Chapter 6
Fate is a thing destined to raise it's victors and destroy it's losers.
Those that acknowledge their fate, shall be unperturbed towards following their destined path. As for those who wish to strip themselves from a predetermined fate, the road is harsh . Failure is guaranteed.
The power to gain freedom is one enveloped by a veil of uncertainty. A certain set of skills and a personality willing to break and reform itself are the primary prerequisites.
The veil between mortality and the realm of the gods shall only be crossed beyond the edges of the infamous ninth tier of the mind. At least, that is what was foretold millions of years ago.
Whether such a barrier can be broken is unknown. There will be many who will try, many that will fail , and maybe one. Just maybe…someday.
A god from the earth may rise and claim their rightful seat at the heart of divinity.
Lucas POV
Lucas groaned in pain. His body ached with every breath and miniscule movement.
It was as if every muscle fiber had been torn to shreds thousands of times, only to be rebuilt again to go through another round of torture.
To top it all off, his mind burned in a throbbing, stabbing heat. It felt as if the sun embedded itself into his brain. Frying it from within.
He tried to open his eyes, but the pain banged behind his skull. He could only scrunch his face in annoyance.
He sat there. Waiting, until he could find the willpower to move his body. For some reason it felt tight. Like he wasn't who he was normally.
As he felt this unusual sensation, he couldn't help but ponder.
His thoughts had been muddled by the words of the white-robed man. What did they mean? Everything was a bit fragmented at the moment, only a few words made themselves clear. Burned into his pained mind.
'worthy child…trust in the light…set free'
What did being worthy mean. Was it because of his lineage? If so, then why him. Why not his father, uncles or cousins.
He clenched his teeth and flinched at the pain, this made no sense at all! All the questions he asked to the loathsome figure were left unanswered and all he got in return was pain far worse than death.
Death would have been a happier ending, he thought.
Only a few minutes passed as he started to regain some sort of clarity. However, an even more confusing thought rippled across his mind.
Wait, is there…nothing under my feet? He cursed and used the willpower he gathered to open his eyes. The frown on his face deepening as he saw the carnage through his strained eyesight.
What the hell?!
His legs were crossed and his hands cupped one another. What really frightened him, was the transparent white sphere that surrounded his body. Acting as some sort of protection. His body was hovering in the air and his bed was ..no where to be found.
He struggled to look down, but when he eventually did so, he grimaced.
The whole middle section of the bed had a huge steaming indent that melted the sheets and the wood supporting the frame. The smell of burnt wood and toxicity wafted through the air. Thoroughly making him scrunch his nose in disgust.
Gods forsake me!, he thought. The foreign panic of a past time held him in a vice grip once more.
What should he do. Where did the barrier come from and why couldn't he feel himself ? God's! The trouble of this matter could not be understated.
How was he supposed to turn the barrier off? His mind was scrambling for options to explain himself to the headmaster. This was certainly going to get him disapproval. One he didn't intentionally strive for.
Through his mania, the bubble suddenly disintegrated into tiny specs and he dropped heavily onto the steaming ground.
He grunted from the impact, his body was a mess and his room shared the sentiment.
"Shit!" he shouted. There was no choice but to go first to Ms. Laurielle. She would sort this out before the heat broke out to the dorm rooms around him and caused further damage.
He looked out the window. It's still night. I can fix this up without an annoying audience breathing down my neck.
With that thought he wore his grey apprentice robes and limped out the door towards a good scolding.
***
It had taken only a few words to get Ms. Laurielle to contact people that could secure his room.
A few mages that probably held expertise in construction and cooling. Lucas had to wait for twenty minutes on the benches next to the walls of the lobby.
They had given him a little healing potion to neutralize the pains effects. Right now, he felt more grounded to reality, the boiling in his brain simmered considerably and he could now move his limbs around without feeling the prior stabbing pain.
Laurielle came back to brief him after everything was done and told him he'd be assigned a temporary room on the last room of the third floor.
Though, not without leaving that the headmaster had been informed of this and would meet him tomorrow to talk about the details of the incident.
Lucas sighed in relief.
Thankfully he didn't have to explain the details to her, otherwise it was certain many details of his plight would be shared among the academy.
Better to share information to the headmaster, so that some sort of confidentiality is kept. He liked it that way.
Unnecessary attention made him uncomfortable.
