Within a secret room known to only few, tens of mages were gathered, seemingly awaiting for something to happen. The room was no ordinary room as the heavy scent of medicinal plants and the humming sounds of magic artifacts reigned all around.
"Will you finally tell me what we're doing here?" A young man turned towards a senior next to him. The senior looked like the typical mage: garbed in long robes while carrying around a giant staff.
The old man sighed when that question passed through his hears. His curious apprentice has been poking him on the matter during the entire trip.
"Since we're here might as well just 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." The old mage puffed his chest, stating a fact that any other mage would take pride in.
As the he was about to gloat more to his apprentice, a high pitched obnoxious voice interrupted the two of them.
"I thought only distinguished mages were to be in this room? What are these peasants doing in front of me?"
As he spoke, the newcomer raised a hand, revealing a hand fully adorned in expensive magical artifacts. Items that would immediately attract the young man's focus. He tried it hide the look he just gave earlier but it did not go unnoticed.
"Keep your eyes away lad. Your poor master could never afford even one of these not in a thousand year." The newcomer took the opportunity to flap his mouth more.
The old man pulled his apprentice behind him, shielding him from any further verbal harm from the newcomer. Calm as he always was, he stared at him right in the eye without any fear and said: "My lord, should I remind you the King chose me personally, unlike some people who got here just because of, um... special circumstances."
Every word that came out of the old man's mouth sounded respectful yet, the hints of sarcasm still spoke very loudly.
The newcomer's face immediately turned red. It was obvious he was greatly restraining himself from casting all types of destructive spells on the pair.
"Humph." The arrogant mage could only glare back as he distanced himself.
"Don't mind him, boy." With him gone, the old man tried to comfort his apprentice, who looked a bit uncomfortable from the recent 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." He slightly shook his head while gazing at the mages who were both obese and dressed extravagantly. He could 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 single person spoke. It was an old man garbed in long white robes. He stood slightly hunched with his hands behind his back, staring at the crowd with a slight smirk on his face.
The moment the crowd laid eyes upon him, shouts of admiration would immediately fill the room.
"Archmage Vis!"
They even started slightly bowing down showing respect to the so called Archmage. It was all well deserved attention because 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 raised a hand, signaling them to stop with the formalities.
He waited for the crowd to settle down before finally raising his voice again.
"Greetings fellow mages. You might be all wondering about your purpose of being here. Today your curiosities shall be satiated."
"But beware! This matter is of utmost importance to the Great Kingdom's safety…"
"If this matter will NEVER get out of this room. 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.