A Chimera is an alleged monster wandering the lands. There are, to date, five cases of confirmed sightings, with a single engagement in combat.

The same beast is described in these reports: a lion’s head; a body covered in fur similar to that of a goat; long, thick, scaled tail with a serpent’s head at the summit.

I will now talk about a known capability of the monster, that the five encounters gave an idea of: an extraordinarily powerful [Taunt] skill or a similar ability. Four of these encounters saw the monster looking down from a mountain, way above them; even people without any Skill related to sight were able to see it clearly, and every person in the group was staring at it. Every group wasn’t aware of its presence until this Skill was used, but the most important detail is that they didn’t hear any sound. A [Taunt] Skill needs sound to work: I am personally led to believe that this is a high level [Taunt], as there are documented cases of Skill losing one of their requirements when evolving.

Another interesting detail you can obtain from the “peaceful” encounters is that the Chimera disappeared into nothingness while people were taunted by it. Unfortunately, none of the witnesses were able to see through illusion through Skills or artifacts, so it is, to date, impossible to know by what means the beast disappeared. Nevertheless, the Chimera could have disappeared through any number of means, including but not limited to: illusion magic, as stated above, high speed or [Fear] Skills. This would be the end of all the information on hand about this rare monster if it wasn’t for the last, and deadlier, encounter.

A team composed of four Adamantium adventurers is our last witness, all over level 60, called Graymantles. Their precise levels and classes are unknown, as they never disclosed it, and they are long gone from this world. But to produce more details, I will say that two members were focused on close combat, one member on long-range and another on magic. At the time they were one of the top ten teams in the world, famous and acclaimed. It will not be surprising then that their expedition into the northern lands was a known fact at the time, and that was where they encountered the Chimera.

The following part will be a literal transcript from the official record taken from Gorion, one of the two surviving members of the expedition. I have taken the liberty of censoring the few curses present.

“We were flying through a mountain range: the objective of the last few days was to create a map of the surroundings. That was when every one of us was taunted: I never experienced such powerful [Taunt]. Maria had an artifact that managed to free her, breaking in doing so. She cast [Aura of Will], breaking the taunt from all of us. That was when pressure from the surrounding air brought us to the ground. And a moment later that monster was in front of us, watching.[...]”

A description of the Chimera ensues, corroborating the one written above.

“[...] I swear it could understand us talking. But the scariest thing is that I felt like a rookie in front of this beast: every swing of my sword was parried effortlessly by a single claw, always the same. It was taunting us. That beast never attacked us: it just kept watching. Maria and Glef were showering it with attacks, but all was absorbed by that damn fur on its body, with arrows ricocheting off him as well. Neiram was the first one to draw blood: a cut on his f***ing ass of all things. That pissed him off because next thing I know his tail moves for the first time and has crushed the chest of Neiram. Just like that. Maria uses [Enlarge wound], hoping to kill that f***er. I hardly saw a difference, but the beast felt it or something because Maria was falling down the next moment. The beast didn’t f***ing move: it just looked at her, and she was dead before even touching the ground. We knew we were dead at that point: Glef and I were sure of it. Then that f***er just turns around and walks away.[...]”

Below I will focus on the key moments of the fight and the odd behavior of the beast.

The first glaring detail we can see from these encounters is that the monster does not kill absentmindedly. The only difference from the “peaceful” encounters and the “aggressive” one is that the “peaceful” groups didn’t free themselves from the taunt. The Chimera likely recognized that as a challenge; if you wish to believe the tale of a monster with intelligence than the motives could be much more complicated. I will refrain from exploring deeper this supposition, as the motives could be numerous, and the repercussions of such creatures unthinkable.

I will go over some details to comprehend the power of this monster.

The ring used by Maria was considered legendary, as its power was simple but incredible: it would block any known spell, but only if the user was not able to do it and the damage suffered by the incoming spell was deadly. It was also considered indestructible, and it would recharge in two weeks. This should show the reader the power of the [Taunt] Skill of a Chimera.

Let’s analyze now the source of the only known wound ever inflicted on the monster. The weapon used by Neiram was considered legendary as well, and the Skill he possessed is the highest level known of the Skill related to cutting: [Kingly Cut]. That the combination of such power only managed to scratch such beast is unthinkable but true.

