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// Chapter Five: Age 19: The Death of a Mentor 
// Story: The Immortal Hero And The Nightmare Queen 
// by Gravitiaxis 
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It’s been three years since you graduated from your masters class and became a full fledged mage. As historians remembered correctly, you became a full time necromancer. You were enthralled in the dark arts and wanted to learn everything you could for every ancient tome and dead soul that you could find.

The years you spent focusing on dark magic made necromancy, your prime skill, matched only by your skill in conjuration. As you were able summon legions of the dead against your enemies, you would add insult to injury by throwing intense fire balls that could only be rivaled by your closest and best friend Fenris.

When you weren't studying the dark arts and the nature of souls, or hurtling fireballs at an unexpecting enemy. You would be dabbling in other forms of magical arts, but only one of them ended up becoming your third best and most used for my magic and this was summoning.

With the encouragement of Linnan, you ended up becoming an adventurer/mercenary and summoning magic prove to be a great deal of help in this field at work. Summoning animals and spirits to attack and fight for you proved to be an excellent choice of magic to specialize in.

This was the age for you and your friends will learn how to live out on your own.

"Are you sure?" Linnan asked, her face looking dire. "Maybe its just a cruel trick from Aether."

"Do you think I'm lying? What would I have to gain from this?" You hissed.

"Calm down, the both of you. I don't believe Aether would make this type of joke. Besides he specializes in death magic. If he says is true, then it must be true." Fenris stated, not wanting the two of you to start fighting.

"Please Aether, are you sure? Is he really dying?"

"I'm afraid he is Linnan. I can see death mile away, and right now he's full of it." You said rubbing your nose. Your studies in advance necromancy has left your senses keenly aware to anything involving death. You can see ghosts, talk to them, and sense when someone was about to die and right now the scent of death was occupy not your master.

Linnan let out a almost quiet shriek as you could find her fears. You and Fenris could only look at each other in silence as the two of you already had your assumptions that Master Titus was dying, while Linnan remained optimistic.

"Oh come now, you must have realized that he wasn't sick, he's been coughing nonstop for the past 3 years. You had to have figured out that he was dying eventually, right?" Fenris said to Linnan.

"Oh yeah, real sensitive." You said shaking your head at Fenris' insensitivity.

"What?" He asked not seeing what he did wrong.

Out of the three of you, Linnan loved and respected the master the most. She truly believed that she owed Titus a debt, surely he took you in and raised you as if you were his own child but that was pretty much it. Your emotions toward your master was more towards respect than love.

Not aware by you, but somewhat noticeable by your companions, you have become increasingly distant these past few years. Fenris believe that it's been all the dark magic that you've been practicing, saying it has corrupted your mind and soul. Linnan says that it might have been a More emotional and personal reason.

It was not unusual for an orphan such as yourself, who had to witnessed the death of his entire family, to still hold on to some psychological trauma. Deep down you were afraid of losing those of which you would come to love. In fact you made sure that you wouldn't develop feelings for someone just for this very reason.

Your practice in necromancy has made you so much more demoralize towards death. You were pretty sure that if any one of your friends were going to die you would react in a much more calm and collected towards the ordeal. Titus' death wasn't exactly new, death with an everyday thing and the sooner you accept this, the sooner you would be able to move on with your life.

This certain ideal would soon cause problems for you in your later years.

The three of you stayed in silence as you waited for some type of news on your master. As you waited, you notice that Fenris had moved much closer towards you. He slowly leans over to whisper in your ear. "So, how much time do you think he has left?" You hear him ask.

Keeping your eyes on Linnan, you lean back to tell him. "Not long. He’d be lucky if he lives past today… or unlucky judging by his illness" You said watching as Fenris shook his head.

“I know this may sound sudden but, do you what you're going to do after he's gone? I don't think we can sit here and live off his money." Fenris ask trying to keep your voice low.

“Why not? I rather like the life of being cared for and never having to do anything, every.” You smiling at the thought of that.

