Inquisitor Victor fell on one knee, his hand clenching the back of his knee that was bleeding profusely. Crimson mana whirled around his leg, creating a complex, yet familiar pattern. He grunted as the weaved patterns sank into his flesh, healing his wound almost instantly.

Within only a few heartbeats, he was back on his feet.

However, those few heartbeats were enough for the knife-wielding attacker to escape. Using the slowly dissipating water vapour caused by Damien’s missed spell as cover, the perpetrator had already retreated behind the two-meter-high wall of plants bordering the river.

“Never release a spell you are sure you won’t miss.” The Inquisitor spoke with a harsh voice, his dark green eyes turned towards Damien with a stern gaze. “You should have known that already.” He added. His disappointment was palpable.

Damien’s shoulders dropped as he lost his grasp of his mana. The faint blue aura around him vanished as the young noble averted his gaze, unable to find words.

Ash didn’t pay much attention to them. His gaze was shifting between the blood red mana once again rearing its heard in front of them, and the wall of plants behind them, on the other side of the river. There were two people at the very least, and at least one of them was capable of spellcasting.

“I will not ask again, show yourselves!” The Inquisitor’s voice boomed once more. His fists were clenched, his brows furrowed, and his shoulders were tense. “Surrender, in the name of the Emperor, may he be blessed!”

Silence was all that replied. The bright red mana roaring above the plants in front of them slowly began taking form, once again vaguely familiar to Ash.

“They’re casting again!” He hissed, then quickly shot a glance behind them. The knife-wielding assailant hadn’t shown themselves yet. Had they moved somewhere else? Left the battle completely? Or lying in wait for another sneaky attack?

He turned his gaze to the bright red mana – there was so much of it. Almost as much as the Apostle wielded. He looked at the inquisitor again, his heart racing. Why wasn’t he doing something to stop it? Why was he just threatening them?!

The earth shook under his feet. Roots dyed in bright red mana burst out of the ground beneath them. They clawed at the Inquisitor’s barrier, reaching over and around it, encasing them in a shell made of thick, dark roots.

“Finally.” The Inquisitor suddenly smirked. He opened his clenched fist, revealing a tiny, yet incredibly bright orb of mana. It was so densely packed with power that it almost seemed white. Almost, but not quite. He raised his hand to his chest, then extended it forward, away from himself.

A beam of concentrated mana tore through Ash’s vision. The heat it radiated made his eyes water, and the air in his lungs to feel like it was on fire for a split second. Tearing through the roots encasing them, the beam burned everything in its path, leaving an ashen trail behind it, ending about a hair’s width shy from a man in the fields.

A split second passed in silence while the man and the Inquisitor’s gazes met. Then, crimson mana leaped forward. The man turned around in an attempt to escape, but it caught up to him within a few breaths’ time, wrapping itself around his neck and squeezing until his face turned purple, and he collapsed.

The Inquisitor then turned around. His mana spread around him in a circle, expanding faster than a man could run. A few moments later, a scream sounded, then immediately cut out.

“Did he… die?” Damien asked quietly. Inquisitor Victor nodded. “Yes. I only need one of them alive.” He fixed his cloak, raised his chin, then walked towards the unconscious perpetrator with fast paced steps. Damien shot Ash a quick glance, his face pale as snow and his eyes wide open. “I didn’t even notice him cast a spell.” He whispered.

He really hadn’t cast a spell, Ash noticed. After his mana spread like that, the man simply screamed, and died. There was no spell, no weaves of mana or complex patterns to create an attack. Just raw force.

“Come on,” The Inquisitor’s voice startled them both. “We’re going back to the Tower – we’ll continue your training some other time, when there aren’t any pests running about the premises.” The pure disgust in his voice as he spat out the word ‘pests’ came as a shock to Ash. “These grounds need to be properly cleansed…” They heard the Inquisitor mutter as they ran after him.

Not once did Inquisitor Victor drop the protective sphere around them. His crimson mana continued to float around them in this complex sphere adorned with intricate patterns. His hawk-like gaze scoured their surroundings as he led them towards the High Tower, scouting for more opponents. Only when they arrived at the marble tiled plaza by the entrance did he finally allow the barrier to dissipate.

“Go and rest, we will resume class tomorrow.” He stated before turning around and handing the still unconscious perpetrator to a group of guards. “Take him to the chamber of the seventh and guard him until I join you.”

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

The guards took the prisoner and hurried towards the entrance while the Inquisitor let out a sigh. “Go on, rest.” He said a moment later upon noticing Ash and Damien still standing there. “You’ll need to be well rested for tomorrow.” He added with a forced smile.

“Who were they?” Damien asked suddenly, unable to hide his hesitation. He must have been trying to summon his courage to speak up for a while now.

Inquisitor Victor cross his arms. “Members of a cult, and possibly underlings of the Apostle – she has a surprisingly large following considering her unstable mind. Clearly some of them decided to come after me since I tried to get in her way a number of times now.” Seeing the increasing worry on both of their faces, he once again forced a smile. “Don’t worry, I won’t let any harm come to any of you. Besides, we’ll purge the Tower and its premises overnight. There is no place for such pests in Bhaile-Morn’s heart.”

