Chapter 19: The Hermit II

Duncan had just walked away from getting a soft warning from Mr. Wilson. The man didn't get angry at him like the rest of the two, as Duncan was just the one who tried to break up the fight. Though he got away unscathed, he still went home quite late, so Duncan was now waiting outside the school, waiting for Paul to come pick him up.

He didn't have to wait long for Paul to arrive. The car was parked just in front of him, and once inside, he noticed that his mother was there, as it was around the time she left work.

"Why are you so late?" Catherine inquired.

"Just some trouble," Duncan replied. "Two of my teammates were fighting; I had to separate them, but I was also taken to the office because I slammed one of the guys to the ground."

"Slammed?" Catherine inquired, perplexed.

"Yeah," Duncan agreed.

"Did you get hurt?"

"No, not really."

Catherine simply sighed. "You've been shocking me with these... choices since you started high school. It started with an American football team, and now you're literally in a fight."

"Hm, well, puberty and all that." Duncan mumbled, and then realized that he had to go to the Sanctum again on Sunday, this time with money. "Mum?"

"Yeah?" Catherine asked. But then her phone started ringing loudly in the car. Duncan's mother quickly picked it up.

"This is Catherine," she said into the phone. Duncan could hear what the speaker was saying; he was talking about "advancing to the next stage."

Catherine's pupils constrict in an instant. "What?! No, no, no, no. Those "things" are not yet ready, general."

Answering Catherine, the speaker went on to say that they have no time and have to advance experiments quickly.

"General, listen to me." Catherine spoke sternly. "Those organisms have incredible regenerating strength and no heartbeat. They lack a brain but are sentient, and our comprehension of those 'things' is dangerously inadequate; moving on to the next stage of experimentation is exceedingly risky."

Duncan then learned that the irradiated sample would be used in the following stage.

"That is even worse!" Catherine nearly yelled. "If you put that "thing" inside a human, there's a 99 percent chance that they will die!"

Duncan heard the speaker state that they were willing to take that chance.

"I am a doctor, General, and I swore not to harm anyone." Catherine was enraged. "So if you advance, I will resign from the project. General? General?! Fucking Bastard!"

Duncan witnessed his mum toss her phone into her bag in rage. In frustration, she leaned against the door and massaged her brow.

The boy simply lifted his brow and gazed calmly at his mother.

"I thought you were a cardiologist," Duncan inquired. "However, I hear you describing that "organism" as if you're a vet."

"Yeah, well, there are a lot of things you don't know about me," she said suddenly. "I'm a cardiologist who also investigates the functioning of animal hearts and blood circulation. More precisely, I'm interested in living beings' cardiovascular systems.

"What are you "researching" then?" asked Duncan again. "Seems quite dangerous."

"I can't tell you," she resignedly replied. "Please don't ask again; I've had a lot on my mind."

"Okay…"

"What did you want to ask me before?" she asked abruptly.

"Oh." Duncan went on. "Can I have four thousand bucks right now? Just cut it off of my future allowance."

"What? What do you want to do with that much money?" His mother shook her head. "Drugs?"

"God no." Duncan made a shaky motion with his head. "It's for tuition."

"Tuition? For what purpose?"

"Magic lessons." Duncan shook his head.

Catherine only lifted an eyebrow. "Really? That is the most clumsy excuse I've ever heard. Simply tell me the truth, Duncan, and I'll give it to you, within reason."

"Martial arts lessons." Duncan let out a sigh. "I would've paid with my own allowance right now, but the guy wanted a full six months' payment up front, so I need four thousand bucks."

"Wait, the entire six-month payment?" Catherine's brow furrowed. "How long does this class go on?"

"A whole day every sunday. Why?"

"For a whole six months, that's really cheap. Are you sure that this man is not scamming you?"

"I'm pretty sure." Duncan made a hum.

"Well, understand that if you are scammed, I will not return your allowance to normal."

"Yep."

"Okay if you insist. It's interesting that you suddenly become interested in martial arts. You want to impress a girl, or something?" asked his mother casually, which is weird for Duncan because she rarely asks about this sort of thing.

The boy thought about his social link with the ancient one. "Something like that."

His mother only raised an eyebrow. "Well, it is truly unexpected."

"What else can I say?" Duncan remarked wryly. "I am full of surprises."

—

Duncan stood in front of an intricately constructed window in the Sanctum of the Sorcerers in New York. He could see the Ancient One standing right in front of the window, observing the raindrops falling from the sky and landing at the bottom of the roof.

"I rather enjoy the scenery of this city," she said calmly. "It often rains, though."

"I guess that's New York for you." Duncan stated. "Should we... carry on with our lesson?"

The Ancient One made a humming sound. "I sensed something has changed in you, Duncan. You are, indeed, quite... one-of-a-kind. I do hope that whatever your future holds, you are to use your power for the benefit of humanity."

"It's actually for myself rather than humanity." Duncan pointed out.

The Ancient One just chuckled. "If one of the masters in Kamar-Taj heard your words, you would have a difficult time studying here."

"It's weird, you know?" Duncan said. "Most of them probably came to this place for selfish reasons. Revenge, healing, knowledge... But when they stayed here, a lot of them gradually changed. Why is that?"

"Because they discovered that serving a greater purpose gives their lives more meaning," the Ancient One explained. "Even then, not all of them changed."

Duncan hummed. "You're talking about one of your students who rebelled against you?"