“And what are you going to do when you’re older and don’t have anymore money to spend? You're an idiot without an occupation.”

You nodded your head. "Yeah I see your point. I don’t like starving. I won’t say I haven’t given it much thought though.”

“So you do know what you're going to do?”

You chuckled to yourself. “I’ve always thought about what I was going to do. I thought about what job I might take before Titus even came to the orphanage. I just never had the right mindset to actually pinpoint on what I wanted to do. Linnan wants me to become a mercenary.”

“A merc?”

“Yeah that seems like a way to go. The war doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon. So I get to travel to a few places, see some things, and probably meet a nice lady and settle down. You know the usual. Why? What are you going to do?" You asked.

Fenris rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know. I've been thinking of traveling as well. I'm not cut out for the religious work. Preaching and handing out pamphlets doesn’t seem to be the life for me." He said earning a small nod from you.

"Well, if you think you can tolerate me for a few years then you can gladly come with me if you'd like. We should bring her with us as well. She's most likely going to be a mess after all this. It'll be nice to keep an eye out on her so she doesn't get into trouble. Plus the whole gang will be able to stay together in the process."

"I agree, that's a great idea." Fenris said looking back at Linnan who was looking up at the two of you. She was about to say something but the sound of Titus bedroom door opening up caught all three of your attention.

The doctor that the master hired step out with a grave look on his face. Seeing as neither you or Linnan was going to say anything, Fenris decided to speak up. "So... How is he?"

The doctor rubbed his hands together as he told you the bad news. "I'm not sure if he'll live past today. There's nothing much more that I can do. Healing magic can only do so much." The doctor said watching as the three of you were visibly saddened by this. "He's asked to see you all one at a time, starting with Linnan and ending with Aetherrant."

"He probably wants to get off how much he hates us." You snickered, earning two glare from Fenris and Linnan.

"Yeah, and he saved the worst for last. Alright Linnan you'll go first." Fenris said lightly pushing her into the room. She slowly close the door behind her leaving you, Fenris, and the doctor outside with each other.

You were never a big fan of awkward silence, so you decided to start a conversation with the doctor. "So what type of doctor are you?"

"Oh, I'm a doctor of many things. Not just one. I've studied in many types of doctorates but never really had the time to actually earn one."

"What? So you're not a real doctor?" You asked surprise at this.

"Of course not! Do you see me wearing a doctors robe?" 

"Then why did the master think that it was a good idea to hire you?" Fenris yelled out. "You don't even have a horn."

“Do I need a horn to produce magic?” The man asked.

“Yes and no. I guess it depends. Are you a man of magic or a science?” You asked.

“I am a man of both.” The doctor said while looking at his wrist watch. “Now if you excuse me, I have some place I need to be. My debt to Titus has been paid and he no longer needs my assistance.”

“Were you good friends with my master? You asked.

The doctor nodded his head. “Oh yes, close friends. He helped me out a long time ago. He saved my life a few times too. I wish I could do more, but..." The older man rub the back of his neck and began to grumble. “Well I have an appointment I need to attend to. I won't be seeing you around,-” he said looking at Fenris “but you'll be seeing me.” He said now looking at you. He then turned around and began to walk away. 

“Strange man, he was.” Fenris said tilting his head.

“Yeah, a lot of them nowadays.” You said shrugging your shoulders.

You turned your attention to the door that we just recently opened showing a face flushed Linnan. “Fenris, it's your turn,” was the only thing she can get out before silently we walking away. “Your return man.” You said patting Fenris on his back and push him into the room.

Fenris' conversation with Titus didn't really take long. They like to keep things sweet and simple, so whenever they talked to each other, they didn't really have to say much. So wasn't long until you're trying to talk to him.

As you walk inside, the smell of death intrude into your nose. You were kind of getting used to it, but it still caught you off guard. The Masters room with mostly clean, a lot of books related out. Most of which you've already read, when you were younger.

