《Souladonis: Ouroboros》


 Chapter 1

    I¡¯m in love with Katherine. And although there¡¯s clearly a taboo against a teacher being romantically interested in his apprentice, I think it¡¯s okay given our unusual circumstance. For one, I was already interested in her before I became her official teacher, which I only did as a matter of convenience, and two, we¡¯re only separated in age by four years.


    It¡¯s currently December. Seven months have passed since I returned to Winterspring for the first time in six years. Katherine has been my official apprentice for the last three of those seven months. She turned 18 in August, and I turned 22 in September. At the moment, she¡¯s in class at Winterspring Academy. She was able to enroll in a limited number of courses, in part, thanks to my tutelage and, in greater part, thanks to the superabundant generosity of Arch Lord Aerolyso Aeon. Being able to formally study magic makes Katherine as happy as can be. She¡¯s advancing rapidly in her study of Life and Plant Magic.  Which is wonderful for her, but a little less so for me because I get to spend less time with her now. Which brings me to the cause of my paranoia. Now that she means so much to me, I¡¯m scared to death of losing her. Yet fortunately for me, I¡¯m a jeweler¡¯s son.


    I stroll into my father¡¯s jewelry store at 10 in the morning. It¡¯s a cozy shop filled with mahogany wood furniture and glass display cases. The instant I enter I see the sparkle of the polished wooden floor, smell the fresh pine of his favorite floor polish, and catch the little glimmer of gems in the third display case on the right side. That display case is turned inwards at a precise angle to reflect beams of light into the eyes of customers as they walk through the door. Said beams of light originate from the sun shining through the window on the opposite side of the room, which might sound insignificant, but what¡¯s remarkable about it is that my father mathematically calculated the angles necessary to reflect the light exactly where he wants it at peak business hours. The reflected light not only pulls customers deeper into the store so that he can address them more easily from his counter, but it also leads any women who enter straight to the most desirable and expensive items. From there, rich lovers will either buy the expensive jewelry to please their women or find the rest of the items in the store more reasonably priced. Either way, my father usually gets the sale. That¡¯s why the third display case on the right is sacred ground. He gets mad whenever a customer carelessly bumps it and alters its angle. Not that he expresses that anger to the customer. My father is a true professional. He takes great pride in his business and he¡¯s exceptionally good at what he does. In fact, Alphonse Rosengarden is known far and wide as the premier jeweler in the northwestern continent.


    I move through the store, passing all of the earrings, bracelets, necklaces, pocket watches, and rings locked in the display cases. When I reach the back wall, I turn left and push in the waist-high swing door that lets my father move behind the counter. His private workshop is at the end of a small hall positioned in the center of the back wall directly behind the counter. I walk slowly down this hall so as not to scare my father. As usual, I find him at his workstation neck deep in concentration. He¡¯s sitting on a small stool, hunched over his latest masterpiece.


    ¡°Dad,? I call to get his attention.


    Without turning, he motions me over to him. I step to his side to look over his shoulder. In the fingers of his right hand, he grasps a single golden ring. This golden ring has an identical twin that rests on the worktable before him. Slowly, as if with reverence, my father turns silently and holds up the ring to me. ¡°They¡¯re both done,? he says.


    I take the ring, pinching it by its base and lean over so that I can see it by the light of the kerosene lamp that hangs over his workstation. The ring is breathtaking. It and its identical twin feature 14 karat gold bands with a collection of symbolic jewels at their heads. The first jewel is a green emerald on the left side. Green is Katherine¡¯s favorite color. It¡¯s also the color that represents nature and Nature Magic in the mage world. Opposite of the emerald is a purple amethyst. The purple of the amethyst represents me, the school colors of Winterspring Academy, and the aura that surrounds me when I use Soul Magic. In the center of the ring, embedded on each side of the main fixture are four small rubies representing our love for one another. On top of the center fixture is a radiant 3.5 carat diamond. The diamond represents holy matrimony. Or at least it would in a perfect world.


    I pat my father on the back. ¡°Thanks dad. You¡¯ve really outdone yourself this time.?


    My father smiles and reaches his hand out for the ring. I gently place it in his palm. In turn, he packs it and its twin in a red velvet jewelry box and then hands the box to me. I sink it into my coat pocket. At the same time, it feels like a weight sinks into my heart.


    ¡°So...? my father begins, ¡°Do you feel more confident now that you have a beautiful ring to offer her??


    ¡°Goodness no,? I answer. ¡°I swear I just became even more nervous.?


    My father grins, appreciating the irony. He then shakes his head and purses his lips. He does that whenever he¡¯s thinking of something important to say. It takes him a moment to fumble through his words, but it¡¯s generally worth the wait. He eventually comes around to figuring out what he wants to say. ¡°You know, son, it¡¯s perfectly normal to be afraid of rejection. However, I don¡¯t think relying on a ring as a crutch is the right policy. I think you should stop beating around the bush and just tell her how you feel about her already.?


    ¡°Noooo,? I grumble, feeling frustrated by the obvious truth. ¡°That¡¯s too hard.?


    My father chuckles pleasantly at my words. He both nods and slightly tilts his head at the same time. ¡°Yes, I suppose being emotionally honest can be difficult for a man ¨C even a man who¡¯s fought giant immortal beasts. But all the same son, women operate in the world of feelings. You¡¯ll have to figure out a way to communicate how you feel to Katherine if you really want her to understand you.?


    ¡°Ahh man,? I whine. ¡°Can¡¯t I just kill a dragon or something??


    ¡°Nope, not this time son. Although I guess you could confess your feelings in a poem or song since you like writing.?


    I smile widely, seeing a ray of light. ¡°That¡¯s not a bad idea. Technically I tried that before, but this time I could be less ambiguous.?


    ¡°Souladonis!? I hear a female voice shout from within the store. I wasn¡¯t expecting anyone at this time. I place my hand over the velvet box tucked inside my coat pocket. ¡°Thanks for the rings and the advice dad.?


    He smiles proudly and nods his head. ¡°You¡¯re welcome son.?


    I turn to leave his workshop, yet when I reach the small hallway, he calls out to me again.


    ¡°Souladonis.?


    I twist to look at him. ¡°Yeah dad??


    ¡°Your mother is expecting to have grandchildren very soon.?


    Oh great. Way to put even more pressure on me!  I rake my hands in my hair and pretend to scream. I can¡¯t actually scream since there¡¯s somebody in the store. Nonetheless, my father gets the joke and laughs. ¡°Good luck son.?


    I strut out of my father¡¯s workshop with two rings and one mission. I have to tell Katherine how I really feel about her even if it kills me. Of course, if it turns out that she doesn¡¯t feel the same way and rejects me, then that will also kill me. I guess when push comes to shove, there¡¯s a good chance that I¡¯m a dead man. Unless, that is, she does love me in which case I instantly become the happiest man in the world. What a crazy high stakes situation this is. It was literally less scary for me to face physical death at the hands of Cornelius than it is to risk a broken heart at the hands of Katherine. However, if that¡¯s the courage that it takes to have a chance to make her mine, then so be it. I¡¯ll do what I have to do.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    I continue about my way. When I arrive at the shop¡¯s counter, I find Silvia Butterfly waiting for me. She¡¯s a blonde vixen bombshell who¡¯s the teacher-fantasy of every male student at Winterspring Academy. Incidentally, she¡¯s also my fellow pupil under the direct tutelage of Arch Lord Aerolyso. She¡¯s also Sidney Butterfly¡¯s older sister.


    ¡°What¡¯s up Silvia?¡± I ask her when I come into range.


    While staring at an item in the third display case, she answers, ¡°The Arch Lord wanted me to come get you for training.?


    I pivot to the side and gaze at the mahogany grandfather clock that sits at the counter¡¯s right side. It¡¯s only 10:16. We normally train at noon. ¡°You¡¯re almost two hours early,¡± I say.


    Silvia looks at me and brushes her right hand through her flawless blonde hair. ¡°Yeah I know, but Master is putting us through some sort of test today.¡±


    I step to the counter just in front of Silvia and lean on it to rest my weight on my forearms. ¡°He¡¯s been testing us a lot lately. If he¡¯s trying to choose a successor, then he could save a lot of time and just pick you already.¡±


    Silvia switches her hips and smirks, satisfied with my acknowledgment. Nonetheless, she turns to modest words to mask the confidence brimming on her face. ¡°Don¡¯t be a sourpuss Soulbanana. You¡¯re still in the running.¡±


    Let¡¯s be clear. I was never in the running. Silvia¡¯s the Golden Girl of Winterspring and I¡¯m the, and I quote, ¡°greatest disappointment of all time.¡± Even I wouldn¡¯t pick me over Silvia, and I¡¯m biased!


    ¡°Whatever,¡± I say, leaping over the counter. ¡°Let¡¯s just go.¡±


    We exit my father¡¯s shop and travel northbound towards the academy. Needless to say, it¡¯s absolutely frigid in Winterspring in December. Nonetheless, Silvia still wears her cutesy getup with her purple plaid skirt, light purple vertically striped dress shirt that¡¯s cut deep to show off her cleavage, red pumps, and purple beret. It¡¯s an odd, albeit attractive, outfit to wear in our tundra climate. Although to Silvia¡¯s credit, she does at least have enough sense to wear a wool coat over her arms. However, what particularly interests me most about her skimpy outfit isn¡¯t that it somehow protects her from hypothermia, but rather the fact that she¡¯s able to walk over snow and ice in heels. ¡°How are you doing that?¡± I ask her.


    ¡°Doing what?¡±


    ¡°Walking over snow in heels.¡±


    She pauses to look me in the eyes. ¡°Souladonis. I¡¯m just that good.¡±


    And there you have it. She¡¯s just that good. We reach the gates of Winterspring Academy in another 10 minutes. Silvia doesn¡¯t slip once.


    To kill time as much as to be polite, Arch Lord Aerolyso bows his head towards students as they move in and out the school grounds. He also exchanges a few brief words with anyone who speaks to him. He doesn¡¯t know each student personally since Winterspring has a student body of approximately 25,000, but that¡¯s the sort of person that he is. He¡¯s the kindly, old, grandfatherly type.


    When he sees me and Silvia approaching, the ends of his lips curl to his cheeks and he waves us over. Most of that reaction is for Silvia and less of it for me. She¡¯s his favorite person after his wife Martha, who passed eight years ago. But I don¡¯t blame him. Everybody loves Silvia, including me. After all, she¡¯s the only friend from my childhood who¡¯s still my friend today. Everyone else has written me off. Especially¨C


    At the precise moment that I think of my former girlfriend, Nadine, I see her entering through Winterspring¡¯s front gate. I immediately drop what I¡¯m doing, leave Silvia and Arch Lord Aerolyso behind, and rush in front of her. Nadine¡¯s reaction is to continue walking forward as if nothing changed. I have to walk backwards to stay in front of her.


    ¡°Nadine forgive me!¡± I beg.


    She shows no sympathy for my pleading purple eyes. She curves around me and continues on her path. My words fall on deaf ears. However, I won¡¯t give up that easily. I rush ahead of her again, kneel in the snow, and lower my head to the ground. ¡°Forgive me Nadine!¡±


    My actions create a scene. With my head in the snow, I can¡¯t see around me, but I can sense the other students watching me, whispering gossip to one another. Yet I care nothing for my public reputation. All I care about is Nadine and obtaining her mercy. Once again, as she walks around me, I cry desperately, ¡°I¡¯m sorry Nadine! I¡¯m sorry!¡±


    Nothing. Her mercy is not to be had this day. She passes by without acknowledging my existence. It¡¯s the same way that she¡¯s treated me every time that I¡¯ve seen her since freeing her from the petrification curse. No matter what I say or do she won¡¯t acknowledge my existence much less forgive me.


