《Swan Dive Riot》 Prologue ''where am I?'' A series of muffled clinks resounded in his head ''what?'' The clinking sound increased its pace ''what the hell is that?!'' The noise is becoming more intense, the sound has become unbearable, waking him in a daze. "Oh you''re awake, care for some coffee?" The strange man stopped stirring his cup and put down the spoon. "Huh? Who are you?" The questions slid out of his mouth his eyes immediately widened, his body automatically moved into a stance as he noticed the surroundings.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. They''re in space he can see heavenly bodies spanning across his field of vision. He cupped his mouth checking for air then proceeded to looked at his feet he might fall so he didn''t dare move. "Don''t be so tense, relax have some coffee, Its what you guys call Arabica" As the mysterious man gestured to a set of table and chairs "What.. what do you mean? Who are you? Why am I here? Answer me" His instincts kicked in immediately making out this situation he''s in, he knows that the person in front of him is someone he has to be cautious about. His eyes darted everywhere analyzing the surroundings, thinking of an escape plan. "Have you never seen a handsome god before? It seems you forgotten that you''ve died." "What?" Recollection of the event hit him, the moment of his death he remembers them clearly. The moment he got stabbed in the back by his partner while on a mission to assassinate a high profile individual. The mysterious man proceeded to talk. "Where you are now is not really important. what''s important is where you''re going. I''m giving you another chance at life" "Why me? Return me back, I have to kill that son of a b****" The god acted like he didn''t hear him as he sips his cup of coffee. The conversation doesn''t really help with the gods leisure behavior, as if his guard is down but at the same time, it''s not. "In time you will, by the way, the world you are heading to is prosperous of magic, ruled by kings, where strength is authority, towering beasts roam the land and rather obscure phenomena... Enjoy!" Without a moments notice a force immediately pulled his body, flying into the galaxies warping the light around him. The light creeping into his sights slowly till completely engulfed his vision. Twice Awakened Waking up as a baby in the arms of a tearful but smiling young woman lying in bed, while surrounded by a midwife and a nurse. He is still processing what just happened it was so fast that he hasn''t had a chance to A rustle was heard outside of the door a lanky man about mid-twenties walked inside the bedroom panting. Rushed to the bed beside her ¡°Have you decided on a name yet Sanda? Hello little one I''m your father¡± ¡°Let''s name him Sage¡± The proud look is seen glued on the man''s face, took the baby in his arms and carried him like an expensive vase, while the midwife and the nurse excused themselves out of the room then the husband muttered. ¡°Why the name sage exactly?¡± ¡°Because of the premonition I had, I mentioned this the other day¡± Sanda props herself on the bed leaning back onto the headboard Aries is rocking Sage to sleep. Sanda gestured to Aries and he complied, handing her Sage. ¡°Right. ¡°That¡± premonition, but isn''t he saying gibberish in your premonition maybe there''s something wrong with his head¡± ¡°Oh, quiet Aries you know my premonition happens most of the time, besides you''re not exactly the brightest of the bunch when we''re younger. But look at you now a splendid water wielder¡± ¡°You mean both of us are splendid wielders? Anyway if its gibberish then I wish his name guides his growth¡± Aries trusts Sanda''s premonitions, in fact, she was a candidate in becoming the town''s oracle, but being with Aries together it never pushed through. While the couple continued to chat away, Sage is observing the man that calls himself his father he raised his hand and controlled the sweat off of the mother''s forehead out of the window. This action surprised Sage of what magic looks like and decided to imitate it, raising his little baby arms and tried to control water just like his father, but what happened was it was not water from the bowl that moved, it was air. A weak breeze his father felt. Aries felt it somehow and got up his seat and closed the windows. ¡°It''s a bit cold today huh Sanda?¡± The father walked to the windows to close it then walked back to sit beside the bed, then proceeds to clean the towel inside the bowl. Sage tried again raising his arm, but now the mother noticed it. Sage raised his arms and unnaturally moved them following a breeze. Aries felt the breeze again the mother saw it happened, Sanda realized the breeze from earlier was from Sage her eyes darted from the window to sage and to the father several times. Her face plastered with amazement, the father seems to not have notice of what was transpiring at the moment he was merely getting the chills. He was too busy tending to the bowl of water and towel. The day was currently cloudy, the mother is preparing their breakfast and practicing her ¡°we''ve been through this already¡± face for Sage. Sage is fixing his loose and plain linen garments that resembles that of a button-down shirt that he specifically requested to his mother. Getting ready to head out, he fixed his dark grey hair but immediately stopped because the fact is it''s unruly and untamable, his hair was never like this in his past life. He got out of his room and headed straight to the table to grab a bite. The mother quickly spoke like she''s been planning this her whole life. ¡°So you''re going out again? I don''t want to see you going out all the time, coming home late, covered in mud, and soaking wet. I haven''t even seen you played with the other kids either¡± ¡°Its fine mom I''m too old to be playing anyway, I''ll bring home something you can cook on my way back¡± ¡°What do you mean too old? You''re only 6 years old, play with them. Have fun and stop going into the forest alone. Do you remember what we told you about the forest?¡± ¡°Yes. Never go too far into the forest because it''s too dangerous.¡± ¡°Very good oh I forgot, go to the village hall when you hear a frogs call, the chief said he will play it today¡± After the discussion, they''ve had Sage swiftly wolfed down his food then quickly headed outside. He felt the never-ending rain on his head with the kids playing by the rope swing of a huge tree, just as he was about to go to the forest to do his daily routine a strange watery didgeridoo-like sound filled the air. The kids by the swings quickly ran towards where the sound is originating. Apparently, it was the frog''s call her mother was talking about he soon followed them making his way to the village hall, it''s a huge descent sized building the establishment have enough room to enclose all the people in the village for announcements or indoor festivities. Upon entering the building they''re met with an open space with the instructor, the village chief and the girl that the kids were with were standing in the front. They are here to evaluate the young children the assessment was to identify what type of element they are blessed with. It was not an obligatory thing in the village, but kids are generally curious about these things. This was the thoughts of his mother that told him of this gathering to let him mingle with the other kids and for him to make friends. Some kids up front were first given instructions to strike a protruding flat stone connected to a huge stone basin filled with water, and in the middle of the water-filled basin is a lit candle. The basin was an ancient tradition the rock basin was built by the early earth wielders ''How will they know what element I have with just this?'' Sage thought to himself, the line is getting shorter the kids were thrilled that hey had water as their element the sign of pride for this village and it was common for the village to have this element. The kids were boasting to each other of their discoveries. As the last of their friend got assessed they exchanged high fives, one kid looks at sages direction because he was next to strike the basin. He saw the instructor leaned over the village chief to whisper something to him. ¡°Chief who is this kid? Is he from around here?¡± ¡°Of Course he is, he''s a Son and the child of the twin sharks¡± ¡°Twin sharks? Oh really? Why haven''t I seen him before? I''ve been living here forever you know. You are a Son aye? Son Sage... Well then let us see what you got, boy!¡± Apparently Sage''s parents are famous, his ears twitched a little when he heard them talking. the way they''re whispering is not exactly silent. Sage felt their expectations rising through the roof but Sage doesn''t really care so he quickly struck the stone with his palm, but nothing happened no vibrations was seen on the water no movement of the basin the flame of the candle didn''t go out but the flame only moved a little, like a passing breeze flew over it. The instructor''s eyes widen in disbelief letting out a deep nasal sigh. His face is obviously riddled with disappointment. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°You have such a weak element, air doesn''t have any use in fighting nor anything to make a living. You have next to nothing in terms of power but you can still grow strong you just have to believe¡± When the last words escaped the instructor''s mouth all the kids started to laugh as if they were told the funniest joke ever. This is when Sage learned the harsh hierarchy of elements, the discrimination in this world exists but in a completely different form. The weakest being the air, second is water which is the common element of the village third is fire and lastly earth the two elements fire and earth have the same power but they are fighting for supremacy. Apparently it was rare to have a diversion of element from the parent''s existing element let alone both parents having the same element it was rather strange, but what''s stranger is the strength of his force it''s abnormally low when most kids his age with that element can put out the flames of the candle. When comparing a blast of water to a blast of air the two is immediately known what is more powerful this is easily the mindset of these people you are already garbage in their eyes. He ignored all the laugh and insults of the kids, he headed out of the hall. Sage proceeded to walk outside the door and quickly ran to the direction of the forest. The thought of playing with the other kids is a waste of his time for him, he was too old for that kind of thing. As he ran he felt the presence of someone following him but he just ignored it and ran off towards a spacious hill to conduct his solo training. He thought he had run fast enough to shake the stalker loose, he noticed that it was the girl he saw with the instructor and she was the kids'' playmate. The kid had hidden herself maybe to observe him, but he didn''t bother with her. The girl doesn''t know exactly how to hide properly. He walked by the open area and started to train, his movement was captivating yet bizarre for the girl, the girl knew nothing of martial arts the otherworldly difference was alien to her and left her breathless. As Sage continued his martial arts training he sensed more people coming closer, he suspected thatthe amount of people he senses It was theplaymates of this stalker girl, they seem to have followed her here. It''s highly doubtful that they just want to observe too, but he continued to train for an hour, he did many forms of martial arts such as Shaolin, Taichi, Muay-Thai, etc. to avoid the sharpness of his techniques from dulling. Back in the mundane world, he was an orphan adopted by an organization that trained him in becoming an assassin he had many hardships far more than a child could handle, from intense martial arts training, torture training, espionage, and the art of killing. It was when he was a teenager that he reached the best of the best assassin to ever set foot on the world he has little talent in fighting but his killer instincts are abnormally higher than an average human that''s why he has a strange obsession of always training martial arts. While he''s training the leader of the kids that he saw at the hall suddenly came out from their place of hidingfollowed by his minions. ¡°We never knew that a weakling is also a weirdo in our village¡± Sage didn''t bat an eye from his childish taunts, he continued to train. The kids became annoyed by his lack of interest in them. ¡°Hey, you dumb kid you can''t even control water like us, you are talentless, useless, weak and a dumb weirdo.