Ruinous Return

Lyn stepped through the portal and was met with yet another square room with a square pedestal. This room, however, looked ancient even by dungeon standards. Every surface was covered in coral, and she could tell it was razor-sharp just by the look. Gael and Vael stepped through behind her and Gael whistled, "Impressive."

Lyn poured mana into Cataclysm, "I have a feeling this will be water themed," she stated as she willed the weapon to shift into its spear shape. She reached into her storage choker and pulled out the mouthpiece, "You both should use a water breathing spell."

The twins glanced at each other, and Vael sighed, "How?"

Lyn smirked as she turned to them, "Well, not water-breathing like a fish. You have control of water, so that means you can create a hydrophobic bubble around yourselves." They both stared at her blankly. Right. They don't know science. Even middle school level. "Alright. Repeat after me."

The twins did, and the final result was a complex, multi-verse spell. "En ethiel an le / thalion min / a go-enni nin rhaw / a e-mîr en-aear / i garan min haw / a leithio erin padad / min en-aear." A thin film of water surrounded both of their bodies, one that would keep air trapped within.

Lyn also walked over and channeled her mana into her channels, "Leithio i gwaed en-gweal / an rithia i hathol / a thui min ennas / anno nîn haw." A tiny needle of wind shot from her hand and pierced the bubble surrounding each of them, and a persistent, refreshing, windy breeze stuck within the bubble. "And now you both will have air as long as I'm alive."

She turned back to the pedestal and went through her usual slate of combat-oriented internal spells. Her skin toughened, her muscles bulked, and all of her combat traits were amplified as she churned her mana into her channels and through her body. It felt warm and comforting, and she slipped the underwater breathing inscribed item into her mouth, letting the mana flow into that as well. Placing her hand on the square pillar, it descended. The room fell away, and in an instant, all three found themselves underwater. Lyn's armor sank her to the ocean floor, as did her two allies behind her. Lyn peered into the deep blue liquid, catching the occasional hint of movement. She was breathing calmly, but her movement would be slowed because of the liquid. External spells that relied on movement through space – such as lava and earth – would be slowed. And, in the case of lava, would be severely impeded as the water would sap away the heat.

Vael shouted something that was garbled by the waters, and Lyn wheeled around. The two had loosed bolts into the water…which only went about ten feet before floating in place. We need harpoon guns, she thought as the two switched to spears and shields. That is when the creature came into view and plowed into Vael. It was a huge, hammerhead shark with spiked skin akin to a pufferfish. It didn't bite down into the female warrior, and she had interposed the shield – the one made of Titansteel, that prevented forced movement. There was a loud thud that echoed through the water as the creature was stopped by the immovable object.

Lyn took advantage of the opportunity to move forward – but she was slow, and the creature was moving away. To hell with this. "En ethiel an le / thalion min / govanno nanui / a malthen sui gweal / brad sui gilgalad / a dagnir nan govadhren." She used the same spell she had used against the Demonic Dragon, inspired by James' lightspeed Paragon-only spell, she felt the winds gather behind her as she flashed forward through the water, leaving an explosive wake behind her that collapsed in on itself from the water pressure.

She plunged Cataclysm into the creature, and it writhed on her weapon. It was an imitation of James' spell, and his didn't take momentum into account, so the maneuver jolted Lyn's head and she felt it bounce around in her skull, concussing her. It wasn't an issue last time, because she died. And during training prior to that fight with the Demonic Dragon, she had only done short bursts for this exact reason.

It puffed itself up, and the spiky hide impacted Lyn's armor, forcing her back. Gael and Vael were not moved, however, and Vael threw her spear aside and grabbed the creature by one of the hammer protrusions on the side of its head. Gael came around and shoved his spear up through the pinned creature's mouth, into the brain, killing it instantly. It vanished into nothingness.

"Anor min / nartho hain I daeth nin." Lyn used the internal regeneration spell and felt her hazy mind clear as the waters darkened. She looked at her two allies and beckoned them closer. "It's not over," she said. They got the message from her signal and walked over on the sandy surface. She used her hand to turn Vael around and put her back-to-back with Gael. Lyn took a third position so they covered multiple directions, and the trio waited for whatever was coming next.

"Halt!" A voice called out in Khrelardian.

