Earth's Greatest Magus

Emery stood in awe with his mouth agape at the destructive power of both spells. Definitely, any hostile forces that would see this would run away in fear, but the most important reason of all, it looked absolutely cool!

The illusion ended and the dark room disappeared as his consciousness returned to his body in the spatial space, facing the black dragon. "Yes! Yes! Any of those two will be perfect for me. It will be even better to get both!"

The black dragon stared in silence for a moment before it bursted out in bellowing laughter. "Hahahaha! Your excited face, it's really a fun sight to see! Hahahaha!"

Emery was as silent as a thousand languages.

"Are you blind again, kid? The spells I showed you had fire and lighting elements within it. You don't have affinities with those two elements. Anyway, those spells can't be used by any magi who is not a supreme magus rank," said Killgragah.

Emery stomped his feet. At times like this, the dragon was still messing around.

"In any case, other than my innate spells and darkness element, the other elements I have are lighting and flame. Let's see… hmmm… that's it… I've figured out what's the perfect spell I can bestow you. You should have no trouble learning it," said Killgragah. The black dragon opened its mouth and blew at Emery, its breath was accompanied by a light.

[Spell has been received. Blink - Rank three - Darkness affinity spell]

[It allows the caster to use the power of space and time to appear in a nearby location in which the caster has vision of.]

Emery was still stuck speechless. He was grateful he received a new spell in his arsenal and it was a rank three at that, however, with the definition of this blink spell, after seeing such a catchy display of destruction spells, he felt tricked because blink was obviously a utility spell!

"That spell should be the best for you, kid. Khaos is the Lord of Shadow, who also reigns the power of space. The usage of the blink is close to infinity and it'll become more powerful as you grow in understanding it. This skill is much greater than the two you just saw," declared the black dragon. Killgragah then added, "Not to mention, a flashy spell will make you a bigger target. Remember, as a dark elementalist, the darkness is our friend, we dwell in it, and attack where enemies least expect it. Anyway, your survivability is the utmost of importance, you can use this spell in a variety of ways and make sure you take the time to master it too."

Better than nothing from this stingy dragon was on Emery's mind before he once again thanked the dragon.

"That should be all, kid. You better find me the place of power before you get recalled to the Human Magus Academy," said Killgragah.

"And how will I find it?" asked Emery.

"Go to places where rumors of strange phenomena have occurred. I'll also communicate with you and guide your path once I feel there's one near since I cannot go out with this chain on my," answered Killgragah. The dragon let out another steaming sigh as it said, "Anyway, you should go now. Before I change my mind."

The black dragon opened its wide jaw and out of its mouth, a powerful blast filled with great amounts of dark energy exploded at the entrance tunnel of this chamber.

A dark portal appeared and Emery hastily grabbed a few items he had; the wooden sword, a couple of lembas bread just in case, and a rectangular container of water fashioned out of wood before heading toward the portal.

As he stood before the gleaming portal, he turned around to look at the dragon one last time, gave him a nod as his thanks before jumping into the black portal.

The portal sucked Emery in and the buzzing sound once again rang in his ears. After the buzzing cleared, the sound of wind, crashing against the wind filled his mind. Emery opened his eyes, and realized he returned to the exact spot where he had been lying on the ground talking to Killgragah after Granny had disappeared.

The sun's rays peeked through the leaves of the dense forest, gently touching his face. He stayed still, feeling the soft grass and taking in the earthy musk. The breath of air felt refreshing compared to the damp, enclosed space he had been sharing with the black dragon for more than half a year. Somehow, now that he was back, that spatial space and the dragon felt surreal in a world where such things were considered to be imaginary beings.

As he stayed motionless on the ground, he spoke in his mind, trying to communicate with the black dragon. "Killgragah, can you hear me? Hello? Supreme being, mighty and powerful Killgragah, are you there?"

However no voice returned to his call. Was that all just a dream sequence because he had been on the brink of death? But that couldn't be, the last thing he could remember before being transported was that winter had arrived, now that he was back here, it looked like late spring or early summer was the season. Once more, he tried with a louder thought in his mind, "Hello! Are you there!"

"I can hear you damn it, kid! Don't shout!" yelled a voice in his head.

Emery let out a laugh and replied, "Why are you not responding then?"

The dragon's voice sounded tired as it said, "Moving you back, consumed a lot of my power… I feel sleepy now. I'll rest for a while. Remember, I won't be able to pull you back inside unless you can find me a place of power. Let's see… there… I can sense it… Northwest of your position, about two mountains away. you can just head there first…"

After that, the connection was lost. He could no longer hear Killgragah. Emery got up and checked the direction where he was supposed to head later based on the sun's position.

Once he had gotten his bearings, first things first. He walked with heavy steps toward the entrance gate of the Mistshire settlement. Once he passed the gate, no laughing of the children, hunters walking around, women doing some weaving, no nothing greeted him. Everywhere was lifeless and all the huts appeared as if they'd crumble into pieces with a single blow from the wind.

He passed by every hut and made way toward Granny's hut located on the farthest of the settlement that had once housed him and thought of as a place of warmth and security. When his eyes landed on Granny's hut, the place now housed cold and hate in his mind.

Oddly though, there was something odd beside the hut. Emery remembered this was the place where Obed had been digging a mass grave for the settlement's residents. It had been closed with the earth and a pile of stones was stacked on top of one another. Emery didn't want to believe this was Granny's doing because it didn't make sense, however, would there be any one who would bother doing this since this settlement was situated in a secluded location? He couldn't come up with an answer because this explanation was the one that made the most sense even if he thought it was contradictory at the same time.

Emery entered the hut and found the bag he had left behind. He checked if there was something he could grab from the storage area, however, there was none.

Last, he went to the herb garden; also emptied out of herbs, however, there was one thing that caught his attention. In the center of the garden, there was a large stone that he knew wasn't there before. It sat on top of what clearly looked like earth that had been dug out. Emery knew this was Lanzo's grave and Granny placed Lanzo in here. But why? He truly couldn't make sense of Granny's mind.

After paying his respects, Emery covered his face with a cloth and wore a mantle that hid his missing right arm. He examined the symbol on his arm one last time.

[Emery Ambrose]

[16-year-old]

[Spirit Affinity: Plant, Earth, Water]

[Plant Spirit - High Stage]

[Water Spirit - High Stage]

[Earth Spirit - High Stage]

[Battle power 27 (19)]

[Spirit force 85 (50)]

[Spirit Core of Darkness - foundation]

[Fey Bloodline - stage 1]

[Acolyte Rank 5]

Emery turned away from Lanzo's grave with cold eyes, finally proceeding with a journey toward the northwest.