As the boy felt the pole connect with his head, an overwhelming flood of despair rushed into his mind, crushing the calm content of his previous mindset, having settled into his safe space in the boundless library before the sanctuary which had kept him sane for the past few years had been breached. Raw emotion welled up in his heart while he fell to the ground, and he screamed brokenly, within his mind, as longing desperation clawed at every part of his fragile mind.
['Library of Echoes' is lamenting!]
[Unique skill 'Years of Yearning' is activating!]
Time stretched out inside of the boy's mind, while shattering the dilation outside of his body, freezing time in the library for a few seconds. And in the brief few moments of reprieve he was granted by the benevolent library, he glanced forlornly at the beautiful memories which he had gained from time spent in the intriguing space. He saw himself, younger, and smiling, and laughing, and learning, and loving, and resting, and sleeping. He saw himself crying, and sobbing, and shouting, and sighing, and screaming, and mourning, and recovering. He saw himself running, and breathing, and moving, and jumping, and walking, and most of all, he saw himself feeling.
The young man, thirteen years of age, saw himself living, instead of surviving, because of the safety of the library. His library.
And as his body fell to the floor, black spots beginning to wipe away the nostalgic memories in his head, he found himself feeling, for the first time in many, many years, pure, unfiltered rage for a human being.
'Kill them.' his mind whispered insidiously. 'Tear them apa-'
[Unique skill 'Years of Yearning' is failing!]
The moment of solitude ended, and the boy's head slammed into the ground again with a crunch, and everything went black.
*******************************************************************************
The impassive face of a tall, blond-haired young man loomed over the unconscious boy at his feet. Seventeen years old, and trained extensively in magical combat, he was in peak physical condition, and years of using his magic had granted his skin an ethereal allure. He released the dull metal club, and it hit the ground with a rattling clang. There were four other men behind him, all of similar age to himself.
On his left stood a handsome black-haired man of average height and solid build, wearing a medieval mail shirt and bearing a large two-handed sword, marked with mystical runes, glowing eerily blue against the warm yellow light of the lanterns in the library.
Next to him, there was a tall, lithe young man with no armour, but a flowing crimson robe and hood, like that of the ancient wizards or a cult member, and an ornate wooden staff nearly two metres long, with a dark purple gem embedded in the top its crook. His face was impassive and sharp, with his eyes as hard and dark as volcanic glass.
Behind the two was a relatively short knight-like figure completely encased in a shining suit of metallic armour. There was a single rune engraved on the breastplate of the shorter man, which resembled a jagged lightning bolt. His helmet had a single slit as a visor, and there was a long, uneven scratch running along the temple of the armour. He bore no weapon but his thick gauntlets, which hummed with a soft charge of sinister energy.
The final member of the wicked party was an evil-looking young man of average height, slightly taller than the first, and he wore a medieval-looking outfit of a simple tunic and trousers. His dark hair was tied back in a crisp ponytail, and his eyes were covered by a black band of leather, tied neatly at the back of his head. From under it, a jagged scar curved towards the left corner of his mouth like a sickening arrow.
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
While all of the other members remained composed, he alone was slightly on edge, twitching gently every ten seconds or so, his head lightly flickering towards the bleeding boy on the floor. An ugly gash stretched across the unconscious young man's forehead, and yet, an unnerving slow trickle of blood was lethargically leaving the wound, despite its gaping size and depth. The wielder of the pole rested his left hand on a skull-shaped pendant around his neck, and whispered three words while pointing his index finger at the boy on the floor. His eyes glowed a deep green, then shut tightly, and he open his mouth, speaking noiseless words in his direction.
[Latent mage 'Aron' has activated the uncommon trait 'Snake Oil' (Level 2)!]
[Element 'poison' has been selected.]
The young man gripped the pendant harder suddenly and his eyes flew wide open with a flash of light.
[Rare item 'Coiling Skull' has been infused with mana.]
[Skill 'Hypnotism' (Level 3+1)has been activated!]
['Coiling Skull' is boosting the spell's power!]
The skull pendant around his neck stirred, and the string shimmered as a green fog streamed from the eye of the young man, and flew into the eyes of the sleeping boy, fully submerging his drowsy soul into a deep slumber. The light and fog died down, and the leader of the group relaxed, lowering his hand. He turned on his feel swiftly, with the air of a military man, and removed a small metal disc from the pocket of his silken trousers.
"Burn it," he intoned flatly, before waving his empty hand in front of him.
[Common item 'Telepad' is being activated!]
In a shimmer of purple sparks, he stepped through the air and was gone in an instant.
The blindfolded boy stepped away from the group, with an uneasy energy that almost conveyed fear. He licked his lips nervously.
"The boy will die," he spoke, shakily. His face twitched again.
The long-limbed mage raised his staff, cocked his head slightly and opened his mouth.
"Orders are orders," he said wetly, his voice layering over itself like quicksand, the words thickly falling from his thin lips.
The purple gem glowed warmly, and the mage extended a hand towards his comrades, who stepped back impulsively.
[Rare skill 'Teleport' (Level 3) is activating.]
"Wait-" stammered the knight, before a swirl of purple sparks similar to those from the telepad enveloped the remaining three, teleporting them to the surface of the Academy.
[Element 'flame' (dark) is baring its teeth.]
"Oh, do shut up, " grinned the eerily tall young man, before clenching his fingers around the staff with several cracks.
[Uncommon trait 'Malice' (Level 2) is being activated.]
The purple gem in the staff suddenly filled with darkness, which flickered madly against the constraints of its gemstone prison. Crackling black flames spread across the length of the staff, which the boy raised into the air swiftly.
[Element 'soul' (light) is being drawn upon.]
"Showtime," he laughed manically, before clenching his outstretched hand while also pulling energy from the staff into his soul with a gasp.
[Element 'space' is being drawn upon.]
[Rare trait 'Gatekeeper' (Level 1) is being activated.]
The purple gem began to crack as a golden light began to burst from inside of the dark flame, sending deep cracks running through the staff and a flood of magical energy into his soul, which he released instantly and carelessly with a huge heave, which caused the gem to immediately shatter into dust.
[Common item 'Void Crystal' has been destroyed.]
[Rare skill 'Conflict' (Level 4+1) has been activated!]
[Epic item 'Cultish Cloak' is boosting the effect of 'Conflict'!]
A roar of black and white fire burst from the broken staff and into the fist of the wizard. The lights flickered and died in the library, plunging the area into darkness, dimly lit by the greyish mix of fire, and pages of books near him began to smoulder and crisp into ash. The boy, still lying on the floor, began to burn, blisters spreading across his hands and face.
[Common trait 'Reckless' has been activated!]
[Your magic is spiralling out of control!]
The boy cackled wildly, and opened his palm, sending the boiling flames rushing outwards into the library, spreading from his body and into the endless space of paper and wood, deeply burning every scrap of material in the area. The injured young man, by some miracle, was shielded by a falling bookshelf, which absorbed the flame flying towards his sleeping head and shattered into ashes and dust. The mage, still standing, waved slyly towards the burnt boy, and wrapped both hands around his staff.
[Awakened mage '???' has activated common skill 'Teleport' (Level 3).]
And as the purple sparks wrapped themselves around the young magician, the expanse of the library, for the first time in eons, was filled with a cacophony of pure destruction.