Arda Velya

  I got to my bedroom completely out of breath.

  The door slung open a little too forcefully, and I barely managed to stop it before it slammed against the wall.

  Firmly convinced I was being late as usual, I sprinted into the room. “I’m sorry, I’m–” I began, but master Baryon was nowhere to be found.

  Finally taking a relieved breath, I put myself at ease on my bed. My room had been tidied up, which meant the servants must have been here. That was good. My concept of “cleaning” was messed up, at best.

  Note to self: Remember to thank Lelya.

  Somewhere in the room, a voice then rang out. “You’re late.”

  Snapping to a sitting position, I spotted him immediately, seated casually in one of the chairs by my desk. My heart had a little jump when I caught sight of something blue blurring before my eyes, but it was just my master checking the intricate braid he used to keep his blue hair tied.

  “How long have you been—” I began to say, narrowing my eyes, before a more pressing matter came to me. “Wait, hold on. Were you invisible just now?”

  Baryon stood up, taking a few steps in my direction.

  We were so close that I could see my reflection in his playful round amber eyes. “I’m glad to see you so… energetic today,” he remarked, filling the room with his rich baritone.

  He had the kind of presence that could command attention in any situation without instilling even a drop of fear in you. He was that charismatic.

  “To answer your questions,” he motioned for me to follow him out of the room, “I’ve been here long enough to hear you running from the far end of the hallway.”

  He paused before adding, “And yes, I was indeed invisible.”

  My cheeks flushed at his remark, but Baryon didn’t seem to notice or care.

  “I see you’ve started reading that book I recommended,” he said, tossing me a book I was pretty sure I had left on my bed.

  “Yessir, it turned out to be a more interesting read than expected.”

  “Ah, yes. The pinnacle of human knowledge was ‘more interesting than expected’,” he shot back without missing a beat.

  Some time ago, he had recommended several books on magic for me to study. After all, if I were to awaken as a mage, I'd better start building my fundamentals early.

  And, as usual, my insufferably precise tutor had made the right call months in advance.

  Among the books he had given me, one had stood out, one that had confirmed to me that you shouldn’t definitely judge a book by its cover.

  This one had the dullest, most boring cover I had ever seen. No illustrations. No elaborate designs. Nothing. Yet, it’d turned out to be the most advanced book in the entire collection.

  It assumed so much prior knowledge that I seriously wanted to have a few words with the author. Ars Incantandi, by Edel Adornin the Wise.

  A highly respectable book, no doubt about that. More than a book about magic theory, which I’d have preferred, it was more of a spell compendium. Its pages were filled with all sorts of spells, from the easy ones to the more stupidly complex ones.

  Many times I’d thought about giving up and getting a regular magic theory book, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

  Even if it’d have taken me five fold the time a regular book would have to understand it, I poured all my stubbornness into comprehending the intricate design that the author had laid out.

  So I had kept my head down and powered through.

  Edel’s writing was… something else. Every sentence, every phrase, carried the weight of immense knowledge. His mastery of the magical arts was crystal clear just from how he structured each section.

  It was so ridiculous that I had ended up researching him.

  Turns out, Edel had been a legendary mage from ancient times. The only one in history to have mastered every kind of spell.

  Even by today’s standards, that was an insane feat, so insane that many among the best mages to ever live had regarded him as the peak of sorcery itself.

  Countless people had tried to imitate him, but no one had ever succeeded. A few had come close, prodigies, but those heights were never reached again.

  “By the way,” I turned to Baryon as we headed outside. “Why exactly did you decide to turn invisible in my room? You’ve never done that before.”

  For years, he had always struck me as someone serious at all times. So serious that I had genuinely wondered whether he had ever laughed in his life; fortunately, he had proved me wrong early enough.

  “I felt like playing a little prank on you,” he shrugged.

  Haha. Very funny, I let out a mental snort.

  “Where are we going?”

  Even as we stepped into the garden, Baryon showed no intention of slowing down.

  “Do my parents even know about this?” I insisted, hoping to receive at least a vague answer.

  Without looking back, he waved a hand dismissively. “Worry not, young master. Your parents are fully informed. We’re having today’s lesson… outdoors.”

  After a brief pause he seemed to remember there was something else he wanted to ask. “By the way, I heard you’ve spoiled your father’s initiation test. A Mirror Ghost, was it? That’s not bad, actually. I assume the Order has already probed you?”

  Oh, right. He still doesn’t know.

