God Mage (6 page)

“Then mark off all the places that you know
of and then isolate the ones that you do not know and place those
on a separate map, and we might be able to narrow down our
choices,” Bren replied steadily.

“I cannot make that decision on my own,” he
said with a worried look on his face. “Even if I do not know the
places on the map, it is certain that others are not supposed to
know of them either. I could be sending you on your way with the
locations of places that are meant to stay hidden away from others
knowledge.”

“It is a place just as you described that we
are trying to find,” Bren said slowly, allowing his words and
meaning to sink into the other man. “If I must, I will take the
whole of the map with me and visit every place one at a time. I do
not care if it takes me a lifetime I will find the place I am
looking for, and I know that it is on the map before you. Nothing
will keep me from learning where it is at.” The certainty in Bren’s
voice made the man take a step back.

“I don’t think you understand,” the man said
trying to make his voice sound intimidating.

“No. I think is you that doesn’t understand,”
Bren said, raising his voice as the wind around him began to pick
up until it was a small gale that forced everyone back. “Neither
you nor anyone else will stop me from my intended goal.” Bren’s
voice sounded like thunder as the wind drove the man to the ground
his eyes wide with fear.

Bren felt the rage welling within him,
threating to overcome him but fought back, forcing himself to calm.
After a few tense moments, the wind died down to a small breeze and
Bren stalked off, his eyes catching the look of fear on many of his
friend’s faces. He had thought that after his training, he had
himself under control, but as long as he had emotions there was the
chance he would lose himself to them. It was a constant battle and
one that he was not sure that he could win. Once he was outside the
house, Bren could see the damage that his small tantrum had caused.
The thin doors that hung throughout the house had been ripped
apart, and many of the roof’s clay shingles had been blown over the
yard.

Bren closed his eyes, pulled in the magical
energy around him, and focused it. The ground seemed to turn to
water as the clay tiles were absorbed by the ground and returned
whole and unbroken, and then a soft gentle wind blew through the
trees lifting the tiles back up, replacing them where they
belonged. Within a few moments, the house looked as it had only
moments before Bren had lost control. He knew it would do little to
ease the fear the others had of him, which he could feel emanating
from the house, but it did help soothe his own conscious.

Once he was done, Bren continued his walk,
letting his legs carry him out of the yard and down the street. He
didn’t pay much attention to where he was going, and within a few
moments, he found himself walking down the road where he had first
felt the presence of magic being used. What Bren found amazed him.
He didn’t know what to expect, but there was no way it would have
been what he found.

In the south, it was understood that magical
powers didn’t fully manifest until around the age of fourteen.
There were cases of it happening earlier but they were rare. The
same rules didn’t seem to apply in Northern Kurt.

More than a hundred young men ageing from
five to fifteen were spread out across the courtyard, and Bren
could feel magic coming from each one of them. Most of the magical
energy was so small that Bren doubted it could so much as move a
leaf, but it was there none the less.

Bren found himself looking at the young men
and boys closer. He could see the magical energy flowing through
their bodies, but it looked different from others. It all seemed to
move into place as he looked around. Now he understood why the
people of the village had given him such an odd feeling.

Unlike external mages who pulled in the
magical energy from around them and bent it to their will on
external objects, or internal mages who pulled in magical energy
from the outside to alter their own body in some way, the northern
m
ages were quite different. They didn’t
pull in energy from the outside at all; they only used what was
already within their body. Bren knew that every object on earth had
magical energy naturally present within it, but he had never
thought that it could be used since it was normally such a small
amount.

Looking around, Bren could tell that the
younger boys had a normal amount of magical energy within their
bodies, but as the ages of the boys advanced, so did their body’s
capacity to store energy. It was such an outrageous thought that
had he not seen it first hand, Bren would have never thought it was
possible. Not only had the amount of magical energies within their
bodies increased, it had its own flow as if tiny rivers no bigger
than a hair ran throughout their bodies. The most fascinating part
was that Bren could see the small points in the river’s path that
guided it. Focusing harder, Bren could see the small gems no bigger
than the point of a needle spread throughout the children’s
bodies.

“I see that we have a visitor,” a sharp voice
said from behind Bren, making him jump. Quickly turning around,
Bren found his face only inches away from an older bald gentleman
with a long salt and pepper gray beard.

“Sorry,” Bren said, bowing his head slightly.
“I did not mean to intrude. I just found myself following the
magical energies these children were putting off.”

“Magic?” the man said more than asked with a
stern look. “We do not lower ourselves by relying on the power of
the gods. We use our own power.”

Bren started to argue with the man but
quickly decided that it would be a useless course to take. It
didn’t really matter what they believed that they were doing, all
that really mattered was how and what they were doing. “I see,”
Bren replied bowing again.

The man didn’t try to stop Bren as he started
back the way he had come, but Bren could tell that he wanted to. He
had the urge to turn around and continue studying the young men and
their use of magic but pushed that feeling aside. He had not come
here for that. He had come for his father, and anything that
delayed that course unnecessarily would just have to wait.

When he returned to the mansion, Bren found
all of his friends awaiting him. Some of them still looked at him
with a hint of fear in their eyes, but for the most part, it was
overshadowed by the worried expressions that plastered their faces.
For a few moments, he thought Faye or Cass were going to say
something about what had happened, but they remained silent, though
the looks on their faces spoke volumes.

To Bren’s surprise, he found Hayao’s father
waiting on him. The man’s face slightly paled when Bren entered the
room, but other than that, he gave no outward sign that the mages
presence bothered him. “I apologize. It seems I let my anger get
the better of me,” Bren said, bowing as low as he could without
hitting his knees.

