One of the most recent book that Ahrden took from the library proved to be an interesting one. It was small, leather-bound and weather-beaten. Minor spells were guarding its content, which were meant to keep away the ones untrained in magic rather than to actually prevent even the beginners of the arcane arts to read it. The book turned out to be the journal of a powerful mage who lived a long time ago and acquired mountains of knowledge in his life. What Ahrden could understand from the journal was that the mage had dedicated his entire life to seek out and obtain every magical artefact, scroll or book he could get his hands on. Based on the context and the many references to times that were not recorded in the journal Ahrden had deducted that this journal was but a piece of an entire collection. Since there was nothing about where the rest of the parts might be, focusing on this was the most logical thing to do.
Unfortunately for Ahrden, the mage never disclosed the location where he stashed all the things he had found, only the sites he visited to obtain them. Since the mage took everything from these dungeons, Ahrden saw no reason to go back there and visit the empty tombs of ancient artefacts.
In the whole entirety of the journal, there was only one chapter that was different from the rest. At first, this, too, seemed like another hidden place that the mage had visited to obtain a treasure hidden there, but it had a twist at the end. It took the mage several months to find the location, but the real challenge only started afterwards. The artefact was at the bottom of a cave littered with traps and magical spells, which were meant to stop anyone from reaching the treasure that lay at the bottom of it. The only difference was that whatever lay down there, remained there.
The mage did a fantastic job at describing the place without giving almost any precise information as to what was really there. On rare occasions it was mentioned what kinds of spells and traps were hidden underground, even how he disabled them, but from a first glance it seemed that most of the challenges remained untold. Ahrden collected what little concrete things he could find; he had read about some of the spells the late mage had used on this quest, but he couldn't cast any of them. The reason behind it wasn't that they were beyond his power level, but rather that he hadn't found them important enough to learn. These spells were highly specialized ones, and Ahrden couldn't have used them in any situation, but maybe now it was time to finally learn them. The rest of the spells were entirely novel to him.
After the mage was able to bypass every system put in place to keep others like him away, he reached the cavern that held what he came for. It turned out to be an underground library with more books than the mage had ever seen in one place before.
The mage was no novice to the arcane art, but most of the books he found there were ones he had never seen before. The mage extensively wrote about how excited he was to have found such a place and that he was already planning how he would use all the knowledge these books held. The only problem that brought him back from the clouds was his inability to open a single book. As much as he tried, he was not able to open any one of them.
In his journal, the mage pointed out how the spell which bounded the covers of the book together was nothing he had ever seen before. It appeared to him that the spell keeping it locked had no unique characteristics, not even a notable arcane taint, only an unbreakable defence against which he was powerless. What made the situation even more terrible was that when the mage held a book in his hands or simply took it down from the shelf, he could not do so with another. Only when he put the book, he had previously taken down, back to its place could he remove any other book. He could not figure out the spell or the reason behind any of this until he wandered to the centre of the cavern where a great piece of stone stood, that he had somehow missed so far. On it, the following was carved:
Reaching this place was no easy feat, yet you overcame what stood before you. Do not be fooled, however, by the perceived power you think you wield.
The rules of this place are carved into this stone, and breaking the rules will always remain beyond you, so do not tire yourself by trying.
Choose what you wish and choose it well because only with one can you leave this place. Open it you cannot, but wisely you must choose regardless because there is no returning. That of which you are, this place forever remembers and to return you might try, but it will be like opening a book in here.
The mage finally understood what was going on, and now he looked at the place with renewed awe. He cursed the library's rules, but as wise as he was, he understood that the rules of such an ancient place could not be easily broken. The mage then described how he paced around the library relentlessly, taking down pieces and putting them back up, judging them in the process every possible way he could. Eventually, the one he chose to leave with became his most precious piece in all of his collection.
Ahrden was hooked. He needed to find this place. He needed to take a book from there.
---
It took Ahrden quite a while to decipher the precise location of the entrance to the cave. After he was sure where to find it, he teleported to the closest place he had been to and spent many hours searching for the actual entrance, which he eventually found. It was a small hole in the middle of the forest, well concealed from the outside. It turned out to be the entrance to a cave that continued downwards further than one would initially expect it. The cave itself was quite narrow and otherwise uninteresting to the ones untrained in the arcane arts, but Ahrden felt a strong presence of magic there. When he neared the far wall of the cave, he was sure that he had found the entrance to the dungeon he sought.
Ahrden returned to his cosy study and spent weeks after weeks studying and practising the spells that the mage had mentioned to have used to disarm and neutralize threats in there. Based on the journal, the danger was evident, and he didn't want to risk himself more than he already had to by going in unprepared. Ahrden did everything in his power to sufficiently prepare for what awaited him, but after some time, he felt that no matter how much more time he spent mastering the spells, his success or failure wasn't going to be significantly effected by it.
Ahrden found the entrance in mid-summer, but it wasn't until late autumn when he felt ready to finally embark on the adventure. By that time, he was extremely confident with the unlocking spells and the revealing spells the mage had so often used in there. The only problem was that the only tests he could try his spells on were the challenges he himself had created, so he tried to manage his expectations and prepare that on the real quest things were going to be a lot more challenging. Ahrden was also comfortable with the other spells, that were mentioned in the journal, but he was aware that besides the casting what mattered the most was how much arcane he could channel into them. Those spells he could try out even less in a situation that was at least somewhat realistic.
