《Darkness Rising》 Prologue: The Shift In a realm invisible to the eyes of mortals, a figure sat cross legged on the time-worn stone floor of a temple. A multitude of eyes peered out from his skin, their irises shifting too and fro at a rapid pace. The man¡¯s body stiffened, and the eyes froze. All but one melted into his flesh, merging with the remaining eye in the center of his forehead. The eye grew until it covered his forehead completely, its pupil shrinking till it was nearly invisible. Sivus, after confirming what he had seen, raised his right hand, frantically swiping through a holographic screen that appeared in front of him. He pressed his finger against it, initiating a call. Seconds later, the screen changed, displaying the face of a beautiful woman. Her golden locks bouncing, she turned quickly to face the screen, a look of annoyance on her face. ¡°What is it Sivus? I¡¯m busy! These foolish mortals have desecrated another one of my temples! I must punish them immediately!¡± ¡°I am sorry, Helena, but this is of utmost importance. The Primordial Oblivion has shifted.¡± Sivus stated, his monotone voice nearly mechanical in its delivery. Helena¡¯s face froze. She stared at the screen for a moment, processing the information. ¡°Wha-what did it do?¡± She inquired, her voice rushed and agitated. ¡°It sent one of its spawn down to Atul. Most likely to increase is development.¡±Stolen story; please report. ¡°We must destroy it! The Primordials have already wrought destruction upon Atul once. We cannot allow those beasts to do it again!¡± Helena shouted, her voice full of anger and spite. ¡°Wait, Helena. You do remember why the Primordial Oblivion split Atul, correct? It was because one of its offspring was accidently slain by the Primordial Creation. If we kill it now, without just cause, Oblivion may retaliate. I say we exercise caution, and wait to see how the situation develops.¡± Sivus interjected, hoping to quell the rage in Helena before she did something rash. Helena frowned for a moment, then visibly relaxed, a soft sigh escaping her lips. ¡°Of course you are correct, Sivus. No need to anger the Old Ones when nothing has happened.¡± ¡°Your decision is wise, Helena,¡± Sivus praised, ¡°I will continue to observe the spawn, and will report to you if anything goes wrong.¡± ¡°Thank you, Sivus.¡± The screen went blank, and Sivusabandoned his charade, slamming his fist into the stone floor. A spiderweb of cracks spread across the entire temple floor, despite it being enforced by divine power. Ignoring the damage, Sivus began to rant. ¡°Foolish goddess!¡± He shouted. ¡°You know nothing of the Primordials or their past. You have no idea what happened in the unknown era. You don¡¯t even know that the last spawn sent below ushered in the mythic era, in which you were born. Yet, in your foolish pride, you still believe yourself worthy enough to slay OBLIVION¡¯S spawn!?¡± He cursed again at the foolishness of the young, before returning to his cross legged position. Eyes sprouted once again on his body, resuming their frantic viewing. He had averted a crisis for now, but he could only hope the spawn did not force the gods into foolish action. He did not wish to relive the unknown era. An era of utter destruction and death, far exceeding the ash era, brought about by the wrath of the Primordial Oblivion. Chapter 1: First months Ciar opened his eyes with a start, his pupils widening as he surveyed his surroundings. Or, at least he tried. Everything outside of about a 30 centimeters was incredibly blurry. Confused, Ciar tried to remember what happened. ''The Progenitor said something about punishment for my actions....living among the mortals...NO!'' Ciar panicked, flailing his arms as he attempted to sit upright. Wait, arms? Looking down at himself, Ciar confirmed what he had feared to be true. He was stuck in the body of a baby mortal. Anger welled up inside him, and he cried out in frustration. ''The Progenitor couldn''t have done this! I barely did anything! Giving me a mortal body! This is way to harsh for simply sending a small world into the void!'' Ciar stopped, confused once again. Normally, as he was the embodiment of the void, he did not feel such emotions. Yet, he had felt anger, surprise, and fear all within the last two minutes of his life. A new feeling, despair, clogged his throat. He had become completely mortal. Though he still didn''t know if he could die, he now had a fleshly form. He now had the capacity to feel emotion. Worst of all, he now had to live as the most pitiful existence - a baby. His thoughts were cut short by the faint pounding of footsteps. Ciar looked towards the noise, not sure what to expect. A face soon came into focus. A female of some sort he believed, though he wasn''t to sure. When he was the Primordial Oblivion, he hadn''t often payed attention to the lives of mortals. Her face was very thin, though not emaciated. Her eyes were a startling blue, and long strands of black hair fell over her face. The most startling feature, however, was the two horns that protruded from above her ears. They curved back and up, then sloped forward, ending in two sharp looking points. The female smiled, and spoke, her voice almost melodic, rising and falling in tone and pitch in a mesmerizing way. Ciar, without realizing it, smiled at the woman. He had heard what she had said, and understood her perfectly, but he knew enough about mortals to know that their babies could not understand speech. The woman reached down and grabbed him, lifting him from his reclining position and pulling him to her breasts. "Go on, Ciar, you must be hungry." She said, removing a breast from her clothing and guiding his head to the nipple. Instinctively, Ciar began to suckle, drawing the warm milk from the woman. Despite himself, a feeling of contentment blossomed in his chest. He shook himself mentally, refusing to accept the situation. He was the Primordial Oblivion, yet here he was, enjoying milk from a mortal woman. The woman, who he assumed was his mother, smiled down at him again. She cooed at him, playing with his face, her fingers gentle and warm. Despite himself, Ciar began to feel sluggish. This annoyed him significantly, as he had never needed to sleep before. Ciar struggled to stay awake, but failed miserably, falling asleep in the woman''s warm embrace. Over the next three months, Ciar came to terms with his new situation. He had been punished by the Progenitor for his rash behavior in the void, and now he had to live with the punishment. Deciding to make the best of the situation, Ciar resolved to explore what it meant to live as a mortal. After all, the Progenitor had gone so far as to alter the mortals minds, making them believe he had always been named Ciar. Furthermore, he suspected that the Progenitor had even altered his mind, as he found acting like a baby incredibly easy. Even though he refrained from making the humiliating, primal noises babies often do, he thought he was blending in pretty well. If the Progenitor had gone to such an extent, than perhaps it thought there might be something for it to learn down here. His own thinking slowly began to change from that of a ageless immortal to that of a mortal boy. He suspected his ability to conform to the situation might also be due to the the Progenitor''s meddling, but he really didn''t mind. Knowing that a part of your mind had been forcefully changed was a little strange, but he knew it was for the best. If he constantly thought of himself as an immortal, with the people around him as lower beings, his stint in the mortal realm would not last long, even by mortal standards. He had learned that his father was a member of the town watch, and as a result was gone most of the day. While he did return at night, Ciar ended up spending most of his time being carried around by his mother. His family could not afford a baby-sitter, so he accompanied her on all the trips around the village. While she helped the other villagers, he learned a lot about his current situation. His mother''s name was Mariam and his father''s name was Isaac. The village they were living in was called Noas, and it was part of the Fellnor Kingdom. There was about 40-50 houses in the village, making it a community of considerable size. However, he learned - from a conversation between his mother and the alchemist about the availability of herbs - that it pales in comparison to the size of cities. In the evenings, after his father had returned, Ciar listened intently to his parents'' conversations. "Isaac," Mariam said, her voice full of worry, "I''m concerned about Ciar. He barely makes a noise! The only time he makes a sound is when he is hungry." "I''m sure it''s fine honey. He was perfectly healthy when he was born, and the alchemist said nothing was wrong with him. If you really want to, you can take him to get checked on." Isaac responded, squeezing his wife''s hand gently. ''Oh no. I didn''t realize that it was unhealthy for babies to not make noises like that. Are they really going to check with alchemist? I really don''t like her. Maybe I should start making those noises? Some babies do develop late, I think. Argggh, but they are so humiliating!'' Ciar''s thoughts were a jumbled mess. He had believed it unnecessary to speak nonsense, but it seemed he had worried his mother. His worries were abruptly forgotten when he heard the next part of the conversation. "I know, I know. Its just....I worry about him. What if something really is wrong?" Mariam said, her voice shaking. "Alright, I have tomorrow off. We can take him up to see the alchemist to make sure nothing is wrong. Let''s not worry about that for now. I managed to level up today after some monsters attacked the patrol. Maybe some wine to celebrate and take your mind off Ciar?"If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ''Levels? Then this world has The System that the Progenitor created? I hadn''t bothered to check before since I knew most mortal realms did not have The System, but it seems I should have at least looked. I wonder what my status looks like?'' Ciar hurriedly called up his status in his mind, and groaned when he saw it.
Status
Name: Ciar Race: Primordial Oblivion (Primordial)
Age: 3 months 2 days (about 50 million years) Sex: male
Fame: 0 Currency: 0G,0S,0C
Class: none Subclass: none Subclass: none Subclass: none
Level: 1 (0/20) Skill Points: 0
Titles
none
Attributes
Health: 20/20 Void Power: 100/100
Health Regen: 1.0/min Void Power Regen: 1.0/min
Strength: 2 Constitution: 2 Dexterity: 2 Perception: 2
Intelligence: 30 Wisdom: 25 WIllpower: 25 Spirit: NA
(sub)Physical Resistance: 2 (sub)Magic Resistance: 25
Skills
Void Body (MAX) Void Mind (MAX) Void Power (MAX) Void Control (MAX)
Primordial Oblivion (MAX) Status Conceal (MAX) none none
Spells
none
While he was overjoyed to learn that he had retained his race and his racial abilities, he had also lost an incredible amount of attributes, spells, levels, and titles. He assumed his low Strength, Constitution, Physical Resistance, and Health were due to his current body. As a baby, his body was obviously not much to look at. The physical stats, however, did not concern him. Physical attributes grew with the body until adulthood, at which point they could only be improved by Skill Points. He knew his mental stats were so high because, despite his current form, his mind was still about 50 million years old. Ciar''s attributes were high for his mortal age, but remembering his previous status, he still despaired. He already missed his near infinite attributes and 350+ spells. ''I can accept my new attributes as another form of punishment, but why does the status look different than in the void? There is no affinities tab for magic, but I know it exists in this realm. Maybe it''s a hidden status that can only be checked in certain ways? That is certainly a plausible reason.'' Returning his attention to his parents, he saw them staring at him, a wide grin slowly spreading across his father''s face. "See Mariam! I told you nothing to worry about, that was a beautiful silent noise he just made there wasn''t it?" Isaac laughed, drawing his wife to him and shaking her gently. "Ahhhh, I guess you were right. I wonder why he never made any noises before?" Mariam replied, her smile of relief wider than even Isaac''s mischievous one. ''Oh, I must have made a noise when I looked at my status. Well, this can be a good thing, perhaps now mother will be less concerned.'' "Alright! Now that that is off your mind, how about I tell you about how I leveled up! It''s an awesome story." Isaac announced, his voice full of excitement and pride. Ciar focused in on the conversation. Learning how battles are fought and what kind of monsters live in this world would be very useful for his future. While he had a basic understanding of the village, he still knew almost nothing about the outside world, making this a golden opportunity. "So, we were patrolling south of here, just heading through Galvor''s Pass, when a group of Karjas attacked. They came at us from both sides, leaping at us from behind the rocks. The twelve of us quickly grouped up in a defensive circle. There was about 20 of them, and if it weren''t for the commander, someone might have died. Despite being lower levels, those dogs can be pretty vicious. Anyway, so there was this big black one, a variant of some sorts, and it charged right at me. When I killed the thing, all the other Karjas backed off and left, and I leveled up! I guess it was some kind of leader variant. The commander even congratulated me and gave me a bonus for the day!" Isaac explained the battle in a rush, his words nearly stumbling over each other. "Wow! You guys fought off a Karjas attack without losing anyone? And you even killed a leader variant! My husband must be stronger than he told me." Mariam said playfully, as she positioned herself on top of Isaac. "Why don''t we celebrate... a different way..." She added seductively. "Uhh, with Ciar right there?" Isaac said, though the actions of his hands betrayed him. "He''s just a baby, he won''t even understand what''s going on, let alone remember it." Mariam said before he leaned in, giving Isaac a passionate kiss. Ciar quickly turned away from the scene and focused on what he had just learned. While he was curious about how mortals procreated, he still found it strange to watch his new parents perform the act. Soon, Ciar''s little body could no longer handle staying awake, and he drifted off to sleep ------------------------------------------------- A month later, Ciar finally decided to test the limits of his current body. Mariam had set him down on the grass while she conversed with the alchemist about some type of herb used for healing. Left unattended, Ciar attempted to crawl forward. At first, the motion was difficult, as he was still not used to his small, fleshly frame. Soon, however, he had the hang of it. He crawled around on the floor, jubilant at the idea of exploring on his own for the first time. He had only managed to make it halfway to the open door before his mother''s hands stopped him. She lifted him into the air, laughing in delight as she turned to the Alchemist. "Adriana! He''s already starting to crawl and he''s just four months old!" She nearly shouted at the alchemist, her voice filled with joy and pride. "Oh my! You have quite the exceptional baby there Mariam!" The two woman began to excitedly converse abouthis accomplishments, much to his annoyance.Ciar simply wanted to crawl around, yet here he was, stuck in his mother''s arms as she jabbered abouthim to the alchemist. Resigning himself to his fate, Ciar slowly drifted asleep on his mother''s shoulder, dreaming of the day he would roam free in the world, exploring tohisheart''s content. Chapter 2: Sudden Departure "Come here Ciar, come here my little baby." Mariam cooed, beckoning to me from across the room. Ciar left his dad and began to wobble unsteadily toward her, his legs shaking uncontrollably. Mariam''s smile grew even wider as he managed to make it over half way before falling forward. Ciar struggled to his feet and continued his journey across the wooden floorboards, eventually coming to a stop in his mother''s arms. "Good job! You are such a big boy!" Mariam said, her smile as bright as the sun. "Mother!" Ciar said back, hoping to surprise her and his dad with the ability to talk. Mariam''s smile disappeared, replaced by a look of disbelief. She glanced at Isaac, then back down to Ciar. Her baffled appearance slowly changed back into a smile, this one somehow even wider than before. "I don''t believe it...full pronunciation...no jumbled words...amazing." Tears in her eyes, Mariam scooped up Ciar and brought him over to Isaac. "Can you say dad?" She asked, holding Ciar out to Isaac. "Father!" Ciar squealed happily, reaching out for Isaac. "Mariam, I don''t know what to think. This is astonishing. He''s just 6 months old, and he already has perfect pronunciation." Isaac said, a tear of joy slowly falling down his cheek. Later that night, while Ciar was stumbling around the house, he overheard a conversation between Mariam and Isaac that startled him. "I don''t know what to think. Walking confidently this early, perfect pronunciation, using words like father and mother instead of mom and dad...I''m not sure whether I should be concerned or amazed." Isaac said. "It''s possible he''s just that amazing Isaac. There have been stories like this, although I guess none this early. What do you want to do?" "I don''t know. While it is possible he has just developed early, there are other, darker, possibilities. I say we make a trip to Osarith. By the time we make it there, he will have developed an affinity for the system, and we can find someone to check it." "The trip will take us over a year! Are we really going to just up and move after we just settled here? I like it here Isaac." "I don''t see we have a choice, Mariam. If he turns out to be a genius, the academies in Osarith will be perfect for him. If something else truly is wrong, we can find help in Osarith. He''s our son Mariam...even if something is wrong with him, I''m not going to stop loving him."You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. "...I suppose you''re right. When do you want to leave?" Mariam said, resignedly. "The end of next week. I have to put in my retirement notice, and it will give us plenty of time to gather our things." "Alright. I''ll begin preparations immediately. Now, I need to go put Ciar to bed." "I''m sorry about this Mariam. I know you love it here, but I just don''t see any other way." Isaac said. Leaning down, he planted a kiss on Mariams forehead before making his way to their bedroom. Ciar stood there, trying to wrap his head around what he had heard. ''Is my behavior really that strange? I knew I was "developing" early, but I didn''t know they would react this strongly. This is a problem. If the people in this Osarith can see through my Status Conceal, I''ll be in huge trouble. I''ll probably be killed on the spot. Even with my racial bonuses, this body is simply to small. I won''t be able to fight back at all.'' Ciar allowed himself to be picked up by his mother, only half paying attention to her as she put him to bed. ------------------------------------ "Is everything packed?" Isaac called as he exited the house, strapping his sword to his waist. Today was the day of departure. Ciar sat comfortably in his mother''s lap in the back of the carriage. Around him were stacks of provisions, mostly water, that would last them for the first part of the journey. Ciar had learned, to his amazement, that according to official records, the Fellnor Kingdom was about 800 million square kilometers. Just the road to Osarith was 18,000 kilometers long. If they traveled 50 kilometers a day, it would take them around a year to reach Osarith.This, of course, was assuming that the weather was perfect, they were not attacked by monsters, and they did not rest at any towns. All in all, it would take them well over a year to reach Osarith, the centermost city of the Kingdom. "Yes dear, we need to get started if we are going to make good time though!" Mariam said back. Isaac nodded in response as he leapt into the driver''s seat. The carriage was being pulled by two large, mutant horses. The beasts were mutated just like the Fellites. Two horns protruded from their heads, and smaller spikes were visible on their knees. Due to the mutation, the horses had gained access to mana, though they still acted only on instinct. They were trained to use their mana in body amplification from a young age, allowing them to have more stamina and speed than normal horses. With snap of the reigns, Isaac sent the horses trotting forward, towards the edge of town. As they neared the gate of the wooden palisade, they encountered a crowd of villagers, all waving goodbye to the family. Although Isaac and Miriam had only been in the village a short while, they had quickly become beloved by the populace. Isaac had served well in the town guard, and Mariam had often helped the Alchemist with her herbs and potions. "Have a safe trip!" "Don''t run the horses to hard!" "Come back and tell us about Osarith!" The crowd shouted as they waved goodbye. Mariam clutched Ciar tighter to her breast, and he felt something wet drip onto his face. Looking up, he saw tears streaming from Mariam''s eyes as she waved to the populace with her free hand. Ciar felt bad for his mother. She loved this town, but because of him, she was already leaving it behind. Drowning his sadness, however, was a sense of excitement. He was finally going to see the outside world! He didn''t know what Osarith looked like, but he was sure it was going to be a lot better than this town. Chapter 3: Mariam and Osarith Mariam''s Point of View ------------------------------------------- Mariam stared at the village as it disappeared behind the family, Ciar clenched tightly to her chest. It had only been 2 short years since she arrived, and yet so much had happened. Isaac had joined the guard, she had begun helping the alchemist, and Ciar had been born. Now, they were going back to Osarith, the place she had fled from so many years ago. Sighing, she fell back into her past. Mariam had been just 16 when she had the encounter with the flesh traders. Of course, she had known of the traders, everyone did. They were people who killed young women and men, dismembered them, cut off their horns if they were a Fellite, and sold their body parts on the black market. Their was always a demand for parts. With the proper techniques, they could be fused back onto a body with magic, making people whole once again. Sure, the new limbs never worked as well as the original, but it was still an improvement. The horns of a Fellite could be ground into magic power, as they were great conductors of mana. The traders were never persecuted by the law. A person or family going missing was barely with noticing in a city the size of Osarith. With nearly 50 million inhabitants in the 8000 square kilometer city, a decrease in population was almost a boon to the city. Besides, the nobles often benefited from the trade, making them reluctant to end it. The two men had cornered her in an alley, cutting off her escape. She had resigned herself to her fate, but it seemed as if the gods had decided it was not yet her time. Just as the flesh traders lunged at her, one''s head disappeared from his shoulders, and the other''s innards spilled on the stone floor of the alley. A man stood before her, dressed in a ragged cloak, his dual blades dripping with blood. The man''s name was Hurk, and he was a bounty hunter - a man who specialized in killing the vermin in the city. He had offered to escort her home, for a price of course, but upon arriving at her home, Mariam was met with a hell she would never forget. Her home''s door had been blasted off its hinges, and the inside of the house was covered in blood. She had found the bodies of her family, or what was left of them, in the dining room. They had all been dismembered and decapitated. Their torsos had been set on the table, severed heads placed on top, as if they were dishes to be served. Their eyes had been gouged out and placed in front of the heads. Mariam had screamed, falling to the floor in despair. Vomit soon covered her as she flailed, screaming in rage at the gods above. ''Why? Why did they save her, but not her family?'' Her brother had been only 5, just beginning to find hobbies he enjoyed. Her father had just gotten a promotion at the bank, and was looking forward to the celebration tomorrow with his friends. Her mother had been just about to give birth to a third child, but now would never get the chance. On the other hand, she had done nothing of note recently. In fact, she had just been expelled from the academy of arts due to "persistent deviant behavior." Hands grabbed her from behind, and she punched and clawed at them, blinded by her rage and grief. Hurk had simply held her, taking the abuse until she calmed down. He had offered to train her to fight, to make her a bounty hunter like him so she could get revenge on the flesh traders that had slaughtered his family. When told that she had no money to pay him with, he had laughed and told her it was free. He explained that his family had been slaughtered by flesh traders as well. He understood her pain, and wanted to help her. She had accepted his offer, and was soon introduced to his band of bounty hunters. While hunters usually worked alone, due to the need to split the reward if in a group, Hurk and his friends had decided to prioritize safety over reward. His band consisted of 3 hunters, including himself: Hurk, Dylan, and Nyla. Mariam had thrown herself wholeheartedly into the training, and just two years later, she joined them on the streets. One night, they had stumbled across a large group of flesh traders. Deciding to kill them, the group had launched their attack from the shadows. However, the battle did not go well, and only Hurk and Mariam had managed to escape. Mariam and Hurk, now marked for death by the traders, had been forced to leave the city. They traveled southeast, Mariam trying her best to care for a severely injured Hurk. A month later, Hurk had died just as the pair had reached a small town. A guardsman saw Mariam coming from afar, and came out of the town to aid her. He had introduced himself as Isaac, and offered to help Mariam bury Hurk. She had refused, but accepted his offer to stay at his home. Over three years, the pair grew closer, until they married. After Mariam received word that the flesh traders had a lead on her location from a friendly bounty hunter in Osarith, the couple had continued to move southeast. After over a year of travel, they happened across the village of Noas. They had decided to settle down. Just nine months after moving in, Mariam had become pregnant with Ciar. Everything after that had been a blur, but now she was headed back.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Isaac did not know of her past. He might have a few guesses, but he had never pried, and she had never offered. While Isaac had become something far more important than a husband to her, her past was something she had hoped she would never have to face again. Isaac had become the sole light in her life after the loss of her friends. Now, he was moving them back to Osarith. Sure, by now the flesh traders would have given up on finding her, but she still had no desire to return. However, she knew Isaac was right. Looking down at the sleeping Ciar, she smiled. The boy had become a second, even brighter light in her life, driving away the darkness. Ciar had brought so much joy into her life. She remembered the joy she felt when she first heard him cry. The delight upon seeing him crawl around in the alchemist''s shop. The happiness and shock when he had walked for the first time. Finally, she remember the tears streaming down her face upon hearing his first words. However, Ciar also baffled her. The child had never been one to babble needlessly. He cried when he needed food or attention, and smiled at her like any other baby, but that was it. At first, this had worried her greatly, but eventually, she had just accepted it. So what if her child was different, it would not stop her from loving him. Then, he had spoken, with perfect distinction, his first words. Ciar had gone from strange silence, to speaking clearly in just 6 months. When Isaac had suggested that darker things may have occurred, Mariam had been shocked. She knew demonic possession was possible, but she had refused to believe it. Nothing had happened to her sweet baby. Isaac had then suggested, much to Mariam''s surprise and fear, that they visit Osarith. At first, she had been against the idea. She never wished to return to the city, as it held to many nightmares. Despite her defiance, Isaac had won out in the end. He was right about Ciar. If something truly was wrong with him, Osarith would be the place to find out what it was and fix it. If he was simply a genius, Osarith would be a place that he could thrive. There were many prestigious academies that would be happy to accept Ciar. Mariam''s daydream was interrupted by a squirming in her arms. Looking down again, she saw Ciar''s dark gray eyes staring back at her. His eyes and hair were another mystery that was still unsolved. Both were a dull gray. This had puzzled both Isaac and Mariam, as they both had blue eyes and black hair, which was common among Fellites. The boy opened his mouth and spoke to her, surprising Marima. "Osarith." He said, staring at her intently. "Yup! That''s where we are going." She said back, ruffling his sparse hair. "Osarith." He repeated, still staring at her. "Yes...." Mariam replied, confused. "Osarith. About." Ciar said slowly, squinting his eyes in concentration as he pronounced the second word. "Oh! You want to know about Osarith!" Mariam exclaimed, suddenly understanding. The boy nodded vigorously, he eyes now gleaming with excitement. "Well, first it is very big. The city is the second largest in the Fellnor Kingdom, falling only behind the capital. There are four districts, separated into four rings: the Noblis, the Scholae, the Communia, and the Decrepitus. The Noblis is the center most part of the city, and is where all the rich nobles live. This area is surrounded by a wall, shielding it from the outside. The Scholae is the next district. This is where all the schools are. Although it is skinnier than the other districts, it also has its own wall, which separates it from the Communia. The Communia is the next ring. The Communia is where the normal citizens live, and is the second largest ring. About 15 million people live their, or at least, that''s how many lived their several years ago. The Communia also has a wall, which separates it from the Decrepitus. The Decrepitus is the slums. Over 30 million people live there. There is no wall on the outside, but no monster attack due to the large population of people. Most people there are homeless and have almost no hope of rising in social status." Mariam explained to the boy, before she mentally slapped herself. ''How will Ciar understand any of that, he''s only a baby.'' She thought, scolding herself for explaining things in a far to complicated manner. Contrary to her expectations, Ciar was nodding excitedly. "More!" He nearly shouted at her, his pudgy hands grasping at her. "Alright! Alright!" Mariam laughed, gently grabbing his hands and holding them still, "I''ll explain more." Daylight soon turned to darkness as Mariam talked to Ciar about Osarith. The child seemed to absorb everything from the culture to the schooling with perfect attention. Making camp that night, Mariam went to sleep, pondering just how her baby could understand so much of what she said at such a young age. ''Dear Helena, please just let him be a genius. I don''t think I can bare it if he is possessed.'' She whispered, before slipping into the bliss of sleep. Chapter 4: Horns and Arrival The carriage bounced over a rut in the road, rattling its contents. Ciar, nestled in his mother''s arms, bolted awake. He leaned his head back, forgetting once again about the two new protrusions on his head. The tips of his dull gray horns poked into the soft flesh of his mother''s neck, pricking the skin a little before Mariam awoke with a start. After realizing the cause of the small pain in her neck, she smiled down at him, shifting his horns gently to the side. Ciar smiled back at her. He would have reached out to help her, or at least apologized for his mistake, but he already knew she would simply tell him she was fine and that she loved him so much. Closing his eyes again, Ciar sighed in his heart. It had been nearly two weeks since the horns started growing. At first, both of his parents had been jubilant, as he was incredibly early. Usually, Fellite children did not start growing horns until their first birthday, yet here he was, growing them at 11 months old. They knew what the horns meant. Soon, their son would start emitting a mana signature, as he would be unable to control his mana enough to stop the leak. This was common in Fellite children, as the horns signified a jump in magic power. This raw jump in power manifested itself in the shape of horns on the Fellite''s head. These horns were extremely mana sensitive, and often grew large with a larger mana pool. With enough control, a Fellite could control how large their horns were, and in rare cases, manipulate their appearance. However, his parent''s joy soon turned to worry, as even three weeks after growth, he still emitted no mana signature. While this was not unheard of, children with this symptom often lacked mana all together, and would be shunned by the Fellite community. His horns were also a dull grey color, once again ignoring a both traits from his mother and father. This development had spurred them on toward Osarith with renewed vigor. Ciar had thought about simply telling them that his mana was replaced by Void Power, but he stopped himself. He would have to wait until his birthday to do that. He had learned, through eavesdropping on his parents conversations, that children only gained access to the system at the age of one. Nobody had ever gained access early, and nobody had ever gained access late. Due to this development, Ciar had forced himself to hold out. He and his parents were both more comfortable with his way of speaking now. He had slowly began to say more words and form more complete sentences. His parents, while amazed, had taken his development well, often helping his vocabulary grow by pointing out things around them and telling him what they were. His mother, especially, took great joy in teaching him. She had told him numerous stories over the past 5 months, and his knowledge had grown exponentially as a result. In just three days, he would turn 1 year old in this new life. After that, he could tell his parents about his Void Power. While he hoped this could ease one of their worries, he also wondered if it might cause another one. He still did not know if anyone had ever had Void Power before, or if he was unique. This prospect scared him a little, but he had decided to trust his parents. Over the first year of his new life, his outlook on the world around him had changed drastically. Emotions had started to feel much more natural, as opposed to the void he felt before. He had slowly developed a love for his ''parents.'' He could tell that both of them loved him dearly, and he naturally began to reciprocate that love. He knew he could trust them with his secret. Reaffirming his decision in his mind, Ciar once more drifted asleep under the the faint light of the rising sun. Three days later, Ciar turned 1. His parents had stopped the cart by the edge of the road and prepared a small celebration for him. His father had disappeared briefly, returning later with a small hare tucked under one arm. While the rabbit roasted slowly over a small fire, his mother had turned to him, a question forming on her lips. "Ciar, have you noticed anything strange? Like floating screens and messages?" She asked, her voice soothing. "Yes. What are they?" Ciar responded, feigning ignorance about the system. "It''s something called the system. It tells us what spells and skills we have, how much health and mana we have, and a lot of other useful things. If you look at the boxes, you should be able to read them. This is because the system exists in your mind, and you can naturally understand it." "Why did I never have before?" Ciar asked, still keeping up his ploy. "The system only appears to children on their first birthday. It stays with them the rest of their life. Now Ciar, there is something that mom and dad would like you to check. First, I want you to think status. Can you do that?" "Yes." Ciar responded. ''Status''.
