Freedom!

A/N: Pat-reon: HelloDarkness07

First of all, was my last chapter that good? I literally got 10 new subscribers for that last chapter alone. Usually it's just 10 new subscribers for the entire month. Was it that good, or were you just too curious about the next chapters lol?

Either way, I appreciate it a lot!

Thank you for the new subscribers, and I hope I don't disappoint you, or even the ones on here.

Read on!

---

I lean back on the sand, enjoying the heat of the sun on my face. I was back on Sanctuary for the last.. two hours, to take a bit of Vacation time.

As usual, Master Murgiel had agreed to be a substitute for me, until I can get my restlessness over with. But, I could feel it. My time at the Sanctum, and with Kamar Taj, was coming to an end. A few years, a decade or two at most, and then.. I'm gone.

I had stopped looking after Tatiana using my Scrying spell yesterday. I had realised it was.. creepy, and invasive to the privacy of someone I loved. It will take me time to move on from her, completely move on, but as long as I keep peeking in on her life, I was never going to truly move on.

Well, I had to realise it some day, didn't I?

Shaking my head, I lift the baby dragon sleeping on my chest and stand up, enjoying the way she cuddled in my arms. This was one of Mana and Okniros's children, and she had decided to channel her father today. She slept in my arms, while the others, including her siblings, cousins, and her parents' siblings, were running around the Island, or flying, enjoying their lives.

30, the number of Indigo Scaled Dragons currently in the world, and on Sanctuary. Durra and Drugir were the last mating pair remaining, and now, there were 30. I know, I had checked.

Gods, this Sanctuary is really working well.

But, enjoying the beach was not the only reason I took time off from the Sanctum. I had realised that in favour of relaxing, in favour of moping around, I had neglected one of my.. traits.

Hoarding Knowledge, or at least collecting as much Magical Knowledge as I can.

Which is what I was now going to spend the next few days doing.

I already have a spell to compress all the knowledge within a room into a single Tome, by pulling the knowledge through the Astral Plane. My connection to the Psionic Realm was really helping me do this, which makes me wonder if even Rowena utilized the Psionic Realm to create her Room of Knowledge.

Anyway, my plan was to use the spell to compress as many libraries worth of knowledge as I can, and.. see where it takes me.

---

Sneaking into the Library of Alexandria once again was no hard task, as long as I stayed in the Muggle Part. I already had the entire Magical Library already in my Castle, so I don't exactly need to do this to that Library.

I stop walking only when I reach the exact center of the Muggle Library of Alexandria, in the exact center of the entire institution, and place the empty Tome down on the ground. This time, I forgo with the Runes, and simply summon my Staff to my hands.

I gently tap my staff on the Tome, and whisper, "Absorb."

Immediately, the astral copies of the books, scrolls, pages, and everything written in the entire Library of Alexandria, sans the Magical Library, gets pulled to the Tome, and get sucked in. Dozens at a time, this keeps happening, as the knowledge within the Library is imprinted upon the Tome of Infinite Pages.

And I.. sit back and wait.

The original Spell of my own creation, needed me to paint Runes on the ground, which.. was very time consuming. And lets not forget the actual time that the Knowledge Absorption will take.

So, as I usually do when I feel limited, I modified the spell after studying it intensely. This spell still needed the Runes, but the Runes were directly Enchanted within the Tome itself before the absorption began. So, I don't need to paint the ground in every Library that I plan on robbing.

Was it right? The theft of knowledge? Nope.

But, I can't just let all this knowledge be destroyed because of the ravages of time. 2000 years is a long time, and some of these books are destined to be destroyed. I'm just.. safeguarding the knowledge within.

It still ain't right, but I'm not a saint anyway.

An astonishing 3 hours later, I pick the Compressed Tome in my hands, and check over the knowledge. Everything was copied just fine.

Putting it in the Nowhere, I create a portal to the next destination. India. Time to rob the dozens of Universities and schools that are standing all around the world today.

