We went out into the courtyard. The sea breeze pleasantly cooled my face, and the sound of the surf drowned out the whispers behind my back. I stopped and turned to the old man.
"Listen, old man, what's your main elent?"
"Water," he threw out gloomily, taking a fighting stance.
"Wow," I chuckled, nodding at the shore. "And we're right by the sea. Lucky you. Listen, for the sake of fairness, let ..."
"Fight at full power!" he interrupted , his voice breaking into a scream. "Don't you dare pity , monster!"
I shrugged. "At full power"—he definitely got a bit carried away with that. If I hit at full power, there would be nothing left of this port but a wet spot.
"Whatever you say," I sighed. "It's hard to imagine a water mage losing to anyone right by the ocean. Let
play along."
I lazily waved my hand. In that sa second, the terrifying howl of the wind tore through the sky above us. From the horizon, obeying my gesture, heavy, blue-black clouds began to gather rapidly. The daylight faded, and the air beca heavy and humid.
"Now it's definitely fair," I said, ignoring the hundreds of eyes glued to the school windows. "A water mage by the sea, and in stormy weather to boot. Perfect, isn't it?"
The clouds completely blocked out the sun, and the first heavy drops of rain crashed down to the earth.
"Well, old man, surprise ."
The old man, feeling a surge of power from his native elent, rushed to the water's edge. He waded into the waves almost waist-deep, and a furious water vortex imdiately began to spiral around him, rising to the very sky. He looked imposing—a true master of the ocean.
I rely twitched a finger.
BA-A-AM!
A blinding lightning bolt struck right into the center of his vortex with a deafening crash. Water is an excellent conductor, and the old man had apparently forgotten about that in the heat of his fury. He instantly collapsed, going under the water with a loud "bloop."
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
A second later he tried to stand up, spitting water and shaking from the shock. I barely noticeably moved my hand again.
BANG! BANG!
Two lightning bolts struck the exact sa spot synchronously. The blinding flash burned the retinas of everyone watching for a mont. When the light faded, the old man was no longer moving, bobbing face down on the waves.
I sighed, waded into the water, and grabbing him by the scruff of his neck, dragged him out onto the dry sand.
"Still alive," I mumbled, feeling a faint pulse. "Lucky."
I stood in the pouring rain, looking at this pathetic, broken body. His words about past sins and my guilt sat like a splinter in my brain.
Maybe you're right, old man, I thought, looking up at the black sky. I really should fix the mistakes of the past. If only I rembered what exactly they were.
I went back into the hall to the elders. They looked as if they had just watched the end of the world live on air and were now trying to pretend everything was fine.
"So, how's it going?" I casually leaned against the doorfra. "Your old man had a bit of a bad run today. Turns out, he's incredibly unlucky. He got hit by three lightning bolts in a row! And they say lightning never strikes the sa place twice... Apparently, the heavens took offense at him today."
Judging by the dead silence and long faces, absolutely no one bought my "bad luck" theory. Oh well, their problem.
After that, they started an endless, tedious conversation about the future. It turned out they were planning to move the center to so other place, gather all the students together—and by preliminary estimates, there were supposed to be about a hundred of them. And then the most fun part began: every single one of the ten old n started pulling the blanket over to their side. One wanted the mountains, another—deep in the forest, a third—closer to the capital. They were yelling so loud my ears were popping.
Alastia sat in silence, simply listening to this bazaar. I, on the other hand, rembering that grandpa's words about fixing mistakes, felt an unexpected prick of sothing resembling a conscience. Well, or maybe it was just a side effect of the lightning.
I leaned toward Alastia and whispered quietly:
"Listen... maybe I can help sohow? You know, teach a group of kids or sothing..."
I hadn't even closed my mouth when Alastia clapped her hands loudly, interrupting the elders' shouting.
"Attention!" she announced loudly and solemnly. "Zenhald has agreed to take on this task. He will personally find the perfect location for our new center!"
Instant silence fell over the hall, so quiet you could hear one of the grandpas' joints creaking. The elders exchanged glances, nodded synchronously, and... no one even bothered to argue. Dis completely closed his eyes, pretending everything was going according to plan.
"Wha-a-at?!" I stared at Alastia wide-eyed. "What task?! I just asked a question!"
"You volunteered yourself," she rewarded
with such a radiant smile that I wanted to imdiately teleport to the other end of the continent. "It's decided. The search for a location is on you."
"But I don't even know what this center of yours is supposed to be like!" I threw up my hands. "What the hell?! Alastia, this isn't fair!"
But the council had already begun rolling up their scrolls.
I was convinced once again: initiative in this world is punishable, and good intentions lead straight to extra work.
Reviews
All reviews (0)