Throne of Magical Arcana

The streets of Heidler City were not messy, filthy, or filled with rotten pieces of bodies everywhere, which was what Donnie expected to see. Instead, they were rather clean and broad, with a lot of passersby on them.

However, the crowded streets, which were supposed to be lively and obstreperous, were awfully quiet. Nobody talked loudly at all. They communicated with each other in the voice of mosquitoes. There seemed to be a strange force that forbade noises in this place.

With a closer look, Donnie finally realized that most of the passersby were actually undead creatures. Some were corpse dogs with weird redness beaming out of their eyes, some were skinned men whose flesh was exposed to the air, and some were the commonly seen ghosts, zombies, and skeletons.

Naturally, necromancers in black magic robes were among the undead creatures too. Most of them were not as grim and rigid as Donnie imagined. They talked and laughed with their friends, except that their voices were kept down.

“It’s a pity that there aren’t any liches…” Donnie remarked in a low voice.

Sammy seemed to be in great spirits after he came to Heidler City. Although he still seemed drowsy, at the very least, he was not yawning frequently. Rubbing his hair that was as messy as a bird nest, he smiled and said, “I don’t think liches are fond of walking on the street…”

I don’t think they are fond of anything… Donnie leaned aside to give the way to a three-headed hell hound. It was tall and strong, with burning fire drooling from its mouth, but it had a ring on its neck and was pulled by a petite female sorcerer, running ahead of her slowly.

“This hell hound is the size of a bull…” After the female sorcerer left, Donnie couldn’t help but observe. The difference in their sizes was too glaring.

Sammy chuckled. “I saw a lich walking his bone dragon in the sky yesterday. It’s about the size of a hundred hellhounds.”

He arrived in Heidler City yesterday and lived at 152, Ghoul Street. He was waiting for the students who were to come the next day so that they could go to the college together.

“That’s great.” Donnie looked at the sky in admiration. At this moment, they already reached Ghoul Street. The high-rising magic tower made it impossible for them to lose their way.

Suddenly, a pale skull drifted out, with two needle-like red lights in the eye sockets. The teeth of the skull clattered and let out a harsh voice as it said, “All freshmen will gather and go to the college. Those who come later will be shuttled the day after tomorrow.”

The voice was so unpleasant, as if somebody were rubbing a bone with rusty iron. Donnie shivered and walked into the hall with Sammy.

“Give me your notice of enrollment and your identification mark inside.” An expressionless man approached them before Donnie got steady. The stranger had an emaciated face, with the same needle-like redness in his eyes.

Donnie hurried to take out his notice of enrollment and a black beetle. “Yes, sir.”

“Call me Mr. Robert.” The man’s voice was strangely gentle and comforting. When he looked at the black beetle, the bug seemed to be illuminated by the redness too. “Well, Donnie, there is no need to apply for accommodation. You will come to the college with us.”

Then, he returned the notice of enrollment and the beetle back to Donnie. Pausing for a moment, he said, “As it happens, I am an instructor in the field of body structure and genetics. I hope that you can keep up your current performance.”

After a moment, Sammy looked at Robert, who had walked to the other side of the hall, and said in a low voice, “It is said that Mr. Robert is very close to the senior rank now. His body has been modified by him for so many times that nobody knows what special abilities it has.”

“Well, Mr. Robert gave me a lot of pressure…” Donnie had cold sweat while walking in the gloomy environment of Heidler City. He looked at Robert, only to discover that the man stopped before the stream screen in the hall and watched the amusing program on it, with what could almost be called a smile on his face.

“I didn’t know that a dead-looking man like Mr. Robert would like to watch TV…” Donnie said in shock.

Sammy looked at him confusedly. “Why can’t a dead man watch TV?”

“Well…” Donnie was rendered speechless by Sammy. He hurried to change the subject. “We’re about to go to the college. I’m told that it’s not in the city but in a mysterious place, isn’t it?”

Sammy nodded solemnly. “I’m told that it’s a great place for necromancy.”

Both of them were rather curious about that, and they tried to guess where their destination was. Could it be in an enormous tomb?

After a while, the pale lich flew back and continued with the nasty voice, “Follow me closely and don’t get lost. Once you are lost, I will assume that you are already dead, and I will not bother searching for you.”

Donnie’s heart was palpitating. Even a drowsy and inert man like Sammy suddenly widened his eyes too. The whole team became extremely silent.

Following the lich, Donnie and his fellows passed the Ghoul Street, the Soul Avenue, and the Square of Brains before reaching a building that seemed no different from any other magic towers.

“Is this our college?” Donnie looked at the magic tower before him in disappointment.

The lich stopped and floated before the gate of the magic tower while chanting coarse, intricate, and gruesome spells.

A shadow emerged from the rocks on the ground. Spreading and growing, it soon covered the gate, making it shiver softly in the darkness.

