Insane Mooncake
ISBN: 9781982961800
Acknowledgements
My friends, for supporting me.
My readers, for giving me reason to keep writing.
My parents, for allowing me to pursue my goals.
Pre-story (1)
Thousands of spells soared through the air below and towards Wesley’s team, flooding their fields of vision. Despite the mass of spells flying around, they proceeded calmly through the air, protected by a transparent silver membrane.
Although they could fly calmly through the air, just a few hundred feet below, endless explosions marred the ground as the two armies contested each and every inch of land. Countless broken bodies decorated the disfigured earth as lakes of blood soaked into the dirt. Regardless, with each body that fell, another soldier ran up to fill the previous soldier’s position.
One of the females in the formation, Katherine, craned her head towards Wesley and shouted. “I just received word that the Empire is focusing heavily on the right side. It appears that they wish to take the fort and use it as a base to flank the rest of the army. We are to aid and force back the Empire’s advance.”
Wesley nodded. “Let’s go!”
The formation changed direction and headed west with the sun blazing behind them.
Wesley had absolute trust in his team. Even though he was the leader, he didn’t view himself above any of the others. After all, they were friends…and family.
Katherine, responsible for the team’s communication with the army’s headquarters, was a King-class magician who specialized in support spells. Her husband, Brian, was also a King-class magician who specialized in defensive spells. As the caster and operator of the magical barrier, he was the nucleus of the formation while the other eight mages filled out the formation as structural and energy support.
Amongst those who were filling out the formation were the King-class mages Jasmine, Lawrence, David, Alina, and Jake, who all had varying fortes. The last mage in the formation specialized in close combat. Her name was Grace, and she was Wesley’s wife, the only family he had left in this world.
Wesley himself specialized in offensive spells and was unquestionably the firm leader of the group, which had formed a decade ago during their time at the Ringray Advanced Institute of Magic. Even back then, the team had proven unbeatable behind their nearly flawless teamwork under Wesley’s leadership.
As they flew west, they spotted a giant wave of enemy soldiers assaulting the Kingdom’s defensive formations.
The flying formation came to a halt as David whistled. “That’s a lot of soldiers. A hundred thousand? Two hundred thousand?”
Wesley cast an eye over the battlefield. “Probably more. Doesn’t matter. Prepare bombardment.”
The formation spread out into a line overhead. Even though the 9 all had varying specialties, they had all mastered offensive magic.
What was a King-class magician? This title was only given to those who were strong enough to be the backbone of an entire kingdom. Any kingdom or empire would readily sacrifice hundreds of thousands of soldiers for a single King-class mage.
It could be said that the power such a magician was essential to the survival of a kingdom.
“Prepare seals!”
Each person raised their hands and began to draw their seals.
“Cast!” Each person swiped a finger across their drawn seals to activate them.
Nine large seals glowed brightly in the sky, then the sky lit up from the sheer number of spells that shot out from the seals toward the hundreds of thousands of soldiers below.
A common war strategy was to mix magicians in with the troops. The magicians would protect the soldiers from enemy spells, while the soldiers would protect the magicians from enemy soldiers.
The nine mages in Wesley’s team had sent all of their spells in different directions to cover as much area as possible. As the spells shot toward the targets below, giant magical barriers formed around the defending magicians, protecting themselves and the soldiers around them.
Each magical barrier stopped a few hundred bolts of energy, but flickered and disappeared under the continued onslaught.
Now without impediment, the spells assaulted the soldiers on impact. Wesley’s spells frosted over entire battalions of soldiers, while Grace’s burned thousands more to a crisp. Shards of steel, wood, and ice impaled soldiers throughout the expansive battlefield.
In an instant, the three hundred thousand soldiers charging forward on the earth below them had been reduced to a shrieking, blood-soaked pile of corpses. Although a few meager remnants of the previously impressive army survived, they were now surrounded by a hellish landscape of gore and carnage.
Some of the survivors couldn’t stand the sight and vomited, while others cried with grief or simply stared into space, unable to comprehend the bloodshed and slaughter they had just witnessed.
The few surviving magicians quickly picked themselves up and flew away at top speed, eager to save themselves.
David gazed down at the scorched, red earth with sorrow. “What’s the poi-“
“David.” Wesley cut him off.
“…Sorry.”
“Come. Let’s go and see how the situation is.” Wesley descended toward the kingdom’s fort.
Although the fort’s outer wall was shattered and dyed red with blood, none of the enemy soldiers had been able to reach far inside.
Seeing the nine mages descend from the sky, the officer in charge of the fort ran out into the open to greet them.
“Ah, most esteemed mages, I thank you for your assistance. We surely would have been overrun if it were not for your help. What can I do for you in return?”
Wesley cast his eyes over this officer, then responded. “We just need some food and shelter. We’ve been fighting for days without rest, so we need some time to replenish our magical energy.”
“Of course, sir. This way, sirs and madams.” Even in the midst of war, an officer would be willing to throw everything aside for a King-class mage, never mind nine of them.