  “Yes… But it didn’t quite go as expected,” I intentionally kept my response vague to build some suspense.

  Time for me to have a little fun on him, I smirked, already picturing his reaction.

  When he finally turned around, I nearly burst out laughing. “Don’t tell me you didn’t receive any emblems at all?”

  Frozen in place, his stunned expression was just priceless.

  AH-HA! Joke’s on you!

  “Quite the opposite, Baryon,” I grinned. “I received two!”

  His eyes widened a little too dramatically, like he couldn’t quite process what he had just heard.

  Within seconds, however, he had regained his composure.

  “Well now,” he straightened up, clearing his throat with a cough as a smirk tugged at his lips.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  He gave me a mock bow. “Who would’ve thought I’d have the honor of tutoring a Binary? A future Hero, perhaps?”

  “Oh, please, master, don’t flatter me so,” I waved him off, playing along. “I just received my emblems. I’m still as mediocre as ever. I can barely call myself a mage.”

  He chuckled. “Can’t argue with that. Have you confirmed their affinities yet?”

  “I have a Gladia, the Crest of the Dragon for the Art of the Sword,” I promptly responded.

  Baryon hummed in thought. “The Crest of the Dragon, huh? It's been a long time since I last heard of it.”

  Realizing something was off, he asked, “Wait. Didn’t you say you got two?”

  “I had indeed,” I nodded. “I also received the Crest of the Two Moons.”

  “What about it?” he asked.

  “Its description was blank.”

  Baryon’s eyes narrowed slightly. “An Arcana, then. I guess even the knowledge of a goddess has its limits.”

  “Do you know it by any chance?”

  He shook his head. “Sorry, young master, this is the first time I’ve heard of it.”

  Then again, if the goddess of the two priests didn’t know it, I guess I couldn’t blame him either.

  “What did you mean by it’s been a while since you’ve heard of the Crest of the Dragon, then?”

  My teacher stopped. We had just reached the closest road to our house, the one leading to Navar. “Ah, I read it in a book, but I’ll tell you another time,” he said distractedly, looking around.

  “This should be a good spot.”

  “A good spot for what?” I asked.

  Ignoring my question, he extended his arm, and a long silver staff appeared in his hands. A slight movement was all it took for the world to bend to my master’s will and manifest two ghostly steeds out of thin air.

  Works well enough for an answer.

  * * *

  “Where did you learn that spell?” I asked my master.

  We had been riding nonstop for an hour already and despite that, our destination seemed to be nowhere in sight. For the entire time, Baryon had been uncharacteristically silent; his eyes were glued on the road, but I couldn’t really tell if he had been really looking at it. He seemed to be engrossed in his own thoughts.

  He slowed his spectral steed, letting it fall into pace beside mine. “An old mage from the Dark Lands of Aerise was eager to pass down a spell he had created,” he replied flatly.

  “You’ve been to Aerise, Master?”

  “It was a long time ago,” he admitted. “But yes. I stayed there for a while. Are you interested in the Dark Lands of Aerise, young master?”

  “A bit,” I replied. Not about all of it, though—

  As if he had guessed where my thoughts were headed, Baryon let out a deep sigh. “Let me guess. It's just Lostvayne, isn't it?”

  I didn’t answer, but I was sure the way my eyes practically sparkled with excitement had delivered the message.

  “I think you might be the first and only person I know who’s this much interested in the Shadow of the Dark Lands,” he admitted. “Unfortunately, I can’t say I had the pleasure to meet him.”

  Saeryon Lostvayne, the Black King, as some called him, was the legendary ruler of the Dark Lands of Aerise. He was so legendary that many conjectured that he’d never existed in the first place.

  Lostvayne had a dark and controversial reputation, despite him being generally acknowledged as a hero; for that, the few that believed in his existence, hated him from the bottom of their heart and mockingly referred to him as the “Black Jynx.”

  He’d make the perfect subject for stories… assuming there was someone other than me willing to listen to them.

  “Young master Arda?” Baryon’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

  “Apologies, I got lost in my thoughts.”

  “As I was saying,” my tutor repeated, “we’ve arrived.”

  Our steeds seemingly knew the way on their own, which was a godsent, since my spectral horse had so far completely ignored all my attempts to guide it.

  The two of us came to a stop at the edge of a small forest, one I had never been through before.

  Then again, I had never even taken this road until now. As far as I knew, this place could have been here for a thousand years already.

