The First Archmage

(Tyler)

"Your friend is inexplicably powerful," Nick says, and I look over at him. "I've never heard of an Adventurer with that much power before."

"He's the first magic-Class Adventurer this world has known," I say. "His Primary Class is Wizard. Or at least, the Tier IV version of it. Once he took it on, magic-based Classes became available."

Though that seems to not have affected fairies, with that one being as powerful as it was.

What does he see in them, anyway?

"Wizard?" He asks.

"The most powerful magic-based Class there is," I nod. "It has a very strict requirement, and is very, very powerful. He's reached the Fourth Tier of it. His diplomacy skills leave something to be desired, but he can be relied upon to get a job done."

"You don't like anything that isn't human," Nick says, and I pick up my glass of wine and inspect it. "How do you feel about your peoples' desire to work with fairies?"

"Not just fairies," I slowly tilt the glass in a circle, watching as the wine swirls within. "Other species as well. I am not happy about that. They are vile, murderous creatures, and should be exterminated, not befriended. I am turning in for the night, I will see you tomorrow."

I set the goblet down, then walk to my room, changing into a nightshirt and lying on my bed, staring up at the ceiling.

Why does he want to work with them? Maybe he is the same person Kade said he was, back then. He doesn't want to work with just any of their kind, but fairies. Did he get hit in the head or something?

Not everyone has issues with other species, Tyler.

They should.

Gavin has a curiosity for other species, and is interested in meeting them. As long as they don't wrong him or his, he finds no fault with them. He is also far more forgiving, when the need is there. Oberon twisted his Resources with a curse, and yet Gavin forgave him, because having the Fairy King as an ally is much better than having him as an enemy.

I do not want to hear of this!

And yet you will, Tyler, he says. The Divine themselves have been watching him for awhile, myself included. They have even begun to argue amongst themselves, because of him. Gavin will put aside any differences he has with another, if it means a goal is met. To him, there is nothing more important at this moment than his three tasks: restoring Jozan, removing the Boundary of Sages, and creating a headquarters for his Order.

Because of this, I really, really wish I could tune him out. On that note – Gavin can tune out the Divine. Because of his placement of importance, any differences he has with another mean nothing, if they can be an ally. Your own father worked with beastborn, and their harmony worked well.

I know you are upset over what happened, Tyler-

"DON'T YOU DARE!"

But you will need to put those differences aside. The actions of one do not represent the many. If they did, then Gavin wiping out an entire city because they kidnapped his team would be representative of Jozan, yes?

Actually, he pauses for a moment. Gavin's a bad example of that. Jozan likes to make a point to its enemies, and ensure that they don't cross that line again. Your father probably would have done the same thing. Jozan could only have been destroyed from the inside, because of its ways. It was respected by its allies, because of its refusal to budge on its morals, and feared by its enemies, because of its sheer might and wrath.

Those morals are morals that you do not hold dear to you, Tyler, Len states coldly. Jozan, at the core, will help those in need, and is a nation of acceptance. It does not judge all for the actions of one, when that one did not act on behalf of all. If Gavin believes for even a moment that you are not up to the duty of upholding Jozan's morals and honor, then he will cast you aside and find someone who can to lead the nation.

"What does he know?" I ask. "He was in the capital what, a day before everything went down, and we had to leave? How would he-"

Gavin is no ordinary child! Len snaps. Your father knew of him long before his birth! He knew of all four of you – Gavin, Kade, Michael, and yourself! He knew of the attack before it happened! Your father had the power of foresight, and set things in motion for you to be saved! He and Gavin's Chief spoke for years before your births and Gavin's arrival in this world as a toddler! Chief instilled within Gavin a complete and devout sense of loyalty to Jozan – something he still bears! Gavin bears the Codex of Kings, bearing it for the sole purpose of ensuring that whoever rules Jozan next will know it!

The Codex of Kings? The ancient Jozan code written by Meiva Jozan, the First King of Jozan himself, as a guiding principal for our people?

