Chapter five: divinity is a thing, apparently

as the world turned black and the all too familiar coldness surrounded me, i suddenly landed in a dark cave, as i stood up the room filled with light, i looked up to see what was casting this bright light, "my hero, my chosen one, the world's savior" said a glowing figure, the one who casted this bright light, said in a soft voice, i couldn't see her facial characteristics, "do you know who i am, my child?" she asked me, "a deity?" i asked in a calm voice, "yes" she answered, "does the fact that i am seeing you means i died?" i asked her in a wandering voice, "no my child, your time has yet to come" she said vaguely, "go, go and prepare yourself" she said, "prepare for what?" I asked, but before I got an answer the bright light filled my eyes and the deity disappeared from my sight, sending me back to earth.

i woke up to a body full of pain, everything hurt, from the top to the bottom of my body, i opened my eyes to see a soft, flickering light that at first made me think it was the deity again, but after looking around i saw that the source of the light was a campfire one and a half meter away from me, i noticed my body was weirdly stiff, looking down at my body, i saw that my whole upper body was covered with a white bandage, i heard a sound of steps on the stone floor and tried to turn my head towards the sound but couldn't move it more than a few centimeters, "oh, you're awake" said a deep unfamiliar voice, the owner of the voice moved to a place where i could see his face, it was an elderly man with a white spiky hair and beard and a face full of wrinkles which stood in contrast to his lively oceane-blue eyes, his ears were pointy and his body had a thin muscular build, an elf, "who are you?" I asked him in a hoarse and weak voice, it was a wonder that he could even hear me, "I'm Cain, and as you probably guessed, I'm an elf" he said, "are you the one who saved me?" i asked in a weak voice after he gave me some water, "i guess you could say that" he answered after helping me sit upright, "and let me tell you, that was quite the spell you used against that elemental" he said chuckling, "what happened to my friends after the elemental was defeated?" i asked him, "i didn't know there were other people there beside you, we are currently in a cave below the mountains, or what's left of them" he replied, "i just saw a figure flying in the air after it released a large amount of energy as i got back from hunting something for dinner, i caught the flying figure before it hit the ground, that was you, by the way, that explosion flatted out almost the entire area, it was a wonder that you were still alive after that grand of an explosion" he continued, "when i caught you the traces of the light and darkness were fading away from your body but still definitely there, but no, i didn't see anyone else there" he said, i tried to stand up and exit the cave, "what do you think you are doing?" Cain rose up and blocked my way, "I need to make sure that my friends are okay" I said, "at this stage you can't walk a few meters on your own!" he yelled at me, shocked from his yell i fell back to the bed Cain has set up for me, "then what am i supposed to do?!" i asked him, "right now you need to focus on healing, after you are fully healed, your training will start" he replied.

"What training?" i asked him, "your affinity assimilation training, obviously" he answered, "hmm? what's that?" i asked him, i had never heard the term before, he sighed, " affinity assimilation is the process that makes a mage control the full abilities of his elemental affinity in the most optimal way" he said, after looking at the confused look on my face he started explaining, "as you probably know already, each element has different properties, wind being swift and in constant movement, water having an flowing, adaptive pattern to it, earth being stable but powerful and fire being a restrained, unlimited power that when let loose will demolish everything in its way, when a mage has an elemental affinity he or she will have to adapt the element's most suitable properties while in battle, for example, if a mage has an affinity for wind magic then his style of fighting will probably be constant resounding slashes and attacks, and if his affinity is towards water his fighting style will most probably be a flowing pattern of attacks that when cut of, it won't be stopped but redirected, just like water, got it?" he asked me, "well that was a lot of information in one load but yeah, i think i understand" i replied, he nodded in approval, "good, try to get some sleep" he said in a kind voice, "wait!" i shouted out to him, "why are you so willing to train and take care of me?" I asked her, "because you are the future protector and leader of the continent, and as for the training part, let's just say that I'm excited to train another light and darkness wielder" he said as a light smile rose up to his face.

it took about a week for me to fully heal thanks to Cain's medicinal herbs and healing abilities, before the physical training began Cain explain to me the essentials of the training, "unlike the four basic elements, it is not that easy to define the properties of the light and the dark because unlike most spells, most the spells of the light and darkness are passive and very hard to implement in combat, for example, the spell 'shadow control' is nearly impossible to use mid-fight" he said, "but i thought that there are no spells for my elements because they are so rare that there is no living being able to control them, so how do you know affinity specific spells?" i asked him, "while it is true that there is no one able to control those elements, that doesn't necessarily mean that there are no remnants of the spells for those elements in books, or in this case an elf" Cain explained, "do you mean that you know light and dark elemental spells?" i asked him, "yes, in my life i have trained a few young mages like you, including the first king" he said in a proud voice, "i see, wait, you trained the first king?!" I asked, "then how old are you really?" i followed with another one, "yes, i trained the first king when he was just a bit older than you, and as for my age, well i don't know my exact age, i stopped counting after 300" he winked, "so, back to your training, right now i won't try and teach you any spells, but more physical training to adjust your body to the elements, since you are a dual elemental mage, you will need to master both attack styles, for both the light and the dark, the most optimal way of fighting with the light and the darkness is the most difficult styles to master,

