The characters and plot in this story are copyrighted by the author.
All the characters in this story are purely products of my imagination and are not based on real people. Any resemblance is purely coincidental and is not intended.
If you are looking for just sex this is not the story for you.
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Sorry that I took forever on this but now I think I should be getting a chapter out at least every few weeks. My life is still hectic and busy but I am getting used to it now. This isn't too long but I had to get myself back into the state of mind to write this but I have a lot of new ideas. I would like to thank everyone who has emailed and gave me the motivation to get this going again. I would also like to thank everyone who has read this story and enjoyed it. The next chapter might be out fairly quick (a week, maybe less) since I have too many great ideas for the next chapter. I hope the everyone enjoys this chapter as much as the others even if it doesn't have any real action but still sets up where I plan on going with this story.
The Black Adept Chapter 7: Voices of the Wise By Matt
Kia's POV
After that my life changed forever and in more ways then I even realize now. I was sent to the academy as soon as they could arrange an escort for me fit for the son of a High Lord, even Adept Morrin accompanied me. My father was so proud that not only was his other son going to be a mage but had the potential to be one of the greatest mages in history. Everyone was so excited they didn't even realize my backpack moved occasionally or that I kept sneaking away to get milk for the dire wolf cub, which seemed to be constantly hungry. I tried giving him meat but I don't think he was ready to eat it yet so I hoped I was doing everything right.
By the next morning I was already in a carriage heading for Molas and the Academy. The trip took almost a week and a half in the carriage but I barely noticed it my mind was constantly on the Academy except when the cub, which I called Pest, started nudging me to let me know he was hungry again. I had the carriage to myself most of the time so it was easy to keep him hidden even if he wanted to move around a lot now. I had managed to sneak a book about dire wolves out of the library before I left and read that to try and distract me during the journey. I learned that it only took about a month for a cub to be able to take care of itself. That meant I would have to find a way to take care of it for at least another 2 weeks before it could begin hunting rabbits and other smalls animals. The fun thing would be trying to train it to hunt since I was a human and couldn't show it, or so I thought.
When we got to Molas I was amazed at the size of it. I had never been there before even though I had plenty of opportunities. It was the home to almost 80,000 people, the largest city in the realm by far. The great city was supported by many great wonders of magic. Some brought water out of the ground into public fountains. Others give light to the streets at night, and they even had an enchantment that kept all but the lightest of rain from falling in the city. I was amazed by everything but most of all I was amazed by the Academy. It rose above the city so high that it looked like it was a mountain not a building. Lights of all colors shone and sparkled from everywhere. The buildings looked so white that it hurt the eyes to stare at them and everyone there wore robes of beautiful colors. I knew what some of those meant from common knowledge and from the short lessons Adept Morrin had been giving me. I was still only thirteen and a half so all this was completely beyond anything I ever imagined. That was when I noticed the looks and stares of everyone. I didn't realize that now my potential was unlocked and since I didn't have any training to shield it was blazing brightly to everyone with the skill to notice. Instructors and students a like stopped to stare as I walked to the office of the Lord Adept. Normally a new student would only go to the quarter master to receive their necessary supplies and assigned a room and then to the main offices to pick up a schedule. Since my case was special and I was his grandson, I was to see Lord Adept Terit.
When I walked into his office I was disappointed I was expecting to see many magical artifacts and mystical things but it looked just like any other office. It had some shelves for books, a few chairs, and a desk nothing special for the head of the Academy. I learned later that my grandfather was a very modest man and didn't like to show off his wealth or power. I had met my grandfather several times before but never in his full robes, almost all gold to symbolize his position with blue cuffs with a red stripe in it to show he practices wizardry with a specialization in battle magic. Even in this humble office I could feel the power that his sheer presence radiated and I couldn't even feel his potential yet. He looked at me with some surprise but not as much as everyone else seemed to show.
He simply said, "Welcome to the Academy Kai, I can tell you will do great things already and I hope you surprise me further. Now tell me about how you came to this power, it must be quite a story."