The officer led them through the fort, toward the dining area. Upon arriving, the officer shouted at a group of men with tired eyes and scratched up hands who looked to be peeling and chopping entire mountains of potatoes. “Chefs! Prepare a feast with the finest dishes for our esteemed guests!”
One of the chefs sidled up to the officer and whispered in his ear. “Sir, uh…other than potatoes, we don’t have much food left. To throw a feast...we’d have to deplete most of our remaining resources.”
The officer dragged the chef to the side. “What do you mean we don’t have much food left?”
“Well, you see sir, we’ve been fighting for the last few days, and with no other way to relieve their stress...the soldiers have been eating like beasts. We can’t really tell them no, or they’ll have no strength and morale for battle. They could even riot or desert.”
“…” The officer paused. “For meat, do you think we could drag in some of the corpses lying outside and try and feed that to the soldiers? Do you think they’d notice? If not, we could just do that..”
The chef raised an eyebrow. “Sir, cannibalism is prohibited under the Book of Universal Laws Volume 3 Passage 52.”
“Ahem… a joke, a joke. Regardless, spare no expense for our guests.”
Wesley’s group, about twenty feet away, exchanged some amused glances with each other. Katherine, the support specialist among them, had multiple spells active at all times. One increased the eyesight and hearing capabilities of those affected. With it, even though the chef and officer were whispering, Wesley’s group had heard it all clearly.
Wesley twisted a ring off his finger and threw i
t toward the chef. “Catch!”
Upon catching the ring, the chef was initially confused, then examined it and gasped. “This… it’s a Ring of Holding!”
“Yes, yes. Inside, there’s enough food to feed an entire army for weeks. You can just use the food in the ring to cook for us. We don’t need a feast, just a good meal. Feel free to take up to, say, 20% of the rest to feed the troops.”
The chef and officer both beamed upon hearing this.
Seeing their smiles, Wesley scowled. “What the hell are you smiling for, you don’t get to keep the ring, you know! And don’t you even think about taking any of the expensive stuff!”
Pre-story (2)
The team lounged lazily around the dinner table, chatting away. An unaware passerby would have assumed that they were just some ordinary officers, de-stressing after a long day of battle.
Suddenly, Katherine’s demeanor changed, which alerted the others, who looked toward her with bated breath. As the support mage, she also had the responsibility of being the long-range telepathic point of communication with the Pooles Kingdom.
After a few moments, Katherine sighed. “It seems that the Empire is sending a team of King-class mages to the front-lines. We’re to intercept and kill them all.”
There was an extended pause, which ended when Jake asked the question the obvious questions on everyone’s minds. “How many is the Empire sending? What are their specialties? Their relative strength?”
Katherine shook her head. “I asked. All they said was that the spy stated that there were about 20 King-class mages, then the transmission cut off. They believe that the spy had been discovered and eliminated.”
Hearing this, Lawrence spoke up. “I don’t like this. He just happens to be able to report the number before the transmission cut out? Either way, 20 King-class mages? We’re strong but…” He looked toward Wesley.
Wesley picked up a Golden Lamb skewer and nonchalantly answered. “We fight.”
Wesley’s confident statement seemed to alleviate the tension, and with that everyone around the table grinned.
“As expected from our leader,” praised Jake, as he tore into a fried Primordial Beast wing. “I suppose you have a plan for this?”
“The plan,” Wesley calmly replied, “is to kill them all.”
Seeing everyone’s exasperated faces around him, he awkwardly cleared his throat and continued.
“We’ll use my variation of the Inclusive Blizzard Seal and ambush them. Katherine, do you have any information on where they are and where they’re headed?”
“Yes.” Katherine promptly replied. “They’re approaching from the mainland and look to be moving Southwest… in about 10 days, they should reach the southern tip of the Demon Continent. The forest there will give us perfect cover for an ambush. It should only take us 5 days to get there, so we should have those 5 days to prepare.”
“That sounds good to me. Does everyone agree?”
A unanimous series of nods around the table.
Wesley continued, “Perfect. We shouldn’t need more than three days of preparation, so we’ll spend another two days here to help the Kingdom with this battle. Katherine, please let the King know that we have accomplished our mission and are ready for a new task. Tell him that we also want our payment tomorrow.”
“Got it. Still though… we’re being paid 90,000 gold coins per task… isn’t this basically stealing?”
Wesley lifted a wine cup to his mouth. “It’s war, Katherine. Everything is more expensive in a time of war. It’s still cheaper for them to pay us than it is to pay a few million soldiers.”
David smiled. “I agree. We’re doing this so that our future children won’t have to. Isn’t that right, darling?” He looked toward Alina, who smiled.
“Shut up.” Alina looked away. “You do realize we’re against the Empire, right? We can’t win.”
David moved forward and hugged Alina from behind. “We don’t need to win, darling. We just need to defend the Kingdom until the Empire gives up. Then we’ll be rewarded with an additional million gold coins each. I’ll buy you an entire island. How about it?”
