Black Magus

“Everyone, everyone! You have to see this!” Gerolt burst into the service wing of the estate like a madman, yelling at and corralling everyone he set his eyes upon.

“Cease your shouting at once, Gerolt!” Ebbet rounded the corner with a raised arm and abruptly halted after seeing my vassals and I trail in behind the seasoned chef.

“It’s all for good cause, Ebb.” Gerolt prodded with raised palms, then gestured to me just as my parents entered the room. “His Grace has some knowledge he wishes to share with us.”

“It’s true.” I nodded as her gaze turned to me. Then moved over to the kitchen proper to pull a few pieces of filleted fish from my Shadow Pocket. Whilst narrating my actions, I layered a clay pot with butter and filled it with pieces of seasoned fish until it was full, then sealed it shut with a cap of butter. Once done, I handed the pot to Ebbet with instructs to bake it at 162 degrees Celsius for thirty-five minutes before replacing the meat in a clean pot once cooled. Then, finally, she was to fill the pot with clarified butter to seal it shut.

With her notes taken, I moved on to make a relatively small batch of pemmican by drying out some berries and a bit of the elk meat with air manipulation before pulverizing them both and mixing the mush with an equal ratio of tallow. “This is food meant for survival.” I held up one of the gray-brown bricks of solidified mush. “While it doesn’t taste that good as is, a small amount of it will easily sustain you should you find yourself lost in the wilderness for days or weeks at a time. It can be wrapped in wax paper and kept on the shelf for at least five years. Possibly even a decade, with all the cold around here.

“This potted fish, however,” I held up the finished product of Ebbet’s work with my free hand, “will only last for a few months on the shelf. But the recipe can be replicated with virtually any other type of meat or vegetable.”

“That’s incredible!” My father muttered under his breath.

“That’s not all!” I reached back into my Shadow Pocket to withdraw two large sheets of paper and an ink bottle. Then used water manipulation to carefully draw a thin stream of ink onto the paper. “I think a better version of potting can be achieved through these glass bottles. If you can find someone to make them.” I handed my father the sheet to look over while I drew up a blueprint for a smokehouse on the second sheet.

“This smokehouse.” I continued, handing him the second sheet along with a piece of smoked rabbit. “Is a prototype than can be built alongside the service wing. It’ll allow Gerolt to not only cook a larger amount of meat but to make that meat far more tender and tasteful than it’d be otherwise.”

If there was any food I missed the most from my past life, it was barbecue. Luckily, my father instantly agreed to have someone make it after looking over the designs and stuffing them in his shadow. Giving me the perfect avenue to plead my case.

“Forgive my presumptuousness.” I bowed after respectfully pulling my parents aside. “But, I believe my vassals and I are more than capable of taking care of ourselves; and in more ways than just physical safety. I understand your wishes for me to wait until my next birthday.” I nodded to my father. “But I’ve been held within the estate since the day I was born. I’ve finished my education. I’ve read through everything in the library. Thus I now find myself with nothing to do with the immense time at my disposal but train.”

“Then what is your proposal?” My mother curtly asked.

“To establish a training camp on Deap Ridge.” I calmly declared. “We’ll remain within the far reaches of the Estate’s territory and learn to live an unprivileged life. To build our own shelters, find our own food, and protect ourselves; skills we’ll surely need when we join the academy and later graduate.”

“He brings up a fair point, Eved.” My father muttered to my mother.

“I’d also like a weapon made for me.” I hastily muttered. If I was truly of royal blood, I was sure that giving children weapons wasn’t something that was looked down upon. Though I still backtracked in my words a bit. “Not at this particular point in time,” I added. “But before I leave for the academy.”

At that, my father broke out in soft laughter and stepped forth to place his hand on my shoulder. “Oh, Amun. There are many artificers and smiths who are frothing at the mouth at the thought of you using one of their weapons.” He smiled after his laughter had died down. “As for the first matter.” He sighed, turning back to Mother.

<> She broke out in her mother tongue, her violet eyes unnervingly pinned to me. <

“Prove that your words are no mere boast.” She loudly declared in the common language. Causing Gerolt, Ebbet, and each of my vassals to turn their heads toward us. “Show us the results of your training."

“Of course, Mother.” I bowed, then gestured towards the door. “However, it would be best if we do so outside. Far from the estate.”

***

Emeric Cole

***

“Tell me, Jonet.” Eved’s songful voice echoed throughout the dead zone the moment we stepped into the snow. “Tell me of some of the things my child has taught you.” A cruelly efficient tactic, I had to admit, seeing as how she couldn’t refuse to answer and that they were too afraid of her to lie.

“Yes, Your Grace.” The girl turned and bowed as she walked. “His Grace has taught each of us how to properly use elemental manipulation and even how to wield the elements together. Processes His Grace refers to as Elemental Theory and Elemental Fusion respectively.”

“I would like to see demonstrations of these processes, if possible,” I added with a wave of the hand. I had long since pondered about what Amun and his vassals were up to while they spent their nights in solitude. Surely, I had the ability to scry whenever I liked; but I took pride in the fact that I gave my son the privacy he so deserved. Though, that doesn’t mean I wasn’t curious. On the contrary, I was just as excited as Amun; who was practically skipping out of the courtyards in front of us.

