“This is the world in my eyes,” the sage’s fingers moved slightly, and the surrounding colors and lines changed. Her tone lacked any human quality, cold and detached, “You have good aptitude, but you don’t truly want to become a magician.”
Gerard trembled under her gaze, lowered his head, and after a long silence, timidly asked, “If I enter the Sage’s Tower, could I one day become a magician like you and see such a scene?”
The sage let out a strange laugh that sounded chilling.
This was the closest to human emotion she had shown so far, not hiding her mockery, and slowly lowered her veil to her cheek.
Gerard didn’t have time to look away, clearly seeing the sage’s face. It was a very beautiful face, with delicate facial features like a sculpture. But bizarre black patterns were drawn on her pale skin, from forehead to jaw, with no skin completely free from these patterns. At first glance, Gerard could sense the enormous power hidden in these patterns, and thus, these originally eerie lines appeared dignified and even sacred in his eyes. But most shocking were the sage’s eyes, with deep gray pupils carved like stone, completely lifeless.
“Seeing such things comes at a price.”
Gerard softly said: “The only thing I can believe in is knowledge. I… want to learn the most profound knowledge of this world, and I’m willing to pay the price.”
The sage turned her face towards him, and those lifeless eyes brought an oppressive sense of trembling: “Even with your life?”
Gerard prostrated on the ground, using the most determined tone a seven-year-old boy could muster: “Even with my life.”
Since he was destined to become a magician, knowledge and mysterious magic naturally became his only companions. This was good for everyone: the family could be satisfied, and he could completely detach himself from all of this. But this was not a passive escape. Gerard urgently wanted to see the hidden landscape of this world.
He glanced up at the female sage through the gaps in his hair.
“I hope you won’t regret it,” the sage’s voice was again devoid of emotion. She put her veil back on, her expression wooden. But in Gerard’s eyes, each of her movements brought a trail of fine golden light.
Seeing her, he thought of a chant for activating a magic circle:
Go to the deepest darkness! There lies the light of the abyss.
