《Magus Zero》


 Prologue

    Five nations.Gloseren,Loche,Veile,Lieza, Meharea. All within the world of Rasec.


    Gloseren. Cool to cold weather is prevalent in this nation. There is no summer to speak of here, there is no rainy nor sunny season either. It''s always snowing everyday. The mountain ranges that surround this place make the area get little to no sunlight. The same mountains also limit the territory of Gloseren, making the nation the smallest out of all of them. However you can see that the same small nation barely touched by the sun is shining brightly. Because of the condition of the nation, the people here have adapted by learning the secrets of fire and light magic. Every corner is bright, inside of every house is warm. The nation feels like a bright snowball with warm buildings inside.


    Loche. If Gloseren was cold, then Loche is the exact opposite. The latter nation is under the direct influence of the hot tendrils of the blazing sun. It looks like an unending, parched land with many deserts stretched across hundreds of miles. It''s not false to say that Loche is the largest nation out of the five. With that in mind, it is no wonder that the people in this nation have adapted by learning about water magic, and along with it comes knowledge about life. It may be ironic that the harshest environment is home to the people who are the pillars of healing and life sustenance, but that is the reality of Loche.


    Veile. Located at the center surrounded by the 4 other nations, Veile acts like the "capital nation." The weather is a perfect balance of hot and cold, and its territory stretches fairly moderately. The one thing that makes Veile stand out though is its matriarchal reign and the giving of more importance towards women than men. Their Matriarch, who holds the strongest magic in the nation, is being idolized by the female magi and thus her magics which specializes about earth magic and summoning is being copied throughout the land.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    Lieza. The nation of intangibles. Lieza is, by other nation''s magic standards, a rarity.There''s nothing that really stands out about its natural environment. However, instead of utilizing the elements like fire, water or earth, the magi in Lieza utilizes hexes and curses. Unlike the other nations, Lieza will not suffer from breaking down due to internal strife, as there is no unity amongst the magi in the first place. There is no strongest magus, there are numerous strong magi in Lieza, and most of them are loyal to none.With that said, the magi in Lieza make for the perfect mercenaries, and Lieza itself is a mercenery nation.


    Finally, we have Meharea. The people of Meharea are "normal." They can use all the elements just fine, and have no specialties whatsoever. The land is moderately vast and the weather is moderately fine. Their ruler is one who has strong leadership skills and has the most balanced mix of elemental might. He knows a bit of hexes and curses, but that''s about it.


    Five nations. It may not always be peaceful living between them, but there''s no real strife between them either.


    Until one day. One fateful day when a child was born in Meharea. He was born with nothing, grew up with nothing, and with nothing he determined that everyone else should also have nothing. Thus started the tale of the one of nothing. The one of zero.


    Thus started the tale of Magus Zero.

 Chapter 1: The boy who had zero (1)

    Chapter 1: The boy who had zero (1)


    Baby cries. Those were heard on the little steps of the stairs leading to the door of an orphanage run by a certain magus.


    After hearing some footsteps hurriedly running away from the orphanage, a child peered through a slightly opened door. She caught a glimpse of the person running away, but wasn''t able to get any important details other than the long, golden hair that stood out from the darkness of the night. She then noticed the little wooden crate that contains a precious cargo, wrapped in a black, wool blanket. More baby cries. She hurriedly closed the door. After a while, a well-built bald man came out of the very same door. He took the crate along with the baby.


    "One more poor soul left on my doorstep," said the man in a low voice.


    Seven years had passed. The baby grew into a young lad, with striking black hair and even more striking black eyes. He grew up in the orphanage that Cygmund, the magus, had built to shelter those little children in need.


    "Children, are you ready?" asked Cygmund with a smile to the group of 7-year olds who are with him. With the group is Tony, the black-haired boy. He had no other noteworthy features to tell at this point. He was just a normal little boy.


    "Yes!" a certain group of children said in chorus.


    "Yes, baldy!" another group of children, which you can tell are quite mischievous, followed.


    "What was that?!" And the children caught a laughing spell.


