n

n

nThe moment I got out of my tent, I immediately realised the tent in front of me looked slightly ruffled and even broken down if you look at it in a certain angle.

nIs this what happens when two mages go at it? Well, it's not like I will ever find out... Virgin for life... woo... Why couldn't I just get a handsome male body instead of this female one? Now I'm never going to be able to date while everyone is going to act super offended if I were to go for a women! I think I understand why people used to say 'I think I was born into the wrong sex', but this time its more literal than mental. I was literally born into the wrong sex.

n

"HEY LOVE BIRDS! WAKE UP OR STOP DOING IT LIKE RABBITS! EITHER WAY, JUST GET OUT BEFORE I TEAR DOWN THE ALREADY HALF BROKEN TENT!

"

nhmm... I wonder what kind of protection this world has... Do they just pull out oooor...? Maybe they have some kind of spell or even potion?

n

"Oh hey Pandora, How are you doi-

"

n

"Don't come closer to me before you wash up or you might lose a limb or two

" I said, stopping his advance towards me and making him go slightly red while looking away.

n

"hey

" He whispered

"who taught you about all this stuff?

" He asked

n

"Your mother. Now if you don't get your a*s to that lake, I'm not kidding, I will cut of all your limbs.

"

nThe man had gone pale, at both my first comment and at the fact that I seemed completely serious when I told him I would cut off all his limb. He swiftly moved towards the lack to wash up while I heard ruffling from the tent he was once in.

nOh, she finally woke up? Its way passed dawn... What kind of night did she have? At least sleep on time so you can wake up earl-

nOut of the tent I was staring at, came out a girl with shoulder length black hair which had been ruffled and messed up, while her eyes shone like small red torches. She was 5ft 9inches, wearing nothing but a night gown. If i were to be honest, that was the hottest thing I've seen in a long time.

n

"Oh hey Pany. Did you sleep well?

" Gen asked me while moving towards me. I was too focused on engraving the image into my mind than telling her to wash up until the last second when I realised she was trying to hug me. I ducked while jumping backwards and pointing at the river.

n

"Wash up if you don't wanna lose a few limbs. First off though, do you think you are... You know....

"

n

"You know, what?

" She asked with curiosity before moving towards the river

n

"Pregnant

" I blurted out

n

"WHAT!?

" She blurted out almost instantly

n

"I mean, I don't actually know if there are any potions or spells to stop you from getting pregnant, sooo, are you or are you not?

" I said while tilting my head a few degrees to the left.

n

"Of course I'm not! I used a temporary sterilisation spell. I'm not stupid!

"

n

"Okay good, I didn't want to be held accountable for you getting married to that guy

" I voiced while taking down the rest of my tent and putting it inside our dimensional amulet.

nAfter we had eaten washed up, eaten breakfast and spoke a little, we got ready to depart. We walked around the forest for a few hours where we only found some weak beasts who had just awakened or animals. Beasts who had just awakened usually do not have any intelligence unless they had awakened in the womb from a superior beast species.

nAfter a few more hours of traveling and fighting beasts here and there, we decided to rest for a bit back at our last camping spot after going to the lake to wash up a little

nThe moment we reached the lake, a loud roar resounded the whole area, making the lake send ripples from the direction of the roar. Animals started to flee while beasts started to come closer to watch the commotion from a safe distance.

nAt the other side of the lake was a black furred and pale blue maned oversized lion. The lion's mane flickered like a real flame while it's eyes looked at us with murderous intent. To the naked eye, the lion had a black and blue aura exuding from its fur and main,

n

"CRAP! That is at least a Peak Advanced ranked beast!

" Voiced out Rak from behind me

nBlack, Red and Emerald particles started to concentrate into a single area, yet instead of making a yellow colour like colour spectrum would suggest, it created a pale blue colour mixed in black. The flames readied ray of heat was so scorching hot, it had already made the surroundings of the lion steam and sizzle.

nCRAP! That's that oversized lion from last time! If I don't do anything soon, I might be in big trouble! He clearly has a affinity towards fire and darkness, and strong ones at that!

nI grabbed both Gen and my tutor before leaping as far as I could from the blast radius right before it was launched to not allow the lion a second to change the trajectory.

nWhen the lion finally howled, the beam shot straight above the lake as fast as a bullet train, while vaporizing all the water within its radius. The black and blue beam shot straight through the forest, making a large number of animals in the distance to flee from their hiding stops. The only thing that was left was a parted lake and partly molten magma from the melted rocks.

n

"HAHAHAHAHA! FINALLY! FINALLY YOU HAVE COME BACK JUST FOR ME! IM FLATTERED LITTLE DEVIL! NO MATTER, TODAY SHALL BE THE DAY WHERE I DESTROY YOU AND EVERYTHING YOU LIVE FOR!

