I waited in the city for a week before the trial. All the members of Aurelius’s workshop were detained in a prison. I didn’t even get a chance to talk to them. I showed up for the trial anyway, It was public so I could show my support. Aurelius was a popular blacksmith so there was quite a large crowd of people.
The trial started with a tall dwarf saying formalities. He introduced the king, a good-looking man in his late middle ages. He was strong-looking and incredibly tall for a dwarf, on par with a human. His muscles were thick and he wore dull iron plate armor and a similarly dull crown. The lack of ornament showed how powerful he was individually. He didn’t need fancy clothes to impress, he himself impressed.
His name was King Dardel Irineus, King of the Dwarves. Aurelius and his assistant, who was named Francis bowed their heads with William and Alice. The prosecutor simply stated their crimes, Aurelius was given the chance to say something and he did. “My king, I understand what I have done, and for all the years I have served you…. Please spare the children, if you do, they will be out of this country in no time. Take me instead. I will take full responsibility.” Francis echoed those words.
The king studied them for a few minutes. He said, “Where might these children go?”
Aurelius looked up, “They have found another place to serve. With all respect, my king, I believe that they will be better off there.”
“Hmmm,” the king said, “Very well, who is this new master? Where do they want to go?”
“The new nation of Tephit, my lord. Their princess asked us personally.” Aurelius replied.
“Might that princess be in the audience today?”
Aurelius looked at me, “Yes, your majesty.”
“Where might you be?” the king asked.
I stepped forward, “Here, your majesty,” I said, “I am Princess Silvi Tephit, nice to meet you.”
“You can take these delinquents?” The king asked.
“Yes,” I replied curtly.
The king’s expression was unreadable. “Very well, Aurelius, you and your companions are to be exiled, leave this land immediately.”
Aurelius looked surprised, “Thank you, your majesty, thank you so much.”
The audience murmured, “This is uncalled for, he should have been executed.”
“Silence, I have spoken.” The king said, “My work here is done, you better be gone by sunup tomorrow.” He then walked away.
Aurelius was released to pack up his things, so I accompanied him back to his workshop. He started packing up all of his belongings and putting them on the backs of donkeys. We helped him the best we could. After spending the night, we decided to leave at the break of dawn. I rode with Aurelius at the front of the party, “What’s wrong?” I asked him, noticing the look on his face.
Aurelius shook his head, “I wanted a future for my apprentices, but never did I think I would be cast out…” He said, “But that matters not, it will be nice to be free of the dwarven politics, start fresh in another place, with the people I care about no less.”
I nodded my head, “I’m sorry,”
“No, don’t be, I am happy, sad but happy at the same time,” He grinned.
We traveled in silence.
Reaching Tephit in a few days, I set around introducing Aurelius and his companions to everyone. He was very capable, so I decided to name him the minister of crafts. William and the others worked underneath him, they established workshops in the city. It was very rare for a dwarven craftsman to take up shop in another country, so people all over came to see them and their wares. I was happy they were successful, William looked happy as ever to share his work so openly.
Alice had been named the minister of infrastructure. Her engineering skills had no contenders, and the new houses built were better than ever.
I was satisfied, so I decided to learn more skills. For this, I recruited Amber. “All right, Amber, you are the best mage I know. Teach me a few things.”
Amber shook her head, “Master, I am a demon. Only a few people can handle demon skills. I have no doubt you could, but we cannot go charging headfirst into this realm of magic. You must first build up your basic magic skills.”
“Very well, then at least help me with that!” I asked.
“Of course master, I have just the thing.” She took out a vial of water from her pocket, “This is holy water, its water imbued with mana so it can power up a mage for a while. I want you to take it, so we may try a few advanced spells without you collapsing on me. For someone like you, you could probably do several advanced spells with your mana capacity. We want to shoot higher in this training session, so please.”
I nodded and took the water. Suddenly my hands started cramping. I fell to my knees. “Master? What’s wrong? Your hands!”
I stared at my hands, they were glowing a pale blue. “Why are my hands glowing?” I said aloud.
Traya, who was watching us, gawked. The back of my hand started searing and a symbol burned itself in. It was a band of blue, shaped a little like the star of David, but with more points and a circle in the middle.
“That’s the mark of a hero…” Traya whispered.
My eyes widened, a mark of a hero. Heroes were those born with abnormally higher powers and skills than normal people. There were supposed to be only 10 at a time and only one of each type. A hero birth was rare because the only way of identifying a hero was with holy water, which only sprung from a few natural springs on the entire continent. Churches interpreted holy water as a gift from god. Many countries did nationwide tests, sending emissaries with holy water to test for a hero. Currently, there are 4 other heroes. The hero of the sword ruled over a kingdom in the south. The hero of the ax and the hammer lived north. Lastly, they said the hero of the shield just wandered around, picking up work from the guild.
If I was a hero, then the back of my hand would signify what type. I vaguely remembered the symbol. “That’s the symbol for the hero of magic,” Traya whispered. The hero of magic was one of the strongest heroes. Other heroes specialized in weapons, their superhuman abilities based around them. But there were other heroes, called the three universals, that had much more versatile powers. The hero of healing, the hero of magic, and the hero of transformation were the most powerful. As the hero of magic, it was not surprising that I had such a large magical capacity or a universal elemental aptitude. All of this struck me at once.