the art of fighting with the light element is based around attacking from all sides in a way that your opponent can't tell the source of the strikes, just how the light surrounds you from all directions in a way you can't avoid, and as for the darkness, well, the darkness is more or less the exact opposite, instead of striking from all direction with no exact source, while fighting with the element of the dark, you want to always target your opponent's blind spot or their opening without them being able to actually hit you, just like you can't fit your own shadow, got it?" Cain asked, "yeah i got it, but how exactly am i going to enhance my speed to that level?" i answered with another question, "first of all, i'm going to train your physical abilities without mana" he said, "but why should i train my physical abilities instead of my mana control?" i asked him, Cain let out a sigh, "well think about it this way, amplifying your body as it is right now with mana will improve your natural ability by about 250%, so if you improve your starting point then the mana will be way more effective in comparison to your starting position, so instead of the original 250% improvement, it will upgrade to about 700% from your original body capabilities, that is of course, only if you manage to finish my training program" he explained, "i see, so where do we begin?" i asked him, "the first thing that you will need to do every morning before the training will begin is a light run" he began saying "sounds simple enough" i said before he could finish, "let me finish, a light run in the path surrounding the forest" he emphasized, "o-okay, so that is the first part of the training, what's next?" I asked a bit less passionately about the whole thing, Cain raised an eyebrow, "who said anything about training? the run will just be your light warm up".

and so the training began, every morning opened with a light run around the forest (by the way, apparently for Cain, a light run means 15 kilometers), after getting back to the cave we called home i took my sword (which miraculously stayed on my waist) and we got out to hunt something for lunch in the woods without using magic, since i wasn't very accustomed to fighting without magic i had to start with some horned rabbits instead of hunting the large animals like i wanted at first, but after Cain told me to try and hunt a simple rabbit, a task which proved to be very difficult without the use of magic, i realized that i was no where near being able to hunt anything as large as the silver jackals from before, the rabbits might have been weak but they made up for it with their unreal speed and vicious horns located on their foreheads, it took me longer then i would have liked to admit to hunt my first rabbit, after 3 hours of frustration of being unable to kill a single rabbit Cain told me that the only things i will eat while training with him would be things that i managed to hunt, with that knowledge in my head it seemed that the motivation to not starve to death i managed to corner a single rabbit and cook it for lunch, the rabbits' tough meat was nowhere near the juicy meat of the silver jackals, but it was filling enough for me to continue to the next step of my daily training routine: dueling, Cain told me that training my muscle mass i no where near enough for me to be able to be able to fight efficiently, i also needed to training my combat comprehension, his way for teaching me that is making me duel with him without the use of mana, unlike what i thought at first, dueling doesn't only involve muscle activities but when you're fighting also have to calculate where and when your opponent is going to strike you and how to evade that attack and counter with your own, and so, just like that things started to fall into a comfortable rhythm as the time went by.

FOUR YEARS LATER

as the blazing bear thrusted another paw engulfed in flames at my throat i caught it behind it's wrist and used the bear's momentum against him and throw him to the mossy ground of the forest, but my plane worked a bit to well, i mean i did manage to avoid the bear's attack but the thrust that my throw had created blew me to the enormous tree in front of me head first, but unlike what would have probably happened a few years ago if i would have been in the same situation, i didn't slam into the tree, but instead, my instincts kicked in and i turned mid air so that my feet will absorb my attack, after hitting the tree i used the motion created by the hit and redirected it so instead of breaking my legs i would bounce to a different tree, from the second tree i thrusted back to the rising up bear and pulled my sword and decapitated the bear, looking at my sword i could see that from the clean slash i had just made there was no remains of blood, i smiled to my self in satisfaction, i had made a very long way since four years ago, not only did my level of fighting skill had improved but my physical state has also come a very long way, i made my way up to the decapitated blazing bear, the 2.5 meter high bear with reddish-orange veins running throughout his body and his immense control over fire magic had definitely earned him his name, i picked up the bear's lifeless corps and head and started walking home, as i walked i thought to myself about magic, and how i haven't trained nor used magic even the tiniest bit for over four years now, how will that effect my magic training when or should i say if I'll ever finish my physical training, when i got to that point i had made it to the cave i called home for the past four years, "Cain! I'm back!" i yelled to him, "already? it has only been five minutes since you left" Cain said as he walked out of the cave, unlike me, hasn't changed even the slightest bit in the past four years, his eyes still oceany-blue and energetic as always and his hair still the purest white i have ever seen, Cain sighed as he saw the corpse of the blazing bear behind me, ''well I guess after all that training a blazing bear really wouldn't be much of a challenge for me'' I chuckled, in one moment, Cain's gaze changed from a casual nonchalant gaze to the look of a predator analyzing his opponent as he answered, ''I guess so, well, you know what?, i think it's time, this will be your final test before i'll begin to teach you magic, go out again and survive by yourself until you can hunt down an AA+ ranked mana beast and you may not come back until you hunt one, the rules are: you cannot use magic whatsoever, you may only take your sword and your water flask, as long as it takes, got it?" Cain said, "yeah, yeah I got it" I said as a smile rose to my face due to the new challenge I was faced with no doubt a bad habit from my past life.

