Realm of Monsters

“What were you thinking? If all you could manage was an illusion that would break with the slightest touch, why in all the Realms did you try to fight?” Stryg said.

The young human woman lay on the floor sobbing.

Plum sat silent on the ground next to her. “Y-you killed them.”

“What?” Stryg frowned.

“You killed both of them.” Plum repeated.

“The thugs? Obviously.” 

“But they were people. They were alive!”

“And now they are dead. Why are you stating the obvious?”

“Obvious? Obvious? Knowing not to commit murder is obvious!”

Stryg laughed, “Are you actually saying you wanted them to have their way with you and that crying woman?”

“Of course not. But you could have just beaten them up, stopped them. If you could beat them that easily I bet you could have just incapacitated them instead. They were people, they had families for all you know. You can’t just go around killing others!”

Stryg flicked away a piece of bloody flesh that had gotten stuck in underneath his claw, “As I said Plum, you’re an idiot,” his voice took a dark tone. “What makes you think I wanted to keep them alive? So, they could attack me when I turn my back. I’m glad I killed them.” He stepped towards the two women, his hands dripping with blood.

The young woman yelped in fear and scurried away. Plum caught the human in her arms and held her tight, “It’s ok now. You don’t have anything to worry about. You’re safe now,” Plum whispered.

This was it. The perfect example of weakness. Crying and in the arms of another no less. Plum was even condoning the cowardly behavior. This human was afraid of Stryg, even after he saved her. “You two are a perfect pair for each other.”

Plum stared daggers at him.

“Halt! Don’t you dare try to run away!” A guard shouted in the distance. A group of them rushed over into the alleway.

Stryg watched the whole affair with tense muscles. Was he about to fight again? He didn’t have the advantage of surprise this time. His magic wasn’t useful in a fight either. Plum and the human were useless, too. This wouldn’t be easy.

“Stryg? Is that you?” A guard stepped forward.

“Rorik?” Stryg said in recognition.

Plum glanced between the two in confusion. 

The drow guard captain smiled, “I almost didn’t recognize you with all that blood on you. It’s like that night we first met.” Rorik stared at the two dead thugs, “Literally.”

“It’s not my blood this time.” Stryg flicked a few flecks of blood from his claws.

“What happened?” Rorik asked.

“Not much. These two attacked those two, and I killed the first two.” 

The baffled guards looked at Rorik for answers. 

“...Right.” Rorik muttered. “Self defense, I take it?”

“No, those two crying idiots couldn’t defend themselves at all. I did that.” Stryg said.

“Sir?” One of the guards, gripped the handle of his sword.

Stryg hissed, flexing his claws.

Rorik immediately raised his hand, “There’s no need for that. Put your sword away, now!” 

The guard looked reluctant but he followed the order.

“Sorry, about that Stryg. He’s new.” Rorik slapped the guard on the back of the head. “He doesn’t understand the sheer stupidity of fighting a mage.”

The guard’s face paled as he understood the implication of what Rorik had said. “U-uh. I-i didn’t know. I’m s-sorry.”

Stryg lowered his hands. “It seems there are a lot of idiots today.”

“Don’t worry about this mess Stryg, I’ll have my men take care of it,” Rorik assured him.

“I’ll be off then.” Stryg began walking away, not sparing a glance at a bewildered Plum.

“You should stop by the Merry Crescent, sometime. I haven’t seen you there in at least a week.” Rorik added,

“Yeah, I’ll drop by. People need a drink once in a while,” he looked back at Plum pointedly.

She glanced at the young woman in her arms in understanding. 

“Stryg, wait up,” Plum called out.

But he was gone, lost in the crowd.

---

“Can I join you?” Professor Tauri asked with a smile.

Professor Loh looked up from her cup of tea, “I don’t know if I can make the time. I’m pretty busy.”

The orc pulled up a seat next to Loh, “Oh, I’m sure. Sipping tea in your office really is time consuming. But, I’m sure you can make some time for your childhood friend.” 

