Magus Rise of the Fallen

29th June 2095

It was raining heavily during summer for the first time in years in the city of Tyggstral. Despite that, life went on, as usual, the citizens were proceeding to their usual activities and students getting ready for the Ether test which was to happen in 2 days.

1 week had gone by since the death of Roy, and today was his burial.

In the St memorial cemetery, a group of people dressed in black and each having an umbrella to protect themselves from the rain.

”We are gathered here to say farewell to Roy Uther and to commit him into the hands of our holy ancestors. The holy scrolls state that rain during the brightest time of the year is a sign indicating to us that a dark future lies ahead of us, however, might it be a coincidence that it rains today, I assure you it is not. We dedicate Roy Lancasters remains to the quiet of the cemetery in the name of our holy forefathers. He is claimed to have had a brief but serene life, leaving behind a large number of family members and friends. With this prayer, we wish that our ancestors in the world beyond the earth welcome Roy as one of them and allow him to continue his joyous journey in the afterlife, ”

”With this final prayer, we wish you farewell, Roy Uther, and although your body is no longer with us, your spirit will live on in our hearts forever, ”

With the final prayer of the priest, the parents of Roy, a brown-haired short middle-aged lady who was crying in the hands of a tall middle-aged man who much resembled Roy approached the headstone with what looked like a portrait of him when he was a child.

”Why did it have to be him.. ” the mother sobbed while the father could only look at the headstone with a pitiful expression.

Amongst the crowd, were Caleb and his family, who had come to give their condolences to the parents.

After the parents had put the portrait on the headstone, the following mourners had each put a flower on the headstone to honour the deceased.

Caleb and his family had also deposited flowers on the grave, and for a few minutes standing in front of it.

After about 15 minutes, most of the people left for the prayer building for the funeral contributions, however, under the rain, Caleb stayed in front of the headstone looking at it with no expression.

His new physical appearance and short hair with dark red eyes made him seem slightly different. He was handsome, and the clothes that once looked too big for him fit him perfectly now.

”Caleb, ” Lizz had explained everything about what happened to Caleb, and ever since, he had never admitted it, but she had realised he felt guilty for his death.

”the funeral contributions are nearly over, we have to get going, ”

Caleb took a deep sigh and put his hands in his pockets before walking away from the headstone.

”Hey Caleb, ” Lizz moved into Calebs way to get his attention.

”You can talk to me if you want, there is no need of being so cold? ”

With an emotionless face, Caleb answered without looking at Lizz:

”Its not that I don want to show any emotions, for some reason, its just hard for me to show any… ”

*

*

*

In the business district of the capital, the largest building, which stood tall amongst others was a 90-story building owned by the Magus academy.

The academy is arguably the most popular and prestigious of all things in this world. The academy was where Magi were formed to become what all of them are today.

In an academic training of 5 years, students from the two kingdoms join in a city called conjurer city.

The city was located on the border of the two kingdoms, and students lived there for the next 5 years of their training before joining a guild in either kingdom.

However, to be accepted into the Magus academy, it is mandatory to be positive and have a good result during the Ether test.

Once accepted, a year after, the first years will undergo an exam which has the objective of getting rid of the ones without potential and keeping the stronger ones.

In the business district, the magus academy called up all its most important figures for an important meeting to take place.

In a room inside the skyscraper was a large round table with at least 10 seats each filled by figures wearing a black suits.

On each side of the room were large screen projections which filled the walls. Suddenly, the entrance door opened, and two black-suited individuals, one was a man with short brown hair, goggle-shaped glasses, and a black face mask, thus hiding all his facial features.

The other individual was a turquoise long-haired woman with light blue eyes and a joyful smile on her face.

As they entered the room, right behind them was a skinny old man with a long beard and no hair who was vested in a brown cotton robe. His deep wrinkles hid his eyes and made them seem like he was dead amongst the living.

The old man walked slowly to a luxurious high seat with the help of the two magi following him closely.

After that, the old man took a few deep breaths before speaking.

”Greetings everyone… I apologise for my lateness, I had what we might call a digestive emergency. Well then, let us not waste time and start the meeting already, Alexa, what is the topic of the meeting, ”

The turquoise-haired woman then walked forward to one of the screens, and they immediately turned on.

”The topic of the meeting, and something that must be addressed immediately, the dark demon has been freed, ”

There was a slight commotion after the information was given.

”Thats impossible, who would be reckless enough to free the dark demon! ”

”If thats the case, then its already been one week since he has been freed, do you realise how dangerous the situation is right now! ”

”Rest reassured, ” Alexa replied still having a smile on her face:

”the demon is sealed inside the body of an individual who is currently supervised by expert S-ranked magus Lizz Mont. According to her reports, it seemed like the artefact which sealed the dark demon was broken, ”

”How in the world could a V-ranked sealing artefact be broken so randomly? ”

”I told you we should have taken the artefacts from the government! ”

The discussions started to get more intense as to how they could have avoided this situation.

”Quiet down, the woman hasn finished, ” The old man suddenly ordered, and everyone in the room stopped talking immediately.

Alexa still smiling happily proceeded to continue her explanation:

”To answer one of your questions, the magus academy and government agreements clearly state that one organisation is not allowed to take the found possession of another, thus, the artefacts are their property, and we cannot order them what to do with it.

As for the V-ranked artefact, it seemed like it the one who currently hosts the dark demon inside him also had possession of the legendary elixir rings, ”

A silent discussion started between the men who seemed surprised to hear a mere citizen was the one who held possession of the elixir rings.

