Azorious' Odyssey

Azorious had braved all the elements on his trip. First, he had sailed stormy seas on uncharted routes, challenging the winds and waves to break what fate had left of him. On departure day, he had sailed from his homeland on an exquisite vessel that, under the relentless attacks of sea monsters and sky-high waves, turned into a raft of fortune by the time he landed ashore.

Then he crossed a desert under the scorching sun, waking up more than once half-buried in a dune, baked like a loaf of bread. He silently suffered the endless march on the sand, closely observed by scavenger birds gluttonously praying for him to fall soon, before thinning any more.

And as he attempted to eat a prickly fruit he had never seen before, he also faced hallucinations and nightmares striking him in and out of his dreams.

Months of traveling across unexplored lands following a busted-out compass had finally led him to a thick jungle where mosquitoes feasted on what little meat and blood he had left on his bones.

All of this almost without magic as every drop of mana went into powering the precious artifact he carried with him at all times. He knew that if he decreased the intensity by even one percent, he would be able to make its adventure much easier and not compromise the spell protecting his cargo.

However, he couldn't bring himself to spare even one tiny mana drop for his own comfort.

So he braved and conquered every challenge head-on, like a mana-less peasant. Resorting to esoteric means only when faced with inescapable odds. Such as when a mile-long sea snake tried swallowing his ship whole.

As he crossed the jungle, he finally reached his destination. The needle on the compass spun around like crazy, indicating that whatever force attracted it was so close it generated interference. He looked forward and saw the slope leading up to the mountain.

He knocked on the contraption twice to make sure it wasn't acting up. The bronze artifact resulted from many sleepless nights browsing historical records and myths to answer one question.

"Where does mana come from?"

Mana, the founding block of all matter in the universe, and Forma, which represents the universal laws and the blueprint for every substance or material, were the origin of everything when united. At least to the latest hypothesises.

If not in limited quantity, this miraculous original substance logically had to continuously be generated somewhere. The myths also spoke of one such place, where the first humans were illuminated with the Forma of civilization and created society, where the first mages discovered the Formas and began manipulating mana.

Unfortunately, the legends didn't specify its location, but that's where the Azurious' compass entered the play. By studying the flow of mana across the continent, he managed to create a tool that could perceive the invisible substance and direct him toward the source.

Half a year later, he finally reached his target. Various contrasting feelings fought to appear on his face, but he patiently controlled his mood and started exploring the mountain feet.

Azorious spent the following week hiking up and down the mountain, recording the locations where the compass would spin out of control and, with some math work, triangulated the possible point of origin of the interference.

With feverish excitement and a machete, he hacked his way into the jungle. Small animals and brightly colored birds observed his weird behavior with curiosity. As he approached his target, an eerily quiet clearing, he noticed that the noises of birds slowly faded into silence, and even the bravest of the tree climbing critters had stopped following him a few paces away.

Unnerved but ultimately undeterred, Azorious entered the clearing, looking for anything unusual.

Long stalks of dark green grass thoroughly covered the ground like a carpet. Besides that, nothing else stood out in the clearing. As Azorious got on his knees, ready to search every centimeter of soil by hand if needed, a white stag entered the clearing.

At first, the magnificent tree-like antlers got his attention, but as his eyes moved down, he noticed it wasn't a white-haired stag, but a skeleton one!

Every trace of flesh had been carefully scraped off the ancient-looking bones, leaving behind a spotless skeleton that moved lightly towards Azurious. It looked at him with will-o'-the-wisp eyes that made Azurious feel naked before the creature.

Then it cordially spoke. "Greetings, traveler." Azurious didn't see the skull moving, yet he could hear the stag's voice inside his head. The voice sounded like an echo from the other side of a long hollow trunk.

"Greetings, guardian." Azurious greeted back, guessing at the magnificent creature's reason to appear right here.

"Since you called me Guardian, I can guess you didn't stumble here by coincidence." The stag pointed, raising its proud antler crown high in the sky.