Although, Ahrden was looking forward to the adventure, he very much enjoyed the time he spent preparing for it. Similarly, to the other occasions when he set his mind to do something, he worked as hard and for as long as it was needed to achieve it. This was no different, and he was happy to have a compelling reason to lock himself in the house and spend day after night in his study going through scroll after scroll and book after book. Ahrden only left the house when he absolutely had to. He went back to the library to look around in search for more books he could use for his quest, he visited his usual spot in the forest to practice the spells he couldn't in his study and he left to stock up his food supplies which had depleted over time.
Unfortunately, Ahrden had nearly exhausted all the books that the main library had to offer on arcane arts, but he still enjoyed looking through the ones he hadn't yet moved to his study. The capital's library was quite extensive, but the section dedicated to magic, was less than desired, especially since this class required the most stored knowledge compared to the other more practical classes. For so long, Ahrden improved with the books that Berton and the library had offer him, but slowly it became more evident that he had progressed past that stage, and these sources no longer proved sufficient. He still had a few volumes which had so powerful locking spells protecting them that he was not yet able to overpower, and occasionally Felinda was able to give him a new piece when she came back from her long journeys from the other cities. Given all of this, Ahrden was desperately looking for what this secret library could offer.
The other trip that Ahrden took while he exiled himself from society was to the abandoned spot in the forest where he could freely practice the magic he was learning. This time, he didn't use it as often because he was studying many spells that couldn't be practised without the aid of someone to make the necessary preparations. He couldn't unlock magical locks or reveal magically hidden traps without having someone first set these up, so it was impossible to accurately measure the progression that he made. He could obviously prepare the challenges for himself, but the point wasn't to beat what he could cast and instead what awaited him down in the cave.
Finally, Ahrden took a rare but regular visit to the market, where he bought as much food as he could carry to stock up his pantry. This was his least favourite route of the three. This he could not do without experiencing the looks others gave him, the harsh treatment he received when buying something and the general distance everyone tried to keep as if he spread some kind of disease. Ahrden used to believe that he would get used to it at some point, or others would change after seeing that he was no different from them, but neither came to be. He tried to become numb to it, but it hurt just the same as it did on the first day. Berton had told him a useful advice regarding this, that the old scholar had learnt from the many decades of living through something similar; people fear arcane because they do not understand it, and the only way they can cope with this fear is to make the one wielding this power feel small and insignificant. What Ahrden had to go through boiled down to other's insecurity towards themselves, which was magnified by his ability to do things other couldn't even imagine.
As suddenly as Alia had exploded into Ahrden's life her presence dwindled just as abruptly. He barely slept for days after he had given her the medallion afraid that he might miss her signalling. With time he toughened, although he didn't know why she wasn't reaching out to him especially since she was so excited to have received that gift. Ahrden didn't know why she wanted to stay away from him, but his pride and anger prevented him to go looking for her again.
Ahrden assured himself that there must have been a good enough reason for her not reaching out.
The time for them was not yet right, but soon it would be. Many times, he found himself repeating this to himself as he sat over some books. Not yet, but soon. It had to be true. It just had to be, since there was nothing else to hold onto.
---
As the days and weeks passed, Ahrden tirelessly prepared for the quest. The summer heat was gone, and the autumn rain came. One morning he felt that any further preparation would only prolong the real test, which he had been lacking for so long now. He realized that he couldn't keep evading the challenge any longer. He was craving it too desperately and so he decided to finally embark on the journey.
Now, that it was decided that he would go, Ahrden suddenly wasn't sure whether his confidence was misplaced or not. He spent the last few days doing the final preparations; going through the spells one last time, reading the journal again and again for the thousandth time. He packed himself some food, conscious that it might take longer than anticipated.
When all was arranged and ready, Ahrden stopped in the middle of his study and took a deep breath. Everywhere he looked, he saw pieces of papers with his own writings on them, ancient scrolls stretched out on the wall and his table and also books opened in specific locations with a hundred other markings between the rest of the pages. Everything was scattered everywhere, and only his eyes could see the pattern and understand how precisely everything was arranged. Ahrden took one last glance around, smiled at the sight and teleported.
He materialized some distance away from the entrance, but it was still within eyesight. He looked around cautiously, making himself remember that from now on he had to be constantly aware of everything. He focused on his surrounding, scanned the area just to be absolutely sure that there would be no distraction, not even inadvertently, because the task at hand would be hard enough without any. After finding nothing, he took a deep breath and began walking towards the cave.
When Ahrden reached the hole in the ground, everything was in the same way he had left it when he was here the last time, which was a good sign for his mission. Ahrden descended into the cave; confident and feeling full of power. He reached the back end of it and placed his hand on the fake wall, created by magic. He murmured the spell he had been practising, and the wall evaporated into nothing, revealing the infinity long straight corridor that lay beyond it.
Ahrden has never tried to bypass even the first obstacle fearing that he wouldn't be able to recast the spell, that would once again hide the corridor from the unwanted intruders. He wasn't sure if each mage that had entered placed it back when they left or how it worked, but now that he had no choice but to get rid of the disguise, he didn't know how to recast it. As he walked into the corridor, he felt the spell behind him active itself again, and when he turned back, he saw that the spell was rebuilding the arcane wall that way it was before he took it down. Ahrden was impressed by how powerful the ancient spell was to do such things after this long.
