Guardians Of The Arcane Chronicles

Chapter 5: An Impossible Mission

"For a student of sorcery, your house has surprisingly few books. You must be a frequent visitor of the libraries."

Gaius stood silently in a corner, watching the most powerful man in the city take a casual swig from his pocket flask. Benedictus stopped and stared at him for a moment before setting his flask down on the table.

"Come now. No need to stand on ceremony." He conjured a shiny golden cup, which filled itself up with water immediately. "Tea?"

Gaius pulled out the stool from under the table and set himself opposite Benedictus warily, nodding at him. The Mage grinned and tapped the cup twice, turning the liquid inside into a clean brown colour.

"Not much of a talker, are you?" Benedictus said. "At ease, boy. No one else knows I'm here."

"To what do I owe the honour, sir?"

"So you're not jumpy, just quiet. A very respectable choice of demeanour." Benedictus snapped his fingers and his staff shrunk, disappearing into the air. "I'll apologise for disrupting your rest by getting straight to the point. May I have a look at the tome you took from the sky library last night?"

"I'm not sure what you mean. My house is pretty small," Gaius replied in a monotone voice. "And as you have already noticed, I prefer to do my readings in the library."

"Really?" Benedictus' smile did not extend to his eyes. "How do you cast your spells then? A Sorcerer's power lies with the book he carries, be it concealed or not. Where is yours, Gaius Matthiou?"

Gaius flinched at the sound of his meta surname, jumping out of the stool. Benedictus took another huge gulp from his flask and chuckled slightly.

"Must you act so surprised, Gaius? I think it's fairly obvious from your spellcasting that you are no ordinary Sorcerer." Benedictus stood up, pacing around his house. "All children born of a magi-meta couple will be stillborns, so you definitely are not some kind of halfling abomination as well."

"I've seen you in action. Those aren't really fireballs you're throwing, are they?" He examined the fireplace with his hands behind his back. "They are balls of raw magic that release and hold energy in place. Raw magic drawn from that peculiar energy dwelling within your body, allowing a meta like you to manipulate arcani like a normal magi."

Gaius watched the man warily.

"A very unique brand of magic indeed," the Grand Mage continued. "And one not so different from the book you took from the sky library. Isn't that why your magic resonated with it?"

The boy unclenched his fists. He was not very well versed with arcani studies, but the president had a scarily accurate interpretation for his condition. He ached for a further explanation, but he had yet to determine if this man was a friend or foe.

"Why are you telling me this?" Gaius asked.

"Back in the old days, there were many.... misunderstandings. Regrettable ones," Benedictus said bitterly, turning away from the fireplace. "What happened to your parents was unfortunate, but sadly, too late to change. You, however, are an accomplished Sorcerer and most importantly, still alive."

He returned to his seat. "Now, you should've deduced by now that I don't intend to expose your true identity to the world. And frankly speaking, I want to make sure no one ever does. It is unfortunate that I only took up the Presidential Seat recently, but I hope I'm not too late to make amends to you."

"What do you want from me in return?"

"You're a sharp boy." Benedictus smiled slightly. "I want the same thing as you; to find out more about this magic. I'm not proud of the way things are between meta and magi-kind. And if we could just bridge the gap between the two races, if we could give everyone equal rights-"