Two seasons later – Seventh Moonsday of the Tiger, 1258 A.E.

As such, the days carried on. For some reason Lazarus had taken to the words that the boy uttered, and trusted him. There was something about how he said it, that left Lazarus speechless and temporarily stunned, if only mentally.

Usually they were on the road, but for a few days of every season, they would be near a gladiator arena. Through his time with the slaves, Lazarus had learned that the main income of their slaver was betting on his fighters in the arena or selling off his best fighters.

On the side, he would dabble in personal trade, trading less-than-superior slaves for other slaves with some kind of potential.

It had been roughly 140 days with days of slavery. Learning to control his anger and keeping out of fights, as ridiculous that sounds for someone barely qualifying for a post-toddler age, Lazarus spent his days along his two new acquaintances as well as his mother.

It was not in the least surprising to Lazarus, that his Mother was not on the intellectual side of the spectrum. However, he had learned to enjoy her company, and genuinely care for her as a family member. Something that seemed entirely impossible for him just a few seasons back.

Additionally he had grown closer to both the old man as well as the young boy. There was something irregular about those two, which attracted Lazarus to them. Perhaps it was a sense of comfort, or perhaps it was because they too were rejected by the world.

Nonetheless, the days they spent were by no means bad, however they were only as good as it gets being slaves after all. Luckily, for the Lazarus and the boy, whose name was Cain, the old man had much knowledge to impart unto his two youngsters.

Among things the old man taught, was the language. While Lazarus had skillfully absorbed the vocabulary of the people around him, one could not expect a broad vocabulary from brainless gladiators. Therefore, by means of tutoring, he expanded his vocabulary as well as elementary knowledge of the written language.

While he could not fully decipher the meanings of the transparent boxes that had popped up every now and then, more words were starting to make sense compared to the meaningless jitter that it had been earlier on.

The words themselves made sense, however the full meaning of the sentences did not. As such, Lazarus refused to spend time deciphering the wall of text that had accumulated, and instead wait until his mastery of the language was adequate.

In addition to language, he also learned about the history of this world. The story the old man told went a little something like this:

The LoreThis is the world of Amalus. A land of rich and bloody history, a land of glory and suffering...

When the first light of the very first dawn shone on [Amalus], it was not a land filled with lush greens and seas of shimmering beauty. The lands were barren as if a devil sucked out all the nutrients one could possibly hope to imagine would exist. The planes were as flat, as the surface of papyrus. Moreover, the seas? Dried up holes resembling craters of evident destruction originating from the heavens. This was the result of a nigh eternal battle between [the Gods of Old]...

The original name of this world disappeared along with the [War of the Gods of Old]. Wishing for a different fate, [The Last Gods], the survivors of the [War of Eternity], granted these lands a new name; [Amalus]. Alas, from any onlookers viewpoint, perhaps even [The Last Gods] themselves, thought Amalus to be doomed. However not all was bad. Because of the war new lands were shaped, new mountain ridges were made and new seas created. [The Last Gods] planted the seeds of a new world; Seeds that would evolve into plants; Plants that would grow big into trees; Trees that would shape forests all over the world; And with the plants came life. [The Last Gods] nurtured the world of [Amalus]. They experienced the birth of sentient races, and were part of their evolution. Religions were founded, and altars were erected. [The Last Gods] had given birth to these lands, and it seemed to everybody that the gods would be leading the sentient races on [Amalus] to greatness for all eternity.

However fate would have it another way. One day all of a sudden the last surviving gods left this world and their believers behind. Not a single word spoken, no prophecy was prophesized, just nothing. Believers were in uproar, kingdoms were on their edges, and the weather did nothing but signify the calmness before a storm. Once again war had stricken the land of [Amalus.] This event came to be known as [the Exodus of The Last Gods], and would mark the first year in the Culonbrian calendar named by Scholar Lu, First Moonday of the Dragon, 1 A.E.

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From this, he learned that there were several sentient races on Amalus, besides humans, reptiles and the odd beastman. Furthermore, the fact that the gods had such an impact on the world was quite interesting.

While he did not have access to any sort of written source on the subject of the gods, Lazarus felt that the information was quite close to the truth, but with no means to further research the subject, he made a mental note in the back of his head.

The old man was well versed in the subject of magic in the world of Amalus. Perhaps he was not the best practitioner but he was human and he was able to practice magic. That had to count for something. While his magic was limited to vocal magic, he decided not to teach this to the youngsters, since this was the cause of many perils in his own youth.

However, he did confer unto them, the theory of magic in Amalus. To simplify it there existed three classifications of magic. “Real magic” otherwise referred to as just magic because it is the most widespread, “ancient magic” and “alternative magic”.

Before elaborating on the different types of magic, the old man made it clear that there was two types of magic wielders. The intuitive type and the theoretical type. One would be born with a talent for magic, without knowing how it really works. The other would simply construct magic based on a set of rules.

Essentially, they are doing the same thing; one would be doing it willingly while the other would be doing it unwillingly. The most accomplished magic wielder would be one with both intuition and the knowledge behind it. However, for some reason, when you are decidedly one type, the other aspect does not come as easy.

When comparing the common races in Amalus, the one best suited for wielding magic would be the high elves. Through cultivating their own capability for magic through use, and living near naturally magic-infested habitats, the high elves have shown to be remarkably better at magic compared to other races.

In contrast, the human race is by far the worst. Around these eastern areas of Amalus, and perhaps even the whole of the eastern continent, most if not all humans you meet will be unable to wield magic. Things are however different on the western continent, but that will be a story for another time.

Going back to the subject of magic, it will be easiest to explain the last two categorizations of magic. Ancient magic is, as the name implies, ancient magic from ancient times. It is not known exactly what ancient magic is or how it works, and it is not even confirmed to be real.

Next, we have alternative magic. As the term implies this category includes alternative magic. These are usually specific magics that are racially, genetically or in such away locked to other magic wielders.  

Rumour has it that there is an compilation on known clan magics in [The Forbidden Library] or at least that is what the old man said. Lazarus made another mental note.

Now then, real magic. The essence of real magic and spell construction is the theory behind it. To construct magic you need the will to construct it, and you need the schematics so to speak. These schematics come in all shapes and all colors.

Some people memorize the construction of a spell, by cueing it in a chant, others by a simple word. Common for these two types of schematics, is the use of [The Word].

Another way to use schematics would be actual schematics, such as drawn spell circles either on special paper or even in the air by the use of an artifact. These are utilize what is known as [The Sign].

Knowing only these two types of spell schematics, he regretted not being able to teach us more. He did however confirm that many spell schematics existed.

The other essential part of spell construction is [The Will]. For most people this is attained through focus. However, what essentially happens is that an actual physical mass is REPLACEed into the spell schematics. The mass itself is near weightless and invisible to the untrained eye. The name of it will depend on where in the world you are, but the most common terms for it is mana.

All this new knowledge had Lazarus thinking a lot about magic. This was something he had to tinker with for sure. While most humans did not have an affinity for magic, Lazarus did not care. He firmly believed that if magic were so theory based, it would be possible to expertly use magic while having close to no affinity.

This had Lazarus forgetting his innermost feelings for a while. His curiosity quenched his thirst for revenge. While it was not wholly gone, it was safe to say that the raging darkness that filled his heart was more of a molten core. While his heart yearned for revenge, his curiosity functioned as his passion from within.

Slowly his heart was soothed while he accepted humanity as a valid thing to be within his circle of trust. While he had not noticed, Lazarus had begun to smile albeit not often. Gazing out towards his surroundings, Lazarus had noticed shadows appearing from nowhere.

Alas, all good things must come to an end…

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