Before Weasley stretched an expanse of grass and trees. It was as if he was looking at a grass plain through a giant window on a sunny afternoon.
He could smell earthly yet ambrosial scent of Mother Nature in his nostrils and even the light caresses of the breeze.
Weasley couldn't understand.
He was underground right? Right?
Then why on earth was there sunlight here!?
Sylvia turned behind and took Weasley's hand into her own, guiding he who was still in a daze into the mystical domain that lay before him.
As Weasley walked through the door, the sensations amplified and became almost indistinguishable from reality. Before, it was like he had been watching a super high quality movie with added sounds and sensations. But now, it was as if he was actually there!
Suddenly, the door to the domain vanished. It was like a rift in reality had closed up and now, the lifelike illusion of the field had reached completion.
Weasley spun around like a top, trying to take in his surroundings as best he can.
Weasley quickly realised that this place was simply a, albeit enchanting, but still awfully plain field of grass. The only thing that stood out seemed to be a tree that grew at the middle of the field.
However, that didn't make the place any less impressive.
What was alarming was, despite being four miles away, the tree seemed to be as larger than his palm when it put them side by side. Put into perspective, it would probably be absolutely massive.
" Mother? What is this place?" Weasley asked, still wide-eyed.
" This is the family heirloom of the Ashbrone clan. The transcendent's teapot."
Weasley could not believe his ears.
This?
A teapot?
Where the tea?
Sylvia continued elaborating." The space we are currently in is a domain projected by the magic power of the pot. Due to its immense power, the air in a radius of ten miles of the pot is passively hyper charged with mana."
"The domain that you see around you is created by a Omni-affinity Magic formation of the S- rank. It uses the passive mana of the pot to simulate the ideal training environment for whoever it is assimilated with. In our current environment, that would be me." Sylvia explained, gesturing around her.
She shot her son a quick look and saw how his face was literally half taken up by an excited smile that reached all the way up to his eyes. His eyes were twinkling like stars that shone so brightly Sylvia almost reflexively squinted when she looked at them.
" Calm down darling, you will have plenty of time to gawk about it later when I'm not around." She chuckled
Weasley snapped out of his daze. The feeling of fantasy and epicness had completely overwhelmed him and he felt more than a little embarrassed to have let his mother see it.
Mother : Weasley
3 : 1
" What do you mean when you're not around mother?" Weasley asked as he resumed his composure.
" You will be able to use this domain from now on. Of course I will accompany you as you are not yet able to enable your magic print to open the gate to enter. However, once you assimilate with the formation and create your own domain, I will likely be forcibly expelled as I am not part of the ideal training environment the formation will design for you.
" However, this will only be for the very first time as the formation does its one time calibrations on the domain to fit your taste. The next few times I will be able to enter the pot just like you are doing now. "
Weasley was visibly relieved. He wasn't very keen on being alone in an artificial domain that was positioned several hundred feet underground.
Seeing this, Sylvia then continued.
" Now that brings me to a few ground rules you have to follow!"
" Firstly, you must not disclose the existence of this place to anyone. The transcendent's teapot is considered a national treasure and a one do a kind magic artifact. There are untold numbers of people who would love to get their hands on this pot if they could. Right now, only I, your father, the king and the head advisor and treasurer knows of its existence." Then she added. " And you too of course!"
Weasley felt like a massive rock had dropped on him. His prior excitement almost completely forgotten as he comprehended the weight of his new responsibility. That meant that he was now in possession of a national secret! And it was casually told to him over lunch!
Weasley couldn't even imagine how many people would come after him if he accidentally let slip this information. However, Sylvia wasn't done.
" Secondly, you must understand that for every domain formed there is a crux. For this one,it's that tree over there" Sylvia said. She pointed to the tree in the distance.
Weasley didn't have to look very hard. The tree was pretty big.
" Before you use your domain, you must absolutely, absolutely find its crux and avoid damaging it at all costs." Sylvia said sternly as she looked into Weasley's eyes.
" The crux of the domain is the physical manifestation of the Teapot itself. If it is damaged, there is a chance that the teapot might break and its latent energy will explode into the surrounding. We would thus lose an extremely valuable artifact."
...
" And probably take half the kingdom along with it in the process."
Weasley wanted to puke blood.
Not only had he become a potential target for thousands of bloodthirsty killers, he had also found out that there was a nuke….under his house.
