‘In the beginning…’
Mark was confused. Only moments earlier he had gone to sleep after spending the rest of the day tending shop and now he had woken up to a grassy field and starry sky. He stood in the middle of the field surrounded by an ocean on one side and on the other a mountain so high and steep that he had to bend his neck back to see it breaking through the clouds.
Mark tugged at his skin and his hand went straight through his body, it was like he was a ghost, “What? Bruno, what is this?”
‘there were twelve Gods of Darkness.’
In the air an old man, cast in white and sporting a luxurious white beard, was floating meters off the ground with his legs crossed and eyes closed. A gentle power emanating from his body caused the land around him to tremble. Every word the he spoke caused the world to shake and the stars to darken. It was as though the very world fought against the words that were being spoken. When the final word was spoken the entire scene shattered. Mark couldn’t let out a single sound before his body was ripped to pieces and the blades underneath his feet gave way to a stark darkness.
The entire world had been destroyed.
Then a speck of light appeared.
It wasn’t a sun, or a star, or even a planet. It was a small gold and black disk. It floated through the darkness as though it had been thrown, spinning as it traveled. On the surface of the disk hieroglyphics were etched from gold but were too blurry to make out. Hovering behind the disk and watching was the transparent figure of Bruno. He didn’t look human, although he kept the basic shape. It was as though he had turned into a mighty god, his very stare seemed to pierce through this impregnable darkness and his figure covered and unknown distance with its incorporeal body.
‘This is my secret. Knowledge forbidden from the world since time immemorial. To merely utter it causes the energy of the world to seek to destroy you. To see it means that you will be forever sought by powers beyond your understanding.’
Mark was startled as the scene before him disappeared and the world returned as it was, an utterly normal green field between a mountain and the ocean.
Bruno lifted his eyebrow speculatively, ‘And yet it is a secret that must be passed on from keeper to keeper. Lest the knowledge be forgotten and the world risk destruction.’
Mark looked around him and tried to get a grip on what was happening, “But all I saw was a plate.”
‘Indeed.’ Bruno chuckled, ‘A mere plate that was created at the beginning of creation, and the words. You must not forget the words.’
Mark thought back to before the world had shattered, “In the beginning…”
The moment that Mark spoke he instinctively knew something had gone wrong. The mountain crumbled to pieces, pieces of it’s enormous frame falling from the heaven. The sea churned and in the distance tidal waves began to form.
Bruno breathed deeply, ‘You must never speak those words again. Only remember. Remember until the time is right to speak them.’
Bruno waved his hand and the world once again returned to equilibrium. One moment the entire mountain was crumbling, the next, it was restored. The sea did not calm down, it simply returned to the state it had been before.
“This isn’t real.” Mark realized, “I’m so confused Bruno. What is this?”
‘This is your trump card.’
Bruno floated down to the ground until he was in front of Mark.
‘Years ago I was gifted this knowledge and tasked with keeping it safe. Many years after that my soul was trapped inside this ring and I encountered you.’
Mark groaned, “Don’t tell me you buy into this protagonist thing too.”
Bruno growled, ‘This is no story boy. Some one or some thing is manipulating us through forces that even I was unaware of in life. To think you are destined for greatness is foolish, because if you continue as you are you will only be destined to die.’
‘In the past there were twelve Gods of Darkness and they still exist to this day. During the creation of the universe they lost their most prized object.’
Mark thought of the never ending darkness, “The plate.”
‘A weapon. One so strong that the universe could not destroy it, only separate it from the gods in the hope that they would not find it. Lest they destroy the universe itself with it’
“I… Why can you tell me about it without the shaking and destruction?” Mark looked around at the tranquil area around him.
‘There is no intent behind my actions. Should you attempt to tell anyone of this secret you will instantly be destroyed by the universe. Only once you are strong enough to resist its energies will you be able to utter the secret.’
“And why would I do that.”
Bruno opened his eyes and Mark could see a brilliant light glowing within them, ‘because when the universe is going to be destroyed you need not fear a weapon with the potential to do just that. To merely utter this secret will alert the Gods to its existence and to yours. It is the final resort when no hope remains. A call to arms that will cause Gods and the universe to fight amongst each other, but first, they will owe you a single favor for telling them the secret.’
Mark tried to sit down and was surprised to see that he didn’t float straight through the grass or his own body, “That sounds ridiculous. Why can you even tell me the secret then? Shouldn’t you have called through these ‘gods’ and ended the universe.”
