Paragon of Destruction

They stood in the large hall of the castle where Senecio had just defeated the monstrous creature. While Arran still felt some fear as he looked at the man, he understood that if Senecio wanted to harm him, there was little he could do about it.

So far, however, the old man had shown little sign of hostility.

"Come," Senecio said, "while we talk, we can seek out the Herald’s treasures. I imagine there should be some things worth taking."

Arran followed the man, unsure of what to expect. While his previous encounters with the Academy had ranged from unpleasant to deadly, Senecio seemed entirely different.

"Now," the old man said, "you must be wondering why I haven’t killed you."

Arran nodded. When he had first seen Senecio’s white robe, he had thought his final moments had arrived. That the man

"The Academy hunts those with forbidden Realms," Senecio said, "but that is not its true purpose. Rather, the Academy is one small part of the forces on the side of Order in the war against Chaos."

At this, Arran frowned. He had no idea what the man was talking about.

"There’s a war?" he asked, hoping Senecio would explain more.

"Of course," Senecio replied. "There always has been, since long before this world even existed. Throughout the universe, Order and Chaos constantly oppose each other, fighting for supremacy."

"But... what are they?" Arran asked. It was clear that Senecio did not just use the words in their normal meaning, but what he did mean, Arran did not know.

"They’re two of the Realms that control reality," the old man said. Seeing Arran’s confused face, he laughed heartily. "But that is no concern of yours. All you need to know is that in this world, Order and Chaos fight for control, and the Academy stands on the side of Order, as do I."

"Then why do they want to kill me?" Arran asked. "I don’t know anything about Chaos, or Order. All I want is to be left alone."

"They want to kill you," Senecio said, "because they believe that powers like yours could be used to aid Chaos."

"You don’t agree?" Arran asked with some hesitation.

"Ah! Found it!" A broad smile appeared on Senecio’s face as he pointed toward a small wooden door on the side of the hall.

As he pointed, the door crumbled, turning to ashes before their eyes. Behind it, Arran could see a large room, filled with what looked to be numerous treasures. At a glance, Arran could see weapons and armor, as well as the glint of gold and silver.

"Oh, you asked a question?" Senecio said. "I do, of course, agree with the Academy. Powers like yours are terribly dangerous and could easily upset the balance of power in this world."

"Then why haven’t you..." Arran did not finish the sentence, fearful of giving the man ideas.

"Killed you? Because this world is already on the verge of being lost to Chaos."

The old man turned to Arran, staring at him intently. "Chances are that you will die long before you ever gain the slightest shred of power. And if you do become powerful, you might side with Chaos, and hasten the fall of this world."

Arran frowned. He knew nothing about either Chaos or Order, and he could not imagine himself siding with either. From what little he had seen, all he wanted was to stay as far away from them as he could.

"But if you become powerful enough to fully use your forbidden Realm," the man continued, "and if you decide to stand against Chaos... who knows what could happen. You might just change the path of this world."

"Me? Change the path of the world?" The idea seemed ridiculous to Arran. So far, he had only barely even managed to survive, and even that with great difficulty.

"You, or any of the other people with forbidden Realms," Senecio said. "Forbidden Realms aren’t quite as rare as you might think, despite the Academy’s best efforts."

"Then why don’t you tell the Academy to stop killing people with forbidden Realms?"

"I stay out of the Academy’s affairs, and they stay out of mine." The old man shrugged. "I cannot change their actions, no matter how foolish."

"But aren’t you on the same side?" Arran could not help but feel frustrated. Here was someone who might be able to safeguard him from the Academy, but the man was unwilling to do so.

"Enough," the man replied. "Just be glad I won’t kill you."

Arran’s face fell, but he did not protest. Although Senecio had treated him kindly, he knew there was no friendship between them, and the old man had no reason to be swayed by Arran’s situation.

Senecio, meanwhile, wandered around the room, perusing the treasures as if he was browsing through goods at a store. When items caught his eye, he took them, putting them into his void bag.

"Take this," he said, holding up a black armored coat he had just picked up from the ground. "You really shouldn’t be doing battle in robes."

Arran scowled. He was wearing the robe Jiang Fei had given him, since his last armored coat had not survived the battle against the Redstone men. Yet when he took the coat from Senecio, his eyes immediately lit up.

With just a glance, he could see that this coat was even better than his previous one, well-formed and filled with enough plates and mail to stop all but the heaviest attacks. Moreover, something about the coat made him suspect that it was enchanted, although he could not say what made him think so.

Finally, Senecio finished his inspection of the room, his void bag containing at least a dozen new treasures.

"You can take the rest," he said. "Although I should warn you, there are some mages left in the castle. Once I leave, they will come looking for you."

"You’re leaving me behind?!" Arran asked in shock. "And there are other mages here?!"

"You should be able to handle them," the old man said. "Think of it as repayment for the Academy mages you killed — an opportunity to balance out your past actions."

"But I wanted to ask about—" Arran began. There were a thousand questions he still had to ask, if not more.

"You will have to find the answers for yourself," Senecio interrupted him. "I have given you a small bit of knowledge. What you do with it is up to you."

Arran wanted to protest, but he knew the old man would not budge.

"One last thing," Senecio said. "Who sent you here?"

At once, Arran felt panic, knowing what the man was planning to do. "I wasn’t sent," he said. "A local guard captain asked me to look into a group of bandits, but he didn’t know about any of this."

"That remains to be seen," Senecio replied. "The forces of Chaos are often duplicitous."

As he considered the matter, doubt rose in Arran’s mind. Now that he thought about it, Captain Yang had been suspiciously quick in deciding to help him.

Moreover, twice the man had given him woefully incomplete information, first sending him up against an Academy mage, and then sending him to a castle that turned out to be ruled by the strange creature Senecio had killed.

Still, Arran was unwilling to believe Captain Yang had deceived him.

"I give you my word that if this captain of yours isn’t an agent of Chaos, I won’t harm him," Senecio said. "Now tell me where he is."

Arran hesitated for some moments but then decided to trust Senecio’s word. With a heavy heart, he told Senecio about Captain Yang, fervently hoping that he hadn’t just doomed the man who had treated him so well.

"With that, I take my leave," Senecio said after Arran finished. "Do try to stay alive."

A sudden ripple went through the air around Senecio, and when it disappeared, the old man disappeared with it, as if the air had swallowed his body.

For some moments afterward, Arran stood in silence, trying and failing to make sense of all that just happened.