¡± The leader of the kids raised one of his hands, the other kids followed. Their open palm was accumulating water slowly, painfully slow, slower than a bathroom break. The kids prepped themselves for their strongest attack yet but the water they launched looked like, a lobbed thrown water balloon coming at him slowly. But he didn''t dodge them he let it hit him, he treated it as a refreshing bath from an intense training, making him chuckle from the childish efforts of the kids. ¡°Hey! Why are you laughing you think this is funny?¡± The haughty leader kid shouted as he rushed to him with his tiny army. ¡°You think you can laugh at us? you stupid talentless kid¡± The leader of the kid quickly ran at him catching Sage''s hand trying to immobilize him, the leader kid tried to push him down but he doesn''t budge it feels like he was pushing a hard tree. The other kids followed but he quickly took the kid''s leader down flipping him like flapjacks holding only the kid''s wrist a move of what looks like Aikido, After the leader slammed to his backside the kid started to cry then the whole army followed crying in unison. They ran home with their tails between their legs, they were just kids after all. He noticed the stalker girl didn''t join the little army she never came out but she disappeared with them. The sun flew past he was heading home, he was close to getting out of the forest when someone slammed him to the ground. It was an older kid, he had noticed its presence but his body wasn''t able to move like that of an adult to counter their attack. ¡°So a stupid kid like you think he can mess with my little brother?¡± ¡°They started it they tried to hurt me¡± ¡°I don''t care. You hurt my little brother when you hurt him you answer to me¡± He suddenly took a stance then punches Sage right into the face but Sage quickly avoided it. ¡°You got some moves¡± Then the big brother charged at him but Sage quickly jumped on the trees, the big brother was amazed that the height of his jump was quite high, higher than his height. Sage disappeared into the trees like a predator, while the boy is cautious of the situation scanning the trees. Sage took out a knife and cut a piece of branch from a tree he was hiding in. Moments past the big brother thinks that he had run off but just as he turned to walk away he was met with a slap to the face with a leafy branch, quickly the boy turned to the source of the branch but Sage disappeared the boy getting increasingly annoyed got swatted by him again but on the opposite side. Sage was behind him all along mocking him playing him like a fool. He returned to the trees, the frustrated kid now screams at him to come out the angry kid spent more time searching for a little while before he realized Sage had already fled back home. Ballet Morning came but instead of chirping birds, noise from the outside is heard it''s louder than it should be from a small village. Sage stood up not even bothering to change his clothes hurried into the source of the commotion, he headed towards the front open door. Outside it was his parents talking to a handful of adults and kids, they were the parents of the kids that attacked him yesterday. "That''s him mom, that''s the one that hurt me" The leader of the kids shouted and pointed as he spots Sage coming out of the door, the other kids were with him insisted that Sage was the one who assaulted him. When Sanda heard what they had said she looked at sage and quickly gestured at him to go inside, but Sage didn''t listen however he walked closer to the crowd as if he was looking for something. Not getting swayed by the adults talking smack about him, words got tossed around like bad seed, bad parenting, loner, and violent. Finally Sage spotted what he''s looking for. "Hey, you girl" The blonde girl that he saw with the kids when the incident happened was seen in the crowd. Sage pointed his hand to her direction. The girl looks confused, some people noticed and asked her why is the bully pointing at her. The girl shrugged as if conveying ignorance. Sage walked closer and grabbed the girl by the hand, Sage pulled her towards the front of the commotion. As Sage were dragging her she immediately struggled to free herself from his grasp, she must''ve thought he''s younger and has no power over her but his grip is unnaturally strong it doesn''t budge. "Stop pulling me what do you want with me?" "Just follow me you''ll know" Sage spoke in a calm manner as he prompts her in front of the people. The arguing came to a halt, the adults had gotten curious so as Sage''s parents when the girl got brought up in the center, one person from the crowd spoke out. "What''s wrong Garlove?" "I don''t know he suddenly dragged me here" Garlove pointed at Sage while the village people shifted their gaze with a puzzled look. ''Does this kid knows I''m there when it happened?'' Garlove thought to herself as she''s feeling nervous. "I think this young lady has something to say to you all" "What? I do? Uhm-" "Tell them about you being present when it happened, you are a witness, airhead¡± "Uhm yes I was there and Geng-je was the one that started it Sage was only minding his own business, dancing" "You could''ve told them sooner, and what did you mean by dancing?" Sanda shot his eyes on Sage with a questioning look, Sage quickly responded. "Can we focus on the fact that I was not the one that started it?" "All right people I think I have a solution to this problem" The village chief exclaimed breaking up the meaningless rambling, the village people, Sanda and the chief huddled in a circle and discussed the punishment for the kids. Geng-je and the others got grounded while Sage and Garlove would be subjected to community service. They were given this punishment for the fact that Sage hurt the kid, while Garlove just stood there and did nothing despite her being older than them and should be more responsible. The chief directed Sage and Garlove to their punishment. They were given the task to fertilize the forest using a method that Sage only heard of just now. "All right I know that you didn''t mean to do anything by the other kids, but I have to reason with their parents so I''ll give you an easy task for just three days. You must use these to make bubbles and spread around the forest. The barrel over there is a formula that was made by our local alchemist its a very effective fertilizer." The village chief handed the two the instruments for making bubbles, a pretzel-shaped racket which made them look like they''re about to dust some futons. Then the chief pointed at the wooden drum of brown liquid. The two kids walked to the drum of liquid exchanged gratitudes with the chief, then the chief went back to check on the other villagers.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. "Is this the formula of the alchemist the chief is talking about?" "Yes. We have to dip these in here and blow on it to make bubbles for spreading around the forest. the bubbles will distribute the fertilizer to make the forest grow." ''This world had some childish methods of doing things, it''s so fascinating'' Sage thought to himself while dipping the futon beater looking thing into the vat and quickly blew on it to create bubble the large bubbles does not break even in the rain. ''This alchemist must know what he''s doing I should visit this alchemist some other time to learn something'' They blew on the futon beater thirty minutes in, but Garlove was already out of breath and feeling light-headed for blowing too much. "I need to catch my breath" Sage assisted her to the house nearby with a bench in view of their station. "You should rest I''ll finish this alright?" Garlove simply nodded while Sage continued their community service but instead of one racket he picked up another of her racket. He dipped it in the drum and instead of blowing on it he swung gently, deliberately and elegantly just like what he did in the hills but with more flow. As time goes by Sage was already surrounded by many floating bubbles in different sizes slowly moving around him. "Sage! That''s not. How. You... Do it." With each word Garlove shouted, the bubbles gradually spun around Sage. It''s spinning like planets orbiting around the sun with every revolution making it travel faster. While it''s spinning the centrifugal force shot out bubbles of orbit and it spread through the forest. The bubbles travel around him while he creates more making their community service end on a faster note. "That should take care of it right Garlove?" "Sage that was amazing! How did you do that?" "Its simple Newtonian mechanics" "Nu-to-nyan?" ''Oh, I forgot these people doesn''t know the terminologies of my worlds I should choose my words correctly to avoid looking like a lunatic. I have to divert this somehow'' "Nevermind that, by the way, I remember you were laughing with the other kids back in the ritual. you think I forgot?" "Sorry It''s just being one is like a curse, you''ll be treated as useless unless, because you can''t even use it in battle all you can do it be a servant or something or just blow your employers to cool them down" Sage''s face was stretched from grinning, his 28-year-old vulgar mind is internally laughing from Garlove''s statement. "Or you can be a mage? its practically impossible to become one though, I heard from gramps that you have to be a noble to get into one of their schools" They decided to pack up what their things and return it back to the chief. They gathered the fertilizer rackets, covered the drum of fertilizer liquid and cleaned up after themselves. Sage insisted Garlove to lead the way to the chief''s house Garlove and the chief were somewhat close from what he saw in the assessment ritual. They circled a house that was literally right next to them, It was the chief''s home it was just beside them the whole time. Garlove casually entered the house like she owns the place Sage was hesitant to follow. "Hey stop, that''s the chief''s house what are you doing? shouldn''t you knock first?" "Oh don''t worry I-" "That was fast, looks like you''re done" An old man was seen coming out of a room with his cane in hand, Garlove bolted inside to fixed their stuff in another room. "We''re very sorry for our manners we should''ve knocked before entering" "What are you talking about sonny? Haven''t Garly told you she''s my grandchild? She lives here with me and the instructor back in the ritual is her father" ''Well I should''ve expected this back from the ritual'' "I wanted to ask you something chief" "Oh you can just call me Grandpa, you sonny are very polite not like the other young''uns outside they should learn a thing or two from you" "Actually I wanted to ask are many things." "Its fine sonny you finished earlier than expected, I can tell you anything you want to know" Sage and the chief discussed a lot of things, apparently, this world is called Midel. That there are other races inhabiting this world other than humans there are beasts, half beast, angels, demons, dragons, fairies, elves and other races the old man had a hard time recalling. This place they are in is the