Resurrected Mage (eBook)

Lucian Frostborne (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025 | 1. Auflage
154 Seiten
Publishdrive (Verlag)
978-0-00-097893-6 (ISBN)

Infos

He's not here to fit in. He's here to break the system.

Once feared as the Shadow Archon, Ardyn ruled with unmatched power and command over forbidden spells. That life ended in betrayal-an ambush by those who feared him most.

Now, he wakes up in his younger body. Weak. Mortal.

His new reality? A cutthroat academy built to train spellcasters for a world ruled by stats, spells, and social hierarchy. They think he's a nobody. They laugh when he fails his basic spell tests.

They have no idea who he really is.

Ardyn remembers every hidden dungeon. Every system exploit. Every magic path locked behind fake rules. And this time, he's going to use it all-not to survive, but to dominate.

Level by level. Skill by skill.

He's not just reclaiming his power.

He's rewriting the game.

Textauszug

Chapter 4: The Hidden Dungeon

The academy was full of secrets, whispers behind closed doors, rumors that slithered through the halls like a shadow, always just out of sight. Ardyn had already learned that much in his short time there. But there was one secret that caught his attention more than the others—a hidden dungeon, a place whispered about by the older students. A dungeon that was not listed in any of the academy's official records, a place rumored to be a test of strength, endurance, and magic. A place where students were forced to go, voluntarily or otherwise, for extra training.

The details were hazy, but the rumors were clear. It was dangerous. And it was forbidden.

The academy was designed to push its students to their limits. It was meant to break those who were weak and strengthen those who could endure the tests. But this dungeon? It was different. It wasn’t part of the curriculum. It wasn’t a game with a set of rules. It was an experiment, and Ardyn could sense it.

Most of the students at the academy were content to stay within the walls of their classrooms and training arenas, where the magic was regulated, and the dangers were kept at a manageable level. But for Ardyn, the real test was out there—beyond the rules, beyond the classrooms, in the place where real power lay dormant, hidden from view.

He had to find it.

The first time he overheard someone mention the dungeon, it was during lunch in the common room. A small group of second-years huddled at a corner table, speaking in hushed tones. Their eyes flickered nervously toward the doors, as if worried someone might be listening. Ardyn, sitting alone at a nearby table, couldn’t help but overhear. They were talking about it—the dungeon—in a way that made it sound more like a curse than a trial.

"Don’t go down there unless you’re ready to die," one of the students whispered, his voice trembling with fear. "You won’t come back the same. Not even if you’re at level 5."

"That’s if you make it out alive," another one added, shaking his head. "The monsters down there? It’s like they know your weakness. They… they feed off it."

Ardyn leaned in slightly, his curiosity piqued. Level 5? That was the level that separated the competent students from the exceptional ones. But monsters that fed off weaknesses? That didn’t sound like the usual academy training at all. No, this was something else, something darker. Something that had the power to change the rules of the game itself.

He had to know more.

The next day, Ardyn made his move.

He had spent the past few weeks watching the academy’s routines. The training halls. The dormitories. The classrooms. Every part of the academy was governed by strict schedules and systems—except for the dungeon. The rumors said it was hidden beneath the school grounds, but no one had ever said exactly where. Not officially.

He made his way to the library, pretending to be just another student in search of books, but the books weren’t what he was after. The hidden paths weren’t written in the records, but the council journals might hold a clue. He had studied the architecture of the academy closely. The hallways and stairwells were built with purpose—secrecy, he suspected. He needed to find one of the older students who might know where the entrance lay.

After a few hours of browsing, Ardyn found himself standing in front of a map of the academy displayed on the wall of the library. It was old—most of it had faded with age, but it was still legible. At the bottom, where the underground rooms were marked, a small, barely visible X caught his eye.

There.

He walked toward the map, examining it closely. A hidden passage, well concealed beneath the main building. Ardyn’s heart raced. This was it—the entrance to the dungeon.

That night, long after the other students had gone to bed, Ardyn made his way down the halls, his steps quiet and deliberate. He had to be careful; if he was caught sneaking around, the consequences could be severe. But there was no turning back.

The moonlight filtered through the large windows as he approached the hidden entrance. The air around him felt colder, like the walls themselves were alive, watching him. He ran his fingers along the wall, tracing the rough edges until his hand fell on a small, hidden lever. With a soft click, a section of the stone wall shifted, revealing a narrow staircase leading downward.

