The Search for Knowledge: New Beginnings

The Search for Knowledge - Chapter 18

Sheeron and Toley made their way over to the barrier mage's office. Toley expressed his surprise to Sheeron at how small it was, considering what an important building it was. He was promptly told to keep a lid on it before his teacher opened the doors for them to enter.
Inside was a plain-looking waiting room with empty chairs lining the walls, they were made of black leather and looked very comfortable. The female elf at the reception desk smiled and welcomed them in, then asked them what business they had.
"I'm here to see one of the Chiron's students, Jeerae." Sheeron said with a polite tone, although not quite as formal as he had been with Lee Fira. "My name is Sheeron, if he asks. I haven't seen him in years and wanted to introduce my new student to him."
"One moment please, I'll see if the young master is busy. Ever since his loss a couple of days ago he's been very diligent in his studies." The receptionist said while leaving her desk and walking towards one of the walls. She put her hand on what seemed to be an empty space on the wall, which then glowed. After a moment, the wall opened a door for her to enter.
Hearing of Jeerae's loss again made Sheeron tense up and grind his teeth. Toley could tell that Sheeron was in complete denial that it was the same Rox that they knew. It had taken an hour to calm him down after he overheard it from Lee. Shouting accusations of foul play, lies, and 'there's no way that useless dead weight could hold his own against someone like Jeera'.
Toley was also in disbelief, although for other reasons. From what he had heard, Jeerae was a barrier mage apprentice and quite powerful in battle, as were all of the Fira family. Jeerae, more than likely, was seen as one of the most powerful young people on the surface of Chalice. According to Lee's own testimony, however, Rox not only defeated Jeerae. He used him as a punching bag, despite Jeerae's best efforts and most powerful magic attacks, including a high-tiered compound magic between wind and fire.
Compound magic essentially boiled down to a combination of two different types of magic, such as fusing fire and wind. It's an extremely advanced technique that even some of the most powerful mages can not use since it requires one to have two separate images in one's head when they form the two magics. It is hard enough to use two different magic elements at the same time, or multi-cast spells, let alone mix them together. However, if someone manages it without blowing themselves up, the magic's power multiplies.
Yet Rox was able to take such an attack head-on and then beat Jeerae into submission before finally using a magic attack that even Lee was unable to recognize. The only thing they were told was that Rox had said it was void magic. Even so, Toley and Sheeron had seen Rox's guild sheet. It was clearly stated that he had a level zero in all of his abilities. If he really did have a seal as Rox had apparently claimed to have, Toley wondered why he kept it on. He should be able to break it at any time. Unless he couldn't?
Toley's thoughts were interrupted when the door reopened and a red-haired elven youth ran out.
"Teacher! It's been so long! How have you been?" He said while excitedly walking up to Sheeron.
After they shook hands, Sheeron smiled and spoke cheerfully, "Jeerae! I've been good, except for a certain thorn in my side from the Aqua family, and recently one from the Nihil family as well. Other than that, though, things have been great! I've even got a new protege who learns almost as quickly as you did."
Jeerae was frozen in place, however, after the mention of the Nihil family. The sentence about the new trainee went over his head entirely. "Do you mean Rox? Rox Nihil?"
Sheeron frowned, "Yes, unfortunately. He applied for a quest my employer put out to the Nil city guild. For some reason, my employer took a liking to him. So now I'm stuck with his cocky dead-weight self." He paused, remembering the incident with Rox before they had begun their travels. "Speaking of which, I keep hearing people spreading lies about your losing to him. That's not true, right? If it is, I can only imagine he used some sort of trickery or poisoned you."
Jeerae was shaking his head and, oddly enough, seemed to be smiling. "No sir, it's all true. The honored Rox Nihil defeated me, fairly, in front of thousands. His physical and magical prowess astounded me. Initially, it was a shock, but after a day or two of processing, it helped me to realize how arrogant I had been. There is always someone stronger and I have a long way to go, so now I am devoting myself to reach at least our barrier mage's power. That's why I'm here, studying under him. He happens to be an old friend of Sir Nihil, actually."