《The Institute and Me》 Chapter #1: The Institute and Me The Learning Institute of Magic, the most prestigious school in the continent. Founded by the emperor almost 400 years ago, it stands as the apex of education and wealth, unrivaled by any other centre of study. It takes talented individuals from around the land and helps them harness their skills in order to make a new generation of superleaders. In this time of relative peace between the fifteen kingdoms, many heirs and prominent figures in society are sent to this school. Their success dictates the quality of the rest of their life. It also acts as a diplomatic hub for these noble families. The school gives students the chance to build relations with the future heads of commerce, power and kingdoms, others whom they would have never interacted with otherwise. In many ways, the Learning Institute serves as the center of the world, and today, I join the hundreds of other 15-year-old teens looking for a chance at glory, fame and international prestige. I¡¯m Myr Lethe, the third-born son to the Lethe family. I¡¯m not what you would call an outstanding person. Comparatively, I am rather unremarkable compared to some of my other peers. Frankly, the only reason why I¡¯m here is because of my family. The unspoken rule of nobility; if you are a noble, you must go to the Institute. Unfortunately for me, I classify as a noble and therefore I must be sent here if I want to maintain my usually lazy lifestyle. So here I am, sitting alone in this carriage, on my way to 5 years of hard work, increasing amounts of effort and social obligations. Normally, I would have been pretty upset about this, I quite enjoy doing nothing all day. However, I feel a strange excitement instead. A feeling that pushes me to the edge of my seat and keeps me thinking about what¡¯s going to happen. I don¡¯t know why, maybe the reputation of the school is influencing my opinion of it, maybe it was the influence of my family, or my friends. I don¡¯t exactly know. What I do know is that excitement isn¡¯t a fun feeling. Time progresses slowly and the carriage ride isn¡¯t the most entertaining thing in the world. The tiniest bumps in the road, the faintest breezes through the trees and the most silent cries of woodland animals. I¡¯m only noticing these things because I¡¯m not distracted by anything else. The carriage wheels hit a rock in the road and the carriage is slightly launched in the air. I cross my legs and look outside the window in order to distract myself. The forest is thick, heavy almost. Probably infested with monsters too. Thankfully the more dangerous ones don¡¯t wander too close to the edge of the forest. That¡¯s what I was told at least. I didn¡¯t feel like running today. I sit uncomfortably in my robe. It¡¯s long, and often drapes against the ground, catching dust and making me sneeze. Its usual black colour blends perfectly in the dark of the night, but here, in the early morning, it is annoyingly outstanding. I can¡¯t have that. I snap my fingers and mutter a few words under my breath. I feel mana surround me and the colour of my robe changes to a clean white. Perfect. I don¡¯t like to stand out. My magic helps me in that regard. I continue to daydream, because there¡¯s nothing else to do. Past memories re-emerge. I remember when I was a kid and I used to run around with my other brothers, mum and dad were always watching¡­ good times. There was the castle, the fields, the forest¡­ let''s stop there. It¡¯s not like any of those things are gone, maybe I¡¯m getting ahead of myself because I already feel homesick. I feel the carriage begin to slow and I look outside my window. In the distance I see a large tall stone wall. Reinforced with a metal crosshair that covers the surface. I grimace as I notice the many figures standing in front of the gate. It¡¯s at that moment, I knew, I¡¯m probably going to have to wait alongside them. I dismount the carriage and look to my carriage rider. He seemed disinterested and bored. I waved him goodbye, he waved back before sending the horses on the path back home. I watched the wooden carriage bound off, quickly fading behind the many hills that formed the path to the school. I turn back to the school and it is then when I can actually take in the true glory of the school. Like I had noticed before, tall stone walls made up its anterior. They were seemingly coated with a glaze of metal but I knew that was just a very intricate iron mesh used for conducting spells. Towers predominated most of the space, evenly spaced on the wall. They were armed to the brim with various ranged weapons and anti-magic constructs. I could see patrols walking across the battlements, also armed and carefully watching the forest that surrounded the students. Of course they would be on higher guard today, I¡¯ve heard rumors of students being attacked by the magical beasts in the forest. Apart from the defensive arrangements, there were other towers, probably meant for study and magic. The scholarly, simple-slotted towers towered over the smaller, much wider castle towers. They stood ahead of the clear blue sky and cast long shadows on the ground in front of me. The prime of my focus, however, was the gate that arched from in between the towers. The students crowded around this area the most. That meant I couldn¡¯t get a good look at it, but at least I could appreciate its size. I decided it was time to stop gawking at the castle and I approached the group in front of me. This was the time to start making friends, and very important future alliances. I quickly scanned my surrounding area. No royals. I sighed. My year has the highest concentration of royal heirs in most of history. Only one royal family has no heir in the Institute this year, that being the Ironwood family, or my kingdom. ???: ¡°Hey!¡± I looked up from my self pity to find a rather round boy walking towards me. He wore a thick red and white attire which looked like a cultural norm in the north. He made his way towards me, his wide smile surprisingly refreshing in the sea of stoic faces. ???: ¡°I¡¯m Atnas, I noticed you were alone and making friends is important so¡­ wanna be my friend?¡± And with a childlike innocence, he extended his hand. The purity I saw in him was so abundant and clear. I doubt that this kid had ever lied in his life. I took his arm and shook it promptly. If I¡¯m going to have to be here for 5 years, I might as well get find someone fun to spend this time with. This kid definitely looks like fun. ¡°I¡¯m Myr, It¡¯s good to meet you too.¡± I also realized I have no idea what¡¯s happening and Atnas seems like the type of boy to know these types of things. Atnas: ¡°Great! You¡¯re the first person to actually shake my hand without me mentioning my last name. I swear, people use those more than actually words here. Like ¡®oh, I¡¯m from this and this family¡¯. As if that means anything.¡± I stare at him blankly. I didn¡¯t understand a word he said. Thankfully, I didn¡¯t need to, at least I hope. Myr: ¡°Do you know why we¡¯re waiting?¡± Atnas: ¡°Ah, a firstborn eh? Me too, at least my dad told me a bit. Apparently, the teachers are preparing for an entrance exam. This is the first year their doing this. I heard the student council had something to do with this. Pretty exciting stuff actually! I¡¯ve been dying to test out my skills on something.¡± An entrance exam? I never heard about this! And how come mum and dad didn¡¯t say anything? Probably too busy with that new spell. I sighed. I hope it¡¯s not combat related, maybe just a show of magic? I can definitely make a show¡­ Atnas: ¡°It¡¯s going to be great, I love practical exams, I¡¯ll blow my competition away! I have so many spells I wanted to try out, I just hope my opponents aren¡¯t too weak¡­¡± ¡­Damn that student council¡­ Atnas looked at me concerned. He probably saw the sour look I was giving. Atnas: ¡°Don¡¯t worry Myr! The fighting is only for those in the magic program, plus it¡¯s tournament style! One on one. You only need to beat two of your opponents to get accepted. I¡¯m sure you can manage that. There are a lot of weak competitors after all! With a bit of luck and some of that mana surrounding you, you can easily pass! Course, if you wanna show off you can keep going, I heard there was a big prize at the end. I think I¡¯ll try and go for that. I¡¯m also interested in the other royals, I wonder how strong they are¡­¡± He started to drone on about the tournament while I could only sit and sulk. Metaphorically of course. Atnas: ¡°By the way Myr, what kingdom are you from. I¡¯m from Arctica. I don¡¯t usually like to pry but this is pretty important to me.¡± Atnas¡¯s round face turned a little bit serious. I didn¡¯t like his seriousness, it ruined his good guy appearance. Myr: ¡°Ironwood. I¡¯m from Ironwood.¡± I answered him quickly, hoping that seriousness would disappear. Thankfully it did as his facial features softened. Or rather deflated. His face looked like it could never hold an actual edge. Everyone from Ironwood looks constantly angry. Atnas: ¡°Good¡­ good. Either way!