Pillars of the world

Today can be confidently described as "interesting", but at the same time successful. I gained a new companion, Ent. In addition, wanting not wanting, I had the first practical test of my skills in battle.

Edmund gave me scold because I lettting myself be hurt in an idiotic way.

"What was that supposed to be !? You've hurt yourself, and it's very idiotic way. Andrew, you must remember and apply one and the most important thing that every hunter is to remember. If you die, you're dead. Dead person can not help anyone else. Therefore, first of all you have to take care of your life, even if you have to give up the mission and you must keep cool, regardless of the situation. You understand ??? "

I lowered my head, ashamed.

"Yes, Master."

"That's good." Edmund looked at me severely for a moment, then smiled. "However, I must admit that you did well. As for your first fight, with the exception of this one mishap, everything else was at a decent level. Perhaps you will achieve the minimum requirements of the hunter faster than I thought. "

He patted me on the back.

"And now your new task. You have to clean up this mess so that there is not even a trace of the fight.

I looked surprised at the battlefield.

"But alone?!"

"You can use your servants, but I doubt they would be useful here. Well, good luck."

He said and walked away.

Ahead of me was a landscape full of pits, burnt earth and the remains of Ent's tentacles. It will take me all day to clean up.

"I guess it could not be worse."

And as if on cue, one tree broke in half and tumbled to the ground with a bang. It probably got damaged during the fight.

(I forgot about the golden rule of the universe: when you say it can not be worse, it will ALWAYS be worse.)

______________________________________________

I returned to my room near the evening. I did not have to carry so much on for a long time . Enta's tentacles were damn heavy, I did not have mana to burn them anymore. Happiness in disguise proved that Ent can absorb and heal them to some extent. I had to bury these holes by hand, because in the magic of the earth I still did not master even the basic spells.

And yes, after 6 hours of work, the glade looked as normal.

I fell on my face on the bed and fell asleep before I knew it.

The next day, Edmund told me to rest, which I gladly agreed. I decided to spend today in the library of the residence. Well, I called it a library, but it's just a small dusty room, in which there are three bookshelves of old books on which time has left a mark.

When I took one of them in my hand it started to literally fall apart. It was evident that Edmund and his family were not fans of reading.

I looked through the shelves when one title interested me. The cover was badly damaged, but the inscription "Pillars of the World" could be read all the time.

I gently moved her to the table and carefully flipped through the pages.

"A long time ago, when people were just beginning to understand magic, a mysterious man wandered the world. No one knew its origin or real name, but historians are known as the Foundation.

He was undoubtedly the most powerful magician in the history of this world and the one who best knew his secret. He taught people how to use magic correctly. He brought to life the first Magic Academy in the territories of eastern France. That man had four children, each as strong as the rest. They were called Pillars. Everyone had a powerful power far beyond the archmage's power. They had the greatest affinity with the magic of light. In addition, everyone reigned to perfection over one of the four elements. What was their most recognizable feature was a... azure - "

And here was not much of the text or it was too illegible for the Translator to do something. They were some single words about guard families and something about other races or worlds, which made me damned sorry that I could not read the whole thing. After two pages away that I could read normally.

"However, the period of prosperity did not last forever. One day, one of the Pillars hideously betrayed the others, selling his soul to the dark. He lured them into one place and killed them, but he himself died without others. The news of their death spread quickly across the continents, and the mages of darkness who had hidden in caves and forests so far joined forces to attack. They murdered the Filar family to prevent the return of force which for centuries kept them in check and caused a total war with the magicians of light, which ultimately ended in a draw, but because of the weakening of the mages of light, the mages of darkness became their equal force. After 20 years of war, an unwritten truce was established, which continues to this day. Due to the deaths of so many mages, mana began to cause various strange phenomena or intensified existing ones. More monsters circled the forests than ever before, and people were born as strigoi, werewolves, or other monsters which these little children were so afraid of. Terrible plagues were created that decimated humanity, and the gates to other worlds became unstable and collapsed. Many magical species and races began to die, or used the still existing Gates to escape to native worlds.

Year 1133 is considered to be the beginning of the most horrible period in the history of magic called the "Devil Storm" that swept the world.

Next again, there were a few indistinct sentences after which the author's prayer was written.

"I pray for although one child of the Pillars to survive and one day to come back and I curse the traitor that led to this tragedy. Let his name be erased from the pages of history, condemning him to eternal nothingness and shame. So help me God. "

I put the book back in the bookcase and left.

(Really, magic is a terrible thing.)

I wondered if Edmund knew the rest of the story, but when I asked him about it, he said he was not interested in people who have been dead for ages. Maybe someday I'll find out the rest or find a complete volume, who knows.

__________________________

Since that day, 5 months have passed, which I devoted to further training, when one day the master approached me and said:

"Collect yourself. Tomorrow you will take your first mission.