The Mage's Limits: Mages of Martir Book #2 (20 page)

“Because you need to define them in order to break them,” said Jakuuth. “How else will you be able to break through the ceiling if you don't already know your own Limits?”

“Well, I know what they are already,” said Darek. “Because I broke them already. Doesn't that already make me a Limitless?”

Jakuuth shook his head swiftly. “Not necessarily. Becoming a Limitless is more than just breaking through the ceiling once. It requires abolishing the belief that you have Limits to your power, and to abolish that belief, you must break through the ceiling again and again until you no longer believe it.”

“But I already believe I don't have any Limits,” said Darek.

“No,” said Jakuuth. “You do; otherwise, you would be far more powerful than you are now. Your subconscious continues to believe in Limits because that is what it was taught for decades … and it is time to destroy that belief in the only way you can: With cold hard experience.”

Darek gulped. “That sounds dangerous.”

“Greatness is always dangerous, Darek,” said Jakuuth. Then he looked at Aorja. “Aorja, would you please stand opposite Darek? I want you to help him transcend his Limits.”

Aorja obeyed without saying a word, although she didn't look very happy about it. She went over to the center of the room and stopped about a dozen feet from Darek, where she drew her wand and held it before her just like Darek.

“Now, Darek, you and Aorja are going to be training partners,” Jakuuth continued, “which is the real secret to achieving Limitlessness. It is impossible to do on one's own without falling unconscious. If you have a partner, however, it becomes exceptionally easier to do so.”

“How does having a partner make exceeding your Limits easier?” said Darek, glancing at Aorja. “Is she going to share her magical power with me or something?”

“No,” said Jakuuth. “What Aorja will do is keep you going. That is to say, she will give you motivation not to let up. The reason so many mages fail to achieve Limitlessness is because they try once, fail, and never try again. Having a partner to support you is essential to achieving Limitlessness without killing or hurting oneself.”

“I have to be his partner?” Aorja said in disgust. “I respect you, Jakuuth, but Darek's … well, you know our history. How am I suppose to get along with him?”

“Are you questioning my orders, Aorja?” said Jakuuth in a sharp tone. “I thought you had vowed to obey me no matter what.”

Aorja closed her mouth, but she still didn't look happy about it. Darek wasn't thrilled about working with her either, although unlike her, he knew better than to question Jakuuth. The Son of Grinf appeared reasonable on the surface, but if what the Ghostly God had told Darek was true, than Jakuuth was infinitely more dangerous than he looked.

“Your first step in achieving Limitlessness, then, is to use up as much of your magical energy as possible in as little time as you can,” said Jakuuth. “You must reach the ceiling of your Limits, which you should be able to do with little problem, seeing as you've already done it once before.”

Darek hesitated. He remembered all too well how weak he had felt after breaking through the ceiling earlier. His knees grew weak at the very thought, like he was already about to break through the ceiling, even though he was near full magical power at the moment.

“Don't worry about hurting Aorja,” said Jakuuth as he folded his arms behind his back. “She is strong enough to handle whatever you, a Limited mage, can throw at her.”

Darek looked at Aorja again. She held her wand up in front of her like a sword. She didn't seem at all afraid of him, which meant that Jakuuth was telling the truth.

Still, Darek remembered how, back in North Academy, he had always been a little bit stronger than Aorja in terms of pure magic. He recalled how he had hurt her once while they were practicing botamancy. He had conjured a thick spiky plant that had cut her left arm; not a serious injury, but it had been the first time Darek remembered hurting a friend unintentionally.

Of course, that had been years ago, when he and Aorja had been young students with far less experience than they had now. No doubt Aorja was perfectly capable of protecting herself, especially now that she was a Limitless.

Besides, Darek, don't you remember how she tried to kill you, Jiku, and Mom?
Darek thought.
If she gets hurt, it will be nothing compared to the pain that her betrayal has caused you and everyone else back in North Academy.

With that thought in mind, Darek began to consider which spells he wanted to use against Aorja. He would have to try something powerful in order to expend as much energy as he possibly could. He thought about encasing her in a block of thick ice, but that would definitely kill her, so he would have to do something else.

