Chapter 5: Echoes (1)

Micheal took cover, his body shuddering in fear. No matter how strong he’d gotten, it was nothing compared to the immense power that was being wielded on the plains right now.

He curled up, trying to make himself as small as possible. Who knew what sort of reaction these mages would have upon seeing him in this place.

I don’t understand… Where am I? What’s happening?! Michael’s mind raced, his thoughts jumbled by the sounds of explosions and cries of the mages in the throes of death. This was far too much for a boy of only 10-years old like himself to process, no matter what he’d been through.

Minutes passed as the battle raged on around him, but he dared not look. The smell of blood reached his nose, its scent metallic, causing his empty stomach to churn in disgust.

Michael opened his eyes slightly, only to see a figure coming towards him. In a panic, he shielded his head, curling up into a ball in hopes that the mage in question did not see him hiding.

As the footfalls grew louder, Michael could feel his heart beating wildly in his chest. But then they stopped, only to be followed by a thud on the stone ground. Judging by the sound, it was not far away from his position.

With reluctance, Michael opened his eyes behind his fingers, only to see the figure now prone on the ground a few feet away from his position.

“H-Hello? Are you okay?” He called out, his voice shaky.

But there was no response. In fact, the surroundings had turned silent.

Michael looked around fearfully, only to see that the earlier battle had come to an abrupt halt. His eyes widened as the green topped hills began to fade away, replaced by the familiar arid landscape of the Mana Scarred Lands.

“W-What the hell? Am I going crazy?” He muttered, cradling his head.

Dream… This has to be a dream.

But the figure was still there on the ground, only a few feet away from him. With no answers, Michael slowly got to his feet and cautiously inched closer to the body.

“Are you okay?” He repeated, using his foot to nudge the figure.

It was then that he noticed the large gaping hole in the center of its chest. Whoever this person was, they were indeed dead.

Michael retched, feeling his whole body go weak. In an instant, he fell to his knees and began to throw up. Since he’d had no food in what felt like days, the only thing that was alleviated from his stomach was bile.

“Shit, shit, SHIT!” He cursed, feeling his small frame stiffen in panic.

It took quite some time to calm himself down, but Michael soon gathered the courage to inspect the body. The man wore plain black robes and had a scar upon his pale face. Judging by the lack of wrinkles, he was likely someone in their twenties.

“I’m sorry for this.” Michael muttered before checking the man’s robes. He needed to check if the guy had any food or supplies, something that would help him survive in the Mana Scarred Lands.

But upon checking all the pockets, he came up with nothing.

Just as he’d begun to lose hope, Michael spotted a ring on the man’s left finger. It shone resplendently, enough to tell him that it was not simple.

“A storage ring?!” He exclaimed in joy.

Storage rings were pockets of space which one could store items in without the need to carry them physically. While there were many types of storage devices used by mages, their costs were astronomical.

Even his father who was the City Lord could only afford one for himself.

Michael was about to reach down and collect the storage ring, but his eyes caught a flicker of color beneath the man’s sleeve. Out of curiosity, he carefully pulled the sleeve back, revealing a dark tattoo-like ring on the man’s wrist.

“N-No way!” He jumped up in fright, taking a few steps back in horror.

“Violet ring? How is this possible?”

A violet ringed mage was one who had reached the peak of human potential. They were quite literally a walking army, capable of destroying an entire city with the mere wave of a hand.

This guy was a violet ringed mage, yet he was killed?Just what kind of opponent was he facing? Michael shuddered at the thought.

“I’m sorry my Lord, I need your ring in order to survive.” Michael said respectfully, inching closer to the corpse. Despite the mage being dead, it was still a figure that could have squashed him like a bug, a little courtesy was nothing in comparison to the storage ring’s value.

He gently pulled the ring off the cold fingers of the man before placing it on his finger.

Now how do I use this?

While Michael stared at the storage ring upon his finger, the hairs on his neck suddenly stood on end. It felt like there was electricity in the air, causing a humming sound to ring in his ears.

“Another mana storm?!”

But before he could move, he felt something pulling on his wrist.

Michael’s blood ran cold and he almost didn’t want to turn around and see what had grabbed him. But he swallowed his fear and looked down at his wrist, expecting to see the hand of the corpse gripping him.

But what met his eyes was something even more inexplicable. A violet colored mana was coiled around his left wrist, creeping towards his two yellow rings slowly.

“W-Wait, no!” Michael panicked, trying to free himself from the grasp of the mana. If this mana gets into my ring, I’ll die…

Although Michael was touted as the weakest mage in Velmara City, he was quite knowledgeable. In his pursuit to overcome his poor potential, he and his mother had researched every available option.

This was why he knew that absorbing mana from any being either living or dead would cause one’s mana to become chaotic, essentially destroying them from the inside.

Yet as he fought against the pull of the mana, Michael could only watch on in horror as it slowly covered his rings and entered his body.

“A-ARGH!”

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