The Academy

by Colin Daumen

  Favian's body resurfaced on sandy ground. As he stood up, he saw that he'd crushed a scorpion as he teleported to the ground. Blue blood stained his leather top, and some of it had even splattered onto his hair.

  The same dizziness that he'd felt when he was teleported by the headmaster was now washing over him, and it felt like the waves of an ocean were crashing against his skull. It took him a couple of minutes to reorient himself, after which he jogged around to find out where exactly he'd been transported to.

  'So I'm back in the Kalari Desert. It should only take me an hour to get back to our original camp, hopefully Licht and Dunkel are safe and already there.'

  It didn't take too long until Favian reached his campsite. Everything was the same as it had been hours ago when they'd left. There was nothing out of the ordinary, which led Favian to conclude that he'd been the first one to make it back.

  'Well I guess I'm just going to wait here,' he thought. 'Hmm, it's really silent here. I don't remember it being as silent before.'

  There would usually be some noise from the wind, or birds, or insects near their camp. But right now, it was deadly silent. There was no breeze, the air was stagnant.

  'System, scan for hostiles!'

  [DING! No hostiles found in a 5km radius] Elon replied.

  'Weird, why am I getting this feeling of uneasiness.' Favian trusted his gut-feeling, concluding that something was wrong. 'This doesn't seem right.'

  He proceeded to analyze the forest, trying to look for any beast tracks or human footprints. Hopefully, he'd find some clue as to where his companions were if they had already gotten back. He spent an hour combing through the forest, looking at branches and soil, even testing the density of arcana in the area.

  "What's this?" Favian said. He stumbled upon what looked like blood. He dipped his hands on the blood-stained soil. 'Warm. It must be fresh. System, identify what type of blood this is.'

  [DING! Analyzing... Processing... Results: Sample is 100% Drow blood.]

  "Shit!" Favian exclaimed, before looking around to find any more hints. Quickly, he was able to see a trail of blood.

  He followed the trail of blood, which suddenly ended once the forest and desert collided. Favian had a hunch, he thought that Dunkel was back at the tomb. He didn't know why he thought so, but he was certain he was correct. There was also no other place that he knew how to get to as quickly, without having to scout the surrounding area for strong beasts to avoid them for a safe passage.

  Favian sprinted towards the landmark in the desert marked by the dragon head and was able to make it there even quicker than before. He made sure his shadow was always a kilometer behind him so that he could escape as quickly as possible. Favian had a bad premonition and prepared himself for battle.

  As he got closer, he could hear people chanting and shouting, and could also hear the clanging of swords. The arcana in the area was fluctuating greatly, which meant a battle was underway.

  Favian could now see the dragon head which housed the tomb he'd previously had been in. Unlike before, the mouth was shut tight, preventing anybody from entering. Dunkel and Licht were currently embroiled in a battle against five hooded figures, their chances looking extremely slim. Only four figures were actively attacking them, and it seemed that they didn't want to go in for the kill. Rather, they wanted to tire them down into submission.

  Quickly, Favian formulated his plan. By the fact that there was one figure simply looking on at the battle, he guessed that this person was the leader of his enemies. By taking out the leader, he could suck away their morale whilst boosting that of his own party. This should be enough to change the tides, was what Favian thought.

  Without a second thought, Favian cast Time Stop, his vision blurry for a moment until he was once again in the shadow realm. He placed the beast egg which he was now materialized, into his backpack, before sprinting off into the battle. He'd wanted to save Time Stop for only when he needed to retreat, but it didn't seem like a possibility right now. He had to worry about his friends as well, not just himself. He couldn't interact with the material plane, and therefore couldn't move Licht and Dunkel away from the battle. This was why Favian decided that a battle was inevitable.

