<
'Why did the Tower officials call for a meeting so suddenly?' Professor Damian thought to himself.
Nothing major had happened in the past few months. They certainly had no reason to require his participation in this meeting.
'Did something come up with the research I sent them? No, that shouldn't be it.' He struggled to come up with an explanation to their unannounced summoning.
The Magic Tower.
The Magic Tower ruled over the magic world.
It decided which laws magicians obeyed, which missions were sent out, and what research would be funded. Entry was restricted to only the elite of the elite, the people with either the most potential or the highest strength. Even connections couldn't guarantee your admission, without the proper potential.
It had not always been this way.
Edward Steel, the father of magic, and the first to reach the 8th circle, had founded the Tower out of necessity. After his discovery that mana could be shaped into magic, the world had descended into chaos. Power had spread faster than restraint ever could. People died in numbers the existing authorities had no way of controlling.
For a time, Edward Steel and his companions had tried to stop it directly. They had traveled the continent, hunting magic-outlaws and dismantling rogue groups wherever they appeared. A decade of blood and effort had followed, and it achieved almost nothing.
Magic, Edward had realized, could not be erased. It could only be governed.
So the Tower was formed.
At first, it had been little more than a gathering of righteous magicians, bound by shared ideals and Edward's overwhelming strength. But ideals alone did not sustain an organization. Benefits were introduced, mainly Edward's research notes and discoveries, and protection.
Magicians from across the world flocked to the Tower.
How could they not? To refuse was to fall behind forever.
Over time, the Tower grew stronger, until it reached its current state: an authority that ruled over all magicians, whether self-taught or formally trained, affiliated or independent.
It became the world's foremost center of magical research, holding the greatest concentration of knowledge and power in existence.
All three living 8th circle magicians were members.
And where power gathered, factions inevitably formed.
The Northern, Eastern, Southern, and Western Factions competed constantly beneath the Tower's unified exterior, each seeking influence over policy, research, and succession.
Damian belonged to the Eastern Faction.
Once suppressed by the others, it had risen steadily over the years, largely due to his own achievements in magic and mana research.
Now, the officials of said faction were calling for Professor Damian to attend an urgent meeting.
As Professor Damian moved towards the meeting area, he felt quite a few gazes set on him, and a few people following him.
'The security is unusually tight, it must be something important. I have to hurry.' Thinking this, he immediately cast a physical enhancement spell to increase his movement speed.
It wasn't that he couldn't use teleportation magic, he was a 7th circle magician after all, but the fact that the academy was barricaded with multiple barriers that stopped use of grand spells like teleportation stopped him.
The farther he moved, the weaker some gazes felt. It was as if they couldn't keep up with his speed.
Professor Damian noticed this inconsistency, a faction of The Magic Tower certainly had no use for such weak individuals who couldn't keep up with a simple physical enhancement spell. Even 3rd year students could keep up.
Eventually, he reached the meeting spot and found his colleagues laughing happily, as if they hadn't sent him a message to come quickly.
Professor Damian instantly noticed that the place reeked of magic, with a small cake in the middle.
Suddenly, his colleagues erupted in cheers, screaming: "Happy birthday, Damian!"
The party was certainly nothing like what you would expect a group of magicians to prepare. In fact, it looked hastily put-together.
Hell, the person at the forefront wasn't even a member of the Eastern Faction. He was an 8th circle magician from the Northern Faction, Dyrus Namil.
While Professor Damian didn't have a bad relationship with him, they were nothing more than acquaintances.
Looking around, Professor Damian saw that some decorations weren't placed properly. Banners were put up in a wild manner with no care for appearances, candles were stabbed into the cake like nails, and there weren't any gifts present.
Pretty clearly, they had put almost zero effort into their preparations.
For magicians of their standing, the carelessness was almost insulting.
Professor Damian was taken aback, they had called him all the way to this place just to celebrate his birthday?
Although he did appreciate the sentiment, he didn't have time to spend on a birthday party, considering the child that had been accompanying him was currently all alone.
"I appreciate that you went through the effort of making this party for me, but I have some urgent matters to attend to." Professor Damian exclaimed, making sure everyone present heard him.
Strangely, his colleagues didn't try to stop him or convince him to stay, instead encouraging his leave.
