ELEX VINSPEAR (POV)
I was in a forest running from something, I didn't know what, but my subconscious told me to run nonetheless. Branches, leaves, and nettles scratched and brushed across my now irritated skin, as I didn't care for being wary. I was submerged in darkness everywhere I looked, the only source of light being the luminescence from what looked to be the moon above, which shone down upon the path in front of me as if guiding me on my escape. I could swear amongst the trees in the distance I could see bodies dangling from a rope by the neck blatantly staring in my direction. Suddenly, chains formed around my wrists and legs which were connected to small boulders slowing me down completely to a stop.
Being left vulnerable in the open night, a feeling of dread completely overwhelmed my senses as the chilling breeze from the wind smothered my face while a woman and little boy approached me from the darkness ahead. It was my mother and Casper! A wavering smile was plastered onto my face but soon faded away as they came into view. My mother had her eyes gouged out and was bloodied all across her face, whilst my little brother's torso was completely stained in crimson, with cuts and punctures allowing more blood to flow out onto his body. They both stared at me in silence, holding each other's hands as they pointed at me together simultaneously.
“It's your fault we ended up like this,” my mother said to me with a bitter tone in her voice, a slight echo following after she spoke. “You left us behind to die.”
I tried to scream in protest but nothing came out, all I could do was stand there and watch my family accuse me. I tried to mutter an apology but the only thing that left my body was the tears in my eyes as guilt and remorse were the only things on my mind. Soon after, the weight of the boulder began to increase pulling me downward, and I was enveloped in the damp grass and fell through the ground, submerged by darkness.
I jolted up from my bed covered in sweat, as another recurring nightmare haunted me in my sleep. Seeing the state I was in, I had to make my way to the bathroom to freshen up for the day.
It had been a few months now living with my grandparents in Haulburn, it didn't take long for me to adjust to the new environment and get used to the difference in normalities that occur here and in my old village. For example, people here tend to go out a lot more when it comes to eating food. I don't know why but it feels as if the citizens within the inner city are either too lazy or too entitled to cook for themselves, even the ones that don't go out, like my grandparents, have butlers and home cooks to take care of their needs. Maybe that was just the ignorance from my humble upbringing talking, but despite my setbacks and lack of understanding of what seemed to be the talk of the town or upcoming trends, I was able to adapt fairly quickly.
Walking out of the restroom I clothed myself using my newly styled wardrobe which was created by my grandmother with the help of Lydia, her assistant. They felt the need to help me and my father get used to our new lifestyle as quickly as possible, and since we weren't exactly living in poverty anymore, it all started with how we presented ourselves. I wore a plain white long-sleeved shirt with a sleeveless olive jumper over it to compliment the shirt. I finished off the look with gray tartan trousers, which I have to say, made me feel like I was staring at a completely different person in the mirror with these new expensive clothes and haircut. The outfit really did make me look good, despite me just putting on the first couple of things I saw in front of me, it actually ended up working out for the better. Looking at myself once again I pulled out the pendant I had given to my mother from under my shirt, making me think about the nightmare I had just woken from.
I wanted to believe that I was somewhat over their deaths, as I had forced myself to not mourn for the rest of my life, also indulging myself with the new culture around me to act as a distraction, but that could only do so much. We had a funeral for the two of them that took place not too long ago, of course with no bodies in the caskets, which resurfaced all of my ill feelings of sorrow. but my grandmother insisted that I not dwell too much on the past, and start thinking about my own personal future, which was a notion my father backed. I knew that he didn't want me to forget about them, as I would see him smile when he saw me wearing the necklace, but what I did know he wanted me to forget about, was spending my life to seek revenge against their killers. Which was something I unfortunately won't be able to do.