”Our Magus on the field has also reported to us that the individual has gained some of the attributes that the demon has, most notably, the ability to control dark power. The host has also lost his emotions and struggles to show any expression at all. This also comes with a large amount of Ether that the host unlocked, however, it seems cursed ether resides in him as well, and the amount is yet to be identified.

Now, the point that has to be raised during this meeting, and that Master Zong has personally voted on already, is whether we should kill the host, or train him to fight alongside us, ”

One of the men in suits stood from his chair and slammed his hands on the table to show his disagreement. He frowned at turned his head to Master Zong, the old man on the high seat.

”Master Zong, with all due respect, this is complete madness, risking to let someone with such a dangerous thing inside him is too risky! We must eliminate him without any second thought before things get out of hand! ”

Each of the members around the table nodded their heads or muttered words of agreement to what the man had said.

Each of them was too scared of the consequences if things went wrong, and they failed to train him right. At the end of the day, what if they train him to the strongest level, and his dark side takes full control of him?

”Very well, before we make the votes, there is one last topic we must go through… ”

Suddenly, the screens on the walls showed the map of both nations, Song and Ethris.

The two nations were each connected to one large piece of land. On the map were several red dots, some bigger and shinier than the others.

”This is the yearly report of the growth in demon activity, the bigger dots are the parts where demon activity is high, and the shinier dots are the places where the stronger demons are found.

As you can see from this, the amount of strong demons emerging this year has been going up, and most importantly, these strong demons have been getting smarter and smarter. For example, a few days after the seal of the dark demon was broken, a demon that had previously not been in our records knew of the existence of the artefact and what resided inside of it. Not only that, but it also attempted to take possession of the dark demons power, but our Magus on the field managed to stop him on time.

This is nonetheless unsurprising, for, in the past year, an increased number of demons with intellect had emerged each seeking a specific goal. Thus, we have eventually concluded, that the demons could be potentially working as an organisation just like us. If they have understood that the best way to win is to work in a group, and if there are demons out there that know about the demon celestials, then it is just a matter of time before a major war starts between the magus and the demons.

It is likely that when the demons will be ready for this war, they will be sure to have all the factors necessary for them to win, and this is why we must start preparing and increasing the level of training in the magus academy, ”

The men were left silent after what Alexa had said. A demon organisation sounded like a scary thing to them. It was already hard to keep up with strong demons that had only one goal, kill everything around them, but if they had to face demons that had a fixed objective and worked in groups with other strong demons, one thing is for sure, at this very moment, the demons would have a higher chance of winning.

”How are you sure that the demons have created an organisation, maybe it is just a coincidence… ” One of the men said trying to convince himself this is just a stupid hypothesis.

”Even If we were to be wrong, and that the demons haven created an organisation, the stats are showing us that demons are getting smarter, and if these statistics continue to grow, one day or another, they will eventually create one. Plus, if the demon race managed to operate like a whole army with a lord as their head thousands of years ago, there is no reason for us to exclude a potential demon organisation today.

Unfortunately, for now, there is nothing we can do at the moment except prepare, even if this major war weren to happen during our time. We must prepare so that the next generation can be ready for this upcoming battle, and this is why we must take everything can at the moment, even if that means training the host of the dark demon.

We could train him and his generation to become the strongest and have a higher chance of winning, or we could kill him.

Gentlemen, the decision which might potentially make a great impact on the survival chances of humanity is now for yours to decide, I suggest you choose wisely ”

Alexa spread her arms as she said the last sentence, and smiled at the audience listening to her, putting more pressure, on them, and eventually causing them to rethink their former decision.

The men around the table were left speechless after what they had heard. In reality, most of the people here, and most of the population expected this battle of demons vs Magi to last forever, however, even the longest wars have an end, and it may appear that the end of this war, might be sooner than many anticipated.

It scared many of the men here to think that they were going to have to live to see a major war of demons vs Magi, and what scared them the most was losing to the demons. The people in that room and the magi they had formed so far were the solid brick wall that prevented the demons from destroying human civilisation, but was that enough to stop the demons?

Maybe they needed something, someone who would be considered the strongest among all, a leader who would help organise the walls defence more efficiently. Maybe taking the risk to train the host of the dark demon was a gamble that would be necessary for the sake of humanity.

”Well, you know what they say, drastic times call for drastic measures… ” one of the people mumbled

”Well then, now, I guess we can now get to votes, ” Alexa said with a smile as if she didn announce the scariest possible future they could face.

”Now, ” Master Zong took over:

”votes for the boy to be killed, lift your hands ”

Once Master Zong had ordered the ones to lift their hand, there was a moment of silence where no one moved or even lifted their hand.

”Well then… votes to keep him alive, ”

Suddenly, the whole of the 10 people seated around the table had lifted their hands each showing displeased expression. They hadn voted to keep the host alive because they wanted to, they voted to keep the boy alive because they had to think of humanity first.

”I really hope you are wrong about this, S-ranked Magus Alexa… ”

”Even if it were to be wrong, he would still be useful to the Magus academy, as a lab rat to learn more about the celestial demons power and source of energy, or as a Magus overall, ”

For the first time in the meeting, the man with the glasses and mask hiding his face had spoken with a deep and what seemed to be a tired voice.

”V-ranked Magus Ace Peyron, you can possibly be looking forward to this madness! ”

”I am not looking forward to anything, I am just carrying out the rules, plus it is too soon to start talking badly of the project before it even started, all I know is that, ” Ace then paused to let out a big yawn,

”for now, all we must do… is train the boy, ”