The Mage without a Tower: Escape from the Empire

The Mage Tower, the Centrepiece of Arcane Academia Every night, Selriph would find himself within its mystical walls. Shelves lined with tomes of the arcane, the very stone of the structure breathing with magical energy. A tranquil sanctuary for sorcerous pursuits. Unfortunately for him, the Holy Empire had long excised any place for his dream. Magic is scorned, chained to the machinations of the church.  Not that the noble Daryth family would even entertain such a notion. Their firstborn’s purpose: to worship steel and the divine.  Thus, when his magical inclinations were exposed, he found himself cast out to the Templar Order, to be corrected through service, grit and fervent devotion.  Selriph thought he could endure it: long hours of drills, sweat, blood, and toil. A staple he’d already grown accustomed to under his father’s oppressive gaze. He could not have been more wrong. The abuse turned the unyielding walls of the barracks into a living hell that seemed to spiral into eternity. For four years, he suffered. Today, it ends: a daring plan put into action.  However, a single slip-up would mean sharing the fate of the heretical—cast to oblivion in the embrace of a holy blaze.  Better that than to suffocate for eternity.  This tale chronicles his escape, one where he will have to muster his wits, the practised steel he inherited from his lineage and the nascent magical gifts that could bloom with the right nourishment.  After all, the imperial hounds that orchestrated his torment are the least of his worries. Fate itself seems bent on weaving a sardonic web of obstacles as he carves his path to the land beyond—a place where magic thrives, unshackled.  To the tower of his dreams. Arc 1: Escape from the Empire—300k words[Volume I—Complete] [Volume II—Complete] [Volume III—Ongoing] Arc 2: To be revealed[Volume IV *typing noises*] [Volume V: Outlined] [The backlog ever grows, 40+ chapters and rising!] Two chapters a week: Monday, 2230 UST, and Friday, 0930 UST.Ads designed by Spatuzzi Designs