1 Chapter 1 - Winter.

Earth.

The blue planet was glowing with blue light, looking beautiful as a gem, giving of a peaceful sensation, but if someone were to look beyond the surface then they would find endless conflicts between numerous factions, unimaginable bloodshed, struggles for power and the deceitful nature of humans.

The strong rule and the weak suffer, mages fight for dominance with powerful spells, knights slash down their enemies with swords, archers penetrate enemies with arrows and the daring explore ancient ruins.

But there are safe locations - The Mage Cities. The Mage Cities are ruled by mages of unimaginable power, they defend their territories with grit and rule them with and iron fist. It is a known fact among the citizens of Mage Cities that their every move is observed and their actions evaluated by the ruler.

Many people who live in a Mage City consider their rulers as gods to be worshiped.

This is also what Edvin thinks. Edvin is a 13-year-old boy. He has dark brown hair and golden colored eyes. His build is pretty average and he's about 170 cm high. Edvin is a smart young boy, but he sometimes gets too emotional. He is an orphan who had been left in the one of the city's orphanages at the age of 3. In the orphanage, he grew up in a friendly environment as the nuns were very kind and the kids somewhat managed to get along.

Edvin had always admired mages and their powers. It's every kids dream to become a respected mage. Every time when the nuns teaches a subject related to magic, he listens to them very seriously as all the pupils do.

Today was the last class on magic because at the age of 13 all kids are tested on their affinities to the elements and Edvin had recently turned 13 years old.

When Edvin came to the classroom that he was so familiar with, he had a saddened expression. He would miss the old oak desk, the worn-out yellow curtains and most of all the teacher Alice. Alice is a 37-year-old nun who also is an orphan, but from a young age she had already decided to become a nun. She had long dark hair and deep green eyes. She also was a little taller than Edvin so she teased him a lot about his short height.

"Edvin stop blocking the way, please!" said a girl who was his peer. "Sorry, I got little distracted," said Edvin as he moved to his desk.

"So, are you guys excited for the testing?" asked a boy.

"Of course, but I do feel a little nervous. I mean, we haven't lived outside of the orphanage, so it will be a big change in the environment," said Edvin, while he was preparing for class.

"You just don't want to part with Ms. Alice," rebuked the girl, who was sitting to his right.

"So what if I don't want to leave teacher Alice, she is such a kind-hearted person!" Edvin said in an annoyed tone.

The boy and the girl looked at him with wide smiles: "You have a crush on her, don't you?"

"No, I-I just find her a smart and reliable person, who I can trust!" he said in a higher tone. Edvin started to get cornered, so he tried to change the subject: "Speaking of Alice, are you guys ready for todays test?"

"You're really bad at changing the subject, do you know that," said the girl with amusement.

"This test is gonna to be a peace of cake, I'm going to get zero point easily, you guys just wait," said the boy with confidence.

"You sure have ambitions, don't you?" said the girl sarcasticaly.

"What do you mean, I have big ambitions, in the future I am going to be the next Ruler of the Mage City of Life," the boy was still confident.

"Phhh, haha! You, becoming a Ruler, no way, never, not even in a thousand years. You can't even do your test properly and now you're thinking of becoming a Ruler, dream on sunshine!" said the girl while laughing.

Edvin was couldn't help, but become happier at the sight of his two friend arguing.

But Edvin had to admit that they were a perfect match in his eyes.

Everyone was chatting about various aspects of life when teacher Alice came in, she was tasked with supervising this class and she was a basic magic teacher as well.

"Okay, settle down class, get ready for the lesson. This will be your last and final lesson, after which we will have a test about everything we have learned." the classroom became very quiet, very fast as they heard the teacher speaking.

Alice had a solemn look as she gazed at the boys and girls in her class. She knew that their time together would soon be over. But that didn't mean she would lose her professionalism as a teacher.

"I hope that everyone knows that this will be your last lesson before the exam. I advise you to listen carefully. Today we shall revise the most important topic, magic affinity," when she started the lesson on magic affinity her eyes lit up.

"All of you know the most basic elements, they are fire, water, earth, wind, light and darkness," she said.

