Magician's Deathwish

The Castle of Hysteryia

I wish I was never a part of this.

I have ALWAYS wanted to be a magician! I mean, I had the physique, the smarts, and the talent. I've practiced pretty much every day to be in the House of Endless Nights, and now...I can finally participate in the yearly qualifications!

"Hey! Centy, are you going to the qualifications today?" My friend, Palade (Pa-lay-d) said.

I haven't seen Palade recently, ever since he got into the Castle of Hysteria as a knight of the king, he's been the busiest person I know. It would be weird if I said I kind of miss the dude, yeah? He was always a pretty lanky dude though when he puts his armor on he looks pretty jacked. He's so obsessed with the armor that he never takes it off, literally. The only part of the body you see on him there is his blueish eyes.

"Yo! It's been a while dude," I said, raising my hand to do our usual basic high five and hug combo.

"It's been like a month! I missed you, goofy goober," Palade said, per usual just responding to my high five.

He was probably the only friend I knew and had when I was geeking out over magician fights. We were like peanut butter and jelly. He practiced sword fighting, and I practiced the magician arts. He had my back and I had his, though when we went out to the park we got bullied a lot by the jocks. 

"You're just going to die! The dungeon is the Magician's Deathwish!" 

"Right, you're going to be a Soul Knight! Only the elite of the elite get to be in there! Like you ever stand a chance"

That was all we had ever heard from those cocky kids that most likely ended up selling bullshit medication that just gives you diarrhea when you consume it. I believed most of their bullying until my father had proved everybody wrong. He had gone to the famous 12-man team, the "Scouts of Hysteria". The most powerful people that will ever go to the dungeon, the House of Endless Nights had been created for the sole purpose of finding what's at the bottom of the never-ending dungeon.

"Magician's Deathwish" It was always called that, always shifting, endless, and just an overall horrible experience for the one exploring it. It shifts its levels every day, but explorers had discovered there were repeating designs, a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 10 for stages. Every stage was said to be 4 miles in length and every level had a height as tall as a 2 story building. It's scientifically impossible, but I guess anything's possible if you put your mind to it.

"Right, but gonna answer your question real quick. Yeah, I'm gonna go to the qualifications, dude, imagine if I instantly get promoted to Scout?" I sarcastically said, completely disregarding my chances, fully expecting myself to flunk this.

But I've had 5 years of training for this, I am going to ace this, and I will. The qualifications only accept of-age magicians, for fresh and new talent. They might accept someone over the age of 30 but it's rare. 

"Hey don't bring yourself down too much," Palade said, patting me on the back with his very hard metallic hand, probably bruising my back. "Let's go to the checking area already." 

And that was a pretty rough start to my dream, yeah? We went through town, and some people congratulated Palade for becoming a knight, like the baker that always gave us bread when we never had money, her name was Joan. I always thought of her as my aunt, her daughter, Mildred always had a crush on Palade. Mildred was always a rough girl to deal with, and she always beat Palade in hand-to-hand combat.