A deep breath. Ardyn stepped forward.

The stairs seemed to descend endlessly into the darkness. The air grew heavier with each step, charged with a strange, almost oppressive energy. At the bottom, he found himself in a massive, vaulted cavern. It was unlike any training ground he had seen at the academy—natural, unrefined, and chaotic. Torches lined the walls, casting flickering shadows on the uneven stone floor. The sounds of distant water dripping echoed through the chamber.

He wasn’t alone.

Ardyn’s eyes narrowed. In the far corner of the cavern, he spotted movement. A large figure was hunched over, its back turned to him. It looked like a giant shadow against the dim light. And then, Ardyn heard it—a low growl, a rumbling noise that vibrated through his bones.

A monster.

His pulse quickened, but his mind remained sharp. The rumors hadn’t been wrong. The dungeon was no ordinary training ground. This was real. And it would test every ounce of his willpower.

The creature turned, revealing its full form. It was a hulking beast, its eyes glowing a faint red in the darkness. Its body was covered in thick, jagged scales, and its claws clicked against the stone floor with each step it took. Ardyn didn’t move. He didn’t want to draw attention. He had to study it first, find its weakness.

For a brief moment, he thought he could hear it whispering to him, its voice grating and primal. It was reading him, calculating his every movement.

Ardyn took a step back, his breath steadying. The magic he had learned—his old arcane knowledge—was still buried deep inside him. But it wasn’t enough. Not yet.

The monster lunged.

Ardyn barely managed to dodge, rolling to the side as the creature’s claws slashed through the air where he had just stood. Too fast. He couldn’t match it in speed or strength. But there was something he could do.

He reached deep inside himself, tapping into the last reserves of his magic. This was different from the fireball he had cast in the arena. This wasn’t about brute force. He focused, his fingers trembling as he muttered the incantation under his breath. The air around him shifted, and with a snap of his fingers, a shield of light formed in front of him.

The monster’s claws scraped against the shield, causing a shockwave that sent Ardyn tumbling backward. His mana spiked, but the shield held. He could feel the strain. The creature’s power was overwhelming, and he didn’t have the endurance for a prolonged fight.

Ardyn’s eyes flickered to the artifact—a small, glowing crystal embedded in the wall near the cavern’s edge. It pulsed with power, just waiting for someone to reach for it. Ardyn didn’t hesitate. With a burst of speed, he scrambled to his feet and lunged toward the crystal.

The monster roared behind him, but Ardyn didn’t look back.

He grabbed the crystal, feeling its heat course through his fingers. Almost instantly, energy surged through his veins—power like he hadn’t felt in years. His body vibrated with strength. His stats, his power, were being amplified. For a moment, he felt invincible.

But there was a catch.

The drain was immediate. His mana burned through at a rate faster than he could control. He could feel his body weakening, his energy being drained in exchange for the boost.

But it was enough.

With a surge of power, Ardyn unleashed a spell—a lightning bolt that cracked the air and struck the creature dead center, sending it flying back with a screech of pain.

It wasn’t dead. Not yet.

But it was weakened.

Ardyn barely had time to catch his breath before the creature charged again. The artifact had given him strength, but he knew it was a temporary boost. He needed to finish this quickly.

He raised his hands, focus returning. The creature was too strong, but it had weaknesses—its eyes, its legs. He would find them.

This time, when the creature lunged, Ardyn dodged, using his magic to redirect its momentum, sending it crashing into the stone wall. It let out a howl of pain, momentarily stunned.

Ardyn didn’t hesitate. He grabbed the monster’s leg and disrupted its magic—tapping into the ancient knowledge hidden within him. He felt the spell unravel under his hands, and with a final scream, the creature collapsed.

It was dead.

But Ardyn knew this was just the beginning.

 

As the monster’s body dissolved into dust, Ardyn staggered, his head spinning from the artifact’s drain on his power. His breath was ragged, his vision blurry.

But as he turned to leave the cavern, the walls seemed to shift. The ground trembled, and an ominous growl echoed from the shadows. Something far worse was coming.

Ardyn’s heart raced. The dungeon had just begun to show its true face.

He had uncovered the artifact, but now, he was about to face...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 30.7.2025
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Fantasy
• ISBN-10: 0-00-097893-0 / 0000978930
• ISBN-13: 978-0-00-097893-6 / 9780000978936