***
Sun ray's penetrated through the window and cast their warmth on Lucas's closed eyes.
A groan escaped his lips as he rubbed the mornings filth across his face and slowly opened his eyes to the unnaturally piercing light.
His temporary abode was much better than his previous one. It was the room he was initially meant to stay in before he came to the academy. It had a disgusting, spoiled royal atmosphere, where everything was bigger than it needed to be.
One such example was the huge bed. He was relatively tall but his feet were about two feet away from the edge when laying down.
Turning over the covers he walked to the bathroom and brushed his teeth. With each action he made, a piercing glint caught his eye's.
The light within the bathroom seemed unusually brighter. As if the sunlight shone directly into the room.
Which was odd, as there were no windows in this bathroom.
Now that that it had his attention, he could slightly feel the mana within him behaving abnormally . Normally his mana felt like a raging river whenever he tried to grasp at its form, but absurdly, it felt like it had transformed into a steady refined flow. One that had far greater potential for his uses. One that seemed better acquainted to his will.
Lucas was confused as to how this was possible. He had a feeling that his abnormal dream had something to do about it.
Taking of his shirt and tucking it to the rack, he looked back at the mirror.
A yelp of shock escaped him and he abruptly backed away from his reflection.
His shock apparent from the bulge of his eyes. Was this a joke? One that made him out to be a fool. If so, it definitely delivered.
His reflection showed his well built body. One that he trained for since a child, but nothing out of the ordinary for one of noble birth .
Instead, what filled him with great shock was the nine pointed star that rested like a brand on his chest.
Why?! Why this symbol? Lucas thought. The nine pointed star was a symbol powered by the mana of the Morning star family. None who shared their blood couldn't inscribe it.
Then...this meant-
Lucas stumbled backwards, tripped on his feet and fell flat on the floor. He was baffled, his mind churned with countless turbulent thoughts.
How was he supposed to feel about such a revelation.
***
Lucas walked towards spellcasting class.
Thoughts of the symbol on his chest wriggled in his mind as he kept his eyes on the ground. Many students lined the halls, most adoring grey robes to show their apprentice status.
Only a few of them walked around in black robes. Robes which symbolized their status as a true adept.
Occasionally, a few glances would come his way, but he was too busy thinking to notice. What did the white-robed figure do to him?
Surely, when he tapped his forehead and wrought burning pain within his brain, there was something he possibly implanted within him.
But Lucas was in too much pain at the time to notice any abnormalities that may have occurred. Damn it! Why me of all people. Damn Morningstar's. He thought in disdain.
Just as he was about to take another step forward, a sudden pull on his shoulder brought him back to reality.
He whipped backwards in search for who grabbed him.
" Whoa…relax Luke ." Nicolas put up his hand In defense. "It's just us." He gestured with his head to his side.
"Ah..yeah.." Lucas said, his voice distant, as he looked at Helios beside Nicolas.
They stood there for a moment in tense silence. A silence of a million complaints yet none at the same time.
Helios simply stared at Lucas, a frown forming on his lips.
Lucas lifted a melancholic smile." Helios..sorry for not visiting." He glanced at Helios's lightly bandaged arm and asked." Your arm..how do you feel?"
" Feeling better than before..." Said Helios." Good enough to fight more. Good enough to get stronger." He said clenching his fist lightly.
" I'm glad then" said Lucas, his voice soft.
He turned his head and continued forwards, leaving Nicolas with a face of worry and surprise as he looked at Helios and shook his head. Helios frowned at the action.
They walked in silence to class, thoughts about Lucas's actions propelling them forward to get closer to him and unravel his odd behavior.
***
Tens of students trickled into a large rocky room.
The walls of the room were barricaded in enchanted metal that glowed purple and were lined with dummies with targets sewn onto them.
Most likely they were enchanted from mages of the third tier. After all, non of the first year students could never dream of damaging the finely woven fiber. Not when their average strength was in the third collar of the first tier.
In the center of the room, a black robed man stood facing the emerging students. His face marred with a large scar crossing the bridge of his nose and an eerie maniacal grin sat on his face.
Silence filled the room as the students settled into their positions, waiting for Master Thorn to address them.
The man walked forward and spoke in a loud grating voice that travelled throughout the whole room.
