《Homunculi》


 Book one - Chapter one (Edited)

    A Scholar sat at his computer desk, he put up a camera and began to record a video log.


    ¡°M-my name is Dr. Alric Baggle. I was born in the city of Meltova, Capital of Honnenburg. When I was eighteen, I was sent to the most renowned school for alchemy known as Cromstone. I was a model student, but I hungered for more than the knowledge held within its walls. *gulp* Throughout my life, It has become my sole desire to conquer death, to create life... T-to play God if you want to say it that way.¡±


    He held up a luminescent stone, it had sigils engraved throughout it and seemed to pulsate with every moment.


    ¡°I-I believe I have found what is needed for me to be able to walk amongst those in the divine realms.¡± He grasped the stone with his fingers and squeezed hard ¡°With this, I will become a god. I will travel the cosmos learning the knowledge that each world has to offer, and then¡­ And then I will only be one.¡±


    Standing from the desk, Dr.Baggle ended his transmission. He moved towards the graf generator and placed the stone within it. The generator, like everything else in the lab, was quite dirty, the Doctor hadn¡¯t stepped out in a while either, with his ribs showing his continual self-starvation and the bags under his eyes being huge, there was a cooking pot somewhere in the distance but that too hadn¡¯t been washed in what looked like a week.


    The Doctor looked towards the stasis tank, which held a stark naked boy. The boy looked to be about eighteen years of age. Sidecut hair that was as dark as night, he held his eyes tightly shut within the stasis gel, the doctor touched the glass of the tank and put his face as close as he could to the boy.


    The boy¡¯s well-built body had wires and tubes connected to it, the doctor had put them there for the direct downloading of information and the transference of power between him and the stone.


    The Doctor began to download his world database, he began with linguistics, science and finally combat having deemed all else unnecessary riff-raff with little substance. He stared directly at the screen with his tired eyes, each file having to do at least two rounds to be turned into the bio-downloadable information he needed. After a few hours, the installations were complete and he prepared for the transference.


    For the first time in a long, long while the doctor smiled¡­ in fact, it was more like a deep grin filled with a burning desire.


    ¡°It is time that we become one¡­¡± He touched the tank¡¯s glass one last time and then stood a few steps away from it, on a specially made receiver platform.


    ¡°System, Initiate transference, begin extraction and exportation of consciousness.¡±


    AFFIRMATIVE, INITIATING PROTOCOL: ¡°AMBROSE¡±.


    As the system began to work, A hideous red glow came from the tesla coils which began to arc electric waves through the stone and into the stasis tank.


    It started spinning and rumbling with a deep sound of displeasure like the machine itself disapproved of what was occurring, the tubes began to glow as the energy made to pass the doctor¡¯s consciousness into the body let itself out. The doctor himself put a ring around his head, the ingenious invention which would transport his mind outside of his tired body.


    Everything was going well¡­ until it wasn¡¯t, one of the cables that connected the generators and the tube separated, the copper not being able to conduct the ungodly amount of electricity that was passing through it. Arcs of pure power came from the generators. ruining the coils.


    ¡°WHAT, NO. NOT NOW, NOT RIGHT NOW.¡± He yelled as he tried to step off and turn the entire power source down but the receiver platform had other plans.


    One of the many arcs came striking into the doctor''s chest, seemingly pulling the very essence of his soul from it, redirecting it to the core.


    The sigils on the stone began to activate, cracks of bright light began to seep through as the doctor''s soul entered the core. Finally, the stone gave out and disintegrated, fusing into one final surge of electricity.


    The flood of electricity reverberated through the tank, feeding its way up the pure silver tubes towards the boy''s body. Lines of power could be seen etching into the boy¡¯s body and face until it began to form a core at the center of his chest.


    The core was riddled with sigils, much like the stone that was once held within the generator. They began to dance across his body as they moved from the core.


    The core at the center of the boy''s chest began to pulsate, faster and faster. Waves of power battered the laboratory. Disintegrating everything they touched until finally the core became so bright it seemed as if it couldn¡¯t withstand it¡¯s own power any longer.


    At that moment the boy''s eyes opened, beautiful golden irises which had the exact same sigils as the stone and core, they seemed to sparkle within the arcs of electricity.


    Finally, with a pop. The boy was no longer there in the tank, nothing survived within the lab, even the remains of the doctor who took a chance at godhood were no longer there. In their place was a pile of ash roughly in the shape of a human body.


    The boy stood there floating within what seemed to be space, he could see the endless stars and worlds unknown, a plethora of lights, he knew what they were called, but not why, he knew nothing yet he understood it all, on his unmoving face something changed, he found no reason to be, for he knew not who he was, an unexpected tear rolled across his cheek and then he waited, alone with his thoughts, he could¡¯ve been there for mere minutes, maybe hours, even eons didn¡¯t sound that farfetched, he¡¯d thought of nothing, seeing only meteorites go around and nothing to truly look forward to, but one thing had changed, within all this time, he¡¯d gotten an idea, a single thought which would shape him in ways unknown, a deep, deep hunger for knowledge, to know more, to understand more, to become more.


