Apprentice

Lucas spectated the fighting in awe as he even forgot about the pain he had been feeling in his abdomen. Even years in the future when he was many times more powerful than the people fighting here he would remember today's battle. There were flashes of different lights everywhere from the crimson red of fire to the occasional cool blue of ice and water.

The most magnificent scene that actually blinded him for a moment though was a magnificent golden thunderbolt that crashed down from the sky surely obliterating the unfortunate target of such power. As if the first was a signal many more came crashing down in different locations. After that was complete silence as three dark lights flew up into the sky disappearing into the horizon.

The battle had finally ended and it appeared the mages were victorious as they began approaching Lucas who was still laying on the ground. Despite the victory, none of the mages had a happy expression as they approached. A few had expressions of sadness while the others had ones of rage.

"Ivaxium, Idore, and Omlenor may you rest in peace, my brothers." Azavius had a regretful expression on his face as he spoke. "How could they have grown so powerful since the last time we saw them?! How many innocents died for their power?! How many babies and children that did not even get the chance to experience the true wonders of life?!" Aoras had an unsightly expression as he yelled out in rage.

After a few moments, they were finally able to compose themselves enough to properly approach Lucas. Although they were still grieving on the inside over the events of today there was nothing they could do they had to make sure the young man in front of them was safe and would grow up to be a powerful magician. "Perhaps he may even go out of his way in the future to avenge those who fell today." Each of them collectively thought to themselves.

They each hoped that the sacrifices made today to protect the young man would be worth it. One of the mages finally approached Lucas, "My name is Azavius of the Grand Council, may I ask your name as well young one?", Although the term young one was an odd choice of words considering the age difference between the two he had every right to refer to him as such.

Lucas slightly confused by the title Grand Council told them the name his father told him to, "I am Alexander Hawke pleasure to meet you Grand Councilor Azavius.", The introduction was a bit odd as the mages had not yet realized that Lucas was not able to stand. After a moment the mage furrowed his brow as he realized his blunder.

Azavius channeled mana into his two fingers as he drew the two half circles into the air joined together by a line before slapping the floating drawing with his palm and holding it to Lucas's Abdomen. Time seemed to come to a slow as he focused on the demonic energy in his body and moved it out of the path of the mana worried that if the two interacted his secret would be exposed.

After a few moments, Azavius stopped channeling mana into Lucas, "You should be able to stand now Alexander and I hope you do not mind if I call you Alex from now on.". Lucas shook his head saying it wasn't a problem before worrying about Barthiz as he still hadn't seen her. "Can you please help me find my sister she had gone back into our house to get refreshments when everything happened, I am very worried about her."

As he finished saying this one of the mages closed his eyes before turning to a certain direction and speaking up, "I sense a life aura over there it is quite strong you sister should be fine let's go get her.". With this Lucas followed the mages to a large slab of wood that had some blood on it. The mages quickly use magic to lift up the wood exposing Barthiz underneath.

The wound on Barthiz's head had healed at a fast rate leaving only a large cut now. As such the mages told Lucas she was in no danger and opted to save their mana rather than use it one such a superficial wound. Azavius turned back towards Lucas before speaking again, "Is there no one else here? Did a mage not try and teach you magic?".

Lucas quickly explained the story his father told him to, "After testing my potential by having me sense the mana around me he yelled at me calling me a disaster before telling me to wait and that some people would come for me in a few days.", Hearing the story the mood lightened a bit as each of the mages had a knowing smile and slightly pitied the mage that had gone in over his head while looking for an apprentice.

"Usually there would be more involved in this and we would give you a few a few days to decide but given the circumstances, we will be straightforward. We would like you to come with us back to the Holy Empire of Hadriel to be our apprentice, please make a quick decision." Azavius said.

Memories of the church from before came into his mind making him slightly upset as he wished the mages were from somewhere else. His father had told him to go with them before he left but since he would be going to the holy empire he could not get himself to immediately answer.

Instead, he opted to ask a question first and depending on the answer he may have to go and find a mage to teach him on his own, "Will I be forced to abide by the churches doctrine if I am to come with you?". Azavius stayed quiet for a moment not expecting such a question before answering. "No you will not have to follow the churches will but you will have to respect the higher-ups in the church and can not spread dissonance among the people.

