A Testament Of The Dark Magician

Roland almost wanted to cry with joy. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever think he'd be so happy to hear that monotone voice in his head again? Cutting the sentiments out. There was only one thing on the agenda right now. 

'Omega! I need help! I've been violated! Something is inside of me. How do I kill it!" 

{…} 

{Foreign ailment detected. Activating prevention measures to slow toxin. Hosts has suffered countless tears to the abdominal, arms and back muscles. The femur bone is cracked.

Omega detects unnaturally high amounts of advanced white blood cells. This will take care of the unknown symbiote.} 

Roland wanted to kiss the system right now. Omega continued.

{Warning #2, an unknown energy source has been detected within the host's body, and vitals are under attack. Omega recommends expelling gathered Mental energy as a deterrence. Running emergency scan for further diagnosis…stand by.} 

'Expelling mental energy? How in the world do I do that.' 

{…} 

{…} 

{Quick Scan completed. Attempting to repair damaged nerves. Failed to repair. Does Omega have permission to actively dispel a portion of Hosts Mental energy to combat the attack?} 

'Yes-yes! 100 times Yes! Do what's necessary to stop that psycho.' 

{affirmative. Taking action now.} 

{…} 

'Shit-shit come on, omega, come on' 

Roland could feel his very being sinking further into a strange darkness. This experience felt definitive compared to when he had lost consciousness and temporarily saw the face of the dark depths.

{…} Omegas mechanical sounds beeped.

{ Releasing recently stored Mental Energy…Mental Pulse activated…Protocol 0 initiated…Transferring hosts consciousness…Transfer compete…initializing hosts mental palace…initializing success…Unknown source of energy has been neutralised…transferring to hosts mental palace…stand by} 

Roland suddenly felt a distortion in the darkness. Thousand and thousands of color's birthed from a single point. An explosion of lights fractured into thick shards, plastering themselves against the dark expanse. Roland was left in awe as he watched these violent glassed shards piecing themselves together to form a strange space.

His consciousness took form; he could see his entire body again. And he had assumed that previous ghostly ethereal form. 

He looked upwards, seeing a vast purple sky formed from shimmering glass. Beneath his feet ran a shallow pool of deep, dark water stretching as far as he could see. Roland's first instinct was panic—that was until he saw the digital grey screen appear in front of his view. 

[Welcome to your Mind Palace] 

[Greetings, Host. Due to the increase in your mentality. You have unlocked your mind palace, a personal sanctuary for creativity, wisdom, and reflection. This safe space is designed to enhance the efficient communication between your physical and mental abilities, allowing you to store and organize skills, memories and other mental practices.] 

Roland was gobsmacked by what he was reading. He pealed his anxious gaze away and looked deeper around this immeasurable space. 

"M-my mental palace?" He repeated, deeply bewildered. 

"Wait! Increase in my mentality what do you-" 

Before he could finish, he noticed blue clouds gathering above. Sparks of electricity danced around the grey smog, and a plethora of tiny dots appeared in the air. One by one, feint grey lines joined them all like a light grid. Only Roland noticed that 99% of these dots were dull and lifeless, all but one. A bright golden ball of light sat right in the middle. 

"Omega", he said, pointing towards the grid in the sky. 

"Explain to me what's going on in layman's terms." 

{Your mental sphere has successfully begun its metamorphosis}

 Roland could only shudder at the mention of that. A metamorphosis.

He finally found himself speechless. While countless possibilities cycled through his mind, only one constant thought appeared, trumping everything else.

"..."

"This...world...is...amazing!"

Other POV

The fog was alive. The elder floated in a mist of darkness but he could feel the world moving around him.

"What madness is this? Did the incantation fail? " he wondered, but it seemed impossible. The spell was tied to his body. Just so long as the slug was swallowed. Then it was over.

But then why was his world like this, and why did he feel his power slipping away.

A loud bell sounded, and Wizard Ai's eyes rattled all over the empty fog. The sounds of an ocean filtered into his ears. He decided to deplore his calmness, so he waited and waited and then noticed something. The waters were gathered above. No, it was a vast ocean of dark waters. Flowing without end.

He heard that bell again, and then he lowered his gaze where a heard of mountains started to grow. Alarm bells started to run, and there was only one place he could think of where the waters settled above.

"Is that...N-n-n-no, that c-cant be. Noooooooo"

Roland POV

Before he could gather himself, three swirling white portals aligned in front of him.

These were known as rooms. According to Omega, Roland had a maximum of three rooms. Within each room, Roland could store data, memories, train, or… 

"Prison? So-so you're telling me that old fogey is trapped inside of that portal?" He pointed out in disbelief

{Correct. The consciousness cage is a high-level anti-threat protocol. Designed to seal all forms of mental attacks } 

"The conscious cage ey." He said, smoothing his chin. He liked the sound of an anti-virus working in his head. A bright smile creased against his childish features. With this, Roland wondered if he was immune to all mind attacks.

