1 End of the Keystone

I landed on the ground and fixed my hat then put on my gloves. "I'm here. Shall we settle things, Caedi?"

Caedi smirked and looked at me. Her orange eyes shined brightly with the night. She took off her cloak and revealed her battle armor. She summoned her sword and shield. Her dark red hair flowed with the wind. "Ai. You know I am a reincarnation of Terminus right? In the end, we all have to die. Just let nature take it's course."

"This isn't nature. You Destroy, you Kill, you Lie. My fellow Rulers can't take you down, so it's up to me, the Cosmic Keystone, The Real True Hero to step up! Henosis is dead. Steven is dead. Hisumi is no longer the True Hero. I have rested for long enough. I have watched for too long. If all evil won't disappear, I shall take matters into my own hands." I said then magic circles appeared around my wrist and ankles.

"Then come. Show me that Almighty Magic, Grandmaster!" Caedi bellowed.

I glared at her then dashed toward her at high speed. I went for a roundhouse kick then released a bolt of fire from my foot. Caedi blocked it then grunted as she slid backwards. She sensed me appear behind her then dodged my next attack. She slashed at me, but an energy sword blocked the slash. I palmed her stomach then launched her away.

I flew after her and struck her stomach again, knocking her away then propelled myself after her once again then kicked her upwards, trapping her in a sphere of energy. I bellowed and clasped my hands together then the ball of energy exploded.

Caedi flew out of the smoke and toward me. I flew toward her. We both bellowed then clashed, knocking each other back then propelled toward one another once again, clashing rapidly. She parried my next attack then knocked me to the ground with her shield. I blew air at the ground, hovering over the ground then landed on my feet.

"Let's see how you fair against this attack.." Caedi said then raised her sword to the sky then fired a beam of red energy at the sky.

I noticed rays of dark energy crashing down at me. I closed my eyes and awakened my Precognition then dodged each ray of energy. I jumped backwards then opened my eyes and continued to dodge the rays of energy. Caedi flew toward me and slashed, but I dodged it as well. I countered with a knee to her stomach. She groaned and coughed a bit of fluid then I launched her away with a tornado kick.

I performed another tornado kick, summoning a tornado and sent it toward Caedi. Caedi landed on the ground then sliced the tornado in half then looked surprised to see a massive sphere of energy in the sky.

"Take this! Cosmic Starfall!" I bellowed and sent the massive ball of energy crashing down at Caedi.

Caedi couldn't dodge and she knew it. She slashed down and released a beam of energy at my Cosmic Starfall. The two collided and Caedi noticed my attack overpowering hers. My sphere of energy crashed down on her then a supernova explosion happened.

I panted and strands of hair fell over my face. I slowly descended to the destroyed surface. Caedi appeared behind me and stabbed my back. I groaned and noticed the blade protruding from my stomach. I coughed blood then felt cursed marks forming on my stomach. The burning I felt was excruciating. Caedi took her sword out of my body then watched as I fell to my knees.

"It is over for you, Ai Suru." Caedi said then prepared to deal the finishing blow. "Before I kill you, just know...Every version of Terminus is back. Chaos, Qiao Zhi, me, and your father, Tehom. Your Gem of Existence is mine. I will become the Ruler of ALL Omniverses...even the incomplete ones. The Human Realm, The Sacred Realm, Valera...it will all be mine."

"I...can't let you do this..!" I grunted then coughed blood.

"Any last words?" Caedi asked.

"Yeah...three. Suck on this!" I yelled then manipulated the blood puddle and made a spike go through her chest.

Caedi looked surprised and coughed blood. I smirked and slowly stood up. I healed myself then kicked Caedi away. Caedi rolled backwards then recovered onto her feet.

"So you still want more?! Let us dance then!" Caedi roared.

She propelled herself toward me and roared. I dodged her punch then parried her kicks then dodged her slashes. I parried her neck slash then fired lasers from my eyes onto her face. She groaned and stumbled backwards. I raised my arms then light chains emerged from underground then forced her to kneel.

"It's over now..." I said as I walked to her. "I will fix my Omniverse. I will erase you all from it completely."

Caedi smirked then opened a portal underneath me then caused me to fall into the portal. I yelled and reached my hand up.

"You...won't defeat us so easily Ai! Have fun getting rid of that curse!" Caedi laughed.

"Caedi!!" I bellowed as I fell into the abyss.

-----

"Alright in this final's Grandmaster Tournament, we have Grandmaster Kravius against Grandmaster Ilyna! The entire institute has been waiting for this legendary battle!!!" The announcer said with great excitement.

Kravius smiled and dusted his hands off and swung his cape. "Ilyna! You have shown great heart in this tournament and you have shown great prowess as a worthy Grandmaster. Our friendship means a lot, but I won't let that affect me from winning!"

Ilyna spread out her angel wings and her blue eyes shined. "I won't be losing to you any time soon!"

"Begin!" The virtual voice said.

Ilyna wasted no time going for the first attack by unleashing a powerful angelic beam of energy at Kravius. Kravius smirked and his golden eyes shined.

"Excalibur." He said.

