Magnus Lynton
I opened my eyes to see nothing but darkness surrounding me. The inky blackness felt tangible, unlike the familiar confines of my mind realm, Lone Dream.
"Sorry for bringing you here," a voice suddenly spoke, interrupting my thoughts. I quickly turned around, instinctively trying to summon my portals, but to no avail. In front of me stood a woman, likely in her midlife, looking apologetic.
"Where am I?" I asked, my voice steady despite the underlying uncertainty. "And who are you?" The words felt familiar on my tongue, as I had uttered them many times before.
The woman took a step forward, her features becoming slightly more visible in the dim light. "I am Nari Navesta, otherwise known as the Sovereign of Wisdom."
I nodded, trying to assess the situation. The oppressive darkness was unsettling, but if she was indeed the Sovereign of Wisdom, then perhaps she could provide the answers I sought.
"Madam Nari, where exactly are we? And why have you brought me here?" I asked, keeping my tone polite and respectful.
Nari sighed, her expression troubled. "We are in a spiritual realm. A realm where only Sovereigns and above can create. It's a place where I can speak with individuals without the interference of other Sovereigns."
Spiritual realm. I've heard of it. The strongest ability that Ascenders can achieve. However, only Sovereigns were able to create them. Each person has a different spiritual realm.
She paused, her gaze meeting mine. "As for why I've brought you here, Magnus, it's because I have a matter of great importance to discuss with you."
I felt a sense of unease creep up my spine. "What matter?"
Nari's eyes narrowed slightly. "I'm sure that Xavier told you, but the other Sovereigns are becoming restless. You are the chosen one, the one who is going to save us."
She is the Sovereign of Wisdom indeed. She knows about Xavier and such. I can trust her. But there was one thing that worried me.
"Uh, Madam Nari? I don't know if you know, but I almost died fighting one of the Sovereigns. How am I supposed to defeat them?" I asked, scratching my head. I knew that I was still lacking and I needed help from a lot of people.
"That is where I come to help you. I will teach you about magic and think of new ways of using your abilities to the best. If you are a fast learner, you might even figure out how to achieve your spiritual realm," the Sovereign answered.
Suddenly, a table and two chairs appeared right in front of me. The Sovereign gestured for me to sit down as two cups of tea materialized on the table. "H-how?" I asked, shocked.
"You didn't think that my spiritual realm was just a boring room, did you? In this realm, I can control and summon anything that comes to my mind. That is why you were not able to use any ability here," she explained.
I was shocked. If one's ability is this overpowered, then why can't she defeat the sovereign herself? Then, I remembered something—the Sovereign of Wisdom was the weakest Sovereign out of the twelve. If her spiritual realm was this powerful, how much stronger is the Hero's spiritual realm? I cleared that terrifying thought from my mind and sat down.
"The first thing that I want to ask you, Magnus, is what are your abilities," Nari asked as she took a sip from her steaming tea.
"I have dimensional storage, I can summon portals, I can shoot stuff from my portals, and I can infuse my weapon with poison," I said, also taking a sip of my tea.
"Those are some... good abilities. How big can you summon your portals and can you use them for stuff like teleportation?" Nari asked.
Damn, I had portal creation skills and never thought of using them for transportation. I cursed myself for being stupid.
"As for the size of the portal, I believe that the more I concentrate, the bigger it becomes, but it may take longer. As for teleportation, I haven't tried it, but it might work because I have transferred some items through the portals," I said as I scratched my head. Talking to the wisest person in the world is making me feel dumber and dumber.
"Try it right now. Oh right, how many portals can you make?" Nari asked.
"Currently two. I know it's not a lot, but from what my master, Xavier, said, I can make more portals if I can evolve my ability more," I started to get up from my seat as I answered her question.
I summoned a portal big enough for me to go through. As I walked through the portal, I closed my eyes and concentrated, thinking about teleporting right behind Nari. As I opened my eyes, I was right behind Nari, and the portal that I made was still open.
