Chapter 29 - Beginning Of Something Great

Blythe hopped around the place and instructed hundreds of workers in a staggering effectivity.

From the sunrise to dawn, she never let down on her enthusiasm. Not far away, Talia coordinated the entire mess and sometimes stopped Blythe from doing dumb things.

On the other hand. Akand calculated the costs and controlled the overall production.

Each day, he would see the progress and estimate the time of completion.

A few problems arose, but they weren't fatal. The soil was firm and held water very well.

Entire place stood at an elevated place and had a low chance of flooding and with the lack of tornadoes and apparent earthquakes.

Nothing could threaten it except other humans.

With the Elemental church standing firm and tall, it made this entire place as safe as it could be anywhere else.

Akand described it as the third safest place. After the church headquarters and the world capital.

Its safety came for various reasons. The main one came from the proximity of their new soon to be city.

It existed very close to an important checkpoint that led people to the frontlines.

Many veterans returned from the battlefield and went by. Another factor that helped the plan to go through smoothly.

Liam himself spent most of his time experimenting with his findings.

The construction continued on for 2 years before a modest city sprouted up and took its root.

Many people progressed, and the one with the most drastic change turned out to be Terran.

The young man matured a lot. Perfected his knowledge to a great degree and left 3 months ago.

His journey to become an elder began. Unlike Akand and the other two. He put his eyes on the frontlines.

A place where not only can he shine and prove his worth but also protect that he holds dear.

Even before he became an elder. He told Liam about his aspirations and fears.

Fame and power didn't allure him too much right now. But he feared something else than death.

Change.

What the headquarters and elder level nurturing would make him into and the eventual battlefield.

"Do you think those squirrels would use me as their watchtower? Will the songbirds invite me with a beautiful melody or will they hide and tremble in fear of what I've become?" Terran asked Liam as the latter responded in silence.

Liam never knew Terran could be so vulnerable. Before, the young man excluded one trait.

Steadiness. To move forward, no matter what. However, could a boy from the countryside hold such a trait firmly in his hands and never let go?

Liam didn't know and blessed the boy with his heart.

That very night, they talked. Terran left for his journey under the moonlight as it lightened up his path.

Terran's departure brought some tremors to Liam's life, but it soon turned monotone again.

Blythe livened it up a bit, Talia showed a lot of interesting knowledge, and Akand showed improvement as well in terms of his emotional control.

Nonetheless, they reached the zenith of the unawakened realm.

Liam didn't know the terror of the frontlines and he couldn't know the barrier those three faced.

However, he tried to push them from time to time.

Akand showed the most explosive reaction, which almost ended their entire cooperation.

The details of such an evening. Liam would rather forget and never bring up again.

Akand's fire spirit almost burned everything within its surroundings if he didn't calm down in time.

Although he apologised. Liam knew that he shouldn't have asked.

Since then, he became much more cautious. Even the lively spirit Blythe stopped bopping around when he stumbled upon the topic.

While Talia took it the best. Liam saw ripples, or rather, he felt them.

The time they spent together strengthened his bond with 4 of them a lot.

Deep inside, Liam had the inkling that more than in his previous era.

'Magical.' Liam thought and snickered to himself. If he could give a not so professional evaluation of those three.

Then he himself became blind. He laughed, talked and sometimes acted childishly with those three.

Yet, it turned out to be the one and only time to be alive. When alone, all vitality disappeared, and he became monotone.

World almost turned black and white with some flashes of colour that he gained from experimenting with magic.

He didn't feel depressed. On the contrary, the entire world became much more bearable than when he tried to fill it with colours every day.

Much more energy to experimenting and interacting when it became meaningful.

Satisfaction, that's what Liam thought. At least before he entered the exhaustion period a year after the construction began.

No major problem. Just a lack of motivation in experimenting with magic and when he interacted with others.

He dismissed them. Instead of long and flowing sentences, he replied with one or two words.

Sometimes, he never replied.

Liam knew that he didn't do something great and probably stalled his relationship with everyone.

He couldn't bring himself to care. A week later, he shook off his mood and thought of it as nothing.

Nevertheless, it made him think. Such burn outs are inevitable no matter how much he tries.

Actually, the more he tries. The higher the odds of his burnout.

Liam didn't like it. In the future, it might cost him something more than just a development of friendships and progress with experimenting.

Another line in his mental goal book appeared. After all, boring freedom might be a greater torture than prison filled with interesting things.

Liam slowly became more sure of his path. To forge it one by one, be it through motivation or discipline.

The days after that returned to normal, and his progress became much faster.

He didn't understand it at all. The surprise made him happy. It didn't last long, but it didn't deter him from enjoying his current situation.

With Terran's departure, another extra surprise came 2 years after the construction of the town.

...

Liam sat inside his mental space. Not far from him sat vast pools of magical liquids in various colours.

They might not be able to strengthen his mental prowess, still they helped him replenish it better.

Unlike two years ago. His own eyes glowed and had a celestial vibe to them.

Like they stood in a different whole dimension. Realm where they ruled supreme above all that kneeled below it.

Liam stood up and jumped into a wind liquid pool. His eyes began to glow, and a small whirlpool appeared.

The height of the pool began to drop at a noticeable pace and Liam's closed eyes began to shine, even through the eyelids.

A small step that required much more mental strength than he had. He could feel it.

Change, metamorphosis happened inside his mental space. Appearance didn't change.

The substance and the abyss did. It became much more solid and when he saw it.

He became sure of one thing. To see whatever his mental space hid, he needed to enter a realm or two above.

"Mhmm, let's call it the mana realm. Now I understand what mental power represented." Liam said to himself and looked around.

Similar to the state when he looked through the unawakened elders.

The difference laid in quality. He could feel it, if their crystals could see as one of the side effects of its power.

Then his eyes literally existed to see. Liam opened his eyes as much as he could and stared into the void.

For a moment it became clear, before he felt a stabbing pain in his eyes and fell to his knees.

The pain lasted for 10 seconds before it disappeared. An instinctual fear appeared in his eyes.

He almost stopped processing the information about the void, that it existed and where it stood.

Liam didn't fight this fear and tried to calm himself down. The abyss or void or whatever.

It might be the reason for his reincarnation or something that might turn against himself once he becomes ready for harvest.

With the knowledge of novels and the crazy stuff people can do. He didn't doubt it.

"Great, another headache to worry about..." Liam said and laughed to himself.

A foe he knew next to nothing about and threatened him in the light and another potential enemy waiting in the darkness with the power to end him any time.

Liam shook himself out of the feeling that crept upon him and focused on his eyes again.

This time, he focused on the rock liquid. Not long after, he grinned in excitement.

Like a microscope, he could see the composition of the liquid.

Liam scooped out a bit and focused with his eyes. He tried to use his mental power to restructure it.

To no avail, as he lost focus with his eyes for a second. It didn't stop him, though.

For 3 days, he shut himself and continued to experiment.

"Finally." He said to himself with a smile.

The liquid began to flow and soon escaped his palm. Replaced by a small brown grain almost invisible to the naked eye.

With a thud. Liam's body fell as it smiled.

The grain itself rolled a bit before it stopped. It didn't dissipate, nor did it take any energy from the outside...