Black Magus

Eved.

***

At no surprise to me, Amun of Odissi had always been a curious child. Not only in the fact that his inquiring mind never ceased to turn. It was in the fact that he held a certain quality that could only be described as… otherworldly. A trait given to describe but a single being in all the eons of Youtera’s history.

I felt it the moment Ebbet first placed him in my arms. The cold, analytical eyes that gazed into my own weren’t filled with the warm relief one would expect from a newborn seeing their mother for the first time. On the contrary, it only reminded me of the cunningly inquisitive eyes of the aged and the wise. As Emeric knew at first sight that Amun was a Sorcerer, I was fully aware that he was the long-awaited Cleric. Telin’s Champion.

As I swore to do on that day so many years ago, I dutifully watched my son grow around the confines of Cole Estate. And it was marvelous. Neither his genius, physical prowess, nor magical ability surprised me in the slightest. For I knew he was holding back. Emeric, on the other hand, was more than delighted at having such a gifted son. As would have anyone, I supposed. Even more so for someone of royal standing, again I supposed. Such nuances of the human world were always an enigma to me. With that the case, however, Amun’s hold on elemental manipulation was unlike anything I had ever seen. Not even during the climax of the guild wars did humans command the elements as fiercely as he and his vassals.

It was something that brought me just as much joy as it did worry.

“Our son is amazing!” Emeric gasped after we’d made it to our residence, the simple log cabin we’d first taken root in after our arrangement.

“Do you remember our agreement, Emeric?” I asked with no regard for our son’s praise.

“Of course.” He nodded with sudden confusion. “We were to sire a child and raise him together until he attended the awakening ceremony. Then you’d go back to Youtera.

“But what happens after?” He added after my affirmatory nod.

“Amun will not see me until he is at least fifty. Then, he will come to Youtera to learn the art of mana forging and of his history as a half-drow.” I calmly explained.

Emeric knew I would never divulge elven secrets to a human, despite how highly he was regarded by us and regardless of the same flustered expression he always had when I spoke in near-tongues about our child. Yet the prodding words still poured forth from his lips all the same.

“Surely you needn’t wait until he’s fifty!” He scoffed. “The longer you wait the more detrimental the effect may be. Surely you must be aware of this.”

“I am not who decides such things.” I calmly shook my head.

“If anyone decides, it should be Amun!” He pouted with a raised finger. Admittedly catching me off guard.

“You’ve seen how intelligent the boy is.” Emeric continued, taking advantage of my moment of pause. “It’s only a matter of time before he pieces things together himself. Then, he may harbor ill feelings towards the both of us for omitting the truth; whatever that truth may be.”

As much as I hated to admit it, I could only see just that happening when imagining Amun’s analytical mind coming to any one conclusion regarding his parents. I was more than certain he noticed the patterns, after all. The lack of intimacy shown between us, his parents, and the shortage of bonding time while my constant awareness of his progress remained intact. Not to mention the fact he so quickly ascertained Jonet’s true purpose. I couldn’t help but get the feeling that he placed her in the position of a spy just to prove to me that he knew.

“Perhaps you are right.” I sighed. “I will speak to him before his cores are awakened and inquire of his knowledge on the matter.”

“Then we are agreed on.” Emeric sighed, stepping towards me to embrace.

“Yes.” I nodded, allowing his arms to wrap around me. ‘I will speak to him and judge if his will- his morals are aimed in the right direction.

‘If not…’

***

Amun.

***

'Well, that wasn’t ominous.'

My mother had always been placid or at best amused by anything I did. So naturally, the sudden morbid seriousness that dragged my father away was nothing to wave off. Even Gerolt seemed to be taken aback by it, watching my father hesitantly step behind my mother with the widest eyes I'd seen him wear. At least until they disappeared behind the walls, wherein he awkwardly dismissed himself and trailed off in the opposite direction.

With my vassals and I once again in solitude, them awkwardly standing around waiting, I cataloged my thoughts and theories for later before clapping to gather their attention. “Excellent work, everyone! With our little demonstration, I assume we’ll soon be allowed to venture further from the estate without supervision. As there is no question that we can protect ourselves. It’s’ because of that.” I paused to begin pacing. “Our dexterity and coordination training will be completely optional. Starting today, it will be replaced with strength training and conditioning. Thirty minutes each. After, we’ll continue our routine of combat training with and without weapons, continuing with elemental fusion for another hour before we finish the night off with spellcasting.”

An excited grin spread across Toril's face at the mention of spells, giving me all the more reason to begin the lesson.

“I’ll start by asking if any of you have tried a reinforcement spell?”

“I have yet to try it, My Lord.” Toril bowed first.

“Why not?” I asked. “I assume it’d be fairly straightforward for elec- lightning.”

“I’ve split the entirety of my focus into my education, our training, and understanding your reading material, My Lord, per your instructions.” He bowed again.

“True.” I nodded. ‘You all do still have to sleep, after all.’ I then turned to Jaimess, to which he solemnly shook his head in response.