‘You know so little young Mark,’ Bruno’s eyes shone brighter and the wind picked up around him as though under his command, ‘Death is no finite thing. I have died yet I still remain. I have yet to experience a true death with no hope of revival. And yet only one being may hold this secret. I am not gone yet, but now I have guaranteed that I shall never return. That is the price I pay for speaking this secret and remaining unheard.’
Mark tilted his head and Bruno chuckled.
‘It is not something you should worry yourself over. You are too young to understand the intricacies of what I speak. Needless to know, from now on you must never mention this secret to anyone else. Even those people you encounter in my soul, or those you hold dear to your heart. You will only hurt them, and yourself.’
Bruno looked over his shoulder, towards the infinitely large mountain that towered into the sky, ‘A mountain. A sea. You are in a dream, yet you are in reality. If we were to speak the words out loud, I would state that you are in my soul.’
“Your soul?” Mark looked around, “It looks nice.”
‘Thank you.’ Bruno nodded his head, ‘Of course, the mountain is not a mountain, and the sea is not a sea. These are simply visual representations to make it far easier for you to understand them. They say that to reach the pinnacle of magical technique and skill is like climbing an unclimbable mountain. Only those designated as senior magicians have done so, and even so they have only mastered one such mountain. What you see behind you is a complete mountain, the lessons of my life’s work of study and hardships. Magical energy. When enough is gathered it will be as though a deep and mysterious ocean has poured into your soul. Behind you is the entirety of my life’s magical energy, as it once was during my prime and as it remained until after my death.’
“This is magic?” Mark looked around in wonder.
He had never tried to learn magic. He had thought about it of course, especially once he had encountered the ring Bruno resided in. Ultimately he had decided it wouldn’t be worth it because it was easy to sense magical power and any sort of energy waves being emanated by him in a dessert shop would probably lead to a lot of troubles for relatively few gains.
You don’t need magic to bake cookies.
‘This is the path of magic. Magic itself is different. Perhaps no words can explain what magic is, but I am willing to teach you, and you must learn.’ Mark shivered as Bruno spoke.
The old man was angry.
“Why are you doing this? Why are you teaching me this now, by force. I made it clear that I didn’t want to learn magic and you were fine with it until now.
Bruno turned his head from the mountain to the sea, and then back to Mark, ‘A lifetime of effort. A lifetime of practice. A lifetime of perfection. And some two bit magicians get by my into the building I’ve been residing in for years to assault a young girl. This was no mistake, and this was no simple feat. Magic and powers far beyond my reckoning were present that day and according to that man from another world it has been a long time coming, even my presence here is caused by it.’
Bruno’s anger could no longer be contained as his features contorted in rage, ‘I have long ago forsaken revenge, I have turned from my path of vengeance and I have discovered peace. But that does not mean I have forgotten my pride. I who stood on the top of this world, I who held secrets even the universe fears to know… have been manipulated by an external force.’ Bruno’s voice rocked the mountain and sea and Mark felt his head aching as though it was going to burst any second, ‘This. Is. Unacceptable.’
“Bruno! Bruno!” Mark shouted, “You’re hurting me.”
‘Ah, young Mark.’ Bruno looked at him kindly and in an instant the agonizing pressure was gone, ‘Do you know why my ring attached itself to you?’
“No. You never told me. It wasn’t a coincidence?”
‘I don’t believe anything is a coincidence anymore.’ Bruno snorted coldly, ‘No, it came to you because it could only be wielded by a being who is capable of holding my entirety within their soul. The bonds between us are far deeper than you realize, and to even be considered as a being capable of forming those connections you must have talent and potential that surpasses mine by immeasurable amounts.’
“Stop.”
Bruno stared deeply at Mark as the boy interrupted him with a wave of his hand.
“Bruno, I told you from the moment we met that I don’t want to get into this. I’m going to live a peaceful life in town and inherit my parent’s dessert shop. Is that so hard to understand.”
Bruno looked at Mark with a pensive expression, ‘Why do you resist so much. It is clear you are being manipulated as much as I am, perhaps more so. Do you not feel anger? Do you not feel rage? Nobody is that much of a saint Mark. I do not believe that when the evidence is in front of your eyes you are too dense to see it for what it is. With your potential and practice you could grow strong enough to fight this. You can find out what is manipulating you and grasp your life back into your own hands. This is no coincidence that we have come into each others lives but even if we wish to live peacefully this is no longer possible. The incident today is simply the first of many, surely you can see this, an invisible hand is revealing itself and we must rush to stop it now before it is too late. The young man said it himself, this has been progressing for years. Whatever forces are at work here will not wait for you. They will continue on and we must strengthen ourselves to survive whatever is coming.’
“I’m scared.”
Bruno looked at Mark without moving or speaking.
