Ezekiel felt a burning pain as he froze to death. Only to be shattered as lighting struck him down. The pieces of his broken body were pulled back together and melted to reform in his current appearance. Cracks ran through his body, both smooth and jagged. The signs of a forceful change when a slow and steady adaptation would have provided a better benefit.
“You are here sooner than I had expected.”
The desolate landscape he half remembered and happily forgot had returned. But something was different. Something had changed. The chaos and destruction brought about by the battle between the Broods and the Ancients had settled.
The land had begun to heal, slowly but surely, the land had begun to show life and growth once again. The Ancients traveled the world, reshaping what they could to restore balance to Eldramir and allow the lesser beings to return to the world.
Light no longer warped and twisted, burning and blinding all that it touched. It became a Radiant beacon that lit the path forward.
Fire no longer ran rampant, turning all that lay strewn about before it into ash and dust. It became the Flame of warmth and creativity.
Earth and stone no longer shattered and crushed all that breathed beneath the weight of mountains. It became the Caverns in which many races and treasures found safety.
Water no longer flooded the land with salt, nor froze what little life there was to death in the chilling cold. It became the Glaciers that capped mountains, creating freshwater runoff for life to thrive.
Plant life no longer decayed, no longer fed solely upon the blood of lesser lifeforms for sustenance. It became Life in its truest form propagating its own body to provide sustenance for others.
Darkness no longer became a thing to fear and run from will all that one had. It became Obscurity, the sanctuary that all that shied away from the light, seeking comfort in the unknown.
Wind no longer stripped the flesh of animals from bones, nor tore roots up from the ground. It became the Tempest that pushed the clouds and let the rains fall all throughout the land.
Lightning and thunder no longer struck down all that stood before it in a wrathful smite. It was still Lightning, but it had become tempered, and whilst it was never safe, its path could be directed.
Death... Death stayed the same. Forever the end of life. Forever the cessation of one’s time within the waking world. But now it was also a release, from the trials and tribulations of life, and the first step of the next journey a soul partook.
“Time changes all things. We move forward. We live. We grow. We die. And then the cycle begins again. Something you know very well.”
Ezekiel stood still, unable to move an inch of his body beyond his eyes. Looking down upon the world he’d called home for the past ten years he felt his chest tighten in awe as he saw the Ancients, the grand embodiments that they were, reshape the world itself, doing their best to restore the world to how it was before the final war began.
Mountains rose from the sea as rivers carved out the land and plant life bloomed, granting food and other sustenance for the various lesser beings in the world.
“It is not yet time for you to be here. Our time runs short, and you have much to learn, and far to travel.”
From his position frozen above the world, Ezekiel looked upwards at these words.
There, encompassing the sky as a starry night, with eyes that shone with the light of distant galaxies, seemingly cold and unfeeling in the sheer magnitude of what they saw and what they knew, was the Ancient of the Void.
A hand reached down from the dizzyingly enormous figure. Endless yet bound into the form that Ezekiel could perceive. A single finger extended from the gigantic hand that reached across the world to poke him in the forehead.
The world disappeared from Ezekiel’s view, as did the Void. Instead, there was nothing but darkness, and a few small motes of light. Pin pricks when compared to the cast stars that filled the Ancient Void. Miniscule and overlooked by any who could compare the things that he had seen.
“You have found the key, but the door remains closed. Open it! Else you will not survive the coming trials.”
The grand voice that had haunted Ezekiel’s dreams a lifetime ago and granted him a new life at fair cost fell silent as Ezekiel remained in the darkness. The only source of illumination being the meager handful of Void mana that still resided within him.
...
.....
“EZEKIEL!!!”
Ezekiel woke with a gasp reminiscent of a time he’d thought he’d move past from. Lying on a couch in a well-furnished room Ezekiel was surprised to see his father and Shari standing around him. Shari was crying whilst Warren’s hands were glowing as he held them at the sides of Ezekiel’s head.
“You’re awake!” Shari cried out as she buried her face into Ezekiel’s stomach as tears fell down her face.
“Son! Ezekiel, are you alright?” Warren said as he removed his hands from Ezekiel’s temples.
Ezekiel took a minute to take in his surroundings a little better. Taking a few slow deep breaths as he stayed on the couch, he did his best to remember what he could of the dream he had. He could remember that he had seen the Ancients in the glory once again. He could remember the Ancient of the Void. He also remembered something about a door and a key.
“... The Door...” He muttered dazedly as Shari cried into his shirt. “The Door is closed.”
“The Door? What door, child? What are you talking about?” A refined but gruff voice spoke up from the side of the room.
Ezekiel tried to lean up to see who had spoken, but his father placed a hand on his chest and kept him down on the couch. He opened his mouth to protest, but upon seeing his father’s face he decided better of it. Very rarely did he know his father to express his anger, but you would have to be blind to not see the absolute fury on Warren’s face.
