Chapter 7

ancient magic

- my name is Naoi I am the guardian of the labyrinth - announces the Firey entity

Saiko bows in respect toward the floating fiery entity

_ a pleasure to meet you mister Naoi. I am Saiko, and the pile of bones over there is Ken_

- I am aware of your names, child -

~ can I ask what you are sir, if you are not a god ~

- I am an existence known as a Jinn we are a species that existed on Gaia far before sapiens were sent to Gaia -

_ What’s Gaia ?_ she asks

Ken gets up when the effect of gravity on him returns to normal and starts checking if his body is okay

~ ow ow my everything hurts, Gaia is the name the ancient Greeks gave to planet Earth ~

- mhm you are half right -

Ken raises an eyebrow looking at the floating Jinn

~ what? do you want to tell me she was a real goddess too? ~

- not quite, Gaia is not a goddess she’s a godhood-

Saiko chuckles looking at Ken

_oh the look on your face is priceless right now _

A dumbfounded Ken looks at Naoi

~ what is that supposed to mean ~

- you don’t need to know, not like you will ever become a god -

Saiko's ears turn towards Naoi and perks up at what he said

_what? someone could become a god? _

Naoi smiles at Saiko with a gentle expression

- indeed child, most gods were mortals, my master Thoth was once a human, a scholar with a hunger for knowledge unlike any other and with the devotion to match -

Ken puts his hands at his waist and puffs his scrawny chest standing in a hero like pose and says mockingly

~ I hereby declare that I am the god Ken and from today forward everyone shall worship me, I have as much claim to godhood as Thoth anyway if he was a man that lived ~

_ pfft you don’t have the body to pull that pose off_

Saiko laughs while an irritated Naoi rubs the area between his eyebrows with two fingers

~ well I have something more important than gods to ask about what is this place ~ Ken smiles and asks

- this is the labyrinth built after the great cataclysm so that it may store the knowledge of sapiens for future generations, so that if another cataclysm occurs in the future, the knowledge may survive-

Naoi continues while gesturing to the writings that cover the walls and pillars

- the labyrinth contains all the knowledge that sapiens learn in the past present or future. it is all recorded here -

Saiko looks at Naoi

_ are you talking about the comet that hit Earth 3000 years ago _

- no that was certainly a cataclysm but it’s not the one I am referring to - Naoi responds - the one I am referring to happened much earlier than that, but one can view the comet impact 3000 years ago as an example of why this labyrinth was built and a demonstration of my master's foresight………but even my master as great as he was couldn’t foresee a situation like what happened 3000 ago-

Naoi whispers the last part to himself

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Ken looks at Naoi with hungry eyes

~ wait! you are saying this place contains the knowledge of the crazy stuff that’s been happening here ~

Naoi sighs and floats down

- your thirst for knowledge is the only reason you are still alive, at least that part of was truthful, and yes you can learn everything here, well not quite, the labyrinth is designed to judge the people. it will only teach you what you know to ask, and what it judges you are fit to learn -

he continues

-let's say you want to learn how gunpowder is made first you need to know that gunpowder is a thing that exists so you can ask about it then the labyrinth needs to judge whether you are fit to know how to make gunpowder or not -

~why the second requirement ~ Ken inquires

-Master Thoth didn't want knowledge to get into the hands of the wrong people; sapiens' history is more than enough evidence of how knowledge could be misused if placed in the hands of the wrong people -

~ couldn't I just you know walk around here and find what I want to know ~

Naoi sneers

-well, you can, but first you need to be allowed inside by me and second knowledge is infinite you will search endlessly before you can find what you want -

~ fair enough teach us we want to learn your magic~

- very well -

_you can do that? I thought magic types are something you are born with and can't be changed that's why we buy spells right? _Saiko asks

