The First Archmage

(Gavin)

"That's called a lightswitch," Christopher says as I flick the thing that causes the orb of light in the center of the room to turn on and off. The orb's attached to the ceiling, the 'switch' is on the wall. "If you keep doing that, you can cause a short in the wiring."

"The what?" I stop, since he seems to not want me to keep doing that.

"Imagine threads," he says. "That connect the switch to the lightbulb, hidden behind the wall."

"But the other side of the wall is outside?"

"Actually," he says. "The wall has several parts to it: the framework within it, insulation, and then on either side of it is the wall. Outside, you'll have siding. That's how many buildings are in this world."

"Weird."

"We also harness the power of electricity for many things," he says. "Light is one such thing. Magicians are not common in this world, and nor is knowledge of magic. They instead advanced their technology."

"What's your LIF?" I ask.

"One hundred, eighteen," he answers. "I'm a Level 21 Human, so there's 21 LIF from that, and a Level 25 Archwizard, so there's 50 from that, and the 25 from before. Those total up to 96 Life, and then there's the 8 I had from before then, and fourteen more points I've gained from various things. In this realm, humans have longer natural lifespans – they average 13 to 16 LIF, a result of their technological advancements making many things safer for them, combining with natural evolution of people."

"Natural evolution?" Those terms are familiar, but not combined like that, not for humans.

"The humans and species you'll see on each world," he nods. "Might be different, or they might be the same. But even those species have slight differences, due to the environments that surround them. Your mother and I? We come from a world far behind many others, and thus, due to nutrition not being as great, have a smaller stature, even as adults. This is a result of lack of technology or magic being widespread, as well as lack of the System itself. Much like Earth, my birthworld doesn't have access to the System, even if its ever-present self is there."

"Does the System communicate with you?" I ask. "Granting or subtracting of stats?"

"You've already gotten to that point?" His eyes widen in surprise. "I was a Level 21 Wizard the first time it ever did that to me. The other Wizards I've spoken to have all claimed that they were at least Level 15 as a Wizard before it began. Oddly, I've received a few reports in the last few hours of it doing it as a zero-value."

It probably didn't have much of a need to figure out how to do that until I kept getting responses from it, and it wanted to stem the flow of my stat gains a bit, instead of letting me just become extremely high in INT and CHA.

+0 INT!

Thank you, for your wonderful input.

-0 CHA!

Though it could also mean that it'd have to drop my CHA down pretty hard…

+0 INT!

"Oh, shut the fuck up," I mutter, and Christopher raises an eyebrow. "It's being cheeky again."

"Of course it's my son who gets the System to show emotion!" He laughs as I realize something.

"Did you say my mother, too?" I ask. "Did you leave her behind?"

"No," he answers. "She's here, too."

But if he can't bring others with him… then she has to know the magic as well.

"Is she a Wizard?" I ask.

"Witch," he shakes his head. "The Class is only Wizard for those of the male sex – it's Witches for those of the female sex."

"Oh, okay," I say. "So both of you have traveled through a Natural Rift?"

"Indeed," he nods. "Do you know what that means?"

"Not really."

"A Rift," he says. "Is a tear in reality. The majority are caused by outside influences – usually Divine Beings arguing with each other. There's a very good chance it was some minor argument that escalated that caused the creation of the one you passed through. Thankfully, Rift Wolves are quick to close them, and they usually only last a few moments, and only the unlucky usually fall through them, but your Stats suggest that perhaps it was luck instead, due to how high it is."

How would that be luck? Are you a fucking moron? I got pulled away from my home, my team, and the people I'm to protect, then thrown into another world where I don't know anyone and things are vastly different.

That's not lucky. That's unlucky.

"Most Rifts are simply breaches between two realms," he continues as I wonder how he knows my LUK, since I didn't show it to him. "Some also contain small realms, or even portions of places that used to be connected to the rest of reality.

"Then there are Natural Rifts," he continues as I determine that he can probably use the same sort of appraisal I can, but far, far stronger, and it reveals stats like that. "Rift Wolves take longer to seal them up, as they form naturally, and give off a much different feeling. The majority of them are simply a passage from one realm to another. By the time I located the one you wandered into as a toddler, there were already Rift Wolves inside, and I couldn't see you anywhere. I didn't want to risk angering the Rift Wolves, and so backed out. I never did find out where the other end led to, and the Rift Wolves aren't the most cooperative of species. Since they were in there, you were probably already gone, though I can't, for the life of me, fathom why they would enter the Rift they were trying to close."

As he mentions Rift Wolves, a memory surfaces.

A memory of giant wolves of swirling blues and purples and oranges and blacks, sparkling like the night sky. Four of them, their voices in my head, telling me to get out. The wolves chasing me, and me thinking they were dogs who wanted to play.

Then finding myself in a forest, confused and scared, because the dogs were gone and I wasn't home.

