Chapter 22: Sword Apprentice
"Please have a seat anywhere you like. On the ground, on a rock, on a tree… I don't care."
The students looked at the man with aquamarine blue eyes and a carefree voice with dazed expressions on their faces.
"Oh, I suppose you already know me. I'm Atlas Triton Argyris, your Spell casting & skill education professor. But hey, before we get into our lessons, I have to make you noobs a mage apprentice, right? So I can't help but be stuck in these boring and suffocating lessons until every single one of you gets it right."
Kyriaki sighed.
"Hey, your cousin is really…particular." She didn't take her eyes off of Atlas as she spoke to Euclid.
"You are too kind with your words. I'd use the word 'Stupidly weird' instead of 'particular' if I was you." Euclid replied back with an indifferent tone.
He too, refused to take his eyes off of the man called Atlas, his one and only cousin.
Kyrios, who was standing beside Kyriaki, giggled softly while covering his lips. His eyes shone as bright as breathtaking stars at the sight of an interesting event.
Why were they just standing still, looking at Atlas with those expressions and attitudes? One might question.
They were standing inside a light forest, centered by a large pond. Precisely, this forest is inside room A4-53 of Ochros Palace. After the lecture with Endymion, there were a few more lectures. But the one they were most looking forward to was this lecture.
They moved to this place in hope of determining their magic potential. It was the place where they were supposed to take lessons about basic magic from Professor Atlas. Since his course was a practical one, thus the spacious room, similar to Endymion's training ground.
However, the forest wasn't the reason why all students just stood there, staring at one person.
Oh no, not at all.
It was because of the state of that person that made them take that attitude.
He was floating on the lake water as if he was a teenage boy laying on a bed with face towards the ceiling, bored of everything and anything in society.
His white hair, tinted with aqua blue hue on tips, floated around making a gorgeous halo around his head. He completely ignored his half wet hoodie as he stared at the artificial blue sky with eyes filled with boredom.
From the side, the image of him floating on water looked like a watercolor painting. It had an artistic touch, yes. But the person in question doesn't seem to be doing it for that kind of reason.
"Just for your information, I don't care how much time it'll take for you to finish your mage imprint and first circle. One month, one year or five years…Just do as you wish. When everyone finishes your business, let me know. Okay?"
"Hah…he's basically telling us to fxxx off."
"He's not going to teach us anything until we form our mage imprint and the first circle? That's ridiculous! I wouldn't be here if I knew how to do that!!"
"Did I endure Professor Aviva's yapping about extinct animal species for two hours just end up with this?"
"I didn't read
Mummers of complaints emerged from here and there.
Kyriaki sighed once again, taking a step forward. She didn't stop there. Her steps, elegant and graceful, brought her to the edge of the pond in no time.
"What's she doing?" Euclid glanced at Kyrios, asking a question in a hushed tone.
"Hmmm…" Kyrios watched Kyriaki bend down and touch the water with his innocently shining eyes. "I dunno. But whatever she does, I support her."
"That's…" Euclid paused and forced himself to smile. "...very noble of you."
They watched her along with nearly two hundred other students.
And like a miracle, a few seconds after Kyriaki touched the water with her fingertips, Atlas lifted his head with sparkling eyes.
"Really?" He asked a question, his eyes fixed on Kyriaki. It sounded like he was asking that after listening to something Kyriaki said, but much to their bewildment, they clearly didn't see her talking.
"Yes." Kyriaki nodded. "As long as you teach us how to form the imprinting and the first circle." She replied with a soft and clear voice.
Euclid blinked in curiosity.
Clearly, they are making a deal. But the first part of the deal wasn't conveyed with words. To a dragon, noticing those small details wasn't hard at all.
"Then it's a deal!" Atlas sat up straight, exclaiming brightly.
"Alright, my dear students. Let's get into business, shall we?" His bright smile widened.
A bright smile indeed.
But for some reason, the students felt a heart-freezing feeling the moment they saw that.
'I think we are screwed.' Was what most of them thought in unison.
∆ ∆ ∆
"Most mages think of Mana in terms of casting spells & skills, they think of it as fuel for magic. But that's the limited perspective of an arrogant fool. Mana is not just a tool for magic, my dear students. It is existence itself. It binds the physical and imaginary world together to manipulate reality, influencing everything. Your perspective, perception, instincts, five senses and even your emotions are under its control. Mana is something everyone has, but only a select few can shape it from their imagination and wield it."
