In the academy 2

Bythos began to tirelessly translate the book at hand, without breaks, save for when he was needed.

Despite what it appears, Archmage Zaroth still gives lessons, albeit only to a select few, with the lessons being few and far between. The mages who are being taught by him are expected to have some degree of independence of learning.

Bythos went into a rather large room, for the number of people in it, together with Archmage Zaroth. The four others in the room are presumably his students.

"I hope the time I gave for your own exploration was fruitful. There isn't much to teach at this level and higher, so you'll have to rely on your own intuition and talents, and even a bit of experience." Archmage Zaroth continued, "You're all adept mages, but to cross the threshold and become master mages, you'll need to have access to level 5 spells in at least a single path. The title of Archmage is a given title, but in the past it was bestowed to those who were level 5 in three paths or more."

As Archmage Zaroth continued, using magic, he drew several graphs on the blackboard.

"Each person's magical potential can be represented with this general graph," he said while pointing to what appears to be a graph with increasing gradient at a descending rate, "as you progress, it will be harder and harder for you to advance into the next level of magic, until the point where the limit of your magical potential is reached."

"At this point, there are two ways to go further. One is via some form of miracle or other, the other way is via these." Archmage Zaroth said, as he took out from his pockets a handful of colourful gems.

The four students widened their eyes in disbelief, one of them said, "Sir, are you sure about giving these to us? These are invaluable with a plethora of uses."

Archmage Zaroth simply waved it away and said, "I'm beyond the stage where these are useful for me. Normally if these aren't used for empowering yourself, they're used for the casting of strong ritual spells. However, I don't have a need to cast them here. May as well make use of it whenever possible."

Archmage Zaroth placed one gem in each of his students' hands and noticed he still has one left. He turned to Bythos and gave it to him.

"Here, you can try using this." Archmage Zaroth said.

"I can't accept something so valuable." Bythos replied while pushing it away.

The other students chimed in and said, "He's right, it's too valuable for him. You could give it to one of us, and we could use it to further ourselves."

Archmage Zaroth rebutted, "The usage of magic gems to empower yourself has exponentially diminishing returns. After the initial usage, you'll need much much more than just this single additional gem. So don't think about it." Turning to Bythos, he continued, "Besides, I am curious whether you'll be able to learn magic with this."

Bythos finally accepted it, and gripped it firmly in his hands.

"Feel the energy stored within the gem, and let it pass uninhibited through you, for the human body is but the mediary between the soul and the world. Only by letting it through can your soul see through to understanding."

Bythos tried his best to focus on the magic gem, closing his eyes in the process, but he couldn't feel anything.

When he opened his eyes again, the surroundings are completely different. He is shackled by chains from nowhere, leaving him dangling in space. Before him lay a giant gilded door, with an engraving that means megistus.

No matter how he struggled, Bythos couldn't free himself. As such, he decided to wait for now.

Eventually, he heard Archmage Zaroth's voice.

"You are now in the realm of megistus, who's domain is magic. Before you lay the door behind which is your goal. Walk towards it and push it open with all your might. Prove to him that you are worthy of wielding what you seek."

Archmage Zaroth's voice doesn't seem to be addressing Bythos in particular. It would seem that the students are also in a similar state.

But how could Bythos free himself from these chains, let alone walk towards the door and open it?

Still, it wouldn't hurt to try. There doesn't seem to be anything else here.

Bythos began to struggle with all his might in the hopes of loosening the chains, but the chains remained tightly wrapped around him. All Bythos had to show for his struggle is the crisp clanking of metal ringing throughout the place. Still, Bythos kept at it.

Finally, a loud booming voice roared, "You're being too noisy!"

A figure in robes appeared in front of Bythos and examined him curiously, and said, "You're not supposed to be here."

Following which, he proceeded to knock Bythos out.

When Bythos woke up, everyone else was waiting at the side for him.

"I hope you've all managed to advance to level 5 in at least one path. If so, then you're now officially adept mages." Archmage Zaroth announced.

The students faces show visible confusion, no doubt at what they have went through.

One of the students asked, "What was it that I experienced just now?"

Archmage Zaroth explained, "The empowering process. For the price of a magic gem, you are given access to the realm of megistus. The gate represents the threshold towards the next level you have access to, and pushing it open represents overcoming it."

Another student further asked, "Then is it possible to progress to level 6 in a path via empowering? We all know from the histories that it is probably not possible, but still..."

"No." Archmage Zaroth replied flatly without a hint of hesitation.

"But..." the student stuttered, "I saw there was another door after I had opened the first one."

Archmage Zaroth sighed and said, "Being able to see further indicates talent, but I'm afraid I have to dash your hopes. It is not possible no matter how many magic gems you consume in the process."

"You sound like you know something." Bythos can't help but say.

"Yes. In the past, I've accumulated enough magic gems to experiment with breaking the barrier to level 6. I saw the gate right in front of me..."

Archmage Zaroth's mouth began to quiver slightly, scarcely able to control himself.

"But the path is gone. No matter how much I ran towards it, I couldn't seem to get any closer. But with my perseverance, it had finally seemed to be in reach."

Now his hands started shaking very slightly, as if trying to control himself. With a sudden jerk, he clenched his fists, and a chair at the back became scrunched to the clenching of his fists.

"The pathway to the gate is destroyed. An abyss lay between me and the gate. An abyss which with all my magical prowess I cannot overcome. The great megistus noticed me in all this, and came down to personally inform me: 'The way forward has been gone since we left. Until such a time we deem appropriate, no one can pass.' Afterwards, I was sent back in disappointment."

The students nodded in understanding and did not question any further.

After a demonstration of their newly acquired magic, Archmage Zaroth congratulated the students and sent them on their way.