Beginnings

Two figures made their way through the valley on the small dirt road that snaked in and out of the villages surrounding the castle. One was a man that had less than average height, he made big strides down the pathway, never missing a beat. The other was much taller and bulkier, but had a black fog surrounding him and unnaturally floated behind the first.

Grimwald slowly began to come back to reality, when he noticed he was moving down the main road out of the kingdom. 'That's weird, I don't remember getting on a carriage' he thought. He tried to turn his head to the left and then to the right, but to no avail. Horror filled him as he realized what was happening. That damn 'thing' was controlling him again.

Closing his eyes, he thought of the sensation of controlling his mana. He tried to encapsulate himself with it. The only response he got was resistance. The mana would not obey him no matter how much he poked and prodded it mentally. He opened his eyes to find slight traces of white smoke escaping from his fingertips before dispersing completely.

Noticing the distortion in the mana around him, Kyriel spun on his right heel in a fluid motion that had him turn around in the blink of an eye. Only a trained soldier or mage would have been able to follow that movement. Readying for whatever danger he was alerted to, his staff appeared in his hands and he crossed it diagonally in front of him. A yellow barrier immediately surrounded the party, lightning crackled and arced across the surface threatening to smite anyone dumb enough to cross it.

When nothing else happened and no hidden threat showed itself. Kyriel chalked it up to an anomaly or maybe just his paranoia had gotten the best of him. He was sure he felt a powerful mana being conjured behind him though. He had many enemies and this wouldn't have been the first time an attempt on his life was made in broad daylight. As he gave his surroundings one last scan, he noticed the poor boy had woken up. His eyes were as wide as an owls. The last traces of smoke rolled off the young ones fingertips and he finally put two and two together. 'Amazing, he has just learned to manipulate his own mana and it already exudes a level of danger that even made my instincts be wary although I'm not sure why I didn't feel that when he was using it back in the secret postern gate.' he thought as he clicked his tongue. Minerva let the boy down slowly so that he could find his own footing before retreating to the nearest shadows.

"I would hold off on trying to cast any spells or manipulate your mana any further until we rest. You have mana exhaustion, it's why you blacked out. Any further exhaustion could seriously harm both your potential and your lifespan by consuming your lifeforce." With that warning, he spun back around just as fast and began to walk once more.

Grim processed that information and was a bit confused on how he could have used up all of his mana by just storing items. He thought back to the raging inferno that seemed to swallow the castle whole, and he shuddered at just how powerful the man in front of him must be. Noticing he began to fall behind and the threat of being possessed again like a marionette terrified him further so he quickly followed, instead of walking behind him as they were, he jogged up to get beside his new companion.

"Excuse me, can you explain to me what exactly you mean by that. All I did was store a few things inside that tower?" He blurted out the moment he was confident his words would be heard. Kyriels eyes narrowed and he pushed his spectacles onto the bridge of his nose after hearing the last question. 'That tower' echoed in his mind as he responded to his apprentice.

"Just like when your muscles use up all of your stored energy from a workout, you need to rest and eat something to regain your peak state. Our bodies naturally make us feel pain and discomfort when we exert too much physically. They do that so that we don't use up all of our energy and end up harming bodies, think of it like a failsafe. However mana doesn't have a built in failsafe until you can gauge your own reserves. Mana and mana pathways work almost the same. Just like when you were a child, you didn't start with great reserves of energy or muscle mass, but as you use them and practice they grow and mature over time. Each time you exhaust your mana reserves to a low state, it should replenish with even greater capacity as long as you do not abuse it and exhaust it completely as you just have."

With a deep breath and a sigh, he continued to educate him, "There are three simple steps in manipulating your mana, they will become second nature to you as you use each one. I'm sure you noticed it became easier to accomplish the same goal the more things you stored. The first step is conjuring your mana from your being or from the world. I suggest leaving the world mana alone until you're more proficient in control, as the world mana can be quite volatile. That brings us to the second step, Control, you must control your mana to bend it to your will. Just like when you made it encapsulate the items. The third step is the most complex and difficult. Manipulation, forcing it into action and completing the last chain in realizing a spell. To simplify it as much as possible, this usually entails giving the mana a set of properties or commands. Here pay close attention."

"Step one: Conjuration"

Kyriel produced his right hand from his robe placing his palm up toward the sky. A small wisp began to form above his hand and grew until the size of a fist as it just floated there.

"Step two: Control"

The wisp transformed first into rudimentary shapes, like a ball, a pyramid, and a simple block. Then into more complex configurations, it turned into a ball of fire with flames darting all around, then a small dog mimicking walking around on his palm, then lastly into a whirlwind and progressed until a small tornado was centered about his palm.