    Ready for what, you ask? The children of the orphanage are under the direct care of the magus Cygmund. He may not look like it at first glance but he''s a well respected magus in Meharea. He''s bringing the children to Tancam Academy, the closest magic school to their orphanage.


    When a child turns seven, he or she can check his magic ability by swallowing a small pill created by the magi of Loche. The pill then amplifies the mana in the eyes. The latter then glow with a number of colors, and one determines the ability of the child as a magus through the colors of the glow as well as its intensity.


    The children were excited. They have always looked up to Cygmund as a father-figure as well as their idol. As the one who saved them and took them in, that much is natural even without them learning about his true strength. They wanted to be magi just like their idol.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    They reached Tancam Academy after a 15-minute walk. After a few formalities, the checking of magic ability went underway.


    A series of "whoas" and "oohs" and clapping of hands emerged from the children as one by one they discovered their magic potential. One of them, a scarlet-haired girl, followed suit after quite a number of them have done their test. She swallowed the pill. She closed her eyes when the pill entered her throat. A few moments later, she opened them, and a bright red light glowed from her eyes. It was rather intense that her eyes were almost no longer visible. The other children got excited, and a loud "oooh!" was heard from them. When the light faded, a loud wave of claps were heard, not only from the children but even some students and teachers who stopped by to watch the spectacle.


    The girl looked excitedly at the crowd that clapped for her, and shyly she went back towards her friends who hugged her and were jumping up and down excitedly.


    "Certainly, that is a talent right there," said the headmaster of the academy, who was watching in the sidelines along with Cygmund.


    A few more children tested themselves with the pills. After their turns came Tony''s. He stepped forward, excited to know what his magic ability is just like the other children before him.


    He swallowed a pill. He imitated what the scarlet-haired girl did. After taking the pill into his mouth, he closed his eyes and pushed it down his throat.


    Open! He opened his eyes.


    To the surprise of everyone present, including himself, there was no glow.


    Tony looked towards the direction of the headmaster and Cygmund.


    "Th-there must be a mistake. The pill might be defective. Can you take another one?" asked the headmaster.


    Tony took another pill. He swallowed it more carefully, thinking there must have been a mistake somewhere. He closed his eyes during the process.


    Then, open! He opened his eyes again.


    There was still no glow. His heart started to sink.


    The people around became more restless. How can this be? Two defective pills?


    Cygmund approached Tony and calmly said, "Take one more pill."


    Filled with hope by his idol''s actions, he grabbed another pill. Slowly he placed it into his mouth. Slowly he tried to swallow it. Slowly he pushed it further down his throat and into his stomach. His eyes were closed.


    Then, he opened his eyes, slowly. He feels it. He certainly feels it.


    He feels that there is no glow.


    Tears started to well up in his eyes. His throat had gone dry. He doesn''t want to take another pill. It will only confirm what he lacks.


    "Cynthia, come here. Take a pill again." Cygmund ordered the scarlet-haired girl to take another pill.


    Obediently the girl went up front and took a pill. She didn''t bother to do her "ceremony" back then. She simply swallowed a pill. After a couple of seconds her eyes glowed bright with a bright red color again.


    The simple sob from Tony became a wail. He couldn''t accept it. He had no magic ability.


    Cygmund''s well-built frame hugged Tony with the latter''s face on the former''s chest. He carried away the child while apologizing to the people around and told them to continue with the remaning children.


    Tony discovered today that he had zero magic ability.

 Chapter 2: The boy who had zero (2)

    Chapter 2: The boy who had zero (2)


    Useless. The boy with striking black hair and even more striking black eyes felt so useless after knowing that he had no magic ability.


    He fell asleep on the chest of Cygmund while being carried after crying his heart out. He has never felt this useless ever since knowing that he had been left at the doorstep of the orphanage. It may have been his mother, it may have been not. Either way, they didn''t want him.


    But Cygmund have revived his spirits like every other child he has taken into the orphanage. He made them feel that they still have family; he has been like a father to them, much more so than their own blood-related fathers.


    This time, it''s up to Cygmund again to find out how he''s going to console the child whose brittle heart shattered like glass thrown into the hard wall of reality. But first, he gave him time to rest. The former tucked the latter into the bed, and shot a concerned look at the boy before heading out to fetch back the other children.


