Throughout the following weeks, Mikael worked diligently in his magic- and literary studies. It had now been roughly been two months since he started his life in the mansion and since then he had progressed greatly.
He could now read at an acceptable level that made it possible to read most books without major difficulty. Only stumbling upon unknown words here and there. Concerning magic, he had mastered energy control at a high ranking level. His talent for it definitely showed. Especially when energy control was all he had done in those two months to practice magic.
He was no longer stressed or self-deprecating when learning. He was earnestly and happily studying with the goal of exploring the Archive. Siegfried was also impressed by Mikael's progress and agreed to letting him explore the Archive.
As a gift for his continued efforts, Mikael received a silver ring with some sort with a written engraving on the inside. He couldn't make out the words at all since it was written in something akin to cursive and could be an entirely different language.
According to Siegfried, this ring would let the bearer enter any room in the mansion as long as they had Siegfried's permission. It acted as a substitute for the golden key he was always carrying in his pocket.
...
And since Mikael's mastery of energy control was at a high ranking level, they advanced the training. Mikael was now good enough at the basics. Able to imagine, manipulate the energy and exerting the will to make the magic go into effect. Though at the moment, the only magic he had used was Light orb and nothing else.
They were currently inside the white training room, both sitting on their own pillow. It was time for Siegfried to begin a new lesson.
"Once again, I say this. The fundamentals of magic is always the most important part. Imagination, Manipulation and Will. Things like categories are secondary. If you can master the fundamentals, no wall is too high. So don't be constricted by things such as Light, Fire and Healing magic."
Mikael had only ever used Light magic, but Siegfried could use virtually any type. And according to him it was because he had mastered the fundamentals. If Mikael could do the same, then he may be able to reach similar heights as Siegfried.
And while Light magic came quite naturally, the others were more difficult to imagine. This may also have something to do with the affinities one had for magic. And certain types also had close relations to each other. Like being two sides of the same coin.
Light and Dark
Fire and Ice
Earth and Water
Wind and Lightning
Strengthening and Healing
Creation[1] and Summoning
If one had an affinity for one type, the one with a close relation was easier to master compared to others, excluding Light and Dark magic of course. And out of all the types, Healing, Creation and Summoning were the hardest and rarest type of magic out there.
Healing had also a second close relation to Creation magic and was in turn more difficult to master as well. These three types demanded a high mental capacity to be able to use, which was why they were the hardest.
In Annerose's magic history lessons that they had recently started, which coincided with regular history, there was much about these three types. Because of their complexity, those that try to learn them have to resort to different compromises and phycological triggers in order to effectively use them.
Methods such as magic circles and rituals for Summoning and triggers like incantations with varying length for Healing. These compromises were also used for spells that fell outside the category system. Today, the majority of healers are part of the "Order of the Sun". A religious military order part of a larger religion worshipping an elvish goddess.
Now, Mikael was practicing Creation with Light magic as a compromise. Forming light into different shapes, with the end-goal of creating weapons of light. The Light orb was very easy to imagine and create since it had a simple shape, but something like a sword was more complex and Mikael's first attempt at it turned out terribly wobbly.
Further practice was indeed necessary. And even though Mikael's sword was very ugly, he wasn't depressed about it. His determination and diligence was for real. With time he would certainly master it, just like he had with energy control.
The Light orb that would last a couple of minutes in the beginning, could now last for far, far longer. Up to an hour if he really wanted it, since it required much less magical energy to perform and maintain with his effective control.
...
When Mikael had told Siegfried that he had met and spoken with Belegor, he was quite shocked to say the least. The door hadn't been properly locked and Mikael was then able to enter the room without any difficulty.
While Siegfried was very surprised, he was also relieved that nothing bad had happened. Mikael had also asked about Belegor's injuries and how Siegfried was supposedly going to heal them. The answer he received was that Mikael's blood was a vital part in his research and with time it would surely yield positive results, with the end-goal of creating a sort of "Healing Potion".
Mikael was also interested in these other rooms that Belegor had mentioned and the unicorns Siegfried talked about during their first visit to the Archive. And so, during the weeks after his meeting with Belegor, Mikael had also visited some of the other magical creatures' rooms together with Siegfried.
Out of those he visited, Mikael was most interested in the unicorns' habitat. The inside of the room had a grassy field that extended as far as the eye could see, a clear blue sky and a lake with drinking water. On this grassy field were multiple unicorns grazing and going about their day, enjoying the nice weather in their habitat.
The unicorns were an incredible white, with beautiful manes and a long, spiraling, white and silver horn embedded in their foreheads. The majestic creatures approached them and seemed quite friendly towards Siegfried. That same friendliness also extended to Mikael who was accompanying him.
