The Escapist's Trial

[The Lone Ninja Escapist]

Hello, fellow Centralians. This is a new story I purely made for curing my need to write. The story is set apart from my Crescent Wolves series--which I'm stuck with some overlasting writer's block until the holidays come around--and takes place in a different setting where my in-game friends will make their first appearance ever in any of my stories.
I hope you will enjoy this piece, I welcome any CnC even though this is just for free-write.

Prologue

Wizard City is renowned for Ravenwood, which the famous Wizard named Merle Ambrose, and his trusted owl companion, Gamma, founded when they discovered Bartleby as a portal to all of the Spiral's worlds. He started this school in hopes of educating many young Wizards in their destined schools: Fire, Ice, Storm, Myth, Life, Death, and Balance; to make them realize their potential and make use of it for the good of society.

But that's what everyone believed.

I, as a Master Conjurer attending this school, have been through so much neglect among my classmates and I am often teased for acting outside of girlhood by the girls in the dormitory. I've come a long way to advance in my studies but I could not keep my classmate's ill-treatment away from clouding my mind. I wanted them to leave me alone--but I feel that urge to do worse things against them, but they will just get me sent to detention or the Headmaster's office. So there is nothing I can do but remain in the dark.

By enrolling in Ravenwood, I thought that I would find something special in myself. Boy, was I wrong. This school was just ground for picking out the most attractive and strong Wizards to be glorified, then to ridicule those who are indeed trying to improve their magical studies. I found myself being in the lowest status than anyone else, again there was nothing for me to do to climb up the popularity ladder--even though popularity is not a priority to me but it's the respect I yearned for. All I know is that, if I continue to suffer this way in school I'm never going to find my place in Wizard City. I wish I can leave this world to somewhere so far away, I'll be away from all of my troubles and never have to go through these persecutions ever again!



Chapter 1
Exams


A breezy spring wind brushed Grandfather Bartleby's leaves from his vast web of branches as he slumbered peacefully during the afternoon class rush. In Ravenwood, the school trees witnessed the young students moving place-to-place with textbooks in their arms and backpacks slumped behind them. It was the day of spring testing that's got the students agitated about studying and remembering to bring extra parchment and ink.

Sarah BattleThief was an exception. The young Conjurer regularly studied after her classes so she could memorize her notes before the next lessons. She is mostly kept to herself in Professor Cyrus Drake's class, which made her classmates forget that she existed. Sarah paid no mind to this whenever she had her face in her sketchbook filling in new entries on monsters and legendary creatures that she found from spending time in the Wizard City Library's fiction collection. She read stories about heroes and places of Myth that excited her about the Spiral's ancient and mysterious history.

The Myth classroom began to fill in as Conjurers hurried to their desks before the front doors would magically lock them out and end up getting detention for tardiness. Sarah brought herself to her desk and laid out parchment and her ink well prepared for the final class of the day. A stern Professor Drake faced the students to give directions for the assessment.

"Write me a thirty-six inch essay about the dangers of conjuring an uncontrolled imagination. You have exactly one hour to complete it. Since there seems to be no hands for any questions, your exam starts now."

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A dreadful hour passes and the Conjurers stormed out of the Myth school stressed, yet relieved that the test was over. The students made their way out to the commons while Sarah remained in Ravenwood to sit besides Ivan, the Myth school's tree. For minutes the young Conjurer read a volume on beast tamers in the old days, the illustrations of the monsters these brave Wizards domesticated stunned her as she made rapid sketches of these creatures and tried to draw herself as their tamer.

Midnight, her Heckhound crawled out of Sarah's bag and stretched out his paws and back then yawned at the air, almost spitting a flame. He sat back down and laid his head onto the Wizard's leg and snoozed, occasionally snoring.

----------

The sun was settling in and Sarah prepared to put away her books into her bag and tapped Midnight to wake up. But the Heckhound was still drowsy so the Conjurer lifted him off the grass and headed towards the dorms.

Upon entering the dormitory, Sarah was startled by the immense volume of the girls' chattering that she quickly went up the stairs to her room where her bed awaited with royal-designed covers welcoming the Wizard with a comforting cushion. She dropped her bag on the floor and slumped on the bed. Her head hit the pillows, her eyes closed automatically, and dreamland awaits for the Conjurer's arrival.