Status
Name: Ciar Race: Primordial Oblivion (Primordial)
Age: 1 year (about 50 million years) Sex: male
Fame: 0 Currency: 0G,0S,0C
Class: none Subclass: none Subclass: none Subclass: none
Level: 1 (0/20) Skill Points: 0
Titles
none
Attributes
Health: 50/50 Void Power: 120/120
Health Regen: 1.0/min Void Power Regen: 1.5/min
Strength: 3 Constitution: 3 Dexterity: 3 Perception: 3
Intelligence: 30 Wisdom: 25 WIllpower: 25 Spirit: NA
(sub)Physical Resistance: 3 (sub)Magic Resistance: 25
Skills
Void Body (MAX) Void Mind (MAX) Void Power (MAX) Void Control (MAX)
Primordial Oblivion (MAX) Status Conceal (MAX) none none
Spells
none
"Wow!" Ciar said, as if marveling at his status. ''It seems as if my health has increased significantly with age. My Void Power has also slightly grown, perhaps due to my horns. My physical attributes have improved as well, though my mental ones remained the same. I would have thought they would have gone up with all the knowledge I have been learning recently. Maybe there is a limit to how much it can increase from basic world knowledge.'' Ciar thought as he inspected his status. "Now," Mariam said, "if you look right next to your health, you should see a box with the word Mana in it. Can you tell mother what it says in that box?" Mariam asked, her voiced tinged with worry. "It doesn''t say mana. It says Void Power." Ciar responded, slightly worried as he watched for his parents'' reactions. Mariam''s mouth dropped open, and Isaac stopped spinning the rabbit over the fire. They glanced at each other, mouths still open. Mariam turned back to Ciar, reaching out and grasping his shoulders. She knelt in front of him, staring straight into his eyes.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. "You are sure that is what it says Ciar. Absolutely sure." She said, enunciating the last two words with distinct syllables. "Y-Yes," Ciar stammered, now scared something was wrong, " It says V-Void Power: 120/120." Mariam''s face froze again, before she pulled him into a tight hug, he sobs wracking her body. "Oh Ciar...Ciar...I can''t believe it. You''re void-touched. Your a void-touched!" She sobbed. She sat back, smiling through her tears. Isaac, abandoning the hare, came over and hugged Ciar tight, before turning and joyfully embracing his wife. "This explains everything!" He said excitedly. "The early development. The hair, the eyes, the horns. The lack of Mana signature. Everything! I can''t believe we didn''t think of it before. I guess...it''s just so rare it never crossed our minds." Tears of relief began to fill Ciar''s eyes. He had been worried his parents would hate him. That they would cast him out as a monster. Now that that worry had been vanquished, he felt a sense of relief he had never experienced before. It was as if a great burden had been lifted off his shoulders. A lot more than just the worry of his parents love had been put to rest with those statements. He now knew that a status check would not be necessary. He felt liberated. Free from an oppressive fear that had lingered in the back of his mind since the beginning of the journey. He stumbled forward into the welcoming arms of his parents. The family spent the next few minutes just sitting there, crying tears of relief. "I think," Isaac said as he pulled away, "we need to explain to you what it means to be void-touched." Ciar simply nodded. He wanted to know as well. If there was something truly special about having Void Power in this world, than he would rather know about it. "You see Ciar, void-touched are very very rare. People still aren''t sure how they come to exist. They seem to appear at random, without any relation to status or parentage. Void-touched do not have access to mana, but instead harness something called Void Power. This is much more powerful than mana, though it is limiting as well. You won''t be able to cast elemental magic, but your expertise in other areas will make up for it. Void-touched often develop much faster than other beings, and they characteristically have gray hair and eyes. We simply didn''t think of the option since only 3 void-touched have ever existed in the known history of the world. All three are great historical figures who brought about great change. You are a special person, Ciar. Your power is not something to be ashamed of. No, it is something you should embrace. Your destiny is much larger than your mother and I." Isaac explained, his voice filled with pride. Ciar stared back at his father, slightly confused. ''Three void-touched? I am positive the Progenitor only sent down one spawn before me. That was many years ago, but I remember it clearly. Did the Progenitor simply deem the other two worthy of have Void Power? Well, I guess it really doesn''t matter much. If void-touched are such well respected individuals, it seems I won''t have to worry about being hated for my looks. Though, I''m not sure if I want to be famous. I think I would rather explore the world in relative peace...'' Shaking himself, he returned his attention to his father, who was staring at him expectantly, waiting for him to say something. "So...I''m special?" Ciar asked, deciding to act like her was confused and surprised about this new development. "Very special Ciar. I reckon you can get into just about any academy in Osarith." Mariam replied. "What if...I don''t want people to know I''m void-touched?" Ciar asked, uncertain how the question would be received. A look of confusion flashed across both his parents, before Isaac responded uncertainty. "If that is what you want, we can request a private appraisal from instructors. I bet they would gladly keep your secret just for the opportunity to teach a void-touched." "Let''s do it that way." Ciar responded, his voice resolute. His parents looked down at him, nodding in agreement. He sensed that, while they couldn''t quite completely understand his decision, they knew why he had done it. He didn''t want a lot of fake friends that were only drawn to him because of his power. He wanted friends that truly valued him as a person. --------------------------------------------- Several months later, Osarith finally came into view. Ciar stared at it, mesmerized by the city. While Mariam had described it too him, nothing compared to actually seeing it. The first thing one would notice is that the city was floating. The massive island hung in the air, tethered to the ground by great cables. The cables often flickered with magical power, lighting up the sky with a dazzling display of power. Great walls were the only thing visible on the island besides the teleportation pads positioned outside them at the four cardinal directions. While not much could be seen of the city above, the same could not be said for below. Surrounding the crater that used to house the landmass the upper city now rested on, a large circle of houses sat. This was the Decrepitus, the most run down portion of the city. They did not have the privilege of walls or of being in the air. The only access to the city proper was the four great teleportation pads. In the ground city, this pads were housed inside large towers that dominated their surroundings. Under constant guard, only those with special permission or money could enter the city proper. In this manner, the nobles and middle class lorded above the poor. They kept the upper city clean of the filth below, while still collecting taxes from it. When he had first heard of the city, he had wondered how the people of the Decrepitus did not revolt. Upon asking Mariam, he had learned that there had been several revolts, but not a single one had made it past the teleportation circles. The circles supply of magical powered was located in a single power plant located at the core of the landmass. All the nobles had to do was shut the teleportation circles down, and nobody from the ground below could get up. Then, utilizing the magician corps, they could rain death upon the people below, punishing them for the rebellion. It was a cruel, unchangeable fate that awaited the people living in the Decrepitus. Only with extreme luck would one ever make it up to the city above. When they had passed through the Decrepitus, Ciar tried to ignore the people that stared at him from the shadows. Many were missing various different body parts, though some seemed to have reattached limbs that did not quite fit their body. Upon seeing Ciar looking at these people, Mariam had quickly covered his eyes and pulled him close to her, keeping him there until they reached the teleportation tower. As they approached, a guard stopped them and asked them for the teleportation fare. While expensive, Isaac had anticipated it, and had the money ready. With all the travel expenses, Isaac had figured he had just enough money to rent a small room in an inn until he found a job that could pay for a better home. After the tax, Mariam and Isaac both had their statuses check by the guard. The process took all of three seconds. Both of them placed their hands on a small ball that floated above a pedestal. The guard read their status as it was transmitted to him through the magic link. After confirming they were non-hostile, the guard allowed them to pass. Upon entering the tower, Ciar realized it was not simply one big teleportation circle. The tower had a diameter of about 200 meters, and its inside was completely hollow. There were no upper floors, and the ground floor was covered in over a thousand circles of differing size. One circle, positioned in the center of the room, was about 50 meters in diameter. Ciar assumed this was used to transport large caravans or groups of soldiers. Using a smaller teleportation portal designed for one carriage, the family felt the space around them warp. The next second, they were standing in the open air, on top of a large teleportation platform positioned just outside the southern gate of the Communia Wall. Isaac and Mariam both had to have their statuses checked again, this time with a larger ball, before they could enter the Communia district. Isaac managed to find a room in small, but well kept inn near the edge of the ring. With his current amount of 60 silvers, they would be able to rent the room for 20 days. Isaac hoped that that would be enough time for him to land some kind of guard job in the city. Mariam had volunteered to work as well, but Isaac had vetoed her decision, telling her she needed to stay with Ciar. The room was small, with only one bed, a desk, and a closet to keep clothing in. The carriage was kept in the stables located to the right of the inn. Ciar fell asleep between his parents, enjoying the sensation of finally have a good bed beneath him. Chapter 5: Time and Affinity Ciar shook himself as he got out of bed, trying to wake himself up. Looking to the full body mirror in the corner of the room, he inspected the boy that stared back at him. Straight, dark gray hair that fell down to just above his shoulders. Gray, lifeless eyes peaked at him from underneath the strands of hair. Two gray horns, each about a centimeter long, extended from just above his ears. They were perfectly smooth, their cool gray surface reflecting his surroundings. Prominent cheekbones, thin lips, and a angular nose adorned his face. The skin on his face was flawless, save for a jagged scar traveling from the corner of his right eye to the lobe of his right ear. A small body with slightly defined muscles, a product of his training, was below the head. Smiling at himself, revealing perfectly white teeth, Ciar at last moved to get dressed. Then he quietly exited his room, heading out to the small courtyard behind his family''s house. A wall surrounded the small estate, blocking off the view of other citizens in Communia. A single tree inhabited the courtyard, its buds just beginning to open. Moving to beside the tree, Ciar put his body through a series of stretches, preparing himself for the workout that was to come. He stretched down, keeping his legs straight as he pressed his palms against the ground. He had begun training his body four years ago, and he was quite proud of his progress. Finished with his stretches, he moved onto a series of strength exercises. Grasping a low hanging branch of the tree, Ciar raised his body till his chin was above the branch. Slowly, Ciar let his body lower to its previous position, before pulling himself back up again. A series of push-ups, lunges, and core exercises followed. 30 minutes later, finished with the first portion of his training, Ciar made his way to a small fountain positioned just to the right of the door to the house. Drinking deeply, Ciar rested his body before once again returning to the tree. Circling around it, Ciar grabbed a small, wooden sword from a alcove behind the tree. Returning to his original position, Ciar pictured his father in his mind, imagining him as he swung his sword. Mimicking the movements, Ciar unleashed a left-handed cut at the tree. The crack of wood on wood soon resounding throughout the courtyard, accompanied by grunts of exertion from Ciar. Ciar knew the importance of physical training, so he had asked his father to train him with the sword. He had started at age 6, as his mother had refused his request before then. Ever since, he had been training himself every morning in the back courtyard. He knew he could rely on his Void Power to defeat a lot of enemies, but he did not want to be a simple mage. Battle mages, while much less specialized, were highly valued in the Fellnor Kingdom. It took a lot of effort and dedication to train one'' s body and mind simultaneously, so battle mages were a rare sight. Finished with his training, Ciar glanced over the wall at the rising sun, reflecting on the past years. It had been 7 years since they had arrived in Osarith, and he had just turned 8 years old. Ciar had spent the last 7 years absorbing all the information he could. He had requested books from his parents at the age of 3, wanting to learn more of the world he was now in. To his surprise, his parents had readily accepted his proposal, as if they expected him to ask. At 4, Ciar''s father had managed to get a promotion at his job. He had worked as a guard at a blacksmith shop for the past 3 years, and after the head guard retired, his position had risen. With the new salary, the Sycer family had moved into a two story house deeper in the Communia district. The house was made of cut stone, and had a wall around the premises, hiding a courtyard in the back. Ciar had begun basic physical training at the point. He would get up everyday before dawn, head to the courtyard, and train his body to get stronger. During the day, he would practice basic control of his Void Power, and read any book he could get his hands on. Books were an issue, as libraries were rare in the Communia district. His father''s salary did not allow them to spend needlessly, so he cherished any book he could read. When he had turned 5, he had requested sword training from his father, who had readily accepted, delighted in his son''s interest. His mother, however, had vetoed the idea, claiming that he was to young to train with deadly weapons. After enough pestering, she had finally conceded to allow training after he turned 6. The following year, Mariam finally got a job of her own helping an alchemist that had a small shop in the commercial sub-section of the district. As she had prior experience, it was quite easy to get the job. Knowing his maturity level, his parents had agreed to let him stay home alone as long as he did not leave house or courtyard. Ciar had agreed, and ended up using the time to meditate and grow his Void Power, the silence around the house extremely beneficial. As he had matured, his horns had continued to grow. He had learned from seeing other children in the streets that his horns were abnormally large for his age. When he asked his mother, she had told him that Fellites usually only gained enough mana for 1 centimeter horns at age 15. Ciar was, of course, happy with this knowledge. A Fellite''s horns signified his mana control and capacity. If his was larger, he was well above his age group. Ciar had trained vigorously because he knew that at age 8 he could enroll in an academy. If he were to enter an academy at age 8, Ciar would have to be extremely powerful for his age. While the age requirement was 8, most children did not enter until age 11, as the requirements were simply to high. As he might be subject to bullying due to his age and appearance, Ciar had decided becoming stronger was a must. It fit his overall goal as well, since he could not explore the world as he wished if he was weak. His 8th birthday had finally arrived two weeks ago, and Ciar had wanted to immediately apply for the most prestigious school in the Scholae district, Lunaris. Lunaris was one of the few schools that taught both magic, physical combat, and engineering. Most schools focused on only one of these subjects, but Lunaris was different. It was said that the director of the school was over level 500, and that he was over 200 years old. Of course, these were just rumors, but just the mystique surrounding the director was enough to attract people. The academy, while having the largest grounds, was also the smallest. They accepted only a total of 100 students a year. These students would attend the traditional four years, and from that point on could continue to attend as long as they wished, granted they paid the additional fee. Lunaris won almost every inter-school competition the city hosted. Its students were the most brilliant in every subject, and oftentimes, went on to have successful careers in their respective fields. Lunaris also made a point of not discriminating due to sex or social class. While the majority of students were still nobles, it was not uncommon for a student from the Communia to appear. Ciar, of course, wished to attend this academy as soon as possible. He was sure that not only would he get the training necessary, but the school would also have a large library for him to read in. Ciar''s parents, however, had cautioned him to have high hopes, despite his void-touched status. The school probably got thousands of false applications every year claiming that they were void-touched. Applications to the school took several weeks to process, and in the end, more than 99% of them were denied. Ciar was not to worried however. The body scan they were required to turn in with the application had shown his horns. He knew he had an amazing amount of potential for his age, even without being "void-touched." He doubted the school would pass up on the chance, despite his young age. A sound from the doorway woke him from his daydream. He turned to see his mother smiling at him, already dressed in her work clothes. "Come inside now Ciar, breakfast is ready." She said, her voice gentle. Ciar smiled back and hurried inside. He made his way to the dining room and sat the table. Fried Keest, a domestic animal bred for its meat, along with cheese were on the table. This was a typical breakfast for the family. Keest and cheese were cheap, but quality foods, so they did not have to waste much money on food. Ciar just had time to say goodbye to his father has he left. Isaac rarely had time to eat breakfast with the family, as he was required to be at the smithy by 7:00 A.M.. His mother sat opposite him, and they began to eat. Over the past several years, Ciar had drawn closer and closer to his mother. He had spent a lot of time with her as a child, and due to his father''s job, she was the main parental figure in his life. Despite his knowledge about his true origin, he had even begun to see her as more of a parent than the Progenitor. He smiled at her as they chatted, the conversation ranging from market prices yesterday to his training. Shortly after his father had left, a knock on the door brought both his and his mother''s heads around. Wiping her hands, Mariam quickly moved to answer, one hand grasping a dagger that was hidden in her dress. When the door opened, she was greeting by a tall, formally dressed man with a cane. He slightly to Mariam, his voice deep and commanding. "Mrs. Mariam Sycer, the Academy of Lunaris has appraised Ciar Sycer''s application and would like to meet with him for continued assessment. Please note, this is not normal protocol, but due to Ciar''s special circumstances, Lunaris would like to assess him further." Mariam''s eyes widened in shock. The look was quickly replaced by a flurry of emotions, ranging from excitement and joy to sadness and worry. She looked the man up and down carefully before responding, her voice guarded. "How do I know you won''t hurt my son, due to his, as you put it, special circumstances. Furthermore, how do I even know that you are from Lunaris? Officials visiting homes is unheard of!" The man smiled at her, before reaching into his overcoat and removing a letter. "This is a letter penned by the director himself. I assume the seal inside will be more than enough to convince you. The director wishes to meet personally with Ciar, and has promised that no harm will come to him, no matter the result." Ciar could see the uncertainty in Mariam, so he decided to take action. Standing up, he moved behind her, rubbing her shoulders gently. "I want to go mother. It will be fine, Lunaris has a reputation to uphold. Besides, the seal inside that envelope is impossible to replicate without the director''s unique mana. He is telling the truth. I can''t miss this chance, mom. Its Lunaris!" He pleaded with her. The man smiled in surprise at Ciar, before clearing his throat and speaking. "Your knowledge of seals is quite impressive, Ciar. Tell me, how did you know the seal could not be replicated?" "The seal is a Penta-triangle Lunar Seal. This seal was created solely for the director of Lunaris, and it cannot be replicated without his mana. Nobody knows why, but all attempts have ended with the caster dying. I learned it from reading a book about your academy several years ago." The man quirked an eyebrow when Ciar said ''several years ago,'' but quickly regained his composure. He smiled at Ciar, before turning back to Mariam. "I know this is sudden, but the director would like to meet with the boy today. He leaves for the Director''s Conference tomorrow, so your decision must be made immediately." Mariam frowned, glancing at her son before nodding her head. "Fine, fine. But I insist that I accompany him." She said.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. "Of course that is acceptable, Mrs. Sycer. I would like to leave in half an hour, if that is alright." "Alright, that should give me just enough time to gather my things and send a message to Ralia." Mariam said, her demeanor all business. "Ciar, go get washed up and into your formal attire, you''re still sweaty from your training. Hurry up now." Ciar turned and dashed up stairs. Running water was something that had been developed in Osarith several decades before, though it was only just making its way into the outer Communia district. Turning the handle, Ciar undressed as he waited for the tub to fill. Cleaning himself as quickly as possible, Ciar got dressed in his formal attire - a plain, dark gray overcoat, dark gray pants, and dark grey shoes. He brushed his hair back behind his horns and went back downstairs. The carriage ride to Lunaris took several hours. Osarith was a big city, and the streets were often crowded, making passage slow. The wall between the the Communia district and the Scholae district was passed through without incident. Ciar noticed that while most carriages had to pay a fee, the Lunaris carriage passed straight through. ''The power of prestige and money, I guess.'' Some time after entering the Scholae district, the Academy of Lunaris finally came into view. All the was currently visible from the carriage was silver plated wall with a large, ornate gate as the only visible entrance. Suddenly, shutters fell down on the carriage windows, blocking Ciar''s view. Ciar tensed and looked at the guide. The man seated across from him and his mother spoke, as if reciting a speech from memory. "I am sorry for the inconvenience, but only students and faculty of Lunaris are allowed to see what is inside the wall. If Ciar is accepted into the academy, he will be able to explore the interior without limit. This is to ensure that potential threats do not know the layout of our buildings. I hope you can understand." Ciar nodded, leaned back, and closed his eyes. If he could not see the interior of the academy until he was accepted, he would simply have to pass the examination. The carriage finally slowed to a halt, and Ciar''s eyes snapped back open. He couldn''t help but be more excited than nervous. He was about to meet the person who was considered the strongest in Osarith. To top it off, the man was the director of Lunaris. Ciar could just picture him, an old man with a long, white beard and hair to match. After exiting the carriage, Ciar found himself inside a small room. The door through which the carriage had entered was already closed, blocking his last chance of seeing the academy grounds early. The guide, who had still not given his name, escorted Ciar and Mariam through a series of confusing hallways and stairwells. After several minutes of walking, they finally came to a stop before a set of modest oak doors. "The director is waiting for you inside. I hope for your success, Ciar." The man said, before spinning on his heel and leaving. Ciar looked briefly at his mother before steeling himself and pushing open the door. Inside was a an office that had no floor. Scrolls, piles of books, writing utensils, and other random objects were scattered about the room haphazardly. The only clear spot was a small section of the room that housed an oak desk and three chairs. Behind the desk sat a clean shaven young man with messy red hair. Two horns, each a fiery red, extended 15 centimeters above his head. His feet were propped on the desk and he was reading a scroll that trailed all the way down to the floor. He glanced up upon hearing the door open, and when he Ciar and his mother, he smiled widely. "Welcome! If you''d please excuse the mess. I feel as if I''m just about to make a great discovery on the applications of magic when applied to raising mice! Its fascinating really, you see, with just the right amount of magic interference, a mouse''s growth rate is accelerated by..." He launched into an explanation of the influence of magic on mice, completely losing Ciar and his mother. ''So that is why the guide left so quickly, he didn''t want to get caught up in this mess. How can this young man be over level 500? Surely he''s not the strongest in Osarith. If he is, I fear for the city!'' Suddenly, the man stopped talking about mice and sat up straight, his expression immediately becoming serious. "Ah, excuse my earlier rant, I let my excitement get the best of me. Now you must be Ciar, the "void-touched." Now, due to your appearance, I am inclined to believe it. However, I must be certain. It would be amazing to truly have a "void-touched" attend Lunaris, but I will need to administer a status and affinity check first to make sure. I assume you are alright with this?" Ciar nodded, glad he had already made use of his Conceal Status skill to change his status to fit his current race and abilities. The man nodded happily, and muttered something under his breath. Suddenly, Ciar felt a slight discomfort. Then, as quickly as it started, it was gone. The director whistled as he read the status that appeared in front of him.
