《Lost Emperor》 Prologue: Gates Bernstein Gates Bernstein was not particularly nervous on the morning before his affinity testing. After all, he was a high noble, and his father and mother had seen that his education was top notch. In terms of affinity, his parents said that he had the ideal bloodline that no commoner could compare to, and that they expected success. In terms of affinity, anyone above 50% in any element was allowed to become a mage. There were never any dual-elemental practitioners, but the elements that a practitioner had lower affinity infused some properties with the primary element. However, no practitioner could ever become a true dual-elementalist or tri-elementalist because of the Spirit Choosing Ceremony, where only one spirit could call out to the 16-year-old soon-to-be practitioners. A good example would be Gates¡¯s father, Lord Bernstein who was a Grandmaster ranked Earth mage with a secondary fire affinity, so he could sometimes create a weak lava-like molten rock with his spirit. He had a 75% affinity for earth, which was quite high, but only a 57% affinity for fire, so he was chosen by a Guardian ranked Earth Spirit during the Spirit Choosing. In short, his father had good natural talent, and married another Grandmaster ranked mage, so he expected his son to be at least as talented as himself. Looking back on his years up until now, at age 14, Gates was overworked, and had overly great expectations placed on him. Ever day he would study etiquette, history, math, sciences, and continual work out to improve his fitness level so that he would be ready to be a good mage. His many bad memories of work, study, training, and meeting the young children of other nobles were mixed with a few good ones. Gates remembered playing with Arisa in the park, hiding from the servants in the yard, and happily conversing with Arisa. Arisa Ashfort was the Daughter of another high noble, Lord Ashfort. Gates believed her to be his only true friend, and the only truly fulfilling moments of his life were when he was with her. He was in a good mood because he knew that since she was the same age as him, she would be at the affinity testing in Radiston city this afternoon. All fourteen-year-olds always got their affinity tested in a ceremony in the nearest city, be it noble or commoner. The affinity testing was one of the two most important moments in the coming of age of any child on the Grand Sky continent. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. The other was the Spirit Choosing ceremony. In the Spirit Choosing ceremony, the 16-year-old Children who passed the greater than 50% affinity check before the ceremony would be teleported to the Spirit Plane, which to them looked like a vast treasure room filled with various items, clothes, and weapons. Each of these items was a spirit. However, the participants in the ceremony could not just pick any spirit that they liked, the spirit picked them. Spirits rankings are the following in order from least to greatest: Lesser, Average, Greater, Guardian, Duke, and God. The God-level spirits were extremely special, as there was only one god for each element, and a mage with a God-level spirit generally appeared less than once every millennium, and currently there were no living mages with a God-Ranked spirit. Another requirement for having a God-level spirit is that you must having the greatest affinity of any mage of your generation in that element, and that affinity must be over 90%. Gates knew that a God-level spirit was out of the question, but he hoped that in two years he would get a Guardian-level spirit like his father¡¯s. His parents said that if he was extremely lucky, he might even be able to get a Duke-ranked spirit like his great-great-grandfather had once had. ¡°Gates, it¡¯s time to leave. The carriage is ready.¡± ¡°Coming mother.¡± Chapter 1: Affinity Test Please note that from now on, the main character''s thoughts will be italicized. Thank you for reading, and enjoy!
As soon as Gates¡¯s carriage made it through the gates of Radiston city, he excitedly dragged his parents along to get to the affinity testing hall at the Mage Guild, hoping to find Arisa already there. When Gates and his parents made it into the affinity testing hall, he spotted Arisa, who looked only a little eager, but you could see the focus and determination on her face. Contrasting that was Gate¡¯s jubilance at seeing his only friend once again. ¡°Hi Arisa¡± ¡°Oh, Hello Gates. Greetings Lord Bernstein, Lady Bernstein¡± ¡°Arisa are you ready to be tested? I hope I get earth like my father or water like my mother! What about you?¡± ¡°If you would really like to know, I would prefer to have fire affinity.¡± An hour passed, and then a man from the Mage Guild used magic to amplify his voice. ¡°I am Arlton Paltor, and I am a light style sage-ranked mage. The other members of the Mage Guild and I will be proctoring this test to make sure that all flows smoothly. Everybody form a line in front of me.¡± Gates, Arisa, and their respective parents were near the middle of the line which twisted all around the massive hall. There were so many people that everyone standing only inches apart filled the room to the brim. As soon as a child was tested, the mages announced their name and their affinities, and whether they could be a mage or not. So far, out of the hundreds of tested children, all of them were commoners and only one had the ability to be a mage, with a 54% lightning affinity. Some of them even had negative affinities for certain elements! Haha wait until I get up there, I¡¯ll show them what a real mage is. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. As the line slowly progressed, it was almost Gates¡¯s turn. When it was finally his turn, Gates¡¯s mother gave him an encouraging nudge forward, while his father gave him a stern look with a little glint which Gates could not identify in his eye. As Gates was walking up the stairs towards the mages and the crystal testing orb, Arisa calmly said, ¡°good luck.¡± Gates made a slight nod, and walked up the stairs, trying hard to contain the bubbling mix of excitement, emotions, and memories of his childhood. ¡°Put your hand on the orb¡± said the mage in a rather bored tone. Gates put his hand on the orb, and immediately, all he could see was black, expansive nothingness. ¡°Hahaha, I like you boy¡± rasped a voice from the darkness. After a split-second, Gates regained consciousness and was back in the real world holding the orb. Arlton Paltor¡¯s Mage Guild assistants were staring at me in confusion, and one of them asked Arlton, ¡°H-how is this possible? I have never seen anything like this before and I have proctored this test for 30 years already.¡± Arlton took a look, laughed, and said ¡°the orb never lies.¡± He then Amplified his voice, and said the loud words that reverberated throughout the entire hall. ¡°Gates Bernstein, Affinities:
FireWaterWindEarthLightningLightDark
-100%-100%-1%-51%-1%-102%2%
¡± Chapter 2: Affinity Test (part two) Please take a look at the poll above before you read! It would help me out a lot :)
