The Weakest Commoner Controls All Elements

The Wolf and the Dragon

Oswin coughed violently, and a thick splash of dark blood hit the polished marble floor.

The wet sound broke the silence of the inner temple. The mage clutched his chest and leaned his body weight against his wooden staff. His face turned a sickly shade of white. The crowd stared in genuine shock at the empty space where the massive beast used to be.

Rylen stared at the marble floor for a fraction of a second before a loud, booming laugh erupted from his chest.

"Look at this pathetic display," Rylen shouted. He pointed a gloved finger at Jamie. "The peasant could not even scratch the illusion. He missed the target entirely."

"The beast is gone," Jamie stated.

"Because Mage Oswin ran out of mana," Rylen countered loudly. He turned his back on Jamie and addressed the crowded balconies. "We all know the mage suffered lethal injuries in the last demon attack. My superior fire strike dealt massive damage to the construct earlier. The artifact required too much energy to heal the beast. Oswin simply could not sustain the spell for five consecutive attacks."

The nobles in the balconies murmured in agreement. The logic fit perfectly into their prejudiced worldview. A noble dealt the lethal damage, and the commoner simply stood there while the spell collapsed.

"The commoner failed," the female candidate added. She smoothed her expensive silk dress and glared at Jamie. "He did zero damage. He just waved his hand and the magic died. Expel him."

"Throw him out," the noble in the gilded breastplate demanded. "He is wasting the time of the Church."

Laughter filled the tiered seating. The local chiefs and the priests pointed at Jamie, mocking his relaxed stance and his cheap clothes. They called him a fraud. They demanded he be sent back to the stables where he belonged.

Jamie kept his hands in his pockets and watched the mage.

Oswin wiped the blood from his chin with the back of his sleeve. He knew the truth. He felt the terrifying destruction that tore through his spell and rebounded into his own magical core. The peasant had not missed. The peasant had shattered a centuries old magical array with a casual flick of his wrist. Oswin felt a cold sweat form on the back of his neck, yet he chose to remain silent about his discovery.

"Silence," Oswin commanded. His voice rasped from the blood, but it carried enough authority to quiet the room.

"Throw him out, Mage Oswin," Rylen pressed. He smiled and rested his hand on his sword hilt. "Let us move on to the real candidates."

"The boy stays in the trial," Oswin declared.

The crowd groaned in loud protest. Rylen frowned, the smug smile slipping from his face.

"He dealt no damage," Rylen argued. "The rules of the Church are clear. Only those with power advance."

"I make the rules in this hall," Oswin snapped. He stood up straight and struck the base of his staff against the floor to demand order. "He is still breathing and he is still standing in the testing circle. That is enough to proceed to the second phase. Take your positions."

Oswin paced in a slow circle around the five candidates. He deliberately avoided looking directly at Jamie.

"A Holy Knight must do more than shoot raw energy at a stationary target," Oswin explained. "You must manipulate your element. You must give it form, structure, and intent. You must forge a creature capable of fighting alongside you in the chaos of a demonic incursion."

The three lesser nobles nodded in understanding. They stepped forward and began to gather their mana.

"You will each construct an elemental beast," Oswin continued. "These creations will fight each other in open combat right here on this floor. The candidate whose creature dies first is eliminated from the recruitment. The rest will advance to the final stage."

"This will be a very short trial," Rylen boasted.

The captain stepped to the front of the group and raised both his hands toward the vaulted ceiling. Roaring orange flames erupted from his palms. The fire swirled and condensed, taking the shape of a massive reptilian head. Scales of solid heat formed along a thick, muscular neck.

Rylen roared in exertion, and a towering fire dragon materialized on the marble floor. The intense heat radiating from the beast singed the eyebrows of the nearest spectators.

The crowd erupted in loud cheers. The dragon let out a deafening roar that shook the stone pillars.

The female candidate stepped up next. She summoned a torrent of pressurized water and shaped it into a massive, coiled serpent. The water snake hissed and snapped its jaws, leaving wet marks on the dry stone.

The noble in the gilded breastplate slammed his fists onto the floor. Chunks of marble and stone tore loose, forming the jagged, heavy limbs of an earth golem.

The final noble thrust his arms forward. A violent gale of wind took the shape of a giant hunting hawk. The bird hovered above the group, its wings composed of razor sharp air currents.

"Look at this majesty," Rylen said. He crossed his arms and admired his towering dragon. He turned his head and smirked at Jamie. "Are you going to build a mud pie, peasant? Show us your creature."

Jamie looked at the four elemental constructs. They were large, flashy, and built for intimidation rather than efficiency. They wasted massive amounts of mana just existing in the open air.

"Go on," the female candidate mocked. "Or did Mage Oswin running out of mana ruin your chances again?"