Brad brought his horse to a halt in front of the imposing edifice. A huge fortification that put the Great Wall of China to shame. You'd have to be suicidal to attack this place. The only entrance was a single corridor flanked on either side by stone cavalry spikes that looked razor sharp, and that's when Brad saw that they were tipped with obsidian, and he winced. Those would break off in a person. Nasty. He held up the symbol Volio had given him.

Minutes passed and the gates ponderously opened. He took this as the signal to move forward, but had an invisibility potion on his bandolier right across his torso. The Alchemist hero was special amongst all on Ghomar, even more than other heroes, in that he could create spells and keep them for future use indefinitely. He had to put the mana into the brew as he was making it, unlike inscription where mana was used to activate it at a moment's notice. He took a draw on the cigar he had rolled from Blisterbloom; it had a spicy, almost peppery flavor – but he was not using it to gain a euphoric high. He had made this for a singular purpose; to rapidly infuse the bloodstream with a perception-enhancing and reaction-speed increasing herb. This smokable wasn't even doing damage to his lungs, thanks to his formulation.

A squad of Duskari soldiers in a tight formation ran out and took up a position in front of him. One of them spoke in broken Khrelardian, "You. Hero. Go Destroyer."

Brad frowned, crap. I knew I should've studied Arinol. He raised the symbol once more and slowly urged his mount forward. The squadron formed up around him, and he clipped the symbol to his bandolier. He sighed in relief; unsure which way this whole venture was going to go. But he had no choice. Khrelardia wouldn't take him; he had pissed off the King and was banished from there. Trisk, likewise, he had been banished from. All due to dumb decisions when he first arrived.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

After all, what does a pothead do when they have magical powers and can identify the most potent herbs for the use in drug concoctions? They make the dopest shit ever. And he got rich off of it. But, inevitably, higher-ups realized the harm he was doing to their citizens, and he was exiled. From two kingdoms! Only Shereld took him in, and they kept a strict lock on his practices.

But by then…he'd learned his lesson. He had to go cold turkey from all manner of drugs, but he got through it. Spells made the process easier, but it was not pleasant. Then…Cecily took over. Tortured him. Cut off bits of him that made him a man. He felt the rage burning within, a desire for nothing more than to carve her to bits like she had done to him.

I'm going to revolutionize this world, he thought. Alongside Lyn, he could create a pharmaceutical powerhouse. Bring medicine to the masses. Show them the potency of herbalism for a whole host of issues. No drugs, nothing addictive. He didn't want to glorify the use of something that he, after recovering from it, realized had ruined his life.

Another squad joined in front, shadowing the group from afar, and Brad finished off the cigar, crushing the embers in his scarred palm before putting it into a pouch.

Lyn's eyes darted back and forth in the ever-deepening depths. It was almost pitch-black. Damn, can't use smell or hearing to find this thing. She had one option, and she knew she would regret using it. "Dollon nin naid / sui an pan nin nad / en-naith / athano a thui." Her vision, vanished. The same went for her ability to hear and smell. The internal spell suppressed all of her senses – save for her sense of touch. That was amplified so much that she could sense vibrations in the water. Gael and Vael directly behind her were easy to visualize as vague humanoid shapes.

Circling them was a sinuous shape. Some type of serpent, Lyn had no idea what it looked like. But she knew exactly where it was. She slid her feet forward through the sand as she got closer to the creature – and then it shifted. She kicked up and off the ocean floor, dodging through the water as one end of the shape whipped to her, and she could 'see' through the vibration that a mouth of some type had opened and snapped down right where she had been. She stabbed forward, and struck the creature with Cataclysm.

The spear stuck in the thing, and it began to swim off with her hanging onto it. The water whipped past her, and she had to drop the internal spell as the rushing water triggered the vibration sense far too much. She pulled herself down the spear until she felt the leathery hide of the creature, and she jammed her draconic-clawed hand into the flesh, grabbing a large handful to affix herself. "Leithio anor lasto ui nin ganuin / a britho pân i gro."

The mana coursed down her arm and a surge of lava spewed right into the creature, with no water to cool it. It melted down and the creature's screech echoed through the water as it went limp.

The water vanished, and Lyn fell prone, still clutching her spear, onto the ground of the square chamber. Vael and Gael were standing a few dozen feet away on the other side of the room. Lyn pulled the mouthpiece out and stowed it in the collar storage.

"Are you okay?" Vael asked, running up to offer a hand.

Lyn took the hand and pulled herself upright, "I'm fine. You two?"

"Not a scratch," Gael stated. "What was it?"

