Chapter 5: Learning

"Magic has been around for centuries since the dawn of the dragons. All of them came from the so-called The One Magic, which is the predecessor of all types of magic. Magic is the physical embodiment of the spirit. When the physical being of an organism connects with the spiritual flow of nature, the spirit forms Magic as a product of the connection. Only ten percent of the world's population is able to use Magic, which is noted to keep a balance between ordinary people and those with Magic", Zeus read aloud.

He was in the largest country in the continent of Ishgar, the Pergrande Kingdom. Zeus recalled how he swam for miles, sleeping, eating and swimming under the ocean until he reached the country. When he first arrived, he didn't know how to turn back to his original form. He was fortunate enough that a kindly mage who passed by instructed him on how to return to normal. When he was able to stand on his two feet again, the mage pointed out a library where he can read information. The kindly mage also gave him some money, at least 700 Xoia, the currency of the country to buy off his own food and clothes. He was so thankful at this that he nearly wept in the man's generosity.

He scoured the city. Everyone wore pleasant smiles on their faces. He found out that Pergrande's capital city is Vorlam, the home of the royal families. There were lots of mages and there are also guilds which one can join. Searching the memories of the god, he "remembered" that a mage needs to join a guild in order to have money by accepting some jobs. For now, he doesn't consider himself a mage, just a wanderer. Despite his status as the second incarnation of the god of life and death, he laughed at this notion, seeing how weak he was. Not all the time he's going to rely on the generosity of the people. He also needs to prove himself, and prove to Acnologia that he can live without the man's protection. Zeus strolled casually across Vorlam, checking the stores what clothes he would like. He saw a particular store selling the clothes appealing to his eye, yet the price of the clothes were 2,000 Xoia.

"Please, I only have 577 Xoia in me. Just this once, I really need clothes", Zeus pleaded.

"Young man, how many times do I need to tell you that I don't give this for free", the old man said scratching his head.

"Then, I'll do anything just to have those clothes. I'm not even a member of a guild, I'm no mage, just this once". Zeus knelt as if he was worshipping a god.

The old man sighed and replied, "Well, take this. Just this once…When you come back here and beg for clothes, I'll kick you off".

"Thank you, thank you".

Zeus took good care of his new attire. He was wearing a buttoned, black long sleeved tailcoat with gold trimming and silver cuffs. The trimming goes down the right side of his torso and forms a black collar. He wears silver colored pants with curvy lines around it ends and black leather shoes to compensate it. The attire that the old man had given him had black earrings and he decided to wear it, piercing his own ear which didn't take that long. He also sports a golden ring on his left middle finger with a red diamond gem on top. One would mistake him as a son of a noble, and Zeus was thankful for the generosity of the inhabitants of the Pergrande Kingdom.

Back to the present, Zeus was learning all he can about magic. He started with the history of magic, on how it came to be. Next, he learnt that a Mage must use the Magic Power in their body, which is the source of power for all mages, which is composed of Ethernano. Piles of books are on top of each other as he learned. Zeus can't count his luck enough for that day. The previous days were filled with dread after he left Acnologia, now he was in good mood. The side effects of his magic had now worn off, except his appearance, which is still remarkably similar to Acnologia. It was the third day of his work as a librarian after some friendly locals recruited him to be one. He took this as an opportunity to learn more about magic. The locals were peaceful. He couldn't feel disturbances from the air, nor any malicious intent in this town. It may seem abnormal but Zeus loved his job.

'I couldn't even find a magic that matches my own. Let's see. The only thing that matches is Take Over, but there are no side effects, not even death. So, what is my magic?'

He scratched his head furiously as he began to ponder any information.

"Take Over: Satan Soul, Take Over: Beast Soul, Take Over: Angel Soul… lots of it. If mine is a nature of take over, what is its branch?" He banged his head on the table as he couldn't find the answer to his question.

"Sir, I would like to borrow this book". A voice interrupted him and he looked up.

