Hi there this is my first fanfic and english isn't my native language, so expect some errors in grammar or in the storytelling. If you found any ill be glad if you let me know so i can fix them and improve.
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A lot’s of things define a good sword. Height, weight, balance and others. Just because a sword has a strange design, it doesn't mean it's a defective sword. Also a sword can react differently, according to the one who wields it.
At this time, Aaron was holding a magnificent sword. A sword that could also fits his way of fighting. Yet, he was eyeing it with precaution. That was because of its last owner, the mercenary Roman.
He couldn’t believe a lowly mercenary like Roman, could afford a sword that good. Roman could have stolen it, at best case. But then again, if you can steal a sword like this, that means you are pretty good. And Roman was a mediocre mercenary at best.
Aaron had been sitting looking at the sword, for the past five minutes. Alex decided it was time to tell him, something that he overheard from Roman.
- Hey Aaron. I overheard Roman saying that his sword, was the payment they had received.
Aaron looked up at Alex, and said:
- And why didn’t you told me sooner?
- Because it wasn’t relevant? Now, what was the thing we needed to discuss with such urgency? – Answered Alex.
Right after Aaron had found out that, almost a thousand years had passed since his imprisonment. He remained quiet, observing the cave. It was then he saw something especial about the sword Roman had dropped, and went to grab it.
Now things made sense. He checked the hilt of the sword, and found out that a name in the ancient language had been recorded there. The name was ‘Kezack’, which meant ‘Reaper’ the harvester. This sword was a magical, very powerful sword. One that money could not buy.
That only made the mysterious old man, much more mysterious. If he could give such a wonderful sword away to a mediocre mercenary. Again something wasn’t right here, but then again that was something he would have to deal later.
Aaron grabbed the sword and sheathed it at his waist, at his left side. He did the same with another sword this time at the right side of his waist.
- Do you know where the nearest village is? – Aaron said, while giving the last sword to Alex. Who did the same as him and sheathed it at his waist.
- Of course, it is within a day from here.
- Let’s get going. We'll talk in the meantime, you need to know what you've gotten yourself into Alex.
- Fine, shoot me – Alex was taking it pretty good. But Aaron knew that would change, once Alex had heard the whole truth.
- First, tell how you found the cave. I seriously doubt you just found it by accident - Said Aaron.
- Well, I left home because you know, my dad was kind of an ass. I wanted to discover something important and become famous, so much that he would had to acknowledge me. After wandering for three years, I ended up here at the Surka province…
- The Surka province? Wait never mind… finish your story first. You can tell me about all the provinces of this Moonlight Empire later – Aaron interrupted Alex.
- Sure. As I was saying I ended up here at the Surka Province, and I remembered a story my grandfather once told me. It’s called ‘The Origin of Magic’ and it goes like this:
The legend goes that God created this world, and all the creatures in it. He created the humans to serve him, and other creatures for his entertainment. He was the owner of all magic, and a powerful being.
But the humans were weak, this god was cruel to them. And they suffered from the Raks, which were a race that loved war. One day appeared a young man that fought back against the Raks, using the same magic that belonged to God.
This of course made God angry, and he gave an order to the best seven human warriors. He armed them with magical weapons, and told them they have to kill the man that could wield magical powers.
The young man fought with them and won, but chose to teach them magic instead of killing them. Together they fought the tyrant God, and sealed him away. After that, the young man got greedy and he wanted to seal all the magic, so only he could use it.
They named him ‘The Fallen’, because of what he had tried to do. The rest of the seven fought with him and killed him, giving magic to the world and founding the Moonlight Empire. The power of ‘The Fallen’ was so great, that after the battle it’s said the seven warriors buried him deep underground. In a remote place and since then, that place only had death surrounding it.
So only a few nobles know this story, and since I heard about this ‘Mountain of Sorrow’ I check it out and… - Alex couldn’t finish telling his story. Because he was suddenly thrown to the ground, by the force of an explosion.
Aaron was silent throughout the whole of Alex’s story. Hearing all the lies about him that had been spread since his imprisonment, were making him angry. At the end, he couldn’t suppress his rage anymore and punched the ground.
A whole side of the forest that they had been walking since leaving the cave, suddenly disappeared.
- Whoa Aaron what the hell! Wait… the story… don’t tell me that you’re… GOD? – Alex was scared shitless. For a second there was a whole forest in front of them, and a second later there was nothing more than scorched earth.
Alex comment only made Aaron laugh real hard.
- Jajaja of course not idiot! If I would be god, do you think we would be having this conversation?
- But, you were trapped in that crystal… - Alex was confused.
- Jajaja you fool. Can’t you figure it out? I will tell if you tell me, what is the name of your grandfather? You said that only nobles know the story, so he must have been someone special. Am I right?
- Well… kind of, he was an historian. Linus was his name – Alex didn’t wanted to talk about his family, he didn’t had a good relation with them. Except maybe his grandfather and his sister, those were other times of course.
