《Laws of Fate》 Chapter 1 - It totally isnt backstory exposition chapter The sound of collision repeatedly assaulted my ears, likely in an attempt to make me go crazy and hate it even more. Sometimes the sound of wind whistling rang out instead. Yet even more often was the dull sound of hitting leather and metal, along with stifled cries and sighs. The sword fighting training isn¡¯t something I love dearly, especially since the cries and grunts of pain only came out of my mouth. The regular sighs escaped my opponent, clearly defining my level of talent. With time I needed longer and longer breaks to wipe out sweat pouring down my forehead and at least partially regulate my breath. Though if I took too long with either my opponent started assaulting me again, using training as excuse. After good two or three hours of sparring, my opponent finally let out a deep sigh and lowered her weapon. ¡°Rel, with only this level of strength it will be an embarrassment to show yourself at the entrance exam in few months.¡± Her only answer were my deep gasps of air, as I sat down on cold pavement. A regular statement I heard already hundreds of times. No matter how hard I worked, how well I performed, there was not a single praise I¡¯ve heard in the six years since my family started training me. Neither the first four years spent training the body, nor the next two years wielding the sword seemed to satisfy my father¡¯s expectations. It¡¯s especially true when I¡¯m constantly compared to my two older siblings: eldest brother, who will be twenty this year and second sister, who celebrated her sixteenth birthday few months ago. Both of them are rare geniuses in the way of sword, comparable with war veterans and prodigies of old. While my brother is not as skilled in sword fighting as our sister, his talents as commander and personality of noble knight earned him great reputation within the kingdom. On the other hand my sister is absolutely unmatched with sword in hand, though martial arts aren¡¯t her weak point either. A true battle genius and supposedly great instructor, though looking everyday at my bruised body I have to say I¡¯m doubting it. Then there¡¯s me: third child of family, probably most normal of them. As in, I didn¡¯t start breaking records and crushing legends with little effort in whatever I started doing up to now. After few minutes my breath calmed down enough to let me relax a bit and sound out few words of my own. ¡°Sis, you could spare me the usual sermons and bruises at least today, don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°Hmph, just because it¡¯s your birthday today doesn¡¯t mean you can skip on training.¡± ¡°Then what about lectures?¡± ¡°Training willpower.¡± My brow twitched few times, since I honestly didn¡¯t expect such an answer. Though that¡¯s probably the reason my family isn¡¯t organizing the usual party: having the person in question bruised, swollen and unable to walk properly wouldn¡¯t help with our reputation. Just as I was lost in my thoughts, my dear sister flicked her finger at my forehead, which hurt way more than it should, to get my attention. The next half an hour I spent listening to all the errors I did in today¡¯s training, as well as what I should train on my own. The hardest part was to appear as if I seriously listened, since every time my face relaxed and my thoughts scattered I would be met with a flick of death aimed at my head. ¡°So, how does our young adult feel like? The entrance exams are barely few months away.¡± she asked after finishing the headache-inducing sermon. ¡°Firstly it¡¯s just Adulthood of Body, so it¡¯s not like I¡¯m already an adult. Secondly there¡¯s still Awakening Ceremony before the exams, which is as important, right?¡± I replied grumpily, looking at her with a frown. ¡°Tsk, who cares about this stupid ceremony, since you will be a knight anyway. Dad clearly said that unless you acquire Achromatic Core or reach first World Ring, you have to go to Royal Knight Academy as well.¡± she clicked her tongue, then turned her head away. Today I¡¯m celebrating my twelfth birthday, having reached Adulthood of Body. It basically means that my body stabilized itself, while my blood veins and mana channels reached their maturity. Now I can train in advanced techniques, such as Aura Manipulation or Magic. And I can be corrupted with money, alcohol and women. At least that¡¯s how my teacher explained it to me few months ago. Yet at this age it is still my family that answers for my behavior and is obligated to provide me with resources needed to reach maturity. After fifteenth birthday I will reach full maturity, otherwise known as Maturity of Self. At this age I should reach the required level of intelligence and wisdom that would allow me to survive by myself. From then on I would be fully responsible for my own actions and would be required to make all decisions for myself. Based on the knowledge from Beyond, I can also call myself an adolescent now; after fifteenth birthday I would be a young adult and after twenty five an adult. The Awakening Ceremony is performed once a year and though theoretically we reach Adulthood of Body after twelfth birthday, only after passing through the ceremony can we be acknowledged as such. That is because the Ceremony isn¡¯t just a custom or law, but a necessity. From the moment we are born, our bodies gather mana from the world, slowly running it through our bodies, refining them and creating mana channels. But after reaching Adulthood the amount of mana gathered inside us is so great that we need to learn to control it. If not, the mana inside will run wild and explode, killing us.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The only way to prevent that is to refine the mana into Mana Core. After creating it, all mana will be refined and further strengthen us. Without the help of Runic Formation that is used in the Awakening Ceremony it is impossible to control the unrefined mana. During the ceremony we have to guide the mana and create our cores, without any outside help or else the mana won¡¯t condense and simply overfill us and kill very quickly. While it sounds scary, actual deaths during the ceremony are really rare. So rare in fact, that they are barely mentioned during our lessons about forming the core. After being lost in my own thoughts for quite a while, I regained focus and looked at my sister with even deeper frown. ¡°Are you okay with such treatment? That we can¡¯t live our lives as we want and have to fulfill some drunk dreams of an old man!? Just because he is fixated on some stupid goal doesn¡¯t mean I wi..