The wind howls ferociously drowning out the screams of a young child as a hooded man pushes him forward in the dead of the night. A luminescent lightning bolt reveals a labyrinth of giant stone monuments. Strange enigmatic chanting becomes audible as more hooded figures emerge from the shadows within the ruins. The boy's captors bind him to a stone, repeatedly chanting the same spell. The boy feels what little warmth he has in his body slowly leak out as a man in a black and red robe steps forward, and touches his face gently.
"You should rejoice, Bryan. In the new world order, you will be remembered as a hero!"
"Please daddy, I want to go home!" The child sobs.
"In a few moments you will have new home; in a house Dyrarsir has built for you especially." With that the man marks his son's forehead with a magic symbol. "Greet the Sage of Dyrarsir on the other side." The mark begins to glow as green mist escapes from the centre of the child's forehead. The mist gracefully glides out of the ruins gently, travelling as a whisper through the vast forest, the boy's essence enters an abandoned temple and floats towards a giant stone tablet which had similar symbols craved into it. The now-glowing rock devours the life-force, and a hooded figure steps out of the shadows and caresses the tablet. Back at the ruins the boy's head slumped over. The cult falls to its knees, chants getting louder and louder.
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Alex looks ahead; all his eyes can see are vast acres of trees. And he's beginning to feel sick from seeing the exact same sight for three days straight. A quick glance at Maximus gives him assurance that his brother feels the same. Gavin carried on as usual; at least he wasn't as mad as when they first met. Alex couldn't read Mace's expressions because of his hood, and Eclipse showed little emotion right from the first day so there was no point trying to read her.
"Would it not be lovely if we saw actual buildings instead of fucking trees?!" hisses Maximus.
"When you become knights, you'll be seeing a lot of fucking trees." Gavin responds. "The city of Estrella is just beyond those mountains."
"Mm…The best women in the continent," adds Mace with a light hearted hum, causing his daughter to peer at him with a stern gaze. Seconds later, she stretches out her hand and points at the sun.
"Gavin, you have a message from the capital." As soon as she finishes her sentence a giant shadow casts over them as a carrier raven descends from the sky. Gavin extends his arm to let the bird perch, detaches the parchment attached on its leg and begins to read the note. The party huddles around him eagerly waiting for the call of adventure. Upon completion of his reading he throws the paper away and it combusts on reaching the forest ground.
"Some folk in White Stone have been going missing over the last month, they have requested the help of the capital to resolve the issue. I can handle this myself, you guys can go on to Estrella." The city of mages! Alex jolts into restrained excitement.
"Sir Gavin, may I come with?"
"Why?"
"White Stone is a holy place credited with being the birth place of magic," interrupts Mace. "The lad is curious. Legend has it the Sage of Dyrarsir was born there."
"Might as well bring you along. It might be a good opportunity for you to see what a Knight's work is really like." Gavin turns to Alex's sulking brother "Care to join, Maximus?"
"…No sir."
"Maria, a student of mine lives there," says Mace. "She'll give you a place to stay while you investigate." He draws a glowing turquoise symbol in the air that faded into mist. "I've just let her know you're on your way."
"Alright," Gavin says, "So, we will meet in Hemsburg and continue onto the capital from there." Everyone nods in agreement and with that, the party split into two separate courses of adventure.
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After a day of traveling Alex sees the stone walls of White Stone in the distance. They observed swarms of hooded people enter the gate. Pilgrims, he thinks. It's to be expected, as White Stone is a cultural place of importance where many Mages visit at least once in their lives. A dream come true for him.
"So who taught you magic?" Gavin's abrupt question surprises him.
"…Self-taught."
"You have more talent as a mage then a knight. Why not change career paths?" He heard the same question a thousand times from his father who always questioned his decision to become a knight at every chance he got.
"It's not the path I want-"
"Stop," Gavin places his hand on the lad's chest. Alex looks ahead and sees an elderly man dressed in a black and grey robe painting a magical crest on a large oak tree. "I don't know much about magic, but I know he's painting something that might require the use of excessive force," Gavin smirks maliciously. The old man stops painting. An eerie silence surrounds the forest as the pair continues to observe the elder from the cover of the tree trunks. Gavin suddenly tackles Alex to the ground just as a green spike erupts from where they were standing. The mage turns to face the knights.