    Cygmund didn''t get a chance to do his "magic" though. Tony locked himself in his room. He was simply so ashamed of himself, so disappointed, that he didn''t want to show his face to any of the people in the orphanage. He didn''t want his idol to see him even more so.


    A day has passed. Two days. A week. Tony just locked himself in his own room, moping and cursing himself, wishing someone as useless as him was never born in the first place. How he survived 7 days in his room, well, as much as Cygnum didn''t want this attitude, he didn''t want to leave him alone either, so he left food in front of the door every meal time. He even left a makeshift potty. He understood the child''s reaction, and respected his actions.


    After a week, Tony has decided.


    "I guess it''s time for me to leave the orphanage. I''m just a burden, especially to Cygmund," Tony said to himself.


    Deep within the night, when everyone were sleeping so soundly, Tony made his move. For the first time in 7 days, Tony opened his door for the purpose other than taking the food left in front of his door. He was very careful so that he won''t notify anyone, especially not Cygmund. He slipped out the door, and into the darkness. He didn''t know where he was going, he just didn''t want to burden anyone any longer.


    Cygmund woke up after he heard the the main door of the house close. He thought it was just another one of those times when one of his children went out to check the door for new orphans left at the doorpost.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Several minutes passed. There was still no report to him. Maybe there was actually nothing outside? But Cygmund had a bad feeling about it. He got out of his bed and went down to check the door. There was nothing wrong outside. Still, his guts tell him there''s something amiss. He checked the children if there was anything wrong. He checked the locks of the room doors. To his surprise, the door to Tony''s room wasn''t looked. He was pleased at first, thinking that Tony finally went out. He opened the door, and saw no one.


    "He must have been wanting to potty that bad after holing himself up for a week," thought Cygmund to himself.


    Just when he was about to close the door, he noticed a piece of paper on top of the blanket. Curiousity got the better of him, and he went and took the paper. He read its contents.


    "I''m sorry father Cygmund for being useless. Someone like me would just waste your stuff. Thank you for taking care of me all this time. I''ll be useful to you by going away. I will not waste your stuff anymore.


    -Tony"


    Cygmund rushed down towards the main door. He opened it, and saw the darkness of the night blanket the entire area. Tony is no longer in sight.


    "Come, tracing winds. Locate."


    Cygmund uttered a chant for his spell. He''s summoning the winds to help him locate the poor boy.


    Winds swirled in front of Cygmund, and after swirling like a ball, scattered into various directions. He entered back into the orphanage and into his room. Took his gauntlets and readied himself. After preparations he walked outside the house again. Winds gathered together and swirled to form a ball again in front of Cygmund. After a while a gust of wind flew past Cygmund''s left ear. Cygmund has located Tony.


    "Hex: Leg-strength!"


    Cygmund put a magical hex to improve his legs. He used this to run as fast as he possibly can towards Tony''s location. He blew past a few houses before he reached a certain alley near Tancam Academy. There, he saw Tony, curled up in a dark corner.


    "Tony!" cried out Cygmund to the poor child. He could hear sobbing. He went nearer to the figure. "Come on, let''s go back home."


    Cygmund saw the child look at him with a pitiful face. A face smeared with dirt and tears and snot as he cried in a dark corner of an alley.


    "Come, Tony, let''s go home." Cygmund repeated, this time mentioning the child''s name.


    Obediently the child went towards his savior. Cygmund wiped away the dirt and other stuff from Tony''s face. He carried the child in his arms and headed for home.


    The child was rescued. They''re headed home. Mission accomplished. Or so he thought.


    The bad feeling was still there. His guts were still screaming. He prepared for danger. But for some reason the night was too serene. He disregarded his guts this time, choosing to ignore his feelings and go home.


    Tony fell asleep in Cygmund''s arms once again. He was just too exhausted mentally, from thinking about his own incompetence.


    However, he realized something that was already obvious. The people who care for him isn''t zero.


    Some time later, Tony woke up from his sleep. He could feel the heat. He could smell smoke.