    Out of the blue, he heard a strange voice within his head, it sounded¡­ artificial?


    SCANNING COMPLETE: COMPATIBLE WORLD LOCATED, MIGRATION IN T-3, 2, 1...If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Once more he disappeared, reappearing on his feet on the outskirts of a moderately large city. The shift was so unexpected it physically hurt, he had to blink a few times before he understood what he was seeing, it was¡­ grass, and trees, as he turned around though he could see an enormous tower piercing the clouds, it was so gigantic he almost missed the whole city that stretched under it. Looking closer, there were ramparts surrounding this city at the top of which he could see what looked to be cannons.


    [Ramparts? Cannons? How do I know all this? Why can¡¯t I remember anything?!]


    INITIATING INTEGRATION WITH THIS WORLD¡¯S DYNAMICS¡­


    ...


    ...INTEGRATION COMPLETE


    WELCOME TO ARGENTIA, Ambrose.


    ¡°This, what is this voice? Ambrose?... is that my name?¡±


    He stood there, stark naked, in deep thought. He thought of where he¡¯d been until now, the space, the darkness¡­ the beautiful, beautiful stars, how long he had been in that space. Why couldn''t he remember anything before those stars?


    ¡°My name... is Ambrose.¡± He said aloud as he stretched his hand out in front of him the motion feeling unnatural, he began stretching his body, jumping up and down, twisting left and right, and falling over more than a few times, not being used to his own body was quite annoying. After several moments of testing his ability to move, he concluded a few things;


    First, he was very physically fit and able to stretch his body very easily.


    Second, he would need a bit to be used to his body since not being able to walk until now had impacted his ability to use his body severely.


    [I wonder what else awaits me here] He continued, his face was completely unmoving, his thought process trying to reach any meaning in anything that had happened until now, after a while of thinking he concluded, with a fist in his palm.


    [I need more information¡­ and possibly a large amount of soup]


    Yes, information would come in handy in every way and soup was one of the most low-calorie high-protein and filling food that was easy to find, it all made perfect sense! Or at least in Ambrose¡¯ mind it did.


    He started striding towards the city and noticed a row of people in front of the main gate. He kept walking towards the main road leading into the city, people would stare at him in shock as he walked around in nothing but his birthday suit, well, technically, it was his birthday, or was it?


    As he approached the row he was stopped by two men with spears.


    ¡°HALT, YOU ARE UNDER ARREST FOR PUBLIC INDECENCY.¡± The man on the right yelled, they were both covered in chainmail with a cloak over them and had open-face helmets on, clearly some type of guard.


    Ambrose didn¡¯t miss a beat before answering ¡°I was brought here like this, I had no other choice but to approach the city or I would have either frozen to death or been hunted down by wild animals.¡± He understood that them believing him would be quite hard if he didn¡¯t have a response for everything they threw at him, and they would definitely be suspicious of him for a while, but he still didn¡¯t know why.


    The guards paused and looked him over, their expressions strict. They glanced at one another before one of them nodded.


    ¡°You will still need to come with us to the guard station, we cannot have someone naked and without an I.D. Also we need more information on how you were ¡®brought¡¯ here.¡±


    The left guard unclasped his cloak and draped it over Ambrose¡¯ shoulders. They dragged him to the front of the line and Ambrose got a close look at the ground and the ramparts, the dirt road in front of the city became cobble around halfway through the gates and the walls that separated the city from the rest of the world were quite thick, made fully out of rows of large stones cut into rectangles. Right behind the wall, there was a two-story building towards which he was being led. It seemed that this was the guardhouse.


    It wasn¡¯t that impressive, to be honest, it was made out of smaller stones and it connected to the wall in a way that made it easy to either hop onto the wall quickly or run to the front gates, the whole building had very few windows and a simple bell in front of it seemed to be the only way of alerting the guards.


    They pulled him in and made him sit in a chair in one of the rooms, it was a very bland room, there were a few chairs and a few candles on the stone walls.


    The Guards whispered to each other for a bit and one of them left the room, the guard that had given him the cloak sat in front of him and started asking a few questions.


    ¡°Now kid, don¡¯t worry about anything, I¡¯m just going to ask you a few questions and if you answer truthfully we won¡¯t have a problem, let¡¯s start with something easy, what¡¯s your name¡±


    The Guard was an older man, maybe close to his sixties, but he seemed way too fit physically for that, he had grey hair and a scar next to his lips which cut a bit from his beard, overall he seemed quite experienced, or at least like he knew what he was doing.


    Ambrose took a deep breath before answering.¡°Ambrose.¡±


    ¡°Good, Ambrose, now could you tell me why were you naked in the middle of the goddamn road?¡±


    ¡°I was brought here like this.¡± He repeated himself, there wasn¡¯t much to tell him if he kept asking the same questions, and he still didn¡¯t understand why him not having any clothes bothered the man so much.