" So… how likely is it to explode mother? Let's say if something does hit it, say a rock, will it instantly explode?" Weasley asked nervously. The idea of training in here was losing more and more of its appeal by the minute.
Sylvia laughed.
" Of course not silly!"
"It'll take a S- rank spell at least to even make a scratch on it much less damage it! I was just telling you this as a precaution in advance!"
Weasley suddenly had an urge to slap the woman.
' Say that sooner dammit!!'
" Is there anything else I should know mother?" He asked weakly.
"Nope!"
" I see."
Weasley mulled over his current situation for awhile longer. A few questions surfaced.
" Mother? Why is this teapot so special? Does it have some kind of history?"
" I'm not very well versed in the subject" Sylvia replied, " but according to certain certain mentions in history books, the teapot was in fact a prison for the remains of gods that fought and lost in the Reckoning."
Weasley nodded his head in understanding but his mother's reply had inadvertently left him with another question.
" Mother, what is the Rec-"
" Questions later. Let's not waste more time." Sylvia interrupted him.
A loud swishing sound came from Sylvia gathering the wind around her. A moment later, the two of them launched towards the intimidating tree in the distance.
" The assimilation plate is always placed at the centre of the domain. It just happens that this time, the Crux is at the same place. Make sure you find it by yourself when your personal domain forms" Sylvia warned without looking back.
After several more seconds, the two of them had reached the tree. As he landed at its base, Weasley quickly came to appreciate the sheer size of the structure.
The tree stood nearly as high as a modern skyscraper as it towered far above Weasley and its canopy cast a shadow that blot out all the sunlight for several hundred yards. The leaves of the tree were a bright green hue that seemed to glimmer like emeralds as they hung from the ashen ebony bark that grounded them.
It was a mesmerising sight but Weasley didn't have the time to stop and admire it. His mother had led him to a certain spot in the bark were a small and crude marking had been placed in faded red ink. It had obviously been made a long time ago.
Weasley watched as his mother opened her palm and channeled magic into the spot.
A small altar rose up from before Sylvia's feet. It reached up to her waist and an extremely complex magic circle was engraved on its surface. It was more advanced than anything Weasley had seen before.
" Come here darling" Sylvia beckoned Weasley to come closer.
Weasley quickly stepped up next to her and faced the altar. At his mother's beckoning, he placed his hands on the magic and channeled his magic.
As the only problem he currently faced was the ability to convert magic power fast enough to change the mana he released into the form of spells, simply channeling his magic by releasing mana was something he could do in his sleep.
The moment his mana reached the magic circle, the surroundings warped and and distorted around him. The grass, the earth and the tree all vanished as if they'd never been there.
Weasley and Sylvia found themselves standing in a dark underground cavern. There was a solitary source of light that emanated from centre of the cavern that illuminated the nearby surroundings but left anything thing further out covered by a impenetrable veil of darkness.
Weasley gazed at the object that shone like the sun in front of him.
It was a teapot whose size would be considered pretty normal but yet everything else about it was not. Multiple intricate and elegant patterns were carved on its marble smooth surface and its entire shape was almost flawlessly crafted with not even the slightest trace of imperfection. There were carvings of dragons, serpents, people, landscapes all across its surface and its presence invoked a sense of regality and awe.
However, all this was simply what someone looking in as an outsider would feel. The minute he looked at the pot, it was as if Weasley had looked death in the face.
The pot struck an indescribable sense of dread in him. The cold feeling pierced his gut like a lance of ice and suffocated him. It was taking every bit of Weasley's rationality and willpower to not scramble away, crawling on the ground and pissing himself in fear.
Sylvia glanced at the young boy who was bravely standing his ground beside her and resisting the unearthly presence of the teapot and her lips curved upwards in smile of appreciation.
She had knew that this would happen and she hated not being given more time before having to subject Weasley to this experience. However, there was no if.
Sylvia silently cursed. If it hadn't been because of that then she would have had more time!
Due to the sheer presence of the pot, any person below the rank of Archmage or equivalent rank in other professions would feel an instinctive and overwhelming fear. Even for those at or above the rank, being in the presence of the pot was still greatly disturbing. To make it worse, Weasley was not even two years old yet.
Sylvia had played a massive gamble here by taking Weasley here but she had trusted in his abilities. And now it was paying off.
Sylvia couldn't feel more proud if she tried.
Truly this was her son!
Sylvia reached out and grasped hold of her son's hand and squeezed it reassuringly.
Weasley felt his mother's touch and the knowledge that he was not alone reassured him.
