Chapter Five: Zenyth


    I wake up, slowly. I feel groggy. I’m still wearing the clothes I was wearing yesterday. Where am I?


    I sit up and look around. I’m on a bed, across from a desk. It has a chair, and two drawers. Next to my bed is a wardrobe. Across from the wardrobe is a wooden door. The room is black, and it’s not because of the light. The sun is already shining in my room, through a window above the desk. Is it my room?


    I try to remember what happened last night. I’m feeling too tired to think, but I try anyway. Slowly, last night starts to come back to me. I’m at the academy. I had to leave Jade…


    Suddenly, the realization of it all hits me. I’m somewhere completely new. I know that someone told me something important yesterday night.


    Last night’s memories hit me, and I remember everything.


    — — —


    As the doorman lets me in, I look around the hallway I just entered. It’s dark, so I can’t see most of it, but I can see enough to recognize the paintings on the walls. They are the famous paintings that depict the Battle of Magefell. Only the mages know what happened during the battle, but the paintings are famous. I pass by one that shows two mages in combat, one sending a lightning strike through another’s heart. I keep walking. I’m getting tired.


    I reach the end of the hallway. There’s another door here. I knock on it. Nobody answers. I wait a minute and knock again.


    One minute. Knock.


    Two minutes.


    Three.


    I tentatively open the door. There’s a room here. There are no furnishings on it.A man is sitting on a chair, facing me. He has a dark beard, and his flowing robes mark him as a mage. I would put his age around thirty-five.


    “Welcome to Zenyth, Zade Helstorm,” He says. “My name is Aegon. I am a High Mage here at Zenyth. Tomorrow you shall initiate your training. Today, I will merely explain a few things and show you to your room.”


    He stands up, and waves me forward. “Come, we must talk.” I follow him through a door I hadn’t noticed before, and Aegon starts to speak. I’m too enthralled in what he’s saying to notice my surroundings.


    “You are here because you have the power to be a Mage. What you do with that power is up to you. Tomorrow, you will be asked to choose your training, Choose wisely. It may decide your future.


    “Here at Zenyth we have four buildings. Tomorrow, you will be shown through all four of them


    “The first is the Zenyth Academy. There, all the students spend their time. They eat, sleep, and train there. There is a library, a game room, and a cafeteria there as well. You will spend your time there most of the week.


    “The second place is the Zenyth Sanctuary. That is where the resident mages live. It includes a much more comprehensive library, along with many other tools mages use. You will rarely be allowed there. Do not let me catch you where you should not be. Is that clear?”


    I nod.


    “The third place is the Zenyth High Court. You will never be allowed there, unless the trial involves you in some way.


    “The fourth building is the Mission’s Gate. There, Mages get jobs, get recruited for missions, and there most decisions are made. You will be allowed there, but there shall be no reason to unless you are graduating.


    “You will learn more about everything tomorrow. For now, you must sleep. Ah, here is your room. We have made clothes for you already. They are in your wardrobe. If there is anything you need, just ask. We will provide it.


    “Now, I’ll leave you to it. Tomorrow, a student will show you around, and you will start your training. That is all.”


    Aegon leaves. I watch him as he turns a corner, then open the door to my room. I prop my sword next to a bed. I’m too tired to look around my room.


    I plop into bed, and immediately fall asleep.


    — — —


    I stand up. Someone’s knocking on my door. I should probably have woken up already.


    “I’ll be there in a minute!” I shout. I throw off the clothes I’m wearing, and look in the wardrobe. I quickly select a black uniform, and black pants. There’s also a black robe, but I don’t really care for it. I grab my sword, in its sheath obviously, and tie it around my belt. Then I open the door. There’s a boy standing there, about my age, dark hair clashing perfectly with his black clothes. He looks like he’s been awake for a couple of hours already.


    He nods at me. “You should probably put your cloak on, before anyone gets mad at you, Every mage in training must wear it.” I grumble and turn around. I return to the wardrobe, and take out the robe. Ugh. I put it on.


    The boy thrusts his hand out, and I shake it.


    “I’m Xavier. Nice to meet you.”


    “Zade. Same. Excuse me if I’m a little rude. I just woke up.”


    Xavier smiles. “You’ll get used to it here. I arrived here a week ago. I already started my training. Since I’m new, they decided I would be the best one to show you around. We should go eat breakfast now. The cafeteria stops serving it in half an hour.”


    “Alright. Then what are we waiting for?” I ask him.


