My eyes flicked open and the same set of stars lit up the night sky alongside the crescent moon. The crackling sound and warmth that came from the campfire didn't startle me anymore.
"I'm back here again," I mumbled, wondering what happened.
The last thing I remembered was a sea of flames that filled up the alley, but I knew that wouldn't be enough to kill the girl. She was strong and I felt it.
"Those were her final moments… she could have won that fight if she fought back but she couldn't bring herself to kill her father." Death's voice came from the side but I was already expecting him here.
I glanced at him and noticed a few changes had occurred since I last visited. He had two pairs of angelic black wings flapping gracefully but I doubted he could take flight because he was bound by black chains.
"Why did I see that?" I asked.
Death looked at me and he wore a stern expression.
"Death magic is powerful and carries a trace of its past wielders. Be prepared, these visions will become a lot more common now you have awakened your power." He responded while I sat up.
I raised an arm, and the clanking chain of metals caught my attention—my left arm was bound by a similar chain to the one holding death.
"What's going on?" I asked, wondering if my voice was still calm.
I have heard a lot about magic but I have never heard that it turns a person into a slave. Before I could complain some more, Death did something unexpected. He fell to his knees and lowered his head with a deep bow.
I was starstruck. Did death itself just bow to me?
Was there some sort of royalty bloodline in the pearl I ate?
"Forgive me for waiting for so long to introduce myself. Call me Lin, Guardian spirit of Death but most refer to me as the angel of Death," Lin said in a respectful tone, far different from his usual tone.
I felt a shift and it made me uncomfortable. Cautiously, I rose to my feet and watched his eyes trail my movements.
"Now you wield the power of death, you are destined to become the God of Death. I am just being tasked with guiding you on your journey." Lin explained even before I asked.
It took me a few seconds to process his words and I wasn't sure how to feel. My feelings didn't matter if I can't understand why the fuck I'm chained to the floor.
"Explain this first?" I raised my chained hand
"This power will be your strength but also a cage… it is a path of hardship and suffering but if you succeed, invincibility will be within you—"
"Cut the bullshit!" I frowned.
"What is going on and why are you making a big deal out of just an element?" I asked only to remember something important the next moment. "More importantly, why the fuck did you give me a magic that will get me chased and hunted like an animal?"
Once again, Lin shook his head but this time with an apologetic look.
"Even Guardian Spirits are bound by the laws of the world. There are things I cannot reveal now because you are not ready yet. Exercise patience, everything will unravel at its time." Lin explained. "However, I can tell you this. Death magic encompasses all forms of dark magic. You won't have any problem fitting in."
"I see…" I mumbled and then a thought crossed my mind. "Did you just say spirits?"
Lin quietly rose to his feet, easily towering over me but he nodded respectfully.
"I am only one of four guardian spirits. With time you will meet the others. They are your only true allies in this world."
As soon as he was done speaking my vision went white before turning completely dark.
______
My eyes fluttered open, revealing a massive window that gave a perfect view of the sun and the clear sky. I quickly noticed my body was floating on a body of black water.
More importantly, I still had my clothes on! Sorry, rags.
"I almost didn't think you would make it to the bathtub. Most people collapse on the spot when they go through this process."
A familiar voice came from behind and I frowned. The pool wasn't deep so I stood up and turned to meet William's gaze only to see something unexpected.
It was a towering figure of nearly 7ft, completely covered in a century-black cloak and a hoodie pulled over his head. Beside it was a levitating black scythe but more importantly, its attention was intently focused on William.
"What's going on?" I blurted out as my gaze bounced between William and the spooky figure.
This was the most emotion I have shown since making a deal with the devil.
"What?" William seemed confused by my response.
{The angel of death is never too far from anyone. It's seven steps away, which means he has seven years left.} Lin explained.
I was flabbergasted by the explanation. Didn't this mean I could tell when people were going to die? Forget magic; that skill alone would earn me tons of money, noble or not.
Everyone wants to know their fate.
{Remember, Your only allies are other new God candidates like you. You cannot tell this man what you see.}
I rolled my eyes with an exhausted sigh; worn out by all the rules that came with this magic. All I have received were rules and nasty prophecies. When will someone tell me something good about this forbidden element?
"It's nothing… my head is just playing tricks with me," I responded to William's question and walked out of the pool.
Strangely my body felt lighter and better in general. I couldn't tell why but I didn't even feel hungry anymore.
Wait, I haven't been hungry since I revived; even before Lord Blackwood rescued me. I just realized I was too distracted all this while to notice.
'I hate this magic.' I muttered in my heart.
I haven't even used it yet, it has robbed me of my emotions and appetite. What next was it going to take?
"Are you hungry? Good, because I have breakfast prepared." Lord Blackwood seemed to interpret my frown as hunger but I just nodded along.
Even if I don't feel hungry, I should still be able to taste the food. Right?!
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I watched Lord Blackwood from the far end of the dining table. Flanking his sides were two brown-haired girls, probably six years old at best, and they looked like twins.
The girls stared at me with curiosity while five maids walked in with trays carrying all sorts of meat: turkey, lamb, chicken, steak, and so many more.
It was a complete protein meal!
As someone who came from a household where we only got to tiny pieces of dried meat four times, I thought I would be more excited but nothing changed.
"This hole," I mumbled.
"Are you okay? You keep clutching your chest all the time."
"I am?" I looked down, I didn't even notice.
