Within the Royal Capital, a tens of old mages were gathering in a large room. It was no normal room as the heavy scent of medicinal plants and the humming sounds of magic artifacts reigned.
"Will you finally tell me what we're doing here?"
A young man inquisitively turned his head towards an old man next to him. The old man had left him ignorant on the matter during the entire journey. He would play with his long beard that he was so proud of whenever he brought it up. The old man always thought that the beard was what completed his look. Like most of the old men gathered in the room, he wore a simple blue robe with mysterious engravings on it. Only that one young man accompanying him wore simpler and less eye catching blue robe.
The old man fed up of his apprentice's inquiring sighed as he decided to give him light on the matter.
"Well, since we're in a secure place, might as well tell you."
"Remember the research I've been going through for months now?"
"Oh, the scrolls the King himself sent?" The boy scratched his head, trying to remember what the correlation was with this day.
"Yeah, those scrolls. It's a top-secret matter, but since the ritual will start today, it shouldn't matter."
The old man looked around to see if anyone was staring at them before whispering in the young apprentice's ear:
"The King himself chose the most prestigious masters of magic to conduct a ritual that has been rumored to have kept the kingdom safe since forever."
"Hehe, and your master is one of these honored individuals."
As the old mage was about to gloat more to his apprentice, a voice heavy with pride them.
"I thought only distinguished mages were to be in this room? What is a mere peasant doing in front of me?"
The speaking mage slightly raised a hand, revealing a hand fully adorned in expensive magical artifacts. The young apprentice's eyes were immediately hooked as he had never seen such luxury up close. Unlike him, his master kept his composure, ignoring the mage's taunts and show-offs.
"My lord, should I remind you the King chose me personally, unlike some people who got here just because of, um... special circumstances." The apprentice's master responded respectfully, but the hint of shrewdness and sarcasm still spoke very loudly.
"Humph." The arrogant mage could only glare as he distanced himself from the pair.
"Don't mind him, boy." The master tried to comfort his apprentice, who looked a bit uncomfortable from the latter exchange.
"I don't know what will become of this kingdom… almost half of these old-timers here somehow managed to bribe the Royal Advisor to get here without the skills and reputation necessary." He slightly shook his head while gazing at the mages who were both obese and dressed extravagantly. He only recognize a few renowned mages who actually had real skill. The rest were just show-offs.
"Gentlemen, now that everyone is present, may I have your humble attention, please?"
The pleasantries and small talk within the room were interrupted as a person spoke. He wore a white robe and looked like he was one step away from the grave. He also looked so frail, but somehow his voice could be heard by everyone despite speaking in such a gentle and weak way. This was no ordinary man to be able to get everyone's attention in such a seemingly effortless way.
He really was no ordinary man as everyone turned to see who spoke, their eyes all shone in amazement and respect.
"Archmage Vis!"
Everyone even bowed once they saw that one figure. After all, that decrypt looking old man was considered as one of the most powerful mages within the kingdom!
"You honor me too much." Archmage Vis signaled them to stop the formalities with a small smile on his face.
He waited for the crowd to settle down before finally addressing the true motive of everyone's arrival to the room.
"I want you all to listen carefully, for this matter is very important to the Great Kingdom's safety…"
"This information shall pass through your ears once and never be uttered through your mouths again. The Inquisition itself shall mandate it, so heed my words strongly."
A chill passed through everyone's spine once the word Inquisition was mentioned. A word mentioned so casually but held heavy meaning. This was an Order personally created by the Founding King. The Inquisition were the protector of the Kingdom and its secrets. If there was ever one loose mouth, no matter how, that person along with every witness would forever never see light again.
Archmage Vis approvingly nodded, seeing the crowd's reaction.
"Now watch and listen." The old mage waved his hand, and a projection appeared ahead for everyone to see.
He pointed towards a blue-colored continent in the North: "The Great Kingdom, founded by King Ortus 800 years ago. It lived through undisturbed prosperity for decades until…"
The old man slowly moved his finger towards a blood-red continent in the West: "The wretched demons from the Red Continent. They, out of nowhere, concentrated all their armies in one powerful and fast attack."
The blue continent slowly lost its color, and almost half of it was now painted in blood red.
"Their advance was unstoppable… countless lives were lost. And the demons were slowly reaching these same walls that protect us."
Archmage Vis took a deep breath, and hope filled his eyes as he continued speaking.
"When the shadow of defeat loomed over the Royal Capital, one man—no… one Hero—fought valiantly against the horde."
The projection was now showing a dazzling youth with blonde hair and blue eyes, his sword raised high, with the surrounding demons watching in fear.
