Extra's Guide to Surviving a Dark Fantasy World-Chapter 87: Peak

Amongst everyone’s gazes, both Soren and I began following after Cyric, walking towards the training grounds.

"Uh... Lord Cyric. Please wait."

We were just about to step out when a voice called us out from behind. The three of us turned around simultaneously; only Cyric had an annoyed look on his face as he met his gaze with the professor who had just spoken.

"What do you want?" Cyric asked, causing the professor to slightly reel back.

"It’s, um, about the test results. I understand you have decided to take these two as your disciples, but they still need to go through the test. We need their results for the upcoming tests and not to mention-"

"There is no point, don’t worry about it." Cyric tersely answered before turning around and continuing to walk out of the Training ground.

"No, wait." The same professor called out again, causing Soren to pause and hesitate, not sure who to listen to.

Seeing him pause, Cyric turned around and hissed.

"Why are you stopping? Are you his disciple or mine?"

"I was just-" Soren tried to explain.

"If your master is saying he’ll take care of it, then the only thing you should do is say thank you. Now follow me."

Soren didn’t answer. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and followed him out of the exit.

Curic was silent throughout the entire journey, walking past tall fortified buildings and roads and toward the top of the mountain. We came face to face with some stairs, seemingly leading to the mountain’s peak in the middle of a forest.

Soren and I were completely speechless, looking at the sight in front of us. Cyric, however, didn’t react and began climbing up the stairs.

Soren and I exchanged a glance and started following him from behind. The path to the mountain’s peak was long, and the stairs didn’t seem to be going to end very soon. Yet we kept climbing, following behind our supposed master.

"How long till we get there?" I finally asked. It had been over half an hour since we had begun climbing, yet the top was nowhere in sight.

Cyric didn’t answer and continued walking forward.

It took us close to an hour before we finally reached the peak. Stepping over the final step, both me and Soren collapsed on the grass, our chest heaving in exhaustion. Thankfully, the wind arrays had been working properly. Otherwise, we would have long choked and run out of air, especially for the height we were at.

In the distance, we could see the figure of a small wooden cottage hidden among the clouds, surrounded by trees and a small lake.

"This is really the peak of the mountain," I mumbled with a sense of astonishment. "How the hell did the academy allow you to build a cottage on the mountain’s peak?" I immediately turned towards Cyric.

Looking at my questioning gaze, Cyric let out a short snort. "Allowed me? Who are they to tell me where to build my home on my own mountain?"

On your mountain? Both me and Soren looked at each other in surprise before slowly getting up.

"What do you mean your own mountain? I thought the mountain belonged to the academy?"

"The city down there belongs to the academy," Cyric replied. "The mountain is mine. I am only leasing it to them because my disciple requested it."

"Your disciple?"

Cyric nodded. "Mia Rhyden, your headmistress. She wanted to use the mountain for the academy, so I allowed it. By the way, if this goes well, she will become your senior, so make sure to greet her properly the next time you meet her."

Saying so, Cyric began walking towards the cottage, leaving us behind completely dumbfounded.

"Our academy is leasing this mountain from him, and our headmistress is our senior sister... This is a lot of information to swallow at once." Soren mumbled from my side; I nodded in agreement as well. Damn it, why hadn’t Uncle told me something this important.

"Are you coming or not? We don’t have the whole day." Cyric shouted from ahead, prompting both of us to get on our feet.

We slowly walked over to the cottage where Cyric stood waiting for us. "I need to speak with the two of you individually. You can then decide if you want to become my disciple." He spoke. "Which one of you want to go first."

Soren and I looked at each other; he gave me a slight nod and then stepped forward.

Cyric nodded as well and stepped inside the cottage, with Soren following behind. The door to the cottage slammed shut, leaving me behind alone on the mountain.

"Guess all I can do is wait," I spoke and sat down on the wooden steps. There was a reason why I didn’t want to go first. After everything that had happened, I decided to deviate so far from the plan. It would probably be a good idea if I took a few minutes and reorganized my thoughts.

Cyric was probably one of the strongest characters in the entire book, that was for sure. But did choosing him as my master negate the cost of associating with a trouble magnet like Soren?

Despite what Uncle Mordek believed, I had come to the academy to become stronger after all, and learning from Cyric was surely going to be helpful in achieving that.

One thing was for certain, however. Going forward, I couldn’t rely on my plans anymore. It had been two days since I had gotten here and all my plans had done was fail in my face.

From now on, whatever happens, I need to be flexible. My plans needed to be shaped in a way that would be altered at a moment’s notice.

Time passed as I sat quietly on the steps, thinking and waiting until eventually.

The door swung to its side as Soren slowly walked out from inside with his eyes narrowed.

Just what the hell had happened in there? I was about to ask when Cyric called for me from inside.

"Roye, come on in."