by Weiqi Wang
‘Let’s leave this part for Soarame to explore. Trust me, it’s fun to do that.’ Scankeen took out a black metal plate and gave it to Soarame. ‘My dear boy, keep my token with you at all times, it keeps you safe.’
Soarame was attracted to the black plate, not only because of Scankeen’s words, but also because he sensed the intense magic pulse being emitted from the inconspicuous plate. Strangely, the pulse seemed to radiate in light green to Soarame’s special eyes — a colour not included in the colours of the magic elements. Soarame couldn’t help asking, ‘Master, why is the colour of the magic elements in this plate green?’
‘You can see that, too?’ Scankeen was surprised. ‘The green is not one of the seven magic elements, but a special energy — the Energy of Life.’
‘What is that?’ Soarame wondered. ‘You never mentioned this before?’
‘There’s a lot more that I never mentioned before, and you won’t stop being amazed as you keep learning about the world of magic,’ Scankeen smiled. ‘This plate is an Epic magigear, which devotes itself only to its owner upon contact with a drop of his or her blood; you should try it.’
‘Epic?’ Soarame checked the plate carefully, eyes wide in amazement. Soarame had learnt from Scankeen that a magigear referred to any item that had magic functions, such as a wand. He also knew that unlike an ordinary magigear, which could be used by whoever wore it, a magigear classified as ‘Epic’ could only be used by its owner — the one who marked the magigear with his blood.
Instructed by Scankeen, Soarame scratched his finger and let a small drop of blood drip onto the plate. The blood drop was then absorbed by the plate like a sponge.
‘Wear it as a necklace and keep it with you at all times.’ Scankeen hung the plate round Soarame’s neck. ‘Remember, never take it off; it’s for your safety, okay?’
‘Master, when are you coming back to us?’ Soarame would have asked for the details of the Epic token, but at this moment he was in no mood for that. ‘What should I do if I miss you?’
‘Well, we’ll meet again sooner than you think.’ Scankeen blinked at the boy. ‘Or else, if you practice Wind, Water, and Lightning magic all to the Expert level, you’ll see me right then.’
That meant a long time — Soarame was smart enough to realise that; tears welled up in his eyes, ‘Master, take care!’
‘You too, my boy. And don’t forget your promises.’ Scankeen put his forehead onto Soarame’s and lowered his voice. ‘Your special eyes and the Wind magic.’
Filton and Soarame watched Scankeen as he disappeared after turning behind a building. Soarame suddenly rushed to the building and looked towards its back, yet there was no one there. Filton chased after Soarame, only to see the boy tearing up.
The next morning, Filton began walking towards the Institute of Libral, passing through Cylone City. Cylone City was very well known to the world because of the Institute of Libral; it attracted crowds of tourists from all countries and continents. People from every corner of the world could be seen here, speaking different languages and dialects, so it was hard to communicate with people sometimes. At the moment, Filton and Soarame were trying to ask for directions.
‘Institute of Libral? That road there.’
‘It’s just over there, in the hill.’
‘Yeah, just keep walking — into the hill and out the two towers.’
Obviously, not everyone was good at the language of the Arkward Empire; Soarame and Filton had to ignore the grammar issues and try to understand the instructions. Finally, the two got to their destination — the foot of two giant towers, as someone had said. Soarame and Filton were truly shocked by the size of the giant towers — each with a foundation bigger than Filton’s house. There didn’t seem to be a door to enter the tower, but between them was a giant cave that was cut from the hill — covered by hazy smog that made visibility difficult.
The two were both surprised. ‘What’s this?’
‘It’s the entrance of the institute, called the Libral Gate.’ Lots of people were gathering by the towers, and one of the strangers offered this information.
‘The entrance?’ Soarame was confused. ‘What about the towers then?’
‘They are not towers; at least they are not treated as towers here,’ the stranger smiled. ‘They are the gate of the institute; or you could see them as big doorjambs, although there’s no door.’
