《Freedom Jumper - {Progression, Mystery, Realism}》 1. Expect the Unexpected ¡°I love you, Lukas¡± The last words I hear are from my seven children. As someone who lived for almost 121 years, all I can say is that I am happy. Being a leading figure in making the world healthier again, building an isolated nutrient/supplement company that used technology to separate and sustain any kind of compound the body can ever need, and lastly, creating a family. The moment I hear those words as I am laying in the soft chair that resides on my hillside mansion, the light in my eyes flickers in and out, and eventually, I am gone. ¡­ ¡°Save me! Save me!¡± Unknowingly to my dead self, I was in a pitch black void with a distorted voice calling for help. A conversation was occurring, and time seemed to flow slow and fast at the same time, and without even remembering anything, my blurry eyes saw a dim candle burning in the distance. ¡­ The night was a tempest, a cacophony of thunderclaps echoing across the darkened sky. Rain lashed against the windows of the small candle lit room, drumming a frantic rhythm that matched the quickening pulse of the woman lying on the bed. Each flash of lightning illuminated her face, a blend of pain and determination, as she grasped the hand of the midwife beside her. With each contraction, the storm outside seemed to roar louder, as if nature were heralding the arrival of something extraordinary. And then, in a moment suspended between fury and calm, a sharp cry burst forth slicing through the din of the storm. The world welcomed its newest inhabitant, a fragile spark of life born amidst the chaos, destined to weave their own tale against the backdrop of the raging night. Yes, I am actually crying, but not intentionally. Only because my stomach has been twisted and turned in ways that would almost kill anyone. What felt like an intense scream brimming with pain and anger, came out as a joyful cry in the chaos of the night. To me, what makes life special is that it doesn¡¯t last forever. Any sane person would make the most of their lives because of this. What I guessed has happened to me, has filled me with anger and sadness. Imagine putting your all into life, and accepting true eternal peace as your life wanes away. And then waking up and realizing you have to do it again¡­ The weird part about this is how I am retaining the memories of my past and remember everything as if it was yesterday. However, none of this seemed real. How was this possible? A large a-frame beam supported the dense wooden roof above me. Smooth wooden dressers were to the left and right of the soft cotton bedding. My mother has black hair and blue eyes and is wearing brown clothing made from fur, leather, and cotton. My father has dark brown hair and brown eyes. Shock and fear was within my soul, and the only thing I tried to do was forget. This isn¡¯t real. ¡°His name is¡­ Elijah¡± ¡­ One year passes by extremely slowly. I felt every long second of a wise man inhabiting an infant. Excruciating is the first word that comes to mind. Contrary to how I feel, this world that I am in is beautiful. I won¡¯t say it''s on the level of the solarpunk style of architecture that was becoming ¡°the trend¡± back in my old life. However, I can¡¯t lie when I say medieval fantasy makes my heart beat faster. All the buildings are made of wildly smooth stone with small and intricate protruding details like indented columns, and wooden window shutters. And better yet, everyone living around me has health and contribution as their main priorities. The architecture is rather bare with no colors other than stone and wood, but the fine details make up for it.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. In my past life, I knew multiple languages because of my excessive traveling. However, the language that everyone spoke felt similar, which was normal, but came very easy for me to adapt to. The name of the language is what they call ¡°Kotun¡±. I don¡¯t know much about the layout of where I reside, but I do know my family owns farmland where they grow the run of the mill crops that were on earth. Corn, barley, rice, sugarcane, potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, and just about every vegetable you could imagine. However, something that I never expected was shown to me not by accident, but out of necessity. ¡°Quick baby, we need to stop the bleeding!¡± My father was carrying my older brother Julian inside after he accidentally fell into the river next to our nimble house. A dim but ethereal light came about from my mothers hand as water coated the back of the right shoulder where Julian was wounded. ¡°Ma-jik?¡± An almost inaudible sound came from my mouth as my parents looked at each other in confusion. I¡¯ve spoken my first words rather quickly almost a month back, but have been relatively silent ever since. If what I saw was true, then that means there must be more elements. Also, I did not hear any words being spoken. I¡¯ve read my share of fantasy books in the past, and realizing this is a very important detail. I need to find out the limits and understand what exactly is happening for magic to be used. Unfortunately for my feeble and immobile body, I assume it won¡¯t be possible right now. ¡­ My third birthday started off with a bang. A wet involuntary bath in the river, completely naked. I have to say, I am not complaining, but I have been doing nothing for the past 2 years besides exploring and learning as much as I can about magic. Firstly, I reside in the Kingdom of Astraea, a kingdom surrounded by walls. A large river passes through the kingdom¡¯s center moving southwest. The specific area I live in is called the Outer West of the outer region. A commoner is what I am¡­ Although I am not complaining about anything besides being bored. What fueled me in my previous life was my physical goals, and business goals. Strength, accuracy, mobility, agility, balance, and helping people. Secondly, I was completely caught off guard when my parents spilled the beans on everything all in one go. It¡¯s as if they didn¡¯t expect me to remember or understand what they were saying. What this world calls magic, is the manipulation of the elements and only the elements. How powerful and useful you are is almost fully dependent on your imagination, which has piqued my interest. Anything is possible as long as it relates to the element you are manipulating. ¡­ A barely exciting 2 years pass as I get more opportunities to meet the people around me, and travel into new territory. Alexia Sinclair, a girl who lives across the dirt path, and whose family are farmers just like mine. The only difference being that they specialize in small vegetables that are better to grow in gardens, rather than surplus crops that are meant to be grown in vast amounts of large fields. The sky was pouring rain, and the sound of the drops hitting the puddle behind the window of my brother and I¡¯s bedroom window made it hard to fall asleep. I focused on relaxing my body, while focusing on the center of my chest, which is a way I used to divert my focus in my past life. Unexpectedly, my whole body started tingling as I lost all control, and then suddenly¡­ POP! My body squirmed violently and suddenly stopped. My eyes opened and saw the same dissipating ethereal energy moving away from my body. I felt new, refreshed, awakened. Where I previously had my focus, was now a deep black circle that didn¡¯t seem to physically be there, but rather, spiritually. All the signs in my head were pointing to the idea that I can use magic. However, no matter what I thought, nothing worked. Fire, water, earth, air, lightning, ice, metal, and poison. With one final try, a longshot, I was finally able to dull my boredom. My breath slowed, and seconds later, my body rose from my small twin-sized bed. Huh? What element is this? The amount of times I wished for the ability to fly in my past life was insurmountable. Quickly, things took a turn for the worst. My head started buzzing as I fell to my soft bed sheets. The last words I heard before I passed out frightened my soul. In the most indescribable and distorted voice, I heard¡­ ¡°Save me! Save me!¡± 2. Physics? Slowly and subtly, a warm feeling that spread through Elijah¡¯s body grew to a sensation that jolted him awake. If it was describable, the mitochondria in every microscopic cell began to pulse as if catalyzed to heal the body at a rapid rate. ¡°Excuse me¡­ But I think he is awake.¡± A girl no older than 16 was standing over a small twin-sized bed. Her hair was completely straight and dangled so close to the face of Elijah he began to feel his nose twitch. The most unnatural aspect was the color of her eyes. A bright golden light was seen within that even by making eye contact, Elijah¡¯s worries began to wash away as if they didn¡¯t exist. With the small wooden door wide open, Phloria worriedly walked inside with her hands in front of her pelvis. ¡°Can you tell if something is wrong with him?¡± ¡°No, I can not. Head pains without reason have never been noted in medicinal books, only ways to treat wounds and alcohol poisoning¡­ I¡¯m sorry, I can''t do anything else.¡± ¡°Thank you Freya, I was surprised that you were able to come here in the first place. I guess I have to thank the Weltor¡¯s for that¡­¡± There was a moment of silence until Freya said something out of the ordinary. ¡°Maybe because his mana core awakened at such a young age, his body can¡¯t handle it.¡± ¡°What?! Did you just see how his mana core is developed?!¡± Phloria had previously been lowering her head to stare at her dear child, but was lifted into a state of confusion with Freya¡¯s remark. It was known that anyone who awakened their core before the age of nine ¨C or even eight ¨C were considered potential prospects who would easily soar to power. Don, Elijah¡¯s father joined in on the conversation with a stunned expression and many questions. In the end, everyone parted ways while agreeing to never speak of such an event. All Don and Phloria wanted was a quiet life considering their past, and revealing to the world how their two and a half year old son awakened their mana core would draw enormous amounts of attention. Of course, Elijah had acted like he had no understanding of what had happened, and continued on with his life. ¡­ Two years later, in the midst of a stormy night, Elijah quietly crawled over the open bedroom window while his brother Julian was fast asleep. While slowly making his way across the muddy dirt road, Elijah saw dark orange lights in the distance ¨C likely torches burning inside the house across the dirt road. And when a strike of lightning lit up everything within the vicinity, a small figure about the same size as himself was seen slouching, staring into the puddle that continued to build in size. Standing in the rain without a care in the world. Their two situations were completely different. While Elijah was slowly figuring out the principles behind what allowed him to levitate for a short period of time, Alexia had run from her house out of fear. ¡°My parents¡­ All they do is fight and I want nothing to do with it¡­¡± While their earlier conversation was quite simple with their exchanging of names and hobbies, her out of place statement made Elijah pause. ¡°I am sorry you have to deal with that¡­ Trust me, it will get better.¡±Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Yes! Our families should have dinner with each other. Maybe that would help.¡± The idea of being alone was a path Elijah had wanted to take to understand if this reality was, well¡­ Real. But something told him making friends would accelerate that process. From this moment forward, Elijah and Alexia created a bond that seemed unbreakable from Alexia¡¯s point of view, but felt fake from Elijah''s view. Maybe the age and adolescent mind was the problem. There was more than likely not a single person he could relate to with this kingdom he stayed within. Although, this was not a proven fact. The only option Elijah could take was to let time pass. ¡­ On top of a plush mossy rock that seemed to have grown more since the rainstorm was Elijah calmly sitting with his knees slightly higher above his hip line. To grow at a rapid pace was an uncomfortable feeling, especially when in his later years, Elijah had stayed constant. ¡®Focus¡­ Relax¡­ Feel the core.¡¯ Elijah had been waiting for the wind to abnormally pick up as a sign that something had occurred. But this time ¨C when his bottom lifted slowly off of the mossy rock, a small but noticeable tingling feeling began to radiate within his body. And the moment Elijah¡¯s eyes opened, he could visually see himself doing the impossible ¨C or what he thought was the impossible. A phenomenon that did not adhere to the laws of physics. Flight. Elijah had noticed the difference in his method of attack. Intent was the catalyst alongside the shuttling of this foreign yet familiar energy. However, the shuttling of this energy was something that came so naturally as if it was on autopilot. Everything had resulted in Elijah floating in mid air. Five minutes passed, ten, thirty, and even an hour as the sun had just passed over the top of the wall. The only reason Elijah had stopped his magical experiment was do to the loud yelling of his father, exclaiming dinner has been prepared and laid out. ¡°ELIJAH! DINNER TIME!¡± Spreading across a bland and completely smooth wooden table were lamb chops, bowls of oxtail broths, a heaping bowl of peeled oranges, and a mixed and steamed vegetable salad. The more ¡°niche¡± cuts of meat were eaten amongst the farmers for their cheap price if they themselves did not pasture the animals. Everything was lit by a simply made metal chandelier ¨C that you could barely call a chandelier with its straight and simplistic look. It did get the job done as it held eight brightly glowing candles that gave the perfect amount of light for the eyes to see everything within the close vicinity. ¡°Elijah, you will be sitting next to Alexia.¡± This dinner was no ordinary dinner. Over the past few months, Elijah had been begging and begging to have dinner with Alexia¡¯s family out of the kindness of his heart. Finally, the time had come, and just maybe the smile on Alexia would naturally grow wider with every second. The Sinclair family was a family of five compared to the Veran family of four. Alexia was the youngest daughter while Julia and Mike were consecutively two years older than her. In the midst of the dinner, a knock was heard on the thick and smooth wooden door. ¡°Special delivery for Don!¡± With it being past the sunset, or what these people called the sunset, important and time sensitive deliveries were still made which triggered curiosity in the mind of Elijah. Dinner had since passed, and once Elijah heard the words, ¡°I will leave for the wall in the morning and be back before lunch. Don¡¯t worry, there isn¡¯t much maintenance to do as everything is already planted.¡± ¡°Can I go with you!¡± ¡°Elijah! Were you listening to our conversation?!¡± Phloria asked with a mean face. ¡°Sorry.¡± ¡°Honey, I don¡¯t see a problem with him going. Julian has been to the wall a few times with me. It would be a good chance for him to meet someone new.¡± Don explained to his wife while caressing her shoulders. ¡°Ugh. But that person is Richter, and while I know he is a good friend of yours, he is not someone I would think Elijah should get to know¡­¡± Phloria sighed. ¡°Ahhh, I wouldn¡¯t worry about it. It''s not like he is going to notice his core is already awakened. I think only those cyan core mages sense stuff like that.¡± Don revealed some important information to Elijah in a lackadaisical tone. It was decided. Tomorrow would be Elijah¡¯s first trip to the wall. Before that, a strong inkling and desire had continuously been reaching the forefront of his mind. The desire to see past not just the horizon of the towering walls, but the rest of this world. A simple taste was enough for now as there had to be a reason for the towering walls to exist. 3. Death Is Inevitable The plan was simple. Silently sneak through the window amongst the dead of the night, and carefully weave through the trees and covered areas of the farmlands until reaching the wall. Next, cautiously fly up the side of the wall while keeping a cool head. And finally¡­ Stare into the distance at ¨C directly at what the towering walls were keeping out of this kingdom. Elijah was focused on psyching himself into believing he could pull this off. Surprisingly, there were weeds of doubt that even when pulled, grew back without hesitation. Was it the feeble and youthful mind that could not hold the complexities of his past? Or was it truly fear? The wind softly rustled against the loose fitting clothes of Elijah. Many times over, he had to hold onto his pants to avoid an awkward situation if he were to be caught red-handed. Although, one thing Elijah had noticed about this kingdom was how every single person took care of their sleep whenever possible. Weaving slowly in between the trees, cautiously looking left and right into openings that could have caused him to be found out, and speeding close to a river that sparkled in the moonlight caused him to end up at his destination. Control was not something Elijah had worked much on as he had just gained initial control of figuring out what allowed him to fly. The weaving through the trees sped up quickly as he figured out the most efficient way to maneuver his body. And while flying close to the sparkling river, he dragged his head against the cold water while also noticing a large pile of bloody bones. The dots were unable to connect in Elijah¡¯s mind, and eventually he began his traversal up the wall of hidden truth, which looked much taller when standing close to it. Badum Badum Badum Badum The closer he became, the louder and faster his heart began to beat. A large breath was taken just before his eyes laid sight to what was in front of him. In the far distance was the start of a curved mountain range that mirrored the suspected shape of the mountain a mile behind Elijah¡¯s humble home. To the right was the beginning of a towering forest full of trees that looked overgrown as their leaves and branches dropped to the ground. However, this was an observation from afar ¨C more than likely tens of miles away from the wall. ¡°AHHHHH! HELLPPP!¡± A hoarse and violent scream that occurred just below him jolted every cell in his body from the magnificent view in front of his eyes. In fact, the same mountain range that likely curved around the kingdom was also to his far right ¨C albeit only the seeable beginning. Below Elijah was a group of a dozen or so soldiers creating flashing lights of fire and rumbles of earth and wind. Their attackers however, were these monstrous looking lions with a beard of fire that was continuously in motion as if alive. Visibly, Elijah watched as a wide breath of fire incinerated the last of the soldiers fighting for their lives. From this point on, the feelings and mentality in Elijah had completely shifted. In fact, memories of his past floated to the top of his mind as if they were memories he had completely forgotten about. Over the past two years, Elijah had slowly been turning into a child again ¨C as were the harsh consequences of a more than a century old man inhabiting the body of an infant. What seemed like rainbows and sunshine was a flashlight shining through stained glass¡­ This wall was here to protect the people from these beasts¡­ No¡­ Magical beasts. Unfortunately for Elijah, freedom was an ideology that was endlessly chased in his past life. There was nowhere he was not able to reach, no person that would not have a simple conversation with him, and nothing that he would stop himself from accomplishing. In this kingdom, he was trapped. There was no sense of freedom, but only a lingering fear of the idea that one day¡­ these walls would be no more and result in the end of his life. Elijah did not have a single fear besides lack of freedom. Some would call him a perfectionist, but Elijah would simply call himself a normalcy breaker. ¡°If this world has what I think it has, then I must grow stronger¡­ I must not become what I have witnessed just now¡­¡± A single tear of determination slipped down Elijah¡¯s cheek. A tear that would brandish his goal to not just become stronger, but also explore. Exploring would give him the questions he would need to answer. ¡­ Knock KnockThis content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Elijah?¡± Are you awake yet? It¡¯s time to go!¡± Don was slowly opening the door to not disturb his child. If the boy did not wake, it looks like he would be venturing to the wall himself. Funny enough, Elijah had fallen asleep amongst the silence of the night sky. The cold stone reminded him of the need for discomfort ¨C a catalyst for doing difficult shit. Don found Elijah walking to his window from inside his bedroom after noticing his child was not in bed. ¡°Elijah! Were you already awake?¡± ¡°Yea. I was just excited to go to the wall so I went to the forest to stretch and wake up.¡± Elijah was lying through his teeth, but with a child''s body, it was as easy as squeezing lemons. Don took notice of Elijah¡¯s effort and led him to an open wooden carriage. This carriage reminded him deeply of the renaissance period. Tall wheels that kept a square box meant for sitting intact. However, this carriage had four wheels and was pulled by a single horse as there was not a single ounce of cargo. Conversations were exchanged, and it eventually led to Elijah asking about the kingdom. Specifically the layout. ¡°That is a good question. Pretty soon you will find all this stuff out anyways with the books that you will be introduced to, so I might as well tell you now since I can tell you have a bright mind.¡± ¡°To start, The Kingdom of Astraea has 10 zones. Four in the outer region, four in the inner region, 1 underneath the inner region, and lastly, Centerpool. We live in the Outer West. To reach the Inner city, you have to travel through one of the 4 tunnel gates. The Inner city has its own 4 zones that wrap around the center of the whirlpool that sits underneath Centerpool. The King¡¯s castle is in the very center of Centerpool. Just make sure to not jump in the whirlpool as there is no saving you. The Catacombs are the cave systems that we have partly inhabited due to not having enough space. However, The Catacombs are extremely dangerous in places without people that are the homes to an uncountable number of beasts. The reason why we have it under control is due to the hunters that protect the people. And to help you picture all of this in that smart little head of yours, there are two sets of walls that give us safety. The outer wall that we see everyday, and the inner wall that is made from the mountains behind us. Some people say something fell from the sky and created the hole that Centerpool sits on top of, and some people say it has always been this way.¡± A whirlpool, underground caverns, and a potential meteor that created the geographical layout! Elijah had many questions that had just entered his mind, which was his goal. The only task now was to answer them. While Elijah had just been atop the towering wall, he had never traveled by carriage to what Don described as the western gate. While staring into the lush pastures and newly planted farmlands, Elijah took a moment to stare down the long and straight road that led to the tunnel gate: the entrance to the inner city. ¡®That is my goal. I need to at least see inside there next!¡¯ ¡°Alright! This is Richter¡¯s outpost. He is not someone who mans the gate, but acts as support for any hunter squads going outside the walls.¡± Before they had even stepped food on the porch of the a-frame outpost, the wooden door slid open with an ¡°oomph¡± that signified heavy emotions. ¡°R-richter. What happened?¡± Don questioned while staring into the teary eyes of a clean-shaven and black haired man whose blue eyes were soiled by the glossy finish of tears. Don himself felt his own heartbeat palpitate as he knew Richter was a tough man known to never shed a tear. ¡°Please¡­ Come inside.¡± Don grabbed the hand of Elijah and hurriedly walked inside. Strapped to his chest was a bag of glass vials that rattled with every step. As soon as Elijah entered, he noticed a railing that looked over into the small area where they were standing. Richter walked to a wooden cabinet behind what looked like a counter meant for storage and weaponry. ¡°Thank you for bringing the potions, but I have some bad news to share¡­ Xander, well¡­ died last night.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?!¡± Just from Elijah looking up and into the eyes of his father that began to grow small beads of tears in the corners of his eyes, he knew this man Xander was someone important to them. Also, Elijah himself had seen the massacre. The breath of death that likely incinerated even the bones of the poor souls that ventured outside the walls. Richter dove into his feelings. ¡°You know what I am talking about Don! He is dead! And for the love of the kingdom I can¡¯t even fathom the reason why we are being sent outside these walls even if it means magitech production stops! DAMMIT! Things outside the wall randomly seemed to get so much worse almost four years ago. It makes no sense!!¡± ¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t believe this. Why does this have to happen¡­ After all he went through, he gets shoved to his death outside the wall! Was my sacrifice worth nothing¡­¡± ¡°Sorry that you have to hear this kid¡­ Hopefully if you decide to follow along the path of magic, you won¡¯t be forced outside the wall for the benefit of whoever makes the most coin¡­¡± ¡°Elijah. Can you please wait outside? I¡¯ll just be a few minutes.¡± Don calmed his emotions and kneeled down to ask his son a question whilst his voice began to show signs of shattering. Too much was happening for Elijah to say anything as he resorted to a simple nod of the head. The door was softly closed, and as Elijah sat down on an uncomfortable wooden chair, his head began to ache with not just pain, but memories. Death was a phenomenon difficult to process, and this instance had brought back memories of his parents, grandparents, and even siblings. Lukas had lived until the age of 122, breaking many records in the process. He even outlived two children of his, which was with a body full of disadvantages that he spent decades trying to reverse. Even the nondescript voice of a woman asking to be saved entered his mind, which he now remembers was heard when he levitated for the first time. So many questions that had absolutely nothing to do with each other. What was the situation outside the kingdom? What is Magitech? Who was the voice inside his head asking to be saved? Was the world always ridden with beasts? What caused the hole in the center of the kingdom to form? Biggest of all¡­ Was reincarnation the natural course of life, or a one of one phenomenon created by something unknown? ¡°Elijah?¡± Don had been asking for Elijah while waiting inside the carriage as if he almost forgot his child. ¡°Oh. Sorry¡­ I am coming.¡± Elijah grabbed his fathers hand and was helped into the wooden storage carriage. The ride back was bumpy and filled with silence, but when they arrived in front of the humble home, Don made a statement that filled him with joy and sadness. ¡°Gather a couple pairs of nice clothes, blankets, and dried fruit for all of us. We are going to Centerpool tomorrow to visit an old friend for a week. We leave in the morning¡­¡± 4. Sensational Journey ¡°No! You are joking Don!¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but this is a serious matter and there is not a chance of me missing the send-off¡­¡± Don and Phloria began talking to each other after stepping into the home. Elijah had walked right past their conversation that had just started and began to pack his goods before waiting until the kitchen was clear. ¡°Was that what the letter was about yesterday?¡± Phloria asked with teary eyes. ¡°No. Richter just thought he should refill on potions so he sent a letter¡­¡± Elijah began to overhear the conversation and was baffled by the idea of Richter and Don only finding out their friend had perished on the battlefield the morning of ¨C an hour before they met. The body was burned and slashed in so many places that it no longer looked like a body anymore, but just pounds of flesh and bone. Richter would be joining the group for the send off as he would be the transporter of the body. ¡­ The morning was full of chirping birds, rustling of the leaves, and the slightly moist ground that had not been fully evaporated by the sun. One fact Elijah had noticed while pulling himself onto the familiar open carriage was how humidity was not much of a problem here, as if their altitude was more than two or three thousand feet above sea level. There was not an inkling of dew after a rainstorm when combined with the radiant sun, even during the month of planting which came directly after the snow season. Brown and tan blankets were evenly spread through the carriage four large leather bags sat in the center. According to Don, the trip was sure to be a little less than three hours, which made Elijah think this Kingdom was far larger than he assumed. After Don had explained the situation and living arrangements for the next week ¨C A noble household where Don¡¯s old friend resided as well as a send off in the Grand Park on the third day of visiting ¨C Elijah began to feel a strong desire for exploration and asked a question that had been on his mind. ¡°Father, what is so dangerous outside the walls?¡± While he knew the answer to this question, maybe there was something more. ¡°Beasts who want to do nothing but kill. Whatever you do with your life, understand that going outside the wall will likely end up with you forever leaving us¡­¡± ¡°What about the other kingdoms outside the wall? How do they survive?¡± ¡°What? Elijah, there is no such thing as another kingdom. Life does not exist outside these walls besides the beasts who only want to kill.¡± Don responded with an expression of confusion that made him question where his son got such a lofty idea. ¡°Has anyone seen outside the walls besides the hunters?¡± Elijah kept pushing for more information. ¡°No! Every single person in this kingdom is in full agreement that there is no life outside the walls, but only beasts! Don¡¯t ask any more questions related to this or else people will think you are crazy¡­¡± Suspicion instantly entered the mind of Elijah. In an unknown world where one has been trapped from their oppressors, what are the chances of more life existing outside these walls if an attempt to find life has never been made? From a passing by carriage while slowly riding the main west road, a man no older than the age of 20 was laughing at his comrades for being scared of the beasts. In a moment of mystery which had brought a single question into his mind, Elijah yelled at the top of his lungs causing everyone within the vicinity to stare into his black eyes. ¡°I want to explore outside the walls!¡± The carriages carrying supplies came to a halt as many men and women looked at me with disgust. However, between these people, was a white hair blue-eyed young male that looks like his balls just dropped with a small white goatee growing on his chin.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The man had a devious grin on his face as if he had just found his blood brother. ¡°I have no idea why you are saying that kid, we risk our lives every day for something that isn¡¯t even necessary . There is no merit in what we do¡­¡± A black haired woman with light gray eyes responded with dismay. ¡°My name is Amaris, and I respect you!¡± The icy man yelled at the top of his lungs as he passed by our carriage. Moments later, he received a slap to the back of the head. ¡°If you do that again, you will be locked in your room for a fortnight Elijah¡­¡± His father¡¯s tone sent a shiver down his spine. ¡°Welcome to the Inner West, Can I see your family crest?¡± The guard started the conversation the moment we neared the tunnel gate. Elijah was confused at the sight of a pentagram shaped emblem being shown. Without being able to see the front of it, It definitely had something to do with magic. A faint glow radiated from the crest, and moments later the guard signaled for the gate to open. But before the carriage passed through, Don handed the guard 25 silver coins, which is equal to a quarter of a gold coin. The dark stone tunnel was dimly lit with torches hanging on the walls. The three gates that lined the tunnel receded into the ceiling as we passed through. The reason for three gates was simply more security, but also as a defense measure to trap beasts between two metal walls as hunters threw spells inside an enclosed space. Elijah¡¯s eyes widened in disbelief when he heard his fathers explanation. How insidious! White light covered the entrance to the inner city, and once the group exited the tunnel, a long and slowly descending road was in view that focused their attention on the castle that towered above everything ¨C drawing attention like a magnet of epic proportions. Floral stone and wood buildings were tightly packed together in a uniform manner. What people thought was their city, truly was a crater from a meteor as the entire city slowly descended to the center. As the Veran family rode down the wide stone road, they noticed that the streets to the left and right were bustling with people. Expertly made buildings and stone paths were built all the way up on the side of the mountain that gave an amazing view of the entire inner city. However, from Elijah¡¯s idea about this kingdom, these sections were the ¡°poorest¡±, or densely populated regions as there was not an inkling of empty space seen within. ¡°So that is where the whirlpool is?¡± Elijah was pointing towards the castle with his small hands. ¡°Yes, although you can¡¯t see it right now, the whirlpool is beneath Centerpool, which is where we will be sending off the body of an old friend.¡± Elijah was able to feel the dejection with every word that came out of his mouth. The only option was to play the card of a child considering he was one¡­ After a two hour ride, the Veran family arrived at a large iron gate that slowly swung open. A burly man wearing a black flared suit and tie greeted the guests. ¡°Greetings, you must be the Veran family. Please come inside, the maids will take care of your bags.¡± The small amount of steps to the front door caught Elijah¡¯s gaze. Finely shaven, and precisely placed. Nothing like the stone paths in my neck of the woods. Moments after walking inside Elijah looked up and noticed a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling of the third floor. The golden ends curved up and held dimly lit candles that looked like they had been burning for ages. A double sided staircase met in the middle of the second floor and split to reach the third floor. This truly was a fantastical mansion! Suddenly, loud footsteps of a tough shoe made its way around the corner. A brown hair brown eyed man stepped forward and bowed to greet its guest. How come a simple looking man can look so good in a finely woven blue suit? ¡°It is good to see you again, Don and Phloria. And oh my, your children are to die for! I¡¯m absolutely sure your children won¡¯t be bored while staying here!¡± With a smile, Don replied, ¡°Thank you for your kind greeting George. I¡¯m sure they will have a good time. Now, where can we privately talk about business.¡± ¡°I see¡­ Follow me. Wilbur, do you mind showing the guests to their rooms?¡± With pep in his step George led Don to the third floor. ¡°Yes sir. If you would, please follow me to the second floor.¡± Elijah and his family got settled into their room. Both he and Julian had their private rooms and a shared washroom. While looking outside the window, Elijah noticed a brick wall with windows scattered about. ¡°Not much of a view huh?¡± Knock Knock Suddenly, while Elijah was laying on his fine bed, a knock was heard at his door. ¡°Who is it?¡± A high pitched voice similar to mine came from the other side of the door. ¡°My name is Novius, son of George Weltor. I wanted to say hello.¡± Elijah slowly opened the door with a calm expression on his face. ¡°Hello, my name is Elijah, how old are you?¡± ¡°Almost five.¡± Elijah responded with the same answer, and almost immediately the two were drawn to each other like friends destined to meet. Julian walked out of his room and joined in the conversation, and after a couple of minutes, Novius led them on a tour of the magnificent estate. 5. Illness or Poisonous Novius was living a life Elijah dreamt about as a child. Exceptionally large bedroom with full balcony looking out to the inner city, private washroom and closet, round top windows, pivot balcony door, and beautiful patterned drapes that would block out all of the moonlight. Elijah had a mesmerized look on his face while walking around the bedroom. ¡°Your bedroom is beautiful!¡± However, Elijah couldn¡¯t help but admire his looks for a child. Chiseled and formed jawline, black hair and brown eyes just like his father. Although Elijah does assume George has an earth affinity. ¡°Thank you, would you like to see something cool?¡± Novius asked with a wide grin on his face like he was about to blow the mind of the people around him. ¡°Yes I would love to!¡± With a snap of his fingers, small shiny and thin metal plates started to levitate and instantly flew towards Novius¡¯ body. Clink Clank After just 20 seconds, Novius¡¯ upper body was covered in a thin metal that seemed a little heavy for him without even lifting a finger. Elijah was truly surprised. And by the looks of it, that was runic magic. However, he still asked the question. ¡°Wow! How did you do that?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t tell you right now. Since you don¡¯t know yet, I''ll tell you about my family.¡± Novius explained to Elijah and Julian how the Weltor family are new nobles who rose to power and wealth through their contributions in magitech, which is what the people here call using runic magic to create new ways of doing things. However, it was George who was and still is the prodigy in the field. After studying runic magic all the way through the magic academy, he developed a way to reduce the weight on any object, which became immensely useful within the transport guild. Julian was both attentive and distant at the same time. ¡°I wish my father would have told me more about his past¡­¡± ¡°Your father and mine apparently used to be great friends. It¡¯s not my place to say anything, but my father holds a deep place in his heart for him.¡± Novius said as he walked up and shook the hands of both Julian and Elijah. What a distinguished gentle child. Knock Knock ¡°Lunch is ready gentlemen.¡± The butler gave a soft knock before telling them the good news. That butler must be very attentive to know we were with Novius¡­ The dining hall had yet another extravagant chandelier hanging from the ceiling, paintings of the city and landscapes line the walls, and most importantly, the table was lined with all sorts of delicacies that sat on top of the patterned blue table cloth. ¡°This is beautiful!¡± Elijah accidentally let it loose and sent the whole room into laughter the moment he walked in.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. George laughed and introduced the family that had not made themselves known. ¡°Hahaha, I see you two have met Novius! These are my other sons and daughters. Beatrix is 7, and the twins Isla and Eaton are 9 years old. Unfortunately my wife is bedridden and won¡¯t be joining us this afternoon, however you might see her for dinner tonight.¡± As the table was chowing down on the food and making conversation, Elijah couldn¡¯t help but think about what was wrong with Novius¡¯ mother. I¡¯ve never heard of anyone being sick, or even his parents warning him that he will get sick if he does something specific. Since everyone was appearing full, George ended dinner. ¡°Well everyone, I have to leave the house for some work related matters. Feel free to go anywhere you want in the city. And family, please make conversation with our guests.¡± All of the children agreed on a walk around the surrounding area. A castle with four tall spires and ornate stone details stood at the very center of the city. The castle itself was disconnected from Centerpool with its own bridges that led to it. Surrounding it was a large park that circled the entire castle. Hundreds or maybe thousands of people were walking about and hanging out. ¡°Since you two have never been to the city before, can I explain something you should keep in mind?¡± Eaton asked. Elijah and Julian gave a firm nod after quickly glancing at each other. ¡°Centerpool is divided into bands that circle the castle. The bands are separated by roads that also circle the castle. The one important fact you need to remember is that bands three through five are strictly noble households. Anything beyond the fifth band is a place where you should walk if you plan on shopping or going out to eat. The first band is Grand Park if you haven¡¯t already noticed, while the second band are government and guild buildings.¡± Elijah had a smile on his face. The chances of him flying underneath Centerpool just rose due to the privacy and quietness that is in the bands close to the castle during the night. However, one item would surely help, a black cloak. ¡°Thank you for letting us know, that will be extremely helpful!¡± On the way back to the estate, Elijah paid close attention to where the Weltor estate was. The Weltor Estate had a direct view of the garden besides the government and guild buildings standing in front of it. ¡°I¡¯m telling you she has no reason to be sick, there is some external reason for it, and I even suspect poison!¡± George was having a serious conversation with Don outside the estate doors. The only reason why the group heard it was because of the iron gate that they were cornering on the way to the front door. ¡°I¡¯m sorry you guys had to hear that.¡± Isla broke the silence. ¡°There¡¯s no way it¡¯s poison, no one would do that to my mother.¡± Novius bit his lip after expressing his opinion. Elijah walked up to his room to decompress, and to take a nap. What felt like a minute long nap, turned into a 3 hours long nap. A loud banging sound was heard on the door and shortly after guards dressed in gray royal attire walked inside the grand foyer. Elijah peeks his head out of his room where he was just barely able to see over the balcony¡¯s edge. George was the one who opened the door and said solemnly to the guards, ¡°This is the man. Please just get him out of here. I can handle the healing.¡± What Elijah did not know is that Novius was peeking over the third story balcony along with his brothers and sisters. Filled with anger and rage, Novius bashed the ground as hard as he could while his older siblings were dripping tears of joy and sorrow from their eyes. BAM! Elijah was spooked and immediately closed his door. This world is just like my old world. What seems like sunshine and rainbows always has its shadows and darkness. Even when the entire world is prosperous and healthy, true peace will not exist. Is peace possible? Would that make life boring? From what I know about goals, peace would be classified as the final goal. What would come after achieving that goal? Absolutely nothing¡­ 6. The Hoodlum? The night was inches away, and there I was, in the single bedroom laying on the floor. I hope Novius is okay after seeing the man who was most likely poisoning his mother be removed from his house. Knock Knock. ¡°Come in!¡± ¡°Hey honey, something has happened with the Weltor family, we are going to get a carriage ride to a nice restaurant George has picked for us. Your father is staying behind to help George and his family.¡± Phloria¡¯s words were heaven sent as Elijah was starving for some fine delicacies. As the three outsiders were walking down the grand staircase, a voice shouted from above them. ¡°Are you guys going to dinner?¡± Poor Novius¡­ Just from looking at him, Elijah could feel the distress in his body. ¡°Yes we are. Would you like to join us?¡± An immediate yes came from his voice as he ran down the stairs. Fully clothed and polished, the noble was ready! The closed circular carriage was already waiting outside in the court. The door was opened by a man with old white hair. Conversations were being sprung back and forth between Novius and Elijah until they arrived at the spot. ¡°Lavden¡± The restaurant was a rather similar take on a dark wood and dimly lit fine diner in Elijah¡¯s past life. The entrance was filled with symmetrical plants and people waiting in line. Unfortunately for them, the attendant that was addressing the line completely stopped what he was doing the moment he saw a blue carriage with golden ornate details all over it. That was the signature Weltor Carriage, and the owner of this restaurant serves them as special guests whenever the need arises. The distinguished gentlemen in a black suit and tie bowed before us as we stepped out of the carriage. ¡°Welcome to Lavden, the owner has already let me know of the situation. Please follow me to your table.¡± Thank goodness I wore the nice clothes that were in my dresser. As we were walking past the long line of people, people started to voice their thoughts. ¡°Hey! Why do they get to skip the line?!¡± The dimly lit candles on the large round table illuminated the faces of everyone sitting. The food came and went quickly as small portions arrived at our table. Novius explained to us that this restaurant does not take orders, but rather seven courses of different foods are taken to the table after the previous ones are finished. The only items able to be ordered are drinks. The caring Elijah broke the silence between the four. ¡°Hey Novius, are you okay?¡± After clearing his throat, Novius let out his opinions. ¡°I¡¯m just glad they found the reason why my mom was sick. That butler was not even new. Someone paid that man to kill my mom, and it must be that Damaris family¡­¡± Elijah had no idea who the Damaris family was, but they were obviously a noble family that had bad relations with the Weltor family. ¡°Ahhh, too much food.¡± By the sixth course, everyone at the table was at their limit. However, Novius still seemed to have a fire in his heart and asked to go for a walk.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. The night ended rather quickly and the time came for Elijah to explore. Just to be safe, he put on his lowest quality cotton and linen clothes that were dark brown and black. The window was cracked and the only action left to do was commit. This trip full of novel stimuli had given Elijah a desire to explore. Hardening his mind, Elijah jumped out the window and slowed his fall by flying. His rustling clothes quickly became tamed as the hard patterned stone touched the bottom of his shoes. Just with a glance around the corner, he noticed no one was around. However, flying in this situation would be simply stupid. Instead Elijah quickly ran to the Grand park. Something he never had a chance to do was to look over the ledge of the park that blocks anyone from falling into the whirlpool. However, something is odd about this whirlpool. Backwards? The biggest whirlpool Elijah had ever seen was flowing backwards which didn¡¯t even make a modicum of sense. It was as if this water was forcibly directed into this pattern, which begged the question of why his father would ¡°send off¡± his old friend knowing they would end up in the same river with the bloody bones he once saw. It was time for the big moment. Elijah climbed over the ledge and sat down underneath the railing. A couple moments later, a five year old boy was falling extremely slowly. From what Elijah could see, the edges of where the whirlpool stood were lined with cave entrances. This hole that everyone talks about so much doesn¡¯t look like something a meteor would pierce simply because the walls looked as smooth as stone! This is either simply erosion, or something far more destructive than a meteor. Elijah Flew closer to the water, and the moment he touched it, a cold sensation washed over his body followed by him losing consciousness. ¡­ ¡°I will give you part of what makes me, me.¡± ¡°Save me! You must save me!¡± ¡­ The sound of a fire crackling echoed through a cave along with the dropping sounds of a dripstone. Elijah¡¯s head was rolling back and forth as he was trying to make sense of what was happening to him. The last thing he remembers was touching the whirlpool, and these strange voices that seemed eerily familiar to him. Suddenly, a deep voice hit Elijah¡¯s ear drums that jolted him awake. ¡°Are you awake yet, kid?¡± ¡°Wh-, Who are you?!¡± Elijah was startled. What he thought to be comfortable turned into something he didn¡¯t know how to deal with in a body like this! My previous life was filled with peace and safety, besides all the different types of physical training I did with my body. Even with my daily routine of stretching and body weight exercises, I am a child with almost zero muscle. What should I do?! The man had a large black cloak over his body that made his face invisible to the eye. ¡°Hahaha, relax kid. I¡¯m not gonna kill you. I¡¯m the reason why you are still breathing. To tell you the truth, I am no one in this kingdom, and I saw you fall from the top of this cave. It seems like you have simply appeared from thin air¡­ I know you won¡¯t understand this now, but your life has now fundamentally changed. You are corrupted just like me, or at least should be.¡± The man said as he readjusted the hood over his head. After staring into the darkness of what didn¡¯t seem real, Elijah begins talking to himself. ¡°Please tell me this is just a dream. Haha, this is just a dream.¡± The hooded man stood up on his feet. He was a shoeless and homeless bastard! ¡°Kid, you have no reason to worry. I am not your enemy.¡± An invisible force of resistance was within Elijah¡¯s mind, and with his wise and old mind, he was able to calm himself down with the sensical words of the mystery man. ¡°Please, tell me what you mean by corrupted.¡± While slowly walking side to side to ease the mind of the boy in front of him, he rested his hand on his chin while crossing his left arm around his black cloak. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, It seems what I thought was the corruption of the, hem hem. I am almost certain you now have an affinity.¡± Elijah knew he was about to say something important, but he didn¡¯t budge. His main goal was to get out of here as quickly as possible. Suddenly obtaining an affinity intrigued him. However, his life was a priority as this can be thought over in the future. ¡°I¡¯m leaving.¡± Elijah stood up and walked towards the huge cave opening that sat right in front of the violent whirlpool. This time, he is staying as far away as possible out of pure fear. ¡°Hahaha, what do you think you are going to do, fly through the current?!¡± The man was flabbergasted at Elijah¡¯s attempt for escape even though the man was not holding him hostage whatsoever. ¡°Don¡¯t you want to learn more about your affinity?¡± The water droplets that made its way into the entrance of the cave dripped down Elijah¡¯s soiled clothes and face. His face scrunched at the idea of him actually appeasing this man. ¡°What can you teach me?¡± 7. Unknown Affinity Standing still while looking outside into the whirlpool, Elijah slowly turned around and asked in a serious tone, ¡°what can you teach me?¡± ¡°A lot more than you think.¡± With the raise of the hand man¡¯s hand, a flat circle made of water appeared above the man¡¯s hand. ¡°Focus, and move the mana out of your body and make this shape. I have no idea what your affinity will be, but this much should show us without any destruction.¡± Elijah was calmly listening to what the man said. His wise mind wasn¡¯t the reason For the his change in attitude, but rather his ability to instantly escape even if the man used his magic. A deep breath in and out was heard through the cave. Elijah stuck his hand out and moved the energy in his core outside his body. The process came naturally to Elijah. However, he was still disappointed. ¡°I felt the mana leave my body, but nothing happened.¡± ¡°Are you sure nothing happened? Why don¡¯t you look closer.¡± The words of mystery shocked Elijah as he realized the air, or rather the space where he supposedly made a circle, was distorted. ¡°Wha-, what affinity is that?!¡± ¡°Hahaha, I have no idea myself, but it must be rather special.¡± Elijah knew what he saw was not ordinary, and being the curious person that he was, he tried forming a long stick shape with his mana. ¡°How interesting, I can easily see it now. The air is distorted far more in the small area you conjured.¡± ¡°I never did anything to obtain whatever this affinity is. How do you think I got it?¡± ¡°Well the only way to obtain an affinity is by absorbing one that is found in a mana crystal. These mana crystals can be found anywhere, even places outside of these walls.¡± Elijah was completely confused. However, the only option was to learn more by self experimentation. Firstly by using this affinity in any way possible. And secondly, using that data to figure out what element is being manipulated. Elements are the only things that can be manipulated with mana, and now, that obviously does not include the basic physical elements like fire, earth, air, water. ¡°Well I feel like everything is on me to learn now, so I will leave now. But first, I have a simple question.¡± The hooded man became intrigued by a simple question because as of now, the impression this kid made was far different and abnormal to how any child would act. ¡°Ask away.¡± ¡°Why does the whirlpool flow the way it does?¡± ¡°Are you thinking that whirlpools should not flow the way the one under Centerpool flows?¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°I can¡¯t tell you.¡± The conversation turned into a ¡°but if¡± argument that was ended by a single sentence. ¡°The water is coming from what is beneath the whirlpool.¡± If the water was coming from somewhere magical, that would explain the way it flows. However, the river in the north would then have to flow upstream. Unless we are directly on the equator while also being at a higher elevation. ¡°Thank you for the information, help, and for not killing me. I will be leaving now.¡± ¡°You sure are odd for a kid, especially when you are thinking about swimming in that¡­¡± ¡°Just you watch mystery man. This child might just blow your mind.¡± Elijah walked toward the edge of the cave that had a perfect outlook of the torrential whirlpool before him. The wet water drops of the violent whirlpool splashed his face. After relishing his new knowledge, Elijah lifted off the ground. WHOOSH! A small splash of water fell onto the ground after a big breath was taken. The moment the hooded man saw a boy levitate, then fly into the whirlpool, he could help but stand up and yell. ¡°What the hell was that?!¡± ¡­ The sky was dark, and after peeking over the ledge of the Grand Park, he noticed it was exactly as he had remembered before jumping. Quiet. Elijah acted completely normal in his soaked brown and black cotton and leather clothing that seemed to be rather wet. Walking through the silent streets was a peaceful sight, and reminded him of his early days of going for night walks in a tree filled environment. Only this time, fantastical buildings were everywhere. Romantic details that didn¡¯t just make the building pop, but the streets as well. Unfortunately the peace and quiet was broken by screams. ¡°Elijah! Elijah! Where have you been?!¡± Don was running towards Elijah with a horribly worried expression. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I just wanted to see the city at night.¡± Don was flabbergasted by his response. ¡°So you decided to walk around the city for three whole days!?¡± ¡°What?!¡± Elijah felt that everything was completely normal. However, the events that occurred were nothing like it. Being forcibly pulled into a whirlpool with distorted and familiar voices that he couldn¡¯t quite remember, and waking up in a cave underneath the inner city that a mysterious hooded man inhabited. ¡°You were gone for three whole days!!¡± You missed the send off with Richter and even had the guards looking for you!¡± ¡°I-I¡¯m so sorry. I don¡¯t remember being gone for three days. Only a couple of hours¡­¡± Elijah played the confused child card as he looked down at the ground. Since everything was resolved he returned to the manor and was immediately told to eat food. Elijah did not complain once, because his stomach felt completely empty. Over the last two days of his visit to the Weltor Estate, Elijah mostly visited with Novius. Elijah can proudly say that he made a new friend, and after learning more about his aspirations, he felt an attachment to Novius. This world was full of powerful people, and being a solo player won¡¯t cut it. To truly be powerful, you need to have powerful friends. Not to mention, there is something about it having people you enjoy around you that makes life that much more interesting. Instead of building connections with people who are successful, Elijah is building meaningful relationships with people who are powerful, or will be powerful in the future. Solemn Goodbyes were exchanged before they loaded into their rugged and open carriage compared to the magnificent covered and blue pigmented carriage sitting in the carriage court of the Weltor estate. So many questions had been answered while many more showed up, which intrigued Elijah. The whirlpool shooting water into both rivers that flow northeast and southwest made sense now. However, it seemed almost impossible for the whirlpool to send water up an incline, even though that was the case. What if on the opposite side of the earth, there was a place just like this, except for the fact that the water was flowing into the center and appearing on the opposite side of the earth. That surely wouldn¡¯t be possible without magic. Elijah knew his objectives. Learn about his affinity, and work on his physical body. He spent all his time learning to keep up with himself, being intelligent, and dreaded starting from scratch. ¡®My life was too easy in the past. I guess this is a fresh start, and an opportunity to get ahead in life.¡¯ 8. First Kill Between my time hanging out with Alexia, helping my mother in the garden, and learning basic rules and skills the kingdom requires, I was spending time alone in the forest behind the house. A small circular ripple in the air appeared in front of Elijah. Next, a rock was thrown at the ripple and its momentum was completely stopped by the ripple. It has only been one week since returning home, and Elijah has made a significant amount of progress by testing all the different ways he could use his affinity. Elijah gently placed his hand on the trunk of a tree, channeled his mana through his arms, and the next thing he knew¡­ The tree was split in half. ¡°Space¡­ I wonder if that will work.¡± With curiosity brimming in his mind, Elijah''s hand stayed close in front of his chest. A semi-transparent and pearlescent-rimmed circle was created, and after sticking his hand into a space that looked indescribable, his hand disappeared when shifting the angle of his view. With Elijah¡¯s broad and sophisticated imagination, Elijah created another portal behind his back, and felt his own hand that he had shoved through what he knew was a portal rubbing his spine. ¡°Welp, I can easily say that works. The biggest question I have is how long I can last.¡± This thought was an obvious one as he knew people had limits. Growing stronger was the only option at expanding these limits. Months pass by very quickly as the planting season ends in Astraea. At this moment, all of the possible spells Elijah came up with in his head that he could unleash at any time were as follows. Spatial barrier, portal, space slash, spatial split, and a unique spatial storage spell. These spells all had their uses, however only one was more functional than the rest. The spatial storage spell. Elijah was simply creating a portal to a tiny pocket in space that he could reach to at any time. It was as if it was ¡°his¡± pocket in space, or connected to ¡°him¡± by unknown ways. Elijah could throw whatever he wanted in there, and to grab what he previously put in the space, he has to remember almost everything about it to grab it again. This was of course if it fit. Everytime the spatial storage was opened, Elijah felt a significant portion of his mana disappear. The size was where this detail mattered, and for now, a small cubic one foot space was all he could handle. Elijah also realized he can manipulate the mana in the environment to make the same effects happen with the added benefit of using significantly less mana. Theories related to how the dense amounts of mana in the environment allowed him to make sense of this action. ¡°DINNER TIME!!!¡± Elijah¡¯s mother is forced to scream at the top of her lungs to reach him, because she knows he is in the forest doing what he does best. Staying mysterious. ¡­ 3 years pass as Elijah solidifies his routine. Trips to the wall to check for any abnormalities, hardening his body, and studying about not just required skills, but the kingdom itself. Kingdom Astraea was founded over 6,000 years ago. In the books they say the first settlers saw an oasis amidst the chaos of the beast lands, which inhabits every single place in the world. After the first 1000 years, the outside wall was built which allowed them to truly flourish with the lush farmlands that lay within. 2000 years and they built the structure known as Centerpool, and the castle that inhabits the king. The island of centerpool was made by countless numbers of earth and metal mages that made the structure amazingly strong with the strategically placed supports that reach into the exterior of the catacombs.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. The book Elijah read on different life paths described many different ways to build a life for oneself. Mining, farming, hunting, selling, clothing, government, magitech, teaching, and architecture. ¡°I want to be a hunter.¡± Elijah silenced the dinner table, and surprisingly, no one smiled. It¡¯s almost like hunters are seen as people who don¡¯t care for their lives. Which makes sense when Elijah thought about when he saw the large group of hunters filled with a different king of embarrassment. Although, he has heard about the hunters who roam The Catacombs for the sole reason of protecting the kingdom. Without them, the beasts would be able to invade the inner city while taking thousands of ill-prepared lives. Although they were contributing greatly to the kingdom, no one thought risking their life was a good choice when everyone¡¯s life was their top priority. The higher-ups knew of the dismay between the people, but they also knew that they were the reason why beasts were climbing into the city through the catacombs, which seemed to house an almost endless amount of caverns. ¡°If you want to be a hunter, then first join the Junior Hunters, they don¡¯t go too far into the catacombs, but still always get a taste of whether they want it or not.¡± The words from Don soured the mood of Elijah. However, he was not a child at heart, but someone with mountains of life experiences. ¡°How do I join the Junior Hunters?¡± ¡°There is an entrance exam every year. If you decide to do it, which I won¡¯t stop you, please be careful. Lots of nobles take those tests, and not all of them are as nice as the Weltor''s.¡± Don responded somberly. With Elijah already being at the light red stage of his core, he was rather confident in his abilities to pass whatever exam they had. The only problem Elijah had right now was that his affinity was rather unique. He had no idea if it was possible to have two affinities at once, however, if the opportunity arises, he won¡¯t miss his chance. Dinner was over and it was already time for bed. And just like usual, Elijah would be going to the wall tonight. However, tonight was the night where he would risk more than he has ever risked before. Over the past three years Elijah has seen a numerous number of beasts, and many groups of hunters. And during these times, he has never once left the safety and cold stone of the wall. Maybe he flew down to the side of the wall, but never anywhere near the rocky grasslands. Just like always, Elijah takes his usual route with his black cloak he hides in his spatial storage, and makes his way to the wall without worry. ¡°Freedom.¡± The wind blowing against his face was a feeling he cherished. It reminded him of climbing a tall mountain, jumping from a hot air balloon, wingsuit diving, and driving a flying car which were mass produced 20 years before he died. ¡°Ashley, if only you could see where I was now¡­¡± WHOOSH Elijah went flying through the air at a speed of roughly thirty miles per hour directly southwest of the wall. The north and south had a curved mountain range that created a half circle around what Elijah could tell was a crater. To the east and west were hilly and dense forests that led to places he cannot see. And surprisingly in the northwest, was a towering volcano close to eruption that was partially hidden behind the northern mountains. The bright red lava could be seen flowing down the top of the volcano. Elijah¡¯s focus was the large upside down rib cage that now seemed to have a large head pointed in the direction of the wall. There was a small group of beasts that seemed to be coming from that direction, and from what Elijah could see, they used fire magic. Their bright orange bodies with a flaming beard were obvious to point out with healthy eyes. Blazing lions is what the books said these were. While approaching the beasts with a height of over seventy five feet in the air, Elijah readied mana in his arms to unleash a powerful attack. 3¡­ 2¡­ 1¡­ SZHING! A thin streak of something indescribably hard to see shot towards the beasts at the speed of lightning. Blood splattered over the floor as the backs of two lions practically rubbing against each other slumped to the floor. Out of the 7 beasts in the pack, 5 were left standing. ¡°It seems like this power I have is truly something.¡± RAAWWRRR! The beasts noticed a flying black figure in the sky and immediately started throwing simple fire balls towards Elijah. However, this was just a diversion. One of the blazing lions was bigger than the others, and he condensed his mana into a beam of fire that shot towards Elijah instantaneously. ¡°SHIT!¡± A large ripple in space materialized in front of his body, but was completely shattered by the power of the blast. A bright reddish-orange light flew past his head while ringing the hairs of the left of his skull. Elijah expected this much since these beasts were recorded to be solid orange or bright orange core beasts. A whole level higher than him. The only reason why he was able to kill 2 in the beginning was because they had no idea an attack was coming. This world is cruel in the way that you become powerful. Just because you are the strongest mage in the world, does not mean a knife to the jugular won¡¯t kill you. 9. Battle Prowess ZSHING! Instead of sending a space slash attack, Elijah opted to conserve his mana, get in close, and split the space where the blazing lions were. At the moment, only sixty percent of his mana remained. These fearsome beasts with blood and saliva dripping from their mouths did not have intelligence per say, but an animalistic instinct¡­ Elijah¡¯s attack did nothing to the beasts as they expected another attack and were already readying their counter. A wide breath of fire made from the combined power of the beasts. A premonition of death came upon Elijah, but did not faze him. A trump card that he had up his sleeve to counter anything was being cooked up in the background. The wall of fire that made no time for Elijah to escape was heading toward him. A large human sized portal appeared directly in front of his body that absorbed the flames that tried to consume him. Within the midst of the massive area of effect flame attack, Elijah heard the screams and cries of lions. The exit portal he created 10 meters to the right of his body had redirected the flames that were supposed to hit his body at the blazing lions. Contrary to his successful counter, his body was screaming and in pain and on the brink of passing out to the heat the flames gave off before they dissipated. Elijah was just 8 years old. How could a kid deal with something of this magnitude? The only option was to step through the pearlescent portal in front of him. Elijah flew out the opposite side of the portal that sent the flame breath back at the beasts, and instantly sent what was almost the rest of his mana into a horizontal space slash that slew the rest of the beasts that were relishing in their own creation. They thought Elijah was dead so they lowered their guard. The mana was no longer coursing through their body, which was the only reason the mana of a solid red core 8 year old could slay its attackers. The flared black cloak Elijah was wearing was riddled with holes from the burning and heat from the flame breath. And underneath that cloak, were minor burns scattered across his arms and legs. ¡°How am I going to explain this one¡­¡± Elijah touched down on the grassy flatlands scattered with all sizes with rocks and layed comfortably on his back. The sky was full of stars. ¡°What the¡­ Isn¡¯t that the Big Dipper?¡± ¡°And the Small Dipper!! Am I on Earth?!¡±The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. The beat of Elijah''s heart increased dramatically as he thought of the possibility. All the animals grazing the pastures were exactly the same. Cows, chickens, sheep, and goats. Although they look slightly different, where did these animals come from? Over the past three years Elijah saw a small amount of wild animals that were roaming extremely close to the forests on the west side of the wall. These animals could easily be coming from somewhere safe. Somewhere outside the walls. Maybe the world was different 6,000 years ago. ¡­ -{3rd Band, Weltor Estate}- Within a tall split logged office filled with magical artifacts and books sits two men staring at a dead crystal. ¡°Congratulations Novius, you are now a dark red core mage Your siblings may not have followed in my footsteps, but you have, and now with this affinity, you will reach heights even greater than the best magitech in Astraea!¡± A small white spark protruded out of Novius¡¯ index finger and slowly arched its way to the candle sitting in the corner of the office, which also illuminated his now white eyes lined with small hints of blue hue. ¡°Why does this feel so natural, father? It has only been ten minutes and I can already use it.¡± With a small chuckle and smile on his face, George explained the reason why. ¡°When we absorb an affinity, we become connected to every part of that element. You were immediately able to use it because one, you knew what it was, and two, because it became part of your soul. The lightning¡­ is now within you.¡± George sat up from his sheepskin chair and walked out with a smile to attend to his oldest son. Novius on the other hand had thoughts racing through his head about what he could do. The question was, did he want power, riches from magitech inventions, or both¡­ ¡­ -{West Wall}- Elijah¡¯s body was burning on fumes. The only reason he hadn¡¯t run out of it sooner was due to manipulating the environmental mana which only required a small amount of his mana for every spell. However, it was time to return. Without being worried about falling out of the sky, Elijah flew slowly toward the wall of which he was over 100 meters away from. The window behind Elijah¡¯s bed easily opened just like he left it. ¡°Where were you brother?¡± Elijah kept wrapping himself in the sheets of his bed to cover his burned clothes and body. ¡°I like exploring at night¡­¡± ¡°Okay, I do too¡± No more words were minced, but Julian felt suspicion coming from Elijah. The thought of abandoning his family has passed through his mind many times. However due to the mystery of the outside, the only choice was to stay here until he was strong enough. Elijah had this burning desire to explore everywhere outside the walls. This desire grew even greater after every dull conversation with the people around him. He was known as a lunatic. A child asking for death. The morning started with Phloria opening the door to the bedroom, and bidding good morning. ¡°Good Morning ahhhHHH!! What happened to you Elijah?!¡± Elijah had a frown on his face. He truly was in pain, and needed his mothers healing magic. ¡°I-I went for a walk last night after everyone went to bed, and was bullied by older kids who used magic¡­¡± Fake tears were dripping from his eyes, and all that Phloria could see was a child in pain. A soothing lukewarm touch caressed his arms and legs. Phloria was using water magic to heal his wounds. Moaning sounds could be heard from Elijah¡¯s body. The feeling of wounds being healed was ecstasy! After explaining to his parents that these kids were wearing hoods, they dismissed their idea of investigation, and barred Elijah from leaving the house during the night. What a night! Not only did I test my battle prowess, but I saw a possibility of this world being earth. Even though nothing is for certain, the similarities are too plain to ignore. However, knowing wouldn¡¯t benefit me, but would only make me dread whether this is the future, or the past. 10. Frozen Rain Elijah continued his normal routine of exploring the wall and hunting small groups of beasts. After his close encounter he learned his lesson to keep his distance as someone who is underpowered. Elijah¡¯s affinity is rather special, but it doesn¡¯t mean anything in the face of stronger mana. The volcano to the northwest of the wall has been active to the point of lava spewing out of its center. The light can be seen from anyone that can see over the walls, which would only be Elijah. And anyone who ventures outside the north and west gates. At the moment the eruption starts, and that''s an if, Elijah will use everything at his disposal to get his family to safety as quickly as possible. The only question running through his mind was, where is safety. Inside the crater? Outside the walls? The current time of year is harvest season. During the day Elijah and Julian are putting their efforts into hauling the yields to the storage house in exchange for coins, and during the night, are relaxing with family and friends. ¡°Good morning. I have wheat, corn, and sweet orange potatoes.¡± A lady with a floral bandana over her head, and suspenders holding up her leather pants replied in amusement. ¡°Haha, your father is bringing in quite the haul this year!¡± ¡°Yes ma¡¯am, we got quite lucky this year, everyone got lucky this year!¡± Julian replied with a wide smile. The whole kingdom of Astraea truly did get lucky this year. The fields of crops were packed tightly with yield that celebrations were taking place before her eating season even came about. Two grueling months passed by very quickly due to how busy Elijah was. However, something very abnormal was happening at the northwest side of the wall. All types of beasts were running full force and head hitting the wall over and over again till death. From Elijah¡¯s guess it was the volcano, and the beasts were sensing the terror to come and following their instincts. Running. Unfortunately for the hunters, this anomaly caused the hunter guild to increase the numbers sent outside the wall. The people at the top were terrifyingly smart and powerful. This much was required to run a kingdom that never ventured outside the walls looking for life and other settlements to trade with. -{Hunter Guild, Centerpool}- At the end of a long quartz table sat the Hunter Guild Leader, Monroe Riskwell. A clean cut noble man that grew his way to power, through power. A man adjourned with red armor plates, and gray and black leather and cloth clothing resonated well with his affinity. ¡°I called this quick meeting to explain why I am about to send more hunters outside the north and west gates. As you may know, beasts are running head first in large numbers towards the wall. Or, they may be running away from something¡­¡± Monroe¡¯s deep red eyes made the conversation gloom, as almost every captain at the table had looks of fear on their faces. Partly due to the beast situation, but also because of that jarring and ominous man.