CelestialShadow
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Chapter 3 - Attack
🕑 Added 2023-11-22 14:30:05 +0000 UTCA month passed in the Remori residence, and things proceeded as usual, even without the presence of the clan patriarch. Adion was sitting in the yard behind the main mansion. He had a small fire burning in front of him.
Adion had his focus on the abundant fire mana surrounding it. Adion thought he had an excellent affinity to fire mana. Most people in his clan were born with a fire spark and had formed a mana core using fire mana. Something Adion also strived to do. It was the element of his grandfather, father, and older brother. It was also said to be the strongest element. Adion didn’t know why or if it was even true, but his grandfather always answered him when he asked by saying, ‘It’s the most balanced element. All through the grace of the Fire Phoenix.’
Adion didn’t know why his grandfather was such a strong follower of the Fire Phoenix Church. The most prevalent faith in the Valis Kingdom was Gantanos. Adion suspected his grandfather came from the Alago Empire, but if he did, he hadn’t told Adion about it.
Adion didn’t know what he believed. He thought every faith had its pebbles of wisdom. Perhaps he should get more into the Fire Phoenix Church as he was aiming for a fire core. It would also make his grandfather happy.
Nah, I don’t have time for religion. But if I form a fire core, I’ll make sure to send a prayer to all the Gods and spirits of Fire.
Adion could feel the tiny motes of fire mana all around him. He grasped them with his Will and brought them towards him as he had done many times before. He created a stream of fire mana that gathered inside his chest just behind his solar plexus. That is where those who have sparks form their cores. But while those with a spark inside them simply had to lead the mana there, fattening the spark until it reached maximum capacity and a core could be formed, Adion had to hold all the mana in place himself. No spark to help him do it, no spark to filter out the unwanted mana, no spark to give him insights into his element.
The result, as usual, was that the gathering of mana wasn’t solely that of fire. A bunch of other mana with different affinities had been swept along. And even if Adion could continue to gather mana for a while and probably even condense it to a core, it wasn’t something he planned on doing. The core would hold so many different affinities that Adion didn’t think it would be stable.
There was an upside, however. He was definitely making progress. When he first tried how it would feel to form a core when he started being able to manipulate mana three years ago, the result was horrendous. A lot of fire mana was gathered, sure, but a lot more mana from random elements, most of which he couldn’t understand what they even were. Now, at least the vast majority he gathered was fire mana. But still too much random mana for him to be comfortable compressing it to a core.
A big problem was the pure mana that was abundant everywhere. People with a spark didn’t have this problem, as the pure mana would take on the affinity of the spark when it gathered there. That was how pure mana behaved. If he wanted, Adion could do this himself by changing pure mana into fire mana using his Will. Everyone could do that if they had an affinity to the element. The problem is that it takes a lot of Will, and forming a core would require all the Will Adion had.
He had tried to circumvent this problem by surrounding himself with fire; thus, much of the pure mana would turn into fire mana. He also tried using beast cores of the fire affinity as his source. The result was much better, giving him some confidence, but Adion didn’t want to be too hasty. Most people in mage families formed their core between the ages of 12 and 14, so Adion still had time. He wanted to have as much control as possible when forming his core. He didn’t have the luxury of a spark keeping the mana in place after all.
And Adion had a theory that scared him. If it were as simple as just practicing your mana control to a certain degree and then forming your core even without a spark, then surely others would have done the same before him. Sure, most sparkless are commoners who don’t have the same advantages in knowledge and training as he has, but someone should have succeeded in doing so.
So that left him with the uncomfortable feeling that it wouldn’t be so simple. And the more he heard about how sparks worked, the more convinced he was. A fire spark not only accepted fire mana and converted the pure mana it gathered, but it also wouldn’t accept a single mote of mana with any other affinity, which means that the resulting core is formed with one hundred percent fire mana. Something Adion wasn’t sure even his grandfather would be able to do with solely his mana control. Some other mana affinities would always be mixed in, even if it was almost unnoticeable.
Adion didn’t know if he had to have a hundred percent fire mana gathered when he formed his core or if there was a specific threshold at 99 percent or 98 percent. Still, he would try to improve as much as possible, and when he feels like he can’t wait anymore, he would go for it. If it fails, it fails. He would at least wait until he was 14, though—no need for him to try sooner than that.
There was one more thing he could try, of course. Because even if Adion thought he had a great affinity to fire, it wasn’t the element he had the greatest affinity towards. Through his mana sense, he had always felt the presence of another element more clearly than any other. The problem was that he didn’t know what kind of element it was. At first, he thought what he felt was just pure mana, but Adion soon dismissed that. Pure mana had no affinity, so you couldn’t have any affinity with it. He had tried to manipulate the mana of this strange element, and it did… something. Adion wasn’t sure what, though. Even more confusing was that the element he pictured as black motes through his senses was ever-present. In a forest, in the city, by a lake, or even in a room full of fire, Adion never noticed it increase or decrease in intensity.
