Chapter 55: I Needed No Help!
The golden lanterns, hanging on each lined pillars of the palace hall, cast long shadows across the jade floor.
Kneeling on the floor was the small frame of a boy with spiky, disheveled orange hair, trembling beneath the weight of the Dragon Throne.
Just a week ago, he had used his gift to foresee death and spoken the word that had turned the entire palace court pale.
"The emperor will die within seven days."
Yet here the emperor sat, alive, his sharp gaze cutting through the silence. Probably, calculating the best way to treat this liar in front of him.
The boy’s name was Xan Tang.
"Tang!" the emperor thundered, "seven days have passed, and death is yet to visit me. Tell me, was it Heaven’s decree, or your insolence?"
Xan Tang pressed his clenched fists on his upper knees, not knowing how to explain why his prediction turned wrong against the Emperor.
"I saw clearly, my Lord. The stars themselves—" Xan Tang’s voice was shaking, but even the emperor didn’t give him full freedom of speech.
"Enough!"
Rising from his throne, the emperor’s robe swept like a storm. "For poisoning my court with lies, you shall be stripped of the heaven’s gift."
Xan Tang raised his eyes instantly and gasped in a mixture of shock and awe. He knew well what the emperor implied with that speech.
After their world was created, the Mages had been blessed with "Gates of Energy", where the Mana that grants them the ability to perform magic lay.
Stripping him of this gift meant locking his gate of energy.
Instead of giving the instructions to any random Chief present in the palace, the emperor gestured to Xan Shu, Tang’s father, and he stepped forward, pressing the jade seal against the boy’s chest.
Agony ripped through Xan Tang, tears welling up in his eyes. His father wasn’t even trying to engage an eye contact with him.
SHHHH... Xan Tang gritted his teeth in disappointment.
The emperor was indeed heartless for delegating this job to his own father.
Once the jade seal was removed, Tang felt his meridians freeze. His ability to perform magic was gone.
But then, the emperor wasn’t even done.
"From this day forward, you must serve as the grave keeper of this kingdom," the emperor had proclaimed with unusual cold eyes.
As much as the whole turn of events surprised and pained him, Xan Tang still worried about what might have delayed his prediction this time... or worse, eradicated it for good.
Not letting him process his clear thoughts, the guards seized him and dragged his broken form from the hall.
...
The sky is often described as the collector and giver of energy, while the earth remains the generator and consumer of energy. In this sense, every element on Earth evolves into diffusion, merging with the sky’s elements to form a dissection of energies before returning to the Earth.
Subsequently, and in revolution, this process seems to repeat itself.
But on this day—
On that day, an unusual event had occurred.
Instead of tidal waves, there was a water vortex. Instead of a tremor, there was an eruption. Instead of infernal high-resolution heat, there was an unwavering flicker of yellow embers.
The sea, earth, and fire elements of the Universe had all gathered their attributes into manipulative energies to engage the incoming force.
Things did not unfold as usual. Rather than being a mere collector, the sky suddenly generated its own energy and directed it towards the earth.
It traveled in a linear formation, its whirling hurricane form exuding a distorting force accompanied by intense gravity.
The sheer combined energy of the earth elements seemed not to wait for the descent of this incoming energy, as they erupted upwards into the air.
BOOM!
The clash was formidable, accompanied by the sudden change that ensued.
The vast expanse of earth, once naturally occupied by trees, was cleared, leaving a void entity in its place. The entire environment had suddenly turned white as if the sky had lent its color to the space.
Water flood came, swirling in its vortex, in this white entity. But there was no food, no victim, so it showed off and disappeared.
Waves of fire shambles took their own turn, conceding heat that will dry a wet leaf up, even at a hundred meters away from it. But, like water, it died down.
In turn, it was Earth. It came in hurricane form, rotating debris speedily in its pinned axis, before making its own move. And yet, the energy died down immediately.
And— BOOM!
The white void had exploded.