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. A blonde haired man with red eyes spoke. ¡°The reasons make sense, but you are forgetting that the people do not want to leave the walls. Why don¡¯t you send that icy lunatic instead?¡± ¡°Hahaha, you make me laugh Ruby, but you do have a point. I will send him immediately. Actually, why don¡¯t you Gia? You are his captain after all.¡± A gorgeous and perfectly fit woman perked up in her seat. ¡°Yes sir! I will gladly send that lunatic to the walls!¡± Monroe Riskwell was the leader of the Hunter Guild, and underneath him stood an in countable number of captains in the green and cyan core stage. Unfortunately, with the population just under one million, no one has broken past the cyan core stage. Nor does anyone know what the next stage is. This seemingly unbreakable step was something people have tried to get past ever since the dawn of Astraea. ¡­ -{Outer West}- ¡°Wow, there is truly a bad storm approaching¡­¡± A fit female figure dressed in brown and black leather garments was looking out the window while holding onto her lover''s hand around her stomach. ¡°We¡¯ve had storms like this before, and if it really is something bad, we will make a break for the inner city. The barrier will protect us¡­¡± Don replied somberly. Elijah was sitting at the dinner table slowly chewing his steak. When he heard the words, ¡°the barrier will protect us¡± his heart fluttered in excitement. ¡°So there is a way to safety!¡± Elijah muttered under his breath. Don instantly looked toward him. ¡°Did you say something Elijah?¡± ¡°Uhh, you said something about a barrier in the inner city. Can you explain more about that?¡± ¡°Not really. I don¡¯t know much about it, but if something ever happens, we will find safety in the city.¡± Not what Elijah was looking for, but it did ease the weight on his shoulders. No one in his family knew of his magical prowess. Let alone his physical combat prowess which is nothing to be scoffed at after decades of putting down the torch. In Elijah¡¯s previous life, he practiced all kinds of martial arts, but found that a mixed-martial-art style suited his desire for adaptability best. Although if he were to compete, he would be breaking rules left and right due to his techniques from other niche disciplines. He stopped combat training at 90 years old due to his wife who didn¡¯t want to see him with an injury that he couldn¡¯t recover from. Small raindrops soon turned into a downpour that caused water to leak through the front and side door of the house. Just minutes later a symphony of beating noises were heard on the roof. ¡®Was it hail? Or something to do with the volcano.¡¯ ¡°Shit! I think the rain is damaging the roof! Do you hear that noise?! It¡¯s more than just rain!¡± Don was running around the house with cloth blankets cleaning up water leaking from the roof, and blocking water from coming in from under the door. All Elijah was thinking was how quick things escalated. One second they were having a conversation about the weather. And the next they were getting beaten by that weather. Just as he was about to tell them we need to get to the inner city with haste, his father saved him the trouble. ¡°I know this might sound crazy, but never in my life have I seen this before, we should get to the city as soon as possible.¡± Don quickly exclaimed as he handed his two sons and wife towels to cover their heads. ¡°What about the carriage? It doesn¡¯t have a cover?!¡± Julian quickly asked. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, wait here. I¡¯ll make a covering for the carriage, and add the weight rune that I have in safe keeping so I can push you guys myself at a fast speed. No horse will be able to bear the pain, and all I have to do is cover myself with a thin layer of stone.¡± ¡°Baby, please, be careful¡­¡± Phloria had tears in her eyes, but was quickly calmed down by her two loving sons. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me, remember, I was rather powerful back in the day. Frozen rain can¡¯t stop me.¡± Don gave a warm kiss to his wife before patting the head of his children, and followed by walking into a storm of death while an intricate stone armor materialized around his body. The carriage was directly outside the side door, so the only task was creating a roof and walls to protect his family. 11. Tremors Dark Nimbus clouds covered the entirety of the west and north side of Astraea. And in the background, was a volcano on the brink of eruption. Lightning blanketed the sky, and was directed towards the volcano that reacted with mini explosions every strike. Don hurriedly walked to the carriage, placed both his hands in the center, and created a thin layer of stone that rounded the edges of the carriage and created the shape of an egg. Their only way was this odd looking carriage, that was ridiculously light. The door was busted through with Don yelling at everyone to get inside the carriage. However, Elijah stopped everyone with a single sentence. ¡°We need to save the Sinclair¡¯s!¡± ¡°There is plenty of room for them, so that won¡¯t be a problem. Having another earth mage would only help us.¡± Don quickly replied. The family ran to the safety of the carriage while Don materialized a thin stone helmet and ran to the back of the carriage. With a single push the family knew they had a chance for safety. And that chance grew even greater when they were accompanied by the Sinclair¡¯s. ¡°Thank goodness you are okay Mitch, now help me push this carriage to safety, the only option is the west gate.¡± Don said. Mitch nodded with the same thin layer of stone around his body. Being an earth mage gives you access to not just dirt, but gravel, stone, mud, and so much more as long as you have understood the specific part of the earth element. Suddenly, the ground started shaking, which sent a shock and threw everyone vying for safety to the ground. Not even moments later, an ear splitting explosion was heard. The volcano had climaxed! BABOOM! The shockwave of the explosion itself took time to reach the two families. Don and Mitch struggled to keep the carriage straight, and were completely knocked off their feet with a shockwave that also damaged the carriage and themselves. The left rear wheel was completely blown off and was just slightly thrown to the side. Chaos was everywhere, while doubt entered the minds of the humans that had their lives within the hands of their loved ones. ¡°FUCK! WE CAN STILL MAKE IT!¡± Don steeled his resolve and picked up the wheel-less side of the carriage and continued moving forward in a zigzag line. The tremors never stopped, but only felt different. These tremors were not from some supernatural disaster, but from something that was alive! Inside the egg of safety, the two families were lying on top of each with bruises everywhere on their body as they had just been thrown around like ragdolls. Julian had a broken arm from his mother¡¯s shoulder falling on it, and Mike, the oldest of the Sinclair siblings, had both his ankles completely shattered from landing awkwardly. All Elijah was thinking was how the volcano had just erupted, and they did not have much time until a wave of hot ash disintegrated everything in the west side of Astraea. However, at least something good had happened. The hail had completely stopped with the explosion of the volcano, which dropped the temperature of the air dramatically. There was this small amount of time until the ash and rocks destroyed everything in its wake, which meant it was time for Elijah to put his all into saving his family, and with a new application of his space magic. A portal opened on the side of the egg that allowed him to move through the thin stone layer protecting everyone inside.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°Elijah! W-what are you doing?!¡± Everyone was crying because of their injuries, especially Phloria who had broken his own son''s arm. ¡°I will explain when everyone is safe. The frozen rain has stopped, so don¡¯t worry about me.¡± Elijah told everyone with a smile on his face. The moment Elijah exited the egg, he noticed small cracks all over the grass and dirt road. They were less than a minute away from West Road, and Elijah couldn¡¯t help but feel the pain wasn¡¯t over. Especially with the rhythmic tremors that were coming from the northwest. ¡°Elijah! What the hell are you doing?!¡± Don was furious and scared for his child. He gave no response and proceeded to help Don and Mitch push the carriage faster. However, when the carriage made it to West Road, Elijah took a glance towards the west gate and noticed it wide open with what seemed like hordes of beasts funneling through the small passageway. ¡°FATHER! WE HAVE TO HURRY! THE BEASTS ARE COMING!¡± The declaration made by Elijah put Don and Mitch into full gear as they feared what would come if they didn¡¯t make it to the wall. Within the midst of chaos, a bright tan light shot up into the sky from the center of the crater. The vibrations of the sound barrier being demolished resonated through the ears of everyone. The light stopped, and slowly spread out in a spherical formation while covering the entirety of the inner city. Don automatically knew that was the safety net of the kingdom. If something bad were to ever happen, the inner city would stay safe. Elijah took a moment to look behind him and noticed tons of carriages doing exactly what they were doing, except for the difference being that they were too late. The beasts entering through the gate were throwing all kinds of spells at anything moving and standing in their way. The strong stone and wooden buildings expertly crafted by the best magical architects were torn to pieces as they didn¡¯t have a shred of mana in them to protect them from the balls of fire and stone horns being thrown by the ravaging beasts. Screams of pain and death were echoing throughout the outer region. ¡°ALMOST THERE! KEEP PUSHING!¡± Don was yelling at the top of his lungs as a motivational force for Mitch and Elijah. However, the people inside the egg were starting to notice it was safe to come out, and noticed a small group of beasts coming from the north west. With a single point of a finger, Elijah disappeared from behind the carriage. From Elijah¡¯s memory, this group of six beasts were poison salamanders, a reptilian beast that were rare to see due to never leaving the towering jungle of the west. With a wave of his hand, Elijah split the space incapacitating three beasts at once due to the chaos that distracted them. The last three salamanders shot simple poison attacks in different shapes towards Elijah that he easily evaded by flying to the right. ¡°It¡¯s too bad poison is not meant for head on battles. Directly after the salamanders finished their attacks, a wave of Elijah¡¯s hand split them in half. Some people would describe it as the hand of god, and others, the hand of destruction. ¡°Elijah, what did you just do?!¡± Don was in shock after seeing Elijah return as if an angel sent from heaven. Although, the beasts that were just slayed were mere red core beasts with a rare affinity not suitable for direct confrontations. ¡°I have been able to use magic for some time now. I will explain everything when we are safe. Now focus!¡± The words that escaped from Elijah¡¯s mouth weren¡¯t words of a nine year old, but a seasoned veteran keeping his cool in tough situations. ¡°PUSH FASTER! THE BEASTS HAVE LOCKED ON TO US!¡± Words of discomfort came from Alexia¡¯s mouth as she was looking out the left side of the carriage. Besides the fact that she was in awe from what Elijah did, she saw a much bigger number of terrifying beasts coming their way. The moment of truth had only just started, and Elijah had no idea if he could hold all of them back himself. 12. Never Giving Up High in the sky, was a tsunami of ash and rock falling at great speeds. And below, was a stone clad carriage with three wheels moving as fast as possible towards safety. The carriage was just under 1000 feet from the start of the tunnel, however, it was packed with people coming from the houses lined up against the side of the mountains. ¡°Father, I need you guys to keep going, I will kill as many beasts as possible while staying safe.¡± Elijah turned to tell Don his plan while pushing the carriage. ¡°I can¡¯t allow that.¡± Don replied but it was too late, Elijah was already moving towards the beasts with his superior flight ability. Blazing lions, poison salamanders, earth rhino¡¯s, water toad¡¯s, and ice bears were all fighting each other while moving towards a large concentration of people. Suddenly, a large chunk of them were split completely in half by a tiny mage flying in the air. Instead of manipulating the environment, he opted for a horizontal space slash that slayed more than fifteen beasts running in the center of the road. Seconds later, different battle cries were heard as a symphony of elemental attacks shot in the direction of Elijah. Elijah¡¯s plan was to kill off as many beasts as possible who weren¡¯t paying attention to what was in front of them, and then to use their own attack against them to once again massacre another large group of beasts. A large oval pearlescent and translucent rimmed portal appeared in front of Elijah, the largest one he had ever conjured. The portal absorbed a large amount of the beast''s attacks and sent them flying toward their creators. In the background, Don saw a flash of all kinds of colors as he looked back. His son was giving them a fighting chance. After quickly changing positions by using the smoke and chaos as cover, Elijah once again swung his hand in a horizontal motion close to the ground. ¡°Eight more down, an uncountable number left to go¡­¡± The towering ice bears were the biggest worry of Elijah as the more beasts he killed, the more of these ice bears he saw. After taking a glance closely at his space slash attack that he could only use 2 more times, he noticed the bears were reacting to it every time. Instead of joining the chaos and killing their brethren, they continued walking as wounds from the beasts around them added up on their thick fur bodies. ¡°It seems these ice bears have half a brain.¡± Elijah retreated after saying those words. He needed to regain as much mana as possible and prepare for a final attack, or a final reflection. All they needed was more room and to solve the situation that is holding up the people from entering the walls. However, something changed Elijah¡¯s train of thought. In the midst of battle, he completely forgot about the aftermath of the eruption. The ash and rocks were nearing closer. How could he be so careless? How could he get lost in the bloodshed? ¡°We have to move faster, get inside the carriage and I will speed us up!¡± Based on Elijah¡¯s performance so far, Don and Mitch only slightly hesitated before following along. With his hands palace on the underside of the carriage, Elijah sped up while struggling to keep moving in a straight line. Too fast would spell death, and too slow would spell death. ¡°WHY IS EVERYONE STANDING HERE?! WE NEED TO GET INSIDE!¡± The moment the carriage reached the beginning of what seemed like a line of people begging for their lives, Don stood up in the carriage and saw a disgusting scene. The guards were still charging silver coins for entry into the city.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Elijah flew up 10 feet into the air to see them. However, he could not intervene, he is the only reason why anyone here would survive. ¡°GO DAD!¡± Elijah screamed at the top of his lungs. Don knew exactly what he meant, and got to work at solving the dilemma of the gate. The reason why the people did not gang up on the guards due to almost everyone having magic was that the guards on the inside were watching and could easily keep the gates shut if they wanted to. Solely based on his eyesight, Elijah knew there were hundreds of beasts scattered behind them. It was impossible to guarantee the safety of everyone by killing them himself, but if he used the environment, there was a chance. Elijah quickly pushed the carriage further towards the gate and in the process caused a lot of people pain by squishing them. WHOOSH! The instant Elijah flew into the sky, he started to feel tiny pieces of ash landing on his face. This was a necessary process required to time what he was about to do perfectly. 15¡­ 9¡­ 3¡­ 2.. 1¡­ ¡°NOW!¡± Elijah screamed to himself to give him a boost in confidence. He quickly flew down to the ground while erecting a massive curved and pearlescent spatial barrier in the shape of a quarter of a sphere, and fit it perfectly with the wall. The sight of people being torn apart while running for their lives burned his soul. However, he knew what he was currently doing would save more people¡­ Elijah¡¯s core was burning due to the amount of mana he was using to manipulate the environment. If he had done it any sooner, his spell would have been destroyed by the beasts who detected magic being casted. ¡°Genius!¡± Mitch saw me struggling and joined in the process of creating a stone barrier underneath Elijah¡¯s space barrier, and within the nick of time as well. ¡°Ahhhh, I-I can¡¯t keep this up any longer, please tell me you are finished!¡± Elijah said while laying on his back with his right hand in the air. Deafining sounds of rocks blasting apart into smithereens were repeating over and over. Luckily, while Mitch was focusing on reinforcing the barrier, he yelled for other earth mages to help him, which successfully created a barrier the moment Elijah passed out. Being a mage doesn¡¯t mean you can use offensive magic. The imagination is the tool of your magical spells. For someone who has lived a comfortable life of using their affinity as a utility, they effectively trap themselves into a certain way of thinking. In other words, their mind is closed and unable to receive new information, which affects the spells they can imagine. How would you even conjure something you never saw, thought of, or experienced yourself? The moment every crack was filled with a thick stone barrier, the minimal amount of light had turned into complete darkness within the area of the barrier. ¡°Elijah! What happened to Elijah?!¡± Don returned to the carriage while stumbling over the people on the floor, as well as the carriage. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, he just ran out of mana. H-he saved us!¡± Mitch was full of tears and relief after seeing Elijah¡¯s performance. Although, he assumed he saved them from the beasts. No one in this world has experienced a volcano before, albeit knew what a volcano was. ¡°The guards are letting everyone through the gates! Hurry and start running!¡± Don adamantly told everyone in the carriage and the surrounding area to start moving forward, but was interrupted by a loud explosion. BOOM! Loud footsteps of people running away, and shouts of people saying to run were drowned out by the chaos that ensued the stone barrier. The impact of the explosion threw Don into the side of the carriage with Elijah in his arms. Everyone besides Don and Elijah were trapped within the movement of the people trying to save themselves. ¡°Dammit! My back!¡± Don¡¯s back made direct contact with the carriage and sent a sharp pain down his spine and legs. ¡°ELIJAH! I NEED YOU! WAKE UP!!!¡± ¡°Argghhh¡­¡± Elijah slowly opened his eyes and realized the situation around him. A gaping hole in the sole reason why he is still alive, and outside that hole, was a barren wasteland of smoking black ash and rocks. Dozens of ice bears were slowly walking out of the ice coffins they made to protect themselves from the ash. ¡°Father¡­¡± Elijah stared at his father with a broken expression. He was alive but had blood pooling around his hips. The only option was to fight, this man, his second father, cared for him so much. With all his experience under his belt, how could he not try and save him. Elijah''s starry blue eyes became indifferent to his inevitability as he slowly stood up. At the top of his small lungs, he practically blew out his vocal cords as he said, ¡°YOU WILL NOT KILL ME!!!¡± 13. Savior The heart of a boy was thumping wildly at the idea of dying. Small eight inch icicles were being thrown towards Elijah at a speed he could not understand. He used the little mana he could muster to create a small portal while ducking to the ground. Fear was washing over him, and especially when the only thing he was looking at was the wet dirt and rock floor. Unsurprisingly, his counter did nothing as the ice bears barely used any of the mana on a child teetering on the line of life and death. ¡°I WILL NOT GIVE UP¡± Throwing the torch of his life to the ground, Elijah flew directly outside the stone barrier and used the rest of his mana in his body to send one final slash directly after the ice bears launched a barrage of icicles. ¡°Hahahaha, why do I feel no pain¡­¡± Elijah slumped to the ground on his back along with the heads of three ice bears. Small icicles were scattered all over his body. Though they were shallow, the quantity made up for it. His mana had completely run dry and he no longer felt a shred of life. The hoarse screams of his father were dulled. The burning sensation of the hot ash and rocks felt non-existent. And most importantly, Elijah¡¯s drive to live was extinguished. ¡°What¡¯s the point in suffering again just to live in fake peace¡­¡± Elijah said while noticing the large amount of towering ice bears standing over his body. However, the moment he said those words, he felt everything in the area gradually slow to a feeble crawl. The ice bear¡¯s claws were headed towards Elijah¡¯s throat, yet were moving slower and slower the more time went on. A familiar voice murmured into his bloody ears¡­ ¡°I respect you kid.¡± A man with white hair and icy blue eyes beautifully skated his ice path he created while carrying a light-gray haired woman with a long gray and white dress. Five human sized spears made of ice materialized above the icy man¡¯s head, and pierced through dozens upon dozens of ice bears, as well as any beasts that managed to survive the aftermath of the volcano. Seconds after the battlefield went quiet. A warm and bright light enveloped Elijah¡¯s body which brought him back to the land of the living. However, Elijah was no longer conscious during this part. He was swiftly carried by the ice man, while the light mage carried Don. Was it all worth it? ¡­ -{Inner West Health Haven}- A group of seven worried and anxious people were surrounding the badly beaten warriors with dumb luck. Thanks to the healing of the water mages, almost all of their wounds were healed. However, water magic wasn¡¯t able to repair the badly beaten mind and soul of the patient, as well as the damaged nerves and spine of Don. At least not yet. Elijah had awoken after 3 days of on and off rest. During this time Elijah was traveling deep into his mind and remembering some important details of his reincarnation. Due to wanting to process his thoughts, his eyes stayed closed as he let his mind wander. ¡­ ¡°I witnessed your successful, but boring life.¡± ¡°Every principle of any element can be shown with your imagination.¡± ¡°I will give you part of what makes me, me.¡± ¡°Save me! Save me!¡± ¡­ It seems at unknown times while either sleeping or unconscious, Elijah remembers parts of after his death and before reincarnation. The only phrases that caught his attention were how every principle of any element can be shown with your imagination, and Elijah obtaining a part of what this ¡°it¡±, ¡°it¡±. However, it was a conversation between two people, or atleast a human or an ¡°it¡± that could understand english.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Elijah remembers the moments leading to seeing his savior, and feeling everything in the environment slowly come to a crawling speed. Could that be what this mystery person means? Principles of ice that come to mind are cold, freezing, and slow. To be able to instill those principles through magic would only be possible with a wealth of knowledge that would only be prevalent in an expanding and prosperous society. Everything in Astraea Kingdom is managed by magic. No one uses ice themselves, but instead uses ice runes to cool or freeze whatever they need. Farming processes are expedited due to lowering the weight of almost everything with a weight rune as they call it, which isn¡¯t lowering the weight, but lowering the gravity of an object. By taking shortcuts, you never understand what is happening in between. When is a tool considered a crutch? ¡­ -{Astraea Castle, Council Tower}- Riveted stone columns act as supports for the windowless extravaganza that is a meeting room for The Council. The Council has a 360 degree view of the entirety of the Inner city. Chimneys are puffing out smoke, tiny specks are walking the streets. And from above, lays a semi-transparent magical barrier that is powered from a light that shoots into the sky. This magical barrier creates a half-sphere of protection that stops at the inner gates and lines the ring of mountains that creates the crater. However, due to the ash and rocks that came from the volcano, there is no longer any light passing into the city. At a large rectangular quartz table sits sixteen powerful men and women. The king with his right and left hand. And the twelve council members and leaders that keep the wagons moving throughout the kingdom. With a clear of his throat the mighty King Astraea says, ¡°There are many items we need to address in the coming weeks. Firstly, we need to fully understand the situation of what happened to the outer region. Secondly, recover as many bodies as possible and send them to the underworld. And lastly, recover as much farmland as possible. What is blocking the light and life of the sun, is most definitely covering the ground of the outer region.¡± A tall confident man with black hair and deep red eyes responded quickly. ¡°I understand your majesty. Shall I send the Judges or the Captains? There are certainly beasts roaming in the outer territory now.¡± ¡°How about this Balal, allow anyone who is willing to volunteer to go to the outer region to recover their fallen brethren. If the beasts are roaming the farmlands, either kill them all, or kill as many as you can.¡± ¡°I favor that idea.¡± Lucian Vespertine, the Council head, speaks his mind in agreement. Every council member has their own territory they oversee, with the ability to send judges and captains who reside in those areas on specific missions. Mostly in the catacombs, and rarely outside the walls. Council members are people of magical power who have proven their worth to the kingdom, and are the final line of defense against any calamity. ¡­ -{Outer West, Health Haven}- Tears of joy were coming from the Veran and Sinclair families as they finally met the people responsible for their loved ones'' survival. ¡°My name is Amaris, the Ice Judge.¡± ¡°My name is Freya, the Light Judge.¡± Amaris had a smile on his face as he walked towards Elijah¡¯s bed. ¡°I can tell you are awake, kid.¡± Elijah was not shocked, but accepted his defeat. Slowly, his body leaned forward in his bed, and his deep blue eyes shocked the people in the room with the starry glint that was within. ¡°Thank you for saving me¡­ Is my father okay?¡± Phloria hugged him tightly knowing that his large number of wounds were healed. ¡°Your father is still asleep, but don¡¯t worry, he is alive and will wake up soon. I hope¡­¡± Amaris said, ¡°we will talk later,¡± before exiting the room. In actuality, the gracious water mages that were responsible for the four badly injured patients explained to them that no matter how much water magic they used, Don¡¯s nerves and spine still remained damaged without any sign of healing. This wasn¡¯t necessarily the limit of magic, or even that of water magic. Unfortunately, the level of mana that was needed for this type of action was something the kingdom was short on. Only a cyan water mage would be able to have any sort of effect. All hope was not lost, as Freya the Light Judge stepped forward. ¡°I can heal his body, however I have seen this before and even with my intervention, the mind will have to slowly adapt to the change in the body''s state.¡± Elijah nodded in embarrassment. Do the people in this kingdom not realize what has happened? Do they know what nerves are in the body? Do they even understand how the body works? It seems not only the magical tools that have been made are crutches that eliminate the need to know what is happening in between, but also the use of healing magic eliminates the need to take deep dives into understanding the body. Everyone in the city is extremely healthy and fit, besides lazy people who drink alcohol on a daily basis. The only injuries occurring are wounds from sparring and hunter missions in the catacombs and outside the walls. 14. A New Home During what everyone assumed was dawn, Don had woken up due to the magic Freya employed. With no feeling in the lower half of his body, Don was quite scared, but was given hope with his family explaining how the Light Judge healed him. A medic walked up to the family and asked a serious question. ¡°Due to the large number of injured citizens, we need the space to serve them. Do you all have a place to stay temporarily?¡± The Sinclairs and Veterans looked at each other, and seconds later, Don spoke. ¡°The Weltor¡¯s will house us all.¡± ¡°Are you sure honey?¡± ¡°Yes I am sure, that man owes me more favors than I can count on both of my hands¡­¡± ¡°I will gladly arrange a carriage for you, but you will still have to pay for the fee.¡± The medic kindly said. ¡°Absolutely. And don¡¯t worry about intruding, the Weltor¡¯s have plenty of space for you all.¡± Phloria said while smiling at the Sinclair¡¯s. Thanks to the experience the medic¡¯s have in the kingdom, Don was given a foldable chair with large wheels that was wildly similar to a wheelchair. Two covered brown and black carriages pulled by two horses each pulled in front of the tightly cramped Health Haven. The lot was currently near the edge of the inner west just before the immense amounts of mountain houses and shops. The height of their current position allowed them to see the entire city brightly lit up by lanterns, torches, and candles. The biggest light source being the beam of light coming from the very center of the castle that shot into the sky. The Veran and Sinclair family loaded onto the carriage slowly, and headed straight for the main road that led to Centerpool. Carriages were moving with goods filled to the brim, citizens were dressed nicely in their leather garments while walking to their jobs, and men and women dressed in dirty attire were headed to the catacombs for mining. Elijah was sure everyone had gone into a panic and returned to their homes, but already normal ways of life continued even with the loss of the sun. However, things were destined to change. As the two carriages arrived in front of the grand Weltor Estate, the large iron gate slowly swung open. The new butler was told to open the gate for anyone who stopped in front, as it could very likely be people George holds close to his heart. ¡°Welcome to the Weltor Estate, may I know your names?¡± ¡°The Veran family, and their wonderful friends.¡± Phloria was the first to speak as Don was paralyzed in the carriage. ¡°I see. you may come inside.¡± The butler bowed as he pointed to the tall blue door. However, when he saw the struggle of the man being dragged out of the carriage, he ran forward to help assist. ¡°Elijah!¡± The moment the two families walked through the door, Novius was leaning against the railing on the third floor as he stared down into the grand foyer with a starry blue carpet. ¡°Novius, it is a pleasure to see you again!¡± Elijah was beyond excited as this person was someone who Elijah considered his first male friend.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°Is Novius a friend of yours?¡± Alexia asked. ¡°Yes, he indeed is.¡± With a single glance the entire Sinclair family was astonished at the place they were witnessing. Coming from a family of farmers and gardeners, this made sense. ¡°What an incredible mansion, what exactly does this family do to live as a noble?¡± Elijah turned around and said with a smile. ¡°Magitech!¡± As Novius was walking down the sets of stairs, Phloria asked, ¡°Novius, where is the rest of your family?¡± ¡°They are all away. George is at the lab, my mother is with her friends, and my siblings are at the Hunter guild.¡± ¡°Your siblings are part of the Hunter guild?¡± ¡°Yes, although Beatrix is currently taking a test to become a junior Hunter, Isla and Eaton are already Junior hunters. Given the end of the year is approaching, all school, and Junior activities are soon to stop as the harsh weather comes through. Since I am nine, I am stuck here with the butler, maids, and tutor¡­¡± Novius was quite depressed, although he had something up his sleeve he wanted to show Novius, which gave him a sense of joy. Both families were quite impressed and congratulated Novius on his family''s accomplishments. To be a busy family is only a good thing. ¡°If I may ask, do you all have luggage you would like me to grab?¡± The butler kindly asked. ¡°Unfortunately we do not due to the calamity. We were hoping to seek refuge here.¡± Phloria calmly explained but was later interrupted. ¡°George owes me too many favors to decline this request, and with the amount of this in this estate, why even bother thinking about it! So I suggest you just let us be and accept us as your new roommates.¡± Don said everything that was on his mind as if he had no filter. He was in anguish and still could not fathom the idea of not being able to move his legs. The two families chose their rooms on the second floor that were meant for guests. With a total of 8 rooms, there were no arguments about who should get what. With a small knock of a door, Novius opened to see Elijah and Alexia. ¡°Ah, you must be Alexia, Elijah has told me a little bit about you.¡± Novius welcomed them inside his overly large room for a kid. ¡°Yes, that is me. If you don¡¯t mind me asking, what do you want to do when you grow up?¡± Alexia confidently asked as if she had a motive. Novius stood still before quickly smiling. ¡°I want to be a magitech engineer that creates tech suitable for hunters while also being a hunter myself!¡± ¡°That¡¯s good to hear. I only asked because Elijah is someone who is going to be very powerful, and he can¡¯t be held back by people without goals.¡± Elijah was very shocked at Alexia¡¯s behavior right now. They have spent so much time together, and now he is seeing a new side to her. Determination. ¡°Are you okay Alexia?¡± Elijah asked with a caring expression. ¡°Yes I am very good.¡± Novius was more curious about Elijah¡¯s affinity than his odd question. ¡°So Elijah, which affinity did you get?¡± Elijah scratched the back of his head and answered awkwardly. ¡°Uhhh, It¡¯s kinda hard to explain, but I will tell you later tonight.¡± ¡°Oh, it must be something rather special then.¡± Novius said as he watched Elijah walk to the balcony. Thoughts about flying around the kingdom were running through his head, however, the idea of nearing the whirlpool scared him greatly. He has no idea how he ended up where he did. ¡°Hey Novius, sometime tomorrow I want you to show me the suit you have finished. I¡¯m assuming it¡¯s done right?¡± Elijah asked Novius a question rather confidently. With a small chuckle Novius said. ¡°Oh it¡¯s done alright.¡± After their short conversation, the three heard a loud shout in the grand foyer. ¡°I AM HOME!!!¡± The three kids instantly ran down the stairs to see George soberly greeting the two guest families. Behind George were Beatrix, Isla, and Eaton. Pleasantries and condolences were exchanged for the injuries and mental trauma everyone experienced. Directly after, George announced a special dinner where he would relay important news to everyone. The current state of the kingdom, which he only knows because of his privilege to one of the council members. 15. Status At a long wooden and blue clothed table, laid an abundance of color and flavor. Steaks, chicken, potatoes, mixed veggies, fruits, wine, and milk. ¡°What an amazing spread George!!¡± ¡°Hahaha, thank you for the kind words Elijah, but this is all thanks to the maids and their exceptional cooking and preparation skills.¡± With fifteen people graciously sitting at the dining table, conversations were being thrown around left and right. George was conversing with Don and Phloria about his situation, and Novius and Elijah were having conversations with all the siblings about the Junior Hunter Program. As half the food was gone and the eating started to slow, George interrupted the dinner table. ¡°Ahem, pardon for my interruption, but it is time for the main dish.¡± A long gulp of his water made, and the sound of the glass cup against the table started the announcement. ¡°I truly do not want to scare any of you, but knowing this is important for you to think about your future, especially the kids. The outer west and north are littered with black ash and rocks that have practically destroyed the farmland. Beasts are roaming the lands and are slowly going to be killed by hunters and judges with the intent to repair the wall when the chance arises. There are multiple holes within the wall from what looks like rocks that fell from the sky. The daylight situation will hopefully be cleared within the next fortnight. However, from what I have heard, there are an extremely large number of beasts outside the walls. Do not tell anyone this as I expect the council is downplaying the situation. Nothing like this in the history of Astraea has ever happened before. And if it comes down to it, we will be forced to eat the meat of the beasts we kill.¡± Silence sat in the room as many people took huge gulps at the realization of the situation. The only thought going through Elijah¡¯s mind was how he could help. He was nearing ten years old, and from the sound of it, the Hunter Guild would need all the help they could get. However, going public as a hunter would mean people would find out his affinity. Just to be on the safe side, only the people close to him can know. Although, is it possible to have two affinities? Worried chatter started echoing through the room, but Julian asked a question that silenced their thoughts. ¡°What was even the cause of this calamity?¡± ¡°That is a question that I do not know, however, there is one last thing I wanted to tell you that might give you all some hope, the kingdom hope. 3 days from now, there will be a gathering in the Grand Park to explain the plan for the kingdom, and to address every issue that the people have.¡± Elijah desperately wants to know if any of the Junior Hunter¡¯s are going to be sent to the outer region to help, but part of him already knows the answer. Dinner finished with food still on the table due to the sour news that lowered the hearts of the people, and Elijah walked outside with Novius and Alexia. As the three were walking down the neat cobblestone sidewalk, Novius casually popped a question into the air. ¡°So Alexia, what are your goals in life?¡± Alexia tilted her chin up confidently and said, ¡°I want to be strong, and help people!¡±You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°So you want to be a healer?¡± ¡°Yes I guess so, but I don¡¯t have an affinity yet. My family are simple farmers and have been saving up for this exact moment. But we lost everything in the calamity and have to start over. I don¡¯t even think we have started, considering we will be staying in your house thanks to your generous father¡­¡± Alexia was clearly holding back her emotions and suffering because of it. Elijah put his hands on her shoulders and gently massaged them, then moving up the back of the neck to release tension and stress. She felt no ill will or embarrassment due to this being something natural everyone does in this kingdom. Massages were a vital part of health due to its ability to lower stress dramatically. Stress can be held within muscles, and the rise of massages brought about massage clinics where the masseuse¡¯s go in depth into every part of the body. Some people would call it sexual, and some would call it healing. ¡°I know the three of us haven¡¯t known or seen each other for a very long time, but I believe this is the start of a beautiful friendship. If we are all eyeing to become stronger, then why don¡¯t we vow to explore outside the walls!¡± Elijah exclaimed as he threw his fist up into the air. Novius and Alexia both look at Elijah with worried eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but that is not something I can agree with.¡± Elijah was hoping his friends were different from the norm, and similar to Amaris. Instead of probing more about why, he calmly responded. ¡°Okay, I understand. This kingdom is pretty great anyway, who knows if there is life outside the walls.¡± ¡°There is not.¡± Novius responded without hesitation. A response that seemed automatic. ¡°How would you know that?¡± ¡°Simple, if there was life outside the walls, we would know by now. It has been six thousand years.¡± Elijah continued walking with a worried expression in his head. The time may come when he has to abandon his friends. Fortunately, it would be rather easy for him as he has already done it in his past life multiple times. He understands that not everything lasts, except for maybe his life cycles, which he still wonders if this is just a one time exception, or a never ending cycle where he just happened to be lucky and retain his memories. The person he is now may truly not be Lukas, but instead of memories that were somehow transferred between the death and life of two people. This explanation would follow with his idea of how life is cyclical and eternal, because if it was not, life would not exist in the first place. The three returned to the Weltor Estate, and greeted their families on the way to Novius¡¯ bedroom. Elijah raised his hand into the air and conjured a portal from which he pulled out a black cloak littered with holes. ¡°How did you do that?¡± Novius and Alexia both asked the same questions as they were dumbfounded from the performance. Elijah gave a quick smile and replied. ¡°Space magic¡± Both of his friends questioned him about his magical affinity and watched as Elijah demonstrated the possibilities. However, Elijah said that even with this powerful affinity, it was not possible to cut through the magic of other more powerful beasts. This was a fact Elijah unfortunately found out himself. It does not matter what affinity you have, if two attacks clash, the attack that came from the more powerful core would win one hundred percent of the time. Elijah knew there had to be some type of workaround to such a flaw of the way magic works. In fact, his portal of transference is the perfect example of this. Magic that transcends the limits of cores. However, there had to be more uses, and especially spells like his portals that originate from different elements. ¡°Novius, instead of asking me questions, why don¡¯t you show us your affinity?¡± Elijah said with an eyebrow lifted. ¡°I think you might be onto something Elijah, and if you will, please cut the candles.¡± Novius responded as he walked into the center of the room. Darkness and silence spread throughout the bedroom, and then it happened. A small and controlled string of white energy spread into smaller strings as it made its way to the cut candles. Novius was doing all of this with one hand, while holding his other hand as if he was about to snap his fingers. Snap* The candle¡¯s in the room instantly lit up again with the snap of Novius¡¯ fingers. Elijah was excited beyond belief. ¡°Lightning?¡± 16. Expected Interruption Novius was surprised to hear Elijah¡¯s guess, although part of him knew it wasn¡¯t a guess. Lightning was an extraordinary affinity that had so many possibilities. Especially if Novius fully understood the idea of enacting the principles of lightning into his magic. Lightning is not just the color white, but can actually appear as any color in the UV spectrum. ¡°Hey Novius, this is an odd question, but do you think having two affinities at once is possible?¡± Elijah asked a question that piqued Alexia¡¯s interest. ¡°Two affinities at once? I have never heard of that before. It would make sense if it''s not possible, and honestly, I hope it is. Why do you ask?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want anyone knowing of my special affinity, so I want to use a basic affinity like water to hide my true power.¡± Elijah was very serious about this idea, and explained his reasoning with the same tone. ¡°I don¡¯t know why you want to hide your power, but you can do whatever you want to do.¡± ¡°Sorry to ruin the moment lady and gentlemen, but I need to speak to the man you call Elijah.¡± Words came from the balcony door as a man with white hair and black fur garments was seen. Novius stepped back in fear at the sound and sight of seeing an unknown man who was drowning in the shadows, appear on his balcony, especially in the dead of the night, or what everyone assumed was the night. Elijah was not scared one bit. In fact, he was expecting someone in particular to have a conversation that was supposed to happen after leaving the Health haven. Elijah was forced to quicken his steps towards the dominant figure while calming down Novius and Alexia with statements of safety. Once he reached the man with an exceptional taste of clothing, Elijah calmly asked a question. ¡°So Amaris, what would you like to talk about?¡± ¡°Everything.¡± The word not only confused the two passive children behind Elijah, but scared them. ¡°Is it okay if my two friends hear the conversation?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Amaris seemed heavily intrigued by Elijah as his manner of speaking was quick and efficient as if he wanted to skip to the main dish. ¡°What is your affinity?¡± ¡°Wow, you surely don¡¯t waste time do you? Are you in a rush?¡± Elijah was surprised. ¡°You always seem to impress me, kid. Even with a powerful figure coldly asking you questions you still have time to make jokes. I¡¯ll stop with the funny business then, let¡¯s have a casual conversation.¡± Elijah nodded with a smile while showing Amaris to the seating meant for five people. ¡°My affinity is space.¡± Amaris was not surprised by this answer, which made what he saw outside the gate make sense. The ripple Elijah threw towards the ice bears that cleanly chopped their heads off happened due to him literally splitting the space in between the neck. The power that Elijah could have by embodying what space is within his magic would easily allow him to reach the same heights as Amaris. ¡°That is a very unique affinity, how fortunate. But how does that allow you to fly?¡± Amaris asked as he stepped closer towards ElijahUnauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°I don¡¯t know, I actually learned how to fly before I received my affinity.¡± ¡°Learned how to fly?¡± Novius and Alexia questioned this idea but were dumbfounded when Elijah literally started to levitate. ¡°It would make sense if your affinity allowed you to fly, to traverse space without restriction, but your ability to fly is completely something else¡­Well, I came here to see the potential you have, and I was not disappointed. I really hope you join the Junior hunters, a special exam is now being held whenever there is demand. However, these exams are much more difficult now. The hunters can¡¯t be wasting their time on trash.¡± ¡°I understand, I turn ten years old in 1 month.¡± Amaris nodded and told me he expected a familiar face in the ranks of the Junior hunters along with Novius, who was a lightning mage. A chill spread throughout the bedroom as Amaris walked towards the balcony. ¡°Don¡¯t let anyone tell you to not explore the unknown. I can tell you right now, I fully believe there is life outside of these walls.¡± The final statement left a smile on Elijah¡¯s face, and was so strong that even Novius¡¯ and Alexia¡¯s words of discouragement had zero effect. This man was a believer in the unknown. However, one thing greatly puzzles Elijah¡¯s mind. Why was everyone he talked to so adamant about the idea of staying within the walls of the kingdom besides Amasris? Elijah''s current goals were to reach the bright red core stage, which he felt he was inches away from. A feeling of water overflowing a glass of water was the exact feeling he felt from his core when he became a solid red core mage. And now, this feeling had once again reached him. He had no idea what the normal speed of progression was, but it seemed that using magic was the best way to reach for this feeling. Novius broke the silence with a question. ¡°Would you both like to see my magitech suit?¡± ¡°Magitech suit? What do you mean?¡± Alexia asked. ¡°I would love to. Why don¡¯t we let the demonstration do the explaining, Alexia.¡± Novius slowly walked to the left corner of his bedroom facing the balcony. A medium sized box adjourned with wavy indents was picked up, and slowly put on the center coffee table where Elijah and Alexia had sat down. ¡°If you guys will, please sit down on the couch.¡± Novius walked over to the chest in front of his bed and took out a large leather and cloth suit. After taking a couple of minutes to put on the different pieces of the suit, he walked in front of the couch and waved his hand to his side like a magician. Both Elijah and Alexia broke out in laughter after seeing what looked like a bandit in a slim fitting suit. After listening to Novius defend himself and his design, Elijah chimed in. ¡°What is the purpose of this suit?¡± Inside the suit, the muffled voice of Novius said something that piqued Elijah¡¯s interest. ¡°Watch me disappear!¡± Slowly, white colored runes began to glow on 9 different parts of the suit which gave the entire suit a slight glow. Not even seconds later, Novius turned completely invisible to the eye! ¡°Invisibility? How?¡± Novius silently moved to behind Elijah and Alexia, and whispered in between their eyes before becoming visible again. ¡°I received help from a special mage to create a rune that would remove the light from anything it commands. This is what gives it the invisible effect. This has never been done before in the kingdom simply because we have never had her affinity in the entire history of the kingdom. I only thought of it due to understanding the new light runes that are going to give light to the kingdom.¡± Elijah immediately had a guess at who it was. ¡°Was it Freya?¡± Novius immediately illuminated his suit again. ¡°How did you know that?¡± ¡°She used light magic to help my father heal¡­¡± ¡°Wow, what a small kingdom! You know she is friends with my father!¡± Elijah was once again amazed by the privilege of the Weltor¡¯s. ¡°Is there a time limit for the suit?¡± ¡°Yes and no, the suit uses your mana. So as long as you have mana within your body after activation, you will remain invisible.¡± ¡°I¡¯m assuming I would be your test dummy right? Considering I can do something like this.¡± Elijah spoke as he lifted himself off the ground and stood on the ceiling. ¡°You don¡¯t need to show off, you know. And yes, I want you to test the suit. For me, I was able to last for just under twenty minutes at the solid red core stage.¡± ¡°Well, tomorrow night sounds good to me. I want to walk the streets during the day tomorrow to learn about Centerpool and what it offers. Also, we need to start preparing for the Junior Hunters.¡± The trio said their goodnight as they left for their separate rooms. Elijah and Alexia walked downstairs, and Novius curled up in his bed filled with excitement. 17. Weapons Adults and kids were roaming the downstairs dining hall, kitchen, and living room as they prepared for their day. Eaton, Isla, and Beatrix were readying themselves in their Junior Hunter uniforms, while the cooks were bringing in all types of food, buffet style. George was calmly sitting amongst the chaos and chatter helping Julian understand the process of absorbing an affinity from a mana crystal. A one foot spiked crystal with a brown and gray hue subtlety glowed on the coffee table of the living room filled with white fluffy couches. ¡°It seems people have a good sense of interior design.¡± Elijah muttered under his breath with the sight of all kinds of plants, paintings, and agreeing colors entering his eyesight. He had never been into the living room, but only the dining hall. Each room was partly separated with a large archway opening or a hallway. A romantic and closed concept of design. Organized clutter in this instance was better than open and unused space. ¡°How is the absorption going Julian?¡± Elijah had never seen a mana crystal with an affinity in it before, and chose to keep this charade up as he wasn¡¯t ready for everyone in the estate to know his special circumstances. Not just having an affinity, but also the way he obtained this affinity, which is something he still truly does not know the answer to. Was it after he fell into the whirlpool, or had he always had the affinity since his birth. ¡°Rather quick to be honest. But that is due to me already having an awakened core for quite some time. I¡¯d give it two days and I¡¯ll be a full fledged mage!¡± Julian explained to Elijah as he stood up from the couch. ¡°That¡¯s great to hear!¡± Elijah is worried for his brother. Originally, Julian was all in on farming, but was forcefully pushed into a new life, and subsequently was forced into joining the Junior Hunters because there is no other path for him. The least he can do is help the kingdom return to its peak, which would allow him to return to what he truly wants to do. ¡°Me, Elijah, and Alexia are going to walk around the market areas. If we are all going to be Junior Hunters, then we are going to need a weapon soon.¡± Novius told his father. George stood up from the couch and walked toward Novius. ¡°Yes that is very true, but don¡¯t forget about what you truly want to do Novius. If you want to buy something then grab a pouch of coins from my office. Also, Alexia, I should have a water affinity crystal within the next week for you to absorb. Don¡¯t worry you will be taken care of.¡± The three hoodlums grabbed the small pouch of coins, and walked out the door into the darkness of the day. Lanterns, torches, and new light magitech were seen giving life to the streets. Elijah noticed several people and families walking together that almost seemed scared, or on top of their feet. The loss of light was getting to everyone, and the only option was to accept the madness. Light is a crucial part of one¡¯s health, and while the people in this kingdom might not understand the reasons why, they unconsciously worship the sun. Not as a god, but as a source of life.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Finally, after walking for close to half an hour and passing by an enormous amount of shops, the trio made it to the famous blacksmith shop known for their quality, Benimascus. The moment Elijah stepped inside, he felt like he entered a new dimension. A long and grand room with stone arches lining the ceiling and furnaces on both sides gave the room a feeling of renaissance. The exact way Elijah would have imagined a blacksmith, was what he walked into. The trio walked up to the front counter where a muscular burly man with gray and white hair was standing. ¡°Welcome to Benimascus! What unique pieces of work are you looking for, young ones?¡± Novius was the first to speak. ¡°Hello, we are joining the Junior Hunters soon, and need something that is of quality for a beginner.¡± ¡°That is great to hear, we need all the help we can get right now¡­ my name is Abe, and I will bring out all of the beginner pieces. Please give me five minutes.¡± Novius nodded, then turned back to Elijah and Alexia. ¡°What kind of weapon do you both want?¡± Elijah quickly responded. ¡°Something small and sharp, like a knife.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure I would want anything that is sharp, but rather something strong like a staff.¡± ¡°You two are rather interesting. A knife and a staff. Usually swords are picked over fifty percent of the time. I am even choosing a sword.¡± Said Novius with a smile. Abe walked over four carrying a large cloth bag that was clanking with every step. The bag unrolled across the counter and the sight of the different blades widened the smiles of the trio. ¡°We have swords, knives, spears, and axes. All of which have their different uses. Let me know which one you would like, and I¡¯ll tell you the price.¡± Novius chose a simple short sword due to his size. Eventually he would upgrade, but for now, he needed at least something. Elijah chose a single knife about the size of his forearm. And Alexia chose nothing. Novius handed the man 3 gold coins for the two weapons, and led his friends out. Novius was taking the lead while Elijah observed, considering he does not know how to act and where to go within Centerpool. ¡°Watch this guys!¡± Novius and Alexia turned around to see Elijah throwing his knife up in the air. A small transparent and pearlescent rimmed portal opened up that was barely visible to the eye, and made the knife disappear. ¡°Was that your magic?¡± Alexia asked. ¡°Yes, my spatial storage spell.¡± ¡°That¡¯s quite convenient Elijah. Are you able to pull it out anytime you want?¡± Novius was curious as he may try to find a way to give this ability to the people through magical runes. ¡°Yes, the only downside is that I can only store a small amount of items, at least for now I hope.¡± ¡°Either way, that is an incredible use of your magic. I understand why you want to keep it a secret now. I¡¯m afraid you would be turned into an experiment for the betterment of the kingdom¡­¡± The trio walked off down the street full of people. It was currently peak time for the streets as people were eating lunch or shopping. Novius quickly stopped his steps and said, ¡°stop moving guys.¡± A well dressed mother and son were walking down the street in the direction towards them. ¡°Well well, if it isn¡¯t George¡¯s son. How do you do Novius?¡± ¡°I¡¯m good Mrs. Damaris, follow me guys, we have one more place to stop at.¡± Novius was not even looking at the women who had just started a conversation with him. ¡°Hahaha, let him be, mother. It appears he is too embarrassed to look us in the eyes.¡± A black hair, and burning red-eyed boy with red and black garments that were accentuated by silver ornaments was standing casually beside his mother. ¡°Ah, you are right Emery. Just make sure you show him your power as a Junior Hunter.¡± The mother responded with a depressed tone. The trio continued walking while Novius took a quick glance back at Emery who caught his eyes. ¡°What happened there, Novius?¡± Elijah was worried as it obviously seemed like something bad. 18. Liar ¡°I wish I knew the full story myself, but something bad happened between my father and their family. They are a huge family with three different lines under the Damaris name, and one of the father¡¯s died¡­¡± Novius explained what he knew of the situation while walking through the crowds of people. Alexia was feeling uncomfortable about the situation and decided to suggest a change in atmosphere. ¡°Hey, why don¡¯t we eat somewhere cool instead of asking the cooks at home for help?¡± The trio agreed and went to fill their stomachs with delicious food. Chicken, fresh fruit, and creamy rice full of nutrients. The night came quickly with everyone returning to the estate . And the only thought inside the trio¡¯s mind was the first test of the invisible suit. Something that would grant an immense amount of freedom to Elijah. The moment the door closed to Novius¡¯ bedroom, he calmly made a statement. ¡°Before we do this, we need a time limit and goals.¡± Elijah nodded in agreement. ¡°I understand. I already have a goal in mind of going to the underside of Centerpool.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good idea, if anything went wrong with the suit you would still be hidden from people. For the time limit, let¡¯s say 30 minutes. And the time limit until we call for help is going to be 2 hours.¡± ¡°What?! We don¡¯t need that precaution. this is a test for your suit, but also a chance for me to explore.¡± Elijah had a feeling he was going to do something or go somewhere that would take him over the 30 minute mark. The question was, would he be able to find a safe place to not use the suit anymore? ¡°Explore?! We are not treating this as a chance for you to explore. If you get caught, who knows what would happen to you? You can literally fly.¡± ¡°I agree with the time limit, but we should still wait for another couple of hours, we just had dinner.¡± Alexia added to the conversation to stop the arguing. ¡°Okay. Elijah, do whatever you want to do, you seem very capable of handling yourself.¡± The trio walked out onto the balcony to hangout and observe the surroundings. Just like always, the radiant light of the mana barrier lit up the center of the kingdom. What surprised Elijah was the amount of people walking around. Novius¡¯ balcony overlooked the behind of the government and guild buildings in the 2nd band. However, he was just barely able to see people hanging out in the grand park. ¡°Tonight isn¡¯t the night for the announcement ceremony right?¡± Elijah asked with confusion. ¡°No, it shouldn¡¯t be.¡± Novius was cut off by a knock at the door. George calmly walked out towards the balcony and startled the trio with his words. ¡°I don¡¯t know if you guys can tell, but people are starting to go mad due to the loss of light. Gloria and I are also on our balcony right above you, and noticed people in the Grand Park. And I have to say, I am feeling the madness as well. I cannot sleep¡­¡±Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Elijah sighed at this fact. Thankfully everyone in the kingdom had a basic understanding of how light affected the sleep cycle of every living being. ¡°I won¡¯t get on to you guys for not going to sleep for the time being. Just please stay together if you decide to go out. In times of stress, it is best we enjoy the moment, for the next, may not be livable.¡± George said words of peace before exiting the room. Elijah was thinking how this was going to make things just a little more complicated, until Novius stepped in. ¡°This doesn¡¯t change the plans at all. Trust me, my suit will work. The magical runes literally make you invisible, and when you combine that with your flying ability, you become a literal ghost. I say we get this going now.¡± ¡°I agree, but just please be careful and come back within the time limit.¡± Elijah nodded but can only think of one thing he wanted to do. Explore the area where he woke up within the catacombs. From what he saw with the world outside the rocky grasslands, it is extremely different compared to earth. My hypothesis of this world''s natural terrain being manipulated by the mana may be true, especially if the catacombs, or cave systems are changed to the same extremes. Novius pulled out the dark brown leather garments covered with white runic writing from the chest in front of his bed. ¡°Here is the masterpiece. It won¡¯t be heavy on your body, and with this new rune, you will literally be invisible.¡± ¡°This is perfect. I am nearing the bright red stage, so I should be able to last thirty minutes.¡± Elijah put on the tight fitting leather and cloth suit. Leather covered the immobile parts of the body like the chest, back, arms, and legs, while cloth covered the joints. The suit came with a leather mask that had another white rune embedded on the top. ¡°All you have to do to activate the invisibility is to channel your mana into the 9 runes on each part of your body, the rune will take care of everything, and remove the light from your suit, therefore making you invisible.¡± The breath of Elijah showed, and a unique and familiar energy coursed through his limbs and into the nine runes fixated on the suit. The visibility of the suit slowly dimmed until nothing was seen. However, Elijah felt no different, which worried him. What would happen if the suit deactivated and he didn¡¯t even notice? ¡°Above you!¡± Elijah quickly flew above Novius and Alexia who were sitting on the couch. ¡°Amazing! I can¡¯t even tell you are there. Nothing¡­ is speaking to me!¡± Alexia responded with astonishment. Novius looked at the ceiling. ¡°Well Elijah, I suggest you get going. You probably used close to a half of your mana just by activating the runes, unless you want to deactivate the runes, and reabsorb mana.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to leave right now. I will knock five times on the balcony door whenever I leave and enter. Wish me luck.¡± Novius and Alexia both wished good luck at the same time, and moments later five distinct knocks were heard against the glass of the balcony door. The moment Elijah flew away from the balcony, he felt the breeze of freedom, that would be cold if it weren¡¯t for the suit covering every part of his body. Even his eyes were covered by a thin piece of cloth that gave him bearable vision. Elijah muttered under his breath. ¡°I¡¯m sorry guys, but I won¡¯t be back for at least an hour¡­¡± The streets were not busy with people by any means. However, there were still people hanging out outside, especially in the Grand Park. Elijah flew swiftly towards the castle, and just as he was about to fly below the ledge in between the Grand Park and the castle, Elijah stood still in the air as he stared at the people of the kingdom. Not a single soul took a glance his way, and no one was having weird conversations about a weird looking man flying in front of their faces. The magnificent whirlpool that slowly pushed water out to both rivers came into Elijah¡¯s sight. Hmmmm, now that I am looking closer, it would make sense if the elevation of this place is way above sea level. At least three thousand feet. That would explain how everyone is extremely healthy. Carbon dioxide is something I pursued in my previous life, which helps the body with every process within. A true esoteric health concept that requires you to live high above sea level. This whirlpool has a steep concave shape to it. The true question was, where the hell was the water coming from? 19. The Defender An uncountable number of cave openings lined the walls of where the whirlpool gathered, also known as the underside of the inner city. The Catacombs. These caves were somehow not overflowing with water. In Elijah¡¯s encounter with the hooded man, he had a direct view of the whirlpool flowing rapidly right outside the opening of the cave. As Elijah was floating overtop of the raging whirlpool, he thought about his options of getting into the catacombs. The only true option if I want to explore would be to go through the whirlpool, and enter the lower caves with the hope of finding an area where I am alone. Any other option would spell disaster once I run out of mana. Ironing his mind, Elijah dipped his hands into the cold water and felt nothing. No force pulled him in, causing him to lose consciousness. He was exactly where he was. ¡°Haha, time to go!¡± Elijah took a deep breath to hold as much air as his tiny lungs could hold, and slowly dove into the whirlpool. Instantly he noticed his invisibility being disrupted, so he stopped channeling his mana into the suit. After thirty seconds of loving through the whirlpool, Elijah met the wall with his palms. An unusually smooth wall for a crater. He was running out of breath, and needed to choose a cave to fly into. Every cave was pitch black, and he knew if he kept descending, he would raise his chances of being completely alone. WHOOSH While struggling to hold his breath any longer, his body forcibly pushed himself through a cave opening, and was met with a familiar sight of glowing plants and dripstones. After coughing and regaining his breath, a single word exited his mouth. ¡°Incredible!¡± This was not the same cave whatsoever, and was wildly different by one simple fact. The size. What seemed like the size of a football stadium was filled with glowing plants, mana crystals, random stone erections, and a pool of glowing teal water surrounding a giant red and white mushroom with glowing gills. Since Elijah¡¯s suit was no longer activated, he took off the head piece as he started walking forward on the moist stone. ¡°This kingdom has been alive for six thousand years and they haven¡¯t discovered this?¡± Walking to the right he found a blue mana crystal sitting deep into the stone. However, it was not the only affinity crystal in sight. Many reddish-orangish, white, brown and more blue crystals were scattered around the humongous cavern that totaled around fifteen. Elijah carefully split the space around the crystal and stored it in his spatial storage. However, he wasn¡¯t done yet. A white mana crystal which he assumed was air was only roughly fifty feet away from him, just next to a tunnel opening. After harvesting the white mana crystal he shoved it into his spatial storage which was now completely full. Two mana crystals, and one knife. If he wanted to, he could expand the spatial storage, but it would require a lot more mana. I need to get to the bright core stage! Elijah continued observing his surroundings while walking closer and closer towards the giant mushroom. Now that he was closer, Elijah noticed small floating particles flying around the mushroom in indistinguishable directions. Visible mana?The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. The wet footsteps disappeared as he flew over the pool of water and stood right next to the trunk of the mushroom. The soft, squishy, yet firm trunk of the mushroom continued to appear mysterious as Elijah touched it. ¡°So it¡¯s just a big mushroom¡­¡± There were 3 cave openings in the massive cavern, and Elijah chose to go through the one closest to the entrance. However, the moment he stepped into the cavern, he froze. Two massive red dots appeared in the distance, and knowing earbuds were not a thing in this world, Elijah took flight as fast as possible, and flew toward the opening facing the whirlpool. With the mask back on, he activated his invisibility which left him with less than forty percent of his mana left. ¡°Let¡¯s see what this creature is¡­¡± Large shiny pincers in the numbers of eight came out from the large shadowed tunnel. Not too long after, the body of what looked like a heavily oversized spider with green dots on its black skin showed itself and began stretching? ¡®A mix between a crab and a spider . How interest¡ª¡¯ SHING! The spider shot forward with the speed of a catapult, drew forward its pincer, and sliced through Elijah¡¯s spatial barrier that he conjured out of fear, with ease. ¡°SHIT, IT CAN SEE ME!!¡± Elijah fumbled to the floor after flying directly into the ceiling. From the pain, his right shoulder was completely broken. His only option was to escape, but the spider had other plans. The spider was unloading its pincers from the ceiling while rocks were falling right next to Elijah. And within seconds, the spider was falling directly on top of Elijah, with his pincer aimed at his chest. The slow fall gave Elijah a chance to create a translucent and pearlescent rimmed portal to redirect the attack, which used half the mana he had left. A green liquid oozed out of the spider''s face, and when the portal disappeared, the roach it was chasing had flown behind it, and somehow cut off one of its pincers at the level of its knuckle. A screeching sound bounced off the walls of the cavern and caused the mushroom, and the mana crystals, to fall out of their sockets. It seemed like the spider knew where Elijah¡¯s escape route was, as it positioned itself directly in front of the torrent of water. A Black and green liquid oozed out of its body and formed the shape of a scythe that extended from its pincers. A scythe of death, that would not grant its enemy an instant death, but a torturous death from the poison within. Combining this with its clicking and groaning noises, this beast was instilling fear into Elijah like nothing he has ever felt before. I have no way of escaping this! What mana core does this treacherous spider have?! And how the hell can it see me?! Elijah thought of many possibilities of escape, but only one crossed his mind that would allow him to avoid fighting. This spider has been playing with me by not using any of its magical abilities, and only the strength of its body. Now with this scythe made of what is most likely poison magic, almost every spell I cast will be completely useless. Not to mention the spider intentionally blocking off my escape route. Mana surged out of Elijah¡¯s body, and was sent behind the spider and in front of Elijah¡¯s body. Something he had not been able to do, due to the amount of mana it required, was finally possible with the help of the amount of mana in this cavern. With a single step, Elijah appeared behind the spider and flew into the raging whirlpool, but felt a slight pain on his leg that was dulled by the adrenaline. Within the torrent of the whirlpool Elijah tumbled while his body wreathed in pain. Instead of moving with the direction of the whirlpool, his body sank deeper, and eventually reached an unknown space. Nothing. The only thing Elijah saw before feeling the same feeling he felt when he was forcibly pulled under water in his first exploration. Absolutely nothing¡­. An infinite black void. 20. A Deeper Understanding ¡°I witnessed your successful, but boring life.¡± ¡°Every principle of any element can be shown with your imagination.¡± ¡°I will give you part of what makes me, me.¡± ¡°You are the opposite of corrupted.¡± ¡°Save me! Save me!¡± ¡­ ¡°Welcome back to the land of the living youngster¡± Elijah was slowly waking up as he heard a familiar voice ring through his ears. However, the first thing he thought to check was his shoulder and leg, which was pierced by the pincer at the last second before his escape. A groan and bones cracking from stretching his arms echoed through the dimly lit cavern. The familiar red and teal glowing flowers lined the walls as they were hanging to the vines. ¡°It-It¡¯s you again. The hooded man!¡± The hooded man stood up from his criss cross position, and slowly walked toward Elijah. ¡°Yes, it is me again. I was surprised to see your gravely injured and poisoned body this time. I thought you were smarter than that. What exactly happened to you?¡± After fully standing up, Elijah contemplates ignoring the man and escaping through the whirlpool to return to the Weltor¡¯s. Novius and Alexia were most definitely worried about him as it had been way past a couple of hours. However, with his back turning towards the hooded man, he spoke again. ¡°I just saved your life, and this is how you treat me?¡± Elijah turned back around and apologized. ¡°I am sorry, but I have to get back or else my friends will be worried about me. I mean no ill will, and thank you for healing me.¡± ¡°Oh, it seems like you are just as bright as you were the first time I saw you. Your demeanor and calmness are evident. Where exactly were you that caused you to be poisoned and broken like you were?¡± Elijah contemplated his answer, and decided to tell the truth. This man not only saved his life, but never had any malice towards him in both confrontations. ¡°I entered a massive cave by going through the whirlpool. There were tons of mana crystals, and a huge green and black spider in a nearby cavern.