He had heard that unicorns can be quite fierce and wouldn't hesitate to kill when forced to do so. However, Siegfried's kindness, saving them from poachers and creating this wonderful habitat for them have improved their relationship drastically.
...
After the lessons for the day, Mikael got the chance to explore the mansion, and more specifically, the Archive.
He headed straight for the large double doors and when he approached, Mikael could feel a slight tingle in his right ring finger. The finger on which he wore the silver ring given to him by Siegfried. It emitted a small light, weaker than a match.
The lock situated between the two doors began to also emit its own faint light, as if responding to the ring. And not long after the doors opened, granting Mikael access to the "Archive of Athanasius".
Once again, he was greeted by the strange and surreal room. Massive bookshelves in many different orientations. Whether it be up down or sideways. The room itself also seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see, though the horizon was blocked off by the many bookshelves.
Now, with Mikael's improved literary abilities, he wanted to read the different materials the archive had to offer and see the many magical artifacts it held. He did as he had seen Siegfried do on his first visit, using the register resting upon the lectern, located a short distance into the archive.
Though, even after he had reached the lectern and opened the large, thick, leather book on it, he was unsure what he was looking for. What should he do first? What should he read? Because of the knowledge the Archive held, it could literally be almost anything. He could start with was he was most interested about in at the moment first.
Then, a thought popped into his head. "What about dragons?". They had been something Mikael had thought about here and there relatively often. And since meeting a living one, he was interested to know about them.
Sensing Mikael's thoughts and intentions, the register responded by rapidly flipping its own pages, finally stopping on an appropriate one. On the left hand page there was a title at the top reading "Magical Creatures" and further down there were titles of books related to dragons specifically.
"All About Dragons" and "Deadliest Monsters Alive" were some of the books about dragons, however weird and cringy their titles may be. Instantly deciding, Mikael chose the book "Deadliest Monsters Alive". Even though the title wasn't the best, the content might be worthwhile.
Shortly after deciding what book he wanted, Mikael could hear the faint sound of flapping wings approaching. And not long after, he could see the book he had chosen flying right towards him. He found a nearby table with a chair and began reading the book with great excitement.
...
The book did not only cover dragons, but also other creatures, though dragons were the most common topic. It stated the usual common knowledge that most people have about dragons and their characteristics. A large, lizard-like body covered in tough scales. Able to fly with their wings and can breathe fire. But in addition to that there were a list of subtypes of dragons such as "Wyverns" and "Drakes" and how they differed from the traditional dragon.
Dragons were more active hundreds of years ago, often venturing to the Central Continent from their homeland to plunder and had to be constantly fought off. This led to many dreaming of earning fame and glory as a "Dragon Slayer". Even entire countries assembled armies solely dedicated to kill dragons.
These dragons originate from the "Dragon Continent", which lies to the east of the "Central Continent" where humans live, separated by a vast ocean. During the "Second Great Crusade" which was a journey into the Dragon Continent, the Great Hero Gaius would describe it as a land full of rocky hills and mountains. A poor land, unwelcoming to humans. The continents poor state could also be why dragons traveled across the vast sea to reach the rich and plentiful Central Continent.
However, in recent times, dragons have gone near extinct. All the book would say about it was that the cause was a powerful dragon who had killed many of the others, referred to as the "Dragon King". That title made Mikael stumble and kept him in curious thought. "King" is the leader of a kingdom, and if this was a dragon king then it must have been the leader of dragons.
But why would the king kill nearly all his subjects?
What could this "Dragon King" be? He went over to the register resting on the lectern and conveyed what he wanted. The register immediately responded by turning to a page with a list of books related to the Dragon King. The number of related books were few, and among those few one stood out. Its title was: "The Great Calamities". Another new unknown term.
Not long after selecting that book, it came flying to him. The book itself seemed to be frequently used and resembled something like a personal diary. The title was written in golden ink and the cover itself was a wine-red color. Siegfried's signature color.
The book did indeed have more detailed information on the Dragon King, but it also held information on other creatures of similar nature. It had many blank pages and seemed to still be a work in progress, so the number of "calamities" may increase in the future.
Firstly, the Dragon King. It's described as a very large and incredibly powerful dragon. Clad in pure black scales, silver fangs and claws, and predecessor to all Dragon-Kin. Constantly emitting an aura filled with bloodlust and cursed with an endless desire for destruction. Two hundred years ago, it went to war with the other dragons on the Dragon Continent and drove the species to near extinction before being defeated by the Great Hero Gaius and the other members of the Second Great Crusade.
So it was a rampaging dragon out of control and had to be put down, huh. It seems to have been quite powerful indeed to have eliminated most of its own species, said to be the strongest in the world. And these "Dragon-Kin" were quite interesting as well. It had its own subsection where it briefly described the species as race of half human and half dragon. Having the physique of a human and the characteristics of a dragon.
