Morgan found himself on a strange beach. The sand or whatever it was pitch black and incredibly smooth. Looking around he saw a sea that had a deep purple hue and the sky was the colour of the sunset, yet there was no sun in the sky. Instead there were countless stars of a myriad of colours. Looking behind him he saw a dense line of trees that looked almost crystalline in nature.
“A curious one indeed.” Said a voice that was not old nor young, not feminine nor masculine.
Looking around Morgan found a child with long golden hair and emerald green eyes sitting crouched with their head rested in their hands observing him.
“Where am I?” Morgan said and was surprised that he was not afraid, only confused.
“You are still in the Academy. What you see around you.” The child gestured lazily around them. “This is a view of my old world.” The child smiled but the emerald eyes showed no emotion, only conveying an almost disconcerting depth.
“And who are you?” Morgan swallowed hard feelings as those green eyes were almost seeing into his very soul.
“You are not wrong.” The child said and Morgan’s eyes widened, laughing the child stood. “I am -” The name sounded like nothing Morgan had ever heard before yet it somehow resembled birdsong.
As the child stood it revealed a body that had the proportions of a normal human child but none of the features one might expect from a human, it was like a doll. The child’s hair spread out behind the like a myriad of thin strands of golden light.
“But you humans tend to call me Arian.” Morgan’s jaw dropped. “Hahaha.” The child’s or rather Arian’s laughter was so musical that it was almost eerie. “I am worshiped as the deity of wisdom and spellcraft.” Arian walked over to Morgan who was still seated and crouched so that their eyes were on the same level. “I have been looking for someone like you.”
Morgan gulped and felt cold sweat all over his body. This close he could feel the power rolling of Arian’s body like a physical force.
“But we will speak more of that should you survive your upcoming trial. For now I ask you to bear a message for me.” Arian stood and took a few steps back from Morgan.
Doing this Morgan drew a deep breath noticing only now that he had been holding his breath.
“Tell the guardian that a meal should be properly eaten and digested, a fortnight should do.” Arian paused for a beat and added. “Also, do give him my best.” With that Arian waved and the strange world faded.
Morgan eyelids felt heavy as he slowly came to and when he finally managed to open them he found himself in motion as he was awkwardly cradled in Aspartos arm.
“Awake already?” Aspartos sounded surprised as he stopped and gently put Morgan down.
Morgan's legs were unsteady but he somehow managed to stand with the help of Aspartos.
“Master who is the guardian?” Morgan spoke in a shaky voice and looked up at Aspartos.
“Where did you hear of that title?” Aspartos said with narrowed eyes.
“Um…” Morgan glanced away unsure. “Um, from Arian.” He said feeling a bit unsettled.
“Will the Master believe me?” Morgan thought and looked back at his Master who snorted unhappily.
“Figures.” He grumbled. “First of all, there are five guardians.” He sounded unusually unhappy. “But I suppose that we can assume that it would be referring to me.” He let out an annoyed breath. “Why did you ask?”
“Arian, um… told me to deliver a message to the guardian.” Morgan still found the whole thing rather odd.
“Oh?” Aspartos gave Morgan a flat look.
“Um she told me to ‘tell the guardian that a meal should be properly eaten and digested, a fortnight should do.’” Morgan only glanced at his Master at this point thinking that there was no way he would believe him.
“That so…” Aspartos said looking at Morgan through narrowed eyes. “Well.” He took a deep breath and his usual half-smile returned. “I would have preferred if it had come from Inaria but I suppose that is just being greedy.” He chuckled. “Anything else?”
“She told me to give you her best…” Aspartos gave an unamused snort.
“Well, time to change our plans again.” He chuckled dryly. “I suppose I should go explain to Hypocra, can you get back to your room alone?”
“Wait, you believe me Master?”
“Were you lying?” Aspartos raised an eyebrow.
“No.” He shook his head and tried to stand on his own.
“Then why would I not believe you?” He eyed the unsteady Morgan. “Maybe I should call someone to help you get back.” He looked around.
“No, it is fine if I take it slowly.” He demonstrated by taking a few slow but fairly stable steps.
Morgan smiled back at Aspartos who just snorted and shook his head sending his wispy hair dancing.
“Do as you like. I’ll have Mary-Ann bring you some food later then I will come see you tomorrow so have a good long rest.” With that he walked off.
Morgan’s progress back to his room was far slower than he would have liked and many of the students gave him curious looks as he with the support of the walls made his way back. This at the very least gave him plenty of time to think. “Was that really Arian? An actual god?” He shuddered at the thought. Something he still found quite disturbing was that his memories of that dream or whatever it was were so clear. Unlike a normal dream he could still picture those oddly coloured stars clearly and he still remembered the smoothness of the sand. However it was the chill that he felt when those green eyes as they peered into him that clung to him and every time that memory resurfaced he could not help but shudder again.