¡± His talks continued and time started to melt away. Before I knew it thirty minutes had gone by. Atnas is really good at consuming my time. Suddenly I saw movement near the crowd. My eyes shifted there instinctively and his eyes followed too. The gates started to open, moving slowly and dragging the heavy metal across the ground. A dust cloud formed and the crowd moved with it. Out from the darkness of the tunnel emerged a couple handful of people, large quantities of mana surrounding their personage. One of them stepped forward, a tall important looking woman with glasses and a perfect posture that exuded dignity, influence and the fact that talking to her would probably bore me to death. ???: ¡°Welcome to the Institute of Magic children. I am your headmaster. It is here where you throw away everything you were before and focus on developing your talent. Whether it be mathematics, the sciences or practical arcana, you will learn it here, all of it. But first, we must separate the weak from the strong. This is the first year we will have a practical exam and the first year we actually test to see if you found your way here through raw strength or meaningless gold.¡± The gate, once dark, suddenly flashed with magic and a hole in the space appeared. Colours filled my vision and what I could only assume a portal was formed. Portals¡­ huh? The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Atnas: ¡°PORTALS!? THEY HAVE PORTALS!?¡± Atnas¡¯s reaction may have been exaggerated compared to the rest of the crowd, but his words perfectly summarized what they were feeling. I forgot portals weren¡¯t a common type of magic. Though, even I¡¯m impressed. The size of the portal¡­ Guards started to flood through the magic hole and the headmaster started to speak again, her words just barely able to overcome the noise caused by ripping a hole through space. Headmaster: ¡°Once you are ready, you may enter your portal. Studious majors will be sent to a practical exam involving the maths and sciences of magic whereas Magic majors will be sent to the arena were you will watch your peers fight for acceptance into the school. I can only wish you the best of luck. You will need it.¡± With that, the headmaster, followed by the other teachers walked inside the portal, leaving the crowd of children with a few guards probably there to make sure the portal isn¡¯t rushed. Atnas: ¡°Woah, I knew the Institute was impressive, but this is actually incredible. Come on Myr, lets go! I¡¯ve been to the Institute stadium before and the amount of good seats are limited.¡± I nodded and he grabbed my hand and dashed through the crowd. Despite his stature, he was pretty capable and easily brushed aside the students also hurried to get in. When we neared the front, we slowed down, Atnas could see guards moving students who rushed to get inside to the back of the line. After only a tiny bit of waiting, we walked past the guards and into the portal. There we were met with the stadium. I¡¯ve heard about it before, but it really is impressive. Long rows of seats that line the nearly fortress-like structure of the walls, many of them already full with students and parents. It looked like it could seat 40 000 people, though, most of the seats would be empty today. The bottom row was completely full though. There were obscure passageways that lead deeper inside the stadium, and tall columns that held large slabs of stone that served as roofs and more areas for seats. There were fifteen overarching platforms outfitted with the best view and guarded by guards. I could see some of them were used. Seems like the royals were actually here. Looking down, I could see the arena in its entirety. It was mostly comprised of a miniature forest that sectioned off the middle from the rest of the area. Around that were other terrain types, a body of water, dunes, hills, a mountainous area that peaked near the edge of the seats and a darkened spot in the corner of the stadium. I took a second to marvel at the gargantuan size and depth the arena held. Atnas and I made our way to the nearest staircase. There we started our descent downward towards what he probably considers the best seats. I would prefer to sit farther up away from the crowds of people but its not really important so I decide not to bring it up. We steal some seats from two other kids and sit down, Atnas giving them a smirk before they dejectedly walk away. Atnas turned to me and pointed at the arena. Atnas: ¡°Incredible isn¡¯t it? I¡¯m always amazed whenever I see it. The sheer size of that forest¡­ either they built this school around a part of the forest or they grew one out of the dirt! Hahaha¡­ no matter what, its still incredible.¡± I agree with him, it is incredible. There aren¡¯t enough words in the world to accurately describe the spectacle that the institute is. That praise is further backed by the fact that I¡¯ve only seen the front entrance and the arena, nowhere else and I¡¯m already impressed. Atnas and I talk about the arena for a good amount of time, I almost completely forgot that I was here to fight in that exact arena. Suddenly, maybe 20 minutes later, I hear a voice echo around the arena. I look up from my conversation with Atnas and realize the seats around us have all been filled, as have the ones far behind us. Somehow, in the span of 20 minutes, a good five-thousand people entered the stands, and neither of us noticed anything. In the distance, I saw a platform float up into the middle of the arena, on it was a figure whom I could barely see. Thankfully, large magical projections appeared around the arena for viewing convince, on it was a zoomed up portrait of that man¡¯s face. ???: ¡°Welcome rulers of the realm, welcome back to those of us returning. This here is the arena for those who don¡¯t know. We love our magic, our mayhem and our overall chaos! My name is Tura, I¡¯m usually a teacher but for today, I¡¯m your host. We¡¯ve got a special event today folks! As many of you know, the arena is usually used for recreation and disputes between you upperclass people.¡± Tura: ¡°Today however, on request by our very own student council, who maintain, work and clean the grounds, we are going to use the arena for the first student entrance examination! Congratulations! You lucky few are going to witness the best and most powerful young magicians in the world duke it out between each other, competing for the top spot!¡± There is slight cheering from the crowd but most of the spectators were glued to his words. Tura: ¡°I¡¯ll go over the rules real quick before we get onto the good stuff. First rule, no cheating. It should be obvious but even during school examinations we still have that naughty rascal who tries to give themselves a little boost over their competitors. This is absolutely not allowed! We only care about your raw strength, not performance enhancing magic, so for those of you who are carrying anything you know you shouldn¡¯t be, throw it away right now. If your caught cheating you WILL bring great shame on yourself and your family, you will also never be able to come back to the institute again but that doesn¡¯t matter as much at that point of time. Oh and, if your confident that you can get it past us, don¡¯t be. Trust me, I took a look at the magic systems set up, you cheat, your out. That¡¯s that. A public announcement, everyone watching is notified and you¡¯ll be dumped outside the school. Next rule!¡± I could see a few people shuffling in the crowd. Did people actually bring contraband items? Huh. I didn¡¯t think people were actually that stupid. Tura: ¡°#2! Surrender! We can repair broken arms, heal the deadliest of poisons and even regenerate limbs! Be as ruthless as you want! Have fun! Release those hidden desires for absolute bloodshed! Just don¡¯t kill anyone in the process, and if someone surrenders, well, don¡¯t attack them either. Of course that comes with some problems but once again, our friendly neighbourhood student council is here with another unnecessary strain on us teachers. Hehe¡­¡± I get the feeling he doesn¡¯t exactly enjoy the student council right now. Tura: ¡°If you are going to kill someone, or someone surrenders, us teachers will swoop in and take them out of the arena. So don¡¯t hold back, even if you have a knife to your neck, as long as you aren¡¯t dead, your still in the fight. Dead or surrendering. That is an option after all. We want to observe the raw, untapped power of students who are in mortal danger. We fully expect the forest to be completely demolished by the end of today. If its not, then we will be sorely disappointed. Hahaha.¡± Tura: ¡°Lastly, we must discuss how the combat is going to work. Currently, we have invited around 5000 students to join our school. At the end of my little talk here, we¡¯ll give the students twenty minutes to fully understand what I had said before we toss in one-third of the students. All. At. Once.¡± The few cheers from the crowd go silent. Atnas gives a very confused look. Tura: ¡°You heard it right folks. Around 1700 students, in that somewhat small area for that many people. Your job is to knock out at least two other students. Knock out, make them surrender, almost kill them, you get the gist of it. We also have a system in place to measure that. If you want the inner magics behind it, there¡¯s a paper published by our.