    He smiles. Then he takes off. I run after him, and, five minutes later, we are at the cafeteria. It is a big room that could probably fit over one thousand people, if it didn’t have so many chairs. There are over one hundred people of all ages sitting on them and eating. There’s a kitchen to one side, which is where Xavier is heading. I walk after him.


    In the kitchen, a cook is working. She sees us, and gruffly asks us a question:


    “What will y’all be having today, bacon or sausage?”


    Both Xavier and I ask for bacon, and she hands it to us. It’s not a lot, but it’ll keep me going for a few hours.


    “The cafeteria is open only for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but you can always ask for snacks. Just don’t come too often," Xavier tells ms. “They don’t like it when you do that.”


    I nod as we take a seat on one of the tables. I sit across from a blonde kid, who looks like he just turned thirteen, and puberty is hitting him hard.


    “Hey,” I tell him. “I’m Zade. Nice to meet you.”


    “I’m Astil,” the boy responds. “Are you new?”


    “Yes, Xavier is showing me around.”


    “Nice. I’m new too. I arrived two days ago. Just started my training. I’m really excited. I love magic.” He turns to Xavier. “How are you doing?”


    Xavier nods at him, chewing. “I’m fine. I learned how to shield myself from fire yesterday.”


    I turn to him. “Really? That’s so cool! Can you show me?”


    He finishes his bite. “Hmm. I don’t know. Fine, I’ll do it,” he says, trying to sound reluctant but failing. First he grabs a napkin, and closes his eyes. He’s concentrating. I can tell. Then the napkin catches on fire. My jaw drops. I begin to speak, but Astil shakes his head. The meaning is clear. Let him work.


    I keep watching. As the napkin burns up, Xavier opens his eyes. The flames have reached his hand, but they’re not touching it. It’s like the flames are a shield around Xavier’s hand. I’m in awe, and feel excited to learn.


    Astil smiles. “I’m learning how to keep something in the air. I still can’t do it but I’m getting there.”


    “I’m ready to learn all this,” I tell them. “When do I start?”


    “Well, you’re not even close,” Xavier says. “First you’ll have to get reinstated. Also, I’m already on level 2. And I don’t know what your teacher will say about that.”


    “I have no idea what you meant by any of that.”


    Astil laughed. “You’ll learn quickly enough, I think. I was lost the first day too. Feels like just yesterday I was learning everything.”


    “That was yesterday, Astil.”


    “Right. I forgot.”


    I shake my head. Xavier tries to keep the conversation going. “So Zade, how did you Awaken? I was mad at a tree, so a bolt of lightning struck it, and it caught flames. It burned down two buildings before they stopped it. I knew I was a mage after that.”


    “You were mad at a tree?”


    “It deserved it.” I cock my eyebrow at him, but Astil butts in.


    “I was at my granny’s house when I Awakened. It''s dull there, you see, and I always get bored. So I was just looking around, trying to find something fun, and suddenly her house became a circus. There were clowns there and everything.” Astil shuddered. “I’ll never forget the clowns.” Xavier laughs.


    “What about you, Zade? How did you Awaken?”


    I look down, tears staining my eyes already. Zade puts his hand on my shoulder. I look at him.


    “If you don’t want to say it, you don’t need to. We understand,” Xavier tells me. Astil just looks confused.


    I force myself to talk. “I was annoyed with my parents. I killed them. I didn’t mean to, it just…”


    Xavier nodded sadly. “I’m sorry. Why were you annoyed with them?”


    I refuse to think about it. “I’m not ready to say.”


    “All in its proper time, right?” Xavier asks.


    “Right,” I say, steadying myself.


    Xavier clapped. “All right, it’s time to meet your teacher. Afterwards, we can tour Zenyth. What do you think, Zade?”


    “Sounds good. Not that I have a choice.”


    Xavier laughed. “That’s the spirit. Let’s go. Catch you later, Astil.”


    “See you later.”


    — — —


    I’m in a classroom. If you can call it that. I’d just call it a room, but I heard Xavier call it the classroom, so that’s what I’m calling it. Aegon is there, sitting on a desk, and he starts talking.


    “Xavier, you may leave.” Xavier nods, and leaves the room, waving at me as he goes. Aegon smiles at me. “Welcome to the start of your training here at Zenyth. I trust you’ve had breakfast?” Without waiting for me to respond, he continues.


    “I’m supposed to welcome you in a dozen different ways, but let’s get straight to it, shall we? Here at Zenyth, we do not have classes. In fact, we don’t really have formal teachers either. Students learn on their own with the help of something I’ll show you in a minute. Got it?” I nod.