Savage Country one of the countries that are teeming with strong and wild beasts. This continent has more beast than people inhabiting it, but the people around adapted to these dangerous conditions using the fertilizing liquid as another agent to drive away the beast by a formula concocted by their local alchemist. Garlove listened to their conversation even though she couldn''t keep up, she felt like a young kid sitting in the adult table. The momentum of the conversation could continue for days but Sage ended it as he sensed someone outside the house. The chief walked Sage back through the dark path lit with a small amount of lantern to his home, but he still sensed that there is someone tailing them. Sage entered the house to wash up while the chief waited outside. "Dad, Mom I''m home" Sanda headed towards the door. "The young sonny is very interesting. Its like I''m not talking to a kid but someone my age" "My boy? I''ve always felt that for some reason I can''t even treat him like a baby anymore" "Sanda I have a proposal" Sanda''s face shifted into uneasiness. "how about we send him to the academy?" "I don''t know..." "What are you so worried about? Are you thinking about the problems he''ll face because he is air-blessed? Or is it because that person is teaching there?" Sanda stayed silent but the chief knew what she was thinking. "There''s still time, think it over, don''t worry about it too much. You know my son is sending Garlove there I''m sure Sage can soon follow so they can look out for each other" Submission "Hey Sage tell me what you did the other day? How did you so good? I never had a chance to talk to you about it" "I just did what''s natural, I just controlled the air inside the bubble nothing fancy about that" "But to control it that much? Looks like you''re not useless after all" Sage remembered his past, a man told him the exact same thing. Sage went silent, but Garlove continued her questioning. "Are you one of those rare one in a million genius?" "I''m useless your father told me that" The last day of their community service they chatted away they become closer by the day. Although Garlove is still dumbfounded by Sage''s display of air wielding proficiency he still thinks he''s a genius. They did their usual routine Garlove resting half way and Sage doing all the work. The both of them are packing up the materials to end their village services when a slice in the air was heard. A certain someone is standing where Sage had stood moments ago it was Geng-je''s brother, sage dodged his surprise attack. Garlove quickly distanced herself to the man holding the wooden club. "You are fast, as expected" Geng-je''s brother arrogantly spoke as Garlove ran to a safer distance. "So you came out of hiding? Are you finally tired of stalking me? Did you find anything useful when you''re off stalking me?" "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I did, you waste of force, it turns out you are a complete trash" ''Why is everyone out to get me, It would be easier to just kill him'' "You stupid puffer this is where I''ll get my revenge from last time. I''ll discipline you for making my brother out as the bad kid and also mocking me" After the boy spit condescending words he lunges himself towards Sage poised with his bat, Sage placed his arms behind him making a signal of provocation. Geng-je''s brother saw this and raised his club and swung it as he got close. "Block him!" Garlove cried out, Sage moved only one hand flowing like a praying mantis diverting the blow of the club to the side with only two fingers leaving the brother stupified. Sage poised again like a master training his pupil, his hands behind his back inviting another hit. Every swing from the club the brother makes, made him more and more frustrated. The brother''s eyes are getting bloodshot from his mockery heavy breathing is easily hear from him. The brother now furious he distanced himself and held out his palm facing up. Moments later his open palm is collecting water from the endless drizzling weather around him. His palm was attracting small falling droplets making a ball of water, just like what the kids were doing back at the hill, but the way he accumulates water is faster than the kids. When the ball of water took shape he threw it up in the air and swung his bat at it. Sage thinking it will be just like the kids that attempted to attack him, but for a split second Sage realized that it was a legitimate swing, a swing that has every intention of hurting him. Last second he dodged it leaving his clothes and face with multiple cuts but not deep enough to be considered fatal. The swing of the bat moved the ball of water at high a speeds that''s why it had cut Sage''s clothes and face. After he had missed immediately Geng-Je''s brother condensed another ball of water preparing for another swing the speed of water condensation is much faster than before it seemed influenced by his frustrations. He threw the quickly formed ball into the air and hit it once again, but Sage firmed his ground instead of preparing to dodge, he placed his hands behind his back again. The ball shot out like a bullet but just before making contact Sage''s lightning fast move formed a circle with his arms suspending the ball in mid-air between his arms catching the ball of water like a football goalkeeper. He spun the ball into complete nothing evaporating it into a spray of mist. Sage''s unnatural actions left Geng-je''s brother shocked the brother started to complain. "What did you do? You are just an air wielder, not a water wielder I''ve observed you for days now, I even asked the old man about your ability" "That''s the genius Sage for yah, you thug" Garlove declared proudly grabbing the brothers attention. Garlove''s remark was like throwing the brother an egg in the face, shifting his frustration into blinding fury. The mere thought of being mocked by a kid who not only humiliated him but also made his brother cry, the love for his family made him furious. The brother positioned himself to take a stance and gather another ball of water, he threw it up immediately it was a rushed ball of water the brother then preparing to hit it. Sage shouted to stop the attack he had already telegraphed the movements of the brother, the trajectory of the swinging boy was not aiming at him but at Garlove. Sage hurried to Garlove hoping to block the attack at sonic speed, but just before the wooden club made contact with the ball of water, a floor of mud formed into a mouth clasping Geng-je''s brother. The two kids were stunned as the mud quickly dried and hardened cocooning the brother. "How dare you Bigura!" A powerful voice was heard throughout the village, the birds from the nearby forest flew away from the explosion of the voice. "Chief? No please I can explain, this is not what it looks like I-" "Silence!" The ground shook from his shout and the slam of his cane to the ground, he looks like a judge bringing order to the court. Some villagers felt what was happening and hurried towards the source of the commotion. A crowd quickly formed and in the crowd is Bigura''s parents but the parents can''t do anything, the chief''s authority is overwhelming that the parents have no power to do anything but watch. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. "Do you think you can get away with anything? just because you''ll soon go to Roar Academy? On top of that attempted to hurt my granddaughter?" "Please let me explain I was only playing with the kids teaching them how to fight hehehe" The chief flashed towards Bigura giving him the slap that would be felt by his later generations. "You think you can lie to me? I was inside the whole time watching everything that had happened here." The chief fiercely pointed at his house that was just nearby his thin old arms shown popping with veins. "Do you think I didn''t know you were following Sage, and asking me questions about him. Even using a silly makeshift Armata." The chief kicked the wooden club that is sticking out from the hardened mud snapping it in half from the hands of the cocooned Bigura. "You want a real Armata so badly? I''ll show you a real Armata" Out of his calm rage, the chief raised his arms displaying a single gem-decorated cane he''s been holding he then slammed it onto the ground creating an intense earthquake. The ground opened up, creating a fissure below Bigura dropped inside with only his head exposed, the fissure then closed on his neck. The chief showed off his earth wielding prowess. "Hey, I thought the chief has a water element how can he use earth?" "Oh most of our family are earth blessed, I thought you would''ve realized by now" "How could I have known that?" "The fact that Gramps gave us both wands to use, It should''ve been a water wielder''s job because they can easily make bubbles from the fertilizer without em" "I thought all the people in this village were water-blessed cause back at the ritual all of them were water blessed" "No, no, it depends on your lineage but in some cases like you, they get a different element. You are surprisingly odd because gramps told me most people like you who diverted had weaker aptitudes when it comes to your element, but you are far weaker back at the ritual" The two casually talked to each other while the chief is stating his punishment. "Bigura you are to be under soils for 3 days you are to be fed by your parents during these days while you reflect on your actions, and the both of you I''ll have a talk with you after this" The two stood still while the chief disperses the crowd of people and talked with the parents of Bigura. The short discussion ended quickly and the chief signaled the two to go inside. The two scurried inside the house while carrying the tools followed behind by the chief, inside the living room the chief plopped on his chair nonchalantly as if all the built-up tension was for show. "You Sonny are really something, never thought I''d witness something like that, at that age anyone would''ve already wet their pants" "Grampa he only stood his ground because he tried to protect me" Garlove''s brazen remark popped a vein on Sage''s forehead. "Garlove, don''t get me wrong, I didn''t stand my ground because of you. I stayed and fought because I wish to fix my own problem, you just got in the way" Garlove''s short blonde hair curled from Sage''s rebuke. Garlove playfully grabbed Sage''s head into a headlock, Sage''s tiny body can''t compete against a headlock from an athletically built girl 2 years above his age, while they playfully tease each other the chief sat there laughing hysterically, this is the first time he saw his grandchild be happy after her mom died when she was just conceived. "Garlove go get us some tea" "Alright" Garlove headed merrily towards the kitchen. "Sage, I know you''re not normal you are more than what meets the eye, you possess something that no one else have I''ve seen it" "What do you mean?" "This village is too small for you, a small shell for a boy full of potential as you. That''s why I made a proposal to your mother about sending you to a school" "But chief I want to be an adventurer, not a student" "Non-sense sonny you must learn that to become an adventurer one must be strong and wise, you are still young and have many questions about life. This is a great opportunity to learn them and become stronger and wiser" Sage earnestly reflected on the chief''s words as they ate the snacks and drank the tea Garlove has prepared. "Sonny you are too young to be worrying about these decisions" "Yeah act like your age you''re making me look bad, I didn''t even have second thoughts when they told me about it" Garlove interjected making Sage think about it more seriously, his 28-year-old stubborn soul thinks he doesn''t need to be taught, but he immediately realized that there is more to this world and not learning about it