“Before we agree on anything else, we must all agree to keep the knowledge of his existence contained solely between us,” Lord Vaago began, addressing his fellow Dark Mages. They gathered in the Hall of Deliberation, shortly after the Neophyte Ritual was finished and the children were sent to the Healing Room to recuperate. They gathered in a circle, each one sitting upon a grand throne of their own design – for they were Dark Lords, powerhouses in themselves. “Not even the Dark Council can know of him.”

Lady Mikasa, the Supreme Grandmistress of Alchemy, scoffed and leaned back into her throne, crimson eyes burning in the shadows. “Surely, you jest; you can’t keep this a secret from the Dark Council. That would undermine our war against the Light Mages.”

“I agree with Lady Mikasa,” Lord Gunter, Patriarch of the Elemental Sanctum, voiced his opinion. “We cannot keep this a secret from the Dark Council; the boy’s power is too obvious to keep hidden. Did you not see him utterly resist Lord Kyroth’s Mind Sweep? For a Neophyte who doesn’t even know a single spell, that was beyond impressive; he’s a prodigy. There’s no way the Dark Council won’t eventually hear of him.”

The other Dark Lords and Ladies remained quiet.

“Why should we keep his existence a secret, Lord Vaago?” Lord Amir, Supreme Overlord of Chronomancy, asked out loud for all to hear. The other Dark Lords and Ladies nodded and turned to Vaago. Lord Amir continued, “The way I see it, there’s no real reason to keep the boy’s presence a secret. His potential is too great to be kept hidden.”

“The boy could be the key to breaking the stalemate,” Lady Vana, Grand Archivist of Curses, voiced. “This war has gone on long enough; the Dark Council could use his potential. He would be a terrible and mighty weapon against the Light Mages.”

Lord Vaago huffed and sighed. “It is precisely because of his great potential that he must be kept hidden. If the Dark Council finds out about him, they will coddle him; they will treat him differently. They will offer him power. And he will grow soft and weak. That is not our way. That has never been the way of the Dark Mages. Uriel Alvarez must tread the same path we all took and he must earn his power; he must learn to claw, bite, stab, and gore, just as the rest of us did when we were his age. Otherwise, his great potential will go to waste.”

The others grumbled, but otherwise nodded in agreement. There was no shortcut to power; to become a true Dark Mage, a student had to endure the hardships, the torment, and the anguish that every Follower of the Dark had to endure. Their bones will break, their skin will burn, their muscles will tear, and their minds will fracture, but it was the act of enduring all of those things that set them far above the Light Mages. Sure, many of their students died in these trials, but those who survived, those who ascended, those who crawled their way atop a mountain of corpses, were feared and dreaded across all the realms of Agartha, even gods and godlings feared them.

“Very well,” Lady Monroe, Mistress-Archon of Hexes, chimed, nodding. “Your reasoning is sound and rational, Lord Vaago; for now, we shall do all we can to keep the boy’s existence hidden from the Dark Council, without outright hampering his growth. All concur?”

The Dark Lords and Ladies stomped their feet twice on the ground. There was no longer any room for arguments or debates on the matter; the first order of business was settled and it was time to move on. Vaago smiled, “I thank you all for your understanding; now, let’s begin assigning mentorships. We shall begin with the girls, from the smallest and weakest potency to the strongest.”

“Very well,” Lord Vaago snapped his fingers and a three-dimensional ethereal image of Liza Harris appeared at the center of their gathering for all to see, including basic details such as her place of origin, ancestry, etc. “The first female Neophyte is Liza Harris with an Innate Talent for Category 2 Ice Magic – any willing mentors for the girl?”

“Any details on her second trial?” Lord Gunter asked absently. Most of the gathered lords were not interested in the girl, whose Innate Talent was about as common as a talent could get. She might become a true Dark Mage, but Liza Harris’ potency was just a tiny bit above average at best. Still, the Dark Code ensured that the little girl would have a mentor, willing or otherwise. Still, due to her Innate Talent technically falling under Elemental Magic, it was Lord Gunter who was best suited to wringing out every drop of potential from the girl.

Lord Vaago nodded. “She was dropped in a German-Occupied French Village; a couple of German Soldiers caught her, raped her, and caused her to awaken. She destroyed an entire outpost and froze the entire village, killing everyone inside. Liza survived the next two days by foraging and looting, and killed a platoon of American Soldiers, who were trying to help her.”

Gunter nodded. “I declare an interest, but nothing more – for now. I shall withhold my final decision, until after all the potential mentees have been glossed over.”

“Is there anyone else, who would like to voice their interest in mentoring the girl?” Unsurprisingly, no one else declared an interest.

Vaago shrugged. “Alright, let’s move on to the next Neophytes….”