    The guard rubbed his nose bridge and then kept asking. ¡°What do you mean you were ¡®brought¡¯ here, who brought you?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡±


    That made him raise his eyebrows ¡°you don¡¯t know? What do you mean you don¡¯t know?¡±


    Ambrose tried explaining again ¡°I have no memory of being brought here, all I know is that I woke up here and my only choice was either the city or the woods and I didn¡¯t want to take my chances.¡±


    At this moment the other guard stepped in with a pair of clothes and a small white stone on top of them, the guard that was questioning Ambrose up until now took the stone and threw it to Ambrose, he barely caught it and kept looking at it, it was just a rigid piece of rock.


    The guard looked at him sternly again. ¡°Now, son, what¡¯s your name?¡±


    Ambrose simply stared at him for a minute, was he playing dumb or was he actually dumb? He answered to avoid any further problems. ¡°Ambrose.¡±


    The guard kept staring at the rock as he questioned him again ¡°Alright then, Ambrose, what were you doing in the middle of the road naked?¡±


    Now Ambrose was completely confused, what was happening? Why was he repeating questions? he kept playing with the rock in his hands and answered ¡°I don¡¯t know¡±


    Both guards stared at the rock for an uncomfortable amount of time before whispering to one another, they talked for another minute and the guard with the set of clothes dropped them on his arms and took the rock from him, the other Guard stared into Ambrose¡¯ eyes and said.


    ¡°Now look here, son, I believe you but this is a very strange occasion, I will need you to wear those clothes and then follow me to Wolfsong University, maybe we¡¯ll find a solution for ya then.¡±


    Ambrose slowly stood up and started clothing himself ¡°I¡¯m sorry but what was your name?¡± he asked the guard.


    The guard looked at him for a second and then answered. ¡°The name¡¯s Roderick, the other guy¡¯s Cook, nice to meet you son.¡±


    Roderick took out a piece of parchment and began to scribble on it, he started walking out of the door and motioned for Ambrose to follow. He handed him the parchment with a bit of writing on it.


    ¡°Here, this is your temporary registration, do not lose it. I will take you to the Wolfsong; they take care of all the outsider registrations.¡±


    Taking the piece of parchment from Roderick, Ambrose thanked him and followed him out.


    Leaving the guardhouse. he took his first steps into this new world, he took a deep breath of fresh air and asked Roderick one last thing.


    "Do you have some soup laying around or...?"

 Book one - Chapter two (Edited)

    Roderick kept staring at Ambrose, looking fascinated, as they sat at the Argentia hot pot stand. Downing large quantities of hot-hog broth. He wondered how a boy of this size could eat so much.


    ¡°Slow down boy, it''s not going anywhere. Hey Sammy, can you get us two mugs of brambleberry stout.¡± He called towards the lady working the stall.


    She was a nice girl, very plain to look at, easy on the eyes. She had a white bandana tying her hair back as she filled two mugs for the two of them. Sliding the mugs to each of them she held her hand out to Roderick.


    ¡°That''ll be ten rooks for the drinks, another thirty for all the hot-hog yer pal over here ate.¡± She motioned for the guard to pay up.


    He reached for his coin purse, pulled out fourty silver coins, and slid them across the stand towards Sammy. Then he leaned back and breathed out.


    ¡°Hey kid, I expect reimbursement.¡± Roderick said half-jokingly ¡°Maybe I should have you work it off in the guard unit, you seem fit enough to join.¡±


    ¡°I will pass on that, there is far too much I would like to do and learn to be stuck in one place.¡± Ambrose said as he rubbed his now full belly


    ¡°Agh screw it, just come find me, when you have some coin and treat me to lunch. With that we¡¯ll call it even.¡± he said.


    After a bit of banter, Roderick motioned for them to make their way towards the rest of the city.


    ¡°Let''s get going before it gets dark. I still need to do my final perimeter checks.¡± he stated then downed his mug of brambleberry stout.


    Ambrose stood and thanked the patroness one last time before turning and following Rodick in the direction of what he believed to be Wolfsong, the guard led him through the cobbled streets for what felt like twenty to thirty minutes before they finally arrived at a very large building. The building was connected to the base of the massive tower and even though the building may have been large, the tower still seemed thick enough to take a full day of walking just to get around it.


    The entrance passage to the building was a heavy lattice grilled gate made of what would appear to be either iron or steel.


    Above the gate was an insignia, a wolf''s paw sitting atop a musical note. Once the two of them passed through the gate Ambrose was able to see the building clearly, it had two arched doors dyed in crimson, walls of white stone which contrasted it''s dark black shingles that draped its rooftops, at the very top of the building stood a bell tower.


    Roderick pointed towards the bell tower ¡°See that bell on the top? Every time that chimes it signifies a new magi has graduated from Wolfsong University and can now climb the tower.¡±


    ¡°And why would anyone want to climb the tower?¡± Ambrose tried to look at the top of the tower as he asked Roderick.


