First Lesson

'Finally,' Kyran thought with an expression full of anticipation.

"Show me your rings. There is something you must understand first," Nolan instructed.

Kyran did what he was told.

A faint purplish light illuminated the darkened room as the purple rings circled on top of Kyran's left palm.

Nolan lifted his right arm and opened up his palm. A bluish-black magic array appeared and circled on top of his palm.

"Before, I told you about arrays. This one on my palm is an array. That, however," he nodded his head over to Kyran's rings, "Is not."

Kyran's brow creased and looked at his purple rings. He did not comment and instead waited for Nolan to explain.

"Arrays are needed in order to draw upon the source of magic. Because arrays consist of runes that represent the composition of magic. Now try to sense the energy in your rings, then compare them to my array."

With a nod, Kyran closed his eyes and sensed his rings and then Nolan's array.

'Hm?' He frowned as he noticed how the energy in his rings felt unrestrained, while the array's energy was restrained.

Nolan summoned his magic and a fog-like shadow started to appear in the middle of his array.

"Now try to feel this."

Slowly, Kyran felt a gush of unrestrained magic formed in the middle of the array. He snapped his eyes open and looked at Nolan. He watched as the black mist circled around the middle of the array.

"The energy in the middle is similar to my rings," he observed and released his rings.

Nolan nodded, "That's right. The arrays act as a medium to connect to a magic's origin. Once the magic enters the array, its original state is preserved."

"Original state?"

"Yes. The original state of magic is very pure, and... I guess we can say docile? But once you summon the magic outside the array, its state becomes unrestrained and erratic. You can compare it to a person who was sleeping, if you rouse that person awake, he either becomes grumpy or looks at you stupidly."

"But then, why does the energy from my rings similar to that summoned magic?" Kyran asked.

"Because each of your rings, is pure raw magic."

"Pure raw magic?"

"Let me tell you another reason why arrays are an important foundation of a mage. The arrays can help control the 'output' of a summoned magic simply by changing its 'calculation'. Like this."

The rune writings around Nolan's array shifted. Slowly, the area where the fog-like shadow was circling became smaller and the amount of the shadow more compact.

"I see. So I really needed to learn arrays. Are you going to teach me how to create those letters?"

"No," Nolan shook his head and closed his palm. Immediately the fog-like shadow and array dispersed. "And it's not letters, it's called runes. Rune writings are dependent on the magic. My rune writings are different from fire magic, so on and so forth. You understand what I'm trying to say, right?"

"I guess so," Kyran nodded. Since he had void magic, Nolan naturally did not know its rune writings. What's more, there was no one else who knew about it.

'Except the Dark Sage,' he thought with a sigh.

"Good. Now that you understand that, let's start with your first lesson on controlling your magic."

Kyran frowned, "But you just said you can't teach me arrays...."

Fog-like shadows appeared around Nolan and started to change forms from blades, clubs, poles, cooking utensils, even scissors, pens, and boxes. He looked at Kyran with a raised eyebrow as if to say: 'You were saying?'

"Ah!" Kyran suddenly realized something.

"Aren't you slow?" Nolan ridiculed. "You don't need arrays to summon your magic. Therefore, you don't need calculations to 'control' it. Here's my theory, when your family sealed your magic, it did not simply lie dormant. Through the years, it started to develop and integrate itself within you. Earlier, you said that your magic stirred when the Hall Master's magic tried to invade your senses as if your magic has a mind of its own. In my opinion, that's because you already have a certain mastery of your magic, however, unconsciously. Hence, the more you are familiar with your magic flowing within your body, the more you will learn how to control it."

"So that's why you told me to feel my magic in any way possible. That way I'll get familiar with it."

Nolan smiled, "Good. You're finally keeping up. Here."

He took out a ten-inch clear orb and threw it at Kyran, who caught it with his left hand.

"A ball?"

Nolan gave him a deadpan expression, "Will you stop using a normal person's way of calling magic-related things? That's a magic item called a magic orb."

"...."

"What's with that look? At least it has magic in it. Calling it a ball, seriously. Anyway, try inserting your magic in that. Don't worry, that orb has the ability to contain raw magic."

Taking a deep breath, Kyran summoned his magic once again.

But.

Sizzle!

The moment the purple rings appeared on Kyran's hands, the magic orb disintegrated.

Kyran immediately stopped.

"...."

Nolan slapped a hand on his forehead, "Argh! Your magic is really too troublesome."

He took out another magic orb and threw it at Kyran.

"Try it again. This time, direct those rings inside the magic orb, not outside."

"Direct. Okay," Kyran repeated with a nod and tried it again. As the rings appeared inside the orb, he sighed in relief.

But then one of the ring's radius expanded outside the magic orb's width and was instantly cut in half.

"...."

Kyran gulped and looked at Nolan, "Uhm. That's not on purpose."

"The f*ck it isn't! You're supposed to control it! Do it again!" Nolan burst and took out 20 magic orbs from under his cloak and let them roll in Kyran's direction.

"I've got loads of those but I'm only giving you 20 chances. Contain those rings inside the magic orb. Remember to feel the flow of magic inside you."