Lord Zar-Garak, Rune-Father of the Forge of Enchanting, pledged his mentorship to Maria Andales and brokered no arguments, though – really – no one else wanted the girl and it was a miracle he did. They moved on to the next Neophyte of note, Kamala Chandara, whose Innate Talent lay in Hex Magic, Category 3, which was a great deal above average and garnered a debate. The ones who argued over her mentorship were Lady Munroe, Mistress-Archon of Hexes, and Lord Dagon, Arch-Deacon of Rituals, since both branches of Magic were deeply related or otherwise intertwined. In the end, Lord Dagon withdrew his interest and Kamala Chandara was assigned to Lady Munroe.

Iwahashi Kaede, of course, garnered quite a bit of attention. Curse Magic was greatly feared across Agartha for a good reason; there was no defense against it, no counters. It didn’t kill outright, no; curses ranged from causing minor inconveniences to outright torture, but never did it kill its targets. Though the magic in itself was incredibly complex, chaotic, and twisted, master practitioners of Curse Magic were capable of halting the advance of entire armies or bringing madness and ruin upon entire cities. The one weakness of Curse Magic was that its spells often required oddly specific things that usually were difficult to find.

Ultimately, Iwahashi Kaede, whose Innate Talent in Curse Magic was far above the norm in Category 4, was assigned to Lady Vana, the Grand-Archivist of Curses, to ensure her growth.

Lord Vaago’s eyes narrowed. Lady Vana was a member of the Circle of Hel, a close-knit group of Dark Mages that represented Helheim, the Shadow Academy that was based in Scandinavia, hiding within plain sight. She was neither a friend nor an enemy, but her interests definitely did not align with his. Of course, most of the Dark Lords and Ladies present were neutral to begin with; the only one here who belonged to the Cult of Chaos, same as he, was Lord Temujin, Grandmaster of Goetia.

Sadly, none of the Neophytes were compatible with Lord Temujin’s magical expertise, hence the man’s silence.

Finally, the debate turned its attention to Olga Ulitskaya, one of the extremely rare natural practitioners of Phoenix Fire Magic. And, even then, she was a cut above her already-rare peers with a rating of Category 6. If Vaago recalled correctly, there were only ten students in the entire San Jose Shadow Academy who were capable of utilizing Phoenix Fire, though all of them were Category 4 or below.

Of course, Lord Vaago mused, the biggest problem with Phoenix Fire Magic was that it was difficult to pin down to any branch, due to its innate properties. It was capable of great destruction; that much was true. Its flames burned hotter and brighter than any Mage-Fire, matching the intensity of stars or even dwarfing them. However, its flames were also capable of the opposite – healing. Skilled practitioners of Phoenix Fire Magic were said to bathe entire battlefields in their rainbow flames, burning their foes to ashes while healing their allies.

The first to voice their interest was Lady Valaya, Grand-Apothecary of Healing, “I believe I would make a great fit to mentor the girl; we Dark Mages are sorely lacking in talented healers and practically overflowing with combatants. And we all know, for a fact, that Phoenix Fire is more than just a tool to destroy; its greatest power lies in its ability to heal, even restore lost limbs.”

“I disagree,” Lord Gunter said, though not without nodding respectfully at Lady Valaya’s direction. “Phoenix Fire is an innately chaotic and destructive form of magic. And it has been likened to Demon Fire, wild and unstoppable; its greatest ability isn’t its healing. Rather, its greatest ability is in its untamed destructive capacity. The girl needs to learn to harness and control her flames, like any other Fire Mage; she will learn to do so under my guidance.”

Vaago tuned out the rest of the debate. As interesting as Phoenix Fire was, even a Category 6, it simply didn’t involve him. Besides, both Lady Valaya and Lord Gunter belonged to strictly neutral parties; Lady Valaya was a member of the Void-Walkers, a cabal of Dark Mages, who were dedicated to studying the void and its powers. Lord Gunter belonged to no specific group and ruled only in the Elemental Sanctum. It mattered not which of them became Olga Ulitskaya’s mentor.

And, really, his interests lay in another Neophyte.

In the end, Olga Ulitskaya was turned over to Lady Valaya to become her apprentice, while Lord Gunter begrudgingly took on Liza Harris, since no other Neophyte had an Innate Talent that even remotely belonged under Elemental Magic.

“Alright,” Vaago leaned forward and snapped his fingers. “We can now move on with the male Neophytes; as we did before, we will begin with the one who holds the least potency all the way to the strongest.”

“We’ll start with Shinomiya Kyoya,” He continued, eyeing the Dark Lords who still hadn’t made their choice. Still, this one shouldn’t require much in the way of debate. “His Innate Talent is Chronomancy, Category 4.”

Everyone glanced at Lord Amir, who shrugged. “What?”

