“So lemme get this straight,” says the bartender. He holds a finger up, which then starts glowing. A cup floats from the shelf behind him. With a wave of his finger, it starts to fill up by itself. “...You came into the #1 pub in the city, famous fer our majestic alcohol, just to ask fer water?” he says with confusion.

You yank the cup out of the air with your veiny hand. As you bring it to your mouth, your biceps present themselves gloriously. “Yes. After a 500 mile walk, it’s what hits the spot right now,” you say with a mouthful of water.

“You...walked?!” he yells, nearly dropping the other cups he was levitating. “I don’t get it, why didn’t ya’ just teleport?”

You finish up the cup and slam it on the counter between you two. “Walking’s faster for me. Anyway, I’m simply here to inquire about directions to Titan.”

He starts levitating some towels and wipes about 7 cups simultaneously in the air. “Oh him? Yer gonna want to keep going south--” Suddenly, his eyes widen and he drops all his cups. “Wait, the hell do ya’ want with the Mad God Titan?!”

Your face tightens up into a grimace under your gigantic wizard hat. “He insulted my beard,” you say as your fist tightens next to your beard that reaches down to your navel. “Now I have to punch him.”

He stares at you dumbfoundedly. “You want to punch...the god of Dark magic.”

You nod. “I care not who he is. He must be punched--”

Suddenly, the pub doors burst open with the fanfare of trumpets. A comically long red carpet rolls forward. 

The numerous patrons in the bar immediately cease their banter to look at what the hell is going on.

A man with a golden robe and a large golden hat steps through, with 2 red-robed people behind him. 

“Make way for the Wizard Prince, Goldo!” says one of the red-robed people. The fanfare erupts even louder.

You turn around, slightly confused. “Pardon me, but there’s already a carpeted area in the middle just for walking. No one has to make way.”

The entire tavern gasps.

Goldo stomps towards you, huffing and puffing with his beardless face. “You filthy commoner. How dare you speak to me that way. What is your name?!”

You smell yourself. “Filthy? I’ll admit, I’ve been walking all day, but I’m not THAT filthy--”

He stomps his foot even more. “Listen here, it’s been a long day, and all I wanted to do was enjoy a nice ale from the #1 pub in Wizardcity!” He takes a deep breath. “Now don’t make me repeat myself.”


You stand up from your stool, rising far above him. “I am Merlin,” you say with a commanding tone that is amplified by your dominating height. “With all due respect, of which there is none, please stop yelling.”

He takes a step back, cowering a little. “You...you don’t intimidate me, commoner! I sense not even a drop of mana around you!” He starts grinning, raising his hands up. His robes start fluttering and his eyes glow a very bright yellow. “My magic is limitless! Do you have any last words before I execute you for disrespecting royalty?!”

Cast “Fist”
Cast “Diplomatic Speech”
Walk out of here

Cast Fist

You shake your head. “I’ve committed no crime. Continue, if you wish to look like a tyrant.”

He starts levitating as his eyes glow even brighter. Winds start to blow through the pub doors. “You wasted your chance to apologize. Repent in the afterlife!”

Everyone in the pub starts to fly themselves out the door. The bartender has been chanting a shield spell around himself during this entire exchange.

Goldo puts his hands together, causing sparks to start flowing through his arms. “Destruction-class: Eye of the Storm!”

A colossal blast of lightning explodes out of his arms, striking you with great intensity. The entire pub starts flickering. Crackles can be heard echoing even from outside the pub doors.

The light wanes, leaving Goldo hunched over and panting.

However, as his sight returns to him, all he sees is you scratching your beard nonchalantly.

“So,” you say as you crack your knuckles, “I can take this as self-defense then? Should I also be yelling out my attacks? I’ll admit it’s been centuries since I last had a Wizard Battle.”

His jaw drops. “How the--”

You wind up your right-hand and ball it up. “FIST!!” you yell as you throw your hand forward.

In the very next second, all that the bystanders at the pub entrance could see was a golden blob spring out of the doorway, smashing into the wall of another shop across the street. 

The red-robed guards that came with him run up to you and summon floating icicle spears all around you. “Halt! You are under arrest for harming a member of the royal Wizard family!”

You sigh. “I see that the royal Wizard family has lost all reasoning over the years. Fine, I’ll accept the consequences.”

They escort you out of the pub, leaving the spears pointed right at you. 

The bartender lets out a sigh of relief and waves his finger, summoning a bell that rings out.

The patrons that flew out immediately fly back in. “5th time this week, huh?” says one of the patrons.

-

As the three of you walk to the imposing stone castle in the center of the city, you take in the sights.

Nearby, you see an old lady waving her hands around like a conductor. She levitates clothes around her, as well as conjuring water to wash them, all without breaking a sweat.

Three kids fly past you with the speed of an eagle. They appear to be playing tag in the air, whizzing through the numerous brick houses and shops.

You look down and notice that the robed guards aren’t even walking anymore. They’ve been levitating a while back. 

You scratch your head. “Curiouser and curiouser. Why is it that everyone is wasting magic so liberally? Isn’t it exhausting?”

The robed guard brings a spear closer to you. “Don’t make any sudden movements. And what kinda question is that? We’re the Wizard race! Magic comes as easy as breathing!”

You dart your eyes around in confusion. Out of all the people around you, you notice one key thing: their arms and legs look like twigs, even from the largest people. Almost like they’ve been bedridden their whole lives.

-

The jail cell doors close on you, leaving you in a dark, murky room painted with the grey of stone. 
 
“Both of your trials will be soon,” says the robed guard as he twirls a ring of keys around. “May the Ether bless your soul.”

 With that, he levitates up the stairs, vanishing into the darkness.

“Well aintcha a big fella’,” a voice says in the corner. He steps into a less dimly lit part of the room, revealing his short yet stout figure. In a gesture to handshake, he extends his hairy arm, which complements his big, bushy beard. 

“I am Gundilf The Black. Master o’ Blackpowder magic,” he says with a wide grin.

You return his handshake. “Merlin. Uh, Master of none?”

He chuckles. “So what brings ya here? Victim of the royal family’s short temper, I take it? Cuz I’m here for that too.”

You nod. “As am I. Pardon me, I haven’t been keeping up with the latest trends, but what is Blackpowder magic?”

His chin perks up smugly. “I don’t expect ya t’know, cuz I invented Blackpowder magic. I’d show ya’ a thing or two but…” He walks towards the bars and points at the object lying against the wall across your cell.

You’ve never seen anything like it before. It’s a metallic staff of sorts, angled at the bottom and ornate with wood.

“That right there’s my prized 12-gauge Wizard Staff,” Gundilf says with pride. “Can’t do a lick of magic without it, sadly. They’re unfairly keeping me away from my baby, dangit!”

You nod solemnly. “The royal Wizard family certainly has been strangely unfair. What could have changed?”

He takes a seat on the creaky bench in the room. “Beats me. Always been this way as far as I know.”

You squint your eyes in thought.

Cast Fist on the bars and escape the city
“Investigate” the King directly at the trial

A) Cast Fist on the bars and escape the city

“Oh well,” you say as you approach the bars and wind up your right hand. “I’m not one for breaking the law, but right now the law is failing us. FIST!!!”

The bars explode, curling away like broken fingers.

Gundilf’s eyes widen. “Hot damn. I thought you were master of nothin’!” 

Some footsteps start approaching the stairs. That certainly wasn’t a quiet action.

“Uh oh,” says Gundilf making a beeline to his Wizard staff. He grabs it and cocks back an odd mechanism attached to the metallic part of the staff, sounding with a satisfying click. “I’ll lead the way brother! Let’s get outta here!”

You nod. The two of you book it up the stairs, with you following closely behind Gundilf.

The moment you reach the top, two robed guards intercept you.

One of them points a spell-filled hand towards you. “Where do you think you’re going?!--”

Gundilf hops over the guard with his dwarf-like body. In mid-air, he turns around and points the staff against the back of the guard’s head. “Just getting some fresh air,” he says as he pulls the trigger on his staff.

The guard’s head is blasted clean off. The recoil from the blast sends Gundilf flying back, slamming the blunt wooden end against the other guard and knocking him unconscious.

Gundilf lands gracefully. “Let’s keep going!” he says as he starts running down the stone-walled corridor.

You follow behind. “That ‘Blackpowder’ of yours was certainly impressive. But, was it necessary to take his life?”

“I do what needs to be done,” he says as he cocks his staff.  “Besides, the King woulda probably executed him for not doing his job anyway.”

Before you could reach the end of the corridor, more guards show up to block the path.

Gundilf points his staff forward. 

“That won’t be necessary,” you say as you run to the wall on your left. “FIST!!”

You punch open a hole, revealing a kitchen with food and cooks. They start screaming. 

You run forward tipping your hat at them. “I am terribly sorry about this.”

Gundilf follows behind you, yanking a loaf of bread from the table. “And I’m quite thankful for this!” 

You punch another hole open, revealing another room. And you punch another hole at the end of it, leading to more rooms and holes. “Where in blazes is the outside of this castle?!”

You punch into another room, except this room is much bigger than the others. As the smoke from breaking the wall clears up, you see a room brightly lit from sunlight shining through the ornate windows, and lavishly decorated with banners on the sides.

In the center sits a golden-robed man with a golden hat as large as yours, and a silver beard to match. He stands up from his golden chair, looking down upon you as though you were subhuman.

Well, metaphorically looking down on you, since you are much taller than anyone in this room.

He clears his throat. “You are brave to face me, King Goldius, Grand Wizard of Lightning!” He shouts as he claps his hands together, striking lightning into them. 

A staff forms where the lightning was. He twirls it around and points it at you two. “Now give me one good reason why I should not execute you where you stand.”

“Hmmmffmf,” Gundilf mumbles. Then he gulps. “I’m currently eating bread.”

The three of you stand in silence. Though, that silence is populated by the sounds of chewing. 

Gundilf burps after taking the last bite.

King Goldius blinks a few times. “It would seem your one reason is now gone--”

“Hold it!” Gundilf exclaims as he rummages through his back pocket. He pulls out another loaf of bread. “Skipped out on breakfast y’see.”

"King Goldius, can you not see how unreasonable you are acting right now?" You say.

He frowns harder. "It seems pretty reasonable given that you've ruined my castle walls. The moment your friend takes his last bite, you two WILL be smited."

Gundilf chews slower and louder.

Wait for Gundilf to finish eating THEN cast Fist
Cast Fist now
Escape by casting Fist through the window

A) Wait for Gundilf to finish eating THEN cast Fist

Gundilf is down to about 3 more bites of his bread. Meanwhile, the sounds of footsteps can be heard from the holes you’ve punched through. Looks like the guards are about to arrive.

He takes another bite.

You crack your knuckles.

Another bite.

Goldius tightens his grip on his staff. The footsteps get even louder.

*MUNCH*

The room illuminates with a golden hue as Goldius slams his staff to the ground. He closes his eyes and starts chanting. “Heed my call, Thor! I beseech you to smite--”

“FIST!!!” you yell after charging forward.

In the next second, Goldius is embedded into the wall just behind his throne. 

Gundilf burps. “I’ll be damned, guess you can take the King after all.” He then flourishes his staff and turns around. “I’ll take care o’ these assholes then!”

You slowly walk up to Goldius amidst the constant sounds of blasting. 

The King coughs as gravity peels him off the wall like a wet rag. “What...what the FUCK was that?! Who are you?!”

“I am Merlin. I’m awfully curious why you waste your time chanting your spells.”

He coughs again. “Are you daft? Typical from a commoner with no mana like you to not know the basics of magic.” He slowly gets up with the aid of his staff, then closes his eyes again. “Destruction-class--”

“FIST!!!” you yell as you send him into the wall again, enlarging the cracks on it. He coughs up blood.

You crack your knuckles. “I’ll admit, yelling out a spell certainly feels good,” you say as you walk up right to his face. “You’ll have to pardon my bluntness as I’ve not kept up in centuries, but why are you so weak? Do they let anybody take the Grand Wizard positions these days?”

His eyes become bloodshot. “WEAK?! ME?!” 

Suddenly, electricity surges through his body. His aura summons winds around him that break the windows and tears down a few of the banners. Eventually, it blows away your hat--

You slam your hand right against his throat, knocking the breath out of him.

Immediately, all killing intent he had dies down along with his aura as he starts shaking in fear.

“Yes, you damned deaf cur. Weak.” You grab him out of the wall. “I’ve been honing my powers for over a millennium now, after being sealed in the solitude of a tower.” You slam him into the ground, causing him to cough up more blood. You then squat down to meet his weary gaze. “...And now that I’ve broken free, all I’m met with is pathetic disappointment.”

He slowly tries to raise his hand with all his might, wearily gathering mana to it. “Th...Thor, heed my--”

You squeeze his mouth, making it look like a fish. “Shut the hell up. C’mon, I know you can do this without chanting. Come on!”

His hand shakes even more; volatile electricity surges around it. “You...insolent…”

You squeeze his mouth harder. “Come on!!! You’re angry, are you not?! Show me the power of a Grand Wizard!”

He grits his teeth as his hand gathers a sudden flux of energy. He then screams as he punches your face with a fist full of lightning.

You put on a grin full of bloodlust as you slap his hand away. “Much better. But,” you grab his neck then throw him into the wall once again. “You have the arms of an infant!” 

He has another coughing fit of blood. Tears start streaming down his cheeks. “Please...what is it that you want? Riches? My head? Whatever it is, just get on with it, you demon!”

You sigh, then tighten your fist--

“Whoa brother,” Gundilf says as he slaps your hat back onto your head, “You uh, you okay?”

Your eyes widen. “I...what?” You look at your hands, then look behind you to see the corpses of robed guards. Your eyes dart back to King Goldius, who continues to sob loudly. “My...my apologies, I--”

“Apologies?!” Goldius yells in exasperation. “What the FUCK is wrong with you?! You’ve killed my men, my castle, and my honor! And now you *cough* wanna apologize?!” He sobs again. “Please...just end it already.”

Cast Fist
Let Gundilf do the honors
Just leave

D) Take King Goldius as a hostage

Gundilf crosses his arms while looking out a broken window. “What’s the plan, brother? I see a huge army rushing into the castle right now.”

You ponder with your eyes closed. “I’d rather not spill more blood than we already have.” You open your eyes and yank King Goldius out of the wall, holding him over your shoulder and also holding your hat in place. He seems to have passed out. 

Gundilf nods. “Aye, fair enough. This way’s better than letting him announce our treason. Though...escaping might be a wee bit difficult like this.”

“Worry not. We’ll be out of here in the blink...” You charge towards the window, hoisting Gundilf onto your shoulder, then squat down in preparation.

“...Of an eye!” you yell, springing out through the window with a jump that’s almost able to let you touch the clouds.

Gundilf wiggles his legs while screaming. “By the gods! Are you trying to kill us?!”

“It’s simple really! We’ll do our best not to die!” you say grinning with the adrenaline rush of being high in the bright sunny sky.

