"Make sure your men have a bit of rest, have the mages keep the alarm spell active on the western and southern breaches, I already received message that the dwarves have sent for some of their engineers, they'll reach you by a fortnight."

"We can keep the walls held till then. As for you my queen, make sure you're eating right, you look a little thin."

Nasuada smiled at the wizened Jörmundur who stood on the other side of the magic mirror. He had volunteered to lead the campaign defending against the Golden Horde attack. As it was casualties had been at a minimum due to the combined efforts of every race involved. The people of Alagaesia were reluctant to enter a new war, so right now defense was the name of the game.

"I'll make sure to be as plump as a pillow when you next see me." She replied wryly. "How fares the people of Surda and King Orrin?"

"The people are tense but still hopeful. Orrin tours the walls to keep the men's morale up." He tightens his fist. "The enemy, they do not seem to use magic the way we do, but they are numerous. Too numerous honestly at times."

"Has a means of communication been established?"

Jörmundur shakes his head, "A few of their notable figures speak our language, but somehow their language is beyond our understanding, likely through magical influence, but our magicians have had no headway breaking the code. Even the riders have had trouble. And no enemy has been captured alive, there seems to be a failsafe inside them."

Nasuada looked at his bandages. "I heard reports that a Shade was seen."

Jörmundur scowls. "A large amount of the enemy had gathered to hit the eastern end, our men began to concentrate there, the Shade took us by surprise when it leapt the walls, luckily a team comprised of the riders and a group of magicians defeated it, but…"

"But what?" Nasuada asked, concerned by Jörmundur's hesitation.

"The Shade, it was an elf, different from the elves up north yes, but, an elf all the same."

"Different how?"

"Just, a feeling, for one it was bulky, elves are all slender, and shades don't change that. And, it had horns."

"Are you sure it was elf?"

"It started yelling at the elves, who responded back with shock, they haven't told the rest of us what it was about, but they sent the message to Du Weldenvarden, whatever the matter is, it's important enough that another 100 elves are traveling down to bolster our forces."

Nasuada seemed shocked and contemplative. "This is troubling, how many casualties did the encounter with the shade leave?"

"Surprisingly little, a squadron of men and dwarves were killed when it first leapt up, and it blew the two holes in the walls, but when the team of riders and magicians faced it, they ended up subduing it. One human mage in particular held it back long enough for the riders to reach that part of the wall and face it."

"Who was it?" Nasuada asked.

"Oh, you know who it was." Jörmundur growled. "The idiot seems driven to kill himself fighting the enemy."

Nasuada shook her head, "Elva had already stated he wasn't responsible or even able to have been aware of all the traitors in his guild."

"He still blames himself." Jörmundur sighed, "Torn's best friend was the head of the traitors, I cannot imagine what went through his head when it was discovered he was part of the Black Hand."

"As it is, make sure someone keeps an eye on Torn, and tell him to report to me tomorrow. But make sure your men have rest, the new platoon has arrived so have them take over for now."

Jörmundur gave a salute, and the image cut.

Nasuada rubbed her temples, breathing out a sigh of relief. She had been nursing a terrible headache all morning.

"My Queen! The rider Vulcan and his dragon Volund have been sighted!"

Nasuada hid her scowl when she realized it was a rider. Smiling at the news she got up and prepared to meet their guests, she hated having to parade him around the people, but it helped the morale over the war when someone came to visit, and Vulcan had made himself quite popular with the people due to his artistic use of his magic.

We have almost reached Ilrea, do you have the words prepared?

The dwarf sighed, "Come now Volund you know I have it on my mind right now."

I have found that your little people tend to concentrate more on architecture and geology over the task at hand, unless the task has to do with architecture and geology.

"That was only one time!" Sighing Vulcan turned to Ilrea, the light blue dome stood above, if they kept pace, they would crash into it, splatting like a bird on a window. As they were merely a thousand paces away Vulcan began chanting in the ancient language. A part of the barrier shimmered, allowing them to pass through easily. "Now don't tell you don't miss this place?"

Well… those coal beds are frightfully comfortable.

The pair soared towards the top of the massive tower in the center of Ilrea, an open loft was at the top, with a large strip of floor perfect for a dragon to land and take off from, likely the most impressive part of the entire place. And entourage had already arrived to meet them, and they landed a few hundred feet away.

The humans watching them hid grins seeing the stout dwarf get off the great dragon, but any traces of a smile were replaced with stunned awe as Vulcan backflipped off his saddle, landing like an acrobat.

"Ladies, gentlemen…" He gave an illustrious bow.

"Vulcan, it is good to see you." Nasuada said, raising an eye at his display.