    Gradually, I swallow this bitter reality yet again and pluck my head out of the snow. My heart dies a little every time I encounter Nadine, yet I won¡¯t give up or despair. Nor will I allow myself to sink into a depression. Previously, I might have done so, but not anymore. For three months now, I¡¯ve been Katherine¡¯s magic teacher. Yet all the while, she¡¯s been my teacher too. I¡¯ve taught her magic, but she¡¯s taught me about facing life¡¯s challenges with dignity and courage no matter what happens. If Katherine were in my position, she wouldn¡¯t give up or become depressed. She¡¯d continue to be her positive, cheerful self and keep trying until she succeeded. Thinking in such a way doesn¡¯t come naturally to me, but I¡¯ve been trying really hard for the past few months to be more like her. After all, she¡¯s my hero. It¡¯s only right that I should strive to be more like the person I admire most.


    Holding my chin up with self-respect and optimism, I return to Silvia and Arch Lord Aerolyso. Silvia briefly looks at me with pitying eyes before throwing her arms around me. Master Aerolyso swipes some of the snow out of my hair. I know they feel bad for me, but I don¡¯t feel bad for myself. I¡¯m proud of the progress that I¡¯ve made as a person. I¡¯ve come a long way from the days of trying to drown my problems with alcohol. In fact, I¡¯ve been sober ever since the day I promised Katherine that I would stop drinking seven months ago. Sure, it sucks that Nadine hasn¡¯t forgiven me, but I¡¯ve forgiven myself. Today I¡¯m the best man that I¡¯ve ever been. That¡¯s enough for me right now.


    I hold Silvia at arm¡¯s length. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about making a scene. I got a little distracted, but I¡¯m alright now. What did you call us here for Master?¡±


    Arch Lord Aerolyso pats me on the shoulder approvingly. He knew me for years before I met Katherine, and he¡¯s been around me enough since my return to Winterspring to recognize the change in me. He understands what I haven¡¯t spoken in words.


    To answer my question, he says, ¡°I¡¯ve called you two here for a series of tests, but we can postpone if you like Souladonis.¡±


    I watch my Master¡¯s eyes observe me discerningly. His offer to postpone was entirely sincere and not the least bit critical. Likewise, it¡¯s not the least bit necessary. ¡°No Master. I¡¯m ready for anything.¡±


    He pokes the center piece of his glasses to readjust the frames on his ears. ¡°No Souladonis, I don¡¯t think you are. But you¡¯re more than welcome to prove me wrong.¡±

 Chapter 2

    Arch Lord Aerolyso explains, ¡°The first test is simple. All you two have to do is keep up with me as I go out into the fields.¡±


    I place my hands over my cheeks to feign panic. ¡°Keep up with a 92-year-old? Oh no! What will we do Silvia?¡±


    He narrows his eyes at me. ¡°Never underestimate the Arch Lord of Winterspring.¡±


    I shrug my shoulders. That¡¯s a nice line, but what¡¯s he going to do? He¡¯s an old man. His magic doesn¡¯t work the way it used to.


    Nonetheless, he goes for it. He holds out both hands in front of himself and creates a blue cloud of dense mana energy. That¡¯s the Flying Mana Cloud spell. It¡¯s a Quick Travel spell that only grandmaster-level script mages can do. It¡¯s a spell that¡¯s as much for prestige as it is for mobility. Basically, everyone knows that if you see someone riding on top of a cloud of pure mana energy, then that person is a bona fide elite mage.


    Arch Lord Aerolyso leaps onto his cloud. Similarly, Silvia¡¯s body becomes weightless and she rises into the air. She knows how to fly. I, however, know nothing. I raise my hand in objection.


    ¡°Yes Souladonis?¡± asks the Arch Lord.


    ¡°Umm Master, I don¡¯t know any Quick Travel spells.¡±


    He smiles shrewdly. ¡°Then I suggest you run really fast.¡±


    And they¡¯re off. They zip into the distance so fast that it takes my breath away. I have mere seconds to do something before I lose them. So not knowing what else to do, I charge my body with Soul Magic and start running.


    Charging full speed ahead, I blow out of the school gates, jump over the heads of slow-moving students, fly down the streets of Winterspring at 20 miles per hour, and continue running forward like a madman as I vacate the front gate of Winterspring Town. In the distance ahead, I can see the wakes of mana energy that trail behind Silvia and Master Aerolyso, yet they¡¯re both so far ahead of me that I can¡¯t see their actual bodies. All I can do is follow their trails and hope that I don¡¯t lose them in the snowy white sky.


    Yet lose them I do. Their trails disappear and all I can do is keep running straight and hope that they didn¡¯t make any sudden turns. I power ahead for another 30 seconds until I accidentally pass by them. It turns out that the reason I stopped seeing their trails wasn¡¯t because I lost them but because they stopped moving. Now I have to stop before I get too far ahead, but I don¡¯t exactly know how. Legs don¡¯t come with brakes like a train.


    Figuring that at this point I couldn¡¯t possibly look any worse, I simply take a dive and become a human snow plow. I burn through 100 feet of snow before my inertia finally grinds to a halt. I rise to my feet brushing snow off my clothes. I then sashay back to Silvia and Master Aerolyso as if everything were perfectly normal.


    ¡°Soooo,¡± I hum when I reach my teacher, ¡°Did I pass?¡±


    He shakes his head. ¡°No Souladonis. Not even close.¡±


    I lower my eyes to the snow. ¡°Rassum frassum.¡±


    ¡°But,¡± the Arch Lord continues, ¡°you can try to redeem yourself in the second test.¡±


    I pound the knuckles of my right hand into my left palm. ¡°Alright Master. What¡¯s the second test?¡±


    He crosses his arms and his demeanor becomes uncharacteristically serious. ¡°The next test is to defeat your rival pupil in a full contact fight.¡±


    I glance over at Silvia. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You two are to fight full force. There are no rules. The fight ends when one of you is unconscious or surrenders.¡±


    I frown and gaze off to the side. He doesn¡¯t know what he¡¯s asking of me. Yet at the same time, I don¡¯t want Silvia to feel cheated. I want her to feel like she earned her position when Master finally declares her as his official successor. Besides, Silvia received her credentials as an ultimate class mage just last month. She¡¯s gone from being a Falconer, to a Master Falconer, to a Human Raptor. I¡¯m sure she¡¯s eager to test her skills, and I wouldn¡¯t mind seeing them myself. However, hurting a friend is absolutely out of the question. I would never do that for anyone or anything.


    I look at Silvia. ¡°What do you think?¡±


    She turns to the Arch Lord. ¡°Isn¡¯t that dangerous Master? Somebody will get hurt.¡±


    He keeps his arms crossed and doesn¡¯t soften the mood. ¡°When the fight is over, I¡¯ll cast my Life Magic if need be, but that¡¯s not your concern Silvia. Unless you plan on losing.¡±


    ¡°Of course not!¡± she retorts. She looks at me nervously. ¡°It¡¯s just that Soulbanana and I have never fought for real.¡±


    He doesn¡¯t relent. ¡°You will today.¡±


    I look over the Arch Lord to read his body language. He runs the world¡¯s leading mage academy, but he¡¯s never been the strict or severe type. The strength of our academy comes from the wisdom and foresight of our headmaster. Some of the other Arch Lords try to get ahead with strictness and severity, but the flaw of their method shows in the impaired performance of their students. In contrast, Winterspring is a lighthearted and fun academy, and yet our students are the world¡¯s elites. So why would Arch Lord Aerolyso deviate from his ways now? There must be something that he¡¯s not telling us. Besides the fact that he¡¯s planning on choosing a successor, that is. Silvia and I have surmised that much already.


    I turn again towards my ¡°rival¡± pupil and summon my golden magic staff, Sophia. It¡¯s the staff that makes me learn everything three times faster. Twirling it, I make a fanciful display and pose in a fighting stance. ¡°Come on Silvia. Show me what an ultimate class Human Raptor can do.¡±


    She shrugs and summons her weapon ¨C the Tempestuous Venetian Fan of the Clouds. As if Silvia weren¡¯t dangerous enough already, Arch Lord Aerolyso¡¯s present to her to celebrate her promotion to ultimate class was a super rare fan that cost the Arch Lord 65 million ames. The fan triples the power of Silvia¡¯s wind magic. I helped him pick it out. Little did I know that a month later she¡¯d be using it on me. But whatever, I have Soul Magic, which nobody is even supposed to know, so I can¡¯t exactly cry ¡°unfair.?


    Arch Lord Aerolyso steps away to give us space. While I let him move to a distance, Silvia takes advantage of the hiatus and summons her two pets ¨C a falcon named Michelangelo and a golden eagle named Johanna. To win this so-called test of Master Aerolyso, I would have to defeat the lead apprentice of the world¡¯s premier magic academy while she¡¯s equipped with a super powerful weapon and while she¡¯s assisted by two highly trained birds of prey. Frankly, I don¡¯t think the Arch Lord himself could beat Silvia in a fight. Not the way he is now at least. But such is life. I might as well be proactive about the situation.


    ¡°Ladies first Silvia."


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°Ladies first. You can have the first shot.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure Soulbanana?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure. Give me all you got.¡±


    She floats her eyes to the Arch Lord. He¡¯s still doing his somber and serious thing, so it seems like he¡¯s really going to let this happen. She turns her eyes back to me. ¡°Okay Souladonis, but don¡¯t hate me after this.¡± She pulls back her right arm, holding her Venetian fan to the wind. Then, with a quick swoosh of her arm, she launches her attack. Instantly, a shockwave of three columns of tornadoes ripples at me. The wind of her attack propels itself with such spontaneous force that it sounds like an explosion.


    Reacting quickly, I charge my body with Soul Magic and spring up 20 feet into the air. It was necessary to jump this high to avoid the tornadoes, but now I¡¯m vulnerable to her pets since I can scarcely dodge in the air. Yet it¡¯s amazing what a man can do when he must. As Michelangelo rockets at me, I twist my body flat to the side and he flies right past me. I smile cockily, but then Johanna swoops down at a diagonal and smacks me in the side of my face. As a result my body twists sideways in the air head over feet until I crash into the ground. Most men would be dead from a fall like that, but not me. I¡¯m practically a human rag doll.


    I pull myself out of the snow and look ahead. Silvia¡¯s not there. She¡¯s in the air now. Like her pets she can fly and see with raptor vision. It¡¯d be really difficult to hit her while she¡¯s in the sky if not impossible. However, I might be able to get her to come down.


    ¡°Silvia!¡± I shout.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    ¡°What?¡± she shouts back down to me.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be flying right now.¡±


    ¡°And why not?¡±


    ¡°Because Master Aerolyso peeks up your skirt when you fly!¡±


    ¡°Souladonis!¡± the Arch Lord howls. I look at him and grin. I can¡¯t tell whether his face is red from blushing or anger, but it¡¯s funny either way. I totally just blew his cover. But even better, Silvia drops from the sky and lands to her feet. She glares at the Arch Lord and, in turn, he gazes out the corners of his eyes, rocks his feet back and forth, and whistles innocently. Of course, neither of us buys his act. He¡¯s busted. Silvia shakes her head at him contemptuously. ¡°Men,? she scoffs.


    While she¡¯s distracted, I rush at her to close the distance for hand to hand combat. Strictly speaking, her fan is a melee weapon as opposed to a staff or wand which are the two categorical magic-only weapons. However, Silvia herself is a pure mage. At least as far as I know. I¡¯m not sure how well she can perform in a hand to hand combat situation, but seeing as we¡¯re already fighting, I might as well find out. Carpe diem as it were.


