***Hyperion Empire***

***Soltain City***

Max awoke to the shuffling of his partner Adrios under the bed. The young griffin was rather energetic, and demanding to be fed. Sticking his white feathered head out of the covers, he expected attention from the boy.

Max sat up and looked out the window, the sun's rays still hidden behind the horizon. The castle was quiet, and the birds have yet to even start chirping. He had been awaken earlier than normal, and was not very pleased with that fact. The boy considered ignoring the white ball of feathers and fur, yet knew the griffin would only further insist on recognition.

Stretching his arms and yawning, the young Soltain complained. “You have got to be joking. We fed you right before bed.”

Adrios replied with what seemed to be an affirmation noise, now fully exposed from the blankets that were covering him. The griffins small tail was moving unceasingly, showing he was already prepared for the day ahead. At least in this case, Max and his partner were complete opposites. Adrios often awoke before dawn, while Max would usually prefer to sleep in far later when he could.

Standing up, Max lazily put on some clothes. Wrinkled black pants with a long sleeved grey shirt, he wore what was easiest to get on. Kneeling down at the foot of his bed and slipping his now too small leather boots on, Adrios quickly hopped on his shoulder and settled in a comfortable position. Max shook his head languidly.

“Not yet you lug.” Max grabbed the griffin and lightly placed him back on the bed. Trudging over to the coat rack near the door, Max threw his dark blue long jacket over his body. Walking back to the bed, the boy easily scooped up the young griffin and placed him in his hood. The magical beast then settled himself inside the warmth of the golden-fur lined cloth.

“Last day buddy, let’s make it count.” Picking up his sword, Max departed from his room. Although the castle was quiet, that didn’t mean everyone was still asleep. Guard patrols worked in shifts, and servants were beginning to complete their daily tasks. Heading straight to the main dining and reception area, Max was hardly surprised to see his own grandfather already eating.

“Good morning old man.” Max said while yawning again. He remarked internally that he simply was not meant to be up at this hour. Adrios in his hood also yelped, receiving a light nudge from Max at the loud noise. “Stop that!”

General Soltain looked at his grandson and pulled back the seat next to him. Max walked around the table and sat down, handing his sword to a maid on standby and placing the griffin on the table. Adrios immediately moved towards the generals plate, about to take a bite without regarding the man. The general rebuked his attempt, pushing his fork out towards the griffin as warning. “I think not young one. You can wait for your food to come just like I did.”

Adrios visibly deflated while Max chuckled at his young partner's expense. Two maids eventually arrived, carrying dishes of food for both the boy and beast. The griffins expression then brightened, and Max thanked the maids and chefs. Both began digging into their breakfasts with reckless abandon.

“We’ve arranged for your escort to the capital, same as the girl. You will leave at daybreak tomorrow.”

Max sighed in exasperation. “So early... Why can’t I just fly there with a knight again?”

The general shrugged his shoulders and swallowed his food. “That was your father's decision. Even so, it is what it is, just bare with it.” He then further examined the young griffin clearing his plate. “He is growing bigger already. I pity for how much you will need to feed him until he can hunt on his own.”

His grandfather's comment reminded Max of his own plight. “Didn’t Skylar get assistance from the queen to feed her partner? Do you think she would be able to help me?”

The general thought for a moment and decided to aid his grandson. “You will want to be extra considerate and nice with your mother today. I am sure if she’s in the mood and you ask than she may write the queen a letter.” Staring at the white beast now eating off his companion's plate, he continued. “That is sure to save you a lot of trouble and money.”

Max stuffed the rest of his food in his mouth before Adrios could take it and nodded. Swallowing the mix and downing the water, he said, “That will be my main goal today then.”

The general smirked and patted the boy’s back. “I wish you luck in your endeavors, I have to oversee emergency response training for the First so I will be busy for the rest of the day. I will be there for your departure though.” Standing up, he then handed his plate to a maid and pushed in his chair.

Max also stood up and received his sword. “I will see you later than old man, I want to work on my new technique for a bit until I head to Masters shop.”

The general leaned in with obvious interest. “Speaking of, how goes it? To me, it still sounds too good to be true but I've been proven wrong before.”

The young Soltain puffed out his chest in pride. “Just you wait old man. I’ll have you begging for me to teach you when I come back in the winter. It’s still rough, but I get better with it every day.”

“Good! Good! I expect nothing less from my namesake!” The general said with a laugh. He had been very impressed with his grandson as of late, and only hoped for his success. Giving the boy one last glance, the older man turned and left the dining hall.

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Max entered his Master Silvia’s shop, wiping excess sweat that remained on his brow from his earlier practice. The bell chimed with the doors movement, and a beautiful elven woman walked out from the back of the room. Glancing at the boy and smiling, Silvia approached her apprentice.

Max lips also lifted upward from his Masters infectious mood. He looked her in the eyes during her approach and then settled his sight on the floor a few seconds later. His Master Silvia sometimes overwhelmed him with her presence, and there would be instances where he would want to look anywhere except her direction. It was a confusing experience for the boy, yet was a habit that stuck when he was with the older woman.

