"Lord Eros, please be careful, you might fall from that tree." A lady who seemed to be a maidservant said nervously.

"Oh come on Corey." A boy who was standing on a branch of an abnormally tall tree answered while shuffling his sleeve preparing to do a leap to an adjacent tree. "Look Corey, you know I am a miracle child loved by the the heavens and could already use magic even before I turned twelve. A fall from such height could not harm me." The boy then leaped without reserve at a speed which made the maidservant gape, and in an instant before landing to the branch, he slowed down as if a light wind ensured his safety.

"See. That was a magic I learned recently, It is a floating technique which I can now slightly use. My father said that It can only be used by mages who trained for several years." The boy said with a smug expression while his blue eyes staring directly at the maidservant as if waiting for her reaction.

"Lord Eros, I know that you are gifted and could control natural energy since birth, but your mother told me to prevent you from doing anything that could possibly cause you harm." While hurriedly walking towards the other tree, she continued saying. "If there is even a small wound on you, your mother would definitely feel disappointed in me. So please allow me to help you down from that tree."

Eros then eyed the maidservant for a moment then replied with a smile. "Alright. Don't be nervous Corey, you know how kind my mother is. There is no way she would punish you."

"That is why I am scared my Lord. I am scared to even bring sadness to your loving mother." Corey said pleadingly.

With a sigh, Eros decided to go down the branch and follow the maidservant back at their mansion. But, before they could even step in the mansion, a beautiful lady wearing an elegant long dress walked out from it. Her face was as smooth as jade which seemed to be untainted by time, and her movement and gaze was as gentle as a spring breeze.

At the instant Eros saw the lady he immediately shouted. "Mother! Why are you here?" And without waiting for response, Eros ran towards the lady with his arms wide, hugging her tightly, then continued asking. "Where is father?"

While Eros was hugging her, the lady stroked her son's silver colored hair and said. "My sweet child, what have you been doing. Your hair is a mess."

The maidservant then stepped forward with a hint of guilt in her face while staring at the ground and said "Lady Ufea, It is all my fault, I failed to properly guide Lord Eros."

Ufea then looked at her with a loving gaze and responded. "Corey, do not worry about it. This is nothing. Children are supposed to play. So please raise your head."

Eron also chuckled while looking at Corey then quickly turned his attention back to his mother. "Mother, you did not tell me yet why you are here."

"You silly child. Why would I not be here? you are turning twelve tomorrow which means you are officially going to be a mage. It is an event which we cannot miss at all cost."

"So father is with you?" Eros asked excitedly.

"Of course I am here my son." A middle aged man walked out of the mansion along with an old goblin. The face of the man resembled Eros, and even his hair was the same color. The only difference was Eros' blue eyes which he obviously got from his mother. Quickly, the man then held Eros' shoulder and continued. "Nothing could hinder me from witnessing the day you become a formal mage. Tomorrow, you would become one of the most gifted mage of Chorias and would surely surpass me in the near future."

With a firm expression, Eros nodded and replied. "Father, I will make sure that I will come out on top in my generation and bring glory to our family!"

The goblin beside his father then chuckled lightly, lit up his pipe, and took a puff. While smoke was coming out of his mouth the goblin said with his hoarse voice. "Ahh.. Sir Corrus, your boy have grown up to be a promising young man." The goblin then coughed slightly from inhaling too much smoke, and went in a daze for a moment as if trying to remember something, then suddenly continued. "When I first laid my eyes on him when he was born, I knew that he was something special when natural energy started to converge around him." he then paused again, and after a moment said "This time, I could see natural energy dancing around him without even his slightest effort to control it."

"Senior Ald, you praise my son too much. He might get to conceited from it." Corrus said while laughing proudly.

Eros stared at the goblin all the time while it was speaking since it was his first time seeing an extremely old goblin. Also, the way it spoke was as fluent as a human which was rare for goblins.

