“Excellent, you managed to hit all the targets in your lane, though you’re not using any elemental attributes into your spells. You’re just throwing mana bolts at the dummies.” Korahk said to one of his apprentice mages as he mark’s his score on the clip board.

The apprentice in front of him stands to be five feet and six inches tall. He has long black hair covering his tanned skin face and black eyes. He is wearing his hood on, as the other apprentices and even Korahk too.

“Yes Instructor Korahk, I’ll keep that in mind.” He said as he peers over to a group of apprentices crowded around the same girl that vented out on Zee this morning.

“Apprentice Gibbons you’re very good with lightning based elements.” A female apprentice said to her.

“Can you teach me how to master it?” Another apprentice asked.

“Sure, it’ll take some time but, with my knowledge and the training my sister gave to me… I know I can at least make all of you able bodied enough to master the lightning attribute within a year.” Apprentice Gibbons said while chuckling.

The young apprentice mage that was with Korahk, rolled his eyes after somehow managing to hear the far distant conversation from the crowd, he noticed some smoke from the southern part of town. There was to many to be a normal bonfire or burning of leaves and twigs which rose some suspicion to him. When he focused his attention to that direction, he can hear faint screams that started to bother him, as would any sane person.

“Good grief, I suppose it can’t be helped can it.” He mumbled to himself as Instructor Korahk turned back around looking at him with a ‘you said something?’ look.

“Instructor, I think there are buildings on fire down there…” The apprentice said while pointing to the southern part of town.

Korahk looked into that general direction and was bewildered at the sight of so many smoke pillars. While Korahk is trying to figure out what to do, the young apprentice rolls his eyes while facing the smoke.

“I think it would be best if we gathered up everyone and do a roll call first, and then maybe find a safe place till we figure out what is going on instructor…” The young apprentice said.

“Ah… Ahem, right! Everyone, form up at the front of the field right now!” Korahk yelled, while trying to remain calm.

All of the apprentices, minus the one next to Korahk, in unison replied, “Yes Instructor!” Everyone formed up, except the same apprentice that is still next to Korahk.

“Good everyone is here… which by the way, apprentice Lockmeyer, you’re not in formation…” Korahk said with a curious eye.

“Much apologies Instructor, I’m just a bit worried from the smoke is all…” Lockmeyer said coyly as he walked around the formation to place himself in the last rank. As he was ignoring the mutterings of the other apprentices about the smoke, Lockmeyer glanced around to make sure everyone’s in formation.

“Instructor, I don’t see apprentice Lancelin anywhere.” Lockmeyer said while keeping a calm focus to Korahk so he can listen to his reply.

“I dismissed him earlier after the lecture, he wasn’t feeling well… He should be at his home by now… ‘I hope he’s safe’.” Korahk replied while hiding his fear for Zee’s safety.

“Good grief, I suppose it can’t be helped can it?” Lockmeyer muttered while hearing the screaming getting louder, mixed in with some guttural shouting as he eyes the south.

The apprentices’ worries grow a little more, as they see a couple of town guards running from different sides heading to the southern part of town.

As soon as Korahk called out to a couple of guardsmen whom are heading from the eastern part of town, one of them turned to face Korahk as he suddenly having his head pierced by an arrow from the back of his head, through his right eye. As he fell down to the ground, the other guardsmen turned to face the attacker, while holding onto his spear in fear and desperation only to see two goblins advancing from the south east part of town. Both goblins pale and of course afflicted by the curse, wearing fur as their armor, the one on the left brandishing an oaken composite short bow, already drawing another arrow from his quiver. The goblin on the right was holding a primitive axe and a wooden shield.

They advance slowly, as the guardsman summoned up his courage to charge head on to the goblins with his spear. Only to be intercepted by the axe wielder’s shield, deflecting his spear to the side and buried his axe into the guardsman’s head, easily through his helmet like it was nothing. As the guardsman’s body fell to the ground and the goblin throwing the blood off of his axe as they advance, the apprentices started to scream and run around.

A couple of the apprentices ran off to the north, four ran to the west. Without thinking clearly, three apprentices ran to the south. The rest stayed with Korahk, half asking him ‘What’ll we do?’ while the rest from the same crowd asking apprentice Gibbons ‘Should we attack back?’.

One of the apprentices that ran north suddenly got shot down by the archer goblin, the four that ran west, were suddenly met by axes and spiked clubs from goblins of the same numbers, coming around the buildings. The southern apprentices we’re impaled by arrows from the goblins of the south, while the non-archer goblins started to leave the buildings they passed by on fire.

Lockmeyer, after rolling his eyes and muttering ‘Good grief…’ started to meander around the panicking group of mages and Korahk. He raised both of his arms and launched a barrage of five ice sickle bolts at the goblin archer. Two of the icicles hit the ground near him and the rest hitting and penetrating places around the goblin, disabling him to use his bow but not killing him.

