"Good morning, kid! Going to school early today?" the owner of the cake shop asked me with a wide smile on his face.
"Good morning to you, and yes, today I have some work to do, so I'm going early," I replied with a polite smile on my face.
With that, I took off to my school and arrived there after thirty minutes of walking. One may wonder, why would anyone walk for thirty minutes to go to school? Can't they just take a bus or bike? Yeah, they are right. But there is another reason for me walking to school besides money, and that is vehicles.
I always walk to school, hoping that today will be the fateful day that one of the vehicles hits me and grants me the eternal peace I desperately desire. But that never happened, not even today. Thus, I have safely arrived at school. I went straight to my classroom, then sat at the desk near the window at the back of the room. I quickly put my head on the desk and closed my eyes, pretending to be asleep.
But it seems my efforts were not enough, as a voice said, "Hey, doofus, did you complete my assignment?"
I don't even have to look for the person the voice belongs to—I know him dearly. I answered in a polite tone, "Yes, Arnold, I have completed your assignment, but you should check it over before submitting it. Um, if you want to, of course." I handed over a pile of papers to Arnold as I spoke these words.
Arnold scoffed, grabbed the assignment papers, threw me a disgusting glance, and said with displeasure, "For someone who could not even sense mana, you really know how they work well. Guess that's what a nerd's strength is. Anyways, if I get minus points, I'm not letting you go, even if you're the Frost clan patriarch's son."
"No need to say those scary words. I got it already."
Well, I'm from the Frost clan, just like the overgrown buffoon said. The Frost clan is one of the major clans and wields authority second only to the royal family. My clan is mainly tasked with military duties and protecting the northern border of the empire, which is located at the edge of Snow Forest. Like the name suggests, my clan specializes in water and ice magic. The current patriarch, Ren—my father—is a kind and caring man. But he's not suited to lead the clan because of that reason.
Even though I am the son of the patriarch, I can't wield mana or aura like my peers. I haven't even met my soul spirit yet.
Normally, all children meet their soul spirit at the age of fifteen, gaining access to their soul realm and, in turn, the ability to wield mana and along with their attributes or affinities. The ambient mana's reaction marks the final step of the awakening process. Yet, even at seventeen, I have never experienced this, which is why I'm called a "doofus" and looked down upon.
But in truth, I can enter my soul realm and have met my soul spirit already. Though capable of that, I hide it because I'm unstable—and so is the entity connected to me. Though, I'm not sure I can keep it hidden for long, as I'm involuntarily swept into my soul world quite often nowadays.
Soon, the teacher entered the class and started teaching the lesson. The lesson was on the topic of the underlying principles of mana.
Hauam!
I yawned and looked out the window in boredom. Then, I felt shivers run through my whole body, and my vision became dark. I tried to resist the sudden pull and my body began trembling. Arnold, who was going back to his desk, paused and asked in a surprised tone, "Hey, doofus, what's going on with you?" At the same time the ambient mana started to react too prompting others to notice the two of us.
'Shit!' I cursed inwardly as I was swept into my soul world. The mana in the air stirred violently, and the air became colder, and an ominous feeling descended prompting everyone in the class to turn their heads toward me. The teacher shouted for everyone to get away from me and cast a barrier around me to contain the mana overload during the awakening process.
I tried to resist the pull desperately and clenched the desk as hard as I could but to no avail. I felt an overwhelming sense of dread and fear for what's about to happen.
Then my view changed, and I found myself standing in the familiar white void once again, facing my soul spirit and my headmates. Valtreyek, my soul spirit, said solemnly, "Rin, we can't run away anymore, it seems."
I nodded and said in a tense voice, "Yeah, we have no choice but to face it now."
So, why would I keep my abilities and connection to my soul a secret, even though I'm the son of the Frost clan's patriarch—which would cause trouble for my clan and family? The answer is simple, really.
Everyone in the world possesses affinity toward every element and concept. It's just that they only perceive and wield the elements they share a deeper connection with. So, everyone thinks they can only wield the elements of their affinities rather than everything.
But I am different. Weirdly, I was born with high affinity toward every element and concept and began to sense spiritual energy—or mana—way earlier. Thus, my logic, reasoning, perspective, and view of the world became a proper mess, which resulted in my connection to Chaos becoming much deeper. My soul, it seems, possesses a unique element: the blue flame, which represents my affinity toward everything. Even though I'm Rin Frost, I wield flames more than ice, which can cause quite a ruckus if it were to be found out.
The main problem, though, is the fact that I'm not well in the mental department—to a high degree. I struggle with normal tasks, emotions, the world, and my very own existence itself. Whenever I try to use my mana, my mind is overcome with a sudden wave of madness, and if not for Valtreyek, something terrible could've happened.
But in truth, I love magic more than anyone in the world—but I'm unable to pursue it because of my unstable mind. As an add-on, my deepened connection with Chaos concerns me, as the world itself calls me "Chaosborne," and the Chaos in question seems to interact with me more.
Though Chaos is not inherently bad like the world thinks, we are both very disorganized and unstable—to the point of harming others and even ourselves, which is our nature. So, I avoided my awakening. But this time, I must face it.
After all, facing it might lead to the End I seek so dearly.
I turned toward the incarnations of the concepts and gods present in my soul and greeted them.
"Hey, how's it going?"