Chapter 102: Richard's Trial

"Richard! You really need to get it together." Ben scolded his reticent comrade as they hurried down a chaotic backstreet, heading towards the noble district of Säravast.

It was nothing but pure pandemonium unfolding all around them, no matter where one looked there was madness. People were fighting in the streets, using any weapons that they could get their hands on as they bludgeoned each other. Once beautiful storefronts that displayed fine clothing and expensive wears were now shattered, felonious opportunists running inside and hauling away anything that wasn't bolted to the ground. Gut-wrenching screams filled the air as the entire city seemed to be falling into a state of unbridled debauchery.

The three students clung to each other as they carefully weaved through the fighting and frenzied hordes of people. Richard, with his timid personality was having the most difficulties out of the three of them, his apprehension acted like a beacon to those that had less than wholesome intentions. Ben and Laura had just broken through a group of thugs blocking off the street, demanding a ridiculous toll to pass.

"I'm… I'm sorry, I just, they're people." Richard stammered, ashamed of himself for not helping the others even as the group of men attacked them with lecherous eyes directed at Laura.

"They're not people anymore Richard. Just look around you." Laura pointed to all the irrational people around them, her voice gentle but firm. "I don't know what's going on, but they aren't in their right minds anymore."

Richard nodded his head as he let out a breath he'd been holding, it would be hard for him to view human beings as anything other than that, but he also knew that now was not the time to hold back. They would need to work together to be able to make it into the noble district, there was no telling what they might run into.

"Good." Laura said, seeing Richard's affirmation. "Let's keep moving, I think we're close."

They continued on at a hurried pace, taking back alleys and smaller roads, actively avoiding the more populated areas. As they approached the noble district, they began to notice that less people were fighting each other and instead were running as quickly as they could away from the district. After a few more minutes they discovered what they were running from.

"What is that thing?" Ben asked no one in particular.

"I… I don't know." Laura said, her voice wavering.

The three of them ducked behind a building just after rounding a corner heading down a back alleyway. Further down the dim alley was a man, crouched down, biting, and clawing at another man that was feebly struggling to crawl away. The man cannibalizing the other had his back toward them, so they were unable to see his face, but they were able to hear the pleading screams the other man was making.

"C'mon, we need to do something." Laura said with conviction as she stepped out into the alleyway.

Reciting a short chant, Laura sent a spear of earth hurtling toward the human turned monster. The three-foot long spike drove into the monster's back, sticking out the front of its chest. Except for the monster jerking from the sudden attack, it seemed completely unfazed as it whipped its head around to glare at Laura with its hungry, black eyes. Opening its mouth in a muted shriek, the monster abandoned the dying man and sprinted towards them.

Laura, due to the experience gained during the calamity that befell Swayzee, quickly weaved another spell. Realizing that she couldn't kill it quickly enough, she directed her spell at its pumping legs. The unpaved alleyway suddenly turned into quicksand, swallowing the rapidly approaching 'thing' up to its abdomen and causing it to bend at the waist violently, slamming its face into the hard ground in front of it.

Recovering quickly, the monster thrashed around, desperate to escape the trap and attack the three students. Laura, Ben, and Richard all hesitantly approached the monster, being careful not to come within arm's reach.

"We should hurry up and kill it." Ben stated, not wanting to take the risk of it escaping.

Richard, as timid as always, hugged himself with his arms and stared at it with wide eyes as the monster gnashed its cracked teeth. "We should go back to the inn. Professor Kal said we'd be safe there."

Laura rolled her eyes so hard they hurt; she was coming to her wits end dealing with her classmate's cowardice. "Fine. Go ahead and go back if you want, we won't stop you."

Richard looked to Ben who just shook his head before pausing for a second, deep in thought. Looking between Richard and the struggling monster, Ben proposed an idea. "Kill it, Richard."

"Wh…what?"

"I said you should kill it." Ben said, more of an order than a statement. "That's the only way for you to toughen up. Either kill it, here and now, or we're going to leave you behind."

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Laura opened her mouth to object to her friend's harsh tactic, but Ben cut her off with a raised hand. "It's for his own good, and ours. What will we do when we get surrounded by these things and he freezes up? He needs to do it, or else we're all going to die."