"Well then, thinks it's time we paid our prisoner a visit."

On the other side of the portal, Roland stepped out into a completely black space filled with countless red lines tracing the entire space.

Roland could see shadowy indentures against the ceiling. He took a look at his strange form again. Thankfully, nothing sinister had occurred. Then, he observed this realm more carefully. In the corner of his eye, he noticed a thick block of dark matter descending from the ceiling.

Roland curiously watched the block of matter fall without any real gravitation pull against it.

A shrill voice sounded the moment the block appeared at eye level.

"You brat! What in the hell did you do to me?"

Roland flinched at first but peered questionably into the block of darkness. A web of thin lightning cracked and stretched brokenly across the cube of matter. The darkness spluttered away, leaving behind a rectangular cage. Instead of iron bars, those thick red lines appeared again. 

Roland was more engaged with the fellow inside of the red cage.

A frail old man with long, silvery white hair sat in the middle. His skin was loose and sallow to the point that it looked grey now. Roland took a step back and observed the out-of-place figure. He was almost entirely naked, apart from the oversized rag, thankfully tied around his waist. Once the old man realized he could move, he twisted his bony frame towards Roland. Now, two of them shared this awkward moment with strange looks on their faces.

"You-you brat! Where the hell are we? Wh-wh-why am I in this cage!"

He bellowed, slamming his arm against the static bars. Roland observed all of this in silence. Omega had already explained what this room was used for. Only he couldn't believe it was this accurate. More important of all. 

"Are you…are you that old man with the weird tentacles things?" 

He flayed his arm in a gesture he thought that tentacle arm made. The old man's frown deepened seeing that. 

"Damn it, who gives a shit about that! Where the hell am I, and why…why are you not dead? Who the hell are you! Answer me!" 

Roland was growing tired of all the noise. Although he could share a slight sense of understanding towards the plight of confusion, the old fogey was likely going through. He held little to no sympathy for a man who tried to take over his body. 

And then it occurred to him. The sense of power he now held.

"Heh, looks like you have no choice but to answer my questions. Considering you're currently trapped within my world right now. Haha haha! This is amazing!" 

Roland watched the old man draw a concerned look. Undoubtedly, the old fellow was also arriving at the same conclusion of his situation. His erratic demeanour swiftly changed into a calm and regulated way. 

"Tsk! What do you want then?" the Old fellow eventually asked.

Roland thought long and hard about how to play this. Manipulation was an art form. A lesson he learned the hard way back in his previous world. He folded his arms together and playfully tilted his head to one side. 

"You're going to tell me everything I need to know. You have no choice, considering I control this place. And if you haven't noticed, you're also under my mercy. So, If I see you are unable to help me. I'll finish you one and for all." 

'Finish you once and for all. Who says that.' He said to himself, cringing from the inside. 

Roland kept his chin high and his two eyes firmly poised on the old man. The old fellow sat in pondering silence for a short while. His glare never changed nor softened, as Roland could tell the fellow was trying to work him out. 

After deliberating internally, the old man exhaled a deep breath and relaxed. 

"Ceridwen…Ceridenwen Grey matter." He announced darkly 

The way he slowly rolled that name made Roland think he was supposed to know who that was. He tried to avoid showing his deep confusion, maintaining his stoic, confident gaze as though everything happening was under his control. 

"Hmm, I see…are you a-err... a magic person?" 

"Am I a what?" The old man grunted

"Err, I mean, ahem, I know you're a wizard and wizards know magic. So you will tell me everything you know about learning magic and becoming stronger. If I'm glad about your cooperation, I will think about letting you go." 

Of course, Roland was lying, considering he knew only a tiny handful about Omega's capabilities as an artificial intelligence system. 

The old man stared into his eyes with a strange look. 

"You're something else. For all this time, you pretended to be this foolishly unfilial dandy. I assumed you were a spoilt, self-centred brat obsessed with ways that did not concern you." 

Roland felt an uncomfortable shiver. However, he could only smirk awkwardly in response. That wasn't far from his own evaluation of the previous owner of his body. 

The old man lowered his gaze in distant thought. 

"You're not simply just a spoilt heir from a noble household. Only An Archmage Rank could create a strong enough domain to contain my will. So, you've either regressed back to a child's body after reaching a level far beyond what my seasoned eyes have ever seen.

Or, you are an old sage who sees it fit to wear someone else's body. Either way doesn't matter to me. I underestimated you. That was the reason for my downfall."

Roland's brows arched high. He stared thoughtfully at the old man seated comfortably in the lotus position. He was impressed, in truth, by how his mind worked. "Not quite, " he said, nodding his head. After removing his gaze from the prisoner, he roamed his stare across the empty dark neon red setting lined against the darkness. 