Oh how Loh hated that word ‘friend’. She wanted to be so much more with the beautiful orc. Seeing her crimson cheeks make that familiar smile, shot a pang through Loh. 

The drow hid her pain behind a chuckle, “Maybe just a bit. So, what did you want to talk about?”

“I just wanted to see how you were doing. It’s been a while since I dropped by.”

“Uh-huh.” Loh gave her a sidelong glance. “That’s all?”

“Ok, I may have heard about how you had a disagreement with lord Elzri,” Tauri grimaced.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Well, you don’t have to worry about the old man, he’s fine. He’ll die to a heart attack before I manage to beat the shit out of him, sadly.”

“Loh, he’s your grandfather. After how you broke it off with your parents, you should try to at least be amicable with him.”

Loh groaned, “Did your family put you up to this?”

“Why would you think that?” Tauri frowned.

“The Katag family trying to curry favor with my grandfather, head of the Noir family, seems pretty plausible to me. And who better to do it than the ever loyal miss Tauri Katag herself.”

Tauri’s orange eyes narrowed, “The head of my family is also on the city council, we don’t need to curry favor from anyone.” Tauri sighed, “I came here as your friend, I was worried about you.”

“...Thanks.” Loh grumbled.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have come.” Tauri stood up to leave.

Loh grabbed her hand, “No, I mean it, thank you. I’m sorry, I acted like an ass.”

Tauri smiled begrudgingly and sat back down, “So, how are your classes going? Has any student dropped out yet?” 

“Heh, not yet. The third years are subpar, there’s no way they’ll win the great cities tourney. The second year students are just passable. But a few of the first years have some potential. They might just turn out to be decent magi someday, maybe.”

“That’s high praise coming from you Loh. Oh, by the way, I heard you got a new assistant?”

“Yeah, the last one quit the academy. The load was too strong for her. Pathetic. This new kid is alright.”

“Oh, what’s their name?”

“Stryg.”

“The goblin hybrid? Well, I guess it makes sense. He runs quite fast in my class. Perfect errand boy for you.” Tauri chuckled.

Loh put her tea down, “I made him my apprentice.”

“What? Really? One thing’s an assistant but you made him your apprentice? I thought you said you’d never take one on. What happened? Is he a genius?”

“Hardly.” Loh shook her head. “He’s talented, I’ll give you that, but no prodigy. He’s also a bit clueless, a country bumpkin from what I’ve gathered. Haven’t really asked him much about his past. But, there’s something about him I just can’t quite place. I guess you could say he’s interesting.”

“...So, he’s weird. I could have told you that. The kid doesn’t talk to anyone in my class,” Tauri said.

“Meh, he doesn’t need to talk much. He just needs to do what I say and be a fast learner. Actually, he should be coming right about now, I have a training session planned.” 

Tauri stood back up, “I should get going then.”

“We could go for some drinks later tonight, if you want. Catch up more.” Loh invited. She wanted to spend more time with Tauri if she could.

“Sorry, I’d love to, but my father asked me to join him for dinner tonight, I can’t miss it.”

“Faithful to a fault, huh? Always daddy’s good little girl,” Loh mocked. “When are you going to live a little?”

“Being loyal to my family has its benefits, many actually.” Tauri justified, “I behave well and my father gets me everything I want, pretty good deal if you ask me. Besides, some of us don’t want to be pariahs in upper society.”

“Oh, please, as if anyone would dare mess with me,” Loh leaned back in her chair.

“Perhaps, but it is out of fear, not respect.”

“Did the ebon lords have the people’s love? Nope, but their power inspired fear in all. They demanded respect, and the people gave it more than willingly. Fear worked for them and it works for me.”

A knock rang on the office door. “Master, it’s me,” Stryg said.

“And that’s my cue.” Tauri walked to the door.

“What happens when your father orders you to do something you don’t want? Like defending the trade ships of Hoarfrost Bay or something,” Loh said.

