They had moved from the previous examination room to Norris"s private quarters. "Sit, please" said Norris as he pulled out a chair from under an expensive looking table. Its walls were lined with books of all shapes and sizes, journals littering the gaps between them. There was a rack of expensive looking drinks right behind the desk that Norris had seated himself at. Corvig had sat opposite Donis, seemingly admiring the vast library all around them.Donis had sat down, and cast a glance at Corvig. The man seemed to be quite calm, yet a peculiar look of confusion was seen on his face. "No matter, whatever it is they want to tell me here, it"s probably only positives.. right?" thought Donis.
Norris cleared his throat, "Corvig, Donis, there is some news I must let you both know that may, or may not cause problems for you. Donis, I a.s.sume you want to learn magic, yes?"
Perturbed Donis nodded back. "Of course I want to learn magic, that"s the WHOLE reason I"m here!" "Uh, yes sir!" Donis replied with childlike vigour. A smile made its way on Norris"s face. "Great! Because my young friend, you"re something.. something that many people would love to get their hands on. All the colleges, all the organizations, all the n.o.bles would s.n.a.t.c.h you up immediately if given the chance and, as wonderful as that sounds, it"s not. Corvig, you know he has Formosa"s blessing, but do you know he"s a Dual Blessed?"
Corvigs eyes shot open, his head spinning immediately towards Norris, "Are you SERIOUS? WHAT IS HIS SECOND BLESSING?" Donis not knowing the implication of this just stared in utter confusion. He knew they were talking about his "Traits" which were the "Blessings" of G.o.ds, but he didn"t know why they were so worked up over the fact that he has two traits. The [System] gave him two traits, so he thought that"s what everyone received upon birth.
Norris sat there silently, staring directly into Corvigs eyes, and with a deadpan expression uttered a single word. "Variis."
"The true DeathG.o.d," Corvigs voice trailed as he completed its full t.i.tle. His mind a whirr of a hundred different thoughts. He knew he couldn"t let this secret out of this room, it"s too valuable, it"s too dangerous.
Variis was the death counterpart to the G.o.dly aspect of death itself. Each G.o.dly aspect, or trait as Donis knows them, has two G.o.ds that oversee it, and their blessings are vastly different yet still pertain to the same aspect. Yet even with all of this information, Donis was still none the wiser as to why these blessings were so special to have.
"Uh.. sirs.. I"m confused.. DeathG.o.d? Am I going to die?" said Donis with a glint in his eye. "No no of course not young friend, it just means your potential is truly, truly limitless. Worry not, Corvig here is no slouch, he will teach you, and in due time, you will learn all there is to learn about yourself," said Norris, his look growing distant.
"Why are old people so f.u.c.king vague," thought Donis to himself. For some reason, a deeply rooted hatred for old peoples vagueness sprouted from within. Somewhere deep within his corrupted memories he could tell that old people used to spout their "ancient wisdom" incessantly to Donis.
Withholding a stream of curses that wanted to escape Donis"s mouth, he looked deeply at Norris"s eyes, pretending to truly take his words into consideration. Norris smiled to himself seemingly satisfied. "Corvig, I see why you chose him. It seems he does have some sort positive qualities outside of his talent," Norris spoke slowly turning his head from Donis to Corvig.
"That"s not all he has, actually. Why don"t you show him your little friend," smiled Corvig.
"You really think it"s okay? I.. I mean sure!" Donis spoke putting on his best shy voice. A point of white manifested in front of Donis, immediately materializing into the image of a large bird. Etheria cawed loudly, as if announcing her presence and demanding their attention of everyone here.
If Norris was shocked before, then what he"s feeling now is beyond stupefied. A child, barely the age of five already has a [Soul Bond]. This has never happened in the history of Erazar, at least not to his knowledge.
Curiosity overwhelming Norris and he approached the bird with practised caution. He knew Donis was special, but even talent and specialness have a limit. This was beyond absurd and if the bird was actually some sort of wild bird meant to lure him into a false sense of security, he would have none of it.
Yet much to his surprise, the bird accepted his gentle pat, and went in for a nuzzle. "Soft," he exclaimed, momentarily taken aback. Etheria chirped happily, not understanding why she was getting petted, but glad for it. Norris"s heart mellowed slightly, a smile growing on his aged face. He looked up at the child in front of him and asked, "What"s her name? She"s quite large for an Etherial Azure Youngling."
"Her name is Etheria, because I"m not very good at coming up with names," said Donis.
"It"s a mighty fine name, don"t you worry young one. A pretty name for a pretty bird!" said Norris.
Corvig could be seen on the sidelines getting impatient. He came here for an inspection and direction, yet here he is, bored out of his wits. With a short cough, Corvig grabbed Norris"s attention.
"Yes Corvig, what"s the matter?" said Norris. "Well sir, I was just wondering when you"re going to tell us whether or not we can leave. I came here in the hopes of this being a quick stop before we see the Archmage," said Corvig. Norris replied with a blank stare before sinking his face into his hands.
