Hi all, approximately 14 years ago I read a series of maybe 4 novels that I can't remember the name of.

The first book had a cover of a dark haired man standing on a mountain, with a storm brewing around him.

The basic plot is very generic, with a young man unknowingly being a wizard, and some form of prophecy to prevent a bad guy that only he can fulfill.

About the only memorable thing I can remember is that his wizard teacher taught him a meditation technique to hone his magic skills, which was to picture a perfectly white image, eventually building up to having a small black square spinning around within the white image.

The basic plot points of the books are as follows.

At some stage, he and his best friend join the army (possibly forced in to service)

He and his friend get separated and the friend ends up in some form of gladiator arena and is amazing at it.

Another friend is a huntress and goes on the hunt for someone (possibly the main character)

Protagonist goes to a magic school and learns more magic

Protagonist ends up saving the world by facing off against the main antagonist on the mountain, and there's something about a magical orb/sphere

And that's about all I can remember