Water vortex traveled in the form of snakes, performing osmosis on land, before finally finding a domain where it rested the majority of its members, forming a lake.
The fire shambles assembled themselves into one, shooting high into the sky before forming the sun.
Earth had dominated the expanse of space, accumulating a higher percentage of the domination.
So, there can be life again.
And there was life.
Migrants from parts of the four surrounding countries of this extremely large expanse had gathered and started to develop it into a country.
It took moments. It took time. But they got there.
It was at this time, and due to the collective views from these migrants to form an effective intelligence, that they realized this part of the universe they had inhabited was different from the countries around the globe.
This part of the universe resonated and pulsed with energy.
And what are the energy controllers collectively called again? Mages.
In that case, the country was given the name Guchen, which means the fusion of old and new energy.
***
Two days after Xan Tang’s prediction, a fierce duel had taken place.
Dark energy simmered from all directions—north, south, east, and west, soaring high into the air.
The yielder of this dark energy was no other person than Minshi.
"Minshi?"
The energy had come in four different long strands of black utter, shover hovering into the nothingness of the atmosphere.
In contrast, a heavy lightning shot had separated into four different fire tendrils, speeding towards the long strands of dark energy.
The wielder of this power was Xan Shu.
"XAN SHU! Die!!"
Minshi thundered, running towards Xan Shu, where he stood, with his sword in a slant position by his side.
On the other hand, Xan Shu had his eyes shut, his two hands clamped upon each other. His index fingers, standing out, rubbed against each other as he muttered. "Come on, now!"
Swifff! Swifff!!
Two swords, from nowhere, wheezed past his ears and targeted the approaching Minshi.
The sword, which Minshi gripped tightly in a slant position, was engulfed with black energy. He halted to a slide, striking his sword horizontally.
A wave of the simmering energy on the sword gushed out, hitting the two swords sent to him by Xan Shu.
Before disorientation of the sword, Xan Shu had leaped into the air, grasping the two swords, and with steady air stance, and lowly descent, landed the attack on Minshi.
"Clank!"
The two swords hit that of Minshi, who used his might to nullify the attack while it was still incoming, and had failed.
Thrown off-balance, the force that emanated from the clash had sent him some distance backward.
"Pu--- blood?"
Minshi vomited blood, proof that the strike had a great effect.
At this point, Minshi gazed at a distance where he halted, from the dark energy which was suddenly and gradually consumed by those small tendrils Xan Shu had initially sent.
"At this point, I’m weakened. I shall esc—" Minshi muttered to himself, caught in between speech by the surprise before him.
Xan Shu had suddenly struck the ground, sending ripples of yellow-like tendrils toward Minshi. In the same vein, he had his hands spread out, gradually lifting as four corners of the wall seemed to obey the command from beneath the ground.
Minshi was sort of fast. He transformed into shadows and was made to escape.
Xan Shu immediately hovered his hands in the air, gathering energy as he jammed his hands together with quick precision. With his eyes closed, he prayed:
"Xan Tang, may my essence become the light that guides you. Walk forward, and never look back."
And with this, he finally said, "To the grave dump."
Immediately he said this, he released his jammed hands.
What seemed to be a small orb of energy that had formed from his concentration of mana power had suddenly evolved into bigger balls, and even, more bigger balls before it exploded.
All that was seen was a flicker of smoke that left through the dark burst of what had just happened.
Life is nothing but a dreamless bed.
Ashes drift, and silence falls,
Bones of the old, rise and see—
By the soil soaked in tears with time,
By the moon that hears all living rhymes,
By names carved on stones—
I bid your souls, come and repay my debt.
Let me find what once was lost.
Unchain my will, and dissolve my fear.
There is no light to break this sacred vow,
Nor a high mage to sanctify it now.
But with my every breath, may I blur the line,
Between the dust and soul divine.
Awaken where the essence of greatness lies
Come and rise through me, O! Necromancy.
May I...unlock my gate of energy!!!