"Your face just turned red," Christopher says. "What's up?"

That's a weird phrase.

"I, ah, think they were trying to get me out of the Rift, so they could seal it up," I admit, scratching the back of my head. "When you mentioned them, a memory of something like that surfaced. I think that I just thought they were wanting to play. I remember being so scared when I ended up in that forest, now. It's been so long since I last thought about it. I don't know what I'd have done if Chief hadn't found me."

"Chief?" He asks.

"Yeah," I nod. "The guy who ran my village. We didn't have much contact with the rest of Jozan, but every now and then, a party of Adventurers would pass through on their way to the wyverns' territory, and-"

"I'm surprised that bastard's still alive!" Christopher laughs. "He's likely nearing the end of his life, though. I wonder if Natalie's still around."

"Who?" I ask, since there's no way it can be her, since she wasn't an Adventurer.

"A normal person," he answers. "The last time I was there. A powerful witch, in her own right. She learned spells at an increased rate, much like us Wizards, though not quite as fast as us. I always thought she might have had the Novice Class passively, even without access to the System. She was powerful enough that her LIF could even passively increase as a direct result of it, sort of like how your mother's and mine did. Though for more than a couple of points, she'd need external sources, no doubt. I wonder if she's still alive. If she is, you'd probably like her, after her initial attack."

"Attack?"

"She loves children," he nods. "Especially small children. Jozan was her home, and she was the Royal Witch, back when I was there-"

"She's definitely still alive," I nod. "She's got a firm hug."

"Yes, she does!" He laughs. "I'll return in just a few moments with some clothes of this world for you."

He vanishes, then reappears, holding some clothes. He explains to me how to button the pants, and to tell me to keep the zipper up. Then he explains the purpose of the grey boxer-briefs, as well as the socks. They're both foreign to me, though he says many realms have some form of them.

He leaves the room, and I change into the new clothes, sticking my clothes and gear into the ring, then I leave the room, locating Christopher in the room he called the living room. He's sitting on the couch.

"So," he says as I sense magic at the door, other than what he says are the defensive magics. "Something you should-"

"Someone's at the door," I say as the knob twists. "Several of them. They're coming in."

"Oh, right," he smiles. "It's around the time your mother usually arrives home with the boys."

The boys?

I have brothers?

The door opens, and in bursts someone who looks like he's my identical twin. He charges into the house, shrugging off some kind of bag as he tackles Christopher.

"I'M HOME!" He yells as a woman with long, blond hair and brilliant blue eyes enters, followed by three more boys.

One is around seventeen, one is around fourteen, and one is around ten. She's also carrying a boy around four or five on her hip as he hugs her, arms around her neck, and her stomach is bulging a little bit, indicating she might be pregnant with another.

"I still need to pick up Drake from preschool," she begins to say, but is cut off by the older boy.

"Gavin?" He asks in shock, and the woman notices me.

"Who?" The boy who attacked Christopher with a hug asks, then spots me. "How come I didn't know I was a twin?"

Well, that was a fast acceptance.

"How did you locate him?" The woman asks as the older boy closes the door. She puts down the boy she was carrying, shifting uncomfortably, as if she wants to do something, but is holding back. "Even the Elders couldn't locate him. And to bring him back?"

"Rift," Christopher answers. "He fell through it. Ended up in New York, of all places. Thankfully, the Enforcers there knew me personally, and could tell immediately he was related, even if they didn't know Eli. Eli – this is Gavin. When you were both two, he wandered into a Natural Rift and disappeared into another realm, and by the time I realized he was in the Rift, it was filled with Rift Wolves."

"I was only six at the time," the older teen rubs the back of his head. "But, as you know, I don't really forget anything. I remembered Gavin, and to be honest, it's why I've been interested in Rifts and traveling between worlds."

"He's not staying," Christopher states, and everyone looks at him. "His home is on another world, and he feels a sense of duty to the land he grew up, which apparently just had a coup that resulted in the death of his king and the exiling of its secret prince. He's agreed to train with us until he's powerful enough to make the passage back home. And I'm not going to ask him to abandon that duty for a family he's not known."

"Does he know?" The woman asks.

"I was about to tell him when you returned," Christopher shakes his head, then looks at me. "Gavin – in this world are a wide variety of Witches and Wizards. Time passes slower here than it does elsewhere, extending our unnaturally long lives even further. We use it as a sort of gathering place for our order as well."

"Order?" I ask.

"Yes," he nods. "The Ancient Order is its name. All humanoid life is descended of the Ancients, in one heritage or another. They were beings who could harness all forms of magic, and the order's purpose is to spread this knowledge. We accept all species within it, and it is run by Witches and Wizards, beings also capable of harnessing this power. Would you have interest in joining it?"

"What does it require?" I ask.