Well, until recently, that is. He didn’t know if it was because his mana sense had improved, but lately, he had felt that the presence of that strange mana was much more substantial around the clan treasury. He wasn’t allowed to go there, however, so he didn’t know why.
He had thought of forming a core using this strange element but had decided not to. He wanted to be a fire mage like the rest of his family. Because of that, he had chosen not to say anything about his strange affinity to anyone.
Adion continued his practice in controlling fire mana, content with the small but steady improvements he felt day by day.
—
Adonni stood beside his wife, watching his son train by himself, and he couldn’t help but smile. It was good that his son seemed happy and motivated. He was afraid that the whispers around him in the clan would start getting to him, but it appears his son was of strong mind.
If only he hadn’t been born a sparkless, he would be the top talent of the Kingdom...No! What am I thinking? If Adion has not given up, then how can I? I must put more effort into finding a way to impart a spark into a sparkless. That’s my responsibility as a father.
After a while, his eyes drifted toward the clan treasury, as they often did nowadays. He hadn’t evacuated the children as he suggested to his grandfather, but he was beginning to think that maybe he should.
The mana from that formation has reached a new high. I don’t think that I will have time for Granddad to make it back. Something is going to happen before then.
“Are you thinking about the formation in the treasury?” His wife asked him.
“Yeah. I think I will have the children visit Aunt Arissa at the Grath clan manor. She always says we should visit more and the children won’t lack for anything there. It will be a good experience, I think.” Adonni said.
“Mm. I think that’s a good idea. I don’t like the feeling that thing gives off, and even if I don’t sense any danger, almost none of the children have a core yet. It could get dangerous for them.”
“Then let’s do that. I will send a letter-” Adonni suddenly stopped himself.
This aura...what in the name of Ganta.
He looked at his wife and could tell she felt it, too. The aura was of someone almost as strong as his grandfather, definitely a Diamond, and he could feel three distinct auras of the same strength. There were three Diamonds here, and their clan’s only Diamond was a month away.
But that wasn’t the worst part. He could feel more Golds than he could get a count on. And he started feeling them not only from the direction of the Diamonds but from all over the manor.
Suddenly, he heard a scream and quickly understood how serious the situation was. His son looked at him strangely; he could not feel the aura as accurately as Adonni could, nor did he have the hearing of a Gold, so he couldn’t tell that something was wrong.
“Something is happening, my boy, something dangerous.” He told his son in a severe voice.
“Miya, I need you to go hide with Adion. I will go take a look.” He said to his wife as he started running towards where he had heard the scream. But his wife ran along with him.
“Absolutely not. I am coming too. Sami!” Adonni noticed Sami had come running towards them from his post guarding the treasury.
“Master, what is going on?” Sami asked him.
“I don't know, Sami. Follow me. Stay alert and protect Adion. If it gets dangerous, get away with him quickly and hide in the treasury.”
“Yes!” Sami answered without hesitation.
“Dad, what’s going on?” Adion, who was running with them, asked in a stable voice, looking like he was ready to fight.
“I don’t know, son. Let’s go take a look.”
They hurried across the manor and saw many clan members gather before the front gate. More people were running from their homes the same way they were. There was an eerie silence around him, and Adonni didn’t like it. Not at all.
“Stay back here with Adion, honey. I will take a look,” Adonni said and started walking forward.
He walked through the crowd and saw that they all had pale faces. Olden and his younger brother Axel looked at him when he stepped forward in front of the crowd.
“Older brother…”
“Master Adonni…”
They spoke not with confidence. They sounded dejected. He saw, lying on the ground in front of him, the decapitated body of teacher Francis. He looked up, and three men with white masks stood before him. Completely without facial features, only two slits where he could see the cold eyes of the men behind the masks. Behind them stood ten more members of the same outfit. Further in the distance, he could see even more, at least fifteen as far as he could see. But he could barely take any of that in because besides the many Golds he could feel, the men in front of him were unmistakable Diamonds.
“How..” He said in a dejected voice. “Who are you? What do you want?”
“Adonni Remori I presume.” The man in the middle of three Diamonds started speaking. “Apologies for the gruesome scene. This man thought it would be a good idea to cause a ruckus, and I simply showed him why that is not the case.” The Diamond spoke in a calm and confident voice, like Francis’s death was of no real consequence. “As for who we are, you don’t need to know. What we want, I believe you should be well aware of. You surely didn’t expect to be able to hide something like an artifact now, did you?”
Adonni could barely take any of this in. An artifact? Artifacts were magic tools from the Age of Wonder that no one could even begin to replicate in this Age. They were priceless treasures. He would surely know if his clan were in possession of something like that. Unless. Adonni suddenly came to a realization—the formation.
Of course, someone must have noticed the strange mana that is gathering there. Some servant must have heard someone talk about it and told these people.
“It seems like you know what I’m talking about. That’s good. Simply lead me to it, and this will all be over quickly.” the man said.
“What are you going to do about the people here?” Adonni asked.
“I think we both know what we are going to do. Let’s not pretend otherwise. The only question is whether you will make it easy or hard. The end result will be the same.”
