《Magician's Circle》


 Prologue

    In a desolate place, where everything is ruin and in the center of it is a huge crater with two people there.


    ¡°You and your *cough* ridiculous magic¡±, said the man in white as blood comes out of his mouth. He stares at the other person with eyes filled of unwillingness.


    ¡°Ruhe, take care of him and¡­ look for her¡±, as the man says with his final breath.


    ¡°I will,¡± confirmed Ruhe with a cold voice.


    It as if the other person heard what Ruhe said as the corpse could be seen with a smiling face. A face that has been relieved and happy to leave this world. Then Ruhe held the corpse and suddenly the corpse was gone. He started to walk away in this desolated place.


    Ruhe¡¯s body is filled with blood and his left hand was chopped off. His face still calm, as if he couldn¡¯t feel any pain at all. He has a normal face, except for the fact he has heterochromia, with his left eye being blue, and his right eye being red. His hair as white as snow and his skin is pale white. Clothes tattered and his body devoid of life.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Laxo¡±, said Ruhe, then things started to change. His left hand, which has been chopped off was regenerating at a fast rate, his eyes and hair turning black and his pale skin starts to show color. His clothes fixed. It¡¯s like nothing has happened.


    Ruhe continues to walk out of the desolated place. ¡°Discutio.¡± As soon as the word came out of his mouth, cracks started to appear in the air. Later, the whole world starts to shatter and the buildings which were in ruin was back to how it was. The once desolated place became lively as people starts to walk around and vehicles passing by. Stil, Ruhe continues to walk until he reached a hotel and went in.


    Room 105, Ruhe went inside and a baby could be seen in the bed. He scooped him and went out of the room. ¡°Your father is dead, your mother is missing. That¡¯s why you have to live. Starting from this day you are called Wohnen,¡± said Ruhe as a holds the baby. The moment Ruhe closed the door, his presence and the baby¡¯s was gone from the hotel.

 Chapter One

    ¡°G-good morning M-mr. Anderson,¡± as a fat boy stuttered his greeting towards Ruhe. His whole body constantly shivering and couldn¡¯t raise his head towards him.


    ¡°Morning Tom,¡± greeted Ruhe back to him.


    ¡°Uh, its Tony sir. But I like Tom too,¡± corrected Tony but took it back when he raised his head, and saw Ruhe¡¯s cold look towards him. ¡°Could you please call Owe.. I mean Wohnen sir? We agreed to play basketball today.¡±


    ¡°Come inside. He¡¯s still preparing,¡± said Ruhe as he walk back into the kitchen. Tony slowly and timidly walk inside the house and looked around. The living room is neat, having one sofa near the door, one small table in front of the sofa and a TV near the stairs. Tony sat on the sofa and saw a newspaper. He took it and immediately flipped towards the cartoon section.


    ¡°What the? This newspaper doesn¡¯t have a cartoon section,¡± Tony grumpily said as he saw that there was no cartoon section in the newspaper he was holding.


    ¡°Sorry about that Tony. I took the cartoon section with me in my room,¡± chuckled a voice came from the stairs.


    ¡°Owen, hurry up before they take over the court,¡± said Tony.


    ¡°Okay, okay,¡± said Wohnen as he dashed towards the door with hi basketball. ¡°Dad! I¡¯m going!¡±


    ¡°Come back before its dark,¡± said Ruhe calmly.


    Ruhe wasn¡¯t sure if Wohnen heard what he said since no reply came from him. He continued to prepare the ingredients of what the both of them will eat for dinner. He suddenly put down the knife and the turnip and walk immediately towards the door. He opened it and asked ¡°Why are you here?¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    There was a man wearing a black suit, has a brown hair, blue eyes, and a handsome face. ¡°I haven¡¯t even knocked on the door. How did you know I was here,¡± he asked.


    ¡°I could smell you 50 meters away,¡± he replied coldly. ¡°Why are you here anyway, John?¡±


    ¡°Is this how you treat a friend,¡± he asked as he felt he was wronged.


    ¡°Goodbye.¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine. I want to check on the kid,¡± John immediately stated his purpose. ¡°Now, could I come in?¡±


    Ruhe was already gone but the door is open. John immediately walk inside, afraid that Ruhe will change his mind and close the door on him. ¡°As always, he is so cold,¡± he complained under his breath.


    ¡°Coffee or tea,¡± asked Ruhe as his voice came from the kitchen.


    ¡°Tea. Preferably Earl Grey Tea,¡± replied John.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have tea, just coffee,¡± said Ruhe. ¡°Then why did you ask if I want tea or coffee,¡± exclaimed John.


    ¡°Sorry. I forgot to buy some,¡± replied Ruhe towards John who grudgingly sat down on a chair in the kitchen.


