By RonaldoMedinaB

James's eyes widened on the comfortable mattress he didn't remember lying on. It was inevitable for him to stand up with a start. For him, it had been like being awake all the time. He remembered seeing his body and at the same time being at an infinite distance from it. He did not distinguish how much time had passed or how it had happened, but he recovered, he felt it in his body, also in his spirit.

With surprise, he looked at the baggy suit he was wearing, it made him look like a monk. He also detailed his hands, observed his arms, felt his face, and looked at his abdomen. He didn't understand how, but he had no scars, not even the slightest hint of having been through such gruesome torture. The room he was in exuded purity, and tranquility, he could even feel it. It was made of wood. The door was sliding and was half open. Moved by curiosity, he lowered his bare feet to the ground, where he felt the smooth texture offered by the material in which it had been built.

He left there with slow and cautious steps, innocent in the face of the unknown. Surrounding it were many other rooms that were connected by open-air corridors. In the middle was a lagoon, tall trees with beautiful and colorful flowers that he did not remember seeing before in his life, and bridges that allowed access. There a man levitated over the water, he had white hair. He recognized it right away. From the position he was in, he could tell that he was meditating.

"You," He said to the old man in the dark green suit "You brought me here."

"Hi James, I'm glad you woke up," she replied with her eyes closed, without losing her position "How do you feel?"

"Confused ... I ... I have a lot of questions."

"Ask without problem, I'll be sure to answer each one of them."

"How long was I unconscious?"

"One week."

"A week," he repeated in a whisper, perplexed "I can't believe I slept that long. I feel... different, much less angry, lighter, more... at peace. How did you do it?"

"It was part of your integral healing process. What you lived in that place broke you physically and emotionally," The Universal Doctor narrated calmly, focused on his breathing. I made sure you recovered 100 percent. Not only was it necessary for your external wounds to heal, but I also had to heal internal ones "You blame yourself for what happened to your father, but you have already learned to forgive yourself and leave the past behind."

"I remember. I remember having lived it all. It was like being there, I saw myself, but I couldn't stop it... to go from one place to another I had to accept it as something inevitable."

"We cannot alter our past, nor the way destiny shuffles its cards with us, but we can learn from it to grow and improve ourselves. In the darkest of times, it is where true heroes are forged."

"Thank you, I needed it," He bowed slightly.

"No need, James."

"What is this place?" He looked around "I've never seen anything like it before."

"Welcome to the Universal Temple, home of the Universal Wizards, a living organism connected to the Universal Eye, which breathes and transmits magic, a chest of the greatest secrets of existence, and a protective sanctuary of the human dimension."

"I don't understand what all that means."

"You're right, try asking something simpler for yourself."

"As for those men who tortured me... they looked like humans, but I'm sure they were something much worse. They had unnatural strength, and their eyes were red like blood. It was terrifying," He felt a slight chill at the memory.

"They were humans possessed by demons, I made sure they left the bodies and went back to where they belonged... Hell."

"Goddamn," His eyes widened in horror "That explains everything... kind of" He moved closer to the mysterious man but was forced to remain there when the water in the lagoon blocked his way "I saw what you did there when you created that portal, you are... you are a wizard?"

"I am," he admitted casually.

"I want..," He thought the next thing he would say was, "I want you to please teach me. After so long searching for answers, I finally found the cause of my father's death, that woman they call Lady Morpheus, but I cannot avenge him knowing that she also works magic and her allies are demons. I'd end up dead, luckily I got out alive that last time."

"No" he answered, calm, but firm in his posture.

"No?" He retorted "Why?! There are beings with supernatural powers in our world, and you want me to return knowing that I will be defenseless in front of them?! They killed my father!"

The old man, for the first time, opened his eyes and moved towards him. It was surprising for James to see him walk on the water without any difficulty.

"You may have forgiven yourself, James, but I see you lacked learning more. You should never strive for an ideal if the motive is revenge. It will lead you down paths of darkness that you will later regret."

"So what should my motive be?"

"Justice."

"Then teach me to be just," He fell to his knees "Please"

The old man stared at him for a few seconds, James waited for a positive response from him, but all he got was that indecipherable gesture.

"How much do you think you know, James Jerom?"

"After a few days, nothing, nothing at all."

"You do well, boy," He gave a slight smile for the first time.

The Universal Doctor extended his arms outward in a circular motion, and a bubble of energy formed around them. James didn't understand what was going on, he didn't know what to expect from him. He didn't really know what to expect from anything; especially when what he thought he knew was insignificant compared to what he had just discovered.

"Make yourself comfortable, we'll take a little trip through the truth."

