"Of course!" Solomon said. Little did he know that learning magic was the worst decision he made in his life.
"Great. First, I need a drop of your blood."
"What?!"
Theodore was shocked and said, "Oh are you not familiar with the process? I need some of your blood to form a contract."
Solomon was even more confused than before and asked, "A contract for what?"
Theo scratched and tilted his head. "For you to not teach others magic. If you go and spread everything that you learn from me to the common folk. You'll place yourself and them in danger." Theo talked like he was conversing with a child.
"Oh sure."
Theodore took a small dagger from his waist and levitated it towards Solomon.
The boy eagerly took the dagger and pricked himself with the tip of the blade. Blood spewed from the wound. Purple blood. Purple blood came out of the wound. The droplet 'coagulated' at a rapid pace. Before the droplet could hit the ground, it was already crystallized.
Sh*t. It was all Solomon could say when he saw Theodore's expression. The mage was looking at Sol with disgust and fear. Without wasting any time, Theo began casting a spell.
A magic circle appeared above and below Solomon. Theo snapped his fingers and lightning arced from both of the circles. It quickly formed a cage.
When Sol realize what was happening, It was already too late. A cage made of lightning already had imprisoned him.
"YOU DARE FOOL ME! YOU DEMON SCUM!" Theodore shouted, his voice was like thunder. As the lightning mage began to move, everything around him began to shake. Each step was akin to a lightning bolt striking the ground.
Solomon panicked. He raised his hands and surrendered. "I-III-I don't know what you're talking about. I'm a human."
[It's over. My life's over.]
As soon as those thoughts entered Sol's mind, He remembered what he did with the chimera. If he can do that again one more time he'll survive.
What came out of Solomon's lips were different from what he expected. "No U. B*tch" He didn't know why he said that and where that confidence came from.
"You what?" Theodore said the veins on his forehead were bulging with anger. "Scum like you should just die."
To the mage's surprise, the lightning cage disappeared from Sol. Instead, it materialized and imprisoned him.
"You think using my magic against me is a good idea." The mage snapped his fingers and the cage was gone once again. After that, Theo prepared another spell. Within a matter of seconds, a whip made of lightning appeared on his hands. Theodore flicked. The whip shot towards Solomon as if it had a life of its own.
"Let's see how you can escape from this one."
"NO U! NO U! NO U!" Solomon shouted again and again but the whip continued on its path.
Excruciating pain. It was the only words that would describe how Sol felt. He was burned alive.
"STOOOOOOPPP!" As soon as Solomon shouted the distance between the whip and his skin increased.
An inch. One meter. Ten. A kilometer. A mile.
The whip dissipated. Space distorted even more. It was as if reality was torn. Theodore Uldor, the lightning mage became a speck on Solomon's vision. The distance between the two kept growing.
*zzzwoop*
When Solomon opened his eyes, He was back at the beach. The only difference was the burns all over his body. The air smelled like burned flesh. The only good thing that Sol could think was that he escaped and the wounds were already cauterized.
[I need to get out of here. Those crazy bastards might mistake me for an animal next.]
Solomon didn't have much of a choice. The only thing that surrounded him was a jungle, the beach, and more sand. After a while of considering, He had no choice but enter the unknown jungle.
Everything stung Solomon. The leaves, actual insects, and more leaves. Some of his wounds even started bleeding.
The young man wandered for a while. No food. No goal. No destination. He managed to find a nearby cave and stayed there for the night.
Right now. Sol's main enemy was hunger. He was just, of course, a normal high school student would find it hard to survive in the jungle. Unfortunately, he was still normal to some degree.
While staying in the cave, Solomon wanted to make a fire. Despite his great efforts, making fire was still too much of a task for him.
He remembered how Theo moved his hands during casting spells. The clouds were also brewing like there was a storm. If Solomon couldn't make a fire here, it might be his end.
While he trying to make fire, something deeper in the caverns made a cry.
"A baby?"
Curiosity got the best of Solomon. When he arrived at the spot, He was greeted by a sorry and scary sight. There were rat people in the cave. Most of them coughed like hell, but some scrambled and stayed away from Sol.
Some rat-men got their makeshift spear readied. "Halt," one of the rat-men spoke. "Stop fiend!"
"What? I'm not here to harm you. I swear." Sol didn't panic as much. After all, what could the rat-men do that's much worse than that mage. "And don't call me a fiend."
One of the rat guards pointed on Sol's head. "But you have a horn, sir." This rat man's voice was shaking like he was afraid that I might do something.
Solomon quickly felt the area where the rat pointed. To his surprise, there was an actual horn. It was shaped like a ram's and curled inwards.
By this time the two of the rats that spoke were in a heated argument.
"For f*cks sake. John have some backbone. This is an intruder. All we need to do is kill him"
"How many times do I have to tell you? Stop making decisions on your own. I'll consult father elder first. Keep him company."
Unfortunately for me, the other rat wasn't an obedient rat. He took his spear and lunged at me. Before the tip of the blade can even touch me, a hard "clang" was heard. His weapon fell on the ground. Soon, vines erupted from the ground and restrained the aggressive rat
Another rat emerged from the deeper parts of the cavern. He was old and frail. Even though, he looked like he might fall over any time. The elderly rat man had eyes filled with vitality.
The rat elder spoke and said,
"Hail, traveller. How could I be of service to an Ancient?