"We want you to help in the fight against Salem and help Ozma in his mission, in exchange we'll give magic back to the world, just like in your time, however, while still maintaining the limit of 9th level spell," said the god of light
"We wish to make you our new representative in the mortal world, like your master before you, and spread our new teachings," said the gods of light and darkness at the same times
"..." Maos stay silent
"you talked about Ozma and Salem ?" asks Maos
"Indeed, Salem is still walking the face of the world as an immortal witch, while my brother had the brilliant idea of resurrecting Ozma and making him reincarnate continuously as long as he doesn't achieve his mission," said the god of darkness
"I created 4 relics, which each represent an aspect of humanity, Creation, destruction, choice, and knowledge"
"Once the 4 relics are gathered, they will summon my brother and I to this world, and we will judge humanity one last time if humanity is united as we intended, we will make humanity whole again if not this world shall be destroyed forever"
Maos start thinking a bit about the whole situation, now he was calm and could the situation with pure logic...[wait...something's weird here]
"Why did you punish Salem the first time? ask Maos
"because she wanted to disrupt the balance my brother and I created by bringing Ozma back to life" explains the god of life
"but didn't you resurrect Ozma? didn't you break the balance yourself,?plus with a spell..it's possible to bring someone back to life….well only my master was strong enough to do and he refused to do it on Ozma".
« There are limitations and implications that you do not understand about resurrection,»said the god light
« Also, you both made Salem immortal, the balanced was broken at that moment..., bringing someone to life is breaking the balanced, but making someone unable to die does not? Also, my master was still immortal for a while…..so….the balanced wasn't a thing in the first place"
[also...I wonder what Ozma is like...I'm curious now...and Salem is still around too...just great…]
« punish Salem that way….wasn't really smart,» said Maos
"how dare you question the punishment we inflict on our creation ?" said the god of darkness
"I understand what you mean" the god of light
"However, this punishment was made to teach Salem a lesson"
"which she obviously didn't learn...after that she manipulated others and attack the both of you...and you both decide to erase all of humanity as a response, you punish a whole species because of one person, I really don't understand your concept of BALANCE, especially when it's not like the entire human race was attacking you, it was a thousand people at best," said Maos
"This is the punishment for daring to go against us," said the god of darkness
"the current human and the next do not correspond to the ideals we hoped for, this experiment was interesting the result is not what was expected," said the god of light
"Humans were created with the ability of choice of course we can't correspond to the ideal you hoped for! you made us like that! we have the choice to turn our back to the gods or reject them or simply ignore the whole concept of it"
"so...I refuse to help you, I refuse to spread the teaching of gods who wouldn't hesitate to ignore those teaching as they please," said Maos to the gods
Maos is pretty sure that the gods were choked by that answer, mostly because the 2 gods look at each other for an instance
"I read a few books about you two, some of the worship some of the blasphemy...and given what I conclude from reading both...you both are pretty arrogant"
Maos was confident the gods were actually there...he's in a godless world...there for the gods are simply using their power to talk to him, they can't actually have any real effect, they would punish him already, Maos always thought the gods were arrogant since the first book he read about...right now, he could actually tell them
"both of you have insane expectations for humans...expectation you don't even fulfill yourselves"
"How does your say that of your creator ?!" react the god of darkness, and the god of light seems to actually agree
"Both are known to always fight each other, the god of light bought Ozma back to life, and given your reaction earlier god of darkness, it wasn't a collective decision"
"you both are not united, and you expect your creation to be?"
"do you wish to be punished too ?!"react the god of light, for once he seem angry
"you could try...but you can't right ? after you both aren't really here right ?" said Maos
"I'm in a godless world you said it earlier, which means you two can't be actually here, you can't do anything to me"
"we mean need to come to your world to punish you!" said the god of darkness
"do it then," said Maos with a smug [either way I win because you would be back to this world]
and then there was a silence, the gods were staring at Maos
Maos start to rethink the situation and the whole mission of Ozma
[they gave him 4 relics...each relic must have powers...Ozma is supposed to unify humanity and then call the gods to this world with it]
[but the relics could be found by any person and would be able to call the god here right ? so the judgment may happen even before Ozma thing he achieves his mission]
[but didn't the gods simply teach Ozma a spell that would call them, he clearly should have the level required for it. why do they need the relics to come back ?]
