4 The mansion of nigh

When Richard said he will be here at the morning, he meant it. He came just when the sun rose in the sky.

"Dude", I said, " why so early?".

" Doesn't matter", he answered, " you don't suffer from motion sickness, do you?"

"No"

"Good, now take hold of my hand".

I did as he told me to do. And we disappeared.

When we reappeared I was laying on the ground ready to vomit everything I had eaten yesterday.

"Uhhh", I said, "that was apparition wasn't it?"

"Yes", he said, "and welcome to the Mansion Of Night".

This time it was daytime. I saw the building. It was super beautiful.

The mansion was surrounded by an ancient forst, a lake, and of course the maze. Flowers and several plants were everywhere. A broad plain was at a corner, a place for martial arts classes, an archery region, and other places I didn't know. But I saw something I didn't see in the vision, there were soldier statues all around the mansion holding swords and shields as if guarding the place.

" It's beautiful", I admired.

"Thank you", he replied, "now let's take a tour".

He took me for a stroll around the place. While we were walking, Richard talked a lot about wizardry and magic, how he created it, how he took many disciples and taught them how to use this magic.

" Many of the ancient known people where of my disciples like: Isis, Freya, Chiron, Mimir, Fárbauti, emperor Sun Wu, and other talented ones", he said.

"Wait a minute", I said, "aren't those believed to be gods in many civilizations?"

"Yes, they were believed as gods. But actually there is only one God and no other, all the ones who claimed to be gods were powerful beings that were mistaken as gods."

"So you're telling me that the Greek, the Norse, the Egyptians, and the Chinese all existed?"

"Of course, did you expect the puny head of mortals to create such things?"

"Who are you exactly? The Dumbledore name and ' Lord Of Chaos' are not new to my ears".

"How many Dumbledore family have you heard of?"

"Well, only one", I said, "so you are the brother of-?"

"Albus Dumbledore, yes", he answered, " I am the youngest one which no story talks about me".

"What the hell?"

Imagine someone who looks like a young manand his brother was an old man and looked like santa-claus. Yep, this is what's happening now.

"Oh don't be too surprised by this. Although I am younger from my deceased older brother, I am now at the same age he was when he died. That is if you are speaking biologically", Richard said.

"What do you mean?", I asked.

"I am immortal, kid, I don't age", he smiled.

The two of us remained silent for a while.

" You said also something about a phoenix?" I finally asked cutting the uncomfortable silence.

"Yes", he said, "I am known as the Dark Phoenix because well, I am a phoenix".

"obviously" .

"Yeah, I was born half human and half phoenix, but not the usual fire one. No. I am a black one".

"I was wondering what's wrong with you and the black color".

He smiled calmly.

"So tell me", I said, "how did you became immortal. Well, other than being a phoenix".

"Why, by cultivation of course", Richard answered.

"Cultivation? Like the Chinese did?"

"Yes, the Chinese were known by their cultivation ranks and their power".

"And what are those ranks?"

"Firstyou have the 'warrior/wizard' rank which is consisted of 9 levels. Second, the 'saint' rank which consists of 3 levels: early, mid, and peak. Third, the divinity rank which consists also of three levels: early, mid, and peak; some arrogant ones calls themselves in the respective way: demigod, god, and highgod."

"That explains why most of the civilizations had 'gods'", I smirked.

Richard smiled and continued, "The fourth one is the 'sovereign' rank consisting of lesser, intermediate, and high Sovereign. The fifth is the 'world' level. The sixth is the 'Dao lord ' level and finally the 'Emperor' rank."

"That's it?"

"Sort of. Right now you need to know about these only."

"Okay", I said rolling my eyes.