Thaumaturgy

"Magic. A gift from the Divine, bestowed upon those who are chosen to fight for the powerless from evil. But above all, to preserve the realm from annihilation caused by the threat of a truly malevolent entity…. The First Darkness. The Early Dissident. Khaos, the Primordial Opposition!"

When the storyteller mentioned the name, the children huddled together and shivered. The name their parents frequently used to scare them, saying that if they disobeyed, Khaos would eat them alive.

"But not all magicians exercised their powers as they should. Instead, they abused their magic to enslave people, oppress the weak, to fill their chests with gold, and stomachs with food.

Until one day, a man named Protos Eidon, thought he had had enough with the actions of those selfish, arbitrary wizards. He threw away his faith in the Silent Divine who gave them power and urged Khaos, the Primordial Opposition, to grant him its very own magic.

Khaos granted his request. Protos became a magician, the first bearer of the power of Khaos on earth. He then used his magic to defeat the misguided magicians, and free his people from oppression."

Those innocent eyes became intense. Their minds already travelled on the world of the tale the storyteller brought.

"However, the power of Khaos carries a price to pay. His magic was indeed very strong, but also extremely destructive, including for himself. Slowly, he whose initial ambition was to defeat the magicians, changed his course; to throw them away to Hades! Sending evil magicians to Hades did make Protos even more powerful. Unfortunately, it also drove him further away from his foremost goals. As a result, the corrosive nature of Khaos influenced him. He fought not for the welfare of his people, but solely to satisfy his addiction to kill!

He continued to slaughter other practitioners until there were no more of them left in his hometown except him, thus becoming the city's sole protector. However, Protos was not satisfied. He felt the other cities would need his help, too. So he invaded another city and killed its leader. And so Protos continued to conquer city after city while considering himself a saviour.

Because some men who were not of their kind killed their leaders—who were not actually evil—then colonised them, the citizens of the cities that Protos ruled revolted against him. They issued a nationwide call for resistance.

Protos who could not stand their unruly nature became enraged. He suppressed the rebels and their supporters. A magician turned from a saviour into an iron fist tyrant. He even cast his magic to destroy an entire city in an instant! All civilisations within were lost along with ashes. Protos became the one he swore to destroy."

The children who heard the story were moved. Some of them showed teary eyes of significant empathy, others were furious in their round, frowning faces.

"But be still and rejoice! For the Silent Divine does not ignore their cries. A magnanimous mighty king rose from the plains of Colchis. Aeëtes, the Son of the Sun, the Great Sorcerer, and the True King of the People, come to face Protos to stop his malevolent act of slaughter!"

The story of the storyteller was answered by happy cheers from the children when their legendary role model, King Aeëtes, was on the lips of the storyteller.

"Khaos' evil power was indeed very strong, but Aeëtes' magic came from the Silent Divine, the source of all power. Protos cast the sky black to prevent the sun shines through and blind King Aeëtes', but the king lit himself to be the brilliant sun, burning Protos' own eyes! And so Protos also summoned the malicious souls from the Hades underworld gaping on the earth, but the king drowned the spirits with overflowing freshet, and destroy the underworld entrance with lightning bolts bestowed from the great Thunderkeeper! Through fierce battles and earth-shaping incantations, Aeëtes prevailed! The weakened Protos emitted a powerful magic wave, thus creating a dimensional tear towards Khaos' own embrace. Khaos pulled him into its domain, but before that, Protos uttered his last words.

'I will never lose! The power of my master has spread everywhere! The world will know order and peace only in Khaos!'

Aeëtes responded to him out loud. His words became the most legendary quote to this day—"

The children immediately shouted to cut the storyteller's words in unison. "Khaos may shroud the world in the dark of night, but a speck of the Silent Divine's goodness will forever be the day of the world!" They didn't even forget to put the word, "Hooray" at the end of the sentence. The storyteller replied with a smile.

"'There is no order without chaos, but chaos can never become order! Khaos may shroud the world in the dark of night, but a speck of the Silent Divine's goodness will forever be the day of the world!'

So Protos disappeared somewhere in the arms of the Primordial Opposition. Of course, the battle between the Silent Divine and Khaos did not end. Before disappearing, Protos managed to spread the magic seeds of Khaos to all corners of the world through his magic waves.

The impact changed the order of magic entirely. The world of thaumaturgy will never be the same again. Because of the emergence of magic seeds originating from Protos, a form of foreign, yet destructive magic was created, which we know as Black Magic.

Magicians who use this seed will multiply their magic power, and those who don't have magic will be given magical abilities like Protos. But both of them will be ruined by Khaos.

But fear not! Whoever is on the path of the Divine shall prevail against the champions of Khaos. They shall protect the survival of humanity and the universe, wherever, whenever. Forever. May the Silent Divine grant Eternal Peace to his servants! The end."

The thunderous applause from the tiny hands resounded throughout the entire class. The innocent cheers of a child boomed along, which then flooded the storyteller with many questions.

"Miss Alicia, Miss Alicia! Is King Aeëtes still alive?"

The storyteller called Alicia answered. "King Aeëtes has long experienced Eternal Peace, Dylon, thanks to his bravery in protecting the kingdom of Eretopeion from the threat of black magic."

Another child asked. "Miss Alicia? Does black magic still exist? Have you seen it?"

"Black magic, of course, still exists," Alicia replied. "But also the white magicians are still there to protect us, so worry not, alright, sweetheart? As for having seen black magic… I've only seen it from books, though. Black magic must be scary, so perhaps it's best we don't see it in person."

"Miss Alicia! I want to be like King Aeëtes! How can I become like King Aeëtes?"

"Good question Theophilus! Let's see! To be an excellent king, you have to be strong! So you have to be diligent in exercising and eating your vegetables. You also have to be smart, so don't forget to study hard and read books. What's another thing?" Alicia pretended to think. "Kindness! A righteous king should help his fellow men and be obedient to his parents. Do all that and maybe you will become like the very king himself!"

One child in the back row objected. He said, "One more, miss Alicia! To be like King Aeëtes, one must be able to cast magic! But Theophilus can't cast magic, so he can't become like King Aeëtes!"

Several children laughed at Theophilus, as a result, the child keep the ridicule in his heart and burst into tears.

Alicia hugged the tiny Theophilus and gently wiped her tears. "Oh, dear Theophilus. please don't cry, okay? You're a good boy." After comforting the child, Alicia put a serious face on the number of children who had laughed at him earlier.

"Kids. Just because you have magical abilities doesn't mean you can demean those who don't. Do you want to be like the evil wizards who were banished to Hades?"

They looked down in embarrassment easily, except for one kid who mocked Theophilus in the back. "But, King Aeëtes had magic, didn't he?"

"You don't have to have magic to follow the example of King Aeëtes. He was known for his generosity and sacrifice to protect his people. Magic is the only gift that helps him to achieve his goals, and you with your unique personality and talents can become like him in your own way! Now, please, would you apologise to Theophilus?

The child bravely immediately expressed his regret to Theophilus and hugged him. Incredible. Such a noble. No man could ever be like that. His prestige veins are too thick to be penetrated. The girl gave them her thumbs up and a big smile.

"Alright, kids. Our class ends here. So please, pack your things, make sure you leave nothing behind!"

"Awww," complained the children. They still wanted to hear more magical epics from her. "Come on, tell us more about those stories!"

"But it's already half-past twelve, you see," Alicia pointed at the clock on the wall. "Do you still want to be here to spend your summer holiday listening to fairytales?"

"Nevermind!" The students laughed simultaneously. []