Gates had a look of horror on his face, but came too when he heard a soft, high-pitched laughing coming from the next person in line. ¡°Hahahahahahahahaha, all these years wasted for nothing. Whatever, its not like I needed to marry trash like you anyways. You were always just the back up plan that my father came up with in case I was not a strong mage. You were a back up plan for a 1%¡ª no 0.1% chance that I was a weaker mage than you were. Wait a second, I will show you what real talent is.¡± Gates was still stunned from his results, when the meaning of these words finally sunk in. His the only good moments of his life had all been simple acting by Arisa, she was only trying to be friendly with him so that if he turned out to be a powerful mage, she could marry into his family and gain power. This somehow made Gates even more shocked than when his incredibly weak affinities were announced. Right then, something inside of his mind shattered. His life had been a lie; working towards a failed goal with fake happiness. Right then, the mages displayed much bigger looks of shock than when they saw my affinites. This time, even the sage-ranked mage was shocked. Still, the sage Arlton Quickly recovered and announced in a resolute voice: ¡°Arisa Ashfort, Affinities:
FireWaterWindEarthLightningLightDark
94%89%22%49%22%42%-2%
¡± After the announcement, Gates and everyone else in the hall were silent for a good ten seconds before somebody near the back of the hall remarked in wonder, ¡°Could she be somebody who gets a legendary God-level spirit?¡± Another voiced, ¡°Maybe, after all, she does have an affinity for fire which is well above 90%, and that''s not even all of the picture, did you hear her water affinity is nearly 90% as well!¡± Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Soon, a boisterous chatter erupted throughout the hall. But then, a loud, magic enhanced voice rang out, overpowering and silencing everyone. ¡°Boooooooooooooooooooyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!¡± said Gate¡¯s father in a fit of rage. ¡°I did everything for your success, and this is what you show me you piece of shit!¡± ¡°F-father, p-p-please¡ª¡± ¡°Never call me that again! Boy you are no longer my son.¡± After turning off his enhanced voice, Gates¡¯s father stormed over to him with his mother behind. Before Gates could say anything, his father stuffed ten silver coins into his hand (about what a poor peasant family makes in a month) into Gates¡¯s hands along with a note that he had prepared as a failsafe incase Gates was a disgrace to his family. The note was to be taken to a Government office, and it was filled out all the way, except where the was a blank space for Gates to choose a new name. Oh no... no, why did today turn out like this. Today was supposed to be the day that father and mother finally acknowledged me a their successor and when I impressed Arisa with my awesome affinities. A hint of rage boiled in his heart and one, trickling tear came out of each one of Gates¡¯s eyes. ¡°What a shame¡± remarked Gates¡¯s mother indifferently. ¡°What a disgrace¡± added his father. The last thing Gates heard when he ran out of the door were the soft, high-pitched words ¡°goodbye trash.¡± Of course he knew who they came from. Gates kept on running until he made it to the Government office. Once he left the Mages Guild hall, he could no longer hold back his tear, and now there was a flowing stream under each eye, thick enough that it dropped off of his cheeks and flew back into the air behind him as he ran. These are the last tears that Gates Bernstein will ever shed. In fact, soon there will be no more Gates Bernstein. When Gates made it to the office, he quickly filled in his new name on the form and handed it in to the secretary. As he was leaving the office, he saw the secretary use a weak fire magic to burn his old birth certificate and identification, and replace them with the forms which he had just turned in. That day Gates Bernstein died. That day Rama Dunstan was born. Chapter 3: The Dark Forest Rama Dunstan, having stopped crying, began to think. No matter what, I have to become strong. But, now it is not for my parents or for Arisa. I need to be powerful enough to defeat a person with 94% affinity, yet my strongest affinity is only two percent. Well, I will persevere. Quickly, with his new-found will, Rama took an inventory. He had a book on training through the ranks, and how to get into the beginner realm, ranks 1-9 through the Master realm in power level. Power level had nothing to do with the rank of the spirit or any affinities. It was qi generation, essentially,one¡¯s control over their qi and their amount of qi. These were not innate talents, and could be trained through enough work. Next, Rama had the fine black sword which his father had given him. Since it was quite valuable, and at least as physically strong as his father¡¯s hammer, his father probably wanted it back. But, since Rama had run away from the Mages Guild so fast, he had ended up with it. Finally, He had 5 silver coins which he had with him before the affinity testing and another 10 that his father had left him with. Since Rama lacked food, he went into the market to get enough bread and salted meat for a week, all for about 1 silver. The sellers at the stands thanked him and Rama was on his way to the city gates. If all goes well, it will be at least two years before I return, after all, even those without enough affinity can gain a weakling spirit, but they will still not be able to cast any spells. Well, in two years, I know Arisa will be starting at the Kingdom¡¯s Spirit Academy so I will go to her to enact my revenge. I cannot forgive her for how she played with me for my whole life. With a few words from her, the brightest spots in my bleak life turned into the darkest. And with my parents words, although they hurt a bit less, still made the rest of my childhood turn into darkness. At that moment, Rama finally came upon the carriage station. He used 5 silver pieces to buy his way all the way to the Dark Forest. It was one week''s journey in a carriage, so the carriage trip was truly worth the five silver pieces. Rama had extensively studied the Dark Forest as a child, because he planned to take a training trip there once he got his spirit and became a mage. However, I guess i¡¯ll be making this trip earlier than I planned. After all, I have a whole two years to prepare and train, so it''s best to do it this way. I can only stay on the outskirts of the forest for now, and only fight lower Beginner level magical beasts and non-magical beasts. But, once I have achieved the upper beginner level, I will venture a little further in. However, no matter how strong I get in these two years, I will never venture near the center of the forest, for I have heard the stories of a beast so strong that even demigods above the 90th rank were seen running at full speed from it, trying to escape. Of course, they were all slaughtered by the beast before they could.