Silvia bent down and hugged the younger boy. “You’ve come a long way Max, and have grown to be quite a fine enchanter, one I am proud to have taught. Are you ready for today?”

His pulse spiked at the compliment, and Max hurriedly nodded to her question. Focusing his eyes on her nose to avoid her amber orbs, he replied. “You’ll finally be teaching me the basics of tattooed enchantments and even replicating the script on your palm to mine.”

She patted his head and released him from her embrace. Turning around and preparing for what Max eluded to, she said, “Correct. I will be teaching you about the enchantment on my hand and what it exactly does.” She then looked directly at the boy and spoke in a serious tone. “But I must remind you, under no circumstances are you to tattoo yourself until you are fully grown. Also, the enchantment I will etch into your palm is to only be used as a last resort, not magic to be frequented.”

Max walked around his Master and helped her prepare the mana charged ink. “I understand Master. I will only use it for emergencies.”

She replied with a light hum. “Good. Now let me prepare while you go up to my room and get me my journal on the night stand. There are some things you need to read and comprehend beforehand.”

Max’s juvenile griffin decided to now make his presence known. Yelping again to get Silvia’s attention, the boy grimaced. Thumping his companion again, Max hissed. “Would you stop that? You're basically screaming in my ears!”

Silvia turned and waved to the golden-eyed beast. “Hello to you to Adrios. I hope my apprentice has been treating you well.” The griffin jumped from Max’s hood to the shoulder of the woman and nuzzled against her neck. Cooing against her skin, the woman grinned and scratched his fur with her left hand.

Seeing his partner snuggling up to his Master made the young Soltain feel rather complicated. He eventually settled on not liking the feeling and quickly took the beast back. “All he does is eat! I don’t even know where all the food goes!” Silvia chuckled and Max trotted up the stairs, griffin in tow.

Quickly returning to the main room of the building, Max locked the front door and waited for further instructions. Silvia began practicing the enchantment on plain paper and spoke, “You will find the pages in the journal numbered. If you turn to page seventy-one I would like you to read about the enchantment you are about to receive.”

The boy was trembling with excitement, thus having issues even turning the pages. With shaking hands he eventually reached seventy-one and read silently. His eyes quickly scanned the page and almost burst out of their sockets at each word. Wide eyes and open mouth, he was speechless at the page's contents.

An enchantment of unknown origin given to Silvia by her own Master, one she herself wrote she could not hope to expand upon. All she could do was replicate it’s markings to the letter, and follow the procedure she noted from her teacher. Silvia wrote about theories she had about the script, but they were all conjecture. Her best guess was the enchantment was related to the ancient draconians, using holding jewelry as previous comparisons.

Silvia looked behind the counter, “Go ahead and grab both of the chairs and put the hand you want to use on the counter. Palm up.” Max did as ordered and continued reading. Silvia elected to call the enchantment the ‘Spell Siphoner’, which easily summarised its magical properties. The script worked not only to absorb the mana of an incoming spell but also directly channel the mana into the user's body, thus supplementing their own reserves. The stronger the receiving spell, the more the defendant would benefit.

Max was awestruck. His mind was running in thoughts on the efficacy of such an ability and wouldn’t stop. Mages were a major power in this world, and having an ability such as the ‘Spell Siphoner’ completely mitigated that power. Max was so inspired by the possibilities that he made a silent vow to study and learn more about the script and it’s origins. He couldn’t believe his Master held such a skill secret for so long. There would be mages and nobility across the world that would sacrifice their families for such an enchantment. And his Master was giving it to him for free!

Silvia glanced at her apprentices dazed visage and smirked. “As my apprentice you now carry my teacher's legacy. Unlike myself, he was very interested in the ‘Spell Siphoner’ and spent the majority of his life studying it.” Her eyes then darkened and she looked back down at the papers below her. “Even so, you must not be consumed by the lost art. Live your life the way it is meant to be lived, you have plenty of time to spend chasing remnants of the past.”

Max nodded at his teacher's warning and all traces of her former melancholy disappeared from her face. Sophia then pulled out a thin mana charged needle that twirled through her fingers. “Ok this may hurt a bit but you’ll live. Are you ready?”

“Wait." Remembering the details of the enchantment, Max put down the book and switched to his right hand over his left. He was left-handed in the first place, and came to the conclusion the spell worked more as a shield than anything else. If he were to use his sword in combat, it would be much easier for him to have his right marked over his left. Turning his body to a more comfortable position, the young Soltain eyed his Master.

“Okay. Ready.” Silvia immediately got to work. Ignoring her apprentices initial grimace and the yelp of his griffin partner, she worked with the utmost concentration. The mana charged needle cut through the flesh on his palm, and Max even started bleeding. Yet, all Max did now was relax his hand and activate his eyes.

Both the griffin and the boy watched the elven woman with rapt attention. Her hand moved with precision, marking the boy’s skin with single strokes and moving on to further layers. There were no mistakes in her script, because frankly she couldn’t afford to have any. Even the smallest slip up would ruin the enchantment, thus rendering all the markings useless. Yet there was a reason she was known as the best enchanter in the province, she didn’t make mistakes.

