“Look, Aniyar, I know I said I’d help you, but…” I trailed off, looking uncertainly across from me. “Is it too late for me to back out now?”

“Yep. It’s far too late, Melas. Just gotta roll with it now.” He nodded as he cranked a lever.

I sighed. “This is the last time I’ll offer someone else my help.” I took a step forward as the platform rose from the ground. This was the ring at the center of the room, except it wasn’t just there all day. There was a mechanism that let it protrude from the ground when it needed to be used.

Right now, it was about to be used, and I was one of the combatants entering it. On the other end of the platform was an inanimate object— or maybe that was an incorrect term, but it was certainly not alive. It moved with an artificial flexibility, small, just barely bigger than me, and with a nimble hop to its feet. It was a Silver Golem: one of the three Golems in Project Gold.

While the Gold Golem was designed for brawling without any weaponry, the Silver Golem was created to be a mobile fighter. It moved fast and landed quick and deadly strikes to its targets, although without anywhere near the same amount of protective armor a Gold Golem had, which made it incredibly vulnerable.

Aniyar wasn’t going to make me test its defenses. Rather, he was going to have a Silver Golem go up against me in battle— not to harm me, but to simply reach me. I could use any spells I wanted as long as they didn’t destroy the Silver Golem. Which was actually quite a lot of my spells. I literally had to survive in the Free Lands after a calamity and its consequences rolled over the region. So, my repertoire was tailored more towards fighting than… less lethal magic.

I readied myself, raising my wisened wood staff. The Silver Golem hopped up and down, almost limber like a person, but more mechanical in its movements.

“I’m not going to even let it get close to me,” I said.

“I’d just like to see how it holds up against a spellcaster.” Aniyar crossed his arms, grinning.

“Not very well, I hope. I’d like to get this over and done with as soon as possible.”

The platform halted, and the Silver Golem charged. It ran at me in a zig-zag as I shot out a binding spell at it. I expected it to leap to the side, already preparing a follow up spell to stop it, but it simply slid under the bindings, an unexpected movement for a metallic being. I backed up, pointing at the ground beneath its feet.

Stone Spires shot out of the earth, much to Aniyar’s disbelief. He shouted something. “Oi lass, what are you—”

“You said I could use any spell as long as I didn’t break it!” He never told me anything about destroying the platform. Well, it wasn’t that I wanted to do that. I just had a very limited array of spells.

The Silver Golem jerked, nearly running straight into one of the Stone Spires. Then it dashed around it. It waded its way through the thicket of brick and concrete, nearly slamming into each of them, narrowly avoiding them at the last second. It burst out of the forest of Stone Spires as I flicked a finger.

Another set of bindings came out. This time, it nearly hit its mark. But the Silver Golem shot a dagger forward. It came out like a throwing knife, striking the binding mid air, making it wrap around the dagger instead of Silver Golem itself.

The Silver Golem leapt up, nearly reaching me. I frowned and uttered the name of a spell.

“Pitfall.”

There was a gasp. The ground beneath the Silver Golem dropped. I watched as the Silver Golem fell out of the air, nothing to land on. It crashed deep into the hole, and I quickly closed up the exit with simple geomancy.

“Alright,” I said, dusting my hand off. “There’s that.”

Aniyar stared at me as I turned to him.

“Y-you…”

I blinked. “What?”

“You destroyed the stage!” He pointed at me, accusingly.

I shrugged, turning back to where the hole had been. I closed it shut with geomancy, yes. And it definitely damaged the staging mechanism, yes. And— well, I didn’t actually have much else to add to that. I did destroy some expensive equipment.

“But you, uh, said I could use any spells I wanted to to restrain it.” I scratched the back of my head, uncertain of my own reasoning.

Look, it was just getting too close for comfort, and I didn’t want to embarrass myself and lose to a Silver Golem. I did have a limited number of spells I could use, but it’d still be embarrassing. Also, it was kind of, like, terrifying. I literally couldn’t stop myself from keeping it away.

“I guess this just means I shouldn’t underestimate spellcasters, huh?” Aniyar sighed after a while. He tried to crank the lever, but as expected, it didn’t work. I hopped off the platform myself as he approached me. “Don’t know what kind of magicks or tricks they’d pull.”

“Well… I’m not really an ordinary spellcaster.” I pursed my lips. I didn’t want to mislead him into thinking that all spellcasters were that diverse in their array of magic. The only reason why I knew as many spells as I did was because of who I was.

It wasn’t arrogance saying this: I’d asked that fake god to essentially give me cheat-like magical powers. Of course, he screwed me over— and I was certain he’d screw me over no matter what I’d asked for— because he hated me for whatever reason. Either way though, I was now capable of learning spells at a fast rate. Faster than even the most talented of individuals. Because, well, I was even more talented than them.

“Not ordinary, eh?” Aniyar cocked a brow. “What’s the best spell you know?”

“Best spell? What do you mean by that?”

“Highest tiered spell. Could ya cast a Fireball? I hear it’s Tier 3 or something.”

I paused. I stared at Aniyar for a moment. He blinked.

“What?”

“N-nothing.”

So, Gennady’s influence really went that far, huh? No one used tiers for magic. No one but him. And now, Aniyar.

If his tier system really catches on…

I shook my head. Aniyar crossed his arms.

“So, what is it?”