"Nothing," he answers. "Our sole interest is the sharing of magic across realms and species. Had Earth not already been advanced when we found it, we would've long since turned this entire world into an epicenter of learning and expanding magic. Though we currently can't do that without complications, we still spread it in other realms. When species, together, work together, they can achieve more than they could alone. Imagine the dragon riders of legend. Dragons are powerful on their own, and humans, not so much. But together, they created a truly terrifying force that transcended the limits of both species, simply because they worked together.

"That's what we do," he says. "We unite members of species and share among them our skills and knowledge. Though not all can learn it, the knowledge alone can be enough for them to progress.

"As a result," he says. "Being a member of this order grants vast protections in many realms, worlds, and planes, though yours isn't one we're known in. In fact, I do believe I'm the only member to have ever set foot there."

I'm a little bit suspicious, but I always am of new people, and his tale is a bit too good for my tastes. Maybe I can trust him, though… I'm not sure. I will, for now. It's my only way to get home that I know.

"Oh," I say, then frown. "When you arrived, was the System already active?"

"Indeed," he nods. "I was a Wizard the first few times, and an Archwizard the last time. It requires a Mage to activate. No one knows who the Mage is – or Mages are – who activate the System for places. It's very slight. Once a Witch or Wizard enters that realm for the first time, it increases those with Access. The second time increases it further and grants magic-based Classes. The third time, it increases it even more, and the fourth and final time, it grants access to all. However, it requires a unique presence – that is, a different Witch or Wizard, which is why my multiple visits was fine. We try to leave your world alone, which is why only I ever went there, and why my visits are so few and far between. Thousands of years have passed since my first visit. Six total ages between then and my last."

Over twelve thousand years of time in my world, yet it's probably only been hundreds for him, if that, because of living here. But if he was the second, then how come magic-based Classes didn't show up until I acquired Access and took on Wizard?

I need to return to my world as soon as possible. I need to make sure that Tyler is safe and protected. Who knows how much time has already passed.

"What are the benefits to joining the order?" I ask as the woman who is apparently my mother goes into the kitchen and starts fiddling with things, my brothers continuing to stare at me. "Other than protection? If you truly wish to spread knowledge across the species, I can't imagine you holding it from those not within."

"We don't," he answers. "It's why Natalie and Tristan both gained spells and formulas from me, as well as other knowledge."

"Tristan," I frown. "Lightblade?"

"Indeed," he nods. "We've yet to find him outside the realm, though everyone's on the lookout. I 'let slip' how to gain access to the Class he sought, when we spoke. He's no idea that I, myself, was a Wizard, and believed it to only be rambles. Natalie said that, according to legends, he simply vanished from records. No one ever heard from him after a certain point. No body was ever found, either."

"Benefits, or no?"

"Back to the topic," he smiles. "Indeed. Sharing knowledge and training others in it are two entirely different things. In addition to that, there are some things we absolutely will not share with people outside of the order, including how to unlock one's Bloodline."

"My Bloodline?" I ask.

"Indeed," he smiles. "Saying that, alone, already pushes what's allowed. Would you like to join the order, and gain a powerful force behind you? Or would you like to be stuck with only what's publicly available?"

I contemplate it. Joining the order probably means I'll become even more powerful than I could without, and it would speed up my return to Jozan, I'm sure of it.

"What are the conditions?" I ask.

"That you obey our law," he answers. "And our law is simple: spread the knowledge of magic between species and realms, to let all who wish to flourish, flourish. Do not partake of dark arts, nor support criminals in doing so. Seek to further yourself before all others. Do not share the limited arts of our orders with those outside of it, lest they truly fall into the wrong hands."

"How will me going home affect that?" I ask. "Would I be counted as the order's representative?"

"No," he answers. "Those of us within the order are free to explore and live as we please, so long as don't cause problems."

"Yeah," I say. "About that… I'm going to be causing problems."

"You won't have to worry about that!" He laughs. "Follow your own moral compass. If you believe you've been wronged – even if we disagree with it – we'll back you. Many realms, planes, and worlds have found themselves suddenly going from Stage 1 Access to Full Access because a dozen Witches and Wizards traveled there to support someone in their personal quests. Not too long ago here, that happened when a young Wizard was establishing his own kingdom and slave system. Another king had issue with the slaves – and the fact that they were beaten and sometimes tortured, just downright abused – and the order went in to make it clear to the other king that the Wizard was fine with what he was doing. Did I agree with the Wizard's moral compass? No. Did I support him anyway? Yes. Every world is different, and so is every person. Members of the order and our allies are hard-pressed to find ways to anger us."

That sounds… weird.

"So," he says. "Do you wish to join?"

This sounds really, really good… and if joining them will help me get home, then I will do what I must. I need to return home, so I can protect Tyler and restore Jozan. I absolutely have to, no matter what.

"I do."

"The welcome to the order," he smiles. "Initiate Gavin Jakran."