The First Archmage

(Marty)

The temple looms above me, built of ancient, tan stones that have faded with time, the crimson paint on its trim vibrant, the dark brown clay shingles giving it the feel of an ancient fortress. The temple, built in the old times, houses the Chain Monks, the world's most elite warriors.

Masters of martial arts and chain combat, only the most powerful of foes could hope to take on one or a team of these warriors.

Among the enlightened species, there stands no equals to the Chain Monks.

Bald heads, brown eyes, and tanned skins wrapped in their martial arts gis, they represent discipline and strength, courage and honor, kindness and iron wills.

My first destination, after gaining access to the System. My curly locks will probably be shaved off, upon admittance to the temple, but that is fine. With Access, that means I am eligible to join these elite warriors.

I can only hope that my Aura is high enough for acceptance. They can work with someone with little or no Mana Affinity, but decent Aura is a necessity for them, warriors who favor martial arts above all else.

Martial arts, and the unyielding binds of a chain. If I have low or no Mana Affinity, they can train me as a regular Novice, and not a Chain Novice, and I will be happy with that. There is, naturally, the hope that I could one day bring my Mana to the level needed for Chain Monks, as long as I have Mana.

"Hello!" A monk dressed in a yellow and red gi greets me. I would place him around fifty years of age, but with the System, it's difficult to gauge that in stronger people, I've heard. "How may we help you today? Come for a pilgrimage?"

A pilgrimage, or a journey to cleanse one of worries and troubles. Many people make the trip each year to visit this place for healing of the mind.

"No," I answer. "I have come seeking training, if I will be accepted."

"Access?"

"A month ago," I nod. "I'm sixteen."

"You look younger," he looks me up and down.

"Only just turned it, sir," I respond. "I've always been small for my age."

"Would you kindly show me your screen?" He asks.

"Status."

Name: Martin

Age: 16 years

Titles: None

Species: Human Level 1 0/25

Class:

INT: 10, AGI: 12, CHA: 9, STR: 13, CON: 15, PER: 19, LIF: 16

"Status share," I focus on him, and he looks through it.

"Basic stuff," he nods. "Though your strength, constitution, and perception are higher than we normally see, from someone of any age coming here. Have you trained in hopes to be accepted?"

"No, sir," I answer. "I grew up in a hut on Xran Peak, and lived in the forest daily. I assumed my stats in that regard were a result of my life climbing trees and running through the woods."

"Very likely," he nods. "What of your family?"

"I only ever knew my grandfather," I respond. "He was a kind, but firm man. He told me that, should anything ever happen to him, and I had Access, to seek out the Chain Monks, and learn from them. He passed nigh on three years ago, and until I gained Access, it was just me, once he did."

"A new training session begins tomorrow," he tells me. "The first stage is learning to awaken the Aura within you. If you succeed, we can begin your training as a Novice, while you attempt to awaken Mana within. If you succeed, you will be accepted as a Chain Novice. If not, you will remain a Novice. Does this sound acceptable to you?"

"Yes, sir," I respond.

"No, I'm not showing you my Status!" Someone sounds angry, and I look over to them. "That's a personal thing, and I was never told I'd have to, if I wanted to be a Chain Monk!"

He's around my age, but also small, like me. He has short hair the color of pale straw, and glimmering blue eyes filled with anger. The Monk he's speaking with looks calm, dressed in a silver gi with a black belt wrapped around his waist, a series of rings on the fingers of his right hand, each one with a chain connecting to the band around that wrist. A Chain Monk, unlike the one I'm speaking with, who is likely a regular Monk.

"We need to verify that you do, indeed, have Access," the Chain Monk calmly tells him. "Before we can allow you to begin our training. If you'd like to learn martial arts, Gavin, you can study at many of the temples throughout the mountains."

"I want to learn here," Gavin argues. "And I do have Access! I'm not showing it to you!"

"He has Access," the Monk I was speaking with calls out. "He has at least Level 5 Appraisal Resistance."

"Thank you!" The Chain Monk calls back, then looks at Gavin. "If you wish to study here, you will need to learn to follow directions."

"I do have a question," I say to the Monk I was speaking with.

"Ask."

"I am someone," I say. "Who has severe anger issues. I am looking to calm and focus myself, and be able to take a step back from it. That is part of the reason I wish to study here. Will that be a problem?"

"It will not," he answers. "You seem very level-headed, but even if you were not, our training requires focusing and meditation. Only the most stubborn with anger will be able to hold out. It can take anywhere from one to three months to unlock Aura, if one has it. Judging by how you have appeared to me so far, I would estimate it would take two months. That is, unless you are concealing your anger from me, though judging by your stats and Experience, you have no Acting Skill."