Maos look at the silenced gods, the second Maos insults them and dares them to come to this world they stopped
"don't tell me...you're not coming to this world...not because you wish to wait for humanity to be better...but because you literally can't come back unless the 4 relics are gathered ?"
Maos saw the god of darkness move a bit, the young sorcerer knew he hit the right spot
"and that's you want to help Ozma !, you want to come back to this world! but you can't come by yourself...I wonder why.."
"This is none of your affair mortals!" said the gods of darkness
"it is because of the spell of your master" explains the god of lights
the god show with his power the last wish of Osiris
"I wish, that Maos will be sent to a place where the gods can no longer rule nor walk among mortals"
"the gods can no longer rule nor walk among mortals"
"it means?!"react Maos
"my master didn't make a world without gods...but a world where gods can't rule nor have a physical form...and the moment you left, you both lost your influence on this world !"
Maos suddenly figured everything out as look at the god of light
"you created the relics with the last bit of the influence you had and cursed Ozma...the relics contain divine power, your divine powers...which mean that if they are gathered they will give you enough power to take back your original influence and cancel my master's spell"
maos suddenly had a smile
"so I guess you two are actually coming to this world right now...it's just that you realized that you can't do anything which is why you come to me"
"if you don't summon us, magic will never come back to your world," said darkness
"you shall be punished when we will be summoned regardless of humanity's judgment," said the god of light
"magic will come back to humanity even without you," said Maos as he clench the staff of Osiris
[master gave me the book of magic and his staff for a reason]
"and how do you intend to achieve that ?" asks the god of darkness, Maos could feel a smile on the god's face
"simple... I'll make a wish after all if a wish can affect the gods themselves or even erased the concept of death..it should easily bring back magic"
"you will never reach such a level, "said the god of darkness with a sudden scary tone
"reaching a level higher than Osiris, this was my master's death wish, I have no reason to object to it after he was someone who followed his own teaching," said Maos
« you sound like him! maybe your soul should be destroyed too »!scream the god of darkness
« well, Osiris is the man who raise me,» said Maos as he smile the exact same way Osiris used to
the god of light made a hand gesture to his brother to stop him
the god of light silence since earlier meant he was thinking
Mos saw the bother looking at each other for a second, they seem to agree on something
after a second the older brother starts to speak
"you are right about everything, Humans were born with the right to choose and as such, you choose to refuse our proposition"
Maos felt himself fading away from « this place »
"huh ?" react Maos as he sees that his hands are now transparent
the god of light and the god of darkness didn't hear since they did not react
"you are about to awaken, however, do not think this is our last conversation," said the god of light
"We will watch you, my brother and I will follow each of your movements," said the god of darkness
"what do you mean ?" react Maos as his vision faded away
Maos open his eyes fully knowing he refuses the propositions of the gods themselves
he felt like he was sleeping for hundreds of years and could barely move his body, but he manage to get up
he looks around, but he could not see anything
Maos -[why is it so dark ?]
[light]
Maos create light on his staff, well...Osiris's staff allows him to see, the light was boosted by the staff so that it would the entire cave
he was in a giant cave, the roof was at least 40m above him
"I'm in a cave ?!"
all Maos could see was the roof of a giant cave, he did realize the floor seem man-made, he even recognise it, he could a whole great street in front of him and mostly he saw Ozma's statue
"It's the same place I was ...I'm at the academy entrance...at least what used to be it, the structure of the academy was made with magic as a result, they would not be destroyed by time so easily...
[why am I underground ?]
[something must have happened during my "sleep"….wait the gods said billions of years have passed….which means the general geography of the world has changed….]
