Alex hummed as he walked down from the mountain above. A bolt of lightning danced around in his hands the noise it was radiating overpowering the noise of his hum.
'I thought that my dark affinity would surely be the first to reach the noble class, but it's still great to be able to feel this power.'
"Arghtoof!" Alex coughed as he sneezed mid-thought, the inside of his throat and nose burning as he rubbed both his neck and nostrils.
Alex opened his watering eyes, trying as he flared his nostrils, to avoid sneezing again.
Only to realize that the scenery around him had shifted.
'Where am I?'
'Yes indeed, where are you. This abyss which has no obvious reason or purpose, and yet you draw your power from it.'
Alex looked up and saw an annoying face looking back. A man staring at him with a smile and yet Alex could also see that he was looking down at him.
'For once I understand the meaning behind a punchable face, just looking at his expressions is making my mood turn from good to worst.'
'Haha… as if you could.' The man looked Alex up and down before speaking, making sure to make it obvious that he was internally judging him.
'So many aspirations, and yet you couldn't picture yourself being ruthless to achieve them.'
'Why should I be ruthless, when it is possible to avoid it?'
'There will come a day when you will see.' The man whistled. 'Quite the looker isn't she?'
Alex looked to where the man was looking, a ghostly apparition of Tori stood still looking straight back.
Alex felt his previously freezing body heating up as his annoyance rose to new heights.
'What I haven't even said a thing?' The man said bringing his hands up in defense before smiling at Alex once again and saying. 'Look at that, it's just an image of her and your heart is fluttering like love sick kitten.'
His smile got even larger as he watched Alex get even more annoyed.
'And you, you are ready to give her up. For what? Just so you can avoid the possibility of being hurt?'
The man frowned as he watched Alex calm down almost immediately.
'You can't keep doing that. One day your anger, your rage, your wrath, will burst out like a dam.' The man said trying to poke the bees nest
'What makes you think that she was ever mine in the first place?' Alex said as he looked around to the empty void around himself.
The man was stunned for a moment before he smiled once again.
'Oh please, you've already got an emotional connection to her. You would let someone else take a place which was open to yourself in the first place? You would trust her safety in the hands of a stranger?' The man said while watching Alex closely.
'Her safety?' Alex asked.
'You are really still keeping that little bit of hope that the little old devil hasn't found out. Not only him, how many of your old friends remember the relationship between you two? When you go off and become famous, that's when the rumors spread. How many of the countless people who you oppose would harm her just to get to you?'
Alex looked up to the man, his eyes irritated as he imagined such a possible future. 'Then, I would kill them.'
The man looked at Alex his condescending smile finally back. 'Excuses.'
Alex smiled sadly as he understood what the man was speaking about. Ever since the competitions he had been going over the reasons why he acted the way he did.
Frustrated the man pushed further.
'Excuses. You know that you are nothing but a cold blooded monster. How many memories have you seen of men who looked similar to you? How many of them ever had children? How many had loving and caring families? None, and when their moment of peace was gone they… self destructed.' The man laughed as he looked at the pitiful boy in front of him.
'You hate the idea of creating a family. Your an unloving and passionless boy, what could you ever do?'
'I only hate the idea of the blood in our body determining who has authority over us, but you are right every day I sit and look forward to a peaceful life and the further along in this line of time, the less likely that is.'
'Much less in this life. Only in my dreams, in which my reason seems to have no effect, does such a life exist. Leaving my dreams as they are, just dreams.'
'You didn't even address my point correctly.'
'So what is this… abyss?' Alex asked annoying the man before him.
The man fought the urge to strangle the boy and placed a smile upon his face.
Alex sighed. 'My path is self destructive.'
'Look at me.' He said as he released the full pressure from all of his affinities.
'In just a few years, if my power increases just as it has, will I still be considered human? Could I even live normally. Besides love isn't impossible without lust. They coexist, but so does love and care, love and self sacrifice, and so on.'
Alex sighed once again as he addressed the elephant in the room. 'It's superficial, I grow stronger and stronger, but everyday I grow more weary. I'm cutting down on my own lifespan with how I train. I already felt like an old man because of the amount of knowledge I hold, but as days pass it gets harder to open my eyes when I wake up, and when I'm around everyone else it's as if I'm not even present.'
The man looked over at Alex thoughtfully before changing the subject.
'This place is where your mind wonders while asleep. Where those who die, go to and see their life flash before their eyes. Where infants lay in wait while their loving and caring mothers sing them to sleep, if you are quiet enough you can almost remember it… oh wait, you never had that did you?' The man said before turning to Alex.
Alex only gave a small smile. 'It's a beautiful place.'
The man, annoyed finally gave up on his attempts and immediately turned to leave Alex, only waving his hand.
