"W-What, Why is a 'Skill' activating all of a sudden! And What is Mana? What is exactly happening." Ember exclaimed unaware of what situation he had gotten himself into.
It all happened too fast, the flames that had engulfed the whole orphanage started swirl around ember and started to close in on him.
'Oh Man! Wh-Why the hell am I not afraid of fire of all things! I- I can't move or More like I don't wanna move' was the thought going inside his mind
But as if his body moved on instinct, in a trance; Ember simply stretched out his hands as if embracing the flame and if waiting for this cue, the flame condensed into a funnel like shaped as it started to pour into Ember's chest.
For Ember, what he was feeling currently was the most pleasant feeling in the world, it was as if he was a laid in a hot water bath in a cold winter evening. All the pain and sadness seemed to just burn away at the brilliance of this flame. It was as if all the cells in his body were being replaced, being replaced with something new, something better and low and behold it was the exact thing happening.
[Impurities detected in the body, Rebuilding the body with the Will of Phoenix]
[Changing the cellular structure of the body]
[Changing the tissues of the body]
[Integrating Mana]
[…]
[…]
[…]
[Congratulations! Your body has been rebuilt. You body is now in Peak Shape and gains the passive benefit of Mana]
[You have Acquired the Skill 'Mana Body (Passive)']
Ember rose from the fire like a phoenix from the ashes. His boney appearance completely gone. Now he was taller his skin regained the pinkish hue of blood compared to the pale complexion before. His body was more solid, his jawline sharper, He had truly gained a body worthy of being called the 'Peak Shape' as the system called it. But the most absurd change was his hair colour, yes they had grown longer, long enough to reach his waist, but more importantly, His hair colour had completely changed, Now They were a Reddish orange with White accents at the tips. Another surprise wasm the rags for clothes that Ember was wearing hadn't completely burned off, yes they were burned but They were still able to cover a decent portion of his body.
BOOM!!!
A Grand explosion, bigger than anything that most people had witnessed and bigger than what most people will ever witness occurred. A Pillar of Flame burst forth from Ember's chest, big enough to engulf the whole orphanage.
The whole orphanage was nothing more than a simple crater now. Ember opened his eyes amongst the rain of charcoal remnants, weirdly enough there was no one around him. The whole area was empty? Completely lifeless and quiet? Something was not right, he could've sworn there were at least a few hundred people outside, for how much commotion he could hear even after the explosion.
"Surprised, are your Ember?" Sounded a voice from behind him, In an instant Ember turned around. So fast in fact that even he himself didn't anticipate.
"Ah No need to be alarmed," Ember could now see the Man clearly. He was quite young, in his late twenties at most. "I am General Carasan Val, I am the vice-principle of 'The Academy' and I would personally like to invite you to your first year Military training."
"Wh-What? Carasan Val? What kind of weird name is that? Military training? The Academy? What are you talking about? I am so confused, Where is everyone, if they died then there should at least be their bodies here?" Ember started to panic.
"Now Now Champ, I've merely Isolated us from normal space. Everyone is fine, it's just a bit complicated. But I am sure if I am here then you must have seen something, what do you guys call it… Supernatural, yeah supernatural." The man said, most of his words going over Ember's head.
"S-Supernatural? You mean the Sys—" before Ember could say anything suddenly a screen appeared in front of him.
[Ding!]
[!!! WARNING! THE USER IS ADVISED TO NOT REVEAL THE UNIQUE EXISTENCE OF THE SYSTEM OR THE PHOENIX, IF THIS KNOWLEDGE GETS TO THE WRONG HANDS, AN EXTINCTION EVENT MAY FOLLOW !!!]
Ember Gulped as he changed his words, he had seen death already today. He had no intentions of facing an extinction and reuniting with it.
"Wait, Something is strange. I sensed prolonged wind affinity from this area and seeing you, you definitely have wind affinity, and quite the pure one at that. So how did such a large yet controlled explosion happened? Do you have any Idea?" The man looked around with an Inquisitive look.
'It seems that the screens are only visible to me and not others or else this guy would've asked about it.' Ember thought 'Well that works in my favour I guess.'
"Wind Affinity?" Ember feigned ignorance, as if he knew nothing. Well actually knew almost nothing, so the difference wasn't huge anyways.
"Ah right, I am sorry for asking such a useless question, you are not even 'Initiated' yet." The Man chuckled "Well to keep it simple, did you notice anything strange with the fire? Maybe some guy controlling it?"
Ember simply shook his head.
"Well I see," Carasan said still looking around the area.
"W-Well if it's not too much, can you at least explain to me what's going on at least" Ember hesitantly asked the man who claimed himself to be a general.
"Ah right, sorry I just got distracted, whoever was controlling that fire, it is clear that they were quite strong." Carasan explained "But I suppose I do owe you an explanation. Well you see I am from the Hidden city of Carasan, and before you ask I was named after the city not vise-versa, Both of us are special, different than normal humans, You see we are connected to 'The Obelisks' which grant us special powers. Coincidentally both of us have similar powers, We both have an affinity to Wind" He said as he opened his palm and by some miracle a small tornado appeared in his palm.
"You mean I can do that?" Ember asked with excitement, after being strapped to that wheelchair his whole life, this was definitely a new high of excitement for him.
"Of course, you can easily do this and more with practice." Carason said "Now as I was saying 'The Obelisks', well to keep it simple… They are structures that govern this world and us humans who live in it… And you my boy are chosen by them to receive the gift of power that only 0.004% of the people in the whole world have received. And let me tell you… Even among them, you are special… I something in you, something which is better than them… The Academy will help you and hone you into into the best version of yourself… So what do you say, Wanna take my offer"