    ¡°So, where is he,¡± asked John excitedly. Like a kid, he continued to move his head around the house searching for Wohnen. ¡°Where is he,¡± he asked again as he couldn¡¯t see anyone aside from the two of them.


    ¡°You passed by him when you came here,¡± replied Ruhe.


    ¡°Those two kids with the basketball,¡± asked John.


    Ruhe nodded and served John his coffee. ¡°And not the fat one.¡±


    ¡°I know. No wonder the other boy has a face that looks like yours. As they say like father, like son. Aside from the fact that his adopted,¡± said John. ¡°He knows he¡¯s adopted right?¡±


    Ruhe remained silent.


    John took a sip from his coffee and complained, ¡°The taste is quite bland.¡±


    ¡°Stick up with it. That¡¯s the only one we have in the house,¡± coldly explained Ruhe. ¡°He will be back before six, so if you wait for him, you could have dinner here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take up your offer,¡± John happily said.


    Ruhe took a chair and sat down in front of John and asked, ¡°How is she?¡±

 Chapter Two

    ¡°Dad, I¡¯m going,¡± exclaimed Wohnen as he rushed out towards the street with Tony. As they passed a corner, Tony stumbled towards a man in a black suit, which was John.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± apologized Tony then immediately caught up with Wohnen.


    ¡°Kids these days,¡± chuckled John. ¡°But the other kid¡¯s face looks similar to his.¡±


    Wohnen and Tony reached the basketball court and found out their other two friends are there.


    ¡°You¡¯re late,¡± a boy in glasses grumpily complained.


    ¡°Owen¡¯s fault,¡± blamed Tony, then starts to dribble the ball towards the net, and did a layup but...


    *Slap*. The ball flew a meter away from the net. Tony¡¯s shot was block.


    ¡°That was unnecessary Jaktur,¡± exclaimed Tony toward a tall boy who is laughing as he got the ball from the ground.


    ¡°Tony, you make blocking look so easy,¡± Jaktur, the tallest among the group, teased Tony. Jaktur starts to dribble when he noticed that the ball is no longer is in his hand. He started to look for it and saw Wohnen smiling at him with the ball spinning on his finger.


    ¡°Jaktur, you make stealing look so easy,¡± Wohnen chuckled.


    ¡°Karma Jaktur. Karma,¡± Tony laughed so hard that his fat in his stomach is shaking.


    ¡°Okay, but it is invetible. Wohnen you are just so good at stealing things,¡± Jaktur said as he accepted his defeat.


    ¡°So, when are we gonna play,¡± interrupted the boy with glasses. The three looks towards him and Wohnen apologized, ¡°Sorry about that Leo. We just went overboard. I am teaming up with Tony.¡±Stolen novel; please report.


    ¡°Oh yeah, we are gonna thoroughly destroy you guys now,¡± Tony provoked the other two.


    ¡°All right. Jaktur, I am counting on you,¡± Leo patted Jaktur¡¯s shoulder.


    With the ball on Tony¡¯s hand, they started playing. When Wohnen¡¯s team scored, Leo¡¯s team scored also. This went on for another hour until they started breathing heavily and Leo suggested to rest to which the other three agreed.


    ¡°Which institute are you guys thinking of going,¡± Tony asked the other three.


    ¡°I am thinking of going to Haken,¡± Jaktur replied. ¡°You know my circumstances. My parents cannot afford to let me study at an institute with a huge tuition fee.¡±


    ¡°Oh, but why Haken,¡± Tony asked. ¡°There is still Quirto. Cheap but one of the best institutes around.¡±


    ¡°Haken has a good research department when it comes to magic equipment,¡± Jaktur replied.


    ¡°Ahh¡­ How about you Leo,¡± Tony asked.


    ¡°Statenheim. Where my family members study,¡± replied Leo. ¡°How about you Tony.¡±


    ¡°Zurchin University,¡± Tony replied with a boastful expression. ¡°I am going to pursue my dream as an arcane master.¡±


    Leo and Jaktur smiled at Tony. After all they both know that Tony and his father fought after learning Tony¡¯s decision which end up being Tony¡¯s win.


    Leo turned towards Wohenen and asked the same question, ¡°How about you Owen? Where are you going?¡±


    ¡°I am going to enter MIM,¡± replied Wohnen.


    The three gasped and Tony started to ramble. ¡°MIM? Military Institute of Magic? Owen, you¡¯re joining the military?¡±


    Wohnen nodded and explained, ¡°I¡¯ve decided to go to MIM for a long time already.¡±


    ¡°Did your father agree,¡± Leo asked.


