"A day seventeen years in the making, huh?"
Theo looked down from the window in the office of the archmage himself, located at the very top of the magic tower.
Down below, the day's festivities were about to reach their peak.
Judging by the fanfare down tower's town, the welcome ceremony was moments away from the grand opening. The guard's of the guest's caravan already made their way inside the town, not joining the local law enforcement to ensure no harm could come to the their employer.
Just a little bit away from the town's gate, at the mouth of the main street, stood the archmage. The town's orchestra behind him readied itself for the big moment while the temporary barriers bent under the pressure applied by the people crowding behind them.
This was a visit of a man from the lands unknown, said to wield magic that went against all that was thought to apply.
A different kind of magic, that could become the source of the new momentum in this otherwise stale, stagnating field.
And Cornelius, the archmage, wasn't going to miss meeting someone like that!
Through his puffed-out chest and grandly lifted chin Theo could tell how the man imagined himself spearheading the world of magic into the realm formerly unknown, leaving a legacy that would be forever ingrained in the history.
There was one caveat, though.
Cornelius never had the skills to do any of that. In his very own perception, he likely was the world's most successful bully and manipulator. In the eyes of those in the know, he was a pathethic fraud who built his entire career on credit he stole from Theo. The truth, however...
"Just a little longer…"
Theo stood in the empty office, filled with the treasuries of the archmage's expensive collection.
As if to contrast with the grandeur of the office's decorum, Theo came bearing just his usual robes and humble five, simple rings. Each stone was adorned by a differently colored precious stone, dimly reflecting the scarce shine of the office's lone lit candle.
And so, he waited.
Theo was around ten years old when he learned of his magic disability.
Narrow potential, they called it. A harsh course of a childhood disease left his mana-gate unable to grow.
It wouldn't be until Theo was fourteen that he fully realized the extend of his disability, stopping him from ever reaching anything beyond the rank of a barely average mage.
No matter how much he effort and passion he put into magic, his body disallowed him the access to the realms fifth and higher realms of magic, forever locking him into the job of a measly fourth-rank mage.
By seventeen, Theo plotted a diplomatic scheme in the royal court to push the old, seasoned archmage to peaceful retirement, replacing him with the upstart genius, Cornelious Magento.
Cornelius' theorems breathed a fresh air into the stale world of magic, stirring enough attention in the magic part of the society to rapidly accelerate his career. Before young, Cornelius celebrated the title of the youngest archmage in the recorded history.
It's just…
None of the Cornelious achievements were actually his.
Some, Theo planted in his head through various, often nefarious means.
Others, Cornelious outright stole from him, never suspecting just how someone as smart as Theo could make the same mistake of leaving his research in the same place, over and over again, despite having it stolen more than just a few times.
By all means, Cornelius was nothing more but an abhorent thief, bully and a fraud. And that was precisely why Theo picked him up for the role.
A plan seventeen years in the making, and it all started all the way back when Theo had no other choice but to face the truth about his disability. A truth he promptly refused, instead starting up a plan that brought Cornelius to the seat of the kingdom's archmage's throne and Theo to the seat of just one of the tower's researchers.
As the young genius of the generation, Theo -barely fourteen at that time- found a way to fight back against this unfairness. And for that, he worked, researched and then… gave away all of his research.
Theo had no use for fame, clout and riches. That's why, by pushing them onto Cornelious, he not only severed any form of connection people could draw between him and his magical project that everyone credited Cornelius for... All the while building up the man's legend and reinforcing his position on the archmage's throne.
For seventeen years, Theo allowed all of it to happen. Heck, he actively worked to make things easier for Cornelious, worried even the slightest bit of challenge would be enough to scare him away from doing what Theo needed him to do.
And today, seventeen years later, Theo was finally about to harvest the fruits of his life-time labor. All that was left, was to wait.
'Just a little bit more…'
Standing high up above the town, at the peak of the archmage's tower, Theo could perfectly see into the street.
