Chapter 4

Altair’s Vault and Petra’s Helmet

“Did I make you wait for long, Shiv?”

Shiv who was admiring the beauty of the crystal clear water in the fountain of elixir, turned to the direction of the voice and bowed lightly to the approaching figure!

“Not all Master!” Shiv replied politely with a smile.

Altair smiled to the gesture, she liked the way Shiv behaved, and she liked the respect he gave her. “The fountain of elixir! Magnificent piece of art, don’t you think?”

“Yes master, it is truly wonderful. The sculptor must have been the greatest to ever exist.”

“Indeed, he was, I remember those days as if they were yesterdays. Shiv, have you tasted the water from the fountain yet?” enquired a smiling Altair.

“No master! I never that chance to. No, more like, I didn’t if I was allowed to drink from it”.

“Did Thor, I mean, Thorwin not tell you that the water he gave you during your training came from the fountain?” Altair was bemused! ‘That idiot’. Altair was mentally cursed Thorwin, for his half-hearted instructing.

“Well never mind. So tell me Shiv, when you drank the water you were given before, what did you feel”.

“I felt unbelievably strong, master. It was like strength some kind of strength was surging through me like something was granting me enormous power.”

“Good, now you understand the power of this water”, Altair sat on the walls of the fountain. To the Shiv who was watching, she seemed like a girl in her early twenties. The beauty’s left hand made a trail through the clean water, a bewitching smile decorated her cute face.

Shiv noticed that his new master appeared young, beautiful; her soft shiny silver hair swayed like a mighty river due to the gentle wind. The smile added to her beauty, her serene nature made things even more magnificent, even enhancing the fountain’s charm. In a sense, Shiv thought his new master to be more beautiful than the fountain itself.

The boy was so entranced that he spilled his thoughts without recognizing. “Beautiful!” Altair looked at Shiv, a little surprised at the sudden remark; she blushed when she realized the boy was looking just at her. She realized that the praise the boy spoke was directed at her making her a bit happy. Altair turned her now red face away from her disciple so as to not let him notice her smiling red face and continued talking to change the mood.

“This water is called elixir for this very reason; it gives great power to the one who drinks it. This what people all around the world refer as magical.”

“Magical! Water imbued with magic!” Shiv was back to normal and was now looking at the water curiously, he was contemplating on ways of making use of the water for the upcoming battle.

“Let me ask you a simple question! What is magic? Does it have a greater value? What makes it different?”

Shiv had no answer for the questions. He couldn’t answer questions as that for all he knew was that there were many magical spells and that each spell required a certain amount of mana to invoke it.

“You don’t have to feel depressed. Only a few people like Archmages know the real answer, also, the answer changes from person to person.”, Altair consoled Shiv as she got from her seat. “Let me give you my version of how I understand the great phenomena called magic. Walk with me, will you?” Altair started walking as Shiv followed her silently.

“From time immemorial, magic has been practiced throughout the world. While some used it to protect things dear to them, others used it to destroy anything in their way. But most of those who used magic did not know its real essence. Magic is neither a tool for destruction nor a tool for protection! It is simply a part of who we are.”

Shiv was now really confused. ‘How can magic be part of a person? I know mana is produced inside the body, but magic?’

“You seem confused. I don’t blame you, none would believe it. Anyway lets continue.” Altair increased the pace of her walk slightly as she urged Shiv to follow.

“Have you ever thought why some magic spells were restricted to special people? Like healing for clerks, holy magic for priests and the like. Of course, there might be exceptions, but let us speak about the general trends for now. A tainted being is able to use dark magic but not holy magic. Have you ever thought why it is so?”

Shiv nodded his head to show he did.

Altair smiled, “That is why I said magic is a part of who we are. A priest has been blessed by god so he or she can use holy magic. It is not because she is a priest but because the good in her becomes the source of her magic. While for a tainted being the source becomes his hatred or the darkness inside. And so on for every other people.”

“Let’s take into account your new sword technique. Have you tried using them?”

“While I was waiting for master outside I did try to, but unfortunately I am not even able to use even the six moves.” Shiv had tried to activate the skills he had been taught by Thorwin by repeating the words his previous master’s words and actions but failed miserably. It was then that he was interrupted by Altair and now he was reminded of his predicament.

