WE’RE BACK!
Our discussion and news thread: https://prodigy-game-fanon.fandom.com/wiki/Thread:1030
Hi! Welcome to my fanfiction. I made this tabber because my thumbs still hurt from scrolling through Forged by Obsidian(It’s pretty good- check it out!). Here will be announcements, author notes, and misc. garbage.
Author’s Note 1: While the characters holds many similarities with many existing Prodigy accounts, they do NOT represent how they act, or how I think they act. They protagonist is NOT a self-insert. Please do not take his actions as things I want to do, or I things I would do.
Author’s Note 2: I reserve the right to change each chapter BEFORE the next chapter comes out. Afterwards, I’ll try not too.
So... announcements have their own tab now. And this week, there won’t be any new chapter because I’m I spent my time rewriting chapter 1 and editing it like a competent person... Though I’ll promise two chapters for next week for some reason.
RobTheBobert, 4:52 PM, 4/19/2019 EST
RobTheBobert, 2:26 PM, 4/9/2019 EST
Deep in the Northern Mountains, about two hundred years ago
A man walked through a hall of ice. He removed his magenta hat, letting it fall to the ground. A small ‘’hiss’’ escaped it as the magical spark met the floor. His flaming red hair reflected off the ice, fireballs ricochetting across the room.
He grinned. It wasn’t the clever smirk of youth, it wasn’t the weak grimace of the reluctant, nor was it the kind smile of the charitable, even though he had once been all of them, and was no longer any of them. It was simply maniacal. Destructive. A boy killing ants with a magnifying glass.
He remembered the weeks leading up to this. The betrayal by the Order, the battle at the gates of Lamplight after his break-in. But he had gotten what he had came for. The man laughed, thinking of charred bones, frozen blood, and drowned enemies.
He looked back outside the room. How many had he killed, had he maimed, had he crushed, to get here, to this place? The children who had mocked him. The teachers who had looked down at him. The Hunters who had hated him. The hundreds of yetis who never foresaw him.
They would be here any moment now. They would want him to die. Would he fade? Would he be consigned to the history textbooks? He didn’t come here for any specific reason. He never did anything for any specific reason. He just did it.
He searched for a reason. Maybe not reason exactly… maybe purpose. That was what he had always been looking for. Meaning in the chaos that was the destructive debauchery he lived in.
What was it all for, rending the flesh of his victims with the fire cast from the bones of their children? That was it… wasn’t it? He realized it. He was a prophet. A messiah of fiery death. He would die, but a thousand more mass murderers would rise in his name.
This would be the capstone of his life. He was here, at the perfect location. The fire mage in the frozen mountain. Here… of all places. Where the secret for the island laid dormant. Powerful.
That would do it. Keep the prophecy asleep. Maybe he would even leave a map, for his disciples. He would pour his energy into one more spell. Be remembered, as the first of a new world order.
The sound of footsteps rattled through the hallways outside.
Lamplight Town, Now
“Behind you!” I cried towards Alan. He turned around, just in time to counter the sharp vine that had been shooting towards him. “The entire herd should be only threat class 50, you said,” he began sarcastically. “Do I really have to say ‘I told you so?’”
I shot a fireball at the Applepot trying to grapple me. “I said threat class 53!” I shot back, before dodging a large cluster of leaf darts. “I don’t care about your exactitudes!” He replied.
“Hey William, can you stop doing witty banter with my brother and perform leadership duties?!” Benjamin exclaimed. “Some of us ‘’like’’ teamwork, you know!” I cast another lightning bolt at the Applepot attacking me.
“Just getting used to being patrol captain,” I responded. I reached into my satchel, removing my Beastmaster Fang. With a flick of my wrist, I activated the weapon’s secondary power: launching animals into fits of mindless savagery.
“This should stop them from casting!” I yelled at my comrades. “That’s an improvement, at least!” An Applepot charged savagely at Travis, goring him on its horns. “Aaaaargh!” He screamed in agony. “I beg to differ, William!”
