use it unless he could get a good hit in, but that was becoming more and more difficult as his exhaustion increased.

"Just die already!" The man shouted, coming at him with speed that Narlou was beginning to have trouble keeping up with.

A quick duck caused him to dodge the punch, but he did not have enough time to defend against the incoming kick that immediately followed the first attack.

He went flying as the kick passed his arms and hit him right into his stomach. The damaged teen coughed up blood and tried to stand up again, but another kick hit his side and he fell back down, rolling over the dirty ground like a ball.

There was no part of Narlou's body that didn't hurt. He could not think straight with all the pain clouding his mind, and his limbs refused to move the way he wanted them to.

He felt pathetic. It was his first real fight with another person, and he lost, badly. Why was he even in Darius' unit in the first place? He was weak, way weaker that all the others there. He was just a teenager who had worked in the mines up until a few months ago.

'The mines… This is just like back in the mines." Narlou thought as he continued to lay on the ground, not being able to move his body.

Back then, he would be beaten up to the brink of death for all kinds of things, and after every beating, he would just lay there, not being able to move.

A terrible sadness overcame Narlou. Could he really die like this? He had been gifted this amazing power, had made some good friends and had, for the first time in his life, felt like a person in control of his own destiny. And now he would lose all this and more just because he could not win against a single person that he didn't even know the name of?

'Fuck no!' Narlou shouted in his mind.

He would not just die like this! He would not waste this opportunity that he had been given!

Narlou shouted at himself inside his head, trying his hardest to make his body move, but to no avail. A shadow suddenly appeared over him.

"You were really strong, especially for your age. But your life ends here and now, you filthy Noxian rat."

The man raised his foot, magic swirling around it.

Narlou tried and tried as hard as he could, but his body would just not move. His eyes flickered to the boot that was approaching his head, and his mind stopped.

No, it didn't stop. It went into overdrive. Narlou's finger moved, then his hand, and before he knew it, his entire body was under his control again. His eyes burned with determination as he defiantly stared at the boot that was just centimeters away from his face.

Then, in a last act of panic and survival drive, Narlou pushed out everything he had. Both his enhancement magic and his pure magic clashed as they fought for freedom, but Narlou kept pushing, trying to survive with that last-ditch effort. The two forms of magic molded under the pressure of Narlou's desperation and came out as one huge blast of magic, throwing everything around him away.

The man was long dead by the time he hit the ground again.

"Ugh." Narlou moaned as he finally gained back his consciousness.

He could make out some voices above him, but they were blurry and too quiet for the confused Narlou to understand.

He felt a cool hand placing itself on his forehead, his sleep-clouded mind grateful for the feeling of freshness that it brought him. Why was he so warm in the first place, and why did everything hurt?

Narlou's mind found no answer to those questions, and he instead tried to slowly open his eyes. The light reaching them was uncomfortably bright, but Narlou's curiosity won over the feeling, and he opened them fully.

A few people, around 5, were standing around him, staring at him expectantly. He did not recognize any of them, but they didn't seem to be hostile, so Narlou relaxed his aching muscles.

"How are you feeling?"

The question was spoken by a kind looking old lady with gray hair and a friendly smile, so Narlou saw no problem in answering the question.

"Like shit. Everything hurts."

The woman nodded in understanding and his throat suddenly felt dry like sand.

"And can I please get some water?"

One of the people hurried off, returning a second later with a bottle of water. Narlou tried to sit up, but he found that he could hardly move his body, as if all his energy had been sucked dry.

Luckily, another person, a younger woman with blonde hair this time, noticed his struggles and helped him into a sitting position.

"Uhm, c-could you help me with this? I can't move my body well."

The woman smiled gently and placed the bottle at his lips, tilting it just enough for water to flow into Narlou's mouth at a steady pace. The teenager greedily swallowed the water up, the dryness slowly leaving his throat.

Had water always tasted this good?

"So, why am I here?" He asked with genuine curiosity, ignoring the windows floating around his head for the time being.

"You can't remember anything?" A man with short brown hair said, his face stern but his voice kind.

