Chapter 108 - A Fire

Azriel visited Pendelok Palaios first among the people Charles introduced her to. It felt less burdensome for her to visit the Chamber of Magic than to visit the Duchy of Rudimna. She was very different from the wizards of the Chamber of Magic, but she was also a wizard anyway. The Chamber of Magic was the headquarters of the wizards hired by the kingdom and the magic research institution of the nation. The director of magic generally held an additional position as the chief court wizard and even served as a counsel of the king. She disclosed her name and waited at the lobby of the huge dome-shaped Chamber of Magic. Since it was her first time meeting an outstanding wizard besides Rhema, she was a little nervous and eager at the same time. Soon after, a boy in a cub wizard’s robe returned with a regrettable face.

“I’m sorry. The director of magic is not available at the moment. He went to the Aurora Society,” the boy explained.

“He went to the underground tower?” Azriel asked.

“Yes,” he answered.

“When is he coming back?”

“I’m not sure. He didn’t leave any note.”

Azriel considered coming back another day for a moment and decided to visit the tower herself since it was not far away. “Then, I will visit there. Thank you for letting me know.”

The weather was nice. Azriel headed to the underground tower as if she was taking a relaxing walk. The streets of Modjankle were peaceful as always. However, she could feel something was going wrong as she got closer to the underground tower. “…Fire?”

Heavy smoke was rising from the roofs. She saw lumpy, dark-colored smoke. She hurried her steps. Soon, she found the underground tower covered in smoke. People were busily taking stuff out of the building. She also spotted someone throwing out something that looked like a cabinet for files out the window. Azriel pulled a man who ran out of the building, holding a huge box. “Is there a fire underground?”

“Can’t you see it?” the man replied in frustration and tried to shake her off. She asked hastily. “Are there people inside? Is it a dangerous situation?”

“Why do you want to know in this…,” the man, who was about to lose his temper, suddenly changed the subject after looking at her robe. “Are you a wizard? Are you good at water-related magic? What about air-related?”

“Yes, I am. Do you need help?”

“Yes, we need lots of help. So, water or Air?”

“Both.”

“Both? You look young, but that’s amazing. You will see wizards if you go downstairs. You can join them.”

“Okay!”

“Thank you! I’ll repay later!”

Azriel could hear him shout behind her back as she ran. She went inside the building. The inside was mayhem. Several wizards in robes were inducing the flow of air. Thanks to them, the smoke that was surging up from underground went outside through the window instead of filling inside. Meanwhile, people were moving important objects and evacuating. The underground stairs were covered in black smoke, which made the inside almost invisible. She pushed her way through people and headed to the stairs. A wizard who was inducing the smoke tried to stop her and stopped.

“You can’t go insi… You are a wizard. Can you hold out in the smoke?” he asked.

“Yes. Are people putting out fire underneath?” Azriel asked.

“The president of the society is putting out the fire with mgic committee members. The director of magic is also assisting them. You’ll see them as soon as you go down.”

“Did everyone else come out?”

“Almost everyone came out but…,” the wizard had an ambiguous look on his face. “Anyway, if you can assist, please go ahead. We need as many hands as we can get.”

“I will. Esthera,” Azriel recited her spell as soon as she finished answering him. She wrapped her whole body with a shield barrier and stepped into the smoke. While going downstairs, she studied the flow of mana.

‘As expected. This is not a common fire.’