The Fragile the Broken and the Brave

52. Mountains

9.16.20

Benji's POV

The void is still ever present in my being. In fact, I can feel it pressing against my body; for a void it's strangely good at making me feel claustrophobic. It's getting harder to breath with all of the compression, but I had to continue. I'm too young to die so easily. I thought that Mikey told me that there was nothing to worry about. I thought that he told me that everything would be fine when I awoke. My mind took a quick detour, and I soon realized just how scrambled my train of thought was. Every notion and feeling came with about 10 more, and I found it extremely difficult to hold onto any one for a long time. I got tired of motion, but I couldn't halt it no matter how many times I tried to force myself to. Finally, the tight air around me released a bit, and I could shift around without feeling as if my bones were going to shatter. I had been spat out onto some kind of mountainous landscape, and I found myself atop the peak of the stone. Everyone I had ever met stood below me, and I looked out over the sea of faces reminiscing on their purposes. Not everyone was super important; a few had just been short conversations I had had one time. However, looking over them all I realized that every second of my life had come to shape this moment, even the unimportant kind.

Suddenly, a hand placed itself on my shoulder, and I spun my head around so hard I might end up with whiplash later. In front of my eyes was an old man that I swore I recognized from somewhere, but I couldn't recall where from. His mystical purple eyes searched me up and down, and I felt a sort of warmth in his presence that I had never felt from anyone ever before. "Welcome, Master Benjamin, to the mount of teachings," he announced ethereally, and I recalled him as that Genova guy from my dream.

"Am I dead?"

"Straight to the point... No, of course not. I couldn't kill you when the world still needs you. You may have defeated King Dray, but the course of many generations of warlocks still needs to be shaped by you."

"So then why am I here?"

"You're in this place with me because I needed to pass you my knowledge somehow. I unfortunately died before I was able to meet you in the real world, and I do deeply regret that. However, I still need to ensure you have all of the knowledge you need to be successful. Your body will simply sleep while we work here on this mountain to ensure you can be an amazing master. You definitely have the potential; I can see it deep in your eyes."

"Just one more question. Why did you pick me to be the next master? I know that there had to be a lot of other choices with 1000 years worth of offspring. I mean, surely at least one of them was stronger and more experienced than me."

"I did not pick who would rule over the warlocks, the universe did. I was honestly worried when I heard what your life story was supposed to turn out to be, but after what you did to that demon my doubts have been erased. Benjamin, you're the first master to have the stem element of electricity. Most others have a more tame element in order to match with a peaceful nature."

"What does that mean for me? I'm so tired of being different at this point." 

"That's the thing, Benjamin."

"Please, call me Benji."

"Alright, Benji. You were chosen because you stood out. As a master you cannot just fade into the background like other people. You will never be able to find a true niche anywhere except for at the head of everyone because you were designed to be there. There had to be no way for your fellow witches and warlocks to challenge your authority. You were forged through hardship and change because being a master is never easy. You have to adapt quickly and fight through everything. You have to make certain that everything in the community remains peaceful at all times as well as maintaining your own family and needs."

"What do I do if I don't want it? What if I decide that all of this is too much."

"Unfortunately, quitting is no longer an option for you. Being such as you are is actually what kept you from dying on that hospital bed. To deny your powers and send them to someone else would make you die. At first it would be something gradual, but you would know exactly where you were going. Benji, you're currently on borrowed time from the Gods of Life and Death. They may choose whether or not you perish."

"So I'm stuck with this for as long as I want to continue my life?"

"Yes, you are. Now sit down, I'm going to be training you on the historical side of your learning. You'll have to learn magic on your own since you're unable to use it in our current connection, but you have the ability to make up your own spells, so you should be fine. I don't know if you've noticed yet, but it uses less magic when you do use the spell rather than improvisations. I recommend you learn the actual words in case you are ever locked in an extended conflict such as the one you had with Demon King Dray."

"I will."

"In order to help guide you on that, however, I have this that I saved from the scraps on my old home." The man handed me an old, battered spell book, and I felt the familiar warmth from the book becoming mine wash over my skin. The binding was worn out under my fingers, and I could smell the old paper in the air. Clearly this came from the beginning of the Master Genova's life because it's still made from parchment and animal skin. 

"What is it?"

"This is the spells I leaned while I was active. They're specific to only masters, so don't go around making your friends try it. It will never work. All other incantations can be found in the mortal world, so I don't feel the need to give them to you. The easiest way to find them is by ransacking the place I died for all of the books there," he commented helpfully, and I nodded along with the statements. I'll have to do that when I'm allowed to go back. I just hope that the people in the real world aren't too worried about me. I would hate that. 

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now sit on this rock formation here while I go find some horse tails. It's important for what I'm about to be teaching you. One more thing, please don't accept a magic transfusion from anyone else other than your soulmate once you find them."

"Is there a specific reason?"

"Yes. The mixing of a normal man's blood and yours could kill you."

"Okay, I would call that a good reason," I squeaked out like a parrot on helium, and my eyes followed him all of the way until he rounded the corner. Jesus, this day just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Please don't be worried about me, guys.