He glanced at the entrance behind him over his shoulder. “So, there isn’t anything to worry. Go to your dorms and rest, don’t forget to eat some dinner.” His brows furrowed as he turned his back on them. “Now, I have a few things to take care of…” He almost absentmindedly added as his fast-paced steps carried him across the plaza, towards the entrance.

“That really didn’t do much to answer my question…” Damien let out a sigh. He seemed rather dejected as he slowly started walking towards the entrance. His shoulders were low, and he didn’t raise his gaze from the ground very much.

Ash followed him through the plaza and the High Tower’s wide, confusing hallways. They didn’t talk at all on the way to the dorms, and even when they arrived Damien simply informed Ash that he wasn’t hungry and went to his room.

Come next morning, the group of five were once again ready at the foot of the millennia old tree, though instead of the Inquisitor, they were met with the rather annoyed looking Kira. “Well?” She said as the last of them – Leon – arrived. “What are you waiting for?” She asked with a scowl. “Start running.”

Her falcon-like gaze followed them as they ran laps around the millennia-old tree, following the dirt path snaking through the fields. Only when they were too tired to continue did she let them rest. Even then, she seemed more annoyed than satisfied with their effort. They rested, taking that chance to meditate, trying to ignore her judgmental glare.

Silence reigned on the fields as they meditated uncomfortably. Ash felt as if the air was suffocating him. Kira’s pacing footsteps was all that broke the silence, and even then, she was extremely silent. Not once did she step on a broken branch, or a dried leaf. Had Ash not known better, he would think she was a seasoned hunter who spent most of her life out in the wilderness, not the aide of an Inquisitor, and a sorceress herself.

He couldn’t help but feel on edge as he paced around, seemingly lost in thought. He couldn’t focus inward enough to effectively meditate. He couldn’t feed the void within. And he clearly wasn’t the only person unable to focus well enough – Maya wasn’t meditating, and neither was Leon. Damien’s flow of mana wasn’t smooth as it was supposed to be either.

Only Fionna was able to focus well enough. Sitting cross legged near a patch of wildflowers radiating with golden mana, she seemed soothed, and at peace. Her mana flowed inward in a vortex, absorbing the wildflowers’ mana along with it.

Maya let out a sigh, then shook her head. “I’ll have to excuse myself. I’m unable to focus today.” She stated loudly as she got up. Kira only spared her a glance before nodding, as if she didn’t care at all. “Me neither, I don’t feel very well.” Leon piped up. He stood up and ran after Maya before Kira even had a chance to speak up.

“Expected…” Kira’s soft whisper reached Ash’s ears. His eyebrows raised as he looked at her. She had stopped pacing around and was glaring after them. If she seemed annoyed before, she was angry now. “What about you?” She turned to ask him with a dagger-like glare. “Will you also give up?”

Even if the thought had passed Ash’s mind, he wouldn’t have asked for leave now, not after that deathly glare. He shook his head and was only rewarded with a scoff. “Keep trying if you want to be worth anything in the future.”

He hadn’t even noticed how tightly he was clenching his fists until she spoke. Her words awakened a rage within him. He was going to be worth something! No matter what, he was not going to return to those Serenpetal fields. No matter what!

He closed his eyes and tried to focus. The void within him remained just beyond his reach, his dull, grey mana refused to obey despite his best efforts. He thought he heard a chuckle – mocking him, belittling him, making fun of his failure.

A hand touched his shoulder. Annoyed, his eyes shot open as he turned to look at whoever was bothering him. Damien’s rather pale face was what filled his vision. With dark circles under his eyes, Damien seemed unwell. “What’s wrong?” Ash blurted out. He had never seen Damien look quite so bad. Was he ill?

The young noble shook his head. “Nothing. I’m going back to the Tower. Come with me – today isn’t very productive for either of us it seems.” He let go of Ash’s shoulder, then dragged his feet towards the dirt path leading to the High Tower.

As much as he wanted o keep trying for longer, leaving Damien alone seemed like a horrible idea. Ash bit his lips, swallowed that tinge of annoyance still gnawing at his thoughts, and hurried after the young noble. Kira didn’t even spare them a glance as they left.

“Are you ok?” He asked soon after they left. Damien nodded, though from how he dragged his feet and generally failed to walk in a straight line, Ash wasn’t very much inclined to believe him. “Are you sure?” He asked again, knowing full well something wasn’t quite right.

“I’m fine.” Damien curtly replied. “I just can’t stand that woman, and how she belittled Maya and Leon.”

Ash felt a tinge of relief, knowing that he wasn’t the only one who was repulsed by Kira’s demeanour against them. “Yeah, she’s quite annoying.” He muttered. The dirt path soon grew wide enough to allow two people to walk side by side shortly before taking a sharp turn by a patch of very tall briars and golden leafed ferns that towered above even the tallest of men.

“Yeah,” Damien pushed the large, golden leaves aside as they reached the bend in the path. “I hope the Inquisitor-“ His words were cut short as both he and Ash stopped in their tracks. Two soldiers adorned with crests depicting a flaming phoenix stood in their path – their weapons drawn, and mana primed, they cold gazes were devoid of any human emotion.