I was torn should I tell him the truth or conceal it. My caution won and I told him a modified version that kept my secrets. He seemed to accept my story and then I was sent to get my supplies and be assigned a room. After that I picked up my schedule, I was to start classes the next day and would be given tutors to make sure I was up to pace with the other students in my class who started earlier. I had a single room now until I caught up so I could study alone. That would change soon enough but for the moment I knew Pest was safe there. The next few weeks passed quickly and I found that I actually understood magical theory quite easily and took to it with a passion I had never had for anything. Things were going great and I had no problems at all, that was until almost a month after I arrived.
I had finished all my classes and met with all my tutors and had filched some milk for pest. I got back to my room only to find that Pest wasn't there, I looked everywhere but it was a tiny enough room. I didn't understand how he had gotten out since the door was shut so I thought someone must have found him. I couldn't imagine who since I had to clean my own room and no one was supposed to enter the room of another without reason or permission, even teachers. Then I felt a small tickle of magic coming from outside the door but it didn't feel right, not like the magic I was beginning to learn. Then the door opened and in came Pest with a rat in his mouth looking happy as ever. That when I realized that he had actually had innate magic of his own, it was poorly controlled but still there. I also realized I had the same less controlled magic in me too and realized that this was the magic of the lord of beasts. I also realized that since he had moved on to hunting I had to let him go now. Dire wolves move from milk to real food fast then almost any other mammal. Now I had to figure out how to get him out of the academy and into the forests outside of Molas where he could be safe. He had also managed to almost double in size already so I couldn't even smuggle him out in my pack like I originally thought I would be able to do.
That when I had an idea, well I don't even think it was my idea I think that it was given to me since I didn't realize it was possible until I thought it. I could fly him out; all I had to do was change into a large bird and carry him the forest. I only then realized how the beast lord worked; he manipulated small thoughts so no one realized he was interfering. It's also how he helps his followers when they need him or plays tricks on them. So I had him follow me up to a tower and willed myself to change into a great raptor and I felt my body shift until I was looking through eyes not my own. I felt the animal instincts inside me and knew how to survive as a raptor and fly. I took one practice flight before picking up Pest who didn't seemed phased at all by this, he trusted me completely. I flew to the nearest forest and dropped him off but couldn't leave him like that. I felt a bond to him as if he was my link to the best lord. I had an idea then which I believe was my own but am still not sure. I changed into a dire wolf myself and stood beside him and allowed my instincts to take over and we hunted.
The next year settled into a pattern I went to all my classes and then finished any assignment with ease. Then I met Kinren who taught me a few more advanced tricks and spells he knew well we talked about things and simply enjoyed our time together. Then I would excuse myself with the excuse that I was going to study. Some evenings I actually went to the library to study and some I would go hunt or learn the joys of beast magic. I was far more primal and less controllable then wizardry but more enjoyable for the lack of rules. I could shape shift, use it to bring up emotions in others, speak to animals, heighten and sharpen my senses, make others senses want to ignore me, and still much more I was still discovering. My last evening activity I that was becoming more common was changing into a small animal and spying in on the sorcery classes so I could practice what I saw later. It used to be allowed for a mage to study both wizardry and sorcery but sometimes when used together they reacted, which almost always killed the mage, so it was now banned but I wanted to learn. I was already balancing between order and chaos so what should I care. Pest had made a home in the forests near the Academy and we got to see each other often.
The first big change in this routine was after almost a year and a half of being at the Academy. I had just left one of my classes and was hurrying to meet Kinren when a hand grabbed my shoulder, a very cold hand. I turned to see Adept Virasneal the most powerful necromancer in the Academy. She was an intimidating woman with pale blond hair that had turned almost white with age and her were ice blue and seemed to radiated cold. She was over two hundred and thirty years old and the oldest mage in the Academy by far. Those you look into death can avoid its grasp much longer. She had a presence that made students and even many fully trained mages step aside or even turn around when she was walking in their direction. I found her powerful gaze on me and suddenly couldn't move no matter how badly I wanted to run. She stared at me and I felt eternity pass and could even swear I was looking into the silver eyes of Nellin. She stared at me judging me and then suddenly it was over and I felt I could move again. Now though I didn't feel the need to run I felt more curious to what she wanted. The silence lingered and I was almost tempted to leave rather then to try and speak to her but I wouldn't let myself. So I gathered my courage and prepared myself to speak with one of the most feared mages of the Academy.
