The Thief

Victor was right. Students at the Magic Academy took part in trials with the mindset of people going on vacation. This time, however, they had chosen the wrong place to vacation.

Like a few bewildered lion cubs wandering into a plain teeming with wolves, the seven members of the squad, with no adventuring experience whatsoever, had blundered into the perilous Whispering Forest without a care in the world. They had ventured too deep into the forest and had set no warning traps around their camp. The two people on watch had been so preoccupied with their own thoughts that they failed to notice the approaching thieves.

When the attack came without warning, the usually composed magical prodigy was so nervous that her voice trembled too much for her to recite a spell properly. In her desperation, she pulled out a Magic Scroll, then somehow forgot to activate it and threw it at the thieves like a weapon instead. It was a complete mess.

Seeing the girl beside him frozen with panic as a thief armed with a steel blade closed in, Donald shouted a warning, grabbed the Tree Rat Hide, and ran into the darkness. The thieves chased after him without hesitation. By the time Richard and the others heard the commotion and rushed out of their tents, they found Lucia standing alone, looking as though she was about to burst into tears.

"Brother!"

"Donald!"

Roger and Wesley each held back Richard and Kelly as they tried to rush after him. After a hurried preparation, the six of them lit torches and followed the direction Lucia had pointed in. Roger and Richard led the way, Fiona, also a Squire, brought up the rear, and Wesley stayed in the middle to protect Kelly and Lucia.

***

Donald had lost track of how long he had been feeling his way through the darkness. At some point, the thieves behind him had lit torches. Their chaotic footsteps and fierce shouts were drawing closer. The shadows of the trees ahead blurred together, and he could faintly hear women laughing nearby. He remembered what the hunter Joey had said: they couldn't go any farther.

He hesitated for only a moment before the thieves surrounded him.

"Wait! I know this is what you want. I'm willing to hand it over. If you don't kill me, I think my companions would be willing to pay a little ransom." Donald leaned against a giant tree and raised the Tree Rat Hide high in his hand.

Only then did Donald get a good look at the thieves. There were six of them, all carrying steel blades. The biggest and broadest among them seemed to be their leader.

"Boss, let me kill him. That brat led us all this way. Those little girls might have run off by now," said a thief with a thin mustache, angrily. "The thing that girl threw earlier— the more I think about it, the more I reckon it might've been a Magic Scroll. Looks like we've got some fat sheep here."

"If you come any closer, I'll destroy the hide!"

"Fine. I can spare your life—" the thief leader said coldly. He swaggered right up to Donald and snatched the Tree Rat Hide from his hand, then suddenly swung his steel blade at him.

He hadn't noticed that Donald was clutching a blue fireball the size of an egg in his other hand. Before the blade could reach the boy, Donald's fireball flew straight at the thief leader. He couldn't dodge in time. The fireball burst against his face, and as he screamed, his entire face went up in flames.

It was the first time Donald's little Blue Fireball had shown its power. Blue was the color of the purest burning fire element. Its unimaginably high temperature made it far more destructive than an ordinary fireball.

Donald didn't stop. In the blink of an eye, four more identical fireballs exploded against the thief leader.

"He didn't chant! It's a single-use magic item! Get him, all at once!"

Spurred on by the man with the mustache, the remaining five really did charge at him. As blades flashed and cries of "Kill him!" filled the air, Donald's heart seemed to stop. His back pressed hard against the tree, and his legs trembled uncontrollably. He had practiced the Triple Fireball model more than ten thousand times, and it didn't even require a chant, but the shock of being surrounded made his first attempt fail. His second failed too. Thank heavens, the third finally shot toward the thief charging at the front. If it had been even a moment later, the man's steel blade would have cut him clean in half.

Only after successfully casting that fireball did Donald regain his confidence. His casting grew faster and faster, until he was even quicker than usual. The blue fireballs nearly merged into a stream as they shot from his hand toward the thieves.

Even after every thief had become a screaming pillar of fire, Donald still didn't stop. He cast more than forty little fireballs in one breath. When the last one flew from his hand, his Fire Element was completely drained. An overwhelming dizziness washed over him, and he passed out.

When Donald slowly came to, an unfamiliar girl of about fifteen or sixteen was beside him.

"You're finally awake." The girl stared straight at Donald with her big eyes.

"How long was I asleep?" Donald felt groggy, and the scene before him was hazy. It seemed to be just before dawn.

"I don't know. I only just found you sleeping here."

Donald thought the girl looked familiar, but he couldn't remember who she was.

"Are you from the Magic Academy?" Donald noticed that she was dressed like a Magic Apprentice.

"Yeah. How did you know? Are you from the Magic Academy too?" When the girl was curious, her eyes grew wide. She was pretty, but there was something strange about her that he couldn't quite describe.

"I work in the Academy Library. Have you seen my companions?"

"I've only seen you. I'm going back to the Academy now. Come with me." As she spoke, the girl pulled Donald to his feet.

Donald felt as though his legs no longer belonged to him. He followed behind the girl involuntarily, step by step. She walked lightly, as if she knew the place well.

"I've never seen you at the Academy," the girl said without looking back. Donald watched her from behind, wondering why she made him feel so strange.

"Really? Maybe I'm not very noticeable. How much longer until we get out of the forest?"

"Why would we leave the forest?"

The girl's words grew stranger and stranger. Donald felt as if his mind could no longer keep up.

"But, big brother, the Academy doesn't even have a library."

Donald didn't know how to answer. Why had she suddenly started calling him that?

"Why... are you calling me big brother?"

"You're the big brother who caught Tree Rats with Grandpa."

Donald was suddenly seized by inexplicable terror. He remembered who she was.

"You're Nina!?"

"When Nina went back, Grandpa really was already dead... Big brother, do you think we're dead too?" The girl suddenly stopped, then slowly turned around. Her face was that of a corpse.

Donald passed out once more. When he woke up again, he thought he was looking at the legendary Harpy.