CH 3 - The Eight Instructors

Dainn

I have become certain that the Hera family were the cruelest of cruel. They kept setting me up for punishment. They've given me my own room on the second floor, the only other room up there besides the master bedroom and the two daughter's rooms. It was larger than any room I've ever had, with a king sized bed, luxurious bedding, a magnificent desk, and a wall to wall bookshelf. They even had the sinister idea to ask me what kind of books I'd like to fill it with, and when I asked for tomes and manuals on magic and spell craft, the bastards actually did it!

They gave me an abundance of new clothes and all the necessities. Hell, there was even a private bath attached to my room.

That's when the tests came, chances for me to fail and have it all ripped away. Unfortunately for them, they hadn't planned for my past life's memories to save me. Math was elementary compared to the algebra and trigonometry of my world. History was far more interesting thanks to mages and warriors with superhuman feats. Language and literature was easy enough, especially after having taught myself to read already.

I excelled at every subject they threw at me, though they did well to hide their disappointment. After a week of studying and assessments, it seemed as though I had won.

Then came their greatest test yet. You see, every mage, while capable of casting any school of magic, tended to favor one or two. This was due to a natural inborn affinity. When casting spells of your affinity, the power is boosted and the cost of one's mana is lessened. Moreover, one can only reach so high in schools they had no affinity for.

Mages are graded into six categories, based on the magnitude of spells they can cast. From least common to the rarest of mages, it went Student, Mentor, Master, Royal, Chosen, and Divine.

Only the weakest of mages with no mana reserves stayed Student, but it wasn't uncommon to peak at Master. Additionally, only one percent of mages ever reached Divine level in their affinity.

On the anniversary of my first day of the manor, seven carriages all pulled up at the same time, as if rehearsed. From each one stepped a mage, five women and two men, and each wearing robes denoting a different school.

As I stood next to Lord Hera in the same position they had when I arrived, he put a firm hand on my shoulder. I stole a glance, a rarity since I didn't want to give them any reason to try and punish their slave, and saw him smiling at the approaching mages. I see, I think as I narrow my eyes and look forwards again, this must be a truly difficult test.

"Greeting, my esteemed guests," the Lord says, clapping his hands before opening his arms to them in an inviting gesture. "I truly appreciate everyone for agreeing to join me here today. You all know why you're here, so I'll go ahead and let you introduce yourselves to young master Blackguard. Afterwards, my trusted man Bartleby will escort you to the training grounds."

One by one I had to listen to the mages introduce themselves, so you will too.

"Good morning, young master, I am Delugia Rolo de, Royal Red mage. I was a former instructor at the Red Academy." She was an elf with orange hair and tan skin, looking as young as I did, yet still somehow clearly an adult.

"I am Reli Beugg, Royal Blue mage of the B-rank adventuring party Trinity Pyke, or formerly, at least, since the boss went off and married our scout." A beastkin female, with raccoon ears and tail. She could certainly be called curvy in all the right places, and clearly also had no sense of modesty, given how much cleavage she showed.

"An honor, young master. I am Xavier of the Hornless, Royal Green mage. You will doubtless never have heard of me." An olive green skinned demonkin, and true to his word, hornless, though not seemingly by birth. He had two bone stumps on his forehead, sanded and polished, it seemed.

"Well, isn't this a cutie!" The next mage was a petite human woman with short hair and bouncy bangs. She immediately invaded my personal space by pinching and squeezing my cheeks. I let her, unsure if I was allowed to set boundaries. She frowns at me before finishing her informal introduction. "Well, anyways, I'm Sara Leanna. Chosen Purple mage, and former Guildmaster of the Olympus Adventurer's Guild."

The next person to approach was a goliath of a human man, built so magnificently that Mr. Johnson would be ashamed. He bowed deeply, his face showing zero hostility for a man that could snap any neck with two fingers. "Hello child. You may refer to me as Monk Oko, of the Mountain Order in Tartarus. I am a Royal Orange mage."

Tartarus was another country, the land of elves and home to the Silver and Red Academy's. Unlike Nubia, it was rare for the elves to let outsiders in, especially one that didn't have an academic excuse.

A woman in all white came up next, and her robes resembled more of a priestess or nun uniform. She was another beastkin, and with her hair color sealing it, she was a literal silver fox. She was clearly forty, maybe fifty years old, but she was a stunner for sure.

I blushed as I saw her, looking away as she gave a slight bow. "I am Mother Michelle, Royal White mage and head priestess of the Vatica Trinity Church."

Her name actually helped, because hearing it was the actual female version of his old name really killed any attraction he may have had.