    I reach her and throw a jab for her face with my left fist. She reacts well and ducks my punch. Yet her natural instinct is to retaliate with a swing of her fan to launch wind magic at me. That¡¯s not the correct technique for the situation. All I have to do is side kick her forearm to stop her attack. Once I kick her arm, she stands erect, momentarily stunned. She leaves her chin up and wide open. I could easily clock her with a knockout punch, but I don¡¯t. Instead, I let her jut her left hand to my chest and blow me back with the Wind Push spell. Once again, I¡¯m relinquished to projectile range. But no matter. I can play the projectile game too. Perhaps not as well as her, but today¡¯s a fine day for pushing the limits, so we¡¯ll see.


    I cast my favorite Comet spell. Seeing it melt the snow below as it barrels towards Silvia is a thing of beauty. Yet said beauty doesn¡¯t last long. She drowns out my fireball with the Water Shark spell. In response, I put my staff to my hip in preparation for another spell. I start to go for a Lightning Strike, but Michelangelo screeches at me from above. His noisy battle cry allows me to see him coming, so I hit the deck and he passes right over me. Unfortunately, however, this time I¡¯m the one who made the mistake.


    While I¡¯m lying flat on the ground, Silvia throws my body into the air with the Tornado spell. If that were all, then I¡¯d be fine. However, Johanna immediately swoops into me with bone-breaking force. I never really gave it much thought before, but getting rammed at high speed by a frickin¡¯ eagle hurts. Yet that¡¯s not all. Michelangelo, the falcon, decides to play a game of monkey see, monkey do, so to speak. He also rams me and I¡¯m left twisting in the air. Yet the coup de grace comes when Silvia alters her body into her Human Raptor form. Carried by magical falcon wings, she darts straight into me at 60 miles per hour and gouges her fists into my stomach. Had she hit me in the chest, she could have stopped my heart. But she didn¡¯t, so I don¡¯t die. However, I do expel a loud fart thanks to the impact to my stomach. More importantly though, I sail into the horizon like a cartoon villain and crash into the soft snow somewhere in the distance.


    Moments later Silvia and Arch Lord Aerolyso come to find me. By the time they arrive, I''ve already made them a snow angel. Yet sadly, the Arch Lord isn¡¯t impressed. He looks down at me and shakes his head with disdain. ¡°The test is over. You fail Souladonis.¡±


    I cast the Miracle Heal spell on myself to heal my bruises and stand to my feet. ¡°Well then I¡¯m 0 for 2 at this point, but I can change that real fast. Silvia! I challenge you to a game of rock, paper, scissors!¡±


    Making light of the situation probably wasn¡¯t the most tactful thing to do. Master¡¯s nostrils flare and I can tell that he¡¯s about to blow his lid. ¡°Silvia, leave us,¡± he commands. ¡°I want to talk to Souladonis in private.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± she says, half-turning to walk away. ¡°I¡¯ll wait for you Soul.¡±


    She leaves me alone with the Arch Lord. He starts by giving me the condemning eyes, but they¡¯re no more harsh than the way that I used to look at myself in the mirror. As a consequence, I¡¯m less startled than one might expect. Nonetheless, he still gives me the business.


    ¡°That was a disappointing display Souladonis. I expected more from you. Why did you hold back?¡±


    The last part of his critique catches me off guard. ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°What, did you think I wouldn¡¯t notice? You didn¡¯t use Triple Casting, Summoning Magic, or even Soul Magic to boost your power. Nor did you even once attempt to attack her pets. Were you even trying to win?¡±


    Right, so seeing as he saw through me like glass, I might as well come clean. ¡°Listen Master, the test for me was never to defeat Silvia; it was to keep the promise that I made to my own heart to never hurt a friend again. You saw the scene at the academy with Nadine. That was the result of having hurt her in the past. I¡¯ll never do anything like that ever again. Never.¡±


    He nods his head three times and looks off to the side. ¡°I see. I should have thought of that.¡±


    I continue, ¡°Master, if you¡¯re considering choosing a successor, then there¡¯s nobody better for the job than Silvia.¡±


    He looks at me with serious and silent eyes. Then after a moment¡¯s pause, he finally says, ¡°It¡¯s not that simple Souladonis. There are many factors to consider. An Arch Lord must be intelligent, good with people, able to instruct youths, spot potential, plan for the future, and supervise a complex administration. In these areas, yes, Silvia is an ideal candidate. Yet an Arch Lord must also be courageous, strong, resilient, powerful with magic, skilled in combat, and willing to fight through any circumstance no matter how difficult without giving up. In these areas you¡¯ve already proven yourself through your quest to rescue Nadine. Furthermore, being an Arch Lord is stressful. It¡¯s a never-ending sea of responsibilities and challenges. I¡¯m not sure that that¡¯s the right kind of life for Silvia. However, your incomplete education, aloof attitude, and poor social reputation would make it difficult for you as well. So you see Souladonis, it is anything but an easy decision.¡±


    I smile and place my hand on his shoulder. ¡°Well then it¡¯s a good thing you¡¯ll be around for a long time to come, isn¡¯t it Master?¡±


    He doesn¡¯t return my smile. ¡°No Souladonis. Everyday I feel my time drawing near. Besides,¡± he pauses, and I see a deeper sorrow in his eyes than I¡¯ve ever seen him show before. ¡°I miss my wife.¡±


    I remove my hand from his shoulder. I only have to think of Katherine for a millisecond to understand how he must feel. To lose one¡¯s lover must be an indescribable horror. Sixty plus years of marriage wouldn¡¯t change that. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Master.¡±


    My condolence causes him to become self-aware. He realizes that he¡¯s being morose and immediately sorts himself out. He smiles his jolly-old-man smile and points his thumb over his shoulder. ¡°Silvia¡¯s waiting for you. You kids run along and I¡¯ll think on the situation some more.¡±


    ¡°Alright Master,¡± I agree. ¡°But take it easy. You¡¯re no spring chicken. Don¡¯t go for a joyride on your magic cloud and then run out of mana in the middle of a snowy field somewhere.¡±


    He shakes his head and wags his finger. ¡°Must I tell you again Souladonis? Never underestimate the Arch Lord of Winterspring. I¡¯ll be back at town before you.¡±


    Out of the blue, he summons his magic cloud, hops on it, and shoots off in the direction of the town while swaying his arms like a surfer. ¡°Woo hoo hoo!¡± he exclaims as he goes.


    I walk to Silvia scratching my head at his curious burst of imitated youth. ¡°Our Master¡¯s a bit crazy.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± she agrees with a smile. ¡°But he¡¯s a good man.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    Suddenly, Silvia prods me in the shoulder with her fist. ¡°Let¡¯s go back to my place and relax for a bit Soulbanana. When my apprentice Heather gets out of class, I¡¯ll have her cook us something nice.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± I agree. Why not? Katherine will still be in class for a few more hours anyway. Besides, I¡¯m in no rush to see her. I can always put off until tomorrow what I¡¯m too afraid to do today.

 Chapter 3

    When we reach Silvia¡¯s humble one-story home, we go through the front door, toss off our shoes, actually I keep mine together neatly since it¡¯s not my house, and then crash on the three-seated white couch in her salon. She sits on the leftmost cushion and I on the right. We leave the middle seat open between us. We¡¯re close friends, but not close like that.


    Silvia leans her head back, stretches her arms and legs out, and exhales a slow and deep yawn to relax. I just kind of sit there. After having spent an inordinate amount of time in makeshift shelters in the wilderness, relaxation to me is having a solid roof over my head. I don¡¯t need to do any of that other stuff. Still, I let Silvia have a moment to do her thing while I stare across the room at a landscape painting on the wall.


    Finally, Silvia finishes stretching herself out. ¡°What did the Arch Lord say to you?¡± she asks.


    I tilt my body against the couch¡¯s armrest. ¡°He planned to scold me about my poor performance, but I told him to go ahead and pick you as his successor.¡±


    Her weary body suddenly perks to full alertness. ¡°And what did he say to that?¡±


    ¡°He said that it¡¯s not that simple and that there¡¯s a lot to consider. I think he doesn¡¯t want to subject you to a life of endless responsibilities and he doesn¡¯t want my poor social reputation and lack of administrative experience to screw up the school.¡±


    ¡°Heh,¡± she half-chuckles, amused. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind the responsibilities. Besides, the world could use another Arch Lady since there are only three.¡±


    I open my mouth to tell her that three out of nine isn¡¯t bad for women relative to other power positions, but I¡¯m cut off by the ring of the doorbell. Being lazy, Silvia grumbles audibly at the inconvenience of having to get off the couch to answer the door.


    ¡°Is that Heather?¡± I ask.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± she says, lethargically slugging her way to the front door.


    Silvia opens it and immediately her younger sister, Sidney, spills in. ¡°Silvia!¡± Sidney cries in a panic. ¡°Bad news! King Barthalamos has declared war on Ouroboros!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I shout, rushing to the door. ¡°What did you say Sidney?¡±


    ¡°Souladonis!¡± she exclaims surprised yet visibly happy to see me. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to be here.¡±


    ¡°Nevermind that Sidney. What did you say about the king?¡±


    She puts her hands together just above the center of her waist and lowers her head. Speaking softly, she explains, ¡°King Barthalamos sent heralds throughout Magali announcing his declaration of war on Ouroboros. There¡¯s going to be a military assembly this evening to give the citizens more details and to present the leaders of the military campaign.¡±


    Her news is an emotional blow to my heart. I physically reel back, whooping my mouth open and shut like a suffocating fish. Then, my shock turns to anger. I pound my fist repeatedly against the nearest wall. Silvia quickly comes and grabs me by the wrist lest I damage her house. ¡°Souladonis, why are you so upset?¡± she asks. ¡°What does any of this have to do with you?¡±


    I twist to her slinging my arms down. ¡°You don¡¯t understand Silvia. Katherine¡¯s father, Shaman Terranostra, sacrificed his life to save Ouroboros from ?me Kingdom 18 years ago. Now all of a sudden King Barthalamos decides to go back and finish what he started. This news is going to devastate Katherine. Maybe I shouldn¡¯t even tell her.¡±


    ¡°Souladonis,¡± Sidney calls in her soft-spoken voice. ¡°Maybe we can do something to convince the king to change his mind. The assembly isn¡¯t until 5 this evening.¡±


    I crack my knuckles, fantasizing about the joy of smacking a king. I can just imagine Barthalamos with the mark of five red fingers decorating his ugly bearded face. ¡°You¡¯re right Sidney. A solid slap ought to knock some sense into him. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°Souladonis Rosengarden!¡± Silvia hollers, ¡°You are not going to slap the king of ?me Kingdom and cause an international incident!¡±


    ¡°For Katherine I would.¡±


    ¡°Of course you would. That¡¯s why you¡¯re not going alone. Sidney and I will go with you. Also, I¡¯m sure Arch Lord Aerolyso will want to hear about this. I¡¯ll go to his office to tell him what¡¯s happening. You should go and tell Katherine. She¡¯ll want to know too.¡±


    I clench my right fist, still filled with rage. I want to make King Barthalamos pay for forcing me to have to tell Katherine something that¡¯s going to break her heart. Yet that will come later. First I have to find Katherine. Afterwards, I slap the king across his ugly face.


    I leave Silvia¡¯s house and head to the dormitory where Katherine lives. I don¡¯t want to go directly to her class and tell her there. That would be insensitive and inappropriate. Instead, I sit on the floor in the hallway outside of her dorm room and wait for her to return.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    She comes around 50 minutes later and finds me sitting at her door. ¡°Master Souladonis,¡± she says cheerfully, ¡°What are you doing here?¡±


    I stand and look at her. My lips are pursed in remorse. Oblivious, she returns my gaze with her beaming brown eyes at their brightest. She also wears a sweet smile on her face that¡¯s just big enough to poke small indentations into her cute dimples. I swallow my heart. I don¡¯t want to say the words that will erase her smile and fill her eyes with tears, but I have to. It¡¯s the right and necessary thing to do. I exhale deeply through my nose. ¡°Katherine. Can I speak to you in private??