"Oh!" The goblin suddenly exclaimed. "I forgot that you do not know me." He then took another puff at his pipe and started speaking with more smoke coming out of his mouth. "I am Ald, a goblin wizard which will be one of the three grand wizard who will test your potential to be a mage" Then again, took a puff, and thought for a while before continuing. "along with other young 'uns who wished to be just like this old man."

Goblin Ald then noticed the way Eros looked at him and continued speaking. "I guess you're in awe by my fluent human speech, but I tell you, when us goblins stick to humans for a long time." Then again he paused, thinking of something and continued. "We start to learn your language."

This time, Eros was sure that everytime the goblin pauses, he was thinking of the next words to say. However, he wasn't sure if it was because the goblin was so old that it affects it memory or that it was really struggling to speak human speech. Whichever be the case, Eros still found it funny to observe the goblin.

Because he thought the goblin to be funny, he decided to spend the rest of the day with it, talking about unessential stuff, but sometimes, the goblin would say incredibly enlightening words which Eros tried to get a grasp on, but before it could finish, the goblin would suddenly pause and start a new statement unrelated to his first.

His father also checked on them every moment attempting to join the conversation, but every time he saw goblin Ald pause and continue while Eros was lightly chuckling enjoying the scene, he did not bother and simply waited for the day to pass by.

....

When Eros woke up, he swiftly vaulted out of his bed, fixed his hair, and began to ferret around for goblin Ald which he had a long night conversation with. While he sauntered in their mansion, he took notice of the people starting to gather in their Magic Training Hall. His face flinched as he remembered the significance of the current day. In this day he will be officially tested to become a mage along with many other hopeful.

"Lord Eros." A female voice slightly panting came from behind Eros which he quickly recognized as he replied. "What's the matter Corey?"

"My Lord, I have been looking all over for you. Please come with me and get dressed." She then tried to calm his breathing and continued. "The event will start in an hour. We need to hurry."

With a smile Eros replied. "Alright Corey. I will not cause much trouble for you this time, since my parents are expecting so much from me in this event."

With haste, both of them went to a large dressing room for Eros to get groomed with an elegant robe fit for a young mage from a prominent background. His robe was pure red, with lines of gold at every corner of it, and a crest of the Libera family embroidered from his chest down to the knees. The crest resembled dragon and was made from threads of magical silk which possess a magical protection property impossible for ordinary humans to possess.

Eros looked at himself in a mirror, checked his robe, then said. "So this is the moment I prove myself to my parents." After a moment, he inhaled deeply, and breathed out calmly, then with a satisfied smile, walked out of the room towards the Magic Training Hall.

In the hall, several people already gathered. In front, there stood three noticeably old wizards, who seemed to be quite adored by everyone present, one of which was an old goblin puffing a wooden pipe seemingly in daze. Eros quickly recognized him as goblin Ald. Several paces away from goblin Ald, he saw his parents standing as as if waiting for everyone to gather. On his side, there were also several young aspiring mages, some even of different race. And gathered around them were a crowd of parents with mixed status.

When Eros was feeling tense from the atmosphere of the event; in front, his father suddenly cleared his throat intentionally in a loud manner, gaining the attention of the crowd, then he began speaking.

"Good day ladies and gentlemen. The Libera family is honored to have all of you in our humble home. You are all aware that in this day, our son will turn 12, which is a big occasions for our family. With this, we decided to host the tenth mage assessment of the year, to give chance to young generation to rise and achieve heights far greater that what their ancestors have reached. We wish that every family present in this even will go home with a smile, along with a newly appointed young mages that would bring honor to their family. With that, I would not delay this further and formally announce the start of the yearly tenth mage assessment!" 

Everyone began clapping, and the tense atmosphere quickly turtned into a joyous one. Even the three serious looking wizard in front eased up a bit and gave a faint smile.