Status
Name: Ciar Sycer Race: Fellite (void-touched)
Age: 8 years 15 days Sex: male
Fame: 0 Currency: 0G,0S,0C
Class: none Subclass: none Subclass: none Subclass: none
Level: 1 (0/20) Skill Points: 0
Titles
none
Attributes
Health: 80/80 Void Power: 200/200
Health Regen: 1.0/min Void Power Regen: 2.0/min
Strength: 5 Constitution: 5 Dexterity: 5 Perception: 5
Intelligence: 30 Wisdom: 25 Willpower: 25 Spirit: NA
(sub)Physical Resistance: 5 (sub)Magic Resistance: 25
Skills
Void Power (MAX) Void Control (MAX) Void Mind (MAX) none
Spells
none
"It really is true! You really are a void-touched. Fascinating! Absolutely fascinating! To think mana really is replaced by Void Power, and these other skills, Void Control and Void Mind, I can''t begin to fathom what they do! Such high wisdom, intelligence, willpower, and magic resistance attributes. Furthermore, your physical stats aren''t bad for your age and level! Absolutely Incredible!" He rambled, now appraising Ciar in a new light. "Now, while the status is certainly interesting, I am very excited to see your affinities. I have heard a lot of conflicting reports about "void-touched" during my lifetime, but now I finally get to see what is true! Quickly, come over here, I need to touch you for this one." Ciar complied, making his way through the pile of books and research materials. His mother stayed at the door, still trying to wrap her mind around the appearance and personality of the director. As he approached, the director suddenly disappeared, Ciar stopped, then nearly jumped backwards when the man appeared right in front of him. He reached out his hand and laid it on Ciar''s forehead. "Stay still, Ciar. You will feel a slight discomfort, but you should not feel to much pain." He stated before he once again mumbled under his breath. A slight tugging sensation appeared at the root of Ciar''s horns. Just like the previous feeling, it was gone almost as soon as it appeared. A box appeared in front of Ciar, one he had never seen before.
Affinity
Fire: none Earth: none Water: none Wind: none
Dark: none Light: none Blood: none Conjuration: none
Enchanting: 80% Alchemy: 80% Psionic: 100% Reality: 100%
Time: 100% Space: 100% Gravity: 100% Void: infinite
Ciar stared at it, not really understanding it. He had seen his affinities before in the void, but he had never understood what they meant. Making things even more confusing was the addition of nearly 8 types of magic. He had never seen things such as Psionic, Alchemy, and Enchanting magic. While he understood what they probably meant, he was still unsure. The director''s reaction was much different. He stumbled backwards, a look of disbelief on his face. "By Helena! I have never seen affinities such as these. 100% in any element is considered incredibly rare, but you have 100% in 5 elements, and 80% two others! What''s even more amazing is your talents lie exclusively in the most complicated and powerful forms of magic. And you void affinity is infinite? I don''t even know what that means! I would assume it means void magic will come to you without practice at all. That''s completely unfair!" He shouted, suddenly animated, fire flickering around his horns. Ciar stepped back, avoiding the blistering heat emanating from the director. "Uhhhh, does that mean I could be really powerful?" Ciar asked. "YES, boy! Your potential is limitless! 100% affinity means you learn spells and concepts multiple times faster than the average mage. What would take a normal mage years, will take you days, if not less! You are basically an expert in every form of advanced magic known to this world! Granted, you cannot use any basic kinds of magic in the slightest, which is a bit of a disadvantage. But, compared to the advantages, it''s negligible!" Ciar blanked. He had figured he would be powerful in this world, but he had always assumed he would just be above average. After all, this was supposed to be his punishment! It seemed that the Progenitor had let him retain a bigger part of his ''power'' than he assumed. "Does this mean I passed your test? Do I get to join Lunaris?" Ciar inquired, the thought suddenly crossing his mind. The fire around the director''s horns disappeared, and his excited face instantly calmed again. He took a step towards Ciar and stuck out his hand. "Of course Ciar. It would be my honor to have a void-touched in my school. My name is Hendricks. I believe you have already metour Psionic Grandmaster, Felix. He will show you around the premises after you get settled." Ciar shook the mans hand, then turned excitedly to his mother, hurrying back through the papers to hug her. Tears of joy crawled down his cheeks, dripping on a piece of parchment on the floor. His mother hugged him back, a broad smile on her face. "You did it Ciar! You made it into Lunaris! I am so proud of you son. Mom and Dad will miss you at home, but you can''t worry about us. Focus on your future, become a brilliant person. Change the world for me, alright?" "I will, mom. I love you." Ciar said, before finally releasing his mother. He turned back to the director, who was waiting patiently for the show to end. "When do I move in?" He asked. "I would like it if you could do so immediately. Your father will be informed of your acceptance and you will be able to visit him on holiday, which is in ten months." Ciar nodded slowly. He had wanted to spend a bit of time with his family before leaving, but it seemed he would not get the chance. He understood the director''s decision. Lunaris was a top school. Just because he wanted some personal time did not mean that Lunaris would give it to him. "If that is all, I believe I would like to go get settled." Ciar said. Upon seeing the director nod, he turned to leave. Just as he put his hand on the knob, the director spoke. "A few more things Ciar. First, your identity as a void-touched will be a secret held only be you, your family, and the advanced faculty at Lunaris. I have my reasons for this, and your safety is one of them. Second, you are the youngest student the academy has ever accepted. While he do not discriminate age, sex, and social status when selecting students, the same cannot be said for the students here. You may be subject to bullying do to your age, class, and appearance. I would advise you to not retaliate, as it will only lead to consequences for both parties. Report the bullying to faculty or solve it in some other manner. I have already sent a telepathic message for Felix, and he should arrive presently to escort you to your lodging. I expect hard work and good results out of you, Ciar. Please, enjoy your stay at Lunaris." Ciar simply nodded, and exited with his mother. The moment the door closed behind them, Hendricks''s horns lit up and his eyes began to glow. A smile spread across his face for a moment before it returned to its impassive expression. He motioned to the shadows in the back of the room. A man walked out of them, his body completely shrouded in shadow. "Track the boy. Keep tabs on his family and make sure nothing happens. Word cannot get out about him, or he''ll have more than just bullying on his hands. Treat his mission as a code red." The shadow grunted in response before disappearing from sight. Chapter 6 : Lunaris "This will be your dorm for the next 4 years." Felix said as he placed his hand on the mana recognition scanner, opening the door. "We will get you entered into the system soon. Only you, friends you choose to enter, and staff can enter this room when the door is closed. Please, take a look." Ciar stepped inside the room, marveling at its lavishness. The room was large, and had two stories. It was a perfect square, with a staircase up to a partial second floor across the room. Deep blue carpet covered the floor, the walls were made of polished wood, and the ceiling was decorated with a shifting night sky. Ciar gazed at it, momentarily enthralled by the ever changing constellations. "You can turn off the animated ceiling at anytime with the mana sensor on the left wall." Felix said, noticing Ciar''s gaze. "No...no...I think it will be quite all right." Ciar said absent mindedly as he looked around the rest of the room. A large bed was in the back right corner, and a walk in closet, doors open, was in the center of the back wall. A small study area was situated in the front right corner, complete with a desk, chair, rolls of paper, pens, and ink. Ciar headed up the stairs in the back of the room, taking a look at the upper level. It covered half the area of the ground floor, and a railing allowed the student to look down at the floor below. "This upper level has been magically enhanced to withstand damage. A mana shield is deployable with the mana sensor on the back wall, just to the right of the stairs. While large area-of-effect magic is still discouraged, it should be able to withstand anything you can use, as it is powered by the mana reserves of the school, just like any other mana controlled technology here." Felix explained as he reached the top floor. Ciar continued to explore his room, still awe-struck by its appearance. Just to test it out, he walked over to the mana sensor on the second floor and inspected it. It look lack a rectangle of steel hanging on the wall like a picture. The front of it glowed a light, iridescent blue. Ciar, mimicking Felix from earlier, placed his palm against it and injected a little bit of Void Power. A light hum filled the air as a blue shield sprung up on the second floor. It covered the walls, ceiling, floor, and railing completely, tainting the light inside a dim blue. "How do I turn it off?" He ask Felix. "Just simply input Void Power into the mana sensor and it will turn off." Felix answered. Ciar did as he said, and the shield disappeared instantly. Satisfied, Ciar turned and headed back down the stairs. "If you are done checking your room, I would like to give you a tour of the rest of campus." Felix stated, coming up to stand beside Ciar. "Alright, I''m ready to go." Ciar decided. As he exited the room, he glanced briefly up at the ceiling. He knew his mother would have loved to see his room. She had been escorted back out the same way they had come in. Felix had said it was necessary for school security, as family members could be tortured to give up the layout. Ciar had thought this excessive, but had not complained, as his mother had, if a little reluctantly, agreed. He guessed he would just have to wait until break to tell her about it. The pair exited the room, returning to the hallway. The entire hallway was made of polished wood, magically enforced to withstand impacts.The hallway was long, but only five doors were on either side. They were standing on the second floor of one of the 10 dorm buildings on campus. Each building was 6 stories tall, with 20 rooms on each floor. There were two main halls on each floor, each with 10 rooms accessible from the hallway. The ground floor had no rooms, but had a training room for physical exercise, a restaurant for eating, and other forms of entertainment for students. This brought the total number of rooms on campus to 1000. This was the maximum number of students allowed to be enrolled at once. 400 spots were always filled by actual students, while the remaining 600 were filled by already graduated students who opted to remain on campus and continue learning. Each year, a certain number of alumni were required to leave, starting with the oldest alumni, depending on the number that had left voluntarily during the school year. Exiting the building, the pair entered Dorm Square. While it was called a square, it was actually a pentagon. Each side had two dorm buildings connected to it, with a pathway leading away from the square in between each pair of buildings. Dorm Square was located in the very center of campus, and its pathways branched out to every other facility. To the south was the path that led to the entrance of Lunaris. To the southeast, the pathway led to the magic part of the academy. The southwest led to the martial art part or the academy. The Northeast led to the magical engineering and alchemy section of campus. To the Northeast led to the faculty buildings, including the directors. Along the northeastern and northwestern paths, two more branched off, leading to the same location farther above the northern point of the pentagon. At the intersection point, the Grand Hall was located. This building housed all orientations, meetings, and assemblies. Across from the grand hall was the Arena, where all competitions were held between students. The entire campus was surrounded by a circular, silver wall. Over top of the campus, a magical dome blocked all bad weather, along with any attempts to spy on the interior. From outside the shield, you would see a different layout than the actual campus. At the center of Dorm Square, a large fountain rose 20 meters into the air. Water cascaded down the north and south sides of the fountain, falling into two crescent shaped pools below. Surrounding the fountain was a grassy park, decorated with trees and inhabited by several kinds of harmless wildlife. Students could gather here to socialize, take a break from studies, or to simply enjoy the wildlife around them. ------------------------------------- Five hours later, Ciar was sitting alone on his bed. He had been given the rest of the day to relax and select his classes. Given his "void-touched" status, he was given a special list of classes that would benefit him. At first, he had only been given magical courses, but upon his request, the list had been modified to include martial art, engineering, and alchemical classes. Looking at the list, Ciar was surprised to find his choices rather limited. Magic: Basic Magic Theory Basic Time and Reality Magic Basic Space and Gravity Magic Psionic Studies Daily applications of magic *note - Void is not a type of magic practiced here, as only a few people can use it, you will have to learn it on your own Martial Arts: Basic Hand-to-Hand Combat Basic Weapons Training Basic Martial Theory Lost Arts (Director Input - take in place of Hand-to-Hand Combat. Not usually available) Body Training Magic Engineering: Basic Application of Mana in Technology (BAMT) Basic Technological Weapons Basic Enchanting Alchemy: Basic Alchemy Basic Plant Studies Basic Poisons Basic Potions Looking at the list, Ciar decided he had limited choices not only due to his unique situation, but also because he was a first year student. All the courses had basic in front of them, implying that more advanced courses would be available. Students at Lunaris had 10 classes. Each one lasted one hour, starting at 8 AM and ending at 6 PM. This gave students enough time to get some studying in, while also giving time to rest. Classes took place 6 days a week, with the one remaining day being a free day for students to do as they choose. Most students choose to practice or study, as the schedule was tight and classes strict. After thinking for a while, Ciar decided which classes to take. Basic Time and Reality Magic, Basic Space and Gravity Magic, and Psionic Studies were obvious choices. He excelled in all of these types of magic to an amazing degree, so he would be foolish not to learn them. Basic Weapon Training, Lost Arts, and Body Training were his next three picks. Lost Arts was an obvious choice. The director had made it clear this was the class to take, and Ciar would not argue with him. Basic Weapon Training was to advance his skill with a sword or pick up another weapon, and Body Training was so that he did not have to dedicate time outside of class to his body. Finally, Ciar chose Basic Technological Weapons, Basic Enchanting, Basic Alchemy, and Basic Poisons. Basic Technological Weapons was because he was genuinely curious about more advanced weaponry. Basic Enchanting and Basic Alchemy were chosen because of his high affinity for both classes. Basic Poisons was chosen because he thought it would be useful to be well versed in poisons, whether it was using them or defending against them.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Tomorrow was Orientation Day for the first years. It started at 8 AM and was to be held in the Grand Hall. The rest of the day would be for the first years to socialize and make friends. After tomorrow, classes would begin immediately. Ciar didn''t have much to do, so he decided to go and check out the training facility in his dorm building. He had learned from Felix that the moon on his ceiling tracked the time, and with specific input on the Mana Sensor, could emit a loud noise at certain times. It would be very useful to make sure he didn''t miss classes. When he reached the training room, he was met with a lot of unfamiliar things. He was used to simply using his own body weight to train, but the students currently inside were using an assortment of magically created items to train. Stepping inside, Ciar ignored the stares he was attracting and headed to a collection of items that were sitting on some multi-layered shelf. He tried to pick one up, but it wouldn''t budge. Confused, Ciar tried the others, but failed to lift each one. A voice interrupted him as he failed once again to lift a weight. "What''s a kid doing in here anyway, you wander on campus on accident." "Don''t be stupid Kennon, you know that''s not possible. This little guy must be a new student." "New student? How could they accept someone who doesn''t even know what weights are?" "He''s probably not a noble, he doesn''t even know what to wear, he''s still in a suit." Startled, Ciar checked himself and realized he had forgotten to change. He had been so into the campus and its facilities that he hadn''t even thought of changing. Annoyed, Ciar finally turned around to face the boys behind him. In front of him stood two boys, each in their teens. The one who just finished speaking was stocky and short for his age, standing just above Ciar in height. He had dark brown hair that fell sloppily around his ears. His horns were about half a centimeter iln length and bright green. Two squinting eyes peered at Ciar, like they were inspecting a rat or bug. He wore a bright green, sleeveless shirt and loose pants. The other boy, the first to speak, was much taller, with Ciar only coming up to his chest. He was thinner, but his muscles were well defined. Black horns about a centimeter in length extended from his forehead, jutting out like daggers. He had short cut black hair, and a bit of stubble on his chin. Upon seeing Ciar turn around, he stepped forward. "I don''t know what your doing in here, but only the older kids lift here. I think you should go try the 2 kilogram weights over there." He said, pointing to another set of weights that were much smaller than the ones Ciar was currently trying to lift. "Yeah," the other said, "you''re to weak to lift..." He stopped talking when he finally noticed Ciar''s horns. At first, he was taken aback by the horns, but soon his face contorted into a snear. "So you got in here because your oh so good with magic eh? In case you haven''t noticed, this is the training room. Warriors come here to train, not weak mages!" He said, his voice slowly rising to a shout as he stepped forward to push Ciar. Before Ciar could retaliate, something flashed in front of him. Ciar stumbled backwards, and watched in amazement as the bully was stopped in his tracks, his outstretched hand twisted behind his back. A boy was holding his arm behind his back, a look of disgust on his face. "You two have done this every year for the past three years! How many times do I have to tell you not to pick on new kids? How many Kennon!" He shouted, his eyes on the black haired youth. The tall boy stepped back, a look of fear on his face. "W-we didn''t mean it Ryle, really we were just having fun with him!" He shouted, his voice cracking slightly. The intruder laughed coldly, before kicking the stocky kid toward Kennon, stepping back toward Ciar as he did so. "Scram now, before I issue a formal report and issue a challenge for the Arena." After he finished, he turned to Ciar, smiling apologetically at him. Before he could say a word though, and enrage Kennon began to speak. Turning around swiftly, Ryle interrupted him. "I know what your going to say Kennon, and I don''t want to hear any of your bullshit! I know he''s a commoner, I know he''s a mage, and I know he''s just a kid. Just because your jealous because his horns are as big as yours and he''s half your age is no excuse to bully the kid, let alone because he can''t lift. I remember when I first came here, you struggled to lift the 10 kilogram weight, and you were 13! Now fuck off Kennon, or I will issue a challenge!" Kennon stepped back again, stunned. Then, glancing one last time at Ciar, his face twisted with rage and shame, he turned and stalked off, leaving the training area. His buddy followed close behind him, still delicately messaging his shoulder. Ryle turned to Ciar once again, offering his hand. Ciar looked at the boy, taking in his appearance. He looked like his was 13 at most, but his shoulders were incredibly broad. Two centimeter horns, both ocean blue, extended from his head. Dusty blonde hair flowed down to his waist, and his noise had a ring on its right side. "Sorry about those two. No matter what the school policy is, there is always bad ones. Seems these days there are more bad than good. Anyway, my names Ryle." "Mine is Ciar. Thank you for your help, I don''t think I could kill them yet." Ciar responded as he took Ryle''s hand in a firm shake. Ryle''s right eyebrow shot upwards, and his smile grew even wider. "Kill them? You can''t do something like that here or you''ll be expelled. Best you can do it beat them up a bit in the arena." Ciar frowned before asking Ryle, "Why did you help me? It really didn''t benefit you any." "Ah, I just can''t stand seeing people with ''power'' abuse weaker people. My sister was abused by people with ''power,'' so I make it a point to stop it whenever I can. Besides, I come from a low ranking noble family and joined the academy at age 10, so I''ve experienced my fair share of bullying. In fact, those very two, Kennon and Jayle, both bullied me my first year until I got strong enough to best them." He responded, his smile losing a bit of its radiance. "Oh, thanks. I''m a new student, if you wouldn''t mind, could you explain how these things work? Felix never said anything." Ciar said, pointing to the weights behind him. Ryle once again raised an eyebrow when Ciar said ''Felix,'' but answered Ciar''s question. "These weights are basically just lumps of iron with handles enchanted with gravity magic of differing strength. You can use them while training to increase your strength faster." Seeing realization and excitement begin to appear on Ciar''s face, Ryle smiled even wider, speaking again. "Tell ya what, why don''t you come with me over to the restaurant and we can talk about things "Felix" failed to mention. You can start training tomorrow." Ciar nodded, and followed Ryle out of the training room. He wasn''t sure why he like the boy, but something about his attitude just drew him too him. The restaurant was a small part of the ground floor. Three tables sat outside the counter, and several chairs were placed beside the bar. In the kitchen, several chefs were hard at work cooking for the few students who were awaiting orders. Taking a seat at one of the tables, Ryle started the conversation. "So first, I''m guessing your class list didn''t come with descriptions? I know mine didn''t, nobody told me and I went into my classes not knowing a thing about them besides the name." "Yeah, they just gave me a list and said pick." Ciar responded. "Would you mind telling me your classes? I know the basics about most of them, so you can go in a bit more informed." Ciar nodded and listed of his classes. As he spoke, Ryle''s eyes grew wider and wider. After Ciar finished, Ryle sat back, sighing. "I should have expected classes like that seeing your age. You got some classes in there that are very rarely taken, even by third year students. Besides, I''ve never even heard of Lost Arts." "It had a note beside it that said something like ''Director Recommended'' or something. I figured it was as special class so I took it." "Yeah....I don''t know much about that but I can give you a run down on your other classes. Basic Alchemy, Engineering, and Poisons are exactly what they sound like. Poisons goes great with Alchemy because you can apply the things you learn in Alchemy straight to Poisons. Basic Weapon Training will present you with a wide selection of weapons. After you have chosen one you want, you will start basic training with that weapon. A lot of faculty work that room due to the diversity of techniques taught. Since you are taking Body