As the sun continues to rise higher into the sky there is silence in a small village named Flint on the fringe of the Shard Kingdom’s territory. In Flint there are no people walking the streets, there are no people hawking their wares, the children are not playing. It would seem like a ghost town on until one came upon the town square located in the center of the village. In the square a large crowd can be found surrounding a small stage with a huge clear crystal located in the center of it. That is however not what draws the eyes of every man woman and child located within the square, instead what draws their eyes is a boy. A boy no older than five years old with a childish face and short sandy brown hair, his body is lean but clearly strong, and most notable is his eyes. They seem to shine like the colors of the rainbow when only glanced at even if they are very clearly dark grey when giving a second look giving a mysteriousness to his image. This boy is bowing his head to the crystal in the middle of the stage, this boy is Liam.

(Liam’s POV)

The moment my head touched the crystal I could feel freedom from the energy controlling my body. Though I wasn’t focused on the loss of that energy as there was something more important in front of my face.

Upgrade material discovered, would you like to absorb to upgrade AI Implant?

Yes/No

I was always curious on how I was meant to upgrade my abilities but again a yes/no question was not the way to find out. I probably should have asked Luke while is in line but this works too.

Before I could even think to click on an option the screen glitched and began to fade away. Just before it completely disappeared I saw a different message flash onto the screen. With my memory that flash was all I needed to remember it.

Error! Interference detected! Contacting administrator...

Liam I am losing connection, something is wrong I can no longer find you through my power. Stay safe, you are on your own. Upgrades need magic materials! Remember keep your abilities hidden! I will find you!

‘...Yeah that doesn’t look good.’ I thought as the world around me started to dissolve, fading away into puddles of color. A psychedelic looking puddle of color. I was back in the void. The colors shifting around me as normal with one difference between my past and present experience.

There was a flame directly in front of me. A dark grey flame that the void swayed around. It grew and shrunk like a heart beat while I stared at it, pulling and pushing the void around it. It was hypnotizing to watch making me forget everything else around me, making me forget the message, my fear, my training, my parents, Luke. I forgot everything up until one memory. The memory that defined who I had become, The memory that shaped me. It was the memory of my parent’s graves.

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I was a child kneeling in front of two mounds under a willow tree. Rain was pouring from the sky as if to mourn my loss. It dripped through the branches above drenching my body. But at the time I felt nothing, not the cold rain, or the broken blisters on my hands, I didn’t even feel the loss. I was empty as I kneeled before the two mounds, one fresh and the other old. All I could do was stare at them tears streaming from my eyes even as a smile remained solidly on my face. I was void of everything and the void had accepted me.

The memory broke me from the hallucination as all of my memories returned. I watched as the fire burned, not brighter, but stronger than it had before. It was as if it was happy or excited. Then it drifted towards me beating with a steady rhythm. I didn’t avoid it even as I understood its power, I accepted it and it, me. That was when it reached me and seemed to meld with my chest, passing through to my heart.

Thump!

The void began flowing into my body.

Thump!

It broke me down, dissolving me like it did reality.

Thump!

It reshaped me.

Thump!

I rebuilt me.

Thump!

I was reborn from the void.

Words began to flow into my mind as if they were always there.

To destroy you must create

To create you must destroy

Everything began from nothing

No beginning has no end

Only the void is eternal

Only the void is strong

Only the void is free

(3rd Person POV)

As Liam was being baptized by the void the crowd surrounding the stage was in turmoil. They all knew the significance of Liam’s bow towards the crystal. It was only done by one type of people, Magical Knights. These individuals could not be classified as solely Mages or Battle Mages as they were for all intents a combination of the two. This made them fearsome magical beings that could grow in power at such an accelerated rate that it could only be described as monstorouse. Every individual that awakened as a Magical Knight once grown would be a powerhouse that no one could contain. Thus a law was placed in Shard Kingdom that if an individual was awakened as a Magical Knight they would be given the highest treatment available in an effort to win these future powerhouses over to the side of Shard.

Everyone knew this, outside of Liam of course because of his incredible focus on training and lack of books. Everyone also clearly saw that Liam was intent on defending the Battle Mage Elf. This put them in a difficult position as Liam will have the power to remove all of them in the future and if they tried to eliminate him now the kingdom would still eliminate them when discovered. At every angle the situation is bad. When the crystal lit up the situation however took a turn for the better however.