"I know you're there! There's no use running!" He stomps on the ground sending an energy wave rippling through the forest floor. Gavin hurls Alex onto a tree branch before jumping to the side, dodging another magical spike from the ground. Gavin draws his sword and swings it horizontally. In one clean swoop the sword gushes out a wave of wind that sends the mage flying into the very tree he had inscribed with the symbol. Gavin cautiously approaches the old man with his blade over his shoulder.
"Under the authority of the High Knight Letholdus, you're under arrest for the practice of dark magic." Said Gavin, with his cold bloodthirsty stare firmly placed on the old mage. With a grunt the old man claps his hands together, igniting a spontaneous aura of light, illuminating the forest. The mage is nowhere in sight once the light fades.
"So…we found the culprit?" the teenager asks Gavin as he climbed down the tree.
"We will find answers in the city, probably."
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"These guys go about their daily lives as if it's nothing, despite the fact that multiple people have gone missing in the past month," Alex says as he examines the vibrant hub of various magic lovers exchanging artefacts, scrolls and discussing theories.
"This is a city of mages after all. Sacrifices and death go hand in hand with magic," says Gavin.
"It's part of mage culture, after all," An alluring voice calls from behind them. Alex turns to stand face-to-face with a woman, who looked to be in her mid-twenties. She has long dreads that reached her ankle, dark black lips contrasting her sandy brown skin complexion. Her chest was wrapped in a black cloth leaving her shoulders and navel bare, her lower body was clothed with a black dress that fitted her body form well. She reaches out and touches Alex's cheek as she looks deep into his eyes.
"Endless possibilities." She whispers with a smile, gazing into the teenager's eyes.
"You must be Mace's former pupil, Maria right?" asks Gavin.
"Yes, you must be the leader of the Manticore Guild, Gavin the Black Thorn. Who is this young man, you brought with?"
"Alexander Broinson. He is my squire"
Maria steps away from the teenager and places her hands together, "I welcome you both to White Stone."
"Thank you, we are in your care." replies the boy with a polite bow.
"The two of you must be tired from your travels," She walks into the vibrant crowd, "Please, follow me."
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As they make their way to Maria's home she takes the opportunity to give them a tour of the city, explaining various monuments and artefact stores much to Alex's interest who, although he didn't visibly show it, takes to heart every word she said. Gavin did not say a word but Alex was sure he was taking mental note of anything of importance Maria said. Finally, the trio reaches the entrance of Maria's mansion where three identical white-haired maidens who were triplets waited for them, dressed in black dresses. The sisters bowed politely,
"Welcome, to Lady Maria's estate" a handmaiden began.
"We have heard so much about your exploits" another continued.
"Allow us to tend to your needs" added another politely.
"Thank you but we have much to do, I would rather get straight into the investigation." Gavin retorted stoically.
"There will be plenty of time for business. You are exhausted from your travels. Please rest first." Responded a maid politely, as they take Gavin's arms and forcefully escort him up the stone steps into the building.
"Are you a mage?" Maria asks as they ascend the steps.
"Why do you ask?" says Alex.
"You have refined life essence pathways; I could see it in your eyes"
"I couldn't care less about that; I am knight" lies Alex
"Are you really a knight without beast powers?" She asks.
"I failed to hunt down a monster during my village's initiation test"
"But you practice magic regardless?"
"Barely."
"Word on the street is you were a liability when you ran into Graham in the forest." She stops by the mansion doors.
"Who's Graham?" Alex raises his guard, "…and how do you know about our encounter?"
"It's a city of mages, why are you surprised?" She smirks, "Graham is a Sage class mage that lost his mind to dark magic. There are many, many cases like him," Her tone darkens "And as you are right now, Alex, your only ticket out of this city is through a coffin with what little remains of you."
"She's right," thought Alex, "I have no defences and I can't rely on Gavin to save me like he did in the forest."
"How much do I have to pay for you to teach me defensive spells?" asks Alex.
"Hmm…I don't really want your money. But if you insist…" she brings her face near Alex's and whispers seductively "…you can pay me back with your body…"
"Okay"
"Wow, I was not expecting that answer." She laughs "You're really willing to whore yourself out for some spells?"
"It's just sex"
"Oh my," She snickers. "Very well then. Follow me to my library. If you're as gifted as I think you are, you might be able to pick up a spell or two."
"Thank you." Alex responds with a smile, 'I will be in your care"
She gives a warm smile back and walks through the mansion doors. Alex takes a deep breath and follows her. Fortunately, he succeeds in concealing the vibrant beam of excitement that was, and still is, about to erupt from his body. Alex follows Maria to an underground corridor that leads to a massive wooden door decorated with ancient druid symbols.