Mark hesitated as he tried to bring his thoughts together, “I wasn’t exactly an amazing person in my previous life. I was a normal one. Then I died and I was still a normal person. You’re speaking of things far beyond what I can handle. Do you expect me to rise up in arms just because you say a few words? I was a student and then a dessert maker! I’m basically a glorified baker. Now you’re telling me things about the universe that I’m not even sure I’ll ever understand, mountains and seas and plates. So yes, I’m not angry, I’m not full of rage, I’m just scared. Its been fourteen years since I died and I’m still not fully convinced I’m over that. I’ve got a family, I have friends and I have a new life. One girl gets attacked in my shop and suddenly everyone is telling me I’ll have to leave my life behind for this new and fantastic one that will probably lead to me dying the first time I encounter something dangerous. I mean… where do I even start? I’m being thrust into this.”
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“You start with me.” A lithe voice caused Mark and Bruno to tremble.
Mark turned around and was surprised to see himself coming face to face with the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
‘We are not the only ones that are being manipulated Mark.’ Bruno’s eyes grew somber as he gazed upon the woman, ‘She approached me after the incident in the shop. She has agreed to teach you magic but even I do not know her motivations beyond her anger. She is a far more capable teacher than you can imagine, any creature with an inkling of magic would kill to be her student and any genius’ would gladly lay themselves at her feet in prayer for a fraction of her knowledge.’
“Who is she.” Mark felt breathless at her mere presence.
Bruno’s eyes twinkled, ‘She is a Goddess.’
“But you may call me Freya.”
****
“Earth, Air, Fire and Water. Traditionally males will hold an affinity towards the elements of Fire and Air, and females will typically hold one towards Earth and Water. Magic power requires a harmonious balance of these elements, each of which is unique, specific and alive. Air for transmission and messages. Earth for growth and solidarity. Fire for cleansing and purifying. Water for creating life. These are the foundations of all elemental magic.”
Matilda’s voice echoed through the garden. Their group had stopped on the outskirts of the major city of Trei on their way back to the clan. They were currently resting in one of the Black Dragon Clan’s many estates. This garden had been hand crafted by Matilda in order to teach Ryan magic and prepare him for any situation. It also doubled as a magical defense in the situation that they were attacked. Flowers and plants of all varieties had been planted in precise locations that provoked the greatest flow of elemental magic energies whilst also providing the necessary balance.
In front of Matilda sat an impatient Ryan.
“Much like your summoning magics there is a requirement that the magician in question carry the necessary materials required for spells. You mainly rely on your kitten and an offering of milk to call forth the Goddess Freya. That will not be sufficient for spells involving the elements. The elements are not as fickle as a Goddess, but you would not attempt to control a Goddess either. To dominate the elements or to be their friend, it is a debate that has continued for countless years without answer. The most powerful spells will require the rarest of materials.”
Matilda lifted a pouch and pile of grey sticks bundled together and tied with rope, “Earth spells are perhaps the most well known for their ability to provide protection, although all elements contain various methods of protection. In my hands I hold two materials, graveyard dirt from a saint’s shrine and branches from the Elder tree.”
‘The Elder tree.’ Ryan looked pensively at the branches in Matilda’s hand.
The Elder tree. A sacred tree which a powerful spirit of love and magic, Hulda, had raised from birth and had gained magical powers that rivaled that of an elder spirit. Hulda had practiced witchcraft extensively during her life and as a result the Elder tree had developed powers of protection within its body against hexes and other witchcraft. To cast a spell of protection using a branch from the Elder tree would almost guarantee that one couldn’t be harmed by an entire branch of magic.
They would have cost a lost of effort to gain.
The dirt could be used in any old Earth protection type spell. However, it was dirt from a saint’s shrine, a sacred place. It was unknown how many times stronger this magically charged magic material would strengthen a spell. Most dark spirits and evil creatures would be unable to break through a protection spell cast using it as a base.
Matilda saw the glimmer in Ryan’s eyes and frowned, “You would be crazy to think that I would give you such precious materials. You have hardly touched even the basics of elemental magic and you think you can control two such powerful objects? In your dreams perhaps.” She dropped the materials on the ground and Ryan winced as they fell, such precious materials were being treated like common objects, “You will use the dirt from this garden. It is of high quality and will probably not kill you if you screw up. Though I make no guarantees. The branches from the Elder tree and the dirt taken from a saints grave will serve as rewards for when you are qualified to use them.” She shifted her head up as though listening, “A messenger has arrived requesting my person attention. Interesting.”
Her gold and silver robes shimmered in the daylight as she began to walk away, a shadow appearing at her side running toward Ryan.