Coming downstairs for breakfast and taking my seat on the table, my father was in a rush to make his way to work. He was dressed smartly in his black suit which was decorated with lime green stripe highlights on the end of his sleeves, collar, and blazer. To finish off his uniform he wore a bow tie with a silver insignia that had the capital letters ‘BW’ covering his chest. A few weeks into our stay here, my father insisted on helping my grandfather at his elixir business, free of charge of course, which would pay for our stay in his home. Naturally, my grandfather was against this, as all he wanted us to do was sit back and enjoy our new life, but my father was determined to experience new things and wasn't going to let this opportunity pass. I'm sure he also felt a sense of obligation to help out, due to the fact he wasn't used to getting everything he wanted handed to him on a silver platter. In fact, it was more of an innate belief, rather than a sudden reaction to self-realization. I don't think he believes anyone should receive everything handed to them from birth. This became apparent as he made it mandatory that I myself took up fighting and body training lessons three times a week after he had finished his work. Although I wasn't exactly against this since my father knew that I wanted to get stronger fast, the only difference that would make my progression challenging is that the majority of nobles or anyone who could afford enhancement elixirs would use these to increase their development speed. A luxury my father decided I didn't need, despite it now being an affordable and easily accessible asset. However, I had never planned on cheating my way to the top, and I have read that this type of doping can have major downsides on your body in the long run.
Looking at my father stuffing some bread into his mouth while tightening up his bow tie reminded me of the training that I would be doing with him tonight.
“Don't choke yourself dad” I said smiling at him with concern.
“And don't talk with food in your mouth,” He snapped back hypocritically, with breadcrumbs struggling to stay within his lips. “Make sure you listen to everything Mr. Wilson teaches you today, I want to hear all about it before our training session. Speaking of which, I also have a surprise for you, so behave while I'm gone” He said, shouting from the foyer into the kitchen whilst walking out the door, not giving me a chance to respond.
Mr. Wilson was the tutor my father had hired to educate me until I was old enough to go to a bigger school independently. This was one of the benefits I had acquired due to living with my grandfather. The majority of people would send their kids to day school, where they would drop them off and then pick them up later. However, the more affluent individuals were able to afford a more personal education for their kids in the comfort of their own homes before they were old enough to send them to one of the Academies.
To say the least, I hated this man. James Wilson, or what I'm supposed to refer to him as, Mr. Wilson, was the only thing I loathed about this city. From his short buzzed black hair, to the thick glasses he wore and the condescending tone that he always had even when speaking to my father irked my entire being. Yet, the thing that I hated the most, which should actually be the least of my concerns, was the professor's cloak he wore as a part of his attire. I don't know if he thinks he is on the same level as the teachers from some of the major schools, but for some reason, the cloak that draped over his body made me so enraged that during our lessons I would intentionally go out of my way to ‘accidentally’ make a mess of it. Which could be considered petty, but when it came to him I didn't care. It's almost as if he wears it to confirm the fact that he has the qualifications to teach and flaunts it in front of the world as if he isn't confident in his own words.
Just thinking about him makes me feel stressed, but now I believe I bring this punishment upon myself. Just as I had finished my breakfast, it seemed all that ranting about Mr. Wilson in my head had manifested in him coming to the house fifteen minutes earlier than usual. I saw Lydia walk past and head to the front door at the sound of the bell. I cleared away my plate and rolled my eyes as I heard his deep nasal voice from the foyer greeting Lydia.
“Elex I will be waiting for you in the study, don't be long,” He said sternly. Lydia must have told him about my location, which made me cringe as I had planned to act oblivious to his arrival for a few more minutes to waste some time in hopes of a shorter lesson.
Walking through the halls of this house that I hadn’t completely gotten used to yet, I made my way to the library, where my lessons took place. Opening the door of the room, my nose was bombarded with the smell of old books and ink containers that had feathers leaning to the side within them. Mr. Wilson sat on the opposite end of the table with a few books by his side pointing at the chair across from him and indicating for me to sit.
“Elex, I understand that your birthday is tomorrow, and it has made me realize how much you lack in history,” He said while shuffling through the paper which I could only assume to be more work for me.
