Tepo enjoyed the beautiful view for a few moments before his eyes settled on the buildings scattered throughout the landscape. They were rather small, adorned with pillars and arches, jade-green dome roofs reflecting the sun.

Above their open entrances were various symbols. Tepo pondered for a moment before asking Hoinar:

“Are those buildings storing spells?”

The worker stayed silent.

Tepo scoffed, but he didn’t need the man to answer him. Now that he was here, he could just take a look himself.

Strolling through the luscious grass, startling small insects, Tepo approached the first storage. But as soon as he got into a certain range, something surprising happened.

A man slowly strolled out of the gate. He was short, his skin tan, his face showing burn wounds. The man only wore a dirty grey robe, keeping a stubbly hair.

Tepo frowned as his eyes followed the long chain coming from inside the storage and ending in a shackle around this man’s neck.

Despite the man’s ragged appearance, he emitted a faint pressure on Tepo.

“Student. Are you here to challenge the fire pavilion?”

“Are you some kind of guardian? Do I need to defeat you to enter?”

A raspy laugh answered Tepo.

“Guardian? What a high-sounding word. Guard dog would be more appropriate. Woof!”

Tepo wrinkled his brows, feeling disgusted as he studied the man’s condition. It reminded him too much of prisoners held by ‘outsiders’ in his previous life.

Looking over his shoulder he threw Hoinar a questioning look.

Although the worker was in a bad mood, he still felt compelled to defend the forum’s honor:

“He is an enemy. He either tried to steal from the forum or he obstructed one of our branches. You don’t have to pity him.”

Suddenly a loud raspy laughter filled the field. The guardian couldn’t hold it in, laughing and coughing, until he spit a foamy liquid from his mouth. Unperturbed the prisoner wiped the liquid away with his arm.

“Enemy of the forum? Bullsh*t! My only crime was speaking up against vice-headmaster Greench…”

“AHH!”

Tepo’s gaze hardened as the guardian suddenly writhed in pain. Obviously, he received some form of punishment from the chain around his neck.

His body trembling, Tepo felt rage in his heart. He detested this scene. Gritting his teeth he pulled out his pistol and in one smooth motion fired at the chain.

With a loud metallic clang, a bullet accurately hit the metallic chain. Bolts of lightning suddenly shot into the air. The bullet was hit and shattered into a thousand pieces. The air crackled.

Tepo frowned, but at least the prisoners’ punishment seemed to be stopped for the moment.

The man panted heavily as his eyes looked at Tepo with a hint of gratitude.

“Thank you. But you are only wasting your time. These are the Church of Punishing Thunder’s famous thunder shackles. You won’t be able to break them.”

Seeing that Tepo stayed silent, the man turned around.

“If you don’t want to enter, I will go to rest.”

With those words the guardian returned to the storage under Tepo’s complicated gaze.

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The young man took a deep breath to calm down. He didn’t expect to encounter such a scene.

“Hoinar, is this a practice exclusive to this branch of the forum?”

As the worker stayed silent, Tepo slowly turned around. His eyes focused on the older man.

“Do you think you are the only one I can ask?!”

“…It’s something every branch does.”

Tepo walked away with frustration in his heart. He once again felt too weak, not even able to free a single prisoner.

“Hey, student. Why did you try to help this man? I told you he is a criminal, an enemy! The same goes for all the guardians. This has been the forum’s practice for a long time.”

Suddenly Tepo stopped in place. Images of his old life flashed through his mind. Memories of shackled humans, serving as living blood producers for ‘outsiders’, turned his emotions turbulent.

Their pain, their cries, those were still vivid in his mind.

Tepo’s voice was dry as he spoke words form his heart:

“No one deserves such a treatment. Not even your fiercest enemies. I would rather grant them a clean death.”

Hoinar fell silent as he watched the student’s back. He could feel the emotions in Tepo’s voice.

At this moment the worker felt as if the view before him changed. He saw a seasoned veteran who went through hell and back.