[Enlarge Wound] of Maria is another point to consider: there are many accounts of her using this skill, and the effects were devastating each time: there were many instances of her altering a small cut into a wound that severed the wounded limb.

The third known power of the Chimera can be ascertained in this fight as well: it was able to kill Maria, an over level sixty individual with several defensive magical artifacts on her person, with a single look.

This monster seems almost unkillable, at least by any standard mean, but it seems prideful as well: it won’t attack weak prey, probably just the ones who can break its [Taunt]. It is extremely rare as well, as we have only five documented sightings in the whole history of mankind, which makes it even rarer than Dragons. It is unclear if there is more of one specimen alive, but given the rarity, it seems highly unlikely its population is in high numbers.

Silvy closed the book, putting it into the “already read” pile she had created. It was the fourth book she had read about mythical creatures while searching for what is a Chimera, but all of them were saying the same thing with different words: a being exceedingly rare, more powerful than Dragons.

After seeing that [Chimera] class, she had asked herself what it was. And it was a level-up as well, not a gained class: were there other classes she had acquired but missed?

Wanting answers, she had come to the Mages' Guild in the middle of the night, hoping to find it open.

And it was indeed open, but unmanned: time seemed frozen in the courtyard, with no people in sight and the soft light coming from the stars. She had wandered around, looking for someone, until she had found a map of the whole guild: in there, there were all the buildings of the guild with their name or purpose, and in them a library. She had decided to search the answers there: she would be able to read a book in secret, making it the ideal place.

When Silvy had opened the door to the library, she had like a wave of liquid mana slammed into her: you could feel it all around you, in a quantity she had never felt before. Indoor a plain-looking man was sitting behind a counter, who asked her if she wished to read, and if she wished to enter the library she’d have to pay 5 silver coins per hour. Books couldn't be copied, and it was forbidden bringing them outside. After having paid she had encountered a new obstacle: the vastness of the place. It was huge, but the word alone didn’t make justice to the amplitude of this place. There were at least thirty rows of bookcases running parallel to each other, each one reaching the ceiling, which was at least five-meter (16 feet) high. At least eighty meters (262 feet) separated Silvy from the end of the room. The quantity of information gathered in this place was mind-boggling, and Silvy didn’t have the slightest idea on how to find a specific book.

So she had gone back to the counter, asking the man about books on something called Chimera, directing her to eighteen books on mythical creatures, six on alchemical recipes, more than fifty about magical smithing… But not one on classes. In the end, she had decided to start only with the books about the mythical creatures, as the others didn’t sound as much promising, and in them, she had found the narration of these encounters, all narrated in a different manner but with mostly the same conclusions: not one book had more information.

She probably was not going to find anything more, so she put the books back in place and went outside to speak to the man.

“Hello again Mr. librarian. I’m looking for more books… but I’m wondering. How do you know where all the books are? There are so many of them! Is it a magical library?”

She had thought about this question while inside. Every line of bookcases, every singular bookcase and every bookshelf had a number assigned to it, making finding a book easy if you knew the location. But there were thousands of books inside: it was impossible to remember the position of each one. Moreover, there didn’t seem to be any kind of logic or organization to the location of the books, as a bookcase could contain the most disparate books.

“Ah. I understand your confusion: you are a new student. I know the position of the books because what you consider the library is my body: I’m a construct, or golem as some call us. I know everything that happens inside of it, and that includes the position of the books.”

Silvy’s jaw dropped, not believing something so incredible could be created. Construct, or golems, were creatures created by infusing magic and breathing life into objects: as far as Silvy knew they could be of any form, but the bigger and more complicated they were the harder it was to create them.

“That’s impossible! How were you created? How did they do it?”

“It is not impossible, as my existence is proof of the possibility. I was created by my Master [High Archmage] Zadrum. If you wish to understand more about the process of our creation, I can name a few valid books on the basics.”

“No no, I mean, what did he do? You are huge! And smart! How did he create you?!”

“My master [High Archmage] was one of the best archmages who ever lived. I do not own the means of my creation, and I am not allowed to reveal them even if I knew them.”

“Why not?”

“Because of one of my directives. I cannot reveal information about magic that is not public knowledge, and I am to protect the books contained in me so that people without proper authorization cannot reach them.”

“You mean people that do not pay? That doesn’t seem like a good security system…”

“The monetary price was a fee that I was instructed to ask of you. You have authorization to the whole library, previous payment of course.”