  Favian had made his system scan the power levels of his enemies, so he now knew that he absolutely had to kill the leader. All of the leader's stats were unknown, whereas the other 4 should be easy enough to defeat together with Licht and Dunkel. He could definitely kill each of the other 4 enemies whilst in Time Stop, but that'd mean he wouldn't have a chance to kill the leader, as it'd take quite a lot of mana to cast Chaotic Pursuit 4 times, which would take 40% of his total mana pool. He was certain he needed to cast all available Chaotic Pursuits at the leader.

  Favian unsheathed his daggers and covered them in blackish-grey wisps of shadow energy. He then ran to the enemy leader. This figure was cloaked in a black hood, but Favian was able to make out that they wore an amulet. As he got closer, he noticed that this amulet was the same as the one Neith, the bipolar woman who'd imprisoned him in a time-lock, had worn.

  'So they are followers of Eris. Why are they here though, it doesn't make any sense.'

  Favian then released a huge burst of energy, having cast 8 consecutive Chaotic Pursuits. This costed 80% of his total mana pool, but he was certain it was necessary. After that, he cast decoy on each of the other four enemies, hoping to disorient them for long enough to give Licht and Dunkel a breather once he re emerged from the shadow realm.

  'If only I could move my friends whilst in my Time Stop,' he thought. Favian had tried again and again to work out how to move living things whilst in this spell, but it seemed that there was no way to do this, unless it was like his beast egg and used his body as a medium for entering the shadow realm. Whilst in his shadow realm, he was separate to all of the other living things which were on the material plane, and thus couldn't interact with them.

  "Well, I've done what I can, now all I can do is hope for the best," he said. With that, he stopped his spell and let time resume as normal.

  Favian materialized in front of the leader for only a moment, after which his body shifted in and out of the shadow plane continuously, with dagger attacks being slammed at his enemies vital spots. His body felt like it would break from the pressure of casting 8 spells consecutively, but the power he outputted was more than the net sum of the parts. Purple and blackish-grey energy particles clashed against the red aura of the leader, who'd been caught completely off guard by Favian.

  A crimson red protective aura battled against the maelstrom of dagger attacks. The leader thought that the attacks would weaken in strength as time went on, but they only increased in speed. The attacks pushed at him with a certain vengeance as he was shoved backwards through the sand. All thoughts of attacking were thrown out of his mind as he had to put his all into defense.

  'What the hell? There was no information about a Level 2 practitioner protecting these youths!' he thought, as his face became more solemn. He knew that he'd need to put everything into defending, or else his life would be lost right now.

  Quickly, he chanted for protection from Eris. His life force seeped out of his body, into the barrier protecting him. This strengthened it enough that he could now go on the offensive.

  "You've made me use 100 years of my life force just against your attack. I commend you for that, but I will take you down with me at any cost," the man screamed, as he conjured a bloody mace into his hands.

  He pummeled at Favian, his swings creating shockwaves that flung sand into the air. Every attack he tried to make hit on empty air. Each shockwave itself was a powerful weapon, but he wasn't able to even land these on his opponent, who was as elusive as sightings of Bigfoot. The man swung out in frustration, unable to see through his opponent.

  'Bloody hell his defense is a lot stronger than I expected. I've run so low in mana and all I can do right now is evade with my shadow.' Favian was dodging to his best ability, but shockwaves continued to
batter against him by minuscule amounts every time he swapped places with his shadow. The tiny damage accumulated into bruises all over his body, however, he didn't need to worry about them too much, as his body would recover from the damage sooner or later.

  'THERE, FOUND IT!' he screamed in his mind, as Favian finally found the opening he was looking for.

  His opponent redirected the energy from his protective barrier towards his mace in desperation, trying to end the battle in one hit. Favian didn't let this chance go to waste, as he jumped to the most vulnerable part that his opponent currently had with his twin daggers. He thrust them into the soft flesh of his opponent's neck, slicing his throat open. Blood gushed out like a waterfall, and the man fell to the floor, lifeless the moment he hit the ground.

  'I-I just killed him?' he thought. He'd battled to steel his nerves for when this moment finally happened, him taking the life of another human. He felt empty, like he'd lost part of his humanity.