It was things like this that really got my blood boiling. Baseless accusations which if I decided to confront him about would leave him speechless. I honestly wonder who or what would make him just assume I know little about history, and how did he decide that from my birthday coming up? However, like always, I kept my mouth shut and accepted his claims.
“Yes sir, I suppose I could polish up my knowledge a bit,” I said scratching my head while looking away to appear as if he had just discovered my secret weakness.
“Of course, you could” He sighed, mimicking my words, while leaning back in his chair.
One day I will kill this man.
“Right, tell me the names of each of the four monarchs during the Royal war.” his words came out with a long sigh at the end. “The human race,” he started with a snap.
“William Porlov.”
“The demon race” He spoke faster as if increasing his speed in an attempt to catch me off guard.
“Zeke Trozis,” I responded hastily to match his new tempo.
“The Elven race,” He said whilst tilting his head ever so slightly to the left.
“Idril Elidan.”
He looked me in the eyes scrutinizingly. “Finally the Giant race,” he said slowly.
“F..Fandir Chrysor?” I said hesitantly, not completely confident in my answer.
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Mr. Wilson had a smug look on his face whilst he scoffed at my answer. “Who on earth is Fandir Chrysor?” His comment made me roll my eyes, as he had been obviously waiting for me to make a blunder.
Ok, maybe my history wasn't as good as the teacher who had been teaching it for at least thirty years, but it was still way better than any other kid my age. I only assume he acts this way towards me because he thinks I am some spoiled, stuck-up brat, who thinks he is smarter than everyone around him, which when it came to people my age, wasn't entirely far from the truth.
“Falrick Chrysor” He stressed. “Remember it.”
“Yes Sir, I will try my best” allowing him this victory over me.
A couple of hours had passed by slowly with the seemingly never-ending questions from Mr. Wilson. Most of which I could answer with detail, the only part that really caught my interest was when he decided to educate me further on the origins of the four races in Lumerick. Straying out of history and diving into philosophy and religion, he mentioned theories that scientists and priests had come up with today on how the four races came to be.
Nearing the end of my lesson, my father and grandfather had returned from the shop and my father walked in on us to see how we were doing. Thankfully, Mr. Wilson decided to end the day there, as he began small talk with my father on how my studies were going. Despite my knowledge and answering his questions correctly, I only seemed to hear slander come out of his mouth. All he could really say was that I need to keep studying without backing himself with evidence. Upon his departure from our house, my father wasted no time in getting both of us ready for my training session, in which he said he had a surprise for me today. So far, all of our sessions consisted of strength and conditioning, weapon training, and meditation to feel the mana in the atmosphere. I wasn’t completely sure how to check my own progress, but it felt as if things were going pretty smoothly. Changing my clothes to a more appropriate form for training, my father and I headed out to the large garden where our sessions took place. My father brought out a small gray box, which I had seen before in the satchel he had brought with us from Leeton.
Opening the small box, small rhombus-shaped crystals glistened as they reflected the rays from the sun onto my face. There were four of them exactly, two were blue, whilst the other two were green and red. I knew exactly what they were, and my excitement grew as I knew this would be my first step to becoming stronger, my first milestone to getting closer to my mother and Casper's killers. My first step towards my deserved revenge.
Arc stones. The very thing that has allowed all four kingdoms to advance and thrive in this world filled with arc beasts and unpredictable biomes. From what I have read, they were little stones that almost all life forms in Lumerick used to survive. Unfortunately, the books I have read only went over them lightly, I would have to buy a mana arts book to get more information, or wait until I was in school, hopefully, Haulburn academy, one of the most prestigious magic schools in Sunderland - the human kingdom.
My father could practically see my face light up as I stared at the stones, he smiled back at me with a teasing grin pulling them away.