"The world is made up with these basic elements. When they combine, they make another element, we call this process elemental fusion. There are uncommon cases during the affinity assessment when a person awakens with a fused element. For example, our city is known to see many awaken with the element of life, that is a fusion between light and water. I hope that many of you can unlock the element of life as it will improve your future standing in the city and give you more opportunities."

Alice paused for a moment and gave a solemn expression: "But if one of you is going to awaken with the darkness element then it will be very hard for you to survive in this city. Having the darkness element on itself isn't a bad thing, but many people despise it anyway, especially in the City of Life. Nobody likes the dark powers of the world, but the world cannot exist without them."

"The light element users have always been at war with the dark elemental users, but they still haven't dared to make a ruckus in one of the mage cities. But I hope that you will not be one or the other, the light element users are also very annoying, they always regard themselves as god's chosen ones, they blabber about being the saviors of humanity. Many people have always regarded them as hypocrites." the class was very quiet, as they were listening very carefully, while Alice explained the complex relations between mage communities.

"Now let's talk about the process of the elemental affinity acquisition. You all will be standing in a line at the magic crystal. You will place your hand over the crystal and it will change color according to your element, but it will also change the intensity of the light that it will emit, the stronger the light the stronger your affinity with the element. After you know your element, you will need to enroll in a magic academy of your elemental type. Then your real studies will begin. There will naturally be representatives of each elemental academy, scouting for potential pupils," Alice paused for a moment, "I hope that some of you can get into a good academy."

As the lesson continued, noon came quickly.

*Bell ringing*

"Okay, class dismissed. I will be checking your tests now," said Alice while she was taking a look at the papers, "I will publish the results this afternoon."

When Alice finished speaking, the class was starting to leave.

"Edvin, what do you think about the test?" said the boy, who had black hair and blue eyes, he had an average build and was taller than Edvin. "It wasn't that hard, if you made sure to listen and understand the topics, there shouldn't be any problems," Edvin glared at the boy, "Gilbert, did you listen to any of the lessons?" he inquired.

"Of course, I always listen to them very carefully and write everything down," Gilbert answered innocently.

"I hope so, but didn't you say earlier that you are going to get a perfect zero?" Edvin suddenly remembered.

"That was just a joke, don't take it seriously," Gilbert said.

"What happened to you confidence?," asked the girl, she had long fiery red hair, which went down her back, orange eyes and her body showed signs of development, but at the same time her personality was as fiery as her outer appearance.

"I would love to see Alice's expression when she revises your test," said Edvin with a chuckle and went out of the classroom.

As soon as Edvin left Gilbert stood there akwardly, he quickly packed his things.

"I guess, I'm going to take my leave as well," said Gilbert, while looking at the classroom door and a moment later rushing out of them.

"Are you running from me?," Adena was speechless.

***

Next day.

Edvin woke up early today because he needed to get himself ready for the day. He had waited for the test, for so long. He looked outside the window and saw countless snowflakes slowly falling down from the sky, the ground had already turned a milky white.

It was winter, the first month of winter was regarded as the month of magic, because the elemental energy was at its peak. Edvin had always been curious as to why the elemental energy peaked in the first month of winter, but nobody he asked could answer the question. It is definitely the first thing he is going to find out in the academy.

He went to the bathroom, washed up and went out to meet up with his friends.

The building in which he lived in was not so shabby as others would believe. The orphanage was the main supplier of children to the army. These children went to the army voluntarily. They were the ones who failed to achieve a connection with the elements, so the only other choice was the army.

Do not think that the treatment in the army is bad, it's quite the opposite. The army is very rich in resources and the treatment one receives is also fairly good, but that is if they manage to become a good cadet. Usually children from orphanages are put into special units that use and train with experimental equipment, this equipment can sometimes be very dangerous, but at the same time it can bring glory overnight.

For example, there is a magic gun division in the army that is mainly composed of orphans, they use the powerful magic guns to kill enemies, but the guns can sometimes explode due to chaotic magic fluctuations, killing the person holding it, hence the need for soldiers with no family ties.

He went down the wooden stairs and ran straight to the end of the hall, where he saw his two good friends Gilbert and Adena.