Azorious felt dizzy. "The legends were real. The mana source exists, and I have reached it!" He celebrated inwardly but appeared stoic.

"Indeed, I didn't." Azurious nodded in response, getting back on his feet but still looking up at the three-meter tall specimen. The box still floated next to him, tying his most powerful means of self-defense, magic.

The air stilled as the two studied each other.

"Then, forgive me for being so direct, but what do you seek?" The stag inquired, curious. Its front leg kicked at the ground, signaling his readiness to charge and skewer Azurious on those lustrous antlers depending on his answer.

"I..." Azurious shut his mouth as he was about to say, 'Power.' He had had power before, more than anyone could ever need. Yet, it hadn't been enough, like having a hammer but needing to cut a steak.

"Knowledge," Azurious answered after a short pause. What was the point of having all the power in the world when you didn't know how to use it to get what you really wanted?

An idiot wouldn't be able to use a lighter to start a fire, whereas an ingenious man would be able to just with a rock.

"Knowledge..." The Guardian repeated, relaxing slightly but still attentive. "A noble pursuit. However, rare is the case where knowledge is put to good use. Many have taken what I had to give and abused it to twist nature for their cruel aims, and all of them also soon after received my judgment." The stag puffed his bony chest up and shone with absolute divine power.

The flare of power lasted barely a second but humbled Azorious. The Guardian would make for a formidable adversary. However, he would have to let the magic box down, but he gave up that idea as he looked at it.

"I understand your worries and your warning," Azorious replied, emphasizing the subtle threat that the stag had implied. "I, too, have played host to dangerous knowledge." he winced, feeling the burn marks on his skin flaring up.

"Indeed." The Guardian nodded wisely as if he knew what Azorious had gone through. "Speak of your question, and I'll decide whether to answer."

Azorious hesitated for a moment and, biting the inside of his cheek, released part of his power trapped in the glass box. The temperature inside raised slightly and finally revealed its content.

A woman seemingly frozen in time laid peacefully with her arms crossed above her chest. Eleria wore a white muslin dress with a necklace around her neck. Two identical pendants hung on the golden chain, one red and one white.

"Please, Guardian. This is the woman I love. All I need to know is how to bring her back." Tears threatened to come out, but he held them back. "I don't care about anything else. You can demand any price from me, reduce me to a slave, take away my arms and legs, anything! Just bring her back." He kneeled in front of the skeleton animal and placed his head against its alabaster hoofs.

Softened, the Guardian took pity on his plight and answered positively. "Perhaps I can give you a chance. However, you will have to follow the rules I will set forth."

Elated, Azorious ignored his burning scars and broke his first smile in years. "Anything." He crazily nodded his head up and down and could almost see a smile on the Guardian's bony face.

"Until I say otherwise, you aren't allowed to intentionally harm any creature, not even in self-defense." Azorious grimaced but nodded thoughtfully.

"You'll be confined in darkness, never to step foot in the light until you prove you won't bring ruin to the world." Azorious nodded, resolved to do anything to have his heart back.

"Lastly, you'll forfeit your immense power and only limit yourself to what you'll be provided with." The last one shook Azorious to the core and made him feel like puking blood.

He used to be an egomaniac, constantly flaunting his god-like power. He could reduce forests to ashes with thought, and by putting his mind to it, he could probably blow the moon out of the sky.

His destructive powers weren't limited to what he could do but what he wanted to. Even his final achievement before leaving for this adventure was to... The face scars burned like the day he got it, a grim reminder of the inherent dangers of his power.

His eyes shot open, and the world around him morphed into one of fire and light and PAIN AND-

He took big breaths to calm down.

"I accept." he conceded, maybe even a little relieved at giving up the most potent Forma ever conceived. He used the rest of his tattered clothes to wipe the pearls of sweat accumulated on his forehead.

"Good, then let me open your mind to the Forma you seek... Life."

The stag's green will-o'-wisp eyes blazed forth, with a third flame appearing on its forehead.

Azorious started at the three flames and sunk into an illusion.