Narlou shook his head, immediately regretting the action as a sharp pain went through it.

'What happened for me to end up like that?'

"You have done something that has never been seen before, that's what happened!" The younger woman said excitedly, receiving a stern look from the man.

"What she was trying to say is, that have done something that has only ever been witnessed on very few people, and most of them are champions. You have successfully combined Pure mana with Enhancement magic, which is widely known as the most difficult type of mana to combine with enhancement magic."

'Ah, right. I fought the bastard from Ioni- Wait a minute! I managed to combine Pure mana with enhancement magic?! That's fucking awesome!'

The memory of Ethron's words suddenly appeared in his mind.

"The mind works the fastest when it's under lots of stress."

So, it really was true.

"Sadly, since your body was too weak to handle the power, we had to pump out every bit of your mana in order to save you. This is also the reason that you can't move right now."

Narlou's face fell.

As if to further mock him, a window floated directly in front of his face.

You are currently too weak to handle "Pure Enhancement magic".

Raise "Enhancement magic" to rank 30 and "Pure Magic" to rank 20 to successfully use it.

'Well, shit.'

"Don't worry though, your mana will be completely replenished by tomorrow."

Narlou nodded in understanding, but another question popped up in his mind.

"Is the fight already over?"

"For today, yes. Both armies have definitely made big losses, but with our superior numbers, it's a worse hit for the Ionians." The man said, apparently proud of that fact.

Narlou nodded and silence fell over the tent.

"Ahem, there were also two people who wanted to see you. Shall we send them in?"

Narlou quirked an eyebrow. He could guess who those two people were, so he nodded again.

"A-alright, please be respectful to them." The older woman said with a nervous smile, and all left the tent, leaving Narlou to ponder on her words.

'Be respectful? Since when did Ethron or Sonya have such a reputation amongst the people here?'

He looked to the side at which the tent opened, and his jaw went slack. When they said that two people were here to visit him, he expected Sonya and Ethron to be here.

So why the hell was Darius entering alongside Ethron?!

The two came to a halt next to his bed, and Narlou remembered his manners, bowing down as best as he could.

"W-welcome, commander Darius!"

"No need to be so tense Narlou, how are you?" Ethron said, his voice somehow calming Narlou's nerves.

The boy gulped, sneaking another glance at Darius who was just standing there, his massive body towering over both him and Ethron.

"Alright, I guess? The healers said that I would be fine in a few hours, but right now I feel terrible."

"That's to be expected considering what you have done. But talking about the battle, our commander here wanted to have a word with you."

Narlou cowered under the huge man's stare as said man stepped closer, felling small and weak.

"Hello, young Narlou. I hope that the healers have been treating you well. I came here to congratulate you on your accomplishment." The man said, his deep voice demanding respect.

"Thank you, sir!"

"You are so young but already this powerful, you will become a very great man one day, Narlou."

Said boy felt immense pride filling him at Darius' words. Here before him stood one of the most powerful men in Noxus, saying he would become someone great, complimenting him.

This had to be a dream come true.

"But I also came here to warn you. You probably have already heard that what you did has only ever been seen from some of the greatest warriors of Runeterra. We have tried our best to keep what happened a secret, but there is a good chance that it still leaked out, so be prepared just in case. Many people might want you dead."

Narlou paled. He had not thought about it like that.

"Luckily, Ethron here is one of my most trusted allies and he will be your guardian for now. But keep in mind that he will not always be there to help you, so become stronger and show the world that you are not someone to be messed with!"

"Yes sir!"

Darius nodded, satisfied with the answer and turned around, his steps shaking with power as he left the tent.

Ethron turned to look at Narlou once their leader was gone, a serious expression on his face.

"I am glad that you are alive and well, but don't ever use that kind of power again unless you have mastered your enhancement magic. The next time, I might not be there to get you to safety."

Narlou nodded, knowing that much already.

"I know."

Ethron sighed, suddenly seeming tired.

"Sonya has been scared out of her mind when she heard that you almost died. She's been crying the whole timer after the armies retreated. She's asleep right now, I will tell her to visit you once she awakens."