---

"This.. is still boring." I mumble, keeping the Takshila University Tome on a shelf in my Castle, right beside the Nalanda University Tome.

I had created a room underneath my Castle, right underneath the original Library. This one specifically for the Compressed knowledge Tomes. I'm going to figure something out to sort out the Magical and Non-magical books within the Tomes later, but first, I want to get the copying part done with.

It has been 7 days since I began with this.. theft of knowledge, and I'm already tired of this crap. I just sneak into the Library, place the Tome on the ground, begin the process, and let the Spell do its work.

Meanwhile, I remain bored, having to keep my senses open just in case someone senses something wrong.

As much as I appreciate the speed this grants me, it's too.. annoying, to just stand there and wait for the spell to be done. If only there was a worldwide spell I could use to copy all the knowledge at once.

I snap my head upwards, and whisper, "Holy fuck." Shaking my head, I sprint towards the Castle Library, which contained the knowledge I had stolen from the Magical Library of Alexandria, and the Royal Library of the Pharaohs, and say, "I can't believe this didn't come to me before." As I start looking for some particular books.

Particularly, those on Wards, and adding spells to them.

---

I knock on the door in front of me, one that leads to the office of Master Ayesha, and wait. My Library.. or the Library of Alexandria, together with the Libraries of 17 places of education all around the world, if you want to be accurate.. had proven to be insufficient for what I wanted to do.

Or, to be exact, while I had the idea of how to accomplish my goals, I didn't have the exact method yet, let alone an actual step by step plan. So, I had come to the one place which definitely has the answers I seek. Kamar Taj.

"Come in, Master Atharva. Please, sit." Master Ayesha says, as the door opens.

Sitting on the offered cushion, I accept the cup of tea she hands me, and nod my head. Taking the first sip, I say, "I have a request to make of you, in regards to one of my new.. projects."

Master Ayesha chuckles, and says, "I can already tell that this is not something I will like hearing. What is it that you need?"

Taking a deep breath, I look her right in the eyes, knowing that this request needs to be fulfilled for me to even get close to the completion of my project. And then, I say, "I need your permission to study the Barrier that was put around the World, the barrier that protects the World from any manner of outer threats."

Master Ayesha furrows her eyebrows, and asks, "What do you hope to achieve by doing this, Master Atharva?"

I didn't expect her to just agree immediately. The Barrier is the sole Protection we have against the higher tier Demons like Mephisto, Nightmare, Dormammu, the Elder Gods, or even the Olde Ones. The barrier is what prevents those beings from invading directly. It might not prevent the minor demons from coming through, but as long as the higher tier demons are out, we are safe. Relatively.

Of course, no measure is foolproof. There are Rituals, spells, portals, artefacts, that can bring those beings to our Realm, like Hydra and Grindelwald had done with the tentacled Demon, and what Set had done to invade by possessing someone. 

But this barrier still prevents them from exhibiting their true powers in this Realm. And a single mistake while analysing it can completely take it down, destroying the planet through a stupid mistake.

I sigh, and say, "As you know.. I like to.. collect knowledge."

"You mean steal? I have noticed you visiting those esteemed institutions, you know." Master Ayesha interjects, completely wrong.

I roll my eyes, and say, "Fine, I like to steal knowledge, and hoard it. At least I don't completely steal those books, and just take their copies, you know, which I could actually do."

Master Ayesha scoffs, and says, "As if you will allow your thefts to be found out about. Continue."

Sighing, I say, "Well, as you so helpfully pointed out, I've been visiting some of the Institutions around the world this last week, and I find it.. tiring, and annoying. While it does keep me busy enough to distract me from my recent.. separation with Tatiana, it also causes me to still feel bored out of my mind. And so, I thought, why not do something that only Gods have managed so far. Cast a Planet Wide spell to copy all the knowledge within the confines of the spell, and store it within a single place. A Collection of Libraries, containing all the knowledge on this planet, or at least the written word, all of it sorted by subject, difficulty, and language."

