Mage Academy
The mysterious castle where the sun sets on high ground, the only place for mages to gather in the whole continent.
Early on in the Legendary Era, this isolate ivory tower, was difficult for normal people to be even near its vicinity.
Of course, normal people would not have the courage to come near this place.
Any regular mage has the ability to come up against a small elite team, and high mages can even annihilate a troop of several hundred soldiers in the moment it takes to raise a hand. And Magic Talent(1) is a power that is so strong it borders on being a curse, if it ever goes out of control, the damage radius can’t even be compared to any normal disaster.
But even with such great fire power, the Mage Academy always maintains a clear neutral status.
The reason is simple, whilst the power of the Church and the Monarchy can be considered to be balanced, if mages were to lean towards either side, it can cause the destruction of this delicate balance. In the past there had been Grand Masters(2) joining into politics considering themselves to be activists, but in the end they were ruined, some even started large scale civil wars.
In the end, to be swept up in the whirlpool of power struggles, is also not something good. Although mages are strong, but they are still flesh and blood, robes can’t block even the lightest hit from a sword or an arrow – the greatest healing magic, still cannot revive members that died on the spot.
Of course, in the end, the Mage Academy now is still financed by the Royal Family. Thus the church developed the Paladin Order, bringing in large numbers of those with magic talent, on the surface it was a crusade against black magic and heathens, but in reality it was an ace in preparation against mages.
As ‘the last relic of the Legendary Era’, the Mage Academy, looked no different than it was three hundred years ago. The buildings form a circle, with a tall tower as the center. That is where the name ‘Mage’s Ring’ comes from. But there was another saying, that underneath the Mage Academy is a gigantic ring shaped ward, used to negate unsteady, dark mental waves.
In this peaceful era without foreign enemies or magical creatures invading, mages are not needed. Thus these gifted special soldiers, even though they want for nothing, are idle. They are not imprisoned, and can leave here to return to society, but what awaits them is the fear and respect of regular people. Even though they have gained other worldly abilities, money, power, honor and so on, but to most of them, that has lost its appeal early on. In the end, day after day, they could only spend their life exceeding the limits of the body, in seeking even greater power.
To approach G.o.d, challenge G.o.d, replace G.o.d.
The power to destroy and rebuild the world, the power to surpa.s.s and rewrite nature’s laws –
If the ‘Mage’s Ring’ did not exist, then this place might become a black magic h.e.l.l.
To control this power, for a large part relies on the choice of the Grand Mage.
The Grand Mage must have the prestige to gain all the mage’s respect, or intellect and talent, at the same time having certain diplomacy, in order to gain the highest benefit for the Academy. Most importantly, they must have basic morality, with not love of bullying the weak, or killing innocent people.
On these three points, the current Grand Mage John Cavendish, pa.s.ses completely.
Granted his diplomatic ability is a little weak, but a kind personality with no ambition, plus a love for research on healing magic, he is highly praised by both the church and the royal house.
Mr. John Cavendish is around ninety years old, but still seems to be full of energy. His image is different than what the rest of the world perceives, living at the top of a tall tower in the company of books every day, but rather in a small house outside of the tower, living an ordinary along with his wife who was also a mage and a large number a cats.
While the Grand Mage was reading the Queen’s letter, his wife placed down afternoon tea and a tray of snacks, then smiling, watered the plants with water element spells. The dwarf climbed onto the window, looking at the scene outside with extreme excitement, but every time the Grand Mage coughed, he would turn around, staring at the elder with respect. – Wishing he could grow another pair of eyes.
The Grand Mage quickly finished reading the letter, and started asking for the details of the curse the siren was under. The knight carefully described the shape of the blood magic circle, as well as his own observations. In the process, the Grand Mage listened quietly, not planning to interrupt him at all.
Once the knight finished speaking, the Grand Mage nodded, turning to look at the siren. Under his gaze, the normally unrestrained siren, started to become a little uneasy.
“No need to be scared,” the Grand Mage said, “I don’t plan to try and release your illusions. To live in the human world, getting used to disguising yourself isn’t a bad thing. What is your name?”
“Sh.e.l.ly – Sh.e.l.ly Raphael.”
“Alright Sh.e.l.ly, are you a mage apprentice? Whose student?”
“No…” the siren replied in a small voice, “no one taught me.”
“Do you like magic?”
“Yes.” The siren nodded seriously.
“That’s good,” the Grand Mage released a breath, leaning back on his chair, “regarding a demon contract that’s reached the stage of merging conscious, there are two ways of dealing with it. If you were not a mage, I could hypnotize you and enter your subconscious, and forcefully sever your connection to the demon, but that is a little dangerous, and might cause damage to your memories.”
“And if I’m a mage?”
“Preventing mental control could be considered a necessary lesson for mages,” the Grand Mage replied, “the demon isn’t very strong, you only need to make up for this lesson, then you could remove it yourself. – The only downside is that this method will take some time, so you might need to stay here for around half a month.”
The siren looked at the others a little uneasily, “Ellen, Cain, Julian, you’ll stay as well?” (i)
“We won’t leave you,” the knight patted his head, “since we don’t have anything else to do currently. – As long as there is still s.p.a.ce to live in the Mage Academy.”
“Even if the Mage’s Ring is currently lacking everything, we won’t be lacking in empty rooms,” the Grand Mage smiled a little bitterly, “Sir Paladin should know this the best. – You are very welcome to stay, please treat this as your own home, and feel free to use it. … Also, if possible, nnn… let’s rest for today.”
“Did something happen?” the elf noticed the hesitation in his words, and asked.
“It’s nothing major.” The Grand Mage shook his head.
“Some trouble regarding magical creatures?”
The Grand Mage looked at him a little shocked, then smiled a little embarra.s.sed, “I see I can’t hide from the Captain.”
“The gnomes returned to Gnome Village, I guessed something similar might have happened in the Mage Academy.”
“I apologize, this should have waited until Sh.e.l.ly’s problem has been solved.” The Grand Mage nodded, “Actually, we do require your a.s.sistance. –But, since the second letter is addressed to my apprentice, let’s wait for her return tomorrow before discussing it.”
“Alright, there is one other thing – about a mage that appeared in the Gnome Village.” The Elf stood up, pa.s.sing over the note with the man’s writing to the Grand Mage, “a man around thirty years old, with a mole at the left corner of his mouth, he could use low level magic without incantations.”
“Ah… Myers.” The Grand Mage shook his head, “Yes, a month ago, he pa.s.sed the high mage test, then left without informing anyone.”
“The texts he took from the Academy, has been returned.”
“Yes, thank you very much. May I ask, he is…?”
“Sorry,” the elf replied, “he killed someone.”
The Grand Mage was silent for a long while, before saying a little sadly, “We should be the ones apologizing. You did what you had to do.”