"Congratulations on becoming a mage," Toris said.
"Thank you. Ryan replied, doing a quick victory dance with his hands.
"Stop celebrating, you still have a very long way to go without much time. We're losing the war, but quite slowly, if it wasn't for the Great Mountains that separate our races then everyone would already have died years ago," Toris cautioned, his expression serious.
"But what about the reason I was sent here—the reason the divine sent me here?" Ryan asked, his excitement dampening slightly.
"The black monster invasions? They do not, and never have, posed a problem for this world; this time will be no different." Toris reassured him with a slight grin.
That's a red flag, thought Ryan, smirking, as he recalled stories from when he was on Earth.
"Okay, now we need to find out which elemental affinity you have. Most heroes have two affinities." Toris explained.
"To test your affinity, there are two different ways, im going to use the more common one which will require me to touch your forehead and send my mana into you. If my mana sense sees brown, for example, your affinity is earth, which is my one; if I see nothing… you have no affinity. I'm not sure what a combination would look like, but let's see!" Toris finished, curiously reaching out and touching Ryan's forehead.
Ryan's face began to relax as warm mana flowed into his forehead. But suddenly, his expression twisted into one of agony, and he let out chilling screams.
"AH-AHHH!"
Ryan felt the scorching hot mana coursing through him uncontrollably, overwhelming his senses.
He passed out, head slamming against the floor.
—————
"What happened?" Muttered Ryan, slowly rising up while a hand clung to his head, which was sending out pangs of pain.
He looked around the room, trying to understand what had just happened, until his gaze fell upon Toris.
A splatter of blood was all that remained of Toris' head; the rest of his body was left kneeling up right.
A rush of footsteps could be heard echoing in the corridor outside.
James and Jared burst into the room, and Jared immediately rushed to check on Toris. Horror washed over him as he realised that Toris… had no head.
5 minutes ago…
Toris started panicking. "Why isn't it working? Ryan?" He shouted.
Ryan suddenly stopped screaming and mechanically stood up. His eyes were perfectly yellow, with no pupils.
Toris stood up as well and began stepping backward.
"What are you doing, Ryan?"
Suddenly, Ryan reached out, picking Toris up by his throat.
Toris immediately reacted by casting "Terra Pugnus!" A hardened fist of earth crashed into Ryan's stomach, causing him to let go of Toris, who was now coughing while holding his neck.
Ryan slowly walked toward Toris, who was backing up while still on the floor.
"STOP! It was an accident, Ryan!"
"Non credo ita," Ryan uttered. He waved his hand at Toris, before suddenly collapsing to the floor again.
Toris grabbed his head. A second later, it exploded.
Back to the present...
Drawing his sword, Jared turned to face Ryan, his eyes blazing with anger and accusation. "You—You killed him!" he shouted, his voice trembling with rage.
"No! It wasn't me, I didn't do it!" Ryan protested his heart racing with fear and guilt, remembering every moment.
But Jared dismissed his protests, unsheathing his sword. "There's no way you are lying out of this. You'll pay for what you've done," he declared, his voice cold.
Ryan felt a surge of panic as Jared advanced towards him, the blade of his sword gleaming in the dim light of the room. Desperate, Ryan cast a spell, channelling all his mana into his fingertip and closing his eyes.
Please work!
"Lux!" he screamed, releasing a blinding burst of light that temporarily stunned Jared and bought Ryan precious seconds to escape.
With adrenaline coursing through his veins, Ryan bolted out of the exit but slowed down as he heard more rushing footsteps.
Four guards turned the corner ahead of him, rushing towards the training hall. "Hey hero! Did you hear that screaming and shouting? What is happening?" asked the young guard.
"I'm not sure, but I won't find out as I have been summoned to Commander Marcus! Bye!" Ryan quickly responded, trying to maintain his composure.
The guards waved him off before they rushed off to the training hall, and the second they disappeared into the hall, Ryan sprinted, turning and weaving down corridor. Occasionally, he walked as quietly as possible in order to hide his footsteps.
But it didn't work, and now they were gaining distance.
Ryan's feet began flying as he paced down corridor after corridor.
It's over. They will catch me. Do I try and explain that… that I killed Toris but it wasn't me? No that—
Lost in thoughts, he turned a corner and bumped into an elderly man, the old guard, his eyes filled with concern and compassion. Ryan hesitated for a moment, his breath coming in ragged gasps, before finally speaking.
"I… I didn't mean to... I didn't mean to hurt him," he stammered, his voice trembling with emotion.
Before the old guard could respond, an unknown figure entered the dim hallway.