“You be quiet!” Warren’s voice cut through the air like a knife as he turned to glare at the Ishkel, who had been sitting on a chair at the other side of the room from the couch Ezekiel was lying on. Ezekiel didn’t try to get up, but he did turn his head to see who was there.
The older man was looking a little worse for wear as he sat down with an ice pack held to the side of his face. His clothes were ripped in some places, and his Spirit was lying on his lap with several scrapes and cuts and bruises discoloring its body. It appeared to be sleeping as its eyes were closed and its breathing was occurring in a consistent rhythmic pattern.
Ezekiel noticed that there were very faint glowing lines woven into the clothes that Iskel wore, meaning that they were at least partially enchanted, much like his own clothes were, but to what extent he couldn’t tell. The fact that they were damaged meant that he got in a fairly tough fight, however, as not much should’ve been able to break enchanted clothing like these ones clearly had been.
“How many times do I have to tell you, this was not my fault! Your boy was the one who activated a Relic without any sort of protection or precaution. It is not my fault that whatever the Relic did knocked him unconscious.” Iskel heatedly stated as he defended himself.
“It’s your fault for trying to get an untrained child to activate an unknown Relic in the first place!” Warren’s voice had grown much louder as he spoke. “You could’ve picked any Void Mage in the city to help you with this, you gave him the crystal that he used to activate it, so don’t try to push the blame. If you wanted to know what the Relic did so much you should’ve given the mana crystal to an Ancients be damned adult! LET ALONE MY SON!!”
“The fact that you ignored any and all decorum when it comes to contacting the guardians of a minor in good standing, which my son is, means that you clearly don’t care for the laws of this city, and that I should arrest you right now for the endangerment of children. For the Ancient’s sake, my son’s mind nearly snapped under the strain of whatever that Relic did!”
At this Ezekiel was slightly shocked. For his mind to have nearly snapped would’ve taken an incredibly powerful force placing an immense amount of pressure on him. He knew for a fact that his meditations were longer than most Tier one Mages and Hunters, so for something to be able to nearly snap it that wasn’t a spell designed to do such was something that had to be powerful.
“But you won’t because that would bring the Alkena’s to the Count and the Church’s attention!” Ishkel said as Warren finished speaking. A small hint of guilt crossed his face but was mercilessly shut down.
“Finally, you’ve said something correct! You should consider yourself extremely lucky that I care for Allon, Sherra, and Shari so much, or you’d be having to deal with far more injuries than a few scrapes and bruises.” Warren stated. Theo, who was curled up on the floor and nearly four times his usual housecat size, rumbled out a growl as he emphasized Warren’s point.
The snake in Ishkel’s lap shivered before opening one eye to look at Theo, before it shivered again and closed its eyes. Ezekiel just looked at his father in shock. He knew his father was upset, but he didn’t think he’d start throwing threats at a member of a high-ranking Guild.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“... I understand my mistake in not contacting you or your wife, but there was little time and I had wanted to check the boy for myself before approaching you. I’ve found that children who have no one to hide behind find it much more difficult to lie to their betters.” Ishkel explained, sparks of electricity danced in his eyes and around his arms as he flexed his mana in frustration.
“Why you wretched-”
“ENOUGH!”
Warren and Ishkel paused, the loud shout echoing through the room. Sherra standing at the door with Feris at her feet and Allon at her side. She looked incredibly angry at the two men who had been shouting back and forth in a room that they were meant to be recovering in.
“That’s enough.” Sherra said once again as she entered the room. Allon and Feris follow in after her. The scent of smoke lingered in the air, showing just how upset she was if she had allowed her mana to start smoking at all.
“I believe that at this point, it might be best to split things off here and now.” Allon said as he addressed Warren and Ishkel. “Tempers are still high, I understand, but yelling at each other over and over again won’t solve anything. Ishkel, I believe that you need to report the destruction of the Void Relic to your guild. Please be aware that the Alkena Auction House will be more than happy to pay reparation for the loss of your Relic.”
He turned to Warren after addressing Ishkel.
“Warren, there are some things we need to discuss regarding what has happened today. Things that were revealed, and that are going to mean a certain amount of trouble for you and your family.”
“What things?” Warren said he looked at Allon in confusion. “And why are you not infuriated at the old man over there? He betrayed your trust and got my son to absorb a mana crystal to activate an unknown Relic. Even if you’re not his match, you should’ve tried to do something to stop him!”
“Dammit Warren! That’s one of the things we need to talk about!” Allon said in frustration.
“What are you talking about!”