Gilbert was dressed like usual in plain attire and so was Adena, but she still was giving of a fiery aura as before.

"Are you guys excited as me for today's examination?" asked Gilbert while displaying an excited expression.

"Who wouldn't be excited? It is one of the most important moments in our lives," said Adena as her eyes were beaming with expectation, "I hope that I can get a powerful element like fire. What would guys like to get?"

"It would be awesome if I could get the element of life," Gilbert started to dream about himself becoming a respected wielder of life.

"Yeah, as if you would get a fused element," Adena looked at Edvin and asked, "what element would you like to get, Edvin?"

"I don't really know..." Edvin was surprised at his own answer, "I have never really thought about what element I would want to get. I just always hoped that I would actually get one."

"That… I have never really thought about it like that, but still have you never considered what element you would like to get?" Adena was very surprised by Edvin's answer.

"Not really, but I have thought about which academy I will go to. If I get the element of fire, I would choose the Firespark academy," Edvin spoke with enthusiasm, "they have the strongest fire element users in our city! If I get the element of water, then I would go to the academy of Seawell, it is renowned for their amazing control over ice and they have the best techniques in ice magic. Mmm, the earth element academy, that I would go to, would be Deep Valley. They have many strong gravity manipulation techniques. For the wind element, it is a little tricky, the academy of Stormwind is good because of their many tornado techniques, but the academy of Raging Storm is very good because of their many cutting moves," Edvin stopped for a moment and looked at both of his friends, "and for the Life element it will naturally be the Life City's academy."

"What about the light and darkness elements?" asked Gilbert. He knew that they are very rare, but he still wanted to know his opinion.

"I don't know. Getting the element of light or darkness is very rare, even rarer than getting a dual elemental fusion. And, would I really want one?" In reality Edvin didn't want to have one of those elements because their wielders are very hostile to one another and often cause trouble.

"Yeah, you're right. It's better not to get those elements," said Adena, while looking at the entrance of the building.

At the entrance one of the nuns walked in and she was holding a bell. She yelled while ringing the bell: "Get up everyone, it's time for breakfast. It will be served in 10 minutes, you all better hurry up before it's gone!"

"Quick, let's go!" exclaimed Gilbert.

***

Somewhere in the center of the Magic City of Life.

It was a room illuminated by dark green lights. In the middle of the room was a large round table and about 20 men in black were sitting around it.

"What do you think of the present situation?" said one of the men.

The room was silent. There was an unnerving atmosphere. In the dark room the only source of illumination were the dark green lights, so that they could only discern the silhouettes of the other persons.

"It looks like we will need to start using the transportation gates," said another man clad in black.

"Yes, we better get to them before they get to us," replied another man.

"No, let's wait for them to move closer to our system," the speaker said with a feminine voice. At the present situation she was the only one dressed in extravagant attire. She had a stunning appearance, she seemed to be at least 20 years old, she had enticing curves and one could only imagine her face which was covered with a vail, but she was the one who sat far above the meeting table. Everyone looked at her with deep respect, as she was the ruler of the Magic city of Life.

"We need to see what they are up to, before making any moves," she said.

The two men shut their mouths out of fear.

A man replied meekly: "That's right, we need to get more information before we move out. It would be unwise to confront the enemy before we know their strengths and weaknesses."

"We should form an alliance with the other cities," said a tall and sturdy man.

"Don't you know how that ends up? We usually lose those 'allies' after the first opportunity they see us vulnerable, they backstab us," replied a skinny man in an angry tone.

"But that happened under different circumstances, now we face an unknown threat from another factions," replied the tall and sturdy man.

"It still doesn't mean that we must unite to face the threat. We are still pretty strong on our one," said the skinny man.

"We won't form any alliance with the other cities, because we have the strength to be the first ranking city and the other cities will definitely attack us at the first opportunity they can, no outside threat can change their despicable way," said the Ruler of the Mage City of Life with contempt.

Silence premiered the atmosphere as nobody dared to retort her.

The clerk said with an awkward look on his face: "And with that we shall wrap up our meeting, we shall wait until the unknown danger makes a move."

