《Teaching Heroes of Might and Magic》Chapter 5: Where does the Journey to Magusdom begin
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As Sasha held onto me and shyly buried her head into my chest I smiled.
Zev: Looking towards her in a gentle manner, I pulled her head away from my chest and tilted her face upwards “Are you sure?” I asked her once again “I will not coddle you” I lied to her “I will force you to grow throughout harsh circumstances” I once again lied “But if you stay here, you will live a happy life inside of this tiny village” I told her “Are you sure?” I asked one final time and she nodded with resolution in her eyes.
I did a victory pose on the inside. Well I already knew she would accept so I didn't have to be really excited but I was anyway.
Those eight days of subtle persuasion had succeeded.
She could no longer stay in this tiny village once she had heard all of my stories about the large open world out there.
And after she witnessed my awesome powers of bullshit, as well as the little episode of hers which we shared of course she'd trust me.
As I held onto her, I told her to bring her mother, father as well as Doven to me but only after she said her good byes to everyone she cared about.
I told her that we would be leaving soon but I needed a few things from Doven.
With that she nodded cutely and happily ran off.
I watched her leave and smiled gently. I would let this little girl live like a princess. Well, I hope I had the power to do so.
Turning around I walked towards the pouches of gold and immediately stored them in my storage ring.
After I had all the gold put away, I removed the paper I had decided to call 'Gods Cheat Sheet' from the ring.
Once I saw the words written upon it, I did a second victory pose. I was ecstatic.
'Quest
Part 1
Create an Entity, with a minimum of 2 'Students/Adopted Children/Priestling/Etc' and one 'Teacher/Elder/Priest/Etc'
Updated: 1 Disciple taken.
Conditions: Must be the Best of the Best
Time Limit: ???'
And then when I turned the page over at the very bottom, those 2 beautiful words appeared.
'Primal Points: 500'
Sasha was probably crying in her mothers and fathers embrace at this moment, while I was definitely crying in my own embrace.
In several months I had found my first disciple. I was beyond happy. In those several months, I had only spent 8 days in the presence of other humans.
As I waited for Sasha to say good bye to her parents and whoever else, I decided to go through the shop page of 'Magus'. I hoped to find something to boost Sasha's strength immensely.
But all I could find for increasing her strength was medicinal pills and herbs. I decided to do an advanced search and typed 'Spell'.
Thanks to my advanced search I got good news, but I also got bad news.
The good news was that I now saw Spell Books, Tomes and the like, but the bad news was that there was several million and that they were scarily expensive or too high of a level.
So I then advanced my advanced search by adding 'Can grow along' and 'Mageling'.
I then prayed to luck and fate and searched.
Surprisingly I found only a few thousand results.
It looks like this would be easy for me.
But then I had my hope shattered.
They were too expensive.
The cheapest was 500 PP and was called 'Tome of Sun Magus'. It was created by the Legendary Sun Mage, which contained his training method as well as his story. The tome was also regarded as a world class treasure. The little description it had started off with 'The Sun Mage went onto rule the world for a thousand years'. Reading this type of description made me fidgety.
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Such a powerful technique was only worth 500 PP but the reason it was worth so little was because it required 'Supreme Affinity to Fire', 'Blessing of a Fire God' as well as 'World Class Genius' status.
So to almost everyone in the world, such an item would useless.
And even on the off chance of someone having the requirements it wouldn't mean he'd be able to get his hands on the tome.
Any other item on this scale would be worth who knows how many thousands of PP.
Very scary but all the other items that are only worth 500 PP were not something good enough for my first disciple, Sasha.
But I had to buy her something to allow her to train.
I couldn't just buy worthless or pointless things. This was truly a mind numbing conundrum for me.
In the end, after a good 5 minutes of searching, I found an item called 'Stability of Magus' which was a tome that allowed one to establish a foundation. It apparently didn't interfere with any other learning method.
So even after using this book to create your foundation you could use any other tome to continue your training.
It was created by the 'First Magus' and was worth 500 PP.
It only allowed someone to reach Soul Practitioner Rank 1, but it was the most solid training manual to ever be created. So this would help Sasha grow into a super being.
Even though spending 500 PP would be very painful, I planned to do so.
I mean Sasha would surpass me soon anyway, the more reliant she becomes on me before then, the better I'll be treated in the future.
But I'll treat her nice regardless of how well she does. She deserves it after what she has been through.
But now that makes another philosophical discussion I must have with myself. Do I start helping every abused and weak person I find?
No, I can't do that. I don't have enough power. But then am I not being hypocritical. The more I think the more annoying it becomes.
Fuck it, I'll decide when that moment comes. I'm only a slightly more powerful human, no need to brood on such distant things.
As I pondered whether or not to buy the tome now or later, I lamented the fact there was no 'bookmark' button. I mean if you have advanced search and menus to select from, a bookmark bar would also be quite helpful.