"Step three: Manipulation"

The tornado suddenly became audible as a low whistle emanated from it. Suddenly the wind around the pair was amplified by the tornado and gusts began to swirl around them. The wind whipped his robes about furiously. Grim began to feel the still small tornado start to influence his balance as it started to suck in grass and twigs from around their feet. Kyriel closed his hand around the raging tornado and it disappeared just as soon and suddenly as it had appeared.

"Now that's just the basics, in most cases all three steps are done simultaneously and in quick succession to produce the desired result. Normally we use incantations, runes, and hand motions to help us cast faster or control more mana, this is especially true when manipulating world mana. Also, we can use magical equipment that can help with your control immensely. Now tell me about this tower you spoke of, and don't leave a single detail out."

Grim took a moment to recall everything he had just witnessed and embedded it into his memory. Then he slowly began to explain how the tower had pulled him towards it, how massive it was, and the shadowy figure residing on top of it with the menacing silver eyes.

Kyriel instantly started to stroke his beard and shake his head as he heard the details about the tower. "Well this certainly is out of the ordinary, like I said before, most pocket dimensions are only the size of a chest or a small room, they are quite limited in space and never exude a presence. Your Dragons Mantle must contain a spark of the dragon's soul that it was made from, this is all speculation of course. Every Mantle I've ever seen had long lost its enchantments and turned into just a relic of the past with scales instead of chainmail. True dragons that the Mantles are made from haven't walked this realm of existence for two millennia, in rare cases wyrmlings will arise as a monster evolves making it into something that resembles the legendary creatures but lack the same features and power."

Realizing he had started to go off on a tangent, he took a pause to study the young man's expression only to find pure curiosity. With an approving nod of his head at the thirst for knowledge, he continued on.

"In fact a giant worm ascended into a type of wyrmling called a lindwurm in the depths of the mountains behind your castle forcing your grandfather to seek aid from the covenant, which is how I was able to acquire you, at first I wanted to take your father as my apprentice, considering your grandfather's power rivaled my own at that time. Bloodlines normally carry on magical prowess, but it seems it skipped your fathers generation and I made him take a blood oath in exchange for my help against the wyrmling that promised to destroy his kingdom before he was even able to rule."

Grim's mind raced a million miles a minute as he soaked up this information. His fate and the sudden events of being kidnapped and taken away from the only place he's ever known became a little more clear, but he had many questions and doubts about his future. Not being able to suppress those thoughts he posed any question that he could think of, "So what does that mean for me? What's the covenant, and where are we going? I don't mean to be rude or blunt, but we've just met and honestly you terrify me more than I like to admit. If you knew my grandfather, just how old are you?" He gasped for air as the last breath in his lungs finished his interrogation.

Kyriel had to summon his staff as a walking stick just to keep from falling over from laughter. 'This one has quite the pursuit of knowledge' he thought. With a huge grin and a chuckle he tried to respond to the onslaught of questions.

"Well like I said before, you are to become my apprentice and inherit my legacy. I am only half human while being half elf. I can't have offspring of my own due to the conflicting genes creating mutant humans or mutant elves deformed past the point of saving upon birth, so I've been searching for a worthy apprentice for some time now. The covenant is a council of all the magical beings that inhabit this world, Mostly composed of humans from different sections of magic, but also elves, dwarves and magical beasts that are coherent enough to not be bloodthirsty savages. We are headed toward the Roving Fortress, it is a great relic that I obtained that allowed me to be its master. Magic has been passed down throughout the millennia in its old hallways and is the perfect place for an ostracized old man like me to make my home. I have almost been around for four centuries now, and I'm afraid I will not see a fifth. We have half a year to train there before we head to the Mausoleum before the next exam. In that time I will start your training so that you will not die upon the first exam like my last apprentice."

A tinge of sorrow touched his eyes as he thought back to how many failed apprentices he had over the years. Something deep inside told him this time would be different, and even if it wasn't he feared he wouldn't have the time to seek out another with as much potential.

"Tomorrow we will begin your training once your mana is rejuvenated. Don't try and use any more of it to allow it time to rest and replenish. Your body also needs to repair and construct the pathways that were made yesterday."

At those words, Grim exclaimed "Yesterday!? What do you mean yesterday, that was only this morning I thought, was I really out for a whole day?" A nod of the head from his master shocked him. 'He must be more careful when using his mana' he thought. Depleting one's mana completely had suddenly become very dangerous indeed. If he only had a few months to learn this completely new power to escape death, then losing even a single day could not be acceptable!

With new determination and a fierce look in his eyes he explored his new powers inside his body that had been latent just days before. Being careful not to use up any of his mana, only to feel out and familiarize his pathways with his mind just as he would visualize his sword techniques after sparring with the master of arms.