    Roderick stared at him, looking dumbfounded for a second and then spoke ¡°You don''t even¡­ Gods above, help me.¡± he rubbed the bridge of his nose in annoyance. ¡°... Alright, alright, it doesn¡¯t matter, we can fix this.¡±


    [Very good! My disguise as a bumbling dumbass who doesn¡¯t know anything is perfect, now I simply need to learn something before I get myself killed] Ambrose thought, still rubbing his stomach... like a bumbling dumbass.


    Roderick started explaining ¡°The tower is interconnected, throughout the multiverse, it is full of resources, materials, people, and machines that we don¡¯t even know about!.¡± Roderick¡¯s eyes seemed to shine while talking, like a small kid with big dreams. ¡°Every planet across the multiverse has one entry point which allows entry into the tower, this is ours. Magi, however, are the only ones good enough to climb the tower, the higher you go the more condensed the mana is and the more resources you¡¯ll find, multiple worlds have their entire economies almost fully based on the tower!¡± he finished his explanation there as he pulled open the crimson doors.


    ¡°This is as far as I take you, boy, head over to the front desk over there they should be able to get you registered, just show them the temp I gave you earlier.¡± and the Roderick started whispering ¡°When the woman asks you something just say my name alright? She¡¯ll take you to the ugliest old man you have ever seen, and he¡¯ll be able to help you, see ya kid, don¡¯t get into trouble¡± With that Rodick pulled out his hand towards Ambrose.


    Ambrose shook it ¡°Thank you for your help, Roderick, I wish you all the best.¡±


    He watched as the large guard left the building, before turning around and heading for the front desk.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    The whole place felt very rustic and gave that interesting feeling of adventure, the heavy smell of sweat, the pillars of wood, the board of requests, and even the scratches on the walls served to give the place a personality, people had been here, and people will continue being here for quite a while.


    Ambrose stopped in front of the desk and spoke. ¡°I am here to register. I have a temporary permit, I¡¯d like to know more.¡± He said as he placed the parchment on the desk.


    The lady at the front was dressed in a black dress with a frilly white blouse, she had long red hair which danced as she turned to face him.


    ¡°What do we have here?¡± She asked coyly ¡°Let''s take a look at this.¡± as she picked up the parchment and read a few lines in she began to laugh loudly.


    Ambrose cocked his head a bit in wonder ¡±I¡¯m sorry?¡± he asked


    ¡°It says here you were running around the streets naked, you some kind of perv?¡± she said as he filed the parchment away.


    [... I¡­ I am going to kill that old bastard.]


    ¡°No, It¡¯s complicated, Roderick sent me.¡± He said matter of factly


    ¡°Rodie sent you?¡± She asked and took another look at the parchment. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be damned, he did!¡± she looked kind of shocked to see that.


    ¡°He said something about ¡®meeting the ugliest man I¡¯d ever seen¡¯ or something like that¡± the second he ended his sentence the girl started laughing again, louder than last time, so loud that Ambrose feared she might¡¯ve alerted someone from outside.


    ¡°Oh, Gods above¡± She said as she wiped the tears from her eyes ¡°I know what he¡¯s talking about hun, please follow me¡± She walked around the desk and ushered him out of the main foyer and into a hall to the side ¡°I¡¯m Sofie by the way¡±


    ¡°Ambrose.¡± He responded.


    As they walked down the hallway Sofie kept talking ¡°You know? We don¡¯t get many busy days, what with all the Magi running around the tower and grabbing everything they can hold, we¡¯re frequently sent materials and payments yes, but people? Rarely.¡± She seemed a bit frustrated by this.


    ¡°Maybe you should serve more soup¡±.


    ¡°Soup? What do you mean¡±


    ¡°People like soup, you sell soup, you get people¡± Ambrose responded.


    ¡°... I think I understand what you mean, you¡¯re talking about using this place as a bar too right? That doesn¡¯t seem like a bad idea at all¡± Sofie said as she stopped in front of a door, she knocked a few times before opening the door and walking inside, pulling Ambrose along.


    Inside the room, it was very plain, the walls were covered with wood, there was a large desk, a few chairs and the ugliest man Ambrose had seen up until that point. He had scars all but covering his disinterested face and even more probably hidden under all the thick clothes he was wearing, he was enormous too, the fact that his chair hadn¡¯t shattered three times over amazed Ambrose.


    The man looked up from the papers on his desk and saw Ambrose and Sofie at the door ¡°Sofie¡± he said, his voice so deep and guttural it would¡¯ve passed for a growl. ¡°What have you done now?¡±


    ¡°Oh come on, just because I come here doesn¡¯t always mean I¡¯ve done something bad now does it?¡±


    ¡°Usually? Yes¡± He slowly turned his steely eyes towards Ambrose ¡°And you, son, who might you be?¡±


    Ambrose stood there for a second, simply staring into the man¡¯s eyes ¡°Ambrose, I was sent here by Roderick to meet¡­ You¡­¡± Sofie chuckled a bit on that one.