¡± my raised voice was quickly interrupted with a loud slap to my left cheek, which has thrown me to the ground good two meters behind. ¡°DON¡¯T YOU DARE SPEAK IN SUCH A WAY ABOUT YOUR FATHER!¡± she roared at me, not even noticing that she hit me with armored hand. ¡°His dream is something he inherited from our late grandfather! And which person doesn¡¯t want to witness their family at the peak of power, filled with honor, being able to feel pride in being born and raised in such a family!¡± I slowly raised myself from the ground, shocked at the power I was hit with. Feeling a lot of blood in my mouth, I spit it out next to me. It was actually way more than I expected. I could also feel that my cheek will be terribly swollen tomorrow. Slowly I raised my gaze to my sister, not being really that happy about being interrupted. ¡°You know very well how stupid that wish is! This is the era of magic, where only might of magic artifacts, runic formations and royal magician squads can protect our countries! Nobody cares anymore about traditional knights and pure swordsmanship! The world of magic and its potential, countless techniques from Beyond, there¡¯s so much yet to discover! Not everyone is addicted to beating people up and shiny medals like you and dad, Lucy!¡± Though I wanted it to sound better, probably half of it is barely recognisable because of my cheek, which is swelling way faster than I thought. After my outburst, continued by my deep breaths, but otherwise complete silence, my sister only looked at me with a sad look, like ¡°such a shame you don¡¯t understand how great it is to stick a sharp sword into someone¡¯s gut¡±. It honestly made me even more mad, but blood once again gathered in my mouth, so I left that thought alone for now. ¡°Is that re-¡± she paused for a moment, still looking at me as if I was the weird one. ¡°Nevermind, it¡¯s nothing. Training¡¯s over for today, I¡¯m going back.¡± She said, turning away and leaving. I can¡¯t say I felt sad because of that. My father, from the time of his childhood, dreamed of becoming the best knight in the kingdom. Our grandfather probably influenced him, since he managed to raise the status of our family from mere Citizens, to Knights, to Low-class Nobles. He wanted to one day reach the highest rank of nobility thanks to military merits strictly as a knight, because he was less than talented mage. Our father carried on his dream, allowing our family to reach Middle-class Noble rank. Yet the only reason our rank was increased was because of his faithfulness and loyalty, as his swordsmanship was less than ideal. The problem is that he is so fixated on this dream that he prohibited my siblings and me from being mages, instead forcing us on the path of knights. Daily training for many hours, lack of friends and time to fool around, dull lessons about etiquette and noble behavior. From the age of eight I didn¡¯t have a proper contact with people my age, at most talking to my classmates during sparse school days, sister¡¯s disciples or had a rare break day during which I tried to relax in bustling places full of people. From the moment I graduated from basic school at the age of ten my application for Royal Knight Academy in the capital was sent. Basically i had my place reserved there for two years already. I tried to dust myself off the best I can, before dragging both wooden swords and my protective armor to the warehouse. I changed my clothes there into some comfortable pants and sleeveless shirt. Going through few passages and corridors, I arrived at the place our head maid resided, hoping she can help me with my cheek.
After few hours of pain, having my head bandaged and not allowed to eat any solid food on my birthday party, awkward stares from my father and sister and hugs, well wishes and congratulations, I left for my room, in my hands few packages. Walking through the house for few moments, I soon arrived before familiar door. I opened them with my elbow, walking inside and dropping packages on my desk. Since my sister left before I got the presents, I brought here three of them. From my father, my mother and one that was sent by my brother. Yet clearly on my desk was an additional package, really small, at most the size of my palm. Curious, I opened it and saw something that stunned me quite a bit. On a beautiful azure pillow embroidered with golden thread lied an earring. A gold pin to pierce the ear, a thin chain at most a centimeter long and an emerald crystal sphere. Top of the emerald was covered by golden cap, holding it in place. Though quite simple, it was enchanting nonetheless. What¡¯s more, I remember seeing it before. The first time I laid my eyes on it was when Lucy wore it. I instantly liked it and pestered her few times to tell me of the other one, seeing as she wore only the right one. After a while I carefully lifted it from the pillow, getting an even closer look. I spent a good few minutes looking at it, not even realizing the fact that I¡¯ve yet to pierce my ear. When I felt satisfied enough, I once again glanced at the box and noticed a piece of paper resting under the lid. I picked it up and slowly unfolded it, resting my eyes at the neatly written words on it. ¡°Congratulations for reaching adulthood, Rel. I¡¯m sorry for today¡¯s outburst. It is as much a wish of Our Father as it is mine to see Our family rise to the peak. I hope You won¡¯t hold it against me. I also can understand Your sentiments. Yet I know of Your progress in the way of the sword and hope You can reach the level not yet known, instead of focusing on such fickle thing as magic. I remember how excited You seemed when You saw my earring for the first time. You¡¯ve also asked about the other one few times. The truth is, I feared my hair getting tangled onto the left piece. Though not long after I realized I can surprise You with it instead. Anyway, I wish for You undisturbed health, unlimited growth and refinement of heart. Who knows, maybe after calming that character of Yours, You will be able to find the one for You. With familial love, Your Big Sister Luclya.