"Hero Bob…" the apprentice whispered, looking in amazement at the projection of the young man.
"With his heroism and strength, we managed to disrupt the demons' offensive and finally chase them away from our Great Kingdom." The old man sighed and closed his eyes with relief, as if appreciating the great act of victory centuries ago.
"But master… we already know all this. What's the point of him saying all that?" the apprentice curiously whispered to his master.
The old man could only wryly smile at the question.
"You might not believe it, but Archmage Vis used to be an opera maestro. He likes to add spice and plot to everything…"
"Weird guy…" the apprentice whispered to himself.
The Archmage slightly coughed a few times once he noticed the crowd giving him weird looks.
"Of course, that is the story that you all believe to be true. But it is only half true!"
"Listen well! Truth is, the Hero Bob was never of this world!"
His statement was immediately followed by whispers and raised eyebrows.
"Not only that, but the Hero is nothing but the byproduct of research coming from the founders of the Council of Mages!"
"The same research you were all given!"
The former maestro's plot twist proved to be effective on the crowd. He nodded delightfully, seeing everyone's reaction.
And the crowd—they were not only shocked but also utterly convinced. Such words coming from the mouth of the Archmage himself would never be a lie. The scrolls they had studied were another undeniable proof. They all had a general idea of what kind of purpose these scrolls were used for. And the summoning of a foreign entity was part of it.
"And your purpose today will be the same as the founding fathers of the Council of Truth."
"Summoning the next Hero!"
A long while after the orchestrated revelation, all the mages in the room were working on a particular magic circle inscribed on the ground. Some were enchanting, some were inscribing more runes, and some were mixing herbs. Only one young man was running around doing chores for every small needed thing. Strangely he was the only apprentice in the room. He thought of it as a honor to be able to do all kinds of task but soon realized there were too many tasks to be taken care of. His feeling of honor soon turned to exhaustion.
As for the Archmage, he was slowly walking by each mage. He was moving his meticulous eyes everywhere, not leaving a single detail unchecked. He had to do so to see if everything truly could meet the quality they needed for the Ritual.
The Archmage slightly frowned after doing a full round on everyone's work. He could easily deduce that most of the mages present in the room were terribly unqualified for their tasks! Not only were they working slower than the others, but the quality of their work were subpar.
'Bunch of incompetents… That advisor be damned for choosing these fools,' he thought to himself.
'We don't have time nor resources to teach another batch… I'll have to make up personally for the gap they're creating…' The Archmage sighed angrily as he moved around helping wherever he could offer help.
Hours of non-stop working passed and finally, they finished with everything. The mages sat in exhaustion as the older ones literally slumped on the ground. As for the Archmage he felt like he could barely hold on from all the extra work he's been helping with.
"It's beautiful…," said the apprentice weakly as he poured water all over his head.
A large magic circle that occupied half the room quietly shone, slightly rippling from time to time. It was beauty in the eyes of the apprentice, but the Archmage did not look satisfied at all.
'Despite my aid and instructions… the magic circle is not perfectly stable… the runes are not perfectly aligned… whoever concocted the herbs needs to resign… That damned advisor!'
The white-robed old man was internally raging. Not only he had to do extra work from earlier but now he'll have to use more mana than usual to stabilize the circle and make up for everything else!
"We take a pause of an hour to recuperate, then start the ritual. The King expects the Hero. We're already behind schedule. There is much more to do…"
An hour later, once everyone had recovered, the ritual finally started. As instructed by the scrolls, each mage channeled their mana toward the circle, activating it for the first time.
Archmage Vis stood closest to the circle, controlling the mana flow and keeping it as stable as possible. Everything went smoothly as it started. As the magic went through, the magic circle slowly activated. The Archmage's eyes brightened as things were going all going according to plan.
His expectations would soon plummet as he felt an anomaly in the circle. The success they had witnessed was all but the calm before the storm. Like walking normally after having had a dangerous fall.
The edges of the magic circle started to dangerously ripple. The Archmage felt it, disaster would strike if they continued on the ritual!
"We must stop this!!!!" the Archmage shouted.
If the magic went out of control, he did not know what might happen. It could vary from a small explosion to a city-wiping one. Hell, it was even probable to summon a horde of demons at this point. The possibilities of what might happen if they failed were infinite. The ritual had to be stopped immediately!
"W-we… we can't!!" the apprentice's master shouted back at him.
The Archmage soon realized that even he couldn't control his mana anymore. It was like his mana was being sucked into a strong whirlpool with only a small rope to try to pull it back.
"Oh no…" The old man's eyes widened—it was too late.
It happened within a matter of a second. An explosion so big, so loud, that even the King up high the palace could hear the echoes.