Eleven years later
.....
Yo!! Luc!!
Luc Wilder turned around to see his best friend, Asher Grey, running towards him. Asher swung his arm over Luc's shoulders as he grinned.
" Are you going home already? Let's go together" Asher said. Luc shrugged Asher's hands off as he shook his head. "What happened this time? Is Lara coming over to your place again?"
Asher had a look for surprise and embarrassment on his face as he laughed nervously. He looked around to check if anyone was listening before hooking Luc's head. " You know how that girl is right? She's a demon. She breaks anything and everything whenever she comes over. Plus, she's so talkative. I can hardly catch a wink of sleep when she's around ".
Luc chuckled as he listened to his best friend complain. He just didn't know what to say to this guy. Lara was Asher's neighbor and co-worker . They both worked in the Technocratic Union, usually called TU and their houses were in the same apartment building.
Things in Tenoria had changed. The technology in the kingdom was growing everyday. They used this technology for raids and missons. They also used it to develop the kingdom. Most of the technology ran solely on a magical element called Nightshard.
Nightshard was a kind of navy blue crystal that had large amount of energy. It was very rare in the past and was treated as a precious treasure. It still is.
But then they found that directly under a town in Tenoria was a large deposit of Nightshard that could last Tenoria at least Two millenias. It was as if Nightshard was a crop and that town was the farm.
The Magistrate had tried to make Nightshard by themselves at some point. But they all woke up to the realization of it being impossible as the ingredients of Nightshard were one of a kind. So, they went back to mining these crystals from the town.
Although the technology powered by Nightshard spread vastly, it was still divided. Tenoria had been divided into two parts. Basically, the part for the people who were less privileged in having technology and those who were privileged.
Those who weren't privileged were mostly commoners who were average in magic and below. The more privileged were masters and Lords, Dukes and so on. Basically, people of high status and of course governmental workers like Luc and Asher.
The less privileged side of Tenoria was called Old Tenoria or Cadnia, meaning "rural or old" in old Tenorian language. The more privileged side was named New Tenoria.
The buildings in New Tenoria were tall and had a unique Tenorian vibe to it. They were of different sizes, either spheres or tall twisted cuboids. They were all powered by Nightshard and their grade of technology determined the value of the building. They were all ranked from D-grade to A-grade, D-grade being the lowest and A-grade the highest.
Luc lived in a C-grade apartment. It was neither too shabby nor too extravagant. It suited him just fine. Asher lived in a B-grade building and so did Lara. Since they worked in the tech field, they were paid higher than the defense workers. Sometimes, Luc really wished he was Asher but would immediately discard the idea when he thought of the trouble with Lara. Lara was not ordinary.
Asher's father was the vice of the Council of Mages. He was a great Mage who was from a lineage of great Mages. He was both respected and revered. So was his wife, who was a retired member of the Council of Mages.The only flaw was he had an Ordinary as a son.
No one knew how this happened. Asher came from a lineage of great mages but possessed no magical ability whatsoever. When he was four, his friends had already started developing magical powers, but he remained an ordinary.
His father was deeply ashamed of this. But luckily his second son didn't disappoint him . Asher's brother, Aaron, had great magical ability. He became a Mage just like his father. He even took after his father's fire element.
Mages do magic according to their elements. There is water, fire and earth. When a child is born, he or she is taken for a reading six months after birth. This reading determines their element. Asher's reading was a strange one. He didn't have any reading whatsoever. After fourteen years of not showing any signs of magic, everyone concluded that Asher was the first Ordinary in his lineage.
At first, it was an abomination but when the discovery of Nightshard became more rampant, Ordinaries had a chance to redeem their selves by working in TU. Although his family weren't happy about this, Asher didn't care. He even moved out at the age of sixteen.
Now, he was twenty and a full grown adult. He did whatever he liked. Luckily, he was responsible. Luc loved his best friend alot. He confided in him. He told him everything, except for the deepest part of him. That was a secret and a memory he didn't want to remember at all.
Luc and Asher made their way to Luc's apartment. It was a twisted cuboid shape. You could call it a skyscraper but....
Anyway, they made their way to his home. Luc did his scan and was granted access to his home. To be granted access, you needed a navy blue card. This card was like your key. Once scanned at the reception office, the doors, which were beside the receotionist's desk,that looked like an elevator automatically open up to your apartment. It was like magic because those doors led to any apartment. Frankly, it was magic.
Luc and Asher stepped into his apartment. The doors closed and they were enveloped in darkness. Luc reached out his hand to the side of the wall blindly to flick on the lights. Soon, he found the light switch and turned it on.
He heard Asher sigh in contentment as he collapsed on the soft couch. Asher said in a tired yet satisfied voice as he stretched, " Finally, away from computers". He the reached out his hand to the hand of the sofa and tapped.
A digital floating transparent keyboard appeared. Asher typed in a command. In response, a white table rose from the floor's "insides". On top of it were all sorts of snacks, all of these were ordered by Asher on the keyboard.
Asher stuffed his face with food and drank a can of soda. But Luc remained frozen in his place. His eyes....he could say everything in black and white. His vision had turned to black and white. Everything was in black and white.
And when he looked at his door, he saw some sort of shadow that seemed to be staring at him. The floating shadow spirit had a pair of white eyes with no pupils. All white. And they weren't...physically there.
The shadow kept on staring and when Luc took a step towards it..." Hey Luc, do you think Lara will be angry tomorrow?" Hearing Asher's voice, the shadow gave a loud snarl and disappeared the next second when Luc blinked.
Again....it happened again. That shadow....said his name. That snarl...he understood it... "Aiden".