Benjamin punched him in the chest, releasing healing magic into the wound. “Where’s Joshua?!” Benjamin exclaimed. “Shouldn’t he be helping us?” Alan pointed towards a battle going on in the square.
The fifth member of our team was laughing megalomaniacally as he easily dispatched Applepots left and right. One attempted to pounce on him, but was casually launched out of eyesight. Another tried to burrow under him, but found that it had been captured in a tangle of burning stone pillars.
I sighed. “Joshua, stop showing off! “Get over here and help us!” A feral Applepot decided to launch itself at my head at that very moment. A ion beam shot across my shoulder from my wand, hitting it in the snout.
“Fine..” Joshua complained, as he flew over. “I’ll finish this.” Travis shot him an angry look. “You’re telling me you could have finished this the whole time!?” Joshua didn’t answer, simply tapping his boots with a relic ring.
He began stomping, causing cracks to form in the pavement. Across the square, Applepots fell into fissures, or where encased in earth. Alan made an annoyed expression. “I really hate that ‘’he’s’’ the one that gets a power boost when the laws of magic get re-written.”
Travis had began arguing with Joshua.
“You had that the whole time?!” Travis started yelling. “Why didn’t you just do that first?!” Joshua glared back. “Hey, at least I didn’t get immediately gored while I was distracted.” “That was your fault!” “I wasn’t there!”
They had just started raising their wands, when Alan ran over to push them apart. “Ok, Travis- don’t duel your patrol mate,” he told him. “Joshua, just because you couldn’t hex if your life depended on it before the Shift, you don’t have a right to go god complex when you start playing by a new set of rules. When we get back, you’ll have to see Oceandreamer.”
He groaned. Officer Oceandreamer was our official disciplinary officer.
“I’m just saying,” Travis paced around the room. “Joshua doesn’t want to work with any of us anymore. Gods, I somehow miss the time when he was so incompetent he had to ask us for help with everything.”
His blue eyes shined menacingly, as if they were windows showing the vast oceans of his soul. Of course, the waves crashed out of him every so often, giving him his reputation as the hothead water mage. I wrote down a few more details on my report. “You’re lucky he isn’t here to rudely interrupt your rant.”
“Eh. He can craft arguments about as well as my Shibu Inu.” Travis threw his Tidal Sphere in the air, before catching it again. “Alan, any new Pippit sightings recently?” Alan typed a few more words into his keyboard. “Not that I know of, no. The next catastrophe is probably on its way soon.”
Alan was usually the golden boy among us. Not as pessimistic as his brother, reckless as Travis, socially inept as Joshua, or as unwieldy as me. He was the kind of guy who we all assumed could do everything. I shrugged. “I’m not worried, it’ll probably happen during our next practice session.”
Travis laughed. “Good point. Anyway, while the buffoon is still gone, I’d like to say-” Benjamin ran into the room. “Crystal cleared him early! He’s coming, stop ranting Travis!” I stared at him, bewildered. His actions must have warranted at least ‘’some’’ punishment.
Abraham entered the room behind Benjamin. “You’re getting a new mission, and we need all hands on deck.” Abraham was a charmer, usually found wooing girlfriends with his shaggy hair and charcoal skin. We hadn’t thought those skills applied elsewhere, before he convinced our assignment director to promote him above us, to assignment director.
Travis glared at him. “We just got back from an emergency, and we get sent out on another one? What is this? The Seventh Wizard War?” Abraham glared back, as if it were some sort of contest. “Don’t engage me in your sophistry, Lightningboots. Your friend Benjamin here arranged you to get a special mission.”
Alan looked at Benjamin. “You should’ve ship asked us-” Benjamin stared back. “We’re paying 100,000 credits pr person for the job.” Alan sat back down. “Okay.”
Travis was about to speak up even after the mention of the price tag, but Benjamin shot daggers at him through his grey eyes. They were good representations of his cynical personality. Before Travis had the time to sharpen his own pair of daggers, Joshua entered.
