After holding his brilliantly short speech, a proud old man Nial hobbled over to Kael, grabbing him by the arm, and dragging him after him. Leaving behind a stunned crowd. Old Rache followed behind at five yards distance. Old man Nial was constantly looking Kael over as he dragged him along, nodding and smiling appreciatively every time he came across something new he liked about Kael.
Eventually Kael came out of his stupor, and asked, “sir, where are we going? I am not supposed to be at the academy for at least a few days' no?” He was a bit embarrassed about the situation, the headmaster had gone to great lengths to keep him secret, even if it was to his benefit to do so. He knew that Kael was unimaginably strong, but did this old man do the same?
Old man Nial stopped and turned around, he grinned from ear to ear, and answered, “Young Kael, I heard of your impressive talent in the field of magi, your fast comprehension, creating your own variation of the spell on the go, and that you managed to fire your spell at the first try! To let a youngster like you be wasted on the likes of old Mitch would not do! Not speaking of the fact that he has several disciples already, he does not deserve the honour of teaching a genius like you!”
The elder paused for a moment, his expression becoming somewhat worried, before speaking, “i on the other hand, have never taken a disciple, so I can not say how well I would do as your teacher, but I beg you to become my disciple, I shall help you to the best of my abilities, unqualified as I might seem! Though I want you to know, there has never been decided who among me, and old Mitch, is the strongest.”
Kael turned around after pondering for a moment, looking at old Rache. Old Rache shrugged his shoulders and bowed his head, this was up to him to decide. After thinking for a while, Kael finally nodded and spoke, “You seem sincere to me,” he bowed, before continuing, “disciple greets master, please guide me on the path of magi, master.”
If someone could be the happiest and most excited person in the world at the same time, old man Nial was certainly qualified. He shouted; “Yaaahoooooo!!!” before holding his cane above his head, dancing a jig, way beyond a man of his years.
Kael could not help smiling at the sight, meanwhile, in the back, old Rache gritted his teeth. A human, with mundane magic of only the 4th level, had the young master bowing to him!? The amount of blaspheme old Rache had to deal with, after following the young master to this world, was enough to make a high priest call for a crusade from the church of light in comparison.
The following hour was spent on small talk, before Kael managed to convince his master that he could take his leave for a few more days. He needed to make sure that his men were properly trained, he also intended to give instructions to old Rache to start investing in businesses in his name. He could not be a lord with no activities at all, he had to gain some influence for the future at least.
When Kael and old Rache arrived back at the mansion, they first had lunch, before Kael went to inspect his guards. It turned out that their growth was spectacular. Silent Blade could now keep up with Kael for a whole sparring round in the arena. Though Kael held back a bit, few could get close to Kael’s level in their lifetime.
The death guards, were now looking quite impressive as a whole. Their knowledge had been vastly expanded, they practised with thieves guilds as guest operators, assassination with the local cloak and dagger association, and they also practised infiltrating every different type of organization. They had lost some guards already, due to rookie mistakes, they had been captured. Only a few had died, the rest had managed to get themselves free, but had to hide before they made their way back.
Kael found it quite comforting to have these loyal men, and he felt pride, in the amount of progress they had made in just a few days. He also kept the lord Wade at a distance… The man was a constant reminder of his somewhat odd status in this place. Back home, it did not feel like he had a different status, but now that he thought about it, he probably did have that. Just the amount of servants he had, was quite staggering. Not to mention that lord Wade was his servant...
After two days wait, it was time to head to the magic academy once again. Kael told old Rache to take the reins in his affairs and to expand his influence in the city, before heading off towards the academy in his coach. With him, came Silent Blade and five others. These would live with him in the academy grounds. There was also a few servants to take care of his daily needs.
His master, old Nial, had told Kael quite a few things just before they parted ways. For example, every student in the academy had their own living area. It would not be too big, but it was a house with its own courtyard. Magi valued their privacy, they were paranoid that other magi might come to steal their secrets and research, and so this arrangement was a must. Initiates would need to live in dormitories, but since Kael was going to be a senior magi, right off the bat, he would not need to live like that.
Another thing his master told him, was how the magi ranking system worked. Here is how they were ranked, initiate magi → magi → advanced magi → senior magi → magister → elder magi → grand magi. Ordinary magi could only reach the level 2 magi level also called senior magi. From initiate magi to senior magi, the power level varied, but once you passed senior magi, the ranking was consistent. A magister, would be a level 3 magi, an elder magi would be rank 4 magi and grand magi would be a level 5 magi.
