the young sorcerer

by kraffsole

Maos, a young sorcerer who didn't even finish his training because of the end of the world (caused by Salem when she was punished by the gods ), survived thanks to his mentor a powerful wizard, now Moas is lost in this new world that is a remnant, thankfully, he still has his magic and the book of magic to achieve his training. (ship may come later in the story]

15. Chapter 14: magic and alcohol

WARNING: This chapter is really long

also don't hesitate if you feel like it, to send a private message or review the story on how I could improve or even just point out some critical flaws here and there (I see it as the best way to improve my writing and thus the story)

---

In the street in the city of vale, it's, now 6 pm, the sun is slowly getting down, and a blackbird is flying between the building and lets itself glide on a small and dark alley, before reaching the ground, the bird gets engulfed in black smoke which seems to come out of its body and transform into a young man, it's Maos

he grabs his scroll and message Qrow /sorry, you'll have to wait a bit I have to do something first, where are you at? so I can meet you there after I'm done/

/I'm buying some dust,I need to refill,I also need to buy a few materials to fix my weapon, it will also take a bit of time, see you at junior's place in 20 minutes, think you can make it ?/responds Qrow

/pretty sure yeah, see you there/finally sent Maos

the young sorcerer put his scroll back in his pocket, he then come out of the alley, he is right next to the nightclub, he just wanted to make sure that Qrow wouldn't see him talking to Junior directly

the student walks toward the entrance, a security guard in front of it, Maos casually go to enter "hi Oleg" as he walks past the guard," hi Maos, Juniors is waiting in the storage room", Maos enter the room "got it"

he arrives and looks around...a lot of things seem new...like replaced even, several workers are preparing the club for tonight, cleaning the place and stuff

"What happened to this place? the club was attacked again ?" said Maos out loud

"a crazy blond attack the club," said a feminine approaching Maos, he turn around to see a teenage girl with long black hair with a straight fringe that covers her eyebrows and pale green eyes, highlighted by heavy cyan makeup. She wears an off-white, strapless dress that graduates to a cyan towards the skirt, it has a cyan layered feathery tulle that hangs longer than the dress and a small bow in the top center part of the dress.

"hi, Melanie," said the sorcerer, the girl seem impatient and start walking along Maos" yeah, hi, you're finally here, Juniors is waiting in the back", they both start walking toward the back of the club, going all the way

Maos look around "where is Militia?"

"she's still changing, due to the crazy blond, she got hurt pretty bad, and during recovery, she couldn't exercise and she gain a tiny bit of weight, so we had to change her dress"

"the whole dress ?...is it that bad ?" react Maos as his head fully turn to Melanie, the girl put her hand on her waist," this a tailor-made dress, even a slight change of weight can become troublesome, till Militia get back to her usual body shape, she just had to wear the new one, also don't point out the difference to her, she may take it badly"

"got it" said Maos

they arrive in front of the door to the storage room," junior's inside, I'll be near the bar if you need something", that she leaves and Maos enter the room

juniors is standing near several giant barrels, each one of 500 L had an alcohol name written on it, wine, vodka, whisky, and so on, when the barrel is full the club is pretty much ready for 1 month or 3 weeks, depending on the event in the city.

"Hey, I'm here, all the barrels are full of water ?" said Maos

"thanks the go-" started Juniors, Maos stopped walking and stare at Junior, and the man stopped his sentences "thankfully, you're here! where were you ?"

"tough mission" explains Maos the sorcerer stretching a bit, "ready the money, I'll get to it, should take about 10 minutes"on that Juniors leaves the room "I'll be back in 10 minutes"

Maos go near the barrels, he concentrates

[if I cast it on level 5, it should be faster]

"Time to [enhance water]"

he then repeatedly cast the same spell over and over on the barrels

after 10 minutes, Maos lean on a barrel, he looks at his scroll..and his bank account...the one he made himself, he suddenly receives an important amount of money as Junios walk into the room

he has about a lot of money..for someone his age, he probably could afford a nice house and live in it for several months without struggling with money, sadly, he is still way too poor to even begin to imagine buying a single 1kg diamond

"Seriously...why do even use that money for ?" asks Juniors," experiment and training, live subject cost a lot," said Maos

"you do experiments on humans?!" react Juniors, the man backed down for a second 'i know you can be cold with people you don't like but damn"

"huh ? no!, I'm using any animal, like a pet, you know, cat, dog, rat, things like that"

"still mess up...just less, you're crazy," said Junior

[it's kinda sad, I have to train and test some spell on animals like that...but it's better than testing on myself or people]thought Maos

"you are a gangster who owns a club that deals drugs all over the kingdom! I know at least some people died because of it and you lose a few men every year" said Maos as he stand up properly

"Anyway,I have to drink with a friend later in this place"Maos start walking away from the room

"you should speak to me better, I'm your boss !" said Junior as he annoyed by Maos's Behavior

the sorcerer stops during his walk and turns around "I'm making and selling alcohol for you for 3 times less than the actual price, you make a ton of profit thanks to me, I'm also not part of your gang before sure I work as a bartender, but now I'm a just business associate, it's a very different position"

the young man smiles a bit at the gangster "I respect your position, please respect mine", he then resumes his walk and leaves the room

Juniors sigh as he sees Maos leaving the room "I swear,...I like this kid but damn, he's way too scary at times he can kill me or ruin my whole club anytime he wants and he is fully aware of it...I wonder if is he like that with everybody or just people like me ?"

---

10 minutes later, Qrow arrives at the night Juniors, he sees Maos near the entrance, waving his hand,Qrow had engulfed the staff of Amber in a back case,it almost look like he carrying around a painting or a weird musical instrument and put it on his back

they both stand in front of each other, 3 m between them

"hey kid", Qrow looked at Maos from head to toe" jeans, shirt..., your girlfriend really taught you to dress up"

"Coco is not my girlfriend and those are just regular clothes, on your side, you still look, smell, and sound like a drunkard," said Maos

Qrow exhale his nose for an instant" and yet when I said Girlfriend, she's the one who came to your mind" said Qrow as he smile

"And you didn't refute looking like a homeless man" said Maos as he smile too

the professional huntsmen walk next to maos and put his hand on the young man's right shoulder "always a pleasure to see you're fine, let's go inside and catch up a bit"

"what's the case on your back? new weapon ?"asks Maos

"..let's drink a bit first"said Qrow as he enter the nightclub

---

a few seconds later,Maos and are at the bar, Melanie is the one serving the drink

"whisky," said Qrow, the student didn't have to ask, he just goes the water

"why water ?" react the huntsmen,Maos just giggle at that," because she knows i can just get alcohol if I want by changing the water"

"you drink alcohol now ?" said Qrow, the student grab his glass of water [enhance water: wine]

"only on special occasions, I don't have a flask like you," said the sorcerer, it took 5 whole seconds for Qrow to process what maos said

"wait, you can turn water into alcohol ?...crazy semblance..almost sound like a religious thing"Qrow takes a sip and then another"don't go drunk on me kid, I ain't bringing you back to Beacon"

they both start talking a bit,Qrow mostly talk about one of his previous mission, after that

"by the way, I met your nieces," said Maos, as he take a sip of his drink

"so what do you think? are they as good as I told you they were ?" asks the soon-to-be drunk man

"ruby decapitated a whole nevermore during the entrance exam and yang seems really strong and skilled also hot-heated, I can see who trained them"explain Maos

"happy all those hours in signal were useful," said Qrow as he take another sip

the bartender which is Melanie goes near Maos and bows a bit to talk to him and Qrow "I have a feeling it's going to get heated, I think you two should leave..."

Maos turn around and looked toward the entrance, several people were entering, they seem armed

Qrow and Maos look at each other,Qrow seems ready to draw his weapon in case, however, Maos stopped him,Qrow looks confused at Maos

"Thanks, Melanie, give us 2 bottles, one wine, one whisky, and we'll leave"

"got it" on that Melanie leaves and brings back the bottles

Maos get up and Qrow too "what are you doing kid ?"

"I didn't come here to fight, you didn't either, I don't want to be involved in gang stuff..let's just leave"

and so they did, with 2 bottles in Maos's hand

---

later, around 10 minutes after walking away,it's nighttime now, and some star slowly appears in the sky

"since when do you avoid fighting?" asks Qrow

"Since always? even if I was the kind of guy to just start a fight like that, I'm not in the mood to fight...I have alcohol in my blood right now, my semblance may go wild for no reason, let's just go to a place where there is nobody, like a roof or something" said Maos

"...fine, I'll let the kid be the reasonable one for once," said Qrow as he take a bottle from Maos "so where do we go ?"