[after such a long time..I should not expect to see familiar structure ]
Maos saw his staff on the ground, his old staff, the light was reflecting on the top of it
"oh, my staff, my actual staff...what's left of it anyways"
the wooden was nothing but a piece of wood now, as Moas didn't channel his magic through it for a long time, magic can resist the passage of time but only if it's wielded by someone who can charge it with mana; the staff of Osiris was still fresh and fully charge
[i should take it, I may be able to fix it in time]
Moas grab the staff and put it on his back
the staff of a magician isn't really necessary for casting, while it is still for casting, spells can be cast without it, but the staff could be charged with magic and be used as a battery of mana. allowing a magician to perform more spells or simply increasing the power of the spells.
the quality of the staff was the factor determining the number of charges one can store in it, once staff is charged anyone can use it even someone with no knowledge of magic can activate the staff and achieve some magical effect, until of course the staff gets recharge
Maos possess another magical item, which is a ring of clothing, which allows changing instantly to new clothes, it helps when you are too lazy to wake up at the right time and are late for class
Moas suddenly toward the rest of the academy
[wait what about the library ?! most spellbooks are magical protections on them to avoid being destroyed by time]
Maos rushed toward the library
after turning in a corridor, he finds the library
no books to be found, nothing
"what happen here ?!"
, everything seems to be gone and destroy, there was nothing
"Why ?!"
[did the gods destroy the library as well?! or did something else happened ?]
maos spent literal hours searching in the academy, using the spell light to see
in the end….he found nothing, the academy was empty, no books, no ingredients, no weapon no staff was left
Maos grab his old staff
[why was that one not destroyed?]
he then remembered that he was in a cave,he need to find a way out
[i need to find a way…..everything is gone anyways….]
Maos was currently unable to truly feel the emotion such as sadness or loneliness as his survival instinct was taking over
he slowly walked toward the entrance of the academy
Maos found himself pretty calm, the academy was mostly untouched but the whole city that used to be around it is gone, reduce to atoms
He look in sadness at what use to be his home
he takes a deep breath and touches his face a bit to motivate himself
« come on Maos, you have to get out here »
when he passed at the entrance
[where should i go...i don't have anywhere to go ?.. i should find human civilization first..at least a village]
Maos's eyes end up on the status of Ozma was barely damaged by the time
[apparently, you were re-incarnated…..so you must be around in the world...i guess I'll have to meet you at some point...Salem too...]
Maos finally took a step outside of the academy
[i need to find a way out]
maos start exploring the cave...for 3 hours
[i swear this place in gigantic….]
[wait.. i have an idea]
« book of magic »said Maos as a book appeared in his hand*
[yes,i still have it!]
« Is there something that can help me find a way out? »
the page of the book kept turning and turning until they stop, on a spell, the spell [find familiar], this spell allow someone to someone a small animal,a cat for example...or a bat
Maos look at the page [please tell me there's a ritual for it as an alternative]
Maos find a part that describes how to cast the spell as a ritual
[yes!]
this was convenient, as a ritual can be performed by anybody with a minimum knowledge (however it depend on the ritual, certain ritual need a deep understanding of magic), however, a ritual did require ingredients to be done
, while a spell, must be learned, which can take in general some days or sometimes months depending on the spell
Maos look a the ingredients needed, he didn't need anything but…..a part of the animal he needed to summon
Maos look into his several pouches around his waist
[please tell me I have at least something!]
in the end, he found nothing
[dammit...i knew it, I should have bought some ingredients at the local shop…..]
Moas sighed
« well….the ritual is not gonna happen»
« no...it could take a long time to learn this spell »
« just how long it would take ? » said Maos outloud
the book suddenly turns to another,showing a list of spells, of level 0 and level 1 spell
with each associate with a timer
« that the time it would take to learn those spells? »asks Maos
the general time to learn a level 0 was around 3 hours and almost 10 hours for a spell of level 1
Maos look at the time and almost falls backward in shock
[hat's so fucking short?!]
[it's like a record…a regular magician or sorcerer would take at least 2 days to learn a level 0]
« How is that possible? »
the book's page changes again to a blank page, and then writing appears on it
/you already possess all the basis/
« huh ? »
then Maos realized...the reason why his master never taught him more spells….Maos have been learning the basics of every type of magic, his general knowledge of every concept of magic is great compared to other people his age, allowing him to learn spell quickly,
his control over wild magic was still lacking, but not his knowledge on refined magic (spell)
[ is that why Osiris didn't teach me more spells...because he knew that when I actually started learning more spells...I would learn crazy fast?]
