He was strong. He was unbeatable.

He was magic.

He had been taught by the best, molded by those who defined magic for what it was. It’s very arcane definition. His mind encompassed it all and his bill bend the entire world to his will. Nothing could defy him. Nothing.

He was the greatest-

“Regi, stop daydreaming!” a furious voice called out.

The command was joined by a sphere of air detonating next to his head and throwing him off the wall where he stood. He was quick enough to cast a |Featherfall| Spell, though. He had been taught by the best. It was just that… well. He was still being taught.

“I didn’t do anything.” He complained.

“You were supposed to be on the lookout.”

“And I was!”

“Don’t lie to me, whelp! I know that look you had in your eyes. You were fondling your ego again, weren’t you?”

“That kind of language is too crass for our people.” Regitris sneered.

“Oh. I see how it is. And you know what’s best what your people, don’t you?” a wide grin asked him.

And Regitris gulped.

Because this was not Regitris of Gnosis. Not yet. This was the Regitris of younger years, when he had been nothing but a young pup, still following around his mentor.

Oh, he was great. And learned. And old, compared to members of other races. But he was still young and learning, compared to his own people. Or, well, he should have been learning, but it was true Regitris had something of an ego during those days. One his teacher knew very well.

Az’Shaliq. Or Az for friends and close ones. One of the more powerful being currently residing in his world, one that was Wild at heart, but that had taken a liking to the elves, a liking born of mutual respect and admiration. Az was old, Regitris knew. Old enough that he suspected his mentor had witnessed the birth of his race.

A Djinn.

An angry Djinn, to be more exact and one that Regitris needed to appeas very quickly, else the tips of his ears would catch aflame.

Again.

“My apologies, teacher. I misspoke. I only wish that we would discuss in fairer terms, so as to not-“

“Yeah, yeah. I hate it when you go all ‘high and mighty’ on me. You do know your people only adopted that speech-pattern, right? You don’t get born with it.”

“I am aware.”

Because he personal thought the more he stood around his teacher, the crasser and thug-like he became. But it was worth it.

Az’Shaliq taught magic like none of his kind did. Partly because he was magic. And Regitris was the prodigy of his generation. A beacon for his race. It was only natural that he learned from one of, if not the greatest allies of their race. And oh, how he had hated it at first.

Regitris had grown up circled by admirers. Admiration. Respect. The Djinn laughed at all of that, He taught Regitris what it wanted and if the elf stepped sideways? His years burned. Or he got turned into a goat. Or he woke up see that hair had sprouted all over his body, magically-resistant hair and he had to find a way to get rid of it.

The Djinn was powerful. And annoying. And after many years, the Djinn was not both mentor and friend.

“Is really clear today, isn’t it? No danger?” Az asked, looking in the distance himself.

“Not that I can sense. And I have enhanced my senses.”

“Yeah, don’t trust to much in those.” The Djinn sniffed. “Skills over magic, I taught you that Regi.”

“A high-level |Assassin| could deceive the Spells of an equally high-level mage.” Regitris quoted. “But these are wild fold. Elementals and nymphs and the like. Would they really have |Assasins|, teacher?”

“Depends on what kind of friends they’ve made recently.” Az shrugged. “But don’t look down on them. The Deep have dangerous Classes of their own.”

Regitris nodded, but refrained from saying anything skeptical.

“It’s not even funny with you. I can still smell your emotions.”

“I’m trying to hide them.” The young elf complained.

“Try better. Alright, one more hour of this and then switch with one of the others. Come find me after, I need to teach you |Levitation|. That Spell from before was atrocious.”

Despondent, Regitris nodded.

That was how most of his days went. They were stationed on the outskirts of one of the Great Forests. They were currently at war. The Great War, some called it. Probably just because they liked to call everything great. Great Forest, Great War, Great Regitris. That last one was true, though.

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Regitris would have happily stayed in Gnosis and learned magic there. But noooo. His ‘Great’ Djinni mentor though he needed real-life experience. So he brought him here, in the middle of nowhere, to battle leftover opponents from the true Great War.

He had no idea why they bothered. They would die eventually, anyway. The lesser races lived too fast. And their cultures? They would dwindle in time. The somewhat-dangerous enemies of today would be children throwing rocks given a thousand years or so.

But noooo.

“Stupid Djinn and their all-knowing unicornshit.” He muttered. “There’s a woman elf at Gnosis right now. Right now and I’m here engraving trap runes in metal traps. They’re not even steel…”

The military camp was forced of multiple races, but they clearly lacked in dwarves. Or any other proper race. Not that dwarves were better than elves. They just liked their metals.

He was on his third rune, absentmindedly fantasizing about what this elven lass looked like, when the alarm Spell went off.

“On the walls.”

Regitris morosely got up there. It was probably one of those backwards, human |Shamans| again. Or a halfling. They were boring. They couldn’t even dodge |Fireballs|.

“Sir, werewolves spotted.” A Durmo |Officer| reported. “An entire pack of them. They’re coming fast and they’re sheltering something in the middle of them. Occlusion magic, most likely.”

‘Sir’. Because even if Az threated him like a dumb puppy, he still held seniority over the others. That was his only saving grace.

“Oh?” he said, perking up. “Good, maybe it’ll be more interesting this time. |Archers| on the wall, prepare to fire. |Mages|, cast protection wards. Barrier-type Spells. What did the |Scout| have to say about this?”

