"I'm coming, I'm coming," Zorian muttered, stomping toward the door. Really, crazy knocking? Who is it? He threw the door open and found himself staring at Akoja. "Ako? What are you doing here?"
"I should ask you this question," she said. "Why are you still at home? Dancing is-"
"Two hours more," interrupted Zorian. "I can be at the ballroom in 10 minutes."
"Why do you always wait until the last minute? What a terrible example?"
"Time is precious," Zorian said.
"Miss Zileti asked me to find you," Akoja admitted.
Zorian blinked. Ilsa seemed to want to make sure he didn't "forget." ha. Although he entertained the idea, he knew it would never work out.
"She also said you couldn't find a date, so I'll do it tonight," Akoja continued in a softer tone, suddenly finding the door frame interesting enough to examine.
Zorian frowned. How could "refuse to bring a date" turn into "can't find a date"? Ilsa seemed to share his mother's tendency to "translate" his words into something that best suited her purposes. Zorian suspected that the two of them would get along well.
"Anyway, just get dressed and we can go," she said, suddenly regaining her confidence. "You might agree to keep things short, but I won't."
Zorian stared at her for a full second, trying to decide what to do. He wanted to close the door in her face and refuse to participate in this drama, but he didn't think it was her fault that she was involved in this. Chances are she had more pleasant plans for the evening than spending time with a grumpy boy who hated the experience.
However, he marveled at Ilsa's manipulation skills - if he had been the only one to do this, he would have come in casual clothes, stayed the absolute minimum amount of time before leaving, and avoided crowds like the plague the entire time.
night. Now? He didn't want to spoil Akoja's night, which meant he had to make at least a token effort. Yes, Ilsa and his mother will get along like two peas in a pod…
The walk to the ballroom was quiet. Zorian refused to engage in conversation, and the silence was awkward. Silence suits him well, and he enjoys the peace.
It didn't take long, and the auditorium was only about ten minutes away from his dormitory building. As soon as I approached, I saw a huge crowd of people at the entrance. The students were excited and discussing enthusiastically.
Zorian's face turned a little pale when he saw this dense crowd - he felt a headache just looking at them.
In retaliation, Zorian "accidentally" became separated from them when Akoja was brought indoors, lost in the crowd. He smiled to himself, wondering how long it would be before she found him again. If it had been less than half an hour, he would have been shocked.
For a seemingly simple school dance, the entire event was surprisingly lavish. The tables were covered with food, much of it so exotic that Zorian couldn't identify it, and the hall was decorated with paintings and animated carvings that moved in pre-programmed patterns. Hell, even the tablecloth was covered in intricate lace and was so soft it must have been made of something incredibly expensive.
Many students looked at the surrounding environment in stunned silence, and even Zorian, who had participated in such activities many times, was a little shocked. Then he shrugged, trying his best to blend in with the crowd so that Akoja wouldn't be able to find him.
As he wandered around the table filled with food, occasionally tasting something interesting when he saw it, and observing the others, he could understand why Ilsa was so determined to make everything about the dance go smoothly—besides the sheer expense of it all Besides, it was not just students present. There are also representatives from various guilds, associations, societies and organizations. Not only from the alliance, but also from abroad, and even other continents - he could at least see a man wearing a unique light blue military uniform, and a dark-skinned woman wearing colorful clothes. He suspected that no one had noticed her yet. He wondered idly what kind of dance it was, because these people weren't here for a simple school dance, these people lived in their own world and had different standards of what was 'important' than mere mortals like him.
An hour later, as the first dance was about to begin, Zorian headed to Akoja. When he claimed that he was really lost and had never found her until now, she was angry and didn't seem to believe him, but she managed to restrain herself from getting angry at him. He took her to the dance floor and when she "accidentally" stepped on his toes a few times, he didn't fight back.
"People are looking for you," she finally said, now tired of the abuse on her toes.
"Well, I'm nearby," Zorian said with a smile. "All they had to do was look for me."
"But you have to go find them now," Akoja said.
"But Akko, we are dancing. There is no way I would ever leave a beautiful girl like you. I have left you unattended for too long," Zorian said, without a hint of sarcasm in his voice. This is a skill. ha
She glared at him, but she liked the compliment.
Unfortunately, this didn't stop her from dragging him to meet one group after another. real. Zorian found himself memorizing faces, names, and titles, though he didn't really care. It's so instinctive to him now that he does it even if he doesn't mean to - a legacy of his family's failed attempts to turn him into a party animal.