When the wall was whole again, complete darkness fell upon Ahrden, but luckily, he came prepared. Since the journal of the mage was quite selectively detailed at certain parts of the quest Ahrden knew that he would encounter a lot that was not or just briefly mentioned in it. For starters the light source was never mentioned so Ahrden assumed that the mage had simply cast a spell that lit the space. Of course, this was easy enough, but Ahrden feared that when it came to a life-or-death situation, the spell which provided the light would be the last thing he could focused on, and the sudden darkness would surely mean his death in such situation. That is why he brought a torch with himself. With a quick spell, he lit it now and held it out ahead of himself.
It was embarrassing how pathetic the light it gave off was. The firelight was uneven, flickering, and so weak that Ahrden had no idea what lay beyond a few steps. Suddenly everything came alive and something deadly seemed to be lurking in the many pockets of dancing shadows. Ahrden froze the torch in his fist and threw it so hard at the wall that it broke into splinters. He then lit the corridor as a proper mage would have.
'If I can't keep the light up, I don't deserve to be here.'
The corridor where Ahrden started down was narrow, barely wide enough for one man, but relatively tall for such an underground structure. It could have been created by either hand or arcane, he couldn't tell, but the aesthetics was not a consideration when it was made with all the uneven edges protruding from everywhere.
As Ahrden walked, he thought back to the journal of the mage. He didn't bring the journal itself because he could remember every line of it and also because he didn't want anything to happen to it. It wasn't stated how long the tunnel would go on, but the mage mentioned that no threat was hidden in it. Ahrden walked for quite some time but eventually noticed a change in the distance.
When Ahrden neared the change, he could slowly make it out to be what he expected it to be: the real entrance to the dungeon, an ancient yet sturdy wooden door. He stopped in front of it and examined it thoroughly; it radiated powerful magic both imbued in it and cast upon it. He didn't know what it had to withstand over the many decades, but he doubted that he could even make a scratch on its ancient surface.
An arching sentence traced the upper edge of the door written in an ancient tongue, that Ahrden could only translate with the help of the journal.
You, who wish to enter, should know, that leaving will not be as easy.
On the surface of the door, there was nothing but one long and sharp spike pointing straight at him. Unfortunately, Ahrden knew all too well what it was for since it was written in the journal, and he even had the pleasure to be a victim of such curse before, which awaited him now. He lifted his left index finger and gently pressed it onto the spike. When he pricked his finger to draw blood from it, the evil spike seemed to have tasted it and desired more. It came outward, diving further into his flesh until it hit the bone in his finger. This was unexpected and Ahrden couldn't help but cry out from the sudden pain as he drew back his finger. Looking at it, he saw that the wound was no bigger than which he had inflicted, consequently everything that followed only happened in his mind. His face turned red from embracement while he healed his finger and watched as the ancient door slowly but surely began to open.
When Ahrden walked past it, the two sides quickly flung shot, and an orange flare, similar in nature to the one that appeared when he teleported, ran through the whole surface of it, and Ahrden felt the subtle but firm lock on his soul.
His blood allowed the dungeon to lock him in so that he could not escape it through teleportation. The journal stated that it would happen, and Ahrden had already witnessed the spell's effectiveness when he was fighting the magically enhanced beast, which too locked him in that clearing once it could taste his blood. The only problem was that, as stated in the journal and as his feelings have confirmed him, he wasn't only prevented from teleporting outside, but he was also unable to do so inside. In itself, the spell was harmless because Ahrden could leave anytime he wanted to, just not through teleportation. The fact that not only his escape but also his mobility was heavily restricted made things a lot more challenging, but he tried to remain optimistic about it because nothing unexpected had happened so far.
Ahrden continued walking, and he soon entered a vast cavern. He had been expecting it and also what lay in it. The first thing he noticed here was the bright light radiating from the top of the cavern, which covered the whole area, leaving no room for the slightest bit of shadow. An arcane ball seemed to be the source of the light, which emanated a soothing white colour. Ahrden ceased his spell that produced light, although he didn't plan on staying here for long.
The challenge in this cavern was one with an ancient origin, yet that took away nothing from its difficulty. Except for Ahrden because he knew exactly how to beat it. With the exception of a few steps of solid stone around the entrance and the exit of the room, the entire floor was cover in large distinct and solid rock tiles. The tiles weren't touching and they were separated by a narrow strip of space through which it was visible that a pitch blank, misty liquid flowed among and beneath them. The swirling substance was pure and powerful arcane, but what they caused when triggered by stepped upon the wrong tiles were hidden even from Ahrden as he only knew the correct path to take, nothing more, nothing less.
Ahrden memorized the mage's path that he had figured out through trial and error, giving him an unfair advantage against the dungeon. He felt grateful for the mage who took the time and effort along with the immense danger to solve the puzzle and put this information on paper so that now Ahrden could use it. He looked around with eager eyes matching the tiles to the ones he remembered from the drawings in the book, and he was pleased to see that both the width and length dimensions matched the ones the mage drew.
Confidently, Ahrden stepped in front of the first tile and took a deep breath. Strangely he felt more nervous than he believed he should have, yet he could not tell why nor if he could rid himself of the unease. He knew this to be the right tile, so he didn't know why he hesitated at that moment. This churning worry within him made him at least take some precautions, which resulted in him focusing and drawing arcane energies to him. The fright of actually being in the cavern where one wrong step could mean the end of him made him gather so much arcane power, that now saturated his body, that when he opened his eyes, he felt the world slow around him even though nothing was moving in his stationary surrounding. Ahrden took another deep breath, further strengthening his focus and stepped on the first tile.
