The Wizard

Chapter 8 part 1

"Victory is reserved for those who are willing to pay the price."

Sun Tzu.

Igor made the portal open in his bedroom, where the probability of someone being there was almost nil and he was right, but his sensitivity to the flows of magic was enough to feel that Samuel had walked around there many times, perhaps having taken over the house by means of the ability to imitate his appearance. Just in case, he kept his personal barrier up and searched the residence. In the kitchen, he noticed that everything was very tidy and, by the dust on the table, the most likely thing is that no one appeared in the house for about a month.

He checked the time and concluded that there was a strong probability of being at college— maybe even with her, which came in handy. He decided to go there using the fastest way, that is, he disappeared from the kitchen of his house and reappeared at the university. However, when materializing in one of the toilets, he changed to another appearance that was that of a complete stranger, hoping to gain time, in case he came across the opponent. Behaving with the naturalness of any regular student, he went to the academic directory looking for her, but the place was empty and the campus was too big to do a review in rule. Thoughtful, he began to walk at random through the corridors, trying to imagine a way to find what he wanted. He turned a corner to go to the Living Center and bumped into someone, starting to apologize when he recognized Valdo.

"Valdinho!" he exclaimed, forgetting that he was in another appearance. "Dude, good to see you!"

The friend turned around, finding the voice familiar, but he had never seen the guy who had collided with him, a short man, almost emaciated, with hunched shoulders, a very wrinkled face and hidden by a huge pair of glasses with very thick lenses. Behind them, it was possible to see two small black eyes. Supporting the glasses, there was a hooked nose and very disproportionate to the size of the bony face, right on top of a mouth with fleshy lips and teeth full of gaps. He evaluated him from top to bottom and concluded that he was not in danger of being victimized by anything.

"Do I know you, man?" he asked, frowning.

"Wow, brother, but how do you not know me!" Igor was surprised by the comment, worried if the friend was under the influence of Samuel. "You were even going to be the godfather of my wedding—"

"Listen, citizen," said Valdo, somewhat irritated, "I don't know you from Adam, so there is no way to be your wedding godfather, if any girl will—"

"It's me, Valdinho, Igor," interrupted the friend. "I'm disguised, damn it. I had forgotten that."

"My God, Igor!" he exclaimed, hugging him, happy. "Dude, after you entered that weird hole, you never came back and Samuel, or whatever he is, returned and said he killed you. Heavens, man, how I cried, but I couldn't do anything because he threatened me badly."

"Where can we talk more comfortably?" asked the friend, increasingly worried. "I need information and help."

"Let's go to the parking lot," Valdo suggested. "Your car is there. I took care of it for you, but I used it all this time."

"No problem." Igor smiled. "Let's go there. At this time there should be no one."

The vehicle was parked under a small tree, but that provided a reasonable shade. Igor sat on the hood and looked at his friend.

"You want to know about her, I suppose," Valdo began, serious and apprehensive. "I fear that the news is not the best, Igor."

"What happened?" asked the wizard, feeling the blood freeze in his veins. "For God's sake, man, speak up. Is she okay?"