Chapter 4 - Old Man Garrett
As soon as he appeared outside, he couldn't help but be shocked.
There was no sign of technology anywhere, it was just small houses where people lived with their families and reared either cattle or livestock. Even the roads weren't tarred. They were just bare brown earth that were blackened by some substances that he couldn't really identify what they were.
He however believed that this was so because it was a town, it would definitely be different for the cities which he believed would be a hundred times more advanced than the towns.
After looking around for sometime, he climbed down the long wooden stairs to their house that was elevated far above the ground and was made from well-baked solid bricks.
After climbing down the stairs made from some type of hard tree wood, he headed towards their gate in the distance. And as he did so, he looked around him and saw that his parent also reared cattle and livestock, which provided them with limited supply of meat.
Immediately he arrived at the tall wide gate also made from wood and entered the street, Maxmillan couldn't help but have his eyes shine in an inexplicable manner.
"It's almost like in primeval times on earth." Maxmillan said in a greatly dissatisfied tone, as he was used to the sophisticated technological inventions that he used back on earth.
Although he had been expecting these within himself, he was still however disappointed. He was hoping that when he appeared outside, he would find things that will cause him to feel excited.
But he didn't and so, his excitement died down. He however continued to walk down the street to take a look around before returning home.
After walking for sometime where he had almost reached the end of the street with nothing really great happening, and with disappointment filling the depth of his heart, Maxmillan was about to return when someone far in front of him suddenly shouted something incomprehensible and caused large dragons that burned in bright violet flame to appear and swimmingly encircle him, before bellowing towards the sky and unexpectedly shot out towards it at great speeds.
Bang!
Immediately they reached an altitude of two hundred feet above the ground, the massive dragons that burned in violet flames, instantly exploded into countless violet sparks that beautifully illuminated the sky and only dispersed some moments later.
When the flaming dragons first appeared and bellowed to the sky like they were exceedingly furious at it, Maxmillan who wasn't expecting that, suddenly fell to his feet.
With eyes fully widened and jaw wide open, Maxmillan who was still on the ground with his mind still reeling in shock from the previous mind-blowing scene that continuously replayed in his head, eventually recovered from it.
He then stood to his feet to look carefully at the person that exhibited the marveling feat.
It was an old man that had grey hair, long grey beards and wore a white robe that made him look like one of the sorcerers he saw in epic fantasy movies back on earth.
'Interesting.' Maxmillan said within himself with his brows now furrowed as he began to pay a great deal of attention to the man who only glanced at him for a moment before looking somewhere else.
Shortly after, like fifteen seconds later, kids started rushing out of their homes to come look at their favorite spellweaver perform magic.
When they finally gathered around him, the old man who was excited at the number of kids that had surrounded him, burst into joyous laughter and said when he calmed himself some moments later, "So kids, what do you want me to do today? Mention anything, and I will make them come true with my unrivaled abilities, dear children."
"Yeaaaah!"
The kids shouted in unison excitedly.
"Make a rock manifest from nothing." One of them suddenly said once the clamorous euphoric noises that emitted from them died out.
"Alright kids. Watch this and learn." The old man said with joy in his face.
Then putting his palm out in front of him, he closed his eyes. Once he would open them back, they were glowing in bright yellow light that caused Maxmillan to be absolutely shocked at the spot that he stood.
"This definitely isn't a false trick. It looks absolutely real. But how did he make his eyes glow? Is he a true magician? I have seen too many magic tricks in my world that I don't believe in anything anymore. But this look way too legit. It looks so real. If so, then it would mean it's my first time seeing a real sorcerer perform right in front of me. How interesting." Maxmillan said and immediately drew closer to where the white-robed old man was flanked by kids.
At the moment, he wanted to carefully observe the feats the old man was going to perform next and see if any concealed device or trickery technique would be employed.
With incomprehensible utterances making their way out of the old man's mouth, which Maxmillan believed to be spells or enchanting words since he had seen many things like that in movies on earth, the air around the old man began to roil before the effect spread out to everyone else, since the air circulating around them also roiled and became turbulently windy.
Then in the next moment, pieces of rock started shooting towards the old man from all angles and in different directions where they gathered around him into a massive number of small individual rocks that were enveloped in the same brilliantly glowing yellow light that emanated from his eyes.
