Rings

A knock was heard at Desser's door.

"Enter."

Magi Cornelius sniffled as he peered through the doorway. Desser was sick of this old man's childish antics and asked, "what do you want? And why do you look like your about to cry?"

Cornelius ran toward Desser's side and yelled, "it's so good to see your highness being lively! You were bedridden for a long time, and this country was in a state of extreme turmoil! Our only crown prince was fighting for his life on a daily basis!"

Cornelius continued sniffling as he gave Desser the good news, "I've informed His Majesty about your recovery as soon as you gain consciousness. His reply arrived today that he and your mother will be visiting as soon as they finish cleaning some Fre-Jan trash that appeared on our shores."

Desser winced at the words, 'your mother.' He knew it was unreasonable to expect every parent to be the same; after all, Nathan's parents—his best friend from his old life on Earth—were amazing and kind people. However, the trauma still stuck with him even in his new transmigrated life.

Cornelius noticed how unenthusiastic he looked when hearing the good news and asked, "have you even lost the memories of your parents? What is it that you remember?" Magi Cornelius has never heard of such amnesia caused by healing Magic. After all, that was his hypothesis when he originally heard his personal maid and Desser speaking. He assumed that it was only a small portion of his memory, not a total wipe!

Cornelius began to shake in both shame and remorse, "I'm so sorry, my prince! I have caused you to suffer greatly! I have failed you as a physician because I did not notice how much your mind was influenced by my desperate attempt to save you!"

Desser had a feeling that his memories were either gone or locked away because of the death of the original body. Most likely, it had nothing to do with Cornelius's treatment.

Desser replied, "don't worry. I cannot miss what I don't remember, and I'm excited to learn all over again!" Desser was genuine, but his words didn't console Cornelius; instead, it had the opposite effect on him.

Desser was still callous by nature and just sent Cornelius away. He wanted to focus on things that brought him joy in his new life and forget his past.

He opened Arch-Magi's book again:

[ Chapter 4: Rings ]

[ I HAVE DONE IT! I HAVE BEGUN THE PROCESS OF CONVERTING MY CIRCLES INTO RINGS! ]

[ Let me start from the beginning. This will be the greatest legacy I will leave my successors. I know we will be a stronghold—if not, a mighty power throughout Anthul. ]

[ My successors, let me first explain what my experiments entailed. Throughout my journey with Magic, I've noticed that our power is not static. Magic makes up much of our lives and every creature's life force. Life is not unmovable and unchanging, so Magic must be the same! ]

[ I began experimenting with how to move our stagnant circles. They are created around our Cores—these Cores change in colour and become more powerful, yet the circles are present. When we look at the night sky, do the moons stay in the same place? No! The moons circle around its core, around Anthul! ]

[ I then ask you, are the circles created around our Cores stagnant? Or are they like our moons? ]

[I've gone to the valley in the north, what we call the Brahmut countryside. I've observed the mighty griffins taking care of their young before returning to the Morgan Northern Mountain range. There the griffins give their young their blood. Like how calves drink their mothers' milk, the griffin young drink the blood of their elders. Most elders die from blood loss. ]

[ I stole some griffin blood and analyzed it to understand why the most powerful elders would sacrifice themselves to feed their young. That very concept is foreign in most monster and animal life cycles. I noticed that within the blood, Magic rotated, and the blood never stopped moving. Their blood seemed to contain a life force even when it was outside the host's body! ]

[ I drank a bit of the blood, and my body convulsed. I truly thought I would die, but my 6th Circle power of regeneration kept me alive. As I fell between the veil of life and death, I felt my circles move. I concentrated on the movement, aided by the griffin blood. My body merged with this great planet, Anthul. I could feel the rotation of the moons around me—the moons that symbolize our god Brutreq! In doing so, I succeeded in creating a moving Circle around my core. Instead of calling it a circle, I will call it a ring! ]

[I've discovered that 1 Ring is equal to 3 Circles. If I can make all my Circles into Rings, I might become a god! I would be even more powerful than a 9th Circle Magi! Could I even attain immortality? ]

Desser was shocked. Sure, Magic was a foreign concept for him. After all, there is no magic on Earth. Desser thought to himself, 'immortality? That was always a taboo in every culture and book. Everyone who attained immortality became undead, lost their humanity, or yearned for death. Could Arch-Magi be alive right now? Or maybe the insanity has him in a deep slumber like a vampire…I really don't want to wake an apocalyptic disaster if that's the case.'

Desser noticed a note also written in a different handwriting from the Arch Magi. It read:

[ CAUTION TO MY DESCENDANTS: If you attempt to drink the blood of a griffin and create a ring instead of a circle, expect death. I had lost many sons and daughters to this madness. Although it is possible, it's safer for our future generations to not attempt this unless the nation is in crisis. I will explain more in the next chapter. – signed: A grieving father, King Zeloz Mogar]