Atlas walked past sky-soaring trees and students who were sitting under the shade they provided. His carefree voice had been replaced by an intelligent and sharp tone a long time ago. His aquamarine blue eyes gleamed with sharp intelligence and collected experience of a true mage.
After Kyriaki somehow convinced him to give them a lesson, he instructed them to have a seat with a change of mood right away.
It was like he had multiple personality disorder, because the carefree man who looked like he was someone who'd set the Council of Ancient Dragons' seats on fire if he found it funny enough was walking with his hand behind his back like a mage who had dedicated his whole life to research inside a dark tower.
"And what must you do if you want to become a mage after learning this fact?"
He turned around sharply, looking at Kyriaki. She tilted her head, just as she was about to answer, Atlas smiled brightly.
"Student Kyrios?" His eyes landed on Kyrios. Who was hanging upside down on a tree branch with his arms freely falling down. It was as if he was imitating a blanket just out of laundry, drying under the sunlight.
"Ummm…I have to first feel the mana I already have and connect them to my core using imagination." Kyrios replied with a carefree smile.
Since Kyriaki was leaning against that same tree, she had to lift her head up to look at Kyrios. The moment their eyes met, Kyriaki gave him a thumbs up with a proud expression on her face.
"10 points to our little prince." Atlas smiled along with him and took a deep breath.
"That's right. You first have to identify the mana you are made of. And lead them to your core using your best imagination. The mana will do the rest, but only if you are lucky to be a mage." He shrugged his shoulders. "As I said before, not everyone can be a mage. So some of you will not attend my classes in the future. But I'm certain those people will secure their job in another field sooner or later. So don't be discouraged."
Euclid took a few steps in a leisurely manner and stood at the center, surrounded by all of his students.
"Let's start with the mage imprint now, shall we? Remember, you cannot command mana, you are not its master. It's not a slave to be dominated, but a friend to be understood."
Snap!
With a single snap of his finger, the sky switched into the night time. It was like he changed settings into dark-mood, like on a phone.
The air grew cold instantly and the sound of crickets and fireflies began to appear as background music. Stars twinkled about their heads on a full moon night.
As Kyriaki closed her eyes on lotus position, the last thing she heard was Atlas laughing heartily, saying;
"Don't mind me, I only wanted to set the mood."
Kyriaki's keen senses, boosted with a dragon's naturally gifted body and bloodline abilities, was focused on everything inside her on a microscopic level.
First, she recognized her own breathing. It was like encountering a calm lake at sunset. That simple body function that wouldn't even make a scratch if she stopped doing it right at that moment strangely brought peace and warmth to her.
Then her mind traveled past the sensation of breathing, focusing on her blood pressure. It, too, wasn't that different from her breathing. Golden blood cells unique only to dragons surged through her body in a stable manner.
Her heart was beating to a slow rhythm. Like a drum sound before an intense duel in an arena.
She searched and searched, looking for Mana she was made of.
'Where?' Her questions went unanswered.
She was so focused on her meditation that she couldn't tell time passing by. Kyriaki felt impatient. It was very easy when she acquired the warrior imprint. She didn't know until it was right in front of her nose.
But this time, everything was different. To enter a trance, Kyriaki had to receive an enlightenment. And for someone without an imprint to enter a state of trance could be done only through either triggering their core or grasping mana inside them.
Right now, like Atlas said, the only option was to identify Mana residing inside them, intentionally or unintentionally.
'But where's my Mana?'
Kyriaki stared at the white wall before her.
Almost.
She's almost there.
This white space meant she's on the threshold of a trance. The moment she identifies her mana, she'll be completely absorbed into the state of trance without a doubt.
'Normally, a person's mana resides inside their heart. So then…'
Kyriaki paused. Then a self-mocking smile came to her lips.
'What the hell am I doing? I'm a dragon! A freaking mythical creature with a cheat skill to boast about!!!'
Kyriaki laughed inwardly, unable to stand the sight of her stupid self.
A dragon.
She was of a noble race that's directly connected to the same universe that created stars, planets and so many cosmic objects.
She was Mana herself. Her whole body was made of mana.
That's why when a body part of a dragon is separated without their will, it turns into Mana and becomes a part of the universe once again.
The moment she realized it, she felt her whole body warming up.
Her blood, nerves, flesh, bones…not a single part of her body left untouched by that warmth. It was as if Mana was praising her for a job well done.
Kyriaki unconsciously connected her body with her imagination, which was crucial in using magic. And after a quarter of a second passed, she was once again looking at a familiar scene.
