Valerian, The Legendary

126 Target.

Valerian woke up in the morning covered with cold sweat. He did not know why he dreamt of Rectus like this. He saw that the man was being held captive, in a cave. He also saw the cave to be hidden within a forest. He was not sure where this place was, so out of humanity, Valerian penned a letter to Azula so that the princess could check up on his situation.

The boy did not even finish his meal and ran out to the posting tower of the academy. This was the place where all the administrative work of the academy was taken care of. It was a small castle outside the education block.

Valerian passed on his letter to a staff member and asked him to send it through with the fastest postal service that was available. The students were allowed to communicate with the world outside free of charge.

The staff were all normal people, but they were not bullied as they were all beast tamers. After the letter was passed on, Valerian went back to the battlemage tower, finished his meal and then carried Fortuna to the art pavilion.

He did not practice any of his magical or physical skills these days, it was just a few days before the annual rankings competition but he was just seeking peace for his heart. Fallax was very content with this, after all, this kid was a monster, he was already a grade six battlemage, and his progress was a little too fast according to the rules of the world.

Lilian had given up her worry ever since the child has preached to her about the self-esteem of a human being. She was rather calm about this development of her. She guided Valerian patiently and taught him everything that she knew, and was surprised by the potential this boy showed for absorbing knowledge.

Valerian might have to spend some effort learning about magic and other complicated stuff, but art was something that came to him naturally. He never expected to have become so good at it. All the notes that he hit were serene and calm, they resonated with his heart, and were clear.

The instrument laid on his lap was called a Filum Vita. This instrument was four feet long and had seven strings. Each represents a note in the musical scale. The color of the strings was different but they were all made from the same material.

These seven colors represented the seven elements in the mage world. The board represented the Stern warriors. While the common metal of the strings represented the commoners.

.....

This instrument was the most common instrument used all over the world. It was said that the goddess Vita herself created it and it is a representation of the world. The length of the instrument was a symbol of the majestic dragon. Because magic came from the dragons. They were the first living beings of this world.

Valerian passed a week practicing in the art pavilion and also received an affirmation from Azula that she has sent shadows to search for Rectus and there will be news soon.

On the eighth day when he woke up, Fallax greeted him from the counter. The old man was trying to tease Fortuna, but as the small kitten grew up she became more cold and indifferent towards them. Only Valerian was her treasured servant.

The boy changed into his black clothes but Fallax said, “Go put on these.”

He passed on a white shirt and brown pants with a pair of long boots. The old man said, “This is the uniform for the competition. Put on your battle tunic today, also take two knife sheaths, you will need to declare your weapons to the judges.”

Valerian nodded and then went to the side to change his clothes quickly. He found two sheaths that were too small for his waist but they were good enough for his thighs. This was a comfortable position to draw out the knives quickly. After he was dressed, Fallax said, “Fortuna had broken through the artifact I gave you the last time. Here try this.”

Valerian caught a thing that looked like a collar. He walked up to Fortuna and placed the collar beside her. He was not in a rush to tie it around her neck and asked, “Can I tie this around your neck? This will protect you from those old people who wish to take you away for nasty purposes. If you do not want to have it, then I hope you stay here, after all, those people can sense your aura. It will be really hard to protect you then.”

Fortuna gazed at him, Valerian was caressing her head with his palm. She rubbed her head against his palm gently as if showing her willingness. The boy did not hesitate and gently tied the collar around her neck.

Fallax said, “If the world knew that a dragon was this easy to coax, they would be shocked.”

Fortuna turned too cats a menacing glare at the old man as if saying, ‘Are you comparing yourself to my servant? Old man, I agreed because of safety purposes, otherwise, I disdain you and your petty means. Wait for me to grow up and I will show you.’

Valerian patted her head gently and said, “Do not listen to him. He is just turning senile. He likes to blabber.”

Fortuna was pleased and meowed, ‘As expected of my servant, you are good at pleasing me.’

Then she stood up and climbed onto his shoulder. The trio then went out of the tower. Valerian found that a lot of people were out on the lanes. He turned to cast a gaze at the old man dressed in black and silver. Fallax said, “The venue for the test is there.”

He raised his chin to point at the sky above. Valerian was confused and found that an island third the size of the academy, was floating in the sky, and it was connected with a number of thick vines. It looked as if these vines were holding this island from breaking free and floating away.

Valerian was surprised, and Fallax said, “This thing is a magical work, cast by those two old men from Earth and wood towers.”

The child asked, “The archmages?”

Fallax looked at him and said, “Yes, they are the strongest Archmages of the towers.”

Valerian nodded as he followed the old man slowly. He did not meet the princess from the Sapientia empire, and neither did he ask the old man about the test. He will find out once he arrives at the foot of the vine, where the participants were gathered.

They arrived at the base and Fallax, Valerian did not know when had vanished from beside him. Valerian stood at the back of the crowd and found that a man in blue robes stood in front of them on an elevated platform. The man said, “Hello students, some of you might know me, I am Kartan Shin. A teacher in the Wind magic tower.

I will be now explaining the rules for the first assessment. Every student will be given an initial ranking that is zero. Now please look behind me, do you see this thick entangled vine?”

The students replied, “Yes, Teacher Shin.”

Kartan Shin nodded with an amiable smile and said, “You all will be running up this vine, and try to reach the summit of the floating arena. Your rank will be corresponding to your position. Don’t worry, this rank will just be for the initial stages of grouping you in batches for the next round.

So, while climbing the vine, you all can use your magic to shake off the opponent in front of you. However, you must not throw them off the vine. If you do so, you will be disqualified. Understand? Make sure to use your strength with discretion.”

Valerian heard a few students questioning the use of such a privilege, if they could not attack anyone to throw them off, why attack at all? They did not realize that the amiable teacher had put forward a very delicate test in front of them. The test of control over their mana.

This was going to be a very tricky thing. Kartan Shin said, “The race will be observed by instructors and they will help anyone who falls off the vines. Just so you know, your warrior friends are also competing, but you all do not have the right to attack each other. Only battlemage can do that. Seems unfair, but you all can target the battle mage as well.”

Valerian suddenly felt that Kartan Shin was able to locate him through the crowd and use him as bait to unify this crowd. However, he was not scared, he had his methods to deal with these people.

Richtor stood in the crowd and suddenly exclaimed, “I know, that silver-haired kid is a battle mage.”

He deliberately told everyone a sign to recognize Valerian. The young prince, narrowed his gaze. Now, he was pissed.