Chronomancy was an incredibly powerful branch of magic that, sadly, was only practiced by a handful of mages. Aside from Lord Amir himself, there were only five other Chronomancers among the Dark Mages and they were all students. Once, long ago, Vaago fought a Chronomancer Light Mage in the sewers of London for his 3rd Trial; he would’ve died if Temujin hadn’t rescued him at the last moment and they both would’ve died if the Light Mage actually went for the kill. He was much younger and weaker at the time, only a Neophyte, while the Light Mage was a 4th Year Student. He lost, horribly at that, but he learned from his mistakes.

An enemy that could manipulate one’s perception of time was… difficult to fight.

Lord Amir was capable of so much more than simply messing with his enemies’ perceptions.

Vaago rolled his eyes and sighed, massaging his temples. “Just take him, man; no one else is going to.”

Lord Amir sighed. “Fine, I’ll be the boy’s mentor.”

“Alright,” Vaago nodded. “Now that that’s settled, we can move on to the next Neophyte: Troy Francese. His Innate Talent is Alchemy, Category 4.”

“I’ll take the boy,” Lady Mikasa declared in a tone that brokered no argument.

Not that anyone wanted to argue with her or had the guts to do so.

Alchemists were… different. Were they dangerous? Of course, they were; some of the most infamous Dark Mages were Alchemists. What made them so unique was that they were makers, much like Enchanters or Runewriters; their skill was in the creation of objects that would then grant them power. Alchemists were famed for their ability to take one object and turn it into another, or take several objects and merge them into a single artifact. The Philosopher’s Stone, for instance, wildly considered by Alchemists to just be a worthless trinket, was capable of turning lead into gold. And anyone can use it. More powerful Alchemists were capable of creating potions that stole the powers of gods or artifacts that forced open gates into other worlds.

Lady Mikasa herself created a sword that bypassed all defenses and a bracer that rendered its wearer utterly immune to offensive magic – and the two artifacts were just the ones she publicly declared. Vaago would’ve been more afraid of her if she hadn’t stayed strictly neutral. The only Alchemist that surpassed her was Lord Kali, a member of the Dark Council itself. Even then, her name inspired fear among Dark Mages and across Agartha.

The fact that Lady Mikasa was also a talented Enchanter and Runewriter made her all the more fearsome.

Troy Francese… A Category 4 Natural Alchemist was someone to look out for in the future. He’d be learning under the monster herself. “Alright, we’ll move on to the next Neophyte, Lyn David; his Innate Talent is Death Magic, Category 5.”

“His potential is great; I will take him under my wing,” Lord Barnabas, Dread-Lord of Necromancy, announced. At this point, no one was going to argue with him over his choice of apprentice. Though, Vaago wasn’t sure what to make of the man. Lord Barnabas was a prominent member of the Reapers, an infamous cabal of mages that collected souls and used them for a variety of rituals. No one knew what their actual purpose was. And Death Magic, in itself, while uncommon, wasn’t exactly rare.

Sure enough, it was dangerous, like any other branch of magic, but its effects were lackluster at best… in his humble opinion, of course, like fire that burned really slowly and stole the years of life from its enemies. Vaago would honestly call it a “meh” kind of magic; Death Mages would likely say otherwise.

Necromancy, however, was an entirely different sort that was undeniable in its strength. But that was neither here nor there, considering none of the Neophytes had an Innate Talent in Necromancy.

Lord Vaago shrugged and leaned back against his throne. “Alright, that’s settled; there’re only two Neophytes left.”

He glanced at the only other person who was yet to voice an interest or speak at all and shuddered. Hers was the one presence that he reviled most of all; the lingering aura of death that clung to her person was repulsive, even to other Dark Mages. The only one among them who didn’t react negatively around her was Lady Mikasa.

Still, Lord Vaago, Voivode of Death-Dealers, composed himself and continued, snapping his fingers. “The next Neophyte is Antonio Chavez; his Innate Talent is Contract Magic, Category 6. I will be taking him under my wing.”

As much as he desired to make a play for the elephant in the room, he couldn’t – not when she had her eyes on him as well.

“Let us end this farce; I have better places to be,” The Dark Lady Victoria, Crow-Mother of the Plague Cauldron, stood and walked to the center of the gathering. The other Dark Lords and Ladies shrunk on their thrones. Her presence was sickening and dreadful, and Vaago himself found it difficult to be around her. He gritted his teeth when he found that his hands were shaking. “I will mentor Uriel Alvarez and that will be the end of that.”

She turned and walked away.

The gathered Dark Lords and Ladies remained quiet until Lady Mikasa burst out in laughter. “Ah, you children should’ve seen the looks on your faces.”

Vaago’s still-shaking hands balled into fists. Even after all this time?