‘So, they are more like a symbol of the institute?’ Filton marvelled at the greatness of the institute. ‘And the campus of the institute is… in the hill? Really?’
‘We thought they meant on the hill when we were told it was in the hill,’ the two looked at each other and saw the surprise in each other’s eyes. ‘So it’s really in the hill, after all?’
The two walked towards the Libral Gate in excitement, but were stopped by a guard. ‘Gentlemen, only students or staff of the institute can pass this point, no family members, please.’
Filton stepped forward to address the guard, ‘Sir, this boy is new to school, so I’m here to help with the registration, can you please…’
‘I’m sorry, but this has been the rule for centuries. No exceptions, please kindly understand,’ the guard said resolutely.
Filton pondered for a while, then pulled Soarame back and took out a wallet, together with a bag left by Scankeen. ‘Soarame, I can’t get in, but everything you need is in here. The money is not that much, but it should be enough if you manage it well.’
‘I don’t want the money; you keep it!’ Soarame took the bag, but not the wallet.
‘Sweet boy, you must take it,’ Filton stroked Soarame’s head. ‘You don’t want me to live in worry, do you? Trust me; I can manage by myself and so must you!’
Soarame finally had to listen. He took the wallet and walked to the guard. ‘Can I come out after registration?’
‘Tomorrow is the last day of the registration, so you can come out, but must come back in by the end of tomorrow,’ answered the guard with a smile. ‘After that, the institute will be sealed by magic and you will only be able to get out on weekends.’
‘Sealed by magic?’ Filton was amazed — no wonder the institute doesn’t need a door panel!
Musing in this way, the two were interrupted by an angry voice from not far away, ‘Please step back!’
Filton looked around and saw another group of people stopped by the guards, just like had happened to them. However, these people seemed unwilling to listen to the guards and wanted to approach the gate.
‘Excuse me? It’s still a thousand feet to the gate!’ A bald-headed, bulky man was staring at the guards. ‘We came to visit from a thousand miles away! Do we not deserve a closer look?’
Behind him was a group of people, magnificently dressed, escorting a young man, adulation and lowliness glowing on their faces. On the other hand, the young man looked quite displeased.
‘I’m sorry but that’s the rule here, so please step back,’ said the same guard who had stopped Filton; Soarame had overheard that his name was Sachastain.
‘Okay, I can step back,’ the bald-headed man said, pointing at the young man. ‘But that is a prince of Atlantos; you’d better let him pass.’
Hearing that, the entire crowd started whispering in surprise — a prince, from the Atlantos Empire!
Everyone knew that the Atlantos Empire was one of the most powerful countries in the world, located on Snowhill Continent — which was far to the south. The prince, called Deltaley, was travelling the world and had now arrived at the institute of Libral, wanting to make this stop worthwhile by visiting the campus. However, he found his whole entourage stopped by the guards, far away even from the towers. This was definitely not something that pleased him, so he sent his guard to have a word — hoping for the same privileges that he always gained elsewhere.
However, the guard seemed not to care about his royal identity in Atlantos. This was the Institute of Libral, so he had to bear with it…or so it seemed. The prince still signalle
d to his crew to figure out a way to bypass the rule.
At the same time, Soarame was instructed to proceed by another guard. Just when Soarame walked towards the gate, a voice came from behind, ‘Hey, excuse me!’ it was again the bald man from Atlantos. ‘Boy, where are you going?’
‘Excuse me?’ Filton stepped forward immediately, ‘He’s my boy, you can talk to me if you have questions.’
‘Oh I’m sorry; your boy goes to school here? How impressive!’ the bald man turned from angry to smooth in the blink of an eye. ‘How long has he been studying here?’
‘It’s his first day, so if you don’t mind, we want him to check in now.’ Filton was not interested in this conversation at all.
‘Oh, of course. So your boy is not a student yet?’ the bald man nodded to Filton and looked at Sachastain. ‘You heard that, right? This kid is not a student yet, but he can enter?’ Obviously, the conversation with Filton was just for paving the way for the prince; the bald man could tell that Soarame was new here.
