Chapter 2

Archmage

Manuka stared in a mixture of stunned silence and complete awe, meer meters away from him stood one of the Kirin Tors most powerful mages and arguably the largest asset to the defence of Azeroth itself, Archmage Khadgar.

The master wizard had just finished rifling through what looked like various scouting reports when his icy blue eyes came to rest directly upon the young Mage.

The younger man swallowed hard in an attempt to regain his composure, Manuka could feel the magic energy flowing around the Archmage and it was as vast as the Oceans, for a moment he wasn't entirely sure that he could stay conscious as his legs shuddered dangerously beneath him, it felt as though Manukas entire being was been enveloped and suffocated in Khadgars raw magic; and the older man was doing nothing but simply standing there! This man was beyond extraordinary and the young Mage found it extremely hard to believe that his assigned Mentor was actually human and not some arcane spirit.

Khadgar studied his initiate with a somewhat blank expression, the youngster didn't look any older than his mid twenties, he had a small, fragile looking frame, jade green eyes stared wide back at him, somewhat masked by tousled blonde hair and a thin scar that ran from the top of the boys head, down his left eye and finished just after his cheekbone. The Archmages eyes narrowed ever so slightly as he honed in on the young mans magic, seeing beyond sight and studied the wavering purply-blue tendrils of magical energy that weakly radiated off of the younger Mage.

His Aura was a better sight than some of the initiates magical signatures that he'd seen in passing, but not the best by a long shot. This boy would still need much training before he could be of any use to the War effort other than bait or cannon fodder. Khadgars jaw tensed at the thought of so many young and inexperienced mages being called forth to defend Azeroth in her desperate hour. He knew what horrors would be awaiting them, he knew that over a third of the initiated would be dead within the first three days on Draenor. And Grommash Hellscream did not take prisoners of war.

After a few agonising moments of silence the Archmage took a step forward and offered a gloved hand out to his young colleague,

"well met, Initiate"

Manuka glanced down at his new mentors hand before offering his own for a handshake, this was incredible, he was to help Khadgar? The Khadgar, in the efforts of the Iron Horde assault. The young Mage could barely comprehend his luck, he'd heard tales of the valiant warrior-Mage who fought along side Alliance and Horde alike, who's magic was so fine tuned, so powerful that he had even surpassed the great guardian, Medivh. But, despite living the life of a Kirin Tor, he had never actually met Khadgar up until now. To the young initiates, the Archmage was very much like the Kirin Tor equivalent of a unicorn or the tooth fairy, they were told he was real but never saw him to back the notion up, the majority of the running of the Kirin Tor was left to the echoes of Archmage Antonidas and others of similar status. The truth was that Manuka had idolized Khadgar for as long as he could remember, like all other initiates he had been plucked from his family from a young age when he was found to possess magic talent. He had read all of the tomes the Archmage had written, even if they were too complex for him to fathom, he had even attempted to cast one of Khadgars most famous spells, the Frost Nova, which had gone horrifically wrong and had almost cost him his life.

The Archmages grip on the young wards hand loosened as his crystalline gaze fell to the Kaldorei woman who had previously shown Manuka into the room,

"thank you again for your help, Ellande, it has been most appreciated." his voice was low but pleasant as it rumbled against the young wizards chest; the Night Elf smiled warmly and bowed her head
"think nothing of it, Archmage, it is always a pleasure to have you among us at the keep."

Her glowing eyes settled on Manuka, her smile remaining firm upon her cheeks.

"Ready to depart?"