4/25/2019

  1:29 AM

  The smoke cleared. All the mages onsite to stop the spread of the energy descended from the sky. They coughed as they were out of breath.

  Julius' clothes were all covered in soot. King Valtoris' perfect face was covered in soot and open wounds.

  Julius had his mouthplate on near the end. He summoned a waterfall ten meters above him and King Valtoris. The two washed their faces from the dirty soot and debris.

  [Skill Count: 59]

  King Valtoris forced a healing spell right to his face. "What is your skill count now?"

  "Fifty-nine."

  "Darn, just one short…That will have to do then."

  In three hours, Julius was trained by King Valtoris to put the skills he read into use. The Maldoro System counted twenty-two skills gained from the training. It was made to be prepared for the uncertainty of what the first and closest hotspot might bring.

  Julius saw the mages on their knees, catching their breath. "Good work, guys! Sorry for the trouble." He looked up. "Nice work keeping the frames intact."

  He stood and summoned cash into their hands. "Take some and buy something for yourselves. Enjoy."

  King Valtoris and Julius departed the airbase. They flew to Chandler. Since it wasn't the weekend, the lot that was for Grand Chandler Farmer's Market was empty. Lian, Empress Cai, and Simon were present. Ling Wu and Amara exited from a truck parked meters away from the meeting point.

  The two had no idea what they were about to be pulled into. Unfortunately, they arrived because a recent accident occurred near town. Ling Wu's curiosity got the better of her and dragged Amara into it as well. It left many with no choice but to bring them in.

  Hu decided to watch over the two. They don't have any magic or knowledge of utilizing it. And it would be reckless and dumb to let them loose.

  Julius' progressing appearance changes continued. Despite this, Ling Wu and Amara recognized him. They were now concerned whether he had self-esteem issues, leading to another facial change.

  He did tell them that he couldn't get black hair anymore, and his hair follicles are naturally turning silver-white. When Ling Wu mentioned dying hair, he refuted that the material from the hair dye products was weak. Every mage was resistant to them. Julius demonstrated the use of magic to alter his appearance.

  "I could do that," he said as his hair briefly turned black. "But I don't want to." It returned to a partial silver white. "I would rather put my magic capability into something else. My hair is fine, and I kind of like the change. It's going to get more white through time."

  Amara was still at odds since the last unfortunate meetup at the market. "Would that make you old?"

  Julius shook his head. "No. If you look at most mages, they have white or brighter-toned hair color. If you are willing to enter this journey of getting exposed to magic, well, you might get some white hair too."

  Ling Wu slapped Amara's back. "Can you chill?"

  "What's the matter with you?"

  The cracking and rumbling sounds erupted in the sky. Julius looked up.

  "I hate this," Ling Wu muttered as the winds picked up. The temperature got colder.

  Julius smiled. "It's alright. A friend is coming."

  Rattle!

  Like a projectile descending from the sky, two bright light boosters dropped to the ground. Solomon arrived at the lot with upgraded boots. Tonight was an experimental test, and it appeared to be successful.

  "What do you think?"

  "To think that you had time to make this, I'm blown away."

  "There were a few spare pairs of boots in the storage. And I saw too many movies."

  Julius laughed. "Movies? No way it was from the movies."

  Solomon summoned a large drop of water over his head. He cleansed his face from the accumulated air debris. "The man with the red suit. Empress Cai saw it too. She loved it. We did. I stopped the garage work and focused on building this for two days." He lifted his foot up, revealing the custom soles. There were a few spots that channeled the qi towards.

  Julius dodged away as the spots opened. A combustion of energy exited Solomon's boot. Simon appeared right behind Solomon and put his hand right on the former's back, keeping him from flying away.

  It was like watching a rocket booster test. One man firing an equivalent power of a rocket.

  Solomon naturally turned off his qi, and a large plume of smoke was left behind.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  King Valtoris stood tall without a budge. "Now would be the perfect time to head out."

  "Where did you say the hotspot zone was?"

  Julius pointed to the left. "Up there ahead. I'll take you guys to the field."

  He leaped into the sky and boosted to the location of the hotspot. It was a flat field that was barely outside of Ling Ranch's territory. Once Julius hovered over the zone, he dropped to the ground, surrounded by the emptiness demonstrated from the growing wheat.

  Hu carried Ling Wu and Amara over. Julius saw the two shaking excessively. "Why did they even agree to this?" he muttered to himself.

  After King Valtoris landed, Julius looked at the minimap. The region was a half-mile radius or a mile across from one end to the other. Just from looking around, there was nothing fishy or attractive.

  "Anything?" he asked.

  King Valtoris shook his head. Lian strolled through the fields with her hands out, feeling the crops. An orb of dark qi appeared on her back. Like the rare ball lightning phenomenon, strands of energy were exerted out of the orb. And it struck in different areas of the field. Black and white fires erupted in the vicinity. Clouds darken the night, shiny sky. A beam of light shot right down at her.