    ¡°Sure,¡± she says, moving past me to unlock the door with her key. She swings it open and beckons for me to enter. She still wears a bright smile on her face even now. Reluctantly, I step through the door.


    Katherine¡¯s dorm room is a single, meaning that she doesn¡¯t have a roommate. What she does have is a simple wooden desk with one chair on the left, a queen-size bed in the right corner, a lot of empty space, and a single poster of some male-model-looking singer from Milieu¡¯s famous Opera Troupe. He¡¯s popular with the girls. Katherine¡¯s told me his name a thousand times, but I never remember it. He¡¯s not that good looking to me.


    Behind me, Katherine shuts the door and steps into the room. ¡°What did you want to talk about Master?¡±


    I look Katherine in the eyes, but quickly decide that that¡¯s the wrong thing to do. I¡¯m not going to be able to say what I need to say while looking at her. Instead, I turn my eyes to the floor and do my best to man up. ¡°Katherine, I¡¯ve got some bad news for you. I just found out that King Barthalamos has declared war on Ouroboros. He¡¯s going back to clear the ledger of the defeat that your father handed him. I think things are going to get ugly for your father¡¯s tribe. I thought I should be the one to tell you. I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°Oh no,¡± Katherine moans, falling to her knees. ¡°I don¡¯t understand. Why would he want to start a war again after all this time?¡±


    I fold my arms, shaking my head for lack of a substantial answer. ¡°I don¡¯t know Katherine. But my guess is that he¡¯s feeling the pressure of time catching up to him and he¡¯s worried about his legacy. Barthalamos has only lost a battle once, and that one time was at the hands of a pacifist. That¡¯s got to eat at him on the inside.¡±


    Katherine looks up at me. There¡¯s both desperation and tears in her eyes. I clench my fists tight. King Barthalamos is going to pay for this.


    Distraught, Katherine tries to plead with reason, ¡°But he can¡¯t just start a war for no reason, can he? How can he justify that?¡±


    I turn my head to the side slightly. ¡°Well Katherine, from what I understand of politics, he will have to provide his people with some sort of bull crap reason to explain why their sons and fathers are shipping off to war, but my guess is that he¡¯s already thought that through. Make no mistake, however, this war is about a man with an inflated ego seeking petty vengeance against a people whose only crime was defending themselves from him in the first place. Barthalamos became king by usurping the throne. He¡¯s not the kind of man who¡¯s concerned with justice or morality. He only cares about what he wants, and that¡¯s why we have to stop him.¡±


    Katherine stands to her feet with fire in her eyes. ¡°What do you have planned Master?¡±


    I open my mouth and point my index finger into the air as if I had a brilliant idea, but I don¡¯t. I lower my finger and point it to her instead. I¡¯ve got nothing.


    ¡°Actually Katherine, I have no idea what we should do. But, there¡¯s a military assembly at 5 in Magali. I figure the first thing to do is to attend to get a better sense of the situation. We can figure out our next move from there.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± she agrees. ¡°Thank you for telling me about this Master.¡± She summons one of her magical inventory bags and withdraws the wand of Shaman Terranostra. It¡¯s her primary weapon. Seeing it in her hand makes me suspect that she¡¯s up to shenanigans.


    I warn her, ¡°When we get to the assembly, don¡¯t do anything stupid.¡±


    ¡°No more stupid than you.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± I say with a shrug, ¡°That¡¯s what I meant.¡±


    She smiles and steps to me for a hug. She wraps her arms around my shoulders and I wrap my arms around her waist. We hold each other close.


    ¡°Thank you Souladonis,¡± she says softly.


    I run the fingers of my right hand through her wavy dark brown hair and tilt my nose forward so that I can smell its lavender scent. ¡°You don¡¯t have to thank me Katherine. You know that I¡¯ll always stand by your side no matter what.¡±


    ¡°I know Souladonis, but you don¡¯t have to.¡±


    I don¡¯t have to? Is she kidding me? A man in love could never do otherwise.

 Chapter 4

    Silvia, Sidney, Katherine, Master Aerolyso, and I arrive at the gates of Magali half an hour before the assembly starts. To enter the city, we have to pass by two armored inquisitors posing as security guards. The two eye everyone passing by with hawkish, suspicious stares. Upon seeing us, they find us particularly suspicious and halt our entrance by blocking us with their bodies. ¡°Hold it right there,¡± says a guard with the visor of his jar-shaped helmet up. ¡°You folks don¡¯t look like ordinary travelers. Who be ye?¡±


    The fact that the guy doesn¡¯t recognize one of the world¡¯s most famous mages doesn¡¯t say much for him. Yet Master is never boastful about his identity. Rather than be offended, he simply smiles courteously. ¡°I am Arch Lord Aerolyso Aeon of Winterspring Academy. This is my apprentice Souladonis, his apprentice Katherine, my other apprentice Silvia, and her sister Sidney. The girls are all citizens of ?me Kingdom. The lad and I are visiting.¡±


    The guard bends forward at the hips and takes a closer look at Master¡¯s face. ¡°Ya don¡¯t say, the Arch Lord of Winterspring? Well then you¡¯re in for a real treat milord. You may have the world¡¯s top mage academy, but we have the world¡¯s top military. Even you¡¯ll be impressed. I guarantee you that.¡±


    Again, Master smiles and nods his head to show respect to the otherwise lowly and anonymous security guard. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m expecting a spectacular showing.?


    With a proud return nod, the guard steps aside to allow us to enter. ¡°Enjoy the assembly milord.¡±


    We walk into the city with the Arch Lord taking point. Silvia and I follow behind his left and right shoulders. Katherine and Sidney follow behind us. Gazing about, I see that the late afternoon sun reflects golden off the city¡¯s tan cobblestone pavement. In every direction I observe that the golden streets are filled with an array of both commoners and nobles. Many of them are citizens but others must be curious travelers who have come to witness the war proclamation like us.  Following the Arch Lord, we stroll down the main street that leads from the city gate to the town center and eventually to the castle. Contrary to the suggestion of the buzzing chatter that fills the air, there¡¯s no actual fanfare taking place at the moment. The commotion is simply the natural result of a densely-packed collection of people all gravitating towards one general direction.


    When we finally manage to reach the town square, we find that the military has already set up an ad hoc platform that will serve as a stage for the assembly. The stage is surrounded on all sides by a perimeter of armed inquisitors. Naturally, the silent guards all have their swords sheathed, but the crowd gets the message that it¡¯s not to come too close to the stage. Settling into position, we and all the spectators pack in tightly from inches away from the guards to 50 yards into the distance. Having arrived roughly 15 minutes before the big event, we find ourselves neither in the front nor the back of the group. Rather, we¡¯re scrunched somewhere in the middle of the crowd about 25 yards from the stage.


    While the people wait for the assembly to begin, they chat boisterously with their neighbors and the city of Magali becomes a noisy chat festival. Our group is less talkative. We have in our midst the only descendant of the Yugalla tribe in all of Magali and probably all of ?me Kingdom. Katherine, who¡¯s normally outgoing, is silently lost in her own thoughts. I¡¯d say something to her, but I don¡¯t know what to say. I could try to tell a joke to lighten the mood. I could even try to assure her that the guard at the gate wasn¡¯t right about the Aim¨¦ army being the most powerful military in the world. But it is. And if the highly trained military force of the world¡¯s wealthiest and most technologically advanced nation attacks a nation of tribal peasants, then the outcome is a forgone conclusion. Katherine knows that the impending words of the king could mark the death of everything that her father ever held dear and sacrificed his life for. It would be as if he never existed.


    I stand by Katherine¡¯s side, not looking at her directly, but always keeping a watch on her through my peripheral vision. For her part, she has her eyes turned downwards as if she were visualizing something in her head. Probably various strategies and contingency plans for what to do if we¡¯re unable to nip this thing in the bud. Or perhaps, she¡¯s reflecting on the worst case scenario ¨C the total obliteration of the Yugallan people. Either way, I don¡¯t have the heart to break her from her concentration. I merely wait and observe the environment.


    At 5 o¡¯ clock, accurate to the very second, we hear the sound of military trumpets blowing from the direction of the castle. The crowd reacts with cheers and applause as their beloved king and his assembly of soldiers parade towards the town center. I¡¯m not from ?me Kingdom, so I¡¯m afraid I have to admit ignorance when it comes to recognizing the primary movers and shakers of this country¡¯s military and government. However, I do recognize King Barthalamos when I see him. He¡¯s six feet and five inches tall, he wears extravagant golden armor, a blue cape, and a crown of jewels. He¡¯s roughly 52 years old and he has neck-length grayish red hair and a thick beard to match. Attendants on either side of him raise his coat of arms from tall poles.


    Directly behind King Barthalamos trails the only other man in the assembly that I recognize. It¡¯s Chief Inquisitor Rupert Des Chevaliers. He and I once fought over him rudely bumping into Katherine without apologizing. I barely survived that fight. Then, a few days later, we fought together against my former teacher, Master Simon, who turned out to be a death mage. I barely survived that fight too. But more importantly, I know the Chief Inquisitor to be man of justice and integrity. Furthermore, I know that he regards Shaman Terranostra as a good man because he said as much when he allowed Katherine to keep her father¡¯s wand after she stole it from a museum here in Magali. Considering that he fought in the first war between ?me Kingdom and Ouroboros as a young man, he must have some strong thoughts on returning now that he¡¯s older and in a position of authority. The only question is whether he¡¯s in favor of a second war or against it. I¡¯d love to know, but it¡¯s not like I can ask him at the moment. All I can do is continue to watch the assembly and listen to what the king has to say.


    Behind King Barthalamos and the Chief Inquisitor comes a series of generals and other important dignitaries. They, too, have their banners and coats of arms waving in the air. I don¡¯t recognize any of them. Behind the distinguished people comes the blue and gold river of the rank and file soldiers. They¡¯re a well equipped and highly disciplined force. I¡¯d hate to have to fight them.


    Once the king¡¯s ostentatious march to the stage is complete, he climbs the stairs of the platform so that he can address his people. In a loud voice, he declares, ¡°Countrymen of ?me Kingdom, I, Barthalamos, on this third day of December, hereby declare war upon the dark and foul nation of Ouroboros. Eighteen years ago our great and noble land faced the villains of Ouroboros only to be thwarted in the end by the ungodly black magic of their heretic leader, Shaman Terranostra. While we did manage to bring the wicked shaman to justice by severing his head from his shoulders here in this very town square, the rest of his evil tribesmen continue to pollute the earth from their swamp kingdom in Ouroboros. These people, who call themselves the Yugallans, are a backwards and irredeemable people. They engage in the foulest of practices such as human sacrifice, wife sharing, cannibalism, and the worship of snakes. They even go so far as to feed human babies to the large snakes that they worship.¡±


    His last line causes his gullible subjects to fill the air with gasps of horror. The people of Magali are about as educated as the masses come, yet few of them have enough experience with interacting with people from foreign lands and cultures to recognize the blatant lie of the king¡¯s words. It¡¯s easy to think of people outside of one¡¯s own country or social group as ¡°other.¡± Even other enough to believe that they could be collectively and characteristically evil to the point of feeding their own babies to snakes. Yet as a person who¡¯s traveled to the four corners of the world, I know that that¡¯s complete nonsense. The human beings in every country are essentially the same. They all just want to be happy and take care of their families. That¡¯s it. There¡¯s no variation from this. The king of ?me Kingdom would undoubtedly know this, but he¡¯s playing the us-and-them card to make his people believe that their side is good and the other side is bad. It¡¯s a classic and simple method of nationalistic propaganda. Were his people not too busy buying it wholesale, they¡¯d recognize it for the affront against their intelligence that it should be.