Adonni did indeed understand how this would end. They were all going to die. He didn’t know who these people were, but they had already killed Francis without remorse. He didn’t think people with this kind of power would simply take the “artifact” and leave every witness alive simply out of the goodness of their hearts. The Diamond didn’t even pretend to leave a way out of this as he could tell that Adonni would never believe it anyway.
Adonni steeled his heart, calmed his mind, and took out his sword from his scabbard.
I can only pray that I can buy just a few seconds to let Miya and Adion escape.
—
Adion could barely hear what his father and the man with the white mask were saying. He just saw them from the back of the crowd and could feel that the uninvited men and women were extremely powerful. His mother suddenly looked at him with a sad smile and tears in her eyes.
“Mom?” Adion looked at her with a confused expression.
“It’s okay, sweetheart.” She turned to Sami with a firm expression on her face. “Please take Adion to the treasury and lock everything down. Protect him.”
“Madam, are you sure? Why don’t we all just run?” Sami asked.
“There is no running from this. Even without the three Diamonds, dozens of Golds surround the manor. Please, go now and make sure he’s safe.”
Sami looked at her with a conflicted face but agreed. His mother then looked at Adion again with a smile and hugged him tightly.
“Listen to Sami now, sweetheart. Your mother loves you, and I will always be very proud of you. Never forget that.”
She stepped away from him and started walking towards his father. Sami grabbed his arm and started running away.
“No, let go. I can fight, too. I can help!” Adion yelled at Sami.
“I’m sorry, young master.” Sami grabbed him and started carrying him as he ran off towards the clan treasury. Adion started crying for the first time in many years and yelled in a panic at what he feared was about to happen. Other people in the clan also started running for their lives. He saw his father pull out his sword, ready to fight, and the Diamond rushed forward with a spear. His father moved to block with his sword, but another sword came from the side, which he blasted with a burst of fire. But it didn’t matter. The third Diamond stabbed with a spear of his own and pierced his father right through his heart, and he fell to the ground.
His mother was there the next second, moving to strike the Diamond as she cried and screamed with hatred. But the other Diamond moved his arm in a quick slash. Water appeared as out of thin air and formed a thin, wide blade that cut right through his mother's head. She fell to the ground, instantly dead.
Adion stopped yelling. No words could come out.
What just…? Mom? Dad?...How-Why? No….Impossible.
Sami reached the entrance to the treasury and quickly got in. He reached the stairs that ran far underground and went down floor after floor. Every floor was filled with rooms, some empty, some with weapons, books, and other precious items.
Reaching the bottom floor, he lit a torch on the wall using his mana. A statue of the Fire Phoenix stood at the far end of the room. Sami put Adion on the floor, but Adion was in a daze and didn’t even notice. Sami pushed the statue with all the force he could muster.
Under the statue was a hidden hatch that Sami quickly opened. It was completely dark down there, but Sami didn’t have time to go down and light the torches on the walls.
“Adion, come on, come with me,” Sami said as he reached to grab Adion.
Adion stared at him, still not fully clear in his head. “Dead? They can’t be dead, right? Not really. Sami, tell me they’re alive.”
“I’m sorry, young master. I-” Sami held back his tears and looked at Adion with a stern face.”We have to hurry. Come with me now.”
“No. No, I have to go see them and make sure they’re alright.” Adion tried to struggle out of Sami’s grip.
“We don’t have time. Come! Quick!” Sami yelled at him.
“No, let go of me! I have to see Mom and Dad!” Adion struggled in Sami’s grip and raised his voice to a loud level as he yelled. Sami raised his hand.
“I’m sorry, young master,” Sami said, and then Adion felt something hit him hard in the head, and everything became dizzy.
Sami grabbed Adion when he felt him stop struggling and carefully dropped him down the hatch. He then closed the hatch and put the statue back in place. Sami stayed behind to try and stop any intruders, which might be futile, but at least he wanted to take some of them down with him.
Meanwhile, Adion stood up on shaky legs. His body hurt from the fall, and he was still unclear about what had happened. Everything around him was utterly dark, and as he made contact with the walls, he felt that the walls were made out of sharp rock, like he was in a cave of some kind.
Where the hell is this place? And what is this feeling? Oh, yeah. That strange mana that I can feel is much stronger around the treasury. Its source must be down here.
Adion stumbled deeper into the cave in the darkness as he felt that the strange mana had its cause deeper inside. Still a little dizzy, he finally reached the runic formation Arlen and Adonni had stood before a month earlier. This time, it was much more active, though. The strange inscription almost hypnotized Adion. He stepped up on the metal plate to get a closer look.
It’s incredible. I have never seen anything this complicated. Since when did we have something like this? And what is this mana? It messes with my mana sense; it feels like I am here, but I also feel someplace else. It’s like-
Adion didn’t get to finish his thoughts before he was suddenly swept away, the runes on the ground continuing to light up in a seemingly random pattern.
Meanwhile, the masked men started moving around the manor looking for survivors, but Adion was already far, far away.