"Yes, yes okay. You may leave. I"m sure if that old b.a.s.t.a.r.d found out I had kept ye two for so long I"d be spanked," Norris turned his head to Donis, "I mean that literally, that old coot thinks just cause he"s a couple of hundred years older than I, he has the authority to spank me, the nerve," chided Norris.
Donis let out a giggle at the image of the old man in front of him getting spanked. "He definitely deserves to be spanked too, such an eccentric old man," Donis thought.
With a quick bow, Donis and Corvig left the Inspectorate without further niceties. A short walk later they were both situated inside the carriage that was still waiting for them outside. "Your first lesson is to never, and I repeat, never let old men like him talk. They don"t get to see new faces all too often and have far too much of nothing to say. Keep your interactions to a minimum and you"ll walk out sane every time, I promise you this," said Corvig.
Donis felt a deep bond forming over the hatred of old peoples ramblings. He looked at Corvig with almost watery eyes, "Of course sir!" Corvig, uncertain what demanded such vigour in the childs voice, just a.s.sumed it was that he was taking his "lessons" seriously.
The carriage ride continued to take them deeper into the city, and this time the conversation inside wasn"t the centre of attention, it was the city life around Donis. Having never seen the city in this world, his eyes and mind were filled with wonder. Corvig couldn"t help but smile at the childlike wonder emanating from Donis. Yet, little did he know, Donis was [Inspect]ing everything in sight, once again a.s.suming the role of a high powered laser scanner.
Shops, people, pets, birds, weapons, armour, coaches, abilities, crafts. Everything around him was filling his brain new knowledge he"d never seen. His [Ocular Inspection] taking note of everything that was within his vision.
-[Ability Scanning...]-
-[Skill Scanning...]-
-[Job Scanning...]-
-[Craft Scanning...]-
Notifications filled his field of vision. Feeling almost overwhelmed by the influx of information, Donis was nearly tempted to turn off his [Ocular Inspection], but if he were to do that, he"d be betraying his own thirst for knowledge of this world and it"s systems.
For the entire carriage ride, Donis was unrelenting and most importantly, unwavering in his pursuit of absorbing everything around him. To him the ride felt far too short, he felt almost cheated when they were forced to get out once they had arrived at the academy.
And what an academy it was. Even Donis, who scarcely pays attention to the surroundings that don"t give him [EXP] towards [Ocular Inspection], was impressed.
It stood at a towering 83 meters tall, and even with his head c.o.c.ked back Donis couldn"t see the entire buildings width or height. It looked like it almost stretched on forever. This in no way was built using normal means, it would take far too long.
"I a.s.sume this was made possible with magic. Actually.. does this world even have regular builders? Is everything built using magic? Huh... I guess I"ll figure this out as I go," thought Donis to himself.
After the two of them stepped out, Corvig took out his arm and did a slight bow in the direction of the Academy and spoke with a deeply dignified tone, "Welcome Donis Laurent, to the True Magisterium of Vernaic, or as the locals call it, The Academy."
Without waiting for Donis"s answer or awe, he continued forward and the two finally entered the Academy.
Two high powered light beams once again began a.n.a.lysing everything within sight. With an ever growing shock, Donis almost recoiled once his [Ocular Inspection] landed on the bricks inside the Academy.
[- Vernaic Adent.i.te –
Building Material: A Grade –
Traits: Mana Insulation, Magic Reflection, Multi-link Connection; Shapeshifting, Rune-link, Manpulse, Self-sustaining]
[A material that is near the peak of perfection produced for the sole purpose of giving the True Magisterium of Vernaic the utmost amount of control within their own domain.]
"This is insane. I"m not even sure what half of this does, but I a.s.sume with that description that the people who control the academy can basically do anything in this place. It"s like a fortress in here! Building this must have been equally insane... and expensive," thought Donis.
"This place is the source of pride in the city of Vernaic. Everything you see here has been custom crafted to appease the needs of the Archmage and the students alike. This place not only holds some of the best defences in the entire kingdom, but it also boasts some of the most offensive prowess the kingdom has to offer too. Nothing here is just for looks," said Corvig after noticing the slack jaw Donis had sported.
"Even if you try, you wont be able to break anything here, look," Corvig said as he turned his body slightly to the left whilst bringing up his arm. No chant, no grand motions, no weapon, yet Corvig released a lightning bolt the thickness of his arm. It nearly shattered Donis"s eardrums, yet the vase Corvig aimed at didn"t even have a scorch mark left. "See? Don"t worry about breaking something and having your family try to pay for it. If you can break something here, then that"d be a cause of celebration since you"d be the first one in the student history to do so," said Corvig patting Donis"s shoulder.
As they continued walking, Donis couldn"t take his eyes off the place, it was a goldmine for his [Ocular Inspection]! Yet all too quickly, the duo had stopped in front of a grand double door. A deep brown wood with golden interlocking patterns depicting dragons fighting. A single white plaque with black letters was adorned on the left door, the right door was slightly ajar.
"Lorenzo Galathris
Archmage"s Office"
"We"ve arrived," said Corvig with a slight pause. "Come, he hasn"t got all day, and neither do we."