《The path to ascension》 Chapter 1: The meeting Hi, this is my first story and i hope you like it . i''m not really good at english and i hope i didn''t make too much grammatical errors. If you find them please post in the comments so i can correct them. This is only the first chapter and is a little too short but in the future I will make them much bigger ----------------------------------- 10th day of Iram(Winter), year 845 A.C. Cadun (the capital of the Elellon kingdom) In the castle from the center of the capital five men are having a meeting. The person at the center is a man in his late forties with green eyes, a well arranged beard and some scars on his left cheek which are noted more then everything else. He is the king of the Elellon, a large kingdom in the east of the continet. In front of him four man are standing, and one of them, the duke Geoffry Bexley Phelrey, a man in his thirties, begin reading from a report. -Three days ago in the Sigisa village around thirty unknown troops appeared and began to slaughter the citizens. After that they burned down the village they took the womens and childrens and fled before we could catch them.- "Majesty! we..." The king snapped out of his world and told to the man to finish what he was about to say. ¡°Those who survived have been investigated by our troops and from what we could put together we found out that one of the higher nobles is behind all of this mess. Most probably Fordaye.¡± The rage could be seen in the king eyes, he was about to explode but he kept his calm and then spoke. "Last year when three villages were raided by bandits I found out that Fordaye was behind all of that but i couldn''t do anything because i didn''t have proofs and to accuse him widouth proofs would be a big mistake because he have big influence over the other nobles." Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°Yes your majesty, even now if we accuse him of anything the majority of the nobles would take his defence and the kingdom would fall chaos¡± Geoffrey said without holding back. The oldest man in the room, duke Gauward Wyarde began to talk. ¡°the best thing to do is to slowly attract as many nobles as we can on our side and the we could took that bastard down without any repercussions.¡± "And how we will do that ?" Geoffry asked. ¡°There are many ways, but the easiest is to frame those little ones and then blackmails them until we reach our purpose. Indeed it takes a lot of precaution but could be done.¡± the old man spoke with a devilish face. "I will think about what are you saying, but for now this should be enough. We will meet again when i will decide something." ¡°Yes your majesty¡± All four men responded in unison. After the departure of the men the king face shows worry and he get lost in thoughts ¡°What should i do now?¡± *** 65th day of Kusha (Autumn), year 844 A.C. Badushar I don''t remember when i began to understand things, all i know is that i''m not quite normal. Right now i''m almost one year old and i can understand the world around me better than my parents. My father is a blacksmith in the village and my mother is housekeeper at the mayor''s family. When they are working i''m at home with my aunt who is the single person which is aware of my capability.I started to speak at almost half a year and since then my aunt helps me to learn about the world. Today after my parents got home they put me to bed, but i couldn''t sleep, something was wrong so i just began to read a book in the light of the moon. A few hours later i heard a scream! Chapter 2: At the fortress Chapter 2: At the fortress In the silence of the night I heard a cold scream. I get off the bed and start walking towards the door. With every step I take the pressure on my shoulders keep getting bigger. When I reach the living room I find myself in a pond of blood.I was fully aware of what could have happened so I walk further, and after a few meters I stop. My tears start flowing but I don''t make a sound. In front of me were my parent lifeless bodies. Shaking like hell I head outside for a breath of fresh air. When I arrived outside, I witness the rages of hell. Houses are burning, villagers are killed and bandits are everywhere. Filled with rage I pick up a weapon and charge at a bandit but before I could even get close I got knocked out. *** 66th day of Kusha (Autumn), year 844 A.C. On the road The Narfest Woods, located between Badusha village and Trafford town is a large forest which spanning hundreds of square kilometers. Is a dark place that houses hundreds of different wild beasts and is a perfect place to hide for a fugitive or a bandit. On the main road that goes right through the center of the forest there are a few carriages loaded with different objects.In the middle carriage two people are having a hot dispute. ¡°I''m gonna kill that little shit!¡± one of them cry out. ¡°Hyte! Calm down!¡± ¡°He tried to kill me, why should I let him live after that?¡± ¡°Because the boss ordered us to take the boy with us alive. Now keep your mouth shut before you get yourself killed¡± The revolted man is the bandit that the little child tried to kill back in the village. His name is Gileon Hyte. The other person is Nichye Quinte. A wise man who thinks before speaking unlike his companion. ¡°It seems that we arrived¡± ¨C Nichye The place where the carriage arrived was a midsize fortress. The walls were made out of cobblestone and wood. Inside the fortress were a few houses and a castle like house almost fifteen metres height. The bandits began to unload the cargo and move it in the fortress. Nichye approach a muscular man who was wearing a leather armor. After the talk with the person who seems to be the boss of the bandits, he take the kid and leave him in a room inside the fortress. A few hours later the boy wakes up and starts to remember everything. In his distress he realise where he is and try to understand why is not dead, why would bandits keep a one year boy alive? In his attempt to understand what''s happening, the exhaustion kicks in and he fall asleep. *** 43th day of Finore (Spring), year 846 A.C. Fortress If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Two and a half year has past since the boy has arrived at the fortress and now he understand everything. One day he got outside the room and spot a dozen of kids that were practicing with swords.In that moment he understood why he was there. ¡®They take kids and brainwashes them to become loyal bandits.¡¯ Upon seeing this events his hate towards the bandits only increased. He was still too weak to do something so he make a decision. Asking Nichye to arrange a meeting with the boss was something easy to do because Nichye in the past year grew attached to him. The boy stood in front of a huge door waiting for the boss to let him in. Suddenly the guards open the door and the kid start walking. In front of him was a huge men wearing leather armor. At his waist he had his two swords and on his hands were a few magical rings. Near him were two men. One of them was Nichye. The other one was clearly a mage. When he was living with his parents he learned about magic. He find out that in the world not everyone can become a mage. Only those who are born with aether, a mysterious energy and the source of magic can use it. ¡®He is clearly a third tier mage¡¯ The boy could feel the aether within the persons around him. From what he knew, a person is born with a exact capacity of aether and he cannot increase it. Those Ones who have more aether than their body can sustain have to be careful not to use more then their limit at once, otherwise they will blew up. The mage before him was a good one. Not anyone could achieve the third tier. His thoughts are interrupted by the man before him who starts speaking. ¡°So?... Why are you so eager to meet me?¡± ¡°I wanted the permission to train myself like everybody else¡± The boy answers ¡°You are still young. What''s with this determination ?¡±. "I want to know how strong can I become.." ¡°And what you wish to gain with your strength?¡± ¡°Money, as much money as can!¡± In the next moments the man starts laughing so hard that you could hear him from the forest and then with a smile on his face he spoke. ¡°You remind me of myself when I was young. Nichye give him a sword and start training him!¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¨C Nichye respond without delay. ¡°Boy... what''s your name?¡± The bandit leader asks. ¡°Zephyr¡± The boy respond with a boring tone. After a short time they arrived at the training center. Nichye picked up a wooden sword and throw it at the boy. Zephyr catches the sword and begins to listen the instructions. In only a few he already knew how to use that piece of wood, fact that amazed half of the bandits. ¡®This kid has a natural talent with the sword¡¯-Nichye thinks himself. He understood that a kid like this is like a two-edged sword. He could become a great asset or a great misfortune for them. After few hours the kid pass out from the exhaustion. The training kept going everyday, and before anyone could realise, seven years has already past . Chapter 3: Preparations Chapter 3: Preparations 24th day of Finore, year 853 A.C. Fortress In the fortress the bandits are arranged in a circle. The noise that they are making, echoes everywhere in the forest. In the middle of the crowd is standing a kid. He is wearing a black leather armor with a thin iron plate on his chest. At his waist he''s wearing a half moon like dagger, and in his hand is holding a shiny longsword. His black and empty eyes are giving the sensation that you look at a soulless body. Many bandits are saying that with his black long hair and his pretty face he could steal the heart of every woman. In front of him stops a skinny man with only a sword in his hands. He is Nichye. ¡°So you think you can defeat me Zephyr?¡± Nichye started laughing in a friendly way. ¡°I hope you will put an interesting fight!¡± ¡°You are speaking big words for a little men¡± ¡®I already know that I can''t beat him if I only using the sword, but I should be able to cause some damage.¡¯ zephyr thinks. The event that taking place right now in the fortress is called ¡®New Moon Day¡¯ . Here, the bandits are fighting each other and the winner will became the leader''s right hand. The final battle will be Nichye against Zephyr, the boy who beaten every opponent in almost a instant. Immediately after fight started their swords clashed. Zephyr takes a step back and then try to cut his adversary''s right hand, but is blocked. He takes his balance and then strike again but without any success. After a few more attempts he finally injures Nichye''s arm. Zephyr decided to end this fight. He throw his sword and draw the dagger from his waist but before doing some damage, Nichye''s sword was already at his neck. He drop the dagger and admitted defeat. The crowd exploded in cheers and Niche start tried to make the boy to feel better. ¡°Don''t worry, it''s always next year.¡± ¡°Yeah, sure it is.¡± The kid responded with a fake smile on his face. After the match, everybody headed to dining room. All the bandits had already accepted him in there big family, so he knew that now was the perfect time to act. *** 24th day of Finore, year 853 A.C. Cadun In a room with large colored windows, a man stood at his desk and look through reports. His clothes were enough to show that he was a important man. On his face you could read the concern. ¡®what should I do with the lower area of the city? If the things don''t change, we will have a rebellion on our heads.¡¯ He was worried. In case of a rebellion, his family would be jeopardized, and this is the last thing he wants in the world. Before he could think at a solution to avoid this mess, someone knock at the door and start speaking. ¡°Sir, capitan Stephye is here, and he wants to talk with you!¡± ¡°Can''t he wait until I¡¯m done with all the work?¡± ¡°No sir, he say that is very important.¡± ¡°Fine, let him come.¡± Few seconds later the door opened and a huge armored person come through it. His name is Stephye Moore and he is the leader of the first legion of knights within the command of the duke Geoffry Bexley Phelrey. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°So captain... What''s so urgent that I must interrupt my work?¡± ¡°I''m sorry for interruption sir, but we found out the hideout of those bandits.¡± The eyes of the noblemen are widening. He couldn''t believe that those shits which gave him headaches are almost in his hands. ¡°Prepare the first legion and go after them. Don''t waste any minute and be sure to catch the leader alive.¡± ¡°Take with you some mages from the academy to improve your chances.¡± ¡°Yes sir!¡± The man left the room and the nobleman felt a big satisfaction. If he would catch the bandits leader, not only that the king will reward him but most of his problems will be gone. All the anxiety that was eating him for the past eight years, now is vanished. With a devilish smile on his face, he starts thinking. ¡®With this event all my plans will advance at least ten years.¡¯ Three hours later, from the capital are departing twenty five knights, fifty soldiers and eight mages. *** 25th day of Finore, year 853 A.C. Fortress Zephyr returned in his room to make some preparations. Today is his first raid and wants that everything to be perfect. The leader of the mission will be Gileon Hyte, the person that he hates the most in the fortress. He put on his equipment and leave the room with a smile on his face. When he steps outside, the carriages are ready to depart. ¡°I hope that you won''t be in my way on this mission you little piece of crap.¡± The boy turns around and sees the man who insulted him. It was Gileon Hyte. Beside him was Nichye, who starts speaking. ¡°Don''t worry Zephyr, you will do just fine.¡± ¡°I know what I have to do, so it will be good.¡± Zephyr respond with a forced smile. ¡°By the way, the leader wishes that you to accomplish this raid without incidents.¡± ¡°Don''t need to worry brother, we will do a good job.¡±Gileon is enthusing because this is the first time when he is the leader of a raid. ¡°Well, then good luck.¡± With this, Nichye goes inside the fortress and the carriages are departing. Fifteen hours later the carriages stop. They were in open field, at almost half a mile from their target. In front of them was the Kedron village. A little settlement with less than two hundred people. Gileon start explaining the plan, when suddenly, two of his men fell on the ground. Everyone is speechless, no one comprehend what just happened. When the amazement cooled down, everyone could see the little boy behind those two men. He is holding in his hand a sword painted in blood. Gileon cried out ¡° You¡­ you scumbag, you traitor.¡± The men''s mind was empty , he draws his sword and charge at the devil but before he could realise, his head was already cut off, and the blood starts spreading everywere. When the bandits have understood what was happening, they formed a circle around Zephyr and start attacking him. He slaughtered them one by one until they were nothing more then just body parts. When he finished cutting off bandits, Zephyr took a horse and headed back to fortress. He arrived at noon, the next day, and started to scream at the fortress patrols. Chapter 4: The attack Chapter 4: The attack 26th day of Finore, year 853 A.C. Fortress ¡°Open the gate, open the gate now¡± One of the men starts screaming. Six bandits were hurrying to open the gate. When they do it, they are dumbfounded. In front of them is Zephyr covered in blood and smelling like death. ¡°What''s happened? Where''s the rest of the team?