Training, you won''t really need to use the training room outside of class. They work you hard in there, but everything is tailored to your age and build, so it shouldn''t be to bad. As for your magic classes, I haven''t taken any of them, so I couldn''t tell you much. I specialize in melee combat and water magic, so sorry about that." After the brief explanation of his classes, Ciar chatted with Ryle for the rest of the evening. He slowly grew closer to the boy, drawn to him by his courtesy and positive aura. Soon, however, the boys were forced to return to there rooms in order to get a good nights sleep. As they were leaving, Ryle spoke tentatively to Ciar. "If you don''t mind me asking, I don''t'' mind you being 8, you seem mature enough, but why is everything about you so gray? I mean, you don''t have to tell me if you don''t want to its just..." "It has something to do with my magic," Ciar responded, not completely answering, "that''s also why my classes are weird." After finishing his answer, Ciar hurried off, not wanting to be interrogated by his new friend about his magic. He knew that if Ryle knew he was "void-touched," the boy would talk. Sure, he might put things together eventually, as legends about "void-touched" were well known, but Ciar wanted to delay that as long as possible. He knew that his power would eventually become public knowledge, but he wanted to enjoy his days at Lunaris as long as possible. Back in his room, Ciar quickly fell asleep on the large bed. He had an orientation to attend tomorrow, and he was looking forward to it. Chapter 7: Orientation and Weapons Training The Grand Hall was easily the biggest building on campus. It was easily twice as big as a dorm building, and much more ornate. In front, two towers flanked the entrance to the Main Hall. The roof of the Main Hall was made of two sloping slates of iron shingles. Behind the Main Hall, a great dome rose above. This was the Assembly Hall, in which meetings were held. Around the dome, five more towers rose up, forming a semicircle at the back of the building. The building itself was made out of engraved stone, with a multitude of windows allowing natural light inside. Rumors had circulated among the students that the building also housed the school''s hidden armory and vault, but it was never confirmed by the faculty. Stepping inside the Main Hall, Ciar was stunned by the sheer luxury of the interior. Five great chandeliers, each with easily a thousand magic candles, hung from the ceiling in a straight line down the middle. Below them was the central walkway, a strip of beautiful silver carpet. Ten pentagonal pillars, five on each side of the central walkway, rose to ceiling, each of their sides adorned with murals depicting the history of Lunaris. The top of the Main Hall was shrouded in darkness, giving the hall a mystical feeling. To the sides of the central walkway, in between each of the pillars, sat several circular meeting tables. Each table was lit by a smaller chandelier that hovered above them. This would be where the smaller meetings would take place, such as club activities. At the far end of the Main Hall, some 200 meters in front of Ciar, was a set of ornate, silver double doors. It was still an hour before the assembly would begin, so the doors were not yet opened. Ciar knew from Ryle that the doors opened exactly 30 minutes before the meeting would begin. Seeing he was the only person currently in the building, he decided to sit at one of the meeting tables an wait. 20 minutes later, footsteps echoed down the hall. Ciar turned, curious to see who else was early. A girl with flowing silver hair was walking confidently down the central walkway. Two horns, the likes of which Ciar had never seen, extended from her head. They were also a brilliant silver, but they were shaped strange. Each horn had two points extending toward the ceiling, with the horn itself taking on a crescent moon shape. Her silver eyes widened in surprise when she noticed Ciar. She turned his direction, pulling a chair out from the table and sitting beside him. She leaned forward, inspecting him with a puzzled expression. "Who are you?" She asked. Ciar almost stopped breathing at the words. Her voiced rippled like moonlight on water, gentle and mystical. It sounded vaguely like his mother''s voice. "I-I''m Ciar. Who are you?" He responded, pushing back his shock. "My name is Luna. I''m a first year, as I would assume you are. What brings you here so early. The assembly doesn''t start for another ten minutes." "I like to be early to things." "Ah, so I''m not the only one. Though, I guess I''m not the earliest this time." She said as she sat back, tossing her hair back from her face. Ciar stared for a moment, taking in her features. Her skin glowed a light silver. Her skin was perfectly smooth, without a single imperfection. Slanting, silver eyebrows accented her eyes and tapered nose. While she was beautiful, she also a simple look to her, a natural look. "You know," she laughed, resting her chin on her hand, "if you keep staring I think you may very well look straight through me." "Sorry, it''s just I have never soon a Fellite like you before." Moments after speaking, he realized his slip of tongue. Luckily, it seemed as if Luna hadn''t noticed. "Speak for yourself....well, that would be because I''m unique. I was blessed by Delpha, the goddess of soul and moon, when I was born. It made me look like....this..." She said, motioning with her left hand at her body. "You, don''t like how you look?" Ciar asked, not sure if he was prying to much, seeing as he had just met her. Sensing his awkwardness, Luna smiled at him. "You don''t have to be so nervous. I''ve never met someone who looks as strange as me, but I think you do, no offense." She sighed, then continued. "No, I don''t really like my appearance. I stand out way to much, get way to much attention. People look at me like I''m something special, a gift sent from above to aid them. I hate it! I just want to practice magic, not help everyone with their little needs!" She exclaimed, her voice gaining volume. "Sorry..." She said sheepishly, realizing she had been yelling at him. "No no it''s fine. I get where you''re coming from, though from a completely different side. People look at me like I''m not a Fellite, or like I have some disease." Ciar said, remembering the looks of people in the streets as he walked past them. He had heard what they muttered. Words that spoke of pity for his ''condition,'' or hateful remarks about ''outlanders.'' These remarks usually came from adult Fellites. The comments from younger ones, especially female, had been much different, but they were drown out by the negatives. He had ignored them, and was glad to finally be in a place where it seemed his appearance mattered a little less. Sure, he still got looks, but nobody had confronted him about it yet, not if Kennon. "Ahhhh, I''m glad you understand. Not even my own mother understands. She loves me, but she constantly gets on me about helping people with my ''gifts.'' At this point, I don''t even know if soul magic is a gift..." She said, her voice trailing off. Ciar was stunned. She had said soul magic. He hadn''t seen that on his affinity sheet, meaning it was probably a unique magic that was only available to single person. In a way, it was less common than void magic. "Soul magic?" He asked, excited at the idea of magic he had never seen. "Yes, another gift from Delpha. It''s unique to me and allows me to heal or hurt others through their soul. It''s incredibly difficult to use though, and there are a few defenses against it. I tend to focus on elemental magic, since my affinity for them is so high." "How high?" "100% percent...." She said hesitantly, as if afraid Ciar would laugh at her. "Wow! So I''m not the only one with 100% affinity. Though I guess mine is different, I can''t even use elemental magic." "Really? Oh, is it something to do with your appearance?" She asked, surprise and relief evident in her voice. "Yeah....I can''t use elemental magic, but magic like time, space, and gravity all have 100% affinity." Ciar explained. "Awesome! So like, what''s your unique magic. I mean, surely with looks like that, you have some form of unique magic." "Yeah, I''d rather not say what it is though, it could get you in a lot of trouble." "Come onnnnnn, I''m practically attacked by people wanting to receive my magic. Surely knowing what yours is won''t do much. Besides, who needs to know I know? It''s just us here!" She complained. Ciar thought for a moment. He didn''t know if he could trust this girl, but just like Ryle, he was drawn to her. Her position as a unique Fellite also made her seem more trustworthy. She had shared her abilities with him, why couldn''t he share his with her? Besides, he didn''t need to tell her his actual race. "Alright....it''s void. I''m a "void-touched" Fellite." He conceded, his voice apprehensive. Luna''s eyes went wide in surprise, then she grinned in delight. "I knew you were special. Now I guess it all makes sense! Gray hair, gray horns, grayish skin, gray eyes, gary everything! And your affinites seem to be the direct opposite of mine! Incredible! I can''t believe it...." She continued to ramble to herself for several seconds before she stopped, and her face flushed. Ciar smiled and was about to speak when the double doors at the end of the hall swung open. Ciar and Luna looked at each other, then got up and moved into the Assembly Hall. The Assembly Hall was like an arena. The doors opened onto the highest level of the room. stairs led down to a small platform in the middle of the room. On the platform stood a podium, waiting for use. Seats ringed the podium in layers. Ciar knew 1250 seats were inside the room. One for each student and faculty member. Since only the first years and basic instructors would be present, the Ciar and Luna could sit wherever they wanted. Ciar walked to the front row of seats and sat down, directly in front of the podium. Luna followed him, sitting beside him. The two chatted absent mindedly until more students began to arrive. Most gave them a wide berth, but a group of three girls came and sat beside Luna. "Hey Luna," the lead girl said, "who''s the guy?" "Yeah, you ditch us to go meet him or something?" Another teased. Luna looked flustered for a moment at what the girls were implying. She shook her head as she answered. "I told you Raina, I only went to the Grand Hall early. Ciar was already here so we naturally got to know each other." "Ooooh, I see. Well after this your gonna have to come with us and tell us allll about him." She drawled as her eyes probed Ciar. With a sigh, Luna agreed. The girls quickly sat down when Felix stepped through the doors of the Assembly Hall. He was followed by all the Basic Instructors. The adults sat down opposite the students, who had naturally congregated in the same general area. Felix walked to the podium in the center, facing the students as he spoke. "First, I would like to welcome all 100 of you to the Academy of Lunaris. We, the faculty, hope you can enjoy your year here. You will learn a lot of new things at Lunaris. Skills that will allow you make a living, or save your life, or save the lives of others. You are some of the brightest minds in this city. The strongest among your age group. You are special. But, you are not the best. At least, not yet. Lunaris Academy will harden you into the best of the best. Those that graduate from Lunaris Academy are known for their achievements. Their graduation badges are a beacon that draws people to them, showing their superiority. YOU will be made into such a person. However, it does not come easy. You will work hard for the next 4 years and possibly beyond. In return for your dedication, Lunaris will reward you with the best teaching in the Fellnor Kingdom. Work hard, grow strong, and make your class the one people in this school will remember!" He said, his voice full of passion. The students burst into applause, shouting as loud as they could. After finishing the opening, he turned and sat down, making way for another member of the staff, a tall woman with glasses. She waited for the students to quiet down before speaking. "It is as Felix has said. The staff would love to welcome you to this academy. Now, for more serious topics. You have all chosen ten classes in which you will participate for the next year. Please note these classes cannot be changed once entered into our files. I would like to now give you the chance to make any last changes." She paused, waiting several minutes before the mumbling of the students ceased. "Now, when you leave, place your list of classes, with your chosen ones marked, into the box. Each list has been magically imprinted with your name, so you do not need to mark it. You will receive a schedule tonight at 8 PM. Now, I would like to give the podium to Sir Dylan to speak to you about the different attractions campus has available. A massive man made his way to the podium. He had pitch black hair and fierce, green eyes. His arms were bigger than Ciar''s thighs, and his uniform bulged, barely containing his frame. He stood behind the podium, his face set. "Thank you, Miss Abigail." His voice boomed throughout the hall. "I am sure all of you have made yourself acquainted with the different facilities in your dorm buildings. Now, you have enjoyed them all for free, but this is no longer the case. In Lunaris, we have an on campus currency called Lun. you spend Lun to use the entertainment facilities, training room, and restaurant. You will all start with a balance of 1000 Lun. Every month you will receive 1000 Lun to add to your balance. Excess Lun can be used to purchase bonus items or spell scrolls. You can earn Lun be placing top three in your classes biweekly tournaments, scoring high on assessments, helping a teacher, or betting on tournament or arena battles. The Arena is building across the walkway from here. Every month, competitions are held to see who is the strongest of their year. Every year, there is one large tournament to decide the strongest in the school. Students can also issue challenges to other students and settle their differences in the Arena. Bets are encouraged by faculty. The winner of the tournaments or battles will receive 10 percent of the bets placed against them, along with a prize if it is a tournament. The prizes for tournaments vary from Lun to spells to weapons. You can keep track of your Lun balance by reading the counter inside your Lunaris badge, which you will be given upon exiting this Assembly." Finished with his speech, Dylan sat down in his seat. Felix once again took the podium, his voice once more filled with passion.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "That is the basics of the academy. All other questions can be answered by your home room teachers. You have the rest of the day to collect yourselves and prepare for tomorrow. Classes start sharply at 8 AM. If you are late, you will have your Lun balance halved. Now, go! And remember, you are a student of Lunaris Academy. Be proud of your achievement, and work hard to earn more in your bright futures!" The students cheered and stampeded for the door, burning with excitement. Ciar walked after them, in no hurry to leave. As he passed the door, he slipped his class list into the box and picked up a Lunaris Badge. The Badge was the shape of a crescent moon, and it shone slightly with magic power. He slipped it into his pocket and left the Assembly Hall. To his surprise, Luna was waiting for him on the other side. "Aren''t you going out with your friends?" Ciar asked. Luna fidgeted a bit, glancing at the ground. "I was just gonna say goodbye. Hopefully see you in some classes tomorrow?" "Yeah, it was nice to meet you Luna. See you tomorrow." Ciar responded. Luna nodded several times, then turned and walked hurriedly toward her group of friends. Ciar noticed as she walked that she slowly began to give off a confident, aloof aura. '':She likes to appear to others like she is strong, but she is very conflicted inside. She''s an interesting girl, to say the least.'' Ciar spent the rest of the day at the library, which he discovered was in a room that branched off of the Main Hall. ---------------------------------------------------- "Welcome to Basic Weapons Training, my name is Fellana, and I will be your instructor." The woman said as she looked over her class. Ciar was attending his first class of the day - Basic Weapon Training. The room was more like a pit than a room. A balcony surrounded a square sand pit of respectable size. There was no roof above the sand pit, leaving it in the open. The students, about 20 in all, were standing in the pit, their instructor in front of them. She was a short, thin woman who did not appear like a warrior in the slightest. However, she hadn''t even explained the class when she crushed all doubts of her strength by casually removing most of the sand in the pit with a single punch to the ground. "In Basic Weapons Training you will learn to use almost every basic weapon available in Osarith. After three months, you will be able to move into a specialization, such as blades or blunt weapons. You will then focus on this type of weapon, growing proficient with it. While I am your primary instructor, there are also 9 other instructors that will be responsible for two students each. Who is assigned to who will be determined by my assessment of your skills on the ''pretest'' you will take presently." She paused briefly, turning around and waving her hand. A section of the walkway below the balcony split apart, and a large table rose from the ground. On the table was a variety of weapons, ranging from battle axes to maces to basic swords. Turning back to her students, Fellana continued. "Each of you will choose a weapon. That student will then be faced off against a low leveled combat golem in single combat. Do not worry about injury, as this pit is enchanted with powerful time magic that will be activated before every battle. When deactivated, everything inside returns to the state it was in before the bout began. Does everyone understand?" She finished. The students nodded, and Fellana stepped aside, motioning to the table. Nobody moved. The students stood there, nobody willing to go first. Finally, fed up with waiting, Ciar stepped forward and inspected the weapons on the table. He was immediately drawn to a blade located on the right side. It''s blade was about 70 centimeters in length, and had a slight curve toward its end. The hilt was protected by a curved, single edged blade that connected the hilt to the pommel. Ciar assumed this blade could be used to hurt someone in close quarters where a swing was not possible. He picked the sword up, feeling its weight. To his surprise, it was incredibly light. He took a few experimental swings, then turned around, facing Fellana. "Oh, so the youngest is the one with the most balls. Now, everyone clear off the pit. You, what is your name?" She said, slight admiration in her voice. "I am Ciar, Miss Fellana." Ciar responded, slightly nervous. "Good, Ciar, come forward into the pit. The golem will be level 5. You are not expected to win. Fight it to the best of your ability. If you get in critical condition or take a fatal blow, the fight will end and the time reversal will take effect. The pain while time reverses is immense, however, so I don''t recommend getting hurt to badly." She said with a smile. Ciar nodded nervously and stepped into the pit. He heard Fellana say something behind him, and a force field sprung up around the pit. On the far side, a bright light shone briefly. After it dissipated, Ciar got the first look at his opponent. From what he could tell, his opponent looked completely Fellite. It had all the features of a Fellite, including two horns that extended from its head. It held a sword identical to Ciar''s in its left hand. ''Not only does it copy what weapon you are using, but it also copies what hand you use it with. I wonder what spell they use to make something like this....it doesn''t even look like a golem.'' Ciar readied himself for battle as the golem began to run toward him. His grip tightened on his sword as he adjusted his feet, positioning himself in his familiar stance. He waited, looking to deflect the first blow and counterattack. The golem''s first strike was a predictable slash toward Ciar''s face. He raised his sword, bracing it with his right hand, ready to take the blow. When the swords made contact, Ciar became acutely aware of the difference in strength. He was shoved backward, stumbling through the sand. The golem pushed toward him, sending an overhead strike toward him. Ciar threw himself sideways, dodging the blow. Rising to his feet, Ciar once again got in his stance. ''It is much stronger than I am...I guess my only option is to dodge its attacks and look for an opening. Or, I guess I could go on the offensive...'' Ciar''s decision was made for him as the golem charged, relentless in its assault. It repeated the same attack as before - a swipe at his face from his right. Ciar ducked beneath the swing, drawing his blade across his body before slashing it out at the golems stomach. To his surprise, the golem dodged the blow by completely reversing its momentum and stepping backwards. Ciar knew it should not have been possible, but it seemed that having a special body had its benefits. ''Well, your not the only one who''s unique.'' Ciar lunged forward, taking the offense from the golem. It seemed that, despite being level 5, the golem was a one dimensional enemy. It attacks were very straightforward and predictable, and it did not seem to possess any magic. Ciar attacked several times before finally seeing his chance. The golem swung its blade at his midsection, and Ciar dropped slightly, allowing the blade to bite into his right shoulder. He screamed as the blade cut into bone, but he kept his focus. Jerking his right hand up, he grasped the back of the golem''s blade, holding it in place as he launched his own strike at the golems neck. The golem was unable to react in time, and its head soon separated from his body. Ciar dropped to one knee before pulling the blade from his shoulder. The wound suddenly began to twist with a gray energy, healing itself seconds. Ciar smiled, once again thankful he had retained his racial abilities.
Void Body (MAX) The power of the void courses through your body, making it more durable and powerful than any other. +Ability to heal injuries instantly with Void Power +Ability to freely manipulate Void Power within your body -Unable to use blood magic -Cannot be healed by light magic
This racial ability was the one that had allowed Ciar to win the battle. Truthfully, the blade he had taken in his shoulder had enough strength to completely cut him in half. However, using the void energy inside him, he had slowed its momentum considerably once it entered his shoulder, forcing it to stop at the bone. Afterward, he had simply used his Void Power to heal himself. Of course, the regeneration was not cheap. It had cost him almost all of his Void Power, and he was feeling a little light headed. The shield around the pit disappeared, and Ciar felt a strange tugging in the space around him. He assumed this was the time magic at work, reverting the world to its previous state. As if confirming his suspicion, he watched as the grains of sand that had shifted during his battle skittered across the ground, returning to what he presumed was their original position. A slow clapping noise filled the air, and he turned to see Fellana clapping at him as she walked onto the sand. "While I''m sure we all have questions...that was very impressive. The golem had the strength and level advantage, but you still won. Why don''t you check your battle results, eh? You should have them now that the fight is over." She said. Ciar realized he had ignored the list of blue messages that had slipped by in his consciousness, to enthralled with the time magic. He looked at them now, quite surprised at what they said.
Victory! Enemies Defeated: Training Golem (lvl 5) Experience Gained: 60 (Experience Multiplier: 1.5)
Level up! (x2) Skillpoints gained: 20 (Skill Point Multiplier: 2)
Skill Gained: Basic Sword Mastery (lvl 1) Your mastery of the sword increases your understanding of its arts. +You are more comfortable with swords +5% increased damage with swords
Skill Gained: Basic Dodge (lvl 1) You are more skilled at dodging an enemy''s blows. +3% speed when dodging a blow
Ciar was quite happy with his first status improvement. He had learned two new skills and leveled up twice! Of course, he knew his massive improvement was also due to perhaps one of his most powerful racial abilities.
