8: Into the Fray

"What were you saying, Jack?" Mari asks as Jack looks really nervous.

"Uh! Nothing, nothing at all!" Jack says, his face full of embarrassment.

If she really is a god, she certainly looks the part. Adora is about 5'8, she's wearing spotless blue robes, and has white wings on her back.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you all, my wonderful children! Crow, Jack, Mariella, and Sachi. All of you have been through so much, I really just wanted all of you to have a second chance." Adora says, her eyes full of warmth.

"Thank you, Mother Adora. You saved all of us!" I say as we all kneel before her.

"Stand up my children! Today, you accept the new sides of yourselves. Today, you become one of us, a Frodian! Sachi!" Adora says as she puts her hand on Sachi's head.

"Yes, Mother Adora!" Sachi says nervously.

"May, you live a long life as one of us!" Adora says as all of a sudden a green aura starts to envelop Sachi's body.

"AHHH!" Sachi yells, as her body slowly starts transforming.

Sachi's ears grow longer, her skin turns light brown, her eyes change to dark green, and her hair changes to green as well. Sachi's height increases too, she's now 5'6.

"Woah, what happened to me?" Sachi asks as she looked at her arms.

"That's simple my child. You are now a Windian!" Adora says as all of the Windians start cheering in the crowd.

"Thank you, Mother Adora. I'm grateful for your kindness." Sachi says as Adora walks to Jack.

"Jack, the most headstrong of my children!" Adora says as she puts her hand on his head.

"I'm sorry for disrespecting you, Mother Adora! I don't deserve your kindness!" Jack says, his voice full of regret.

"Relax, you've gone through a lot these last two days. I understand what you're going through. Now, may you live a long life as one of us!" Adora says as a yellow aura envelops Jack's body.

"What the?" Jack says, as his body slowly starts to change.

Jack's ears grow longer, his skin turns green, his eyes turn yellow, and his hair stays relatively the same light brown. Jack's height increases as well, he's now about 6'4.

"I've gotten even bigger than before… " Jack says, as he stretches his arms out.

"You are now a Bracadier! Very fitting for your head-first nature!" Adora says as she walks to Mari.

"Mari, the kindest of my children." Adora says as she puts her hand on Mari's head.

"Thank you, I didn't expect to get a second chance after what I did… " Mari says, as she starts tearing up.

"Don't blame yourself, you deserve a second chance. Don't ever feel like you don't! Now, may you live a long life as one of us!" Adora says as a blue aura envelops Mari's body.

"AGH!" Mari yelps, as her body starts slowly changing.

Mari's ears grow longer, her skin turns tannish yellow, her hair changes to blonde. Mari's height stays the same, but her body becomes a little more muscular.

"I feel really weird!" Mari says as she looks embarrassed.

"No need to sweetheart. You're now a Mardian, just like me!" Adora says, as she finally walks over to me.

"Ah yes, my free-spirited child, Crow." Adora says as she smiles warmly at me.

"I appreciate you for caring about me, it's something I haven't really felt in a long time… " I say, as Adora puts her hand on my head.

"No thanks needed! You living a longer life is enough of an award for me. Now, may you live a long life as one of us!" Adora says as a red and black aura starts enveloping my body.

"Woah!" I say as I can feel my body changing.

My ears get longer, my skin turns grey, my hair turns pure white. I feel like I've gotten taller, but I can't really tell yet. One thing's for sure, I definitely feel a lot stronger.

"Masters of stealth and speed. You're now a Scavian my child!" Adora says as she looks at all of us proudly.

"Adora! God of this world, we thank you for blessing us! We hope that your new children will put an end to the reign of Vedora and her horrible beasts!" Celine says as all of the masters kneel before Adora.

"Oh, did someone call my name?" A sinister voice says, as out of nowhere a massive dragon descends on the capital.

"Mother Adora, what is that?" I say as everyone darts their eyes at the dragon.

"No way!" Adora says as she gets in front of all of us to protect us.

"A Colossal! Everyone run!" A voice says in the crowd as the civilians all flee the district.

"This is bad! I can't sustain the form for too long! All of you just stay back! I'll do what I can to stop her! Mardian Arts: Ice Dragon Summon!" Adora says as all of sudden she summons a giant dragon that's blue and white.

Kira and the rest of the masters run to us.

"Alright, kiddos! This isn't a drill! This is a Rank SSS threat! That Colossal will kill us all if we don't do something! You all and Layla will help evacuate any civilians that aren't in the Academy! That's the only shelter we have in the city!" Kira says, her voice full of seriousness.

"Kira! Look above!" Master Velmar says as he pulled out a bow.