Her core, now with the symbol of a warrior on the left side imprinted neatly, was greeting her in all of its glory. A blurry ring made of a suspicious multicolored particle, like a star, circles around the warrior imprint in silence. It wasn't something she saw before, but Kyriaki ignored it as if she couldn't see it at all.
Meanwhile, golden smoke appeared on the surface of the beautiful pearl-like core. Kyriaki watched as it painted the symbol that represents the idea of "infinity" in glowing gold with a smile.
The moment it ended, the color of the symbol changed to multicolor. She couldn't count the number of colors gleamed in a single line. This also happened when she obtained her warrior imprint.
Soon, golden particles surrounded her.
It was the signal to break from her trance.
'Ah, it was still easy the moment I realized I was being stupid. The current me is such a broken character in a game. There's no pain, no hardship, I just continuously reap rewards and get stronger day by day.'
Kyriaki's arrogant thought was already dominating her mind, very characteristic of a mage and dragon hatchling.
But alas, is there anyone in the world that hasn't gone through pain and hardship in their life?
Every single person has their own struggles. Every single person has their own story to tell. It's just that since they are strangers to someone else, they don't think of them too sentimentally.
Kyriaki's closed eyes opened wide in the speed of light.
'Hey, wait a moment—'
She was supposed to go back, but why was she still there?
That's when she saw it.
The blurry ring around her warrior imprint gleamed dimly.
It was now circling around her imprint with a slightly fast pace, the star shaped colorful particle seemed more clearer than before.
'…No way.'
The moment she thought that, she felt it all at once.
Her golden blood cells ignited as if it was on fire. It rushed through her veins like molten lava in the speed of lightning, violently crushing her inside as if tidal waves.
'Ugh…' She fell on her imaginary white floor. It felt completely different from when she recognized Mana inside her. Unlike that gentle warmth, now she felt even hell fire would be more gentler than this.
'…I hate the past me for jinxing the future me.'
The sensation of her heart getting pierced by countless needles, altogether with her bones getting grinded by an invincible force made her crawl on the floor without letting her uttering a word.
The burning urge to scream was swallowed by her unyielding will as she bit down her lips. Within seconds, the metallic taste of her own blood filled her mouth.
Her pain, the kind that felt like dying was better since it'll end the struggle faster, was beyond anything else she had ever experienced. When she was suffering from a rare disease, she thought that was the peak of pain anyone could ever suffer from.
She coldly dismissed her naive thought of yore with all her might. If she had felt this kind of pain back then, instead of committing suxcxdx, she might have become a mass murderer, killing all her family, colleagues and higher up who used to control her.
That was what this unbelievable agony made her.
Her head spun wildly, like a typhoon swapping through cities on dark nights. Her thoughts were a mess. Countless unhinged thoughts that seemed irritational, driven solely by emotions crashed on the walls of her mind.
But amidst all the chaos she still refused to yield.
Her darkened pupils shook violently. But they were looking at only one thing.
The ring.
It was now clearer than anything else, spinning in circles as it got closer to her core.
The more it got closer, the more she felt hot. The more she felt her heart was being pierced and her bones getting crushed.
The ring finally touched the surface of her core.
Kyriaki bit down on her lips even more, barely stifling a scream that came from the bottom of her throat. The sensation she felt from her core, something that was closely associated with her entire lifeline, was unbearable.
It was as if she was a metal plate, in the process of getting cutted, shaped and carved by an angle grinder of a mechanic.
Golden blood tickled from her eyes, ears, nose, gums and fingernails. Tardily, like the tears of a mermaid.
Even in her messy, most bloody state, she looked breathtakingly beautiful. Like she was a marble statue, bathed in liquid gold.
The star-shaped ring dug deep on her core, carving itself around the imprint of the warrior at a slow pace.
Kyriaki stared at it intently, struggling to keep the last bit of her conscious mind intact. She didn't know what kind of chaos was unfolding outside of her consciousness.
∆ ∆ ∆
Well, it was a mess.
"Ah, Ria…" Kyrios was kneeling in front of Kyriaki a few steps away so that he wouldn't disturb her trance. It was obvious that he was on the verge of tears.
"Nobody told me it gives you this much pain to engrave rings and circles around your imprint." He mumbled, drowning in endless sorrow.
His right hand hadn't left his chest, which he clutched thirty minutes before, the moment Kyriaki entered her second trance where the first ring of a warrior was in the process of being engraved.
"It's okay, little prince. Normally, a person would scream in pain and collapse on the ground in a bloody mess. But our Crown Princess doesn't seem to have that much difficulty. She's not even letting out a groan." Atlas, who had already cast a protective barrier around Kyriaki said in a carefree manner. But Kyrios just shook his head with teary eyes.
