"Luminous, dinner's ready!" Lania called.
"Coming." I responded. I walked towards the dining table. A fish stew and bread for dinner. Lania loves cooking. We catch fish by the river everyday with Penny, something enough for us to eat. It has been our daily routine.
I pulled the chair for her as she approached and took our cups from the kitchen.
"When will we be having beef again, Lania?" I took a seat and settled for dinner.
"If you come with me tomorrow to the farmer's then maybe we can have a steak!" Lania smiled… as always. What a happy-go-lucky gal.
"But…" she paused.
"Hm?"
"Don't you have to go out again tomorrow?" She asked.
"I can do that after we buy some beef. Is that alright with you?" I poured some stew in my bowl and took some bread.
"O-of course!"
All of us started eating. Penny has his own grilled fish prepared. He only knows how to eat grilled food. While eating, Lania asked about the story of Elves again. Being able to live with them a century ago, I told her the story about Mercedes, the Queen of Elves. She was really happy learning about history, about the Maple world. She was amazed how the Elves have created a special arrow called the Infinity Arrow but only Elves have the ability to equip them. It was one of their legacies including the Dual Bow Guns. It was such a rare sight to see a Queen ruling their nation back then. People used to doubt women if they could rule a nation or not since they thought that it would only be fitted for men. But the Empress Cygnus proved them wrong.
I continued telling her stories not only about the Elves but also about the Onyx Dragons and their King, called Freud. I told her that there was a dragon called Horntail in Leafre once. Everybody despised the Horntail except Freud. He loved dragons very much. In fact, Freud was even able to tame the monstrous dragon using Pam's song, a remarkable singer and instrumental maker in Leafre. He was really patient when it came to dragons and magic. One day, he found the chief of the Onyx Dragons called Freud. Let's say it was love at first sight. Onyx Dragons are defensive in nature and never did they trusted humans. But everything changed when Freud saw Afrien. They eventually made a spirit pact, the first ever in history.
"Another scum—I mean Hero— called Phantom…" I coughed. I should not speak ill of the dead.
"Scum?" Lania wondered. Sigh. I know he was my rival but I should maintain the "Rivalry Etiquette" made by the silly Phantom. I hate to admit it but I was one of the authors. Both of us wrote it.
Eventually, she fell asleep while listening to my stories. She must've been tired taking care of us and Penny the whole day. I carried her to her bed upstairs slowly and carefully so she wouldn't wake up. I went back in front of our furnace and sat on the chair. I started thinking about what happened in the past and couldn't stop. The war the Black Mage started… all nations in the Maple World united in order to save our loved ones. It's a pity that the war had to happen first before people decided to work together as one. I reached for the picture in my pocket as the flame gave light for me to clearly look at it. There were five of us in the photo. Me, Mercedes, Phantom, Freud and Aran. Maybe… just maybe… I would not have met them if not for the Black Mage.
I placed the picture back into my pocket and stood then went back to my room. I took the Shining Rod that Grendel the Old gave me.
"How…?" I asked the old man.
"Your name is Luminous, correct?" He asked in return. I did not know whether to be defensive or not due to the fact that this is my first time meeting him. I've become ignorant of this world after I have awaken.
"Yes."
"Some paleontologist gave it to me many years ago. They wanted me to study this peculiar wand they've never seen before. I visited the Grand Athenaeum to investigate. Fortunately, I was able to convince Thales the Librarian because of my good intention and told me about the story of the White Mage but only a part of it. I've grown so old and people call me the Wise Man of Ellinia yet until now I could not fully understand the magic behind the Light." He explained.
"The Magic of Light cannot be tamed by ordinary magicians." I replied. Aurora has kept the magic in secret the day it was created.
"Yes… but I was glad that my life long curiosity was satisfied: the Magic of Light indeed existed. Years have passed, I was able to cast one and only one Light magic: the Spectral Light yet I realized it's beyond my powers to use the Light. I was in a coma for weeks after I was successful to cast it. The Light is too powerful for a mere magician like me." I was speechless to what he has told me. Indeed, the Magic of Light exists and it will keep on living under my responsibility.
