“So, before I continue I want you to know that you are completely cured. The bond between you and the grimoire is much more stable. The grimoire itself is dormant and if you want I can ensure that it stays like that.”
“I can seal it so that it doesn’t wake up and lock it away so that no one will ever get to it. However, this will limit your future and potential. Have you had an aptitude test before?”
Amaya was thrown off by the change in conversation but she regained her composure and nodded. “Yes, when the royal investigators first took me in, they made me take an aptitude test.”
Emile did not like the word “made” and the tone that Amya used to describe her encounter with the royal investigators but this wasn’t the time for that.
“What was the result?”
“I have a 95% darkness affinity, 5% wind affinity and common-tier mana channels,” Amaya said not looking at Emile. She knew that her mana channels were nothing special and was worried that Emile would be disappointed.
Emile rubbed his chin as he spoke absentmindedly. “95% darkness affinity, that’s good. The first lord of the island put heavy restrictions on who could be accepted into the Prime Lineage. One of them is that an individual must have at least 90% darkness affinity”
Amaya held her breath as she heard what Emile said. She hoped against hope that she didn’t misinterpret him. While Amaya was lost in her thoughts, Emile seemed to have reached a decision.
“Let's do this properly.” Emile stood straighter and the shadows in the area began to gather around them. They soon engulfed them both and Amaya's vision went dark for a moment.
When her vision returned Amaya found herself in a massive throne hall. The hall’s design was in the Gothic style but seemed to be particularly ancient. It was lit by torches on the sides which barely illuminated the hall. There was also no light source in the ceiling, so it was impossible to estimate how tall the hall was.
The hall wasn’t empty but instead filled with hundreds of statues of a large variety. There were the common allied races such as humans, elves, dwarves and the fae. But there were also statues of “monster” races such as orcs, goblins, vampires and draugrs. All these statues were facing the same direction and on one knee as if swearing fealty.
Amaya turned toward the direction they were facing and saw 7 gigantic statues sitting on thrones facing the kneeling statues. Amaya didn’t recognise 6 of the statues but the 7th was very familiar to her. It was Emile but he looked quite different. Instead of the simple shirt and trousers he had worn before, the statue was adorned in an opulent robe and donned with a lot of jewellery. Even the statue’s gaze seemed serious and regal, not too dissimilar from the one Elise wears most of the time.
In front of Emile’s stood a lone figure with its back turned to Amay. The figure was dressed in black robes and holding a sceptre that had a glowing black gem at its head.
The figure turned to face Amaya and revealed himself to be Emile. Amaya couldn’t help but notice how differently Emile was carrying himself. Before there was always a mischievous glint in his eyes but the person in front of her reminded her of Queen Elise.
“I apologise for the theatrics, but tradition dictates that official ceremonies have to be done properly,” Emile said with a reassuring smile. He cleared his throat and spoke with a loud and commanding voice. “Amaya Duncan, your spirit has been summoned to the ancestral hall of the House of Erebus so that I can invite you to be my disciple and a member of this house.”
“Before I do that, I want to explain what the House of Erebus represents and what I’m offering you.”
“In the consciousness of the allied races, the dark element has had negative connotations for a long time and its wielders have been stigmatised as a result. The main reason for this is the orthodox church of the Illuminated Pantheon has proclaimed that the dark element and its wielders are evil by nature and should not be trusted”
“This dogma however does not come from its gods but rather from zealous members that could not stand the dark element since it’s the antithesis of their light element. A long time ago, a powerful and charismatic leader of the church changed the church’s official stance on the dark element to hostile and through indoctrination of the later generation solidified that stance.”
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“Though the Illuminated Pantheon is not as powerful as it once was, it is hard to remove its imprint on the human race. Avalyn’s official belief is on the Creator and not on lesser gods but many of its citizens still follow the Illuminated Pantheon.”
“Avalyn’s relationship with dark mages is also special and to understand that we need to go back to the founding of Avalyn itself.”
Emile created an illusion that showed the map of Avalyn and its neighbours.
“A long time ago, the continent that Avalyn was unified under a powerful empire called Arcadia. Arcadia was one of the most powerful empires of our age. Its level of magical prowess had no unequal and the centre of the world for those with magical talents.”