He continues screaming. “Do our best to what now?!--”

You fall through a thick grove of trees, which kills your momentum. But just before you enter, you curl up and keep Gundilf and Goldius close to minimize any damage to them. After an endless stream of ruffling leaves, you pop out of the bottom of the leaves with a few scratches to your arms.

Miraculously, you land on a horse-drawn wagon of a random trader. What’s fascinating to you is that this entire wagon is levitating, making the horse look like it’s galloping on air.

Startled, the trader looks back and meets your eyes. He blinks while taking this all in. “Are you folks here to rob me?”

You shake your head. Gundilf shakes his butt to decline as well, since his face can’t be there to do that.

He glances at the other person you’re holding. “Is that King Goldius, Grand Wizard of Lightning?”

You shake his butt to decline.

The merchant shrugs and puts his eyes back on the road. “This might as well happen, I guess. Just don’t cause a ruckus.”

Stay in the wagon
Travel on foot instead

A) Stay in the wagon

…

Minutes pass as the wagon steadily treks through the thick grove. Apparently the trader is headed to a city in the south, which matches where you’re supposed to go anyway.

“So,” Gundilf says taking a bite from a loaf of bread he took from the wagon, “What’s your story, brother? Seems like you got a load a’ problems.”

You adjust your hat. “I, along with my mana, was sealed by the Mad God Titan for over a thousand years,” you say while opening your hand to conjure a fireball, only for it to fizzle out with an ember. “He trapped me in a tower encased with a magic barrier.”

Your eyebrows turn into a frown. “But most dire of all is that he insulted my beard. Now I’m on my way to punch him. To regain my dignity, and my mana.”

A moment of silence and chewing.

“That’s rough, brother. How’d ya break out?” Gundilf asks.

You ball up your hand. “I punched it.”

He stops chewing. “You...punched a magic barrier? And it broke?”

“The secret is punching it really hard. But I had another secret. One that no Wizard had ever honed due to their reliance on mana. And that is…” you tighten your fist, causing a faint blue glow around it, “...Chi.”

He scoots closer, curious about the odd glow. “Chi? I’ll be damned. It feels nothin’ like magic.”

“Oh, but it IS magic.” You spread your arms out. “Magic is just changing energy. And we have a whole lot of it around us. That’s Mana.”

You punch your knuckles together, causing a small blue spark. “But we also have energy deep within. That’s Chi. And it doesn’t play well with Mana. They cancel each other out.”

Gundilf snaps his fingers. “Ah! So ya used Chi to punch away the Mana-filled barrier?”

You nod. “A thousand-years worth of Chi, to be precise.”

He scratches his beard. “Interestin’. I can’t use much Mana myself. Hence why I hadta create Blackpower magic. But this Chi thing seems mighty useful too.” 

You chuckle. “Tis certainly an interesting solution to losing the Mana lottery.” You adjust your hat again. “What shall you do from here?”


He waves around his Wizard Staff. “Been tryin’ to spread the glory of Blackpowder. Seems like you’ll be travelling a fair bit if you’re aimin’ for Titan’s head, so I’ll stick around for that.” 

He pokes Goldius’s butt with the barrel of his staff. “And what about you, sir Grand Wizard?”

“MMFFFGHH!!” King Goldius mumbles, struggling to get a word out. Though, that would be thanks to the cloth you tied against his mouth to shut him up.

Gundilf nods. “Ah, I see I see. And how does that make you feel?”

“HHHMMMGHH!!!!” he yelps, struggling even more while wiggling his body. He would probably have smited you two by now if you didn’t tie his hands behind him.

Gundilf chuckles and takes another bite of bread. “Haha, yeah. Me too.”

Suddenly, a small blast of fire erupts in front of the wagon, causing the horse to act up. 

A group of 3 hooded bandit-wizards emerge from the trees, readying more magic at their hands. 

Their leader steps forward. “Now here’s quite the catch. The Grand Wizard of Lightning himself! Tied up and ready to be served on a silver platter!” He bounces a fireball on his hand. “I hope you don’t mind if we take him for ourselves.”


The trader calms the horse down, then stares down the bandit leader. “I must warn you ruffians, I have a Royal Chit!” He takes out a small golden piece of paper. “If you mess with me, I have the backing of the Royal Family!”

The leader puts a finger on his chin. “Ain’t that the Royal Family himself back there?”

“Exactly, so you better--wait a minute.” The trader looks behind him to see the King wiggling like a worm. The trader then drops the Royal Chit. “Ah fuck.” 

Cast Fist
Let Gundilf handle this
Throw King Goldius over to them

A) Cast Fist

The traders lets out a deep sigh, then quickly switches to a serious face. He springs off his horse and whips his sleeve forward, revealing a small wand. “You got balls to face this old man in a Wizard Battle. I’ve been in this business for a long time, kiddos! Don’t think you’ll be robbing me that easily!”


 He points his wand forward and draws a triangle in the air. “Squire-class: Delta Flame!”

3 fireballs emerge, flying forward to each of the bandits.

They all respond by pulling out wands out of their sleeves as well. The leader, licking his wand, lines up between his allies. “We’ve been in this business for quite a while too!” 

The three of them wave their wands together and chant simultaneously. “Knight-class: Super Barrier!”

The fireballs dissipate after colliding with the blue translucent wall that materialized in front of the bandits.

The leader smirks. “You’ll need a lot more firepower than that to defeat the bond of three brothers!”

They all point their wands forward and chant together again. “Knight-class: Flame Barrage!”

Dozens of fireballs fly forward.

However, the trader had already long been mumbling something while drawing rapid circles with his wand. “...and let the wind sail forward! Lord-class: Storm Cannon!”

A huge spiral of air erupts out of the trader’s wand, extinguishing all the fireballs and drilling a hole through their magic barrier. 

The three brace themselves through the wind, taking a few cuts. 

The leader catches his breath, then spits on the ground. “I’ll admit, I wasn’t expecting a simpleton like you to know Lord-class magic. In that case!”

The three of them hold up their wands, touching them all together and start chanting a long phrase. “Heed our call, Apollo…”

The trader widens his stance and starts chanting something equally long. “Heed my call, Athena…”

The chanting goes on for a solid minute.

You twiddle your thumbs. “Pardon me, but is this supposed to be a theatre play of some sort?”


Gundilf takes out a rag and starts polishing his staff. “Fraid you’re lookin’ at a good ol’ Wizard Battle.”

You lay your head against your hand. “That cannot be right. They haven’t moved from their starting positions at all! And they keep yelling out their spells like looneys! Am I missing something here?”

“Well, it is pretty difficult to cast magic while moving,” he says while admiring the sheen on his Wizard Staff’s barrel. “Normal magic, that is. Ain’t no problem for Blackpowder.”

“Difficult?! Since when?!” You facepalm. “And they’re still chanting! Oh, I can’t bear to watch this anymore,” you say before hopping out of the wagon.

The chanting stops for the three bandits as they keep a giant sphere of fire hovering above them. “Destruction-class: Extinction Meteor!” they yell, throwing the giant ball of flames forward.

The trader also stops chanting. “Destruction-class: Divine Protec--”

“FIST!!!” you yell, shoving the trader out of the way and uppercutting the giant fireball, sending it into the sky where it explodes into a massive display of fireworks.

Both parties stare at you dumbfoundedly.

You massage your temples. “What. In blazes. Is all this?! Are you two really Wizards?!” 
You glare at the bandit leader. “You. Where did you all learn to use magic?!”

The leader’s jaw drops. “Hold up. Did this huge grandpa just deflect a Destruction-class spell--”

You jump forward, crashing right in front of him and cracking the ground a bit, which causes them to lose footing a bit. “Magic. Where learn.”

He quivers a bit. “We...we’re alumni of the Natit Wizard Academy--”

You grab his shoulder and shake him. “What in BLAZES is a Wizard Academy?! Did your parents not teach you any magic?!”

“N...no? I never met anyone whose parents have done that--”


“FIST!!” you yell, uppercutting the 3 of them into oblivion.

You stomp your way back to the trader. “Pardon me. But where is this Natit Wizard Academy?”

He blinks. “It’s, uh, actually where we’re headed right now. To deliver some school supplies.” He shakes his head to re-orient himself. “Sorry, but what did you just do?”

 You’ve already hopped back into the wagon. “I punched em.”

…

The trader unloads the boxes from his wagon as he talks to a man in a uniform. “I could have sworn there was more bread than this…” he mumbles.

The two of you stand before the wooden entrance of a gigantic stone building, composed of multiple other buildings. Banners hang all around the walls to show off its grandiosity. 

A myriad of young students in various colors of robes pass by you, walking in and out of the entrance, and giving you weird looks. 

Gundilf crosses his arms. “Whatever happened to going after Titan?”

You also cross your arms. “Oh I have a strong hunch that this has Titan written all over it,” you say, glaring at the huge banner in front that says “NATIT”.

He tilts his head. “Oh yeah? What makes you say that?”

“It is way too strange for magic to have evolved backwards after a millennium. If anyone is corrupting the youth, it’s that damn beard-hater.”

The King, still bound and gagged and hoisted over your shoulder once again, mumbles something. 

You lower the gag on his mouth.

“You! The Lightning Kingdom wasn’t enough for you?! Now you seek to destroy the most prestigious academy in the nation?!--”

You put the gag back on his mouth.

How will you investigate?

 “Stealth”: Pretend to be part of the youth and gather info from your fellow youths
Stealth: Pretend to be part of the staff and gather info from your fellow faculty
Force your way to the head honcho of this accursed place

A) Pretend to be part of the youth and gather info from your fellow youths

…

“So,” Gundilf begins, as he puts on the black school uniform you just acquired from the trader, “Can’t say I was expecting to back to school like this,” he says as he somehow hides away his staff under the uniform.

You try to put on the school robes, but in the process you rip up the long sleeves with your massive arms. The bottom of the robes only reach up to your knees, rather than reaching the ground like it does for Gundilf. It feels like a dress more than anything. 

He looks you up and down. “Well, I’ll probably fit in just fine since I’m short, but you’re lookin’ to be a whole different story, brother.”

You put on the school hat, which is bigger than your other hat, so you’re able to put on the hat over your hat. “Worry not. I was an infant before.”

He looks to the side. “Uhhh, these ain’t infants, brother. They look to be teenagers.”

“I’ve lived for over a thousand years, Gundilf. You’re all infants to me. Now are we all ready?”

King Goldius struggles around in his robes like someone trying to escape a potato sack. “This...is...embarrassing! Why must I have to go along with your criminal acts?!” He finally gets his head through the robes, revealing his glare to you. “I could run away right now and have you arrested, you know.”

You sigh and take off your hats, then put your face right up to his, making you bend down to meet his eyes. “But you won’t. Because you’re a damn coward. A pathetic, spineless weakling.” 

You inch closer, making him back up a bit. “Go ahead and call whoever you want. But know that I WILL. Punch. Them. All.” You say, poking his chest with each punctuated word. “And then you will be next.”

He gulps. 

You put your hats back on. “Oh well, why not think of this as a learning opportunity? Clearly you still have much to know to truly become a Grand Wizard.

He looks to the side, frustrated. “Fine. I’ll play by your rules for now, you fiend.”

…

The three of you walk through the entrance. Across from you is a T-intersection, with a counter manned by a lady in a more official-looking uniform. 

“Just like we practiced, alright?” Gundilf whispers to you as the three of you approach the counter.

She gives a customer-service smile. “Hi! Are you three guests?”

You stare her down with your massive height. “No. We are students.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Um...no offense sir, but you look a bit too old to be a student here.”

“That is because of puberty. Which I am currently going through. Because I am a student here.”

She sweats a bit. “Uhhh...okay. Well, which element are you studying? I can direct you to where your element’s building would be.”

You blink. “Pardon me, but what are you talking about?”

She pulls out a diagram with a pentagon on it. Each of the points of the pentagon have different colors on it. “Well, as you can see on this map, this school is divided into 5 other buildings, all connected by hallways. There’s one for each element: Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, and Lightning!”

You blink even more. “You...focus on a single one?”

“Why of course! Mastering one element is difficult as it is! And can even take a whole lifetime to do!” 

You facepalm. “By the gods. This is embarass--”

Gundilf starts pushing me away. “We’ll just be wanderin’ around, thanks miss!”


…

The three of you walk through the very wide hallway, passing by crowds of students. You notice that the ones around this hallway are mostly wearing red badges, which you assume mean these are the Fire students. Some lean against the brightly-lit windows, casually talking before their next class. 

“Merlin, was it?” Goldius asks casually. “Why do you act so appalled by common knowledge?”

You exhale. “This is not knowledge. This is the complete opposite of knowledge. Forcing yourself to one element is like only walking on a single leg when you have two.”

In the corner of your eye, you see a young boy sitting and reading on a bench, secluded away from everyone else who is socializing. Instead of people, he is accompanied by a stack of books. You approach him out of curiosity, thinking he should be a safe target to get info from.

The extraordinarily skinny boy adjusts his comically large glasses as he looks up to your overbearing figure. “H...hello. Who are you?”

“Greetings fellow youth. I am, uh…” You think back to Gundilf, who earlier told you not to reveal your real name just to be safe. However, he did not specify what name to use instead. “I am Pew Bertie. What is this activity you are doing?”

He clears his throat. “I’m...Terry Thotter. And I’m currently memorizing spells for my next class.”

“Memorizing? Why would you need to memorize spells?”

Goldius crosses his arms. “You idiot, don’t you know the basics of spellcasting? You have to know the correct sequence of words to chant! With so many spells, why do you think it’s so difficult to master an element?!”

You massage your temples. “By the gods. This cannot possibly look any worse--”

Suddenly, a fanfare bursts out of the hallway as a grandiosely long red carpet rolls down the hallway. A young boy in a fully red-colored school uniform walks on it, accompanied by two robed guards.

“Everyone, please clear the way for Prince Firebong! Son of the Grand Wizard of Fire!” says one of the guards.

Goldius immediately hides behind you. “Oh shit. That boy might recognize me, since I know his father quite well.”

“Well, I must say I recognize the way he presents himself,” you say. “Reminds me a lot of your son.”

“Well of course he would!” Goldius says smugly. “Both that boy and my son are royalty after all! Something you wouldn’t know, you dreaded commoner.”

You roll your eyes. “Commoner this, royalty that. The only royal thing that happened to you is that I royally defeated you.”

Goldius doesn’t have a retort for that one.

In the midst of your exchange, Terry had gotten up from his seat to get on the carpet. The moment his shoe formed a dirt print on it, everyone gasped.

“Um, excuse me,” Terry says nonchalantly while adjusting his big glasses, “But there’s already a carpeted area in the middle. And this hallway is quite large. No one has to make way.”

Firebong’s hair immediately bursts into flames. “Oi. Commoner. The SHIT did you just say to me? Get your filthy feet off of MY carpet!” he says while pushing Terry down.

Terry shakes his head to re-orient himself. “Hey! Violence isn’t allowed in the school rules.”

Firebong holds up his hand, forming a small fireball. “My father IS the rules, shithead.”