    The second Roderick¡¯s name was mentioned, the old man¡¯s eyes went wide, he stood up from the chair and Ambrose would¡¯ve sworn he heard engines revving up. ¡°Cocksucking, motherfucker, can¡¯t even wipe his ass right and sends his dipshits to me? I¡¯ll rip his fucking throat out¡­¡± The rest of what he said only registered as animalistic growls on Ambrose¡¯ ears but he thought that he got the gist of it.


    After a while of continued swearing and saying things that would give a war veteran nightmares for a few days it seemed that he had calmed down a bit and he sat back down on his chair with a thunk, now Ambrose fully believed that chair to be absolutely unbreakable.


    The old man pinched the bridge of his nose much like the person he was cursing out just a moment ago ¡°Alright then, let¡¯s get this over with. What do you need kid, I don¡¯t have much time to spend on Roderick¡¯s milkers.¡± He motioned to the chair in front of his desk.


    Ambrose sat down and explained the gist of his ¡®story¡¯, the old man remained unresponsive throughout the speech.


    Once Ambrose finished the old man looked up to his face once again and sighed, ¡°Look here son, I can see why old Rod sent you to me but all I can do with this permit, is give you a registration and send you off...¡±As he finished, he sat there in silence gauging the boy''s reaction.


    [Is he trying to intimidate me?.]


    Ambrose stared into the old man''s cold piercing eyes, feeling as though eternity was slipping by as he sat there. Finally breaking the silence the old man spoke¡­


    ¡°However¡­ There is a way for you to join us¡± he said, leaning back on invinci-chair, ¡°You will need to be put through a test, if you pass we¡¯ll enroll you into our university. Once you graduate you will be able to climb the tower in search of resources. if you fail... well¡­ you can always open up a street stall.¡± the man laughed, it was freaky how much the room reverberated the laughter, but Sofie looked like she didn¡¯t mind.


    ¡°It is up to you. The test is quite dangerous, as we need to see if you have what it takes to make it in the University let alone the tower. What do you say, Are you up to the challenge?¡±


    [Danger? I mean how dangerous can it actually be? He said I''d be able to open a street stall if I fail, at least the risk of dying seems low.]


    ¡°I''ll be needing more information, but I¡¯d say that I¡¯ll take it.¡±


    ¡°Great! Sofie fill him in on the details, show him the way to exam room seven¡±


    ¡°B-but sir, Rome is the examiner of seven¡­ Don''t you think he should be going to a different room?¡± Sofie cautioned.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, I gave him a warning to stop dismembering recruits.¡± He waved her off.


    [do what now to recruits? Well Fuck...]

 Book one - Chapter three (Edited)

    Sofie slowly led Ambrose out of the office as the old man got back to his paperwork, she led him down another hallway, this hallway opened up into a large circular room which had numbers on each of the doors, he noted that they went up to twenty.


    Standing in front of door seven, Sofie began to turn the door. ¡°Right through this door!¡± Sofie turned the handle to a rather large iron door.


    As Sofie opened the door he could almost feel, no, he could see the pressure coming from within the room, his golden irises began to glow with excitement as he stepped through the door and into the room, Sofie whispered to him.


    ¡°Good luck, try not to die cutie¡± Winking at him as she shut the door behind him.


    Looking around the room, the walls were covered in all manner of weaponry. In the center of the room, a man was kneeling with a rather large sword laid out in front of him.


    He wore a loose open robe? the crest of Wolfsong stitched into it, the robe was untied, exposing his muscular chest, his black hair tied back into a bun. The man''s eyes were held shut as if he was in deep meditation.


    [Why does he have a sword? What kind of test is this?]


    Ambrose was looking around the room taking in all of the weapons when he heard the man speak.


    ¡°You think yourself worthy of becoming one of us? To hunt the tower?¡± The man asked as he opened his crimson eyes.


    [ Hunt the tower? What?]


    ¡°I wish to enter the tower, yes, I wish to learn all it has to offer.¡± Ambrose replied.


    ¡°If that is what you wish, pick up a weapon. Prove to me you have the power to uncover the truth of that hell.¡± he said. picking up his great sword, he tied the scabbard to the hilt as he leveled the weapon and assumed a stance.


    [That weapon is so big, it must be slow, or at least slower than normal. The only weapons here that outrange, or match it in length are halberds, claymores, and the same weapon. However I can¡¯t move as easily with those, The strength and mass difference is clear, I need something to get over his edge, I only have a few choices then.]


    Ambrose walked over to a wall and picked up a short sword and strapped a buckler to his arm.


    ¡°Hmph, a short sword? Not very bright.¡± The man said, stomping on the floor.


    His stomp on the floor caused a small indent and sent shockwaves out towards Ambrose. The waves crashed into him, knocking him into the wall and onto the floor.


    Ambrose used the tip of his sword as leverage to help himself back up off the ground as his heart began to beat faster and faster.


    Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum, Like the drums of war his heart began a rhythmic beat, veins began to snake their way up to his chest towards his neck, his eyes glowed fiercely. He stood.