[The Lone Ninja Escapist]

Chapter 2
Caste

I dreamed of being in a strange land that was never mentioned in a map of the Spiral. All I could tell was that tropical plants inhabited this world, more colorful compared to what a mere painter could create on his canvas. I explored this region with pure curiosity to what I may find.
A flock of firebirds flapped above my head cawing at the trees then escaped the forest through the canopy. A light shined upon me...

Blinded by the sunlight through the glass windows, Sarah finally woke up. It was Saturday morning, the weekend before spring break. The dorms must be less populated now for the Conjurer to use the study room. Swiftly, Sarah took some of her books with her and went downstairs.

She was correct, no one occupied this room so it was all to herself now. That was until the dorm entrance opened and there was Scarlet Blood with her circle of delinquents: Madison, Heather WildCatcher, and Jasmine SeaBloom. The sight of these girls were the last people Sarah ever wanted to see in the beginning of her vacation.

Scarlet is a Grandmaster Necromancer wearing black clothing with red trims along her dracomancer outfit. She had the same golden eyes as Sarah did, but her hair was raven black.

Madison is a Master Theurgist with innocent azure eyes, but Sarah knew very well of her little schemes better than anyone. She wore a yellow elegant dress which made her have the resemblance of a pleasant sunflower...but is perceived as a pesky dandelion in the Conjurer's view.

Heather is a Grandmaster Pyromancer in vindicator gear purely dyed blood red which matched her hair exactly. She is Scarlet's closest friend, a most loyal ally. Together these girls were the celebrities of Ravenwood, frequents and VIPs to every campus event, they were even the eye candy among the boy Wizards.

And lastly, but not considered the lowest threat, Jasmine is a third Grandmaster in the group, taking her studies in Storm magic. Her silver mane curled by her head to the front as if she was hit by a large breeze. Scarlet called her "the best fighter" of her group for Jasmine claimed many wins in Wizard City's arena matches, often dubbed as Warlord of the Restless Sea.

After a split moment Scarlet sneered, "Well isn't this a rare sight? The troll has finally emerged from its cavern."

Sarah didn't say anything but changed her course towards the dorm exit. Just when she was going pass them, Scarlet called. "Now wait, one minute!"

Sarah stopped in her steps.

"You do not walk past me without bowing down to nobility, troll." The gang began to crowd the Conjurer on the spot.

Rolling her eyes before turning to Scarlet, Sarah finally spoke out, "I don't recall that in the dorm rules. What makes you the boss around here?"

"It's a social standard," Scarlet grinned menacingly. "As the lowest caste around here, you're subject to respect your Queen."

The Conjurer almost scuffed at the sound of the Necromancer's statement. "That's ridiculous! The only reason you're queen is because of all those proms you go to. That's not a political status, it's just a dumb title--it's nothing!" With that she brushed them away, with Midnight racing behind her, and shut the door.

While heading towards the Ravenwood gate, Sarah felt the irritation she carried flowing down to her fingertips making her want to clench her fist. But as the source for this negative vibe distanced, she took a deep breath and dispelled the want of retaliation. Don't let it happen again, she reminded herself.

[The Lone Ninja Escapist]

Chapter 3
Library

The library was a lonesome place during the holidays, hardly any student entered here except for those who needed a study place or have curious minds about certain subjects. It was so silent that you could hear most of the mechanisms in the lobby and a small whoosh coming from the gliding library books.

Nolan Stormgate and Malorn Ashthorn passed the aisles with several books in hand as they talked to one another. Nolan is a Master Conjurer handsomely clothed in the brightest gold and royal blue trimmed hood and cape designed with Myth emblems. Malorn, like his friend, wore his own school's colors and symbols dressed like a jester but had the glint of serenity. Malorn's black hair hung from under his cap as he carried some textbooks on the topic of Death magic.

"So I was going to the Myth Tower to get Professor Drake some things for his class," Nolan said, "but when I came in there was this large troll plundering Drake's things. And what did I do? I stunned that monster and mopped him onto the floor with my Minotaur. Such a big guy, he was too easy to get rid of."