Primordial Oblivion (MAX) You are the Primordial Oblivion, the oldest descendant of the Progenitor. Your origin gives you a fundamental understanding of the system. +(2x) Skill Point Gain +(1.5x) Experience Gain +Learn skills and level skills faster
Ciar knew this ability would give him a massive advantage over anyone his level or age. He was effectively 2 times as strong as anyone his level if you only counted attributes. Of course, attributes weren''t the only thing that determined someone''s strength, but they were important. "Well, seeing that expression, you must quite happy with the results. Don''t worry, you don''t have to tell me." Fellana said before she turned to the rest of the students. "Now, next person up. We need to hurry, we only have 55 minutes per class!" The rest of the battles went as Ciar assumed they should have. All but one student lost to the golem. The one who was victorious was a boy named Harold that looked to be 13-14 years old. He had managed to get a swing in on the golem with his club, bashing its head in. After the battles were over, Fellana gathered the students in the pit again. "Alright, you have all performed the test and been evaluated. Tomorrow, you will receive your instructor and you partner. Harold and Ciar, come speak to me immediately. Everyone else, dismissed!" Ciar and Harold glanced at each other, one with confusion and the other with fiery determination, before they both went up to Fellana. "Since both of you defeated the golem, I will be your instructor and you will be partners.You should consider yourselves lucky, I''m the strongest of all the instructors. Now I would advise getting to know each other, your going to be seeing each other a lot" She said. Harold snorted, obviously disagreeing. "Why do I need to get to know him? All he''s gonna be is a stepping stone for me on way to becoming the strongest Bounty Hunter in Osarith! Thank you, Miss Fellana, I will take my leave." He said before turning on his heel and marching off. Ciar heard a slight chuckle from Fellana and glanced toward her. "The boy''s a fool. A stepping stone... Anyway, Ciar, I have a proposition from you. I want to be your private instructor, outside of class I mean." Ciar was taken aback. He had never heard of instructors offering to be private tutors of students outside of class hours. Of course, the proposition was not something he would refuse, but Ciar was cautious. "Why? If you don''t mind me asking?" He inquired. "Because your different than the others. You are the only one who willingly put themselves in harms way to defeat their opponent. Sure, it might have been due to your mysterious ability to heal yourself, but not even Harold did something like that, he simply got a lucky swing in. You, you won through determination and cold calculation. Also, I prefer blades, and you obviously already have experience with them. I want to see how far you can go with the proper tutoring." Ciar nodded, his worries slightly abated. If she didn''t know his nature, and was simply offering out of a desire to teach someone she saw as promising he had no reason to refuse. "Alright, I accept your offer. Thank you, Miss Fellana." "Oh, don''t worry about it. We start tonight. Meet me after your last class." Nodding in affirmation, Ciar turned and walked out of the room, heading for his next class. ------------------------------------------ After Ciar had left, Fellana quickly called another instructor to take her place. Minutes later, she was knocking on a door in the magic buildings. "Come in, Miss Fellana." Came the response. Opening the door she headed inside, closing and locking it behind her. "Quite strange of you, to take a personal apprentice, even if it was Ciar." Felix mused, his fingers drumming lightly on his desk. "Felix, there is something weird about him. I know you played a role in getting him in at his age. Not even the director was sold on his power, but you insisted that he give him a half-assed test to let him in. Hell, I heard that he didn''t even test his true magic potential! I need to know Felix. He took a sword to the shoulder than healed it in seconds. He looks strange and seems far to mature for his age. I know you know something Felix, something more than even the director, and I want to know." Felix smiled and stood from his chair. He walked slowly in front of Fellana, the smile frozen on his face. "You are correct Fellana, he is special. But, I''m afraid I cannot tell you what he is....the only thing I can tell you is that your decision was the correct one. He has the potential to shift things the way we desire, but he must be strong to do that..." "You can''t mean....." Fellana mumbled. "Oh yes......I DO, Miss Fellana." Chapter 8: Technology and Magic Ciar''s second class of the day was Basic Technological Weapons. He truly did not know what to expect from the class, but from what he had seen of the school so far, he was pretty excited. He kind of expected to find something along the lines of portable shields or mana rays. Sadly,the first explanation of how the technology works from Sir Rydo quickly quashed his hopes. "The use of mana in technology at the current time is very limited, due to its design. Currently, we infuse a small mana packet into an object, and when given a slight push with more mana, it will explode in a certain direction. This force can push things, such as knife blades, at extremely high speeds. Using this method on a larger scale, you can power doors or other similar mechanisms. However, it has still not been discovered how to direct this power stably at a large quantity. Little progress has been made in large engineering projects because experiments are often fatal to those who perform them." Ciar''s expectations dropped significantly after that. At first he had thought massive technological weapons would have been possible, but with the mana being to hard to control in large quantities, it was currently impossible. However, his spirits were lifted by Sir Rydo''s examples. The teacher brought out a variety of different weapons that ranged from swords to knives to strange spheres. One by one he activated each of them. The knife blade was ejected from the hilt at startling speed, embedding itself almost completely in the unshielded wall behind Sir Rydo''s desk. Ciar already had several applications for this weapon in mind, most of which involved assassination. Next, Sir Rydo activated a shield that walled off the students from an open space in the middle of the room. He then activated the strange sphere and tossed it inside. Seconds after it hit the ground, it exploded. The mana shield shook from the blast, flickering a little before stabilizing. "That is called a mana pulsor. The shell is made out of an enchanted metal that is designed to withstand high densities of mana. The activation button is made out of a mana conductive material called Pyrutite. This causes the activation mana to be transmitted slower than usual, giving you time to throw it. The mana packet inside is calculated to be just below the threshold for the enchanted metal. When the activation mana mixes with the packet, it reaches past the metals breaking point. When a mana resistance enchantment breaks, it creates a violent explosion. This explosion is harnessed as a weapon. Now, while I used that pulsar as an example, these are incredibly rare. The mana resistance enchantment is incredibly hard to perform, and being able to put in just the right density of mana to not break it is difficult and deadly. As a result, the school only has about 30 of these, and you will not be making them." The demonstrations continued for the rest of class. Ciar was just becoming bored with them when something finally caught his notice. It was a sword with a double edged, straight blade about 80 centimeters in length. The blade stayed the same width throughout, save for the razor sharp tip. What was strange about the weapon was the handle. The hilt was about 30 centimeters in length, despite it clearly being a single handed blade. An additional, curved blade traveled from the base of the sword to the pommel, protecting the hand while also giving plenty of room to maneuver. Where the pommel should have been located, another blade extended about 10 centimeters. When Sir Rydo input mana into the hilt, the 8 centimeter blade extended to 80 centimeters, forming an identical blade on the other side of the weapon. "This is called an Endo, and is one of our greatest accomplishments. The pommel is home to two small packets of gravity magic. In its dormant state, the packet that pulls the blade in is unblocked. This keeps the second blade securely in the hilt. When mana is input into the system, the mana packets switch positions, with the second gravity packet now pushing the blade out of the hilt. The blade is actually four layers of enchanted metal that can extend to form a 80 centimeter blade. The tip of the blade is a 10 centimeter segment that always extends out of the hilt. The next two segments are each 20 centimeters in length, and make up the middle of the blade. The final segment completely fills up the handle, with a length of 30 centimeters. The segments are perfectly crafted and enchanted to the point where, despite one fitting inside the other, the difference in diameter between each segment is negligible. In fact, the only way it can extend is with the assistance of magic. The blade itself is made with a special alloy called Enderite. This alloy is one of the hardest metals known to man, while also being almost weightless. The handle is enchanted with gravity magic, making it almost weightless as well. Because of its lack of weight, the blade can only be used by someone who is extremely skilled. It is nearly impossible to stagger your opponent with this weapon, but it''s enchanted Enderite edges can cut through most armor, bone, and flesh with ease. While these are much less dangerous to make than say, mana pulsors, they are much rarer. They require a level of enchanting and metalworking that few can achieve, and its materials are priceless. Lunaris has created only three of these weapons, and they have not been distributed to the outside world." Rydo explained, his voice filled with pride.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Ciar knew immediately that was the weapon he wanted. Currently, it was taller than him in its extended state, but that would not be an issue when he was older. Besides, in its non-extended state, it would work perfectly fine at his current age. He wouldn''t even have to worry about the weight, as it was nearly weightless according to Rydo. Ciar knew he had a special status in the academy, so he decided he would ask the Director for one of the blades during his lost arts class. --------------------------------------------------------- Ciar extended his Void Power around him, searching for the essence of gravity. According to Sir Cyrus, every type of magic had an essence. If one could grasp this essence, they could harness the magic. Mana, or Void Power in Ciar''s case, is usually invisible to anyone but the owner. Only when given from through a spell or essence did it become visible, and this was only with some essence. For example, grasping the essence of fire and using it in a spell would create flames. This was the physical manifestation of someone''s mana in the form of fire through the harnessing of the fire essence. In contrast, time essence gave no distinctive form to the mana when it was harnessed, and neither did reality, gravity, or space magic. Many magicians guessed this was why it was much harder to use certain forms of magic. If the essence had no real form to it, it would be much harder to grasp and control. After 40 minutes of searching, Ciar finally felt something. A particle with a certain weight to it, invisible to the naked eye, but visible to his Void Power. Ciar wrapped his power around the particle, attempting to grasp it and control it. He siphoned his Void Power into the essence, trying to not only understand it, but also bring it under his control. 5 minutes later, he succeeded, and was greeted with a message.
Skill Gained: Basic Gravity Manipulation (lvl 1) The basic ability to conform the essence of gravity to your will.
Smiling, Ciar opened his eyes. He knew the other three students in the class would not succeed in this for several days. A mixture of his Primordial Oblivion racial skill and his 100% affinity had allowed him to succeed so easily. Glancing around him, he saw everyone still deep in concentration. Closing his eyes, Ciar went back to meditation for the remaining 5 minutes of his Basic Space and Gravity class. He had decided to keep his advancement a secret, and only pretend to have success when the other students did. While the other students worked to find the essence, he would already be increasing his control and understanding of it. Spells took incantations to cast until one had a great enough understanding of the spells function to cast it silently, so using spells right now was out of the question. The class had given him a much needed rest after his 3rd period body training. That class had gone exactly as he had expected. Hard work in a more advanced training room in order to hone the body into a perfect physical specimen. When the period was up, Ciar quickly went to his next class, grabbing a sandwich from a passing staff member as he walked. Classes in Lunaris did not stop for people to eat lunch. Instead, staff members walked around campus with food that students could grab as they walked. The staff members were present at all times of the day, so students would not go hungry as long as they actively sought out refreshments. Ciar''s next class, Basic Time and Reality, was about the same as his Basic Space and Gravity period. The teacher''s name was Sir Bolarg, a old and grouchy man who simply told the class to search for the essence of time before returning to his meditation. Ciar thought perhaps the initial process would be easier now that he had experience, but he was wrong. It took him 50 minutes to finally find the essence, and he just had time to learn to control it before the period ended.
Skill Gained: Basic Time Manipulation (lvl 1) The basic ability to conform the essence of time to your will.
Happy with his results, Ciar headed to his next class, Basic Alchemy. When he entered the Alchemy building, he saw a familiar figure sitting alone in the corner. Heading over to Luna, he plopped down beside her, waiting with anticipation to discover the mysteries of Alchemy in this world. Chapter 9: Alchemy and Poison Ciar waited patiently while making small talk with Luna. He found her easy to talk to, despite hardly knowing her. Perhaps it was because both of them had unique appearances, but they seemed naturally drawn to each other. The same could not be said for the rest of the class. The pair remained isolated in the corner while all the other students sat away from them. Three minutes after the class was supposed to start, a disheveled woman with glasses hurried into the room. Placing a large pile of books on the front table, she turned toward the class, quickly running her hand down her clothes, smoothing them. "Hello class, sorry I am late, I had to make a quick trip to gather materials." She says as she motions toward the books. She shifts nervously, her jade green horns bobbing back and forth. "I am Miss Janiva, your instructor for Basic Alchemy. Now we better get started, seeing as we are already behind. First, everyone needs to partner up, we do our experiments in pairs." The class glanced around at each other.Some had already meta few of their classmates, but most were complete strangers. The students slowly began to separate into groups. Girls mostly chose girl partners and boys chose boy partners. Like earlier, nobody approached Ciar and Luna. Glancing at each other, the pair smiled. "I guess were partners." Ciar said, slightly excited. "It seems that way, just don''t blow something up, if you can do that in here." "No promises." Ciar glanced around, and realized they were one of only two pairs consisting of both a male and a female. He assumed this was due to the average age of the students in the room. At 12-13 years of age, most had yet to get to the point in their lives where they were more attracted to the opposite sex than opposed to it. Ciar was fine with this. He knew he and Luna stood out from the others already, so being one of the few multi-sex pairs would not be anything special. The teacher cleared her throat, once again addressing the class. "Now, I am going to assume none of you have experience with alchemy, so I wills start from the beginning. Alchemy is the art of creating potions of all kinds through the use of mana, magical plants, and magic stones. The correct mixture can produce astounding effects. For example," she pulled a small glass bottle out from a drawer in her desk, "this small bottle is powerful enough to make me invisible for 8 hours. Of course, I will not be demonstrating this, but you get my point. Now, I am a believer in doing, not telling." She pressed her hands on a mana sensor that was on her desk. The floor of the room shifted, and similarly to Basic Weapons Training, tables rose from the round in front of each pair of students. On each table was a variety of plants and stones. The plants ranged from spikey, black needles to glowing, soft leaves. The stones were anywhere from 5 millimeters to 3 centimeters in size, and glowed a variety of different colors. A magic circle was inscribed in the center of the table, and inside of it was a single glass bottle. "On each of your lab tables is a variety of low grade alchemy materials. In the center of your table is an Alchemy Circle and a bottle. Place the ingredients in the bottle, then infuse the circle with mana. The circle will initiate the process, blending the ingredients into a potion. Be careful, as some reactions are unstable and violent. Do not worry about using all the materials, the school has thousands of these." With those words, she sat down at her desk, propped her legs up on the top, selected a book from the pile she brought in, and began to read. "Well," Ciar said hesitantly, "Shall we star-" He was cut off by the plink of a magic stone being dropped in the bottle. Luna then grabbed a seemingly random assortment of plants from the table and began to strip them of certain parts. She pulled a few needles from a spiky plant before she crushed them, releasing the smaller pieces into the bottle. Then, she stripped a dark purple leaf of all but its midrib and veins before placing them into the bottle. Then, grabbing a cork from beside the bottle, she closed it. Luna then placed her hands on either side of the circle and frowned. The circle began to glow. Steam began to form inside the bottle as the ingredients began to melt. A pure black liquid was slowly forming inside the bottle. When about half the bottle was full of liquid the steam disappeared, retreating back into the liquid. Relaxing, Luna leaned back into her chair, a smile on her face. "Wha-what did you just do?" Ciar asked, dumbfounded by her actions and apparent success. "Oh....I just made a poison. It''s not lethal, but will cause sluggishness and shuts down some cognitive functions." "You know how to do alchemy? How?" "Like I said before, my mother always wanted me to help people with my soul magic. Well, it''s not just with soul magic. She taught me how to do alchemy. My family was rich enough to get an alchemy circle inscribed in our basement. My mother purchased the materials and taught me how to perform basic alchemy. Sometimes you have to make poisons to use as a sedative, so I learned a few things. Soul Magic healing isn''t exactly painless..." She said, a hint of bitterness in her voice. Realizing she did not particularly like that she had been forced to learn alchemy, Ciar tried his best to cheer her up. "I think it is incredible you already know how to do something like this, Luna. I think I''m really lucky to have you as a partner. You''re going to have to teach me a few things though. I''m taking poisons next hour, so having a headstart would be good." He said, leaning closer to her and emphasizing her name. It seemed to have the desired effect, as Luna slowly raised her gaze to look at him. "You really want me to teach you? I mean, your in here at age 8, so you must be pretty impressive. Do you really need me to teach you?" "Oh come on! I''m eight, and I come from the Communia district, I didn''t even know what an alchemy circle was till 5 minutes ago. You are clearly good at this Luna, and I want you to teach me."This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "Al-alright. Well...we need to start with the ingredients. The stone I used was called a dark stone. It''s black in appearance and holds the element of darkness. It is used for debuff potions and some cloaking potions." As she spoke, her voice slowly began to grow more confident. "The needles come from a poisonous plant called Vesper. In great quantities, the poison in the needles can paralyze someone. You put in a small amount to give the slowing effect of the poison. The leaf was from a Memrior Tree. The Lamina of the leaf causes memory loss in big enough doses, while the midrib and veins cause the brain to shut down some of its functions, especially those pertaining to feeling pain. You leave out the Lamina in order to avoid the memory loss, obviously, and place the midrib and veins in. When you apply mana to the circle, it activates and breaks down the plants and stone. They mix together and form a sedative that can be used to dull pain and slow reactions to pain." Finished with her explanation, she looked expectantly at Ciar. "Wow....you know a lot. So, do you have the alchemy skill? Seeing as you know how to do it." "Yes, its three skills actually. An alchemy skill that boosts all potion effects by a smaller percentage and increases your ability to strip ingredients, a poison skill that boosts effectiveness of poisons, and a potions skill that boosts potion effectiveness. I have all three of these skills." "Impressive. Do you mind if I try? I want to learn the poison and alchemy skill." Ciar said. To his surprise, Luna laughed. "You can try, but don''t expect to learn the skill. It took me a few weeks of alchemy before I learned the Basic Alchemy skill." Ciar just smiled at her and reached for bottle. He poured the contents into a basin sitting at the edge of the table before placing the bottle back in the circle. The circle glowed briefly and the inside of the bottle cleaned itself. Not pausing to wonder how it occured, he quickly grabbed the final dark stone and placed it in the bottle. Then, he grabbed a few Vesper needles and crushed them into the bottle. Then, much slower than Luna, stripped the Memrior leaf down to its midrib and veins. With all the ingredients in the bottle, he placed the cork back on and put his hands on either side of the circle, just as Luna had done. He poured Void Power into the circle, and it began to glow. The process inside the bottle repeated itself, and Ciar was met with a set of notifications that confirmed his success.
Poison Created: Weak Slow Poison +Slows target when it enters their bloodsteam +Dulls the target''s ability to feel pain
Skill Gained: Basic Alchemy (lvl 1) You have the basic ability to perform Alchemy. +2% power to all potions and poisons +You can strip ingredients 5% faster
Skill Gained: Basic Poisons (lvl 1) You have the basic ability to create poisons. +5% more power to all created poisons
Ciar smiled, leaned back, and mumbled, "Got em''". Luna''s eyebrows shot up, and she sat forward, her face full of shock. "You got what? You got the skills, just like that? That''s impossible, that is literally impossible!" Ciar smiled sheepishly at her, "Well, I have a skill that lets me learn things much faster....." "What? That is so not fair. You just learn skills that easily! No no no, I have never heard of a Fellite having a skill like that. How did you get it?" "I''m afraid I cannot tell you that yet." Ciar said, shutting himself off to her pleading. If she knew that he was a Primordial Oblivion, she would likely hate him. His Progenitor had been responsible for the mutation that caused the Fellites to emerge, as well as the splitting of the world. Minutes later, the period ended and Luna left the class. She was taking basic potions, which was next door. Ciar remained seated, waiting for the next class to start. Miss Janiva taught both Basic Alchemy and Basic Poisons, though from her philosophy of do not tell, he was not quite sure if she truly taught anything. Before class started, the table in front of him suddenly shifted back into the ground, disappearing from sight as the ground closed above it. Basic Poisons started the same way as Basic Alchemy. Miss Janiva told the class to experiment, summoned the tables, now freshly stocked with new stones and ingredients, and went back to reading her book. In Basic Poisons, the students did not choose partners. Each student had their own work table and set of ingredients. Ciar spent the rest of class replicating the Slow Poison until he ran out of ingredients. He then decided to experiment with other ingredients, but had no luck. The class was not without fruit though, as he was greeted with two messages just before his Vesper needles and Memrior leaves ran out.
Basic Alchemy has reached (lvl 2) You have the basic ability to perform Alchemy. +4% power to all potions and poisons +You can strip ingredients 10% faster
Basic Poisons has reached (lvl 2) You have the basic ability to create poisons. +10% more power to all created poisons
Content with his progress, Ciar exited the building and went to his 8th class of the day, Basic Enchanting. The class was taught by Sir Medwards, a clean shaven, older man with pure white hair. He spent the entire class talking about the history of enchanting and how to perform it. Ciar ignored the history part, but paid close attention to the explanation on how enchanting works. What he gathered from the lecture was that to enchant something, you had to have a stone of that particular element. Since stones with Time, Space, Gravity, and Reality ''elements'' were extremely rare, items with enchantments in these fields were extremely valuable. Ciar briefly thought about the Endo, the double bladed sword from Basic Technological Weapons. It has several gravity enchantments on it, and even had mana strengthening and sharpening enchantments on it. The stones for the final two were also extremely rare. For the first time, Ciar truly had a real appreciation for the value of the weapon. In order to enchant the weapon, the enchanted draws the essence out of the stone, and funnels it through their body, mixing it with their mana before pushing it into the object. The enchanter than uses his mana to manipulate the essence into doing what he desires. If the enchanter does not have enough mana to perform the enchantment and properly control the essence, it will react violently, often destroying both the stone and the weapon. As a result, complicated enchantments were much harder to do and were coveted by almost everyone. To put multiple enchantments on the same weapon, they had to be layered on top of each other. The essence of the second enchantment would have to blanket the first enchantment, but not infringe upon it. Doing this, along with manipulating the essence to perform the required enchantment, required a level of control and skill almost none possessed. Multi-enchantment weapons were some of the most valuable weapons in the world. Ciar left the class excited to enchant his own armor and weapons, while also holding a new appreciation for the creator of the Endo. Chapter 10: Psionic Studies and Lost Arts Ciar entered his Psionic Studies room and looked around. The room was quite unique, even for Lunaris. To start, the entire room was made of smooth stone. Four large pillars held up a ceiling that stretched about 10 meters above Ciar''s head. A variety of objects were scattered around the room, ranging from small boxes to massive boulders. In the very center of the room, in a space that was void of clutter, a basic classroom setup was present. There were about 30 chairs, with no desks in front of them. Facing the chairs was a single, plain wood desk. The only thing of interest in the classroom was the five red orbs that sat on the desk, each pulsing with a faint light. Ciar sat down near the back of the chairs, and quietly waited for class to start. Just as the period started, Felix entered the room. He strode leisurely to a position in front of his desk, and faced the students, his hands clasped behind his back. He did a quick headcount, then nodded in satisfaction. "Good, all 22 are present. Now, as I am sure you all know, I am Sir Felix, the Grandmaster Psionic of Lunaris. I am the only teacher of Psionic Arts in this institute. I found at a young age I had no affinity for normal magic, but found my calling in Psionic Magic. Does anyone here know what Psionic Magic is?" He announced, ending his introduction with a question. The class sat there for a bit, stunned. This was the first instructor to actually ask a question besides "Understand?" Finally, a female student near the front raised her hand. Felix nodded to her, and she began to speak. "Uhh, the Psionic Arts are the use of one''s mind to manipulate the world around them. Things like telepathy, telekinesis, and mental attacks." She said nervously. "You are mostly correct, Miss, but you are wrong on one point. It is not actually the mind that is used to perform Psionic Arts, but simply your mana. Now, you may wonder what I am talking about, after all, everyone can manipulate their mana at will, correct? No. Mana can only impact other people directly, such as picking them up, when mixed with some form of essence. Now, Psionic Arts does not have a traditional essence. What we harness is called the mind essence. It is the embodiment of our own mind and consciousness. To find it, you must search inside yourself. Every person has mind essence, but only a few can find it. It concentrates itself into a ball inside of you, waiting to be used. Harness this energy, and you can truly become a Psionic." He said. As he finished, his brow furrowed slightly. Slowly, every single boulder and box in the room, around 100 in all, rose into the air. Each object slowly began to spin, then crashed back down to floor. Ciar, despite himself, found himself staring awestruck at Felix. He had assumed the man was powerful, given his position and relationship with the director, but to be able to lift thousands of kilograms without even saying a spell or lifting a hand to help guide the essence, was insane. "As you can see, despite not directly harming opponents like fire, Psionics are quite powerful. Another application, as you said miss, is mental attacks. Now, to perform this, you harness your essence, and then try to insert it into the essence of another person. This is incredibly difficult to do, as not only must you control your own essence perfectly, but you must also find another person''s essence and attack it. This will require years of practice before you can even attempt to assault someone''s mind." This time, every student in the room bent over in pain, clutching their heads. Ciar sat in the back, unaffected. He assumed that Felix had performed a minor mental attack on all the students, but he could not tell. This was due to another one of his racial abilities, Void Mind.