The sorcerer's words spread like an endless echo, rumbling and diffuse. Soon the visual spectrum was blurred and, as if it had been pressed by a slingshot, the bubble shot through a conduit of energy, abundant in color and sparkle.

"The world you live in, James, is nothing more than a grain of sand compared to this vast universe. Multiple lives coexist with us on this plane; some primitive, some more advanced, but all in this reality."

As the sorcerer spoke, they traveled the length and breadth of outer space, a terrain completely unknown to the young journalist. His eyes marveled at the light show, although a fear of the mysterious and dark of the universe also ran through him, a whole terrain to explore, which he demonstrated with his strong pulsations.

"And just as our planet is nothing. Our universe too. Since the dawn of time, multiple dimensions lie in an infinite range of possibilities."

They were abruptly fired again. They found themselves in a quieter place, harmonious in color, the Temporal Limbo, after passing through one of the infinite points in it, they crossed one of the places that James knew very well: the theater where he received his journalism award for denouncing Diamonx Limited. Seeing himself there a few years before had stunned him; He wanted to jump on himself and warn his old self of so many things, but he had learned that it was not the right thing to do. The trip advanced to another place, where strange particles move like amoebas, it was the Atomic Zone.

"What was has always been, and never ceases to exist forever, only transforms, mutates into the imperishable of what will be. Even in life and death, the two cannot be separated."

The way forward was chilling. For a moment, they were embraced by the echo of the souls on the Astral Plane. They felt watched and followed, but it didn't take long there. The journey continued its course through the multiverse.

"Each dimension is particular. There are benevolent, temporary, quantum, among many others, but there are also them full of hatred and resentment."

They moved to a place that, at first glance, raised every hair on her body from the darkness and frivolity of its tones. There was only emptiness in him. And if there was something scarier, it was nothingness, creepy and confusing.

"Dark places where ancient evils await, corrupt powers hungry for greed and power, and from which you must never allow yourself to be manipulated."

Suddenly, a pair of sinister eyes emerged from the midst of that abysmal nothingness. The bubble sped up faster than ever, and in the blink of an eye, he was strolling through a richly finished antique room with numerous columns and arches.

"That is why, James, throughout our existence, forces of light have risen to remain vigilant in the face of the Darkness lurking. I, Somchai Tha, am but one of the many protectors that this dimension has seen to be born. Statues and pictures were erected along the corridor honoring witches and wizards past. I belong to the Order of the Universals, a group of sorcerers who, from generation to generation, and from century to century, have protected humanity from great external evils."

When he least believed it, they were back at the starting point. James Jerom could not find words to describe the experience, he was stunned the entire time. Instead, the Universal Doctor made a circular motion with his wrinkled hand. When James turned, he noticed a small portal of green symbols behind him, where a vast library awaited.

"Everything you have seen, now you have to learn."

"What should I do?" He asked, still perplexed.

"Study," He waved his hand and tossed him inside the portal "To graduate in your profession you had to prepare hard, the path of magic is not very different. Only by studying will you reap the fruits that will make you a great wizard, James Jerom," He began to make another circular motion with his hand.

"Wait! How do I get out of...?" The portal closed, leaving him in the lonely extensive library "Here."

"Through the door," answered Doctor Universal, sipping from his cup of tea.

James was startled to hear it behind him. A few seconds ago he was in front of him, now he was in one of the library chairs with a pleasant smile.

"You can start with the power control section," He took another sip from the cup.

"And where is the ...?"

Dizziness made him stagger. When he managed to hold onto the wall, he was in a different place in the library. This time the Universal Doctor levitated while reading a book.

"Here, of course," He smirked.

It would be the beginning of a long and pleasant torture.

James had studied book after book in recent weeks, also starting out with simple spells like moving a feather, lifting a leaf, and attracting light things to him. But the energy was difficult to control, and he kept practicing to conquer it.

He challenged himself. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He felt the vibrations around him, the wind hitting his face, the leaves of the trees moving, the lake water flowing, he sought to connect to that energy and direct it towards his body. Little by little he succeeded, he felt the energy enter his pores, fill his veins, and run through his blood. He tried to get it to his fingers.

At a slow pace, he followed the example previously shown by the Universal Doctor and moved his hand in a circular fashion, effortfully creating a seal of confusing symbols and, inside, a misshapen rift that spread through the air to bring the portal to life. It would have been perfect, had it not been for the flash of a repulsive blue lightning that sent him rolling.

"That must have hurt," the old man commented "Those runes were horrible. I've seen babies write better scribbles. Let's try it again, this time with a little incentive."

"No," he replied, "don't even think about it, decrepit old man."