"Oh really?" Malorn replied sounding mildly interested in listening to Nolan's narrative.

"Great Raven, yeah! Professor Drake gave me extra credit for saving his tower, I think I'm his favorite student now."

"Well, I don't know. Does he even keep favorites?"

"For sure he'll only choose adepts, he hates having inexperienced Conjurers."

"That sounds likely..." Malorn dropped his attention to someone in the fiction section. He didn't expect to see them in the same place he was today. "She's here?"

"Who?" Nolan looked in Malorn's direction and pointed. "Oh. You mean--"

"No. No!" Malorn pulled his friend to the opposite side of the shelves, he then peeked above the books. "I can't believe she's actually in here."

Nolan looked at the girl again. "You mean Sarah Battlethief? She's in my class...Oh! So this is the girl you've been talking to in your sleep, right?"

"No--wait what? I talk in my sleep?"

"For two weeks straight to be exact."

Malorn shook his head. Fiddlebones.

"You like Sarah, don't you?"

Malorn was silent, but his grin was apparent for a "yes".

"How about you go say hello to her?"

"I-I have no idea how, dude."

"I can introduce you to her."

"How about no."

"Do you like her?"

Malorn wasn't going to answer, but it slipped from his lips in a tiny whisper. "Yes." He gazed at Sarah through the openings in the shelves intensely. "What do I say to her?"

"Try asking her about monsters. She seems to be into that kind of stuff."

"Anything else?"

Nolan shrugged.

Malorn took a deep breath before quietly pacing to the other side of the bookshelves, pretending to browse its contents. Sarah turned her head noticing Malorn but didn't give any more attention after a couple of seconds. Then, Malorn side-glanced taking a quick observation of her. She had a mess of brown bangs hanging over her golden eyes, the rest of her head was shrouded in her unfurled hair. Guess she didn't brush her hair this morning, he concluded. Besides her, a Heckhound watched the Conjurer sliding her finger along the book spines whispering words out of earshot until she finally picked one out. Malorn's heart slowly beated against his chest as he watched her graceful movements go about. He carefully paced close to her, his heart began beating harder than ever. Finally, he sighed then tapped her on the shoulder. Sarah turned.

"Excuse me, have you seen a book on Bone drakes? I need it for an assignment."

Sarah stared in deep thought then mumbled, "What about Bone drakes? The spell? A handbook?"

"Oh, you know...the general stuff," Malorn replied nervously without looking at her.

The Conjurer continued to stare, slowly she turned away to avoid eye contact. "There's a handbook called Claws, Wings, and Scales under the Spiral section over there." Malorn looked in the direction of Sarah's pointing finger for no reason and shook his head. That didn't work.

"Do you know, by any chance, what the difference between a dragon and a basilisk is?"

"A dragon usually has wings and horns and breathes fire--or whatever element they are. And a basilisk is a giant lizard without wings that can stun its prey with its glare and breathes a deadly breath." Sarah seemed annoyed explaining to Malorn. "You can get a better idea if you looked in a book."

The Necromancer clearly noticed that Sarah is trying to get him to go away. It gave him an uncomfortable feeling that she didn't like him. He was tarnishing his impression to her, he needed to do something else besides throwing out obvious questions that made him look stupider than his level. Luckily no one else was there to witness it. Malorn took a peek at what Sarah was reading. She was looking at a page of Death creatures; vampires, zombies, and scarecrows drawn in it. This gave Malorn an idea.

"So, you're interested in those?" Malorn asked as casually as he could.

Sarah lowered the book. "The Death school not really, but I am fascinated by its monsters." There was a pause for a moment, then she spoke again. "You're a necromancer, right?"

"Yes."

"Can you answer something for me?"

"Oh--um, sure." Malorn was surprised by the outcome. She wants me to answer a Death question.

"When you animate a creature, do you ever think of the creature or are you only speaking its name to summon it?"

This doesn't seem like such a difficult question. "Well, when we animate, we don't normally call by names nor do we think of them," Malorn explained. "We just command for whether creature hears us to summon for our aid. It could be a skeleton. A ghost. Although there's a chance that we can get the creature we want, it's really up to those things on whether they'll come by the caster's orders."

