Chapter 6—Black Lord Ivan

The past week had seemed a blur to Luigi. Almost immediately after leaving the ghost world, he was sent to find a boat to take him to the Fire Continent, traveled stealthily through the Central Sea, and traversed the Renaba Mountains—all for this moment: meeting with Black Lord Ivan, leader of the Knights of the Black Star, feared wizard, and brilliant tactician.

The Grand Fire Palace, situated in an intimidating caldera, seemed the ideal place for a hideout; the area was a natural fortress. Luigi was led by the hand into a room in the palace. The first thing that caught Luigi's attention was the person in a black cloak sitting in the middle of the room, facing away from the door—Ivan, most likely. Luigi then noticed that Ivan was sitting on a pedestal surrounded by water—it looked at least five meters deep.

The guards near Luigi walked out. A moment later, the doors to the room closed on their own. Ivan stood up and turned to face Luigi. He was wearing a Shy Guy mask over his face and his body was concealed by traditional Shysian garments, but his body structure looked nothing like that of a normal Shy Guy.

"Sit," Ivan said tersely. The voice was deep and sounded as though the source was somewhat old.

"I-I don't see any—"

Luigi was cut off as his body moved on its own and sat cross-legged on the floor.

"You don't need a chair to sit," Ivan said. A shiver went down Luigi's spine in response to the bitterness in his host's tone. "Hah. At least you're smart enough to fear me." Ivan walked toward Luigi. What he did to traverse the water astounded him: he literally walked on it. "Let me tell you some facts.

"One: I'm in charge. Two: when I give you an order, you will do it. Three: you do not ask me questions unless I ask for questions. Four: your needs are met only when I want them met. Understood?"

"Y… yes," Luigi squeaked.

"Good. Stand."

Luigi stood, this time by his own will.

"You are going to learn a magic sense," Ivan said.

"But what about—"

Luigi's mouth closed without him wanting to.

"You do not ask me questions unless I ask for questions. I did not ask for a question, so you will not ask one. My only objective regarding you for now is teaching you the electric sense. Your needs will be accommodated afterwards."

Luigi's eyes closed on their own.

"Imagine yourself casting a spell, but do not actually cast one. Immerse yourself in the mental state surrounding Thunderhand. Feel the electricity within and around you. Feel where it is, and where it is not."

Ivan paused. Luigi was focusing, but he didn't sense anything.

"Cast a spell," Ivan commanded.

Luigi prepared a basic attack. It was then that he sensed it. Surprised, he stopped.

What… was that?

Luigi had no way to explain how he knew it, but he felt a lot of electricity coming toward him. Building off of the years of fighting he had done alongside Mario, Luigi jumped. The electricity missed. However, upon landing, he felt it coming at him again, this time from above. He dove to one side. Again, the electricity missed.

What are you doing!? What? Why didn't that come out?

Luigi didn't have time to answer his question, though, as the attack doubled back at him. This time, it split into two parts. He dodged the first one by jumping, then managed to avoid the second one by running. All of a sudden, the electricity seemed to disperse and blend in with the rest of the room.

"Are you going to take my word for it that you have a prominent—though untrained—magic sense?" Ivan asked.

"Eh?" Luigi realized that he could talk again after that little spurt. "What happened?"

"I manipulated some of the water with Thunderhand and attempted to hit you. No… I suppose 'attempted' would be an overstatement. I used more power in that exercise than I would for manipulating water in battle. Were I actually trying to hit you instead of train you, you would be waterlogged right now. You are the third person to whom I've given that test—out of thousands—who has actually avoided getting wet. I imagine your flames will be excellent when we get to Firebrand."

"Uh…"

"When I have finished training you, your magic senses will be so detailed that you will be able to navigate this entire palace with your eyes closed. The full extent of magic is enough to strike fear into entire armies. Whenever the Mushroomers are told that I am personally leading an attack, the desertion rate increa—"

The sound of banging on the doors interrupted Ivan. The doors opened.

"This had better be important," Ivan said to the soldier at the doors.

"Mushroom troops are approaching from the north, My Lord," the soldier replied, saluting.

"Details."

"Mostly infantry—estimated to be around one thousand soldiers. There are some light armored units, as well."

