The Last Apprentice of Magic

CHAPTER 8 — THE HEADMASTER'S SUMMONS

Fred had barely taken three steps when his legs gave way.

“Fred!”

Elara caught his arm before he hit the ground, but the force of his collapse dragged her down beside him. She struggled to support his weight, staring at his pale face.

“Someone help me!”

Simon hurried over, his exhaustion momentarily forgotten. Kael arrived a second later, retrieving his weapon before kneeling beside Fred.

“What's wrong with him?” Kael demanded.

“He's barely conscious,” Elara replied. “Look at his hands!”

Fred's fingers were trembling violently. Thin lines of blue light flickered beneath his skin before disappearing beneath his sleeves.

Kael frowned.

“Is that what happens when someone uses too much mana?”

“No,” Simon said quietly.

Both of them turned toward him.

Simon was staring at Fred's hands with an expression Fred had never seen on him before.

Fear.

“I've seen mages exhaust their mana,” Simon continued. “They collapse. Some lose consciousness. But I've never seen their bodies produce a reaction like that.”

Elara swallowed.

“Then what is happening to him?”

Nobody answered.

Inside Fred's fading consciousness, the Codex flickered.

[Warning: Abnormal magical interference detected.]

[Analyzing source...]

[Analysis incomplete.]

Fred tried to open his eyes.

He couldn't.

Something was pulling him downward, deeper into a darkness that felt strangely familiar.

Then another message appeared.

[Foreign signal detected.]

[Attempting synchronization...]

Fred's eyes snapped open.

For an instant, he wasn't in the forest.

He stood inside an endless black space filled with floating symbols. Golden lines stretched across the darkness, connecting enormous structures that resembled magical circuits.

At the center of everything stood a sealed door.

Its surface was covered in the same unfamiliar symbol he had seen on the metallic disc.

Fred stared at it.

“Where am I?”

The door trembled.

A voice answered from somewhere beyond it.

“Finally.”

Fred froze.

The voice sounded ancient, exhausted, and impossibly distant.

“After all this time, the Codex has found its successor.”

Fred took a step backward.

“Who are you?”

The golden lines began to shatter.

The door shook violently.

“Do not trust—”

The voice broke apart.

A deafening crack ripped through the darkness.

[Emergency shutdown initiated.]

[Connection terminated.]

Fred woke with a violent gasp.

He was lying on the forest floor, surrounded by his companions.

Elara nearly fell backward.

“Fred! You're awake!”

He pressed a hand against his chest, breathing heavily.

The vision remained vivid in his mind.

The door.

The symbols.

The voice.

The Codex has found its successor.

“Fred?” Kael asked. “Can you hear me?”

Fred looked at him.

“Yes.”

“Good. Because if you had died, I would have been forced to explain to the academy how we lost our weakest teammate to a monster.”

Simon let out a tired laugh.

Elara glared at Kael.

“Is that supposed to be funny?”

“No,” Kael replied. “It's supposed to make him angry enough to stay alive.”

Fred almost smiled.

Almost.

Then he remembered the warning.

Do not trust—

“Did anyone see anything strange while I was unconscious?” he asked.

Kael exchanged a glance with Simon.

“Other than your body glowing like an enchanted lantern?”

“Something else.”

Elara shook her head.

“Nothing. Why?”

Fred hesitated.

He wanted to tell them about the door, but he couldn't explain what he had seen, let alone prove that it was real.

“No reason.”

The Codex appeared again.

[Current mana: 0/31.]

[Recovery estimate: 6 hours.]

Fred frowned.

He had expected his mana to be nearly depleted, but reaching zero wasn't the only problem.

The Codex had never failed to complete an analysis before.

Whatever had happened inside that strange space, it had affected something fundamental.

Before he could investigate further, a deep humming sound rolled through the forest.

Every surviving crystal embedded in the surrounding trees lit up simultaneously.

Kael immediately raised his weapon.

“Please tell me that isn't another one.”