¡± One bandit starts talking but in instead of an answer, Zephyr draws his sword from its scabbard and starts attacking. With every slash, the blood starts spreading out of his comrades bodies. Seconds later, where six people were standing, now are just corpses. He stepped in the fortress and closed the gate behind him. With every moment that is passing, the number of screams only increase. After he butchered all the living in the yard, he enters the castle to do his job. In front of him is a huge iron door. He start preparing his equipment. Pushing the door, make a creak and reveals the peoples in the room. In the center of the room is the bandit leader, at his right is Nichye and at his left is a powerful mage. Sideways, along the room are twenty armed bandits. They were waiting for him. ¡°So you are the man who made all of that mess outside... HahaHa¡± The bandit leader let out a crazy laugh. ¡°I thought that we have to deal with some strong enemies, but you, who would have thought.¡± Nichye start walking toward the Zephyr. He couldn''t believe that the boy which he raised, killed most of his family. ¡°Zephyr what''s the meaning of ...¡± Nichye start talking, but before he could finish the phrase, his head falls and the blood begins to flow. Everyone in the room were looking with fear in their eyes. In this time, the leader stood up from his chair and start speaking. ¡°I¡¯m Brarder Hune, the third leader of this group, I will be your opponent.¡± ¡°You got some skills if you killed Nichye in a single blow. Who could think that you are hiding those kind of abilities from us.¡± The man draw his sword and launches an attack. Zephyr has blocked the attack, but the force pushes him to the ground. He start speaking in surprise. "You are much powerful than I thought" ¡°You haven''t seen everything yet¡± He launched a few more attacks but they were blocked. Realizing that he can''t win if he doesn''t fight seriously, Brarder activates his magic. [Enchanted body], [Flaming blade] His body start shining a weak blue light, his sword heats up and is shrouded in flames. He raise his sword and engage with full strength. All that Zephyr could do , is to try and block the attack. The two of them crashes and the flames flowing. In the attack Zephyr almost loses his hand, and he got a ugly burn mark. Understanding the power of his adversary, he throw his sword on the ground. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.¡°Are you going to give up just after this much?¡± The Brarder asks with a huge smile on his face. ¡°No¡± Zephyr respond with a quiet tone. ¡°I just decided that I will fight seriously¡± Everyone was looking at him like he was crazy. In the next moment from his body is starting to flow a huge quantity of aether. His eyes and hair changed from black to red. The energy cover the entire room, and everybody crumble in fear. Five years ago, he found out that he can use magic and he stole a book of spells from a carriage that was coming back from a raid. After three more years he finally understood that he has a huge quantity of aether in his body. When he wasn''t training with the sword, he practicing magic. Brarder is watching in fear. How could this happen to him? [Explode] After zephyr said that word, Brarder body starts to swell. The man was desperate, he try to attack the demon before him, but after one step, he explodes. From what was before the leader of bandits, now it was just a lake of blood and few chunks of meat. The mage can''t understand how can a child have such power. ¡®A fifth tier?¡¯ ¡®No, a sixth tier spell?¡¯ When he realizes what he''s up against, he try to run, but in the next moment three floating swords stab him to death. The only thing that the bandits could do now, is to watch how they are killed one by one. *** 26th day of Finore, year 853 A.C. Outside the fortress Outside the fortress, well hidden in the woods, the army that duke Geoffry sended from capital was preparing for attack. They were waiting for the spies to come back. In front of the army was Stephye Moore, the captain of the first legion. Beside him were Brodi Sumison and Ralfi Mallison, two of the best men he has ¡°Captain, why do you think the duke is so eager to catch those bandits?¡± Ralpi asks. ¡°I don''t know but must be pretty important if he send us to attack without any information.¡± ¡°I just want to go home and be with my girlfred, she was pretty worried when I left¡± ¡°By the way, Brodi I heard that you will get married soon.¡± Ralpi said with a frendly smile on the face. ¡°Yeah, I''m very nervous about that.¡± Before they had the chance to continue the discussion, the spy approaches Stephye. ¡°Sir, I watched the fortress and is quiet. There aren''t guards and patrols.¡± ¡°That''s doesn''t sound too good. Is possible that they knew that we will come?¡± Ralpi asks. ¡°Possible, but we cannot give up now. Tell the troops that we will advance like we planned¡± ¡°Yes sir!¡± The plan is that they will split up in three teams. The first team will go to the gate, the second team will try to enter through the back of the fortress, and the rangers team will be deployed through the trees for backup The first team lead by Stephye and Brodi arrived at the gate. They were preparing to attack when the gate opened and someone stepped outside. Chapter 5: Aftermath Chapter 5: Aftermath 26th day of Finore, year 853 A.C. Fortress Stephyn Moore... captain of the first legion of knights in the duke''s Geoffry army. A man who fought for his kingdom in two big wars. The first was against the kingdom of Iriondon and the second one was against an unknown army that attacked the kingdom fifteen years ago. After that he received the title of captain of the first legion in the duke''s army. He is thirty five years old and during his fights, he saw a lot of nasty things. What he sees now is beyond that. Before him is standing a child covered in blood. His hair is dyed in red and his eyes are the same color as the hair. ¡®A demon from hell¡¯ That''s what passed through Stephyn'' mind. The captain is looking behind him and see that his troops are as confused as himself. He shake his head, comes back to reality and start talking. ¡°Who are you ? Why are you here?¡± The boy didn¡¯t make a sound and start walking toward them. Stephyn wants to ask again but Brodi got close to the boy and begins to talk. ¡°Hey, kid, Who the hell are you?¡± Again, the boy doesn''t respond. He stops from walking, raise his sword and prepares to slash the annoying person close to him. In the next moments Stephyn''s mind it fills with terror. He jumps from his place and pushes Brodi out of the boy''s path. Zephyr stops his attack and starts speaking with a smile on his face.¡°You''re pretty good old man.¡± The man''s eyes are looked on the kid. He sensed what would happen if an attack from that boy would hit Brodi or himself. Seeing him smiling was even more terrifying than before. ¡°We came here to capture the leader of those bandits. What were you doing in this place?¡± Stephun asked even if he already had a vague idea what the kid was doing. ¡°Just a settling of accounts. If you''re looking for the leader, he is in the castle, but I don''t think that it will be easy to put him back together.¡± After he finished his speech, he start walking again. The army in front of him splits in two and let him pass. When everyone''s come back to reality, the boy is already gone. They started to search the fortress. There wasn''t a single bandit alive. After the search of the yard and castle, they are in front of a big iron door. Two soldiers start pushing the door and the captain enters in the room. What he sees is a heap of corpses and some chunks of meat scattered all over the place. He understood what the boy told him. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°Gather all the troops, we are going back.¡± *** 29th day of Finore, year 853 A.C. The Narfest Woods Three days have past since the fortress events. Zephyr just got out of the woods and started a little fire. He take some rabbit meat from his bag and put it on the fire. Because he was always going hunting with the bandits, now he knows how to catch an animal and how to butcher him. Yesterday he stopped at a river and washed his clothes and armor. Even if the blood wasn''t removed completely, it was harder to observe it. He take the meat out of the fire and starts eating. After he finished he put out a map and started to think. ¡®Where should I go now?¡¯ ¡®There are three cities where I could go. Pefall, which is a harbor city. Making money to live should be simple there. In harbor are always things to do so the labor power needed is high. But is too far away. ¡¯ ¡®The capital is out of discussion, because I don''t want to stand out. It seems that the best option is Traford. I should be able to find some work there.¡¯ He put his map away, laid himself on the ground and before he could realise, he was already asleep. In the morning, he take out his sword to polish her and see that his red eyes and hair have already changed back to black. He starts packing up all his stuff and goes back on the road. Five days later he already can see the city before him. Traford was a huge settelment surrounded by a wall of stone of at least fifteen metres height. From outside the city you could see two immense buildings. One of them is the Castle, located in the center of the town. This is the place where the mayor is living. The other one is the biggest cathedral in the kingdom. Here the priests are instructed and trained to use magic. Is also the place where the higher bishop is activating. Around the castle are living the nobles and in the lower part of the city are the peasants. The economy is very good, because here are the most powerful priests and for having a good healer, people pay a lot of money. A big part of the money are going to the church and very little to the priests. The economic power of the church rose after the last two wars, and now her leaders are holding thirty percent of the political power in the kingdom. Zephyr was approaching the city. He could only think of what he will do for money. He knew that in this town if you are not a priest is pretty hard to make some money. He is passing through the gate and starts speaking with an warder. Map Map Hi everyone. Yesterday I worked at a map of the kingdom and his neighbors. The map Is not completely finished and I will update it as the story goes further. I hope that it will help you to get a better ideea of the land in the story. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. The action in first chapters of the story it passed fast but I really wanted to finish that part so I kind of rushed. The next chapters will be longer and detailed. I really hope that you will like what comes next. Chapter 6: In the city Chapter 6: In the city 34th day of Finore, year 853 A.C. Traford At the gate of the city a man is studying all the people that come through it. His name is Bertin Halle, a royal guard that received a secret mission from the king itself. Right now he is posing a guardian of the city for intercepting someone very dangerous. He looked at a kid who just come through the gate and now is coming his way. ¡°Hey! sir, where is the closest inn?¡± ¡°It''s one on the main road, if you look closely you will find it.¡± ¡°Thank you very much, sir.¡± ¡± Hey kid, where are you from and what business do you have in the city?¡± the guardian asks with a unexpected question so Zephyr starts speaking. ¡°I''m from Cadun and I come here to learn how to become a priest.¡± ¡°Where are your parents?¡± ¡°They died few years ago and since then I lived by myself.¡± ¡°Fine, but be careful, even if we are in a city, the thieves and bandits are among us.¡± The boy noted and walked away. ¡®He must have had a pretty tough life.¡¯ the Guard thought himself. Zephyr revolves around the main street almost thirty minutes and he finally finds a inn. He opens the door and start walking towards the bar. Looking around he could see that it isn''t some luxurious place, which is good because he doesn''t have a lot of money. All he has are the money he took from one bandit. He arrive at the bar and begins to talk. ¡°I want a room for tonight¡± ¡°Are you even young enough to stay here?¡± The barman asks. ¡°That shouldn''t concern you.¡± Zephyr puts five darns on the table. The barman looks at him and says:¡± Fair enough. A night is twenty five darns.¡± The kid puts on the table another twenty five coins and takes the key from the man. As he is walking upstairs, he can see all those looks who are watching him. A little kid, alone and with money at him is a jackpot for the theives. He enters his room and sits on the bed. It was a long day and tomorrow he will have to look for some work. The ninety five darns he have left is not much and he will run out soon. *** 35th day of Finore, year 853 A.C. Traford After the breakfast he left the inn and started searching for a job. ¡®There are not many places where a kid can work so finding a good one it would take some time.¡¯ He is walking on the alley getting close to the center of the city. The streets are very crowded and he can see a lot of different people: Merchants, Priests, workers. He stops in front of a blacksmith and is staring at the man who is hitting with a hammer the hot iron. The man looks like he''s in his forties and on his face and clothes are traces of soot. Suddenly he stops hitting the iron, he looks at the boy and start speaking. ¡°There is something I can help you with?¡± ¡°Actually, that''s what I wanted to ask you, sir. I just got here so I really need a job.¡± The man, stroking his beard, is analysing the kid before him. ¡°How old are you?¡± ¡°I just turned ten a few days ago.¡± ¡°What can you do? You worked with a blacksmith before?¡± ¡°Yes, I worked a few months in the place where I grew up and I know the basic things.¡± ¡°What''s your name, kid?¡± "Zephyr." ¡°Come here and try to make this sword. I will pay you depending on you performances.¡± Zephyr picks up the hammer and starts hitting the piece of hot iron. With every hit, the iron chunks starts showing more and more like a blade. After he finishes the blade, he mounts the handle and shows the sword to the blacksmith. The amazement could be seen in his eyes. He doesn''t expected that Zephyr will make a relatively good sword. ¡°It''s a pretty good sword. It''s not for a knight or a soldier but a mercenary or a citizen will be happy with it. You have some skills but you will still need polish them.¡± Zephyr noted with his head and got back to work.. It''s almost night and Zephyr is on his way back to the inn. The blacksmith congratulated his work and gave him fifty darns for this day. ¡®Maybe the things would really work here. Now that I have my payment I should go and buy some new clothes. I can''t start a new life with only one pair of clothes.¡¯ He smiles and enters in the clothes shop. ¡®I approached the beautiful lady that sells clothes and I asked her if she have something of my size. She took me to a room and showed some clothes. I decided to buy a few pairs of pants, a few t-shirts and a suit because you never know when you will need one.