Defend Terry
Teach Terry to CAST FIST
Ignore this and move on

B) Teach Terry to CAST FIST

Firebong stops casting midway. "Oi, wait a sec. I recognize those stupidly large glasses now," he smirks. "You're that dumbass who ranks at the bottom of this entire academy! A pitiful commoner who can barely use magic."

You squint your eyes. “Now I DEFINITELY know he’s exactly like your son. Is this just what it means to be royalty, Goldius?”

Goldius looks to the side. “I...suppose not.”

Firebong lets out an ominous chuckle. “I’m not gonna waste a mere pebble of fire for trash like you.” He raises both of his hands and forms a much larger casting circle. “No, I’ll be giving you an example you won’t forget!”

Every other student in the area backs off.

The growing ball of flames can be seen on the reflection of Terry’s glasses. He starts mumbling to himself. “This is...a Destruction-class? Which means I’ll have to...ack, but I won’t be able to finish chanting it in time. Maybe I could--”

“Punch him.” You say frankly. 

Terry gets up and looks behind to meet your eyes. “Do...what now?”

“He’s fixated on chanting, Terry. Punch him.”

Gundilf nods. “I agree. Slug him in the kisser, lad!”

Terry looks at his pathetically scrawny hands. “But...I’ve never heard of a Wizard punching another--”

“Hurry! Do it Terry, cast your FIST at him!!” you yell.

He grits his teeth and runs full speed ahead. “EEEAAAAAGH!!” he screams incoherently, throwing a punch with all of his might aimed for the face. However, he trips a bit on the way, causing his fist to change its target...

Firebong did not know how to react at all. In the next moment, his concentration is interrupted with his groin being caved in from a fist, stumbling him to the ground.

A few boys in the crowd let out a pained “Ooooo!”

Immediately, his guards run up and point their hands at Terry. “Mr. Thotter, you are under arrest for--”

Firebong puts his hand up. “Thotter. You really fucked up now,” he says with traces of flames seeping out of his mouth. “As you know, we’ll be having magical duels at Professor Gundledorf’s class in an hour.” Small flames shoot out through his nose as he exhales. “Say your fucking prayers, because I’ll fucking EXECUTE you in front of the entire fucking class.”

With that, he gets up and walks away, covering his royal jewels. The guards follow suit, rolling the carpet back up.

The rest of the crowd disperses, giving Terry some ostracizing glances.

Gundilf breaks out in a sweat and starts to walk away. 

“What’s wrong?” you ask.

He takes a deep breath. “That lad mentioned the name of an old friend o’ mine. You two continue the investigation, I’ll be taking care o’ some business real quick,” he says with a brisk stride out of the hallway.

Terry runs up, look up at you in a panic. “By the gods, Pew! What am I gonna do?! I’ll have to start writing my will!”

“Silence, boy!” Goldius says sharply. “It would be foolish for a Prince to commit a murder publicly.” 

You roll your eyes. “Oh yes, most foolish indeed.”

Goldius glares at you. “And YOU need to stop corrupting the youth, damnit! That was a sorry excuse of a Wizard Battle! This barbaric method of yours sullies the reputation of our most sacred tradition!”

You grab him lightly by the collar. “You are a failure if you cannot recognize the difference between a battle and humiliation.” You let him go and look back to the young boy, whose breathing starts to speed up. “Please calm down, Terry.”

“How can I possibly stay calm?!” he yells.

You shrug. “You won this battle, did you not?”

“That was clearly a fluke!”

You hold up your fist. “By my word, I assure you it was no fluke. In fact, I can show you how you can turn this entire situation around,” you say funnelling Chi to your fist, making it glow blue.

Terry gets starry-eyed. “Whoa. Most curious. I’ve never seen such magic before.”

Goldius grumbles. “You wouldn’t dare spread that awful technique of yours!”


You give him a threatening glare, causing him to shrivel a bit. “You’ll be partaking in this lesson too, if you really want to live up to your title.”

…

Terry accompanies you guys to an open field in the school grounds. A row of straw-dummies stand at the edge of the field. 

“We came at a good time,” Terry says with a smile. “Usually, students would come here to practice their magic. But it looks like everyone is busy.”

You stretch out your arms. “Perfect! Tell me Terry, how do you cast a spell?”

He adjusts his glasses. “Well, first you construct a magic circle, making sure to use the correct incantation on the circle--”

“Wrong!” you interject.

Goldius blinks. “The fuck do you mean that’s wrong? That’s exactly right!--”

“Wrong!!” you say even louder. “This way of doing magic by the book is, simply put, BORING! And therefore, it is INEFFICIENT!”

They both tilt their heads. 

“Terry, could you try casting a spell for me?”

He looks at his hands nervously. “I...I can try.” He puts his palms forward, narrowing his eyes in concentration. A magical circle forms in front of his hands. He starts mumbling something, with each movement of his mouth causing a new symbol to form on the edge of the circle. 

He fully opens his eyes. “Squire-class: Flame sphere!” he yells. However, a small explosion occurs instead, blowing him backwards to the ground. He punches the dirt. “Curses! I used the wrong word again! I’m...I’m just not cut out for magic, Pew!” 

Tears start forming in his eyes. “I’ve been reading these magic books from dusk til dawn, for weeks on end! Sacrificed the pursuit of friendship to memorize all these spells! And yet!” He punches the ground again. “I’m a cursed failure who can’t even memorize the simplest fire spell!”

Goldius stares in awe. “Amazing...for a mis-cast to lead to an explosion like that, you would need an ocean’s worth of mana! You clearly have potential, boy!”

He glares at Goldius, silently communicating the face of “Not helping.”

You squat down to match Terry’s level. “You are not the one who has failed. No, it is your mentors who have failed you.” You stand, helping Terry up as well. “I want you to forget everything you’ve learned and close your eyes.”

Terry hesitates, then closes his eyes.

“Alright, now what do you see?”

He furrows his brows. “Uh...nothing?”

You scratch your head. “You sure you don’t see weird blue strings?”

“Oh! Yes, of course I do.” He tilts his head. “Isn’t that just a normal thing to see when you close your eyes, though?”

You subtly smile. “Normal for us Wizards, yes. Now, try drawing a picture of a fireball with those strings. Doesn’t have to look good.”

“Um, okay.” He furrows his brows even more, straining his mental strength just to visualize it. To him, moving the strings around the way he wants is like trying to fit a thread through a needlehole. 

After a bit, he exhales. “Okay, I drew a circle with spikes on it. Now what?”

You grin. “Open your eyes.”

Terry’s vision returns, only for him to witness a boulder-sized ball of flames floating in front of his hands. Magic circles are present on his palms, complete with a bunch of words.

Goldius’ jaw drops. “Impossible...Destruction-class: Extinction Meteor? And without chanting?!”

You stroke your beard with pride. “Don’t you see? Wizards have always been able to PLAY with mana like it was art! These magic circles are just the fingerprint of the spell, not the source of it!”

Goldius falls to his knees. “So you’re telling me...I’ve been wasting my whole life writing FINGERPRINTS?! It was this easy?!” He closes his eyes and tries it out, but the blue strings that should have been there are blurry and faded.

You shake your head. “Unfortunately for you, this backwards way of spellcasting is ingrained tightly into your mind. It’ll take effort to unlearn a lifetime of bad habits.”

He grits his teeth in frustration.

“Uhh, Pew?” Terry asks nervously, “What do I do with this thing? I feel like it could blow at any moment!”

You hold your palm against the giant fireball, then funnel Chi to your hand. In an instant, the fireball dissipates. “No worries. For now, you should…”

“Just keep casting spells for practice” (skip to duel with Firebong)
“Spar with me”
“Try fighting Goldius, totally normal student who is not the Grand Wizard of Lightning”

Fight Goldius

"How about the two of you spar?" 

Goldius springs up and tiptoes up to your ear. "Are you daft?! You want me to fight a child?!" He angrily whispers. 

You smile smugly. "Well, you act like one, do you not? Besides, I advise you stop underestimating your opponents."

He huffs up in frustration, then glares at Terry, who is busy staring at his hands in awe of what he had just done.

“I can’t believe it...I really am a Wizard!” Terry says with a giant grin. “I’m not a failure!”


“Boy!” Goldius shouts, “are you still with us?”

Terry looks up and blinks. “Wuh--oh! Yes! What are we doing next, sir?”

“Sir?” Goldius says as he puts down his hood, “That’s King to you, boy!” His voice echos, ringing with the boom of thunder.

He scratches his head. “Um...who are you again? Sorry, that sounded really rude. I’m Terry Thotter!” He walks forward and extends his hand with a smile. “What’s your name?”

Goldius stands with a blank face. “I…” he says with his hand slowly moving forward, “...am your opponent!” He yells, grabbing Terry’s hand and quickly mumbling a chant.

Terry spasms in pain due to lightning surging through his veins, then falls to his knees.

Goldius kicks him away. 

You step forward. “Hey, what are you--”

Goldius raises his hand. “Get up, boy. I’ll be doing the lesson now.”

Terry tries to scuttle away. “Wh...what’s going on?!”

“You should be honored, boy. You get the privilege of fighting…” A flash of lightning strikes his hand, forming his staff, “...The Grand Wizard of Lightning, Goldius!” He slams his staff on the ground. “Now, get up, boy!” he says before beginning to chant quietly.

Terry shuffles to his feet. “A Grand Wizard?! Weren’t you just a student?!--”

“Knight-class: Heavenly Smite!” 

A huge streak of lightning crashes right at Terry, who managed to jump away at the last second. 

Terry’s eyes start to water. “I don’t like this lesson very much!”

“Lesson One.” Goldius slowly walks forward as he talks. “A Wizard needs two things to thrive. The first…” He draws a small circle on the soil, quickly scribbling some markings on it, “...is Power!” he yells, slamming his staff in the center of the circle.

A giant sphere of lightning forms above the staff.

Terry tears up. “What did I do wrong?! I showed power earlier, didn’t I?!”

“I don’t doubt your power, boy. But power is useless…” He slams his staff into the ball, launching it forward, “...without Resolve!”

The young Wizard tries to shield his face, covered in tears.

“Come on, boy! Cast a spell! You must have the resolve to face magic head on!”

His legs start to shake. The ball approaches fast.

Goldius sighs. “So this is all you are capable of. In the end, you’re still a failure.”

Failure. That one single word pierced Terry’s ears like a needle through his head. He has heard it countless times in the past. But hearing it now, after being armed with the knowledge that he was capable of great things this whole time...

He peeks through his arms and sees Goldius’s condescending stare. The same eyes as the arrogant prince that belittled him.

But looking to the side, Terry meets your gaze. Your eyes that acknowledge he exists. Eyes that have seen what he can do.

Your mouth creases a bit; a subtle proud smile. 

He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes to focus on the blue strings around him. Then...

Terry bursts out into a scream, sending out a roaring shockwave that blows away the sphere and staggers Goldius back a bit. 

“I refuse to stay like this!” Terry adjusts his glasses, keeping his eyes locked against the King. “Please don’t hold back, Mr. Goldius. I’ll show you my resolve!” he screams, conjuring flames on his hands.

Goldius grins. “That’s King to you, boy!!” He slams his staff into the circle again, conjuring the giant sphere of lightning. A bead of sweat rolls down his face.

The moment the bead hits the ground, the King dashes forward.

Terry shoots one fireball at the ground to launch himself into the air, then aims the other downwards with his other hand.

Goldius whips the sphere of lightning in reply. He uses the momentum of that whip and his running to slide forward, spinning around to draw a large circle around him with the tip of his staff. He continues that motion into another spin, drawing symbols on the edge of the circle at breakneck speed.

The sphere of lightning erases Terry’s fireball and fast approaches him, but he blasts flames forward to propel him back, barely dodging the sphere. He then shoots another blast through his feet to launch himself down towards Goldius.

But the King finishes drawing the last symbol and slams his staff into the center. With a flash, his staff erupts and forms a colossal hammer made of lightning. Goldius screams as he swings it at Terry with full force.

The young Wizard is struck with fear once again. He’s only seen a spell like this in the upper echelons of his books. One of the few spells able to fell a dragon. At this rate, he’s bound to meet the same fate as one.

He briefly shifts his gaze to meet Goldius’s eyes once more, who has noticed his fear. In them, Terry still sees a very regal ego that thinks this fight is decided. He still sees the face of the Prince of Fire.

And in the back of his head, he thinks back to your face, who had once told him exactly what to do to that very Prince.

Terry balls up his hand and covers his entire body in fire, blasting flames behind him that ramp up in intensity to the point of turning blue. His speed erupts to the point of breaking the sound barrier, zipping past where the head of the hammer would’ve hit him.

The arrogant look on Goldius quickly turns to wide-eyed fear. The only thing on his eyes is the growing silhouette of fire.

“FIST!!!” Terry belts out with all his lungs, crashing his punch right into the King’s face with the intensity of a thousand suns.

Goldius barrels backwards like a tumbleweed.

However, Terry exhausted himself too much and couldn’t break his momentum, causing him to also barrel down the ground.

You catch both of them, yanking them by their robes. 

Normally, you’d be pissed that Goldius almost killed the boy. But the only thing on your face is giddiness. “Hahaha! Yes!!! Splendid! THIS is what a Wizard Battle should be!” You turn to Terry. “That was an excellent display of Wizardry--”

No response. He’s passed out from exhaustion. Looking at the King, he’s also unconscious after taking an attack like that.

You proudly shrug and gently lay both of them on the ground.

Now for the next problem: how is Terry to fight Firebong in this state, with their next class fast approaching?

Pretend to be Terry
Wear a paper bag and maneuver Terry like a puppet, somehow convincing everyone you are not there
Firebong can go fuck himself; Find the dorms and get Terry to his bed, and also letting Goldius rest 

C) Rest at the dorms

…

While housing Terry and Goldius on your shoulders, you wander through the school. After a lot of weird looks and asking around, you find where the dorms are. After even more weird looks and knocking on the doors of many frightened students, you find Terry’s dorm.

Once inside, you toss the two on the small wooden bed. It barely fits both of them but unconscious people can’t be choosers.

You then walk past a small carpet in the center and towards a desk, where you take a seat for a breather.

However, the tiny chair breaks under your weight, sounding out a loud thump.

Now what?

Your butt won’t stand (literally) for this; go on a quest to find a good chair to sit on
Go look for Gundilf

AC) Find a good chair

Your butt won’t stand for this. You get up and look over at the bed. They look like they’ll be out for a while, so you might as well venture for a chair.

You walk out to the hallway. A few benches sit against the walls of the hallway, so you try one out. However, you can already feel it bending under your weight. No good.

A student sits across from you on another bench, giving you a horrified look after seeing what you did to that bench.

You get up and approach her. “Pardon me. Do you know where I can find a good chair?”

He slumps a bit in fear of your large stature. “Um...uh...check the Earth building dorms, Mr. big dude,” she says meekly while pointing to the right.

You nod and get on your merry way. After a few moments, you arrive and see a few students with green badges walking around, contrasting the red ones you saw in the previous building. 