Void Mind Your mind is one with the void. +Immune to mental attacks -Emotions are dulled significantly (WARNING: OVERRIDDEN)
Felix, seeing that Ciar was unaffected, smiled at him knowingly. Ciar simply smiled back, then sat there silently as the students began to recover. He received some pointed stares from students, but shrugged them off like usual.Felix waited for the students to recover before continuing. "Now, I know that being attacked mentally is a bad experience, but I wanted you to understand the power you are about to gain access to. Psionics are extremely rare and powerful individuals, as they can manipulate people to their whim without lifting a finger. You are all going to become powerful individuals if you work hard in this class. Now, any questions before you begin meditation?" He asked. Ciar raised his hand, a slight smile on his face. "How can you defend yourself from mental attacks? It seems unlikely that Psionic Magic is invincible." "Very good question, Sir. In order to defend yourself from a mental attack, you must put up a layer of mind essence around your core mind essence. This is usually done by drawing out the outer layer of your mind essence, infusing it with your mana, and creating a barrier around the inside. You can then manipulate this buffer to stop pointed streams of enemy mind essence that are attacking you. With enough practice this will become second nature to you. Now, if nobody else has questions, I would ask that each of you attempt to find your mind essence for the remainder of class." With those words, he went behind his desk and sat down, closing his eyes. Ciar began to search inside of himself, trying to find his mind essence. Surprisingly, unlike time and gravity essence, he found it incredibly quickly. A small ball of essence swirled just behind his forehead, waiting to be used. He injected his mana into it, and began to pull the essence out of the ball. To his surprise, unlike gravity and time essence, his mind essence was tinged with gray. Ciar assumed this was an the effect of his Void Mind ability, so he ignored it. Pulling the majority of the essence out, he pushed it toward one of the smaller boulders. He had chosen to hide his ability in other classes, but he had already resisted Felix''s mind attack in this one. Many students probably already thought he knew Psionic Magic, so manipulating an object quickly would probably only make them believe he had experience. His essence now firmly around the boulder, he focused on lifting it into the air. It was much more difficult than he thought it would be. Nearly ten minutes later, Ciar was sweating profusely, but was also smiling with satisfaction. He had managed to lift the boulder off the ground about a centimeter, and received the two skills he wanted.
Skill Gained: Basic Mind Manipulation (lvl 1) The basic ability to conform the essence of mind to your will.
Skill Gained: Basic Telekinesis (lvl 1) The basic ability to manipulate objects with mind essence. +5% mind essence power
Upon receiving the skills, the boulder had seemingly become slightly lighter. Ciar figured that the power boost from Basic Telekinesis had made his essence slightly stronger. Relaxing his grip on the boulder, he allowed it to drop to the ground with a small thud. Glancing around him, he saw all the other students staring at him in wonder. "How can he already do that?" "Wh-What? How? I haven''t even found my essence yet!" "And I thought my 60% affinity was high, he must have at least 90%"If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "Hmmph, he probably had prior experience, how else would he have lifted that boulder and remained unharmed when Sir Felix attacked..." Ciar listened to his classmates murmur for a bit before returning his attention to the boulder. He focused on lifting it again, hoping to increase his skill. Sadly, no progress was made by the time the period ended. As Ciar was rising to leave, he heard Felix speak from behind him. "Sir Ciar, would you please with me a moment, I would like a word." Worried he had done something wrong, Ciar turned and walked nervously to Felix. The instructor glared at the students who glanced at Ciar, ushering them out of the room. When the room was empty of other students, Felix turned to Ciar, a smile on his face. "You are exceptionally skilled, Ciar. I had always heard stories about how skilled "void-touched" beings were, but seeing it in person is a different experience all together!" "Ummm, thank you Sir Felix...if this is what you wanted to talk to me about...." Ciar said hesitantly. "Oh no, no, no. I am not going to ask you about your "condition." I simply want to offer you additional lessons after class. As I am sure you could tell, I am quite profficient in Psionic Arts, and I know many secrets that I won''t be willing to share with the class. You, however, I think have the potential to surpass even me at Psionic Arts. Think about it! Psionic Arts are some of the most powerful magics in the world, and I could turn you into a Grandmaster." Ciar considered the offer. It was true Felix was incredibly powerful, and that Psionic Arts would help him become much more powerful. However, he was already taking private lessons from the Miss Fellana and he did not want all his free time to be consumed by personal tutors. He needed time to experiment with his own magic. He wanted to work on controlling his Void Power, using Void Magic, and learning space and reality magic as quickly as possible. To do this, he needed alone time in his room to experiment. Besides, he also wanted to spend some time with Ryle and Luna, doing things children his age normally did. "I-I''m sorry Sir Felix, but I must decline. I''m already taking private instructions from Miss Fellana, and I would like some time after classes that I can use as I wish...." Felix nodded slowly, his smile never fading. "I understand, Ciar. Don''t worry about it, it was just an offer. Now, you better hurry on to your next class, I hear that instructor doesn''t appreciate late students." He said. "Is there something special about the Lost Arts instructor?" Ciar asked. "Oh, you''ll find out when you get there. Now run along." Felix said mysteriously as he guided Ciar towards the door. After Ciar left, Felix walked slowly back to his desk, his expression no longer one of joy. He muttered to himself, his voice angry. "I had hoped he would take the lessons. It would have been much easier that way. No, no, Fellana can just influence him, she knows how....it''s just a small setback. I can''t push him to hard, or he might go the complete opposite direction. Best to back off for now, let Fellana take it slow....." --------------------------------- Ciar stood inside his Lost Arts classroom, staring open-mouthed at the instructor. "Director Hendricks?" he stammered. Before him stood the director of the academy, though he was no longer dressed in his formal attire. His two horns glowed with a faint heat as he smiled at Ciar. "That is correct, Ciar. I am the instructor the Lost Arts class, and you are the only student. I left the director meeting early in order to teach you this. You see, the moment I learned you were "void-touched," I knew this class would be possible. Ciar, nobody but you can learn what I will teach you in this classroom." "Wha-what will you be teaching me?" Ciar asked. "A lost art of hand to hand fighting. It was feared as one of, if not the, most powerful martial form before The Sundering. Sadly, all practitioners of the art died during The Sundering, and all records of the art were lost." "Then...how do you know it?" Hendricks winked at Ciar. "That will be my little secret, if you don''t mind me keeping it. The martial form is called Udo, and was practiced by the Black Chord, the most deadly group of assassins before The Sundering. It prioritizes agility, mana enhanced movement, and terrific power. Sadly, even if the art was not lost, it would be impossible to practice with the current ages knowledge of body enhancement. You, however, possess a special body, if I am not mistaken. This body of yours will allow you to learn the art in full without repercussions. A fair bit of warning before we start though, this form will require dedication to learn. Your enhanced learning ability will help, but I believe it will not be as successful as it was in your other classes." Ciar''s mind reeled. First, Hendricks had implied that he had been around since before The Sundering. This would mean he had been human at one point, and was over 500 years old. Second, he understood Ciar had a special body. At first, Ciar had thought that Fellana had told him, but Hendricks had known about it since before he joined the academy. Finally,he knew about Ciar''s learning ability. This ability wasn''t even a product of being "void-touched,'' meaning either Hendricks thought it was, or he knew what Ciar truly was. Stepping back, Ciar spoke, his voice cold. "What do you know, Hendricks." The Director raised an eyebrow, then sighed, his voice soft and calm, "I mean you no harm, Ciar, if that is what your asking. Trust me on this, even if I did know about your true nature, I would not share it with anyone, not even Felix. I know enough not to piss off the Progenitor. You can relax Ciar, I simply want to make you stronger, and Udo can do that." Ciar relaxed slightly. It was reassuring that Hendricks knew about the Progenitor. While it brought up more questions about his true identity, it also proved to Ciar that the man meant no harm. Anyone with knowledge of his true nature and his Progenitor, would know that killing him would not be wise. "Alright, I''ll trust you Hendricks. Now, teach me about this....Udo." Ciar said. "First, you must learn the basic form. I am going to teach you the first stance of the art. Just this stance alone will take you several days to perfect, even with your ability." he said. Ciar was doubtful, thinking only of the stance as a simple way of standing. He was quickly proved wrong, however. Hendricks instructed him to stand with his feet slightly past shoulder width, the left foot slightly in front of the right. He then positioned Ciar''s hands so that they hovered in front of his face, palm open and facing away from him. Ciar was then told to bend his knees slightly and straighten his fingers. "This is the basic stance. Now, for the hard part. Use the Void Power inside of you. Infuse it into your muscles, your skin, your bones, your blood. Make your body Void. You have the power inside of you, it is simply the application of it that matters." Casting his surprise about Hendricks knowledge aside, Ciar focused. He grasped at the rampant energy inside of him, and tried to infuse it into his muscles. He found it nearly impossible. The power refused to stay in his muscles, and often times the power caused the muscle to bulge grotesquely. In those situations, Ciar was forced to quickly withdraw the power, then return it slowly, healing the damage done to his body. Time passed, and unbeknownst to him, his final period of the day ended. Ciar remained in the Lost Arts room, under Hendricks careful gaze, attempting to fuse the power with his muscles. Finally, 6 hours after he started, Ciar succeeded in the first portion of fusing his power with his body. His muscles were now tinged a faint gray, just like his skin and horns. When he shifted his body, he could feel the power inside of it. He felt as if, with just this alone, he could obliterate enemies into the void with a single punch. Off to the side, Hendricks began to clap. "Congratulations, Ciar. You have finished the first part of the form. Your muscles will remain like that permanently. Naturally, you can still work out and have them grow. As they grow, you will need to rebalance the Void Power so that it remains evenly infused. You should be much more powerful with that enhancement, so be careful. Don''t go around accidently pulling doors off hinges. Now, hurry up and get to bed, its past 11 o''clock." Ciar did not reply, as a sudden wave of exhaustion rendered him unable to speak. He stumbled, and was caught by Hendricks before he could fall. "Hmm, it appears it was much more stressful on you than I thought. I will inform your teachers that you won''t attend class tomorrow. Now.....Sleep." Hendricks finished his statement with a command. Ciar felt a vibration of power in the speech, and then everything went black. Chapter 11: First Tournament Battle Ciar scooted his chair forward and leaned his elbows on the table. The chatter in the restaurant was more lively than usual. This was because the first tournament of the year was approaching. The bi-weekly tournaments started three weeks after the school year began, giving the new students a chance to grow their power to a respectable level before competing. Of course, Ciar was ignoring the surrounded noise, focusing instead on the person sitting across from him. Luna smiled as she took a sip of water, the pearl necklace sparkling in the bright lights of the restaurant. Ciar and Luna had slowly drawn closer to each other over the past weeks. While Ciar still spent a lot of his time alone, he had found his favorite times were when he was with Luna. Sure, hanging out with Ryle, when the older student found time to get away from his other freinds, was fun, but he just didn''t click with Ciar like Luna did. The way she spoke, how she accepted him, her polite but relaxed manners...she was almost perfect. "You gonna participate in the tournaments Ciar? I bet you could win a lot of Lun from winning the tournaments." She said, swirling the water in her glass. "I don''t know, Luna. Of course I want the extra Lun, the respect winning garners, the pride of being the best, but at the same time...I feel like showing my strength has its downsides as well. I mean, I don''t really want all the popularity that could come with it, or the bullying. Looking like...this...is already bad enough." "Oh come on, Ciar. I know you better than that. You can act like you care about their opinions all you want, but I know you don''t. I''ve seen how you brush off...no...completely disregard their looks. There''s no downside to you participating in the tournament, just do it! View it as a break from your studies, alright. We both know that is something you need." She insisted. Ciar slid down in his chair, a sigh escaping his lips. "Luna...I...I just want to study in peace. All the publicity it-" "Oh hush," she interrupted, "don''t hide it from me Ciar, you don''t want attention brought to US. Your worried what your strength might do to US. You seem to forget you are not the only special one here. I may not be participating in the tournament this time, but I can take care of myself fine." "Fine, fine. That is why...and I know you''re right. It''s just...I''m not done training yet, I don''t think I''m ready. Why do you want me to do it so bad, Luna?" Ciar asked, exasperation straining his voice. "Because your stuck up in a damn shell, Ciar. I know there is something more to you, something you don''t even trust me enough to tell. I''m fine with secrets, for now, but I am not fine with you shutting your true self in. You''ve been bottling up an urge to fight for over a week now, and it''s doing more to you than you think." Ciar thought a moment, and realized she was right. His frustration with Udo had been growing recently. The infusion of void into his muscles had gone so smoothly, but the progress since then had been minimal. Hendricks had warned him it wouldn''t come as naturally to him, but he had expected better results. He was secretly leagues ahead of everyone in the other classes, except maybe alchemy. He had progressed with incredible speed in both magic and sword fighting. Udo, however, had continued to elude him. His blood refused to fuse completely with Void Power. The frustration had slowly grown into a repressed anger waiting to be released. Perhaps he did need a release. The tournament would be a perfect avenue to vent before he got back to studying. Besides, Luna was right, his worries were foolish. Luna was probably second only to him in strength among the first years, he had nothing to worry about. "Alright, Luna, I''ll do it. You''re right, it will be a good way to vent my frustration. I''m sorry, if I haven''t been myself." Luna smiled brilliantly at him, reaching a hand across the table and folding his hand in hers. Her grip was soft and warm as she squeezed gently. "Apology accepted. It''s just, next time, tell me about it okay? It''s foolish to bottle it all up inside." She said. Despite himself, Ciar began to chuckle. Soon, he had lost control of himself, doubling over the table, muffling his laughter as much as possible with his sleeve. Luna sat back, confusion flashing briefly across her face. "What?" She demanded. Trying to regain a semblance of control, Ciar responded, "It-it''s just, for one so young you sure do give off sage advice. ''It''s foolish to bottle it all up inside,'' she says, ''it''s doing more than you know,'' she says." Luna feigned an offended look before she too began to laugh. Ciar and Luna spent the rest of the night chatting at the restaurant. When Ciar finally left for the night, he could not help but ponder his situation with Luna. Despite living with emotions for several years now, he was still quite new to it all. The way he felt when he was with Luna was so much different than with his parents. With his parents, he cared dearly for them, but it was more because they had cared and nurtured him than deep seated feelings. With Luna, it was different. He felt something deeper when he was with her...something he couldn''t yet explain. ''Perhaps, this is what the mortals have always referred to as love?'' He pondered before dimming the lights and going to sleep. ------------------------------------- There were two kinds of bi-weekly tournaments. There were smaller tournaments that only individual classes, such as Psionic Studies, would participate in. These were used to determine who was the student leader of the class, and the rewards were smaller. The second kind was the class-wide tournament. Not only was this tournament much bigger, but it also boasted better rewards. Much more Lun was rewarded for the large tournament, and the winner would have the honors of being recognized as the strongest in the class. Naturally, Ciar enlisted his name in the larger tournament, alongside 95 others. Four people, including Luna, had refused to participate in the tournament. Luna had said that, while she was a great mage, she did not wish to face Ciar in the arena as of yet. He had offered to forfeit, but this had only angered the girl. She had made him promise that, if she participated in the future, he would attack her with full force. With 96 total participants, the bracket was split into two sides of 48 each. When the numbers narrowed down to 3 on each side, the brackets fused, and another round was held to determine top three. The three remaining students then faced each other all at the same time to determine the winner. Some people found this controversial, as someone could win by backstabbing opponents when they were occupied with the other. Lunaris, however, refused to change the rules, stating if someone was fast enough to capitalize on such a moment, they deserved the win. The matches were held over the course of three days: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The arena was split into 4 sections, with a duel happening in each. While this limited the audience''s ability to see all of the fights, it expedited what would have otherwise been an incredibly long tournament. Despite the tournaments being limited to only the first four years students attended the school, the tournaments still ran over the majority of the time. Ciar had signed up on Thursday night, making him the last to sign up. His first battle was scheduled for 10 AM on Friday, against a kid called Hyder. Positioning his sword on his right hip, Ciar left his dorm at 9 30, arriving slightly early. He found his way to the combatants waiting area, where he awaited his turn. Finally, his time came, and he rose from his chair, walking out of the double doors into the arena. Ciar momentarily froze when he entered, stunned by sight of the arena. Almost all of the 1250 seats were filled with spectators, all of them cheering loudly at the combat below them. Turning his attention away from the crowd, Ciar focused on what would be his portion of the arena. The ground was a light, sandy material Ciar could not recognize, and there were no obstacles placed around the arena. The walls, made of enchanted iron, rose nearly 10 meters up on the perimeter. A mana shield hummed to life, sealing off his quarter of the Arena. Finally finished familiarizing himself with the terrain, he turned his attention to his opponent.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Hyder was a large, muscular youth. His chestnut hair was long and tangled, coming down to his shoudlers. His horns curved backward and shone a sleek red. His beady, black eyes stared at Ciar, his disgust evident. He stepped forward, his elaborate, heavy mail rattling. He hoisted a battle hammer off of his shoulders and slammed the head into the ground, sneering at Ciar. "So," he said, his high pitched voice not matching his appearance, "it''s the defective runt of a commoner. Why don''t you run back to the whore that birthed an abomination like you and leave us real Fellites in peace, eh? You and your filthy, disgusting girlfriend are as bad as the damn humans." Ciar did not respond, but he felt a rage boiling up inside of him. He could ignore the insults to himself and his mother, but Luna was a different matter. His gaze hardened, and he placed the sword he had drawn back in its scabbard. While he couldn''t kill the boy due to rules and the time magic of the arena, he could still humiliate him. He would beat him soundly with his fists until the boy bent over and begged. Then, he would keep beating him until an adult intervened. His eyes never leaving Hyder, he shifted his feet to slightly past shoulder width. Bringing his hands up in front of his face, Ciar bent his elbows slightly, keeping his palms towards Hyder. While the fusing of Void Power and his body was a top priority for Udo, that did not mean he had not learned some of the basic, less strenuous maneuvers. Ciar was confident. If his fists failed, he could simply defeat Hyder with Psionic Magic. Finally, a bell rang inside the shield, prompting the beginning of the dual. Hyder ran forward, raising the warhammer above his head. He shouted at he swung viciously toward Ciar''s head. Ciar''s feet shifted forward and left as he avoided the blow, crouching down as he did so. His hands flew in a blur, his right slipping between Hyder''s arms and grasping his right forearm, pulling down while his palm made contact with the underside of Hyder''s elbow, blasting it upward. Despite his armor, Hyder''s arm bent awkwardly, and a small snap followed by a scream. Ciar released his opponent and leapt backward, distancing himself from Hyder. If he had managed to fuse his Void Power with his blood, he would have been confident in following up with a strike to the sternum. Currently, though, he was not confident in breaking the armor, so he chose to retreat. He eyed Hyder, watching as the boy clutched at his arm, the hammer forgotten on the ground. Ciar smiled and leapt forward, amplifying his jump with Void Power. His right knee connected squarely with Hyder''s nose, snapping his head backwards. As his knee connected, Ciar''s left hand planted itself firmly on Hyder''s shoulder, finding the spot where his armor joined the shoulder plate to the main chest. Hyder''s shoulder popped out of place as Ciar was boosted into the air and over Hyder''s head. Using a slight boost from gravity magic to keep himself airborne, Ciar, now behind Hyder, twisted completely around, his hands reaching out for Hyder''s neck. His hands grasping Hyder''s throat, Ciar thrust back and down, toppling Hyder backwards and slamming his head against the ground. Landing lightly on his feet, Ciar carried his momentum, flipping backwards away from his downed opponent. Ciar watched Hyder, looking for any signs of movement. He did not expect to see any, and he was not disappointed. When he grasped Hyder''s throat, he had applied enough Void Power to seriously fracture it. That, combined with the slam onto the ground had probably broken the vertebrae in several locations. Ciar knew that Hyder wasn''t dead, just paralyzed, so he did not worry about the consequences. He looked up at the crowd, and was met with silent, gaping faces. He smiled bitterly to himself as he walked toward the gate. He knew that he was not expected to win, and he also knew the brutality he had shown was not something people usually showcased at the tournament. Ciar did not care. This tournament was an avenue through which he could release the anger he had pent up over the last week, and also a way he could improve himself. As the door closed behind him, Ciar checked his status.