¡± *Sigh* ¡°Absolutely amazing student council along the exits of the arena. Take a look if your interested in the best observatory magic there is!¡± Tura: ¡°Back to the topic at hand. We will switch up the groups every hour. If you surrender, get knocked out or fail to knock out two other students in the span of an hour, then you will fail and you will lose the chance to join the Institute this year. Don¡¯t fret though, you can always try again next year. We only expect 300 out of the 5000 it even get in.¡± 300?! I looked to Atnas. His face was getting more and more excited. Damnit. I wanted to rant about how insane this was but I should have known Atnas was the type of person to get excited about this. All he could talk about was how he wanted to test his skills. Tura: ¡°This is due to the prizes we are handing out. We understand that this challenge is already quite difficult, so we decided to make an even more difficult challenge. In each group of 1700 students, if there happens to be one student standing, then that student will be granted a wonderous prize. As provided by the all-powerful student council! Even I don¡¯t know what it is, but the student council president himself prepared it. Keep in mind, he has control over most of the funds that flow into the school. I was told that it was worth trying for.¡± Atnas had started drooling. Did¡­ was he thinking¡­ Myr: ¡°Atnas¡­ your drooling¡­ did you think the prize was... food?¡± Atnas looked at me slightly upset. ¡°It¡¯s not?! What other glorious things are there in the world?!¡± I look at him stunned. I can¡¯t help but laugh. Atnas, confused, goes back to listening to the announcer as her continued to talk. I couldn¡¯t though, I just kept laughing. Atnas is absolutely hilarious and I don¡¯t really care about the prize. Nor am I going to go for it. I¡¯m here to have fun, live low and leave. I don¡¯t need to deal with this. Once my five years are done, unless I¡¯m forced to, I won¡¯t be going to the greater institute. Lesser is fine with me. I don¡¯t want to spend another five years in the institute¡­ Actually, we¡¯ll have to see. I don¡¯t know how boring it will be, but Atnas is already proving his worth. Tura: ¡°That¡¯s pretty much all you need to know folks. You should know that any weapons are allowed. Daggers, knives, trebuchets. Anything you want to bring with you, its absolutely fine. Just as long as you can carry it yourself, its fine. Now that I think about it, trebuchets may be a bit hard. Either way, that¡¯s it for me. There are other rules but they¡¯re all common sense and I don¡¯t want to be explaining this for too long. For now, ready yourself. You could be in the arena at any moment!.¡± With that, the floating platform Tura was on, slowly floated away and the magical projections disappeared. I looked down at my hands. Faint bits of mana floated around my finger tips. Am I ready for this? I never did like combat. I¡¯ve been trained but¡­ this will be my first actual test. I ask myself again, am I really ready for this? I guess I¡¯ll find out soon. Chapter #2: The city and her - Three Days Ago - When the world grows dark, only the lights of the largest human cities are enough to repel the oncoming black. Despite their almighty power, even the strongest of lights are unable to banish the shadows that crawl between the alleyways. The shadows that hide in the corners of rooms. The shadows that walk among us. Redpool. It stands as one of the beacons of human civilization. One of the largest mining cities in the world. Built by a river that has turned red from the iron runoff, the town has become prosperous and mighty, embracing the worldwide need for iron. It attracted many people, and during the day, it is lively, lovely and happy. However, at night, the city shows its true colour. Black. Those shadows creep out of the depths and manifest themselves on the streets. They stalk the city, looking, watching, waiting¡­ for prey. She was sitting in a chair, alone. The table held both her sleeping form and many empty cups, a red blush streaked across her face. Her clothes were simple, clearly from commoner origin, and not one person had come to talk to her for over an hour. Young. Her features were remarkable, her face beautiful, sure to bring envy to any other woman, her body arousing, sure to beguile any man. She was perfect¡­ The perfect target for kidnapping. The greed of man was only superseded by the lust of man, and here was a woman who would give them both in one night. How could they turn up this opportunity? Any sane person working in the slave trade could instantly tell, this was perfect. How lucky! That¡¯s what they thought. The group of three had been down on their luck recently, they had lost their last capture and their boss wasn¡¯t too happy about that. Unless they brought in something good by the end of the month, their boss would have ended their career¡­ and their lives. That month now had only one day remaining, and the three walked into the bar, determined to drink themselves to death before their boss could kill them. They would never expect the chance of a life time in front of them. They couldn¡¯t stop staring. She was everything they could ever want in a woman. A good face, great breasts and a big butt. Simple men, simple needs. How unfortunate it was that she had to be sold off. If it were up to them, they would keep her far away from the horrible place the slave trade was. Alas, they valued their lives over hers, but it didn¡¯t mean they couldn¡¯t have a little fun before they had to hand her in. They left their table, the bar was at its busiest, and she looked fast asleep. The time was now. They approached hers, using their bodies to obstruct the other patrons¡¯ view. They looked at each other, all of them with distinct features. The first was thick and strong, the second was lanky and short and the third was in the middle, but he had a soft face. He gently shook her shoulder. Her previously unconscious body stirred and she lifted up her face from the table, her half-opened eyes and mouth giving her far too of an erotic face that should be possible. He was barely able to hold back reacting to her, the tip of his mouth twitching, the other two had already covered their mouths. They had done this a lot, and he had a lot of practice tricking women, but this one was going to be dangerous. Not because she was smart, she was far too drunk for that, no. But because she was so open, especially with how she looked. It¡¯s impossible that she wasn¡¯t kidnapped before. How lucky! Gentle Face: ¡°Hey, are you okay?¡± It took her a second before her eyes fully opened and she looked around her table. A small puddle of drool and the empty cups gave a very bad impression. The blush extended around her face. Girl: ¡°Uh-I-I¡¯m fine¡­¡± She got up and almost immediately fell. Luckily, the big man was there to catch her. Gentle Face: ¡°You don¡¯t look too good, how about we escort you home? You¡¯re in no condition to be walking alone in the streets at night, especially in Redpool.¡± She stood herself up and she smiled. For the first time in their five-year-long career of selling women and children to slavery, this was the first time they felt actual guilt. ¡°Really? That would be wonderful! I was worried how I was going to get back, how lucky was I that you two had found me!¡± Skinny: ¡°Don¡¯t forget me miss. I can assure you, I¡¯m much more reliable than these two!¡± She giggled and the other two men felt an unusual jealousy. Their mouths did not move however. They left the bar and entered the open streets. Large metal poles with intricate designs held light crystals which brightened the darkened paths. The cobblestone road glittered with the humidity from the nearby river, the roaring of which was enough to frighten both man and beast. Falling in there would mean death. Gentle Face: ¡°Where do you live?¡± He went straight to the point. Depending on her answer, they would take a route that kept them far away from any drop off locations. She giggled again. ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t live here, I live in Rockholm, I¡¯m here because my dad had some business.¡± She responded quickly and clearly, her words were obvious but the three still couldn¡¯t believe it. Their luck that is. She didn¡¯t live here, no one knew her here. She didn¡¯t know anyone here and her dad was stupid enough to let her go to a bar by herself. Rockholm was at the other side of the country, the chances of¡­ They stopped themselves there. There was no need to think anymore. The large man propped her up on her shoulder and started bounding towards the nearest alley. It doesn¡¯t matter anymore. They had no doubts in their mind. They strip her, fuck her, and take her to the drop in, get paid handsomely for their find and finally escape the underworld for good. A smile stretched on all of their faces. Girl: ¡°Woah! I love the view from here, but it¡¯s a little rough, could you put me down¡­¡± She showed obvious discomfort and her legs were crossed, every time he took a step she would tighten her legs closer together. Bigman: ¡°Don¡¯t worry girly. I know where we¡¯re going¡­¡± His voice deep and gruff only made her face pale. Sweat started to run down her skin, which glistened in the light. They ran through the empty streets, not a single pair of eyes to follow them. The beauty of the scenery started to blend together to create a horrible mosaic of colours that only gave her nausea and dread. It didn¡¯t help that all three of them were smiling either. For the first time, worry met her face. All of a sudden, they stopped, almost letting her fly if it wasn¡¯t for the big man¡¯s arm. They tossed her in the alleyway, her clothes quickly catching the dirt and mud that covered the almost pitch black space. Girl: ¡°Ouch¡­WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!