"Thank you Queen Nasuada." He knelt.

"Please, get up, you and Volund need rest. I already had the butchers slaughter the fattest boar just for you." She turned to the great brown dragon, patting his side.

Hmmm, the fact you aren't a rider yet is likely because the dragons would find it unfair to hoard you for themselves.

She laughed at his complement as she led them into the castle proper, she loved talking to dragons, they were always so confident in what they said, with no fear of the repercussions of their choices and speech, she wished she didn't have to temper her words and mood all the time. The riders, all being in a status relatively near her level, afforded a level of brevity and informal-ness she could only share with friends and confidants, and to her delight she hadn't met one that she hasn't liked. Returning to the royal hall, she bid her servants leave her as they entered a tent inside the hall, it was the very same one she used to use during the war against Galbatorix, it was where she felt most comfortable. Volund popped his head into the side of the tent, giving Nasuada a massive case of déjà vu

"So, how are things back in Surda?" Vulcan asked, "I've been gone for a week."

Nasuada frowned, "A shade attacked."

Vulcan let out a dwarven oath and Volund growled in agreement.

"Are they alright?"

"Casualties were at a minimum, Torn held back the Shade before Neewah and Hophram came to subdue and kill it alongside some more magic users."

"So, is it correct then that our enemy's magic users seem to all be sorcerers?" Vulcan sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he rubbed his metal ring.

"From what it seems, yes."

"Bah, this whole war reeks something fowl. The enemies we fight, they consist of men, Urgals, and elves, and something else, numerous enemies, they seem almost like dolls the way they fight, but there are thousands of them. And the fact the magicians are sorcerers, I'm surprised we hadn't encountered a shade before now."

"Perhaps they are getting desperate, the only reason you could spare to leave was due to the lull in attacks, they must have tried to set you into a false sense of security. As soon as we are done spreading morale, I'll have some mages teleport you to Surda."

The dwarf bowed his thanks. "I apologize Nasuada, it seems you won't have a rider attending the Great Games this time around, maybe in 5 years then."

"I'm sad you'll miss it, I know you especially enjoyed seeing your brethren compete, though, later today there will be a mages duel."

"Oh?" Vulcan turned, under Nasuada's rule, human magicians went from being known as mediocre to becoming a thriving and powerful force to be reckoned with, while they ultimately lacked the power a dwarf or urgal magic user had on average, they were numerous, and they're training methods and teaching process had produced many mages with abilities comparable to elves in the recent years. Of course, every race has improved in some way, but humans made the greatest leap forward, which is especially noticeable due to the sheer number of them, and due to that, higher number of magic users, even if they had a smaller percentage compared to other races. He was interested in seeing how this year's talent faced each other.

"I heard that some first-year students were admitted into the Pearl-Initiate level, will they be the ones fighting?"

Volund was busy tearing into the prize boar so he ignored their conversation.

Nasuada smiled, "Well, only one of them will be."

"Well that makes sense, you can't expect all of them to band together."

"Actually, they have all banded together, except one. The leader of their group is facing a group of ten pearl-initiates of third- and fourth-year status."

"By his lonesome?" Vulcan asked, confused, "Is it that one student with power greater than an elf's? Even someone that supposedly strong will have trouble."

His face wrinkled in confusion when Nasuada shook her head. "One of my aides, Hanna, explained it to me…"

The dwarf's eyes widened and Volund snorted in amusement. "So, this boy knows he has almost no chance, but is planning on doing as much damage to them as possible to deter future challenges. I'd say he's either brave or stupid, or both."

That reminds me of someone…

"Anyways, where is this boy? I'd like to meet him."

"The fight will occur at noon, so we must be on the way quickly. After the battle you may talk to him if you still wish to." Vulcan nodded.

"This should be an interesting matchup." He smirked, turning to Volund. "Alright friend, when you're finished let's head over to the arena."

Pups fighting isn't my idea of entertainment, but I'll attend if it makes you happy.

Faris stood on the arena floor, the place was still warped from the last battle they had, after Seya had joined their group the arena always ended up worse for ware, he stifled a shudder remembering her punching the ground just inches away from between the legs of a downed opponent, splitting the rocks beneath her. As he stood facing his ten opponents, he somewhat wished he had that power as well.

The leader of the opposition, a young man by the name of Yacob, walked up to him, giving a lazy smirk. "Young Faris, I am honored you decided not to run away. I feared that you'd turn tail and leave my compatriots and I out of a fight, though," he added with a frown, "If you care about your health I'd surrender, and better yet, maybe it's time your team submitted itself to its superiors."

