Chapter 2
"Where… where am I? What… what happened to me?" Grey said as he slowly opened his eyes, which were a bit blurry, and then he could see a sea of white in front of him.
There were no trees like before, no forest, no beasts or anything—just white all around—and he was now wondering if he was dead or not.
"What even happened?" Grey asked himself as he tried to recall what had happened. He could finally remember all the details: everything from being bullied as usual, to his father's death, and finally his attempt to kill himself in the forest when something unnatural happened, and he found himself here.
"Hello! Is there anybody here? Where the hell am I?" Grey shouted out loud while turning around, trying to see if there was anybody around.
"Grey Dawn!"
On hearing his name, Grey quickly turned around to see a man standing in front of him. The man was dressed in pure white without any stains on it. He also had white hair and a white beard on his face.
"Who are you? And how do you know my name? Were you the one that brought me here?" Grey asked while feeling dreadful.
"Easy with the questions boy. Which question do you even want me to answer first now?" The man asked with a chuckle.
"How about starting with who the hell you are?" Grey shouted.
"A fiesty one huh?" The man chuckled again. "There's no need to know my name, all you have to know is that I was the first mage to ever exist on Earth and I was the strongest."
"First mage?" Grey asked again feeling doubtful as he stepped back a bit to examine the man more closely.
"Young ones and their doubts all the time," the mage said, shaking his head as if he were disappointed.
"Since you don't believe I was a mage, how about I prove it to you?" the mage continued. Instantly, Grey felt the temperature rising, and then a fire erupted all around the man.
"A… a fire mage?!!!" Grey screamed in shock.
A fire mage was quite rare and considered precious. With the amount of power surrounding the man, Grey was no longer doubtful when he thought back to when the man called himself the strongest, he could feel the amount of power pouring out of him.
This could only be possible for those with a high enough affinity and mage color. Right now, the man was exhibiting enough power to be considered a golden mage.
The different types of talents under the affinities were graded by color.
There were five colors that the different talents could be graded under: red, yellow, blue, purple, and gold, with red being the lowest and gold being the highest.
Below are the colors and their uses.
1. **Red (Lowest):**
- Represents minimal talent in magic.
- Mages of this grade often struggle to cast even the simplest spells.
- Most common among the general population.
2. **Yellow:**
- Indicates average magical ability.
- Suitable for basic magical tasks, and most mages fall into this category.
3. **Blue:**
- Represents exceptional magical talent.
- Mages with this grade often excel in academies and are sought after by elite factions.
4. **Purple:**
- Denotes rare and extraordinary talent.
- Purple-grade mages are revered as prodigies, capable of mastering advanced spells and techniques.
5. **Gold (Highest):**
- Reserved for legendary-level talent.
- Mages of this grade are so rare that they are considered mythical figures.
- Known to redefine magical laws and shape history.
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And now, with how powerful the amount of fire this man exhibited, Grey knew his fire affinity was that of a gold color. As soon as he came to this realization, Grey fell to his knees, planting his face into the ground.
"Oh, great one! Please forgive my behavior from earlier," Grey said while still keeping his head lowered.
"Haha!" The man laughed as he quickly extinguished the fire surrounding him with a click of his fingers.
"Relax, young one; don't treat me like a god of some kind. Although I'm technically a god. Haha!"
"You can rise, Grey."
"No! I'm not worthy of looking at your face, oh great one," Grey said.
"Will you stop being dramatic and get up?"
Hearing the mage ordering him, Grey quickly got up and looked at the mage.
"If I may ask, why was I summoned here like that?" Grey asked.
"Because you were about to do something stupid back there."
"I wasn't being stupid; I was being considerate!" Grey said.
"You were being considerate? In what way? Please enlighten me," the mage said as he clicked his fingers again, and a chair appeared behind him while he took a seat, arms crossed, looking at Grey.
"My life was useless; I couldn't help my parents do anything tangible. I was always bullied and hated by everyone around me just because I wasn't like them, a mage like them. Just because I didn't have an affinity, I was discriminated against," Grey said, with a trickle of tears running down his face.
"I wasn't useful to myself or even my parents. If only I had an affinity, I would have been able to help one way or another. I would have saved my dad before he got killed by beasts!" Grey shouted in frustration.
"So you decided to end your life because of all this? You said you were being considerate. Then what about your mom? Did you even think about her? "What would she go through if she found out you died? Poor woman! She lost her husband today and was about to lose her only support: her only son."
"Did you think about that? No! Because you were childish and foolish."
Hearing the mage speak, Grey knew he was right and couldn't help but feel sad, as he felt like he was totally abandoning his mom in these perilous times, and he felt ashamed of himself.
"But what can I do? I don't even have an affinity; I'm totally useless to the world, to myself, and to my mom. So how the hell am I supposed to protect her?" Grey asked.
"What if I told you that you have an affinity?"
"What!?!" Grey said in shock.