As I thought about the 'Gods Cheat Sheet' and its lack of features, I heard the sound of footsteps coming from behind me.
I turned around and saw Sasha come in the company of her parents and Doven. I smiled gently since it appeared that Sasha has already finished saying her good byes to the people around her.
She had a sad look upon her as she held both her 'Mother' and 'Father's hand, but her eyes were filled with resolution.
I watched them all walk towards me slowly and aside from Sasha they all held hesitation when approaching me.
Upon reaching me, Sasha moved to my side and I gently patted her before turning towards her parents.
Zev: “I'm sorry for not warning you beforehand about myself taking Sasha as my disciple” I told them in an apologetic manner “I've called you to ask you, this time officially, will you allow me to take Sasha as my disciple” I asked them politely but they immediately became frantic.
Johann: “Please Great Elder do not apologise, in fact allow us to thank you for giving our little one this chance” and with that he knelt down in front of me along with his wife.
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Even though they both appeared scared, they were genuinely grateful.
Zev: I quickly made them rise and smiled my best gentle smile “Please do not kneel” I told them after I made them get up “I may not be able to offer much to you in regards to myself taking her away but I can guarantee that before the end of the decade, the deeds committed by Sasha shall reverberate throughout your homeland” I said as I smiled.
Sasha's 'parents' and Sasha herself all beamed at my words.
I smiled in both happiness and gratitude that her parents didn't get all defensive and suspicious of me. If they had, they might have even tried to fight me to the death to protect her.
If they did I'd die terribly.
But it seems that fate is on my side.
Zev: “Thank you for allowing me to train Sasha” I said happily to which they once again bowed.
After short bout of thanks between me and Sasha's 'parents' I turned towards Doven.
Zev: “Sasha, go and prepare, we will be leaving soon” I told her as I walked towards Doven “I have to speak to Doven about a few things, so please excuse me” I told the two 'parents' of Sasha who immediately nodded and left with Sasha.
Doven: The old man slightly bowed before me “How may this one be of aid to you Great Elder?” he asked me.
I was beginning to despise being treated so well.
It didn't feel nice to have an old man bow before you, thinking you were his elder.
I stopped him from bowing and smiled at him.
Zev: “I have only awoken recently in this world” I stated “So, much of the current state of affairs of things are foreign to me” I told him. He had a surprised look on his face as he began to ponder things for a moment before nodding towards me.
Doven: “Of course Great Elder, please do come with me” he told me, to which I nodded and followed him.
We entered his house and walked towards the room I had learnt to be his study.
Inside the room, I watched Doven walk towards a large bookshelf.
He then pulled a book forward which made the bookshelf slowly shake only to split in two and move in two different directions.
Oh my god. This was a secret fucking room.
Doven turned towards me once the entrance to this secret room had opened.
Even though I was shocked on the inside, externally, I was as cool as a cucumber.
Actually, who the hell thinks that. 'Cool as a Cucumber'... Well I guess that shows how shocked I am.
Nonetheless, putting my thoughts away I walked inside the room with a slight nod towards Doven who was waiting for me to enter first.
Upon entering the room I saw a single desk in the middle of the room, with all the walls surrounded by bookshelves.
It was a nice wooden desk that appeared to have been made by a master crafter. It was an incredible piece of work. Me calling it nice was a very severe understatement.
Why on earth did this backwater village have Sasha and these other suspicious people.
I was seriously beginning to wonder exactly what secrets this Von Berg family was hiding.
But I didn't press my curiosity, because I didn't know if they'd get angry and try to silence me even at the cost of their own lives to protect their secrets.
So even though my curiosity was killing me, I'd rather die metaphorically rather than in reality.
Standing in front of the desk, I watched Doven walk in and close the room behind him.
My heart beat was increasing, was this some trap room? Was I to die here?
I forced myself to calm down. There was no way Doven would kill me. He seemed to like me a lot.
After making sure I believed in my own opinion, I had fully calmed down.
I stared at Doven as he walked towards the bookshelf on the western side of the wall and pulled out a scroll.
It was a rather large scroll.
He then sprayed it upon the table, letting it reveal its content.
I almost fainted at what I saw.
This was ridiculous.
I mean, I already knew this world was big, but this was ludicrous.
At the top of the map was written 'PROVINCE OF HAN HUN TYANG'.
And the size of a map of a single province was almost 5 times larger than Earth.
A single fucking province.
How fucking large was this god damned empire?!
And that aside, how did I even know the language of this world. I could read and speak it.
When did Zoras give me this ability?
Or did he even give me an ability? I mean, this all looked and sounded like English.
But those thoughts aside, I studied the map.
We were on the border of the province.
To the East of us was the Forest I had come out of, which was named the 'Forest of Silence'...
