Chapter 10

He knew better than to ask questions, it might have only been a short while since he met the strange elf but for some reason, he could tell his preferences and mood. He knew no matter how much, the elf would only wear that dumb look on his face and continue walking.

So he sighed and followed along while he looked around trying to figure out where they were now. This time they were once again in the middle of the city, but things were quiet, too quiet. The city Alex knew was always buzzing with sounds even when the weather was bad and deep into the night, but now it felt strangely at peace.

Soon enough, Alex could pick out weird sounds in the distance, while they didn't feel familiar in any way, he had a terrible sensation as if he knew what exactly caused those sounds. His legs stood rooted to the ground and he looked down, his breathing turned erratic and a mild pain struck his head.

The elf is front stopped walking and turned to face Alex and muttered

"So, it has begun"

He walked over to Alex and placed his hands on his head, patting his head and releasing a stream of energy to soothe the pain the kid was feeling.

"Take a deep breath and calm down, don't let your emotions control you. Nothing has happened yet, the future lies in your hands''

His tone was soft compared to how it normally was when he spoke but if one looked closely, they would find his hands were also trembling, and a line of blood was drawn from his mouth to his chin. He had bitten his lips too hard.

They both stayed in that position for a while before Alex, following his instructions finally calmed down a bit, the ache he felt also reduced and the elf released him and grabbed his hand, pulling him forward.

They both walked in silence until the first beings they would encounter in that location. People were fallen on the streets, all injured and killed in horrible ways. Regardless of their races, age or gender, their body and entrails were split all over the streets.

The sounds of battle were even clearer at this point and Alex could now see a group of people swinging their weapons, fighting a group of beasts.

"It happened out of nowhere"

The strange elf finally began speaking.

"A year and day just like any other, everyone lived lives according to the cycle they usually followed but then strange portals opened in the skies and these strange beings came falling from the sky.

It was a massacre"

Even as he spoke, his legs didn't stop moving, Alex didn't know their destination, but with every step he took, he could feel the despair, pain and distraught, the negative emotions growing more in his heart. 

He wasn't sure where the emotions originated from, was it from the beings that were attacking, the emotions that the corpses had before they breathed their last? Or was it the emotion of the strange elf that led him ?

That wasn't the only change that happened to him though, as he walked, strange images came into his mind.

.

He saw himself in the orphanage, taking care of his siblings and receiving lectures from the caretakers. He wasn't blind this time around and he watched how he related with the rest of the kids and their growth, in the visions, not only him but the rest of the kids also grew from the chubby kids they were to teenagers.

Liv and Tim awakened when they turned 15 and got enrolled in an academy for awakeners. When that happened he was very happy for them, his younger ones had the chance to become something more, and he did his best to support them.

He was among the oldest in the orphanage at that point and it wouldn't long before he was considered an adult and had to live there, but he didn't want to be away from his family, instead he thought about how to help them, so he learnt to be a chef.

.

He snapped out his thoughts and the images in his head stopped playing as the elf stopped walking abruptly, causing Alex to run into him.

"Ou...."

He wanted to complain but he couldn't. He watched as a silver haired woman fought single handedly against creatures that were multiple times her size with a single sword, one that looked no better than a simple piece that could be gotten from any small shop in the streets.

They weren't just beasts but also members of the other races fighting against her, but she stood her ground, protecting a small group behind her while also constructing a giant magic circle. With every strike she reaped the souls of the ones that stood before her, but their numbers didn't reduce.

Everytime the magic circle was about to be completed, the enemy force would charge recklessly at her and the ones behind her, forcing her to abandon it to protect them.

"I wasn't able to undo the seal properly due to that bastard, ahh, this is driving me crazy"

The woman spoke as she fought on. Purple patches could be seen wriggling around her body. Her hands, feets and even face, nowhere was spared from the patched that moved about on her skin like they had a life of their own.

"Shut up. It's all your fault"

The woman screamed abruptly, she raised one hand to grip her forehead while still fighting against the horde before her.

.

"Aricia"

Alex and the strange elf muttered at the same time at the sight of the strange woman fighting alone.

'Wait, why did I say that, do I know her? Just what is going on?'

Young Alex was caught in a spiral of confusion, nothing made sense but even now he was more confused than he had ever been. He shook it off and freed his hand from the grasp of the strange elf and moved towards the woman and the small group she was protecting.

There was nothing to be worried about, especially since nothing in this world could actually interact with him. On getting to the point where the woman stood, he noticed her features. Purple eyes, long silver hair with ends having patches of purple and black.

Her body was riddled with injuries but that didn't stop or hinder her movements. His heart ached with the more injuries she got and the pain in his head increased so he turned away from her and turned to the ones she was protecting.

A small group of barely twenty people but he could recognise some of them. His eyes were drawn to the young elf that was at the forefront, using his body to shield the others as he watched the woman fight. 

'Blond hair, blue eyes'

And with that, his head throbbed once more and the images that were cut off previously started playing again.

.

He was 16 years old when he left the orphanage to become an apprentice chef. It wasn't an easy thing as he had to convince Eric who for some reason was hung up on him staying in the orphanage where his eyes could watch over him.

But after pushing and pulling he was finally able to receive permission to go, however he had to return to the orphanage for the weekends. Eric gave him a letter of introduction to a fine dining establishment in the city, one that was rated in its skill by both civilians and awakeners.

Young Alex  was delighted and he put his all into studying the culinary arts. It wasn't the easiest thing to do as he had to start his lessons from scratch. It wasn't that he couldn't cook but that all he knew about cooking previously was deemed as shit by the head chef and he had to start over again, breaking his old habits and instilling new ones.

The establishment dealt with a wide range of specialties, from normal cuisine, to exotic ones from all over the world, desserts and pastries and finally, food made out of monster material and ones processed with mana, and Alex did his best to learn them all.

Even though he lacked mana needed for the last 2 courses, he supplemented that by using special tools and mana stones, but that was in the later stages of his time in the establishment. He started out as a handyman, slowly working his way up the ladder until he was finally allowed to help in the kitchen.

All the chefs had to admit he had a gift, he learnt fast and when he was even better when it came to processing the raw material for cooking, especially when it involved using knives, what a shame the kid wasn't awakened, he might have amazed the world with his sword skills.

Three years passed like that and Alex was finally an adult (19) and was recognised as a competent chef. He worked for the establishment for an additional three years to brush his skill and repay the teacher before he moved back to his city and opened a pastry shop at a distance not too far from the orphanage. His dream after all hadn't changed with the passing of time, he still wanted to look after his family.

.

Alex snapped out of his memories again and glanced at the blond elf before him, it was all starting to make sense.

Why he felt the surroundings were familiar, why he recognised the ones that stood behind him, the shop was the same pastry shop he first appeared in, the people behind were the grown up versions of the kids in the orphanage and the blond elf.... was him.