TWBFHA 02

Chapter 02:Uldar’s Legacy

“What is all this?”

The common hall was in chaos.

Dozens of sacks and chests were stacked along the walls.

Many of them were half-filled with portable items: clothes, tools, trinkets.

Most of the Lu family were moving back and forth, shoving more belongings into the sacks. Only Mr. Lu and Teresa were missing, no doubt preparing for something elsewhere. It looked like preparations for a journey—a very long one.

As Alex stepped into the room, the family members froze, their movements halting. A collective gaze, tinged with fear and worry, turned toward him, as if they feared he might vanish into smoke at any moment.

“Alex.”

Mrs. Lu, who had been scrutinizing him, finally spoke.
“You… you didn’t… did you?”

“Big Brother!”

A small, sharp voice rang out. A little creature with long brown hair and chubby cheeks charged at him, nearly knocking the wind from his lungs as she hugged his waist.

“Selina? What’s going on?”

His ten-year-old sister, Selina, looked up at him with shimmering green eyes.
“Mr. Lu heard that the Chosen One has appeared. The Saint too.”

His heart nearly skipped a beat.

“What?”

Alex hurriedly set the heavy bag of coins on the floor with a rough, metallic clunk.

“When?!”

“Today.”

A grave voice came from the staircase.

Mr. Lu descended the steps as if he’d forgotten his age, taking them two at a time. In his hands were the Lu family’s ancient genealogy and the swords written of by his grandfather. The curved scabbards swayed in his grip. Alex’s unease deepened. Mr. Lu had never brought those swords out of the bedroom before.

Alex’s eyes drifted to the mural on the inn’s wall. Amateurish, but painted with the time, care, and affection of Alex himself, Mrs. Lu, and Teresa. On the mural’s left was the ancient depiction of Uldar, the prophet-god who had first led the people of Tamland against their eternal foe. On the right, the sword of a Chosen One was shown cleaving a mass of darkness.

Ravener.

The eternal enemy destined to swallow the Kingdom of Tamland, generation after generation. Ravener did not rush. It grew its monstrous armies quietly, from the center outwards. Then, at some point, it would shed parts of itself, scattering them in dozens of pieces. These pieces would burrow deep, take root, form nests and dungeons, and spawn endless monsters.

Uldar had defeated Ravener in his age and ascended to the heavens, but he could not destroy it completely. He knew darkness would inevitably return, just as day and night must always coexist.

So Uldar had bequeathed a portion of his power to his people, prophesying that five champions would rise in his stead to cast Ravener down again. That was Uldar’s final declaration to the world.

A century after Uldar ‘s ascension, five youths bore shining ‘Marks’ upon their bodies.

The Chosen One.
The Champion.
The Sage.
The Saint.
And… the Fool.

Together, they cast Ravener down once more.

A century after that, Ravener returned without fail, and another five rose to overcome it. And this time, the same. Again.

A cycle of victory and dread. It was the kingdom’s pride. Its tradition.

…But I have zero interest in that nonsense.

Between the murals of Uldar and Ravener were painted the five champions from three generations ago. All five were said to be from Alik Village, though not precisely. One of the women had come from an impossibly distant land, receiving her Mark on her eighteenth birthday and settling in Alik. In her old age, retired, she had been forced to venture forth again to stop a dungeon that had formed in the caves north of Alik Village.

After succeeding in destroying the Core, she finally fell in battle. Her magic seeped into the caves upon her death, sealing the dungeon permanently. And that place was now known as the Traveler’s Cave.

People who entered the Traveler’s Cave popped out in all sorts of places. The cave had become a portal that teleported people completely at random. A neighboring village, the capital, the northern wastes, even caves somewhere on the continent. There were stories of people being thrown into other dimensions, places of unimaginable wonder, or horror.

The Traveler’s Cave might hold something far more ominous than anyone thought, and if Ravener had used it once, it was likely to use it again.

It made sense why the village had grown so quiet. How many people were hastily stuffing their life’s possessions into sacks at this very moment?

Mr. Lu placed the swords into a chest as he spoke.
“We will be staying with my brother’s family in the Rhine Empire.”

He promptly closed the lid and fastened the lock.
“Until the champions have… sorted out this land.”

Mr. Lu paused, looking at Alex with a strange expression.
“Alex… didn’t you feel anything unusual today?”

Alex knew what he was asking. Champions all received their Marks on the day they came of age. And today was Alex’s eighteenth birthday.

“Nothing happened, Mr. Lu.”

Alex shook his head.

“That’s a relief.”

Mr. Lu sighed as if unburdened.
“I wouldn’t want you caught up in this. Especially… when you have a future ahead of you.”

A faint smile touched his lips as he crossed the room and tossed something to Alex.

A thick scroll case made of vellum. The seal was broken, and in the center was an embossed crest: one tall tower flanked by four others.

“Found this while packing your things. That’s the crest of the Generasi Grand University, isn’t it?”

Mr. Lu beamed.
“Never been inside, but I hear it’s the biggest, most splendid magic school in the world.”

“That’s right.”

Alex smiled back, some tension easing.

“So it was the acceptance letter. When were you planning on telling us, you rascal?”

Alex couldn’t help but laugh, a full-bodied sound.
“Tonight. I was going to dramatically reveal the letter, you’d all cheer, I’d show off the magic I demonstrated for the examiner who visited the magistrate’s office last year, then we’d have a party…”

Alex continued playfully,
“…and finally, I was going to propose to your daughter, Teresa. Of course, you and Mrs. Lu wouldn’t let me get away that easily, so I’d have to dodge and weave…”

Laughter filled the room, but Alex sighed at the poor timing.
“Well, the world’s gone and ended first. This region, at least.”

