With morning past, the city was now bustling with activity, people setting up their shops and calling out to passerbyers. But, not even these brazen shop keepers dared call out to Ieros, he who bore the King’s crest. The glittering emblem of gold combined with his appearance, a figure clad in silver and black with a faceless darkness beneath his hood, deemed him one that they were not worthy of addressing. He was a mage, one blessed by the gods with a divine gift, someone to be feared and revered.

Because of this, the crowded street emptied before him, with heads turning and whispers filling the air. After all, part of the reason why mages were held in such high regard was because of the fact that no one knew much of them. Mages were prideful and aloof, they hardly ever deigned to walk among the lesser humans as Ieros was doing, making for a very curious sight.

But, Ieros paid little attention to this, as he was still excited about the success he had with the Language of Creation, a slight hurry in his steps as he wanted to return to the stone at the Academy, so he could ask it what it was he had created. But as he walked, he felt a sudden jolt, someone had run into him. When he looked to the source of the jolt, he found a young boy who was now frozen under his faceless glare.

Figuring that he was at fault since he was the one walking with a preoccupied mind, he bowed his head, apologizing for bumping into the boy before he continued on his way. Then, forgetting all about him, he began to think again about the sensation he felt when he created something. It was something he couldn’t quite describe, something that just... felt right. He wanted to return quickly so he could experience the feeling again. He unconsciously began to walk faster, still oblivious to the stares that followed him.

And as he went to return to the Academy, so was the Princess returning to her chambers, thinking about Ieros. Her first impression of him was a youth who was naive, foolish and overall unprepared for the job that now weighed on his shoulders. The only redeeming quality he had was his talent as a mage, which she believed merely consisted of him having an insanely large pool of mana. Then, reminded of his demonstration, she snorted. He did not even know what it was that he created, was a mage such as he worthy to protect her?

Noticing this, her Knight asked, “What is wrong m’lady?”

Stellaria sighed.

“It’s just that boy, I really don’t understand what my father sees in him.”

Alwine thought a moment, finally saying, “Who knows m’ lady, I’m only a Knight.”

Stellaria chuckled.

“I suppose you’re right. But I don’t have to worry, Iveris will take care of him.”

Alwine only said.

“Do not underestimate him m’ lady. That boy, back when he was the Academy’s pride and joy, he was unmatched in any field. He was so powerful that he was forbidden from using high tiered magic because it was unfair to his peers, and even then, he still surpassed them all.”

The Princess waved her hand dismissively.

“Don’t worry Alwine, that was three years ago. During that time, he was running away from the Academy’s expectations while Iveris was training himself to be stronger. He will beat him.”

Alwine bowed her head.

“As you say, m’lady.”

Then a voice called out to her.

“Heeeey! Wait up!”

Stellaria smiled as she turned, seeing Iveris jog up to meet her.

“Oh Iveris, where were you? I was just meeting my father about the Court Mage thing.”

Iveris said, “Oh that? I just popped in to ask where you were. So how’d it go?”

Stellaria replied, “Luckily, my father agreed to have a match to decide who will become my Court Mage.”

Iveris smiled.

“That’s great, you and I can have more excuses to be around one another!”

She smiled back.

“Oh stop it, it’s a job, take it seriously.”

Iveris nodded.

“Sure, sure. Anyways, I think I met that dude I’m going to fight, the gloomy one with the black and silver robes.”

She nodded.

“Yup, that’s him. So, what do you think of him?”

Iveris shrugged.

“I don’t know, he was different than what I expected. I thought the King would bring in some sort of secret talent but him, I hardly felt any mana from him at all.”

At this, Alwine interjected.

“He used up all of his mana during some sort of spell.”

Stellaria added, “But all he made was some sort of weird glowing marble and apparently, that took up all of his mana. But I must admit, the amount of mana he used was insane, I think, no, he definitely has way more mana than you.”

He lifted an eyebrow.

“Really? Now I’m a bit more interested. What was his name again?”

Stellaria said, “Ieros, supposedly, he was really famous back in the day.”

She waited for Iveris to talk but when she turned to look at him, his face was serious. He looked at her dead in the eyes and asked,

“Was it really Ieros, was it him?”

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She nodded, a bit worried.

“Yeah, what’s wrong?”

Iveris grinned.

“Nothing, absolutely nothing.”

He began to chuckle, turning to look out of a nearby window, to the Academy.

“Finally.”

Entirely ignorant to all of this, Ieros had finally returned to the Academy with little trouble, sitting himself down by the ancient stone again.

Ah... the boy returns...

Ieros nodded.

With more questions to ask.

The shadow chuckled.

Then ask...

Ieros got straight to the point, pulling out the Absolute Flame.

Do you know what this is?

The shadow mused for a few moments.

Oh... an Absolute...

Ieros frowned.

An absolute?

If the shadow could, it would’ve nodded.

Indeed... an object that is... the Essence...

Essence? Ieros pressed.

The shadow answered, The Essence of an element... is the element’s true form... With the Essence... one becomes the master...

Ieros furrowed his eyebrows.

So... if I had an Absolute, I can master that element?

The shadow chuckled.

Not... quite. With the Essence of Fire... all lesser flames are yours... to control.

However, Ieros was still unable to fully understand.

But how?

The shadow sighed.

