Jaux Ballad has always wanted to enter the realm of magic, but could not do so by regular means. In his desperation to become a magician he finds himself with more power, and more trouble, than he could ever have imagined.

*=+=*=+=*=+=*

Helsfur woke up back at the Lyceum. Her body was painfully sore, so it was difficult to move anything. Hawkshire was in the process of healing her wounds. Blood was coughed through her mouth as she tried to mutter, "Rictor, I'm glad you're safe."

"Don't speak, Arkela," said Hawkshire. "I'm still not finished tending to your injuries. But... thank you, I would not be here if it weren't for you."

Helsfur chuckled, but otherwise kept quiet as instructed. A sheer pink haze flowed out of Hawkshire's staff and over her body. Her puncture wounds began to seal up, bones set back into place, and organs puffed back into position. The healing process took two hours, then she immediately rolled out of the bed and conjured a new set of robes to wear. "Recent status?"

Hawkshire pulled a folded piece of parchment out from his robe. "The dark sky has been confirmed to be a global calamity. Vampires, Oni, Wraiths, and Ghouls have been active and invading most towns and villages. To retaliate, volunteer expert and ace class students have been divided into teams and dispatched to as many neighboring settlements as possible. They are to provide light, heat, and magical defense. The High Priestess of Bright Noon has left us with a description of the deity threat, before she returned to Veilflower."

Helsfur's brow arched up. "The priestess knew Theema?"

"Not precisely," said Hawkshire. "The High Priestess's God indirectly provided the information by forging a stone tablet for us. We have it in the administration meeting room."

Helsfur finished dressing, so she started to head towards the door. "Give me a summary of the tablet." she said.

"Theema's natural tragedy magic revokes all white light in an enormous area," he said. "That is what we are currently experiencing."

"Did the tablet mention why she's doing this?" Helsfur asked.

Hawkshire nodded. "Yes, in Curahge, a band of paladins, who fought exclusively against all spirits, came and eradicated all of her followers..."

=+=+=

Six hundred and ninety-two years ago...

Temir gazed up at the smoking temple. Corpses of devoted disciples littered across the ground, while the stink of burning organs poisoned the atmosphere. There were still distant shouts and screams as the Cooleur Curahge hunted down the last runaways.

The High Priestess of Light's Cowardice knelt on the floor. Two other paladins were holding her down by her shoulders. She stared angrily into Temir's eyes as she spoke, "You have angered the glorious goddess."

"Spirits are a plague," said Temir. "There is nothing to be gained from interacting with them. Our company only wishes to eradicate all possibilities of their corruption, for the good of all."

"Your hearts are stained darker than any demon, you are the true plague that tears at our virtue." said the High Priestess.

Temir snarled. He raised his war axe, which released vibrational hums. He brought the edge down over the priestess, and split her head into tow halves. Blood sprayed out like a red geyser.

The other two paladins backed away from the bloody body, one of them looked horrified. The blood splashed on their arms, and the axe was dangerously close to their hands.

"Watch out, will you?" one of the paladins shouted.

A brilliant violet flash surged from deep within the temple. A torrent of inky darkness stretched out through the temple walls, and ended right besides the three paladins. Temir turned his head just in time to see a glowing purple hand cover his face.

Theema raised Temir high into the air, then she crushed the man's face under her monstrous grip.

As the body fell, the sky started to grow dim. The moon and stars faded from existence, until the planet was hidden under a layer of black.

The glow from Theema's arm was one of the few things lighting up the night. It streaked and teleported through the darkness as Theema struck down every paladin in sight. No one could defend against the violent rage of the dark deity. More blood poured into the smelly soil. A swamp of the dead formed beneath the goddess's feet.

Minutes later, thirty-eight paladins had joined the sheet of corpses.

Theema's time was up, so she returned to Light's Cowardice.

=+=+=

"The darkness over the mortal realm has lifted," said a long and scaly serpent deity.

The cracks in the stone-skinned goddess began to glow red. "Well, what caused it?!" she demanded.

Senkreig, a god with red hair, opened his palm to reveal a globe of foggy energy. "It came from this strange realm. It's large, but as empty as pure void. There's a single powerful deity resting within it. The mere presence of the deity was what caused the entire mortal realm of Vanasia to be consumed by shadow. The deity's magic was able to overwhelm all white light."

"The deity must not be allowed to return to the mortal realm." said the stony goddess.

"Agreed," said Senkreig, "we must form a magic star and seal that deity behind a dimensional blockade."

"No need to be rash," said the serpent deity, "perhaps we can talk to this darkness deity."

"Too risky, Nelt," said the stone goddess. "But, if you insist, you will have to go alone..."

=+=+=

Present day...

Helsfur scoffed with disbelief. "Dimensional blockade? I've never heard of such a thing."