“That is because the magic in you is locked. You have not learnt how to harness the magic in you, which need some basic knowledge about the same. As you are now you do not have the knowledge of any of the elements, well except for the names I believe.”

Altair suddenly stopped in front of another red building. Unlike the previous one this one was half the size of the Academy of Warfare, instead had a strange design to it. Strange was not even the word to describe it, as it had a triangular shaped design! Shiv was lost in his thoughts when Altair spoke.

“Let me introduce myself again! I am Altair, Altair Debrolf! Mana harvester and the grandmaster of The Vault of Knowledge! Welcome to the Vault boy!” she said waving her hand towards the red building.

‘Vault of knowledge!!! Cool!!’

Altair walked inside slowly and with a snap of her fingers the door opened by its own. Gesturing Shiv follows to follow, the cute grandmaster walked inside.

Shiv was not clear as to what the interior of the so-called vault looked like due to the lack of a light source but as if reading Shiv’s mind, Altair continued, “Now let’s get you to understand the basic elements, shall we?” She then clapped her hands once and suddenly the entire room lit up. Behind her were books, millions, and billions of them. Shiv could only look at the collection in wonder.

But what shocked him were not just the sheer numbers of books, bit the structure of the interior itself. From outside he thought the building to be not even a quarter of the previous one he had been training for a few days, the academy of warfare. But one look at and he understood how mistaken he was.

The interior of the vault of knowledge looked like it was twice the length of the academy! With books stacked on the shelves to the very top. The shelves were placed on the wall of the triangular building and so they too were inclined at a strange angle. Yet, the books show no sign of falling down, in fact, they did not even move slightly. They were stuck to the shelf as if they were glued to it.

“How can this be?” Shiv had excitement, doubt and at the same time wonder in his tone.

Altair was truly happy, after all, the vault was something she had painstakingly built with her own hands. It had taken her years to build this to the way it was. With a smile, she whispered to his ears “Magic is a wondrous thing young one and now I am going to open the door to you!”

She then again clapped and with a large squeaking sound, five books came flying from a different direction and landed on her palm. She then presented the books to Shiv who now was getting used to all the surprises.

“I want you to read these books! By the time you finish I will prepare some food. You must be hungry, right?”

Shiv nodded and made a light bow. He then occupied chair next to him and began reading diligently. The first one was named ‘Mana: Source to wonders’. The others were, ‘Basic Element: Wind’, ‘Basic Element: Fire’, ‘Basic Element: Water’, and ‘Basic Element: Earth’.

As he began to read the first book, ‘Mana: Source of wonders’, Shiv slowly grasped the concept of mana and its nature. The book also taught him about why different race had different mana capacity and the like. As he finished the book, a notification appeared before him, which was a delightful surprise to him.

Mana is considered as the essence of this world. Just like the air you breathe, mana flows everywhere, undying and unending. All living beings, be it human or demon, monsters or animals, all are like a container of mana. They absorb the mana from the surrounding, condense it and then stores it inside’s once body.

It is believed that mana was created by the Goddess of Life, Tia who dwells in this world! It is also believed that it was she who had created magic from mana.

Magic consumes mana. Higher the magic output, higher the source of mana required.

Generally, there exists 7 types of magic; Fire, Water, Lightning, Earth, Wind, Dark, Light. All of these are affiliated to nature. But if one is knowledgeable and capable enough, two or more basic elemental magic can be combined to give birth to a complex magic. For example, ice magic is said to be the combination of wind and water.

It is also believed that there exists magic which does not come under these categories and is considered so strong that they transcend the boundaries of nature itself. But such magic has never been witnessed and so is considered as nothing but a fairy tale.

Every life form is born with uncharacterized or unattributed mana. This unattributed mana develops a particular characteristic as the life form grows and matures. This is also the reason why a person has affinity towards certain type of magic but becomes incompatible with another!

[/tds]

It took him a while to complete the book as he tried to understand everything the book offered. Closing the book, Shiv summarized what he understood, in his mind. One certain aspect that really caught his attention was the part which talked about the magic that transcended natural boundaries. Even though the book called them a figment of the imagination, Shiv was curious as to why it was mentioned in the book. He was pretty sure that those lines had some deeper meaning and so decided to gather more information on it later. As he was about to take the next, another notification caught his undivided attention.