Narlou felt happy that Sonya had cried for him, but sad that he had made her cry in the first place.

'I should be more careful, even if only for their sake.'

"Anyway, I've been awake the whole day, so I'm going to go catch some sleep now. Take care, and if anything happens, just shout my name and I will be there immediately."

"Alright, sleep well Ethron. And thank you!"

The man gave him one last smile as he left, finally leaving Narlou alone in the tent. They had not specifically said that he couldn't leave, but he felt way too weak to move his body anyways, so he just stayed there for the time being.

'Window time.' Narlou thought, summoning the windows into his vision with anticipation.

'Hopefully almost losing my life was worth it.'

You have absorbed the essence of the person you have defeated!

You have leveled up x3!

Your "Enhancement Magic" has reached rank 10!
- Enhancement mana cost drastically decreased!
- Enhancement strength and speed drastically increased!
- You may now combine one normal Natural type of magic (at least rank 5) with your Enhancement magic!

You have successfully cleared the first mission of: The Art of War: (1/?)

Reward: +10 Levels, +1 Rank in Enhancement Magic

You have leveled up x10!

You have reached a milestone (lvl 40)!
+1 Rank point

You can now learn one more type of normal magic!

You have reached a milestone (lvl 45)!
+1 Rank point

Your presence has become stronger. Powerful beings are more aware of your existence.

"What's up with those ominous messages once I reach rank 10 with my magic?" Narlou asked himself, before the power increases started to take effect.

He could immediately feel the increase in power once his enhancement magic reached rank 10. Those rank 10 milestones were seriously overpowered.

'Not that I'm complaining.'

He now also had two more rank points to use, and if he wanted to reach rank 30 in enhancement magic and rank 20 in pure magic, he would need more of those.

So, Narlou put the rank points in Enhancement magic. He wanted to fight as melee tomorrow as well and he would need every bit of power he could get his hands on.

'Now, what to do with my stat points.'

Narlou was still annoyed that he was weaker than the guy from yesterday, so he decided to spend the majority of his points on strength. After the point distribution, his stats looked like this:

Name: Narlou

Age: 17

Level: 48

Stats:

-Strength: 82

-Agility: 70

-Dexterity: 60

-Mind: 50

-Sense: 75

points: 0

Rank points:

Magic:

-Pure Mana manipulation (rank 10) (85%)

-Enhancement Magic (rank 13) (2%)

He could, once again, feel his body becoming stronger.

"Tomorrow is going to be a big day."

Akali had also been quite busy during the first day of the fight.

The young woman had assassinated some stronger mages here and there, trying to be useful while keeping a low profile.

The fight had gone better that expected, considering the mass of enemies Ionia had to face, and Akali had been delighted to find out that her and her fellow assassins' work over the last week had not been in vain.

The Noxian soldiers might have a strong will, but even they could not win against sheer exhaustion, which had been getting more obvious as the battle went on during which many Noxians had to retreat because they were too exhausted.

But then, in the midst of the fight, something had happened that had been completely outside of her predictions.

She had been in Noxus' backline when she had felt it. Somewhere in the middle of the battlefield, someone had used pure enhancement magic. It had been very weak, so it was likely not a champion, but her curiosity had still gotten better of her, and she left her position to investigate it.

With her agility, it had taken her only a minute to reach the location, but when she saw what had happened, she cursed herself for not being faster.

In a small crater surrounded by other Noxians who desperately tried to defend him, his eyes closed and his body unmoving was Narlou, pure enhancement magic still coming out of his body in the form of white smoke. She didn't need to be a healer to know that it was destroying his body from within, and it took all of her willpower to not run to him and save him by herself.

She had been absolutely furious. How dared they hurt her Narlou?! She had wanted to kill every single one of those bastards who had tried to harm him, no matter if Noxian or Ionian!

Luckily, a person she recognized as Narlou's mentor had dashed into the ring, picked up Narlou and retreated back in the direction of the Noxian healers. She had been just a few seconds short of running in herself, so his interference had been very welcome.

Without any hesitation, Akali jumped after the man. She needed to make sure that her Narlou really was save after all.