Once he had finished talking, he looked around the room. Everyone except Willem had their eyes wide open, cold sweat dripping down their face. If what the King said was the truth, then even a middle rank Darkness Mage was strong enough to kill someone from this council of Grand Mages.
They all looked at Willem, and saw a glint of cold light in his eyes. Just a day before, Willem was tested and confirmed to have the strength of a middle rank Mage.
The Grand Mages looked down in shame, this eighteen year old man was capable of killing them, who have lived for hundreds of years. As they looked down, they saw the papyrus on the table. On the papyrus was a list of all the current capabilities of the middle ranked Darkness Mage.
"Black smoke, with white outline. Capabilities in all forms of Magic. Darkness is a terrible gift to be given, especially to a young man."
The One True King, in all his glory. Eyes as dark as the hollows of a tree and an almost imperceptible spark of fire hidden underneath. Power. True power. The strength that comes from reigning over hundreds of thousands of humans, deciding their fate.
"My eyes were green when I was a child as a testament to my innocence. When I was of marrying age, they turned blue with peace. When I was considered an adult, they turned red and filled with passion. Finally, when I took my first life it turned black as a night without stars. My first kill was fueled by rage, twisting my mind until my enemy was a mound of flesh. I gave in to my Darkness and my best General paid the price. I will speak no more of this. Your eyes are black as well, but you have not lost your soul. I can only assume you have gone through a similar personal trial and lost something precious as well."
The cold eyes of Willem met with the King. "You are truly perceptive my King, everything is as you say."
"Then we will speak no more on this subject, please, do show us what you have learned." The King took quick steps toward the young boy. An oppressive atmosphere burst forth, as if the King had intended to take his life. This of course was a test of his abilities, a middle rank Mage would be capable of standing against this oppression for at most a minute before passing out.
Willem did not know this was a test, and did not treat it as such. Under the oppressive force, he focused inwardly and began to manipulate the Magic inside. Black tendrils shot out from his body, forming hundreds of different weapons. Willem had done much studying for this council meeting, and especially wanted to show off to the Grand Mages. The more he stood out, the more freedom he would have to do what he must to get stronger. In the coming days, one must do everything they can to strengthen themselves before the war. The resources of a Grand Mage far outweigh those of a mere middle rank. It was time to show the true worth of Darkness Magic.
"The first of the Darkness Magic I will show has been named 'True Death' by my Master and is as such."
Archus looked surprised at Willem, to show 'True Death' right off the bat, he knew he was trying to impress. Archus has long since known that Willem has attained the strength of a Grand Mage. What took Archus a hundred years has taken Willem only four. Truly a gift from god, that was the only way to justify his advancement.
While still under the field of oppression from the King, Willem manipulated the hundreds of weapons of black from his Magic and made severe cuts all over his body. He severed his tendons, sliced off his tongue, pierced his navel and ripped at his arms and legs. By the end of the demonstration, his head had been completely severed and his limbs had been torn until they looked like tossed meat. The Grand Mages looked on quietly, but inside their hearts were pumping furiously. This kid was clearly suicidal, to have damaged his body beyond repair. The first Darkness Mage besides the King has killed himself.
As if they did not understand the meaning of the words 'True Death' they solemnly offered their prayers. A large grin placed itself upon Archus and he laughed heartily. This sudden laugh confused the Grand Mages, as they had thought Archus had gone mad. This of course was all a play to show the Grand Mages that Willem had nothing to fear, even death.
As they looked on, they became even more confused. There was no blood pooling from the boy's corpse, nor was there any distinct smell of death. After a few moments, his body began to amalgamate. Black tendrils came forth from the deepest pits of his soul. They grabbed the head, arms and legs and re-attached them quickly. After a mere ten seconds had passed, Willem again stood among them with not even a scratch on him. Only his clothes were disheveled and filled with deep cuts. Even the field of oppression permeating from the King seemed to not affect him in the slightest.
"I believe everyone understands the practicality of this ability. My master and I have yet to test the limitations of this power. Obviously." He snickered a little bit, showing no signs of being pressured in front of anyone in the room.
"Now, if I may direct your attention to the second article. Meteor of the Beast. This is a personal Summoning spell that I made to test the limits of my creation abilities. Please erect your defensive spells." Willem cupped his hands and took three steps back. Although the other Grand Mages hesitated, Archus and the King immediately placed several magical barriers around themselves. Archus made a shield of Earth, and the King crafted a sphere of iridescent colors. Seeing the lack of hesitation of the King, the rest of the Grand Mages created their defensive spells as best as they could.