  “What’s the purpose of this trip?” I asked as we stepped into the woods. Aside from the occasional chirping of birds hidden among the trees, we were completely alone.

  The horses disappeared too… I thought as I shot wary glances around. I hadn’t been in many forests before, but this one seemed fairly normal. Well, as normal as a forest with no signs of wildlife whatsoever could be.

  Towering trees soared to the sky; their thick foliage filtered the light from above, granting us some relief from the lingering summer heat.

  “Like your father, I had a strong feeling that you would awaken as a mage,” Baryon explained. “So I started looking for a place where we could conduct your first practical lessons undisturbed.”

  “And this place popped into your mind?” I frowned. “Couldn’t we have just moved to the courtyard?”

  Baryon shrugged. “If you’d rather spend your days explaining to your mother why her favorite flowers had suddenly experienced self-combustion, then by all means.”

  “Creepy forest is fine,” I quickly relented, shuddering at the mere thought. “But won’t we be wasting a lot of time just getting here every day?”

  “Won’t be a problem,” he reassured me. “Follow me.”

  We ventured deeper into the forest, stopping only when Baryon caught sight of a small lake nestled among the trees. Standing tall at its center was a pile of jagged rocks, jutting out from the water like a little mountain on a really tiny island.

  “Did you build that?” I asked, pointing at the rocks.

  He shook his head with a laugh. “Of course not. But that’s the reason why we’re here.”

  With long strides, he approached the lake’s edge and, without hesitating even for a second, continued walking straight onto the surface of the water.

  When he finally turned around, he found me standing at the shore, with my arms crossed and a single eyebrow cocked at him. I didn’t say anything, I just waited for him to notice the problem.

  Baryon slammed a hand on his forehead. “Ah, silly me.”

  He made his way back to the shore and offered his hand. I hesitated before reaching out to him, but the moment I did, a wave of warmth coursed through my body, spreading out from our connected hands.

  Baryon turned and resumed his path across the water, pulling me along with him.

  I opened my mouth to protest, but as soon as I realized I wasn’t sinking, I shut it back closed.

  One careful step at a time, I followed him to the center of the lake, stopping in front of the pile of rocks. The water rippled beneath my feet, but other than that, it was as if I weren’t even there.

  Watching for our heads, we slipped into a narrow crevice and found ourselves standing over a shallow pool of water. Aside from the eerie atmosphere, there wasn’t really much to see.

  “We’re going down now,” Baryon warned.

  Before I had the chance to process the actual meaning of his words, the two of us sank at an unnatural, neck-breaking speed. For a split second, I panicked and almost let go of his hand, but my master’s hand tightened around mine, keeping me anchored.

  By the time our descent stopped, only a faint trace of sunlight remained above us. I didn’t even bother wondering how I was still breathing underwater. There were far more pressing questions on my mind.

  I followed Baryon as he led me through the dark water. It wasn’t until my shoulder bumped against a jagged rock that I realized we had entered an underwater cave. A dim glow began to spread through the darkness, casting shimmering reflections across the cavern walls.

  What I saw next could have been taken straight from a dream.

  Clusters of luminous crystals of all shapes and sizes jutted out from the rocky walls, radiating a soft, dim light in the wide cave, so large that a small house could easily fit within it.

  “Woah,” I whispered, completely entranced. I had never imagined a place like this could exist.

  “Not bad, huh?” Baryon said with a proud puff.

  In that exact moment I noticed his hand was no longer holding mine. Instinctively, I grabbed onto his arm.

  Baryon let out a small, startled grunt before chuckling softly. “No need to worry, young master,” he assured me, gently prying my hand off his sleeve. “You’re more than capable of standing on your own now.”

  Behind us was a small pool, its waters leading into a narrow passage that extended further into the cave.

  “How in the world did you find this place?” I asked, trying to shake off my lingering amazement.

  “I didn’t find it,” he corrected. “I felt it. But I suppose there isn’t much of a difference after all.”

  I glanced around again, filled with more questions than answers. Then again, with Baryon, that was pretty much the norm.

  Just like the forest on the surface, the cave didn’t show any signs of ever having host wildlife; wasn’t it for the glimmering crystals on the walls, it wouldn’t have any remarkable features too. To me, at least. Since Baryon felt for this place and thought it would be good for our training, I guess there was more to it than I could currently see.

  “Welcome to the place where you’ll be spending the next few days,” he declared, clearly pleased.

  I turned to him, my eyes wide.

  “I hope your stay is a pleasant one.”