BOOK TWO: Chapter 39: The Unrefusable Offer and the Genesis of Mages
The meeting with **Isaac Vance** took place not in the Fortress Foundation, but in a private, soundproof conference room in downtown Milwaukee, just blocks from the Harley-Davidson headquarters. Isaac, a burly man with a weathered face, hands calloused from years of working metal, and shrewd, intelligent eyes, sat across from Carter. He was impeccably dressed, but the faint scent of motor oil still clung to him.
"Mr. Carter, with all due respect my brother, I'm making half a million a year designing next-gen motorcycle engines. This 'Aetheric Global Technologies' just went public, made a splash, but you're offering me... to teach?" Isaac gestured around the luxurious room with a skeptical wave. "I appreciate the offer, but I'm not a teacher. And frankly, your 'proprietary quantum technology' sounds like a bunch of buzzwords to me."
Carter leaned forward. "Professor Vance, I'm not offering you a teaching job. I'm offering you the chance to **engineer the impossible**."
He slid a tablet across the table. It displayed holographic schematics of the planned Academy forge: a massive, multi-tiered structure, unlike anything Isaac had ever seen.
"This is the **Heart of the Academy Forge**. We need someone to design, build, and operate a facility that can fuse entirely new material sciences, create stable energy cells from raw, planetary mana, and craft tools that will redefine civilization," Carter explained. "Forget engines, Professor. You'll be building the infrastructure of a new world."
Isaac scoffed, but his eyes were glued to the schematics. "Mana? What is this, some kind of sci-fi shit?"
"No, sir. This is real," Carter said, his voice dropping, his eyes burning with a controlled intensity. "And the offer is this: Your salary will be **$1.5 million USD per year**, with an immediate **ten percent equity stake** in Aetheric Global Technologies. That's a minimum of **$300 billion in stock options** today, with uncapped growth. You will have an **unlimited R&D budget**. You will design the Forge, hire your own engineering teams, and be recognized as the pioneer of a new industrial revolution. And, as a bonus, we'll give you a **neurological enhancement** that will allow you to intuitively understand and manipulate the structural integrity of any material you touch. You'll *feel* the metal, Professor. You'll *know* its every weakness and strength."
Isaac's jaw slowly dropped. The money was insane, the stock options generational wealth, but the **"neurological enhancement"** and the challenge of the Forge were what truly hooked him.
"You're serious," Isaac whispered.
"Deadly," Carter confirmed.
Isaac let out a low whistle. "Well, I'll be damned. My Harley's going to miss me."
### Isaac's Arrival at the Earth Academy
Isaac Vance, still reeling from the financial offer that promised to make him a multi-billionaire, was aboard a stealth drone with Carter as they left Milwaukee. His intense skepticism vanished the moment they landed. Through the drone's reinforced viewport, he saw only a vast, industrial parking lot and a decrepit, old abandoned warehouse—until they passed an invisible **protection bubble**. In an instant, the illusion shattered, revealing the true **Earth Academy: Chicago Branch**: a massive, gleaming high-tech facility buzzing with activity. Security personnel and specialists moved with purpose through the halls, where sophisticated magical holographs shimmered in the air, transforming Isaac's doubt into immediate, stunned belief.
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The Genesis
Headmaster Carter led the small, trusted group of professors —Professor Isaac Vance (Forge Operations), Professor David Vance (Air), Professor Anya Sharma (Fire), Professor Ben Carter (Water), Professor Maya Cruz (Air/Forge), and Professor Lena Petrov (Light)—down a pristine, mirrored corridor.
They stopped before a massive, circular chamber bathed in a gentle, pulsing blue light. At the center lay the **Mana Pool**: a wide, shallow basin filled with a slow-moving, intensely luminous liquid that hummed with quiet power. The air around it felt thick and vibrantly alive.
"Welcome," Carter said, spreading his arms to encompass the chamber. "Forget what you think you know about energy."
He walked to the edge of the basin and looked down at the glowing fluid. "This is where you will receive your **core affinity**."
He continued, his voice resonating with Earth's subtle support. "The **Mana Pool** is directly connected to the surging mana currently emanating from inside the core of the Earth. This intense energy, bubbling up through the tectonic plates, manifests itself in this liquid form."
"This release is what is affecting all life on this planet. It is a fundamental source of power that will be increasing in volume and intensity in the coming year. Today, we start our preparation to be the guides through the storm that is coming."
**Professor Isaac Vance**, ever the pragmatist and skeptic, folded his arms and looked from the pool to Carter.
"Headmaster," Isaac started, using the formal title. "In the briefing you gave us this morning, i get it there are six elemental affinities. I understand you, yourself, demonstrate mastery over all six, plus Light and Dark. But you said our professors only demonstrated an affinity for **one** element."
Isaac gestured to the group. "Why can't any of us receive the **Dark element**? And why can't any of the teachers get the **Earth element**—other than me? I'm not a teacher."
Carter gave a simple, confident smile. "That is simple."
Without a word, Carter raised his hands and rapidly demonstrated all six elements in a sequence that took less than two seconds: a small, controlled **blue flame** ignited on his left palm, a tiny **dust devil** spun on his right, the floor beneath him **darkened with fertility** a single **drop of water** levitated between his hands, a **white spark** flashed, and a **black shadow** momentarily elongated.
The professors stared, awe replacing their questions.
"I have **five percent control** over most of the core elements, plus the extra **ten percent** for my symbiotic link with Earth," Carter explained, lowering his hands. "And that is because I have lived an entire seventeen years on a mana abundant planet, Pandora."
He looked around the room, his dark shades fixed on the professors. "Earth just got its mana weeks ago. There isn't enough raw mana in the world yet for a **newly Awakened** core to successfully tap into multiple physical elements—it takes years of integration and growth. In time, everyone with a magical core on this planet will have a chance to harness other elements. But not yet."
Carter then addressed the more sensitive second question.
"Answering your other question: the **Dark element** is different. It is something you are either born with, or it accepts you—it **finds you**," he said, his voice dropping slightly. "Any other way is considered a contamination. The Dark element isn't something to be toyed with; one can only control it if they are born with it, or they become, for lack of a better term, **cursed**."
Carter paused for effect. "So, in conclusion: yes. All the professors in this room, once the global mana stabilizes, **will** be able to wield all elements. We just need time to grow with the planet."
This revelation put a palpable smile on the professors' faces. The prospect of gaining full elemental ability made them instantly willing and ready to do anything to gain this ability.
That's when **Professor Lena Petrov**, the beautiful young Light Mage, smiled broadly, batted her hair to the side, and said, "So you're only seventeen?"