"I think it's time for me to give the Lightning Rod to its rightful owner." After listening to his story, he handed me the Shining Rod.
"Thank you, Grendel the Old."
"No… I should thank you, Luminous. Because of the Light I found peace. It guided me the path to where I am now and I hope that it will do the same to you." Indeed, the Magic of Light is beautiful. It has always become my guide to this path of life despite of the chaos and destruction.
"Old Man, that's quite impressive of you to cast a Light Magic without a Light Orb" I commented.
"I am pretty stubborn, you see." He replied.
We smiled at each other and bid our farewells.
"I hope this will not be our last meeting." I closed the library's door gently and watched the fairies fly between the huge trees of Ellinia.
I headed out to the backyard where the four training dummies were stationed. I made them two years ago and Lania wondered why I never even bothered trying training magic with it. Well, I just never thought of any way that I would use it. I couldn't use my Light Magic with an ordinary wand so the training dummies were rendered useless.
It was dark outside and the few fireflies left in the backyard didn't give enough light so I lit some candles. Then I placed the candle lamp on the ground that my left hand kept holding. "Magic of Light, huh...? I wonder... what it feels like to use the Light again." I thought.
I finally settled my stance, created a basic Light Orb, stretched my left hand and opened my palm wide behind my right hand that held the shining rod. I prepared myself to use the Magic of Light once again. While the mana started to gather into the center of my focus point (middle torso), some of the memories of my training began to flash in my thoughts.
A Light Magic skill is dispersed in nature. The Light does not choose where it wants to go. It cannot be entirely tamed. This is why orbs were created, Light Orbs serves as the vessel of the Light Magic that helps the user control the Light. Without a Light Orb, the skill will not have a specific direction. While Light Magic is powerful, it is enormously dangerous as well.
Another weaponry used in Light Magic is the Shining Rod. The Shining Rod has three parts: the body, the conversion orb, and the collector orb. The body can be made by common metals, and the orbs can be made by various types of igneous or metamorphic rocks but a special type of Magic Light must be cast upon the weapon in order for the orbs perform their given features such as converting mana into a Light magic.
When using a Shining Rod, the magician must hold the rod's body in the middle while the conversion orb faces the target. When channeling a mana to the rod, the orbs become extremely hot to handle for a few seconds. The temperature of the orbs depends on how much mana and power is used. But the masters have taught us that the safest position to hold is at the middle part of the rod. Next, the mana that is transferred to the rod then flows upward to the conversion orb. This orb then turns the mana into a magic skill.
An efficient and powerful Shining Rod must not convert a mana all at once. This is why the collector marble is a part of another unique feature of Shining Rods. The conversion orb preserves the mana without reducing the magic skill's damage. The preserved mana bounces back from the conversion orb, flows through the rod's body up to the collector orb. The preserved mana that was collected is now absorbed by the user. The Mana Cycle was one of the finest result of the Aurora research team and it helped Light magicians perform more magic than the ordinary magicians.
"And that's the lesson for today, children. Any questions?" Vieren turned his attention to us, realizing that most of his students are gone.
"WHERE DID THEY GO?!" Vieren shouted.
"Uhm… it's 10 minutes past the break time, teacher." Lucia replied.
Vieren became hysterical and went running out of the classroom afterwards, trying to find his other students. The only ones left in the classroom was me and Lucia.
"Let's go have some snacks, shall we? I'm hungry!" Lucia smiled as she approached me.
I smiled at her in return.
"I can feel it. This is nostalgic..." My body started to feel warmer than normal. Perhaps this is because I haven't really used my mana even after using that Magic Claw skill. And so I cast the finest skill of the Light Magic once again…
"REFLECTION!"
Yo! Quruli here. This was a fun chapter to write especially the last part where Luminous used his true skills again! Magic Claw is boring. Please don't forget to drop some reviews, they help a lot! Cheers