Wu Hai read the first few pages of the book, it went on to list the descriptions of spells and their functions beside them.
"Affliction, Demonstration, Concealment, Evaporation, Dark Nights Winter, The Fire of the Heart, Extinguish, Encapsulate, Depravity, and Vacuum." Wu Hai read them off again quietly in his corner.
The final Spell listed in the book was called 'The Heart of All Darkness.'
'The Heart of all Darkness is compendium of the Void. To seek out Darkness would only leave one to be surrounded by it.'
'To seek out light, the Darkness would be destroyed. Light is truth While Darkness helps to conceal.'
'Light is always perceived as the fastest, but darkness can overtake the light in an instant..'
The Spell craft stated its ability was to channel combinations of the wielders power, conceal and separate. It held the ability to rob others of energy.
'To consume the power of another, a price will always be paid.'
'The Heart of Darkness is not evil, It is the Mind.' Wu Hai read the final line of the spell's description and
Thinking about the Darkflame he had been experimenting with for a while, Wu Hai summoned it with the book in front of him. He thought about the heart of fire and depravity, studying the book as he channeled in his hand. Suddenly his spell split and the flame turned Red with a mix of Blue. The Darkness element had faded, leaving a clean reddish blue flame. "Attendant, I think I found something." Wu Hai raised his hand up as it burned.
Miffed from the constant interruptions, she looked up and saw the changes in the fire and gasped. "Come with me. Now!" Her voice left little to argue with, he was there by her grace as it were.
She was upset with him for having cast inside, conjuring spells while in the library was extremely volatile and she had warned him beforehand. The splitting of his fire left her alarmed but there was someone much better suited to handle the problem.
Taking Wu Hai by the hand that was not on fire, she dragged him to the third floor. It was strictly off limits and noticing Wu Hai's pale complexion, she had him take a seat. "Stay here."
Not long after an old man came in and sat beside him in the hallway.
"Master, I will leave him in your care. I have matters to attend to before we close. I will be leaving first." The attendant clasped hands and took her leave.
Staring at the Old Man, Wu Hai was about to say something when the old man opened his mouth, "Show me."
The Old Man's words were clear and concise. He wanted to observe before he spoke any further and Wu Hai understood that point.
Opening his palm, he accumulated a Darkflame in his palm, it passed from his left hand to the right. Then, he started making another in his left hand. Focused on the spellwork, the fire separated from the darkness element on his right hand, leaving only a Red/blue flame. Threads of Darkness dissipated, flowing gently out into the open air. The dual colored flame flickered like it was ready to extinguish. "This might be my limit." Wu Hai said.
Astonished the Old Man waited to see what he would do next.
"I've only gotten this far, could Senior please advise me. I've only known magic for a few weeks now and don't know what else can be done." Wu Hai rattled out a few words as an excuse but it left the Old Man with a bitter look.
Feeling like he had been lied to, the Old Man started to refute Wu Hai's words, "A Few weeks, Preposterous! What games are you playing child? No magic user could master what you just displayed, effortlessly I might add, in a few weeks. No, I imagine that even if you started learning in the womb you shouldn't have been able to master this to that level. We must find some answers, but I will tell you this... your life, will absolutely not be easy."
"The Blood Price?" Wu Hai questioned.
"Yes, it is as you have said. The price of high level magics takes its toll on the body, mind, heart, and soul. Sometimes none of those are enough and even the souls of an entire village would not be enough to pay the price of its use. Do you understand now?" The Old Man tried to scare the boy a bit but there were some missing pieces. He stopped to hear what Wu Hai had to say.
"So, what this senior says, is that I will have to pay a heavy price in the future.." Wu Hai let out a cold sigh but continued to pay attention and not allowing himself to be lost in thought.
"A heavy price that might not come from you, it could just as easily come for those nearby or close to you." The Old Man added. "So, I will tell you something special." The glare in the Old Man's eyes became fierce. "There is hope. if you seek out the Guardians after you've reached a certain point in your training. Only they control the powers left by the Creator. When this world began they did a myriad of things to assist humans in their growth and potential. Perhaps they can help resolve the powers of Darkness that seem to originate from you. If I do have one more thing to add, you don't seem to bothered to use the power of darkness. It normally displays its cost rather quickly, I hope for your sake your lifespan is not its driving force."
