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The Magic continued When William awoke, he had made his decision and when the mysterious man re-appeared, William spoke, "I wish to learn each of the primary elements. I will learn Fire, Water, Earth, and Air." The man smiled and said, "You wish to be an elemental wizard. You will be weak at first, but someday you may understand your power. Have you any questions?" "Who are you?" The man answered, "I am Ambazai, the wizard of the school. Of all the wizards, only I have the power of each primary and secondary element, though I have yet to master them. Some wizards claim I will someday learn the power of creation, but I fear Baaz chose wisely when he shed his power. Since you wish to be an elemental, I will lend you the Stones of the World: there are four. Each one represents a different element. When you have understood the secrets of the stones, you will know magic. I will leave you now, I have important business to attend to. Do not fear the stones, they are weak artifacts and can do no harm." Ambazai disappeared and William was left alone with the stones. He stared at them and suddenly felt wiser. He thought of the stones and their power: 'These stones are surely stones of magic, for each stone is different, and each gives power. Such power deserves respect. Stones, I will name you: Red stone, I name you Flame. You are hot and red; surely, you are a stone of fire. Light blue stone, I name you Wind. Though you rest in my hand, you feel light and soft; surely, you are a stone of air. Dark-blue stone, I name you Ice. You are wet and cold; surely, you are a stone of water. Brown stone, I name you Dirt. You are rough and dirty; surely, you are a stone of earth. When William finished his thoughts, he suddenly felt wiser and stronger. The stones glowed, and William realized the truth; the stones were alive, and they knew his thoughts! They spoke to him, but though he heard them in his mind, no sound came from the stones. 'William, you have named us, so we are yours, and you are ours. Just as you own us, we own you. You are the first to have the wisdom to name us, so we shall grant you our powers. Ambazai created us, but now we are yours alone.' As the stones spoke, their lights brightened, and William took in their glows. Suddenly, William understood the elements. William was an elemental wizard! As he absorbed their power, the glows dimmed, until the stones were black. They were now one with William. They spoke, 'William, you may draw on us for your power, but never forget that, though the school can teach only some magic, a good observer can learn more. Do not tell Ambazai our words, for this is the secret of magic; of colors, and of power. Learn well the truth of magic, as Baaz did in the past. There is one magic, a magic of great power, that Baaz never learned and when he understood the truth of magic, he lost his chance to free himself. The most powerful magic of all is the magic of truth, for even if you think you know all, you must learn to recognize what you can never understand. The magic of truth is a power of gods, for any question may be answered with this power. When no man knows the knowledge, truth shall prevail, for all of creation must bend to truth. No man can fathom the magic of truth, but understand it well, for even one without magic can wield the truth.' As the words ended, the stones lost their magic of sentience, and could no longer speak. Ambazai entered the room again. "You are finally finished," he said. "You've been in a trance for weeks." William was very surprised but responded. "It seemed like only a few minutes. I understand the magic now." Ambazai smiled, but said nothing and disappeared. William was suddenly in his home once more and looked around. Everything was as it had been. He called his mother over. "Mom, you have to see this!" As his mother came down, William drew upon his powers. "Flame! Wind! Ice! Dirt! I call you. Give me your strength!" The air around William glowed and the room seemed to shake with fear from William's power. Dust swirled around William; rugs caught on fire, and furniture cracked into pieces. The room grew colder, yet the fires still burned! Despite this, William's mother only smiled. She nodded her head once, and the fires died away, the room warmed and the dust calmed. "I see you have inherited my gift of magic," she said. "I suggest you direct the power toward specific goals in the future. By the way, you're going to pay for the new furniture!" Suddenly, his mother froze in place, flames whirled around her head, and lightning shot from her skin. "Billy," she cried. "Beware the black shadow. His spells are strong and his void is evil. He is more than I." As his mother spoke, the flames weakened and the lightning stopped. Williams' mother began to turn black, then the blackness faded away, and his mother was gone! William recalled the words from his pamphlet; 'black is the color of void. Void can be used to destroy'. William had no idea what an elementalist could do against the power of void, but he was sure he could find a way. He practiced his spells of learning to fly and summoning flames. "Flame! Ice! Wind! Dirt! I call upon you! Create a force of elemental power!" As he spoke, he formed his magic in his mind. Spells of earth shall be the vessels of the power. Spells of flame shall provide the strength. Spells of water shall allow it to release. Spells of wind shall provide the direction. Form a ball of power! "Form!" The ground shookand rose. Sand flew around in circles. A fire started and rocks flew into the fire and melting them into lava. Ice then froze the rock and Air surrounded them. William lifted the lava above his head. "It is done. I have created a force to fight the void." As he spoke, a voice from an unknown man spoke spells of the void, "ASERtopasROTPask--" In truth, magical spells needed no words, but the man used them nonetheless, as they aided concentration. "-- PraztoMAsTocan!" As the chant was finished, blackness formed around William. He lifted his new creation. As William concentrated his power on the ball of power, the void came closer. The rock had no effect! The void simply absorbed its power, and turned it into nothing. In desperation, William blindly threw his power at the void, silently concentrating on destroying the power of the endless void. The air around William shook, the ground quaked, and it seemed as though the World was about to break in two. As the void came closer, William gathered the last of his strength. In his fear and excitement, William's wisdom was forgotten, and only one thought, an adolescent thought remained. William summarized his plight with two words, "Oh crap!" With those two soft words, William released his power. William became an elemental dragon! He breathed flames of ice upon the void, and screamed burning dust. The void absorbed the power, and then exploded. The raw power overwhelmed William, and he was knocked unconscious. When he awoke, he was back in the small, white room and Ambazai was standing over him. "You have passed the wizard's test", he said. "What have you learned?" "I have learned nothing", William responded. Ambazai laughed. "No wizard can pass the test without learning of his power. You are either a fool, for not recognizing new knowledge, or a wise man who understands too much." William answered, "I have learned that not all is as it seems. I have learned that magic is flexible, and any magic may accomplish any task when used properly." Ambazai laughed again. "Not all is as it seems. Remember that lesson well. Ignore the second lesson, only Baaz ever truly comprehended its meaning." "How do you know so much about Baaz?" asked William. "When Baaz first gained ultimate power, he began to train others. None surpassed his ability, but many learned a lot. I am the master of this school because I am the only living wizard who has been trained by Baaz." "But I thought Baaz died millennia ago. How could you have trained under Baaz?" "One of the spells, that Baaz taught me, allows me to slow the ageing process. I do not know how to stop it completely, but I have a lot of time to learn." "Can you teach me this spell? I don't ever want to become an old fogey." "No. You do not have the ability to cast life spells, nor could you comprehend the complexity of such a spell." "Give me a Life stone. I will learn the spell from that." Ambazai looked worried. "How did you learn of the Life stone? Who told you? Who?" "Well, I figure if there was a stone for each element, there was probably a stone for every spell. Maybe there is even a stone for spells of creation. Baaz had the power to make one."
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