Status
Name: Ciar Race: Primordial Oblivion (Primordial)
Age: 8 years (about 50 million years) Sex: male
Fame: 0 Currency: 0G,0S,0C
Class: none Subclass: none Subclass: none Subclass: none
Level: 4 (0/160) Skill Points: 60
Titles
none
Attributes
Health: 120/120 Void Power: 300/300
Health Regen: 1.5/min Void Power Regen: 2.0/min
Strength: 12 Constitution: 12 Dexterity: 6 Perception: 6
Intelligence: 30 Wisdom: 25 Willpower: 25 Spirit: NA
(sub)Physical Resistance: 12 (sub)Magic Resistance: 25
Skills
Void Body (MAX) Void Mind (MAX) Void Power (MAX) Void Control (MAX)
Primordial Oblivion (MAX) Status Conceal (MAX) Basic Sword Mastery (lvl 3) Basic Dodge (lvl 3)
Basic Gravity Manipulation (lvl 3) Basic Space Manipulation (lvl 2) Basic Time Manipulation (lvl 3) Basic Reality Manipulation (lvl 2)
Basic Mind Manipulation (lvl 4) Basic Telekinesis (lvl 3) Udo (lvl 2) none
Spells
none
He had improved a lot over the past 3 weeks, especially in his Psionic Magic. He had discovered that fusing the Void Power with his muscles had not only improved his physical attributes, but also his total Void Power. He also believed that his physical stats were lower than his bodies actual power. Of course, he really had nothing to base it on, as he had not had a physical body before coming here, but he had a feeling. Ciar also noticed his status was getting to be a bit long. After experimenting a bit, he found he could organize it to suit his needs with simple thought commands. After he was finished, Ciar also decided to allocate his Skill Points. He had not done so yet because he wanted to know where he was at in a real fight before applying them. The spars he had with Herold in Basic Weapons Training barely counted as a real fight. The tournament fight, however, had given him a general understanding of his strength, so he was ready now. When he was finished, he called up his edited status.
Status
Name: Ciar Race: Primordial Oblivion (Primordial)
Age: 8 years (about 50 million years) Sex: male
Fame: 0 Currency: 0G,0S,0C
Class: none Subclass: none Subclass: none Subclass: none
Level: 4 (0/160) Skill Points: 0
Titles
none
Attributes
Health: 200/200 Void Power: 500/500
Health Regen: 1.5/min Void Power Regen: 2.0/min
Strength: 20 Constitution: 20 Dexterity: 11 Perception: 10
Intelligence: 45 Wisdom: 45 Willpower: 25 Spirit: NA
(sub)Physical Resistance: 20 (sub)Magic Resistance: 25
Skills
Racial skills Void Body (MAX) Void Mind (MAX) Void Power (MAX) Void Control (MAX) Primordial Oblivion (MAX) Status Conceal (MAX) Melee Skills Basic Sword Mastery (lvl 3) Basic Dodge (lvl 3) Udo (lvl 2) Manipulation Basic Gravity Manipulation (lvl 3) Basic Space Manipulation (lvl 2) Basic Time Manipulation (lvl 3) Basic Reality Manipulation (lvl 2) Basic Mind Manipulation (lvl 4) Other Skills Basic Telekinesis (lvl 3)
Spells
none
Ciar was very pleased with his status. He knew he was exceptionally powerful for a person of his level. Nobody his level would have his status. In fact, he was as a level 7 fighter. Ciar, certain that his victory in the tournament was assured, relaxed as he waited for his next fight. Chapter 12: Hendrickss Offer Ciar withdrew his blade from his opponent''s stomach, letting the dying girl fall to the ground. Seconds later, the time magic took effect, and everything reversed to the state it was before the start of the match. This time, when Ciar looked to the crowd, they were cheering. This was his third fight of the tournament, and he had won in convincing fashion. His opponent was clearly not as strong as he was, nor as fast. She had been forced to defend each of his strikes with two hands, and eventually she slipped. Ciar had capitalized on the opportunity, and stabbed her through the stomach. It was not as brutal as his fight against Hyder, nor was it as boring as his last fight, where he simply picked up his opponent and slammed him against the wall of the arena, so the crowd was slightly entertained. Exiting the arena, Ciar once again waited for the round to finish. He was one of only 12 people left on his side of the bracket. From this point forward, the people that had gotten lucky in advancing were gone, defeated by the truly strong. His next fight would be different from the last three. It had been 6 hours since the tournament began, but the crowd had not dwindled. This was a time of celebration, where everyone could relax and forget about their studies. Once again, the doors leading to the arena swung open, and Ciar walked into the light. The crowd cheered at his appearance, but when his opponent entered, they went into a frenzy. Ciar could faintly hear the announcer, his magic enhanced voice introducing the combatants. "And now, we have Ciar Sycer, the unknown boy whose strength and viciousness have been on full display this tournament. Facing him, we have Figor Dyno, the son of Count Dyno and heir to the Dyno House. The bets have been placed, with odds of 4:1 in Dyno''s favor, we will see if Ciar can somehow defeat him!" ''Figor Dyno....I recognize that name. People around campus are always gossiping about him. I guess he''s impressive.'' Ciar focused on the boy, who was twirling two short swords in lazy circles. He wasn''t much older than Ciar, perhaps 9 or 10, but he was much taller. He stood around 1.5 meters tall, with broad shoulders for his age. His horns protruded over 2 centimeters from his head, glowing a slight orange. His hair was short and black, his eyes a piercing yellow. He wore an elaborate set leather bracers, shin guards, and gloves. His chest was protected by a leather cuirass with a Dragon emblazoned on it, the sigil of Dyno House. He glanced at Ciar, a look of disdain and dismissal on his face. When the bell rang, he spat on the ground, before slowly approaching Ciar. Ciar drew his weapon and set himself in position. Figor didn''t rush into the fight as his previous opponents did, but instead studied Ciar''s stance for several seconds before launching an attack. Ciar was surprised at his speed, as the boy covered the remaining 2 meters in less than a second, his left blade sweeping for Ciar''s midsection. Ciar opted to dodge the attack, wary of crossing his blade over his body to block it. The sword swished past his chest, and Figor carried the momentum into a crouching spin, unleashing both blades at Ciar''s legs. This time, Ciar brought his blade across his body to block the strike. Upon contact, Ciar was forced to stumble back, the power behind the blow surprising him. Gritting his teeth, he lept backwards as quickly as possible, narrowly avoiding a thrust. He raised his right hand, trying to grasp Figor with Telekinesis. Surprisingly, the Mind essence was met with a wall of resistance when he tried to surround Figor''s body. The boy smiled at him, unleashing a blast of fire from his body. Ciar leapt back, powering his maneuver with a hefty chunk of Void Power. He knew now why Figor was highly regarded by the crowd. He was quite good with his blades, and also had an excellent aptitude for magic. Resolving in his mind to learn some actual spells from his instructors after this fight, Ciar sheathed his blade, dropping into Udo''s first stance. Figor stopped his advance abruptly, a look of confusion on his face. "What martial art is that? I don''t recognize it at all" He asked. "Not your concern, Figor." Ciar answered flatly. "Hmmph, it won''t matter what it is, your a fool to fight blades with your fists!" He shouted, suddenly angry. Ciar didn''t wait for Figor to attack. His body flashed forward in a blur, his right palm snapping out. Suddenly, Ciar crouched, abandoning his attack as a sword whistled over his head. His eyes shifting left, he was Figor''s second sword cutting straight for his face. Ciar pushed upward, jumping into the air, leaping over the blade. He realized his mistake too late to dodge. Figor''s sword, which he had just ducked, was returning for his face. Doing the only thing he could, Ciar concentrated his Void Power in his right hand and sent a palm strike across his body. When the blade and his hand met, Ciar felt an extreme pain, and then a sudden lack of fingers. Ciar tumbled to the ground and bounded away without thinking. He stared at his hand, now severed from the palm up. Glancing up, Ciar saw Figor walking slowly toward him, his swords once again twirling slowly. Realizing he had time, Ciar focused his Void Power on regeneration. The crowd, that had been cheering at the first sight of blood, quieted in amazement as they watched Ciar''s hand grow back. Gray energy poured from the wound, forming into the shape of a hand. In less than 5 seconds, the energy had turned into flesh, and Ciar''s hand was fully regenerated. He looked up at Figor, who had stopped his advance in amazement. His look of wonder soon turned to one of anger and disbelief. "What? How can you regenerate like that! Impossible, impossible! You...you''re a freak!" He screamed as he leapt forward, abandoning all signs of composure. Ciar frowned in concentration as he focused on Figor''s blades. He knew he could not attack his body with Telekinesis, but his swords might be different. Ciar stood perfectly still, reaching out with his Mind Essence. He could have simply focused on the sword and thought the command ''Telekinesis,'' but he had learned that manual control not only raised the level of the skill faster, but also brought about better results. Figor''s sword swept downward for Ciar''s head, clearly aiming to kill. With a final burst of power, Ciar succeeded in taking control of the blade, stopping its advance less than a centimeter from his face. Figor''s body continued clumsily forward, off balance from the sudden halt of the sword. Ciar stepped forward, lashing out with his palm. The strike connected with Figor''s chest, causing the boy to cough a mixture of blood and bile all over Ciar. Ignoring the fluid, Ciar continued his assault, landing a blow to the underside of Figor''s jaw, breaking it. His next strike broke several ribs on Figor''s left side. and his final one caved the boy''s chest in. Stepping back, Ciar examined Figor. He was on the ground, his blades forgotten as he grasped at his chest. The time magic took effect, and Ciar watched as Figor''s body reverted to a healthy state. The boy struggled to his feet, glaring at Ciar. "You don''t deserve this! Your just a filthy commoner that has no right to be here. You don''t have true strength...your just a mutated monster that should be hunted down and purified at the stake!" Ciar smiled at him before responding, "Perhaps you''re right...perhaps I don''t have true strength. But it''s clear I didn''t need it to defeat you a pampered noble like you, Figor. You lost, get the fuck out of the arena." Figor''s eyes widened and he stammered, unable to form words. Nobody had ever dared speak to him that way, his father was a count! His face contorted in rage as he lunged at Ciar, seeking to destroy him with his fists. Ciar was about to move when someone flashed in front of him. Figor''s body struck the arena wall so hard the mana shield flickered and the wall behind it cracked. He fell to the ground, unconscious. A voice spoke, cold and domineering. "For violating the terms of the tournament and attacking a victor after a defeat, Figor Dyno is henceforth banned from all minor tournaments for the remainder of this year. Any earnings he would have received for advancing this far will be given to Ciar Sycer as reparation for his deeds." Finished with his announcement, the man turned to Ciar, his hands folded behind his back. "Go back to the waiting room and get ready for your next fight, there is nothing more to see here." "Yes sir!" Ciar said, bowing his head slightly before turning around and exiting the silent arena. The power the man had used had stunned Ciar. To be able to crack a mana shield and even damage what was behind it, was a feat of strength Ciar knew he would not be able to match for years, no matter his rate of improvement. Ciar used the time between matches to calm his nerves. He knew he had made an enemy in Figor Dyno, but he did not really care. He knew that if he were to win the tournament, he would make some enemies along the way. Not everyone could forget a defeat in the arena, and Figor was one of them. It was an expected result, and Ciar had resolved before joining that he would simply deal with the problems afterwards. His next two fights, while difficult, were not as hard as his fight against Figor. He had advanced under the cheers of the crowd to the final round. Ever since his victory over Figor, and the subsequent rash actions of the boy, Ciar''s popularity had soared. The odds of winning had been in his favor ever since, and the crowd has roared every time his name was announced. Ciar would be lying if he said he did not enjoy the fame. While he had not originally wanted attention, he had admit that it felt good to be cheered for. It felt good to know that people didn''t seem to care about his appearance, as long as he could fight. The beginning of the final round was different than the others. All three combatants, Ciar from his bracket and two from the other, were gathered together in one spot. Glancing at his competition, Ciar couldn''t help but smile. Both of his opponents seemed to be hand-to-hand experts. Neither carried a visible weapon, and both carried themselves with a quiet confidence of the strong. To his left was a short, stocky boy that was completely bald. He wore a loose, sleeveless robe, showing off his rippling muscles. To his right was a skinny, short girl with cross cropped hair. She wore a tight fitting, sleeveless top and tight pants. Obviously she prioritized freedom of movement over protection. Ciar nodded at both of them. The boy didn''t respond, but the girl nodded back at him, her eyes deadly serious. After the awkward greeting, all three stood silently, waiting for the doors to open. The trio could hear the muffled roar of the crowd, presumably in response to something the announcer had said. Finally, the doors opened, turning the muffled noise into a deafening roar. The three walked together into the arena, their eyes scanning the crowd. Over a thousand people screamed and cheered, their excitement beginning to peak. This was the final round of the first-year tournament, the three best fighters pitted against each other. The only shield remaining was the one surrounding the entire arena, leaving the middle open for combat. The announcer stood in the middle of the arena, beckoning to the trio with both arms. "Quickly, quickly! You, stand over there, you over there, and you," he said, pointing to Ciar, "over there." Ciar obeyed quickly, his excitement about the fight growing steadily. When all three took their positions, the announcer began to speak again. "And standing in front of me! The the son of Duke Perrington, Syle Perrington! To my left, the heir to the female dominated Tol house, Ameranda Tol! Finally, to my right, a boy of humble origin, Ciar Sycer! Of these three, only one will claim the title as strongest of the first years!" He paused for effect, then glanced around at the students. "Are you ready?" he asked. All three participants nodded. "Then, Fight!" With the last word, the announcer disappeared into thiln air. Ciar drew his sword and then tossed it behind him. He wanted to fight them with his Udo, to see if it truly was superior. He knew that he did not have much experience with the art, but he wanted to test his limits. He ran towards Perrington, whose fists glowed with a blue flame. Out of his left eye, he saw that Ameranda was also heading to Perrington. The boy slammed his fists together, sending out a small ring of flame, before he charged at Ciar.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Ciar dodged a jab and sent a palm in return. The blow was deflected to the side and Ciar was forced to duck as a high kick whistled through the air. Seeing movement out of his left eye, he lunged forward, away from Ameranda, who had tried to strike him from behind. He twisted around to see Ameranda and Syle exchanging blows. Ciar hesitated, waiting for an opportunity to attack. Moments later, Syle staggered backwards from a glancing blow Ameranda had landed on his shoulder. Ciar, concentrating his Void Power, leapt through the air, aiming his knee Syle''s face. The boy recovered in time and ducked below the knee, pushing Ciar up into the air with both of his hands. Ciar ignored the burning pain from the flames and used his added momentum to flip in mid air, kicking his heel against the back of Syle''s head. The boy stumbled forward, right into a devastating punch from Ameranda. Syle fell to the ground, unconscious, his skull fractured. Ciar landed and turned to face Ameranda. He knew this was where it really counted. In a free for all, it was clear that the first to go would be the one that the others ganged up on. It was not truly a fight of skill, as one was at a disadvantage. Syle had been the unlucky one of the three, and was out as a result. Ameranda raised her fists, each one surrounded by a swirling, green energy. Ciar recognized it as wind magic. Both combatants were now circling each other, looking for openings. Ameranda struck first, her wind powered fist a blur as he jabbed. Ciar responded, using his left hand to push her strike down and away. He lashed out toward her face with his right hand. His forearm was pushed violently to the side, just missing her face. Ciar raised his right leg, blocking a kick with the side of his calf. He felt his shin bone fracture slightly, so he left backwards, quickly using some Void Power to heal the injury. Ameranda advanced again, and the two began a blurred dance of fists and feet. Ciar became acutely aware that Ameranda was more powerful than him about three minutes into the fight. Each of the blows he blocked directly fractured a bone, forcing him to use Void Power to heal him. While he was sure that it had to do with her wind magic, age, and the fact he had not completely fused this body with void, it still was not something he could match at this current time. He found himself dodging or deflecting every blow, constantly in retreat. While he had inflicted some damage on Ameranda, she had not slowed in the slightest. He was fighting a losing battle, and his void power was dwindling. Healing fractured bones did not take much Void Power, but his supply was already running low. He had already used 400 of his 500 Void Power, and he was beginning to grow desperate. When his Void Power dropped below 50, he finally decided to risk something. It was a maneuver he had not yet perfected, and he was not sure if he could do it correctly. So far, he had refrained from risking it, trying to win with attacks he was 100% certain in performing. Now, however, he knew that to win he would have to risk it. Ducking below a kick, Ciar finally saw his chance. Ameranda began to throw another punch at him, and Ciar moved. Focusing all his power on accelerating his speed with time magic, Ciar shifted sideways, allowing the punch to pass by him. Then, he leapt back toward the arm, placing both hands on top of and shoving down. By doing so, he forced Ameranda down and forward, opening her up for an attack. Using the upward force, he twisted his body so he feet for facing Ameranda, his head by her hand. He snapped his right leg back, his heel connecting with Ameranda''s exposed temple. He continued the momentum of his kick and landed on his feet. Ameranda was stumbling, her hands on her head. Not giving her time to recover, Ciar sent a flurry of blows into he midsection, doing as much damage as he could. Slowly, his punches began to slow, exhaustion from lack of Void Power and overexertion beginning to show themselves. It was enough, though. Ameranda fell, motionless to the ground of the arena. Ciar stood their, head down and panting as the crowd roared. The announcer suddenly appeared beside Ciar, and as he grasped Ciar''s arm to lift it into the air, the time magic in the arena took effect, restoring Ciar''s health and Void Power. "And we have our winner! Ciar Sycer is to now be officially recognized as the strongest of the first year students, and will receive the proper rewards! Let''s hear it for Ciar Sycer!" The crowd roared in response, shaking the stadium with their sheer volume. The announcer turned to Ciar, and spoke to him personally. "Congratulations, Ciar. You are officially the youngest in school history to win the tournament, beating Sir Felix''s record by 44 days. As a record holder, you will receive additional rewards on top of the regular winnings. Report to Grand Hall tomorrow morning to choose your rewards. Now, go relax, you''ve earned it." The announcer patted Ciar on the back and steered him toward the exit before turning to the others. As Ciar exited the arena, he felt an immense power assault his mind essence. Ciar fought back with a panic, trying to protect his mind. His fight was short, however, as the opponent quickly destroyed all opposition and entered his mind. "Stop fighting me, Ciar!" A voice rang out in his mind, "I just want to talk to you, it''s Director Hendricks." Ciar immediately stopped struggling and let the foreign essense in. It was a strange feeling, but not an unpleasant one as his essence and Hendricks''s mixed. "First, I apologize for doing it this way, but I needed to contact you before you left. Take the stairs to your right when you enter the main entrance to the arena. Once upstairs go to the third door on the right, I have an offer for you." With that, the essence disappeared, leaving Ciar with his own mind again. ''That must have been telepathy....but to think Hendricks could use Psionic Magic to that level. I thought he specialized in elemental magic, but I guess he''s stronger than I thought. I''ll have to make sure that never happens again. That, or I need to learn to recognize the mind essense of all of my friends.'' Shaking himself, Ciar followed the instructions Hendricks had given him, and soon arrived outside a plain, wooden door on the second level of the arena. Opening, Ciar found Hendricks sitting comfortably in a chair. The director motioned to the empty chair across from him, and Ciar took a seat. Hendricks tilted his head to the side and inspected Ciar, a slight smile on his lips. "Umm, what is it you wanted to talk about, Director Hendricks?" Ciar asked, uncertain from Hendricks''s stare. "Oh, sorry. It''s just you are much more impressive than I first thought. You see, I don''t know if you really understand what beating Felix''s record means, Ciar. When Felix was your age, well slightly older, his Psionic Magic was so strong he could even cause second years to freeze in their tracks. Of course, you beating his record might not mean you are stronger than him, but it is impressive all the same." "Thank you, Director Hendricks, but I''m sure it helps that I have you personally teaching me Udo." Ciar said, slightly embarrassed. "Ahh, yes, Udo. In fact, Udo is part of the reason I called you here today. That art...well...let''s just say I haven''t been completely truthful to you when teaching it." "Wha-what do you mean?" "You see, while it is a martial art that uses your fists and a variety of acrobatic moves to defeat opponents, Udo is partially designed to be used with a weapon. I did not want to teach you the full art, for fear you would fail to learn it. While you are still learning the true basics of Udo, it really is just that - basics. Integrating a weapon into it is what truly makes the art whole, and a style of fighting that surpasses anything this world currently knows. Of course, it''s not all the style that makes the fighter, but Udo in itself is designed to be the most deadly fighting style ever." "So....." Ciar said, trying to wrap his mind around it, "It''s designed for use with a weapon? But all the strikes so far have not incorporated a weapon?" "That is because those strikes are used when the Udo user is disarmed or in to tight of a space to use their weapon. You see, the weapon it is designed for, the Endo, is to large to use effectively in small spaces, even in its single blade form." Ciar''s face lit up at the mention of the Endo. He had been fascinated with the double sided sword ever since he saw it on the first day of school. He had been meaning to ask Hendricks for it, but had never got around to asking the question. Now, it seemed like the weapon was just going to fall into his hands.\ "You mean I''m going to get the Endo? Seriously?" Ciar asked, nearly squealing with excitement. Hendricks laughed, raising a hand to hush Ciar. "Now, there is a catch to it, something you must do before I give you the Endo." "What, what, what, WHAT?" Ciar blurted, nearly shouting the last word. "You see, entrusting an Endo to you is a big risk. The weapon is incredibly rare and powerful, and in the wrong hands, or the hands of the unskilled, it could become a disaster. So...I am proposing a task you must do in order to claim the Endo. Raise your Udo skill level to advanced (lvl 1), one level beyond basic (lvl 10), and win the end of the year school wide tournament. If you succeed in both of these things, you will walk out of Lunaris for break with an Endo in your possession." Ciar sat back, contemplating what Hendricks had said. Of course he would accept the challenge, as he desperately wanted to get his hands on the Endo, even more now that he knew it tied into Udo. However, the proposition was nearly impossible. Winning the tournament at the end of the year would be incredibly difficult. He would be competing with people who had been attending Lunaris for 4 years, and whose level would be much higher. In his mind, just winning the tournament would warrant winning the Endo, but Hendricks wanted him to raise his Udo skill to advanced (lvl 1) as well? Ciar sighed as he inspected his Udo skill.