When you were a child, the three of you used read books to each other. knowledge was one of your profile and attribute even as a child. You were never able to resist the temptation of a good book, especially stories about old heroes and gods. 

You use gaining knowledge as an excuse to hide a way the feeling of sadness or the feeling of being alone. As you get older you found yourself reading less books, Fenris, Linnan and Titus provide good company to you. So books are no longer use as a substitute for your pain.

As you looked at your master, you could see how close to death he was. You could tell how hard he was trying to hang on to the last little bit of life that he had left in him. Your horn let up a dark black, as you placed your hand on his chest. Using a spell that you learn when you were younger, you stopped his need to breed so he wouldn't have to struggle anymore. "Thank you.” He managed to say as he looked up at you.

"Don't mention it.” You said feeling a small amount of sadness borough its way into your chest. You put up a nearby chair and drag it over to his bed. As you sat down, his eyes began to look up on you with sadness and regret, but not towards you or the others.

His eyes were old and tired, he never told you when you were younger so this makes you wonder. How old was your teacher, his physical age showed near 70s, while his eyes showed a lot more.

"I know how you feel about these types of situations, but-"

"Don't." you said cutting him off. just... Don't." you begin to shake your head. “I don't want our last moments to actually be spent on loving each other.” You said watching as Titus formed a small smile.

Titus gave you a small nod you look up at the ceiling. “We never really talked much for the past few months have we?" He asked why I switched with sound calm and tranquil.

"Yeah well, you're dying so... That was one of the reasons.” You said she's shrugging your shoulders.

Titus cracked another smile. "That I am..."

“So any regrets?”

“I'll always have regrets, I have so many in this long life and I've lived. We always take on life for granted but when it's your time to go you finally think about all the things that you could have done right in your life. I just wish I had more time." He said tightly closing his eyes as a tear formed.

"You do know I can-"

“I know... yeah, I know... but I can't allow you to do that.”

“Why not? I'm a skilled necromancer now, I can keep you alive for a lot more time now." You said your voice slowly starting to rise.

Titus nodded his head and smiled at you. "Oh, I know, but I can't allow you to do that." he said letting out a small cough that causes to you slight discomfort.

"Why not? Why are you passing up the chance to live a longer life?"

"Because I've already should have been dead." a cold silence filled the room.

"Wh-what do you mean?"

My life has been preserved by forbidden magic. when I was younger I came across an old arcane formula, created by a very brilliant and insane woman.” 

“Who was this woman?” You asked, curious about the story.

Titus shook his head. “I cannot say her name.” You gave him your “Why not?” face, but he stood firm. “I am forbidden to say her name. Not for any personal reason, but because names have power.” He said looking as if he really wanted you to remember this. “That is why I refuse to say her name. She was a mad woman who tried to use life and death magic in order to create immortality.” He said shaking her head at the very thought of this.

“Why would she do something like that? Death magic and Life magic cannot be combined, it’s practically impossible.” You said stating what Titus had already known.

“Yes...It was deemed impossible, but this mad woman succeeded in proving this theory wrong. She badly wanted to test her findings out on a willing subject, but for a long time, there were no takers.”

“Why not?”

“People either accepted death for what it was or feared that the gods would show wrath upon their decision, but there was one man who proved to be stupid enough to take this risk. As you probably already figured out, that man was me. I took the woman’s proposal and casted the spell onto myself. At first, for a time, the spell worked I was immortal. All wounds that I sustained whether on purpose or accidental healed without problems, I didn’t need to eat, sleep, or breathe and my magical abilities never tired out.” Titus smiled as he began to remember this part of his life.

“That’s awesome.” You said truly liking the sound of immortality.

“Of course at the time it was. It truly was awesome, but as you get older and began to learn some things, you begin to realize that as an immortal, time, will have no real meaning to you anymore. Days to everyone else would be merely seconds to you. You would be forced to watch as the people around you were forced to grow old and die while you yourself was still in the prime of your life.” Titus shook his head. “So many years just wasted...” He whispered looking saddened by this. 