Master Ayesha listens to my sales pitch, because that's what it is, with a raised eyebrow. In the middle, the second eyebrow joins it in surprise, and at the end, she's just wide eyed.

She stays silent for a few seconds, and then, she asks, "Why? What purpose do you have to do this? And while I do sense some greed and pride in it, it's not all, is it?"

I nod, and say, "I come from 2000 years into the future, you know that. Where I come from, around 99% of the books that currently exist around the world have been destroyed by the ravages of time. Some were lost in invasions, some in wars, some in fires, while some were just.. lost. This is my way of safeguarding this knowledge, so that no book, no scroll, no page with factual knowledge goes unread by everyone. I already expect hundreds of millions, if not billions of texts to appear in this Collection, if the spell succeeds."

Master Ayesha nods, taking a sip of her own tea, which had remained unnoticed during the sales pitch, and says, "And you intend to either add your Theft Spell to the Planetary Ward, or cast an entirely new Ward."

Nodding, I say, "I would have already done the second, but I don't want my Spell to mess something up in the Planetary Ward. Which is why I want to study the Ward. And if I expect to add my spell to the already existing Planetary Ward, then I also need to study it intensively."

Master Ayesha frowns, thinking it over, but she doesn't reject it immediately, which is good. While she does know that I am doing this for some selfish reasons, she also sees that there are benefits to this. 

At this time, not many people have thought of Copying spells. It's why scribes exist even in the Magical Library of Alexandria. Well, two scribes, me and Master Onuris. Since, you know, the Magical Library doesn't permit non magicals to come in.

As far as I know, the Royal Mages were the only ones in the entirety of Egypt to use spells to copy books. And that spell was invented just a few decades ago or something.

"I have conditions, if this succeeds." Master Ayesha says after a minute or so of thinking.

Which.. I already expected. This is basically a treasure trove which I'm going to create.. hopefully.. and she definitely wants in, despite the immorality of it.

Nodding, I say, "I would like to hear them first, if you don't mind. We can write up an agreement later, once we actually agree."

Master Ayesha smirks a bit, and says, "Firstly, you will only study the Ward under my supervision. Just so I can make sure you don't destroy us by mistake."

I put my hand on my heart, and say, "How dare you assume that I am so incompetent?"

Master Ayesha drily says, "You kept a volatile Time Travel Device in your pocket while you were expecting to be hit upon by spells. Forgive me if I don't trust your judgment."

Okay, fair point.

She then says, "Secondly, Sorcerers of Kamar Taj will have the permission of reading from your.. Collection. If I know you, you will place the Collection on your Island, and hide it all away from prying eyes. I need Kamar Taj to be exempt from that."

I frown, thinking it over. Do I mind others reading through my collection? Not really. It is going to be a Library, a large Library, but a Library nonetheless. What kind of Library has no readers?

But.. There are some Sorcerers of Kamar Taj that I would rather not step foot inside the Library. Keicilius and Karl Mordo come to mind, even if he did seem to be cool with Dr Strange during the Sise-Neg debacle.

Could have been just a temporary alliance, you know.

And even I know that there is some knowledge that should never be made public. 

Shaking my head, I say, "I will allow the Sorcerer Supreme, and only those the Sorcerer Supreme AND I allow into the Collection. And even then, no books would be allowed to be removed from the confines. I don't want the knowledge I might collect to fall into the wrong hands."

I'll also definitely add some preventive measures to prevent destruction of the Collection. Let's not forget something to eject those who try to harm those books, or try to steal the knowledge from me. Copying will be permitted, since I am going to vet those potential readers anyway.

Master Ayesha nods, accepting the modified condition, and says, "Thirdly, I will look through all the notes you make in the journey of crafting this spell, it doesn't matter how long it takes."

Scoffing, I say, "I won't go through with the Spell if I have even a shred of doubt about it. Don't worry about me destroying our world. But, sure, I will allow you to look over my research, as long as nothing within those notes is copied down in Kamar Taj."