"Outstanding..." Nari muttered as she walked to the portal, touching the edge of it. "The edges of the portal are sharp. Sharper than a sword."
My portals are sharp? That is something I just learned.
Nari then put her hand in the portal, and there was some spatial disorder behind me as her hand reached me. "It seems that you are the only one who can control the destinations of the portal," she continued. "Magnus, close the portal."
"Won't it like, cut your hand? I thought it was sharp?" I asked, concerned about Nari losing her hand. What if she loses her hand and won't be able to help me anymore?
"Don't worry about it. We are still in my spiritual realm. I can just heal myself," Nari assured.
"Ok..." I said, still concerned and worried that the Sovereign might seek revenge for hurting her. I then closed the portal, and the hand was cut in a perfect slice. Nari bit her lip as she was clearly in pain. Then her hand regenerated, and she was now perfectly fine. What an overpowered spiritual realm, I thought to myself.
"I think that you have a new way to attack people, Magnus," Nari said, laughing happily. Then, she continued, "I like naming new abilities. How about calling that Portal Guillotine?"
"That's... a good name!" I agreed excitedly. Not because of the name but because of the ability. Now I can just make a portal covering my enemy's head and close it!
"Oh yes, you told me that if you want to be able to use more portals, you need to evolve your ability?"
Yes! Good question. If I tell her, a Sovereign, that I need space blood, she will be able to give it to me! "Well, I evolved the first time by consuming some space blood that I got from killing the space wolf," I explained, "and I asked Xavier if by consuming more space blood, I could evolve my ability again, he said maybe."
"Hmm, ok when we leave this place, I will give you ten vials of space blood. Drink it when you get home and see if you can evolve your ability," Nari said.
"Oh, can I ask you a question? Where is Ava right now?" I asked as she mentioned home.
"She is safely talking to my disciple, Alice. She is already healed as I fed her some healing potion," Nari answered.
Alice, huh? The girl who saved me and Ava. She single-handedly dealt with Maximus. Wasn't she like the third strongest?
"Ok, I think we had enough talk today. I will be reaching out to you soon," Nari said as she started to chant something. As she finished chanting, the spiritual realm that was surrounding us started to disappear, and I was now in some library or office.
"Here, take this," Nari said as she gave me the blood vials from her drawer.
"Thank you, if I'm able to evolve my skill again, I will let you know," I said as I started to make a portal.
***
After scaring Ava by teleporting behind her, I opened a portal to go home. When we got home we realized that our house was being fixed after the fight so we decided to go to the park. As we found a bench to sit on, Ava immediately started asking about the Sovereign of Wisdom.
"So, what was Nari like?" Ava said, her eyes shining with excitement.
I chuckled at her enthusiasm. "She was... impressive, to say the least. The spiritual realm she created was unlike anything I've ever seen."
Ava leaned in, her expression eager. "Ooh, tell me more! What was it like? Did she have any cool powers?"
"Well, for one, she was able to summon things out of thin air," I explained. "She said she can control anything in her spiritual realm."
"Whoa, that's amazing!" Ava exclaimed. "I bet she could create some incredible traps in there. I wish I could see it for myself."
I nodded, understanding her fascination. "She's a force to be reckoned with. But she also seemed genuinely concerned about the state of the Sovereigns."
Ava's brow furrowed. "What do you mean? Is something wrong?"
"The other Sovereigns are becoming restless," I said, my tone turning serious. "Nari said I'm the 'chosen one' who's going to save them."
Ava's eyes widened. "Wow, that's a lot of responsibility. But I know you can do it, Magnus. If anyone can handle it, it's you."
I smiled, reaching out to squeeze her hand. "I'm glad I have you by my side, Ava. I don't think I could do this without you."
Even if I don't want to save the cruel world that abandoned us when we needed them, I will save this world for you, Ava.