Dark Lord Saga : The Blood Mage

Chapter 5 : Dagger and Sword

A little boy is being carried by the collar of his shirt. His feet dangle in the air. Though this child is a very bright child, right now everything is going out of control. This woman has kidnapped him!

"Ah!" said the boy fidgeting in the air. The boy could free himself if he wanted to, but he dare not offend his first teacher!

"Stop being so silly," Baylee said, putting Grey down. "You are outside now! Did the heavens strike you down? You need to learn that promises don't hold any more power over you than the wind. A mage is a master of his own fate, situations changes with time, what may be right one moment may not be right later."

Grey looked up at Baylee.

"But...I promised my father."

"A man's promise is only worth as much his strength. Little Grey, didn't you say you would be my apprentice and I would be your master? Right now, I am teaching you something, will you care to listen?"

Grey blushed and nodded. He felt a little embarrassed.

"It is not that I wish you harm, but as a clever kid you should know your limits. In the future, if you are so pig-headed you'll find yourself in an impossible situation. Say you are in a dungeon with your fellow party members. You are told to hold this formation to guard each other from monsters. A monster leaps up and tears your leader away. Do you stick to the formation? Or do you act to save his life?"

"I would save his life!"

"Wrong!"

Grey shook his head in disbelief? Was he suppose to let him die?

"I should let him die?"

Baylee smacked him on the head lightly with her staff. "Silly kid. Who said anything about letting so and so die."

"But you said?"

"I know what I said, but you are not asking the right questions. Why are you in a formation? Who are you in a party? You are a mage. You are the brains of the group. If you get bitten on your hand should you focus only on the bite? What if there are more monsters lurking about? You go to save one person, but the person next to you might get snatched away instead."

Baylee's eyes looked distant as if recalling a memory.

"That's why you stay in formation. You protect what you have, then think about how to save the person you lost. Just the same with promises. They are only useful to people childish enough to believe in them. You break them if you have to. The most important person is you! If you are dead, then everything goes to waste."

Grey contemplated on Baylee's words. He could not agree with her, but many of the things she said made sense. Would he risk killing others to save one life? If one had to tell a lie to protect his friends, would it be considered evil?

Baylee looked at Grey softly.

"Little Grey, let me ask you again what is your goal in life?"

Grey's eyes lit up.

"To become a powerful mage!"

"Then as your master it is only right for you to follow me," Baylee explained. "A master and student relationship is for life! Besides, it's not like I am callous enough to take you away without tell your parents."

Baylee placed two fingers on her lips and whistled. A sheet of paper flew from underneath her hat, folded into a paper airplane in mid-air, and traveled all the way back through the library door till it came resting on a desk.

"This whole time I was writing a letter while speaking to you. Aren't I clever? Ho, ho, ho."

Grey shook his head playfully. If he was a silly kid. Then Baylee was a silly adult.