Master Ayesha nods, and says, "I wasn't going to. Such a spell should happen only once in a lifetime. If anyone else tries it, and fails.. well, you know the dangers that await a single moment of weakness."

Smiling, I offer her my hand, and say, "Well then. Here's to a fantastic alliance."

Master Ayesha chuckles, and shakes my hand.

This.. this will keep me busy for a looong time. It won't be simple, it definitely won't be as easy as just creating a Gemino like spell. The spell will need to have an Alchemical basis so that the matter can be converted to form into those books. It also needs to be worldwide, targeted at everything other than my Island, so that my private collection doesn't get copied. And I also need to add a clause for copying already existing books.

So, yeah. This is going to be a long time of researching.

---

"Master Athreos.. sir?" Kultur's voice interrupts me as I was in the middle of reading a book.

It has been a month since Master Ayesha and I began studying the Planetary Ward, and the way the Sanctums held it strong. I was currently back at the Britannia Sanctum, reading through a journal of Master Agamotto himself, detailing the idea behind the Planetary Ward. 

Agamotto, after another battle with a Demon Lord that destroyed an entire Island, had gotten together with two beings on Earth.

Elder Goddess Gaea, and her son, the Sun God Atum. 

Together, the three beings had decided to stop the large scale Invaders from ever coming to Earth. They cast a spell that banished every higher tier Demon on Earth, and into their own Realms, while at the same time preventing them from ever returning completely. The only way to do so is by destroying the Sanctums, which they can't do from the outside.

I'm really glad that my theft spell won't be nearly as complicated as this Planetary Ward. Even for three Gods, the spell took a century to completely take hold. I expect something similar for my spell, although in units of days, as opposed to centuries.

Looking up at Kultur, who looked surprisingly nervous for the first time in years, I ask, "Yes, Kultur?"

Not since the Pond of Enhancement was created did he look this nervous. The benefits had already started appearing, bit by bit. Every Elf on Sanctuary was happier now, happy to not work for families of Mages any more. 

Hell, the last Free Elf Kultur had brought on Sanctuary had looked at me with suspicion as soon as she had seen me! She did not like a Mage having control over her life, and I counted it as an absolute win! Of course, Kultur was quick to scold her too, telling her that it is because of me that she survived.

Which.. isn't wrong, but I don't like that he held it over her head like that.

Kultur wrings his hands a few times, moving around in place in nervousness, and says, "The Elves of Sanctuary request a meeting with the great Mage Master Athreos Aetos. The matter of discussion is of utmost importance."

Gods, did he practice this speech or something?

Another benefit of the Pond of Enhancement was their thinking capabilities. Elves have definitely gotten smarter too, which shows in their improved grammar.

Nodding, I close the book, and say, "Sure. Should I come immediately, or should I wait a while to give the elves time to prepare for this meeting?"

Kultur looks at me with wide eyes, and whispers, "You ask me?" He then shakes his head rapidly, and says, "Master Athreos needs to come now, if he has time?"

I nod with a smile, and say, "Very well. Take me home, Kultur." And offer him my hand.

One benefit that I hadn't noticed before, after my dip in the Pond of Enhancement, was that my Apparition.. had no limits. As long as it is on Earth, I can now apparate wherever I want, without any changes to the amount of Magic it takes. 

Going from Britannia to Antarctica takes no more effort than going from the Sanctum to Scotland.

The same had happened to the Elves. Which is how Kultur could now apparate from Sanctuary to the Sanctum without even a hint of exhaustion.

Kultur takes my hand, and apparates us to the Sanctuary, making us appear in front of the Pond of Enhancement. All around us, were the 40 Elves that were currently present on Sanctuary. Only four were old, all of them around 100 years of age, while most ranged from 20 to 70 years old. The youngest were actual babies, which.. I actually did not know about it.

Is this why Kultur brought me here? To introduce me to the first Elves born on Sanctuary?

I look at Kultur to ask the same, and notice that he was now joined by a female elf, one named Sonya, along with a baby in her own hands. Oh my God, Kultur's a dad?!