Reading that name gave me a miniature heart attack. Forest of Silence? That sounded like a bad place to be and I lived there for so long!
Was I just ridiculously lucky? Or did Zoras's smell linger on me making whatever lived there steer clear of me?
I didn't know. I did not want to know.
Focusing back on the map, I saw that there were thousands of villages in this province. I couldn't be bothered counting as all the villages were a very, very small * icon.
I only knew this because Doven had pointed the village of Startza out and had marked it out with a large * icon. He had also told me that there were a total of 2,341,732 villages in the province.
And that Startza was one of the smallest.
The towns were very, very small O icons and the cities were very, very small Squares.
It seemed like there were 507,691 towns and a total of 14,143 cities.
Of course, not all of these was marked on the map, otherwise the map would be fully covered in *, O and Squares.
But knowing these numbers wasn't really helpful.
I mean, who cares if I knew how many towns and cities there were. That was like memorising how many cities and the like were back on Earth.
It was fucking pointless.
What made my heart beat the most was that the population of this Province was 27 billion.
I was having a legitimate heart attack.
It wasn't because the province had 27 billion, it was because this province was the smallest province.
The largest province, the Capital Province, had a population of 1.2 trillion.
1.2 trillion, oh my god. That was horrific.
What was the total god damned population of this empire if one province had 1.2 trillion?
I forced the thought out of my head. There was no need for me to get panicked over such a thing. I mean, what did it have to do with me. Oh right, I had to create the strongest entity in the world, so it had a fucking lot to do with me.
Now I was pondering the total population of this world. How large was this world exactly?
I couldn't ask Doven because that would remove my mysterious feel, but he himself probably didn't even know anyway.
Zev: “This is quite a detailed map” I told him as I stopped my voice from quivering, he nodded in agreement “Do you happen to have a map of a larger area?” I asked him getting my hopes up.
Doven: “My apologies Great Elder” he shook his head sadly “This is all I have, maybe back when I was in my clan, I could have provided more, but at this point” he only shook his head.
I was surprised to hear him mention his clan, but the way he said it made me suspicious. I know what he was trying to do.
He wanted me to ask about his clan so he could tell me the life story of Sasha and his son and then hope that he can shift the responsibility onto me.
Well, not so fast you crafty old man. I myself am also crafty. But nonetheless, I still had to learn eventually since Sasha was my disciple and I had to take care of this problem sooner or later.
Sighing internally, I prepared myself for what was to come. I hoped that her Clan or sect wasn't too large and would be easy to take revenge on.
Zev: “Oh, your clan” I replied in an all knowing manner “Yes, I already know of Sasha being in quite a predicament” I lied through my ass “You are her retainers, no?” I asked him.
He looked quite shocked, he literally began to shake before he planted himself on the ground and kowtowed once more.
Doven: “Great Elder, I'm sorry for assuming you knew nothing about her situation, but since you already know, don't let this little one waste your time any further” he stated. I wanted to choke myself internally. I had to be cocky and arrogant, and now he wasn't going to explain shit to me. Why didn't I just act fucking humble?! “Please Great Elder, protect and help her, she has gone through far too much, I beg of you” and with that I sighed internally and made the old man rise.
I had fucked up my chance of learning where Sasha came from by not using my words properly.
It seems like this respect I was receiving made me far too cocky. I had to humble myself very soon.
Zev: “Please rise Doven” I told him as he got up “You have no need to bow before me, she is my disciple and I myself will definitely take care of her problem, so just leave it to me” I replied to him gently.
He looked at me with what I assumed was infinite respect.
He had collected himself after a few moments and we were now once again, staring at the map.
It was quite an incredible map now that I was focusing on it.
So large and unique, the mountains and lakes, the forests and valleys, all of them had a uniqueness to it.
There were also several large skulls on the map, which when I asked Doven what they were, replied with, 'Those are the danger zones, ruled by the monster lords, which even the Empire has to negotiate peace with' he replied.
I was even further shocked by this point. I mean, forget Magic and Martial Artists, now there were fucking monsters? Monster Lords? Humanoid, Intelligent, Monsters.
Who the fuck Negotiates with Monsters?
Why did I still get shocked anyway? I came here with an omni-potent god, and I had a piece of paper with which I could shop online.
Now that I thought about it, Zoras was probably like Zeus, and went around fucking weird things, creating the Monsters.
Putting my theory aside, I calmed myself down, before I began to focus once more.
I marked these positions in my mind and tried my best to memorise it. These were locations I never wanted to visit if I could help it.
Wait, maybe these monsters also had intelligent youths I could kidnap into my plan. Maybe, but I'll leave it for later.
The closest one to me was a good 10,000 kilometres away so it wasn't that important for now.