Maos raise his finger and pôint at a building, pretty much 50m tall "over there will do the trick"

"and how do we go there? smart ass, you got a teleporting semblance ?",Maos turn to Qrow drinking his bottle"I do but I can teleport at like 9 m away at best"

"we'll just fly there, I will fly and drag you"

"you can fly ?" react Qrow

Maos touch his chest [fly], a 3rd-level spell that allows flying, it lasts 10 minutes, he then touches Qrow [levitate], a 2nd-level spell, which makes a creature levitate, the creature has no control over it position unless it has an object it can grab to move around

Qrow felt his feet being lifted off the ground

"wo-whoa- wha", he lost balanced as Maos start flying and grab him by the shoulders, and they start to fly away

"Don't worry, I won't let go of you!" said the sorcerer as he increase his speed to reach the building

Qrow had to prevent himself from turning into a bird as Maos isn't aware of it

after a few second,Maos land on the roof, Qrow is just floating next to him

Maos just dispel the levitate and Qrow fall face first on the ground, he gets up instantly "never do that again kid !", he is still holding the bottle of whisky

the sorcerer is also holding his bottle of wine and seat on the edge of the building, the professional huntsmen join the student

"you sure to have this whole bottle to yourself," said Qrow

"my last 3 days were literally nightmares...don't worry, I have no intention of making this an everyday thing,"said Maos

Qrow look at his bottle"I'm not really in a good position to go against it, but be careful, we didn't even pay for those...also...seriously? Wine ?"

"They don't make me pay for alcohol in this place, it just tap water, I can make it into anything...also I like wine", Maos take a sip of his bottle

"just saying it's the kind of thing you suppose to drink slowly, like in a proper glass,"said Qrow

"oh really ?"

[create water],a level 1 spell to create or destroy water

Maos conjure water in his hand out of thin air using magic,it floats above it,[shape water],a level 0 spell, the ice then changes shape to be similar to a high-quality glass goblet, he then poor some wine in it,he then grins at the man next to him

"is there anything you can't do ?" asks Qrow, Maos drink the glass and finish it quickly "I have time and training...i can do pretty much everything"

Qrow look at Maos "you have something to tell me ?"

"not really,"said Maos

"you sure because you look like me when I've done something very dumb and try to drink to forget it, or when I have to speak about something embarrassing so I drink to ignore the embarrassment"

"Which one is it ?" add Qrow as he realizes Maos's eyes turn away from him "come on kid, don't the eyes thing, whatever it is I'm sure it's not that bad"

the professional huntsman keeps poking Maos with his bottle" come on, I've been a teacher for years and help raised Yang and ruby, you can't lie to me that easily"

after a few second,Maos finally gives up and drink more "okay... I'll admit there is something...",Maos take a deep"last day, I had my first kiss"

Qrow just take a sip of his bottle" it's not as embarrassing as I thought it would be, hey, first kiss after a whole year, you beat me I'll admit, I had already lost my V-card during my first year," said Qrow, almost sounding disappointed "I don't understand why you're so embarrassed, it's a common thing"

"That's not the problem!..I...I broke one of your rules..." almost screams Maos as he hides his face in shame

Qrow look at Maos as he remembers the rules in question "who was it ? this Coco Adel ?", the man analyzes Maos's behavior and his small movement

"no... it wasn't her..."said Maos

"did you kiss her best friend, that's my second rule," asks Qrow

"no..I Broke the 5th rule...and the 3rd rule,"said Maos

Qrow almost spit his sip "3rd rule? Did you kiss an enemy? also, the 5th rule...it was ALSO someone important, who the hell did you kiss? you gotta give me context here kid"

the sorcerer sighed as he starts explaining "during my last mission...I had to protect a mine for the Schnee dust company..the white fang also attack the mines...things went crazy...I end up trapped underground with...a woman for several hours"

"you kissed a white fang? even I wouldn't have done that at your age...also closed environment, traps underground,nice setup to stimulate your survival sense also the lack of Oxygen can make you go crazy" said Qrow

"also...in order to release me and the woman...I knew I had to you know...cause an energy surge, a burst powerful enough to free us from the underground...so I explain to her how it worked, that I had to face an emotional shock"

"oooh, so she kissed you by surprise to cause it right ?" said Qrow "who was it ?"

"Well, she wasn't an enemy at the moment it happened, we still had several hours to you know...talk about pretty much everything...I think I even manage to convince her Humans aren't that bad..or at least I convinced her to rethink her strategies to handle the white fang" said Maos

"don't fill the gap,this is not a cartoon nor an anime,you don't need fillers,Maos, just say it"insists Qrow

"fine !, it was the high leader, she was trapped underground with me...and she was almost naked due to the explosion of mines...and I still can't get that sigh out of my mind"

Qrow suddenly froze"huh ?...repeat that ?"

"sienna Khan" repeat Maos

Qrow gets up in shock as he drops his bottle from the roof, but catches it in time

"it was Sienna Khan, a tiger faunus...and the high leader of the white fang" repeated Maos in shame

Qrow sit back next to Maos "damn !... and I thought I had a crazy love life full of high and low, but the leader of a terrorist, activist group that's way too high...and low at the same time! even for me !"

the old huntsman is in shock for almost 15 full seconds

"like..sienna Kahn? Isn't she supposed to hate humans and stuff...and she kissed you?", Qrow seem to almost be laughing

"it was just for survival," said Maos,Qrow smirked at the sorcerer "and given how much you're blushing right out,it doesn't seem like you really dislike it or at least ashamed of it"

Qrow takes a sip of his whiskey and pats Maos's shoulder "you impress me, kid, really you do, Qrow grabs his scroll and looks in the files he has on the white fangs, he brings up a picture of Sienna during a speech

"hey at least, your first kiss was with a pretty one,2 people in their 20s trapped underground for several hours something had to happen, you were lucky it's the kiss and not one of you killing the others, she hates humans it's a miracle she didn't kill you...at least tried to kill you"

"Why do you have a file on the white fangs ?" asks Maos, Qrow respond quickly"I like to have a file on every big and dangerous organization, it's my job for Oz after all"

a silence occurs between them

"so anything else to mention about this...incident ?"said Qrow with a smug

Qrow looked at Maos's embarrassment, the young seem to suddenly think of something "what ? something else ?wait, wait don't you tell me...did you dream of her ?",Qrow couldn't hide his laugh

"yeah, I did and it really weird!... I think my semblance is playing trick on me...like she was in my room and all" almost screams Maos as he drinks another glass of wine

Qrow hit Maos on his back "don't worry, you'll get through it, you will heal that DEEP trauma, I mean it's not like she gave you her scroll number"

Maos said nothing

"oh... she did ?..."

"It's not like that !" respond Maos

" she actually DID ?! Seriously ?! do you kiss that well that a human-hating faunus asks you on a date ?" deduce Qrow with surprise on his face,

"I own her, she saved my life, and she needs a way to contact me directly !"Moas is trying to defend himself

"didn't you save her life first?" asks Qrow

"yeah, but she's the one who maintains me conscious and made sure I don't drown in an underground lake, she even help take care of my injuries, because I had no energy left to fully heal myself, she even defend me from underground cave grim, so I promise her something, I will do one task for her as long as that task doesn't involve hurting anyone nor myself," said Maos

Qrow rubs his eyes as he thinks a bit"...you're a crazy kid", he took a sip of his bottle "hey, at least you were smart to put a condition on that promise...also nothing really forces you to respect it" said Qrow, Maos take a sip of wine slowly as cheek slowly get back their natural colors" depending on what she asks I will see if I do it or not"

Qrow took a suddenly serious tone "but seriously, be careful, I know your smart and can handle yourself pretty well, but don't do anything crazy, you are young and have your whole life ahead of you, avoid that kind of situation the one where you own someone something, regardless of who it is, you may regret it"

"don't worry... I'll handle it...once I'm done with whatever she asks, I'll just delete her number and avoid the white fang as much as possible, avoid her as much as possible"

"it's never that easy," said Qrow

Maos start to lose his balance a bit, his eye was a bit far away from here

"Are you seriously trying to make a life lesson out of my first kissing experience ? "said Maos

"I think the bottle was too much for you," said Qrow as he lose his balance a bit

the alcohol is slowly starting to have an effect on both of them

"Maybe we should...get off the edge..." said Qrow as he get up and goes in the middle of the roof," yeah.. I agree," said Maos

---

10 minutes later, they are both leaning on the roof, just chilling, mostly drunk, and the bottles were both empty, the black cases holding the staff of amber is on the side of Qrow

"what I mean is..that like...she...I really...Sienna is really pretty, Coco is also like...top beauty...and in my dream...like I saw Sienna but she smells like Coco" said Maos, not thinking straight

"kid, you've been repeating that story about this dream 4-5 ?.. Maybe 7 ? times in a row, alcohol really has a base effect on you! also why are so traumatized by this? it was nothing you said yourself, I've seen 13 years old less embarrassed by that kind of thing...I hate to say it to you like that, but man up a little, hopefully, you will have several kissing experiences...and more than kissing experiences if you get lucky, this was just the first, it may be weird for you, but it's really not that special"

Maos hesitate in his words, being confused a bit"I don't know...I'm just...I just don't how I should react to that...it just bothers me and it keeps popping up in my mind"

Qrow giggles a bit "you who are usually so mature compare to everybody else, defeated by a kiss from a leader of a terrorist and activist organization, it sounds like a weird joke..."