"So if even if I call a specific undead, such as a scarecrow, a different creature will take its place?"

"That's how it sounds. And for those outside the Death school might not be able to summon every one of the undead." Malorn added, "Animate is a special spell for only us necromancers, we know how to deal with summoning and controlling undead minions more than other schools would. Like you are a Conjurer, you can summon what?"

"Puppets, trolls, cyclopes, and minotaurs--that's all I know so far."

"Let's take it that I wanted to summon a minotaur. According to your school you..."

"Name the monster."

"Yes, you can summon mythical monsters because your studies are about knowing your creatures and learning how to tame them to assist you. But if I were to try to summon one, I'd probably get eaten up as a result."

"Hehe, maybe!" Sarah gazed into Malorn as if wishing to hear more. The pair of gleaming golden eyes delighted Malorn with its own enchantment that all he can send was a small grin, while trying to hide the bashful end of it.

"What is your name?"

"I'm Malorn Ashthorn."

"Sarah Battlethief."

For the first time, Malorn shook hands with her. Her hands felt so gentle in his grasp, it was a comfortable feeling.

"Say, can we talk more later?" Sarah asked getting up.

Unexpecting this, Malorn was half-gaping in astonishment. "Um. Yes. Yeah. When?"

"Are you doing anything this coming Monday?"

"I don't think I do."

"Meet me in Cyclops Lane, okay?"

"Sure."

"Thanks. Goodbye, Malorn." With that, Sarah picked up the books stacked next to her and proceeded to the librarian's desk.

Malorn whispered pleasingly to himself, "Yes."

[Rachel ElizabethDare]

This is a awesome Story lol I pasted it on notebook while I was gone, lol but now I can finally comment ^^

[The Lone Ninja Escapist]

Chapter 4
Theory and Experimentation

"Only Necromancers can summon the undead." Sarah told herself as she pushed the library doors out into the cobblestone pathway. It has been in her curiosity to know if necromancers summoned their undead minions the same way her school did theirs. But thanks to Malorn Ashthorn, who is a Death student himself, made it clear that they summon quite differently than she would have imagined. The Death school's method was unique, the young Conjurer wanted to know more of it.

Sarah had a peculiar interest in school summons, no one knows for certain why even if anyone had paid attention to her hobby of reading up the Spiral's fauna and keeping a personal bestiary with her at all times. It was kept a secret since her first year in Ravenwood when she was introduced to conjuring her first minion...

----------

It was a warm afternoon on the day of Sarah's enrollment. The little timid girl went to look for the Myth school, which at the time she didn't know what the school looked like. The registrar only pointed her to the direction it was at, leaving her to rely on her instincts to find it. Strangely Sarah was drawn to something that felt...magical. An enchanted ringing tickled her ears luring her to a nearby tree. It was an unusual sort: the trunk was stubby all round and had human-like features only with one thin line above the nose where its eye should be. When Sarah stepped closer to the tree she noticed the supposed eyeline ****** then a large, chestnut brown eye appeared in its place and stared at the girl.

"You must be the new Myth student," the tree said calmly. Sarah slightly hesitated before giving a nod. "A quiet one, I see," he said again followed by a deep mumbling that she could not make out. The tree looked at her once more, noticing her puzzled expression. "I am Ivan, the Myth Tree. What is your name?"

Sarah moved her lips so low that her name hadn't sounded past her teeth.

"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that. Can you repeat it, but loud and clear?"

"S-Sarah!" she blurted out. Her loud response reflected off the Ravenwood walls and echoed beyond the nearby buildings. Embarrassed, Sarah lowered her head hoping that her hat could hide her eyes.

"It's all right, child. No one but the trees heard you," Ivan assured her.

The conjurer looked around; there was not a single soul in the school grounds. The chirping of birds and a slight breeze treading through the trees branches occupied the silent setting. She returned to Ivan and spoke less abruptly than earlier, "I'm s-sorry. I am j-just scared."

The one-eyed tree chuckled, "There's nothing to be scared about me."

"Not. You. The others," she squeaked nervously. The conjurer wanted to express her worries, tears were beginning to creep down her cheeks as she mentally collected the things that are troubling her. In her new school, there was not a single face she recognized. Headmaster Ambrose seemed like the only friendly adult to approach, but the young Wizard can't have a stranger she just met following her around. Finally she realized her dread. "I don't want to be here without Daddy!"

