Ieros wasn’t the only one to react to that command, the Princess, Court Mage Arxus, the First Queen and plenty of others noticed, all of their attention immediately focusing on Ieros. Although he was surprised, his outward appearance gave no indication of that, Ieros only bowing his head in the King’s direction.
“Yes, your Majesty?”
The King studied him for a few moments before saying, “Your little stunt the other day, would you care to explain yourself?”
Ieros said, “Ah, well I encountered the Ninth Princess and I claimed that I could create almost anything. She decided to call me on what she thought was a bluff and demanded I create a dragon, which I did.”
The King raised an eyebrow, his tone a bit disbelieving.
“You created a dragon.”
Ieros admitted, “Well, it was only an illusion of a dragon, but it is still something that I created.”
The King then asked, “Could you create a dragon?”
Ieros said, “Well I cannot make one of flesh and blood but given enough time, I suppose I could create a golem of a dragon. However, I don’t think I’d be able to give it flight without using spell circles.”
Arxus calmly said, “It’s not wise to brag in front of a King boy.”
Ieros turned and faced him, saying, “It was not a boast, I sincerely can do it but I need time, the golem’s heart alone would probably take me a week, then the body would take a month although that could be shortened if I was supplied with the necessary materials.”
Arxus snorted.
“Really now, can you do all of that?”
Ieros shrugged, “I see no reason I can’t, even a regular creationist could probably do it if they dedicated a few years to the project.”
The King finally spoke, “And you are absolutely sure that you can create this dragon in a short amount of time?”
Ieros nodded.
“Yes, I can.”
The King then smiled, saying, “Then you have a week.”
Expecting him to argue, the King was rather surprised when Ieros said, “Then I shall need to depart to the nearest mine, while I can work with regular stone, ores would expedite the process. I shall also need to-”
The Princess finally spoke, “Your Majesty, while I’m sure that it would be interesting to see if Court Mage Ieros were to make good on his claim, I fear that he doesn’t answer to you.”
The King directed his gaze to the Princess, his eyes meeting hers, seeing the authority in which she held herself. He then chuckled.
“Please, do forgive me, my dear, my curiosity just got the better of me.”
The Princess bowed her head.
“There is nothing to forgive, your Majesty. I too must confess that I am curious as well, however, I think it better that we test him out after the marriage.”
He nodded.
“Quite right.”
As she sat back down, the King added, “However, that doesn’t change the fact that he caused some alarm yesterday, with the dragon and what not. I’m afraid I will have to punish him.”
The Princess frowned and was about to reply when Ieros interjected.
“Your Majesty, I am willing to accept any punishment you see fit. I have acted inappropriately and as such, I shall not complain.”
The King said, “Well before I decide the punishment, I would first need to examine the criminal act. As such, I will need to see this dragon of yours.”
Ieros bowed.
“Of course, although I would advise that we go outside for this.”
The King then stood, saying, “Then let us go to the Palace Gardens.”
Ieros only nodded, waiting for the King to lead the way. The King then stood, his guards flanking him as he began to exit the hall, Ieros following after, along with Arxus, the Crown-Prince, the Princess, and the First Queen. They themselves hadn’t seen what Ieros had done and they were curious, each for different reasons. Some were just sincerely curious as to what Ieros had done the other night while others saw this as a chance to observe Ieros’s strengths and weaknesses, after all, to defeat an opponent one must first know them.
No matter the reason, soon, the group found themselves standing to the side with the King as Ieros stood a little ways front, his mithril staff at hand. He stood still for a few moments, taking a moment to recollect himself before he raised his staff and lightly tapped it against the ground. The instant it came into contact with the ground, all present felt a great disturbance in the ambient mana, like fisherman out at sea on a calm ocean, only to see a leviathan erupt from the water’s surface.
They could only hold fast, doing their best not to be washed away by the great waves that Ieros was causing, his body beginning to heat up as he burned his mana. The waves rolling through the ambient mana suddenly ceased, a temporary calm. But it soon ended, it was like how the ocean withdraws at the approach of a tsunami, the ambient mana had been caught up with the flow of Ieros’s and, while not participating in the spell, was as if a fountain had sprung to life. Ambient mana moved as never before, the changes in it buffeting the senses of those present.
