(Author's Note)
It's been a while since I last posted. Sorry but I had other stuff to attend to. I hope you guys like this chapter. Enjoy :D.
Chapter 1 (The Forbidden Dark Tower)
Dark Tower Magic Institute, also known as the former university for sorcerers and sorceresses alike. Back then its facilities were used for conducting research for magical purposes. Some research involved dissecting specimens, analyzing herb properties, practicing new incantations and comparing vision magic to that of the divine. For many years now it has been forbidden to all learners of sorcery because of the rancid spider infestation. In contrast to a mere expectation, these are not your average tiny spiders. Once you experience being stabbed by their paralyzing and poisonous fangs expect to be wrapped in silk to be prepared as their next meal. The hallways were filled with cobwebs. Vials, flasks, and other remains of glassware were scattered on floors below potion preparation desks. Books that were former masterpieces of master sorcerers and sorceresses were torn and ruined, some pages were scattered due to strong winds. Snow filled the Institute due to lack of protection from blizzards. Eggs sat on corners waiting for their time of birth.
No one knew where the spiders came from. Rumors circulated that it was the sorcerers to blame for their clumsy attempts at an experiment. Others believed that the dark abyss had finally trespassed their protection enchantments.
Within the frozen old library filled with dusty books sat a young boy with blonde hair, dressed in a brown scholar's robe studying each and every crystal ball he could find in the shelves. Some crystal balls spoke of recorded history about the recent events and especially the Black Dragon Raid 50 years ago and some even spoke of different tutorials about casting spells. If he was to learn more about the tragedy of Lagendia, he has to look through the history.
A particular crystal ball, one that's round and filled with frost, caught the attention of the boy. As soon as he held out his hand to touch it, the cold frost chilled his fingers that it encouraged him to take out his mitten.
If you were curious as to why he didn't wear it even before then, his basic knowledge in pyromancy, the sorcerous study of fire, has enabled him to adapt well to the cold weather. If he used fire magic now, there was a danger that he would either melt or shatter the glass.
With both hands, he picked up the ball and held it close to his head. He wiped away the frost with his mittens to inspect it more. The wiping unexpectedly caused it to glow and an echoing eerie voice suddenly spoke, as if it were a dead soul communicating with a mortal.
"Dark days have struck Lagendia and every land has been corrupted by the Black Dragon's blood. The 6 heroes failed to see this Catastrophic Rain after Karas', the black dragon, death and every participant in the war were affected by this disease, including me… and The great Fairystar Karacule. Lab researches were conducted and attempts of reciting new incantations were done by the clerics in hopes of finding a cure. Some were able to stabilize the conditions of our patients for a few moments… but, ultimately, they were ineffective. Some died due to wrong incantations and some due to the disease-causing blood. Others mutated into creatures unimaginably horrible and they were expelled to the dungeons to be experimented on. Because the abyss of Vestinel finally reached the institute, at least it's what I assume is the cause of all this chaos, we were unable to return to this precious laboratory… until now. I'm part of a group that's attempting to conduct research in vigilance… but sadly only a few of us managed to reach this laboratory alive. I don't even know if either of us would make it out… Damn it! Our ways of vision magic have failed… and those damned races that practice divine magic neither brought us to any avail. Until now, Master Karacule is suffering heavy pain. It's been fifteen days without a single cure. With the looks of her condition… she doesn't seem fit to last any time soon. I am not a person of faith… but I pray… Oh merciful goddess… bless us all… and watch… over us."
The record that contained the voice of a sorceress stopped. He looked around, checked if he was being watched but found no one in sight. Satisfied with the time spent with the crystal balls, he placed back the crystal ball, took off his mitten and proceeded to the next aisle of shelves filled with old frosted spell booksk that would help him learn further on the basics of magic. He searched through different textbooks such as "Time and Space: A force not to be reckoned with" and "Fire and Ice: Simple spells to learn the elements of nature". But his hand swept past those books because he has read all of them during his past visits. Although he studied the advanced level, he still hasn't learned the very basics of sorcery. He hoped that the crystal balls would be of assistance, but a lot of them covered about specialized sorcery and Lagendian history. He was able to stumble upon a very dusty book, one that did not stir his sense of familiarity. He grabbed it and blew away the dust that covered the front cover. "Karacule's Tips to easy magic learning", the front cover read. With eyes glinting of excitement, he opened the cover, hastily skipped the preface and flipped through the other pages until he reached the page containing a list of spells. Upon arrival, his eyes focused on the first spell he saw on the left page.
"Glay-sha…" He read and tried to understand. He read it again with more vocal power. "Glacial Spike!"
He felt power eject from his right hand. The book he held froze. Surprised, He dropped the book and it shattered to pieces before him. The sound of breaking ice echoed through the dark corridors, travelling… until it stirred the creatures. Hisses and snarls soon filled the hallways. Spider legs tapped the floors as the creatures scurried to its prey. Alarmed, the boy quickly used a mending spell that he secretly learned from school. The book was able to magically mend itself, but it was still frozen. Impatient and in panic, He decided to carry it. He stowed the frozen book in his robe, grabbed the rest of the books he needed and ran out of the library as fast as he could.