"My dear apprentices! Here we gather today in a joyful showing of what you have all attained so far." He said with raised hands." A week past, I gave you all the 'bolt' spell to practice on and the time has come to gauge who the riffraff are in your little group."
His robes fluttered as he walked beyond a drawn line in the rocky ground, and stood beside a huge rock next to the crowd of young mages.
"Split yourselves into groups of five. Take your stances and fire three shots the moment you feel prepared." He said with crossed arms. "Ah! Remember young ones…. Time is precious on the battlefield."
Many students shifted around in the crowd and a few murmurs broke out.
A few moments after that, five students stepped out of the grey mass and stopped before the line.
They took a few seconds preparing themselves and soon the first crack of lightning whipped through the air.
The boy to the far right whipped his hand forward in a sharp arc. Blue lightning arced around his hand, crackling through the air and in the blink of an eye struck the dummy on its chest-
Bang!
Soon after, rounds of resounding crackles whipped through the air and collided with various dummies. Most of them hitting the mark .
Master Thorn clapped his hands in what seemed like elation. " Good! Very good!" he said , the smile on his face widening." Seems like this bunch mostly have a strong grasp over the spell. That's good enough for now. You can move along."
"Next!"
From there on, tens of students flung lightning bolts towards the dummies. Of course, none doing any damage to their fiber.
Lucas blankly watched on. Throughout the whole session he only saw mouths moving, but no sound accompanied it. For all he cared, it was useless blabber to him.
Lucas looked up at the light protruding from holes in the roof. He suddenly felt he shared similarities with it's figure.
Before, he wouldn't have noticed any significance within them both.
But now it was different.
He was caged by the expectations placed unto him by his family name. The moment he'd been born , choice had been stripped from his hands. Freedom a foreign concept.
Such was the same for the light shining upon this room. The rocks shielded the room from the lights embrace, allowing only miniscule bits of its touch to grace the bounds closed off to it.
He couldn't help but click his tongue in disgust. To be free, what would he need to do? What must he accomplish to shed the barrier to the bounds he could barely touch?
The question echoed in his mind, reverberating within the darkness. Searching for it's answer within the lonely abyss.
Moments of silence permeated in his mind. Is there no answer, then. Am I destined to this lowly fate.
He closed his eyes and clenched his fist. Just when he tried to calm his heart, a booming shout ripped him from his stupor.
"-Morning star!"
Lucas opened his eyes and looked around. To his surprise, he and four other students stood last to fire the spell. Everybody else had finished their turn and all eyes were on him.
" Is the sky gonna give you answers my boy! Hurry up and start so we can get it over with." Master Thorn huffed in annoyance.
" Ah …yes..sorry about that." He nodded to the students at his sides.
He took the middle spot and quickly readied himself. They all readied themselves.
The pattern was simple. He needed to take the spell module he formed within his core, flood it's patterns with his mana and simply exert the spell through his spirit , using the spell's direction.
Directing it towards the targets on the dummies.
It was something he didn't care to practice, since he planned on staying far way from the spotlight. An average score was his goal.
And so without much focus and without any caution, he grasped at the mana within himself , molded it over the sigil with a speed and form beyond his prior capabilities.
He paid no attention to his form and simply channeled the electric mana towards his hand, feeling the hair raising force flow through him.
And with a sloppy but casual flick of his arcing hand, released a bolt of deep blue-
Bang!!!
The ground shook and dust rose through the air as the bolt hit faster than any before it.
What the hell!? He shielded his eyes. Why did that happen!? There was only one sound of an explosion. That couldn't be right.
That would mean the others didn't release their spells…. That would be horrible news.
The dust gradually settled . The smoke rising to the air and evaporating at each passing moment.
The setting dust gradually abated in painful silence , and as it all cleared , that same painful silence was all that remained.
None spoke . All of them looked a the site of contact in shock , their eyes wide and mouths gaping in awe. Even master Thorn raised his eyes.
"Shit" Lucas softly cursed. This was a problem.
The dummy's top half no longer existed. It's very existence eviscerated from the earth as only ash lay on the floor. The smell of scorched earth and burnt wool cut through the air.
And now, Lucas couldn't help by understand an unprecedented event had just occurred.
Unknowingly it is was one that would shake the foundations of the world he knew and pace the path to the freedom he felt slipped from his deteriorating grasp.