"I do not, sir."

"Very well," he nods, then produces a small token, handing it to me. "Take this inside, and hand it to one of the monks in there. They'll direct you to where the applicants will be staying."

"Thank you, sir," I accept the token, then make my way inside, Gavin following behind.

I can feel the anger radiating off of him, and get a bad vibe from him, too. I don't want to have to do that, if he causes a problem. Hopefully, I can avoid his anger, before he calms himself. Best to avoid unwanted situations, when possible.

When we make it inside, we meet three others youth around our age, two boys and a girl, and show the Monk with them our tokens. He looks at the five of us, then looks outside.

"Sun is beginning to set," he says. "It is doubtful more will arrive before it does. Come."

He begins walking, and we follow him to a room filled with white gis and belts on shelves, along with wooden boxes.

"Strip off your clothes," he says. "And place them and your belongings into one of the boxes sitting along that wall. Once you have, close it, then place your hand on the lid, and the chest will seal and bind to you, so that only you may open it."

Sounds like old magic to me. How many of these boxes do they have?

I begin to undress, and Gavin argues with the Monk, but eventually complies. Unlike the rest of us, he didn't have a bag or belongings. He only had his clothes and a strange, black ring.

Once the boxes are sealed, our names appearing on them, the Monk gives each of us a gi, the sizes perfect for us. After we pull them on, he shows us how to tie the belts.

Once we have changed, the Monk leads us to a room with around fifteen more people, between twelve and twenty, and tell us that we should get some sleep, as training for applicants begin tomorrow.

Then, he leaves, and people introduce themselves. Gavin claims a corner, lying down and saying that he doesn't want to bother with us, so leave him alone and keep it down.

"I can foresee a lot of problems," one of the older applicants mutters, then looks at me. "I don't think you introduced yourself yet."

"Sorry," I cover a yawn. "I've had a long trip here, and am tired. Marty."

"Nice to meet you, Marty," he says. "I'm Craig."

"I'll probably forget your name," I admit. "I'm bad at remembering them, unless the person is important to me for some reason. There's a good chance I'll forget the Monks' names, and all of yours, constantly."

"That's fine," he laughs. "Not everyone is good at names. You remember faces, though?"

"Every face I've ever seen," I nod.

"That's good enough for me!" He claps me on the back.

"I'm turning in for the night," I say, then find a spot and lie down, closing my eyes.

Next, I'm being woken for the day by the gong sounding outside. We assemble in the dining hall for a breakfast of rice and meat strips, then are led to a garden with stone walls surrounding it. There is a small pond in it, fish of white and gold swimming in the water, lilies floating on the surface. It's my first time seeing lilies in person, and they're beautiful.

The Monk in charge of our group has us sit with our legs crossed, doing the same, himself. He instructs to close our eyes, but open our minds, to listen to the sounds around us, and focus on all and none at the same time, to clear all thoughts.

I struggle to. We train here for weeks, doing this. Some succeed, and can move on to unlocking their Aura, and after a month, two unlock theirs. A month and a half pass, and more have. At the two-month mark, only five of us remain, two of us without having unlocked Meditation itself.

I find it relaxing, and calming, and yet still can't clear my mind of everything needed for it. I have so much going on in me, and so much anger.

Not as much as Gavin, though…

He keeps groaning and gritting his teeth in frustration, and that only agitates me more, though I acquired Acting. Divine know I've restrained my temper and kept my expression neutral enough.

Another week passes, and the other three drop out, giving up entirely, likely not having the aptitude for Aura. Supposedly, anyone who hasn't gained Meditation after the twelve hours of it every day for two months doesn't have Aura Affinity, and those three seemed pretty calm.

I know my issue is from anger, though. Distancing myself is why I wanted to come here. I wanted to distance myself from that emotion, to discipline myself, and be able to work without resorting to anger and violence.

I think Gavin's only staying out of stubbornness.

New Skill!

Meditation 1: The power to calm your mind and focus yourself, your body will heal faster, your head will clear quicker, and your Resources will recover sooner, during this state.

How much time has passed?

Standing, I stretch for a minute, then approach the Monk.

"I now have Meditation, sir."

"Congratulations," he smiles. "It's rare for someone to take this long to unlock it, with this much effort. Those who do have little chance of unlocking their Aura Affinity. As the rest of the applicants in this batch have either given up, failed to awaken it, or awakened it, I will oversee the two of you as you work towards it."

"Yes, Sensei," I give him a bow.

