The Conclave of Zofiar was nothing too special compared to the rest of the Academy, one might say that it was a bit too bland. The only thing that remotely stood out was how clean it was, an almost bleached-looking interior that made one feel unclean just by being in it, that they were dirty. That was partly its intention as its creator, Zofiar, wanted people to understand that when they were brought here, it was to be judged and that those judged were not in the right.

And that’s exactly how Ieros felt when he entered the almost impossibly clean room, suddenly conscious of his attire and overall appearance as he felt their eyes appraise him. What was worse was the immediate silence that followed his entering, the last echoes of voices fading into silence as everyone’s attention focused on him and Azorin. Ieros, unable to meet the pressure, kept his head down as he shuffled behind Azorin, afraid that he’d be accused of some wrongdoing. But Azorin did not care, walking into the chamber as if he owned the place, making his way to the center of the room as was tradition.

When all the eyes of the Conclave were upon him, he got right into business, announcing, “This boy here is the future of Magekind!”

His surprised audience blinked, before one of them, a man clad in white robes, asked, “You barge into an important meeting just to tell us that this boy is our future?”

Azorin explained, “I myself went to confirm the rumors of a boy whose mana concentration was reported to be the highest ever recorded and they are true. He stands before you now, a boy who may one day become the greatest mage to ever walk on Agleon.”

“And just why have you brought this up with us?” a woman said, her eyes shining through a black veil.

Azorin turned to her, saying, “You would’ve found out anyway, Meralia. And I came here for another reason as well, because I cannot protect him by myself.”

Another, a blindfolded man, asked, “Protect him? What do you mean?”

Azorin said, “I am confident I can defend him from physical harm, but that is not what worries me. It is the King I worry I cannot protect him from. If possible, I would like for Ieros to be taught in secret, but there are many eyes and ears that will report to the King so I do not expect this. I will need all of you to stand by me and keep the King’s hands off of Ieros. Together, our combined authority will be enough to keep the King at bay.”

The man in white protested, “But we are the King’s servants, we must serve him and-”

Azorin retorted, “And let the future of Magic be chained down and his potential left unreached? No, I will not allow that to happen.”

He continued, “The King will only use him and then toss him aside, leaving his latent talents to rot. I ask you, Thunwil, are you so foolish as to let the King trample our only hope into the mud?”

Thunwil, looking at his fellow Council members and getting no response, finally sat back, saying, “Of course I don’t want that, but this is not something we should keep from the King.”

Azorin said, “What good will come from the King knowing?”

To that, Thunwil could not find an answer, whereupon Azorin snorted and turned his attention to the rest of the Council.

“Do you all agree with me?”

The Council Members looked at one another, at Azorin, and at Ieros, with the veiled woman finally saying, “I shall agree, but only if I am allowed to teach the boy as well.”

The blindfolded man agreed as well, the others following suit until only Thunwil remained. Finally, he also agreed.

Azorin sighed but nodded, “As long as you all promise to stand by me in the protection of Ieros, I will have no qualms with you teaching him. But he is my apprentice, all lessons you conduct shall be done under my supervision.”

The others agreed, surprised that Azorin had actually offered to let them teach Ieros. They thought that this would have been another source of argument, considering Azorin’s selfish nature. But, rather than question it, they decided to accepted it before Azorin had second thoughts.

The blindfolded man took the initiative, saying, “I agree with your terms.”

“As do I,” the veiled woman said, with the other members following suit.

With that decided, Azorin then turned around, saying, “Decide amongst yourselves the order in which you will teach him, I will get Ieros settled in my Tower, there, he will remain unless I say otherwise.”

At this, Thunwil but interject, saying, “Would it not be better to situate the boy amongst the other students in the Interium? He’s still young and would need peers his age to talk to.”

Azorin shook his head.

“No, while I’m sure you all will keep silent about Ieros, the students will be harder to control. I will not allow any word of this to spread if I can help it which is why I shall keep him in my Tower. There shouldn’t be too many questions about you all visiting my tower and if there are, they cannot so easily investigate my property.”

Thunwil said, “But what if the matter is brought up to the Council and a Royal Order is given to investigate the Tower?”

Azorin snorted.

“If you think a mere piece of paper is enough to make me stand aside then you are sorely mistaken. This child is far more important to me than all the rules of this Academy, if I must break those rules to save him, then I will do so.”

Thunwil’s eye twitched as he said, “Absolutely disgraceful that you are this Academy’s Headmaster! You must respect the rules of this Academy more than anyone!”

Azorin, tired of this, glared right into Thunwil’s eyes.

“I do respect the rules of this Academy, I do not respect the orders from the Royal Court. This Academy has remained separate from the Royal Court for three centuries and I will continue to make sure that it remains that way. Magic and Kings never mixed well and I have yet to see evidence that they can. But that is not what is up for debate here, it is the fate of Ieros which has been settled. Now, since I trust there are no more problems, I will be taking Ieros to my Tower.”