There was also a "Dragon Queen". This one was a dragon far bigger than the Dragon King. An "amphithere dragon"[2] adorned in white scales, sapphire eyes and is said to be coiled around the world's tallest mountain located somewhere north of the Central Continent.
The "Gatekeeper of the South" had barely any info. Only known to be a large humanoid lion with three eyes, residing in the "Eremos Desert", the southernmost part of the Central Continent. All who approach the area is deterred by it and very few have returned after encountering it. Therefore expeditions southwards are very rare. But the danger has also sparked stories and rumors of a legendary city filled with riches that the Gatekeeper protects.
Another that was quite interesting was the "Turtle Fortresses". Two turtles the size of islands with the sturdiest defense in the world. Easily outclassing the Dragon King in that department and able to go toe to toe with it. One of them resides on land while the other swims across the seas. Other than that nothing more is known about them. The one on land has never been encountered and the one on sea has only been witnessed twice.
But even though all the ones till now have been incredible, each worthy of the title of "Calamity", the final calamity seemed way more sinister than the rest. The "Mountain King". A troll the size of a mountain with rock-like skin, moss beard and other greens covering the body. It rules over all other trolls and when it sleeps, it's mistaken for an actual mountain. It lives north of the Central Continent in an area where the sky is densely clouded all year around.
Its footsteps cause earthquakes and it eats any living thing it can get its hands on. If the Mountain King were to pick a fight with all the other Calamities, there was still a good chance it might win.
These are the beings that humans should not mess with under any circumstances. Hostility with them will lead to the destruction of kingdoms and maybe even the downfall of humanity.
...
After reading this, Mikael promptly closed book and refused to read any more at the moment. If he did he might be even more scared. He never would want to meet any of the Calamities in life if he could help it, especially not the Mountain King.
Even though he knew that he would most likely never meet it unless he set out to find it, Mikael could not help but feel this fear towards these Calamities, capable of bringing entire kingdoms to complete and utter ruin. To avoid feeling this fear, he had to run away. Run away from the thoughts. Block them out and find something else to distract his mind.
Now instead of books, he rather wanted to see the magical artifacts, which he had to walk further into the Archive to reach. Since most were weapons, they were under constant lock and key and guests could not reach them, only those with either the key or the rings.
Further inside the archive, there was a vault shaped like a quadratic box out of a dark-blue and grey steel. Going up to the door and presenting the ring recreated the same phenomenon as when he entered the archive.
Inside, the room was once again bigger than the outside, and held rows upon rows of magical artifacts in the brightly lit room. Weapons were hung up and the many other types of tools were displayed in different orientations. This room too had its own register not far from the entrance.
But this time, Mikael wanted to wander around instead since there was an obvious difference between artifacts than between books.
Each weapon had it's own unique design, with some of them being quite weird. And each of these weapons all had their own effect. There were big swords, short swords, axes, glaives, bows, flails and more. Aside from the weapons there was the artifacts used as tools. Among them were scissors, mirrors, pens, with way more than could be described in a single exploration session.
While wandering between the rows, shelves and boxes, one thing caught Mikael's crimson eyes. One thing that evoked a greater interest than all else. On a table there were many different artifacts lying about, but the one he was interested in was an octagonal glass box with a brass outline. The glass was at least 1cm thick and the inside was filled with a sort of clear liquid. And inside this glass box floated a sphere with a color that resembled white quartz.
What was this sphere? Inside a box which had no clear way to open. As if it was meant to be sealed shut and never opened. A slight pain began tingling in the corners of Mikael's eyes. He held his hands over the affected areas, but the pain continued. Soon, he felt a similar pain inside his chest. An emotion building up inside. Rising and rising, and constantly nearing the bursting point.
He was so greatly drawn towards the sphere that Mikael felt like he had to touch it. He had to. The desire within him was too great to fight against. He raised his hand, and slowly stretched it towards the box. The distance between the hand and box grew shorter and shorter until his fingers lightly and barely touched the glass separating him from the sphere.
The instant contact was made with the box a signal was sent throughout Mikael's entire body. Like a bolt of lighting, it made it's existence known to every nerve in his body. Frozen in this position, hand outstretched by the box and his eyes not focusing on anything in particular, as if in a trance. What brought Mikael back to reality was reemergence of the pain in his eyes and the powerful emotion in his chest.
And now, refocusing his eyes towards the sphere, he was once again frozen again in place. This time due to a surprise beyond his imagination. While the sphere was still inside the box, it had slightly changed shape. Specifically, it had gained a crimson-red eye, accompanied by eyelids and lashes as well.
As Mikael stared at the eye, the eye likewise stared back at him. Even though it was just an eye, with no way to speak or communicate via body language, he knew. Mikael knew that the eye wanted him. It wanted to be touched by something, someone similar.