The front-guards of the caravan have all passed through, now moving to secure the passage for the convoy with the foreign dignitary. Behind them, the first rows of the ceremonial guard were now entering, all dressed up in colorful, patchy suits, strolling into the town to the rhythm of a marching song.
Behind those, the envoy's personal carriage followed, so big it barely fit through the town's gate.
Theo armed himself with all the patience he still had left.
Then, envoy's golden carriage emerged from within the gate, pushing through the open entrance and right into the arms of the welcoming comitte.
Theo breathed out, locking all of his attention on a single spot within the distant sight of the foreign guest.
"Haaa…"
A short sigh escaped from Theo's lips as his face froze, his eyes locked in right on the gap within the carriage through which he could vaguelly see the envoy's face.
Next, Theo's face relaxed.
Undeniably, in that very short and precise moment... he exchanged stares with the envoy, irregardless of all the distance separating them.
And that was enough to make Theo put all of his doubts aside, suddenly acting as if he already got all the confirmation of success he could ever ask for.
Down below, the archmage raised his hands, eager to welcome the guest. The town's orchestra started to play, accelerating werbles building up to the moment as all the instruments were about to come down, timed perfectly to match the song's start to the opening of Cornelius' speech.
Pop!
A green jewel in one of Theo's rings shone with a brilliant light before shattering as it released all the mana stored within.
Theo, because of his disability, could never break beyond the fourth stage of a mage's growth. Cornelius, the fradulent, incompetent insert of an archmage, boasted the strength of sixth realm mage. Which is why Theo's only option was to break the rules of the game and use tools.
Poof!
The shine expanded away from Theo's cracked ring, shooting through the fabric of space only to re-appear right where he stared, latching onto Cornelius and swallowing the man before he could as much as utter a single cry of surprise.
All hundred of the office's magic candles shoot up in flames, flooding the room with blinding, white light. After lingering in the air for a second, the white of the light started to turn into the same green as Theo's destroyed ring-jewel, only for Cornelius to then appear out of it.
He was still in his pose from before, his hands raised in grand welcome and his face full of pride and ambition.
For just another second, Cornelius was still back in his moment, ready to give the welcoming speech that would be forever recorded in the annals of the history. And Theo didn't waste such a beautiful opportunity.
Crack!
The second of Theo's rings shattered, binding Cornelious in thick, yellow chains that blocked the man from invoking magic of six tier or below. Then, as just an feature Theo added for the comfort of his ears, the yellow chains expanded, blocking the archmage's mouth and then effectively gagging him, saving Theo the pain of listening to his drivel.
And just like that, before properly even starting, the big moment of the day was already over. The only window of opportunity Cornelius had to put a wrench into Theo's long-winded plans.
But...
Theo had way too many years to prepare for today to make a single, smallest mistake. And picking someone as unsuitable for the honors and responsibilities of the archmage role as Cornelius was just one of Theo's ways to prepare.
Disoriented and shocked, Cornelius gritted his teeth and switched to combat mode. Bound by magic or not, taken off-guard and caught by a surprise or not, he was still THE archmage. The kingdom's supposedly most powerful mage! And right now, they were right in the center of where the archmage's true powers came from.
Bypassing the yellow light of Theo's chains, an intense, vibrant light appeared around Cornelius wrist.
He took only a second to realize he was powerless to break through Theo's chains. And being the simpleton that he was, Cornelious didn't need to think much or hard about what to do in this unexpected situation he found himself in.
Just like it was always his style, he decided to just charge ahead and activated the tower's authority, ready to use its powers to break through Theo's annoying chains and...
Pop.
Theo's third ring cracked, releashing a string of violet light that stretched from Theo's left hand to the ball of light that shone upon the archmage's wrist.
Crack.
The string of light turned brown, solidified… and then shattered, vanishing into a cloud of shiny dust as, for the fifth and last time, the office filled with a popping sound of Theo's ring shattering.
"Consider this my resignation." Throwing a finger at the still disoriented archmage now staring at his wrist, deprived of the shining light of the authority, Theo cracked a smile, dropped a magic grenade on the floor before jumping back, straight into the embrace of a shining portal created by the last of his rings.