The clear, sunny afternoon over the Bartfort Barony was violently interrupted. A low, guttural roar echoed across the fields, a sound that brought the peaceful life of the past few days to a shattering halt.
Hundreds of monsters came rushing out of a black Slug like portal.
Leon and Lex, recently graduated were on a ship on route to their Estate, they were in their military uniform as that was all they had.
When the captain of the ship notified the passengers that they could no longer be able to land on the next flying island because it was under attack by monsters.
The boys knowing full well that their was the one in front of them, didn't waste time before blasting out of the ship and flying home,
When they arrived they arrived they saw that their Father and Brother (Nick's) were handling the fight well with the smaller ones but they also looked up just as the first massive, black beast crested the nearby hill. It looked like an armored gorilla, easily the height of a mountain, its hide shimmering with a dull, unnatural light.
"Behemoths, but we don't have mechas to battle them, so we have no choice but to battle them without them " Leon shouted, his calm demeanor instantly dropping as adrenaline surged.
His Storm Grace activated on instinct; his hair began its chaotic shift between blue, yellow, and green, and static electricity crackled around his hands.
"Dad! Nicks!" Lex yelled, his golden eyes blazing as the Sunfire Aspect of his Eclipse Grace flared to life.
They shed their constricting jackets as they sprinted toward their homestead, where their family was already engaged in a desperate fight for survival.
In the courtyard, their father, Balcus, and their older brother, Nicks, were fighting back-to-back, facing two more beasts that had breached the outer defenses.
Balcus wielded a magi-steel polearm, his Artificial Fire Grace manifesting as searing heat that warped the air around him.
Nicks moved with a speed the twins had never seen from him before, his Artificial Wind Grace at a solid Rank C allowing him to create localized air currents for both offense and agile evasion.
"You two handle the 10 or so behemothswe will handle the small fry" Nicks yelled over the din of battle, using a vortex of wind to deflect a monster's heavy swipe.
"You got it" Leon responded, not breaking stride as he separated from Lex to tackle one behemoth nearest to him, katana in hand as electric currents raced on it.
Lex's Battle: Sunfire vs. Brute Force
Lex charged the first beast, an armored gorilla with thick, calcified fists. It roared, swinging a club-like limb in a wide arc designed to crush anything in its path.
Lex didn't block.
He channeled his Solar energy into the blade of his one-handed axe, the metal heating to a brilliant, orange-white. He met the monster's fist with a direct application of his Sunstrike power.
The impact was a clash of light and sound. The superheated axe bit into the monster's calcified armor with a sharp hiss. Heat overwhelmed raw power, and Lex cleaved deeply into the creature's arm. The beast roared in agony, pulling its limb back, black ichor boiling where the blade had cut it.
The monster, driven by pain, focused its rage entirely on Lex. It pounded its chest and charged again, opening its massive jaw to bite down on the cadet.
Now you've done it.
Lex activated his Flare Shield. A shimmering barrier of pure, intense heat erupted around him. The monster slammed into the shield, its momentum halted. The heat radiating from the shield instantly began to crisp the creature's face and fur.
Lex pushed forward, the shield amplifying the damage. The beast, realizing its charge was futile, tried to back away, but the heat was too intense. It clawed at its own burning face, stumbling backward.
Seeing his opening, Lex dropped the shield. The sun was high now, near high noon. He gathered a large amount of mana from his, soul and launched a blast of concentrated solar fire—Solar Blaze.
The attack struck the staggering monster square in the chest. The force lifted the beast off its feet, sending it crashing into the stone wall of the shed. It slumped to the ground, lifeless, leaving a large, charred imprint.
Lex stood there, chest heaving, a thin trail of steam rising from his axe blade and his body but he knew he couldn't rest yet as they were still more behemoths to fight,
Leon's Battle: Storm vs. Earth
Across the yard, Leon faced his opponents. These behemoth were smarter, maneuvering around Lex's attacks and trying to flank him.
Leon couldn't let that happen. He focused his Storm Grace, manipulating the air pressure around the monster's head.
CRACK!
A sharp sonic boom—a Sound Manipulation tactic—erupted right next to the beast's ear. The creature froze, stunned and disoriented, shaking its massive head violently.
It gave Lex the opening he needed. Lex, moving like a flash of light, landed a solid blow with his own axe, further injuring the beast.
The monster recovered quickly, shaking off the sonic stun faster than expected. It turned its attention to Leon, who was too close.
"Leon, look out!" Balcus shouted.
Not today! Leon pushed his mana out, not just into a sound attack, but into creating a current of high-pressure air around his own body.
He moved with sudden, startling speed—his Wind Dominance in action.
He decapitated the monster just as it reached him.
He planted his feet, and with a flick of his katana, sent a torrent of hardened water droplets—an improvised Rainweave attack—pummeling another behemoth's eyes.
Blinded, the creature roared in frustration and swung wildly. Leon danced around the attacks, using his speed to stay just out of reach. He needed a finishing move.
He raised his katana, the air around the blade supercharging. Static built up rapidly, the green, blue, and yellow highlights in his hair flaring brightly. He brought the blade down, calling upon a focused, C-Rank lightning bolt.
ZAP!
The lightning struck the monster's shoulder, where Lex had cut it. The energy surged through the wound, making the beast spasm violently. It crashed to the dirt, twitching once before going still. And he rushed back into the fray.
The Aftermath
The silence that followed was heavy, broken only by heavy breathing. Lex stood over his kills; Leon recovered his breath near his. Balcus and Nicks approached them, their faces streaked with soot and sweat, but alight with pride.
"Rank C, I presume?" Balcus asked, his voice gruff but warm, clapping each of them on the shoulder. "Impressive. You handled that like veterans."
"You guys looked badass," Nicks admitted with a smile, wiping sweat from his brow. "Glad you're home."
The crisis was averted. The Bartfort men had protected their home. They gathered the family around the shed, the adrenaline fading into the relief of survival.
They knew this incident was an anomaly.
Peace returned to the island shortly after, providing several years of normalcy and steady growth. The twins trained daily, incorporating their military tactics into their quiet countryside lives, preparing for the next inevitable step of their future as nobles at the Academy.