Awakening
Chace felt his body heat up, but he could not do anything about it. A furious wave of heat ran through his body, scorching everything in its path. It first ran up his legs and arms, then it burned through his abdominal region. Then his chest. Finally, it scorched his brain. He felt like his entire being was being burnt alive.
He slowly felt himself fading away bit by bit. He could not control it. He could not help it. He was helpless. He wanted desperately to grab hold of something, anything.
Then a source of light appeared in the distance. He locked on to it and willed every part of his being to grab hold. It felt like a very long time, but he finally grabbed onto the light. Once he touched the light, his entire body became weightless. The heat vanished and so did the scorching pain. All that was left was this feeling of weightless wonder. He felt like the whole world’s burden suddenly lifted from his shoulders.
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Outside, Nate and Marlene were shocked to see Chace lifted into the air. A huge white flame wrapped around him. It blocked Nate and Marlene from getting near.
“Is this his power?” asked Nate eyeing the flames around Chace's body. They were very hot. He tried to reach for Chace, but the flames scorched his hands. Marlene had to heal him.
“I don’t know. This is a very weird awakening. Usually they just receive their powers, but his powers seem to have gone wild. This is weird.” commented Marlene.
“Wait, look!” Nate said pointing to all the metallic items in the camp. They all suddenly started shooting up into the air. Then they started orbiting around Chace's body, just outside of the white flame.
“Is this part of his awakening?” asked Marlene thinking hard. She had seen many awakenings, but this takes the cake. “The only time I remember there being such a weird phenomenon was when you and I both awakened at the same time.” She said remembering the day they awoke as Charmers.
“Yeah, the entire town was in chaos. One side of town was wrapped in heavy storm clouds, while the other side was showered by infinite rays of healing light.” Nate chuckled, his eyes reminiscing as the memory flooded back into his mind.
“Grandma said that only strong Charmers will receive the blessings during their wakening. I think Chace here is a pretty strong Charmer. Or else there would not be this much ruckus.” Marlene said finally stating the fact.
"A blessing. This has become very interesting indeed" smiled Nate.
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Up far above the clouds, close to the peaks of the twin mountains, the bridge connecting the two kingdoms swayed in the wind. The five men from the facility still stood there staring down at the clouds beneath.
They could not just go back single handily. This boy was actually an extremely important specimen. If they did not return with the boy, the King and the doctor will have their heads. They all looked to their commander. He was staring intensely down at the clouds.
Suddenly the bridge shook with intense force. The five men all held onto a piece of the bridge.
Snap, snap. The bridge began to break. The five men all had a terrified expression plastered over their faces. Three men ran fast toward one end of the bridge. The commander grabbed the last men and started for the other side. But, it was too late. The bridge snapped. All the metal pieces of the bridge went zipping downwards toward the bottom of the peaks.
The five men fell and tumbled toward the peaks bottom.
The commander broke off his necklace and snapped the gem inside. This was his last resort. With this he would be able to survive the fall. But all of his man would not survive. He could not help it. His life was more important.
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Metal continued to collect around Chace. Soon the whole sky was filled with metal pieces.
The servants in the camp all scrambled behind Nate and Marlene. They were just normal people. They came here with the lord and ladyship to take care of them. This was to much for them to handle. They could not understand charming magic, but they knew not to trifle with a charmer.
Nate instructed his people to stay far away. He and Marlene watched in excitement as the metal slowly merged into the flames. They melted and merged together. Then they started to spin. With each spin the liquid metals compressed and shrunk. Finally, after an hour of spinning and compressing, the metals formed into nine coins.
Nate raised his eye brow. This was interesting stuff. How did all that metal turn into nine tiny coins. He could not understand it at all. It was not logical for so much metal to be compressed into nine tiny little coins. It was beyond nonsense. But this did involve charming abilities. So, any nonsense can become reality.
Marlene sighed. “It looks like Chace is one of those special few." She commented.
“Yeah, he certainly is. All the metal Charmer's that I know, can only use their gifts for forging and other crafts work. They can't possibility to do this. Chace is not going to be just some ordinary black Smith.” Nate added, his interest peaked.
Marlene agreed. Did grandmother know this would happen when she sent us? Marlene thought to herself. Her grandmother had advised them if they were to come across a charmer on their path. They were to help them and perhaps ask them to join in their assignment.
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Chace felt wave after wave of pure delight enter his body. He felt like he was swimming in a pool of joy. This feeling felt so good and so right. He could not stop himself from indulging more and more.
