The Prisoner of Knowledge

The Prisoner of Knowledge — Chapter 1

Velkaroth Academy—the finest magical institution in the world.

A school where nobles and prodigies and future archmages learned to channel the raw forces of the universe. In its soaring spires, legends of spells were passed down, and the history of magic itself was chronicled.

But at the center of this grand academy was a prison.

One tower, locked away with ancient magic. The Tower of Eternity.

And in that tower, sprawled on a bed of books, there was a man that shouldn't be there.

Orthus Valen, the Strongest | Teachers of the Magic.

Titles: the Arcane Calamity, the Immortal Magister, the Living Library

Status: Professor against their will. Banished from the academy.

Current Activity: Being bored out of his mind.

"…I've officially read it all."

Orthus turned the page in one of the ancient grimoires he had committed to memory in the centuries past.

Then with a snap of his fingers, the book ignited, turning to ash.

It wasn't anger. He just had too many copies.

"Five hundred years in this cursed place and I can't leave."

He got to his feet, stretching lazily. His silver hair fell over his shoulders, and his violet eyes, which glowed faintly with raw magic, mirrored the ancient runes scored on the walls.

The curse was absolute.

No matter how many forbidden spells he learned, no matter how much power he wielded, he was a prisoner.

He had tried everything. Dimension hopping? Failed. Time reversal? Useless. Annihilating the whole academy? Not an option.

From the instant he passed through the outer gates, the world itself turned him away.

He had seen it firsthand.

The heavens writhed above him, his very being snatched out of the fabric of reality for but a brief moment — before he was dragged across the edge of the academy grounds like a misbehaving puppy.

He hated that part the most.

The notorious Orthus Valen, being dragged back in like a naughty schoolboy.

"…Ridiculous."

He had been angry at first. He had been trying to brute force his way out for years.

And then he grew desperate — digging through forbidden knowledge, attempting to rewrite the laws of magic.

But now?

Now, he simply didn't have time for it anymore.

For centuries he taught arrogant noble brats how to cast fireballs, long resigned to the fate of glorified professor.

Until today.

Until he found something extremely, extremely interesting.

Orthus looked upon his work, standing at the center summoning circle in his room.

One of the normal summoning spell that lets you contract spirits, monsters or even lower demons.

But Orthus had changed the spell.

Carefully. Precisely. In a way, only he could master.

He wasn't calling upon a simple creature.

He was summoning people.

Specifically, from another world.

A grin formed on his lips.

"If I cannot escape myself… then I will summon the ones who will do it for me."

A Magic Never Seen Before.

A crackle filled the air as Orthus activated the spell. Ancient runes lit up and danced, twisting as the mana coursed throughout the tower.

Outside, students and faculty stood frozen in shock as an unnatural tempest of magical energy belched from the Tower of Eternity and filled the academy's night sky.

"Wh-what's happening?! Is the Magister up to something again?"

"What kind of spell is that gods above?!! "

Even Velkaroth's overzealous headmaster, Aedric Faustus, squinted.

"…That fool. What is he up to now?"

Back inside the tower…

Orthus vested all that he was into the spell, warping the fabric of space and time.

A pulse of bright light flooded the room.

The ground shook. The runes glowed brighter.

And then—

The rift opened.

A whirling portal of light rent reality itself, and from its depths—

Bodies began to fall.

What Orthus heard first was —

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

He casually sidestepped as a young man tumbled to the floor, his face hitting first.

A second later—

"UWAAAAAHHHH!"

Another figure, a girl this time, dove smack onto the first guy, crushing him.

Orthus sighed and rubbed his temples as one by one, twelve figures fell through the rift and landed with a crash on the ground, a groaning heap of entwined bodies and limbs.

Finally, there was silence after what felt like an eternity of screaming.

Dust settled. Groans filled the air.

And Orthus, atop the mound of bewildered, groaning humans, folded his arms slowly.

"…I take it the summoning went off without a hitch?"

Finally Humans Have Entered the Chat.

The first to come around was a brown-haired man with narrow features and dark eyes.

He lifted his head, dazed. "Wh… Where the hell am I?"

Even another voice — this time a girl with long brown hair, blinking fast. "Wait … I was just at my university — why am I lying on stone?

A third voice, deeper. "Is this… some kind of joke?"

Orthus smiled down at the twelve dazed humans.

"Greetings, summoned ones."

The group froze.

"Welcome to Velkaroth Academy."

He opened his arms, violet eyes glinting with unrefined magic.

"You are now my students. Rejoice, for you have been selected for something great."

A tense silence followed.

Then—

"…THE HELL WE ARE?!?!"

The newly summoned Earthlings, collectively went off the deep end.

Orthus sighed. "Ah. This is going to be fun."