The Key Of Fae

Singapore's Bureau Of Magic, 2019

The International Federation Of Magic is the most influential organisation in the world. They have bureaus set up all over the world, in nearly every single country in their attempt to maintain the secrecy and order of the supernatural. Every single magical being and spirit beasts are required to register with the federation, by not doing so, they will not be protected.

Ethan has brought Kenneth to a room down a corridor filled with doors. They are standing in front of a large white door twice their height.

"Don't be too nervous, they will just test your powers and register you into their records," Ethan reassured Kenneth.

"But I don't even have any powers..."

"You will soon, I'm sure there's someone in the bureau that will be able to disable that seal of yours."

Kenneth is still sceptical, he has had this seal for god knows how long, could it really be disabled as easy as he described? Kenneth hoped so, after all, the thought about having magical powers that he had read so much from books and mangas fascinated him.

Ethan took out a slick metallic card from his pocket. There was a symbol on it that Kenneth didn't recognise but was sure it was of a magical nature. Ethan place the card against the scanner right next to the door.

*Click*

The door unlocked. It was quite anticlimactic for Kenneth really. He had expected something more magical to happen, not something as technical as this.

As the door opened, the interior of it took Kenneth by surprise. It was enormous, the feeling was exactly the same as earlier when he entered the bureau.

"In case you're wondering why all the rooms are much more huge than it looks, its spatial magic, the space around the bureau and the rooms are distorted, allowing for the interior to be expanded."

"Can anyone cast magic like this?" Kenneth wondered.

"No. Not something this high level anyways. This kind of magic requires a high-level spatial Magus to do it, but they are quite rare, most of these bureaus are spell crafted by Kuwat Widjaja, a skilled Indonesian spatial Magus."

The room before them was grand, right in the middle of the room was a huge glass-like pillar that connected the ground to the ceiling. The pillar was a pure white colour, just like snow.

"What's that for?" Kenneth asked as he pointed towards the pillar, it clearly wasn't to support the building, no one would put a pillar in the middle of the room like this.

"It's a Manalium Column, use to test magical powers. You insert magic into it and it will turn nearly transparent. Every bureau has one, but Manalium is rare nowadays as a result of Alium being sealed." Ethan answered.

"What's this Alium you're talking about?"

"It's a little complicated, you'll find out more in the future."

Ethan brought him to another room within the registration room, this time, instead of doing what he did earlier, he just knocked.

"Liam, I've brought someone for registration," Ethan said as he knocked on the door.

"Come in." The voice on the other side if the door said, the voice was low and deep.

Ethan opened the door and both of them entered. The room was nothing special, the size wasn't enormous or anything. There was a desk in the room, behind it, a man in his late fifties sat in his chair.

"This is Liam, the Head Of Regulations."

"Nice to meet you, please have a seat." There were no emotions in his voice, the way he talked is cold and solemn.

Ethan and Kenneth both sat down on the chairs in front of the desk, opposite Liam. Ethan passed the documents he received from Natasha across the table. Liam took the file and took out the documents within and read it.

After a while.

"Kenneth huh. An unawakened at 19, that's rare. So you've never had any encounters with magic before?"

"No. As far as I can remember."

"Gaps in your memory?"

Kenneth thought about it for a while, now that he mentioned it, there were indeed some things he can't remember, it's like his mind is not allowing him to do so.

"Looking at your face, that must be it. A memory spell has been spell crafted into you, even so, why can't I sense your magic?"

Kenneth looked at Ethan, Ethan nodded in response. Kenneth took out the key and place it on the desk.

Instantly, Liam could sense the magic sealed within Kenneth, it was enormous for an unawakened, probably the strongest he'd ever encountered. Then he looked at the key on the desk. By distorting the space around it, he made it float towards him, close to his face. His control over magic is refined.

As he looked at the key, his eye turned wide.

"Dilys Branwen Aeronwen....." He whispered.

Although a skilled magus, even Liam isn't immune to the effect of the key. Soon enough, the key syphoned the magic off of him, dropping the key onto his palm.

"ARRGH!" Liam grunted. The key burned his palms as it landed, the excruciating pain was unbearable. Quickly, he dropped the key back down onto the table.

"Are you okay?" Kenneth asked, unaware why the key suddenly dropped onto his hands.

"God damn it, how did you even get this anyway?" Liam exclaimed agitatedly.