When everybody left the room the clerk and the Ruler remained and the clerk asked: "Why are there only guys here and no woman, except for your highness?" The Ruler looked at him and said: "I just like the attention that the men give me, that's all."

The clerk looked dumbfounded: "Really?"

"Of course not, I have sent all of the women to do different missions, because these pigs are so incompetent that they couldn't even wipe their own asses, if their lives depended on it," the Ruler scoffed.

"But they are still pretty powerful, aren't they?" the clerk couldn't help to ask.

"Only women can cultivate the highest levels of the life magic, so they are only mediocre in terms of power," said the Ruler profoundly.

"Ahh, that's how it is," the clerk was enlightened.

The Ruler looked at him solemnly: "When is the new batch of children being tested?"

"It is today at noon, my lady," answered the clerk.

"I hope to see some promising young girls getting the life magic affinity, I ask of you to keep look out for promising ones to keep under my wing," the Ruler said while playing with her hair.

"I shall attend to it immediately, my lady," the clerk hurriedly went out of the room.

As the clerk left, the Ruler looked at her hands and said: "Maybe I should go get some fresh air myself." She stood up from her luxurious chair and made a waving motion, a spatial gate opened up which was only a little higher than her, she floated into it. There was a flash of green light as she vanished form the room.

***

It was nearing noon. Edvin and his two friends were already at the entrance of the testing ground. It was a magnificent mage tower that looked to be as high as a ten-story building and took up a large area of land, about four football fields put together. The tower was made of fine stones and it had many golden engravings, with a cone shaped blue tile roof. The entrance doors were very larger, so large that they could put through an elephant. The doors were made from ebony wood and had golden engravings with many embedded gemstones.

"Wow!" exclaimed Gilbert, he had never seen so many expensive items in his whole life, "they really aren't kidding around when it comes to decorating mage towers."

"This is the amount of wealth one can get when they become a mage, no wonder that they are so revered," said Adena while she was admiring the tower.

Edvin was also overwhelmed by the splendor of the mage tower, when there suddenly came a voice in front of them, it was Alice: "Come on you all let's go inside, we still have the test waiting for us, you will be able to admire the tower after it."

The interior was actually pretty simple as mages valued functionality over splendor especially for their living spaces, the only thing they would decorate would be the exterior, as that flaunts there status more.

The hall in which they went in was very spacious and there were many children gathered there, they were looking to the middle of the hall where there was a large magic crystal raised on a platform, the crystal was transparent and it was the size of a grown man. Behind the crystal sat many mages of varying shapes, sizes and ages, but they had distinct clothing, which represented their academies.

"Look at that man over there, he's from Life City's academy Jonathan Creamcut, look at the insignia of a leaf on his shoulder, god I wish that I could wear that one day," said a random boy in the crowd. He was pointing to a man in his thirties, who had a clean shave and some stylish green hair, he had an average height.

Adena looked at Edvin and asked: "Who is he?"

"He is a prominent rising star in the Life academy and he's got many achievements, they say that he had forced a Land Dragon to retreat," answered Edvin in excitement.

"How do you know this?" Adena looked at him with curiosity.

"I spend my time with many knowleagle people in the library," said Edvin proudly.

"Okay…" Adena wasn't quite satisfied with the answer, but she let go it.

While everybody was discussing various topics, Jonathan stood up from his seat and went to the front of the crystal. He looked at the crowd and the noise quickly died down.

"Hello everyone! I hope that all of you had a good morning! Today we gather here for the annual affinity testing for young people. Let's not drag this on any longer, as all of you have been waiting for this moment for a very long time. Firstly, I will explain some processes, all of the participants will get their identities checked from the staff and those who have passed it will form an orderly line and no pushing in the line as that will be punished. Secondly, when you come up to the magic crystal you will only have to put your hand on the crystal and it will do the rest for you. I assure you that the results will be completely accurate as the crystal incorporates the most advanced technologies," when Jonathan finished his speech, he went to the crystal and put his palm on its surface, the transparent crystal instantly lit up in a bright green color and life aura saturated the surroundings.

"Wow, it so beautiful!" said someone in the crowd. And many more nodded to that exclamation.

