Chapter 15

Nate cut his hand and held it over the diagram. As soon as the first drop touched the diagram a fountain of blood erupted out of his hand pouring into the diagram rapidly. Nate felt week from the blood loss but he felt something else.

The diagram lit up and started to vibrate. The whole diagram began turning brown. As it pulsed over and over Nate felt something entering his body. A strange sensation entered his pores and into his blood making his whole body feel warm and tingly. He was starting to feel really good but then the diagram ruptured, several cracks spread out from destroying the diagram.

“What the hell was that?” Nate asked with his eyes closed. His whole body still felt warm as a strange energy seemed to settle in his bloodstream.

“Congratulations, you passed. Please use this bucket to— “

“Blergh!” Nate threw up to the side.

“… throw up.” Kiru sighed. He put down the bucket now that it was useless.

“This is blood! Why is the blood black?” Nate was shocked.

“That’s the impurities of the human body. The natural energy of the world entered your body refining your blood. It’s a good thing, don’t worry about it.” Kiru reassured him.

“Natural energy? What do you mean? What’s going on?”

“I think it’s time we had a little chat. But first let’s get some food in you, you must be starving.”

Nate was eager for answers but his rumbling stomach told him it should be second on his list of priorities. Ten minutes later they were in a different room with piles of food on the table. Nate didn’t waste any time digging in.

“Having you eat shuts you up so I can explain without you annoying me with questions, but it’s also important to recover your vitality. I’m going to do a lot of talking and I need you not to interrupt.” Kiru raised an eyebrow as he looked at Nate.

Nate had food in his mouth so he just nodded. “Good.”

“Demons don’t belong on this plane but every now and then they break through. When they do they cause havoc. Why? We don’t know, some speculate that they feed off negative energy, they need turmoil and despair just like we need love and companionship. A demon crosses over from a plane of pure magic, once they’re over here that magic infects any human in the immediate surroundings. Some die, some get cancer and other diseases, but some develop the ability to absorb world energy.

That diagram you just saw, we use that diagram to help us absorb world energy. That energy infuses with your blood and with that energy we can cast magical spells. Magic develops in different ways, there are shaman, mages, clerics, and even druids. Each class accesses magic a different way but this test here just determined that you’re a mage with the Arcane affinity.

As for why the demon looked the way it did, most likely it’s a mid-level demon that couldn’t fully transform the human look. But a true mage can guard their minds and see their real form. Now it’s time for your first spell.”

“Wait. You said if I passed your test you could get me out of here.” The thought of having his name cleared made him desperate.

“We will, now that your awoken to the world energy it’s imperative that your trained properly. The Academia will take you in as a first year. Now onto the spell— “

“And my name? Will you clear my name?”

“How would we do that? Should we go to the news and tell them it was a demon that killed your family? No,” Kiru scoffed, “everything will be under the table and so your life will remain a hidden existence. Now, onto that spell.”

Nate barely heard him, it felt like the walls came crashing down. He’d never be free of his family’s murders. It was like a shroud that constantly enveloped him, driving him crazy at every turn. At quiet times he’d even start thinking negatively, as if what the analyst told him was true, he carried out those acts and used a demon as an excuse to distance himself from the horrible crimes he committed. Now that he was a hundred percent sure he didn’t do those things he needed his name cleared.

“Nate! I need you to focus Nate.” Kiru shouted. “As hopeless as things might seem you have to stay strong. Mages are humanity’s greatest defense against the demon horde, any mage is an asset. We can’t have you zoning out. Are you with me?”

Nate couldn’t help but scoff at that, he’s seen the worst of humanity, he could care less what happened to them but something about what Kiru said resonated with him.

“You said you knew about what goes on in this hell-hole yet you also say Mages are humanity’s greatest defense against the demon horde, so which is it?” Nate sneered.

“Your world is small kid; do you know how many human mages exist? Human, being the key word here. Understand, there are plenty of races out there; dwarves, elves, dragons, giants, and any other mythical creatures you’ve ever heard of. Myths always come from a grain of truth. Now amongst all those races guess where humans rank?” Kiru paused giving Nate a chance to speak.