"I don't know, it just popped out of my dreams," Kenneth replied.

Liam squinted his eyes and looked at him suspiciously, "Do you even have any idea what this key is exactly?"

Kenneth shook his head. He had a blank and clueless expression on his face.

"This is 'The Key Of Fae', an artefact of the fairies. This was the key crafted by Queen A Mab for her granddaughter, Dilys. It is said to be one of the most powerful artefacts in the world." Liam explained.

Kenneth is astonished, how did such a powerful artefact end up in his hands? Ethan was shocked too, he knew who Dilys is, but didn't know anything about the origins of the key.

"Alium has been sealed for nearly twenty years, how did an artefact of the fairies end up in your possession? Anyway, best keep that thing out of sight, it will attract unwanted attention. Now, to the purpose of why you're here, give me your hand." Liam said.

Kenneth kept the key back in his pocket and gave his hand to Liam as he instructed. Liam proceeded to hold his hand and use his magic to detect Kenneth's magic. Other than the key, something else within him was blocking the flow of magic, it was strong, only someone of a Grand Magus level could have crafted such a spell. Liam could sense that his magic was already partly awakened, but sealed. Perhaps that may be another way for Kenneth to utilise magic...

"The seal is too strong, I won't be able to break it. Have you tried using magic with the key? The key is bound to you, it absorbs any excess magic you're leaking out, you should be able to use magic through the key."

So that's why I was able to use magic in my room... Kenneth thought.

"You've tried it, didn't you? I can see it from your face." Liam said. The key's power is immense, of the books he read about, part of the key's power is the ability to conceal and absorb magic, Queen Mab crafted the key for Dilys as her magic was too strong that it's spiralling out of control. Not just any Magus can use the key, if any other magus uses it, they would be suck dry of their magic, leading to death. This is a testament to Kenneth's potential, a clue as to why the key ended up in his hands.

Kenneth nodded his head.

"I'll register him, but he'll be put under an Apprentice level, he'll be under my care and I teach him how to use magic."

Singapore, Kenneth's Home, 2019

The door suddenly clicked open. Su Yi came back to the flat to find Yong Ming and Megan talking.

"Who's this?" Megan asked.

"Su Yi, a nine-tailed fox. She's protecting your brother for now." Yong Ming replied.

"How did this even happen?" Megan said.

"It's a long story," Yong Ming said. "Something's happening, we need to resolve this now, " He told Su Yi.

"What happened?" Su Yi asked. This was the second time she had seen Yong Ming so anxious after yesterday.

"Kenneth has an artefact, I forgot to take it, it could potentially awaken him fully."

"WHAT? What artefact?" Su Yi asked.

"It's a key, given by his mother." Yong Ming said.

"Then what should we do?" Su Yi asked.

"We need to get Kenneth back right now."

Singapore's Bureau Of Magic, 2019

While in the middle of talking to Liam, Kenneth's phone suddenly rang.

"Sorry give me a moment." Kenneth reached into his bag to get his phone.

"Hello?"

"Kenneth, you need to come back right now." His father said at the other end of the phone.

"Why? What's wrong?" He could hear the urgency in his father's voice.

"Just come back first, we'll talk at home."

"I'm in the middle of something."

"This isn't a request. COME HOME, NOW!" Yong Ming said, clearly upset. He hangs up the phone immediately after. Kenneth stared at Liam then Ethan.

"Go. It seems urgent. Ethan, show him the way out."

As they proceed on their way back to the entrance, Ethan and Kenneth stopped by the Department Of Records to hand in some documents that Liam gave him. Ethan passed the documents over to the man behind the counter.

"Hi, Henry. Here are some documents for registration."

Henry took the documents from Ethan and looked at it. He recognises Kenneth. He remembered two senators retrieving information on him before.

Best don't mention anything to them, Henry thought. He quickly processed the document and passed a white card towards there counter.

"Thanks!" Ethan said as he took the card from the counter. Ethan gave the card over to Kenneth.

"This is an apprentice card. It allows you to access the building and use some of the facilities here." Kenneth took the card from Ethan and inspects it. It had the same symbol on it as Ethan's card, except the card, is white.

As they left the department, Henry quickly contacts the two venators through their card, which allows communication.

"Who's this?" William asked from the other side.

"I'm calling from the Department Of Records. There's been update in Kenneth Lee's information."