before diving into it is dangerous. He thought that to be closer to finding out his true purpose of being reincarnated in this world is to become an adventurer immediately and travel around the world learning everything he could from his travels. "Alright I''ll let mom know of my thoughts on this" The next day came the father had already left for his job and the mother and the son were eating at the table, Sanda looks restless these days she hasn''t touched her porridge since they''ve sat down. "Mom I think I should go to the school the chief was talking about" Sanda was slightly surprised because the restless was not, in fact coming from a mothers separation anxiety, but it was because she thought Sage would not want to leave the village. "Really? You would go to school? Yes, yes, yes" Sanda shamelessly celebrated giving Sage an inkling to his mother''s thoughts. Sanda''s true aim was for Sage to go out in the world and become strong, to learn more about the world, and especially find friends or better yet a girlfriend. "So that settles it then? 3 years from now I''ll head to the academy" "Sage don''t be so carefree, going to roar academy is already a test, the vicinity near roar academy are teeming with young beasts, so you would be really tested of your skills. Someone is always observing along the vicinity." "What if I encounter stronger enemies on my way to the trials?" "Don''t worry you will be escorted by your father on your way there he is a guardian of the village after all, but when you''ve reached the point where the trial starts you''re on your own to enter" The guardians are the elites they are the vanguard of the village, they patrol the outskirts of the village most of the time. That''s why Sage''s father is already out the moment Sage wakes up. Sage has become more curious about the trials and the beast they will encounter along his way to the academy, even though it will be 3 years before his departure. He has no worries in being in the academy, what worries him more is what lies outside the village what are beasts, what will he do when he encounters one, what is there to discover of this world. He has yet to fully understand how this world works and how the ecosystem and humans tie together as a whole. That night the medieval European-esque village are wetter, foggier, and the frogs are croaking a little louder than usual. Sage is lying in bed highly satisfied with the extra punishment Bigura will be having along with the tiny hut above his head that''s set up by his parents to protect him from the environment. Eyes In The Forest "Please let me out of here I won''t do it again please, I''ve been hearing strange noises from the forest, please let me out!" The second day of his punishment, Bigura is already losing his mind. The terrifying atmosphere of the dense night, the warm and the moist afternoon sun is getting to his head. He is not doing well outside of the uncomfortable environment, he''s been pleading non-stop from the patrol guardians who were just passing by. The plantsman who is in charge of fertilizing today excused himself from his job cause of Bigura''s incessant pleading. Bigura''s mom became worried so she sent his little brother Gengje to look after his big brother all day. "Here''s some water mom told me to give you some" Bigura sucked the water skin dry from Gengje''s hands. "Where''s mom? Please tell them to let me out or tell the chief please" "I''m sorry brother It''s my fault you''re stuck here, don''t worry about that guy I should be the one to fight my own battles" "I don''t care about him just let me out of here" Bigura''s terrified out of his mind pleading to be free, most of the people that interacted with him thinks he''s just overreacting and just want to be freed from this humiliation. Bigura continued his prattling about his imaginary fear. "Last night I''ve been hearing something moving in the forest I dare not make a sound all night. Please, Gengje let me out of here I don''t know what will happen to me. I feel like there is a beast lurking in the forest and it''ll eventually notice me. Tell mom and dad about it please" "Brother don''t worry you''ve protected me all this time I''ll be the one to protect you now I''ll kill those mean beast for you" "No Gengje don''t-" Gengje sprinted off into the direction of the forest leaving him alone in the ground no one was around to hear him scream for Gengje to comeback. Bigura has been shouting for hours the sun is hours away from sinking. Someone from behind is approaching Bigura, a faint mumble is heard from Bigura''s exhausted mouth. "Help... Gengje.. Forest.." "Where is Gengje?" "Forest ran off" Bigura forced words out of his dry and damaged throat, Sage quickly responded to his plea and immediately ran to the chief informing him of Bigura''s condition and the situation of his brother. "Chief Gengje is in trouble he''s gone into the forest" "How did it happen?" "I don''t know, Bigura''s throat has been damaged he must''ve been screaming all day trying to find help from anyone nearby but no one else is around until I came" "Alright I''ll visit their house and see if he''s there but if he''s not I''ll form a search party of guardians to look for him" Sage was already itching to go into the forest to save Gengje, after they briefed each other of the situation Sage quickly walked away to Bigura''s direction but the Chief grabbed him midway. "Where do you think you''re going? I know you''ll go off and search for him yourself. It''s too dangerous to go alone wait for the guardians by Bigura" Sage nodded and had gone to Bigura with water shortly after talking to the chief. Sage was not dumb enough to charge into the unknown forest he knows how powerless he is right now. "Here''s some water drink up" Bigura gulped the whole bag of water canteen dry. "You must''ve dried your mouth with all that shouting. Don''t worry we''ll look for Gengje with the other guardians" Tears were crawling down from the loving brother''s eyes. "So you''re the kid the chief was talking about" Four people emerged from behind them they all look strong. "So we''ll babysit a kid while searching for another?" A muscular guy broke the ice towering over Sage, a long red head with its hair pulled back, sporting a leather armor that guardians wear bulging with his muscular body standing like a wall and at his back is a greatsword.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. "Don''t scare the kid Warder he only wants to help his friend" A charismatic man with a mustard colored bandana told Warder off, he''s the leader of the pack. He''s carrying a bow and arrow wearing the same leather armor as the rest of them. Fairly built, his voice and his body language speaks like a veteran on the battlefield. The bandana guy walked closer to Sage. "I apologize for Warder''s behavior he was always the irritable type. I''m David by the way and that thin pale man holding a spear is Detman" The thin pale man sporting the guardian attire with thin hair hugging the crome of his head. He''s holding a short spear with a long blade but with a short handle half of what should be the considered a standard spears length. He stared at Sage with his icy grin. "The other one by Bigura the lady holding a spiked club is Armin" The girl was squatting down with what looks like an oni''s club behind her back, a beautiful woman that has no signs of femininity in her movements. A perfect balance of masculine behavior and feminine appearance. "You lil'' shit who told you to attack a small kid!" Armin''s exuding an oni aura upon bigura while gripping his cheeks. "I''m sorry sis Armin I''ll never do it again please save my brother" "Yeah yeah we''ll find that runt for ya but we have to find him soon the sun is already setting, Which direction did the kid go?" "He ran towards that direction" Sage answered Armin''s question pointing to a certain direction of the forest. "How did you know he went that direction? You weren''t here when he ran off earlier" Bigura asked, puzzled as to how Sage knew the direction he went. "I scanned the surrounding area earlier, I saw broken branches on the ground accompanied with footprints and slight carvings on the trees. The kid is smart by marking the trees he passed by, the height of the markings confirms it" "Well, well, well, we got ourselves an aspiring hunter, where did you learn how to track like that?" "I''ve been hunting as a pastime" Armin questioned him not as much as interested but more amused for a kid who thinks he''s a hunter, Warder followed up. "What do you hunt? squirrels? HAHAHAHAHA" "No, I hunt wild boars and occasionally shelled osprays" "Those annoying birds? Is that why there are no reports of them attacking recently? You must be a living scarecrow then" David pleased with Sage he''s easily impressed by little things. "Then It''s no problem if you lead us to Gengje right kid?" The silent Detman provoked him with a hint of insecurity, in Detman''s mind the kid was only showing off because Armin was there. The three of them nodded their head in unison thinking he just a kid that only want to show off. Sage then headed to the forest without hesitation with them following him, every sure sign of a human is scanned and explained to the four guardians as they progress along. They haven''t gotten much further, yet the markings on the trees have been longer as they follow. The gaps of the markings is progressively getting wider of each other indicating that Gengje was in a hurry, the crude marks indicates he has no time to make a decent mark on the trees as he passed by. Sage picked up the pace, soon he immediately noticed a different set of tracks on the ground not a human print but a four-legged paw print of unknown identity the marking of the footprints indicates they were running. It was at most six four-legged animal he identifies. "I think Gengje might be in trouble I see tracks the size of a large dog over his, how many they are after him is around eight" "Then we have to go, come on kid lead the way" Warder shouted at Sage as they saw the situation has become dire than they''d thought, Sage has beads of sweat coming down on his forehead the four of them saw Sage freaking out fanning his face like a nervous wreck. David stepped up and touched Sage''s shoulders trying to comfort Sage of the situation. "Get a hold of yourself kid calm down so we can find Gengje faster" "Yeah runt I''ll slice them up with my greatsword so you don''t have to worry about the dogs" "Shut up period blood. I''m not freaking out I''m searching for Gengje''s scent, the number of pursuers is overshadowing his smell right now meaning they are already near each other" "Are you a dog or something?" Armin remarks doubtful of Sage''s nose, Sage then pointed to a direction that might lead to Gengje. Warder was unfazed by Sage''s disrespect to a senior let alone calling his hair period blood. Sage sprinted to the direction of the scent of Gengje the guardians followed. They inevitably meet with three four-legged creatures walking around the area. "It''s a Rock Tongue Hound be careful don''t get close they can propel their hard tongues at you like blunt harpoons. They are not threatened yet and some of them are still not located be careful, Armin, Warder charge at them I''ll support you from behind Detman guard my back" The group executed a well-coordinated position thanks to David''s leadership and the quick actions of the other members without hesitation, trusting David to have his back shows their camaraderie in fighting. Warder unsheathed his huge greatsword along with Armin and her spiked club facing the three Rock Tongue Hounds the two parties faced each other, one of the beast started growling, then the others followed, the hounds acknowledge them as a threat. Growling at them and staying their ground firmly both of the sides are not taking any actions they stood for a good four