Taking out a small box from under the seat, the Old Man passed it to Wu Hai. "This is a Token, inside you'll find a small plaque with some characters on it. Those will help ward the affects on the body while training, as for your ability, its other affects I cannot say for certain. The Guardians made these plaques over five thousand years ago. Even though they seem to have hidden themselves away, I am sure they still care for this World. If you take the token to them, perhaps.. perhaps they can help you further. It carries the aura of the Guardian who created it."
"I've said all I can for today, the Repository is about to close. I will escort you out" The old man stood up, grabbed the book, his things and led the way outside.
"Wu Hai! You've been in there for the entire day!" His parents both rushed to meet with him, they had been waiting outside for some time after having eaten their lunch.
"Are these your parents?" The Old Man questioned.
"Y-Yes!, Senior. My Mother, Zao Calistown and My father, Zao Ooran." Wu Hai introduced his parents, it was only proper and the Old Man had been kind enough to warn him, adding details as well.
The Old Man waved his hand to pause Wu Hai and spoke to his parents, "Your child is gifted. I want you to leave him in my care."
The Old Man did not want to elaborate, he could easily spook the parents or worse make them offended and take Wu Hai away. Neither of them wanted that, the Old Man wanted to take Wu Hai in as a Disciple. "I'm sure you can understand the costs associated, he will not be able to bare it alone. While you are his blood, I could be his Master. Will you leave this Child in my charge? He is gifted, I have said that I intend to mentor him into a Mage."
Still confused by what was going on, The two of them looked at each other. The Old Man stroked his beard and stared intently at the pair.
Ooran quickly looked the Old Man over, he wanted to take his son away. Ooran knew that if the Old Man insisted there was little he could do to stop him. Calistown also knew this fact, she looked up at the old man, then down at Wu Hai. Her eyes started to water, she looked about ready to cry.
"Okay." Calistown chose to smile while small tears rolled down her face. She had just sent her first born out, and now even her 10 year old child was leaving. It was so fast and so surreal she nearly started to sob in her husbands arms.
"Rest assured, this Child of Zao will not come to harm. I am a Grand Master, there is my personal guarantee. Your willingness shows me that he came from a strong minded family, I will teach him well. Zao Wu Hai! Do you accept me as your Master? If so, say your goodbyes to your family. If your training goes well, in a three or four years you can return to show them your progress." The Old Man waited a moment but Wu Hai didn't hesitate.
He kowtowed to his parents, thanking them for all they had done and then turned to The Old Man. "Disciple Zao Wu Hai greets Master."
Calistown started to lose her nerve but bowed with her husband.
"So formal, call me Old Man Jiang. If people know your child was my disciple they might target you out of spite for me." Old Man Jiang was a lot nicer after he finally introduced himself by name.
"Lets go, Dinner still needs to be cooked." Old Man Jiang waved goodbye to Wu Hai's parents as they made their way down the city road.
Wu Hai saw the capital's nightlife was starting to pick up and Old Man Jiang started to walk off.
It wasn't long until they both made their way to Old Man Jiang's residence. He pointed out a room that wasn't very large and handed Wu Hai a bedroll. "We will find suitable accommodations for you soon enough, for now use this room and we will discuss your training in the morning. Come for dinner once you've deposited your things and wash your face."
The Old Man looked at Wu Hai and closed the door. "Dinner will be ready in about an hour, if you don't come down, you don't eat."
Wu Hai heard what the Old Man had to say and spread his bedroll. Taking out the Compass, he saw that the needle was moving slightly as if following something in the distance. It was a strange compass already
'Perhaps it leads to treasure.' Wu Hai thought before setting it down on the floor.
He put down the Compass and took out a book his mother gave him and kept reading. The Book on Magic Cubes didn't have any information on different kinds of cubes, it only said that they are used to detect magic and light up when one is near. That left Wu Hai with a stark expression. "If it really detected magic, that would mean.." Wu Hai was shaking the thought out of his mind as child's fantasy, he kept referring back to the new books from the Old Man Jiang's shop.
If he could separate the Darkness, he had different colored flames. 'What happens if I combine them?' Since his surroundings were unfamiliar he decided not to test it out while inside the house. He had set his bed on fire at home, he knew better than to set his Masters house on fire the first night there.
Old Man Jiang seemed to understand what was going on in the small room, from across the house Wu Hai heard his voice, "Don't practice tonight, go get washed up and come for dinner.