Faris looked at him evenly, "I myself have to apologize, my paltry weakling magic and child self will drain more magic that you'll recoup beating me." He smiled, "And I'll enjoy tearing your teams apart after today."

Yacob bristled at the child's impudence. "Arrogant fool, you think there'll be an after? We've prepared our quickest spells; the recall won't be able to handle the attack and you'll die!" He hissed with venom, spittle flying into Faris's face, he wiped it in disgust.

"Ever heard of say it don't spray it?" He laughed, "Surrender would be embarrassing. Go back to your groupies and sycophants, bastard, you'll find no easy mark here."

Yacob turned to the mirror that had come close and smiled. "Well friend! I'm glad we won't have a grudge over the outcome!"

Faris rolled his eyes.

The announcer stood at a raised podium, but Faris paid no mind.

"This Mages Duel looks like it will be the most interesting one yet! Faris will be facing a group on his lonesome, and they are no pushovers!"

Faris let the announcer drone on as he looked at the faces of each of his opponents, he concentrated on the one with wild black hair and a crazy expression, he was an especially talented second-year pearl initiate, but he was relatively unstable. The boy looked at him, placing his hand across his neck in a slicing motion. Faris chuckled at the display, which inflamed the boy.

Good, get him mad.

"…And without further ado let the duel begin!"

Faris felt the area around him begin to heat up, cool down, smell and taste of copper, and a whole host of other things as the mages launched their attacks. The area he was in exploded as the mages began their first movement, a wide area attack. He opened his eyes in surprise, they had amassed enough power to blow past his wards and kill him instantly, Yacob really hadn't been kidding. He smiled as his necklace's enchantment activated, the energy he stored in the quartz gemstone halving as he was teleported behind the group. He placed his pack behind a formation of rocks, taking advantage of his opponent's fervor in annihilating the area in front of them to pull up various tools and trinkets. Before him lay several palm sized mirrors, a few bags of purple soldier powder, hempen rope, and some hot peppers and spices. Activating the preinstalled enchantments on the mirrors he launched them out, they began to hover around, he closed his eyes and chanted the second part of the spell, now split into seven different perspective views was himself in third person and his enemies. As he rose his hand to cast his spell, he again marveled at how odd it felt seeing himself making the movement.

"Havr!" (possess) His spell was targeted at James Nordson, the talented but unstable mage, he quickly took his mind, and forced him to cast a spell.

Yacob smiled as they continued their onslaught, he had gathered half the energy the 5 groups under him had gathered, it was the equivalent of an accomplished mage's squadron, no other student could boast having amassed this magical energy, and even that girl Venka would fall before it, he smiled as the massive explosions they created barely touched the massive reserves they had stored.

"Yacob! Help!" His concentration broke as he turned in shock to see James conjuring gigantic fired balls, aimed towards the ground, the boy had been entrusted with a few magic stones, and seemed to have put every ounce of power into it as it was hurled into the ground. His face flickered into confusion then fear as the blue energy engulfed him taking him away, but the spell was released. Yacob's last sight before the flames and dust took over was Faris, eyes closed, smiling at him with his middle finger raised up.

"You little-" He closed his eyes as the searing heat and debris took its toll on his wards, the dust cloud surrounding him and his allies did not settle. "It's magic, he's keeping the dust swirling!" He began to feel Faris's mental assault, he recoiled in surprise at the ferocity and mastery, it was like he was facing a teacher. He signaled his allies and they banded together mentally, even then their shaken and nervous state made the fight feel even, and even as it did, Faris mentally projected his thoughts casually while fighting them.

So, you planned to kill me? Smart, you'd piss off my friends and they'd attack you right away. Then you'd beat them because they still need a month to recover. Unfortunately, I know more spells and words than you do. But I have to say I'm impressed a second year like James would have amassed so much magical power, did you take from your five groups under you? Lol…

"What does this 'lol' mean?" One mage asked just as a high-pitched hum sounded. He screamed in pain, the group turned to see a metal arrow had blasted through his wards, shattered the gemstone fastened to his gauntlet, and pierced through it and his arm, the offending arrow had a bag tied to it.

"Dumar!" Another mage screamed, running to her injured friend.

"Wait!" Yacob screamed too late as the arrow exploded, launching the two mages up in the air landing heavily as they were teleported out.

"Shit!" Another mage screamed, "Vindr!" (wind)

The dust forcibly cleared, revealing 7 mirrors surrounding them, a quartz crystal was spinning in the center a few feet above them, Yacob spied bits of dust still gathered around him. His head reeled in confusion, the spell piercing arrow was a technique of the wandering blade's, and enchanting objects for various purposes was the focus of the Commerce and Engineering Guild, it wasn't enough to just read about it, one needed it demonstrated, due to the limitations of the language, imagination was key. He turned to see Faris, who had another arrow set on a massive ornate looking longbow.