"Kazynski? Oh, did you happen to be associated with—"
"Daemon and Tove Kazinski, yes," Zorian said, trying not to let the irritation sound in his voice.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so lucky," she said. "I must say, your brother plays the violin pretty well." She pointed to the stage, where the college music department was playing a slow, relatively quiet song. Tove is an orchestral member but is clearly the most visible musician on stage. His appearance, as always, attracted attention and commentary.
"What instrument do you play?"
"No." Zorian said expressionlessly. His family had tried to teach him how to play an instrument, since it was a fashionable thing to learn an instrument among the rich (and those who pretended to be rich), but since Zorian was completely tone-deaf, he had no ability to play music. To be honest, he wasn't particularly interested in it either, although he could certainly pretend to be to be polite. One of his mother's biggest disappointments was that he had no talent in this area, since Damen and Tove were both relatively good at music - Damen at the piano and Tove at the violin. They weren't prodigies by any means, but their skills were enough to impress those who attended the event. “Unlike my brothers, I wasn’t very interested in music.
Sadly, duh - these people don't appreciate magic. Why did you come to the magic academy dance again?
Thankfully, Akoja took pity on him and went to a nearby table to get something to eat. Several other students in the class joined them and started a casual conversation.
They all talk aimlessly and have no interest. Of course, he still nods and chuckles when appropriate, brushing aside the occasional comment that he's "too quiet" and needs to "lighten up a bit."
He was about to eat the cake in front of him when Akko touched him with his knee.
"Wrong fork," she muttered.
Zorian looked down at the fork in his hand and realized he should be using the small fork meant for eating desserts. He shrugged, but stabbed the cake with the big fork in his hand.
"I know," he mumbled back.
"Zorion," she called suddenly, her voice pleading. "Why are you so hard? It's just one night. I know I'm not the date you want..."
"It's not that," Zorian interrupted. "I wasn't looking for a date anyway. I was planning on coming alone."
She looked at him in shock. Feeling down, Zorian didn't understand why.
"W-would you rather go alone than with me?" she asked.
Oh crap.
Before he could figure out what to say, she fled.
He cursed under his breath and buried his face in his hands. That's why he hates these types of events.
. . . . two. . . . .
An hour later, Akoja was no longer in the ballroom, and she wasn't coming back. He really didn't want to chase her all over the street in the middle of the night, so he didn't follow her out. Besides, what should he say to her? He didn't even know where to start. He thought about going home himself, but ended up just climbing to the roof of the ballroom to watch the stars.
He silently named all the stars and constellations he could see. He knew a lot thanks to his interest in the topic as a child. It was a full hour before he could think of anything to name.
Monday is going to be awkward. Akoja was a teacher's pet in most subjects and the teachers probably decided to give him a hard time in the future!
Damn it.
The sound of fireworks brought him out of his thoughts. It's midnight and the festival officially begins. He relaxed a little as the various fireworks exploded in the night sky, each exploding in its own unique way.
Quite beautiful. Most of them dissolve into rapidly fading particles of light after the initial explosion, but some of them remain intact and consistently bright, more like flares than fireworks. They arced across the sky before falling to the ground like falling stars. He frowned. Strange. Aren't they supposed to explode by now?
The flare closest to him hit a nearby college dormitory building and exploded. The explosion was so loud and bright that Zorian was instantly blinded, deafened, and the entire building shook beneath his feet. He stumbled backwards and fell to his knees.
There were flickering spots in Zorian's vision, his ears still ringing, and he scrambled to his feet. He stared at where the damaged residential buildings once stood. Nearly the entire building was flattened, everything flammable near the impact site was burning, and strange flame shapes appeared in the center of the destruction.
Wait...that's his residential building!
He fell to his knees again. If he had chosen to stay in his room as originally planned, he would be dead by now. Thought provoking thoughts. But what exactly is going on here! ? Those weren't fireworks, that's for sure! It looks and sounds more like an advanced artillery spell.
He noticed that the faint sounds of celebration had stopped. Looking around the city, he saw that what happened to the residential buildings was not an isolated incident—no matter where a flare struck, it left a trail of destruction. He only thought about it for a few seconds before he noticed another batch of flares starting to rise into the sky in the distance. This particular barrage isn't masked by fireworks, it's obvious they are cannonball spells. They are under attack.
As the flare began to fall back to Earth, Zorian began to panic. What on earth is he going to do! ? There was no point in running away because he had no idea what the target of the flare was. If he ran blindly, he would probably run right into the area of impact. Wait, why does he have to do anything? There was a group of capable mages in the building, and he should notify them and let them handle it. He rushed into the ballroom.