Alex shook his head and chuckled as the illusion shattered and he was brought back to the frigid cold mountain.
He summoned an orb of darkness as the rising sun's light rained down on him. The light sizzled and was eaten by the power of the Noble class dark affinity.
'I guess the only thing my domain will do is decrease the usage of mana at this point.' He thought before continuing down the mountain.
——————
"You're back, how did it go?" Daniel asked as Alex arrived.
"Very good." Alex answered as he put up a device and summoned electricity in his hands.
"Noble class, not bad very few lightning mages can even reach the peaks, but when they do they at most reach the master class." Michael commended Alex on his ability to skip and entire class.
"You didn't also happen to breakthrough in your dark affinity did you?" Daniel asked
Alex nodded and summoned some dark energy.
"I woke up early because I felt the effect of your breakthrough all the way down here. Congratulations Alex, within the Mid Eastern part of the kingdom you would be considered unparalleled. Within the public schools that is, I can't say anything for the private ones which steal our students as we breath."
"Thanks." Alex answered after releasing his energy.
"So who is it we are visiting?" Alex asked.
"An ally for the coming war." Michael answered.
"War?" Alex asked.
"A political war, a usurpation of power. Although it can easily lead to actual conflict though."
"What type of people are they?"
"Terrible, but if we were to only ally with good people, then there would only be a handful." Daniel answered.
Alex nodded. 'Good people rarely actually hold power in a world like this.'
"I'm ready to go." Alex said after checking himself over.
"No you're not go wash yourself in the stream, you look like you haven't bathed in weeks." Michael said while pointing off in the direction of a stream nearby.
——————
In a new set of clothes and free from the earthy smell that the lighting resistance potions created, Alex walked along with his instructors, into the massive city between two mountains.
"All of these buildings are made of metal?" Alex muttered.
"It is said that a massive battery is stored somewhere below. This power for this city comes almost completely from the lightning which branches all the way into the ground down here. It seems that the battery has an excessive amount of energy." Michael said while looking up at a board which had a bar that was almost completely lit up.
"The houses are also very simple any high level earth mage can construct them." Daniel added while guiding Alex as they turned the corner.
Alex looked around while walking. There were a lot of pedestrians on the streets and few cars.
'It seems that even here I stand out.' Alex thought as he felt the gazes of the passers by.
"We're here."
Alex looked at the building, a guard at a door was busily keeping a man from entering the building.
"You are not permitted to enter, step back or I will use force." The guard said as the man tried to push his way through.
After a few seconds and the man persistently pushing the guard, he was suddenly flung back across the street. His back slamming into the metal wall of the building across the street.
The man coughed up blood as he looked up at the guard. "You nasty people, you are discriminating against me because of something I wasn't born with. If I can't find it then my wife will die."
The guard only gave a small smile and said. "Only mages are permitted within the shining pearls guild. Return when you awaken an affinity or have someone else shop in your stead."
The man who was thrown back looked around and locked his eyes on Alex. Alex averted his gaze from the mans blood coated teeth as the man looked towards him a gaze filled with hope.
"What is it you need to buy?" Alex asked.
"It's a bit of a rare plant. It's called Tilrabursch. It should be easy to to spot… it's leaves are like miniature maple leaves."
"Like this." Alex said as he pulled out a plant from his bag.
"Yes that is it." The man pulled out his wallet and tried to pay Alex for it. Alex however just put the plant in the man's hand and patted his shoulder, expending some light mana to help heal the man's internal injuries.
'His wife was poisoned. They use a different name for the plant, but it's is very common in Dalifield.'
Alex turned and followed his instructors as they entered past the guard. Who was following Alex with his upset gaze. If it weren't for the two strong mages he was with, the guard would have refused his entry as well.
"You've already drawn attention to yourself." Michael whispered to Alex after shutting the door behind them.
"That's my job isn't it." Alex said as he felt several gazes watching him through the walls.
"Indeed it is, no matter what never kneel to the ways of another even if they are an ally." Michael said with a chuckle.
"We are here to see old Grimshulk." Daniel said as he approached the main desk.
"You will find him on the forth floor as usual Daniel." The young man said while motioning to the elevator.
The three entered the elevator, a distinct buzzing sound being audible as they stepped in.
'This elevator is dangerous.' Alex thought as he looked at the amount of electricity that surrounded them.
Alex reached out his hand as an arc of electricity launched out from the walls of the elevator. The electricity faded as it came into contact with a stronger force of lightning.
"Do they intend to kill anyone who can't defend themselves in this elevator?" Alex asked.
"Just severely injure." Daniel answered.
"They are not savages." He said in a mocking tone before laughing at how moronic these people were.
Alex prepared himself to meet whoever this ally of theirs was.
'Right, because savages would be more understanding than them.'