"The books in my library were either collected or written by Mace." Maria traces a druid symbol with her finger causing the ancient alphabet to light up in a green glow. The door opens up, revealing an enchanted forest littered with book shelves stretching out into the green labyrinth as far as the eye can see. "As a matter of fact, Mace created this self-contained forest for me to safeguard all the information he had gathered over his lifetime."
"And he asked you to safeguard this forest library?" asks the teenager in astonishment as he approaches a shelf and picks a scroll twice as thick as his head. "There's enough information in here to last a hundred mages a hundred lifetimes, and Mace has read all these scrolls and books? That's incredible"
"You should expect nothing less for a magician granted the title of sage." Maria says as she levitates towards a towering shelf and picks a scroll from the very top. "Essence manipulation is a good place to start."
"I want to learn how to fly," says Alex blankly. Maria chuckles.
"It took years before my teacher could even think of teaching me how to fly, and I'm way too petty to teach a knight's squire flight on his first day of mage training." Maria drops the book onto Alex's head. "Once you finish reading that I'll explain what I'll teach you."
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Alex finishes reading the last line in the book. It was a painstaking four hours but he took to heart every word written about the theory of manipulating one's own life force. He yawns and stretches his arms in his cross legged posture as his gaze lifts from the book to the soft setting sun in the horizon. The lad suddenly feels a pressure that knocked the air out of his stomach and jolts him forward. He looks down and sees a ripe green oval fruit on his lap.
"I brought green basins," Maria says as she slowly descends from the sky with a bag full of the exotic fruit.
"Thank you, but aren't these out of season?"
"This forest operates on a different set of rules" she lands in front of the lad. "We should leave some for Gavin."
"Well I'm hungry, so screw him…respectfully." says Alex. She smiles and takes a bite of the fruit while keeping eye contact with Alex who also takes a bite.
"All this sexual tension…Would you like to ravage me here and now?"
"W-wait, now!?"
Maria sighs. "Nevermind, your hesitation threw me off." She sits cross legged opposite the disappointed lad. "Anyway, let's talk about essence manipulation. Basically humans have the ability to rearrange life essence from their 'soul' to construct and stimulate change in other matter. If you get really good at it, space, time and reality would be in your grasp, with reason of course."
"But beasts can't rearrange their essence the same way as humans because the texture of life force is too rigid to bend" says Alex.
"That's the basic theory behind it. But magic is more art than science…well…more like an art you spend your entire life researching like a science. I could spend the next hour explaining my own theories and hypothesis but we don't have nearly enough time in the world for that. So we'll just skip to the good part."
"Okay I'm listening." Nods Alex in excitement.
"Close your eyes" Maria orders and the lad complies. He closes his eyes and immediately feels a soft sensation on his lips. But before he can react in the darkness of his shut eyes he sees an explosion of green flames that neatly compacted into a tight ball of green plasma. "Can you see it" whispers Maria.
"Yes," Alex hesitates, "…is that my core?"
"Yes. I stimulated your pathways so you could see it. The first step of essence manipulation is called drawing from the well. You must syphon the raw energy from your core."
"How do I do that?"
"It's not really about you doing it but more of you feeling it. Direct the energy with your feelings"
"Which feeling do I use?"
"The one that feels most natural."
Alex takes a deep breath invites a familiar sensation to grow inside him. He remembers the lodge back in Redwood; the same sensation when he would play with his sister Harmony or see his mother's warm smile. The green spiral energy spiral grows larger and, like a second heartbeat, pulsates its warmth all around Alex's body.
"Yes, Alex," whispers Maria, "Let it flow within you." But suddenly the lad felt a gut wrenching sensation, the same sensation he felt gazing at his father's distant back. The gut wrenching feeling turned into the same dread he felt in the forest when the Zheng had cornered him and Maximus then finally the dread turned into the same guilt he felt when he attended the funeral of Davion under the unbearable collective weight of the scornful gazes the villagers gave him and his brother. The green spiral began to shrink till it disappeared entirely leaving the lad alone in darkness.
"Alex you can open your eyes" Maria says. The lad opened his eyes to see her concerned face so close to his, "I forgot to tell you how intense the process could be" The lad didn't respond, the feelings he felt were indeed surreal, he reaches out to rub his irritated eyes but to his surprise he feels an uncontrollable stream of tears flowing down his face. Maria reaches out and helps him wipe the tears away.