Sarah fell onto her knees and wept. She was unprepared to be in this school on her own. Without her father, everything was scary and unsafe to her.

A light object landed on top of her head, Sarah seized her crying to pick the item off. It was a leaf radiating in a magical property unknown to the young Wizard, yet its magic felt connected to the Myth tree. Once she faced Ivan, the tree's now comforting voice boomed.

"You won't have to worry about being alone in your school," Ivan grinned. "Has the Headmaster given you your first card?" Sarah nodded and shyly produced the golden card Ivan requested. "Good. I'm going to show you something. Take out your wand and watch me carefully."

Sarah obeyed and readied her beginner's wand to do her first magic spell. The Myth tree's once stationary branches crunched and twisted, showering some leaves around the student as they lowered to her level. Ivan gestured Sarah to mimic the movement of the branches with her wand. She did as they moved: the wand tip was twirled then curved upwards to an invisible point and traced a horizontal line in the air. She began add two straight lines to make a triangle, next a round hill inside it, and underneath it she finished with a spiral.

"Very good. Now we're going to chant the incantation of your spell card." The branches seized their twisting and retreated upwards to touch the orange sky. "Repeat these words after me: Summone golem."

"Sommon--sommone--Summone golem?"

"Now say it again as you draw the image I showed you."

The Wizard repeated the wand maneuvers, only this time a golden sparkling line etched in the air before her and trailed along the tip of her wand. The finished image was that of a spiraling eye inside a triangle, the emblem for Myth magic. "Summone golem!" the young wizard shouted as clearly as she could.

Sarah tapped the image at its center and it erupted in a burst of light. She shielded herself expecting the spell to rebound against her, but no harm came to her. She cautiously turned to the light and notice it take its shape into a humanoid figure. The light gradually processed the figure, revealing its wooden skin and wizardly uniform. When the magic finally diminished, Sarah made out the figure as a living puppet.

She didn't know what she was supposed to do with such a thing. She poked the immobile puppet with curiosity, its head turned to look at the spot she touched and gazed back to its caster blank with expression.

"This is your minion," Ivan enlightened the student. "The Myth School will teach you to summon creatures to aid you. They are there to defend and oppose foes--when you are in a magic duel. Minions may be wayward towards their new masters, but with time they will accept you and obey your commands when they are lost in fulfilling their purpose."

"What kind of creatures?" Sarah asked while still studying the puppet.

"A majority of them will be giants and other monsters."

"Monsters?" The lecture crossed her mind and she immediately dug through her backpack. She pulled out a book, flipped a few pages to her preference then showed them to the Myth tree. "Like these?"

Ivan examined the pages drawn with some crude drawings of trolls, minotaurs, and every single creature you can name from a fairy tale. "It seems like you get the idea," Ivan chuckled. "You will be able to summon many beasts like these, if you make your teacher proud."

----------

If you make your teacher proud.

The same reassuring words from Ivan years ago still fluttered in the young Wizard who was now a Master Conjurer. At this point of her student career, Professor Drake showed respect for her fervent studying habits and commitment to come to his class every day. Sometimes when she came early or after class, Drake would send her off to complete tasks that were reserved for his top students.

Of course, Sarah was not the only top student in the Master-level class; she is competing with Nolan Stormgate, who is also trying to be on Drake's good side. The two try to avoid eye contact and conflict during class, but their professor surely sensed hot sparks being telepathically exchanged whenever he turned his back from them.

Throughout the semester Sarah composed a way that would certainly win her Drake's private apprenticeship. She has been researching on a side project that required learning how the other schools of magic summoned their creatures. This secret project was very dear to her for one reason...she loved monsters. She read guides and storybooks and listened to tales of the mysterious creatures inhabiting the untamed wilds of the Spiral. All her life she wanted to meet them in person--real, extinct, Mythical--to care for them and tame them.

She hypothesized that if she learned each school's summoning methods, she would be able to call out every monster in existence and master them all. Soon, Sarah would be able to earn her next spell and be given the title, Master of Monsters. And with the knowledge of befriending and casting creatures, she'll be a true Master of Monsters--unlike other students before her who could not even cast an elemental.