A golden pillar of light crashed down and blocked the beam of energy. The pillar repelled the beam then the pillar disappeared. Kravius picked up his sword then got into his stance.

Kravius dashed toward Ilyna and slashed, but a shield of light blocked the attack then shattered. Ilyna grunted then dodged the next attack by taking flight to the sky.

'His raw strength...I have to be careful for his Divine Magic and his strength.' Ilyna thought to herself.

Kravius propelled himself up toward Ilyna then slashed at her. Ilyna evaded his slash then groaned as he kicked her to the ground. He flew after her and grabbed her head then spun around, throwing her to the wall. Ilyna groaned as she crashed into the wall.

The crowd roared as the battle raged on. Suddenly the portal Caedi sent me through opened above the stadium. A few of the spectators noticed then noticed me crashing to the ground.

Kravius and Ilyna noticed and dodged my body. I hit the ground, causing smoke and debris to form. The two Grandmasters watched and readied themselves.

I slowly stood up and held my head. I picked up my hat from the ground and looked around. "Where...am I..?"

"What's this?! A new combatant?!" The announcer asked in shock.

"Combatant?" I asked then looked at Kravius and Ilyna.

Kravius wore golden armor with a red cape. The red cape had his bloodline crest on it. He was rather tall with a large and fit build. He had blonde hair, golden eyes, and wielded the legendary Excalibur of this Realm.

Ilyna was a woman standing at 5'2 and had a slender build. She had angel wings coming from her back and a halo over her head. She wore a white mage robe and next to her was a white angelic grimoire.

"Who is that woman?" Kravius asked then his sword dispersed into magic particles.

Ilyna's grimoire disappeared then she watched me carefully. "Who are you?"

I looked at the both of them once more. "My name is Ai Suru." I answered not wanting to tell them too much.

"Ai Suru..?" Kravius asked then crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "I see, you're the Ruler of Arcane, sister to the Ruler of Science, Nagini. The Omni-Witch."

The audience murmured as they heard Kravius say this. Ilyna seemed surprised as well. Their battle was put on hold after my appearance. Kravius decided to take me inside and Ilyna followed.

-----

"So you were battling against Caedi and she sent you here. It seems she has also put a curse on you." Kravius said as he inspected me in the recovery room.

I nodded and allowed him to do so. "My magic has been lowered to an Apprentice Level.."

"It's a miracle you survived that fall!" Ilyna said. "You were falling at a pretty fast rate as well!"

Kravius finished inspecting me then smiled. "No broken bones and your wounds are healed. You're good to go."

I nodded then stood up. "Well actually...I don't know where to go. Where am I exactly?"

"You're in Magyk. This world is full of powerful mages such as myself and Ilyna and a few of our guild members." Kravius answered

"What Realm am I in?" I asked.

"You're in the Realm of Aedearion. This Realm resides near the Realms of Valera and Yashek." Ilyna answered.

Aedearion, a realm I am not too familiar with. There are many Realms I am not familiar with since most of the trouble is within the Mortal Realm, Sacred Realm, Spirit Realm, and Valera. I never really had any chances to explore other realms.

"So about your guild? How do I join?" I asked.

Kravius smiled at me. "Well you must first register for the Institution then you have to pass the Orientation Test."

"Orientation Test?" I asked.

"It is a test where the Headmaster himself tests your abilities with a series of challenges. First the Placement Challenge, each of your attributes will be graded to see what Tier you get. The tiers go from Tier 12 to Tier 1. Next your Rank. Your Rank depends on your Tier. There are three Ranks, Apprentice, Master, and Grandmaster. Tiers 12 to 9 is Apprentice Rank. Tiers 8 to 5 is Master Rank. Tiers 4 to 1 is Grandmaster Rank." Ilyna explained using her magic to explain everything.

"Next after the placements, you go through the Class Placement. There are different classes from Mage and Knight all the way to Supreme Diviner and Divine Savant. Your Class also helps with your Rank." Kravius explained.

"You can also create a unique class. I am the Angelic Diviner." Ilyna explained.

"And I am the Divine Royal class. Tier 3 and Grandmaster Rank." Kravius said.

"The Ranks themselves have Sub Ranks. Apprentice has Beginner, Intermediate, and Expert. Master has 9th Master all the way to 1st Master, and Grandmaster has Mighty Grandmaster, Elite Grandmaster, Legendary Grandmaster, and finally Divine Grandmaster." Ilyna said.

"Ilyna and I are Mighty Grandmasters." Kravius added.

"Man this is all confusing." I sighed.

"Luckily for you all you need to join my guild is to be Tier 7 with the Intermediate Apprentice Rank. The Class doesn't really matter to me that much unlike other Guilds." Kravius said.

"How do I register for this Institute?" I asked.

"The front office. Once your application is in, it'll automatically register you and the Headmaster will get everything ready and set for you." Kravius said.

"I can help you with that if you'd like. It's a long process. There's a lot of paperwork and a bunch of information." Ilyna said.

I nodded. "Any help I can get is much appreciated..~"

After meeting with two of the strongest in this institute, my first order of business was to grow stronger in this institute so I could break this curse and regain my power. Caedi needs to be stopped at all costs. Today embarks my quest to becoming my original self once again.