    He opened his eyes. The orphanage was on fire.

 Chapter 3: The boy who had zero (3)

    Chapter 3: The boy who had zero (3)


    Fire. Hot expanses of orange, yellow and red energy; ever consuming, ever raging. Until it consumes what it touches, or it is consumed itself, fire does not stop. It will not stop until one of them reaches zero.


    Tony was rudely awakened by the sharp and heavy smell that ran up his nose. It was the smell of smoke from burning objects, more accurately, burning wood. Tony opened his sleepy eyes, and he saw. Black smoke came through from the space around the door of his room.


    The surprise was evident in Tony''s face. He maneuvered himself towards the space on the ground where the heavy smoke doesn''t occupy, and made his way towards the door. To more of his surprise, the door bursted open. Pieces of the door lay scattered on the ground. A middle-aged man wearing a brown, hooded robe with a wand stood in front of the broken door.


    "Tch, of all the kids in here, the first I find is the useless one," said the man with a click of his tongue.


    After hearing those words, Tony found brief respite, albeit amongst his many other emotions. He''s not the one they''re looking for. But, why is he here then? And even amidst all the fire? Thoughts and emotions ran rampant in Tony. Despite that, the primal desire of self-preservation kicked in and took first priority.


    "Help me, please!" begged Tony, who was trying his best not to inhale smoke.


    However, the man continued to talk to himself.


    "Heh, it''s alright if I take out my frustrations on this little guy, right? I mean, no one would look for the useless him!" sneered the robed man, as he readied his wand.


    "Flicker, flare!"


    A small flame flared out of the wand, towards Tony.


    Tony, all alert now, the sleepiness all gone, rolled to his side and dodged the flame. He wasn''t sure before, but now he is, that this guy is the one who is responsible for this fire.


    "Eh, you can move huh. Well then, entertain me kid! I bet my companions already got the objective. Dance kid, dance!"


    More flares shot out of the wand. Tony continued to dodge all of them, however his chest tightened, and he was about to cry. Why is he doing this? What did we, from the orphanage, do wrong to deserve this?If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "Huh, you can dodge those things. Well, then, let''s turn up the heat! Lash, fire whip!"


    A long cord made out of fire with a fire ball on its tip sprang out of the wand. The man pulled back the cord, and cracked it towards Tony.


    Tony dodged the fireball, but the latter caused a small explosion on where it landed, and Tony went flying towards the wall of the room. His left arm absorbed much of the impact.


    "Hahahaha!" A maniacal laughter came out of the robed man. He was so amused.


    Tony just couldn''t understand it. He couldn''t understand why the man was acting like that. He couldn''t understand why he was being treated like that. He couldn''t understand why he could do nothing. He couldn''t understand why he had nothing.


    He just wanted to be like his savior. Yet his magic ability was non-existent. He just wanted a home. Yet right now his home is on fire.


    Tears have started to form in his eyes.


    "Ah, this again. I''m tired of this. I''m tired of my weak self, who cries at every instance. I''m tired of this unfair world that robs anyone of anything at any given time. I''m tired."


    That moment of realization and resignation is supposed to be the mark of someone who gave up.


    But instead, primal instincts kicked in again. That of survival. Instincts that beings of the wild naturally possessed and have a high amount of.


    He looked up to the ceiling, swallowed the lump of saliva down his dry throat, and wiped away the tears forming in his eyes. He stared directly at the robed man.


    "Oooh, looks like the little runt is back on his feet. That''s right, entertain me more!"


    Tony made a bold move. He ran towards the robed man. It was bold but probably the best. Most magi are usually weakest at close range, especially those who chant long. Furthermore his opponent was wielding a long fire whip, most effective at medium low range. Tony charged at the robed man as fast as he could.


    The man noticed this, and so he dispelled his flame whip.


    "Flicker, flare!"


    Tony dodged the little flame. When another flame was fired at his feet, he simply jumped over it.


    "Tch, little bastard!" cursed the robed man. Because Tony was too near, he couldn''t use his stronger fire spells that required longer chanting. He tried to strike the little boy with his wand.