Jamie did not answer. He held out his right hand.

He reached into his core and pulled a fraction of his stored power. He wove the freezing cold of his ice element together with the chaotic speed of his wind element. He added a spark of concentrated fire to act as the engine for the creation.

A small vortex of white mist formed in his palm. Jamie tossed the mist onto the floor.

The cloud cleared to reveal a wolf. The creature was small, standing barely at the height of Jamie's waist. It radiated a localized aura of bitter frost that coated the nearby marble in a thin layer of solid ice.

The beast possessed a unique mutation. Its left eye glowed with a piercing blue light, while the right eye burned with a bright red ember.

Rylen looked at the small wolf and burst into another fit of laughter.

"Is that a dog?" Rylen asked. He wiped a tear of mirth from his eye. "You summoned a stray dog to fight a dragon?"

The nobles in the balconies laughed along with the captain. They threw insults and loose copper coins down at the small frost wolf. The earth golem shifted its weight and caused the floor to tremble. The wolf did not flinch. It stood perfectly still and stared up at the towering constructs.

"This is an insult to the Holy Knights," the noble with the wind hawk stated.

"It is pathetic," the female candidate agreed. She looked at her massive water serpent with pride. "We should execute him for mocking the Church."

"Begin the combat," Oswin ordered. He backed away toward the safety of the temple walls.

Rylen did not command his dragon to move. He looked at the three lesser nobles and smiled.

"The peasant has insulted our noble lineage all morning," Rylen said. "Take his stray dog apart. I will wait my turn."

The three nobles grinned in agreement. They wanted the honor of humiliating the commoner in front of the local chiefs.

"Crush it into paste," the noble in the breastplate commanded.

The massive earth golem lumbered forward. It raised two heavy stone fists and brought them crashing down toward the small wolf. The impact shattered the marble floor and sent a thick cloud of dust into the air.

"Too easy," the noble laughed.

The dust settled. The crater was empty.

The frost wolf appeared directly behind the golem. It had moved with the blinding speed of a gale force wind. The nobles did not even register the blur.

"Drown the rat," the female candidate screamed.

The giant water serpent lunged across the floor. It opened its jaws to swallow the wolf whole. The serpent clamped down hard, but it only bit empty air.

The wolf stood on top of the serpent's head. The red and blue eyes flashed. The localized frost aura exploded outward in a violent wave.

The temperature plummeted in a fraction of a second. The water serpent froze solid from its head down to the tip of its tail. The expanding ice cracked loudly in the quiet room.

The wolf stomped its front paw against the frozen head.

The solid ice serpent shattered into a million harmless pieces. The female candidate gasped and fell to her knees as her mental connection to her mana snapped.

"Tear it to shreds," the third noble panicked.

The wind hawk dove from the ceiling. Its razor sharp wings aimed to decapitate the wolf before it could jump away.

The frost wolf looked up. The red eye flared with raw power. The beast opened its jaws and unleashed a concentrated beam of white hot fire.

The inferno struck the wind hawk in the middle of its dive. The fire fed on the concentrated oxygen in the wind construct, incinerating the bird in an explosive flash of light. The hawk vanished in a burst of black smoke. The noble who summoned it collapsed onto his back, clutching his chest in agony.

The earth golem finally turned around to face the threat. It raised a fist to swing again.

The wolf did not wait. It darted forward with wind enhanced speed. It leaped into the air and crashed straight through the center of the golem's rocky chest. The impact pulverized the structural core of the construct. The stones lost their magic and tumbled uselessly onto the floor.

The noble in the breastplate dropped to his knees, his breathing ragged.

The entire battle lasted less than ten seconds.

The loud cheers from the balconies died in an instant. The mocking laughter evaporated into thin air.

The local chiefs gripped the railings of the balconies, their knuckles turning white. The priests stopped writing in their ledgers. The silence in the temple was absolute, broken only by the sound of the falling stones from the dead golem settling on the floor.

Three trained nobles knelt on the marble in total defeat. They stared at the small frost wolf in absolute horror.

The wolf landed softly on the ground. It stood amid the broken ice, the charred smoke, and the shattered stones. The frost aura around its paws intensified, freezing the debris.

The beast slowly turned its head. The glowing red eye and the glowing blue eye locked directly onto the massive fire dragon.

The dragon took a step backward. The towering construct made of solid flame actually recoiled from the small wolf.

Rylen felt his smug smile slide off his face. His heart pounded violently against his ribs. He looked at the three defeated nobles and then at the monster standing in front of him.

Jamie kept his hands in his pockets. He stepped over a fallen stone and walked up to stand beside his wolf.

Jamie looked past the terrified dragon and locked eyes directly with the sweating captain.

"It is just you and me now," Jamie said.