《The Blade of Zarvûl》


 Prologue: the departure

    As his slightly long black hair hung to the sides of his face, Will''s blue eyes take one last look at his hometown of Rivik before he boards the train. He never thought he''d feel all too much when leaving it. And yet he did feel some sort of pain at the loss of his family. He didn''t know why really, he''d never been on good terms with his family.


    It doesn''t matter thought Will, I''ll write a letter after the first month or so. Will looked for a place to sit in the wagon but unfortunately all the seats were taken, a shame, for Will was hoping to get an entire seat to himself so he could revise his knowledge before arriving in Vallen. He moved on to the next wagon and spotted an empty seat opposite to an old man that appeared to be...a thaumaturgist?!.


    Will was pretty shocked, but also intrigued, it wasn''t everyday he could get to meet a thaumaturgist what with him living in a such a small town. Though he supposed that didn''t really count if he was on a train on its way to Vallen.


    He approached the man and said "Excuse me, do you mind if I sit here?". With a sigh the old man replied "If you must.".


    Will seated himself and observed the book the man was holding,


    "Advanced thaumatic exercises in case you were wondering"


    "Why would you be reading a book about exercises you can''t practice?"


    "Now why in the world would you think I can''t do these exercises."


    "I thought it was impossible to use magic inside of official trains."


    "And what makes you so sure of that?"


    "The fact that there is a thaumatic mana blocker in every wagon of this train."


    The old man raised an eyebrow at this, "Know some magic do you?"


    "Well I''d have to if I plan to be enrolling in the academy"


    This statement rather surprised the old man, "Well I certainly didn''t expect to meet one of my students so soon."


    "Your students?"


    "Why yes, did I not introduce myself? I am Klyven, and currently I am the academy''s only thaumaturgy teacher. But back to the point, you wanted to know how I''d be able to do magic in the train?"


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. "Yes actually, I don''t quite understand how to be frank, the mana blockers in this train obstruct any kind of transmission, even simple telekinetics are impossible to do."


    "What you say is mostly true, but you are mistaken about one very important thing."


    "And that would be?"


    "That the mana blockers don''t actually block mana transmission, they only limit it."


    "I..., I don''t think I understand."


    "Think of it like this: when you are running you expend stamina, imagine that that stamina is your base mana, do you follow?"


    "Yes, I do".


    "Good, now imagine that you are running with heavy weights, what do you think will happen?"


    "I''ll expend more stamina, or in this case, mana. But I still don''t understand ho-"


    The realisation then dawns on Will as he figures it out, I''m an idiot.


    "The weights represent the mana blockers don''t they? It''s not impossible for a mana link to be made, it just requires much more mana for a link to be made."


    "Indeed, very good. The name "mana blocker" was mostly chosen to trick people into thinking the device blocked all form of mana transmission, though with the increased ammount necessary for even the simplest of things it doesn''t really make much of a difference"


    The train then comes to a stop as it arrives in Vallen, we''ve been talking this long?, the ride should have taken at least an hour.


    "Well I suppose that about does for our lesson, I should return home, I look forward to seeing you in class mister...?


    "Schmidt, Will Schmidt"


    "Well then mister Schmidt, until the next lesson."


    Klyven then goes his seperate way, most likely to his house in Vallen, it would be very strange for an academy teacher not to have one. Will immediately goes in the direction of the academy, finding the way will be easy, what with all the roadboards giving it away, not to mention the giant cathedral-like academy building that dwarfs all others in the city.


    This is it, this is where my journey begins.


    He takes a step, the first of many.

 Chapter 1: the arrival

    Will makes his way toward the academy, the trip only took about 30 minutes total, and that was with Will taking in the city. But considering the academy''s importance to the city it was only normal for it to be so close to the station. As Will arrives at the academy he sees markings in a mysterious language that somehow felt strangely familiar to him, it''s probably just my imagination Will thought.


    The guard at the academy noticed his stares at the markings but decided to remain silent, Will then walked into the entrance but was stopped by the guard''s spear blocking the path. It was a magnificent weapon bearing intricate markings of the city lord''s crest, a roaring dragon that released flames from it''s mouth, "Nice try peasant boy, but you don''t look like a mage to me so you better scram before this gets ugly." the guard said. Will was shocked to say the least, "Excuse me?". "Ugly it is then", the guard was about to raise his fist when Will heard a familiar voice behind him.


    "Will my boy, you seem to have found your way here." Klyven said, "Master Klyven, you know this boy?" the guard said in surprise. "Yes, we met on the train ride here. A very bright young man, I look forward to teaching him. I trust that he will not encounter any difficulties from you?" Klyven said in a suggestive tone. "Of course not master Klyven" the guard replied, every ounce that rudeness from before completely wiped away. "Good, keep it that way. Now then Will, shall we enter" Klyven said as he turned to Will, "Gladly sir" Will answered.


    Will then proceeded to follow Klyven into the academy but noticed that the guard was still giving him a despising look. When they were a bit further Will said "Excuse me sir, but why was the guard so wary of me? Sure I might not be the most well dressed but I certainly don''t look like an average citizen.". "I''m afraid you''ll have to get used to that. You see even though our society has progressed so far that we can even adapt magic to create things like the train that you and I traveled along with many other advancements. The academy is still considered to be a privileged institution, only meant to educate the highest class of our society, that of course being the noble families in all of Theya. Even though the academy regulations explicitly state that all knowledge is free and anyone is allowed into the academy, most are forced to leave through the political powers of the noble students, if they''re not killed first that is. It''s despicable."