" Said the oversized black and blue lion

n

"You two, I want you to support me in long range combat while I go closer! No buts, just listen to my orders and fulfil them without a second of hesitation! Gen! Freeze the lake with all your mana! Rak, Make the most destructive spell you can create and warn me before you detonate

" I said while taking a peak towards the determined couple behind me

n

"What? You can't do th-

" Too bad for Rak, I was already far gone before he could finish his sentence, forcing him to listen to what I said before.

n

"GEN! NOW!

" I shouted at the top of my lungs

nWithout a moment of hesitation, she immediately used her best ice spell to freeze the water, making it hard for the either of us to walk on. unfortunately for the oversized lion, I had adjusted my shoes with earth magic to not allow my self to slip.

nI charged towards the lion at speeds that could rival the speed limits of every country but Germany. Every time my foot would hit the ice, a small vibration would reverberate throughout the ice, creating cracks at every step just o be reformed a second later.

nWhen i was merely 200 meters away from the oversized lion, He stopped running towards me and let out the loudest roar I had ever heard. Sound travelled in destructive waves while the icy ground started to break and them melt from the sheer heat traveling with that roar.

nI gritted my teeth before using air magic to increase my speed while also circulating the gravity field within my body and sword to make the hit even more deadly than they were before. Just then, I started to move even faster, until I was 10 meters away where I enlarged my sword and swung down with the speed of bullet, yet the weight of a truck and the size of at least 2 people.

nThe lion barley dodged the attack, yet the shock wave from and gust of wind that was carried with the sword sent the lion flying a few meters back and losing it's balance. I had noticed this and took full advantage of the it by reforming my Light Brigade into a spear which I spun with air magic, and threw with all my physical strength and weight.

nThe moment the lion had realised what had happened, it was too late to dodge. The Spear hit the stomach of the lion almost piercing it before something I had overlooked happened. I had forgetter that the lion did not have the same limitations as humans! Not only were their bodies stronger but they could also use their elements way more proficiently, almost as if it is their instinct from birth, a bit like how a giraffe learns how to walk in the first few minutes of its birth.

nThe lions blue and black aura burst outwards, making me have to shield myself while my weapon would fly too far away from me to get I back unnoticed. The lion started to laugh and said

"You really thought puny human tricks will work on me? Okay, stop messing around and get serious!

"

nI ignored his words and charged in with my fists to attack him. My fists were now infused with all the elemental energies within my body, each fist infused with three since I didn't want to explode nor make a gravity particle.

nThe element infused fists struck the lion who barely even reacted to it. For the first time in a very long time, I felt extremely weak. I felt like a bug that would eventually get swatted the moment he got too annoyed at me, which was almost inevitable if I were to not use magic.

nThen, I heard it! The voice of hope sounded from the distance. It's words were

"Pany! I'm ready to shoot!

"

nWithout a second thought, I grabbed the spear on the floor before running away at full speed toward the bay of the lake. From behind me, I could hear a confused snort before an understanding

"ahh

" resounded in the area.

n

"You're holding back because of the humans? Don't worry, I'll get rid of them for you!

nIdiot!

n

"HEAT RAY!

" Shouted Rak before shooting a red laser the size of a car from earth towards the lion who just snorted with annoyance

n

"THAT'S IT!?

" I blurted out, not caring if I were to be rude or not

nThe laser swallowed the crouched lion whole, making it seem like he had been hit directly instead of dodging. While i raised my eye brow, the two next to me sighed in relief until I felt something.

nF*CK! HIS MOVING CLOSER!

n

"HIS MOVING CLOSER! DONT STOP!

" I shouted with a voice full of worry

n

"Closer? hahaha! No one can survive my heat ray without being extrem-

" The second Rak was about to boast about his abilities as a mage, the lion came out ray and almost bit the staff and Rak's hand off in a single chomp. Luckily, I had taken action before that happened, leaving the staff to being the only damaged thing instead of Rak's arms.

n

"Insolence!

" The lion growled before throwing his paw directly towards Gen, who was now too far for me to help.

nI tried to use earth magic to move her, yet I wasn't fast enough. The claw had moved towards her body with terrifying speeds, giving her 3 gaping wounds in a single attack she was not able to stop.

n

"GEN!

