Two years later, the deaths of his seven siblings had become melancholy memories. Archibald looked back on them from time to time, but what most occupied his mind was still the outside.
His first mission hadn’t scared him off. The leaves battled against nothing, but wind had never left his mind, and the feeling of soft grass, something he never considered before, as he landed from tripping on tree roots was ecstasy.
For anyone else, the demons might scare them off for good. And, sure, Archibald knew that he wasn’t ready, but he wasn’t scared; in fact, the idea that the demons were so powerful was exciting for him. He trained constantly, preparing for his next chance to go outside, and he begged his father to let him go on another mission every day. Still, he hadn’t gotten that chance for two years.
Archibald leaned forwards in his chair, staring at the blackboard that was plagued with biology diagrams. He used to hate these types of classes: information, memorisation, blah, blah, blah. Now, however, something about it intrigued him, especially with the new subject of food webs.
“Primary consumers are above producers, because primary consumers are the predators of producers, meanwhile secondary and tertiary consumers are over primary consumers. A species’ position in a food web is about its dominance and predation over the other species. Because of this, the species at the top of the food web are all magically attuned. The highest was once dragons, but since they died out, the position has been fought for between humans and demons. Unlike dragons, both humans and demons have the weakness that only a few can use magic: demons use a feral style of magic, as they are unable to learn refined magic, whereas humans inherited the draconic style.”
A knock came from the door. The class turned to see their father opening it and poking his head in.
“Is Archie here? I need to talk to him in my office.”
Archibald followed back to the study and took his seat in the chair across from his father. “What did you want to talk about, Father?” he said, glancing at the window wall hopefully.
“You’ve been doing better in your classes,” his father said, “You haven’t thrown anyone against a wall for at least a year now. And I’ve been hearing good things from your instructors.”
“I try my best.”
“Your best isn’t enough.”
Archibald froze for a moment. “I know… I’m not the smartest of my siblings… or the most talented… or the most dedicated,” Archibald said.
“But I want to give you private lessons,” his father said, “I see something in you. I still think you could kill a demon. No, I think you could kill the demon king.”
Archibald’s eyes widened, and he leapt out of his chair. Leaning over the desk, he simply asked, “When?”
“I was hoping you would be excited,” his father chuckled, “We can start lessons today if you want. However, I can’t teach you during class time. Come back to my office at lunch.”
Archibald went back to his class and tried to pay attention.
“Dragons were the apex preda… prey for them… demons are not… multiple species of… humans live within… blah… more magic in those who… divisions in their ranks… blah… blah… animals are not capable of… blah… blah… blah…”
The window had served as Archibald’s distraction for the rest of the lesson. When the bell rung throughout the tower floors, he dashed out of the classroom and up to his father’s office.
He burst through the door to find his father neatly stacking documents. Then, his father’s gaze turned up to him.
“Archie! Is it lunch already?”
“Is the bell quieter up here?”
“No, I just had my office soundproofed,” his father muttered, “But that’s unimportant. Is it time for your lessons?”
“What are we learning first?”
“We’re going back to the basics,” his father explained, and Archibald let out a dejected sigh.
“Basics? I thought this was gonna be advanced stuff.”
“Don’t worry, Archie, I’m not teaching you anything you already know. Today’s lesson is on the basic premise of how magic works.”
Archibald took a seat. As he looked around the room awkwardly, his father began to talk. “All magic, no matter the source, comes from decisions. When you make a decision and stick to it, that’s when magic will appear.”
Archibald raised his eyebrow. He rocked back and forth in his chair as he listened.
“Now, this only works for people who have had the ritual, but from here on, the stronger your conviction, the stronger your magic will be. The unfortunate thing is that no human language can channel magic. The only languages we know of are draconic and demonic. Humans are collaborative, and while it might seem like a strength, the hesitation to dominate everyone below us makes us weaker in magic. Consider mages, who sit and wait for magic. Their magic is weaker. Meanwhile, a demon will command your death, and if you can’t resist or escape, their magic will kill you in an instant.”
Archibald went rigid. He froze at the word kill, staring towards his father.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have mentioned it,” his father said.
“It’s… okay,” Archibald murmured.
His father smiled. “Do you understand what I’ve been saying?”
“Yeah,” Archibald said, “My magic will be stronger if I can make a decision and have conviction.”
“Archibald, do you know why there isn’t any defensive or healing magic?”
Archibald shook his head.
“Magic is inherently defensive,” his father said, “If you have weaker magic than someone, then it has less effect on them. This is the reason why the ritual’s memory magic doesn’t affect people like you, Peter and Veronica. It is also the idea behind seals, for instance, like the one the dragons used to seal away the demons. Now, all magic would have some effect, so the demons will eventually break through that seal, and soon, but it has taken them millennia.”
“Will I learn a seal?”
“Not until you’re much stronger,” Archibald’s father said, “Creating a seal drains you of almost all of your strength, and they’re more powerful than any other magic. Okay, so next-”
“Can I go on another mission?”
“When you’re ready,” his father said, “I just don’t know-”
“Please?”
ns216.73.217.120da2
and then Add to home screen.