Now I need to try to get Malorn to teach me his school's method. Sarah took the tunnel into Unicorn Way devising several ways to justify the last thing in her plan.


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Somewhere in the Spiral there was a lonely chunk of rock composed entirely of brimstone. It was once a world connected to the Mooshu and Dragonspyre regions of the Old World. But as a result of the Grandfather Tree's interference in the Great Titans' war, he put the beings in a deep slumber then tore the world apart; Mooshu and Dragonspyre unlinked from one another, then the little land detached from both those worlds to drift alone in the uncharted area in the Spiral--hidden and forgotten forever.

But nearly two decades ago, this piece of land was rediscovered by a middle-aged Wizard who sought to bring it to its original glory. Yet, there hasn't been much progress in the project. The island was too far away from the other worlds and the dark mists surrounding it would make it too risky for any traveler to dare enter the unknown. The Wizard was at an edge to scrap his plan, he took a desperate measure and asked Merle Ambrose in Wizard City to help craft a Spiral door and key to give anyone full access. But alas, even Merle couldn't assist him; the world was too off-bound from the Spiral universe.

Tempered and frustrated, the Wizard forcefully withdrew himself from the rest of the Spiral and established a permanent home in the island. This island was named Ft. Sacan, and its founder forever forgotten.

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Ft. Sacan has never seen recognition in all its years dwelling in the dark part of the Spiral. It was shrouded in a black mist making its skies gloom, day and night without a sun or moon. The island didn't have enough light to support vegetation. Ft. Sacan also had a craggy surface which prevented most attempts to create a city, so the fortress had to be designed with old Dragonspyre's architecture which consisted of a labyrinth of bridges and tunnels leading in and out of districts. Only a few hundred wizards inhabited this place, all of them were soldiers, maguses, and a handful of scholars.

These people were collected from taverns across the Spiral in which they shared a similar interest in the plans of the Wizard--whom earned their undeniable respect to be called "The Lord"--and they did anything in their ability to create the empire. At least an empire is what was achieved in this Wizard's isolation years. His next plans though were shrouded in mystery to this day.

Lately the empire was hit with a large decrease in recruitment from the several private demonstrations across the Spiral. Worse enough, funds were too low to keep mercenaries from taking their services elsewhere. In this desperate time, the Lord searched for alternatives to resolve the matter.

In his office, the Lord sat behind his mahogany desk with a quill in hand hotly writing a letter to the director of beast-taming, upset with the failure of a supposedly strong troll in Wizard City. According to agents, the monster was killed off by a Ravenwood student. Rasputin saw this as an embarrassment to director's breeding projects, the troll species needed more improvement before another can be sent to complete its missions. Or, at least, a new monster species greater than all the others.

Lorwin,

I received news about your recent troll specimen sent to Wizard City, and I am greatly disappointed with the results. You promised me an invincible species. Your troll was defeated by a child Wizard! Have you been breeding the Frost Trolls with the Yellow ones? Do you know how frail the yellow trolls are?! I want you to repeat your experiment, but this time, use the Fomori giants LIKE I INSTRUCTED YOU.

I will write to you in a 5-day time frame, by then I expect an enhanced monster. Or else you will be terminated.


The Lord

[Marshall Lee]

I really like this story so far =3

[The Lone Ninja Escapist]

Chapter 5
An Impossible Task

Lorwin Thornmight bursts through his office doors with an assertive force that the sound of oak wood being slammed against the wall had channeled through the corridor and down. Every person in the facility gravely knew that this was not a good omen on a regular basis and scrambled to work. Others tried to take the alternate route around Lorwin, but some ended up in his path and immediately pulled away to avoid him.

Lorwin Thornmight was middle aged, with his hair barely greying out from his once ink black mane from his better youth to his stress sourced in his current occupation. He wore a vivid scarlet surcoat with golden brands. He was born into a wealthy family whom can be traced hundreds of years back to its ancient Dragonspyrian bloodline. His great great grandparents had immigrated from their homeland much before the Dragon Titan had destroyed Dragonspyre in its wake. Even when this world's inhabitants were nearly extinct, the Thornmight clan continued to re-live their old culture and passed the tradition down to their children in future generations.


