He knew he was dog tired and should already be sleeping blissfully. The sparring session with Senior Brother Gart just a few hours ago was absolutely draining, both physically and mentally.
Yet, Blink found to his consternation that he could not sleep.
For some reason, he had a feeling of being pressed. Lately, he had been having premonitions that grave things were about to unfold and that he would be thrown into the chaos.
Over the past ten days, Blink had the glowing-ember-of-an-arm dream three times. The previous night, his right arm stayed in a state akin to a burning coal for over two minutes after he had woken up. Blink even studied his arm in fascination before its color returned to normal.
It was only later on that he felt cold sweat drench his forehead.
Being too tired to practice yet having nothing to do, Blink decided to read Master Tszarek's journal. For the past several days, Blink had delighted in reading his master's adventures in foreign lands. Master Tszarek actually inserted a map of the continent. In the map, he marked the places he had travelled to on his way to Ragha.
Master Tszarek's humor crackles on every page. If Blink had not read his master's journal, he would not have known this side of him.
After reading several pages, Blink got a little weary-eyed and played with the pages of Master Tszarek's journal. He ran the edges of the pages on his thumb like a gambler shuffling cards.
As he was shuffling the pages of the journal, Blink thought he saw something that did not belong with the other entries of the journal.
Once again, he shuffled the pages until he reached the page containing the last entry written by Master Tszarek.
Blink's heart started beating rapidly the moment he started reading. It said: "Dear Kraszad."
'A letter? For me?' Kraszad could not contain his excitement. Whatever Master Tszarek wrote him for could surely have nothing to do with what they had talked about inside his office the night before he left the Ragha Martial Arts Academy.
He went on to read the letter further and stopped at this sentence: "With your unusually high intelligence, it has recently become my firm belief that you are fated to become a wizard."
Blink's hands shook uncontrollably.
"A wizard?" he uttered incredulously.
Reading on Blink found out that wizards are extremely gifted beings who are able to summon and manipulate the different energies of the world.
"They can create balls of fire from thin air and send them hurtling towards enemies," Blink repeated this sentence several times.
As he read further, another sentence stopped him. The sentence stated: "I am very much certain now, without a shred of doubt, that you are the warrior I was sent to find along the trail of the love-struck goddess."
Blink could not believe what he was reading. He tried to recall that scene of his master telling him to leave the academy. In not one single instance had he felt that his master was keeping something from him.
'Why did he not simply tell me directly?' Blink asked in his mind. He recalled how his master had been acting all mysterious when he asked him if the journal could bring him back to the academy.
'And what's the deal with this warrior he was sent to find?'
Blink decided to read on. What he read shocked him no end as earth-shaking revelation after earth-shaking revelation were spelled out right before his eyes.
"As you are reading this now, a great war is threatening to reach the continent and consume the land and its people. It will arrive in our doorstep eventually. That is as certain as the bigger moon blocking the smaller moon.
"When that time comes, your brothers at the academy will be sent to the forefront of endless harrowing battles. Many of them will die at the hands of enemies from across the sea. You can still prevent this senseless loss of lives. But, first, you must get stronger—as a wizard."
Blink stopped reading for a few minutes to take in everything. It was just too much, and he was not at all prepared for it.
"A great war will come, and I must get stronger," he kept muttering to himself.
He wanted to deny all of it. But in his heart he knew it to be true. Master Tszarek had no reason to lie to him. He also knew, that in the master's own quiet way, he did love all of them as though they were all his sons and daughters.
Blink felt like he was about to lose his mind. He thought about Berge and Flip. He also thought of his other brothers and sisters inside the academy. In the end Master Tszarek made them train painstakingly to be thrown into the pits of hell called war.
Overwhelmed by his emotions, Blink cursed Master Tszarek's name. He even called him heartless and a few other mean labels.
Then, he suddenly stopped and regretted his words.
"He trained everybody in order to find me," he spoke softly. "They will have to fight in the war just the same anyway.
"No, I really should not blame Master Tszarek for anything at all."
Blink stared into space still muttering to himself.
"His mission was to seek a warrior from some prophecy. It was just that he didn't really know who it was he was searching for. All he knew was that the warrior in the prophecy is someone from Ragha."
A terrifying thought entered Blink's mind.
"If I was, indeed, this prophesied warrior, then I will have to be many times stronger than I currently am.
"Why a wizard?"
Blink decided that the answer could be found in Master Tszarek's letter. He continued reading from where he last stopped until he arrived at the part where Master Tszarek was analyzing the prophecy relating to the promised savior.
"Besides my personal belief that you are perfectly suited to become a wizard with your intelligence, a certain matter regarding the prophesied warrior had always disturbed me. I think the old men who are tasked with interpreting the prophecy were reading too much into the prophecy's very words. I think the words "he shall light up the darkness with fireballs from his hands" should actually be understood in its literal sense. Since a fireball is something only a wizard can create, then the promised warrior is actually a wizard."
'The promised warrior is a wizard,' Blink repeated the words over and over in his mind.
After mulling over those words several times, Blink continued reading his master's letter.
"I have included my sword among the items I had packed for you for two reasons. First, the sword is my personal token as a disciple of Grandmaster Qunhlt'l Banwar of the Imperial Fighting Academy. My sword will obtain you the recognition of my master, which will be very advantageous to you while you conduct transactions in Huanian City. Second, if you open the sword hilt, you'll find a valuable item that I hope might help you along your journey into becoming a wizard."
Master Tszarek reiterated in his letter that Blink must seek Grandmaster Banwar at the Imperial Fighting Academy as he might be the only person who could point Blink the way towards Wizard City.
"Wizard City exists and yet it doesn't. Only those who it deems worthy to enter it may do so. My master can help you a lot so you won't waste your time going in circles."
Blink read the last few remaining paragraphs of the letter. It was mostly Master Tszarek apologizing for not letting Blink go sooner even as he explained that he feared for his safety. Master Tszarek's thinking was that, if he could keep him in the academy for another year more, he would feel much better about sending Blink to unknown lands all on his own.
As fate would have it, even Master Tszarek could not control Blink's fate. Blink was clear that if he had to stay a month longer at the academy, Boomer and a few of the other elite disciples were bound to defeat him within the next five sparring bouts.
Below Master Tszarek's name was the date 23rd of Tukruk, 1491. From this Blink figured out that Master Tszarek wrote the very long letter on the night prior to his last sparring bout at the Ragha Martial Arts Academy.
Blink sighed. It had been more than 30 days since the time he left the academy.
There was a postscript at the bottom of the letter.
"Do not use your name while in Huanian. Use your academy-given name. I am very much certain that your family is among the nobilities in Huanian. Whoever killed your parents will likely recognize your name and move to finish off what they started thirteen years ago.
It took Blink over half an hour to pore over the contents of Master Tszarek's letter. After a deep breath culminated with a long sigh, Blink could no longer restrain a grin forming on his mouth.
"That damn old rascal," he said, "he actually did send me on a secret mission."