¡± ¡°Haha, how incredible. Even with this Kingdom¡¯s age of over 6000 years, there are still many unexplored places with extremely dangerous beasts. I¡¯m surprised you weren¡¯t killed! Did you by chance collect any of those mana crystals?¡± The man asked.¡± Elijah smiled at his question as he opened his small spatial storage and took out two large blue and white mana crystals. ¡°Wow, you have come a long way! And I can tell you are on the brink of breaking through to the bright red stage.¡± ¡°How are you able to tell that? I can¡¯t feel anything coming from you.¡±This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°I am at the bright cyan core stage, and have a deeper understanding of mana compared to the basic understanding everyone seems to drool over¡­¡± Elijah thought for a second about his words. The only way he knew people used magic in this world was by excreting it from their own core. However, he is able to manipulate the environmental mana by sending a little mana out of his body, and embodying the principles of the specific affinity. Could this be the greater understanding? ¡°What deeper understanding of mana do you mean?¡± ¡°I know you know what I mean kid. You just manipulated the environment to create that fancy storage spell. Also, since you have that special affinity, do you want to try absorbing another affinity?¡± Elijah walked around in circles while thinking. ¡°I was already planning on doing that. But first, I want to know your name, and see your face¡­¡± The fact that this man has never revealed anything about himself to me. There has got to be some reason for it. The hooded man backed up from Elijah. ¡°Okay, understandable. Firstly, my name is Abel, and I have been corrupted by something in this kingdom. I say this because when you see my face, you need not be afraid¡­¡± Abel, grabbed his black hood with his long fingers, and pulled back to the hood. A distorted face was seen with its eyes, nose, mouth, and ears in seemingly awkward positions.Even his skull was misshapen. His mouth and nose were slightly twisted, and his eyes and ears were at different heights. While it was extremely minor, it was easy to notice. However, there was not a single hair on his head or face. ¡°What happened to you?¡± ¡°I unfortunately fell into ¡°It¡± underneath the whirlpool. I wish I could explain more, but for unknown reasons I cannot¡­¡± This man is referring to what Elijah saw just before he blacked out. Although, what puzzled Elijah, was that he remembers seeing literally nothing. Maybe the nothingness is the ¡°It¡± he is talking about. The corruption. ¡°I see. Well, why don¡¯t we move on to the absorption of this water affinity. Is it even possible to have two affinities?¡± ¡°Yes, in fact it is very possible. The only determining factor is if the affinity you want to absorb is compatible with your current affinity. Fire and ice cannot be together, as they would continuously destroy each other, resulting in the destruction of the mana core where they reside. However, it is much deeper than that. A special affinity like space, cannot be paired with fire, as the core principles are too far apart from each other.¡± Elijah was taking in this knowledge like a sponge. Just like he assumed, this world of magic is not so black and white, but also gray. ¡°Space and water would go well together, correct?¡± ¡°Absolutely, the same spatial spells you cast can be made with water spells. But with a different effect. Of course it will take some time to absorb the affinity, which you probably don¡¯t have enough time for today. But at least you know it''s possible.¡± Elijah slowly walked up to Abel with his hand out. After staring at the man for no more than ten seconds, Abel shook his hand. ¡°Thank you for the help, I hope I see you again.¡± ¡°Likewise. Maybe next time you can tell me a little bit about that ability of yours.¡± Elijah didn¡¯t fully understand what he said until he was about to fly into the whirlpool. ¡°Ah. Yes, I will tell you about it next time.¡± Like wind within water, Elijah flew through the whirlpool after taking a long and deep breath. The cold water was lessened with his mask and suit on, and the moment Elijah made it to the underside of Centerpool. He activated the invisibility. ¡°Well, it looks like I am invisible as I cannot see my entire body.¡± Elijah had no idea how long it had been since he had passed out. However, the only option was to act like everything was normal as he knocked on the balcony door. Just to be safe, he inched his way above the ledge of the grand park, and noticed a large amount of people gathering in the area, as well as the King standing on the South bridge with his family that connects to the castle. Well shit. It looks like it has almost been an entire day. Elijah quickly flew through the gap and headed straight towards the Weltor estate. And as he was looking back, he saw a cold looking man that was following him on an ice path. The invisibility deactivated the moment he touched the balcony of Novius¡¯ room. ¡°How could you see me, and why are you following me Amaris?!¡± 21. Determination of The King Amaris slowly descended as a cold chill entered the air of Novius¡¯ room. ¡°I came to visit you three hooligans just two hours ago, and Novius told me you were missing after you put on a suit that could turn you invisible. I know a little bit about how Novius accomplished what he did due to an acquaintance of mine, so I was able to see the disappearance of light that flew by my eyes. Also, from the looks of it, you are at the bright red core stage.¡± Elijah kept backing up in confusion as it felt like he was being hunted. The words of his small upgrade in power whizzed by him like nothing. ¡°Haha, I just wanted to make sure it was you, and that you were safe. I suggest you get cleaned up and make your way to the Grand Park. Important stuff is about to happen¡­¡± A cold chill blew the hair of Elijah back as he watched a brilliant blue ice path be created in front of his eyes. The sight of a special type of magic will always brighten his mood. Elijah ran to his room, carefully took off the suit, quickly put on his nice clothes and casually jumped off the third floor balcony of the terrace. His clothes flapped in the wind as he slowed his fall onto the hard neatly paved stone. Crowds of people were gathered around not just the Grand park, but in front of the government and guild buildings in the second band. The possibility of being able to find a good place to hear what was being said was near zero. Elijah decided to be an ass and push through the crowd while saying, ¡°excuse me, I need to find my family.¡± Heinous shouts were thrown at Elijah as he slightly used his flight ability to swiftly traverse the crowd at a faster speed. Embarrassment was all over his face, however, not everyone was mean. Who in their right mind would tell a kid not to find his family? Ten minutes passed as Elijah made it substantially closer to the front of the crowd. However, not a single familiar person was seen. ¡°Hello, and who might you be?¡± Asked a middle-aged lady in a white gown. ¡°Uhh, I am Elijah.¡± ¡°What is your family name, young one?¡± The lady asked again. Elijah understood what was happening, and responded soundly. ¡°Veran, but I have been staying with the Weltor¡¯s ever since the fall of the wall. I lost them on the way here.¡± ¡°Ohh, I see. Well we are the Vandenburg¡¯s, friends of the Weltor¡¯s, so I can make sure you find them after the gathering. Is that okay?¡± The lady seemed to have a pure heart, and later introduced her sons and daughters to me. ¡°My name is Bria, and these are my sons and daughters. Cam who is thirteen years old, Isla who is eleven, and Theon and Raylen, who just recently turned ten years old. How old are you Elijah?¡± With a smile on his face, Elijah responded. ¡°I am almost nine years old, miss.¡±Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°How delightful! You three should get to know each other after the gathering!¡± Theon, Raylen, and Elijah all looked at each other with awkward smiles. The anti-social part of his childhood was creeping back on him as Elijah lost himself in his new body. BONG! A loud metal bell resounded and reverberated through the ears of the people, and instantly sent everyone into silence. After conversing with his acquaintances, the King was ready to speak. The King lifted his hand into the air to applaud the crowd of worried citizens. ¡°Welcome everyone to the gathering of the decade! I, King Astraea, am holding this gathering for three reasons. Tonight, well, honestly I have no idea what time of day it is, we will talk about the status of the kingdom, the plan to return the light, the plan to retake the outer region, and to listen to the questions of the people!¡± King Astraea stepped forward with five people by his side. ¡°Firstly, I want to introduce you all to my family, who have been affected just as much as any one of you here. Elizabeth, my beautiful wife, has lost a dear friend. Ameer, my oldest, has lost his uncle. Morgan, my second oldest, has lost her uncle. Theya, my youngest daughter, has lost her uncle. And Emmanuel, my youngest son, has lost his uncle. This is without mentioning anyone not in the Astraea family!¡± King Astraea walked to the end of the bridge that led to a high platform above the heads of the people. Using a sound magical rune, the King¡¯s voice was being transmitted all over the entirety of Centerpool. A feat that took many days to set up. ¡°Our Kingdom is in dismay! The calamity that shot rocks and ash on top of our kingdom has broken the walls of the outer region, and blocked the light from reaching our eyes. Crime has somehow made its way into our kingdom due to the madness that came without light. However, we are not prosecuting anyone out of the goodness of our hearts. Our food storages will last us six months, and there are currently Judges and Hunters working all day and night to preserve and protect the land we have left in the southeast region. I say this with utmost confidence, we will restore our Kingdom to its peak, and do so with haste! Starting tomorrow, everyone will start to see light seeping through the magical barrier. All we have been doing is investigating everything around the kingdom to determine the most efficient way at dealing with our many problems. Within three days, the light will return. And within 3 months, the outer regions will be free to travel to.¡± A group of 16 well dressed men and women were seen walking from the King¡¯s castle. ¡°The top eight Judges and Hunter Captains will be taking the lead underneath The Council for the revitalization of the kingdom! Take a good look at their faces, as you should remember them for their deeds! After the light comes back, these sixteen men and women will take their own platoon of hunters to kill and push back the beasts while in cooperation with the best of the architecture guild to repair the wall when it is safe. Since we are all about nurturing the young talents of the generations to come, Junior Hunters will also have a chance at joining the fight as long as they prove themselves worthy of the challenge. Now, it is time for any questions that have stayed in your mind, or risen due to the new information you have just received. Balal, my right hand, will call on the first people he sees with their hands high up in the sky. Please, let''s keep this punctual, so no shouting. Trust me, we will get to everyone.¡± The King took a couple steps back and calmly said, ¡°you may start.¡± Balal had chosen his first questionnaire, and it drove fear into the spines of the citizens. ¡°What happens if you fail?¡± Such a broad and sinister question to be asked first. The King hid his expression, but sighed at the stupidity of the lesser who asked this ridiculous question. ¡°WE DIE. WE CUT BACK ON FOOD. WE EAT THE MAGICAL BEASTS WHO ARE CAUSING THIS TRAVESTY. WE DO WHATEVER WE CAN TO RETAKE OUR KINGDOM, EVEN IF IT KILLS US!¡± 22. Reunite The words of fear and glory struck the people in the kingdom with an iron hammer. The reality of their situation had not sunk in to the people yet, and to tell the truth, The King and The Council are severely underplaying the situation. Ignoring a disaster in front of your eyes only happens when you live in a dystopia of rainbows and sunshine. The moment a tragedy hits, there is nothing an unconditioned mind can do, but watch. Six-thousand years of peace, to be wiped off the face of the earth by a disaster you never thought was real. True peace can never exist, as what would follow, would be nothing. ¡°I am a farmer that escaped from the outer region. How do I make money to feed my family?¡± A valid question resounded through the ears of the king as he thought of an appropriate answer. ¡°I am glad you brought that up. To any farmer who came from the outer region and does not have a way to feed your family, please go to the agriculture guild every fortnight to receive funds to support your family. Show your crest, and you will be given an appropriate amount of funds based on your needs. Housing at the moment is a bit crazy, so please nobles, if you would like to extend your hands to help even one family, please do. I know some of you have already done so, and I can¡¯t thank you enough.¡± ¡°My son wants to help the Kingdom, and he is a Junior Hunter. What does he have to do to get himself a ticket to help the outer region?¡± ¡°Excellent Question! The answer is simple, prove your worth in The Catacombs with efficient teamwork and beast killing. The outside is just as dangerous, if not more so. We need people who are not just good at killing beasts, but also good at keeping track of their surroundings.¡± After each question, a short round of applause was heard, and silenced by Balal. The applauds were not silenced in any fear inducing way, but as a protocol that the people understood to keep the question moving at a fast pace. Hours passed by, and as the king was walking up the bridge towards his magnificent castle, sweat dripped down his face, and into his open mouth with a wide smile. The confidence in his heart was evident for the people to see. ¡°Elijah, Are you still with us?¡± Bria asked, as everyone was given the signal to slowly return to their homes. ¡°Yes ma''am, I am right here.¡± Elijah quickly responded while waving his hand. All kinds of movement were seen around him as people shuttled their bodies away from the Grand Park. Just outside the 5th band, were almost endless amounts of carriages to take anyone from the inner city back to their homes. ¡°Perfect, since the Weltor Estate is just behind us, we will wait for the Weltor¡¯s right here. There is no way they would take the long way round to their home.¡± ¡°That sounds like a good plan ma''am.¡± Elijah was very worried about what he would say after the gaunt words he would receive from not just his father, but everyone in the household. However, the best case scenario would be someone in the household asking why he left, and maybe including where he went.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°So Elijah, are you going to become a Junior Hunter?¡± Theon asked as he walked towards Elijah with his brother to his side. Elijah perked his chest up and responded with confidence. His goal was to make a good impression as he was no longer scared of revealing his affinity, or at least one of his affinities that he still has to absorb. ¡°Yes, I definitely am. I am going to be outside the walls as well. Even as a first year Junior Hunter.¡± ¡°Wow, that is awesome! Me and Raylen are eyeing those positions as well. Although I can not lie, I wish we were older.¡± Those words hit Elijah like a train. His age was the only factor holding him back. Even with reaching the bright red core stage at the age of nine, there was almost nothing he could do but improve his strength as fast as possible while watching from the sidelines¡­ ¡°Yes, I do as well. However, it is best to enjoy life while you are young. I can almost guarantee that I will be wishing I was younger the moment my age starts creeping up on me.¡± ¡°Hahah, you are an interesting kid Elijah. I think you and the twins can be fantastic friends. Tell me, how is your relationship with Novius?¡± The moment Bria said those words, Elijah¡¯s name was called out by a familiar voice. Novius. ¡°Elijah! Is that you?!¡± Bria noticed this, and muttered some words under her breath. ¡°Not the best from what I can see¡­¡± However, the mood was salted way more than necessary as the deep tone of his father came into play, in public. ¡°Elijah! Why the hell did you leave for the inner city by yourself?! Do you think you can just run off whenever you want?!¡± Elijah made a big deal out of the situation by pushing his emotions into his fake reason. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I-I went to get a blade for the hunter exam. I wasn¡¯t able to get it when I went with Novius and Alexia because they didn¡¯t have any small knives on hand.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t explain why you were gone for almost a day?!¡± ¡°I left early in the morning, and was stuck in the city because I had no money. I was saved by generous people who took me in their carriage to the gathering. I¡¯m sorry father, I won¡¯t ever do something like that again¡­¡± Elijah was able to tell that his father was affected by the madness of the darkness. Phloria, who was pushing father in his wheelchair made by George, had tears running down her cheeks as not a single sound escaped from her mouth. Maybe she was just as angry, but didn¡¯t want to make a scene in public. Novius and Alexia hugged Elijah for completely different reasons right after the family of Elijah finished up their hugs and kisses. ¡°I hope you know you have to talk about what happened tonight right?¡± Novius quietly whispered in his ear during his brief and friendly hug. A nod was seen from Elijah, and moments later, the Weltor household began walking and talking. Dried fruit snacks were handed out to everyone as they entered the estate by the butler. Mango and blueberries were on the snack menu tonight as immune and brain support from the vitamin C and anthocyanidins. Elijah was probably the only person in this world who knew the specific reasons why the kingdom lived specific ways. However, were the specific reasons even necessary, when they came to mostly the same conclusions as Elijah, just by feeling what was right? The door to the oversized bedroom closed, and seconds later, a simple phrase was spoken. ¡°What took you so long, idiot? Elijah tried to laugh off his fear by telling them the extremities of every event during his exploration, and what Novius wanted to be a simple test of his suit. 23. Lightbringer ¡°So you are telling me you flew into the whirlpool, found a cave entrance full of mana crystals and a giant glowing mushroom, barely escaped a giant green and black poison spider, fell underneath the whirlpool, ended up in a cave where an unknown man healed your wounds, and casually joined the gathering like nothing happened?!¡± Novius¡¯ confused and angry expression of the events Elijah told his friends made Alexia giggle, but was immediately snapped back into line by Novius¡¯ cold stare. Novius was only angry because he almost lost his friend that he only just reunited with. Also, Elijah completely ignored the thirty minute time limit based on the fact that he voluntarily went into The Catacombs. Elijah began thinking of ways to compensate for his lack of carefulness by showing his loot. ¡°Guys, I am sorry, but I wanted to use my power to explore. And I was even able to get some special loot!¡± Two large mana crystals appeared one after another on the coffee table of Novius¡¯ bedroom. A grayish-white and blue glow brightened the eyes of the three almost ten year old kids. ¡°Are those affinity crystals?!¡± Novius and Alexia both responded with the exact same words. They were nothing short of amused, and it seemed to hide their discomfort of Elijah¡¯s decisions. ¡°Yes, I got them from the large cave I went into. I am going to focus on absorbing the water affinity, and Alexia, I want you to absorb the air affinity.¡± ¡°I have to say Elijah, this is pretty incredible. I suppose since you made it back in one piece, I will let this slide as long as the suit made it back with you.¡± ¡°Excellent! However, I do want to tell you that the suit is only slightly damaged. The runes are in perfect condition, but there is a cut in the suit on the back of the legs.¡± Novius sighed as the idea of everything being okay went away. Chances are, Elijah is underplaying the severity of the damage. Elijah had a conversation with Alexia about how to absorb the affinity. It would most likely be a three day process, however, with Alexia already preparing her ability to sense mana, it may take only two days. ¡°I wish you all good night, I will probably be up all night working on the absorption of the affinity.¡± Elijah left with words of grace after placing his affinity crystal into his spatial storage. With one month before turning ten years old and being able to join the Junior Hunters, Elijah only wanted to grow as strong as possible, even if it meant leaving his friends behind. Alexia was someone he was worried for. Novius, on the other hand, was someone who Elijah knew had talent, even if he hadn¡¯t seen it just yet. Children are not allowed to spar or test their magical abilities until they either join the Junior Hunters, or the magical academy around thirteen or fourteen years old. The only exception is if you are a noble with a battleground in The Catacombs. Elijah wished his father and mother a goodnight, and immediately threw off his nice clothes and replaced them with sleeping clothes. Simple loose cotton fabrics made for breathability and comfort. Looks and design mean nothing in this case. The deep blue glowing affinity appeared on the soft bed as Elijah sat into a criss cross position. The energy he felt after softly placing his hands on the cold crystal instantly started flowing through him and mixing with his core. Both cold and warm sensations washed over his body, and within fifteen minutes, Elijah stopped due to exhaustion. He knew this was not a normal occurrence based on him watching his brother absorb an earth affinity crystal. However, Elijah was in no way normal. With already having an affinity, something unexpected was bound to happen.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Ahhh, I am finished. Goodnight¡­¡± Elijah laid back into his pillow and instantly fell asleep. The window in his room was completely blacked out, which is why he did not see the light returning to the kingdom. -{Above the Magical Barrier}- ¡°Rafe! I need you to spread your earth blanket out more.¡± Just above the magical barrier in the center of the kingdom, three individuals were either standing on the rocks and ash, or flying above it. Amaris, the Ice Judge, along with Leah and Rafe, the Air and Earth Judges, were starting the efforts to bring back the light. By laying a thin sheet of ice underneath all the rock and ash, then reinforcing it with a layer of earth, Leah, the Air Judge is able to lift a set area of rocks and ash off of the magical barrier. This strategy was developed by no one other than Devan, the Water Judge who was also one of the kingdom''s best strategist¡¯s. ¡°Haha! Excellent work! I¡¯m sure the kingdom is going to be buzzing after seeing the light. Half of them are probably asleep!¡± After three hours of clearing the area above half of Centerpool, Amaris created an ice path to get a better view of the world around him. The first thing he noticed was the insane amount of beasts on the northwest side of the kingdom, with the odd fact being that none of them were fighting each other. The tall and dense forest to the east and west seemed to be normal, but the bone structure that was originally to the southwest, had moved much closer to the southwest side of the wall. Was it Alive? -{3rd Band, Weltor Estate}- What seemed like an infinite beach filled with palm trees and abandoned wooden shacks was illuminated by a sunset that Elijah was staring into. What seemed like real life was a dream, a lucid dream. Thoughts of his past were washing over his mind like the undulating waves of the ocean. The people in his past were coming back to haunt him. Not the bad memories, but the good ones that left him with a sense of sadness and nostalgia. Being unable to control his thoughts, Elijah voiced his opinion. ¡°IS THIS SUPPOSED TO BE SOME TYPE OF TORTURE!¡± Elijah assumed this was the work of whoever brought him here. Because based on the memories of the different phrases in his head, what seemed like bits and pieces of a conversation, made him think this was not meant to be. And more so, that it was a conversation that happened between death and life. Up until now, Elijah has many important affairs of the world. Starting with the idea of embodying the concept of your element into the magic you cast. The idea of him being the ¡°Opposite of corrupted¡± intrigues him, especially with his confrontations with Abel, and how he described himself as being corrupted. ¡°Elijah! Elijah!¡± The sound of knocks and his name being called woke him up. But the moment he got out of bed, he noticed the slight glow that came from behind the blackout curtain. Light! Elijah quickly opened the door, completely ignored Novius, and ran down the stairs and out the front door. The bright light that was not directly from the sun as it was not visible from the large hole in the ceiling, forced Elijah to harshly squint his eyes in anguish. Beneath the slight burning sensation was an open smile that collected the tears running down his face. 24. Absorption George slapped his feet on the concrete of the porch, and expressed his thoughts. ¡°Everyone! Please get inside and do not damage your eyes! The darkness has made us sensitive to the light. We must slowly recuperate ourselves by viewing the light through the glass.¡± Elijah knew this from the get go. It was as if the kingdom was moving through a darkened tunnel straight into the light of the day. Everyone¡¯s sleep schedules were incredibly messy, and due to this, the King told everyone to put their effort into falling asleep at a normal time when the light returns, no matter what. The kingdom needed to get back on its feet, and with everyone operating at half power, time would be lost. With it being dinner time based on the position of the sun, George explained to the household that a buffet style dinner will be served in one hour. Steaks, cooked greens, gelatinous soups, and fruit. The amino acid profile of the dinner will help all of the guests ease their way into sleep. Although Elijah was the only person who knew of the specific reason, the fact that the kingdom had come to this conclusion had impressed him. Elijah grabbed a salted glass of water, and left the group after conversing with Novius and Alexia about his plans to continue absorbing his affinity. The glass of lightly salted water coated his dry mouth that was only dry due to his mouth breathing while he slept. Mouth Breathing was something he tried his best to avoid, and to build proper muscle memory early on in his life, due to the problems it caused to the bone structure of his skull in his past life. Surprisingly, one hour quickly passed by as Elijah let his mind wander during the absorption process. Already, the affinity crystal had dimmed signifying that the absorption had progressed significantly. His theory was that since he already has a basic control on mana, absorbing an affinity crystal will take much less time compared to being a beginner, which he never was¡­ A delectable dinner was served as the people of the Weltor Estate joined at different times, overlapping each other. ¡°Ahem, I hear Alexia was able to obtain an air affinity. Was that your doing Elijah?¡± George somehow found out of the affinity situation, and Elijah had no honest way of explaining its origins other than his solo ¡°trip to the inner city¡±, which never actually happened. ¡°That was the other half of the reason why I was gone. Novius has already turned ten years old, and is waiting for me to turn ten, and Alexia to get an affinity so we can take the hunter exam together.¡± George lifted his head in sadness, which was not surprising as he knew what was coming. ¡°Listen very well, young ones. Life is not so simple right now to where you can simply wait for your friends. Novius, please take the hunter exam as quickly as possible. Once you succeed, pass on the information to Elijah and Novius, which will help them greatly. You shouldn¡¯t allow yourself to be held back by your peers.¡± Elijah was too comfortable in his past life, and still not used to the harsh reality of this world. Practically everyone in the kingdom was training to kill or be killed. I am trying to hold onto ideas that can disappear with a wave of a hand, or a slash of a claw. He needed to overcome this barrier, a barrier he probably wouldn¡¯t fully understand until he is truly at the brink of death, a cornered rat. ¡°I agree, Novius. Please take the hunter exam, and do not tell us the details. I understand that Julian¡¯s intel of a battle with a caged beast no longer applies, and I already have a good guess at what it will be.¡±The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Oh, do tell!¡± George replied as he sat up in his seat. ¡°Obviously the reason why hunter exams are being held almost every day is because they need all the help they can get with dealing with the beasts outside the walls. So the simplest solution to weed out the trash, is by having the exam be an exploration into The Catacombs. With a party of course¡­¡± ¡°You are absolutely right. If the older children were here, they would be thoroughly impressed by your deduction. I assume this myself as well.¡± George was rather impressed by an almost ten year old¡¯s thinking. Elijah, however, was not. Julian, along with Novius¡¯ and Alexia¡¯s siblings had just left for a three day exploration in the early part of the catacombs, to manage the beasts that could potentially reach the settlements. Elijah¡¯s time was inching closer. As dinner settled, the trio went for a short walk while they talked about their plans for helping Alexia improve as fast as possible. Dark bags were underneath the eyes of each child as they theorized every possible spell that can be created with the element of air. ¡°So to recap, the names are as follows, which are there only to help you remember what each one does. Air blade¡­ air shield¡­ air wave¡­ tornado¡­ and wind torrent, which is a large amount of different air currents that collide with one another. That spell should be your last resort as it will take a very large portion of your mana.¡± ¡°This all sounds great! Thank you for the help. I do wish I had a staff, maybe I could use my air magic on the staff to create strong spells?¡± Novius was surprised by Elijah¡¯s imagination. He had never heard of the word ¡°tornado¡± before. ¡°Good work Elijah. I leave tomorrow, so by the time I get back, I expect to see these wind spells you came up with! Also, Elijah, I wanted to tell you some time ago, but the invisible suit is working again. However I won¡¯t let you use it again until you become a Junior Hunter.¡± The trio retired to their rooms and focused on absorbing their affinities. A cold and humid wind erupted from Elijah¡¯s body after another two hours of losing himself in his mind, while absorbing the affinity crystal. However, inside his soul, sat two affinities, which he was only able to ¡°feel¡± due to him absorbing a second affinity. The space and water affinity did not mix, but instead appeared overlapping each other an uncountable number of times. Elijah¡¯s blue eyes opened, and seconds later, a ball of water appeared in his palm. With a single thought of his mind, the ball of water rippled, and separated as Elijah manipulated the space in the environment. The potential! The principles of water that come to mind are to be always flowing, everchanging, malleable, and absorbing. Elijah created a slim barrier of water that floated in mid-air. While focusing on the continuation of his spell, he struck the floating puddle, and watched as fist simply rested on the water, while at the same time, ripples eluded from the water. Elijah understood that this was not reality, as the quality or strength of the mana meant everything almost one-hundred percent of the time. However, there had to be a way to use water magic in a similar way to get the same effect as his portal of transference, which is what he calls a redirection spell using two connected portals. A spell that differentiates itself from the harsh differences of magical power. 25. Possibilities ¡°Welcome back children! Dinner is waiting for you, so please put your backpacks down and join us!¡± George greeted all of the Junior Hunters who just spent one week in The Catacombs as a way to test their prowess and mind. Unfortunately, Julian is very behind his peers considering he is only a solid red core mage, and was grouped up with the new ten year old hunters. He was considered the father and strategist of his group. Eaton and Isla with their Fire and Water affinities, are going to be joining the magic academy as dark yellow core mages, which is an incredible feat. They will surely be placed in the strongest class of their year. With Beatrix only being twelve years old, she still has some time to spend in The Catacombs. Mike, Sinclair''s oldest, will be joining the magic academy as a solid orange mage, which will put him in the lowest class. Due to only getting an affinity at ten years old, and not having a way to grow stronger for some time, this is to be expected. Julia, on the other hand is showing prowess as a support water mage who will continue to travel to the catacombs. ¡°Novius, please tell us about your time in The Catacombs.¡± Alexia asked. Novius and Elijah had already been grinning at each other since the moment they sat down. They both had a desire for the culling of the beasts, and had a goal to participate in the front lines. ¡°It has been too easy. All I am doing is striking the low level beasts with a bolt of lightning, and then watching them be incinerated or smashed to pieces by my comrades. Not to mention me also incinerating beasts with a simple wave of my hand.¡± George chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s unfortunate to hear. I was hoping being a hunter would challenge you, but maybe I was wrong. Maybe this means you will focus more on your learning of magitech?¡± Elijah quickly responded knowing Novius¡¯ motives. ¡°This is nothing more than a test. I find it obvious that the higher ups have taken note of Novius¡¯s prowess. And with us being new hunters, the chances are slim if we don¡¯t separate ourselves from the white noise. Novius, trust me, when Alexia and I join the hunters in three days, do whatever you can to pair up with us. Strong groups should get chances to go to more dangerous parts of The Catacombs.¡± ¡°You are absolutely right Elijah. The people who prove themselves by not just showing your personal battle prowess, but also teamwork, are the people chosen to take on the more daunting hunts.¡± Isla replied to Elijah with a smile. Elijah added one more idea to the table. ¡°Also, Raylen and Theon Vandenburg are Junior Hunters, and I met them the night of the gathering. We should try to form a group with them as soon as we can. I can tell they are going to be some formidable people.¡± Dinner ended with the maids and butler grabbing everyone¡¯s dishes. However, just before everyone left the dining hall, George spoke once more. ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to tell you all this, but just four days ago, a large group of hunters, along with a couple Junior hunters, were massacred by a newly discovered beast in The Catacombs. I tell you this not as a source of fear, but as a source of motivation.¡±The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Muttering sounds were heard coming from Elijah and Novius as they slumped up the chairs. The door of Novius¡¯ room slammed shut, and the trio began working on their magic. ¡°Alexia, show me the different spells you can do in small sizes and without fully releasing the spell.¡± Novius asked. Alexia nodded as both of her hands rose to the height of her chest. Small gusts of wind flowing in a circle created a mini stationary tornado that swirled violently. The books laying on the coffee table opened due to the wind. After showing Novius her control of air magic, Novius congratulated her on her progress. However, something was itching the back of Elijah¡¯s mind. Air is the element she is manipulating. However, the spells Alexia and I came up with embody the principle of wind, moving currents of air, which is by far the simplest and most roundabout way of using air magic. Elijah threw out a long shot of a question that turned the head of Novius as he was walking towards his bed. ¡°Alexia, can you try sucking the air out of the space in front of us, which would make it impossible to breathe?¡± ¡°What? I kind of understand what you are talking about, but how would that be possible?¡± ¡°You have the ability to manipulate the element of air. Currently, you are just creating different wind currents. There is a lot more to air than just wind.¡± Novius applauded Elijah¡¯s words of intelligence. Not only had he opened the eyes of Alexia and her magical possibilities, but it made Novius sit down in peace in his bed to carefully think about the possibilities. Up until now, Novius has only used lightning to destroy and immortalize his enemies by shooting lightning in different shapes, or creating lightning current from his body to his enemy. ¡°Uhh, I just can¡¯t do it. I feel like I understand how it should be done, but I just can¡¯t do it!¡± Alexia was drained after trying something she had never even heard of. Elijah suspected she needed to progress her core to have the ability to do something advanced like sucking the air out of space, or pulling the oxygen out of the air. Elijah took a couple steps back and told Elijah to slowly practice her control over her known spells. After only an hour of practicing magical control with Alexia and working on his own water based abilities, Elijah slumped onto the couch and thought about how he was going to display his abilities. Flight is something that can be used as a movement boost that can speed up my steps, shoot me in any direction, and catch my fall without being noticed. My space ability would hold his knife that he would secretly take out if needed. Although, I am thinking about obtaining a sword. My water magic abilities are similar to my spatial abilities. The only difference being the principles of each element. Hopefully my idea of redirecting the flow of energy works. A punch to my water barrier will allow me to use that magical or kinetic energy to counter. My only suspicion is that with a huge gap in magical power, my water barrier will instantly shatter causing my counter to be void of any effect. At the crack of dawn, the trio is seen making their own breakfast in the kitchen of the estate. The day for the exam had come, and Elijah had wanted to partake in a hobby that brought him great health. Cooking! Chicken, soft pan-fried eggs, and milk were on the menu. An emphasis on protein will keep him satiated longer, although Elijah did use fresh soft dates with blueberries and cocoa to make his own homemade date bars that he stored in his spatial storage. After becoming a bright red core mage, the amount of mana he could use allowed him to create a bigger spatial storage spell. George, and the rest of the adults walked into the room with a smile on his face. ¡°Are you two mentally prepared for what is to happen today? This is no longer a simple test, but a possible death sentence.¡± Elijah was the first to respond. ¡°We are ready George! You can trust me to protect Alexia Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair.¡± Phloria wheeled Don over to Elijah and their words of grace. ¡°Please be careful honey.¡± ¡°After what I saw at the gate, this will be a breeze for you.¡± The entire household besides Novius and Alexia, had no idea Elijah had absorbed a second affinity. The weight of holding a secret to the public''s eyes, and another to everyone he cares about, is heavy. 26. Entitlement A small purple and white closed carriage arrived at the Weltor Estate. Efficiently, a finely dressed white eyed man stepped off of the front cabin and greeted George in the carriage court. After a brief conversation, two young three young children dressed in simple battle attire walked through the door. Patterned leather padding on all the right places, with different colored cloth clothes underneath. ¡°Are you three Elijah, Alexia, and Novius?¡± The fine man asked. ¡°Yes, that is us.¡± Elijah responded to the group and was waved into the carriage. A carriage service can be called to a specific location to pick up any hunters going on expeditions or exams. These carriages are set up by letter, or scheduled service. The ride was bumpy as usual, as rubber had never been invented or crafted. However, the sights we all saw as we looked out the window were immaculate. It had only been a month since the light returned, and also the life of the kingdom. ¡°Novius, where exactly do we go once we arrive?¡± Alexia nervously asked. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I probably won¡¯t even have to show you. The past month, the hunter guilds have been overcrowded with people, whether that be examinees or hunters. The moment you walk inside we will be greeted and asked for our intentions. Although, I don¡¯t even think you will have to walk inside.¡± Novius¡¯ answer didn¡¯t settle Alexia¡¯s mind, but made her even more nervous. For anyone in the kingdom, uncharted territory was something not explored often. The carriage pulled into the umbrella shaped driveway of the Inner West Hunter Guild being that both Elijah and Alexia came from the Outer West. If they passed the hunter exam, they would be working specifically on the west side, and due to the problems with the northwest, this hunter guild building was heavily populated. Everyone wanted to contribute to the kingdom. The moment the trio stepped out of the carriage, they saw dozens of people waiting underneath the driveway apron supported by riveted stone columns. A tall man with curly blonde hair and brown eyes quickly walked up to the trio. ¡°If you are here to take the exam, please join the line on the right side. If you are a returning Junior Hunter, please walk around to the side door on the left.¡± Elijah nodded and shook the hand of Novius, and left with Alexia after she did the same. However, as they were walking towards the long line, Elijah heard words out of the side of his ear. ¡°You must be Novius with those dashing golden eyes. Please, follow me, the guild master is awaiting your arrival.¡± Dammit, it seems like that magitech prodigy is also a beast killing prodigy. I thought he said his experience was boring so far! Confidently, Elijah tapped on the shoulder of the girl in front of him. However, I was surprised to see her jump in shock. ¡°Hey, I wanted to introduce myself, my name is Elijah.¡± ¡°So you know the rules of the exam?¡± The girl responded without even giving her name in return. ¡°No, but I suspect we either pick people, or are randomly grouped with people. The only unknown being how many people are in a group.¡±The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. The girl smiled. ¡°It is six to a group. My name is Cora by the way, sorry for being so¡­ distant. I¡¯ve had a rough life and only want to prove myself. Nobles have always taken advantage of me through their lies and deception¡­¡± ¡°We are no nobles, but were taken in by nobles after the calamity in the Outer Northwest. I understand your grief, but you must know not every noble is bad.¡± Elijah responded with sincerity. The girl in front of him had dark bags underneath her eyes, which was a sign of poor sleep, nutrient deficiency, and likely pointed to her living in The Catacombs, or a heavily populated place in the inner city. ¡°Wow. I am sorry. As part of my forgiveness, would you like to team up with me? I have a unique affinity that you can probably guess based on my eye color. I suspect you have a water affinity right?¡± Cora apologized by bowing. Happily, Elijah and Alexia both agreed and continued introducing themselves and talking to each other about strategy as the line moved forward. More people joined the line from behind them and did not bother to create conversation due to the newly formed trio continuing to talk. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Niko, but you have no choice but to join the next group. There is a maximum of six per exam party.¡± Said the man at the exam kiosk just outside the side door of the building. Niko looked behind him at the people next up in line. Two girls and four boys, with only two of them looking like nobles. ¡°Hey you, what is your name?¡± The man in question was Elijah, an average height ten year old with seemingly above average clothing on. ¡°Elijah.¡± Elijah acted nonchalantly, ignoring the obvious entitlement radiating from the red eyed youth dressed in fancy attire. ¡°Elijah? That¡¯s it?¡± ¡°Yea, would you like to join our group? I¡¯m sure you won¡¯t be disappointed .¡± Elijah¡¯s words seemed to shut him up as he started to play along with his inevitability. ¡°Ahem. The Six next in line, I need your full names.¡± ¡°Niko Trident¡± ¡°Elijah Veran¡± ¡°Alexia Sinclair¡± ¡°Cora Boone¡± ¡°Ben Canter¡± ¡°Trey Amphin¡± After a couple of minutes of writing down the six names in the seemingly simplistic Kotun language, the group was brought inside into a small room where a formally dressed woman was standing. This woman had a short skirt, with revealing attire that accentuated her medium sized breasts. Niko hadn¡¯t even noticed her dark green eyes that had a purple tint. Elijah¡¯s guess was a poison affinity, and he was spot on. ¡°Welcome ladies and gents, my name is Alessia, and I am going to be overseeing your exam. Unfortunately, it is quite a busy day, so please allow me to talk for the next five minutes without any interruptions, and then we will hop in a carriage to head to the catacombs. To start, the six of you are heading to a zone full of red core beasts. Your objective is to survive for one hour without any outside help, while continuing to advance and kill the beasts. The beasts you will be facing are only red cores beasts. Your roles are not only important to the exam, but also to the survival of the people in the catacombs. We need your help as our more powerful hunters are busy training and fighting outside the city. I will be overseeing you in the background and will save anyone who is close to death. Whether you pass or not will be determined by your contribution and potential I see in you. Now please, follow me.¡± The large carriage took them down a semi-steep stone path, directly into the catacombs. All Elijah could do was look around as the blatant complaining comments of the privileged noble passed over his head. If Elijah had the chance, and this Niko kid was in danger, he would gladly run to save his own life. The familiar sight of glowing plants and vines lit up the simply crafted stone building that lined the large tunnels and caverns of The Catacombs. The humid air created by the moisture that dripped from the ceiling showed in the deeper breaths of the children. Elijah knew there was a chance of something out of the ordinary happening. And even with his seasoned mind, he could feel from his last beast encounters, he was becoming more of a child. Hesitation, weakness, everything that could spell his death. The difference between his strength against the ice bears poison spiders, was that he had people to protect. People that had made an imprint on his new life. His idea of freedom was changing, as he found himself thinking of relying on the people around him. 27. Without A Plan The sound of many footsteps creating splashing sounds through the small puddles on the roughly paved concrete echoed through the cavern. The footsteps were the only sound heard once the group exited the residential area. Carriages were not allowed after a certain point, as the noise was too loud and would constantly attract beasts speeding up their advance. A voice resounded through the cavern and caused the party of six to look behind them. The poisonous and seductive woman was standing far behind them. ¡°This is where I leave you. I will be watching from afar, in places where you cannot see or notice me. Now go kill some beasts!¡± The first one to start walking forward was Niko. His fist grew flames that illuminated the pitch black area in front of them while the other held his sword, and the rest of the group slowly followed, starting with Elijah. Conversations were started by Niko as he confidently walked through the dimly lit darkness. ¡°I need to know everyone¡¯s affinity.¡± Elijah had water, Alexia had air, Cora had ice, Ben had earth, and Trey also had earth. ¡°Tch, it looks like we are well rounded with three offensive affinities. Me and Cora will stay in the front with Ben, the rest of you, look around our surroundings and provide offensive and defensive support.¡± To Elijah, it seemed Niko had a knack for ordering people around, or simply experience which he gained from being a noble. With the Weltor¡¯s being a magitech family, they did not have access to a training ground, or family expeditions into The Catacombs like Elijah assumed Niko had. The only light source were the fists of flames that came from Niko. The eeriness of not seeing anything within twenty five feet of the light was constantly washing over them, as if they were being watched. A small rock fell from the ceiling, and Niko instantly threw a small layer of fire in the direction of the ceiling. What no one had noticed before, were the mass amounts of red dots hanging from the ceiling. ¡°Blood Bats! Attack!¡± Niko commenced the attack with a battle cry. Elijah was jolted by the fact he did not notice them before. Considering their name, these bats had something to do with blood. A thin layer of water was erected from Elijah, and slowly pushed toward the ceiling that was more than eighty feet tall. The bats had dispersed, and Elijah¡¯s plan was to catch a large amount of them in his water, and manipulate the water to drown the bats. Fire balls, icicles, and air blades were being thrown at the horde of bats rapidly flying towards the group. A mucus like blood was falling from the sky and painting everything and everyone red. And the horrid smell clogged the sinuses of the hunters, who were barely able to see out of their eyes. Elijah knew what was happening with him being at the back of the formation, he signaled to Alexia and Trey to back up as fast as possible. The bats did not care how many of them died. As long as their blood continued to spread, their goal would be achieved. ¡°NIKO! GET OUT OF THE WAY! Alexia and Trey! Continue protecting us!¡± Elijah brought his hands together, and a large amount of water surged out of the environment close to his body. With the seductress watching, he needed to be careful with how he used his magic. A massive ten foot tall tidal wave was pushed forward towards the puddles of blood that cleaned the cavern and battle ground. Without knowing how many bats there were, they couldn¡¯t just stay in one place and continue to throw different spells. That would literally spell their exhaustion and failure.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Niko, Cora, and Ben quickly ran to the sides of the cavern and were splashed by water that completely soaked them. Not even seconds later, the now two groups started to spread out, as they all realized the goal of the blood bats. Different elemental spells were thrown for not even five minutes as the blood bats were completely massacred. With Elijah knowing he shouldn¡¯t waste mana, he did not clean all of the blood on the floor again. But instead regrouped with everyone as they continued travelling deeper through the cavern. Niko started the conversation. ¡°Haha, that was rather messy! I wonder what we will encounter next.¡± Elijah and Alexia were not happy, Niko ran into a fight he didn¡¯t need to run into. However, the blood bats did have some time of plan cooking up in the background that they likely had to release early. Elijah dedicated to gauge his reaction to see what kind of kid this noble is. ¡°You''re an idiot Niko, We could¡¯ve played that much smarter instead of calling out to the bats that we found¡­¡± Niko stopped and turned around with a smile on his face. ¡°Oh, and what did you think was the correct way to approach that fight? The bats were right above us!¡± ¡°Give us a signal to the situation, so we can launch a surprise attack while they are thinking we don¡¯t see them.¡± ¡°What?! These are beasts, not people. When they see people, they attack! Why don¡¯t you leave the strategy to me, water mage. The only thing you are good at is cleaning up¡­¡± Niko stomped his feet on the ground and continued walking forward. Everyone slowly looked at Elijah with confused expressions besides Alexia, as if they were on Niko¡¯s side. What they didn¡¯t understand was that those bats had a plan of attack. The humidity was rising in the atmosphere, and sounds of water dropping into more than just puddles echoed in the distance. The glowing flowers and vines returned to light up the area in front of them, which led the group to a large spherical opening similar to the giant mushroom cave, but just much smaller. Niko put his hands to the side and whispered. ¡°Everyone stop. Beasts ahead of us. Time for a surprise attack.¡± A small drop-off was the only hurdle they had to overcome to enter the cavern filled with many water pools, and rock formations that added different layers of cover. Ben and Trey used precise control of their earth magic to slowly create a ramp that led to the ground, and was surprised that one was not already there. Maybe a way to limit the number of beasts from going near the civilians? Niko led the group of six slowly down the path, and split up into their previous groups behind two close rock formations. Their goal was to get a good look at the beasts they were dealing with. Elijah overheard words coming from Niko¡¯s mouth. ¡°Kappa¡¯s, brown beetles, and cancrix¡¯s.¡± A confused expression washed over Elijah¡¯s face as he saw the trio of Niko, Cora, and Ben jumping out from their cover, while throwing different spells. Elijah had no knowledge of anything but the brown beetles, and subsequently leapt around to the opposite side of the rock formation and came face to face with a humanoid looking turtle. This turtle, known as a kappa, had a severe slouch due to the heavy shell on its back, crooked teeth that sat inside a pointed beak, a long spiked tongue, and the hair of a normal person with very messed up hormones. A bald top with small hairs protruding from the side of its head. The saliva filled growl it gave off when face to face with Elijah made his insides churn. What does this guy eat?! Alexia moved back and quietly yelled for Elijah to duck. Trey had erected a small earth barrier on the side of Elijah¡¯s crouching body, and moments later was lightly hit in the head by the head of a beast. Its head had fallen off and blue colored blood was running out of his neck. Loud explosions were heard on the other side of the cavern, but the trio had no time to think, and only time to act. Elijah recovered his mentality after coming face to face with a weird looking creature, and followed Ben and Alexia who seemed to have cool heads. Simple air blades and earth horns were being thrown from the two mages that were doing zero damage to the hard carapaces of the beasts. It seemed everything in this cavern had a hard shell on their back, and can only be killed from the front. 28. Insanity The large groups of different collaborating beasts turned their heads towards the puny hunters targeting their lives. Inaudible words and screams that seemed to have no meaning were taunted, and moments later, different water, metal, and earth spells were sent toward both trios on both sides of the cavern. Elijah was furious as the trio returned to behind the large rock formation while Trey was busy erecting different sized earth walls to give them more options for cover when dealing with these beasts. So far no one was hurt, which would be a problem since Elijah had no idea how to use healing water magic. ¡°NIKO YOU IDIOT!¡± Elijah yelled at the kid who was going to be the death of them all. ¡°We have to face these beasts head on, their shells are hard. That spikey crab uses metal magic, so be careful.¡± Elijah quickly gave Alexia and Trey a battle plan, and then quickly shot out to the right where the different beasts were walking slowly toward them. Speed seemed to be their weakness, so Elijah slightly used his flight ability to target outliers closer to the wall of the cavern. Small blades of water were sent through the soft skin of the humanoid turtles, and waves of water submerged and drowned the spikey crabs. Thanks to the ruckus on the left side of the cavern, the beast''s attention was mainly focused on them, even when they caught sight of the weak looking trio. After returning to the section of earth walls, Elijah erected a water barrier to give them time to observe their surroundings. Two large cave entrances on the far side of the cavern were seen, which is where these beasts migrated from. However, during this time, Elijah had an idea pop into his head. Both hands raised to his chest as he sent a wave of water into the large pool of water, which added to his spell and moved toward a group of ten beasts. With exceptional control, Elijah watched as the beasts struggled to remove themselves from a bubble of water that seemed to be slightly moving in a vortex motion. Dead. All the beasts died, and all Elijah had to do was combine his own water magic with the mana filled water in the environment. Suddenly, a loud explosion was heard that shortly illuminated the beasts with large shadows. Elijah ran around the left side of the cavern after signaling to his group. ¡°We need to regroup with them!¡± Both Alexia and Trey nodded and followed along while releasing small attacks that would slightly damage the beasts in between the rock formations and water pools. The sight that they saw was a large pool of blood with a familiar person laying on top of it. Ben. A prism shaped piece of metal was pierced into the center of his abdomen. Death was a certainty. Elijah¡¯s knees buckled at the sight of the scene. However, after seeing Niko and Cora completely okay, he was angered. This probably wouldn¡¯t have happened if¡­ Alexia started screaming. ¡°WHERE IS THE EXAMINER! WHERE IS THE EXAMINER!¡± But was later startled by Elijah¡¯s laughs. ¡°Hahahaha, THIS IS REAL LIFE!¡± The sight of blood and guts spilling out of a fellow human caused his world to flip upside down. The idea that this was something that was truly happening was having trouble hitting Elijah¡¯s mind. In desperation, Elijah¡¯s madness creeped out of his mouth resulting in the screams of both Cora, Niko, and Ben. Elijah had gone insane.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH HIM! HELP US KILL THESE BEASTS! ONE OF THEM HAS AN ORANGE CORE!¡± The words of Niko resonated through the mind of everyone but Elijah, and they went to work at throwing different spells at the abnormally large spikey crab with a metal tail. However, every attack did absolutely no damage to this strong beast, but only angered it. Simple elements were not going to work. Only ice, and with Cora¡¯s simplistic view of her element, death was inevitable. Elijah stood up on his feet once he noticed a humanoid turtle walking towards him from behind. The rhythmic zombie-like footsteps woke him up, and with a wave of his hand, the turtle fell to the floor with the top half of its body hitting first. Elijah was in his feelings, and trying to understand why it was such a burden to feel and view the sights around him. It didn¡¯t feel real. However, one fact was true. Elijah cared for Alexia, and also was his motivation to preserve the lives of everyone around him. The quick steps of Elijah astonished everyone fighting for their lives, and they quickly saw a distortion in the space in front of them. The tail of the metal cancrix had been cleanly chopped off, and what followed was its body being split in half directly after a metal spike tore through a crack in the fabric of space. ¡°What the he¨C?!¡± The remaining beasts and humans went silent at the sight of a strong figure being so easily defeated. And after regaining confidence, the group joined to finish the fight, but was left in despair as the aftermath of emotions coming from Trey echoed through the cavern. Niko was the first to speak after incinerating the final kappa, the humanoid turtle. ¡°Were you hiding your strength?! What kind of affinity is that?!¡± Questions only made by everyone but Alexia were ignored by the seemingly unstable Elijah. ¡°Don¡¯t ask, don¡¯t tell. Obviously, that seductress is no longer watching us, as she would have stopped or killed that beast. The lady told us we would only be fighting red core beasts, but that was obviously not a red core beast as it looks like an evolved version of the smaller metal crab. Let¡¯s head back.¡± Trey was angry and full of tears, and expressed his anger towards Elijah. ¡°Y-you! You could have saved him! He was my friend!¡± A punch was thrown towards Elijah¡¯s face, which he did not dodge.¡± Bam! The left cheek of Elijah¡¯s face felt a slight impact that was weakened by the despair of the attacker. ¡°Let¡¯s leave, I assume it has not been even half an hour yet. There is no reason to continue.¡± ¡°NO! We have to pass this exam! With that power you have, we have to continue.¡± Niko wanted to pass this exam more than anything, after all, this was his second attempt according to something Trey said earlier when the group split up. Elijah thought about the idea, and decided to continue. His reasons for returning were childish, as he could not erase the past, even when he believed it was not his fault. ¡°Okay, I agree. But you must follow my lead. Ben would not have lost his life if we communicated with each other and organized an attack. Especially if you would have told us about these beasts, second-timer.¡± ¡°How do you know about that?¡± Niko asked with a red face. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Let¡¯s get this over with already. I won¡¯t hide my power anymore, which is just a useless affinity that only works against metal. If you tell anyone about it, I won¡¯t do anything, because like I said, my second affinity is worthless that I wouldn''t even call it an affinity.¡± Niko calmed his emotions and stood his head up. He was scared that someone his age was stronger than him. With his unique way of using fire to create explosions, he was definitely filled with confidence. 29. Sneaky Preparations Emotions were high, and after setting down the limp body of Ben against the ramp the earth mages created, they took five minutes to recuperate as much mana as possible. If Alessia found them hanging out, the chance of them failing would be high. The whole point of this test was to prove their worth. Elijah led the group through the dim cavern. ¡°Trey, please make arrows in the earth every now and then to make sure we don¡¯t get lost. Part of the test is also to return safely, as the examiner is no longer here.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± The voices of the group of five were silently walking through the dry cavern. Alexia was uncomfortably close to Elijah as they walked silently while closely observing their surroundings. The dim green and purple glows coming from the plants gave them enough visibility to see around the seventy foot wide cavern, but didn¡¯t allow them to see what lies at the end. However, three minutes of walking allowed them to see an incredible sight, what Elijah would consider the main event of the exam. Tall coliseum-like pillars that were in no way man-made rose to the ceiling and the sides of the walls in unorganized patterns. A small waterfall with a small yellow tint fell from a ledge of what seemed like the second level of a cave with much more to show. Flowers, vines, lily pads, and dripstones were littered around the small pond created by the waterfall before it flowed into a small hole on the right side of the cave. Lone blood bats flapping their wings and dripstones created sounds that echoed through the cavern. ¡°Wow! This is incredible!¡± Elijah lost sight of his emotions as positive and grateful ones flushed into his mind with the sight of something that was definitely not possible on earth. Nothing was trying to kill anyone, and no beasts were in sight besides the small amount of blood bats that flew away at the rhythmic sounds of the footsteps created by the group. Alexia''s long blonde hair appeared in front of Elijah. ¡°Something feels off about this place. It smells weird.¡± This statement made Elijah think, because after taking a couple more steps forward, a familiar smell found its way into his nostrils. Sulfur! ¡°Don¡¯t go inside yet. There is a toxic gas in there that will kill us if we stay too long. Although based on the smell, it is not very strong.¡± ¡°How did you know that?¡± Niko confidently asked Elijah the question as if he already knew the circumstances of this cave. ¡°It¡¯s obvious, and based on the way you asked me that question, you already knew.¡± Elijah¡¯s words gave Niko a slap across the head as he started walking forward into the cave. Elijah whispered into Alexia¡¯s ears after Niko had walked into the cave. ¡°Stay close to me, if anything happens I''ll grab you and leave.¡± ¡°Okay¡± Alexia felt safe with Elijah around, and with what Elijah just told her, her worries had washed away. What seemed like smooth man-made steps, led the group up to the second level where they had a view of the glowing pond that flowed into a small hole or tunnel that led somewhere unknown. The pond had a slight yellow tint to it, which was due to the sulfur, not the mana.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°WoaH!¡± Cora slipped on the moist steps causing her to make a loud noise. This put everyone on high alert as anything could happen. Niko stopped as soon as his head reached over the top of the steps and into the second layer, and slowly ducked down with the palm of his right hand facing the group behind him. ¡°Beasts, not as many as before, and they all look like kappa¡¯s.¡± ¡°The human-like turtles?¡± Elijah received a dumb response from Niko that spelt obviously. Elijah took the lead. ¡°We have to form a plan this time revolving around stealth. The more kappa¡¯s we can pick off, the less we have to fight in an all out war when they see us.¡± All Elijah wanted to do was fly above them silently and split the space to massacre them all within minutes. However, there would be no idea of growth in that option. Elijah understands his biggest flaw is the way he sees reality. Ten years in a new life is nothing compared to one-hundred. ¡°And how do you plan to stealthily slay these beasts?¡± Niko asked a valid question that was upvoted by Cora surprisingly. She seemed to have her own motives, and had maybe lied to Elijah when she said she was scared of nobles. ¡°Simple, Do you see that angular stone pillar that starts from the right side and moves up to the top of the left of the cavern? If we can travel on that pillar and get high ground, we can draw them closer with noises and have Alexia pick them off using her near-silent air magic.¡± ¡°Heh, that actually sounds really good. You are a lot smarter than you look. However, how are we going to get there? We would be in the open after walking up these steps.¡± Elijah couldn¡¯t tell if that was a joke, or if Niko was just an idiot blinded by his privilege. ¡°Trey, can you create a stable earth path that attaches to the wall of the waterfall?¡± ¡°I can, but there would have to be gaps, and we need to move quickly. The changes in the noises of the waterfall could be heard by the kappa¡¯s.¡± Elijah smiled at his plan coming together. ¡°Okay, that works. Get started, and be careful everyone. If anyone falls into the water, we have a tough battle on our hands. Trey conjured thick and small steps that protruded about one foot from the wall of the waterfall. Sweat was dripping down the necks of the hunters as they slowly made their way to cover. Unfortunately, due to being above the water, the steam increased the effect of the sulfur gas entering their lungs. The plan had to move rather quickly, and they needed to return directly after this. The group, led by Elijah, climbed slowly onto the stone pillar and lightened their steps to soften the noise, and to prevent any loose rocks from falling off the ledge. ¡°Ready?¡± Elijah looked at everyone, and received a nod from each person. A small rock was picked up by Niko, and thrown into the small pond below. The folded ears of the kappa¡¯s were instantly perked upwards, and soon they started moving towards the sound. Elijah signaled to the group as the slouching beasts slowly approached. The goal was to have them be directly underneath them as the speed and force of Alexia¡¯s attacks wouldn¡¯t be affected by gravity, but enhanced by gravity. ¡°It looks like there are more than thirty. Get ready Alexia. Use your wind blades quickly one at a time, and aim for the head. They should easily be chopped in half without any mana coursing through their bodies.¡± ¡°I got this!¡± Alexia quietly hyped herself up. She was the main reason for the soon to be victory, and she was excited to be contributing greatly to the team. ¡°Go!¡± Swish! The first windblade cleanly sliced the kappa¡¯s head in half until it stopped at the shell on its back. Three more quickly followed and easily hit their targets spot on. Alexia was ecstatic with joy after realizing her practicing her control was the best course of action. Elijah was so smart! Surprisingly, it took time for the kappa¡¯s to notice where they were being hit from. Unfortunately, by the time they noticed, eight of their comrades were laying on the ground with blue blood flowing out of their heads. With another signal from Elijah, the rest of the group began firing their own spells. Water blades, fire balls, earth horns. Everyone except for Cora. While being positioned directly behind Elijah, Cora stood up and started materializing ice around her right foot. With a loud grunting sound, she sent a hard kick straight into the back of Elijah the moment he turned his head. Bang! 30. Traitor, or Something Else? Time seemed to slow. The wind brushing across the face of Elijah felt like a massage, compared to the stinging sensation all across his back. Once again, he was in a situation that he could not comprehend. Why was he betrayed? He only wanted to help the people around him. Is this even real? The eyes and mouths of the kappa''s below him had a devious grin across their faces. Tall and long spears of water materialized in their hands, which they were going to use as their weapons, not as a projectile. However, a hoarse scream resonated through the cavern, alongside the clanking of his knife against the stone ground snapped Elijah back to reality. The moment Alexia saw what happened, she sent a wind blade vertically at the face of the attacker. Cora! ¡°WHY!¡± Cora¡¯s arm was meant to block the sudden attack of the girl who seemed to act instinctively. The flesh and bone was cut straight through, without any resistance, until Cora¡¯s arm had mana coursing through it that just barely stopped her arm from falling off. However, Her screams of anguish and movements of pain flailed her loose arm around, which tore the arm right off her limb, while taking a chunk of her skin from her elbow and bicep. Bark being ripped off of a tree. Elijah instantly slowed his fall while throwing up at the exact same time as he felt his organs be pushed against his abdomen and chest. The kappa¡¯s were struck with disgust and fear as they saw something unexplainable happen before their simplistic minds. While bathing his body in the lukewarm water he conjured around himself, he flew underneath the angled stone pillar and appeared directly behind the screaming Cora, who had the awestruck eyes of Alexia, Niko, and Trey, staring into her empty soul. No words were minced. Only the sound of a skull being struck by the side of Elijah¡¯s fist. His plan was to knock her out, and question her after returning from the exam. ¡°Elijah! You¡¯re okay!¡± Alexia had tears running down her slightly bloodshot eyes. While no one realized it, the sulfur had produced a small effect, and did most of the damage while above the lukewarm water of the pond. A formless bubble of water was surrounding the levitating Elijah, and due to this, all sounds were muffled while he stared into the faces of his party. Both Niko and Trey were shocked at the sight, and stopped attacking after more cover was erected by Trey. The pain in his back was growing due to the ice melting. Only after what seemed like a lifetime of revealing a huge secret, did the pain start to subside, which was when Elijah grasped an understanding of why water heals. The human body is made up of about sixty percent water, which was the reason why water magic was able to have a healing effect with the right intention. Dozens of small icicles were stabbed into Elijah¡¯s back, but disappeared after being enveloped in water. The water coursed through the wounds, replacing the structure of water that used to exist in the wounded areas, which allowed new flesh to grow almost rapidly. The downside being that Elijah felt an extremely large portion of his mana disappearing. The key principle within this was his intent!This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Elijah returned to crouching on the angled stone pillar, and was indifferent to the states of Alexia, Niko, and Trey. ¡°If she dies, throw her to the beasts. There is a reason why she did this, and by now, it is too late to go back.¡± A large dry gulp was taken by Alexia. ¡°Y-your eyes are very red!¡± ¡°Yes, all of you are the same. We need to leave as soon as possible.¡± Niko cut into the conversation while taking looks at Trey. ¡°How did you do that?!¡± Elijah knew what was coming, and instead of being passive aggressive, he tried to sympathize with Niko, as it was his only option at keeping his secret. ¡°I am not your enemy Niko. There are some secrets I don¡¯t want to share. So please, for the sake of the kingdom, keep whatever happened here a secret. Our enemy is whoever Cora works for, whoever told her to do this, or simply, just herself and her wicked mind. That goes for you as well Trey.¡± ¡°I understand that I have been acting like a privileged noble, but something I greatly respect is strength. So much pressure is on my back that it is hard to handle. The easiest way I deal with it is by, well, you know. I promise I won¡¯t say anything.¡± Words that Elijah would never expect to be released from Niko¡¯s mouth, were released. It seemed like the privileged noble had layers. Trey chimed in with a shivering body. It seemed the sulfur had got to him the most, as the words that came out of his mouth had a scratchy sound to them. ¡°I promise to not tell a soul. There are thirteen kappa¡¯s left. We have to kill them to leave!