Honestly, I hadn’t seen so much energy in the boy in all his life. Meanwhile, Eved seemed as complacent as always. So much that it would’ve been enough to make me assume the worst if it weren’t for those prideful smiles she’d give every time our young boy spoke his mind or did something noteworthy. Still, though, such smiles seemed to have been born from expectations being met, rather than the pride of Amun’s innate greatness.

Or, perhaps I was simply paranoid.

My thoughts were pulled to the present as we arrived at a clearing in the exterior yards of the estate. There, Amun pulled a few shadow balls out and distributed them to their vassals to… play. For around ten minutes, they simply threw the balls against the trees or at the Doppelgangers at furious paces and cursed themselves on the rare occasions that they failed to catch them. After, they held a piece of braided rope in either hand and twirled it about their bodies as fast as they could with the intention of hopping in place over it without tripping. Gerolt seemed just as flabbergasted and amused as I. Eved, on the other hand, was staring at each of them with an intent focus. Causing me to return my eyes to them and realize the fluidity and grace of their movements were indeed something to praise them for. Even Jaimess; who Grandfather Andus claimed was a bit clumsy, was nearly matching Amun’s speed and agility.

Without a word, they all simultaneously stopped and gathered around Amun to toss their shade balls back into his shadow. And I hastily stepped forward. “And what was the name of that exercise?” I eagerly asked, half knowing the answer. Much to my surprise, however, I seemed to have surprised the lot of them. As they all turned one by one as if they’d forgotten I was even here.

“Simple exercises to improve coordination, agility, and dexterity,” Eve explained at once, causing a curious glance from Amun before he nodded along in affirmation.

“It is as Mother explained. A simple game of catch, jump rope, and dexterity exercises.” He nodded again, then motioned for his vassals to spread out in a line before him. “After this, we usually move on to…” He hesitated to chance a glance at his mother. “Combat training,” he eventually sighed.

Even my brows perked up at the mention of combat and I began to step forward before Amun’s shadow darkened and coalesced before him into his Doppelganger. Soon after, his vassal’s shadows did the same and stood before them with their guards high like they were anticipating a fight.

Surprisingly, Jaimess was the first to lunge toward his clone after it settled before him. He slid forth with one leg extended and hooked his foot around his clone's ankle before stomping his other foot right onto the kneecap of the same leg, crippling it with a silent snap. While the umbral body keeled forward, Jaimess fluidly followed through with his momentum, pushing off the ground to tackle his clone and wrestle himself on top of it before beating into submission in ways that would have made Grandfather Andus grin with pride.

“Oh- oh my.” I gasped aloud. Prying my eyes away from him for the first time, I saw that the others; including Amun, had finished off their clones and were either standing back on their feet like Jaimess or standing around idly.

“Quick. Efficient. Violent.” Gerolt chuckled wryly. “I see very few rouges having their way with you, Your Grace.”

“That's the intention.” Amun charmingly smiled both to him and me, erupting a somewhat nervous chuckle from my lips. “Normally.” He continued. “We train like this for an hour before arming ourselves with wooden weapons and continuing for another hour. Then, we’ll practice what you all came to see.”

With a nod, Jaimess; on the far end, went first and punched his fist at an invisible target before him, erecting a thick cone of earth from the ground at a sharp angle. Without pause, he extended both his pinky and index finger before swinging his fist in a backhanded motion. In response, two shrieking blades of nearly visible wind whipped from his fingertips to dice the earthen pillar into two massive boulders and a canted stump. With his swinging arm now trailing behind him, Jaimess extended his other hand until he struck a celebratory pose with his arms outstretched overhead, his fingers flexing while the echoes of shattering earth rang from above. They cracked within moments, those boulders, exploding into a cloud of dust, dirt, and floating stone. Yet, Jaimess wasn't done. He withdrew and subsequently thrust out his palms in dissimilar ways, ejecting a powerful jet of air from his right hand while the left spun and twirled about the wrist to produce a vortex of water below its accompanying boulder.

I and all others watched in awe as the boulder on the right shrank and disintegrated into a cloud of fine dust while the remaining boulder fell helplessly into the awaiting vortex below. One faded into obscurity. The other plummeted into the churning fluid, thickening it and mixing it into a crude brown color after only a few seconds.

After ceasing his flow of air, Jaimess seemed to grip an invisible 'something' in his right hand and slammed it down while his left arm simultaneously formed a knife hand that swiped in a rising vertical. Seeming intent on following his every command, the mass of dust and pebbles that had dispersed into the sky suddenly aggregated into the form of a wedge-shaped sandstorm that began hurtling toward the ascending snake of mud.

Much to my astonished relief, they missed. Yet the end was nowhere near.

Angered, the snake of manipulated mud curved around the skies to race behind the cloud of dust just as the latter collapsed into the trees in the not-so-far distance. Leaves. Bark. Snow. All were ripped to shreds under the sheer ferocity of the dusty tempest. Only to be outright destroyed once the snaking wave of mud slammed home with enough force to uproot trees.