“The problem however was that some of the ruling class of the empire were arrogant and greedy. They saw the neighbouring continents as lands to conquer and increase their wealth. These warmongers had unfortunately won successive succession, and by having the ears of the emperors had invaded other continents.”
“However, they underestimated the other nations and spread their forces thin. In their arrogance, they decided to launch assaults on multiple fronts. This backfired spectacularly and they were forced to concede quickly.”
The illusion expanded to show new continents and lines depicting the invasion were launched.
“However, the reparations were immense and it cribbled the economy. The invaded nations also demanded the death or imprisonment of powerful and influential mages. It took more than a century before the empire recovered from that failure.”
“The failure created resentment from the outer provinces towards the capital and royal family. But when the empire had finally recovered, the capital once again began to look towards the other continents with hunger.”
“When the Dukes of outer providences found this out, they were outraged. They implored the emperor to not start another war and said they would refuse to send forces to assist in another conquest.”
“The emperor in rage stripped their titles and demanded they come to the capital for punishment. He however underestimated the loyalty of those nobles and they all declared independence from the empire. This starts another war between the capital and its forces against the seceded countries”
The illusion went back to Arcadia and showed the continent split into 2, with a 3 to 1 ratio. The large part began to split into smaller parts denoting the new independent countries.
“The Empire had lost most of its land and forces so it wasn’t able to stop the seceded countries from overthrowing it. The emperor and his supporters were executed or exiled and the territory was left as a neutral state under the command of the victors.”
“Anyway, this wasn’t supposed to be a history lesson so I’ll keep it short.” Emile waved the illusion as he realised he had gone off track. “Anyway, the reason I’m telling you this is that when Avalyn fought for independence, one of the archmagus of Arcadia chose to defect to help Avalyn.”
“As a reward, the archmagus was given an exalted status and the ownership of an island to the west of Avalyn. The archmagus was given nobility, special powers in the eyes of the law and the autonomy of this land. This was one written in the country’s founding charter.”
“Since then, this island has been the home of those forsaken by the world. As long as you did not commit heinous crimes and your magic had made you an outcast, Erebus or more specifically Obsidian City would welcome you. Providing that you did invite trouble and use the island as a safe haven, you would be welcome to live here.”
Emile noticed he was going off track again and refocused.
“That’s a quick summary, but what I am offering you is to join the House of Erebus under my care. While the old laws of the house state that I can only have one true disciple and that position has already been taken, I can still have you as my disciple and ward.”
Amaya's face lit up as she heard him, but then she remembered her mana channels and her face fell.
She said to Emile “I don’t think I’m worthy of such this honour, I only have common tier mana channels so my future is limited.”
Emile laughed a little. “Don’t worry, while that would usually limit you. You actually have two advantages, one is the grimoire. When you become more adept at controlling your magic, that book will give you a unique advantage.”
“The second advantage is that we have a lot of resources to update and improve your mana channels. In fact, having a common tier mana channels means the backlash will be very small.”
Emile smiled reassuringly at Amaya. “You also don’t need to worry about becoming some sort of expert or master. As long as you try your best then you have done enough”
He patted her on her shoulder. “By offering to be your master, I will guarantee you my protection and ensure that you become who you want to be.
Amaya’s eyes started to tear up and before she could stop herself, she threw herself at Emile and hugged him. Emile patted her back and allowed her to let her emotions out. After a while Amaya recomposed herself and stepped back.
Emile waited to make sure she had calmed enough.
“So for this to be official, I need to ask you a question and you need to confirm it. Amya Duncan, do you accept me, Emile Altalia, as your master and teacher?”
Amaya without hesitation said, “Yes, I do.”
“You swear fealty to the House of Erebus and never betray it and its values.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Do you promise to assist the House of Erebus in its time of crisis?”
“Yes, I will.”
“Then as the seventh master of the House of Erebus, I accept you as my disciple, my ward and a member of the Prime Lineage of this House.”
As Emile said this, the eyes on giant statues of the previous master lit up and the kneeling statues began a chant.
“Hail Erebus!”
“Hail Erebus!”
“Hail Erebus!”
Emile smiled down as the dumbstruck Amaya, “Welcome, little one to the House of Erebus."