Iren yawned and stretched out in his bed at the mages facility. The center of El'bia held a huge college built upon which resembled a medieval castle. The castle rested upon several flying buttresses. The spikes and constant pillars that lined the building gave off a gothic vibe to it.

This was called the Mage's Realm. Its true name is the Schooling of Advancement. It was a building that was mainly utilized to train all manner of military personnel. However, in the days it was built, that almost entirely consisted of magicians.

The name Mage's Realm refused to die out and became the unofficial name. Iren slowly got out of bed and showered. He brushed his teeth, remade his bed, and looked through his closet for what clothes he could put on. It was strange, unlike the traditional mage outfits- pointy hats, long robes, and wands, he took on a modern appearance.

It consisted of black pants, black boots, and a black sleeveless shirt. As you can see, he lacked any sense of color. Even his actual magician robes were colored pure black. While others saught to distinguish themselves in combat by wearing all these fancy colors and designs/symbols. Iren simply remained in jet black garments.

This in turn however, did have him stick out more-so than the others. The black hearted mage was what they called him. He had never done a single thing to warrant that name. He considered himself amongst the most merciful in the field of combat. Nonetheless, his moniker was enough to frighten most adversaries.

Iren combed his hair, brushing the spikey red ends down on both sides of his head. As usual, even with the gel he used to keep it down, one strand stuck upwards in the middle of his head. During his school days he used to be called Antenna.

People claimed he was cheating by funneling extra Mana through his antenna. Those same people would later come to respect him and his abilities. After fully getting dressed, he got up and left his room. The Mage's Realm was huge, containing over 2,000 rooms and over 20 floors.

Only the top and most powerful of the countries' assets were allowed to live here.

Since it was so huge, it became a hassle to travel from one place to the other. Luckily, they had built ATS, auto transport systems. These machinery were equiped with cores that could absorb mana from the surrounding and utilize them to function.

Several decades back, a man named Shen Bimeng from a country called Xi' an created the very first discovered the very first mineral capable of absorbing mana around it, and storing that mana. Upon incorperating it with his creations, he had made the very first- what he called 'moving tools'.

Since then, several of the more advanced countries have gained access to an abundance of these cores and utilized them in various ways. From augmenting their cannons, to equiping it on carts and creating self proppeling vehicles. These types of advancements all fall under the bracket COS, core operated systems. Within that bracket, there are Auto transport systems, Core operated weaponry, and various other creations.

To most of the outside world, these machines were a luxury that is rarely seen.

Iren stepped outside of the palace after 30 minutes of walking. He wasn't much a fan of utilizing the Auto transport systems. He had a tendency to get extremely sick while riding them for whatever odd reason. He much more preferred riding horse back.

When he found that they were headed to the country of Sei'O, he moaned and groaned about how he would much rather stay behind. Luckily he managed to convince them that utilizing horses would be for the better.

Because their mission was to utilize stealth, he was fairly adamant in convincing them that the Core operated systems would fail them tremendously.

The core machinery utilized mana from the nearby surroundings to function. As such, it left a constant trail of magic that was being expended, and magic that was being absorbed.

It was too much of an abnormality to miss. Even with the blanket spell having been activated. Horses were still much more efficient than the former.

Generally, the core system would have been much more efficient to utilize. They could travel for days on end without need for rest. It was only until the core died that one might need to replace it, but that cane take months, years even.

The streets greeted him with constant activity and movement. Sky scrapers and towers loomed over every corner and every portion of the streets. It was an odd mix of high end, rising buildings, and small tiny businesses and houses. The way everything was so condensed made it seem like everyone lived together.

There were about 15 huge towers that dotted the city in various parts. These were defense towers. Each of them were equipped with a transportation gate linking to each other. It would allow the movement of several advanced combat units should an attack or emergency happen.

Of course, Iren didn't like to go through portals either. Despite being a magician who specialized in spatial manipulation, he couldn't get used to the feeling of distortion it throws upon its user.

They were very well spread throughout the city. Furthermore, these pillars acted as a detection barrier. By utilizing several huge cores at the top of each barrier, the defense team were able to create a barrier formula that detected everyone within the village...at all times.

When the barrier was installed, the defense corps had collected the aura signatures of everyone within city. It was simply a collection of a minor blood sample and registering it within the core. They then showed up on a map which displayed their signatures and where they were at all times.

Those who were not registered, would show up red on the map, and those who commit crimes could easily be traced and found. It was a foolproof barier system.