Interestingly enough, the benches lining the hallway here are made of stone instead of wood. This is certainly promising. You take a seat and--

Immediately, a piece of stone chips off. Said stone starts to roll down the hallway. It’s like this thing is held together with glue. You get up before you break any more of this. 

You keep walking through the hallway to reach the next building; This time you see students with silver badges wandering about.

Oddly enough, there isn’t a single bench in sight. Instead, you see students sitting cross-legged in the air. 

You walk up to one of the students. Interestingly enough, this one doesn’t seem to mind your stature like the others do. In fact, none of the students here really mind your presence. “Pardon me, but where are all the chairs?”

He uncrosses his legs and rocks them back and forth in the air. “You’ll find none here, my elementless friend. For we are at peace with the skies, they embrace us in return, to support our butts.”

You scratch your head. “Isn’t it tiring to use and concentrate on magic like this? This is almost like the opposite of resting.”


The student blinks. He then falls to the ground. “By the gods...you’re right! This has been the cause of the fatigue that’s been ailing me for weeks!”


You tip your hat and continue down the hallway. Before you leave, you can still hear the awestruck voice of the fallen student.

“I...am now one with the Earth. This is where I belong,” he mumbles.

As you walk, you eventually reach the sight of golden badges on the very few students walking around. The one thing that stands out to you is that this place looks like shit. Cobwebs line the ceiling, the dorm doors squeak like angry mice when they open, and there’s already a half-broken bench here. 

Impressively enough, one student sits on that half-broken bench without a care. Her posture is slumped as she stares blankly at the rotting ceiling.

You walk up to her. “Pardon me, but what is wrong with this place?”

Her eyes stay fixated on the ceiling. “Dude...I’m guessing you’re new here?” she says monotonously. “All the other houses think we’re weak as shit. It’s all ‘Ohoho who needs lightning when fire does the job better!’” she says with a mocking hand puppet. “We don’t even get much funding since the Grand Wizard of Lightning doesn’t sponsor us.”

Her eyes roll away from the ceiling for a brief moment to look at your badgeless chest, then back to the ceiling. “I guess you wouldn’t get it dude, since you’re elementless and all.”

You scratch your chin, then use the extremely dusty wall behind her to draw something: A circle with a certain set of symbols on it. The moment you finish the circle, a few sparks jolt out of the wall. “Try memorizing this spell. Next time your Wizard honor is challenged, use it.”

She turns around as little as possible, just enough to see what you drew. “Whoa. Sick...what is it?”

You start to walk away with a small smile. “Just a little spell I invented years ago,” you say, tipping your hat and heading to the next building.

A few moments pass, and you find yourself in a more normal looking building once more. This time with students wearing a blue badge. Though, there aren’t many of them. 

As you walk through and eye each of the wooden benches, a lone chair next to a bench catches your attention. This one shines a bit, showing off that it’s made of steel.

Delighted, you jog to it and take a seat. It holds up just fine under your weight, letting you lay back with a weary sigh. 

“Hey man, what the fuck!” A voice sounds out from somewhere.

You look around, but no one’s there that looks like they’d be screaming at you. However, you feel the chair shift slightly.

“Dude, you’re too fucking heavy! Sheesh, lay off the canned beans will ya?!” says the voice again.

You look down and see the chair rattling a bit. “Pardon me, but are you a talking chair?”

“No, I’m a fucking iguana. Yes I’m a talking chair, now get offa me!”

You slump even more. “You’ll have to forgive me, but I am a bit tired at the moment. How’d you become like this?”

“Used t’be a student here. Got cursed a few decades ago by some assholes from the house of Fire. Now I’m a goddamn chair.” It rattles a bit more. “Now are you gonna get offa me or not?!”

Get up and find a different chair
Try to dispel the curse
Get up and bring the chair with you 

BC) Dispel the curse, and if that doesn’t work bring the chair with you

You squeeze your glutes together, attempting to funnel Chi to that area.

“Oh gods, what the hell are you doing?!” yells the chair.

With a strained face, you ask, “Are you still a chair?”

“No shit, warlock! Seriously, are you some kind of looney?!”

You relax yourself and slump down the chair again. “My apologies. Your curse seems to be beyond mana.”

The chair rattles a bit, then stops in silence.

Suddenly, the sound of an explosion echoes through the hallway. And then another, but much louder.

“Attention students,” rings out a magical voice, “An unauthorized duel has broken out from Professor Gundledorf’s class. Please evacuate the premises for your safety.”

As soon as the announcement finished, a stampede of students start running down the hallway.

You get up, pat yourself off, then grab the chair and start running back to the Fire building, going against the crowd. Luckily, your large stature makes this easy.

“Hey pal, you really are a looney! Didn’t you hear the Wizard intercom?!” says the chair.

“Yes, I am aware. Say, would you happen to know the quickest way to this Gundledorf fellow?”

“Oh, well, uh, he’s downstairs and--”

You nod and jump out the window, then funnel Chi to your legs to cushion this 2 storey landing.

Another explosion sounds out. This time, you see it in plain sight, coming from a hole blown out in the hallway where you first encountered Terry. 

From the explosion, you see a body fly out--along with a charred loaf of bread.

The smoke clears out, revealing a tall, lanky man in black tattered robes. On one hand mounted to his shoulder is a peculiar metallic Wizard staff. It looks cylindric and large, like a big pipe. 

And on his other arm, is the squirming body of Firebong being held at the neck.

“Bwahaha! Don’t you see, Gundilf? My Blackpowder magic is far superior to anything you could have come up with!” he yells, pulling the trigger on his staff.

A large fish-shaped projectile launches out of the open end of the tube-like staff, exhausting with fire behind it as it flies forward erratically.

In the middle of the open field where Gundilf landed, he quickly gets up and rolls out of the way, barely dodging the missile. He then turns around and flourishes his staff, shooting a 12-gauge round at the projectile, causing it to explode just like the other explosions you witnessed.

You run up to him. “Gundilf! Are you alright?”

He wipes his smoky face and smiles at you. “Never better, brother.”

The lanky man steps out of the hole, approaching the two of you from a distance. “I see you’ve made some friends. It’d be rude not to introduce ourselves.” He relaxes the staff on his shoulder. “I am Professor Gundledorf. The true inventor of Blackpowder magic. And this--” he points the staff at you, “--is my Rocket-Propelled Wizard Staff!”

You crack your knuckles. “I am Merlin. And this--” you hold the cursed student up, “--is a chair I found.”

Gundilf cocks his staff. “Gundledorf, brother, why are you doing this? Are you really putting the lives of these young people at stake, just to prove your worth?”

He shrugs and holds unto Firebong tighter, who’s starting to tear up. “Well, I wasn’t going to do this...yet. But your presence here has forced my hand. You see, ‘Brother’, I can’t have you as a competitor when I start producing and selling these Blackpowder inventions.”

He puts his hands on the trigger of his staff. “When I become rich, I’ll finally be able to get out of this hellhole of a job! Do you know how humiliating it is to be a genius that has to babysit a bunch of children!? Especially THIS little shit right here!” he yells, pointing the staff against Firebong’s head, which makes him cry even more.

Gundilf glares at him. “You’ll create a dark time in history, brother. Blackpowder magic is meant for personal defense. If you sell something as destructive as that, you’ll change how wars are fought forever.”

He points the staff back at you two. “That’s hardly my problem.”

Cast Fist
Cast Steel Chair

BA) Cast Steel Chair + Fist

You take a step forward--

Gundledorf holds unto Firebong tighter. “I wouldn’t come any closer, if I were you.” He looks up. “That goes for all of you!”

You look around and notice that some older-looking Wizards were spectating through the open windows of the building, attempting to cast a spell at him. But looks like they stopped.

Gundilf glances at you. You glance back and nod subtly.

“Well, it would seem my hands are tied,” you say as you bring the chair to your side. “I apologize in advance, my cursed friend.”

The chair rattles a bit, as if to say “What the fuck are you talking about?”

Gundledorf shakes Firebong around. “I said not another step!”

“I was simply going to take a seat,” you say with your hands up. 

In the next instant, you kick the chair forward with a small prod of your leg...full of Chi.

The chair launches out like a bullet, slamming right into Gundledorf’s knees before he could even react. He stumbles backwards, flinging Firebong into the air.

Fortunately, he lands in the second floor of the building, where one of the teachers quickly catches him.

Gundilf leap-frogs off of you and shoots backwards, using the recoil to propel him forward. Once above the dazed Gundledorf, he shoots upwards to crash his elbow down right into the madman’s groin. 

Gundledorf yelps in pain, flinging the Wizard staff out of his hands towards you.

You catch it as you walk towards him, snapping it in two like a twig and tossing it away. “Your version of Blackpowder magic is certainly quite the invention.” You stand right in front of him and grab the chair. “Allow me to show you my own new spell.”

Gundilf backs out of the way.

You raise the chair up high. “I cast...Steel Chair!” you yell, slamming the chair right into his legs. The sound of bones breaking echoes out.

Gundledorf lets out a shiver-inducing scream, followed by a coughing fit of blood. 

The school bell rings, which signifies the end of class.

You set the chair aside and start to walk away.

He coughs a bit more. “You are...smart not to kill me. Lord Titan would not have...been happy.”

Gundilf cocks his staff and points it at the half-dead man. “Brother...you’re working with the Mad God?!”

Gundledorf lets out a pained laugh. “He’s the buyer interested...in Blackpowder.” He coughs again. “Stop calling me brother. I’ve never...liked you anyway.”

You walk up to him once more with clenched fists. “Where is he.”

The wind blows ominously.

He chuckles. “Closer than...you think. But you won’t know til...it’s too late--”

A strong breeze buffets your hats off.

“FIST.” you exclaim, sending down a punch with the heft of a sledgehammer.

His face caves in, with the ground below cracking outward a few yards.

You shake off the blood on your knuckles and put your hats back on. 

Around you, a bunch of magic circles light up along the windows of the building. 

One teacher leans out the window. “You there. You’re clearly not a student here. We got word of two hooligans that kidnapped the Grand Wizard of Lightning, and you two fit the bill!”

A certain student with a golden badge tugs the robes of the teacher. “Yo dude, uh, is Professor Gundledorf’s class cancelled now?” She says, glancing at you with a wink.

The teacher shakes her off. “What are you doing here! You should have evacuated the building by now!”

“Bruh, I was takin’ a nap. Do we got class or naw?”

The teacher pauses to think it over.

Negotiate: Offer to teach Gundledorf’s class along with Gundilf
Take this chance to escape

A) Offer to teach the class

You adjust your hats. “Ahem. If I may, I can hold a special class in his place. It’s the least I could do to make up for killing him.”

The teacher looks at you, dumbfounded. “Do you have ANY idea how crazy you sound right now?”


“I’m chill with it,” says the student. “I mean, if he beat Professor Gundledorf, that means he’s better, right?”

“Well, yes, but…”

“Listen lads,” Gundilf says stepping forward, “Case ya didn’t notice, we just saved yer asses! I lost some bread doin’ that! So ya gonna be sensible or not?!”

The teacher massages his temples. “But...that’s--”

“I’ll allow it,” booms the voice of a large man, one big enough to rival your stature. He emerges behind the lightning student and the teacher, donning crimson-red robes. “After all, they just saved my son.”

The teacher shuffles around and bows. “K...King Crimsonson! The Grand Wizard of Fire! Are you sure about letting them do this?”

He strokes his magnificent red beard. “If anything happens, I’ll take responsibility as one of the directors of this school.”

You stare him down, taking note of how he carries himself; the complete opposite of Goldius’ scrawny posture, yet the exact same prideful royalty. “Glad we could come to an agreement. “However…”

You take off one of your hats, namely the school-issued one which has been annoying you the entire time. “This will be a special class. Summon ALL your students AND all your faculty out here.”

“What!?” the teacher yells. “You’re asking for too much! Every student’s schedules are in disarray as-is thanks to this incident!--”

“Very well,” says King Crimsonson. “If anything, now is the perfect time for this, while all the students are out of their classes.” He crosses his arms and stares you down. “But if you try anything funny to our students…” he exhales, shooting out some flames from his nostrils, “I’ll show you how hell feels like.”

You stare back. “No harm will befall the students, you have my word. And...” You then subtly smile. “Last time I felt hell, it tickled.”

…

A large crowd of students gather out in the vast open field, all with various colors of badges. Amongst them you hear complaints and confusion.

In the back and the sides are the teachers, equally confused but with a hint of caution towards you.

And in the far back, King Crimsonson observes you carefully.

Gundilf sits atop the former Professor’s lifeless body, shining his staff.

You clear your throat. “Good day, everyone. I’m here today to teach you all about…”

The right way to cast magic
Chi
FIST

ABC) Teach Everything

You clear your throat again. “I’m here to teach you all about, uh, magic.”

“Who the fuck is this dude?” says a random student in the back.

“Hey mister, why do you look so old?” asks another random student.

You cross your arms. “I--”

“Why does your beard look like a broom?” asks another.

Gundilf chuckles. “Not too good at this, aintcha brother?”

You huff. “No. I’m--” an idea hatched in your mind. “...I’m not! You’re right, Gundilf! But I do know who would be good at this.”
You look to each side, as well as in the back. In particular, you look at all the teachers. “Change of plans. I’m here to let the OTHERS teach you about magic.” 

You widen your stance, ready for combat. “But to do that, they’ll need some ‘training’. I formally challenge all you teachers to a Wizard Battle.”

The entire student body gets into an uproar, filled with gasps and chatter.

All the teachers look back towards King Crimsonson. 

He nods. “Everyone! Stand back for your own safety.” He steps forward and adjusts his red cape, then looks at you smugly. “I’m curious. What could you possibly teach to some of the most elite Wizards of this country?”

You pull forward your steel friend. “First, you probably should pay attention to your students when they get turned into chairs. And especially if they’re being picked on for that. You negligent fools.”

The chair rattles. “Okay, I have no idea what the fuck is going on. Kinda blacked out for the past hour. We throwin’ a party, pal?”

A section of the Fire students whistle. 

The King adjusts his collar with his eyes to the side. “That is...a fair assessment.” He goes back to glaring at you. “Still, Wizard Battles are very serious. I hope you are not joking right now.”

You set the chair aside by Gundilf. “I can assure you,” you stretch your neck, “That it will be a good joke.”

…

The entire student body stands in a large circle in this grassy field, with ample space in the middle where you and the teachers stand. Gundilf continues to sit in the back atop his dead friend, along with a few of the other teachers who wish not to fight.

You stand stoically, with a slight breeze blowing against your beard. “Come at me anyway you’d like. I am flexible with my lessons.”

The King, standing behind a formation of teachers, nods. “Very well. Everyone, pretend this is a disaster-level threat and coordinate accordingly.”

“Yes, sir!” all the teachers say in unison, almost like a military platoon.

Crimsonson takes off his cape and holds it above the ground. He then lets it go.

You cross your arms, waiting. During this small moment, you assess your enemies. 

Four of them stand in front like a wall, each with different colored robes corresponding to their element. At a glance, you can tell they’re not actually that tightly knit, even if they seem coordinated. 

