An Anti-Hero's Origin

The Failures of Evander

^^ Hobgoblins ^^

Unlike the ruined exterior of the tower would lead you to believe, the Lift rose smoothly, the Conjuration Rune carved into the top portion of the Cage lifting the entire system at a steady pace. The whole tower was barely forty meters tall, having only three above-ground levels and one of those being the Grand Hall, so it was not a long ride; only perhaps a minute or so. When the Lift stopped, I took a moment to scan the room with my Mana Sense, then another to sketch the Rune from the Lift; used properly, it would allow me to fly with impunity, not just leaping through portals and falling with style, so I was more interested in that than most anything else here at the moment. The elevator shaft went up one further, but I decided that it probably went to the roof, given the height remaining of the tower.

Opening the grate revealed a small room covered in silver, running in cords and lines down from the massive crystal embedded into the ceiling, some fifteen meters above me. A single chair sat in the center, populated only by a skeleton and staring with empty eye sockets at a glowing crystal plate in front of it, upon which was a drawing of the tower, marked with red at all the places there was apparent damage.

"If you're an Undead, I'd really appreciate a warning? I'm a flighty creature, I don't appreciate jump-scares, and I will legitimately destroy this place if a spider or skeleton moves towards me!" I warned the skeleton sternly, drawing my sword and pointing it at him while carefully examining the rest of the room.

"Well, we wouldn't want that, would we?" A voice came from the crystal stand in front of the skeleton, slightly distorted due to the cracks in the edges of the plate.

"... is this communication magic, or are you possessing a magic crystal?" I narrowed my eyes slowly at it, tracing the mana within to the crystal on the ceiling, as I'd expected.

"Sharp Eyes... but what else would I expect from a young Elven ArchMage with a Mana Sea bigger than my entire Tower? My name is Evander; you are within my Tower. You are trespassing."

"You're Evander Rockwell?" I hummed, deciding against correcting him, because he might have a way of blocking my Field Walk, as an ArchMage of Conjuration, and approached the crystal plate, examining the entire thing while waiting for him to answer.

"I notice you ignored my statement about trespassing."

"Dead people don't own property; I notice you didn't confirm your name." I fired back, touching the plate and flinching when the runes on the back lit up and changed the image on the surface, showing the front of the tower. "Illusion Runes..." the image went back to normal when I removed my hand, prompting another hum of interest.

"... Are all elves as Arrogant as you?"

"First: Racist. Second: Yes." I shrugged, pressing the room I was currently in and smiling at the view of myself, as well as the invisible human man standing near one side of the room. "Found you... I wonder how you survived this long, Evander? Are you a descendant of Rockwell? Or just some Conjuration Mage who found the way in like I did, and decided to claim the place?" I asked, looking up directly at his face.

The image showed him crossing his arms, but I sensed nothing, yet, not even with Mana Sight. "You couldn't be further from the Truth; ArchMage Rockwell was my Master, and I am indeed an Undead. I reside within the Crystal above your head, but that skeleton is of the late ArchMage Rockwell."

"Ahh... so you're, what, a novice Conjuration Mage? Intermediate?" I hummed, turning to view the skeleton.

"I am a Master of Conjuration, thank you very much!"