While the thought of being constantly monitered and traced might unnerve some, due to that, not a single crime has occured within this city. Initially it did, but due to the barrier, they were able to trace exactly where you were and when. The crime rate within the city had effectively gone to zero.

Iren's morning stroll consisted of going to the magic shop in the far west district of the city and picking up some enchanted roses. As he reached the magic shop, several of the workers there had already prepared for him his favorite flower.

The porcelain rose. It shimmered ever so slightly when the light reflected off of it. Aside from that, it was entirely invisible and carried a shy quality to it. As usual, he bought 2.

"Ah, thankyou again for stopping by Iren-Sama." They bowed to him. They had no choice but to show respect. After-all, he was one of the most noteable mages in the country. His special ability that allowed him to store things in a hidden world was a talent that no other magician could replicate.

There were a couple 'void houses' as they are called. But Iren was the first to create one that holds its contents in stacis. If he were to absorb a candle set aflame, 3 days later there will have been no progress. It would still be burning, but nothing will have changed.

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Thus, he could save people who are near death and bring them back to immediate treatment without having to worry about the time gap.

"No, the pleasure is all mine."

"is there anything else you would like to buy?"

"Ne. I have a couple other places to go."

He bowed and promptly left.

As one of the elite mages of Yorba, he had a salary far above the median. He had a total of 8,000 Yorbian lbs. That was 4 times the median income. However, given that Iren was not a man of money, he cared little of what he did with that money monthly.

He went to several different stores and bought an array of children and adult clothing of various sizes, colors and genders. Each time he bought something, he'd place it in his void.

He then went to a toy shop and bought several puzzles, magic cubes, and books. People were shocked by the amount of money he was willing to spend on just books and toys alone.And even more-so shocked by his transportation method. Since he was in basic clothes, it was hard to determine whether or not he was a magician or just an average citizen.

After that, he stopped at his local grocery store and paid for over $1,000 in food. It was evening by the time his shopping was done. However, his activities were not yet finished.

As the clouds began to darken, he walked through the more scarce and shadier community. On the eastern front was where the low income housings were built. Very few shops and business made themselves a place in this part of town. There were a couple homeless and more threatening deviants among the various faces that stared at him as he walked by.

Upon noticing who it was however, most of their faces lit up. "Lord Iren!" Many of them bowed and some even ran up to hug him. Iren laughed lightly and talked with them all. It was not the relationship of a superior and those beneath him.

This was the talk of long time comerades. Iren himself was from this same place. As they all huddled around him, various questions were thrown at him.

"How was your trip!?"

"Did you get to see the Silver Knight?"

"I heard there was an incredible opponent there! You destroyed them didn't you!"

"Place me into your void IREN~~~<3"

Iren couldn't helpp but feel uneasy.

"guys one at a time please" he laughed.

"I can't keep up with everything. Let's go to the center, I'll tell you everything there."

They walked together through these darkened streets and unkempt houses. At the very outskirts of the city, there was one giant citadel like building. It had apparently used to be a church before the eastern district slowly became less and less habitable.

As more shady figures moved in, and more affordable housings were placed there, most of the upper class up and left. As such, noone visits the citadel anymore. They had long since created a new one.

"Ah, Lord Iren, you're here."

Standing before him, was a priest dressed in tall red robes that draped down to the floor. His short white hair rested behind him in a fashion similar to pigeon wings. They were old and greying despite the man only appearing to be in his forties.

Deep lines of rinkles formed around his mouth, remnants of a thousand smiles. The eyes however...those eyes showed stress and pain. Pastor Felix was one that would smile through all his pain, but could never hide it from his eyes.

"How have you been, my fair child?" Felix asked.

"I have been quite alright."

"I've heard about your mission in Sei'O...I'm sorry. It must have been a tragic loss."

During that mission they lost 8 out of their 10 mages. Aside from him, only one other mage survived. The others either perished or fled. There was too much chaos to keep track of.

Only  4 knights out of the 20 survived. And out of the relic wielders only the Kars group and Regalt survived. Truly, such a mission was a loss to all sides.

"I'd prefer we not think of such things. Especially not in the holy house of the goddess of mercy."

He did not need to remind a priest this.

The priest nodded and concurred.

"I'd like you to distribute this amongst everyone. I spent too much time doing my shopping that I lost track. The hospitals close at 10, so please. Allow me to leave these with you."

At that moment, he opened his void, and a plethora of items, toys, food, and clothing flew out of his distortion that presented itself.

The priest was left showered in these items and burried deep within them. "...damn you, Iren."