‘Trrrng’

[td4]

New skill unlocked: Magic mastery (Passive) Beginner Level (3%)The ability to use magic freely. Your understanding of mana has enabled you to use magic with much ease . the more you improve the stronger the spell becomes. You are unable to use special magic unless you satisfy the requirements.

You are now able to cast basic spells.

Increase casting speed by 2%

Increase magic strength by 5%

+5 to INT and WIS

+50 to mana

‘Trrrng’

Having understood one of the fundamental laws that govern this world, you have become smarter

+1 to INT and WIS

‘Wow! This is some major development’ Shiv was happy about the Stats gain and skill generation.

He then continued reading the remaining books in random, as he hoped to gain more skills and stats by completing the remaining four books. Starting with Water, Shiv read through Earth, Fire, and Wind and it took him a couple of hours to finish them. AS he closed the last book, which was on wind magic, Shiv’s INT and WIS grew by another 4 points.

New skill unlocked:Water mastery Beginner level 1 (0%)Understanding the element of Water has made you stronger than before.

Allows manipulation of one of the elements-Water . As your skill proficiency increases, the amount of water produced and the strength of the magic will also increase.

+5% strength for water based spells

+1% water affinity

+1% water resistance

New skill unlocked: Earth mastery Beginner Level 1 (0%)

Understanding the element of Earth has made you stronger than before.

Allows manipulation of one of the elements- Earth. As your skill proficiency increases, the amount of earth produced and the strength of the magic will also increase.

+5% strength for Earth based spell

+1% earth affinity

+1% in Earth resistance

New skill unlocked: Wind mastery (Passive) Beginner Level 1 (0%)

Understanding the element of Wind has made you stronger than before.

Allows manipulation of one of the elements- The Wind. As your skill proficiency increases, the amount of wind produced and the strength of wind magic will increase.

+5% for strength in wind based magic

+1% wind affinity

+1% wind resistance

New skill unlocked :Fire mastery (Passive)Beginner Level 1 (0%)

Understanding the element of Fire has made you stronger than before.

Allows manipulation of one of the elements- Fire . As your skill proficiency increases, the amount of fire produced and the strength of fire magic will increase.

+5% strength in fire magic

+1% fire affinity

+1% fire resistance

Not only did he learn new skills, he also gained affinity and resistance to those elements. But something happened which made him even happier.

New skill unlocked: Heavenly Element Sword Technique (Passive - Beginner Level 1%)

The sword technique created by the Dragon King, Orrinshire, himself. This technique is considered to be the strongest technique which helped the Dragon King to conquer the world.

You are the 2nd person to inherit this technique. More elements will be unlocked when your proficiency increases.

Currently unlocked elements: (2/7)

Currently unlocked transcended elements: (0/2)

New sub-skill unlocked: Form 1: Kaze(Active)Beginner Level(0%)

Your deep understanding of the element and the sword technique has helped you learn the first form: Kaze(wind). The first form of Heavenly Elements lets you move swiftly like the wind. FOR THE WIND IS EVERYWHERE.

+10% to AGI

Your presence fades making it easily to sneak behind enemies.

+10% more damage when attacking with the skill.

Duration: 1min

Mana consumption: 100

New sub skill unlocked: Form 2: Hono(Active)Beginner Level(0%)

Your deep understanding of the element and the sword technique has helped you learn the second form: Hono(fire). The second form of Heavenly Elements lets you burn everything. FOR THE FIRE CONSUMES ALL.

+10% STR

Your body develops a fiery yellow aura.

Your attacks bypass any and every defence.

5% more damage when attacking with the skill.

Duration: 5min

Mana consumption: 200

Shiv was overwhelmed just with the joy his heartfelt. He had finally inherited the cool moves his master had shown him. He was busy celebrating his new found skills that he did not notice Altair’s presence.

"Cough!”, Altair coughed to gain Shiv’s attention.

“Ah! Master” Shiv bowed apologetically.

“It’s ok. I too was like that when I first gained the ability to use magic.” Altair consoled Shiv. “So you seem to have gained control over your magic. From the look on your face, I believe you are now capable of using the sword technique too.”