    Wohnen hesitated before answering, ¡°Technically no, but he gave me a condition. And as long I fulfil the condition, he¡¯ll allow me to go. Heck, father would even do all the necessary papers for me.¡±


    ¡°So we really are going our separate ways now¡± Tony spoke.


    The group became silent when Jaktur starts to speak, ¡°We all have our dreams right. Me, becoming a weapon¡¯s engineer. Tony an arcane master and Leo a researcher. We can¡¯t become this gloomy.¡±


    Wohnen smiled, ¡°Yep we can¡¯t become like this. It is only 5 years guys. It¡¯s not too long and not too short.¡±


    Leo and Tony smiled and the group started to become livelier.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m off. It¡¯s getting late,¡± Leo stood up and bid farewell. Tony and Jaktur also went home, leaving Wohnen all by himself walking home.

 Chapter Three

    CHAPTER THREE


    ¡°I¡¯m home,¡± Wohnen announced his arrival when he opened the door. He removed his shoes and went straight to the kitchen when he noticed that his father has a guest. In cases like this his father normally will let him go to his room but today was an exception.


    ¡°Ah, Wohnen, you¡¯re back. Come here and meet your uncle,¡± Ruhe beckoned him.


    Wohnen walked towards the table and saw a John with a smile that is so big that the corner of his lip almost touched his ears.


    ¡°Hello there, I am John,¡± John introduced himself as he stretched out his hand towards Wohnen.


    ¡°Umm¡­ I am Wohnen sir,¡± Wohnen introduced back. As he was about to stretched his hand, John immediately took it and starts to shake hands strongly.


    ¡°Sit down and let¡¯s eat. Your uncle John will be having dinner with us,¡± Ruhe informed Wohnen.


    Wohnen sat down and saw that there are a lot of dishes laid down on the table today. When Ruhe sat down, the three started eating. John asks questions to Wohnen, to which Wohnen replied.


    ¡°Wohnen, why did you not remove your limiter,¡± Ruhe asked.


    Wohnen hesitated to answer then he looked towards John in which Ruhe understood what he meant. ¡°It¡¯s fine. John will take this as a secret,¡± Ruhe reassured Wohnen.


    Wohnen nodded and removed a black bracelet from his hand. The black bracelet is a limiter. Its official name is Magic Limiter. Used by kids at the age of 15 and below to forcibly calm down the magic within their bodies.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    When the bracelet was removed, a light wind passed by. John was looking at Wohnen with a surprised face. ¡°That was a light fluctuation. Kid, your control in your magic is impressive,¡± John praised Wohnen.


    ¡°It was nothing sir,¡± Wohnen responded and continued eating. After a while of eating, Wohnen dismissed himself and immediately went to his room. Ruhe and John has things to discuss.


    ¡°Ruhe, since when did you allow Wohnen to release the limiter,¡± John asked.


    ¡°At the age of seven,¡± Ruhe replied.


    ¡°Seven? Were you out of your mind, Ruhe,¡± John exclaimed. ¡°You might gotten himself killed, good thing he has a talent in control.¡±


    ¡°I am here to watch over him. Nothing was going to happen,¡± Ruhe defended himself as he clean the table.


    ¡°Even then, what will you do when something happens that even you cannot take care of it,¡± John rebuked back. ¡°There are a lot of cases of children dying because of their magic running rampant within their bodies.¡±


    ¡°We were able to do it. Why can¡¯t Wohnen do it,¡± Ruhe asked.


    ¡°You know exactly why. We are different,¡± John replied.


    ¡°Then you must have forgotten who is the parents of Wohnen,¡± Ruhe reminded John. John immediately became silent. Wohnen continued speaking.


    ¡°Wohnen¡¯s parents are just like us. That was why, I am sure that nothing will happen when I made that decision.¡±


    John sighed and accepted his defeat. ¡°I could never win an argument with you, Ruhe.¡±


    ¡°That I why I am older than you brother,¡± Ruhe smiled. ¡°John, the reason why I let Wohnen removed the bracelet in front of you is because I need you to watch over him.¡±


    ¡°Why,¡± John asked. He knew that Ruhe is being serious when he asked him to watch over Wohnen.


    ¡°Wohnen want to join MIM. Normally I would disagree, but he is determined to join. That is why I made a condition before I¡¯ll allow him to go there,¡± Ruhe explained.


    ¡°MIM. No wonder why. But what is the condition you asked of him,¡± John was curious.


    ¡°Materialization,¡± Ruhe answered.


    ¡°Heavens. You better tell him that he won¡¯t be able to go to MIM if that is your condition,¡± John exclaimed.