    Yet alas, they don¡¯t object and he continues, ¡°While the Yugallan people may be utterly worthless, their swamp kingdom is not without its merits. Their land is somehow blessed with rich, bountiful resources such as mana sand on the beaches, orange and red mana plants, a treasure trove of bamboo, beautiful songbirds, cerulean, whitewood, and crystallized trees, and even precious stones like opal and turquoise. Our brave soldiers will commandeer these resources after they finish eradicating the Yugallan pests. This will not only pay for the war, but also advance ?me Kingdom into an even greater era of prosperity than the one we¡¯ve enjoyed for several decades now.


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Truly, it is an act of divine justice that we should smite the Yugallan heretics where they live and put an end to their accursed bloodline forever. To this end, we must put to death by sword every man, woman, and child of the Yugallan race. For this noble act of service to mankind, our land shall be blessed with unending peace and prosperity.¡±


    Again, the people erupt into cheers. I lower my head and pinch the bridge of my nose in disdain. I want to scream ¡°morons¡± at the top of my lungs, but that won¡¯t do any good. My grudge is with the king and not the Aim¨¦ people. I can¡¯t blame them for presuming that their leader is telling them the truth. Yet he¡¯s not. What he calls ¡°commandeering resources¡± is a euphemism for international armed robbery. That was the cause of the first war. He wanted the wealth of the land. This time he wants the wealth of the land AND he wants revenge against the Yugallan people. But to say that every man, woman, and child of their tribe needs to be put to death by sword is inhuman. I¡¯m not going to let him get away with this.


    Concentrating my power, I create a shell of mana around myself that emits small pulses of outward pressure. I use this pressure to force my way through the crowd without injuring anyone. I then emit one extra strong pulse when I reach the front of the crowd and zip to just a few feet away from the stage. My forceful appearance at the bottom of the platform visibly frightens the king and his guards. His men quickly gather their wits, draw their swords, and surround me. I stand unmoved at the bottom of the platform, pointing my staff at the king. ¡°You liar!¡± I shout at him.


    The king¡¯s face flushes red. It would seem that I spoiled the rich kid¡¯s party. He looks at me and then he looks at the crowd¡¯s reaction. He appears to be more concerned about his public image than anything else. However, I care nothing for his power, authority, or image. I¡¯m going to call him out on his hypocrisy. I yell, ¡°Your every word about the Yugallans was a lie! You only want to justify carrying out your petty grudge match with the Yugallans because you¡¯re embarrassed that a pacifist like Shaman Terranostra put your army to shame last time. You¡¯re nothing more than a blackguard and a coward!¡±


    ¡°How dare you!¡± he snaps back. His thunderous voice causes the heavens to tremble, yet I hold firm in my place, staring him directly in the eyes without relenting. The king is the first to break stare. He turns his gaze to Chief Inquisitor Des Chevaliers, who stands on the platform behind the king with the other military leaders.


    Frantic, he asks, ¡°What are you doing Des Chevaliers? Defend your king¡¯s honor!¡±


    The Chief Inquisitor takes a wide step forward. ¡°Souladonis! Stop this at once!¡±


    I ignore his command and yell all the louder, ¡°Shaman Terranostra was a good man! He gave his life for his people! Would you do the same for yours, you spineless imitation of a king?¡±


    Now his face contorts into a scowl and his flesh becomes scarlet. ¡°Des Chevaliers, are you refusing my order? Kill this man!¡±


    The Chief Inquisitor hops down from the stage to ground level with me. He hesitates momentarily and then draws his oversized broadsword. Keeping both my staff and my eyes trained on the king rather than Des Chevaliers, I advance forward.


    ¡°Des Chevaliers!¡± the king shouts once more.


    Suddenly, as I start to take another step, two arms stretch out from behind me and wrap me in them. The arms twist me to the side so that I can no longer stare down the king. From behind me, Arch Lord Aerolyso stretches his palm towards Des Chevaliers to halt the situation. ¡°I¡¯m sorry King Barthalamos. This is my knucklehead apprentice, Souladonis. He¡¯s an idealistic lad who hates the thought of war. He does tend to get carried away though. You know how difficult impulsive youths can be. It won¡¯t happen again.¡±


    The king furrows his bushy red brow at my Master. The sight makes me want to grab him by the hair, spin him around, and toss him to the moon. Even worse, in a coup of arrogance, he dares to threaten the Arch Lord of Winterspring. He growls, ¡°See to it that it doesn¡¯t happen again Aerolyso, or next time my army will march north.¡±


    Master humbly bows his head. ¡°Yes, I understand. Thank you your majesty. Come Souladonis.¡±


    He drags me away from the stage and back into the crowd. We return to our place in the distance with Silvia, Sidney, and Katherine.


    ¡°What in the world were you thinking?¡± Master scolds. ¡°Did you not see the hundreds of guards with swords ready to kill you?¡±


    Frustrated, I press my lips and pound my knuckles. ¡°No, all I saw was an ugly liar who needed to be slapped.¡±


    The Arch Lord places his hand on my right shoulder. ¡°I know that you want to help the people in Ouroboros Souladonis, but this is not the way.¡±


    Burning with both desperation and rage, I gaze my eyes into his. ¡°Well then, what should I do?¡±


    He suggests, ¡°If you want to help them, then the best thing you can do is go to Ouroboros and find the Yugallan chief, Hekima. Warn him that the Aim¨¦ army is attacking again. He¡¯ll have to figure out a way to defend his people without Shaman Terranostra.¡±


    For lack of a better idea, I flop my arms through the air and agree. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll go to Ouroboros.¡±


    ¡°No. I¡¯ll go,¡± Katherine interrupts, breaking her long silence. I twist to look at her. She has the same determined look in her eyes that she gets whenever she decides upon something. At that point, she becomes dissuadable. She continues, ¡°The people of Ouroboros have nothing to do with you Master Souladonis. This is my fight.¡±


    I step close to her and lift her left hand with my left hand. ¡°Katherine, you know full well that your fight is my fight. We¡¯ll go together.¡±


    She nods in agreement. I then pivot to ask Arch Lord Aerolyso a question. ¡°Master, can I use your portal stone to get to Ouroboros? I¡¯ve never been there before.¡±


    Master Aerolyso scratches his head. ¡°Sorry, but I¡¯ve misplaced many of my old portal stones over the years and they¡¯ve never been found. That includes the one I marked with the location of the Yugalla tribe in Ouroboros. I don¡¯t know how you can reach them quite honestly.¡±


    ¡°I do!¡± Katherine says, raising her hand. ¡°My father gave my mother a map of the Ouroban rain forest. She used to show it to me when she would tell me stories about him when I was little. We can use her map to find our way to the Yugallans.¡±


    ¡°Then it¡¯s settled,¡± I say. ¡°We¡¯ll go after the assembly ends. I want to see who the leaders of their war party are.¡±


    With our plan set, we pay our full attention to the assembly. King Barthalamos introduces the generals who will be leading the attack on Ouroboros. First is Valiant General Ferdinand d¡¯All¨¦gresse. He¡¯s a man somewhere in between his late 30s and early 40s. From his sheathed swords, I can tell that he wields twin rapiers, as is traditional for the acrobatic Valiant class. They¡¯re a very skilled class and having one for an enemy sucks to say the least. Next, King Barthalamos introduces the second general, Lionheart General Caroline d¡¯All¨¦gresse. Caroline is only a teenager, maybe around 15 or 16. Similar to Ferdinand, whom I presume is her father, she wields twin side swords, which are cut and thrust weapons that are like a cross between an arming sword and a rapier. Yet distinguishing her from Ferdinand, she¡¯s called ¡°Lionheart General¡± rather than ¡°Valiant General #2¡± or something to that effect. I¡¯m not sure what the distinction means, but considering her age, they¡¯re probably just sending her out to get some field experience. I don¡¯t think she¡¯ll be much of a threat.


    Finally, King Barthalamos declares that Chief Inquisitor Rupert Des Chevaliers will serve as the supreme commander. It¡¯s interesting that he hesitated to attack me earlier. Perhaps he secretly feels conflicted about this blatantly unjust war. If only I could speak to him in private, I could find out. But then again, at the end of the day, it doesn¡¯t matter how he feels. He has his orders and he¡¯s a duty-driven sap. He¡¯ll do whatever the king tells him, so I had better prepare myself for another battle with the Fortissimo Colossus ultra class knight.


    The assembly, with all of its unnecessary theatrics, concludes a little after seven in the evening. Katherine and I thank Silvia, Sidney, and Arch Lord Aerolyso for attending the event with us. They return to Winterspring while Katherine and I use the Portal spell to warp to Belle Forest where her mother lives. Advancing my relationship with Katherine has taken a sudden and unexpected drop in priorities. But then, on the other hand, the two of us are never closer than when we¡¯re facing a disaster together. Having the warmongering king of the world¡¯s most powerful nation order the death of every single member of her father¡¯s tribe counts as a pretty big disaster. Perhaps, the biggest we¡¯ve ever faced. I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m up to the challenge, but for Katherine¡¯s sake, I¡¯m more than prepared to fight the entire Aim¨¦ army by myself. Granted, I¡¯d never win. I would swiftly be killed. That said, however, Shaman Terranostra did manage to find a way to thwart the Aim¨¦ army by himself. I just have to find a way to repeat history, minus the self-sacrifice part.

 Chapter 5

    Katherine and I arrive at Belle Forest a short distance from the entrance near where her mother grows mana plants. It¡¯s already dark outside, but I can see that the square gardening plots where she grows the mana plants are covered in thick tarps for the winter. Moving beyond them, we head straight for her mother¡¯s house. Katherine raps her knuckles against the front door and waits for her mother to answer. A few moments later, Margaret comes and opens the door. Predictably, she¡¯s surprised to see her daughter so late in the evening on a random day when she¡¯s supposed to be studying abroad.


    ¡°Katherine!¡± she exclaims. ¡°What are you doing here? And Souladonis too?¡±


    ¡°Hi mom. Can we come in?¡±


    ¡°Of course! Come in.¡±


    Katherine¡¯s mother leads us into her dining room where we sit at the rectangular wooden table. There¡¯s a thick book on the resilient plants that live in the Kanabo desert resting on the table in front of the spot where her mother usually sits. Margaret is a botanical science nerd with comically large glasses looming over her eyes. She generally wears sweaters and squeezes her belt entirely too tightly on brown pants that are hiked up entirely too high on her short thin body. Fortunately, I¡¯m now used enough to seeing her to not smirk at her over-the-top nerdy appearance. I think Katherine appreciates the fact.


    ¡°Have you kids had dinner?¡± Margaret asks.


    ¡°We ate back at Winterspring. We¡¯re fine mom,¡± Katherine answers. ¡°The reason we came is because something bad has happened and we need your help.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Margaret says, adjusting in her chair, ¡°What happened?¡±


    Katherine takes the direct approach. ¡°Mom, today in Magali King Barthalamos declared war on Ouroboros. He¡¯s sending his army to eradicate the Yugalla tribe.¡±


    Right away, Margaret sinks her hands into her hair in distress. ¡°Oh no. My Terranostra. How could this happen?¡±


    She soon breaks down into bitter sobbing. Katherine does her best to console her mother by laying a supportive hand on her shoulder. As for me, I simply sit beside Katherine observing silently. Thanks to my close relationship with Katherine, I already know what happened to Margaret all those years ago, so I understand her reaction. Margaret was a young widow, no more than 22 when her husband was killed. He left her with a child although they had scarcely been married for a year. To hear about the revival of the war that decimated her hopes and dreams as a newlywed must stir up some unimaginably painful feelings and memories for her. Quite frankly, I¡¯m sorry that we¡¯re even having this conversation.