¡± ¡­ Ignoring the unnecessary remarks at the end, I felt moved by this note. It was the first time someone more or less praised my efforts in training, and I even have a proof at paper. I carefully folded the note, placing it into the drawer. The earring I put back on top of the pillow and closed the box again. Then I looked at the rest of the packages, getting myself ready to open them. Today passes 6th of February. There are still seven months until Awakening Ceremony. Chapter 2 - Dont-worry-nothing-bad-will-happen Ceremony Today, on 17th of August, the Awakening Ceremony will take place. We left home few days before to get here and accommodate ourselves in the inn. I reviewed the notes about forming mana core, relaxed in the city and tried to not think whether I will be talented enough to get my father¡¯s approval. After six years I got used to rigorous training and I would lie if I said I hate swordsmanship. It is quite an exhilarating feeling, wielding the sword and feeling the adrenaline of true battle, controlling your own destiny. Yet when it comes to magic and all other techniques and abilities, my heart can¡¯t calm itself down. After all, when it comes to controlling the piece of metal or controlling the very nature, the choice is not that difficult. The requirement that my family imposed on me and my siblings to study magic is to gain either Achromatic Core or condense first World Ring during the ceremony. Either of those is a ridiculous condition. The former has mind blowingly low probability, while the latter requires inborn, heaven-defying talent in mana control and willpower. The Mana Cores are graded in terms of potential according to their colors. It determines the person¡¯s affinity and gives a hint about his or her power. Though the result depends on the effort and hard work, since there were quite a few mages who defied the rankings. From the weakest to strongest they are: All of them are rated by vividness into four categories: Low, Middle, High and Top. The problem with getting Achromatic Core is its rarity, a chance being 1: 1 000 000. According to world-spread information, there are currently only about forty mages with Achromatic Core. In comparison the population of a single human country reaches almost a hundred million citizens. Anyway, after forming the core, the mana gathering increases according to personal talent. The gathered mana enters the core, where it¡¯s refined from gaseous state into liquid. After some time the liquid fills the core to the limit, allowing one to advance to higher rank by condensing all the mana into a ring surrounding the core. Only by creating perfectly circular shape following the direction of mana core spin the mana can be condensed, instead of just falling apart. Those rings are called World Rings of the Elements. By creating it outside of the core, it allows its power and potential to expand, while the ring itself serves almost as a second mind. The spells are easier to cast, mana flow is faster and easier to control, spells can accumulate more mana inside and talented magicians can even cast multiple spells at once! At least that¡¯s what my teacher said. The runic formation used during the ceremony gathered mana from outside few times faster and aided in mana control by transforming it into a really calm and slow form. Additionally, the formation grows in strength with time, so the pressure of being overfilled with mana also increases. Thus creating World Ring during the ceremony is almost impossible. One would have to form a mana core, then using newly formed organ to quickly transform ever-growing mana into liquid state and condense it into a solid ring, all while suffering from mental pressure and exhaustion of spirit. I sighed aloud after thinking of such ridiculous task that I will no doubt attempt. It resulted in annoyed glances of few boys that stood nearby in complete silence with haughty attitudes. To think that they are nobles from the same country, when our behaviour and most likely upbringing is so different. If that is what my family wants me to fight for, then I will politely refuse and lock myself in my wardrobe. I was waiting for the ceremony to start. A guide in front of the Mana Hall brought me here after telling him what I came for. When he opened the door I saw twenty-something boys and girls my age, separated into few groups and chatting or just barely acknowledging each other¡¯s existence. We were in a fairly well lit and aired room that had few windows facing the city market. Except few desks filled with snacks and drinks and about three dozen chairs, together with some small decorations, there was nothing else inside. Seeing as no one seemed familiar I sat down in the corner and absentmindedly looked out through the window. ¡®I sure hope it will start soon.¡¯