    ¡°That was my plan actually,¡± Ruhe explained. ¡°But, I noticed that he is beginning to materialize his magic. I think he will be able to complete it a month before enrolment start. Anyway, I just ask you to watch over him if ever he will go to MIM.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± John agreed.


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s getting late. I better go now. It¡¯s nice talking to you again Ruhe,¡± John stood up and went out of the house. Ruhe stood near the door and watched John walk away silently into the night.

 Chapter Four

    After Wohnen excuse himself from Ruhe and John, he immediately went upstairs towards his room. Inside his room is a table filled with books, a bed and other magical devices.


    Wohnen sat down on his bed and then raised his hand. Some magic lines gathering around his palm. The lines are shaping a circle. After the circle is formed, you can see that it is a little hazy.


    ¡°The shaping is done. Time to materialize it,¡± Wohnen muttered. He focused on the circle trying to compress the balls as much as he can so that the circle would solidify.


    The circle starts to become solid looking from its initial hazy look. But before the circle could fully materialize, cracks starts to form in the circle. Seconds later, the circle starts to completely fall apart.


    ¡°Another failure,¡± Wohnen said with a disappointed face. ¡®I got excited at the completion. I wasn¡¯t able to completely control how much force I used.¡¯


    Wohnen tried to do it again, yet he still failed. Accepting the fact that he could not materialize the circle yet, Wohnen stood up and walked towards the table. He sat down and took a pen. On the side is a diary. But instead of calling it a diary, you could call it a record of Wohnen¡¯s past achievement in materialization.


    ¡®July 15, 2305.


    Fifteen days left before MIM recruitment starts and I haven¡¯t been able to materialize magic yet. I think dad doesn¡¯t want me to go to MIM. At least Tony won the argument while I have to compromise. Anyways, fifteen days left.¡¯


    Wohenen closed the diary and went to bed.


    ¡°Wohnen, wake up. Time to work.¡±


    ¡°Mmm. Morning dad,¡± Wohnen woke up and greeted his father.


    ¡°Water the plants around the house then we eat,¡± Ruhe informed Wohnen his job then went out of the romm. Wohenen rose from his bed and stared at the mirror.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    His blonde hair is a mess. Wohnen took up his comb start fixing his hair. Then he went to the bathroom and rinsed his face and brushed his teeth.


    After fixing himself, he went outside the house. In the corner is a faucet with a hosed attached on it. Wohnen turned the faucet on and starts to water the plants.


    Half an hour later, Wohnen finally finished his job. He went inside the house, walk straight to the kitchen. He could smell the aroma of bacons and eggs and his hunger starts to intensify.


    He sat down and waited for his father to come back from whatever he is doing. A few minutes later, Ruhe came into the kitchen. He sat down in front of Wohnen, then the two starts to eat.


    The two were focus on eating, the sounds you can only hear in the room was the sound of chewing and the forks hitting against the plate. Later, Ruhe broke the silence and asked a question to Wohnen, ¡°How is your materialization going on?¡±


    Wohnen swallowed the eggs in his mouth and answered, ¡°I always fail at the end.¡±


    ¡°Show me.¡±


    Wohnen put down the fork in his hand and starts to gather magic around his palm. The magic lines formed a circle. Wohnen concentrated and you can see sweat coming down from his forehead. Still, when the circle was about to solidify it immediately fell apart. Wohnen sighed at the sight. ¡®I failed again.¡¯


    Although Ruhe¡¯s face is calm, he is actually shocked inside. ¡®It took him almost half a year to reach that stage,¡¯ Ruhe thought.


    ¡°Not bad,¡± Ruhe commented at Wohnen¡¯s work. ¡°But you are too tense. What do I always say when it comes to magic?¡±


    ¡°Let the magic flow freely,¡± Wohnen spoke the words in a monotonous tone.


    ¡°And?¡±


    ¡°Calm yourself always,¡± Whonen continued. ¡°But I always apply it when I do it. Yet, I always fail.¡±


    ¡°Were you calm when ate the last part,¡± Ruhe asked as he took a sip from his coffee. ¡°Because to me, it looks like you were in a hurry to finish it.¡±


    Wohnen was dumbfounded. It was true that he was in a hurry. After all there are only fourteen days left before MIM recruitment starts.


    ¡°Finish your breakfast first then I will watch you as you do the spell again,¡± Ruhe said.


    Wohnen was again dumbfounded when he heard Ruhe said that he will help him and he asked him, ¡°Dad, I thought that we promised each other that you won¡¯t help me. Why help me now?¡±


    Ruhe was silent before explaining his reason, ¡°The condition was to see how much you can accomplish and how determined you are. You are alomst near at  accomplishing the task and I can see that you are determined to join MIM.  Also as a father, seeing his son being determined, I have no choice but to support and help you.¡±