When the atmosphere calmed down, the wizard with pure white hair, long beard, and completely wrinkled face at the center just beside goblin Ald started speaking in a simple yet deep tone. "First." With a single word, everyone went completely silent. His eminence was felt by each person in the room and made them subconsciously lower their breathing while the man continued. "I would explain to the young participant a bit about the path they will thread in the future." Then he paused and glanced around and pointed at three people, after which he said. "Those three gallant wizards are Arguros wizards." Then glanced around again pointing at two more people. "Both of them are Khrusos wizards. And other people here have different ranks, these ranks will be the ladder all of you young ones shall climb to reach a certain realm depending on your own abilities. When you pass this assessment you shall be a Khalkos mage. And then you can begin your path and to become an Arguros mage, or reach greater heights to being a Khrusos mage, and possibly even above that and into the wizard realm, where you can become a Khalkos wizard!"

After the short explanation finished, goblin Ald started his line with a single word as if imitating the wizard who spoke before him. "Alright." Then he paused looking at everyone's reaction, but sadly it did not have the same effect. Eros noticed this which made him slightly giggle. His barely noticeable giggle has caught the attention of goblin Ald which made goblin Ald clear his throat, puff his pipe again, and continue awkwardly. "I will not delay this, so.." Before finishing his statement, goblin Ald waved his wrinkled small hands which caused magical symbols to appear above each young participant including Eros. "Yeah, you now probably know the meaning of those symbols, it represent the order in which you will be assessed." Then after another puff, he continued. "Come on, the first one, step forward and come here."

A boy slightly trembling strode forward and bowed to the three wizard. He looked fragile and weak, and in no ways looked like someone who could become a mage, so everyone started to think that it would be the first failure of the day.

Even Eros thought to himself. "If this guy can pass, I guess it's not that hard to become a mage."

In contrast to everyone, the three wizard in front stood expressionless, as the one on the center pulled out a crystal ball, which he slowly placed in front of him, and gently released. There, it floated in front of the young trembling boy while the three wizard started to chant magical incantation which made the crystal glow in resplended light. The light made ancient glyphs to appear around the ball with slight static crackling, causing the already nervous boy to step back.

"Kid, touch the ball." goblin Ald said.

The boy stared at goblin Ald completely tense. He stretched his trembling hands, gulped, and touched the crystal ball. The glyph covered his body starting from the hands which he used to touch the ball. His trembling suddenly ceased and his eyes started to glow with blue light while a strong energy enveloped him completely. "I can feel natural energy..." The boy murmured. Then he inhaled, resulting in natural energy to be absorbed in his body. "I can absorb natural energy!" A smile broke out of his face, and he almost leapt in joy while the glyph in his body started to fade away."

"Splendid!" The third old female wizard in the group exclaimed with her high pitched voice. "You are a rare talent! the energy you released is pure and clear! if you wish, you can practice magic as my three hundred fifty seventh disciple. Oh! or maybe my hundred twentieth personal apprentice. Or if you are really interested you can be my seventy eighth.." Before the wizard could continue, the old male wizard at the center cleared his throat and said. "Madam Orris, I think this is not the right time for that." Then he looked at the boy who was currently filled with excitement and said. "You have passed and can now control natural energy. We have simply nudged your magical potential slightly so that you can feel and utilize magical energy. If it did not work, it only means that you can never be a wizard. But, in your case, it worked perfectly and even produced great result. I hereby welcome you to the world of wizard and magic as a Khalkos mage!"

The boy's parents at the sides who were wearing ordinary and slightly worn out clothes teared up upon hearing the words of the wizard. "Thank you Grand Wizard Louvel, Grand Wizard Orris, and Grand Wizard Ald. We are honored by your words, I hope that our child Arris could do much for Choarias." Arris then went back to his parents ecstatic from the comments of the grand wizards.

"Next." goblin Ald casually said. Then another boy went forward to be assessed, only after a few moments, he also passed as a mage, but only with average results. Still, his parents were overjoyed and had the same exact reaction as the parents of Arris.