I couldn’t even begin to commend him before Jonet stepped forward with the heels of her palms clasped together and her fingers spread outward. Pulling her arms inward, she gathered the water from the ambient air and snow and mud. Only a small sphere, at first. But once her hands began to dance around that marble, it soon grew to the size of a crystal ball. Utterly massive in size for manipulated water, yet Jonet’s brows, gaze, and posture were all totally relaxed. It was as if she were entirely unburdened from performing such a graceful dance with her hands, swirling and spinning them as if she were polishing her crystal ball. Not to make it smooth. To make it rougher. To make it bubble and bulge with an ever-greater intensity until it started simmering and roiling and steaming and boiling until-

Boom!

Within the blink of an eye, the chaotic landscape had shifted into an unchanging fog that occluded any and everything beyond arms reach; leaving me capable of doing nothing more than standing in awe of the sudden shift in weather, staring at the steam turn to mist and change on to snow, swirling and churning all around me. Mixing and writhing as if it were alive. Condensing and clearing to reveal Gerolt and Eved; then Amun and each of his vassals. Yet the fog coalesced still. More and more until Jonet could once again be seen swirling her hands around a rapidly forming ball of water that, this time, floated above her head. Once at its former size, the mixing of her hands ceased and instead began flexing tightly. In turn, the water became calmer. It slowed. Grew sluggish. Eventually, it seemed to halt entirely. Then grew opaque. Then thickened into a spherical iceberg.

While I stared up at it in awe, a raging amber light began to illuminate the berg from the side. Curious, I saw nothing short of a pillar of fire screaming over the ice and thus followed the source down to the ground, wherein I squinted to see Toril raising his hand high like a student posing a question. The great flame doused us all with simmering heat as it rose in a conical shape to beyond the height of Jonet’s iceberg and bathed the night in both an intense amber light and an Epethian noon-like heat. Yet I became further enthralled as he pressed on, cocking his remaining arm beneath his shoulder to somehow grasp hold of air from as high as the canopy and trap it within a pebble-sized sphere. Rather than simply release it, however, Toril ejected the air straight into his flame. The fires screeched in protest almost immediately, puttering and sputtering until it outright screamed and spat a torrent of concentrated blue fire to melt the ice in seconds.

With its disappearance, Toril killed the horrid fires and took a deep breath as he slowly lowered his hands. Then as one, Amun and his three vassals turned to us with a closing bow to their wondrous performance.

“That is Elemental Fusion.” Amun beamed, rising from his bow.

“I- I knew you were gifted, but yet again, you’ve exceeded my expectations. That was incredible!” I managed to gasp after a few long moments, then took a long pause to get myself under control. “I see you all have taken your training seriously. But, Amun,” I said in a more stern tone. “You must remember that you are a royal. A Grand Duke. It is important to be strong, yes. But so too is it important that you remember to act according to your position at all times and not boast about or show off your strength to anyone. Remain placid and in the shadows, as is the nature of our family.”

“I understand, Father.” He immediately bowed. “Thank you for your wisdom and praise.”

“That was some fine work, Your Grace!” Gerolt chuckled in aw just after. “With all that training, I’d say you’re aiming to join the academy!”

‘Well obviously.’ I chuckled internally. ‘With all that power, it'd be a waste to do anything but.'

“Of course.” Amun nodded, causing my mirth to erupt like a volcano. “I plan on enrolling into the academy as soon as I’m able to. With Toril and Jaimess at my side.” He gestured to the two in question, then nodded at the last. “Jonet won’t be attending, as I have her in a more… inconspicuous occupation. I’ve come to the conclusion that the potential fame gained from attending the academy will have a negative outcome on her career. She will be rejoining us after I graduate from the academy.”

“That's… actually a good point.” I frowned in surprise. Every leader needed a good spy; whether they be a general or a king. “But Amun, what do you intend to do after graduating?”

“I’ll be forming a guild.” He proudly declared. “And after I train them up to standard, I plan to breach the barrier, find the gates, and liberate the Ulaian continent. And then, I'll spend the rest of my life exploring the Mortal Plane in search of answers to the questions burning so deeply in my mind.”

‘It’s been said that children should aim high.’ I despairingly chuckled inside. ‘But by the gods, he just may be able to do it.’

“Doing so will cement your name into history, Your Grace.” Gerolt proudly smiled. “You have the entirety of my support!”

Amun politely bowed at his words, causing my continually swelling pride to rise to an all time high. At times, he was so capable it was downright terrifying. But I felt confident in the fact that Eved and I had raised him with enough love and care to mold him into someone who wouldn’t abuse that power. On the contrary, judging from how he treated his vassals, Amun had the potential to become not just the greatest Magus in history, but the greatest ruler Maru had ever seen. Possibly even the Mortal Plane.

“Emeric.” Eved’s cold voice came creeping into my ears from the side. Seemingly cutting my pride in half. “We need to talk.”

Worry blossomed in my chest as I turned towards her; for what reason our talk was needed, I could only have guessed, but I simply nodded my affirmation before turning back to our son to once again praise him for his hard work before dismissing myself. Then, I stepped on the long path behind Eved towards the depth of the estate.