Rise of the Archmage Alister

The young Raalin put on a polite smile as he headed into the temple. The building was massive for the time, made up of hundreds if not thousands of logs. Beautiful glass murals allowed light to stream through into the space, and for the night, torches lined the wall and chandeliers illuminated the ceiling.

He had to stop himself from staring and trudged forward to the nearest priest, “Father? I am here for the posting…”

The priest, an old, greying man, turned to look at Raalin. He looked like he had cataracts, so who knew how well he could actually see. His voice was gruff, “What is your name, child?”

“Raalin, sir. I heard from the guild that the temple had a job open… Something about handling problematic undead?” He had to force himself not to grimace at the old man. It was so awkward! How was he supposed to talk to someone that looked blind or whatever?

“Ah, yes. Come with me,” the priest turned with a calm wave for him to follow, heading deep into the church.

I learned later on that dealing with a blind person was the same as dealing with a sighted person, of course. It wasn’t like they were a different species or something after all. I… oh I’m done telling the story.

Alister shook his head and laid back against the giant cat, closing his eyes, “Basically, long story short I got abused more by the church for years even while I was helping them and I know that’s more a problem of some people in positions of power do bad things with their power. But after a while we saved up enough to enter into a school. Stuff happened. We made some more friends, learned magic, and all was well for a long while. Then… just… I was witness to an act of divine wrath. It set me down the warpath and I made myself an enemy of the gods. I vowed to stop their tyranny… to at least make them have to be held accountable for their actions. This eventually ended in my death… I fought them. I killed at least seven, I think. There. That’s my whole life story.” He didn’t even let himself breathe at he blurted it all out, completely flustered and uncomfortable with the whole endeavor.

As his son huffed and struggled, Blas let him speak. He let him calm down for a minute or two of silence before he spoke up, “I’m not sure how to process that… but… you’re a different person now. You can choose a new path. It’s ok. And you can tell me more about yourself in detail later. It’s clear you’ve gotten overwhelmed.”

“You don’t hate me for hating the gods?”

Blas shook his head, “No. I’m confused and concerned… and far too spent on energy from earlier to be properly shocked. I don’t want you to hate them… but… as long as I can keep you safe then that’s all I care about right now.”

Alister stared at the ceiling of the stables as his head bobbed softly with the breathing of the beast, “How are you so calm?”

“Practice,” he responded with a pained smile, “I panic in private… not that that’s the healthiest mindset. So do as I say not as I do… but… yeah. Practice. A lot of practice.”

Alister just nodded in silence.

“You sound like you’re somewhat like your past teen self right now, from your descriptions.”

The young boy’s face contorted in disgust for a second as he realized what his father said was right, “What?! No! Ugh! I don’t wanna be like that again!! I was so awkward!”

He laughed, “And you aren’t now, my boy? It’s alright. All kids are.”

Alister groaned and turned over so his face was muffled in fur. Blas took the opportunity to stand up, groaning with the effort. He was sore. “If your mother asks, I gave you a stern talking to. Got it? I’d never hear the end of it if she knew all I did was have a chat. She’s the love of my life but she always tells me how I should act more like a proper noble - a person of my station.”

“Why don’t you?” he asked, voice hard to understand through the thick coat.

“Hm? Oh… well. That’s a story for another time. Let’s just say I grew tired of the mess. It became all too much to bear… so I decided I didn’t care anymore. Everyone judges someone in my position. They’ll do the same to you one day. I think the hardest lesson to learn, especially for nobles, is to stop caring what people think of you. Only the important ones really matter. That and your morals. What else will you have when you meet your gods at the end of your cycles? Or… whatever you believe would happen?” he tried to sound supportive at the end, but it was clear he was struggling with the idea that his kid was someone who had literally warred with gods in the past. He had so much research to do about this Raalin figure…

Alister gave him a shrug in response, pulling his face out of the fur with a heaving sigh until he was sitting up again, “What’s the plan now?”

“Well… I’m going to take some time to process what you’ve told me thus far. Hopefully you’ll tell me more in time. I’m going to try to seek out a philosopher for you to speak to… though it may be difficult to find one who is not associated with any church or god. Normally it would be a priest someone would confess to, after all,” Blas rubbed the bridge of his nose, “In two weeks, we are going to go hunting to unlock your system. Together this time, Alister. Don’t run off again.”

He mumbled under his breath, eyes downcast, “Yes father.”

“Good. You need to come to grips with your situation by then or we will wait longer. And I’ll call the doctor to check on your core as well.”

“I can repair it myself…”

“Good! Then do that too! You’re still getting checked by a professional! I know how buildings are made, but I’m not a repairman. The doctor will make sure you aren’t in pain, too. I don’t want you in pain unnecessarily,” Blas gave a soft glare down to his child, “I was too soft on you and that led to this mess. I’m not going to let that happen again… but I will still try to give you the respect you desire.”

Alister was quiet, only giving a nod. He felt so embarrassed. This was awful.

“I’m going to double down on your lessons, too. If you’re feeling well enough to go for a sprint through the forest, then there’s no reason to keep taking it easy,” the father folded his arms, “You’ll have magic lessons with Ode, swordsmanship and history lessons with Sir Jacob, you’ll do riding lessons with some of my knights, etiquette lessons with your mother, and you’ll learn about the aristocracy as well. Mathematics, theology, animal care, and whatnot will come later. Oh, but I suppose theology might be a bit… awkward… it still is required, however. It’s important to understand how society functions through such avenues.”

Alister looked wholly overwhelmed, mouth agape, “W-wait! All of that at once?”

“Of course. You need to be prepared for the sort of focus that will be brought upon you.”

“But… all that… at once? I um… I’m much more of an individual study sort…”

“You know the answer to that is no. Stop complaining. You’ll get used to it quickly,” he chuckled, turning to leave, “For the rest of the day, enjoy your free time. I’m going to schedule that doctor's visit for first thing in the morning. Harriet will wake you.”