The exact moment his boot came in contact with the tile, Ahrden felt the precise activation of a malicious spell bound to it. Although nothing moved yet, his brain processed what it could; his thoughts. It wouldn't have made sense if the mage had deliberately misled him, so the only thing that remained was that the dungeon was able to rearrange itself. This made Ahrden think back how the mage had elaborated on his extensive struggle with the challenge and how now he would have to do it on his own. Now that Ahrden knew he was in trouble, he praised his earlier precaution and braced himself for what was coming.
Ahrden's body kept sinking further into the tile while he felt the evil spell approaching. He instinctively brought up the shield around himself just in time to block the multiple attacks coming at him from different directions. His shield held, none of the arcane attacks came through, but it felt like it was only the beginning. His leg finally stopped sinking, the tile stopped, and the spell was in full motion now; nothing could stop it from delivering what was planted in it Ahrden could only live through it.
After a brief pause, he felt and now saw the second wave of the trap coming at him from every part of the cavern. He couldn't do much, so he just planted his feet firmly onto the stone tile and fed more power into his shield. The attacks sieging his shield now were more carefully cast with more potent power behind them, and Ahrden wasn't prepared for it. The first missile that came through the shield was a small orange arcane bullet, and it passed above his shoulder as Ahrden traced it with his eyes. Panic would have started building up in him, but he was completely focused now, with every fibre in him straining to keep the rest of the missiles out.
The second missile, which penetrated his shield, grazed his right leg, but the third went straight through his left thigh, barely missing his bone, which would have meant the collapse of his shield and end of him. Ahrden cried out in pain but kept his spell going, which protected him from the rest of the bolts.
After the last bullet have bounced off his shield; Ahrden collapsed onto the ground panting from exhaustion and pain. He was utterly furious at himself for everything that he did in the past minute. He shot his head up and let out an unnaturally loud bellow which shook the very walls of the cavern he was in. Ahrden felt power running through his veins as he channelled all that he felt into commanding the arcane energies. He strengthened his body, which stopped the bleeding, although he could not actively heal his wounds with a simple spell because they were of magical origin and therefore required more time which Ahrden didn't have if he wanted to utilize the power he had at his fingertips towards beating the challenge.
Ahrden got up, took a few steps backwards, so he stood on the solid stone ground again, then looked up at the other side of the cavern where the exit was and fixated on it. He didn't think rationally at that moment. He didn't consider the consequences of the action he was about to take. He made no real calculations about his odds. He abandoned everything he or his class stood for; his methods, his style, his reasoning. Reason and common sense were gone from his mind. All of this was possible because he felt so effective at channelling his fury into sheer will that he felt intoxicated by the arcane energies that he commanded in that very moment. His eyes, still on the exit, lit up in a blue arcane fire as he further saturated himself with power. In this state, he started charging at the tiles.
He leapt off the one he had already stepped on and now remained pressed down. After he took off, he fed everything into prolonging his flight over the tiles from which almost all hid deadly spells waiting to be released onto any intruders. Before even jumping, Ahrden knew that he wasn't going to make it all the way to the other side, but once in the air, he could also see that landing once wasn't going to be enough either.
When Ahrden landed on a tile, he paid no mind to what it might hold beneath it. He was focused on leaping back into the air right after he landed, which he did. As he was in the air again, he could feel that the tile he landed on hid a terrible spell under it. He knew that something dreadful would surely strike at him in any second, but he stilled paid no mind to that. He was planning to be long gone before that could happen.
Ahrden had to land with his wounded leg on the next tile that came, which revived the pain he had suppressed so far. The piercing pain could not hold his attention for long because, unlike the last two spells, the one under this tile struck immediately. As Ahrden pressed down upon it, he could see a bright purple wall of energy shoot up at the threshold of the solid stone ground around the exit he was so desperately rushing towards. Ahrden didn't have time to react to the spell since he was already in the air again, flying straight towards the arcane wall. He brought up his shield around himself in the last second just as he crushed into the wall.
The wall shattered his shield, which barely softened the impact with the wall. The arcane barrier felt cold and sent an electrical shock through his body which made him involuntarily convulse as he fell. The crash was painful alone, but the electrical pain was a thousandfold worse. After he could control his muscles again for precious seconds, he could still not move; he could only lie in a curled-up ball the way he fell, luckily in the middle of a single tile. He wasn't sure, but he felt no dormant power be released as he landed on it, so this might have been the first safe tile he had pressed down. After the small relief, he looked up towards the ceiling, where the spell of the second tile he had triggered was finally ready in the form of a massive arcane dragon. Ahrden didn't have the capacity to imagine such a spell; however, the beast wasted no time, and after a deafening roar, it dived straight at Ahrden.
Ahrden was disappointed in himself beyond imagination, yet his concertation did not break. He was in great pain, and his fury only grew, but he could continue to channel it into his magic which was potent, to say the least. Ahrden got to his feet and calmed himself. As the dragon drew closer, he closed his eyes to better concentrate on what he planned next. He could vividly feel the arcane dragon nearing him, so he knew exactly how much time he had left, and he wasn't going to rush his next spells. If he was to fail them, he was surely dead.
When the dragon brought its massive claws up in front of it to dug them into Ahrden; he turned sideways and squatted down, readying himself. When he jumped to the side, he did so with the aid of all the arcane surging through him, which enabled him to jump high and far. This, however, was not enough because the dragon could change directions in time to intercept him had this been all Ahrden had planned. When he was at the height of his jump, he held out his open palms before him and shot a great deal of arcane from them. For the first time, it wasn't meant to destroy anything before him but rather to propel him backwards in the opposite direction. He wasn't sure that it would work, so he put a vast amount of energy into it, which pushed him in the other direction with incredible speed. The dragon could not follow the second change in his position, and its talons missed him if only by a hair.