‘You heard him, he’s a new student checking in,’ Sachastain peeked at the bald man. ‘If your prince is a student too, he can also enter.’
‘Sure he is,’ the bald man instantly said. ‘Can he proceed now?’
‘Really! You do know that one has to have magic gifts to qualify as a new student, right?’ Sachastain became impatient at this spontaneous lie. ‘Let your prince perform a magic act, then he can pass.’
‘What?’ the bald man was upset and pointed at Soarame. ‘Why did you not ask that kid to do some magic too?’
Sachastain had little more patience for talking to the irritating bald man, so he turned to address Soarame. ‘Hey my little friend, you can perform some magic, right?’
‘Sure, but I only know Water magic.’ Soarame stepped back from the gate. ‘Is that ok, sir?’
‘Call me Sachastain. I heard your name is Soarame, right?’ Sachastain shook Soarame’s hand and tried to be nice. ‘Water magic is great, please do some.’
Soarame took out his wand and began to draw a magic hexagram while singing an incantation; soon enough, a flow of water appeared out of nowhere and Soarame controlled the water to flow around his body. Although Soarame was not capable of performing Water magic at a higher level, he was capable of doing the basic summoning and control of Water elements. Cheering and applause arose from the crowd; the shining look of the water flow and the proficient control of Soarame amazed everyone. The guards of the institute were also quite surprised, as they had seen many wizards and knew that controlling water flow like this was not a trivial feat for a fresher.
‘Well done!’ Sachastain gave a thumbs-up to Soarame and turned around to the bald man. ‘Your turn.’
‘Alright, alright,’ Deltaley finally had to open his mouth and speak to Sachastain himself. ‘You want to see magic? Here it is.’ Deltaley began to mutter some kind of incantation, then waved his hand and shot a firebolt towards the sky. ‘Satisfied?’
Seeing that, all were stunned — it seemed that Deltaley actually was a wizard!
How come? All the guards felt so absurd — if Deltaley was a wizard, why would he not say anything in the first place? The crowd was also whispering, making different guesses. The best guess from Sachastain was that Deltaley was a wizard, but he did not want to study here; so he had come for a tour and would leave after visiting the campus. If this really was the case, it was offensive; he had actually played everyone and the institute. However, there was nothing the guards could do because this was not forbidden in any written rule here.
With the boosting arguments from Atlantos crew, Sachastain finally had to let Deltaley pass. Deltaley walked past Sachastain without saying a word; after all, he was a prince of Atlantos who would not bother to talk to a guard anyway. Just then, Soarame exclaimed as Deltaley passed by —
‘That bracelet…’ Soarame sounded amazed. ‘Is that a…’
‘Silence!’ Deltaley was suddenly nervous as he interrupted Soarame and walked faster towards the gate.
‘Sir, please stop!’ Sachastain suddenly realized something and shouted to Deltaley. Deltaley did not want to listen, but the next second he found himself surrounded by guards.
‘What do you want?’ Deltaley was extremely upset now; he was so close to getting what he wanted, yet was only stopped because of a boy.
‘Sir, I just have one last demand,’ Sachastain was the captain of the guards, so he was the one who spoke up. ‘Let me take a look at your bracelet.’
‘How dare you!’ Deltaley stared at Sachastain. ‘That’s a royal symbol of Atlantos! You think anyone can just ask for a look?’ At the same time, the Atlantos crew was shouting and complaining again, and the bald man was already jostling some of the other guards.
‘No, I have no intention of offending your royal symbol, so you don’t have to show it; but you don’t have to approach to the gate either.’ Sachastain stared into Deltaley’s eyes. ‘So here’s my final offer — leave immediately, or let me examine your bracelet to make sure it’s not a magigear that can spell firebolts.’
Hearing Sachastain’s words, the crowd understood what was happening— was it the bracelet that had spelt the firebolt? If so, the prince was cheating.