¡¯ After he bought the clothes he headed home. On the way back, he had a bad feeling, something was wrong. In the darkness of the night three people are following a child. *** 35th day of Finore, year 853 A.C. Cadun Captain Stephyn Moore is walking on a corridor and stops in front of a door. He knock at the door and waits for an answer. "Come in" Stephyn hears the words and opens the door. Ahead of him is the duke Geoffry Bexley Pheley, the most trustworthy noble in the service of the king. He is sitting at his office surrounded by tons of papers. With enthusiasm in his voice, he asks the captain. ¡°So, Stephyn, do you caught the leader?¡± Stephyn hesitated for one second, then he replied ¡°No sir, we failed to catch him.¡± The enthusiastic state of the noble it changed in an instant. On his face anyone could read the anger. Geoffry calmed down and spoke: ¡°Did he managed to run away?¡± ¡°No sir, when we got to the fortress all the bandits were already dead and the leader was just a few chunks of meat.¡± Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Geoffry''s state changed again, but this time in amazement. ¡®Could it be that the Phomes Fordaye find out what I intended and silenced the bandits before I can get my hands on them?¡¯ Phomes Fordaye is the most powerful noble in the kingdom, and he always works against the king. Because of his political power and influence over the little nobles, the king can''t do anything about him. Geofrry knew that Fordaye was working with those bandits and because of that he hunted them for many years. It was the best way to take down Fordaye, and now is gone. ¡°Captain, is possible that the duke Fordaye is the one who sent those bandits to death?¡± ¡°I don''t think that he is involved in this, sir!¡± ¡°Why do you think so?¡± ¡°Because when we prepared to assault the fortress, we came face to face with the killer.¡± The duke''s eyes widened. ¡°So, how does he looks like, and why didn''t you restrained him?¡± ¡°He was a child of at most ten years with red eyes and red hair but he gave the impression of a demon. I decided not to restrain him because I knew that a fight with him was certain death for all of our man. It would be a loss on our side, beside that, we couldn''t be able to report the events back.¡± Geoffry tries to understand how much power that child have. He become even more worried than before. ¡®Not only that we lost the chance to bring that shit down, but now we have a very dangerous person on our heads.¡¯ "At least we know that the child doesn''t work with Fordaye" ¡°Excuse my impertinence sir, but how we know that?¡± ¡°Because, if that child would work with Fordaye, the king would already be dead.¡± The captain tries to say something but the noble speaks before him. ¡°Use whatever resources are necessary and find that kid before anyone else.¡± Stephyn left the room and Geoffry starts thinking: ¡®It would be the best to call that man.¡¯ *** 36th day of Finore, year 853 A.C. Traford In the middle of the night one person is walking on the street. Behind him, trying to hide are three people, who are blindly follow the person. Zephyr decided to make a little detour before going back to the inn and the three man followed him. He enters a clogged alley and wait. The three people follow him and enters the alley. Zephyr is standing in front of them and begins to speak: ¡°I was starting to think that you wouldn''t show up.¡± The thieves put a face of amazement. ¡°So, you knew that we were following you and you still didn''t run away.¡± ¡°Pretty courageous from you, but still a big mistake.¡± Another thief says. The three of them start walking towards the boy. As they get close, Zephyr sees that they are young thugs, with some rusty swords and cheap clothes. They probably saw that he is a single child and decided to rob and kill him. He lets a smile on his face and utters: ¡°[Sound-proof]¡± A weak wind starts spreading around the area. Soundproof is a third tier spell that blocks any sound on a radius of ten metres from its user. The downside is that it''s blocks any sound from outside the sphere created by the spell. The thieves didn''t even observed that Zephyr used a spell, and they were still approaching. He points a hand at one of the men and utters: ¡°[Ignite flame]¡± In the next moment, the man starts burning with black flames. He doesn''t understand what''s happening, all he knows it''s that his body is burning. The pain is unbearable and he tries to put out the flames, but he fails and a few seconds later he is reduced to nothing. The two remaining men are astounded, the just witnessed the terrible death of their friend. On of them take a step back and says:¡±M...Mage¡± "He is a mage...¡± The other man realises what is the child before them , and start attacking at him. Zephyr dodges his attack puts his hand around the man''s neck. ¡°[Enchanted body]¡± With those words, his hand start crushing the adversary''s neck with a inhumane force. The man falls on the ground and Zephyr starts walking towards the last thief. The thief knows what''s going to happen. He just watches with fear the demon child which is approaching . He is not prepared to die. The child stops and begin talking: ¡°Do you want to be spared?¡± ¡°Yes, please speare me!¡± The man spoke without any delay. ¡°What''s your name?¡± ¡°Gylan¡± The boy looks at him again. ¡°You will work for me for a couple days and in return you will keep your life. After that, you will be free to do whatever you want.¡± At the hearing of those words, Gylan mind went empty. He knows that working for the little boy will be like working for the devil, but if it''s his only chance to survive... "So, do we have a deal?" "Yes" *** 36th day of Finore, year 853 A.C. Traford ¨C Cathedral In the Higher Bishop''s chamber inside the cathedral two people are talking. The first is Ephes Payne, the Higher bishop of the church. He is an old man wearing a blue robe and carrying a wood cane with him. The other person is a priest in the service of the church. Payne has a angry face and who could blame him. ¡°What''s so important that you have to wake me up this late in the night¡± ¡°I''m sorry higher bishop, but we have an emergency. Few minutes ago, the surveillance team sensed a powerful explosion of aether within the city." "How big it was?" The bishop asks. ¡°If it was a single person, he would have to be a sixth tier mage to create such powerful spell. We think that more weaker mages channel their power together. There are not much mages that can use sixth tier spells, and priests at the sixth tier are even fewer. From what we know there are no such powerful mages in the nearby areas. So probably it was more people that created the burst of aether¡± ¡°Send some people to search the place and find out who those men are.¡± ¡°Understood¡± ¡®Now, lets get back to sleep.¡¯ Chapter 7 42th day of Finore, year 853 A.C. Traford It''s been already two weeks since I started working as a blacksmith. The payment gets bigger and I succeeded in making relations with a few interesting people. Yesterday a noble came and asked me to help him with a few dozens of weapons. So today I will be going to his court for preparing the necessary conditions. It would be better if my blacksmith master is with me, but since he has a lot of work himself... The noble who invited me is Chilex Aving. He is a marquis and for the moment he is in charge of four legions from the kingdom''s army. From what the marquis told me, the kingdom''s army is split in five:he has four legions, duke Geoffry Bexley Phelrey is in charge of five legions, duke Gauward Wyarde is in charge of three legions, duke Phomes Fordaye has 8 legions under his command and the king controls twelve legions. In my opinion is very ineffective to have the army split. Probably that''s what caused the political instability within the kingdom. Right now I''m at the mansion gate waiting for someone to open it. A beautiful lady in a maid dress comes my way and opens the gate. ¡°This way please. Marquis Aving is waiting for you in at the forge.¡± I start following the woman around. The road is made out of cobblestone and around it there are living fences. The main house is a huge building made out of stone and wood in a gothic style. Even the servant house is bigger than the inn I''m staying currently. We walked a long time until we got at the forge, which is far away behind the servant house. Here I found maquis Aviag. A fattish man with a black hair and a quite big mustache. He walks towards me and starts speaking. ¡°Zephyr! I''m glad that you came.¡± ¡°Of Course sir. It''s an honor to be requested by a such important person.¡± Maybe it looked like I was kissing his ass but I wasn''t. This is a very important person within the kingdom. ¡°So, you think that you can finish one hundred swords and one hundred and fifty spears within two weeks?¡± ¡°Yes sir. I can make around fifty swords at day, but since you invited me to stay here on my working period, probably I can make around twenty per day.¡± ¡°If you think you can do it alone than I will take your word.¡± The marquis replied smiling. ¡°If everything is ready, I would like to start working.¡± The marquis thanked me again and leave. While I''m working I try to understand why a noble would want to employ a blacksmith when he could buy all the weapons. ¡® A sword is around 100 darns and a spear si 70 darns. That would make a total of 20500 darns. Well¡­ I guess that this is answering the question. I will receive for this job 5000 darns, which is a huge amount. But still I don''t understand why with all this hurry...¡¯ A few hours later, the same maid came to me. ¡°Excuse me sir. The marquis Aving wants you to come to the dinner with the family¡± I don''t understand why would a noble would put a worker at the table with his family... ¡°When is the dinner?¡± I asked. ¡°In one hour sir.¡± ¡°Then I guess that I will stop for today. Show me the way to my room please.¡± I followed her in the main house until we arrived at a door. ¡°I will be ready in thirty minutes, please come here to guide me to the dining room.¡± She noted that she understood and left. The room is a big one. On the left wall are a few paintings and on the right side are two colored windows. In the center of the room is a huge bed and around him are few nightstands. After I took a bath called the maid to take me to the dining room. We arrived and the marquis invited me to take a place at the head of the table. Right now at the table, beside me are: Aving, his wife, which is a very beautiful woman in her thirties, the two sons of the marquis who are looking at me with disgust and in the end, the marquis daughter, a beautiful child around my age. The maquis tries to cut the silence and starts talking. ¡°Zephyr, what did you decide to be a blacksmith.¡± ¡°It''s nothing special, I didn''t have money so I decided to work as a blacksmith because I already knew the basic things.¡± ¡°Aha... pardon me if I''m too intrusive but where are your parents?¡± ¡°They died when I was little and I had to raise myself.¡± ¡°I''m sorry to hear that¡± The marquis added. ¡°Recently I lost my home and I had to travel to this city and start over¡± ¡°I see... This is very unfortunate.¡± ¡°So, do you come here with a carriage?¡± One of the sons asks in disgust. ¡°No, actually I came by myself. I''m a pretty powerful mage so the thieves and bandits wouldn''t be a problem.¡± At the hearing of those words, all the present people went silent. The envy could be seen in the eyes of the sons. ¡°A powerful mage you say... I''m curious what tier are you?¡± ¡®Fuck this isn''t good.¡¯ ¡°I''m not sure but I think I''m between second and third tier.¡± Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡®Of course I will not say that I''m actually a sixth tier mage. Probably the wouldn''t even believe me.¡¯ ¡°That''s pretty amazing Zephyr.¡± Aving says. ¡°Not any mage reach the third tier. Actually from my knowledge, the six tier is the highest tier a normal person can reach, and that only if he has an incredible potential. After that comes the training which will take tens of years.¡± ¡°At your age to be a third tier is amazing. If you start training, in a few years you will surely reach the fourth tier.¡± The wife says. ¡°Probably I will start the training soon, but right now I want to find out more about the world.¡± The marquis whispers in the ear of his wife. In the next moment the woman raised from the table and took the little girl with her. ¡°Sorry about this Zephyr, but now that I know that you are a powerful mage, I want to talk something important with you.¡± ¡°I listen! ¡± Zephyr exclaim. ¡°What i''m going to tell you is secret and it can''t be find out. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes¡± ¡°Good. You probably noticed that I''m in a hurry with the weapons. That''s because we are preparing for a war.¡± ¡°I''m surprised that is a full scale war, but I already expected something like this¡± Zephyr answers ¡°I''m sure you heard about the unknown army that attacked us five years ago.¡± ¡°Yes, but only vague stuff¡± ¡°Well, they will attack us again.¡± ¡° The king asked the friendly neighbors for help, but they can''t send us too much. We will get four legions from the Republic Formene, our neighbor in the nord, and two legions from the Dorthilond kingdom¡± ¡°The Magocracy won''t help us and that''s why we need mages. And that''s why I ask you to join us. If you really are third tier then you could influence the balance of the war.¡± ¡®Well I was expecting to arrive here.¡¯ ¡°I will need more information if you want me to join. I can''t just jump into a war without any information¡± ¡°Of course, we will meet tomorrow and we will discuss.¡± The smaller son raised from his chair and hit the table with his hand. ¡°Father, how can you take a peasant child at war and me, your son, and a warrior you let me home.¡± ¡°Shut up Ised¡± The marquis screamed at him. ¡°No! I won''t shut up, I request a duel. If I win I will go with you in his place" "Ised! I told you to..." "Ok" I spoke before the marquis could finish his sentence. ¡°Zephyr, you don''t have to do this." ¡°It''s ok sir. And beside this, it will be a good chance to prove me strength.¡± ¡°Then this is settle, tomorrow in the morning we will have a duel.¡± Ised screamed out and left the room. ¡°Then, I guess I should go and sleep. I want to be in my best for tomorrow morning.¡± ¡°Of course¡± Aving noted. *** 42th day of Finore, year 853 A.C. Traford In this morning I woke up, put some clothes on me and leave towards the forge. Once I got there I picked up a sword and I asked the maid to take me to the place where the duel will be taking place. Right now I arrived at the backyard and I''m watching the stupid son sparring with a trainer. Here are all the family members, a few servants and some people wearing full plate iron armor.The marquis comes to me and starts talking ¡°Zephyr, please go easy on him. He is a good child but has a stupid vanity.¡± I noted my head in consent and entered the arena. ¡°A sword? I thought you are a mage.¡± Ised starts laughing. ¡°You are not powerful enough for me, so I won''t use magic on you. I will defeat you only with my sword.