Maos was in shock for a few second
[however….10 hours is too long, I need to get out of here]
Moas felt tired just by thinking of how long it would take for him to find the exit
« let's go then, it's not like people are looking for me anyway »
the book of magic disappears as maos start walking
Maos start walking and walking for at least an hour, he was sure of it, however, his perception of time wasn't really the best right, given the cave,
he kept searching and searching, and then...he starts hearing a noise...like water
« huh ? Water ? »
Maos run toward it and found himself in a room with a lake in the middle and a small waterfall at the top...and from the top, he sees sunlight
« yes ! » screamed maos with a giant smile on his face
[sunlight!]
Maos run toward the lake and look at the water
he start to drink a bit
[damn, this feels so good after walking so much...]
and after he look around...to see no actual exist..the cave was ending here, without an actual way to leave
« damn it ! »said Maos as a magic surge occurs again,his eyes start glowing red and then blue
this time a different occurs, a wave of energy suddenly burst from Maos,
and the whole lake was frozen
«I mean…..could have been worse »
author's note:wild magic will be explained later but know that it's linked to emotion, emotion cause loss of control of wild magic and wild magic cause emotion to be stronger (people with wild magic are more emotional compared to most people,)
Maos look at the sunlight
« how do i do now…. »
he then look at the frozen water, which was very solid
and then at the waterfall, which was still liquid water
Maos start walking on the frozen lake and approach the water
[right ! That could work!]
Maos raise his toward the waterfall
[shape water]
one of the 4 level 0 he knew,, which allows someone to control the shape and state of water
the water suddenly took the shape of a ladder
[now….freese]
the ladder made of liquid turned into a ladder made out of ice
« this may actually work...let's just hope it doesn't break »
Maos start climbing the ladder he made
he was slow, but he manage to climb the ladder
he was now above,he hand reached toward the sky as he finally reach the surface
he eyes took a bit of time to adjust to sunlight since he's been using the spell [light]
he took a deep breath as he let himself fall to the ground and touch the grass
« thanks the gods,grass !...green grass, not rock ! »
after a few second, he gets up watch around
he found himself in a forest, near a river
« i made it »
« fuck... I made it…. »
Maos was suddenly hit by a lot of different emotion
his survival instinct stopped, he was now in a situation where he could rest for a minute, thinking about everything that just happened
and everything hit all at once, he survived
sadness, confusion, anger, loneliness all of those emotions his instinct has been repressing for the sake of surviving
« i survive...i survived.. »
« b-but I'm the only one.. »
tear that flowing from Maos's eyes, he was almost screaming
he remember his classmate,Osiris,the teacher, the shopkeeper, the kids in the street spying on him hopping to learn a spell
"fuuuuck" Maos went through a magic source as mana was flowing out of his body, a series of 4 types of energy are going wild around him and making a powerful aura, and anyone (other than a skilled mage or strong fighter) in a 9m radius around him would be dead by the sheer power of his magic as a*waves of magical energy were bursting from him, freezing the flower and burning the tree, covering a really big area (about 200 m), constant and powerful wind, several clouds were getting closer and seem to generate a storm as some lightning start striking the tree
the mana (magical energy) could be seen like some kind of gaz,
Maos suddenly became bigger as magic change his size, his size increased by 2 times
[i must keep control]
Maos clench his fist, close his eyes and concentrate as he remembers the teaching of Osiris
he joins his hand for a few seconds, closed his eyes and that's breathing slowly while maintaining a constant concentration on his wild magic
[control yourself and calm down,4 primal types of magic,6 sub-elements]
the 4 energy stop going wild and were slowly reducing and now concentrating in a spiral in Mao's hand, after few a seconds, every wild magic in the air was gone
Maos separate his hand and reveal 4 balls of pure energy each a different type now floating above his hands and 6 forms of energy flying around it
as he separate his hand,a huge wave of magic occurred, it was the biggest he had ever in his entire life so, it could be the naked eye as it bears magical energy a huge gust of wind that would travel to an insane distance...even reaching the city of mistral or disturbing The Cross Continental Transmit System, this wasn't going to go unnoticed
Moas also goes back to his normal size [I hope nobody noticed that]
after a few seconds, every energy all slowly fade away as Maos had regain every sense of himself
he slowly breathes as he looks at the light around him
[my magic is fully there...if only I could use more spells, using wild magic like that is a bad idea for me]
in this world, there is 2 way known by Maos for someone to use magic,
the first one is Through spells, using your mana and making a specific effect with it.
