Chapter 4: To be a wizard

"What!"

"Eh…you still wonder about that sentence about you being an heir? Yeh… like the chances of you being one out of the remaining members of the royal blood which is unknown.However, what we know that is now, you have proven yourself to be a member of the royal family, which has been unheard of in probably a ….century."

"Yes, we reach Yuno at last!"

It had been five days since their fateful encounter. Since that day, Peat, as the huge guy would like to be called and Heden, the wizard was on their way to Yuno.

Yuno, as it was to be called, was a place of wizards and magic.

Oden was told that people of the royal family possessed powerful magic.

He had magic.

It was an odd place. Filled to the skies with the presence of magic, it was nearly impossible to differentiate the real from the fabricated. The magic filled the air, tingling his every sense. It was a new experience, nothing like before when he was living in Prontera, which favored machinery.

There were towering floating spheres that provided light, teleporting spheres and smells of the strangest combination. What shocked him was that it drew him to them, or more accurately, he drew himself to them. What was once a life of slavery was embedded deeply in his mind; what was evident to him was the alluring aroma of overwhelming knowledge.

He knew that he was going to have a good future here. A new one.

Snow was falling now. White, crispy and fluffy sheets of them. Falling ever so gently, so slowly. They were the signals to a new sky, a new future and a new cold winter.

Five years had passed. Oden was sixteen now. He had passed the graduation exam for the mage and was on his road to the wizard levels. He had earned himself a great deal of friends and a greater slew of enemies. The great magical city of Yuno had retained its past glory of the past years and appeared just as great as ever.

However, that was far from the truth.

The entire continent of Miguard was in ruin. The five years that Oden had arrived here, the fighting had raged. The evil guild, Inzet had prevailed in all its evil glory. It had cracked open the shells of what remained of the Jarok, Hould, Lopis, Tunia and Weldo guilds and had devoured them. All of the respective kingdoms and guilds had dissipated and broken up. Now only two guilds remained--- Mojlir, Yunia and the Inzet guild. Inzet had saved the best for the last.

Yuno had survived attacks from Inzet and prevented unnecessary damages. However, that was merely a prelude to what was coming. Those attacks, each leaded by hordes of monsters were only a distraction. And even that had took all of Yuno's best to defend. The true force was approaching. This time, it was not something that Yuno's wizards could take and leave unscathed. It was either to fight or to surrender. Yuno chose to fight. It was time for the battle.

Only this time, Mojlir was bringing the fight to them.

"As you can see, the wizard's primary attack is the meteor storm, as well as jupitel thunder. These are offensive spells and require a great amount of concentration to be able to cast. However, as this is your first class, I would only require you to learn the basics of the jupitel thunder. Class, as this is a spell that is more powerful and wields much damage than the ordinary lightning bolt, I would require you to cast this with care. Briefing ends here and good luck on your casting."

The whole class arrived at the training grounds-------here, magic is allowed to be cast.

Oden brushed his damp hands against his robe---- which was a mark of his completed mage training, and one he valued the most, and started to chant the spell for jupitel thunder. Besides him, booms echoed as fellow pupils successfully cast their spells.

He chanted the spell and aimed his wand at the nearest target---- a tree trunk. He felt his own magic surging through his own body and prepared to summon it in a resounding boom.

"Jupitel thunder!"

Nothing happened. It was as if his own magic had surged through his own body and suddenly decided to take a rest. It was an abrupt silence as he again tried to summon his own magic and channel it through his wand as he tried the spell.

"Jupitel thunder!"

Again, nothing happened.

Frustration took hold of him; he chanted the spell again and again. It was futile, though as the magic surged through him and refused to surface. He tried a basic lightning bolt.

It appeared, striking the tree trunk as he imagined he had.

Nothing is wrong with my magic! Why do I not seems to get this spell right? Does it signals the road has ended for me here? Am I not meant to be a wizard? Am I to be haunted by the dreams of past? Do I not have any talent? DO I?