As he traveled farther and farther into the light. He realized for the first time this was what Marlene was talking about. This was the source.
This was the source of all his powers. But he felt something else as well. This was his own power, his alone. He traced his pool of light to the edge. There, he saw a chain leading out into the darkness. He reached his mind farther out. The moment he left his pool of light, he saw darkness. But, out in the distance were other pools of light. Smaller, but at the same time, the same as his. They to, had a chain that linked them to something far in the distance.
Chace counted the pools around him. He could not count them all. There were millions, maybe even more the that. Each pool had a distinct aura to it. But his pool was the biggest around. Perhaps there were bigger ones far in the distance, but he could not see them.
He stepped onto the chains. Then his mind started to travel into the chain. Soon his mind traveled along the chain. It seemed to take eons, but it was only a few seconds. He reached the end of the chain. He opened his eyes and found himself in an ocean of light. This pool of light was endless. Millions of other chains connected into the ocean.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Chace stepped into the ocean of light. Finally, he realized this was the source of all charming abilities. Every charmer got their powers from this ocean and every charmer could tap into this source. It was an endless amount of power. But he also knew there was a limit to how much one can pull from this ocean. Each charmer had their limits. They could not exceed it or else their pools would overflow and explode. Therefore, ending their connection to the ocean of light.
He examined the flow of power. It was a two-way connection. Power flowed from his pool into the ocean and the ocean also gave back. But, more of the power was flowing into the ocean than the other way around. It was not an equal distribution.
Chace sighed, it was not his will to decide what was equal. But he knew this was how it was. He jumped into the chain and returned to his pool of light. This pool of light was his power. His alone.
Once he returned to his pool, his mind returned to his real body.
When his eyes opened the fire surrounding him dispersed and the nine coins landed in his palm. He squeezed and felt a serge of energy travel from his palm into the nine coins.
Suddenly he started to fall again. This time, he did not panic. Instead, he knew what to do. He flicked one of the coins up into the air and linked it with the pool inside his mind.
All of sudden the coin liquefied and trans mutated into four metal rings. The rings hovered in the air, each attached itself to one of Chace's limbs. They started to spin the moment they wrapped around his limbs. Suddenly, he stopped falling. Instead, he hovered an inch off the ground. The rings vibrated with intense speed.
Chace was elated. This was his power. He had the command over metal and their respective properties. This metal he flicked into the air, was copper. Copper had the natural power of flight. So, he was able to meld it into rings that allowed him to hover. He was not strong enough to command them to fly yet. But levitating was no problem.
The rings lifted him back to a standing position. Slowly he descended onto the ground. Once his feet touched the ground, the rings became ankles and brackets and dangled freely around his four limbs.
“That was cool” commented Nate walking over.
“It was as a very well-established awakening.” agreed Marlene.
Chace scratched his head. He felt new again. No longer did he fear his pursuers, and no longer did he feel inferior to anyone. The source gave him strength, strength to face any obstacles.
“Yeah, it is cool” Chace said. He threw the remaining eight coins into the air. Each had its distinct color. Each was a different metal. He did not know what kind of properties they all held. But, he knew these were his life metals. These nine created through this awakening held a link with his source. These metals will accompany him for life. The nine were his powers. He linked the metals in a string and wrapped it around his wrist alongside the copper bracelet.
“Okey dokey. Now that you’ve awaken let’s talk business.” Said Nate, sitting down on a chair next to Chace. The chair was placed there by his servants.
“What business?” Chace asked unsure what Nate had in mind.
“It’s simple really.” Chace said drinking juice from a cup the servants brought him. “We came here to explore an ancient ruin.” He said.
Chace clapped his hands over his mouth. Ancient ruin? There was one of those around here? He'd heard of ancient ruins. But they were usually the stuff of legends. People say that if one is lucky enough to stumble into an ancient ruin. They may find ancient relics that can be sold for fortunes and if they were even more lucky they may even find an inheritance. Inheritances are lost skills that the people of old held. Some skills include the lost art of swords, the lost art of the assassins, the lost art of talismans. Each art had its set of powers. These arts are said to rival even the powers of Charmers. Sword art for example, if learned to a great level can slice through magic. But many of these arts have been lost through the fall of the last kingdoms. The last kingdoms were seven kingdoms that ruled all of Cardinia 1000 years ago. Each kingdom held an art that was said to be so powerful that even charmers could not rival them.
Unfortunately, the seven kingdoms all fell 1000 years ago. The last to fall a was a kingdom called Lugan. History is blurry about why these kingdoms fell. But they fell nonetheless.