Joshua had the kind of face that would disguise him in a crowd, while somehow being incredibly annoying up close. “Let’s just go, we’ll learn more when we get there.” I turned my head towards him. “You’re still on probation, though. And this is democracy, Joshua. You don’t get to decide for us.” I turned towards the rest of the peanut gallery. “Who’s in?”
My patrol and I walked towards the Oasis Museum. Besides being the most famous and expansive museums on the entire Island, it was also the home of the Oasis Institute of Natural Creatures’ archaeology college. It was renowned for its timeless marble architectural design and its extensive collection of artifacts and bones.
As we neared the door, a student ran towards us. “Hey Ben! Long time no see! This your patrol, right?” Nobody called Benjamin Ben. I froze for a second, before nodding, slightly minding that the patrol was considered Benjamin’s. “Professor Conway is expecting us on the second floor. C’mon, I’ll show you guys the way.” We muttered our thanks, and followed him inside the building.
The great hall of the Museum was a large and imposing room, with hundreds of ancient looking fossils and relics on display. The student who had let us in pointed towards a door on the left. We were directed up staircase behind it. “I’m Clark, by the way,” the student told us.
After we finished climbing the flight of stairs, a door opened in front of us, before a red fox leaned out of it. “Ah, Benjamin,” he said. “...and this is patrol,” He gestured for us to come in. “I’ve been expecting you.”
“I trust you‘ve already been acquainted with Mister Heroring, my protége here,” he said. “I am Professor Conway. Benjamin worked with us for a while, on an older project. He agreed to request his patrol to be assigned to this case.”
Inside the room, there were three other students and what appeared to be excavation table. The only things on top of it were a stack of papers and an odd looking faded purple hat.
“A few weeks ago, my other protége, Miss Alexandria Spelltalon here,” he gestured towards an aquamarine haired girl leaning against the wall. “Made an interesting discovery: a message, hidden within one of the possessions of the late fugitive Maverick Heavymask, better known by his sobriquet Mayhem.”
Alan and Joshua visibly shuddered. That would be most of the Island’s response to that name. “As you may know, nearly a hundred years ago, during the Sixth Wizarding War, Mayhem irrevocably changed the climate of a major population center: the Silverchill Mountain. As the following message shows, this may just be the tip of the iceberg, one who can still melt.”
“Miss Spelltalon, would you please re-do the honors?” Conway asked. The aquamarine haired girl casually pulled a wand out of her desert robe, and made a spinning and lifting motion with it. We waited for something to happen. Travis made a face. “Maybe it can only-”
Suddenly, the front of the battered purple hat lit into a flame. I gasped. “A flame construct!” Alexandria looked at me in surprise. Before she could continue, the construct began talking.
“This message is sent to the disciples of Mayhem, programmed to release when the correct wand sequence is cast.” The construct stated in a monotone. Suddenly, the construct morphed into the shape of a fiery headed man. “Hey there perps! I hid something on the Shiverchill that can help a lot of people here. Of course, the opposite is true as well. The magic will wear off in about one hundred years, so you better get there fast. There sure are some explosive results, otherwise. Here’s the key, and death the the goddamn island!”
Alexandria waved her wand at it again. “The rest is pretty much just expletives and psycho nonsense. The fire construct included a map though, after the message.” The construct changed shape again, this time into a transparent projection of a map. “We believe that the “something” he mentioned is a trigger that may reverse the climate change enchantment on the Mountain.”
Professor Conway removed an iron rune from his coat pocket. “This is the key we found inside the hat. This is why we’ve brought you here. We need your protection and assistance on an expedition into the Northern Mountains, specifically Shiverchill Mountain.”
“With all due respect,” Benjamin began. “If this mission is this important, why not send more Hunters? Why do you or your students need to come along? Wouldn’t it be safer for a Hunter-mounted expedition?”