minutes, but the stare down moment came to an abrupt stop when an arrow met the mouth of one the beasts. The beast squealed in confusion along with the other two beasts signalling the start of the combat. "Don''t worry boy we''ve been fending off these types of beasts for many years we know what to do" David assured Sage thinking a kid like him needs it, but Sage the adult-minded kid let these kinds of statement slip to guard his real identity. The stare down was actually intentional it''s to let David aim and get a better shot on one of the beasts to disrupt their tempo after that shot the two guardians quickly lunges to the other enraged beast, the two swung down their weapon but the two beasts were agile enough to dodge. The two beasts opened their mouths and started their tongue barrage after they''ve dodged. Warder held his greatsword to block most of the attacks, the other beast started focusing him. While the three beasts were busy attacking Warder an arrow flew again disrupting the beasts tempo again. Now Armin saw this chance and charged at one of the severely injured beasts with a clean hit and finished it off. "Oh shit I was only aiming to knock it out" "Everyone close our distance" David instructed immediately to come closer, the others knew this will happen and instinctively closed the gap even before David said anything. Sage is wondering why they choose to be defensive rather than maintain the flow of attack. "Why are you suddenly defending, you killed the beast you guys should''ve continued attacking" The group shortens their distance with each other while defending from the remaining hounds. Sage''s ears picked up a cluster of footsteps, Sage turned his attention 180 degrees south of the battle. It was the same footsteps as the present Hounds. "Kid the reason we are on the defensive is that we had killed one, killing this beast releases a smell that his kind knows very well and it can act as a beacon for them to gather. We are supposed to just knock it out and carry them far away and execute them so they would not swarm near the village" David gave a brief explanation of the situation but Sage always gave an unfazed look. The situation may have become problematic but Sage noticed that this is all part of Davids plans, the night is growing dark and the forest clearing they are fighting upon is getting dim this must be Davids plans to lure the hound in this vicinity and kill them as soon as it gets dark, to quickly dispose of them and easily search for Gengje. Dance With The Devil ¡°Detman look alive there are Hounds coming from this direction¡± Sage reminded Detman his lack of awareness of the situation. ¡°Hey I''m your senior talk to me with respect, stand aside¡± Detman shoved Sage to the side even though he''s offended he still took Sage''s advise. Detman showed off his short spear swinging it whistling in the wind, the spear he''s holding is adorned with a flat marble at the butt of the handle. Detman saw the bushes move and instinctively pierced to its direction, a howling wail is heard behind the bush. The other Rock Tongue Hounds burst out of the bushes one by one, all four of the reinforcement hounds lined up. The irritated Detman spoke to Sage. ¡°You should hide dead weight we''ll be too busy to keep track of you right now so don''t hold us back¡± Sage complied and took refuge above the trees hoping no Hounds would notice him. The four guardians is locked in a pincer, David instructed a rearrangement of their position ''Armin stand your ground I''ll support you, Warder, Dettman take care of the four dogs'' Sage observes the fight hoping to learn how people of this world deal with beasts. He was always a keen student not out of his natural personality, but because of the fact that he needs to do it to survive.Sage in his past life was a kid with no origin, he grew up in the orphanage while being severely bullied and abused by his peers as well as the caretakers of the orphanage. The caretakers used Sage work for them without any rest. All of this abuse has planted a seed of animosity for humanity inside Sage. The corruption of the orphanage doesn''t stop there apparently they have ties with a powerful syndicate, the orphanage was a front to exploit kids however they want for money. One day the mobster came to the orphanage looking for a kid, without hesitation the caretakers as well as the kids threw Sage under the bus like trash. Sage became the entertainment for the syndicate for quite some time, became the dog of the syndicate. They tortured him whenever he made a mistake and they even torture him for fun but as he grew older the torture became harsher and more life threatning. The leader of the powerful syndicate was what they call ¡°experimenting¡± on Sage without any regards to his psyche. This lead Sage to a habit of absorb anything and adapt just to survive, letting the seed of hatred sprout resulting in indifference in humanity, the leader may have broken Sage''s body but not his spirit. They eventually grew tired of playing with Sage and he was later trained to be an assassin, a fighter, their own personal bodyguard, the dark syndicate didn''t expect Sage to excel so they intentionally gave him deadly to nearly impossible assignments, but all the hardships all the misfortune of his life was in vain when he was betrayed by his partner the son of the leader of the powerful group that raised him to what he is today. ¡°Don''t stray too far kid we can''t protect you if you''re too far.¡± David spoke out of concern, but Sage ignored it. Sage took a deep breath throught the nose and caught a wiff of a person, it was Gengje he quickly scouted the surrounding area with ears wide open, he bolted deeper into the forest to search for him he headed north and heard a muffled wheezing in the distance. Sage jumped from tree to tree, landing on the branches making no sound like a stealthy cat avoiding unneccesary encounters. Twenty meters away he located Genje hiding by a thick bush, Gengje was sweating profusely, bravely holding back his cries. Sage suddenly appeared beside him Gengje surprised almost letting out a scream good thing Sage grabbed his mouth close almost giving their position from the stray hound, but Sage place his finger on his lips gesturing to hush, Gengje can only nod in silence. Sage had already located the beast lurking around so he instinctively faced the opposite direction and jumped on a tree while carrying Gengje with ease, but just as they land on a tree a whip suddenly destroyed their foothold making them fall on the ground. ¡°Kid, head in that direction while I distract the beast. Go now!¡± Gengje nodded and without any thought followed his instructions and sprinted away. Sage never took his eyes off the direction of the beast. The shrubbery shook as a black snout peered in the bushes and revealed a Rock Tongue Hound, but this Rock Tongue Hound was different from the ones he saw back with the guardians. Its canine shine with a glossy jet black glass with a body 3 times as big as the other Rock Tongue Hounds the size of a fully grown great dane that he first encountered. Its Reflexes were increadible it already knew where we were. Sage did not dare make a move to anger the beast, without any warning the beast cocked its head back with jaws wide open shoots out his its tongue like a bullet. Sage have been dodging firearms in his past life but this is a different story its a barrage of tongue shooting at him like a machine gun, chipping away at him little by little. ''This is too dangerous I have to get away'' All his life Sage have been doing dangerous jobs, but this monster in front of him no doubt will kill him with ease. He had to get away no matter what, so he dashed away tactically going behind the trees for cover. The beast doesn''t know of his plan when it suddenly let out another attack, its tongue passed through the tree while the overshoot hit Sage''s shoulders it was a force he never felt before. Sage flew considirably far with the trees breaking his fall in the process dislocated his right shoulder. After he rag dolled through the forest he stood up wasting no time and sprinted forward while fine tuning his hearing. He immediately changed direction, going left instead of increasing the gap between him and the beast.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. He ran through the thick trees and ended up in a stream of river from there he slipped back his shoulder with only adrenaline as his painkiller, he ran beside the river and dug up a patch of mud and slather it across his whole body and torn clothes desperately. The mud cover most of his scent concealing himself from one of the enemies senses, good thing the river was very far away from the group of guardians so that the beast won''t be able to return to the others immediately. He then hid from the oncoming threat the hound, this is the moment he can strike when he is fully concealed from three of the important senses of a beast. The beast stood at the end of Sage''s trail just as he planned. Just like a dog that lost its toy it turned back and run back to the other direction. Sage ambushed it making only a whistle of a sound targeting the underside of the neck where its jugular vein is located, but it was a futile effort. The fur from its body is hard to cut acting as a form of armor to the already thick skinned Hound. The beast has a lock on Sage digging its claws on the soil and shooting out rapid heavy tongues destroying the greenery. Sage has been maneuver around dispite the low visibility of the surroundings his keen senses is acting as his eyes through out the fight. The beast has been launching its tongue one after the other like a continuous railgun. ¡°if slicing you won''t work how about stabbing¡± The beast groaned in response, Sage pounced at the beast full frontal the beast opened Its jaw the dark fangs slightly lit in the dark. Shoots its large tongue at Sage mid-air, Sage using the hilt of his knife deflected the attack. Upon landing the point of the knife reach the crown of the beast but it was yet another ineffective attack. The beast finally enraged thrashed Sage with its head making him pulled out the knife. Sage got struck from behind the hard tip of the tongue hit him at a weird angle even though there were no contractions of the tongue. It was evident that this beast can manipulate its tongue manually. ''If I get hit one more time I won''t be able to go home, I have to use this technique It was only recently that I learned it too, but there is no other choice but to use it.'' Sage again face the beast, He saw the insignificant damage he made to its head, but it didn''t bother him the least. The beast open its mouth once again with its teeth glowing much brighter than last time, but Sage only stood his ground not moving an inch. The beast''s mouth launches Its signature attack once again with great momentum, but Sage''s body moved like flame on a candle. He found the right timing to move his uncoordinated little body making it a dangerous gamble. Sage brought down his knife he removed the air resistance of his arms for it to move at blinding speed in a blink of an eye half of the tongue fell off. The hound made a loud yelping sound like a puppy while its choking on its own blood. Eventually the large rock tongue hound died of blood loss. Sage held his right shoulders it was in serious pain to have used it after it was dislocated. He walked beside the beast and brought out his knife he then plunged it into its chest and skillfully skinned its hide. Like a common hunter he needs proof that he has killed it so he opened the beasts mouth and took its four obsidian fangs from its mouth and placed it in his pockets. ''I better get going Its friends might come and take revenge on my or worse an even more dangerous might get attracted in its blood'' He never let his guard down so he fled immediately to a more safer place so he ventured deep into the pitch-black freezing forest. The forest was already in deep slumber, after all the scouting he finaly found a small cave he doesn''t care anymore whether there is a beast residing inside or not, either he''ll die from the cold outside or take his chances inside. All night he did nothing but sit down and breath this helped him get wam through the night it was freezing cold even with the freshly skinned fur. Morning came the sun peeked at his eyes waking him from the hard floor to a warmth passing through his body. ''I''m still alive?'' ¡°I never knew the iceman meditation back in our world actually works¡± Sage stood up checking his aching body ¡°Oh?