A small flame in the darkness

Tom opened his eyes only to be met by pitch-black darkness. His thoughts began to race to make sense out of all of this. But the last thing he could remember was witnessing the fight of Moirai and then the memory just abruptly ended.

Everything before that event was still clear only the fight itself has only become hazier the more he thought about it. Putting that issue aside he tried to understand his surroundings first. Which proved to be hard since his eyes could not see a single thing.

By conjuring a flame in his right hand he wanted to scout the close area for potential dangers or hints for his current whereabouts.

As the light illuminated the place he could not help himself from holding his breath. He found himself in a sea of deceased monsters. The putrid smell had entered his nostrils, but he was quick to block it off with mana.

Witnessing such a scene he could only marvel and wonder just how many monsters had given their life here? No matter in which direction he looked, there only were carcasses as far as he could see.

Standing up he left his current location in order to find a way out of this space filled with eerieness. Manvouering his way through the decomposing field of corpses he was met with even more empty husks.

This sight made him feel tiny as only the flame flickered at his side, there was no trace of any form of life. Death ruled this domain and solely the dead could be found in it. The deeper he ventured into the unknown the more he was assured of that.

It felt like the place was never supposed to be seen by anyone living. A great feeling of unrest fell over him the more time he spent in it. He tried his best to suppress that kind of feeling but there was nowhere he could run to.

He could not hide from the piles of bodies spread all over the ground. Even in the sky, there was nothing more than darkness. This was a place where light would never reach. He was nothing more than a tiny candle amidst the all-encompassing darkness.

His breathing and footsteps were the only things that resounded in the otherwise deathly stillness of the environment. Yet, he never felt alone, because he knew something was watching him. The gaze had been lingering on him for quite a time.

At first, he did not notice this presence however, the unmistakable smell of blood filled the air and he grew wary. The final proof that spoke against his loneliness, however, was the fact that some corpses were just recently laid to rest.

With the cause of their death likely being around, he needed to be alert and on guard. It was hard to predict, what kind of being had killed them but it would pose a threat regardless. From the things he has seen so far he could not discern any usable information about the monster.

Somewhere out there it must gaze its prey up and wait for an opportune moment to strike the unsuspecting prey. It was hard to judge whether any of these creatures had put up a fight or not simply due to the fact, that there were way too many bodies.

The lack of intel on the enemy was not something too favourable for him, but he had been taught to keep the focus high regardless of the circumstances. A battle could happen at any time and at any place.

Though the monster has proven itself to be absolutely patient as well. It had not shown any indication to attack whatsoever. This game of cat and mouse continued without any side willing to take the first move. But who is going to play which part had yet to be determined.

He wandered aimlessly in this space but the sight which greeted him always the same. A battle like this was something he always yearned for lessons in the Church could never compare. There was no thrill in doing tasks he had no trouble succeeding in.

Once the monster had lost its patience it was time to put everything he had learned to the test. The flame inside of his hands was burning brightly in anticipation as his eyes were darting around trying to find any sort of movement.

Although he did not manage to find something he was only feeling more excited, because the monster was proving itself to be more and more capable.

Suddenly a loud growling could be heard directly in front of him but it was at this moment that the monster bared its ugly fangs and attacked directly from behind. Although this ambush had come out of nowhere it was not enough.

By surrounding himself with a wall of fire he had created the first layer of defence against his attacker. He was forced to reevaluate his opponent because he was not facing a single enemy but multiple.

This monster was known as a Shadowprowler a creature of the night, which stalks its prey before surrounding it and attacking it until its demise. It is a tireless monster with a clear obsession once they have chosen their target.

Their speciality lied in distractions and diversions to confuse the target and attack the target when it was preoccupied. It was a rare creature but it was even more deadly. Many talented magicians had given up their lives against this beast.

This was mostly caused by their lack of preparation and miserable knowledge about them. Blindly seeking strength caused them to jump from battle to battle and blatantly overestimating their capabilities ended their lives.

Of course, some monsters still prevail in that kind of environment but he did not even dream of reaching that kind of level. Becoming a tactician clearly suited him more and he did not have the talent to have any other aspirations.

For instance, fighting this monster was dangerous but knowing their behaviour it becomes easy to develop a strategy against them. These monsters were very weak against fire mages as they could not avoid being seen.

Once they have been found it was easy to get rid of them and fire magic was a useful tool for that purpose. Although the darkness itself was a hindrance it was by no means enough for them to escape unscathed.

By sending out a small burst of fire a wolf was set ablaze as the flame had latched onto the fur. Extinguishing that was not an impossible matter but once a bright target lid up in the darkness it was easy to end its life.

After finishing the first monster, it was now time to locate the other creatures lurking in the dark. A Shadowprowler always hunts in a pack of variable size. Finishing of a member was not enough to deter them, rather it was more of an invitation for a fight to the death.

Their desire for vengeance was strong and a great motivation for them to risk their lives. It was easy to win the fight by just drowning them in a sea of flames but he did not know what else was waiting for him.

Wasting mana needlessly would only impair him later on. Conserving your strength was another part which one either learned through bitter experience or through thoughtfulness. That is if they still have the change after regretting their recklessness.

Being levelheaded is a trait which clearly shines in moments like this but it was by far not the ones most people prefer to have. They rather let others do the thinking while they just have fun. Most of them are not heroes they are just mindless fools.

The glory they sought on the frontlines was not something that could be gained with a fluke or by some false sense of bravado.

It was their divine duty to serve wherever the danger lied. The adoration of the masses should never be taken for granted it had to be earned.

These monsters were oddly similar to them, they only had their goal in my and pursued it relentlessly but in doing so they had forgotten about what is important.