¡± Ised''s eyes filled with rage He raises his sword and charges at me. I blocked him easy pushed him back. He tries again, but this time he targets my head. I block him again and charged easy at him. Before he can regain his balance I hit him in the stomach with the sword handle. He falls on his knees and I put my sword at his neck. The trainer decide that the fight is over and everyone looks impressed. ¡°Zephyr, to think that you are such a good fighter with the sword. And a mage over this...¡± ¡°You flatter me marquis.¡± ¡°Oh please, call me Aving. Such a strong man like you, it would be bed from me to let you call my honorific name.¡± "You, you cheated, you said that you wouldn''t use magic, so I let my guard down...¡± ¡°You ungrateful child, shut up.¡± ¡°No! I didn''t used magic, it was a fair fight.¡± ¡°Shut up, you liar, you are only ten years old, I''m sixteen, I couldn''t possibly lose against you.¡± He raises his sword and tries to attack me. Before he could even be close, I utters: [Temporary paralysis]. Ised falls on the ground and don''t move anymore. His parents hurries to him. ¡°Don''t worry it''s only temporary. He will be okay in a few hours.¡± ¡°I''m sorry about this Zephyr.¡± ¡°No need to worry. Now, should we go and discuss about the war?¡± ¡°Sure, come after me.¡± Chapter 8 42th day of Finore, year 853 A.C. Traford I''m currently sitting at a round table along with other 5 men. In front of me is Aving, on his right side is his oldest son and on his left side is William Wylcey, The captain of the first legion under the king control. At my left is Margaret Lyne. She is the leader of the mage''s association within the kingdom. And beside her is Raffin Reeve, the leader of the mercenary guild. After the marquis introduced them to me, he starts talking: ¡°We all know why we are gathered here. The kingdom is under a possible threat, so the king chose us to lead the army who will destroy the threat.¡± ¡°I understand that. What I don''t understand is why this child is here?¡± William spoke revolted. ¡°Zephyr is a great asset for our army. He is a third tier mage and a great swordsman. Beside that, he''s the one that is making the weapons for two of my legions.¡± Everyone other then Aving son is watching me with surprise. ¡°To think that he is a third tier at his age is pretty amazing¡± Margaret added. ¡°Let''s keep this matter for another time. Marquis Aving how much troops do we have in total?¡± Raffin asks. ¡°We have six legions from our neighbours, all my four legions, another six from nobles''s army and six legions from the king''s army. The total is twenty two legions. Each legion is made out of 25 knights, 100 soldiers, 50 archers, 5 priests and 10 mages. So, the total army that the kingdom can detach is 550 knights, 2.200 soldiers, 1.100 archers, 110 priests and 220 mages. The priests and mages are first and second tier. They are not so powerful but they numbers it will help us.¡± ''Those are quite some numbers if you ask me'' I thought myself. While everyone is thinking, Margaret Lyne starts talking. ¡°The mage''s association can send at most 100 second tier mages and 15 third tier mages. We would send more but right know half of our mages are at the barrier.¡± ¡°So the things really got worse there. I thought it was only a rumor.¡± ¡°No Raffin, unfortunately it''s not. Right now we do all we can to resist until the reinforcement from magocracy are arriving.¡± Raffin stood a little to think and then spoke: ¡°Well anyway... the mercenary guild will provide you with 1.000 troops, 50 mages and 25 priests.¡± "That''s good" Aving added. Thinking for a while, I stood up and start speaking: ¡°Why don''t we ask the help from the church?¡± ¡°Why did you bother to get this child here marquis Aving?¡± William spoke in disgust. ¡°We tried Zephyr but the church sustained that they don''t have enough trained priests to help us.¡± ¡°By the way, when will you finish the weapons?¡± ¡°There should be ready in five days.¡± ¡°Perfect. We will start moving one week earlier. That will confer us a great advantage. We will depart on the 48th day of Finore.¡± After all the people left the room, Aving took me close to him and started talking. ¡°What do you think?¡± ¡°Well, I will join you, but I don''t like the lack of magical power.¡± ¡°I know how you feel, but this is all I can do.¡± Aving said this with a sad expression. I left the room and got to the forge where I worked all day. *** 46th day of Finore, year 853 A.C. Traford I finished the weapons one day earlier and now I''m going to shops for some new armor and maybe some magical items. Well, not that I really need magical items, but you never know when they will be useful. I''m walking down the road and I stop in front of a armor shop. From outside I can see a armor that awakens my interest. It is a black leather armor with three red crystals of its chest. I entered the shop and asked the seller to tell me more about that armor. ¡°You got a good eye boy. This armor was worn by the King Gery the third. It''s a powerful enchanted item that blocks strong physical attack as long as there is aether within the crystals.¡± ¡°What do you mean aether within the crystals?¡± ¡°You don''t know? Well I will tell you but i''m not very knowledgeable about those things, so I my be wrong.¡± ¡°Don''t worry, please explain me.¡± ¡°All I know is that some crystals can be combined with aether, and the crystals resulted can be add on a item to give him magical power. When the aether within the crystals is gone, there are two ways to refill it: First method, is to let the crystal to absorb the aether from nature, with it would take a while. This method is mostly used by normal people. The other method is working only if you are a mage or a preist, and you need to use your own aether to fill the crystal.¡± ¡°There are more advantages for mages or priests. For example, if you have a good amount of aether you can keep refilling the crystal, and the magic stays active always.¡± ¡°So, why are three crystals on the armor?¡± ¡°Well, the armor was made to be worn by a normal person. One crystal is for the protection against physical attacks, the other two are simple aether crystals that are only storing and refill with aether. ¡° Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°A normal person can wore this armor for one week before it''s run out of aether. Then it take two weeks to recharge the crystals. The bad side of his technology is that you can''t use a crystal that is recharging from nature. You must wait until it''s fill up and then you can start using it again. It''s the same with recharging it, you can''t recharge it from nature if it''s not completely empty. The good side it''s that if you are a mage, you won''t be restricted by those rules.¡± ¡°There is any way to remove some of the crystals?¡± ¡°Of course that there is. A good enchanter can remove them. But if the enchanter is not skilled enough there is a chance to broke the crystal in the proces.¡± ¡°Young man are you a mage?¡± ¡°Yes I am.¡± ¡°Then this would be a very good armor for you. A mage is weak at physical attacks, but with a armor like that you won''t have any problems. Unfortunately there is a little to expensive and I don''t think that you can afford it.¡± ¡°What''s the price?¡± ¡°2.500 darns.¡± ¡°I will buy it.¡± ¡°Do you have the money?¡± The seller asks amazed. ¡°Yes I have.¡± In the next moment I take my money out and start counting them. When I finished he took the money and counted them again. Then he gave me the armor and told me that there is a enchanter down the street if i''m interested. As I''m walking down the street I start thinking ¡®I''m very lucky that I found this. Right now I don''t know a spell that can protect me from physical attacks. At the battlefield this will be very useful.¡¯ ¡®All I have to do know is to change those useless crystals with some goodies. I''m curious what can I add on the armor.¡¯ I stop in front of a building. The windows were like crystals and over the door, was a big red stone shaped like a crystal. I''m going in the building and a little old man is comes before me. ¡°What can I do for you ?¡± ¡°I''m here to remove two crystals from my armor and to add another two.¡± ¡°Come with me¡± I followed him in a chamber where is a huge white crystal on a table. ¡°Give me the armor¡± I take the armor from my bag and give it to him. ¡°This is a pretty good armor kid. The material must be quite resistant to hold three crystals. It must had cost a fortune.¡± ¡°Yeah I know¡± ¡°He puts the armor on the white crystal and then a light flashed from it.¡± ¡°So, which crystals should I remove?¡± ¡°The simple ones¡± ¡°As I thought¡± He said that with a funny face. He puts his hands on the armor and starts chanting a spell. In the next moment, two crystals are detached and they fall on the floor. I picked them up and he asked me if I want to sell them for 150 dinars each. I accepted and told him that I want to buy some powerful crystals. He took me to another room. In this room, the wall are full with crystals. He guide me to a place where are the powerful ones. I seen a lot of different crystals: high fire protection, light object, high steel skin, and other. I decided to choose high poison protection and high magic resistance. The old man took the crystals and fused them with the armor. I took the armor and paid 1.200 darns. I only have left 1.800 darns and I will use them to buy a good weapon. After I few hours I found a good black sword with two crystals on it. One of them is light object, which removes the weight of the enchanted object. The other one is high heat which heats the blade at hundred of degrees without damaging the sword. I paid 1.200 darns and got back to the marquis''s mansion. *** 46th day of Finore, year 853 A.C. Traford ¨C cathedral ¡°Did you found something about the event that took place two weeks ago?¡± Ephes Payne asks the man before him. ¡°Yes. Tracing the signature of the aether we found out that it was only one person.¡± ¡°That''s no good. Where did this sixth tier mage come?¡± ¡°We don''t know. Not even the mage''s association or the magocracy''s leaders don''t know nothing about another sixth tier mage. In fact those events worried all of them.¡± ¡°That''s not good Slaine. A mage so powerful couldn''t just appear from nowhere. Someone must have trained him. If this person decides to interfere with our plans we would have big problems.¡± ¡°Maybe it''s better to ask the kingdom for help as long as we are still in a good relationship.¡± Slaine added. ¡°Indeed, maybe those retards can do something. They are still asking for troops?¡± ¡°Yes sir!¡± ¡°Good. We will give them some priests and in exchange they will help us with the mage. In addition to this, the priests can report to as what would happen on the battlefield.¡± ¡°By the way, send the message: - When this war is over, the operation begins ." Chapter 9 48th day of Finore, year 853 A.C. Traford Eight legions, one thousand mercenaries, 125 priests and 150 mages are marching out of Traford. In front of the army is Marquis Aving, his son, captain William Wylcey and I . The battlefield is at the Hawk Plains which is located in the nord of Pefals city, right at the border with The Magocracy of Thelonde. Once we will get near the battlefield we will set up a camp and the we will wait for the other legions to arrive. Aving is coming near me and starts talking: ¡°With that armor and sword, our enemies will think of you as a swordsman¡± He starts laughing. ¡°Maybe that''s a good thing. If they think that I''m a swordsman, they will let they guard down.¡± ¡°If you say so.¡± ¡°By the way, marquis, I thought that you said that the church wouldn''t send any troops.¡± ¡°I don''t know what make them change their mind, but I''m glad that they help us. With so many priests we will save many lives and we can heal our soldiers fast.¡± ¡°Yeah, but something doesn''t feel right. I don''t really trust those priests.¡± ¡°Zephyr, you have nothing to worry about. The church is working for the benefit of the kingdom and that''s the only reason they send troops.¡± ¡°I you say so, I will take your word.¡± 65day of Finore, year 853 A.C. Traford *** It''s been already seventeen days since we left Trafford, and now we finally arrived at destination. The travel, normally would take twenty five days, but because we went straight through the Narfest Woods e arrived eight days earlier. Right now, the soldiers are building the camp and I''m going to see where the battle will take place. Once I arrive at the battlefield, I can see a vast plain. ¡®If I fight here, I will be in advantage. But for precaution I will start preparing the terrain.¡¯ Without any delay, I started chanting a spell everywhere in the plains. After I finished I got back to the camp right before the dinner. The night just passed and now it''s morning. I''m in the commander''s tent together with Aving, his son, and william. The scouts just arrived and William starts explaining how the thing are with the other army. ¡°The scout says that the enemy army is around 10.000 soldiers. They cleary outnumber us but they are barbarians. Their equipment is some poor leather armor and rusty swords.¡± ¡°So they have many men, but they are weak.¡± Aving says. ¡°They have mages or priests?¡± I asked. ¡°From what we can tell, they don''t but they could be hidden.¡± It is something that''s bother me so I asked: ¡°Do they have boats?¡± ¡°The scout didn''t say anything about boats.¡± ¡°Get that scout here please.¡± The captain gets out and in the next second comes back with a man behind him. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Troy sir!¡± ¡°Tell me Troy, When you were scouting, did you see any boats?¡± ¡°No sir.¡± ¡°Ok, you are free to go.¡± After the man leaves I start talking again. ¡°If they don''t have boats, this doesn''t sound too good.¡± ¡°Why are you so obsessed with those fucking boats.¡± The Aving son starts screaming. The rage in his eyes is something I didn''t understand. ¡®Why is he so upset?¡¯ ¡°I was just curious about something. Now, let''s get back to our business.¡± ¡°So, captain, how should we engage our enemy?¡± Aving asked. ¡°We will split in three groups and we will attack from the front and sideways.¡± ¡°And if we fail to defeat them in one battle?¡± ¡°Then we will retreat immediately and rethink the strategy.¡± ¡®This guy is an idiot. How did he become a captain?¡¯ After finishing the talk I went in my tent and start thinking at a better strategy. 72day of Finore, year 853 A.C. Traford *** The battle day is today. Our enemy started advancing toward us and we put our troops in waiting for a good ambush. Three days ago we united with the rest of the legions. The army in split in three parts, each one with seven legions and plus 300 mercenary, 50 mages and 15 priests. The priests from the church blessed all the soldiers. After that they were too exhausted to enter the fight so they stayed back at the camp. I, Aving and his son were watching the fight from far away. Every part of army is lead by a captain so is no need for us to join yet. When the signal is given, our troop starts running towards the enemy. Marquis Aving was expecting that our troops will sweep the floor with the barbarians. But to his surprise, when the armys clashed our men barely are able to fight. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°What the hell is this!¡± Aving screams out. ¡°Why the hell we barely beat them.We should wipe the floor with those barbarians by now¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry marquis, Let¡¯s see how everything will be going.