The Atlantos crew was not shouting and jostling anymore. If the suspicion were proven to be true, it would look really bad on Atlantos — not just the prince himself, as a cheat, not just the Atlantos crew, but the whole country. Deltaley certainly knew this too; therefore, although he looked really angry, he was actually sweating. The bracelet was indeed the source of the firebolt, but he could not understand how a boy could tell — even an Expert wizard would not be able to spot the trick that easily.
At the same time, Sachastain was sweating, too. He was not really confident about Soarame’s claim, especially since Soarame did not really finish his words. Sachastain knew that if he failed in this gamble, he would have big troubles; however, once he used his forty years of experience to examine the reaction of the young prince, he believed that he made the right bet.
‘To visit a campus, in exchange for insulting the royal dignity?’ Deltaley was his haughty royal self again. ‘I say never!’ With that, Deltaley stared at Soarame and stepped away from the gate, walking back to his crew and leaving right away.
Sachastain was finally convinced that Soarame was right, but he was still amazed that Soarame could figure out the trick of the magigear; as far as he knew, there was no way to ascertain that. Sachastain shouldn’t be blamed, because no one expected Soarame to see the movement of the magic elements; thus the mystery was alive and vivid in front of his eyes.
‘Thank you, Soarame.’ Seeing the Atlantos crew leave, Sachastain saluted Soarame. ‘You protected the dignity of the institute! We owe you one.’
‘No, I just…’ Soarame was astonished to see all the guards saluting him. ‘I didn’t do anything.’
‘Whatever you say, sir. You may proceed to your registration; good luck!’ Sachastain did not want to push it, but smiled at Soarame. ‘With your gifts, I’m sure you can easily pass the entry test and become a student.’
‘The entry test?’ Soarame wondered, ‘What’s that?’
The Institute of Libral
‘You didn’t know that?’ Sachastain was confused. ‘You came to check in but you didn’t know there’s an entry test?’
‘No?’ Soarame looked over to Filton. ‘Did Mr. Swanflew say anything about the entry test?’
‘I don’t think so,’ Filton shook his head. ‘But I think that’s because he’s very confident in you.’
‘Swine flu? What?’ Sachastain was puzzled. ‘Anyway, the Institute of Libral does not automatically accept any wizard to study here; the school is picky about admission, so one has to pass the entry test to become a formal student.’
‘I see, so the registration will take longer than we expected.’ Filton was resigned to a long wait. ‘Soarame, why don’t you go ahead, I’ll be waiting here.’
Soarame nodded and
trotted towards the gate. Looking back at Filton as he passed through, his vision was suddenly cut off. Soarame knew that this must be because of the magic array on the gate, and the people outside must have lost their view of him, too. At the same time, Soarame felt a pulse of dizziness, as if something was changing rapidly around him, causing his vision to be completely clouded for a few seconds. After that, he found himself inside a channel, facing the exit. Soarame looked back, yet saw nothing behind him except for complete darkness — it felt like a large space, but just could not be visualized.
Puzzled and amazed at first, Soarame decided to move forward and finish registration. He quickly walked towards the exit of the channel. Once Soarame stepped outside, he finally saw the campus of the institute —
It was a whole new world.
Soarame opened his eyes wide, finding no boundaries to this campus. Blinking his eyes a few times, Soarame immediately speculated that this must be some kind of space expansion magic — his master once mentioned it. The hill, inside which the Institute of Libral was located, was definitely not this big, but the space expansion magic performed by some superior wizard made it far larger.
Soarame looked up and found yet another thing that he couldn’t understand. In the world of the cave, how could there be a sky, clouds, and even a sun? However large the space was expanded to be, how could the sun come in here?
Witnessing the wonder and the might right in front of him, Soarame couldn’t help marvelling at this magic world, and admiring those great wizards who had created all this. The melancholy thoughts in Soarame’s mind, associated with leaving his master and Filton, was replaced by determination.
After Soarame walked away, a figure appeared in a shadow behind him. It was none other than Scankeen. Scankeen was not only capable of Wind; he could practice multiple lineages and one of them was Darkness — although he didn’t talk about it much, for longstanding reasons.