"Why don't you focus on more Meditation, for now?" He asks. "Continue to center yourself. Once the two of you have both earned it, I will give it another two weeks, then we will begin awakening your Aura. With how long it's taken the two of you to reach this point, it will take you longer to waken your Aura."

"Yes, Sensei."

I return to my usual spot and close my eyes, beginning to meditate once more, feeling a sort of calm fill my mind. I focus on the sounds around me, of the water in the pond, the birds in the bushes, the insects chittering amongst themselves.

That, and Gavin's noises of frustration.

"Focus your breathing."

"What?" He snaps, and I feel his gaze on me.

"Focus your breathing," I repeat, keeping my eyes closed. "Something I noticed with each of the others who gained Meditation was that, before they did, they focused their breathing. Slow, steady breaths in and out. Not too big, not too small. Rhythmic, like the beat of a drum, yet fluid, like water on rocks in a brook. It's useful for more than just meditation, though – it helps to calm oneself down when feeling angry."

"As if you'd know anything about anger!" He snaps. "You've been calm and collected ever since I first saw you!"

"You have no idea the rage that boils within me," I say. "I only appear calm on the surface. There's a reason it has taken me this long to acquire Meditation."

He scoffs, but returns to trying to meditate, and he does slow his breathing, and I return to meditating, stopping only when Gavin lets out a weird noise.

He really has no idea the rage boiling within me, the fury that burns brighter than the sun. A need for vengeance so absolute, I would allow nothing to stand in my way. Right now, I wish to beat the crap out of him for distracting me so much. Beat him so bad he can't even get up to leave with his tail between his legs.

A destructive, violent path that I wish to stray from, before it destroys me. My trip here, which began a month ago, has allowed me to calm myself some, at least, externally. I have already learned much, these last few months, and wish to continue to learn and grow.

"Finally," Gavin mutters, standing. "I have it."

+1 Human Experience!

That was random. Why did I gain Human Experience? I made a full journey on my own, and yet hadn't gained any. Yet somehow, I gained it when he acquired Meditation? Did helping him that cause that? How? And why did my solo journey not?

The ways of the System are beyond my comprehension.

"Take two days off of training," the Monk tells us. "You are free to go into town in your spare time. If you need funds, the townspeople often have Quests and Jobs you can do. They'll have them pinned to the board at the base of the steps."

"Thank you, sir," I bow to him, and he dismisses us.

I don't know what Gavin will do, but I make my way into town. The food here is good, but I'd also like something a bit more sweet every now and then. I didn't have money when I arrived, though, so I'll need to do some work.

At the base of the steps, I look at the massive Jobs Board, which stretches twenty feet long and rests under a sort of wooden shelter, to protect it from the weather. Mostly. A strong enough wind could cause rain and stuff to still hit it.

Requests fill the board, and there are a few Monks, trainees, and regular people – probably those with Access – examining them. It's just barely past lunch now, so I could do a couple of smaller requests, or one bigger request. Most of them rest beyond my capabilities, though I do see a number of them that I could perform.

I decide on two smaller ones. One requests assistance acquiring some stratus petals, and another requests assistance acquiring faerin berries. Both grow on this mountain, according to the requests.

Well, the former says they do, the latter wants some. Having grown up on mountains, myself, I know that faerin berries grow near the stratus flower.

Turning from the board, I meet the first petitioner to see if they still need the status flowers. It's an old woman who performs alchemy from her home, and she received an order for featherlight potions.

"Do you have nesmar feathers?" I ask.

"Nesmar feathers?" She asks.

"The feathers of the nesmar bird," I nod. "Stratus flowers grow only in their territory."

"I use helso feathers," she shakes her head. "I've never heard of using nesmar feathers."

"Could I see your recipe?" I ask. "Or is it a secret?"

"It's a common recipe," she says, and looks through her alchemy tome until she finds what she's looking for, then shows it to me. "This is the standard recipe for the featherlight potion. I've never heard of an effective variant."

"It's the same as what I grew up learning," I tell her. "With the exception of the nesmar feather and using twice as much stratus petals. You'd need about three-quarters of the weight for the feather as you use now in nesmar feathers for the same size batch. This says the effect lasts twenty seconds – the effect of the potion I learned lasts a full minute."

"Really?" She asks.

"Yes, ma'am," I nod. "Would you like me to pick you up some extra while you're out, so you can try it? Nesmar down is incredibly useful in a variety of potions as well."

"Will you be alright?" She asks. "You're a Novice, yes?"

"I'll be alright," I smile at her. "Nesmar are very friendly, unless you try to attack them. I'll be able to get what I need from them without an issue. Actually, it's probably because of that no one around here's known about their alchemical properties. Every part of them has strong alchemical properties. However, taking anything by force… I've heard that high-Level Adventurers have been killed."