¡± Bang! A spear made of water pierced the horizontal barricades that gave the now group of four more cover. The spear dematerialized into water, and dripped down on the uneven stone floor. More spears followed, and Elijah signaled to Alexia, however, she was not feeling well, and also almost out of mana. ¡°Niko¡± A wall of flames was conjured from the boy with layers besides privilege. Elijah slowly did a backflip off the ledge behind him while slowing his fall. Something he always wanted to do was act as an acrobat. Someone who had exceptional control over their body, and used it to their advantage. While upside down, Elijah focused a very small portion of his mana into the space around the area of kappa¡¯s. A pearlescent circle that was only visible from above, was created out of this air, and slightly shifted like the tectonic plates of the world. The upper and lower halves of eight kappa¡¯s within its range spewed blood the moment the pearlescent energy disappeared. ¡°That doesn¡¯t seem like a useless affinity?¡± Niko stared at Alexia as he suspected they were close, and knew each other''s secrets. Alexia could only give a small smile as she feared the possibilities of this getting out to the world. ¡°Let¡¯s run! I''ll carry Cora!¡± The words of Elijah struck the team off their feet. They slowly made their way down the angular stone pillar and ran to the slippery steps that they slid down on their behinds. Alexia was the only one having trouble keeping up, so he shoved Cora into Trey¡¯s arms, and picked up Alexia like a spouse carrying his bride. The harsh sounds of the dry breaths came to a stop after reaching the tunnel that connects to the large cavern. A rest break was needed even by Elijah, which was not surprising even with his well built body. Something was bugging Elijah ever since he heard the words of Trey explaining his promise. It could either be placebo since he had never met this guy in his life, but he did not seem trustworthy. It was either he acted now, or risked this man exposing his secrets. Maybe he was on the side of Cora, and was playing with their head. It was very possible since the examiner disappeared, which may even make her part of this operation. However, these were just long stretching possibilities. Without a definitive reason, Elijah had no intention to think about this deeper. There are bigger events at stake. 31. Unexpected Return ¡°Let''s rest here while focusing on our breathing.¡± Elijah calmly said as he laid Alexia against the wall. ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°Y-yes, just a bit dizzy. My throat and eyes hurt¡­¡± Elijah hated seeing Alexia in this state. These symptoms came about extremely fast, probably due to the larger and faster breaths that were taken during the ambush, and the time crossing the waterfall. ¡°Why do you think Cora attacked you?¡± Niko asked a question that Elijah was already asking himself. ¡°No idea. She didn¡¯t seem like herself when I looked back from the cold temperature that was close to my back. She must have gone mad. Maybe the toxic gas?¡± ¡°The gas wouldn¡¯t affect her like that. I think she had a reason.¡± ¡°Yes, you may be right. But since we don¡¯t know, there is no point in thinking about it.¡± Elijah ended the conversation. After twenty minutes of resting and slowly moving their way through the dimly lit and colorful tunnel, Elijah broke the silence. ¡°Trey, how can you assure me you won¡¯t say anything about what happened?¡± Trey was holding onto the seemingly lifeless Cora, and let go of his grip. Bam! The body slammed onto the floor with the head rebounding against the hard stone floor. ¡°She is dead.¡± Trey¡¯s short brown hair and innocent face hit Elijah¡¯s heart. A boy had just witnessed the death of a fellow citizen, a citizen who may have betrayed them, but still had their own life in the kingdom. What Trey didn¡¯t realize is what this truly meant, and only later in his life would he understand death. Alexia moved closer to Elijah¡¯s side at the sight of something they all knew was coming. The question was, would this kill affect Alexia positively, or negatively. ¡°I understand. I think there could have been a specific reason why Cora did what she did, so please don¡¯t speak of this. We may have gotten involved in something we know nothing about¡­¡± ¡°I promise you with my life to never speak a word about anything that happened in this exam.¡± Trey stared straight into Elijah¡¯s eyes and told the truth. One thing surprised Elijah was how different the children acted compared to when they lived in the outer region, and the inner city. The inner city was practically overpopulated, and caused everyone to grow up quickly in order to support their families. Most children from the inner cities directly went to the junior knights, and if they failed the exam, which happened quite a lot, they would resort to mining in The Catacombs for affinity crystals through the Miner Guild until they passed. The familiar cavern with rock formation and the different colored blood pools passed into their sights, along with a horrible stench of blood in the air. Loud footsteps were heard by the four children who immediately stopped in their steps. They had not gotten rid of the body, but instead held two bodies while slowly walking to safety. For their own reasons they were nervous as to what would happen, but Elijah calmed everyone¡¯s nerves. ¡°We are saved.¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°Halt! People ahead!¡± A deep voice resounded through the dark tunnel and entered the large rocky cavern full of small pools of water. ¡°You idiot, those are obviously kids.¡± A familiar voice cut through the echoes. ¡°You guys are alive. Oh, well most of you are¡­¡± Elijah was the first one to speak toward the figures covered by darkness. ¡°Why did you leave us¡­¡± ¡°I am sorry. I failed as your protector. Something happened outside the walls that called for my help. Powerful lives are worth more than childish lives.¡± The words coming from Alessia, who gracefully jumped off the ledge into the lit cavern, intrigued Elijah. Another massacre must have happened. ¡°This counts as a pass right.¡± Niko tore through the emotional tension with a comedic and ignorant outburst. Alessia responded gleefully. ¡°Hahaha, of course. How far did you guys travel?¡± ¡°To the gas cave!¡± Niko¡¯s smile widened with confidence. ¡°How impressive. Based on that pool of blood over there. I assume you went there with only five people?¡± ¡°Yes. We only struggled in this cavern because of an orange core beast¡­¡± Elijah intentionally tried to make the examiner feel guilty. ¡°Again, I am extremely sorry, but there was nothing I could do¡­ Please follow me and the hunters back to safety. When we return to the guild, you will each receive your own personal pendant that will signify you as a Junior Hunter. Congratulations.¡± The sight of light blinded the newly wed hunters. They all assumed they went well past an hour, maybe even two by themselves in The Catacombs. Without any source of drinkable water, they were yearning for their taste of the liquid of life. A new covered carriage brought them to Western Hunter Guild building. Just like the time they left, the building had retained its craziness as people walked in and out of its doors, and into the line on the right side of the building. After being led out of the carriage by Alessia, an uncountable number of stares hit the now group of four that were slugging two dead bodies over their shoulders. One was missing a limb, and the other, had a gaping hole in its chest. Even with both covered by a large tan cloth blanket, everyone knew what had happened. The examiner had been too late. Twice! ¡°Ahem. Quickly follow me to my office.¡± The doors opened to people on the left and right that quickly moved away from the stench that had just walked inside. The organic wood, stone, and plants that made up the guild building could not mask the scent of death. The group of four slumped down into the chairs of the sage green office filled with more different plants than you could count on one finger. Elijah and Trey previously handed the bodies of Cora and Ben to two older hunters who brought them who knows where. By this time, the effects of the sulfur had mostly subsided, leaving the four poor souls with itchy and bloodshot eyes. Knocks were heard on the door of Alessia''s office on the second floor, and were quickly let in by her soft voice. ¡°Hello, young lady and gentlemen. I hope you know my name, but if you don¡¯t, it is Lorsen Creveron, the West Hunter Guild Leader. I was informed of what happened to you during your exam, and I just want to apologize. Unfortunately, I can do nothing to reprimand this lady who was supposed to be watching over you all because of the reason why she left. So all I can do is compensate you for the exorbitant amount of danger and mental trauma you faced by allowing you one wish within the Hunter Guild that we can grant you. Weapons, gold, access to exclusive training buildings, potential mentor¡¯s, and anything that is within the Hunter Guild¡¯s access.¡± Elijah was genuinely impressed by the compensation possible. However, with his dirty hand holding up his head as he slouched in his chair, he could only think how they were all useless to him. Elijah was already able to tell Amaris, the Ice Judge was keeping an eye out for them. He would no question teach him some tricks not as a mentor, but as a friend. They both had something in common that was not seen anywhere else in the kingdom. The desire to explore the unknown outside the walls. Training buildings wouldn¡¯t suit his need if he was to use his space affinity, gold doesn¡¯t mean anything to him with his family¡¯s special relationship to the Weltor¡¯s, and a new weapon or multiple isn¡¯t what Elijah had his eyes on. He never even used his knife he had stashed away in his spatial storage because his affinities did not align with imbuing his weapon in mana. Elijah was the first to speak the first possibility that came to mind. ¡°Guarantee me a spot on the frontlines!¡± 32. Potential Party The short and direct words of Elijah made Alessia and the tall and finely cut man chuckle. Lorsen licked his lips and touched part of his black goatee that emphasized his manliness. This man was truly stunning, and definitely had a refined body under his crowned black and gold garments. ¡°That is quite a wish young fellow. I can tell you have a water affinity, so if you prove yourself in the early stages of being a junior hunter, you will have that spot.¡± Lorsen assumed Elijah knew he needed to have a certain level of power. However, it intentionally went unsaid as a test to see if this boy was truly worth caring for. It was also obvious that he would mainly be a support, but who said Elijah would simply ¡®follow the rules¡¯ when he gets that spot? Alexia had wished for a staff of her specifications, which is something no blacksmith had, and could only be made. A bo staff was a rare choice of weapon only because of the unpopularity surrounding them. Not being able to cut through a beast signified weakness. Niko also felt as though nothing they were offering was worth it. To a well established noble, he already had many connections and potential mentor¡¯s without mentioning the great wealth that gets him anything he wants. ¡°I¡¯ll decide later¡­¡± Trey was a simple child who relished in the hardships of living in the inner city. His family were miners, and he wanted a different life. ¡°I¡¯ll take gold, however much you can give me.¡± Lorsen kindly shook the small hands of the potential frontliners, and walked out of the office. However, before, he said with his head peeking through the door, ¡°You will have your gold delivered to your family house or apartment. I expect great things from you all.¡± As Lorsen was walking through the hall, he couldn¡¯t help but laugh. A water affinity mage that wants a spot on the frontlines? How pathetic. That earth mage barely has any talent considering he asked for a bag of gold. The only noteworthy people were that beautiful girl and arrogant noble¡­ Alessia pushed her body away from leaning against the stone and wooden wall, and flicked her hair in the wind as she said her goodbyes. ¡°You all may leave now. I wish you goodluck in the future.¡± Elijah could feel the tension in the air. They all felt used due to the way Lorsen and Alessia talked to them. Well, maybe only Elijah. ¡°I wish you both good luck and I hope we can fight beasts again sometime soon. Have a good day.¡± Alexia said her goodbyes and walked out of the organic office with Elijah and into the hallway where they saw numerous people walking. With their own personal pendants that were the size of a gold coin, they now had a physical way to prove their own identity. The air of the hallway was felt on Elijah¡¯s back as his leather and cloth garments were ripped open. Stares were sent towards Elijah, but went unnoticed. While walking down the carpeted wooden stairs, both Elijah and Alexia saw a familiar figure sitting down in a group of couches conversing with other hunters. The figure of Novius was making large hand motions that probably meant explaining a new magitech invention he had thought about. ¡°Novius!¡± ¡°Elijah! Alexia!¡± Novius turned in excitement. And the people who were sitting down talking to Novius looked at them in confusion, besides two familiar faces. ¡°Based on your excitement, you passed right?!¡± ¡°Yes we did, although I am only acting this way because I need to make my day better. It was a difficult test, and the examiner left without letting us know¡­¡± Alexia moved closer to Elijah during his words.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°W-what happened?¡± ¡°We will talk to you about it later, but just know that two of the people we were grouped with died¡­¡± Elijah somberly said. Novius comforted Elijah and Alexia and began introducing his friends. Theon, Raylen, Emelia, Harry, and Aslan. ¡°From what I remember, you have already met the twins. Emelia and Harry are cousins from the Rusteire family, and Aslan is the youngest son of Lorsen Creveron, the leader of this guild building.¡± Novius looked at his friends and pointed toward Elijah and Alexia. ¡°These are my two friends Elijah Veran, and Alexia Sinclair!¡± Novius was rather chatty in public, which is something Elijah enjoyed. His early years of being holed up in his bedroom made him feel like an outcast. If he had the same mind he used to have, he would feel second hand embarrassment just from watching Novius express himself. ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you all! I hope in the near future we can kill some beasts together!¡± Elijah brought his fist to his chest and received smiles from the newly made friends. Everyone sat down and discussed their affinities and experiences so far. Theon and Raylen started off with their recent adventure into The catacombs where they ran into caveworms that used different types of magic. Novius and the rest of the group were part of this adventure, and they all laughed at each other when Harry swore he did not run out of mana. Emelia Rusteire, who is the daughter of the council family of the Outer West was drawn towards Elijah due to them both sharing the water affinity. Theon had an ice affinity which made him think of Amaris, when was I going to see that man again? ¡°Guys, I am sorry but I must return to the estate. This conversation was incredible and has made the day so much better, but I need to recover from what happened in The Catacombs. By the way, I am serious about us adventuring into The Catacombs together.¡± Elijah stood up which caused Alexia¡¯s conversation with Aslan, who had an air affinity, to come to a halt. ¡°Wait! Let us get your pendant imprints so we can communicate with each other!¡± Emelia¡¯s words confused both Alexia and Elijah. ¡°What?¡± Elijah had never heard of this before. However, with his knowledge, he knew what it meant. This also explains how Alessia knew to leave The Catacombs, she was contacted through her pendant! The true question Elijah was asking himself, was why this wasn¡¯t mainstream? Novius stood up to explain. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, every new hunter is always surprised by this invention as it is not known by the mainstream public, and only allowed with the hunter guilds when you are an active hunter or teacher within the magic academy. Pull out your pendant and let the front emblem touch the emblem of another. An imprint will appear on the back with a small name of the user below it. All you do is shuttle mana into it, tap one or multiple people, then talk. You can also create groups that take up only one imprint space to talk to a set group of people with one motion.¡± Elijah was flabbergasted. ¡°What type of magic is this?!¡± Novius smiled. ¡°I know it¡¯s a combination of lightning and metal, but there''s also something else that I have no idea about. It¡¯s fascinating!¡± Elijah exchanged the imprints of his new friends he hoped to keep. He needed to form a group fast because as Alessia explained, It is your job to choose your own missions in The Catacombs, no one else¡¯s. The waves of Novius and his friends towards Elijah and Alexia as they walked towards the grand front door were stopped short as a group of people led by a familiar face passed by. ¡°Move it!¡± Emery and what seemed like his group had just slammed into Alexia¡¯s side and sent her tumbling, only to be caught by Elijah. The group of eight seemingly arrogant kids started laughing and talking while walking out into the sunlight. ¡°Haha, did you see that boy, the backs of his horrible clothes were ripped to shreds. How weak can you be?¡± Elijah calmed Alexia, and only smiled at his friends who had frozen in their seats. Surprisingly, he had felt this anger inside of him. A will to beat the asses of the people who so casually talked to them like rats. Elijah had never been affected by haters in his past. However, his life was wildly different now, and had been changing Elijah and ways that would only show up in random moments. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about guys, let¡¯s just let them be. Also, Novius. Can you throw me a coin for a carriage?¡± Novius didn¡¯t complain and quickly flicked Elijah a shiny silver coin. The coin tumbled through the air, and found its way to the floor as Elijah¡¯s fast swipe motion missed the coin by a hair. Laughter was heard within the room alongside the sound of the coin clattering against the stone floor. Dammit, how could I do something like that? Embarrassing! 33. Haunting Past The pouring rain was pattering against the mana barrier and slowly falling down towards the edges of the mountains that acted in the Inner City¡¯s wall. Now that Elijah was looking into the sky and observing much closer than normal, the sight reminded him of being stuck inside a snowglobe. ¡°Welcome back younglings.¡± The butler greeted Elijah and Alexia, and tipped the driver before he left. The estate seemed quiet, only to walk into the kitchen to grab a glass of water and see every adult calmly waiting for their arrival. Don was sitting in his wheelchair with a straight face as Phloria had her hands on his shoulders. George and Gloria had their hands raised in praise at the sight of two new hunters. And Mitch and Lea were running towards Alexia to hug their beautiful daughter who had entered an entirely new world. ¡°I assume things went well Elijah.¡± Don was the first to speak, albeit in a condescending tone. Alexia walked in the room and smiled at the sight of everyone, but Elijah walked in the room with a straight face. ¡°We passed, but at a great cost. Two lives of our party were lost¡­¡± George was stunned. ¡°What! How is that even possible? The examiner shoul¨C¡± ¡°The examiner left at the very start. She said something that was related to outside the city. Thankfully no one I knew or we knew personally was killed.¡± Alexia¡¯s parents tightened their hug before letting go and brushing her hair with their hands. However, Alexia was confused as to how Elijah was reacting. It was understandable, but didn¡¯t make sense based on how he was acting with Novius and in the carriage. ¡°How pitiful. Did they atleast compensate you? This isn¡¯t the first time something like this has happened¡­¡± George seriously asked. ¡°Yes, although I feel like I wasted my compensation. Lorsen Creveron doesn¡¯t seem to like water mages, and I asked for a guaranteed spot on the frontlines. Of course when I am at a certain level of power. However, I don¡¯t think he knows I fully understood what I wished for.¡± ¡°Ah, yes. That Creveron member is quite discriminatory towards hunters who have what he calls, lesser affinities. Which just means any affinity also geared for support and healing.¡± ¡°I guess that makes sense. I am going to go up to my room now. What time will dinner be served?¡± ¡°As soon as Novius returns home. I¡¯d say within the next three hours.¡± Alexia stayed with the adults, and Elijah slowly walked up the carpeted stone stairs. Why has father been acting so distant lately? It¡¯s obvious it has something to do with his condition, by why is he taking it out on me? I wonder what Novius is up to. That group seemed to be waiting for something. Over one-hundred-fifty pushups and one-hundred cossack squats were completed in three sets until failure. Elijah saw black hair that was combed back on his head with just a bit of volume. An incomplete middle part with blue eyes that seemed to have a slight glint to them. His muscles that looked like the peak of newbie gains had sweat dripping down them. Body weight exercises can¡¯t get me much further than this at my age, which isn¡¯t a problem considering that I can do everything I need to physically, without even thinking about my flight ability. Elijah took a swig of lightly salted water, and heard a knock on his door. His mother was asking to enter. ¡°Come in!¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Hey honey, I just wanted to let you know that your father is acting the way he is for no reason other than his own body.¡± Phloria was concerned about how her son was being affected by her husband''s behavior. ¡°I know. I just wish he realized he saved my life before I saved his¡­¡± Phloria looked at Elijah¡¯s eyes of sorrow, and hugged him while massaging his back. ¡°After understanding the state of the kingdom, the only thing he wants to do is help. But since this recovery is taking longer than expected, he can¡¯t help but relish in what he feels is embarrassment. Also, I can tell you have been working your body a lot lately. Is it for a specific reason? A reason involving a girl?¡± Elijah knew exactly what she was getting at, and instead of seeming like a child much older than his body, he let his emotions free. An attempt to fully realize his reality. ¡°What?! No not at all! I¡¯m doing it so I can be a strong hunter!¡± It felt fake. It is true he had grown quite close to Alexia, but still, he had his sights on something far more grand. Freedom! ¡°Sure honey. Just remember to enjoy life, and make the most of it. After all, that is the point of not living forever.¡± Enjoy life¡­ Make the most of life. It felt like Phloria¡¯s words hit him like a train. A tingling feeling started spreading through his body, and tears started dripping out of his eyes. Elijah couldn¡¯t hold back his cries. This life wasn¡¯t something he ever wanted. To this day, he was still unsure of whether he wanted to live or not. ¡®I could simply go into the catacombs¡­ and never return¡­¡¯ While Phloria was partly confused at his reaction, she also understood he also just went through a very traumatic experience. While Elijah never descriptively shared the details, everyone in the kitchen felt remorse coming from Elijah¡¯s words. Previous memories of his grandparents, parents, friends, wife, children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren were passing through his mind as he was soundly asleep in his bed. Elijah had no idea he had all these bottled up emotions in his closet. However, after waking up, he felt like a new person, and had new emotions in his chest. He couldn¡¯t let go of his past. Elijah wanted to see all the people he loved so much again, to reminiscence on the memories they made together. He felt dismayed at the idea that immortality was not possible, and wished for lives to be extended. Elijah wanted more time. Knocks were heard at the door followed by words from the butler. ¡°Dinner is ready, Elijah.¡± Being completely naked, Elijah unearthed the sheets on his body and stood out of his bed in between two windows. The night was already dark due to the season slowly returning to winter. Thankfully, the cold doesn''t reach too far into the crater, but only the snow, which would pile up on the mana barrier and bring back the madness. If Elijah could guess, his birth month would be early November, which is around the same time he died. Coincidence, or deeper meaning. After clothing himself with the simplest cotton and linen garments, he walked outside his room to see Alexia walk out of her room. Lot¡¯s of voices were heard downstairs which signified guests were here. ¡°There are guests here, we should probably put on more respectful clothing hahaha.¡± Alexia had the exact same idea as Elijah. Downstairs, George was chatting it up with Vyn Rusteire in the grand foyer, the council member of the Outer West. And Orin Vandenburg, a noble man who was groomed into a family of transport by his father, Aelric, who was the elder of the Vandenburg family, as well as being present at this unexpected gathering. The moment George saw two familiar faces walking down the stairs, he introduced them both to each other. Vyn commented first. ¡°Ah, I see you have many talented mages in this household George. I am impressed. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you Elijah. And you as well Alexia!¡± ¡°I think my wife told me about you Elijah. She saw something in you during the gathering at the grand park.¡± Orin said after he sipped his tea. ¡°Yes, I remember your wife quite well. She found me when I got lost.¡± Elijah responded. George finished the conversation by leading them into the living room that had been converted into a formal dining room. Five large circular wooden tables were spread across the room, and each served a purpose to house an age group or gender for the adults. The tables were quite large and in total had the capacity to fit 41 people in the majestic living room. More chef¡¯s and maid¡¯s than usual were rushing in and out of the living room and kitchen, which made Elijah think this gathering was on short notice. However, Elijah saw yet another familiar face talking to his father while entering the loud room. Lorsen Creveron. The sight of the large number of people excited Elijah and filled him with warmth. He loved gathering like this. Only large amounts of preparation could allow them to go smoothly, and it seemed George had some serious people in his pocket that he could call on. 34. The Best, Last Dinner The Weltor family, Vandenburg family, two lines of the Rusteire family, Creveron family, Sinclair family, and Veran family all sat at a single large curved table. The chandeliers hanging from the ceiling were recently changed out with chandeliers that would hold the new light magic devices to give the room life. The large sliding glass doors were wide open to let in the fresh air of the relatively small backyard compared to the massive estate. ¡°Elijah! Alexia!¡± Novius shortly called for his two friends, but was slapped in his hand by his mother who was walking behind him. The last thing this room needed was more noise. Elijah quickly walked with Alexia through the crowd of people while shortly greeting new and old faces. ¡°Hey Novius. This is quite the gathering! What is it for?¡± ¡°What is it for?! We are celebrating everyone finally becoming Junior Hunters, and for the rejuvenation of The Kingdom! The reason why I was talking to the group in the hunter guild was because our families already know each other a little bit. It would make sense to also form a party with anyone our age to speed up our progress as hunters!¡± What Novius said cleared a bunch of gaps, and gave Elijah a wide smile before he sat down. However, first he pulled out a chair for Alexia, and she responded with a shy thank you. ¡°Elijah, Alexia. Are you going to be joining our party?!¡± Theon was the first to speak as everyone went silent waiting for something. ¡°I think so. It would be stupid not to join. We can choose our own missions right?¡± ¡°Yes and no. Some missions that are of higher priority and within our skill level will be assigned to us sometimes. And the missions we can choose will show up on the mission board. Most missions are to push back beasts, and there will usually be a couple of specific missions like providing support to the miners, or new explorations. Although, that is mainly for orange and yellow core mages.¡± Raylen quickly cut in before his twin brother. To Elijah, it seemed everyone had been eager to talk to both Alexia and himself a lot more. Novius had probably been hyping them up as the bestest friends ever, as they had shared secrets that no one else in the entire world knew. ¡°Wow, that''s really cool. Let¡¯s say that we do our first mission in a couple of days, what kind of mission would you all pick?¡± The question intrigued the minds of the youths as they all responded with the same answer. ¡°A pushback mission.¡± Theon continued explaining how any mission other than what they said was extremely dangerous to red core mages. There was a reason why the test was in one of the earliest parts of the Catacombs that not many people went to. ¡°That makes sense.¡± As soon as Elijah finished his sentence, a light bell chimed through the living room, which probably meant that dinner was going to be served. There were several maids and butlers bringing out large platters of food that were being set on a rectangular table. The gathering had a buffet style dinner. What surprised Elijah, was the response he got from George after he came and told them to grab their food first. There were three courses! Different kinds of meats were on deck, as some of them were mixed with all kinds of vegetables and herbs that elicited Elijah more than anything. These people had a knack for Mediterranean food, as there was a vegetable and sauce station with rice, pickled onions, bell peppers, avocado, and yogurt and dill sauce! The table was full of colorful plates, and considering that the main meal looked like the first course, he wondered what the third course would be.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°No way you killed an orange core beast by yourself! Those beasts are way more skilled at mana control, and with your water affinity, you wouldn¡¯t be able to land a scratch.¡± Emelia was shocked at Elijah¡¯s story of his exam. Although he was partially lying, he was glad he was able to get it off his chest and prove to his peers that he is truly a strong one. Someone who has the advantage of a mind that has seen many things. After all, your imagination is fueled by your experiences. ¡°Trust me guys, he did, I saw it with my own eyes.¡± Alexia reinforced what Elijah said. ¡°How did your second member die?¡± Raylen caused a break of silence. Elijah couldn¡¯t think of a way to avoid the truth, so he just told everyone he did not want to answer. Alexia stared down at her food at the same time the question was asked. The table did not press further as they could tell it was sensitive information. The second course arrived, but instead of lining up at the buffet, single meals that were completely different were covered by a cloche, and revealed to each person one by one. Alexia received three deviled eggs topped with salt, pepper, and thyme, that were wrapped in caramelized turkey bacon. George received a small gelatinous shredded chicken soup that was stealing with flavor from a multitude of herbs and spices. Novius received a small plate of finely sliced potato made into a brick, that was topped with half of a beef tongue, a long strand of rosemary, and seasoned to perfection. Don received a bell pepper filled with crispy ground beef, and pan fried sourdough bread crumbs. A cucumber, yogurt, and dill sauce was neatly plated on top of the open pepper, and gave Don a smile Elijah had not seen in some time. Lastly, Elijah was given a miniature beef Wellington made from a tenderloin of a cow. It was finely cut in half, and the bread had its own wheat pattern that was covered by a mayo and steak juice sauce. It made sense why everyone was told to grab a little of everything they wanted, and the main specialized course catered to the linking of every individual would be given as the second course. How much manpower did this require? Everyone at the table was talking about how incredible this meal was while they were calmly eating their food. Elijah was happy about how everyone understood that slowly and thoroughly chewing your food allowed you to savor every bite, but also greatly helped your digestion, and in some cases, the aftermath of eating too much food. The third course came after the plates were cleaned off the tables, but instead of a food item, it was a sturdy glass with a lid and a straw that completely shrouded what was inside. George stood up and made an announcement before anyone took a sip. ¡°I first want to thank everyone for joining us. I had been planning this ever since the final children had made a date for the Hunter exam. Obviously they were going to pass hahaha. The drink you are holding isn¡¯t much of a drink, but more of a cream and thick milkshake. Not everyone¡¯s beverage is flavored the same, but has the same base, which is milk and cream. There are also special ailments to aid in the processing of the delicious food that we just ate. The only thing I ask is that we all go outside for a walk while enjoying these beverages. What do you all say?!¡± Claps were heard around the room, which the youngest table quickly joined into. Everyone shuttled out of the front door while the butler kindly held it open. The first sip taken by the group of eight children busted all of their eyes wide open. Many different fruits and herbs were named at the same time. Some people were spot on, while others were completely wrong. Elijah, however, instantly knew what his flavor was. Orange creamsicle, with a touch of rosemary. Orange juice, especially when it has been squeezed fresh, has numerous benefits when it comes to digestion. It seems that once again, the people of this world had come to a realization without the need of scientific evidence, but only anecdotal evidence. The newly formed party of eight proudly discussed their first mission together while walking through the small crowds of people evenly scattered through the streets of Centerpool. Emotions were high, love was being spread through the air, and best of all, Elijah had a good feeling about the future. He needed people in his life to overcome his problems, and it seemed either he was attracting everything, or being sent everything. The reason did not matter, but only how he responded. What Elijah did not realize was this was the last formal dinner the Weltor family would have. From now on, food would be stretched as it sits in the freezers. Everyone would slowly transition out of fruit that only growled outside the city, and first tests of how beast meat tasted and reacted with the bodies of a select few people would be made. 35. First Mission Over the course of two days, Elijah and Novius had been helping Alexia breakthrough to the solid red core stage. This stage was obviously the easiest to break through to, and only required a medium amount of mana usage and conscious effort to pull mana into a person''s core. Changing the environmental mana is something completely different than pulling the pure mana in the environment close to you, and into your core. However, nothing produced more effort than using your magic and exhausting your mana core. That was easily the best way to move up in the kingdom of magic. Applauds were heard by Alexia as she opened her eyes to feel a small burst of wind shoot out of her body. Novius stopped clapping and gave a wide grin towards Alexia. ¡°Now you will be able to keep up with us. Just thinking about this first mission with you guys is giving me chills!¡± ¡°Novius, what core stages are your friends at?¡± Elijah has had this thought in his mind since he first met them. ¡°Most of them are at the bright red stage besides Emelia, Aslan, you, and Alexia.¡± Elijah was surprised by the son of the West Hunter Guild Leader to not be ahead. It must be his age of awakening. The trio walked downstairs to the kitchen and began to pack supplies. Date bars, biltong, and glass bottled water. Alexia and Novius both sighed at the sight of Novius carefully setting the water bottles into his spatial storage. Currently, he could fit around six of the one one liter bottles in his spatial storage because he wanted to preserve as much mana as possible, while still retaining the utility his magic provided. Novius and Alexia bagged up the food into their light backpacks, and waited outside the tall iron fence gate for a carriage. Elijah has since upgraded his Catacomb diving attire. With his desire to use his flight ability in secret, he bought all black and dark navy attire that was not tight fitting, but slim fitting. Straps wrapped around his traps with small padding around his shoulders. His black vest that was above a tan cotton shirt had blue curved and symmetrical patterns. His pants and shoes were quite simple being fully black with black patterns and knee guards, but matched well with his look. Alexia was in love with the color gray and black, and chose a similar outfit from the same shop, the only difference being it was meant for a female. Novius had on the same simple outfit from when they reunited after their exam. Black and dark colored vest that didn¡¯t seem to have a pattern to it. Mostly everything was black, besides the seam lines on the sides of his arms and legs. The carriage ride was the same as it had always been. The streets were crowded with people that seemed to not believe in traffic laws. The finely detailed bridge was something Elijah had gazed at on his first trip to the hunter guild. Only this time, he was better able to notice the floristry details made from metal. How much control over magic was needed for something like this? The grand double door to the guild opened up into a two story tall foyer filled with people. Six seating areas with coffee tables were to the left and right, with the staircase heading to the second floor on the far right side of the building. Hanging on the wall just below the second floor balcony that overlooks the crowd of people, was the mission board. New missions had just been released on the mission board which was what everyone was staring at. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Novius quickly pulled his pendant hanging around his neck, and softly touched the flower-like imprint that signified their hunting party. ¡°It¡¯s Novius, we have arrived.¡± While the trio continued to walk forward towards the crowd of people, Elijah noticed five heads coming out of the crowd. Everyone was dressed in their appropriate gear with subtle colors that matched their affinity. Emelia, was in a loose fitting pair of pants, and after greeting the group, she told Elijah she enjoyed the freedom more than pants that hugged her legs tightly. This was understandable. Aslan started to talk about his thoughts on the mission the party was going with. ¡°I think the Mudmen cave is the right one to pick. They are on the stronger side of non-humanoid beasts, and can use limited amounts earth magic. but I believe we have a very strong team and can easily complete it.¡± Elijah was the first to speak, and with a sense of thrill as well. ¡°Let¡¯s do it!¡± ¡°Hold on, this mission would take over two hours, and pass us through four different caverns! Are we sure this is the right choice?¡± Emelia was nervous. Everyone was on board with this choice, and comforted Emelia, who was only being cautious. ¡°Look at this sight guys! It¡¯s Novius¡¯ petty party! Hahaha¡± The party turned around in confusion only to see Emery Damaris standing alongside his own party. Elijah could clearly tell they have a history, and based on the way Novius responded, he was sick of his dynamic with Emery. ¡°I say this with respect Emery, what you are doing makes no sense, so please leave us be with your petty insults.¡± Emery moved closer to Novius, and stared at him straight in the face. ¡°Novius, it would do you well to just accept everything that comes to you.¡± Both parties erupted in anger, however, only the people who felt no embarrassment. This did not include Emelia, Alexia, Elijah, and Theon. The many parties of more powerful hunters butted in to stop the arguments, but quickly stopped as they saw a white haired man walking through the door. Elijah¡¯s frown turned to a smile when he made eye contact by raising his height with his heels. It was clear that these no life had no idea of the situation with their backs turned towards the door, so Elijah instantly froze the situation. ¡°THE ICE JUDGE!¡± Amaris didn¡¯t say a single word to anyone as he was greeted by everyone he passed by. He calmly walked through the silence of what used to be a heated discussion, and professed his reason for his visit. ¡°Elijah! It is so good to see you again. I assume you are about to leave for your first mission, so I will find you tomorrow night. Good luck! You seem to have some capable friends!¡± Amaris¡¯s previous cold demeanor that quickly changed to a joyful banter struck everyone by surprise. However, not more than the surprise of the famous Ice Judge Amaris talking to a simple red core mage. Emery in his blind faith followers quickly walked away in silence as his friends started asking him questions, minus Novius and Alexia. ¡°He just thinks I have potential guys, it¡¯s not a big deal.¡± Elijah nonchalantly tapped the dust off his shoulders. ¡°Not a big deal! I think not! It is my dream to be mentored by the Fire Judge!¡± Raylen quickly expressed his admiration towards Elijah. The group took the torn mission post to the front desk, and was officially signed up as a party for the mission. It had to be completed within forty eight hours. However, the party did not waste time and made haste towards the western Catacombs entrance. The carriage ride did not take long, but made the friends relish the comfort of the carriage, as they would have to walk once they reached the start of the storage buildings, unpopulated houses and buildings. 36. Filthy The terrain here was familiar to everyone, however, once they reached a certain point, there would be a numerous number of different paths that they could take, which led to even more paths. There were previously Catacomb entrances on the surface which were closed up after creating infrastructure overtop of them. Strong architects made new ways to these cave systems by creating man-made entrances with earth magic. What used to be chaos in the start of The Catacombs, is now less chaotic, as you can only enter the cave systems from specific and unpopulated areas that stem from a road or staircase that leads to the very beginning of The Catacombs. Aslan had made himself the commander of the group, as he had received teachings from his father about strategy and leading. Elijah ended up in the formation next to Emelia, who were the only water mages capable of healing. Elijah did not want to appear weak, even when he had just learned how to heal with water after his exam, so he agreed to be in the middle. Novius was in the very front of the formation with Theon and Raylen by his side. These three were the highest damage mages out of the group. People with purely offensive affinities. Lightning, fire, and ice. Alexia and Aslan were on the sides to attack and support the main attackers, while Harry was behind the group keeping an eye on everything ahead as he stood taller than everyone by walking with metal struts under his feet. Aslan was looking down at his map with Raylen providing a better source of light than the dimly glowing plants in the background. ¡°We need to go through this winding cave to get to a special place. I didn¡¯t tell you before, but there is a surprise before we start the mission. Something that is necessary for our success.¡± Elijah was heavily interested. However, he also wanted to see more unique caverns. Five minutes passed of walking through a dimly lit and colorful winding cavern. Small holes were scattered across the walls, floors, and ceiling that Aslan said were due to a beast raid decades ago. Aslan started walking towards the forefront of the group. ¡°Before we go any further, I want you all to know that nothing bad will happen once we turn this corner.¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t some peculiar betrayal right?¡± Raylen questioned the gray eyed man in front of him. A laugh was heard from Aslan as he picked up speed and disappeared from the group. An opening that grew wider led into what seemed like a cavern with a ceiling that was not seeable in the darkness. The ground was littered with greenery. Small trees, mushrooms, bushes, flowers, and vines. Everything had an ethereal glow to it. Incredible! Elijah was able to see thick and smooth stone pillars that stretched into the darkness, which probably meant the ceiling was higher than light reached. Voices of shock and amusement were heard until Novius spoke his mind. ¡°What is so special about this place besides it being gigantic.¡± Aslan gave a smirk as he turned around with his ear-length brown hair flailing around his face. With a couple of backwards steps, he raised his hands to his side with his palms facing his friends. ¡°CREVERON! EIGHT!¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Everyone was confused, laughing from embarrassment, and sighing due to nothing happening for twenty seconds. However, their faces became glued to the pitch black ceiling that they could not even see as they heard a metal scraping against metal sound. Eight thick metal ropes with bright red handles fell to the floor. A whiplash sound reverberated off the stone pillars as the ropes did not fully reach the ground, but stopped just beforehand. Elijah had an inkling at what it was, but decided to ask the question because it was probably not something well known. Theon beat him to it. ¡°What just happened?!¡± Aslan stepped towards the metal rope and started explaining how there was a secret base close to the ceiling, in a place that can¡¯t be seen due to the darkness. A metal foundation that spanned across the sky was connected by wooden bridges. There were two different layers that were built a long time ago solely for the purpose of a stronghold for hunters. This stronghold was called Nova40, and its main purpose is to monitor the forty different entrances to different cave systems within this specific area of The Catacombs. The only way to the top was by zipline, a fast zipline. Scouts were people who were chosen at the core level of yellow. These scouts monitor The Catacombs and relay the information back to the guild based on when they think the capacitive cave system needs to be raided. This process was made even more efficient with the creation of Nova40, as they could monitor forty different cave systems at the same time. Elijah was definitely impressed, but needed to see it with his own eyes first. ¡°I will go first. Trust me guys, there is no need to worry.¡± ¡°Ha! I had a feeling you would be going first. You seemed to not shred a single ounce of fear towards Emery!¡± Aslan remarked. ¡°I¡¯ll go next!¡± Both Alexia and Emelia expressed their motives at the same time. Author¡¯s note: THIS IS NOT A HAREM!!! But a based and esoteric novel. Due to what Elijah had started, Aslan felt overwhelmed as he had never even explained how to hold the zipline. ¡°Please, wrap the red part around your wrists tightly while using your hands to hold onto the bar. A wooden floor will automatically be erected from underneath you once you enter the stronghold.¡± Elijah and the party began following the instructions of Aslan. However, not everyone did it correctly the first time, which was why Aslan was going in circles fixing everyone¡¯s mistakes. ¡°Ready everyone?!¡± ¡°Ready!¡± With a strong tug of Aslan¡¯s zipline, everyone¡¯s speed gradually increased as they flew into the darkness of the cave. The loud sound of wood hitting wood signified that Elijah had made it to the top. The ride was fairly long, was hard on the shoulders, and took around forty-five seconds to reach the top. Torches were evenly spaced along the large room that seemed to have the capacity to pull fifty people up at the same time. The familiar pulley system was the reason for this being possible. I wonder who invented it? A tall and buff man with not a single speck of hair on his body startled the group with his deep voice. The man was wearing all black clothing, which the party would later find out is custom in Nova40. ¡°Welcome young ones. You may call me Brut. Please follow me to the mission room. The captain would like to talk to you before you leave for your mission.¡± The eyes of the party members all hit each other in succession, and very quickly found themselves following the widely built man. Wood was seen everywhere, which was probably due to its small ability to absorb sound. The metal underlayer seemed to be a visual protection, while the wood did not let noise escape from the structure. A long wooden stairway took them straight to a thin wooden door. However, Elijah looked to his left and right and saw something that reminded him of a specific tree village, only this time, the village used thick stone pillars as its supports. Small and large wooden buildings that were built around each pillar had a small amount of light emitting from them. Small torches were placed scarcely in between, especially on the bridges that connected each pillar to each other. ¡°Welcome hunters. As the brother of Lorsen, and uncle of Aslan, I couldn¡¯t let you start your mission without seeing me first right?¡± 37. Jump Into Action A tall spiky haired man with deep blue eyes sat at a long wooden desk with candles that neatly stood on golden round dishes. Stacks of paper and different hardcover books were stacked sloppily on the shelves, and an extremely oversized sword that looked like it was a custom piece laid against the chair the man was sitting on. ¡°Ahem, what¡¯s wrong guys?¡± Aslan was worried about his friend''s reaction. To be fair, his uncle was intently staring deep into the eyes of Elijah, as if he saw something within. The man stood up from his seat, walked around his desk in front of the ten year old children, and completely changed his expression. ¡°My name is Andal, and I see great promise in you all.¡± Andal switched his gaze back to Elijah, who had just put his hands behind his back. ¡°However, one of you seems to not have a weapon. Why would that be?¡± Elijah smiled and secretly took out his black knife from his spatial storage and quickly replied while revealing his hands. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are talking about.¡± ¡°Oh! A trickster with a water affinity. How interesting.¡± Andal took steps toward the wall with a large map hanging by threads. A series of entrances were illustrated in a simple manner with a symbol code that explained what level and beasts appeared in each cave system up to a certain distance. ¡°This is number eleven, the clagmire cave. I did want to tell you that this cave system has seen new beasts recently in small numbers. These pesky fellows that we call gorgons are faster than a rabbit, and rather freaky looking as well. Long and thick arms that reach to the ground with equally strong legs. Their chest is rather weak, but their speed makes up for it. Unfortunately, that is not even the worst part. They have extremely sharp claws that can cut through stone. It is completely up to you if you want to battle these beasts. I don¡¯t think they would give you guys a hard time if there were only a couple, which is what my scout squad encountered.¡± The party erupted in a quiet discussion. Raylen started. ¡°A beast that can¡¯t use magic seems simple to deal with.¡± ¡°You are right, but remember that we don¡¯t have the same physical advantages as beasts. If we agree to this, we must be quick and implement defensive barriers and changes in elevation to disrupt their speed.¡± Harry confidently replied. ¡°That sounds like a clever idea Harry, I¡¯m in just because of that strategy.¡± Theon replied excitedly Novius had whispered into Elijah¡¯s ear. ¡°The reason why my backpack is rather stuffed is because I brought the invisibility suit. If we run into signs of these beasts, I¡¯ll give you the suit.¡± Elijah knew exactly what Novius was thinking, and chimed into the discussion. ¡°I think this is a great way to test our skills against beasts who don¡¯t rely on magic.¡± ¡°Okay, it seems everyone is in agreement. I will notify our scouts that you will be leaving soon. Whenever you are ready, make your way to the loadout room, the room with all the ziplines.¡± Andal was both excited and scared. Those pesky gorgons had given even him trouble, however, it made sense due to him not having any advanced physical or mental abilities even being a green core mage.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. The party made their way to the loadout room after receiving wishes of luck. Elijah so desperately wanted to find out how heavy that sword was. If his guess is right, Andal has a superior understanding of water magic, and how to use it to transfer the force of an attack. Everyone had their weapons attached to their back while tightly gripping their ziplines. The wooden floors underneath the zip lines disappeared, and all it took was a jump of courage that would start their mission. 3¡­ 2¡­ 1¡­ Aslan counted down as everyone seemed to be filled with nerves. ¡°JUMP!¡± The metal scraping against metal sound quickly dissipated as the clothes and hair of the eight friends fluttered through the air. Elijah was looking straight down, while half of his party were closing their eyes. The zipline slowly lost speed until the party members slowly touched the floor. ¡°This is one amazing invention!¡± Novius had a new idea flying around in his mind. The party quickly made their way to the tunnel marked with a decrepit symbol of a yellow eyed mud monster. With the signal of Aslan, everyone got into the formation they practiced on the way to Nova40, and began traversing the pitch black cave. The only light source was Raylen creating a small sheath of fire on his sword that he drew. Alexia was twirling her silver floral staff that was just slightly shorter than she was. Everyone was ready for a battle. The pitch black and small cave slowly expanded into a ginormous cavern that looked like it used to have separate tunnels right next to each other. Curved rocks that stopped after creating a pointed tip lined the cavern. Nothing was in this specific cavern, but very likely the next. Aslan makes a quick sound with his mouth as a signal to stop. He began to assure everyone that after crossing this point, there is to be no playing around. It is a battle to the death. After passing through a slim and tall passageway that seemed like the entrance to the female gender''s gate of heaven, Elijah noticed something moving out of the corner of his eye. Something that was definitely not human. ¡°Westside, clagmire.¡± Quick and soft callouts were made as the group moved to the opposite side of where the clagmire was roaming. This cave emulated grassy hills, and was also quite slippery, which caused the party to move slow. Their goal was to get a view of the area from a higher point, and to also get into a better position. Aslan had explained the basics of positioning to the party before leaving for this mission. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time can kill anyone. The hand of Novius was raised behind his back, along with his five fingers that were opening and closing twice. This indicated more than 10 beasts close by, or in the visible distance. With the amount of standing rock formations in the area that rose to the ceiling as a natural support, the group spread out into specific teams. ¡°Two on the westside, eleven in the flat earthen area. I have a suspicion that the west side is a trap.¡± Theon was at the forefront with his offensive and defensive affinity. ¡°What is the plan? Elijah chimed in with his famous distraction plan that Alexia knew very well. ¡°I think we should lure the large group over to use to kill as many of them at once with a barrage of different attacks. Two people should go to the west side to deal with the loners.¡± ¡°I like that plan. I think Raylen and you should go. Emelia is better at healing than you if anything happens.¡± Aslan said Elijah nodded to both Aslan and Raylen. The two sneaked down the hilly and slippery slope with Alexia frowning at her protection leaving. Novius noticed her look. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, he will be back soon.¡± To approach the west side where the two lone beasts were, they had to quietly climb up a steep and slanted rocky wall that was about thirty feet in the air. Both Elijah and Raylen peeked their heads over the ledge, and didn¡¯t see just two, but six. Elijah looked at Raylen and noticed no discomfort, but still said what he wanted to say. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we can still take them.¡± ¡°Of course we can. I¡¯ll attack with a condensed beam of fire. You can do whatever you want.¡± The thought on Elijah¡¯s mind was knocking him full of brain fog. If these monsters primarily used mud by manipulating earth magic, then wouldn¡¯t water only make them stronger? 38. Team Effort Signals were being sent through the pendants on both sides of the cavern. The plan was to attack at the same time within the next ten seconds. The moment Novius¡¯ lightning current was sent out of his hand, all hell would break loose. Elijah had no idea what he should do. His affinity does not inflict fatal physical damage. Lightning lit up the right side of the cavern alongside crackling sounds that reverberated off the walls. A thin beam of fire shot through two clagmire¡¯s at once while Raylen jumped up over the ledge. Different magical explosions and sounds were heard on the opposite side of the cavern which forced Elijah to make a move. His hands lifted into the air as he pushed a massive amount of water forwards towards the four clagmire¡¯s that Raylen had not attacked yet. Elijah acted on instinct and gave the mud beasts too much water to work with, which revealed their peculiar bodies and brown-eyed heads that were bigger than their torso. ¡°Nice work! But you could have at least avoided me¡­¡± Raylen had his head low as his body was enveloped in steam. Elijah jumped onto the ledge with Raylen, and started running toward the small beasts drowning in the water. A single step was taken by both Elijah and Raylen, and their feet became stuck and quickly started to sink. ¡°This is the trap!¡± What Elijah thought was the trap, was just how these monsters lived. More water was excreted from Elijah¡¯s hands as it flew out of the mud with Raylen holding onto his foot. Elijah had masked his flight ability with what looked like water propulsion, which is something Elijah did not even think was possible at his mana level. The stronger his core grew, the faster and more powerful he could make the water shoot out of his hands. After landing on the right edge of the upper ledge where the mud was not present but only stone, a knife was slotted into the head of a clagmire while Raylen sliced three within seconds. ¡°They are helpless! Hahaha!¡± Laughter was heard coming from Raylen after multiple swings of his sword sliced through the water while being enveloped in fire. ¡°Let¡¯s move to the right! I¡¯ll send another water wave!¡± With his knife in his right hand, and a soft and small spear of water in his left, Elijah''s plan was to catch them by surprise, and kill them one by one as he noticed the cold stone floor. Black blood seeped out from the heads of the mud covered beasts. First, Elijah sent a small water spear at where he thought the head was, then followed up with a stab to his vital point. The clagmire¡¯s were being absolutely slaughtered by the party of eight. Emelia was watching in the background as she figured out that her magic didn¡¯t do much to them in small amounts if you couldn¡¯t get up close. Theon had two blades of ice in his hands that shot icicles and sliced the heads in two, while Harry was acting as support by erecting metal barriers the further they pushed up.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Bam! Elijah was sent flying forwards as he was shot from behind. His back was dripping in mud that seeped over his shoulders. He face-planted against the cold stone floor, and angrily pushed his chest off the ground with his fists. There were more clagmire¡¯s coming from behind, which no one saw due to their focus being on what¡¯s in front of them. Thankfully, it was a simple ball of mud that struck his back. One thought came into his head. The shoes of Elijah were thrown to the side, and his body swiftly rode the wave of water down towards the clagmire that was standing directly in front of the slim entrance. With a simple wave of his hand the viscous outer body of the beast was cut in half along with the small torso of the beast. The knife swiftly pierced through the center of the eyes, and behind him, were voices of excitement. They had never seen water magic being used like that before. No gloves were ever worn in dungeons because the magic coming out of the body would be blocked by the glove. This led Elijah to believe that he could use his water magic to increase his movement abilites. ¡°We need to make sure to watch our backs. If this had been any other beast, I might have died.¡± Elijah¡¯s words received nods of agreement, and the voice that continued the mission. ¡°Let¡¯s go, everyone.¡± The first part of this cave had been cleared, and after walking around a tall wall that stood as a barrier between one part of the cave and the next, they saw a hole lit more clagmire¡¯s which had heard the noises and were slowly moving towards them. ¡°Theon! Can you freeze the floor? Everything in front of us is muddy!¡± Harry asked Theon as he used his metal shield that blocked multiple different brown sludges being thrown at them. ¡°Wait! First let me and Emelia create a huge water wave. I did it on the left side of the cave and realized too much water will only harm them as their true bodies are revealed. Freeze the floor after that.¡± Elijah quickly responded. Everyone was in agreement, however, with only three people to peek around the corner to throw spells to scare the beasts, they needed to make this quick. Elijah and Emelia nodded their heads, and walked around the corner. Their hands raised above the metal shield that was now sitting on the floor. A huge wave of water that emptied a large portion of both of their mana pools expanded, and swept across the soon to be battlefield. Ugly screams were heard, and as soon as the water started to subside, Theon switched with his hands touching the floor. The floor slowly turned to ice, which eventually reached the ground underneath the clagmire¡¯s bodies that were falling to the floor. There was not a single speck of water they could use, which caused them to shield themselves in a mix of dirt and stone. The only iteration of earth magic they knew. Aslan spoke his words. ¡°It¡¯s time to go guys! Use everything you can!¡± The entire party of eight ran around the stone corner into the massive room with dangling glowing vines. The sound of shoes skating across the icy floor made the beasts start to tremble in the cages they made for themselves. Lightning bolts, fire waves, water slashes, metal spears, wind blades, and a fanatic man swinging his icy longswords gave waste to the still life of the battlefield. Black blood seeped out of the boulders as many of them were split in two, and others were decimated by explosions. Elijah had wanted to test out dual casting his water and space slash together. What he found was that he used less mana by combining the two to get the same splitting effect that the space slash gave him, albeit less powerful which in this instance meant nothing. Manipulating space used more mana than manipulating water. That was the cruel reality of having a special affinity. ¡°Incredible Elijah!¡± Harry and Aslan were both astonished at how easily his water slashes were slicing through the beasts. With every earth cage cut in half, someone followed up with a death blow to the small clagmire trembling at either the top or bottom of its cage. The party of eight stood still and observed the wasteland. Asian¡¯s hand was clenched in a fist, and held above his head, which meant no moving and no talking. ¡°They''re dead. Let¡¯s continue moving. 39. Surrounded The icy floors soon turned into soft mush, so it was agreed to walk against the walls on the expanding cave to progress further. Freezing was not an option due to how much mana Theon had used previously. According to the mission, the final cave that the party needed to reach while clearing the beasts in the cave system was a ravine with a ceiling that couldn¡¯t be seen. This ravine occurred after they exited the current cave. However, it seemed like they weren¡¯t going to be there for quite some time, as this cave stretched far into the distance with all kinds of oddly shaped stone formations that supported the ceiling. This cave had all kinds of obstacles blocking their view, and was littered with greenery that stretched through the entire ceiling. ¡°Why do you think there is so much nature above us?¡± Emelia brought up the question that Elijah had running through his mind. ¡°I think there is a bunch of water above us. These water drops have to be coming from somewhere right?¡± Alexia added while twirling her staff. ¡°You''re exactly right. But where would the water even come from?¡± Elijah was confused, then remembered the water in the sulfur cave, and the whirlpool. There are places where the water reaches into the openings, but also places where water stays hidden. Novius was the furthest ahead with his sword lying to his side. ¡°Did you guys hear that? ¡°What?¡± Small rocks began to fall from the ceiling that increased in number. Ahead of the group was a safe area where the cold stone returned, that would lead the party through a very rocky terrain. ¡°We have to move faster! I think the ceiling is going to fall!¡± The party started running along the side of the cavern while being hit with bigger and bigger rocks until boulders started to fall. Elijah was at the back providing protection to Emelia. BOOM! The ceiling behind them completely collapsed and what came with it was a water torrent filled with an uncountable number of clagmires. They had been above the ceiling this whole time frolicking in the brown viscous water that seemed to have been mixed with the earth. The only words that anyone heard were, ¡°RUN!!!¡± Elijah was following behind everyone as quickly as he could while making sure everyone stayed protected. A spatial barrier within the environment was created that acted as an immovable barrier that spread almost half way across the wide cave. However, the moment they reached safety, they realized they were surrounded by at least thirty clagmire¡¯s that did not count the ones that fell from the ceiling. Shadows were moving through the distance underneath the natural light of the cavern. Without any form of discussion, the group quickly reformed themselves while unleashing all kinds of spells. Elijah laid a thin layer of water across the ground close to them which Theon quickly froze. While this did limit their mobility, they didn¡¯t have anywhere to go, and would much rather limit the amount of earth the clagmire¡¯s can manipulate. Bright lights were coming from Novius and Raylen as they unleashed concentrated energies of fire and lighting that practically incinerated the beasts that were developing mud around their bodies. Alexia and Aslan were unleashing barrages of small wind blades that severely mutilated or killed the clagmire¡¯s even within their mud and earth shells.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it However, the large wave of water had now reached them as it covered their shins. Theon yelled at the top of his lungs. ¡°JUMP ON 3! I WILL FREEZE THE WATER!¡± A quick countdown was playing in the minds of the party as they started to receive hits from earthen sludge. The clagmire¡¯s main way of attacks was by drowning their prey not in quicksand, but in mud. They had no mental ability to form complex shapes which was a huge advantage for the party. The ¡°THREE¡± was heard as everyone¡¯s feet rose out of the water. However, at this time, Elijah had secretly split the space of the water in a large distance, which crippled a huge number of beasts and lessened the attacks. All of this happened within a single minute, and from now on, the battle would be alot harder as the beasts from the ceiling were piling in, and surrounding the party on all but one side. Theon noticed Elijah¡¯s act of mystery but did not pay it any mind as chaos was everywhere. It felt like they were fighting a losing battle, the numbers were too much, and they hadn¡¯t even absorbed any mana after their last fight. ¡°I can¡¯t do this much longer!¡± Aslan and Alexia were in the same predicament as Theon. The only option for survival was Elijah¡¯s trump card. However, with him also being fairly low on mana, he would have to be extremely careful with his next steps if this wasn¡¯t the last of them. The only conflict was how this could spell disaster for him. This affinity¡­ Is something special. ¡°WHAT WOULD HAPPEN!¡± ELijah screamed at the top of his lungs to alleviate his splitting mind. Nothing bad would happen if the people currently fighting for their lives found out. NOTHING! Why am I hiding! All the eyes were focused on his random outburst, but Elijah was only focused on what was in front of him. With a swift motion, Elijah flew above the battlefield. Voices of shock were everywhere. Even within Novius and Alexia¡¯s voices. He could tell everyone was struggling, and instead of trying to solely benefit himself, a quick thought was turned into reality. ¡°EVERYONE DUCK!!!¡± Elijah waited for not even two seconds, then sent a large amount of mana into the environment once he saw everyone on the floor. An ear piercing thunderclap that sounded like a jet breaking the sound barrier echoed multiple times as it shattered rocks in the distance, and some of the eardrums of his friends.. Exactly like how tectonic plates shift, Elijah had shifted space on the horizontal plane. Everything on the top side was separated and slightly shifted from its position. Rocks, walls, and beasts. Most of the beasts were still moving while jumping over each other, while others slumped to the floor. Elijah had damned his friends to save everyone, and now he was left with cleanup after more than seventy percent of the beasts had perished. This much would not work on something like the blazing lions, or ice bears if they had mana coursing through their body. But these frail creatures were red core beasts, and Elijah¡¯s magic was something special enough that he knew he must not just show and tell anyone, but to keep it close to his chest while allowing people he deemed worthy to know. Elijah flew straight towards the mud floor area, and stabbed the large heads of the beasts that were dripping in mud. Black blood began to cover his clothes, and during the barrage of stabbing knives, A beast had awakened that only came about in practice. The principles of weight shifting, full body movements, and efficiency was what shaped his battle style. A simple mixed martial arts with the added effect of being able to fly. Multiple sludges of mud were sent towards Elijah from behind him that were instantly blocked by a thin water barrier that stopped and absorbed its force. Lightning started to resound in the cavern as Novius had stood up with blood dripping out of his ears. Theon and Raylen shortly followed, while the rest were laying on the ground holding each other tightly. ¡°I CAN''T HEAR!!!¡± Novius had words that didn¡¯t sound completely right. Elijah was deep in his thoughts flying from beast to beast. Eventually, he completely disassociated from himself and felt like he was playing a video game. What Elijah did not realize was that almost everything he was stabbing was completely dead. Novius, Theon, and Raylen had been shouting at Elijah for more than twenty seconds while being scared to approach. The only thing they saw was a kid they once knew, completely covered in black blood, that didn¡¯t seem to care for anything but the death of anyone opposing him. 40. Truths and Lies Laying on the cold hard ice were Alexia, Emelia, Aslan, and Harry. Small bits of water magic were enveloping everyone from Emelia¡¯s shaky hands. She kept on asking if it was working, but could not hear any responses or her own voice for that matter. The only thing she felt were the vibrations from the lightning strikes and fire balls that were being thrown in the distance. Eventually everything came to a stop, and the minds of the four shaking victims ceased. Soft mumbles began to come back which meant the healing magic of Emelia was working. Meanwhile, Novius had sped over to Elijah to stop him from attacking. Everything was already dead. ¡°ELIJAH! ELIJAH! STOP!!¡± Screams were bouncing off of Elijah as he kept on moving his hands, and exhausting his mana to a point where a pain in his chest began to erupt. Elijah had severely sliced the arm of his friend who was only trying to help him, and was immediately pulled back into reality. Frozen in mid air, he slumped to the ground in tears. He had quickly processed what had just happened, and all he wanted to do was sleep. His body was fighting for its life, and his mind was flying though his past playing back memories of his death. ¡°W-what is happening to me??¡± Elijah stared at the palms of his hand as his knife fell to the floor. His breathing became shallow to the point nose-breathing was not an option. His entire body began to softly shake, but slowly came back as many minutes passed by. Black blood was covering almost every part of his body, as well as dripping from his face. ¡°Are you done?¡± Novius did not like what happened, and acted as much since he had no idea what Elijah was going through. ¡°Yea. I¡¯m done¡­¡± Elijah fell onto his back and clutched his chest after the pain set in. Theon quickly added to the conversation after Novius¡¯ WORD words. ¡°Novius, I don¡¯t think you should talk to him like that. He ran out of mana, but was going on a frenzy not just because he couldn¡¯t control himself.¡± ¡°His mind is messed up¡­¡± Raylen said while walking closer to Elijah and wiping blood off his hands. Novius was confused and asked what they meant. ¡°Have you never heard of this before? It is not called anything specific, and also rarely seen. But there are people who have been killed due to them not being able to control themselves. This only happens because of a traumatic experience one must have had that mixes with the power of magic. Something that changed them¡­¡± Theon explained. Elijah had been listening to the dulled voices talk above his limp body. Mental illness is exactly what it sounds like. I don¡¯t think I am the way I am because of that beast raid on the wall, but because of my reincarnation. It feels like I have moved backwards in my life to the years full of despair and nothing to strive for. Constantly sitting down, playing video games, smoking, choking the chicken, and chasing absolutely nothing but different methods of escape. The mind I had then, a weak one, is what I have now. Is it because I am ten years old?Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Or because I have psyched myself into thinking everything here is normal without ever taking time to process what has actually happened¡­ Emelia walked over to the group standing over Elijah, and she quickly washed him in water magic that removed the blood stains from his clothes. The strained muscles and bones in his body quickly recovered, and the next thing he felt was Alexia¡¯s hand caressing his face. ¡°Are you okay Elijah?