¡± A few hours later, the barbarians the barbarians lost one third of their army and we barely 10 percent. The fear in from the marquis eyes, transformed in euphoria. Our army was beating up the enemy so every one would assume that we will be the winners . I just wait for something to happen. I know that the battle won''t be won this round and I was right. Six mages appears from the center of the barbarians army and they start to slaughter our soldiers. The marquis falls in his knees and keep staring at the battlefield. ¡°What the hell is that?¡± He asks. ¡°The are six mages probably everyone is at the fifth tier.¡± ¡°What!?¡± ¡°How could we deal with something like this. How the hell they have such powerful mages?¡± ¡°I will explain to you but first, give the sign for retreat.¡± The marquis gives the sign for retreat and the army started fleeing. The mages and barbarian army didn''t follow, the concentrate on regrouping. A few hours later every soldier was back at the camp. I was in the commander tent with William and Aving. The other two captains died in battle. ¡°How the hell should we deal with this¡± captain asked. ¡°We already lost twenty five percent of our army. And now we have those powerful mages on our head.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the mages ar not a problem¡±. Those two were looking at me like I was crazy. ¡°How?¡± Aving asked. ¡°I have method but I will need all the mages from the church.¡± ¡°Fine, so let¡¯s say that you will take care of the mages. How we will take care of the army.¡± ¡°Just like before. We will use the same tactic. They won¡¯t see this coming¡± I said. ¡°I see¡± Aving said. ¡°Keep explain Zephyr.¡± ¡°It¡¯s simple: I, your son and the priests will be leaving tonight and we will luring the mages in the nearby forest. Until tomorrow morning we should have enough time to get rid of the mages. Then you will attack the army.¡± ¡°Fine. If it¡¯s our only chance, we must take it.¡± ¡°Are you sure that you can get rid of the mages?¡± William asked. ¡°Absolutely.¡± ¡°Ok, I will go and inform the priests.¡± I''m currently moving through a small forest outside the plains. Beside me is Oswyn Aving, the son of the Aving marquis. He is a young man at a age of nineteen years old, with blonde hair and blue eyes. His body is not a huge chunk of muscles but you can see that he is a trained soldier. Behind us there are one hundred priests from the church, who will help me to put my plan on the move. ¡°How are you planning to beat six mages of the third tier?¡± Oswyn asks me. ¡°It''s actually pretty simple. The hardest thing is to lure them here.¡± ¡°So, you want to use the priests aether to defeat the mages?¡± ¡°Something like this. The priests are a very important role in my plan.¡± From my behind I hear a sound.: ¡°Who long are you going to make us walk? We are already exhausted.¡± I turn my head and watch the little bug who is complaining. ¡°I guess that this place is good enough.¡± I said. I arranged the priests before me and watched at them. They have an angry look on their faces. ¡°Oswyn take a step back, please.¡± The man that it at my right took a step back and watched me with weird eyes. I raise my hand and point it at the crowd of priests. I open my mouth and start uttering a spell: [Mass explosion] The aether starts flowing out of my body and surrounds every priest. A few of them who could detect well hidden aether, start screaming. In the next second, the priests start swelling and then they blow up leaving behind them meat chunks and a lake of blood. A few seconds passed and then Oswyn lets out a loud cry. He is terrified. The blood is covering us and he is shaking like a child. He doesn''t understand what happened. If we were attacked right now¡­ how would those mages kill the priests so fast. Indeed that the fifth tier it means power, but something like this was beyond that. I turn my head to him, and he jumps back a few metres. He is starting to understand what was just happened. ¡°W...Wh... Why did you killed them?¡± ¡°What do you mean? Everything is going according the plan. Those priests were send by the church to make sure that we lose the war.¡± He starts to calm down but the fear is still in his eyes. He is more terrified by the fact that I own such power then the fact that I killed our allies. ¡°What do you mean by ''sent by the church to make sure that we lose''?¡± ¡°I will explain you later, but for now go and hide behind those trees.¡± ¡°Why?¡± He answers as he¡¯s shaking like hell . ¡°Because the enemy mages will arrive soon. They surely sensed the power burst from now.¡± At the hearing of those words, he didn''t wait another second, and got behind the trees. I take my meditation position and start casting some spells. Chapter 10 [Clean] [Hight Magic Rezistance] [High Vitality] I finish the spells and the aether starts pouring out and surrounds me. The blood is flowing down off my body and I start to glow different colors. My enchanted armor is full with aether and I draw my sword out of the scabbard. In a few seconds, six people came out from behind the trees and surrounded me. Each of them is wearing robes of different colors: Red, yellow, green, blue, white and black. Their faces are hidden behind the masks and on their heads thy have some weird hats. They are looking at me with dispraise and unbelief. One of them starts talking: ¡°Are you sure, that this is the place where that aether was released?¡± ¡°Yes, this is the place. But this child can''t be a mage of that caliber.¡± ¡°Hey kid, where is the mage that was here before?¡± I don''t answer, but in exchange I let the aether flow out of my body. Everyone makes a sound of amazement and take a step back.. ¡°This kid is very dangerous, everyone, be careful¡± The black one speaks. I turn to the mage in black and start to talk with him: ¡°Can I ask you a question?¡± ¡°Sure child, you will die anyway.¡± ¡°Then¡­ Why would the magocracy go this far and start a war? What''s so important in this kingdom that the magocracy wants it so bad?¡± His mask almost falls off at the hearing of his county name. He starts screaming at the rest of the mages: ¡°We have been found out. We must kill everyone as fast as we can.¡± ¡°We should take care of this child first.¡± The red mage utters. Without other thoughts, a mage starts chanting a spell [Flame burst] The flames starts spreading everywhere and another mage is chanting another spell: [Flame control] The flames are absorbed in a ball of fire before his hand. The mage in blue is casting a spell, but I don¡¯t have the chance to block it. [Paralysis] My body is paralyzed. I can''t move and I can''t cast any spell. The rest of the mages start chanting attack spells. [Fire storm] [Heat wave] [Lava ball] They finish their magic and launch the attack at me all at once. I''m hit by fire and heat. My armor blocked a part of the damage, but I''m still in pretty bad form. I have four burn marks, two on my face and two on my left arm. I observed that the paralysis spell disappeared and before the steam from their attack cleared, I casted a spell. [Fire cannon] This is a high advanced [ball of flame] that I created. A dense cannon ball of fire is rushing from the steam and hit on of the mages. He is launched back a few metres covered in fire. His camarades put the fire out, but the mage is unconscious. ¡°This kid is more powerful than I thought. We can''t play around like this. Everyone prepare the circle.¡± The mage in black spoke. Suddenly they gather in a centre around me and start chanting a spell. I try to stop them but before I reached any of them, the spell activates and a huge beam of light arises from the circle and hits me. While I''m hit by the light I feel unbearable pain, and using a big quantity of my aether I cast a spell. [Break] The beam of light begins to fade until i disappear. Everybody watches in silence the event. I open my mouth and talk: ¡°You are powerful mages, indeed. I underestimated you. But know it doesn''t matter anymore.¡± He puts his had above his head and begin to say: [Dark world] With a huge speed, the darkness starts covering all the surrounding areas. The black mage sensed an enormous pressure. ¡°Everyone, get away from the darkness.¡± He screamed as loud as he could but two mages and the one laing on the ground were already crushed by the darkness. I feel how my aether is fading out. My body start to fail to conduct aether anymore. I know that I overused my magic and know I will pay the consequences. ¡®I¡¯m ready to die.¡¯ I told myself. I was waiting the death in the darkness, but it didn''t come. Instead of this I feel how an unimaginable power begins flowing in my body. I''m glowing like a christmas tree and the darkness vanishes away. I picked up a piece of glass from one of the mages and looked in it. My eyes are the color of blood and my hair is the same. I drop the piece of glass and start looking at the three mages that are watching me from the distance. I get close to them and they take a step back. ¡°Who the hell are you...?¡± One of them asks. ¡°Me. I¡¯m just a kid¡± I raises my hand and point them at two of the mages. [Volcanic eruption] [Streak of lightning] From my right hand a ball of lava is forming that I threw it a the mage. he screams in pain as is covered by the molten rock. Before anyone could realise, he was already dead. From my left hand, a lighting bolt get out and strike the mage. He falls dead on the ground. The only one alive is the mage in black, who starts talking. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°How on earth did you do that?¡± ¡°It was a simple seventh tier spell. I wanted to test my strength, and it''s seems that I can use seventh tier spell. Unfortunately I don''t know any eighth tier spell, so I can''t test my strength further.¡± ¡°That¡¯s imposible¡­ Nobody can use seventh tier spells.¡± The mage spoke in disbelieve. ¡°I don''t really need your approval, I only want to ask you, why the magocracy is so eager to invade the kingdom?¡± ¡°You are a fool if you think that I will betray my country.¡± ¡°We will see about that¡­¡± One hour later, the mage is reduced at a few chunks of meat. I turn around and go to the place where Oswyn is hiding. I know that he was watching all the fight but when I started to torture the black mage, he stopped looking at me. ¡°It''s time to go at the camp¡± I cryed out . Oswyn gets out from behind the tree and start talking. ¡°Why do you even take me with you? and how did you beat so much powerful mages? and why did you think that the priests were traitors?¡± I start laughing at the man because he is asking in a funny way. Seeing me laughing made him a little relaxed. ¡°I don''t know why I''m much more powerful than the normal humans but it doesn''t bother me .¡± ¡°Those priests were sent to make make sure that we lose. They cursed all our soldiers yesterday before the battle, that''s why the army barely keep up with the barbarians.¡± ¡°I took you with me because I will need you to confirm my story. Now it''s time to go. I will explain how are the things around here on our way back. We should arrive at the camp in a few hours.¡± We got up and start heading back at the camp. On our way back I begin to explain the situation. ¡°The magocracy sent that army of barbarians, and there are clear facts that make me think that they did that. First, the barbarians don''t have boats around the kingdom coast. That means that they entered the kingdom on foot and they only can do that without being noticed from magocracy.¡±I take a pause, then I begin to speak again. ¡°Secondly, how those barbarians have fifth tier mages? Someone else put the mages in the center of the barbarians and they did that because they were convinced that everyone from the kingdom army will perish. Without witnesses, the kingdom would have never been able to track this whole mess to the magocracy. Their only mistake was that they didn''t believe that somehow their mages can be killed.¡± Oswyn is looking at me with amazement. ¡°I never thought that this would be so complicated. Not even my father didn''t suspected something like that.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ The magocracy, in your face are acting like the good samaritan of the continent, but at your back are trying to take you down.¡± ¡°They probably want something with the kingdom, but I don''t understand what.¡± ¡°Who knows...¡± Oswyn answerd. ¡°By the way, we will not tell anyone what happened here. When we will reach the camp, we will give a false report.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because we don''t know where their spies are. Any suspicion that we possess so much information about them, and they will hunt us down. To be honest, I''m more concerned about your family then myself. We know that they already have the church on their side. That means that the magocracy controls thirty percent of the kingdom.¡± When he understood that his family can get hurt, Oswyn decided to listen the child . ¡°With that said, I have a mission for you.¡± I said in a rush. ¡°Of course, anything to help my kingdom.¡± ¡®That¡¯s what I wanted to hear.¡¯ ¡°I want you to gather as much information as you can about any treasure that the kingdom is hiding. Try to find places that are guarded by powerful mages.¡± ¡°You say that the magocracy is after some treasure?¡± ¡°Yea, something like that.¡± ¡°Ok, as soon as I get home, I will start to investigate.¡± 72day of Finore, year 853 A.C. Camp. We arrive at the camp, but the marquis is still at the battle. I entered the commander tent and I put on the table a map of the eastern continent. I go outside and take Oswyn with me back to the tent. "So, please explain the continent situation right now." I told him. He scratch his head and start speaking. ¡°We are in the center of the eastern continent¡± ¡°Our kingdom is in the center of the eastern continent, and unfortunately, is surrounded by powerful countries. In the nord is the Formene Republic and in the south is the Donhilond kingdom. Those two are our allies. In west it it the Iriondon kingdom and in south-east is the Thelonde Magocracy.¡± ¡°Do you have a map of the Magocracy?¡± ¡°Yes, there should be one here.¡± He took out the map and I analyzed it until the army came back. Not a chapter sorry, but this is not a chapter. I only want to know if I should keep writing Chapter 11 : Aftermath Hi, this is a short chapter that I wrote today. I''m sorry that I stopped writing, but I had a lot of thing to do. From now I will post as soon as I can. PS: If you find grammatical errors, please let me know. --- Chapter 11 : Aftermath 72day of Finore, year 853 A.C. Camp. The army just returned victorious. In the fight half of the legions died, 600 mercenaries and 100 mages. Aving come to me and begin speaking ¡°I can''t believe that you really defeated six fifth tier mages.¡± ¡°Indeed I killed them, but in the process only me and Oswyn survived.¡± ¡°War victims!¡± he exclaimed. ¡°By the way Zephyr¡­¡± William spoke ¡°You must come with me to the capital.¡± ¡°Why ?¡± I asked. ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure that the king would want to meet you and if you come with me to the capital we will save some time. The marquis and his son will come to.¡± That''s upsetting, I don''t want to meet the king, and now I can''t avoid it. ¡°If you put it that way¡­ I will come.