The Evernon Saga - The Journey Of Ascension, A Struggle For Godhood.

(Day 2 - early afternoon)

Amelia's eyes were trained on William, akin to a predator eyeing its prey, her eyes churning with Mana unseen by the teens in front of her. Scanning him from head to toe, she placed two fingers onto her lower lip, wetting them with her tongue.

She liked what she was seeing.

It astounded her, in fact.

The flow of Mana through William's body was abnormally unhindered for his status as a beginner at using Mana. Moreover, his Mana was pure, which was typical for existences of a higher Tier. To call it an unusual sight for those of a low Tier, let alone a mortal, would be a bad joke in itself.

It was almost as if William's body was made for Mana to flow through it. Furthermore, she could see that the composition of his Mana was unique, sensing that there was something special about it.

However, when she tried to mentally probe deeper into his body to examine his Mana's structure more closely, a slight pang of pain surfaced in her head. Frowning with dissatisfaction, she intensified her mental energy, walking up to William and staring deeply into his amber eyes, repeatedly attempting to probe into him.

By now, William was slightly uncomfortable. He had not the slightest idea why this Archmage had been staring at him silently for around four minutes now. She had even walked closer to him, just to do so.

What was going on?

Amelia stood quite tall for a woman, exceeding 1.80m in height, as she stared down at William, frustration and curiosity smeared across her expression.

Glancing over at Aiden, William saw him reclining on a chair, one leg crossed over the other as he read a book, casually sipping some tea that Amelia had brewed not long ago. Noticing his gaze, he looked up and grinned.

"She's a peculiar one, isn't she?" laughed Aiden, "Although, it's said that it isn't unusual for powerful mages to be eccentric, not to mention a Tier 4 Archmage."

William's breath caught in his throat, as he choked on the very air that kept him alive.

Tier 4?!

The Tiers of existence were known to all throughout Evernon, as grand fables and tales were fashioned after the feats of powerful beings, regaling children everywhere for many generations now. Even in the far-out reaches of Birkstead, the Tiers were well-known. Tier 4 Titan existences were rumoured to be powerful enough to combat massive behemoths and sea monsters on equal ground, as well as reverse or stop even natural disasters.

And a person capable of legendary feats, a legendary Tier 4 Titan, was standing in front of him?

William turned frantically to Amelia, whose frustration seemed to reach its peak, her left eye twitching and lips pressed together, a frown crowning her facial expression.

"Strip," ordered Amelia sternly and simply, tugging at William's shirt.

Is this person really a Tier 4 Titan?!

"Forget it, you're too slow. I'll do it myself," she continued, snapping her fingers.

Suddenly, William's clothes vanished, having been teleported from his body, onto Amelia's desk.

Huh?!

Of all the surprising and confusing experiences that William had had, the Grand Library had surely topped every single one of them with the bizarre things that have occurred since his arrival.

Before he knew it, he was standing completely b.a.r.e, for the second time that day.

Aiden happened to catch a full-body glimpse of William, as he immediately shoved his face into his book, using it to block his view. A blush crept into his cheeks, his ears turning ever so slightly pink.

Amelia, on the other hand, raised her eyebrows in surprise, before getting back to business.

Trivial matters such as physical traits and characteristics mattered little to powerful beings, but Amelia as a person would never refuse a marvellous view.

"Are you able to use your own Mana?" interrogated Amelia, her stern demeanour bearing neither argument nor reply.

"Yes, for a while," replied William.

"Good, show me."

William once again carefully demonstrated him releasing his Aura, now standing n.a.k.e.d...and aflame.

Amelia's frown deepened.

"More. Everything in here is protected by me, so give it everything that you've got. Push it all out," she demanded.

"But what about Animus Zero?"

"Hah, so you do know a thing or two. Don't worry, I'll keep you from falling into it."

Nodding, William stopped restraining himself and fully allowed his Aura to flow out. Instead of a cloak, he had now become a miniature inferno of golden fire and light.

Radiant light spilt out across the room, illuminating it even further, as William's Personal Mana burned up rapidly, sweat forming on his brow before instantly evaporating. His Mana was gushing out of him, and at this pace, his reserves would be emptied in around a minute. The seconds ticked by.

10 seconds...

30 seconds...

45 seconds...