    But Tony dodged it too. He slid down towards the robed man to dodge the wand, grabbed a piece of sharp, broken wood and stabbed the soft thigh of the man, through his robe.


    Tony grabbed the piece of wood so hard that the splinters bore through his skin, but he didn''t care. The man fell down and screamed in pain.


    Tony felt his blood rushing throughout his body. He has never experienced this. He was wild, like a beast. He quickly stood up from his place. His instincts roared at him to eliminate the threat in front of him. He plunged the sharp wood through the soft side of the neck of the man. Blood spurted out like a fountain and smeared Tony.


    It was an ordeal. It took Tony everything that he had, physically and emotionally. He was drained, but he wanted to survive. He fell down, but continued to crawl towards a safe place.


    At last he reached the back door of the orphanage. He crawled as best as he could towards it.


    There, he smelled the cool, evening air that was untainted by smoke. There, he saw the light of the moon shining down upon the dark world.


    There, he saw not a single living soul.


    There, he saw Cygmund''s headless body.


    And there, he realized, that the number of loved ones that he has is zero.

 Chapter 3.5: Night of the betrayal

    Chapter 3.5: Night of the betrayal


    A cool breeze sweeps the darkness of the night as Cygmund returned to the orphanage, carrying with him the exhausted Tony in his arms. They entered the orphanage, and Cygmund went straight to Tony''s room to tuck him back to bed. He was also wanting some sleep, and so as soon as he was over with Tony''s bed he went towards his room.


    As he was walking in the corridor, his bad premonitions from before grew so strong, it felt like his guts would explode. Cygmund''s brows furrowed deep. Not soon afterwards he smelled something.


    Smoke. It was a little bit, but it was smoke nonetheless. It was weird to smell smoke at this time of the evening. Cygmund followed his nose and rushed towards the source of the smoke. He saw the left side of the orphanage burning.


    He also saw 5 robed men, with 4 of them wearing brown hooded robes and the last one wearing a gray robe. They looked like they were waiting for him.


    The left side of the orphanage was the kitchen, so thankfully no one was hurt. At least, not yet.


    Cygmund wanted to rush back inside the orphanage, but the presence of the 5 robed men prevented him from doing so.


    Cygmund tried to yell, not only to try to wake up the neighbors and alert them of this, but also try to wake up the children inside the orphanage.


    However, just when he tried to gather air to conduct the yell, the gray-robed man rushed towards him with a sword lunge. Cygmund blocked it with his gauntlets and tried to counter, but the man had already pulled back.


    "Hex: Leg-strength! Hex: Arm-strength!"


    Cygmund dashed towards the gray-robed man really fast. He knows that the other robed men cannot be touched unless he took care of the gray-robed man first.


    "Fire Wall!"


    A collective chant came from the 4 brown-robed men. A blazing wall appeared between Cygmund and the gray-robed man.


    "Wind Howl!"


    A blast of wind came from Cygmund''s mouth when he opened his mouth after the chant. It blew away a portion of the fire wall, its size enough to let Cygmund through. His target is still the gray-robed man.


    "Earth Wall."


    An earth wall grew up from the ground and attempted to block Cygmund''s advance. Cygmund''s Wind Howl is not that effective against solid defenses.


    Cygmund punched through the earth wall, readying his other fist to attack the gray-robed man. However the latter was ready for it and pre-emptively ducked. When the debris flew away from the site of the earth wall, Cygmund was surprised to see a ducking man. He punched downwards, but the man intercepted the gauntlets with his sword.


    "Wind Blast."


    The man used a formidable wind attack channeled at the tip of his sword, and blew back Cygmund even with Hex: Arm-strength and Hex: Leg-strength. The man was blown back as well, due to the recoil of his own attack going against a boosted Cygmund. The latter thought of his next move. He decided that this time he must show his hand and stop reserving magic.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    "Wind God Boost!"


    Winds gathered towards Cygmund and swirled around him. He feels lighter and more agile. He charged towards the gray-robed man again, a gust of wind blew past him.


    "Fire Wall!"


    "Hex: Agility."