“I do believe I have a spell that’s considered to be quite… powerful” I hesitated. My eyes flickered— the memory of bright light and a trance-like state flashed into my mind. “I’d rather not show it to you, though. Just due to the nature of how it works.” His shoulders sagged, but I raised a hand. “However, I do have a deadly offensive spell I can show you.”

“Really?” The Dwarf perked up, the opposite reaction one should have when asked if they wanted to see a deadly offensive spell.

I rolled my eyes. “Sure. Give me something to test on.”

He climbed up onto the platform, scowling. “I will find you a target. Just help me get my damned Silver Golem outta the hole you sealed him into!”

“Oh, right.”

I turned to the hole, pointing at it. A spell circle formed, and the earth opened up.

“There we go—” Aniyar started.

And the Silver Golem leapt out. The entire platform shook. It was already slightly off balance, but the sudden weight pushing down on it destabilized it. I nearly fell over, but managed to use my staff to keep myself upright. The Dwarf Engineer, however, wasn’t lithe enough to stay upright and tumbled right off.

I narrowed my eyes, staring at the Silver Golem. “What’s it doing?”

“Uh-oh.” Aniyar gulped. “It’s still programmed to attack you! Get away—”

“What? But isn’t it supposed to not attack—”

I couldn’t even get the chance to finish asking my question. I saw it coming closer, raising its fist menacingly. So, I decided to show my demonstration to Aniyar earlier than I wanted. I aimed my staff at it just as the stage tipped over. An incredibly intricate spell circle formed at the end of my staff. And I spoke a simple word.

“Annihilate.”

A red beam of light shot out and straight at the Silver Golem. The spell completely severed it— it didn’t even stand a chance. Its armor collapsed and its body caved in. The spell went through the Silver Golem, straight to the other side into the wall. It burned the reinforced walls of the room, designed to take on the battle of Golems and experimental mana tech weapons.

It would’ve just incinerated the wall, but I was finally knocked off balance. The platform collapsed, and I swung my arms wildly. The spell cut into the ceiling, breaking the mana lamps above, scattering shattered shards down below. Everything fell with a crash as a rain of tiny broken glass and crystals fell on me, leaving small cuts on my skin.

Aniyar cried out in horror, covering his head. I heard other Dwarf Engineers rushing in from the noise. They saw the damage. Security Golems arrived shortly after.

“Goddess grace us, everything is…” Aniyar squeaked. “How are we going to pay for this?! Someone get Bertrand!”

Someone ran off. Aniyar paced around wildly, looking at the mess that was the equipment testing room. Golems moved to clean up some of the debris, while Engineers rushed to save what was left of their experimental equipment.

I sat at the base of the fallen platform, scratching my cheek.

“That… wasn’t supposed to happen.”

Chaos and trouble. That summed up my time in the MTC so far quite well. However, it wasn’t something that was bad, per se. I definitely much preferred this to my circumstances just a year ago. Fighting my way through the Free Lands and trying to keep my magic a secret while traveling as a vulnerable kid was… not a fun time. In sharp contrast, I actually enjoyed my time here in the MTC.

I couldn’t see my friends. Gennady visited from time to time. He even brought Sevin and Elda with him once (not Jack and Lisa for obvious reasons,) but he couldn’t visit every single day. And yet, I found this better. Better than having to be out there, under threat by the Church. I’d been granted sanctuary. This was how those in asylums lived. With limited freedom. But safety from the dangers that would be imposed on my life otherwise.

There was only one thing that worried me. A Demon that lurked at the back of my mind. She could be hiding in any corner of this room, and I wouldn’t know. A creature of the shadows— one that tempted me into something dark and evil, offering me power and happiness.

But here? Despite the war and despite everything that was going on outside, I was happy.

I felt comfortable. I felt safe.

This place was my salvation. And I truly hoped it would remain that way.

A woman collapsed on the side of the road. She panted and curled up into a ball, clasping at her stomach as an intense pain washed over her body. She cried out for help— to the passersby who travelled down the city’s streets. But they ignored her.

They drove their cars by her, just barely avoiding hitting the woman. They continued walking on, pretending that she wasn’t even there, and giving her a wide berth. Some of them even tried to call the guards on her. Despite her suffering and the pain she was clearly feeling, they still cast their gaze on her with revulsion.

The guards, for their part, didn’t do anything to her. They didn’t help her and they didn’t remove her. They knew the problem would remove itself eventually. Because she had the Noxeus. A deadly plague that had been spread to Elios.

This innocent country had been invaded by refugees from the Free Lands, bringing with them this curse which now afflicted the woman. She didn’t blame those around her. She blamed those who came from beyond the borders. Those who did this to her.

She didn’t know how she contracted it. All she knew was that she was going to die. Her skin decayed into a blood-black stain over her body. It was like she’d been starved and burnt and beaten and bruised, all at the same time.

Soon enough, she’d be nothing more than a body in the mountain of corpses left outside of this city. She knew that was what would come of her. So, that was why those around her ignored her please. That was why she didn’t blame them. She would die. She knew it. She expected it.

Darkness crept over her vision as her eyes closed, and she accepted her fate. And then there was light.

“Excuse me, Miss,” a voice said.

The woman looked up at the face staring over her. No— not a face. But a mask like a bird’s beak. It was worn on the face of a man with a wide brimmed leather on top of his head. He was dressed fancily, like was about to depart for a ball. He tapped his cane on the ground before the woman as he tilted his head.

“I'm the Plague Doctor," he introduced himself. "And I was wondering if you would like to live?”