When Morgan finally reached the bed he felt both physically and mental exhausted to a degree which he had never experienced before and collapsing onto his bed and was asleep before he even touched the sheets.
The next day Morgan could not remember having eating, or worried looking Mary-Ann who had brought the food to him, nor could he remember their conversation. He felt like these things must have happened but he recalled none of it and it scared him. He had not a clue how long he had slept but when Aspartos woke him carrying a tray containing porridge, a large steaming cup and another one of the greyish beads he still felt a bit groggy.
“Good afternoon, looks like you slept well.” Aspartos said and put the tray down on the nightstand.
“Afternoon?” Morgan looked out the window with bleary eyes and saw grey clouds that gave little clue to what time of day it was.
“Yes, you missed both breakfast and lunch so eat this and then take the Blizzard tear.” He gestured at the tray and when Morgan hesitated he clicked his tongue. “You collapsing had nothing to do with the tear. It is just your body that is starting to struggle to keep up with the healing.” Aspartos sat down yawning. “As the disease progresses the amount of mana required to heal you also increases, regrettably simply reinforcing the spell is no longer enough. Thus I must also add more mana to the spell, putting a greater strain on your body both from having a larger amount of mana circulating within it and because that mana is pushing the body to repair itself with greater and greater speed.” He sighed clicking his tongue in a way that made it seem like this all was quite the bother.
“Is it because I am out of time?” Morgan’s voice was regretful.
“Haha!” Aspartos cackled. “You have been living on borrowed time for close to a decade boy!” Aspartos wiped a tear from Morgan’s eye as he peered at the stunned boy. “But no, you are not out of time. In all honesty you might have offered a key to find the cure to the Sylthian disease!” He smiled widely. “Thanks to you we know that Sylthian is aggravated by mana, which is also why progressed so quickly and why I have been unable to predict it.” He nodded mostly to himself.
“Really?” Morgan said thinking of the years he had spent in pain.
“Yes, with this we might be able to find a way to save some or maybe even all children with Sylthian disease.” His smile was far gentler than usual but he soon turned back to Morgan with a serious expression. “However, it means that we will have to do the ritual earlier than planned, in two weeks to be more precise.” He got a sour look on his face and shrugged. “I had been intending to do it yesterday when you collapsed after your treatment but, I’ll concede to the wisdom of the gods.” He added the last part reluctantly as he stood.
Aspartos gave Morgan a crooked smile and turned to the door. Before he exited the room he turned back Morgan and spoke with narrowed eyes.
“Make sure to swallow the bead before you finish your meal and then rest. I’ll send a healer to check up on you tomorrow so follow his orders.” With that he waved and closed the door.
Morgan did as he was told and ate slowly only swallowing the bead about halfway through the meal. He felt the same cold sensation once again and groaned as he found a cup of overly sweet tea on the tray. Drinking the overly sweet tea he climbed back under the covers and much to his surprise did not find it at all difficult to fall asleep.
The next day he was told to stay in bed and rest. Much to his dismay the other thing he was told to do was to drink a particularly large cup of forest vomit. He was still feeling sluggish and slept most of the day away as he had been told. He woke up around dinner when there was a rather loud commotion outside his door. This was followed by a knock and soon the familiar faces of his friends popped into the room one by one.
“I think you are creating a bad habit for yourself.” Marith said with a smile as he claimed the one chair in the room on the opposite side of the bed.
As his friends filled into the room it quickly became really cramped even with Ross and Louie standing in the doorway. Rina plopped down on the end of the bed after gesturing at Morgan to move his feet and Mary-Ann sat down on the nightstand and placed her hand on Morgan’s forehead.
“Figure anything out?” Rina said, sounding a bit snarky.
“Shut up.” Mary-Ann stuck her tongue out at Rina. “I can at least say that he doesn’t have a fever this way.” She blushed slightly and looked away pouting.
“Don’t you think the healers have a bit more advanced methods of judging that?” Rina suppressed a giggle.
“Oh are you sure you should be laughing at me?” Mary-Ann said and gave Rina a pointed stare.
At this Rina’s smile froze and she looked away with a blush. This made Mary-Ann snort victoriously and turned back to Morgan.
“How are you feeling?” Mary-Ann asked and all eyes locked on Morgan.
