The Beginning After The End novel Chapter 19

In the world I had come from, elemental augmenters were merely practitioners of different sects. The Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind Sects consisted of their own techniques that utilized their element.

What had allowed me to become King in my old world was by knowing how to fight in all four different practices of the elements. Translate that here and I’d be a sort of quadra-elemental mage, if that even existed. Of course I did have my preferences. My weakest was earth and wind while my strongest was fire and water. I hardly used wind and even less of earth except for slight support. No. I was feared in battle because of my mastery in the two complete opposite elements of Water and Fire.

While I was training with Gramps, I had tested out a numerous theories that I had kept in my mind. One thing I had learned very quickly during that time was that I had absolutely no talent for conjuring. Grandpa brought over an elven conjurer one day when I had asked him to get someone to teach me the basics and I ended up nearly killing myself.

augmenting and conjuring were very different in one sense, and very similar in another. An augmenter could potentially have the ability to do what conjurers were capable of and vice versa. However, this only came with advanced breakthroughs in the top mana core stages as well as a much higher form of comprehension in the respective element.

I had thought that maybe I could bypass that fundamental rule and become both a conjurer and augmenter. I just regretted that I had to learn the hard way how that wasn’t possible. Another theory I had tested was my potential ability as a deviant. Grandpa Virion and Tess had both been shocked speechless after they found out I could manipulate all four elements, but after the four months of trying to see if I could control any of the higher elements, I received mixed results.

___________________________________________

"Try not to be too surprised!"

Crackling sounds popped in the air around me as my hair stood on its end by the electric current coursing through me. There were currents of yellow lightning enveloping me as I prepared to attack.

"What the..." My father had almost stopped his attack after the shock had left unfocused. Before giving him the chance to recover, I dashed towards him, leaving a trail of charred grass and earth behind me. I blinked behind him, concentrating lightning into my fist as I go in for a hook.

A frightening explosion occurred as my fist collided with his. While my father had managed to block my attack the recoil pushed him into a nearby tree.

Getting back to his feet, my father imbued his arm in fire before looking at me. We both stayed silent, our gaze enough to tell each other our intent. As he lunged towards me with a speed fearsome for his size, I readied myself as well. As soon as my father got in range, he let out a flurry of precise jabs as my assimilated body, coupled with the nerve enhancing effect of the lightning coursing through me, was able to dodge each one with minimal movement. Lightning and fire intertwined as I parried and dodged his fists, each of his jabs growing faster and sharper; he truly was my father.

I was at a severe disadvantage because of my height and reach and my father wasn’t one who’d let that opportunity go wasted. He kept his optimal distance instead of carelessly getting close as I did all I can to get in range. As I parried each of his fists, I fired small bursts of lightning, slowly whittling down the feelings in his arms. My father didn’t notice until it was too late, though; his swings and jabs were becoming dull and sloppy. Seizing the opportunity, I ducked under his swing and prepared for an uppercut and just when my fist was about to make contact, my father’s knee was positioned just below my jaw.

It was a stalemate.

The tension from the spar immediately dissipated as my father clasped my shoulders. "Ow!" he let out a surprised yelp.

I still had electric currents surrounding me, giving him a little shock. I smiled back as I dispersed my mana, allowing my father to pick me up. While I was able to finally break through into the world of deviants, I was still a beginner. I had a lot to work on for my lightning attribute magic since this was something completely new to me as well. As for ice attribute magic, it was even harder for me at the moment. Using either of them required an excessive amount of mana, most of which was wasted on inept utilization. I was also bound by a strict limit on the duration of use, with lightning magic for about three minutes, and for ice, even less.

While, right now, using lightning attribute magic was more of a liability on myself than an asset, in the future, this definitely wouldn’t be the case.

The reason why only very few mages were able to transcend the basic element that they were adept in and into its higher form was that the higher form was completely different and incomparably more difficult. Of course, while me being able to learn both lightning and ice within four months probably didn’t back up this point, need I remind you again that I was a complete beginner in these higher forms of elements. While my old world helped me gain knowledge and understanding to transcend into the higher forms of the elements, my old world experiences didn’t prepare me for after I had become a deviant.

As for sound and gravity, I had yet to produce any favorable results. In order to even take the first step, a mage needed to understand the link between the basic elements into its higher form. After that, the mage’s body needed to be able to naturally understand this link and harmonize the structure of the mana from the basic element to its higher form. For wind and earth, even if I had somehow become able to grasp the link between the basic to its higher form, my body wouldn’t be able to change the structure of the mana particles.

My theory held true when I realized I wasn’t compatible to wind and earth in this world as well.

The energy from my body was drained and as soon I my father puts me back down, I collapsed on my butt. It was then that I had the chance to finally notice the dead silence surrounding my father and I.