The pain subsided, I stood up. “So I'm the hero of magic huh?” I said.
Traya smiled, “I wouldn’t have thought anyone else was less deserving.”
Amber grinned as well, “Well, this changes things, do you feel any different?”
“Um, yeah I do. I feel like I have a ton of mana. Not just because of the holy water, but like… a lot more.” I said.
Heros were chosen randomly, so the fact that I had been one was peculiar. But I wasn’t about to complain, maybe this was divinity at work. After taking holy water, a hero is ‘discovered’ and they ‘awaken’ to their true power. I was pretty op at first, now I had become even more powerful.
“This means we can forgo everything! Check your guild card master!” Amber said, jumping up and down.
I pulled out my card, everything was the same, but there were a ton of more skills. All of my magical proficiency skills went up a rank, there was a skill called quick chant, multi chant, magical knowledge absorption, Z+-rank mana recovery, intrinsic mana manipulation, and universal magic skill learner.
Amber observed my card. “Universal magic skill learner, that will come in handy.”
“What does it do?”
“It lets you, master, learn any type of magical skill. Take my demon eyes for example.”
“You can teach me about the demon eye?”
“Well yes, normally only demonkin can learn such an intrinsic skill, but you can. It isn’t as much of a learning thing master, more like a bestowing thing.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“Well, it's easier to show you, master. Please stay still.”
“What are you doing!” I exclaimed.
“I said stay still master, you can punish me later!”
Amber grabbed my head unexpectedly and then pulled back her arm. Ignoring my protests she punched my eye sockets. I twirled around as my eyelids were forced open. It was painful and in the end, it felt like Amber was grabbing my eyeballs.
She left me to recover for a bit. “Ugh, what is this?” I asked.
I looked up at Amber. I immediately noticed the difference. My demon eyes started pointing out a ton of different things. As I set my gaze on Amber, it appraised her. Showing me her mana capacity, name, employer (me), country of allegiance, and so much more. I could observe mana floating in the air as well as see super far away. I smiled. “This is so much!” I said.
“What does it feel like?” Traya asked.
“I can see everything, and see what everything is about!”
I checked my guild card, sure enough, demon eye was listed among my skills. There was more though, often when skills evolved or grew stronger, some of them could combine or unlock derivatives. Magical Knowledge absorption was requesting that it join with demon eye. Universal Magical Skill learner was also requesting it. I said yes to all of them, it morphed and then a new skill appeared. It was called Universal Understanding, (Magical Edition). Finding the details, it seemed as if Universal understanding was just what it sounded like, these three skills could tell me everything anyone needed to know about magic. To put it to the test, I said in my head, How do I become as strong as Amber?
Another voice rang in my head, it was gender-neutral it said SImple, use the Universal Understanding’s derivative skill Magical Knowledge Absorption to absorb magical knowledge with your demon eye. Then ask the individual named Amber to help you gain practical experience.
Wow, that was quick. And how long would that take?
Based on current calculations, if you started right now it would take around two weeks, maybe three if you took your time with knowledge absorption.
So short! But where do I absorb knowledge?
Spellbooks. The guild has a ton of them, learn all the advanced and Z-rank magic. Then you will not only become as strong as Amber, but stronger. Isn’t it obvious?
So this universal understanding skill has an attitude. Well, that made a lot of sense, I couldn't believe it said I could be as strong as Amber in two weeks! This was a lot of information, I had to put it to good use. Being a hero had its perks!
I grinned at Amber, “Turns out this Universal Understanding skill has a bit of advice for me, I can train with these skills!”
Ambe smiled, “How might I help?”
I quickly explained what the skill had told me, Amber nodded. “Master, this skill is incredibly powerful. Demon eyes have never been known to combine with other skills. It truly is amazing.”
“That’s right, and if I want to become stronger and protect this country by myself then this is what I’m going to have to do!”
“Well, it is a hero’s job to become stronger..” Traya said, “By the way, did you take a good look at yourself?”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Look here Silvi,” Traya handed me a mirror.
My face looked normal, but both of my eyes glowed a strange yellow color and had golden pupils. I assumed that was because I had received demon eyes. But even more surprisingly, a streak of yellow was prominent in my hair, it's color similar to Amber’s.
I looked up at Amber for an explanation. ‘Well, you see master. When a demon bestows the Demon eye, it is a sign of acknowledgment. I have already acknowledged you as a superior, so it doesn't mean much, but a demon's physical traits often follow the demon eye’s bestowment. This knock-on effect is a skill in itself I think. Master, check your card.
I looked at my card, sure enough, a skill named demonification was listed among my intrinsic skills. “It isn’t a bad thing master, normally it is used as a way for a demon to sap the strength of whoever has it, but in your case, it's the opposite. Because you are my superior, you may sap my strength!”
I sighed, “Don’t you think I should have known this beforehand?”
“Well, it all turned out good, Master!”
I sighed, “Whatever, let’s go find Razana.”298Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8WEHzKLKzb