Laura's retort stuck in her throat, she knew that Ben was right, no matter how severe it sounded. Richard was going to drag them down with him due to his reluctance to fight, they all knew that, even the boy in question. Richard hung his head in shame, deep down he knew Ben was right, he just couldn't help it. He was always afraid.

At the Academy, he was always afraid to speak out of fear that his classmates would ridicule him due to his poor family. Although he was the son of a noble, they were nearly destitute, forced to sell off nearly all of their possessions just to pay the taxes that they were honor bound to pay. They had lost all of their land held by his family for many generations all because his grandfather's gambling. When he died, his father inherited all of the debt left behind, it came at a great shock to him to say the least. Overnight, his entire family had become the laughingstock of the kingdom, or so his father told him.

Even though this had all transpired well before he was born, his family's dishonor was always fresh on his mind. So, he decided it was better to stay silent and keep to himself, if they didn't even know he existed, then they wouldn't drag his family's name through the mud. Then, one day he was grouped up with Laura, Ben, and Ryan, everything changed after that.

He still didn't speak, but he didn't mind being with them either. They always talked to him, never bringing up his family, treating him like they would anyone else. They made him feel excepted, more so than his actual family. They've been through so much together since the day they were grouped together and ventured out into the forest, he would do anything for his friends.

"I…I'll do it." Richard stammered, his voice cracking but his conviction still breaking through.

Under Laura and Ben's watchful eyes, Richard timidly approached the monster. As he drew closer, the monster's black eyes focused on the boy, causing his steps to faulter slightly. After a moment, Richard pushed on until he was only a few feet away. Although he was a quiet, fearful boy, Richard still put in hours upon hours of practice when it came to magic. That was especially so since he started to participate in Professor Kal's auxiliary classes, he had always put in just as much work as everyone else had in that class, and now was the time to put what he had learned to use.

Letting out a deep breath, Richard raised his hand parallel with the ground and pointed it toward the flailing creature. He still hadn't mastered chant-less casting, so he started reciting a spell in a low, quiet voice. The warm feeling of mana welling up in his body was comforting to him, it helped him to concentrate on the spell rather than what it was he had to do.

Within the dim alleyway, the cold winter wind started to pick up, blowing drifts of snow from one end to the other. As Richard felt his mana reach its peak, he uttered the final word of power. "Heaven's Guillotine."

As his words echoed around the alleyway, an invisible blade cut into the monster's neck, nearly decapitating it. As thick, almost black blood oozed from the monster's neck, Richard stood there in disbelief. It was still alive. Even as its head dangled lopsidedly by a single strip of flesh, its eyes followed him, and it continued to gnash its teeth and grope with blood-stained hands.

The school of magic Richard had the most affinity with was air, this allowed all of his air related spells to be much more effective than they would have been otherwise. That was why he had used such a powerful spell, it was one that Professor Kal had taught him personally, so he had no reason to believe that it wouldn't be powerful enough to kill a single monster.

"That… that should have killed it. I don't know… how…" Richard trailed off as his anxiety kicked into gear, fearing that his friends would berate him for failing to live up to their expectations.

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked over to see Ben next to him, staring at the monster much the same way he was. "That was… impressive."

"It didn't die though…"

"I know, but it should have. I mean, its head is nearly gone..."

"GUYS!!!" Laura shouted out in fear, interrupting the two boys' discussion. "Look!"

Following the girl's horrified pointing, Richard and Ben saw an unbelievable sight. Further into the city, but not too far from where they were standing, was a large burning object hanging in the grey winter sky. It was still quite small, at least in comparison to their surroundings, but they could tell that it was quickly growing larger.

Trailing behind the burning object was a thick trail of black smoke, miles long, indicating that the object had originated from far above the clouds. Suddenly, a deafening boom shook their surroundings, the nearby windows shattered and the ground trembled, it felt like someone had punched them all in the chest as the air was forcibly driven out of their lungs.

Whatever it was, was burning so brightly as it forced its way through the atmosphere that they could scarcely keep their eyes on it. The earth thundered and the air itself became notably warmer as the burning object neared the city. The buildings around them shuddered as the wind picked up and quickly morphed into a furious gale.

The three of them looked at each other, fear plastered on all of their faces.. Without saying a single word between them, they all turned away from the plunging object and ran, leaving the still thrashing monster half-submerged in the cold ground.

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