Vadel is a prosperous, resource-rich kingdom. With prosperity however, the kingdom became a natural magnet for vikings, raiders and the occasional supernaturals. The defenses and wealth of Vadel is presently unmatched in the continent. But Vadel could not afford a moment's rest, for power and knowledge are always growing at an exponential rate. All it takes, is an alliance among the rest of the regional tribes and lesser kingdoms, coupled with a timed opportunity, and all that the people of Vadel have built over the last 387 years could be plundered and razed to the ground. Vadel needed to keep up with arcane progression and research to keep themselves in tip top condition. More concerning however, is that should Vadel fall, one of the 12 active magical wonders known on the planet world of
Mytridon can and will fall into the wrong hands.
Every magic wonder in the world of Mytridon is associated with a unique magical element or type like
teleportation and
healing. While spells have evolved, branched out or been augmented through human experimentations over time, the root of every single magic spell casted on the planet of Mytridon was birthed from one of the magic wonders. While there are currently 12 active wonders, there are another 12 that have either mysteriously turned dormant for millenniums or has been artificially locked up and suppressed over generations because the magic they possess were deemed too
catastrophic and goes against the virtues of humanity. Each of the current 12 active wonders scattered across the world are controlled by an esteemed kingdom - at least, in the context of the age of the
War of the equilibrium that ended some 400 years back. The
faction of the light triumphed over the
faction of the dark, and the victorious side decided to seal a select number of wonders for the greater good of mankind, for the sake of peace. It was agreed that the remaining 12 active wonders were distributed over to the 12 most influential individuals, all of whom played a massive role in the outcome of the war. Due to the vast size of the planet, maintaining connections between these 12 individuals on a regular basis over the years was no easy feat. Things were made even more complicated when each of them eventually formed their own kingdom; each were increasingly held up by the natural ensuring internal politics. Updates over the changing intentions and ambitions of the different kingdoms, if any, were not well communicated. And while the world is still experiencing an unprecedented pace of progression and peace, not much is known about any change of heart/s that could threaten the dissolution of the golden age.
The kingdom of Vadal was built right beside the
Anduin wonder, also known as
the obelisk of water magic. The first ruler of Vadel that was assigned to Auduin has ever since, been harnessed the energy it provides. An entity that harvests the energy of a wonder receives a massive boon of the element or magic type the wonder is associated with. And for as long as the core of the planet burns, the energy generated from these wonders are essentially boundless. Anduin allows its harvester to control and manipulate water, with water closest to the harvester capable of being utilized in devastating ways. This was one of the main reason why Vadal has always been difficult to penetrate for invaders across the centuries. More importantly, Anduin has transcended the teaching of water magic to an unparalleled level, and mages of Vadal are extremely adapt and creative with how they manipulate water. One of Vadal's historic moment, was that the
young Uldin once conjured an immense tsunami
from the sky, crashing down and wrecking an entire horde of over 10,000 eastern raiders. It was after that battle that Uldin was promptly crowned the 9th Archmage. The decision was initiated by
Joakim the 8th, knowing that Uldin has surpassed what he was capable off, comfortable and knowing that The Golden Mystics - consisting of the a council of elite mages - is in good stead under the talent and brand new direction of Uldin. One of Uldin's notable achievement, is the successful implementation of an optional magic gauge litmus test targeted at children reaching the age of four. It is the kingdom's defense initiative at offering families to put up their sons and daughters through this test
for free to identify world class potentials early. Then, it is on the onus of the parents, with subtle encouragement from the ministry of magic, to invest in their kid's potential.
Like many families beyond the elite class, parents would naturally do as best as they can to invest in their child when they passed the kingdom's magic litmus test.
Alexander, was born to an upper-middle class family. He has lived a relatively comfortable life on a poor man's silver spoon. He topped his cohort with a comfortable buffer in front of the second best, and was shoved right into the Ashmore academy early on through endorsements of senior magic consuls. For the first few years, he did not need to try and could still easily hold onto his top spot. Then the academy eventually decided to combine the winter and summer intakes into one singular batch due to a periodic dip in birth rate, resulting in reduced class sizes. The first time Alex saw himself second in place to a girl called
Melia, with her leading by a healthy score buffer, he literally thought:
Who the hell is this beast of a girl?
Alex is a sloth. By definition of a sloth, he is not lazy. He is
anything but lazy. He just prefers to do and learn things at his own pace. All this while, he only needed his talent and modestly average effort to clinch himself the top spot. Now this
Melia girl is threatening to cut off his free time that he would otherwise love to spend on his other exploratory hobbies. He was
exasperated. He needed to reclaim the top spot, for it offers certain perks and benefits, like access to the restricted ancient scrolls and tomes on the academy's library, that would be seen by the rest of the students as luxury, but a basic necessity in the eyes of Alex. He was able to reclaim the coveted spot on the next semester's public release of result, but he had to share it with Melia - only because the both of them achieved the maximum possible score. That went on for the next few years. Alex learned the meaning of hard work for the first time the day he knew of Melia.
Alex was inducted into The Golden Mystics two months earlier than Melia did. He thought he finally shook her off for the first time in god knows how long, until he met her at the lobby two months on.
Great. Just when I thought I could finally make decent progress on my water-summoning magic fusion water golem project, you decided to show up!
Apparently, she requested for a two months induction delay due to some personal quest. He tried his best to mind his own progress, for it is now not so much about topping the scores. On hindsight, taking into perspective of the job that he is working on presently, fighting and comparing academic scores was
so lame. Melia is still
so lame for being obsessed with covering reports that he has already made, and handing them over to the
Committee of Cardinals (CoC) in greater detail. Melia is
so lame for wanting to clear monsters in a given area more than what was required.
