Free Web NovelChapter 27: 27. Resonance. ( I )
"They are here..." Rhodan turned to the door, his gaze meeting the bloodshot gaze of Raika.
His last sight as his vision blackened.
His body scorched black, armour melted to his skin.
Before he could make a move, Raika had attacked.
She was on edge, senses stretched to the max, sensitive to the slightest electrical impulses.
And when she entered, she felt it, the intent to kill.
She attacked before he could think to act.
The captain’s eyes widened, mouth agape as he wanted to say something but paused at the last moment.
He didn’t know why Raika had killed one of his warriors but knew if he spoke now, he would surely suffer the same fate.
He kept his silence, following quietly behind her.
As for Philip, he knew better and only looked on.
Cole shivered at the sight of Rhodan, the latter frozen in the posture he sat, like a macabre sculpture.
He held his breath, afraid it would annoy Raika, his eyes everywhere except where Raika and her crew stood.
His eyes falling on Bram, whose listless eyes seemed to have gained life, life which was pulsating with fear.
He who wished to die, upon seeing the path to it, changed his mind.
He too held his breath, his eyes glued to the macabre state of his comrade.
Raika, sensing no other killing intent or hostility, moved past them, not even sparing a glance at them.
She went upstairs with Alaric whose eyes were unfocused, as he thought of ways to escape the assassins he was sure would attack again.
"What did you do?" the captain inquired of the other two.
Cole gasping in air, like a fish out of water.
He had literally held his breath as Raika passed by.
"It wasn’t me, it was Bram and Rhodan’s idea..." He began to blab their plan to kill Alaric, the captain’s confused expression turning to that of rage.
"How dare you think of touching the young master?" The captain raised his fist, blue lightning crackling around his form.
"I wasn’t part of it, this was Bram and Cole’s idea, I objected to it..." Cole went on his knees, begging, snot dripping down his face.
The captain’s face contorted in disgust as he looked at a grown man behave like a toddler.
He averted his gaze, inadvertently meeting that of Bram.
Bram’s eyes were wide, muttering barely audible words, his face frozen in fear as he continued to stare at the charred corpse of his friend.
"Maybe life as a worm isn’t so bad?..." he muttered, the captain shaking his head in disappointment.
The children of nobles were really spoilt; well, the major clans are always an exception of course.
"I hope he is ok," he looked in the direction of Alaric’s room, remembering the torn clothes and the scar on his chest.
...
Meanwhile, in Alaric’s room.
Raika and Alaric shared a bed, the mentally grown man cuddled between Raika’s bossom, her arms wrapped around him in a tight embrace.
She had her eyes closed, yet her senses remained sharp, on high alert, ready for anything.
"Sigh."
Alaric wanted some space but he knew she wouldn’t allow it, not after what happened.
"In every world there is danger, without strength and power, you are left at the mercy of fate?" He sighed once again.
It seemed this life wasn’t going to be rainbows and clouds.
This wasn’t hell, but it sure wasn’t heaven.
"I need to learn to protect myself..." He closed his eyes, facial muscles relaxing, breaths following a natural rhythm, slow, relaxed but deep.
A method to instantly fall asleep.
Within a minute’s time, he fell into deep sleep, his consciousness appearing in his mind’s world.
The vast expanse of water, centered above it a giant blue moon.
He sat atop the lake’s surface, head slightly tilted, brows furrowed as he pondered over what had transpired.
"... I am sure it’s either the Dominus family or someone on my side who doesn’t want me alive," he concluded.
This was clearly an attempt at his life and if not for the potion, they would have succeeded.
"I need a way to protect myself, there are no guns here, and I am not old enough to use magic..."
Though he had the mana capacity on par with Raika, he was still a zero resonance mage.
His resonance nodes located along his vertebral column, like the chakras in Hindu culture, were yet to resonate with the element.
Mages increase their rank due to their level of comprehension of the element, a form of enlightenment at each level, allowing them to resonate more with the element.
The first level: first resonance mages.
Mages with the ability to freely manipulate their elements in its physical form.
These mages are only able to use magic in the presence of the elements.
For Alaric, if he becomes a first resonance mage, he won’t be able to create water from mana, but will have to control water that is already present in his vicinity, water bodies, rain, and in some very rare cases, moisture in the air.
But for that to happen, his root node needs to resonate with the water element, something that everyone is privileged to without any comprehension at their seventh birthday.
"I can’t wait for my seventh birthday." freewebnσvel.cѳm
Though his birthday was just two weeks away, he knew he wouldn’t survive till then.
He needed to use his elements now, but he had no one to teach him.
"You are our champion," he echoed these words as he remembered what the water spirits told him.
"You will be a Supreme mage of water..." He recalled the words an elven elder had told him after they had bowed to him.
Supreme mages, the only seventh-class mages in existence, were one in each element.
The rumored founder of Nebula was said to be a supreme mage of Earth.
"... It’s just comprehension, I should be able to reach first resonance without getting to my seventh birthday," he sat cross-legged.
The world of Chroma gave a pass to all children because it was almost impossible for them to comprehend an element on their own without any foundation, but Alaric was different...
He had knowledge from a world advanced in science.
"What is water..."
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A/N
A power stone or two wouldn’t hurt
