The Nightmare Wizard
Chapter 117 — The Father of Mages

Chapter 117: Chapter 117 — The Father of Mages

While William meditated on his plan, he ended up falling asleep. The next day, he picked up Lia, and after having breakfast together, they headed to their next class: Magical History.

Upon arriving, they were surprised to find that, once again, they were alone.

"Another class just for the two of us," William said, taking a seat at the front.

Lia sat beside him and took out some parchments for notes. "Don’t get used to it. You can still get into trouble if you keep being so impulsive."

"I know," William replied. "I made a mistake... but I don’t regret it."

Lia looked at him with a mix of annoyance and tenderness, but before she could respond, a figure appeared at the door.

It was an elderly woman, with completely white hair and a dark blue robe. She walked slowly to the desk, placing a couple of heavy books on it.

"I see none of the other useless ones came... Perfect. I won’t waste my time," she murmured, looking at William and Lia sternly.

"Excuse me? Are you referring to the other students? Do you need help with that?" William asked, seeing that the professor was carrying more books.

She sighed.

"Every year is the same. There are three subjects considered ’filler’ in the first year: Runes and Glyphs I, Magical History, and Ethics and Norms of Magical Use. No noble attends. They say these are low-tier subjects, plebeian work."

She paused, then sat down carefully.

"But what they don’t know is that these subjects are the foundation for everything. And you two... you’re lucky to be here."

William and Lia exchanged a glance; everything seemed like a copy of the previous day. The professors appeared to be replicas of each other, causing both to laugh as William whispered to Lia: "I wouldn’t be surprised if they were married."

"Today I will tell you about the beginning of magic. The true beginning. The birth of the first mage."

She opened one of the books and dropped it onto the desk, raising a small cloud of dust.

"Millions of generations ago, when humans were still savage nomads, without fire or tools, they were hunted by every creature that inhabited this world. Back then, a young man was born: his name was Akeron, and in time he became known as the Father of Mages."

"Akeron was born with a special ability: beasts would not attack him. He discovered it by accident while foraging in the forest with other young people. They were ambushed by wind wolves. His companions didn’t hesitate and pushed him towards the wolves to buy time and escape, believing he would die, they just ran without looking back."

"But the wolves ignored him. They killed the others and returned... only to continue ignoring him. Akeron didn’t understand why, but he took advantage of it. He collected food and returned to the village. Akeron continued going out to forage with new groups, but everyone always died except him. During one of these incidents, some of his companions survived and told everyone what was happening with Akeron. Soon, everyone discovered his ability. They forced him to go out every day. They exploited him, abused him, beat him if he didn’t bring enough or if he didn’t bring the specific fruits they all wanted. Despite his great ability, no one thanked him; instead, they worked him almost to death."

"One day, while walking in the forest, he witnessed the battle of two behemoths: a Steel-Fanged Gorilla and a Fire Serpent. Both were mage-level beasts. The battle was brutal. The gorilla broke trees with every blow, while the serpent spat fire that melted the earth. During their fight, the gorilla was gravely injured, but during a small oversight by the serpent, the gorilla finally managed to split the serpent in two, but was left wounded and poisoned."

"Then its mortal enemy appeared: the Snow Jaguar. Taking advantage of the gorilla’s weakness, it attacked by surprise, managing to rip off an arm. The gorilla fled, and the jaguar, without hesitation, ran after it until both disappeared deep into the forest."

"Akeron approached the serpent’s corpse, hoping to salvage something. But its skin was like steel, burning to the touch. Nothing could cut it. Until he thought of something: digging through the eyes. The serpent was so colossal that he did it, entered through its eyes, and began to excavate inside it, wanting to reach the flesh in the spinal area. After much digging, he hit something hard. Unable to go further, he tried to remove it or go around it. Upon pulling it out, he saw it was a gem the size of a head: the serpent’s Gem of Life."

"He dragged it out of the body. It looked delicious, like a crystalline fruit. Akeron bit into it. It melted in his mouth with a sweet and intense flavor. He ate it all. And instantly... he felt full of energy, but he didn’t know exactly what he had eaten, so he didn’t pay it much mind."

Akeron continued cutting meat from inside the corpse. With some vines, he managed to tie all the meat and dragged it back to the village. As always, he was met with blows. But this time, something inside him exploded; his mind filled with incredible fury. The serpent’s temperament did not allow any offense, so Akeron’s mind was influenced, and a fireball emerged from his body. Without complete control, the fireball exploded, reducing his attackers to ashes.

"The entire village froze. No one could believe that the submissive child had killed everyone with such power; they had never seen anything like it and couldn’t even imagine how he had done it. After that incident, everyone in the village was so terrified that they began to treat Akeron as their chief for fear of being killed, while Akeron continued exploring the forests in search of more of these spheres. Little by little, he managed to acquire more and more power until he managed to found the first great human empire."

The professor closed the book and looked at them intently.

"And thus, magic was born. Not through study or lineage... but through a miracle. And through an act of desperation."