Hearing the answer Lucas heaved a sigh of relief if he could avoid it he did not want to work under the orders of the church ever again, "Then as long as my sister can come then I have no problem." Hearing this each of the mages smiles happily as they nodded their heads. "Then let us set off."

One of the mages carried Barthiz while Azavius carried Lucas as they turned into flashes of life disappearing on the horizon leaving behind an eerily quiet and destroyed town. A few hours into the journey they had to stop as Barthiz had woken up and began screaming not knowing what was going on. Hence Lucas had to explain what happened and the current situation.

Due to the battle from earlier that day using up a significant portion of the mage's mana they would have had to stop anyway so they rested on the mountains that night. The journey back took six days due to Lucas and Barthiz having the need for food and sleep and such unlike the mages who had long surpassed such requirements.

Lucas did not have much time to look at the scenery of the capital city of the Holy Empire from the sky as everything was mostly a blur. Before he knew it Lucas was standing on top of a grand temple where he could more properly get a look at the city. The church in the city was many times larger than any castle or keep he had ever seen. Gold accented the lines of the building as white marble was used for primary construction.

Along the path leading to the main entrance, there were several golden statues on each side representing different magnificent angels. At the end of the path, there was a golden statue larger than all the others that depicted a heavenly man with no face sitting upon a Magic gold throne and under it was a poem dedicated to the creator.

From that point on the path had split around the statue leading to different parts of the church where there were more statues of angels, of course, none of them were as glorious of the one in the middle with the man. Two main things especially caused Lucas to gawk though one being that there were no walls or gates around the church allowing any commoner to come and go as they please

The second thing is that they actually used Magic Gold as the material for the throne! Magic Gold was a resource 1000 times more valuable than regular gold that could be used to make extremely powerful magic weapons. It was said that magic gold could only be found in one place referred to only as the Sacred Mountain of the Creator.

Only high ups of the church knew it's location not allowing anyone to sully the mountain just to keep the extraction of the valuable material from disturbing the mountain they had council magicians use magic to extract it from a distance away to keep anyone even the pope from setting foot on such a sacred place.

As Lucas stared at the statue of the man he started feeling goosebumps as it almost seemed as though the statue was actually turning its head to stare back at Lucas. No one else seemed to notice though causing Lucas to shake his head and write it off as an illusion of some sort likely caused by the high amount of magic golden that made up the throne.

Noticing that Lucas had been staring at the statue for quite some time Azavius approached him and slightly laughed, "What a waste right using such a valued material for only a statue don't worry though I'll make sure to procure some for you for your first wand. Caught off guard Lucas nodded his head before realizing what Azavius had just said.

Lucas quickly turned around objecting to what Azavius said about the wand, "There is no need such a valuable material would be wasted on me please use it for something else.". Hearing this Azavius was slightly at a loss for what to say for a moment as he did not expect Lucas to refuse his offer, "There is no need to worry for commoners it is indeed an item they would not be able to get their hands on for their entire life but for us as long as we agree to defend the country they will give us any resource we ask for.".

After saying this Azavius did not give Lucas another chance to object as walked to a door and waved for him to come. Lucas was shown around the temple to the primary training area and the eating area along with various private areas that only he would have access to. Afterward, Lucas and Barthiz were led to glorious guest rooms fit for any king "Apologies for the temporary accommodations we left in a hurry after noticing you as such your official apprentice room will not be ready for a few days. I hope you can bear with it for now." Azavius spoke with a straight face.

Afterward, he stated he had something important to do and left Barthiz and Lucas to do what they wished for the day, but Lucas could not bring himself to do anything as on thought repeated in his mind. "Everything about this room is absolutely magnificent yet he apologized and asked me to bear with it?! What the fuck should I expect to be faced with when my primary room is ready?!" Lucas could not imagine an even slightly better room than this.

The rest of the day went by quickly as Lucas familiarized himself with the temple to keep from getting lost. He was also delivered clothing for him to wear tomorrow that would display his status as a direct apprentice of the Grand Council. This would surely turn some heads as no matter the talent or power level of the ones before the Grand Council refused to take in anyone to teach.