The Iron Trial [Magisterium]

Chapter Seven... Rabbits Diet

When you look left and right but all you find is a forest you know things are going to be fun. Of course, the sheer mountain face with a set of massive double doors made me feel as though this wasn't going to be so exciting. Tight spaces and I didn't really get along much. My eyes narrowed as I noticed a familiar symbol carved into the rock over the doors.

Beneath it were the words: Fire wants to burn, water wants to flow. Air wants to rise, earth wants to bind, chaos wants to devour.

Devour. The word was odd compared to the rest. From what I gathered chaos seemed the most unpredictable, but I don't think it wanted to devour... Then again, I'd only just learned about it, so who was I to know?

Gear gathered and waiting, my fellow apprentices fell quiet as Master Rufus walked to the doors.

"You are about to enter the halls of the magisterium," Master North said as he stepped forward. "For some of you, this may be the fulfillment of a dream. For others, we hope it may be the beginning of one. To all of you, I say, the Magisterium exists here for your own safety. You have great power, and without proper training, that power is dangerous. Here, we will help you to learn control and teach you about the great history of mages like yourself, dating back through time. Each of you has a unique destiny, one outside the normal path you might have walked, one you will find here. You may have guessed this when you saw the first stirrings of your power. But as you stand at the entrance to the mountain, I imagine at least a few of you are wondering just what you've gotten yourselves into."

Some of the kids laughed self-consciously as I rolled my eyes.

He totally had an opportunity to use the catchphrase. 'With great power comes great responsibility.' He should have used it but he didn't.

"Long ago, in the very beginning, the first mages wondered much the same thing. Intrigued by the teachings of the alchemists, particularly Paracelsus, they sought to explore elemental magic. They had limited success, until one alchemist realized that his youngest son was able to easily do the same exercises with which he struggled. The mages discovered that magic could be performed by those with an inborn power and was performed best by the young. After that, the mages found new students to teach and to learn from, seeking all over Europe for children with power. Very few have it, perhaps one in twenty-five thousand, but the mages gathered up those they could and began the first school of magic. Along the way, they heard stories of untrained boys and girls who had set fire to houses and burned in the flames, who had drowned in rainstorms or had been drawn up into tornados or pulled down into sinkholes. With teaching, the mages learned to walk through lava unscathed, to explore the deepest parts of the sea without an oxygen tank, even to fly."

That means this all began somewhere around the 15 hundreds since Paracelsus died in what, 1540 something? Unless it began sooner or later. What a thought. These jerks have been forcing children into magic labour for quite some time.

"Here you will encounter elementals, creatures of great beauty and danger have existed in our world since the dawn of time. You will shape earth, air, water and fire, bending them to your will. You will study our past as you become our future. You will discover what your ordinary self would never have had the privilege to see. You will learn great things and you will do greater things."

"Welcome to the Magisterium."

There was applause. I glanced around: Everyone's eyes were shining, even Callum's, which was a surprise. I however did not feel the same moving awe as everyone else. Was it really good for me to learn how to control the elements when I had the personality of a firecracker?