I am a just simple man with a simple life. I live in a village as a Black Mage Apprentice. Or I used to, until that dreadfull day... Oh, I will never forget it. It was just awesome!

It all started with those four guys walking into the Inn. From afar I could see that they were powerfull Level 38 warriors. One of them was a Knight, another one was a Summoner. The third was a White Magician, and the last was a Samurai. I were in the Magic Shop when they arrived. While I was having a look at some simple Black Spells, the Noble Warriors bought some very expencive stuff.

For no particular reason, I started to follow those strangers from afar. It looked like they were gonna buy themselves a whole arsenal. Titanium Swords, Sorceror's Staffs, Mithrill Armor... And they were swimming in goldcoins. I guess it was that last part wich drove me into making sure they wouldn't cause any trouble.

After a while they went into the Inn. In order not to make them become suspicious about me, I went home to the Black Mage's Lair, as he liked to call it. It was my day off, so I knew he wouldn't care less about me coming late... But this time he did.

"Where the Hell have you been", he screamed as I walked in. I answered honestly, "Just doing my civil duty and watching some suspicious strangers."
Looking at me, he then said, "Yeah, right!".
"I mean, with all that gold they had, they're bound to have done something extremely suspicious. Either that, or they've slained a Dragon."
My Master chew on this for a while. He started walking back and forth, as he always did when he was thinking heavily. Then he said, "You better go and check they won't do anything illegal. After all, strangers with weapons are allways up to something."

As the completely loyal subject I was, I just hurried back to the Inn where those warriors had gone. Just as I arrived, the Summoner stepped out of the door. He saw me, and then he asked, "Hey, kid, you wouldn't happen to know where the famous Black Mage lives?"
I quickly realized what those guys were up to. They were after eliminating one of the Worlds most greatest threats, the Great Black Magician of Supremeness. Knowing that the same man was my Master, I had to say, "Perhaps I do, and perhaps I don't..."
The Summoner looked at me, took out a huge bag with something that could be goldcoins, and then he said, "How would you like a little goldcoin, boy?"

My Master had thought me all he could about Honor, Respect, Truth, Sense, Peace, Dedication, and some other subjects I didn't remember at that time. However, I always remember his final conclusion about the very purpose of those subjects: Use them against others, but don't get involved with them!

I put up my hand slowly, and then raised out all five fingers. The Summoner looked at me. Then he said, "Fine", putting five goldcoins in my hand, "Now, where is he"?
I pointed towards the Gigantic Black Tower where I live. Then the Summoner walked in again. Then he quickly came out and asked, "Could you come in, please. We need some extra information about this guy",I didn't move, "And if you'd like, we could perhaps offer you some more shiny, yellow, flat metal-disks."

Since my quest for my Master was to spy on them, I accepted the invitation. I followed him into the pub part of the Inn. There the other three warriors sat around a table. The Summoner and I walked towards them. He pulled out a chair and sat down. One of the others offered a chair to me, but my Master had thaught me never to sit close to armed strangers. I ended up standing.

"So", the Samurai said, "Whom do we have here, eh?".
"Just some guy that I think knows a lot about the Black Mage we are here to rid the World off. Thought he might get in handy."
"Good point", I heard the White Mage say, "Maybe he knows some weaknesses we can take advantages of?"
"Look, kid, for every true detail you tell us, the more cash you will get when we are finished. Is it a deal?", said the Knight.
Those guys intended to actually slay my Master, the one I have sworn my entire life to. The one who has always stood there for me and trained me in the arts of Dark Magic. There was only one choise I could make in order not to break the sacred rules of the Black Mage Order.

"Sure, no problem", I answered to it. The Knight shaked my hand. I put up a chair. They bought me an Ether, and then I told them all I had noticed about my Master, the Black Mage. I told them about his fear against strong light. I told them about his weakness towards Lightning. I even told them when he used to take a nap in the forest. And they asked me lots of questions about his Health Power and his Magic Abilities, and so forth...

When I had told them all I could remember, they gave me a note with an astonishing number. I had never seen so many zeroes behind the number of one. The White Mage said, "This is the amount of goldcoins you will get if we defeat him. If not... Well, you better hope for that they we will make it!"

As I left the Pub/Inn, I remembered something my Master once had told me, "One day, when you can master enough spells, you will understand the very purpose of why we Black Mages carries those strong and darkfull powers", and he sure got that right. For the first time I could actually feel the reasons, the purposes, the meaning of it all. When I first became an apprentice, I believed those powers were to fill the world with Evil. I was wrong, I know that now. Our very purpose was to get that one feeling about completion when gold is put in your hand.

The next days I didn't go out much. I didn't want my Master to believe I was up to something. Not that I were. I mean, the only ones up to something, were the four warriors that was preparing a strategy on how they could, without knowing it, reward me with the ownership of this powerfull tower wich contains some of the most horrible magics in the entire universe. Among them were magics like Meteo, Flare, Armageddon...

Then the day was here. As I watched out of the window, I saw the four warriors walk towards the tower. Because I was on the third floor, wearing my Black Mage outfit (when I met them the last time, I were in my civilian clothes). I wasn't quite sure what they were gonna do, but I didn't want them to confuse me with my Master. I quickly hurried out of the room and down the stairs and corridors. This didn't go so fast, considering I was wearing my over-sized robe and a huge hat while holding a staff in my right hand. I met many of the goblins and ogres on their way to dinnerhall.

