Stories from Paxsalam: The Orb of Wishes

Chapter 11: The Day has Come

My response to those words? "Please stab me."

Did I hear him right? That Claude has allowed me to join The Magician Games? Okay, I knew that I had improved in the past three years, but I didn't know that I had improved that much...

"No, this is not a dream." Claude answered, probably to make sure that I don't stab myself to make sure that I wasn't dreaming. "I'm really impressed by your performance back then, you did improve a lot over the last four years. Do you remember the first time you started? You were so horrible at almost everything, but today... You climbed the ladder man." He pated my shoulder, "That's already enough for someone to participate in the Magician Games."

I slammed my hands at the dinner table, and I started to scream at the top of my lungs,  "Oh yeah!" I cheered, " I can finally, in my whole life, get to participate in the Magician Games! Thank you brother! For giving me such an opportunity." I'm on the verge of shedding happy tears, all those intense trainings, had paid off! Wait... but there's one thing I need to ask about The Magician Games.

"Claude, what events are in The Magician Games?" I asked, "I'm sorry, but the events change every year and every time." Claude replied. "But, are they dangerous? Or lethal?" "Um... I won't answer that to make you even nervous..." Oh joy, I thought. "So, in conclusion, I'm just participating in a tournament, which I don't even know what it's about?" "It's the rules, sorry brother."

Now, I don't know that should I be excited or nervous by the fact that I will be participating in The Magician Games.

"But, don't worry." Claude said, "It's going to be alright." "I looked at him, "Is only knowing three positions enough?" I asked again. "It depends on the situation." Claude replied. So okay, maybe it won't be that bad. "And it's going to start in about a week." He added, "Don't get nervous, you'll pass." Well, that's comforting. On the bright side, maybe I can pass... But, what if I don't? All of the hard work, all my blood, sweat, tears and other body fluids, would be for nothing...

But Claude's right, don't overthink it.

I asked Claude do I still need to train to prepare, and he answered that of course I need to as it would be a challenge. In the next few days, I had repeated the same things over and over again; running through the trap-filled track, practicing my three Ice positions, teaching Chris the Indian Quarterback some new vocabularies.

The newspapers have some really chilling news these days, there's one incident that all the people in a really popular Chinese restaurant went missing, and there were piles of ashes all over the floor, and the police department had confirmed that those ashes were human... "What or who could have done this?" I whispered to Claude as we were reading the paper. "It's probably some dark magicians, or an aggressive creature." Claude replied, "I think I need to inform one of the Twelve Guardians about this incident." He mumbled.

I fell off my chair after Claude had finished. "Wait, Claude. Did you just mentioned, The Twelve Guardians?" I asked as I struggled to get back on my feet. "Yes, I did." I gasped for air, I felt the same excitement when Claude had revealed that I will be participating in the Magician Games. 

For your information, THE Twelve Guardians. They are a group of very powerful magicians, dedicated to protect the innocents, and to defeat any evildoers who poses a threat to society. Those guys are the heroes of the magician world, everyone (including me, of course) loves them, and I loved them even more when I realized that Claude, not some random Claude fellow, but my older brother Claude, is one of the Twelve Guardians.

"Anyways, Edward. I'll be heading over to the Chinese restaurant to investigate the incident with another member of the Twelve Guardians." Claude stood up, and collected his staff. "Good luck, brother." I said, Claude nodded and gave me a 'I got this' smile, and began to walk out from the room.