A circular formation of blue light appeared several meters away.

Symbols rotated around its edges, forming a teleportation gate.

Three figures emerged.

The first wore a dark academy uniform beneath a long silver cloak. His hair was streaked with gray, and his face carried the stern expression of someone accustomed to being obeyed.

Fred recognized him immediately.

Professor Vale.

The second figure wore polished black armor engraved with protective runes. A long sword rested against his back, and a badge bearing the academy's crest was fixed to his chest.

The third was a young woman carrying a crystal device that scanned the battlefield as she walked.

Professor Vale surveyed the ruined clearing.

His gaze moved across the shattered trees, the scorched earth, and the enormous circular depression where the creature had died.

Then he looked at Fred.

“You.”

Fred slowly stood.

“Professor.”

Vale ignored the greeting.

“Explain what happened here.”

Kael stepped forward.

“We encountered a monster with two cores. It was stronger than anything we could handle individually. Fred figured out a way for us to combine our magic.”

Vale's eyes narrowed.

“Combine your magic?”

“Yes.”

“Demonstrate it.”

Kael stared at him.

“Here?”

“Do you see another battlefield?”

“We're exhausted,” Elara interrupted. “Simon can barely stand, and Fred has no mana left.”

Vale glanced at her.

“Then you will demonstrate it when you have recovered.”

His attention returned to Fred.

“Tell me exactly how you did it.”

Fred chose his words carefully.

“I observed how your different magical attributes interacted. Lightning supplied the energy, wind controlled its movement, and earth contained and redirected it. Once the three spells synchronized, they produced an entirely different effect.”

Vale was silent for several seconds.

“Did you learn that principle from a book?”

“No.”

“From a professor?”

“No.”

“Then where?”

Fred met his gaze.

“I worked it out during the battle.”

The young woman stopped operating her crystal device.

The armored man looked at Fred with open disbelief.

Professor Vale, however, did not appear surprised.

That worried Fred more than anything else.

“Interesting,” Vale murmured.

He turned toward the armored man.

“Commander, secure the battlefield. I want every fragment of that creature recovered and examined. Nobody touches the remains without authorization.”

The commander nodded.

“Understood.”

Fred glanced toward the space where the creature had disappeared.

“There aren't any remains.”

Vale turned sharply.

“What?”

“The creature dissolved after its cores shattered. Whatever was left of its body evaporated before it touched the ground.”

Vale's expression hardened.

“Both cores?”

“Yes.”

“Are you certain?”

Fred nodded.

For the first time, the professor looked genuinely troubled.

He approached the center of the clearing and crouched beside a patch of scorched earth.

His fingers hovered over the ground.

A thin silver light emerged from his palm.

The air vibrated.

Then the light vanished.

Vale stood slowly.

“Impossible.”

Kael frowned.

“What is?”

The professor didn't answer.

Instead, he looked at Fred again.

“Did the creature produce any unusual energy before it died?”

Fred thought about the alternating pulses of the two cores.

“Yes. Its cores seemed to operate independently. One supplied most of its power, while the other maintained its physical structure.”

Vale's face became unreadable.

“And when you disrupted that balance?”

“The creature lost control of its magical structure.”

The professor said nothing.

But Fred noticed the way his fingers tightened around his staff.

Something about the creature's two cores frightened him.

Not because of their strength.

Because he recognized them.

“Professor,” Fred said carefully, “what was that thing?”

Vale looked toward the ruined forest.

“A question you should not attempt to answer without understanding what you're dealing with.”

“That doesn't tell me anything.”

“It wasn't intended to.”

Kael stepped forward.

“With respect, Professor, we nearly died out here. I think we deserve more than that.”

For a moment, Fred expected Vale to reprimand him.

Instead, the professor looked at Kael with something resembling approval.

“Courage is admirable, young man. But some truths become dangerous the moment they are spoken aloud.”

He turned toward the young woman.

“Transmit the recovery report to the central command room. Tell the Headmaster that the student is alive and that the discovery has been confirmed.”