The assessment continued, some failed, some passed. While the number of failures were growing, the tension in the whole room was getting intense. Eros even in his thick and elegant robe was starting to feel cold, and sweat started to appear in his temple.

"Next." When Eros heard this words. His breathing went rugged, and his nervousness skyrocketed. When he stood in front of the three, goblin Ald lightly said. "Don't be nervous kid. You can already use natural energy, so this is just a formality, and will only be to assess your talent."

"Oh! So this is the rumored blessed child of the Libera family. As the rumors says, Not even officially 12 and yet the natural energy around him seemed to be in his control. Such a rare phenomena. Splendid indeed!" The old lady wizard  then examined him closely while she kept on saying. "Yes... Yes.. Exemplary!"

"Madam Orris let us proceed to the assessment." Louvel said, then continued not allowing Orris to reply. "Son of Corrus Libera, place your hand on the crystal ball."

Without hesitation, Eros touched the crystal ball. In an instant, his body was covered in glyph and his eyes shone with deep blue luster.

"Ah! Such pure energy! Perfect!" Madam Orris suddenly exclaimed. Beside him, the serious expression of Louvel also turned into a smile and goblin Ald looked at him feeling proud for Eros. "See kid, nothing to be nervous abo.." when goblin Ald was about to finish his line, something unusual happened which made his jaw drop and his eyes went wide. The deep blue luster in the left eye of Eros suddenly turned darker until it became pitch black. Slowly, his blue eyes also turned black as if being corrupted by darkness.

"Heavens..." Louvel said in a terrified tone as the a red blood symbol appeared in the already pitch black eyes of Eros. "That is the mark of Lord Orcus!" When he said those words everyone backed of a step and gaped in fear. "The curse of Lord Orcus!" A man said.

"How can the legends be true?" Another man said trembling. His face ashen as he continued. "Is this the sign of revival of Lord Orcus!?"

His words caused the already terrified crowd to even submerge into fear.

"Silence!" Corrus shouted. "My son has nothing to do with Lord Orcus or some legend! There has to be a mistake! Lord Orcus was sealed five hundred years ago at the depths of the underworld. The legends about his curse must be untrue!"

"Calm down everyone." Goblin Ald suddenly spoke up as he recover from shock.

"But Grand Wizard Ald, do you not remember the last words of Lord Orcus before he was sealed by the Gods?" Spoken by the man who strongly swung his hands intensely to oppose goblin Ald as he continued.

"Cursed Gods! When my seed is born, my flesh shall form. My brethrens souls shall aid my goal, to spill blood in the land of God!"

Those words made everyone's face ashen, even Ufea and Corrus could say nothing in response.

"Aye, I remember that clearly." Then he took a puff and continued. "But, I think we should study this phenomenon further before we revile and castigate the boy."

"Indeed. we need to.." Orris said when suddenly, Louvel said in a cold tone. "No! As the Grand Wizard of this town of Orion, I shall immediately report this to the Sages of this country of Forq. We shall let them decide if they will pass the message to the Grand Sages of the plane of Chorias, or if they will deal with it themselves."

"No! Grand Wizard Louvel! This is a mistake. You should not report this to the Sages of Forq!" Corrus gritted his teeth and shouted. "As the Chief of the town of Orion, I command everyone here and Grand Wizard Louvel of Orion to not pass this news to anyone!"

Ufea could not utter a word and could only hold on tightly to the sleeve of her husband. The fear on her face was evident, and tears welled up in her eyes.

Louvel eyed the couple, and said. "As the Grand Wizard of the town of Orion, I have the right to decline your request oh Lord Corrus. Your fear is the death of your child, however, my fear is the catastrophe that will befall us if Lord Orcus can truly revive." Without arguing further, Louvel walked out of the Magic Training Hall and disappeared.