Once that was achieved, with the old man bringing his palms together the next second, the light that enveloped the countless small rocks floating around him, immediately vanished with the rocks instantly attracting towards one another where they rapidly fused together to form a large heavy rock that floated hundreds of feet above the ground.
The large rock was really smooth that it gleamed in the light coming from the sun, seeming as if it were glossed and polished by rock sculptors. Then all of a sudden, numerous parts of it chipped away before swiftly transforming into a miniature building that was formed entirely from rocks.
Still floating far above the ground, it instilled both awe and reverence in the heart of everyone that saw it. It simply seemed like a small version of the deific abode of unearthly majestic rulers.
"Whoa!" Maxmillan said with his eyes widened once more. While the kids that surrounded the man, clapped their hands happily for the beautifully executed magical feat that he just showed them.
"Old man Garrett, how come you are so good? Our grandparents, parents, uncles and aunts can never do this. You are simply really amazing." A kid said with the expression of enthrallment and excitement written over his face.
"Haha. How can your parent compare to me, an Astra Spellcraft Commander? Your parents are only poor to average casters of Astra Mystralis. They can't be compared to me who had once led a small army of average Astra Mystralis spellweavers in battle against a group of blood-lusting pillagers and won." The old man said in a self-deriding tone.
"So kids, what else do you want me to do?" The old man asked once again and he caused the kids that surrounded him to be filled with laughter and happiness.
But Maxmillan who could understand his tone, as he wasn't a naive five year-old child but a twenty seven year-old adult, furrowed his brows as many thoughts began to flash in his head one after the other.
After thinking that he had seen enough true magic for the day, he decided to return home to ask his parent what Astra Mystralis was, what an Astra Spellcraft Commander was, and why it seemed like nearly everyone could produce magical effects, since it seemed like a common household thing to do.
Chapter 5 - Astra Spellcraft CommanderOnce Maxmillan got home, Lenna and her two daughters were surprised that Maxmillan had quickly returned."Maxie, you didn't find your friends? Or why is it that you quickly returned?" Nailah, Maxmillan's older sister asked."Not really, big sister. It's just that I saw something. Then I returned home to inquire about it from you, instead of my friends." Maxmillan replied."Oh. Okay. So, what's it that you want to inquire about, dear son?" Lenna gently asked with a beautiful smile in her face."Mom, there is this old man I saw at the beginning of our street. He was performing magic. Who is he?" Maxmillan asked, while Lenna and her two daughters looked at one another with a bewildered expression in their faces before looking back at Maxmillan who fixated his gaze on them with an innocent look appearing in his face."Maxie, that old man is your favorite performer. You are always there to watch him perform. Have you forgotten?" Lenna asked with a smi
Chapter 6 - Magical Feats!Immediately Maxmillan asked that, Lenna couldn't help but look at him with surprise in her face, as he was speaking too intelligently for his age.Was this another miracle because he awakened? She pondered without revealing anything on her face.Before the real Maxmillan in this world died, all he cared about was play, eat and sleep. But now, she felt that things have changed monumentally, since her son was beginning to sound much more intelligent than his peers, and seemed deeply curious about things that he shouldn't be contemplating about at his age."Son, I can produce magical effects. But not up to the level of old man Garrett who is an Astra Spellcraft Commander. I am only an average caster of Astra Mystralis. So, comparing me to old man Garrett is like comparing a burning charcoal to the sun. We are worlds apart." Lenna said.She then continued with a slight smile in her face, "Everyone in this town are capable of producing magical effects. But many o
Chapter 7 - 13 Years LaterMaxmillan had grown into a fine young man with an admirably impressive physique. However, he had a problem that kept him awake most night since he was a child. And this was because of his inability to sense Astra Mystralis and enter into a state of harmony with it. So, not being able to harmonize with Astra Mystralis, greatly bothered him a lot that he couldn't leave home to go anywhere else, since almost all the kids in his particular neighborhood who had grown into good-looking adults, had become talented casters of Astra Mystralis. Besides, Maxmillan felt really bad that he couldn't make his parent in this world proud of him. Although they loved him deeply, regardless of whether he was a caster of Astra Mystralis or not, he still however felt bad and terrible. So, these thoughts filled him with nothing but sadness and caused him to feel very useless and worthless. One day while sitting outside in the verandah of their home, where he was lost in his ble