The blue one looks really bored. The yellow and green one glance at each other with some irritability. The silver one looks nervous.

They hold their hands out front.

The cape hits the ground.

Magic circles immediately form on their hands, with their mouths running off at a staggering speed.

You appear before the front-most one in the blink of an eye. “First lesson--” you shove his yellow-sleeved arms away from each other to disrupt the spell, “Enough with these silly circles!”

You then sweep his leg to trip him, making him fall.

The other two to your sides complete their spells and throw out a sphere of wind from your left, and a large stalagmite from your right.

You dash to the left, punching through the wind sphere with your Chi. You then slide between the Wind Wizard’s legs, holding him from behind upon getting up. 

The stalagmite fast approaches the two of you. Your hostage struggles against your grip.

You cover his face with your large hand, blocking his vision. “Second lesson. Do you see any strings?”

He lets out a muffled scream.

“Pardon me, but you’ll be impaled if you don’t cooperate. Now, focus on the strings.”

His breathing slows down. Seems like he’s getting calmer. Or rather, he seems fascinated by what he’s seeing. He then goes back to panicking once he sees a large spiral of strings headed straight for him.

You grin. “Good! Now the rest is up to your instincts!” 

The stalagmite flies just a foot away from you two.

Suddenly, the Wind Wizard breaks free, sending out a huge shockwave of wind all around him that blows you back a bit, staggers all the other teachers a lot, and destroys the rock in front.

The other teachers gasp in awe.

King Crimsonson squints in confusion, withstanding the huge gust just fine. “Without a magic circle? But how?”

The Wind Wizard looks at his hands, still taken aback by what he had just done.

You chop his neck lightly, but with a hand of Chi. “Consider this your graduation.”

He falls down, unconscious. 

Just then, a thin bubble shield forms around all the teachers. You look behind and see the blue-robed Wizard finishing a spell. 

You smirk, then appear behind her. Before she could react, you restrain her and cover her eyes just like with the Wind fellow.

“Water for support-magic. What a waste.” You lean closer to her ear. “Pardon me, but are you perhaps treated as nothing but a protector?”

She sweats a bit, then nods.

“Isn’t it tiring? What if I told you that Water is one of the strongest elements? Able to wipe out entire cities and claim thousands of ships!”

She nods again eagerly, as if saying, “Go on.”


“Those bubbles you just cast, surely you can see them as strings swimming around your colleagues?” You grin. “Channel your frustrations through these strings!”

Suddenly, the bubbles fill up with roaring water. The 2 conscious Wizards start to drown while they flail wildly inside the bubble.

The unconscious Wind Wizard floats to the top of the bubble, much like a dead fish would.

And yet, King Crimsonson stays grounded, simply holding his breath and glaring at you.

She laughs maniacally.

You chop her neck like you did before. “Alright, you had your fun,” you say before watching her fall to the ground passed out.

The bubbles pop. The other 2 teachers fall back down, wet and also unconscious from nearly drowning.

The King takes a deep breath, then flexes his muscular arms. His sleeves burst open, revealing markings that start to form along his arms. Once the last mark appears on his wrist, fire engulfs his body, immediately evaporating any wetness he had.

You slowly walk towards him. “You’re the first Wizard I’ve met that isn’t a twig.”

He slowly approaches you as well. “But of course. Sound magic lies in a sound body.”

Your intense gaze at each other remained unwavering throughout this exchange.

He exhales, letting out fire through his nose. “And yet, I don’t see ANY magic around you. What is this trickery you’re using?”

You stand before him about a foot apart. Your eyes gaze down, but not by much, to meet his. “Magic,” you say nonchalantly.

He squints.

A) Get the first move. Cast Fist now
B) Taunt him and see what he’s made of

B) Let him go first

“Confident, aren’t you,” The King says as he cracks his knuckles. “I hear you’re the one that defeated Goldius. Are you thinking our battle will be the same?”

You scratch your beard. “Well, you’re both arrogant fools, so…maybe you might last a little longer?”

He clenches his fists. “Wrong answer.” 

Marks quickly form along his arms again; his robes and beard flutter upwards as if a strange wind blows from below. 

“Amongst the five Grand Wizards, I reign supreme. Undefeated. Unmatched.” He claps his hands together, forming even more marks on his arms. “I accepted your silly little challenge to humor you, but after seeing what you can do…” 

The grass singes up, drawing a large circle around the two of you. More flames brand the ground, forming symbols from the ashen grass. 

The teachers on standby quickly run in to get the unconscious ones out of there. They then put their hands up and chant quickly, forming a large barrier between you two and the surrounding students.

“...I am now doing this to put you in your place.” He puts his palm right against your chest. “Zenith-class: Thousand Suns!”

A small beam of light appears from the sky, marking a spot on your hat. The spot quickly grows. The beam now completely engulfs you. The light gets brighter and brighter, til all you can see is white.

You close your eyes. Now all you see is red.

The surrounding grass burns away entirely. The ground cracks from being completely dry, as though years of drought had stricken it. The winds blow in chaos from the sudden surge in heat. 

Crimsonson puts his other palm against your chest. “Melt in hell.”

The beam of light erupts into a colossal pillar of blue fire, reaching all the way up to the clouds. The ground around you crumbles into small chunks, getting absorbed into this grand tornado of flames.

And then.

A blink of an eye. The flames immediately dissipate. The chunks of ground fall back down. Both your beards and robes settle down after being violently shaken from all the pressure.

Another blink. The King sees the front of a glowing blue fist cover his vision.

In the next second, King Crimsonson crashes right into the barrier, sliding down like a bird on a window. 

Everyone’s eyes re-adjust from the sudden brightness to the sudden darkness. What they can see is your whole body covered in a faint blue aura. 

The King spits on the ground, then gets back up with a surprised glare aimed at you. “What. What the hell did you do?! That was clearly magic, and yet it isn’t magic!”

You dispel your aura. “It’s magic from deep within. Something you’ll never achieve as you are now.”

He grinds his teeth, forming another set of markings on his arms. “You! Don’t you dare mock me! I’m the closest thing to a GOD!” He yells, running up to you with flames covering his body. He jumps high up, converting his fire-aura into a giant sphere of flames. “Destruction-class: Extinction M--”


You jump up to meet him, then punch him downwards back to the ground. You then land next to his fallen body.

He coughs up from the impact. 

You shake your head. “Just what is it with you royalty and your unfathomable pride?” 

He slowly gets up. “You have no idea…what I’ve gone through...to earn my pride!” He stands tall once more, slapping his face to orient himself. “I’ve spent years in isolation reading entire libraries of tomes!” Taking a page from you, he covers his fists in flames, then throws a punch at you.

You duck, then jab his stomach.

He staggers back, gritting his teeth to stay standing. “I’ve fought and killed countless Wizards to get to where I am! I’ve burned away my emotions, neglected my family--all in the name of reaching the peak of magic!” He lunges forward and throws a hook this time.

You slap his arm away and jab his chest. 

He wobbles, but keeps himself standing. “So don’t you DARE belittle this pride of mine!” He uppercuts you, but barely misses and instead knocks your hat off--

You grab both of his wrists, sending Chi to your hands. His flames disappear. “Third lesson: shut the fuck up.” You headbutt his face.

He gets knocked down to the ground. Blood drips from his nose.

You slowly walk up to him. “You neglected your family for magic? Seriously? You became an asshole just to be strong?” You kick his face. “And you’re PROUD of that?”

He coughs up more. 

You squat at his side. “No, I don’t see pride. You know what I see on your face?” You squeeze his face with your large hand. “Fear. You’ve never tasted defeat before, huh? You have no idea what it’s like…” You turn his face to the side, dragging it through the dirt. “...To eat shit and die!” 

You stand up with his face still in your hand, then throw him with an arm full of Chi.

His body gets nearly flattened against the barrier, causing it to crack a bit. Though, the sound of that seems to mask the sounds of his bones breaking. 

He coughs up blood and dirt. “This...can’t be happening…”

You stretch your neck. “Oh? Does the pathetic little candlestick yield?”

He grits his teeth stained with blood, putting all his strength into getting up. However, he can only get on one knee. “I...King Crimsonson...will never yield. This Duel is not over, so long as I breathe!”

You smirk. “Well, I admire your resolve.” You approach him slowly. “Unfortunately, resolve is all you have left.”

Suddenly, a small figure emerges from the crowd, standing in front of the disheveled King. The figure spreads his arms out to protect him. His legs shake in tremendous fear.

And yet, his gaze at you remains determined. “Don’t you...don’t you dare lay another hand on my father, you filthy c-commoner!”

The King coughs. “Firebong...don’t…”

Cast Fist on both of them
Spare them

B) Spare

Out of nowhere, your hat returns on your head. Someone emerges from behind you.

“Calm yourself, Merlin,” says King Goldius as he walks past you. “I’ll take over from here.”

You come back to your senses and look at your dirtied hands. “R...right. Yes. How was your nap?”

“Oh, I feel quite refreshed.” He tightens his hands and adjusts his hood. “...And also utterly humiliated. I’ve lost to two young boys now. I lost to Terry in power, and--” he stares right at the still-quivering Firebong. “I’ve lost to Crimsonson’s child in resolve.”

Firebong frowns. “Oi, you better w-watch how you address him! My father may be like this, but he’s still a King!--”


Goldius holds his hand up. Lightning strikes it, forming his staff. The slight shockwave from the lightning blows his hood down. “You watch YOUR tongue, boy. His crown means nothing to another King.”

Crimsonson clutches unto his ailing arm. “Goldius…? I thought you were--”

“Doing just fine, yes. Better than ever, even!” He slams his staff against the ground. “I was watching part of the duel from the second floor window. Though, it looked to be a one-sided execution from what I saw.” He points his staff at him. “By my authority, I’m nullifying this duel. It became invalid the moment an outsider entered the battle.”

Crimsonson closes his eyes in reluctant acceptance.

Goldius looks around at all the students. “As for the rest of you, class is dismissed. Go back to whatever you were doing. When your teachers wake up, expect some changes to the curriculum.”

Everyone stares blankly at him, taking in everything that just happened.

He slams his staff once more. “Do I make myself clear?!” he says with a thunderous voice.

Immediately, they all shuffle around and start heading back to the buildings, with the teachers guiding them back.

Firebong runs up to his dad and supports his body clumsily, walking back with the students and faculty.

In a few moments, the only people that remain are you, the King, Gundilf who is still sitting atop a dead body, the chair…

...and the lightning student you helped out before. She’s just standing by, glaring at Goldius.

He’s slightly confused, but focuses his attention on you. “Merlin. You are after the Mad God Titan, correct? Just for now, I can lend you my hand with this matter--”

The girl continues to glare at him.

The King feels unnerved. He turns to face her. “What are you still doing here? Go on, leave.”

Hear her out
Let her leave and let Goldius continue

A) Hear her out

She starts to walk towards Goldius. “Yo, you’re the Grand Wizard of Lightning or whatever, right?”

The King raises an eyebrow. “That’s right, child. You’d best watch your tone--”

She stops right in front of him. “Naw, we’re past the fucking tone and respect and shit. It’s your fault that the house of Lightning is falling apart! Where’s our fucking money?!”

He blinks in confusion. “Why I...We--okay, stop for a second here. Who are you, and what are you talking about?”

She stands tall, wearing pride all over her face. “The name’s Lye Tennings. Number one student in the house of Lightning!” She shifts her face back to irritation. “Though, it’s not saying much, since there’s, like, barely anyone in our house. Thanks to you not funding us!”

“That is preposterous!” He slams his staff. “I’ve definitely allocated money for this school!”

…

“By the gods, what the fuck.” King Goldius remarks, now standing on the creaky floorboards of the Lightning hallway. “This can’t be right. I’ve definitely sent my dues to the academy.”

Lye takes a seat in the half-broken bench you first saw her on. “What, did you send like, pocket change to us?”

“If your pocket is the size of a silo, then yes, I’ve sent pocket change.”

You lean against the dusty wall. “How long has it been since your last visit to this school?”

He scratches his neck. “I’ll admit, it’s been years. I usually let my advisor handle affairs for this school since I spend all my time managing Wizardcity--” His face mangles into rage. “Oh, that filthy snake!” 

He takes a step towards the stairs. “Sorry, Merlin, but I’ll have to pay a visit back to my Kingdom--”

You put a hand on his shoulder. “Pardon me, but aren’t you forgetting you’re our hostage right now?”

He shrugs off your hand. “You only took me to be a bargaining chip. Quite frankly, I’m tired of this farce. I’m swallowing my pride right now to say that I have not been a good King.” 

He turns to face you with a resolute face. “But right now, I must make amends, Merlin. I have a kingdom and son that needs me. You have my word that I shall pardon you and your friend.”

A) Let Goldius go and continue investigating this academy on your own
B) Accompany him to make sure he keeps his word. Also to see if Titan is involved with this act of corruption

B) Accompany him

You close your eyes to think for a bit. “Fine. But I shall go with you. I have a feeling that Titan is involved here as well.”

Goldius crosses his arms. “Heh. A convenient excuse to say you don’t trust me, is that it?”

“Think what you will.”

Lye steps forward. “Yo, are y’all going to Wizardcity? Can I join too? I always wanted to see what’s outside, like, the academy!”


You hear the fast pitter patter of footsteps coming down the hallway. 

“Wait!!” shouts Terry from a distance. “Are you--” He stops rights beside Lye to catch his breath. “Are you leaving without saying goodbye, Pew?!”

You give him a small smile. “Apologies Terry, but I am not actually Pew Bertie. My name is Merlin.”

Terry blinks. “Oh. Well. Are you leaving without saying goodbye, Merlin?!”

You nod.

He looks down at his hand, then stares at you with determination. “Then take me with you!--”

Goldius steps forward, standing between you and them. “Hold it. You two DO know you’re still students of this academy. Besides, I don’t think your parents would appreciate being whisked away on an adventure.”

Lye raises her hand. “I have no parents!” she says with a smile. “I kinda live here.”

“Oh, yeah. Mine are dead,” Terry says casually. “I also live here.”

You nod. “I as well. I do not live here, though.”

“No one asked you, Merlin!” Goldius massages his temples. “How in blazes am I surrounded by orphans?! Anyways, you still can’t come along! That would be irresponsible!”

Lye pouts. “Fuck it, fine, I quit school!”

“You can’t do that!” says Goldius.

“I just did.” Lye says with a smug face.

Goldius pauses for a moment. “This is preposterous. The laws say a minor should be attending an educational institution!”

You scratch your beard. “I have now opened the school of Merlin. You may join if you wish.”

She pumps her fist into the air. “Rad!”

“You can’t do that!” says Goldius.

“I just did.” You say with a smug face.

Goldius pauses for a moment. He then sighs. “You know what. Fine. And you, young Terry? Are you going to play along with these shenanigans?”

He looks to the side, unsure. “I feel like someone’s gonna get mad at me if I quit school--”

Lye takes advantage of her taller height against Terry and puts an arm around his shoulder. “Lighten up, dude! Plus, you’re like, changing schools, not like quitting it!”