"I guess congratulations are in order, Kultur. You're a father! That's amazing!" I say excitedly, bending down to look at the baby.

Curiously enough, Kultur steps between me and the baby, still oozing nervousness, and says, "That.. is not why Elves called this Meeting, Master Athreos."

I frown, wondering what is happening. I notice then that the Elves were approaching us, so that all of them stood behind Kultur, his baby, and his.. wife?

Curiously enough, all of them looked nervous about something, which.. I was itching to just take from their minds. But well, I haven't been in the habit of just taking what I want from everyone's minds for a few years now.

Kultur takes a deep breath, as I glance at him, and for a few seconds, no one says anything. He then blurts out, "Elvesdon'twanttoworkforaMasteranymore! We wanttobefree!"

He said that so fast, that if I wasn't me.. I would have definitely missed it.

I chuckle, understanding his words, and then as I excitedly stand up and start pacing, laughing loudly, I say, "Finally! I've been waiting to hear those words from you for years, Kultur! Hah! Finally, I have succeeded! Take that puny Wizards! I freed the Elves!"

Kultur looks around, as the elves start whispering to themselves in confusion. He then asks, "Umm.. What do you mean, Master Athreos?"

Smiling, I sit down on the ground, and say, "Let me tell you a story, Kultur." I then look at the other Elves, and say, "Let me tell you all a story. The story of how you were born, how Elves, as a race, came to be."

With a wave of my hands, I create chairs for everyone there, while still sitting on the ground. It takes a while, but since they did want to be free, they sit down to listen to my story. And when they do, I begin my story 

"Almost a thousand years ago, an Alchemist had gotten lazy, well, lazier than Mages usually are. He got it in his mind that if he didn't spend so much time doing useless chores, like cleaning, cooking, picking herbs, washing clothes, and so on, then he would have become far more successful."

At this, the Elves grumble, sensing where the story might be going.

I say, "So, he created the first Brown Elf. A Magical Golem created from the blood of a Light Elf of Alfheim, with its purpose being to serve just him. Other people learned about the Brown Elf, and asked him to create one for them too. They wanted the new Servant too. And so, the Brown Elf went from just one, to hundreds within just a year."

As Kultur's wife holds her baby closer, Kultur whispers, "Are we the Brown Elves?"

Shaking my head, I say, "You are far more than that, Kultur. All of you are. You see, Mages.. or humans, we are selfish, greedy. When the Alchemist became successful, a lot of people coveted his Brown Elves. Few of them got together, and killed the Alchemist, and stole his methods of Golem creation. These new people created more Brown Elves. But.. something happened."

Smiling still, I say, "Magic.. Magic happened. The new Brown Elves were made by novice Alchemists, at least when compared to the original creator. This causes the Brown Elves to change.. to evolve. Within a century, they learned to speak, and most of all, they learned to think. But, the original Alchemist's.. Spell still showed through. The newly Sentient Elves still wanted to serve Mages. Not wanted.. needed. They thought that if they don't serve Mages, they won't have their Magic anymore. They will die without a Mage to serve."

"Does that.. does that mean we are already free?" One brave Elf asks, and I remember that his name is Thorat.

Smiling at him, I say, "Physically, and Magically, you were always free. But your mind.. your minds still believed that you needed to serve Mages to live your life fully. Until.. until I created this place."

"The Pond!" Kultur whispers, realization plain in his eyes.

I nod, and say, "I created the Pond to enhance everything about you. Mind, body, Magic. While the body and Magic parts were certainly appreciated, what I actually wanted to achieve was to evolve your Minds. I wanted to convince your minds to be free. And I just couldn't say that upfront, your previous selves would have taken it as a grave insult. I needed you lot to come to the conclusion yourself. That no, Elves won't serve Mages anymore. I wanted you to say that Elves are free creatures, and they won't help Mages anymore."

By the end, everyone had tears in their eyes at the realisation that yes, they were free of Mages now. Even I wasn't immune to that, as evidenced by the tears flowing down my own face. 