He slowly took off his palm and looked at the crowd with a light smile and then support personnel formed a line before the crystal to check everyone's identities.

Edvin looked at Alice and asked: "Do we have our identification with us?" Edvin didn't know he had those documents made.

Alice looked at him as if she understood what he was thinking: "Yes, they were made the moment you entered the orphanage," she went inside her robe and took out a parcel, "this is where all of your documents are."

Alice gestured with her hand: "Let's go, before the line gets too long." She started walking and the trio with the other orphans followed.

While waiting in one of the lines Edvin saw many people go up to the crystal and nervously put on their hands. There were many who didn't get any reaction from the magic crystal. There were some who got the color of the basic elements, but the light intensity wasn't that bright and a few fellows got a very intensive light with the basic elements. Those will be the so-called talented students. But four kids got fused elements and strong enough lights. They will be the geniuses and they were immediately recruited by their respective elemental academies.

After the four geniuses there were many more people who walked up to the crystal, but there were no noteworthy individuals.

Edvin looked at Alice and asked: "Why are there so little people getting an affinity?"

Alice looked at his curious face and chuckled: "It is not easy to get an affinity and only common people are attending this test, many aristocracy families do the testing on their own and usually the results are very positive. It is mostly because of their bloodlines that they can surely get an affinity."

"So that's how it is, " Edvin had always been curious about the reason why many common people failed the test, it seemed that their bloodlines were weak and he now knew why the aristocracy was so strong.

"Can you change your bloodline?" Edvin wasn't sure about his own natural talents so he asked just in case.

"I don't know, you will have to find that out for yourself," she answered honestly.

Alice had never studied this subject and didn't know anything about it. She had only taken courses in magic elements and their usages.

While they were taking a girl with a petite frame and short, light brown hair went up the platform and looked at the mages nervously.

A mage in red robes said with a smile: "Don't be so shy little girl, go and put your hand on the crystal."

She nodded and did as instructed. Her tiny palm gently pressed against the crystal, when she did that a blinding light shone from the crystal as its insides turned a deep green. There were many green wisps of various sizes slowly floating inside the crystal, all of then gathered to the center and started rotating in a circle, forming a halo. The halo spun at a low speed and shot out many light beams which penetrated the crystal and escaped outside illuminating the hall in a bright green color.

Jonathan stood up with shock on his face: "This is the Holy life element!"

When everyone heard this, they became confused and a moment later the girl stepped back from the crystal while the light slowly vanished.

Jonathan quickly composed himself and asked the girl: "What is your name little girl?" Jonathan looked at this treasure with gentless.

"I-I'm Helena," she said nervously.

"Helena, you have a very powerful gift, if I may say so, in the future you can become a very powerful mage and achieve many great things. Why don't you come and become my disciple," Jonathan was hoping to become her master as she was a rare treasure which was worth cultivating.

Helena's eyes instantly lit up: "Yes I will, master."

"Good girl, now go and get ready, I have already put a tracking spell on you and I will go find you later this evening," said Jonathan with a happy simile.

"Next!" he said as Helena was walking away and everyone looked at her with envious gazes, this was a new experience for her that made her feel very uncomfortable.

The other mages looked at Jonathan with envy, but they didn't have a choice in this matter because there was only one life, light and darkness element academy in Life City. They got all of the best students without any effort, whereas the other elemental academies had to fight over their pupils.

Edvin looked at Alice with a dumbfounded face and Alice responded expertly: "I haven't talked that much about this subject in class. To put it shortly there is a rare chance that the awakened element would mutate and become something stronger or weaker, but because it is so rare, I didn't think that this would be an important topic so I left it out and you would have learned it in an academy anyway."

Edvin was surprised to hear of mutated elements and the fact that even fused elements could mutate as well. The world really is mystical.

When they finished talking, it was already Gilberts turn to go up the platform.

Edvin said to his friend: "Go break a leg!"

Gilbert turned to see his friend holding both his thumbs up, while Adena chuckled and spoke: "And while you're at it why don't you break other one as well."

"Thanks guys, I really appreciate your positivity," Gilbert was little annoyed by their remarks, but he guessed that it was their way of easing his nervousness.