Once the carriage dropped him off outside the Dark Forest, he immediately disappeared into the trees. Rama found a place to set up camp. I used up all of my food on the trip here, since I only bought a week''s worth. Now, I will truly have to train in order to survive. After hunting a few ducks and some fowl from outside the forest, he made his ways back in. He cooked the food on a fire which he made after about an hour of figuring out how to rub the sticks together correctly. After all the birds were cooked, he sat them down and started to train. To enter the first level of the Beginner¡¯s realm was supposed to be incredibly simple, no matter your affinities. For most people it would only take a day of training. After all, all you needed to do was sense qi around you and pull it into your body. After meditating for twelve hours, taking a break, and going for another twelve hours, Rama could still feel no progress. It was as if some power that he could not even touch was forcing the qi away from him. After another break and another session of twelve hours, Rama started getting mad. Its as if the gods themselves are pushing the qi away from me! Finally, Rama truly broke, it was just too much, that something so powerful was holding him back from making it to even the 1st Beginner Level. Rama was enraged again, like when he learned the truth about Arisa and his parents. He wanted to cry, but before he got the chance to, everything went black. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°Hahahaha¡± laughed the same gravely voice from the affinity testing. ¡°Those three gods really are idiots, by making you so enraged that your mind came to me, they have allowed me to break their curse. After all, what is a mere smidgen of three gods powers to another God?¡± ¡°W-who are you?¡± Rama meekly whispered. ¡°I am Raas, God of Darkness. There, your curse from the Water, Fire, and Light Gods is finally gone. It was even stronger than I expected, no wonder you couldn''t break it yourself¡± raped the voice, who Rama now knew was a god. ¡°Why am I here?¡± asked Rama who had now had a few seconds to gather what little bearings he could in the complete darkness. ¡°Haha, really too funny boy, you haven¡¯t figured it out yet?¡± chuckled Raas in response. ¡°Am I to be devoured by you, or am I to be your champion?¡± asked Raas in a more polite tone. ¡°Neither, I, Raas, am unique among the gods, I do not choose a champion, only a successor. That successor is you, although once I show you your affinities, you will be the champions of my two brothers.¡± ¡°Wait¡ª.how can I succeed a God of Darkness and be the champion of your brothers? Anyways, who are your brothers and why did I have that curse? What did that curse even do?¡± ¡°Okay boy, I see that you understand nothing. Since you will only be here for another couple of minutes, I might as well explain all I can. Don¡¯t interrupt me until I am done.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°Well, I might as well start with the basics. As you know, there are seven gods of this world. But what most people do not know is that there are alliances between various gods. For instance, the ones who cursed you, the God of Light, Brahma, the God of Water, Ryong, and the Goddess of Fire, Veena, who chose the one you hate the most as her champion form one side. Myself and my Brothers, Aster, God of Wind, and Zane, God of Lightning form another alliance. Hadvar, the God of Earth, is more of a wanderer, and does not take either side. Oh, wait a minute, let me show you your affinities after you broke the curse. These should clear up why you are my successor and the champion of both of my brothers. Ohh, I guess its time for you to go. See you soon boy, hahaha¡± As soon as he heard those final words, Rama was whisked back into the outskirts of the forest, where he quickly took in all of the information that Raas had given him. But, there was one thing in his mind that Raas had not told him, but rather implanted in his mind before his return. How could this be real? But at least Rama now knew that Raas¡¯s words held truth. After all, the affinities that Raas had shown him were proof. His affinities were held back by the same curse that held back the qi. That curse which was even stronger than Rama had imagined was now gone. His affinities were now:
FireWaterWindEarthLightningLightDark
0%0%99%49%99%-2%102%
. Rama knew for sure why he was Raas¡¯s successor and the champion of Aster and Zane. He had 99% affinity for wind and lightning, as well as a greater affinity than Raas himself for Darkness. Each god had 100% affinity for their own element, but Rama had 102% in darkness, making him have more affinity than a god. I guess that''s why Raas said I was his successor... Since he could now absorb qi like a normal person, well not a normal person, or even a talented one, for without the curse, Rama was now a genius of the utmost extreme, Rama began to train his qi, and practice the sword techniques which he had learned since he was little. But with a small stroke of insight, Rama started to train his left hand more to make it become equal to his right. Now that my revenge is even a possibility, I will make it happen That¡¯s what Rama thought as he once again began to train his qi. Chapter 4: Return to Radiston Nearly 2 years later...
