Chapter 63

'Sleep.'

It's all that Alex had been thinking about since he had returned but his dreams had been haunted by a phantom.

As he laid on the floor exhausted by his training, the temptation of a good sleep made his eyes want to close, but his mind reeled as he remembered how he awoke a few days ago.

A perfect dream in which he found himself in his old school, listening to Tori as she complained about her day. At first he had his doubts about the dream, but after what felt like several years and their relationship growing even more closer, he lost all doubts that it was a dream.

Until of course he felt his tiredness fading away and his eyelids opening. In the last few moments that he had in that dream, when he felt and saw that world fading away, and when he slowly remembered how it truly was…

Perhaps his mind was trying to sooth and heal itself, but in the process it set itself up for failure. Alex woke up and immediately resented that he was shown a life that was impossible.

"Even if I could go back, everything would be the same. I can't change the past." Alex muttered after sitting down to meditate, fighting the want to curse and beat the ever living crap out of whoever crafted this dream.

After sitting in the same spot for hour he opened his eyes. 'A month, maybe less.'

Meditating for his dark affinity used to tire him out emotionally, but as of recently, with the hardening of his heart and only being able to look forward, he was able to stomach all the horrific and tragic tales that were ingrained into his mind.

——————

"You see it too?" Daniel asked.

Michael nodded. "He is growing fast, we won't be able to teach him very much. At most we can guide him before he surpasses us."

Daniel sighed before sitting down next to Michael. "Before, when he first arrived at the school, you could look into his eyes and feel this sort of empathy as his emotions seemed to flow out of control. Recently, he had matured, you can't sense anything. It's as if he is naturally using a forbidden technique of the dark mages."

"You think so?" Michael asked.

"I know so." Daniel said while feeling dark mana from the surrounding few miles disappear and somehow immediately enter Alex.

"Is this good or bad?" Michael asked.

"It's impossible to tell, but what I do know is that the last dark mage who tried to put up a resistance was not nearly strong enough."

"It also didn't help that he was surrounded by natural enemies on all sides." Michael answered.

"No, he wasn't alone. Just like Alex, there were many who fought alongside him, they were just lost in the annals of history."

From an unknown location Samael laughed, not knowing he was being watched. "The disowned portion of the kingdom of light Tragnatia. After a few experiments and pushing the peoples greed to the max, I successfully created a civilization of angry resentful and unhappy people. Even after they killed my followers and freed themselves, they were scorned and shamed by the rest of the world. freedom just lets your inner demons do as they please, it's something you humans don't deserve . But still these dark mages and their particular… perspectives make for great fuel."

——————

"This is a lot of work." Alex said while looking over the lists of students within the to clubs he was captain of.

"This is nothing. Besides you only have to do it once a month." Tom said while reclining with his feet on the table of the captains council room's table.

He put the lists down and looked at the calendar for next year. It wasn't hard for him to remember it because it looked almost identical to what he had done, well one portion of it that is.

If the students ever fell behind, there were several different things that the captains would discuss with the instructors to enact.

"Are you even supposed to have your feet on the table?" Alex asked after setting the papers down.

"No he isn't." Tabitha said before knocking his feet off the table.

"Hey! Can't you just let a guy rest? It's been a long year."

"One day in the forge and you'll be happy that you get to go out and frolic in the woods in your free time." Tabitha rebutted.

"Oh yeah, I bet the opposite." Tom said a playful smile filling his face.

Tabitha grinned and the two left the room, leaving Alex to look at the list of next years students alone.

'Well, somehow I expected this much to happen.' Alex thought before leaning back in the seat, setting his feet on the table, and pulling out a book to read.

Nearly a month later.

"Leaving early?" Alex asked.

Michael nodded. "Things are heating up, the temple has been pushing its agenda into every different resource it possible can, but that's not the only reason. We can tell that you are growing very fast, it's best not to let regular schedules decide the routes that we take."

"When are we leaving?" Alex asked.

"Right now. Everything at the school has been taken care of."

"And the others?" Alex asked.

"Sorry you won't be able to say your farewells in person." Michael answered.

"That's fine, saves me a bit of embarrassing moments I guess."

"How long will it take you to pack?" Michael asked.

"Only a moment." Alex said while the packs on his back expanded as if being filled from the inside.

He reached beneath his coat and stuck his hand into a portal, pulling a potions pouch out, and he fastened it to his side.

"Just a moment." He said while a pen and paper moved on their own within his room.

The paper reappearing is his sisters room on her dresser.

"Ok."

Michael nodded, and turned walking off with Alex at his side.

"A very useful affinity."

"I'd like to think so, theoretically boundless possibilities for it and yet it is still limited."