  He quickly slapped his face to get out of that train of thought, instead letting calmness take over. 'I need to save Dunkel and Licht!' This was the thought that took over. He wouldn't let his emotions run wild until he'd saved his friends. He'd have to face his demons after the battle.

  The battle took less than half a minute, with a slight blunder leading to the hooded figure's death. Quickly, Favian redirected his attention to Dunkel and Licht.

  'Shit,' he thought, his face grimacing as he looked on at the battle. His friends were in a tough spot currently. Dunkel had numerous gashes all over his face and arms. He held onto his stomach, blood seeping through his fingers. Licht wasn't in as dire straits as him, but she also had a variety of bruises all over her face, and blood dripped from her lips.

  Chapter 35 - Attack 2

  One mage who had been throwing fireballs at Licht and Dunkel quickly looked at Favian as he'd stabbed their leader in the neck. His eyes bulged as he saw this, fear apparent in them. Favian's decoy proved only minimally effective, as he cursed in his mind. He'd hoped that it would last for at least a minute so that he could clean up his enemies in succession, but it didn't seem to be the case, unfortunately.

  "The captain's dead! We need to retreat!" he screamed frantically.

  "Retreat is not an option Henry! We fight to the death, in the name of Eris!" a female follower shouted. She was currently slashing at Licht with a katana, sparks bouncing off whenever she hit the shield.

  Licht was struggling to keep up with the battle, owing her ability to defend this long only to a magical artifact given to her for protection from her clan. The one-time use bracelet allowed her to cover herself in a strong barrier, surrounding her in a 5-meter radius. This barrier had however been used right at the beginning of the battle, but fortunately, it made sure that the enemies had to use up a lot of their strength to break it.

  Without the barrier, Licht knew that Dunkel and herself would have already been done for by now, considering they'd been facing four Level 1 practitioners.

  The mage focused his attention on Favian and started flinging fireballs at him. He was too agitated with his spellcasting, some of his chants coming out wrong which caused the overall power and precision of his fireballs to be scattered.

  Wave upon wave of fireballs travelled towards Favian, but only a small margin of them were on target, and even those were very weak. Favian was able to easily dodge them, as he ran towards the heart of the fight.

  "Hang in there guys!" he shouted as he sprinted towards the mage. Favian kept switching positions with his shadow as they both ran towards the mage, his every step putting more fear into his enemy.

  "Got you!" a different mage's voice boomed in the area. His voice was a lot huskier and overbearing. The hooded figure had been chanting ever since he noticed Favian. He teleported behind Favian, before piercing into him with a metal lance. The tip of the blade went completely through Favian's back, piercing his heart in the process.

  'Wait, this doesn't feel right,' the man thought. Quickly, he retracted his lance and cast a protective barrier around himself. It would have taken too long for him to chant another teleportation spell.

  The barrier wasn't able to manifest itself quickly enough before a dagger plunged itself into his right eye. Favian pushed down onto it with all his strength, forcing the blade into his brain. The blade sliced through the eye and brain akin to a knife through butter, and a guttural scream left the mage's lips as he died. With a loud THUD, his body hit the ground like a sandbag.

  "JEREMY!" the cowardly mage shouted. He gave a fearful look at Favian before deciding to run away with his tail between his legs. Henry ran at full speed away from the battlefield, his legs seemingly trudging, but his speed still quick. Once he was completely out of sight of the battlefield, at least 2 kilometers away, a golden apple fell from the heavens, a meteorite with a specific target. Henry was smashed into a bloody pulp.

  "Insolent," a mysterious voice called out, looking down at the paste that Henry now was.

  ...

  Favian didn't attempt to chase him, instead prioritizing the safety of his companions. He continued his sprint towards them. Favian didn't know what transpired against Henry, as he'd been unable to see his untimely demise.

  There were only 2 enemies left standing, Favian having made quick work of the others. Now, the remaining two put all their focus on him, which gave Licht enough time to start healing Dunkel. The cut on his stomach was slowly, but steadily, being restored.