A relatively handsome brown haired boy walked out from the forest. He had many fresh scars, and many which had been there for over a year. He was dressed in some pelts. However, they were not your regular pelts, and if one looked closely, they could see a slight shine coming off of them which would not be there. Thats right, they were magical beast pelts. However, these are some lower level ones, I saved the nicer ones to bring to a tailor to turn into real clothes. I¡¯ll have to sell some of these to earn enough money for a tailor though, oh well. The boy entered the carriage and received many stairs, but do to a peculiar feeling that they got when they were around him, nobody dared to approach. Ever since the curse had been broken, Rama¡¯s qi talent was at the level of an absolute genius. Therefore, he trained many times faster than others. In a mere two years, he had 42nd level and was now a Master-ranked combatant. It had taken even one with some talent like his father more than 15 years to get this far. While his talent was quite great, even more of it was due to his continuous hard work. Once he got to the advanced rank, he figured out that he did not really need to sleep if he meditated, so almost all of his time was divided between killing magical beasts, meditating, and training both of his hands in sword techniques. Since he had only been taught one handed techniques, but now knew that with his high affinities in multiple elements it would be better to dual wield. In particular, lightning spirit mages who still used weapons were the most adept at dual-wielding. Since he only had one sword, he trained using branches. However, once he reached the Master rank, he could cut through all magical beasts below the advanced rank like butter, so he trained on them using his sticks, and only took out his real sword against upper advanced rank and master rank magical beasts. Since Rama had vowed not to go too close to the center of the forest, the highest level beast he had seen was a 49th master rank beast which was close to breaking into the grandmaster rank. That was his hardest battle by far, and where he had got most of his scars. However, the only reason he could actually beat the beast was that it spent most of its energy protecting a rock which it kept near its cave. Rama could only assume that this was no regular rock, but could find no abnormalities in it other than a faint dark aura, which he could barely sense. He kept the rock, but for now he just stored it in his pack along with the skin and horns of the beasts which he had slain. Finally, Rama¡¯s carriage arrived in Radiston City once again. Well, I¡¯m back. It¡¯s been two years, I guess nothing has really changed. As soon as Rama got in he went to the best tailor shop in the city. Seeing a boy dressed in pelts, the first store worker tried to throw him out, however, an old man stopped him. ¡°Boy, do you need some tailoring done?¡± ¡°Yes, please, I would like to speak to the owner of this fine shop¡± responded Rama. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Come with me to the back, I am the owner.¡± Wait what, this decrepit old geezer is the owner! ¡°Okay,¡± Rama hastily replied. As they entered the back room, the owner said, ¡°boy where did you get those pelts that you are wearing?¡± I don¡¯t want to expose myself as anyone particularly noteworthy right, now so I should just make something up. When I was traveling here, I did a favor for an old geezer, and he gave me these as a thank you, I have some more in my pack. ¡°Well that was some geezer boy, just what you have on right now is worth 15 gold.¡± Wow thats pretty crazy, I wonder what he¡¯ll say when I show him the advanced and master ranked pelts. I¡¯ll have a fortune compared to the four silver which is all I have right now. While he was thinking, rama pulled out all of the pelts and skins, and set the one from the 49th level Master-ranked beast aside. ¡°Owner, I would like to sell everything but this pelt to you, and I want you to make this pelt into a set of clothes and a mask for my face.¡± The owner was sitting there in shock, but due to his experience, he quickly recovered, and did some numbers in his head. ¡°Boy, you know, out of what that geezer gave you, there are many pelts of advanced and Master-ranked magical beasts, and that one which you have set aside is actually a pelt from a Grandmaster-ranked beast!¡± said the elderly owner. What! So thats why that lizard-like beast seemed so powerful in its final charge to protect the rock, it actually ranked up mid battle. If it had ranked up a few hours before, I wouldn¡¯t have had a chance when I fought it. ¡°Okay, but if you do sell to me I will buy everything from you for 1000 gold coins with the tailoring on the house¡± said the owner impatiently which broke off Rama¡¯s thoughts. I know he''s trying to scam me, but I do need to get rid of these and I do need some clothes. ¡°1400 gold.¡± ¡°1200 or I buy nothing¡± ¡°1300¡± ¡°1250 gold¡± ¡°Deal¡± decided Rama. I know these are worth in excess of 1500 gold, but no other tailor in this city would be able to afford that. Whatever, I guess I can be content with 1250 gold. ¡°Your new clothes will be ready tomorrow, you can keep the pelts you are wearing until then.¡± called the tailor as he walked away. Since it was already nearly nighttime, Rama booked a room in a very nice hotel called The Phantom Princess for one gold. Just like in the tailor shop, when they saw a boy under fifteen who was covered in pelts and grime, they tried to throw him out, but people shut up when he actually had enough gold to buy a night in the suite. Rama got the suite because it came with bathing supplies and an unlimited supply of bathing supplies. Rama spent the night scrubbing off all of the grime from the past two years before falling asleep on the bed which felt heavenly because it was the first bed which he had slept on in two years. Chapter 5: Spirit Choosing Author¡¯s note: From now on, a spirit speaking in somebody''s mind will be in Bold And if you haven''t noticed, ever since chapter two I have been gradually increasing chapter length. All reviews both negative and positive are welcome, so review away! Of course I appreciate all the favoriters and followers! Enjoy Chapter 5!
Once Rama woke up, he bathed himself in the clean water with the soaps with the least scent he could find. I want to be clean, not smell like a fruitcake. After going to the market and getting a bite to eat, he began to wonder about his future. His first priority was obtaining his spirit tomorrow at the Spirit Choosing Ceremony. Then he would go to Spirit Academy to enact his revenge. I don¡¯t simply want to kill her, I want her to lose all dignity, and any sense of pride she has. I would also like to make sure that the her fire God-level spirit which she will surely get tomorrow gets some payback for that stupid course. Although, in a twisted way, I do kind of owe her and the Light and Water Gods. Since they made my affinities so low, it allowed me to see her deception, before it became a problem later on. It also confirmed that my parents honestly only cared about me if I was powerful, not out of love. After I get a bit stronger, I will go deal with my family, because they are both Grandmaster-level and are used to their spirits. And, since they are high nobles, they could pay off somebody stronger to protect themselves. Well, first things first, I need to go pick up my new clothes. When Rama got back to the tailor¡¯s shop, the employees already knew not to stop him and he went directly into the back room. There sat the owner who was holding a small black pouch. The pouch was made from a small piece of fabric from one of the other Master-level beasts which I had defeated in the dark forest. ¡°Your clothes are inside this pouch, you can keep the pouch too, but remember that if you ever obtain any more pelts or skins like these to come back here and sell them to me¡± said the geezer. Rama thanked the geezer and quickly changed and handed the pelts which he was wearing to the elderly owner, and left the shop. These clothes are even better than I thought, not only will I never need to wash them, they are seemingly unbreakable by even myself with my Master-level qi. Also, they have some sort of effect which works if I run a little qi through the fabric. It helps we blend in and stay hidden. Of course, the clothing was both comfortable and relatively fashionable. The old geezer truly was a master tailor, I wonder how he could even cut this pelt? Rama knew that he would probably not see Arisa until he enters the Spirit Realm. Nobles and the Wealthy can buy portable entrances for their children so that they do not have to wait in line in a city to enter with all of the riffraff. As he was walking around the city in new clothes, he heard some adults chattering at a table outside of a restaurant. ¡°Did you hear, the prince of our Wendal Kingdom has 95% affinity for water and 88% affinity for fire.