(Gavin)

So this old man really is Tristan Lightblade, author of the Grimoires and crafter of the Spatial Rings. He's not just an old man, he's a really old man.

"Come in," he gestures to us. "Before the seal undoes itself."

We enter his abode, and he waves his hand, the door closing and the magic restoring. He shuffles around for a moment, clearing two chairs of books, then gestures for us to sit.

"So you live," I say. "I would think someone without Access to the System would die long before they reached a thousand."

"My dwelling is enchanted," he says. "It's based off a more powerful version I found in a temple. Time moves at a much, much slower rate, here. I couldn't halt it, like it is in the temple, but I could slow it. The temple wasn't secure enough for me, and I couldn't grow my own food. I have golems tending to the gardens below us."

The ancient magician moves without issue, walking around the room and preparing tea for us to drink, serving it to us before sitting down on the other side of the table.

"The Grimoire," Max says. "That I found mentioned you had found a way to grant oneself Access. That's how I acquired it. How come you didn't do it to yourself?"

"He was looking," I say. "For a Natural Rift, before doing it."

"Yeah," Max nods. "The note said that, but wouldn't having Access allow him to increase his LIF, thus increasing his lifespan? He can't hunt for a Natural Rift while stuck in here."

"No, no, I can't," Tristan shakes his head. "I gave up on that centuries ago, after erasing the locations of most of my Grimoires from my memory."

"Why would you do that?" Max asks.

"In case someone found him, bound him, and tortured him for their locations," I state. "It's a rare chance, but it's possible."

"Indeed," the ancient magician nods. "It's also why I sealed myself away here. I have been improving my own magics and doing my best to figure out just what it is I am missing."

"To remove the Boundary of the Sages?" I ask.

"You know of it?" He asks.

"I hail from Jozan," I nod. "I also have a Quest for doing it. I also know what it is you are missing."

"You do?" He asks. "I have studied the Dekami Runic Language extensively, yet nothing I have found would allow one to-"

"Because you're looking at it from the wrong angle," I draw three runes in the air. "What are these?"

"Runes for fire," he answers. "Three different variations of it, though all three can be used for the same thing. However, the one in the middle is the one best for creating spells with fire-based magics in them, while the one on the left – my left – is best for enchantments."

"Wrong," I state. "And right. These aren't three Dekami Runes. They are runes for three separate languages. The one in the center belongs to the Dekami Runic Language. The one on my right – your left – belongs to the Kratus Runic Language, which works best for enchantments. The third and final rune belongs to the Dirsoor Runic Language, which works for manipulating magic and existence. There is at least one more Runic Language, though I have yet to decipher enough of it to gain the Skill for it.

"In addition," I say, the runes fading from the air. "Each rune has a slightly different purpose. It would take a decent grasp of each language in order to remove the Boundary of the Sages."

"And likely more power than I have left," the ancient magician sighs. "Especially if it requires mixing together multiple languages together in a proper way. I assume our magics are through faulty arrangements, then?"

"Indeed."

"I am long past the peak of my power," he says. "Though judging by your aura, Gavin, you are likely at it. And have reached the Second Tier of your Species."

"I have."

"And you believe you can remove the Boundary of Sages?"

"With enough runes mastered, I believe I will be capable of it."

"Then I will grant you my resources," he says. "Though don't expect too much help from up there," he points at his head. "For though I have aged slowly, my mind has holes in it, memories and knowledge long forgotten. I've likely forgotten more magics than you've ever known."

"Why did you hide away your Grimoires?" I ask.

"To protect them," he answers. "I wanted to write down all of my knowledge, to preserve it for the future. But then I realized, after some centuries, that everyone wished to hoard magic for themselves. Allowing such Grimoires to exist was dangerous, but I've spelled them to be nigh indestructible – destroying them was beyond my own power. And thus, I hid them away, in dangerous places where few could ever hope to find them. I only remembered the locations of two – one here, and one hidden with a certain being."

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"Oberon, the Fairy King," I state, and he nods. "I don't have his, though I have memorized it."

"You've memorized my Grimoires?" Tristan turns slack-jawed. "That shouldn't be possible, not with their enchantments. How high is your INT?"

"Over a thousand."

He stares at me in silence.

"You might want to close your mouth," I say. "Before you begin drooling."

"That… certainly explains it," he says. "It would take at least a thousand INT in order to be able to memorize even half of a single Grimoire, due to my enchantments."

Whatever.

"Why did you desire to earn Wizard before Access?" I ask. "And why not bestow Access upon yourself after giving up?"

"For the latter," he looks sheepish. "I've forgotten the method for doing so. It's been a thousand years, and was one of the things I never thought I'd forget, so I never wrote it down outside of the Grimoires."