“She’s, uh, unfit for command, sir. She said you’d understand?”

She did? Oh, yes. She would have. He had been drinking with her the night before. One of the more amusing sorts in this camp. And one of the more exciting ones, given that Regitris had to cast a |Silence| Spell on her room, else all he huffing and moaning would have woke up the whole camp.

Not that Az probably didn’t know. The old pervert.

“Yes, I know of her affliction. Exhaustion.” Regitris diplomatically said. “Have a Stamina Potion retrieved from our supplies and handed to her. She’s earned it.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Now, let’s have a look at our opponents.”

Regitris magically magnified his sight and witnessed… a pack of real werewolves. Good. Some of them could be a problem even for him, but these looked young. Perfect for target practice. Yet the way they were running towards them… they really did have something in the middle of them. Something warded.

Warded. Hah. From me?

“|Pierce Illusion|.” He cast.

And inhaled deeply.

“Cheer up, everyone!” Regitrs hollered. “We have a nymph coming at us. I want her alive. One thousand gold from me, to whoever captures her.”

The soldiers cheered and Regitris grinned.

The fight hadn’t lasted long. Yes, the werewolves were powerful enough that Regitris had changed his first strategy, that of going down in the midst of them. He could have survived, probably, but he didn’t like those chances. Instead, he stayed up on the wall and guided the magical Spellfire, supplementing it with his own magic.

Better to Level slowly than not at all.

But he did go down there after all the werewolves had been taken care off and the Nymph had attempted to run.

“None of that now.” He said, calmly touching the grand, a |Firewall| barring the nymph’s path.

And yes, he cast |Featherfall|. Az could suck it.

“You can’t come to a party and not partake of the main course.” He grinned.

The nymph stared balefully at him before responding.

“You make light of our deaths. Our suffering. But then again, your kind has always been cruel, young one.”

“Yes, yes. We are cruel, because you wanted to enslave us, because we were… naughty? I think that’s how the story goes.”

“Do you not know your own history, elf? The Frist Fight may have been won by you, but the war continues. For as long as the we have breaths on our bodies and the blessings of the Green, we shall-“

Blah. Blah blah, blah di blab di blah. Ba, blab di blah, di blah blah blah.

Truth be told, Regitris half-listened to even her first few lines. After that, he just tuned out completely. The nymph wanted to talk, so he let her talk. He could use the time to gather up magic for a more powerful Spell. No need to work up running and casting smaller ones. Speaking of working up a sweat, he wondered what the |Scout| was doing tonight. Ah, no matter, he was the commanding officer. Her schedule would be free. And the only thing she’d be doing was him.

…he just needed to find a good excuse to break free from Az.

“-until your very race is grounded back into the earth! Did you hear me, elf?!”

“What? Oh, you. Right. Tell me, do you prefer fire or lightning?”

“What trickery is-“

“Terribly sorry, time’s up. I’ll choose. |Pillar of Blackfire|.”

The Spell exploded from the ground with a roar of flames, loud enough that even the nymph’s screams were inaudible. Well, almost. The solders cheered and he bowed.

But then he heard coughing from behind him.

He turned and in the scorched circle of earth he saw a broken figure, laying broken in the dirt, trickling… water?

Ohhhhh. Damn it. She was a water nymph, not a greenery one. Should have gone with the lighting.

Already hearing his mentor ridiculing him for his mistake, Regitris neared the pathetic figure, intend on ending her for good this time.

“-ail.” She quietly rasped.

“Nice try. |Lightning Armor|. No tricks will work on me.” Regitris smilingly told her.

But it didn’t seem like the nymph was waiting to spring on an attack. She really was broken. And rasping. He could have left her there to die but… Regitris neared her.

“You… fail. No tricks. I die… but you fail.”

Her body was coming apart, liquefied itself. Great. Now he’d have to take care of that too, else there’s be a spring sprouting up from there in no time and then they’d get Elementals. Damn pests.

“Seeing how fast you’re dying, I suggest that you hurry up with the explanation. Or is some kind of psychological attack? If so, I commend you for trying, at least.”

“No tricks. You fail… You… kill me.” She strained to speak. “But… you also kill yourselves.”

“What?” Regitris suddenly asked, eyes suddenly alert.

The broken thing had the gall to laugh instead of answering him. So Regitris cast impaled her head on a |Lightning Spear|.”

But what did she mean by-

A sudden influx of mana made him jump back. He rushed up back to his wall. But he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. The mana was increasing, but… why? He only saw the after effects of the battle. Corpses, blood on the ground. The charred spot of earth in the middle of it all. Funny. Looking at it from this high, it almost looked like…

A rune.

Like the one he had carved in the iron trap, only this one wasn’t carved, but painted on the ground with the blood the werewolves spilled. Their own blood. It… How?

Did they plan this?

He didn’t recognize the rune, but it was fairly circular. Almost a Spell circle. And in the center of it, the nymph’s body had finally decayed into water, which seeped into the charred solid and made it turn crimson.

Wait. Why crims- Oh, no. Ohhhhh, shit!

“Az!” Regitris screamed in his |Message| Spell. “There’s been some kind of sacrificial rite performed. There’s a rune forming on the ground and the ambient mana is increasing and changing natures. I need-“

He didn’t get to finish that, because a tower of flames was born and rushed with all its might at him.