Black Magus

Toril

***

I was sure His Grace was under the wrong impression. While the admission process and my social standing most certainly had something to do with my coming here, I couldn’t deny that it was also because of the unpleasantness my presence caused when my name was still Toril Fulgum.

In the words of my father, I was a bad, unruly child with untamed magic. A boy who ran around the castle, shocking everything in sight. The polar opposite of Count Turok Fulgum, a man like the heart of a storm cloud; bellowing out a rolling thunder that commanded all who heard its roar to become great. With Storm Magic, my father was perfectly safe from my lightning arcing around everywhere; though displeased he still was. My mother, on the other hand, born with water magic, risked herself greatly just to be around me. As far as I was aware, The final straw came when I shocked her dearly.

Nearly fatally, in fact.

After that was a blur of tears and screams that lasted until I found myself boarded on the train bound for Corvus Tower, the name Toril O’Connell stitched to my chest to serve as an eternal reminder of the sin I committed against my mother.

Once that happened, I toiled. I worked tirelessly to master the unruly magic within myself and atone for mortally wounding my mother; however inadvertent that action may have been. As a result of my conviction, I made my way to the top of the class within weeks of the school year beginning. And before I knew it, I found myself boarding another train bound for a ferry to take me to Deap Ridge. It was half a year past my fifth birthday when I first met Amun. Now, I’m a few months past ten. And for the first time since, I found myself thinking of my parents. Of what my father would think if he saw what I’d become; contempt or pride. And of my mother, of the pain I was sure she’d feel upon seeing me again: a searing heat racing through the branching scars marking her body. Strangely, however, there were no feelings to be found within myself; no matter how long I sat and pondered the subject. I felt no sorrow or hope, no anger or indifference even; towards them or even myself. There was only… nostalgia, perhaps.

Or perhaps not.

In all honesty, I hardly remembered their faces or the sounds of their voices after all these years. ‘So, what reason is there to see them again?’ I asked myself. ‘To rekindle painful memories? To revisit a past life? To apologize for something I’m already reconciling through my actions?’

No.

There was no need for such things, I decided. All that mattered was the present and the future. All that mattered, was to continue to grow as strong as possible and explore this vast realm with His Grace, Amun of Odissi. All that mattered was realizing this guild and empire. And so, I turned my attention away from the window and back to mentally arranging the vast 53rd floor into a suitable layout for training.

Not long into it, however, I cursed under my breath as I was interrupted by an approaching Edward Pascal, cradling a large cloth-wrapped item in his hands like it was a baby. “H- Hello, Toril.” He meekly bowed after stepping into range.

“Ed.” I quickly nodded to him before gesturing to the something in his arms. “What’s that?”

“It’s what His Grace instructed us to make. Or, one of the things.” He nervously chuckled before carefully unraveling it. “Though His Grace didn’t tell us how it works, it’s clear that it’s a gauntlet. And he told me it’s intended for you. So.” He proudly held them out at arm's length. Something that seemed a slight task for his scrawny build.

“Gauntlets, huh?” I tilted my head, eying them carefully as I took them in my hands for a close inspection.

True enough, they were fitted exactly for me; a pair of somewhat standard gauntlets: fingerless leather gloves that’d been braced on the forearms and backhands, with curved metal plates. On top of that, there was a mass of thin copper wires twisted together to make thick coils around the wrists. “And you said you weren’t told how they worked?” I asked, pulling the somewhat hefty gloves over my hands.

“That is correct.” Ed ruefully sighed.

“Hmm.” I hummed to myself, put the other glove under my arm, and reached into my satchel for the note Amun left me with. Surely, at the very bottom in the smallest legible print, Amun wrote a postscript.

‘P.S. The tinkerers are making a piece of equipment for you. Channel electricity through the coils, the gauntlets should do the rest.’

“Stand back,” I barked to Ed as I stuffed the note in my satchel.

As quickly as I said it, he pranced off in the opposite direction as I took to the center of the floor and prepared myself. After only the slightest bit of mana was pulled from my core, down my arm, and guided through the wires, the energy seemed to latch onto something; like it was grasped by an invisible force that ripped more energy from my core and added it to the stream circulating throughout the gauntlets. I was eventually forced to cut off the flow from my well entirely. Yet the energy remained flowing through the gauntlets. Cycling without discharge a single spark of lightning- or rather, electricity. There was only a throbbing hum vibrating the air itself coupled with the distant feeling of heat around my wrists. And little else.