His footsteps clamped loudly on the marble floor covered with thin snow. Just as he forced the doors to the way out of the library he met hissing giant yellow spiders poised to attack.
Clumsily he fired an energy ball to a baby spider, which died easily.
Enraged, the spiders leaped at the boy, who stumblingly dodged and ran to the bookshelves while continuously firing plasma balls. Desperate, He threw every book he could grab from the shelves at the spiders and toppled the bookshelves with basic force charms. A spider leaped towards him but he was able to "blink" out of danger in time. He turned right but was ambushed by a spider, which he vanquished temporarily. He turned to the opposite direction but realized a dead end corner ahead. A spider landed behind him and spat out a web that pinned him to the wall. The boy wailed in pain upon impact. Numerous spiders arrived and they repeatedly covered him with sticky webs until he was wrapped like a cocoon.
"Is this… how my dreams would end?"
Expectantly, he shut his eyes and silently waited for the killing blow. Suddenly he heard some sort of magic occurring in front of him. Sooner he felt heat nearby. That same heat released him from the webs, its melted silk dripped from his robes and skin. He opened his eyes only to see a woman with a staff in her right hand standing in the middle of a scorched area filled with grilled spiders.
"Sis!" Greeted the boy excitedly.
But to his disappointment, the woman glared at him angrily. She reached out for his hand and he took it without hesitation.
"I'll deal with you later." Said the woman.
The giant doors blast open due to the sorceress's spell. Hand in hand the brother and sister ran across the hallways filled with spider eggs. Up ahead a large double door stood a few feet away. She opened a black portal in front of her. They quickly jumped through it and they went through the other opening across the room. She pushed open the next doors before them easily.
They entered a room with a domed ceiling. The cobwebs were thicker and more spider eggs appeared. Just as they were about to continue their escape a giant white mother spider crashed in front of them, throwing the brother and sister back to the doors they entered. The earthquake caused by the spider was powerful enough to hatch the eggs around them and baby spiders emerged. The infants skittered to their first prey, accompanied with Yellow spiders larger than them but smaller than the mother.
"Stand back." Whispered the woman.
The sorceress calmly walked a few inches away from the boy to give space for her performance. She lifted her staff and exhaled. She twirled it once, recited an incantation of foreign language, and slammed the heel of the staff on the ground. A mound of ice appeared a few feet away from her, freezing an area of spiders. Enraged, the baby spiders jumped at her to attack. She spun herself quickly, recited another incantation and spread her arms in opposite directions. From the ground, shards of ice appeared around her enveloping the attacking spiders. She rapidly spun her staff in front of her, and recited another incantation. A chilling mist surged out of the wheeling staff, blowing and frostbiting the spiders in front of her. But even with a total of three massive spells cast their numbers were still limitless. Desperate, she used her strongest spell. Her eyes glowed blue and she levitated from her spot. She recited a long incantation to the sky. A thick misty cloud formed above her. Suddenly a blizzard came upon the spiders, blowing them and slowing them down. Hail stones fell randomly on the floor, hitting most of the spiders at least. The blizzard was so powerful that when it ended, it left ninety nine percent of them frozen. A blue spell circle appeared beneath her feet and a snowy aura enveloped her. She waved her staff and recited an incantation. With a whip of her staff the frozen spiders shattered into shards of ice.
The mother spider roared in rage as her babies lied on the ground dead. The spider poised to strike. The sorceress roared in irritation.
"Grab my hand! Quickly!"
The boy ran to the sorceress and grabbed her hand. She draws a circle with the head of her staff, opening a black portal. They quickly jump through it right before the spider's jaws could snatch them. The two appeared on the other end of the room. She turned around to face the giant monster.
"Stand by the doors." She ordered.
The boy cooperates without question. The boy grabbed the handles, ready to open them. The spider quickly turned around and spat out a sticky web. She slammed her staff on the ground, melting the giant web in front of her with fire.
The sorceress smirked. "Come at me you web head!"
The enraged mother spider leaped towards her, fangs ready to deliver the killing blow.
"Sis!" Yelled the boy.
Soon a black aura circulated her and a black circle surrounded her. When the spider was close enough she lifted her staff and loudly spoke and yelled. Gravity was switched. The bits of stone around her lifted from the ground and the creature was pinned to the ceiling. She slammed the hilt of her staff to the ground, forcing the spider to slam back to the ground in front of her. Miraculously the spider was still alive, but badly injured. She ignited her left palm with a fire ball.
"Get back! Get back!" she yelled.
The spider hissed in fear and it slowly retreated towards the other side of the door with the last of its strength. When it was finally behind the doors the sorceress blasted the arch on the door. The blocks of cement from the old arch, along with the pillars, collapsed down to the door, obstructing it completely. The boy did nothing but looked in awe.
"Sis… why couldn't you teach me how to do that?" Asked the boy innocently.
The woman looked at him irritably. She immediately grabbed his ear and dragged it out of the institute along with the wailing boy.
"How many times do I have to remind you to not ask me that question again?!" Yelled the master sorceress.
-End of Chapter 1-