By this point, William was incredibly unsteady on his feet, as his knees wobbled, and his posture failed him. He struggled to stay up, wanting to ask Amelia for the help that she had promised. His face was creased with effort, mirroring how much he was suffering at that moment. Groaning, he barely managed to raise his head, a strange expression meeting his gaze.

Amelia was watching him keenly, the intensity of her stare throwing William's concentration off.

Her eyes were wide open, her head tilted upwards as she stared down her nose at him. She seemed to be in some kind of trance, her eyes glossed over, her lips turned up into an immaculate grin. Her skin was flushed red with d.e.s.i.r.e, her breathing frenzied, the pitch of her voice heightened. With nearly irresistible urges ravaging her common sense, Amelia's tastes were plain for anyone lacking their childhood innocence to see.

An incorrigible sadist.

Amelia was relishing the suffering and torment William was undergoing, witnessing him feeling his life seemingly leave his body alongside his Mana. She bit her lips whenever his limbs trembled, as his face tensed up from the massive resolve he had to muster from deep within himself to stay on his feet. His pathetic and pitiful state only served to rile Amelia up even further, her own legs rubbing against each other, as she salivated constantly, repeatedly swallowing it.

At this point in time, Aiden had been hiding his face behind the book that he was holding, peeking every so often, before averting his gaze embarrassedly. However, when he noticed William's plight, he tossed the book aside and moved to run forward. His intention was to convince Amelia to stop.

But, to no avail.

Aiden's rear had only barely managed to part with the seat of his chair before a tiny wisp of Amelia's Aura pushed him back down, halting his movements entirely.

"Don't interfere! This is for his own good," warned Amelia unconvincingly, her sadistic grin still plastered across her face, "In any case, it will soon become too dangerous for you to approach."

As William's Mana was on the verge of hitting rock bottom, plunging him into Animus Zero, Amelia shrouded her right arm in Mana and placed it on top of William's head. With Amelia's power, William's Mana reserve was like a cup of water in comparison to the lake that was hers. A single pulse of Mana was pushed into William's body, fully replenishing his reserves, bringing immense relief.

A dying, dried-up land had been drenched by an angelic shower of rain, returning the ground to normality.

For but the briefest of moments.

In the span of half a second, Amelia's left hand drew a symbol in the air, and pressed it onto the lower part of William's c.h.e.s.t, right above his solar plexus. It embedded itself in his skin, and for those who could perceive Mana, it glowed dimly like hot, blue coals.

Suddenly, just as William's Aura began to shrink and show signs of calming down, it grew massively all at once. The symbol on William's c.h.e.s.t brightened immensely, as it activated, yet did not vanish.

All the Mana that had been injected into his body, and converted into his own, immediately burst out violently. In what were just a few seconds, William had gone from an extremely pleasurable state to a condition on the brink of Animus Zero, once again.

William screamed in agony, as almost all his Mana was forcefully ejected in an instant, causing a massive burst of flame to tear its way out of his body.

Crack.

An audible, formidable cracking noise roared forth from William's body, akin to the first, and largest crack that occurred before the shattering of glass, or a mirror. The sheer volume of it resembled the crumbling of an enormous glacier, the thunderous sound of it causing Aiden to cover his ears frantically, as they rang agonisingly.

Amelia's lips cracked into a confident smile, an air of triumph surrounding her.

I knew it!

William lacked even the brief time it would take for him to react. He was forcefully thrown to the momentary heaven bestowed upon him, and mercilessly dragged back down into his recurring Hell. Another pulse of Mana surged into him, replenishing all his Mana once more, only to be forced out as the symbol lit up once more.

Replenishment, and expulsion.

Again, and again, and again.

Crack, crack, crack.

William's screams filled the room, as Aiden couldn't bear to watch any longer, turning away, his ears desperately covered. William's Mana was being refilled and expelled every second, almost simultaneously, tearing his body apart.

As time went by, William began to question the source of the cracks that he heard, unable to identify if they came from his body or his very sanity. His body writhing, his mind quaking, and his soul weeping, he could do nothing.

Except for screaming his suffering to a heaven that his voice was unable to reach.

Amelia's sense of reason remained intact, despite the massive waves of p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e that coursed through her mind and body from causing and witnessing William's suffering.

She was a Tier 4 existence, and an Archmage, at that.

With a theory in her mind and a suitable, helpless test subject in front of her, she would get the results she d.e.s.i.r.ed. One way or another.

