The great wizard's mission

Chapter 3.

Omar Xian separated from the rest of the novices, as he was followed by Brenda and Konnan, in the direction of the Celestine Academy's flying beast stables.

Upon arrival, a group of young men, in gray robes, greeted them in an extremely polite manner and, in a matter of a few minutes, brought in a huge black-colored, white-headed bird, with a leather saddle, duly fastened from the flying creature's body.

"Get in and make no unnecessary movements. Normally the maximum weight this species can carry is two average adults, but because you two are still somewhat small and because my mount is a bit stronger than the others of your species, it will surely be no problem for the three of us to make a short trip and fly over the forest" Explained Omar Xian as he stroked the feathers of the giant bird, which seemed to enjoy it a bit.

The bird took off with some difficulty and the novices felt some trepidation at first. But once in the air, the beautiful scenery dazzled them.

~ Fiiiiiiuuuuuuussshhhh ~           

The wind whipped hard in the young men's faces as they flew deep into the nearby forest.

The territories surrounding Celestine Academy were utterly enormous, but the largest of all was the one formerly referred to as the Shadow Forest, and although it no longer had the colossal size it possessed in the past, it was still utterly huge and lush.

This was one of the largest explored forests on the entire continent and it had a grim history behind it, which at present few knew about.

"Master Xian, I have heard Master Jarrod of History of Magic talk a little about this forest in one of his classes. He claimed that there was a great history behind it and that the roots of the academy were found here. But he didn't give much more detail, leaving us curious about the matter. Could you explain it to us?" asked Brenda, with her usual curious tone.

Konnan said nothing, but also paid attention. He was one of the heirs of a powerful family of high nobility that had territories near the forest, the Jernigan family. Knowing this hidden part of history could become important to him in the future.

Omar Xian cleared his throat and explained: "It was in an ancient time, when mankind did not yet have clear dominion over these lands and when wizards were considered sinners and falsely associated with demons, that a huge war was waged from this place. This war, which lasted several years, was not between humans. But it forever changed the dominant supremacy in the Shadow Forest and, subsequently, the entire North continent."

"Shadow Forest?" asked Konnan, scratching the back of his neck softly.

Omar flashed a bitter smile and revealed: "So it was called at that time, when even the mighty Church of Shiam dared not enter the forest, for it was totally dominated by the wild beasts indigenous to the place. These beasts were commanded by the Spider Queen Look, who was served by hundreds of Mugrins and other rather troublesome creatures of the forest, making it extremely complex to enter the depths of the forest in one piece. But, everything changed when the church's constant persecution of the few wizards on the continent reached a point of no return between the two sides and the continent's first Congress of Modern Magic was formed. At this first congress, mages from different far sides decided to plant a united front against the tyranny of the Church of the god Shiam and many decided to move inland to the Shadowy Forest, seeking to generate a safe place, away from ecclesiastical tyranny, where they could study the arcane mysteries with greater tranquility and explore new magic’s together, something that until that time was very difficult to achieve."

"I've heard of this before, though not in too much detail..." Murmured Brenda, with genuine curiosity showing on her face.

The Grand Wizard nodded his head and continued: "The paradigm of the solitary wizard, who strove to prove all things for himself, one at a time, would change forever following this point; giving rise to serious arcane studies, by large communities of wizards. In other words, it would lead to the creation of the Celestine Academy, where people with some magical talent could come from anywhere on the continent to learn magic. But before they could obtain such a structure in the middle of a dangerous forest, the wizards of the Modern Congress of Magic had to join forces for years to gain a place in it and expand their territory, against the ferocious beasts that originally inhabited it."

"But Master Xian, the beasts in the forest can't be that terrible if the apprentice mages manage to survive several years inside the forest" Replied Brenda, somewhat confused by this point.

"That's because the dangerous beasts were already eradicated by the wizards of yesteryear and, nowadays, there are no traces of them left. But, back then, perhaps the church no longer bothered the wizards who were hidden inside the forest, but the problem lay in the fact that they had to face dozens of terrible creatures daily. Luckily, after some time, more and more powerful wizards began to flock to the Shadow Forest from all over the continent and, finally, the beasts were no longer too serious a problem for the newly born Congress of Modern Magic." detailed Omar Xian, as he flew over the forest. And after swallowing saliva, he continued, "As the years passed, despite her great intelligence and murderous methods, the spider queen Look could not withstand the united force of the wizards and had to leave her own forest, seeking refuge in other lands. It was at this precise moment that the forest became a much safer and ideal place for the arcane study of the wizards. And it was many years after their first settlement in this forest, thanks to the unification of their various individual arcane knowledge and the mages being able to grow in peace during all this time, that they were able to once again go out into the outside world and stand up to the Church of Shiam."

Omar switched hands with his staff, as he guided his great flying bird, and continued the story: "The growing power of the wizards of that time forced their old rivals to sign the famous Concordat of Magic; with the famous supreme archmage Sadner Morgan at its head. But this is a story for another day. The important thing is that these were the foundations of the currently famous and celebrated Celestine Academy, where you all study today. And also, the reason why even though the forest is still a bit dangerous, it no longer has mortal danger around every corner as in the past."

"I think I understand already, but I wonder if..." Stated Brenda, who was also about to throw a new question to her teacher.

But she was immediately interrupted by Konnan, who pointed her finger and stated: "Master Xian, there is a girl in a strange colored outfit down there..."