¡±Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. The next day in the morning we departed to the capital. 97 day of Finore, year 853 A.C. Cadun The Capital is a city five times the size of Traford. He is divided in 3 different districts, everyone with a layer of walls. In the highest district are living the nobles and the royal family, in the middle district are living the wealthy citizens and in the lower district are living the peasants. Right now i''m in the second district. The marquis and Oswyn are gone to live in the first district, as guests, but I chose to stay here. I''m hosted at a inn in the center of the district. The street, is a lively one and most people are very nice, even with the strangers. I got out of the inn and started to walk towards a building at the end of the street. The building is four stories tall and it stretches over 200 square metres. This is the central library of the city. It''s almost two hundred years old and contains a variety of books. I stepped inside. The entrance room was a rectangle type room. On the left side was a bookshelf that occupies the entire wall. The books seemed to be well maintained. Those were books that you could buy . On the right side was a desk with a old woman behind it. On the large wall in front of me was a big hallway and four guards of each side of the hallway entrance. The heavily guarded entrance showed how much precios was the information inside the library. I walk to the desk and start speaking with the old woman. Judging by her appearance she looked like in her seventies. ¡°Good morning. I would like to use the library.¡± The woman twitches from her sleep and looks at me with amazement. Usually the library didn''t have so much visitors. Those that visited more were often old persons. It was pretty unusual that a kid like Zephyr to visit. ¡°One entrance is 300 coopers. If you wish to make a subscription for this year, that would be 10.000 coopers¡± I take out 300 coopers from my pocket. ¡°A single entrance please.¡± At the hearing of the words, the old woman seemed a little disappointed. She takes the money and gives me a iron symbol. After that she points at the hallway. I receive the symbol and I gave it to a soldier. After that I enter the library. 97 day of Finore, year 853 A.C. Traford ¨C cathedral Ephes Payne was standing in the middle of the chapel. Anger and perplexity could be seen of his face. Being the cardinal of the church means that he is responsable of the events which involves the church on the kingdom''s territory. A few minutes ago, he was informed that not only that the kingdom''s army succeeded in destroying the invading army, but in the fight, all the priests which the church detached were killed. ¡®How is this possible?¡¯ He thought to himself. In the invading army should have been six fifth tier mages, and how come that all the priests sent to hinder the kingdom''s army were killed? ¡®This is too odd. Clearly that someone figure out our plans. But there was someone in the army that was able to fight with all those six mages?¡¯ ¡®No way!¡¯ He refused immediately the idea. ¡®Not even a sixth tier mage could be able to fight six fifth tier mages. The only explanation is that the are had a sixth tier mage that took the mages one by one, or ambushed them.¡¯ This was the only explanation that he could come out with. Only a mage from the Magocracy council would have the power, items and resources to take out that amount of powerful mages. ¡®I need to inform the Magocracy immediately.¡¯ With those last words, he left the room. Chapter 12: Meeting the king Chapter 12 98 day of Finore, year 853 A.C. Cadun The sound of a carriage resounded through the streets of the capital. The carriage destination was the royal palace, in the middle of the city, and three people were standing inside it. The first one was marquis Aving, the second one was his eldest son, Oswyn, and the third person was, of course, Zephyr. They were heading to the royal palace to have a meeting with the king and celebrate the victory of the kingdom''s army over the invaders. Zephyr was pretty surprised when the carriage came to pick him up this morning. He wasn''t expecting that the meeting with the king would happen so fast. Only yesterday morning he went to the library to find out more about the Kingdom and the Magocracy. What he find out is that the Magocracy is not a country ruled by a king and nobles, but is ruled by a chamber of twelve mages. Those mages are the most powerful in the country and they take all the decision within it. What caught Zephyr''s attention was that any citizen of the Magocracy that is a mage, priest or enchanter can challenge one of the council members. If the challenger wins the battle, he automatically takes the place of the defeated council member in the council chamber and hence, he becomes one of the twelve rulers of the country. This was the reason why the council members are the most powerful mages in the Magocracy. Those challenges doesn''t happens too often and when they happens, the council members are far more superior because they are in possesion of great magic items. In the last 50 years, none of the council members were defeated. ¡°Are you nervous because you will meet the king?¡± Aving asked Zephyr, breaking the silence in the carriage. Zephyr rises his look to Aving and speaks. ¡°No, I was thinking of something.¡± Aving nodded in approval. ¡°Have you met the king before?¡± Zephyr asked curiously ¡°Yes, in a few occasions. Even Oswyn here, met the king once.¡± ¡°He is a good and kind man. Maybe too kind.¡± Said Oswyn with a low voice. ¡°I will have to agree with you on that my son.¡± ¡°Does something happened?¡± Asked Zephyr seeing the bad mood of the two persons. ¡°Well, you are a trustworthy person, so I can reveal the truth to you.¡± Zephyr make a sign to Aving to start talking. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Right now, This kingdom isn''t in good shape. The king holds only forty percent of the power and the nobles hold thirty percent. Even if the king holds more power, he keeps losing it¡± Aving made a pause, then he continued. ¡°We think that in five years, the nobles will hold forty five percent. The problem is that the greed of the nobles will eat this country alive.¡± Zephyr looked at the man before him and asked: ¡°There isn''t any way to diminish the power that the nobles hold?¡± ¡°Not without involving the kingdom in a civil war. If that happens, while we are occupied fighting among us, our enemies will take the opportunity and invade us.¡± Said Aving with a trace of sadness and anger in his tone. For the next thirty minutes, everyone in the carriage sat silent. The carriage stopped and the a buttler opened the door. Outside, Zephyr could see the entire yard of the palace. It was a huge garden with different flower, statues and other decorations. The palace was an immense building in the center of the garden. He was build from white marble and in some parts you could see weak traces of obsidian.The door was made from two layers of wood. One layer was green wood and the other layer was white wood. The white wood and the green wood are a very special type of wood that could be found only in the red forest. The white wood has a good resistance against magical attacks while the green wood has a very storng rezistance against phisical attacks They walked through the palace for a half an hour before reaching the door that opened the throne room. The butler pushed the door revealing the people inside. At the end of the room was a middle aged man sitting on the throne. At his left was a beautiful blonde woman with blue eyes and pale skin, and at his left was a young man, probably in his early twenties, His hair was blonde and his eyes were green. He was the second son of the king, Riffin Philippe Wims. The blonde woman was the queen, Riffin Agnata Sistina and the man in the middle was the king himself, Riffin Lifinch Ralphye. Few metres from them, on the sides, were captain William Wylcey and Bertin Halle, the royal guard captain. There rest of the people in the room were, on the left side of the red carpet that stretched from the throne to the door, Duke Geoffry Bexley Phelrey and Stephye Moore, which became captain of the first legion under Geoffry leadership after some unknown event, Duke Phomes Fordaye and Duke Gauward Wyarde. On the left side were Ephes Payne, the cardinal of the church and two other persons. One was a man called Zoirik Prulim. He was the new head of the mage association, after the death of Margaret Lyne in the battle. The other person was a woman named Mirinda Filam. She was appointed leader of the mercenary guild since Raffin Reeve suffered the same fate as Margaret Lyne. ¡°Greetings my friends. It''s a pleasure to see you.¡± Said the king. The three persons got closer to the king, bowed before him said in unison:¡±Greetings, your Majesty!¡± ¡°It''s been some time, Aving¡± said the king with a smile on his face. ¡°Indeed Majesty.¡± ¡°Is your family good? I see that your son got quite big since the last time I saw him.¡± ¡°They are happy and healty, Sire.¡± The tension could be read in Aving''s words. Even if in private he could speak with the king as with a good friend, in public with so many high ranked people, he couldn''t do such rude thing. The king turns his look to the you boy that was in front of him. ¡°You must be Zephyr. I heard a lot of good think about you.¡± ¡°Everyone, please let me introduce you to Zephyr, the person that had a big contribution in the winning of the war.¡± The room started to get noisy. Almost every present person was curious about who is the kid and what he did to change the fate of the war. ¡°On the battlefield, he used a spell that annihilated six fifth tier mages, but unfortunately with the cost of 100 of our priests.¡± As the words left his mouth, the room exploded.- How could this be? He really beat six powerful mages ? What is that spell? Could we have it?- Those were the words that filled the room and that everyone was asking them. The only one that was lost in his thoughts was Payne. ¡®How could this be? This must be a lie. How could a kid like this know about a spell so powerful and I never heard of it. Who is he?¡¯ Those were the thoughts that invaded Payne''s mind. ¡®But this should be the truth.¡¯ He said to himself. ¡®This would explain what happened to the priests and why we won the war.¡¯ Without any further delay, he stepped forward and spoke: ¡°Could you teach us the spell you used? That would be the undeniable proof that this event is truth.¡± Before he could say anything else, Zephyr spoke. ¡°Unfortunately, I cannot reveal the spell or teach anyone. I made a oath that I will never reveal the spell.¡± Of course that there wasn''t such a oath, but Zephyr couldn''t say that. ¡°Enough with that Payne.¡± Said the king with a annoyed tone. ¡°This man helped us more than you think. I will not question his facts and I will not ask him to violate his oath.¡± Hearing the angered king, Payne stepped back in his place. ¡°Of course. I apologize for my behaviour.¡± Ralphye nodded in agreement and switched his attention to Zephyr. ¡°I wish to reward your loyalty and contribution. Say, what do you wish?¡± ¡°A reward of 100.000 thousand cooper was already been delivered by the Marquis Aving here.¡± Said Zephyr. ¡°Indeed, but that was Aving''s token of appreciation, please, do me the pleasure and ask for a proper reward.¡± Zephyr started to think. What he could ask for? he already had money, so he could buy most of the things. A few seconds later, a smile is dawning on his face. ¡®That should do.¡¯ He tought. ¡°As you know Majesty, I follow the path of magic. I''m already a third tier mage, so the academies in the kingdom can''t polish me enough.¡± His words surprised the people in the room. A third tier mage at his age was unheard. Usually people reveal their truth potential around the age of twenty. ¡°I would like to enrol in the Magocracy Ather Academy.¡± ¡°Well, this is something that can be arranged. But you know that on the period that you will attend the academy, you will become a citizen of the Magocracy?¡± The Magocracy Ather Academy was the best academy on the continent. Only the most richest and talented ones could attend to it. ¡°Yes, I''m aware of that!¡± Said Zephyr while a deceptive smile appeared on his face. Chapter 13: Keronk Chapter 13 53 day of Hanur, year 853 A.C. Cadun Zephyr has woken up and started to pack the little bagage he had. It has been almost 65 days since his meeting with the king. After the celebration was over, the king requested that he would stay in the palace until the begining of the new academic year. Zephyr tried to deny the request, but all he could do was to move his residence from the palace to the wealthiest district in the city where all the nobles lived. Of course that during his stay all his taxes were paied by the royal family. A few days after celebration, the king summoned Zephyr in his office. He explained to the young boy that the Magocracy is a country were the respect is earned by your magical abilities. The better you are the better you are seen. It''s a special kind of country where money are less important then magic. The other thing that he explained is that eighty percent of the population of the magocracy are Aether users. The Magocracy also attracts a variety of aether users from all the surrounding countries and because of this, right now, the magocracy is the most powerful country on the continent. Their military power is far greater than that of the surrounding countries combined. After a few details about the location of the academy and the date of the admission, the king sent Zephyr on his way. During those 65 days, Zephyr studied his magical capabilities. Turns out that in his magical level is the sixth tier. From his study, he realised that he doesn''t know a lot of spells so he decided to list his current knowledge. Right know, he had 15 spell that he could use: [Volcanic eruption] [Streak of lightning] [Dark world] [Break] [Fire cannon] [Clean] [High Magic Rezistance] [High Vitality] [Mass explosion] [Temporary paralysis] [Enchanted body] [Ignite flame] [Explode] [High Healing] [Sound-proof] He would use the time in the academy to improve his current spells, his ability in controlling aether and to learn new powerful spells. Today was the day of his departure to the Magocracy. The carriage was already waiting him outside so he took his luggage and left the house. 83 day of Hanur, year 853 A.C. Keronk (The capital of the magocracy) Keronk, the capital of the magocracy, is the biggest city on the continent. It stretches on a radius of 4 kilometres and hosts over two million people. The city has three layer of walls that are over twenty metres height and six metres thick. Outside of the city walls , the farms are stretching more than ten kilometres in all direction. From them can be harvest twice the amount of food needed to sustain the city.