¡­¡± Gentle Face: ¡°I can¡¯t believe it! Our luck is really tuning around, ain¡¯t it boys?¡± The other two laughed maliciously. ¡°Girly, you saved our lives. See, we ain¡¯t the good men you thought we were. No, no, we¡¯re much worse.¡± Her eyes widened as she frantically looked around. The men just continued to laugh. Skinny: ¡°Don¡¯t bother, we know these alleys like they were our house. There¡¯s no escape here, no ones going to come if you yell either. The city is dead at night, either you in a room, or your gonna face doom. Heh.¡± Bigman: ¡°Good one.¡± The two silently chuckled at the horrible joke, while the girl stared at them with despair in her eyes. Gentle Face: ¡°Since you saved our lives, we at least owe you an explanation. We are gentlemen after all.¡± He chuckled and began to loosen his pants. She crawled to the back of the alley, she was met with a shoddily built stone wall. Gentle Face: ¡°We¡¯re in the slave trading business and were pretty good at what we due. However, due to a tiny mistake, we lost some valuable merchandise. Our boss wasn¡¯t too happy about that. He gave us a month to find something better or he¡¯d be sending us to the mines. Trust me, you don¡¯t want to go to the mines¡­¡± The other two began to remove their own articles of clothing, she found herself in the corner of the alley, covering her bosom. Gentle Face: ¡°Either way, that month turned into a three weeks, then into three days. Now? Three hours remain. We were going to drink ourselves to death, if it wasn¡¯t for you. Now, we can have a bit¡­ a lot of fun, sell you off and finally leave Redpool. Today was the last day our caravan was in here. Where were we going next boys?¡± The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Skinny: ¡°Magiyar, you know, the one close to that institute thing? The black market gives the best prices there.¡± Gentle Face: ¡°You¡¯re right! Hear that? You¡¯ll get to go to Magiyar! Though, I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll get to see any of it¡­¡± She started to cry, but that only widened the grin on their faces. Gentle Faggot: ¡°Every time I look at you, I don¡¯t believe what I¡¯m seeing. Has anyone ever told you that you were beautiful? This might be the last time you¡¯re hearing that. Short, black, wavy hair and your face? 20 gold ducats. You voice? Maybe a gold ducat. Depends on who we¡¯re selling to. It¡¯s heavenly by the way. Your breasts? What are you? Double D? E? 50 gold ducats. Your butt? Amazing, 30 gold ducats. Your body?¡± He ripped off her shirt, revealing her pale, perfect skin and beautiful curves. He stared for a bit, licking his lips and going over her entire body. Gentle Faggot: ¡°Not a single lump of fat, no curve missed and the most unblemished skin I¡¯ve seen. 100 gold ducats. Final opinions boys?¡± Bigman: ¡°Perfect, give her a few years though, her features might even become more pronounced.¡± Skinny: ¡°Maybe a bit younger, I¡¯m still not complaining though.¡± Gentle Faggot dropped his pants. ¡°Don¡¯t listen to them. They¡¯re pervy idiots. I think your perfect just the way you are¡­¡± His hand reached towards her arms, which were currently covering her naked chest, and just as he was about to grab her, she disappeared. Seemingly replaced with thin air. The three men, now standing in a dark alleyway, cold and completely naked just stared at the empty space where there once was a girl. Gentle Idiot: ¡°What¡­¡± All of a sudden, Gentle Idiot and Skinny Idiot heard a thump behind them. They turned around to see the large idiot, unconscious and lying on the ground. Behind him, a figure. A black robe covered most of her body, but was still unable to fully conceal her enormity of her chest. A mask covered the strangers face. A mask with no features. It was a simple, white mask with no holes, no cracks, no other colours, nothing. At her side was a scabbard. In it, a shortsword that was currently hidden from view. In her hand, she held a dagger. One with the sharpest blade they had ever seen, and that was impressive considering the amount of weapons they¡¯ve seen. A curved, black dragon-shaped handle opened up to a pristine white blade that reflected a perfect sheen. A sudden feeling of dread washed over the two conscious men. Gentle Idiot: ¡°Uhhh¡­.¡± Without giving them a chance to react, she flashed the dagger towards them, light reflecting off the perfect blade and blinding the skinny idiot. ¡°AH!¡± His eyes closed on instinct and a few seconds later, his body fell to the ground too. Then she slowly made his way to the last remaining slave trader. Her hips rocking, and despite the robe, her features were still arousing. Her: ¡°That¡¯s so sweet of you. I¡¯m perfect? That¡¯s the first time anyone¡¯s said that to me. If you weren¡¯t about to rape me, I might have fallen for you. It¡¯s too bad that you were actually scum.¡± The gentle idiot dropped to his knees. ¡°Wait¡­ please¡­ I¡¯m sorry¡­. I-I made some really bad mistakes in my life¡­ please don¡¯t kill me¡­ there¡¯s no excuse for my actio-¡° He continued to ramble on and on, making excuse after excuse. She sighed and wacked his head with the butt of the knife. His body fell to the floor. Her: ¡°Jester, Joker, Fool. Come out please¡­¡± The sound of tiny bells filled the alley as three figures suddenly appeared. One jumping down from a roof, one morphing out of the shadows and the last moving out from behind her. All three of them almost eight-feet-tall and donning the attire of medieval jesters. Fancy, looped patterns covered their ludicrous clothing; however, they lacked the bright colours fools usually had. Instead, they were colour in depressing whites, greys and blacks. The patterns on their clothing were all different, but to a normal person, they would be rather undistinguishable. The only real, discernable difference these three had were their masks. The first had the typical, smiling mask, the second the sad mask, and the third had a mask with no mouth. The one with the smiling mask turned to her. ¡°Mistress! What wonderful acting tonight, we must put on a performance for a crowd! They would love us!¡± Her: ¡°Maybe one day Jester. Right now, we have a job to do, and that includes going to Magiyar." Jester: ¡°You always say that mistress! Either way, did you hear him?! He praised your beauty! Didn¡¯t you say you would marry the first man who did that?! I¡¯m sure your parents would be happy!¡± It started to laugh. It¡¯s laugh was demonic and inhuman, the pitch of the laughter changing every few seconds before it returned to its demonic origins. Her: ¡°This man doesn¡¯t count. He only did it because he was a sadist, not because he actually meant what he said¡­¡± Her voice quieted near the end, turning almost into a whisper. Jester: ¡°HAHAHAHA! But he did mean what he said! Whether or not there was a future ahead of you, I¡¯ll let you decide!¡± It started to jump and clap, the bells shaking and making a ruckus. The mouthless mask stared at the Jester. She sneered at the dancing clown but it didn¡¯t stop. ¡°Pick these three up and follow me. I have somewhere I want to take them.¡± She started to walk out of the alley. The sad faced clown looked over their bodies. Joker: ¡°A sad day, these poor folk, turned the wrong way, had the wrong yolk. Now they suffer the price, for humanities malice, they thought they found, their golden chalice¡­¡± She turned to the Joker, her eyes narrowed beneath her mask. ¡°I don¡¯t care about their hopes and dreams. I don¡¯t care if they were innocent. They actively did wrong, and that''s enough for them to die.¡± She turned back to the alleyway entrance. ¡°Just pick this scum up. It''s time to dispose of them." Jester: ¡°Of course mistress! We are your eternal servants! We¡¯re also your only source of humor!¡± The Joker and the Fool easily lifted up the men with ease. However, the Jester¡¯s arms shook as he picked up the bigman, the long appendages looking more like noodles rather than formed muscle. ¡°This one has been eating too much! Want to switch Fool?!¡± The Jester turned to the mouthless clown. It simply stared back. Jester: ¡°Awwww, why not?!¡± Her: ¡°Come. There are still people here, and it would be quite hard to explain you three¡­¡± Jester: ¡°We could reveal ourselves to the humans mistress! I¡¯d love to see their reaction when they find something that¡¯s neither demon, monster or angel! I think it would be quite funny!