However, they soon forgot such things as Ieros began to cast his spell, a dragon descending from the heavens as if attracted by the disruption in the ambient mana. They stared up in awe, even with the knowledge that this was an illusion, their minds still couldn’t believe it. Their eyes, ears, and even their skin told them that this was a dragon, with its glittering silver scales, the almost thunderous beat of its wings, and the heat which emanated from its very body. There was even wind that buffeted them from each wingbeat and as it neared, they feared that they might be crushed by its weight. However, with but a wave of his hand, all that disappeared, the heat, the rough winds, and the dragon.
Ieros for his part just stood there, his head tilted to the sky as if he still saw the dragon up there, flying away into the distance. Suddenly, there was clapping and he turned his head to face the source, seeing that it was the King.
“A marvelous display, simply marvelous! Even though I know that it is an illusion, my mind still finds that difficult to comprehend.”
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Ieros bowed his head.
“You honor me, your Majesty.”
Arxus harrumphed, “Nothing but an illusion, any mage can do that.”
Before the others could speak, the First Queen said, “Even so, the complexity of the illusion just shows his degree of control over his mana, not to mention how a mere activation of his spell caused such great effect on the surrounding mana.”
Ieros said, “Well, unfortunately, I am not so skilled just yet, if I truly did have mastery over my mana, I wouldn’t have made such a disturbance.”
Arxus snorted.
“What mage are you if you can’t even control your mana.”
Ieros replied, “Well, the methods of the Academy weren’t enough, I simply had too much mana. Their methods were not made for a mage with an unbelievable concentration of mana in his blood, I was forced to find my own methods, which I have yet to perfect.”
Arxus then said, “Then what is your mana capacity, if you don’t mind me asking.”
Ieros thought a moment, finally saying, “Well, the only way I can show you is through my spells, however, I shall only act if the Princess allows it.”
All attention fell on the Princess and while she felt some doubt, she couldn’t deny that she was curious about Ieros’s capabilities.
So she nodded, saying, “Show them the might of Athera.”
Ieros bowed his head.
“Then I shall do my best. While this spell does not have a proper name, I shall show you what a Creationist can do with fire.”
Once more, his blood began to boil as mana was burned, fueling the spell that he began to weave. It first began with what appeared to be a large egg of pure flames, then more and more of these giant eggs which floated in a circle above the palace, each like miniature suns. Ieros then spread his arms out wide, the lines in his staff glowing brightly as he smiled. Then, one by one, from each of the nine great eggs in the sky, phoenixes burst forth, uttering great cries as they began to fly. As they danced around one another, the audience could only look on in awe at these flames which were given life.
Each was the size of a young dragon, with a wingspan of hundred-fifty feet, their bodies made of golden flame. With intense light and heat, these nine great birds flew through the air, of course entirely of Ieros’s own creation. However, his mana was only two-thirds gone, he could still achieve more. And so, with a brilliant smile on his face, he grasped his staff with both hands and brought it down to earth, the mithril ringing clearly as the phoenixes began to fly together, all nine merging at a point in the sky, becoming a writhing mass of flame which rapidly took the form of a Grand Phoenix, a bird who possessed six great wings of flames, this time its flames a deep sapphire in color.
Its great six wings beat the air with the fury of a thousand suns, the heat as well as wind buffeting the audience, forcing Arxus to cast a defensive barrier around himself and the others. However, Ieros noticed none of that, only focused on the Grand Phoenix and his now low mana. His staff glowing even brighter, he then turned his eyes to the Grand Phoenix, their eyes meeting each other.
The two seemed to communicate with only their minds, the Grand Phoenix bowed its head as it hovered there, beating its wings one last time before it shot up high into the sky. Like a lance of fire, the great bird’s cry too pierced the air, a majestic call from a beast that was ascending to the Heavens. Then, high in the skies, with its bright light still able to be seen through the clouds, the Grand Phoenix exploded, first shining with an intensity which outshone even the sun itself, the force of which also driving all clouds away from the sky for a hundred-mile radius.
With only the blue sky to look at, now seeming quite dull compared to the brilliance of the Grand Phoenix, Ieros’s audience could only lower their gaze to him. Ieros, on his part, was a bit tired, this was the first time he had used so much mana in quite some time. He breathed heavily, leaning on his staff as he took a few moments to recover.
Suddenly, there was a rustle in the bushes and as everyone turned to face the source, they saw the Ninth Princess, her face flushed with excitement.