“Hmph. I’ll just buy the island myself…” Despite her tone, however, Alina willingly leaned back into David’s embrace.
Although Wesley’s team had planned to help the Kingdom defend for another two days before heading off, the battlefield was completely quiet for these two days.
At the end of the second night, the friends all crowded around the dinner table yet again.
Lawrence addressed the others in a matter of fact tone, “The Empire’s forces are obviously just waiting for the King-class mages so that they don’t take too many casualties.”
Though Wesley’s confidence had put the team at ease momentarily, as the reality of the situation sunk in, the air grew heavy once more. They were certainly confident in their abilities, but a single misstep against such powerful opponents could mean death.
An air of unease reverberated throughout the fort as they packed up their belongings and set out once more. To reach their destination, they had to cross some of the Magmont Continent and the entire Dark Sea, a near impossible task for a common mage, and still potentially dangerous even for King-class mage. They decided to use the cover of night alongside a series of invisibility spells to move toward the Demon Continent undetected.
Most of the trip went by without much trouble. Sometimes, some flying beast or another would attempt to ambush Wesley’s team in hopes of catching a quick snack, but such advances ended with a quick trip to hell instead.
One time, an entire flock of Demonic Geese assaulted the team and was quickly put down. Although Demonic Goose meat was toxic to the average human, consuming it was actually very beneficial for certain mages, especially for those who specialized in poison magic, like Jasmine.
As such, she spent the rest of the trip cheerfully gnawing on Demonic Goose meat.
Finally, they arrived at the southern tip of the Demonic Continent. The sky was overcast - not a single ray of sunlight could be seen on the shadowed forest floor. This was the norm on the Demonic Continent, which was home to the strongest, evilest demons and monsters in the world. It was even rumored that the demons that resided on the continent had a leader, a king, that embodied death itself, an existence that even the Eight Grand Magicians were wary of.
It was the perfect place to set up an ambush.
The first day, the nine mages surveyed the forest.
The second day, the nine mages prepared their trap.
The third day, the nine mages laid in wait.
Just before the sun set on the third day, Jasmine spotted a group of people flying toward the tip of the Demon Continent at high speed.
She sent a mental message to the others. “They’re here!”
Wesley gave the order. “Get into position. Activate on my mark.” He began to draw a seal as the figures in the distance closed in. 1000 feet. 900 feet. 800 feet…
“Activate!”
They stood in a massive magic seal, reaching nearly 100 feet across. Wesley positioned himself in the middle, while the others stood in a broad circle around him.
It was an supportive magic array. With it, Wesley could draw on the mana pools of the rest of his team.
As Wesley’s telepathic order roared in the other’s heads, they simultaneously unleashed their magical energy into the array.
Wesley felt a surge of power course through his body, only barely contained by the magic seal.
High in the air, the twenty King-class magicians sensed the massive energy flux below and halted their advance.
But it was too late. Below, Wesley had already completed the new seal.
Ice Purgatory!
He swiped his finger across the drawn magic seal and instantly, a freezing mist descended upon the twenty figures hovering in the air.
Seeing this, they quickly realized that they didn’t have time to prepare their own spells.
“Run!” The twent
y King-class mages quickly turned around and sped away.
Alone, Wesley would not have had the magical energy required to lock down all 20 targets. After all, King-class mages flew at incredibly fast speeds, especially over short distances.
But with the energy provided by the others, Wesley had been able to, nearly instantly, create a land of icy hell that spanned over four square miles. With so little time to react, none of the enemy mages were able to escape the ice.
Although they were trapped, it wasn’t as if the enemy magicians were out of options.
Some elementary-level magical seals could be imprinted onto clothes, jewelry, or even weapons. Even though these seals usually weren’t strong enough to kill a magician of a similar level, they were usable even when the caster was immobilized.
Using these seals, the mages quickly began to fight their way out of the blocks of ice they were enclosed in.
But Wesley’s team was not one to let such an advantage slip by.
As soon as Wesley had activated Ice Purgatory, the rest of his team had already begun to draw seals of their own.
Ice Purgatory, at the end of the day, was a control spell with limited offensive capabilities. Against weaker mages, perhaps it would be able to kill them, but against mages of the King-class level, it could only hold them in place for a few short seconds.
But these few seconds were all Wesley’s team needed.
Katherine completed her seal first.
Arcane Expansion! Using the spell instantly consumed nearly half of Katherine’s remaining mana, but would increase the power of her teammates spells by 20% for the next minute!
Katherine’s timing was truly exquisite. Just as she swiped her finger over the magic seal to activate it, the others finished their own seals.
A mere second after the effects of Arcane Expansion spread over the entire team, a flurry of spells and a lone figure flew towards those trapped in the air.
Two of the trapped mages were unable to escape from the ice and died instantly from the onslaught of spells, while several more were unable to shield themselves in time and were grievously injured.
Memory Seal- Volume 1 Page 1