"La la la... la la la. La la lah! Blood is good, and red is dead! La la la! Dark is bark, and gray is day!"

A childlike voice echoed in the wake of a roaming shadow. It zipped past trees and bushes at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.

There was an eerie fog covering the forest center, but the small girl that appeared suddenly was far more sinister.

"Fogs like a dog, and a tree's like a knee once broken!" Her eerie, incoherent song filled the forest with a sense of dread.

Fog in the deepest portion of the Prime forest was so thick it was an impossible place for any human to cross. Whether that human was a beastman chieftain or an Archmage capable of any number of complicated spells; not one living being has crossed through the center of the Prime Forest and lived. Front and center the middle sections of the forest were widely unknown.

"What do you want, foul creature?"

The strange voice found in the deeper portions of the forest that usually asked one to play sounded strange. Usually playful and haunting, the forest now seemed... scared.

"Play? I'd love to play with you! That sounds wonderful!" A small girl wearing a red hood started humming as she skipped to the epicenter of the Prime Forest. She seemed to know what the ancient spirit would normally say to visitors of its domain.

Her lantern burned with a dreadful green fire that seemed to suck the life out of everything around it, even the unnaturally thick gray fog.

"What are you?"

She skipped forward while holding her green lantern. The fog seemed to hiss in pain as a small withered tree came into view. It appeared to be gray and sickly as it was lit up in the evil green light.

"Arghhhh!?"

"I thought you wanted to play?"

The girl stopped in front of the tree and placed her lantern directly on the tree's gray trunk which visibly gnarled at its touch.

"Stop. It hurts! It hurts! What are you?"

The ground shook as the tree moved to the left and right in pain. Swirling eyes of darkness shone through the hood as the green light from flickering flames shone on the girl's face.

A voice much older and darker came from the small girl. An ancient eerie voice that defied reality bellowed, "You should know of all things, Dragsil. It's been a thousand years since we last met."

"You... Demon still live. An age of darkness once more?"

Putting her pale white hand on the tree trunk, she said, "You've grown old and withered. Maybe I should put you down now? It would be easier for my plans if I did."

"I shall stop you with everything I have left."

Suddenly, a great and powerful quake reverberated throughout the forest.

"You can try grandpa, but I'd prefer settling for a deal." She took a step back from the tree and made the small green fire shrink in size.

"You are... Incomplete! Demon, what is that you want from me?" The tree appeared to hunch over to peer at her as its branches sank toward the ground.

"The monsters of the abyss you keep at bay. If I kill you all of them will be released at once flooding the world with an unstoppable monster wave of force."

"Do not underestimate me, Demon!"

"Hehehe! I don't. I don't! Which is why dear grandpa. I only ask that you release half of all the monsters kept at bay. If you do this little thing for me, I won't kill you. How does that sound, fair?"

"Half is enough to flood the human world with endless darkness! My position as a warden would be for naught. You ask me to abandon my purpose and directive!? I am better off ridding this world of your presence! Consequences are damned!" An earthquake erupted shaking the entire prime forest as the fog coalesced into the scowling face of an old man.

"My time has come. The seals placed around the four corners are soft and weak. I can feel my power growing day by day. Old tree, what do you think is worse? I come back at full power in a few years with the endless abyss behind me? Or you release half of the abyss now which should weaken my seal, but strengthen and prepare the humans for what is to come? Either way, it's a lose-lose situation, isn't it? Hehehehahahahehe! I am coming!"

Dragsil, the ancient tree no longer spoke to the girl. The scowling face of fog rushed toward the small girl consuming her body.

"Hehehehe! Hehehe! I'll be back! Next time, I'll be whole."

The lantern fell to the ground as the girl disappeared. After just a few moments, the spooky green fire had changed to a normal orange fire as if the strange light had never existed at all.

Silence overwhelmed the forest once more as the ancient tree seemed to glare at the rusty lantern.

"Demon, I shall prepare."

**********

"Lord Jamie, how do you suggest we climb.. this?"

"Well, first of all, we need a certain key." Jamie pulled out a small blue gem shaped like a pearl. Upon closer inspection, the small pearl appeared to have blue smoky clouds floating deep within. An entire small world seemed to be just beyond those clouds.

Power beyond what one could imagine.

"Aramesh! Don't stare into it!"

Aramesh quickly looked down at the ground as a small trickle of sweat dripped from his brow. His breathing was rough and shallow as he tried to regain control of his breathing.

"Lord?"

"It's a core, a core representing a single element. Think of it as a power that represents an entire element. This one is called the Purple Core. An item of pure unrestrained lightning. You'll be drawn into it and may never leave if you focus on it too much."

"Where did you get this, Lord?"

Jamie covered the pearl-like item with his hand as he said, "None of your business, Aramesh. If the Emperor knew I had this item he'd risk his life to get it. I'd prefer not to face a crazed and manic Archmage."

"Sorry, my lord." Aramesh bowed his head and chose to say nothing else. He wasn't one to ask many questions in the first place.

Jamie looked toward the horrifying mountain with a bit of nervous expectation. "Let's go." With a serious expression, Jamie started moving up the mountain.