    The other robed men chanted their fastest, and a fire wall formed once again. Meanwhile the gray-robed man chanted his own buff.


    "Shredding Wind!"


    Cygmund tore through the fire wall and towards the gray-robed man.


    To his surprise, the gray-robed man dodged his attack, leaving the other magi defenseless. Cygmund thought this was a bait, but if he halted now he''s going to be in more danger, as he laid sandwiched between the gray-robed man and the other magi.


    He rushed straight at the other magi. One of the surprised magi gasped, and it was his last as Cygmund''s Shredding Wind ripped him to shreds. Pieces of bone and flesh splurted at the ground, some of them at the other magi. Without wasting another second Cygmund turned towards the other magus on his right while being wary of his surroundings.


    "Wind Slicer!"


    The other magi were still disoriented, and the magus that was in Cygmund''s line of sight was split into half diagonally by the Wind Slicer. A third magus had his stomach blown up by Cygmund''s boosted punch.


    Cygmund turned to the 2 remaining magi. The remaining brown-robed magus was able to run towards the gray-robed man. Surprisingly, the latter put his arm around the shoulders of the former, and without warning, stabbed him with his sword.


    "What?!"


    Cygmund let out a really surprised shout.


    But he saw this as an opportunity. He can now go to the back door of the burning orphanage, try to save the kids who were not harmed in the fire and escape from there, no matter how heavy it would be for him. He dashed straight towards the back door.


    To his surprise, he encountered another group of robed men. What''s even more surprising is the identity of one of the robed men.


    He saw Headmaster Rhey, the headmaster of Tancam Academy. His friend. He was wearing a gray-robe, and carried a decorated wand on his right hand.


    "Rhey? Why? Why are you with them?"


    "Why? I was always with them."


    Rhey sneered at Cygmund as he replied to his question.


    The latter noticed something amiss with the group. One of them was carrying something, or rather, someone. It was a little girl with scarlet hair, unconscious on the shoulder of the robed man.


    Without any hesitation, Cygmund blasted towards the man carrying the child. He knows his Wind God Boost does not last indefinitely, it will last only until his mana runs out. And so he determined to save the child, even if he had to dive into the group.


    "Ground Manipulation:Fortified GreaterEarth Bind!"


    Rhey, who wasn''t Cygmund''s target this time, was able to create an Earth type binding magic, but not before 2 of his comrades fell to Cygmund''s careful but precise wind attacks. It''s more accurate to say, however, that he made his comrades the bait. The binding magic started from the feet, and climbed up the legs, up the lower body towards the abdomen finally fully binding the entire body. It even covered Cygmund''s mouth.


    The Wind God Boost only made him feel lighter, but it didn''t make him stronger. Furthermore, the winds couldn''t cut the earth no matter howstrongthey slashed. The binding magic wasso strong it was more than enough to resist Cygmund''s Hex-strengthened arms and legs.


    Cygmund struggled in his earthen shackles, but to no avail. He was powerless.


    Rhey approached Cygmund with a dirty look on his face.


    "I''ve finally used my trump card to defeat Meharea''s Wind Beast! Oh how I''ve dreamed of this day! Don''t look too down, my friend. I''ll take care of Cynthia, every nook and cranny of her! Hahaha!"


    Cygmund stopped struggling. He was betrayed. And maybe this is the end of the line for him.


    Those children. Those lovely, innocent children. He only hoped to make them happy. He only hoped that they won''t experience what he has gone through.


    The other gray-robed man came back. He was wiping off the blood stains on his sword.


    "I guess this is the end for you, bastard! We''ll take off your head to give as a gift to Leader! Hahaha!"


    Rhey threw one final insult, before trying to cut off Cygmund''s head by tightening the bind on his neck, like a garrote.


    "Too slow."


    The other gray-robed man said, with an uninterested voice.


    "Earth break."


    He broke the earth bind that was tightening around the neck of Cygmund.


    Slash!


    He cut the head off clean.


    "Come, Leader might be tired of waiting," the man told his comrades and took the earth cage containing Cygmund''s head with him.

