It’s all over. I’ve tried every possible method, but this place is nothing more than a coffin sealed off from the outside world. Any teleportation magic loses its effect here! Now I understand why so many wizards have perished in this place—this is the closest point to the outside world. This spot was likely once the exit of the cave, but it’s now buried under at least five meters of ice. These wizards must have desperately tried to break through the ice with magic, but in the end, they couldn’t escape.
Brian and I sit back-to-back on my cloak. There’s no way out today. I’ve used three fireballs, but all I’ve managed to do is melt about fifty centimeters of ice.
“Mr. Ryder, are we going to die?” The boy asked me, his body trembling, his lips turning a sickly blue.
“Don’t be ridiculous. I won’t die here!” I forced a confident expression. “We won’t freeze to death just by staying here a little longer. Once I recall the fire magic, we’ll be able to break through the ice and leave…”
The boy silently leaned against my back. His warmth was the only comfort I could feel in this frozen tomb. I took out my spellbook, determined to memorize all the fire spells, committing them to memory.
…
“Brian! What’s wrong?” I called out as I lowered the book to rest—after memorizing spells, one needs to rest a while to let the magic and memory fuse. I suddenly realized there was no movement from the body behind me. The kid might have fallen asleep—in this cold, sleep could mean never waking up!
“I’m fine, Mr. Ryder!” Brian opened his eyes as I shook him. He had almost slipped into an eternal slumber. As I let go of his shoulders, I breathed a sigh of relief. Nothing had happened… Thank goodness…
Wait, why am I worried about this kid? He’s nothing to me, just a burden…
“Say something, anything, to keep us from falling asleep,” I said to Brian. Now, all I could do was wait—wait for the spell to merge with my memory.
“Alright.”
“Tell me about your teacher,” I said casually, but I suddenly remembered that Brian had just learned of his teacher’s death. This was too cruel for a boy of sixteen or seventeen!
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that!”
“It’s alright, Mr. Ryder… As you said, my teacher is gone, but I’m still alive, so I must face everything.”
“…”
“My teacher wasn’t a particularly strong wizard,” Brian leaned his head back against my shoulder, his voice tinged with sorrow. “But he was a good man… a truly good man! I lost my parents when I was very young, and he took me in… raised me.”
“He wasn’t a powerful wizard, though he would boast about his youthful adventures, claiming how exciting they were. But I knew he wasn’t strong, for I never saw him cast spells above the third level, nor did I ever see him create any powerful magical artifacts. To make a living, he opened a shop selling the most basic magical items. Business was poor, just enough for the two of us to scrape by…” Brian spoke slowly, his tone softening as he drifted into memories of the past.
“Those were happy times. Though we were poor, we were still happy! The shop didn’t do well; sometimes, days would pass without a single customer, but he always smiled. Even if he was worried, he never showed it in front of me. He treated me like a child, but I knew he had pawned some of the things from his past adventures—things he used to show me, like those +1 daggers. They gradually disappeared from his collection… Although he sat in the shop every day, customers were rare…”
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“One morning, I remember him returning from outside, looking incredibly happy. He hugged me and told me he had finally found some good luck! He then produced a piece of paper—a summons from the King, calling for wizards to join the expeditionary force. After the last defeat, the King was furious and planned to gather a great army to fight the evil necromancer, offering a hefty bounty to recruit wizards!”
“He was elated because the King’s bounty was so high that it could cover nearly ten years of our living expenses. If we got that money, we wouldn’t have to worry about money for a long time, and we could even fix the roof that always leaked…”
“How could your teacher join? You just said he wasn’t a strong wizard. The necromancer is a terrifying enemy; joining the expedition would be suicide!”
“But at that time, no one imagined failure. Over a hundred wizards were in that expeditionary force… How could such a large army fail? He told me he would be careful, that he wouldn’t rush to the front line, that he would take care of himself… Then he set out, laughing as he told me to look after the shop, to watch out for the workers fixing the roof so they wouldn’t steal anything, and to wait for his triumphant return.”
I listened quietly as the boy recounted his story. Without realizing it, his tone had changed, and I could hear the faint sound of sobbing in his words.
“Not long after, rumors of defeat began circulating in the streets! Everyone was talking about it, trying to deny it, but the news was eventually confirmed. In front of almost everyone, about fifty soldiers who had survived returned to the city. They were surrounded by the families of the departed, desperate for news of their loved ones, but the answer they received was that everyone else had died in battle! The survivors described the horrific scene: when they arrived at the battlefield, all they saw were the bodies of the fallen, scattered across the snow, which had not yet fully melted. The power wielded by Raith exceeded everyone’s expectations. The army of giants, goblins, orcs, ogres, and other evil beings from beyond this world had ambushed the expedition. After a fierce battle, the entire force was annihilated. The corpses of the humans covered the ground! The survivors had seen those evil creatures scavenging the dead, killing the wounded. If they hadn’t retreated before being discovered, they too wouldn’t have made it back alive!”
“I always hoped my teacher was a brave man. Though he often disappointed me, at that moment, I fervently wished he had hidden at the back of the battle, as he had said. I wanted him to return, no matter how disgraceful it might be. I just wanted him back! Even if he was despised, even if the children in the street threw stones at him—it didn’t matter, as long as he came back! But…”
“So you joined this expedition to avenge your teacher? But you must know that such an action would be suicide! You don’t even have the ability to fight a necromancer—let alone defeat him!”
Brian turned to look at me, and I looked back at him. Something seemed to be shining in his eyes.
“I know I can’t take revenge, but I refuse to accept it! I know my magic is weak; I can’t even cast a basic magic missile, but… but…” He gripped my hand tightly, trying to hold back his tears, but they still fell uncontrollably from his eyes.
…
“I know I’m useless, that I’m clumsy and stupid. I always mix up the magical ingredients, and I’m constantly making mistakes, breaking things! I can’t even brew the most basic potions, let alone cast spells. But please, don’t abandon me. I’ll do anything—I can clean the house, cook for you, take care of you. Just don’t send me away. I’ll do whatever you ask, just don’t…”
“That’s not the issue. In truth, your talent isn’t that bad—you just get distracted too easily…”
“I swear I’ll never do that again. I’ll focus completely, and I won’t think about anything else. I can do it, I promise…”
“I see the fire in your eyes, the blazing fire born of hatred! Your fire burns so fiercely that even the flames of hell pale in comparison. If you can’t extinguish that fire, I won’t continue to teach you!”
“Please, Master, don’t send me away. I promise I’ll be obedient. I won’t make you angry again. I won’t sneak off to the village to play with the other children. Don’t send me away—I have nowhere else to go!”
…
I tried to push the memories out of my mind as I gently stroked the sobbing boy’s head, comforting him. Suddenly, I realized I had begun to care for this boy—perhaps because we were both trapped in this dire situation, where two hearts are easily connected.