Revelations

Walking through the bustling plaza, I barely have time to appreciate the view as Nihil hastily takes me to a particularly worn-down 4-story building.

Cough-cough

The dust makes me cough.

The interior, clearly an abandoned building with books and papers scattered everywhere followed by a thick layer of dust, leaves me confused.

Some furniture and doors, covered by a grimy and dusty cloth, show the old and failed attempts at preserving the place.

"What is this place?" I cover my nose with my shirt sleeve, avoiding breathing this heavy air.

Turning to me dramatically in a fluid movement that was probably rehearsed, Nihil opens his arms. "Welcome to the powerful"—he quickly props one of his legs on a small piece of furniture covered by a grimy cloth—"magical tower!"

"..."
"..."

Is he retarded?

Wait...

Abandoned place, check.
Weird old man, check.
Separating me from my group, check.

Is he a...

Pervert?!

"Don't look at me like I'm a pervert!" Nihil shouts.

Maybe just retarded?

"Don't judge a book by its cover!" He says, walking quickly beside what seems to be a double door portal covered by a large piece of cloth, pulling it to the ground in a movement that was also probably rehearsed, staring at me with a smug look.

As it falls, the cloth that covered the doorless portal finally reveals its... surprising interior?

A pink kitchen, clean and well-kept, where a lady in her 40s with a pink apron was watching something in the oven when she gets startled and looks back.

"..."

"Mr. Nihil?" she says, confused by the commotion, drawing the attention of the violet old man who quickly turns to her.

"My apologies, it was a mistake... By the way, what happened to the door?"

"Mr. Nemo made it disappear and put this cloth in its place... He said he'd put the door back later," the lady responds, putting a hand on her hip while pointing to the door with the other hand holding a wooden spoon.

"I see... Well, we'll talk later."

"Mr. Nih—" The lady is interrupted when, with a quick hand movement, a pink door quickly unfolds through the portal, isolating any sound.

Nihil, taking a few steps to the side, stands again in front of a second portal, also covered with a white cloth.

"Welcome to the"—he repeats, as if nothing had happened—"magical tower!" Throwing again the large cloth covering the portal on the ground.

And to my surprise, a finally magical and somewhat confusing scene appears.

Approaching to see better, I see that the portal, which would normally be used as a means to access another room, actually led to an extensive outdoor area of green grass.

And with Nihil taking the lead, I follow right behind, crossing the portal and taking the lead for a few steps when I stop and finally find myself in a vast outdoor area of trimmed grass and various stone paths leading to various exotic constructions.

Sharp towers, looking like large stone lighthouses, extending on all sides and in various forms, some apparently crooked, others peculiarly bizarre, but of all the magnificent constructions, one stands out for its grandeur.

In the center of the vast space, a tower of much larger circumference than the others extended infinitely into the sky, disappearing into the clouds.

"Wow," I can't help but exclaim.

"Who's the retard now?" Nihil provokes, bumping my shoulder as he passes by me.

Ouch

Strong old man.

I continue walking behind him.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Nihil." A young woman dressed in a tunic makes a brief bow as she passes us.

"Mr. Nihil." A sinister male voice also passes with a brief bow.

"You're quite popular, huh?" I ask rhetorically at the various demonstrations of respect along the way, Nihil shrugging.

Walking through the vast mystical space, we were soon in front of the enormous tower that extended to the sky, as if wanting to make a bridge between the ground and the distant planet in the sky.

Somehow, being face to face with the monument, its feeling seems even more impressive. Its black stone structure giving the sensation of being beside an oppressive mountain.

Seeing us approach the entrance, the two people in black tunics with golden details, holding adorned black staffs, moved away in a silent bow, opening passage through the entrance.

"If anyone tries to invade, they'll have to withstand some powerful beatings from the sticks guards..." I joke.

"Don't call staffs 'sticks,' it's offensive," Nihil rolls his eyes. "It's like calling a butter knife a sword, a cat a tig—"

"Lord Nihil, what a surprise to see you on the first floor!" a strong female voice interrupts Nihil.

"Or calling an old hag, a debutante..." Nihil mutters.

In purple tunic, a lady in her 60s but who didn't look more than 58 approaches.

"Did you say something?" the woman asks, getting closer.

"Just showing the tower to my new disciple." Nihil smiles, indicating me with his head while keeping his hands behind his back.

"Who would've thought the great twins would accept a disciple in their lifetime!" The old woman's eyes widen, coming in my direction while extending her hand. "Pleasure to meet you! My name is Madame Regina Henrietta Magnus Oliviere II, but you can just call me Regina Henrietta Magnus!"

Extending my hand, I introduce myself with a courteous smile. "Pleasure, Regina Henrietta Magnus, my name is Oliver Hale Hale, but you can just call me Oliver Hale."

With a smile, she responds, "Good to meet you, Oliver Hale..." She pauses, looking distractedly to the side while seeming to pay attention to something. "But unfortunately, I have some matters to attend to, so I'll have to say goodbye." She pouts, as if being charming. "Good to meet you, Oliver Hale..." Turning, she looks at Nihil. "See you around, Nihil." She leaves without waiting for a response.

