The Great Sage.

"So Shen, please explain to me why my grandson and disciple is now unconscious and covered in wounds and you, who should have been in charge of protecting the children, are fit as a fiddle." Kayden said calmly while sipping tea in his office.

"It is all my fault. I wanted to teach him some humility. So when I saw the three Onikumas approaching I decided to let him fight them, and save him at the last second." Shen said while kneeling to the ground.

"Umph, go on with the explanation." Kayden ordered.

The intimidated Shen took his time to go into detail with his story.

"So he felt the presence of the Black Mantis, a magical beast at the initial stage of the high rank, specialized in camouflage and dimensional magic. His detection ability is incredible." Kayden grinned. "He is indeed my grandson."

"Shen, to repay for your stupid mistake, you will head to the east towards the Great Red Forest. You need to deliver a letter to that winged snake of a woman." Kayden ordered.

"Gulp. Of course, Boss."

Meanwhile, seated in silence in one of the corners of the office, there was a young man who seemed to be around sixteen, with white hair and yellow eyes, and wearing a white tunic.

"Are you sure you want to provoke the queen of the dragons, my friend?" The boy spoke in a deep voice which didn't suit him at all.

"Lord! I was so focused on picturing the face of that old hag that I had forgotten you were still here!" Kayden answered, grinning widely like a malicious child.

"Sigh. You never change. Anyway I wanted to repay you somehow and I thought I could teach your cub." Lord said.

"You want to teach him, mmh. Alright you could teach him that fusion magic he was talking about."

"Wait! How does he know about fusion magic, that's not the type of magic you humans should use!"

"Calm down my friend. He copied it from a Superior Chimpman."

"What!? That's even more absurd! How can he use it after having seen it just once?!"

"Eh eh, he is my grandson after all!"

"Well alright I will teach him fusion magic especially my Thunder magic."

"Really!? That's perfect for his style of fighting. It will make him even faster and more powerful. Thanks, my friend."

Meanwhile, in Marduk's room:

"I healed his injuries but he has to recover his stamina and let his mana rebalance itself." Jane said, checking Marduk's conditions for the last time.

"In any case he really is a monster. The distance between the point he was stabbed and his heart is just a few inches!"

Jane was astonished by the weird way Marduk used magic.

"The way he uses magic is really different from standard, even impossible. How can he use magic inside his own body?"Jane mumbled.

"Miss Jane, can I have a minute of your time?" Telia asked from behind.

"Is there a possibility you could teach me magic?" Jane remained speechless at the sudden request.

"I want to be of use to Marduk. He is continually putting himself in danger to become stronger, and this time only to protect us, I want to be there for him."

Jane searched for Telia's eyes and carefully studied her expression.

"Are you sure about this? Your talent for magic is just average, you could concentrate on other things."

"I decided I will study magic and alchemy to help Marduk!"

"Ok Telia if you are sure I will teach you magic."

After some hours, Marduk opened his eyes feeling well rested.

"Zarke, where are the others?"

"Stupid Marduk!" Zarke said while jumping joyfully.

"Oh! You can even talk now! Wait, who did you hear those words from?"

Zarke bent his head to one side in confusion. At that moment Marduk noticed the note under Zarke's paw.

"Let's see."

'Stupid Marduk! When you read this I will probably be gone, don't worry I'm fine, I'm just going to train under Jane to learn magic. Prepare yourself, when we see each other again I will be much stronger.

Telia.'

"Well, I should have expected it to be your doing, Telia. Wait there is a post scriptum."

'P.S. Stupid, stupid Marduk. You are a stupid moron.'

"Cute."

While Marduk went back to sleep and Shen departed, heading towards the west, Jane wasn't the type to lose time so she immediately started teaching the foundations of magic to Telia.

"As you already know, each being on this planet is ranked according to its raw strength." Jane looked in Telia's eyes to ascertain she was following.

"But do you know that there are other categories for mages like us?"

Telia was visibly confused but remained in silence waiting for her master's explanation.

"They are divided in circles. There are five circles, starting from the lowest, which is the fifth, to the highest which is the first. In addition to those, there is a superior rank named the 'Magic's Conqueror'. Those circles are awarded by the King following three types of accomplishments: Military ones, magic development and new spells formulation."