¡± She said nothing as she lead the three down the winding roads of the city. Eventually finding the wall. She quickly leaped from building to building before throwing a hidden carabiner when there were no more walls the leap off of. Once at the top, she quickly jumped down, the three were already there waiting for her. Jester: ¡°Very nice mistress! Wonderful! A fantastic performance! Have you considered joined the circus?! I know a good one!" Her: ¡°Shhh." The Jester laughed. They took a few steps forward before they met their destination. Right outside the walls, lay the namesake for the massive city. It¡¯s roars were louder than any beast. As if on queue, the three men in the jesters hands began to stir. Once one of them opened their eyes, he jumped out of his hands and yelled. Skinny: ¡°WHA, WHAT IS THAT?!?¡± Jester: ¡°Hehehehe¡­ I love when they do that¡­ hehehehe¡­.¡± Her: ¡°Hold them in front of the river.¡± The three harlequins held the poor men in front of the rivers curve. A large drop into sharp, pointed iron ores that couldn¡¯t be harvested due to the danger. The men visibly shook. Their legs quivering and the eyes darting around. Their sense screamed danger, but their bodies were unable to move. The raw strength of thethings holding them was immeasurable. Even the largest of them was unable to move a muscle. Her: ¡°Throw one in, make it random.¡± Their eyes grew wide and they looked at each other. All of a sudden the fool suddenly tossed the skinny man in, his screams echoed as he fell. Then, he suddenly started to scream louder and the horrible tearing of flesh could be heard as his body was ripped apart by natures worst. The jester¡¯s started to laugh, it¡¯s laughter was so loud, it could be heard over the roaring monster that was the river. The other two started to tremble. The confusion, fear of death, pain and clowns made their legs give in, but they were held up by the other two harelquins. Gentle Idiot: ¡°Oh god please no! Nothing but that¡­ I¡¯ll give you money! Gold! Anything you want! Please!¡± Her: ¡°You¡¯ve already told me enough. Thank you for that by the way. You can just die now. You would have died either way tonight, so what does it matter? Throw him in.¡± The joker threw in his body, his screams louder than the last. The river turned a little more bloody tonight. The big idiot stayed silent. Jester: ¡°Are you not afraid?¡± The big man said nothing. The Jester¡¯s eyes glowed red again, and it tossed him into the river. It didn''t take long for him to start screaming. She watched as the pieces of flesh that found themselves stuck on the rock, finally dislodged and rushed down the river. At that time, the sun started to rise and light started to overtake the day. Her: ¡°We¡¯re done here. Let¡¯s go.¡± Jester: ¡°Back home mistress?!¡± Her: ¡°Yes. Home. Her: "For now." Chapter #3: The Arena and Me The colosseum walls looked so far away now that I¡¯m sitting in the stands. Atnas hasn¡¯t said a word since the rules were announced. I look to him. His seat and body were vibrating at a rapid pace. I look back. He must be excited. I look down at the arena, specifically, the forest. I grip my dagger. ¡°I guess I¡¯m avoiding the center. It¡¯s probably where the most competitors would be. From the way he presented things yesterday, this wasn¡¯t going to be like the tournament Atnas thought it would be. I guess he heard we were fighting in the arena and assumed we would be battling tournament style. He must come here a lot¡­¡± Myr: ¡°This fight is the farthest thing from a tournament. It¡¯s a massive battle royale with over 1600 students packed in one (not exactly small) arena. Looking over the arena again, I could understand how they could allow so many competitors at once. It¡¯s large enough to make sure that everyone had at least a few metres to themselves, but small enough to ensure that fighting would break out immediately. If my understanding is correct, we¡¯re probably going to be sent inside the arena using those portals from before. Once that happens, I¡¯ll have seven students around me, vying to see which one of them is the first to knock me out. My priority should be to get away from that type of situation. As soon as the match starts I¡¯ll turn invisible, or turn invisible before the match starts. My illusory magic isn¡¯t the best for combat, but using my trusty dagger or my sword, I¡¯ll be able to easily score two knockouts. I don¡¯t want to stand out. Not here at least. No need to do more than just the minimum.¡± Atnas though¡­ I look back at him again. The vibrating seemed to increase, I could feel the air around me shake. He was only getting more excited as time passed. I sighed. He probably wants to start in the first bout. To ¡®test his skills or whatnot¡¯. I lean back, hoping to get some rest. The portal and that massive forest made me dizzy. If I got lucky and I didn¡¯t go in the first round, I¡¯ll be able to observe how the battling would occur. Hopefully it won¡¯t be too hard for my specific style of battle.... --- I jolt as I feel my muscles activate again. My eyes open. Wah..? I look around me. I was in the arena. However, Atnas was missing. I look down, and there, I saw the biggest display of colours I¡¯ve seen in my life. And then¡­ it stopped. I could hear the ripping of space again as I turned around. Behind me was a massive gate which I hadn¡¯t noticed before. Nestled between the stands, it held a portal in which students were flowing out from, I could see similar gates all around the stadium. Atnas came out of this one and rushed towards me, almost tumbling down the stairs. ¡°Hey Myr! Did you see me fight? Come on, tell me you did! I was awesome! You look sleepy, did you sleep through the entire first bout?¡± I looked down at my hands in shame. I slept through the first round. I look to Atnas. He must¡¯ve seen the realization on my face as he burst out laughing. ¡°HAHAHA, that¡¯s hilarious! I heard you muttering something about watching the first round. Guess that¡¯s not going to work anymore is it?¡± Was I talking back then? Wait, that shouldn¡¯t be my concern right now. I turn to Atnas. ¡°Atnas, quickly tell me how the fighting wo-¡± Tura: ¡°Alright ladies and gentlemen, that was an exciting first round! We had so many talents here today, and many of them passed! Incredible. No one even tried to kill anyone! That¡¯s what I find impressive. Now we have the second round contestants, please look to your nearest MOF. Magic observing flat, for those of you who don¡¯t know. Remember the ones with my beautiful face on it?¡± I look up to the MOF. There, I saw a list of names run quickly across the screen. One of those names was mine. I groaned and Atnas started to laugh harder. Tura: ¡°If you see your name on the screen, please proceed to your nearest gate. If you are not a competitor, please evacuate the premises. Thank you.¡± Myr: ¡°Atnas, quickly tell me, what should I be expec-¡± He just zipped his lips and chuckled. I glared at him. He shooed me towards the portal. I glare at him all the way to the portal and I will continue to glare at him after I come back. The students in front of me are all rushing to be the first one in line. The line itself, barely being held back by two guards I didn¡¯t see up here before. Though, it¡¯s understandable why they would want to go in first. That¡¯s a teleportation gate. We walk in and we¡¯re probably going to be sent somewhere random in the arena. If you go in first, you¡¯ll be the first one in the arena, and you could score an easy knock-out on someone who had just teleported in. Not only that, but the later you enter the arena, the less students will remain. Those that do remain will not only have some experience, but are probably the cream of the crop out of the group. Despite my overanalyses of the arena, I don¡¯t try and rush and take my spot at the back. Looking around me there were only a few people with mana levels worth considering, everyone else here¡­ well¡­ I don¡¯t think they matter much. Tura: ¡°Line up now, no pushing! The gates will open soon, so have patience.¡± I look up to the magic observing flats. Displayed at the top was a timer and the words, ¡°Top 100¡± The rest was blank. Top 100? Did they expect 1500 students to get knocked out? I really wish I saw that last fight. I sigh. ???: ¡°It¡¯s no good to look so sad, that makes you a target.¡± I turn around to the source of the sound. There, standing directly behind me in line was a girl. Wild, neon, pink hair tied in a ponytail which rested comfortably over her shoulder. Her eyes, a similar shade pink and her clothes loose-fitting, a maybe a little revealing. Despite her flamboyant natural colouring, her clothes were relatively tame. Whites and beiges were the entirety of the palette used to pigment her attire. I was appalled at how revealing it was. Then I realized this was probably a cultural type of clothing, probably somewhere in the deserts. ???: ¡°Hello? Are my clothes really that interesting? Though, you¡¯re already doing better than other guys. They¡¯d much rather stare at what¡¯s underneath. Hahaha.¡± Myr: ¡°Does that bother you? People staring at your body?¡± She looks at me inquisitively. ¡°What a strange question. Now that I think about it, I don¡¯t mind the attention, I might actually enjoy it. I¡¯m Eanera by the way. What¡¯s yours¡¯s? It¡¯s not often you find someone so¡­ refined. That¡¯s a good way to put it.¡± Refined eh? Not exactly. Well maybe, but not for any reason she could think of. Myr: ¡°I¡¯m Myr. It¡¯s nice to meet you Eanera.