The skyscraper stood above the clouds, its glass walls reflecting the endless lights of the futuristic city below.
Flying vehicles moved between towers. Holographic advertisements filled the sky. Thousands of people lived their lives knowing that among them were beings who could bend the laws of nature itself.
Sorcerers.
Inside the highest floor of the skyscraper, Kelvin stood silently in the luxurious penthouse, staring at the man who had saved his life.Arlen.The man who had appeared when Kelvin had lost everything.The man who had protected him when the world had already decided he was useless.
But tonight, Kelvin saw something he had never seen before.Fear.Not fear for himself.Fear of what he carried.Arlen stood near the window, holding a small piece of black metal in his hand.It was nothing impressive at first glance.A broken piece of something ancient.But the moment Kelvin looked at it, he felt something strange.
A pressure.
"What is that?"
Kelvin asked.
"It's a fragment of the original spaceship that fell on earth"
Kelvin froze.The spaceship.The object that had fallen onto earth centuries ago.
The event that changed humanity forever.The beginning of mana.The reason sorcerers existed.
"You mean the spaceship that created the mana era?"
Arlen nodded.
"This is only a fragment, but even a fragment like this is priceless from it I can get the best possible spells it doesn't matter what tower I walk into I'd be made an elite apprentice immediately"
It was now Kelvin knew the reason they wanted to kill him and it wasnt for anything ordinary it was truly something valuable Arlen looked at Kelvin seriously.Kelvin stared at it.
"Then why do you have it?"
Arlen gave a bitter smile.
"Because I found it."
He tightened his grip.
"And because once other sorcerers know about it, they will no longer see me as a person but a treasure vault"
Kelvin looked confused.
"What do you mean?"
Arlen looked out at the city.
"Power changes people friends become enemies. Brothers become strangers."
He turned toward Kelvin.
"If you were a sorcerer... you would probably fight me for it too."
Before he could say another word Kelvin expression had gone pale and he took notice he turned two figures hovered outside the penthouse they said
"Arlen we know you have it hand it over or else you know the consequences"
The voice was familiar too familiar previously they all came from the same tower all of them had the same tower master and were apprentice of the same master they had eaten and drank together as brothers it was only after he found this fragment did they turn against Arlen he said
"Do you both think your untouchable all I need to do is send a distress signal to the sorcerer authority"
One of them retorted
"Go ahead with all the questions they'll ask you know that fragments will never remain in your hands"
He clenched his fist as he truly couldn't call them Kelvin watched everyone with fear in his heart the other figure spoke to him
"Kid, you Better advise him to give it up if you don't want to die "
Arlen interrupted them
"And where do you get off threatening him does he look like a sorcerer to you"
They said no but since he came back to save him he was his shackle Arlen closed his eyes as he knew the kid was innocent only passed the wrong route while going home he was truly caught in a battle between second circle sorcerers
Arlen was almost thirty years old same with the two figures who had chased him but they all looked as young as twenty at fifteen years old they all awakened their sorcerer mark and it took them ten years to cross from first circle to second Arlen had reached the second level of the second circle while the two who were chasing him were only at the first level but two against one was something he could not do
He turned to Kelvin
"I need you to rest for a while"
Kelvin was shocked at this point what was he saying but before he could even react he was knocked unconscious living things could not be put in the storage ring but once unconscious it was possible after pulling Kelvin into the storage ring he casted "light breaker" a sword made out of light.
He broke every single Glass in the penthouse the sword was so long it extended outside if the two figures did not dodge they would be cleaved In two they dodged but Arlen had already shot outside in flight they followed
After hearing the commotion upstairs the receptionist came to check and what he saw he knew he would lose his job but after around the penthouse a little he found five thousand dollars on the ground Arlen had paid for the destruction
He flew through the city, moving faster than the flying vehicles around him.But behind him, two powerful mana signatures followed.
The battle continued through the night.
Until Arlen reached the old underground facility.The forgotten place where the spaceship fragment had first been
studied.He entered the abandoned ruins.
Ancient machines covered the walls.Mana symbols glowed faintly.Arlen landed
Blood flowed from his body.One of the attacks had pierced his core.Every sorcerer knew.A damaged core meant death.But Arlen still moved.
He placed his hand on the ground.
"Ancient Passage."
The entire facility shook.The old mana pathways awakened.A hidden door opened beneath the floor.A forgotten escape route.A path built by the people who discovered the spaceship.Arlen fell to one knee.Using the ancient system had consumed what remained of his mana.
The storage ring opened.
Kelvin appeared he had woken up he immediately rushed forward.
"Arlen!"
The moment he saw the blood, his heart sank.
"You're hurt."
Arlen smiled.
"This is nothing."
Kelvin shook his head.
"We need to get you help."
Arlen looked at him.
"No, if you go out there I can't protect you anymore."
Silence filled the room.
"Kid , will you do something for me "
Kelvin said
"Anything"
Arlen had saved him multiple times and he did not know how to thank him even if it was only a way to help him recover a little he would do it without hesitation Arlen took off his storage ring and gave it to Kelvin he said
"That fragments is very important until you reach second circle don't try to use it and even when you reach second circle if you are not confident of protecting it don't ever bring it out you've seen my situation the world of sorcerer is not as magical and blissful as you all think it is a world of survival of the fittest the strong eat the weak remember it "
Kelvin found it weird what was he saying he wasn't a sorcerer how would he reach first circle much less the second then he remembered there were two ways to get sorcerer mark the first was to go to a magic tower and have the marking crystal give you a sorcerer mark the only other way was for a sorcerer to give you his mark before he died"
He said
"Are you "
Before he could even finish Arlen smiled and said
"Yes I am"
This was his dream something he wished for every day but if someone who had saved him was going to die for it he could not accept it
"No,no,no I can't accept this"
Arlen said
"Yes you can I won't be using it anymore and I don't need to take it to the underworld if you could get a fifth circle sorcerer to come I would be saved but even if you brought one here that fragments will be the price for my life so when I say my journey ends here I truly do not see another way out"
He slowly raised his hand and placed his fingers against his forehead.The moment he touched Kelvin head, a faint warmth spread through his body.The symbol began to glow softly, its light flowing from the other person's forehead into his own. A strange sensation passed through him, like something unfamiliar had entered his mind.
His breath stopped for a moment.The mark disappeared from the original owner and appeared on his forehead, carrying a faint trace of mana he had never felt before.
He touched his forehead, staring at the mark in disbelief.Something had changed.for the first time in his life Kelvin felt mana Arlen smiled
"Take this path and don't look back"
Kelvin asked
"What about you"
Arlen looked toward the entrance.The two sorcerers were coming.
"I have something to finish."
The underground route closed behind Kelvin.And Arlen walked back into the darkness.His former brothers waited.But this time...He was no longer running.He stood alone.A dying sorcerer.Facing the people who betrayed him.And for the first time that night...Arlen released his full power.