"Uh—Teacher, did you become fire now?!" Cyrus abruptly yelled out, gesturing to the flames around him with his arms wide open. "You'll teach me this, right?!"

It was a flimsy ploy to change the subject, but there was a genuine wish within his question. This was far beyond what he expected.

The wisp around him let out a snort. "No, I didn't 'become fire.'" There was a pause. "I'm at the crater."

"Crater?"

Only then did Cyrus realize there was an enormous impact site beyond the flames in front of him. A moment later, another quake occurred, and he witnessed the edges of a flaming and dark explosion reach his line of sight.

Gritting his teeth, Cyrus strove forward, climbing over fallen, charred trees to reach the crater's edge. Once there, he peered toward its center. And what a sight it was. Two swirling masses of energy clashed, vying for dominance, neither willing to yield. One was flame, incandescent and explosive, while the other was fog and shadow, thick and corrosive.

The sight was mesmerizing, like watching a cyclone approach before him, knowing he was powerless to stop it. Cyrus was momentarily left silent, unaware of the flaming whisk drawing closer.

"Boy, listen," Latriaen said urgently, "We're trapped in a spatial distortion called Slaugh—something. I don't remember." There was a pause as the two energies pulled back and smashed into each other again, drawing another shockwave. "But unless you want to stay here forever, you must follow my orders."

"Help?" Cyrus returned to the clashing energies, glimpsing vague silhouettes within the fires and shadows. "How?"

He was just an ordinary guy. A mere speck in this conflict.

Another sudden explosion resounded as the two energies smashed into opposite ends of the crater. Cyrus knelt down, shielding himself as the flaming energy converged into a single point, shaping into something.

"L-latriaen, is that you?"

What appeared was several colors shaped into a humanoid. Its head was of pure red fire while it stepped forward with viridian legs of vitality. With arms of pure gray, arcanic arms, it revealed that all too familiar spear, appearing small compared to the now four-meter tall being. And what held this collage of colors together was a torso that seamlessly shifted blends of green, gray, and red.

Latriaen, meteor-class master mage, has taken the stage!

He lifted his spear, which shifted into an incandescent red so hot that it melted the rock below it. The air then simmered around him as he took flight with great flames lifting him upwards. A great flame covered his body as he transformed into another fireball, trailing flames on its end.

It barely took a second before Latriaen crashed into the shadowy fogball, which had grown larger and sprouted tendrils a meter thick in diameter. Another resounding explosion came. One that shocked Cyrus to his core by the sheer magnificence of what he was watching.

"Incredible," he muttered, his hands shaking. "Simply incredible."

Was that what mages aspire to become? His teacher looked like he was one with his elements—powerful, destructive, and—

—Imperfect. Cyrus frowned at the thought. Imperfect? How the hell—

—Dozens of fire and order runes sprang forth around the two, each working in tandem, shaping themselves into rings interconnected by fiery-infused mana. These magic circles spat forward flamethrowers and some ethereal arrow-like projectiles onto the clashing duo.

They struck with the wraith, leaving destruction and flame in their wake. Underneath the froth and shadow, there was a howl of anguish. Shadowy spears and bile spewed forth onto the meteor, only to melt at a moment's touch upon the flame. Not satisfied with the results, a pure, dark beam shot forward from the ball and crashed into the meteor, followed by dark explosions.

Whether they've done actual damage to the once Ork remained unseen. In retaliation, one magic circle shaped and twisted into a human-sized blacksmith's hammer of gray and red. It smashed downwards on the undulating mass, imprinting its shape onto the fucking dirt, and exploded in a wave of fiery and arcanic destruction.

Then came the barrage of glamors: walls of fire, falling meteorites, spiraling heat beams, falling arcane arrows, flame shields, translucent swords, and spears barreling downward. Latriaen proved there and then his worth as a master mage when twenty translucent arcane hands lifted up a boulder and smashed it down on the wight's tumorous flesh.

But whereas Latriaen showed complexity and sophistication, the wraith was pure primality. Waves of sludge melted even the stone and dirt, dark tendrils stabbing forward or simply smashing into the fire mage.

Cyrus remained transfixed at the sight. Was this really what a mage could truly do? The books, teachings, and experience gave him ideas, but he was too far, too fresh into this new world.

Now, he knew what was to come. And it was out of his world.

He watched as thick tendrils latched onto his teacher, dragging the flying fireball closer to the ground—closer to it. But a snort came from the fireball as it burned a searing white and shot upwards. And Cyrus watched it flying into the distance with the wraith latched onto it.

"He left," Cyrus dumbly said. "What now?"

"Boy, listen." Cyrus shook, surprised at a dwindling fiery whisp that spoke in his master's voice. "I left this memory here. We're stuck in a spatial anomaly, and while I distract the wight, you must find an exit. I—ugh, I don't know much of these places." There was a pause. "But I recall being told of such places have convergences of mana or magical cores. Find it. Break it." The flame shrank into a mere ember. "Look for large sources of mana, crystals, fonts, affinity—whatever. Use your flare again."

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

The fire then died out. Shocked and silent, Cyrus shifted his gaze toward the meteor as it flew into the distance, besieged by dark tendrils and sludge. He watched them crash into an unscathed forest part before another distant explosion reverberated past him.