Nate had no idea so he remained silent. “We’re at the very bottom. We’re the race almost all NetherRealm creatures feast on. You ask me why we haven’t done anything about what goes on here? Speaking truthfully, we can’t afford to spend the resources nor the time and effort. Me being here now is just an empty gesture but nothing will happen to the vampires, they will continue their little Asylum and we’ll continue pretending like we don’t know it exist because truthfully, we have bigger problems to deal with.”

Nate was conflicted. Part of him was angry, he lost his friend in the Hunt and he would’ve died if it wasn’t for pure luck. He hated the only people that could do something about it decided to focus their efforts elsewhere. But deep down he had to agree with Kiru, he’d never met all those other races but the demon he did meet was absolutely horrifying. “What is the NeatherRealm?”

“You don’t need to know about that. Just know it’s a place you never want to go, now, are you ready to practice?”

Nate nodded his head.

“Good. Now, Arcane mages are a little different from the regular mage. Most mages are usually elemental mages, with one of their affinities being in one of the many elements. Arcane mages on the other hand are more like…” Kiru paused as he tried to come up with an answer. “They’re like a jack of all trades, they’re not particularly strong in any one element but they can cast spells from several different elements.”

Nate almost got excited but when he heard how they weren’t really strong his excitement dimmed. “Don’t let that get you down, Arcane mages are essential because they’re the only ones who can enchant things.”

The man pulled out several small discs with various sigils on the surface. “An elemental mage is powerful but to cast a spell that has no affinity, like teleportation, they have to draw heavily on runes provided by the white council. Arcane mages make these runes and even though they’re not particularly strong, they can create many runes making fighting against an Arcane mage a bitch if its drawn out. They can replenish their power with runes stored with energy while blasting you with several other runes made from all kinds of spells from the different elements. They’re scary people once they learn enough runes.”

“Now since I’m a mage of the Air element I’ll teach you a basic wind spell. Impetus!” Suddenly a pale green aura surrounded Kiru kicking up dust and creating a breeze indoors. “This spell is in Latin, it means gust. Why we use Latin when doing magic will be explained in the future but for now envision a gust of wind surrounding you then cast the spell.

“Impetus!” Nate shouted feeling a little stupid when nothing happened.

“More intent! Believe and envision what’s going to happen and then make it reality!”

Nate focused on the images of what he’d seen happen, how the pale green aura surrounded Kiru and brought a breeze to the room. Fixing that image in his mind he shouted: “Impetus!”

A slight pale green aura kicked up around him but faded away before it could completely surround him. Nate felt his blood go cold with the completion of the spell. Even his fingers were numb, as if he had his hand stuck in a bucket of ice. “What the hell was that?!” He said looking over at Kiru.

Kiru had his brows furrowed. “A little weaker than I Imagined.” He said as if speaking to himself.

“Forget about that, why is my body so cold?!” Nate said as he frantically rubbed himself all over trying to get the feeling back in his body.

“The world energy is stored in our blood. Once you cast a spell the warm energy leaves your body. Eventually you’ll have absorbed enough world energy to cast multiple spells. Like this.” Kiru mouthed a few words then suddenly lifted into the air like a humming bird.

“Amazing!” Nate was truly impressed.

“I’m attuned to wind so wind spells come naturally to me. The stronger the attunement, the easier the spell. For example, if I wanted to cast an earth spell I’d probably expend all my mana just to pull it off. You see earth is completely opposite to the nature of wind. While wind is free flowing and smooth, earth is hard and un-yielding. Earth spells, even the simplest one, is difficult for me.”

“Does that mean I’ll never be able to fly?” Nate said a little dejectedly.

“Ha! Look at you. Barely an apprentice mage and already having lofty dreams of casting powerful magic. Slow your roll kid.”

Nate was so excited about magic he completely forgot about other matters. Kiru handed him a piece of paper with a diagram on it. “This is the first step for any mage. Learn to draw your own circle. This circle allows us to absorb the world energy and refine our blood, nobody else will do it for you so start practicing and when you think you have it memorized draw the diagram on the floor, spill your blood into the circle, and start absorbing. The diagram you create will often shatter before you draw too much energy but in the case that it doesn’t then make sure you cut yourself off from world energy when you feel your body can’t take it anymore. Absorbing too much is bad for you.”