“Elex, I already know you know what these are, so I won't digress. However, I figured since your birthday was coming up, and you will be going to school in the next two years, I would give you an early birthday present for our last training session this week” His smile was still plastered on his face as if mirroring my own. “But first you need to understand the basic rules of how we can utilize these arc stones. Listen carefully because I won't repeat this'' he said with his expression changing to a stern face.
“There are three different classes of arc stones, well, potentially four, but the most common are known as ‘Basic Arc Stones’. I won't explain the other three as you will learn about those when going to school, but I will teach you all the fundimentals about these arc stones” He looked at me with one of the blue stones now held up into the sky in between his fingers.
“Basic arc stones allow the user to manipulate the natural elements that are created in the world. The four most common elements, are fire, earth, air, and water.” He attempted to find an example of each element when he said their names. Pointing at the grass for the earth, creating fire himself like he had done in the past, pointing into the sky for wind, but struggling to make an example for water as he looked around in shame, making me laugh.
“And the others?” I rushed, letting the anticipation get a hold of me.
“The four that are less common are lightning, Ice, magma, and flora” He didn't bother attempting to give me examples.
“Why are these elements less common?” my curiosity couldn't be tamed, even by myself.
“I'm pretty sure the reason is because of the fact that these elements don't show up as often as the other four do ” he hesitated with a cheesy smile. Something telling me he wasn't exactly sure himself, so he just pulled that answer out of his ass.
“Just because they are less common doesn't necessarily mean they are weaker. In fact, Lighting arc stones are one of the strongest basic stones you can get, usually giving those who have them more of an advantage due to their destructive capabilities,” he explained.
“So, what stones do you have there, how can I use them, and why are they different colors?” My patience was dwindling as my mind was overloaded with questions.
“Hahaha, I know you're excited but slow down, we have all night to go over this. It's the weekend tomorrow, so I don't have any more shifts at your grandfather's shop for the rest of the week, meaning we can stay up late ” He smiled at me with a loving, yet worried expression. Realizing that he might regret the words he just said.
“To answer your first question, these stones I have here are all basic arc stones, and despite their color, they all contain different elemental abilities. The color of an arc stone doesn’t really mean anything, even if they do contain the same ability, their colors could be the same or different. However, they never really seem to ever be black or white, and basic arc stones usually only ever take the colors of blue, red, and green” He took a big breath, before speaking again, indicating his next sentence may be lengthy.
“Finally, you can't just pick up and use an arc stone. Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Almost every living, breathing animal on this continent is born with a mana body, and these mana bodies are equipped with arc slots and are gauged by your Arcin Body Mana Level" he laughed to himself, "I know it sounds stupid, but I don't make the rules" he said with a grin on his face. He continued, "or 'ABML' for short.” He looked at me with hopes that I would just understand the words that seemed like gibberish coming from his mouth, but I had to admit, I didn't. Noticing my lack of interpretation he began to elaborate.
“Elex, have you ever wondered what those small crevices on each of your knuckles were?” He asked, pointing to my hands which I held in front of me.
“I had thought about it, but never really seemed to ask, since everyone had them” I said
“Exactly, everyone has these things. Along with the arc beasts of the land, sea, and sky, we all have arc slots. They are the mechanism our mana body requires to link to an arc stone to use its abilities. Without them, these would just look like colorful crystals to us.” He now took each of the stones out from the box and held them in his hand, allowing me a better view.
“Oh ok, I get that, but why does everyone have them in different places on their body,” I asked while studying the engravings within my knuckles carefully.
“For this, I'm not quite sure. However, we believe that the ten arc slots form on everyone's body in random areas which are still accessible.” He said, indicating to the ten on his body. Five of them began from each shoulder and made their way down his back. From what I have seen, my father only has two arc stones. Despite the fact that he has ten arc slots with only two of them occupied and four extra stones, I wonder why he didn't use them. I asked him my new question and he smiled at me with a confident grin.