Because... that is... what the Creator wills. For an Absolute is... absolute... the pinnacle of all that it... represents. Would the pinnacle... not command?

Ieros then looked at the glowing bead in his hands.

This... this is the pinnacle of all flames?

The shadow said, It is... the Creator’s vision... of what a flame should be...

“What a flame should be...”

Ieros was unaware that he had mumbled this aloud while staring at the Absolute Flame, finally asking the shadow,

How do I use it?

The shadow replied, That I am... unaware...

A bit disappointed, Ieros bowed his head in thanks to the shadow.

Thank you for teaching me once more.

The shadow replied, Do no... forget...

Ieros nodded, taking his leave so that he could attempt to further his understanding of the Absolute Flame. But, he did not know where to begin, for this thing was entirely alien to him. Just how was he supposed to use this? Ieros pondered this question as he stood up.

Suddenly, a voice announced, startling him, “Court Mage Ieros! I have been commanded to escort you to your tower! Please follow me!”

Directing his attention at this young apprentice that was shouting so loudly, Ieros was quite confused, asking, “What?”

The young boy repeated, “I have been commanded to escort you to your tower! Please follow me!”

Unsure of what else to do, and still slightly confused, Ieros followed the apprentice mage, although now he was regretting the fact he hadn’t told the boy to quiet down as it had caught the attention of some others.

As people began to stare, Ieros said, “Please don’t yell so loudly, you’re attracting attention.”

The boy’s eyes widened and he bowed deeply, whispering loudly, “I’m sorry sir, tell me my punishment!”

Ieros shook his head, saying, “No no, it’s fine. Just try not to be so loud.”

The boy almost shouted again but he stopped himself, only bobbing his head.

They stood there awkwardly for a few moments until Ieros asked, “Um, where would my tower be?”

The boy bowed deeply again, about to apologize but once more Ieros stopped him, saying, “It’s fine, just lead me there.”

The apprentice mage nodded and turned, walking stiffly as he led Ieros to the Conperium, the inner circle of the Academy. It was a place where only the elite of the elite are allowed entry, although it was a place that had always opened its doors to Ieros. This was the second place he spent most of his time in, mostly forced by his teacher to listen in on the lessons that were being taught for the day to increase his overall understanding of magic. Even if he wasn’t learning that particular spell or aspect of magic, just listening in on the explanation would help him connect the dots in other details of magic that were previously alien to him, sort of like stumbling upon the answer to a question you weren’t working to solve.

This was most similar to how he ended up learning from the shadows, he was just a sponge that absorbed information and sometimes that information just clicked in his mind. But other than that, he wasn’t too familiar with the Conperium’s inhabitants, he knew some of the teachers’ names and could recognize students by face but he never really spoke with any of them.

But now, seeing as he’d be living here now, he was a bit unsure of what to do now. Should he speak to them, should he get to know them better, or should he just leave them alone as he had always done? It was something that he pondered quite seriously, as he did not easily open up to others. Even before he came here to the Capital and was surrounded by people who just wanted to use him, he was never the type to go make friends. He only reacted when they came to him and continued to talk to them if they had earned his approval.

Such people were Kyle and Aria, although they had stopped talking for a long time. He wondered if he could still call them his friends, seeing that it was partly his fault for always being so busy, never making time for them. That had always made him feel a bit guilty, that it was he who pushed them away. That’s why he never really tried to close the distance when he did have the time because he wasn’t sure how they’d react to him, the one who pushed them away. As he thought about this, he sighed, causing the apprentice mage in front of him to stop, suddenly worried that he had done something wrong. Ieros nearly bumped into him before he realized that the apprentice had stopped, blinking in surprise as he directed his attention to the young boy whose eyes looked up in fear.

Ieros said, “Is something wrong?”

The boy was unsure of how to respond to that, he had stopped because he thought that Ieros thought something was wrong, but it seemed like Ieros wasn’t really worried at all. Stressed, the boy began to stammer, although he was unable to speak. Seeing the boy in this state, Ieros was unsure of what to do other than hesitantly pat him on the shoulders.

“Hey uh, it’s fine, you did nothing wrong.”

The boy tried to speak again but was unable to, his head held down in shame as his eyes began to tear up. Looking at him, Ieros was suddenly reminded of his little sister and on impulse, he reached out a hand and ruffled the boy’s hair, bending his knees slightly so he could look at the boy face to face.

“Hey, it’s fine. Just calm down, take a few deep breaths.”

And this time, when the boy looked up, he saw Ieros’s smiling face, which surprised him so much that his stress was forgotten, the boy just staring.

He blurted, “You-you have a face!”

Ieros blinked and then said, “Well, I think everyone has a face.”

He stood up again and his face was once more hidden by darkness, but that no longer scared the boy. He just continued to stare in wonder at Ieros, until Ieros waved a hand in front of him. The boy started turning around so abruptly that Ieros took a step back in surprise. With his anxiety forgotten, the boy led Ieros to his tower, bowing deeply as Ieros stood before the door. Thinking that he should do something to repay the boy for his efforts, Ieros turned to do so but found that the boy was gone, rushing off into the distance. Ieros almost called out to him but stopped at the last second, unable to summon the courage to do so. He sighed, snorting at his cowardice before he returned his attention to the tower, studying the great doors which blocked his entry.