“Ryan!” Marie called out excitedly.
“Marie? What are you doing here?” Ryan looked at her in confusion and at Matilda’s walking form.
Marie stopped in front of Ryan and put her hands on her hips, bending her back so that she looked like Matilda did, “Your level is far too low for me to teach you how to spell cast personally. You can learn from Marie, who is by far your better in this area and superior to you in every way.”
Ryan looked at her bemused, “I want to say you made up that last part but it sounds something the old crone would say.”
“Hehe.” Marie giggled, “We’ll start with the most important thing, collecting and preparing ingredients.”
Marie lifted her hand to reveal an empty palm, “The most common situation of danger a magician will find themselves in is when they are stripped of their magical materials by enemy attacks and schemes. In order to counterattack this we magicians have to know how to collect materials from the world around us. For example, if you lose your cat you will lose the ability to contact Freya, this is common sense, however you cannot simply find another cat nearby in most situations. Well, if an elementalist magician loses their pouches of magically charged dirt, embers or water then they must be replenished immediately. Because fire is not a regular occurrence in nature and the Air element has no common natural resources which contain its elemental energies, we will concentrate on the materials of Earth and Water. Namely, dirt and water.”
Ryan listened intently. Although Marie was a child she was still a genius that had been absorbing knowledge about magic since she was a young. He couldn’t imagine how much magical power was hidden within this little girl. Her words contained wisdom and clarity which others would never attain in their lives.
“There are many rituals to prepare dirt and water and imbue them with magical energy, however we will concentrate on the most common that can be done in any place and location, the holy enchantment. The holy enchantment will provide a decent amount of magical energy to a lot if it is done properly. It can also be done quickly for moderate effects or a prolonged method may be used to fully charge the dirt or water in question.”
The holy enchantment. This was not a spell in itself but a formula, also known as a ritual, used to create magical materials. It was uncommon as far as formulas went but similar to its rarity was its power. A magician with a proper magical formula could charge materials in life threatening situations and then cast the spells necessary to survive to live for another day.
As such, having proper and powerful magical formulas for all possible situations was a must.
But they were equally as rare and often belonged to powerful clans that guarded them jealously.
‘Only a clan as powerful as the Black Dragon Clan could pull out a high class formula such as this one.’
Marie continued as though in a trance, “First, you must collect rainwater or dirt, ideally in a stone vessel for maximum effect though any vessel will do. Second, you must prepare yourself prior to working with the materials, bathe in the ‘fiery Wall of Protection’, Dragon’s blood and lots of salt. If none of these materials are available you may still proceed although your bodies ability to channel elemental energy will be negatively affected. Third, for clothing the best results will come if you prepare the water while sky-clad, or in clean ritual clothing. Where neither is available use fresh, clean clothing or clothing made from natural resources such as grass or bark.”
Ryan lifted his hand and interrupted, “Sky-clad? Isn’t that a little immodest for the heiress of the Black Dragon Clan?”
Marie didn’t waver in her serious expression at his jest, “Modesty must be foregone when your survival is at stake. To produce the best results for survival one must not concentrate on emotions but rely on what will save them.”
Ryan shivered as he viewed Marie’s cold expression.
“Fourth, pour the water or dirt into a glass or crystal bowl, though if these are unavailable then any container which can contain the amount of material you wish to empower can be used. Fifth, place it between two white candles, sixth, light incense of any kind and light the candles, and seventh pass the bowl of material through the incense smoke. Steps five through seven can be skipped if these material are unavailable. Eight, visualize why you are preparing the materials, the result will vary depending on your visualization however if you wish to charge it with magical energy then this will provide the conduit from which it can enter the materials. Lastly, contain the water or dirt within a pouch or other container until it is needed to be used.”
Marie fell silent and Ryan looked at her thoughtfully.
This formula was indeed incredibly powerful. It was not uncommon to see or learn a technique which could empower materials. However, those techniques were usually incredibly strict in their preparation and the slightest variation could ruin the entire process. A formula like the holy enchantment which was incredibly flexible in its use and allowed survivability in various situations including when one contained nothing, not even clothes, but could still be used to empower materials was incredibly useful and indescribably rare.
“Now then.” Marie looked at Ryan with a smile on her face, “Earth Protection Spell. It is perhaps the simplest of the Earth spells of protection. Though when used with earth materials charged by the holy enchantment it will become the Holy Earth Protection Spell. Simply gather the necessary dirt, and then sprinkle it across the area you wish to protect. State the words ‘Earth Protection Spell’ and visualize your intent to be protected and the spell will be complete. In order to properly train you, you will make your own materials to use. You will cast the Earth Protection Spell until the dirt in the area has been drained of magical power, then you will use the holy enchantment formula to create your own materials for use.”