the other way is simply by using magic in its most wild form(like Salem or the maidens), the user simply uses his mana to accomplish the effect he wants, however wild magic is harder to control and sometimes weaker than refined magic (using spell) and can be limited by the user way of thinking and also the effect of wild magic is less versatile as wild magic usually stops at controlling the elements, however, it's not always the case
most people born with a great affinity to magic like Maos or Salem (who are both sorcerers) mostly use wild magic by instinct and don't usually need to learn spells and their power is based on their emotions, while some people with less affinity learn magic through study and training like Osiris and Ozma (who are magicians), those who use and learn magic through spell often cannot simply use wild magic and even if they can they often don't use it as it's more efficient to use spells for them
author's note: in the ancient world, everyone is born with magic, but not everyone can use it by default, most people had to learn it
however, Maos is a special case as despite being born with a great affinity for magic, he still knows a few spells at least somewhat, because he lacks control of his magic, and his wild magic is still instinctive to him even though he has learned a few spells, however, that's doesn't mean he can easily control his wild magic as he would want to, so he rather uses the magic he can fully control
Osiris always told him not to use wild magic unless he was sure at 100% that he could control it
Maos was raised by Osiris since he was 6, he's been doing nothing but reading books about magic, and Grimm and even the gods, the planes of existence even without the book of magic, Maos is a library of magical knowledge and he's a pretty smart guy, however, he still has some limits, he learns alchemy, and enchanting, and he was even taught how to fight and survive in nature. however, apart from 4 level 0 spells, Osiris never taught any more spells to Maos, even if Maos know the basis for many spells, he only managed to truly master 2 spell
Moas had to go through a certain training to be able to even wield any kind of magic without blowing up the whole room the second he would lose concentration.
the people who use wild magic are often more emotional, as wild magic seems to greatly affect emotion, the other way around is also true, Maos was trained and raised in order to learn to control his emotion and to use logic to analyze his emotion in order to fix them, he can stay calm in general and he knows how to calm himself, however, he's still human, at some point he can just snap and it can go pretty bad for the people around him
the magic around Maos slowly disappears as he controls it
he kept on breathing slowly so stay calm
[come on Maos think!]
[stay calm and control it!]
after a full 5 minutes, the breathing became normal, he rub his eyes as he actually cry, but now he was calm and he now could access the situation with logic
[I can mostly control my sudden anger and confusion, traumatism is another level, but given my current state, unless there is an external factor, I should be able to stay calm]
«I will have to deal with the traumatism later ...maybe use magic to simply erase them »
the book of magic suddenly appears and show a page with a ritual that allows someone to forget about certain things, however, the ritual required 2 peoples and required ingredient hard to find
author's: a spell can be done as a ritual, but a ritual isn't always an actual spell
[no….that would to risky...I guess i will have to cope like a regular person]
Maos look at the destroy environment around him
[i should leave, I don't want to attract grimms]
[i should search for a village or something,i can't see much in the dense forest]
Maos suddenly remember the ritual for [find familiar]
[i just need the part of the animal….i should be able to find a bird or something in this forest]
Maos start walking away from the area he destroyed, he walks for 20 minutes and end up on a road
« a road! That awesome! »
Maos look at the road,it seem to be frequently used and mostly,there were fewer trees,he now know that the whole region was surrounded and composed of mountain
[if i follow the road I should find at least a village]
[given the trace left by vehicles...maybe a carriage..this road is extremely frequented...maybe i should wait here...i need to rest after all]
and so,he decide he'll rest first for a while and if nothing happen he will start following the road
[i will hunt for a bird while on the road
Maos sit on a nearby rock tall enough to be a chair to rest a tiny bit, but he did pick 2 apples before seating and starts eating them
« Well, let's see...i may as well check the book of magic »
the book suddenly appear in front of him
« what can you tell..about me? »
the book moves and turns the page, only once and shows a page with Moas's name written on top of it
a series of information was every spell Maos knew for now
level 0 : [shape water], [light] , [ray of frost] , [prestidigitation]
level 1 : [magic missile] , [mage armor]
wild magic control: level 0 (meaning he can only control the equivalent of a level 0 spell in terms of power)
current spell casting level: 1 (meaning he can only cast spell up to level 1 for now)
[thinking of that...I'm in the middle of nowhere,in an unknown world...just in case]
[mage armor]
mage armor was a spell that gave great resistance,one could easily take a couple of sword slash if not more without any injuries
a strange forcefield appeared all around Maos's body, it had the shape of armor, and it soon became invisible after that
« show me which spell i can learn »
the page of the book turns again
every level 1 spell would take at least 10 hour to learn
[that's too long]
« let's see for a level 0 »
most of them took to 2 to 3 hours to learn
« heh ? »maos stop on the spell [firebolt]
[ 1 hour only? ….it because since i know ray of frost already?]