¡°Middle-grade Fire Core!¡± Shouted a middle-aged man, a supervisor of ours for the duration of the ceremony. A boy shakily stood up and with a tired smile bowed to the man, before returning to his friends. By now already sixteen boys and girls underwent the ceremony, each taking no longer than ten to fifteen minutes. Eight of them had Mixed Cores, six had Singular Core and two even got Duality Core! Obviously, none got Achromatic Core and probably none of the rest will get it, including me. Though having it would save me the trouble, I didn¡¯t stake my all on it. Instead, I focused on creating the World Ring. Though, with how nervous I was, my thoughts were directed more towards failure. ¡°Next, Astrelia Rythorn!¡± ¡°Here.¡± ¡°Go and sit in the middle, we will begin as soon as you are ready.¡± The middle-aged man said, visibly bored. Though considering the fact the ceremony is only done once a year, he must have started early in the morning. I quickly made my way to the middle of runic formation and sat down cross-legged. I spent few minutes taking deep breaths and trying to stop my hands from shaking. But seeing the thoughts like ¡°Uwaaah, I wanna go home!¡± and ¡°Can¡¯t someone do it for me?¡± didn¡¯t stop, i could only sigh quietly and give up on trying to calm down. I turned my head to the supervisor, only to see him frowning, really annoyed. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡®Ohh, right. No one actually took their time to calm down, at most twenty seconds per person ¡­¡¯ Were my thoughts. I smiled stiffly to him and finally nodded my head, signaling him to start. Without any response from him, the runic formation once again started shining with dim blue light. While I¡¯ve seen it before from outside, sitting in the middle gave me a different time of excitement. It was then that for the first time in my life I felt the existence of mana in my body. It felt like cold water, or rather cold air, was coursing slowly through my bones. It was a really weird feeling, like my bones were made from ice, slowly and steadily spreading the cold around my body, while cool air was sinking into me from outside. I couldn¡¯t say that I had absolute control over all the mana. It felt more like trying to guide smoke with a fan. Having lost myself in this feeling I fought for control. Yet no matter what I did, the mana sooner or later ended up gathering at the right side of my chest, at the same height as my heart. Few minutes had to pass, during which mana gathered more and more and I started feeling itching in my bones, for me to remember I had a core to create. I hurriedly gathered my thoughts again and started following the steps I learned before.
~3rd POV~
The process which normally took around fifteen minutes, still didn¡¯t end after an hour passed. Mana flowing from runic formations, though at first was barely like a stream, seemed more like waterfall after so long. The excess mana pushed itself into the body, forcefully flooding thin mana channels and tearing them apart bit by bit. The pressure was like a hammer to the heart, slowly limiting the amount of air he could take. Astrelia Rythorn sat drenched in cold sweat, trembling and taking shallow, uneven breaths. His blond hair stuck to sweaty forehead and neck and his fair skin was few shades paler, almost white. He could feel the enormous amount of mana flowing within himself. Adding the pressure of formation to his own control, the mana should easily condense into a pellet the size of walnut. Yet for some time the small, uneven sphere barely half that size was covered with copious amounts of liquid mana. Neither pressing with force or spiralling it at high speeds to fuse by itself helped at all. The Elder Nayte Hogan, the bearer of fourth World Ring and supervisor of this year¡¯s Awakening Ceremony, stood at the edge of formation, looking at Astrelia with a deep frown. He could more or less feel what was happening thanks to abundant amounts of mana, yet he did not make a move. He also didn¡¯t understand why the core had yet to form and wasn¡¯t ready to interfere. Had he stopped the formation, all the mana would return swiftly to its natural, more berserk form and instantly tear apart the boy. He could only wait and hope for the best. After first half an hour passed, other children looked at Astrelia, scared and nervous. Those who already passed were thinking what if it was them and those that had yet to pass, if it would happen to them as well. During this time, because of delay, other personnel showed up to inquire. As he learned of the situation, he ran out to call others, who swiftly arrived troubled by the news. After talking with supervisor Hogan, they left and healing mage awaited at the side instead, ready to step in at any time. All of a sudden Rel¡¯s control over mana slipped. The mana immediately expanded and started running wild throughout his body. His internal organs immediately took the hit, most of them started bleeding. Skin on his body cracked like earth¡¯s surface and started bleeding as well. At the same time he changed from his previous position and bent forward, vomiting large mouthfuls of blood. He supported himself with his trembling arms, still conscious only because of years of beating he got from training with the sword. The mana, having escaped his control, started decompressing. He immediately once again felt the cold, though now it was more akin to being submerged under the iceberg, feeling as his body and mind slowly stopped working. He could feel less and less pain, while the blood before his eyes started losing color. His eyelids started weighing down and he felt more and more sleepy. He didn¡¯t even notice how blood started dripping from his mouth. Many of the children started trembling or at least paled, with most girls turning their heads away. The healing mage and supervisor whitened as well, clearly wanting to jump in and stop the ceremony. Yet they knew that either stopping the formation or casting any of their spells would spell his certain death. Thus, they were slowly preparing to once again note new death during the ceremony. ¡®Is this ¡­ my fate? ¡® With a hazy consciousness Rel more or less understood his situation. Yet his mind refused to shut down, a form of clarity allowing him few more moments. ¡®... No. I ¡­ I don¡¯t want this ¡­ I refuse to let it end that way. I will not bow down to such a fate! I WILL NOT ALLOW IT TO STOP ME! ¡® With this shout everything stopped. The pain, the haziness, the overbearing pressure of mana. Yet he could not move his body. He could not feel his body. The only thing he could see is his mana and the only thing he could control is his mana. In this state all his feelings were somehow suppressed, his amazement silenced, his fear tamed. The only thing in his mind allowed to exist were curiosity and a need to survive, to form his own core. He looked at his core. A flowing mass of liquid mana got in his way, annoyed, he commanded it away. Like moving his own limb, mana listened without resistance and revealed the uneven