Professor Damian nodded and left without a second thought, he had much more important matters waiting for him.
As he took his leave, the smiles on the magician's faces behind him were almost instantly wiped off, replaced with a solemn expression.
Professor Damian, however, didn't notice and hurried to his previous task.
Abruptly, he stopped in his tracks, as a thought surfaced in his mind.
'They had all that security prepared for a birthday party?'
Not finding a valid reason, he quickly continued moving. This time, not feeling any gazes at all.
.....
<
A few dozen minutes ago.
I saw Professor Damian running, it sparked something in me. What would cause him to hurry this much?
My curiosity got an edge over my reasoning, and Denis' remarks didn't help either.
It was stupid to chase a Professor just to figure out what they were doing, I know that.
It could be anything, official business, a personal matter, or even searching for something. But I didn't care, I wanted to know.
As I got up from my seat at the cafeteria, Denis and Penelope beside me, we started our chase.
At first, Professor Damian was walking steadily, but he moved in a manner that indicated he had a place he needed to go. Sharp turns, not looking around, and even taking shortcuts between academy facilities.
He had a goal, which meant it was official business.
He moved slowly enough to the point that even us first years could chase him. But something was strange.
I couldn't point out what, but I could feel that we weren't alone.
It was like my gut was screaming at me to stop this idiotic chase fueled by curiosity.
Nevertheless, we continued following the Professor.
A few minutes passed, and we saw him casting a spell. It was a simple one, just an incantation, a circuit, and a second.
After he cast that spell, we could no longer chase him with our speed, and since we didn't know any spells yet, we chose to give up.
"He suddenly went really fast, he must've discovered us chasing him and didn't want anyone following." Denis commented.
"We're going to get an earful when he comes back, that's for sure." Penelope said quietly, regretting our decision of chasing the professor.
I sighed, it seemed letting curiosity get the better of us was a bad decision.
Looking around, I noticed we were in a strange place, which wasnt unusual. We had started academy classes today and had only been in the academy for a few days, many places were unfamiliar to us.
Thankfully, there were signs around pointing to the direction of all facilities. It would take a long time to get back, but atleast we weren't completely lost.
We started going back, following each sign that sported a name even slightly familiar to us.
Time passed. It had been an hour or so from the end of our chase, when a strange half-opened door with a glowing light coming from inside caught my attention.
"Don't go in, Kyle. We're deep into academy grounds and are already in quite a pickle." Penelope seemed to have seen me taking glances at the door.
"I wasn't planning to go in anyways, curiosity killed the cat, right?" I replied without paying much attention and passed by the opened door.
I felt a tug on the hem of my sleeve as I walked by the door, it was almost unnoticeable.
Suddenly, the tug grew stronger and started pulling me towards the door, having wrapped around my entire body like a giant hand grabbing something. I tried to step back, but It was too strong, I couldn't move a limb.
In less than a second, the force had already pushed me inside the half-opened door I had just said I wasn't going to go in.
Around me was just a sea of darkness, nothing present. I couldn't even find what pulled me into the room.
The light that the door was emitting just a few seconds ago had already disappeared.
I quickly got up, before a seamless force pushed me down so heavily I fell face first onto the ground.
What a predicament I found myself in.
"What's your name?" A voice asked from the darkness.
It was detached, emotionless, and unnerving.
I didn't know why, but I felt like I had to answer. I felt that if I waited even a second, The thing in the darkness would swallow me.
"I'm Kyle Alars, 1st year student." I stated, hoping whatever or whoever was in the dark would take pity on a student like me.
"Kyle? Why were yo-" The thing in the darkness got interrupted by a loud bang coming from behind me.
The half-opened door behind me was kicked opened with Denis and Penelope standing at it.
Light started rushing into the room, allowing me to see around myself.
I was surrounded by a group of people, clad in a dark blue uniform, with badges on their chests stating their ranks and accomplishments.
Most of them had "6th circle mage" on one of their badges, while only one had "8th circle mage" on him.
The 8th circle mage had beautiful short green hair, a sharp jawline and a long nose bridge. He was extremely handsome.
Just below his "8th circle mage" sigil, was a golden name holder, "Dyrus Namil".
