CHAPTER 15

Dusan Sinclair Rubeus was an intellectual man. He had spent every moment of his adult life in which he was not in combat searching for the history of the planet. His combat abilities got worse, but his knowledge increased. It was insightful and helped him find traces of demons using patterns that were long forgotten. That was how he reached the position of Tower Master, after all. And throughout the tidbits that he could find, less than 10 percent of the past, there was one thing he was sure of. The term "immortal" was dangerous. Powers too strong to be used by anything, humans, demons, or any other creature. It was mentioned that he had faced the immortal on a lost stone carving probably made by the great Necromancer, the Undying. Over centuries, people called the mythical beings, the lord of light and the lord of darkness as immortal beings. And even King, a person mentioned in forgotten legends that Dusan Sinclair Rubeus had uncovered, was called immortal. 

These beings were myths, and these days people were sure that they were not real, yet phrases like"Thank the lord of light", were in common use. For centuries, people used to worship them. And the only thing that connected most of them was the occasional mentions of them being immortal.

So, how does this connect to X? The Tower Master mused over this, pacing across his room on the topmost floor of the Tower. Brik was extremely strong, fueled by wrath. Aqua was powerful in her own right and was probably Atlantean. Rose had trained her entire life to attain her current level of strength, and after her loss in battle, she had resumed her training. Goofy's stretchy skin was odd, but it was not that rare for people to be born with powers, instead of awakening them. His laziness was a problem, but they could fix it over two years. But X, he was different. His powers seemed to be fire and heat and temperature, but now he has something called "Immortal Tree". Trees burn when in contact with flames. And how it relates to the term Immortal, Dusan Sinclair Rubeus had to find out. Luckily, he has two years to find that out, and in doing so, probably find out more about the planet's history, and find some way to stop the demons. But for now, he had other things to do. It had been two days since the end of the final battle, and although both the contestants had completely healed, only Brik had woken up. They could not stop the entrance ceremony for too long, so on that day, Dusan Sinclair Rubeus decided that he would conduct the ceremony.

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Pink. More pink. All X saw was light pink. The same pink sky, the same pink leaves and flowers falling down from that sky, the same pink light reflecting the water's surface. A pink sun, which never set. How long had it been since he entered this realm? A few days, weeks, months. A few years maybe. Time did seem to pass slowly, but X did not seem to notice it. Did not seem to get bored at all, which was odd since he usually was not that patient. X looked out, sighing, before closing his eyes and concentrating, trying to find the string. It had been getting a bit easier after a while but was still harder than the first time he did it.

 X could not find the string. He strained, searching for it mentally till his head hurt, but he could not find it. When he opened his eyes, something felt odd. He was no longer alone. The pink sun started to darken, turning black. The flowers and leaves withered away before they reached him. When he looked forward, he could see a silhouette of a man, slightly taller than him, with hair longer than Brik's. As he walked closer, black marks spread through the pink sky, darkening the area. The hair on X's neck stood up, and X instinctively knew that he was in danger. This person was stronger than Brik, stronger than the Tower Master, stronger than his Grandfather, and Uncle Ken. Then his vision changed, and he was back in the cave with the lavafall. The giant creature behind the lavafall spread its wings, and spoke in a deep voice, loud enough to shake the entire cave, much louder than the Headmaster's voice with the amplification magic, echoing through the cave

' Where were you, X? Come back soon, the tidings of another war have appeared.'

X opened his eyes. He was in a room he had never seen before, a clean, septic room. There were other beds just like the one on which he was sleeping, empty. This room seemed to be a hospital ward room. A woman entered, wearing a white dress. On seeing that X was awake, she was startled and fell. X got out of bed and realized that he had healed completely. Not a single wound was on his body, not even a scar. He walked towards the nurse and awkwardly asked her what the date was. On realizing that today was the ceremony in which the students would join the academy. He rushed down the aisle and then realized he did not know the place where it was conducted. He returned back to the ward and asked the nurse

'Umm...Where is it conducted?'

'Oh, in the Quadrangle.' It is in the center of the academy.'

'Thank you.'

X ran away and then realized he did not know where the Quadrangle was. He returned to the ward one more time. 

'Uhh...Where is the...Quadrangle?'

'Well, you should have asked that before leaving. Go straight till you reach the end of the corridor, take a left, and walk down the second flight of stairs. Then, run across to the other side of the corridor until it splits into two corridors. Go through the left one, and climb down the second flight of stairs to your right, and then if you go through the middle corridor, you will reach the Quadrangle.

'Could you... repeat?'

'No. It's not that hard?'

X walked off, straight till he reached the end of the corridor, took a right, climbed up the seventh flight of stairs, up nine floors, and saw a door that was closed, but not bolted. He opened the door and realized that he was on the top floor of the Academy, the terrace. Looking down, he could see a rectangular area in the center of the Academy, with a small arena in the center. On that arena, stood the Headmaster, along with the other contestants. Dusan Sinclair Rubeus produced a small, transparent crystal ball, and placed it on a podium. Hundreds of knights were standing in the Quadrangle, looking up towards the arena, and the Tower right behind it merged with the walls of the academy. The Tower was towards X's right, a giant imposing structure about twice as tall as the surrounding walls, made of a shiny white material, embedded with gold. On the other end, X's left stood another structure, smaller than the Tower, but wider. It was made of the same material, contrasting with the black walls of the Academy. The Royal Palace.

