Magesmith System: The First Smith God

The boy seemed annoyed by the comments that came from the stands, fiddling with his fingers in an impatient manner as he waited for his bout to start.

”You may begin! ”

The moment the announcer uttered the words, Kaion began doing what he did in the previous round. Focusing his mana into an irregularly shaped ball.

”Not that again, ” complained a few of the spectators in the crowd.

[If it isn broken, don fix it,] Kaion thought to himself, looking up to see if Gray would waste his time chanting as his previous opponent did.

However, to his surprise, Grays entire body was cowled in jolts of lightning. A split moment later, Gray came charging toward him at full speed.

Kaions concentration went haywire, and the mana he expended into the magic bullet was wasted.

Gray was moving at speeds not normally attainable by someone his age. However, that speed was just within Kaions realm, with him being a tad bit faster. If there was one thing Kaion could win at, it was a battle of physical ability.

Kaion dodged to the side, sending clouds of dust into the air as he rebound off the ground before bolting towards Gray.

”Don- ” Gray couldn even finish his sentence before making impact with Kaion. Sure, Kaion had landed a pretty good hit, sending Gray rolling to the ground. However his body felt like it had just been struck by lightning, in fact, that was indeed the case.

The cowling didn only increase Grays speed, but it also acted as a defense mechanism.

[Damn magic release users and their stupid tricks,] Kaion thought to himself as he tried fighting off the spasms that shook his entire body.

Gray stood up slowly, wiping the blood from his nose.

”You got through my cowling? ”Gray asked, genuinely surprised by the fact.

”Thank you. Perhaps I need to improve on that, ” he said as he looked at his own blood, the surprise on his face making it seem like it was the first time he had ever shed blood. Gray walked towards the fallen Kaion, taking his time with his incantations.

”Lord of Thunder and lightning, hear me. Bless me with your… ” as Gray chanted, a series of concentric rings appering directly above Kaion, its perimeter buzzing with electric energy.

[Damnit, I have to stand up,] Kaion thought to himself. Sadly, simply willing his limbs to do it didn seem to be enough. Even now, keeping consciousness was difficult.

The excruciating pain that exuded from every fiber of his body was mind-numbing, enough to make even a grown man pass out.

”-smite my enemies, guarantee my victory. Lightning bolt! ” Gray finished his incantation, causing the concentric rings to rotate.

[Im sorry Lira, it looks like I failed,] Kaion thought to himself, accepting his loss.

What a joke, though he claimed to be a realist, he went and gave Lira hope, even when he knew there was close to none to begin with. As the rings began glowing with power, it felt as if the whole world were moving in slow motion.

The lightning bolt seemed slow, almost as if it were just slow enough for him to move out of the way. Sadly, though his mind was now in this state of… whatever it was called, his body still moved at normal speeds.

A moment before the lightning bolt struck him, he felt a warm energy course through his veins, and the sound of metal hitting metal rang in his ears.

[No, Im going to win this. Im going to get Lira out of the slums!]

The lightning bolt fell like a hammer from heaven, smiting Kaion straight on.

”I lowered the amount of mana I passed into it, youll be okay, ” Gray said, before walking away from the unconscious Kaion.

”Winner, Gray Suliv- ”

”…Lira… needs this, ” Kaion whispered, picking himself off the ground. His body swayed from side to side, and his eyes were closed. The air around him coalesced with power as he focused all his mana into an irregular ball.

”Whats going on? ” whispered the spectators in the stands. It was clear that Kaion shouldn have been able to stand up, much less focus enough to cast any sort of spell.

Gray cowled his whole body in lightning once again and approached Kaion, however, he stopped his advance once he saw how large the magic bullet had become.

In an instant it had grown to the same size as Kaion himself, its power sending out humming sounds as the mana coalesced within it.

”Participant Kaion, lethal spells are prohibited withi- ” but before the announcer could finish talking, one of the judges dressed in blue robes phased into the arena, landing right beside Kaion.

Kaion was mumbling on about something inaudibly. His posture zombie-like as the ball of mana continued growing within his palm.

”How a kid your age has this much mana, I don know, but its obvious someone as reckless as you isn fit to use magic. Thank the gods you don seem to have a magic release, ” commented the mage, before touching Grays magic bullet with the palm of his hand.

The ball disappeared just as fast as it had appeared, and with that, Kaion fell to the ground.

”Lira… ”

***

”What? ” Kaion croaked, just now regaining consciousness. The last thing he remembered was a strange sound ringing in his ears before being blasted by lightning.

”Where am I? ”

”The infirmary, ” answered a man dressed in white. ”Youve been disqualified from the competition, ” continued the man, before moving to turn to the patient he had to deal with.

”I-I failed, didn I? ” Kaion asked, but the healer seemed too focused on his current patient to pay Kaion any mind.

Kaion reluctantly got off his bed, trying to come to terms with what had happened.

He wasn going to change the state of his living conditions, he wouldn be able to get his sister the medication she needed. He would never overcome the barriers that the gods put on him. He would never amount to anything but a slumdog.

As he made his way out of the infirmary he thought of how he would break the news to Lira. The problem was that he was certain she would try to comfort him, that she would say something like Its okay. Well manage, we always do, and he hated that shed have to say that. 5 Years of training, 5 years of giving Lira hope that one day she might be cured, all for naught.

[No, I can ,] he decided. He wouldn let this be the end, even if it killed him, he wouldn let the rest of their days be hopeless nothings.