Moron.

"And for the former?" I ask.

Tristan stands, walking over to a shelf and looking through it, before grabbing a tome and bringing it to the table, setting it down. He flips it open and looks through the pages, before finding what he's looking for.

"You are aware," he looks at me. "Of Wizard's passive bonus to learning and Leveling Skills yes?"

"Indeed."

"And how it grows even stronger each Tier?"

"Indeed."

"If you qualify for Wizard before gaining Access to the System," he says. "You acquire another bonus to Experience."

"There's no mention of that."

"It's secret," he smiles. "And is multiplicative to all other sources of Experience. You acquire three times the Experience. This includes for learning and Leveling Skills."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," he answers. "It multiplies with Class Bonuses, Blessings, Bloodlines – everything. And what's more, now that you're Tier II, it's tripled again."

"Meaning?"

"It triples the bonus every Tier of your Species," he answers. "Meaning that instead of being three times, it's nine times."

In other words, being at Tier III, I receive twenty-seven times the Experience for everything, including learning and Leveling Skills. On top of the bonuses I already receive. According to my Lie-Detection, he's wholly honest.

Now that I think about it, I did obtain Experience absurdly easy at Tier II. I just assumed it was because it's me.

"There are a variety of factors," Tristan continues, skimming the page of his tome. "That contribute to Experience, as well as learning and Leveling Skills. This includes the mindset of the Adventurer in question. The more they believe it's possible to do it faster or acquire it faster, the easier it will be for them. There's a limit on how easy it becomes, but someone who doesn't believe it's as hard as others do will earn it a lot easier. There's also devotion to acquiring it and the cause they're working towards, and their connection to someone who believes such a thing."

I've already figured those out, though not on the part about belief – the part about devotion to the cause.

"Understood," I say. "If I told you that I intend on creating a haven for people of all Species, to facilitate the spreading of knowledge and magic without hoarding it to ourselves, would you be interesting in becoming a part of it?"

A magician as old and powerful as Tristan Lightblade would be a valuable addition to the Order. He would help not only me with my own advancements, but the Order overall.

"My life is nearing its end," he shrugs. "I likely only have weeks left, outside of here."

"And if I bestow upon you," I say. "Access to the System, you would get a general feel for your lifespan, and become capable of increasing it. I'm sure you've performed the recipes before."

"Indeed," he nods. "They increase your natural lifespan without the System, and is partially how I managed to live for so long. However, I have long since run out of the ingredients necessary, and lack the recipes needed."

"We possess four of your Grimoires and knowledge of a fifth," I state. "I could give you the recipes, as well as the ingredients required. All I'd require is your loyalty to the Order."

"So once we join, we cannot leave?"

"You may," I say. "Though abusing my people, my powers, my knowledge, my magics, or coming after us after will result in my full fury. And that is not something you want. So if you do decide to leave us, do not ever betray us."

"Understood," he nods. "If your Order truly is as you say, then I believe it would be good to join. However, I do not see how you could protect it properly, especially if you remove the Boundary of Sages. People will seek to make your knowledge their own."

"Any moron," I say. "Who thinks they can steal from the Order will find themselves sorely mistaken. I will handle the defenses."

"Are you sure you are capable of it?"

"Do not mistake me for a lousy Tier I being," I growl low in my throat. "You may have been the greatest magician of your time, and more than a thousand years my senior, but I master any magic I put my mind to with ease, I make kings bend to my will, I instill fear in even the Fairy King, I discovered a Boost Resource none had before, I've learned magics none have before, and I have forged my own magics, earning the eye and acceptance of the first God of Magic himself, the Origin of Magic itself. Yes, I am sure I am capable of it."

Tristan Lightblade cringes in his seat, looking terrified. He should be. I may respect him as a magician, but I will not respect his doubt in me.

In the end, he still agrees to join us and come to my new home with Max and me. When I manipulate air to fly us, he asks why I do that instead of using simple flight magic.

"Because I can," I answer. "Do you wish for Access? You never did answer."

"I might as well," he answers. "Though I'm sure you want to perform the ritual required to grant to me as much as I wish to perform the one that grants it to me. I do remember that it isn't exactly pleasant, and-I have Access."

"Perks of being an Archmage," I inform him. "I can simply grant Access without issue. I can revoke it as well."

"You're a hostile one, aren't you?" The ancient magician asks.

"I've had a rough life," I state. "And your mind isn't exactly all there."

"So how are we getting there?" Max interrupts our discussion. "Didn't you say that the Boundary of Sages prevents travel between regions?"

"There are ways around that," Tristan and I say simultaneously.