My father had always been the type to easily accept facts and he knew I was already some sort of monstrous genius so me being a deviant didn’t really surprise him all too much. However, this hardly applied to everyone else here. The only one that seemed fascinated was my sister, but that was simply because she didn’t really get what had happened. She was probably used to seeing Father fight so nothing outside of that really registered as odd. Vincent and Tabitha’s faces are all in sync: faces pale, jaws slack, eyes wide. My mother had her hands covering her mouth in shock, while even Lilia knew that what I did wasn’t normal.

Compared to my father’s excited yet unsurprised acceptance, this reaction was more so within my expectations.

"Haha... Surprise!" I threw up my arms, laughing weakly.

"Kuu~!" Sylvie scampered towards me, giving me a concerned gaze, as if asking, ’are you okay Papa?’

Vincent was the first to speak up.

"D-deviant!" he managed to spew out.

"My god..." Tabitha just sighed in astonishment.

"So, Art. When exactly did you learn that new trick?" My father asked, more in curious tone than one of shocked bewilderment. Shaking his head while ruffling my hair.

"Not too long ago Dad. I can barely control it, though," I replied sheepishly.

We all made our way back into the living room where we all situated ourselves around the dining table.

"Rey... your son. Do you realize the kind of future he has? He’s only eight but he’s already stronger than a veteran B rank Adventurer," Vincent said, hardly able to contain his excitement.

My father scratched his head. "This is crazy. I thought that him awakening at the age of three was already terrifying but to think he would become a deviant as well."

"What? He awakened at the age of three?!" Tabitha cried out, bolting up from her seat.

My mother just nodded at this. "Arthur managed to blow up most of our house in the process."

Both my father and Vincent leaned back, sinking in their chair as they let out a synced sigh..

"Papa? Are yoo okay?" Eleanor poked Father in the cheek.

Laughing, Father picked her up off of Mother’s lap, "Haha, yeah I’m okay princess."

Vincent got up from his chair now and looked seriously at us, arms stretched out on the table.

"Rey, how about enrolling your son in Xyrus Academy?"

"What? You can’t be serious, right? He’s only eight!" my father refuted, sitting up on his chair.

Tabitha chimeed in. "Rey, Alice, I think your child is more than capable of exceeding at Xyrus."

"I thought that only noble geniuses were allowed to attend Xyrus Academy?" Mother responded, concern etched into her face.

Excitedly, Vincent voiced out, "I can handle that! I do a lot of business with the Director of Xyrus Academy so she’ll be lenient in the enrollment process."

"B-but the school fees are much too extravagant for us to handle," Mother argued, still doubtful of the idea of sending me.

"Alice, that should be the least of your worries. We will be glad to pay for the fees. Arthur’s talent is immeasurable. Who knows what he can accomplish. Even if we don’t pay, I’m sure he’d find nobles that would beg to sponsor him." Tabitha held Alice’s hands in her own for reassurance.

"Ahem! Do you mind if I have a say in this?" People seemed to forget that the person’s future they were trying to decide was right here with them.

"I have just arrived back home today. Can I spend a bit of time with my family before I decide whether to go to school or not?" I gave a meaningful gaze to Vincent.

"O-of course. I apologize. Haha. I guess I was too excited there for a moment."

He just laughed weakly before sitting back down.

"Thank you." I gave the Helstea family a smile.

I turned my head to face my mother. "Mom, where do I sleep?"

"Oh yes! I almost forgot! You’ll have your room next to Eleanor’s in the left wing. Come on, let’s all go up now, it’s getting late."

Sylvie had already fallen asleep on my head and my baby sister was nodding in and out of her dream world while we were discussing my future.

Today had been a long day.

Mother and Father lead me to the room I’d be living in from today onwards. It was a lot larger than my room in Ashber but still decorated in a homey fashion. While the furnishings did leave a lot of open space, it worked perfectly for since I needed some space to train.

As I settled Sylvie down on the bed, Mother and Father sat down next to me.

"We’ll go shopping together tomorrow. We need to get you some clothes." My mother ran her fingers through my hair.

My father squatted down in front of me, grabbing my arm. "Arthur, whether you’re a genius or not, you’re still my son and I’ll be proud of you and love you regardless of circumstances." His face was unusually serious. It was comforting knowing that they would always treat me as their son instead of their "little genius".

I quietly nodded in return. I thought of revealing the full extent of my abilities but I decided that it might be safer to do it in baby steps.

Tess had become my closest friend growing up, and while she had turned a bit fierce, she was still the same kind-hearted Tess that worried about me and took care of me while I was in Elenoir. _{freёwebnovel.com}