    This shocked Will greatly, he had already overcome great adversity by being completely self-taught in his magic, to think that even after all that he would still be seen as a lowly peasant devoid of talent. He decided to let the thought go and focus on the matters at hand. Then he realized something, "Sir, are you a noble?" Will asked. "Depends on who you ask." Klyven said,maintaining that "Some would say I am nothing but a parasite leeching of the academy, while the crown holds an entirely opposite opinion toward me. Though I''d guess most people would lean toward the former of the two.". Will then asked the big question, "What noble family are you from then?". Klyven then raised an eyebrow at him, not unlike he did in the train when he found out Will was a mage. "That''s quite a bold question lad." Klyven said. "I''m sorry sir" Will said. "Don''t be." Klyven responded, "If we never ask, we"ll never know.".The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Will was most surprised at this statement since it was a direct quote from the book of lies, a controversial book that claimed that every monarchy was doomed to colapse in on itself at one point. This of course did not sit well with the nobility as it claimed their "absolute" power to be temporary, and thus no longer absolute. Therefore the book was virtually impossible to find in official institutions, the only reason Will got a hold of it was because a traveling merchant passing through Rivik gave it to him for free if he bought 2 other books. For Will, obsessed with knowledge as he is, furthermore the town of Rivik was so desolate that the chance of any authority finding was non existent. Will decided to keep quiet of his knowledge of the book and hoped that Klyven didn''t notice his reaction at the quote.


    "Well since you want to know so badly my full name is Klyvan Blavik of the Blavik house." Klyven said. The Blavik family?! As in the family that was massacred over 30 years ago?! Will thought. Klyven then continued his explanation. "Like most people you''ve probably heard of them, they were massacred quite some time ago. That is to say all but me were killed. They were killed by a royal cerberus, a giant demon dog with three heads, each head manipulating a seperate element such as fire or ice. Whoever released it from the dungeon is still not known to this very day. After the massacre the crown offered to fund my life until I graduated the academy, this was mostly due to hous Blavik''s high loyalty and service to the crown."


    Will, eager to change the subject, asked "What is the dungeon?". Klyven then looked at him in shock and then proceeded to laugh loudly, "I forget that you are still a new student. Though whoever taught you must have at least mentioned dungeons?" he then said. "I''m self taught" Will said. "Well, that certainly explains it. Though it surprises me to find out you never had a teacher, most people that come have had extensive professional training beforehand. Nevertheless, it is fairly adequate to say that knowing what dungeons are is mandatory." Klyven said. "A dungeon." he continued, "Is an underground area that has been separated from the normal flow between the magical realm of the ether and the physical realm by a natural magic barier. Because of the miniscule difference between the two realms in a dungeon, there are many more artifacts and magical creatures in dungeons. The barier between our world and the dungeon holds out any forces trying to get out, and it can only be opened by mages. Furthermore, a dungeon can never virtually never dissapear, if it does it will revive itself after some time. Everything about dungeons is regenative, artifacts, weapons, creatures, they all get replaced after some time.". "So a dungeon is a potentially limitless resource pool." Will said, "yes, it is. Though it is wise never to underestimate it." Klyven said, "Now then, I believe it is time for you to go to you dorm room, your lessons will start tomorrow.". "Certainly sir, goodbye." Will said as he made his way to the dorm.

 Chapter 2: Nightmare

    Will thought about Klyven''s suggestion to go to bed and founds himself agreeing, tomorrow would be a busy day with his first lessons. As he entered the dorm he made his way to the room he was asigned. He''d been informed of his room number a week prior to leaving, and so he made his way to room 21. the dorm building itself was as lushly decorated with engravings and symbols as the front gates, it was composed of a ground floor and 2 floors above that. Once he got to his room he took a look around. The room was not the greatest he''d ever seen, it had a bed, a cupboard, a table with 2 chairs, a desk , a closet and some bookshelves. Will made short work of putting all his belongings in place, mostly made up of clothes and books about practicing magic. After that Will laid down on his bed and he fell fast asleep.


    Will found himself surrounded in shadows. He heard a voice in an alien tone telling, no, begging him to something. "What do you want?" Will tried to ask, but he found himself silent. As the voice''s volume kept increasing so too did Will''s concern at the situation. Where was he, how did he get here, and most importantly, how could he get out of here? Then it appeared, a figure in the darkness that seemed to be... weeping? Will approached the figure out of curiosity and with every step he took he could see the shadows around him reforming, it was almost as if they were paving the way for him. When he had but a few steps left to go the figure seemed to notice his presence and turned around to face him. That''s when he saw it in its full form, it was a shapeless thing yet it had form still. It was as if a man had his skin burned away and replaced with shadows, its hands consisted of long claws for fingers and its feet were like that of a raptor, but worst of all were the eyes. As Will looked at them he appeared to be lost inside them, lost in the empty void of nothing they contained. The thing approached him and though every instinct he had told him to run he could not move. As Will desperatelly tried to move the thing said something to him "Elvie, Varathin.", then it drove its long claws straight through his chest.


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.Will awoke screaming.


    "Thank god, it was just a nightmare." Will said as his hyperventilating ceased. It was strange, he''d never had many dreams throughout his life, in fact he couldn''t remember a single time he did. What concerned him though, was the realism of the nightmare. It just felt so real, like he was there. He reflexively placed a hand over his chest, "At least there''s no holes in my chest." He said in a joking manner, trying to laugh it off. His grandfather used to say "Humor is the cure to all sickness", then again his grandfather died from a raging fever when Will was still a child. Will shaked his head, I should be thinking about more important things, like my first lesson he thought. He then decided he''d get ready to go to class, as he did he noticed a piece of paper on the floor just before the door that led out of his room. Will went over to pick it up and saw that it was a letter to all first arrivals to go to the center courtyard of the acacemy, there a teacher would escort them to their main classroom and answer any questions they had. well then, at least I know where to go now, Will thought as he went on made his way to the agreed meeting place.