"Disciple, huh..." I turn to Nihil with a raised eyebrow.

"Excited, are you? I knew you'd like the ide—"

"I don't remember accepting something like this?" I interrupt.

It's not like learning magic would be bad.

Honestly, the thought of being able to conjure spells excites me, but I don't even know these twins, and well, they're super suspicious...

Everything is too sudden, and what if I'm pulled into drama I'm not prepared for?

"Come here..." Nihil says, contradicting what he was saying while he himself comes in my direction and puts a hand on my shoulder.

Snap

With a loud snap, I feel my vision fold and suddenly the world instantly darkens, making me lose my senses and direction.

In the distance, almost like a mirage, silhouettes of shadowy and enormous creatures move, while I feel my body like jelly falling into a precipice.

But before I can even properly process what's happening, with the sound of rustling clothes and another sharp snap, I'm already in a well-decorated and spacious office, as if nothing had happened.

But... did something really happen? What was I thinking a few moments ago?

Well, it must not be important...

My attention falls on the office walls, built in glass and having a magnificent view of the imperial city.

"I don't remember being able to see this construction from outside... How do you have this view of the city?" I turn, confused.

The wooden floor gave a welcoming touch, but the black stones filling the ceiling and framing the large windows betrayed that this was, in fact, the magical tower.

"This is the top floor of the tower; my, well, our"—Nihil says while pointing to a large frame of Nemo in the corner—"office."

"Wait, more importantly. Was that teleportation?" I ask, removing my attention from the magnetic view of the city and focusing on present events.

"You know what teleportation is? Impressive!" Nihil responds, sitting in an apparently comfortable leather chair while gesturing for me to sit in the other one in front of him.

With me sitting and confirming that, indeed, the chair is very comfortable, he begins: "Well, first: that was more like spatial transport, not exactly teleportation."

"Is there a difference?"

"Well, teleportation was banned millennia ago... Let's say what appeared on the other side wasn't exactly you, and well, you basically disintegrated..." He gives an amused smile before continuing. "Spatial transport, on the other hand, we fold space and cross through it... Or basically that."

"..."

"Anyway, that's not important now," Nihil continues, stretching in the leather armchair. "As you can see, I'm a powerful wizard and, due to your talent, I thought it a waste to leave you with that bunch of retards."

"Bunch of retards?" I can't help but confirm.

"The retards who worship a star." He says, while with a wave of his hand, the illusory and translucent figure of Lady Evelyn appears beside him.

Okay, there's more to this.

"Okay, but what do you mean by talent?" I question.

"Basically, all of you dimensional summons have great potential when it comes to magical affinity," Nihil says while serving himself tea from the side table next to his armchair. "This is because you young people have never had contact with magical particles, so your bodies haven't created any resistance." He takes a sip.

"The point is that, like me, some humans don't create much resistance even when coming into contact with magical particles, and you, young man, are like me—well, at least physically, you naturally don't resist magic and still grew up in a perfect sterile environment." He takes another sip of his tea.

"I tested you the moment we met at the castle and, doing some calculations, it's as if not only you don't suffer from magical dormancy from not having contact with magic, but as if you have a hypersensitivity from going too long without coming into contact with magic. Almost as if you were a 40-year-old child!"

"That impressive?" I ask suspiciously while leaning over my knees.

Wait...

40? Isn't that my age and Oliver's combined?

"Yes, impressive. Basically the best blank canvas in the store, but in the end, it's not that impressive," he scoffs disdainfully. "Any 40-year-old person from your world would have the same sensitivity, but it doesn't make much sense to summon someone with relatively little life left, does it? Besides, it's useless if you die before having enough power..."

"Is that a threat?"

"I don't threaten," he stares at me briefly before continuing. "The point is you don't understand the shit you've been placed in and, honestly, you're too young to understand anyway, so decide: Do you want to learn magic, not as a retarded elementalist, but as a true wizard and, well, survive"—Nihil makes a thumbs up with his right thumb—"or do you want to die without even understanding what's happening?" He makes a throat-cutting gesture with his extended thumb.

Shit, is he gonna kill me if I refuse?

"From what I've heard, you lost some memories, but from what I've seen, the others consider you quite a bit, don't they? Especially that young woman, what's her name? Helena?" Nihil asks.

So that's how it's gonna be? He's not only gonna kill me, but he's gonna try to threaten me using the other kids?

"I can save them too..." He says, putting the teacup on the table.

Huh?!

"You're smart, I bet you've already understood from the beginning, so I appreciate your loyalty to your colleagues, even having amnesia. The fact that you're not willing to leave them is an extra bonus I gladly accept." Nihil says, crossing his legs and resting his elbows on them while interlacing his fingers.

"Reading between the lines, you must have already noticed, but let me clarify. This kingdom will perish, and it won't take long. Along with it, if not all, almost all the people in the capital can already consider themselves dead." He finishes.

Whaaat?!?