Chris Michael Wilson - Magium: The Mage Tournament (Book 1): An Epic Fantasy Adventure

They say there is a very fine line between bravery and stupidity. As I stand here, in the middle of this forest, gazing at all of the explosions far in the distance, I realize I may well have crossed that line, to a point of no return.

My name is Barry. I am twenty-eight years old, and I could quite accurately be described as your everyday ordinary guy. I have no talents, no particular skills and no academic background. The only thing that defines me is my lifelong obsession to become a mage. It is what Ive wished for ever since I was five years old. It has been my driving passion throughout my life, as Ive constantly amassed knowledge about mages and travelled the world in the hopes of finding a way to make my dream come true.

After endless years of searching through dusty tomes and weathered parchments, I have finally found a way to do it.

The catch? I need to first win a tournament against the most powerful mages in the world. Sounds crazy? Thats probably because it is. But it is far too late to go back now. The only way thats left for me is forward.

As I stand here, knowing that its no longer possible to return to my normal life, I cant help but feel a bit excited about this whole thing. Maybe I really am completely out of my mind. I would have expected to feel at least a little bit scared about all of this. But instead of that, I get this constant tingling sensation that wont go away. The feeling that I am closer to my dream than ever before in my life. All of the terrible dangers that await me seem distant to me, and all I can really think about now is that at the end of the tournament, when I win this, I will finally become a mage.

Theres an explosion maybe a few hundred feet from my location. The fights have already begun. And one of them is much closer to me than I would have hoped. Theres no way I can get in a fight with any of the mages at this point. I need to avoid combat for as long as possible if I am to survive until the end.

I head in the opposite direction from where Ive heard the explosion. As I am heading towards the end of the forest, I start hearing voices. There are two mages talking in a clearing a few feet away from me. I hide behind a tree and take a quick glance towards the clearing.

It seems the two mages have just finished fighting. One of them has the appearance of an ordinary thug. He is wearing a simple stained white shirt, leather pants and a belt full of throwing knives. His untrimmed black beard hides a wicked smile. Just by seeing the confidence in his eyes, I can clearly tell he is the victor of the skirmish. The other mage is wearing heavy armor, but his shield lies on the ground besides him and he is barely holding his sword anymore.

Taking a closer look at the mage in armor, I notice his head is bald, his skin is dark, he is likely in his mid-forties and he has a scar on his forehead, shaped like an X. Ive read of a mage matching this exact description who went by the name of Daren, and he was quite legendary, but would he lose so easily to some common thug? The mage in the white shirt answers my question as he addresses the one in armor, while casually playing with one of his knives.

The legendary mage Daren! The savior of the Eastern Continent. The healer in armor. They say youve travelled the world, saving countless villages from destruction. That youve once fought ten rock golems by yourself, only to defend a small child. I guess this goes to show, you should never really trust legends, aye? I always knew all of those tales about mages as strong as giants were just codswallop. Hell, if all those legendary mages that joined this tournament are as weak as you, Im going to win this by sundown!

He starts laughing but he stops suddenly.

Wait, whos there? he says, as he turns towards me.

I quickly pull my head back behind the tree, and press my back against it, trying to breathe as silently as possible.

I know youre there, coward. Show yourself, or Ill have one of my knives find you!

I keep my breathing as silent as possible and dont say anything. He must be bluffing. He never got the chance to see me. Hell give up once he sees theres no answer.

Have it your way, then, the thug says, as I hear him throw a dagger towards me. The dagger whooshes past my head and before I get the chance to react, it turns in midair and flies right into my left shoulder, pinning it against the tree. I let out a muffled groan of pain, as I reach to pull the knife out.

Youre not going to get that knife out so easily, the thug says. My knives have a life of their own, and they only listen to me. Now that I know where you are, Im going to

The thug suddenly interrupts himself in the middle of his sentence, and then he does not say anything for about five seconds. When he finally decides to speak again, his voice is changed, sounding a lot less confident than before.

So youre a stillwater, eh? the thug says, while trying to hide the slight trembling in his voice. Trying to get me to lower my guard by acting like an idiot? Trying to lull me into a false sense of security? Is that your plan? Well it aint gonna work on me. Cause Im too smart for that, you hear me?!

His sudden change of attitude towards me is not completely unexpected. The existence of stillwaters is one of the main reasons why Ive dared to dream that I might have a chance to win this tournament.

Stillwaters are a very rare breed of mages that are known to be incredibly powerful. One of them is said to have destroyed an entire city in an instant some twenty years ago, with only a flick of his fingers. The city of Olmnar was said to have been one of the greatest cities on this continent, but it was wiped off the map just like that, in a single second. Such is the power of these stillwaters.

But what is even more interesting about these stillwaters is that you cant differentiate them from normal humans. Normally, you can sense the magic flowing from every being. You dont need to be a mage to do it. By sensing their magical aura, you can tell how strong mages are before engaging them in a fight.

Stillwaters, however, have the same aura as normal humans. And if you were to run into someone that seems to have almost no magic in the middle of what is essentially the greatest mage tournament in all of history What would you be more inclined to believe? That an average human was somehow suicidal enough to join the tournament only to get massacred? Or that you are facing one of the strongest and rarest kinds of mages that exist in the world?

You dont scare me, stillwater! the thug continues. Im going to fill you with holes and youll end up begging me for mercy! I bet your legends are no truer than they were for this sad excuse for a mage standing next to me.

Thats funny, I tell him. Thats almost the same thing the people of Olmnar told me. Before I burned their city to the ground.

There is a long pause after Im done talking, during which neither of us says anything.

Youre bluffing, the mage says, after a while.

I guess theres only one way to find out, then, I tell him, as I feel my heart pounding in my chest.

The few seconds of silence that followed felt like the longest seconds in my life. After a long pause, the mage says, finally:

Youre in luck, stillwater. Im feeling merciful today. Im going to be out of your hair just as soon as I finish this guy here.

You do that and youll regret it, I say without thinking.

My last sentence seems to have taken him aback.

What, are you kidding me? the thug says. Youre going to defend this lowlife?

If I have to, I say. Do I have to?

The mage once again falls silent. He doesnt seem to want to push his luck any further. After a while, I hear him put his daggers back into his belt and then spit on the ground.