"By your own imagination?" Michael asked.

Alex nodded. "But I'm sure that the first mages had to go through the same thing."

He looked up as he saw Timothy near the edge of the woods, but more importantly with his spacial sense he could see a massive bird with a saddle further into the woods.

Daniel appeared behind him and spoke up. "Everything is in order."

Michael nodded while Alex pondered how he hadn't noticed him.

Timothy walked up to Alex and handed him several items. "I honestly wasn't fully expecting you to surpass all of your peers, but I am a man of my words."

'A meditation potion, and armor that is made from the same materials as my captains uniform but more made for hunting. It's just…'

"What are these?" Alex asked as he looked at the two objects that reminded him of beast cores.

Timothy smiled. "My own creation, refined beast cores. Normally a beast cores energy would be impossible to absorb for personal use, but I fixed that issue. Very useful items don't lose them." Timothy said before pulling out another potion.

"Lockhorn said you completed his little gathering game but never picked a reward." He held up the vial and shook it.

"He took the matter into his own hands and said he made something new for you."

Alex looked at the unlabeled potion. "He created a new potion just like that?"

Timothy laughed. "That crazy man? How have you not noticed? Every day he creates a cart filled with tens of new potions but he throws them away because they are not to his liking. In my opinion he could have the entire potions guild fawning over him if he wanted to."

"He didn't say what it does?" Alex asked.

"Nope." Timothy answered.

"You should get to your ride, your masters are waiting for you." Timothy said while helping Alex put away everything he had just received.

After a short walk Alex craned his neck all the way up as he looked at the massive bird in a small clearing, the bird looking back towards him.

"Come on up, make sure to fasten yourself tightly, Ger can be pretty fast." Daniel said from on top of the bird.

Alex lifted himself up onto the bird and after securing himself he asked. "What kind of bird is Ger?"

Michael shrugged his shoulders. "She looks a lot like a falcon, but has the proportions of an eagle."

"Let's go!" Daniel said.

Alex nearly fell back as Ger jumped up.

He noticed an energy wash over himself and he watched as himself, his instructors, and the bird became nearly invisible as the light around them was bent.

After several hours of flying, Ger landed. Before landing, Alex could see a massive city off in the distance. It was surrounded by massive mountain ridges on both sides.

"Is that pearl city?" Alex asked.

"Yup, named after how the city melts into the landscape." Michael answered.

"And you'll find that the residents see themselves as if they were peals in the making." Daniel added.

Alex put on the new set of armor. 'None of the cool functions like the other set but still just as defensive.'

"I'm ready." He said after finishing.

"Good, we have to introduce you to a few people, but it's already getting dark so we will go ahead and finish one of your requests you made." Michael said while looking up to the mountain ridges that surrounded the entrance to the city.

"This place is the perfect training grounds for earth and lightning mages. How many potions did you bring?" Daniel asked.

"Only five, but I have access to forty more that I have stored." Alex said while looking up to the mountain peaks that were blocked by thick dark clouds.

"Very well and while you are up there don't take lightning lightly, it's a very powerful energy. Once you become the shortest path to the ground you'll attract all of its hostility to yourself."

Alex nodded and after cloaking himself with his dark energy he started moving up to the nearest clouded peak.

'I'm beginning to feel lightheaded.' Alex thought as he ascended the mountain. He slowed his pace and focused on breathing.

Soon he reached a path that lead to the top.

'Ice, everywhere?'

As he looked around rather than snow covered peaks there were large ice spikes surrounding the path.

Alex leapt forward as one of the spikes launched towards himself. A loud roar and growl was heard and Alex looked over to see a bear with several cubs further behind it. The bear had felt his presence and was moving in his direction.

Unlucky for the bear Alex disappeared from his position and appeared four hundred feet away. Alex didn't stop there though, he kept going until he was sure he was out of the beast's territory.

The amount of ice spikes decreasing until he finally felt his feet sink into the snow. He no longer had to use his own shadow to create friction so he wouldn't slip.

'I'm close.' He thought. The dark clouds seemingly within reaching distance.

Alex shuddered and his legs felt weaker as he saw a streak of lightning which illuminated the jagged peaks above and shook the snow he was standing on slightly.

The his hair stood on end as he felt the lightning mana spread out above and below him for several seconds before it dissipated.

After his hands stopped shaking he pulled out several lighting resistance potions drinking them swiftly.

After a moment of thought he pulled his armor off so that it wouldn't be damaged. He shuddered as he was nearly fully exposed to the elements.

'It's so cold and yet I'm sweating?'

He looked at his skin which was now excreting a almost clear liquid. The smell of the liquid was… earthy to say the least.

