Chapter 20: Divergent

"Li Jihan, you're next," said the woman. 

Jihan approached and passed through the door. Inside the booth, a dark corridor led to a light at the end of the tunnel. As soon as he entered, a familiar voice greeted him. 

"Good morning, Li, did you miss me?" 

"Michael? What are you doing here?" he asked. 

"I'm personally responsible for you, aren't you happy to see a familiar face?" 

"Not if it's yours." 

"You're always like this. Anyway, it's not like you have a choice," he mocked. "Anyway, I'm here to help you, we have no time to waste, let's begin." 

Li nodded and followed. As soon as he entered the room where the light was coming from, he was faced with various pieces of equipment that didn't match the place. 

"These devices were produced by combining the technology of other worlds with that of Erebus. We could use the archaic way of doing the release, but this way, besides being much easier, we also have more details about the results," explained Michael. 

"So, what do I do?" 

"It's quite simple. First, the machinery will unblock the mana vessels in your body. Then, it will provide storage with all types of mana, the one that reacts best with your body is your primary element," after a short pause, he continued, "Additionally, one in a hundred thousand people also reacts with a second type of element, that's your secondary element." 

"So, I just get into the machine?" 

"Putting it that way makes it sound easy, but if it were done the old-fashioned way, it would probably take days, if not weeks. Anyway, let's get this started." 

Jihan proceeded, entering a capsule. The device was like a hibernation chamber. When Li closed the door, the process instantly began, several blue beams penetrated his body, his skin heated up, and a sharp pain pierced his mind. 

ARGH 

"Oh, I forgot to mention, this might hurt a bit." 

As if hundreds of needles pierced his body, Jihan bit his lips to hold back the scream. Abruptly, his mind cleared, and the pain passed. As if receiving a bomb of nutrients, he felt instantly incredible, practically unbeatable. 

"Alright, Li, we've passed the first phase," Michael's voice sounded in the capsule. "Now, you should already be able to feel the mana flowing through the environment, try to absorb some of it." 

The instructions might sound confusing to laypeople, but for Jihan, who already had a basic notion of mana control due to training, the channeling began quickly in his hand. Like a magnet, the energy inside the capsule started to react, and a purple glow emerged from within the equipment. 

"Astounding, a Álmos user? It's the first in years!" Michael celebrated, observing from outside. "Hm? The concentration of mana particles keeps increasing! Is that... light?!" 

A blinding, colorless glow escaped from the machine. 

"Two elements are already fantastic, but acquiring these two right away is unbelievable. He may be a rough stone now, but with good training, he'll become a diamond!" 

All the light suddenly ceased. 

"What happened?" Michael looked incredulous. "Wait... the number of magical particles is still increasing!" 

As if a black hole was swallowing everything that emitted light, a shadow covered the entire room. 

"Damn, this is not good, I have to get him out of there!" Michael quickly ran to the capsule. 

The structure began to shake, and the participants outside felt the tremors, it seemed like an earthquake was happening right under the facility. 

"What the hell is this?!" one exclaimed. 

"What's going on in there?" another asked. 

At the epicenter of the disaster, Michael was trying to control the situation. Shutting down the machine, he positioned himself in front of the source of the darkness and began to gesture, evoking symbols made of water before him. However, the shadows continued to consume the entire environment. 

"Cursed element! Don't think that at this level you'll beat me with brute force!" 

Roaring and finishing the fifth symbol, Michael crouched down, slamming his palm on the floor. At that moment, the characters united in a flow of water that surrounded the machine. The liquid then returned to the original forms, falling towards the ground, marking it. Subsequently, a water barrier was raised and began, little by little, to suppress the darkness. Minutes later, the malign power ceased, and the man went to Jihan. 

"Hey, kid! Are you alright?" he asked, opening the capsule. 

Lying in the device still dazed, the young man took a few seconds to respond. 

"What happened?" regaining consciousness, Li asked. "Why are you like this?" 

Michael's face was pale and sweat covered his forehead. His feelings were a bit conflicted; he didn't exactly know what to say about the situation. 

"That bastard Muhali happened, if this gets out it will doom us all! Does he have any idea of the danger he's putting us in?" he shouted. "Damn, of course he does. Listen, Li, you don't know how lucky you are that it's me here and not anyone else!" 

"I don't understand anything, what are you talking about?" 

"Li... you have an affinity with Álmos and Light; that's incredible by itself and up to that point, it's all good, but a third and fatal element appeared," he explained, holding his head. 

"Shadow?" 

"I don't know exactly how to explain this... I'm sorry, but it's probably a heritage from your father." 

Jihan's expression soured; he definitely didn't want anything that came from that damned man. 

"Anyway, let me tell you something," wiping the sweat from his forehead, Michael said, "There are two types of dark mana, the first one is common, obscure mana, or black magic, if you prefer: it's not desirable, but it's not a taboo. The shadow element, however, is extremely forbidden among the peaceful realms of Erebus. Do you know why?" 

Seeing the boy shake his head, the man continued. 

"What plagues the continent are the dark forces, demons in general possess various primary elements and shadow powers as secondary ones. This makes them powerful, but susceptible to losing themselves to the madness this force causes. The Deicides, however, they maintain sanity, even having shadow as a primary element." 

"Deicides? I'm more confused now than when you started talking..." 

"You're a danger! A danger that most of the ones up there are not willing to take and, honestly, if I didn't know the context of how you got here, I myself would have already killed you!" 

"So, what do I do?" gradually, Jihan began to understand the gravity of what was happening, because, even for a usually playful and smiling man like Michael, the Shadow element seemed to scare him greatly. 

"Jihan, listen to me very carefully! What happened here cannot leave this place, you understand? There are things you don't know, but I don't have time to explain them now! Never use that dark mana in front of others!" he warned. "Otherwise, it's not just your life that will be in danger, it's everyone's; everyone related to you in some way, understood?" 

Still a bit scared, Li agreed. He barely understood what Michael was talking about, but, organizing his thoughts, he remembered that as long as he kept this third element hidden, he wouldn't have problems. 

"You already have two extremely rare, fantastic elements, honestly, I don't think anyone would even consider the possibility of a third, it seems absurd to me even having seen it with my own eyes," giving a long sigh, he continued, "Anyway, you can go now." 

Nodding, without saying a word, Jihan left the room, heading towards the door. 

"Muhali, you bastard. This wasn't what you told me would happen." Michael cursed his bad luck, but now that he was in this boat, it would be hard to get out. 

Leaving through the door, Li faced a small crowd looking at him strangely. Their faces showed curiosity about what had just happened. Jihan, however, was oblivious to this detail. 

"Why is everyone looking at me? Maybe they're waiting for a demonstration like that kid did?" 

A thin layer of white light covered Jihan's body, his eyes, previously dark brown, lightened until they became almost amber yellow. 

In response, some participants showed surprise, some fear, and others, distress, perhaps out of envy or the feeling that a powerful opponent had appeared. 

"Congratulations, Mr. Li, I didn't expect to have the luck to see someone with a rare element like Light," Liming approached and congratulated him. "You should go now, if you were lucky to be one of the first called, you should take advantage of the time. As far as I know, you haven't completed any missions since you arrived." 

The people observing him began to understand, coming to the conclusion that the phenomenon that had just happened was probably linked to the rarity and strength of the Light element. 

"Thank you for the concern and thank you, you helped me more than you think." Finishing speaking and bowing slightly, Jihan headed towards the plaza. Despite the downside, he felt extremely well and strong; ready to test his new abilities.