That culture certainly lived within Lorwin as he beared the Dragonspyrian wardrobe and interests in warfare as his ancestors did. Though, Lorwin's idea of warfare required not just wands and swords, but also the brute strength of beasts in the wild that can be contained for his own use. His idea, though tremendous enough to be just a dream, had earned him a seat in Ft. Sacan's monster breeding project...which was not making as much progress as he hoped.

Lorwin pushed open the doors into the lobby of his citadel approaching to one of his standby forerunners. "Has Torbus returned from Krokotopia?" he asked sternly.

"No, he hasn't reached the docks yet," the nervous forerunner shuddered.

"He should have been here by now! Go to the docks and fetch him. I don't want anymore time wasted on that sloth! Tell him to meet me in my office!"

----------

"Phooeey...I'm mighty glad to get out of the scorching desert," Torbus sighed as he unloaded from his scow onto the planks. The young man wiped the sweat with a handkerchief while securing the boat to a stake before heading into the city.

Torbus had olive green eyes that used to attract women wherever he went. He was a mildly attractive fellow who liked to venture to faraway places to leisurely sleep all day than to toil all his life. But alas, he needed a living to afford the luxuries he dreamed to own. He would've enjoyed his work if he hadn't been called in for duty every single time he returned from finishing one job.

Torbus crossed over the labyrinth of bridges over a wall where the beast breeding grounds citadel stood. The bridge led him to a path arched with iron bars around it. Below the pathway, sounds of grunting and growling echoed as the man casually walked towards his destination. He made it to the citadel lobby but was welcomed by nervous-looking forerunner who looked much surprised to see him.

"Mr. Tibon! Great Raven, you're here! Colonel Thornmight needs you in his office!"

Torbus sighed and lifted his chin, "Eurgh, what does he want now?!"

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The great oak doors opened and Torbus emerged into the director's office to face his boss. Lorwin had a fixed gaze on Torbus, the usual stare the man received every time he is called in. "You've returned from your destination," he mumbled. "Did you find anything on the hieroglyphs in the Pamphlet of Amun?"

"I do," Torbus replied, "I visited the Krokotopia library as you told me to. The librarian says the hieroglyphs are written in the same text the Tuts wrote before the Great Sleep. But the pamphlet is protected from being read or deciphered by the previous owner's spell. He knows nothing about what spell is in the scroll. The Mander believes it may hold a curse."

"Very well, then." Lorwin stood up. "You done enough for this task, but now we need put this off right now."

"Why is that so?"

"The Lord is angry about one of my latest experiments being pulverized by a Wizard child. He requires a newer subject in five days--"

"That's impossible!" Torbus shouted. "Five days isn't enough! Where in that man's mind think we could create something in so little time?"

"You know well of the Lord," Lorwin stepped around, "he wants results showing progress in the creature breeding project and wants something great coming out of it. We need new monsters to add to our grounds."

"But what other creatures are left?" Torbus turned. "We have already two hundred species in our hold, we've practically seen and caught every known cursed beast in the Spiral, and none of the Fomori giants are good enough?"

"It's not a matter of 'it's good enough,' it's whether we are finding better breeds. There are some other worlds in the Spiral we have yet to come across, and I require your assistance to go out--"

"I just came back from Krokotopia, can't you do the work yourself?"

Lorwin stared at the young man. "I have to attend to seeing if there are potential breeding partners in our stock. Must I remind you to restrain your attitude." Torbus glared. "Promise me this will be the final time I have to tell you this."

A silence filled the room. Lorwin finally moved to the doors and opened one of them, gesturing Torbus's leave. "I want you to go check in Wizard City to see if you can retrieve our troll. Once you bring it back, I'll give you the map to your next destinations."

Torbus didn't say a word and exited the room.

An impossible task was in their hands, and time is ticking.

[Fix-it Felix Jr.]

Loving it dudette! Can't wait to see more :D

[Elixir Vitae]

You really got me hooked to this story!
I cannot wait to read more!

[The Titan]

I love this. In the first couple of chapters it gives a "Harry Potter"esque feel and I couldn't be more happy.

Can't wait for more