“Did you do that!? Do it again, I wanna see it properly this time!”
Ieros smiled tiredly, saying, “I’m afraid I can’t do it again today, I need to recover my mana.”
She pouted.
“Then you should’ve done it when I was here.”
He bowed his head.
“I am sorry your Highness but I was commanded to by my Princess.”
She insisted, “I am a Princess too!”
Seeing this and feeling that he had to salvage his family’s dignity, the King said, “Serina, please restrain yourself!”
She gave a start when she heard her father’s voice but soon held her head down dejectedly.
“I’m sorry.”
Seeing her like that, Ieros felt he needed to comfort her, saying, “Well, perhaps if I have some free time, I can create a small version just for you to see.”
She brightened up quickly.
“Okay! But you better promise!”
Ieros chuckled.
“I promise.”
The King added, “And you’d better get on with your lessons, otherwise I’ll give you so much to study that you won’t have free time.”
At that, Serina ran back through the bushes to find her teachers, suddenly filled with the urge to learn. The King smiled at that, turning to Ieros.
“You have my thanks, Sir Mage. My daughter has never been so enthusiastic about her studies before.”
Ieros bowed his head.
“I hardly did anything.”
The King nodded and then turned, saying, “As much as I’d like to chat, I have duties to attend to. I thank you for the most splendid display of magic I have ever seen, it makes me jealous of Athera to have such a talent.”
Ieros replied, “You honor me, your Majesty.”
Ieros then turned to Stellaria and bowed his head.
“May I be excused, your Highness? I must recover my mana.”
The Crown Prince suddenly interjected, “There is a chamber specifically designed to help with this, Arxus uses it quite often. The spell circle will harness the ambient mana so you can use it to replenish yourself. I’m sure Arxus would be pleased to lead you”
Ieros bowed his head in gratitude.
“You have my thanks, your Highness, and you, Arxus.”
Arxus only snorted, abruptly turning and heading off in a direction. Bidding farewell to the Princess, Ieros followed Arxus. On their way, there was a tense silence between the two, it was clear that Arxus was not particularly fond of him. But Ieros didn’t care enough to broach the topic and Arxus was too disdainful to initiate conversation. After all, Arxus had been taught all his life that only nobles could be mages and yet here was a flagrant disregard for the rules he thought to be absolute, and as such, he could only disbelieve it.
Either Ieros was not as powerful as he was said to be, that or Ieros was indeed of noble blood but he didn’t think Arxus good enough to tell. Either way, this was an affront that needed to be answered, and Arxus would get his answer soon.
However, he wasn’t keen on starting trouble for Ieros just yet, just now he had been told by the FIrst Queen not to take action, she wanted to see if she could gain Ieros’s support first and for that to be successful, Arxus had to restrain his hostility. Finally, the two were at the Regeneration Chamber, which was the name given to where mages could regenerate the mana in their blood far more quickly than they would naturally. As for how this was done, it was by the great magic circle which was inlaid in the floor of the chamber, intricate designs weaving across the floor, the language of spells written within whose purpose was to collect mana and purify it for the mage to absorb.
However, looking at it, Ieros saw plenty of flaws within the design, although he kept this quiet. He sensed that Arxus would likely not take kindly to it, so it would be better to simply use the knowledge for himself. After all, he was under no obligation to help the nation of Seris. And so, he decided to use the inefficient magic circle, thanking Arxus for leading him here and proceeding to stand at the circle’s center, activating it with ease. Seeing as he was no longer needed, Arxus took his leave, Ieros hardly paying attention as he turned all of his focus to regaining the mana he had lost.
And even with this, there was still an impressive disturbance in the ambient mana, as if a whirlpool had suddenly appeared, greedily devouring the ambient mana. Mages everywhere in a hundred-mile radius felt this, each of them worried. However, those that went to investigate saw that it was within the Royal Palace and not even they could barge in without an invitation. They could only wait outside and hope to satisfy their curiosity some other way.
As for Ieros, hardly even aware of the fact that he was disturbing so many people, just kept doing whatever it was that he was doing. After all, all those years spent in the deep forest, he never needed to control himself for the sake of others because there was quite literally no one to disturb out there. And since he never cast great spells in his time at the Academy, it was only here in Seris that others began to see what he was truly capable of, regardless of whatever conclusions they drew from it.