They quickly exchanged some words and Gilbert went up the platform. Gilbert let out some air and placed his palm on the crystal. The crystal immediately turned pitch black and sucked in the surrounding light, making the surroundings dimmer, in the middle of the magic crystal a purple vortex formed that sent out chilling rays of darkness.

The surrounding crowd was confused as they have never seen a vortex form for a darkness elemental user. The mage who represented the darkness academie looked at the vortex in disbelief and mumbled: "This is the void element; it is truly a miracle to see such a an awakening." Then he looked at the other mages, especially at the light mages an enjoyed their frowning faces. He stood up and said to the other mages in mocking voice: "It seems like my Eternal Night academy is getting a blessed genius."

The other mages scoffed at what he said, but the light mage responded in an upright tone: "Don't get too happy, my Light God academy isn't without their own geniuses and I believe we have even more than you, so one more isn't going to change your odds of winning the tournament in a few years."

The dark mage didn't like the arrogance in the light mages voice, but he couldn't deny the truth of the matter, that still didn't mean he would show any weakness: "I would like to see that arrogance of yours in the tournament when we thoroughly defeat you."

"Hey boy, go pack up your things I will come pick you up later," said the dark mage to Gilbert.

Gilbert took off his hand and looked at the dark mage with confusion.

"Didn't you get what I said, I will not repeat again, go and pack your belongings I will come for you this evening. You don't really have any choice in this matter anyway, where else are you going to find a darkness elemental academy in Life city?" the man looked at him with a smile.

When Gilbert heard the man's voice again, he came out of his stupor and went down the platform, to meet up with his friends.

Edvin looked at his friend and said softly: "You really are a lucky one aren't you, to become a dark mage."

Gilbert calmed down a little when he heard his friends voice: "Man, I was so nervous up there, I thought that I wouldn't get any element, but it turned out to be the darkness one, I guess it isn't that bad, I will just need to prove that I am no evil villain to the others."

"Don't worry Gilbert, you don't have to prove anything, as long as your friend don't consider you evil then there is no need to listen to the public's nonsense. The power doesn't define you it only helps you uncover your own traits and I believe that you are a kind person," Edvin tried to lift up the Gilbert's mood by saying something he heard one of the guys in the library say.

"Thanks man," Gilbert felt more relieved from Edvins encouragement.

The next few people to go up the platform were form the same orphanage and only five of them got an element.

The ones who didn't get an element would most likely go to the army and serve as cannon fodder or become part of special units.

When a kid who got the fire element went down the platform it was Adenas turn to perform the test.

"Relax Adena, there is nothing to worry about, you just go up and put your palm on the crystal, it will do everything else for you," said Gilbert to encourage her.

"I know, I'm just worried that I won't be able to get an element," she said with uncertainty.

"Adena, I believe in you," said Edvin with a serious expression.

"Thanks," she had such caring friend that she could not help having a smile form on her face.

She went up the platform and looked at the transparent magic crystal which was the size of an adult. 'It is really big up close,' she thought to herself, 'here goes nothing!'

Adena placed her palm on the crystal and it slowly turned red as seconds went on the saturation increased until it reached a burning hot glow. The crystal gave of a warmth feeling, but one could also hear a blazing wind.

"What a strong affinity to fire," said a fire mage, "and there is even a trace of the wind element, very good, girl which academy do you choose?"

There were currently three fire academies in Life City and there were three fire mages at the assessment.

"I chose Firespark academy," said Adena without hesitation.

Seeing the girl answer so confidently the fire mage nodded: "I will come fetch you later this evening."

Adena came down the platform and met up with her friends. Edvin said to her with excitement: "Wow, you really got the fire element and the wind one as well. But why did you choose the Firespark academy so quickly?"

"Well, you said that they have the best fire techniques, why shouldn't I chose them?" responded Adena with a light smile.

Edvin felt a little awkward by her response, but it was now his turn to ascend the platform.

"Anyway it's now my turn to attend the test, wish me luck" he said to his friends and went up the platform.

The mages who were near the crystal, had noticed that the two geniuses came from this trio so naturally they paid attention to Edvin as well.

