Magician

"That's enough! Do you have the strength to pass the test, mortal" There was definitely more respect in his voice. "You can take my weapon if you still need it."

But really, why would I need his weapon? I can change the fabric of a dream as well as he does, which means I can create even a staff, even a sword, even a howitzer-if I had enough imagination. Well, isn't he an idiot?

"I don't think it's necessary anymore," I tell him and smile. "But thanks for the fight. It was educational."

"May your deeds be glorious, mortal" The spirit of Valor guided me, and I turned around and went to the Mouse, who was patiently waiting for me.

Chapter 1.2 The battle with the demon.

"Did you have fun there" with a hint of envy, he said when I came out onto the path.

"And who's stopping you from having fun as well?" I chuckled.

"Are you kidding? What if I get killed?"

"And if not? If you don't check, you won't know."

Mouse didn't answer. Maybe he wanted to, but he was prevented — a large wolf literally materialized out of thin air and jumped right at me. I practically reflexively charged him with lightning. The wolf howled, but did not hurry to disappear into thin air. The lightning knocked him back, and landing on all fours, he bared his teeth and growled, preparing for another attack.

"Not enough?" I asked. "Get some more!"

Dodged, you parasite! It's from lightning! Although I remember myself, not so long ago... Actually, why do I work so monotonously? Do we have a dream here or where?

Dust flew into the air as a real air vortex swirled around me. It turns out that I did it just in time — another wolf crept up from the rear completely silently. Mouse, you brute, at least squeak! Grabbing both mutts with a telekinetic grip, I lifted them into the air, strangled them, and, after getting hot, sent them for a walk over the local horizon. The third and last wolf was greeted by lightning in the Macedonian way and died safely, that is, dispersed without additional problems.

I removed the vortex, or rather, replaced it with a force shield around me. It can be seen better, reliability is not worse. Gloomily looking at the Mouse, to which he did not react at all, I wondered whether it was worth moving to the demon of idleness, which was supposed to be waiting for us at the end of the path. In theory, I'm neither hot nor cold with him — it's the game character's exp that broke off, the Mouse got a new look, but I don't care if it's flattened. Although it was necessary to complete this quest in order for a demon to appear and be killed, it was in the game. So I turned around and walked back.

Unlike in the game, as soon as I entered the clearing, the demon jumped out of the ground. Although why how? He emerged from the ground, a lump of lava with two clawed hands, blazing with heat. It looks disgusting, to be honest. By the way... It's only now that I've realized that according to the classification of demons, anger demons are kind of relatively brainless. And this one, I remember, not only talked, but also hinted at a deal with the Mouse. Interesting pies.

We didn't have a conversation. The demon silently tore towards me, and several more Visps materialized around the edges of the clearing. I thought of protecting myself in time.

"Catch the axe!" I shout to the demon and send a wave of cold in his direction. The Visps, meanwhile, attack me with their lightning bolts, but to no avail — they shatter against invisible defenses. I keep pushing — the demon is moving slower, obviously cooling down, and when it almost reaches me, I make a giant jump in the Jedi style, with a flip over my head, and materialize in the air... No, not the block of ice that I was originally thinking about, but a couple hundred liters of liquid nitrogen. The effect is almost instantaneous — a cloud of gas swells on the ground, from which a scream can be heard, and I land on the sidelines, dealing with visps literally with an effort of thought.

The dissipated cloud showed what had previously been a demon of wrath — a piece of cloudy ice, roughly repeating the shape of this very demon.

"Hasta la vista, baby," I say, twitching the bolt of an imaginary shotgun and the statue shatters into pieces. All or not yet?

"You did it! It really worked out!" The Mouse is already screaming in human form. I wonder where he disappeared during the battle?

"Yeah, it worked," I nod. "So you don't have to pretend to be a hose anymore."

"By whom?" Mouse's voice is full of perplexity.

"I know who you are." I speak, preparing to arrange a local Apocalypse.

"That's how it is," Mouse says in a different voice... No, not a Mouse anymore. The appearance of a magician's apprentice slips off him when the demon of Pride takes on his real form — the form of a five-meter monster. "And when did you find out about it?"