sphere. Small, white-ish core, upon closer observation was getting transparent. Without being covered in liquid mana the core maintained its form, thus confirming his line of thought. ¡®It isn¡¯t pretty, nor big enough, but it¡¯s holding, right? So, I formed my core. But what to do with this mana ¡­ the core doesn¡¯t have enough power to stabilize and refine all of that¡­ should I instead let my core advance, force it to evolve? ¡® He remembered the words of his family. To achieve either Achromatic Core or first World Ring. Though his core looked white and transparent, to not let his family complain he decided to ensure his success. The freely flowing liquid mana immediately abided his command to gather once more. He extended, flattened and formed it to create a flowing circle, a pure white ring surrounding the core. He commanded it, pressed it with his will, yet the ring stayed like liquid. So, he instead guided the ever-growing amount of the mana in his body to concentrate and flow into the ring. The slightly transparent ring slowly filled with white color and barely grew in size, but had yet to condense. He tried and tried again, pressing it with all his might. But the ring under pressure merely thinned and actually grew closer to the core. He noticed his core turning violet, purple strings forming inside. Yet before he could even think about it, the core cracked. The intense pressure of mana and his will multiplied the cracks and before he could stop it, the core completely crumbled. It seemed almost like a star in the sky, destroyed by it¡¯s own gravity. It collapsed inward, in it¡¯s center a black hole, capable of devouring everything, appeared out of nowhere. As fragments of the core disappeared after contact with it, violet strings extended from it. They touched the forming ring, which upon contact instantly solidified. On its surface appeared runes of the same color. After that more and more of them flowed out, all seeping into the ring, colouring about 2-3% of it. Few seconds passed during which he could feel all the mana calmly flowing through his battered body and being refined by his new pseudo-core. After that his amazing state of isolation ended and pain, fatigue and pressure knocked him unconscious. The last thing he managed to barely see is fading light of the runic formation before darkness swallowed everything. Chapter 3 - At least it could be a girl In my short life I experienced losing consciousness to pain and fatigue more times than I would prefer, having my family to thank for that. It was considered normal during training, as its purpose was to continuously break the limits of my body. And as much as my opinion on the topic differed from my parents they wouldn''t abstain from making sure I recover after such joyous occasion. So waking up flooded by nausea, dizziness and agony, seeing either wooden ceiling of my room, healing ward or open skies of the training square is something I took for granted. I expected this time to be the same. I could remember how at the end of the ceremony, as I tried to resist blanking out, my vision was suddenly filled with shades of indigo, dark purple and black. Almost immediately after everything faded away though, leaving me in a weird state with only my core and mana. I remember that my core more or less formed, I even tried to create my Ring. I remember living. No matter how battered I was, as long as I had a breath in my lungs, beating heart and the core that could resist the formation¡¯s influence, the supervising elders would make sure that it stays that way. I didn¡¯t start thinking such things out of boredom or as a way to focus on something else other than pain wrecking my body. My thoughts wandered so, because this time was different. As my consciousness cleared up, all I noticed around was darkness. I couldn¡¯t feel my body, only absolute detachment from everything as I floated languidly. The only thing that interrupted otherwise quiet, serene and actually somewhat scary scene, was a low hum that I could hear just above me. Even as I spent here good few minutes, I still couldn¡¯t identify its source though. I guess the accompanying lack of feelings of my body, my vision, sense of touch or even taste were at fault here. I felt as if all of me was constricted in a small sphere, not allowed to extend over it. It¡¯s not like I didn¡¯t panic. It¡¯s just that I most likely couldn¡¯t. Just as realization and fear started getting to me, a wave of relaxation crashed into me, silencing all that interfered with my thinking. So with my lack of apprehension, nervousness and any form of hysteria I just floated there, staring ahead. I tried to move, but I couldn¡¯t even feel my limbs. Damn, I didn¡¯t even breathe since the last wave. [I¡¯m bored. I want something to happen already.] Of course such thoughts were left unanswered, leaving me alone with this annoying sound. [I want to look what¡¯s happening ¡­ to see around ¡­ something to appear before me ¡­ I wanted to try these cakes they started promoting in L¡¯eterne ¡­ I wanted to learn some damn magic ¡­ I don¡¯t want to be stuck here for eternity ¡­ I want to look what¡¯s above me that makes this annoying sound ¡­] A slight stirring in my back immediately pulled me away from my lethargic state and small list of regrets. For a moment I could feel as I slightly shifted, though I still couldn¡¯t tell which direction. As happy as I was, I still had no idea what exactly I did different. I just was there, letting my thoughts wander on their own, casually ¡­ don¡¯t tell me ¡­ [ I want to look up!] Lo and behold, I could feel my entire existence turning upwards. ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ What. The. Hell. ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ What I saw above me was not expected, to say the least. It seemed as if someone poked a hole through the skies with a house-sized needle or something. A crevice that seemed intent on devouring everything, a calamity unheard of, yet still fully intent on expanding beyond its size. Fortunately it seemed limited, bound by a Ring of snow white light. Flat Ring surrounded the hole, its surface covered with violet markings or runes of some sort. The power both of them emanated was incomparable, capable of anything and everything. It was then that I realized both of them remind me of something. A certain little detail I forgot up to now: how my new core shattered, this very hole left in its place, surrounded by a white ring of light that was bound by violet energy. The only difference I noticed is that both of them were easily hundreds of times bigger and more powerful. For a long time I was awed by their presence, imagining what will happen to me from now on. ¡®But still, I doubt this place doesn¡¯t have anything else here.¡¯ I felt my thoughts stirring, my desires for adventure overflowing. Somewhat experienced, I thought clearly about turning around, looking in every direction. After being disappointed for entire six seconds, I finally caught sight of something interesting. It was a stone structure of some sort, though I couldn¡¯t be sure considering my position. In the world with no up and down I quickly got confused. Seeing as the hole was on my right, I rotated myself until it was above me, while keeping eye at the newly seen structure. It was a cobblestone bridge reinforced with battlements on both sides, leading into the unknown. As I am a well-raised noble, taught of importance of awareness, being careful and not letting my guard down thanks to the combat training, I immediately willed myself to move closer to it. Just as I reached the very edge of it, the world seemed to remember how it was supposed to work and all the force I managed to already forget crashed on me, pinning me to the bridge. And I bounced off. I did compare my current state to being bound in a sphere or cocoon of some sort, but the accuracy of this statement never bothered me. It was also the first time I thought about actually looking at the state I am in. And don¡¯t ask me how I knew, I just did. I really was a ball. I could only describe myself as just a mass of consciousness or something, lacking anything even remotely similar to actual humanoid body. Basically a big white lump of whatever. After another few minutes comprehending what my life came to, I refocused on the idea I had. I willed my round and soft body to roll forward. That wasn¡¯t my brightest idea that day. After the most nauseating four meters in my life I stopped myself, trying hard not to lose consciousness. The constant spinning made my mind go blank for a moment, scaring the living lights out of me. Or at least as close to it as I was allowed, before I was forcefully calmed down. But still, I didn¡¯t want to know what would happen to me if I lost consciousness while my body was still unconscious out there. I quickly calmed myself down and got to thinking. My second greatest idea was to try something different. I repositioned myself so I looked upwards, then thought really hard about how my body felt like. I slowly reminded myself of all the training I did, all the sword stances and footwork I desperately learned, how my body moved, which muscles reacted in what way, the reach and flexibility of my limbs. After that came the color of my skin and eyes, my face and hair, my height and weight. I willed my small spherical body to adapt to these thoughts that filled my mind. The result? Pure white, faceless, hairless body without any special characteristics except its four limbs and a head. [Ohh well, as long as it works.] Seeing as my body didn¡¯t immediately revert back into a sphere after relaxing, I slowly tested my arms and legs, comparing them to my memories. As I slowly stood up on my trembling legs, I could feel that though the height was more or less correct, my body weighed no more than one-tenth of the original. Which was pretty okay with me, considering how it took some effort to actually stand in my current state. After few moments I started moving one step at a time, following the bridge. My view extended only as far as twenty meters, no more. As I slowly walked forward, the bridge changed after good forty or fifty meters, splitting apart. Not for long though, as two parts connected few meters ahead, leaving a perfectly circular hole in the middle. Through the gap a single glowing string of violet light extended. Both ends reached high above and deep below, further than I could see. The part I saw slowly moved, flowing in the air, sometimes twisting, coiling or simply straightening, as it slowly moved in every direction, yet never left the circle. An interesting sight for sure, but I was honestly numb to all of this after so long. So after looking at it for a moment, I continued on my way. Then came another darkness, extending for another fifty meters or so. I soon reached the end of the bridge. But what I¡¯ve seen there wasn¡¯t something even the forced calmness could choke down. The bridge ended in the same way on this side as on the other, with the exception of what was beyond it. Instead of pure darkness and empty space or another black hole, there was a floor. Wood flooring extended as far as I could see, which still amounted to meager twenty meters or so. The wood was kept in darker hues, connected seamlessly, yet the weird thing about it was that every single piece was absolutely identical. But what shocked me out of my mind wasn¡¯t the floor. About fifteen meters ahead stood a single leather armchair. Brown coloured, big and deep, the backrest at the angle so low one could easily sleep on it comfortably. Next to it was a small side table on which rested a weirdly-looking lamp. If not for familiar design, without neither any candles nor magic stones I wouldn¡¯t really call it that. The light still shined though, reaching for at most five meters around it. It wasn¡¯t too bright, just enough to brighten the armchair. And on this chair sat a person. The special thing about him was the fact that he actually had an appearance. A tall, well-built man about sixteen or seventeen years old, with unkempt black hair reaching just below his ears and green eyes covered by rectangular glasses with rim only covering upper edge. A confident smile, white teeth and relaxed posture emanated charisma that was rare even among the nobles I got to know during my stay in Primary Academy and my family¡¯s acquaintances. He was wearing a uniform of some sort, reminding me of ones I¡¯ve seen at the Royal Knight Academy. Albeit this one seemed more casual, leaving parts like sleeves and legs more loose with no parts reinforced at all. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. He stared directly at me, arrogant grin on his face. He was waiting for me patiently, visibly unaffected by my arrival. Dazed, I walked in his direction, taking my time with each step as my thoughts crazily ran in circles. As I stopped about two meters away from him, before I could react, his arm left the armrest and extended my way. Then with a motion of pushing something, I could feel power of will similar to my own knock me away without a chance to resist. Just when I started panicking, my backside fell onto something unbelievably soft, yet firm at the same time. As I directed my sight underneath, I realized I was sitting on the identical armchair as the man before me. Shocked, I looked at him, questions and theories all jumbling together. After some time of confusion I managed to send my thought outward, almost on instinct. [Who ¡­] The message ended abruptly because of my unstable state. ¡°Who am I? Hmm ¡­ To comprehend my existence at least in a small degree, you can call me God. Or you can call me the Order. Or the Truth. I am me and I am the World. My body is the Cosmos, Transformations of the Sun and the Moon serve as my bones, my heart consists of the Laws. I am one and I am all.¡± ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ W-wha ¡­ ¡­ sigh, damn it all, i don¡¯t care! I¡¯m too tired for this! [You ¡­ you are the Creator? Th-the one and only being that guides, observes and controls all worlds? T-the one who w-...] My rapid thoughts were interrupted with a peculiar sound. ¡°Puh, ha-hahaha! I-I can¡¯t, I can¡¯t! Your reaction, ohh my god, I love it! Hahaha, I-I don¡¯t believe you actually took me seriously! Hahahahaha!¡± ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ So which one is it!? WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?! IT WAS A JOKE?! WHO MAKES A JOKE LIKE THAT?!?!?! [Y-you¡­ w-w-w-what ¡­ ? ] Is honestly the only response I managed to let out. ¡°Hahaha, it was a joke, dude, a joke! I¡¯m not a god or anything. My name is Blake, Blake Winters. Nice to meet you, brat!¡± [Astrelia Rythorn. Nice to mee¡­ wait, that¡¯s not it! What do you mean it was a joke?! What is happening here and who are you?!] ¡°Hey, calm down, calm down. I¡¯m no less confused than you are, it¡¯s just that I had more time to get used to it. I do have few ideas, but until you wake up they will probably stay as they are.¡± He said as he lifted both his hands up in surrender. I took some time now to finally calm down. After thinking for a bit I realized I probably would have preferred him to actually be a god or something similar, then i would have at least a chance to know what¡¯s happening. And if I am to be locked in a dark place like that, it could at least be a beautiful girl, not a handsome man! Damn, even just slightly above average girl would be better. ¡­ Wait, actually ¡­ I¡¯m not the most handsome at the moment ¡­ Argh, whatever! I glared at him, or rather tried to make him understand that I glare at him without any eyes, and pressed him for answers. [So what ideas are those? Speak up, maybe I will be able to help think of something. Just this time without any jokes, please.] ¡°I¡¯m sorry for that, okay? Anyway, you learned about and , right? Congratulations then, you apparently became a .¡± We did learn about and their in school, actually. They are legends, each wielding incredible powers or incomparable knowledge, molding history with their own hands. They are something every child always dreamed about becoming. They are existences at the summit, thanks to their uniqueness. From what people know, they are special, because they defied the very Fate. Every existence is supported by Fate and its Laws, their destiny more or less predetermined. The moment when a person goes against it, their portion of Fate is cut off and eliminated. Without it their very existence, their soul, would slowly crumble and die. To prevent that, their souls are connected to ones from other, lower worlds. By sharing the burden, people from our world can keep living, unbound and free from many of the rules that previously limited them. As to what Fate they denied, how they connected to others and how exactly it works, wasn¡¯t known. But the man before confidently said I became one of those very beings, without any explanation nor clear reason. [And how the hell do you know that? Do you even know what those are? And even if, only just if, I really am a , how it is possible for us to meet like that? and are supposed to only share their thoughts, not meet face to face.] ¡°Says the guy without face.¡± He said with a snicker, making me cringe a little inside. ¡°You seem to underestimate me a little bit. Didn¡¯t I say I¡¯m a God?¡± [You did, right before your facade crumbled and you apologized for a joke.] ¡°Ohh, right. Anyway, it¡¯s simple. First, it¡¯s common knowledge in my world that they exist, especially since like half the world depends solely on our . Second, you¡¯ve been asleep for a week or so, during which various people came to your room and talked about different things, including the possibility of you being new .