Chapter Two

ULTERION WIZARD

***

"YOU DIDN'T HAVE to kill them if it was just me you wanted," Astier said to the unconscious princess. Wounds were visible on her cute yet feisty face. She also acquired some cuts around her body.

He was about to kneel to pick up the princess when suddenly, a prickly cold sensation pierced through his side. Astier lets out a surprised groan and kneels dropping to the ground. His strength rapidly decreases. What is happening? How can this thin piece of ice drain all of his magic that fast?

"I never believed the rumours when they said you had returned," a cold voice whispered in his ear, "but seeing you now finally convinces me."

This mysterious woman grabbed him by the collar before hurling him towards another wall with a strong kick. Several ice spikes flew after him, nailing him to the wall. Astier could only release a tiny scream, his strength is badly running away from him, his vision slowly turning to a blur.

"W-who are y-you?" his voice became hoarse.

"You've disappeared for 10 years and now you pretend you don't recognise me?" The mysterious woman held his chin. And the first thing Astier caught, despite his weakening vision, was the pair of icy blue eyes, cold as winter and perilous as frostbite.

"Who are you?"

"Acting so stupid is not really fitting for you, Destroyer. You got fortunate from our last battle because someone saved you. But now, no one is going to come for you. I will finally finish what I failed to do ten years ago. Be honoured to die in my hands." After declaring those words, a chilling sensation crawled from Astier's both arms and legs. His body is slowly being covered by frost, further draining his magic.

The mysterious woman morphed an icy sword, directing it again at Astier's chest. Without further delay, she furiously plunges the blade through his skin. Astier exclaimed a loud groan, confused and at the same time, surprised by the sudden pain that slowly caused life to depart him.

A wicked yet triumphant grin plastered on the mysterious woman's lips. "It was nice seeing you again."

She sent him a flying kiss, embedding a beautiful snowflake on the diamond hanging around his neck like a tie. They soon departed Contella Town when her younger sister finally regained consciousness.

But unbeknownst to them, the blade did not fully pierce through Astier's heart, thanks to the invisible barrier put up by his good friend. He emerges from his hiding place after the queen and her sister was gone. He tore down the ice that nailed Astier and his body dropped cold to the floor.

"Astier? Hang in there, man. I'm gonna get you out of here."

Apparently, Astier's vision has not fully turned black and he had a three-second glimpse of the newcomer's face before losing consciousness.

"Ardelian?"

♛♛♛

AMIDST THE TRAFFIC on the busy roads of Nix City, a man suddenly came to fall out of nowhere, landing flat in the middle of the cold paved road. The vehicles abruptly halted, tires screeching. Some had nearly crashed into one another with the sudden brake.

"What is that?"

"What happened?"

"Where did he come from?"

"I don't know. He just appeared out of nowhere! I almost hit him!"

The drivers began to step out of their vehicles to check the commotion that caused the traffic. People clamoured and gathered around the mysterious man on the road and his peculiar way of fashion crossed the eyebrows of the people around.

"Is he alive?"

"Someone call an ambulance!"

The wailing sound of the siren brought Astier back to the present time. He regained consciousness and the large rocks above him greeted him the first thing, reminding him of the situation he is in now. He rose and realised that he was lying on a makeshift bed. He pans his eyes, he was inside a cave, and a small torch hangs on the wall that mildly illuminates his environment. Where is he? How did he get there? 'I thought I died from earlier.' he pondered.

"You're awake." The voice startled him.

"Who's there?"

The other person walks in, footsteps approaching him. Astier waited with anticipation. But when the mysterious figure finally stepped within the torch's radius, his eyes nearly fell from their sockets. He staggered back, stammering to find his words.

"I-It wasn't my i-imagination! It was really you that I saw before I died!" he exclaimed. "Oh, my goodness. Did I really die? T-that means that I've returned to our world?"

"Astier, calm down. You're not dead yet." Ardelian consoles him.