Their strength was also their glaring weakness.

Fixated on results they will never learn the limitations they have until it is too late. A Nightprowler was nothing without the darkness and a magician was nothing without their magic.

Mistakes would inevitably occur once this very fact had been forgotten and in such a battle this meant death.

Driven by rage one of them gave itself away by appearing at the outer perimeter and its shape could vaguely be seen and therefore it was promptly engulfed by flames.

The next thing both have in common is the failure to learns from the mistake of others. Following the footsteps of your brethren will only end in the same manner. Yet, they keep on wondering why the same mistakes take place over and over again.

The death of a comrade is always sad but doing the same they did is not honourable; it is just stupid. Honour them by carrying on their will and accept the lecture their death brought with it. Most people would have stopped listening to me already.

Another issue which they shared with the Nightcrawlers was both of them never listen to reason and just do whatever they please. Sadly he would sooner or later have to command one of the two. Unlucky for him it was not the monsters, albeit he dearly wished for it to be so.

At least the monsters never had that narcissistic expression that drove him crazy. Just one look is enough and all joy and happiness are gone. Each individual wore the same look without even deserving it.

He had grown sick and tired of having to witness this all over the Church, no matter where it was he could never escape that kind of gaze. It was one of the many reasons he preferred the solitude that books brought.

His friend Jerry was the sole exception to this rule as he was too dumb to be arrogant. But knowing him really was something he really had become more than used to throughout the years. He had taken a liking to that foolish yet brave nature of his.

He quickly shook his head as his mind had wandered off a little due to the creature not doing any obvious mistakes. Of course, he knew that their attack was still coming, this much was obvious. Another face flashed up in his head and an idea formed in it.

That method could really shine in this kind of situation. The fire danced around him but suddenly turned into very thin needles that levitated in front of him. They shot into the darkness in quick succession and tore through the unfortunate monsters that stood in its path.

Although was not happy with the results he had achieved. Clicking his tongue he thought about what to change in order to stabilize the needles. As of now, the mana consumption was too high for their actual size.

He had to admit that it was easier said than done, utilizing many small fire spells was really taxing on the mind itself. Watching Moirai had opened him a new direction of thought on how to actually use the magic to its fullest.

Following Moirai was something he would never regret as he saw things he did not deem possible on a regular basis. His combat style was something which needed to be documented and thoroughly analyzed.

This was merely a small idea he came up with watching Moirai but it was far from enough yet. The concept was really similar to the ones that ice magicians easily wield but conjuring it with fire is numerous time harder.

Many times they lost their form and shape when they move a certain distance away from the magician who has cast them. Varying the size and the density of magic always lead to a slightly different effect taking place. Finding the perfect balance was a lengthy process.

He wondered which outcome would be feasible once he had come to accomplish that delicate feature. This was merely the beginning, what else was possible? He could hardly wait to find out.

The monsters in front of him had already been decimated by the onslaught of the experimental spell from Tom. The rest was only a matter of time as the monsters themselves had lost their mind after watching so many of their brethren fall.

Walking away from the scene murmurs could be heard about what to change about the spell to achieve better results. Though his audience was not able to understand the sheer extent of his revolutionary views because they had already perished.

In this godforsaken place, something had begun to sprout which would usher in a path of magic which had never been tread. Spawn forth by mere observations it was destined to shape its caster without him even knowing it yet.

At this point in time, it was only a small idea, which was happily developing in the mind of Tom. It was rough and rudimentary but the mere notion seemed to have awoken something inside. It was a curiosity which was something many magicians had forgotten about.

Many people only care about gaining strength at the fastest time and they lost their passion for magic itself. Between duty and faith, they had forsaken new perspectives for the old-established ones.

This did not mean that the development of magic had stagnated far from it, it just meant that its nature never changed. At its core, it was the same field of magic, only the process itself got refined and optimized.

The path that Tom was about to follow was an uncharted territory which did not align with these principles. A new school of thought was not something which appeared straight out of thin air it heavily interlinked with the experiences he had made with Moirai.

While he was preoccupied with his theories he had been approached by another pack of Shadowprowles. Tom embraced the arrival of new test subjects with open arms and started another round of experimentation on the fire needles.

Yet results did not show so simply and he grumbled once more thinking what to do differently the next time around. Left behind were only the dead monsters which had chosen the wrong target to hunt.

This continued several times as the outcome was still far from pleasing to the eager magician. It was then as he noticed sounds of battle very close to him, the monsters seemed to have found another target to hunt.

Since Tom was not afraid of anything he ventured towards the noise in anticipation of what he would come to encounter. He noticed the extremely damaged bodies of the monsters carcasses and followed the trail of blood to witnessed a vicious fight.

It was Moirai who looked badly injured but he still continued to defy common sense as preserved with a body in such a state and won against the Shadowprowler with sheer brutality. For a second he found himself marvelling at this cruel spectacle.

In the distance, he spotted the rest of the monsters which starred at Moirai with hate in their eyes. A quick decision was made and the flames illuminated the darkness as the monsters came to an abrupt halt.

But their decision was a tad too slow and they could not avoid the spell. They died where they stood.

Turning around he saw that the Moirais battle had also come to an end and he moved closer to him to try and talk to the strange being he could learn a lot from.

After talking for a while he noticed that Moirai stood up with bitter hatred emanating out of every single pore, it was the first time he felt such an obscure aggressive aura. It vanished as quick as it came but the feeling was not that easy to forget,

Moirai was different but he could not tell how he had changed.

Despite all of his injuries, there was still a smile plastered on his face. He heard the growling in the distance and he knew exactly why he was grinning. He had always been like that.

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