Terry has a face of realization. “Ooooh! Okay, then I’d like to join the school of Merlin please.”

You nod. “It is decided then. We shall depart for Wizardcity at once.”

“Hurray!” the two cheer.

“...Hurray.” Goldius says with exasperation.

…

You reconvene with Gundilf and the chair over at the bushes where you hid your clothes, where you all put your normal attire back on.

“I see we’re bringin’ along the youngins,” says Gundilf as he glances at the two. “And you found a new one too. Lye Tennings, was it?” He scratches his chin. “Tennings...Tennings...hrmm...feels like I’ve met a Tennings before. S’not a common name, that’s fer sure.”

She tilts her head. “Have we met before, Mr. Gundilf?”

“Oh us? Definitely not, lassie.” He finishes putting on his belt and cocks his staff. “Are we all ready to go?”

Goldius adjusts his golden robes. “Ah, good to be back looking like royalty! And yes, I’m quite ready.”

You adjust your hat. “As am I. How shall we travel?”

Find a carriage and convince the coachman about you guys playing hooky
Travel on foot

A) Find a carriage

...

You all head to where that one trader dropped you off before. In fact, you see someone who looks a lot like him waving at the man in the uniform as he starts moving his wagon out. Though his looks are similar, he has a beard and a cowboy hat.

King Goldius approaches him first and hollers. “Greetings. Where are you currently headed?”

He takes of his hat and bows his head at the King. “Sir Grand Wizard of Lightning! I thought you were dead!” 

Goldius raises an eyebrow. “Dead? I thought I was kidnapped.”

“Oh. Well. I just recently came from Wizardcity and you were announced dead.” He crosses his arms. “And then uh...the Lightning prince ran away after hearing about it? Oh! And now someone else is the Grand Wizard of Lightning.” He scratches his chin. “Wait, are you a zombie?!"

Goldius stomps his foot. “What?! No! This is absurd, I’ve only been gone for a few hours and now everything’s gone to hell! Take us to Wizardcity at once! That’s an order!”

He shakes his head. “No can do, sir. You’re no longer a King. Plus,” he points to some crates in the back, “I got some real important goods that need to be delivered to the city of Rockenrolland. And,” he points to Terry and Lye, “shouldn’t those two be in class?”

The former King is at a loss for words.

“Step aside,” you say as you step in front of Goldius. “Pardon me, but I think this might convince you.” You rummage through your pocket and pull out one copper coin.

The trader stares at you, bewildered. “A single Wizard Penny. You wanna convince me with that?”

“Hm. Good point.” You bend the coin with nothing but your finger and thumb, until it snaps in half. “There. Now I have two Wizard Pennies.”

The trader opens his mouth to say something, but can’t find the words. “Sir--”

“You drive a hard bargain.” You bend the two halves between your thumb, index, and middle finger, snapping them each in half. “There. Now I have...uh, one...two...four quarters. And four quarters means I have a Wizard Dollar.” You put the quarters in his palm and close his hand up. “Treat yourself to something nice.”

The trader pauses for a long moment, then sighs. “Get in the goddamn back. But! I still gotta go to Rockenrolland. These goods are vital.”

You look to Goldius. 

He nods. “Fine with us. Wizardcity would be one city over, so I suppose it’s not too bad of a detour.”

…

 The moonlight shines over the rattling wagon. You sit on the steel chair, who has given up on protesting its role as a chair for now. Lye and Goldius are fast asleep leaning against the crates. Gundilf sits cross-legged, taking a bite out of some bread and looking at a large piece of paper sprawled out in front of him.

Terry crawls up to him. “Mr. Gundilf, what are you looking at?”

“A map. I’m notin’ down points of interest on our lil’ journey.” He moves the paper for both of them to get a good view. It shows a pentagon, with large dots in the center and on each corner of the pentagon. It also has small red dots scattered around that Gundilf scribbled on.

“Oh, I know this one!” Terry points to the center. “This is where the Academy is, right? And uhhh,” he points to the top-left corner of the pentagon, “is this Rockenrolland?”

Gundilf nods and takes another bite of his bread.

…

The wagon stops before a large wall with a gate guarded by two green-robed men. The trader shows them some papers and starts mumbling an explanation.

They nod and open the gate for him. As you pass through, you are greeted with the array of modest buildings made of cobblestone, with moss and vines decorating the exteriors. Various wizards still fly around, but not as many as those of Wizardcity.

The trader stops the wagon. “I’ll have to unload pretty soon here, folks. You’ll have to hang around here for a while. If y’meet me in this spot in 2 days, that’s when I’ll be headed out to Wizardcity.”

What’ll you do first in this city?

A) Explore the pubs and shops 
B) Go straight to the head honcho of this place, Goldius probably knows them
C) Go to the Wizard Guild

A) Explore the pubs and shops

The trader waves you a farewell and walks away.

Goldius puts a hand on your shoulder. “If we’ll be here for a while, I’ll reserve us some rooms at an inn,” he says as he walks away as well.

 Gundilf nods. “Shall we head to the shops then?”

The rest of you nod, though your students give a more excited nod.

…

You end up in an alleyway with stalls lined up along the sides.

“Fresh rocks! Get yer fresh rocks ‘ere!” shouts one of the vendors.

“No fuck that guy’s rocks, mine are better!” shouts the vendor across from him.

They glare at each other.

You stand in the middle, slightly confused.

“First time around these parts?” says the vendor next to you. His stall has a bunch of multi-colored rocks in the front, and even more rocks hanging from the ceiling.

You walk up to him. “Pardon me, but what are you selling?”

He grins. “Ain’t it obvious? We got rocks! This rock right here’s our best value, it only costs 10 Wizard Dollars!” he says, patting a coconut-sized brown rock.

Lye takes a closer look at it. “What’s it like, used for?”

“Anything! Look, you can use it as a toy,” he throws it back and forth between his hands, “or as a nice little hat,” he puts it on his head. “You can even use it as a friend!  Hey Rock, how’s the weather?”

“...”

“Ha! He’s a real joker, that Rock.” He leans over the counter to get closer to Lye. “So, you buying one? Trust me, 10 Wizard Dollars for a rock is a steal.”

She closes her eyes to think. Though, she raises an eyebrow in suspicion. “Hey, could you like, say that again?”

The vendor scratches his head. “Uh, 10 Wizard Dollars for a rock is a steal?”

She raises her other eyebrow, then opens her eyes. “You were lying just now!”

He jumps back. “A strong accusation there, young lady!”

“I saw it! The lil’ fishies within you, they were swimming all weirdly when you said that!” she says with the fervor of a rookie detective.

He starts sweating. “F...fish? I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I guarantee you I run an honest business!”

Terry had his eyes closed when he said that. “Oh wow, the Strings really are flowing quite erratically.” 

You cross your arms and smirk. “Now now, friends. Let’s just give him the benefit of the doubt. Besides, I am a master at negotiations.” You rummage through your pockets then slam a small copper coin on the counter.

He furrows his brows. “Is...that all you have? A single--” He does a double-take and examines the coin very closely. “This is one of the first Wizard Pennies ever circulated! It could well be worth hundreds today!”

“Oh. Well, in that case,” you take the coin and snap it into quarters, leaving him with one quarter of the penny. “Keep the change,” you say, taking the rock and walking away. The others follow suit.

The vendor is left speechless.

Gundilf looks around. “Guess this place hasn’t changed much.”

“This town has been selling rocks for a while now?” you ask.

He nods. “It’s Rockenrolland’s main export. Rocks are hard to come by in other places.”

“Couldn’t a Wizard just conjure some rocks?”

“It takes a lot of mana, y’know. I mean, yer converting that energy into a physical rock! Much easier to buy a bunch.”

You facepalm.

Terry looks at his hands. “Would it really be difficult?” He closes his eyes and tries to play around with the mana around him. When he opens them, he’s holding a small fireball in his hands. “Aw jeez. I guess I’m too used to fire.” He closes his hand to dissipate the flame.

Lye looks over curiously. “Whoa. Was that like, the chantless thingy Mr. Merlin showed off before?”

You nod. “Indeed. You can see it too, can you not? The uh, ‘fishies?’ They’re the key to real magic.” 

“Oh! You mean I just gotta tell the fishies to like make me a rock?” She closes her eyes with excitement. “Let me try! Hmmmmmmm bwah!” She raises her arms.

When she opens her eyes, she freezes dead in her tracks from a gigantic pillar rising from the ground.

In fact, everyone stops for a moment, including the vendors. They then erupt from the stalls to approach her.

“A most majestic rock, young lady! I’ll buy it for 200 Wizard Dollars!” shouts one of them.

“No fuck that guy’s money, I’ll give ya 300!” shouts another.

Both Lye and Terry hide behind you.

You nod. “Pardon me, but,” you punch the pillar, cracking it at the base and toppling it over. “We’re all out of stock.”

The pillar keeps falling until it crashes...into the castle. It was far too tall.

All the vendors pause for a moment, then quietly whistle back into their stalls.

Gundilf scratches his beard and stares at the castle’s new ramp. “Hm. That ain’t a good look.”

The guards will probably be coming. What do you do?

A) Accept your arrest (again)
B) Somehow pin the blame on someone else
C) Hide

B) Pin the blame on someone else

Two guards dressed in green run over to you guys before you could really walk away.

“Halt! You there, do you know what you just did?” says one of the guards.

You cross your arms. “Yes. I stood here.”

“Before that,” says the other.

“I stood there,” you say, taking one step to the left.

They both facepalm. 

“Okay, sir, listen. Behind you is a big pillar, right?” Asks one of the guards.

You all nod.

“So we acknowledge that the pillar is there, yes? And we see that it’s currently leaning against the castle after making a giant hole on the castle walls, correct?”

Gundilf scratches his chin. “That means...the rock did it, right? Y’all should arrest it then.”

The guard lets out a very long sigh. “Rocks can’t speak. It’s an inanimate object!”

“Hey now,” you say, “that’s very rude to Sir Rock and his brethren. Is that not right, Sir Rock?” you say, wiggling the rock you ‘bought’ earlier. “Oho, you truly are a jester, Sir Rock. Anyway, he confesses to being an accomplice,” you reach out and place Rock into the guard’s hand.

He looks at it with a most perplexed face. “Ah, fiddlesticks. You guys are good. Fine, clearly it was Rock and his pillar friend that did it. He won’t plague these streets any longer.”

“Aye,” Gundilf says, “Truly a relief--”

“But, since you are all the closest witnesses to this crime, you’ll have to come with us for questioning,” the guard says sternly.

…

All of you end up in a cell that looks a lot like the one you found Gundilf in back at Wizardcity.

At least this time you have your own chair to sit on, much to the chair’s dismay.

“Are we in trouble, Mr. Merlin?” asks a worried Lye.

“Oh gods oh no oh FUCK,” Terry sputters, “I’ve NEVER gotten in trouble, now my entire life is DOOMED--”

“At ease, both of you,” you say frankly. “We’re simply witnesses, remember? We’re not under arrest.”

A guard approaches the cell bars. “You are now officially under arrest.”

Terry freezes up.

Lye pokes him, but he’s basically a statue. “Uh oh. So we are in trouble?”

The guard shrugs. “Sorry mates, but Rock confessed the true culprits. Fortunately, we’ve swiftly decided on your punishment.”

He opens the gate, but with 5 other guards behind him pointing their hands at you all. “No funny business. Step outside and follow me.”

…

You all stand in the middle of a huge stadium, with a large audience sitting all around the elevated edges. They’re all screaming in excitement.

“Takin’ bets! We takin’ bets now! Who’s gonna die in ‘dis ‘ere Gladiator execution last?” shouts a guy walking around the seats and carrying a box.

One particular vendor tosses in $50 with a piece of paper tied to it. “My money’s on the lil’ dwarf guy!”

“No fuck that dwarf guy!” another particular vendor tosses in $80 along with a paper, “I’m bettin’ on the big lug!”

This continues with the box being filled with more money.

You’re leaning against a wall with your arms crossed. Looking down, you notice some strange lines near the wall. “Pardon me, but are we really still doing Gladiator battles even after a thousand years?”

Gundilf leans nearby. “Aye. Lucrative and entertainin’. And they get t’keep blood offa their hands. Been a while since I’ve done one.”


You raise an eyebrow at that.

Terry squats facing the wall, shivering and covering his head. “Oh gods we’re doomed we’re doomed we’re d--”

“Yo dude, are you like, okay?” Lye crouches next to him and smacks his back--

He throws up. “We’re doomed,” he says weakly.

A person wearing a striped robe emerges from a platform located near end of the stadium seats. He holds up a cone-shaped piece of paper with magic markings on it. “Wizards and Gentlemen, welcome to today’s Gladiator Execution!” He yells. His voice seems to be amplified through winds shooting out of the paper.

“I’m your host, John Paladden! Today’s stars are…Merlin and his lackeys! Guilty of attempted assassination on our lovely Queen!”

The crowd erupts into boos and insults directed towards you.

 You scratch your beard. “Pardon me, but why are they insulting my mother too? She wasn’t even that rotund.”

“Yeah dude, that’s like, the big thing right now,” says Lye casually. “I did these Thine Mother jokes all the time at school!”

You scratch your beard more. “Most interesting. I will have to try it sometime then.”

“...lin. Merlin! Hello??” yells John Paladden impatiently. “Don’t keep the crowd waiting now! Choose one of you to be your fighter for the first round! But watch out, they can’t fight in other rounds after that!”

You
Gundilf
Terry
Lye

B) Gundilf

Gundilf steps forward, cocking his staff. “Aye, I’ll start us off, brother.”

You cross your arms. “Godspeed.”

Lye is too busy calming Terry down, but she raises a thumbs-up to Gundilf.

The announcer grins at him. “Well now! Here’s a familiar face! An old survivor of the Gladiator execution a decade ago, Gundilf the Reaper! I see you’ve upgraded from numerous murders to attempted assassination today.”

You tilt your head.

“No Reaper here today, brother,” he says with a grimace. “Only Gundilf the Black. Hurry up and begin already.”

Behind the announcer sits a lady in glossy, green robes. From the faint sight of her lips, she smiles and snaps her fingers.

Vines shoot out from the ground and trap the three of you like a cage. 

Then from the opposite end door, a dozen robed guards march out. 

The lady gestures to the announcer to come over, where she whispers something into his ear.

“It looks like we’re getting a special first round, folks! Going up against Gundilf will be a handpicked squadron of our finest guards...all made of ex-convicts! They’ve all turned a new leaf and are living honest lives now!” yells the announcer as he puts on a sinister grin. “Can you stomach fighting them to the death, dear old ex-Reaper?”

Gundilf spits on the ground. “Honest lives? As they enforce this sick shit you put on for the crowd? Don’t make me laugh.” He twirls his staff. “I do what needs to be done.”

The announcer laughs and raises a flag.

The guards all put on their battle stance, pointing their hands towards Gundilf.

Meanwhile, Gundilf...pulls out a loaf of bread from his pocket.