- you are somewhat correct magic can be divided into four main types fire magic, water magic, earth magic, and air magic, or what is known as elemental magic, all other forms of magic are derived from one or more of these primary four elements, for example, light magic is derived from fire magic while organic magic that manipulates living bodies is a mix of water and earth magic-

he continues -each person is born with an affinity for one type of magic with the exception of the race you call elves, who have an affinity to all elements and thus can have more than one type of magic and while it's true a person can't change their affinity so a person with light affinity can't learn technology magic or wind magic they can return to their base element and learn fire magic -

Naoi walks closer to Saiko and smiles at her

-tell me child what's your affinity? -

Saiko hesitates for a moment and looks down in shame because of her magic affinity

_ my affinity is decay _

Naoi places one hand on her shoulder using the warmth from his hands to soothe and calm her down

- that's quite alright child, that doesn't mean your nature is a bad one don't you already know that all people are born with good nature-

Seiko's ears twitch and she perks up looking at Naoi with a shocked look

_How do you-

Naoi cuts her off and continues with a smile ignoring how she is looking at him

- decay is a part of the natural order of the world; life and death are in an eternal cycle without decay and death there wouldn't be any life. decay is perhaps the closest element to life you need not feel shame about it. of the people that are alive on Gaia right now my child you are the closest to the divine -

Ken interrupts and rushes to Saiko with a wide grin

~did I hear that correctly? you have decay magic? do you know how expensive that is we are rich not to mention all the spells and weapons we can make, we no longer have to fear the world governuaaaaaaaa-

Ken starts floating in the air again before he is sent flying away

-as I was saying before being rudely interrupted, decay is derived from darkness which is derived from water so my child would you like to learn water magic -

~ s, sure that sounds good ~

Saiko smiles slightly and rubs her upper arm

the labyrinth walls glow and then begin to drift at very high speed like sliding doors and soon Saiko finds herself standing in a room with all there is to learn about ancient water magic

Naoi smiles gently at Saiko

- I will now leave you to study -

Naoi floats to a different room where he had thrown Ken earlier

-now shall we see what you will be learning, insolent bastard -

Ken cracks his shoulders and neck then adjusts his glasses

~ my magic affinity is lightening magic so probably the fire element but I am not interested in that~

- oh -

Ken points at the floating jinn

~ I want to learn your magic. I want the magic that bends the laws of physics ~

Naoi narrows his eyes looking at Ken

- the laws of the world are absolute, unbendable, unchangeable -

~but you change them, you make a mockery of them, this place makes a mockery of them ~

- that is not the case, you simply lack the insight into how the world truly works -

~stop talking in riddles how do you do what you do ~

Naoi sighs

- very well I will tell you. we jinns are creatures of pure energy created from the element of fire. we can manipulate the aetheric field itself transcending elemental magic and allowing us to control energy, its transfer, and what the sapiens call the fundamental forces of nature such as gravity and electromagnetic force -

~so, you do bend the la~

Naoi interrupts Ken before he can finish his sentence

-HOWEVER, we do not manipulate the laws we simply have a better understanding of them, let me give you an analogy to what I mean. you know that magnets produce a magnetic field that attracts iron; what we do would be similar to you moving the magnet away from iron so it doesn't attract it or introducing another magnet of equal strength to pull on the iron from the opposite direction to keep it in place however what you can't do is you can't make the magnet stop producing a magnetic field nor can you prevent the iron from attracting to the magnet -

Ken thinks for a moment then smiles

~ All alright got it now teach me~

A final warning before you study aetheric magic, if you learn aetheric magic you will not be able to use elemental magic -

~ I am fine with that teach me already ~

a single pillar grows from the ground

~ huh? how come I only get a single pillar while Saiko gets a massive room with many pillars and even more scrolls -

- this is what the labyrinth judges is fit for you to learn, maybe if your character changes, you will be given more knowledge in the future -

~ I call bull, are you sure you are not the one secretly controlling everything and just blaming it on the labyrinth -

Naoi rolls his eyes then leaves Ken and floats away