***

15 minutes later...

William's powerless body fell forward, the symbol on his c.h.e.s.t no more. Exhausted, unconscious, and on the brink of destruction, his condition could not be described with the word 'severe'. Amelia caught his limp, bloody figure with an outstretched arm, as his lifeblood dripped unrestrainedly onto the floor.

Most of the peripheral blood vessels along his extremities had inevitably burst over the course of what Amelia had been doing.

Devastated muscles, frayed like a rope at the end of its lifespan and durability.

Sections of his skin appeared to have been torn apart, like carelessly ripped paper.

His eyes stared blankly, dumbly, into a void that no one else but he could see.

***

An audible gulp could be heard from nearby, as Aiden swallowed nervously. He had long placed a hand over his mouth to silence himself, and to prevent him from vomiting. He walked unsteadily towards Amelia, whose Aura was no longer controlled to suppress him. Upon catching sight of William's current state, he sprinted over.

Amelia walked away wordlessly, letting William fall as soon as Aiden was close enough to catch him, as he cradled the former's head, sitting down on the floor. He leaned William's head against his c.h.e.s.t, his right hand on its way to the secret pocket where he kept his vial of red liquid.

"A tiny, low-quality healing potion like that won't do him any favours," commented Amelia emotionlessly.

She was mainly swimming in her own thoughts, contemplating the details of the experiment she had just completed, yet maintained her awareness of her surroundings.

"Then what do you suggest?" shouted Aiden fearlessly, yet tearfully, "That I should let him die?!"

His heady rush of wild emotion made him disregard the fact that he was currently disrespecting someone with the ability to erase him from existence in less than the time it would take to blink.

Amelia's brow furrowed, her slight disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e at being shouted at by a lesser creature obvious on her face, before sighing. She had known Aiden for far too long, to be truly angered. To have watched someone grow up and accompanied them throughout most of their short, little lives, it was impossible to avoid developing a certain degree of affection.

"Here, take this," grumbled Amelia stiffly, "Two drops would be barely sufficient, but give him 3 if you'd like. If you administer too much, he might explode."

Aiden cringed at the thought of such a possibility.

Amelia tapped a small, inconspicuous pouch that hung at her waist, a luxurious bottle appearing in her open hand a moment after. The ornate bottle was lined with gold and filled with roughly half a litre of opaque crimson liquid, which simmered and bubbled despite there being no source of heat around it. After handing it to Aiden, Amelia nonchalantly went to sit at her desk, pulling out a blank parchment to begin doc.u.menting her results.

Aiden could not help but admire the potion in his hands at this very moment, one that was so potent, well-brewed and expensive, that even his family might not be able to afford it. Uncorking the vial, he carefully laid William down and rested the latter's head on his l.a.p. Tilting the bottle over William's open mouth, Aiden counted each drop like his own life depended on it, when in fact it was William's life that did.

One drop.

Two drops.

And the final, third drop...

Accompanied by an accidental fourth.

William's barely conscious body reflexively swallowed.

Aiden's heart jumped into his head as it pounded wildly, his breathing accelerating with his growing panic.

"Four drops won't kill him, but since you used an extra drop, you owe me lunch, one of these days," said Amelia casually.

Aiden's heart began to calm down as he placed a hand on his c.h.e.s.t in relief, now curious about the effects of such a high-class potion.

Every visible, unharmed centimetre left of William's skin flushed red, as if his entire body was blushing at once. His body began to radiate intense heat, causing sweat to ooze from all over him, steam beginning to rise from his body. Aiden felt William's head grow far hotter than a human body should be, and winced as the beginnings of a scald began to form on the front of his right t.h.i.g.h.

Aiden clenched his fists and teeth. He had brought William here in the first place, and this was his way of taking responsibility for what the latter suffered. Amelia noticed what was happening, refraining from taking action.

Why should she interfere with the choices of others?

William's torn skin shrivelled up and fell off, new flesh regenerating rapidly within the wounds, and fresh skin growing over them, closing them up, fully healing William within 20 seconds of him ingesting the four drops. With skin intact, muscles regenerated, and blood vessels repaired, William's external wounds and appearance were restored. Regardless, his body temperature continued to rise, as steam rose not from his skin, but from his orifices, such as his mouth, nostrils, and ears. His internal wounds still required time to fully recover.