"not funny,"said Maos, he seem to slowly recover from the trauma

"come on, you'll get through this...anyway, let's change the subject what do you think of yang and ruby ?, be careful of what you are going to say," said Qrow

"what you are trying to set me up with one of your nieces?" react Maos, Qrow's scratching his head "I admit the idea did go through my head like once and then I decided to forget about it, it seems stupid and it mostly depends on you and her, by the way, I forbid you to approach ruby, she's too young right now"

"I have no attention to approach your niece in that way," said Maos

"I don't doubt it" reacts Qrow "anyways? what do you think? impressed by their skill ?"

Maos seem to pause for a second as he thinks" yang's hand-to-hand combat is way too much for most people, and ruby's skill with her scythe is frightening,I expect them to be strong and I admit I was not disappointed"

"buuuut ?"said Qrow

"their skill are good but Yang is just too hot and heated..during combat class earlier,I still saw a few problems...she hit hard..but her punches are still too slow, and sometimes to seem to willingly take hits to charge her semblance...which is really...dumb ?"

"I expect this one," said Qrow," she was always like that, what about ruby ?"

"for ruby, it's the opposite..she's fast, but her attack is too weak, sure with the momentum she gains when using her semblance she can probably cut several trees in a single swing, but if she doesn't have that momentum she can struggle to truly do damage...however she's smart, her weapon was clearly built with that weakness in mind, the way she fires with it to force momentum..it's genius actually, so At the end of the day..it's really a problem...THE real problem is...sure she's fast..but compared to a high level of aura usage..she can be outrun and depending on the person it's by A LOT, I'm sure you are faster than her even when using her semblance...also she completely lacks hand to hand skills"

" I see...you mind helping them with that? I can't really just pop up in the school and trained them" said Qrow,Maos hesitate for a second, and he sigh "I'm a student representative, it's my job anyway...I will",Qrow laughed a bit "you better"

Maos hesitant to talk at first, but quickly speak his mind" also..yang kinda weirds me out," said Maos instantly, "like...she looks like my mother...I show you an illusion of my mother before...my mom and Raven are almost identical, it's creepy!"

" I hadn't thought of that, it may be disturbing for you...anyways hey, maybe people are right, maybe we are related, I'm pretty sure Winter Schnee used to think you are my illegitimate child I had a long time ago" joked Qrow

maos suddenly raise his head and look at Qrow "wait you're joking right ?"Qrow laughs a bit"I'm not, like last time...I was in Atlas I met up with the ice queen, I annoyed her a bit as usual"

"and who does one annoy Winter Schnee ?" asks Maos , he can hardly see Winter being annoyed, sure it's not like he properly meets and learn to know...but she seems as someone with great self-control

Qrow laughs a bit, he tries to drink from his bottle...sadly it's empty,he just put it aside, disappointed "It's is easy, you just need to be me, and be able to breathe in a 3m radius around her...anyway so I was talking to Ironwood...and At some point, your name comes up because we were talking about prodigies, and stuff...and I heard Winter said out loud and I quote"

Qrow raises his arm and moves them like he was showing a name "I can't believe such a miserable man can be the father of a prodigy, it's probably because he didn't raise him"

"ouch...that's harsh...did she really say that or did you change the quote a bit ?" said Maos

"Nope, not a change of quote, the ice queen said it exactly like that, she really hates my gut"Qrow started laughing" then ironwood and I turn around to her because you know...we both heard her...and Ironwood explain that you are not, in fact, my son nor relate to me in anyways, that's like the first time of my life where I Saw her feel so dumb, her face was priceless !"

Qrow laugh a bit

"weren't you angry she called you a miserable man and also a bad father?" asks Maos

Qrow look at the stars, he sigh a bit"not really, I don't care about being miserable and I'm not a father, the only children I help raised are Yang and ruby and they turn out well so far, I can't say I did a perfect job, but I did my best"

there's a small silence, as Maos analyze Qrow "to be fair you do share physical similarities with my grandfather...when he was young"

"oh really ?" asks Qrow" why don't you show me ?using one of you semblances"

"got it, I'm pulling it from an old painting I saw when I was a kid"

[major image], a level 3 spell which allows one to create an illusion that can move and even produce sound

above them, Maos make appears middle-aged, he is a tall and rugged-looking man, with a scruffy beard and long, messy black hair. He has a scar over his left eye, wearing a long coat made of leaves and some feathers, has red eyes, and a similar facial expression to Qrow

"damn, you were not joking, I do look similar to him...apart from the scarred eye and that he look older I guess," said Qrow

the illusion disappears pretty fast, Maos is too drunk to maintain the spell

"by the way...you have any idea why Winter dislikes you that Much ?" asks Maos

"I have a guess..." said Qrow, Maos insist "what it is ?"

Qrow seem to hesitate a bit, "well... I drink...like a lot, I know, it's far from perfect in the Schnee family, in fact, the mother is almost a drunkard, that's what I heard at least, my guess is that she can't bear to look at me, because I remind her too much of her mother"

"seem plausible," said Maos

"by the way...why did you...invite me to get a drink ?" Maos are fully red, his stomach hurt, and his head still feels very light, too light

Qrow hesitates a bit "well...that will wait for us to be...sober"," ok..." said Maos

a few seconds pass, and Qrow turned to Maos and sees him staring at the star," what you're thinking about kid ?"

"nothing...something depressing...the whole Sienna thing made me realize something"respond the sorcerer

"What ?" asks Qrow

"the age difference..." said maos

"what about it, you have like 4 maybe 5-year age difference, it's not that big especially when in your 20s to 30s," said Qrow

"I mean...I just release something...I knew about it, but I'm now I'm confronted by it"

"And what is it ?, come on spilled it, kid," said Qrow

Maos aimlessly stare at the stars "my lifespan...is way higher than most people...like by a lot, I would still be able to live till 124 on average"

"What are you talking about kid ?" asks Qrow, he seems a bit lost, not just because of the fact that he is drunk

Maos is definitely not thinking straight

"and Like I'm actively using magic, my life span has been boosted because of it! I'm on a 5th-level spell casting and still becoming stronger and stronger, according to my level, I should be able to live for a MINIMUM of 200 years even if I stopped increasing my strength and with each breakthrough, my body goes through changes, and increase my lifespan!

Qrow blink several times, alcohol made him unable to fully understand what Maos is saying, "come on nobody lives that long, you'll die of old age at 93 with hopefully grandkids around you like everybody else"

"I mean...I do want to have kids eventually" said Maos,

there's a long silence of almost 10 seconds, the sorcerer rubs his face with his hand a bit "seriously what am I doing ? like...what the hell do I stay in Beacon ?"

the professional huntsman looks over Maos "you don't like Beacon ?"

"no, it's not that, it's just that...I'm just at Beacon because I needed a home...I don't really care about the whole huntsmen thing sure I don't mind it and genuinely respect the whole profession and position it gives and I do like helping people...but...that what I want to do for a living..., I'm a sorcerer! a year ago, I was just reading books in my bed and being late to class and Osiris would be mad at me because of it, I'm a scholar! I'm thankful for beacon, for giving me books and a lot of knowledge, having a nice place to train and stuff..."

Maos take a bit of air as he runs out of it"I have enough money, I could just leave!...but...now I've got a reputation, I have friends, and I am a student representative.."

"leaving would mean letting down everybody around you? people you want to protect ?" said Qrow as he interrupt Maos, the student stopped and look at Qrow, you're not the first I heard saying that kind of thing, I didn't feel like that while at Beacon, it was truly my home...but my sister Raven did have a few problems, she like helping people, but only the one close to her, and she dislikes the whole huntsmen thing, she never saw herself as one, she kept saying thing like"

"I'm not a huntress! I'm a thief, a criminal, I don't save people! neither do you !"

Qrow remembers his second year, where he revealed to Raven he wanted to stay in beacon and she decided to stay for his sake

"let me tell you, something kid, you have every right to do whatever you want, I won't stop you, but you need to be aware of the consequence, my sister left and it destroyed her even though she tries to act like it didn't, people never forgave her, I sure didn't, yang and ruby's father didn't, summer was the only who still had hope for Raven, I'm not sure about how Yang feels about it"

Qrow tries to take another sip of his bottle...which is empty...sadly, he gives look at the black case which contains the staff of amber and decides it's too soon for now, he has to wait a bit

"I know you love your friend, you may have a few problems with Ozpin and not have everything straight in your head and not like a full-on hero, but you are a good kid, don't mess it up, your too young to fully realize what you would be losing, but hear my experience, if you leave...you will never forgive yourself"

Maos sigh as he heard "you're right...it's a dumb idea...I have nowhere to go anyway..."