“Follow me,” the lich said coldly, and instead of opening the gate, the lich disappeared into the shadow.

Donnie and Sammy held their breath again because of the weirdness. They slowly moved forward with the apprentices before them, wondering where the shadow would lead.

It was a pity that, however slow they were, they still reached the shadow gate. Gritting his teeth, Donnie stepped in.

As if his body were in a lake, Donnie felt depressed and suffocated, exactly like when he was almost drowned when he was a little kid. Then, Donnie felt that his body was light again, and he got rid of the “water”. He was now facing a black, white, and gray environment.

It was a messy and corrupt city, without the slightest color except for the monotonous black, white, and gray. Even the wind had been frozen in the air, like a peaceful and weird portrait.

Donnie looked at the sky in shock. It was as pale and dime as that of Heidler City, but the sun was nowhere to be seen!

The basic knowledge about alternate dimensions popped up in Donnie’s head. He shouted at Sammy who was stunned next to him, “It’s the World of Souls!”

However, after he blurted out, Donnie did not hear any sound at all. Everything was so quiet as if they were in eternal sleep.

As expected of the World of Souls. Donnie took a breath, having the illusion that his body was decaying. This place was definitely the best place for the school of necromancy. However, he was told that this place was very dangerous for even the senior-rank sorcerers. After all, the unintelligent specters did not care for one’s background or whether or not they were rich. They only desired fresh flesh and blood.

“Follow me. Let me repeat myself. Don’t get lost.” With a spell that they did not know, the lich spoke into everyone’s heart.

Donnie patted Sammy, who was still in a daze, and followed the lich warily and attentively, fearing that he might be left out and faced with the tide of specters alone.

Passing through the silent city, the team walked into a desolate wilderness. There were wandering ghouls with rotten and hideous faces everywhere. They could almost smell the indescribable stench.

Further away, many fuzzy ghosts were floating in the sky, with black long robes on their body.

Such an environment and such a scene refreshed the ghost on Sammy’s back. It craned its head and let out soundless shrills, waving its hands back and forth hard.

Hehe. Donnie looked at the scene in amusement, while Sammy shook his head helplessly.

Suddenly, the gray sky became dark, as if it had been dyed black. No, the sky did not turn dark, but instead, the phenomenon was caused by ghosts that were gathering from all directions!

Also letting out soundless shrills, they flew toward Sammy overwhelmingly. The terrible pressure and scent of death almost made a lot of apprentices wet their pants. Had they run into a scourge of the undead?

His body shivering, Donnie pulled Sammy, hinting him to stop the ghost on his back.

At this moment, the lich before them sniffed, and a black curtain appeared out of nowhere, covering all of them.

After the black curtain disappeared, Donnie realized that they had already pressed deep into the wilderness and were far away from the army of ghosts.

“Get your ghost under control,” the lich said coldly.

“Yes, sir,” Sammy replied; his voice shaking. The ghost behind him, on the other hand, held its own legs like a scared kid who was crying soundlessly.

Donnie looked at the ghost in amusement. Are you terrified by the army of ghosts too? You almost turned us into ghouls.

Dragging Sammy, whose legs were too unsteady to support him, to move forward, Donnie suddenly saw a magnificent city in the frozen black, white, and gray world. There were black, silver, and white pointy magic towers in the city that displayed different colors. Among the magic towers were rarely-seen overpasses that connected different directions delicately.

Around the city was a quiet cemetery with tombs everywhere, which were packed densely. Slanted black tombstones were before them.

“Slanted tombstones…” Donnie was briefly stunned.

After passing the cemetery, Donnie and his fellows reached the edge of the city under the leadership of the lich. After they passed the city gate that was dozens of meters tall, the feeling of consolidation and depression was immediately gone. They heard the familiar sound of talking again, as if they had suddenly returned from the realm of the dead to that of the living.

“Everyone, as you have seen, there is no way that you can leave this place without the guidance of senior-rank mentors. Therefore, you have to work and study really hard, because those who slack off will not be able to go home. Alright, welcome to the Heidler Magic College. Please claim your school robe and badge with your identification mark and your notice of enrollment. Then, you can go to your dormitory with the mark on the badge.” The lich disappeared after giving the announcement.

Dragging Sammy, who had not fully recovered, and his ghost, Donnie got the black robe and the emblem of pale fire from a magic tower nearby. He asked the way and walked to his dormitory.

When they were near their dormitory, Sammy finally took a long breath and rubbed his hair. “The World of Souls is really horrible. I was so scared just now…”

As he spoke, he opened the door of the dormitory, only to be stunned. He blocked Donnie’s sight.

“I… I’m sorry. We… We’ve come to the wrong dormitory!” Sammy stammered and apologized.

Donnie looked at the door plate. “Room 202 of the Life Tower in the Origin Zone. It can’t be wrong.”