“Come on, Darek,” said Aorja, waving her wand at him impatiently. “Are you going to get started or are you going to stand there and look like an idiot?”

“Fine,” said Darek. “Then let's begin, shall we?”

Drawing on as much of his magical energy as he could, Darek fired a beam of pure ice at Aorja. The ice zigzagged through the air, but Aorja jumped out of the way in the nick of time. The ice beam struck the spot where she had been standing, leaving a thick icicle as tall as her in her place.

“Good show, Darek,” said Jakuuth, clapping. “How do you feel?”

“Pretty good,” said Darek, looking at Jakuuth. “Why?”

“You need to get tired,” said Jakuuth. He held up a hand and closed his fist tightly. “Push yourself. Push yourself to the very limits of your power. Do what you did back in North Academy to achieve that power.”

A powerful fear rose up in his body at the thought of breaking through the ceiling again. He didn't want to fall into a coma again, or worse, see that mysterious skeleton once more.

But his desire to become a Limitless overwhelmed his fears and he nodded. “All right. I'll try again.”

“Good,” said Jakuuth. “And Aorja, if Darek appears to be on the verge of fainting, help him, won't you?”

Aorja did not look like she wanted to help Darek; she said nonetheless, “Yes, Jakuuth, sir.”

This time, Darek did not hesitate or stop. He drew upon as much of his power as he could, sending more and more ice flying from the tip of his wand. Instead of aiming for Aorja, he aimed for that spot opposite him where the ice chunk stood, adding more and more ice to it as time went on.

With both Jakuuth and Aorja watching him intently, Darek kept pouring as much of his power out of his body as he could. He was vividly reminded of earlier, when he had broken through the ceiling and fell into a coma, except this time he wasn't even bothering to hide his magic use. After all, there were no teachers here to stop him, so he could use as much magic as he pleased.

As the chunk of ice grew larger and larger, the room became colder and colder. Aorja shivered and hugged herself, while Jakuuth merely continued to watch as if the temperature wasn't falling rapidly at all. Darek felt himself reach the halfway point again, which alarmed him as it had taken him much longer to reach that point before.

Don't stop,
Darek told himself.
Just keep going. You'll be safe. Jakuuth and Aorja will help. That's what they're here to do.

Still, he found it exceptionally difficult to keep going. It was like his body was rebelling at the very thought of him breaking through the ceiling again. His arms and legs became as weak as twigs when he thought about it, but he continued to pour energy from himself at an accelerated rate.

“Good, Darek,” said Jakuuth. “Very good. I can sense you've almost depleted your energy reserves. Not much longer now.”

The ice chunk was now much bigger than Darek, Aorja, or Jakuuth. It hadn't yet reached the ceiling of the large underground room they stood in, but it was getting close. Darek briefly wondered how they would get rid of it after he was done here, but he banished the thought from his mind in order to focus on getting rid of all of his magical energy.

He pushed more and more, until soon he figured he had only a quarter of his normal reserves left. He wondered for a moment why he was able to drain himself so quickly. Was it an aftereffect of his earlier attempt to break through the ceiling or was it because he was now focusing as intently as he could without distraction?

Either way, he was now rapidly close to depletion again. As before, he felt weak, like he hadn't eaten a good meal in weeks. He wanted to drop his wand and fall to the floor, and he probably would have, had he not felt a warmth in his body that he did not recognize, a warmth that gave him enough energy to keep standing.

Surprised, he looked in Aorja's direction and saw she was pointing her wand at him. He remembered that Jakuuth had given her orders to help him stay on his feet. He had not expected her to actually listen to Jakuuth's orders, but he appreciated it nonetheless. It reminded him of their younger years, when they had both been students and friends in North Academy and had worked together.

“Very low now,” said Jakuuth, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. “Just a little bit more.”

“I can't …” Darek coughed. “Jakuuth, I can't do it, even with Aorja's help. It hurts.”

He was telling the truth. His chest felt tight and his wand seemed to burn his hand. He felt like he was falling apart. He hadn't felt this way earlier, which made him wonder if something in his body had changed as a result of his earlier attempt to break through the ceiling.

