The weekend seemed to pass like a blur...
The start of the new week was dated to bring about change. Staring at the large edifice before him, Richard could only agree.
'So this is where the orientation is taking place. Seems fancy...'
Stepping into the building, he was immediately greeted by a doorman.
"Sir Bane, Welcome. Please, the hall is this way."
Saying nothing, Richard quietly followed behind. As he walked in the red carpet that lined the floors, he cautiously examined the people he could see.
'Most are official members of the Circle. They certainly didn't come here for a beginner's orientation. What the hell could the occasion be?'
Still, that was none of his business. Even attending this orientation was beneath him. However, to fulfill all righteousness, he had to attend. He had been personally invited by Baxter Rigborne, and skipping out on the event could be seen as disrespectful.
Richard sighed and continued on, following the presumed 'doorman' until they reached a set of regular looking doors.
Pulling an ornate key from his pocket, the doorman inserted it into the keyhole, then twisted.
Almost immediately, Richard could feel the surging mana around them. He could recognize it almost immediately.
'A portal spell, huh... Then the venue isn't in the city. Where could it be?'
"Please, step through this door, Sir. I do hope you know the rules and regulations concerning events like this."
Richard smiled, "No weapons, and no summons. Is that it?"
The doorman smiled eerily, "Indeed. If that is the case, then I wish you good luck."
Richard nodded, still smiling, 'He's definitely a strange one.'
Richard had a theory, that any human involved in the dark side could never be normal. There was something about the arcane that twisted and corrupted the mind. Perhaps it was one of the downsides of practicing magic, only the dead gods know.
Without saying anything else, Richard stepped through the doors...
... and appeared on the other side of the portal.
The world around him changed almost immediately. His body was instantly assaulted by a tremendous surge of mana. He wasn't attacked or anything. The density of mana here was just too incredible.
He frowned, "Where the hell-?"
However, his question was answered when he looked up. The sky was pitch black. There were no stars, no clouds, nothing... Just a seemingly endless darkness.
However, there was a singular source of light. Pouring down its wretched illumination onto this seemingly desolate world, was a Red Sun. It wasn't a vibrant color, reminding him of blood and death.
Gazing too long at it made him turn pale, his soul trembling.
"Fuck." Tearing his gaze from the Red Star, he looked all around him.
He scratched his head, "Is this meant to be the orientation hall?"
For as far as he could see, there was nothing but pale red sand and black rocks jutting out of the earth here and there. There was absolutely no hall anywhere around.
Even the door he had stepped through had long since disappeared.
Just as he was about to give up and sit down on a nearby rock, he heard a voice,
"Welcome. Please, process to the Black Castle for orientation."
This voice didn't seem to come from any external source, so Richard was a bit confused. However, that confusion cleared up moments later.
A strange grin appeared on his face,
'Interesting...'
Then...
"Where is this Black Castle?"
"To attend the orientation, Sorcerers must first find the Black Castle. A Sorcerer's greatest tool is the mind. The second greatest is the eyes..."
Richard almost burst out laughing.
It was indeed humorous. Even on a day like this, the Circle of Magi's habit of making everything a test came through.
With a shake of his head, Richard studied a terrain.
"From the look of things, perhaps one of the Sub-planes?"
A Sub-plane is a realm that exists separate from the human world and the Abyssal Planes. The rules and laws of nature in these places were usually unbalanced and chaotic, but the conditions were much more favorable to humans than on the Abyssal Planes themselves.
These places were usually subject to wars from both sides of the wall. Both humans and denizens of the Abyssal Planes could access these realms, so it became fairly normal for them to be used as battlegrounds.
Currently, humanity has control of over a hundred of them...
Despite the Sub-plane's habitable environment, this was just in contrast to the Abyssal Planes themselves. In reality, they were deadly in their own ways.
Take this one for example...
Trying his best not to gaze at the sun, Richard walked forward...
'So the mission is to find the Black Castle. There's a lot of sand and black rocks everywhere, but I can't see any large manmade or natural structures.'