In addition to that! Len continues his tirade. Gavin knows every ancient law of Jozan, all of its customs and traditions! When he acts in a way that harms Jozan's standing with others, it's to protect Jozan itself! To help Jozan! He is more worthy of being its leader than you are, and you are the blood of its royal family! It's first royal family!

Not only that, but the Spirit that is the being once called Meiva Jozan wishes to contract with Gavin, and bestow upon him powerful Spirit Gifts! Meiva is perfectly fine with Gavin being friends and allies with fairies, and with the aid of that which isn't human being allies with Jozan! The very being who founded your little country!

So if you want to act a child, Tyler, he continues. Then be a child, but give up Jozan! Gavin doesn't need you to restore it – he's being nice by allowing you to take the throne! If you want to be a king, then you will need to learn to set aside your differences, for the better of your kingdom! Gavin can start a war between the Divine without even trying, he is that powerful and influential, even in ways he doesn't even know! He can and will gain allies you will have issues with, yet they will be what makes Jozan return! Without him, you are a mere boy, chased from your home! Without Gavin, you are no more than a Fallen Royal!

Yes, you might one day be able to found your own kingdom on this massive continent with few nations, but it would be a long, hard road, filled with trials and challenges that may well kill you! If you find yourself able to set aside your issues, you can become the king of your true nation – Jozan – and have issues of a different sort, but allies who can help you when they come up! Gavin knows you as well as you know him, and he will give you up for the better of Jozan! So either act like its king, or give up your heritage as one!

And if you wish to keep acting like a stupid, selfish child, then I will revoke my Blessing from you!

Shaking, I do my best to calm the rage boiling within me. I do not like being yelled at, especially not from a god who sounds like a child. But Len is the only person who has been on my side, the only person who has truly been on my side, since then.

I need to get out of here.

Wait.

"Len?"

What? He sounds pissed.

"You said," I say. "That Gavin can start a war between the Divine without even trying. Did he actually do that?"

Yeah, he did. It's mostly arguing right now, but I imagine it'll turn into a full-scale war at some point. I'm on his side. There's, like, fifty Divine currently arguing here.

"You're there?"

I'm at a bathhouse for the Divine, though no one's noticed me yet. Uh… weird.

Do I want to know?

Probably not, damn him hearing my thoughts, since that wasn't directed at him. It happens whether I want it to or not, when I'm in direct contact with you telepathically.

Len sighs in my mind.

"How long have they been arguing for?"

It's all relative, since we live somewhat outside of time, he answers. Gavin's patron god just showed up for a bath, which is weird, because Nies never takes a bath with the rest of us. And he's got a massive bowl of popcorn. Hold on. I'm going to see if I can sit near him and eat some of his popcorn. I think he's mostly here for the amusement, because he's super-lazy, and it takes a lot to get him to leave one of the few realms he'll go in.

Yo.

He's apparently talking to you.

Be nice to Gavin and the fairies. I'll punish you, if you upset him more.

Please don't punish my Blessed. It's been so long since I've had one.

Same here, and I punish him. Hands off my popcorn!

Aw. Can I please have some? It's been so long.

Maybe if you'd leave your realm to do more than take a bath or visit Tyler personally, you could steal some of Ekre's popcorn, too. Surprisingly, it's the one thing he doesn't get mad at me for taking.

He stocks it just for you to steal, Nies.

He does?

They do know I can hear their conversation, right?

Yeah, he does, Len responds. The other stuff, you'll get elsewhere, but you're too timid and lazy to actually enter the mortal realms that have it to get it yourself, so he keeps it in stock for you, because he knows you'd probably pester him until he got it for you.

Oh. Well, you still can't have some.

What's popcorn?

An image of a fluffy, yellow-white thing appears in my vision.

Buttery and delicious, Tyler. Great for eating while watching arguments.