I picked up a knife, cut out a large piece of steak, and shoved it into my mouth. I could see the horror and slight disgust on the innocent faces of the girls as I chewed with my mouth open.
Halfway done, I had made some space so I could respond.
"I just feel a bit different." I shrugged. "At least the food still tastes good," I mumbled.
Lord Blackwood seemed used to this, so he just shrugged as well and emptied the contents of his wine glass in one gulp.
"Let's test out your magic, after breakfast." He said with a small smile playing on his lips.
____
In the world of magic, a magic core was the difference between a mage and a normal human.
Accumulate→Channel→Release
Once mana is accumulated, it can be channeled through the body as the core is its base, and then magic, which a mage's elemental affinity reacts to, and then magic is unleashed.
The difference between higher-rank mages is their mana accumulation speed. Once someone attains a certain level, they can accumulate mana so fast that they never have to make use of their mana reserves, while lower ranked mages accumulate mana so slowly that they would need an entire day of rest to fill up their reserves, talk more of using it to cast magic directly.
And this was where magic cores come in.
Core refinement was vital for growth. Every core starts with a black shade and the colour lightens as one climbs up the ladder
Mortal realm→Black
Earth realm→Brown
Sky realm→Orange
Spirit realm→Yellow
Saint realm→ Blue
Divine→White
William walked ahead and led me into a room. It was empty, with no windows, no curtains or furniture, just a stone podium with a crystal orb lying on it.
"Go ahead, give it a try." He said and I nodded.
I approached and placed my hand over the orb, feeling the warmth radiating from it. As soon as my palm made contact with its strong wind, it burst forth from my body while a tongue of fire engulfed my hand and the orb.
Finally, my shadow thickened and expanded, completely enveloping the room. There was this stench coming from the darkness—one I was familiar with.
Death…
I glanced underneath my bare feet, and there it was, a colossal eyes that covered the entire room. However, its dark-green eerie gaze was fixated on me.
Maybe I would have flinched if there wasn't an angel of death standing seven steps away from William.
"Darkness, fire, and wind! Hahaha, nice one lad!"
William's words were accompanied by resounding claps like I accomplished something amazing. But this left me wondering if he couldn't see the eye.
"Now we know your strength; come down to the fields; let's practice," William said and exited the room, leaving me alone with the eyeball.
At this point, I just shrugged and followed behind. I can't keep complaining about every new thing that happens.
On our way downstairs, we spoke about a few things, and it turned out that having three elements was a big deal. In this world, people are born with two elements.
What William believed to be the shadow element was a subtle manifestation of my death magic, which gives me access to all forms of dark magic: blood, shadow, curse, and necromancy.
But from what I understand from Lin's explanation. Death magic is an element of its own, meaning I have seven elements. I suspected if I shared this with William he may die of a heart attack.
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Behind the grand estate was an open field stretched wide and far. I couldn't see the end of it and wondered why such a vast size of land remained untouched.
"I could turn this into a massive farm," I muttered, and I heard a light giggle resonate in my skull—Death was laughing at its small-minded host.
"Go fuck yourself." I cursed before shifting my attention to William's distant figure.
"Let's begin." William's voice stole my attention.
He opened his palm and a tongue of fire flared to life in his hands.
"Magic is nature, nature flows, magic must flow to work and the only way to achieve this is controlled emotions." William continued. "Each element is tied to an emotion like rage for fire and loneliness for shadow. Find the emotion that draws out your power and learn to control it."
I nodded as I thought back on the shadow tendrils I unintentionally conjured when I met William—the same type I saw in the vision.
The similarity between myself and the girl felt alone. I looked at the palms which I carried Lucy with and remembered she had to be buried soon.
Doesn't that mean I'll never see her face again?
The more I thought about it, the more I felt myself falling into despair and reality struck me—I'm all alone now.
Buzz!
"Incredible…." Williams' gasp dragged me back to reality.
Only then did I notice my shadow had expanded by a ten-meter radius with shadow tendrils slithered around me like serpents. It felt similar to my experience at the alley but the connection was stronger.
"How do you cast spells?" I asked while rubbing my palm against a shadow tendril.
"Imagination!"
That was his response. My shadow shrank while the tendrils faded into the ground and I approached with a frown. It didn't make sense. I was expecting a more complicated explanation but he just nodded and threw his hands apart.
"Your core and the mana allow you to manifest your magic. To shape your magic and give it form is the job of your mind." He explained further but that only made me much more confused.
{Visualizing the spell be is key.} Lin chipped in.
Without waiting for my response, Williams summoned another tongue of fire, but this time, it took the shape of a spear.
"If I can just make something appear at will, what's the point of incantations and grimoires?" I asked while shaking my head.
I may not know much about the magical field but It wasn't some sort of secret organization. Grimoires and incantations were general information.
{I feel a bit embarrassed now.} Lin said but I just rolled my eyes and waited for William's response.
However, William didn't respond. He effortlessly snuffed out the fire spear in his hand and his eyes revealed an amber glow.
"From ember's breath to blazing wrath, I shape the spear of burning death.
Flames coil, heat bends—pierce through all, until nothing stands.
Ignite—Infernal Lance!
Buzz!
I instinctively stepped back as a fierce amount of fire erupted in his hands and took the shape of a flaming spear twice the size of the previous one.
"Incantations are meant to help paint a stronger picture in your head which in turn improves the power of the spell. You have a lot to learn not just about magic but the world. That puts an end to our practical test. You have a lot of studying to do!"