Frustrated, I turned my scowl to Edward. “Is that it?”

“Again.” He carefully approached with an impatient sigh. “Don’t know how it works. But.” He halted at arm's length to drop down to a knee. “This sound. It’s like the tracks at the station, is it not?”

I couldn’t even reply before Ed pulled a hammer from his belt and cautiously held it out to my arm. And within the blink of an eye, the hammer was snatched from his hand and came to a violent, reverberating halt against the side of my wrist.

“It’s… it’s a magnet!” Ed abruptly reached out to grasp the handle and pry it from my arm.

He struggled for a bit before I canceled the spell, then nearly toppled after ripping the thing loose. Once he clumsily regained his footing, Ed focused on the hammer to cautiously tap at it like a smith testing the hardness of a blade. And with both a soft chuckle and a wide grin, he confidently grasped the hammerhead in one hand and pulled a few nails from his pocket with the other. I watched with both curiosity and bemusement at both the nails sticking to the gauntlets as if they were glued to the surface at odd angles; and at Ed’s reaction to his gear working as intended. It was like seeing a kid fawn over a new toy- a toy their parent was equally fascinated with.

So much so that they planned to play with it themselves once their child went to bed.

I almost felt bad interrupting him with a nudge so I could ask. “Are you coming to training?”

His head snapped back as if he forgot I was even here. More so, as if I startled him. “T- training?” he stammered.

“In about… ten minutes, actually.” I nodded after checking the time. Then gestured to the colossal amphitheater far off to the western wall. “The students will be gathering here for the announcement. In short, his Grace has tasked me with teaching his theories on Elemental Manipulation and Elemental Fusion until we depart for Deap Ridge.”

“Elemental… fusion.” His eyes trailed off as if they were lost while he slowly repeated the words.

“I know you have things to do, but.” I continued, snapping his attention back to me. “I’d highly advise you to come.”

‘You’ll have to learn it eventually.’

---

Following the little demonstration, I made some suggestions for improvements before Ed wandered off to a nearby tree to take out some papers and begin scribbling away. Shortly thereafter, students began arriving in their groups and cliques. Followed shortly after by Jaimess and Jonet arriving in a pair. As expected, Amun was nowhere to be found. Or rather, was probably observing from the shadows; if he wasn’t off experimenting or writing or doing whatever else he chose to do in his free time, that is. I found it likely he’d appear from some obscure place at just the right time. Though something in the back of my mind was telling me that wasn’t the case.

Once the clusters of bodies stopped streaming in from the entrance, I took to the stage of the colossal amphitheater alongside my two companions and stared in awe at the literal sea of bodies spread out before me. Evidently, it elicited some kind of reaction out of me. As Jaimess came creeping behind me to whisper. “I can handle the speech if you like, Toril.”

“No.” I quickly shook my head. “Like you will one day address your subordinates, I need practice issuing orders and taking command.” Jaimess frowned yet gave a nod of approval before silently bowing backstage. I, in turn, nodded a silent thanks before settling myself behind the podium. Causing me to inadvertently breathe into the amplifying stone like a creep.

“Er- Good evening, everyone.” I tried to swallow through the bug that seemed to crawl down my throat while I was staring at the mural of mockingly expectant faces before me. Then my heart grew eerily still. So I began looking elsewhere while I talked; at the walls, the ceiling, the windows, and the vast expanses beyond them. “His Grace, Grand Duke Amun of Odissi, has deemed it necessary that… we train you. During our stay in Corvus Tower.” I paused to again pivot my gaze elsewhere. “We are gathered here today, to settle on a schedule. And to choose what subjects you all wish to study. As of now, we’ve been ordered to teach His Grace’s theories on… elemental manipulation. And elemental fusion. Everything else.” I dry swallowed and turned once more. “Is to be decided by all of you. So… I’m open to suggestions.”

There was a long pause of silence that stretched on while I desperately fought against the impulse to peer into the crowd. With my lungs now dry of words, the constant pounding in my chest seemed to be amplified by the enchanted stone before me. Thumping the very walls with the madness-inducing tempo of my heart.