“Yes master, I am”, Shiv said smiling, but the smile disappeared when he saw his master had a sad look on her face. She was perplexed for a moment not knowing why the master who was smiling till then had suddenly turned gloomy all of a sudden.

“Well now that I have taught you all that I have I want you to go back to Thorwin and practice your new magic skills, only the magic skills. You are prohibited from using the sword skills.”

Shiv’s face became pale, ‘again to that hell hole? No, you can’t master, I will die.’ Before Shiv could protest Altair snapped her fingers and Shiv felt him being swooped away from the ground and thrown back. When he landed, he was already outside the vault and in front Shiv saw Altair closing the door to the vault with the same beautiful smile he had seen at the fountain.

---***---

Shiv had been continuously training his magic skills just like he had done with his body under Thorwin. He had used Chains of Time to increase his time, or rather slow time around him, converting 1 hour into 2 hours. By the end of the allotted 2-day magic training, all his magic proficiency had reached beginner level 4 except for magic mastery which had only levelled up to beginner level 2. From this, he understood that magic mastery will only increase if he used powerful or large scale magic, or during a magic fight.

He had no powerful magic so he tried to use magic which affected a larger area. At the same time, Shiv tried combining two elements to create a complex element in order to increase his magic proficiency. But he wasn’t able to accomplish either of it due to his proficiency in the four elements being too low. And so the hero candidate continued with the usual method of practice and used basic spells like a fire ball, water bullet, wind blade and earth wall non-stop. He took a break only when he was out of mana or was too tired to even move.

He had expected to gain a few new skills but was disappointed when he found that after all that training no new skill showed up.

Shiv had almost two more hours before his lessons under Altair came to an end. So he thought to log out and go have a small chat with Mia. He had been occasionally logging out in between to meet his family. So he thought it was the right time to.

“Log o…..”, he could not complete it as he was interrupted by the sudden opening of the door. The door was flung open and in came a gigantic figure and together with the giant was Altair.

Shiv was startled because of the sudden intrusion by the duo but his face showed no emotions at all.

“Shiv, how have you been? I am sorry for not visiting you all this time. I had some business to attend to. Leaving that behind, meet Petra, your new master. She will be teaching you strategies and tactics and as well as how to fight.”.

“But I know how to fight”, Shiv protested clearly not liking the idea of being the giant lady’s disciple. He was shocked enough when he heard the giant was a woman. He was now shocked even more when he heard she was his new master.

‘Why do I have to suffer so much’ cried Shiv mentally.

“Fight? You think using flashy sword moves and some stupid magic makes you able to fight? Nonsense, you are as stupid as Thor said. Look here son, I am going to show you what a true fight is. And in a true fight you use this.” finished Petra with her fingering pointing to her head which covered with a helmet. Even though the giant was supposed to be a woman, her facial features clearly belonged to that of a man, more like a dwarf was what Shiv felt. Shiv was not one who judged a book by his cover and so he knew that the giant was strong. But his mind and body were already at its limit that he didn’t want a master who had a really scary look on her face.

“You fight with your helmet?”, Shiv asked with a serious face.

There was silence throughout the room for a second. Shiv thought that he was going get hit by the giant lady. But contrary to his thoughts the two ladies started laughing.

“Buahahahaha! He is just as you said Al! My stomach, my stomach! I can’t stop laughing. Petra could hardly talk because of her laughter. She was now almost rolling on the floor, her hands squeezing her tummy.

“I told you so!” said a teary Altair who had just stopped laughing.

Petra stood up and removed her helmet, her neatly plaited golden hair came to Shiv’s view. The rich colour of the hair and its shiny radiance for a moment stunned.

“No son, not the helmet. I fight with what this helmet protects. My brain. I am a strategist and I have fought enough wars to be called one of the best of these lands.” She said confidently. “Well now, let’s not waste any more time. I have to turn you into a war machine as fast as possible. Altair let’s begin.” Petra said looking at Altair.

“Begin what?” Shiv had a bad feeling! He did not like the way things were proceeding.

“Master, begin what?”

“It’s a secret Shiv.”, Altair replied. She gave Shiv a charming smile and snapped her fingers. And then everything became blank.

---***---