    “Alright,” he says, “You, as a student, will have to study hard. There will be exams to make sure you are learning, but, hopefully, you will be doing fine on your own. Learn well, and you will advance quickly. Fail to learn, and you will be exiled.”


    He nods at a stack of ten books on a table. “This is the main way you will learn.This book is magical. It will teach you everything, not just what it says on the title. The title is just the main focus. I will let you figure it out on your own. You must choose your book.” He keeps looking at me. “Go ahead.”


    “I’m supposed to choose now?”


    “We can wait until tomorrow if you want to.”


    “Really?”


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. “NO! Just choose. Please.” He’s a little exasperated.


    I look at the books. They are all different colors with different titles. The first is purple, and says Arts and Healing. The second is green and is called Magical Combat. The third is white and says Portals and Travelling. The fourth is red and says Biology and Magical Creatures. The fifth is yellow and the cover says Protection and Defense. Xavier probably took that one. The sixth is black, and says Necromancy, Dark Arts and War. The seventh book is a rainbow of colors, and it says Philosophy and Politics. The eighth is purple, only saying Religion and Law. I wonder what magic has to do with those last two. The ninth and tenth are both gray. The first says General Magic, and the second says Dautha. I don’t know what that means.


    I take my time looking through the books, and finally choose the obvious choice. The black one. Necromancy, Dark Arts, and War. Sounds exciting.


    Aegon smiles at me grimly. “Be careful with that one. It is unpredictable.”


    I look at him questioningly, but he waves it away.


    “Now, you shall spend the rest of the morning studying. Then, you can meet back up with Xavier and tour Zenyth. Goodbye.” He leaves, and I return to my room eager to study.


    — — —


    It''s been twenty minutes since I returned, and I haven’t figured out how to make the book work. It’s blank. There’s nothing in the thousand or so pages. I gave up after I started writing. The writing disappears after a minute.


    I pick up the book and throw it at the wall. Suddenly, it glows. I can’t believe it. I had to throw it. That’s unbelievably stupid. The book dims. Oh. I guess that wasn’t it.


    “Ahem.” I turn around. There’s someone behind me. Is it even a real person? The person is mostly transparent. He is wearing a black robe, and he has a stern look.


    “Who are you?” I ask.


    “I am your new teacher.”


    “I thought that was the book.”


    “Where do you think I came from, student?”


    My mouth drops. “Are you real?”


    “Am I here?”


    “I think so.”


    “Then no, I am not real. Doesn’t mean I can’t teach you, right?”


    “I guess.”


    “Anyway, I’m supposed to teach you magic. You’ll have to mostly do it yourself, though. The magic is in you, not me.”


    “Okay. That doesn’t help though.”


    “Listen up, Zade.”


    “How do you know my name?”


    “I know everything about you, Zade. I know about your parents, and about how you accidently let your b—”


    “Shut up!”


    “As you wish. We will focus on the magic. The first thing we will learn is how to focus your magic, your core, to make a small candle out of your finger. You must concentrate. Close your eyes and breathe. Keep breathing, but focus on the blackness you see. Then stop when you see an array of colors. That is your core, where your magic is. When you’ve got it, I will teach you the rest.”


    I sit down, and close my eyes. All I see is darkness. I breathe slowly in and out. I do it again. And again. And again. Still nothing. All I see is darkness. I try to focus on the darkness to find my core. Nothing. There’s nothing there. I’m sure.


    I search the darkness, still breathing slowly. I’m slowly losing my concentration. I breathe again. My teacher is silent. I keep looking at the darkness, and will my core to come. Still nothing. I’m concentrating so hard. How is nothing happening?


    I steady myself. If it works, it works. I shouldn’t force it. I breathe again, slowly, then I see it. It’s a sphere, with every color I’ve ever seen painted onto it. I tentatively touch it with my mind, and it glows.


    This is my core, shining in the darkness. It’s beautiful.


    I don’t open my eyes, but I speak. “I see it. How long has it been?”


    “Ten minutes,” my new teacher responds. It’d been that long? “Okay, now that you’ve found your core, you must push it. Push it into a flame, and hold that flame on your finger. I don’t expect you to get it now. Just try.”


    I push on my core. It rebounds. It refuses to move. So I do it again, this time trying to push it into a flame. I push hard, but now it refuses to budge. I try again, forcing as hard as I can. My head is hurting. Also, the core isn’t moving.


    “Try to guide it slowly. Don’t force it,” my teacher tells me.


    I slowly push it now, trying to lead it into becoming a flame. The core moves now, but still refuses to become anything. I imagine my core as a stream of water, and it turns into that. That’s new. I guide the stream into the shape of a flame, and try to make it real. It still doesn’t work.