“You can, Darek,” said Jakuuth in a soothing, encouraging voice. “You can. With Aorja and me here, you should be able to break through the ceiling without experiencing any of its negative side effects. Unlike your teachers, I know what I am doing here.”

Darek nodded to show he had heard, as he was too tired to even speak. He returned his focus to draining himself, until soon his whole front vision was taken up by the massive ice chunk before him, which now resembled a rough mountain in shape.

Aorja's warmth still glowed within him, which he was now sure was the only thing keeping him going at this point. He just wanted to fall down and fall asleep, or maybe fall into another coma. He was practically empty now, but rather than slow down, he sped up.

There it was. He used up the last of his magical energy. He could barely think straight now. His whole body shuddered. He had nothing left, yet he still forced himself to pour more and more. He wished he had never tried this again, but it was too late to turn back now.

“You are empty,” said Jakuuth in a pleased voice. “Excellent. That is the first step to achieving Limitlessness, and you did it in good time, my friend.”

Darek couldn't think now, but he did manage to say, “What's … next?”

“Next? Keep doing what you are doing,” said Jakuuth. “Pour more and more of your energy out.”

“But …” Darek shuddered again. “How … I'm empty …”

“Aorja will aid you there,” said Jakuuth. “Aorja? Give Darek a hand.”

Aorja sighed reluctantly, but deep inside, Darek felt her warmth rising within him. It gave him the strength to stand up and stay conscious, even though all he wanted to do was lie down and fall unconscious. His head burned so much that it felt like his brain was melting.

“Now, Darek, how do you feel?” asked Jakuuth.

“Better,” Darek said, his voice stronger now. “But … still … not … perfect …”

“Normal,” said Jakuuth. “That's how you feel right now. Every mage who attempts to achieve Limitlessness goes through what you are feeling right now. Right now, we're going to work on upping your Limits, as you won't be able to achieve true Limitlessness right away.”

Darek blinked. Hot sweat was starting to roll down his face, but he couldn't lift his arm to wipe it away even with Aorja's support. “How … will … I—”

“How will you know when you've upped your Limits?” said Jakuuth. “You will feel it, don't worry. It will be a bit scary at first, but once you've upped your Limits, it won't be long before you become a fine Limitless yourself.”

But despite what Jakuuth said, Darek couldn't sustain this effort. It was too much for his body. Although Aorja's magic was helping, it was only a crutch and he could sense that it was not working as well as it should have. He sensed that he was getting close to breaking through the ceiling now, but he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he couldn't make it this time, not when every fiber in his body was raging against this abuse.

So Darek gave up. He dropped his wand and fell to his hands and knees. The warmth in his body from Aorja's magic vanished, almost making him black out. He gasped for breath and wiped the sweat from his brow, but that did little to make him feel better.

He heard someone walking toward him and he gathered enough strength to look up. Jakuuth was walking toward him, looking as angry and disappointed as Mom used to look whenever Darek, as a child, had done the wrong thing. He wanted to explain to Jakuuth why he gave up, but his mouth was too weak to form coherent words.

“Why did you give up, Darek?” said Jakuuth as he approached him. “Weren't you listening to a word I said?”

Darek couldn't even nod. It was taking almost all of his strength just to stay conscious. Didn't Jakuuth realize that?

“I see you are too weak to respond,” said Jakuuth. He put his hands on his hips. “In that case, perhaps you are too weak to become a Limitless. At the very least, I can't have a weakling like you in the Army. Every soldier needs to haul their own weight, and if you can't do that, then I am afraid we will have to deal with you the hard way.”

Darek's eyes widened. He managed to say, “Hard … way?”

“You know what I mean,” said Jakuuth.“You lied about your parentage to get here. As the Son of Grinf, I should not tolerate such awful lies. I only tolerated that one because I saw potential in having you around, but now I am starting to think that that potential was a lie as well.”

Darek gulped, although his mouth was too dry for that to do any good.

Jakuuth raised his gavel. “Do you know what this is, Darek? This is the Gavel of Grinf, or rather, an imitation of it that I made decades ago when I first learned of my true parentage. It acts as my wand, but it can also smash open skulls very well.”