¡± Sage noticed a wave of warmth but it was not from the sun it was from behind him, like a pulsating heartbeat giving him comfort deeper inside the cave. Curiousity got the best of him so he ventured deeper inside, as he goes deeper the darker it gets but more of a mineral that emenates a light glow were showing up around the walls. As he goes deeper not only minerals but grass became increasingly richer with vines that has pink flowers growing on them, its like a whole nother ecosystem inside the cave withsoil below his feet roots from the above. After a series of steps he entered a spacious chamber it was the end of the cave, the cave was littered with pink butterflies, it looked like a paradise beyond the hellish outside world. He noticed the pink butterflies were the flowers that were sticking on the vines earlier on his way in they were only mimicking a flower. Just like the insects of the mundane world the insects here too have a defense mechanism. His eyes continued to pan over the surroundings when he sees a spring of water, he quickly sprinted towards it and drank his fill, recharging his exhausted body. ¡°This place looks like heaven¡± Sage then jumped in the water with his clothes on cleaning the dirt from his body and his clothes while he''s at it. ¡°Thank god, I feel like the aches from my bones is slowly disappearing. I wish I had a smoke to make this perfect¡± Just when Sage was getting relaxed he noticed an increase of butterflies hovering above him like vultures, but he didn''t let it get to him as he gets more and more sleepy and relaxed. His eyelids slowly closes when he felt a wave of warmth again jolting him from his drowsiness . ''What was that?'' Sage searched for the source, but the hovering butterflies now closer than before obstructs his vision. He felt another wave of warmth, but he felt its inside the water. He dipped inside and saw a palm sized rock thats glowing he quickly grabbed it, after grabbing it he surfaced and inspected it closely it has shattered look with cracks glowing red orange. He noticed the butterflies were strangely swarming around him so he got out of the spring and drove away some of it. He ran outside but didn''t couldn''t get rid of all of it some clung to his clothes, hair and some are hovers around him. After getting out of the cave it seems the butterfly were harmless and just let it be. Sage backtracked from when he came, he returned to the scene of the crime, seems like they took care of everything. Sage was leasurly walking at the outskirts of the village when a patrolling guardian shouted at him. ¡°Sage!!¡± Sage waved at the guardian feeling relief, but the guardian face was not what he''d expected he wasn''t showing a face of happiness. The guardian''s face was like he had seen a ghost the blood from the patrolling guardian was drained from his body. ¡°Don''t come any closer dammit, you''re gonna kill the entire village!!¡± The Homecoming Treatment The town was currently in an uproar, Sage''s parents as well as the chief and the other villagers, were in a tense meeting in the village hall when suddenly a handful of guardians poured in by the door. ¡°Chief we found the kid he''s by the forest¡± ¡°Well? what are you waiting for? Bring him here right now¡± ¡°Uh Chief there''s a problem there are several parasite butterflies clinging onto him¡± ¡°What?!¡± Sage''s mother quick to react. ¡°We don''t know where he got it from he suddenly showed up covered with it we couldn''t let him in the village¡± ¡°Where is my son right now show him to me¡± ¡°Calm down Sanda this is no time to let your emotions run wild, right now the village is the priority. We must stay indoors so we wouldn''t have any casualties¡± The chief explained the dire consequences of the situation, the chief eyes locked at Aries. ¡°Aries you need to call that person. we need him to help Sage quickly, we must not waste any more time¡± In the outskirts of the village, Sage was sitting by the very spot he was told not to move from, resting not a care in the world, he''s playing with the butterflies like a normal kid. ¡°How are you still alive?¡± Sage jumped from his seat searching for the voice he heard. ¡°Who''s there?¡± ¡°Oh I''m just your friendly neighborhood alchemist¡± Sage then sighted a couple of vials thrown his way, the bottle broke released a gas around Sage. He instinctively covered his body from the explosion of smoke. ¡°Am I supposed to catch that?¡± ''Why does this feel familiar?'' Sage heartrate rose, his blood rushed to his head, he hadn''t felt this in a long time. He got curious about the voice so he walked towards its direction, he wanted to check who was behind the tree. He came out of the smog, his body and mouth letting out clinging smoke. He went around the tree looking like a demon from hell with all the smoke still lingering around him. ¡°What the f-¡± Sage covered in smoke tripped on a root stumbling towards the hiding girl leaving them in a rather precarious situation. Sage was on top of the girl their face unnecessarily close that they can feel each other''s breath. Quickly like a victim of a horror movie the girl crawled back with her bottom flat on the ground embarrassed by the situation. Sage stood up like nothing ever happened he looked at her from the feet up. A girl that looked like It''s the same age as Sage was wearing a dark brown cloak. The black haired girl had uneven bangs across his forehead but weirdly enough it suits her well with her bobbed haircut. She was scared out of his boots shouted at Sage. ¡°What are you doing? stop inhaling the smoke¡± ¡°I''ll do what I want¡± Sage proceeded to inhale some of the smoke from the area. The girl quickly took another vial and threw to the same spot. ¡°Stop inhaling it they''re not for you¡± ¡°Why do I need to stop? Hey, give me a vial this is tobacco right?¡± ¡°Shut up dimwit the formula is for the butterflies, you''re lucky you know you should''ve been dead a long while ago. I''m surprised you even lasted this long¡± ¡°I have a pretty sturdy body¡± ¡°It''s not the body they affect It is your energy those things were named parasite butterflies for a reason. It clings to any energy containing thing, they cling until all their energy''s dry leaving your body a lifeless husk. It can even take down a rook class beast hell there are even rumors that a swarm of them killed a whole town¡± ¡°Then how did I survive it? I don''t exactly have a well of unlimited energy in my body, after all that fight with the beast I should be all out since my body and mind is completely exhausted¡± The little girl walked into the fading smoke fanning out the fumes. There lies the butterflies still alive and moving, the butterflies were not agitated in the slightest. The girl put his palm towards the insects mumbling unusual language. Sage had no idea what the girl is doing but he never questioned her until drops of sweat is seen visible on the girls face. ¡°Hey, are you alright? Don''t strain yourself¡± ¡°I''m alright, keep quiet¡± ¡°Well you look like you''re sweating like a pig there¡± ¡°Are you saying I''m a pig?¡± ¡°No no no it''s just an expression, you look pretty¡± The girl went silent intently focused on the butterflies, the temperature was getting hotter by the minute. Sage followed up with a question. ¡°Oh by the way what''s your name?¡± ¡°My names Charlotte...¡± The girls face under the short hair was beet red her face covered in sweat like a fountain and her head lowering in embarrassment from Sage''s compliment. She''s still holding her palm up slightly shaking. ¡°Oooh now I know what you''re doing you''re burning them¡± ¡°Uh what? AHH!¡± The girl was too distracted by Sage''s words, she never realized she''s burning the butterflies she quickly removed her cloak to put out the fire. ¡°No no no no this is not what I wanted to happen¡± ¡°Looks like you did a great job to me¡± ¡°I was supposed to kill it intact, not incinerate it. How am I supposed to study them now? I let a perfectly good specimen go to waste. These things were still a mystery even to the scholars no one has ever come close to studying them they all ended up dead!¡± The girl took the burnt butterflies and stormed away passing the guardians that were standing on a safe distance. "wheres mom?¡± The guardians were puzzled that Sage was still alive they stare at him as they pointed at the village hall. Sage open the doors seeing the crowd of people huddled in serious discussion. Sanda noticed Sage immediately hugged him tightly. While the guardians who followed Sage behind discussed the matter of the village''s safety. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°What happened to you? We were so worried when they all came back without you, your father and I searched for you at the forest at once!¡± ¡°Sanda, that''s just you. Charging at the forest. In the dark. Without any shoes. Alone.¡± Sanda glared at Aries like a vengeful spirit. The chief approached the Son family''s little reunion. ¡°Ehem- thank god you''re alright sonny but how did you escape the pack leader?¡± ''Is he talking about the large dog?'' ¡°I killed it¡± ¡°How did you do that? Those types of beasts have fur like an armor on top of a hard skin how did your attacks go through? You haven''t even had your armata yet¡± ¡°I sliced its tongue off and let it bleed to death. If you don''t believe in me then here is your proof¡± Sage pulled up his intact fur pelt from the skinned hound earlier, the fur looks like it was skinned by an expert like it was pulled straight from the body. ¡°That could have been another lesser hound¡± A cold and emotionless voice echoed behind them. It was Detman that just came back from the search patrol, he was listening to the conversation the whole time. Sage didn''t make a peep, he thought it would be better off this way because he''ll be more suspicious of his capabilities, besides Sage only skinned half of the pelt because the other half was covered in blood making it dangerous to carry. The pelt was the exact same size as the regular hounds that they encountered. ¡°You got long ways to go before you can fight off an adult pawn kid. Good thing you escaped, good job¡± Detman then walked towards Sage''s father Aries and privately discussed something. Sage saw Detman in a new light from the praise he had gotten he was not half bad of a human being. The pale man and his father finished their secretive meeting and proceeded to the doors outside, but just before he opened the doors outside he looked at Sage. ¡°Hey, kid!¡± Sage gazed upon the slim man as he put his slender thumb at his neck and drawing across his throat issuing a threat to a little kid then proceeded to exit outside of the village hall. Sage was dumbfounded as to what the Detman was referring to and quickly looked at his father in a questioning look. His father quickly averted his eyes and just casually whistles as if there is nothing. Sanda then dragged Sage home, ripping him of all of his clothing Sage embarrassingly covered his privates checking for bruises. ¡°Oh seriously I''ve already seen everything¡± ¡°I''m a man I shouldn''t be treated like this¡± Sages face were bright red he never expected to be treated like this, Sanda took a bucket of water and placed it beside Sage. She then took one of the jeweled bracelets from the shelf and wore it around her wrist, the bracelet shined a cyan hue. Sanda held up her hand the water from the bucket floated in the air without ease like how water floats in space covering Sage''s body cleaning off the little gunk and mud that was left from his earlier bath in the spring of water. ¡°You sure are clean for staying outside for a whole night.