(Author note: Imagine sneezing as violently and explosively as possible, once every second, for 15 minutes straight. Now imagine the state of the inner lining of your nose, throat, and windpipe.)

***

Around 2 minutes later, the heat from William's body subsided, as he slept peacefully on Aiden's l.a.p. His face was one of pure tranquillity, his eyes closed in rest, face completely relaxed, and his mouth hanging slightly open.

Aiden breathed another sigh of relief.

Seems like it's finally over...

Amelia had just finished her notes, as she walked over to the boys, retrieving her potion from Aiden and tapping it against her pouch, making it disappear from her grasp.

"He should be fine now, I don't sense any abnormalities," she reassured, "He even seems to have levelled up..."

Amelia's voice trailed off as she activated a skill that allowed her to see a target's Status, seeing William's stats and Level for the first time. Although she had set up certain magical defence and scanning mechanisms, the latter was purely for detection, not for reconnaissance. What she saw truly surprised her for the first time in years.

***

Name: William

Age: 15

Level: 19

Experience: 0%

Health: 1,400/1,400

Mana: 735/735

Tier: 0

- Attributes -

Strength: 27

Agility: 28

Intellect: 22

Luck: 1

***

Amelia's brain froze up.

Fifteen years old...

Level 19...

On top of being an Aberration that is capable of something that defies the natural or known order of things, this child was also extremely talented?

Looking at him in a new light, the gears in Amelia's head began to turn furiously. His very existence was a historical triumph for mankind waiting to happen. The Human race needed prodigies like him, and it would be ideal, albeit a hopeless miracle, if another prodigy at, or near his level existed.

Especially after that event...

Amelia shook her head, unwilling to dredge up unpleasant memories and distasteful knowledge.

She turned to Aiden, a soft, affectionate expression replacing her usually cold and aloof features. Observing Aiden stroking William's head gently as he slept, Amelia spoke up.

"Aiden, what is he to you?"

Aiden looked up for a moment in surprise, before looking back down, smiling bashfully.

"I think...he's my first friend."

Amelia's eyes welled up, before she restrained her nascent tears with a barrage of blinks.

"Now, are you certain that he will feel the same way towards you?" she asked, "Otherwise, I'll erase his memories of the last few hours, and he'll have no recollection of you, your Natural Passive, or this place and I. I do, however, plan to watch over him regardless of your answer."

"Yes," replied Aiden immediately, without hesitation, "I'm sure he will someday feel the same, if he doesn't already. Either way, I already have a 'test' prepared for him. It won't be too late to erase his memories after that, would it?"

Amelia dispersed the magic she had silently begun casting behind her back, walking back to her desk.

"No, it wouldn't."

As William's head laid comfortably on Aiden's l.a.p, his features seemed to crease up slightly, his brow furrowing. Soft, strained exhales of hot air forced themselves from his lungs.

***

As half an hour passed...

William had been having a nightmare ever since he collapsed.

He awoke to find himself in the middle of an apocalyptic landscape, where the blackened earth was cracked and jagged, and erupting volcanoes roared and oozed their molten, liquid rage down their sides and across the land. Howling tornadoes wandered the land like nomads of mass destruction, leaving the already battered and fatigued earth as a corpse in its wake.

The sky was mottled with clouds blacker than night itself, the sky a bone-chilling blood red. Bolts of lightning flashed amongst the clouds and down to the land, striking barren, lifeless mountains and dead, dried-up trees alike.

The lightning bolts that unleashed their rage on the land and everything on it, did so in a variety of colours, with blue, violet, white and yellow mixed and intertwined in a dance of calamity. Clashing and rebounding off each other, sending deafening thunder echoing as far as William's eyes could see, his head pounding with a rapid, discordant melody of agony.

William was standing on a weathered, discoloured stone platform in the middle of a flat stretch of land amongst the chaos. He stood in the middle of the platform as two similarly coloured columns stood tall and unwavering to his left and right. He tried to move his body, looking down at his arms and hands and assessing himself.

Clank.

The metallic jangle of chains could be heard as William saw his wrists fastened with manacles. Cold, rusty, and incredibly heavy. William felt the weight pulling him down as soon as he saw the manacles, making him wish that he had not looked down. He walked forward one step.

The rattling of chains.

William's arms were yanked backwards, as the chains that connected his manacles to the pillars beside him stretched tautly. Chained to the platform, it mattered not how much he strained himself against these chains, he was trapped.