Qrow giggles a bit "also being huntsmen is not against the scholar thing, look at Oobleck, he's a teacher, historian, and huntsman"

Maos sigh "yeah... you're right...",Qrow look at Maos "also where would you go anyway if you did leave?

"I could try to go back to my forest"respond Maos

"forest ?" react Qrow

"the immortal Forest, it's where I'm born, it is where I use to live before My mother's death, the forest is probably still around in Vacuo" explains Maos

"A forest in Vacuo ?! you sound crazy, alcohol is really bad for you"

"I'm not crazy, it's called the immortal forest for a reason, it cannot be destroyed, either by man or nature itself, it can still exist in the middle of a deserted, finding it is hard to part, but since I'm born inside it, I still have a link to it, also I have my mother's staff, the wood of the staff came from this very forest, I can use it to find the forest"

"why immortal forest ?" asks Qrow

"because it cannot die, a tree can die, but the forest itself never will, it will always regrow, the animal lives well there, people too, if they respect the forest's life at least"

"And you grew up there ?" asks Qrow

"yep"

"That sounds crazy," said Qrow as he look at the star as imagined the forest

"hey if one day you go there even if just to visit, you have to bring me there...because I really need to see it, what was it like ?" said Qrow

Maos take a deep breath "it's a beautiful place, the forest is separated into different regions, there are differents kind of trees, even the environments can change, there's even a tropical region inside it, it's not just regular tree like in vale, there's pretty much all type of tree and there's mostly...the most important part of the forest, the heart tree"

"the heart tree ?" react Qrow

"yeah, it's the center of the forest, it's where the source of Forest's immortality can be found, it's a giant tree...and when I mean giant I don't mean like building big, I'm mountain big"

Qrow raises his chest along with his head"mountain big? and that thing is hiding in Vacuo ? I don't believe you"

"my druidic circle lives inside the tree, it protects us from the beast outside the forest and the forest itself protects life from the grim,the forest is quite literally alive, like some tree can move, I wouldn't be surprised if the forest itself move around to survive Vacuo's desert and it probably kills anyone who enters it, either the tree do...or the animals"

"the tree can move ?! the animal?! what kind of animals are we talking about?!"

"giant owl, giant elk, tiger, giant eagle..and don't get me start on the against snakes,.depending on where in the forest you are really, grim size animal that went extinct long ago but could survive in the forest"

Qrow fully gets up "and you talk about it to people? like it seems crazy, does Oobleck know about it ?"

"yeah..I've been writing like a bestiary of the animals of the forest with Oobleck, sadly I never got access to knowledge of my circle since I had to leave and was too young to learn about it, so my knowledge is limited to the animal I've met," explain Maos

the student laugh a bit "I remember when I told Oobleck, he actually drop his glasses and coffee, he almost broke it"

Qrow sit again "tell me more about the animal there, I'm getting curious", he realized Moas liked talking about that kind of thing and seem to be motivated by it, he was actually smiling a bit now

Qrow's recovery is way faster than Maos, he is almost normal now, he doesn't really believe the story, but he wants to cheep up Maos a bit,Qrow gives a look to the black case holding the staff of Amber

"well..there's like that Giant Ape...it's really scary.." start Maos

and the student tells Qrow about numerous animals from the forest for almost an hour

---

an hour later, Maos was done talking about Animals and there is finally silence, both of them were seated on the edge again, their feet handing and both of them think a bit

"Why did you come here Qrow ?...there's something important you have to tell me...it was just a fun time you would have to invite your nieces"

"Can't an old man catch up with his favorite student ?", Maos smiled a bit"what about yang and ruby ?"

"They are my niece, they are my favorite by default, and you're next on the list after them," said Qrow

"come on Qrow... tell me the bad news already.. what the black case is for? I can feel something inside it"

Qrow sighs, he grabs the case and gives it to Maos, "I'm afraid..Salem has begun her next move, she sent her goons to attack the maidens"

Maos open the case slowly and immediately sees the red ruby which is composed the staff of amber

"..Amber...was attacked first,I arrived too late..."

Maos clenched the box and his teeth

"how is she ?" immediately asks Maos", she's not dead, the link with her staff would be destroyed if she was,I can feel it WHERE IS SHE "

Maos grab the staff out of the box and look at it, his face trembles, hesitating between anger and sadness and shock as he clenches the staff in his hand, he put one hand on his face, as if to hide, but mostly rubs his eyes

Qrow gets up and puts his hand on Maos's shoulder, the boy barely react to it and Qrow answer" she's underground,in Beacon, we are trying to find a way to heal her...however part of the maiden was stolen"

"Stolen? HOW ?" react Maos as he turns to Qrow, his eyes getting teary, and breathing is difficult

"We don't know, Ozpin is lost too...but according to him there's no saving her...we're going to try...but there's not much chance unless the scientist of Atlas have something crazy up their sleeves"

Maos slowly calm himself down,Qrow waited a bit before talking "kid...I'm sor-"

"It's okay..." said Maos as he sob a bit, his eyes glowing crazy and the glow fading away as he calm and look at the staff, "I saw it coming...I knew it was bad news...I fucking saw it coming the moment I felt a similar energy in the case...I just couldn't face it..."

"I'm sorry, the kid I'm the one who failed...I was sent to protect Amber, we knew people were stalking her...but I Arrive too late.."

"What ?" the facial expression, from sadness to confuse..and anger, he got up immediately

"you people knew she was being stalked ?! and you didn't tell me ?!" react Maos, his eyes starting glowing differently, and switching between colors rapidly, it the end it looks like the color stopped changing and remain moved and a fluid mix of different color moving like a wave of energy in his eyes, like a rainbow

"don't blame it on me, I only learn earlier that you didn't know about Amber, I just assumed Oz told you, I already had an argument because it was with him"

"of fucking course, he hides it from me..." said Maos as he hold his head in anger, the air around Maos get magically warmer " what is Amber's status...what are her injuries ?"

"Ozpin..he said that her soul wasn't there...but if she still bears half the power...then her soul is still there just.."

"shattered," said Maos as he suddenly look into the distance as his eyes glow for a single time and stop,a wave of hot wing get sent around him

the wild magic surge has occurred, a silent magical effect and it has now taken over his emotion, every emotion he may have is boosted by 10 for an hour

"her soul lost part...she-she won't have an after-life... just like...just like"

Maos seem to suddenly have a panicked attack as his eyes start glowing again and keep glowing stronger..., an aura of energy appears around him, and he felt his hand burning, literally, fire had appeared in his hand, and he begin to have every memory of himself and amber training being played in his head

Qrow gets up and approaches Maos "kid"

"no back down, I can't control my-"

Suddenly 4 illusions of Maos mimicking his movement appear around him,"you okay ?" asks Qrow

"you better back down and live the roof, the random effect will oc-"then strange butterfly started appearing around him and flying around, suddenly Maos disappear in a flash of light and re-appear 5m away on the right where he was

"Qrow please leave!"

the energy seem burn Maos from the inside, quite literally, blue something dark purple mark appear all over his body, like bruises, he seems to enhance his body so suddenly and so strongly, his actual muscle and bones can't handle it

"his bones are breaking ?!" react Qrow

[i need to knock him out !]thought Qrow, he readies his weapon, but he put his on his back again, he rush at Maos

another magical effect occurs,Maos is engulfed in a yellow and holy light, his bruise disappears, and he's instantly healed, Qrow catches him "no stay back-"

Maos suddenly has a deep breath like he suddenly lacks air after the second, a tornado of wind appears Maos, Qrow uses his aura to stop himself from being sent away,

Qrow then enhances his body using aura to the point it's visible burning through his aura energy, he goes inside the tornado protecting Maos, and he reaches Maos

Qrow right-hand gets engulfed in red aura energy, "knock it off Maos !" and then punches him right on the head and manages to knock him out, making a huge crack on the ground and a shockwave

all magic effect suddenly stop

Maos fall unconscious,Qrow goes to grab the student's arm and the rest of the body, and he falls on his knee

Maos regain consciousness, he opens his eyes as he gets up, while looking around in confusion,Qrow lets go of him

the sorcerer gets up, and he immediately felt his surge coming back, he put his hand on his chest [calm Emotion:5], and his breathing is still unusual

"thank you..my energy didn't have time to fully build up so I thankfully didn't explode..."

"you're okay Now ?" asks Qrow "you scared me to death"

"I'm fine...don't worry...I manage to calm down...it should be all fine now...it's just...that kind of panic moment hadn't happened in a long time..."