Why did she even bother doing so? Whenever Alex eradicated monsters in a region, he did it only because they were in his way from obtaining certain information that he needed. Melia was simply clearing them, because she wanted to..
beat his kill count? Of course, the committee did not see it from Alex's view. For a more detailed report offers more knowledge and as the cliché saying goes,
knowledge is power. And ridding an entire area of monsters would pave a safer route for traders, informants and merchants heading to and from the kingdom.
Alex was less obsessed about statistics, because in the recent time, he found himself increasingly distracted by a latest side quest of his. Each and every mission that he set out for was logistically funded by The Golden Mystics . Every mission consist of an objective set out by the
CoC, in which members of The Golden Mystics can bid to take up. When a member successfully completes a mission, he or she gains credit. Alex was very selective in the missions that he chooses - they needed to provide relevant information that would aid this discrete personal quest. For this very reason, Alex found it amusing that Melia would
purposefully give him a look of smug on one instance, when one of the heads of the
CoC praised her for her work when the both of them were present in the same room, discussing Melia's secondary follow up to Alex's original mission.
When Melia went away for about 18 months, Alex found himself a period of reinvigorating breather that he has not had in a
long, long time. When she was away, he was able to shroud his tracks further the past 18 months. Up to the North of Vadal, some two months of horse ride away, unbeknownst to Alex himself, lies a sealed wonder. No one except the 12 founding members of the faction of the light knew the exact magic that veined through each of these sealed wonders - or at least, this was what was taught, or indoctrinated to every student of the academy. This knowledge has been kept tucked away, perhaps lost forever, as legend said that the 12 members did that because they felt the knowledge of these dark magics were best kept away for the peace of humanity. He went on this arduous journey not knowing what to expect, with the objective set by the
CoC simply to '
Check state of region and report anomaly, if any.' Upon arriving, he felt an immense sense of unease. There was magic lingering in the air that he has never felt before. But the intensity of it, it
felt.. familiar.
Very familiar. It is the same intensity as he felt when he was given the opportunity to personally harvest the energy of
Anduin as one of the processes and benefit of being inducted into The Golden Mystics.
Could this be one of the sealed wonders?
Why was I sent here?
Is there something the CoC has been keeping a secret away from the rest of the guild?
Alex ventured deeper into the eerie forest, but with caution. Then he found himself feeling a sudden splitting headache,
his vision blurred, as he felt the very essence of him, being drained out of him at a stunning rate. His arms, weak and unable to perform any kind of incantation, his knees jellying. For the first time, he has never felt so vulnerable before. For the first time, he feared for his life. Soon,
an apparition arose in front of him.
"Powerful, wasn't it? You can be capable of doing what I just did to you to anyone else, if you wish."
"I have just tested the depths of your mana reserve. You are.. one of a kind. I feel your potential. You can elevate the trajectory of siphoning magic to a level, never once witnessed before in the entire history of magic kind."
"This.. is this how sealed magics are like..?"
"Only say yes, and the knowledge is yours."
"What is it in, for you?
"I will be concise. I was one of the 12 Marshalls for the faction of the dark. After the war ended, your ancestors decided on sealing dark arts for good. In order to do so, they needed to sacrifice a soul for each of the wonders they intended on sealing. They picked the 12 strongest of us, who have mana reserve deep enough to act as a resilient medium to seal. My soul has been sealed to this wonder for over four centuries - all because they didn't believe in the morality of the dark arts. Ironically, they were the ones who condemned twelve souls to eternal lockdown. You. You as a descendant of the light faction, can act as a living vessel as I transfer this dark energy and knowledge that I have mastered about siphoning, imparting them all to you. Once I am able to release this contained energy in me, my soul will finally be released from this arcane jail and I can finally rest in peace. You on the other hand, obtain a long lost art. It's a win-win situation."
The decision was not made lightly, as Alex delved on the subject. The more the Marshall of Siphoning elaborated about the history of the War of equilibrium from his perspective, the more skeptical he became about the faction of the light. Eventually, he relented.
".. just an advice. Thread lightly and don't over exert yourself. For the magic itself will you consume you from within if you let it go beyond what you are capable of controlling. If you need wisdom, come back here to the Wonder of Sautha - The barren forest that has been drained off its life."
It has been 6 months since Alex dabbled into a magic form that possess a level of potential that was beyond his previous imagination. It excited him, but he could feel the transient side effects of it once in a blue moon - each time, he remembered the last words of the Marshall of Siphoning echo in his ears.
He lied in his report to the
CoC of the event that transpired on that fateful mission. He had to for multiple reasons. Keeping this secret was beginning to bear a weight on his shoulders. It is especially untimely, now that Melia has recently returned from her little
engagement honeymoon with a Paladin apparently
, as he heard from gossips. His hired eyes and ears told him that Melia has recently been working on a potentially groundbreaking work, something about
constellations. But it was not the top priority of his concerns, only because he still does not understand the full potential of the work that Melia has done, and that he was distracted in attempting to master and understand the new form of magic that has been bestowed upon him. He has been experimenting with magic fusion, a novel advancement in magic not previously done before - as he once tried doing before with attempting to infuse water magic into the summoning of a golem. He did not manage to complete that piece of work, thanks again to
Melia, even though it showed promising progress. This though, if he could fuse the fluidity of water into this siphoning magic, he can create a new form of art which can essentially drain energy from an individual in the stealthiest of manner. His attention is now, on this new discrete project of his.
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