Above us, we can see red and black griffins descending on the capital and all of them are shooting fire towards it. Also, cyclops are now entering the capital and they're smashing some of the buildings!

"Kira we need help! These things are coming in too fast!" Celine says as she starts shooting ice spells at all of the griffins.

"I'll take care of the cyclops! You guys better not die on me!" Vakgar says as he runs towards a group of 5 cyclops.

"Damnit! It's worse than I thought! We have no choice, I hate to throw you guys into the fray this early, but we have no choice! It's time to fight!" Kira says as she joins the masters in battle.

"Here guys!" Layla says as she throws all of us weapons.

Jack gets a sword, Mari gets a staff, Sachi gets a bow with no arrows, and I get a dagger.

"What are we supposed to do with this? We've never really fought these things before!" I ask as I couldn't help but start shaking.

"I know, I know! I'll teach you guys as we go! But just know that all of you are way stronger than before! Becoming Frodian grants you the ability to use Taqa a powerful magic source that can increase one's abilities tenfold! Let's move, we have to save the capital or we're all done for!" Layla says, her voice full of desperation.

We run into Orym district and there are at least 20 griffins shooting fire and attacking it.

"Layla, how do I use this bow? It doesn't have any arrows!" Sachi says as she looks for arrows.

"Just try to shoot it and focus your mind on the shot! Taqa is an extension of the mind! If you can imagine it, you can bring it into our physical world! There are two types of spells, spontaneous spells which are based on making attacks from your mind, and ancient spells which are spells that have been passed down for centuries. Spontaneous spells are weaker, but they allow your attacks to be more flexible. Ancient spells are stronger, but they tend to drain a lot of Taqa and their use is very specific! Since you guys don't know any ancient spells, I'll show you how to do spontaneous spells! Scavian Art: Dark Sonic Knives! Just like that!" Layla says, as a bunch of magical knives shoot from her hands and destroys some of the griffins.

"Okay! Windian Art: Wind Blade Arrows!" Sachi says, as 4 green windy arrows shoot out of her bow and hit the griffins.

"That's how it's done!" Layla says as she keeps fighting off the other griffins.

Out of nowhere a bunch of griffins are destroyed!

"Enough of this! You won't destroy my home! Windian Art: Dragon Ice Homing Arrows!" Feno says as he destroys all of the remaining griffins in the district.

"Feno? When did you get here?" Layla asks as she tries to catch her breath.

"You really think I wouldn't be here? You know me better than that Layla!" Feno says as he puts his bow over his shoulder.

"Thanks for the assist! How's everything looking around the rest of the districts?" Layla asks.

"It's bad, pretty much every area is swarming with mid to high-level colossi! The masters are trying their best, but regardless they're overwhelming us!" Feno says.

"Got it, we'll be sure to check on the other districts! Be sure to check around for civilians!" Layla commands.

"Right, you all better stay alive! Adora put her trust into you so I will too!" Feno says as he runs off.

We run into Keryth and a group of Bracadiers are fighting off enormous spiders! Out of the corner of my eye, I see Benjo swinging a giant club at the spiders.

"Benjo! What's the situation?" Jack asks as Benjo looks confused.

"Ah! I almost didn't recognize you half-blood! These ugly creeps have been swarming the whole place, we could use any help we could get!" Benjo says as he pounds his club into a giant spider.

"Gotcha! Let's help them out, Layla!" Jack says as he holds his sword tightly.

"You ready Jack? Remember what I told Sachi earlier! Focus your mind on your attack and turn it into a reality! Got it?" Layla says, as she starts slicing and dicing some of the spiders.

"Loud and clear! RAH! Bracadier Art: Megaton Slash!" Jack says, as he swings his sword viciously and cuts down three giant spiders.

"Good job! Let's keep it up!" Layla says as she continues to fight them off.

Layla and Jack continue to fight them for five minutes straight until all of them are gone!

"Ugh, is this how your jobs are?" Jack asks.

"That's right and usually it's even worse than this. If only there wasn't a damn Dragon in the way!" Layla says, trying to catch her breath.

"Guys! Hastios District is on fire! We gotta hurry!" Mari says as she runs off.

"Mari wait!" I say, as well all run after her.

We enter Hastios District and there are giant firebreathing lizards attacking it. Verrona is here firing off red magic attacks at the beasts.

"Huh? What are you doing here Layla? We don't need your help!" Verrona says, her voice full of exhaustion.

"Not even you believe what you're saying! The Colossi are attacking our home and I'm going to help protect it! Whether you like it or not!" Layla says adamantly.