Finally the last person, in silver robes that looked more like ash, came up and gave him a disdainful look. An elf with darker skin, almost black, and not like from my old world where we just called it so out of old deep seeded hatred. No, his skin was actually as back as night, with a lightness in his complexion that made it slightly not so.

His eyes and words were the same: cutting. "Young man, I am a Royal Silver mage and the second son of House Hades, Victor Hades. I am the one who will decide whether you have any modicum of true talent."

I imagined what his blood looked like, if it was red like mine or if maybe it was the same black as his skin. I was oh so interested all of a sudden, and I was sure he could tell. His look of shock at whatever face I was making is what snapped me out of the violent daydream.

With that, I looked at all of them, and then at Gauss, who had been standing on the other side of Lord Hera, with the butler Bartleby next to him. Gauss nods, closes his eyes, and smiles.

"Good, master Dainn. You've figured it out. I too, am to be counted among these seven. We've already met, but I don't think I mentioned that I am a Royal Gold mage, and childhood friend of Lord Henry."

I nod, still unsure of what was allowed from me.

"Is he ok?" Sara asks, looking at Lord Hera. "He's awfully quiet."

Lord Hera looks at me, and I keep my gaze straight. "Yes, he is. But he is a genius, academically at least. I am hoping today we will see how far that genius goes, and maybe then he'll finally open up to us. The lad is less than five years old, after all."

Sara gasps, and then hugs my neck tightly. "Oh my gods, you're so young! It's okay! Big sis Sara is here!"

She's trying to strangle me!

***

Bartleby led them through the manor's front door, through the south gallery of artworks and busts of the Hera family and their feats, and to the mage training ground.

"This will be quite simple, Dainn," Lord Hera says, addressing both me and the first of the mages to join us two, Oko. "Each of the instructors here today will demonstrate a spell, and I just ask you to replicate it to the best of your ability."

I look at Oko, my uneasiness easing. I had been certain they were about to make an untrained child duel each of these experienced wizards, starting with the biggest guy like this was a prison movie.

I turn when I see someone coming out to watch, no two someone's. The sisters Emilia and Hannah Hera. Emilia was a year older than me, the one with the stunning pink eyes. Hannah was seven, and from what I heard in my week here, is the more talented sister.

Their parents try to have them study White magic under Gauss, so they could help themselves if needed. However, Emilia just seemed to have little innate skill with magic, despite her affinity being White.

I turn my attention back to Oko, and nod. "I'm ready, sir."

Oko nods, using an Orange spell to move the earth beneath Lord Hera and move him to a safe distance. "Well then, he can speak. Alright then, let's have your first spell of the day be an easy one. Stone pike, a simple spell that I will cast at a Mentor level."

I stand back and watch as Oko raises his hand, clenches his fist, and unleashes a small surge of mana. The earth between them groans and twists, spiraling into a stalagmite six feet tall and sharp enough to puncture metal. He relaxes, and then crosses his arms.

"Ok, now for you. The first thing you do when casting a spell is-"

I cut him off by performing the spell. I gather my mana, visualize, and enact. Unfortunately, just like the last time I cast a spell, this one did more than I ever intended.

My stone pike rises three times the height of his, so fast that not even I saw the spell actually manifest after closing my first. Not only that, but my pike had dozens of smaller earthen spikes jutting out in random, lethal directions.

Oko is stunned silent, looking at the spell with pure horror on his face, not the least because one of my wayward spikes stopped an inch from his right eye. "That… that was… Master, no Royal at least… I… how…"

He had to be escorted off the field by Bartleby, as did the rest of the instructors after their tests.

I cast a fire pillar so hot it turned blue and began to liquify the ground. I shot a spear of light that pierced eight mana-reinforced shields, six more than the teacher. I nearly started a flash flood with a water geyser. So on and so forth, I realized pretty quickly, I couldn't control my magic output, and was already capable of more than these teachers might be.

However, despite all that…

"You mean that you felt nothing especially different when casting any of the particular schools?"

I shake my head, realizing I had failed the test somehow. I braced myself for the incoming punishment.

Lord Hera strokes his goatee, clearly thinking up a suitable torture for his slave.

"I see, so that means you either have no affinity to speak of, or all of them. And yet, one thing is certain."

He claps his hand on my shoulder and I flinch, remembering the brutal beatings I endured in my past life.

"You certainly are something, Dainn! A real prodigy!"

He laughs, cheerfully and with his whole body shaking. He puts his hand on my head and begins patting it.

It isn't rough, I don't sense cruelty. Had I been wrong about him? Was he actually proud?

For the first time since I met Lord Hera, I smiled.