“I want His Grace to train us liked he trained you!” An indiscriminate voice in the crowd shouted.

‘His Grace has better things to do, I’m sure.’ I internally chided.

Yet that voice was followed by another. “What’s elemental fusion?”

‘You’ll find out if you come.’ I sighed.

“Why don’t we start now?”

‘No!’

“Yeah!” Someone else cried. “We’re already here!”

‘That comes later.’

“At least give us a demonstration!”

“We’re not here for demonstrations!” My eyes snapped to the crowd. “If you want a glimpse of what those theories are then come to the first training day! We. Are here. To make a schedule!”

As a consequence of both my frustration and sudden outburst, a bit of mana leaked from my well. Resulting in a series of cackling sparks and thunderous booms that inadvertently and menacingly punctuated my words to an outstanding effect.

“Now.” I calmly sighed, suddenly relaxed from both a sense of catharsis and the noticeable shift in the crowd’s demeanor. “We’ll handle this in the simplest way I can think of. If you wish to train on the weekends for the full day, produce a flame in your hand and raise it overhead.”

I waited a few seconds for any stragglers to decide and made a mental note of the scattered amber lights glowing within the stands.

“Alright.” I nodded, signaling the flames to die out. “If you wish to train on the weekdays after class, raise your flame.”

Again, I waited a few moments. But even then, only a literal handful of flames appeared in the stands; though a few of them were larger than the others, denoting a group of like-minded individuals in close proximity to one another.

“If you wish to train after class and on the weekends, raise your flame.” In an instant, the entire space before me lit up with a blinding auburn glow. Almost as if the stands themselves were made of a singular, massive light enchantment that suddenly activated. Forcing me to look away. “Well, that’s settled.” I sighed relief into the stone once the glow died down. Then leaned over the podium to study the natural elegance of the western coastline beyond the window. “Moving on, we’re to decide on a training regimen. As His Imperial Majesty declared, His Grace has trained us extensively. Every day for the past five years. Our focuses were physical development, elemental manipulation, spellcraft, and endless bouts of fighting.

“If you all want to train as we did.” I pivoted over the podium once again to study the fine architecture of the opposing wall. “It will require you all to devote five hours of your day to training. Just to clarify.” I paused to chance a glance at the crowd. “That is from just after three in the afternoon to eight in the evening. Ten out of ten days a week. Thirteen months a year. For the next four years. If you still agree to those terms, then raise your flames once more.”

As I half expected, I was once again subjected to the blinding light of the students demonstrating their willingness to train. I was aware that their schedules weren’t as loaded due to them graduating from their formal classes. Yet I was more than certain of them knowing not what they were getting themselves into.

“Very well.” I nodded, chuckling to myself as I pivoted once again to stare at the open fields stretching past the bleachers to my front. “Allow us time to… mold this place into a training environment. We will meet here the day after tomorrow, after class. And keep in mind that this training is voluntary.” I abruptly added. Then gave a closing nod. “Thank you all for your time.”

With a deep breath and another bow, I retreated from the stage and turned to see a smirking Jaimess and a giggling Jonet sitting at the rear of the stage.

“Great job. Gyahahaha!” Jaimess laughed. Then braced his hands up to put brackets around his words as he mockingly said. "We are gathered here today.' Gyahahaha! I began to think someone was to get buried!”

“Yeah, go fuck yourself, Jaimess.” I sneered. Then gestured towards the fields past the dissipating stands. “Are you two going help me landscape, or are you just going to stand there and make jokes?”

“We don’t have much of a choice. So, a little bit of both.” Jonet approached with a shrug. Followed by a reassuring nudge on the shoulder. “What did you have in mind?”

“I have the training regimen more or less sorted out.” I sighed in an attempt to push my annoyance aside. “But, I’ll need His Grace’s help to make it a reality. Besides that.” I paused to pull out the slip of paper Amun had given me. “He gave me instructions to make… this.”

Jaimess perked up at once and snatched the paper from me before I could explain further. Then gave the two of us a curious look from under his brow after studying it in its entirety. “Well then.” He grinned with maddened intensity. “Let’s get started.”