 Chapter 4: Misery loves company

    Chapter 4:Misery loves company


    Tony was looking out of the window near the bed where he laid. He was in a special hospital founded by the First Prince of Meharea himself, Prince Rodson. His Response Corps are the ones who first arrived at the burning building and put out the fire.


    They arrived way too late though. The owner of the orphanage has been beheaded. The children inside the orphanage have already been burned.


    All except one.


    He was just a distance away from the burning house. They quickly gave first aid and sent him to the hospital.


    One could say that Prince Rodson admired Cygmund. The latter''s combat prowess used to rival that of the prominent headmaster magi from Meharea. He used to have been offered various teaching jobs by various teaching institutions in Meharea and even in Veile. He was even offered to teach magic and combat to the branch house members of the royal family.


    However, he declined all those offers and made his orphanage, with reasons he kept to himself. Maybe because of it he grew rusty, but it''s all moot now that he''s gone.


    Prince Rodson went to the hospital as soon as he could. He wanted to meet the boy. He wanted to knowmore about the children that Cygmund took care of. He never had a chance to visit them, but now that word of Cygmund''s death had reached the king''s ears he had more time to tend to Cygmund-related cases, especially since the survivor that was found was sent to his hospital.


    He entered Tony''s room. Rodson looked at the boy and pitied him.


    Tony looked back at him.He went near the boy and sat at the wooden stool near the bed where the boy laid.


    "Lad, what is your name?"


    Rodson asked, as gently as he can.


    Tony surveyed him, and then looked away, back to the scene outside his window. He didn''t answer the Prince.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    Rodson heard that this boy was one who had zero. Yet despite this, he saw something in him. The boy had eyes that refused to cry. The boy had a heart that has been broken but still beating.


    He just wanted to be a magus like his savior. He just wanted to have a family. The world curtailed him those things, but in return it gave him something that only few possess.


    Rodson saw, and he realized. The boy, Tony, was in ways similar to him.


    Rodson was considered an "illegitimate child" even when he''s the firstborn. He was born out of the current king''s sexual escapades during youth, and the latter didn''t marry the former''s mother with the reason that he would gain nothing from doing so.


    Still, he was graced by his father to live under the same roof as him. But when he discovered that he shared his mother''s traits and that he had low magic capability, the king''s good treatment went passive aggressive. Rodson could feel the cold eyes when his father looked at him.


    He endured it every single day, and even worked hard just to gain his father''s approval. His hard work gave him command to his own taskforce, the Response Corps, but his father still gave him the same treatment. Eventually he gave up on that little dream.


    Rodson then held out two portrait paintings: One of Cygmund, the other one of his father.


    "Do you know who these two are?"


    Rodson asked.


    Tony reluctantly turned his head towards Rodson. He recognized both portraits. They couldn''t be mistaken for anyone else. When his eyes focused more on Cygmund''s portrait, his stomach turned. He could still vividly remember the sight he last saw that fateful night.


    "This man, he''s a great man. If the world''s ruling system was simply changed, he could have been a good king," Rodson told Tony with a gentle and longing voice, all while pointing towards the portrait of Cygmund.


    "This man is one of the people who were responsible for Cygmund''s death," Rodson told Tony boldly while holding a finger up to point at his father''s portrait.


    "Seeing that you''re not up to talking with me yet, I''ll leave for now. But I''ll come again. And I''ll make your reason for existence solid as earth."


    Rodson got up from the chair and left.


    Tony didn''t immediately believe Rodson, but he mentally took note of the portrait of the king and remembered it.


    An intense flame seemed to burn from the boy''s striking black eyes.


    Rodson wants Tony. He believes in the underlying power of even the powerless, because he himself is lacking in power. He wants to collect all the powerless people, and with them he plans on toppling down his father.


    They share similarities, Tony and Rodson. What the world has taken from them, they want to take back. If they can''t take it back, they want it to suffer the same fate as they did.


    Rodson came back after a few days. Tony seems more open to talk now.


    "I still believe in justice. That''s why they who have many should be taken down towards us who have none."


    Rodson''s words stirred Tony to action.


    This marks the start of the path that Tony took.


    He chose the path of equality, justice and mutual destruction.