¡± ¡°Oh yes, I did here. Nobles like that young miss of the Ashfort family and royalty like the prince truly do have better blood than people like us. Both of them could be the first people in centuries with God-level Spirits.¡± Wow, the prince and Arisa both will get God-Ranked Spirits. She will probably be trying to get close to him. She really is attracted to anything that will help her power grow. Well, I guess I will meet him at the Academy as well, and maybe catch a glimpse of him in the Spirit Realm. The next day, Rama woke up and donned his new clothing and mask. He quickly went to the Mages Guild two hours early for the ceremony. Clearly, many others had thought the same way, and there were already many children of 16, raring to get their spirits and become adults. Once Rama was nearly bored out his mind, a man from the mages guild enhanced his voice and called out, ¡°I am Romeo Delio, Water Sage, and I will escort you children into the Spirit Realm now¡± Wow, he really gets straight to the point. Rama¡¯s eyes were forcefully closed, and when he reopened them, he was in a place which was like nothing he had ever seen, A flat expanse of mist covered flooring made of crystal. The mist obscured the distance and the sky, but as far as Rama could see were towering heaps, some even reaching ten stories or more, of treasures. These treasure were all spirits in their item forms. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Even the stories he had heard paled in comparison to the real thing. Now, Rama¡¯s group was part of many standing in a circle, with a small gap in the center. All of the 16-year-olds of Wendal kingdom were here, so it amounted to a few hundred thousand people. How naive he was to think that he could catch a glimpse of Arisa or that prince. Just then, a voice, many times louder than the Sages rang out from the center of the massive multilayered circle of children. ¡°I am Rodan, leader of the Mages Guild and Light demigod¡± Just then, the chatter of the children got even louder. They had never been in the presence of someone this powerful before. ¡°Now, children, you will begin to hear a voice. Follow the instructions of the voice, and find your spirit. Don¡¯t be greedy and try to take other items, because they will not come out of the spirit realm with you. Go out now, and be back within two hours.¡± The noise was even louder as all of the children in the circle suddenly started to run in different directions. Instead of hearing one voice in his head, three voices chorused. Master, follow our voice, as it gets louder, you are getting closer. We are directly to your left. Rama started to run between the hills of treasures. After thirty minutes, their voices were still not much louder. He was long past where the other children were, so he upped his speed to close to his top speed. As Rama ran further and further, the hills of treasure got smaller and smaller. At the end, there were no longer hills, but small piles of treasures. Finally, thirty more minutes passed. He was now one hour into the allotted two. I can¡¯t be late, because I don¡¯t know what happens if I am. Maybe I would even be stuck here. While he was thinking this, he approached the edge of the piles. A ways further laid three spirit items. Boy, the small black ring is me, Raas. Those dark green and black boots are my second brother Aster, and the black swords with yellow flecks are my brother Zane. Hello boy, its nice to finally meet you. First Brother has told us much about you. Now we can see that you truly do live up to our expectations, and even exceed them by a good margin. It has been over a millennia since we last had a champion, and First Brother only wants a successor, so you are his first. You truly do have what it takes to be the first tri-spirit mage. Unlike other spirits, having a God-Ranked spirit allows you to have another spirit, but you are the first to have more than one god. Some of the most powerful people a few millennia ago had a God-ranked spirit and a Duke-ranked in another element because the God subjugated the Duke, but nobody has ever had the affinity to have two God-Ranked spirits, let alone three. So you are both the first true dual-spirit mage and the first true tri-spirit mage. Haha, we can only imagine what your future will be like. Oh shit! Its already been 15 minutes. I only have 45 minutes left So as not to arouse suspicion, Rama placed the ring in one of his pockets, put on the boots, and Put the dual sheathes and swords on his belt. This way, most people would only see his dual swords. Rama started to rush back the way he came, at nearly top speed. (Aster)Here let me give you a boost, but only a little one, as you don¡¯t want to arouse suspicion. Rama¡¯s running speed increased fivefold and he was nearly to the starting point in ten minutes, so he stopped running and used qi to turn off Aster¡¯s speed boost. Rama walked back to near where he was standing before, and saw that most of the 16-year-olds were already back. They must have not had to run a million fucking miles. Thirty minutes after Rama returned, the demigod, Rodan yelled with his enhanced voice, ¡°I will return you to the return to the mortal realm. Those of you with the talent to be a mage, go to a spirit school and train. The best of you should go to Wendal Spirit Academy, which is by far the best academy in our kingdom. I wish you luck on the enrollment test wherever you go. All of you without the talent to be a mage, do not despair, your spirit will still be useful in regular living. As of now, you are all adults. Congratulations!¡± Rama¡¯s eyes were again forcefully shut, and for that time, his world went dark. Chapter 6: Spirit Item Abilities Author¡¯s note: In case you didn''t notice, yesterday I went through and changed the ages of the characters from 14 at the beginning to 16 in the present to make their maturity and decision making seem a little more realistic. Sorry for not doing a chapter yesterday. This chapter is the start of the main story. The chapters before this could be considered a prologue mini-arc.
When Rama opened his eyes, he was standing in the room with the Sage and all of the other children. As soon as they returned, the other children began examining the various spirits that they and the others brought back, no doubt conversing with their spirit in their mind. ¡°Wow, I got a Guardian-ranked spirit!¡± ¡°Damn! I only got an Average spirit! I bet your guardian spirit is the highest ranking here! You¡¯re so lucky!¡± (Zane) If only they knew... I need to get out of here before people become suspicious. Since Raas is only a ring that is fine, but Zane is extremely obviously a spirit, and if somebody looks too closely, they might be able to tell that Aster is one too Rama quickly slunk out of the room and out of the Mages Guild which was hard, because the Mages Guild was full of parents eager to see their childrens¡¯ spirits. ¡°I sure hope little Jonathan got a spirit better than my average one!¡± ¡°Pssh... Hunny you should be happy for Jonathan even if he gets a lesser spirit¡± ¡°Y-yes of course darling!¡± Those were just a few of the many comments Rama heard while shoving his way through the crowd. Once he made it onto the bustling street, even more crowded than usual because the food and weapon vendors had moved closer to the Mages Guild in anticipation for the famished parents and now-adults as well as those who have good enough spirits to fight.