"The three deities were heat and light based," said Hawkshire. "They essentially created a barrier made from a mythical star. Passing through Theema's dimension requires crossing a magical blaze barrier, which is designed so that it instantly kills her body. Every attempt to reach our realm would just force her to reform back home."

"Harsh, can't say I can blame her for being angry." said Helsfur.

"Empathy aside, her darkness is killing the planet." said Hawkshire.

"I know, I'm just saying," she said. "Any ideas how she made it through, or why she's able to stay for so long?"

"Theema can absorb and duplicate spirit abilities," he said. "She lashed out and defeated Nelt with that power, which was what finalized the decision to seal her away. Miss Ballad had been acting as a soul collector. She got her hands on Bright Noon's revival immortality, which allowed Theema to pass through the dimensional blockade. The indefinite period of occupation is from one of the Five Dimensions ghosts that attacked the Lyceum last week."

"Was any plan of defeating Theema formed?" she asked.

"Unfortunately, no," said Hawkshire.

Helsfur sighed. "Lovely."

=+=+=

Frey rested her head on the meeting room table. Her arms acted as a makeshift pillow, and they were literally enchanted to feel softer. She was stuck in the room with seven other ace class magicians. They were kept in reserve because of their significant magical capability, so that Wenlia could send them out if any major catastrophe required attention.

Norman and Deledy sat nearby. They fiddled with their potions and trinkets in order to pass the time. The rest of the ace magicians were similarly bored.

It was hard for Frey to sleep. Every few minutes her eyes shot open, and she drummed her fingers against the table. Sitting and waiting felt like a pointless waste of time.

Suhara was missing, but the Lyceum didn't try to look for her. Frey resented the administration's inaction. She knew there wasn't any reliable way to reach Suhara, but it didn't ease her bitterness.

The distress beacon amulet worn by Suhara released a faint signal before becoming inactive. Numerous dimensional factors disrupted her final signal, so there wasn't an exact location to teleport to. At best, the beacon told everyone that she was alive when she mysteriously vanished from the mortal realm. Dimension retrievals were impossible without knowing which realm to extract from.

A few of the admins believed Suhara was responsible for letting Theema loose into the world. Helsfur opposed that idea with the evidence of the false memory and forged book. If Suhara was working against the world, there wouldn't be a need to deceive her regarding Theema's identity.

Although Wenlia attempted to directly break into whatever dimension Suhara was inside, she wasn't able to establish a functioning portal. The other end of her magic was always destroyed. She couldn't try too many times, since the Lyceum was reliant on dimensional gateways. Her dimensional magic was the best in the school.

=+=+=

The wraith's arm stretched forward. Its rubbery limb slithered around Desyi's ice wall, then the sharp talons clawed into bonfire. Upon contact, the flames died out, while frost blanketed over the blackened timber.

There were still other sources of light inside the village buildings, so sight wasn't completely cut off. The streets were filled with a dim red hue.

Desyi pushed out her hands, then her ice wall went flying forward into the wraith's lopsided face. The ice crunched into the wraith's fangs and toppled over the stretchy creature.

Both of the wraith's extendable arms wrapped tightly around the ice. Powerful constrictions shattered the wall into a cloud of gas and shards. The wraith's dramatically elongated jaw snapped together and crushed a piece of ice inside its mouth.

The wraith reopened its fanged mouth, then its neck stretched out to hurl its face towards Desyi.

Thump! The wraith's face collided with an invisible air barrier. Tricks materialized out from the atmosphere and dropped a large rock onto the wraith's head.

Desyi immediately bolted forward and charged the rock with her magenta magic. The rock glowed bright white with heat, causing the wraith to screech. Seconds later, the creature's wails stopped.

The wraith was dead. Soul deserted its body, leaving the rubbery limbs lifeless in the dirt.

Desyi winced and started to rub her arms. "I'm getting a bit sore, I think I might be experiencing some magic erosion," she said.

Tricks nodded grimly. "Alright, you focus on warming the villagers up, then. I'll go see if Fesie and the others got rid that vampire."

=+=+=

The Marlifa Lyceum rumbled, like an earthquake was shaking it around.

One of the teachers ran up to a large crystal ball and gazed into it. "We're under attack! A massive light beam is colliding against the front wall!"

A gigantic mass of silver chains was floating in the sky in front of the Lyceum. A huge turquoise beam fired out from inside the mass of chains. The beam only smashed against the Lyceum's magical fortification, but it was strong enough to unsettle the entire school.

The turquoise beam stopped briefly to reveal a gigantic stone halo buried under the silver chains.

Sound began to emit from the stone halo, "I am the Third. I have come to apprehend trespasser five hundred forty-four. Surrender immediately or be eradicated."