Chapter 8 - Worries and Fears"I understand mom." Maxmillan said with a smile in his face that made his mom develop a bleak feeling in her heart.He then said further, "Mom, I am going to my room to rest. We'll talk later." As soon as he said that, he left his mom's presence and headed for his room to ponder more about the next line of action that he planned to take.But not quite long, while seated on his bed and lost in deep thought, he suddenly heard gentle knocks rap against his door.Immediately understanding that this person could be anyone of his sisters, he produced a smile in his face and said, "Come in."The door creaked open to reveal Maxmillan's younger sister, Lylla. Then accompanying her into the room was Nailah with a mean look in her face, which caused Maxmillan to be befuddled.'Hope my older sister hasn't come to make trouble with me?' He asked himself internally."Sisters, what brings you to my room? Are you both here to grace this dashing majesty?" Maxmillan asked
Chapter 9 - Going for the entrance exam.In the early hours of a particular day in which the entrance exam was fixed at a venue in the Floating Lotus academy, Maxmillan, with the help of his sisters and mom, had finished packing all that he needed for his tiring journey to the faraway city."Maxie, remember. If anything goes wrong over there, immediately return home." Lenna said with a gloomy expression in her face, which anyone could tell that she was really worried."I understand mom." Maxmillan said with the nod of his head.Then he went forward to hug his mom who embraced him back with a tear bead rolling down her left cheek from her glistening left eye. She wished she could dissuade Maxmillan, her only son from going to the city. But since he had fully made up his mind, there was no point in doing so. Besides, she wanted him to be happy and didn't want to get in his way, or he might get furious at her as time goes on for causing him to be absent at the exam venue and therefore r
Chapter 10 - Exam Begins!'This is really amazing. How I wish I could sense Astra Mystralis and enter into harmony with it, I will surely do a million and twelve hugely amazing things with it.' Maxmillan said within himself and heaved a deep sigh.'Well, I am here now for the exam. Let me see the kind of fate that is waiting for me at the Floating Lotus Academy." He said further and deeply exhaled . Then he began to look around for where he would take a carriage that would convey him to the Floating Lotus Academy.Without needing to ask anyone, since he simply followed the kids that got into carriages that would convey them to the Floating Lotus Academy, he got into one which drove off after it was filled with passengers.As the carriage moved on the way at a high speed, along with many others that could number in the hundreds, Maxmillan was able to take in more sights of wondrous and marvelous things in the city. 'This is one hell of a grand city.' Maxmillan said within himself and
Chapter 11 - HumiliatedImmediately Maxmillan climbed up the floating square-shaped platform, he walked to a spot where he would exhibit his own ability.So, with his eyes closed and fully ignoring the cacophonous sounds of various magical effects manifesting around him, Maxmillan tried to sense Astra Mystralis.He had a theory that he wanted to test, which was that since about sixty people were on the platform and made use of their Astra Mystralis harmonization ability to produce astonishing magical effects around them, then him sensing Astra Mystralis should be much more easier. The energy which he felt was absolutely imperceivable by him because he wasn't from this world, should be made much more easier to detect because of the users of Astra Mystralis who surrounded him and continuously casted myriad magical effects. Therefore, that alone should have a great influence on his seemingly inexistent perception ability, so he thought. After ignoring the loud and disharmonious sounds
Chapter 12 - Attacked!A couple of days later, where Maxmillan had long arrived in the city by feet and drank from pools of water that he saw on the ground to quench his thirst, nearly everyone in Shining Lake City had known who he was. Details about him and the incident that surrounded him, had spread like ravaging wildfire to every home and institution within the city. And so, whenever any of them came across him while heading in certain directions or to a particular destination in mind, they immediately avoided him like he was a frightening monster that only his gaze alone would cause them to be filled with illness and bring about their instant perishing and immediate decay. At the moment, Maxmillan was really hungry that he could entirely devour a full bucket of rice and hot tasty soup. And this was because he hadn't eaten for days since he arrived at the city where nearly everyone did their utmost best to avoid him like he were a plague. He was so famished that mouth-watering