Jonet on the other hand, took a wide stance before her eyes closed to focus. Over the next few seconds, I studied the chaotic weave of mana in search of some shift or change and only found the ambient air growing colder and colder. Yet the only change came from within. Her frame grew bulkier and blocker as her clothes and skin hardened and froze. Not into the ice-blue humanoid I imagined. She looked... relatively normal, minus her frozen body and glowing irises. She sounded... monstrous, however, as her ice-infused body clanked and cracked with each step toward a tree, cocked back, and hammered out a straight punch to the bark.

Though she indeed dented the bark, the true destruction came from the splintering shards of ice pushing through the inner grains to reach up and down the tree's length. “Ice Armor.” She called, halting the flow of mana from her well to kill off the vibrancy of her ice-blue eyes.

‘Amazing!’ I gasped to myself before turning back to face them all at once. “Toril. As I’ve said before, I have a few assumptions about how your reinforcement spell should work; and you should try it in a moment. But first.” I paused to stare intently at my quartermaster. "Jaimess.”

“Yes, Lord.” He nodded at once.

“You may assume that your paper magic only has practical uses or that it is weak. I’ll tell you now that such avenues of thinking are entirely wrong. I’m sure you’ve experienced a paper cut, for example.” I raised a finger like a teacher would when giving a lecture. Then pointed to a random tree. “So, give that tree a paper cut.”

Jaimess seemed reluctant but nevertheless did as told and began withdrawing mana. Again, no change came from the environment. The influx of energy translated to his irises filling with a bright tan glow before a triangular sheet of paper peeled off of his hand to be caught by the wind. Rather than catch it, however, he seemed to take hold of the mana within the paper remotely; wherein he focused to infuse the sheet with almost all the mana in his well before flinging his arm to send the sheet hurtling towards the tree.

It sheared across the bark on impact, settling the sheet within a thin gash of bark where it remained even after Jaimess settled his mana.

“Paper has more qualities than you think,” I explained, turning back to him. “If you remember that paper is made from trees, you’ll understand the defensive capabilities of your magic. Which is what I assume is what will be reflected in your reinforcement spell.”

“If I may, My Lord?” Toril interjected. Turning to him, I saw he'd already settled into a ready stance. A nod of approval yielded an audible spark as his magic released, highlighting his eyes with a type of deep blue energy that left his hair standing on end.

Though his spell clearly succeeded, he seemed lost as to what to do next. Prompting me to adopt the most sinister grin as I reached into my shadow to withdraw a small mountain of amorphous palm-sized balls. Interacting with it nor connecting with it required any mana on my part; the benefits of sorcery, I presumed. Thus, like a drone connected to a neural implant, all it took to launch the ball was a flick of the finger. And perhaps me yelling. “Dodge!”

The ground beneath him shook before his visage suddenly disappeared. Left in his wake were a few dancing sparks discharging themselves into the air. If it weren’t for him moving through the shadows, I’d have no idea where he was jumping or sprinting to and fro. Since that wasn’t the case, however, I took control of the umbral dodgeballs and sent them hurtling through the shadows until my ammunition ran out.

“This is incredible!” Toril’s disembodied voice exclaimed just before he came hurtling to a standstill before me, his body still cackling loudly with electricity.

“It is.” I nodded. ‘I can’t wait to try it for myself.’

Without a word, Jaimess readied himself to emit the same off-white aura from his eyes. Over the next several seconds, hundreds of sheets of paper cascaded off his hands and were subsequently magnetized to the paper-attributed mana concentrated within his body. Layers upon layers slapped against the entirety of his body, seeming to be glued together by mana akin to fiberglass and resin. Post-reinforcement, Jaimess was noticeably wider and covered with a dull or matte sheen; but otherwise appeared no different.

“As I thought.” I chuckled aloud, approaching Jaimess with my spear in hand. A deft twirl of the weapon around my hand was the only signal he received before I thrust it forward. Still, he managed to raise his forearm in time to cause the dull blade to shear off his arm with a loud knock. “Light, rigid. And capable of stopping at least a wooden spear.” I grinned, patting him on his still-armored shoulder.

“That said.” I then turned to the other two. “I have the inclination that my great grandfather’s book didn’t contain all the spell types known to humanity. As made obvious by the evident lack of progression from reinforcement spells.”

“Progression into what, My Lord?” Jonet asked. Yet Jaimess was the one who answered, seemingly to himself.

“It would stand to reason that if we can imbue our bodies with our affinities, then we can imbue other objects with them as well. Or even make objects from nothing.” Apparently following through with his thoughts, he focused on his wooden dagger in one hand before his eyes lit up once again; conjuring dozens of sheets of paper to coalesce into first a handle, then a pommel, then a curved blade that appeared completely identical to the one made of wood. Including the grains.

“My thoughts exactly.” I grinned, pulling out a rod of darkness from below me that I worked to reform into a spear of solid shade.