"Ugh, whatever! If you're going to help then help! Mardian Art: Zero Point Blast!" Verrona says as she fires off another red magic attack.

"I wanna help too!" Mari says as she holds her staff out.

"You should know the drill now Mari! Give it a shot!" Layla commands as she cuts down some of the lizards.

"Here we go! Mardian Art: SwitchBlade Blast!" Mari says as she shoots off a sharp blue energy blast destroying two lizards.

"Good job! Keep it up, Mari!" Layla says as they continue to battle the beasts.

For the next two minutes, more Mardians join the battle and help even things out.

"Everyone watch out! I'm going for an ultimate attack!" Verrona says as it's clear she's powering up a huge spell.

"Back up guys!" Layla says as we all get out of the way.

"Mardian Art: Blade of Adora!" Verrona says as she shoots an enormous blue magic attack in the shape of a sword. It wipes out all of the lizards.

"Sheesh, her personality could use some work but her skills are incredible." Layla says.

"Let's be glad she's on our side for now!" Mari says as I can tell she's tired.

"Not bad half-blood. Also, Layla you better check on your district! It didn't look good when I was flying over here!" Verrona says.

"Thanks. I'll head there right now. Let's get a move on everyone!" Layla says, as we all run into Rose District.

The Rose District is swarming with Cyclops who are smashing the buildings with clubs and their hands. We see a group of Scavians trying to fend them off.

"Okay, Crow! This is where both of us can shine! Use our speed against the ugly monsters and we might be able to destroy all of them!" Layla says, as her eyes are laser-focused.

"Okay!" I say, as I still feel very nervous.

My whole life I've had to defend myself, so why are things so different now? Will I truly be able to survive in this world?

"Crow, what's wrong? Why aren't you moving?" Mari says as she starts shaking me.

"Crow! Snap out of it! You wanted to really make this new life worth it right? Well, show us that you meant that!" Jack says as he pushes me into the battlefield.

"You're right! I can't back down here!" I say as I pull my dagger out.

"Crow! Their biggest weakness is their heads! But you have to get a clean cut in order for it to work! If it's too shallow, then it won't end well!" Layla says, as she starts slicing and dicing the heads off of the Cyclops.

"Got it! Scavian Art: Dark Speed Dash!" I say as I get a huge boost of speed.

Two cyclops start attacking me as I duck and dodge their attempts. One of them swipes at me with their hands and I flip over the attack.

"Crow, watch out!" Layla yells, as a cyclops swings at me with its club.

"Oh crap!" I say, as narrowly dodge its vicious attack.

Come on, I gotta pressure them! Wait, their legs!

"The bigger they are the harder they fall! Scavian Art: Dark Blade Myriad Attack!" I say as I launch a bunch of dark aura slashes towards their ankles.

"Good thinking Crow! Now let's finish this!" Layla says as she nods at me.

Layla and I seem to be on the same page as both of us run up the Cyclops' shoulders.

"Scavian Art: Dark Blade Slash!" We both say in unison, as we both shoot a circular dark slash at both of them.

We both knock their heads off simultaneously as we finally defeated all of the Cyclops.

I fall to the ground completely exhausted.

"Not bad, seems Adora's blessings may make a warrior out of you. Come on get up, I'll help you out since you've earned it." Layla says, she extends her arm out at me.

"Whew, that was tough. How do you think everyone else is doing?" I ask, as the rest of my friends run over and check on me.

"I don't see any more Colossi flying around here, the master's and the rest must have defeated them." Sachi says calmly.

"Mother Adora is still up there fighting that strange woman!" Mari says as she points to the skies.

"In any case, we better check on Kira! Hopefully, she beat all of them too!" Jack says.

All of a sudden I feel sinister energy approaching us! It's heading directly towards Mari!

"Mari watch out!" I say as I push her out of the way.

A giant snake has its jaw wide open and it's about to eat me whole!

"Crow no!" Mari says, with her arms outstretched.

No, is this it again?

"URGYAAH!" Kira says as she punches the snake with all of her might.

"Kira? Give'em hell!" Layla says cheerily.

"Scavian Art: Spin Blade Slash!" Kira says as she cuts through the giant snake like a speeding saw blade.

Kira moves at a blinding speed that a normal human eye couldn't possibly keep up with. She slashes the beast with everything she has that it almost seems like overkill!

"This the end! Scavian Art: Light Speed Compression Blades!" Kira says as she sends a flurry of dark aura blades at the beast cutting it into pieces.

"Is it finally over?" I ask as everyone sighs a breath of relief.

"It was over the second I entered the battle kiddo!" Kira says as she smiles lightly.