So saying, Azorin turned and began to walk away, Ieros following after him, glad to be finally leaving that chamber. As they were leaving, Ieros dared to cast a glance back, seeing everyone’s eyes on him. He shuddered and quickly turned his gaze forward, unconsciously speeding up as he felt their eyes on his back. Only when the doors closed behind him did he relax, although he cast one more glance at those doors, hoping he’d never have to go there again.

As if reading his thoughts, Azorin said, “It is unpleasant to be in that room, isn’t it.”

Ieros nodded, asking, “Will I have to go in there again?”

Azorin thought about it, finally saying, “I can’t think of a reason why you would unless you did something wrong.”

“Oh.” Ieros too fell into deep thought, wondering how he was going to avoid doing something wrong.

Glancing at the boy, Azorin said, “It’s alright, as long as you listen to everything I say, you will be just fine.”

Ieros nodded again, waiting for a few moments before he asked, “So where are we going?”

Azorin replied, “To my Tower, it’s where you will be living from now on. It is not a place for nonsense but a place for magic, but... ” he looked down at Ieros with a small smile, “I feel that you will fit right in.”

Once again, Ieros nodded, walking in silence as he felt he had asked too many questions. Noticing this, Azorin gave him a look and chuckled, saying,

“If you are curious, ask. Never be afraid to ask me questions.”

At this, Ieros felt slightly encouraged, finally asking, “When can I fly again?”

Azorin said, “Well, with any luck, by tonight.”

At that, Ieros grinned as he asked, “What other things are we going to do?”

Azorin smiled.

“Many things, Ieros, things that I once thought were impossible, things that are beyond your wildest imaginations.”

But, his countenance changed as he stopped, crouching down to meet Ieros eye to eye.

“But the things you will do, others will not understand. They will look upon you with fear, with ridicule, with envy, and with hatred. But what they think matters not, you are different to them and that is fine. You were blessed and they were not, do not extend to them your pity or arrogance, for doing so will only incur more fear, ridicule, envy, and hatred. I will do my best to protect you, to hide you from them, but a day will come when you have to face them and when you do, remember that they cannot hurt you unless you let them.”

Ieros nodded again, although he still didn’t quite understand what Azorin meant. Seeing this, Azorin sighed and stood up, saying,

“Well, it is still some time before you have to face them. For now, all you need to worry about is Magic. Now,” Azorin changed the subject, “Other than flying, what would you like to do today?”

As Ieros began to talk about all the things that he had heard in stories and legends, Azorin smiled and assured Ieros that all those things could be made real. They soon arrived at his Tower, which was a misleading name as the Tower itself was mostly located underground. It was once Zofiar’s personal residence, and the trove of knowledge it held was protected and added onto for centuries, Azorin being its third illustrious master.

While the entrance of the “Tower” was nothing much to look at, just one of the many other doors that lined the halls of the Academy, the inside was far different. For instance, the material making up the walls differed from that of the hallway they just left, changing from marble to what seemed to be an even glossier surface of pure white, instead of the more milky white of the marble. With a seamless pure white surface that almost seemed to glow, Ieros once again got the feeling that he was too unclean to be in this room and that the room knew it, feeling a slight pressure around his body as if the room was trying to push him out. But it wasn’t enough to cause him great discomfort so he just remained silent.

Azorin, glancing down at Ieros, smiled to himself before he continued forward to the door opposite the one they entered in, getting inside the elevator, saying,

“Fifth floor.”

This boy truly was the one he had been waiting for, most who attempted to enter this room found that they were unable, an invisible force pushing them out and even for those who made it inside, the pressure they experienced was often enough to force them to blackout. Even Azorin felt some discomfort every time he went through these doors, even though he possessed the Amulet of Zofiar which protected him from the chamber’s oppressive energy. But Ieros had no such protection and yet he was able to remain in this room fully conscious and without enduring visible pain, this meant that the mana inside Ieros was at least as great as the mana that surrounded him, exerting equal force out as the mana outside pushed in, which resulted in a rough equilibrium in which Ieros could be safe.

Azorin’s eyes once more lit up with excitement as he thought of the possibilities. There were many more rooms to this Tower but not even he could explore all of them for these deeper chambers were filled with even more oppressive mana, Zofiar’s way of ensuring that only worthy mages could learn what secrets they held. Even with Zofiar’s Amulet, Azorin could only go so far. The key merely allowed access into the Tower and other than that, its function was mostly useless.

But Azorin now obtained a different key in the form of Ieros, although he had no such intentions of using this key any time soon. His excitement was not enough to push him to foolish action, Ieros was far too precious to lose now. No, he would have to rein in his curiosity for the moment and train Ieros until he would be strong enough to brave the Tower’s depths.

