Warlock Training 1

"... All you have to do is take my hand"

Aaron gazed up at Robert and for the first time in years, he felt something akin to emotion. In that single moment, Aaron made a decision, he'll follow Robert Remmington for the rest of his life.

He firmly grabbed Robert's hand and allowed himself to be pulled up to his feet.

"If what you say is true Mr. Remmington, then I'll follow you for the rest of my miserable life"

"Don't worry, I'll make you into a fine warlock"

Saying this, Robert whistled and a group of equally black clad figures appeared all around him. All except four of them went down on one knee and placed their hands on their chests.

They were a little over thirty in number and all had their faces obscured by their large cowls and masks. Robert put his hands inside his sleeves and a green gas started to blur Aaron's sight of him, but he could hear Robert's raspy breathing coming from directly behind him.

"Aaron Regis, do you solemnly swear to serve this association fully with your body, soul and mind?"

Aaron didn't register fear as Robert's now eerie voice danced into his ears, instead he felt a detached sense of curiosity at the procedure.

 "...Yes...I do"

"...Do you promise to keep anything and everything you hear or see amongst the ranks of the Warlocks sect a secret?"

Now he could hear the breathing from above him and his left arm was slowly going numb. He guessed the green gas was poisonous and it was actually meant for immobilizing one's opponent. He shrugged and stopped breathing before replying, "I promise..."

"Do you swear to put the sect first in all your endeavors and protect it wholeheartedly?"

"I do..."

He tried to find any patterns hidden in the green smoke but he failed to see any so he focused on fanning them all away with his hands.

"Lastly, are you ready to lay your life down for the sect if your death will strengthen the sect or save it from harm?" The voice was now a faint whisper and had a soothing touch to it. He was sure if he had paid more attention to the voice he would have discovered something, but he had no interest in doing that.

"Yes, I am..." 

He replied blankly. His curiosity had been spent and he was simply waiting for the whole process to end. The green smoke began to dissipate and he could see the kneeling warlocks clearly again. He took a deep breath as the poisonous gas was out of the air before turning his mind back to other matters.

"Aaron, from today onwards you are officially a member of the Warlock sect. These are the strongest warlocks of the sect, I and them are known as the Order of the Vicious Eight..."

As Robert's speech trailed off, the four people who didn't kneel down to him, stepped forward and each removed their cowls but left their masks on.

"Because of the covert nature of our sect, we hide our faces under a mask and adopt aliases for our everyday life. These are my deputies, Red Rose, Parrot, War Dog and Scorcher. Three others are absent today but you'll get to meet them as time goes on. Now let's venture into the abyss with our blackened hearts as we seek the dawn of the age of order"

With those words every warlock assembled there started moving towards a particular direction at high speed.

Robert grabbed Aaron, tucked him under his arm and dashed after his soldiers. He had a self satisfied smile plastered all over his face.

News of the caravan attack reached Aldesty the next day. Upon hearing the news, his mother slumped and lost consciousness. She woke up three days later just in time to attend her son's burial.

Stephen announced a two day mourning period for his  his son and people trooped to his mansion to offer their false condolences.

Aaron's death was written off as a bandit attack by the kingdom and soon everyone forgot about the Regis family's disgrace.

***

Aaron's training started immediately he arrived at the Warlock sect's headquarters, the Magical Floating Tower. It was currently anchored at the coast of a little island surrounded by the Arken Sea. He was given the hooded black robes that all Warlocks wore and was told that his mask will be designed when he had been officially given a sobriquet.

Robert took his time to explain to Aaron everything about the warlocks.

Unlike normal mages, Warlocks cannot use magic created by other mages. They have a collection of spells and skills created by other Warlocks that they are able to use. Due to this anomaly, they are blessed with vast Mana pools to fuel their complicated magic manipulation.

Warlocks are also blessed with above par physical abilities, high magic resistance and quick regeneration. Powerful warlocks are able to completely regenerate body parts after they lose them. 

Aaron found out that his warlock powers were abnormal. He couldn't use any magic created by either warlocks or mages, so the first time he used a skill, he had to create it from nothing. This put him behind other Warlocks as he had to start creating an arsenal of spells before he was able to be taught anything. 

Robert took him in as a pupil and assigned him to the Black Rain Saints, a division led by the Warlock sects vice captain, Red Rose. He was a fast learner but his stoic personality won him more enemies than friends. 

Coupled with the preferential treatment given to him by Robert, it was safe to say that Aaron was one of the most hated people in the warlock sect. Once again, he was thrust into a harsh place with no friends and no family. He immersed himself fully in learning how to utilize his powers and before long he was stronger than most of his mates.

Two months after he joined the Warlock's sect, Aaron officially became a grade 6 mage to the envy of most of his mates. He began to follow the Black Rain Saints out on missions and before long, he was known within the warlock sect as 'Scimitar' because of the steel like coldness he exhibited when cutting down his opponents. His mask was silver in colour and it had a tear falling from it's right eye hole. 

Aaron's talent was so excessive that even Red Rose, the leader of his division was impressed. She called him aside and began to give him special training to help him manipulate mana better.

He and Red Rose grew closer the more they spent together and soon she revealed her true identity to him. She was a middle aged lady called Cecile Thorn and according to her, she was more powerful than Robert.

Aaron didn't know how but despite the cold and unwelcome behavior of the other Warlocks towards him, he slowly but surely formed an unbreakable bond with Cecile Thorn the Red Rose.