“Good grief, these goblins are tougher than I thought…” Lockmeyer as he lifted his arms up in the air palms flat, concentrating his mana to be in sync with the water molecules in the air above the goblins.

After a few chanting of words, he suddenly threw his arms down while his hands ball up into fists, summoning water to fall upon the goblins from the east. The archer lost his balance and fell down, staggering to get up since his joints are messed up from the ice sickles. The axe wielder, advanced slowly and cautiously towards the apprentices.

Gibbons, summoning up her courage, told her fellow mages, “Everyone, focus the water as a base for the electrical element and release it to the goblins!”

In unison after the apprentices gathered up their resolve, they raised their arms to focus their attention to the drenched goblins. Gibbons shot an arc of lighting from her finger tips towards the sparks that are already on the goblins that are forming up from the other apprentices’ focus. Frying the archer, he turned into dust, dropping the ice sickles and his gear. As for the axe wielder, he was stunned for a time, but advanced on with a last resort charge knowing how dangerous and problematic these mages are.

The sight of the axe wielder, not showing signs of pain nor fatigue, charging at them with his suicidal resolve, frightened the apprentices to back down. Gibbons noticing this, she looks around to assess the situation. She sees Lockmeyer, whom she couldn’t help but be impressed with his teamwork, out of breath and fetching a vial filled with green liquid from his belt and chugging it down his throat.

She turns around and sees Korahk keeping the western goblins at bay with his volley of ice sickles, he felled two already as she saw one turn to dust but couldn’t take the time to ponder the black dust for now during combat. So she summoned up her courage and pride of the Gibbons’ family honor to charge towards the oncoming axe wielder, focusing her mana to touch the goblin so she can fry him up with the last of her mana. But alas to no avail, the goblin was the quicker, he cleaved off her head sending it rolling towards the apprentices as they shriek in fear. Yet at the same moment, whereas the focus of her elemental mana had nowhere to go, summoned a lightning bolt from the sky and blasted her body with the goblin. The goblin shortly afterwards turned to dust leaving behind his scorched belongings and the scorched body of Gibbons.

The lightning blast caused Lockmeyer and the apprentices to fall down from its thunderous after effects, deafening them for a short time. Lockmeyer staggered himself to get up, as are the other apprentices, he looks at the head of Gibbons, which rolled near him. He muttered to her, “You may have been arrogant as an apprentice magician, but you fought valiantly as a proud soldier for this country…” Knowing that no one can hear him, even he couldn’t hear himself.

He looks to the south, to find a volley of arrows raining down upon him and the mages; he attempted to barrel roll to the side, but ended up getting an arrow pinned to his left foot. As for the other apprentices, they all fall down, looking like bloody pin cushions. Ignoring the pain, he maintained to position himself to summon up his mana to focus the water molecules above the distant archers and oncoming non-archer goblins like before. He looked to his right eyeing Korahk, noticing that Korahk finished off the last of the western goblin with a barrage of ice sickles and spotted an arrow pinned to Korahk’s left arm below his shoulder.

“Korahk! Your six o’clock! Now!” Lockmeyer yelled out, while skipping the honorifics for the time being.

Korahk looked towards the south as he saw water formed, raining down on the goblins and around them stretching in a fourty foot line. He used the water as his base focus to sprout up an ice sickle wall, reaching up seven to ten feet high, piercing some of the goblin warriors turning most of them into dust and blocking off another volley of arrows.

Lockmeyer falls down to his knees, breathing heavily as he’s clutching his chest. ‘Good Grief I’m about spent on my mana, I can’t keep this up and I know Korahk will run out sooner or later.’ He looks around and notices a goblin looming from the east with a primative pickaxe, two more goblins brandishing wooden spears with stone tips gearing up for a charge and the goblins that survived the sudden ice wall starting to move around it.

“I guess it can’t be helped can it? Instructor Korahk come over here for a sec…” He stated as he fetched a scroll from his lower left cargo pocket and rolled it open, while Korahk curiously walks towards Lockmeyer.

“Instructor Korahk, if you want to live then focus all of your mana around us, and channel that energy into this scroll. I will explain when this is all over…” Lockmeyer said with a calm expression, as Korahk hesitated a moment but realized the situation they’re in.

He put all of his faith into Lockmeyer and did what he asked for. As the goblins drew within range, Lockmeyer activated the runic letters on the scroll to flash brightly and shortly afterwards, they disappeared. As they vanished, a huge explosion happened. Throwing the goblins from the south that advanced from the ice wall, back into the ice wall turning them into dust after impaled by the spikes. The one from the east was scorched then turned to dust shortly afterwards. The ones from the west we’re thrown aback up against a building, one turned to dust, and the other staggered himself up to assess his surroundings. Both Lockmeyer and Korahk are now gone, leaving no trails or anything behind. Just a scorched crater from where they stand. Even Gibbons’ head flew to a tree, half scorched from the explosion, releasing a tear from her non-scorched eye.