    Yet before long, she wipes her tears and puts her thick glasses back on. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to become so emotional. It¡¯s just that hearing your words reminded me of watching my Terranostra stand up to the Aim¨¦ army by himself. He held all of them at bay with his Pacifism spell, allowing the rest of us to escape. Yet while he held the spell, he couldn¡¯t move. As soon as it ended, they captured him. They brought him here to ?me Kingdom and executed him like he was some sort of criminal. In the end, he saved everyone except himself.¡±


    Katherine leans her upper body towards her mother. ¡°Mom, Souladonis and I want to go to Ouroboros to warn Chief Hekima about what¡¯s happening. Do you still have the map of the Ouroban rain forest that you used to show me?¡±


    ¡°I do,? Margaret answers, She rises from her chair and moves to a cupboard. The cupboard has three drawers in addition to the space at the top for plates and various dishes. She opens the lowermost drawer and searches through it. Underneath some other miscellaneous items, she finds the map. She brings it to the table and lays it out flat.


    ¡°Look here,¡± she says. ¡°This x marks the Yugallan village. They call it Ouro, meaning ¡®snake.¡¯ It¡¯s defended by its natural position deep in the Ouroban rain forest. The main river ways to reach the village are here, here, and here. These rivers flow towards the village whereas the others flow away from it. They navigate these waters on their giant snakes called marsh skippers. Without a marsh skipper, you¡¯ll need a sturdy canoe or any other type of small boat. You must never enter the water without a boat. There are unspeakable monsters in the water. Those who fall in it are rarely seen again. Also, the forests are engrossed with viney plants and they¡¯re confusing like a maze. If you land on the northern beach of Ouroboros, then follow this path to the western river way. It¡¯s just a short journey to reach Ouro village from there. I strongly recommend that you stick only to the instructions that I¡¯ve given you. Don¡¯t wander off or stray from the path. The Ouroban rain forest is a very dangerous place. Do you two understand?¡±


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    ¡°Understood,¡± I say.


    ¡°Got it,¡± Katherine answers.


    ¡°Good. But kids, what happens in Ouroboros isn¡¯t your responsibility. It¡¯s sweet that you want to give them a warning, but this isn¡¯t your fight. I want you to return home immediately after you give them your warning. Okay??


    Katherine takes the map off the table and stashes it into one of her inventory bags. She then stares her mother in the eyes silently and intensely. Neither of them speaks for a full ten seconds. Eventually Margaret comments, ¡°You¡¯re not going to do what I say, are you?¡±


    Katherine answers, ¡°We¡¯ll find a way to save the Yugallans, mom. I promise.¡±


    Margaret sighs and turns her attention to me. ¡°Make sure that she returns safely Souladonis.¡±


    I nod to agree although in my heart I¡¯m not entirely confident. Still, I make the promise. ¡°Yes ma¡¯am. I will.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± she says smiling and pinching my cheek. ¡°But it¡¯s already late. Why don¡¯t you kids stay for the night and leave in the morning?¡±


    I answer, ¡°Actually Margaret, I think we¡¯ll stay at a resort in Foudre tonight. I want to be able to go to the docks in the morning and see if we can hitch a ride to Ouroboros on a fishing boat or something.¡±


    She lowers her eyes, her shoulders droop, and she pouts her lips. ¡°Right,? she says in a sad tone of voice. ¡°Staying at a fancy beach-side resort in Foudre is much nicer than spending the night in my little house.¡±


    Her hurt response alarms me. I wasn¡¯t trying to offend her or make any sort of commentary about the quality of her house. I was just thinking from a purely pragmatic point of view. But if it means that much to her, then we can stay. We still might be able to find a boat even if we arrive in Foudre a few hours later. To do damage control, I apologize, ¡°I¡¯m sorry Margaret. I didn¡¯t mean it like that.¡±


    ¡°Of course not,¡± she murmurs, still pouting her lips with lowered eyes.


    I start to announce a change of plans, but Katherine suddenly cuts me off. ¡°Nevermind her Master,? she says casually. ¡°She¡¯s just trying to make you feel guilty. I do it to you all the time.¡±


    ¡°Yes you do!? I quip, slightly put off not just by the fact that she does it, but that she does it and admits it openly.


    Both mother and daughter have a laugh at my expense. Margaret adds, ¡°Terranostra was always vulnerable to a good guilt trip too.¡± This causes the two women to laugh all the more. I cross my arms, feeling a bit had. I see where Katherine gets her cunning from.


    ¡°In any case, we should go,¡± I say. ¡°We have to stay a step ahead of the Aim¨¦ army or else our warning¡¯s not going to count for much.¡±


    ¡°Alright kids. Good luck.¡±


    We exchange a round of hugs with Katherine¡¯s mother and then vacate the house. Once more, using the Portal spell we travel to the island nation known as Foudre. This tiny island was actually the original homeland of King Barthalamos. Before usurping the throne by murdering King Lionel Lenoir and most of the royal family, Barthalamos was merely a barbarian chieftain. To begin our journey from the homeland of the enemy might be a bad omen, but it¡¯s the most convenient thing to do since it¡¯s directly north of Ouroboros. If we¡¯re able to hitch a ride on a fast boat, we could be there in as little as a day. I don¡¯t know how long it will take the Aim¨¦ army to transfer their attack force to Ouroboros, but I do know that we don¡¯t have any time to waste.


    Katherine and I book two rooms at a luxury hotel on the beach and call it a night. We¡¯ll resume our quest in the morning, and if we¡¯re lucky, we¡¯ll reach the Yugallan people in time.

 Chapter 6

    The next morning Katherine and I cruise to the beach-side docks and board a commercial fishing vessel called ¡°The Pearl Maid¡± just before the captain sets out to sea. To persuade him to a take a long southern detour to Ouroboros, I offer him 30,000 ames and he obliges me. Thus, we set off on the second leg of our journey. When ?me Kingdom¡¯s army comes, they¡¯ll be riding on large warships powered by steam engines. I¡¯ve never seen one in action, so I don¡¯t know how fast they can go, but I do know that we should arrive by the morning of the next day. Hopefully that¡¯s good enough.


    To kill time Katherine and I sit together on a port side bench and stare at the ocean. The bench is merely a concrete slab with no divisors. I take advantage of the fact and scoot shoulder to shoulder with her. We stare straight ahead at the beauty of the ocean, which is nice and all, but compared to Katherine it¡¯s about as appealing as yellow snow.


    Katherine senses that my eyes have strayed from the sea to her. She shifts her head slightly so that we stare at each other in 45 degree angles rather than directly face to face. Even still, I can see the white of her smile glowing radiant like the sun. Clearly if there were ever going to be a moment of opportunity to have a serious talk with Katherine, then it¡¯s now while we¡¯re stuck on a boat with only each other to talk to for a full 24 hours.


    Taking a deep breath for courage, I reach into the pocket of my trousers and withdraw a small sheet of parchment with a love poem written on it. Tragically, before I can unfold it, the page catches the wind and sails out of my hand. I go running after it while it swerves around on the deck as if it were a living creature trying to avoid me. With a goofy dive, I finally manage to land on top of it and recover the poem. Unfortunately, this triggers a nearby group of sailors to laugh at my performance. Embarrassed, my cheeks burn red as I trudge back to the bench with Katherine and plop down on it disheartened. Any shred of confidence that I might have had disappeared the instant that I made myself look like a fool. Katherine probably thinks I¡¯m a loser.


    I stare straight ahead at the ocean, my neck paralyzed in place. I¡¯m far too ashamed to check Katherine¡¯s reaction. Even worse, I¡¯m too embarrassed to speak. Katherine and I sit shoulder to shoulder in awkward silence staring at the sea. However, watching the waves of the ocean go by again and again and again is a monotonous experience. It can only hold one¡¯s attention for so long. That¡¯s especially true of someone like Katherine.


    ¡°Master, I like living in Winterspring,¡± she says to break the silence.


    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± I answer.


    No Souladonis that¡¯s not good. That¡¯s Katherine trying to start a conversation. At this point, I¡¯m able to recognize the hidden meaning behind her words, but I¡¯m too baffled to think of a suitable conversation topic or even a reasonable lead in. I feel like she¡¯s rolling her eyes at me, disappointed by my lack of social tact. I¡¯ve got to think of something meaningful to say and fast.


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°Soooo Katherine,? I begin, ¡°I see that you¡¯re wearing green today.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± she answers, not bothering to look down at her own shirt.


    I twiddle my fingers. Okay, so, obvious statement of the year. I¡¯m really hanging myself here. ¡°Eh, heh, heh,¡± I chuckle to fill space. This is killing me. I slide a finger into the collar of my shirt and pull it away from my neck to get some air. It feels awfully warm all of a sudden.


    Katherine spurts, ¡°Master, do you ever think¨C?¡±


    Oh gosh! Now she¡¯s asking me if I even think.


    ¡°No, nevermind,¡± she concludes, turning her face to the right. I take a quick peek over and see the back of her head. I allow myself to gaze freely at her brown hair until she faces forward again. Responding, I shoot up straight and pretend as if I hadn¡¯t been staring at her.


    I swallow a deep breath. My heart skips every other beat. This sucks. I have no problem talking to Katherine about ordinary things, but the moment that I want to say something emotional, I completely crash. I¡¯ve got to break this pattern.


    Determined, I twist my upper body towards her even though I know she can see me through her peripheral vision. With great boldness, I allow myself to look over her comely body. I see her perfect brown hair, her bright eyes, and the beautiful and desirable creamy caramel skin she has by way of being multiracial.


    ¡°Katherine!¡± I declare with conviction. ¡°I love caramel!¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± she asks, confused.


    Oh no. That¡¯s not what I meant. Crap. I¡¯m screwing up. Oh my gosh. What do I do? I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t know! I¡¯ve got to bail!


    I quickly ditch the bench and rush straight ahead to the ship¡¯s railing. I lean over it feeling nauseous enough to vomit, yet not from sea sickness. That¡¯s not my issue.


    Before long, Katherine comes and places a sympathetic hand on my back. ¡°Master are you feeling okay?¡±


    In a low voice I tell her, ¡°I¡¯m fine Katherine. I was just feeling a little sick to the stomach. I¡¯ll be alright.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± she says, removing her hand. ¡°I¡¯m going to go down below the deck for a while to check things out there.¡±


    Still facing towards the ocean, I nod silently to show that I heard her. She turns from me and walks away.


    ¡°Oh, and Master,¡± she says, pausing briefly, ¡°I love vanilla.¡±


    At once, I whip around to look at her, but she walks away without a further word. I¡¯m left to contemplate what she meant for the rest of the day.

 Chapter 7

    The next day Katherine and I arrive at the northern shore of Ouroboros early in the morning. We have to walk twelve miles to reach the Yugallan village. It should take us about three and a half hours if we don¡¯t take any breaks, which we might have to do because it¡¯s rather hot and muggy here in the Ouroban rain forest. That¡¯s because while it may be the winter season in the northern hemisphere, here in Ouroboros, in the southern hemisphere, it¡¯s summer. The temperature shows it.


    I take off my purple cutaway coat and blue vest. I also untie my white lace cravat and remove it. I then stuff all of my unnecessary accessories into the magical inventory bag in which I keep my clothes. I also undo the top two buttons of my white flax shirt. This makes it much cooler for me although it¡¯s still formidably hot all the same. Katherine is already wearing a skirt with an open collar blouse, so she¡¯s stuck the way she is. With all of my excessive clothing layers removed, I¡¯m ready to begin the long trek to Ouro village.


    As a precaution, since monsters attack at random in the wilderness, Katherine and I equip our magical weapons. She equips her father¡¯s wand and I equip Sophia. Then finally, we move beyond the sandy northern shore and enter the forest.


    We only manage to walk ten minutes before the first group of random monsters attacks us. They¡¯re three red snake-like creatures with scaly yellow bellies and arms that end in three-fingered hands. Each finger possesses a slightly curled razor sharp talon. These creatures stand, or slither rather, at about three feet tall each. There are two in front of me and one behind Katherine. They presume that they get the jump on us by suddenly springing out of the trees, but they don¡¯t. This isn¡¯t our first time walking through the wilds.