The sudden push on his upper body made Ahrden rotate in the air, which enabled him to see where he was going to land and with the help of a few more bursts, he completed his backflip on the tile he had started from.
Ahrden had a sliver of hope that the dragon would crash into the barrier which he had triggered, but not surprisingly, the blue arcane dragon flew straight through the purple shield. It seemed frustrated at its prey's close escape. The dragon was circling around to have another go at him.
Reason came back to Ahrden; it was time to leave. He didn't have a running start this time, but he had no other choice. He leapt into the air again using the same method he had to further his jump to reach the tile that triggered the arcane wall. The technique worked wonderfully, and he was already leaving the tile, that activated the dragon when he felt the very creature attack from behind. This time the beast chose a different method and sent a massive bolt of arcane fire at him.
Ahrden didn't dare to block it with a shield, so he changed course by pushing himself sideways. He was able to evade the arcane fire, but the dragon turned its head and aimed at him again. Ahrden finally erected a shield and focused on the next incoming attack. As he silently descended, he saw the dragon turn before it could attack just in front of the confining walls of the cavern to circle around for another attack. Ahrden felt like a fool when it was too late for him to do anything about his uncontrolled fall and inevitable crash. He landed on his right shoulder, which immediately dislocated, but his momentum kept him rolling over and over until he finally came to a halt.
As focused and enhanced as he was, Ahrden quickly got up and snapped his shoulder back into place. The pain was great, but he ignored it fixated on the dragon. It was in that moment when he utterly lost all of his confidence. His face grew long and haunted. Air escaped his lungs more so than any of the previous falls had forced it out. He had felt the breath of death before, but this time he might have gotten closer than to escape it.
Ahrden had triggered at least eight tiles with the landing, which now all remained pressed down, preparing the spells hidden underneath them. The spells shrieked as they were finally released, and the shivers that they sent down Ahrden's spine made his whole body turn cold and numb.
Similarly, to his shoulders, Ahrden snapped himself back to focus. He saw everything that was going on in the cavern: the dragon finishing his circle to come at him again, arcane bolts forming along the wall preparing to be launched at him, toxic cloud forming at the base of one tile that spread unnaturally fast and with a clear intention to reach him, the temperature dropping faster than if he were to cast his strongest freezing spell, stalactite growing out from the ceiling clearly about the break of at any second, massive arcane bolts forming around the exit that seemed so far away now, another layer of protective shield coming up on top of the existing purple one, a sudden but powerful wind that formed now assailed him and finally narrow and short darts were also lining the cavern wall eager to be sent at him.
Ahrden felt doomed, and then a heartbeat later, the light went out.
With his shield around himself, he leapt. He pressed down two more tiles before landing on the solid rock around the tunnel which led him here. The arcane bullets were hitting his shield hard, but it held unlike against the darts which pierced it without a problem and dug themselves into him. The pain was sharp but tolerable, but their numbers grew fast along with the pain they brought. The cracks they made on the shield could not heal fast enough, and the toxic cloud could seep in through them and from there, reaching Ahrden was no task at all. The toxic cloud brought no pain, but it blocked the air from getting into his lungs, causing him to gag, and he slowly started to suffocate. Ahrden's shield was failing as the missiles began to come through too, and by then, he had more than fifteen darts protruding from him.
Almost everything attacking him was made out of pure arcane energy, and as such, they were giving out light which was enough illumination for Ahrden to see the exit he was rushing towards. When he was close enough, he leapt and strengthened the shield above him as he felt a stalactite descending upon him. The stone shattered on his shield, and he rolled to his feet by the mouth of the tunnel that had led him to the cavern.
Ahrden turned back towards the cavern and bellowed as he channelled every bit of his power into a shield in front of him. The dark blue shield flared up brightly while a deeper, more dominant purple started overtaking it.
Ahrden had breathed in enough toxin to no longer be able to take a single breath, and after the shouting, he no longer had anything in his lungs. His eyes were bloodshot with purplish-blue fire in them. Blood was dripping from his head and from multiple wounds and cuts. New darts kept on digging into his flesh, and with their numbers growing, the pain they produced multiplied as well. Despite all of that, Ahrden held and strengthened the shield before him, and with his back against the corridor, he waited for what was coming.
The next few seconds lasted an eternity when the combined power of the dragon, the arcane missiles, the arcane bolts, the new stalactites crushing down in front of him and several new spells he and the stalactites had triggered came crashing into the shield he had. Ahrden screamed, but no sound escaped his throat. The floor shook beneath him as he was engulfed by his own arcane power, which was being released in quantities he had never even neared before. When enough power was condensed in front of him, he released his footing and let the might of everything coming at him push him backwards. The shield held on as Ahrden flew backwards. He remembered the tunnel to be straight as a bowshot, but at least two obstacles stood in his way: the door and the arcane wall.
The bright, violent and colourful mayhem that was in front of him as a result of the many powers that were at play was something that seemed out of this world even for him. Ahrden's vision started to blur, and reality became elusive. His consciousness was slipping from his grasp, and the edges of his visions were beginning to darken. He was still in the tunnel when something slapped him in the back, but the momentum kept his no longer conscious body going.