" Go on. Touch it and assert your authority. Only then would you be able to manipulate its power."
Sylvia reached out and touched the pot in an almost causal way to show Weasley that it could be done.
Weasley followed his mother's example and reached out his hand. However, saying was always been far easier than doing.
Every inch closer that Weasley's hand got to the pot, its radiance only increased and the fear that it invoked in his gut only multiplied several fold. It was like he had been initially pushing through water which then turned into honey then mud then brick.
Weasley shut his eyes closed and focused single-mindedly on moving forward against the torrent of repulsion that threatened to shred his sanity to pieces.
'Come one! Come on! I can do it! ' Weasley repeated in his head as he pushed forward as hard as he could. ' Come on!'
Weasley willed his feet to push forward with all its might and suddenly, a cold metallic feeling invaded Weasley's consciousness.
The oppressive pressure suddenly lifted and Weasley opened his eyes.
Weasley's hand lay on the cover of the teapot which suddenly no longer seemed very scary or radiant. Weasley looked over to his mother for answers.
' Was it over? Did he do it?'
Sylvia rushed over and enveloped Weasley in a hug, catching him off guard.
She was sobbing and crying.
At first, Weasley had thought that she was messing with him until she pulled away and he could see that her eyes were red and puffy. Seeing her son suffer and go through such an ordeal had taken a toll on her.
Weasley immediately became worried.
" Mother. What's wrong? Was it my fault? Did I do something wrong? I'm sorry if I did!", Weasley quickly apologised, his voice full of anxiety as he watched Sylvia wipe her tears.
" No. I should be sorry. I was the one who put you through something so scary. Mommy is sorry."
Weasley wanted to protest. How was this her fault? He came off his own volition! She didn't force him!
" Mother, it's not your fault. You did nothing wrong!"
Sylvia smiled and knelt down. She took Weasley's head into her hands and kissed his forehead and chastised.
" Sometimes, you act too mature for your age."
" Just let Mommy apologise. I'm sorry."
Weasley didn't agree, but he didn't want to make his mother dwell On the matter any longer either.
" So.. what happens now mother?"
Sylvia looked towards the teapot. It seemed to be pulsing in a kind of way and it was releasing large amounts of mana.
" It should happen any second now.."
At that moment, Sylvia vanished.
Weasley immediately shot to his feet.
" Mother? Mother!?" He yelled into the darkness. " Where are you?"
" The individual Sylvia von Ashbrone is currently situated outside the teapot. Her expulsion from the domain five point four seconds ago had been due to the calibrations necessary to refit the domain to suit the new contractor. Individual Rumius zy Ashborne." A robotic voice said.
" Who's there!" Weasley shouted as he spun towards the voice but didn't manage Ti find anything.
" As the domain calibrations are yet to be complete, I currently do not have a physical form. Interaction with the contractor is currently being sent in mind transmission."
Wealsey heard the robotic voice clearly in his head.
" Is my mother safe?"
" The individual Sylvia von Ashbrone is unharmed."
Weasley signed in relief.
' That means whatever this thing is, it probably doesn't wish me harm. Neither does it my mother. "
' If it did, I wouldn't still be here as it the best way to hurt mom is through me and the best way to harm me is also through me. And it probably wouldn't be very hard to kill a magic-less two year old kid.'
" Who are you?" Weasley asked. If someone looked in form outside, it would have seemed like Weasley was talking to himself.
" I am a system generated by the teapot to assist the host with his training as per his demands for an idea training environment."
Weasley frowned. That was a textbook definition of something that he knew every well. But for some reason, he couldn't put his finger on it.
Weasley thought long and hard, turning his brain upside side down, up and over to loom for the answer when it suddenly struck him.
" A system!!" He squealed aloud excitedly.
" Affirmative. This was the input given to the teapot to form me"
Weasley was thrilled! Wasn't having a system considered one of the greatest cheats that one could have? What could be greater than having a walking encyclopaedia that could also function as an assistant and second brain accompany you on your journey?
Nothing!!
" Do you have a name?" Weasley asked in anticipation.
" Affirmative. Would the contractor like to know the assigned name?"
" Yes!!"
Weasley could no longer hold his excitement. He could already see himself rising to the pinnacle with this god-like ability by his side. Naturally it had to have a cool name! What would it be? Azimuth? Raphael? Micheal Jackson?
" The contractor may call me…."
" Siri"
Weasley instantly died inside.