The announcer waves the flag down. A horn sounds out.

Gundilf flicks his staff, causing it to bend. Two small red cylinders fly out, along with him throwing the loaf up. He yanks into his pocket and pulls out two cyan-colored cylinders, and shoves them into the staff.

He bats away the bread, straightening his staff once more. 

The loaf smacks one of the guards in the face, disrupting his casting.

Before he could recover, Gundilf appears in front of him. 

Another guard launches out a stalagmite straight towards him.

Gundilf kicks the back of the guard’s knee, causing him to kneel. 

Then a shot from his staff to another guard behind. The guard’s leg gets struck, and spontaneously freezes into ice.

Gundilf grabs the bread, runs forward, and slides under the stalagmite, which bores a huge hole through the two incapacitated guards behind and shattering into pebbles.

Before the guard could cast another spell, Gundilf shoots his staff at the arm. 

It freezes into a mass of ice, weighing his entire body to the side. His other hand still has the magic circle loaded. It prematurely activates, shooting out another stalagmite into himself.

Three of the other guards all cast in unison, throwing out a giant boulder towards him.

He takes a bite out of the loaf and flicks his staff into the air, loading it now with silver cylinders. He jumps and catches his staff, with the boulder now inches away from him.

He shoots it point-blank, blasting out a gigantic burst of wind that launches the boulder back.

The remaining guards try to get away, but the three that fired it got flattened. The rest look around, but Gundilf is nowhere to be seen.

He hid behind the rolling boulder. He jumps high above it, flicking his staff. Cyan cylinders again.

He fires a barrage of shots ahead of the boulder, creating an improvised ice-ramp. 

The boulder rolls high up into the air.

A guard shoots out a long vine from his hands.

Gundilf flicks his staff again, now for silver cylinders. He catches the vine with the tip of his staff, then starts blasting sideways.

This whips the attacker to the side, like Gundilf was doing an olympic hammer throw. Its long length catches a bunch of other unsuspecting guards.

He smacks them into the ice ramp, lodging them into it. The boulder then lands, crushing them all.

Only one guard left. He’s scared shitless.

Gundilf slowly walks to him. He takes a bite out of his bread.

Flick of the staff. He spits red cylinders back into it, then flicks it shut.

The guard backs up.

He pulls the trigger.

In a panic, he backs up faster, but stumbles on one of the remains of the stalagmite attack from earlier, tripping him. His head falls into more of the remains, digging right into his skull.

Gundilf finishes his bread and cocks his staff. “T’was a blank, brother.”

A horn sounds out, followed by the crowd going wild.

“Man oh man! That was some fancy footwork there, Gundilf!” says the announcer. “How did it feel, killing all those honest men?”

He blows off the smoke coming from the tip of his staff. “I didn’t kill a single one. They all died from their own attacks.”

The lady above snaps her fingers, lowering the vine cage. 

Gundilf walks back to the wall and relaxes.

She whispers to the announcer again.

“Looks like our Queen wants to see the two young ones fight next!” shouts the announcer.

Just when Terry finally calmed down, he jumps into a panic again. “Us?!”

Let them fight together
Try to have them fight separately to test their mettle

A) Let them fight together

Lye grabs his arm and runs forward. “Fuck yeah, our first real Wizard battle, dude!”

“I think you mean our first death!” stammers Terry.


The lady snaps her fingers, raising the vine cage once again.

The ground shakes, and from it emerges a giant stone golem three times their size.

The announcer taps his mic. “Oho! Looks like our Queen is showing a bit of mercy today! The two of you only have to face the Mini-Golem!”

Terry gulps. “M...ini?”

Lye waves at it. “Sup Minnie! I’m Lye, and this is Terry!”

The golem stands stoic. After a while, it raises its arm and robotically mimics Lye’s waving.

Lye waves harder. “Aw dude, like, I think she’s kinda cute!”

Terry looks at her with confusion. “Lye, with all due respect, what?”

The lady snaps her fingers again.

The golem’s eyes glow. It turns its waving hand into a fist and slams the ground, sending a ripple of spiked rocks forward.

The two students jump away on opposite sides.

Lye closes her eyes and focuses on the mana strings around. She sees a bunch of it swimming within the golem and tries to pull them apart, but they don’t budge.

Instead, she tries to raise a pillar like she did last time. 

Her eyes open and her arms raise. A smaller pillar shoots out…

...Completely far from the golem.

She clicks her tongue. “Bruh. This is harder to control than I thought.” She looks across over to Terry, on his butt and frozen in fear. “Yo Terry, get up dude!”

“Gonna die, gonna die, gonna…” he mumbles to himself.

The golem punches the ground again, sending a wave of spiked rocks to him.

“GONNA DIE--” he flinches and holds his hands in front, igniting a huge explosion which stops the spikes, but also sends him flying back a bit.

Lye’s eyes twinkle. “Yo, sick! I wanna try that too!” She closes her eyes, then opens them with her arms forward. 

A sizeable explosion booms at the edge of the arena. However, the audience is unharmed thanks to a barrier covering the arena.

“BRUH. Fuck this!” she whips something out of her pocket: a small wand. Mumbling to herself, she points it at the golem with a magic circle appearing at the tip. “Don’t fuck with the Number One! Destruction-class: Eye of the Storm!”

A giant blast of lightning zips out of the wand, striking the Golem at the edge of its arm.

It bores a small hole. However, it kneels on the ground, pulling more earth out of it to refill the hole, and then more to turn it into a giant fist.

Lye gets on one knee, slightly exhausted from that spell. “Oh shit. So like, chanted spells aren’t strong enough, huh? But the fishie spells are hard to control…hmm…”

She looks up, only to see a wave of spikes coming that she can’t escape from--

Terry jumps in front of her, pointing his palm at the attack. 

Another explosion, sending them both flying. 

He coughs. “Lye-- *cough* --you alright? I didn’t know you could use really high level magic!”


She coughs up too. “Oh yeah...but it’s not good enough.”

Terry wobbles to his feet. “Well, we’re gonna have to figure something out.”

Lye closes her eyes in thought.

The golem points its arm to them. Its huge fist launches out like a rocket.

Terry jumps in a panic and holds out his arms, creating two small fireballs in each one. “GONNA--” he throws out one, “DIE--” another one, “OH--” another, “SHIT.” and another one.

They all blow up on the fist, but barely slow it down.

During that flurry, Lye noticed something in the realm of mana. It only shows for an instant, but the strings formed a magic circle that blinks into view each time he threw out flames.

Terry moves to shoot out another one. Lye sees this in slow-motion.

She takes a deep breath and focuses on the strings around Terry. The very moment the circle pops out, she practically stops breathing for maximum concentration.

Total zen.

Lye stands up. But everything feels weird. She looks behind and sees her body frozen in time. In fact, everything physical is frozen. She WAS closing her eyes, right?

A glance at her hands. They’re blue, just like the mana strings around her. A glance at the magic circle made of fishies. Her gut instinct is to wave at it.

The symbols on the circle wave their tails back at her. 

Her eyes widen. She waves in a more controlled manner.

The symbols dance a bit, shifting position. The waving continues, and they rearrange places. Sometimes, the strings from Terry’s body would join this dance. Some of hers would join as well.

To Lye, it was all a game. Just like constructing a magic circle with chants.

She starts to feel fatigued and drifts back to her body. Just before she returns, she mumbles. 

“Destruction-class: Eye of the Inferno.”

Time resumes. A colossal beam of fire bursts out of Terry’s hands, with sparks zipping out of the beam.

It collides against the fist, slowing it down to a crawl and melting it. The beam continues to the golem.

It drills a hole through half its face. The golem kneels again to rebuild both its fist and face, but this is taking a lot longer than with the arm.

Lye pants heavily, like she was just rescued from drowning. Some blood drips out of her nose.

 Terry falls to all fours, also catching his breath. “What...in blazes...was that?!”

She struggles to get a word out through her exasperated breaths. 

The golem finishes rebuilding again, but this time also creating a huge drill head made of earth on one of its arms. It spins the drill up, almost sounding like a turbine. 

The drill head blasts forward.

The sight of it enlarges in the reflection of Terry’s eyes. “Haha. Oh dear...that’s bad,” he says with a resigned voice, almost delirious. He grits his teeth and closes his eyes. “If I was Mr. Merlin...all I’d need to do is…” 

He balls his hand into a fist and punches the air in front.

For an instant, a magic circle fizzles on his knuckles.

Lye, amidst her panting, lunges forward and holds his fist, like paper covers rock. She holds her breath.

Back to Mana Zen. She stands up from her physical body, but falls on her knee and struggles to keep her balance. 

“Fuck… *gasp* ...c’mon. You’re right Terry, Mr. Merlin...He’d...” She glances up, seeing the faint magic circle in their physical hands. She weakly waves her arms like a lethargic orchestra conductor. 

The circle enlarges to accommodate more symbols. A LOT more symbols. 

She thinks back to the drawing Merlin showed her. “Mr. Merlin...this’ll take like, way too much mana dude! *gasp* FUCK.” 

Terry’s mana strings flow out of him without her intervention, like he was offering them. Eventually, his entire Mana Body drifts out of his physical body, but unconsciously. He floats to the circle, dissolving into an army of strings. 

She grins and waves with a bit more fervor. 

Eventually, 3/4th of the circle gets complete, but she’s out of mana to use.

She punches the ground with her blue hand. Staring at it, she shrugs with resolve. 

She crawls forward, reaching her arm out to the circle.

The circle pulls her Mana Body to it, like the magic circle was a full-sized saintly halo. She closes the eyes of her Mana Body, mumbling the last of the chant.

“Named-spell: Merlin’s Fist.”

Time resumes. A house-sized glowing blue fist jets out of their hands, tearing through the Earth Drill.

When the fist makes contact with the Golem, it puts up its remaining arm to block in futility. Surprisingly, it puts up a lot of resistance, but its arm is slowly disintegrating. It won’t be long now.

Terry falls unconscious immediately.

Lye shoots out a lot of blood from her nose, as she breathes like the bellows of a forge. She can barely keep her vision, nor could she really support her body even on all fours. 

And yet. Her gut instinct was to wave again at the golem.

The golem continues to block. But after a bit, it gives up its free arm to wave back. 

The fist vaporizes it.

A tear flows out of her eye before she fully passes out. 

Silence.

And then, the crowd erupts louder than ever.

The announcer’s jaw drops. 

The lady stands up from her throne, stepping forward and shoving the announcer aside. She grabs the magic megaphone from him, then pulls down her hood, revealing her magnificent face, a crown...and elongated, pointed ears. 

“You caught my attention.” She snaps her fingers, raising a hand-shaped rock to carry the students back to the wall, and lowering the vine cage. “I am Queen DuVaine. Consider my personal introduction an honor.”

You glance at the two students, relieved that they’re still alive. Your faith in them was not misplaced. 

You then step forward. 

“I am Merlin. Consider my personal introduction, uh, common courtesy.”

She laughs. “Oho, so you’re Merlin? The one who invented that Named Spell just now? You’re telling me a mana-less oaf like you created one of the most powerful class of magic?” 

She stomps her foot, whipping her long flowing green hair a bit. “Preposterous! I don’t like frauds, Merlin. But you know what I do like?”

Snap of her fingers.

A towering stone golem emerges from the ground in front of Merlin, raising to over 6 times his size.

The Queen laughs. “A good fight. If you thought the mini-golem was tough, then I can only wish you--”

“FIST.” you yell, smashing the giant golem into mere pebbles with your Chi-infused punch.

The crowd is stunned. So is the Queen, dropping the magic megaphone.

She picks it up again and clears her throat. “You...What. Was. That.”

You cross your arms. “Magic.”

She grinds her teeth. “Do NOT play me for a fool, Merlin. I’ve honed the art of Golems for decades! And all it takes to destroy that is your ‘magic’?!”

You scratch your beard. “Uhhh...yes?”

A vein pops from her forehead. “No mercy for you then.” She kneels and places her palms against the platform floor, creating a large magic circle. She then mumbles at the speed of light. “Zenith-class: Big Ass Golem!”

The ground shakes, stumbling most of the crowd. 

You stand stoically in the mountainous face of the golem rising from the ground. It towers all the way to the sky, nearly 50 times your size.

The crowd cheers it on.

The Queen cackles. “No mercy at all! Big Ass Golem, crush him!--”

“FIST!!!” you throw a hook into its foot.

It raises up the foot, like it stubbed a toe, and shrieks in a deep rumbling voice before being disintegrated into dirt.

The crowd is stunned once more. 

The Queen falls to her knees, panting. “Is this...a joke?! Has all my research been for naught?!” She punches the floor many times in a tantrum, then snaps her fingers again.

A pillar is raised to the edge of the platform. She steps unto it, then lowers the pillar.

You crack your knuckles. “So, you DO have the resolve to face me directly. But, and pardon me for asking, how is it that you don’t need to chant? I haven’t seen a magic circle from you until just then.”

She kneels, biting her thumb until it bleeds. She then presses it into the floor, creating a red magic circle.

The entire outer edge of the arena glows red, giving clarity to what the strange lines near the wall really were.

Gundilf runs to the students, holding them close. “Shit...the whole arena...was a magic circle?!”

Your eyes widen as you see the blood flow out to her circles, creating a star-shaped formation. “What are you doing?! You musn’t resort to the taboo of Curses just for a petty skirmish--”

A shockwave continuously erupts from her as the circle gets more complete, knocking you back a bit and preventing you from advancing.

“This is no petty skirmish, Merlin. I challenge you to a Wizard Battle!” She cackles with increasing insanity. “This whole arena has been loaded up with the blood of dead combatants, Merlin! Sir Gundilf is only half right--this isn’t just some sick shit for the crowd...it’s a grave to push the limits of magic!”

The circle is loaded with its final symbol, causing red lightning to crackle out of it. “And push it I will.” 

She stands up and holds her hand forward, raising her staff from underground. She slams it into the circle. 

It glows with maximum intensity. 

“Named-spell: DuVaine The Rock Dragon.”

The whole arena is engulfed in red light.

When vision returns, you’re greeted with a giant winged lizard that looks like an animated statue. Though, this statue is lined with bloody veins all around its body.

Embedded in its chest is the Queen’s face. Her eyes are bloodshot and strained. 

Gundilf’s jaw drops. “It can’t be...the legends are real?”

You glare into her deranged eyes. 

She cackles. “That’s right. This is the pinnacle of golem magic, Merlin! Recreating the first wizards to exist...the Dragon!” She points to Lye. “And thanks to the potent blood of that girl over there, she was the final piece I needed! She should be honored!”

You tilt your neck left and right to stretch it. “And you should be ashamed.” You dash forward, winding up a punch. “FIST--”

You throw your punch forward, but she wacks you with her tail, knocking you into the wall. 

However, the impact of your fist still did something; her veins send out a single pump of blood from the point of impact, converging to her head where she coughs up blood.

You peel yourself off the wall...wiping your very own blood from your cheek. 

Gundilf tenses up. “No way...”