    I place my staff against my hip and take aim at the one in front of me on the left. I start to cast the Comet spell, but a barrage of Thorn Darts decimates the creature before I can get my spell off. Re-targeting, I take aim at the one in front of me on the right. This one gets smacked by a vine whip that sends it soaring over the treetops. I quickly spin to finish off the last one that¡¯s behind Katherine. I¡¯m barely fast enough to witness a large root grow out of the ground next to the snake creature. The root slams down and smashes the creature beneath it. And just like that the monsters are defeated. And all by Katherine.


    I cross my arms dissatisfied. ¡°Somebody¡¯s feeling greedy today. Way to hog all of the monsters.¡±


    Katherine smiles innocently. ¡°They were just small ones. You can have the first big one we see.¡±


    ¡°Uh huh. How generous of you. By the way, was that the Root Smash spell you just cast?¡±


    ¡°Yup! Professor Ismelia taught me the grandmaster Plant Magic spells in private even though our class was still on the master level ones.¡±


    I nod my head impressed. ¡°That¡¯s pretty cool Katherine.¡±


    Katherine merrily wraps her arms around my left arm. ¡°I know right!¡±


    We continue our march with our arms intimately entangled. We used to walk like this quite a bit in the past. Those were turbulent yet exciting times. I don¡¯t entirely miss those days since I was getting my butt kicked on the regular back then, but there was something sweet about the way Katherine and I had to rely on one another. Sure, I¡¯m grateful for the calm life we have in Winterspring now, yet part of me misses the chaos, especially since it was chaos that first united me to her.


    ¡°You know Katherine,¡± I say with a pause, ¡°You¡¯re becoming almost as powerful a mage as me. I better watch my back.¡±


    She smiles and giggles to herself. ¡°What?¡± I ask her.


    She responds, ¡°I was just thinking how funny it would be if I smacked you in the butt with a vine whip. I can see you yelping and floating up high into the air like a cartoon character.¡±


    Right. Random. Taking Katherine¡¯s screwball comment as a joke and not something she¡¯d actually do, I continue the march towards Ouro village with her still attached to my left arm. It¡¯s truly a long walk in the midst of the summer heat. Before long I notice beads of sweat bristling on Katherine¡¯s forehead. I look around. I don¡¯t want her to overheat, so if I could just find something to shield her head that would help. At the moment, all I see are large banana tree leaves draping over the canopy above. ¡°Katherine, hold on,¡± I say, detaching my arm from hers.


    I target the base of one of the leaves and blast the Wind Razor spell. My spell cuts off the leaf and it falls softly to the earthen floor. I pick it up and then hold it over Katherine¡¯s head to block the sun. She smiles appreciatively. ¡°You¡¯re such a gentleman.¡±


    ¡°Of course my lady.¡±


    Katherine curtsies to play off the lady bit. She then once again wraps her arms around my left arm while I use my right hand to hold the leaf parasol over her head. It would seem that my considerate move scored me some much needed bonus points. Nothing wrong with that.


    We journey for what feels like forever before we reach the western river. Margaret told us that Ouro village is just a short distance from here. Unfortunately, her little map is apparently not to scale. This river is frickin¡¯ wide. I don¡¯t have a boat, and I don¡¯t have any idea how we can get to the other side. I stand at its bank tapping my feet. I have to come up with something quick, or Katherine¡¯s going to think that I¡¯m an idiot. I can¡¯t afford to lose the bonus points that I just scored.


    I look to the east. I look to the west. Nothing but trees on either side. I cross my arms and hum. Maybe I could take hold of Katherine and jump over it?


    ¡°Souladonis,¡± Katherine says. ¡°How are we going to get across the river?¡±


    I point my index finger upwards and open my mouth to give her my brilliant answer. Sadly, I still don¡¯t have one. I lower my finger and point it at Katherine instead.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    She rolls her eyes. ¡°Maybe we could make a bridge or a raft.¡±


    I think about it a little more. ¡°I have an idea!¡± I announce. ¡°This might sound crazy, but what if I summoned my red dragon and you used your vine whip as a rope to tie around it so that you could hold on while it flew you over the river? Do you think that would work?¡±


    Katherine shrugs. ¡°That does sound crazy, but we¡¯ve done crazier things before, so why not?¡±


    I smile. This is totally going to work. Using Sophia I cast the Ruby Red Dragon spell. My 9-foot tall bipedal dragon appears at the bank of the river. It huffs its chest in preparation to breathe out a huge fireball, but then it sees that there are no enemies around. My dragon has clearly caught on to the pattern. Generally, when I summon him, I¡¯m getting my butt whooped and need help. Not this time, however, everything¡¯s honky dory apart from being unable to cross the river.


    My dragon turns and looks at me as if to ask hey what gives? I explain the situation. ¡°We have to get across the river and we need you to fly us over. Katherine¡¯s going to wrap a vine around you like a lasso. Fly her across the river and then come back for me.¡±


    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    My dragon shrugs his shoulders indifferently. As Katherine put it, we¡¯ve done crazier things before. I suppose Red isn¡¯t all that surprised by my strange request. Besides, this is a better deal than the time when I summoned him to help me fight the gargoyle familiar Cornelius. That got him pounded into dust. And then there was the time when Vampiric Sidney pelted him in the chest with sharpened icicles. Compared to that, carrying a pretty girl across a river is a luxury vacation.


    Red lowers his head so that Katherine can tie her vines around him. Once she¡¯s secure, he takes into the air and flies across the river. I trace his movements over the treetops. He doesn¡¯t just stop directly across the river. Rather, he flies her off somewhere else and sets her down deeper in the forest than I anticipated. When he comes back, I raise my left eyebrow at him. ¡°Where did you go?¡±


    My dragon is smart, but he doesn¡¯t speak human. He simply lowers his head and lets me jump on. Unlike Katherine, I don¡¯t know how to cast the Vine Whip spell. I probably should have thought of that ahead of time, but no matter. I wrap my arms around his neck and hold on for dear life. He takes off and I feel the tug of my weight against my arms. It¡¯s a rough take off, but not the worst that I¡¯ve experienced. That would be the one I experienced with Nathan Bram¡¯s familiar, Metanoia. That thing shot up like an inverse falling star.


    I ride my dragon across the river and over the trees. Before long we come to a village enshrouded in the center of the sea of trees. Red sets me down on the dirt path leading to the village. Katherine stands there waiting for me.


    I hop off my dragon and give him my thanks. ¡°Well done my friend,¡± I say. ¡°You¡¯re becoming strangely smart for a summoning creature. Have you been reading books or something?¡±


    He shakes his head and points the index finger of his claw at my golden staff. I quickly hide Sophia behind my back. ¡°Ah ha ha!¡± I pretend to laugh. ¡°Good work.¡± I unsummon my dragon and turn to face Katherine.


    She raises her left eyebrow at me. ¡°Did your dragon just point at your staff?¡±


    ¡°My staff?¡± I ask incredulously. ¡°No. Of course not.¡±


    Actually, I¡¯m pretty sure he did. My staff Sophia once belonged to the first Arch Lord of Winterspring. Its special effect is that it causes me to learn everything 300% faster than normal. Initially, I planned to only use it to help catch up on my studies, but I¡¯ve since learned that Sophia is more powerful than it seems. Learning at a 300% accelerated rate has an exponential rather than linear effect. That is, learning one thing makes it easier to learn related things. I¡¯ve found that I can take up learning a new subject in the morning at the absolute beginner level and be at the master level by the end of the night. This sudden expertise carries over into related materials much like how learning one language in a family of languages makes it easier to learn all of the other languages within that family. With time my accelerated learning compounds with more and more things to the point where I can encapsulate years of learning into months and months of learning into days. My knowledge and magical power have exploded since I acquired Sophia. However, I¡¯ve kept this fact a secret from everybody, including Arch Lord Aerolyso. I also don¡¯t want Katherine to know since I promised Master that I wouldn¡¯t tell anyone about Sophia. That said, however, I¡¯m starting to understand why Arch Lord Horatio left a note saying ¡°such a dangerous weapon was never meant to exist in this world? and ¡°if this staff were to fall into the wrong hands, then it could cause the downfall of all of human society.? I presume that my hands aren¡¯t the wrong hands, but then, you never know.


    I gesture my neck towards the path that leads to the nearby village. Katherine and I approach it, walking side by side. When we arrive at the gate, we¡¯re met by a group of men with spears. They look at us just as curiously as we look at them. These native men of Ouroboros all have brown skin as dark as the earth unlike Katherine who has a lighter complexion. They¡¯re tall, muscular, and have either black or brown hair. The one who approaches us first has a smooth face and neck length brown locks. He wears brown knee-length shorts and a green vest with no undershirt. He points his spear at me and scowls menacingly.


    ¡°What are you doing here pale skin?¡±


    I¡¯m taken aback by the offensive racial comment. I clench Sophia tightly, ready to fight.


    ¡°We¡¯re looking for Ouro village,¡± Katherine says calmly.


    ¡°For what?¡± the man asks.


    ¡°I¡¯m the daughter of Shaman Terranostra. I¡¯ve come to help the village.¡±


    The man shifts the point of his spear from me to Katherine. Immediately, I use Sophia to nudge it back towards me. I stare coldly into his eyes so he gets my message. ¡°Do not point your weapon at her.¡±


    That¡¯s my final warning although I don¡¯t say so verbally. When people threaten Katherine, I tend to go berserk.


    ¡°You¡¯re not the daughter of Shaman Terranostra,¡± the man tells Katherine.


    She shows him her father¡¯s wand. He and the men around him look at it closely. ¡°I don¡¯t recognize this wand,¡± he says. ¡°But my father, Chief Hekima, might.¡±


    ¡°Well then can we see your father?¡± I ask.


    ¡°No, no, no. We¡¯re not letting you pale skins in. However, if you could prove your worth by completing a small quest, then perhaps we might let you in.¡±


    I sigh. ¡°What quest?¡±


    ¡°Some of the women and children said that they saw a pale skin spying on them in the forest. Capture this spy and bring him to me. Then maybe I¡¯ll let you into my village.¡±


    ¡°Your village?¡± I question. ¡°Sounds more like it¡¯s your father¡¯s village. You¡¯re not the chief.¡±


    ¡°My village!¡± he repeats.


    Whatever. This guy suffers from delusions of grandeur. If I had my way, I¡¯d just knock him flat and casually stroll into town, but unfortunately, Katherine would never approve of that.


    ¡°Shall we go and look for this spy?¡± I ask her.


    ¡°Yes,¡± she answers me. She then turns to the delusion man with the spear. ¡°Any ideas where we could find him?¡±


    ¡°Hey, not my problem.¡±


    He and the other men laugh. I take that to mean we¡¯re on our own. Katherine frowns, and I stick my fists against my hips. She asks me, ¡°Any idea where we should start?¡±


    I reply, ¡°Let¡¯s just travel in a widening arc away from the village until we find the spy. We¡¯ll probably hear him before we see him in the thick forest.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Katherine and I set out to find one person in a gigantic jungle. It¡¯s a nigh-impossible task. I don¡¯t know who that guy at the gate thinks he is, but I don¡¯t like him.

 Chapter 8

    We travel through the trees listening, panning left and right, circling around vines, dodging giant spider webs, and generally wandering around like lost puppies. Doing all of this in the heat of the midday sun sucks terribly.


    After twenty minutes of our hopeless search, we conclude that our strategy isn¡¯t working. We need a new plan.