Thoughts started to flood Oden's mind which whirled round and round. However, what he does seems not be effective. The spell just does not work. That, Oden had to just accept the hard fact.

And he did not like it one bit.

That incident occurred everything during lessons. While others were busy casting their spells, Oden was busy trying to keep his temper down. He could not let the teachers know about this or he would be expelled. Life was hard outside and although he does not mind the hardships of life, he did not like not having anything done about it.

It was the same every time; he could feel his magic gushing to the surface like a torrential waterfall which suddenly decided to subside once it touched the surface. Yet, he could use the spells of the mage. It was mysterious and a constant worry on his mind----the terms are coming to an end and it was time for the yearly tests.

For that, it spelled doom for him.

Dear students of the Yuno academy of magic,

It is my greatest regret to inform you of the dreaded news that I bore in this letter. Even now, our vanguards are pitting their wits against the hordes of demons of the Inzet armies. Although we have gained a foothold in the nearby town, we faced the hard truth that is imminent----we will be defeated. For the hordes that we defeated were merely just a distraction and a show of power from the great army of Inzet.

Therefore, the city of Yuno shall be evacuated, and along with the citizens, take refuge in the ally city of Geffen. The sages of ancient times should protect you until then. School is also suspended until the invasion has ended.

These are worrying times. Please be on your guard at all times and prevent any contact with the enemy at all costs.

With that, may the ancient god of Loki in each we derived our powers from protect us.

With regards,

The headmaster

Chaos. Oden looked around. There was nothing left now. Fire raged the training grounds. He was the only one left in the whole city since the notice for evacuation had been pasted in the academy.

The city had been breached. The demons hordes had broken in, ravaged the entire city with their overwhelming strength. There was nothing left for him in this forsaken city. What once had been towering buildings had been reduced to burning rubbles. The elders had been fighting for almost three days now. Soon, their strength would be sapped and they would fall. Oden was trusted with the task of making sure that everyone was safe and evacuated.

They had been. However, what's left of the remaining people had been killed. There was only two options---to run or to be eaten.

Oden scurried towards the back entrance of the magical city. He had to get away from here; there was nothing he could do here. He chided himself for not having the strength to protect the place which he had learnt to call it his home. He blamed himself for the demise of many who he was too late to save. He was tired now; sapped of his remaining few ounces of strength, he made his way through the wrecked city towards the only escape from this place.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Oden was long accustomed to these noises. However, this time, they were so close that he looked up. Into the ragged faces of three man. He did not make sense of them until they spoke.

"What are still doing here! Get out this place right NOW!"

The three elders of the city! The strongest of the wizards. The only people who had reached the rank of high wizards. The most proficient of the magic wielders. Even they were worn out. We must have failed, Oden thought silently.

The elders beckoned for him to follow them. Oden could see their auras----one of the most prominent, pulsing strongly like a light beacon. He felt small and insignificant behind them. More than that, he was awed by their magic.

"ARGH!"

Suddenly, the three elders dropped to the ground. Before they dropped to the ground, a large shadow appeared in front of Oden. Oden gasped and tried to escaped. He stumbled for a short stretch of road before the surprised shadow caught up with him. The shadow revealed its true form---an angelring! However, this angelring was not like the white incarnation. It was black, and had pikes for arms.

Its swiftly swiped at Oden. Oden was stunned for a while before jumping and evading its attack.

"Fire bolt! Ice bolt! Lightning bolt!"

The three streams of energy appeared out of Oden's staff and connected.

Yes!

However, that short moment of triumph was short-lived. Oden felt a acute pain in his stomach. He looked down and was horrified to see red. Red that mingled with the black from the pikes-like hands of the angelring. The hands dig deeper.

Now, Oden could finally see why the three elders was unable to defeat the demons.

They were magic-resistant.

Even when Oden was thinking, he was slipping into an unconscious state.

Its over. Its over. Over…

Comments? Let me have some. As always , greatly appreciated.