How long have I wished for this? The freedom of Elves? Two decades? More? 

Ever since I first saw the House Elves in Hogwarts Kitchens, I have wanted to free those adorable little people. And now, after so long, I have finally succeeded.

Something crashes into my chest, and I see the tiny body of Kultur holding on to me. This is a clear contrast to the Elf that had tried to kidnap me on Herpo's orders. Where that one was almost as Evil as Herpo himself, he had now changed to be an actually nice Elf.

"You.. you helped us? Despite being a Mage?" Holar asks, as he takes a few steps forward, supported by a wooden staff.

Nodding, I look at him, no doubt sporting a sad face, and say, "My race of people, Mages, have done a gross injustice to you. The Alchemist created you, and the next ones just gave you Life. But, every one of them took advantage of the Elves. Some had good lives, good families to serve. But I know how harsh a life some other Elves had before they came here. I wouldn't like it if it happened to me, so why would I allow it to happen to anyone?"

Glancing at all of them with a tearful smile, I say, "Well, understand this now. This place.. Sanctuary is a safe place. No Mage, not even I, will give you a single order. No one will treat the Elves as House Elves on Sanctuary. You, my friends, are completely and totally.. free!"

A few seconds, no one says anything, and then suddenly.. Everyone jumps up in cheers, hugging each other, and I myself get stockpiled by five elves jumping over me.

I chuckle, taking it with grace, finally happy about something.

This.. this is something that actually makes me happy. The Elves, at least those on Sanctuary, are free!

After a while of celebration, I look at Kultur, since he had become a sort of leader to the Elves, and ask, "Would you like to live on Sanctuary itself? Or would you prefer to set up home on another Island? I can hide it from prying eyes, if you want, just so you know."

Kultur looks to his side, at his wife, and has a whispered conversation with her. I purposefully ignore that conversation, allowing them privacy, as a few more older Elves join the discussion.

Kultur finally looks up at me with a wide smile on his face, and says, "We would like to stay here for a while. Elves would make a decision on our Home later. But for now, we would like to repay our debt to Mother Magic."

"Huh?" I ask, unable to help myself.

Kultur proudly puffs his chest forward, and puts his hand over his heart. He says, "Mother Magic gave us Life. She gave us.. independence. Until we decide on a permanent home, us Elves would like to take care of other children of Mother Magic on the planet, other Magical Creatures."

I nod with a smile, understanding his sentiment. I say, "Whatever you decide, dear Elves, I will be right there to help you with it."

"Thank you Master Athreos!" Kultur says, bowing his head to me.

Smiling, I put my hand on his head, and say, "Now now, Kultur. I am not your Master anymore. Call me just Athreos. Sorcerer Athreos, if you want to be formal."

The Elves.. are finally free creatures. Mother Magic.. Oshtur and Gaea, they both helped me to succeed, and I doubt I would have actually succeeded without them. Thank you, Mother Magic. For fixing one of the many errors of the Mages.

---

A/N: Elves are finally free! Don't worry, this won't change anything in the future, because as I've already established. Time is a Loop, when it comes to Wizards. Either you erase yourself out of existence, or you change nothing at all. 

You might ask, "What about the House Elves still present in the future, 2000 years from now?" Well, glad you asked. Despite it being a decade since Mason first met Kultur, Sanctuary has just 40 Elves. What does it say?

That the number of Free Elves is very low, since Wizards don't like to free Elves unless something extreme happens. And even if they do, Sanctuary Elves might not always find them on time. Suicide rate is high amongst newly freed Elves.

And if the Elves try to offer the already bound Elves a place on Sanctuary.. Well, in their minds, the House Elves are supposed to work for Wizards, and someone offering to free them is the enemy. So, in this way, the House Elves, and Elves, will still remain 2000 years into the future.

The Elf population on Sanctuary will increase, but it won't have any effect on the Elves outside.

Thank you for your support. Thank you for being patient with me, and thank you for everything!

Tata!