As X looked down, he saw Goofy climb up the flight of stairs and stand beside the Headmaster. He placed his hand on the orb, and suddenly a great white energy emanated behind him. It was formless, and shapeless, and displayed strength that did not match Goofy. As he took off his hand, the energy dimmed away, and the Headmaster shook his head. Next, Rose walked up towards the arena, and to everyone's surprise, the same white energy emanated out of the orb. The headmaster nodded seriously since this was what he probably imagined for her. Pure, raw strength. Why Goofy had the same sign, especially since he was a lazy guy who didn't like fighting, the whole crowd did not know. Then, his only friend, Brik entered the arena and laid his hand on the orb. A dark gray smoke rose out of it, almost black in color. The smoke wafted through the air and solidified into an image of a dead bear. Half of its body was made out of pure bones, with no meat on it. The other half was rotting flesh, with scars running through its body. The creature turned to the direction in which X was standing and gave him a low, almost unnoticeable bow. The crowd was talking about what that signified, but the Headmaster looked panicked. He knew what this was, and chances are that X knew it too. And why did it bow to him? Another question he did not have an answer for.

Dusan Sinclair Rubeus then gave a speech about how the second place was still unconscious, and therefore the first place, the person who had directly entered the Academy without battling through the second round, Aqua was to hold the orb. She walked through, her blue hair swaying as she walked. The knights were muttering "Atlantean", as she touched the orb ever so lightly. A mental image of an endless ocean appeared in the minds of all the people, including X. A moment later, the vision vanished, and people stopped muttering. A mental image. A rare occurrence in which the orb displayed the source of a person's power directly to the minds of the people present. And it only happened to extremely strong people. The headmaster then gave a closing statement, and the crowd departed. Out of a sense of compulsion, X screamed out

'I'm here. My turn.'

If this could help him know more about himself, more about who he was, and explain all the questions that were hurting his head, X would do it. Even if it had to be in front of hundreds of seasoned knights, his friend, and other potential friends. X looked at Dusan Sinclair Rubeus, and the Headmaster nodded. X jumped off the terrace, and floated down, landing on his feet. He ran towards the arena, climbing up the stairs two at a time. And when he touched the orb, something unexpected happened.

X had expected a sign that showed off the fire ability of his, or maybe even a mental image of the cave, or even the pink land. He was sure that most people expected the fire sign, or maybe even an "Immortal Tree" sign. Instead, the orb glowed pink. The same soft pink glow. Instead of a sign for him, the crystal orb showed a sign for itself. X had made more questions and had answered none. What did he have to do with the crystal orb? It was then that X realized that the crowd was completely silent. He took off his hands and turned towards Dusan Sinclair Rubeus, who stared at him. Finally, he asked something

' Do you feel... stronger?'

'No'

'Good.'

The Headmaster signaled for the people to leave, and they left rather reluctantly. He turned towards X and told him that he was about to leave, and teleported away. X turned and saw his new classmates. His team, his squad of knights similar to the one in his village. X got off the arena, an landed down. Brik met his eyes for a moment, and whispered in a low volume, so low that no one else heard it

' Thank you. For reminding me.'

X nodded. Aqua glanced at him, and X had the sudden desire to punch her in the face. Said that she was weak, and then became number one. Even got a mental vision. She smiled slowly, and said

'I guess I was stronger than I thought. You all are stronger, though.'

Rose did not speak to him, or even glance at him. She gave Brik her undivided focus. Goofy told him to never use Fire Escape on him, saying that it was too hot. He did not like heat. Or cold. Or work. 

Looking at all of them, X thought, this team seems fine. Pretty good, actually. He was happy to be on this team. And he expressed it, finally making more than two friends.

2 YEARS LATER

X walked up towards the Tower. The past two years went pretty well, and they had all gone through extensive training. Brik had mastered his claws, and Aqua became a master of her water abilities. He had not seen Rose and Goofy for a while, and there was a rumor among X, Brik, and Aqua that those two were planning to leave after becoming fully-fledged knights. X reached the base of the Tower. The contrast of colors was painful to the eye, and in the base of the Tower, stood Dusan Sinclair Rubeus, not looking any older than he did two years ago. He turned towards X and spoke in a grave voice

' I have good news and bad news. The good news is that both Aqua and Brik have declined the role of the group leader, therefore making you the de facto leader, unless you decline. The bad news is, you have your first mission. A group of demons have been spotted in a region where they were rare, a village around 600 kilometers away. Across the Apline Mountain Range. Stage 2 demons, three of them. There are knights there, of course, but they won't be enough. I can send you all there, but it won't be like the drills you have done before. Are you sure you want to accept?'

There was bad news, and bad news then. He did not want to be squad leader, but if Brik and Aqua did not want to take the position, then he would have to do it. But the demons, that was a different thing. He did not want to do it. The Headmaster could send them there, but returning would be difficult. 600 kilometers is a lot. X had traveled that far to reach Rossenberg. And he was sure that the others would decline, too. Wait, X had traveled that far before. Across the Apline Mountains. A village where demon occurrence was rare, but there were knights.

' We will depart immediately. If the others decline, I would do it myself. That village, that is where I am from. My Grandfather is there. I won't let a demon touch him.'

'Your Grandfather?'

'Frederick, a retired Stage 3 knight.'

Dusan Sinclair Rubeus nodded, and in moments, the others appeared, and after a quick briefing, he waved his hands. And X appeared in the woods where he had grown up, the forest where he used to cut trees and joke around with his Grandfather. He motioned for his friends to follow him, and they went back to his house. X had to save his Grandfather.

ps. This is the end of the Introduction. From now on, there won't be any major timeslips for a while, and all the events will occur sequentially. Please do leave a review to tell me what you think of the novel. My posting will be worse for the next few weeks, but I have not given up on this story. Thank you for reading up to 15 chapters.