The great wizard's mission

Chapter 2.

Omar Xian snatched the high priority carriage from a merchant of Varden City, who was about to take it and shot off at top speed through the southern gate of the city; heading towards Celestine Academy. Of course, neither the humble merchant nor the coachman dared to complain about this action. Who on earth would reproach an Official Wizard, let alone a Grand Wizard in his trademark imposing black robes!

"It was a mistake to have come in a carriage from the academy all the way to Varden City. Had I brought my personal flying mount, the trip would take only 20 minutes instead of about two hours or more. But, with these brats in my charge, it would never be possible for me to do such a thing." Omar lamented silently, as he shook his head.

"If indeed the girl we are looking for is the daughter of the last empress of the Andersewn Empire, this mission could become quite dangerous. In the meantime and until I am sure of my conjectures, the novices cannot know of my suspicions or everything could become chaotic afterward." Thought Omar Xian, who didn't really fear for his life.

He was a Grand Wizard of the prestigious Celestine Academy and was basically near the pinnacle of the highest prestige and power, in the entire North continent. But his little novices in charge were another story.

These talented youngsters were all between the ages of 12 and 15 and were considered to be the most promising geniuses in the Celestine Academy's novice ward. Most of them were already poised to rise to the rank of apprentice magician at any time. But, because they all possessed some sort of connection to important authorities within the academy, or came from a family of the high nobility of the Kingdom of Arcadia or perhaps possessed enormous magical talent, they would sometimes receive the rare chance to accompany a Wizard or Grand Wizard on one of his missions and receive his direct guidance. Subsequently, their tutor could choose if they wanted to take the novice they liked best as their new direct personal pupil.

It was a system designed to give truly talented novices, or those from very influential families, a better chance of surviving whatever the future held for them, in the academy's terrible apprentice wizard ward...

Some official wizards, with plenty of time on their hands, would take the novice they liked best as a direct disciple and teach him directly, without the need for him to attend the apprentice pavilion. It could be said that these lucky few would win the lottery. But, generally, the simple fact of becoming a nominal disciple of a magician was already a great honor. For, although they would still have to attend the merciless apprentice ward to test their survival skills, they could still at least receive the advice of a real official wizard at times. This alone was already a huge advantage over the other novices; who would have to make do without any extra assistance beforehand.

The wagon began to slow down after a few hours. They had arrived and now the young men had the mission of splitting up to look for the young criminal, inside the novice pavilion, or to ask others to find out if they had seen her.

But Omar Xian knew this would be in vain. Most likely the young woman he was looking for was hidden within the vastness of trees that surrounded the huge academy. But that was not the only option either.

The only really sure thing was that it would be very difficult for a normal person to go through this forest without help, so, if she had headed here to hide from her pursuers, she should still be in the surroundings; hidden by the tops of the ancient and thick trees of the place.

This forest was not like others, as it was designed for apprentice wizards to test their survival skills and there were huge creatures, such as red bears or giant snakes. But, the most dangerous living creatures within it, without a doubt, were the apprentice wizards themselves who inhabited it. For this reason, Omar did not want to take the young novices to a place as dangerous as this.

As he waved a casual farewell with his hand, he concluded: "All right, that's it for today. And remember, if you see the young lady in the painting, don't forget to inform any of the academy authorities immediately so that I can be notified. See you next month - goodbye!"

But as he was about to leave at full speed, young Brenda stopped him with her weak voice and requested: "Master Xian, I want to go with you."

"Me too!" added Konnan, with his usual defiant look.

"I'm sorry, but I can't take everyone with me, as I plan to fly over the forest in search of the missing girl." Began Omar, as he slowly walked away from the two unruly young men.

"But it wouldn't be everyone, but, just the two of us. The others don't want to go do you guys? Don't you want to...?" Konnan watched, for a moment, the rest of the novices with his usual fierce stare. It was clear that he was threatening them.

"Of course not... We don't want to go..." muttered one, taciturnly.

Konnan Jernigan could be a nightmare, even for those who were older than him. After all, his noble surname and brutish nature made him too much of a handful.

"How nice! So, it's just the three of us, we can go with you master?" insisted Brenda, her eyes bright and big. She hadn't even noticed Konnan's threat to their other companions.

Omar Xian was about to shake his head when Konnan added: "Very soon we will have to enter the apprentice pavilion officially and measure our skills against all of them. It will be very good for us if we know in advance what to expect when this happens."

Omar Xian would normally have refused without hesitation and left without further consideration. But these two were the most talented among all the novices this year and probably one of them will become his official disciple shortly.

So he considered it for a second and finally nodded his head: "Alright, you can come with me for this time."