- 6 months later -

"What do you mean, you don't know where he is?" Euryale Aegis asked in an extremely dangerous tone to the fat foreman of the mine.

Gisbon had been drooling after the young lady. It's not often he had something pleasant to look at and boy was she.

"My Lady, we have people disappear all the time in the mines. It's an extremely dangerous profession." He responded calmly with her tone not intimidating him in the slightest, but having the opposite effect.

"That doesn't excuse how you don't have records when Sorin Ekart arrived nor where he was assigned to dig, not to mention how I have been sitting here another hour while you look for two other people who may or may not be still alive in this mine." She snapped back anger beginning to show with her path beginning to heat the ambient air.

Euryale was not happy in the slightest. The disgusting lump in front of her was so repulsive that she wanted to incinerate him on the spot, but held back. She had spoken with her father who, in turn had achieved an agreement with the prince to recind the rest of Sorin's time in the mine and begin his employment with her family sooner, but according to the foreman, he had not been seen anywhere.

The door opened to the office as a guard led two filthy men in. Those they were covered in dirt and grime, but Euryale could still recognize Linx and Cain. They saw her and immediately turned their gaze down, shame still showing on their face. Their betrayal burned them to this day.

"Gentlemen, two things have come up and you will be required." she said. "First, we are looking for Sorin; have you seen him?" She asked.

They immediately looked up at one another. "Yes ma'am, he is somewhere down in the mines. We saw him briefly about six months ago when the incident concerning the guards and overseer took place." Linx said.

Euryale frowned. "What incident?" She asked turning to Gisbon.

The foreman stammered "I-It is nothing to concern yourself with. Minor issues that was quickly solved. Minor case of rebellion that happens from time to time."

Euryale turned to the fat man. "Who rebelled?" She asked.

"We don't actually know. All I heard from who returned from the team is the situation was handled." He responded, sounding so smug with his nasally voice.

Euryale turned back to Linx and Cain. "Pack what items you have. You're going to work for my family. I want you both on my ship within the hour." She commanded.

The foreman jumped up quickly.

"You won't stay for at least dinner with me?" He asked hopefully.

She looked at him with a look of pure distaste. "Absolutely not. You're disgusting and incompetent. There is nothing I detest more than incompetence, save for sheer stupidity, and you have it plenty of both." She snapped and began to walk away only for the guard at the door to not move to the side.

Euryale stopped and glared.

"Foreman, remove your man before I remove him myself." She ordered.

With a snicker the foreman spoke.

"When I last looked you're a tier 5 and not strong enough and you came in here insulting me and the mine. I think I'll take my recompense." He said with a nasy grin.

Euryale began to smile with a smile she had learned from Sorin that seemed to really make enemies uncomfortable, causing the guard to step back.

With a flash or movement, she flicked her wrist and a push dagger was released from the inside of her sleeve and was plunged beneath the guards chin up into his brain. With a gurgle the man slumped to the floor.

Euryale turned to the foreman, who at this point was rather suprised at how quickly his guard had gone down. Linx and Cain were next to useless with their collars so they took cover.

"Foreman, if you were willing to do this to me of all people, it means you have done this to others who have gained your unwanted disgusting attention. For this, your punishment will be a reminder to future foreman of this mine." She said as her eyes glowed white.

Gisbon began to scream, but it lasted only a couple seconds before his entire body, clothes and all became petrified in stone.

Her eyes returned to their usual red and she staggarded back a step and shook her head. She walked over, picking the now statue of the fat man up with a slight huff of effort and put him in the corner before sitting down at the desk. She composed a letter of warning for the next foreman.

"Let's go you two. I'm sick of this place." She said as she walked out.

- Months earlier -

Sorin sat down in a new cavern that had water that bubbled up from below and drained into a crack that went further into the mines.

His latest project on top of further his progress on completely nullifying the effects of the collar, was fixing a travel issue.

He couldn't do chain lightning for a long time yet, but he could do lesser things. He opened up his elemental sense and began looking for a specific type of energy. He poked around for days on end until he was able to isolate a mote that transitioned between white and blue. Electromagnetic aether he called it.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

As he began to look around and saw that electromagnetic aether was absolutely everywhere and always in fields. Looking at his own body, he could see the lesser version of a field around him that he theorized would be the key to chain lightning later.

He began to push aether toward the bottom of his field trying to make part of his field stronger, what he didn't expect is his field began to grow not just in size, but power. It was become more dense like when he infused his body with aether. It took every ounce of aether he could give it. It kept condensing then expanding for weeks with only it becoming more and more dense. Sorin had no idea what it even meant, but he was going to go for it.

*bleep*

Sorin pulled up the notification.

Congratulations!

Your spirit stat has reached tier 9!

"Well....I guess in a manner of speaking it makes sense that it is connected to spirit." He said to himself.

He smiled then focused back in trying to push more aether around to affect the electromagnetic energy around him. It was resistant at first, but then he thought about it.

The resistance is what he was after. He pushed even more. Blue and white electrical arcs began sparking. Pushing harder and he could feel the resistance push him away from the ground exactly as it feels to push on two repelling magnets. He pushed harder causing his aether to drain a little faster and he rose more.