Opening his palm, Jamie directed the blue gemstone in front of his body.

Jamie yelled, "Aramesh, stay close behind me. If you stray too far, there's nothing I can do to save you."

"Yes, Lord!"

"This is the forbidden land, the Mountain of Judgement. I think without the Purple Core, the only human that could survive this place is the Emperor himself."

Aramesh looked puzzled as he asked, "What about the Seer? Aren't we here because she's already climbed the mountain?"

Jamie took a step forward before gulping now his saliva, "I don't consider the Seer human."

*****Aaron POV****

Darius is weird. He's overly mature for a five-year-old brat. There is no doubt that Talia, Daniel, and Roderick are all mature for their ages, but Darius acts like a child at times, but he acts like an adult even more. These kids were annoying to deal with.

I finally have a chance to learn magic, and I'm not going to be stupid about it and waste my time learning from a small child!

This is my second chance, and I refuse to waste it.

The only problem was all of the kids were improving faster than I was. After only a couple of months, they all learned at least one spell and were talking about improvements almost every other day.

Their rate of improvement was unbelievable. It only took a few weeks for me; to realize how difficult magic was to learn. In certain novels and media, magic appeared to be something either mystical or imaginative. People would show up in foreign lands and sweep everything away with their own field of never seen before magic.

I thought I'd be able to use magic instinctively and even cause miracles and wonders with my knowledge, but in reality, magic was as elusive as it was difficult.

In all honestly, I thought that with all of my education in science and mathematics, I'd have an unfair advantage. Creating a fusion reaction or a super railgun just didn't seem possible, no matter how many things I tried.

Those brats were learning more from Darius than I was from Linda, and I had too much pride to admit it. This was vexing. At this rate, I'd be left in the dust and might even get replaced, but bowing my head to some brat... was hard. Necessary but hard.

"Aaron, the Candle Wick spell usually takes about a month to learn. It's not unusual for it to take this even longer. Everyone's first spell is like this. I knew a guy who took three years to learn Candle Wick, but after a few years, he caught up with everyone in my class and made it to the top ten ranking in the Royal Knights Academy. The first spell always takes a long time to learn, so don't let it get to you." Her pretty face was hard to look at sometimes.

"It's just ridiculous. How? How are they all learning faster than I am? Why are they all learning so fast?" I couldn't be a magic dunce... right?

Linda sighed as she looked at me, "Darius is a monster. I haven't beaten him in a spar since he was two years old. Aaron, sometimes it's not good to compare yourself to a true genius. Darien, Elaine, and Darius all fit that category. When a two-year-old can beat a magic knight in combat, there isn't anything to be jealous of."

Linda glared at me and said, "How can you be the one jealous of him? I couldn't beat Darius when he was still a baby! A two-year-old is usually considered to be a baby, at least little Ella acts her age!"

"Yeah. I have to apologize to... you-young master."

I ground my teeth together as I thought about the situation. Bowing my head down to a little kid just didn't sit right with me. I remember when my nephews were annoying, and I hated looking after them. I even remember making myself a promise never to have children during that time, and now I was forced to hang around kids all day long.

I was expected to bow my head and act like a good little servant, and all I could do about it was bite my lip.

Logically speaking, I should just suck it up and apologize. I've had bad bosses before. This isn't the first time, and in this new world, my new employers were at the top of the food chain. I was in a position to be wealthy and important in the future, but childish thoughts of conquering the world and showing off awesome powers never left the back of my mind.

I looked in the direction of the training field and sighed. Maybe I have main character syndrome. All I wanted out of life before was to save up enough money to buy a house, and now all of a sudden, I want to conquer the world? I've definitely watched too many animated series and action movies to be thinking like this.

"Miss Linda, what should I say to the young master?"

She looked at me with an eyebrow raised before smiling at me. I hated being looked at like a child. I could have asked her out on a date before if I didn't look so young.

"I'd say sorry and ask politely if you could join them in their lessons. Don't expect Darius to accept you back into the group just because you ask, either. You have been rude to everyone, brat."

She shook her head before continuing, "I like you, but after acting like a little snob, you've made it hard to enter their group. He's more likely to tell you to learn on your own than accept you."

"So I just have to accept the fact that I've burnt a bridge?"

"That's an interesting way of thinking about it, but no. If you're sincere, Darius will forgive you. That brat's similar to his parents and they are as fair as they come. If there was any noble family to serve in the entirety of our world this is the one. You don't have to worry about anyone holding petty grudges, but that doesn't mean you can get away with blatant disrespect. If you had pulled this shit anywhere else in the world, you'd either be on the streets right now or beaten."

"Got it. I'm sorry, Linda."

She looked at me like she was looking at some cute kid. It got on my nerves, but I just accepted it.

"I'll just go later. It's awkward to go now. I'll wait until it's dinner time before approaching him." I remember reading about how judges are more lenient on a full stomach as I thought about my approach. I looked back at the magic textbook and read the incantation, again and again. Part of my pride was pushing me to learn the spell before groveling on my hands and knees to ask Darius for help.

“Oh spirit of fire, let yourself be manifest, flame wick!”

Unfortunately, nothing happened. I could only bite the bullet and humble myself.