Suddenly, a shadowy silhouette manifested before William, as the two eye-shaped holes in its head stared into his. The shadow observed him, scanning him from head to toe. It chuckled.

"Weak. Disappointingly weak," it sighed distortedly, "Without me, would you even be worth anything?"

William's eye widened, as his pupils constricted in alarm.

This was unnatural, this was unnerving!

Even though its voice was blurred and raspy, William recognized it.

It was unmistakably his own voice!

"Wh-who are you? Why do you sound like me?"

William's voice failed to travel far from his mouth, as the orc.h.e.s.tral cacophony of disasters played around them as they spoke, drowning out his puny voice and diminutive existence.

The shadow scoffed.

"Ascend, and you shall learn," spoke the shadow slowly, condescendingly, "You, who are too weak to even speak."

The shadow raised its right arm to the sky, dark and bloody, flashing with writhing lightning and screaming thunder.

William's gaze followed the shadow's arm as he looked up, witnessing a mass of dark clouds now hovering above them. A pit of dread formed in his stomach as a sense of foreboding crawled into his mind. He gulped.

"Now, suffer for your weakness, mortal fool," mocked the shadow.

William saw all four colours of the lightning he previously saw, building up in frequency and intensity within the clouds, arcing frenziedly within the obsidian cloudy guillotine that loomed above him.

"Wait!-" shouted William silently, his voice as futile as before.

Merciless bolts of lightning lashed at his body, sending pain that travelled to the depths of his soul. His body quivered, his breath gasping, eyes squeezed shut. Bolt after bolt struck him, Tearing off portions of flesh from his body, leaving burnt, smoking wounds that reached as deep as his bones.

The pure, white fragility of his bones was soon tainted by the bolts that continued to ravage his pitiful corpus, whatever was left of it. His ragged, destroyed body was a mess of exposed, blackened bones and smouldering flesh, unsteady on his feet as he sank to his knees, arms forcefully dragged backwards by the chains that bound him.

The shadow raised its left arm into the air, and clenched both its fists.

The black clouds above William spread out rapidly, forming a massive, cloud ring, arcing with the other four colours of lighting. In the middle, high up above the ring, however.

Was an ominously floating group of otherworldly apparitions, formed from pure, violent crimson lightning.

They numbered six in total, crimson bolts forked amongst and between them, bringing forth explosions that resonated throughout the dark world with every arc.

As soon as William saw these apparitions, mortal fear ensued.

He could neither explain, nor hope to know why he felt so much fear, but as soon as he caught sight of them, he could not resist struggling frantically. Scrambling with his ruined legs, he backpedalled as far as he could, before the chains that bound his arms, allowed him to go no further. Even so, he scr.a.p.ed the ground with the bottoms of his feet as he uselessly attempted to move even farther backwards, away from the crimson apparitions.

"You are so fearful, yet you know not why," murmured the shadow, "The ignorance of mortals and weaklings, is second only to their forgetfulness."

The crimson apparitions that idly floated there, turned to face William, looking down at him. The faint echo of laughter sounded in William's ears. One that he was too senselessly terrified to hear.

The apparition at the front of their small group raised a radiant arm towards William, a finger glowing increasingly brighter with crimson energy. Pointing that finger at William, an enormous bolt of crimson lightning, as thick as a modern-day freight train, crashed down at William.

William's soul cried out, as everything below his head was instantly obliterated. His body, manacles, platform, and terrain were vaporized instantly, a pitch-black, bottomless abyss formed in the dead earth. William's head flew off into the sky, as his vision spun and blurred. His consciousness was fading into darkness.

The shadow had long disappeared before the bolt hit, reappearing at the rim of the circular abyss, whistling.

The apparition that had casually launched the bolt at William, moved its arm formed of crimson light, aiming once more.

And releasing.

William's head had flown incredibly high up and had finally stopped its insanely rapid spinning, reaching the highest point of his 'flight'. In that moment of calm, as he finished decelerating, almost at a standstill in mid-air, the apparition fired.

Another train-sized bolt of lightning shot towards William's head, as he caught a brief, clear glimpse of the apparitions, from the same altitude as them.

In that instant, the lightning turned him to dust, and destroyed even that as well.

***

William's eyes shot open, as he rapidly sat up from Aiden's l.a.p, covered in cold sweat.