I wake up suddenly during the night. I am covered in sweat, my hands are shaking, my head is pounding and my breaths are rough. Mana is raging inside me. What woke me up is a nightmare the likes of which I’ve never had or heard of before. Even more unusual is the fact that I remember it clearly.

It started with me standing on a balcony, overlooking a vast, barren land. Tens of thousands of people are standing still and looking up at me. Their eyes look... dead. The sky darkens and heavy rain starts to fall even though there are no clouds. My clothes become wet and turn red as I realize this isn’t water, it is blood. I watch with dread as the land is flooded, washing everything away. Even the balcony at my feet crumbles and falls, dropping me into the red torrent below. I struggle to swim but it’s impossible. The current is too strong. Floating bodies bump into me and I can feel cold hands grabbing onto my legs and pulling me down! As I think I’m about to drown, the nightmare ends abruptly.

“What…”

This is the only thing I can utter while I sit in the darkness of my room. It’s still night outside. My mind begins to calm down and I start feeling pathetic. A mage is supposed to have a strong and calm spirit at all times. I should not be fazed by something minor like a nightmare.

Calm down and get it under control. I close my eyes and take several deep, steady breaths. All thoughts are purged from my mind as all my focus is spent on controlling my breath and mana flow. The blocked mana channels are reopened, the erratic flow is stabilized, my muscles relax and a feeling of normalcy finally returns to me. Somewhat strangely, my mana supply should be full by now but it isn’t. Are nightmares supposed to drain mana? I should research this a bit the next chance I get. Maybe I’m wrong and it just didn’t have enough time to refill. What caused this anyway? Did the battle with the hydra affect me this much? No, that’s unlikely. Even some of my magical experiments are more dangerous than that battle was. If death scared me so much, I would not have become a mage in the first place.

“I don’t get it…”

Feeling like a fool, I continue to sit in the darkness for a while before I realize that I can’t fall asleep. This isn’t the first sleepless night I’ve had, although the others were not caused by nightmares. Even so, I decide to do the same thing I’ve done in the past. I dress into my ‘work’ clothes and head toward the woods where I meditate. There are no dangerous creatures here. The darkness isn’t a problem thanks to fire magic and I can also see any creature or object that contains mana even in total darkness.

Walking down the corridors of the academy, I sense something. There are unusual traces of mana in the air. Thanks to my sensitivity and training as a mage, I can tell that these traces were left by three or more humans. They were probably using fire magic to create light just like I am. Why are so many people wandering the corridors of the academy at night? Perhaps they are having some private activities. I’m not one to complain since I have my own reasons for wanting privacy. Without giving the matter anymore thought, I continue on my way. This turns out to be a mistake.

“There he is.”

After turning a corner, a voice appears from the corridor behind me. I turn around to see five hooded figures running toward me. Instinctively, I start running in the other direction, heading toward the exit. This is a mistake too. As the academy’s exit comes into view, I see that it’s guarded by two hooded figures. They both draw their swords when they see me. Behind me, I can hear the other five people approaching at full speed. I’m trapped!

“Wrath of the Sky Dragon!” I activate my strongest wind magic, intending to blow away the two at the entrance. The atmosphere around me shifts violently. A sphere of blue and white mana gathers in front of me and propels itself at the target, taking on the shape of a whirlpool.

“Fortified Earth Shield.”

One of them raises a wall of earth magic for protection. The weaker spell is destroyed by my high-level magic. The two men are hit by pieces of flying debris from the destroyed wall, but they stand their ground. These are not ordinary thugs. This realization makes the fear within me grow. There is no time. The other five are almost on top of me. Fortunately, I still have a way out. The enchanted dagger I carry with me is not just a weapon, it’s also a trump card. I put my hand on its sheath and inject mana through it into the dagger to activate the special ability it has; teleportation. It’s designed to activate as fast as possible without a chant, making it ideal for a narrow escape.

The scene around me flashes with a white light for a couple of moments and then returns to normal. I am now inside the basement room of the academy where I conduct most of my experiments. This emergency teleportation spell was designed to take me to this exact spot. The drawback is that it has a short effective range.

“What the hell was that about?” I mumble angrily.

Before I can gather my thoughts, a sharp pain in my right leg forces me to the ground. A crossbow bolt sticking out of the back of my leg is the cause. It must have hit me right before I teleported. Damn it... Luckily it’s not very deep. I pull out the bolt with a sudden motion. I then change the mana flow in my leg. Using water magic, I remove the blood surrounding the wound. It’s very painful but also necessary in case the bolt was poisoned.

“The blessing of the Ancients grants me everlasting vitality!”

Healing magic forces the wound to close and dulls the pain. I won’t be able to run for a while but at least I can walk. This is the best I can do for now. Time is running out. Those people who are chasing me seemed to know what they’re doing. They knew about my magic and were well-trained. Are they trying to kill me? What for? No, there is no time to think about this. This room will not protect me. Should I try to fight even while wounded? That would be stupid. I don’t know what they’re capable of and there may be more than seven of them. What I should do right now is escape.

Since I’m in my laboratory, there are a lot of things lying around that may be useful. First, I seal the door by fusing it with the wall using earth and fire magic. I then grab a bag and fill it with potions, mana crystals, a few magic catalysts and anything else deemed necessary. There is no food or water but I should be able to take care of that using magic.

Next, I walk onto the prototype teleportation circle in the corner of the room. Normal teleportation magic requires two markers; one is the starting point and the other is the destination. For the previous spell, they were the dagger and this room. The markers must be set up in advance in order for it to work. This prototype will allow me to escape without setting a marker. From my tests, I know that it’s quite risky. The spell fails or misses the target often, sometimes destroying the object that is teleported. However, there is one safe destination: the forest clearing where I meditate often. It worked 95% of the time when tested. Good enough. It’s unlikely that my pursuers know about it, so they won’t be able to ambush me. I will figure out where to go next after I escape safely.

I insert a mana crystal into the spherical catalyst beside the circle. It starts glowing with energy. Everything else looks ready. Loud banging can be heard on the door. They are here, eh? I take out a purple crystal from my pocket; I apply mana to it and then throw it on the floor next to the door. This will give them a nasty surprise after they break in. It’s time to leave. I put my hand on the catalyst and activate the teleport. The scene around me disappears as my vision goes black.