Kyran looked at the two magic orbs he just destroyed and then the 20 new ones. He sighed and picked one up, 'Only 20 chances, huh.'

He stared at the magic orb and did not summon his magic directly. Instead, he tried to feel his magic as Nolan reminded.

'That's right. Use your head and think carefully. Every mage has different ways to control their magic. Because every magic has different forms. Magic with a more defined form is easier to control than those with a less defined form. And your magic... Well, the Dark Sage is probably the only one who really knows the true form of void magic.'

Nolan watched in silence as he saw Kyran's eyes became more determined and focused.

Once again, Kyran summoned his rings inside the orb.

But.

"Ah."

The upper half of the orb sizzled and disintegrated.

Nolan simply sighed and shook his head. He wondered how many magic orbs would be wasted before Kyran succeeded.

=========================

Regis Estate, Inner Land.

Because of the ruckus, Gage had done at the outer land entrance, there had been few army officers patrolling the area. As such, Silas was able to scour the path outside the walls of the inner land.

After a while, he came across a hidden entrance on the ground. However, after he tried opening it with all the tricks he knew, he still failed.

'Hmm. Judging from the marks, this entrance has been opened recently. I wouldn't be able to find it otherwise. Meaning," he looked over to the path leading to the right area of the estate.

'This may have been the path the 'target' had taken, to escape.' Silas deduced as he saw traces of battle further up ahead.

Suddenly...

[You are not from the army.]

Silas's heart almost jumped out of his mouth when he heard a woman's voice spoke behind him.

He had not felt any presence sneaking up behind him!

He drew his sword at once and turned around to face the owner of the voice but found it empty.

"Who–!"

[You don't have any malice. Just curiosity. Tell me who you are.]

Silas frowned. Holding his sword at a ready, he looked around him.

"It is proper etiquette to introduce yourself first before asking someone else's name."

[True. But right now, regardless of your origin, you are an outsider. As an outsider, you must first introduce who you are and declare what your purpose in coming here is.]

"Judging from your words, I assume you are a member of the Regis clan."

[I am.]

Silas was surprised that the woman did not even try to hide her identity.

'Then the Regis clan members are really inside the inner land,' he thought. This could be his chance to find more about the truth. 'First, let me try and get as much information out of this person.'

"Please accept my apology. To show my sincerity, I will introduce myself. I am Silas, a mercenary."

[A mercenary? Since when did a person from the Mercenary Hall start working together with the Royal Army.]

"We are not," then Silas paused. "Well, I guess, technically we are."

[Technically?]

Silas nodded. He looked at the wall of the inner land and tried to locate where the voice was coming from. Unfortunately, he did not feel any magic fluctuation that would indicate its location.

"We are not aware that it was the Royal Army who issued the bounty, you see. Right now, I came here to find out more since they only provided superficial information."

[Bounty? The army issued a bounty? Then Kyran must have escaped safely! That's good!]

'Kyran?' Silas wondered. The woman's voice sounded very relieved that he became even more curious about their story.

[Well Mr. Silas, I suggest you forget about the bounty. You are no match against my cousin.]

Her words hit a nerve. This woman had not even seen him use his magic and yet she already judged he would lose. Normally, he would have argued back. This time he just kept a smile on his face.

"You seemed in favor of your cousin's escape," Silas said and avoided commenting on the woman's previous declaration. "But I assume, the whole Regis clan had to sacrifice itself just to let that happen."

He tried to provoke the woman. To his dismay, however, the woman replied.

[He is worth the sacrifice of the whole clan.]

Silas could not help but frown after hearing such endearment and pride in the woman's voice.

"I beg to differ. While to you Regis, letting him escape with whatever it is that the army wanted was a noble sacrifice, letting you all suffer in return is stupidity."

He tried to provoke the woman once more. This time the woman did not reply.

'Did I overdo it?' Silas wondered in concern.

After a few seconds, the woman spoke again.

[Tell me, Mr. Silas. What do you think the army was after, that they even issued a bounty on my cousin?]

Silas's brow creased. This was the very reason why he came here to investigate. He contemplated whether to tell her his theory or bluff his way out of answering.

'No. If I bluff my way out, I may not get another chance to find out the truth.' He thought.

"To be honest, the army only issued a bounty and specifically want your 'cousin' be taken alive. I presume that maybe he has information that might implicate the whole Regis Clan."

[Implicate us of what, exactly?]

"Implicate the Regis Clan of practicing forbidden magic, maybe?"

The woman chuckled and made Silas frown. He said, "Practicing forbidden magic is a grave offense against the Empire. It is not a laughing matter."

[Sorry. I personally do not understand why magic has to be categorized. Magic is never bad, it only seems like it from how people use it. But enough of my ideals. I can assure you the Regis Clan never practiced forbidden magic. On the contrary, our elders and the Patriarch tried to seal it.]

"Seal it?" Silas's frown deepened. He had a bad premonition, but he did not want to jump to a conclusion so he asked, "Why seal it? If you respect the Empire's rules, your clan should've reported it and destroyed it."

There was a moment of silence before the woman replied.

[Destroy. Such a brutal and lonely word. Tell me, Mr. Silas. Can you destroy your own flesh and blood?]