It's hard to believe that two months have passed already. My control over my magic has progressed a bit but not as much as I would have hoped for. Everything seems to be slowing down the more days that go by. It seems as though I am reaching a stalemate. No matter what I tried while training, my magic only advanced by a little, if at all. In other news, today was the day that the rest of the class would be summoning their familiars. Of course, I already had mine, so I just sat and watched. Everyone summoned a familiar that was similar to them. Of course everyone went wild over Alexis' Nether Viper, but that would be expected. After we spent a while bonding with our familiars, learning the magical equipment, and all that mumbo jumbo. Once everything came to a close, we went through the rest of the day pretty easily doing all the same old stuff. I feel like I'm falling back into the same lifestyle I had before. Just going through the days on repeat, following the same routine as before. Well besides the whole magic stuff. The day came to an end, and I found myself in a trance, hobbling my way on home.
As I continued down the road, blissfully unaware of my surroundings, I felt a crunch under my foot.
"Yyyyeeeeeoooowwww!"
I began to look around to see what I stepped on, trying to find the owner of that yelp. That's when my eyes met with a familiar, old friend.
"Mr. Whiskers!"
I quickly ran over and lifted him up, squishing our faces together, hugging him in my mom's own special vice grip. It must run in the genes or something.
"I thought something happened to you! I was so worried. Where have you been?"
As I continued to ramble on and squeeze the life out of him, that's when things got a little unusual.
"Geez, take it easy kid! You're going to knot my fur at this rate."
"Huh."
I extended my arms, holding him out in front of me.
"Did- did you just talk?"
"Yes! Of course, I just talked. Now can you put me down?"
"Oh, sorry."
I placed him down on the ground, taking a few steps back in confusion.
"So, if I may, WHEN THE HELL WERE YOU ABLE TO TALK?!?"
"Well if you factor in last June, it'd probably be, since forever."
"What!? But I've never heard you speak once."
"Well, you do tend to space out a lot."
He's got me there. I started to think about our last interactions and tried to remember if he ever spoke before. Wait. I'm in a new world, I guess I got so used to the routine, I forgot how drastic the changes can be. From his perspective, he's only known this world and has always been able to speak. For me, I just woke up here. Does that mean there was an alternate me before I came here? If so, then what happened to the me in the other world? That's too much to think about right now. I should just drop it and never think about it again, or else my head might explode.
"See what I mean, always spacing out."
"Oh, what were you saying?"
"It doesn't matter anymore, someone's following us. Quick this way."
And just like that I found myself hiding away with a cat in an alley way. Although, I wonder who would be stalking a cat? He arched his back and stuck his tale out, like most cats do when they sense danger.
"What's going on-"
"Quiet. They'll hear us."
As I questioned this ridiculous situation, three cloaked figures came into view. One of them leaned into their arm to speak into a pager.
"We've lost him. Although he made contact with a civilian."
A raspy voice came through the other end. One of those voices that just screamed villain.
"No matter. Find them, and kill them both."
"Yes, sir."
In a flash, the three broke off into separate directions. Mr. Whiskers hopped onto a box and turned towards me.
"They're gone. However, it's still not safe here. Follow me."
Speechless, I reluctantly agreed and followed him. By the time nightfall hit, we were in some secluded area in a warehouse.
"Now we wait."
"Wait? Wait for what?"
"You didn't think we would actually escape them did you?"
"What?"
"Look, kid. These are some dangerous people, I had to find somewhere away from civilization before we fight them."
"Fight? Who's fighting?"
Like clockwork, the three cloaked figures appeared before us. Two men and a woman, who seemed to be the leader of the bunch. She stepped forward to speak.
"Alright, Arthur, no more running."
I turned to Mr. Whiskers and whispered to him.
"Who's Arthur."
Instead of answering me, he stepped forward to confront them.
"Very well."
A cloud of smoke cloaked Mr. Whiskers, when it faded, a tall, built man with long gray hair and a big beard, closely resembling a lion in looks, was left standing there.
"Oh. So you must be Arthur. Well anyway Mr. Whiskers, it was nice catching up with you but I think I'm gonna head out now."
I should have expected in this world Mr. Whiskers would have some crazy ability. Anyway, I think that's enough excitement for one day. Before I could even take a step, one of the henchmen launched an ice blast right next to me, nearly taking my leg off.
"You're not going anywhere."
I staggered back in shock.
"Yeah, I guess I can stick around a bit."
"Silence!"
The commanding voice of the woman quickly shut down the commotion. It was clear why she was the leader of the group. She was so authoritative.
"You know what we came for Arthur. Just hand it over."
"I'm sorry, but it doesn't belong in the hands of your kind."
"Then I'm afraid you'll have to die."
She slammed her hands against the ground, ripping up the earth beneath his feet.
"Shattering quake!"
Arthur easily dodged the attack, turning to me in the process.
"I'll have to ask you to handle the goons, Soren. And be careful not to underestimate them."
Before I could reply he charged right back into the fight. I turned to the other two. The first goon sent out another ice attack. I quickly rolled out of the way and set up a quick barrier to block the oncoming fire bolt that the second one cast.
"Alright, Now's your time to shine guys. Yin, Yang, Summon!"
With that, I summoned my two dragons at full size, hitting them with the same attack I used to beat Alexis. Only this time, they were able to block it. The attack pushed them back, but they were ultimately unscathed. How powerful were these people? I quickly drew my dragons back into the bracelet and put up another barrier. As the two barraged me with attacks, I tried to think of a way to beat them. My mana was depleting fast. I may have an abundance but after using my best attack first, at least half of it was gone. Before I could make another move, they had already begun a huge spell, combining their efforts.
"Ice confinement!"
Before I knew it, I was trapped inside a big cage of ice. I could feel chills crawl through out my body. Ice started to slowly form up my legs, rendering me immobile. As I felt myself about to freeze. the second one cast their attack.
"Fire frenzy!"
A gust of fire bolts came clashing into the ice cage, shattering it, sending me hard into the ground. I lied there, struggling to hold on to my consciousness. Is this the true power of magic in this world? Was I really this useless? I began to reflect on my time in this world, as all the memories of my life, past and present, flooded into my head. This must be what they mean when they say 'your life flashes before your eyes' right before you die. The goons muttered something before heading towards me to finish the job. I'm sorry Mr. Whiskers. No. Arthur. I was unable to be of any use to you. I can only hope you'll be able to survive against the three of them. I can't say I'm happy with this outcome but, it looks like this would be the end of my life as a mage.