19 The Eldritch Staff

With starlight bearing down upon the carriage seamlessly moving upon the dusty trail Aurelia turned her injured body covered in bloody bandages towards the Young Lord, ignoring her plight.

"Come now, Aurelia. Leave the young master be." Said Innis touching upon the heavy tension in the air.

Puffing her cheeks, Aurelia shook her head, "No, I want to challenge Dumb Dumb!"

Lowering his book Zireael snickered, "Challenge? You defeat some weak ass hound, and you think you can challenge a dragon? At least your not talking in the first person anymore!"

"Lord Blackwater, stop adding wood to the flame, and Lady Aurelia, you need to heal. It's only been three days. Your wounds need a week to heal fully." Taila voiced, taking Aurelia into her arms like a mother. With a gentle kiss to her cheek, the young girl lowered her head.

Snorting at the scene, Zireael turned his gaze towards the woods, "We should be there by tonight, correct? Innis, when will you be speaking to Aurelia about the Mystic Arts of Arcane Magic?"

"She is only three, my lord. Even nobles will teach their child when they are five or can retain such complex information." Innis warned, turning towards the brightly lit gaze of the little Doe. Blinded by her pure, innocence Innis's heart began to melt; however, once her gaze fell upon the demon king, her world shattered.

"Fuck her age! Let her learn something that will help once her body will retain Arcana." Zireael ruthlessly said, "In fact, let me!"

Rising from his slouched manner Lord Zireael rolled his eyes towards the bright gaze of Aurelia, "Everyone has their own Arcane Element they resonate to the heavens. Talia is water, and Innis is darkness. What do you think yours is?"

Noticing the confusion Lord Blackwater, continued, "Forget about your element for now. Since you are only in the first of five stages of Arcane Refinement, you cannot absorb any Arcana or store it as of yet. However, once you do, your journey will finally start. Arcane Warrior is where you are free to use magic to decimate your enemies.

"Magic? I will be able to fly?" Shouted Aurelia in bliss!

"No, only those at Arcane Lord have the honor of flying!" Talia explained only to receive a cold flick by Lord Zireael.

"Incorrect! Arcane Warriors can also fly. It just requires an insane amount of control of Arcana and the type of spell you use. With each realm, you shatter the quantity of Arcana you can hold will triple or double. An Arcane Warrior can battle and use millions of different types of spells. It just requires control, or you may end up dying."

Staring at the faces of everyone filled with bewilderment, Zireael sighed, "such a backward civilization." Arching his arm, a ball of silver Arcana began to pulse from his fingertip.

"In my hand is the same Level of Arcana a Tier One Arcane Warrior has within their core. Now watch carefully!" Said Zireael pointing the ball of light towards Aurelia.

"Levitation"

Suddenly the ball hovering over Lord Zireael finger began to flicker, losing about ten percent of its light. However, a magical scene began to take place as Aurelia began floating out of Talia's arms. With her eyes glimmering with light, she screamed, rising so high her small head touched upon the ceiling.

"Aurelia wants to learn!" exclaimed the small child, still floating within the air.

Nevertheless, both Innis and Talia were horrified by what they saw. It was quite known that only monsters could cast a Tier three spell, but only using such little Arcana was not heard before.

"You all will be surprised by how much people can do what I did. It's nothing special this is not a battle spell, more of an enchantment. It's just none of you had ever seen this spell before or were too fearful of looking at how to cast it! None of you have seen the true face of this kingdom. There are many monsters hidden." Explained Zireael extinguishing the ball of light away. "There are spells to let you walk on air, although there are Prerequisites you need to pass."

"Prerequisites?" Questioned everyone to Zireael's surprise.

"Have any of you ever learned to use spells?" He questioned, turning towards Talia, who was a princess.

"I never really bothered... I found them too complicated." Talia weakly explained. "Father did reprimand me but never brought it up again."

"Well, spells are the cornerstone of my world. We use magic for everything, hunting, crafting, music, and fun. Guess I will be teaching this little girl about how to cast spells." Said Lord Blackwater returning towards his book.

"Ummm, wait, what are the prerequisites you speak of?" Aurelia hastily asked within the air, "and when do I come down?"

"Ohh, I forgot about you. Give it three minutes, or was it ten? Anyway, the prerequisites are concentration, affinity, comprehension, preparation, and sacrifice," Explained the young lord towards Aurelia. "Comphenesion is self-explanatory, and so is preparation. Concentration deals with your ability to stay focus in the heat of battle or when you are hit by a blade or spell. Affinity is... Wait, you can use Zero spells now. I forgot about that low tier."

"Huh?"

Waving his hand, an ancient force began to consume the skies bringing the storms and darkness to the land. All of a sudden, flashes of crimson lightning began tearing apart the heavens as a staff slowly came into existence.

Crashing to the ground with an echoing thud, Talia and Innis fainted while Aurelia simply stared a the staff within the palm of Lord Zireael. Completely black and long-standing, about a meter in a half in length. Sinister runes glimmered from its body, tracing towards the head of the staff, where it extended out like branches curling as though it was protecting something at its center.

"You can have this. When Mother died, she gifted me this. Since I cannot use any elemental magic, which is most magic, I shall gift you this powerful relic. This staff is called The Eldritch Staff, named after the Lord of Nightmares, Eldritch himself. When he fell to the Seven Kings of Torment, his staff fell into the arms of Mother. Now it is yours... assuming you can tame it."

Falling back to the ground, Aurelia did not feel any pressure from the staff towering over her and Zireael in height. However, her eyes could not find their way, as if something was drawing her closer. She reached out towards the staff, unaware of its nature.

Narrowing his gaze, Zireael smiled; however, with sinister intent, he laid still, shooting the Eldritch staff a profound gare, "Crush her, and I shatter your legacy and existence. Leaving your inner soul to wonder the vast expanse for all eternity."

Dropping the staff into his chosen, Aurelia quickly held it as tremor swiftly ran through her core. White as snow, she looked down at her hands pouring blood. Yet, the blood did not fall over the carriage but rather floated in the air orbiting the sinister staff.

Pulling every last drop of blood in, The Eldritch Staff trembled while Aurelia's eyes suddenly went dead. Dropping to the floor beside the other, Zireael smiled, "So it has chosen you; it would seem I was correct."

"I never took you for a gambling man, Zireael." An ethereal voice sounded, bringing a frown to the young boy.

"Master, you have returned. It would seem you have nothing better to do." Said Zireael in a hushed tone.

"I did, but when you feel a dear friend's power rising into the universe once more, it begins drawing the attention of those you are hiding from. I did not think Eldritch would acknowledge that mortal. How interesting, it would seem I may have dismissed her."

"Oh? Are you going to take her in as your disciple as well?" Zireael questioned with amusement, "If so, that would make my life quite easy."

Releasing a heavy laugh, the ethereal voiced once more, "No, not yet anyway. But are you sure about the staff? You were a master when it came to magic!"

"I am a genius in everything, and it makes sense giving it to her. She can use heavens might, and I cannot." Zireael stated with a bitter cold smile taking the Eldritch Staff into his palm. Slowly growing pale, the sinister evil radiating from the staff began to fade, leaving only a dark oak staff with an eerie aura.