“He’s talking about the fact that I didn’t force your son to absorb any mana from the Pure Crystal I brought with me. Your son already had Void mana inside him when he entered the warehouse!” Ishkel said with a voice just as frustrated as Allon’s as he held out his hand, a ring on one of his fingers glowed before the unused mana crystal from the warehouse appeared. “Which is something you would obviously have already known as the only ones he would get a pure mana crystal from are you, your wife, and the Alkena’s. Had I known he already had mana, I'd have kept the Relic out of reach so we could wait until he was properly prepared to activate it. But since he already had mana inside him, he was able to activate as soon as he touched it. Which caused it to turn into dust and disappear as soon as the boy fell over.”
“As it is, you spent so much time going after me that you didn’t even think it could’ve been your son. Instead, you did everything you could do to get me locked up in the infirmary at best, and the hospital at worst!”
“Why aren’t you in the infirmary right now?” Sherra asked as she looked over Ishkel’s wounds. “The ice pack and the broken enchantments tell me that you can’t be feeling good right now.
“I’ll live. Going to the infirmary with wounds as minor as these would simply take up precious time. That I can’t waste right now.” Ishkel explained.
Warren ignored the banter between Ishkel and Sherra as he looked at Ezekiel, who couldn’t meet his eyes as he realized that his secret was out, and that his father was about to learn his greatest secret. Warren then turned back to Allon before speaking.
“Allon. Did you give my son mana crystals behind my back?” Warren asked in a hard and quiet tone.
“NO!”
“No.”
Ezekiel and Allon responded at the same time, startling those in the room as they hadn’t expected Ezekiel to reply as well. Warren turned his head to his son, a look of surprise on his face that turned to disappointment.
“Ezekiel. I know you mother and I haven’t been giving you mana crystals. If Allon and Sherra haven’t either, then you need to tell me right now, because there are very few places that have access to them, and whatever you’ve been doing to get them. Is. Not. Worth it.” Warren said slowly and seriously as he knelt down next to Ezekiel.
By this point, Shari had stopped crying, and was looking between the occupants of the room with a face filled with fear and confusion. She had only half listened to what was going on, but she knew that Ezekiel seemed to be in trouble. More trouble than Ishkel, who had brought the thing that had hurt Ezekiel in her mind.
Ezekiel squirmed under his father’s intense stare. Worse yet, he couldn’t even stare at the ground, as Theo had moved down and was looking up at him with as much intensity as his father.
“Ezekiel. Tell me, now.” Warren said, his voice was now harsh and unrelenting. He could imagine numerous things having happened for Ezekiel to have acquired mana crystals, but not a single one of them was good.
Finally, Ezekiel looked around the room before looking at his father. Shame and guilt held a tight grip on his chest as he felt cold at so many people looking at him.
“It wasn’t illegal. I swear it wasn’t. I know the laws of this city better than most people; you know that. But... but I can’t tell you right now. Right here.” Ezekiel finally said as the pressure on him grew too intense.
“... Fine.” Warren said in a short tone of voice. “Allon. Can I have a moment alone with my son.”
Warren was not asking a question, and all of the adults in the room knew it.
“Of course, Warren, but whatever you speak of, know that you and I still need to speak afterwards.” Allon said as he walked over and helped Shari up before heading out of the room. Sherra held her hands as they left, helping her still worried daughter to keep moving.
“Ishkel, you as well. We can discuss payment after your, or another representative, returns from your Guild after you inform them of what happened. I promise you; remuneration will be paid for what occurred.”
“I doubt that will be reassuring to them. That Relic was meant to be Auctioned, Allon. Meaning that the actual price was ultimately unknown. Worse yet, one of our members died to an Umbral when we were diving for it in the ruins. I know you have connections, but I don’t think you’ll be able to pay for this. Maybe if preparations had been finished, and the boy hadn’t just reached for it then things could be settled, but as it is. I think my guild leader is going to ask for something from them, more so than you.” Ishkel gestured towards Warren and Ezekiel as he said this. Walking out the door with his Spirit around his neck right after.
Ezekiel felt even more guilty when he heard this. He’d spent his whole life so far doing his best not to cause trouble for his family, but in one day he had destroyed a potentially priceless Relic, nearly had his mind snapped by the weight of an Ancient and was now suspected of wrongdoings for the sake of power. Something that, due to rising tensions causing them to misunderstand some things, meant that a Guild executive now knew that Ezekiel had cultivated mana. Something that he shouldn’t have been able to do given his position in life. Not without doing something illegal at least.
“Well then,” Warren said as Allon exited the door after the others, “what did you do Ezekiel? How in the world did you get your hands on enough money to get a mana crystal, potentially more than one, without me or your mother finding out?”
“... I didn’t.” Ezekiel muttered quietly.
“Don’t you lie to me young man! I don’t know what you’re trying to hide, or who you’re trying to protect, but lying to me right now won’t do you any favors!” Warren was getting angry. As far as he knew, Ezekiel had never lied to him before, but now he couldn’t help but wonder just how well he knew his son.
