The Scepter of Marahuyo

Chapter 044

The graduation song echoes on the grounds. All the eighteen years old are sitting on wooden chairs created by different blessings of teachers and students alike. After the ceremony, these chairs will retract back to the ground as if it was never there.

Spectators are surrounding us, both the Marahuyo citizens and those that need a couple more years to learn and study inside the Academy. Olivia is with them as she proudly looks at us. She seems like a mother to the five of us. However, the celebration is somber. I don’t see smiles on the faces of the graduates and the emcees on the stage in front. From the previous graduation rites, the stage was designed colorfully, and every year, it's getting more and more decorated. The previous year was the worst of all, with the stage curving and almost eating up the space of the graduates chairs. 

This time, though, the stage is only a good ten meters in length and eight meters in height, with only leaves and a few flowers adorning the side of it. Wooden chairs are on the stage itself, but it is as simple as the winding wooden chair below me. The carpet is made of grass, but no colorful confetti this time. When Denise graduated two years ago, I can remember that there were even candies on the stage floor which overflowed to almost the first row of seats of the graduates. After that ceremony, the townspeople collected the treats for their kids.

Our valedictorian is Aicelle which frustrates Ethan who only got second place. They are tied in combat abilities, but he lost to her in the examination proper. Al is in fourth place while Cara is in sixth. I, on the other hand, am on the tenth, tied up with Demetrio. The only reason I got in is because of my high score on the written examinations. Both Senyor Pablo and Master Deborah warned me not to use any of the skills they taught me, so that left me with only my potion and my average ability to use wind and rain. Thankfully, though, I can use my transportation magic, which is a lot faster now. 

That would be a relief to Senyor Pablo because that means I can join Benia’s Scepter selection, since only the top ten graduates this year and the previous years, since Master Orson’s selection, can join it. It’s been a few decades since then, which means Cara and Aicelle will go up against the much more experienced mages.

Then the Scepter invitations, from different nations, for the Marahuyo mages are read. Ethan got four, followed by Aicelle and Al with two. Cara has one. Then my name is called when they read the names of the mages invited to join Caltra’s Scepter selection.

I look up. Is this also Senyor Pablo’s doing? The announcer mentions that Caltra’s selection will happen a few months after Benia's Selection. Is it not a coincidence that both Caltra and Benia will hold their Scepter selection within the same decade? I frown. Somehow, it leaves an unpleasant taste on my mouth.

Then, the top ten mages of the year are called to the stage. No one’s smiling, not even Ethan, who’s still unhappy about getting second place. In my previous timeline, he gets the first place even without realizing his ability to gather the power of the ocean waves. However, it frustrates him that not one invitation came for him back then. It might be his luck when the Scepter selection for Benia opens up for the male mages.

Once we're back to our chairs, I turn to find Olivia. She’s crying and makes a flying kiss towards the five of us. Then my eyes travel and realize that I did not invite anyone else, not even Aaron or Senyor Pablo. Somehow, I don’t want them to come here where there is a killer on the move. And after what Ethan told me about Senyor Pablo, I’m not sure how I’ll be able to bring it up to him. Damn. I just want this ceremony to end already.

Suddenly, the late afternoon sky lights up and before we hear the thunder that comes with it, we smell the burning wood and feel the heat of fire behind us. People scream and run but the mages go in the opposite direction. The library is burning and I watch Olivia kneel before the fire. I get it, it’s too late to save. The lightning hits the roof of the library and the fire spreads like wildfire inside. The books, I’m certain, are on flames already.

“s**t,” Aicelle curses as she stands beside me. She’s not moving even if she has the power to extinguish it. 

Cara shares the same sentiment as me as she screams, “Aicelle! Help Al with it!”

In surprise, tears fall on Aicelle’s cheeks. “That’s not natural lightning,” she whispers and then turns to Ethan.

He might have understood it because he grumbles, “Curses!” and then runs to the burning library.

“Wait, Ethan!” Cara follows after him as he drenches himself in water with his blessing.

I watch Aicelle drags herself towards Al and touches his shoulders to stop him. She shakes her head and says something to him. Al’s shoulders droop and they hug each other. What’s happening? I look for any teachers and the same as Aicelle, they have a tragic look on their faces. 

That’s when I realized what’s happening. I look for Demetrio. He’s nowhere to be found. He’s not there even when I received my tenth placer recognition. I study the holes in the roof. Not only one lightning pierced it, multiple strikes caused its collapse. 

It’s a blessing Retrogress. It happens when a mage, who’s used a huge amount of blessing, suddenly cannot use that much blessing anymore. Or if the mage overuses his blessing and the continuous maximum output causes the blessing to destroy its vessel due to the limit that a mage body can handle. In this case, since Demetrio has lightning, it manifests into this. Once the first lightning appears, it’s already too late. All we can do is to wait for it to complete its course as it eats up Demetrio’s life.

To be continued...