Before Bren could finish what he had planned
to say, the other man bowed his head as well. “I was in the wrong
as well. By all rights this is your map, and I should not have
acted that way without first trying to reach a favorable
compromise.”

“As I said, the map itself means little to
me,” Bren repeated himself. “I am only interested in one place. It
is a valley where no one lives, surrounded by mountains with only a
small hidden entrance.”

“I would like to help you, but this is too
large a decision for my family alone,” the man replied, his voice
sounding sincere. “Let me speak with the village elders. There is a
chance they may be able to identify the place you are looking for.
I can’t say for sure, but there might be more to the map than even
I can guess at, though I doubt any of the elders would let me, let
alone you, know if there was.”

Bren’s first thought was to grab the map and
return to his own studies of it, but he quickly reconsidered. He
was sure that if needed, He could take back the map and escape the
village, but that was only if he went alone. It also meant that
should he go against the head of Hayao’s house now, it could mean
the same thing in the end. “It would seem that for now I have
little choice but to agree to your request.”

As the man left, Bren shook his head and
looked over to Hayao. “I have talked to your father a number of
times, yet I still do not know the man’s name.”

Hayao laughed a little and shook his own
head. “My father’s name is Hayao Sun.”

You and your father have the same first
name?” Bren asked slightly confused.

“No,” Hayao replied with a slight smirk.
“Have you not noticed that the family name is said first? It is the
more important of the two, so it is given precedence.”

“Ah,” Bren said blankly as a feeling of
embarrassment washed over him.

That night, after most the others had fallen
asleep, Bren once again found himself in the courtyard that lay
right outside their room. It wasn’t overly large and was by no
means an outstanding place of beauty, but it was a place that made
him feel calm, and after the day he had, he could use a little
calm.

There were only a few clouds in the sky
letting the moon shine through clearly. Pulling in a little magic,
Bren made it look as if the moonlight was dancing over the ground.
There was no practical reason for his antics; it was just something
to busy his mind.

“Looks beautiful,” Faye said, sitting down
beside Bren and laying her head softly on his shoulder. When Bren
didn’t say anything, she gave him a gentle shake. “No one else in
the world around, and I still can’t hold your attention.”

“Sorry,” Bren apologized.

“Don’t apologize,” Faye said, grabbing him
and pulling him close. “Just pay attention to me. That’s all I
really want.”

“Oh,” Bren replied feigning surprise. “Is
that all you really want?”

“Didn’t you know that is all any woman really
wants,” Faye responded with a sly smile as she pulled him close.
“Well most of the time.”

B
ren’s eyes
fluttered open as he heard footsteps quickly rushing toward there
room. Almost without thinking, Bren—careful not to wake Faye whose
head rested on his arm—grabbed the hilt of his sword. The sound of
the footsteps grew louder, and the sliding door to their room was
thrown open, causing many of the men in the room to jump to their
feet ready for a fight.

“There is a problem, my lords,” a young man
nearly his own age said breathlessly. “Master Hayao is waiting for
you outside.”

As the young man rushed off, Bren and the
others quickly dressed and rushed to find out what had caused such
an uproar in a normally subdued people. The look on Sun’s face said
much more than the frantic words of the messenger. “The elders wish
to see you,” Sun said before moving toward the elders building.

During the last few visits to the elder’s
building, Bren had felt a strong power emanating from inside, but
now that seemed only a farce compared to what he felt now. The
pressure coming from the building was so intense that it made
Bren’s stomach tighten, and it seemed to be getting stronger with
each step he took forward.

Looks like that the old men are worried
about something. Don’t they know it seems a bit childish to let
their magical energy run wild?

“It’s their magical energies that are causing
the pressure?” Bren asked not completely understanding. He knew
that it had something to do with magic, but how they were able to
put off such a feeling was outside of his knowledge.

Spending so much time with woman has
softened your brains. Most mages I have felt keep close tabs on
their magical energy for fear of giving away their powers to
rivals. On the other hand, these people are letting their magical
energies run
a
muck as if they are
challenging everyone around to try to fight them. You should cut
yours loose a bit to show them that trying to intimidate you and
the others won’t be taken lightly.

“I didn’t know the others could feel it,”
Bren said as he looked around at the faces of his friends. Everyone
had the same look of trepidation on their faces.

I doubt they can understand the feeling they
are getting from the building as much as you, but they can feel it
all the same. The old geezers are purposely putting you on edge for
some reason, and I don’t like it.

“How?” Bren asked, still not understanding
just how the elders were doing it.

Are you really asking me how? I knew that
you didn’t have your father’s skill with magic, but it seems that
you don’t even have his desire to learn things on your own.
Thankfully, at least you have enough strength to make up for your
lack of talent and drive. What they are doing isn’t that hard nor
complicated. Your father used to do it all the time when he was
mad, though most the time he didn’t know what he was doing. In
simple terms, draw in magical energy and let it disperse into the
air. The magic will hold onto your feelings and thoughts as it
spreads around. So if you are happy, then people will feel at ease.
Depending on how you use it, it can be useful in many
situations.

Bren started to pull in massive amounts of
magical energy, so much so that he drained the area completely of
its magical energy. As the magical energy entered his body, he
could feel a lightening of the tension in the air. The faces of his
friend’s returned to normal and even Cass walked with less caution
in his footsteps.

Bren was amazed at the sheer amount of
magical energy that he could hold. He no longer felt the burning
sensation in his chest, and he was sure that he could hold even
more if he needed. The only downside was that he could feel the
magical energies pulling at him. Since a vast amount of the energy
was invoked, with a feeling of dread, it heightened his feeling of
anger. Not wanting to hold it in anymore Bren released all the pent
up magical energy at once along with all of his anger.