"Come. Don't forget to close the door behind you."
Vega felt his heart beat faster. He reached for the knob and twisted it open."
The room smelled familiar. Smoky herbs and a slightly bitter taste of leftover potions. But the place was unexpectedly dim for an adept's room. Some, like his mentor, liked everything simple, even though, as a facade, this room felt old and used. Even the table looked worn down, even though it was made of high-quality wood. Vega finally saw the adept, but only because he moved, and finally, the light reflected on the dark skin under the black robe.
Vega nodded and greeted him. "Thank you for saving us."
"You managed to scare the kraken." So I did what normal people must do: help you."
Vega finally saw the wrinkle on his hand and face. The adept was old, really old. The only thing that kept him from shouting for help was the eyes that seemed to be alive, darting all over the room nonstop. The normally white sclera was cloudy, showing him the experiences he had gone through in his long life. Even without the spell he had displayed during the fight with the Kraken, his experience alone was enough to earn him respect among his peers.
"You're flute. Jade, it was. It belonged to my old friend, Addilyn. Is she well?"
"Yes. Professor Addilyn is alive and well." Vega wondered how an adept could consider his mentor a friend. Aside from the difference in level, no first-level adept could outlive a second-level adept. And with his understanding from his friends and even the story she told him, professor Addilyn had been alive since King Krimitak's reign, around 700 years ago. Even without any magical means known to him, both of them were monsters in their own rights.
"Professor, eh? She finally reached that title? From that music of hers? That's quite amazing. She never told you who I am, right? Even though your face didn't look like it, I can feel your mind was still confused."
Vega scratched his head. Aside from his crazy advancement, reaching the level of a high-level apprentice, his mentor called him ignorant for most of the time he lived in the academy. "I'm not too knowledgeable about some of the history, master."
"Admiring you're ignorant is better than being ignorant. At least you know that your knowledge is lacking. If you must insist on calling me by those confusing titles, I'd like to be addressed as 'professor'. I earned that title by working hard. So you better respect them."
"And your name, professor?" Vega sat lower on his chair, knowing that an adept earning a 'professor' title was really rare. It meant the person before deserved the same respect as the other professors, if not more.
"That's not really nice, no?" "You tell me your name first, then I'm telling you mine."
"I'm sorry, professor. I'm Vega."
"That's a nice name. No wonder you pick a flute as your instrument. Sometimes, the celestials actually still weave fate even though we are blind to it. The celestials actually still weave fate even though we are blind to it. Tell me, child, is Addilyn your mentor?"
"She is."
The professor clapped his hands. "Wonderful! And she must have liked you for giving her prized flute to you. You know, she almost started another war with the guild for keeping that flute all those years ago. Krimitak sure is grateful to have an apprentice like her."
"Krimitak, sir? But my mentor told me she made this herself.
Laughter erupted from the old man's mouth. "And you believe her? That's funny. No, that jade flute belonged to her mentor himself. She probably told you about the bamboo flute, but that's only her version of the story."
"Why are you calling me, sir?" Vega felt their conversation had steered too far.
"Oh, yeah. I almost forgot about it. You expected it from an old man, but yeah, I'm forgetful. That was a crazy feat you did there with your spells. You didn't use Mernoralin's method for the spell models; in fact, you used the ancient method that will keep you from advancing to the adept level. Even though I hate that guy, he created a pretty sound method to keep all adepts from advancing until the second level; yes, it has its flaws, but there's still hope for you to discover something new to advance to the adept level."
"What do you mean?"
"I suggest you start from the beginning to learn spell models from scratch. Traditional magic doesn't have any more space in this modern world."
"You mean I have to learn spell models to do magic?" But in this situation, spell models are rare, especially after the fall of some academies.
"Yes, but the guild has them. Whatever Addilyn asks you to do isn't worth abandoning your adept path. Here."
The old man gave him a medal that was all too familiar to him. Instead of the symbol of the Shoal Blue Sea Academy, the medal had six circles connected to each other on top of an hexagon.
"Use that to gain entry to the guild. We're going to the capital anyway. I know that your mentor told you that the spell models will keep you from advancing to third-level adept, but the inheritance toward third-level is basically nonexistent. The choice is still yours; I'm just telling you that even though both paths had their limitations, the path you're choosing now will be worse than the guild's path. Go now and think about it! I hope fate will bring us together again."
Vega thanked the professor still without the older guy told him his name. Aside from their strange meeting with the professor, his only wish for advancing to the rank of high-level apprentice was the information he could gain. The guild, he held the cold medal tight in his hand. Even though he had copied a lot of books from the library, more and more unexpected knowledge made it harder for him to figure out the world of adept.
When Vega opened the door, he heard the old man. "Kairos. That's my name. Good luck, Vega."
His hand clenched the medal tight until he felt the symbol engraved on his palm. On the way back, he apologised several times for bumping into people chatting on the deck. But even with the many curses he suffered, he couldn't concentrate enough and needed to ask Dion for his expertise in deciding these things.
On the one hand, becoming stronger was his dream, but he had trouble trusting the guild. Especially after the guild declared war on those who didn't join their cause to eliminate all practitioners. Living on the other side of the islands, the practitioners' way of life was really dear to him, especially with their beautiful culture, traditions, and differences.
In the room, Dion saw the frown on his face and asked him worriedly. "What happened?"
Vega explained his strange meeting with the old adept and looked at the noble sitting on the wheelchair. He just realized that even though his friend lost his path as a practitioner, his blue eyes still showed him a determination to live.
Dion sighed. "I don't know that the adepts' world is full of politics. I thought I wouldn't have to face similar difficult moral choices when I chose to become an adept, but I was wrong."
"Vega, we must take the old man's offer. I know the guild is not great, but at least they have been around behind the scenes since Mernoralin changed the whole system. At least with their knowledge, we can stop the war from the inside. The islands are a huge place. Even based on the past histories, the guild won't be the only powerhouse."
"I believe that the practitioners have their own version of the guild, and maybe there are some who won't agree with how the guild does things. We could probably be a double agent or even a triple agent just to reach our goal. But, of course, the choice is still yours. Remember, you have that magical book. And based on what the book told you before, it has some knowledge to cure my legs; we don't know how many more secrets the guild kept from us."