¡± She smiles. She opens her mouth to talk more, but stops herself as we both hear the announcers voice. I turn my head to face him. Tura: ¡°Alright folks, everyone should have lined up, and if you don¡¯t get into the gate in time, tough luck! The gates will open in 3¡­¡± The line ahead of me shuffled. I could see Atnas in the distance giving me a thumbs up. I glare at him. Tura: ¡°2¡­¡± A few students start to push, the crowd starts to move closer to the arena, despite it being empty. I guess the fight is something worth watching then. Tura: ¡°1¡­!¡± Eanera: ¡°Good luck!¡± Tura: ¡°0! Go, go, go!¡± The students rush inside the portal, the fragile stability the guards had made quickly crumbled before the sheer determination these kids had to get an advantage over their peers. I could see the guards attempt to calm them before giving up and sitting at some nearby seats and watching the arena. I was quickly swept along with the current, despite me being at the back of the line¡­ or so I thought. Looking behind me, a huge gathering of students had appeared, and they were suddenly gone as I found myself falling. Then I saw the ground, rapidly approaching. Uh¡­ I teleport to the ground, breaking my fall instantaneously. What a useful ability that is. Now¡­ where am I? I look around and suddenly see a fireball fly towards my face. I subconsciously teleport away, and turn myself invisible. I crouch by the tree trunk and hope that I don¡¯t get caught up in the waves of screams, yelling and flying magic that was happening all around me. ¡°FIREBALL!¡± ¡°AAAAAAA¡± ¡°NATURE, HEED MY CALL!¡± ¡°BLIZZARD!¡± ¡°aRgH¡± ¡°PLEASE!¡± ¡°GAS FORM!¡± ¡°GRoucCH¡± ¡°oof.¡± ¡°YOU BASTARD!¡± ¡° HOW DARE YOU!¡±¡± ¡°WIND SLASH!¡± ¡°NOOO!¡± ¡°HAHAHA!¡± ¡°TAKE THIS!¡± Chaos. That¡¯s all I could hear. I open my eyes now that I no longer feel that oppressive heat right in front of my face. I find myself in the forest. My eyes open wider and I start to sweat profusely. The forest¡­ ¡°GAAAAAAAH¡± The centre of the arena¡­ it had the most amount of students¡­ Despite me being invisible, many stray spells made their way towards me. I teleport every time I¡¯m about to be hit just on instinct. This isn¡¯t good, I may have a lot of mana, but teleporting at the rate I am, that¡¯s not going to work. Why are there so many loose spells anyway? And why do they keep heading towards me?!? ¡°THAT¡¯S ¨C THAT¡¯S UNF-¡° *BOOOOOOM* I decide that I should get a better view of the battlefield. I leap from the ground to a large tree branch, and I quickly ascend the leafy outpost. Now that I was at the top and out of that forest, I could feel my breathing slow and my heartrate calm. I properly observe my surroundings this time. Looking around, I noticed that I wasn¡¯t in the direct middle of the forest. I was actually closer to one of the edges. Good, I should make my way out. The desert biome is nearby¡­ perfect. In the forest, people are too cautious and weary for sneak attacks, which are, my only form of attack. However, in the desert, an open field, no one will expect someone suddenly dropping on them. I start leaping from treetop to treetop, quickly making my way closer and closer to my goal. It was only then did I notice something odd. The screaming and explosions had stopped. I look back down at the forest, and I saw nothing. No colours flying around, no bodies being tossed up into the air. No singed trees, no frozen ground, no windstorms, nothing. I drop back into the forest. No one. I quickly run out of the forest. Nothing. No one was here. I look up at the Magic observer flats. It no longer said top 100. It said top 10. My name, my face along with nine others were displayed. A point counter beside each. The highest was 134 points. I was at 0. Oh no¡­ Wait¡­ how did they get a picture of my face? *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* I turn around suddenly as a huge explosion occurred in the middle of the forest. It was then I heard the sweet sounds of battle once again. Ugh¡­ the damned forest. I rush back in. If I don¡¯t get into the school, then I don¡¯t get to keep my lazy noble life! I can¡¯t have that! *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* The explosions grew louder, but nothing could beat how hard my heart was pounding. I¡¯m a lazy person by nature and being forced to do this exam is pissing me off, but a strange excitement fills me as well. I guess I¡¯m as battle-crazy as my brothers after all. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. I rush all the way into the middle of the forest, there lay a clearing, and inside, four students were doing battle. The first one I notice was Eanera. Horribly coloured neon-pink flames danced around her body as she shot jets of flame outward. It looked like she was trying to keep her distance and was using her magic as a distancing mechanic. I don¡¯t think anyone wants to touch those pink flames, I wouldn¡¯t want to test it out. The second student I noticed was kind of laid back. He sat in a nearby tree eating an apple. He had green hair and a robe like me. Was he a druid? Either the three directly in the clearing didn¡¯t know he was there, or they were too busy to deal with him. There was some illusory magic around him, maybe that¡¯s why they didn¡¯t notice him. I found my first knock out. Without wasting time, I teleport up to the tree branch, the branch doesn¡¯t move, nor do I make a sound but the kid dropped his apple, he knew something was wrong. Was that mana sense? Wow, but it was too late. I brought my dagger up to his throat, my invisibility dropped. He looked at me with surprise, but then he started to chuckle. ¡°Wow, you caught me. I forfeit.¡± In the distance I could see a figure emerging. It was a griffon and on it was Tura, the announcer, he barrelled towards the tree and shot off as quickly as he got here. The only thing was, the green boy was gone. I teleport out of the tree before anyone noticed me, allowing my invisibility to return. That was¡­ surprisingly easy? Maybe I should wait in one of these trees like he did. Oh but that mana sense¡­ I should probably boost my mana mask. Mana sense is a rare ability, I didn¡¯t expect anyone here to be able to use it, but I still put up my mana mask either way. Despite that, someone was able to detect my mana past that¡­ pretty freaky. I look back up at the MOF. It still said the top ten, however, green boy¡¯s picture was gone. The point counter by my name¡­ 1. Hmm. That¡¯s¡­ *BOOOOOOOOM* I look back to the fight. A massive crater that wasn¡¯t there before, suddenly appeared. In the middle was a student. He was tall, and he wore dusty clothing. Large plates of stone covered his vitals and his shoulders. His hands were wrapped in a stream of mana, rocks swirling in the current it formed. That¡¯s a lot of concentrated mana right there. He leaped backwards as Eanera shot another jet of flame at him. The last student was interesting to say the least. His clothes were light, and brightly coloured with yellows and whites. He was blinding, and not because it was against my code of honor to look at someone like this. No, this was because his clothes were actually reflecting light in every direction. Or maybe I just got unlucky and a beam of light just happened towards my face. That was occurring a lot. Am I not invisible? I teleport up to a nearby tree, and decide to watch and wait for an opportunity to attack. Let them exhaust themselves before I attack. Looking at the MOF the timer was ticking down from 46 minutes. Goodness, we each only have an hour but 1600+ students were knocked out before 15 minutes. Maybe that¡¯s standard, but to me, that¡¯s impressive. Eanera: ¡°Give it up boys. You won¡¯t aren¡¯t getting close to me. Not unless you want to get burned¡­ again.¡± Eanera dropped her hands to her hips and gave a smirk to the other two students. They didn¡¯t look to happy. ???: ¡°Shut up Eanera. Get cocky and I¡¯ll pound you into dust. Your lucky that this other kid is here, if it wasn¡¯t for him, I would have already¡­¡± The rocky boy spoke up. He didn¡¯t yell but his voice was loud either way. I looked up at the MOF. His name was¡­ Trevor? I checked the other student too for good measure. His name¡­ Satir. Have I heard these somewhere before? Satir: ¡°Look, I¡¯m here to win this too, if you want, I¡¯ll leave and let you two figure this out. I¡¯ll come back later k?¡± He started to back off as he said that. He was quickly cut off by a jet of flame however. Eanera: ¡°And what, let us get exhausted so you can come clean up, I don¡¯t think so.¡± They stood in that triangle just glaring at each other, every so often, Eanera would shoot a jet of flame. All of them had low mana reserves. It was obvious they were getting tired. Even so¡­ this is getting interesting. I want to see who wins. I smugly sat in my little branch, I think I¡¯m starting to understand Greeny from before. Rather than waiting for a clean pick, I¡¯m pushed more to just watch what was happening here. Satir: ¡°Damn. It¡¯s getting late, we should¡­ leave? Yeah? Come on guys!