Was this what he was hiding?! His mind went back to the giant pack Faris had slung on his back. His attention returned to the fight as he and another mage conjured a wall of stone to block the arrow, panicking as it pierced through with ease another mage launched a fire ball at it. Yacob and 4 others ran back as the fire obliterated the arrow, but ignited the bag tied to it, breaking the wards of the offending mage and another mage who reacted too slowly, taking them out of the fight and into the infirmary.

"Shit! Shit! Yacob this wasn't what you said! You said he was skilled but weak! How did he survive our attack!?"

"I teleported dumbass," Faris appeared behind them, leaping from the cloud of dust, he punched the mage, breaking his jaw and knocking him out, before he was teleported away Faris snatched his gemstone, turning it just in time to block and teleport away from the assault from the four remaining enemy mages. Faris rose slowly, the mages eyed him warily, even now they couldn't aim well, a constant pressure from Faris's mental assaults messed with their attacks. Faris charged them, unsheathing a large two-handed longsword. Yacob and the two mages, his highest officers, Marmot and Nico, unsheathed their weapons as they charged him.

Faris raised his eyes in surprise as the mages matched and overwhelmed his skills. "Oh? I thought disciples of the Researchers wouldn't really learn how to fight physically, I never see you at class."

"Unlike you we have private skilled tutors, the best swordsmen in the land taught me." Yacob swiped his blade, aiming to decapitate Faris, Faris ducked, the blade cutting the tips of his shoulder length hair. He barely got his bearings as the next mage stabbed with his spear, Faris raised his arm, letting it slip between his arm and torso, he blocked the mace strike from the last mage with his sword, groaning as the force nearly twisted his arm, even then his blade flew out of his hand. He leapt backwards, teleporting just before they could hold him down with magic.

"Welp this is useless now." He tosses the empty gemstone he had stolen off the mage. "Hey! Do you have any more magic stones I can borrow?" He smiled as Yacob's face twitched.

"Damn you!" The man began to gather all the energy he had in the stones, ignoring the protests from his allies he launched the blast, a gigantic pillar of flame the size of a small tower. "Dodge that bastard!"

Faris took out a ruby. "Vermer drjudgr!" Flames began to erupt from the ruby, spinning around to match pillar of flames, Yacob saw with fear that he began to lose control of his flames.

"How!"

"You're never supposed to cast a spell when you haven't won a mental battle, remember? Or else your opponent can counter it. This spell, I don't want to use it, but I learned it from an enemy I'd rather forget. It's ironic that her flames will save me from yours." He extended his hand, thrusting with the ruby as the torrent of flame leapt across the battlefield like a tornado on its side, spiraling and leaping as it shot towards Yacob's group. Yacob turned to his allies, who nodded, handing him his gems and casting a spell, their magic spent they teleported out of the arena. Yacob turned towards the flames and grit his teeth. Faris saw the flames impact, he knew it wasn't over and began to prepare himself. He barely got to his pack when a massive force launched him into a wall, he softened his blow, exhausting the reserves from his private crystal. "Shit! And I've been filling that thing up all month!" Even then his back was sore. He looked up to see Yacob, his skin was practically shimmering with the level of magic radiating in him. He leapt towards Faris, who had preemptively moved out of the way as his fist stabbed into the rock wall Faris's head had been in seconds before. Faris yelped, launching a fire back at him.

"No use." The flames were eaten by Yacob's wards. "I don't care about the consequences, you're dead, I can make more magic later." He raised his hands to choke Faris, his magic bolstered mind resisting Faris's mental attacks.

You can bolster your mind with magic?! He thought as he tossed his last unused bag of purple soldier powder.

It beaned Yacob in the face, which surprised Faris. "Brisingr!" He screamed, the bag exploded, launching him back and injuring him severely, he began to heal himself as well as he could, draining the magical energy he stored into the mirrors.

"You've been a…" Yacob's face twitched as a burning sensation overtook his nose, eyes, and mouth. He began to scream, scrabbling at his face in a panic. "What spell was that?!"