It looked like Alex was still lying about who he really was. But Aaron was ok with that, to him Alex seemed a bit silly but a reliable guy. And he needed information, there was so many things of the past thousand years that he didn’t know. Especially about the Moonlight Empire, that was his target for now.
- It's ok if you don’t want to tell me, who you really are Alex. I will found out eventually, but hey everybody is entitled to have some secrets, right? – Aaron himself had some powerful secrets. That even back then, when he still trusted those guys, he didn’t tell them.
- Really? By the way, how old are you Aaron? – Alex was curious about the age of this enigmatic character, that was right in front of him. Aaron looked young, plus he was good looking – And if you’re not God, then, who're you? – He already had an idea of Aaron’s identity, but he wanted to be sure.
In that precise moment Aaron felt something. It seemed that, explode an acre of a forest was a bad idea.
- I presume you already know who I am, but you want me to say it. About my age I was… I mean, I am twenty-two years old.
Time was running short.
- I’ll make you a deal Alex. I’ll tell you everything when, you tell me your real name. But we have to move now! To another village, There’s people coming from the south. They are using magic to move faster, so I can sense them. They’ll be here in approximately an hour.
At the mention that people were coming their way. Alex forgot all the other questions he wanted to ask Aaron, they could wait.
- They must be a division of the Empire’s army! Since we are in a border province they have stationed regiments all over the place - Alex said while running around in circles.
Alex was clutching his head in despair. If people of the empire, were to find him here, they would take him to his father. And knowing his father, he would rather get him executed. That allowing the family’s name, suffer any shame.
- Think fast Alex, where’s the closest village?
- The closest one is in the south, a day from here – Answered Alex.
- Then the second closest one, you fool – The Empire’s army must be stationed there. Of that Aaron was sure, given the direction they were coming.
- It is over the east, two weeks from here.
- That’ll be enough, hold on tight! – Aaron said as he grabbed Alex's arm.
Aaron started chanting one of the most annoying spells he knew, the teleportation spell. He didn’t wanted to use it, but they had no other choice. People were coming and he wasn’t sure that he could restrain himself and don’t kill them all. Now the he knew what happened after his imprisonment, he wanted to stay as anonymous as possible.
And he still haven’t finished his conversation with Alex.
- Hold on? Aaron, what are you talking about? … aaaahhhhhh!!! – Alex screamed as they both disappeared.
They reappeared in the forest, a week and a half away, in the east. From their previous location. The thing was that they reappeared over the trees, about fifteen meters above the ground. And as they were falling more than a few branches left them some bruises, thankfully the ground was full with dead leaves and grass. That somehow softened their fall.
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- Next time Aaron… tell me before you do something like that, ok? – Alex’s body was hurting in places he didn’t even know existed before.
– And you can teleport? That’s so cool man. But why didn’t you teleport us to the village, after leaving the cave? - Alex thought that walking was a waste of time when you can teleport.
- Many reasons. One of those is that when you teleport, you feel like you’re muscles were cut into little pieces, and glued after.
It’s hard to get used to that feeling, plus the farther you go the more magic consumes from you. And to make it worse you have to know the place you want to teleport before, or you can materialize in the middle of a building or something. That’s why I teleported us above the trees.
Aaron was tired, he had used too much magic in a short amount of time. He only had about fifty percent of his original magical power, and he didn’t tell Alex that teleporting someone else with him required the double quantity of magic. It had been so long since he teleported, that his body hurt like if it was the first time.
The two of them sitted near a tree facing each other, and they rested for almost an hour. After that, it was Aaron that broke the silence.
- Look Alex here is the turning point, you have to make a choice. If you leave I won’t bother you anymore, but you’ll probably be found and executed because of the mark on your chest - Aaron was dead serious while telling this to Alex.
– However if you stay, I’ll tell you what the mark means, plus I can teach you how to fight and wield magic. And I’m talking about real magic. I'll do it because you set me free, and you're the only one I know at this time. So, what will be your answer?
Alex looked at Aaron's eyes, and saw the seriousness he had. He made his choice, he wanted to become stronger. To come back to his home and be so strong, that his father would no longer felt pity for him. For three years, he had achieved almost nothing. This was his chance.
- It’s obvious what I choose. I want to live, and if you can teach me magic I’ll follow you. If you still want to know my last name, I’ll tell you. But I need you to tell me yours. – Alex realized that he never heard Aaron’s last name.
- My last name is Pierce and about yours, I already told you it's fine. You look like a noble so I don’t know why, but you don’t have the tattoo of the crescent moon on your chest. That means you can’t possibly be the Emperor’s son. Other than that I do not care who you are at this time- Aaron would have killed Alex, if he were related to the Emperor.
It was right that Alex was a noble, and it was also right that he wasn’t the Emperor’s son. But the reason he didn’t have the tattoo, was because he left home before turning 19. The age when the nobles get the tattoo. Alex tried to explain this, but he stopped when Aaron started talking again.