"you sure ?" asks Qrow, Maos turn to him as he stands up properly "yes I am"

Maos look at their staff of Amber, he grabs it as his eyes remain calm, he sighs and then looks at Qrow "I have a spell to calm myself...it should be fine.."

"Thanks...for telling me..I have a feeling Oz would have waited a long time to tell me.."

Maos smile a bit At Qrow "I will try to inspect Amber's condition maybe we can still save her...I need to think properly and calmy to try and figure out a way"

they both look at the night sky, Qrow goes next to Maos "hey, kid...I know I can't understand what you are really going through as I don't know how your semblance works exactly..."

"just called it magic,"said Maos," you are aware of it don't you ?"

Qrow stays silent "..."

"Earlier I literally said I practice magic and the word spell several times and you didn't even react..." add Maos

Qrow giggles a bit "I mean...I've seen Amber using magic before, I saw it with other maidens too, and I even saw Ozpin perform magic...I don't know it took me so long to actually understand who is using magic too...it felt the concept itself felt weird for me, it kinda hit a few weeks ago"

"don't feel dumb...I have a magic item that prevents you from just guessing I use magic" explain Maos

"you do ?...so that's why..." react Qrow as he looks in the distance "Maos...where do you truly come from? like is there some kind of secret continent where people like you and Oz live ?"

"I'm born in Vacuo...according to Geography...you may wonder if I'm an immortal wizard-like Oz ?" react Maos

"Nah, I'm sure you are a young man, you feel and sound young to me, so how ?" said Qrow,Maos hesitating a bit "I feel like...it's better if you remain in the unknown, I don't want to lie to you,it would be world-shattering",Qrow take a sip of his flash despite still having alcohol in his veins "fair enough, I rather that then a lie"

Qrow looks at the time, "it's getting late...you should go back to Beacon...you think you can make it? you won't explode on the way ?...are you sure you're okay ?"

Maos stretched a bit" I think I should be fine, plus my magic surge cleared out all the alcohol, what about you?"

"I meant are you okay emotionally? after what just happened, alcohol is the least of my concern, and I can hold my own, don't worry about old me" said Qrow, Maos look at the staff and move it around a bit "yeah...I think...I'm cool...it's...hard to say...but..I think... I'll be alright eventually..."

the huntsman hesitates to reveal his ability to turn into a bird..but he decides to not do it, mostly to avoid further shock, he mostly thinks Maos is already aware of it which is actually not the case

there was a small silence between them

"welp, I need to go," said Maos"thanks...for the staff... I'll keep till we find a way to help Amber, it was...nice to have a chat with you,Qrow, I'll tell ruby and yang you say hi...you need help to go down ?"

"nah, I have my ways,"said Qrow as he wave his right toward Maos

"well then..."Maos was about to leave, but Qrow stopped him for a second "remember kid...if you need help or your trouble, you always have my scroll number"

Maos smile a bit hearing that "yeah...I know...the same goes for you...till next time"

[fly],Maos jump and launch himself into the air, the wind goes with him

Qrow looks in the distance, and he watches Maos flying away,Qrow seem on the roof for a full 10 minutes

Qrow suddenly receives a call from Glynda as he gets up

"yes ?" react Qrow" what do you want ?"

"Oz wan-...I want to know how it went...I think I saw Maos landing in the school ward... I wasn't aware he could fly..."

"already ? he went really fast... anyways..it went okay,I deliver the bad news ...and bonus I ain't dead...I just hope Oz can go easy a little more on the kid, he needs a rest...for pretty much everything, you should watch over him a bit more, I'm still worried for him, while he didn't explode or anything like expected he didn't take it well and he does intend to try to help Amber as much as he can"explain Qrow

"Overall he seems...well,as much as he could be, a drink help him open up a bit"

"you made him drink alcohol ?!" react Glynda,Qrow interrupt her"it was his idea and he's 19, he's the right age, and no he's not drunk...not anymore at least"

Qrow could hear Glynda facepalm

"so since you're on the call...I'm leaving to do some scouting, I did my job to try to find who attacked Amber I have people to meet, do your thing at Beacon, you know how to reach me" on that Qrow ended the call, he put scrolled in his pocket and then jump from the rooftop and turn into a bird.

Glynda on her side,take a deep breath, she is now in the underground of Beacon next to Ozpin, watching Amber "...Maos is probably going to come here the moment he arrives at Beacon.."

---

Maos arrive at Beacon, he goes straight to the basement of the school, enters the elevator, and put in the special code to go to the basement, he knows where amber would be, he arrives right next to the vault, holding the staff of Amber..he sees Ozpin and Glynda standing next to a strange incubating chamber, he immediately sees Amber inside

Ozpin and Glynda turn to Maos, the sorcerer's walking speed increases as he approached, his facial become slowly desperate as he walks past Ozpin and Glynda without saying a word

"Maos..."Glynda tries to put her hand on his shoulder but he simply avoids it, Ozpin doesn't say a word and watched in silence, he put his hand on the strange technologies around Amber

[identify: 5 Level], Maos's hand glows while touching it the glass

"h-Half the power of the maiden was taken away...with it...part of her soul did..., the forceful extraction of the magic cause the soul to torn and scattered..part of it is trying to go to the afterlife I can feel it but it already focused in leaving this body!..even if she someone get her body healed or the magic come back to her...the damage is already done...there nothing but remnant what she uses to be"

tear begging to slowly grow near Maos's eyes as he realizes something, he covers his mouth with his free hand, and his forehead touches the glass "however...since part of her soul is going to the afterlife...it means that the rest will follow, she will have an afterlife...I'm so thankful..."

the young sorcerer turns to Ozpin after finishing rubbing his eyes "so..anything to say to me? like why the hell did you not tell me about her being hunted? or why did you choose to send Qrow ? instead of me ?"

Ozpin adjusts his glass as he responds "sending you would have been too dangerous, we can't let Salem know you exist..if she can steal magic, you may ever lose your powers"

"bullshit! don't lie to me right now! you didn't know Salem could steal people's powers, you would have never Sent Amber alone if you knew"Maos's eyes glow a red energy

"Please calm down," said Glynda s he approach Maos, the student raise the staff amber toward Glynda, he adjust the staff next to her shoulder and put her out his way, making face at Ozpin, Glynda wasn't forced, the mere movement of Maos's arm and the look in his eyes made her walk to the side.

Glynda's telekinesis and use of dust make her on par with a maiden, she could probably immobilize Maos for a while if she wanted, but no matter what she will never raise her weapon toward a student, it's against everything she stands for. she also deeply disagrees with how Ozpin handled the situation and the look in Maos's eyes reminds her a bit too well of the day Qrow and everyone lost Summer. and she wasn't the first one to be lost in a similar way

Ozpin stares at Maos "the reason why I didn't tell you is precisely that, your reaction is too impulsive, you would have rushed in and made mistakes that could have gotten you killed or worse captured, mistakes that Qrow wouldn't have made"

Maos points the staff toward the body of Amber "and that obviously went great! why is she in that weird pod anyway? there's nothing to save her!even with magic we couldn't resurrect her!"

"We think the scientist from Atlas could help her...at least to keep the remain maidens safe..." explain Glynda

Maos turn and look at Amber,he really can't bare looking at it, he turn around immediately and look at Ozpin in the eyes

Ozpin looks at Glynda "please leave us"

"she stays," said Maos with a threatening tone to Ozpin, Glynda's eyes switch between the 2 of them, she hesitated for several seconds, she clench her fist, she look Ozpin then at Maos, then at Amber, her eyes show true doubt, she then looks down and turns around to leave "I'm sorry...I...I need to think as well..."

Maos look at her with sadness, he's not angry at her choice, she doesn't understand fully the situation, and she doesn't have the full picture unlike Oz and Maos

after she left the conversation resumed

"do not underestimate Qrow's skill-" start Ozpin, but Maos interrupt him "I know Qrow's skill, this isn't the issue here and you know it !"

"my Issus is that you obviously put my life over everyone else, you didn't send anyone than Qrow because you knew, if I was there, there was even the lowest chance of me getting killed by agents of Salem, you scared that I get captured, you're scared that Salem get me on her side or keep My body because we both Someone with infinity life energy as their disposal can do some crazy thing with human bodies with the right knowledge"explain Maos

Maos approach Ozpin even closer" the only reason why Amber is in that box over is that you considered her death as an acceptable loss, you could have sent more people than Qrow ALONE but you didn't, because you also consider him as an acceptable loss, don't you dare use the excuse he works better alone because, he only one man, if Salem sent a small army against he will loose and die eventually"

Ozpin gives a dark look to Maos, the first one in a long time "the life of a maiden is invaluable, if you could have avoided such a terrible fate for Amber I would have!the number of people I can trust is already small and is getting smaller with time,I sent Qrow because I value his skills,I had deep faith in his abilities to protect Amber"

"and you don't trust me to protect her ?you feel like I can't protect people I care about ?!, the chance of me getting captured or killed is way too low to not risk!you are of all people aware of how to kill I can be !"said Maos

"WHY DID YOU NOT SEND ME ?!"

