Chapter 37: Narcissistic Noble
Dazzai thornhill had a reputation for being the best and the number one in anything that he does, and he always uses any means necessary to achieve that feat.
Even if it would mean intentionally sabotaging someone elses path, so that he alone could shine. The very definition of a narcissist.
"You’ve done well in the tournament so far... and in the short amount of time you moved out of your little town, you’ve managed to catch the eye of so many individuals." Dazzai said with a sly, devilish grin.
"That I simply cannot allow... I alone was born to be number one, the strongest with no one to coming close to my caliber of talent... I am absolute."
"...For every eyes that glares at you with glory, is one less that doesn’t look at me."
"Cindralock is filled with talent, but you’re a wild card I simply cant let get too far... considering the strange and mysterious talent you possess."
"What do you mean?" I said with calm tone, but still pinged with a slight surge of anger. "I wont let you manipulate my friends or this tournament."
Dazzai’s eye gleamed with malice. "Oh, but its already begun. I’ve planted seeds of disaster, and soon they’ll sprout. I wouldn’t worry too much about your friends... if I were you, id worry more about myself."
With that, Dazzai dissolved into the shadows casted on the floor and undead, skeletal figure with a blade in its rickety grasp stood in his place staring at me with its beady eyes.
It must be one of his summons, as a necromancer, he has the ability to summon the dead and use them however way he pleases. The creature stared at me for a couple seconds then lunged at me in attack, I didn’t waste anytime to send a small size spacial distortion for repel to send it back several meters before it could even reach me. The creature crumbled to lifeless bones and dissolved into dark, shadowy igor.
I hurried back to the arena, where my friends were preparing for our next match.
"Did you find anything?" Zed asked, noticing my pale expression.
"Dazzai Thornhill is here," I replied with a low voice, almost a whisper, forgetting that the noise of the crowd would ultimately overshadow any volume of voice I use. "He is up to something, and it is not good. We need to stay alert."
As the tournament continued, I couldn’t shake the felling that something was brewing behind the scenes.
Dazzai’s threat loomed over me, and I knew ii had to protect not only myself but also my friends and the academy.
A couple minutes later, we were called upon for our next game and we swept through our opponents with ease.
The matchday for the tournament was over before dusk and everyone went to their dorms to get rest and prepare for the next matchday. As I and my teammates gathered in the dormitory to strategize, a commotion erupted from the courtyard outside of the dormitory grounds.
The sound of someone shouting and clashing echoed through the halls. My mind immediately flung to what Dazzai said and rushed outside to help.
"Stay here!" I commanded as I rushed toward the source of the noise. Before I could reach the exit, I heard the alarm blare across the dormitory- an ear splitting shriek that rattled every windowpane.
I shoved the an exit door and bolted down the runway corridor as the air grew thick with panic and the stench of something ominous...
"Is that... Anti-arcane? Did a gate open on campus grounds?" I muttered to myself.
I swung open the final door to the outside and the campus was in chaos before my eyes.
A cold, eerie mist had crept across the courtyard, curling around lampposts like ghostly fingers. the once calm evening sky was now streaked with flashes of lighting jumping from one cloud to the other.
And most importantly, hovering around-Shadow creatures. Those twisted, malformed Anti-arcane beast that slithered and stalked across the ground. Their forms shifted constantly: some crawled on all fours with elongated limbs, others walked upright with warped humanoid silhouettes, their eyes glowing like embers in a furnace.
By the stench of anti-arcane energy they were giving off, they were probably mid-level or low-level, but they were strong enough to tear through a careless student in seconds. Keep in mind most students in this school are first years who just awakened their talents several months ago and are have not yet grasp the full extent of their powers.
"...This is NOT good." I muttered as my friends and other students caught up to me at the exit door, and seeing the spectacle unfold before their eyes- our school was being overrun by shadow creatures.
Screams echoed through the campus. A group of first years sprinted across the field, one of them tripping over his own feet just as a shadow creature lunged. Its sharp claws shot forward, snatching him mid-run. His shout was cut short, snapped off, like someone had silenced the world around him.
Right in front of me.
Then the same shadow creature caught a glimpse of us where we stood, leaped onto the nearest wall, crawling along it like a spider, its claws carving deep grooves into the stone. Its head turned unnaturally towards me and its mouth stretching far too wide. Most of the students around me and my friends ran back into the building with panic and fear tailing them.
Before the shadow creature could lung at me, the air buzzed with energy as a ball of energy whizzed past and hit the creature dead on, completely obliterating it. I looked forward to see Mage class students standing on the rooftop of the next building in combat robes shouting incantations and chants, throwing down surges of energy blast at the shadow creatures crawling below.
And so, I understood the objective now. This attack wasn’t ordinary- Obviously. Shadow creatures don’t just show up out of the blue, specially when there’s no dungeon gate present, this was a planned coordinated attack on Cindralock branch.
"...We have to protect our school." I said to the rest of the students watching at the exit door.