Mianitian Isles: The Rise of Darkness

Chapter 3

"Where are we?" Jordan asked. We ended up in a lush forest with cherry blossom trees and balls of lights flying around.

"Apparently, we ended up in the MIB Forest of Creativity. I haven't been here in years since I graduated from MIB. Even so, I didn't really enter the forest..." I replied.

"Same, never felt more creative in this forest. I prefer the Halls of the Bards, they have more inspiring stuff in them," Pheonix, a good companion of mine during our time in MIB, agreed.

"Well, hello Captain Mianite, Phoenix. It's a pleasure to see you back on the MIB school grounds. Oh, you two must be Mr Sparklez and E04K, I've been expecting you. Welcome to the Mianitian Institute of Bardery!" a White-Haired man with Red eyes many scars holding a Ukelele shocked us to death with his voice.

"Master Puipin!" Phoenix and I bowed.

"How many times do I have to say, Bards like me should not treat with as a being with authority!" reprimanded Puipin in the Bard Language.

(Cue Hawaiian music)

"You founded the School, so we treat you with the respect you deserve," I reasoned while walking towards the buildings.

"Earrape..."Phoenix muttered beside me, covering her ears. I understood and did the same as her, Puipin's singing is just...screaming stuff to all Bards except him, surprisingly it's not on non-bards...

"Huh? Is this the Poopin' guy? How the heck is his singing so good?"Jordan asked. "Puipin voice magic, no bard likes it," I replied.
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The Mianitian Institute of Bardery was founded by PuipinM. Some Bard Legends say that Puipin was descended from the Old Bards. The Old Bards were creatures of the Void, people of the Realm of Darkness. Due to an unknown cause, they were mostly eradicated. The last Old Bard fell in love with Dianite and they had a demigod child. Because she died after his birth, Treeanite was the one who raised the child during The War against Fenrir. The child grew in the Ways of Nature because of this arrangement.
PuipinM travelled around the Realms and studied the various cultures and arts of the universe born of Light and Dark. He founded the Institute to nurture people in philosophy, history, and their preferred unique preference of storytelling.
Every student of MIB has to take an oath of the Bards. After taking the oath, Puipin would convert them into bards using powerful Old Bard magic he inherited. One ability of Puipin bards is that they can use various forms of magic and are immune to the forms of magic they can use, save for necromancy. After 3 years at the university, groups of at the most 2 bards are sent out to record a new story to contribute to the university archives.
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Skip to when they arrive in Puipin's office

"Cap, Pheonix, both of you know the Old Bard relics we have in the relic room, right? The High Priest contacted me last week, the Gods believe that some of the relics could be used to enter the Realm of Darkness. You 4 were supposed to collect it today, but it vanished last night. We don't know what happened to the relics, but the thief clearly was able to kill Nidhogg with ease," Puipin told us.

"But...but 500 people have attempted to steal stuff from MIB, Nidhogg has killed them all with ease, how can he be killed?"

"We believe the killer used advanced Elemental magic to defeat Nidhogg. There are traces of electricity on his corpse and an unusual amount of water vapour in the surrounding air. We have found burnt marks around the place where Nidhogg fought him. We aren't sure if the burnt marks belong to Nidhogg's fire though."

"Wait, who's this Nidhogg?" 4K asked.

"Nidhogg is the Guardian of MIB. He is a child of The Realm of Lady Ianite and the brother of Jormungandr, the Midgard Dragon. Lady Ianite sent him to me when I opened the University, saying that he was trained to guard places, like how the Ender Dragons guard her realm. He was an excellent Guardian, until his death last night..." Puipin faltered in his explanation. 

"The point is that the thief is extremely powerful, but there are many questions that are unanswered. If the thief works for The Darkness, why steal them now? Elemental magic is hard to master, right?" I asked 4K. 4K is a wizard of the Wizard Order and has mastered All forms of Elemental Magic, Necromancy, Thaumaturgy, Runic Magic and Divination. He also can use most curses.

"Hmm, Mastering one element isn't that hard to master, but all elements is virtually impossible. As according to the Wizard Records, only Gandus and I have mastered all 4 elements. Few ever mastered Terra magic, Ignis magic follows, Aqua magic and Air magic has always been the easiest people could master. There are some runes that can imitate some types of Elemental magic, but it won't produce the same effect. Runic Magic conducts the magical meaning of the rune used. Elemental Magic is branched into 4 types: Terra, Ignis, Aqua and Air magic.  The result of the Elemental Magic used is relied on the Meaning of the Incantation and the Intent of the magic used. A rune could be used to summon fire, but Ignis magic is easier to control the fire summoned. Runic magic cannot be used to summon Electricity and lightning though. it has to be Air Magic," 4K explained.

'Wait, if Gandus can use all forms of Elemental magic and 3 forms of Elemental Magic were used to defeat Nidhogg, then isn't it obvious Gandus stole the Relics?" Jardon questioned.

"Not exactly. There are wizards who mastered two or three Elemental Magic. Only Air and Aqua magic has been confirmed that they were used defeating Nidhogg. The fire could have been from Nidhogg himself, so that's not confirmed," 4K replied.

"I think I can make the trail of magic produced by the thief visible, but I'm not an expert at magic tracing, so the spell may show Bard magic traces around the whole area." 

"I belive Mia and I have a device to help with your predicament," Pheonix said while taking out a few pairs of goggles.

"Oh, those goggles. We developed them for the Nidavellir Police Force. It isolates the magic its programmed to detect and shows the location the magic traces are," I explained.

To Be Continued in Chapter 6...