Alex created a bolt of electricity and as he had expected as soon as he let it go, it arced around his skin through the liquid before charring and piercing a hole through his shoe.

'Very cool potion.' Alex thought not minding that his new shoes were ruined.

Alex opened a portal, sending his armor through and grabbing several more lighting resistance potions. After making sure he had nothing important on himself he continued on to the peak.

His hands numb, his lungs burning as he breathed in the frigid air, and things turned worse as he got higher and higher. His hair which was covered in snowflakes before now looked as if it was made of ice, but a smile still filled his face. Every time the sky lit up, he felt a rush of lighting mana completely surround him, the amount increasing with every step he took.

Within minutes he felt his energy increasing.

'It's still to slow. Even with all this mana I will not be able to break through with just one day. Or should I i say night?'

Alex frowned, in front of him was a huge slope which would be impossible to climb, but past that slope was the top of the mountain.

He opened a portal to the top, or at least he tried to but a strike of lightning immediately destroyed true portal and the lightning that went through knocked Alex down.

'It was too much for the potions to absorb.'

After drinking several more potions Alex coated himself in a large layer of spacial energy and flew to up the peak of the mountain. Unable to see clearly now he guided himself with his spacial sense every few seconds after the lightning faded.

As he landed he admired the snowless peak which was constantly being sculpted by powerful strikes of lightning. A beautiful pattern coated the rocks high up around him.

Alex shuddered as he felt danger coming his way. He dropped to his knees as lit up for a brief moment. He looked at his skin for a moment and saw a two dimensional version of the pattern that was charred into the mountain peaks. The pattern faded as Alex's body glowed and pulled out several more potions. At this point he was almost completely coated in a gel like substance.

'It was good, but it only lasted for a brief moment. It will still take nearly a hundred more strikes to reach the Master class, but if lightning keeps on striking randomly it will take all night.'

A concentrated ball of spacial energy formed and studied the rocks as Alex waited for the next strike.

Paths that the lightning traveled became apparent as his energy scanned the earth. At first the paths looked random…

Alex recreated the ball of spacial energy and continued on where he was.

,but the paths where always angled downward. If the path ended then there was almost always a bit of metallic materials there. If there wasn't then they weren't far from where the end of the lightnings path.

The long paths that were created had smooth bits of metal unlike the unrefined bits that Alex could spot…

These bits looked like they had been melted and even charged. Alex could t help but focus on the metals that laid in these lines. They felt different but he didn't understand how…

'What!?' His energy was once more destroyed but for a brief moment he had seen something which was almost unbelievable.

The energy that destroyed his, came from below not above. He still remembered the feeling as it rose from the depths of the earth in some invisible form. It wasn't until it had reached the sky that he finally had seen the lightning bolt with his own eyes.

He gathered as much spacial energy as he could and searched for one of these metals smiling as he finally understood what was going on.

'These rocks were forged by lightning. lightning, which is the same as electricity and travels through metal as if it were water. These rocks somehow take on the properties of lightning itself.' Alex held out his hand as two tiny, and nearly imperceptible pieces of metal appeared, he brought his hands together and grinned as the two metals jumped and stuck to each other.

Alex giggled as he immediately made his spacial energy copy the metals.

Through the storm at the peak, Alex was just barely able to make out a small invisible field of movement surrounding his energy.

'These are magnetic.'

The more he created the more he felt a certain pulling force around his energy. As if his spacial energy had its weight increased by an invisible force.

Fully focusing on gathering as much spacial energy as possible, he created a thin line of magnetic spacial energy several hundred feet long below himself.

Happy that his energy was no longer getting destroyed by the lightning, Alex drank several more potions before lifting himself into the air. He stood on and invisible platform as several invisible branches of spacial energy spread out into the night sky. Alex felt an insane amount of pressure pulling his energy.

'It's as if the earth itself is a mage and claiming this energy as its own.' Alex though as he gritted his teeth and fought the pulling force on his energy.

His eyes closed as even the hair on his scalp stood straight up. He lost his sense of hearing as lightning struck ceaselessly through his energy. His lightning affinity grew quickly almost too quickly, but he couldn't help but wonder why.

He didn't need to wonder for long. As rocks crumbled these metals would attract and as years passed they would be pushed and pulled deeper into the earth. The larger they were the less loose rocks they would need until they would simply crush anything in their path.

He frowned. 'But when they get too big, it's as if an invisible vacuum would pull them to presumably the center of the earth. How big would they be? What would the effects be to the landscape above? An earthquake? Sinkholes? What would happen with the collision between such a massive piece of metal?'

He thought back to his energy which used to have no weight but now strained him as he fought the pull of this gravity. 'The pull is exponential. I shouldn't create any more than this.'