Back in his hotel Room, Rama was conversing with his spirits in his mind. So what do each of you do? Don¡¯t most spirits have some specialties? (Zane) I, Zane, am the most formidable spirit of lightning who specializes in swift, powerful, attacks on targets, my greatest pride is my reaction speed, and my attack power. (Aster) This one specializes in swift movement and wide-area spells, be it attack, defense or speed, I am even, although in attack and defense I specialize in wide-area spells, unlike my brother. (Raas) Even among God-ranked spirits I am unique, for I am the only one of the Gods who can use illusions. I specialize in deception, illusions, and even some poison and disease. In terms of attack and defense, I would say my attack is even with Zane¡¯s, and my defense using both illusion and more conventional means makes me the strongest out of us three. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Wow, you guys certainly do have a lot of specialties. You literally covered almost everything. I guess that''s what I should expect from three Gods... (Zane) Of course! We will help you deal with that pesky Fire Goddess and of course that Water God. Lets start moving to your academy. We will teach you on the way. Right before bed, Rama began examining his spirits in their item form. The dual swords which were Zane were slightly curved and only sharp on one side. They were like katana, only they were like an out-line; the inside besides the blade and the back was empty. This made Zane incredibly light, and as Rama swung they moved faster than he could ever have swung with his old sword and felt perfectly balanced. However, unlike some katana, they lacked any sort of guard. When he channeled qi into the swords, they started to glow with yellow lightning and crackle, giving off a joyful yet bloodthirsty aura. The boots which were Aster looked like a nice, but not too fancy pair of boots. They were a dark-green, almost black, and had slightly pointed toes, but were extremely comfortable and seemed light they could grow to any size to fit him. Of course, Aster would never let himself get dirty or wrinkled, so the boots always gave of a pristine, reserved aura. However, when he channeled mana into them, they immediate effect was even more surprising that that of the swords. Little air cushions formed below them. In literal terms, this meant that Rama could already fly, without reaching demigod level, like you would normally need to. Testing them out, Rama determined that running just barely above the ground would be unnoticeable and many, many times faster than normal running. What''s more, since it took so little qi, like Zane, he could use it all day without tiring. Finally, using Raas, in his ring form was perhaps the most interesting. The fact was, Raas was much more balanced than the other spirit items because he had many abilities, even in item form. One that Rama experimented with was changing his looks. He knew that this would be important for his time at Wendal Academy. Other than that, Raas could create lifelike illusions all around him ,so that enemies could not even tell the difference between real and illusion. Finally, Raas could even make Rama go invisible, and while this used up about ten times the qi of the other abilities, he could still keep it up for a little above two hours. Wow, spirit item abilities really are unfair, especially the ones of the Gods thought Rama as he drifted off to sleep. Chapter 7: Five Months Wendal Spirit Academy was the number one official Spirit Academy of the Wendal Kingdom whose rule spanned throughout the entire Wendal continent. It accepted only the most elite students of theory and combat. This meant that the teachers were even more elite. After all, the minimum power level needed to teach there was to be Grandmaster-level in qi. However, this was just for the most basic, low-level teacher. Many of the middle level teachers were Sage-level, while higher level teachers were at the King and Emperor levels. There was even a rumour going around that the Headmaster and a few other of the highest level academy teachers and officials were at the Demigod-level. Since there were Demigods throughout the entire kingdom, this made Wendal Spirit Academy one of the top powers within the kingdom. Of course that''s the place where Alice will attend. After all, how can a school that looks for talent pass over a person with a God-ranked spirit. Wendal Academy accepts students half a year after they get their spirits. This was to allow students who lived far away to travel there. After all, with little rest in an average speed carriage, it took six months to travel across all of Wendal Kingdom. Wendal Academy was not at the edge of the kingdom, but closer to the middle, so the six month restriction was to make sure that all students would start at the same time, and to leave time for even the slowest students to get there. Using Aster¡¯s power, I can get there in one month. That leaves me five months to train and get used to my new spirits. (Raas) Boy, we will begin to teach you how to use our elements now. In these five months, you will learn how to combine our elements and of course, your qi levels will rise even quicker than before. And, we will help you to nurture your little pet when it hatches. It surprised me when I learned that it was related to that creature in the Dark Forest. Wait what pet? I don¡¯t have one, much less one that could be related to that legendary being. (Raas) Boy, did you really not notice the egg that you picked up from the Grandmaster-ranked monster was an egg, and not just a rock. Moreover, it is not even the same variety as that monster, but it is a Tyrant Serpent, which is the same species as the legendary monster of the Dark Forest. However, it will not hatch for about five months, so it will hatch right before you leave for the academy. I have been around longer than most, and I have observed the first Tyrant Serpent, as have my brothers. We can be confident in raising it, at least many times more confident than anyone but that other Tyrant Serpent. Oh! So that rock with the dark aura was actually an egg. Well, I had considered that, but decided that it was not, since it didn¡¯t hatch.
And so the training began... For months, Rama trained his sword, his qi, his body, and his techniques... (Zane) Lightning is the fastest of the attacking elements, and has some of the most powerful attempts. Lightning is the flash which the opponent cannot respond to. Lightning is resolute, and unyielding. Those unworthy will be shocked and smote down, while those worthy will embrace it. Lightning is the flash which destroys before another knows what has happened. Lightning is a flash. (Aster) Wind is one of the most flexible elements. Its greatest strength is speed of movement and flexibility of movement, as well as affecting a large area, with both detriments to the enemy, and attacks. Wind is the flow which yields to what is coming. Wind reacts. Those unworthy will be swept away, while those worthy will flow. Wind is the flow which reacts and defends from harm. Wind is the flow. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. (Raas) Darkness is the most peculiar of elements. Its greatest strength is deception, illusion, and power. Darkness has overwhelming power, yet is impossibly quiet. It does not boast, only sneer. Darkness is what lurks underneath everything of this world. Darkness is the shadow which guides. Those worthy will guide, those unworthy will be mislead and deceived. Darkness is within all.