Almost at the entrance, I managed to quickly hide myself behind one of the pillars when the doors burst open. The four warriors burst in, killing everyone they could see that had green color on their skin. I must admit, I always believed they had green, and not red blood.

The White Mage suddenly pointed towards my location. I froze when they came closer. I really didn't want trouble at a time like this. And I also didn't want them to believe I was a liar because I was the apprentice of he whom they had come to slay.

Then I remembered something about heroes that might come in handy. They are not allowed to harm unarmed people. But because this was a moral detail, I just had to take my chances. I noticed my staff, and then I quickly threw it out on the floor. They stoped and looked at it. Now they knew I was unarmed, so they couldn't just attack me without a really good reason. I just hoped being a Black Mage Apprentice wasn't one of them.

The Knight yelled, "Who is there? Speak up now! Friend or foe?"
I was terrified. If I spoke, they could recognise my voice. Then I thought about something I had learned, not from the Master, but from a deaf guy I once knew when I was younger. I pulled my hat down over my face, slowly walked into sight, and then started wawing my arms in the Language of Silence, or whatever they call it.
"It's a deaf Black Mage. Hold it, Samurai. I think he has surrendered", said the White Mage.
"How can you tell that?", asked the Knight.
"He has thrown his weapon, and he isn't prearing any spells, it seems", answered the White Mage, "And those who surrenders are not to be harmed. Or else we will be Evil ourselves."
"Oh, allright!", the Samurai said, "We will let him live if he points us the direction of the safest stairs towards the Black Ma---"
The Samurai looked at me. I got terrified again. I sure hoped he could see that I wasn't great enough to even match my Master.
"What is it, Samurai", said the Summoner, "This is not the one we are after, you know that, don't you?"
"Yeah, sorry. I just thought that he might be evil enough to act like a deaf, defenseless guy. But I doubt he would still be wearing Black Mage clothes."
They then let me go, but they watched me very carefully as I walked out of the entrance. When I finally got out, I quickly hurried towards the Inn. For one of the goldcoins, I had reserved a room for later where I had put some extra stuff, among them civil clothes, in case the warriors would totally blow up the tower. I doubted that, of course, but you could never know.

As I got into some more civil clothes, I walked out into the street again and had a look up towards the flashing of light on the flat roof high up on the tower. From down here I could clearly see what was going on. The warriors sure was beating the crap out of my Master. He almost fell down three times. On the fourth he did fell down. But he managed to break gravity-rules just in time to not get smashed. I quickly hid behind the crowd of people who was betting heavily on the Black Mage. I didn't dare to bet against it, in case he really did win.

As the four warriors hit the ground with their own float-magics, they were struck by my Masters most powerfull memorized spell he had, the Flare!

I wish I could see his face when he noticed that the Fire Magic didn't work, but he wasn't facing in my direction. The Knight showed him a Relic that were able to drain Fire Attacks.

He threw the magic again. Still no effect. I could almost laugh, but then he might notice me. So I just watched as the Knight attacked with his sword, the Samurai threw some Coins, the White Mage cast Holy, and the Summoner summoned Ramuh. My, oh my! All that was left, was a black, little hole in the ground.

The next day I came over to collect my pay. I had make sure I wasn't wearing anything that could make me look like a Black Mage. They all greeted me in the Pub, and they gave me the huge bag of small, yellow metal-disks as promised.

During the celebration, the White Mage asked me, "How did you actually know so much? I mean, all of it was true. I have never, ever met someone so wellinformed."
I calmly answered, "I happen to know the apprentice who lives there."
"The apprentice? He had an apprentice?"
"He used to..."
"Oh... What happened to him, then?"
"Not sure. All I found, was his staff."

Yes, that was that dreadfull day. Not only did my Master die, his aprentice was not seen for at least two years. But he returned in his dark clothes once again, this time as the Master. Now he lives as the Greatest Black Mage ever, ruling the village from the top of the old Tower.

Today the warriors returned to slay the new Evil that dwells up there in the tower. The first thing they did when they arrived, was to find and ask that very same guy, he who knew so much about the former Black Wizard, about the very same stuff. He answered their questions, and was paid with loads and loads of gold this time too. And this time in advance. The White Mage did of course ask how he knew so much about him, and he answered, "Remember, I know him."

A few days later, atop on the tower, they stood in front of the new Mighty Great Black Sorceror of Darkness, etc. They were surprised by the bad amount of indoor monsters. Even more surprised were they to find the very same wizard they had let live the last time. He was recognised by the White Mage through the way the hat had been pulled down his head.

They thought they had him. They really thought they had him when he fell down like the last Black Mage did. They believed they had him when he fired the Aqua3 Spell. They even believed they had him when he fired the Flare Spell. It all went so smooth for them. He didn't even use any Cure Spells. Of course, it all changed rapidly when they blew his hat off with the Fire3 Spell. The last thing they ever saw, was me, fireing the Ultimate Magic Spell, the Meteo Spell itself, on them. Actually, the last thing they really saw, was this huge flash of light covering their eyes. And the last thing they heard, was a loud noice with something that sounded like laugther in the background...

Agnar Idsøe
1. December 2002