Professor Conway gestured towards a mousy looking girl writing something in the back of the room. “Miss Lightningsteel, how long before the supposed magic wears off?” The girl began writing feverishly. “From my analysis of the dweomer, around one week.”
“Your inane bureaucracy prevented me from getting an official Black Fang task force. They told me to wait at least a month while they assemble their committees. However, Benjamin here agreed to bring your patrol.” Conway muttered. “Anyway, we still had to come along because the key uses outdated hex magic, which most people can’t use anymore.”
“Wait, aren’t you archaeologists? How do know so much about thaumaturgy?” Alan said. Conway sighed. “After the Shift in magic, OINC assembled every person who has even a slight knowledge of both archaeology and thaumaturgy and told us to start pioneering the study of outdated magic and its properties, since the Shift had also rewritten memory and paper. And this is it. Me and my four students.”
“The message said something about explosive results,” I said. “What does that mean?” “That, my good Captain, is precisely why we have to hurry. Long ago, the Shiverchill Mountain was a volcano. A highly powerful one. If Mayhem has re-activated it, well, it may kill at least a fourth of the Island’s population.”
We climbed off the wagon. “This is the last place the wagon can take us, I’m afraid,” Professor Conway said. “We’ll stop in the next town for supplies, before continuing on foot.”
I leaned in towards Clark, as we began the trek. “What’s up with Timothy?” I whispered to him. “He’s been gaming on his phone the entire time I’ve known him.” “He’s a trust fund baby,” he whispered back. “He got tutored in thaumaturgy and archaeology though, so we’re stuck with him.”
“Even worse, Conway isn’t allowed to actually teach him anything, since his family donates 200 million gold pieces to OINC every year.” I grimaced. “Then why did he come on this trip?” Clark grimaced back at me. “His parents want to rough him up a bit, so they’re sending him with us. He’s just not allowed to do anything. Not that any of us care.”
Soon, we saw a sign amidst the snowfall.
‘’’population: 2000’’’
“This mining town is the first stop on our journey,” Conway said, “We’ll be gathering supplies here, and it may be the last civilized place you’ll see for a while. I understand both the Oasis and the capital have quite temperate climates outside of Skywatch cycles, so many of you may not own winter equipment.”
Several minutes later, we began shopping. Conway had told us that he would buy food supplies for everyone, and it would be our job to buy magical protection in pairs, since relic rings were usually cheaper bought in bulk. We would meet in the town square after we were done. I had been assigned his student Alexandria as a partner.
Oakhurst was a popular springboard for mountaineering expeditions; and in consequence boasted some of the best available equipment anywhere. Conway had directed us to the Nearshade Emporium, so we walked briskly in that direction.
“Wow, nice!” I cried. “A Stasis Ring, in case of critical injuries.” I pointed out a
ice magic ring on display. Alexandria rolled her eyes. “Everybody has feather fall rings nowadays. The only critical injury we’re getting is hypothermia- the ice magic would progress the condition, homeopath.”
I rolled my eyes back at her. “I’m not even diluting anything in alcohol yet. Anyway, the ice thaumaturgist Richard Gearvault proved that stasis freezes the target’s state in time, not the body itself. If you don’t like my idea, being your own to the table.”
“Gearvault got convicted of fraud last year,” she stated simply. “How about this one- a Nearshade Ring: custom developed by the proprietor. It can stabilize the injured, and wake up the bearer if unconscious.”
“Oh c’mon!” I argued. “You can’t trust in non-Council sponsored magic items. We would be better off using something certified.” “Says the guy wearing that nice modified Inferno Ring, hypocrite.” I shot some nice modified knifes at her.
We continued back and forth for several minutes, before Alan and Clark walking into the shop. “Conway gave you enough money to buy two of each. You don’t need to argue.” Clark explained hastily. “Now, if you’re done, go wait in the square for everybody else.”
Alexandria and I glanced at each other. “Fine,” we muttered in unison.
We had been waiting at the square for a while, now with no sign of anybody but Alan and Clark, who had accompanied us there to ensure peace. Suddenly, a small boy ran out. “My great-grannie says she wants to see you.” He pointed at Alan.