The thing that baffled many was that Kael was so talented that he would become senior magi from the beginning. How talented would he have to be for the academy to do that? Kael himself did not think much of this ranking system, he was fresh to this world's magic, and had very few memories of his own magic training from before this. He wondered whether there were many people in this world who were hidden from the known ranking system. People like old Rache.
As his coach drove through the gates of the academy, he was greeted by the sight of many coaches like his own, lined up in a gigantic roundabout plaza. There were many young nobles disembarking, dressed in blue robes. Kael himself wore a grey scholar's robe, which indicated his status as senior magi. There were also several people greeting the new arrivals at the academy entrance.
The academy building itself, was larger than any building Kael had yet seen. It was a massive maze of connecting buildings. The main building was a circular tower, nearly a hundred meters tall, and eighty meters wide. Built of marble, it was a vague white, windows lined every floor, letting in sunlight. In addition to the main tower, it was connected to many smaller structures. Each of these structures were larger than most noble homes, and were built in different styles. Towers and spires lined the structures, making the academy building look quite peculiar, yet grand at the same time.
In the distance, Kael could still see other buildings, it was as if the academy was a small city of its own. He had no idea of how many lived in the academy, but he figured that it had to be at least a few hundred, if not thousands of people.
As his coach came to a stop, Kael disembarked, he became the primary source of interest the moment his foot touched the cobbled street. Everyone who watched him, had different gazes, some admiration, some jealousy, and so on. Those who watched, spoke in hushed tones with those next to them. Kael decided staying here would do him no good, so he entered the academy entrance, not waiting a minute.
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Kael was then showed away from the rest of the crowd by a youth wearing a purple robe. The young magi was sent there to guide Kael to his quarters, he was exempted from listening to the opening speech and would be given a private tour of the area, and also and advanced introduction in the morning.
The courtyard Kael was given, was a like a small mansion area. There were several buildings, a glasswork, smithy, alchemy hut, what appeared to be an enchanting circle, among some. These were not large buildings, but they took space. In addition, there was a garden, with the earth untilled, and unkempt. It appeared that every student had to begin their own garden on their own, if they wished it.
Kael had the servants start dusting every building in turn, when they had cleaned the small mansion he entered along with his guards. He then told the others to find themselves a room, before bringing Silent Blade with him to main chamber. Which was a spacious living room, with a grand fireplace, and four chairs seated surrounding it.
As Kael sat down, he told Silent Blade to do likewise, the other however, refused, saying that the death guard never sat with the master. A bit exasperated, Kael decided to think of a solution to this in the future. It was not practical at all, but he nonetheless continued all the same, “Silent Blade, this is a new place for all of us, I want you to have the spare death guards to look into rumours around this place. Also, let me know if any of you have any talents in magic. It would be useful to try to enrol the guards as commoner magi. Often, I have read that the way to control a city, is to have ears everywhere, especially with the commoners, they know nearly everything that goes on in a city. Not to mention, knowing magic is a great advantage as a fighting force. If they are too old, let old Rache check their talents, and pass him this note from me, it will give him appropriate instructions.” Kael then passed a letter to Silent Blade.
Silent Blade looked a tad surprised, but nodded without a word, withdrawing. Kael looked after him for a while before speaking up to him, “As for you, Silent Blade, you will be my shadow. Keep your eyes and ears open, gather intel about those around me. I am not a cautious person by nature, but it would not be wise to ignore the great waves I made, when I entered the academy. That will be all, also you can tell them to let my master past the guards.”
Silent Blade nodded, not asking how Kael knew, then left. It was only a few minutes before old Nial came hobbling through the door. He smiled as he approached Kael, speaking, “Ah! Good disciple, I have missed you already! You must have missed your master as well, you should eat more, you are far to skinny, ah and maybe you should get yourself a wife! Someone who can take care of your needs, I know many potential candidates for this job, dear disciple!” The man was over showering Kael with familiar love, even though they barely met a two days ago.
Kael felt warm inside, but before he could reply, his master continued, “ah, good disciple, it is great that you have strong and careful guards, but those you have outside your chamber, are far too zealous. They came out of nowhere and had your poor master’s face glued to the carpet on the floor, and before they even let me say a word, they gagged me with a piece of cloth! I, an elder magi, looked like a bound up pig for a winter banquet…” He looked ashamed as he said this last part.