" Me and Rak shouted in unison, Scared that she might have died from that attack

nYOU LITTLE F*CKING SHIT! CRAP! What will happen if she dies? Aroura would be sad, my parents would probably be sad, Elaina and her husband would probably hold a grudge against me and end their relationship with my family! I can't lose her! If I do... Everything will be- will be-

nTo my eyes, everything had turned grey, with some shades being lighter while others were much darker. Time slowed as blood gushed out of Gen's wounds, slowly becoming more and more stationary while moving through the air or dripping to the ground. The chuckles of the lion had slowed down and become heavier in tone while the slowed face of Rak, dripping with tears, had lost all its colour. Everything around me had become grey, just different shades. Yet I felt a sense of familiarity and pain within the colours.

nThey say, If a man would go on top of a mountain and look at the horizon, his perspective would be different than the other man's perspective, even if the difference is miniscule. While one might look at the sunrise and see gloom and a few colours, others might look at the same sunset from the same position and see the the variation of shades between every single layer of light. They will differentiate between the orange and the peach, the yellow and the blue, the cyan and the pink, while another might see 2 or 3 colours rather than that whole spectrum.

nWhile one might think of the sunrise as the start of a new day, with new adventures and journeys, another can see it as the start of a day where they must take the burden of all their anxieties, worries and sources of stress on their back.

nRight now, The grey I was seeing was the exact same grey I used to see back on earth. I Knew there were different shades of grey, yet I never bothered to find out what the colour behind that grey really was. Everyone to me was lifeless, not worthy of attention. The world I saw was cold, full of nothing but death, sadness, worry, anxiety, stress, hatred, unnecessary violence and much more. I couldn't see the vibrant colours of a rainbow, nor the variation of colours in the starry night sky.

n

"What do you truly desire?

" Asked a female voice, the midst of the eerie silence created by the freezing of time. For some reason, I was not shocked to hear her voice. It seemed calm and soothing, yet almost robotic and cold at the same time.

n

"hmm?

" I hummed in return

n

"Why do you want Gen to live?

" The child-like sounding female voice asked in a cold tone that betrayed her childish nature.

n

"Because sis will be sa-

" Before I could even finish, I was cut off the by the same question once again.

n

"Why do you want Gen to live?

"

n

"Because Arou-

" I was cut off again

n

"Why do you want Gen to live? Be honest, not with other people nor with me. Be honest with yourself.

" The voice resounded, now from behind me

nI turned around to see a golden flame, tainted by a black gloom with hints of violet at the core of the flame. I Stared at the flame while widening my eyes in shock.

n

"Are yo-

"

n

"Why do you want Gen to live?

"

n

"...

"

n

"Why do you want Gen to live?

"

n

"BECAUSE HER FAMI-

"

n

"Why do you want to save Gen?

"

nI gritted my teeth before mumbling

n

"- Because I don't want her to die.

"

n

"Then, why don't you want her to die?

" Asked the golden flame, slowly turning more and more violet and black after every question, as if it was a bomb, waiting for me to get enough questions wrong to finally explode.

n

"Because-...

"

nI sucked in a cold breath clenched my fists before finishing my sentence

n

"B-because I care for her

" I mumbled

n

"And why do you care for her?

" Asked the flame, becoming more black and violet again as if the black was corrupting the flame

n

"B-because... She cares for me. Because she is a f-friend... Because she doesn't treat me like trash even though she isn't family! BECAUSE SHE STOOD BY MY SIDE EVEN THOUGH SHE BARELY KNEW ME!

" Tears started to fill up my eyes, yet barely

n

"So you appreciate her and want to pay her back?

" Asked the flame, becoming more black again.

n

"No, because I like her company. Because I like talking to her. Because even though I don't love her as much as my sister or father, she still treats me like an equal even though she doesn't have to. Her company is refreshing and presence is just as amazing. I want to tell her how much I appreciate what she had done for me. I want to see if she thinks I'm her friend...

"

nTears finally flooded my eyes and came out as two tears, yet that was it.

n

"Then, How do you want to save her

" Asked the flame, regaining a little bit o its original colour

n

"I need power. I want power, to stand above everything that wants to hurt those close to me!

" I voiced out, with my voice returning to normal rather than half sobbing after every sentence

n

"No connections means no losses. If you get rid of the weakness you can become stronger

" Said the flame not changing colour this time.

n

"I might become stronger, but then, what will I have to live for? I don't want this life to end like the other. I want to have a colourful life, with those I care for safe and alive. I don't want to suffer the loneliness I suffered last time, nor do I want to live a life where I cannot stop looking back and regretting my decisions!

" I finally admitted, looking straight at the core of the flame to prompt it to tell me its answer

n

"So be it...

" muttered the half black with specks of violet and half golden flame.

n

"I shall give you this power you need, but in exchange, you must be ready for the consequences

" Thundered the flame that was slowly turning more and more golden by the second, until it finally reverted back to its' original colour.

n

"Now! Do not resist, as now you will awaken, true divinity!

"

nThe moment the flame said those words, it shrieked before shooting towards my solar plexus and plunging into my body. Seeming lying, I could now feel a connection with every single elemental particle in a 3 mile radius, overloading my brain with information I could barley sort out. Within all these thoughts, there was one thing in common. They were all reverberating with the same word within them, as if it was a command imprinted into them since the day they were created that had finally been activated.

n

"AWAKEN!

"

n