The emotion in his chest rose to an even greater height, almost too much for Mikael to bear. And with it, the pain in his eyes grew even stronger. It felt as if he was about to cry lava. It hurt so, so much that he wanted to cry, but couldn't. Just like how Mikael could discern the eye's desire, he could also understand what his own crimson eyes were telling him.
"Get away!"
He had to get away from the eye. While his body yearned for it, to touch it, embrace it, his mind warned him of the danger it posed. If he came into direct contact with that "thing", something terrible would happen to him, though he didn't know what.
Mustering strength to once again course through his body, exerting his own will to override the eye's, to take back the body that was rightfully his to use, Mikael struggled for seconds that felt like minutes. Slowly he took a step back, distancing himself from the eye, then another, and another, gaining momentum as the distance widened, until finally he was once again the only master of his body.
Standing was too much for him, he had too kneel down and take in deep breaths to gather himself. The ordeal had taken quite a lot out of him. He was kneeling, sweat making it's way down his face and dripping down on his thighs and floor. It felt like he had completed some of the most grueling training in his entire life.
Whatever that magical artifact was, it was very dangerous. Why wasn't it more securely locked up? What the hell was Siegfried thinking letting this being out in the open? He had to confront him about it. This eye had caused great pain and strain on Mikael's body. He wanted to know why this had to happen.
...
While Mikael was having yet another scary experience, Siegfried was standing in a room enveloped in the night sky. The walls, floor and roof were all the far stretching black night. And in this dark room, there were multiple points of light. Stars. Floating as if the entire room was submerged in water. They were grouped together in constellations that didn't exist in the real sky.
Each star was shining as brightly as they could, even though they were only the size of a closed fist. Standing among them was Siegfried, clad in his signature vest, not wearing his hat or jacket inside the mansion. While he often had his silver hair let down to his shoulders, today he had it in a ponytail.
Walking while surrounded by the white stars, walking on the dark night sky, creating small ripples with each step, as if walking on water, Siegfried headed towards one star in particular. The brightest star inside the room, lonely shining it's white rays, its center the size of a person.
And if one was to actually focus their eyes on the star, they would see the body of a man, around twenty to thirty, floating lifelessly like a corpse surrounded by the dark and the smaller clusters of stars. He had quite the handsome face, complimented by his golden-blond short hair. And while his eyes were closed, as if he was sleeping, they were most likely just as lovely as the rest of him.
Moving one's field of view further down his body one would be quite shocked to see him end at his waist. The rest of him was floating further down, creating a half a meter distance between the legs and the rest. Part of his left arm, almost up to the elbow was also cut off and floating together with the legs.
Anyone looking at the spectacle would understand that if he was brought outside he would perish. The only thing keeping him "alive" was this comatose state, as if sleeping in the water, floating in this night sky, shining brightly.
When Siegfried looked at the man, his light blue eyes held the deep emotion and strong desire of longing. He missed him, he wanted him to wake up, he wanted to talk to him again, and live like they had used to long ago. Best friends challenging the world together.
And while watching the comatose man, Siegfried was once again reminded of the cause of his friend's predicament. A slight pain went through his head when he thought about how his friend had been severed in half, destined to die, only saved due to Siegfried's tireless efforts. A large black figure, oozing purple flames, flashed through his mind. A creature he hated and wanted to EXTERMINATE with every fiber of his body.
Shaking with anger, sadness, and filled with pain, he embraced himself and slightly bent down. While standing like that, his lips broke into i wide open smile, flashing his white teeth, on the verge of laughing. His eyes filled with the color of hate. No longer watching over his friend. Only thinking of how much he wanted to KILL the creature that had tormented him so. Ruined his life and still kept tormenting him, many decades later.
If anyone were to look at him, they would only see a mad lunatic, shaking with excitement and filled with deranged thoughts.
The day would come, when he was reunited with that "thing", where he would get his revenge match against it. The day would surely come? When he could be together with his friend once again? Yes, the day surely had to come, where he would finally once again feel happiness. Where he would manage to erase the void inside of him.
He just had to be patient. Wait, bide his time, build his strength, gather his allies and achieve that victory. He had already waited for so long, he could wait some decades more just fine. He could do it. Because then, the taste of his revenge and the blood of his enemy would be sooo much Tastier.
~Sigh~
With a deep sigh, Siegfried gathers himself, stands up and stops smiling, bringing his mind out of thoughts of hate.
"It's almost time for Daiji's next appointment. I have to go get him then."
With these words muttered only to himself, Siegfried left the star-filled room, left his friend, the brightest star in the dark night by himself once again.
[1] Alchemy is closely related to Creation, but is different and does not exist in the general system that is used. It is also a near extinct type that is even harder to use than Creation.
[2] A dragon with no legs, only the body and wings. An example would be "Airdramon" from Digimon.