Ozpin suddenly hit the staff with his cane the staff of amber sending it out of Maos's hand, hit the wall, and fall on the ground,"regardless of what value her life is, yours is infinitely more valuable than hers!"

"YOU DO NOT REALISE MY POSITION, I have been wondering for hundreds, thousands of years, fighting Salem, waiting for a change, a single real glimpse of hope, something that could REALLY end this idiotic and pointless war, I will never unite Humanity just like Salem will never destroy humanity that the world works"

OZ points his cane at Maos's throat as his eyes glow a green color while keeping a monotone voice" listen to me, Maos, losing Amber is hard for everyone, not just you, sadly she's not the first nor the last to fall because of Salem, countless people have before her, you above anyone else know that the end of the first humans is still recent for you"

OZ put his cane back to his side and his magic "cool down" and he walks to the side and stopped next to Amber

"you don't seem to realize the opportunity you represent for me, no..not the just but Mankind as a whole, the power would get since you have no restriction to your magic unlike Me And Salem, you could end it all, no more Salem, no more Me, no more...maidens"

Maos look down toward Amber's staff, he calls back to his hand using weak wild magic telekinesis "I'm fully aware of all of this, however, it doesn't justify your manipulation"

Ozpin doesn't even turn around "when you reach, you'll understand that it does, being Wizard is all about using logic to its fullest, you may be a sorcerer meant to flow along with magic, but you were raised like a wizard, I know you fully understand my actions, you simply disagree with it because it directly involves your friends...if you were in my position...I know you would make the same decision as me"

"I'm not like you !" spit Maos,Ozpin's magic seem to glow around his hand as he put it near Amber "you right, in my position you would be worse", he turn to Maos a bit and stare at him with a side eye "you're a sorcerer and I know you, if one day you lose someone you truly love, you would be ready to destroy anything in your way"

"Are you comparing me to Salem ?! just because she and I are sorcerers doesn't me we think the same! She attacked the very gods to try to avenge you!"

the glow around Ozpin's hand disappears as he walks away from Amber "and what is your current relationship with the gods? you cannot even stand when people mention them around you"

OZ grabs Amber's staff in Maos's hand and holds it "Amber was a friend and look how you react, you went without even thinking straight to me and accuse me like I had PLANNED her death what if this situation happens to someone you truly love, will just rush in and kill me? if you were there when Amber got attacked and hurt, you would have the self-control to capture the people who hurt her ?"

Maos look down in shame, he knows, it's true, during a mission Coco and her team were with him, Yatsu was attacked in the back by Bandist when they were on their way to the mission and Maos didn't hesitate and directly swing to kill and did, he could take them down easily without killing them but on the moment he had no desire and no clear logic seem to go through his mind,it was purely instinctive, he did manage to control himself after a few second, still was enough for him to kill 5 bandits. and he didn't have any regrets about doing it then, and he still doesn't regret it, it took a whole week for Team CFVY to fully get through the image of him cutting people with a fully charged aura in half with a single swing.

Ozpin keeps walking, lets go of the staff of amber, and goes past Maos putting a hand on the sorcerer's shoulder, Maos avoids it and moves to the side

"You are smart Maos, you know you can't control your emotion yet, you have more control over yourself than anyone else around you, and yet due to your past and your special condition as a sorcerer's almost impossible for you to fully block it, you know you are dangerous because of it, not just for you, but for everyone else, Salem's madness may seem idiotic but many people would make similar choices to her despite them never admitting it

Ozpin is now walking away from Maos, he turns around and looks the young man in the eyes

"This is why I didn't send you, you are too uncontrollable and unpredictable when it comes to people you care about, who knows what could have happened ?are you satisfied with that response? it's the only answer you will get from me anyway" said Ozpin as he leaves, escaping the rest of the conversation

Maos clench his teeth as the headmaster walks away, he fully analyses the situation with cold and arrives at the conclusion as Ozpin...which angers him

Ozpin leaves in silence, letting Maos alone, he's now several meters away from the sorcerer, and he suddenly hears a crack and shockwave being emitting with Maos as the center, he turns around, Maos broke amber's staff and took the big red gem on top of it

the sorcerer walk fast with anger and ignore Ozpin leaving Before him, he said in a cold voice "she's won't need it anymore anyway and I need materials", Maos leave the basement even before Ozpin as the old man seem too busy to look at his student with the staff broken into 2 parts. the old Wizard looks at the sorcerer leaving, he then turns toward Amber at the end of the room

"you could have been a great maiden...sadly fate decided otherwise, let's hope your legacy helps Maos in the right direction, in my direction"

---

a few minutes later,Maos arrive in his room, he enters and stays at the entrance right after closing the door, he looks at his working desk, then his eyes move to the box of different materials, he looks at broken piece o the staff, he suddenly clenches his fist, even his face starts twitching because of anger, he suddenly kicks the desk, sending it flying in the room." fuck!"

Maos seem to breathe heavily, he wanted to punch something, but someone suddenly knocks on the door, he turn around and open it" who is it again ?"

the door now is now open and he sees Ruby rose, she seems to be holding a book, his eyes look around him and see the state of the room "I heard a loud noise...is..is this a bad tim-"Maos interrupt her harshly"yes, it is"

"are you oka-"insist ruby as she had a sad face seeing the room

"none of your business,"said Maos

Ruby seem embarrassed, she didn't really know what to say next, she had exhausted all the social energy she had gathered to even come here, she fake a smile to hide her embarrassment and disappointment

"...I...well I...I guess I'll leave...I will...come back later..go back to my dorm room...and...try again..tomorrow"Ruby agitated her free arms to a direction and walked toward it

"the first year's dorm is the other way,"said Maos as his mind is finally concentrated on something else than anger

ruby froze for half a second and changed direction "of course !...I know that!", she walks faster than before to leave

Maos think a bit, he realizes he sounds harsh...he just realise how mean he was to a girl 2 year younger than him who just probably want his help, she has nothing to do with all of his current problems, he sighs as he watches her leaving, he felt kinda bad now, she seems so disappointed

he thinks for a couple of second

"hey" he calls her back "...why did you come here? why do you have that book ?"

Ruby rose is gone already

Maos facepalm as he goes back inside his room and closed the door "idiot..", he leans on the closed door "fucking dumbass..."

after a few minutes of just sitting against the wall and just appreciating the silence,he gets up and uses [telekinesis]to clean his room and fix everything and the windows, the piece of broken staff of Amber on the desk he stares at it a few second as his mind wanders in good memories he had with her.

He stands there, saying nothing, sadness in his eyes, a flashback of the first time he fought with Amber, the moment he help her make the staff, everything hit him now that he is calmer. despite his pain and sadness, he doesn't shed a single manage to keep it all inside,He wanted and needed something to focus his mind on, he suddenly remembers the conversation with Qrow, where he mention his ability to teleport, more like his inability to teleport at a great distance

He put the piece of broken staff in the drawer of the desk to avoid seeing it now

"book of magic"

"any spell to teleport around that are available to me ?"

the pages of the book turn and show a list

-Dimension Door: level 4, teleportation up to 150m away

-Thunder Step: level 3, teleportation up to 18m which damages the area around you

-Teleportation Circle: level 5, summon a teleportation magic circle that teleports you to another existing permanent teleporting magic circle, to make a permanent teleportation circle the spell must be cast once every day on the same location for a month

-Far Step level 5 , allow to teleport up to 18m every 6 seconds for a minutes

"teleportation circle is useless,I don't have 5 months to spend casting this spell, dimension door seems my best guess"

"teach me the spell Dimension door"

it will take 3 weeks for Maos to learn the spell according to the book of magic,he didn't eat he even missed dinner with team CFVY, after he start learning the spell, he put all of his focus on it, by the time team CFVY came to his room to check on him, he was already sleeping

---

the next morning,Maos open his eyes,

he opens his eyes, feeling pain in his stomach,he's hungry

he is hungry, he raises his head as he rubs his eyes, and yawns, he then raises his chest to end up seating on the side of his bed, he realizes that the sun is coming from the window of his room, its daytime and it has been for a while.

he looks at the clocks as he gets up from his bed

/8:45 am/

at first, he didn't off anything but sometimes bothering him as he looks at the clock, he stares for a long time

"8 am already ?45 ?I slept for like...10 hours or something?"

he then turn to his calendar, and he noticed it was written today, he struggle to read it, and he has to concentrate really hard to even read the first line

/the second years first-day class/

he almost lost the ability to breathe, all his hair seem to react like a cat's fur when scared, he suddenly read the second line

/10 am at the main hall/

he suddenly felt a great relief as he exhales and wipe off the sudden sweat he had, he then thinks a bit

[should have Coco woke me up by then ? she usually goes by my room every morning...at least the time I don't wake up...]