¡± Coughs were heard, then a response. ¡°I don¡¯t think so, but we must continue moving forward after we recover.¡± Once again, Elijah had completely put his emotions to the side without relishing and understanding them. However, this was the only path forward. He had to survive this mission if nothing else. ¡°I don¡¯t think that''s a good idea.¡± Aslan had a worried look on his face. ¡°Why not.¡± Elijah slowly turned his head and stared at the man holding him back. ¡°If those gorgons are extremely fast and strong, we stand no chance in our state. If we were to fill our cores with mana, it would take over half an hour, and to be honest with everyone here. I truly want to return after what just happened. I need to get stronger.¡± Elijah decided to agree after both Novius and Alexia voiced their thoughts. ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s go.¡± A translucent and pearlescent portal opened up below the hand that held his knife. Casually, he took out four, one liter bottles of water for everyone to sip. Questions about his power were asked, and he calmly responded how it is his second affinity, space. Of course more questions were asked, but were stopped with a single sentence. ¡°Please don¡¯t tell anyone, I want to keep this a secret from as many people as possible.¡± Everyone seemed to notice Elijah¡¯s sudden change in speech from a quiet and seemingly angry person, to a careful and calm person. No more questions were asked, and the group slowly started to make their way back to safety. In truth, the party of eight could lie and say they finished the mission since there was no way to prove them wrong. The only problem would be when the scouts report to the hunter guild that a mission to this specific cave system is needed a lot quicker than usual. Suspicions will rise, and likely would have the completed mission revoked as a ten year old junior knight aiming for the top at any cost. Conversations were heard from Alexia, Emelia, Harry, and Aslan. However, none of the four who were able to stand up said one word. The journey back was slow, and Elijah could swear that he had been hearing something behind him that was not his party. There was not much he wanted to do besides return, so he decided to keep on moving forward. Everyone¡¯s hearing was slightly muffled even with the healing magic of Emelia. ¡°Guys. I think something is following us.¡± Harry said as he stopped and conjured a small metal shield around his forearm. ¡°I¡¯m not hearing or seeing anything Harry, but just to be safe, I will start walking backwards.¡± Aslan knew they should not dismiss any idea of danger, even when they knew it was almost impossible. Aslan¡¯s eyes squinted when he saw something very dark and weird looking shoot across the cavern from left to right. ¡°What the¡­¡± ¡°Do you see something Aslan?¡± Novius asked as he turned around, but very quickly saw the same thing Aslan saw. ¡°There is something following us, but I don¡¯t know why it''s not attacking.¡± Elijah stopped his steps. ¡°Everyone, please continue moving forward. If it''s another quagmire, I¡¯ll take care of it¡­¡± ¡°What if it''s not a quagmire?¡± Alexia asked a question that was in everyone¡¯s mind. ¡°Then we will run as fast as possible over these rocks while defending ourselves. The only other possibility is the gorgon.¡± Elijah responded. Elijah was now walking forwards at the back of the group while keeping an eye on the beast behind them. There it is! What looked like a four-legged monkey with limbs bigger than their torso and head was jumping from side to side into cover behind different rock formations. The wind parting ways made small sounds that Elijah was able to pick up on. ¡°We need to run. It is a gorgon!¡± There was almost zero information given about these creatures besides the fact that they were extremely fast, and had sharp claws. The question Elijah had running through his mind was how he should kill this beast if it decided to attack. 41. Creating New Limits The physical limits of human bodies have not evolved even the slightest bit due to magic. Humans are still just as frail as someone without magic with the only difference being that wielding magic allows you to defend yourself. The only way Elijah had seen people use magic before, was by excreting it from their hands or different body parts. His feet were an example of an unorthodox way of using magic. What would happen if the magic never left the body? Elijah was continuing to walk forward as quickly as he could through the soft and squishy earthen floor. His party was not jumping and running through the now rocky terrain, but climbing expertly while shifting their body weight to quickly traverse the fallen ceiling. No one had any quarrels about Elijah being the first thing the supposed gorgon attacked based on his recent performance. No one could hold a candle to him when he let loose. ¡°What does it look like it¡¯s doing?¡± Novius asked. Elijah turned his head slightly while keeping an eye on the beast. ¡°It¡¯s observing while following behind us. Harry, can you place some metal barriers to stall its movement? All it is doing is launching itself from left to right behind cover.¡± ¡°Sure, I can do that, but I won¡¯t be able to help if the beast attacks us.¡± ¡°That¡¯s okay, just make sure to place the barrier in front of the cover that we are passing.¡± Thin metals barriers started to be placed next to rock formations vertically. While continuing to quickly walk to safety, scraping sounds were heard as the metal was completely torn apart. The barrier only seemed to anger the beast. However, this was Elijah¡¯s secret plan. During this time, Elijah had been coursing small amounts of mana into his body that had some sort of effect on his physical body. Small pains were felt in his pelvis and thighs, which he hoped to have a boost in strength from the mana reinforcing his muscles, tendons, ligaments, and bones. Or at least a faster range of motion. The gorgon finally became pissed off enough that instead of hiding, it jumped into the center, about seventy feet into the distance. Elijah completely stopped, felt the strength in his legs, and prepared. His shoes were ripped apart as a small amount of water mana tore through the soles of his shoes. The beast was lowering its body into a crunching formation like it was a living catapult. WHOOSH! The rocky ground beneath the four thick limbs of the beast was slaughtered, and the beast shot forward with a long tongue flying along the side of his mouth. Its limbs were behind its body, but we''re slowly coming around due to the speed the beast traveled at. The low amount of light, and the tall ceiling did not provide much visibility, other than the bright red eyes of a beast staring into his soul. The moment Elijah saw the beast lunge forward he shifted his weight using his hips, to his arm, then fist, which flew forward with incredible speed, and tore a hole through the small chest of the gorgon the second his punch finished its motion. Blood splattered in a circle all around Elijah, and the limbs and head continued flying at a speed unseeable to the eye. Some of them splattered against rock formations, while others tumbled across the rocky floor before hitting the wall that would grant them some amount of safety.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Elijah was not some combat genius, but someone with a vast amount of knowledge. Based on the beast''s previous movements, and him taking a staggered stance in an open area, the only option for a beast was to attack what was in front of him. A huge and unseeable smile appeared on Elijah¡¯s face as he continued to look forward in amusement. The only surprise was how fast his fist moved to the point he was almost thrown off balance. Was it a strength increase, a speed increase, or both simply because of a strength increase. ¡°HOLY COW!¡± Novius as well as the entire party was in shock by Elijah''s display of abilities. ¡°That was amazing Elijah! How did you do that?!¡± Theon asked while patting the back of Elijah only to hear and feel a cracking noise coming from his body. ¡°AHHHHHHH!!!¡± A scream of pain suddenly erupted from Elijah as he felt the bones and muscles in his right shoulder and arm fracture with every movement. Everyone came running towards him, with Emelia washing his body in healing water magic. The magic knew where to go, as it had a mind of its own, and dove into the shoulder and arm of Elijah. Theon and Raylen had helped Elijah slowly fall to the ground where he laid in pain with slight tremors on the right side of his body. This was the aftermath of doing such a thing. These physical limits he so wanted to break past, broke him first. Tears of pain were streaming down Elijah''s face as he anxiously spoke. ¡°I-I th-think k I mess-ed u-p.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I had no idea how we were going to fight that thing. Let¡¯s just be glad there was only one. Harry! Make a bed to carry him in. This is standard practice right!¡± Aslan said. ¡°Done.¡± The party of eight set off while carrying Elijah as he laid on a metal sheet with four prongs on each end as handles. The hunters around Elijah had more experience than them, and even received training classes about proper strategy, and medical support. Careful shouts were heard as the group ran through the opening that led to the cave of their first battle. The familiar sight of a tiny slit opening that wouldn¡¯t necessarily guarantee their freedom appeared in sight. However, it seemed like there were more clagmire¡¯s who were randomly roaming. ¡°Shit! These stupid beasts must have migrated from when the ceiling caved in! Quick use all your strength! There won¡¯t be any beasts after this battle!¡± Aslan set the group in motion, and instantly set Elijah down while they stayed close firing long-range spells. Theon had conjured swords of ice that easily sliced through the mud balls, and froze the small layer of water on the ground that Emelia had quickly conjured. The battle was quick, as they knew how to easily pinpoint their weaknesses. Theon, Raylen, Harry, and Novius picked up Elijah again, and quickly ran through the stable ground and into safety. The sides of the metal gurney were scraping against the walls, and required Harry to remove some of the metal that let Elijah¡¯s left arm and leg dangle below him. The dark cavern came and passed quickly, and they exited into the familiar chasm with a seemingly infinite ceiling. ¡°CREVERON! EIGHT! MEDIC!¡± Eight ziplines instantly fell from the sky, with a ninth coming down not even ten seconds later with a person attached to it. ¡°Quick! Get on!¡± The tall man quickly and carefully took hold of Elijah, and sped off into the sky while the rest followed. However, while the rest of the group was looking down below them, they saw a horde of small rat-looking creatures funneling out of a cave nearby to the one they just came out of. Deep and fast breaths were being taken while laying down on the comfortable wooden ground. Elijah was out of sight, probably being taken to the medical room. Looks of happiness spread through the room, along with words of gratitude. 42. Waiting It Out Inside of an oval room made from thin pieces of wood lay Elijah, along with several other hunters who had been injured. While being conscious, he noticed a beautiful lady with dark eye bags standing close to him while saturating his muscles with healing water magic. This was not Alexia nor Emelia, but a simple yellow cored woman who had definitely been here for some time. ¡°I can tell you are awake.¡± she said with a monotone voice. Her scrappy brown hair was tied in a bun. ¡°I know. I am just observing how you are using water magic to heal me.¡± The lady who Elijah could not guess her age spoke. ¡°What happened to you?¡± ¡°I got thrown into a wall.¡± Elijah had to lie through his teeth. He had no idea if this was some taboo practice, but either way it was extremely destructive to the body. She sighed at his response, and calmly looked at the people walking inside the building. Greetings were made between the party members and the healer, while she explained that Elijah will make a full recovery. This type of injury required her to use a lot of control to piece together the bones and muscle tissue that were fractured, broken, and torn. If this was to be looked at underneath a microscope, it would look like this entire right side was crushed by a boulder. Elijah stood up and felt his heart start to beat faster. ¡°What is your name?¡± The lady gave a slight smile. ¡°Yela.¡± Elijah walked off with his party slowly, as he received pats on his back, only this time to not receive an onslaught of pain coursing through his right side. Novius played it like some type of joke. The party was stopped on a walkway to the building where Andal resided. ¡°I¡¯m sure you all feel that right?¡± Novius asked. Everyone nodded, and suddenly dropped to the floor. Tremors were heard coming from the floating structure. There were thick metal ropes that went from the ceiling to the metal guard that Elijah thought acted as the foundation for this tree-like stronghold. Instead, the metal foundation fell unceremoniously to the floor after the metal wires all disconnected. A blaring wind sound that was accompanied by metal scraping against stone reverberated through the cavern. All of which were outshined by the bright lights emitted on the edges of the cavern from metal being torn apart. What followed were a cacophony of hoarse high-pitched screams. BAM! Anything that was previously on ground level, had been squashed into nothing. The trees, rocks, and most importantly, the beasts. As the party was recovering, and Elijah was slowly standing back up after feeling some pain in his right shoulder, loud footsteps accompanied by laughter entered the area. ¡°Hahahaha, what do you think of our simple but arduous way of killing beast hordes that venture into the cavern?¡±The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Besides the eardrum shattering sounds, It¡¯s quite amazing!¡± Of course Novius was excited to see something like this, something that didn¡¯t even require magic, but his response also had a trickle of sarcasm. ¡°Usually once every month there is a beast raid on us, and it¡¯s always the same types of beasts. Kyrats, with their army of mini-rats that nibble and tear away at anything. Thankfully, dropping a metal structure on their heads smushes them all to bits.¡± Andal explained as he looked questionably at Elijah. ¡°It seems you guys had a rough time on your mission. Did you complete it?¡± ¡°No.¡± Aslan replied with a straight face. ¡°The ceiling caved inn on us, along with a huge number of clagmire¡¯s. That¡¯s without mentioning the gorgon that Elijah killed.¡± ¡°A gorgon! So you guys actually saw one! How fascinating!¡± Raylen walked up to the man with an angered expression. ¡°Are you trying to kill us! What the hell is wrong with you?!¡± ¡°Absolutely not! I provided you with information that you may encounter them, and you did, and did not die. How did you kill it anyway?¡± ¡°Ha, I knew something was off about you¡­ Let¡¯s go guys.¡± Elijah said as he walked in the opposite direction of the suspicious man. Andal, someone who had seemed like a good person, had wanted to test our strength by not letting the guild know a beast as strong as a gorgon might be inside of this cave system. Gorgon¡¯s are mostly simple red core beasts that don¡¯t even use magic, but their innate abilities transcend the limits of magic, so even a yellow or green core mage could fall to their claws. What an insidious man. The party slowly walked towards the barracks that were built to house everyone ordinary visiting Nova40. Of course top people of the guild had their own special place in this stronghold, with bigger beds and facilities. Since the whole party knew it would be some time before they could leave, they decided to take bunk beds next to each other in the corner of the wood barracks just left to the door. The bed sheets were thick, and as soon as Elijah carefully plopped onto his bed, Alexia, had climbed onto the bed above him with Emelia eyeing to do the same. Elijah wasn¡¯t sure if they saw him as a protector, someone stronger than everyone around them, or someone they wanted to marry, and be with forever. Elijah had a knack for noticing these types of things that were happening, but had been complacent about it ever since reincarnating. ¡°Don¡¯t crowd around Elijah guys, he is still sore. I don¡¯t think that pesky healer healed him all the way.¡± Theon said while catching Elijah¡¯s gaze. It seemed everyone in the room caught on to what was happening. Hours passed as the party talked to each other, played made up finger games, and took naps. A knock on the door resounded in the room to let everyone know that the metal foundation was lifted, and the ground had been cleaned. The party of eight, had not noticed as they had all fallen asleep. Sleep is something they deserved. No one had died, and a bond between them all had been fundamentally strengthened. The easiest way to truly see who someone is, is by going into a life or death battle with them. ¡°Guys! Wake up! We can leave!¡± Harry was the first to wake and shouted to his friends. ¡°Huh? I don¡¯t like it when you touch me like that¡­¡± Raylen slightly woke up, but uttered words that made the group burst out laughing. ¡°What exactly were you dreaming about Raylen?¡± His brother Theon asked teasingly. After the party grabbed their small backpacks and weapons, they headed straight for the loadout room and fell down using the ziplines. No one was needed to be present as the zip lines would automatically come back up when no weight was attached. An older group of hunters were seen on the way out of the cave, which allowed them to not stare at a map the entire time. The sky was dark outside The Catacombs. While riding in the carriage, Elijah was using healing water magic on himself to recover his shoulder. Yela had not fully healed his shoulder as a lesson to him, she knew what he did. This means that Elijah should continue to not talk about what he did, but also experiment with different possibilities. There has to be a way to enhance his physical abilities without inducing damage to his body. 43. Mysteries of Astraea The night was quiet once Elijah, Novius, and Alexia returned to the Weltor estate. Not much time was spent at the hunter guild as they quickly reported the failed completion of their mission. One thing that did surprise the party was how a sparring tournament would be held to determine the top hunters of every core level. The kingdom is in great need of new talent, and the best way to find the most powerful people is by displaying their abilities to the public. This is a never done before event that will be taking place in the Magic Academy Coliseum. A coliseum big enough to hold over ten thousand people at one, and a coliseum big enough to hold eight matches at once. There would be qualifiers within each inner city hunter guild, matches between the top people of each hunter guild, semifinals between every guild, and finally¡­ the finals between the top talents of the entire kingdom. Rewards for placing high were not discussed at all, but Elijah presumed it would have something to do with a guaranteed spot on the frontlines. This tournament wasn¡¯t just for the children, but also for the hope of the kingdom. This announcement came out of the blue, and made Elijah think the guild needed to weed out even more trash as they needed to focus on a small amount of individuals compared to the amount of junior hunters. Retaking the wall was making no progress, and there were people dying left and right. Blue core beasts were not the problem. No beast they were facing was above the cyan level. The problem was that the human race had no innate abilities compared to the ugly and monstrous beasts that roamed the outer region. A knock was heard on the door of Elijah¡¯s room, and he welcomed the visitor with a greeting. The moment the door opened, Elijah recognized the icy blue eyes and white hair. Amaris! ¡°How was your mission Elijah?¡± ¡°No, how has your life been? Wow. We failed. The psycho Creveron man in Nova40 didn¡¯t tell the guild about a difficult beast, and we would have died if there had been more than one¡­¡± ¡°Hahahaha, are you talking about Andal?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°That man is rotten in the head, and will do whatever it takes to see strong hunters grow up. It was just one of his sick tests.¡± ¡°Ah. So no matter what kind of world this is, there will always be people like that¡­ Tell me Amaris, do you think there is a way to increase our physical strength with mana?¡± Amaris shut the door and leaned against it with his arms crossed. ¡°Yes, but not without destroying your body.¡± ¡°I used that method on my mission and obliterated a gorgon within a second. I¡¯ve never felt so much pain before.¡± ¡°Ha! That¡¯s impressive. By the way Elijah, do you have something that you want to ask me?¡± Amaris moved closer to Elijah, and closely stared at the boy sitting on the bed. ¡°I want you to take me outside of the wall, and soon.¡± ¡°You probably don¡¯t know this Elijah, but there have been new beast sightings that use a type of magic no one has ever seen before. It absorbs, decays, and decimates anything it touches, and the beasts that carry this type of magic look like something from your worst nightmare. I know you can fly, but you would die instantly against any of those beasts with a core level of red. That is if you didn¡¯t use your flight ability hehe.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Elijah was listening to the words coming out of Amaris¡¯ mouth and continued to grow sad with each statement. New magic, horrible beasts, and easily being killed. His sour mood was somewhat lifted by his last sentence. ¡°So when can you take me?¡± ¡°Woah, slow down buddy. I think I should incentivize you. Get to the dark Orange core stage, and I will take you. Also, I think you may have noticed by now, but there is something weird going on with the people here. No one ever wants to leave, and always denies the idea of life outside the walls. Do you have any thoughts on this matter?¡± Amaris¡¯ question made Elijah think hard about his experiences with Novius and Alexia. Both of them had been adamant about their not being life outside the walls, and both Elijah and Amaris recall the conversation that Alexia and Novius were present in. ¡°I think you are right, everyone I have talked to about escaping the walls have all said the same thing. The only matter that doesn¡¯t track is explorations outside the outer wall.¡± ¡°That only happens to hunt and keep the beasts outside the kingdom in check. The raid that caused the fall of the wall wasn¡¯t the first raid even, and ever since the people started venturing outside the walls to hunt beasts, we haven¡¯t had a raid since. Although, there has never been a raid where the wall has been destroyed, but only a noise disturbance that called for the hunters to take them out.¡± ¡°Oh, I guess that makes sense.¡± ¡°You know Elijah, I can tell that you are something special. You talk to me like a normal adult, and when you are with your friends, you talk like your friends.¡± Elijah did not do anything but stare at Amaris, and stopped his question that was about to escape his mouth with a question of his own. ¡°You are not from this kingdom right? You are an outsider.¡± The way Elijah structured this question made Elijah seem like someone who cared about this kingdom, a true resident. No one can know his secret. ¡°Yes, I am from a kingdom not too far from here.¡± Elijah instantly stood up. ¡°Tell me. Why hasn¡¯t your kingdom found Astraea?¡± ¡°Because your kingdom is sick, and hiding itself from the outside world. I came here as a spy, along with a couple of other people almost ten years ago. We mean know harm and are only trying to investigate what is happening here.¡° ¡°What? What is happening to this kingdom?!¡± ¡°Sorry kid, but I don¡¯t know myself. I have a feeling that the people I came with are no longer on my side¡­¡± Elijah was processing all the information from Amaris. ¡°Are you on the side of good, or the side of bad?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a stupid question to ask. I just realized I need to go, I may be late for a meeting. Thinking about why that¡¯s a stupid question, and please complete some damn missions¡­¡± ¡°What the¡ª-¡° Amaris quietly walked out of the bedroom, and said his goodbyes to Don and Phloria who were downstairs talking to George and Gloria. ¡°It''s you again!!¡± ¡°Haha, have a good night and enjoy the wet carriage court!¡± Amaris walked out of the grand front door, and created a thick ice path that took him to the sky. The night was starry behind the mana barrier, with an uncountable number of beasts roaming the lands. Elijah laid on his bed and let his mind roam. It seemed that whenever he was alone, memories of his past flowed through his mind like a torrential river. There was no amount of control, but only despair as his heart rate fluctuated. ¡°I need to go downstairs¡­¡± The first thing he saw was the door open, with both Novius¡¯ and his parents staring outside. ¡°Haha, looks like that idiot left in style.¡± ¡°Elijah, why is that man visiting you again?!¡± ¡°Because he thinks I am strong. I am going to go for a quick night walk, I¡¯ll be back soon.¡± No one, not even his parents objected as they heard his monotone voice. They were confused and worried, and decided to wait until he came back to talk to him. The night was cold even with the wind not busting through the mana barrier. With every breath, a trail of smoke came out of Elijah¡¯s nostrils. There was practically no one outside as it was night, however, one thing was certainly true. It was snowing, and very hard. The Grand Park was littered with benches, winding paths, and tall trees that seemed to be dying. ¡°This world is filled with beauty that I have not seen all of yet. I want to get out of this place. Something is eerily wrong, and it has something to do with you¡­¡± Elijah was staring directly into the whirlpool, but more specifically, the dark void of nothingness that lies beneath. The calming noises of the currents of the whirlpool calmed his mind, and returned for a restful night of sleep which was something he was worried would be scarce. 44. Preparing for the Next Mission Elijah woke up with calm emotions after getting more than ten hours of restful sleep. He felt refreshed, anew, and content with his path forward. The day started with stretching just as usual. A horizontal split was held for more than a minute, and shortly followed by walking upside down on his hands. A couple drops of sweat were broken, and his thirst was quenched with lightly salted water. Since the entire kingdom was rationing food, Elijah and the whole estate had mainly been relying on frozen meat, eggs, and fruits and veggies that were grown on the rooftop. Phloria and Lea, the mothers of the Veran and Sinclair family, had completely taken over the small rooftop garden, and turned it into a produce powerhouse. Alexia walked into the kitchen and was delighted to see a small breakfast being cooked up. Touches of coriander and cinnamon entered her nose, and she started to salivate more than what was natural. ¡°I saw Novius walking up the stairs to his fathers office, and he told me we needed to go to the Hunter guild today.¡± ¡°Do you know why?¡± ¡°He didn¡¯t tell me much as he was in a rush, but I think it has something to do with his pride, he wants to do another mission as soon as possible.¡± Elijah simply responded in agreement with Novius¡¯ thinking, and began to talk about his mental health with Alexia. Time passed quickly, and Novius joined the two in the kitchen, grabbed some food to go, and called a carriage. Elijah knew the next mission would be easier than usual if he used his space affinity. The idea of being able to cut through anytype of magic on the same level as his made his heart flutter. ¡°Are you okay Elijah?¡± Novius¡¯ question didn¡¯t shock him because he knew his parents must have said something to both Alexia and Novius. ¡°Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I know what¡¯s going on with my head, so I can deal with it. But I just want to go on another mission. A mission where I don¡¯t hide my affinity¡­¡± ¡°I agree. I understand you hiding it from the public, but not using your space affinity will affect your potential.¡± Alexia nodded in agreement, but also added a few words. ¡°I think you should get a sword.¡± A sword had been in the back of Elijah¡¯s mind for sometime now, however, he did not want a sword like the one Novius had. Straight and long. A short sword, something that would work well with his knife if he dual-wielded weapons. The only downside was that Elijah wouldn¡¯t be able to fully use magic, which wasn¡¯t a problem since he had his feet. Custom shoes with protection from rocks, but with the ability to use magic through the openings or slits in the shoes was also an item to get, or make for himself. ¡°I will get a shortsword, how about that?¡± ¡°Shortsword? What do you mean?¡± Novius was confused by his response. Elijah immediately knew that a shortsword, or the name shortsword didn¡¯t exist, so he explained what he meant even with the explanation within the name. Pfff, ten year olds¡­ ¡°Oh! I thought that was what you meant, but we don¡¯t really have a different name for shorter swords. We call everything that looks like a sword, a sword.¡± Novius explained.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Elijah was glad this kingdom wasn¡¯t stupid, although he hopes that shortswords are a popular option. They are lighter, can be sturdier, and can be just as deadly. It all just depends on the person. The carriage arrived at the busy western hunter guild building. Every face was unfamiliar, besides Emery¡¯s party which they ignored. Novius had received a message from Aslan saying to bring Alexia and Elijah to room 215 in the hunter guild building. The door opened accompanied by stares, but shortly followed with a pleasant greeting. Theon had shaked the hands of Novius and Alexia, and quickly moved to a long handshake with Elijah. Not weird at all. After a couple of minutes of greeting each other, their attention was taken away by Aslan, who was pointing at a large sheet of paper lying on the circular table. The room the party was in was dedicated for meetings and group learning. The edges were tinged and the faded color was a sight that Elijah had never seen before. A map! But more specifically Nova40 and half of the cave systems up to a certain point. ¡°This is the point of the mission where the ceiling caved in. That large pool of water was accounted for, and reachable by entering the ravine that came after the cave.¡± Asland explained while pointing with his fingers. ¡°So why exactly are you showing us this?¡± Novius asked. ¡°Because I thought you guys should know. I don¡¯t think we will take the same mission again, but something can be learned from this. By knowing the layout of the cave system we are going into, we can use it to our advantage! If we truly knew what was above us, we could¡¯ve reinforced it with metal magic, and stopped the ceiling from caving in.¡± They continued onto the next subject, which is Elijah¡¯s hidden affinity. He quickly explained to everyone what the mechanics were, and said he only wanted to keep it a secret from the public as much as possible, and was planning on revealing it when comfortable. His phenomenal performance and downfall after obliterating the gorgon was also discussed, however, not much was said besides his body hurting from low mana and the beast dealing a hit to his shoulder that no one saw. Loud voices and shouts were suddenly heard coming from outside the room. The party of eight quickly opened the door, walked into the hallway, and followed the noise by walking to the right to the balcony that overlooked the grand foyer of the hunter guild. In the very center was a Lorsen Cerveron, standing tall above all of the junior knights who were gathered in the guild, along with some older hunters including Alessia. ¡°Everyone please be quiet! I have a few quick words to say and I will be on my way! This has something to do with the outer region!¡± Lorsen¡¯s last sentence silenced the hunters as they were expecting candidates for the outer region to be announced. ¡°In one month, there will be a tournament meant to show off the talents of the junior hunters. If you want to participate, please write your full name and core color on the signup sheet next to the mission board. This is meant to provide us some insight on who to pay attention to, and also a way for you all to get competitive against each other as a change compared to slaughtering beasts all day. A Lot of you will find that battling fellow humans is much more difficult than stupid beasts. That is it, and I am sorry for lying.¡± The crowd of junior hunters once again erupted in chatter, while Elijah grew a worried pair of eyes. Becoming more familiar with his water affinity, and understanding how to embody its principles will need to be a priority. This definitely has something to do with being put on the team to go outside the walls, and even if Elijah is an orange core mage, he can still greatly help with his imagination. ¡°I guess we better choose another mission soon. I think we can do four within one month, which will help us improve our skills drastically.¡± Aslan said to the party. ¡°I¡¯m okay with that. In fact, why don¡¯t we choose one today, and prepare for the next 3 days.¡± Everyone added in their thoughts, and came to an agreement. Four days from now, they would be in The Catacombs once again, battling for their lives. The question was, would there be any surprises, stories to remember, or despair. 45. Blurred Lines Between Realities ¡°Hey! Why do you think you all deserve to sign up for this!¡± Emery said with an angry face as he stared at Novius. Novius simply ignored the man and continued writing his name. Elijah has seen this man multiple times now, and is absolutely sick of him. ¡°What did Novius do to you Emery?¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t about you, nobody.¡± ¡°I beg to differ! Clearly you stated that we all don¡¯t deserve to sign up for the tournament. So explain to me, what did Novius do to you.¡± Elijah turned around and moved closer towards Emery. His medium length blonde hair flowed down the sides of his ears, and his fire red eyes accentuated his masculine looks. Words came out of his mouth that shocked everyone in the room while Novius continued staring forward at the sheet he had just signed. ¡°His father killed my father¡­¡± Elijah didn¡¯t respond but instead tried to shake the hands of Emery, who was clearly not doing this for no reason. He was ten years old, and he believes Novius¡¯ father killed the man that raised him, and created him. His anger and hatred makes sense, which is why Elijah did not retaliate further, especially after he saw the eyes of Emery glistening with moisture. ¡°Why don¡¯t we settle this in the tournament. You are a bright red core right?¡± Elijah asked with a genuine smile. Emery was confused as to why this person was being nice to him, and was too late to respond until a member of his party cut in. ¡°Don¡¯t bother talking to them, Emery. You have already written your name down. Let¡¯s go.¡± The man who spoke was a noble friend of Emery named Jared. Jared ruby, the youngest son of a formidable hunter captain. To Elijah, it seemed a fire affinity was extremely popular considering two of the eight party members had fiery red eyes, eyes that burned with confidence. Burning with confidence? Elijah thought about this though that came into mind by observing the people in front of him. Amaris had icy blue eyes, and seemed like a cold person if you never had a conversation with him. What if your affinity changes you? Fire is destructive, but also something that aligns with confidence as it never backs down. A fire will always continue to spread if it is able. Elijah, Novius, Theon, Raylen, Harry, Aslan, and Alexia signed their names onto the sheet. Emelia did not only because she mainly focused on support and defense. Yes it would help her a lot, but fear was also a factor here. The party concluded with looking over a couple different missions and decided on one that stemmed from the Nova40 stronghold, one of the hardest red core missions that was always a first choice for any red core mages. The only difficult thing about the mission is simply the terrain. A cave system full of steep drops, waterfalls, ponds, and even hot springs made it complicated to navigate, even with the wooden bridges and staircases that lead to a five hundred foot drop. The kappa¡¯s would be fighting the party as they descended due to the small caves with dead ends that housed large amounts of kappas. The mission was marked as a priority because the previous party did not complete this mission. They never even made it to the bottom, and half of them never returned.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Elijah decided to return to the Weltor estate without Alexia and Novius, and insisted on returning by himself even when Alexia wanted to follow. His plan was actually to go down the entrance of The Catacombs, where people lived, and find a secure place he can freely go into the whirlpool instead of jumping over the ledge in the grand park. Every time he had gone past the whirlpool, and into the nothingness that lay beyond, he ended up in the cave with Abel. Figuring out the reason was something on his priority list. The walk was relatively short, only fifteen minutes. People were passing him with looks of confusion as he walked down the slightly steep road that led to The Catacombs. Instantly the familiar sight of only slightly glowing plants and flowers that were accompanied by the new light technology employed by the Magitech Guild. There were only two openings that led to the torrential current of the whirlpool, but only one of them was tucked away around a thick stone corner. The perfect spot for Elijah to secretly jump into the water. As Elijah inches closer to the wall of water, his gray and black casual clothes begin to be soaked by the excess water coming from the controlled current. Suddenly, something caught his eye, not just one, but a couple human bodies were faintly in sight passing quickly through the water. Without hesitation, he disappeared, and began chasing the bodies with his eyes opening and closing rapidly. Flying through the whirlpool made it easy to control his body, and he soon reached the body with a trail of blood. This doesn¡¯t make any sense! Why are their bodies flowing into this whirlpool? If they are bleeding, they were recently stabbed and killed based on the fact they weren¡¯t moving. What is happening?! The man Elijah was looking at had his eyes clothes, but had several wounds all across his body, which was completely ridden of clothes. A fatal opening was in the center of his chest. It seemed like a hole was burned through his body that caused his entire chest to blacken and crack apart. Knowing there was nothing he could do, he flew to the top just to get a breath of air, and instantly flew down to the bottom where the void of nothingness was. That looked like murder! Elijah reached the other side of the whirlpool, and immediately felt a pull on his body. Resisting was extremely difficult, but eventually, he felt an intense vibration that would cause an earthquake wash over his body. Shortly after, a loud POP was heard along with Elijah blacking out. ¡­ The sounds of dripstones dropping water in small puddles echoed along with the coughing of an older man. Elijah had half-woken up, meaning that he was not aware of where he was, and was inside his own head. An ethereal string of light entered the sight of Elijah, and suddenly, the surroundings became clear. A familiar looking boy was lying on the ground, along with Abel, the twisted man. He seemed to not notice him which was weird as he was very powerful. However, when Elijah realized the boy laying in the ground was himself, panic stirred in his mind. Am I dead?! Wait. I¡¯ve done something like this before. Even with it happening very few times, I remember the white string and feeling distinctively. Astral Projection! Elijah¡¯s body that he noticed was slightly translucent, was flowing through the air the exact same way he flew. His head did not touch the ceiling, and flew straight through it. The sight of the earthen granules and the feeling of water passing through his body gave him a weird feeling. Elijah¡¯s ethereal hand raised, and a small burst of mana was formed into a ball of water. Magic was able to be casted! Abel jumped at the sight of this, and knew it was Elijah, however, Abel saw no activity around Elijah¡¯s body, and was heavily confused by the sight. ¡°Elijah! Are you doing that?¡± Words tried to escape his mouth, but to no avail. Elijah quickly flew above the cave, passing through the extensive amount of earthen matter and caves, and shot into the sky with an ethereal string extending from his body. This was a form of true freedom! 46. A Hint of Freedom The weird feeling of wind not hitting his body as he traveled at the same speeds he flew at normally made the entire world feel like a videogame. The only worry Elijah had was if it was possible to cross the mana barrier. Elijah¡¯s body began to ripple, and was forced onto the other side of the barrier once past the halfway point. The exact same feeling of when butterflies are in his stomach, was what he felt throughout his traversal of the barrier. Elijah had crossed into a blizzard of epic proportions to the point of not being able to see fifty feet in front of him. Swiftly, he flew close to the barrier, and traversed to where he thought the west side of the outer region was. This was his chance to see the state of the outside, and based on his experience with the government in his past life, every disaster that threatened the lives of the entire population of the world was always downplayed. It was obvious the exact same scenario was taking place again¡­ The supposed fields were covered in multiple inches of snow, which made it hard for Elijah to discern if there was any damage done to the farmland. However, one thing was for sure. The only beasts in sight were the familiar and deadly ice bears that sent shivers down his spine. Abel was in the dimly lit cave, and noticed a slight tremble of Elijah¡¯s body. Elijah manipulated the environment, and split the space on its neck with ease, and watched the ice bear tumble to the soft snowy ground. A commotion from the ice bears around them caused mighty roars to be absorbed by the snow, which then caused a couple of humanoid beasts to peek outside the burned doors of the houses so nicely made for them. Goblins! Goblins were quite a rare beast to see, and came in the colors of gray, green, and purple. These goblins were a mix of mostly gray and green with only a couple purple beasts, which made Elijah assume the purple beasts were quite powerful. With curiosity flowing through his soul, he once again split the space of a purple goblin, and watched its head tumble to the ground. Inaudible laughter was coming from Elijah as he watched the goblins scream and run around in fear. Spears and different simplistic and complicated spells of many different types of elements were being thrown everywhere with some of them passing straight through Elijah¡¯s body! The feeling was weird as the moment he opened his eyes, he saw a ball of fire in front of his face, only to feel nothing as it passed through his body. Elijah flew into the air and headed for the outer wall. Suddenly, an excruciating feeling began washing over his body. At first he didn¡¯t notice it, but slowly, it grew into a feeling that caused him to wince with pain. A purple ethereal trail of something unknown was seen in the distance of the blizzard. A shadowy and humanoid figure with multiple squirming protrusions was walking toward Elijah who was intently trying to figure out what was happening. What kind of beast is that? How is i-it h-hurting me me?! The pain grew as the creature walked closer. The sight of a smile full of disfigured teeth, glowing dark purple eyes, and tentacles coming from its back sent Elijah into a daze.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Instinctively, Elijah tried conjuring magic, but to no avail. His only option was to fly, and with the knowledge of Astral Projection, he focused on his ethereal string that seems to be tinged by purple energy, and flew straight through it while his speed increased drastically. The pain slowly waned, but that did not mean in the slightest that Elijah had stopped. A POP noise was heard in the ears of his body, followed by the voice of a familiar man. ¡°You are awake.¡± Elijah quickly stood up and walked backwards while gripping his soaking clothes at his chest. The image of the creature that seemed to defy everything he had learned about this world and his own, played back in his mind. ¡°You seem to be distressed. What happened?¡± Abel asked. ¡°Have you ever heard of Astral Projection? Elijah asked once his heart calmed. ¡°Never, but it sounds like something rather complicated.Tell me about it.¡± Elijah knew he probably shouldn¡¯t trust this man as he doesn¡¯t know his background, however, something like this won¡¯t cause him any problems. Abel is stuck here. ¡°It is when your soul or consciousness leaves your body, and you gain the ability to move any which way while being invisible to the world. You enter a different plane of reality.¡± From Abel¡¯s expression, he knew he didn¡¯t understand it fully. ¡°So your soul leaves your body, and you can fly around like a bird without anyone seeing you?¡± ¡°Yes, that is a simple way to think about it. I just did it accidently when I went into the area past the whirlpool. I flew outside the mana barrier, and observed the environment.¡± ¡°Haha! That¡¯s incredible! What did you find?¡± ¡°The lands are filled with beasts, although right now, they are all hibernating because of the blizzard. I suspect if I somehow projected again, and searched every house. I would find beasts in each one¡­¡± Abel stayed silent for a while with his hood draped over his head and a smile on his face. It seemed he was waiting for Elijah to ask a question to the man with more answers than he can imagine. ¡°What do you know about coursing mana through your body to strengthen it?¡± ¡°I hope you didn¡¯t try it yourself. Most people don¡¯t realize what they are truly doing, and overdo it ending up with their body being torn apart into tiny specks of matter. Haha, what a sight to think about.¡± ¡°You sure are creepy old man. Fortunately I didn¡¯t go that far, but the right side of my body felt like it had thousands of tiny fractures spread evenly. Is there a way to use this power without inflicting damage on myself?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a great question. Honestly, I have some memories in the back of my head, scattered memories that I can¡¯t seem to make sense of. I think before I came to this cave, I was someone else. One of those memories is me, or someone using this power that caused the destruction of my body. That¡¯s why I think nothing about me is symmetrical. The only way I can think to control this power would be to use small amounts of pure mana, or maybe use it outside of your body? If that¡¯s possible of course.¡± ¡°Do you mean to push the pure mana outside my fist to emulate the same amount of damage it would do if my fist was coursing with the pure mana.¡± Elijah had already thought about using this new way of magic in small amounts, but using this power outside his body wouldn¡¯t give him the speed of the punch even if the strength of the punch was there. His movement would not be able to be enhanced with this potential method. ¡°Yes, that is exactly what I mean. Again, that is just a theory, so it might not work at all. Now, can you show me some of your space magic, I want to see some of the spells you have come up with.¡± Elijah nodded with a smile as his hands rose to a central height. The ends of several dripstones fell to the floor one after another with different spatial spells. All of them were spells Abel had seen before besides his spatial shift spell, which he decided at that moment that it should be considered its own from spatial split. ¡°Wow! I¡¯ve never seen that before! Instead of simply splitting the space, you are shifting it! Have you ever thought of separating space?¡° ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Imagine your space splitting spell as two lines that sit on top of each other. If you separated those lines, or moved them away from each other in a nonparallel fashion.¡± ¡°I think I know what you mean.¡° 47. Temporary Black Hole Two translucent and pearlescent lines appeared in mid-air. The separation process took time as Elijah felt resistance, but eventually, in between the two parallel lines, was an undefinable space. A void of nothingness, similar to below the whirlpool, was slowly becoming bigger as the lines separated. In the background, Abel had his crooked eyes wide open in disbelief. Part of him wanted to stop the potential catastrophe that was about to occur, but another part of him was curious. ¡°Keep going!¡± Sweat was beading down Elijah¡¯s forehead, and eventually a three by three square of absolutely nothing was created that was situated between two lines of space. A rock was thrown into the empty space, and started to disappear before it even touched the hole. Cracking noises began to radiate from the square, and shortly followed with the space filling back into the environment. ¡°What the hell have you just created kid?!!¡± ¡°You might not know what that was, but I think I just created a temporary black hole.¡± Elijah was confused as he thought about the void. The void did not absorb anything it touched like his spell just did. So what exactly is the void? ¡°Temporary black hole?¡± ¡°Yes. A black hole is like a rip in the fabric of space, only usually it acts as a vacuum that pulls everything into it as it gets bigger. Once a blackhole is made, it cannot be destroyed¡­¡± Abel threw his head back in astonished ment. ¡°So you''re telling me you just created a blackhole that can disappear?¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯m not sure if I will use that spell until I am stronger. It was difficult to separate the space, but even more difficult to keep the space separated. Even while manipulating the environment, I think I used over half of my mana capacity¡­¡± The spell was fascinating for Elijah, but at his current strength, It is impractical to use this spell. One good thing did come from this. He is only a red core, and is not limited to basic spells. This isn¡¯t the case for anyone else. Especially for Raylen when he condenses fire into a beam of energy. The fire can only condense so much with his quality of mana. If he had an orange or yellow core, he could make full use of its power. A literal railgun fueled by fire! The question was, what were the limits for someone at the cyan core level? Maybe our imagination isn¡¯t strong enough to reach those limits. Or maybe anyone with a cyan core just needs more experience, experience of almost incomprehensible events. Elijah gave Abel an update on the status of the kingdom, and mainly complained about the food shortages that were bound to happen. Based on what the outside looked like, and taking into account the horrible weather, It would be a lot more than three months until the wall is retaken¡­ Elijah left by flying into the whirlpool. The current took him by surprise as he didn¡¯t realize how tired he was by expending so much mana, which gave him whiplash after exiting the whirlpool. Finding the entrance he flew into was extremely hard, and made Elijah curse out loud for over half an hour. It was daytime and there was no choice but to find the entrance. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. By closely observing the Inner city, he was able to determine where the west side was, then took a couple of trips in the whirlpool while riding the wall. What he was looking for was a cave that was not lit by anything, but lights faintly glowing in the distance on the right side of the entrance when looking at the walls. Elijah began to jump up and down while shaking off his body, and decided to jog for as long as he could on the way back. There were a whole lot more people walking around the residential area of The Catacombs, as well as multiple large carriages taking older hunters to the last point. The streets and buildings of the outside were overcrowded as usual, but not as much as the mountainside, the outside edges of the inner city. All farmers were also commoners, and lost most of their belongings. Now they live in the cheapest parts of the inner city, and the residential areas of The Catacombs. Elijah walked through the grand wooden door, and was greeted by George who was on his way out of the estate. ¡°Elijah! Novius and Alexia were looking for you. I am heading to a magitech gathering, so I won¡¯t be back until after dinner time. Have a good day!¡± Elijah said his goodbyes, and greeted his mother. ¡°Elijah! That¡¯s good to hear and all, but I have a surprise for you!¡± Don slowly walked around the corner while pushing his wheelchair. ¡°Hey son.¡± Elijah heard the resentment in his voice, and responded in a grateful way. There was absolutely no reason for Elijah to hate his father for the way he acted towards him since he knew the reason. ¡°Father! You are walking again! Are you Recovering faster now?¡± ¡°Yes. I am, although it''s only a temporary solution. Please don¡¯t tell anyone.¡± ¡°What do you me¨C.¡± Elijah stopped his voice as he realized what his father was doing. He was injecting the pure mana in his core to his body, which would technically give him more strength and allow him to walk. Albeit at a cost. ¡°I know what you are doing. Please stop father. You don¡¯t need to hurt yourself just because you are in a rush. I know you want to contribute to the kingdom, and rejoin the hunters, but you must recover. I will not tolerate anyone I love dying.¡± The last sentence felt fake to Elijah the moment he said it. He didn¡¯t understand why. ¡°How do you know what I am doing? How do you know what I am feeling?!¡± Words of confusion, then anger came from Don¡¯s mouth. There was nothing he could do, so he decided to walk away as his mother tried to stop him, but resided in hugging Don as she led him to sit down. Why was Don acting like this? It can¡¯t be just because he wants to heal, and help the kingdom again. It can¡¯t be just because he feels like he is a waste of resources. Julian was in the living room and heard the conversation become heated, and joined in after Elijah left. Knock Knock ¡°Come in¡­ Oh, hey Elijah. Where did you go after the hunter guild?¡± ¡°To the whirlpool.¡± Elijah didn¡¯t lie, but also didn¡¯t tell the full truth. Based on his suspicion there is a reason why everyone in the kingdom believes there is no life outside the walls, keeping quiet about a mystery underneath the whirlpool is best, for now. ¡°Ha! I knew you did something like that. Right now Alexia is bathing, and I am finished up on an addition for her staff. Something that can be recalled to her, and attached to the end of her staff.¡± Novius said while using a special looking pen to draw a rune onto a pointed spike. ¡°Wow! That¡¯s impressive, and based on how it looks I can guess how she will use it!¡± ¡°Honestly, it is a really simple magitech piece that has only taken me less than a day. I just had to have Harry¡¯s father fabricate my drawing since it is a little complicated for a red core mage. I am finishing the runes right now.¡± The spike that Novius was drawing a rune on was one of two, and the spike would attach to the end of Alexia¡¯s staff to give her more damage potential. When the spike is inserted into a beast, the rune can be activated to push the spike forward, and then can be recalled to the exact position as when it was connected. Gravitation runes are quite powerful. Essentially, an attachment for her spear that allowed her to draw blood. 48. Complicated or Simple Is it considered unacceptable to not tell your friends the full truth considering the circumstances for the reason? Elijah was currently riding in a carriage with his two best friends, or people he considered his best friends while on the way to the Western Hunter Guild. In his previous life, he unfortunately had to let go of friends who were holding him back. People who didn¡¯t align with the goals he wanted, the idea of chasing something bigger, and sacrificing habits holding him back. This felt the exact same way, and part of Elijah knew it was something he couldn¡¯t control. Bringing up the topic of life outside the walls was not going to happen for some time, as these next four missions before the tournament are going to be difficult. It is best to not create tension between the group. The trio arrived within the tall walls of the Hunter Guild. Just as always, it was crowded with loads of people, and it was extremely hard to find a place to sit. Older hunters who seemed to be in the magic academy were off from school on a break, and younger junior hunters were scattered around the large room, but mainly looking at the mission board. The pendants of the trio emitted Emelia¡¯s soft voice telling them to come to room 217. The three immediately started walking up the stairs, but Elijah had something he wanted to check out at the back of the guild building. ¡°Okay, I will see you up there!¡± Alexia said as she waved. Elijah walked down the hallway that passed underneath the stairs, and saw the offices where renown hunters stayed. Once at the backside of the hunter building, he walked outside and saw a large concrete area where even more hunters were gathered, as well as disconnected two-story buildings that all had a specific purpose. Potions, clothing & armor, weapons, and magitech. States were being drawn toward Elijah as this was normally a place where older and more experienced hunters congregated. There was a mission board directly to the left of the door that hung underneath a small pergola. Thank goodness everyone saw him as a nobody, however, he was surprised by the stares as he thought this kingdom did not have many haters. A kingdom that prioritized health was destined to have healthy mindsets. The building that Elijah walked to was the weapon building that did not look small once he realized how organized it was. The line was short, and Elijah greeted the supposed smith once he approached. ¡°Hello good sir, I am here looking for something specific.¡± ¡°Oh, and what may that be?¡± The brown haired man asked. ¡°A sharp and durable sword, but one that is short.¡± ¡°Ah, I will grab as many options as I can for you.¡± A large cloth was rolled across the stone counter, and eight swords that all had different lengths were revealed. A couple swords caught his attention.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. A simple and straight sword with a sharp edge that met at the tip was held with a thick leather handle, and had a four-point star-shaped hilt with complicated patterns. The end had the same star but was small and gave the bottom a blunt end. This shortsword would fit his needs exactly, but still, there were others. Not to mention, Elijah only had about twenty five silver coins on him. A sword crafted this expertly could cost him at least five gold coins. Another simple black sword with a larger hilt, leather handle, and the same shape as the previous caught his attention, and also very simple with no complicated designs or metal work. All in all, nothing was special while every simple detail fit Elijah¡¯s needs. ¡°What is the price of this one?¡± ¡°Three gold coins young sir.¡± That was what he expected. ¡°Would you be able to save this sword for me as I get the money? I will be back later today to purchase it.¡± ¡°Hmmm, this sword isn¡¯t very popular due to the length, so why not. I will package it up in a cloth and write your name on it. What is your name, young one?¡± ¡°Elijah Veran.¡± The two agreed of the circumstances and the swords were quickly brought away along with his new sword that was wrapped in a smaller piece of cloth, and set underneath the stone counter. Elijah bid his farewell, and rejoined his friends in room 215. Aslan asked Elijah with a simple question. ¡°Are you ready for tomorrow?¡± ¡°Yes, I have just reserved a new sword that I will purchase later today. Is that the map of the Kappa chasm?¡± Elijah asked while pointing at the table. ¡°Yes. We have already gone through everything, and since you are pretty smart Elijah, I will summarize it. Don¡¯t worry, we will look it over before we leave tomorrow.¡± Aslan said. ¡°We of course go to Nova40 before we depart, however, we are not going to waste time by going up the ziplines this time. The cave is relatively close to the entrance to Nova40, and the first cavern is a dark one with puddles everywhere. There won¡¯t be any kappa¡¯s in this area, but in the next cavern, a cavern with a lake that comes from the whirlpool, will be where a lot of kappa¡¯s will be hanging out. There is a steep cliff to get into that lake which is why they rarely walk into nova40. I reckon it will take us an hour to clear the lake of kappa¡¯s. It is much bigger than you think, and has the same stone pillars in nova40, the only difference is that they are not made from us, but natural supports that have been reinforced with metal. If the cavern were to cave in from a sloppy mage, lots of people would die.¡± Elijah raised his hand with a question. ¡°Where does the water from the lake come from?¡± ¡°There is a pretty large hole in the ceiling where the water from the whirlpool funnels in. Not many people have been into that hole, but there are no beasts there, probably only a really good view as it is brightly lit by tons of greenery. The lake is also lit by tons of greenery, but the main source of light comes from the glowing lake filled with glowing algae and plants at the bottom and on the surface. What comes after the lake is going to be the true test. The lake creates a waterfall in a huge chasm with a drop of over six hundred feet. This chasm has wooden and stone bridges and staircases littered all over the place, and obviously takes a long time to get all the way down. What is going to allow us to do it quicker than anyone of our core level is the strategy we implement. If we simply pushed off all of the kappas, they would instantly die if we somehow found a way to create a solid surface at the bottom of the cave. The only reason why they can survive is they instinctively surround themselves with water. This is also without them grabbing onto a ledge or bridge when falling.¡± Elijah took in all the information while different possibilities went through his head. 49. The Washroom Linkup Elijah stood up, leaned over the table to get a better look at the map, and thought of the possibilities. ¡°So the only issue you are facing is getting someone down to the bottom the moment we enter the waterfall chasm right?¡± ¡°Yes. If someone had a way to use their magic to slow their fall, we would be in luck, but that¡¯s not reality¡­¡± Aslan said with a sigh. Both Novius and Alexia looked at Elijah with smiles. Everyone noticed, and asked what it was about, but Elijah just said, ¡°Maybe. Novius, Alexia, can I talk to you outside?¡± Everyone was confused, but let it be. ¡°I am okay with them knowing about my space affinity. But my ability to fly is something else. It would also be very dangerous if I took Harry down to the bottom just to set up a trap.¡± Elijah said while talking quietly due to the people walking up and down the hallway. ¡°I understand, but everyone here is trustworthy. What is the difference between us, and them, Elijah?¡± Novius asked. Elijah¡¯s reasonings were a stretch, and would be completely unreasonable if he told them the reason why he wanted to keep secrets. He remained silent while thinking of different options. ¡°Why don¡¯t you just say it''s a part of your affinity, and you can only use it for a short period of time.¡± Alexia asked with a worried expression. This made Elijah think, and since he would rather not think about the decision itself, he decided to go with the path of least resistance. ¡°I agree.¡± The trio walked back inside and explained the plan. Since Harry was the only one who can create what is needed, Elijah will slow his fall with his space magic while holding Harry on his back. While in the air, Harry will create a large sheet of metal that will sit over top of the deep pool of water. The plan was to instead of going for the kill, aim to lure the beasts outside the small caves, and use as many methods as possible to push them off the ledge. The stairways that lead all the way down the chasm are not very wide, and are carved into the edge of the wall. There are bridges around every twenty five feet that leave a space in the center for the kappa¡¯s to be thrown off. This strategy isn¡¯t done very much due to the possibility of damaging the bridges, which isn¡¯t a problem because the kappa¡¯s themselves use the bridges to scale the chasm. But if the bridges weren¡¯t there, large amounts of kappas, and even ones more powerful than the red core stage would pile up, and eventually find a way to the top. Destruction would be the only thing that follows. This is without mentioning the need to explore the caves for mana crystals. Every place of The Catacombs needs to be navigable by the hunters if possible. The party finished up reviewing the cave system, and went their separate ways. Once Elijah returned to his bedroom, he grabbed a bag of coins that contained an allowance from George that he had saved up ever since this became his new home.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The attendant at the weapon stand was the same person, and he remembered his face. ¡°Ah, welcome back. You are Elijah, right?¡± ¡°Yes, that''s me. I have the three gold coins to buy the sword that was saved for me.¡± ¡°Perfect! Let¡¯s trade!¡± Elijah received his knife and thanked the nice man, but was stopped by his voice. ¡°You need a sheath right?¡± The man asked. ¡°Haha, no thank you.¡± Elijah responded and wished him farewell. After walking into the building, Elijah made his way into the washroom on the first floor to secretly store the knife in his spatial storage. Whispers were heard in the washroom the moment Elijah walked inside, and to make sure no one noticed him, he quietly closed the door and listened in on the conversation. The washroom was very large, and opened up into a locker room with a seating area just around the corner from where the door was. The conversation was happening in the far side of the locker room, so Elijah leaned up against the wall in front of the door. ¡°I have told you many times already, I will not be doing these acts. I don¡¯t know what you are being paid, or reasons for why you are doing this, but I will not be a part of this¡­¡± Elijah heard footsteps, and quickly acted by loudly opening the door, and walking in sight of everyone. The boy who was just talking was Emery, and it seemed he had refused to get involved in something rather scandalous. ¡°Oh, it''s you. You better be prepared to lose in that tournament. There is no way you would even make it past the first round with water magic.¡± Emery said as he moved towards the door. What Emery said was absolutely true. The different affinities had their own attributes, advantages, and disadvantages. Water was a defensive and support affinity even with the water splashes Elijah could employ. Water at a fundamental level is much weaker than fire or ice when it comes to cutting and firepower. This is exactly what everyone is missing from this tournament. This is not a battle against beasts, but a battle against humans. The goal isn¡¯t to injure and kill each other, but incapacitate eachother or make the opponent surrender. Elijah quickly shoved the door closed and spoke in a serious tone. ¡°If you think you are going to have the same outcomes by acting like your opponent is a beast, you are the one who is going to lose in the first round. If you weren¡¯t a rat who liked to gossip, I would guarantee you I would beat your ass in a one versus one fight with ease.¡± Elijah opened up the door for him as he was standing still and whispered as he held the door at an angle. ¡°You better get away from those people who are trying to force you into something bad¡­¡± Emery¡¯s eyes widened in disbelief as if he just found out Elijah heard the whole conversation! He quietly walked out the door, and shortly later, Elijah walked further into the washroom, and spotted people who weren¡¯t familiar, but people he had seen once or twice in the guild. These guys were one year older! Looks were sent in his direction, but all Elijah did was wash his face in the sink. The feeling of unpolluted tap water was magnificent to relish in. One of the guys in the locker room stepped closer to Elijah. ¡°Do you remember the name Cora Boone?¡± Elijah froze dead in his tracks while the water stayed running out of the small holed sink and splattered into the simplistic stone drain. ¡°No, I do not.¡± ¡°I think you are lying.¡± Elijah turned around to see a black haired boy with gray eyes. The boy was only a couple inches taller than Elijah, and was wearing full white-colored pants and jacket. There were buckles and straps neatly oriented and flat gray fur on the shoulders. This looked like the attire he would use to go in dungeons. ¡°Then why don¡¯t you explain how you think I am lying. I would love to hear your reasoning for the conversation you just had with Emery.¡± 50. Uncalled for Additions The moment Elijah said those words, the wind near the boy¡¯s hand stirred. However, his plan from the start had been to intimidate these people, not to anger them, and to make them remember and forget about him. A seemingly harmless amount of mana escaped Elijah¡¯s finger, and made its way to the boy¡¯s left hand that was completely still. A small portion of space split between the last knuckle of the boy''s pinky finger, as well as two other fingers mistakenly fell to the floor. Thump. At first no one recognized what happened, until his friends behind him saw blood spilling from his hand. ¡°Cael! Your fingers!¡± Cael jumped back and felt a pain coming from his hand. His all white clothing was splattered with blood once he clutched his hand. ¡°What did you do?!!¡± ¡°I¡¯m a water mage, do you really think I could chop off your finger?¡± Elijah quickly walked out of the washroom while thinking of the potential consequences of his actions. There was a possibility that this would come back to him, however, nothing would point to him as the perpetrator. ¡°I wish I knew the last name of that guy¡­¡± Elijah caught a carriage back to the Weltor Estate. The household was gathered in the large living room while observing the sight of George''s new invention. ¡°¡­which is the reason why I created this alongside other powerful mages. We will be able to produce more food without lessening the quality!¡± George pronounced. Elijah started walking up the stairs after he heard what he needed to hear. Elijah mistakenly cut off more fingers than he wanted to, and realized there might be a limit to how precise his magic can get at his core level. The question was, would getting to the Orange core stage solve this problem? Once at the Orange core stage, would there be any magical limits besides the power of his mana? What would be the qualitative change of becoming a yellow core mage? Elijah had a feeling that the people in the kingdom were not using magic to its limits, and instead relying on basic applications of that element. With curiosity flowing through his kind. Elijah raised his right hand, and tried to conjure a sphere of manipulated space from the mana in his body. The spell worked, however, when he tried to disfigure the sphere of space, the sphere slightly trembled with resistance. Currently, I have the ability to manipulate the space by creating small and simplistic one-sided shapes. If I wanted to create a polygon shape, or a Customized shape I thought of with my head, it wouldn¡¯t be possible. This is another limit of my mana core. Elijah took out both his black knife and short sword, and took a fighting stance. His dagger was in his left hand, and his short sword was in his right. This doesn¡¯t feel too bad, but is extremely limiting on my magic especially when I don¡¯t have my special shoes yet. Swift swipes were taken that broke through the air, as well as stabbing motions as Elijah switched the position the knife was in. Concentrating on the small breaks between motions, he sent mana to the environment to erect a spatial barrier as a way to test how possible it was to have a close combat battle style while still wielding magic. Maybe if he had an orange or yellow core, the time it took for the environment to be affected would be shorter. While this was a good learning experience, Elijah knew he couldn¡¯t casually use environmental space magic in front of the eyes of the public. His idea would be to combine his space magic with water magic to give it more attack power, while also keeping the space affinity hidden. This won¡¯t raise as many flags.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡­ A full and uneventful day passed. The morning was filled with packing as this mission would take longer than expected. Elijah once again had carried the water in his spatial storage, while Novius carried the biltong. The party met at the Western Hunter Guild building, and was surprised by the turn of events. There were two more hunters of the same core level, and two of the orange core level joining them on this mission. ¡°Who allowed this to happen?¡± Elijah asked Aslan while not sounding too angry, did this have something to do with yesterday? ¡°It was my father. And I am not complaining, we now have two earth mages, one more fire mage, and another air mage.¡± Aslan replied with a dull smile on his face. ¡°So where are they then?¡± ¡°They will meet us in the carriage. I have the two maps on me, So when we split into separate carriages, we can all refresh our memories. However, My father split us into groups of two from the very start, and told us to stay in these groups. You are with Harry, Theon, Alexia, Trey, and Damir.¡± Trey? Elijah recognized this name! If this is who he thinks he is, this mission will go more smoothly than usual. Elijah¡¯s dismay came from him not being able to fully use his space ability, but this is a perfect time to become more familiar with combining his affinity. Elijah casually conversated with the party who was standing next to a group of couches that were already taken. The loud chatter of the building caused everyone to talk a little bit louder than usual. Alexia¡¯s hair wove back and forth as she removed a string of hair from her face. Emelia¡¯s high pitched voice seemed like it was just a little loud as she talked to her cousin Harry. The party split off into their groups and walked to the large open carriages that were ready for them in the u-shaped cobblestone road. After sitting in the carriage for over five minutes, Elijah felt a slight wobble while reviewing the map, and noticed the familiar head of hair. ¡°Trey?¡± ¡°Oh, Elijah. It¡¯s you.¡± Trey responded with a dull tone. Trey ended up not saying much which made Elijah feel as though something was wrong. However, when the next person stepped into the carriage with confidence, Elijah blatantly stared at the boy while keeping his emotions in check. ¡°You must be Elijah, my name is Damir Redcliffe, I hope we can get along on this mission.¡± A cheap, sadistic, and fake smile was seen on the man¡¯s face as he stook out his hand. ¡°Yes, I am Elijah, It is a pleasure to meet you, and I hope we can all complete this mission without losing any lives.