Apollo's Pov.
As the flash of light signals the activation of the mass teleportation Apollo reaches out on his hood and uses it to hide his face.
He wants to hide his appearance because he doesn't want to be seen as 'him'.
"That's right I am not him" he mumbled.
However, as the magic enveloped them the mages of the tower saw Apollo hiding his face so they did the same thing. Before the mass teleportation magic fully activated all mages took their hoods and hid their faces. They did this because they knew Apollo might attract attention for being the only one keeping his appearance. However, if ten mages take their hoods on nobody will notice him and everyone will look at them as a whole instead of focusing on a single person.
As the magic bends down the space the entire group bypass the powerful barrier of the palace and directly emerges into the humongous ballroom.
From the simple breeze of wind of the tower grounds a sudden change of tune happens when they arrive inside the ballroom. Calm and mellow music filled the mages' ears however the sudden gasp and voices of people ruined the ambience.
Apollo and the rest of the mages waited for Alger's next movement. And so when the old mage nonchalantly walked towards their table everyone followed.
"Finally we are here," Apollo thought now he could execute his plan.
Despite the attention they gain the young mage just closes his eyes and begins to chant the spell he work on.
However, how can he do so when a powerful barrier suppresses and forbids anyone from using magic? The moment a drop of Mana is used the barrier will immediately detect it and it's not like Apollo can do what Alger did. He doesn't have enough power to bypass the barrier.
A smirk emerges from his lips as he prepares to give his spell a go.
He might not have the same amount of power as Alger but he has one thing that the head of the wizard tower doesn't have.
"Jeremiah cast the spell now"
[On it Creator]
Inside Apollo's consciousness, a floating orb began releasing a subtle amount of energy. This energy swiftly weaves a complicated magic circle casting a spell only Apollo knows.
He was confident in Jeremiah since he had tested it inside the tower and the barrier did not activate.
"The barrier in the tower and the imperial palace shouldn't be too different from each other" With that thought in mind he continued.
Fully casting the spell it began to release a type of energy which slowly covered the entire ballroom.
The tracing spell Apollo created can be compared to how echolocation works.
By emitting a wave of energy it would bounce off in any object and people, then as it returns it would provide the information about the type of mana and their signature.
If the one who cast the spell on Apollo is here he would immediately identify them through his tracing spell.
His eyes remained closed even when the event started.
Jeremiah's task is only to cast the spell, analyzing the information has to be done by Apollo. At least thousands of people are here, so the two need to coordinate to fully identify everyone.
However, Apollo's focus soon seizes when someone lightly taps his shoulder.
"It's our turn now," said Gavin.
The young mage couldn't help but groan when he felt a sharp pain in his head, breaking his connection abruptly didn't feel good.
With a bit of dizziness, Apollo stood up and went with them.
Just like the others they greet the emperor but a little mishap happens because they put their hoods on. Greeting the most powerful being in the continent with your face hidden might seem disrespectful and so since Apollo was the reason their entire group was hooded, he also became the reason why they removed it.
Apollo reached out to his hood and immediately put it down and there he saw how the expression of the emperor and empress changed.
They immediately knew he was one of the Lionheart and Apollo hated it.
"This humble mage greets the ruler of the continent, may the power of the world tree bless you" he greeted which the imperial couple accepted.
However, the emperor's next words seem to carry something, a meaning that only the emperor himself might know.
"What did he mean by that and why did the emperor have to block others from hearing it" he wondered however the emperor's thoughts were not of his current concerns.
"I need to find out if that guy is the culprit"
In front of Apollo are two rectangular screens, the first one shows the names of the mages he suspected while the other is the list of guest mages.
Each time he finished analyzing the given information from Jeremiah, names would immediately vanish from the list.
He doesn't want to skip any names, he wants to make sure he has looked into everything before jumping to conclusions.
More names disappeared as Apollo continued analyzing however a sudden mana made him halt. It was a man he was most familiar with.
"Mom's and" he then opened his eyes and saw the duke and his children.
"And my siblings" a sinister smile emerged from his lips he was so busy analyzing the mana of others that he didn't notice the people with the same blood as him were here.
He was about to return to what he was doing when he felt his body tremble, it was in a way he had no control over. His breath became ragged as his heart beat faster, and beads of sweat dropped on his forehead as he felt agitated.
With his body's uncontrolled response, a sudden flash of memory appeared in his mind.
The sound of whipped rang in his ears accompanied by cries of grief. Apollo felt his back sting as blood dripped from it, across the boy's back was a blood-stained shirt ripped by the might of a whip.
"Ugh!" He felt suffocated as the whip in his brother's hand waved another turbulent of pain across his bleeding back.
"Brother... please.." the boy began to plead his tiny arms and legs chained to restrict his movements.
However, instead of stopping the assault became even faster and nastier. Each lash struck deeper into his skin forcing more blood to come out.
The frail body of the young Apollo slowly succumbs to pain and loses consciousness.
....
"Apollo?...you okay..."
A light tap became a trigger for the boy to panic his vision began to return snapping him from his trauma. However, Gavin's voice couldn't completely bring him back as his voice can't reach Apollo's ears. A sudden ringing blocks the sound of Gavin's voice.
With no other options, Gavin transferred some of his mana to disrupt whatever thoughts Apollo was having.
"Are you back now?"
He asked while Apollo began gasping for air finally recovering.
Gavin didn't say anything he knew traumas are not something you can recover from easily, especially if you saw the people who inflicted that pain on you, you are bound to experience a relapse.
After a few more breaths Apollo finally stabilised his breathing surrounding him were ten mages that blocked the view of others.
"Are you finally fine?" Gavin worriedly said and Apollo just nodded.
"What's happening already?"
"While you relapse the Duke Silvercrest ended his greeting and now the archduke is greeting the emperor.
Hearing those words Apollo switched his gaze and saw Duke Abraham leading his three children but his eyes didn't linger and returned to the Lionheart duchy's table.
"Just wait brother I will pay the amount of whips I received from you" he lightly touched his arm which was well hidden by his long sleeve.
"Not just physical scars won't do I would break them so badly they wouldn't be able to feel happiness"
Apollo clutches his robe trying to stabilize his breathing.
"I thought I had recovered" he clenched his teeth in frustration as he said, "But I still tremble at the sight of them"
The pain, frustration and despair he felt would be erased by removing the very people who caused it. In the end, no matter how much Apollo said he would kill them, his body and mind still remember how much pain they inflicted.
"I am still too far" he mumbled while looking at a screen with symbols he was very familiar with.
[Name: Eros Lionheart
Status: Intrigue
Occupation: Magic swordsman
Rank: Surpaser
Level: 18
Strength: 240
Agility: 237
Dexterity: 235
Endurance: 240
Stamina: 240
Intelligence: 240
Mana: 240
Ki: 240
Mana regeneration: 10 per minute
Ki regeneration: 10 per minute
Vitality: 200
Skills/Abilities:
God Seraphine's war blade dance (Rank A) {Passive}
Aura manipulation (Rank A) {Passive}
Instant incantation (Rank A){Passive}
Weapon master (Rank A) {Passive}
[ ADVANCED STATISTICS
Prime Element:{None}
Bloodline: Blood of the Summoner
-Enables the mage to form contacts on spirits no matter the level or number. Grants the mage the capacity to make an infinite amount of contracted spirits.
Blessings:{None}
Inheritance:{None}
Body Constitution: Battle God's Physique
- A Constitution that allows for both mana and ki to synchronize, a capacity to balance aspects of attributes]