¡± [What?! It¡¯s common knowledge in your world? Half the world depends on ? What¡¯s going on over there?!] To think that some legends we heard are something natural in a lower world. ¡°Well, long story short, when are connected with strong , some of the mana is transferred through their bond, actually. We come from a world with no natural mana, so after it was discovered for the first time about thirty or forty years ago, it shocked everyone. Naturally people like that were being caught and experimented upon, they tried to learn how to create their own mana and study magic. But no matter how much they tried, they never reproduced mana, nor learnt any magic, since even weren¡¯t able to. Years passed in disappointment, during which they slowed down their research, until someone figured out a way to use mana as an energy source. Our world progressed with science to uncomparable distance, making it fully dependent on the energy. But the researchers hit a wall with a way to support lacking sources of energy, so with a way to convert mana into incredible amounts of pure energy, almost all problems with it were solved. Every instantly was elevated in status, becoming a VIP, something like a noble in your world, and were protected by newly created laws. They were offered big houses, high paycheck and special privileges, including not needing to attend school or work. Their only limitations were to not leave the country under any circumstances and attendance for special sessions, during which they would learn how to help their , since the amount of mana transferred depended on their strength.¡± [Ehh, science, no mana, experiments, free ¡­ I give up, I don¡¯t know what to comment on.] I sighed again, to his apparent pleasure. [You seem well versed with how it works though.] ¡°Well, last time I checked, there were 73 , my girlfriend Thalia being one of them. Though I guess now there is one more.¡± [Your girlfriend ¡­ must be nice to date such a high-class girl then. But how come you are here? Unless it¡¯s actually common?] ¡°Ahh, no, I never heard anything about a situation like that. As to why I¡¯m here ¡­¡± He stopped for a moment, his expression dimmed down, to one filled with sadness and loneliness. ¡° ¡­ I had an accident about four weeks ago. During a date I was pushed off the stairs. When I hit my back really hard, I apparently suffered from cardiac arrest. The help arrived too late, and though they saved my life in the end, my body is now in coma. For the last three weeks I was here, in pure darkness, able to hear everything that was happening outside. First few days were pretty bad, but after that I realized that my imagination and will had a visible effect here. About a week ago this bridge was created and when I followed it I saw how you fell from that black hole. At first I wanted to just drag you here or create something on your side, but neither worked. And the longer I stayed there, the worse I felt, so I decided to just wait for you.¡± I felt like he was a bastard that always treated everything with ridicule, never caring about something too much. But knowing what he suffered, I didn¡¯t have the confidence to say I would be able to smile like that. [¡­ I¡¯m sorry for reminding you. And I hope everything will go well for you.] ¡°Ohh, please, it¡¯s hard to forget about it when I look around. And hey, now it seems it won¡¯t be boring anymore. I always wanted to see what a fantasy world was about.¡± He said with a smile. [Huh? What do you mean? I mean, sure, if I learn how to come back here again, then I can tell you about it, but it¡¯s not like you will be able to see much. Or rather, I still need to get out of here or neither of us will see anything.] ¡°Nah, don¡¯t worry about it. I figured it out already when you were asleep. I have some confidence I will be able to see and hear what you will, if you will allow me of course. As for getting you out, I guess we will have to wait and see.¡± [Wait, what? How do you want to do that?] ¡°When I went to your side, I got curious about that black hole. When I focused on it, I could barely feel some resistance, but after overpowering it, the same thing happened as with my body. By that I mean I could hear what was happening outside. After some time I felt that I could probably see through your eyes as well, but as they were closed I still saw only darkness. As for your permission, I guessed the resistance I felt was coming from you, since with every day it was growing stronger, until I would really have to strain myself. That¡¯s also how I heard some people talk about you being and few other things about you.¡± I felt a bit ashamed after hearing that, since I never even thought about doing that. It did sound reasonable, considering how similar it was to my core. Okay, let¡¯s do it immediately! [Can¡¯t believe I didn¡¯t think of that. Oh well, might as well do it now. Are you coming? We can check whether you can see and hear as well.] I sent as I stood up. ¡°Sure, let¡¯s go.¡± As we made our way across the bridge I asked him about the violet string, but as neither of us had any idea, we continued on our way. After resting for a bit I refined my body during the walk, thanks to which my body grew more and more similar. When I reached the level of probably being able to jog, we arrived at the end of my side. Not wanting to lose to him, I quickly focused my thoughts and tried to create a platform of my own. Except mine made from stone tiles, light grey, each being a square about quarter of a meter in length. Slowly one tile after another grew from the end of the bridge, extending to directly below the core, after which the floor grew to the sides. But as I was silently working, hearing an advice every now and then from Blake, I could feel a piercing pain in my chest. After a cry of pain I instinctively looked up, only to see a drop of almost white, with a light blue hue, liquid slowly emerged through the hole. The drop fell for at most a meter, after which it just stopped, hovering in place. The power was similar to the gaseous mana, only few times more powerful. It was actually the liquified mana, the fruit of weeks and months of hard work of every mage, a necessary resource to create next World Rings of the Elements. Its appearance, though nice and surprising, wasn¡¯t what stirred me awake from my work. It was the pain from piercing the hole and the suction force that continuously grew, trying to draw me inside. A single look towards Blake let me know that this force only affected me. ¡°Wha-¡± [It¡¯s dragging me inside! I won¡¯t be able to resist it soon. I will try to find a way to come back here again or at least let you see and hear from my side. Let¡¯s get along fro-] I tried to cram as much information as possible, but before I could finish I was pulled inside, my vision immediately went black.