Tyler, allow me to introduce you to Nies, the Origin of Quests and Oaths, Len says. He's Gavin's patron god, and is very, very lazy, and loves his sweets and tigers. If you're ever having problems with a Quest, make an offering to him, and you might just find yourself lucky.

Of course, Len says. That's if you don't piss him off or wrong his followers or Heroes. If you do, you might find yourself having bad luck on every Quest you ever go on, until appeasement happens.

I don't have any intact altars, Nies sounds sad. My last surviving one just got destroyed earlier. At least watching Divine argue has lifted my spirits a bit. Nothing like a war between the Divine to make my day.

Is everything alright with this god?

Only when Gavin's happy, Nies responds. And he isn't, right now. He really wants to just destroy the city and take the fairies back to their home.

How come Reij didn't eat Oberon's curse?

Gavin told him not to consume any of the fairies' attacks, no matter how powerful or dangerous they were, when they were flying over.

Ah, okay. I was wondering about that, after I saw Reij on his arm.

Why were you watching Gavin?

His mana is cute.

Seriously?

Do you know how rare it is for someone's magic to be violet? It's just adorable. I just wanna squeeze him tight and feel that magic flowing through him with my own body. The last time there was someone with violet magic was… oh, how long ago was that?

Yes, and we had to seal him away with powerful binds on him because of how dangerous and evil he'd become.

Aren't you the god who gave Gavin your Blessing?

Yeah.

Did you just compare him to one of the worst evil's the universe has ever known?

I was making a point. You can't just say his mana's cute because it's violet.

Yes, I can. And I did. The way it ebbs and flows… it makes me want to take up my original mantle.

Smacking you is too much work. I'll sic some tigers on your realm instead.

You do that, I'll tickle your son.

You touch my son, and-

I tune them out, sliding off my bed and changing into an outfit entirely dark blue in color, including the cloak. I pull the hood over my face, and slide my dagger into its sheath on my hip.

Opening a window, I check to make sure the area is clear, then step out onto the ledge, carefully turning to pull the window closed behind me.

New Skill!

Narrow Balance 1: On narrow surfaces, your balance is greatly improved, and as a result, you are less likely to fall.

It's about time I got that. Now if I only I had the Climbing Skill already. Then, my trip down the wall would be a lot easier.

Something tells me a god is being very cheeky with me right now.

Once my feet touch the ground, I move as quickly and quietly as possible out of the manor, scaling the wall surrounding it, then taking off into the city.

After nearly thirty minutes of running in the shadows, I reach a small, hard-to-find building, with its entrance hidden in an alley, down some steps blocked by old crates. Carefully, quietly, I descend the steps.

Pulling out my lockpick gear, I get to work on the door, cursing the fact that I don't have the Skill yet, so it takes abysmally long.

New Skill!

Lockpick 1: You have proficiency with lockpicking. As this skill increases, you can pick tougher locks faster!

It's about damn time!

Though the timing makes me wonder if something granted it to me.

Len?

Several seconds pass, and he doesn't respond. I finish picking the lock, then as silently as possible, open the door and look inside, sticking to the shadows as I enter the room.

Seven humans and a fairy, the fairy sitting on a chair at the far end of the room.

Found it.

That black hair, dark red eyes with slits for pupils, pale skin, and translucent, glittery black wings. It looks around nine or ten, and has a glittery black mark on its face, similar to the powerful one Gavin fought earlier. This one's mark is beside its right eye, swirling around it. There are some sort of magical runes on its wrists, which rest on the arms of the chair.

That look and those marks on its face and wrist confirm it.

This is the damn fairy I'm looking for. Ugh. These disgusting creatures need to learn clothes. It might be older than me, but even if it looked it, it would still be disgusting, vile, and-

It just looked at me. It shouldn't have noticed me, not that fast, even if my Camouflage is only Level 1. I'm hiding myself in shadows, with dark clothes. I would naturally blend into it.

"I'm still not doing it," the fairy looks back to one of the humans. Appraisal yields no results, so it has either at least Appraisal Resistance 3, or no Access. "I refuse."

