“Walter, could you bring some tea for our young Frankenstein?”, the figure in the center who is confirmed to be the principal of the academy had previously instructed him to bring me a chair, now makes another request.

“Frankenstein, please, have a seat.”

I took a seat in the chair placed in the break previously left by the broken circle, not sure how to conduct myself surrounded by the powerful figures in the room. There is a reason why I didn’t want to be a merchant like my father, the social interaction was a part of it. I was never accustomed to speaking in a large crowd of strangers nor am I fond of social dance or balls. I was contempt surrounding myself with just a few figures in my life, my friend Clerval, my love Elizabeth and my family members.

“I’m sure you have many questions, don't worry we’ll answer them one by one.”, said the principal.

“This device here.”, he holds out the now broken device, “It manifests the target’s deepest desire in the form of well-constructed illusions. Though it's not powerful enough to be effective against those who've embarked on the ‘path’, to the uninitiated it takes significant observational skills, strong mind, and grasp of reality to break this illusion.”

“So that was my test?”, I asked.

“Yes, if one is lost in this illusion orchestrated by their own mind then they should not continue further down this road; it isn’t meant for them.”, the principal replied with a complexion that reflected the severity of this statement.

“You did suffer a lot better than others who took the test, some of them fainted upon returning because they could take the mental strain of being in there for so long while others threw up upon realizing that years of their life they just spent was a lie. Ah, could you imagine? ”, the head of biology, the professor who I know as always faintly smiling, just taunted the whole room with his statement. Immediately, a few glares were cast upon him but he was oblivious to them or simply didn’t care and continued on talking.

“Ahem.”, the principal had put a stop to this assuming that this is leaving a bad impression of the circle on me. “I’m sure that Frankenstein has more questions.”

The principal's keen observation of me was true as I recognized a word foreign to me, ‘path’, so I asked.

“Path…”, the principal stuttered as he tried to put his word together, “Frankenstein, how do you think people gain powers of supernatural or mystical nature?”

“Well……”

“Don’t answer, it’s a rhetorical question. Each path is different and grants power to their wielders in two ways. Passive boons that alter one’s physical body to give enhanced strength, endurance, or speed, improving their senses to better detect the world around them, heighten their intellect and many, many more. Or granting power the wielders could actively control such as manipulating the elements, walk through physical objects or control others' minds, foresee the future, the list goes on. A path could grant one or both of those things and while some require special preconditions such as bloodlines, nationalities, or experiences, the method of embarking and advancing down a path will always have cults, circles, and countries battling over it. As such the method of embarking and its advancement is the most guarded secret of any cults, circles, and countries.”

“Why would they keep this a secret from the public?”, I asked the question out of habit, realizing it was probably a stupid question seconds later.

Thankfully the principal wasn’t annoyed and patiently answered my question: “Aside from keeping the power centralized to a select trusted few, there are two main reasons. One, what I said before made it sound like one chooses the path they wish to embark on, this is often not the case, your path chooses you. Second and the more important reason, failure in embarking or advancing on the path will result in lasting consequences, disabilities, death, and mutations are all possible. There is a third reason but you don’t need to worry about that right now.”

Walter has returned to the room with my tea, while I had my chair turned to the door I can tell this from the scents of lavender and chamomile flowing in the air.

“Thank you, Walter.”, I thanked him and was greeted with a nod and a friendly smile. I took a sip from my cup of tea, tasted a hint of lemons, added half a tablespoon of sugar to get it to just the right amount of sweetness I’m accustomed to. Reinvigorated by the herbal brew I recollect on what I just learned and contemplate what I should ask next.

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“Can you tell me more about the circle?”

“What about it? It’s history? Belief? Founding?”

“Everything.”

“...Very well... Let's start with its founding.......”

“The circle was founded by a group of 18 individuals who were a part of the academy during the early days of Luse when the academy was just founded. They were scholars like you and me but one of them, in particular, was a professor in archeology and after an expedition into a ruin, he returned with an artifact inscribing the ritual for a new path.”

“Now, back then the Luse kingdom was at the height of its expansion, scholars weren’t appreciated in the Luse court, and often bullied by the military commanders and nobles in court positions. It was a time when powers were respected above all else; having a path for the scholars means that scholars would finally be recognized and respected in the Lusian court.”

“So when he discovered a potential path for us scholars, he was understandably thrilled and called for all his most trusted scholarly friends for help on deciphering the text, they came together and formed the framework of what came to be the inner circle. The circle was named the Flame of Prometheus, the titan who sacrificed himself to bring the first fire and knowledge to man, the archeology professor at the time simply named it after the Greek ruins where the tablet was discovered. The name got more and more fitting as time went on.”

“Anyway, after deciphering the text they found that ritual to be missing its final step. The specific nature of the ritual meant that no test subjects are allowed. While they are not afraid of the consequences of failing, succeeding with anything less than a willing participant might result in their immediate death or betrayal, so they hit a dead end with no way to progress. Time was running short as those at Lusian court caught wind of their activities, left with no other alternative, they conducted the tests on themselves.”

“18 slight variations of the ritual were conducted with each founder performing one upon themselves, 8 immediately died. Later, 2 disappeared, and 5 went mad. There are only 3 that survived, of which only one can still be reasoned with years later.”

As he finishes his sentence everyone excepts me repeats the words:

“Your sacrifice shall carry the flame forward.”

“It is through their sacrifice that the path for us scholars was created, our path of Prometheus' flame, while it doesn’t grant us any physical prowess, it helps where we scholars need it most. Right here.”, the principal says as he taps his head. “It empowers our minds to think faster, remember things with greater details and better make sense of the world around us”

“But their sacrifice is not the end, you see normally a path has 3 levels, each more powerful than the next, and only the first level has been reached. Over the next centuries, even more scholars risked their lives perfecting and exploring the way to the next level of our path. Needless to say, many brilliant minds were sacrificed in the process, though, with previous experience and the expertise our path provides, casualties were kept relatively low, though most that survive are unable to continue their career as scholars.”

“Your sacrifice shall carry the flame forward, words we remind ourselves of the sacrifices it took for the academy and us scholars to end up at where we are today.”

“That’s a lot to take in…...”, I rub the sides of my head as I process the secret histories of the academy I’ve just received. But if everything he said about the Prometheus flame is true, it sounds like the perfect path for me.

“ Don’t stress over it. I can already see you becoming a ‘torchbearer’ in 6 years' time.”, the principal smiles as do some of the other professors.

Six years? I stopped my trains of thought, “Just to make sure what level is ‘torchbearer’ on the path?”

“Right, I haven’t told you. ‘Torchbearer’ is the first level of our path. Through countless experimentation we have found that this amount of time will minimize one’s burden and side effects of the embarkment ritual…….”, the principal continued to speak but Frankenstein was lost in his own thoughts.

Six years……. Deep down I know that six years is a reasonable amount of time, and though I’m a firm believer in reason, we are fueled by emotions. Like now I try to convince myself six years is an acceptable amount of time, but I can’t go back being content with regular knowledge now that I’ve seen what is beyond. Being ignorant to some might be a blessing but for me it's torture and I don’t want to live like this a moment longer.

“Is there a faster way?”, I uttered those words in hope of a response.

The principal shifted his tone and scolded me with a lecture: “Frankenstein! You have to understand that knowledge is power and all power comes with a price. I’m sure there’s a path out there that lets you acquire power in quicken time but the price will be equally heavy. To say that …….”

The principal stopped his lecturing as if suddenly remembering something and after great consideration, he speaks:

“Actually, there is one other way.”