In a quiet and respectful voice I asked "Is there anything you require of me Adept."
Her response didn't explain much, "There is nothing I require of you but there is something you require of me."
"What do I require of you?" I asked confused.
She looked at me like a slow student that didn't understand something simple and said, "Have you forgotten that you serve Nellin as well as Sor-Taen well you were running around learning your beast magic. It is time that you start learning the gifts of the great lady as well."
I was stunned I guess I knew I would have to learn necromancery but I thought I would learn it on my own like I was learning beast magic. As soon as I thought it I realized that I was wrong I was learning it from Pest and he was linked to the beast god so I wasn't without guidance. I realized that I was being offered teaching from perhaps the greatest necromancer in the world. I also realized that it was time I began to serve those I was sworn to and stop playing around. So with that thought I agreed and the real struggle began. I took to all my lessons with even more seriousness and went from a star student to the top of all my classes. I dedicated almost all my free time to study; even though I tried to have a little fun with it but who could blame me I was still young even if I was growing up fast.
Soon I developed a feel for necromancery and began to feel comfortable walking the halls of death at the same time as those of the living. The practice of necromancery eventually creates a link between the user and the realm of the dead so they may walk one simply by closing their eyes in the other. In time began to make even normal sleep impossible since every time I closed my eyes I could see the lands of death. This meant I no longer needed to sleep even though I occasionally required periods of meditation to sort my thoughts. When I first reached this step I was constantly overwhelmed by sensation of walking in two places at once. It only took a little while thought for me to learn that I could shut one set of eyes so I would be in only one plane at a time.
Within years I was looked upon with amazement as I advanced almost as fast as the teachers could place me. No one had ever seen someone's power develop and focus so fast before. Normally the more power a mage has the longer they spend training to use it so with he amount of potential I had most had thought I would need at least a decade to train if not as high as two. It was almost four years into my studies when I was reading an ancient book that mentioned reference to an obscure legend. It was written by a historian who was studying the beliefs during the time of the first Academy. He wrote something he claimed to have found in an ancient text that has long since crumbled. His writing was seen as foolish by the Academy since they didn't want to admit that their ancestors believed in silly prophesies. This prophesy was about a war between good and evil that happened every thousand years. For each side a champion was born who had greater power then any other mage. It also said that the winner would decide the next thousand years. The historian claimed that the first Academy had been founded by one such champion who defeated the evil which had held sway for approximately a millennium. Mages said it was coincidences not prophesy and anyone with a brain wouldn't believe such nonsense. I knew instantly this involved me but no matter how much I tried I could not find anymore references to such a prophesy.
My time at the Academy went quickly and with little of note ever happening except my unheard of rate of magical development. Kinren dragged me on many "adventures" as he called but to me they were distractions, sometimes fun ones but I seldom learned anything from them. Now though it seems like I find myself on an own adventure of my own but where it would lead I didn't know.
When Kinren and I got back to the Academy proper it was absolute chaos. Mages were screaming at each other, students were running about with little guidance and smoke and dust in the air from the battle that had just taken place. After a few minutes a few mages seemed to come to their senses and started to try and round up the students and get them back to the dormitories and organize the mages into civilized conversation. Kinren jumped into action and used his charm and natural presence he seemed to radiate to calm down a nearby cluster of students and start herding them to their rooms. I wished I had that type of natural authority; no one ever really listened to me like that. That's when I spotted a group of mages marching through the center of this chaos and watched the crowd part before and go silent. The Lord Adept and the council of adepts were ready to speak. All the mages fell in behind then expect a few who took it upon themselves to continue to round up students with the help of some of the older students. They were heading to the arena where magical competitions were held and where, in the few rare times it happened, the Aurostemptus was held. The Aurostemptus meant, in the old tongue, voices of the wise. It was a gathering of all mages who could attend and was only called twelve times in the history of the third Academy, all when a dire threat had arisen.
I knew that I would want to hear what was said so I moved into an out of the way corner and shape shifted into a large hawk. I was able to easily get into a position to see and hear what happened.
To be continued...
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