The Magician's Journey

  I am deeply immersed in a shattered dream, surrounded by a sea of flames that mercilessly engulf me, igniting every inch of my skin. Beneath my feet is flowing lava, and Freya and Xiu are calling out to me from the distant shore, their eyes filled with tears. I weakly wave at them, wanting to swim towards them in the lava, but it slowly dissolves my body, filling my heart with sorrow. I am still young, there are many things I want to do, I don't want to die like this, but all I can do is watch as a grieving Xiu and Freya stare at me, watching as death cruelly devours my soul.

  Suddenly, I felt a chill all over my body. What's going on? Is it raining? Indeed, I found myself back in the small mountain village of my hometown. I was standing at the entrance of the village on a small road. That was where my father, mother, and Uncle Rock saw me off when I left to study magic with Master Ankala at the Magic Tower. Ah yes, Serin was also there, singing a song for me on that little hill by the side of the road... what were the lyrics again? I seem to have forgotten them already, but I still remember the sorrowful tune of the song she sang that day, and her tearful eyes.

  I lifted my head, and in the sky floated cool raindrops. Ah, it's raining, no wonder I felt a chill. I looked towards the village, but what I saw was desolation everywhere. The small village was filled with waist-deep weeds, not a single person in sight. Where did Father and the others go? My heart grew anxious as I ran towards the village. Not a soul, truly not a single person. Looking at this scene, the village had been deserted for a long time already.

  My heart is filled with confusion, what's going on? Turning a corner, it's my home. I stand outside the gate of the courtyard, feeling a mix of emotions. Dad, Mom, I'm back, where are you? The big wooden gate of the courtyard is worn out, and the wood seems to have rotted. With a gentle push, it makes an unpleasant sound. It seems like no one has been in the courtyard for a long time, and it looks very dilapidated. I walk into the room where my mother taught me to read every night, and there is thick dust everywhere. It's clear that no one has been here for a long time. The sunlight shines through the window, and only the dust particles dance happily in the air.

  What? It was just raining, when did the sun come out again? I walked out of my house and indeed saw the bright sunshine in the sky, warm and cozy on my skin.

  In the distance, a house stood alone with someone sitting on its edge, head buried in thought. Finally, I saw a person! I excitedly ran over and arrived at his side, saying: "Hello, I am magician Alik, who used to live in this village. Do you know what happened here? Where did all the villagers go?"

  The man raised his head and looked at me with a smile, I found out that he was actually Dabo! I exclaimed in surprise: "Dabo! How did you end up here? Where are the villagers?"

  Dabo smiled and said, "Villagers? They're all dead, great, they've come to keep me company. Look, it's lively, Yalik, you too, come keep me company, I'm so lonely." Dabo kept smiling, his face suddenly started rotting, piece by piece falling off in front of me, quickly turning into a skull. The skull was still smiling, the white jaw opening and closing, the empty eye sockets black and bottomless, but I could still see him looking at me.

  Dabo stood up, stretched out his two rotting hands, and walked towards me step by step. Behind him, I suddenly saw the villagers gathering together and walking towards me, their faces also rotting, they were laughing, laughing so hard that the flesh fell off like Dabo's, revealing rows of white bones. In that crowd, I saw my father, mother, and Uncle Locke, walking in the queue, smiling at me, step by step approaching me.

  Just as I was about to scream in shock, the scene before my eyes suddenly disappeared like being sucked into a black hole. The world was still pitch dark. Pain swept towards me, and my upper body felt like it was being gnawed by countless beasts, not an inch of skin that didn't hurt, but I couldn't let out a cry.

  In the darkness, I heard someone speaking. A woman's voice said: "Do you think he can still be saved? No matter what the cost, we must save him." Then there was a sound of sobbing.

  Another aged voice said, "I've done all I can. Alas, what a pity for such a genius. If not for this incident, his future achievements would surely surpass mine. For now, his condition is stable, and the effect of our healing magic can only go so far. Whether he wakes up or not depends on him now."

  Another girl burst into loud sobs, and a gentle voice softly comforted her, seemingly saying: "Don't worry, there will be a way." The girl cried for a long time, sobbing and saying: "What can we do? In his state, even if he wakes up, can he accept his situation?"

  "That old voice said earlier: 'Actually, the healing effect of the elf's magic is better than our profession. Why don't you send him to the Elf Forest to take a look? The Shaman God has decreed that this is his tribulation and also a test for him. There won't be any more ways here. I know that the Elf Kingdom has a Fountain of Life, which is very effective for healing. With your identity, maybe you can ask the Moon Temple to lend a hand. Perhaps the Moon Goddess may also have a way to cure him.'"

  The girl sighed and said, "Alas, it's all my fault. I'll do my best to cure him. Why must our family suffer such a tragic fate whenever we fall in love? When will this curse end? I shouldn't have fallen in love with him, I was selfish. Even though I've already left him, why can't I control myself when facing him?" The girl burst into tears.

  Who are they talking about? Where am I? What's going on? My mind became confused, endless fatigue rushed towards me, and I fell asleep again...

  When I came to again, I felt myself floating in water, this water seemed different from others, a powerful life force enveloped me, nourishing my body, I felt extremely comfortable all over, it had been a long time since I'd felt this way, so tired, ever since following Ankhara teacher on the path of magic, and after leaving the magic tower, I'd been constantly on the move, at this moment I suddenly felt particularly exhausted, not physically but spiritually, really wanting to go back home and have a good sleep, thinking, thinking, I fell asleep again...