  The last 2 were a man and a woman, neither of which were mages. One was a knight, and the other a swordsman. They were tightly on guard, unlike the others Favian had killed, and would not allow him to dispose of them easily.

  They moved towards him, slowly.

  'They think they'll find an opening?' he laughed in his mind. Now that he'd already killed their leader, and seeing that Dunkel was getting healed, Favian no longer felt tense.

  "What do you want from us? Why are you here?" Favian asked.

  "Shut up fool. You will die soon so there's nothing you need to know," the woman snarked in response. Her nostrils flared in anger as she spoke.

  "Haha," Favian chuckled. "You can't take me on, not even together." With that, Favian sprinted at them.

  'It seems these two are more intelligent than the others, they are guarding each other's backs, which means I can't find any holes to attack in their defense,' he thought. Despite this, he needed to finish the battle quickly. Favian could wait for his friends to recuperate, but he wanted to get out of this situation as soon as possible. For all he knew, maybe more people would come scout the tomb, with their intents as malicious as his current enemies.

  Favian threw out a Net of Shadows at the woman, aiming to cover her katana fully and render it useless for just a moment. Fortunately for him, this maneuver took her by surprise, and her blade was covered completely in shadow particles. He then made his shadow attack the woman, making her step back, parrying the shadowy wisps of energy as well as she could.

  He rushed at the man instead, using decoy to stun him for just a moment, which gave him enough time to stab him in the throat, the only place which his armor didn't cover. The man slumped to the ground, lifeless.

  Favian then threw a dagger at the woman, preoccupied with his shadow, which pierced her in the forehead. Gooey white liquid mixed with blood flooded out of her forehead as she fell backwards, the momentum of the dagger making her fall back 10 feet.

  "Favian, thank the maker that you got here when you did. I was sure we would die in this desert," Licht said, still holding onto Dunkel's stomach. Panic was still on her face, her resolve, however, was brought back upon Favian's arrival.

  "What's his status? What can I do to help?" he asked frantically. He was a medical student but knew that her healing magic was much better than anything he could do. He wanted to dive in, using the procedures he'd learnt on Earth, but he wasn't sure whether they would conflict with Licht's treatment.

  Licht took his hand and put it onto the now smal
ler wound on Dunkel's stomach. "Just keep your hand here, I'll do my best to heal him," she replied.

  Favian pressed onto the wound, making sure that only minimal blood gushed out from it. Dunkel had already passed out once Licht started to heal him, but his face still grimaced in pain as his flesh was mended. A hot sizzle could be heard when the gash finally closed up, leaving a large scar across his stomach.

  "That should do it. Damnit, he needs some rest and potions. I already used up all of mine during the battle," Licht said.

  Without care, Favian removed all of the potions he'd stored in his spacial pouch, and poured the contents into his friend's mouth. He had to force the liquid down his throat by letting gravity do all the work.

  "Woah woah, he only needs two. Put the rest away before you give him a heart attack."

  Favian put away the rest of the vials, storing them safely in his spacial pouch for later use. Dunkel now looked less pale, and the vitality was rushing back to his face. However, he didn't wake up.

  Licht saw the concerned look he was giving Dunkel, and said, "Don't worry, he'll wake up soon. If only I was a better healer, then he'd be jumping around energetically looking to cause trouble for us already."

  "No, you did what you could! I'm sorry for taking you guys into the tomb, this all wouldn't have happened if we'd never entered it," he said. Favian was finally able to feel the immense guilt of his selfish actions. He'd kept pushing it to the back of his mind because he needed to survive and save his friends, but now the emotions gushed out of him like a waterfall.

  "I-I killed these people. All of them," he gasped, "And it felt good. Why did it feel so good?" Favian's emotions were running wild, he didn't know what to do with his hands, and his legs gave away under him. Tears trickled down his face, his purple hair was stained red by the blood of his foes.

  Licht grabbed onto him, hugging him tightly. "You did nothing wrong, you had to kill them or else we would be dead," she consoled him.