“I think I am fine, I don’t feel any worse than I’m used to…” He trailed off and thought for a bit and opened and closed his fist a couple of times. “If anything my body actually feels stronger than before.” He frowned. “It is all rather strange really.” Morgan wore a conflicted expression. “On one hand I feel better and on the other I’m told that my body is reaching its breaking point.” He sighed and shook his head lightly.
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His friends did not know what to say to this and there was a bit of a lull in the conversation as Morgan thought.
“Well.” Morgan said looking determined.” I will do whatever I can to make sure that the ritual succeeds.” He looked up and slowly met the eyes of his worried looking friends.
“If there is anything we can help you with you just have to ask, you know that right?” Louie said seriously.
Morgan looked at Louie and only now noticed that although Louie was still deathly pale h was starting to fill out so he no longer looked like one of the undead.
“Thanks.” He said as he gave his friend a once over. “You look way healthier now Louie.” He added.
“Are you making fun of me?” Louie said, sounding half offended.
This sent the room into uproarious laughter that released a lot of the built up tension. This just confused Morgan however and he tilted his head. The group laughed good-naturedly and joked mostly on Louie’s expense before Mary-Ann clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention.
“Well Morgan still needs rest so we should leave for today.” Saying this she shooed the others out of the room.
The last to leave was Rina who stopped in the doorway and turned back to Morgan with a serious look.
“Don’t die you hear.” Her eyes told Morgan she was dead serious and he could only muster a nod in response.
That was apparently enough as Rina smiled at him and left with a wave. Morgan laid back in his bed feeling that his heart was beating faster than usual and before he could figure out why he fell asleep.
The next day Morgan was feeling like he was back to normal and got back to his normal activities. He had been told to avoid using mana completely which he did not really do anyway. “Well except for how I unconsciously channel that spell…” He thought as he listened to the healer’s other instructions. Surprisingly nothing out of the ordinary happened over the next couple of days, but both he and his friends were growing exponentially more nervous as the date of the ritual grew closer. It all culminated with Marith suddenly standing up at dinner two days prior to the ritual.
“I’m coming with you two!” Marith declared firmly while glaring at anyone he thought would argue with him.
“You can’t.” Mary-Ann said as she peeled the skin of an apple.
“Why!” Marith almost growled.
“Because you will just get in the way.” Mary-Ann said in a flat voice and stared down Marith. “There is quite literally nothing that you could do to help.” She added as Marith looked like he was about to argue. “The Archmage and Hypocra will both be there, so tell me, what you could possibly do to help?”
“I can just be there for Morgan!” Marith shouted back at her.
Mary-Ann sighed tiredly rolling her eyes she had long since gotten used to Marith stubbornness and occasionally fits. This was true not only for Mary-Ann and her friends but even most of the students that frequented the second cafeteria no longer paid any attention to the dark-skinned foreigner’s outburst.
“I’m glad that you want to help Marith, but Master says that the ritual must be as strictly controlled as possible. Otherwise he said that it will be hard to adjust to any irregularities.” Morgan said, trying to mollify his friend.
“But…” Marith was about to argue.
“Stop being such a baby.” Rina barked. “We are all worried but instead of satisfying your own uncertainty we should do what is best for Morgan and if that is to stay away from the ritual, o be it.” She glared furiously at Marith almost wishing for him to argue.
Perhaps sensing the real anger behind Rina’s words Marith sat down quietly and uncharacteristically picked at his food. Sadly the mood did not improve over the following day and the heavy atmosphere hung over the group even as they all wished Morgan and Mary-Ann good fortune the next day.
As the two entered the building where the ritual would be held they noticed that the building looked very new, with walls that were so unnaturally smooth that they had to have been made with the help of magic. Walking in behind Hypocra who had been waiting for them inside the main door they could see countless depictions of the gods on the walls. Reaching the end of the hallway they could see a staircase leading down that was lit with blue tinted light from several magical lights placed into the ceiling.
Walking down that staircase Morgan gulped as he looked at the intricate mural in the ceiling. The mural depicted a battle that gave off the feeling of being endless. On one side humans stood packed tightly with large beings that resembled the upstairs depiction of the gods. On the other side stood a far sparser mass of grey skinned humanoids interspersed with what looked like monstrous armoured beasts.
“The war of the fallen.” Hypocra said gesturing at the celling as he looked over his shoulder at the two.
“What are those?” Mary-Ann said wide-eyed pointing at one of the beasts.
“The demons of the fallen.” Hypocra pointed at one especially large beast with the upper body of a four armed monkey and the lower body of a bull. “The demons are said to be the reason that humanity, despite the help of the gods and far greater numbers almost lost the war.” He shook his head. “They are supposedly made from flesh and steel and even to today some still roam the world causing terrible casualties when they are encountered.”