"Do you remember what happened the last time you refused?" The human asks.

Only two in the room yield results, both of them much more powerful than me. That doesn't matter, though – surprise attacks will work, though the fact that it noticed me means I should run, should get as far from here as possible before it or they attack.

"Which time?" The fairy asks, sounding bored. "You'll torture me some more? You forget – you've done that so much, I'm getting resistant to pain. You'll need to up it."

"You will do what we want you to, you little monster," the man slaps the fairy across the face, and the fairy starts screaming, its body twitching, yet its hands remain firmly on the arms of the chair. Weird. "Suffer a bit, then we'll see if you're still resistant. Or do we need to torture dust out of you?"

Wait, what?

What's going on here?

When the fairy finally stops screaming, then man looks down at it with a sneer on his face.

"Foul creature," he says. "You made me touch you. For that, you are going to make us some dust."

"Nah," a familiar voice says in Velusan, and Gavin walks past me. "What I think you're going to do is release the binding on his wrists, so that you no longer have hold over him. Then, I'm going to kill you."

"Who are you?" The man sneers at him, then frowns. "And why isn't Appraisal working on you?"

"Heh," Gavin smirks. "Tell your god that Gavin said 'hi'."

The men all die, and the fairy stares at Gavin, fear clear on its face.

"Hm," Gavin looks at the fairy. "That's a nasty little binding on your wrists, isn't it?"

He approaches the fairy, touching one of its wrists and trying to lift it. The wrist doesn't move.

"I can't do anything with his orders," the fairy starts sobbing. "I'm suck here forever!"

"Nah," Gavin says, and the runes he's touching fade away. He touches the other wrist, and those runes fade as well. "There we go! You're all free! You can come out, Your Majesty. I doubt he'll hurt you."

He knew I was here, too?

Stepping out of the shadows and releasing Camouflage, I approach them. Gavin tosses me something, and after I catch it, I watch the bluish liquid swirling in the bottle. A Mana Potion.

"Whatever your Regen Rate is," Gavin says. "It's probably abysmally slow, and you were using your Mana because you were confident in your abilities."

"How did you know I was there?" I ask.

He hasn't even looked at me, and he tossed that to me perfectly.

"I can sense your Mana, for starters," Gavin answers. "And my Perception is quite high. A Level 10 Camouflage probably wouldn't have fooled me."

"It noticed me, too," I drink the potion. "I'm here to kill it."

"How long ago did they bind you?"

"Six years ago," the fairy sobs. "I was only nine! It stunted my growth and everything! They've been making me do awful things and torturing me into making dust! As a Shadow Fairy, I can get places without being noticed, and sense things in shadows. I didn't want to do it! I swear! They were making me! If I refused, they-"

"It's okay," Gavin lifts the fairy up and pulls it into a hug. "You're okay, now. What's your name?"

"Kivuli," the fairy sobs into Gavin's shirt. "Please don't hurt me! I don't want to do bad stuff anymore!"

"I have no plans for that," Gavin tells him, then looks at me. "Do you know him?"

The fairy lifts its head up, looking at me and frowning, scrutinizing me. If Gavin weren't around, that thing would be dead right now.

"I think?" It says. "Looks like an older person than someone I saw some time ago. They made me kill some noble's daughter. I didn't want to, 'cause she was a girl, and she was pregnant, too, but they tortured for me a week, and I kept refusing, and then they started torturing me into making dust. I resist for another week, but then couldn't anymore. But he's older than the one I saw. I think… a year or two older? Maybe? I dunno. Maybe the older brother?"

Gavin looks at me, and I'm lost as to what to do. The fairy seems… honest.

That's because he is, Len tells me. He didn't want to kill any of those people, that night, but he was forced into it. Gavin can tell you more about those runes he removed from the fairy's wrist, but in short, they bound Kivuli into doing what those men wanted.

Did you know?