“The reason for this Elex is actually quite simple. When it comes to basic arc stones, everyone has different affinities to different elements. Usually, people tend to have affinities with two different elements. For example, your grandfather has an affinity for water and magma, which is a good pair to have. Me on the other hand, has an affinity for fire, obviously, and earth” He said while creating fire with his left palm.
“I don't think I have ever seen you use earth before though, do you just not have an earth arc stone?” I asked with a puzzled face.
“Well, not anymore. When I stopped being an adventurer to take care of you, I sold my earth arc stone just to have a bit more spending money. I wasn't as good with my earth manipulation as I am with my fire, so it didn’t hinder my overall power at all.'' he replied. From seeing where we were living up until now with my grandparents, I'm assuming my father didn't want much financial help from them, which would be a better reason as to why he sold the stone.
“But aside from my own affinities, don't you want to know what yours are?” he asked. My body practically couldn't stay still at the thought of knowing my own affinities. I nodded my head to my father while praying to whatever god existed to give me the affinity for lighting. However, that was when a new question hit me.
“But dad, If all arc stones have different colors, despite their abilities, how are you able to know what your affinities are and which arcstone has that elemental ability?” My hands were raised by my sides to show my exaggerated confusion, which wasn't a normal reaction.
My father walked over to the side where he had left two other objects, which were most likely the answers to my questions. One was a black orb, and when my father picked it up, a light blue display emanated from the device. After a few seconds of silence and watching the device in anticipation, the display said on its front that my father had the affinities of fire and earth, just like he had told me earlier.
“This here Elex, is called an 'Affinity Translator', or what most people call it for short, an ‘A.T.’ ” He threw the orb up and down in his hand like a ball, as if its value was null.
“And this cylinder device here is an ‘ASR’, or 'Arc Stone Reader'. Which I'm sure you can guess what it does.” He held out the ‘ASR’ which was also black just like the affinity translator. They seemed to be made out of a certain type of ore. They were rough, and had many small serrated edges, which gave it a sharp appearance. The ‘ASR’ had a built-in display on one of its faces, with an opening along its body, for where I assume the arc stone is placed, and then the display, similarly to the arc stone reader, must show the arc stone's element on its face.
My father told me to pick a stone and put it into the device. I chose the red stone that he had in his left hand and placed it inside the small compartment on the side of the mechanism. Instantly the display at the top began to glow, before showing on its face the details of the stone. It had written on it that the stone type was basic and that its element was earth.
I suppose my father was telling the truth about the color not having any relevance to its elemental ability, as I naturally assumed the red stone would have the fire element within it.
My heart began to pound as I saw in my peripheral vision, my father holding out the affinity translator in my direction, clearly indicating for me to take a hold of it. However, I stood there in shock, realizing the gravity of the situation I was in.
“Go on Elex, take it. I too want to know what your affinities are.” He encouraged me to take grasp of the orb, completely oblivious to my mental crisis.
This was my first step, this would decide how much of an advantage I would have over other people, and decide how powerful I would become. It almost felt like if I didn't have a lighting affinity, then I was sure to fail. I wouldn't be able to avenge my mother, or at least it would be a lot harder to do so. I prayed to any deity watching over me, to allow me to have even one of my affinities be a lesser common element.
I slowly took the sleek black orb into my hand, feeling its smooth cold surface, similar to the ASR. I held it with both my hands now, making sure it could get the best result possible as I slowly filtered in my mana, not that it made any difference. I watched in silence as it loaded my result, the nausea building up inside of my chest made me not want to see anything, simply due to the fact that I would be unhappy with the outcome of my uncontrolled affinities.
“Elex, you can open your eyes now,” My father said, smirking at himself as he watched me tremble in place.
When I brought my vision towards the display in front of me, my eyes widened at the shocking result. All I needed was power, all I wanted was to at least have a small headstart from everyone else. Nothing too drastic to make me stand out from the rest of the people my age. However, to my surprise, I was shown very unexpected results.
My heart felt heavy as I stared blankly at the display in front of me with discontent, “ huh? Air and earth?”