"No!!!" Corrus cried while hugging Eros who was struck speechless of the whole event. Eros knew of the name Lord Orcus, and knew a bit of the legends about his final words. Also, he completely understood the events that transpired, however, it was too much of a change that his world seemed to turn upside down. He could only stand there as he looked at the crowd who were starting to distance themselves from him and some even slowly exiting the hall.

....

In a room at the Libera family mansion, Eros asked. "What will happen to me father?"

"Nothing my son. I will make sure that not a single hair on you will be hurt." He said while looking lovingly at Eros. 

"I think, you should hide the boy for now Lord Corrus." goblin Ald advised. "Also, in a few more minutes, I believe there will already be wizards from.." Before he could finish talking, goblin Ald frowned, he looked up, and said. "They're here." And he shifted his gaze at Corrus and said. "And there are tons of them."

"Lord Corrus, I have no right to interfere in this matter, nor could I fight the wizards of the country of Forq." He then paused and pulled out a pouch then completely shoved his entire arm in it while murmuring. "Hmm. Where did I put that." And after a short moment. "Ah, There it is." He then pulled out a small golden emblem which depicted a mountain, which he placed in Eros hands, then tousled Eros' hair. "In case this situtation does not end well, use that to find my elder brother and hide under his care. His name is Elk, the Sage of the mountain of Oms." With another puff in his wooden pipe, he stepped towards the window and with a single step he directly appeared outside. Eros' father also followed along, exiting the room, while her mother hugged her tightly watching the two from a window fly towards the group of wizards in the sky. 

"Grand Wizard and Wizards, why did you suddenly visit the house of Libera?" goblin Ald asked with a smile, while Corrus was just behind him feeling tense.

"Under the order of the Sages of Forq we hereby request for the Libera family to hand over the boy named Eros Libera." A man who emits almost the same amount of energy as goblin Ald said.

"Grand Wizard Haimmon, from the town of Gunt, May we know what you wish to do with the child?" goblin Ald replied.

"Grand Wizard Ald of the mountain of Oms. We hope that you do not get yourself involved in this matter. This concerns the future of the entire plane of Chorias itself. We wish to simply take the boy and silently retreat."

"Are you going to kill him?" goblin Ald asked while puffing his pipe.

Haimmon went silent, and did not respond. Instead, he waved his hands causing the surrounding wizards to fly towards the mansion of Libera family. Only three wizards remained floating unoving. One of which was Haimmon and the other two seemed to be Grand Wizards themselves. 

In response, Goblin Ald's said. "Kapnos Sunexo!" After which, his chest grew bigger, his throat bulged and his cheeks to puffed. Then, as he exhaled with his mouth, a large quantity of smoke came out from it and covered the entire area. Anyone touched by the smoke were incapacitated unable to fly further.

Haimmon's brows furrowed, his face twisted with anger, and shouted. "How dare you attack us you goblin from Oms. This is a decree from the sages of Forq. Someone like you interfering is a major crime against the country of Forq and even the whole plane of Chorias itself! That boy is the new flesh of Orcus - the man who vowed to sacrifice the humans in Chorias to fight the Gods!"

"Nonsense!" Corrus waved his hands in anger while saying. "Ouranus Pyr!", which caused flames to be formed that directly tried to burn Haimmon. However, the flames only surrounded Haimmon and did not hurt a single hair on him. And with a wave of Haimmon's hand, the flames were extinguish instantly. 

"A mere Khrusos wizard attempting to attack a Grand Wizard like me is an insult!" Haimmon said coldly while waving his hand in a slow snatching motion causing Corrus to be pulled at rapid speed towards him. "Lord Corrus, Chief of Orion. For attempting to slaughter a Grand Wizard and preventing the decree of the sages of Fraq to be fulfilled, under the decree of the sages, and in the witness of two Grand Wizard of Fraq, I sentence you to death!"

goblin Ald's eyes went wide, as he blew a massive amount of smoke swirling towards Corrus who was still rapidly pulled towards Haimmon. "Stop Haimmon! There is no need to kill him!" The smoke covered Corrus and stopped his advance, however, the two wizard beside Haimmon waved their hands causing the smoke to be blown away, and with another wave of their hands, a gigantic illusory hand appeared above goblin Ald completely suppressing him in place.