    I lose concentration, annoyed. My teacher looks at me, condescending.


    “We need to try again.”


    “Give me a minute to breathe.”


    “You must try now.”


    “Wait.”


    “Zade!”


    “It’s not fair that you know my name, while I don’t know yours.”


    “Call me Master Thul.”


    “All right. I feel horrible now. My head hurts. Just give me a minute.”


    “You’re trying too hard. You need to go slowly, Zade.”


    “All right, Master Thul.”


    I close my eyes and try again. And again. And again. I go for three hours, trying over and over to make a tiny little flame on my finger, but I can’t do it. It’s impossible.


    Eventually, I start to feel woozy. Master Thul gives me some water (I don’t know where he got it from), and I drink greedily. I’m really tired. But I keep trying. I have to keep going. I can’t stop now. My core is stubborn, but I can do this. Master Thul waits patiently for me as I try to do magic, but I still can’t do it.


    I need to do it.


    I HAVE TO.


    I…have…


    My headache gets the best of me, and I faint. The last thing I hear is Master Thul calling for me before I lose consciousness.


    — — —


    Lunchtime. I’m sitting with Astil and Xavier. I’m a little depressed with a big headache, but they seem very active, judging by how much they’re talking.


    “Zade, how did your first practice go?”


    “Urgggh,” I respond as politely as possible.


    Xavier laughs. “It was like that for us too the first day. You’ll get it soon. What book did you get?”


    “Necromancy, Dark Arts, and War.”


    Astil’s eyebrows rise. “Wow, I didn’t think you’d want that one. I got General Magic.”


    “I did the healing one.”


    “I thought so.” I remember the other book I saw. I was confused about it. Maybe Xavier knows something. “Xavier?”


    “Yeah?”


    “What does Dautha mean?”


    “I was wondering about that too.” Astil exclaims.


    He stops smiling. “That was the tenth book,right?”


    “Right.”


    “Well, Dautha is the supposed God of Death, War, and Magic. I don’t know if he’s real or not, but he is to a lot of mages around here. That’s why the Cult of Dautha exists. I don’t know much about it. They tried to recruit me, and they’ll probably try to recruit you. All I know is that they see us as more divine than normal people.”


    “That’s twisted.”


    “I see where they’re coming from. You both know how the world works. In general, the strongest person wins, the weakest ends up at the bottom. The Cult relies on that. To a degree, it makes sense. I didn’t join because I needed to think about it and never got back to them.”


    “That’s a horrible way of thinking,” I tell him. “What if you were a normal person?”


    “I was for a long time, Zade, and so were you. I used to live in the north, Valdara. Our army managed to conquer a province, because we were stronger. And now we rule there, because we were stronger. The other province didn’t like it at first, but now they’re used to it, and actually like our rule. It’s not such a black and white issue, Zade.”


    I scowl. He’s right. I already don’t agree with this cult. The world thinks like they do, but i don’t.


    Astil can’t resist speaking up. “But isn’t it the mages’ job to protect the common people?”


    “Wasn’t always like that. You’ll learn about the Battle of Magefell soon, and when you do, you’ll see why the Cult thinks what they do.”


    “So this Cult wants to take over the world?”


    “No. They want to bring Dautha to earth, and let him decide who rules.”


    “How would they do that?”


    Xavier shakes his head. “I don’t know.”


    We stay silent for a while, each pondering the Cult of Dautha, I presume. Then Astil speaks up.


    “Zade, you like sword fighting, right?”


    “How do you know?”


    He points at my belt. “You carry it around everywhere.” I blush.


    “Yeah, I guess I do.”


    “Well, we have sword-training tomorrow. It’s not mandatory, but any mage-in.training can come.”


    I smile. “Sounds like fun. Are you both going?”


    Astil nods. Xavier shrugs.


    “I’m not sure yet. I might, but I have a lot of training to do. I’ll think about it. Speaking of, I need to go back to the library. There’s a book in there I have to check.”


    “Can I come with? You’re supposed to show me around, so that could be the start.” I ask. I want to check out the library to see if it is useful. Xavier nods to me, so I follow him. Astil shouts behind me.


    “I’m coming too.”


    I smile


    — — —


    The library is gorgeous. Shelves lining every wall, and not just the walls. I love reading, and this place is a reader’s paradise. The shelves are ten feet tall, with books packed into them. The books are shelved by topic, then author, then title. I hear the library for full mages is grander, but I can’t believe it. This place is too good.


    I look around while Xavier goes to find the librarian, telling me and Astil he’ll come right back. I’m exploring a section called The Art of Warfare when Astil starts talking to me:


    “So where do you come from, Zade?”