With an amused face, Kael answered, “I am sorry master had to endure such treatment, they are men who are prepared to die for me. Gifted to me by lord Wade. They might be a bit overzealous, ill make sure that the entrance guard gift out special badges that allow passage without such treatment, in the future. Master must have come for other reasons than to tell me that you missed me no? I enjoy a pleasant visit as much as the next person, and I have also missed master, but let us speak of the reason that brought you here, yes?” Kael smiled with a bit mischief as he watched his master’s expression.
Old Nial’s smile turned a bit sour at this last part, but changed his expression quite quickly. He then told Kael, “hmph, you are clever, as expected of my disciple. Yes I am here for other reasons, little brat, you are close with lord Wade, are you? He is a clever old man, who knows what he might want by helping you like that. Never mind, what I came for, is to tell you a bit about what I have planned for you in the future. As you know, you have already skipped from initiate magi to senior magi, a feat nobody in our academy history can match.”
He paused, before continuing, “that being said, you will have it harder than the others, you have great talent, but that will also cause many to be dissatisfied. Already many senior magi are ready to argue with us elders. Most of the elders placate them by rebuking them, after all, we all wanted you as a disciple, but even among the elders, many are dissatisfied. Since they could not have you as their own disciple, they wish you to fail, the master of the greatest talent of the academy will have great influence in the future. Personally I'm not interested in that, i just wanted you to pass on my legacy. I would not pass that on to just anyone, but you are the one I wanted, as soon as I heard about you.”
Old Nial smiled at Kael, it was a genuine smile, before he continued, “the reason is that my path of magic, is different from the norm. Many magi can alter their magic in specific ways, for each spell, but my magic is altered in its entirety. I have merged my primary magic, shadow magic, with many other types of magic, creating a shadow-synergi magic. Among them is the shadowfire bolt, blackshade rose magic, and many others. The thing about my magic is that I did not discover it myself, but comprehended it from an old tome. I know not who first made it, as I discovered it in some ancient ruins of the past. There are many other elder magi and magisters who have done the same as me, every path requires great comprehension of magic, to learn the magic. For that reason, we all wanted you for our disciple.”
He paused slightly here, before he brought out several tomes which he handed to Kael. He then continued, “these are a few of the tomes I have created from the primary tome I collected. I want you to begin comprehending them, and start crafting the spells in them as soon as possible. You need to be able to defend yourself, because people will ask you to fight them, due to their dissatisfaction with the fact that you have already become a senior magi. It would not do for you to refusing to accept their challenges either, as it would make you look bad, and in here, reputation is an important power to create connections. Tomorrow you will have your first class, it is about summoning a familiar. It is also the most important lesson you will learn this year. Every magi can summon a familiar, it is a lifelong companion which has many uses. Some can summon tomes, which can increase a magi’s spell chanting speed by at least fifty percent. Another type are live animals, or animated weapons. The animals can not do too complex tasks, but they are great at defending their owner, and can increase the diversity of their master. Some can even fly, and help their master travel on them.” He looked quite longing at this last mention.
Old Nial face was locked in this longing expression for nearly an entire minute, before he continued, “I wonder what your familiar will be, there are records of an extremely talented magi, a thousand years ago, whose talent was great, who summoned a dragon familiar. As he grew in power, so did the dragon, until it reached a hundred meters in size. He then went to help the emperor of the capital in a war, with his help the imperial family was able to secure their hold on the continent. His name was changed to grand magi Dragonflame. He died not long after, nobody knows how, but his deeds will forever be remembered by the world. That is how important a familiar can be, and there are countless variations. So prepare yourself my young disciple, and work hard.”
After this talk, old Nial stayed for a while longer, talking of this and that with Kael, before leaving. Kael sat in thought for a long while, before he started reading the tomes just given to him. He found that they were rather simple, even the basic firebolt spell, only took him less than five minutes to understand. As he learned more and more spells, he got access to more and more spell symbols, soon he would not need any more symbols, he discovered that most of the symbols were the same for each spell. Only the major symbols mattered for the outcome of the spell effect.
He studied the first tome for nearly an hour, learning half the spells contained within it, he decided to stop here. It would not do if he finished every tome in a day, after all, he had to be human. Nobody could do that feat in a day, which took and elder magi nearly a hundred years to do. He decided to focus on what would happen tomorrow. A familiar? Sounded quite interesting, he wondered what his familiar would be, he was very curious about this…