Maos then use his ring of clothing to go from his pyjama to his regular student outfit

[I should rework my combat outfit...I lost my jacket...maybe I should ask Coco to design me something], he gets ready and left the room

he walks in the corridor..no sound, the student starts walking around, along the corridor, he then reaches outside the dorm...no one, no movement,then the sorcerer decides to go outside, but he finds no one, the whole academy seems empty, it's strange...really disturbing

at some, he just looks on his scroll to check for missed calls or messages, nothing

Maos make his sword appear next to him in case, he feels that something is wrong, he starts looking around the academy

---

in the dorm of Beacon,the first year section of the building,Ruby rose and opened her eyes, she yawn slowly as she get up, and she hears a strange noise, it was her scroll, she looked down, her bed being suspended to the ceiling, the table with her scroll, she looked at it, it's ringing, on alarm clock mode

"rise and shine everyone..."said Ruby as she painfully let herself fall from the bed and landed on her feet on the ground, she grab the scroll as she give a look to Weiss, not moving, her eyes then move to blake and yang

[i'm the one waking to get up first this time...]thought ruby

Ruby looks at the scroll and turns off the alarm, it stops ringing, and she sees the hours

"8:32 am ?!"

Ruby immediately checks Weiss to wake her up, she then dashes using her semblance to shake blake and yang "wake up everyone we are 30 minutes later to class!"

Yang,weiss and blake open their eyes as ruby prepare herself as fast as possible, they look around "maybe later..." said yang as her eyes close and she falls asleep again,"I'm tired, we can skip a class or 2..." said Blake,Weiss didn't say a word and just went back to sleep

quickly ruby finished getting ready, she was so busy that she barely check on her team, so she turn to them

"so everyone is-"

ruby froze as she see her team fully asleep, she goes near yang first,"yang ?" she shakes her sister a bit

yang open her eyes and push ruby away gently "just let me sleep, class can...wait", Yang fell back asleep,Ruby put her hand on Yang's forehead, checking for fever, nothing seem wrong, she then moves to Blake,Blake didn't even react

Ruby move to Weiss,she speaks with a childish voice" Weiss ?...wake up...we have class"

Weiss opens her eyes, and stares at ruby "no...not now...", she turns around in the bed and falls asleep again

"What is happening ?!" scream ruby,Weiss refuses to react to the word "class" proving something is definitely wrong

---

it's now 9 am, Maos has been around every class, but he found no one, he had reduce his search area to only the main academy building, he even look in the headmaster's office

"maybe I should check the dorms again...I haven't looked carefully"

she looks around like a lost puppy and she then sees Maos, he goes toward her, and she speeds up to him and uses her semblance to appear quickly in front of him, letting petals of rose on the floor

"hi"said Maos as ruby stop herself in front of him

"hi!" said ruby

"a problem? you seem.. concerned?", he looks at the open door " a problem with your team?"ruby looks back for a second,"I...I can't wake them up...I've been trying for an hour, now...i think they may be sick"

"huh sick? like how ?"Maos start walking toward the door and ruby follows him, "I've tried to shake them, but they open their eyes and then push away...and then go back to sleep...it's like they have no energy..."

"Like all of them? do they have like symptoms...do they look sick ?" asks Maos,ruby scratches her head "I mean...not really...they don't cough, they don't sneeze...they don't have a fever..I don't understand"

[don't me I had magic surge while asleep...]thought Maos, it wouldn't be the first it happens

ruby and Maos stop in front of the door," you mind if I enter ?" asks Maos, ruby enters first "yeah,I don't if they would agree to me letting you in..., especially a boy the only girl team doesn't really know..while 3 members of the team are asleep...I mean they all are asleep and in pyjamas"

"if you refuse, it's totally reasonable and understandable, "said Maos "I just need to check something...I feel like my semblance is behind this..Like it run out of control..i just want to check, I just to have physical contact to identify the problem"

"your semblance may have caused this ? what it is ?" react Ruby

"ok, this going to be a great explanation, be ready"Maos take a deep breath ad speak very fast"I can copy other people semblance,i Have a lot of energy,I'm afraid during the night due to my extremely bad mood, I use a semblance during my sleep on the whole school and forcibly put everyone in a state of sleep or an illusion of being so tired they rather sleep for a literally month before moving"

Ruby almost jumped off Surprise "THE WHOLE ACADEMY ?! you can copy semblances ?!"

"yes,i know it's crazy bla bla bla,anyways, something like that happened before..twice actually, but it got fixed after a day,I just need to be aware of which semblance i used in order to cancel the effect directly if need or At least I can tell how long the effect will occur,i just need to touch one person of your team,not you obviously because you apparently resisted the effect..SOMEHOW"

ruby stares at Maos, she seems to have a hundred the question "wh-but how ?..can you ?-what if ?"

"I will answer any question later,"said Maos,ruby froze in her thought "oh..okay...I think you can enter...If a little touch is all you need.."

ruby fully the door and let the sorcerer enters

Maos look at the room bunks bed...and it does seem dangerous, he looks at ruby for a second "homemade bunk beds ?...it's smart...and dangerous idea...I won't judge, I have a small laboratory in my room and a small workshop"

"you have a workshop in your room ?!" almost screams ruby" like for weapons and stuff ?!"Maos backs down a bit "...it some way yes I guess...anyways,let's take a look at your team"

Maos go toward Yang first, he gives a look at Ruby before using [Identify] on Yang

"by the way...I'm sorry for last night...I was in a bad mood...I promise I'm not like that every day...I just had a horrible day...I receive some bad news"

ruby had a second of confusion before answering "oh that..right, don't worry about it..Coco Adel told me about you...I end up on her after our..almost conversation,she seem really nice... she asks me what happened and stuff...according to her and team CFVY, you're a really nice person...it's also the impression I had so far...and also I'm aware that people sometimes just have a bad day,Coco mentioned you would probably apologize as soon as you could,Yang and Weiss had supported the idea, blake a little less hope for it...weirdly.."

Maos feel relieved that ruby didn't take to heart his bad behavior. he's almost surprised by her maturity in this situation

his eyes move toward the sleeping yang, he raises his hand to touch her shoulder "by the way you sure it's okay ?"

"Just avoid touching her hair, she will punch you, also they can still wake up, they just..fall asleep back again,"said ruby,Maos just move his hand and touched yang's shoulder

[identify]

---

yang has been effect by an effect similar to the Mass suggestion spell effect at the 6th level, the suggestion is "I'm tired and I want to sleep, I just want to stay in bed forever"

this is Maos said during his sleep

the sleep effect will last for another 3 Hours unless the people affected get injured heavily

---

[mass suggestion?! how the actual fu-..]

Mass suggestion is a 6th level:You suggest a course of activity (limited to a sentence or two) and magically influence up to twelve creatures of your choice that you can see within range and that can hear and understand you. Creatures that can't be charmed such as Grim or certain animals are immune to this effect. The suggestion must be worded in such a manner as to make the course of action sound reasonable. Asking the creature to stab itself, throw itself onto a spear, immolate itself, or do some other obviously harmful act automatically negates the effect of the spell.
Each target pursues the course of action you described to the best of its ability. The suggested course of action can continue for the entire duration. If the suggested activity can be completed in a shorter time, the spell ends when the subject finishes what it was asked to do.
You can also specify conditions that will trigger a special activity during the duration. For example, you might suggest that a group of soldiers give all their money to the first beggar they meet. If the condition isn't met before the spell ends, the activity isn't performed.

there's also a 2nd level spell "suggestion", which has the same effect but only for 8-hour max and 1 target only,Maos actually knows and can use that spell, in case he needs it, but he never used it so far

but mass suggestion is something else, the fact Maos reproduce a 6th level is crazy..but the crazier thing..is that at 6th level you can at best affect up to 12 people with it...but it like he cast the spell over and over again till it affects everyone in the academy..how is not dead due to energy loss ?

the real problem is that since he can actually truly cast spell up to 5th level, he's unable to cancel a 6th level effect, the spell will last the maximum duration which is 8 hours thankfully the effect occurs during the night and therefore part of the duration has been used, it should be done in 3 to 4 hours.

Maos go back to his mind as ruby touches his shoulder," hey, you're okay too ? you seem to daydream a bit" he also realizes he still has his hand on yang's shoulder

"yeah, right am totally okay,I'm totally not scared by my own power right now"said Maos as ruby stand next to him

he and ruby look down on yang" so how is she? you can fix it ? also I think you should take your hand off her now"said ruby

[she really looks like Raven...and a lot like My mom...why does everyone in the Branwen family look similar to people of the past ?]

he and ruby suddenly see yang's eyes slowly open, still half asleep,Maos immediately let go of her shoulder and back down,ruby as well

yang just on the side a bit and fell asleep again as Ruby and Maos are frozen in place

"Okay...the thing is...I did cause this...they will be asleep for at least 3h, a maximum of 4 hours"

"3 hours ?! but we have classes!" almost scream ruby" Maos put his hand on her shoulder "don't worry, I'm pretty sure, the teachers are also asleep..."

