Disciple

Lamps illuminated shelves made of red stone adorned with different kinds of books, filling a vast room.

Sitting at a small black wooden table were various kinds of books, a young man reading in silence.

"There are so many different kinds of magic, so many little complexities about each of this spells," Vince thought.

Spells were separated into several levels

Level 1 magic, was the level of basic spells, used mainly by novice mages, such as "Clean" and "Guide light".

Level 2 were minor elemental spells, "Fireball", "Lightning Spear", "Air Breath", "Mana Barrier", and others , highly popular due to their ease lerning

Level 3 was magic that could only be used by mages from the fourth or fifth circle due to the fact of the high cost of mana they employed, being more powerful than the lower level ones

Then followed levels 4, 5, 6 and 7 respectively, little was known about them beyond the records of people who saw the mages of these respective levels use them, always being portrayed as something close to natural disasters, or miracles bordering on the divine.

As a mage grew it became increasingly difficult to learn new spells, tomes that went beyond the basic and ordinary were hard to find, and when found had an exorbitant price, requiring mages to strive to create their own spells, something that was not easy.

Magic also comprised many fields,

Elemental Magic: It was the most common, artificially replicating natural phenomena, and also one of the most versatile

Support Magic: Spells that provided body enhancements, speed, defenses, physical strength, the higher the effects the higher the level.

Mental Magic: Spells that affected and operated in the subconscious, they where extremely rare.

- Spirit Magic: It was probably the most unique field, here, the controller made contract with spirits, no matter their strength, the spirit acting as a catalyst for the mage's spells.

There were also many other schools of magic, like Summoning Magic, Blood Magic, Necromancy, Divination and many others.

Vince was increasingly intrigued, after all until that moment he only knew Elemental Magic, being shocked to come across the vastness of the possibilities of magic.

"It's really mysterious"

He remerebered how mage Shacrahad said in his book that mana could just interfere with "particles" already existing in the environment and modify them to serve the mage, but looking at these different types of articles, even a beginner can see that he was deeply mistaken."

Vince relaxed in his chair and closed his eyes in reflection

'So that's the depth of knowledge, many wizards left their observations about what magic would be and why it happens, and as much as these theories seemed visionary in their day, they fell as more wizards ascended and studied magic more and more deeply' Comparing the different dates of the documents, Vince sighed 'I can use all this knowledge, but I can't believe everything without drawing my own conclusions.'

He then looked at a scroll on paper beside him, and his purple eyes shone

"I can surprisingly understand these spells very easily, almost as if I had recorded them before, it's extremely natural, as I thought, it has to do with my eyes."

Now that Vince was increasingly formulating his knowledge base, he realized that for him things were going in a peculiar way

Normally mages would have to take days to record a spell, especially beginners, and that's only when they actually achieved their goals., since it required talent

However, he could shoot most spells up to level 2 with some speed, but that was only when his magic eyes were active.

The first time it happened he had a shock, it was during the recording of "Lightning Spear",

Suddenly 2 purple suns flew over the lake eteric, and everything on its surface was like child's play for him,

He could fully understand the spells, each piece of the array, how it was formulated, how to use it in the proper way, its strengths and limitations.

It was the feeling of walking down an already paved path

"I feel like I can even shorten them even more."

Chanting a spell was not necessary, unlike array formation, it was only useful normally for novice mages, as these words opened a direct path to the runes engraved on their core, making it easier to concentrate and execute the spell.

"I still don't have enough mana to try level 3 spells safely, I don't need to rush and risk breaking my core forcing him like this." then he thought 'I should start then, I hope this feeling isn't just a mistake I can move forward'

These past two weeks Vince had advanced like probably no mage before him, he felt the mana around him being drawn to his core in great quantity, each spell he used made the runes engraved on his core expel the acquired mana only for it to be absorbed again in large quantities, creating a cycle of refinement.

He felt that the etheric lake was raging again, wanting to expand beyond the invisible walls.