As soon as he stepped onto the stairs, he met Ilsa and Karen.
"Zorion! What are you doing here?" Ilsa asked.
"Uh, I'm just going out to get some fresh air," Zorian stammered. "But that doesn't matter now!"
"I agree," Karen said. "Boy, what kind of explosion was that? Is this what you did?"
"No," Zorian said. "Some kind of flare fell all over the city, destroying everything they hit. Looks like some kind of powerful artillery spell."
Ilsa and Karen looked at each other, then turned to him.
"Go to the dance hall and join Akoja and the others," Ilsa told. "We'll see what's going on and teleport everyone to shelter if necessary."
The two pushed past him and rushed to the roof, leaving Zorian stumbling into the ballroom dazed. What about her? Not in the ballroom. she left. because of him. She's there, maybe even dead...
He shook his head to expel such thoughts from his mind. He took out his divination compass and quickly cast a divination spell to find her location. He wasn't sure if it would work since the spell he used only found people you were "familiar" with.
He took a deep breath, his nerves tense. She'd probably be killed, but... well, it was his fault. He felt he could not bear it if Akoja died because of him.
Like an invisible ghost, he shuttled between anxious students and foreign dignitaries, unhindered by anyone until he was close to the exit. He slipped out of the building and bolted in the direction indicated by the divination compass needle.
. . . . Four. . . . .
Trolls are very nasty creatures. There are several subspecies, but they are all large 3-meter-tall humanoids with tough leathery skin and supernatural regenerative abilities that allow them to reattach a severed limb simply by placing it on a matching stump for a moment. mutilation. The most numerous and best-known subspecies are the forest trolls, which have vivid green skin and roam the vast forests of the north.
When Zorian saw a group of trolls strutting through the streets, smashing windows and howling inexplicably, his scent was thankfully masked by the acrid smoke wafting from nearby burning buildings. His textbooks said that forest trolls had a terrifyingly good sense of smell.
What so many forest trolls were doing gathered in the center of a human city, but the blades and maces in their hands told him all he needed to know. These weapons are too advanced to be made by the trolls themselves, as they are very primitive and lack such advanced metalworking skills. They are war trolls. Someone armed these creatures and released them into the city.
After they left, Zorian relaxed a little, what to do? What an idiot he is. Why, oh, why did he run away without getting help from the teacher first? Then again, he figured the flares were the only danger, in which case getting to Akoja wouldn't be a problem, assuming the stray flares didn't hit him. Instead, he finds the city overrun with monsters. This was not the terrorist attack he imagined, but a full-scale invasion! The way back to the ballroom has been closed - a large number of invading forces are converging on the academy, cutting off his retreat. With this thought in mind, Zorian set out for Akoja. He hid himself in the shadows, knowing that intruders would soon notice anyone out in the open, like that boy standing...over there...over there...
Is that Zach?
"This way!" Zach yelled, waving his hands in the air. "Here I am, you stupid animals! Come get me!"
Reckless and stupid, what on earth is that idiot doing! ? No matter how talented a student Zach is, he can't resist the hordes of monsters that are currently wreaking havoc in the city.
But it was too late - attracted by Zack's shout, the trolls ran back, let out a collective battle cry, and rushed towards the boy who had been foolish enough to attract their attention.
Zack's plan to fight the troll is pretty crazy - what can he do against a creature that can regenerate almost any wound? Only fire and acid can cause permanent damage, and they don't—
Zach held the staff firmly in his hand and stretched out his other hand in the direction of the troll's charge - a roaring fireball erupted from his hand and exploded in the center of the troll's formation. When the flames dissipated, only charred bodies remained.
Zorian was shocked. A fireball like this is the third magic circle and requires a lot of mana, much more than any student in the academy. Even Damen couldn't cast the spell at Zach's age. However, Zach not only managed to do it, but he didn't even look exhausted!
But when a swarm of ironbeaks attack and deadly feathers rain down on the boy, Zach simply erects a shelter—a terrifying one! - all around him, showering the birds with tiny fireballs that aim at their target like magic missiles made of fire. Zorian was stunned by the sight of his classmate effortlessly fighting off hordes of monsters single-handedly. So much so that he barely noticed a winter wolf, quietly approaching him.
Zorian cursed himself as he looked at the winter wolf, bracing himself for another pounce. He should expect to be targeted. He should use Zach's fight as a distraction and escape while he has the chance. It was too late now - Zorian knew he wasn't fast enough to outrun the Winter Wolf, and he had no combat spells to protect himself. Or rather, there's no such thing as a spell stick. If he makes it through tonight, he'll definitely learn some battle spells!