¡± Elijah matched his energy. This man was someone in the washroom with Cael! Is this a coincidence, or something else? The carriage roughly moved down the slope leading to The Catacombs. Chatter was constant as everyone was learning the different styles everyone used to kill beasts. Trey liked to sit with the backliner to prevent any surprise attacks from behind, while Damir liked to play close up with his wide range of fire attacks. And after leaving the carriage,the two other mages shifted into his view. The other earth mage''s name was Fredric, who was the first to step out of the carriage, while the last, was another familiar face whom Elijah deemed dangerous from his last encounter. Cael! ¡°Haha! Who knew I would be seeing you on this mission!¡± The black hair and gray-eyed boy brushed past the shoulder of Elijah, and grouped up with Damir. 51. Son of a Devil Something inside Elijah churned, and he became worried about this mission. A mission that was almost guaranteed success with two orange core mages. Within the confines of the small winding cavern filled with puddles, the deformed formation of twelve slowly made their way towards a battlefield. With already being passed Nova40, and entering the cavern, Elijah expected them to be in formation. Defense and offense strategically in the front and back. However, The two orange core mages were in the very front, right next to each other, and were bound to take all the kills if any kappas were to appear in front of them. Elijah was cackling in the back next to Trey and Theon. ¡°Is something scary making you laugh?¡± Trey was weirded out, and expressed his feelings in a monotone voice. ¡°It will be okay. I am just surprised at how the plan we worked up has been completely thrown out the window. If it comes to it, I might have to reveal my strength. Trey, You haven¡¯t told anyone right?¡± Elijah seemed to radiate the back line full of mixed emotions. Fear, confidence, and debauchery. ¡°N-no.¡± All Elijah wanted to do was gauge his reaction, and what he got from it, was betrayal. Without knowing what would happen, Elijah continued as if everything was normal. A snake slithering in tall grass, and was ready to pounce when its hunter thought they had caught it. ¡°Haha! We found one!¡± Damir shouted as he turned around with his hands to his side. Flames engulfed his fists before completely turning around, and a devious grin blanketed his face. The son of a devil had just awoken. With quick steps, the duo of Damir and Cael ran around the corner with mana enveloping their body. Hoarse screeches were echoed off the walls, as well as the light of fire. ¡°We may not even have to do anything¡­¡± Novius, who was at the front of the party with Raylen, rounded the corner only to see two figures standing over mutilated and incinerated bodies. The hard shells of the kappas were broken across the floor, and looked something like a terracotta material. Elijah waited for Damir and Cael to move forward. ¡°I think you might be wrong. Behind the party, we¡¯re bubbling noises coming from a few of the scattered puddles. Up until this point, the party had avoided stepping in the puddles to not sour their shoes. Everyone knew very well that the water in this cave was not hot enough to boil. A slimy pair of hands with dismangled claws exited the water, and slowly grabbed a hold of the earthen ground. The sole weakness of these beats was how slow they moved, which made sense when compared to turtles. The familiar bald head and brown beak rose out of the water, and the slitted blue eyes of the kappa stared forwards. ¡°What are you waiting for Elijah?!¡± Raylen was beside himself watching Elijah watch the kappas rise from the water. Novius stopped Raylen from helping, and left it to the rear. They didn¡¯t want Damir and Cael to intervene.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. A translucent portal secretly appeared in front of Elijah¡¯s chest, from which he pulled a short black sword from. Instead of using magic, Elijah¡¯s thought was how well would his physical strength hold up against a kappa. Trey erected an earthen barrier that shot up from the ground. His hands became dirty from the ground, and wiped them on his brown and black garments. Unfortunately for Elijah, without magic enveloping his sword, the damage he could do was null, and resorted to combining his water and space magic together. One limit he noticed was not being able to create a water blade in the environment and have it be sent towards his target. Only still spells, or spells like spatial shift and separate were able to have motion, hopefully only for now. Multiple heads fell to the floor along with the bodies that followed after a wave of Elijah¡¯s hands. Trey was flabbergasted at the sight of a simple water blade decapitating the heads so easily, but still continued to send earth spikes from over the barrier. Bubbles were appearing from the puddles within the party that were moving forward, so Theon set his hand inside the different puddles, and watched as he received smirks. The puddles were being completely frozen, which does not take much mana for Theon. Instead of creating ice, he is without a doubt using a principle of what makes ice¡­ Well, ice! Temperature. Damir and Cael came back around a curve to regroup, which surprised everyone. ¡°We have reached the lake. Unfortunately even for us, we can¡¯t go alone. These kappas are throwing their water spears now.¡± Said Cael while intently looking at Elijah. Everyone came to an agreement, and decided to split up into three groups of four. Each group would go in different directions while creating barriers along the way. If too many kappas appear, and are throwing spears, running through the cover while picking them off with magic would be the best option. Within the small veil of shadow, the party observes the lake while keeping an eye on abnormal behavior. The possibility of an orange core kappa was well within their expectation now. ¡°I see two. Each on the far ends of the right and left side. There could be another one, but that giant waterfall is blocking the view.¡± Cael said. The lake was rather beautiful, condensed greenery and floristry draped from the ceiling of where the waterfall came from, and slowly dissipated into empty spots of stone that scattered the ceiling. Overgrown vines were hanging from the ceiling close to the waterfall, and on the edge of the large cavern, was nothing but dirt and stone. To make sure this cavern did not cave in, earth mages reinforced the ceiling with a ribbon of stone that stretched from the opening to the ground. This ribbon lined the ceiling and walls, and was in the number of forty. It gave a romantic and greek feel to the cavern. ¡°Three, two, one, go.¡± Damir gave the countdown, and walked to the left. Carl¡¯s group went to the right, while Elijah¡¯s group went to the center. Screeching noises were heard, along with the wind being split as water spears were thrown. Trey erected an earthen wall just in time, even when the spears were falling short. Wind blades were sent by Alexia that killed some, and mutilated even more after passing through the heads of the kappas. Raylen covered his sword in fire, and sent a ball of fire that exploded in the face of a kappa. Shortly after, the head fell off its neck when its vision and face was severely burned. Meanwhile, Damir was lobbing balls of fire that took the heads off on contact. The difference in strength was plainly visible. The calm and proud son Cael was utterly surprised by the menacing strikes coming from the boy with a cold temperature escaping his body. Sharp and long primitive swords of ice were held in both hands, that could expand into a shield and retract back into a sword on command. ¡°I wish I had an affinity like that¡­¡± Cael muttered under his breath as he continued to chop the heads off of kappas from close range, and from a distance. What makes the ice affinity so special is the natural effect it has on the surroundings even at a low core stage. Being able to manipulate a solid structure with the natural effect of cold, or freezing being applied took it to greater heights compared to a wind affinity that can do the exact same thing. This was never intentionally done by a mage, but happens naturally simply because of the principles ice must follow. 52. Defying Expectations Flashing lights, wind currents, and rumblings were scattered around the glowing cavern. ¡°ARRGH ELIJAH! HEAL ME!¡± Raylen had gone too far forward without any cover, and became surrounded by kappas. Even with him evaporating the spears of water, not every spear was affected with a blind spot to his behind. Blood was seeping from his left buttcheek. While sending a small wave of water to knock the kappas on the feet temporarily, Trey followed up with an earthen barrier that Raylen fled to close by. A small ethereal light was within the water Elijah washed over Raylen¡¯s butt. A small chuckle was heard from Trey, which made Elijah feel a little better about the situation. ¡°You guys better hurry!¡± Alexia was the reason why they had not seen any kappas. From a distance, Elijah was holed up in a small earthen tower that could barely be considered a tower, but rather a platform with walls as cover. Her long range wind blades allowed their group to move forward without much hassle. The only challenge was determining whether the kappa lying on the floor was dead or not. Elijah gave a quick pat to Raylen¡¯s behind, and quickly made his way into the fray of beasts. However, once in front of the lake, Elijah took a quick glance around him, and quickly flew close to the waterfall and finally into the floristry filled opening. His feet dragged gracefully along the water like a pelican dragging its wings across the ocean floor. What Elijah saw wasn¡¯t just the beautiful sight of flowers, greenery, and vines, but also the horrifying sight of an irregular looking kappa. Its disfigured triangle shaped teeth were placed into its brown beak, seemingly long black hair that gave obvious signs of dysfunctional hormones, its green scaled body, and something new. A thick tail that resembles the tail of a beaver. Without hesitation Elijah tightly grasped his black short sword, and sent a simple water blade entwined with space magic towards the neck of the opponent. Just as he expected, it was easily blocked as a shield of water quickly appeared. This kappa had an orange core, and could not be taken lightly, especially in the small confines of this space that was split by a small surging river. The kappa obviously had more speed by the way it lunged forward. A trident made of water quickly materialized in its hands and thrusted forward, but was quickly blocked as Elijah wanted to stop its momentum as soon as possible. The flight of Elijah gave the kappa a surprised look as it sneered. However, with the dissipation of the trident of water, the water that composed the trident splashed into Elijah¡¯s face. A few seconds of blindness was all the kappa needed to realize its opening. The claw of the beast slashed across Elijah¡¯s arm, which tore lines of skin directly from his arm and caused him to drop his sword. ¡°Dammit I forgot!!¡± With Elijah wincing in pain and retreating, he calmed down and let his right arm go limp. With a quick glance the attack was not severe and could be healed later.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Another trident of water materialized while Elijah was more than thirty feet away, and was dodged as soon as it was thrown as there was no need to wait to see where it went. The space between the legs of the kappa formed a faint ripple, and as soon as Elijah had touched the ground, the kappa was falling to the floor, face first. A wave of water swept over the beast blocking its vision, and subsequently, its head was severed. ¡°It¡¯s not surprising you made it up here with that tail of yours.¡± Elijah was slowly walking towards the beast with an ethereal glow within the water that was coating his right arm. The fight could have been much easier if Elijah manipulated the space from the start, but within the eyes of the public, using his space affinity was not something in his cards. It would be smart to not rely on something he is choosing to not reveal. Nothing else was within the small cavern above the lake, so with a quick thought, he returned after making sure prying eyes would not see him. It seemed Alexia and Trey had seen the action, but decided to continue their onslaught as they slowly split into two groups of two that would rejoin the groups of four. The sound and lights had settled, which meant the cave had been cleared. Even the kappas that were funneling out of the water were killed. ¡°Hey! Get over here! Let¡¯s continue!¡± Damir was eager for more, but could easily tell the state of everyone else. The groups of six slowly came together again, and Aslan announced a small break to rest and restore mana while keeping an eye on their surroundings. ¡°Fine, me and Cael are going to venture into the next area and wait for you.¡± Damir said. ¡°Be careful. That Chasm is dangerous.¡± Elijah quickly said what he wanted to say, albeit with a grin of bitterness. This battle had tested his strengths exactly the way he wanted to. His sword was pathetic against any beasts, his water magic could deal damage but mainly as a distraction, and when alone, he could traverse the subtle weaknesses of an orange core beasts as well by simply manipulating the space of the environment to deal a devastating blow. It felt like a videogame, or the best virtual reality simulation he had ever experienced. Addicting was the first word that came to mind. ¡°Hehe, we will be just fine buddy.¡± Cael responded with a side eye glance. ¡°Emelia, are you okay?¡± Aslan, who was considered the father of the party, noticed Emeilia¡¯s anxious breath. ¡°Yes. This is just a little more than I signed up for. I want to contribute to the kingdom and help retake the wall. But¡­ I think I would prefer to be a healer. Someone who does not go onto the battlefield¡­¡± ¡°I understand. We still need to finish this mission, so just stay close to me, I will protect you.¡± Aslan¡¯s kind words warmed the heart of Emelia. Meanwhile, from what Aslan could see, every other party member felt like they were drooling with anticipation, especially Elijah. Twenty minutes passed without hearing a single sound coming from the chasm entrance. Elijah told the group to stay on high alert, without insinuating that Damir and Cael had cooked up a plan for chaos. A small opening led the party into the chasm, and instantly, a seemingly infinite drop was seen where the thick layer of water was flowing. No more than five feet of space was the ground the chasm allowed them to walk on. And beyond that was the final feeling of freedom before instant death. ¡°So this is the reason this was named the hardest red core dungeon.¡± Elijah said, as he confidently led the group down the wet stone stairs. Built into the sides of the chasm, were small steps made using earth magic. The stone steps descended until it reached a small cavern where there would theoretically be a group of kappas, however, all the party saw were dismantled and burned corpses. The layout of the chasm, and the path of descent was rather simple with bridges leading across the chasm, and the waterfall dropping down the gap in the center. Thankfully, vines were halfway down the chasm, which means eventually, the party would be fighting within the darkness. 53. The Plan ¡°We have to split up in order to make sure none of us fall off the edge. Emelia, Raylen, Harry, Fredric, you stay with me. Elijah, Take your group down the chasm and try to catch up with Damir and Cael.¡± Aslan set the plan in motion. The soft noise coming from the waterfall comforted Elijah as it reminded him of the ocean. Words couldn¡¯t describe how badly he wanted to escape this kingdom, and live on his own. However, part of him felt attached to these new people, and with himself knowing of his mental troubles, people are exactly what he needed. Flashing lights of fire were lighting up the chasm fifty feet below them. Elijah would have expected for them to make it further, but just maybe, there were a lot more orange core kappas here¡­ ¡°Damir!¡± The head of a shadowed silhouette turned around to reveal a blue-blooded face. If Elijah thought himself was crazy at times, this kid one-upped him. Damir fled quickly across the bridge to a cavern with a small number of kappas. ¡°Novius, Theon, keep everyone safe, I am going to go ahead of everyone.¡± ¡°What?¡± Novius had no clue what Elijah meant, until he neared the edge of the sloped bridge held together by metal wires and wooden planks. The bridge dropped in a u-shaped pattern, and slightly tilted downwards towards the pit of death. With a smile on his face, Elijah took one step forward, and slowly falled to the bridge below him as Cael was running across. ¡°You''re Insane!¡± Cael remarked as he almost fell off the edge from the swaying of the bridge. Water slashes mixed with space magic exited Elijah empty hands, and flew towards the ugly kappa''s feet. The legs were severed as they were expecting an attack to the chest, or simply something at eye level. ¡°I knew something was up with you! Water magic can¡¯t do that!¡± Cael was furious and used his air magic to quickly shift his body to the side to dodge the water tridents thrown from deep in the cave in front of them. Surprisingly, a second spell from the cave appeared, and a wave of water sent both Elijah and Cael out of the front of the cave, and onto the bridge. The situation was dire with Cael hanging by his hands on the Bridge. Instead of screaming for help, he dropped down to the next level once the water subsided, and saw Elijah defy the natural laws of the world. This kid was supposed to fly off the edge! But he somehow swam through the wave of water and stood back on the bridge! Damir, ran across the bridge Elijah was on once he saw the sight, and immediately sent a wave of fire forward that incinerated any kappas who weren¡¯t coursing mana through their body. A fireball was also sent towards the ceiling, which exploded with chunks of rocks falling on the heads of anything living. Elijah followed suit, and silently severed the heads of the kappas within the dark cave alongside Damir who was occupied with a grin. ¡°HELP ME!¡± The steps were slippery but did not affect Elijah in the slightest. Knowing he could not afford to lose an orange core mage, he quickly ran to the rescue, but was surprised with a huge gust of wind he couldn¡¯t avoid slammed into his side.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. It happened too fast. There was no time to react. Bam! Elijah¡¯s back was slammed against the wall of the chasm While running across the bridge, and instantly quivered in pain while on the brink of losing consciousness. Cael had pulled a card Elijah did not think was possible. Indeed, he was in need of help, but an easy way to escape death temporarily was by jumping into the waterfall. Cael had a hatred towards Elijah, and most definitely had reasons for his actions. ¡°So you have a soft spot for helping others huh?¡± The words from Damir were the last he heard. The rough wall of the chasm brushed and tore the skin off Elijah¡¯s back, and eventually, he tumbled onto a bridge after falling against a protrusion that sent him forwards. His mind was everything that had to do with the reason he was still alive. The small spurts that Elijah had of his mind being active allowed him to move and shift his body mid-air, but did not help him break the fall of face planting into a bridge in between two nests full of red and orange core kappas. The sounds were dulled, and the sense of pain on his back and forearms didn¡¯t seem to bother him. Muffled and sluggish footsteps were heard to his left and right, and with all the energy he could muster, the bridge was cut down the center. Sensations of cold wind and water droplets coated his body as he tumbled off a bridge below him, and began his descent into the abyss. With hisa hand trying to reach and grab onto anything near him, the water from the waterfall began stretching itself to reach Elijah as if he was a magnet. The skin of his forearms and back began to be repaired during his descent into the unknown. ¡­ Meanwhile, the split up party finally caught up with where they thought Damir was, and was confused by the sight of seeing no one. Not a single sound was appearing anywhere close to them, and based on what Elijah had told Novius, he put up his guard, and led the group across the bridge. Out of the darkness of the cave they had just passed, the son of a devil, Damir, appeared from the darkness with his fists covered in flames. Emelia, Harry, and Aslan were at the back of the group, and when they turned around, they couldn¡¯t help but scream for their lives with a wave of flames being shot in their direction. ¡°HARRY!¡± The last words that came out of Emeila¡¯s mouth were filled with an insane amount of emotions. There was nothing that could be done, especially when Trey conjured an earthen barrier that forbade anyone behind him from moving forward, while also saving himself temporarily from the flames. ¡°BASTARD!¡± Novius had lost control of himself as soon as the rest of the group made it to the cavern across the bridge. The flames engulfed everything, and seemingly felt like a self-destruction spell with the magnitude of power. Fredric was at the front, and was facing the cave with a smile on his face while everyone behind him was running frantically with blind spells being casted behind their hands. ¡°Elijah. Where is Elijah!¡± Alexia was distraught, and asked the first question that came to her mind. However, one single long blade of ice was conjured, and was stuffed into the back of fredric without a moment''s hesitation. ¡°YOU WERE PART OF THIS! DIE!¡± It seemed the man had accepted his fate after his role was played. The question was, how could a ten year old willingly play the part? The flames subsided, and when the smoke and stench of burning flesh rose into the air, not a single soul was seen besides the devil with burning fists to his side. ¡­ Bubbling sounds were heard the moment Elijah gracefully entered the deep pool at the bottom of the chasm. The only feeling that brought him back to reality was the feeling of suffocation, and the moving current underneath him that signified death. What seemed like an angel rising from the water, was just a child. A child draped in ripped clothes that angelically rose through the air. ''My friends... are in trouble. I need... to save them.'' ¡°YOU ARE STILL ALIVE!¡± Cael, who was slowly falling through the waterfall by pushing the air around him, yelled within the air pockets of the waterfall. Elijah had noticed this fact, and was hyper focused on his own objectives. The sounds of wind splitting resounded through the chasm as his speed picked up. The fingers of his hand gilded against the current of the water, and gave him a sense of touch. With everything that had happened, Elijah had no idea if he was Alive, or in a dream. 54. Humanity In the distance, a familiar bridge split down the middle came into sight, but along with it came ash, and the stench of unknown origins. A flash of lightning that bounced off the chasm walls in a myriad of patterns sent a chill down his spine. No words were escaping his mouth, but only thoughts as he came into view of the situation with a completely blank face. Novius, who was on the opposite side of the cavern of his friend, was weeping in anguish and expending large amounts of mana that were sent at Damir. Raylen had mountains of sweat dripping down his face from overheating his body, Theon¡¯s hands were a light shade of purple and blue, and Alexia had her hands stretched forward with a barrier of wind with clothes that had practically burned off her body. ¡°ELIJAH! HELP!!!¡± The scream of Alexia put Elijah¡¯s body and mind into full gear. His eyes gazed towards Damir, who had just sent a large ball of fire towards his friends. However, the ball of fire somehow disappeared, and was sent right back towards its origin. ¡°Yo-you¡¯re alive!! HOW?!¡± Damir said these words, and instantly created a veil of flames that wrapped around his body. The moment Elijah landed on the stone floor of the cavern directly in front of Damir, his bare feet excreted a large amount of water that evaporated when coming into contact with the flames that engulfed Damir. ¡°Before we start, was this your plan all along?¡± Not even the mouth of the devil opened as it was not only radiating with heat, but also an intense desire to destroy. Somehow, Elijah was able to feel this sensation, and felt an unexplainable sense of repulsion from it. Fear was inside of Elijah¡¯s head, because how would he get past someone engulfing their body in mana more powerful than his? The only option was to either use physical weapons, or magic that transcended the limits of the difference in magical power. Great balls of fire were lobbed towards Elijah which he redirected with a portal aiming for the water fall. The idea was to not alert anyone, and not cause destruction for his friends that he believes to have fallen down below¡­ Damir had seen his powers, but did not in the slightest change his emotions. The man was a flaming statue that didn¡¯t seem to have life to it. ¡°WHEN YOU ARE USING YOUR MAGIC LIKE THAT, YOU CAN¡¯T MOVE AN INCH RIGHT?!¡± The words of the angelic figure were made to be loud to make sure the son of a devil could hear them. The plans of Elijah switched, and he threw a spatial slash at the ceiling above the entrance of the cavern Damir was inside of. Rocks and dust came tumbling down to the ground which blocked a large portion of the entrance. With swift movements, Elijah flew to his friends and told them his plan. ¡°Quick! Grab onto me! I will fly two of you at a time to the top!¡± Alexia pointed to Raylen and Novius who were in the worst of conditions, and quickly, Elijah set Novius and Raylen on both his shoulders, and flew to the uppermost cave. Extremely small amounts of mana was coursing through his shoulders, with a small amount of pain. Once returning, he followed suit with Alexia and Theon. Small amounts of healing water began coursing through the bodies of Raylen and Novius. ¡°Stay here, I¡¯m going to go look for everyone else.¡± Elijah''s words caused Alexia to grab his arm tightly just as he was about to leave.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Tears were streaming from her eyes alongside her blackened golden hair that was partly covering her battered face, and with a single sentence from her soft and shaky voice, Elijah pulled away and sped down the chasm. ¡°Th-they are de-dead¡­¡± Stoicism had always been a strong suit for Elijah. No matter what situation arised, he was able to keep a calm mind while figuring out the best solution possible. However, within this new body and world, his mind was in shambles, and emotions were practically uncontrollable to the point he was diagnosing himself with bipolarism. The blackened body of Damir had made his way out of the rubble alongside the sound of muttered words escaping his body. Damir had obviously gone mad, and with a single swipe of Elijah¡¯s hand, the space between his legs was no more. Bam! The slow crawl of inevitable death and Damir¡¯s hoarse and mysterious voice was radiating a feeling of corruption. ¡°You must die¡­¡± ¡°You must die¡­¡± ¡°You must die¡­¡± Elijah¡¯s eyebrows twitched with him hearing the mutterings. The body laying on the floor with flames slowly dissipating reached its right hand out, and when it hit the floor from exhaustion, its entire limb turned to ash. A subtle purple and black energy began pouring out of the shoulder socket, and when it left, the rest of the body became one with the ground. An ethereal purple energy slowly made its way down the chasm with Elijah staring directly at it. A few cracking noises that came from the rubble were resounding, but Elijah paid it no mind as the sight in front of him made him think of the possibility of something terrifying related to whatever is underneath the whirlpool. Crunch! An earthen spike was lodged into Elijah¡¯s back, directly under his left shoulder. Screaming was the only option Elijah thought of as he knew who it was. However, before he was able to wash his body with healing water magic, another set of footsteps appeared before his very eyes. Fredric unearthed himself from the ceiling, and began running frantically toward him with a very large stone spike. The bridge rattled with every step, and with Elijah¡¯s arms now entwined by Trey behind him, there was no escape ¨C if he was a normal person. A faint translucent and pearlescent rimmed portal took shape in the form of an oval directly in front of Elijah with a second appearing behind Trey. This spell required a lot of brainpower with the added effort of intently changing the direction that Fredric would come out from. ¡°Sorry Trey, but this is what you deserve¡­¡± ¡°AHHHHHH!¡± Trey released his grip and earth magic holding Elijah¡¯s arms behind his back, and slumped to the floor in awe. The sight of something unexplainable made him go silent, however, Elijah was not finished yet. The portal quickly disappeared, and Elijah swifty rummaged through his spatial space to grab his dagger, and turned around with a stab to the back. A true and deadly chinese fire drill had just occurred, with Elijah sitting on top of the backs of Trey and Fredric. There was no need to worry about any magic being casted as pain was clouding their mind. ¡°WHO PUT YOU UP TO THIS?!¡± Elijah had wanted Trey to answer as he hoped this boy still had a sense of passion for life. ¡°You can¡¯t ¨C stop them. They tell me ¨C that ¨C you must be ¨C killed.¡± Fredric¡¯s voice was hoarse and filled with agony. ¡°WHO! TELL ME WHO WANTS ME DEAD!¡± Trey was squirming underneath the pressure, and succumbed to his feelings. He had always thought Elijah was a good person, someone who frantically put his life ahead of others. ¡°The King¡­¡± Were the last words that came out of his mouth. Fredric had used all the strength in his body to shift and twist the thick stone spike around Trey¡¯s chest cavity. The air in the lungs that was extinguished with a miniscule sound meant that he had died. The question was, should I kill Fredric. Should I indulge in my desire to kill this boy who was doing despicable deeds? I am nothing more than someone good. What is so bad about ridding the world of evil?! An extremely small amount of mana ran from Elijah¡¯s core, and slowly made its way to his entire arm. The idea of being cautious was in his mind, which is why he spread that small amount of mana through his entire arm instead of concentrating it in his fists. Bam! The neck of Fredric disappeared, along with everything below it following suit. Where there used to be the heads of two innocent young boys who only got dragged into something terrible, was a dent in the blood painted stone. Stillness and silence radiated through the chasm once the echo of the impact dissipated, and the bloody boy who was straddling the limp bodies of his prey was speechless from his own actions. 55. Unexplainable and Unnatural ¡°Lukas. Calm down¡­ He deserved it. Hahahaha! Calm down¡­ Nothing can be reversed. Calm down¡­¡± The crazed and bipolar tones of Elijah were settled with the mystery that plagued his mind. Who is ¡°they¡±? Is the King ¡°they¡±? Why do I have to die? There is nothing wrong with me. I am just as normal as anyone else. Just as weak as anyone else. I can manipulate two elements, which is not a first in the kingdom by any means. What is the meaning of this? Elijah was only able to connect the similarities of Cora, and now this incident. They were both put up to this, but by who? Cora was a nobody, a girl from a family of miners. No one would pay special attention to her. Damir and Cael were people that seemed like normal nobles, and Trey, was someone he had hoped to become friends with. Both Damir and Cael may have had personal motives, but not to kill me. Trey on the other hand, seemed like he was forced beyond his will. The only thing that makes sense if something unnatural happened. That purple energy I saw was something I had never seen before. It never left Cora when she died, but left Damir. Maybe it was transferred from Cora to Trey? Something unbeknownst to Elijah was controlling the minds of these poor children, and dooming them for despair. Elijah had long since stood up and slowly paced in circles while avoiding eye contact with the disaster he created. His entire right arm was throbbing, and with every movement, a small cracking noise was created. The mana in Elijah¡¯s body was no more after that last spell, and with not a single sound in the cavern, he slowly turned his back to his possible death. The waterfall chasm. It felt sour to not complete a mission again. It seemed fate was against him, or at least something was against him. When reaching the top of the chasm and in view of the small opening overtop of a lightly flowing river, he noticed a couple pairs of eyes staring at him from around the corner. Tears of pain began dripping down his eyes once he realized he had forgotten about his friends, and suddenly remembered the ashed and rotten stench when flying up the chasm. The emotions welling up inside him felt dull, and fake. Quickly, he stopped his crying, and crouched through the entrance with soft words leaving his mouth. ¡°Everyone is dead.¡± Emelia, Aslan, and Harry, did not deserve any of this. The thoughts of their future together as strong hunters had been in Elijah¡¯s mind many times. The moist footsteps were the only noise besides the shallow breaths of the brave adventurers who had just barely escaped death. The saint, who bore the title of savior, also bore the weight of his actions and empty emotions. ¡°Creveron, five!¡± Theon was the one to exclaim his desire for safety once they reached Nova40. However, his voice was not loud enough, and shortly followed up with an angered shout. ¡°CREVEVRON, FIVE!¡±The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Five metal wires with harnesses for the chest fell to the floor. With everyone strapped in, the tug of each of the ropes shot them to the sky. The wood gate slid underneath their small frames, and quickly, four out of the five children fell to the floor with exhaustion. Elijah began walking forward, and up the wooden steps within the dimly lit arched pathway. People were passing by his side, and a shout was heard from behind by the two men who sent the ropes down to the ground. ¡°Where is the rest of your party?!¡± ¡°Wait!¡± Once the corner had been turned, and Elijah saw the coast was clear, his figure vanished from the line of sight where the two strong men thought he would be, and rose to the ceiling. Only darkness blanketed the ceiling, which made it a perfect spot for Elijah to escape untimely questions. Using his space magic, a small divot in the ceiling was carved out into a curving shape that mimicked the moon. A cradle to hold fearsome, yet a troubled youth was created, and was where that youth spent the next couple of hours contemplating his life. Date bars fulfilled his hunger, while water quenched his thirst. Only when he felt himself again, he sneakily dropped down from the ceiling, and began to search for his friends. While passing by the familiar large wooden door home to Aslan¡¯s uncle, the door was quickly opened as a man signaled to come inside. Elijah, was trapped with no way out, and decided to agree to his request while appearing the way a child would appear when they had been through an atrocity as bad as losing three good friends to the spawns of the devil. ¡°If you are wondering, the rest of your party has already left as you had gone missing per my captains. I have already let my anger out on many poor beasts, so don¡¯t worry I won¡¯t hurt you.¡± Andal was thoroughly scratching his spiky gray hair as he had down on his cushioned, old wooden chair. ¡°Why would you want to talk to me if you know the whole story?¡± ¡°According to your favorite supporter, you killed three of the people who supposedly betrayed your party. What do you think the reason for their betrayal was?¡± The head of Andal tilted forward, and rested on his chin. To Elijah, it seemed he already knew the answer most likely from personal experience. So Elijah told the truth, but not all of the truth. ¡°They were told to kill us. But I have no idea why. We are all simple, just trying to prove our worth and contribute to the kingdom.¡± ¡°So it seems! This is not the first time something like this has happened. I know a few people who have survived these ordeals, and the one thing they all have in common is that it has happened more than once. I believe these betrayals are not random by any means, but are targeted to specific people. There are probably a numerous number of similar cases we have never heard of simply due to there being no survivors.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t make sense. There has to be cases of this happening only one time!¡± Elijah was baffled by this theory, but wanted more information and put up a curious and angry act. ¡°I said cases of known betrayal, where the survivors had said openly that they had been betrayed. This is no such thing as crime in the kingdom. While fraud does exist with people eyeing to never work a day in their life in this paradise surrounded by death, everyone draws the line at physical harm.¡± Even though Elijah had noticed the fact that no one talked about ¡°staying safe¡± within the streets of the inner city, this still came to a surprise. What would have to happen for evil to not exist, for physical crime to not exist. Back on earth, even when the world was reaching new peaks in the advancement of the race, there were still shootings, civil wars, and internal conflicts on small and large scales. This was why Elijah had also wanted to feel ¡°true peace¡±. It seemed this kingdom was the closest he had ever got, but now something else clouded his judgement on this matter. It didn¡¯t seem natural. 56. Considering Advice ¡°Are you saying I should stop my friends from reporting back to the guild?¡± Andal paused for a moment. ¡°Yes, in fact, since they have already told me that it was a betrayal, I was never going to report anything to anyone. So just to be sure this doesn¡¯t get out, you must convince your friends to keep their silence. It will keep happening again and again, until there is no longer a report of a betrayal made again¡­¡± Elijah inferred that Andal meant it would not stop until he is dead, or anyone who pronounced betrayal is dead. What did this mean for his future? Continue with what is left of his party, or go alone¡­ ¡°Thank you for the help I guess¡­ I¡¯ll be leaving now.¡± The bare skin of Elijah¡¯s open back came into view of Andal as he walked out the large wooden door. The sound of the wind splitting softly resounded as his hair fluttered through the air. He only started flying once reaching the bottom of the cavern, and made his way through the entrance cavern into a group of dimly lit uninhabited buildings. Not a single person was in sight, so Elijah continued until reaching the point of no return for carriages. After slowly flying down unseen between two double-story stone buildings, Elijah began running as fast as he could. Only when an open carriage holding four familiar faces was seen moving up the incline into daylight was seen, he felt at ease. ¡°ALEXIA!¡± The reason for calling her name was that he felt she had the hardest time of his friends who had survived. The yearning to think on the same wavelengths as them was aching in his heart. A long hug would do him well. Elijah jumped onto the carriage ruggedly, landed on his stomach, and slowly turned onto his back. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. But you can¡¯t say anything about what happened in The Catacombs. I understand how scared and bad you all must feel, but please, trust me.¡± What seemed like a moment between best friends, turned into something much more. Elijah had his hands out to his side, and was grasped by the shaking and cold hands of his friends. Overlapping each other, his four friends who were now bound to each other from this experience responded soundly. ¡°I understand.¡± ¡­ The Western Hunter Guild was overcrowded as usual, and the five friends received stares of worry, and even stares of embarrassment as they walked through the side door. ¡°We need to talk to Alessia.¡± Elijah spoke to the attendant at the mission board, and without hesitation, the middle-aged lady ran to her pendant sitting on the counter behind her standing desk. ¡°Alessia! This is Liana. I need your assistance as soon as possible. I fear something bad has happened to the party that took on the red core waterfall chasm¡­¡± Liana was quick with her words, and told the group to walk down the hall to the right. Alexia should be walking inside from the back of the building very soon.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The scent of the floristry filled office didn¡¯t seem to be able to contend with the aura coming from the five adventurers. Elijah took the lead in explaining everything while Alexia, Novius, Raylen, and Theon chipped in every now and then. ¡°I have to tell Lorsen about this right now. I-I don¡¯t know how he will react. Also, the Rusteire family will be sent word as well¡­ I don¡¯t know how that is even possible. The kappa¡¯s are some of the slowest reproducing beasts considering their nature. The entire waterfall chasm to be filled with orange core beasts at every checkpoint is hard to think about. I will arrange transportation for you all back to your homes. Please seek help from the hunter counseling department. It has solely been made for situations like this.¡± Elijah didn¡¯t ask about when he could take on another mission. He couldn¡¯t bring himself to act, thinking he is cool in the head as he had a placebo effect that put himself into a state of depression from the sympathy he gave to his friends. ¡°We will get past this. I hope to see you both soon.¡± Elijah, Novius, and Alexia said their goodbyes to Theon and Raylen, and went their separate ways in their closed carriages. The grand wooden door of the Weltor¡¯s opened up to a sight of distress. The parents were called after seeing the state of the trio. Hugs and kisses were given by every family member. George sent word to the maids to prepare three hot baths with an assortment of herbs and minerals perfect for making the body feel like it''s floating on clouds. ¡°They were all killed. Emelia, Harry, and Aslan.¡± Each poor soul told their story based on what Elijah had told them. Explanations would be made in the next coming days, but the only focus for now was family. Elijah was in a large washroom filled with the aroma of different scents. Lavender, peppermint, and magnesium salts that came from lush and safe areas in The Catacombs. Water beaded off the nude muscularly defined body of Elijah while laying within the round glossy cylindrical tub. Everything in this kingdom seems thoughtful and intentful besides the envy within everyone''s hearts. How could something so ¡°good¡± be poisoned by something unknown to almost everyone here? There must be people who know of the mysteries of this kingdom. The origin, reasons for animals that provide us food, whatever is underneath the whirlpool, and even the origin magic. Something this powerful couldn¡¯t exist without reason. Julian brought Elijah fresh and comfortable clothes from his wardrobe. ¡°Elijah, I know that you want to go to the frontlines, but everyone thinks not just you, but also Alexia and Novius should take a break from The Catacombs.¡± ¡°I know, mother and father are worried, but I don¡¯t want to stop. Unnatural circumstances keep showing up, things that don¡¯t normally happen. The next mission will be a success. I can¡¯t stop just because of a tragedy. I have to keep going.¡± ¡°I support you Elijah. You seem very smart for your age, even smarter than me. So please, do not stop moving forward. Also, I wanted to tell you, I am actually going to stop going into The Catacombs. I am a bright red core mage, and I don¡¯t want to fight beasts. I want to use my affinity to help the architecture guild when the wall is retaken.¡± ¡°Wow! That is a big decision, and I am glad you are not blindly following what everyone else is doing.¡± Elijah¡¯s conversation with Julian was like a breath of fresh air. No one was trying to stop him from achieving his goals, or at least the goals he had told everyone. Julian is paving his own path and not blindly following the flow of the world, or what is ¡°normal¡±. Elijah was reminded of his old life, the beginning of the leaf he had turned when he chose the path of what he envisioned freedom was, and doing what he truly wanted to do with his life. This conversation hardened his resolve, and allowed new goals to proliferate. 57. The Kingdom of Gion The morning air was fresh, and was accompanied by the stench of uneasiness. One week had passed since the ordeal in the waterfall chasm, and Elijah had been on a numerous number of walks around the city, and even walks in the inner city that is crudely overpopulated during the daytime. From the looks of it, anyone who had managed to find a place to stay when their home was destroyed, were always out in the streets during the daytime selling whatever they could to make a living. These poor people probably made a deal to only take refuge in their temporary homes to sleep. The tension in the kingdom continued to rise not just from the food rationing, but also the next to zero progress on retaking the walls. What the kingdom needed was an all out war to solidify their survival, but before that, must come the slow destruction and dwindling of the horrid and new beasts that roamed the outer lands. Subtle knocks were heard at the door of Elijah¡¯s bedroom in the evening. A voice that Elijah had been so dearly waiting for was finally here. ¡°It¡¯s Amaris, can you open up?¡± The voice was not the same cheery voice as he had always had. The seemingly cold man had truly turned cold. ¡°Hello Ama¨C. Woah! Wh-what happened to your arm?!¡± Elijah opened the door to see the familiar white-haired and blue eyed man. Only this time, part of his left hand was missing as if it had been split down the middle in a diagonal line. Amaris¡¯ thumb and index finger were the only things attached with the missing part covered in gray and black skin. Amaris took a seat on the chair in the corner of the room. ¡°Ha! There is this really tricky humanoid beast with an affinity I have never seen before. Just being touched by its power disintegrated my hand almost instantly.¡± Elijah thought back to his astral projection experience. ¡°Decay.¡± ¡°Huh? What do you mean?¡± ¡°Did this creature have long squirming limbs coming from the top of its body?¡± ¡°Yes?! How do you know that?¡± ¡°Something Happened before I left for my mission. I think I left my physical body, and was able to pass through anything physical and fly wherever I wanted to go. I went to the outer region, and I saw the same humanoid beast, and it somehow saw me even though I was invisible to the eye. It also tried to use a weird type of magic on me, but I was able to escape.¡± Elijah told the truth without sounding like an expert. Amaris was trustworthy since he too wanted to explore outside the outer walls. Amaris gave a deep sigh. ¡°Elijah, You probably have no idea what you did, but your soul left your body during something called soul wandering. It is a phenomenon that has been shared in secret within different cults of the kingdom I came from. However, to let your soul wander requires either an immense amount of energy, or pure and intense amounts of concentration that is seemingly impossible.¡± Elijah told Amaris the truth of how it had happened, and his meetings with a mysterious man with a jumbled face. ¡°Elijah, I need you to tell me this man¡¯s name.¡± Amaris'' voice shocked Elijah. His tone made Elijah presume he knew Abel. ¡°Abel.¡± Amaris quickly stood up from his chair, and paced around the room in circles.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Dammit! How is Abel? Where is he?!¡± ¡°Uhhh, he says he is stuck within The Catacombs. Something I haven¡¯t told you yet, is that every time I jump into the area underneath the whirlpool, I end up in the same cavern with Abel calmly being by himself. Also, Abel tells me he doesn¡¯t remember much about his past, and only knows his name.¡± ¡°Elijah. If what you are saying is true, then you cannot trust him. He was one of the people that came to this kingdom with me and I fear that he is being controlled.¡± ¡°What?! Controlled by who?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. When I first came here as a youngling, and blended into the streets of the inner south, I stayed close to the people I came with. We rose through the ranks of the hunter guild, but something happened within The Catacombs many times over that triggered me to never return there again. I was betrayed, over and over again. I lost the people I had become friends with, over and over again. That is when I became friends with a hunter captain who started to take me outside the walls. Everyone around me never wanted to go outside the walls in the first place, but the goal was to capture more animals for food if they were seen, or kill the beasts and collect their cores as resources. The beasts outside the walls are wildly different compared to the beasts in The Catacombs. I think there are people within this kingdom that are the reason for the eeriness, and I want your help to either stop those people, or kill them.¡± Elijah felt a warm feeling wash over him. For the first time in the world that seemed like sunshine and rainbows, he was finally able to empathize with something going through the same troubles. ¡°Okay, I agree. I want to help you. I want to learn what is going on with this kingdom. I-I love this kingdom, or at least, I did before the wall fell.¡± ¡°That is good to hear. That flight ability of yours is rather special, you know. Back in my kingdom, abilities like these were something people like us would obtain, but or a cost... These abilities could be flight like yours, but also speed, strength, telekinesis, and even shape shifting. These abilities come from something I have only heard about in passing. The Gods. In fact, we have a magnificent stature in the very center of our Kingdom known as Lancius, the Lightbringer.¡± Elijah compared Amaris¡¯ words to his personal experience. The voice that he sometimes heard in his head asking him to save someone, or the remnants of conversations he had with an unknown figure correlated with the idea of gods existing. However, only one question was on Elijah¡¯s mind. ¡°What was your kingdom like?¡± ¡°Haha! Do you mean the way it looks? The culture? The food?¡± ¡°Yes! Everything!¡± Amaris sat back in the chair. ¡°My kingdom is called Gion, and is at least twenty times larger than this kingdom. If you think this place is beautiful, then you will drop to your knees when you see Gion. The entire kingdom uses a heated river that comes from somewhere deep in the earth. This river is coursing with immense amounts of mana and the spout is where the royal square is located, which houses the royal families. The King however, lives on a floating island created by a geyser of mana. There are many different districts including the noble, market, farm, industrial, red light, oceanfront and even a district in the outskirts known as the slums. While my kingdom is nowhere near perfect, and definitely capitalizes on the weak, most people truly enjoy living there. The motto is basically contribution, as you get what you deserve. I could talk about the endless body of water that sits on pearly white sand, how the waterspout has been monopolized as a healing center and as a source of drinking water for the people, or how the beasts are handled within the borders and foreign regions of the kingdom. But¡­ I would rather you see and experience it for yourself. I won¡¯t say much else, but I did want to let you know that our kingdom doesn¡¯t rely on magic at all. We manufacture everything using the resources in our abundant environment, and even use the mana crystals to create magical equipment for hunters that do not have mana cores. Magic in this kingdom is a commodity, something so common it is seen as unnatural to not have it, whereas in Gion, having it grants you status unlike anyone in the kingdom. ¡°Incredible!¡± The vast differences between the two kingdoms made Elijah think about the origin of magic. The density and normalcy of magic in the Kingdom of Astraea makes it seem like all magic originated from here, from whatever made the crater that the kingdom survives around. The idea of magic being used more frequently in the creation of magical equipment also sparked ideas in his head. Do Gion¡¯s methods involve runic symbols? 58. We Just Got A Letter, I Wonder Who Its From! ¡°So, are you going to tell me how your mission in The Catacombs went?¡± Elijah''s heartbeat thumped loudly in his chest as his head dipped facing the floor. The soft bed underneath his rear slumped slightly. ¡°I- There¡­ We failed the mission, and three of my friends were incinerated¡­¡± ¡°What the hell?! What happened?!¡± Amaris moved closer to Elijah when he saw tears coming out of his eyes. Elijah himself had not expected himself to cry, but maybe the reason for his tears was because of not feeling guilty or sad like he should be. ¡°We were betrayed.¡± ¡°I expected as much. Did you report it to the guild?¡± ¡°No, That crazy man Andal told me to keep it silent, or else the chances of it happening again were almost certain.¡± ¡°Good. Are Novius and Alexia okay?¡± ¡°Yes, they survived, but the son of Lorsen Creveron did not survive. I am worried that now I will never have a chance of helping you on the frontlines.¡± ¡°Pff, don¡¯t worry about that. Once you reach the orange core, I can use my authority to take you on missions. Most of the beasts close to the gates are orange core beasts, and become stronger the farther you go out. With your strength, I would suggest taking on a red core mission by yourself. A mission where you don¡¯t have to hide your abilities.¡± ¡°Really? Is that possible?¡± ¡°Yes, only if it is approved by the guild, or given to you by someone high up. That person can be me.¡± A voice randomly resounded from the pocket within Amaris¡¯ chest calling for a meeting. ¡°I have to go, but do not talk to Abel without letting me know. I¡¯ll have a couple of easy red core missions for you within the next couple of days to complete by yourself. Have a good night of sleep.¡± ¡°You too.¡± Elijah was not at all perturbed by Amaris telling him to have a good night of sleep. That saying was custom in this kingdom, as sleep was something everyone prioritized. There were a couple of things Elijah had also wanted to get off his chest, like using mana to strengthen his body again, but it seemed it would have to wait. Amaris gently closed the door, and said hello to Alexia who was leaning against the wall. ¡°It seems there was someone waiting for you Elijah.¡± ¡°Are you really going to go back into The Catacombs by yourself?¡± Alexia asked with worried eyes. Elijah first found himself thankful she did not hear the first part of their conversation, or at least for now he assumed she did not hear anything about the Kingdom of Gion. ¡°Yes, I am. I can¡¯t stop just because of what happened. I don¡¯t want to stop.¡± ¡°Okay, that makes sense. I still can¡¯t believe what happened, but I also want to keep going. I understand I won¡¯t go with you on your mission, but maybe I will go with the rest of our party.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°That is nice to hear, Alexia. Have you heard anything from Novius?¡± ¡°No, I haven''t seen him even once. He has been in his room ever since.¡± ¡°Okay, I won¡¯t bother him.¡± The night ended with rather happy thoughts running through Elijah¡¯s mind. Preparations were made within his mind, but one action he needed to take care of was getting his hands on Novius¡¯ invisible suit again. That could be an incredible boon for him, but also a crutch that would not help him in the long-term. ¡­ ¡°Elijah! I have a letter that is addressed to you! It says no one can open it but you!¡± Phloria was at the door greeting the mail man when she yelled at Elijah who was calmly stretching in the room next to the living room, the free space full of padding meant for working on your physical body. Elijah got up from his cossack squat position, and ran through the living into the hallway that led to the grand foyer. The distorted light of the late-morning shone through the glass of the foyer. One of the few items in this kingdom that was made by the people and didn¡¯t solely originate from magic, was glass. The letter was gracefully handed to Elijah, and without hesitation, it was opened. ¡°Are you going to tell me anything about it Elijah?¡± Phloria was staring at Elijah¡¯s actions of opening the letter with haste. ¡°Uhh, haha. Amaris sent me a mission he grabbed from the guild. It''s nothing special. I just have to grab some things from the hunter market.¡± Phloria grabbed Elijah¡¯s chin. ¡°You aren¡¯t going to be dying on me right?¡± ¡°Never, will I ever die to a beast. This mission sounds really easy from the type of beast I will be facing. Simple tunnel moles that are also going to be in few numbers. There is no need to worry.¡± ¡°Okay, I guess with five of you that sounds easy. You do after all need to complete a mission. Although, I am surprised that you are all ready to get back to it after what happened.¡± Elijah didn¡¯t feel the need to tell the truth as he had full confidence in himself without needing to hide his abilities, not that it would even be a problem with his four friends. ¡°I need to get going, I also have the hunter tournament that I need to prepare for. I¡¯m going to get some custom shoes.¡± After hugging his mother tightly, he put on his shoes, and set off for the Western Hunter Guild. The white pants and tan button up long sleeve coat inlaid with gray goat fur made him feel quite representable, and also allowed him to blend in with the normal attire of the kingdom. Instead of taking a carriage, Elijah had decided to walk to a specific shop he once saw close to The Lavden restaurant he remembers eating at. The restaurant itself was obviously not operating normally, but did operate as a place to receive the rationed food. Once the door to a small shop opened, a small bell rang followed by a welcome from the attendant at the counter. The shop was lined with exquisite pieces of leather and cloth garments meant for hunters. Everything was in the same color, but could be dyed using the pigments that came from different fruits and vegetables. ¡°Welcome young one! To what do I owe the pleasure of helping you with today?¡± Elijah finished looking around, and calmly took the black leather shoes off his feet. These shoes were very simplistic, and provided the perfect amount of room for his toes. Cotton laces held them tightly, and had a medium amount of cushion meant for absorbing the blows of the harsh earthen ground. ¡°Would you be able to cut openings in the bottom of these shoes so I can use my water magic while walking? I will also buy a new pair of shoes from you just to have both in case it doesn¡¯t work out the way I expect.¡± ¡°Hmmm, that is a rather odd request. But I suppose if you buy a pair of shoes from me I have no reason to say no.¡± Elijah handed the pair of shoes to the man. ¡°This shouldn¡¯t take long, and based on the idea you use water magic, shall I make vertical openings in the shoes?¡± ¡°Yes, that is exactly what I had in mind.¡± The burly man had some pep in his step from seeing such a smooth talking young fellow like Elijah. It was a breath of fresh air compared to the young nobles who relished in their parents'' success. 59. The Good Ol Days A pair of small black shoes were handed to Elijah, but before letting go, were turned upside down. Vertical rivets in a randomized pattern allowed Elijah to just slightly see through the soles of the shoe. A new set of black shoes were on the counter, and Elijah left the building with a smile after putting his pouch of coins away. The cold air of the kingdom was felt with every step after putting the modified shoes on his feet. Free-balling it, Elijah slowly made his way to the Western Hunter Guild while taking in the sights of the city, and even stopped to take a look over the side of the bridge. The structural supports that allow Centerpool to exist came into view, but were interrupted by a hairy man yelling at him not to jump. Do I look like I am going to jump?? The faces of children Elijah¡¯s age, a couple years older, and even academy students who were on break completing missions were everywhere outside, and within the guild building. Something that Elijah had noticed until now was how fast children grew up physically. A ten year old in this world would look like a thirteen year old on earth. High quality food and using magic most likely was the reason for this. Elijah kept his head low the moment he saw Emery¡¯s party. From their last confrontation in the washroom, he didn¡¯t feel intimidated by him, and if Emery ever made a scene, Elijah would only scoff at it and walk away. The stained wooden hall clad with stone walls was lined with all sorts of plants between each room and window that looks out to the secondary carriage court for mission pickups and dropoffs. The familiar breath of fresh air surrounded by the sounds of chatter and the clanking of metal excited Elijah. Being back here again was fulfilling a fantasy he used to have in his head. The more time passed, the more of the beginning of his life he remembered. A building with a billboard in the front that said, ¡°hunter essentials¡±, was the exact place Elijah was looking for. Depending on your affinity, you have an innate advantage. Fire gives you a light source, earth gives you a shield, and even water gives you a water source. Although Elijah had no idea about the mineral content in the water, he still chose the glass bottled water stored in his spatial storage. A short conversation and an exchange of goods led him to holding a cloth bag with a few small wooden torches with pointed bottoms that could be lit by scraping them against dry wooden sticks that came with it, as well as a cheap backpack that he would eventually throw away. Even if the mission was approved, not a single soul would allow him to go into The Catacombs alone without a backpack full of essentials. A recovery potion, and a mana recovery potion were also inside the bag, which didn¡¯t cost very much as it was a low tier potion produced in mass amounts. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s you¡­¡± Emery caught Elijah walking through the back entrance of the guild building. Behind Emery, was his party who were laughing in amusement for a reason Elijah did not know.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Hahaha! I can¡¯t believe he came here after that mission. Poor guy.¡± Jared Ruby was talking from behind Emery. ¡°Your name is Jared right?¡± Elijah confidently asked. ¡°How do you not know me?¡± Jared¡¯s eyebrows flipped up in amusement. For a ten year old, this guy sure has some manners. I wonder where he got his attitude and hatred towards me. ¡°You better hope you don¡¯t end up going against me in this tournament.¡± ¡°Do you really think a water mage could beat a fire mage in combat?¡± ¡°Yes, because you have a poor understanding of what this tournament even means.¡± Jared was just about to speak again until Emery stopped him in his tracks. ¡°Move back so we can let him through. We have things we have to get so let''s not waste our time¡­¡± Elijah was standing in front of the doorway, and gave a slight nod at Emery who seemed to have changed. There was definitely something good in that boy. Emery just had a natural grudge against Novius, and it turned into him being a naturally toxic person that rubbed off on his friends. Only natural for over absorbent minds. Something that had been on Elijah¡¯s mind lately had been Niko. Not once had he seen him at the hunter guild. There are four hunter guilds in the inner city with the fifth being the one in Centerpool, the headquarters that all of the top hunters conglomerate at. Either Niko has died, or is at a different hunter guild building. Elijah slowly made his way back to the Weltor estate while slowly sipping on water he pulled out from his spatial storage secretly within his new backpack. Technically speaking, Elijah could become a true magician if that was a thing in this kingdom. The aromatic smell of eggs infused with herbs hit Elijah¡¯s nostrils the moment he walked through the grand wooden door. Eggs were a food source that has only been affected in a way that caused the chickens to be grown in a slightly different environment. The nature parks within the inner city, as well as on the rooftops while being fed proper food. Elijah slowly walked down the left hall lined with paintings and plants, and when he entered the kitchen, he saw Novius and Alexia helping the cooks with their tasks. It seemed they were having a lot of fun, alongside the fact that neither of them had a frown on their faces. ¡°Elijah! Come help us! We are having rice and egg omelets!¡± Alexia had a wide smile on her face while violently whisking the eggs she had just cracked. Memories of his past life came rushing back towards him. It felt like I was pulled through a vacuum forcefully as the space around me warped in and out. Steak dinner with my family. Everyone in the family always pitched in effort while the television was running. Before Elijah knew it, he was seen heating a metal pan on a magical rune. The whisked eggs sloshed around the pan, and before he knew it, his hands had flipped the eggs in the pan perfectly. ¡°Wow Elijah! I didn¡¯t know you could do that?¡± George came into the kitchen after a long day at the magitech guild. Thankfully, his heart was lifted at the sight of the three youngest children cooking food for everyone. The night was young, and the trio who had gone through a lot together made a vow. ¡°We will never fully trust someone, and stick together at all times within the Catacombs. We will create our own way of doing things, and never be shifted around by others.¡± The hands of the trio formed a weird three way handshake that Elijah had come up with. Shortly after, everyone retired to their rooms. ¡°Good luck Elijah!¡± Both Alexia and Novius wished him good luck for the solo adventure planned for tomorrow. They had no doubts in their mind as they knew his strength was something far above themselves. However, this only related to anyone within the same core level as him. 60. Undeniable Possibility -{Astraea Castle, Council Tower}- A tall patterned stone door opened up into a windowless room filled with cushioned wooden chairs, and a large decorated round stone table with the entire kingdom''s structure neatly crafted underneath a thin piece of glass. Directly in the center was a large chandelier hanging from the ribboned stone ceiling providing the perfect amount of lighting to avoid a glare hitting the glass top of the table. Fourteen established men and women funneled slowly into the room while chatting amongst themselves. The first one to speak was a tall woman cloaked in a purple robe. ¡°I swear, every time we congregate here, the view gets better. The golden radiance of the mana barrier is truly magnificent.¡± ¡°Pfff, I can¡¯t believe you have that attitude with the situation we are in.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a lot coming from you, scientist. Maybe you should put your toys down and relish in your wealth. The only thing you seem to care about are those kids of yours¡­¡± ¡°Shut it. We have all sat down and are waiting for your squabble to stop.¡± Caspian Damaris said as he flicked his long brown hair from his face. The burning red eyes that even accentuated the blood vessels that weren¡¯t actually blood, but his true eye color made him appear menacing. ¡°I can¡¯t believe my brother would have sat at this table with you all¡­¡± Bang Bang! The palm of the king slammed against the table twice. The messy gray beard and eyes that were the color of nothing silenced the table. ¡°Everyone, we have come here to formulate a new plan to retake the wall. The sighting of new types of beasts that use a magic unknown to us have stopped even the Judges from advancing forward. We have lost the poison and air judges, and have only replaced the air judge. I have a suggestion I want to act on, but first, I want to hear your thoughts.¡± Soren Rusteire stood up first. ¡°As the council member of the Outer West, I think the only option we have is to send out a secret and small group that can patch the wall. I understand there are more than three holes in the wall, as well as an open gate.¡± ¡°And how would the hunters get past the beasts without being noticed?¡± Caspian asked with a confident look. Rusteire clasped his hands together with his elbows on the glass covered table. ¡°By moving underground. As we all suspect, there should be cave systems in The Catacombs that would lead to the outer region that were previously covered up, or even outside the walls.¡± The king''s eyes widened, and shortly after, chatter erupted within the cold room. Chatter immediately erupted after Soren¡¯s claim of The Catacombs. The reason for this was that everyone had a belief the reason for the constant need to maintain The Catacombs was because of the beasts that were in unreachable parts mostly due to the power that the people had not been able to achieve. The truth is, time was short here. Most prominent mages lived until seventy or eighty years old, and almost always died of organ failure.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The table threw out more suggestions, but were not nearly as interesting as the one Soren had come up with. The King had been thinking about pooling resources into magitech to create solutions to overcome the power the unfathomable new beasts had. The idea would be put into action with the top magitech mages at the forefront, as well as the exploration and mapping of caverns that could potentially lead to the outer region. -{Western Hunter Guild}- ¡°So you¡¯re the one?¡± Elijah was staring into the eyes of Alessia. For some reason, at the age of ten, he felt this tension within him. A desire for connection. Instantly it was noticed, but Elijah had relished in the feeling he had not felt for some time. Why was this happening now? ¡°Uhh, yes. I am Elijah Veran.¡± An awkward smile was written all over his face. Alessia was looking at Elijah with a confused look. How could this boy be the one Amaris had given a solo mission to, he has a water affinity! Although, it is a cavern full of trap moles. ¡°Well, good luck, the carriage will be here soon. Look for a blue roof.¡± Alessia stamped the mission paper with a red pigmented stamp, and handed it to Elijah after folding it over twice. ¡°Thank you.¡± The carriage ride was filled with deep thoughts. Battles plans, intentional danger to test his true limits, and maybe even exploring deeper than the required length. This mission was located on the north side, which was the reason for the longer carriage ride, and the moment Elijah passed into The Catacombs, his eyes widened in disbelief. Dim lights tore through the glass of different stone buildings that were stacked on top of each tower for about one hundred feet. Multiple bridges, stone bridges held up by stone allowed easy access to the different levels of the residential area. This place was much busier than the west side, so what is the reason for the difference? Not fully developed? Lack of architects? Favoritism? Tons of people were walking down and across the streets with glowing crystals seeping from the openings of the backpacks. This has to be a large mining area with multiple hotspots that form crystals at an alarming rate. The architecture severely dropped off once reaching the uninhabited areas. Lights were still scattered across the building and walls, but not a single soul was in sight. Dripping sounds echoed through the cavern once reaching something that looked like a nest. At least ten different passage ways were in front of Elijah¡¯s face a couple minutes after hopping off the carriage. Quickly pulling out his map, he counted three openings to the right, starting from the first opening on the left. The distinct and familiar sight of an uncountable number of holes blankets the rough walls, ceilings, and floors. This was what he was expecting after Alessia told him they did not artificially change the earth within the catacombs to suit their preferences in this specific area. It was a waste of time. If the trap moles ever reached here again, they would have the ability to easily hide themselves. However, with holes already in the earth, it would be quite hard to stay hidden within the earth. Elijah had no need for his sword or knife at the moment, the last thing he wanted to do was try to kill a beast with an unreliable method that caught him by surprise. A bright light was lit by Elijah scraping the torch against the semi-dry wall. Everything in his backpack had already been transferred to his storage space. With not a single soul around him, Elijah began flying through the winding cavern that became smaller and larger with every turn. It felt like the insides of a large beast. In the distance Elijah noticed a change in the cavern''s shape, as well as a peculiar and small light source that just barely allowed Elijah to see the area. The wind separated for Elijah as he flew quickly towards the cavern, and slowed down just before entering. Mana crystals, that would make sense. Although from what I can see, none of these have an affinity. They are all light cream and tan colored. I wonder what made the mushroom cave so special to have a large amount of elemental affinity crystals. 61. A Small Chance of Moles Silence was a virtue Elijah greatly admired. However, based on the situation, silence could mean only one thing¡­ Danger. Elijah was calmly standing on a large boulder while looking at his surroundings. He had expected for there to be at least a few beasts in sight, but there was nothing but silence. The dripstones drooling water on the floor into miniscule puddles echoed with every drop, and was in sync with Elijah¡¯s heartbeat. Or rather, Elijah¡¯s heartbeat was in sync with the drops of water. The feeling of confidence left his soul, and the muscles in his legs tensed up. Slowly, Elijah lifted his head after feeling not a drop of water on his hair, but a drop of blood. Above, was a large hole wreathed in darkness that had also begun rumbling. Something was falling from the ceiling, and fast. The drops of blood began to thicken in frequency, and quickly, Elijah flew out of the range of where the hole in the ceiling was aiming at. Not even a second later, a four foot long beast with a beaver-like tail, and sharp teeth in the pointed mouth came into sight. The beast splattered against the floor violently bursting into bits, with hundreds, or even thousands of beasts following suit. The sound was sure to attract beasts, however, Elijah did not flee. This was most definitely being caused by a stronger and unknown beast, or was simply a tactic employed by these beasts. Stone rock formations provided support for the ceiling as usual, and Elijah quickly flew around the cave looking for an exit only to find this cave was a dead end if he ignored the hole in the ceiling. Did I go the wrong way? The map I received was tailored to this exact cave with the surrounding caves marked as reference. What was once silent before, soon returned. Elijah carefully made his way up the small cavern in the ceiling while holding his right hand out in front of him, and his left covering his nostrils. Currently, shallow breaths were being taken through his nose due to the horrid stench of dead and rotten beasts. It would be stupid to breathe through his mouth considering the countless diseases he could potentially pick up as his mouth did not filter air like his nose did. The long jagged stone tunnel curved slowly that led inside a larger cavern. Elijah kept asking himself how hunters would get up here. Either he was in the wrong place, or the next cavern had been closed off. Slowly, Elijah dragged his hand against the floor beneath his floating body, and quickly pulled it back. Six inch fangs erected from the dirt, and came together swallowing up the ground it encircled. The entire cave went haywire as the trap moles inside the floor had realized they would not be able to kill their prey with their current guerilla tactics. Hundreds of sharp teeth viscously swallowed up the ground, and spit out the earth directly at Elijah. Red cores beasts like these didn¡¯t necessarily have deadly attacks, but instead a spell they made with the combination of their primate brain, magical affinity, and innate ability. This did not mean by any means these beasts were weak. In great numbers, trap moles are devastating when combining their strength. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Elijah was in a predicament. Water was created within the air all around Elijah as his surroundings went completely black besides the small opening above him. The earth bombs smothered Elijah¡¯s spell, and even made its way through to his body. He was being buried alive, in mid air! This wasn¡¯t supposed to happen. I must have gone the wrong way. Was the map wrong? Was I played? Thumping inside of his chest was the heart of Elijah. The skin on his body was becoming soiled and the toll his body was taking underneath the weight of the floating earthen rock was becoming too much to bear. A distortion all around Elijah¡¯s body in the form of dozens of lines of space ripples materialized that destroyed everything keeping the floating coffin intact. A wave of mud splashed against the floor riddled with holes, and shortly following, Elijah flew higher into the air and unleashed a massive wave of water that appeared into thin air. The air previously inhabiting the space had turned to water creating a tidal wave that temporarily drowned the trap moles. The pointed heads and bald bodies rose from the ground begging for air, but only received a slash across their soft and wrinkly bodies. The space was split horizontally just above the surface, slaying almost every single beast alongside causing the entire cave to tremble. ¡°Oh, my, god.¡± Elijah was out of breath while continuing to end the lives of the few amounts of moles still squirming. ¡°I need to find a way to the next cavern¡­¡± Close by, Elijah noticed not a single entrance or exit in sight besides the way he came. After slowly making his way up the jagged tunnel, Elijah saw what seemed like what should be an opening, but was covered with a rough stucco-like stone. This looked man-made, however, Elijah assumed it was instead made from a beast. The earthen rock was slowly split apart into a metal opening. Elijah¡¯s breath was hitting the wall as he slowly but surely carved the space into a vaginal-like shape using a new method of space magic, spatial carving. Once cut, he held his ear up to the side, and slowly pulled with his fingers between a small crack that he could fit his finger behind. Dust flew out from underneath the fallen stone blockade, and revealed what was behind the wall of mysteries. A horrid looking beast with wrinkly bald skin, pointed mouth, and fangs the size of limbs that protruded straight out of its mouth and slowly curved to the center. This beast was definitely adept at moving underneath the ground, and was much bigger than the average trap moles. This was its evolution, a pincer mole! When it comes to the evolution of beasts, the kingdom does not know the details. What''s assumed¡­ is after a long period of time surviving in mana dense environments, the cores are saturated with enough mana to then develop a second layer, which would create the orange core. Human cores and beast cores are assumed to be different due to this assumption. Instead of having stages within each core, there is only the core. Maybe due to the intelligence of the beast, or maybe even the complexity of its soul? You can¡¯t forget the difference in the way humans level up their cores either¡­ Usage. Munching and gnawing sounds were the only thing coming from the beast. It was eating its own kind, and maybe even saturating its core faster. A red glow came from the beast it was eating, and was quickly gobbled up by this monster. Elijah had never noticed the cores in the beasts beforehand. At the Hunter academy he was taught that red cores would instantly diminish to black, and then disappear. Cores were only able to be grabbed if the situation was right, and the beast was at least an orange core beast. However, almost every beast core that came from The Catacombs was completely useless and unable to be used for some unknown reason. Elijah quickly sat on his knees while peeking through the bottom of the crack. I understand what is happening. The strength of the catacombs must be advancing, however, this advancement is not something the guild has noticed. The average increase in stronger beasts is sure to be reported soon, however, I know I can catch this beast by surprise and kill it. I must continue. I must grow stronger! 62. What it Takes to Change Underneath the green lights of the vines hanging from the ceiling was a monstrous and horrid looking beast. Its bald skin wrinkled with every movement, and its anteater-like fangs easily ripped apart the small mole with ease. The slobber coming from its pointed mouth was casually dripping to the floor, and the sounds¡­ Were utterly obnoxious. From Elijah¡¯s point of view, his best chance was to attack now while the beast was distracted. After steeling his resolve, he adeptly shifted his weight with precision to keep his steps soft while moving through the opening. His first step caused him to freeze. A distinct squirting sound came from his footsteps, and caused the beast that was over seventy feet away in the distance to glance in his direction. Was it the vibration of the earth that the beast felt, or was it the sound. Small bones were quickly spit out from its mouth before it dived head first into the ground that was relatively soft and moist. A lump began moving underneath the ground heading straight towards Elijah. Without panicking, water was funneling out from the bottom of his feet. The force of the water and the intention to move forward left the opening in the dust as he headed straight for the lump picking up speed. It was as if there was a jousting battle between two knights. One of them would be severely injured after this first interaction. Behind Elijah, the water mixed with the soft earth creating a mud like consistency. Elijah realized this might help the beast, but no matter, nothing can change the past. His improvement is what meant more to himself. Situations that are not necessarily disadvantageous, but still difficult. A sharp and shiny black sword was pulled out of thin air, through a translucent and pearlescent rimmed portal the size of a head. Stabbing would give him more power than slicing, and since this beast had bald skin, Elijah was hopeful Elijah had his sword ready while sliding across the floor, and with all of his breath, he thrusted the sword straight into the ground where the lump was moving only to see it disappear the moment the tip of his sword passed through the earth. Staying calm, Elijah flew effortlessly to the ceiling and pulled on as many vines as possible. Distractions could be of help, and maybe limit the amount of sensations in the earth it could discern. Bam! The beast came out of the earth right underneath where the vines had touched, and were pierced by the many fangs protruding out from the mouth of the beast. Close up, Elijah realized this beast had no eyes. It relied on sound, but mostly feeling and vibration. An angel of death had descended from the sky with its target in sight. The space in the very center of its body was beginning to split, but was stopped by the rocky dirt being excreted from the skin of the beast.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Magic! The last thing Elijah saw before everything around him went dark was blood dripping from the center of the mole¡¯s mouth. A small amount of mana was able to escape the coffin built just for him, and when the beast had thought it had found its next meal, it was surprised by a sword being stabbed into its brownish-pink and wrinkly skin. The same prey that had been rebelling against its hunter had stepped through a pearlescent and translucent rimmed portal. The space that was seen through the portal was pitch black with even small bits of earth falling from the portal. A screeching sound reverberated off the walls putting Elijah into a daze, and its flat beaver-like tail swatted him to the ceiling with the sword stuck in its abdomen. Elijah¡¯s entire body buckled at the sensation of his head slamming against the six foot ceiling. Thankfully, the vines provided some sort of cushion, but the impact still shortly paralyzed Elijah while leaving an after effect of nausea lingering in his body. ¡®I-I need to¡­ One more¡­¡¯ Soft was the feeling underneath the knees of Elijah. What did it take to overcome this flaw of magic? The barrier that exists between mages of different core levels. The unfairness that comes with battling a beast, but even more so, a beast with a stronger core. Catching the enemy off guard, spatial portals, channeling mana through the physical body¡­ No. The mole had just pulled the sword out from its back with its small limbs that broke during the process. Its organs were most definitely damaged, however, there is nothing more dangerous than a cornered beast. A monster that had no regard for its life. Fear and determination was within the heart of Elijah. Ten years, and only recently had he truly begun to understand this new life. Magic, and the potential for something he has never seen before got his blood pumping like never before. Novel stimuli was what he was after in his previous life after becoming bored with the comfort. Having a reason to live was the change he needed to make. Instead of blindly surviving, he needs to have a light at the end of a seemingly infinite tunnel. No matter how much rubble clouded the tunnel, the light would always shine through. The knees of Elijah tensed, and his body lifted off the ground with a near instant motion. His organs felt the impact of sliding to their bottommost position, and the vibration of the tail slamming against the exact spot Elijah used to be did not falter him whatsoever. Rocks and glowing vines above his head fell to the floor with a simple flick of his wrist. The mole sunk into the porous ground, and began moving in circles. Elijah steadied his breath, and waited for what he knew was going to come¡­ Dirt, mud, and rocks bursted out of the ground with the fangs of the mole separating. The inside of its throat was filled with a jigsaw puzzle made of razor sharp teeth. A large glass water bottle was dropped below Elijah¡¯s feet as a distraction, while a portal was opened underneath its body. The mole lost its momentum after missing its target, and the moment Elijah saw Its small feet dripping with blood through a portal directly in front of his face. His right fist violently closed, and shortly followed was a hoarse and ear piercing scream before the song of silence. Two halves of the wrinkly and silently squirming orange core beast were seen five feet apart from each other. Elijah could feel the almost empty amount of mana within his core, as he slowly slumped to the floor. His ears were ringing, and vomit was coming out of his mouth. His self-determination had passed the effects of the hit to the head, and saved them for when he had done his duty. Firstly, once calm and aware of everything around him, Elijah reached into his spatial storage and grabbed a slightly glowing vial covered with a wooden cork. The cork had initials burned onto it. MRP A mana recovery potion was exactly what he needed. The sounds must have attracted more beats, and with the impending cave of vines he would have to travel through, chances are, there are more. 63. The Pit of Despair The smooth and silky green liquid filled with flavor from multiple different herbs like lavender and rosemary coated the esophagus of Elijah. Immediately after drinking, a warm sensation started to form within his throat, and spread all throughout his body with a concentrated effect where his mana core is. ¡®Ohhhh, now that feels nice.¡¯ According to his mission, it ends when he reaches the end of a slightly slanted cavern littered with holes and vines hanging from the ceiling, and a small waterfall that droops down the slanted floor and slowly falls into a very deep chasm. This chasm is something Elijah should avoid at all costs. It is not known how deep it goes, but hunters who have gone through different cave systems have noticed it above their head, and connected the dots back at the guild. There is almost no room for shifting as the chasm is only a couple feet in diameter. After relishing in the warmth that slowly dissipated from his body, Elijah calmly stood up, patted the mud and dirt off his clothes as best as he could, and flew back down the curved and jagged tunnel into the first cavern he had battled beasts in. Elijah either believed abnormal events were always meant to happen close to him, or there is simply something else at play that relates to betrayal. The first thing that came into Elijah¡¯s view were a couple of trap moles, red core trap moles that were slowly making their way towards the sound they had heard earlier. Elijah flew soundlessly into the air with his back grazing the ceiling above him. Again, another stucco-like wall was found that Elijah sliced through without hesitation. Traps moles were instantly alerted by his entrance and began smearing Elijah with faces of anger and disgust. With a couple waves of his hand, the moles were silently split in half alongside the portion of the floor beneath them. Ten minutes of walking, and sightings of many more simple trap moles ended with a wide opening littered with light. Green vines draped from the ceiling with some of them graciously falling from the floor. Small bugs and flies were flying in between the vines as this place had been named their home. Water, plants, and worms were all they needed. Vicious gnawing sounds were heard coming from beyond the rainforest-like-cavern. Elijah held his muddy short sword steady, and after passing the small pond that dropped water into an unseeable abyss, Elijah began climbing the slanted cavern along the side of the small river that flowed downstream. Mole after mole shot through the holes in the walls with a pile of dirt and stone slamming into Elijah¡¯s sword. Every strike broke the momentum and direction of the pile of earth while leaving him wide open for a kiss on the cheek. Every single time, the mouth and fangs of the moles opened wide, only to hit a brick wall made of water, and to be sliced in half the next second later. Easily, the end of the cavern came as the slope evened out. In front of his feet, was a seemingly broken bridge made of stone that led to absolutely nothing. It was more so a broken plank. The last step that you would take before plunging into your death.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The pit of despair¡­ Below, was a massive and eerie cavern filled with smog, smoke, or mist. Be that as it may, the ground was filled by a fog coming from somewhere, and the heads of different oddly shaped beasts roamed within. The ground was just slightly glowing a greenish-yellow color, as if the ground or air was poisoned. The familiar stone pillars did in fact rise to the ceiling as supports. Twas a necessity for a cavern this size. Elijah¡¯s steady breath and deep blue eyes were staring into the distance. A muddy sword lay to his side. ¡°Sulfur and unknown beasts¡­ Shall I take a risk for the sake of enjoyment and improving?¡± Elijah¡¯s voice gave him a sense of realism. Moving through the cave with only his thoughts made him feel like a loner. One fact was for sure, there were beasts down there that were rather tall, and had heads made from either scales or spikes stones. A sense of fear found its way into Elijah¡¯s soul just after lift off due to him seeing a spiked head with yellow and green veins within. A mutation from the sulfur? The smell was familiar, so the chances were high. Elijah¡¯s semi-muddy clothes rustled through the wind as he rose in the air. After realizing that a lot of gas was concentrated at the top, he dove down to the middle area, about fifty feet above ground. Shiny spears were seen in the hands of the beasts that were humanoid looking. Elijah suspects Kobolds, but kobolds that have been corrupted by the gas. Nothing would be able to survive, and even Elijah himself was feeling the effects. No wonder he was told to return after reaching this point. Elijah had always wanted to see the known transition from the different areas of beasts. What makes logical sense is that either the conditions are too harsh on weaker beasts, or that simply the nests are the main factor that contributes to the different areas of beasts. With a simple wave of his hand, a pearlescent streak of what looked like air, but was not, left Elijah¡¯s hand instantaneously. The ripple of space shaped like a ruler cutting the space as it passed sliced the head of the suspected kobold in half. Remember, if mana is not circulating within a beast, even a red core mage can kill the strongest beast on the entire planet depending on their affinity. Blood was heard splattering against the ground, and as soon as Elijah felt the distress from the movement and sounds coming from the environment, he bolted behind a thick rugged stone pillar with fear. Hoarse screams and the shuffling of feet echoed through the cavern. Eerie coughs fueled the fear in Elijah¡¯s soul. Even with the mind of a one hundred thirty year old, this world was still full of surprises. This cruel advantage he had wasn¡¯t necessarily a cheat code with the imprint of instability caused between the crossing of two lives. The only boon was knowledge. Elijah materialized a spell of distraction by sending a small amount of mana into the air above a group of kobolds. A water ball the size of a head slowly materialized within the air while creating droplets of water that beaded onto the heads of the kobolds. Elijah was finally able to see the beast he was facing off against. Bright greenish-yellow veins were randomly flowing down the dragon-like skulls, and ending or meeting at the very center of its chest. The creepy ears created a spike-like shape that ran off the top of the flat scale-filled head. However, it seemed the Orange core mole rats and the kobolds had become friendly. Is that possible? Has it always been this way? Random spells of all sorts of affinities blanketed the sky. The spells were obviously more complicated than normal as they had specific shapes made from fire, water, air, and earth. This is exactly what Elijah struggles to do. The only time Elijah was able to make a semi-complicated shape with magic was the quarter circle that protected the people waiting to flee into the inner city. It was tedious and long, but maybe the qualitative change between red and orange is the ability to shape the spells you make? 64. Gone With The Wind Cough Cough Elijah¡¯s throat and nostrils were feeling the harsh effects of the toxin-filled cavern. The time for messing around was over. Large amounts of mana would be expended for curiosity alongside the risks he was already taking. Elijah bolted around the curvature of the jagged stone pillar and sent a huge wave of water, a wave unlike any other he has created, a wave that could be considered a mini tsunami if it weren''t for the fact that this wave of water was merely a blanket falling out of mid-air. No current, just millions of water molecules stacked on top of each other. The splash was chaotic, and drowned out the sounds of powerful spells being casted. Even with the difference in magical power, the spells did not push straight through the water, but were instead slowly dwindled into a spark of nothingness. Elijah jumped on the opportunity of a lifetime. The heads of many kobolds and trap moles were cleanly cut off one after another. With a single flick of a wrist, destruction followed. Knowing he had enough since the water was dissipating, Elijah took not just a step back, but changed his position to the broken plank of death. The stench of blood mixed with the air, and even though Elijah had culled his enemies, he was not happy. This was a freebie, something handed to him on a silver platter. There was no sense of strength achieved, but rather a sense of how powerful his attacks could be when mana usage was thrown out the window. However, Elijah had a feeling something wasn¡¯t right. A shadow was making its way through the parade of death. The fog had not just kobolds and moles, but also something far more murderous. Fast was the first word that came to mind. An eerily familiar feeling came rearing its end inside of Elijah¡¯s soul. Gorgon¡­ Suddenly, a small rock fell above Elijah¡¯s head. The moment he looked up, his knees buckled and an autonomous effort of fleeing occurred. The bright red eyes that seemed to glow in the absence of light hit his mind like a truck. The stone in the ceiling became cracked and indented at the action of releasing its catapult motion. A simple yet horrifying scream came from Elijah¡¯s mouth. ¡°THIS IS NOT REAL!!!¡± Pain struck the legs of Elijah. His body tumbled down the slope of the cavern, passing by a glowing orange mana core trying to be devoured by a couple trap moles, and his fall being blunted by the small river flowing through the center. The river was heavily indented into the ground and very deep. The chain of events started with the gorgon crawling from a hole in the ceiling Elijah did not see, with its familiar launch, it quickly caught up to the boy fleeing for his life. The long claws dug into the ankles of Elijah before the gorgon hit the ceiling. ¡°Ahhhhhh! My legssss¡­¡± ¡±Come on! COME ON! MOVE!¡± Elijah had no idea what had happened. The pain settled in with the slow rotation of his body, and when he saw the hairy and oversized limbs of the gorgon slowly making its way down in a non-linear pattern. The triangle-shaped teeth were dripping with saliva as its long and slitted pink tongue rimmed its deformed and black lips.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Death was approaching. With his previous shenanigans, he had expended seventy percent of his mana, which did not mean he had to conserve by any means, but instead use the biggest of anything he could imagine. ¡°IF YOU ARE GONNA KILL ME, YOU ARE COMING WITH!!¡± Behind the menacing beast that was slumping its way closer and closer to the feeble Elijah was a wall of water at least ten feet thick. The water rammed through the back of the beast sending him plunging towards Elijah. There was only one direction to go, and that was forward. The razor sharp teeth and claws opening its doors for the flesh of Elijah. The water caught it by surprise which ended up with the beast piercing the limbs and sides of Elijah¡¯s torso. Luck had rained down from the heavens with a heavy clank and crack resounding within the chest of the beast. The knife that Elijah had taken out at the last minute had yielded him the destruction of its mana core alongside its soul. The life in the eyes of the gorgon slowly disappeared. Elijah was only thinking about the pain surging through his body, and didn¡¯t even realize the beast that did not use magic had a magic core. Mana was everything, the ethereal string that would guarantee his life, but another crash occurred. Rocks fell from the ceiling and slowly made their way to Elijah. Water began coursing through his flesh. The wounds were closed, and after the lackadaisical effort of pushing the heavy and abnormally shaped body off his chest, Elijah stood up with static shocks going through his brain. His mind was not necessarily prepared, but his body was trembling. With Elijah¡¯s slow mind, he casted a portal that would run straight into a wall at the exact same time the beast launched its body from a near point blank distance. It seemed like time slowed, and Elijah saw the entire event. The translucent and pearlescent rimmed portal materialized from a single dot in the space in front of him. What was definitely too late, was also a blessing. Just below the neck of the beast, the portal appeared and cut its body in half. One half splattered against the wall, and the other¡­ Rammed into the chest of Elijah after completely shattering the arm held at the height of his chest. Elijah was gone with the wind. His body was sent flying with the head of the menacing gorgon unconsciously guiding him. Rock and dust flew behind the back of Elijah as he bursted through the wall of the vaginal shaped opening. While the breaking wall did absorb some of the impact, Elijah¡­ Was gone. -{Outer West}- ¡°Dammit!! Rodrick!! Heat up the air in the surrounding area!!¡± The cold and dark evening was littered with inches and inches of snow falling to the floor. What is relatively harmless, became dangerous with the cold and harsh winds. The Outer West was littered with beast corpses while The Judges who protected the world were struggling against the advanced beasts using an unknown type of magic. Amaris had erected an iceberg in the middle of the sky that fell on its target like a meteor. Only to find out the humanoid beast survived and carved its way outside the iceberg. An incredible display of strength was traded between the beast and the man. Rodrick, the Lava Judge, was supporting Amaris and the other judges in the area. The goal was to kill, but another objective was at play. Deep below them, were a group of Hunter captains led by the famous Landon Ruby. The delegation and communication skills on top of his usage of fire magic brought him to the top of the guild. Right below Monroe Riskwell, the leader of the Hunter Guild. A small divot was created in the earth unseen, and soon the fresh powder sitting on top caved in. Landon quickly stepped out, and realized the situation as well as his position. He could see Amaris fighting for his life against the unknown beast. Within the thick and muscular hands of Landon, a twenty foot long spear made of condensed fire appeared from his hand, and rested on a catapult made from wind. This fire started off as a bright red color, but quickly became lighter while achieving a light blue color. With a simple wave of Leah¡¯s hand, a spear made from hell instantaneously pierced straight through the center of the beast''s back that mimicked the sight and sound of a railgun. 65. Next Level Discovery The final blizzard of the season was instantly melted as the spear from hell passed through the air. Everything within a radius of twenty five feet disintegrated. Even the air within the trajectory turned to small flames that quickly disappeared. This was the fate of a profound magical spell. The people of the kingdom say the closer you get to what they think is the top, the closer the spell you cast becomes to the origin of that element. Some say the heat of the sun can even be surpassed. Amaris flew directly next to the silent Landon Ruby. The fire eyes and short curly brown hair rustled in the blizzard of the snowstorm. ¡°You did it, you destroyed it!¡± ¡°Yes, but only because it was distracted and the mana had left its body. Amaris¡­ these beasts. The magic they use is likely not natural. Decay, disappearance, and destruction. We have never seen this before. What do you think is the cause?¡± Landon asked as he shivered in the blizzard directly next to the ice cold man that was seemingly unaffected. ¡°I understand what you are thinking. Nothing happens without reason. This magic¡­ is not natural. I assure you it is being created from something, and that something might be what is underneath the whirlpool¡­¡± Amaris and Landon stared at the charred chest of the humanoid beast. Smoke was slowly flowing into the sky and quickly disappearing from sight. ¡°Well, this is progress.¡± Amaris said. Rodrick joined the fray and added confidence and excitement to the conversation. ¡°This was a tough bastard!¡± ¡°Yea, just imagine if you had helped us instead of culling the cannon fodder. You should be given a demerit for that¡­¡± ¡°You are a funny one Amaris. I am only doing my job, killing these beasts. Technically, there is no difference between the two haha.¡± Amaris¡¯ anger began to show in the atmosphere. The blizzard slowed, and the speech that was coming from Rodrick¡¯s burly mouth deepened and became indescribable. -{The Catacombs, Northside}- The nostrils of four wrinkly beasts were circling Elijah¡¯s body looking for a sign of danger. The shallow breaths were not something they could sense, only the vibrations of the sounds, footsteps, and destruction by its invader. Small voices echoed in and out of his mind. Words repeated over and over without any order until they all made sense, and within an empty black space, was an ethereal being in the shape of a woman adjourned with white hair that glistened and flowed for no apparent reason. The front of the woman was the only thing Elijah saw from a distance. ¡°Remember Lukas, nothing in this world is impossible without reason. The elements, and boons from the gods that are not affected by time allow the events you cannot even fathom to occur. I wish I could give you more, but already, you have taken more than I intended. What makes me, me¡­ Please Lukas, do not waste your time. The people around you have no meaning. You are everything, the anomaly within the place you are being reborn. Good Luck. I enjoyed the short chat, and I hope I can see your future face soon¡­¡± A kiss was blown, and the movie playing in his head turned to white noise.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Elijah¡¯s eyes slowly opened to the sight of moles baring their fangs. Without a sense of reality, action was only taken once his body was filled with pain once again. A sharp pain moved through the front and back of his head. A quick and hoarse scream full of his voice cracking echoed through the cavern alongside the growling of the moles. However, this only lasted for no more than ten seconds. Without even moving his hands that were being gnawed on, the pressure and heads slid off their necks. Lukewarm and slightly glowing water began to slowly wash over his body. Elijah could feel the absence of his mana, and almost everything to slightly heal and close his wounds was used. Immediately after standing, a sense of forgetting his balance caused him to tumble to his knees. ¡°Dammit! What the hell is wrong with me¡­ I-I just want to sleep. I want to get the hell out of here¡­¡± The impact from not just the gorgon, but also from exploding through the small entrance had a huge impact on Elijah¡¯s current state. His entire back side was inflamed, including the nerves concentrated around his spine. His upper chest right below his neck, his collarbones had been cleanly broken, but were quickly mended back into place with the small amount of water magic that developed his body earlier. Everything broken in his body was held together by strings. The main problem however, was his head. Elijah¡¯s state of mind was in turmoil. Not just because of the mental trauma accompanied with being reborn into a new world, but the inflammation from a fast and hard impact, and the remnant memories of what he just saw and heard. It was impacting his decisions, and easily letting loose his good and bad desires. The option of calming down to absorb mana was the only action within Elijah¡¯s mind. The gears of his body had cracked and rusted. Water once again enveloped his body like a cocoon, only this time, it stayed for quite some time. The pressure in his head likely from blood was removed, and the wincing pain every time his spine moved also passed. There were only three moles that came to slay Elijah, only to have their heads quickly chopped off. His mind was on three different things at once. The new part of the conversation he remembered, the glowing orange core from the trap mole that was free to grab, and the magic core within the gorgon. Elijah knew the kingdom had this beast written in their records as having no magic, but what if that was false? It would make sense if the affinity had something to do with gravity, which is not noticeable to the eye, but that wouldn¡¯t explain the set of rules around its power. What is an element that is extremely limited, but also similar to gravity? Nothing came to mind, however, the Orange core he picked up from both the gorgon and the mole rat were similar in shape. The notion that mana cores surround the soul as protection, and the soul being the life of the core is an idea not contested within the kingdom. Elijah could feel something within the asymmetrical shaped cores, a breath of life, but quickly stuffed them in his spatial storage and moved on. The light footsteps made their way through the cavern. ¡®So¡­ My space affinity came from someone. This person gave me their affinity, which is part of what made them who they were. I need to figure out what kind of person gave me this. Where are they? Do gods exist?¡¯ Slowly, the sight of a large number of abandoned buildings came into sight. Elijah kept his head down to make sure no one saw his face. There was nothing he could do about being seen by other hunters and pedestrians that were roaming a little too far. The light coming from the concentration of buildings would ruin any plan of flying. A cozy vibe of dimly lit torches and orangish-yellow magitech lights came into view . An effort to remove the obstructions above the mana barrier would be made with haste once the storm passes. A group of hunters a little older than Elijah allowed them into their group for an easy way back. 66. Uncommon Sense The vibrations of the carriage slowed with the ascent to the Inner North. A group of nine Orange core hunters at the ages of eleven and twelve had banded together. There were two ice affinities, two fire, two earth, two wind, and one water. ¡°So Elijah, what happened in The Catacombs for you to come back alone?¡± A blue eyed boy asked with golden short hair. ¡°Uhhhh, I was actually approved for a solo mission.¡± Elijah slightly lowered his head and eyes to seem like he wasn¡¯t all powerful and was sent into a cave system that was practically already cleared. ¡°Elijah.¡± The brown-haired man with teal eyes spoke next. ¡°You are a water mage, was your mission pretty empty on purpose?¡± One action crossing his mind was the idea of showing the two orange beast cores to the group. Elijah has been sick of seeming like a weak child, especially when his muscles are hidden by his clothes. Unfortunately, it is necessary. ¡°Yes, it was mainly a scout mission to make sure the previous party actually cleared the cave system. What mission did you guys come from?¡± Eyes were staring at Elijah for good and bad reasons. It seemed they were either jealous of a scout mission, or they were simply being kids with stupid grudges. ¡°Are you participating in the tournament in a couple of weeks?¡± The blue-eyed boy asked. Elijah had no hesitation with his manner of speech. ¡°Yes, and I am going to win my core group.¡± The rest of the party besides the water mage named Daniel and an ice mage named Garret began laughing in astonishment. Elijah did not mind one bit, he simply smiled back with the knowledge that the environments have shaped who these people are. At some point, it is simply muscle memory. ¡°Elijah. Have you heard the name Niko Trident before?¡± Garret asked as he looked ahead of him. Elijah¡¯s ears perked up at the name. Niko, one of the people who hated him rather much, until he proved his strength. A ruthless fire mage that would never back down even if he would die to the breath of an overwhelming beast. ¡°Yes. Do you know where he is?¡± ¡°Niko is my younger brother, a brother who is not welcome in the family anymore. He told me a little bit about a water mage named Elijah, someone who is a lot stronger than he looks.¡± Garret paused. ¡°He is in the south. He took the test in the west which is why you saw him, but found a better place to live. I have to say, my brother is one of the most powerful mages at his level. If what you saw a couple months ago was mediocre, you should see him now¡­¡± Sad emotions were oozing out of Garret. A brother who lost his brother, and for what?The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Why was he banished?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know myself, but it has something to do with his personality¡­ He trusts you, so I suggest you find him soon. Unfortunately, I no longer have information on where he is living, but he is in the south.¡± The rest of Garret and Daniel¡¯s party were surprised at the conversations being held. They all began to feel no ill will towards Elijah, and soon laughed off their obvious dismay towards Elijah. After all, Elijah was over one hundred thirty years old. He was not afraid to bring up embarrassing topics related to other people. The carriage took Elijah to the Northern Hunter Guild. Elijah gave his thanks and didn¡¯t bother to walk inside. It was a long day, and even though he had healed himself as much as possible, he still felt pain, especially in his collarbones and heads. The fundamentals of water couldn¡¯t fully heal everything. The body was not made of only water. The Northside was very similar with the only differences being the layout of buildings, and the shapes of buildings. Everything was slightly bigger. More floors, more space, and even vertical expansions happening as well speak. Metal pipes were slowly being covered by the stone being erected from the earth mages. ¡®Part of me wants to leave for Gion the next chance I get based on Amaris¡¯ description, but also¡­ I care for the people here.¡¯ A topless carriage was found, and Elijah ended up at the Western Hunter guild. Stares were immediately sent his way suspiciously. However, Alessia stopped him in his tracks with a bird call. ¡°Well done. I assume it was an easy mission?¡± Alessia stamped the paper with a green star, and slid the paper into the space underneath the counter. ¡°Besides a couple gorgons and orange core trap moles, I fared well. Although, what comes after the toxic cavern filled with fog?¡± Elijah¡¯s words dropped the slim jaw of Alessia, and her small lips curled up into a smile. ¡°So you are special huh? Past that cave are strictly Kobolds. There are a couple holes in the floor where the fog and gas are coming from. The cavern is never explored for obvious reasons, but the guild suspects a nest.¡± Alessia paused and stared at him with a confused expression. Her head slightly tilted. ¡°Did you manage to grab any cores?¡± ¡°No, I did not.¡± ¡°Haha, I know. I would have sensed them on you.¡± ¡°Alessia, can I ask you something important?¡± ¡°Sure!¡± ¡°What is this ¡®sense¡¯ you are talking about? Does it require a certain mana core level?¡± ¡°I am glad you asked. I see promise within you, so I will let you in on a little secret. The ¡®sense¡¯ you describe, is simply me pushing mana out of my body and not converting it into my affinity. I can feel the mana within the area as long as I still have control over that mana. It does require a stronger core, but there are even people stronger than me who don¡¯t know the secret. Their rigid imaginations will be the death of them¡­¡± Magic, something that was so foreign had begun to make sense to Elijah. With enough information about the inner workings of mana, he may even be able to start to connect the dots to ideas that have not been confirmed, but are possible. This was one of his greatest weapons in his previous life. The eye for innovation. Alessia arranged a carriage for Elijah, and walked down the hall into her office. Her long black hair rustled back and forth on the way, and it seemed like she was waiting for Elijah¡¯s return. Cheers were surprisingly heard through the main streets of the Kingdom. Elijah paid the driver a couple silver coins to drive him closer towards the crowd, and tipped his head once he had hopped out. The crowd was thick, and was surrounding the Central Hunter Guild while also flooding into the Grand Park. There he was. Calmly standing on a thick ice pillar was Amaris, the Ice Judge. 67. Day of Progress Luck, smarts, skill, and most importantly, an imagination that brings everything together. All things required to be an outstanding hunter. At the very peak of what is knowingly possible stand The Judges. A symbol of hope and protection. The barrier of entry for this esteemed title that only allows for one of every element is to display your prowess against the current judge, and take their place. Three years ago, Amaris, one of the youngest judges of the generation at the age of 22, took that place. The bundle of white hair rustled in the wind, and standing below was Landon Ruby, the number one ranked Hunter Captain, and Rodrick, the Lava Judge. Lava is a rather cruel element. It combines earth and fire, and is what unknowingly makes up the unfathomably deep parts of the world. Liquid that is as hot as fire, and flows similar to water only slower, alongside its properties that allow it to become tougher than steel. ¡°THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE COUNCIL!!! I WANTED TO COME HERE MYSELF TO TELL YOU WE HAVE MADE PROGRESS!!! THE WALL WILL RETURN AND WE WILL PROSPER LIKE NO OTHER!!!¡± The words of Amaris slightly confused the people of the kingdom, but were quickly washed away by the hype and excitement coming from his voice. This was the seventh time he had said this, but stopped when he saw the face of Elijah¡­ The long arm covered with teal and white leather pointed directly towards Elijah who had climbed a newly constructed metal street lamp. The hand quickly formed into a thumbs up, and seconds later Amaris disappeared into the sky leaving a trail of cold water droplets hitting the roofs and streets of Centerpool. The crowd chattered for only a couple of minutes, then quickly dispersed with Elijah following suit. Goosebumps were tickling the white skin of Elijah. During the change in the way people lived, the natural tans from the people had slowly turned pale. The effects would not be by any means negative, but could possibly have an impact on the general health of the people in very small amounts. The truth is that some people are just more resilient than others. Life is unfair that way. During Elijah¡¯s old life, so many people around him would live horribly. Processed and fast food, minimal sunlight, and minimal movement. Yet they were not only running laps around people with their health they didn¡¯t even care about, but also the money they made. Unfortunately, Elijah was given a multitude of disadvantages from his early childhood. There was no way for his parents to know the best way to do everything. A good way to put this is how certain outbreaks of diseases have taught people who are aware that most people are slaves. However, there is another side to the argument explaining how people are simply afraid to die. Anyone would gladly take a solution for a problem that could cause their death.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. A small amount of anticipation and happiness was within Elijah during this moment. All he had were advantages¡­ The Weltor estate welcomed him with warm hugs and a hot meal. Eggs, veggies, and a newly acquired slab of beast meat. The entire kingdom was slowly integrating beast meat with their meals in small portions. If it had negative effects, they would be caught before any long term damage was done. Every single member of the household was present. Julian recently had a scare, and debated on joining Elijah¡¯s party. Being within a party with people your age is crucial, even if the people you are around are behind in age. Novius and Alexia had returned earlier today from a mission with Theon and Raylen. They accomplished their goals, but relished in the idea of an earth mage joining them. On the third floor of the Weltor estate was where the trio would regroup. ¡°Does that mean you will be joining us on the next mission?!¡± Alexia grabbed the wrist of Elijah and pulled him into the room. The reason for the hesitation was because he didn¡¯t want to say no. The problem was that he saw a similar letter on his bedside table. A letter that likely meant a new mission. Another point of hesitation was the fear of seeing his friends die. He had noticed his mental health had improved tremendously over a short period of time, but didn¡¯t necessarily know why. Was it¡­ tragedy itself? Or was it overcoming tragedy? ¡°I ¡ª I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t fully say yes yet. I have another solo mission from Amaris, and I assume they are just going to keep on coming until the tournament. Although¡­¡± Elijah walked more into the room and pulled two slightly glowing objects out of his spatial storage. ¡°I have these two orange beast cores. I wanted to give them to you in case you can use them. If not, I¡¯ll just give them to the guild.¡± Novius¡¯ eyes widened at the sight. He quickly switched from praising his strength and asking about the details, to thanking him with a definite yes. ¡°You know Elijah, beast cores are rather peculiar due to their nature. All beast cores are always given to the guild no matter what. And honestly, I am thinking about giving them to the guild as well. But, the affinity inside of these two cores can be used for technical purposes. If we got an orange kappa core, we could eventually embed it within a stick, and have it shoot out a single spell that is predetermined. This is not a very popular option because once the core runs out of mana, it will no longer be affected¡­ an empty shell¡­¡± ¡°What?! Is there a way to refill the mana within its core?¡± Elijah was flabbergasted at this piece of knowledge. Novius slowly walked to his bed, and shook his head while looking at his bare feet. ¡°Not that I know of. Everything within the kingdom is always shared with the people, so if there was, we would know.¡± Elijah¡¯s hopes were crushed. The possibilities that came into his mind were endless. Magical tools that would emulate a single predetermined spell. It is a literal trump card in your pocket!! ¡°Okay I understand, I am going to keep the bigger one for luck. It came from one of the gorgons I told you both about.¡± The three nodded their heads and went their separate ways to sleep. After Elijah¡¯s eyes had closed, he kept thinking of how the gorgon possibly had an affinity no one has ever heard of. These beasts showed up in the last one-hundred years, and have slowly grown in number, so not much research was done. It was simply agreed upon that the gorgon had pure and unrivaled strength. What causes an object to speed up or begin its motion? The gorgons strength made sense with its size, but it seemed too unnatural for the sharp eyes of Elijah. Force was the first word that came to mind. The question that was running laps in his brain was whether it was an element of this world, or simply part of gravity. 68. Finale of Practice Banter was traded between the household during breakfast. Detailed conversations of how the kids would be fighting in the tournament were discussed. Elijah brought up many important details that all related to his first line. ¡°A beast is a beast, and a human is a human.¡± The tan letter sealed with a teal wax was indeed another mission from Amaris, but also detailed his plan after the mission was over. Instead of blindly sending Elijah on mission after mission, Amaris wanted to help him train his one on one fighting skills. A mission would be given every four days, and in between, Elijah would join Amaris in a private Training ground that he would be shown, and not given the location to. Elijah found himself on the rooftop of the Western Hunter Guild. A small one foot fence lined the area where the steep roof and flat floor met, and small wooden rectangles filled with different vegetables lined the roof. There were only two spaces for seating, and Elijah had pulled the wooden chair with no cushion to the edge. The grand stone castle with four tall towers at different heights magnetized his attention. The beam of a golden colored light shot up into the sky as a creator of protection. And beyond the rim, was a cold wind. The violent blizzard had come to a halt, and the only thing making a ruckus was the growling of beasts as they ate their own dead kin. ¡­ With a quick step to his right, Elijah dodged a frosty and blunted icicle being thrown directly at his face. The cold temperature of this exact instance used to shock the massive amount of temperature receptors within his head. But after more than an hour of feeling the drafts of temperature across his body, it felt like nothing more than a breeze. A black short sword clanged against a thick spear of ice that almost instantly appeared in the hands of Amaris. However, Elijah had another trick up his sleeve that Amaris had seen many many times, but still worked on him almost every time. A small wave of water appeared from underneath Elijah¡¯s feet. The water quickly reached up to Amaris¡¯ ankle, and he just barely slipped as his momentum was not able to pick up as fast as he wanted. It was either he was slow to get away, or he became stuck with the freezing of the water that Elijah would have jumped in anticipation for. Half of the ice shield Amaris erected from his wrist fell to the floor with a clean cut across the middle. ¡°Ha! Good job, I think that this specific tactic won¡¯t work on every affinity, but will still slow your opponent. Elijah dropped his sword into a portal as he was walking back to his starting position. A shattering sound was heard along with the washing of water. ¡°Whoops, I forgot I had water in there¡­¡± A five thousand square foot room made of one hundred percent stone, and only magitech lights that lit the area was the training ground. Amaris had blindfolded Elijah on the way to the location. Although, Elijah had a rough guess as to where he was. The Underworld. The only question in his mind was why Amaris had a secret training ground here.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°Elijah, I really enjoy the idea of you zipping around your opponents with your water magic, but I do think you should use it in a way similar to how I use an ice path. Temporary, of course.¡± Amaris said as he backed up into his starting corner. A long spear was the size of his six foot body with his left hand staying free. ¡°I want you to shoot yourself in the air, only ten feet up, with a strong blast of water. It will create an unpredictable current, but also give you the advantage. Everyone participating on your level will only think horizontally, but if you add in vertical aspects to your attack, it will give you many moments of surprise.¡± Elijah thought of the idea in his head, and while it was dangerous, I think Amaris was implying for Elijah to slow his fall with flight. In a way that isn¡¯t noticed of course. Blades of water with small amounts of space slammed against the ice shield that didn¡¯t even budge. The whole idea of the past two weeks of missions and one on one training is for Elijah to battle against anything that is stronger than him. Amaris truly wanted to mold Elijah into a future judge, or really someone who would be a leading figure of power. That is of course without Amaris knowing Elijah¡¯s intentions or future. Blunt icicles flew straight through the large and thin barrier of water. Once the mana disappeared within the spell, the water splashed to the ground and quickly froze due to the small iceberg Amaris was conjuring. Elijah felt this was his best chance at using this spell. It was definitely set up by Amaris, but still, this was a chance to see the potential. The force of the water felt like it had intended the floor beneath it. One thing was for sure, Elijah would need new shoes. His body bursted into the air with a lukewarm feeling underneath his feet. The iceberg kept on slowly expanding, but by the time Elijah had let go of his spell, he was well above the iceberg, and just barely beneath the tall ceiling. ¡°Excellent!!¡± Coming from a blind spot would be a surprise to anyone. Elijah, with a couple of waves of his hand, sent blades of water directly towards Amaris. Easily, they were frozen right in front of his face, and when Elijah landed on the floor with ease from over ten feet in the air, he was surprised by a chilling ice sword in front of his neck. ¡°I hope you know you shouldn¡¯t just let your guard down like that. Other than the fact I could squash you like a bug, that was a perfect representation of my imagination. You are mainly going up against the three main elements besides water, and you should especially use this against earth mages. They are going to be your biggest weakness because the principles of both elements won¡¯t clash like they will with fire and wind.¡± ¡°I understand. I know I can win, especially in the qualifiers, but I am worried about what will happen if I win. Lorsen¡­ Hates me. And I am scared to even look him in the eyes¡­¡± Amaris walked close to Elijah and set his hand on his shoulder. Without talking face to face, he quickly said words of grace. ¡°You have something I resonate with. If anyone decides to harm you, I will destroy that person. You have my pendant imprint, and it¡¯s in the easiest place to press. So If you ever get yourself into a precarious situation, call me.¡± Amaris continued to walk past Elijah and held the door open. ¡°Good luck, I won¡¯t be there for the qualifying matches obviously, those will be easy. But I will be there for the finals.¡± ¡°Amaris, I know I have said this so many times already, but I can¡¯t thank you enough for your help. I hope that you can bring me to Gion eventually.¡± Amaris closed and locked the door after Elijah walked through it. ¡°I know, kid. And I¡¯ll be honest with you, I have no idea when I can go back. I don¡¯t even know the problem with this Kingdom. Everything seems normal besides the lack of innovation that isn¡¯t magic related. How about I draw you a landmark map. That way in case something bad happens, you can leave for Gion.¡± Elijah looked at Amaris in confusion. If something bad happened? 69. Sight for Sore Eyes Truly, there is something different about both Elijah and Amaris. They both believe in life outside the walls, as well as being able to manipulate the mana in the environment. To Amaris¡¯ knowledge he knows of not a single person like the two of them besides the mystery folks that followed Amaris to this Kingdom. However, this is without seeing the council members use their magic. Even then, they could be hiding it the exact same way Elijah is hiding it. The council members are simply people who don¡¯t bother themselves with fighting. They leave everything to the people underneath them, and act as the hands that move the chest pieces. Their positions are important, but also, their help would be tremendous for the kingdom. The night was filled with a certain beast meat that has garnered the attention of the public, a meat that is easily preserved, and has a nice taste to it. The meat of the frost elk¡¯s. The reason for the name is because with every step they take, the ground slightly freezes and cools below them. They have huge antlers, and are at least an orange core beast that shoots a multitude of spells directly from their antlers. The people believe this beast is one of the fortunate beasts in the sense that their antlers are a perfect source to channel mana and release it. Just a little salt and pepper in the fire chamber, which is a combination between an oven and a grill, topped with aromatic herbs, and you have a delicious and healthy meal. The table was filled with chatter between the parents and kids. This was one of the first formal dinners since a cook was rehired. Vegetables were in surplus from the rooftop gardens, and meat was in surplus from the large amount of beasts being killed just outside the gate. A noble family grants you privilege, and even with a single elk carcass, the entire family was fed for months. Eaton took Elijah to the grand foyer to speak with him privately. His developed face stature excited Elijah. That would be his future! Eaton¡®s middle part black hair caught Elijah¡¯s attention. It reminded him of age twenty. ¡°I know we haven¡¯t talked very much, but I am in a party with Emery¡¯s older brother. Don¡¯t ask me why I know this, but Emery¡¯s party is going to be doing everything to make you fail. Emery himself actually enjoys your presence, and even would like to get to know you. But¡­ the normalcy around his family and the Weltor¡¯s prevents him from being friendly, as well as the people he had surrounded himself with.¡± ¡°I understand. And to tell you the truth, I expected something like this would happen as well. They made a scene when they saw me signing up with the rest of my party.¡± Elijah nodded towards Eaton, someone he looked up to very much. His pronunciation and grammar were more refined than his, and was also a top candidate going into his magic academy class. The morning came quickly, and at the very center of the world was a black haired boy waving his hands and throwing punches into the air. A small nutritious breakfast of eggs and dates was quickly eaten. Elijah would prefer honey, but to his knowledge, it either didn¡¯t exist in this world similar to earth, or simply didn¡¯t exist within the range of the Astraea Kingdom.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°It¡¯s been a while since we have been in a carriage together.¡± ¡°It feels good.¡± Elijah didn¡¯t respond much to Alexia¡¯s hint to say something nice back to her, but was instead looking at the silent Novius staring out of the window. Even between missions where the trio would socialize with each other, Novius felt distant every now and then, random. ¡°Are you feeling okay Novius?¡± Elijah asked a logical question to deter him from thinking anything else. ¡°If I remember, I will tell you after the qualifiers.¡± The grand Magical Academy was on the border of Centerpool, and looked over into the Inner Northeast. Within the Magic Academy were five buildings. Three dedicated to magic, magitech, and potions, while the other two were dedicated to combat and strategy. Within the combat building was the arena that was originally made for the Beast Game¡¯s and a training ground. This was long since stopped three decades ago and has not been converted into something else, but now solely used as a massive training ground. Yes, the multiple horseshoe driveways were lined to the brim with covered ornate carriages made from wood and pigmented leather. Although, it would be far busier a couple days from now when the semi-finals started. ¡°Full name and guild sector please.¡± After waiting in a line of carriages, a finely dressed man opened the door and got straight to business. ¡°Alexia Sinclair, West¡± ¡°Elijah Veran, West¡± ¡­ ¡°Novius Weltor, West¡± ¡°Please follow everyone in front of you, and continue to do exactly what they do. If you have weapons you would like to use, they need to be inspected by the equipment specialists. Once you register your weapon as part of you, you cannot change it without notice.¡± The instructions were clear, but the man had obviously gone into auto-pilot mode some time ago, and was unconsciously venting his emotions. Stone, wood, and floristry filled the hallways, as well as painting and mirrors every now and then. The reason for the mirrors? No idea. Classrooms eerily similar to the classrooms commonly used in Elijah¡¯s previous line the hallways, with even more hallways opening up every three classrooms. The walk gave insight into Elijah¡¯s future, but something about his situation made him feel like he wouldn¡¯t even make it to the magic academy before he simply left the kingdom. Life was truly amazing here, but truly only before the wall fell. Following the group of similar aged kids in front of him, he placed only his black short sword on the metal countertop. ¡°Now this is an expertly crafted piece!¡± Elijah was surprised as it seemed mediocre within the guild building, but just maybe this guy wasn¡¯t from around here. The quick sketches the man made of his sword gave him a tense feeling. How rough does one have to be? The ink pen was definitely made from metal, but even that didn¡¯t stop the man from creating a bend close to the spout. Elijah was handed a thick piece of leather with his short sword and name drawn, or more so carved onto it, which would connect him to his sword. ¡°Follow the people in front of you into the room. The rules and goals of the tournament will be described in greater detail, and when your first match has been checked in, you will be put into a queue.¡± Inside the stone room filled with rows and rows of seats was one man, Lorsen Creveron. The towering man felt like an eight foot tall giant, but was really just standing on a ledge overlooking the staggered chairs. Kids behind Elijah continued to pile in, and just before he sat down near the back, a familiar face turned around in the very front row. Niko¡¯s black hair had changed. Instead of not having a style with about three inches of hair, it was cut extremely short, a buzz cut. With a wave of Niko¡¯s hand Elijah smiled and waved back. Very soon, these two people, almost destined to fight together, would reunite. 70. Rules and Regulations ¡°Ahem Ahem¡­ Now that every seat is filled, I will explain the rules. As you might notice, there are a lot of people you probably don¡¯t recognize. Matches from all four hunter guilds are being held for the next three days, and then with a one day break, the semi-finals will be starting. You will only be fighting people within your same Hunter guild, and will most likely have two matches today, and two matches between tomorrow and the day after. All you need to do to move onto the next round is win at least three matches. The goal is to knock out your opponent, or make him submit. If you willingly show your killing intent by attempting to deal a killing blow, or even succeeding, you will be instantly disqualified. This is your chance to show your potential to the entire kingdom. The qualifiers won¡¯t be very packed with spectators, but the semi-finals and finals I assure you, will be packed full of people. I can¡¯t say what you will get out of this, that is for yourself to determine and express, but I suggest you do not take this event lightly. There has never been a public event like this to showcase your talent in the history of the kingdom before.¡± Illustrations of illegal attacks were shown on the wall in the sight of everyone. The basic four elements were only shown, and anyone lucky enough to have a rare element understood the idea. The repercussions were not disqualification, but also gallons of hate being directed towards the illegal attacker. Hate has never gotten anyone places they wanted to be in this kingdom. In fact, within the teachings the parents explained to their children, examples of these hateful people were blatantly told without remorse. Financial fraud, stealing, and a ¡®whistle blower¡¯ on allegations related to the kingdom that are ¡®not true¡¯. ¡°Now, please follow the attendant outside the room to the arena. Your weapons, as well as water and small amounts of food will be given to you at your leisure. There will be a very large board that will tell you who you are matched against. The attendants will cover everything else, I hope everything goes well. Good luck.¡± Lorsen wasn¡¯t exactly unhappy with his job, but felt bored after many times of the same job. He did however give Elijah a sinister stare. His gray eyes squinted and shortly followed with his head turning quickly. This made Elijah feel empty. It was and wasn¡¯t his fault. Slowly, the eighty kids of all ages walked out of the room one by one. A five minute walk between buildings brought them to the hallways surrounding the arena. And within a large room with a massive entrance into the dirt arena, stood over five hundred children. This was one of the eight transition rooms around the arena, which meant there were well over four thousand participants! Familiar faces were seen all over the place. By walking closely to the wooden board suspended from the ceiling. Elijah saw his name under the red core group. ¡®Taylor. I wonder if they are female or male.¡¯ ¡°Do you guys see your opponents?!¡± Elijah asked without looking behind him only to feel two hands grab his shoulder. ¡°Elijah. I am happy to see you again.¡± A slight smile broke the static lips of Elijah, and when he turned around, he shook the hand of the changed man. ¡°Niko, you as well. I wish I had a way to contact you, but I suppose it''s better late than never.¡±Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Yes, we can talk about it later. Are you planning on winning?¡± ¡°Of course! Why wouldn¡¯t I? You better make it to the finals, that is the only way we can face off against each other.¡± Elijah and Niko traded banter, laughed about their past, and were introduced to Novius, Alexia, Raylen, and Theon, who had arrived before them. Theon had pointed to the board. ¡°Look Elijah, your name is in the queue!¡± Explosions, rumblings, and all kinds of natural torrents of elements alongside the clashing of metal rang outside the transition room. Most people were stepping on each other''s heels trying to get a look at what was going on, and others were shaking in their shoes. After walking up to the attendant at the board and confirming his identity, the man behind the desk walked into a room, and five minutes later came back with his short sword. ¡°Elijah, here is your sword. Please wait in the line behind the board, the attendant at the entrance will bring you to your match area when ready.¡± Every single thing about this tournament was extremely organized. The funneling of people from the room where the rules were clearly spoken, to the collecting of weapons and redistribution of weapons, and the organization of the bracket and people. Whoever planned this did a fantastic job. The earthen ground was by no means soft, but had a small layer of dust and loose dirt and rocks on the top. Maybe this was done to emulate a rough terrain, but this would also give anyone with an earth affinity a massive advantage. However, this advantage is something they always had, a part of life is what it is called. Small one foot stone walls were erected as barriers separating each arena from each other. In front of Elijah was a lady with short brown hair and brown eyes. She was known as a referee, and would be watching over Elijah and Taylor¡¯s match. However, Taylor was coming from the opposite side. Taylor was a female with medium length gray hair. Her gray eyes instantly let Elijah know her affinity, as well as Taylor giving a smirk with her understanding Elijah¡¯s affinity. From the get go, Elijah knew most people would underestimate him, and he would use this fact to his advantage. The ref was on the side next to the stone wall, and with both of her hands that lowered to the floor, the match commenced. ¡°GO!¡± Sidestepping, Elijah dodged a thick gust of wind that threw him off balance just barely, and ended up quickly clashing swords with Taylor who sped up her movement with air underneath her feet. This feeling was like no other he had felt before. Beasts were beasts, and weren¡¯t fighting with intelligence, but this girl in front of him, was. This fight felt different then his many spars with Amaris. There was something on the line, and with the combination of the small crowd and other witnesses, he felt this urge to achieve greatness. To show off. Taylor looked like she was a Noble, which Elijah wanted to demolish her privilege she potentially felt within her. Between the small few centimeter gaps of his shoes, a wave of water quickly blanketed the earthen floor, and caused Taylor to fall back. Her face winced, but quickly threw a blade of wind heading straight towards Elijah. ¡®Too easy.¡¯ A large and thin barrier of water appeared in front of the wind blade, and was severed while stopping the momentum of the attack. Meanwhile, Elijah shifted his momentum with his water magic pushing and sliding himself around in a curve, and appeared directly in front of Taylor. The water fell to the floor creating a distraction. And with a single wave of his hand, Elijah let loose a simple, but large water ball that had to be blocked by wind, albeit not all of it was blocked and sprayed in the face of Taylor, and followed up with the bottom of his sword. Bang! Elijah had played this perfectly with a hit to the head using the flat side of his sword. A major advantage with water magic is when used properly and quickly, once could create an unavoidable attack that would temporarily blind the enemy. Taylor slowly began her fall, but was caught by Elijah¡¯s muscular arms. A graceful act of kindness within a highly competitive competition. 71. Just Like You Imagined It The soft and tan hands of Taylor made him feel some type of way. The touch of a foreign body¡­ The ref ran to Elijah and expressed her gratitude. ¡°Thank you for catching her, and very well done. That fight may have been short, but I can already tell you will be a top candidate, even with a water affinity.¡± Elijah replied with thanks, and gave her the reins to Taylor. She quickly woke up, and began crying. Shock and pain, that was it. The emotions of Elijah were high on the way back to the transition room. It felt like a moment of laughter would burst out of his mouth. Breathing was difficult, and his smile could not be controlled. Ecstasy is one hell of a drug. From the view of Elijah, this looked exactly like a football field, without the grass of course, and had eight entrances where the players could come out of instead of two. Rows and rows of wooden seats that were not foldable lined the bottom sections, with private balcony seating areas higher up. Most likely meant for nobles. Not a single familiar person was in sight, especially his brother or the older siblings of Novius and Alexia. Elijah became entranced in the obviously orange core battles. Casting speeds were quicker, spells were more destructive, and most importantly, the shapes the spells could take were more advanced. With every spell sent, the wind from the impact slightly blew my hair to the side. There he was, the underdog. Elijah walked into the transition room while handing his sword back to the attendant, and receiving the small leather identification piece in return. Not many people saw his fight, but his friends sure did. They were practically stacked on top of each other while peering behind the board that was hanging from the ceiling. ¡°I wish I could say I was impressed, Elijah, but the fight was so quick!¡± Theon said as he lightly pushed his shoulder. Niko gave a simple nod with a smile. The day was quickly passed as large amounts of seating arrangement were brought into the transition room. Couches, tables, simple chairs, and even stretching mats. One thing the organizers apologized for was the lack of comfort. Author''s Note: All character fights will be expressed, but only the ones that matter. Alexia, Novius, Theon, Raylen, Niko, and even Emery. That¡¯s if I decide they should have a fight that is expressed. :) Novius had easily won his fight with speed. Alexia struggled, but in the end won against a fire mage by using their fire against them. Theon and Raylen had both easily won. While Niko had gone overboard and received a warning from the ref. A quick and silent conversation between Elijah and Niko was held with a few head nods and hand gestures. Emery walked past Elijah while pointing his hand at him. His arm was dripping with water which meant he had been healed, but without any words Elijah knew what he meant. ¡°Elijah! Your name is on the board again!¡± Alexia was nervous, and therefore sent her gaze to the board quite frequently.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Laughs were heard from his friends, but quickly shifted to good luck charms. What were true friends if they didn¡¯t tease or belittle you once in a while. Fenris. Black hair, earth affinity, and on the taller side. Simple black clothing which probably meant he was a commoner. Meanwhile, Elijah was wearing quite sophisticated black and gray clothing. Thin high quality fur, small hints of leather protection over the shoulders and stomach, and small silver tidbits that slightly shine in the light. Unlike his last match, Fenris walked towards Elijah for a display of sportsmanship. ¡°I understand you have a water affinity, but I will not be going easy. I wish you good luck!¡± ¡°Thank you very much! I think you are a very good person and I wish you the best in life even past this tournament!¡± Elijah¡¯s response stopped him in his tracks. Fenris ran up to Elijah, and shook his hand with a smile. ¡°I think we could be great friends!¡± The ref was getting annoyed as they would be here the entire day watching the lowest of the low mages fight against each other. ¡°GO!¡± Both parties stayed away from conjuring magic until they neared each other. In Elijah¡¯s hand, was a ball of water expanding with every millisecond. A path of water left behind his body. Imitating an earthquake, Fenris placed his hands on the floor and split the ground while slightly raising the ground below him with every step. The tension was rising as not a single attack had been thrown yet. A ball of water the size of Elijah''s entire body slammed against a wall Fenris had erected. Simply because of the amount of water, Fenris had to raise himself to buy time while he wiped the water away from his eyes. In his previous fight, he noticed Taylor was easily blinded by the water ¡ª partly from a natural reaction and partly from a physical reaction. This gave him an idea to use this to his advantage until people had adapted. A disadvantage in strength, without using his space affinity in combination, turned into an advantage in trickery only if not all of the water was blocked. The same could be true with wind and fire, but the effect wouldn¡¯t be as large as they naturally dissipate into the air without mana. Giving his opponent an idea of his strength, Elijah waved his hands to let loose a water blade that barely scratched the dirt and stone pillar Fenris had just jumped off from. This was a massive mistake. Fenris had already been planning his next move, and with Elijah directly in front of the earthen barrier, he unexpectedly took a big hit to the chest from a projectile Fenris had created from the other side of the wall. The ground was filled with sharp rocks, and Elijah¡¯s hands began bleeding as he picked himself back off his ass. With every shallow breath, Elijah felt a cracking noise in one of his upper ribs. A divided face. Pain and confidence. The palm of Elijah opened to face the sky, and a teardrop mixed with his blood. Water began rushing thinly all over his body, and when Fenris saw this sight, he winced and began running at full speed. Again, beneath Elijah¡¯s feet, was a torrent of water quickly flowing towards his target. His mana stayed within the water, and with a single thought, Elijah¡¯s body sped forward in the formation of an arc. It was as if the king of seahorses created a domain to freely and elegantly travel across the water, because even with Fenris¡¯ earthen barriers and projectiles, nothing was able to stop its target from closing in. ¡°I GOT YOU!!