"Let me see that book". Zeus inspected the book as he read it. 'Creating a Demon'.

"Books here are truly interesting. Even detailed explanations of creating a demon are allowed. I thought it was a taboo", Zeus said.

"Creating a demon is not a taboo. I suppose you're new here", the borrower replied.

"Yeah, I am. I even found some strange books here. Samples are Creating a Homunculi, Summoning a God or Becoming a Vampire. It's extremely peculiar".

The borrower smiled at this as Zeus handed the book back to the borrower. "Just sign your name there and return it after a week. Overdue will cost 8 Xoia per day".

"I know, I know. Where are you from?", the borrower inquired.

"Nowhere. Just a wanderer. Long story".

The borrower then put his finger on his chin. "Hmmm….Let me tell ya about Pergrande. The Pergrande Kingdom has existed for centuries, and it's the largest country here in the Eastern Continent. All races are welcomed here, regardless of who they are, provided they are of peaceful nature and not the warrior type. Our kingdom dislikes war".

"I even noticed that everywhere is so peaceful", says Zeus as he began to clear his desk of books he piled up earlier.

"Exactly. 400 years ago, there are endless wars here. Humans seeking to dominate the country, dragons eating humans. Sure you've already heard of the Dragon King Festival, it's a nasty one".

"Never heard of it". Zeus just smiled sheepishly at the borrower. "Wait, Dragon King Festival…Dragon King…Acnologia…"

"Yeah, yeah that's it", the borrower sighed in relief.

"But I don't know the details about it", Zeus added as the borrower sweat dropped.

"You need to read about the Dragon Historia".

"Someone borrowed it". Zeus then pointed out towards an empty space in a shelf.

"Very well. 400 years ago, dragons roam the lands as rulers and humans were a food source to them. It's different here in the Eastern continent as dragons coexist peacefully with the humans. I'll cut some of the details. With the war between the dragons that are against coexisting with the humans and with the ones supporting it, the dragons that are supporting peace between humans began to teach dragon slayer magic to humans to murder the evil dragons. Due to the magic of the dragon is too much for a human, some of them became corrupted of their power. One notable sample is Acnologia. He bathed in the countless blood of the dragons, slaughtering whether they be comrade and foe. Overtime, his physic became that of the dragons and he roamed Earthland as the fearsome Dragon King. This event would be forever etched into history as the Dragon King Festival, where neither side won and the sole victor is Acnologia alone, with all the dragons dead".

Zeus clenched his fists in this. "It's truly sad to think, that all dragons are gone. Not even a single one is spared".

The borrower then laughed. "It's a miracle you even entered Pergrande Kingdom. This is not easy to access for outsiders".

"I wonder". Zeus's head was flying in a daze when a sentence from the borrower caught his attention.

"Dragons are not yet dead. Not here in Pergrande".

"What did you say?"

"I said…dragons here in Pergrande Kingdom are not yet dead".

"Didn't you say that Acnologia slayed all the dragons? Obviously there are no dragons left, which means they're already extinct".

"Didn't it come to your mind that some dragons are neutral? Some dragons were not at both sides, didn't participate in the civil war, and instead hid".

Zeus gasped at this.

"There are a lot of dragons in Pergrande. After the Civil war and Acnologia left the scene, 23 remaining dragons left some of the lands of the Eastern and Western Continent and banded together to go into a land where Acnologia would not find them, which is the Pergrande Kingdom. These dragons made a pact with the king that in exchange of safety, the dragons would teach any magic that they'd know. The dragons, fearing the ability of dragon slaying magic, opted instead for an alternative which they called Take Over: Dragon Soul. This case, humans won't be corrupted and once a human would try to kill the dragon, the respective dragon could withdraw the pact they made with that human, leaving them unable to use Dragon Soul. In the case of that Take Over, the dragon is not defeated. The mage makes a contract with a dragon to let him use the dragon's magic and body but the mage must undergo a series of tests to prove themselves worthy of the ordeal before they'd be allowed to utilize the magic. Lots of explanation, lots of tests".