"So which rank and circle are you Mam?" Telia eagerly asked.

"Eh eh, you were lucky dear disciple, I'm at the final stage of the high rank and I'm in the second circle. Let me tell you that in Dalia's kingdom there are only two first circle magicians and five second circle magicians. In order to receive the first circle you have to have made accomplishments in each category. It doesn't matter how many battles you win or new spells you give the crown, if you don't reach groundbreaking magic development results you can't become a first circle."

"That seems hard. But can you tell me about the 'Magic's Conqueror' you were talking about, please?"

"That's almost a legendary being. It's a title given only to one person at a time. With it your influence becomes equal to that of the king and you are therefore treated as such in the whole world. Only one person in history was recognized as a 'Magic's Conqueror', and that was the Great Sage who invented and developed magic. Most of the modern research is based on the diaries he left behind for us. Most people believe he was Mardore, the God of magic's reincarnation."

"He reminds me of Marduk somehow…" Telia whispered.

"Eh, interesting, but even if Marduk was an unparalleled genius and could, just by disclosing the existence of fusion magic, obtain the first circle, I don't believe he is even comparable to the Great Sage."

"Mam, do you really believe the world would accept Marduk's fusion magic?" Telia asked with worry in her voice.

"What do you mean? Of course it would, it would open a whole new world of possibilities after all."

"Yes, but Marduk once told me to never tell anybody, because it would put everyone in great danger, and to never trust people outside of Mint."

'That boy is really something else, he already understood how the world works without even trying.' Jane thought.

"He is indeed right, people worthy of trust are very few, but you know Telia? There is a lot of descrimanation towards people like Marduk who have no talent for magic, sorry for bend magic. Indeed, amongst these people there are those like Marduk with great talent for fusion magic that would live much better if they knew of its existence. He would bring lots of happiness to a lot of people in this world forgotten by the gods. Hell, he would probably be compared to the Great Sage."

"Now lets stop with the chit chat and focus on studies."

'I need to talk to the Boss about Marduk's studies. He has to go to the central academy.'

Days went by while Marduk recovered and Telia and Jane were nowhere to be found.

"I only hope that witch is treating her well. Telia is giving her best so I have to do my best too."

Marduk mumbled while stroking Zarke's soft fur. He never had had a good relationship with Jane, probably because of her obsession for magic research which reminded him of his father.

"Stupid Marduk?" Zarke said to recall Marduk's attention.

"Don't worry Zar, I'm only a bit worried." Marduk said, striking one of his awkward and fake smiles.

Those days, while recovering, Marduk focused on smithing and studying under Dorran.

He finally decided to try and forge a magical device, his first magical sword.

He started the fire in the forge and got the materials ready.

On the working table there were two red magic crystals of medium size and two iron ingots.

He started processing the iron, going through each and every stage of smithing.

"Alright I finished heating the iron. Now I hit it in shape and I'll let it cool down in the ashes of the forge for a couple of hours. Meanwhile I will continue my studies on the crystal."

After the pause he hit the iron again to balance the sword and make it much more sturdy.

"The blade of the sword is now completed, I made space for the crystal at the base now lets try putting it into place."

After a couple of hours the sword was finished.

"The sword as it is, it's not the best I've done. Maybe I was too focused on the crystal part but anyway let's try it."

Marduk was holding the sword by the hilt as he focused on the red crystal.

BOOOM!

A loud explosion raised dust from the forge, making even the floor and the walls tremble.

"Hum, are you ok?" Dorran, who had just returned from the elder's reunion, asked Marduk.

"COFF, COFF, COFF! Yes I'm ok, but something went wrong with my magical sword…" Marduk, who was covered in the black ashes of the forge, said coughing.

"Hum, Hum." Dorran said analyzing the sword, or what was left of it. "Hum, the crystal is cracked because of the explosion. But the problem is that you didn't balance the sword with the crystal. They are not communicating."

Dorran was strangely talkative when it came to smithing.

"How do I do that?"

"Hum, I don't know, I specialize in making sharp and sturdy weapons, not magical ones."

'So I need to try, fail and try again, uh. I get a feeling of deja vu. Well I have some ideas.'