¡± Sanda dumped the dirty water outside while Sage wore his signature buttoned wool shirt. Sanda then came inside his room and handed Sage a bottle. ¡°Drink this potion I got it from our local alchemist. It''ll heal you right up¡± ¡°Oh, It''s from the little girl?¡± ¡°Girl? There''s no girl, the alchemists were a man and his apprentice a little boy¡± Sage showed a doubtful look he could have sworn he''s a girl, Sage brushed the whole thing aside and checked his tattered clothe''s pockets. Good thing he recovered four black fangs and the mysterious rock. The rock''s glow had disappeared the orange glow never lighted up. There''s nothing special about the rock nor the fangs it looks like they were just a trophy for yesterdays adventure, so he placed the fangs and the rock on the shelf in his room. His body melted on the bed after he lay down he felt profound exhaustion from what happened yesterday. He had to rest for at least a week for his injuries can fully heal. Sage never knew potions actually existed all he knew about potions were from video games. He never knew how effective it was, his injury was supposed to recover for at least a couple of months but with the potions, it turned into just a couple of days. If potions were a thing in the mundane world he would have become unparalleled at his line of work. Sage decided to drop by the alchemist''s house hoping to learn more from them before going back to his daily routine. Halfway through the village, he got called by Warder the muscular incarnation of a berserker. ¡°Hey runt follow me, your father wants to talk to you about something¡± ¡°What does my father want from me?¡± ¡°Just keep your smart mouth shut and follow me. The guardian''s quarters is around here¡± Sage felt something was not right about this, Warder has been sketchy the whole walk, but regardless Sage was still following him to the destination. They arrived at an open area beside a considerably large establishment, there are people practicing their swords in the area. There were familiar faces on a nearby bench, a hand full of guardians were there including Sage''s father, Armin, and David they all have a serious look on their faces as they look at the both of us. Detman was missing maybe he was on the round of patrolling the outskirts of the village. Warder suddenly stops in the middle of the area, the people who were practicing stopped what they''re doing. Warder pulled out his heavy sword and turned to face Sage. Warder''s face turned dangerous his body emitted a killing intent that Sage knew very well, without rhyme or reason Warder suddenly charged at Sage with his sword without hesitation ready to hack his body. ¡°This is the end of the line for you kid, Unfortunately, this is where you die!¡± Sage drew his knife like a gunslinger blocking the sword oppressive power. Warder was like a mountain, towering over Sage the endless drizzling weather felt like drops of dread crawling on his skin. Sage''s eyes passed warder looking at his father like a pitiful puppy. Just when Sage finally accepted a warm loving family he yet again felt betrayed. ¡°Dad please stop him he''s going to kill me¡± His dad stared at him without batting an eye not showing any indication of giving any help. A Heroes Reward A scene akin to the story of David and Goliath was transpiring in the guardians quarters, clashes of iron echoes through the training area. Sage had been helplessly blocking Warder''s attacks for quite some time, slowly chipping away at his knife bit by bit. Sage knew he can''t attack if this continued, so he switched to just evading the attacks. Sage was still confused why this man was trying to kill him? Why isn''t his father helping him? ''I can''t keep blocking like this'' Sage thought up a plan to let Warder expend as much energy attacking, as it could leading the giant to slow down creating more openings to attack, but for his tiny body dodging isn''t exactly energy efficient. Sage was feeling his body was slowly cannot keep up with him while Warder never showed any signs of slowing down. Warder struck down his sword right between Sage''s eyes, Sage instinctively dodged with his agile body to the side. To his surprise, the blade followed with precise motion according to his movement. He had to create some kind of distance this fight was straining him he might reach his limits. "What now kid? Are just gonna keep dodging me? Your inner energy truly is weak" Sage has been finely tuning his hearing while the giant flaps his mouth, his opponent''s body sounded odd. The noises it makes were not a normal human can make the heartbeats the muscle contractions everything is different. "To think you survived a beast pawn with this kind of skill display" Sage was only average when it comes to fighting he can''t match a brute like Warder. He thought of the only thing he was good at, killing. So he took a handful of mud from the ground and tossed it. Warder dodged it without ease arrogantly cocking his head to the side, but at that moment Sage has already followed up with a dropkick on the face. The momentum of Sage''s kick and Warders head movement knocked the giant down. The giant''s body whipped on the ground, Sage wasted no time and quickly sliced the neck of the fallen giant. To his surprise, no blood came out from Warder''s neck. "Stop, Sage had enough" A figure was walking behind the fallen giant. Aries stood for a while, then reached his hand out. Sage quick refuse the helping hand and created a distance to both the giant and his father. He was never trusting of anybody his whole life, with his father betraying him leaves him with mixed thoughts. "What games are you playing dad?" "Don''t be afraid son we were only testing you, you didn''t exactly pass but you''ve beaten him regardless it''s somewhat impressive" "What are you talking about?"You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. "I''m talking about what happened the other day. The fact that you didn''t let the guardians handle the beast of that caliber and ran off with it knowing it was very dangerous. You are underestimating everything, no, no, you were overestimating yourself. You could''ve died back then just like what happened just now Warder could''ve killed you" "But I sliced his neck he should be bleeding right now" "You can never kill him, cause he knew how to utilize his kaha, and at the same time he is naturally gifted with a hard body." "Kaha?" "Kaha is the what people call inner energy. Every living thing has this energy residing in their body, plants, humans even beasts. But most of the people in midel thinks that kaha is primal, that it''s the weakest form of power but us here thinks it has endless potential" Every elements have some ways of strengthening. Water''s strength lies with subtle manipulation of blood flow, thus enhancing your strength, increase your speed, and can act as a barrier for your body. The climate of the village was perfect for water users they have the freedom of using these strengths for themselves. As for earth, their powers lies with object enhancement since the common iron weapons and armors are made from earth materials they can strengthen them or even boost their attacks. With fire users their power lies with fire itself they don''t have much influence in objects or the body but they make up for it in terms of firepower. As for the infamous air element, it still remains a mystery, they still do not have full knowledge of its strengths as most of the air users are a minority in this world. Most air wielders rather have ordinary lives than walk the harsh path of a warrior. "..." "We are going to teach you how to use it with our senior apprentice he''ll be here in a minute" "But how am I supposed to learn my powers most people from the village are water users" "Don''t worry Sage we have someone for the job" Aries gestured at the door. The doors to the guardians quarters opened up a thin pale man with hands on his pockets stood at the door smiling wickedly. The scene looks like a senior getting back at his junior for disrespecting him. Detman walked up at Sage looking down on him. "I won''t be training you, you''ll be training by yourself with Warder as your partner. I don''t believe in teaching you have to learn how to use your own power by yourself." Cold hearted words rolled out of Detman''s mouth, he was a victim of discrimination like all air users in midel, he wants Sage to learn by himself just like how he did with his. He rose through their ranks with sheer determination, he doesn''t believe in babying his fellow air wielder. "I''ll only give hints, you''ll have to figure it out on your own." ''Why do I feel like all of them are out to get me what did I do wrong'' "..." He said what he had to say, Detman walked back to the bench to observe him from a distance. "Sage, sorry for scaring you back there but this will serve as a lesson to you, for getting yourself in danger, you understand? Warder could have killed you back then. What more if it was a wild beast?" This was not the tough love Sage had in mind but he understood his father''s point. He had been reckless back at the forest his body was in a bad shape coming back to the village. What Sage was wondering when he got back was the fact that he didn''t die from the parasitic butterflies, is it a boon from the oriental god? Root Encounters The messy haired Sage already left the grounds, His father Aries told him to come back tomorrow to continue his basic training. He visited the local alchemist where his initial plans of going before getting taught a harsh lesson by his father. He saw the cabin after asking around, Sage knock at the wooden door. ¡°Coming!¡± The door opened a little kid opened wearing an oversized shirt, they stared for a short while till she closed the door on Sage''s face. ¡°Who was it?¡± ¡°No one, I don''t know him, he''s the weird kid¡± Three muffled contradicting answers were peering through the door in succession. ¡°Finish this I''ll go talk to him¡± The door opened once again now with a handsome man that looks relatively young with a short neat hair. ¡°What can I help you with, young man? Oh, are you by chance Sage?¡± ¡°Yes that''s me, I came here to thank someone for helping me out the other day, but I don''t think he''s willing to see me¡± ¡°Oh nonsense come inside, have a seat¡± There was a set of tables and seats beside a divider, behind the divider there''s smoke coming out into an open ceiling. ¡°Charlotte can you kindly make us something to drink? My name is Carmond¡± Behind the divider series of rumbling, bubbling and stomping were heard ¡°Hehehe don''t mind her. So what''s did you want to say earlier again?¡± ¡°I want to thank your sis-¡± At that moment Sage remembered his mom told him that there are two males in this house. Beyond the divider, a metal object fell. ¡°Sorry about that!¡± ¡°Can you repeat what you said again?