The Chronicles of a Scalebound Sage: Wandmaker Vol.2

WM [67] Chains Or Crowns

Bjorn's senses reeled as chaotic magic surged through the air, an oppressive cacophony of power that felt like knives scraping across his heightened awareness. His senses, usually attuned to the subtler flows of mana, were overwhelmed by the raw, untamed forces around him. The taste of magic, typically a soft undercurrent, now flooded his mouth like molten metal, searing his tongue with every breath. Each inhalation felt thick and acrid, a sharp bite of pure power.

Bjorn could only pick up bits and pieces of what the group was saying. They were talking exclusively in Muaian which Failsafe had not fully deciphered yet. He did pick out 'mana storm' given the overwhelming presence of magic in the air, Bjorn could only assume they were in the midst of one.

He turned his gaze toward the sky, where the storm churned like an angry ocean. The thick blanket of mana above writhed and contorted, an unstable force with no pattern, no reason. The land beyond their crystal barrier twisted in kind, the landscape bending in ways that defied all logic, as though reality itself was buckling under the pressure.

Then, the light show began. Flares of energy erupted from the storm, casting erratic pulses of color across the world below. The landscape began to shift, contort—mountains twisted like melting wax, rivers rerouted themselves, and the very air seemed to warp. A shiver of recognition jolted through Bjorn. The sensation was jarring, like déjà vu, but why did this feel so familiar?

The realization struck him like a bolt of lightning, and his heart lurched. This wasn't the first time he'd seen this—he had witnessed it before. Not in this life, it was in his previous life. As the group continued their conversation around him, his mind spun out of control, flashes of memories slamming into him like waves crashing against a rock. Fuyumi's face melted into someone he didn't recognize—an unfamiliar woman with raven-black hair, her features sharp and unyielding. Aurelius morphed into someone else entirely—a man with sharp eyes and a rugged face marred by a jagged scar. The name Martin surfaced unbidden, and with it, a torrent of memories.

Bjorn blinked, and in an instant, his hydra form was gone. He was human again, sitting around a fire, his old body as it had been all those years ago. Martin sat across from him, but he was older now, his youthful vibrancy replaced by the weight of hardship. His eyes had dulled, once bright with the innocence of childhood, now clouded with the shadows of what they'd lost. His head was shaved, and the brand of Nuriel—the mark of the angels—was burned deep into his neck. He looked nothing like the boy who had once led their childhood adventures, the boy whose laughter had filled the air as they explored the woods together.

The past and present twisted together. Now, Martin was a man who seemed twice his age, worn down by pain and loss. He was nineteen, but his face told a story of someone much older, someone who had aged before his time. His father, the town's magecrafter, had been killed when Hasmanuel struck, and since that day, Martin had never been the same. His spirit, once so full of life, had been extinguished by the fire of survival. He followed the will of the angels not out of loyalty, but out of a desperate need to cling to life in a world that had betrayed him.

"She sent us out here to die." Martin's angry voice reverberated in the storm. "Now is our time. She doesn't think we will make it back anyway. Let's find a way out."

The woman beside Martin spoke up, her name, Kireza, came to Bjorn's twisting mind.

"Shut your mouth, you know they are listening to us," Kireza said as she covered his mouth. "Do you know what she will do to us if they catch us? Don't speak blasphemies against the Ivory Lord!"

"They can't hear us here." Isin said as he stood. "Martin, you can find it right?"

"What are you talking about?" A second man said. "You should repent so we can continue our journey with the blessing of the Divines."