¡± Satir tried to coax the others into leaving. That¡¯s what it looked like at least. Mana was wrapping around his body, the movement was subtle, controlled but not completely inconspicuous. What was he planning? I look to the other two, they didn¡¯t notice yet. Eanera spoke up. ¡°Leave¡­? You know what, that doesn¡¯t sound so bad¡­¡± Mana started to gather around her too. Specifically around her hands and feet. Did she actually plan to escape? Trevor looked at the both of them and growled. Mana very clearly building around his hands and the other two surely noticed. The stones around him started to shake, even the tree I was in threatened to shake me out of its branches due to the tremors. ¡°Leave? LEAVE? I waste so much time on you two and you want to leave? Our duel? I won¡¯t let you. Even if it means losing myself!¡± Satir and Eanera¡¯s eyes widened as they realized what he was planning, but it was too late. The earth shook, then a crack formed, then some more, then it widened. Out of nowhere, the earth split. I was too far away to have to worry about it, but those two were clearly in its strike range. Satir looked shocked, Eanera, however, her smirk only grew. The mana she gathered around her feet started to manifest, and flames started to jet out from her, now bare feet. Her form slowly ascended to the sky and she quickly disappeared into the forest. Trevor growled and tossed a rock in her direction, while Satir turned tail and started to run from the growing hole in the ground. The mana around his body also activating, his body speeding up. Trevor: ¡°HOW DARE YOU TRY AND RUN! DON¡¯T YOU HAVE HONOUR?¡± He was already so low on mana, but he continued to use it anyway. Huge chunks of earth started to unearth themselves and fly to where Eanera disappeared into the forest as well as the currently retreating Satir. While I could faintly sense Eanera¡¯s presence in the area, I couldn¡¯t tell if she was hit. Satir however, he wasn¡¯t so lucky. One of the first chunks of rock come with a few side pebbles. Unfortunately for him, one of those pebbles struck his leg, and he quickly fell to the ground. If it wasn¡¯t for Tura and his Griffon, Satir would have surely been crushed. As Tura flew away, I saw Eanera¡¯s unconscious body hanging from one of the Griffon¡¯s free claws. Trevor: ¡°Damned weaklings¡­¡± Trevor fell to one knee. I suppose now was as good as a time as ever. I teleported up to him and dropped my invisibility. ¡°That was some powerful magic.¡± I pull my dagger up to his throat. As much as I held this man in respect, I still had to win. Trevor looked up at me and laughed. ¡°Hahaha, I saw the green vulture circling us, did he fall to you, white crow? I guess it doesn¡¯t matter now. Carrion birds always come for the corpse. I forfeit.¡± Tura returned, quicker than before. I looked up at the MOF. Three names had disappeared. Eanera¡¯s, Trevor¡¯s and Satir¡¯s. The amount of points I had increased to two¡­ So he did manage to hit Eanera. Impressive. I wonder how he knew where she was. Well¡­ I guess I¡¯m done here. Myr: ¡°I forfeit as well.¡± Tura¡¯s griffon kind of slowed down when it reached us, Trevor, too, looked at me strangely. Tura: ¡°Did I hear you right kid? You forfeit?¡± I nod my head. Trevor laughed some more. ¡°A crow that doesn''t croak? Funny.¡± He looked up to the MOF. ¡°A true bird of prey. Take only what you need. I commend you. I will see you again, White Crow.¡± Tura looked at me and said ¡°Well, you don¡¯t look injured, and you have quite a bit of mana. Alright. There is a gate directly south of here. Walk in that direction and say that you¡¯ve forfeited. He should let you through.¡± With that, Tura took off with Trevor in tow. I looked to the MOF. My name had disappeared. Only three remained. I wasn¡¯t too interested though. I walked in the direction he told me. I ran through the forest, didn¡¯t want to be in here for long. When I remerged, just like he said, there was a large stone gate with a swirling portal. Two guards stood beside it. I guess this is what Atnas walked through when his match timed out. I approached the gate. The guard looked up at the MOF and back at me. ¡°Did you forfeit?¡± I nodded my head. He mentioned that I should go through, and go through I did. I was feeling good today, did almost nothing, saw some interesting magic and got a nap. As I stepped out, I saw Atnas looking up at me from out seats. I walked down the stairs to meet him. Atnas: ¡°The literal minimum? Couldn¡¯t you have gone for anything better! Invisibility is an amazing ability after all! I¡¯ve never heard of someone who could turn completely invisible!¡± He looked at me. ¡°Your mana too¡­ I can¡¯t sense any of it. What kind of magic do you have?!¡± Atnas, less jealous than I was expecting, was more intrigued by my magic more than anything. It seems like he has mana sense too. There a lot of strong people here, though, I should expect that. It really is the best academy in the world. Myr: ¡°Illusory. Though, that¡¯s just my most prominent school. I¡¯m absolutely abysmal at Evocation. My element isn¡¯t too prominent. Illusory however, I¡¯m sure no one has as much experience or ability as I do.¡± Man, would he freak out if he knew I could teleport. That¡¯s an ability I want to keep hidden, especially after I saw his reaction to Gates. That¡¯s why I made sure I always teleported first before dropping my invisibility. I need to make sure its only invisibility they notice. Atnas looked at me with sparkling eyes. ¡°Wow¡­ most people nowadays are Evokers¡­ this is the first time I¡¯m seeing an illusionist! At least someone who focuses solely on that school! I tried to find you in the arena y¡¯know. I scanned literally everyone, I thought you got knocked out! Now I know why! Invisibility, that¡¯s so cool¡­¡± I chuckled as he continued. It also made me feel bad that I didn¡¯t get to apricate his magic. He didn¡¯t get knocked out, he walked out of the portal. It must have been something impressive. Tura: ¡°Aaaaand that¡¯s it folks. This round lasted 23 minutes, and we actually have a winner! A potential candidate for the final prize at the end, and maybe the only for today. Ms. Lumious!¡± I looked up at the screen. There, displayed instead of the normal setup was a zoomed up video of a girl, wearing similarly white robes to mine. I switched my robes back to their black colour. I didn¡¯t want my clothes to match with anyone elses. Even when looking through the MOF, I could see her mana presence. It was so prominent, it was almost physical. That really is incredible. Probably the most amount of mana I¡¯ve seen in someone. Atnas too looked very impressed. Her body was unscathed, not a scratch, nor a speck of dust. Not even a bead of sweat. This girl¡­ she may be trouble later. Tura: ¡°May the final contestants please line up at the nearest gates. The final match will commence in 20 minutes.¡± Tura flew out of the sky and down somewhere in the arena. I turned back to Atnas. Atnas: ¡°Did¡­ did you always have black robes?¡± I laughed. But my eyes were still stuck on that girl. That amount of mana, who was she? I have a feeling I¡¯ll find out soon. Chapter #4: The headache and her She sat in the back of the carriage, hidden from view. Large wooden crates by her side, she quietly watched the wheels kick up dust and obscure the forest from her vision. Despite the debris clouds, she managed to properly observe the passing trees. They were mostly tall, well-defined, thick deciduous trees. All of them healthy, roots deeply ingrained into the nearby soils and their leaves in full mast. Contrary to the grey and green leaves from home, these trees sported a blue colour. This was often a sign of leylines. These areas held/carried large amounts of mana and were viewed as prime building locations by early man. They enhanced physical and mental strength, gathered rare magical beasts and strengthened magic. Despite the odd colour of the trees, she wasn¡¯t surprised in the slightest. The first reason was because of her destination. Magiyar, the city of magic. The earliest settlement recorded in history, Magiyar is the largest conglomeration of leylines and was often regarded by religion as the centre of the world. The forests around here were all coloured blue, and to anyone that understood how mana worked, that would come as no surprise. The second reason was that she came here before, albeit on much lighter circumstances. Today, however, she has a mission. It was only one day ago when she was in Redpool, a vastly different city with a well-known crime-rate. She came to the city because she heard whispers of missing women. Being the young vigilante she is, she investigated the area. Using herself as bait, she quickly caught three unfortunate grunts who had done some unsightly things in their past. She had found out that they worked for a slaver organization and that said organization was moving to Magiyar next. She quickly disposed of the three, though, she now regrets doing as much because she didn¡¯t ask all the questions she should have. So here she is, stowing away on a simple trade wagon. She found a merchant too tired to realise if there was someone else getting a free ride, and sneaked on board. Now, she sits in the back of the carriage, hidden from view with large wooden crates by her side. It wasn¡¯t the most comfortable seat in the world, but it was free and no one knew that she was even here. She was carrying