Azorin was brought out of his thoughts when the elevator came to a halt, the doors opening with silently, revealing another chamber with the same white walls but this time, these walls were covered in strange symbols and the ambient mana was not as oppressive. Rather than pushing, it sought to be absorbed, revitalizing both Azorin and Ieros with new energy.

As Ieros blinked, studying his body with clear confusion, Azorin explained, “This place is Zofiar’s personal training chamber, where he’d practice his magic. A certain stone called Marum is used in this process as it is capable of drawing in energy all by itself, although the rate at which it does so is rather slow. But, since the entire tower itself is made of Marum, and since it is directly located over a leyline, this tower is a source of infinite energy that all accumulates in this very room. Those symbols you see on the wall are what allows us to absorb this energy, which makes it very useful to practice magic.”

Ieros nodded, even though he barely understood, Azorin moving on as he said, “Now, I would like for you to start flying. Remember the words I told you and the feeling that accompanied them. Let that feeling encompass all of your thoughts, focus on it alone.”

Ieros did his best to do so, struggling to recall that feeling and muttering the words but after a few moments, other thoughts threatened to creep back. Even so, he continued to try and push those thoughts back and recall that feeling.

As Azorin saw Ieros attempt to cast magic, he smiled as he remembered trying the same thing, although his first successful spell was not as magnificent as Ieros’s. He attempted to recall the feeling he felt then, of the sudden ignition of mana and provided a warmth that he didn’t know he needed. From that moment on, he pursued Magic with great fervor, to the one thing in this world that gave him warmth in life. He was sure that Ieros was the same, no, he had to be, otherwise, his potential would remain forever locked. Just like Azorin, he needed the desire to climb ever higher the tree of Magic.

Recalling that desire, he wondered how he would kindle it in Ieros, finally making his way over to a frustrated Ieros who had yet to activate the spell.

He said, “Hmm, perhaps you are starting in the wrong way. How about this, Ieros, can you recall the moment when you started flying?”

Ieros thought for a moment, saying, “Well, I felt warm, but it wasn’t like being out on a hot day, it was inside.”

Azorin pressed, “Do you remember anything before that?”

Ieros thought again, finally saying, “I was very sleepy, I don’t really remember anything.”

Azorin sighed, “It seems we’ll have to start from the beginning.”

Returning his attention to Ieros, Azorin then said, “Do you know what mana is?”

Ieros shook his head and Azorin explained, “Well, mana is energy that resides in your blood, the same that allows spells to work. But in order to use it, it has to be burned. You have to make a spark in order to light your mana, although the how differs from person to person. Some use a memory that they hold very dear, others simply seek to absolutely understand their spell, and some even light themselves on fire, although I wouldn’t try that last one.”

Ieros asked, “Which one is the easiest?”

Azorin smiled.

“That I cannot tell you, because I myself do not know the right method for you. The only thing you can do is just try and it eventually will come to you.”

So saying, Azorin resigned himself to just watching Ieros attempt to fly, although, by the end of the day, Ieros was unsuccessful. While Azorin had hoped for another miracle, like that night, it seemed that what happened that night was just luck. So, he just shrugged, Ieros had potential but perhaps he had overestimated his capabilities.

So for now, he ended today’s lesson—if it could be called that—and just took Ieros to the second floor, Zofiar’s personal bedroom. Despite it being the only bedroom in the entire tower, Azorin never used it, having done away with the need to sleep completely just so he could continue to work on his experiments. Not that the bedroom was displeasing in any way, in fact, it was quite the model bedroom despite the fact it was outdated by a factor of four hundred years. That is because despite being outdated, it was made with the finest magical artifacts of his time. Since the technology of magical artifacts has unfortunately not advanced much if at all, this bedroom has remained one of the best in the entire kingdom for four hundred years.

Not that anyone knew, such knowledge was privy only to the Headmasters and none of the masters before Azorin ever thought to mention such a thing. After all, why brag about a self-making bed which can modulate its temperature, lights that brighten and dim according to one’s will, as well as a host of other such helpful commodities when that someone is the Headmaster, the Principal of the most illustrious Academy in Athera? Such things are given if they were even thought of at all. That and all the Headmasters never had the desire to brag about their opulence, for Magic was the most important thing to them.

But Ieros saw all of this and felt strangely at ease as if the room was welcoming him. Little did he know that to welcome and serve was the room’s function and for too long, it had lacked a master to serve. Almost instantly, it began attending to Ieros’s desires, the furniture resizing itself to be more accessible to Ieros's childish frame, the temperature of the room modulating itself to be comfortable, and the lighting changing to the soft yellow of a setting sun.

Azorin smiled as he saw this. That meant that the Tower acknowledged Ieros as a worthy heir, which would certainly make training Ieros inside it much easier. But, for now, he left Ieros alone in the room, mesmerized by all of its wonders and headed down to the ninth floor, his personal study. It was here—while Ieros slept—that he spent the night working on a lesson plan for tomorrow, one which would hopefully guarantee the ignition of Ieros’s spark.