Vince then closed both of his hands and brought them slightly in front of the middle of his chest.

Then he went into a trance,

Two purple suns shone above an etheric lake like the eyes of a God watching the creation of the world,

The lake then began to rage on, waves rising over its entire surface and wildly crashing into invisible walls,

'Okay, keep calm, direct the waves so that they form a circle'

The waves then began to spin, forming a large circle above the lake, bright runes connecting like stars,

The circle then began to levitate on the surface of the lake and expand more and more, until it broke through the invisible walls that held it,

It expanded rapidly, coming together like a satellite around the core around the core where it now hung two beautiful blue rings.

"I got it!" Vince let out a sigh as he gasped, his eyes stopping to glow.

"It was really like I expected, it was exhausting, but other than that, I felt like I'd done it countless times."

"Mirror of water"

An array sprang up over Vince's hands, water began to float over it, quickly forming a circle that reflected his face like a mirror.

HHe looked at the face the mirror reflected , smooth white skin, thick, sharp eyebrows, brown hair, a beauty mark under his left eye,

Then his most striking feature, eyes of a deep purple

"You guys really seem to hold a lot of secrets," he uttered with a smile.

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Toc Toc

"Come in, but know, if it's you Bernard, that instead of a growth potion you're going to end up losing a few inches with the beating I'm going to give you" said the old archmage

Vince then entered the room, and saw Zeldan with his back to him stirring in a cauldron of obisiana,

"Oh, so it's you Vince" He said without even turning around, or hearing Vince utter a word "what business do you have here?"

"I came to return the books you lent me."

"But already? You can take as long as it takes to read them, I'm in no hurry for your return."

"I've actually read them all, elder."

"In such a short time? You know, magic is something you have to be diligent about, people in a hurry always end up getting lost in that way..."

"In fact, I've already completely understood everything they had to offer, from the biography of wizard Shacrahad, mage Elman, mage Lipus, I've also learned all eight spell scrolls you gave me, from 'Guiding Light' to 'Water Mirror.'"

Zeldan then turned around, a serious look that was a mixture of curiosity and distrust.

"Um... show me the spell 'Mirror of water.'" He then pointed his finger at Vince, an extremely slow and thin beam of fire heading towards Vince.

"Water mirror," he said, a small mirror forming in front of him.

The slow beam of fire smashed into the mirror, and was reflected, slowly making its way back to Zeldan

"Impossible!" He said, he moved his hand and the fire beam was extinguished, "Spell shortened, only two weeks, a level 2 spell!", His red eyes then glowed, "And you formed your second circle…"

"Well, somehow I seem to have a real talent for magic" Vince smiled

"That's not talent kid, you must be a damn genius, one who shows up once in millennia" he said still shocked "Even me took me damn 6 months to record all eight basic spells, don't even talk about shorten your spells, and i'm the most talented of my generation!"

"When you put it like that I'm kind of embarrassed..." Vince at this moment had a silly smile on his slightly red face, after all it wasn't every day that a legendary archmage called someone a genius

They were beings known to be close to transcendence after all, living legends, Vince knew that if it weren't for the circumstances of this place, meeting someone like Zeldan and Herman and having them so accessible would be impossible...

Zeldan scratched his white beard, looking at Vince, he seemed to go into deep thought

"Boy... Vince, well, you're really a genius, but every genius needs an instructor to be able to guide them properly or even them would end up stagnant" Zeldan suddenly looked like a merchant trying to sell his fish

"Honestly, there's no one in this place who can guide you as well as I can... I can give you my word that if it wasn't for this damn prison my name could be among the most famous in the world! Maybe i'd even become an Archon..." Said Zeldan, confidence and pride shining in his eyes.

