7 Ambition

Rin-Turah Palace – Western Palace Wing

Alexander stood by the open window which looked out to the beautiful Royal Lake.

There was a small island in the middle of the lake with a simple gazebo. Trees covered the northern and western shores of the lake while a beautiful bridge connected the Western Palace Wing on the south shore to the island in the middle. The open courtyard in the eastern shore led out to the Main Palace, where the Royal Court was usually held.

It was a beautiful view, but one which was fully unappreciated by Alexander. Alexander was really, really confused.

"Fire." He whispered. He directed magical energy within his right hand and weaved it into fire energy. His right hand burst into scorching hot flames. With a simple thought, the fire energy quickly gathered into a small, dense sphere and hovered above his open palm.

Alexander began sending more magical energy out and created more tiny fireballs. Within seconds he had 5 fireballs dancing atop his palm.

5 small fireballs, each capable of hurting a puppy.

Together, they might even be able to send that puppy running. Probably.

Alexander frowned. Maybe a newborn puppy.

"Ice." He whispered. The fireballs dissipated and soon 5 small ice spears took their places.

"Wind." Windblades appeared.

"Earth." Tiny golems appeared.

Alexander frowned again. The Aloxandros in his memory was much stronger, but definitely not this versatile. King Aloxandros was a Red Archmage of Ice. Meaning his greatest affinity was with Ice Magic.

Which meant that he was able to absorb larger amounts of Ice Magic and store it within him. And in weaving Ice Magic spells, his power expenditure would be lesser while at the same time, his Arcane Power output would be larger.

But now, he could clearly feel that his power expenditure for fire, ice, wind and earth was exactly the same for the same amount out Arcane Power output.

Not only was it the same, it was almost negligible.

Additionally, his control over his magic had risen explosively. He felt like he was capable of weaving many spells at once.

It was both good and bad news, of course. But it also made Alexander extremely confused.

"It was the poison and the Unknown Power." Buccephalas's girly voice rang out softly in his head. "The poison destroyed much of your magical capacity. But the Unknown Power... It must have changed your magical affinity somehow."

Mildly surprised at Buccephalas's sudden appearance in his mind, Alexander wanted to retort "Finally willing to speak out have you?" But he firmly surpressed that thought. His confusion needed to be addressed first.

"Yes, I agree. But what exactly has it changed? And what exactly is it?" Alexander replied.

Encouraged by the absence of a negative response, Buccephalas replied. "For the first question, it is very simple. Go to the Testing Pillar, and we'll find out. As for the second... I... I really, really want to know as well."

Alexander frowned slightly. He had thought of going to the Testing Pillar as well. But it was located in the Royal Court. And at that moment, his precious disciple, Princess Aleyria, was probably chewing the heads off his King's Guard and Ministers.

He didn't want to go there right then if possible.

"What? Unwilling to go to the Testing Pillar? Could it be that you're afraid of your own subjects, O powerful King Alexander?" Buccephalas mocked.

Alexander narrowed his eyes in slight irritation. This Buccephalas. She was really asking to be spanked. Too bad she was just an AI in his mind.

Wait a minute. She's in his mind?

Immediately Alexander visualised a giant arm and sent it flying toward the butt of a little girl that he imagined to be Buccephalas. POK! Alexander waited for a scream.

Silence.

Damn.

"Why are you silent? You couldn't really be scared, could you??" Buccephalas asked curiously.

"O-Of course not!! I was just familiarising myself with the layout of the Royal Palace! Technically, I'm new here you know!" Alexander said defensively.

"Hmmmm. Let's go then?" Buccephalas's 6th sense was tingling slightly. She felt something was a little off, but she couldn't quite place it.

"Before we go, could you maybe summarize for me exactly how magic works in this world. From the beginning please. I need to clear my confusion." Alexander asked Buccephalas rather politely. He was feeling a little guilty of his earlier imaginary action.

"Hmmm. Alright." Buccephalas agreed.

"Well, according to the database of the AI, there are 6 levels of Arcane Power. Black, Grey, Blue, Red, Yellow and White." Buccephalas began.

"Each level is further divided into Novice, Intermediate, Advanced and Pinnacle. You were a Pinnacle Red Archmage, now though, you are a Black Archmage. The colour system measures Arcane Power – the amount of power you are able to bring forth to impact the world."

"Ah, I see..." Alexander commented.

"SILENCE! Do not interrupt me when I am speaking!" Buccephalas roared.

Alexander was shocked speechless. What on earth? This 'sentient AI' sure is fierce!

Buccephalas continued as though nothing happened. "Mages are beings that have an affinity with a special force called magic. They are able to draw magic from around them and store it within their bodies. How much magic a mage can draw depends on his innate magical capacity."

At this point, Alexander tried to sense his magical capacity. "That's weird. When I first awoke, I felt like I could control power equivalent to ten men. But now... I felt like the number had risen by a huge amount. It is closer to twenty men now."

"You..." Buccephalas began, annoyed at being interrupted once more. But she reigned in her temper and said very curtly. "It's probably that Unknown Power. It expanded your magical capacity. Congrats. Now shut up."

Alexander was shocked speechless again.

Rude!

Very Rude!!

Buccephalas continued. "In addition to drawing magic, a mage needs to learn the arcane arts of weaving and refining that power in order to be able to cast them out again as spells. The more intricate the spell, the more magic in different qualities and various states of refinement is required.

An untrained mage of immense magical capacity is like a giant balloon. Huge and clumsy, he is only able to wreak magical chaos easily countered and negated. He is also in great danger of exploding into a cloud of magical waste. On the other hand, a highly trained mage of minimal magical capacity is like a sharp dagger. Small, yet deadly in the right circumstances.

Technically, Amount of Magic Power X Complexity of Magic Spell = Arcane Power.

This Arcane Power is the one being ranked. So not all Red Archmages are equal. Some Red Archmages only have a small amount of magical capacity. But because they have mastered powerful spells, they can achieve the Red level. Others may have much bigger magical capacity. But because they have not or are unable to master powerful spells, they too are at the Red level.

Your disciple, Aleyria, she is a White Archmage. She has immense magical capacity, one of the largest ever seen in Arcanus 26. And she has even crazier talent in weaving magic."

"Ahh, my beloved, precious disciple!" Alexander exclaimed happily. "Good! Good!!"

Buccephalas snorted. Not very long ago, this dude was trembling in fear at the mention of his 'horrible, horrible' disciple. But now, she was a 'beloved' and 'precious' disciple.

Fickle.

"Anyway, magic is a wild and unpredictable force that changes in quality according to the environment. You need to be very careful where you draw energy and refill your magic power from.

An environment of death gives rise to highly toxic dark magic that is powerful yet dangerous to the mage. A dark mage specializing in dark magic is powerful and deadly, but is also sure to die a painful and early death. A balanced environment like a forest is the favorite place for mages to draw magic. With life on one hand and death on the other, you will find most of the magic you'll need.

But..." Buccephalas hesitated.

"But what?" Alexander asked immediately.

"You did not have any fire magic within you. But..."

"But I casted fireballs just now! FIVE fireballs!" Alexander cried out.

Alexander and Buccephalas went silent for a moment.

"Hohoho." Alexander snickered evilly.

"I don't know what happened, but I am starting to get excited. Arcanus 26. Arcane Wars. General Wars. Universe Empires. Yes, I want them all!" Alexander could feel his blood starting to boil.

His wild ambition that led him to conquer much of the known world back on earth, had reared its powerful head once more.

"First, let's go to the Testing Pillar!"

*-*-*