Ryan looked around the garden and noted that they were lacking all the materials necessary to enact the most powerful version of the formula, “Ah, and I have nothing to use so I will have to learn to do the formula like I would in combat situations with little preparation time.”
“Hehe, what are you talking about silly.” Marie giggled, “We’re doing this the proper way.”
Marie reached into her robes and brought out all of the materials needed for the formula to work from one of her pouches. Her eyes shone as she scanned Ryan’s body, causing him to shiver.
“Now strip off your clothes and start throwing dirt around.”
****
“Gah, that bastard!” Marie shouted into the air.
The moment she had spoken Ryan’s eyes had flashed and he’d agreed that in order to practice the formula properly he would have to go sky-clad.
Then he had come to the conclusion he didn’t need her there and had ordered the shadow guard that always lurked around her to escort her to her room and make sure she didn’t go near the garden for the rest of the day. She had spent the last hour pouting in her room and resting on the bed. She wasn’t used to so much traveling.
“It was a worthy try, if a bit juvenile.”
Matilda’s voice floated out from thin air but the old lady didn’t appear personally. Inside her shadow dimension she was gazing pensively at a glowing white envelope that had been given to her on behalf of the governor of Trei. It had been delivered by someone she would consider a decent match for herself, at least for a few seconds, and more importantly contained a gold and silver medal within it. The emblem of a senior magician. An old friend.
“Hehe,” Marie poked her tongue out at the room, “I thought you wouldn’t approve.”
“If the young master is unwilling to be proactive then the young mistress must take up the mantle of responsibility.” Matilda sounded jovial.
“Now, about that other matter,” Marie’s face scrunched up, “This ‘protagonist’ will kill Ryan you say? And then I will become his wife.”
“Indeed.”
Matilda had informed Marie of the entire conversation she’d had with Ryan under the young mistresses orders. Naturally Marie had also been informed of Ryan rejecting Matilda’s condition of marrying her in return for learning elemental magic. That bastard. Matilda had allowed her bluff to be called because she knew that if the young master was not prepared in the ways of elemental magic this would leave a potential gap in their defenses for enemies to exploit in crucial moments.
“What a joke.” Marie shouted into the air, “It’s obvious what this is of course.”
“Is it, young mistress?” Matilda asked curiously.
‘How far has the young mistresses intelligence grown?’ Matilda was genuinely curious.
“Well it’s clear we are being manipulated. We don’t know how but we do know what the end objective will be,” Marie twirled her finger in the air, making an invisible list and chart of connections in her mind, “it makes no sense to tell us of these things now when I clearly love Ryan and would do anything to protect him. This information was leaked to us through Ryan himself without his knowledge of being manipulated in order to provoke a response. In the best case scenario I attempt to launch a secret attack on the protagonist behind Ryan’s back to assassinate him and succeed, causing the destruction of the world. Though I sincerely doubt this creative tale and that such a destructive force exists without grandfather having discovered its presence. If I fail in the killing attempt then the protagonist will turn against our clan and Ryan himself, leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy where the protagonist turns his attention towards us, killing Ryan because we tried to preemptively protect him and also turning the protagonists attention towards our clan’s destruction instead of the destruction of the enemy. If the protagonist truly was meant to end up with myself as his wife then he would also lose a valuable asset in my talent and resources and be further weakened.”
Matilda made a sound of praise, “I had similar thoughts young mistress.”
Marie frowned as she made more and more connections, “This presents a new problem however.” She pictured Ryan’s face in her mind, “There is the possibility that this force can use anyone, including Ryan and perhaps even yourself and myself, to relay information that will manipulate us into certain actions. It cannot force us, or it would have done so already, but if it manipulated Ryan then it can clearly bypass our defenses in such a way we did not think possible previously. However this seems illogical since then there would be no need to fight in the first place, we would have been defeated simply by existing. Besides, there is a simpler conclusion.”
“Oh.” Matilda did not try to interrupt Marie’s thoughts.
“Instead of manipulating Ryan when we were there it did it through a proxy that appeared before we arrived on the scene. The seer. Ryan would not have come to the conclusion he did if the seer did not inform him of the protagonists arrival in the way that they did. This is a plan that was set in motion a long time ago, designed to pit us against this protagonist for a third party’s gain.”
“Very good.” Matilda smiled inside her shadow dimension, “The seers are merely the mouth pieces of the gods. Any lessor being would be unable to manipulate their words without grave repercussions. Which can only mean one thing.”
Marie nodded gravely.
“The enemies have a god on their side.”