A flash of force struck the Winter Wolf in the head, causing it to explode into a shard of blood and bone. Bloody chaos, disgust! Still glad that I can live a little longer. He also pointed out that compared to ordinary magic missiles, the effect of lightning is a bit strong. It seems that Zach is quite proficient in combat magic. .
"Zorian? What the hell are you doing here?"
Zorian looked at Zach thoughtfully. Zorian noticed the trail of corpses left behind by the other boy and looked at the staff in his right hand and the belt filled with spell rods. Even though Zach seemed reckless, he came prepared.
After all, Zach did save his life. He decided to be honest - maybe another boy would be willing to help him reach Akoja, given his amazing fighting skills.
"Looking for Akoja. She left the dance shortly before the attack, which is kind of my fault."
Zach shouted. "Man, I went out of my way to ask you to go to the prom too. Like you wanted to get killed or something!"
"You?" Zorian asked in disbelief. "You were the one who told Ilsa I wasn't going? I've been blaming Penny all this time! How did you know about this?
"You always stay in your room and if I don't do something to stop you, you're going to be killed in the initial attack. You really can be a stubborn bastard if you want to," Zack sighed explain.
Zorian stared at him in confusion.
"But that's enough," Zach said happily. "Let's go find Akoja before something eats her. Do you know the way?"
And they did. They marched through the city's burning streets, leaving the bodies of their invaders in their wake. Zack doesn't even avoid the monsters, just charges through them like an angry god seeking vengeance. At one point they were even attacked by a horde of skeletons and an enemy mage, but Zak simply had the ground beneath them open up and swallow them whole. Zorian dutifully kept his mouth shut, never questioning Zack's seemingly inexhaustible reserves of mana or his knowledge of advanced magic, and he would never have made it this far without Zack's help, which he was sincerely grateful for The boy's help. Zach can keep his secret, no matter what it is.
They eventually found Akoja trapped upstairs in a house. Apparently, she was chased there by a pack of winter wolves and then became trapped, fearing the creatures were waiting for her to come out. Smart, really. Certainly smarter than what Zorian did. Fortunately, there were no signs of winter wolves around the house at this time—she was clearly shaken by her experience with winter wolves.
When Akoja finally opened the door, he was so surprised that he immediately grabbed him, hugged him, and sobbed into his shoulder.
"I thought I was going to die!" she wailed. "These huge birds throwing iron feathers everywhere, and winter wolves..."
Zorian's mouth fell open in confusion, not knowing how to respond to such an outburst. He gave Zach a pleading look, but the boy just smiled cheekily at him, clearly amused by his reaction.
"Ah, young love," Zach nodded knowingly. "But I'm afraid you will have to return to the sanctuary before the heartfelt reunion can continue."
"Yes!" Akodia shouted immediately, lifting his face from Zorian's shoulder. She completely ignored Zach's criticism of their love, and she still held on to his body tightly, fearing that he would disappear if she let go. Although he was in some pain, he was happy. "
refuge! We'll be safe there! "
Zach stepped back for a moment before coming to his senses. It was so fast that Akoja didn't seem to notice, but Zorian did. So aren't shelters safe? But it's clearly safer than now, as Zach seems determined to get it done.
"Great!" Zach said happily, clapping his hands. He took out a magic wand from his waist and handed it to Akko. "Hang in there too, Zorian."
"What is that?" Zorian asked doubtfully. There are no markings on this stick.
"It's a teleportation rod," Zach said. "It's programmed to transport whoever holds it to a shelter. I've set it to a 30-second delay, so hang in there so you don't get left behind."
"But what about you?" Akoja asked. "You have to hold on before activating!"
"Ah, no," Zach said, waving her away. "I still have unfinished business."
"Unfinished business!?" Akoja protested. "Zach, this isn't a game! These things will kill you!"
"I'm perfectly capable of—"
Zorian had a vague sense of fear and knew he had to react immediately, as had happened earlier when the winter wolf had tried to pounce on him. With a sudden tug, he wrenched himself from Akoja's grasp, pushing Zach away from the incoming spell. An angry red light surged through the air in front of them, passing right through where Zach's head had been and hitting the wall behind them. The jagged red light penetrated deeply into the wall, carving a deep ravine in the wall, and a layer of fine dust exploded around it.
"Oops," Zach said. "He found me. Quick, hold the pole first—"
Akoja disappeared in the blink of an eye as the scepter teleported her to safety.