"I knew it from the beginning," is it attacking or not? I don't feel like testing my abilities on him — now I can feel the aura of power around the demon very clearly and I'm not sure I can handle it. Running away might still be possible. Hey, what am I thinking, it's a dream. It's a dream, isn't it?

"A clever little magician," oddly enough, this is said without mockery. "Bold and cunning. There's something else about you... But just what? It will be interesting to follow you. But for now, goodbye!"

And it throws me out of the dream.

Chapter 2.1 The Circle of Magicians

It's the others who won't fit in, but mine will! Look!

Practical application of synergetics

It's a pity that the dream ended, I was hoping for a continuation. With these thoughts, I opened my eyes and stared at the low wooden ceiling.

Wait a minute. What the hell? When did I get a wooden ceiling in my apartment? And one that you can knock your head on? Turning my head, I realize that this is not a ceiling, but just the second tier of a bunk bed... which I've never had either. I have an ottoman, not a bed. What's happening?

"Alim?" a body dressed in a patterned robe obscured the field of vision. Who the hell is this?

"Alim? Are you all right?" Say something, please..." I stared wildly at the guy in the bathrobe, who was clearly addressing me. He reminded me painfully of someone... and I absolutely didn't want to think about who exactly. No. Not happening.

"Jovan?!" all the same, I said the name, abruptly jumping out of bed and naturally hitting the edge of her second tier. "Yours!.."

"It's great that you're okay!" Jovan, the apprentice magician from the Age of the Dragon game, who was standing right in front of me and looked extremely convincing, chattered. You were brought in this morning. I didn't even realize you'd been out all night.

"Jovan..." I repeated stupidly. Maybe I'm still dreaming after all? However, the aching abrasion on his head clearly proved that this was not the case. There is pain in a dream, but not so acute. And the blood never flows there. In any case, I've never met anyone like that.

And the guy kept talking like a nightingale, remembering some rumors, asking me questions and immediately answering them on his own. I blinked slowly, took my hand away from the abrasion, and tugged at my earlobe. Painfully.

"Is it really dangerous? What does it look like?" Jovan blurted out and stared at me.

"It kind of sucks..." I said, still distantly. There was something wrong with my ear. Definitely. Mirror. I need a mirror.

Somehow I knew there was a mirror nearby. He even knew where exactly. Get out of bed, not listening to a strange dude in a bathrobe, carefully walk around two girls in similar robes... They're robes, you idiot... turn into a corner and look in the mirror, standing on something like a dressing table.

It wasn't my face. But it was very familiar. And no wonder — I sculpted it myself not so long ago, creating the appearance of my new hero. And there's nothing strange about my ears — the ears are like ears, the most ordinary... The elves... A brunette elf with short hair and wild purple eyes. Kill yourself with a slipper.

"Surana! What's the matter with you!" Jovan's voice broke through his thoughts.

"There's nothing wrong with me. It's just an idiot's dream come true", I answered absolutely honestly, continuing to stare at the mirror. And then something strange happened. With some habitual movement, I ran my fingers over the abrasion on my forehead, after which it healed in just a couple of seconds. In the process, I only felt a slight burning sensation. Your mother.

"Well, yes, you're a magician now," the man who shouldn't exist muttered sourly. "You're going upstairs now, where the magicians live. And I'm going to stay here..."

A soft whisper came from behind the wall, which I nevertheless heard perfectly: "... that templar, Cullen, said that the Torture had never been so quick and clean..."

At the same time, I remembered this line from the game and realized that it was being uttered by a very real girl. Now, fuck it all, I'm the main character of a computer game that suddenly became reality. But reality differs from the game in that the hitpoints, if anything, will knock me out. And these will not be some abstract numbers, but my own blood, flesh and bones. I got it. For real and in every sense.

Jovan continued to babble, as did the others present, whose presence I only now realized. Reality brazenly caught the eye, showing itself in all those minute details that do not happen in a dream. Light, sounds, smells, vibration of the floor, skin feeling of air currents and roughness of fabric... It was all so fucking convincingly REAL. Like a recent pain.