- Now, since you accepted the important thing right now is to train, so you can survive. We'll begin to train your body, the next village is a few days from here. So well run and train on the day, and hunt and rest in the night. But first, I need you to tell me everything you know about magic.
Aaron wanted to know if there had been changes in the concept of magic in the last thousand years. This was because back then, he and the people he taught were the only ones that could use magic.
And it should have stayed like that. But the things that Alex told Aaron about the crescent moon tattoo and the fact that now, almost everyone could use magic. It could only mean that when Aaron was betrayed, the others went to the other crystal.
“They didn’t release him. But it seemed that they altered the spell somehow, so now magic is a common thing. Those fools, the only thing they did was start humanity’s doom”- Aaron had thought about this matter, on the way to the forest.
- So, you’re going to teach me like in the University Of Magic? – Said Alex, when a smile appeared on his face.
- University Of Magic? – Aaron had never heard of such thing.
- Ah sorry, let me explain. The University Of Magic was founded right after the Empire was born, the goal was to train people to be adept at magic. So they could fight against the Raks. The Emperor and the nobles of the First Houses, were the ones that taught them personally.
- And why a University? – Aaron asked
- That’s because you can only gain control of your magic when you are eighteen. Listen this is all I know about magic: You are not born with magic, at the age of fifteen you can tell if you can become a magician or not. At the age of eighteen you gain a conscious control of your magical powers. When you’re nineteen you can enter the University, before that age you are just a teenager and you’re not mentally capacitated to control magic. – Alex took a break to remember more things.
- That is all? – Aaron was rather surprised, there were a lot of limitations to this modern magic.
- No, I was just remembering… the spells were created by the Emperor, from the ancient language. I know that because my grandfather told me so. Once you know the spell you can chant it in your mind, and according to how you visualize it, it can do many things. A one more thing magic depends on your mental state, so in the University they also teach you how to fight. The ones that graduate are called Battle magicians.
Alex’s dream was to enter the University Of Magic. But since he was weak, he knew he could never pass the exam. One of the main reason he left home before turning nineteen.
- The University Of Magic… that would be a place worth visiting. We should go there - “A place made by them” Aaron was sure that there would be some clues in the University.
- Really? Holy mother! The entrance exam to the University is in two months! Aaron you’re the best friend ever! Uh ... we are friends right?
Aaron looked at Alex before answering, at the end he thought that Alex was so weak that it didn’t matter if he betrayed him. Should he betray him, he wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. And he would just kill him.
- Yeah… I think we are, although the University can wait- Aaron watched the disappointment in Alex face and said:
- You see, it’s because of the crescent moon mark. The crystal in which I was trapped, is old and powerful. So powerful that when you trap or release something from it, you pay a price. And that’s your magical power. When you trap something you get a mark of ahalf-moon on your chest like this one – Aaron showed Alex, the mark on his chest – And when you release something you get the crescent moon mark.
- And what does it mean? – Asked Alex.
- The crescent moon mark means that the crystal took one-fifth of your magical power, and the half-moon mark that it took half of your magical power- Aaron was expecting Alex’s reaction.
- Wait! That means I'm weaker now? And ... you only have fifty percent of your power? – Alex couldn’t believe it, he was now weaker than before. And if Aaron was strong now, when he had his full power, he would have been a monster!
- Magical power isn’t everything in a fight, I still haven’t told you a lot of things. But that’s a conversation for another day.
– First let’s run to the village, I’ll show how you need to run and breathe. You won’t get tired easily, and after a proper rest the amount of time you can run will increase - Aaron started stretching his sore muscles.
After that Aaron taught to Alex, how to run and other exercises. After all they had talked, he wanted to get a move on.
…………………………………………………………………….
At the same time, to the west at one week and a half, days of distance from Aaron and Alex. There was a regiment of a thousand soldiers, observing. How almost an acre of the forest had disappeared.
A general of the army that went to visit the regiment, had felt a great source of magic to the north of the place they were stationed, and came to investigate. He was accompanied by his daughter. When they got to the exact location they found nothing.
- How come they are gone? Somebody can’t just disappear like that, find them! That’s an order! – The face of the general, was red from rage.
- Calm down father! The one that did this, was a high ranking magician. And I can feel another powerful magic, but I can’t recognize it.
- Joanna! As expected from my genius daughter. When you graduate from college you’ll become a fine general.
- There’s still four years for that to happen father – Indeed, Joanna was only nineteen years old. Soon she will begin his first semester in college.
Joanna got down from her horse, and looked to the east.
- The one that did this, must have been at least an 'A' ranking magician. Every magic leaves a signature, since I can’t recognize this magic, I can recognize him by his signature.
- But to do that, you first need to find that magician – Answered his father.
Joanna looked at his father and said:
- Who knows? – She couldn’t wait to get to college, and learn some powerful magic.
Only two months, for the evaluation exam.