This definitely wasn't anything good. No way a group of high-ranking mages would take interest in a 1st circle like me. It was most likey either because I was chasing Professor Damian with Penelope and Denis, or because we were too far into academy grounds.
One of the surrounding magicians cast a strange spell, it was too complex for me to even try to decipher.
Denis and Penelope were forced onto the ground like I was through the magician's spell, having ugly expressions on their faces, with Penelope sending me a glare as she fell down.
Penelope's glare said exactly who she blamed.
While, yes, had I not commented on Professor Damian passing by the cafeteria in a hurry, Denis wouldn't have noticed and we most likely wouldn't have gone on a chase, but she still went with us.
I faced the magicians while still on the ground, this time both Denis and Penelope next to me.
The magicians asked again while looking at the two beside me, "What are your names?"
"Denis."
"Penelope."
"Why were all of you following a professor of the academy?" The 8th circle mage asked.
No answer came to mind, I couldn't just tell him that we got curious and wanted to know what Professor Damian was up to.
"Sir, we were only curious and wanted to know why a professor would rush so quickly." Denis said what I couldn't, his face full of sweat.
The 8th circle mage's eyes flickered with a dangerous light, before returning to normal.
Denis and Penelope didn't seem to notice, they were much more preoccupied with thinking about what would happen to them now.
"You chased Professor Damian so far into academy grounds, just because you were curious?" The 8th circle mage asked.
He had said that last part in a strange way, almost laughing at the absurdity of the situation.
Now knowing that he was familiar with Professor Damian, and that this was most likely just security that got worried because we were chasing a professor, Denis and Penelope calmed down.
Sweat still ran down my back, just because this was security didn't mean that we were safe, we might get expelled even!
The 8th circle magician's eyes grew red in anger, his body even started shaking and he looked at us with a hint of murderous intent.
This time he didn't even bother hiding his murderous intent, Penelope and Denis quickly noticed and started sweating once more.
"Should I *deal* with them, Faction Leader?" One of the 6th circle mages looked at 'Dyrus', exposing the 8th circle's identity as a faction leader.
the way that he said the word "deal" unnerved me, it seemed like they really wanted to kill three first year students because they chased a professor.
"No, don't. If we kill some students, while the other factions might not act immediately, especially since they're only first year students and not affiliated, they will certainly use it against us in negotiations." Dyrus Namil said while looking at me.
His gaze was suffocating, the surrounding air felt like water and my body started shaking so violently it threatened my collapse.
For a moment, it felt like he was looking through me, not at me.
Why was he looking at me and not Penelope or Denis? I had no clue.
Knowing that we weren't in any danger of death, my body relaxed a little and so did my two poor companions.
But Dyrus didn't stop.
"However, we can't just let all of you go, now, can we?"
I looked up, noticing a huge smile on his face.
This was bad.
"How about this, then? We'll let you live, but in exchange, you have to do a mission for us." Dyrus Namil said while glaring at us.
His ability to maintain a glare and a smile at the same time was somewhat impressive.
The fact that he wanted us to do a mission, when we were only first year students and he was a grand 8th circle, indicated something I would much rather not think about.
He was going to use us as his disposable pawns.
He would make us do all the dirty work he couldn't, while keeping his name clean.
Im sure there would be plenty willing to do his 'work' in exchange for some money. Why he would need first year students as pawns was beyond me.
"Take them to the faction training grounds and make sure they grasp all the necessary spells and are at least of the 4th circle by the time I come to check on them." Dyrus turned around, walking away as he left that sentence hanging in the air.
'4th circle by the time he comes back'?? He might as well have asked for a miracle.
If he returned in anything less than ten years, he should expect to be greeted by a few 3rd circle mages at best.
A 6th circle magician bowed and said: "Yes, sir."
I looked at this magician strangely. How could he agree to such an unrealistic demand?
As the 8th circle magician left, the other magicians soon followed after him, sending a few pitying glances towards us.
The only one that remained was the one that had bowed to Dyrus Namil.
He looked at us silently for a few seconds before motioning for us to follow him as he left the room.
Denis was the first of us to get up, followed by me and Penelope, who still seemed to blame me for this matter.
This was going to be a long day.