In a vibrant new city rebuilt from ruins on the Elosia main plane, a boy named Chuck was locked in a heated argument with his friends.
“Wizards are real! My grandpa’s father saw them with his own eyes!” Chuck’s face flushed as he shouted at the taller kids around him.
“Oh, come on, Chuck!” one scoffed, rolling his eyes. “That’s so childish! Wizards? Just stories adults tell to scare naughty kids!”
Another chimed in, “Yeah! If wizards who fly and breathe fire were real, would we need the city guards to protect us?”
But Chuck was unwavering, convinced his grandfather wouldn’t lie.
In that distant era—over a century ago, during the chaotic dark times—his grandpa’s father, a young soldier, had surely witnessed godlike wizards descending from the heavens!
Children’s arguments often lacked logic or reason.
Inevitably, it escalated into pushing, shouting, and eventually a full-on brawl.
“Stop it, you little brats!”
They stood by, arms crossed, amused, until the captain stepped forward, sternly halting the chaos.
Outnumbered and beaten, Chuck returned home bruised, earning his mother’s distressed scolding.
Yet, strangely, there was no trace of defeat on his face.
Deep in his eyes flickered an indescribable gleam of triumph.
At dinner, glancing at the orange-hued, near-dusk sky, he wolfed down his last bite, bid his parents goodbye, and prepared to leave.
“Come back early!” his parents called after him, their voices full of concern.
Clutching a hard, stolen piece of black bread from the kitchen, he slipped out of his warm home.
Using his knowledge of the terrain, he avoided the patrolling guards and reached a derelict area near the city’s outskirts.
In a dark, damp alley piled with debris, Chuck met his rendezvous—a hunched figure in a tattered black robe, lurking in the shadows.
The figure’s face was hidden beneath a hood, completely obscured.
Their deformed, hunched frame and the faint, corpse-like stench they exuded made it clear this was no ordinary person.
Yet Chuck’s expression lit up with joy.
He hurried forward, brimming with anticipation, and greeted, “Lord Wizard! I’m here!”
He vividly recalled, days ago, spotting this eerie figure nearby and witnessing them casually conjure a black flame to scare off a stray dog.
That moment convinced him this was a true “wizard” from legend!
A child’s boundless curiosity overrode the unsettling aura of this “wizard.”
Especially after finding them surprisingly approachable, Chuck latched onto them like a treasure found.
After days of persistent pestering, the “wizard” promised that if he brought food today, they would teach him real “witchcraft”!
As the “wizard”’s withered hand reached from the shadows to take the black bread, Chuck’s mind raced with fantasies of what witchcraft he might learn.
Fire-breathing? Flying?
He even imagined using his new powers to teach those doubting friends a lesson.
The “wizard” devoured the bread, chewing with a grating sound.
Finished, they raised their head, a sinister grin revealing stark white teeth beneath the shadowed hood.
“Well done, little one…” they rasped, voice harsh and grating. “Let’s see… what witchcraft should I teach you…”
As they spoke, their claw-like hand reached slowly toward Chuck’s tender neck.
At the critical moment, a furious shout thundered from the alley’s entrance!
Chuck spun around, shocked to see the city guard captain who had broken up their fight earlier that day.
Seeing the captain and his fully armed squad, the “wizard” clicked their tongue in annoyance, clearly irritated by the interruption.
They turned, fleeing deeper into the alley. Follow current novᴇls on 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩·𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖·𝘯𝘦𝘵
But the captain didn’t pursue immediately.
He strode to Chuck, scolding sternly, “You foolish kid! You’re coming with me to see your parents! They’ll give you a proper scolding! Don’t you know shady, hooded figures are often child traffickers?!”
Meanwhile, before the “wizard” could escape far, more armed guards appeared at the alley’s other exit.
Trapped on both sides, escape seemed impossible.
Yet, the figure let out an inhuman roar of rage.
A fist-sized black fireball instantly formed in their palm, hurtling toward the approaching guards!
The captain’s eyes widened in fury.
With a shout, he thrust his steel spear like lightning, striking the fireball midair.
The explosion’s shockwave collapsed the alley’s walls, sending guards tumbling.
As the “wizard” conjured another, more dangerous black fireball, the fallen captain gritted his teeth, pulling Chuck beneath him to shield the boy with his own body.
Just as the “wizard” prepared to strike, they froze, sensing an eerie feeling of being watched.
Looking up, they saw an unbelievable sight.
In the dim sky above, two figures floated silently.
As if they had been there all along.
Both gazed down with intrigued expressions, as if studying some rare creature.
Jie Ming, hovering in the air, tilted his head curiously at the black-robed figure and the negative-energy fireball in their hand.
He turned to David, remarking, “I thought it was just a common child trafficker, but there’s actually something unusual.”
David’s mood was far graver.
Staring at the figure’s unnaturally hunched form and withered, deathly arms manipulating elements, his face darkened.
“There are signs of artificial modification on this one…” he said grimly. “The situation’s worse than we thought. This rogue wizard isn’t just using a stolen, flawed meditation method!”
Jie Ming nodded. “Not a wizard, yet wielding such power. This rogue wizard must also possess knowledge to grant others abilities!”
Hearing their conversation, the “wizard” froze, fear overwhelming their twisted mind.
With a scream, they hurled the fireball skyward, flames erupting around them like a malfunctioning thruster, propelling them into the distance!
But they faced two true second-rank wizards.
Jie Ming casually extended a finger.
A faint, nearly invisible energy ray flashed, obliterating most of the figure’s body, leaving only a head, frozen in terror, falling to the ground.
“Thank you, Lord Wizards, for your aid!”
The captain, having narrowly escaped death, led his team in kneeling and shouting gratitude to the sky.
Jie Ming spared them a glance, uninterested.
These guards were mass-produced constructs from Noren Workshop, their emotions—gratitude, excitement—preprogrammed for social stability.
Lifelike, but ultimately artificial.
With a gesture, he levitated the fallen head to his hand, passing it to David. “Analyze it. See if there’s any useful information in its soul.”
Then, Jie Ming’s gaze settled on Chuck, the boy who had watched them, stunned, from start to finish.
The child’s face mixed fear of survival with awe at witnessing “witchcraft” in action.
His pupils contracted from the emotional shock, mouth agape, as if he’d forgotten to breathe.
His young face was etched with the purest, most primal awe and reverence for the unknown.
Jie Ming, intrigued, murmured, “Interesting… In just over a century, after basic bloodline optimization, a human with near second-rank wizard apprentice talent can emerge naturally.”
“At this rate,” he calculated silently, “in a few hundred years, the Noren Academy branch on Elosia could start recruiting qualified wizard apprentices locally.”
With no reason to linger, Jie Ming and David, after analyzing the head’s information, departed without hesitation.
Watching the two figures vanish like meteors into the horizon, Chuck, unable to tear his eyes away, was left with an eternal yearning for the existence of “wizards.”