By the time he had come out of the pile, Iren had been long gone.

Dashing as fast as he could go, he waved to everyone as they shouted their departures to him. "Bye everyone!! We'll see each other again!"

He ran off to the eastern district, as fast as his legs could carry him. No, that's not correct. At some point he realized he could fly and lifted himself off the ground, blaring towards the hospitals.

Normally, flying and utilizing any flashy magic is prohibited within the city walls, but for mages of his caliber, there were more than a few guards willing to turn a blind eye.

10, 15..20 minutes had passed. It was already 9:40. He had just barely made it in time before the lazy hospital decided to close things down.

As he dashed up each of the stares excitedly, he finally made it to top floor. Room 816. He stopped outside the door, combed back his hair and made sure he didn't look too disheveled. As usual, the middle antenna stuck upwards after he tried to pat it down. He sighed and opened the door.

A woman lay before him on her hospital bed. Her eyes closed and she slept ever so peacefully. Behind her, was a machine that constantly emitted healing magic and kept her in stacis. It was, as you guessed, charged with a core. They replaced the core every 6 months.

Her brown hair almost seemed red enough to be alikened to Iren's. Her slim jawline, and miniscule features gave off the look of a sleeping angel. She was by no means unnatractive. In fact, the kindness her face portrayed rivaled even that of Lady amai.

From underneath the blanket, her chest rose and fell calmly at a constant rate. Just seeing her enticed so many positive memories to resurface to him.

"You're Iren, right?"

"I'm Ire. Heheh, it's okay. I won't make you change your name." She offered her hand out to him. This was his long time partner. Individually with his spatial magic, Iren was too powerful in terms of combat offense. But when combined with her, they were a duo to be reckoned with.

Iren sighed. And stroked her hair. "Ire.."

He knelt beside her and closed his eyes. "Ire...It has been a while hasn't it."

"......."

"I know, I've missed you too."

"........"

"Many things happened on that trip we had just then."

"........"

"I was worried I might die."

"........"

"It was my first mission with the great Silver Knight. I didn't embaress myself either like I always do. For the first time, I was an asset."

"........."

"I just wish you would have been there. The country of Sei'O was...eh, different. I couldn't stand the hot temperatures. You probably would have loved it."

".........."

"There was a kid there who was powerful. Even more-so powerful than perhaps Kars. He had just unlocked his ability from what I could tell, he was nowhere near skilled enough. But...if he ever did learn to use it properly, he could no doubt pose a threat to Kars. The truth is...I was scared. I was so so scared...this must have been how you felt huh?"

"................................"

Tears streamed down his eyes. "I thought for a second...that I would die. And you would follow me. But don't worry. Our reunion does not have to be in the after-life. You'll wake up one day, I'm sure of it."

"And then I can...I can finally tell you how much I'm sorry."

"Had I just been stronger."

"But don't worry. I'm getting closer. I'm sure in one of these countries, there exists someone out there. Someone who could save you." He placed the porcelain rose above her bed.

Resting on a shelf above her, was an array of porcelain roses. Over 720 porcelain roses rested above her head. It was her favorite flower. He'd bring one daily since the day she was admitted 2 years ago. That day, was perhaps the worst day of his life.

He and the rest of his squad along with Ire were sent to investigate a disturbance in the country of Kei'lin. Just bordering east of Yorba. When they reached that country, the disturbance happened to be the band of claw. Just 2 members of the Claw wiped out the entire capitol city.

They seemed to be in search of something.

When Iren and his group appeared, the result was disgusting...

He had never seen such frightening powers. Even more horrifying than the kid with the shadows. They were...abnormalities to the full extent of the word.

The sheer manor in which they fought made them horrendous. They treated it as if it was a game. No..they actually didn't even realize they were fighting. Only one of them participated in the onslaught, while the other went to sleep.

With just a flick of his fingers here, and there, he was able to wipe out the entire squad. Of 260. Worst of all was his variant ability. Anyone who touched him sustained a curse called "Kiss of the undead."

It sapped away much of your aura continiously until death. The speed at which it does so is 5 minutes.

Iren sealed her into his void world to try and save her, but much to his dismay, even after replenishing her aura, the curse continued to emit itself.

Even now, she had to be constantly administered mana until someone could remove such an effect. The amount of money Iren had spent to grab the attention of various healing mages and legends proved to be useless. So far, she had no choice but to remain in her sleep state and be depraved of all energy.

At least...until he can find something that will remove the effect. There had to be someone out there skilled enough in healing.