Was Ezekiel just like Aldor? Was he a completely different person behind closed doors than when he was in a room full of people?
Theo, feeling the turmoil and confusion inside his partner butted his head up against his side as he attempted to comfort him. Telling him to have faith in his son. To at least hear him out as best he could.
“Please let me explain. I swear, there weren’t any mana crystals. I’ve never lied to you about this. I just didn’t want to tell you, so I didn’t.” Ezekiel said. Sorrow and guilt were flooding his voice as he spoke.
“How can there have not been mana crystals?! Those are the only things that can be used to get a Void Mage the mana they need to try and cultivate. Void mana doesn’t appear anywhere else!” Warren explained with a raised voice.
“I found it!” Ezekiel nearly screamed. “... I found it.”
“There’s no way you could’ve just found a mana crystal-”
“I found out how to gather Void mana naturally.”
Ezekiel’s statement drew Warren up short. His words were too much for his father to comprehend. Nowhere in all of recorded history had a mage managed to successfully accumulate Void mana within themselves naturally. They had all been forced to use mana crystals to artificially gather mana from a foreign source.
Warren was tempted to call out Ezekiel for being a liar, but maybe it was the look of regret and guilt on Ezekiel’s face, or maybe it was the hope that his son was telling the truth made him stop. If this was true, then his son was truly the most talented person in the entire world. But at the same time, he just couldn’t feel it in him to feel proud of the possibility it was true. He couldn’t help but wonder why Ezekiel would lie about something like this.
“What did you do?” Warren finally said.
“... You know how I meditate during sparring sessions whenever I’m around Shari and her school mates?” Ezekiel started off.
Warren didn’t say anything as he pondered Ezekiel’s words. Ezekiel was known to meditate at times during sparring sessions. Something that was both foolish and dangerous in most people’s eyes. This was one of the few sore spots with his wife regarding their son’s training and socializing. She had wanted to ensure that Ezekiel never got mixed up in a spar ever again. Ezekiel stubbornly fought against this, insisting that it was only by witnessing and experiencing an actual mage’s battles that he would be able to defend himself in the future.
Evelyn stated that he shouldn’t need to defend himself, but Warren and her both knew that such a thing was wishful thinking. The moment he reached adulthood at sixteen, he’d be easy pickings for the less than tolerable aspects of society. Even sooner if he tried to get a job before then, because then he’d be considered an adult by default, even if he wasn’t of age.
“I discovered something when I was doing this. In particular I noticed that, when mana of two opposing types meets one another, they briefly turn into Void mana upon making contact, but then immediately convert into another type of mana right afterwards.” Ezekiel continued to explain.
Whilst Warren was surprised, as this was something that he hadn’t known happened, he realized that it explained quite a few things. Like why Void mana didn’t appear in nature outside of pure crystals. Pure crystals were known for increasing the accumulated mana of any and all kinds of Mages, due to the fact that it turned into the appropriate mana type for that mage. If Void mana immediately turned into a different mana type after forming, then something would be needed to stop the mana from converting. Crystals, or other mana containers would allow this without much issue.
It explained why pure mana crystals were so rare. If Void mana only formed when elements of opposing types met, then that would mean there are very few places where they can be found. It also made sense, as he could remember that, of the few places he knew that had pure crystals found in them had been borders between two opposing elemental environments.
The border between the Tarquessa Desert and the Fjorya Mountains for instance, was well known for being one of the incredibly rare places where pure crystals would sometimes be found. Sometimes as many as several a year.
“Wait. If the mana is converted to a different type as soon as it forms, then how did you gather it? Let alone do so during a sparring match. There’s no possible way you could’ve pulled the mana to you before it changed.” Warren said as he pointed out a flaw in Ezekiel’s explanation.
Ezekiel couldn’t help but swallow nervously as his father pointed this out. This was it. Only the worst part is left to tell.
“I didn’t gather Void mana after it had formed. I... forced it to form inside of my body.”
Warren and Theo had looks of shock on their faces as Ezekiel finished. They both knew what Ezekiel meant as soon as he had said it.
Theo was somewhat amazed at what he had heard. He knew full well just how difficult it was to cultivate one element. But for the cub in front of him to be able to cultivate two at once was a feat he hadn’t ever heard of happening on purpose, let alone successfully.
For Warren, he was less amazed and more terrified, and sick to his stomach. Spirits like Theo didn’t truly understand just how dangerous it was for humans to gather and absorb mana. Spirits weren’t able to absorb or gather mana of a different type from their own. This meant that they didn’t know that to gather mana of a different type was a death sentence to most humans.
Yet here his son had apparently been doing this with not just one, but two elements! Just so he could create Void mana within his body so that it wouldn’t disappear as soon as it formed.
His son had been risking his own life for who knew how long. All without him or his wife knowing anything about it.