The two students looked at the mural with stiff expressions and were both relived when the mural did not continue once they reached the bottom of the stairs. Instead there was an almost cave-like hallway that led to a set of bronze clad doors that reached to the ceiling. The door was already ajar, enough for the three to enter without difficulty. As they entered the two students gasped.
The room was lit by over a hundred glowing magic stones that were placed out in an intricate pattern. Beneath the stones was a magical circle of truly astounding complexion. Drawn with deep blue ink that seemed to glow with faint light the pattern was at the same time disharmonious and orderly in a way that made any who looked upon feel a bit faint. At the centre of the magical circle was a rectangular slate of purple crystal about the length and width of a man. Standing next to the slate that appeared to be somehow pulling the surrounding light into it stood Aspartos.
“You’re here good.” Aspartos said in a voice that echoed and he strode over to the frozen students without any care for where he stepped. “Mary-Ann you will start so take this.” He handed her an unnaturally round and smooth green rock.
Mary-Ann took the rock almost automatically before she yelped, almost dropping the rock.
“It is just draining your mana.” Aspartos said and took the rock back after only a few moments.
Even though Mary-Ann had only held the rock for a brief moment she was visibly paler and the hairs on her arms were all standing.
“Good, now come with me to the centre.” He turned to Hypocra and Morgan. “You two make sure that you stay out of the magical circle.” He gave Morgan a sharp look and Morgan took a step back as he nodded.
Regardless of the massive size of the circle there was still plenty of room outside of it in the room. Morgan walked backwards and rested his back against the cold wall trying his best to calm himself. He had been doing his best to hide it but he had been growing more and more anxious as the ritual drew closer and he had not been able to sleep at all this night. He had at first been so indifferent towards his own impending faith. But as the weeks passed and he spent time with his friends he had come to fear death, not only because of his own wish to live. But also because he had learned that his death would not only impact himself but his friends as well. It had only ever been his father who really cared for him but now he had friends and even a Master that would be very sad and cry if he died. “Well Aspartos probably won’t cry.” His breaths had been growing shallow but this though made him laugh easing his tension. “I will just have to survive.” He thought with determination. He looked up and saw Mary-Ann who had lain down on the slate with Aspartos bent over and talking to her though what would happen.
“I’m sure both she and you will be fine.” Hypocra patted Morgan on the shoulder. “I have no doubt that the Archmage has done everything in his considerable power, to assure that he succeeds.”
Morgan could only nod but he felt slightly better and did his best to smile at the Grandmaster.
“Haha.” Hypocra laughed. “If you’re that tense now you won’t last boy.” He kept chuckling. “Remember that you are a survivor boy!” He grinned at Morgan. “You have survived this far in the face of a disease that has until you have killed any how contracted it.” He ruffled Morgan’s hair roughly. “This is just a final step toward beating it.” He looked over at the circle. “Ah, looks like they are about ready.”
Hypocra turned to the centre of the circle and Morgan followed suit.
“I will now begin the ritual of breaking and recreating Mary-Ann’s magical vessel. There is a risk of failure as this will be the first time such a ritual has ever been performed before, but with all the perpetrations I have made I am assured of its success!” Aspartos said with eyes gleaming with the golden light. “Are you ready?”
“Yes” Mary-Ann’s voice was firm but held a hint of nervousness.
“Then I will begin.” Aspartos placed his hands on the slate
Morgan clutched his shirt, heart pumping as he looked on. A beat after Aspartos’s words the light in the room intensified as the circle and all the magical stones lit up brightly. It lasted only for the briefest of moments as the light was sucked into the slate where it pulsed once before fading away. Morgan was unable to see anything for a moment as the room returned to its original subdued brightness.
After blinking a few times he saw Mary-Ann lying stock still with her eyes firmly shut and Aspartos standing next to her with his head tilted.
“What happened?!” Hypocra shouted in an uncharacteristically frazzled voice.
“Um, well... how should I put this…?” Aspartos sounded a bit strange as he tilted his head back and forth as he looked down on Mary-Ann.
“Is the girl all right?!” Hypocra shout ready run over to Mary-Ann
“Well, yes. It is just…” There was a rather lengthy pause as both Morgan and Hypocra held their breaths. “We are done.” Aspartos scratched his head and looked up at Hypocra who just blinked at him. “It was a complete success. The circle handled the ritual flawlessly. I didn’t need to do a thing…” He sounded deflated, almost disappointed.
Mary-Ann chose this moment to sit up and looked down on her hands and legs.
“It tingles all over.” She sounded mesmerized. “Was that really all? There really weren’t any problems?” She looked up at the Aspartos who nodded.