How could this be? He’s just a young man…

Tepo had already reached another storage before Hoinar snapped out of it. He looked at the symbol above the gate, contemplating if it was worth to take a look.

Suddenly Hoinar spoke up in a low voice:

“This is the water storage. Although there are spells which use water to observe one’s surroundings, your best bet is the storage over there.”

Hoinar pointed in a certain direction before falling silent again. Tepo eyed him in surprise before nodding his head in thanks and changing his direction.

He arrived before one of the smallest buildings, standing in front of a dense forest. Tepo was confused, not able to deceiver the symbol above the arched entrance.

I have spent so much time in the library and yet there is still much to learn…

Taking a deep breath, Tepo stepped forward. He knew that he had no choice but to follow the rules until he was strong enough to make his own rules.

Thus, he watched the entrance with a solemn face where a body slowly revealed itself.

Tepo was somewhat relieved as it turned out that the prisoner wasn’t a human. But immediately after, he frowned, questioning his own thoughts.

Their situation was exactly the same, so was it right to feel less pity if the prisoner wasn’t human? Was this the standard he had for himself?

In my old life only ‘outsiders’ were generally regarded as non-human. There were no other races.

But now other races are already something I see daily, living peacefully with humans. Is it right of me to treat them differently?

Fortunately, Tepo wasn’t granted much time to ponder, as a tall woman arrived before him.

She had blue scales covering her humanoid figure, with a long face formed like a drop of water. Large white wings graced her back, ending in claws, obviously replacing her arms.

Meanwhile her legs were long, clad in ragged brown pants, while her upper body was bare and flat, without breasts.

Tepo only guessed the guardian’s gender to be female based on her feminine, innocent looking face.

His guess was solidified as his opponent began speaking in a weak voice:

“If you want to enter the storage, you have to defeat me, student.

Are you ready?”

Obviously, the guardian wasted no time. Tepo nodded calmly as he took out his weapons.

Time ticked by second by second. Tepo expected something to happen, but the guardian only stood in place.

Not certain if the fight had already begun, the warrior tentatively began circling his opponent.

Knowing that this storage was for some kind of mental spells, Tepo guessed that the guardian might use similar spells. He did his best to defend his mind, ready to encounter illusion or similar phenomena.

But nothing happened. Eventually Tepo decided to take the initiative. He suddenly dashed forward, his knife aiming for his opponent’s eyes.

The metal slashed through the air. Tepo almost thought the guardian didn’t want to defend. Only at the last second did she fold her wing all of sudden.

Tepo was surprised by her speed. His knife slashed against the wing, not creating any wound.

The next moment the wing opened again. A strong push drove into Tepo’s arm. The warrior immediately felt danger. He didn’t stubbornly press forward, letting the wing push him away.

Tepo sailed through the air for a few meters before coming to a stop. He had to stomp his heel into the ground to counter the momentum.

This first exchange left Tepo with a solemn expression. A guess formed in his mind as he asked the guardian:

“What rank are you?”

A flash of surprise could be seen in the woman’s eyes:

“Don’t you know the rules here? I’m a low-rank acolyte.”

Tepo’s heart sank. How was he supposed to win this? He didn’t even have a nine-runed spell yet.

“You really didn’t know? In order to enter you have to defeat me. But I’m forbidden from using spells and abilities. So do your best.”

With this information, Tepo calmed down immediately. Now he understood the test. Without spells the guardian could only fight with her body.

Thus, Tepo decided to keep his distance, using his spells to wear down the woman.

But just as this plan formed in the young man’s mind, a blur appeared in his vision. The guardian flapped her wings, shooting at Tepo.

The warrior hastily raised his knife. But a claw slapped it to the side.

Tepo was barely able to hold on to his weapon. Another claw followed directly, hitting his shoulder.

Immediately Tepo was forced to use his heated defense. The guardian was engulfed in flames while Tepo landed a short distance away.