Keeping his focus he raised a hand and pushed the same energy through his hand and he drifted to the side. He cut that power and switched hands slowing then stopping the drift and causing him to go the other way. He cut the power to his lower half and he fell the foot to the floor with a smile.

*bleep*

He pulled the notification up

Congratulations!

You have learned the skill:

Lesser flight(a) - By manipulating the forces around you, you have discovered a way to overcome gravity and propel yourself through the air. With this lesser form, you are more floating in a direction, but it's a start.

Sorin was about to push even more power through the skill to try to improve it when his senses picked up a group of armored personnel searching again.

Since he had massacred the group of tyrannical guards and the overseer, they have sent bands after him. He used them as practice. His earth manipulation had grown drastically because of it.

He walked into the wall which rippled around him like water accepting some of it's own. Time to start a legend.

- Connor -

They had all volunteered to go after the man that had murdered so many of them. They knew he had a collar so they were a little confused how he had done it. They were not there that day so they assumed the miners were lying or embellished the story.

Other groups had gone down and more guards were brought in from the empire to take up spots of the other groups. So far they had not found anyone from the other groups, but the mine was massive and some areas had beasts.

They found a cavern with tracks in it. It had seemed that people had been here. There was a pool of water in it, which was a very strange sight underground.

"Any signs of the rat?" Came a voice from the back.

"Spread out. This cavern would be a great place for someone to hide." Connor said.

They separated. They had upgraded white lights to search for the groups and even the murderer.

The pool he could see fed into the wall and drained away. There was a twist in the cavern and a group vanished from sight. Little did he know, they were already gone.

He turned away and continued looking around at the extremely sparce campsite. He saw a trail leading out another side and the sound of footsteps. He quickly whistled for the others to follow and they did.

He continued down the watching the tracks closely careful to not lose sight of them for a second. After about 15 minutes or so Connor stopped and held up a fist for the men behind him to stop, but he heard nothing from behind him.

He quickly turned around and saw only a black tunnel save for his own light. In his state of hyper fixation on a trail and looking for the source of the sound, he completely missed the disappearance of his men. He ran back down the tunnel looking for them, but found nothing.

He returned to the huge cavern and found a pile of lights, armor, and weapons with not a mark on any of it, or even blood.

Then he looked to his left and saw the heads of all his men sticking out of the ground as if buried....dead with the look of horror on their faces. He staggard back a step, then he scanned the cavern again seeing nothing but a dark head in the middle of the pool starring at him.

He looked away then froze. He quickly looked back as the head vanished from within the water. Drawing his blade and summoning fire into his hand, Connor prepared for combat thoroughly shaken from the silent destruction of his group.

There was a heaving grinding of stone behind him as the entrances to the cavern closed sealing him in. Connor felt sweat break out all over him and he felt his death approaching.

A voice of nonchalance rang through the cavern.

"Why Mr. Guardsman, you look like someone just, walked your grave..." said the voice from seemingly everywhere and nowhere.

Connor felt his aether begin to drain out of him slow at first then much faster. The flames in his hand were torn away and flew to the center of the pool where they remained in spite of nobody there. Then the flames grew into the shape of a humanoid.

"Why did you come here guardsman? Did you think to invade my terrority and there be no price?" The voice continued.

"First there was the one. Strong he might have been, but died the same. Then all the others after. Why shouldn't I satiate the rock with your blood too?"

Connor was shaking like a leaf. He was prepared to face his death as any in the empire, but not like this. He thought it was an A rank elemental, but he was wrong. This was a monster of monsters and he couldn't face it.

He looked down, as the metal from his armor began to melt away and slicing into his leather backing causing it to fall away. His sword melted from his hand slumping to the ground then flowing into the pool where water, metal, and fire met and sparks began to fly as the amalgamation of elements came together gaining size and fury.

"I AM SORRY! PLEASE SPAR ME! I WILL TELL NOBODY OF ALL I HAVE SEEN!" Connor screamed as he soiled himself in pure terror.

"Noooo......tell everyone. I will let you live as the one who speaks of my story." The voice said

"Wha-what do I call you? Connor asked still shaking.

The amalgamation didn't speak. It just compressed itself into a ball and flew toward the sealed entrance and melted it. Leaving the way open once more.

Connor had dropped his light in fear. He slowly picked it up, but before he could, he felt a sharp pinch as his right hand stayed on the ground as he stood up.

"My payment for your life." The voice said as a raspy whisper that echoed.

Connor screamed as the nerves finally registered the lost appendage. He scooped up the light and began to leave pressing hard on the bleeding stump of a wrist.

"I am Harbinger...."

- Sorin -

The man went screaming from the tunnel as fast as his tier 5 legs could carry him. Sorin laughed and laughed.

He had to go full edge lord, but had to throw in some class with a line from "Tombstone," one of his favorite movies.

"Val Kilmer is still the best Doc Holliday in my opinon." Sorin said sinking the bodies and useless junk into the ground and out of sight.

He floated up and out of the water to land using his new skill.

"I accomplished a lot today. I think either a really big threat will come now, or they will stay away. Men don't usually fear death as much as they fear monsters." He muttered.

He also thought back to a funny saying he heard once.

"It's not that people are afraid of the dark, they are afraid of not being alone in the dark."