"Wait, is this a dream or something? Are we back in Nix? Where did you find me? Why didn't you take me back to my flat?"

"Because we're not in Nix, Astier."

"What? Then how are you here?" Confusion swirled through his eyes like a dark cloud. He could not have possibly had a dream so vivid as that. But the man standing before him is Eredon Ardelian Dru, his best friend. He scrutinised his light brown eyes, searching for the very thing that would somehow put some sense in their situation.

Ardelian finally lets out a sigh. "If you think I had fancied playing a prank, then you should go outside and check for yourself." He beckoned the cave's entrance.

Astier did as he suggested. He stepped out into the cave, and bright sunlight welcomed his survival. The cave was merely located above a forest, and the trees below them are flooding with green colour. There was something about it that makes it so magical. It gives off the ambience of shaming the modern forests by displaying what actual nature actually looks like; the true definition of a paradise.

"Where is this place? I've never seen this place in Nix. We're not in Nix, aren't we?" He turned to his good friend who shook his head.

"We're no longer in Nix, Astier. We're in the magical world of Azalia. And this beautiful forest you are admiring right now is the very home of Mother Nature."

His forehead creased in confusion. "Mother Nature is an actual person in here?"

"Indeed she is. And quite beautiful she also was."

"Why did you bring me here?"

"To mend your wound, of course." Ardelian pointed to his chest.

Astier looked down and saw a white bandage wrapped around his bare chest. He took it off. His skin was pale as snow and unscathed. He grazed his fingers in the part where he knew the blade pierced through. But neither a wound nor a small scar did he feel.

"I don't understand. Someone pierced me through the chest. How am I still alive? I thought I had died back there."

Ardelian shook his head for the second time before handing him his clothes. "Fortunately for you, I arrived just in time to seize you away from death's grasp."

Astier paused and realises what had occurred. After putting on his clothes, he gave his friend a grave look, his green eyes demanding the truth. "Tell me everything that I need to know. How are you here? Why am I even here in the first place? Is this all just a dream? Maybe I've fallen asleep in my room and am dreaming this moment now."

Ardelian shook his head for the third time. His eyes are as grave as a serious injury. "You're not dreaming, Astier. What's happening now is all real. Here, give me your hand."

The former obliges. A tiny shuriken materialises in Ardelian's hand, much to Astier's surprise. And without further hesitation, made his palm bleed with a small cut.

Astier exclaimed a painful cry. "Why did you do that for!"

"To prove to you that you're not dreaming. If this a dream, you'd woken up already inside your room. But here you are, you're still here. Do you believe now that this is all real?"

"You didn't have to graze my hand!" he angrily bellowed. But upon looking down again, the wound had somehow closed itself until it disappeared.

"Wh-what was that?" he gazed at his hand in horror. He would have thrown it away if it were an object or something.

Ardelian's chuckle rang in his ears. "That's just you self-healing."

He looked at him incredulously. "Wait, what did you say? Self-heal? I can do that?"

"Of course, you can. You're an Ulterion Wizard. And wizards like you have the ability to heal themselves."

Of course, Destroyer was an Ulterion Wizard. Wizards in the world of Azalia vary in their ranks and an Ulterion is known to be the highest rank they could achieve. They are also known to be prone to the dark side. Their magic can become irreversible once they've turned to the dark side. That's what happened when Destroyer succumbed to darkness, his pure white magic became dark violet.

"But I still don't understand how an ordinary old book had dragged me inside the story. And of all characters, why did I become Destroyer? Really? The villain of the story?"

His good friend sighed before tapping him on the shoulder. His head beckoning they go down and talk someplace else. "I'll tell you everything. But we first need to leave now. The queen who loves snowflakes might have probably heard of your inconvenient survival by now. Remember that in this world, everything is alive. And this paradise forest---" his head inclined below, "--- has ears and eyes."

"But that doesn't make sense."

"It does in this world."