Her eyes widen.

"I'll be alright," I tell her, my smile returning. "I've never been attacked by one."

Well, I have, but I know how to survive against them.

"If you're sure," she looks hesitant.

"I'll be alright," I assure her, and she nods, then I leave to meet the next one, an alchemist who works at a regular shop, who confirms he still needs them, but said that he doesn't know where to acquire them, and he wants to make a certain potion really bad.

He won't tell me what potion, though, because I'm 'just a Novice, and wouldn't know anything about the fine art of alchemy'. It takes everything I have not to let my anger take over me at that.

I probably know more about alchemy than you could ever hope, you…

Calm yourself.

Informing the petitioners done, I make my way onto the mountains, traveling an hour to where the woman told me the stratus flowers grow. Small, with light, fluffy petals a pale grey in color. I pinch them at the base of the stem, pulling straight up in a swift motion. For twelve of the plants, I acquire the roots with them, for three, rip it, and only retrieve the stem and up. That's fine by me, though.

Putting those into the small basket I was given by the woman, since I had nothing to hold them in, myself, I look for the berries, locating them within minutes. He wants to make a single potion, though I'll collect four times as many, just in case.

That done, I locate the nesmar flock. Ground-dwelling birds that live in small caves and burrows underground, they're puffy little things with light grey feathers and golden beaks and talons, their silver eyes gleaming with mischief.

Despite their fat bodies and desire to live on the ground, these birds are excellent fliers, something many people fail to even consider a possibility when they see them. If a Dragon can fly with its massive body, then so too can something so much more proportionate.

This is a world of magic, you idiots.

I collect feathers and down from their nest, ignoring the birds' attempts to trip me up and drop on me from above. A few nip at my heels, and ignoring that isn't difficult, either.

These ones seem to be especially docile today.

Deciding I have enough, I make my way back into town, dropping off the berries first. He scoffs and tells me he's not paying me more for having collected more, then scoffs again when I told him I didn't expect him to. We agreed to a set amount, and I chose to acquire more, just in case the first failed. It was my decision, and not part of the arrangement, done out of the good of my heart.

He pays me, and I make my way to the old woman, handing her the basket. She looks inside, eyes widening when she sees the amount.

"You collected much more than I expected," she says.

"I thought you might like to have a little more," I nod. "I'm not intending on charging you more, though – we agreed upon five copper for this, and that's all I'll expect."

She tries to pay me more, but I refuse, telling her that it wasn't a part of the original agreement. She reluctantly agrees to the deal, handing me just the five copper coins.

+1 Human Experience!

Interesting.

I leave her shop and make my way to to a small cafe for dinner, dining on soup and sandwiches, and eating a sticky bun. First one in months, and it's just as delicious as I remember them being.

After dinner, I leave the restaurant, and make my way through the crowded streets. Everyone is finishing up for the day and either going out for food or returning home or to the Temple.

About halfway to the steps from the cafe, a powerful sense fills me, the sense that something not of this world has honored us with its presence. Many others react, either standing still, or dropping to a bow. I turn and look around, until I spot the source of this sense.

Three creatures that resemble large cats, such as the mountain lions I am used to, walk down the street. Each has orange fur with black stripes, their faces almost round in appearance, with an orange nose, and white fur with black stripes, a few orange streaks towards the back of the head. Their underbellies and the backs of their front paws and legs look to be white in color as well.

Three three creatures walk down the street in a line, civilians moving out of the way, bowing to this being. Or rather, the one sitting atop the largest of the tigers, the one walking in the center.

He looks to be around ten, with pitch-black hair and crimson eyes, and he's dressed in a black shirt of some sort, along with pants that stop at the knees, his feet clad in strange footwear, also black in color, though with some red marks and strings.

The Divine's eyes are filled with tears, and he's mostly lying on the tiger, holding its fur tightly with his head facing toward this side, resting against the tiger's head.

The beasts themselves walk with their heads high, not even looking at us, just walking straight down the path. The people of this region aren't religious, as no Divine Being has really ever graced the world with their presence or made public their influence, though they do know of a few. I've yet to hear of one with such majestic creatures, though.

They stop walking when they reach this area, the tiger with the Divine resting on it approaching the spot I'm standing, then turning so the Divine is facing me.

Me.

He's looking at me.

"Mar-Martin," he sniffles, trying hard not to cry. "Sar-Sarvan-nos?"

"Yeah?" I ask, a little worried. "Um. Yes, Your Divineness?"

As soon as I speak, the others around me are pushed away by some unseen force, a translucent crimson barrier forming around us.

"Please find my Hero!" He wails.