The Empress, of course, had the ability to help Evin. She was a goddess, after all. Omnipotent and Omniscient. An Overlord above the Four Nations and Twelve Races, unmatched by none under the heavens.
Her single word outweighed the combined wishes and needs of every single being in the world. On the rare occasions when the Empress said something, the citizens of Alvox made sure that it was repeated a hundred times and all who went against it died the most gruesome death imaginable. The countries and the people were always happy to hear the goddess’ thoughts. After all, pleasing the Empress was considered the most sacred of achievements that anyone from the Empire could accomplish.
All who went against her were wrong.
How could these people even think of thinking against the Empress, Evin didn’t know. The only thing he was sure of was that if the Empress decided to cull a race to extinction, then it was the race’s fault for existing. A goddess had no faults. What happened to the Dragonshifters was the perfect example of this.
The powerful race of half-dragons thought they were above the Empress’ rule, but they soon learned how wrong they were. A lesson they paid for with their dignity and sanity.
But it wasn’t like the Empress was a bloodthirsty tyrant, or a despot who enforced her rule over everyone. No. It was the complete opposite. Aside from some incidents where she needed to act personally, the Empress rarely ever showed her face to the Empire’s people. She simply resided inside the Black Tower, unbothered by whatever the mortals beneath her were doing.
The people under her, of course, soon got used to these arrangements. As long as they didn’t challenge the Empress’ rule directly, they could literally do whatever the hell they wanted. Apparently, they could even declare themselves a separate Empire, so long as they didn’t bother the Empress herself.
War and massacre occurred between the races and nations, the balance of power inside the Empire shifting with each new day. Even today these struggles continued. As far as Evin was aware, the Western Kingdom was still at war with the Southern Isles, fighting against the Griffins, the Colossi and the Myrmis. Monsters who were exiled to the southern islands, and now were trying to return to the main continent.
Occasionally, the people begged the Empress to take helm over the countries, to set things straight. To bring peace and prosperity to the world of Alvox. According to his father, these incidents usually happened after a great war or some other tragedy caused by the mages.
But the Empress never responded to these calls. She cared not for what the people under her did.
How was one supposed to ask for the help of a goddess in the first place? What did mortals possess to pique the interest of a literal deity?
The answer was obvious. There was nothing.
The Empress did not care for the difficulties and fascinations of mortals. Not to mention the troubles of a random blacksmith’s boy, one hounded by a voice in his head.
So, would the Empress be willing to help out Evin?
No. Of course not.
It wouldn’t even be weird for Evin to die for these actions. There were fanatics who were more than willing to kill some boy for trying to waste the Empress’s time.
‘So, if I meet a mage who could help me, would they be even willing to help me?’ the thought latched onto Evin’s head.
the voice chuckled right after Evin finished thinking about the matter.
It always seemed to know the best timings to speak. Evin sometimes even wondered if it could read his mind, but that did not seem to be the case. He didn’t have a proof for it, but he was fairly sure of it.
‘I swear to the Empress, I’ll get rid of you one day…’ Evin cursed in his head, ‘I’ll rip you out in the open and feed you to the worms…’
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“What?”
“You won’t know until you try?” Evin urged.
A moment later, Evin’s body was feeling comfortably hot, the energies flowing alongside the blood inside his body.
Evin tilted his head, but did as the Voice ordered. As he expected, nothing happened. It felt like the Fire energies didn’t even register his command.
“It’s not working.”
Evin tried again, but although he couldn’t quite do it, he could at least feel the fire energies inside him trying this time. They were unsuccessful this time, but he was sure he would be able to eventually.
“…”
The Voice continued on, not waiting much for Evin’s answer.
“So I need to believe in it to make it work?” Evin’s forehead wrinkled. “Does that mean that if I just believe in something hard enough, it’s going to work?”
“I get it… But does that mean you believe that air burns?”
“Huh?”
“I want to believe you… but are you really saying the truth? You’re not messing with me just for laughs, are you?”
‘Yes.’
Evin’s head replied immediately, but he didn’t say anything with his mouth yet.
Evin nodded. If it was going to show him, then he wasn’t going to complain.
It took some getting used to, ceding control of his mana-core to the Voice, but eventually, they were successful and the Voice started to cast his spell.
“What’s that?”
"Isn't air just air?"
As the voice went through the process, Evin felt the Fire energy piling towards a certain spot in the air and then a spark of fire burst into existence.
Just like the voice said, Evin could feel the Fire energies pulling a certain part of the air towards the fire, which seemed to help it burn continuously. The ball of fire floated in the air for about a minute before dying out.
But after it was gone, Evin noticed that something about his body was very off. His head felt sluggish, his breath became short and ragged, and he could feel his chest beating faster and faster. Before he could understand what was happening, the voice's orders came in.
Evin did as it ordered and as he opened the window, he felt a draft of fresh air hitting him all at once. He stood near the window for a few moments, savoring his breaths as the voice explained what happened.
“So this Oxygen… is it a magical element?”
Evin started to feel a little better, and he walked back to the corner, away from the hearing device. He gathered some Fire energy inside his mana-core and tried to recreate what the voice did.
He failed, of course, but he could somehow feel the Fire energies being more receptive of his orders. After half an hour of training, he finally managed to create an ember out of thin air. Seeing the Voice making it work as it claimed really helped Evin believe in what he was doing.
"If you could explain everything like this, then why did you have to act so aggressively towards me in the first place?" Evin couldn't help but ask.
In his mind, there really wasn't and reason for him and the voice to argue so heatedly before this, especially if the voice was planning to just explain everything, anyway.
the voice said matter-of-factly.