"A mix of two fun things," Faris announced, "Cinnamon and fire bells, fresh from Surda and dried to perfection. All natural, and not something you'd expect to attack you, so bypassing your wards." While Yacob was distracted he punched him in the face, hard enough to break his nose, he ignored the speed his nose healed, roundhouse kicking him in the jaw, he then struck the nerve cluster in Yacob's neck, pinching hard. He continued attacking, striking desperately to inflict enough damage to break the boy's concentration and knock him out. As he continued his onslaught Yacob desperately attempted to target him with his spells, but Faris struck mentally, focusing on one word or another, throwing off Yacob's aim or meaning, further using his magical energy. As Faris raised his fists for a haymaker Yacob opened his red crying eyes, grimacing he spun his left hand at super human speeds, shattering Faris's left arm, Faris screamed in pain, leaping back. He began to scream out in the ancient language, his form shimmering.

"Sharjalví edtha! Frethya! Eka eddyr dreyma! Eka-"

"Oh no you don't!" Yacob threw his sword, it stabbed into Faris's chest, pinning him to a rock. Faris coughed blood. Yacob laughed, cleaning his face with magic. He strode towards Faris with confidence. "Look at you… tough, holding on even though you're dead."

Faris coughed more and more blood, splattering it all over the floor. "It's, it's not over."

Yacob laughed, raising his fist to smash into Faris's face, doing so left him alarmed. His fist passed through easily, too easily, like he was hitting mist. He looked around in alarm. "Where in blazes are y-" He was knocked head over heels by a large and fast something, barreling into him and reducing a huge chunk of his wards. He felt a chill he struggled to get up, he took another of these strikes almost immediately after, his gemstone cracked, unable to take the amount of stress being placed on it. Just as he thought it was over an arrow appeared out of nowhere. It was almost as if times stopped as the arrow slipped through his now weakened wards, piercing his gemstone, and shattering it. He turned to Faris lying on the rock, who got up as if he had never been speared. He gave a mocking bow. "HOW?!" Yacob screamed, falling down as his body began to take crystal backlash. Faris smiled.

"I'm a good artist." The boy faded away. And appearing before Yacob was the real Faris, clutching his side, he had moved out of the sword's way, but it still cut into him. Yacob's eyes widened as he saw that Faris's had set up a weird contraption. It was a hollow barrel with a closed off end, the open end had been facing him and a black smoke wafted out of the open barrel. Faris folded up the stands, putting the cannon down. He stumbled to Yacob, who scrabbled back in fear. Faris looked at him, then kicked him hard at his side. Yacob reeled in pain, wanting it to end. He recoiled as Faris moved, but paused in surprise as the boy went to his bag and put his things away. He returned, holding a vial of red liquid. Tackling Yacob he forced the boy to drink it. Yacob's mouth burned and his eyes watered as the concoction burned him. He began to fan his face, tears in his eyes.

"Wha! Whad ith dith!" (what! What is this!?) He began crying from the burning pain.

Faris laughed, "I'd say the closest thing to it is jalapeño sauce."

"I gib up! I gib up!" (I give up! I give up!) Yacob began to panic.

"I'm sorry, the gauntlet must not understand what you mean, it looks like I'll have to knock you out!" Faris gave a sweet smile.

The arena was silent in awe, all except for Seya, who had devolved into fits of laughter.

After Yacob finally disappeared from the Arena, Faris turned to the crowd of students, using the last bit of power he had he amplified his voice with magic.

"I want all of you punks to listen good! You ever mess with my friends you mess with me! And you end up like pepper face over here!"

His rush of victory had him so excited he was making a fool of himself as he made his victory pose. A contorted stance. Hand straight up in a peace sign, and hips dramatically cocked to the side.

The crowd began to clap and cheer as he was announced the winner. But all his friends could do was cover their faces in embarrassment. Seya continued laughing at the entire ordeal.

.

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Afterword:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Faris has made himself out to be really strong right! Now, the reason he won was because they ultimately underestimated him. The teleportation spell requires large amounts of magical power, more than Faris has in his body, so they wouldn't think he may resort to that. If you remember in the book Eldest Murtagh had a spell of healing enchanted into a pot, so it shouldn't be too far-fetched to have a spell of teleportation enchanted into a ring. That was basically the entire gist of the fight, Faris had several items he enchanted with various spells to keep him situationally aware at all times, while he struck the weakest of the enemies, going up the ladder. In the books its been shown that when you've taken someone's mind you can control their actions, such as the mages of Du Vrangr Gata defeating an enemy mage in a mental duel and forcing him to release his protection over a group of soldiers and himself before killing them. Most people target Faris immediately because they are aware of his lack of magic. But Faris has had months to slowly gather magic, and he gathered a good deal of energy from the men he defeated/killed in the slums. I hoped these explanations helped! Also, cannons, the "hand cannon" was a thing I was excited to introduce, it is loosely based on the prosthetic arm worn by Gutz from a manga series called Berserk, (don't look it up).