"goblin Ald, you are a Grand Wizard from the mountain of oms in the country of Joulf, we have no right to kill you and can only imprison you for your crimes, so please do not cause any more problem." Haimmon said while slowly tightening his hands which caused Corrus to feel as if his body was being crushed by invisible force.

"No!!!" Eros shouted inside their mansion attempting to go out and save his father. However, before he could do something reckless, his mother grabbed his arms and embraced him while she herself was crying in helplessness.

goblin Ald tried his best to free himself, however, the two Grand Wizard suppressing him was actually extremely strong and each one was probably at the same rank as him.

Blood started to ooze out of Corrus' mouth as he slowly shifted his head in the direction of the Libera mansion looking directly at Eros behind a glass window. 

"Father.." Tears flowed from his eyes as he watch his father suffer in the hands of the Grand Wizard. He lost all his strength as his legs went limp, and quickly he fell on his knees weeping. Beside him, Ufea was also helpless and could do nothing to aid his suffering husband, the only thing she did was pull out a crystal medallion and held it tightly.

Slowly, more blood came out of the corner of Corrus' lips, and some even at his eyes and ears. Cracking sound could be heard from his body as all his bones started to shatter. He knew that he would die, and forced himself to utter one final words towards Eros. "Live.."

With a loud bang, his body exploded, and his blood rained from the sky. "No!!!" Eros shouted. His scream broke the glass and made the mansion tremble. The blood red symbol in his pitch black eyes glowed in deep luster of red as the symbol formed floating behind him seemingly made from blood.

"Son.." Her mother who was holding him in place opened her hands and started muttering incantation.

goblin Ald who was already being suppressed by the two wizard also tried more to resist, however, with Corrus dead and Haimmon now helping in subduing him, the smoke restraining the wizards dispersed. Quickly, they all flew directly towards Eros and his mother.

Inside, her mother continued the incantation, as her jade like skin started to wrinkle, her beautiful hair turned white and all her almost perfect features withered away. In no time she turned old, and still continued to age as the crystal medallion in her hands started to glow while magical symbol appeared in it.

Eros failed to notice it because of his rage. What he wanted the most was to avenge his fallen father, however, her mother was not allowing him to do so. "Eros, did you not hear what your father said?" Her mother said in old archaic voice. A voice that seemed to have been on countless of years of pain. When Eros heard the voice, he recovered his senses and looked back at his mother. What he saw made him tremble; an old lady whose body was now only skin and bones held him tightly in place and whose face was full of tears.

"Mother? Why.." Eros said unsure of how to continue. "Son. In twenty breaths of time, you shall be transported somewhere, somewhere far away from here. I do not know where, but it is better than dying in this place." Then she fixed the silver hair of her son as she continued. "You really resemble your father." Then she looked at him lovingly while the magical symbol below them glowed with intense light.

While the light became more intense, the wizards just outside the mansion who released magical skills all stopped in place, the three grand wizard also ceased any movement, and even goblin Ald paused while looking extremely worried at their direction. The wind stopped blowing and all magical skill released halted in place, as if time itself stopped.

And only Eros and her mother seemed to be able to move, while the already withered body of her mother slowly turned into ash, it flew into a whirlwind surrounding the magical symbol after which her last words echoed out. "We love you Eros.. Live on." Then the symbols glowed in an extremely bright light and in a flash, Eros vanished, nowhere to be seen.

Everything came back to normal, golblin Ald struggled more, the magical skills hit the mansion, which caused large explosions. However, when they checked, Eros was not there and even Ufea could not be found.

Haimmon scanned the area using magic, his face twisted, then in rage he bellowed. "Cursed child!! Find him!!!"