14: The Black Academy

"How do you know about the Sage's?" Ved asked wanting to get the back story of this Larry.

"My family used to have a Rank 1 Sage, but he died 30 years ago, later because of some enmity in his generation with various Sages my family was almost destroyed, but because of luck, my father survived, but he didn't have the talent to become a Sage only after I was born and showed the gift had my father spent all his savings and our family fortune to get me the chance to enter the 'Circle'" Larry said with remembrance in his eyes about his family's past glory.

Ved was quite satisfied with this answer as this meant whatever information he would get from Larry would be useful, as for his family's situation he was not interested in it, so he asked another question which bugged him.

"What do you mean by Rank 1?"

Ved was interested after hearing the explanation. If these sages are divided based on their strength or some other factors, so he was waiting for Larry's explanation, but what came next baffled him.

"I don't know, I am not a sage yet," Larry answered.

Before Ved could get angry at the answer he thought, "Thinking about it, if Larry was truly a sage won't I already be dead!" Ved finally felt how lucky he was that his ambush succeed.

"Why but? weren't your ancestors Sages?" Ved asked.

"Yes, but in the past few generations nobody showed any talent, so our ancestor couldn't pass down the knowledge which he had and because of his untimely death, he couldn't keep an inheritance for the future generations to come" Larry basically revealed his family secrets before Ved.

"Why are you so heavily injured?" he asked the question that he wanted to know since Abby had told him Larry's condition.

"For the last one year, I have been fighting in a tournament set by The Black academy, if I win I would get their token and through it, I would enter the Academy to learn the secrets of Sage's, today was my final battle, I won but was heavily injured to take down my opponent," Larry replied while gritting his teeth, he knew because of some powerful drugs that his opponent had given him he would not be able to lie, today was supposed to be the day when he would take the first step of bringing his family back to their former glory from centuries ago, but now he was in a nightmare and he didn't know how to get out of it.

"Oh! and what does this token look like?" Ved had already confiscated all of Larry's belongings when he was unconscious but as he didn't know what could be touched and what should not he had everything set aside for the moment.

Larry was praying from the beginning that Ved would not ask this question but as it was inevitable the question still came, he really wished to die right now because he at least didn't want to give away what he had risked his life for but at the end, he didn't even have the power to lift his fingers much less anything else.

"It is an Emerald black coin with a three-headed Crow's picture on it."

Larry replied while having a dead eyes fish look on him.

" How do I use the token it should have some other functions right?" Ved asked while picking up the coin described by Larry from the rest of his belongings, he wouldn't believe that the token can be used by anybody.

"The token would be bonded to you only after following the procedures given by the academy of proceeding with a ceremony this not only binds the token to you but it also has two other functions.

First as a sort of mobile device to send a message, information as well as a recorder to record the missions that the Academy gives.

Second, it is a form of contract between you and the Academy till your time there is completed" Larry started telling him everything without holding any information as he had already given up hope.

"Okay, and how do I complete this ceremony and is the ceremony specific to work only on you or it can work for everybody? Also will the academy find me trouble because I have not participated in the tournament?" Ved asked the most important question.

"For completing the ceremony some items are required, which I have already brought and kept in the safe box behind the cupboard, only your own blood is needed to complete the ceremony and thus the token will be bonded to you and when the admissions are open for the academy one week from now you will be given the location directly by the token as for your worry about Academy tracking you dow, you don't have to worry because most of the participants in the tournament are usually fighting for the heirs of some family so the Academy doesn't really care who uses it, before when you ambushed me I thought you were sent by the heir of some losers family but it doesn't seem like it now" Larry answered.

Ved wasn't thrown off by his change in behaviour because he knew what happens when a person is in utter despair, so he continued "What was that you were chanting because of which I was getting cramps all over my body, as you said you are not a sage so then how did you use those spells?"

" I used my blood as a medium to use the spell, it cost me a lot of blood and as well as part of my life force every time I use it. This spell is considered the lowest spell known for stopping the enemy's movement but as I am not a mystic it only caused you cramps, if a mystic used if the opponent would have all his muscles torn down, still that spell cost me one month of my life span each time I use it." Larry spoke