Basic Udo (lvl 2) A lost martial art the specializes in acrobatic moves and deadly strikes. +4% Void Power channeling +4% to all physical stats when in combat
The skill had only improved itself once: when he had managed to fuse his Void Power with his muscles. Improving it to the next level of the skill would probably require him to infuse his blood with Void Power, which he had continually failed to do. Beyond the infusions, Ciar had no idea how to raise the level of the skill. Nothing he had tried had worked. Despite not knowing how he would accomplish it, Ciar agreed to Hendricks''s offer. "Of course I''ll do it...it''s just, I don''t even know how I''m going to raise Udo to that level...it only improved after I merged my muscles and Void Power." "Good! I knew you would except. Now,the skill will not improve normally till you body has completely merged with your Void Power. After you are finished with that, it will improve with normal sparring, although not as quickly as something like Basic Sword Mastery would. If you want to accomplish this task, I would advise you to ignore tournaments like this in the future. They will be a waste of your time, because as I''m sure you''ve noticed, combat in the tournament does not improve skills. The magic that causes this, even I do not know what it is. From now on, our Lost Arts class will focus on you fusing with your Void Power, and not learning techniques. After you are done merging, we will start training quickly. I assume you find with this?" "Of course, Director Hendricks." Ciar said. Then he looked up, a fierce gleam in his dull, gray eyes. "I look forward to using that Endo." Hendricks laughed loudly before ushering Ciar out of the room, saying he had business attend to. ------------------------------- When the door closed behind Ciar, a shadow in the corner once again shifted forward. "Why do you put so much trust in the boy. To offer to teach him the true form of Udo...what if he becomes corrupt? A true master of that form, not even you could stop easily. Especially if it is him that masters it." The shadow said. "He needs the drive to become stronger. You know as well as I that The Circle will have him in their sights soon enough. I need to get him on my side and make him powerful enough to stand up to them if they decide to use...less diplomatic methods. Specter cannot afford to lose another one...especially him." Hendricks answered, his voice firm. The shadow paused, motionless for a moment before speaking. "The Chair agrees with your decision, 9th Seat Hendricks. The Chair believes your conditions are enough to ensure that the boy is dedicated to the weapon, and allows you enough time to monitor his mental maturement. The Chair cautions you, however, that despite who the boy truly is, he is still young in this world, and is capable of being swayed easily. Keep a close eye on him, and make sure he makes no contact with Circle Operatives." Hendricks sighed at the words, "I thank The Chair for his approval. Now, we will do as advised. Contact another Shadow, i want both of you monitoring Ciar at the same time. If even the slightest thing seems amiss, report it to me. Nobody in this school can be trusted, even if they are screened." "As you command." The shadow said, before once more disappearing into nothingness. NOTICE Sorry for not posting a chapter recently. The school quarter is ending this week so I have a plethora of tests, projects, honor bands, and other things that are clogging my schedule. I should be able to release a new chapter this Saturday, or this Sunday at the latest. After this week the schedule will be back to normal as my days will open up again. Sorry for the delay. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. IGNORE THIS: Since something has to be here and I need characters....This is really annoying. Why is it not 500 characters yet. work work work work work work work work work work work work. Why is this not five hundred characters yet I am sure I have entered that many characters now this chapter can be published this time hopefully. Oh my goodness this is the most annoying thing, who made the 500 character limit anyway. Does it not count the pr Chapter 13: New Feelings and Training Ciar focused his mind, reaching out for the essence he knew would be present. When he found it, he wrapped it in his Void Power, control it, bending it to his will. Time shifted around him, and the orbs spinning through the air slowed mid flight. He focused, grasping each orb with the essence, trying to change each orb''s rate individually. Several minutes later, he released his hold on the essence and relaxed. The orbs resumed their usual speed as they orbited around him. He sighed, annoyed at yet another failure. It has been three days since Hendricks''s offer, and Ciar had devoted himself to his training. Currently, he was making use of a magical item called an orbital simulator. The device consisted of three orbs and a central cube. The orbs, when the device was activated, rotated around the cube at a constant velocity. Ciar was attempting to train his Time Manipulation by slowing each orb to a different speed. he would hold the cube in his left hand, allowing the orbs to rotate around him. Then, he would grasp the time essence and attempt to slow the orbs. He had been trying for two days now, and still had not succeeded. He was not used to this failure. When he was still in the Oblivion, he had never had to work so hard. Skills and magic came to him on a whim, and skill levels came just as easily. He simply had to use the skill to blow up a world or two and it would max out. Now...it was different. Shutting of the orbital simulator, Ciar shut off the training shield and headed downstairs. For the past three days he had shut himself in his room, not contacting the outside world and ignoring his classes completely. He wanted, no, he needed that Endo, and he would not waste time learning basic things in class that he could already do. He had even neglected to go out with Luna, not wanting to waste any time. He had decided that, despite needing to advance Udo as quickly as possible, his other magic was just as important. If he was to win the tournament at the end of the year, simply knowing how to perform an advanced martial art would not suffice. He needed a diverse power base, especially with his spells. Ciar walked over to the desk in the corner of the room, sitting in the soft leather chair. He focused his mind, and grabbed the pen from the desk. The pen began to move, writing the alphabet out on the paper in front of him. His hands firmly placed on his thighs, Ciar controlled the pen with just his Psionic Magic, honing his control. At first the pen moved shakily, drawing barely legible symbols. Slowly, the pen began to move smoother, the letters become smoother and easier to read. Just as he was about to draw the last symbol, a knock on his door startled him. The pen shook violently, scribbling over several letters before dropping to the desk. Ciar slammed his fist into the table, and irrational anger coming over him. As the desk split down the middle, he raised his voice, shouting at the person outside. "What do you WANT!?" He screamed. A quiet voice answered him, nervous, slightly afraid. "Umm, Ciar...it''s Luna. I was wondering if you wanted to come out and talk with me? You''ve been in their ever since the tournament, I-I never even got to congratulate you...I''m worried about you Ciar...is everything alright?" Ciar paused, calming himself before responding. "Everything is fine Luna...I''m fine." "Well, that''s good, its just...I haven''t seen you in three days and...I miss you." She said. Ciar froze, stunned at the pain in her voice. ''She is truly worried about me. Does she truly love me? Care for me? I know we have connection, and she''s special to me...but the Endo. I will live long past what she can...I''m immortal...at least I think. I really shouldn''t get attached...but...this feeling. Maybe it would be fine? She does sound really worried. Maybe just for tonight.'' Ciar thought, torn between his desire for power and his strange feelings for Luna. After a moment, he made his decision. Rising from his chair, he walked to the door, opening it. Luna stood outside, dressed in a beautiful evening gown. Upon seeing her, Ciar stumbled on his words, shocked at what he saw. "Wh-what did you do with your hair? When did you cut it?" He said, staring at the hair then now fell to just above her shoulder, instead of all the way to her waist. "I cut it...two days ago." She said, slightly hesitant, as if something was gnawing at her. Ciar knew what it was. Of course he would not know she had cut her hair. He had shut himself in his room, obsessed with his training and clearly ignoring the girl that he was sure loved him, or at least had feelings. He shifted his feet, looking at the ground as he responded. "Luna...I...it''s just..." he stammered, somehow unable to form the words. Before he could finish his sentence Luna interrupted him. "I know, Ciar. You want to get stronger after that last fight, push yourself beyond the top people of our class...but, you can''t obsess over it, it''s unhealthy. Now," she said as she jabbed his ribs with a finger, "you best go get cleaned up and changed, I will not be going out with someone who smells like that." Ciar smiled at her, thankful for her decision to move past the issue. Turning quickly, he rushed to get changed. Smoothing the suit one last time, Ciar returned to the door. "Well, Luna, shall we go?" He asked, tilting his head slightly. She simply smiled in response, turning to walk down the hallway. Ciar hurried to catch her, walking beside her down the hall. "You know Ciar, I think I deserve something a bit special tonight, don''t I?" She said jokingly. "Correct you are, Miss Luna." Ciar smiled as he opened the door to exit the dorm building. The night outside was quite, and the park in the central square was nearly deserted. Ciar and Luna walked amongst the trees, silently enjoying each other''s company. The couple eventually found their way to a bench positioned next to the fountain in the center of the park. Sitting down, Ciar linked his hand with Luna''s as they leaned back, staring through a break in the trees at the sky above. As they sat, Ciar wondered if this was what it was like for his parents. If Isaac and Mariam had felt this way when they were together. If they had enjoyed silent outings under the stars, or dinners together late at night. Luna shifted beside him, resting her head on his shoulder. Finally, she spoke, her voice soft in the night.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. "You know, these are the times I think I treasure most. When I''m away from everything, not pressured by those around me or being inspected by some stranger. When I can just sit here and relax, not worrying about school or magic or life. In fact, I think these moments are more magical than real magic. This is the real magic, being able to be content with your current situation." Ciar nodded, closing his eyes as he leaned into Luna. "I think you''re right," he said before suddenly sitting up, looking at Luna, "but when did you become a philosopher?" Luna laughed shortly, her eyes meeting his. "Well, I''d Like to say that I''ve always been one, but I think the last three days really transformed me, amazing what some alone time can do." She said, her voice slightly edged. Ciar paused, his face turning serious once again. "I''m sorry, Luna. I''m sorry I locked myself in my room. I should have come out and talked to you, I shouldn''t have ignored you." Luna didn''t respond at first, choosing to scoot into him once again, resting her head on his shoulder. Several painful seconds later, her response came. "Well, are you at least going to tell me why you are suddenly obsessed with power? I knew you wanted it before, but locking yourself up for three days is weird, even for you." "Well, you see, Director Hendricks offered to give me the Endo if I won the tournament at the end of year. That weapon, it''s good enough to make anyone go crazy, I think." "Well...it''s true that weapon is quite the technological marvel, and it is quite good. But...please Ciar, your natural progression will be enough for you to win the tournament, I can feel it. Just, please don''t lock yourself up again Ciar, I don''t think I can live through three days again...I don''t even think you ate anything." Ciar slid his arm around her, his other hand reaching out and gently turning his face toward his. He looked deep into her eyes, losing himself for a moment in her moons of silver. "I won''t do it again, Luna, I promise you that." Ciar stared at the ceiling of his dorm, his mind running over the events of the night. He Luna had forgiven him for what he did, but something still troubled him. It wasn''t something about Luna, no, it was something about him. Tonight he could almost feel something inside himself change. Before tonight, while he had felt a strong connection to Luna, he had always looked at her with a sense of detachment. She didn''t know what he truly was and she would die of old age long before he even got wrinkles. She was mortal, and he was immortal. He had lived 50 million years as a emotionless void, detached from not just this world, but other worlds as well. He had slowly become accustomed to feelings as he had grown up, but this was something new. he knew that tonight he had felt love for the first time. Mariam and Isaac, while he cared for them, he did not truly love them. They had raised him in this world, taught him to read, gotten him accustomed to living as a mortal. However, they had not loved him for what he truly was. They had loved him because they believed he was their child, and it is natural for a parent to love a child. He had been cognisant from the moment he came to the world, and as a result had not developed an infant''s natural love for its parents. Now, though, he had felt something with Luna. They way she had rested her head on his shoulder, insisted he not train so hard, snuggled against him as they stared at the stars. Something had definitely changed, but Ciar fell asleep knowing that it was not for the worse, but for the better. -------------------------------
Basic Time Manipulation has reached (lvl 4) Basic Time Manipulation has reached (lvl 5) The basic ability to conform the essence of time to your will. -5% Void Power cost to all time spells
Basic Mind Manipulation has reached (lvl 5) The basic ability to conform the essence of mind to your will. -5% mind essence cost to mind abilities and spells
Basic Telekinesis has reached (lvl 4) Basic Telekinesis has reached (lvl 5) +15% to mind essence power
Ciar glanced once more over the messages he had received during today''s training session. Two days after his night with Luna, he had finally succeeded in both of his tasks. He had controlled each orb individually, slowing each to a different rate. He had written the entire 32 symbol alphabet of the Fellites with perfect penmanship. It seemed both of these feats were quite strenuous, as both of his manipulation skills, along with telekinesis, had advanced to level 5. It seemed upon reaching level 5 with a skill, another bonus was added to the skill. Both his manipulation skills had originally had no effect, but now both lowered to cost of his skills. Telekinesis, which should have moved from a +9% to a +10% had jumped to a +15% to mind essence power. Ciar knew that his increased the strength of his individual mind essence, allowing him to lift heavier objects with less essence. Pulling a loose shirt over his head, Ciar exited his room and headed down to the training room. Now that Director Hendricks had informed his teachers he would no longer be attending class unless he wished, he did not attend his Body Training course. Instead, he had decided that he would train his body by himself, whether it be in his room or in the training room. As he entered, he scanned room for Ryle. Not seeing him present, Ciar headed to a corner, selecting some weights from a rack as he passed. Two hours later, Ciar exited the training room, his shirt sticking to his chest. Heading back to his room, Ciar washed himself and changed clothes before checking the time. It was 8:00 PM, so he still had several hours before he would go to sleep. He had met with Luna for breakfast that morning, so he had the evening to himself. Having made a new discovery with skill levels, Ciar decided he would get all his manipulation skills to level 5 as quickly as possible. Having the reduced cost and extra control would help him learn spells much more easily in the future. Ciar decided upon using gravity magic for his next training session. He knew he could already lift himself briefly, or at least slow his descent, but he had yet to truly lift anything else. Picking a pen from his desk, Ciar placed it on the floor of the training area. Grasping the gravity essence around him, Ciar attempted to use it to raise the pencil. He tried to draw power out of the essence as he wrapped it around the pencil, trying to weaken the gravity and let the pencil rise. Three hours later, Ciar gave up. He was sure that he was misunderstanding something about gravity magic. He had thought it could work something like time essence or mind essence, where you wrapped it around the object in order to manipulate that object with the essence, but it seemed he was wrong. Placing the pencil back onto his desk, Ciar decided to ask Sir Cyrus tomorrow how to properly use gravity magic. After all, asking for assistance every once in a while was not something he was afraid of. Chapter 14: Telepathy and Udo Advancement Ciar reached out and felt for the small trail of mind essence that currently connected him the Hendricks. He could feel it, a small trail of essence connecting his mind and Hendricks''s. He tugged on it, trying to see how it was done. The line was made out of a single file order of essence. There was no double ups, no two essence out of place or to close to each other. Ciar knew the control necessary to stretch essence this thin without breaking the string was extremely difficult. However, he also knew he needed to do it. He sent out his own essence, following Hendricks''s to his office across campus. He barely had enough control to touch Hendricks''s mind before his essence snapped back into his head. An intense pain appeared behind his eyes, nearly causing Ciar to collapse. As the pain began to fade, Hendricks''s voice echoed in his mind. "That was a good effort Ciar, but you are wasting your time. If you want to learn telepathy, you cannot do it with me. Since I have already established a connection, the link is set. You can only contact me through my essence. Since it is linked to yours, you should be able to transmit thoughts back through it intentionally, contacting me first. This only applies to mind essence, however. This type of magic is not possible with any other kind of essence. If you want telepathy, I recommend setting up a connection with Luna. Even if she has no aptitude for the magic, when you set it up, she will be able to contact you, although she will have to focus to do it." "Thank you, Director Hendricks, I will do so tonight." "Its fine, Ciar. Establishing a telepathy link should raise your Mind Manipulation level quite significantly. Good luck, the tournament is only in 6 months." The telepathy link cut off, and Ciar relaxed. No matter how friendly Hendricks was, simply touching his mind essence was stressful. The power it exerted on his mind simply by being activated was enough to cause more than mild discomfort. Ciar knew that if Hendricks''s mind essence was that powerful, the man must truly be a monster in other magic as well. Since he was meeting with Luna tonight, he would set up his link with her then. Until dinner, he would have to train something else. Ciar moved to the middle of the training area in his room, activating the shield. He wasn''t about to start throwing spells about, since he still didn''t know any real ones, but he wanted to make sure he did not damage the walls. Sitting cross legged on the floor, Ciar reached inside of him, looking for the mass of Void Power he knew he would. He had come incredibly close to merging his Void Power with his blood, and he thought that today could be the day. Slowly, he grasped the power churning inside him, pulling it, stretching it out inside his body. Slowly, the power trickled into his bloodstream, diffusing into the liquid. Ciar focused, keeping the stream as small and consistent as possible. If he pushed to hard, even by a fraction, the Void Power would lose control, tearing his body from the inside out. He would not die from the damage, but it would be painful. The trickling continued, and his blood continued to turn from a dark red into a dull grey. Ciar''s body was a completely still, not a single muscle twitching as the process continued. One hour. Two hours. Three hours. Four, five, six hours passed before his eyes snapped open and he rose to his feet. Clenching his fist, Ciar punched the air in front of him. The air, for several feet in front of him, visibly shook from the shockwave. He stared with delight at the message that he had dreamed of for so long.
Udo has reached (lvl 3) A lost martial art the specializes in acrobatic moves and deadly strikes. +6% Void Power channeling +6% to all physical stats when in use
Ciar couldn''t help but smile. All his long life, he had never had to work so hard for anything. Weeks of practice had finally born fruit. The second tournament had already come and gone, but Ciar had not attended. His focus had never wavered in the slightest, even when people mocked him for not participating, claiming he was scared to lose his crown. The only time he had not been training was when he was with Luna. He had even cancelled his lessons with Miss Fellana, as he now felt learning how to use a regular sword was pointless. If he could not get Udo to the advanced level in time, then he would lose his chance at the Endo. His strange fascination with the weapon intrigued even him. He felt drawn to it, like it had some connection to him, some connection to his past self. Now, his hard work was starting to pay off. With the blood fusion complete, he only had two steps left. First, infuse his bones with Void power. Second, fuse his Void Mind skill with his Void Body skill. The second would be the most difficult of all. Combining two skills was by no means a unheard of endeavor. However, this situation was different. If he failed to connect the two correctly, he would die. His Void Power would become unbalanced, upsetting the natural status of his body. The power would turn against itself, literally causing him to explode. Ciar knew the process would be long, but the power gained from the fusion was something that he could only dream of. A complete body infused with Void Power. Mind and Body turned into one, a perfect combination. His body would become a self-repairing weapon of destruction that few could surpass. Smiling once again, Ciar checked the time. His smile quickly turned to a curse as he realized how much time had passed. His dinner with Luna was in 30 minutes, and if he didn''t hurry, he would be late. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ----------------------- Ciar pulled the chair out from under the table, motioning gallantly for Luna to sit. Smiling at him, she obliged, her hand brushing his as she turned to sit. Shivering slightly, Ciar walked around the table to his own seat. He and Luna were in the finest restaurant in the entire campus, the Lux. It was one of the restaurants in the dorm buildings, but it was better than the rest. It was also far more expensive than rest, costing nearly 3 times the Lun to dine. Ciar was not worried about his finances. He had won a fortune from the tournament last month, and had rarely spent any since. He and Luna usually dined cheaply, but Ciar had decided to truly take her out tonight. A waiter approached the table, and Ciar and Luna ordered. Shifting his attention back to Luna, he smiled brightly at her. "You seem in a good mood today, Ciar. Something go right in your training?" She asked, tilting her head to the side. "I finally broke through in my Udo training. Weeks of hard work and I finally got it to (lvl 3)!" He exclaimed, reaching across the table to grab her hand. "Well, aren''t you just fantastic. You know, that martial art really is quite something. I mean, the potential to kill its practitioner if he doesn''t perform it correctly?" She said, a mix of concern and annoyance in her voice. Ciar signed to himself. She had wanted him to quit Udo the moment he had told her about it. According to her, it was to dangerous for him to do. After all, he could die during a fusion if something went terribly wrong. He had assured her he woudl be fine, and eventually she had relented. It seemed, however, that she was still not quite over it. "You know I''m extra careful when I do the fusions, Luna. I spent 6 hours on this one to make sure I got it right. I was almost late because I was so careful! I''ll be fine Luna. Besides, isn''t your soul magic a little dangerous itself." He said. Luna''s face reddened slightly as she looked away. She knew he was correct about it. Her soul magic was just as dangerous as his Udo was, if not more so. One mistake while strengthening her soul and she could kill herself permanently. Even after death, with enough money and a powerful enough mage, someone could transfer their soul to another form before dying. While this could only be done a limited amount of times, as it taxed the soul considerably, it was still possible to live again. With her soul magic, that opportunity would be lost. She would die, along with her soul, making it impossible to revive her. Seeing her embarrassment, Ciar decided to move the subject along. "Hey Luna, there''s actually something else I would like to ask you about...it has to do with Psionic Magic." "Hmm? You know I have no talent for that whatsoever. You asking me that is like me asking you for tips on fire magic." "No, no, no, not tips or anything. I would just like to ask if you could let me set up a telepathy link between us. It would be slightly difficult for you to initiate a conversation with me, but Hendricks says you should be able to do it if you focus. This way we could stay in touch over long distance or tell each other if one of us is in trouble." "Well, I would say that sounds fantastic! So, how do we do it?" She asked, he demeanor suddenly shifting as she edged forward in her seat. "All you have to do, is relax and let me in. It will feel weird, but you shouldn''t experience pain." He said as he reached for his mind essence. Using only a small portion of his essence, he concentrated as he stretched it into a single file line. He sat unblinking as he concentrated on keeping the line stable. Almost a minute of tense silence later, Ciar gained control of the essence and moved it toward Luna. Slowly he entered her mind, and was shocked at what he saw. Visions flashed across his mind, flashes of starry skies and a brilliant, shining moon. Briefly, Ciar wondered what Hendricks had seen in his mind, or what he might see inside of Hendricks''s. As his essence was tinged with grey, Luna''s was glowing a soft silver. Slowly, he inserted the string of essence into her essence sphere, blending his essence with hers. Just seconds later, the essence finished mixing, and the connection was established. Ciar ignored the notifications the system sent him, transmitting a message to Luna. "The connection is done. When I initiate the conversation all you have to do is think your response. If you want to contact me, then you will have to focus on the trial of my essence and send some of your essence through it. It will take concentration, but you should be able to do it." "Wow! This is so coooooool. I never thought telepathy would be like this. Anyway, now I have a tool with which I can annoy you endlessly!" Her excited thoughts came back to him. "Oh please, don''t." He complained out loud. The waiter, who just arrived to deliver the food, glancing inquisitively at him. Ciar quickly informed him it was nothing to do with him, then watched as the slightly confused waiter walked off. Ciar and Luna spent the rest of dinner chatting aimlessly about her classes, his training, and her friends. Eventually, the time came to part, and Ciar walked her to her room. Saying goodbye, he finally had time to look at the messages that had appeared before him.
Basic Mind Manipulation has reached (lvl 6) Basic Mind Manipulation has reached (lvl 7) The basic ability to conform the essence of mind to your will. -7% mind essence cost to mind abilities and spells
Skill Gained: Telepathy (lvl 1) The ability to communicate with others over long distances through a connection of mind essence. Current # of connections: 1 Current # of connections available: 2
Ciar was surprised to see his Manipulation jump to level 7, but he wasn''t going to complain. It seemed like Telepathy did not have a more advanced form, as it did not even have basic by its name. Seeing as he only had one connection established, Ciar guessed it was only counting when the link was made with is mind essence, meaning Hendricks''s link didn''t count. It seemed like he had a total of three people he could connect to at the current time, though he was sure it would rise with use. Happy with his new found skill, Ciar sent a brief second goodbye to Luna before heading to his dorm. Ciar immediately went to sleep, exhausted from the fusion and telepathy creation. Announcement Okay, so first I am sorry I have to be another one of those authors that goes on hiatus on this website. It happens far to often, and for those who were enjoying my story, I''m sorry. I know what it feels like to have an author leave, whether temporarily or permanently. It''s just for about the past week I haven''t been motivated to do anything at all. I have a 4.0 in school, but I have been sleeping in class and choosing not to do my homework. I have no motivation to write, not motivation to play video games, no motivation to do anything. I have gotten probably less than 20 hours of sleep in the past week. I don''t know if something is wrong, but I think I owe it to you guys who follow me and rate my story that I tell you why I won''t be posting a chapter anytime soon. I don''t think I''m depressed, maybe just ill, but I don''t think I will continue this story in the mean time. When this passes I will most likely come back and type again, but I have no timetable for that. It was hard to muster the determination to turn on the computer and type this, I don''t think I could do a full chapter. Again, sorry to the people who this might upset.Stolen story; please report.