“No, it was startlingly easy.” He let out a confused laugh.
Aspartos reached down and helped Mary-Ann of the slate and supported her as the two made their way over to Morgan and Hypocra. Mary-Ann was a bit unsteady on her legs and slumped down against the wall gazing in wonder at her hands as she twisted them about.
“How are you feeling?” Morgan felt rather confused by the almost anticlimactic result.
“Tried.” Mary-Ann looked up at Morgan with a dazzling smile.
Morgan noticed that she was a bit pale and had sweated quite a bit, so even though the ritual had only lasted but a moment it had obviously been quite taxing.
“My body is all tingly, guess that is because of the mana.” She said in wonder as she touched her own skin as if it was for the first time.
As the two students talked Aspartos pulled Hypocra aside and spoke in a low whisper.
“Morgan’s ritual will not be remotely as easy.” Aspartos wore an unusually serious expression and Hypocra nodded solemnly. “You must under no circumstances enter the circle without my direct command. Else you might disrupt the ritual.” He waited for Hypocra to nod once more after having glanced at Morgan. “You will also have to make sure that Mary-Ann stay’s out of the ritual as well.”
“Would it not be better for her to leave then?” Hypocra asked looking over at the two.
“No, it is very important that Morgan is as calm as possible and I think her presence should help with that.”
“As you wish.” Hypocra nodded respectfully at the older man and the Archmage nodded back with a grin.
“All right then.” Aspartos stepped away from Hypocra and clapped his hands. “Time for the main event!” He smiled confidently at Morgan. “Are you ready?”
“Yes.” Morgan took a deep breath and followed Aspartos to the centre.
It was not more than a handful of aces to the centre of the circle but with every step Morgan had to fight the panic that was slowly building inside him. When he was only a pace away from the centre his feet almost stop. It was at this moment that Aspartos turned to him, eyed filled with power and one hand gently placed on his shoulder.
“You can do this.” Those were Aspartos’s only words, but they were enough and Morgan took a deep breath and stepped up to the slab. Once Morgan nervously reached the slab Aspartos helped him lied down. Morgan was surprised that the slab felt rather cold at the edges but had a pleasant heat at the centre which felt rather calming.
“Remember not to enter the circle until we are done with the ritual you two.” Aspartos half shouted at the two outside the circle. “Now Morgan, take this and hold it close to your chest.” He in the same way as usual and Morgan took the item from him feeling a bit calmed by the usual confidence in Aspartos’s voice.
Looking at the item Morgan noted that it looked like the two other beads he had swallowed only slightly large and far colder. Yet as the others it was not an unpleasant cold and it almost felt soothing as he held it to his chest.
“That Blizzard’s tear will activate the others and will the three of them merge with your mana vessel. Or more aptly once we are done here, with your very body.”
“Do I need to do anything?” Morgan asked, trying to suppress his nervousness.
“No, that will not require any action on your part. All you need to do is to try and stay conscious and listen to my voice.” Aspartos brushed the hair away from Morgan’s forehead gently like his father used to. “As I said before, this will probably hurt the whole lot and I’m sorry that there is nothing more I can do about that. Still, I’m sure you can pull through.” He flicked Morgan's forehead causing him to frown. “Now, there is no time like the present ey?” He smiled confidently and Morgan nodded and closed his eyes.
Aspartos took a step back and light flooded into his eyes and the very air around him shimmered with magical power.
Outside the circle Mary-Ann inhale sharply as the very air pulsed with mana.
“Is this what happened with me as well?” She asked Hypocra as she gazed transfixed at the awesome display of power that transpired before her.
“More or less.” Hypocra said in a somewhat strained voice.
“Like hell it was.” He thought to himself however. He did not even have to look down on his arms to know that every single strand of hair on his body was standing stiff with the terrifying power that was in the air. He could not even look at Mary-Ann to see if she had bought the lie as he too was unable to look away even for a moment. Hypocra at least had the presence of mind to take a step closer to Mary-Ann so that he could seize her if she for some reason would get up and try to enter the circle.
When the air around Aspartos was dyed a pale grey and started to contract and expand like the beating of a heart Aspartos put his hands down on the slate. The magical circle flared to life, making it seem like the almost blinding light that had shone during Mary-Ann’s ritual was but a faint candle next to the sun. So brightly did it shine that even Morgan who had his eyes closed was momentarily blinded.
Before Morgan knew it the bead on his chest melted into his body with what was both an alien and pleasant sensation. At the same time from the centre of the slate he could feel heat rising into his body. The two met in his heart and momentarily swirled inside of it. When the two mixed it was as if his entire body braced itself and Morgan inhaled deeply.