And suddenly I calmed down. Just because it was pointless to whine and scream. They won't understand. If I really got into the world of the game, I will be considered possessed, and the conversation with them is short. The only consolation is that I know the plot. And it may very well be that all upcoming events will repeat it. Then I have a non-acidic chance of survival, and maybe not only that. Besides, I'm a magician. Am I a magician? A quick glance at one of the bottles on the table confirmed my thought. Levitating objects, though, was more difficult than in the recent dream... that is, Fade, but it worked quite well. So everything else can work. So, I'm a magician. Cool. I'm also an elf, and that's not so cool anymore. Yes, of course, elven hearing, eyesight, and all that... But in the world of the `Age of the Dragon,' elves are a second-class race. No long life for you, no freedom of movement... Often, even beggars live in better conditions. Unless the Dalish settle separately from humans, which partially saves them. However, it should be easier for an elf mage. Although no one likes magicians here either. Especially the Templars. Well, fuck them... canned food is walking.

"Okay, I won't waste your time." Jovan says resentfully, clearly not getting the right reaction from me with his chatter. I was actually asked to tell you to come to Irving's as soon as you wake up.

"I will," I nod, glancing at the mirror again. Alas, no changes. It reflected the same physiognomy, the surrounding environment, despite my efforts, was in no hurry to disappear, as befits a dreamy vision, and instead of waking up on the couch or at least in an armchair in front of the computer, I continued to stand in front of the mirror, staring into it and feeling like some kind of idiot. like a suicide bomber.

I'll have to get used to the idea that I'm probably here for a long time. Or even permanently. Forever is bad. I don't want it for good. And I don't want to stay long, but who's asking me? If that's the case, we'll get used to the situation. An inspection of this very environment revealed the following — the nook in which I was now was clearly an analogue of the bathroom in the dorm. At the far end from me, there were several tin-looking troughs separated from each other by screens. There was also a toilet, and not in the form of any holes in the floor, but quite convenient. The dressing tables, one of which was occupied by me, a girl was tidying herself up at another, the rest were empty. This led me to believe that gender separation is not practiced here. I wonder how they deal with the consequences then...

When I finally got away from the mirror, I went back to... the bedroom? A dorm? The barracks? The dog knows her, to be honest. None of the names really fit -there were bunk beds in the center of the great hall, of course, but there were also cabinets with books and scrolls, work tables along the walls, and not far from me I saw something more interesting. A couple of tables with chessboards painted on them... or not chess, because the boards were stock-celled. Another one had a large sheet of paper or parchment with a bunch of mysterious lines drawn on it. There were black and white chips on the sheet, and a stack of cards next to it. It's also some kind of game. Magicians don't live so drearily, it seems. Although being trapped in a tower for the rest of your life should still be no fun.

So, they shook themselves up. By the way, there's a whole First Wizard waiting for me. And it's best not to keep him waiting too long. It's still a reality, no matter how much I would like the opposite, and the loss of time can lead to trouble. So I opened the door to the hallway and walked out... Well, let them be barracks.

And the ceilings here are high... If the corridor had been a little wider, it would have been possible to launch the dragons. Yeah, when you look at it from the player's side, you don't notice all these little things. But being a character... Okay, that's a bad idea. I don't want to be a character. I want to be myself. It's better to have a real world with real dangers, but at least I'll be myself, not a puppet.

I think I went the wrong way, because two hefty metal doors blocked the way. As far as I remember, there is an exit from the tower behind them. With some effort, I pushed one aside and peered into the room behind them. Patterned grilles enclosing part of the hall, a couple of tables along the wall with the already familiar "chess" and two templars at the huge heavy entrance gates. I don't think I'm going to run this way, if anything happens.

"And you've heard about the student they want..." It came to my ears.

"Hush!" The second templar hissed, clearly hearing the creaking of the doors. "What do you want here?" and that's for me.

"Nothing," I turn on the fool. "I wanted to see how valiantly you are doing your hard work."

"Get out of here while you're safe!" he barks.

Touchy-feely, eh? Maybe I should give him a dirty trick. Having considered the idea, I recognize it as worthless — it will be too obvious. And it's not safe. Anyway, I just showed up here, and I'm already trying to bully the Templars. Have you lost your mind from stress?