Entry #4187: A Discarded Journal

Giulia Wu

​

6th of Faehio, 9740

            Turns out all those years at the academy might not go to waste after all. A man approached me at the store today. He was very obviously a wizard, with his robes and all, so I knew that whatever he wanted from me was bound to be interesting before he even uttered a word. 

 

            Apparently, he wants me to work on a top-secret project. Something to do with politics, I’m assuming, judging by his… arrogance. I know he thinks that the conflict with the druids is an all-important event that will decide the fate of the world, but under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t care to get involved at all. He told me that Headmaster Zeroth had recommended me to him specifically for this project, though, which means that this project requires my area of expertise. 

 

            I’m tired of letting all my skills go to waste on this normal human job. 

 

            I said yes.

 

            Tomorrow, I’m meeting him at the Ginivon Tower, where I am to be debriefed. I’d better acquire some new robes with the money I’ve been saving up to save myself the embarrassment of having to show up in my old academy uniform. 

 

7th of Faehio, 9740

            This project is… more intriguing than I expected. It’ll be challenging work; I’m not sure anyone has ever been able to accomplish something quite like this—not of this scale, anyway. If I fail, though…

 

            It’s land theft with a sprinkle of murder and poaching, essentially. If this weren’t a government sanctioned project, I’d be imprisoned forever, and with good reason. Even a small mistake can cause many deaths.

 

            I’m sure everything will turn out fine, though. Even if I’m powerful enough to create something cohesive enough to cause damage, I’m sure they have a plan to keep it from harming anyone. 

 

            I’m sure anyone reading my rambling would think I’m terrified—I’m not. Well, I am a little, but my excitement far surpasses my fears. It’s just more helpful for me to jot down my anxieties, I suppose. But not only is this a huge opportunity career-wise for me, I also greatly look forward to working with magic at such an intellectual level again. Ever since I graduated from the academy, I haven’t really had to draw from all the knowledge I’ve gained over the years. This will be a true test of my skills.

 

45th of Faehio, 9740

            Finally, some progress. While we were brainstorming today, I got an idea that might just be what we need.

 

            Here’s the deal: Magic is essentially an exchange of energy. We wizards are able to manifest the energy in more tangible ways, while the druids channel them directly into other living beings. Most of the time, we can draw enough energy from ourselves to cast our spells, but every spellcaster knows that a spell that uses an excessive amount of energy can kill us. 

 

            To stop that from happening, we usually draw energy from inanimate objects, destroying them in the process—we still expend some of our own energy, of course, but we wouldn’t kill ourselves if we use the correct materials.

 

            This process works on living beings as well. 

 

            Of course, it’s generally frowned upon, and no sane person would go around using sentient creatures as casting material, but the government does not mind a few casualties. After all, they’d need to clear any land they acquire of foliage and creatures anyway. Any other materials destroyed in this process can be replaced through transmutation.

 

            If this works, the wizards would be able to gain control of more territory without having to do any of the heavy lifting. We would truly gain superiority over the druids.

 

            Now, to make this plan a reality… 

 

16th of Fhoia, 9740

            This is bad.

 

            I don’t even know how I’m alive right now, but I guess I managed to stumble back to my house before passing out. This project is a horrible idea, and I never want to contribute even an inkling of a thought more to it.

 

            I should explain what happened.

 

            Using the seed of an oak tree, I made a siphon of sorts that saps the energy out of its surroundings. I’m still not entirely sure of its capabilities, as that was what we were supposed to test this morning. Based on whatever happened during the test, though, it seems to be a lot more powerful than any of us could’ve imagined. 

 

            Or maybe something just went horribly wrong. Or both.

 

            I haven’t gone out to assess the damage yet—I’m so exhausted that it feels like I’ve aged decades since this morning—but everyone around me was immediately annihilated, and from what I can see from my room, the entire Ginivon Tower has vanished.

 

            I guess that chamber they built was not enough to contain the magic.

 

17th of Fhoia, 9740

            Well, everyone’s gone except me.

 

            They couldn’t even find any bodies - I’m assuming the siphon vaporized them along with the tower. It’s a miracle I survived, but perhaps the Mage Shield I threw up was just powerful enough to counter the dark magic. I didn’t graduate at the top of my class for nothing, after all.

 

            They had the nerve to offer me an opportunity to continue this project, too, as if they were doing me a favor. Never again. If they want a weapon of mass destruction, that’s up to them. But I want no part in it.

 

            I’m going back to bed. Surviving the dark magic has taken its toll on me.

 

19th of Fhoia, 9740

            I’ve disposed of the seed in an unpopulated part of druidic land. Hopefully, no one will find it. Or maybe druids will stumble upon it and be able to banish it from this world once and for all.

 

29th of Ajdo, 9741

            I don’t know what I expected. Of course my problems wouldn’t go away that easily. 

 

            According to rumors, the seed has grown into a tree, which is obviously not ideal.

 

            But it gets worse.

 

            Its darkness has been spreading, leeching the energy and life out of anyone within its sphere of influence. Anyone who has been brave enough to approach was never heard from again. 

 

            And the government, of course, is choosing to take advantage of the situation and letting it sap away the druids’ land. Which would be fine, except that it will eventually reach us and we’ll die as well.

 

            I can’t let this go on. I have to find a way to fix this.

 

18th of Pioquon, 9741

            I’ve created a resistance group because, unsurprisingly, I can’t both fight against my government and try to find a solution for a potentially world-ending problem alone. A lot of people are interested, which is good for the cause, but I’m about the furthest from a people person one can be. And there’s also the fact that they absolutely cannot find out that I created the very object they’re trying to destroy, the one that is in the process of destroying the entire world. 

 

            So you can say that me leading this group is a horrible idea. But I don’t trust anyone else to do this correctly.

 

4th of Ihaefa, 9741

            This is it. Our only chance of survival.

 

            Everything that has been thrown at the tree has only made it stronger, and there’s only a small patch of untouched land left on this planet.

 

            But I think this might just work.

 

            I’ve managed to create an orb that holds light magic, hopefully enough to counter the tree’s dark magic. To deliver it to the center of the Darkness, I’m sending in a normal human. I know, it’s risky, but we’ve discovered that there is a direct relationship between how ferociously the tree pursues a being and how much magic they possess, so a human is more likely to survive the Darkness. 

 

            If this works… well, the world probably is not unsalvageable. The druids could cultivate the little bit of natural land that’s left. Slowly but surely, we’d be able to use magic to reconstruct the world. And of course, everyone would see me as a hero. 

 

            That is, if this works.