Looking at the map, I pointed to the closest city to this village, which was South of us and Doven only smiled wryly and said 'City of Jubelan', I of course felt pissed on the inside. The closest city to me, which was a little over 1000 kilometres away was of course that little shits home city.
The second closest city, 'The City of Hue Tan', was a bit over double the distance of Jubelan, a good 2000 to 2200 kilometres away.
Doven said the exact distance was 2146 kilometres, so I wasn't that far off in my estimate.
I made up my mind and decided to head there to gather more information. I could have headed towards Jubelan and I was sure that we wouldn't face any resistance but I was almost certain that I would fuck up somehow and then end up dying.
I mean, why push your luck when you can just take the safe option.
Nodding to myself, I turned towards Doven and stated I would head to the City of Hue Tan.
Doven looked a bit Ashen and shook his head at my decision.
Doven: “The City head of Hue Tan knows who Sasha is, so even though he himself will not do anything to you, he will still inform other people, so it may be dangerous for Sasha to head there” he told me.
I was sad on the inside when he said 'Dangerous for Sasha', instead of 'Dangerous for us'. He had so much confidence in me that he only thought they would be able to harm Sasha or use her against me.
That little girl will most definitely become several times stronger than me before we even reach any city and you were worried about her?
I was disheartened but I still kept up my facade.
Looking back at the map, in the opposite direction, in the north, was another city. Pointing at that, I looked at Doven, who seemed to be pondering upon the question.
He in the end sighed and shook his head.
Doven: “Again, it is better to be safe, then sorry” he replied and I nodded.
Turning back to the map, Doven pointed to a city severely close to the Large Skull. Seeing me make no reaction when he pointed towards it, he must have thought that I wasn't worried at all and decided to speak.
Doven: “I think you should head towards the City of Gilleghan” he said “It is outside the influence of any power since it is managed by the Monster Lord Gill” he said as he pointed towards the skull “So this may be a safe place for you to head and retrieve more information Great Elder” he spoke his opinion.
I looked calm on the outside, but I was about to faint from fear on the inside.
Head towards a city controlled by an unknown monster? Are you fucking with me. I'd rather head towards a city.
But what if the people behind Sasha were really powerful? Then what would I do.
I was beginning to regret my decision. I put my hand on my chin and appeared as if I was pondering to his reply, but in reality I was thinking of a way I could find a nice, safe place to find more disciples.
In the end, I sighed and cried internally. I had chosen to head towards the City of Gilleghan.
Doven nodded and then went to prepare our supplies, which was a lot of water and food.
As he had gone to prepare our supplies, I began to think about a lot of stupid things, like the names of places in this world.
These Asian names were confusing but I was getting used to them.
The thing that bothered me the most was the mixture of Asian and Western sounding names.
Maybe this was the result of billions of years of mixing.
Sighing I put all those thoughts away.
Once I had stored the supplies in my ring which was packed to the brim, I gave my farewell to Doven and Sashas 'parents' who waved us off with happy expressions. Aside from Johann, who seemed like he wanted to say something, which was most likely the situation Sasha was in, but Sasha glanced at him and simply smiled like she had it under her control which made Johann sigh.
With that, I had bid farewell to the villagers and left the village with Sasha in tow.
A good long while had passed since we left the village, and I finally decided that it was time for us to make camp.
I made camp after 10 or so kilometres since Sasha's body could barely handle such a long journey.
Now that I think about it, making a 6 year old walk 10 kilometres was child abuse, no?
Nonetheless, I gave her water, bread, cheese and a single Magus pill.
She looked questioningly at the Magus Pill but I simply smiled and told her that it would allow for her to begin cultivating.
After she heard those words, she frantically ate dinner as fast as possible before she decided to finally take the pill.
Holding the pill in her hands, she turned to look towards me.
Zev: “This pill will allow you to begin your journey towards power” I told her in the deepest voice I could muster.
She shivered quietly by nodded and with resolution, downed the pill.
But that was a terrible idea.
As the moment she took the pill, she began to scream loudly in pain.
I was panicking now.
Why was she screaming in pain.
Was she too young to start her journey on Magusdom?!
Shit, fuck, what now?
Looking at the little girl squirming on the ground I quickly picked her up and hugged her tightly.
She squirmed in my grasp but after a few minutes she finally calmed down.
She was unconscious and her body was covered in sweat.
She looked like she had a very severe fever.
Not knowing what to do, I simply placed her at a distance from the fire and sat by her side, waiting for her to wake up.
----
Hey guys, Old Man here.
Sorry for taking so long to release another chapter. I've just been busy packing up and handling things on my end since I'll be moving countries soon.
Also, the chapters are usually really long, 4000 or so words.
I can promise at least a minimum of 1 chapter a week, but I'll try to release more. Once things stabilize on my end, I'll try to release alot more.
Thanks for the support, love,
Old Man.
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