Alan turned to look at me. “That’s not creepy at all.” The boy heard us, and skittered over. “My mommy says she’s a seeuh,” he exclaimed. Alan looked at me again. “A seer? They haven’t been seen since the last war!”
Seers were naturally gifted mages who had the power to tell the future. Most had been killed when the dragon Carcus had created a time knot through his mastery of psionics. Most people were afraid of them, including Alan.
“Do you want me to come with?” I asked Alan. “For support?” Alan nodded. “We’ll tell the others to wait for you when they come back. In any case, ‘’someone’’,” he glared at Alexandria. “Would like it better if William isn’t here, so you might as well go.” I grinned sarcastically at her. “The feeling is mutual.”
We followed the boy through a set of twisting alleys, before we arrived at a simple wood shack, hidden between two much larger buildings. When we knocked on the door, the boy’s mother answered the door. “She wants to see you in private. I don’t know why she wants her last words to be to strangers, but I’m not one to judge.”
Alan and I were directed to a room in the back of the hut. Unlike the rest of the hut, the walls were covered in purple glyphs, some of which I recognized as soundproofing runes and divination blocking runes, others which looked like the ramblings of a madman.
A short old woman lying on a bed was the only occupant. We cautiously walked in, trying our best to be subtle with each step. “I’m dying of paralysis! Get over here!” She croaked. I tried to back out. “Might as well bring your friend, too,” she screeched. Too late.
We moved as quickly as we could to her bedside. “My disease might blind me, but I see far farther than any of you can.” She muttered. “There have been and will be five great Prodigies who try to fight the Influence.” Prodigies were legendary figures, who could naturally cast spells of any element. Most people could only cast one element, or in my rare case, two. Was she about to predict something gravely important?
I woke up. I was in the same room as before, but now the markings were old and faded, and the bed was nowhere to be seen. Alan was still unconscious nearby. I took my Nearshade Ring out and placed it on his hand. I would never admit it to Alexandra, but it was quite useful.
He shook awake. “Wait, what just happened?” He looked around the room. “I had a weird dream, I was accompanying you to see a seer…” I told him. He looked at me as if I was crazy. “The same thing happened in my dream. Weird.”
As we walked back to the town square, we compared the experiences we had, and eventually realized they were exactly the same. When we were almost at the square, Genesis ran out towards us. “Where were you guys? The rest of us came back an hour ago.”
“Clark just said that some urchin told Alan to come with him, and William went with for backup.” Alan glanced at me. “Yeah... we just visited his grandmother. That was all.” I glanced back him. “His great-grandmother.” I corrected.
‘’What are you doing?’’ I silently mouthed to him. ‘’I don’t want to scare the others with our ghost stories!’’ He mouthed back. “If you’re done ignoring me pretending to not lip read you two, then we should head back and align with the statement that Alan just mouthed.” Genesis said nonchalantly.
A few days later, we had set out into the mountains. The trip would be almost enjoyable, were it not for the heavy burden that seemed to lie on all of our shoulders.
On the third night of our journey, we stopped at a gorge to rest. After we set up some tents and lit a fire, we cooked some food and talked. About anything. Anything to distract us from the quest before us. If we failed, then thousands would suffer.
Along the way, Alexandra and I had bickered at every turn. She couldn’t stand me, nor I her. Meanwhile, Alan and Clark had become fast friends, and adamantly claimed that our hatred for each other was simply because we were so much the same in our unwillingness to give a single inch.
Strangely, Joshua hadn’t raised his voice for anything in past few days, which was unlike him. Travis watched him constantly. Benjamin seemed to enjoy shaking up Timothy, a trait he shared with Genesis. Timothy was mostly unfazed, due to his occupation with the online world.
Alan and I had agreed not to worry the rest of the group with talk of seers and ghosts, but we silently agreed that the seer mostly likely meant him with the prophecy, since he had been the one requested.”