You shake the blood off your hand. “As I thought...Chi is useless in the face of a Curse. Thanks for the confirmation, Madam DuVaine.”

A) Take off the hat (no holds barred)
B) Keep it on (mercy)

A) Hats off

You take off your hat, gripping the brim with a very tensed-up hand. Immediately, it takes over. You throw the hat to the ground, cracking it upon impact.

The Queen smirks. “Ohoho, looks like somebody’s throwing a little tantrum. What’s the matter Merlin, frustrated?”

You put on a sinister grin, one that you’ve never shown ‘til now. “Unfortunately, you’re very mistaken.” You put your hands together, circulating the Chi through you rapidly. The blue glow that surrounds your body slowly turns into a very crimson aura. “I get to finally test the limits of Chi.”

You spread out your arms, then slam your knuckles together, unleashing a huge shockwave that cracks the ground below you and blows your hat away. 

The shockwave was big enough that it even staggered Gundilf from a distance. 

You crack your knuckles. “And you get to be the guinea pig, DuVaine.”

A deep breath. When you exhale, you vanish from sight.

In the next moment, you’re right in front of the Queen’s head with a fist primed. 

Out of sheer instinct, she swats you away with her giant dragon hand, but you land a glancing punch to her cheek just before flying off.

The both of you cough up blood from the trade. 

You punch the ground before landing, launching yourself back to her from the sky.

She digs her claws into the ground, conjuring multiple magic circles that cover the entire arena. Pointed pillars shoot out of them, on their way to skewer you. “The magic of a dragon feels limitless, Merlin! You couldn’t possibly comprehend--”

You punch away one of the pillars. “Shut--” another pillar, “The--” every other pillar, “FUCK UP. You call this magic?”

You land on the dragon body’s head, slamming it into the floor. “The magic of a DRAGON? What a fucking disgrace.” You grab its neck, and with a great deal of Chi shunting your torso backwards, you suplex an entire dragon.

She feels her full weight right on her back, causing her to throw up even more blood. The sounds of rocks and bones breaking echoes throughout the stadium. 

As you watch her flail around like a roach, you kick her side, rolling her like a log. “Get the fuck up. We’re not done here.”

She gets back on fours, still disoriented.

Before she could really snap back to the present, you charge in with a left hook ready.

Her instincts kick in again, and she throws a punch.

Your fists clash. More bone-shattering sounds ring out from both of you.

You feel a sharp pain on your left arm. It was not meant to receive the impact of a siege ram. 

However, with your fist being much smaller than hers, she received just as much of an impact, all focused on a single point on her finger. It cracks, then shatters into pebbles. 

Gallons of blood start flooding out of where her finger used to be. She screams like a banshee.

You grin. “So this is the curse, is it?” You grab another finger before she could pull back her hand, and you rip it off.

More blood. More pain.

 “You didn’t just resurrect the dragon, you BECAME the dragon.” You rip off another finger. “Tell me, DuVaine, was it worth it?”

She starts crying, letting out tears of blood.

You sigh and shift your grip a bit. With a great tug, you managed to rip her entire arm off.

Like a dam breaking, an entire river of blood gushes out. 

You walk up to her head and stare her down. “What a waste. The blood of many was needlessly shed...and staining my robes.“ You bring your face closer. “So I ask again, DuVaine, was it worth it?”

She coughs and wheezes. “For the pinnacle of magic...a true Wizard will...do anything.”

You let out a hearty laugh. “The pinnacle of magic?!” You slap her. “This is the pinnacle of parlor tricks, DuVaine.” You walk up to her other arm.

She shakes her head vigorously, as if to plead for mercy.

 “I’ve seen an Earth Dragon before. And compared to him? You’re just a pile of shit and  dirt, strung together by hubris!--” 

Off goes the arm. And out comes the shrieking.

You feel the sharp pain again. Your body really doesn’t like being pushed in this state. But that won’t stop you right now.

You walk up to her face again. “And so you’re down to two legs. Just like a mere mortal.” 

Her eyes remain closed from the pain.

“So again I ask. Was it worth it?”

She grits her teeth and lunges the dragon head toward you, baring its fangs.

You grab the top and bottom fangs before it could fully bite down into you. However, the sharp pain surges through your left arm, letting the top teeth impale your arm.

You howl, then force out more Chi to twist your entire body, pulling the entire dragon head with you.

As you keep twisting around with its head anchored on your arm, its neck stretches out more and more and wraps around you. Once fully taut, you take once more burst of Chi to get that final twist, ripping off the entire head. You then flex your left arm, crushing the lodged fang off and freeing yourself from this dragon spaghetti.

But that doesn’t fix the huge gaping bite wound on your arm. Best you can do is cover it with your other hand.

Her last-ditch attack of desperation just got torn away. She closes her eyes in resignation, letting the bloody tears flow and smacking her tail on the ground.  

You put on a pained grin. “How’d you put it? Looks like someone’s throwing a tantrum. What’s the matter,  Frustrated?”

She keeps grimacing without a word. Guess she’s out of any fighting spirit.

A) Finish her: FIST (Risky due to needing to free up an arm, but flashy)
B) Finish her: SUPLEX (Riskier, but flashier.)
C) Walk away, let her bleed out

C) Walk away, let her bleed out

She coughs and hacks, spitting out some blood. “It’s my loss...What are you waiting for?”

You spit on the ground. “What a joke. You dare speak of reaching the pinnacle when you can’t even struggle at death’s door. Bleed out on your own accord instead.” You turn around--

“W...wait.” She coughs. “You speak like you’ve reached it yourself.”

You grip your arm tighter. “...Let me ask you this. Why are you so obsessed with the pinnacle of magic?”

“Isn’t it obvious? That’s what *cough* every Wizard strives for.”

“Right, but why is that?”

She sits in silence. 

“Mindless puppet. Come back to this journey once you’ve found a real reason,” you say before walking away towards the exit. 

On your way, you pick up your tattered hat and put it on...but you don’t feel much calmer. You continue forwards anyways, picking up Terry on your non-wounded shoulder.

Gundilf picks up the chair and Lye. He turns to the Queen. “So if you folks don’t mind, we’ll be free to go.” He frowns. “...Right?”

She looks away without a word.

The announcer nods in fear and rings a bell, which removes the barrier around the edges that was also blocking the exit.

As you all leave, the audience sits in silence, stunned by the shambled image of their Queen.

…

You head to an inn to meet up with Goldius.

“A reservation for Grand Wizard Goldius?” says the innkeeper lady. “Now that’d be rich! Can’t say he’s been here, though. Did you still want a room? I’ll throw in first-aid if it means you uh, won’t bleed all over the place.”

You and Gundilf look at each other quizzically. 

He shrugs. “We’ll get back to you on that offer.”

You all exit, then try another inn. The innkeeper shrugs. Another inn. Same result. 

After trying the last inn in town, you step outside and stare at the moon. “That shithead better not have defected...ugh, pardon me.” You use your free arm to adjust your hat. Your arm does not like that.

Gundilf sighs and points at a nearby bench. “C’mon brother. We probably should get that arm sorted out.”

He sits you down and sets Terry and the others aside, then rips a piece of cloth from his robes to bandage your arm up. It stops the bleeding a bit, but still hurts like a bitch.

You hold your other arm to your throbbing head. “Fuck. Gotta fix this shitty hat.”

Gundilf tilts his head. “Why DO you need that hat?”


You massage your temples. “When you’ve seen the shit I’ve seen, you start to get familiar with your inner demons. The hat’s a gift from an old friend who didn’t like seeing me like this.” You take off the hat, making you feel a bit more agitated again. “And goddamnit, I’m not a fan of me either. I’m barely keeping it together.”

Gundilf slaps the hat back on you. “Alright, yeah. Not lookin’ too good here. So why’d it break anyhow?”

“The  hat’s magic is almost out. It’s been centuries after all. Guess taking it off wasn’t exactly helping either.” 

You feel a small tinge of pain from your wound. In response, you try to flex the pain away. “I wanna punch something, Gundilf. I know I shouldn’t, but this shit is like an itch.”

“Think bread would help?”

You groan. “Fuck. I don’t know.”

A) Check in at the inn and get food
B) Set out to get the hat fixed asap
C) Investigate whereabouts of Goldius

B) Fix the hat

You get up. “Let’s just get going. I know who can fix this--” the pain surges again, making you grasp your arm. 

Gundilf also gets up. “Take it easy, brother. We can depart in the morning once we’re well rested--”

“No. I can barely hold my shit together Gundilf.” You pick up Terry once again and start walking. “We gotta go now before I slip further.”

Gundilf sighs. “Alright, fine. But give me a second, I got a better idea.”

…

The rattling sounds of the wooden wheels behind you are strangely calming. You keep a firm grip on the handles at your side as you pull the wooden cart forward.

Gundilf peeks his head from inside the cart. “I gotta say, brother, you make a fine horse.”

You smirk. “The fuck kinda compliment is that?” 

He chuckles and leans back into the cart, keeping a close eye on the students and making sure they don’t fall out. “Nice o’ that ol’ lady at the inn to give this thing up.”

“Much thanks to her, but this thing’s kind of a dying piece of shit.”

“Heh, prolly why ‘twas free.” He sits up straight and looks up at the starry sky. In particular, he notices something that looks like a second moon. “That’s a new one. You seein’ this, brother?”

You look up to the sky. “A second fucking moon, great. Sure had that one on my Wizard Bingo.”

“Any idea where it’s from?”


You shrug your shoulders. “No clue. Probably some asshole messing with magic they shouldn’t touch. I don’t fucking know. It’ll be my problem when it becomes my problem.”

He chuckles. “That’s a good mindset to live by.” He whistles. “So where are we headed anyways?”

“Towards Wizard Atlanta.”

“Eh? Are we visiting the Grand Wizard of Water?”

“Not quite. Rather, we’re visiting their predecessor.” You wiggle your eyebrows, which nudges the hat a bit. “She made me the hat, after all.” 

“Oh. Surprised she’s still alive after all those centuries.”

“And you’re not surprised I’M still alive?”

He laughs. “With all the reckless shit you do, maybe I should be more surprised.”

…

The sunlight creeps through the horizon, with its gentle rays greeting your somewhat tired eyes. It also shines a bit on Gundilf’s resting eyes, but luckily did not stir him.

That light also illuminates the entrance of the city. You approach a drawbridge that sits above a giant moat of water. Past the drawbridge is an enormous wall that extends miles to the side. A gate sits directly in front.

Two blue-robed guards salute you. “Welcome to Wizard Atlanta! Hope you folks enjoy your stay!” Says one of the guards while he raises the gate.

The other guard pauses him. “Now hold on there, you aren’t kidnapping those folks in your cart, are you?”


You blink. “Uhhhh, I don’t think so?”

The guard stares at you intently. Then he shrugs. “Good enough for me!” He signals at the other guard to continue raising the gate.

You nod in respect, though truth be told you had an irrational urge to pop that guard’s head like a grape. Hopefully it didn’t show on your face.

You walk the cart into the main square of the city, where a huge fountain sits in the middle. On it is a giant statue of a hooded lady that is almost saintly in nature. 

In fact, water is present everywhere in this city. Small canals line the sides of the streets. Waterfalls seem to be a common attraction. A fish flops out of an artificial pond. A bird swoops in and steals it away.

You roll your eyes. “Gaudier than it’s ever been.”

A) Investigate about Goldius while you’re here, then go to your old friend
B) Just head there ASAP

B) Just head there ASAP

No time to waste. You walk through the glistening streets, passing by a handful of people. Not a very dense crowd out here. They're probably enjoying the indoors.

Eventually you reach an inn. You park the cart just outside the entrance and kick--er, open the door.

Now why would you kick the door?

Before you could step in…

"Now there's a nostalgic sight!" Shouts the innkeeper lady with glee. 

One thing that immediately stands out to you is that she looks a lot like the one back in Rockenrolland. 

She vaults over the counter to meet you directly at the door. "Y'know, that cart's been around our family for generations! Never thought I'd get to see it kickin' again after all these years! Wonder why we stopped usin' it.."

You scratch your chin in confusion. You also want to throw the cart at her--

Now now, people don’t throw carts at other people.

“So, lookin’ for a room? It’s on the house if my sister trusts ya with our cart!”

You slap yourself to reality. “Right. Uh, yes, that sounds great. Thanks.”

…

With some spare rope you found lying around, you tie the steel chair to your back. You take a glance at the students safely asleep on the bed, and Gundilf resting against the wall. 

Squash the students’ heads--

Will you stop that, you big oaf?!

With that, you head downstairs and set out for adventure. The innkeeper waves goodbye.

Flip her off--

You wave back.

Back at the big fountain. You take a small sapphire-colored coin out from under your hat and…

“Here for the wishing well?” says a random guy passing by.

You tilt your head, wondering who the fuck.

He takes it as confusion. “Oh, you haven’t heard of this city’s main attraction? With enough tributes, our savior Queen Watermoses will grant you any wish!”

You stare into the eyes of the giant statue of the fountain. It stares back at you, looking condescendingly. 

You huff. “Fuck that. You want a wish granted?...” You toss the coin into the fountain.

A glowing fish made of mana flies out of the water, then starts swimming away in the air.

“...Go look to those who actually have their hand extended to you.” You say sternly, before running after the mana fish.

…

The mana fish leads you to the outskirts of town, where the base of a tall snowy mountain is. 

You look up to the summit, obscured by clouds. “That old shit...are you really gonna make climb this big-ass rock?!”

The fish circles around, taunting you.

The sound of groaning rings out from your back. “Ugh...hey pal! What the hell’s happenin’? Where are we?”

You start hiking up. “Getting my hat fixed. Could probably get your curse fixed too. What’s the last thing you remember?”

“Uhhh, I think we were in prison?”

You keep hiking. The edge of the path crumbles a bit. “Hmm, that’s not good. What about before that?”

“I think we were in uh...a cart or somethin’.” He rattles a bit. “Fuck pal, my memories’re all over the place.”

“I’m gonna need you to behave, or I’m throwing both of us off a cliff.”

He stops rattling. 

“Good. Now uh, don’t panic, but I think your curse is getting worse. At this rate, you’ll probably completely turn into a chair. The kind that doesn’t talk.”

He starts rattling again. 

You turn your body so he’s dangling over the edge of the path. 

He stops rattling.

“I fucking said don’t panic, yeesh. Now as I said, we’ll get you fixed up.” You come across the end of the path. The only way up is a ledge far above you. “...Well, once I find this asshole! FUCK.”

Frustrated, you do away with normal hiking and crouch down, funneling Chi to your legs. Then with great force, you spring up dozens of meters. 

You keep the momentum by kicking off the sides of the rocky walls. Eventually, you land on some stable ground far above the base.

The mana fish circles around you, keeping up just fine.

Looking down, you notice that a small avalanche happened where you jumped off, and the parts of the wall you kicked are chipped off. If you’re not careful, you might just bring this whole mountain unto the city.

Let them all die--

Okay no, that’s a bit fucked up.

A) Continue springing up with Chi (might pose a problem much later)
B) Keep hiking up normally (poses a problem now)