CAIN FLEMING'S POV

I have taught countless students, met with even a larger number of unbelievable individuals, but this kid, Xander Sunstone, was different from them all, he may not be the most talented nor the smartest person i have worked with, but the thing that sets him apart from the others is his approach, instead of falling to the ground in defeat every time he failed, the moment he sees that he is at a disadvantage he switches his approach regarding a certain technique he tries to change his stance to one more suitable for him, that way, instead of adapting to a technique that doesn't fully suits him he creates his own custom technique that fits him perfectly, and while fighting him you can see that in every moment the fight goes on he is analyzing both his own movement and the opponent's movement's as well, his reaction speed is truly admirable, while fighting it is almost possible to see his eyes analyzing the situation.

fighting with him for the first time sure was a surprise, instead of me berating him in just a few seconds like what i had expected to happen, he actually managed to keep his stance stable at all times, and the way he blocked and dogged was almost impossible to comprehend, he was fighting in such high degree to a point where it seemed like he was an experienced warrior,

He truly is a remarkable child, as i told him about the test he was faced with, unlike anyone i have ever put through this test before, he didn't tremble in fear, try to convince me that he wasn't ready for this sort of task nor fall to the ground in despair, instead, he had smiled to himself as a look of a psychopath rose in his eyes, we both turned in different ways as i walked back to the cave and he faced to the giant forest behind me, "scary little brat" i mumbled to myself.

XANDER SUNSTONE'S POV

Even in my previous life i had the bad habit of accepting every challenge i was confronted with, and it might not seem like a bad habit at first, but it got me into some very annoying situations, and so the moment Cain put me to the test i had to accept and do my best to complete it, the very moment i entered the forest i made my priority list, first i needed to gather supplies, after that, i needed to find myself a shelter for the night, and only after that, the test will begin.

After i hunted a few green-winged falcons (a large bird with a high affinity towards wind magic), i looked for a place i could stay in for the rest of the test, after about 30 minutes of walking i exited the forest and started walking towards the great mountains, although the used to be even grander before my fight with the earth elemental, watching the high mountains condescending from above truly was quite the view, as i got to the bottom of the mountain range i saw a crack in the side of the mountain, i had to climb a few meters of steep rocks with three dead green-winged falcons on my back to get to the large crack so i could confirm my suspicion, i was indeed correct the crack wasn't just on surfaces level but went into the mountains if a giant jammed a knife into it, i decided that this would be my home for the time being, as i walked inside just a few meters it was as dark as the night itself, i was being as careful as i could be, after all the last time i walked into a dark and unknown place ended in me being sent to here, after about 20 meters the tight cave opened up to a larger space than Cain's cave, it was probably well over 75 meters and near each side of the cave was an opening to who knows where, but the most surprising thing was that… i was not alone.

In the middle of the cave was a large and bright fire and strangely enough, the flames were both dark and had no smoke whatsoever, but as impressive and flashy as the fire could be, the thing that caught my eyes was the giant black beast in front of me, as i got closer to it with my sword unsheathed, the black fire revealed more and more details about the mana beast, it was over 4 meters long and when it lifted it's triangular head placed on it's long neck the beast's height rose to about 2.5 meters, and that was only when the beast was laying down, as it opened it's glowing purple eyes and looked at me it felt as if it could see my soul, my legs suddenly felt weak and started trembling as i fell on my knees in submission, if only it gaze could render me to this state, then i would stand no chance in trying to fight it, my body screamed at me to run but i simply couldn't, my body wouldn't move the slightest bit, 'come here little one' i heard a soft female voice inside my head, the beast nodded it's head at me as signal to come near it, i got up and slowly walked towards it, 'it fine little one, I'm not going to hurt you' i heard the soft voice in my head again, i sat in front of the beast and finally got a god look at it, the fire lighted up the parts of the beast i could not see, the beast's entire body was coated in black scales that shined in the low, purple light the fire emitted, it's head was triangular with two large ivory colored horns, the beast's eye color was a glowing purple and it's gaze was gentle unlike it's appearance, after after i got over the menacing face i managed to look at the body of the beast, as i looked at the beast's torso i saw that it had two giant, bat-like wings, at the tip of each wind was a small, ivory colored spikes, as i saw the wings everything clicked in, wings, scales and fire, 'by the look in your eyes i can assume that you have finally figured out what i am?' the soft voice asked in my head, after a bit of struggling i finally managed to get a few words out of my mouth, "y…you're a dragon?!".