Yes, Len answers. But I wanted you to sort through this on your own, Tyler. You're probably confused right now. So much hate, so much rage you've built up the last year and a half… only to find the assassin you thought was the mastermind was, in fact, just another victim. That is why Nies rejected your Blood Oath, back then. He didn't want to bind you into killing a victim, especially since he knew Gavin liked fairies, and would permanently turn against you, should you kill one who was powerless to fight you because he was forced into doing something previously.

"Tell Len to shut up," Gavin says in Jozan, and when I refocus my gaze on him, the fairy is sleeping, its head resting on Gavin's shoulder. "You were here to kill him?"

"It killed several people close to me," I tell him. "A year and a half ago. In addition to Anna, it killed two servants, a knight, and a smith, all with access to the System, though Anna didn't have it. Anna was three months pregnant."

"Was one of them your boyfriend?" Gavin asks.

"What?" I'm so confused.

"You had a boyfriend, last I heard," Gavin states. "Well, last time I was on this continent That was a couple of years ago, I think. Time is getting confusing for me. Was one of the others he killed your boyfriend? If so, I can understand why you'd be so furious. Love is a powerful thing."

"I hadn't been with him for awhile," I feel myself make a face, and quickly stop. "He turned into a jerk after gaining Access. I was dating Anna."

"Anna?" Gavin doesn't look surprised at all. Does he have Acting, or does he just not care? "Was that your baby, then?"

"Yes," I answer. "That was my girlfriend and baby it killed."

Gavin looks between the fairy and me, then wakes the fairy up.

"We're heading back to the manor, now," Gavin says. "Why don't you come with us? Tyler is one of the people you hurt, he was the boy you saw, a year and a half ago."

"It's been that long?" The fairy asks, then looks at me. "I'm so sorry, Tyler! I didn't have a choice! They made me do it! I didn't want to, but they kept torturing me, and then they start torturing me for dust!"

Oh, no. I know what Gavin's getting ready to do.

"Gavin-"

"Here's an idea," Gavin ignores my protests. "Why don't you serve Tyler, to make it up to him? Help him out? He's going to be king one day, and will need someone he can trust."

I don't trust fairies. This doesn't change anything!

"I'd be worthless," Kivuli looks down. "I want to make it up, and pay back for what I did, but I can't. I don't even have access."

Gavin sets Kivuli down, then focuses on him. A few moments later, Kivuli's eyes widen.

"How did you do that?" Kivuli asks in shock. I quickly scan him.

Kivuli, Shadow Fairy 1

Did Gavin just do what I think he just did?

"I can give or revoke access," Gavin answers. "That was my first time doing it, though. I mean giving it without a ritual anyone with enough LIF and Mana can do. I'm never doing that again."

So Len really did mean that Gavin didn't like giving up LIF, then.

"How can you do that?" I ask.

"Perk of being a Wizard," Gavin answers. "Tyler, I can tell you still have a boiling hatred for fairies within you. I want you to give them a chance, and this is the perfect way to. I want you to swear a Blood Oath."

"No."

"The Blood Oath," Gavin says. "Is that, so long as Kivuli does not act against the interests of Jozan or to bring you harm without it being for you or Jozan, you cannot harm him or act against him."

"What?" I nearly yell at him. "You have to be insane! I will not-"

The fairy says something in the language of the fairies, and Gavin scrutinizes him. Then, the fairy glows with a faint, crimson light, and I take several steps back, drawing my daggers.

"That was a Blood Oath," Gavin looks amused. "He was swearing that he'd not act against you unless it was to protect you or Jozan. Then he asked me what Jozan was. Kivu, Jozan is the nation Tyler and I are from. Tyler is it's blooded King, though it was taken over years ago. I'm working to restore him and it to power."

Gavin and the fairy stare at me, both of them with intense gazes.

I want to kill that thing, even though I know it says it was forced to, and probably was. I still hate fairies.

But I do want to see my kingdom restored, and need to play nice with its most powerful Adventurer in order for that to happen.

"Fine."