  The ground shook. Julius, King Valtoris, and Empress Cai stood still and watched. Hu summoned a small barrier to prevent Ling Wu and Amara from flying away.

  Simon was doing the business of extinguishing the flames as quickly as possible.

  [Hotspot #1 Found!]

  A grand double door entrance thrusts upwards. Dirt particles and sliced wheat crops briefly leaped as the entrance shone. King Valtoris and Julius dashed a few meters behind Lian and cut off the orb. The latter grabbed her as the doors opened, sucking all dark qi nearby.

  "Thanks for the help, Lian," Julius said.

  "Anytime…Is this how we are going to find hotspots for now on?"

  "I don't know. It's too vague for me to tell a zone."

  The entrance absorbing the dark qi was like a battery charge. There was a dark, hollow pattern in the middle of the entrance's head jamb. Like filling up a pool, the entrance's light shone through. Its double doors opened and revealed a reddish portal, contradicting the door's white harmonious colors.

  King Valtoris glided to the entrance. He turned to Julius. "You're not coming in?"

  Julius let Lian go of his grip. "Don't steal all the moment, King Val."

  "You're giving me an incentive to."

  Everyone then sprinted right to the gate.

  Like a flashbang, red light flashed in Julius' eyes.

  Oompf!

  "Hey! Careful," Lian said.

  "Sorry. I can't see you. My damn eyes are burning!" Solomon exclaimed in a rough voice, almost like a choke.

  Based on the footsteps, Julius was certain that he and others were stepping on a hard surface. "Is King Val ahead of me?!"

  "Yep!"

  Good.

  Julius went for a sprint while exerting his qi. He boosted ahead and crashed right into King Valtoris ahead. He heard the muffled noises from Lian and Empress Cai.

  Readjusting his eyes, Julius opened them to a beautiful blue sky.

  "Get off of me," King Valtoris muttered, shoving him away.

  Julius leaped up from the roll. Back on his feet, he was met with a sign. Realm of Blue River (蓝河)

  "Realm of Blue River," he read.

  Lian looked around the area. "Woah, what is this place?"

  King Valtoris got up from the beautiful green grass. He swept off any dirtiness from his clothes and descended the fairly steep hill.

  Empress Cai and others followed, leaving Julius behind. The latter wasn't really focusing on heading down but the view. From his eyes, the area was vivid like a modded video game. It did hold to its name as there was a river stream right ahead. Grass and flowers bloomed everywhere.

  Julius sprinted down the hill, joining with everyone.

  Hu, Ling Wu, and Amara were attracted by the transparent, pure river. However, Hu quickly stopped the two from getting closer.

  Creak!

  "Do you know what's really in that water?" Simon asked the three after freezing the river. He looked at Hu.

  Julius read their minds as he was readjusting his gloves. Simon expected Hu to be aware. To his surprise, Ling Wu and Amara said no.

  “I never trusted transparent water. It reminded me of that story of someone who tried drinking pure, transparent water in the Arctic. The next thing was that the person went to the hospital. Died only a few hours later. Be careful drinking those waters. You two aren’t mages yet. I don’t want any accidental cases.” Simon pointed at Ling Wu and Amara.

  “Well, that’s the ice man for ya,” Julius muttered, then turned to the two. “You guys didn’t know that?”

  “It looks shiny and clean, though.”

  Julius’ gloves were fixed. “Just be careful next time.”

  The beautiful blue sky darkened. Black clouds generated out of nowhere, overwhelming the view above. Blossomed flowers and grass withered away. The gusts grew angry, blasting forceful winds at everyone’s faces. The realm turned into a desert. Julius saw the horizon change into a gloomy orange haze.

  A loud growl caused everyone to turn around.

  Julius saw a humongous creature that was soaked like a damp towel with a dead gaze. It appeared to be a black panther but with nine tails. Julius looked at Hu. “Is this related to you?”

  Hu shook his head as she activated her qi. “No, I never did a black panther before.” She fired a spell, summoning a barrier over Ling Wu and Amara. Her leg kicked the barrier, sending it up the hill near the spot where everyone arrived in the realm.

  King Valtoris drew his sword, and Solomon summoned a battleaxe.

  “Do we have to kill this thing?!” Solomon asked as his body’s temperature grew, emitting steam.

  Julius, not sure if he would be able to deal with this giant beast, sighed. “I guess there’s one way to find out.”

  A thundering lightning bolt struck the ground.

  The ones present in the realm were Julius, King Valtoris, Empress Cai, Lian, Simon, Solomon, Hu, Ling Wu, and Amara.

  Ling Wu and Amara sat inside the barrier and watched.

  Seven versus one.

  All seven were in a standoff and not backing down from the beast’s ferocious gaze.

  A thundering lightning bolt struck the ground, and they all launched.