Silvy was confused at this point.

“How am I authorized? It’s my first time here. I’m not even a real student: I’m not taking any course.”

“Those are the instructions I received from [Archmage] Lindrl; I am merely following them.”

“Never heard of her. Who is she? And how does she know me?”

“As your question can have multiple meaning I will start with the broader one: she is one of three [Archmages] managing this academy. For the second meaning of the question: she is one of the three people waiting for you outside the library. As to how she knows of you, it is beyond my knowledge. If you wish to hear the most probable answer to your question, she discovered you the moment you entered the guild this morning.”

Now she was scared.

“She is outside?! And how did she find me?!”

“The most probable answer is that the quantity of mana in your body, coupled with your young age, has attracted her attention. You are a beacon in the night for any [Mage] able to see mana, similar to an [Archmage].”

Silvy analyzed the situation quickly: three people were outside of this door, waiting for her; and one of them was surely an [Archmage] of the academy. And there were three [Archmages] in the academy: she didn’t like where this was going. And it was safe to assume that they had seen her mana; did they know she was a monster?! Could you find out from the mana? But why didn’t they kill her then? And most importantly, why they were waiting outside? She turned to the golem, the only one who seemed to have the answers.

“Why are they outside? Why did they not come in?”

“I would like to remind you that I am a construct, and the reasons humans perform certain actions often eludes me. If you wish to have my opinion, I’m moderately certain it is because they do not wish to scare you. Another unlikely possibility is that they are ambushing you, but I was not given instructions to hide their presence outside, and you being aware of their presence would defeat the purpose of an ambush.”

Oh frik. Oh frak. She had done it. She managed to screw herself over. Good job Silvy. Let’s see: how do you escape three of the most powerful people in the city waiting for you just outside the only door you can escape through? You don’t! But it seemed like they just wanted to meet her. Were they going to experiment on her? Torture her because she was half-elf? Or just kill her because she was undead?

A light knock came from the door, awaking Silvy from her rambling thoughts.

“Excuse me. Am I correct in assuming you are aware of our presence? The librarian told us you seemed distressed, and we wish to assure you we do not mean any harm. May you come outside?”

An old and gentle voice drifted from outside: it was spoken through a door, but it wasn’t blocked or suffused by it. Silvy felt her emotions being suppressed and decided to go outside and work from there.

Three people were in front of her, waiting patiently at a distance that didn’t give Silvy chance to escape, but wasn’t pressuring her.

A woman was on the right. Fiery long hair flowed around her, emphasizing her striking appearance: Silvy had never seen a more beautiful woman. The only word that came to her mind while watching her was perfect, sculpted: that was what her face looked like. Two icy blue eyes completed the picture, transmitting a sensation of beauty and thorns at once. Her dress was the most skin-tight she had ever seen: every one of her curves was emphasized and not hidden, creating a person too beautiful to exist.

The person in the center was much less striking but more frightening in his own way. White hair and beard flowed around him, waving with nonexisting winds. His face was old and full of wrinkles, but his upright posture and smile spoke of his energy. He was not a simple man, and Silvy could feel mana emanating from him. On second thought she could feel mana coming from all three, but the person in the middle was without a doubt the strongest one.

The person on the left was overshadowed by the other two, but his presence would be respected and recognized. A balding head with gray hair, black piercing eyes and gray mustaches, with a permanent scowl on his face and folded arms, he was the picture of austerity.

All three of them were watching Silvy with interest: the woman with a smile and friendly eyes, the white-bearded man with curiosity and the balding one with dislike.

Silvy had never felt smaller: three giants that could crush her with a finger and call forth destruction were in front of her.

The old man started talking while stroking his beard, with the same voice Silvy had heard behind the door.

“Good evening young lady. It was brought to my attention your presence in the school, and we wished to meet you. I can see you are incredibly gifted: no doubt it’s a present from your elven heritage. You have done well seeking out help in your guild: I can see your mana is in a chaotic state, so much so that I’m surprised you are still alive given the havoc in your body. Oh, but where are my manners. I am Kal Stork, [Archmage] and one of the three directors of the academy. She is Lindrl Mizhal, second director, and he is Gorvan Vroantu, third director. May we know your name?”

Silvy felt compelled to speak the truth as if someone was pressing down on her shoulders, but the sensation lasted only for half a second. Still, she decided it was best to play their game for now.