    Katherine fans her hands at her face. ¡°Do you think we could search for the spy while flying on your dragon?¡±


    ¡°No. It would be hard to see a person in the trees while airborne. Besides, even if we saw him, my dragon can neither hover in place nor land in small areas. We¡¯re better off doing this on foot.¡±


    Katherine pulls out the map that her mother gave her. ¡°Well then maybe we could look at the map and pick out a few hotspots where a spy might be.¡±


    We look at the map and see an area circled on the page. There¡¯s a scribbled note by the circle that reads ¡°beautiful cerulean trees.¡± I point this out to Katherine. Cerulean trees yield a mana-intense superior-grade wood that¡¯s used to craft weapons, armor, and building resources. I¡¯ve only ever seen a few scattered ones, yet according to the map, there¡¯s an entire grove of the trees nearby. I suggest to Katherine that we go there. Not only would a patch of cerulean trees serve as a great tourist attraction, but also if the spy turns out to be a prospector from ?me Kingdom surveying the local resources, then the patch of trees would be an irresistible draw. We go there immediately.


    When we arrive, surely enough, we find a man with a magnifying glass and his nose pressed against one of the trees. It¡¯s just as I suspected. We sneak around the man and ready our weapons.


    ¡°Freeze!¡± I shout for lack of anything better to say.


    ¡°Ahh!¡± he screams. He drops his magnifying glass and turns around with his hands in the air.


    When I see his face, I lower my weapon. ¡°Nathan Bram!¡± I call. ¡°What in the world are you doing here?¡±


    Nathan recognizes me too. ¡°Hey Souladonis! Sheesh you scared the life out of me. I could ask you the same question.¡±


    I rush to greet Nathan and clench his hand shaking it up and down. ¡°Nathan!¡± I say excitedly. ¡°The immortality elixir worked! I saved Nadine!¡±


    He pats me on the shoulder. ¡°Congratulations buddy. I knew you could do it.¡±


    ¡°Thank you so much Nathan. I never could have done it without you. I practically owe you my life.¡±


    Nathan scratches his head. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t go that far, but something like that. Hey check this out.¡±


    He picks up his magnifying glass and presses it against the cerulean tree behind him. The tree towers high into the air like a cedar except that its trunk is literally colored cerulean and its thick leaves are dark blue. In terms of size, the leaves look much like the banana tree leaf that I used to shield Katherine from the sun earlier. I don¡¯t know if the leaves have any practical properties, but the trunk of this one tree alone would be worth at least 100,000 ames, and considering that there¡¯s a whole grove of them here, the Ouroban rain forest sternly denies the old adage that money doesn¡¯t grow on trees because right now we¡¯re standing in a treasure trove.


    Nathan beckons with his hand for me to peer through his magnifying glass. When I do, I see the effervescent mana energy coursing through the pores of the tree. I pull my head back. ¡°Cool! Katherine take a look.¡±


    She does the same. ¡°Wow!¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Nathan says proudly. ¡°This forest is amazing. There¡¯s all sorts of awesome creatures here. Wait until you see the caterpillars!¡±


    ¡°Caterpillars?¡± questions Katherine.


    I almost forgot. Nathan has a thing about caterpillars. It¡¯s a bit weird, but he¡¯s the guy who helped me turn my life around, so I¡¯ll give him a free pass.


    ¡°Actually Nathan, we¡¯re not here sightseeing. We need to get into Ouro village, but they won¡¯t let us in until we find the spy who some women and children saw snooping around earlier. I think they were talking about you.¡±


    Nathan frowns. ¡°For whatever reason the people wouldn¡¯t talk to me. They just ran when they saw me coming, but it was all a misunderstanding. I didn¡¯t mean them any harm.¡±


    That¡¯s actually not that surprising. I imagine the people here don¡¯t see too many foreign visitors. And given Nathan¡¯s somewhat pasty skin tone, it wouldn¡¯t even surprise me if they mistook him for a ghost or something superstitious like that. ¡°Well, in any case,¡± I begin, ¡°let¡¯s go back. It¡¯s imperative that we see Chief Hekima as soon as possible. We have to warn him that the army of ?me Kingdom is on its way.¡±


    Nathan asks, ¡°Why is the army of ?me Kingdom on its way?¡±


    ¡°To destroy the Yugallan people,¡± I answer plainly.


    ¡°Oh,¡± Nathan says. ¡°Wait, what?¡±


    ¡°Exactly. We have to hurry.¡±


    We rush along the paths leading back to Ouro village. Along the way, we suffer the inconvenience of being attacked by random monsters yet again. This time we face two small cockatrices and two green tigers with black stripes. The cockatrices look like chickens with green snakes for tails. They can cast a weak version of the petrification curse, so we have to be weary of them. As for the tigers, well they¡¯re tigers, so they¡¯re obviously dangerous, and they should probably be eating the two snake-tailed chickens, but they seem to not notice them. There¡¯s a bizarre phenomena in the world of monsters that causes them to target human beings exclusively whenever they¡¯re in the vicinity. Why this is the case no one has ever been able to explain.


    Katherine and I ready our magical weapons. Nathan unsheathes his mother¡¯s golden rapier. We form a horizontal line with Katherine to my right and Nathan to my left. Opposite of us, the two cockatrices are in the front and the two tigers in the back. They make a square formation.


    Acting first, Katherine casts the Root Smash spell on the cockatrice on the right. The giant root that she summons smashes the little critter to the sound of a loud ¡°ba-caw!¡± Stupid thing never saw it coming.


    The other cockatrice casts the pink beam of the petrification curse at Nathan. For us this is like d¨¦j¨¤ vu. Together Nathan and I fought the Earth Ruling Golden Cockatrice. Apart from Arch Lord Horatio¡¯s gargoyle familiar, Cornelius, the Golden Cockatrice was the most fearsome creature that I¡¯ve ever had to face in my life. Fighting a cheap imitation of a cockatrice is nothing to us. I cast the Boulder spell in front of Nathan to block the spell. At the same time, he jumps on top of the boulder and casts a quick uncharged version of his Divine Mana Gun. The blue ball of mana energy that he emits from his finger causes the puny cockatrice to go splat. Two down two to go.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    The green tiger that¡¯s aligned across from Katherine charges at her. I feel a mild panic at seeing the beast charge her. Consciously I know that Katherine can handle it, but my emotions supersede my logic and I can¡¯t help but jump in. Literally, I jump in front of Katherine to intercept the tiger, which swipes me with its paw. I fly off to the side and crash into a tree.


    ¡°Master!¡± Katherine shouts.


    The tiger continues its assault on Katherine, rendering my pitiful act of valor useless. Even worse, my interference threw off Katherine¡¯s plan of action. The tiger closes in on her so quickly that she has no choice but to cast the defensive Bramble Armor spell on herself. Even still, the tiger swipes her thorny armor, tossing her through the air like it did me.


    ¡°Katherine! Noooo!¡± I scream.


    I engulf myself in a purple aura of Soul Magic. I then instantly warp to the tiger and smash its head into the ground with my staff. I kill it in one blow. At the same time, Nathan finishes his battle with the other tiger via a series of skillfully timed sword strikes. I rush to Katherine to check on her.


    She lies flat on her back staring up at me with a mean frown and lowered eyebrows. ¡°Master Souladonis!¡± she chimes. ¡°What is wrong with you? You don¡¯t think I can handle a few monsters by myself?¡±


    She rises to her feet, more or less unharmed. But for good measure, she casts the Heal Party spell on the three of us.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Katherine. I didn¡¯t mean to insult you. I was just worried.¡±


    Katherine hugs me, forgiving my mistake. I wrap my right arm around her waist and hold her close to me. Tilting my head at a slight angle, I stare deeply into her eyes. Our faces are well within kissing distance. I¡¯m tempted to do it. I even start to, but Nathan interrupts, ¡°What no hugs for me?¡±


    Katherine breaks away from me and turns to Nathan with a chuckle. She then rushes over to him and gives him a big hug. Nathan glances at me over her shoulder with a toothy smile on his face. That is, until he notices the evil eye that I¡¯m giving him. At once his smile fades and he releases his hug.


    ¡°Oooh,¡± he hums, getting the drift.


    Katherine looks behind her. ¡°Oh what?¡±


    ¡°Nothing,¡± I say.


    We extract 4800 ame crystals from the defeated monsters, and then head on our way. As we walk back to the village Nathan tells us a lot of, let¡¯s say, interesting facts about the surrounding environment. With encyclopedic knowledge, he prattles on about the valuable resources that can be found in Ouroboros and expounds upon the natural beauty of the rain forest. Yet out of the blue, he interrupts his informative lecture by freaking out and shoving Katherine aside. ¡°Look out!¡± he screams.


    I ready my staff thinking that more monsters are attacking. Yet when I see nothing, I look down at the dirt path in front of us. As I suspected, there¡¯s a small caterpillar inching its way across the path. Nathan dives to his knees next to the creature and whips out his magnifying glass. He peers at it, spellbound by its wonder. Whatever wonder that might be.


    ¡°Guys look!¡± Nathan calls.


    I sigh and kneel to look at the disgusting critter worming its way around. I don¡¯t see anything special about it. Nathan, however, is beside himself.


    ¡°Guys this is an Ouroban thorny milkweed caterpillar! It¡¯s really rare to see one in person!¡±


    Katherine is unconvinced. ¡°You shoved me aside over this thing?¡±


    Nathan stands to his full height, a sudden darkness covers his face. I shake my head. ¡°Here we go.¡±


    ¡°Caterpillars are the most underrated creatures in the world. People trample them without the least thought, yet when they see butterflies those very same people laud them with praise and admiration. Yet where do they think the butterflies come from, huh? They¡¯re born from the pain of the dirt-crawling caterpillars that they so carelessly trample!


    And yet what do the butterflies do? Do they a hold grudge against the lowlifes who dared trample them while they were weak and vulnerable? NO! They forgive them! They forgive them and fly about on their pristine wings as if all were right about the world! Yet why? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY?¡±


    Nathan has to stop due to becoming overwhelmed with emotion. He wipes at his tears with his blue coat sleeve. Katherine stares at Nathan with her eyes widened. ¡°Ooookay,¡± she bellows. That¡¯s her polite way of saying, ¡°You¡¯re crazy and you need help.¡±


    I take a more sympathetic stance and pat Nathan on his shoulder, pretending like I have any clue as to what he¡¯s talking about. ¡°So have you been able to become a butterfly?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve tried, but I can¡¯t,¡± he answers.


    ¡°Why not?¡± I ask.


    He snaps his arm down and spins towards me. ¡°Because I am not as forgiving as a butterfly!¡±


    I back off with my palms up. ¡°Alright, we¡¯re all friends here, so you know, calm down.¡±


    Nathan takes a deep breath. ¡°Sorry about that. You guys probably think I¡¯m weird, huh?¡±


    I look at Katherine and she looks at me. ¡°No,¡± we answer together.


    Katherine and I make a production of moving around the caterpillar. We then gesture for Nathan to follow us. He does, being extra careful not to step on the creepy bug.


    With the issue settled, we return to the gates of Ouro village without further incident. When we arrive, the same lock-haired daddy¡¯s boy comes out to see us while brandishing his pointy spear.


    ¡°This is the so-called spy that you were looking for,¡± I tell him.


    ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Nathan. I¡¯m an alchemist from Wyrmscale Academy.¡±


    Suspicious, the man squints his eyes at Nathan. ¡°What were you doing spying on our women and children?¡±


    ¡°Women and children? Oh! That was all a misunderstanding. Actually, I¡¯m here studying the plants and insects. I just happened to see them in the forest, so I wanted to talk to them. Unfortunately, they ran away as soon as they saw me. I don¡¯t know why.¡±


    ¡°Tch,¡± the man scoffs. ¡°Alright fine, come supposed daughter of Shaman Terranostra. I will introduce you to my father, Chief Hekima. He will decide whether you are who you say you are, or whether we should kill you.¡±


    ¡°Lovely,¡± I say.


    We follow behind the man and enter Ouro village for the first time. I keep my staff ready all the while in case I have to fight the guy leading us, which at this point, is something I¡¯m dying to do anyway.