"Some type of serpent. I wasn't looking."

Gael raised a questioning brow, "Oh?"

"Internal spell. Amplified sense of touch to the point I could 'see' vibrations," she used air quotes around the word 'see', and hoped the gesture was known by Duskari. Thankfully, Gael seemed to understand, and nodded. Lyn looked up and took a deep breath. "Okay. Onto the next chamber."

There was a knock on the closet door. "Professor Misery, it's been three days. The students are getting worried."

Misty came out of her fugue state at the sound of her assistants who taught the younger and less experienced magi. Just go to work and forget it all. She stood up and muttered a simple spell that cleansed her and her clothing before opening the closet door.

The man on the other side, Assistant Professor Jacoby, was one of the Raptin. A humanoid-avian race, he took after a falcon with piercing eyes, a long, sharp beak, and reddish-brown feathers. "I took on as much as I could, but the other APs were running out of lessons to teach this cadre."

Misty went to her bookshelf and unlatched the magical trap, reaching in to remove several large books that Thomas and she had compiled. The mage school was free to any who wanted to attend, and the multitude of inscriptions around the large academy ensured that food, clothing, and water were plentiful…provided the attendee had enough mana to activate the inscriptions. That weeded out those that would never be mages. Well, unless they defeated a dungeon, which was highly unlikely. Even so, she had anywhere from a hundred to five hundred students present throughout the year.

They had designed the school to be a place where mages could get their start. Cover all the basics and bring back the study of Elenthir. The language was…difficult. Only herself, Thomas, and Lyn had full mastery of the language – and that was due to their mana cores. Even her most veteran student who was a polyglot only memorized around twenty percent of Elenthir. That is what most of the learning was – language. With enough knowledge of Elenthir…anything was possible.

Well, provided the person's mana core was suited to the spell they were attempting to perform. And that was the second function of the school, practical training. Misty handed the books to AP Jacoby, "Here you go. This should be good for the third years." There was no real limit to how long someone could stay, but she only had enough curriculum developed to last for a ten-year course of study.

Jacoby bowed and straightened his dress robe, "Of course. I'll make sure that this gets to the other APs." He left, and as he left, someone else pushed in. Thomas, being supported by Stellas – one of her fourth-year students. "Thomas? You're…awake?"

"Putting me in a coma was an interesting choice," Thomas muttered as Stellas helped him to a seat opposite Misty's desk. He sank into it with a sigh. "Well, it was good letting the dream persist for a while."

Misty sat down and incanted a short spell to produce icy-cool water into a nearby jug, before handing a cup to Thomas. Stellas sat down in the chair next to him. Misty stared at the man as he sipped the liquid. "What do you want?"

Thomas smirked, "Just like that? No, 'how are you holding up'? Not asking me, 'you died? What was it like?' Just…what do I want?"

Misty nodded, "My debt to you is more than repaid. So, what do you want?"

"Nothing. I'm leaving. I just wanted to thank you, that's all." Thomas downed the water and stood up. "I'm going to be heading to Trisha and Ben's place." He glanced out the window that faced South.

Misty leaned forward on the desk. "Why?"

"I need a place closer to the Valley of the Volcano. I can teach the Baxter children while I recon." He turned back to her. "Lyn is alive. Volio told me as much, and that…declaration we all heard…that doesn't sound like a deity of destruction. They would seek to destroy it all…but they want people to be well-fed and children to be cared for?" He shook his head, "It makes no sense for a destroyer to think that way. But…Lyn was abused. She grew up poor. You know that better than anyone else."

Misty looked down at the table, tracing the familiar knots of wood through their intricate maze. Lyn was poor, Misty thought. And abused, but we all had our own form of it. She had spent the most time with Lyn out of every summoned student. They grew up together, her in the run-down cottage, and Lyn in the nearby mobile-home park. I know the fucked up stuff her dad did. If she did have the power of the Demonic Dragon, she would definitely use it to fix shit. But she had seen the past. She used the spell that let her view Lyn's heroic sacrifice. She saw her friend dash from an obsidian spire that had impaled her, into the Demonic Dragon's skull. She saw the head explode, and Lyn collapse in a heap from the momentum liquifying her bones. Then the lava covered her, and she was no more.

Safe space safe space safe space. She stood up and went to the closet, "Get out of here!" she shouted as she slammed the door behind her and curled up in the corner. She's alive she's alive she's alive…