¡± ¡°Oh I want to thank you- mister, for saving me back then, without your vials the parasitic butterflies would have killed me¡± A tray of warm drink slammed in the middle of them, Charlotte looked at Sage in disdain. ¡°Actually It was Charlotte that helped you, all the concoction was made by her. Charlotte sit here and talk to him I''ll return to my brewing¡± The two awkwardly sat down on their chairs, Sage enjoying his drink in silence while Charlotte drinks awkwardly. ¡°I guess I have to thank you for your help back then¡± Charlotte was startled from the ice breaker sending shivers up his spine, Charlotte''s face was flushed from the situation. He''s still embarrassed from the what happened back in the forest. ¡°It''s not like I wanted to help you or anything! They were orders from the chief¡± ¡°Charlotte! Can you get me some Mandara roots outside? We''re all out¡± His brother called from behind the divider. ¡°You can take Sage with you, you can continue your conversation while you''re at it¡± The man winks sending Charlotte''s flushed face into glowing red from embarrassment Charlotte awkwardly sprinted at the door. Sage was still unaware of what was happening and simply looked at them with an uncaring neutral face. He calmly followed Charlotte outside, Charlotte took the woven basket that was hanging from the porch. ¡°You''ve been acting odd is anything alright?¡± ¡°Yes I''m fine you can go home now, you don''t have to do what my brother told you¡± ¡°No, I''m curious about what you do I wanna know what alchemy is¡± ¡°If I answer your question would you leave me and go home?¡± Sage simple nodded. They talked as they prance deep into the forest. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°Alright, alchemy is the pursuit of recreating the heart of Midel while every alchemist''s goal was the unification of everything the soils, the fluids, and the cosmos under a flame while the smoke being flown by the wind¡± ''His definition of alchemy sounds like he''s repeating a script maybe it was the mentor''s words'' They''d already walked a substantial amount until they''ve reached a place where most likely the Mandara root grows. Charlotte was searching around for it, then he spotted a bush a dead leafless red branchy wood. ¡°Is that what you''re looking for?¡± Charlotte''s heart jumped out of her rib cage. ¡°Woah why are you still here? You told me you''d go back if I answered your question.¡± ¡°Correct¡± ¡°Then why are you still here?¡± ¡°Cause that was not your definition of alchemy it was probably your mentor''s words. That you were mimicing¡± ¡°Does it really matter? It is what it is¡± ¡°I get it. You don''t want to pursue alchemy¡± ¡°How can you say that?, you don''t know m-¡± Charlotte stopped abruptly Sage''s finger was stopping Charlotte''s mouth from further speaking. Charlotte again confused as to what Sage was doing. Sage then slowly with the same finger put it on his lips. ¡°Shhh¡± Charlotte''s childish mind thought about this situation differently, Sage never in his mind contemplated what his actions meant to a kids perspective. Sage''s action what Charlotte thinks are bold he just simply submitted himself in shyness. ¡°I heard something. Get the thing quickly before we find out what it is come on¡± Charlotte still confused panicked and collected the Mandara root. Sage learned the past couple of days were that the forest was dangerous, so they took a handful of Mandara roots and hid themselves from the oncoming threat. Their face close to each other behind the trees, breathing felt among themselves. Then a small marsupial like animal came out of the bushes it was only there to eat some of the Mandara roots. The tension quickly released from their bodies as they were in the clear of danger. ¡°I thought a wild beast would come out again. Sorry¡± Sage reached out his hands to pull Charlotte up, he''s reluctant to take his hand but Sage grabbed it anyway and pulled him up. Sage observed the animal, it was evident that animals from his world are present here, what got his attention more is the weird plants that they picked. ¡°What are Mandara roots anyway?¡± ¡°They''re plants used for a lot of things but mainly it''s for mana recovery¡± ¡°Mana recovery? What is mana?¡± ¡°Mana is the energy beyond the ether the air is abundant of them and this plant absorbs nutrients from the air and sometimes that nutrients are mixed with mana¡± ''Here he goes again mumbling someone else''s words'' ¡°So you are telling me we have mana in our bodies?¡± ¡°Yes just like this plant we absorb some of the mana around us inside our body¡± ¡°How can two existing en-¡± ¡°KAAAAAAA!¡± Multiple high screeches came from the heavens Sage knew exactly what it was, they were Shelled Ospreys flying by them. One of them landed to the Mandara root field and ate the marsupial-like animal. The Shelled Ospreys are a common flock of birds the size of an eagle their feathers were light, thin and hard like a shell hence the name, making them a force to be reckoned with in the skies. Sage and Charlotte back again in the same position ever so closer to each other, Sage was worried about the situation while Charlotte''s too occupied with Sage being too close. Cauldron Village The two decided to head back if they had stayed any longer they might''ve been in trouble with the passing flock of beasts. ¡°Could you explain to me what mana is again?¡± ¡°I could, but I don''t understand it well enough to tell you. You can ask my brother about it, he''s been teaching me for a long time.¡± They arrived at the rustic house, handing over the collected ingredients to his brother. Sage was curious what lies behind the divider so he peeked at the alchemist work station. There were several glass bottles, small vials, and a large pot, it seems like the place where the concoction was being brewed, they were clean and well maintained. There Carmond was stirring the pot slowly. ¡°What are you doing with that pot?¡± ¡°I''m making mana potions you want to watch me make them?¡± Sage simply nodded. Carmond brought out the ingredients one by one placing them at a table, crushing them mixing the dry one before mixing with the wet ingredients. It was like baking, but with different types of unknown ingredients. ¡°Mind if you grind this mandara root for me? If I finished making these I''ll give you a small vial for free, deal?¡± ¡°Sure¡± The two worked on the mana potions. Sage learned that these potions were their main source of income, they sell them to the passing caravan of goods that came from the capital. The caravan goes from village to village, there are guardians that are stationed in neighboring villages they act out as a bodyguard whenever a merchant''s caravan decided to visit their village. ¡°Sir Carmond can I ask you something?¡± ¡°Kid, just Carmond is fine or you can call me bro¡± Playfully winking at Charlotte''s direction, Charlotte nearly dropped the glass bottle she was prepping for the finished concoctions. ¡°Ask away¡± ¡°Can you explain to me what mana really is? And its relation to kaha?¡± ¡°Never knew kids your age is interested in these kinds of things. How can I start, there are many energies in this world kaha is one of them its an energy that exists within every being, Elves has them Dwarves, Beastmen too many to name them all. Even angels and demons. However, mana is another energy the surrounding energy it exists in the planes of ether it flows with the wind, and its relations to kaha well think of it this way take this concoction inside this pot this is the mana floating around this world¡± Carmond scooped a ladle full of the concoction. ¡°And this bottle is what you call kaha the existing energy of every living thing¡± Carmond slowly poured the brewed liquid into the glass bottle. ¡°So, in other words, kaha is a container while mana is another energy that can be stored on our kaha?¡± Carmond excitedly swung his lady soaked in liquid potion. ¡°Yes!, correct you understand me, and they say I''m not qualified to teach kids anything¡± Sage full of splattered with liquid concoction only stood still in utter awe of this man''s eccentric movements. ¡°I''m really sorry I got so excited¡± ¡°It''s fine¡± ¡°You know Charlotte''s learning to become a mage, and this alchemy thing is only her pre-mage study¡± ¡°Should you really be telling other people these things?¡± Charlotte cut into their conversation looking apprehensive. ¡°I''m sorry I got carried away¡± Sage looked at the both of them. ''It''s rare to see a younger sibling to scold an older brother for something so simple, seems they haven''t trusted me yet to let me know'' ¡°Brother, how do you become a mage then?¡± The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Oh, that''s simple you need to go to Alteras the capital of this huge country Sirfis, that''s where the greatest of the great mages were born, there are many archmagi teaches there you won''t probably see any Crowned Magus or an Ascended in this lifetime but at least you can have some Archmagus teach you how to become a mage¡± ¡°Mages? Archmagus? Crowned what?¡± ¡°Oh, let me explain them one by one in order¡± ¡°Mages are what you call an initiate they are new magic users that are mostly apprentices to High Mages, the scale of power which they are categorized is that they can only fight off one to three people at most. High mages are the adept ones in magic they have a complete understanding of magic they are mostly in the fields of war beside knights the power they are categorized as is they can support the platoon as well as fight more than-¡± Carmond held out all ten fingers at Sage. ¡°The Archmagus, they are, you can say complete experts at using magic. Sculpting mana like an artisan. The scale of their power is they can annihilate a whole platoon of soldier they can literally end wars if they can. The crowned Magus, they are extremely rare, they are usually under the rule of a king. You will see that most kings have a trusted crowned magus at his side. As for Ascended ones, they are as you can say a disaster class entities, there are records that they can wipe out entire countries, some kingdoms sometimes don''t want to associate with them and sometimes they are heralded as gods. I heard rumors that some countries worship these individuals and given tribute to protect their land or kingdom because no kingdom can hold their own to an Ascended. Only Ascendeds can fight Ascendeds¡± ¡°How can they measure such individual''s power? They can''t always be flaunting their power and destroying countries just to prove their power¡± ¡°In the mage guild, there are scholars devoted in studying magic created a device to measure an individual''s power. Did you know? Those scholars even made mana encha-¡± Just before they finish their casual chatter multiple crashing sounds reverberated above the ceiling, alarming all of them. Without hesitation, both Carmond and Sage raced outside the house only to see three Shelled Ospreys prancing around on his roof. ¡°How did they track us down?¡± Sage shot a look at Charlotte but Charlotte simply replied with a shrug. ¡°It was probably my fault, you know beasts are hungry beings, they go for anything that has strong energy¡± ''It''s not just their sense of hearing and smell that I need to look out for? Then does this mean he''s stronger than we think?'' Carmond mumbled unknown words under his breath, from his back three small fireballs flickered into existence. The three balls of fire shot out in an arc towards the birds, The fireballs were not meant to hurt them but to lure them off the roof of their house, the three hostile birds simultaneously soared towards Carmond. Six long talons spread wide open, ready to gouge out whatever they can at Carmond''s body. Calmly Carmond held out his arm once again, mumbling indeterminable words great pillar of flame shot out of his palm, roasting every bird that charged towards him. The magnitude of his strength is unbelievable Sage has never seen flames like that, they were like a large scale blow torch incinerating the birds whole. ¡°I hope you guys like seared osprey cause we''re eating tonight¡± ¡°KAAAAAA!¡± They thought they were finally out of the woods with eliminating three birds but things are not that easy as they looked above them. Countless shelled ospreys were seen following each other like a merry go round. The whole village was being circled by a flock of shelled ospreys. The complete oddity of the beast''s movement left them shocked.