"some people in the academy may wake up earlier, due to higher resistant to sleep effect or manipulation in general, kinda like you probably were also affected by it, but you natural resistant made the effect last a shorter time, also don't worry, no one is in danger, they are just asleep"

Maos touches ruby's shoulder [identify]

---

ruby has to resist partially the effect, she was only affected for 4 hours

---

"oh" react ruby as she listening Maos's explanation "so...everything okay ?"

"yep, they just sleep, everyone is in their bed, just taking a nap," said Maos, ruby raise an eyebrow" but what about the people that worked during the night ? the staff of Beacon"

"..."Maos stayed silent for a second and think "I haven't met anyone nor seen anyone...si I guess the effect them also go to their own bed and fall also,you told they could still wake up and move a little"

they both stand in silence in the room for a few second

"how do you intend to explain it to everyone? they will all wake up around the same time...in the middle of the day, would they find it weird ?"said ruby

Maos sigh heavily "I...still haven't about that part yet...I have 3 hours to figure it out"Maos face palms a bit

Ruby thinks a bit and goes toward her desk and takes the book she had last night

"oh,it's this book again..."said Maos, "it's the thing you wanted help with right ?"

"yeah...I mean since we have 3 hours ahead of us...class...won't be a problem...then...you can help with this ?" beg ruby as she shows the book

Maos grab it and look at it, it's a lesson book

"Miss Goodwitch told to work on it, since I'm behind in every class except combat by 2 years I need to catch up...and so she gave me this to work on it...she said you could help speed up the whole learning process"

Maos's eyes widened as he take the book and look at it "right,I forgot you skip 2 years..., that book is weirdly small",he open it, and the book states several other learning books that Ruby need to use

"miss Goodwtich gave you that much work ?"said Maos

"i don't have to learn all of the books right now, but I need to apparently know at least the basis of certain subjects for this year, she said she would send a note to you so you could help"

"well, she didn't..."Maos think a bit as he hears Yang snoring "but I believe she may have been affected by my semblance too"

he gives a quick read on a few pages it "well, that's a lot of work..i see why Goodwitch asks my help for this,you won't be able to progress not reach even a decent level in some of those things without external teaching, unless you think yourself able to read 26 books, learn and understand them and mostly be able to use what you learn in it, WHICH IS STILL POSSIBLE, I'm just saying it would take too much of your time, you're 2 years ahead of everyone your age, you have more things to deal with"

"so you can help me ?" asks ruby with eyes full of hope,"Miss Goodtwich said you could help learn things 10 times faster than anyone to catch up"

Maos roll his eyes [I see the teacher is fully aware I can do a few spells to learn every book by words and remember it clearly...I can read 500 pages in less than an hour with magic, Miss Gootciwh is not away I can do magic, but she probably deduces I have some abilities to learn faster and better...or may this just be a plan Of Ozpin to bring me and ruby closer, anyway I will still help ruby, she's not aware of this whole plot of the old wizard]

Maos close the book "you have just the right guy...I can help and I will"

"you will really help me ?!" react Ruby jumping with joy,Maos give her back the book "of course I will, did you think I wouldn't ?"

Maos then got a reminder of the situation as Weiss fall from her bed

"I promise I will help...after I manage to solve this whole situation...", he start moving toward the exit of the room "how about you stay here and make none of your team injured themselves from falling from the bed, I will search for a way to wake everyone sooner...and Mostly to search a fake explanation which doesn't get me expelled,i will come back to you if I found a solution"

ruby sees MAos leaving, she follows him a bit outside "anything I can do to help ?"

"I have to figure something out, like I said you should stay here, maybe even walk around the dorm to see anyone waking up, I need to go", on that Maos leaves in the corridors, as his back is turned to Ruby and she can't see his hand "book of magic, please me you have something to help me!"

"good luck! I'll be looking around" said ruby as she heard Weiss getting up and going back to bed, she look inside and see that Blake is about to fall

"blake!"said ruby as she goes to help her friends

---

outside the dorm, Maos is looking throughout the book of magic, to search for a ritual or anything that can help him.

he arrived at the main court of the academy, he walk along it, and he suddenly feel a cold wind..too cold

he looks around as he draws his sword, and his eyes end up on a dark figure at first, but he then looks closer, and he sees Amber, more spectrally shaped than her

"huh ?", he froze, the ghost smiling at him, he stare at it as he feel like the air is getting heavier

he clenches his teeth and made his sword appear in his hands and he charges at the ghost

"don't fuck with me on that!"

he swing at the ghost shape, he blinked only once and the moment he open his eyes, he see that his swing didn't hit anything, he also realizes he is now somewhere else,a cold and dark place, he couldn't see anything; his vision became progressively clearer as time passed

" how about you simply show yourself? are the gods cowards now? using the soul of the dead to lure me here ?"

his eyesight became clear and he could now see his surround, he was in a cave, the very same cave he was trapped underground

"incorrect," said a loud voice, the voice of the god of darkness "her soul doesn't belong to that of the dead, Yet"

Maos suddenly found himself being sent flying by a mysterious as the shape of the cave start changing, the wall, the ground, the ceiling everything is moving, he kept falling and hitting every wall, he suddenly sees light as he seem to fall in a tunnel

at some point he falls flat on the cold ground, he gets and sees the god of Darkness and the god of light in their humanoid form with both their hand behind their back

Maos look around, he can't only see dark again, but he could clear the shape of the gods

the sorcerer could feel the god of darkness approaching as a strange small ball of light appear in his hand, the light then goes to the god of light as he grabs, the little ball suddenly shine bright, it reveals Amber, standing next to the god of light, in silent

Maos realise his situation, he could feel the god of light almost smiling while the god of darkness stay on the side in silent, serious

"we witness your success in our first trial "said the god of light

"trial?TRIAL !?" almost scream Maos "I don't care about any of this! I'm not devoted to either of you, you have no power over me !"

Maos's eyes turn to Amber's soul shard, and he can feel it's only a part of it

"a god using a soul as a hostage how UNHOLY, the god of light finally admits his dark side," said maos as he starts sweating and heavy breathing, he is getting scared

[how did they get me ?...I thought the gods didn't have power anymore...I mean i know they still have some powers, but they can't act like true gods anymore...or perhaps...they manage to gather back some power?is that even possible? why wait so long then? why wait for me to awaken then ?]

"the situation has changed, my brother and I spoke of your recent evolution throughout the year, and we believe, we are ready to give you another chance, we intend to offer a chance of redemption and not face divine punishment when we are finally called back in this world"

the god of light suddenly grabs his soul of amber by the throat

"another chance? RIGHT AFTER you TRIED TO KILL WITH A MODIFIED GRIM ?" react Maos

the god of light's hand slowly tightened around Amber's soul as he ignores Maos," you will go through those trials one way or another, each trial will be followed with a painful reward"

Maos begin to see the crack in their soul of Amber , which made him completely stop talking and even start sweating, they threatened to destroy her soul

"you succeed in the first trial, here is your first painful reward, the missing piece of Amber's soul"

the god of light suddenly let go of her soul of amber and let it fall on the ground it seem to go through the ground like it was water, and the ground suddenly change to show an image of amber's body, and the missing part of the soul going in the body

the god of darkness suddenly spoke "this your reward, the chance to maybe save her"

Maos suddenly felt strange, he felt...thankful as he sees the soul going into Amber's body, however, his eyes turned to the gods again,Amber's soul is back in her body, and they have no hostage anymore, the sorcerer regain a bit of his confidence "what do you want ?!"

the two gods look at him in silence and then the god of light suddenly fade away into nothingness, the god of darkness remains a few seconds before leaving, he finally spoke "prepare for your next trial, it may come at any moment, here's a word of advice, see this As my own reward for the first trial"

"to reach the 6th level of magic, you will not find the answer in a book nor a spell, the key is in the experience of life, you simply need for once to fully listen to your desires and let them go either by accepting and satisfying them or giving up on them"

"What ?" react Maos, the sorcerer suddenly begin the fall again, he starts screaming

---

Maos screams, opening his eyes, he looks around, he is in his bed, in his room, in Beacon, he stops screaming and is now confused

"heh ?"

suddenly someone enters the room in a rush, it's coco "is something wrong ?!"

Maos look at the time and the calendar, it's 10 am, of the same day

"hey, you're finally awake !"said Coco, "can't believe it, I've trying to wake you up for like an hour, and the moment I leave to get coffee, you wake up...seriously ?you own me a Coffee now"

Maos look at her "what ?"

---

and that's it for this chapter, hope you like it, and maybe see you in the next one!