The days until the new years festivities were spent observing the school, though most people I met were professionally boring or extremely full of themselves, which ensured that Ember, Noel and Sine, all of us arriving early while others said their goodbyes.
“All of us without family? I knew my method of entering was unusual, but how did you three got in without connections?” Asked the half elf as they turned around, a smile like the rising sun on Sine’s lips.
“My father just wants me to learn independence, and from what I gathered, these two are members of Narm, who are busy with some weird cannibalistic ritual and another barely legal defense measure.” Sine nodded at that, with me interjecting.
“Not all cannibalistic rituals are weird, you know? Technically, offering your blood to a dark power by drinking could be considered cannibalistic.” Realizing how this one sounded as the others looked in my direction a bit disturbed, I gave them a mischievous smirk, prompting a bit of laughter while I rethought a lot of my decisions so far.
“Beside the point, anyway, how did you get in, Sine? And how did you gain that title, if I may ask?” Ember shifted the conversation, putting the halfblood on the spot.
“A diplomatic mission, if you will, convinced someone that me entering would be good for politics and stuff. My name is the same as that of a river nearby my home, which I have taken care of the last few years.” We nodded at that explanation, when finally the clock began to tick.
Did I remember the last time I watched this one with humans? Absolutely. Did I do my best to not get a panic attack as that trauma was clawing its way out of my suppressed memories? Possibly.
As the surrounding reality grew instable, and raw power leaked from the many towers around us, instable as always, my gaze and previous experiences allowing me to see the realms attempt to merge again, only for a burning radiance seeped through the cracks, burning any connection the realms had formed in that short period of time, I finally understood this night, and the way it happened disgusted me even more. Maybe, my road to immortality could involve repairing this world, and not leaving it a prison for some eldritch bastard.
Following these thoughts, I suppressed a chuckle, quite easy given the fact the world around me began burning at my skin, only to be absorbed into my amulet and twisted to repair the damage it was still doing. It hurt as hell, but I had experienced worse.
“I love this event, every year it comes and makes the world a bit purer.” Said Noel, with me trying not to hit my new friend over the head while my skin boiled.
“Yeah, I don’t, I know a few people who have to try not to die whenever that happens, so, you know, it is a bit annoying to not know whether they survived this year.”
Ember and I exchanged a glance as he thought of his sister, while I tried not to think of the many other undead related rituals I had commenced so far.
Nemo didn’t care all that much, resting against my leg as she preferred to do when nothing was going on, a stark difference to Hannibal, who rubbed against my other leg, both telling me in their way to hold on, and so I did.
It was a glorious moment, before eight robed people entered the room.
An old man entered first, unraveling space as if reality was merely a suggestion, he teleported from the gods knew where to the stage. A white beard hanging long from his wrinkly face, while a pair of deep purple eyes rested upon the crowd. Then, He pulled a chair out of nowhere and sat upon it.
Following that, we felt our movement freeze, and a bridge of ice and stone appear, where a woman in gray robes descended, white hair flowing as she descended before us, while the ground moved to form a throne for her.
Now, Someone walked up carried by a hulking corpse, the man obviously undead, as he looked way too young to be a professor, still retaining an extremely mortal face if one excluded his fangs, I liked his nonchalant attitude already, especially as he disintegrated the zombie right after it settled him down, his bones rearranging to form a throne next to the others.
Then, heat washed over us, burning on our skin as a literal sun descended, a woman with gorgeous red hair, flowing in the agitated air as she settled next to the others, wearing a fierce look, her right eye having been replaced by an artifact at some point. She did not sit, merely floating in a seated position as she held herself aloft.
Slowly, we saw a shimmer of light appear besides her, a lean man dressed as a jester of some sort appearing and settling on a throne of light he summoned out of nowhere, the crowd completely silent by now, silenced by the sheer power these individuals showed.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
When a tree grew upon the stage and formed into a throne, a person who looked to have grafted every known race to his body appeared, some parts still twisting, while others were simply made of wood, he embraced everything life was, even the most disgusting aspects quite obvious, as a hive of flies had replaced his right eye.
A sudden flood turning into a throne showed a man that looked to be half fish to us, we knew that the professors had probably done some things most of us could never understand.
“You are before the grand council of Arcana, who visited the source and survived. May you learn from them and help this kingdom to prosperity. Long may they live!” Someone shouted from the backside of the room, and all of us started to applaud.
“We are happy to announce that we allowed everyone to enter this year, and who really stays will be decided by a tournament at the end of our speech. There, your aptitude for every arcana will be tested. Don’t hold back, we want to nurture talent, and retain our strict policy on inclusivity. We will only announce forbidden arcane combinations when you graduate, until then, we have taken an oath of secrecy in regard to our students powers.” I grinned, knowing that this was an easy way to filter out the Idiots and bind those who had forbidden powers to their service, after all, nobody wanted to be hunted by everyone at once. It was premeditated blackmail, and I loved their ruthlessness.
“You applied thinking yourself powerful, or maybe just really curious, some might even be here because their parents pressure them to. Everyone here can die during these tests, you will be healed and possibly revived at the end, but the tournaments will take place in Arcana embraced rooms, meaning only these specific runes are allowed. We will revive no one more than three times. Good luck.”
It was easy to understand what they said, and I did not dare to ponder these commands. I simply had to tear everyone else apart by virtue of being better than them.
Exchanging a round of fist bumps, we quickly went towards the room that would be competed for first: Aqua.
Aqua is a simple Arcana, easy to use and powerful even to absolute idiots, none had an easier time making a living than them, and still be capable of defending themselves.
They would never be the ones to instantly incinerate an entire city, but they are known to decide where a river goes, fundamentally changing the world forever, and making it impossible for a city to be build where they don’t want it.
Aquamancers are impressive, and as everyone with an Aqua related affinity gathered in the designated room, the tension rose.
I never questioned my own skill, I had more than enough runes to win against absolutely everyone, or at least that’s what I thought, prideful as I was, I was sure of being the pinnacle of power, that no one here was my equal among those that were considered my peers.
As soon as the door closed, I felt the runes I had access to be drowned out, my entire soul turning blue, Ember standing by my side, grinning as his soul burned up aqua arcana to force the path towards pyro open, while my own list of runes flimmered before my face.
Tier 1 runes
Rune
Description
Condense
Aqua
Pour
Aqua
Ebb
Aqua
Tier 2 Runes
Rune
Description
Bubble
Aqua
Stream
Aqua
Drain
Aqua
Thirty tier zero spells, most of them absolutely useless for any purpose I could think of, I decided to start by creating a bubble stream, whatever the first challenge would be, I was sure carbonated water was the best, and this spell would help me prove it.
Funnily enough, the bubbles were quite effective at passing my time while everyone prepared for the first challenge announcement.