    ¡°Good, Boy! You need to stand up when you¡¯re thrown, now, show me! STRIKE!¡± the man shouted the last word as if it were an attack in and of itself


    [I need to be fast. I need, Speed, his left is a bit more open, he¡¯s right handed]


    As these thoughts passed his mind his chest began to rise and fall as he took in deep gulps of air, he felt powerful, he felt as if he could outrun light itself.


    Leveling his blade, he kicked off the ground shooting forward like a bolt of lightning. He feinted a low sweeping kick and leaped into the air somersaulting over the man¡¯s great sword.


    With a single arm strike, he crashed down upon the man forcing him to shield the attack. The man, however, used the hilt of his long weapon to absorb the initial contact, with its momentum he brought the sheathed blade into a sweeping motion slamming into the still airborne Ambrose.


    As the weapon struck he could feel his ribs crack and his organs shift. Then the second blow happened. His body slammed into the floor, crushing him, shattering the floorboards.


    As splinters of wood and blood flew through the air the man issued a single word before Ambrose lost consciousness.


    ¡°Pass.¡±


    Ambrose¡¯ consciousness slowly began to return, he watched as Sofie yelled at the man who he had just been fighting.


    ¡°You''ve been told to hold back on new recruits! If the Dean wasn''t here he may have been dead, we are never going to find suitable magi to join us if you keep crippling them you dumbass!¡± She said furiously.


    [What is she saying, I can''t make out anything, my ears are ringing like crazy! I must have a concussion.]Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°Sofie, cut it out, he didn''t die now, did he? Look he is already waking up! He''s a tough son of a bitch that''s for sure.¡± He said as he smiled slightly guiltily and scratched his head.


    ¡°Ambrose, can you hear me? How are you feeling? Where does it hurt? Rome, don''t just stand there get him some water!¡± She called out to the man.


    [What the fuck is she saying. Shit I''m tired, No I have to stay awake.]


    Rome returned with some freshwater and what looked like a glowing green pill, he motioned for him to drink it.


    [I am extremely thirsty and that is most likely medication.]


    Slightly nodding his head, Sofie grabbed both water and pill from Rome and gently placed the pill in Ambrose¡¯ mouth and brought the cup of water to his mouth. Pulling the water into his mouth he drank feverishly.


    [The ringing in my ears is subsiding, I can hear them, however, my ribs are still fucking throbbing.]


    Once again Sofie asked him how he was to which he simply nodded and began to speak.


    ¡°Living. Painfully, but living. I think I heard you say I passed, but how could I pass though I lost?.¡± He asked, looking towards the man called Rome.


    ¡°You passed kid, you almost took my head clean off my shoulders. If I hadn¡¯t moved fast enough I¡¯d been dead with nothing but a bloody stump where my head would be. Which resulted in you passing the entry exam. Congrats!¡± He said with a goofy smile on his face, quite different from the stern look he had when he was kicking Ambrose¡¯ ass.


    Sofie elbowed him in the ribs.


    ¡°Anyways Ambrose, you fought very well, when you are up to it the Dean wants to see you to go over your student contract and I.D but that is for later. You have been out for 2 days, you must be starving. Is there something I can get for you?¡± She asked with a genuine smile.


    [I was out for 2 days?! How fucking hard did he hit me¡­ And Why does the Dean need to give me the I.D and contract, couldn''t she or that Rome guy just issue it? Oh well at least now I can eat]


    ¡°Would you be able to get me some soup?¡±


    After he had finished eating, the others left the room for him to change into his new clothes, as the old ones that Roderick had given him were bloodied and tattered from the ¡®battle¡¯.


    Ambrose stared at himself in the mirror for a few minutes, his own face felt very unfamiliar and his eyes looked tired, he reached up and touched the spot on his chest where he had felt the seductive pulsation of power¡­


    [That power¡­ what¡­ was that...]


    As he thought about the power his heart began to beat again, ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum. With every beat he watched as veins of power began to snake from his chest wrapping his body, his eyes glowed fiercely as the same veining appeared to snake from them as well¡­


    He heard a gentle knocking at the door, breaking him from his reverie. All the power that began to well up inside of him vanished with those few gentle wraps upon the door, before he could answer the door was slowly pressed open.


    ¡°Ambrose, it¡¯s Sofie. Have you changed yet? The Dean is waiting for you.¡± As she slowly opened the door.


    He pushed himself away from the mirror ¡°Yes, I am ready to see the Dean.¡± Pulling over the black shirt as the door opened.


    [Also shouldn''t she have waited for me to acknowledge her before opening the door?]