"No. She's in pain. I can feel it. She's anxious and frustrated. She feels disappointed, helpless and fearful for strongly wishing for her own death. She's always so calm and collected, I had never felt this much strong emotion from her before." Kyrios' small mutters were only heard by Atlas and Euclid, who were the closest to him.
They both widened their eyes and glanced at the beautiful little princess sitting in a lotus position.
Golden blood tickled from her eyes, ears, nose, fingernails and bitten lips. But before a minute passed, it all turned to golden particles, like pollen, and vanished into thin air, reuniting with the universe as Mana. The white-golden aura around her announced to everyone that she was in a trance, receiving a ring for her imprint.
Her borrows were slightly frowned, her hands were tightly clenched. And she was biting her lips hard.
That was all.
There was no sign of struggle in her demeanor. To the outside world, she looked as elegant and graceful as usual. Hard working, even.
"... does that mean she's holding on solely with her own will?" Euclid questioned so quietly, so softly, only Atlas was able to hear him.
"Interesting." Atlas' aquamarine blue eyes glittered with an indescribable curiosity. Like he found a test subject he can't let go.
He knew she had already completed her mage imprint as well. It was fast. Too fast for even a golden archdragon.
Excluding her unusual attribute awakening, her growth alone was something beyond his understanding.
All students were looking at Kyriaki with envy, shattered-self-esteem, fear and determination. Some even held admiration and reverence in their eyes.
Achieving a ring as a warrior was no small matter.
It was the first step to power.
The hope of a warrior.
But achieving it consumes time, will power and sometimes even your life force.
That was why they were looking at her with such gazes.
Something that humans would struggle for months was achieved by elves in weeks. And that something was achieved by Dragons in mere days.
But what about those who define laws of the normal order?
A living example of it was happening right in front of them. Kyriaki's first warrior ring was forming beautifully. And the most unbelievable part was that it had only been six hours since she formed her warrior imprint.
The fastest time recorded in history to achieve a ring was only one day, by none other than Thanasios the First Dragon Monarch. She had broken that very record.
And it occurred to them that she'll be the next Dragon Monarch in the future, where they were grown and leading their own people.
"Wow… it must be suck to born in the same era as our little princess. No matter how talented you are, you can't be better than her. You'll never get noticed, like background characters in a trashy novel." Atlas smiled brightly as he said that out aloud.
Some students around him made a face that said he should just shut up after getting touched right where it hurts.
Euclid rolled his eyes at his cousin's ridiculous proclamation.
As they were mummering among themselves, Kyrios suddenly jumped up like a string, startling even Atlas.
"COUGH! COUGH!!"
A pain tinted cough reached their ears. When they looked at the direction it came from, they saw Kyriaki.
She opened her eyes with great effort, vomiting gallons of blood with each caught. Although it all turned to Mana and disappeared in a few seconds, the sight of it was so gruesome some people like Theodoros hurriedly looked away.
"Ahahaha! This is so interesting, normally a dragon would have been withering in pain on the ground by now. Because no matter which race you come from, the pain is adjusted to overwhelm your powers and mind in order to break your mentality as a test by Mana. One must endure that to keep their lifeline in place. But you must have overwhelmed that pain in order to surface your own emotions. I'm really proud and glad to witness the strong will of the new generation of future leaders."
Atlas' excited voice gained much more mummers from her surroundings.
"COUGH!!! COUGH!!!"
"But don't worry, this will be the last time you feel pain by forming a warrior ring. Once you pass the Mana trial, the rest won't cause trouble in the future."
The excited rambling continued, but Kyriaki only smirked amidst all the agony filled atmosphere. Because something rewarding had found its way to her embrace.
[Ding!] He authority announced its presence, appearing like a golden comet.
[Activating Sub-authority;
[Activating Sub-authority;
[Congratulations, Host, you have achieved the mage imprint]
[Time consumed; 01:46:50]
[You have achieved the first ring of a warrior]
[Time consumed; 05:57:40]
[Your job had been changed to
[You can now turn Mana into Basic Aura]
[You've obtained
[Congratulations host. You've broken the fastest record to achieve the warrior imprint, mage imprint and the first ring of a warrior by 17:58:20 hours]
'Fxxxxxx worth it.'
The clock hands shaped earrings on Kyriaki glowed in a faint blue hue.
∆ ∆ ∆
"Mana is everywhere if you look carefully. But gaining the ability to wield Mana? That entirely depends on the whim of Mana and your luck & will."
—From the book