Somchai Tha smiled at him in defiance. When James heard sparks at his feet, he tried to jump free from the portal that formed below him, but it was late, James found himself in the middle of the heights and began to descend into the misty clouds. He accompanied his fall with terrified screams that would surely have made the young journalist's mentor laugh.

The more it fell, the rocky surface it would hit became more visible. Worried about the imminence of the crash, he clapped his hand over and over but got nothing but sparks. James was beginning to worry, however, he was aware that in that state he would not succeed, so he closed his eyes for a few seconds, tried to forget the situation he was in, and began to perform the movement that, for his fortune, it opened the portal that he sped through, a few seconds before falling completely.

James breathed a sigh of relief as he crossed it, but his joy disappeared when he collided with the water of the temple lagoon. He stood up with a furious gesture, the amused laughter of the Universal Doctor echoing throughout the place.

"I had forgotten how much fun it was to train apprentices, I must have done it long ago."

"You'll see, devilish old man."

James drew a circle with his hand, and under Somchai appeared a portal that launched him into the lake next to him. The young man laughed out loud at it.

"Very funny, young man," He waved his hand, and a small ball of green energy surrounded him until he was dry "Five trips through the multiverse as punishment."

"Wait... Five?"

"Round trip counts as one. If you don't start now, I'll increase it to ten."

"What?!"

"Ten," he began to count impatiently, "nine ... five."

"But after nine comes eight!"

"Two..."

James convinced that it was not a joke, clasped his hands, and his spirit shot out of his body to undertake the stormy journey.

Universal Temple, 2014.

Time passed like an eternity for James. Day, noon, and night he read and prepared himself physically and mentally as his teacher guided him. The years invested were not in vain, day by day he became more mature and experienced, results that made the old sorcerer more and more proud.

The brown-haired young man had the thickest beard, and now he wore a tight dark blue suit. He was in front of his teacher, both kneeling in the middle of a wooden room where different magical objects kept in display cases stood out.

"James Jerom," Somchai poured the tea into two cups "Four years of training have passed. Surely, you are no longer that angry young man who asked me to teach him the mystical arts."

"Thank you, teacher, I appreciate the recognition," He shook his head "Although you are still that curmudgeonly old man who makes me suffer with training."

The Universal Doctor stared at him, James responded with an equally challenging look that created tension for a moment, and after a few seconds, they both burst out laughing while drinking tea.

"As much as I enjoy life, I can't live it forever," he confessed in surprise.

"Wait, what are you talking about? Is it another of your lessons?"

Somchai looked away.

"My time in this world is running out, James," He returned his eyes to him, they looked serious and almost crystal clear "I spent so much time searching for a worthy successor before I left, that I couldn't be happier to have found you."

"No, you won't die," he said in denial "No! Why? You are old but you do not suffer from any disease. How can you say that? I lost my father, I will not allow myself to lose you too."

"You don't have to be sick to die. How old do you think I am?"

"I don't know, a hundred?"

"Three hundred," he corrected, and James's eyes widened "When my teacher, Madame Universal, trained me, I was already an elderly man. I had the bliss of a long life with a purpose that kept me strong throughout. I avoided so many disasters that I am proud of what I have done, but I am proud knowing that you will do so much better than me. I have accomplished my mission in this world, James. I am leaving full and happy, now that I know that you will be the next Sorcerer in the Universal Order."

"No, Somchai, please don't go on."

The man cocked a half smile.

"You know? These years have made me think... I don't think it was a coincidence, I think that the Universal Eye chose you to be its next guardian. Without a doubt, this power saw in you something that you did not know... your great potential, and the great man that you are. That is why I know that you will be a good Universal Wizard... perhaps the greatest of all of us."

"I don't know how I'll do it without you."

"James, if there is one quality I admire about you, it's that when you focus on something, you don't give up until you achieve it. That is why I am sure that you will be the greatest Universal that history has seen. You've been through shocking experiences, but that hasn't stopped you from being the same young empath as ever," His rings, his dark collared cape, which changed to blue, and the golden symbols of the U with one eye in the middle appeared on the brown-haired, who wonderfully detailed his new possessions "Never change, James. And remember, if you want to stop demons from attacking our world, first fight yours. Long live the new Protector Sorcerer. I'm proud of you, Universal Wizard... my boy."

The old man's figure turned translucent until it was bright enough to disappear into thin air. The last thing seen of him was a satisfied smile.

"Nooo!" He screamed for a few seconds, then fell silent as he understood that he would not return. A tear slid down her face in pain at her loss "I will not fail you, curmudgeon old man, I will not fail you."