    ¡°The Dean is the one that saved you, even though Rome¡¯s blade was sheathed, the blunt force trauma it caused was quite severe. Be sure to thank her when you see her.¡± Sofie added as she guided him through the medical bay.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to thank her for saving my life, however I have a few questions for her¡­ also what was the pill that Rome gave me?¡± He asked her


    ¡°Ah, again you¡¯d have to ask the Dean as it is her own creation, in a nutshell it helps the healing process.¡±


    As she guided him through the hallway towards a lift she pressed the up button and entered the lift as the door opened, entering the lift she pressed the button for the top floor. As the elevator reached its destination a bell sounded and the doors opened, they walked out into a large room surrounded by windows looking out over the city below. Standing by a window with hands held behind her back was the Dean of Wolfsong University.


    She stood there all five feet tall, wearing a black dress, which seemed to flow around her lithe body as she turned to great them, her hair the color of emeralds.


    [Short...]


    ¡°Short...¡± Ambrose both thought and said these words, almost instantly receiving a knuckle from Sofie.


    [Shit, did I say that out loud!]


    A vein almost instantly pulsed on the President''s brow as she heard the word form on his lips.


    ¡°AMBROSE. Be more respectful to the Dean!¡±


    ¡°I am sorry Dean I meant no harm with my words, please forgive me.¡± he bowed his head respectfully.


    ¡°At least you have some manners, Ambrose. Come sit, you may call me Azaeli.¡± she pointed to the chairs beside her desk, as she took her own seat.


    Ambrose and Sofie took their seats, as a small emerald fox danced through the air taking its place on Azaeli¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°Excuse me, but wha..¡± he began as he was cut off by Azaeli


    ¡°To be able to climb the tower, one must possess the ability to harness Mana. Mana


    strengthens your body and even allows you to wield magic. You may be wondering why and how you passed the exam even though you lost to Rome.¡± She smiled


    ¡°The exam rooms are dense with Mana, as we are so close to the spire. Mana has two forms: interior and exterior. During your fight, you accessed your interior Mana amplifying your power and speed to levels far beyond what somebody on the first floor let alone outside the tower could reach. Thus giving you a passing grade.¡± She reached the end of her explanation.


    She waved her hand across the desk, three eggs magically appeared in front of him floating there dancing softly in a circle.


    [Huh, what is that fox? Eggs? I thought she was going to give me my I.D.]


    ¡°These Ambrose are Spatial pets, they act as your I.D. Foxle is my Spatial pet, they grant you access to the spire as well as spatial storage linking the two of you together.¡± She said as she gently pet Foxle.


    ¡°Each of these Spatial eggs contain one pet, choose one. It will be your familiar for life, growing with you so pick well.¡± She smiled towards Ambrose urging him to make his choice.


    [Interesting, I wonder which egg I should choose...]

 Book one - Chapter four

    The eggs that floated in front of him each were distinct each with their own color and markings separating them from the rest. The first was Silver with gold marking all over it, it glimmered as it spun, the second was a deep forest green with sky blue markings, it pulsated with waves of power. The final one had three different colors the shell was obsidian with crimson markings however as it turned in the air it glitter amethyst.


    He could sense the Mana within each one of these eggs looking over each one until finally it began once more¡­


    Ba-dum. Ba-dum. ba-dum.


    Almost as if calling out to him, he reached his hand forward and touched the egg. The reaction between his Mana and the eggs was instantaneous and the shell of the egg burst like a fireworks display showering the air with red, purple and black sparkles.


    Floating there in front of him was the semi-transparent Spider with each passing moment it would change between the three colors.


    ¡°Well aren''t you cute, what should I call you¡­ How about Nowi?¡± As he said the words the arachne chirped, shooting a multi-colored web into the air and swinging into his chest with satisfaction.


    ¡°Nice to meet you Nowi.¡± He hugged the baby spider feeling an emotion he had never felt before.


    ¡°Before you are able to join the Magi in traversing the upper floors of the tower, you must graduate from Wolfsong University of magic, the spatial pet will grant you access to the first floor where the University is located.¡± Azaeli explained as she gently stroked her pet''s head.


    [Wolfsong University of magic? There is a school for magic?] he thought to himself as Nowi his new familiar began to chirp and skittered through the air in front of him.


    ¡°Wolfsong is a prestigious school, you will attend it for four years. They will guide you to the most suitable magical discipline whether it be physical, mental, elemental or other... There are other disciplines however I will let your professors go over the details with you. Sofie will take you to the transport platform which will take you to the first floor.¡± Nodding towards Sofie she bid Ambrose farewell.


    After exiting the elevator, Sofie directed him towards a giant floating platform with ornate white double doors like something you would see in a grand house... it stood there alone with nothing beside it or behind it, he noted it had odd shapes and sigils covering it.


    ¡°Stand in the middle, while I configure the transport device to the Wolfsong admittance center.¡± She said to him as she took her position in front of the transportation terminal.


    [I thought this world was medieval, how do they have such advanced technology? It must be due to the intertwining worlds connected to this tower...]


    ¡°Ambrose, once you are in the admittance center head to the front desk, show them your I.D. The next time we see each other will be on the tenth floor, good luck.¡± she gave him a wink as she pressed the button on the terminal in front of her.


    With that Ambrose turned the hand and opened the door, as he stepped through the door the world changed. No longer was he in the transportation room with Sofie.