Zeus's face illuminated with joy. "Hey, where I can see the dragons?"

"Dragons are all around the city. You just need to find them".

"Haven't even found a single one", Zeus said in annoyance.

"They transform into humans to prevent Acnologia from finding them. The mages of Pergrande banded together to put together an extremely strong enchantment that would prevent outsiders from accessing this place. This is also a way to protect them. To successfully enter Pergrande you need to be clean of heart and soul. If you don't possess these qualities, you can't enter, no matter how hard you do".

"You explained earlier that all races are welcome. You don't mean demons are also roaming around".

"They do". Zeus's eyes widened in surprise as he exclaimed, "WHAAAAAT?"

The borrower once again laughed then said, "As I said earlier, all races are welcome. Not all demons are evil. I also forgot to mention that the some of the 23 dragons mated and the dragons once again became prevalent here. There are a lot, about several thousand. Also, every time a mage commits murder for his own delight and without a valid reason, the king sacrifices that mage. They use the mage's own life force to resurrect a dragon. That's another reason dragons multiplied and became common".

"I see. I wanna see some of them. Maybe some of the humans married one of the dragons in human form".

"They did".

Zeus's mouth hung open in disbelief. "This place is truly weird...By the way, with the sets of forbidden magic littered around; won't someone or any governing body incinerate you?"

The borrower grinned, "We are outside of the jurisdiction of the magic council. Not even they know of the dragons living here. We are free to do as what we please as long as it's for good purposes".

"I just can't imagine a dragon in human form having a child with a human".

"Unbelievable but it's a fact. Children of such unions are called the Dragonborn. As I've told you earlier, with races marrying with each other they produce new species of races. That didn't matter. As long as everyone is in peace, that's enough. There are still humans so don't worry. Humans even marry demons, even the created ones. You're an interesting individual but I need to go now."

"Wait…", Zeus trailed off.

"Do you have any more questions? I have an errand to do".

"Actually…do you know any magic that if overused allows you to die? You see…I have this type of magic. Someone froze me then I absorbed his ice, my innards became frozen. When I tried to absorb a fish, my limbs became a tail. Then, I took on the appearance of my companion and I never returned to my original form. I also see the memories of the individual who I use my magic on. I suspect it's a form of take over but I scurried the books for information of the kind, haven't seen any. I wonder what this is".

The borrower's eye widened. "I think it only exists in myths. I would never expect it's real".

Zeus remembered Acnologia about it. "Why is it a myth you say?"

"I don't know what type of take over that is but it allows one to take over any entity they want. Most die from it. It's even considered as the first known take over before it branched into several subcategories like Satan Soul, Devil Soul and many others. It's even considered as the progenitor of the take over magic as it allows one to take over any entity they want, but with no limits. There are drawbacks and the ones you told me are one of those. From what I know, users of such take over constantly change forms against their control. They lose their original form completely and the more they take over several entities, the more their bodies become unstable. A human body can only handle a single entity, not several".

"I see…So that it means imminent death", Zeus replied in a monotone voice.

"I believe you can control it. I sense great potential in you. Despite of those side effects, I know that you're going to be successful in whatever you do", the borrower then smiled. "I'm Dusan Cyneley. Pleasure to meet you…uh".

"Zeus. Just Zeus". He then smiled.

"No last name?"

Zeus then nodded. "Use my last name instead. Zeus Cyneley. Perfect".

"But…I don't understand. We just met, you let me use your last name".

"Never mind. I have to go now. You are in Pergrande Kingdom. Having one name is lonely. Having two makes you at least have a family. See you". With that, the borrower disappeared.

"Zeus Cyneley", Zeus muttered. "Doesn't sound bad".

It has been a long day, and he decided to rest for a meantime.