It gave him the feeling of being inside an alien spaceship. The neon veins pulsed with an otherworldly light across the fog of black, but even the black almost glimmered peculiarly when he stared at it for long. 

"How long were you living in that hole I found you in before?" He asked with a curiousness to his youthful tone.

The old fellow studied him before answering. 

"Long enough to gather all the information I need about the house of cloud."

Roland found that odd; why was he gathering intel about them.

"Soma Salazar Cloud. The strongest sword of the North East. The Cloud King both reveres and loves him as his own brother. His children are two of the eldest High Bronze-ranked prodigies. Four other children proceed them. All are equally gifted. And then there's you. The weakest and yet the most curious and unpredictable. You were the model choice to sway for my plan. Alas, I failed." 

Roland blankly nodded. He knew his family's brief lineage history, which, most importantly, confirmed that he was being spied on. Looking back, Roland's letters weren't as crazy as they first seemed these days.

"I don't really care what your plan was. But quick question about that hideout, do you have any more of those?" 

The old wizard slowly nodded his head with a twisted frown. 

"Hm, but why?" Roland asked in a curious wonder

"Most wandering Wizards roam around with a great fear of being caught unawares. The arts need constant practice to help keep your core and mental sphere healthy enough to maintain your strength. In our world, what you don't practice, you lose. And maintaining mastery over one's incantation is necessary for all wizards." 

Roland stood there deeply fascinated by the truth. It reminded him of a bodybuilder or any developing principle from his old world. It seems magic operated under similar laws as well. 

"Only certain spaces are rich with the nutrients needed to satisfy our never-filled hunger." 

"And what's that then?" Roland lowered himself to the empty floor and sat down. He rested his chin against his palms and listened. 

There was a look of deep disdain on the old wizard's face. But even he understood there was likely no way out of this than to comply. Roland had wondered what was stopping him from breaking out or attempting to use his magic. He had two theories. Without that magic wand, the old fellow wasn't as strong. And secondly, Omega. 

"The breath of the mana. There are hardly any mana veins across these mortal lands. So setting up a workshop underground is the best option." 

'A workshop?' Roland asked himself. His facial expressions likely expressed his wonder as the old man, picking up on him, sighed regretfully before explaining. 

"Your workshop is a wizard's nest. A place where you revise your incantations and prepare your grimoire. Sharpen your mind, brew your potions. We wizards don't necessarily need sleep. A workshop is necessary if you're a wandering wizard." 

"This wandering wizard stuff. What are the other options." 

"Join or be recruited to a wizard family or one of the many esteemed organizations. Or the more tame life of protecting a king or a local lord. You can cast wards to protect their little towns and teach their snotty nose brats a few things about magic. Heheh, it's a well-paid lifestyle, omitting the true horrors that come with roaming this world." 

Roland nodded in understanding. It sounded rather peaceful, but he just couldn't see himself serving a castle. He held his own beliefs about what that actually looked like. 

"Good, that's excellent intel. Now then, about these Ranks. Tell me more about how I became an Archmage." 

Wizard Grey observed him with a questioning look. He was no doubt piecing things together the more they spoke.

"The initiate stage comes first. You see, though many are called to the fledgling road of the acolyte, very few past the tests and become an official wizard." 

Rather than feeling deterred, which was obviously the old man's plan from the beginning. Roland could hardly contain his excitement. This world was growing on him by the second. 

A light-hearted chuckle broke free of his mouth. He rocked himself back and forth with amusement. Dreaming of what vast possibilities awaited.

"Ok, that's good, now then. How do I learn-" 

"No" blurted the old man.

"Eh? No, What do you mean no?" Roland frowned as though he was wronged 

"If you are who you say you are. Merely asking me would be a waste of your time. You would mercilessly extract it away from me. Therefore, something must be wrong. Perhaps you're not the keeper of this realm and are merely stuck inside it alongside me. Pfft! So no, I won't say anything else until you give me what I want." 

Roland silently beheld the almost malnourished-looking elder in deep thought. He really hated it when people disrupted his brilliant ideas. And this elder wasn't as simpleminded or backward-thinking as he had hoped. 

Without saying another word, he rose steadily to his feet and stretched his limbs. A boyish smile painted across his face as he affectionately beheld the elder. He waved his hand a few times before stepping back. 

'Omega, let me out.' 

A white portal fissured beside him. Roland took a step forward towards the bright doorway. He was halfway inside when he decided to stop, peering over his shoulders one last time. 

The look of utter astonishment had shattered any mask the elder wizard might've once had. Roland creased a satisfying smile and gave the elder a peace sign.

He slipped out and back into the giant starry expanse covered in violet clouds.