Kiru went on and on for hours lecturing Nate about various things he should know. The wonder of magic started losing its appeal when Kiru went into all the little details. It was enough to drive the sanest man crazy. It was near the end when Kiru was about to dismiss him Nate asked his question.

“What about telekinetic magic?” He asked.

“There are a few telekinetic spells back at the Academia, but they don’t belong to an element, Arcane mages sometimes fiddle with it but otherwise its left alone.” Kiru replied off-handedly.

“Does that mean telekinetic magic is weak?” Nate asked a faint dejected tone in his voice.

“On the contrary, telekinetic magic is very strong. In fact, demons, who’re regarded as the most powerful magic users second only to dragons, are born with the innate ability to use telekinesis. I mean just imagine actually being able to move things with just a thought, meanwhile we mages have to cast spells and make sure our blood has enough energy to actually power the spell. It’s what makes demons so dangerous to fight.”

Nate’s mouth widened in surprise. “Can humans use telekinesis?”

“Of course. Like I said back at the Academia we do have spells- “

“No! I mean use it like a demon can use it.”

“No. Demons are the only ones capable of using telekinesis without casting a spell. But don’t worry, not every demon can use telekinesis, only the high leveled demons are capable. That doesn’t mean you should underestimate the low level demons though, they can still cast magic that would overpower ours.

I know it’s a lot to absorb so we’ll pick up next time but for now you need to get some sleep. Remember the two ways we mage replenish our magic is through food and sleep, the diagram adds to the pool of magic within you but when that pool is dried up only food and sleep will replenish that pool, drawing another diagram would be a waste considering you can only handle one diagram a day. Now, I’ll be leaving for the Academia in a few weeks, until then you can stay in this room if you like. We’ll get that collar off you.”

Nate shook his head. “I have somewhere to be. But when we leave… you know for the academy, can I bring someone?”

“This school isn’t a place for normal people Nate. You can’t just invite whoever you please.”

“I know that, and he’s not normal. He’s a werewolf, an Anima if what Anza says is true. He was born in the Asylum and knows nothing of the outside world. I won’t abandon him.” Nate said resolutely.

“Well the school does have other races, it isn’t particularly limited to just humans. I’ll see what I can do but for now you’re the priority. Even if your friend gets denied.” Kiru said looking at Nate pointedly to make sure he understood. “See you next time Nate.”

Nate thought he detected a subtle hint there. As if Kiru was saying he’d be taken, or forced to go even if Aidan was denied access. He kept that in the back of his mind as he was escorted out of the building under armed guard.

Back at his apartment he was sitting down cross legged in the living room. Aidan wasn’t home, Nate assumed he was out running wild with the other werewolves since night had fallen an hour ago.

He’d studied the diagram over and over for hours and now felt like he was ready. Creating an ethereal knife, he slashed his palm and let the blood drop. Two inches from the ground it hovered in mid-air as it made contact with the diagram. Kiru had the diagram drawn onto the floor but Nate improvised, using pure telekinesis to create the diagram.

A surge of blood spurted out of his palm and onto the diagram. The diagram throbbed and glowed a pale blue color as the world energy flowed into his body. The feeling was similar to his first time with Amelia, the sheer ecstasy of energy filling his body was addictive.

Instead of his diagram cracking under the pressure it continued. Since it was made from pure telekinetic energy it had more durability than just chalk. Nate wasn’t aware of that fact; he’d assumed it would break apart when he’d absorbed enough energy.

He’d only realized something was wrong when he felt liquid flowing down his body, staining his shirt. Opening his eyes from the bliss-filled session he looked down and saw rivulets of blood flowing down his body. Blood was pouring out of his pores as if he was sweating blood. Nate immediately dispersed the diagram cutting himself off from the world energy.

When the world energy stopped, the good feelings went away. Nate’s whole body curled into a tight ball as sudden pain wracked throughout his body. It was like someone had filled his veins with glass. The sheer agony should’ve knocked him out but he wouldn’t find sweet release. For hours he suffered until finally the pain ended. Nate was too weak to clean himself off, instead he just lie there in pain as his consciousness slowly faded. Am I really going to die this way? Was his last thought before the world went black.