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Keronk is divided in 9 districts: The council district, which was in the north of the city. The market district, located in the central aria. The crafting district in the south. The academy district in south-west. The rest are living districts. District one, with the wealthiest and powerful people in the west. District two and district three were located in north-west and north-east. Those two districts are hosting middle ranked people. The rest of two districts are located in east and south-east and are hosting the weakest and poorest people in the city. Keronk is the most advanced city in the field of magical technology. Here you could buy every kind of magical devices. From the magical coolers to the flying boards, from the aether lamps to the comunication orbs. This is the heaven for any magical researcher. This is the only city on the whole continent that has public lighting on every street. At night, from afar, the city seems to be a glowing jewel. The carriage just arrived in the city and headed directly to a house in the first district. The house was bought by the kingdom''s royal family a few days ago. This would be the house which will host Zephyr for the next 5 years. It was a middle size house built from red marble. There were other houses much more outstanding but this was enough for Zephyr. He opened the door of the house and had a look inside. There were two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom. The furniture wasn''t very extravagant but it was something that common people couldn''t afford. He took his luggage and started to unpack. A few hours later, he finished with the accommodation and headed outside to eat something. When he left the house it was already dark outside and the image before him was outstanding. He couldn''t describe this city as anything but amazing. The lights on the street made the city look like a shiny piece of gold. If he will want to establish somewhere, this place will be the choice. Walking on the street he saw a lot of restaurants that drowned his attention. ¡®This place is amazing.¡¯ He thought He stops in front of a restaurant called The Fresh Way. After a few looks at the place he decides to enter. The place was a big spherical room with twenty table spread through it. Half of the tables were occupied with people. Judging by their clothes, they were high class people and this was a high class restaurant. He sat at a table close to the door and started to read through the menu. There were a lot of foods that he didn''t hear about. After a few minutes of searching, he decides and makes a sign to the waiter to come at him. ¡°Have you decided sir?¡± Said the waiter. ¡°Yes! I will have a white rabbit soup.¡± ¡°A great choice, sir!¡± Exclaimed the waiter trying to flatter Zephyr. ¡°Do you want something to drink sir?¡± ¡°Water is fine.¡± The waiter nodded in approval. ¡°I will be right back with your order. ¡° The waiter left and Zephyr started to look around at the people in the restaurant. There were a few different types of people in the restaurant: A few of them were soldiers, some of them were businessmen. A particular group caught Zephyr''s attention. Three tables ahead of him, was group of three boys and two girls that were wearing academy''s uniform. They were having a loud contradiction about a specific spell, namely [Dark world]. Zephyr noted them because he is aware of the spell. It''s a fifth tier spell that envelops a specific area with darkness and exercise a huge pressure on that aria. He continued to stare at the group until his meal arrived. The rabbit soup was delicious and Zephyr finished before he realised. After another soup that he ordered after he finished the first one, Zephyr called the waiter and asked for the bill. ¡°That would be 560 coopers, sir!¡± ¡®Pretty expensive¡¯ Thought Zephyr. The waiter received the money and prepared to leave but Zephyr stopped him. ¡°Can I ask you a question?¡± asked the boy. ¡°Of course, sir!¡± ¡°Could you please tell me where is the academy?¡± ¡°Well... the academy is located in the south-west of the city. The academy district isand this one areneighbors .¡° ¡°I see¡­ Thank you¡± Zephyr notted in appreciation. ¡°Are you interested in applying at the academy?¡± asked the waiter curiously. ¡°Yes, I came from Elellon to apply.¡± ¡°Well, I will see you later.¡± Said Zephyr. Zephyr raised from the table and headed to the door. He got out and started to go on his way when someone suddenly screamed at him to stay. He turned around and noticed that the group of students from the academy followed him outside. The person who shouted at him was a blonde man with green eyes. He was a little taller then Zephyr but it was clearly older with at least 6 years. The other two boys were twins. They had black eyes and black hair, and were older then Zephyr with a few years. The two girls were tall and blonde. Ona had blue eyes and the other one had black eyes. ¡°I accidentally heard that you will try to enter the academy.¡± Said the blonde man. ¡°Yes, tomorrow I will go to the admission.¡± ¡°Aren''t you too little to join the academy? ¡° Said the man with a smirk on his face. ¡°There isn''t an age restriction.¡± added Zephyr clearly passed by the blonde shit before him. ¡°Still at your age, you can''t even reveal your true potential. You have no chance to enter.¡± ¡°GO HOME!¡± screamed one of the twins. ¡°Ray, Let him be.¡± Said one of the girls. ¡°Why should I? Is only a child that thinks too good of himself.¡± Zephyr tired of the little shit, spoke: ¡°Back in the restaurant I heard that you advocate that the spell [Dark world] is only an camouflage spell.¡± In the restaurant, the boys claimed that the spell was only a diversion spell that can cover the surrounding area in darkness and nothing more. The girls claimed that the spell must have another effect that they were unaware of. ¡°Yes, It''s a fifth tier camouflage spell.¡± Sait Ray. ¡°Well, let me show you the contrary.[Lesser Dark world]¡± As the words left his mouth, the surrounding area become darker and a huge force pressed on the Ray. His friends were paralyzed. Their friend, a third tier mage, was bound to the ground by a child. Because of the pressure Ray fainted. That was the moment Zephyr dispersed the spell. He used a lesser alternative of the spell. If he would use the normal spell, the poor Ray would have died instantly. Zephyr turned around and left while the group was looking at him with fear. Chapter 14: The exams Chapter 14 84 day of Hanur, year 853 A.C. Keronk (The capital of the magocracy) The Aether academy is the greatest magical school on the continent. Located in the magocracy''s capital, it benefits from the best teachers and the best magic technology. The academy is composed of 5 main buildings and a few smaller ones. Each of the main buildings is designed to teach one of the five areas of magic: Arcane, support, enchant, alchemy and spirit. Zephyr was waiting outside in front of the first building alongside with a few thousand of kids. Each of the buildings were having a few hundred of students in front of them, but where Zephyr was standing, were a lot more people. The reason was that the arcane magic was the most common type of magic. After some good minutes of waiting, a man in a green robe came to the gate. The same thing happened at the other four buildings as well. ¡°Good morning small ones!¡± ¡°My name is Solomon Garrat. I''m the Great teacher of this branch.¡± In the academy are a few tens of teachers, 5 great teachers that are in charge of the main five branches, 7 masters and one grand master which is the leader of the academy and one of the 12 council members of the country. ¡°If you are here it means that you wish to join our prestigious academy. Well, even if I''m happy to see so much young people eager to join us, I must tell you that based on the previous admission exams, only a quarter of you will be admitted.¡± His words made a little agitation but the crowd settled down quickly. ¡°There will be one test that you must pass in order to be admitted and another test which will decide your rank in the academy. The first test will start in a few minutes in the building behind me, so please follow me inside.¡± The crowd of people started to move inside. After they arrived in a huge room, they received a ticket with a number on it. The numbers were from 1 to 2230 and Zephyr had the number 45. ¡°Let me explain to you, how will this test go.¡± Said the teacher. ¡°When your number is called, you will come here, put your hand on this sphere and you will pour all your aether in it.¡± The sphere was in front of a wall with a few thousand crystals on him. ¡°In case that you don''t know, this is a level measurement device. Depending on how many crystals light up, we can determine what''s your true potential. This is why, you must pour all your aether into the sphere. The minimum level to pass is second tier.¡± Said the man.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Zephyr was amazed that the Magocracy could craft something like this. From his knowledge the only way to find out one''s true level was to use a fifth tier spell. The first kid stepped next to the teacher and put his hand on the sphere. He poured all his aether in the sphere and one by one, the crystals on the wall began to glow. Shortly after that, the aether began to return to the kid and the crystals stopped glowing ¡°55. He is a second tier.¡± Said one of the teachers that were counting the crystals. Another kid stepped on beside of the teachers. He put his hand on the sphere and the crystals started to glow again. ¡°107. He is a third tier.¡± They continued with the testing and the count reached 41. ¡°Please put your hand on the sphere.¡± Said the green robed teacher to the child before him. The child was tall, had green eyes and brown hair. He was a pretty looking kid and judging by his clothes, he was a very wealthy person. He put his hand on the sphere and the crystals began to glow one by one until it reached 870. The teacher seemed a little enthusiastic. ¡°Interesting¡­ You are a forth tier. Pretty rare indeed.¡±Said the man. ¡°The boy walked away after the teacher noted his accomplishments. After another three kids that were first tier, It was Zephyr''s turn.¡± Since he saw how they are tested, he decided not to reveal his truth power. Not that he didn''t wanted, but the teachers will start to ask questions that he cannot answer because he doesn''t know the answers. Still he didn''t want to show himself too weak, so he made a decision based on the teacher previous reaction. ¡®That should do¡¯ He thought to himself. He walked beside the teacher, put his hand on the sphere and started pouring aether into it. He watched how the crystals began to glow and stopped when he became close to his target. The teacher was even more enthusiastic. Looking at the grind on the teacher''s face, Zephyr thought that he has gone too far. But he calmed himself down when the man spoke. ¡°1150. He is a forth tier as well.¡± ¡®That should be good.¡¯Thought Zephyr. After he left, the counting kept until all the participants were tested. The ones that failed have been already escorted outside. The teacher walked in front of the crowd and spoke. ¡°Congratulations. You have passed the first exam and from now, you are students at our academy. The next exam will start soon in the next room, so please follow me.¡± After the first exam, 1730 participants failed. The ones who passed are listed by their level: 415 second tier, 78 third tier, 5 fourth tier and 2 of the fifth tier. This was one of the best year of the academy. ¡°The second test consist in controlling your aether and you will be parted in groups of 50. This test will decide what rank you will have in the academy. There are 5 ranks: Beginner, apprentice, medium, advanced, expert. .At the end of each year, you can give a promotion exam.¡± In a short time, ten groups were lined up in front of the teacher. Zephyr was part of the first group. The teacher made a sign and a few other teachers gave a crystal to every one in the first group. ¡°Those crystals are very special and we have only 50. Their special feature is repealing aether. So the test is simple; The longer you can maintain your aether inside the crystal, the better control you have over your aether.¡± Zephyr started to pour his aether into the crystal. The problem was that the longer he tried to keep the aether inside, the harder became. In the end, his result were pretty amazing comparing with the majority of the students. He maintained the aether inside for 5 minutes. He could have keep it more time, but decided that this should be enough. After his group finished, they passed the crystals to the second group and went in the next room. The majority of the students managed to keep it for 2 minutes. The two fifth tier mages managed to keep it for 4 and a half minutes. There was one person that managed to reach five and a half minutes and that was the first fourth tier mage. ¡°Those who lasted less than three minutes will be ranked as beginners. Those under five minutes will be ranked apprentice. Those under over five minutes will be ranked medium.¡± Said the teacher. ¡°Those who need to apply to for a dorm please follow me. The rest of you are free to go home after you choose your classes. We will expect you tomorrow morning at courses.¡± Zephyr didn''t need a dorm so he headed directly to choose his classes. There were a lot of classes that he could choose. He can take a minimum of 4 classes at week or a maximum of 7 classes at week. The first five chooses were of course the five magic types: arcane, enchanter, support, alchemy, spirit. Even if couldn''t use all of the types of magic, not knowing about their potential and danger would be a mistake. The other two classes were magical technology and aether research. The latter one was a class that studied the last discoveries of the aether behavior. After he received his uniform, Zephyr went to eat and then home. He was pretty impatient to start learning more about magic so in that night he fell asleep late in the night _____________________ The next post will contain only information about the world. Because I feel that the actual chapters are too short, the future chapters will have at least 2.500 words. Chapter 14.5 First I would like to explain how the time works: One year is divided in four seasons with 110 days each. Finore is spring, Hanur is summer, Kusha is autumn and Iram is winter. Each days is 24 hours. Each hours is 60 minutes... and so on. Right now, in the story, there are five nations: - The Kingdom of Elellon which is in the center of the continent. - The Kingdom of Iriondon in west - The Kingdom of Donhilond in south - The Republic of Formene in north - The Magocracy of Thelonde in North-east In the future will be a lot more nations, but for now, they are irrelevant.