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Willem drew three complex arrays beneath his feet to enhance the Darkness within himself. He sat down cross-legged and began to mouth a long and complex chant, almost like a song. After fifteen seconds had passed, a huge aura of Darkness ascended as if from the depths of hell. A hell hound appeared with cracked skin, lava spewing forth from his mouth. Fueled by the black tendrils connected to the Mage of Darkness, the hell hound let out deep guttural growl. Just his growl was enough to break the defenses of the Grand Mages. Even Archus could not stand against the growl of the hell hound. The King's sphere twisted and warped but remained intact.
Black flames spread from the back of the hell hound and scorched the nearby hardwood. The black flames heated the room to an uncomfortable temperature and parched the throats of the Grand Mages. The Grand Mage of water, Sveld, casted a large scale water sphere in order to alleviate some of the scorching heat. The shield lasted for a mere three seconds before evaporating.
Willem released the spell and the hell hound returned to the Summoning spell where it came. The heat had dissipated to a tolerable degree, but the scorch marks remained. This was enough proof that what Willem had summoned was not just a shadow of a creature, but a flesh and blood monster. Just as well, it was a monster that could suppress the Grand Mages in the council. This was more than enough to convince the council unanimously that Willem was indeed among the ranks of a Grand Mage.
"This was a creature I have summoned from the depths of my soul, it requires something equivalent to three flasks of my blood. Should I continue, my King?"
At this point, even the King was surprised at the progress that Willem had made. He believed that just this display of skill was enough, however, he was sill curious about a few details.
"I wish for you to show me a few things before we end this council. Do you have any large scale attack Magic? And what about support Magic or Alchemy?"
The more the King asked, the more excited he became at the prospects. Even he did not dare dabble too much into the Darkness Magic for fear of it consuming him. However this boy had no such fear, he acted as if he was the one whom controlled the element itself and that there was not even a small chance of it consuming him.
This caused a flurry of emotions to well up from inside the King. If only he could have shown restraint at the right moment, his most trusted adviser and best friend would not have died so many years ago.
"I have many large scale attack Magic, a copy of the other individual element spells but with the Magic of Darkness, which is to say on a much larger scale than the minor Magic I can cast of the other four. For support, I have the direct ability to control not just the living, but also the dead. Even if an ally falls in battle, I can take their corpse and imbue it with a portion of my will. All that can be penetrated by my Magic cannot resist longer than ten seconds. Friend and foe alike. As for alchemy..."
Willem activated the Spatial Magic that he learned during his classes. From the explanation the teachers had given, a rudimentary Spatial Magic spell could hold ten square feet of anything placed within it. Far more than any one backpack could hold. From within his Spatial Spell, five flasks came to rest upon the table.
"From left to right; a disease with no known cure except my own, a flask to frenzy the blood, a potion to explode the body, a remedy for any known poison, and my best creation to date, a canister that seizes the mind. Each of these potions are fueled by my blood, and have an added benefit. All except the poison remover are airborne and are fueled by blood. With even an ounce of blood it can explode out infecting tens of thousands. If I had a Magical Being to test on, I could create a poison without equal, but as I do not know what resistances or tolerances they have this is all I can offer to you for now."
The Grand Mages could not help but show shock, these supremely made toxins, if they were indeed what they claimed to be could change the course of the upcoming battle. Even if they were of low quality they would be extremely potent in large scale war. As the King moved to take a potion, Archus shook his head. If even one of these potions were to be opened, they would surely all die. All except for their creator.
Willem again cupped his hands and asked the King if there was anything more he needed to know.
"There is just one more thing I am curious to see. Please show me the Magic you used to wipe out the Golden Dragon family."
The King had returned to his seat after dismissing his iridescent shield. Willem looked to Archus, and The Grand Mage of Earth nodded his head in acknowledgement.
"Very well, I will do as my King asks." Willem manipulated his Magic force to send out a small black spike from his robe. "This was one of the first things I learned to do, I had decided to name it 'hate spike'."
Once the black spike embedded itself into the table, he retracted his magical force from it. After a few moments had passed, without re-attaching his Magic to the 'hate spike' he manipulated it to form a thin spherical blade that spun until it cut itself through the table.