nothing but the usual. A hidden scabbard remained under her black robes. Her blank mask hanging slightly to the side of her neck and the small, grey, intricate box that rested in her lap. It sported different patterns with varying degrees of shades and tints. Every so often, the lid would shift a little, before readjusting itself and the lid would close. With a long road ahead of her and an annoying headache due to mana over-expenditure, it was in her best interests to try and get some sleep before the city. She rested her head against one of the crates, her short, black, wavy hair acting as pillow and her mask as support. She had difficulty sleeping, the unfamiliar environment and bright light from outside had interrupted her plans for sleeping, but she managed to ignore these factors and managed to fall asleep. Six hours passed like this and she was still asleep. It wasn¡¯t until the carriage hit a rock in the road before she woke up, her body being knocked up into he air. She quickly drew her dagger from her belt, the blade pointed outward but when she realised there was no danger, she sheathed the blade and sat back down, hoping that no one saw her. Thankfully, no one did. However, the little grey box started to laugh. It was quiet but it carried a mocking tone, one she tried to ignore. She covered the now open lid and the laughter immediately disappeared. Thinking now was a good time to check where she was, she peered from her hiding spot and looked through the front of the wagon. There she saw was her destination. Tall stone walls, reinforced with a metal mesh used to conduct and absorb magic. Wide, squat towers, just barely taller than the battlements, Lined the walls. Arrow slits ran underneath each. All of them displaying their own guard, mana wrapped around their fingers and a large crossbow attached to their back. She saw the gate ahead. Compared to the wall, it was comparatively simple, however, if one could sense magic, like she could, it would be obvious that his was no simple gate. It was stuffed with mana and would release it in a violent, contained thrust should its trigger be activated. She couldn¡¯t find the trigger but she didn¡¯t need to worry about it yet. The gate was up high, allowing anything to pass underneath. Despite her headache, she turned invisible. She knew the guards would come around and check the cargo. If they saw a black-robed, masked girl there, they would probably figure out that, there was a stowaway. The reasoning was on point as the wagon rolled up to the front. A guard came around and checked the inside, not bothering to give it anything more than a glance, before returning to the post and giving the signal to go ahead. Despite maintaining her invisibility for only a few seconds, her headache intensified greatly and her head started to ache. Mana was never a problem for her, she always had too much. However, using she had never needed to use anywhere near her limit. This was a problem because she never knew if she could reach the bottom of the ocean that was her manapool. So she tested herself. She started to expend as much mana as she could in the shortest amount of time for extended periods of time. The result? Still no where close to her maximum, however, it gave her an awful headache that just wouldn¡¯t go away.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. The headache combined with her strained back and uncomfortable bum, lead her to the decision that she should find a room to rest in temporarily. She planned to explore the city at night and the sun was still high in the sky. The wagon rolled into the city and as soon as she saw an alleyway, she teleported inside. Her body disappearing then reappearing from space in less than a second. The magic was so rare that people would actively hunt her if they ever found out. She took pride in the fact that she was the only one she knew who had this ability. When she felt darkness fall on her self, she used another spell to transform her clothes entirely. The black robes shifted into tight leather armour with metal plates that covered her vital areas and a black cloak to help conceal her identity. She figured the armour would help hide the fact that she was a girl. Her disguise was that of an adventurer, and female adventurers were often targets for the most crimes. Unbeknownst to her, the armour did little to cover her female features, it further wrapped around her curves. The tightness she felt on her chest, and the difficulty breathing was all for naught. The cloak did an excellent job concealing her gender, however! Using so much mana in such a short amount of time, further amplified her headache and she was sure to collapse. Time was running out for her to find a room. She had always been an excellent fighter, training from a young age onward, however, she never dealt with pain well. She never got hit in the first place to experience what pain felt like, so headaches like these were dire situations that needed to be taken care of. She stumbled out into the streets before regaining her composure. She then looked around for adventurers. If she found an adventurer and followed them around, eventually she would find an Inn where adventurers rent rooms. After spotting a group of these adventurers, she followed them. They walked around the city for a bit, going to various locations like a magic shop, a quest board and a weaponsmith before finally walking into an Inn. She saw various other people walk into the inn, all equipped with very different equipment, but still adventurer-like nevertheless. She walked into the Inn. It was loud and rowdy. Various dishes lay scattered around the tables, all accompanied by large flagons filled to the brim with a homebrew. The smell of alcohol invaded her nose, she quickly covered her face with parts of her cloak, attempting to stop the smell from reaching her. The tables were all full with all types of races filling them. It was here were she saw an elf, a dwarf and goblin all sitting at the same table. She had heard of other races but this was her first time seeing them. They usually remained in their sides of the world. Adventuring was the only place where other races actively conferred with those outside their own race. That and war, however, the world hasn¡¯t seen war since the collapse of the human empire. She made her way to the front of the Inn, her head pounding and her mind buzzing. The smell was getting to her. At the front was a short lady, probably a gnome, that waddled around the area, the top of her head barely rising over the counter. When our protagonist approached, she stepped on a stool in order to actually meet her face. Gnome: ¡°Hi there, looking for a room?¡± Her: ¡°Y-yes¡­ that would be good.¡± Gnome: ¡°Alright, that¡¯ll be 27 bronze. You seem a little young so I¡¯m giving you a discount.¡± The Gnome winked at her. Begrudgingly, she reached for the handle of her dagger under her cloak. She pulled at the end before it came off, almost like a jar. She stuck one finger inside the handle pulling out a silver coin. She then returned the end back onto the dagger, firmly pushed it on and slid the silver coin onto the counter. The gnome happily took it and presented her with a key and around seventy bronze coins. She was too tired to count the specifics. She took the key raised her hand to the Gnome and told her to keep it. Gnome: ¡°Oh¡­ okay then! Just go down the hall to your left, up the stairs and onto the last floor. Your room number is 49.¡± The Gnome smiled as she pointed down one of two halls that lead out of the room. Without a word, our protagonist walked down the hall and up the stairs, her composure slowly degrading as she did. She went down the hall, up the stairs and approached her room. She fumbled around with the key before opening up the door and practically falling into her room. Closing the door behind her, she spotted the bed and went inside. Her eyes closed as she tried to ignore the pain. She shot back up again when she realised that she had forgotten her box, the small, grey intricate one. Then she relaxed as she remembered that she the box. Her dagger, clothes of mask. That was something to worry about, the box¡­ It was already in the room, sitting on one of the nearby desks. A little grey doll with a mask bobbed from inside the box. It was silently laughing. The lid hung from the hinges. Her: ¡°Wake me up when it¡¯s night. I don¡¯t want to be awake right now and make sure no one comes inside my room.¡± Jester: ¡°Hehehe, of course. I enjoy watching your face scrunched up in pain just as much as I enjoy watching others cry for mercy.¡± Ignoring the Jester¡¯s statement, she hesitantly disrobed, removing the cloak and the armour, opting to sleep naked rather than have to go through the pain of casting magic again. Doing this in this unfamiliar city, in this Inn which is open to anyone is usually dangerous, but the place itself didn¡¯t seem so bad and despite the mocking behaviour it gave off, she felt safe knowing that the Jester was watching over her, despite it being more evil than even a demon. Though it wasn¡¯t like home, the bed was good enough and a huge upgrade from the hard wood. Exhaustion due to pain overtook her and she quickly fell asleep.