---
When Ahrden woke up, he immediately knew that several days have passed since the events at the cavern. He didn't move yet, afraid of what he might feel if he tried, but he could look around as he lay on his back facing upwards. The ceiling was near, and it was made out of rough logs, the air was cold in the room even though Ahrden could hear the fire cracking in the other room where he could also hear a person. He closed his eyes, focused inwards, then extended his senses outwards.
As Ahrden felt around the room, he found it to be even more basic than he first thought. Most of the space was occupied by the bed he slept in, but not because of its immense size, but rather because the room itself was tiny. As he focused on the other rooms, he could sense a living room, where he suspected the other person to be. Not much furniture was in that room either, and even those had an old, fragile feeling to them. There was a lady in the room doing something Ahrden could not specify at the moment, but everything about her appeared utterly harmless. He found one more room similar to the one he was in, only the bed was even smaller and had a few small objects scattered around the floor.
After the confirmation that he was in no immediate danger he focused on himself. He did not feel anything to be terribly wrong which was a pleasant feeling but also odd given what was the last thing he remembered. Slowly he was able to sit up, and as a result, the bed let out loud creaking sounds. No longer using his extended senses, but he could tell that the lady outside had heard it too. To his biggest disbelief, he was feeling great, although weak from all the lying, which he still wasn't sure how long had lasted. He didn't feel any sharp pain in his body, but the areas he remembered to be injured still felt a little sore. He thought back again at the last events he remembered, but as the pictures started coming back, the opening the door startled him.
Ahrden looked up at the door, and the first thing that came to his mind was that he didn't feel to be in danger. A kind-looking, old lady, popped her head in the crack of the door and peered at Ahrden; when she saw him awake, she immediately brightened and came in all the way.
'Bless the heavens you are awake!' the lady praised. 'How are you? Are you hurt? Are you in pain? No. I should introduce myself first. Explain how you are here. My name is Candice. My husband found you out in the woods a week ago and brought you back here. We have been doing our best to tend to your needs, although it seemed that we couldn't be much of a service. You see, when Bernard brought you back, your body was already burning up, but when he placed you in our bed, a strange bluish glow enveloped you. Afterwards, we were unable to touch you as that glow intensified, and some strange force prevented us from nearing you. I made you food each day, but I could not feed it to you, and although we were afraid that you would starve, we couldn't do anything to prevent it. Two days ago, the glow had gone away, and I've been able to give you soup since, but nothing more. How glad I'm to see you awake. But why am I talking this much, please, what can I do for you? Perhaps you are hungry; yes, you must be starving by now. Or would you like to wash first? You have been sweating a lot in the last two days. Maybe fresh clothes?'
Ahrden could see the genuine kindness that Candice possessed, and he was delighted that it was her husband who had found him in the forest. As Ahrden listened to all that she was saying, he was barely able to keep up with all the information, having just awoken, but he slowly started to put the pieces together. Something that remained a mystery was what the blue glow he had around himself was or how he could cast and maintain it. What he did know was which book would bring him answers when he got home.
Being unconscious for one week was bad, but he could count himself lucky considering everything else. Ahrden could still not fully wrap his head around why would these people put an unconscious stranger in their own bed, especially since his glowing body reeked of magic which they surely recognized as well and being associated with arcane wasn't a good conversation starter in any part of the Valley. When Candice asked what he wanted, he started feeling immense hunger and right after that incredible thirst, but sudden worry overpowered both feelings.
'Have you told anyone about me,' Ahrden asked in a blunt manner that didn't fit well with the kindness he had received.
'Not a soul. To be honest, we rarely go into town, and although the tax collectors are not a long way from coming, we haven't met a single soul in months now.'
Ahrden relaxed; he could tell that she was telling the truth.
'Thank you, Lady Candice, you and your husband, are too kind to me. My name is Ahrden, and I think I'd like some water to drink and then to clean myself up.'
'Excellent! Excellent! Right this way. And don't worry about the lady my dear boy, I am no lady.'
Candice motioned with her hands for Ahrden to follow and disappeared behind the door. Slowly, Ahrden placed his feet on the rough wooden floor and, carefully putting weight on them, he got up. The first few steps were unsteady, but afterwards, things were beginning to feel normal again. By the time he got to the door, he no longer needed to lean on the wall for support.
When Ahrden moved out into the living room, he was shocked by how modest everything in it was. The room was larger than the bedroom, but the additional space wasn't compensated with more furniture as there were barely any. When Ahrden stepped out into the room, he could see Candice over at the cornered, which functioned as the kitchen. She stirred a large cauldron before turning around and with a wooden pitcher probably with water and the smallest mug Ahrden had ever seen. She handed him the cup and filled it with water.
'There you are,' Candice said with a wide smile on her face.
She was about to turn around and hurry back to the kitchen when Ahrden stopped her.
'I'm sorry, may I hold onto the pitcher for a moment? I might have a refill after this.'
'Silly me, of course, you may, dear. How polite of you, I must say. Are all the boys at your age are like you? That would be a delightful thing. Unfortunately, curtesy is not something…'
Ahrden drifted off from what Candice was saying as he poured his third cup of water and continued examining the room. In the cauldron, something boiled that resembled a stew, but its texture wasn't as thick, so it might have been a soup; Ahrden wasn't sure. The living room had a table in it with two chairs and a stool by it, and on it were some old clothes with a few needles and spare strings that Candice was probably working on. Looking back in the direction where he previously sensed the other room, Ahrden saw a door, but it was closed, so he couldn't learn more about what was inside it.
