14th Nuru, year 522 Post First Eclipse (P.F.E.)
West of Aestania, Great Forest of Bowa
"Kuma! Stop dawdling and finish your work so we can get out of here—I'm freezing!"
As she spoke, the girl squeezed the tips of her brown hair, tying even more around her neck and mouth.
"Hahaha, okay, okay. Sorry, Shyla," Kuma replied, his ash-colored eyes crinkling as a broad, warm smile broke across his face.
There was a pleasant atmosphere between the two, in stark contrast to the grim setting of their 'work': a monster extermination request from the villagers of Komba.
As the pair of magicians walked, Kuma played with the white wand in his hand out of boredom, Shyla kept retreating through her hair.
Looking ahead, a dim blue light peeped into the forest.
"Look, Kuma! We've finally found the source of the undead. I just hope there isn't a Lich inside that rift..."
"Don't worry. The undead we've seen so far were just skeletons and a few ghosts—the lowest tier. If there were a first-grade monster like a Lich in there, getting this close wouldn't have been so easy."
"Kuma, I know how it works, thank you."
Shyla answered in a disgruntled tone.
The two looked at each other for a second, and then continued to walk.
In silence, the girl spoke again.
"I was thinking, the request came to the magical association about a week ago, the inhabitants of Komba are frightened, but they are fine. If there had been a first-class RIP, at this time the village-"
"Shyla! Behind you!"
At that cry, the third-class sorceress turned around, noticing two skeletons running towards her.
Without being alarmed, she bolted to put some distance between her and the two monsters, then placed her open hand stretched forward.
*Breath*
"Terra"
The next second, a golden diagram appeared beneath the two skeletons.
Stone blocks came out of the ground, attaching themselves to the monsters' legs, causing them to fall.
Behind Shyla, Kuma held the wand in his left hand, then closed his eyes.
*Breath*
A yellow light shone from the tip of the white wand, while a diagram of the same color as the sun slowly emerged above the two skeletons.
After a few breaths, Kuma opened his eyes.
"Lux"
A column of light descended violently on the pair of monsters, instantly charring them.
Seeing the result, the magicians sighed at the same time, while Kuma fell to sit on the ground.
"Uff... I thought it was something else, but we noticed it!" Kuma said satisfied.
"I would say we're going to finish it here tonight. We go back to the village, we report what is going on through an Armol and we return. After this ambush, I would say that we need second-class magicians... I don't feel comfortable here."
Shyla looked worriedly at the ash pile of the two skeletons.
"You're right, although after this mission we may be the second-class magicians," said Kuma, standing up and cleaning his pants.
"I don't care. I need rest, we don't sleep for two nights."
At that moment, the dim light of the RIP grew.
The two magicians turned suddenly towards the light.
"Something came out."
"Yes. Kuma, prepare the concealment spell..."
But the moment the words left her mouth, Shyla wished they had left sooner. From the forest emerged a second-grade undead: a Wraith.
"Shit! Hurry up!"
As Kuma disperately began to cast, the Wraith locked its lifeless, irisless eyes on Shyla.
Frozen in fear, she couldn't dodge the monster's bolt of lightning, which struck cleanly—severing her neck.
Kuma watched in horror, his hands trembling.
The fear shattered his focus and the diagram forming in front of his wand fractured into dust.
The Wraith didn't hesitate. With one swift motion, it sliced off Kuma's head.
Under the first full moon of the month, Kuma saw in his final moments his own headless body collapse to the ground under a crimson rain.
******
Meanwhile Capital of Aestania, Moder
"Run, Silver! Run!"
*Woof!*
"You little bastard, come here!"
the two small figures passed quickly through the crowd, followed by a robust middle-aged man, one attributable to a medium-sized dog with a peculiar silver-white fur, while the other to a fairly thin child with hair as dark as the moonless night, adorned with white shades reminiscent of stars.
The child was trying to escape after winning the card game called "Witch Out", counting cards illegally.
And he had won quite a bit too, 5 gold coins! They were worth two or three months of wages of an ordinary employee at the Magical Association.
Adamas and his little dog Silver continued to run, they knew where to pass and where the streets led, so that the man wouldn't reach them.
Suddenly, however, while running, Adamas didn't see a woman at the corner of the street, which made him stumble in the alley he was going to, managing to make the pursuer reach him.
"Ouch! What the hell are you doing?!"
The man approached, making the difference in size between the two clear, also because the fight was about to take place between a middle-aged man and a 13-year-old child.
"Listen! It's not my fault you lost the last hand, you bet badly~" Adams said with a calmness that questioned both his age and his intelligence.
But he said that because he knew that behind him there was a wooden fence with a cut board used as an emergency passage.
Unfortunately he was unable to take enough time to get close to his escape route.
Without giving him an answer, the man grabbed the child by the throat, first bringing him to his height, and then threw him to the ground, causing the poor boy to spit saliva.
Seeing the scene, Silver began to bark at the man, producing no result other than pissing him off even more.
The man began walking towards Silver, who, frightened, began to tremble on the spot.
"What's wrong dog? Not barking anymore? Fucking beast", in the meantime he was aiming a kick towards the poor creature, but to his great surprise, the kick missed, causing him to fall to the ground on his butt.
The dog Silver had magically disappeared from there and reappeared next to Adamas, who meanwhile continued to cough from the blow from before.
*clap clap*
A slow, sarcastic clap echoed through the alley.
"Is it fun to pick on a child? Do you think I should try it too?"
"And who the fuck are you?", the man said angrily, only to immediately realize that the person in front of him was too peculiar: a crimson red robe cut out the figure in space, in his left hand he had a stick with a diagram on the end with in the center a white light
"Shit, he's a magician" he thought
"I apologize for the mess created, Sir. Magician, but the 'child' behind me is a thief"
"Mhm, I see", but immediately afterwards, the diagram above the stick changed, becoming an intense red color, and, without realizing it, the man found himself without a leg, falling horribly into his own blood
"FUUUUCK, MY LEEEG!" he cried out in pain, but froze when he realized that his leg was there, intact, as if nothing had happened.
"Look, I'm not even interested in your motives, you shouldn't take justice into your own hands."
"You are absolutely right, I apologize to you, Sir. Magician", a drop of sweat slowly ran down the man's back.
"Today I am very happy because I found the objects I needed, disappear from my sight"
"Thank you very much, Sir. Magician, I will remember your mercy for the rest of my life.", in the meantime he bowed and went towards the magician, to exit the alley.
But as soon as the man passed him, he suddenly turned and stabbed the magician in the back.
"He's an idiot! Ahahahaha"
The blow hit home, plunging the dagger into the magician's back and, feeling the hot liquid dripping onto his hands, the man laughed out loud, and then spit blood immediately afterwards.
*cough cough*
"What the fuck?!?!"
Without saying a word, the magician imprisoned the man on his knees in a cage of fire, blocking his movements.
"You are under arrest for making an attempt on the life of Red Tower Commander Alexander Rubino."