The City of Mages Arc : Rebirth

The knight and his squire sit at a wooden table in an exotic garden. They were seeing various non-magic beasts in her property which amazes the already impressed lad, though he doesn't show it. His mentor as usual was in different to everything he had seen. One of the triplets approaches the table carrying a tray holding a pot of tea and mugs, upon making eye contact with Gavin the maid's hands immediately tremble forcing Gavin to stand and help her place the tray onto the table. In that instance the maiden's face flushes red. She bows and briskly walks away.

"Where were the two of you last night?" Gavin asks as he took his seat.

"Lady Maria was teaching me magic, sir" says Alex.

"What's the point? Once you get beast powers all your knowledge will be meaningless."

"Knowledge is never meaningless." Maria says, Gavin smiles briefly and takes a sip from his cup,

"What are your thoughts on the sacrifices?" He asks.

 "The sudden child abductions are signs of Rebirth."

"Rebirth?" asks Alex.

"A primitive sect of mages that were long since thought extinct; Practitioners of the darkest side of magic."

"They were wiped out by Letholdus and the highest Order fifty years ago. There are non-left," says Gavin.

"The markings found in the forest are the exact same markings found in Rebirth manuscripts. Magic is my field of expertise I did not stutter, Black thorn," Maria says slightly annoyed by Gavin's statement, "And you would be a fool to think the sacrifices started recently. I have noticed a thread of children going missing for nearly two decades, starting around the time of the-"

"Emerald night," interjects Alex. "The sacrifices started around the time Behemoth attacked Redwood."

"Exactly, what I can't figure out is the link between The Forest King and Dark Rebirth."

"I will conduct my investigations and keep what you told me in mind." says Gavin.

 "Knights know little about the world of magic," She says, "Be careful, Black Thorn."

"Investigating murders is a knight's job. I will listen and entertain your hypothesis but ultimately despite your technical knowledge on mages. I know the hearts of all people. Be it mages, knights or regular citizens. And I am strong enough to pass and execute justice on the behalf of Letholdus."

"Typical knight" Maria rolls her eyes.

"Broinson, let's go. A good place to start our investigation is the forest where we encountered that mage."

"Actually," interrupts Maria, "Alex would like to stay behind and learn some defensive spells." 

"Is this true?" Gavin looks at the boy with a stern look.

"As I am I would only get in your way, Sir Gavin," replies Alex.

 "Fair enough, Broinson," Gavin brushes back his gold hair as he stares at Maria with his cold blue eyes. "Thank you for the hospitality, please take good care of my squire" He stands and leaves the table in silence.

"I think that went well," Maria takes another sip.

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"Come on in." calls Maria as she waves her hand at him

The image that greets Alex's vision is that of Maria's smooth bare skin soaked in glittering crystal waters. The lad feels his heart slamming consistently onto his ribcage triple and his stomach tangle into knots. Timidly, Alex approaches the lake and places his foot into the warm waters. He catches a glimpse of a green light ripple across the water from his foot.

"This lake is called the Dyrarsir's Oasis," She says. "Lord Dyrarsir discovered that these waters have properties that stimulate Essence Pathways, thus discovering what we call magic today."

"Interesting. I guess a thousand years from now people will talk about Alex Broinson bathing in here" jokes Alex.

"Anyway, we are continuing our lesson from yesterday. Last time feelings of disconnection, fear and guilt collectively prevented you from 'Drawing from the well.' If you can't control your feelings, you won't be able to control your core."

"I don't recall telling you my exact emotions?"

"You didn't have to, we connected pathways when we kissed."

"…I see."

"The first emotion you have to grab a hold of is your feelings of disconnection." Upon saying this, a Vision of his father's solitary back flashes through his mind. "What is disconnecting you from other people Alex?"

"I'm not disconnected to people. I might be a little quiet and a little bland but I can't say I'm disengaged from society."

"It doesn't have to be with society, it could be just one person."

"Nothing rings a bell."

"How's your relationship with your mother and father?" a yellow light ripples across the water from Alex.

"Hmm how is it being the son of the famous Redwood's Wolf?" Alex momentarily clenches his fists before relaxing them. "It's pretty much what you would expect. It's like being smothered in the shadow of a stranger."

"Your father is a stranger to you?"

"The man everyone compares me to, isn't the man I've come to call father."

"So, you have decided to detach yourself from both of your father's identities"

"No I didn't." Alex lied and he knows it. He realizes he is at a junction. "Disengaging from my feelings of resentment is why I can't access my core at will?" he thinks.  Alex looks up the blue sky and sees a flock of birds flying west triggering a forgotten memory. He remembers watching the birds' migrations with his father when he was younger. "…No that's a lie, it's exactly as you said."

"I lost my parents as a child in an accident, because of I had difficulty connecting with people. This disconnection created complications in my magic studies." Maria approaches Alex and places her hand on his chest "It's normal to want to disconnect, but remember, there's so much more in this world to connect to." Alex feels a strange calm sensation settle in his chest as blue lights begin to flicker from his being through the lake.

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The sun sets as Gavin makes his way through depths of the woodlands. Eventually, two giant stone pillars become visible, and he has a hunch he would find answers beyond the pillars.  The blonde-haired knight approaches the pillars and walks through them entering disserted ruins of a long since forgotten civilization. As he explores the ruins, the last rays of the sun disappear behind the horizon leaving him in the dark. As the shadows surround him he feels a maleficent presence creep towards him. Before long he hears whispers as hooded figures emerge from the darkness creeping in on him. The knight draws his wooden blade and adopts a fighting stance. The hooded men take out daggers that were glowing with green energy.

"Mages," he mutters. They all dash towards him with murderous intent. He grips his sword tight as droplets of water begin to cloak the sword. He plunges his blade into the ground causing giant currents of water to disperse and sweep away his attackers. "Not very good ones though." He approaches a wet and defeated adversary, lifting him up with a single arm.

"Gavin Blackthorn, the master knew you would be here." The knight slams the man into the earth and mounts him

"Who's your master!?" The man burst out in psychotic laughter before he mumbles a word from a strange dialect. Suddenly foam spews from his mouth and begins to convulse violently.