"That was amazing," Cyrus muttered, his gaze falling into a daze.

For a moment, he wondered how he would appear if he reached his master's degree. A being comprised of life, fire, light, and maybe space? But now there were more important matters. Like this 'mana core' Latriaen spoke of.

He crossed his arms in thought. How was he supposed to find and break a 'magical convergence' when he couldn't even shape his flame into a perfect sphere? It was such an enormous place, too. But maybe he had already found it?

"That pond." Cyrus paced around, rubbing his scraggly beard. "Or maybe the cave?"

The wight had appeared and attacked when he returned to it. Maybe there was something hidden he missed? Moreover, he had awakened in what he assumed was some sort of spatial tunnel. Wouldn't there be a connection between it and whatever connected the two together?

But then there was that dark font of energy. What if it was holding this place together? It had been stated that the darkness domain could mimic other domains.

Annoyed, Cyrus tsked at the thought. If his conjecture were true, how on earth was he to break it? Even his mentor was unable to.

Chirp!

Cyrus' attention snapped to the left. And what he knew, Bird came back! It flew toward and landed before him.

"Bird!" Cyrus knelt before it, a frown strewing across his face. "Why did you come back? You're supposed to be far, far away."

The Bird didn't respond. It simply stared at him in silence.

"Oh, don't give me that look," Cyrus harrumphed, standing back up and crossing his arms. "You saw that thing. I had no other choice! How was I supposed to know that mentor would just start swooping? Nobody swoops!"

There was a pause between the two. At that moment, Cyrus' shoulders slackened at the sight of the canary.

"Well, the good news is that you're okay!" He smiled at the little canary. "Right?"

Bird simply stared at him. And Cyrus could somehow feel its displeasure.

"Look—I'm sorry, alright?" He placed a hand on his chest. "And I promise I won't do it again... maybe."

In response, Bird remained silent. It wasn't until a breath later that it flapped to his shoulder, nestling itself.

Cyrus sighed and handed it a small seed from his pouch. "Good. Now, let's go."

Forward, he went westward in the direction his teacher came from. His idea was to arrive at something familiar before heading off to the cave. Then, he would figure out what to do next after searching the place. However, as he skirted around the crater, his gaze remained on the impact site, transfixed. Slowly, his calm expression shifted to frustrated helplessness.

That thing let me live. Cyrus sighed, retrieving a mana crystal and sapping it of its energies.

Now that he was 'safe,' he recalled what had just transpired. It had hundreds of tendrils, the power to engulf him in darkness, and possible teleportation. And it was just... toying with him. All his hard work was meant for naught. What Cyrus thought was improvement and growth was spat into his face as if it were a mere joke.

And it's all because of... that.

Within the back of his mind, a memory appeared superimposed. An entity made of gnarled flesh, wearing his own flesh in a mocking sneer. It held two blackened fingers before Cyrus' eyes, threatening to gouge them out.

An unbidden trepidation formed around his heart. It threatened to squeeze and squeeze until it stopped beating, reminding him that control was an illusion.

Is there no escape? What did it want from him?

The idea began to fester in Cyrus's mind as he headed deeper into the dark forest. His mind was turbulent, and he tried everything from recalling old happy memories to reviewing his magical lessons. But nothing helped. The creeping thoughts remained just behind him, ready to grab hold of his neck and yank him backward.

And Cyrus' steps faltered there and then.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Cyrus unconsciously scratched his arm. Then, he broke into a sprint, with Bird falling off. Ignoring Bird's calls from behind, Cyrus ran and ran as if to escape. He continued despite the explosions in the far distance, knowing that his teacher was fighting for his life.

Cyrus no longer wanted to reach the cave again. He was so sure that something was waiting for him. Waiting to throw him into a pit of despair. So, Cyrus kept running. He ran until his lungs began to heave, and his legs grew numb. And even when Cyrus tripped and collapsed onto the ground, his mind thought of nothing but running away from all of this.

Rising to all fours, Cyrus clutched at the dirt and grass, impotently throwing them to the side. What was he supposed to do? He didn't ask for this. He did not want this. And gods, why was this forest so fucking silent?!

Chirp!

Bird landed before him. It stared at him with those beady eyes before moving closer.

Staring at the little guy, Cyrus abruptly feigned a laugh. "You must be hungry, right?" He moved to a sitting position and sifted through his pouch. "It's been like since you last ate."

But Bird remained silent. Slowly, gently, it hopped closer and closer until it stood just before Cyrus' lap. Then, with a flap of its wings, it sprang onto and nestled on it.

The action brought Cyrus to a pause. He gazed toward the skies and sighed. "There's no foolin' you, is there?"

Chirp!

Bitterly smiling, Cyrus grabbed a nearby fallen stick and channeled his mana. After making a torch, he planted it on the ground and resumed searching through his pouch.

"You still need to eat," He muttered, retrieving a pouch of seeds and pouring them into a small wooden bowl. "Go ahead."

Chirp!

Thankfully, Bird was quick to move and enjoy its meal. Yet the sight of it eating reminded Cyrus of his predicament. Quickly, he sifted through his pouch and counted his supplies—only three health potions and piles of crystals. More importantly, there was only enough food for a week, if even he would last that long.

The supplies brought a sudden weight on his shoulders. If they don't find a way out, Cyrus will starve to death.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.