The sand whipped around his body, but none of them managed to reach him.
'Where could this castle be? In the sky? Or beneath the soil...'
Standing in the spot, Richard recalled the words that had been spoken into his ears,
'A Sorcerer's greatest tool is the mind. The second greatest is the eyes...'
"Could this be a clue?" Richard had no idea. But there was one thing he was certain of...
"I'm getting tired of this sight."
His lips parted, and words began flowing from the tip of his tongue. But there words weren't normal words. They were spoken in a strange language, one that could inflict madness onto the mind of a mundane soul.
Richard closed his eyes and cast a spell...
When he opened them, a layer of magical energy had gathered around his left eyeball, changing its physical composition and structure.
The source of magic is the soil, but the source of every spell is a sorcerer 's mind.
Richard had cast a spell he had created by himself, the Seeker's Eye of Deception. A skill that had numerous functions and could be improved the more he improved his study of magic theory.
However, its main function was to reveal things that were hidden to mortal eyes. While this was a rather broad definition, it was best classified as such. Making use of magic to reveal what had been hidden with magic. It was a complex spell made up of numerous low-level spells working in tandem.
This was what a man termed as a failed genius was capable of.
And sure enough...
"There it is."
Under the ethereal glow of the hazy Red Sunlight, in the distant horizon what what looled to be a tower made from pitch-black stones.
Dismissing the spell he had conjured, Richard continued to walk forward, reaching the gates of the magnificent black tower in a few minutes.
He sighed, "Why do those old bastards always have to make everything complicated?"
"Congratulations. Please, come in..."
Once again, the same voice echoed within his mind. Giving it no thought, Richard stepped through the open doors.
The moment he did, he found himself at the back of a crowded hall.
A bit peeved, Richard took a moment to adjust to his surroundings.
There was a bit of nervous chatter going on in the hall...
Richard was surprised, 'From the looks of it, almost a thousand people. Impressive.'
Every single person in the room could be classified as new blood. Once in a while, as the population of Sorcerers in the world dwindled, new blood had to take the place of the old. If not, who was going to fight the Demons and Devils?
'And this is even after all those tests. Could those old geezers have finally reduced the difficulty of those tests, or are these guys just very good?'
Walking briefly, Richard sat down onto a chair located at the very end of the hall, away from the already forming cliques and social circles. Despite how weird Sorcerers are, at the end of the day, they were still human at heart. Seeing soany people involved in t same thing as they were gathered in once place was sure to set a few passionate spirits ablaze.
Richard continued to observe passively for a few moments when he felt someone tap his shoulder from behind.
"Hm?"
"Sorry, is this seat taken?" A young man, presumably twenty or twenty-one years of age, with brown curly hair and green eyes called out nervously to Richard from behind.
'Why would be come to me out of all people on the room?'
Although he was suspicious, Richard decided not to make a big deal of out of it for now. Instead, he smiled a bit,
"Of course not. You are free to seat wherever."
"Alright, thanks!"
With that, the boy eagerly sat beside him. Fighting off the urge to get up, Richard remained seated.
"Hey, I'm Gregory Ludwig, First Rank Sorcerer." He said the moment he was settled in, a grin on his face.
Richard nodded, saying nothing.
"Er..." Gregory chuckled nervously.
Sighing internally, Richard could feel the naivety dripping off the young man.
Giving his a side glance, he spoke in a low voice.
"It's about to start."
Gregory raised his brows, "Really?"
The flow of people into the hall from seemingly nowhere that had come to a trickle some time ago had now completely stopped. Meaning all the necessary participants had arrived.
Sure enough, the stage at the center of the hall lit up with blinding lights almost immediately.
A man sporting a strange smile and wearing an all white robe lined with golden threads snapped into existence without warning.
Ignoring the looks of awe from the people gathered, he spread his arms wide and stared into the crowd, an euphoric look on his face as he spoke,
"Welcome, young Sorcerers... to the worst day of your lives."