Ivan laughed. "It appears someone was tracking you, Luigi. Good. This allows me to show you just how powerful you will become when I'm done training you. You will follow me."

The room grew distorted, warping and undulating until Luigi could no longer recognize it. Ivan started walking.

"Where…" Luigi started.

"No questions. I said you will follow me."

Slightly annoyed, Luigi followed Ivan. At least he thought he was following Ivan. However, the way things were arranged was weird. He ran forward only to go sideways. He heard Ivan sigh as a line appeared in front of Luigi indicating the right directions.

"Electricity travels in four dimensions," Ivan explained. "The best Thunderhand users can transport themselves through the fourth dimension to bypass three-dimensional barriers. You will learn how to use this technique much later."

Luigi walked along the line, ultimately catching up to Ivan, who was calmly walking through the Jackson Podlock painting that was the fourth dimension, ignoring the odd appearance of it. Considering that he had undoubtedly used the fourth dimension many times, it must not have struck him as odd at this point. After several minutes of walking, Mushroom soldiers started becoming visible.

"Pay them no heed," Ivan said. "They can't see us until we leave this dimension."

A barren section of rock became visible in the distance.

"I know what you're thinking," Ivan said upon noticing the rock. "It's actually very close to the enemy. Because we're traveling in four dimensions, that which is close in three dimensions is sometimes very far away in four, and vice versa."

When they reached the rock, the fourth dimension began to shift, changing appearance, the blotches gradually becoming recognizable figures. When they were back in three dimensions, Luigi noticed that the rock was not a rock, but the edge of a cliff. They were back in the Renaba Mountains, a barren desert mountain range covered not in snow, but dust. The cliff overlooked a mountain pass through which the Mushroomers were traveling.

"I will warp the air around me so that my voice will carry to the entire force," Ivan said. He turned to face the troops. "I give you the option to turn back now. Fire a single shot and you will all perish."

The Mushroomers stopped marching. Luigi couldn't see them perfectly from the distance they were at, but he could see them looking around.

"Sniper!" Ivan yelled. "Lower your gun!"

Luigi heard the crack of the rifle. A bullet stopped directly in front of Ivan's mask.

"Your comrades will curse you in the afterlife for your stupidity."

Ivan shot a single bolt of electricity at a soldier. The soldier was lifted up into the air while still being electrocuted. That soldier was then flung high up into the air, then, all too quickly, the bolt still tethering him moved down and whipped the trooper onto a tank. The tank stopped moving. Luigi realized he was trembling.

A bright purple flame formed in front of Ivan's hands, gradually becoming brighter. Sniper fire pointed at him stopped in midair. The bullets that Ivan had gathered were flung back at the soldiers. Luigi saw a few soldiers collapse.

"Typically, you conceited Mushroomers would have attempted to flee by this point. Your loss."

The flame, which was now brighter than the sun, flared up into a fireball over Ivan's head. An intense jet of fire poured out of the fireball, engulfing the entire battalion. Luigi could feel the heat emanating from the attack. By this time, he was shaking vigorously. When the fireball finally petered out, the flames in the pass dissipated. The sight was astonishing. The soldiers were all gone. Much of the rock within the pass had melted, as had all of the vehicles and equipment.

"Idiots, every one of them," Ivan said. He turned to Luigi. "Tell me, were you ever told back in the Mushroom Kingdom about me? About some demonic sorcerer who possesses the power to destroy entire cities on his own, who spares none and is feared by all, who sinks ships without even touching them, who can predict all assassins and make them fall victim to their own schemes, who brought a dormant volcano to life?"

"N… N… N…"

Ivan scoffed. "It figures. If word reached the commoners of my existence, there would be widespread panic." He paused. "Luigi, when you assume your role as master, promise me this: do not kill Toadsworth Phalloides."

"W-W-W-W-Why?"

"He's my target. Say what you want of such petty concepts as revenge; he will fall by my hand. It is Phalloides who has kept Edward's madness alive. He robbed me of my home, my faith, my lover, and my life. Thus, I will rob him of the life he destroyed so much to improve." He turned to face out toward the pass as the fourth dimension opened again. "Know this, Luigi. You are going to see a darkness in the world that the Mushroom government would sooner keep from you. The only way to keep it from consuming you is to accept it."