Jonet, in turn, focused as well to produce a long nail or perhaps an ice-blue needle while Toril managed to produce an axe handle, if not a normal, crackling stick of lightning. Which in turn, gave me a brilliant idea for a creation. But alas, that had to come another time; for their magic-made weapons soon dissolved, crumbled, or dissipated.

“I assume reinforcement brings about your Wraith Form, My Lord?” Toril asked. To which I summoned my grimoire to confirm before nodding.

“It does." I paused as shadow mana poured into my spirit, then gestured to the thick, gaseous darkness pouring off my frame. “It comes in two variants, depending on if I'm in direct light or not. What you see now is my Semi-Wraith Form. Like this, flying and phasing through solids costs mana. My Wraith Form on the other hand.” I grinned before flying backward into the dense shade of a nearby tree. Yet before I could explain further, each of my vassals seemed to jump in place and suddenly begin scanning the woodline.

“Did he leave?” I Jaimess muttered."

"I’m right in front of you still.” I snorted, then took flight up and around to come upon their rear and whisper in their ears. "In addition to flight and phasing, darkness renders me invisible. So too does it link my body to everything that touches the shadows, allowing me to step through them without using mana.”

“I thought you could already do that, My Lord.” Jonet shook her head, clearly bemused.

“When I slip through the shadows and seemingly teleport, I’m moving through an alternate dimension; like a mirror world. A realm where you all appear as ghosts to me and I as ghosts to you; in some cases, I’ve heard. At any rate, reinforcing my body with shadow mana turns me into a shadow, for all intents and purposes. Now then.” I canceled my spell to change tunes and stepped between them, uncaring of their startled reactions to my sudden reappearance. "I’d like to give you all a few pointers regarding your affinities before we get into training. We’ll start with you, Toril. Strike that tree with a bolt of lightning.”

“Of course.” He nodded, then turned to charge an abundance of lightning mana within his hand. And already, I could see the flaws. It was just building in his hand, causing it to grow a deep blue and throw out arcs and sparks every which way before he thrust his outstretched finger toward the tree.

As I assumed, a wide arc of electricity spread from his open palm. And though much of it struck his target, more of it simply trailed off indiscriminately, causing the young knight to curse silently under his breath.

“That was good,” I assured him. “This time, however, do as I do. Gather lightning mana in the tip of your finger.” After a silent nod, he mimicked my action by extending his glowing blue index finger toward the tree. “Instead of thrusting it at your target, simply imagine an imbalance between your finger and your target. Visualize that your finger is a cup overflowing with liquid and that your target is an empty cup. Then, seek to-”

A blinding light suddenly streaked forth from Toril’s finger, muting my words entirely as it roared towards the tree and impacted in a cacophony of loud splintering groans, thunderous booms, and snapping wood.

“Balance it.” I belatedly finished my explanation. Then met my knight's grin in kind as he turned to me. “Do that. Every time.” I gave him a tap on the chest with my fist. And before he had time to voice his admiration, I turned to Jaimess with instructions to conjure a single sheet of paper. A few careful folds later, I held in my hands the proclaimed best paper airplane one could fold; cocked back and ready to be thrown back to Jaimess. Rather than catch it, though, he simply stared at it with the same dumbfounded expression as the other two.

“Paper can be folded in a variety of ways,” I explained. “Tools. Weapons. Even animals can be mimicked with paper. These shapes will be extensively detailed in a book that I will be giving you within the next few days. Not only that.” I added with a raised finger. “But there exists a synergy between paper and the other elements. It is flammable; it can be carried by air; it can become water-logged, negating its flammability at the cost of durability; and paper, at least a sheet, can't be smashed by the earth. All of this means that the potential avenues for your paper magic are near limitless. It is hindered only by your imagination, Jaimess.”

“I understand, My Lord.” He excitedly nodded. “I shall not disappoint you.”

"Worry not about disappointing me, only yourself. And depend not on the praise of others. Fuel your own pride; find motivation within; and no one can break your spirit.” I preached. Then turned to my spy.

“As I’m sure you’ve guessed, Jonet. Ice can also take the form of both water and steam; and snow as well.” I gestured around us. “Unlike the rest of us, your ice magic gives your elemental magic an unlimited supply of water; which alone greatly increases your functionality and power.”

“Of course, My Lord.” She bowed.

“Not only that. There are at least nineteen different types of ice,” I added. “And even more when you consider amorphous ice. Which type of ice forms depends greatly on the pressure and temperature at which it's formed, which translates to how densely the water molecules are packed together and in what arrangement they're organized. I will teach you about these different types of ice. But I cannot help in their creation. That, you’ll have to accomplish alone.”

“I understand.” She nodded, giving me a slight smile.

“Good.” I nodded, turning back to the other two. “Now, due to the nature of our affinities, this portion of our training will be self-taught. We will work on the accuracy and power output of our attack and defense spells and take the time to develop our own personalized spells. The only other goal is to increase our limits for mana fatigue. So cast as much as possible. Once we get permission to camp on our own, we’ll continue our training after your classes and not stop until the time comes to attend the awakening ceremony.

“Or until something else arises.”