The young woman hesitated.

“Should I include the secondary reading?”

Vale's expression changed.

“No.”

“But Professor—”

“I said no.”

She immediately lowered her device.

Fred noticed the exchange.

Secondary reading?

What had the crystal detected?

Before he could ask, Vale approached him.

“The Headmaster wishes to see you.”

Fred's stomach tightened.

“Why?”

“Because you have accomplished something that the academy has spent generations trying to understand.”

“Spell Combination?”

Vale shook his head.

“No. Spell Combination is merely the beginning.”

He leaned closer.

“What interests the Headmaster is the fact that you discovered it without possessing sufficient mana to perform the technique yourself.”

Fred remained silent.

The professor's voice dropped.

“Tell me something, Fred. When you analyzed the creature, did your Codex display any unusual messages?”

Fred's heart skipped.

He remembered the vision.

The sealed door.

The unfamiliar voice.

The warning.

He forced himself to remain calm.

“It displayed a survival probability and information about the creature's cores.”

“Nothing else?”

Fred hesitated for half a second.

It was enough.

Vale noticed.

For several moments, neither of them spoke.

Then the professor straightened.

“Very well. You may keep whatever secrets you believe necessary for now.”

Fred stared at him.

“You know something about my ability.”

Vale's expression remained neutral.

“I know that abilities are rarely as simple as their initial evaluations suggest.”

“That sounds like something a professor says when he doesn't want to answer a question.”

A faint smile crossed Vale's face.

“Perhaps you are more observant than your examination results suggest.”

He turned toward the teleportation gate.

“Bring your companions. Medical personnel will examine all four of you before you return to the academy.”

Kael groaned.

“Medical examinations? I was hoping for a medal.”

“You may receive one,” Vale replied.

Kael immediately straightened.

“Really?”

“For surviving long enough to complain.”

Simon laughed despite himself.

Even Elara managed a tired smile.

Fred didn't.

His attention had shifted to the Codex.

A new message appeared.

[Foreign signal detected.]

[Source: Academy Central Command.]

[Warning: The signal matches the unidentified structure.]

Fred's blood ran cold.

The Codex displayed another line.

[Connection attempt detected.]

[Unknown entity attempting access.]

Then, beneath it, a final message appeared.

[Do not establish synchronization.]

Fred stared at the warning.

The same phrase from his vision.

Synchronization.

He looked toward Professor Vale, who was already stepping through the teleportation gate.

“Professor.”

Vale paused.

“Yes?”

Fred swallowed.

“Has anyone ever tried to access another person's magical ability directly?”

The professor's expression changed so subtly that most people would have missed it.

Fred didn't.

For the first time since arriving in the forest, Professor Vale looked afraid.

“Where did you hear that question?”

“I'm asking because I want to understand something.”

Vale studied him for several seconds.

Then he spoke quietly.

“Fred, when we reach the academy, do not activate your Codex in the presence of the Headmaster unless I tell you to.”

Fred frowned.

“You just said he wanted to see me.”

“He does.”

“Then why shouldn't I use my ability?”

Vale's eyes shifted toward the young woman and the armored commander.

“Because there are people inside that academy who would kill to possess what you have.”

Before Fred could respond, the professor stepped through the gate.

The others followed.

Fred remained still for one final moment, staring at the warning in his vision.

Then the Codex flickered.

[Unauthorized synchronization attempt detected.]

[Connection established.]

Fred's breath caught.

The world disappeared.

He stood once again in the endless black space.

The sealed door was no longer motionless.

Its golden symbols were breaking apart, one after another.

Something on the other side was waking up.

A voice whispered through the darkness.

“You should not have come back.”

Fred stumbled backward.

“Who are you?”

The door opened a fraction.

Beyond it, two enormous golden eyes appeared.

“Ask your Headmaster,” the voice replied.

A pause followed.

Then the voice spoke again.

“He was the one who sealed me inside your Codex.”

End of Chapter 8.