Edvin went to the magic crystal that had now been used countless times and he couldn't help but to wonder about the knowledge needed to build something like this. He decided in his heart that one day he would have this knowledge, he wanted to become a strong mage that could decide his own destiny.

He slowly put his palm on the crystal. The smooth surface was cool to the touch, but it had a certain kind of attracting force that he couldn't overcome. It was for a split-second, but he could feel a mysterious energy enter his body which went all around his insides and came back out into the crystal. 'What was that!' he felt shocked because nobody had ever told him that there would be a mysterious energy scour his body. But the shock only lasted for a moment when he saw the crystal light up with many colorful balls of light. These light were only about the size of fists, but they gave off a cold and heavy aura that oppressed ones spirit.

The mages looked at this spectacle in bewilderment, they felt a heavy pull on their own magical power, it was as if these balls wanted to suck out their magical power. Many of them frowned because they had to expend a considerable amount of effort to keep their magical power at bay.

Seeing their faces, Edvin quickly retracted his hand. He seemed even more surprised than the mages, he didn't expect this turn of events at all. The people in the hall looked at the crystal with fear because they also felt the heavy pressure that weighed down on their spirits and they were not mages so the impact was very severe many in the crowd had fainted and some coughed up blood. Alice, Adena and Gilbert were also experiencing some difficulties.

"There must be a malfunction in the crystals' operation, we need to get a new one asap," said one of the mages who understood the situation.

"That was really weird, what kind of problem did the crystal have, and why did it show so many balls of light?" asked another mage, who was clad in blue attire.

"I don't know, but I didn't expect the crystal to give off such a terrible aura I thought they were made for assessing affinities not attacking the spirits of others," said Jonathan as he inspected the crystal.

He used his magic power to check the crystal for any damage and to inspect the inscribed magic circle arrays. He was very curious as to what made the crystal so fearsome that even he felt his magic energy being sucked out.

While Jonathan was busy inspecting the array, Edvin was very confused as to what he should do now. He looked into the crowd and saw that his friend were having a bad time.

He quickly went to them and checked on them, but the quickly became surprised when they got up and asked if he was fine, despite them still having a painful expression.

When Jonathan finished his inspection, he became confused, because he didn't find anything wrong about the crystal. As he looked at the crowd, he saw many people injured and the support staff taking care of them. Only now did he realize the danger of this crystal. He had to contact the higher ups immediately to solve this situation.

Before the crowd started to panic, Jonathan went to the front of the platform and said: "Everyone, please remain calm we are very sorry for the accident we will compensate the damage accordingly. We have already taken care of this matter and soon a new crystal will arrive and this one will be thoroughly inspected so that another accident doesn't happen in the future, please be patient we will resume as soon as the new crystal arrives." The people present immediately calmed down, when they heard what Jonathan had to say, and they were pleasantly surprised by the compensation, which doesn't come often from the people in power.

Eventually the staff took care of everyone who was injured when there suddenly was a flash of green light and a green figure showed up in the middle of the assessment hall. The mages immediately knew who this figure was, she was the strongest existence in this entire city, the Magic City's Ruler, Her Majesty Luna Emeraldia.

When the flash of light subsided the people saw a figure clad in luxurious green robes, an veil that covered the face and a big golden insignia which represented the Ruler of the Magic City of Life.

Everyone including the mages immediately bowed before her, she was their ruler and protector. The hall was so silent that one could even hear a pin drop.

The Ruler looked over her fellow subjects until her gaze landed on a single boy, Edvin.

She pointed at him and Edvin was immediately enveloped by a green light, she spoke in a dignified tone: "This boy comes with me." There was another flash of light and she vanished together with Edvin.

When the magnificent aura of the Ruler was gone everyone had dumbfounded expressions. Who was that kid to deserve the Rulers attention? Why was he taken away the Her Majesty?

Jonathan suddenly remembered that the Ruler went away with the kid whose assessment broke the crystal, he mumbled to himself: "Could it be…, but how? He doesn't even know how to control his magic power flow." He then remembered those spheres of light, when he had a sudden realization: "Could it be that element!"