“The dweomer did start emanating storm magic,” Genesis admitted. “But how was I supposed to know it was an ion cann-” Her words were interrupted by an extremely loud sound, like thunder in the distance.
Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.
Benjamin ran back from the haphazard watch tower we had erected, panting. “There’s a herd of Battarams charging over here from around the corner! We need to get out of here!” He yelled at us.
BoomBoomBoomBoomBoom.
We hurriedly packed up our equipment and woke our companions with our wands. “They’re going to come through this valley!” Conway shouted above the roar of the
hooves slamming ice. “I only have a one-use levitation ring! We’ll need to climb up the north cliff face! Hunters, you might need to hold them off!”
BooBooBooBooBoom.
Timothy grabbed the levitation ring from Conway’s hand, and floated up above the valley, all the while tapping on his phone. “Go, go!” Conway yelled. His remaining students packed up the remaining equipment, and ran for the valley walls.
BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM
Alan glanced around the environment. The sheer cliff face to the east would take several hours to climb, but the one to the east could probably be scaled in a few dozen minutes. The Battarams were 500 feet and closing.
They would have to go west. “Head for the left cliff!” He yelled. William nodded, apparently agreeing. Alexandra, Clark, and Genesis ran towards that direction, with Conway in tow. Travis and Benjamin started casting a cooperative astral barrier spell, and Joshua started pulling out rings from his backpack.
Alan whispered something to William. “One Astral Barrier won’t stop them for long. We’ll need a few more.” “Good idea,” William said. “Joshua, cast more Astral Barriers! Don’t get them enraged, they’ll start shooting ice spells!”
Alan and William began the ritual for another Astral Barrier, just as the Battarams reaches Benjamin and Travis’, beginning to try ramming through the projection. Joshua disregarded William’s orders, and instead started lobbing fireballs at the caprines.
Of course, all hell went loose. Genesis was helping Conway up the cliff side, but Alexandra and Clark had ran back to help. “Get up the cliff face!” William yelled towards them. “It’s not safe here!”
The fireballs enraged the Battarams, and they immediately started unleashing ice magic from the azure gems on their foreheads. Alan broke his staff in two, creating two wands. He chanted a quick incantation, and unleashed a Anti-Magic spell.
The Battaram he had hit was charging towards him, ice being created behind it to push it forward. The instant the spell hit, the gem on its forehead lost its glow.
Meanwhile, Benjamin and Travis were still trying to create Astral barriers, while Joshua was still lobbing offensive spells at the caprines, launching them into further fits of anger. With each Battaram Joshua knocked out, another one would take its place and smash through any newly formed Astral Barriers.
“We need more barriers!” Alan yelled to William. “We can’t get Joshua under control, and Benjamin and Travis are making them as fast as they’re being broken!” Alexandra heard his statement, and immediately ran forward, dragging Clark with her. “On it!”
William turned towards them. “Could you please let us do this ourselves? We’re trained warmages!” Clark shrugged. “Excuse me? We’re thaumaturgists,” Alexandra yelled back. “I think we can do a few basic astral constructs!”
Alan raced towards Clark, who was fending off a ram with a water wall. “We’ll need to do this ourselves,” Alan told him. Clark nodded, and began the barrier chant. Alan stuck the two halves of his staff back together, and began chanting along.
On the side of the cliff, the professor had managed to climb up to the top, but Genesis was still on the side of the valley. “Get over here!” She yelled at her fellow students. “We need to get above the valley faster!”
Meanwhile, William and Alex were still arguing. They would occasionally throw a few beams of energy at the charging animals, but they were little to no help otherwise. Clark ignored them, and with Alan’s approval, started climbing up the side of the valley.
Suddenly, a ram blocked a lightning bolt Joshua had thrown with an ice shield. It charged straight through the Astral Barrier, Travis shot at warding spell at it, but it barely had any effect. The ram hit Joshua in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. The spell charged in his was released, and a large lightning bolt hit the cliff face.