The Lu couple looked at each other, then back at Alex.

“Alex, go to the school.”

Mrs. Lu stated firmly, her tone brooking no argument.
“If your mother were alive, she would never have stood for her son getting caught up in this, nor for wasting an opportunity like this.”

Alex swallowed the lump in his throat.

Then Mr. Lu knelt to look at Selina.
“Ready to go, little goblin? Plans have changed a bit… Selina, I want you to go with him. You’ll be living with your brother from now on. Is that alright?”

Selina’s eyes sparkled with excitement, but it was mixed with worry and guilt for the Lu family.
“You’ll all be okay…?”

Alex frowned. She had lost their parents to a fire when she was very young, but not so young that she remembered nothing. She still had nightmares.

That’s why Selina held the entire Lu family as preciously as life itself.

Mr. Lu stood, putting an arm around his wife’s shoulders, smiling gently.
“We’ll be fine, Selina. You go with your brother. We’ll come find you later.”

Selina studied them, checking for sincerity. Finally, she spoke.
“I’ll go with Alex.”

“Good!”

Alex ruffled Selina’s hair and turned to the Lu family.
“Where’s Teresa?”

One of Teresa’s brothers gestured toward the back of the inn.
“Preparing the mules. Sorting the stable, checking the cart, feeding Brutus.”

Alex grimaced. Brutus did not like him.
Better not ride in that cart for this trip.

“Well… I’ll say goodbye if I see her later.”

Alex cleared his throat awkwardly and took Selina’s hand.
“Let’s go, little goblin. Time to pack and sleep. A long journey starts tomorrow.”

As Alex led his sister up the stairs, he absently scratched his shoulder.

A red-hued forceball floated above Alex’s fingertip. Balanced atop it was a small clay cup filled with honeyed milk.

Working under a baker for four years did one of two things: it either broke you of sweets or addicted you. Alex was the latter. Thankfully, he hadn’t expanded two or three belt sizes like some of his coworkers. He picked up the cup and took a sip of milk, savoring the sweetness while slowly letting the mana sustaining the spell dissipate.

“One, two, three, four.”

The room darkened as the magic faded.
“Almost four heartbeats. A new record.”

He focused again, whispering words of power while simultaneously assembling the magical matrix at his core. Internal energy surged momentarily; as language and matrix connected, the spell circuit completed. Mana flowed into it. The circuit activated, speeding up gradually.

“One… two…”

Before a second heartbeat passed, the desired form solidified. Red light filled the room as another forceball hovered into existence.

Smiling, Alex rushed to his desk and picked up a small notebook lying there. Simple charts filled its pages. He recorded his daily practice results: time to complete a spell, time for magic to fade after cutting the circuit’s supply, how many ‘forceballs’ he could create before his internal magic dropped dangerously low and the circuit threatened to draw on life force, etc. Such records filled half the notebook—testament to practicing without fail every day, even if just for a few minutes after long hours at the bakery.

The effort had been worth it.

Flipping to the first page to check the numbers, Alex shook his head.

Spell Formation: 34 heartbeats
Dissipation: 0.5 beats
‘Forceball’ Creations: 1

He turned back to tonight’s entry.

Spell Formation: ~1 heartbeat
Dissipation: 3.5 beats
‘Forceball’ Creations:

Alex grinned, spinning the forceball on his fingertip.
“Four so far. And counting.”

He was self-taught, and this was the only spell he’d practiced. But by the time he reached Generasi, he would have mastered this one, at least. A day that started with a deliberate slight from McHarris and ended with the return of an ancient evil… not the worst day.

Alex scratched his shoulder again.
Did a flea get into my sleeve earlier?

Then, the red light of the sphere wavered.

Alex’s hand was trembling. The tiny sphere on his finger trembled with it. Try as he might to play it cool, the news of Ravener had frightened him. Him, his sister, the Lu family. And judging by the silence outside the window, the villagers would be packing for the harbor by morning.

But before that, there would surely be those who couldn’t get on a ship.
Alik Village is too close to the Traveler’s Cave. Can everyone escape safely before the dungeon reopens?

Alex took a deep breath, steadying himself. The bleak last four years had hardened him.
I have a duty to protect Selina.

“Let it go.”

Alex muttered to himself.
“What will happen, will happen. You’re just one person. What matters is what you can do for the people you love. If the road to the coast is clear, that’s good. If not… think. Adapt. Survive. That’s how you’ve always done it. Worrying now won’t change anything.”

That mantra was what had kept him ‘mostly sane’ for the past four years.

Outside, the bell of Uldar’s church chimed eleven times. 11 PM. His birthday was almost over.
Time to finish practice, pack, and maybe find Teresa.

Alex cut the flow of mana feeding the spell and began to count.

“One… two, gahk!”

What came next was pain.

Alex doubled over, collapsing. Muscles seized all at once, twisting him into a knot he couldn’t untangle. A choked scream escaped as his entire body locked in white-hot agony. Teeth ground together audibly. His vision warped. His skin felt like it was being sandpapered and needled simultaneously. Blood filled his nose and mouth.

And the worst of it was his shoulder.

It felt like fiery ants were burrowing into the flesh of his shoulder. The forceball had vanished, but the light in the room had not. It had changed.

A white-gold radiance burst forth from beneath Alex’s white shirt at the shoulder, flooding the air. Then, something flowed into that brilliance. Into Alex’s body. Into his mind. Into his mana. Into somewhere deeper still.

His entire being warped. It felt like a giant hand was manipulating him like a puppet.

Bang!

And shards of memory exploded into his mind.