“Ehm… I’m Silvy. I… your academy is really pretty…”

A jovial but contained laugh came from Kal, with a smile appearing on Lindrl. He continued.

“Thank you Silvy. I wish to know the purpose of your visit. No doubt you wish to manage the power in you; do you wish to learn to control it as well or were you just interested in suppressing it?”

Again, pressure came on Silvy, disappearing even faster this time. They, he, someone was obviously doing something, but it didn’t feel like it was having much of an effect on her. Still, the situation didn’t look dangerous, and she didn’t want to antagonize them.

“I wish to learn magic, Sir. I had the intention to enlist tomorrow.”

“Mh, that makes things easier then. I wish to extend you an invitation to be my disciple.”

Gorvan moved for the first time his gaze from Silvy to Kal, while Lindrl opened her mouth wide, protesting.

“I have found her first! You wouldn’t even have known of her if it wasn’t for me! I want to take her as disciple Kal, and you know it. Why do you interfere?”

“I wish to complain as well, archmage Kal. We must not take half-elves in our ranks: our name will be besmirched.”

“No need to get so angry, friends. I am invoking the supremacy right.”

“Against both of us, old man? We are not young [Mages] anymore.”

Lindrl was taunting Kal, while Gorvan took a calculated step back.

“If that is your wish, we will comply.”

“Of course. Librarian, come outside to witness our duel. To the death, obviously.”

Silvy was frozen on the spot. They were going to fight?! For her?! Should she run for it? She scanned the courtyard, noticing again the lack of people. The three archmages were now in position: Kal was showing the back to Silvy, while the other two were in front of him. The librarian construct was on the side, having appeared out of nowhere.

“I will witness your death duel. The rules are unchanged. Prepare yourselves.”

All three of them took out a wand, with Gorvan and Lindrl starting to cast spells one after the other. Silvy was stuck on the spot: a heavy weight was on her, so heavy that no matter how much she tried, she couldn’t move at all.

“[Advanced Foresight][Destructive Overdrive][Mana Surge][Clear Mind]...”

“[Clear Mind][Defensive Overdrive][Unbreakable Spell][Divination Protection]...”

While Gorvan and Lindrl were reciting spells one after the other, Kal was simply watching them, and only when they stopped speaking he cast a single spell. He didn’t speak its name, but Silvy could feel the mana being sucked out of the air, amplifying several times his amount of mana.

Lindrl made a pained face, while Gorvan took another step back. The construct talked again.

“The preparation is complete. Three, two, one… Begin.”

“[Wind Barrier].”

“[Ice Slash].”

Silvy could feel the wind howling in her ears, while two terrifyingly sharp ice swords coming from Gorvan moved towards Kal at high speed, who watched them with interest and moved his wand.

“[Earth Fist]”

A fist made of dirt shot out of the ground, smashing to pieces the two ice swords in a moment. It disappeared into the ground soon after that, and an open hand now reappeared between Kal and Lindrl. A gale so strong that almost threw Silvy to the ground ensued, with the earth hand pushing slowly forward; after a few seconds the wind disappeared, while the giant hand remained still.

Lindrl was pale and breathing heavily, while Gorvan was bent over, sweat beads falling off his head.

Kal turned towards Silvy, just as fresh as before the fight: his presence was much the same she had felt the first time she saw him. The construct started talking.

“Kal is the winner of the supremacy contest of magical stone-paper-scissor. I will now return to my duty.”

He disappeared into the ground after that, leaving the four people alone.

“Very well. I extend you an invitation to become my disciple: I will personally teach you. Do you wish to accept?”

Silvy was overwhelmed at this point. She thought she was going to get killed, but it turns out they want to teach her. They were going to fight to the death but it turns out they were playing a game. And Kal wanted to take her as a disciple? Would it turn out that this was an elaborate joke?

She answered, stammering.

“I-I can’t pay! It’s thousands of gold coins. I don’t have nearly enough! And-and what was that fight?!”

“Oh dear; it seems we have scared her. Don’t you worry young Silvy, that was a small game we do when we cannot reach an agreement: it is hardly dangerous. And of course, you won’t have to pay a single coin. What is your answer?”

Silvy felt again a crushing pressure: her knees almost buckled. But she kept steady, and as always the pressure disappeared, this time merely moments after it started. She looked at Kal, unsure of what to make of him.

