The Codex

The next morning, a delicious smell wafted throughout the house. Pheasant egg and meat were mixed with cheese and spices that created an extremely mouthwatering omelet. As it reached the bedrooms, it stirred Grim back to consciousness.

Feeling quite rejuvenated, he stretched out in the bed groggily thinking he was still back in the castle. He yawned and opened his eyes, remembering where he was when he nearly fell right out onto the floor. Next to him was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. She was wearing a black and white maids outfit with frivolous laces and a generous amount of cleavage that would make any man blush. She laid next to him on her side with her head propped up on her arm that stretched over her head.

Her ruby red eyes stared directly into his soul. Long black eyelashes curved and outlined them. Ruby red lips that matched her eyes were curved up into a mischievous grin. Shadowy black hair fell around her face and seemed to shimmer as if a slight breeze was blowing against it. Once she was sure he was awake, she playfully asked him "Do you always sleep for a whole day every time you sleep?"

When he registered what she was implying, he actually did fall onto the ground. Had he really slept for an entire day again? He thought to himself as he picked himself up. Hopefully his new teacher wasn't too angry with him. As he started to panic, Minerva coyly stood up and walked to the doorway to the hall, stopping briefly to giggle and murmur "just kidding, it was two days this time" as she pranced the rest of the way out of the frame. Her webbed black wings were retracted neatly on her back to allow her to move freely in tight spaces, but her whip-like tail caressed the door frame as she left. He heard her giggling all the way down the hallway followed by Kyriel admonishing her for picking on the poor lad.

Feeling like the fool he was, he bound down the hallway after her. Not to get any revenge but simply to find out what the tasty smell was that emanated from the kitchen. As he entered the room, Minerva was already placing down a plate with a huge omelet onto the table and beckoned him over to it, indicating that it was for him. His stomach grumbled as he sat in front of the plate and began to devour it as if he hadn't eaten in a week. He only stopped to breathe and take huge gulps from some water that she had placed after he started his feeding frenzy. His huge omelet was soon scarfed down and to his amazement, was replaced by another that looked just as succulent.

After the second serving he could eat no more unless he wanted to implode. He looked over at Minerva. She looked disheartened as a third omelet was put back into a dimensional pocket. Her master had never shown as much gratitude towards her cooking. Sure it was bland in the beginning, but she worked hard to improve her meals as time went on, learning from the various places they had traveled across the universe.

Still unhappy with her he just nodded towards her, instead of thanking her for the food, he simply got up and walked out of the room to find the old man. First he strolled into the opposite room, hoping he was around the hearth. Not there. He knocked and checked on the mages bedroom. Not there either. He continued walking down the hall, checking every room he was shown on the tour previously. No old grumpy mage was to be found. Giving up he turned around to go back to the study and sit by the fireplace. Halfway towards his destination he heard a door open and close with a creak. Behind him, Kyriel appeared from one of the rooms that was not shown to him and was locking it the moment the latch had clicked into place.

"Ah, good you're up and about, I was afraid I was gonna have to bring you around with ice water again." He chuckled coming down the hallway. "Meet me in the study in a few minutes, unless you fancy another nap" laughing at his own joke he turned and went into the library.

For the second time that day, he felt like an outright fool as his cheeks turned rosy. Grumbling as he walked towards the study, "hypocrite", "old man", "maniac", were just a few choice words he had. Nevertheless, he could do nothing but sit and wait. A moment later Kyriel entered the room pulling over a lectern from the wall. It could be positioned in a way that it was overtop of the armchair and could swivel away when you needed to get up. He swiveled it overtop of Grim's lap and placed a rather large tome onto it. It was bound in a dark reptilian-like cover, it resembled much like a snake's skin after it just shed its former skin. The clasp, as well as the corners were clad in a silvery metal bracing. It also sported a rather strong looking latch that stretched from the back around to the front where it fastened the book closed and locked.

"This is a Grimoire. You will write down your lessons, and personal thoughts pertaining towards what you learn about magic. Or rather you normally would!" As he hissed the last statement, he took out a similar looking tome and slammed it next to the grimoire. It looked exactly the same except it only contained one page. With a wave of his hands, a fancy knife and bowl, a crystal gem seemingly filled with smoke, and a shoddy looking paper with nonsense written on it appeared next to the two books.

"This is one of my creations and is not to be shared with anyone. Is that understood?! This is the magical legacy that I plan to leave behind for future generations, but only a strong successor will be able to protect it and pass it on. I'm hoping that someone will be you." Kyriel took up an imposing stance with arrogance exuding from his body with every movement. Grim furiously nodded his head. "This is a codex, or rather it will be. It will be bound to you and you alone. Take the blade and draw some blood into the bowl. Then summon your mana to infuse the blood. Read the incantation on the paper as you smear the blood onto the cover of the codex in the form of the symbol that appears in your mind." A stubby hand with long slender fingers pointed at each part of the spell as he explained it.

The spell didn't seem that intricate, so he hoped he could manage it even with his lack of control or of a huge mana pool. He took the knife and winced as he ran it across his palm letting the blood quench the blade and drip down into the bowl below. After an adequate amount of blood pooled in the bowl, Kyriel grabbed his slashed hand and ran a fingertip that glowed white and green down the wound in a zigzag pattern. The wound closed itself, the only indication of the wound previously was a faint pink line of new skin that had regrown there. 'Amazing'.

Next he closed his eyes and reached towards his mana mentally. Once he found it, he willed it to circulate and forced it out of his body into the fancy bowl. He made it swirl with the blood, forming a mini whirlpool. It didn't take long before the two intertwined and became a sparkling red substance. So far, so good. He picked up the paper and his hopes diminished. Only gibberish and nonsensical words made up the incantation. He repeated them the best he could.

Pain flashed across his forehead as it started to throb and an image began to visualize as if he was looking through a cloudy lens. It became more vivid with each pulse of the ensuing headache. He dipped his fingers into the bowl and traced the lines as he saw them in his mind. He finished the first image, then another followed, then another, this happened seven times in total.

"Now place the crystal on top, and pour the remaining blood onto it." Kyriel spoke in a calm tone as if to not break his concentration.

Grim did as he was instructed and when the last drop was sucked by the crystal, it began to submerge into the book. A dazzling rainbow light enveloped the tome and blinded the duo. After several moments the light faded. The etchings still sparkled and shone with tinges of different colored light. A dark gem sat proudly in the middle of them. The codex now had many pages inside of it, and was much thicker than before.

"Each of these symbols are the basic runes that embody the elements. Light, Darkness, Air, Water, Earth, Fire, and Arcane. Now then. The codex works similarly to the purpose of a normal grimoire, however...." Kyriel stopped with a dramatic pause as he grinned as if he just heard the world's best joke, "...you can only write into the codex with your blood as ink, and whatever you write becomes etched into your memory permanently and can be recalled at any time. As your mental capacity grows, you will gain more pages automagically. But be warned!!! Don't ever fill the codex up completely to the brim, the strain on your mind would become far too great and will likely shatter it into a million pieces, or you might just get a really, really bad headache. Results have been varied. The same will happen from the backlash of the spell if the codex was to be destroyed but more likely to be death, so keep it safe." At the end of his speech Kyriel collected the knife, and bowl, storing them away again. Grim quickly stored away his newfound codex.

He made the piece of paper containing the incantation dance in the air with a wag of his finger before sending it crashing into the fireplace. It went up in flames instantly destroying any remnants of a spell.