Max continued to stare at his bleeding palm, yet payed no heed to the crimson liquid. With his eyes activated, he was observed the mana pulsing through his hand at the moment. Mana at it’s most basic form, at least for what he had seen, had always been a shade of blue. Yet the mana coursing through the sigil on his hand was definitely no blue. It better resembled a burning fire, a mix between bright orange and red.

The boy was enraptured. How had the ancient race been so skillful with the art to change mana at it’s most basic level? Sure Silvia and Max could replicate a single sigil of their teachings but Max now knew he wanted more. He didn’t want to be able to just replicate whatever this magic was, no, he wanted to understand it. He wanted to be able to manipulate this technique to his own desires, thus branching out and creating a whole new array of possibilities for his magic.

He wanted this knowledge. He needed this knowledge. There was simply too little he knew about mana for him to settle. He dreamed for more.

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Max jogged at a brisk pace through the city to the eastern gates. His mother would be meeting him soon for his last part of training, and he didn’t want to be late. He still had a favor he needed of her and wanted to land on her good side. Fisting his now bandaged right hand, he went over what he would need to bring for the capital. The servants would take care of necessities, but he was unaware of what was actually necessary in this case. Max shook his head. Deciding to leave tomorrow's problems for tomorrow, he ran faster.

Stopping at the gates to catch his breath, he heard the clanking of horseshoes against the cobblestone. Looking up, Max spotted the visage of his mother on a white horse, hand outstretched towards himself. With a small smile on her face, she beckoned for her son to mount. “Come on Max, you will be leaving me tomorrow, and we have a lot to talk about.” Max didn’t know what to think of his mother's words, but he quickly stowed his sword on the side of the horse and took Sophia’s hand.

The ride towards the usual woods was quiet yet comfortable. Each of them rode in companionable silence while Adrios stood on top of Sophia’s head. Though Sophia didn’t go nearly as deep in the woods as usual, and turning around Max could still see the walls of the city. Both of them dismounted the horse while the baby griffin remained in Sophia’s embrace.

Responding to her son’s obvious confusion Sophia spoke. “There won’t be any training today. I just thought we could enjoy a short ride through the forest and talk about some things.”

Max let out a breath of relief. He thought his mother would be giving him another test or something challenging. After the event with his Master, he was in need for a break to sort his thoughts. Seeing as this was as good as any time to ask, Max scratched the back of his head.

“Umm Mom, Grandpa told me that when Skylar went to the Academy the queen helped feed her partner. Do you think you could ask if she could for Adrios as well? All he does is eat and I might be in trouble if I have to worry about that every day.”

Sophia gently laughed and shook her head, continuing to pet the young griffin in her arms. “Honey you don’t need to worry about that. I sent a letter to Ariel a few weeks ago, she should be able to assist you.”

Max relaxed and hugged his mother. “Thanks for the help.” She pulled him closer and whispered in his ear. “With both of my children gone I am going to be dreadfully bored. Jacob and I have been trying for another but it is a long process.”

The boy immediately broke out of his mother's hold and recoiled. His face was a mix of deathly pale with red cheeks. “I didn’t need to know that! You and dad’s love life is not my business.”

Sophia laughed again. She had also teased her daughter when she was his age, and had no qualms about making them feel uncomfortable. “Oh but it will be your business if you have a little brother or sister! I expect you and Skylar to be role models by that time!” The woman then looked to have a moment of realization, and grew serious. “Speaking of love there is something I must ask you.”

Max backed up from his mother. He had no clue what to expect from her when she was in one of her more mischievous phases. He barely whimpered a response. “What is it?”

“Do you know why we are in an alliance with both Satele and Kumio?”

The boy was further confused. “You are a Satele and dad is a Soltain? As for Kumio that's because...uh, because there in the middle?”

Sophia smirked. “Yes and no. Your father and I sealed the first alliance with the marriage agreement, the same as Kumio. These agreements assure cohesive unity and tend to last a very long time, especially with the births of heirs.”

“The same as Kumio? What do you mean?”

“Well we arranged a marriage, not too long ago, between a main branch Soltain and Kumio. This arrangement produced the alliance we have today.”

The boy was now completely dumbfounded by the turn of events. “Did Grandpa marry a Kumio or something?” Max then grew angry all of a sudden. “Don't tell me Skylar is engaged to someone!?”

“You’re getting closer but it’s another Soltain, and the I’ve met the Kumio girl too. I like her very much and if he hurts her I’m going to kill him myself.” Sophia was now using the griffin to hide her face. She was having a terrible time covering her emotions, but this was simply too funny to her.

Realization slowly dawned on the boy and he froze. Max’s brain ceased functioning and his face drained of all color.

“Does she know?” The boy questioned, barely even able to find the right words.

Sophia instantly burst out laughing. She wouldn’t have traded her son's face for the world! He would get so uptight sometimes and seeing him now made her entire day. She hugged Adrios to her body and clutched her sides.

“Her parents… will… tell her today. If... if only I could see her face!” Sophia managed to reply through fits of chuckles. She just had to do this again! It was simply too great!