"Kaecillius, yes," pondered the woman. "But people like him are expected to appear. What most scares me is the opposite of what Kaecillius has become."

"And that is?" Duncan raised his brow.

The Ancient One turned toward Duncan and just smiled. She grabbed something from her pocket and threw it to Duncan. The boy catches it, and the Ancient One begins to step away from the window.

"Enough of the chitchat," she said. "Today, you will learn one of the most important skills of any sorcerer."

Duncan looked at the time that was given to him; it was a weirdly shaped ring, and the golden color clearly reflected the light around it. Duncan had an idea of what it was.

"That is the sling ring." The Ancient One explained. "It allows sorcerers to create a portal that allows them to travel across the multiverse."

"The multiverse?" Duncan inquired calmly.

"There are some parts of the universe that you can't travel to using that, but in some aspects, yes, the multiverse. Provided that you have enough skill to do that, of course."

Duncan hummed, wearing the ring on his fingers.

"All you have to do is focus, Duncan," she said, showing an example by creating a portal to a rather snowy mountain that releases really cold wind. "Imagine where the destination is—its shapes, its colors, its layout. The faster you do that, the quicker the portal appears."

"Okay," the boy murmured. He raised his hand with the sling ring in front, and as he began to imagine his room, he moved his hand, drawing an invisible circle in the air.

Sooner than later, sparks of orange appeared in front of him, and a circular portal appeared. The other side of the portal was clearly his room; he could see his bed, his desk, and his laptop.

"You're quite a fast learner, Duncan," said the Ancient One with a faintly impressed expression. "Probably faster than the next sorcerer supreme. Perhaps you will become the youngest master of the mystic arts in this generation after all."

"Well, I take that as a compliment."

"In any case, I will teach the basics today," she continued. "If you can follow my teachings and comprehend them today, then next week you're to go to the library and study on your own."

"What about martial arts and all that stuff?" asked Duncan. "So you'll just stop teaching me?"

"Of course not, Duncan," answered the Ancient One. "Martial arts training will start next week, though, not with me. As for teaching you, if you have any questions, you can come to me in Kamar-Taj."

"That's a rather... lax way of teaching." Duncan commented. "Alright, just teach me the basics."

—

Duncan now sat in front of the Ancient One. They were staring at each other as the rain poured outside.

"Do you know how spells work, Duncan?" The Ancient One asked.

"We harness energies from around us?"

"Yes." The Ancient One agreed. "We can channel that energy from our very being, from our surroundings, or from another dimension. We, as the sorcerers of the mystic arts, preferred to use the third method, which is to draw energy from other dimensions."

The Ancient One's hands moved, drawing invisible lines in the air. Not long after, orange sparks appeared, and a shield made out of Eldritch energy was hovering in the air.

"This is a spell," she said. "A conjured shield to protect you from harm. The energies that were used to create this are from other dimensions, not our own."

"Is it from a specific dimension, or just one?" Duncan asked.

The Ancient One smiled at the question. "What makes this type of magic, which we call eldritch magic, simple to learn is that it is available to everyone. It draws power from the multiverse, not from a specific dimension. We can draw energy from a specific dimension, but sometimes either the cost is high or we have to be born with the ability to do that, and one that falls in the latter category, such as you, Duncan, people like you rarely exist, and when they do, they are a force to be reckoned with."

"And when will I be able to learn to use the velvet room's energy?"

"That is up to you," she said. "I cannot teach you that; you must master it on your own."

"Okay…"

"Now, conjure up a simple shield." Duncan was instructed by the Ancient One.

The boy simply nods. He took a deep breath and tried to recall the Ancient One's hand movements from a few minutes before. He drew invisible lines in the air and imagined a shield.

Duncan could see the outcome, albeit faintly. Right in front of his eyes, a shaky but evident eldritch energy shield was slowly forming, and he had built it with his own volition.

He could see the Ancient One's expression behind the unsteady shield. She appeared impressed, but she looked like she also appeared to know what was going to happen.

Suddenly, Duncan could hear the sound of chains breaking in his head. A flash of insight flashed through his head, and the boy's pupil contracted with the sensation.

It's as if ice is coursing through his veins, but it's a nice sensation that permeates throughout his physique.

The shield Duncan had conjured slowly but steadily turned dark blue, replacing the previous bright orange that he had seen.

"Impressive, Duncan," the Ancient One remarked. "You are genuinely one of a kind."

"I have no idea what I just did. But blue is cool…" the boy murmured.

"All right, let's wrap up the lesson for today," she remarked as she stood up, and Duncan's attention faded, causing the conjured shield to vanish. "I'll give you these books that I personally obtained from the library for study purposes."

A stack of books burst into the room, landing in front of Duncan.

"If possible, please study all of them within a week."

"Well, that'll be tough." Duncan whistled since the stack of books was extremely heavy. "But I'll manage, I guess. Thank god I've learned how to conjure a portal; otherwise, bringing all of this home will be difficult."

Duncan just stood there staring at the ancient one. He made a fist and bent toward her. "Thank you for today's lesson, master."

"Duncan, it's been a pleasure teaching you." The Ancient One smiled. "I'll see you next week."

The boy simply nods as he makes a portal to his room, taking the books with him and exiting the sanctum.

The Ancient One just stood in front of the window of the Sanctum. Still, she stared at the raindrops falling through the glass into the roof below, pondering what was to come.