¡± Fenris was beside himself in joy for only three seconds. Elijah¡¯s water had stopped flowing from his feet, and therefore his speed drastically reduced. Of course Elijah had a plan. A blade of water with what looks like specks of light were sent straight through the thin wall Fenris had created. Following that, was a dense ball of water with a force that packed a punch. What truly caught Fenris, and solidified his defeat, was not the unexpected wall that slammed into his face, but instead a sword that rattled against the floor to the left of where Fenris was standing. A simple distraction that made absolutely zero sense. A distraction that caused him to hesitate for just a single second as half of the earthen wall he created himself slammed into his face. From Elijah¡¯s point of view, it felt like time slowed down. A chain of events replayed in his mind, and with the imagination of an age no one in this kingdom had reached, everything came to reality. 72. Victors and Breaks The limp body of Fenris laid on the ground with blood flowing out of its nose. Elijah was stuck in his thoughts ¡ª replaying the scene, but also reminiscing in the feeling. Every speck of mana exiting his body felt like fireworks that exploded into creativity. The culmination of his plan and events that took him into the flow state gave him hope. Hope that he will treat this life, his second life, with grace and gratitude. Elijah knew Fenris was down, however, the ref still yelled at the top of her lungs while waving her hand in the air. ¡°STAND DOWN!¡± A thin pillar of dirt the width of her pinky finger shot into the sky at incredible speed. This was the signal for a healer to be sent. Of course, Elijah began focusing on his own healing, which took some time. The feeling of the bones slowly shifting back into place by the ethereal water was tickling. The fight was concluded, and Elijah had a stern conversation with the ref explaining how what he did was completely okay, but that the damage was almost severe. Elijah was surprised, and decided to not look at what he caused, and immediately walked back with the ref before the healers were finished. On the way back, Elijah saw a match going on between a practically bald black haired boy and a brown hair boy. Of course it was Niko battling an earth mage. The same guerilla-like strategies were occurring. And from what it looks like, the battle had just started, but quickly came to an end with a very interesting use of fire magic by Niko. A long horizontal line of fire was created that slowly bended around the wall just enough to occupy the earth mage with two more quick spells. Niko must have had his mana still coursing through his magic and didn¡¯t let it disperse, which uses up far more mana than manageable. This small opening gave Niko the chance to blindly shoot a fireball from around the corner of the wall, and knock his opponent unconscious. A very peculiar pattern was taking place within this tournament that was already visible on the first day. Distractions and openings were the key to winning with the slow time to cast magic. Everything had to be built up if you wanted an attack, which means it would be easily defendable. The idea is to build up a powerful attack that you know is going to be blocked and throw it into a situation that would cause the defender to leave himself wide open. The people who understood that fighting beasts are different from fighting each other will win, with many upsets that would befall the families of even noble families. ¡®At least I was able to figure it out on my own¡­¡¯ Niko caught Elijah¡¯s still figure that was being pulled by the ref forcibly. A smile was on both of their faces. ¡°You know Elijah, I would really love to see you fight, but unfortunately we have to stay here and wait¡­ I assume you won right?¡± Raylen was slightly pissed off, but understood that the time would come to watch each other. With over four thousand people participating, there is not going to be time to dilly dally between matches. ¡°Pfff, of course. According to the ref I actually overdid it. I didn¡¯t see his face, but it was probably something none of you would want to see.¡± ¡°Amazing Elijah, I guess that means you are done for the day?!¡± Alexia asked. ¡°Indeed. I am going to get out of here as quickly as possible. It¡¯s loud, and I¡¯m hungry. I wish you guys good luck!¡± Elijah said his goodbyes and passed by Emery¡¯s group that was in the set of couches thirty feet away from him.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Confidence was radiating within him, and without hesitation, he said something none of Emery¡¯s friends would expect. ¡°Good luck Emery, I hope to see you in the semifinals!¡± ¡°Hey, isn¡¯t that the Weltor¡¯s charity case?!¡± ¡°So much talk for a water mage¡­¡± Jared said with an annoyed tone. He didn¡¯t even bother to look at him, which meant Elijah had made an impression. ¡°It¡¯s okay if you are scared of people being nice to you. You all care too much for the expectations around you. Don¡¯t you want to create your own?¡± This was more of a hint towards Emery, but also to take a passive aggressive approach to smoldering Jared¡¯s mood. Jared Ruby, the youngest son of Landon Ruby, the renowned Hunter Captain, and first in line for the position of Fire Judge. Jared took after his father in the sense of uncaring confidence, and momentary outbursts. Elijah was graciously given a carriage for some unknown reason, and instead of being dropped off at the Weltor¡¯s, he was brought to the edge of Centerpool in the north, a couple of buildings to the left of the main bridge. ¡°Amaris is waiting for you inside.¡± A finely dressed man with a black fohawk opened the carriage door, and bent his arm to the side as he himself slightly bowed. The street was busy with people carrying goods in brown cloth bags. The street was lined with what looked like three story townhomes all at the same height, with metal rails on its roof. A small staircase that made room for a storage room underneath the townhome made way to a very small linear porch with the focal point being the teal painted wooden door that slowly swung open as soon as Elijah stepped on the trimmed fur rug. Clinking of glasses and laughter were heard coming from the hallway to the left of the stairs. Something about this place was familiar to the point of being an exact copy of some of the townhomes in his previous life. Elijah¡¯s guess is that this is simply the most efficient layout to maximize space. A washroom was to the right directly underneath the stairs. And when Elijah popped his head around the corner, he saw dim candles being burned inside hanging glass lamps above a kitchen counter. ¡°That''s why I told you not to underestimate that boy. He is talented alright, but has a knack for absorbing and learning anything I teach him. Not to mention he has the smarts of a veteran.¡± Amaris¡¯ words were heard by Elijah while slowly peeking around the corner, and the three people surrounding him had slightly confused expressions as if they had heard something completely unrelated to what they were originally talking about. ¡°Elijah! You''re here! Sorry about the sudden change of your plans, but you are here to add to the conversation as we discuss some sensitive information.¡± Amaris moved closer and shook his hand. ¡°You won your matches today right?¡± It took a few seconds for Elijah to respond as he was running programs through his mind. The handshake sure was a change from the usual nudge of the shoulder. ¡°Of course I did. But, who are these people?¡± In the back of Elijah¡¯s mind, he was afraid of talking about what he assumed Amaris wanted to talk about, and covered his dismay with a quiet question. Amaris nodded to the three calmly standing around the metal countertop. All three of them walked forward with the intention to softly shake Elijah¡¯s hand. However, once they all walked closer, Elijah recognized one man. ¡°Landon Ruby, I think you may have heard of me.¡± Another tall man with wavy black hair that laid flat on his head. This man''s eyes¡­ were more than just the color of fire, and his black coat adjourned with red and golden touches made him feel like a ¡®tall¡¯ and respectable man. ¡°Leah Trafor, Air Judge. Amaris has told me a little about you already!¡± What a beautiful woman, and with rather revealing clothing as well. The tips of her nipples were poking through her white tightly knit cloth that wrapped around her body into a formal dress with slits where her thighs were. If Elijah was in his old mindset of objectification, he would have a small hatred towards this women. However, ever since adopting the idea of healthy aestheticism, he came to like women embracing their bodies, in a healthy way of course. The female body had a magnificent appeal in a structural way, and the same could be said about the male body. Of course, the appeal is only there if the individual is healthy, fit, and their posture is near perfect. ¡°Mikhail, Crystal Judge¡­¡± A tall and muscular man that instead of having his pupils changing colors, had the whites of his eyes shiny and crystal-like. A small hint of a rainbow radiance was present, and gave the man a rather peaceful stature compared to his obvious demeanor and seven straight scars that ran across his face in different lengths. 73. Conspiracy Theorists? Around a round wooden table with juices, water, and alcohol sat four established people and one innocent child. ¡°To start out, Elijah is here because I have let him in on some of my theories, and because I like him, he will join us in this conversation.¡± Amaris spoke the first words. To Elijah, these people seemed like the people who had also come from Gion, but just in case this was not true, no words related to that matter were spoken. ¡°Mikhail, Elijah, you don¡¯t know the details of the success I was raving about a few days ago.¡± Amaris began the explanation of how the beast used a never seen before magic by starting with the plan of how Landon Ruby found a cave that took him to the outer regions that allowed him to hit the beast with a surprise attack. ¡°What I think is the reason for these mystery beasts that use a horrid kind of magic is that they originate from The Catacombs. In the deepest possible part of The Catacombs. I know all of you are aware of whatever is beneath the whirlpool to some degree, and whatever magic that beast was using relates to¡­¡± Amaris paused. ¡°Honestly, we need a name for that thing!¡± Elijah let loose a little chuckle, but also chimed in on the first thing that came to mind. ¡°The Void.¡± ¡°I like the sound of that, and why don¡¯t we calm this mystery magic, void magic. Void relates to nothingness, and quite frankly that magic reduces anything it touches to nothing. It was only killed because of superb timing and luck.¡± Amaris received looks and voices of approval, and everyone took a drink, even Elijah albeit from his glass of lightly salted water. ¡°The Void likely created that beast, and most definitely has more than just the few that are roaming the outskirts of the outer region. Now, Elijah this one''s for you. Why do you think these powerful beasts haven''t invaded the inner city yet?¡± Amaris¡¯ question was an obvious one that Elijah surprisingly hadn¡¯t asked himself after his first encounter. From his own knowledge, magical runes of metal and gravity fortified the tunnel gates even further than the still metal it is created from, but these beasts would still be able to break through. ¡°For some reason they can¡¯t or won¡¯t. Maybe they want to keep the people alive, or just stop them from retaking the wall?¡± ¡°How the fuck does that make sense?! Are they trying to keep us alive?!¡± Mikhail was partly furious with Elijah¡¯s response as he was a kid, but also felt a sense of agreement in Amaris that stopped him from fully letting loose. Denial. ¡°Calm down Mikhail, I think you may have had a few too many drinks. The only thing we can do is prepare for the worst, while understanding their motives to put an end to this. I was born within the outer region, and I want it back.¡± Amaris gave a cue to Elijah to make sure no unnecessary words fell out of his mouth. ¡°So what do you think The Kingdom should do?" Leah spoke for the first time as she was observing and keeping her cool. Meanwhile, Landon knew everything Amaris was talking about, and smiled when they came up with the name, The Void.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Simple, I think we should play the same game they are playing, and halt going into the outer regions while focusing on The Catacombs. If all the powerful mages began to scour the Catacombs for exits, we could slowly build up advantages which would be our exit points, maybe even beyond the wall.¡± Landon softly set his drink on the wooden table. ¡°I agree with you Amaris, and I know who you are, so please be careful when taking this to the council. I have a strong suspicion they know more than us, and they might even have their reasons to keep us fighting to our deaths¡­¡± ¡°Unfortunately I suspect that too. I wasn¡¯t gonna say this in front of you Elijah, but I suspect the council is hiding many things, and even more so the King and his two hands¡­ If that is the case, then I will back down and figure something else out. Zion could easily kill me¡­¡± Amaris sighed while grabbing his own face with his hand. The meeting was adjourned, and Elijah left in the same covered carriage that seemed to have been waiting for him the entire time. Upon returning to the Weltor Estate, Elijah had compiled his thoughts and theories. These horrid void beasts were intentionally not invading the inner city, and only waited until the people of the kingdom tried to take back what was originally theirs. The coming of this kingdom dates back to over six thousand years ago, however, the details of what was here previously were not anywhere to be found in the history books which makes Elijah think the crater that provided life was created right before the kingdom came to be. Since The Void inhabits the crater, maybe The Void itself is the ¡®meteor¡¯ that metaphorically came to this planet. Aliens, gods, or something else? Elijah¡¯s emotions were not exactly high even when he won his two matches. His hopes of being on the frontlines, or more so the kingdom returning to its prosperous times were waning. The streets looked dull through the eyes of Elijah, and the only thing that gave him excitement was The Catacombs, the tournament, Amaris, and his friends. Even his father resented him¡­ ¡°Woah! There he is!¡± Elijah walked through the blue wooden double-door to Julia¡¯s voice, who had a water affinity, but didn''t use it for combat mage related actions. The life of a combat mage isn''t for everyone. Currently within the Weltor Estate, Dinner is being prepared. After some quick chats and receiving congratulating remarks from everyone, Elijah went to his room. Sleep wasn¡¯t something he needed right now even when he was tired, but instead decided to organize his spatial storage as he needed to get his mind away from thinking. After only a few minutes of organizing, the orange core to the gorgon sat at the very back, while his sword and knife laid in the very front in a place easy to grab. Two liters of water stood in the middle, and were necessary in case Elijah was either out of water, or simply did not want to walk downstairs to refill. Once reaching the dark orange core stage, the space would become much bigger, and may even be able to take a specific shape instead of the cylinder shape created when opening the portal. ¡®I wonder what would happen if I went inside my own spatial space¡­¡¯ Even with the morning coming around, not a speck of sun was making its way into the window. This place was distant from nature, and Elijah couldn¡¯t necessarily feel the effects, but knew there were drawbacks that were not noticeable, yet¡­ Cracks and grunting noises came from Elijah¡¯s body as he first started with full body dynamic and static stretching, then went to slow and controlled bodyweight exercises. Elijah was an absolute beast for his age, and could knock out eighty pushups without stopping. His muscles were clearly defined, but he also wasn¡¯t extremely lean as there would be drawbacks to that. With a visual estimation, he had a ten to fourteen body fat percentage at five feet and two inches tall. 74. Tornadic Waterspout The requirement for moving onto the semi-finals is to win at least three matches, which is the reason for the decline in participants, or really the more space available within the transition rooms that Elijah is happy about. His entire group Including Niko, was still standing, and had even not lost a single match. Novius¡¯ name was the first of the group to appear on the board, while Elijah¡¯s and everyone else followed. In the end, Elijah¡¯s imagination paved his way to victory. The longest fight was with a wind mage because instead of going all out, he chose to observe while focusing on defense. The wind mages emotions got the better of him as he began to leave himself wide open over and over again. Elijah made sure not to take the first opportunity, but instead one of the last opportunities before the poor kid ran out of breath, not mana. Two spells were casted one after the other. A wave of water that was sent directly towards the wind mage, and a simple wall of water that toppled on top of his opponent and sent him outside the arena only to be knocked out from not breathing. One disadvantage that every contest had within the arena was when an attack from another fight interfered with their own fight. No warning was given to Elijah as it was in controllable, but if it were to intentionally occur, it would be an immediate disqualification. Chatter amongst the group stopped when Emery and his subordinate Bell, walked over to the group. ¡°What do you want Emery¡­¡± Novius didn¡¯t bother staring, and solemnly voiced his question. ¡°We aren¡¯t here for you, only Elijah.¡± No words were spoken from Elijah, but the turn of his head that looked towards the board confirmed everything. Bell Saurswift versus Elijah Veran. Side by side, the two walked out without a single word. The tension felt like the opposite of two magnetic poles because of the silent hatred they had for each other. A water mage thinking they can be a combat mage, and a privileged noble thinking the kingdom is their oyster. ¡°GO!¡± Bell didn¡¯t waste a single moment and began a barrage of wind blades that he threw forward with alarming speed. While slowly taking steps forward, Elijah moved his free hand with water shields attached to his palm around in the hair like a magician, while blocking as many as he could preemptively with his sword. During the daytime, these wind blades were slightly hard to see. Composed of air, they imitated wind as they were thrown. Each block sprayed a small amount of water into his eyes. As he closed in on his target, small slashes of wind against his arms and legs caused him to shake his head in pain. However, one thing about Elijah is that he is always thinking about the future, as if a wheel of time fueled by his imagination playing like a movie in his head. Water appeared underneath Elijah¡¯s feet and quickly moved him to the left in the line of an arc. Elijah knew he couldn¡¯t stab or slice the head off of Bell, but instead used his momentum to deliver a left-handed punch aimed right at the chest.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Bam! Contact was made, but not with what he had hoped for. A burst of wind came from Bell''s left hand that slightly clouded his vision before contact, and instead of hitting Bell¡¯s chest, his shoulder was hit instead. Dirt and stone covered the light clothes of Bell as he stood up. His right shoulder was clearly injured, but without a care in the world, Bell raised his left arm into the sky. Elijah was not terrified for his life by any means, but was worried Bell¡¯s unwarranted hatred would cause him to receive some illegal hits. Cautiously, Elijah began creating a slowly expanding ball of water while accumulating mana in his feet. With his sword in his right hand, and his water ball behind his body in his left hand, he copied Bell¡¯s advance by running forward. However, above Bell¡¯s head was his left hand raised to its highest point. A torrent of wind was being concentrated and with a single wave of his hand, it was released. Preemptively, Elijah turned his ball of water that had now become the size of his chest into a shield that laid a couple feet above his head. ¡®This is gonna hurt¡­¡¯ The instant the torrent of wind collided with the shield of water, Elijah let go of his control and rode the waves of water created by his feet while being splashed with an endless amount of water. It was as if a tornado had built up within an ocean, because right behind Elijah was a floating whirlpool that even caused his own clothes to rustle when over forty feet away from Bell¡¯s magic. A quick thought came into Elijah¡¯s mind. ¡®He is using my magic against me.¡¯ ¡°HAHAHAHA! IT¡¯S POINTLESS TO KEEP FIGHTING! EVERYTHING YOU DO WILL ADD TO MY SPELL!!¡± ¡®This guy is really something special huh? But with that large spell that you keep wasting mana on, it leaves you wide open¡­¡¯ Beneath Elijah¡¯s feet was a concentrated pool of water that spread in a specific direction. Knowing the water would just be picked up by the mini tornado, this was the only option. Within just a few seconds, Elijah had rode his arc of water while also adding more speed with his flight ability. Only enough for people to think he had used a lot more mana than necessary. The heartbeats of both of the children eyeing for the top were thumping violently within their chests, and with a single slash of Elijah¡¯s sword, Bell¡¯s hold of the tornado had been released due to his focus of blocking a sword flying to his face at a profound speed. ¡°BE CAREFUL!¡± The ref saw everything, and knew Elijah had gone for something more than a knockout. Seconds later, Bell was being thrown in circles as a wave of water coalesced around his body. Victory was assumed, but when the water exploded in a radiance of wind, Elijah released one more water shield not to block an incoming attack, but to turn Bell into an overconfident monster. Elijah looked back to his first fight with a wind mage and how different Bell and Taylor fought. The difference was crude and clearly was the reason why Bell was powerful. Bell had adapted to fighting against fellow humans. Knowing this was more than likely going to be a quick match with time to recuperate afterwards, he did not even think about how much mana he expended. ¡°GET HIM!!¡± While the arena stands were practically empty, there were a few people who had access to watch. Nobles and council members. And within the stands in the very front row close to where Elijah¡¯s match was taking place was a singular person. Adjourned in a long purple robe with straight black hair that fluttered in the excess wind created by Bell¡¯s spell was Maeve Saurswift. Elijah¡¯s attacks as a water mage were very limited in the fact they had no momentum besides the pushing force when throwing the spell away from his body. There was nothing to be done with a large area of effect attack like the one Bell had surrounding him besides running away. Slowly but surely, the tornadic waterspout was lifted to reveal the wide grin on Bell¡¯s face before the hand had gestured its release. The last scene Elijah saw as he began running horizontally was Bell¡¯s finger pointing towards his face, and what came after him brought back the memories of the whirlpool, only this time, the whirlpool transformed into a slithering snake with a hole that led to the other side of its body. 75. Unexpected Outcome Quickly zipping on his wave of water being erected underneath his feet, Elijah made his way all the way around the arena to find not a single soul. Knowing the shape the tornadic waterspout had created¡ªa circle, he prepared for his trump card, a movement pattern no one would expect. The dirt and rock floor underneath Elijah was instantly indented with the force of the water that came from Elijah¡¯s now torn shoes. The ref, Maeve, and even contestants who were mid-battle froze at the sight of something they had never seen before. Twenty feet, thirty feet, forty feet, fifty feet. The momentum had stopped, but before Elijah began falling, a thick ball of water had been created that Elijah had physically punched with a miniscule portion of live mana exploding within the cells of his arm. The water that allowed the ball of water to be controlled by Elijah quickly disappeared, and due to the speed of the ball, its form only slightly shifted before crashing down on its target''s head with the force of a stone ball. BAM! Currents of wind and water splashed across the arena creating overflowing waves of aerated water. The ref had reacted quickly after staring into the sky where Elijah fell from by creating a pedestal of stone. No attempt was made by the ref to save Elijah. Even with the water that caught his body, it was not thick enough to completely blunt the fall. Elijah had his hands out in front of him facing the ground. Without looking around, he began to shoot water out of his hands during his shortfall, and even though he was not quick enough, the moment his fingertips touched the water, his body practically stopped in mid air with his organs being squished against his front fascia. Standing in the slanted stone stands was Maeve Suarswift, and after her shout of anguish, ¡°ABOVE YOU!!¡±, she went silent while watching the ending unfold. Water forced its way up the nostrils and into the sinuses while a dirty smile appeared on his face. Nearby, dulled shouts could be heard from other contestants who weren¡¯t in pain, but were flabbergasted at the idea of their duel being ruined. A cough of blood was forced out of his mouth followed by a groan of pain. There were consequences to his actions, and maybe consequences worse than what could have happened. Elijah¡¯s first train of thought was to stop the bleeding internally with water magic, but before he could act, Elijah¡¯s eyes went dark. Within the transition room, chatter between posies of both Novius and Emery¡¯s party were going off on each other. ¡°Did you see it!! Elijah won!¡± Raylen said while pointing into the arena with water that slowly dissipated into the dirt and stone ground. ¡°Then why are they both being carried by medics?¡± Jared asked while he walked away with Emery.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Emery had not said anything besides letting out a small smile. He was amused by the arguments of something that was fueled by blind hatred. Blind hatred stemming from his own friends¡­ ¡­ What would it take to flip the natural laws of the kingdom upside down? Unfathomable power, or simply ideas that challenged the minds of everything person living within. Elijah had long since woke up but did not make a sound and even kept his eyes closed. So many children, adults, and even elders are being clouded by the normalcy of now, and the judgement of the past. These thoughts came to Elijah¡¯s mind not randomly, but rather came about from him being above the heads of everyone moments before he passed out. In the moment these thoughts did not come to him, but only after reminiscing in the past. Boredom, stillness, and a predetermined fate. Everyone within this kingdom is on the exact same path as the people before them. The only ¡®innovation¡¯ happening are from the magitech guild as they create new ways to use the already existing runes that are recorded in the scriptures only given to anyone with a career in magitech, and also in limited amounts. Being a newlywed magitech apprentice won¡¯t get you access to every possible rune immediately. The reasons to just ¡®disappear¡¯, just keep on piling up. A bland wooden door within the walls of the arena creaks open, and a voice of a young and familiar woman resounds in the ears of Elijah. ¡°Hello again Elijah, I can tell you are awake¡­¡± ¡°F-Freya? What are you doing here?¡± Clad in a simplistic grey and white dress, her curvy figure made Elijah stutter his words. The waist to hip ratio was just too magnetic to not look at, and seemed wildly unrealistic and different from the last time he saw her. ¡°I came here after Amaris begged and begged me to. He wanted to make sure nothing bad happened to you, after all, noble children can be quite the nuisance. Also, I was quite impressed with that final attack of yours, just make sure to be careful when using that ability of yours. We are after all just human, if you stop your momentum like that, there will be negative effects.¡± ¡°I know¡­ I forgot about that. I think I am returning to thinking this is a vi¨C... Do you think the ability was noticeable?¡± Elijah cut his sentence short after realizing what he was about to say, and instead asked a question he was fearful of. ¡°No, not even I noticed it, but only realized after the fact from your damaged organs the medic said you have. The match was considered a draw by the way. It doesn¡¯t matter either way, you still move on to the next round.¡± ¡°Oh well¡­ I bet Bell knows what happened, but knowing him, he will just tell his friends it really was a draw.¡± The conversation ended with Freya expressing her hopes for Elijah''s future, and since Elijah himself felt fully capable of moving around, which was most likely due to Freya¡¯s extraordinary healing light magic, he walked straight outside the door. Surprise was on his face as not a single soul was seen. ¡®How long was I out?¡¯ The halls of the arena were eerily simple and long. One long hallway stretched all the way around the arena with four common areas meant for food stands and simply congregating. The walls were made of patterned stone, which seemed to be waning, and wooden beams supported the angled roof where above was the seating that looked into the arena. Elijah decided to take this golden opportunity of having energy during the night to observe and walk. The sky patterned with a transparent tan glow was his focus, and every few minutes he would see a faint shadow zipping across the sky. Since Elijah had a break for a week, his priorities would be training with Amaris, and also seeing what Novius has been up to. The desire for a suit of invisibility was growing exponentially. Transportation would not be a problem for him if he could simply stash it into his spatial storage, and take it out when necessary. 76. Overflowing Cup Knock Knock ¡°Who is it?¡± Elijah, who calmly knocked on the door knew that there was a chance he would be rejected. It is the very beginning of the morning, a morning slightly thrown off by the loss of a small percentage of light due to the mana barrier. ¡®Yeesh, this guy is surely in a mood¡­¡¯ ¡°Elijah, can I come in?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Questions he wanted to ask were already lined up like the bullets in a magazine. However, Elijah suspected Novius was depressed from something he had no idea about. The distance forcibly created from Elijah temporarily leaving the party had made an impact, but Elijah believed there was more. ¡°I can tell something is off about you, and as your friend, I want to help. What is wrong?¡± Novius stood up from his couch that he was sitting on while slightly leaning forward using his elbows as leverage. ¡°So many things are wrong. And to tell the truth, I can¡¯t even tell you¡­¡± ¡°What do you mean you can¡¯t tell me?¡± ¡°I literally can¡¯t get the words out of my mouth?!¡± Novius turned around to show Elijah the turmoil and tears dripping down his face. His five foot body slouched to one knee and stared into the patterned carpet. ¡°It¡¯s you isn¡¯t it¡­¡± Elijah felt small tears begin to bubble in the corners of his eyes from pure empathy. ¡°There are things I want to say, but can¡¯t. There are things I want to do, but can¡¯t. Every time I realize these things, I instantly forget and lose track of where I was. At first I never even noticed it, but now, it is clear. I know I am forgetting things that I constantly remember while forgetting them once again. It is a cycle of pure torture that I can¡¯t feel or remember, and that is torture by itself!¡± Elijah stared in silence as he watched Novius circle the room in confusion and frustration. Theoretically, if a mind spell that affected every person within the kingdom was real, and prevented people from wanting to ever leave without staying close and returning was true, then why would the spell on Novius dwindle like it obviously is? ¡°Do you want to leave the kingdom?¡± ¡°Y-yes! That¡¯s it! Ah, I''ve already forgotten¡­ Elijah, do you know what is happening?¡± Novius went from a gleeful face to a solemn face in an instant. ¡°Do you believe there is life outside the walls, human life?¡± ¡°Yes, I do! There has to be more life. The kingdom is overflowing. The only option is to expand. Wait, wh¨C¡± ¡°Stop! Don¡¯t talk and calm your mind!¡± Novius was confused by Elijah¡¯s quest, but followed suit. The couch was rather soft and groped by Novius¡¯ hand as he sat down. Unnecessary motions were made before he finally calmed down and sat still.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Elijah went in for a hug between bros. ¡°Novius. You are going to be okay. You are strong, and have a mind made for changing the kingdom. Keep doing what you are doing, and to give you something busy to do, I need you to make me an invisible suit whenever you have time. I need it as soon as possible for something very important. Can I trust you?¡± Novius was only slightly dazed, and did not bother asking for his reasons. The truth is that Novius had already created a few copies of the suit of invisibility, but kept his innovations a secret due to the last time Elijah had used his invention. After agreeing, Elijah quickly ran out of the room while feeling the pendant around his neck in the easiest spot to remember. ¡°Amaris, come to the Weltor''s. Second floor, open window.¡± ¡­ A rock was continuously thrown up into the air while catching it with a swift sideways motion of either hand. This rock was found in The Catacombs and had a rather interesting shape, but with erosion, it became infinitely smooth on all sides. A flat and smooth rock that perfectly fit in the hand of Elijah. What had just happened within Novius¡¯ bedroom gave him an eerie feeling. A feeling of foreboding. A mind spell of some sort had practically just been confirmed with this experience even without definitive evidence. However, Elijah was left with even more questions. Who created it? Does the creator know of the irregularities or anomalies? What is the reason for the mind spell existing? Does the King know? A soft knock was heard on the window of Elijah¡¯s bedroom. ¡°Are you gonna help me up kid?¡± Hanging from the ledge of the window was Amaris. His black coat covered his strong arms that could easily pull him to safety, but the guy was a jokester at heart. ¡°What?! Are you serious?¡± ¡°Haha, no.¡± Amaris did a complete muscle up and landed in front of the window. ¡°So, what happened?¡± Before Elijah began talking, he assured that what he was about to say is just a hunch, a theory that seems very possible only because of one person. During his explanation, Amaris simply stared at Elijah with calm and indifferent eyes. ¡°I understand. This is quite the situation. We are only finding this out because of Novius, and since we have no way of finding out why Novius is now becoming like us, we need a new angle to investigate this from. However, I don¡¯t want you thinking about this, focus on the tournament.¡± While Elijah did not enjoy the sound of that, he understood that Amaris would likely employ his own people, people who had entered this Kingdom with Amaris, and maybe even people born here that are completely unaware of the secrets this kingdom holds. A benefactor who doesn¡¯t reveal the end goal to the people who would be afraid if they knew. Downstairs within the kitchen of the Weltor estate, was Elijah refilling a glass of water. His eyes were blank as he lost his train of thought, and the only thing that snapped him out of the zone was an overflowing glass of water. ¡®How coincidental¡­ Novius, and now you.¡¯ A quick stretching routine took place on the rooftop of the estate. Within the confines of an open greenhouse was Elijah reminiscing in the floristry and purified air. The castle was in clear view. Its rounded and cornered base with at least five floors acted as supports for the four windowless castle towers that stood at the highest point in the entire kingdom. With each one at a different height, it gave the castle a sophisticated look. The simplicity of the stone and pigmented wood is beginning to sour Elijah¡¯s mood. ¡°If I really left the kingdom, how would I survive? How would I get past the beasts that are way above my level? How would I obtain food? I can¡¯t be ignorant and think I can easily survive¡­¡± Ideally Elijah thought if he reached the dark orange core stage, his ability to take care of himself would dramatically increase. Elijah laid on the cold stone rooftop with his arms crossed behind his head, and his right leg crossed over his left. The moon was visible in the sky, as well as a shadow zooming past it every couple of minutes. ¡°Also, I have to be aware of the beasts flying in the sky¡­ I can see you. The moonlight isn¡¯t covered by the clouds anymore.¡± 77. Light Runes Two days until the semi-finals of the tournament, and the days of Elijah are going to be rather filled with objectives. One of them being visiting Niko at the place he is staying at, but also obtaining his invisible suit that Novius had said he was finished with. Knock knock ¡°Elijah, right?¡± ¡°Of course!¡± Elijah affirmed Novius that it was indeed himself. This matter was not something that could be spread. On the wooden coffee table were six small metal rectangles with durable cloth running through a thin piece of metal that allowed the cloth to stay attached to the larger piece of metal the size of a small book. Elijah¡¯s interest peaked as he assumed this was the famed invisible suit Novius had been cooking up simply because there was no leather and cloth suit it was attached to. And the familiar orange glowing core that Elijah had given to Novius was sitting on top of one of the metal pieces as if a conduit for its activation. ¡°Is that what I think it is Novius?¡± Instead of speaking, Novius pointed at the table as it disappeared. The rune with the core on top of it had used the mana within, and turned the table completely invisible. The other five runes with cloth attached to them seemed like they were floating in mid air. ¡°As you can see, it is finished.¡± ¡°Novius. How does this even work?¡± Elijah had an idea, but still wondered about the limits of its functions. Does it only turn anything it is touching invisible? ¡°Well, the reason why there are six is so that they wrap around each limb of the body, including the head and chest. I went this route instead of embedding it into a piece of clothing because it¡¯s a lot more functional.¡± ¡°That¡¯s amazing! Does your sword have a rune on it as well?¡± Elijah noticed Novius¡¯ silver and yellow sword laying on the floor with noticeable engraving within it. ¡°You know Elijah, I am beginning to understand your point of view. This kingdom is amazing in so many ways, but is also limiting at the same time. A great example of this is simply how not a single person has invented magical weapons using runes, but instead solely relied on the magic of the mage¡­¡± Novius explained a couple of other examples, one of which being the lack of wanting to expand the kingdom outside the walls. Yes, it would take great sacrifice, but that is with everything. The kingdom would go to war while creating another wall, and in the end, would prosper even further with more space. ¡°¡­I understand everything now Elijah.¡± Elijah had not wanted to talk to Novius about their earlier conversation yesterday. The idea of constantly forgetting almost everything notable was torture just thinking about it. ¡°So, you can remember everything? You aren¡¯t forgetting anything?¡± ¡°Elijah, I feel like a different person. I feel like I can do so much more with my life. I want to get out of this place Elijah.¡± Novius began increasing the volume of his voice while walking towards Elijah. Novius¡¯ hands rested on his shoulders. ¡°I want to explore the world! Let¡¯s do it together!!¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. While happiness and tears of Joy were on the face of Elijah, part of him felt sad. What were the mental effects of going through such a dramatic change? ¡°Novius, calm down. We need to think about the people we love, and also¡­ the fact that if we leave, we doom everyone to their deaths.¡± ¡°I know that idiot¡­ The only people that can save this kingdom are us. But, we can¡¯t do anything right now, so I¡¯m just going to spend my time creating magitech items for combat, not simply to create a better kingdom. The rune you saw on my sword is a lightning rune I made myself. Completely new, never been done before. Whenever I swipe my sword with mana inside of the rune, a powerful streak of lightning will fly forward at a crazy speed. If you give me your sword, I can do it pretty quickly. I think something happened when I became aware of everything. I have this sixth sense, and of created runes no one has ever thought of before by using my own lightning magic.¡± What Novius was saying didn¡¯t fully make sense, but gave Elijah an idea of how himself and Amaris can manipulate the environmental mana. Novius seemed to have gained something else on top of manipulating the environmental mana, or rather just an effect of having knowledge within the magitech space when becoming ¡°aware¡±. ¡°That would be great, but I am not sure that would be okay for the tournament, at least not yet.¡± Novius understood the situation, in fact, Elijah was quite surprised by his mental stability. Although all this time, the truth had been slowly revealed to him, and with a simple hug, the universe he saw was flipped upside down, or rather, right side up. Novius had explained a few ideas he had for magically enhanced combat equipment that mainly revolved around specific elemental spells being thrown from the sword. What Elijah had learned about these runic symbols were that they had greater power than basic spells of the same core level. What hasn¡¯t been tested was if the spell Novius had created on his sword could be just as effective as a spell of the cyan core level. Maybe these spells transcended the fatal flaw of magic, or maybe they had the same mana of its creator. With the light runes in his spatial storage, Elijah walked out of the grand bedroom and straight out of the door of the Weltor estate. A carriage was called to the inner south, to a specific place within a heavily crowded market region of the kingdom. A small breakfast of raw egg yolks and dried beef that he had made himself was his breakfast along the way. The carriage was not covered, and many people were staring at Elijah as he wiped the wet egg white off his hands before grabbing his towel he had brought with him. The egg white were not wasted, but saved in a metal container that would be given to Niko. A weird gift, but still, a gift. The wooden stalls that sat in front of the three story stone and wood building were half empty. Most of what people were selling were physical magic-made items like containers, plates, pots, and even weapons that were not of the same quality as everything was made from metal magic. True weapons were physically made by forging with hard and robust materials that came from the catacombs. Food was no longer something sold, but something that was distributed for free at selected butchers. The people here were suffering in silence while they attempted to sell anything they could magically produce. Inside of an alley was a black hair and red-eyed boy standing on a metal and wooden staircase that led to the third floor of a tightly packed building. his Elbow was leaning against the metal railing, with his eyes set on the boy hopping out of the carriage. A few shouts of two people arguing were echoing within the alley beneath the staircase. While crime was not abundant within the kingdom, people were still people and when surrounded with a job they didn¡¯t necessarily like, they took their anger out on the people around them. This was especially true when combined with the terror of confirmed danger on every side of what they called safety. 78. The Fate of Anyone Not Meant to Live The smooth wood of the stairs croaked with every step. A simple handshake was exchanged between Niko and Elijah, and with a quick confirmation of their motives of this meeting, they both walked inside to a cramped living room and kitchen. ¡°So¡­ About what you said at the qualifiers¡­¡± Elijah was slightly trembling, and even hoped this poor soul shared the same fate. ¡°I know you aren¡¯t from this world, but only because I am not as well. We can skip the theatrics of lessening our language and speak to our hearts.¡± ¡°So it''s true. How do you deal with it?¡± Elijah¡¯s eyes widened, but quickly calmed down. He understood what Niko meant. However, their backgrounds may be completely different. ¡°I know I might seem like I am sane, but I am not. The place I came from was similar to this world in the sense of supernatural powers existing. It was nothing like this, and everything had a cost. There was give in take every time you used whatever power you had. Speed, strength, telekinesis, and so much more. But in this world, the give and take is different. I believe what you get in this world is the ability to create elements from your own life force. The stronger you get, the shorter the lifespan you have¡­ It is cruel as this kingdom tells no one. Hahaha, I don¡¯t even think they know themselves. Magic is a standard, and without it, this kingdom wouldn¡¯t exist¡­¡± Elijah couldn¡¯t help but only listen to what he was saying. The feeling of despair was within the voice of Niko, and Elijah himself couldn¡¯t imagine what type of life he lived beforehand. The idea of lifeforce being the reason for the magic was within his head already, but it didn¡¯t fully make sense of the reason. ¡°Niko¡­ I think you are partially right. However, I think our lifeforce being drained is only a natural occurrence from using magic that may not even be ours. Mana destroys our bodies if it is released without being converted into our affinity. What we should be asking is the reason for magic existing. Not playing the victim while subconsciously hoping for an early death. What kind of life did you live before this?¡± Niko didn¡¯t seem like he was calming down, but laid down on the small three person couch with different colored food stains. ¡°I died an early death. I was only twenty five. I lived in the slums of my world, the absolute worst part. I was abused, sent to my death only to survive over and over, and finally when I got the courage to take my last jump into a pit of death, I stopped myself only to be pushed off by the people who constantly abuse me. For a second I wanted to live, and once I began falling, I began to smile while crying. I thought this world was different, but it''s not. It may seem like sunshine and rainbows, but it''s clouded by something that controls the way people think. I was banished for having the mind of a lunatic, and the conversation I had with the person that brought me here was even worse. He said I was¡­ an accident¡­¡± Elijah¡¯s eyes were slowly darkening while hearing his story. So many similarities. And so many differences¡­ But then, the last sentence that came from his mouth raised the head of the boy who seemed to have been shocked into a mind that ran in circles. Elijah¡¯s eyes widened, and then¡­ ¡°Wh-what did y-you j-just say??¡± ¡°Why are you asking? You should know the god that brought you here as well.¡± Niko seemed indifferent to Elijah¡¯s confused and trembling tone.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°What the hell are you talking about?!¡± The chair with only three wooden legs flew back at Elijah forcefully standing up. While his voice was fierce, his insides were being twisted. ¡°Are you saying you don¡¯t know that a god brought you here?¡± Niko sat up and saw Elijah¡¯s head nod. ¡°I¡¯ve had these weird voices in my head of a conversation I assume was after my first death. I have been trying to uncover the memories and make sense of them, but they seem to only be snippets of information that have barely helped me make sense of this world. What do you know?!¡± ¡°How unlucky¡­ You can call them the gods, and they are all named after the principle of the way they live, at least that is what I suspect. Mine was called Damon, Master of Deceit¡­ You don¡¯t need to worry about them as they are all dead. At Least most of them are, and the ones who are not dead are no longer gods. The reason why that hole that goes through the center of the earth is because of the battle of the gods. I wish I knew more, but the shithead that brought me here said I was a mistake and ended the conversation quickly.¡± Niko¡¯s simple piece of knowledge allowed dozens of puzzle pieces to connect in his brain. A war is the reason for the hole, which also makes it likely that The Void was also created by the gods. The voice asking for a savior was now a confirmed god, the question was¡­ Which one? ¡°Wow. I am sure there is so much more to the story of this world, but that by itself clears up so many holes.¡± Niko scoffed at Elijah. ¡°Why do you look so happy? I just told you that you were brought here by force. Why do you want to continue?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Actually, in the beginning I seemed to completely forget about my situation as I found out that I love the environment. But when my home was destroyed by beasts, I began to go insane. The only reason I could use to stabilize myself was¡­¡± Elijah took a few seconds to think about this before he let the words escape his mouth. There were people here he loved and cared about, but that wasn¡¯t all of it. ¡°The freedom this world could give me.¡± ¡°Not surprising. With that special ability of yours, you sure have it nice.¡± At this point Elijah knew Niko had not been given an ability like himself. This ability was given to him most likely by a dead god, which would only make sense if time did not exist in between death and life, the conversation he supposedly had with the god who brought him here. ¡°Niko, I¡­¡± ¡°Save it Elijah. I have already accepted my fate. I am a mistake that is not supposed to be here. The least I can do is¡­¡± Bang! The cracked coffee table was now busted in half by the side of Elijah¡¯s fist. The action took the words straight out of Niko¡¯s mouth. ¡°If you want to change your fate, all you have to do is escape with me. I have made a decision that could potentially kill me, but I will be escaping this kingdom after the tournament is finished. You need not worry about traveling, as I carry you through the clouds. Anything you want can be taken, all you have to do is act!¡± The last thing Niko saw was Elijah walking out of the cramped space while slamming the door shut. His fire red eyes were conflicted as what Elijah had said to him made him feel a certain type of way. And what Niko didn¡¯t see were the tears coming from Elijah¡¯s eyes and the biting of his lips in both frustration and hope. There was one last thing he wanted to converse with Niko about. In the waterfall chasm, Damir and Trey had said I have to die, no matter what. The biggest reason why I am leaving the kingdom is because the potential of my life being ended is extremely high. The King might very well know about me! What I believe is the reason for my death being inevitable within this kingdom is the simple fact that I am not affected by the spell of The Void. I am an anomaly that came from another world, which also makes Niko someone who is supposed to be targeted for death. 79. A Changed Man Within the cramped and now messy room of Niko¡¯s humble home, he stares into the cracked table with a sunken face. ¡°Maybe¡­ Elijah is right. I can do anything I want, and this is by no means worse than my previous life.¡± Niko had many thoughts running through his head, one of them being how his only fear is death. Elijah having experienced something similar to him was heartwarming, and the idea of himself escaping this kingdom gives him hope. ¡­ ¡°Dammit! I can¡¯t believe this is happening!¡± Elijah was walking down the stairs while shaking his hands in different directions. He was talking to himself out loud as a way to make sense of what had just happened. And as Elijah walked through the cramped streets of the inner south, the streets only slightly littered with trash, he felt as if the air within the kingdom had changed. Everything¡­ felt different. This long walk with an isolated mind gave him time to think about everything he has learned so far, and also comparing that with what Amaris has told him. While Elijah¡¯s trusted and future benefactor mentioned the gods, he said nothing about gods certainly existing previously. Also, the use of magic taking a toll on your lifespan was also not mentioned, although, this could simply be because of Gion¡¯s use of magic. Elijah had realized he had become too trustworthy of the people within this kingdom. This included Amaris and Abel. While it has been quite some time since his last meeting with Abel, Elijah feels as though it would be a good time for a quick stop in The Void. Elijah¡¯s only worry is his memory, but just maybe¡­ some of it has returned. ¡­ White tightly knit cotton wraps were being tied around Elijah limbs by Alexia. Their conversations were quiet mainly due to Elijah¡¯s responses as he was scared for the future of Alexia. ¡°¡­I guess I can¡¯t stop you then, just please be careful. The whole city seems to be on edge. Hopefully this tournament will make everyone feel better.¡± ¡°I hope so too.¡± Elijah¡¯s simple black garments had what seemed like bandages wrapped around his limbs. A small metal brick was attached to many parts of his body, including a slightly loose fitting metal rune wrapped around his neck. Very quickly, the half circle and light ray rune grew a white glow, and within a matter of seconds, Elijah¡¯s body slowly removed itself from the confines of light. The air was cool, but his emotions dulled the discomfort and feeling of chapped lips. Elijah knew his body was invisible due to every part of his body being completely out of view. Novius was a true genius that Elijah had yet to see the extent of. Elijah opened his spatial storage once reaching the web of metal supports directly underneath The Underworld. The upside down concave beams made of metal spoke true to the stability of Centerpool. The complex and symmetrical array was undeniably stable. ¡®Here it goes¡­¡¯ The splash of Elijah¡¯s body before it slowly fell into the darkest part of the whirlpool sent him into a different dimension. Instantly, his body was shocked by the cold temperatures and felt a zap within his brain. And when he came out from the other side, into The Void, he was surprised by how long he was able to last. Minutes passed by, and the depths of the darkness able to be seen in front of the eyes of Elijah continued to lessen, until literally nothing was seen. His body began vibrating, and then¡­ POP! Elijah saw everything. The amalgamation of colors being warped to an unfathomable degree, the terrain of the kingdom warping at an instant rate, and the finale of his soul being lifted out his body in a familiar cave directly after it fell from mid-air. The short chain of events caused Elijah to pause, for what he just saw felt as if he had gained omnipotence. Abel, the man draped in a long black cloak stepped out from the shadows. The small amount of glowing flowers and plants near the entrance of the cave was shining on Elijah. ¡°Are you awake? Or are you unconscious as usual¡­¡± Abel casually walked up to Elijah¡¯s body, and began going through his pockets as if he was searching for something, or simply wanting to know more about the weird metal slabs attached to different parts of his body.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡®Well¡­ I better make this quick.¡¯ Knowing another astral projection was bound to happen after going through the void again, Elijah flew straight through the material world and stopped just before passing the mana barrier. The thoughts that went through Elijah¡¯s mind were that this occurrence felt different, although he couldn¡¯t put his finger on the difference itself. His mana core had zero notable changes, and there were no memories of the conversation he had with the god that reincarnated him into this world. A hint of feeling stronger, more confident, and intelligent hit him, but this was figuratively¡ªnot literally. The passage through the mana barrier was seamless, and once within the cold and dark sky, Elijah flew even higher to avoid the potential conflict with anything that would possibly see him¡ªthen quickly returned due to his desire to speak with Abel. Elijah¡¯s fingers began to switch the closer his soul became to the exact place it rested. With a subtle popping noise that vibrated through Elijah¡¯s body, He slowly got up and asked an ice breaking question. ¡°Abel, why were you looking through my body?¡± ¡°Ah! You saw that?! Did you do that weird projection thing again?¡± Elijah responded with a firm yes, and was even hiding some hostility from his conversation with Amaris. However, something is telling him that there are two sides to the story, and hopefully Abel¡¯s side is remembered¡­ ¡°Do you have more of your memories back?¡± Abel was curious as to the reason for his question, but first responded with a simple yes. However, when he heard the words ¡°Amaris¡± come from the mouth of Elijah, his body tensed. Elijah could tell Abel was on the tips of his toes, with over five minutes of explaining more about the reason they chose to come to this kingdom, Elijah felt like he had even more suspicions about Amaris. Amaris was a commoner of the Gion Kingdom, and his father pursued violence in the beast-ridden regions of the world. Through hard work, positioning, and luck, he was able to obtain an ice affinity while exploring a mana geyser¡ªa geyser that shot all kinds of elemental attributes into the air, and was littered with small cave systems that winded down the sides of the hole¡ªa couple dozen miles away from the Kingdom of Astraea. Abel knows of this story because his father was also there himself. While Abel does not remember the specifics, eventually this led to the discovery of something hidden in the distance of the caves they explored. A slow rising mountain surrounded what looked like even more mountains. The magical beasts were heavily concentrated in the mountainous and hilly swamp regions behind where this suspected kingdom was. However, when approaching, the entire party of newly wed mages were horrified at the feeling they got. A true premonition of not death, but decay. Everything was reported back to the kingdom, and with the blessings of select royal families including the king, a mission was made to investigate the disturbance. This is what led Abel, Amaris, Rodrick, Leon, Falmur, and Tybalt to enter this kingdom, albeit a few years later. An ice affinity was not given to Amaris, but stolen when he snuck into the magical chambers while slowly absorbing it over the course of a full week. The punishment instead of death, was uncertain death. Abel was forcefully chosen off the streets, while the others had volunteered out of pride for their kingdom. However, Abel suspects Amaris obtained more than just an ice affinity. ¡°This all happened a little under ten years ago?¡± Elijah asked a question to get an idea of the timeline while also trying to understand Amaris. ¡°Yes¡­ And now that I have some sense of my past, I advise you to be cautious around Amaris if he ever comes into contact with you. He will seem like a nice person, but will always be in it for himself.¡± Elijah rolled his eyes and began telling him about their so-called friendship. While Abel was surprised and solemn with every action that Amaris did for his prodigy, he explained afterwards that Amaris is only after Elijah¡¯s ability. All kinds of emotions were within Elijah¡¯s heart, and he knew he was being split apart by these two individuals. The only option was to be cautious of both while putting his own life on a pedestal. ¡°Tell me Abel, where does my flight ability come from?¡± Abel sighed while drooping his head to the floor. The knees that were crossed loosened, and the hands calmly in his lap created support for him to lean back. ¡°All I know¡­ is that it came from the gods. I doubt Amaris will tell you anything about it, and I wouldn¡¯t ask him either. None of that stuff matters right now anyway. There is something stirring within this kingdom, and I hope I am not the only one that can feel it. I feel like¡­ I am going to lose control¡­¡± Elijah didn¡¯t respond right away as he felt nothing but the normalcy of the kingdom during a crisis. In fact, he had become used to the small amounts of direct sunlight and novel stimuli. What did intrigue him was that the power of flight he had came from a god. Does it make sense that Niko doesn¡¯t have something like me since his god openly said he was a mistake? It sounds like these powers are blessings from the gods themselves, but it also makes Elijah think back to the small bits and pieces he remembers with his god. How the god gave him part of what makes the god, ¡°it¡±. The questioning began with why Abel felt the way he did, and ended with him asking Elijah to leave the cave. The feeling of comfort. An unexplainable phenomenon, and something that has only been growing ever since meeting Elijah. 80. King of Crystals The resonating beats of drums, gongs, and lighter percussion equipment with a simple and methodical rhythm were beating within the far and high corners of the arena. The seats were filled to the brim with mostly nobles and powerful mages looking for apprentices, and with specific and special seating arrangements for the council and the King. Within the three groups of mana core levels lies almost 400 red core mages, almost 400 orange core mages, and little over 250 yellow core mages. The semi finals will be eight teams of four battling to keep their crystals, while stealing their opponents. King of Crystals. Inside a semi-populated dimly lit room of the arena stands Elijah and his friends ¡ª including Niko ¡ª gathered in front of the board that previously had names being consistently displayed, but now having a map of the arena with the respective zones designated to each team of four. ¡°¡­You may do whatever you like to guard your bed. Teams will be chosen by yourself, and you may do whatever it takes to steal the crystals of the other teams besides dealing blows that will be fatal to you fellow citizens. The goal is to have at least three crystals, and by having more than that, you guarantee yourself nothing. Once the teams are chosen, you will be transported to the respective rooms where you will enter. Once the gong has been sounded, the round will commence. We will start with the red core mages.¡± Elijah began thinking about how this was an exact copy of this game he used to play as a kid. However, the only mysterious part is that the arena has not yet been revealed. Black curtains are hanging in front of the entrance that blocks any view of the outside. Also, with close to 400 red core mages, there will be 12 rounds total if they plan on making everyone battle once. Alexia and Novius quickly stood closer to Elijah¡¯s side once hearing the rules that were revealed. ¡°I guess we are together again.¡± Both Novius and Alexia were confused by his tone, but they would rather not ask for a third time as to what is going on. Knowing that the tall lady who just gave the instructions was avoiding giving them hints as to what this game would entail besides the fundamentals, Elijah began looking for a fourth that would give them an advantage. What they needed was someone with an earth affinity as being able to manipulate the ground would give the team of four an advantage. Thankfully Theon and Raylen did not protest and began looking for their own group as well. A small gong echoed through the transition room which indicated the start of the first round. The black curtains were pulled to the side to reveal a magnificent and deep terrain full of twists and turns. It was not just the natural earth that had been manipulated, but there were also wooden bridges, small houses, and randomly shaped metal structures that looked to come from Elijah¡¯s past life. Modern art¡­ The biggest surprise was how the terrain itself, or the ground level was lowered at least fifty feet to make room for an arena with vertical complications. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡°Elijah! You see what I am seeing right?!¡± Novius was flabbergasted at the display in front of him. It was obvious this took the highest level of the respective element mages to accomplish this. Elijah said the first thing that came to mind. ¡°Yes¡­ and this doesn¡¯t make it as important to have an earth mage with us anymore. If only Harry was with us¡­¡± Immensely loud cheering took the attention of everyone in the transition room. The game had begun. ¡­ Curved tunnels, tall and hollow stone structures, beaten wooden bridges, steep drops, and quickly made houses blanketed the 108,600 square foot battlefield. What was the size of two football fields stood on the border of the Inner North and the whirlpool, just to the left of the northern road. A specific group of four composed of an earth mage, fire mage, wind mage, and metal mage were surrounding an oversized crystal covered in metal and earth. One of the rules of this game was that you were not allowed to move your crystal, but only cover it with whatever you wanted. The location would be secret besides the huge lump in the ground which would give the team the option to leave their crystal for a short period of time. The fire mage, Emery, began his path to steal another team''s crystal¡­ Alone. His idea was to have one person guard from a distance, while the other three split up and joined in on the chaos that would come. Action came sooner than expected, and caused Emery to tighten the grip on his heavily blunted and smooth wooden sword while shooting a thick wall of fire forward to blur his opponents view. Throughout his path, he was running up stone ramps, crossing a wooden bridge, and traveling through tight corners made from stone. Another fire mage was his opponent, and with his expertise in magical combat as one of the top red core mages, Emery matched every attack his opponent threw while zipping through the holes in the stone walls. With a few strikes of his sword, the fire mage was down for the count. When battling against the same affinity as yourself, it is best to beat the opponent with pure skill. Magic is limited as a red core mage, but sword skills have a much higher skill ceiling. Applauds and chatter was heard within the stands at the first sight of battles going off on the smooth and circular stone platform that stood in the center as a stage. A stage destined for the best fights of the day. After the dust was settled, only a few mages were left standing. Within the stands of where The Council members sat, conversations were held at the agreement of this tournament. This is exactly what the kingdom needed. The yellow core mages would be the hope for this kingdom, and even the orange and red that would support on the frontlines. ¡­ Elijah never saw Emery leave the transition room from the crowd of older hunters blocking his view. But when both of their eyes met, Elijah couldn¡¯t help but say good work. While they both believed they felt no ill will towards each other, this much hadn¡¯t been confirmed through a simple conversation. ''Twas the fate of noble families. ¡°Let¡¯s go with Niko.¡± Elijah had made up his mind. A sadness was within Elijah as he left Niko by himself. It was the exact same situation as the hunter exam, only this time, Niko wasn¡¯t pretending to be something he wasn¡¯t. In a secluded corner near the entrance of the transition was Niko leaning against the cold stone wall. His eyes didn¡¯t change one bit while the trio walked towards him, but both Alexia and Novius did ask for a reason for this decision. ¡°Because we are going to abandon our crystal!¡± Elijah stood firmly and asked Niko the question he knew he was expecting. Without hesitation, he said yes. The previous conversation the day before was still lingering in their minds with the emotions that revealed themselves. However, both Niko and Elijah were hungry for action. The idea of zooming through tight spaces, light and dark, and showing to everyone around him how powerful a water affinity was gave him the feeling of satiation. 81. Thinking Outside the Box What was this feeling burning through Elijah? Massive amounts of dopamine were rushing through his brain just thinking about this game. The stakes were high, and the action was sure to be intense. A quick explanation of the rules was given by the Magic Academy teacher who brought the group of four to the dimly lit crystal that was just a little bigger than the head of any ten year old. Being the crystal was only slightly glowing, this meant the mana had already been used and was not recharged. ¡°Listen for the gong, and once it has resounded you may do whatever you like.¡± The teacher finished up and slowly walked through the rough terrain of the arena. ¡°So Elijah, why do you think abandoning our crystal is a good idea?¡± Alexia asked the elephant in the room. ¡°Simple. The goal is to get three crystals to pass to the next round. If someone is guarding our own crystal that we cannot move, it puts us at the same disadvantage if we leave someone to guard it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right Niko, but I think the chances are higher if we abandon our crystal. There is no guarantee that the person left to guard the crystal will succeed, so if we put our numbers into what we know we can achieve, our chances increase. We are burning the bridges and forcing ourselves to succeed!¡± Elijah began to raise the pitch of his voice. ¡°I say we split into groups of two while targeting everyone close to us as soon as the gong sounds. Catch them off guard with a quick assault by knocking them out with our blunted swords and staff!¡± Alexia, Novius, and Niko were in full agreement. While this went against the normalcy of this game, that was the exact reason why everyone was in. This is the outside the box thinking that allowed Elijah to reach heights unknown to anyone. The simple act of going against normalcy. BONG! The eyes of the four met with each other, and almost instantly, everyone knew who they would be going with. Elijah and Niko ran to the left and entered a tight corridor of an above-ground cave while Novius and Alexia ran to the right and up a stone ramp that led to what looked like a monkey¡¯s playground. Not a single sound was heard within the battlefield, but surely, the first battle that would take place would relate to Elijah¡¯s group. The hard ground was completely dry with small rocks and loose dirt that made up the arena. The small man-made cavern quickly expanded into a symphony of pillars. Both Niko and Elijah were running in between each pillar side by side, but suddenly stopped at the sound of vibrations above them. ¡°If they are coming for our crystal, it doesn¡¯t matter, we have to keep moving and try to guess where they came from.¡± Niko nodded before continuing forward. The light soon returned as the two made their way up a steep stone ramp. The breaths of Elijah and Niko slowed, and they stared into the distance where a single mound of dirt and stone stood. This mound was without a doubt the exact place that houses the crystal, but not a single soul was seen. Small windowless houses topped with smooth pointed wooden roofs surrounded the edges of the open and flat area. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Lets quietly search the houses, I can almost guarantee you whoever is guarding the crystal is hiding within.¡± Each house that Elijah and Niko peeked their head into was completely empty. The moment Elijah began using his space infused water magic to easily corrode the mound, small rocks began to fall from the curved cliff that stood over half of the open area they were both standing in. ¡°GET BACK!¡± Niko forcibly pulled Elijah from the mound, and not even a second later, a huge boulder had hit the floor with a thud while being indented into the floor. Dust and rocks flew everywhere, and inside a windowless house stood Elijah holding a slightly glowing crystal in the palm of his hand. A devious smile was on his face, and quickly, Elijah put it into his spatial storage to act like they hadn¡¯t stolen it yet while explaining to Niko his plan. From both sides of the windowless house came two ten year old kids with spells being shot into the air. If there was a second defender, this would help them become visible to be pursued. Even with Elijah having the crystal, they both were longing for unbridled action. Once reaching a covered cavern, they both appeared on the second level with a risky path to the top. Niko began changing the terrain with mini explosions, and Elijah blocked an attack that came from behind him¡­ In the darkness of the second floor of the man made cavern was a brown haired boy casually walking forward. ¡°Hahaha! A water mage, this should be easier than I thought!¡± ¡®Another overconfident child. Not that there is a problem with that. It is always good to be confident. I can tell I will love the feeling of crushing his soul.¡¯ ¡°THERE IS TWO!¡± Elijah screamed at the top of his lungs after turning his head towards the opening behind him. What surprised Elijah was how this mage took action directly after yelling. A block of stone was shoved at Elijah at a steady speed seeable to the eye, and after quickly turning his head back to look his opponent in the eyes, he zipped around on a current of water in the shape of an arc and crossed swords with the boy. ¡°You are not a simple mage!¡± The boy said. The ground beneath Elijah sank without the earth mage moving his hands. He was completely barefoot, and used this to his advantage. Elijah knew he couldn¡¯t use an ounce of his flight ability as he was falling. Who knew where people were watching. Especially with hidden spectators to make sure rules were not broken. Wincing in pain, Elijah stood up with a limp while covering his legs in healing water magic. ¡°Are you looking for this?¡± Elijah pulled the mana crystal out from his spatial storage before getting up from the fall. He knew the kid would look over the hole he created, and what he saw was a look of anger. ¡°How do you have that?!¡± The boy with anger welling up within him sunk the ground within a radius of ten feet all around him. Elijah stood directly above the hole and watched as his body just barely fit in the ceiling that fell over top of him. During this time, Elijah was preparing a spell. A large wave of water swept the kid off his feet, and with a single strike to the head, his body writhed in pain and slowly stopped moving. Elijah ran towards the center with the sound of an explosion. A kid was seen falling from over forty feet in the air from a spell that came from Niko. ¡®Sigh¡­ I understand how you feel, but you must be more careful¡­¡¯ Water surged to the area where the boy would fall into, and rose five feet into the air. The black haired kid''s fall with a trail of smoke was heavily blunted, and with a single strike to the side of his head, he was out. ¡°Well done, just please be more careful. These people mean no ill will, and we cannot give them grief for something out of their control.¡± ¡°I know¡­ I just was lost in the feeling of combat¡­¡± Elijah and Niko had not seen what true combat was, but with the added layer of magic, childish combat became something much greater with ease. This is without mentioning how a ten year old in this world would look like a thirteen year old anywhere else. Magic had changed the people of the kingdom. It is only unknown because of the lack of the known past.