“It might be a stupid question, but… why are you doing this?”

“Because you have a powerful gift of course, and I’d hate to see it wither away. A gift is a boon, yes, but it must be growth and cared for, otherwise, it will be lost. You will find plenty of growth in this academy, especially if you study with me.”

“Ehm… But this is so sudden. I just wanted to learn magic in the morning, maybe a bit in the afternoon, because I’m already having sword lessons in the evening, and I don’t know your schedule Sir, so… “

Silvy broke off, embarrassed. Silence descended, broken by a loud laugh coming from Lindrl. The woman had recovered after the fight and had watched the exchange with interest, but now she was laughing wildly. Gorvan instead had a deeper scowl on his face, a phenomenon SIlvy thought was impossible.

Kal showed a stupefied expression for half a second, disappearing so quickly that Silvy thought she imagined it. He looked at her with gentle eyes.

“Young lady, you’ll be relieved to hear that I have no other student under me, as those two behind me were the last ones I had, and I stopped teaching them a couple of decades ago. My time is mostly spent in my tower, and I’m sure we can reach an agreement on the… schedule of my lessons. Nevertheless, I feel compelled to warn you: the way of magic is long and arduous, and only the most gifted and the most driven can reach the top, and to do so, training is paramount. Following the way of the sword, or any other discipline requires the same dedication. Following both paths will result only in wasted time, as you will not be able to reach the top in either of one. I do not know how gifted you are with a weapon, and I do not want to impose my will on you. But I will not waste my time with someone that is not completely certain of his choice. I will wait for your decision: you can keep practicing with the sword, but you will not learn from me in that case. Or you can dedicate yourself to magic, and I will teach you what true power is. Come to the guild in three days and I will find you: let me know your choice at that time. Until then.”

Towards the end of the speech, the pressure Kal emanated increased progressively, together with his face becoming sterner. In the end he just turned around and walked away, with Gorvan doing the same. Lindrl remained behind, watching Silvy.

“You actually refused him: you are either crazy or ignorant. You do know that he is the greatest mage of the continent, right? You won’t find anyone better than him. He taught me and Gorvan, making us what we are. Do you really want to learn magic and swordplay?”

Silvy nodded, convinced of her choice. She had an advantage over everyone else, and she was convinced she could become strong in both of the fields.

“Well, you seem passionate enough. The only thing I want to say is this: don’t regret your choice. I’ve seen hybrids in the past, and all of them regretted becoming one, opting, in the end, to concentrate on one specialty. But you are not swayed by my words, I can see that. Do you know why hybrids are rare?”

“Something to do with too much time investment, right?”

Lindrl raised a finger, adapting a lecturing tone.

“That is one reason, yes. But there is another one, more important. Do you know how to cast spells? Through runes, correct. Have you ever tried forming a rune? Easy spells are cast through basic runes, indeed, but even the best mages had to try many times to get the correct form. With the basic ones. Now, imagine forming one in a battle: you have to concentrate through its formation, creating the rune while arrows and spells fly by, with people screaming and crying out. That is why mages stay in the backlines: we need concentration and time to cast spells. We can overturn the fate of a fight if well protected, or a liability if they are left uncovered. Now imagine making a rune while swinging a sword; when someone right in front of you is trying to stop you in any way he can. That is why hybrids will never become powerful: you can, with much time and even more practice, cast a simple rune while fighting in the front line, but the time invested to do it is immense. And most likely you’ll only be able to use that particular spell, as you have invested all your time in perfecting the speed and precision of the creation of that rune, not studying the others. And no matter how much someone tries, they will never be able to cast a complex rune in the middle of the fight: not only forming it is much more taxing on your mind, but a mistake will get you killed, or kill you outright: not worth the risk. That is why I have the same advice: choose one path and don’t look back. Think deeply about this problem and have a good night.”

Saying that Lindrl walked away, leaving Silvy alone. She hadn’t thought of that before: runes were difficult to create, requiring all the concentration of the caster: how could you do it while fighting with a sword? One person couldn’t concentrate on two things at once: it was impossible. That was why people formed groups: one could cast magic, while the other could defend the caster. To fight with both, you’d have to merge two minds into one, so that while one fought moving its body the other was casting magic. Moving her body, without her thinking about it… Maybe...