“I see, you've heard about ancient ruins?” said Nate.
“Of course, who hasn't?” Chace said rolling his eyes. Even babies knew of ancient ruins. It was a common knowledge throughout all of Cardinia
“Good,” said Marlene. " There is one just over there" she pointed to the rocks up ahead.
“There!” Chace squealed. He could not believe it. There was an ancient ruin down here under the peaks. How did it escape discovery all these years? He smacked himself over the head for even thinking that question. Of course, it escaped discovery. This was at the bottom of the peaks. This place was called the death pit for a reason. No one could survive the fall down here. Was it that hard to imagine this ancient ruin escaping discovery?
“Yes, it's over there” laughed Nate. "So, would you like to join us in our exploration?" he asked showing his brilliant smile.
“Um… can I think about it” Chace responded. He wasn't so sure he wanted to explore an ancient ruin. Sure, there was a lot of benefits, but there was also danger involved. Ancient ruins were ruins for a reason. Some of them contained enough danger that explorers can die in them.
“That’s fine" said Marlene "We will wait for you” she said.
“Thank you" said Chace. He shifted his feet and scratched his head. "Nate, Marlene can I go for a walk. I think I need to clear my mind" he said.
“Sure” Nate nodded his head. He took another sip from his glass.
“Go ahead” smiled Marlene, she had sat down next to Nate and started to drink juice from a cup.
Chace walked out and before he knew it he had re-entered the misted areas.
“Do you think he will be okay?” asked Marlene concerned.
“He will be fine. He just awoke. The powers are new to him. Plus, he also just escaped from those dreadful people of Dright. Those people, I want to destroy every last one of them. How could they treat Charmers like that.” Nate grinded his teeth.
“Shssh,” Marlene said holding her index finger over Nates lips. “Dright is not a simple place. Do you really think that Dright can keep its boarders safe from invaders just from having normal people in power? They may imprison Charmers, but they must have a special force of people that can rival another kingdoms Charmers. Or else, they would not be able to survive. Rumour has it that they may even have wizards on their side” Marlene said in a hush voice. She did not know what could over hear them. She had to speak carefully. She did not like being under Dright soil.
“Wizards! No way!” Nate gasped. The Wizards, unlike Charmers, are not people connected to the source. But, they also have their own powers. They can grow stronger by swallowing the powers of a charmer. They were the ultimate enemies of all charmers. But they haven't been active in Cardinia for centuries.
“But didn't they all disappear?” asked Nate perplexed.
“That is what is generally accepted. But these wizards I’m talking about aren’t real wizards. They are man made or somehow fabricated wizards. They can do what wizards do, but on a much smaller scale. Still they are a dangerous people. That is why Dright still exist even though they shun and kill Charmers. The other kingdoms fear them” said Marlene her voice trailing into a whisper.
“Wow. That sounds awful." said Nate. He did not know any of this. This was al new to him.
“Yeah” agreed Marlene.
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Chace walked across the rocky areas. He was lost in thought. With his new-found powers could he go back into the kingdom and save the others? That was a possibility, but he was only one person. What could one person really do?
Before he knew it, he was already back to the spot where he fell from the sky. Suddenly he stumbled over something. He fell to the floor. His face falling flat onto a ground. He reached out his hand and lifted his head up. It hurt. He lifted himself into a sitting position. What the heck did he trip over? He shook his head and looked forward toward his feet. There underneath his legs was a body.
Chace screamed and crawled backwards. It was a dead body. He looked over at the face. He recognized the face. It was one of the five men that was after him. As Chace crawled farther back his hands touched another mushy object. He turned his neck afraid of what he was about to see. He screamed again. It was another of the five men.
What was going on? Did they all follow him down? But why would they jump after him. They knew the pit was no place to jump. It was certainly guaranteed they would die. He searched around and sure enough two other bodies laid crushed not far from his position.
He felt sick. His stomach started to turn. He stood up and started vomiting. He may have seen horrible things at the facility, but dead bodies were not usually one of them. The dead charmers there were taken care of carefully.
When Chace finally finished vomiting, he wanted to go back to camp as quickly as possible. He started running. He only stopped when he was sure he was far enough from the dead bodies. His heart was still beating really fast from seeing those dead bodies. He did not see the commander. Did he not jump? Did that mean he could be alive up there? Chace craned his neck and looked up.
Suddenly a pair of hands reached from behind and clasped Chace over the neck.