“I am a loyal daughter of the Katag family. I’m not about to lose my honor and let myself get cut off from the family. Of course I’d obey,” Tauri said in a solemn voice.

“The Katag’s honor lives up to its name,” Loh made a half-hearted smile.

Tauri placed a finger on her lips, “Not like my father would ever order me to do something I didn’t want though.”

She opened the door before Loh could respond. Tauri made a quick nod to a waiting Stryg and left, just like that. Stryg and Loh’s eyes both watched Tauri’s ass bounce away. 

“And what are you looking at?” Loh asked with a raised brow.

“Tauri’s butt.” Stryg said without hesitation.

“Shameless, huh?”

“Not at all. I just find no shame in appreciating the body.” 

“I’ll make sure to let Tauri know that before your next class.”

Stryg frowned. He liked Tauri’s figure, but that didn’t mean he wanted the orc to know that. Goblins and orcs were still enemies in his mind.

“So, did you get the potions I asked for?” Loh asked.

Stryg nodded and handed her the bag with the potions. “What are the potions for anyway?”

“Most are to help preserve the bodies of the undead I control. The more decayed a corpse is the more difficult it is to control it. Less muscles, less movement. Your magic ends up having to do more work. Of course, you seem to be unable to raise a corpse anyway.”

“I got into a fight today.” Stryg changed the topic.

“Oh? Against who?”

“A couple of thugs.”

“Did they attack you?”

“Something like that.”

“I’m assuming you won.”

“I killed them both.”

Loh laughed, “That’s what I like about you. You don’t hesitate when it comes time to do what is needed. We need more magi like you. What spell did you cast on them?”

“I didn’t use magic to kill them. Last I checked intangible shadows aren’t useful in combat.”

“You’re an idiot if you believe that,” Loh chastised him. “You don’t need tangible shadows to kill someone.”

Stryg looked as if he had been slapped. He was used to being insulted, but he had never believed himself to be an idiot. Ignorant? Yes. Stupid? No.

“Master,” Stryg paused. “When will you show me how to properly use the grey drain spell form?”

“When I know you’re ready to learn it. You rely too much on instinct and too little on what you’ve been taught. It’s why I still haven’t taught you the other grey spell form.”

“Curse spells? I’ve read about them. Also, quite useful in a fight. The combination of grey and death mana,” Stryg recited. 

“Precisely. You have proven incapable of properly using necromancy, which also uses death mana. I doubt you’d fare much better with curses. Being a manifold mage isn’t always great. Having multiple chromatic colors does not equate power. One could have 5 chromatic colors and be terrible at all of them. Luckily, you have shown talent with grey magic, but it's best if you focus on black magic for now. Once you’ve shown sufficient control over your shadow spells we’ll start training with drain spells.”

“...I understand.” 

Loh leaned back in her chair, “Before we address spell casting, we first need to work on your focus. I know your source of focus is anger, which normally would be a problem, but you’ve shown the ability to keep that anger steady, without it running out of control. But now it’s time you begin to learn how to direct that anger.”

Stryg tilted his head, “What do you mean?”

“You told me the source of your anger is your hatred for everyone, even yourself.”

“I didn’t exactly put it like that.”

Loh spoke over him, “That hate fuels your anger, makes it strong, but it's unrefined. You need to concentrate all your anger, consolidate it. If you do that you’ll be able to cast spells properly, perhaps even necromancy spells.”

“Really?” He had been trying for weeks with no real success. 

“It isn’t a problem with a quantity of mana, you have a larger source than any 1st year. Plus, you’ve been studying constantly, so I doubt it’s because of a lack of a clear image. Although, it takes years to properly know the body’s anatomy, which is only made more difficult depending on the species. You don’t have to focus on any of that right now. All you need to do is work on consolidating your anger.”

“And how do I do that?”

Loh grinned, “That’s easy. Just think of the person you hate the most in the world.”