Suddenly a bright light came through the front door as Candice opened it and went outside. Ahrden finished the pitcher, placed it on the table along with the mug, and followed her outside, assuming that she wanted him to follow. They went around the house where a large barrel stood on the ground with pipes sticking out from it that directed the rainwater from the roof into it. Ahrden could clearly see from the ground around it that this was where the family washed.
'I know it isn't much, but this is all that we have. I'll be inside if you need anything.'
Before Ahrden could even thank her, she disappeared in the corner, but not before placing a towel and some fresh clothes on the stool that stood next to the house. Ahrden wasn't sure when she picked those garments up, but he found the gesture very thoughtful. After Candice left, it dawned on him just how incredibly cold it was. His sweat-drenched clothes had been bothering Ahrden so far, but now they clung to him in the gently blowing, freezing wind and made his body shake from the cold.
Ahrden was glad that he was left alone because he wasn't going to take a shower without magic, and he didn't want to frighten the poor lady any more than his blue aura already had. Ahrden felt his fingers numbing so he moved quickly. He got out of his dirty clothes, then cast a spell to heat up the air around himself. He lifted a small chunk of water out of the barrel and levitated it in a sphere while he put his dirty clothes into the floating water. He warmed up the orb of water and violently washed his clothes with his hands as best as he could and as fast as he could. When the water became murky and smelly, he stopped the washing and let the water drop to the ground. He wrapped his power around his wet clothes and in seconds dried them, burning the leather a little in the process. Once done he placed them on top of the other clothes on the stool.
After having spent an extensive amount of time learning the basics of how arcane worked, he was very much aware that heating up the water was easier than levitating it around his body, so Ahrden took a moment to cast a spell that warmed up the upper portion of the barrel, after which he could focus on the rest. He levitated smaller chunks at a time to different parts of his body, and as he made progress, he felt the ease with which he cast the spells come back to him. When he was done, he dried himself with another spell and put on his own newly washed clothes. He walked back into the house where he found Candice and handed her the untouched towel and the clothes, she had prepared for him.
'Thank you very much, but I was able to wash my clothes while I bathed.'
With eyes wide open from disbelief, the lady wanted to protest, but her trained eyes could instantly see that the clothes were indeed cleaner and also dry.
'How in the name of all that is dear were you able to do all that?'
'Maybe I can show you later, but if you don't mind, I could use a bite or two,' Ahrden said, embarrassed to be asking more from the poor lady.
At this point, Ahrden could have easily left without any hard feelings. He could've come back later with some coin or food to thank their gestures, but at the very least he could've definitely teleported home to not eat what little food they had. Yet he stayed. He didn't know why, but something made him stay. It might have been a feeling or something even less, but he could not make himself go just yet.
'Of course, of course, my apologies. Come sit down here. I'll bring you some vegetable soup right away.'
'You are most kind, thank you very much.'
Candice served him a large portion of soup from the pot and put it in front of him. It appeared even thinner in the plate, and to be honest, not much vegetable was in it, but Ahrden couldn't be more grateful. It was hot, it tasted good, and he gobbled it up in no time. Despite how talkative Candice was she remained quite while Ahrden ate. She served him another portion without question, and although Ahrden wanted to decline it, his body made him accept it. When he was finished with that too, Candice looked at him questioningly, ready to get up and serve him another portion. Ahrden kept being surprised just how selfless she was to a total stranger who has been sleeping in her bed for a week now.
'No, thank you, this was already more than enough. Again, I appreciate your most kind hospitality. It means everything to me. You literally saved my life.'
'Oh dear, it is absolutely nothing; you needed help and we were there to help you. This is how we were raised, and I have the impression that you had a similar upbringing as well.'
'Thank you for saying that. It would be my pleasure if I could help you out in return a little,' Ahrden said, fearing an instant refusal on Candice's part.
'Don't even think about it my boy. You just woke up from a serious illness. You aren't strong enough to even walk much. You'll have to stay with us for a few more days at least. Why don't you rest down again? All this activity must have been straining.'
Ahrden smiled and had to remind himself that people without arcane thought a lot differently than how he did.
'Can I first have a look around to see where you live?'
'Well, there is not much to show, but if you wish to see where we live, then with pleasure. Bernard is out cutting firewood, and my daughter Lucy is collecting mushrooms. I can show you around the house, although I have to tell you that there really is not much to see, especially this time of the year.'
Candice led Ahrden out through the front door. No longer being occupied with the cold and the hunger, he could now look around to see the surroundings. The house lay in the middle of an artificial clearing where the trees were cut down, but the tree stumps still remained in the ground. The rest of the land was carefully cultivated in neat, straight lines where all kinds of plants must have been planted. The clearing was quite large, and Ahrden could even see Bernard on the outer edge as he was working on a tree at the edge of the clearing. He was cutting down the trees around the house in a centrical pattern to have wood to heat up the house and to have more area to plant the plants. It was evident that cutting down trees was a lot harder than to actually plant the vegetables because all the land that could be cultivated already was, and now in order for them to grow more, Bernard needed to clear more area. This was a great barrier for them to grow more food because he could not work fast enough alone.
'As you can see, we have the garden around the house, and my husband is working on expanding the garden by cutting the trees down. We have planted cucumbers, pumpkins, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, onions. At this time of the year there isn't much to do in the garden so what is left is to expand the garden for next year, that is what my dear husband is working on. The weather is getting colder and soon everything, including the ground and the trees, will be frozen or near-frozen, so it is very hard for my dear Bernard to cut the trees down, but there is nothing else to do at the moment and he just can't do nothing,' Candice stopped talking for a moment then continued, 'Who am I kidding my boy. The truth is that he also wasn't able to accumulate enough firewood during the summer due to an injury, and so he has to work now to gather what is missing to get us through the winter. On the left, you can see our shed and how it barely has any wood in it.'