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. This is the MC skill list: [Volcanic eruption] [Streak of lightning] [Dark world] [Break] [Fire cannon] [Clean] [Hight Magic Rezistance] [High Vitality] [Mass explosion] [Temporary paralysis] [Enchanted body] [Ignite flame] [Explode] [Sound-proof] [High Healing] In the future, I will describe more detailed how the skills look like when they are used. In the next chapters I will explain how magic works and why the skills need to be called out loud by the characters As I written in the last chapter, the aether can be measured. I haven''t decided on the name of the measurement unit so I will add a poll in this and I will let the majority decide. I know that I confused you a bit last chapter with those measurement numbers so below is a list with the quantity of aether necessary for each tier. 1-15 = first tier 16 - 70 = second tier 71 - 490 = third tier 491 - 2.900 = fourth tier 2.901 - 11.500 = fifth tier 11.501 ¨C 62.300 = sixth tier 62.301 ¨C 470.400 = seventh tier 470.401 ¨C 4.050.000 = eighth tier 4.050.001 ¨C 43.340.000 = ninth tier 43.340.001 ¨C 550.200.000 = tenth tier. I know that from the seventh tier, the numbers are a little crazy, but bear in mind that there won''t be someone higher than seventh tier in the near future. And the ninth and tenth tiers... I don''t even know if they will ever appear in the story, I just put them there. I will explain a lot more in the next chapters. This is only a short resume of the thinks that I wanted to explain. I don''t have a lot of time those days to write a chapter so It will take a few days until the next one is up. I will also start improving some of the first chapters, when I have the time. Chapter 15 Chapter 15 85 day of Hanur, year 853 A.C. Keronk (The capital of the magocracy) Zephyr was walking through the academy yard. His destination was the arcane class. During his travel through the academy, he observed different types of uniforms which puzzled him for a moment. His uniform was green with a yellow bandana on his arm, but he saw blue, red and orange uniforms. At first, he thought that the color of the uniform represents the year or the rank in the school, but he abandoned that thought. The teachers will probably explain how the things are going. He continued to walk until he reached the entrance of the arcane building. This building was hosting all the activities related to the arcane magic. After opening the huge wooden doors, he stepped inside. The entrance room was a huge semi-spherical room with three hallways. Zephyr started to walk to the center of the room where, on a panel, was displayed the map of the building. There were a few students in front of the panel but he didn''t want bother them by asking for directions. After a few minutes of looking at the panel, he finally identified the location of class 21, which was the class where his first course was going to take place. Not long after that, he reached the second floor and headed to the class. He was a little nervous. This was the first time that he actually wants to be somewhere and the tension was pressure on his shoulders. He opened the door and walked in. The class was a middle size room with five columns of six benches. In front of the benches was a big office with some papers on it. The class was almost full with students that turned their heads to Zephyr when he walked in. They were wearing uniforms of different colors. Zephyr spotted a free bench at the end of the last column, near the window. After he sat in his bench, the other students returned to their activities. They seemed that they already bounded some friendship between them, but to Zephyr that was meaningless. He came here to learn about magic and nothing else. The door opened again and the teacher came in. He was a old man with white hair and long beard. He was wearing a green robe, the same color as Zephyr¡¯s. In his hand were a few books and a notebook. He sat at his office, put his hands on the desk and spoke: ¡°Good morning students!¡± He made a pause, then spoke again ¡°My name is Hilin Edras and this year, I will be your teacher in the arts of the arcane magic.¡± ¡°I''m a strict person and I don''t like to be interrupted. If you have something to say, then you raise your hand. If you speak unasked during my class, you will be punished. Remember that some of you are in a foreing country, and your relations won''t help you. If you have any objection, raise your hand.¡± Nobody raised his hand. ¡°Good, now that we made that clear, let me explain to you why some of you are wearing different types of uniforms. As you know, there are five fields of magic. In this school, depending on the field that you applied for, you wear a different uniform. Arcane students wears green, enchant wears blue, support wears red, alchemy students wears orange and spirit students wears white. As for the bandanas on your arms, I will explain that later.¡± ¡°At this course we will study arcane spells and aether manipulation. The first thing that you need to know is that the spells are divided by tiers and ranks. The tier of a spell is given by the amount of aether that the spell uses. For example, if a spell uses between 1 and 15 crystals of aether, then is a first tier spell. If the spell uses between 16 and 70 crystals of aether, then is a second tier spell. The reason why a first tier mage cannot use a second tier spell is that the spell uses more aether than the mage can store.¡± ¡°The rank of a spell is given by the level of mastery of it''s user. There are 5 ranks for each spell. Lesser, Weaker, Normal, Higher , Greater. When a user learns a spell, he can use only the normal rank of that spell. But the using that spell many times, he will begin to unlock the weak and high ranks, and then, the lesser and greater ranks.¡± ¡°As you probably know, while you cast a spell, you must say out loud the spell''s name. Even if you can cast a spell without saying aloud, the time of casting will be much longer. We still don''t know why saying aloud the spell''s name increases his casting speed, but we suspect that it has to do with the concentration.¡± Zephyr was listening to the man before him. He was fascinated by the amount of stuff that he already learned. ¡®Who would have thought that coming to this academy will be so useful.¡¯ thought him. He snapped out and continued to listen the teacher. ¡°Good. Now that we cleared some general stuff about magic, it''s time to begin the first lesson.¡± Said the man, clapping his hands at the same time. ¡°Most of you are mages. That means that you can use arcane magic. Even if the majority of the aether users can only use one of the magic fields, there are people that can use two or three fields of magic. The persons that can use two fields of magic are very rare and those who can use three fields are almost nonexistent. There is only one person in the entire history that we know he can use three types. As for the two fields persons¡­ the Grand master of the academy is such a person. He is a mage and a enchanter. A very powerful combination.¡±Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°The arcane magic is the most useful magic in battle. The bases of this magic consist in projecting aether out of your body through different ways. The arcane magic is divided in three categories: Elemental magic, Mental magic and Raw magic.¡± ¡°The elemental magic consist in projecting aether out of your body as: fire, water, earth, wind, thunder, light and dark. This is the most basic type of arcane magic. The mental magic affects the mind of the opponent. Here we have illusions, telepathy, mind control and other types which I won''t mention. This field of magic is not yet fully explored. The raw magic is the hardest to control and the most dangerous type of arcane magic. This magic is based on projecting raw aether out of your body.¡± Zephyr recognized the last category of magic. He himself used it a few times and he had to admit that it was indeed very powerful. The spells [Explode] and [Mass explosion] were spells from this category. The time flew by and before he could realised, the two hours were almost gone. The teacher lifted from the seat and spoke:¡±Before we finish the first course, I want to tell you that the tier that you are is not everything. If you are a sixth tier doesn''t mean that you are invincible. You must train and learn to control your aether. This is more important than your tier. I personally know about a very well trained third tier mage that easily killed a fifth tier mage which was untrained.¡± The words of the teacher left the students speechless. ¡°Think of that until the next week.¡± Said the teacher while leaving the class. After the teacher left, some students started to speak and share ideas, while others left for the next course. Zephyr was one of the students that left. He had another course today, but it was in two hours. So he decided to go and eat something. There were hundreds of students in the canteen. Zephyr walked in, picked some meat with rice and sat at a free table. The food wasn''t as good as the one at the Fresh Way, the restaurant that he eat the other day, but it wasn''t bad either. He finished eating and still had one and a half hours before the next class. He decided to go in the garden of the academy to train a little. The garden was a huge place covered in grass and bushes. It could hardly be called a garden. Zephyr noticed that he wasn''t the only one that had this ideea. A few tens of metres from him, a group of students were training. Judging by their uniforms, they were enchanters. Zephyr sat down and started to meditate. He began to feel his aether. By the quantity of aether, he was at the peak of sixth tier. If someone would measure his aether, they will be amazed by the 62.000 crystals . But even if he has so much aether, he could only use a quarter of it. If he trains his body and learns a better control of his aether, he will be able to use his full power. The group of students noticed him and gathered around him. Zephyr opened his eyes and was staring at the students. The group was formed from three boys and two girls. ¡°Can I help you with something?¡± Said Zephyr in a calm and meditative way. ¡°Hi my name is Zaen¡± Said one of the boys. He was a fifteen years old, dark-haired boy, a bit taller than Zephyr. ¡°Those are Colrin, Geremy, Sanya and Ayana.¡± Continued Zaen. Zephyr noted, then he spoke:¡± My name is Zephyr. Nice to meet you.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you!¡± Said one of the girls, blushing. ¡°We were training over there and I noticed that you are a mage. As you can see we are all enchanters and we could use a mage in our training.¡± Said Zaen. Zephyr was a little confused. Until know, the students that he meet at this academy were assholes. He was delighted to meet some nice persons. ¡°Ok! But why do you need a mage?¡± ¡°Well... We want to train against mages.¡± Said Sanya. ¡°So what do I have to do?¡± asked Zephyr. ¡°Before I came to the academy, I learned a spell for enchanting one''s magical resistance. I want to see how powerful the spell is, but my friends don''t have powerful attack spells.¡± Said Zaen. ¡°Very well. The rest of you take a step back. I don''t know how powerful the spell that I will use is.¡± Said Zephyr. The rest of the students, took a step back while Zaen and Zephyr were face to face. At the hearing of Zephyr''s words, Zaen got a little scared, but his confidence in his spell made him go forward. ¡°[Magic Absorption]¡± uttered Zaen. Soon, he started to glow in a green light. His body was covered with a glass-like shield. He took a defence position and begin to wait for the attack. ¡®A really nice spell.¡¯ thought Zephyr. ¡®By the quantity of aether that he used, this is a third tier spell. I need a weak spell that doesn''t kill him.¡¯Zephyr searched a few seconds in his mind, then he came up with a decent spell. ¡®I hope that this isn''t too much.¡¯ thought him. ¡°[Lesser Fire cannon]¡± A fireball erupts from Zephyr''s hand and Goes straight to Zaen. This was a fourth tier spell, at the lowest rank. Even if it wasn''t as powerful as the normal spell, it could still kill a defenseless third tier aether user. The fireball made contact with Zaen and exploded. To Zephyr''s amazement, Zaen didn''t suffered much damage. The shield that was covering his body, absorbed more than 70% of the explosion. ¡°Amazing!¡± Exclaimed Zephyr. ¡°This is indeed a powerful defence spell that you got there.¡± ¡°Yes it is. But I didn''t expect that your attack to be so powerful. You are more powerful than I thought.¡± Pointed Zaen. ¡°I''m very curious about that spell. Can you teach me?¡± asked Zephyr. ¡°This is indeed a powerful defence spell that does not repel the attack, but it absorbs it.Unfortunately, I cannot teach you. Only my family is allowed to learn this spell.¡± ¡°What a shame!¡± voiced Zephyr. While the two boys were conversing and changing ideas, Sanya, suddenly spoke. ¡°Now I remember. I saw you at the entrance exams. You are a fourth tier mage.¡± The other students were speechless. A fourth tier mage was someone that could easily win against four or five three tier mages.Even Zaen was surprised. The he remembered the power of the spell from earlier. ¡°That quite a surprise. What about a fight against all of us.¡± Pointed Zaen. ¡°What?!¡± Exclaimed the rest of the group. ¡°We will all fight at once, we will at least be a challenge to Zephyr.¡± Continued Zaen. ¡°That''s fine with me.¡± Said Zephyr with a smile. ¡°Maybe another time. The next course starts in ten minutes.¡± Said one of the boys. ¡°Too bad, maybe some other time¡± Uttered Zaen. ¡°Fine with me.¡± Continued Zephyr. After the group left, Zephyr started to walk to the enchant¡¯s building, where his next course will be. The enchant''s building was a bigger than the arcane building and the students were mostly wearing blue uniforms. He entered the classroom and sat at a bench in front of the column. It didn''t took long until the teacher came in and started to speak. ¡°Good morning! My name is Cedroc Malcalm, and I will be your enchant teacher.¡± ¡°As you probably know, the enchantment is the magic field that can bestow or improve different powers. An enchanter can enchant only two things: a living thing and a aether gem. An enchant on a living thing is more powerful than on a gem, but it isn''t permanent. While an enchant on a gem is much weaker but it''s permanent, or until it''s removed. There are two types of enchant: physical amplifiers and magical amplifiers.¡± ¡°If a person is a mage and a enchanter, as the great master of the school , then he can enchant gems with attack spells. For example, such person can enchant a gem with the fireball spell and then apply it to a sword. Anyone who would hold that sword could use the spell.¡± The two hours flew by, while the teacher kept explaining the basis of enchanting. After the course, Zephyr walked started to walk home. The street was crowded so Zephyr decided to make a small detour. He entered a small street and kept walking until he reached the market district. This district was the biggest, there were hundreds of shops and stalls. As he walked down the street, an abandoned building caught Zephyr''s attention. After studying the building for a few minutes, he made a detour to the district''s administration building. *** 85 day of Hanur, year 853 A.C. Cadun Geoffry Bexley Phelrey, one of the powerful nobles in the Kingdom of Elellon. In the past fifteen years, he was the most trustworthy person on the king side. He tried to diminish the Phomes Fordaye''s power and make the king the only leader of the kingdom. Of course that he didn''t succeed even once, and now, all of his attempts were backfiring at him. He was staying in his office looking through some papers, as usual, when the door slam hard and Stephye Moore entered. Stephye Moore was the captain of his first legion, and the man that he trusted the most. If he would barge in his office without formalities, then they have a big problem. ¡°Sir... I''m sorry for my lack of formalities, but I have urgent information.¡± Geoffrey made a sign of approval. ¡°What''s happened captain?¡± asked Geoffry a little worried. ¡°The king''s plan to annex the power of the little nobles failed.¡± Those were hard words and Geoffry knew that meaning of it.