    “Huh? Oh, Erenfeld.”


    “Where is that?”


    “The center of Arcadia. It’s a small town south of the capital.”


    “Oh, I’ve always lived here in Magefell. I always wanted to explore the world, but I’ll do that when I become a full mage.”


    I nod, still perusing the bookshelves. “What’s it like living in Magefell?”


    “Oh, it’s great. I’ve always loved it here. I love how close everything is, and how the city is always moving.”


    “Really? I prefer being alone in a quiet place normally. Give me a good book, and a quiet room and I''ll be good until I finish the book.”


    “That’s funny. I prefer being with people. If I get past my shyness, that is.”


    “You don’t sound shy.”


    “Thank you. That’s because you were with Xavier. He was the first person to talk to me.”


    “And I was the second.”


    He begins to retort outrageously, but realizes I’m joking. “Very funny.”


    I shrug. “Do you still talk to your friends from outside Zenyth, Astil?”


    “Some of them. Not normally. I’m guessing you won’t.”


    “Yeah. I won’t.”


    That ends the conversation. Soon, Xavier comes back, and tells me he’ll give me my tour now, so we leave, saying goodbye to Astil. He tells us he has some work to do and can’t come with us.


    We start by going to the Zenyth High Court. It’s a simple brick building. It’s nothing special, just a really big courtroom. It’s positioned like a circle, with the defendant at the bottom of it. Must be stressful.


    The second place we go to is the Zenyth Sanctuary. I’m not allowed to go in the library, which is a pity, but I see some of the mage’s rooms, and they look quite nice. I can’t see most of the building, though. I’m not allowed to.


    After that, we go to the Mission Gate, which is a big building with four rooms. The first two both have gates on them. The gates are portals. The first Xavier tells me is for mages to go on missions. The second gate is for mages-in-training to become full mages. We can’t see the other two rooms. Xavier tells me they are where the Parliament meets to make decisions, and they’re currently in session, so we can’t go in.


    We come back to the Academy. Here he turns to me:


    “You’ve seen the library, the dorms, and the classrooms here. I don’t need to show you the rest, as you’ll end up going there with me anyway. Is that fine?”


    “Yeah, it’s great. Thanks.”


    “No problem. I have to go train now.”


    “Same, I’ll see you soon.”


    “See ya.”


    — — —


    I’ve been at it for an hour now. Master Thul is speaking to me again. I have my eyes closed, and I’m looking at my core, trying to figure out how to use it to create just a small flame.


    “Don’t force it, don’t push it. Just guide it. It won’t work unless you let it.”


    I force the core again, and again it doesn’t work. I’m getting tired of this. I try again, and again, and again. My core refuses to do anything.


    And then I think I understand.


    Master Thul told me to guide the core, and I haven’t been doing that. Though I have been trying to, I’ve always been willing the core to become something else. I need to let it do the work, and I can’t touch it.


    So I think about a little flame. I don’t touch the core. I don''t change it in any way. And now it does. My core turns into a spark, and then a flame. I stop myself from getting too excited. Now I need to make it real.


    I raise my finger, still with my eyes closed. Then I will my core, slowly guiding it to my finger. I imagine it becoming real. Then I feel heat on my finger.


    I open my eyes. I’ve done it. I’ve done magic. I quickly blow it out before it burns my finger.


    “Well done,” Master Thul tells me. “Now, you must do it many more times.”


    I nod. That makes sense. I need to get used to the way of doing magic, before I can do any more magic. I eat dinner, and come back just barely talking to Xavier and Astil. They smile knowingly when I leave. I work late into the night, trying to make the flame over and over again. I try hundreds of times, and get maybe two dozen times. It’s not a lot, but it’s a good start.


    Eventually, I’m too tired. I tell Master Thul I’m done for the time. He nods and disappears. I grab the book and open it. It’s not empty anymore. On the first page it says:


    Mage Zade Helstorm.


    Level: 1


    Skills: To be unlocked


    Mage: Necromancy and War


    Age: 17


    Chapters Completed: 1


    I flip the page. The next twenty pages are full. It has a chapter detailing the beginning of magic. I know I have to read it, but I don’t have time today.


    I slip into bed. I’m unbelievably excited. I’m really a mage. There’s so much I’m going to do in the next few weeks.


    I should focus on tomorrow.


    I’m at Zenyth. I’ve made friends. I am a mage.


    Zenyth can’t get much better than this. I miss Jade, but at least this place is good.


    I look forward to being a mage.


    The possibilities are endless.