Ahrden was sad to hear and see just how poor the family was, and it made his heart ache to learn how exposed they were to the consequences of something like an ill-fated injury. Before he could answer, both of them noticed that Bernard stopped swinging his axe and was now waving at them. Now that he stopped, it dawned on Ahrden that he had not heard anything while he was cutting the tree down. Bernard was somewhat far away, but the area between them was empty, so the explanation could only be that there wasn't much strength in those swings if Ahrden couldn't hear a thing.
'Look, he has noticed us. How wonderful, he is coming our way,' Candice said in a cheerful tone.
'If you don't mind me asking, what is the plan to expand the clearing? How much progress is your husband planning to make?'
'Don't even ask, my dear boy. Especially not him. Not enough, unfortunately. Me and Lucy could easy tend for a garden which is three times the size of this, but poor Bernard can only do less and less each year. We can barely get by on the things we grow, and we have no idea what will happen in a few years, especially with this ridiculous tax increases. But don't mention it now; my dear husband is coming.'
'You have come around boy. Glad to see you, standing boy. I thought you were getting a little too comfortable in our bed,' Bernard chuckled.
'Oh Bernard, stop it,' Candice said.
'Just to be sure. You are no evil mage of the Evil King, are you boy?' Bernard sobered and asked seriously.
'Of course, he is not now leave him alone.'
'No dear, I have to be sure. I have a family to protect. So, tell me boy? Are you?'
Both of them looked at him now.
'No Sir, I'm not, and I mean you no harm especially…'
'See dear, that wasn't that bad,' Bernard said cheerfully.
'Especially since you were so kind to me. Again, let me thank you Sir Bernard, for all your hospitality and care while I…'
'Oh, stop it kid, that is the least we could do for you. You seemed pretty beaten up when I found you. What were you up against? Anyways, I'm starving dear. Where is Lucy?'
'She is still out collecting mushrooms.'
'Go fetch her, I'll wash up, and we can eat afterwards.'
'Of course, my dear.'
With that, Candice hurried off into the woods, on one of the garden's narrow paths, while Bernard circled around the house to use the barrel for bathing. Ahrden was left there alone, and he found this to be the perfect time to do what he intended.
Ahrden closed his eyes, focused inwards and took a deep breath. He teleported to the top of the house and looked around to observe everything again. Now he could see the entire clearing Bernard had cleared around the house, where the whole garden had to be crammed in. Ahrden focused and started casting his spells. He had time; he knew that no danger or interruption would come, and although he had just woken up from a long slumber, he felt to have regained some of his strength. With delicate movements and careful chanting Ahrden began his work.
Focusing on a single tree at a time, he combined his spells with his own directing of the arcane powers to cut it down, chop it up to small pieces that could fit in the small furnace that he saw in the house and levitated the pieces into the shed where he carefully stacked them up.
Ahrden closed out the world. He only focused on the task at hand, and he allowed nothing else to reach him. He cut down the next tree, chopped it up, placed it in the shed, and then moved on to the next one. In minutes he made more progress than Bernard had in years, and he had only just begun.
Not so long ago Ahrden was optimising the arcane he needed to use to take a bath, because that is what Berton and the books had taught him. He chose the most efficient way to bath although now, cutting down a single tree required more arcane that many baths combined would have, but his was a different situation. He knew no other way to achieve what he was doing and preserving his strength was not a priority for him.
As Ahrden got the hang of it, he started working faster; he quickly cleared out multiple layers of trees around the whole clearing, which opened up more than five times the old garden's space. The shed was filled till its roof in no time, so Ahrden started placing the logs around it in a pile that grew many times larger than the shed itself. When Ahrden felt that he had created enough space for multiple generations and cut up enough wood to last the family for decades, he only had one more thing he wanted to do.
Focusing, on what he knew would be the most challenging part, he reached out with his power and sought out a tree stump that still lay in the ground. By now, Ahrden had exhausted himself quite significantly, but he desperately wanted to do this one last thing. He could feel all its roots in the ground and tried cutting the bigger ones before pulling on the stump itself.
No matter how many of the roots he severed, the stump wouldn't budge no matter how hard he tried. Knowing that this wasn't going to work, Ahrden stopped and tried a different approach. Focusing on only the part that stood out from the ground, he cast a spell that eroded the dead but once-living materials. In seconds the stump was reduced to soil, and nothing protruded from the ground anymore. Moving on to the next he repeated the spell and when he finished casting that too the area that could be used as a garden further increased again.
When all the tree stumps were decomposed in the whole area of the enlarged clearing, Ahrden relaxed to finally examine his work. Looking down, he could see the awestruck family standing together in front of the house, looking up at him. Their faces bore a mixture of many emotions ranging from fright to disbelieve and admiration. The mother was shedding tears, the father stunned but oddly nodding in gratitude, not sure whether to speak or not. Their daughter, who was no older than six, was also standing between them, and she was cheerfully smiling, showing all of her teeth, clearly amused by the show.
Ahrden cast a few wards around the clearing because he grew so fond of the family that he wanted to be alerted if in the future something were to threaten their safety.
'Thank you again for your kindness. I hope I could make your life a little easier. All I ask is that you do not speak of this.'
After seeing them all bow and enthusiastically nod their heads, Ahrden smiled at them one last time before teleporting away.