Chapter 33: Sage
In the dead of night a warm, orange glow coming from a strip that went around the whole room lightly illuminated the place. It was not enough to disturb his sleep, but it was sufficient to prevent the room from becoming completely dark.
It was not that Nero or Gabriel were afraid of the dark, but rather that it was unsafe for a place to be completely dark. Research suggested that the chances for cursed events to occur increased exponentially in complete darkness.
In the past two weeks, Nero himself had studied over 27 kinds of mild and basic Apparition curses - meaning curses that can spontaneously appear. Being surrounded by civilisation, technology and walls had no bearing on such things.
The room was silent, save for soft sounds of two boys breathing slowly. But the stillness of the night was broken by a loud boom, despite being muffled by the layers of insulation their room offered.
Nero opened his eyes in a panic, his brain still not adjusted from suddenly waking up yet. But he had already drawn the knife strapped to his thigh, a cold blue flame encompassing it, even before he realised what was happening.
The sound of glass shattering drew his attention, but before he could identify what it was, the building started to shake. Nero could 'see' the sturdy walls of his room wobble as they were made from jelly. His books and items were hurled off the table, but Nero didn't have the time to process that.
Something flew in the darkness towards Nero, and without a hint of hesitation he swung his knife at it, using his full strength. Even the blue flame grew bigger for a moment.
The sound of metal clashing filled the room as Nero blocked whatever that was, nearly knocking the knife out of his hands!
But instead of stopping, it was only deflected and fell onto his bed. He was ready to attack again, but he finally noticed what it was. It was not a cursed creature or some insidious foe - it was merely the grate covering the vent in their room, knocked loose by whatever had happened.
Nero's mind finally caught up with what was happening, and he realised that he was awake. What had happened? An earthquake? But that wouldn't explain the sound!
He suddenly noticed the red hue that filled the room, mixing along with the blue from his flame. He looked over and saw vibrant red sand, flowing around Gabriel as if to protect his body.
Despite his immunity to the cold, Nero felt chills looking at the red sand, as if he could feel that it was incredibly dangerous. It was like a living thing, twisting and turning all around him like a formless armour, ready to eat anything that dared come near.
Nero jumped down from his bed, landing on the ground cluttered with all their things. At some point, the building had stopped shaking, but he had not even realised it.
"What the hell happened?" he asked, turning on the lights. The lights flickered, as if they themselves were unsure, but eventually turned on.
Without answering, Gabriel rushed to the window and raised the blinds. But they still could not get a view of the outside, for their window was filled with hundreds of tiny cracks. Yet somehow, the pane held in place, a testament to the quality of the shatterproof glass.
"It sounded like an explosion," Gabriel said gravely as he observed the glass for a moment. He reached for a locked bag underneath his bed and from it took out a short sword.
Nero, meanwhile, had already left the room, grabbing nothing else besides his card case. Their roommates, as usual, weren't in the apartment at night, so he didn't stop to check on them.
Still wielding his knife, though he extinguished the flames, he exited the apartment. The corridor was filled with countless other students, many of them confused and scared. Some of them, like Nero, were wielding weapons.
"Everyone evacuate the building in an orderly fashion," someone was screaming in the distance.
Another tremor hit the buildings, and the lights flickered once more, as if threatening to go out.
Nero waited just long enough for Gabriel to come out before joining the line of students rushing out. They were not exactly at the level of causing a stampede, which was about as orderly as they could have gotten at that time.
Since they were only on the first floor, with their room close to the emergency exit stairwell, it hardly took them a minute before they exited the building and came to the massive field outside. A crowd of students was gathering, as if converging for the sake of acquiring strength through numbers.
Nero, on the other hand, stood by in a corner, away from the crowd.
"Did you bring your phone?" he asked, looking at Gabriel. In the rush, he forgot to get his.
"Yes, here, I..." Gabriel froze as he looked as he looked at a notification that appeared on his phone. Nero, noticing, peeked over to look. But even before he read it, he heard the news.
"It's a Sage!" an excited kid yelled, which was followed by countless others who followed his example.
"A Sage has come to Aetherpeak!"
"I can't believe it!"
"I wonder if we'll get to see him!"
"We're saved!"
The solemn atmosphere, filled with hesitation and fear, quickly evaporated as excitement spread among the students.
"A Sage has appeared," Gabriel repeated, and showed Nero the notification on his phone. It was a citywide alert, informing residents that the recent explosion was the result of a Sage making a move against some enemies. There was no need to panic, as the situation was now under control.
"Why do you sound troubled?" Nero asked, noticing the distinct lack of excitement in his roommate's voice.
A Sage was the pinnacle of power in all the countries, and Kolar had five of them, making it larger and stronger than both its neighbouring countries. A Sage was the ultimate deterrent, and the greatest weapon the humans had against the curses of this world. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the few Sages alone were responsible for ensuring the continuation of their entire species.
"The situation must have really escalated for a Sage to appear. I think the chances of there being ruins nearby... are very high. Which means there's going to be trouble."