“So how long have you lived?”

“I’ve lived for about two hundred and three years. To you it may not seem like that long of an immortal life, but to me it was hell. I’ve spent most of my life doing nothing, it was only until recently that I’ve amassed this large fortune.” You asked Titus a valuable question. You asked that if he was immortal then why was he dying right in front of you. “The spell was incomplete.” He smiled. “It was only able to increase my lifespan by a few centuries. My body decayed, it was just a very slow process.”

“When you adopted me, you didn’t look nearly as old as you do now.”

“I know. The spell has just started to wear off. It was never meant to be permanent.” Titus said.

“I see...that’s interesting.” You said standing up from your chair as the option of a longer life seemed to be almost too good of a chance to pass up.

Titus watch you closely as you begin to walk back and forth throughout his room. " I know what you're thinking Aether, there was a reason that the gods gave us mortal lives, there's a reason why are only supposed to live some 70 or 80 years of a life. We're not meant to experience the hardships of a longer life." Titus said trying to stop your thoughts from wandering too far. "I am proof of this."

You quickly let out a sigh and looked back at your dying teacher. "Relax, I was just kidding. I'm not stupid enough text you something as dangerous as that." You said giving your skeptical teacher a small wink.

"Good, immortality is more of a curse than a blessing, but? I'm curious if you did have a mortality what would you do with it?” He said slowly moving up in his bed. As he moved he let out a couple of horrid coughs. This was a sign that he was probably trying to cover up his sickness in order to talk to you regularly.

You gave your shoulders a quick shrug. “Revenge probably…” You said meeting your masters gaze. 

"I thought as much…” Titus said nothing about a tired sigh. “You're going to have to realize that there are some things in this world that we have morals cannot control. You have to let the death of your family go, and start a new and better life than the one they could ever give you. They would want that.” he said watching as your eyes began to narrow at him.

"You don't know what they would want.” You venomously snapped back.

“And you do?” Titus said starting to lean forward onto the bed so he could look at you better, despite the pain he was beginning to feel. “Revenge, you're thinking about taking revenge on a man who's probably dead by now.” Titus said his was becoming strain.

“Oh no, he's not dead. He's very much alive and I know where he is.” You explained.

Titus shook his head. “Either way, you're not hearing me. Magic was not meant to be used for violence.”

“We use magic for every day! It's one of the shooters ways to kill someone. Right now, as for your talking to someone has just died by the use of magic.”

"You're right, but it was not meant for that. Why use magic to kill people and you can use it to help someone? True you must see that you're wrong?”

“No, it is you that is wrong Master. This man has killed hundreds and shall hundreds more unless someone stops him, so what better person than me? Someone who has nothing else to lose?” you said as a res for getting over for your senses. Titus laid back down on his bed as he realized that he couldn't get through to you. “I'm not going to ask you for the blessing, because we both know that I don't care, but I'm going to have to ask you to understand. Surely you must know what I feel. 200 years of experience and you must have at least want to go to what I've gone through."

Titus sighed. “Oh I do, that's why I'm telling you not to do it. It may seem like a good idea at the moment but when you accomplish it and fulfill your desire for revenge all you're going to be left with is regret and sorrow like me, I regret my choice for years but I can't turn back time and undo to send that I have committed. He said letting out a few hard coughs. “Please, Aetherrant. I know I can't stop you from taking on this tired pursuit of revenge but please do not drag your siblings into this. This is not their fight, it’s yours.”

You walked over to Titus and grabbed his hand and began to squeeze it. “I can make no promises to you master. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." you said placing the forehead on his hand. “And I hope you can forgive me for what I may or may not do in the future."” You said placing your head on his shoulder and waiting for a reply, but when you didn't receive one, you realize that your master have passed away.

For the first time in years you've felt more alone than you ever have been an entire life