[ray of frost and firebolt are essentially the same spell, but the element is fire this time]
« well...let's learn that ! »
the book suddenly closes and disappears,
Maos suddenly knew anything there is to know about the spell
[so that's why the learning time is so short….you don't need to spend time learning every incantation and the history of the spell...you just go straight into practice ]
[it's kinda taking the fun out….I like reading things and taking my time….i wonder if I can directly read the book….but right now I'm not in a good situation to read for 5 hours straight]
and so Maos start practicing magic while still waiting on the road
he practiced for 30 minutes
at some point he hears a noise...a growling noise,he easily recognizes that type of noise
« Grimm »
[i must have attracted him with my magic….no there are several of them]
[3 beowolf]
a Beowulf coming from the forest suddenly charges at Maos who so him coming
Maos take Osiris's staff in his left hand, he hands his empty hand and aim at the first Grimm
author's note:[by just to be sure...the staff is long,it's not a cane like Ozpin, it's closer to monk staff,the top of the staff is around the head]
« firebolt »
nothing happened
« damn it »
[i had to try!]
[ray of frost]
A frigid beam of blue-white light coming from Maos's right hand hit the Grimm and directly goes in and out
the Grimm dies in an instant with a hole going from his shoulder to his back legs, the entire of inside touch by the beam was frozen.
However, the Grimm was not alone as other Grimm were closing in, and they're too fast for Maos to cast another ray of frost
Maos charged at the grims with the staff of Osiris as his weapon, knowing his mage armor would protect him
the grim was about to jump on him
maos start to accelerate his run and when at close range,it turns on itself to gain momentum and hit the Grimm in the jaw, using wild magic to enhance the hit and creating a gust of wind, the grim flew 6 meters away as his head was destroyed
the other Beowulf try to hit Maos in the back,but the young didn't even flinch as his magical armor protects him
the beowolf tried a second attack,but Maos dodge it while spinning on himself to face the Grimm
Maos use the momentum of the spin to avoid another attack by jumping above the Grimm's head,spin his staff in the air and then hit the grim head, another shock wave occurs at the top of the staff hit, shattering part of the ground as the body of the grimm is crush immediately by gravity itelf
Maos lands and put the staff on his back
« well, that's done..thanks for the staff fighting training Osiris »
Maos was taught how to defend himself using wild magic, since it was more instinctive to him, however, to control it better,Maos can use a staff to channel his wild magic to make a different effect,the wild magic also enhances his body as he wish to, in general, making him stronger and faster than a regular human when using it like, he could use to a higher level, but he could lose control of it
which is why maos was taught how to fight with a staff, but he can fight can bared hand pretty well,and still inflit the same kind of damage, it's just harder for him to control so he avoids it, but he can still easily do it
he looks at the decomposing grim around him,the corpse disappears in less than 2 seconds
« well,in this world,Grims are still a thing that for sure…. »
after that,he went back to practice firebold, and after a bit more than 40 minutes
[firebold]
a flamme come from Maos's hand and go straigh like a bullet on a tree, going through it
Maos clench his fist in the air
« i did it ! »
Maos did the spell several times to make he mastered it, that it was not just luck
and at some point
Maos heard a horse coming
he suddenly had star in his eyes
« people finally! »
maos never thought he would actually say that one day...because he was really not an extrovert, not many people use to talk to him because he was constantly reading books or doing other things like learning alchemy, and he really doesn't mind being alone, give him a book and he can stay reading it for 10 hours straight, in the end, talking to people actually required him a certain effort, unless he's close to those people like he was with Osiris (maos did have one or two people other than Osiris that he could openly talk to, however, it's not like he was really friend with them)and they are kinda dead now