Orion's eyes widened as he looked at William's back. Fear and panic gripped his heart as he watched William, who was known for his innocence and kindness, ruthlessly kill a person.
'What's happened to him? Why is he acting like that?' Orion questioned himself. But he knew that questions could wait.
'I have to think about a way to bring William back from whatever state he is in,' Orion mumbled to himself. He turned to the spot where William stood but William wasn't there.
'Wind'
Using 'Wind' William swiftly reached the guy nearest to him. 'Ice, he channeled ice mana into his left hand, 'Heat' and fire mana into his right.
"Aaaaaargh!"
The guy cried out in misery as William slammed his two hands into his. Heat and Cold collided in the thug's body, causing a violent and chaotic reaction, burning and freezing his insides at the same time.
Burnt smell like that of charcoal permeated through the air as his muscles were burnt to ashes while his bones crackled as they froze.
The thug's scream reverberated through the silent alley, echoing through the minds of the remaining thugs who were now shivering in fright.
'What a monster!' The leader gasped in surprise.
"William.... are you okay?" Orion asked, concern evident on his face, his red eyes darted all over William's body, looking for any injuries.
William, upon hearing Orion's question, turned toward his brother. He stared at him with his amethyst eyes shining in cold blue light. He raised his hand, summoning earth mana to attack him.
Orion's eyes widened as he looked at his brother getting ready to attack him, 'What's happening to him? Why is he acting so cold? Is he even conscious?' Orion's mind raced as he looked at his brother, trying to find a possible answer.
Just as William was about to attack Orion, his cold eyes flickered. He hesitated, before bringing his hand down and turning toward another thug.
As he was about to dash towards another thug, the leader of the group kicked William in the face, sending him flying before crashing into a wall.
BOOM
William landed on the ground with a boom, debris falling all over him.
"I don't want my labor to die." The leader spoke with a grin, his voice was rough as if two metal pieces were scraping each other and a brownish gray aura draped his entire body, multiplying his strength ten times the original.
'Giant's strength'
The leader muttered inwardly while watching William slowly stood up from the rubble.
William stared at the leader while dusting off his torn clothes. 'Wind' he called out wind mana and dashed towards the leader.
The leader smirked at William in arrogance, not moving from his place. 'Come at me little boy.'
'Earth'
William sent earth mana into his hands and punched the leader in the chest the moment he reached him.
BOOM
The silent alley trembled at William's might. Dust flew everywhere and the walls shivered as rubble fell off to the shockwave created by William's punch.
'His power is close to that of an Amateur!' Orion proclaimed, his heart starting to beat wildly watching William's prowess.
"Aah-"
The leader's voice squeaked as he looked down to see his chest burst open, pierced open by William's hand.
William's hand dripped of blood as a thick scent of iron wafted through the place. His eyes turned bloodshot as he glared at the leader.
"N-no" The leader pleaded weakly, his voice barely a whisper. The arrogance and greed form before nowhere to be seen.
A demonic smile bloomed on William's face as he muttered, "Yes"
PUISH
He crushed his heart, causing blood to spill all over his face. William took a deep sniff of the scent and slowly licked the blood on his lips, enjoying the iron taste hitting his tongue.
THUD
William pulled out his hand causing the leader's body to fall on the ground. He stared at the body with his demonic smile widening.
"W-William..?" Orion called out. Even though there was no chance William could hurt him. 'I am scared!' Orion thought.
Gulping down his fears he slowly walked towards William, "William, are you okay?"
But William didn't answer, he just stared at him with the demonic grin. His eyes flickered vigorously before they rolled up and William fell on the floor.
THUD
"William!" Orion rushed towards him after watching him fall on the floor unconscious. He swooped William into his arms and sent tendrils of mana into his body.
SIGH
He only sighed in relief after he confirmed that he was alright and only unconscious. 'What's happening to you?'
"We need to go back to the mansion." Orion muttered before he put William over his shoulder and carried the unconscious girl on his other shoulder. "Haaah! I am going to get yelled."
...…..
William's consciousness slowly drifted through the void until he was back in the pitch black darkness, but he was not alone. In front of him was a man shrouded in mist, he was 8 feet tall and behind him was a tree with its roots deeply dug into the void and its branches pierced through the darkness.
The tree glowed in celestial star light the moment the mysterious man touched William in the forehead.
"You are still weak. They are waiting for you." the man mumbled, his voice was one of sorrow. He sighed in regret and flicked William's forehead.
"Ugh!" William gruntled in pain as he slowly opened his eyes. He rubbed his forehead and looked around muttering, "Where am I?"
"You are in your mind space." The man said in a calm voice, and the regret and sorrow from before disappeared.
William jerked as he turned toward the mysterious man. His eyes widened in shock as he looked at him, "You are the man who helped with 'Heat' and 'Cold'!" He said, recognizing the mysterious man.
"Yes, and I am now here to help you on your journey and make you powerful" The man replied.
"Help me?" William uttered, tilting his head.
"Yes"
"Why?"
"Because you are too weak and too naive, if it goes on like this you will die before you forty."
"But I have mothers and my father to protect me. My father is the strongest in the world." William answered with his chest puffed up, having confidence in his father's strength.
"Haaah!" The man sighed, he couldn't believe William's naivety. As he was about to reply to William's statement. The celestial tree behind him swayed.
It sent one of the branches towards the mysterious man and touched him on his shoulder as if trying to communicate with him.
William looked at the scene curiously, 'I have never seen a tree do that before.'
"Do you think I should do that?" The man asked, looking at the tree. The tree swayed in response to the man's question.
SIGH
The man sighed once again before muttering, "Alright, I will do that"
He turned toward William, who was looking at him with curiosity. "You said your family will protect you right?" He asked, to which William nodded in response.
"Then let me show you the future." The man said and put his hand on William.
WOONG WOONG
The celestial tree emitted a deep hum, it vibrated the pitch-black darkness. The void gained color as a scene of a world in chaos began to form around them.
The trees were burned and the ground was scorched, William could feel the heat on his skin as he watched the scene in shock as the scene changed to the Spade's mansion.
The mansion that was once the symbol of power throughout the continent was in rubble. Debris was everywhere while fire devoured what was left of it.
The burnt smell of flesh hit William like a tsunami as he heard screams of men and women. "Come" The man muttered as he began to walk through the rubble in a certain direction.
William slowly followed the man, his heart began to thump wildly the more he walked. Sweat trickled down his brow and his hands trembled as he looked at the destruction.
He looked up to the sky only to see a thick blanket of smoke covering the entire world. "What is this place?" William asked, his voice quivering as he looked around, feeling familiar with the place.
"This is your home, or what will become of it. If you are not ready." The man replied.
William stopped in his tracks. His heart began to bang against his chest and his legs began limp, tears formed at the corners of his eyes. "No" He mumbled, not believing the man.
But he stopped when his gaze darted through the rubble and landed on a dead body. "N-No way! '' William whispered, his voice became hoarse and words barely made it out of his mouth..
He felt like his heart shattered into a million pieces as he stared at the dead body in front of him. The body was a female, her hands were missing and one of her legs was shredded to the point that one could see her bones.
Her chest was burst open with dried blood stains etching the dress she wore, beside her was her heart, lying limply in the dried pool of blood.
Parts of her hair were missing as if someone forcefully pulled them out of her skull. Her once beautiful amethyst eyes were now devoid of any light with tears staining her once lively face.
"M-Mother."