    What he saw in front of him was nothing but a long empty hallway, the walls covered with portraits of random people which he assumed were prestigious alumni, the hallway lead him to a great oaken door with a wolf''s paw stamped attop a musical note it swam within a sea of stars.


    ¡°I take it, that''s the school''s crest.¡± Placing his hand atop the wolven paw he heard Nowi began to chirp a song for him.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°Thanks for the support Nowi let¡¯s begin our new lives here¡­¡± Pushing the door open he expected it to be busy, yet as he took his first steps into the foyer there was nothing but emptiness.


    To his right stood two empty chairs warming themselves next to a crackling fireplace, in front of him was a panoramic view of the campus outside and directly in front of this massive view was a staircase that spun both upwards and downwards. On his left a bar with what seemed to be liquor shelved to the top of the ceiling, a Man stood behind the bar polishing a glass.


    [I see no front desk, I may as well speak with that man there to see where I have to go next.]


    He made his way towards the bar and announced himself to the barkeep as he was the only one in this room.


    ¡°Excuse me, I am here to enroll. My name is Ambrose. Would you happen to know where I go to sign up?¡± He asked the bartender as he took a seat at a stool.


    ¡°I have been waiting for you,Dean Azaeli called ahead to inform me of your arrival. I am Professor Lupi, Welcome to Wolfsong. I heard you had quite the examination, how are you feeling?.¡± He said as he began mixing a concoction.


    ¡°I am better, President Azaeli gave me some green pill that fixed most of the pain I had, all that''s left are a couple of sore ribs.¡± He said rubbing his side, as he did so Nowi spun a cocktail shaker and began to mimic the professor.


    ¡°Only a few sore ribs, after taking the full force of a tenth circle magi. So that would make you a physical enhancement type, however the intellect of your familiar shows you are more than just brawns.¡± he pointed towards Nowi as she poured herself a makeshift martini of liquified spectral web.


    ¡°No, No there must be more¡­ This will not do, this will not do. It needs more¡­ Ah!¡± Lupi tossed the drink to the side and waved his hand, a few bottles from the top shelf floated towards him and he again began to mix another concoction.


    The professor was a tall well built man, short white wavy hair. glasses framed his black eyes which seemed to come alive as he mixed the liquid in front of him. The crystal glass full of liquid seemed to dance as the colors changed. He slid the glass towards Ambrose.


    [Does he want me to drink this?] Ambrose looked at Professor Lupi with a confused expression.


    ¡°This drink has liquified mana of all types, your right eye will glow with the color of the discipline you will major in and your minor discipline will glow within your left eye. Each Magi specializes in one discipline and has a secondary discipline to support their first.¡± Explained the Professor as he motioned for the boy to drink.


    Ambrose shrugged his shoulders, picked up the glass as he noted Nowi attempted to cheers him with her makeshift martini glass; he obliged and cheersed the small spider before downing the glass in one.


    ¡°Minty..¡± He began, as the mana began to writhe within his body. Ba-dum, Ba-dum, Ba-dum¡­ That same rhythmic pounding began in his chest. Cold sweat began to run down his back, he grabbed onto the bar with both hands squeezing so tight he began to fracture the wood, his eyes began to sear with pain, the dark veining had begun to throb winding towards his eyes.


    ¡°What is this, Why does it hurt! Argh!¡± he screamed in pain as he looked towards the Professor.


    Lupi however, stood there eyes locked onto Ambrose¡¯ taking in the colors. as he looked into the boys trembling eyes he couldn''t help notice the veins pulsating as if they were feeding on the very mana itself, his right eye became translucent and shimmered with mana, his left eye became black void of all color.


    After what felt like an eternity, the throbbing in his chest returned to it¡¯s normal pace as the pain left his body, his eyes returning to their natural golden hazel color.


    ¡°Strange, Very strange. You possess the Manamancer discipline, like myself. Manamancer control and manipulate mana to their whim, however this is based on your secondary discipline.¡± Lupi began his explanation.


    ¡°I myself am a Manamancer, however my secondary tree is poisonineering. Thus making me a Poisonmancer¡­ I am able to alter the mana around me infusing it into an object. I am then able to alter its natural form to suit my needs.¡± He said.


    ¡°So you poisoned me?¡± Ambrose said.


    Lupi held up a hand stopping Ambrose from continuing. ¡°Yes and no, in the past it would have killed you if you were weak of body. However I altered it so that it would not kill and only hurt a bit. Without it, you would be forced to learn a discipline that would not suit you. Thus halting your progress...¡±


    Nowi flitted up towards Ambrose and began to nuzzle into his neck in a show of comfort.


    ¡°Your secondary discipline is something we have only seen once before. It devours Mana or more than likely burns it. ¡± Lupi Said


    ¡°This is a lot to take in on an empty stomach, you wouldn''t happen to have some soup behind there would you? Preferably unpoisoned.¡± Ambrose said as he rubbed his head in confusion.