The Wizard World

Angele left the house with the book Adolf gave him and got on a carriage that took him back to the school. A staff member by the entrance of the dorm stopped Angele before he entered the building.

“Young Master Angele, here’s a letter for you. Also, a worker left something here for you. Please take all of those with you,” the staff member who looked drunk said. The staff member was a middle-aged man who was a heavy drinker. Angele could barely understand what the man was saying.

“Thanks, House.” Angele smiled as he nodded. He headed into a small room by the entrance and took a black bag along with a letter.

Angele quickly returned to his room and carefully closed the door. Angele put down the bag and letter. He sat in front of his desk and placed the book he had just gotten on it. He inhaled once and tried to calm himself before he’d start checking the book. Brown was the color of its cover and an earmark was sealed on it. This mark was quite large and was made out of black silk. There was a small line of words written on the bottom-right side that said, “By Buckwill”. The book was thick and heavy, such that it even looked like a large dictionary. It was about 2 to 3 kilograms. Angele collected himself and sat straight before opening the book.

‘Zero, start recording the information,’ he thought.

‘Recording started.’ The chip started working quickly.

There was only one line on the first page: “I am listening...”

The words were written in a special manner, which made it slightly hard to read. They looked like special runes, but they were actually just regular Anmag words. It looked like the page had a bunch of tadpoles lined up in the middle. Angele stared at those words and started thinking. He scrunched his eyebrows, remaining at this page for a long time. Dusk was nearly upon him and darkness had begun creeping everywhere. Moonlight poured into the room, dyeing and reflecting light upon everything inside with its pale white hue. The oil lamp on the desk reflected yellow light over Angele’s face. Shadows under his eyes and nose began flickering.

Angele finally moved to page 2 after thinking for a long time, but he still scrunched his eyebrows. There was a colorful painting on the second page. It was a noble lady wearing a white one piece and a red round hat. She was sitting in front of a mirror quietly with a gentle demeanor. Her face was fair and beautiful, and it looked like she was staring into Angele’s eyes. The painting itself was vibrant and it made it seem as if the lady was alive. Angele felt something strange about it, so he moved the book closer. He scrutinized the painting such that he could even see the pores on her face.

The wind was blowing into the room from outside.

DONG! The window made a loud noise as it was blown open. Angele stood up and closed it. He returned and sat down again, looking at the painting. He was surprised because the mouth of the lady in the painting was now slightly opened. He was certain that it was closed before. She stared at Angele, seemingly trying to say something.

“I am listening...” Angele was suddenly reminded of the words on page 1 and felt slightly scared. The room was silent and people who were talking outside couldn’t be heard. Even the insects outside had gone silent. The atmosphere in the room felt heavy and constrained.

Angele felt goosebumps and instantly put his right hand over the crossguard sword by the side. He sensed danger and thought something was closing in on him.

‘Zero, analyze the situation around. Report to me immediately if you find anything wrong,’ Angele ordered.

‘Mission established. Analyzing...’ Zero reported. However, the chip didn’t report back to him, so Angele felt relieved. He looked back at the painting, once again becoming surprised. The lady’s mouth was slightly more opened compared before as though she was in pain. She now had a hopeless expression on her face, not staring at Angele anymore. Angele couldn’t see anything in her eyes. Angele felt more goosebumps and also a chill coming from his back.

He quickly moved on to the next page.

“I am listening...” He saw the words again where it was still in the middle of the page.

‘Warning! Strange magnetic field discovered! Please move away from the source! At least 50 meters!’ Suddenly, the chip started giving out warnings.

‘You will see a different world from this book if you are qualified to become a Wizard.’ A strange message somehow appeared in Angele’s mind. It wasn’t written in the book, only going straight into Angele’s consciousness.

Angele was paralyzed; sweat was all over his face.

GA!

A black bird that looked like a crow flew by his window and made a strange noise. Angele was still feeling shocked, but he was alerted by the sound. He quickly stood up and wiped off the sweat on his face with his hands. Angele saw his own reflection on the glass of the window. His reflection had white pupils and the mouth was opened as though his reflection was trying to say something. The facial expression of his reflection perfectly depicted that of the lady in the painting.

“Damn!” Angele screamed as he pushed the chair down. He bumped the door open and ran out to the hallway. The whole world outside looked strange. Angele felt the loss of balance, and the hallway itself seemed distorted. No one was around, not even any student in the dorm could be seen.

‘Your body is currently experiencing an abnormal condition. Your blood flow rate is 3x greater than normal, and your blood vessels are rupturing,’ Zero kept warning.

HU!

Angele inhaled once, trying to suck air into his lungs. The warning of the chip woke him up. Angele opened his eyes where he found himself sleeping on the book. The window was still open, the wind coming from outside could still be felt by him. Angele was covered in sweat, and he found the wind to be soothing.

“I fell asleep?” Angele said as he looked at the book below his chest. He was still on page 1 of the book, the words still quietly lying in the middle of the page.

I am listening...

“Everything was an illusion?” Angele wondered, so he decided to check the record on the chip.

‘Your body is currently experiencing an abnormal condition. Your blood flow rate is 3x greater than normal, and your blood vessels are rupturing.

‘Magnetic field has weakened. You are now waking up.

‘Radiation energy has disappeared. Magnetic field has disappeared.

‘You are having trouble understanding space and time.’

“Nope, not a dream,” Angele said.

Angele looked at the crystal clock he had bought not too long ago and seen that it was already 9 o’clock in the evening. The words on the book suddenly disappeared and words suddenly appeared in the air. They were blurry in the beginning, but now, Angele could easily read them.

‘Congratulations, love. You passed the mental examination of the book,’ it said. The book suddenly started shining with a light akin to a silver water flowing around. Angele could barely see anything from the brightness. The light stayed for about 5 seconds before disappearing.

Angele opened his eyes once again and looked at the book on his desk. The cover of the book change, though the color did not. Many strange runes appeared in the middle of the cover and the earmark was no longer there. Under the runes was a black door shaking slightly. Angele could even hear the noise it created; it felt like watching a 3D movie on Earth.

The color of the cover was still brown, but the material seemed to have changed. Angele had mixed feelings about this and was hesitant. The illusion he had experienced warned him on how dangerous the book was. However, the book was the only clue he had about the Wizards, so he didn’t want to give it up. Angele could now hear the noises of people talking and doors opening and closing from the hallway. He slowly calmed down as he sought solace in such an environment. It was the dorm he was familiar with.

‘Zero, check the book and tell me if it’s still dangerous,’ Angele thought.

‘Analysis beginning... Item unknown. Danger unknown. Please proceed with caution.’ Hearing Zero’s report made Angele hesitate again. He turned the book to its second page. Nothing happened, but the painting of the lady had disappeared. Instead, Angele saw a page full of words. There was a title on top of the page, which told Angele of what the book actually was.

‘This is just a starter meditation handbook.’

Following the title, it said:

‘This book will help you lay the foundation. If you want more, head to Marilodan. I heard that the market there would open every 50 years. I just don’t want to write down high-level skills in this one as I’m still researching. For your own safety, I suggest you do not attempt to touch the high-level meditation handbooks.’

The words were written in Anmag language, which made it surprisingly easy for Angele to understand.