"Well... that said, I wish I could guide you as your master if you are willing, I guarantee my teachings will be top not, you met Bertrand didn't you? He's my student, I think----"

"Yes I do!" Vince yelled

"But think about it, the relationship between master magician and disciple is deeper than that of the fathers and children, it is good to always think of the fund----"

"Yes! Yes! I think fast, I've made up my mind" Vince said with his eyes shining

Who would turn down the opportunity to be taught by an archmage? In fact, to say that Vince had no ideas about whate came from showing his talent for Zeldan, and that he did not from the beginning intend to be appointed as a disciple would be a lie...

He had already discussed this with Beltrand, who said that the old Zeldan was always complaining that almost no one in Red Castle wanted to go the way of magic recently since it was too difficult

"Well then it's done, we'll do the ritual then."

"Ritual?"

"It's just something symbolic between a master and disciple, nothing too complex, but symbolism is important for magicians."

"For me that's fine then, what would it take"

"Nothing too special, we'll do it right here."

Suddenly an aura emerged from Zeldan and expanded like a storm towards Vince.

He instinctively closed his eyes,

When he opened them next the landscape had changed, a red sun shone in the sky, a white desert stretching for miles,

He could feel the warmth of the sand as his hands touched it,

It was a stunning landscape,

He was amazed at the sun for a while, although different, he hadn't seen it in weeks

"It's probably not that much like the real thing, it's a manifestation of my subconscious after all."

"What is this place?" Vince said completely shocked

"That's one of the benefits of an archmage, called 'Dominion.'"

"Can you create such a place after becoming an archmage?"

"Well, it wasn't necessarily after, that's the end result of my core being refined constantly, where it starts to interfere with reality, creating a completely new dimension."

"By the gods, something like this is possible!"

Vince was more shocked than ever, the idea of someone who was once a mere mortal being able to ascend to the point of creating a completely different dimension within himself was simply incredible

"Well, without further ado, let's start the ritual, bow to me seven times."

"Why seven times?"

"You really are curious haha, that's good" Zelda smiled

"The number seven is the number of transformation, it is the first manifestation of man to know the beauties of the Spirit, the intention of the Gods, and lastly, Creation."

"I understand."

"By the way, what's your full name? Names received during birth have deep meanings in the world of magic."

"Vince Durant"

Zeldan then put both hands behind his back and said in a deep voice

"Vince: During do you want to enter the ways of magic? have me as your master and teacher?"

"Yes."

"Do you swear to follow the knowledge, the path to Kéter until your last breath?"

"I swear."

"Then bow seven times."

Vince then didn't say anything else,

He bowed to Zeldan,

As he bowed for the seventh time and raised his head, the red sun shone,

Zeldan seemed like the only thing in this place

"Now we are master and disciple Vince Durant, I will direct you along the paths of magic, offer you direction over your darkest moments, and protect you from the evils of the world until you can deal with them yourself."

With a smile he said "Get up disciple."

Vince then stood up, the world around him distorted again and he found himself back in the lab

"That was quick..."

"Well... There are some more complex rituals that involve magic and contracts, but I don't like that, I value free will."

"Well, what now?"

"Now I will personally teach you the ways of magic, you will also have unrestricted access to my research and spells, well, I follow the path of 'Fire' and 'Shadows', so it will be what you will come across the most."

Zeldan then began to list the various disciplines that Vince would have to learn, there were so many... Bertrand had commented that he was a demanding teacher, but he didn't think it would be so much...

"Well... let's start with Shacrahad's theory about elemental magic, tell me what you think about I'll point out your mistakes and successes."

"I found your ideas about mana interfering with these already existing particles very interesting, however---"

So, hours passed like seconds.

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The place was dark, there was no light, the only thing he could see was silver hair and a darkened face

"There will come a time when you will have to make a decision, live happily as a puppet or go beyond"

The man then became more and more distant

"If you want to take a different path, use my gift"

Then the darkness consumed everything

////////////////////

Vince woke up completely sweaty

"Another nightmare?"

But then he noticed a small gold coin on his chest, the symbol on its surface represented a snake that ate its own tail being split in half by hands coming from above.

"What the hell?" a scream filled the room