In a blink, five months passed. In these five months, Rama broke through to the Grandmaster-level and was now 51st-ranked. He had learned to fight with Zane, the swords. He had learned to walk on air, to move swiftly, and to react with Aster, the boots, and most of all, he learned to deceive, hide, and kill with the ring, Raas. (Raas) Boy, finally that egg is hatching. Quick, get it out. When Rama removed the black, scaly egg from his pack, the aura was much stronger than from five months ago. He could feel the strength of a master-level beast coming from it. To be Master-level at birth, I wonder what this guy could achieve in the future! Over the time which Rama had had the egg, it grew many times in size, and what was originally the size of an apricot became the size of a grapefruit. As Rama watched, the egg started to crack, and a lithe, pure black serpent with eyes as white as powder snow appeared, slithering out of one of the cracks. (Raas) Boy, feed it some of that monster meat from your pack, and then drop your blood onto it. This will link him to you for good, however, he will not be a slave, but rather a deeply bound partner. Rama did just that, and when he finally dripped blood onto the snake, the snake was coiled around his neck, hanging comfortably. With the amount of coils, it was hard to tell, but the snake was only about a meter long. (???) Sa.... Di.......Sa.......Di......Sa.....Di......Sa.....Di Since it seems like thats all you can say right now, I¡¯ll name you now. ¡°I proclaim you my everlasting partner, Sadi!¡± yelled Rama. Of course, nobody but Sadi could hear, because he was in the wilderness training away from civilization. Well, its about time to go, it is time to throw off the chains of my old life. Rama used darkness magic to meld his face into a more perfect, slightly more masculine face, changed his eyes to a deep green, and turned his hair pitch black with miniscule yellow flecks. The only thing which he kept was his now formidable physique. He now looked about eighteen instead of only sixteen-and-a-half. Now every trace of the being who was years ago Gates Bernstein had vanished. Rama Dunstan was nothing like that naive boy, he was now calm, realistic, and collected. With Sadi coiled around his neck, Rama ran off near his top speed just above the ground using Aster¡¯s power, which he decided to call Wind Walk. Its finally time to go to Wendal Academy. I wonder what I will find there, haha I think I know a few things, or people which I will find. Still, this will be an interesting experience. That is what Rama thought as he flew off into the horizon.[/b] Chapter 8: Entrance Exam Wendal Spirit Academy was not located in the capital of Wendal kingdom, but rather in a city aptly named Academy City. Academy city was the home to Wendal Academy and many other smaller Academies. If you were not a student of an Academy, it was very hard to live there unless you were extremely wealthy. The price of housing, land, and food was extremely expensive, but if you were a student of one of the Spirit Academies, it was all free. Of course, not just anyone could make it into Wendal Academy or even any of the smaller academies. All of the fifteen-and-a-half year-olds could choose to take one of two tests. They could take a test which determined qi level. Young men and women with who were 26th-level or above were automatically accepted into Wendal Academy. Anyone above 20th rank essentially had a free pass to any of the other academies. The second was the combat test. Since most aspired to enter Wendal Academy, they chose this test, even with their lacking levels of qi. After all, most of the young adults were only in the beginner rank, so to get into any academy they needed to take this test. The combat test was very dangerous, and each year only a few got into Wendal Academy or another Academy. And for each person who made it through, at least 50 more would be injured. Although death was uncommon during the test, some people still died every so often. Since I don¡¯t want to show my power, maybe I should just take the combat test. No, I don¡¯t even need to do that, Raas taught me how to fake my qi-level. I¡¯ll just make myself not stand out. As Rama was thinking, the Announcer called, ¡°Next!¡± ¡°Young mage, what test would you like to take?¡± said the proctor as he had done at least a few thousand times during the entrance examination. ¡°I shall take the qi-level test,¡± responded the well dressed blond-haired young man. The young man who Rama knew was the son of some lesser noble placed his palm on the the qi-testing circle. Exactly thirty of the ninety-nine stones which surrounded the circle. ¡°30th-level, Advanced-rank. Wendal Academy!¡± The crowd went a bit wild afterwards, as most of the young adults before him had elected to take the combat test or had entered a lesser academy. And he was even at the Advanced-rank. Many years, there was not a single fifteen-year-old who could reach the advanced rank in time for the test. As the day progressed, a many more were tested. Some entered the lesser academies, many entered the combat test, and a few more entered Wendal Academy. I¡¯ll go near the end, so I can observe others and look for Arisa and the Prince. A few more hours passed, and eventually, when the line to take the test had lessened, an extremely fancy looking carriage with a regal white stallion pulling it entered the square where the testing was being held. An elderly man with crisp, fancy clothes stepped out and yelled, ¡°Presenting his royal Majesty the Crown Prince, Prince Blake Halderford, and Lady Arisa Ashfort. Out of the carriage stepped a young man about the same height as Rama with impeccably good looks and an deep blue outfit of the highest quality which looked like it had taken many servants hours to prepare just right and holding his hand was a young lady who looked like an older version of the Arisa which Rama remembered. She was wearing a scarlet dress which looked just as regal as the prince¡¯s suit, and it complemented her hair perfectly. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.¡°Make way for his Majesty¡± called that same elderly butler who held open the door. The crowd and the line moved aside, and Prince Blake and Arisa strode to the testing circle. ¡°Ladies first¡± said the prince. Arisa put her hand on the testing circle. Thirty-nine of the stones lit up. ¡°Wow! she is nearly in the master rank. A genius like this has never even been seen at this test before! Not one person has even came close to it, and I have watched these tests since I was a boy sixty years ago!¡± ¡°She must be the other one with the Fire God-ranked spirit. Only the prince, who has the Water God-ranked spirit can compete with her.