"-it activated," Zach said in a pained tone. "Damn it, Zorian, why don't you hold on?!"
"Then you're dead!" Zorian protested.
If he could help it, he wouldn't let the hero die from the Lost Spell. Furthermore, whoever casts it will surely succumb to Zach's magical power. Just how dangerous is this enemy's caster?
Suddenly, the wind blew away the dust, and a thin humanoid figure appeared in the field of vision. Zorian was startled when he saw the appearance of the thing before him. It was a skeleton shrouded in a sickly green light. Its bones were black with a strange metallic luster, as if they were not bones at all, but a replica of a skull made of some kind of black metal. Clad in golden armor, a skeletal hand clutching a scepter, and wearing a crown studded with purple gems, the creature looks like a long-dead king resurrected from the dead.
That's a lich. That's a damn lich! Oh, they're dying...
The lich's empty eye sockets glanced over them. When Zorian's eyes met the dark pits in the Lich's eyes, an uncomfortable feeling washed over him, as if the Lich was peering into his soul. Less than a second later, the Lich lazily turned his attention to Zach, clearly dismissive of Zorian.
"So..." The Lich's voice was full of power, "It was you who killed my minions."
"Zorian, run away, I'll deal with this guy." Zach said, holding the staff tightly in his hand.
Without waiting for a response, Zach fired a barrage of magic missiles at the Lich, who retaliated with three purple beams while erecting a protective shield around himself with a wave of his bone hand. Two of them were aimed at Zak, but unfortunately the Lich saw fit to aim one at Zorian's retreating figure. While it failed to hit Zorian directly, the beam's impact with the nearby ground created a sizable explosion, sending shrapnel into his leg. The pain was severe, and Zorian instantly fell to the ground, unable to take another step.
Zorian spent the next five painful minutes dragging himself behind a nearby cart, hoping it would protect him from at least the destructive force. Zach kept the lich busy enough that it didn't send any more spells at Zorian, which was lucky because Zorian was no longer in any position to dodge them. He watched with growing uneasiness as Zach and the Lich exchanged various destructive spells, realizing with growing horror that his predictions of their horrific deaths were well founded - no matter how good Zach was, He's not even in the same league as the Lich. That thing was playing with another boy, and was destined to tire of the game soon, or else—
He frowned as a spear-like bolt of red lightning shot straight through Zach's shield and pierced the boy's side. He suspected that the attack had hit a non-vital area simply because the Lich wanted to feel smug, and when the creature didn't kill Zack with anything destructive, instead choosing to toss Zack into the air, all it took was a casual gesture. Zach screamed in pain as he hit the wall near Zorian's hiding place.
The lich was obviously not in a hurry and approached slowly. Zach stood up unsteadily, holding a spell stick tightly in his left hand. He didn't seem to care. Zorian could see his right hand pressed tightly against the bleeding wound in his side.
"You hit hard, kid," the Lich said. "For someone who is an academy student, that's impressive."
"Not... impressive enough." Zach gasped, covering the wound on his side with both hands, and the spell rod fell from his hands, obviously in pain. "I think...I'll have to...try harder next time."
The lich chuckled. It was a strange sound, at odds with the creature. "Next time? Silly boy, there won't be a next time. I can't let you live, you know?"
"Bah," Zach spat, grimaced, and straightened up. "No more nonsense, let's end it quickly."
"You seem surprisingly unconcerned, considering you're dying," the lich chattered.
"Ah, whatever," Zach said, rolling his eyes. "I won't die forever."
Zorian looked at Zach in disbelief, not quite understanding what Zach meant. However, the lich seemed to understand.
"Ah, I see," the lich said. "If you are invulnerable, you must be new to soul magic. I could trap your soul in a soul jar, but I have a better idea."
The Lich made a gesture to Zorian casually, and suddenly he felt that his whole body was frozen, as if wrapped in some alien power. Another wave threw Zorian at great speed towards a shocked Zach, who crashed painfully into the other boy. They eventually fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs, and Zorian breathed a sigh of relief that at least the unknown force that had paralyzed him was gone.
"If your soul is destroyed beyond recognition before you get there, it doesn't matter whether your soul can be reincarnated elsewhere." The Lich said. "After all, the soul may be immortal, but no one is saying it can't be changed or added to."
Vaguely, Zorian could hear the lich chanting in some strange language. This was definitely not a traditional prayer.
A sudden pain. He opened his mouth to scream, but then his world burst into bright light and then suddenly plunged into blackness.
