Astral Flow

Chapter 57

An uneasy silence fell over the arena as Eileen stood there awaiting her trial, though strangely Vonder wasn't the one testing her.

No one seemed to know who'd be conducting the test as everyone looked around, a bit curious as the kid remained in the center of the arena by herself, the wind blowing through the area being the only sound.

Just when she wanted to give up, the rhythmic tapping of footsteps followed by a wooden tap came echoing into the arena, likely from the same area that they'd first arrived.

Soon a figure emerged from the castle, an air of curiosity and discomfort filled the air as a figure who clearly didn't belong stepped into the arena.

He was a man who looked like he was ripped right from the real world, Lily could easily picture him walking the city streets... yet something about him didn't sit right with her.

His outfit was simple, black framed glasses sat snugly on his face, a long black raincoat covered most of his body, black dress pants and work boots could be seen towards the bottom of his outfit, along with this he seemed to be wearing some kind of black leather gloves, lastly and most strangely he had a black stained wooden cane with gold accents, however he didn't seem to be injured at all.

The man's appearance was also strange, pale ghostly white skin that looked like he'd never seen natural light, dark onyx eyes that were nearly pitch black, and an ever present plastic looking smile on his face.

"Well, I see the stage is all set then." His voice was soft, almost like a whisper as he spoke, it seemed slightly strained... yet it held more earnest kindness than the smile on his face. "I take it you're the little witch that Vonder wished to test?" He calmly asks while looking at Eileen who quickly backed up a bit.

"That's right." Vonder calls out without a care. "If anyone can gauge her abilities here... it'd be you." He says much to his own annoyance.

The strange man nods a bit before placing a hand over his heart. "Before we begin, allow me to introduce myself." He gives a rather exaggerated bow, though it clearly lightens the air a bit as Eileen doesn't look as scared. "Morgan Hadinson, at your service."

Eileen thinks for a moment before squeaking out her name. "Eileen... I'm Eileen."

Morgan stands upright once more, placing his cane in front of himself with his smile still present. "It's nice to meet you Eileen, now... I want you to hit me with your strongest spell."

Everyone begins murmuring as Eileen's eyes widen, her grip tightening a bit as she processes what he said. "Huh?"

"You heard me, I want you to attack me with everything you've got." He states nonchalantly, locking eyes with her. "Do not worry about me in the slightest, just give it everything you've got."

Eileen shook her head, absolutely terrified out of her mind as she backed up. "I can't, I really can't... no one would survive."

"That's what you think, but trust me, you've never seen what I'm capable of." Morgan says confidently, slowly raising his free hand. "Now, fire away when you're ready, I promise everything will be fine."

Eileen pauses and looks to Lily, seeking confirmation before she even considers letting her magic loose.

Lily slowly nods her head, eased on by Six's presence reassuring her that everything was indeed fine.

Quietly Eileen took a deep breath and backed up a bit, readying her staff in front of her while closing her eyes.

Then everything began to change.