¡± Arisa haughtily turned around and returned to where she had been standing with the prince. As she walked back, the prince walked towards the testing circle and put his hand on it. Again, thirty-nine stones lit up. This time, the crowd went even more crazy. Two unprecedented genius with 39th-level Advanced-rank qi and God-ranked spirits. Who had ever heard of two fifteen-year-olds with this kind of talent? Although they are not close to my level, they are much better than everyone else, as the best other than them was the blond noble who was at the 30th-level. Raas, is it possible that they could be hiding their level. (Raas)No, only high-level darkness spirits have that power. Other spirits can suppress their master¡¯s power, but not hide it in a test like that. Only me and most darkness Duke-level spirits have that power. And of course, since I am the Darkness God, I and therefore you can see through all illusions, which includes the hiding of qi. Yes of course, I was just making sure of what I already knew. Haha, it seems that this school will be fun. (Zane)It''s not fun until we fight! (Aster)Brother, please. Don¡¯t worry about that Zane, I¡¯m sure that we will have some good fights. While Rama was thinking, pretty much everyone had finished their tests and emptied out of the square. ¡°Last call for those who wish to take the exam, last call for anyone who wants to take the exam!¡± yelled the proctor for the final time after this long day. ¡°I will take the qi-level test.¡± said Rama in an indifferent tone. Rama placed his hand in the circle after hiding his true power. ¡°Twenty-eighth-level Intermediate-rank. Report to the office in Wendal Academy to get your application and dorm room situated.¡± said the proctor. Then he yelled, ¡°This year¡¯s exam has closed. Goodnight to you all!¡± Chapter 9: First Day of School When Rama entered the office at Wendal Academy, a cute receptionist who looked to be about twenty-five greeted him. ¡°What can I do for you today young man?¡± ¡°I need to get a dorm room and get my schedule, my name is Rama Dunstan and I am a new student here.¡± ¡°Well that¡¯ll just be a second, this year all fifty-nine first-years will have the same schedule. Here you go¡± said the cute receptionist as she handed him the necessary papers. ¡°Just sign here.¡± ¡°Okay, and where will my dorm be?¡± questioned Rama as he signed the papers and took his schedule. ¡°You are in dorm 2b, across the courtyard. I hope you can get along well here, and have a good night!¡± spoke the receptionist as he left. Hmm... it looks like this is my dorm room. By the looks of things, since this academy is very elite and accepts so few people each year, I will not have to share a room.[i] When Rama stowed his pouch away and sat down, he began to contemplate. [i]Now that Arisa is within reach once more after all these years, it seems like it will finally be time for all of my training to pay off. Its especially good that all the first-years have the same schedule because that means that I can observe her and that prince to make sure that my revenge will be sweet. While Rama was thinking in the velvet armchair, Sadi uncoiled himself from Rama¡¯s waist, where he had been hiding throughout the day. (Sadi)Masterrrr, I will go to hunt, and will return tomorrow morning. Sadi then slithered out the door noiselessly. Over the past month, Sadi¡¯s size had almost doubled, leaving him at around two meters in length, but still fairly thin. And with his size, grew his power. He was at the 49th-level after the trip from Radiston to Academy city. Since he was still only an infant of one month, this growth could be expected for a beast that was born at the Master-rank. However, over the trip, when Rama had stopped, he meditated and trained even harder than when he was in the Dark Forest, so in that short time he reached 54th rank. Over the trip, Sadi learned to speak coherently in Rama¡¯s mind. However, when Rama asked Raas, Aster, and Zane why Sadi couldn¡¯t speak, they had taught him that no magical beast could speak in human tongues out loud until they reached the Demigod-rank. The speaking in Rama and Sadi¡¯s minds was due to their bond. However, though he could not speak human tongues, Sadi was still able to understand spoken word. Next, Rama began to take a look at his schedule:
PeriodClass
1Magic Theory
2Magical Beast Studies
3Beast Taming
4Independent Study
5Magical Combat
6History of Magic
7Qi Mastery
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Hmm, this school really will be quite interesting, everything but History of Magic seems fairly interesting, especially Magical Combat and Beast Taming. With that, Rama went to sleep, eagerly awaiting his first day of school.
Rama awoke with a start, and he dressed in his same black beastskin outfit as always and put on his Spirits Items, the wind boots and the the lightning swords. For some reason, Rama felt safe when he removed those, but he never, ever removed the black ring. Rama went first to his Magical Theory class, which he had no difficulty finding due to the detailed map which was slipped inside the papers which the receptionist gave to him. When he entered the classroom, which was actually more like a tiered lecture hall, most of the students had already arrived, even though he was easily fifteen minutes early. It seems most of the other students share my excitement. Rama carefully scanned the crowd with just the slightest trace of his qi. He learned that most of the people were under the 28th-level qi, and there were even a few who were below 25th-level and had been accepted through the combat test. However, he detected no qi in the Advanced-rank, so that meant that the blond-haired noble, the prince, and Arisa had yet to arrive. Finally, a few seconds before, Prince Blake and Arisa confidently strode into the room with confident, or rather arrogant looks on their faces. The blond noble followed them closeby. After them walked in a man with a young yet rather ageless face, and an old man, wearing deep blue robes. Arisa, the prince, and the nobleman took seats in the front row, not caring if other students had already placed their belongings there. The distraught students who had to retreive their things held their heads low as they retrieved them. The ageless man and the old man in robes strode to the front of the room. The ageless man spoke in a low voice, but the voice was magnified throughout the room. ¡°I am Arthur Thaldrin, Demigod-ranked Fire Mage, and I am the Vice-Headmaster of this Academy. Every year, to each new batch of first-years, I tell them one thing. This is Wendal Academy. We don¡¯t expect results. We expect the best results, and any who cannot deliver those will soon not be attending this Academy. Am I clear? I expect great things from you all, especially you Prince Blake, and you Lady Ashfort.¡± As the Vice-Headmaster left the room, his voice boomed, ¡°I now turn you over to your teacher, Mr. Thades.¡±