Previously, in the cabin.

The dark mage watched as Henry pulled out and ate the heart of that woman and smiled.

‘This one has potential,’ he thought. 

Henry finished eating the entire heart and looked towards the man expectantly.

“Good, good, good!” the man laughed. “Maybe you are not a waste of time after all!”

The man laughed for a few seconds before calming down and looked at Henry seriously. “However, you are of no use to me the way you are now.”

Henry gulped.

“Tell me, Henry, do you desire power?”

Henry nodded.

“Is there anything you desire more than power?”

Henry thought for a moment and wanted to say revenge. However, he could not get revenge without power. So, he shook his head.

The dark mage smiled.

“Then, what would you be willing to do to get that power?”

“Anything,” Henry replied firmly.

The dark mage threw his hands into the air and laughed at the ceiling.

“In that case, I will give you the once in a lifetime opportunity to become a mage!”

…

Meanwhile, a few hours before the reinforcements arrived, in the Jain village.

Astoria was racing up and down in the mansion. Sam was trying to calm her down.

“Don’t worry Astoria. Your father, and the powerful elf leader has gone to reinforce them with a huge army. There’s no way anything could go wrong!”

“How could you know that? They were ambushed by a pseudo-commander class undead, and in their exhausted state, came under attack by an enormous demon tide! Even if father marched at full speed, it would take them half a day, at least, to trace their tracks and reinforce them. Half a day that they must survive under the onslaught of a demon tide when everyone is exhausted!”

Astoria was out of breath with worry and starting panting. She could not let anything happen to her family. She would not let anything happen to her family. But what could she do? She had no fighting strength.

“That’s it, I’m going!” Astoria declared.

“What!? Going where?” Sam asked.

“I’m going to save them!” she declared confidently.

“Have you gone insane? What can you possibly do? If your father, a martial artist with the undying body, and the grand mage elf leader, could not deal with the situation, what could you do?”

“More than what I can do from here,” she said, and left the room immediately.

“Wait, waaait!” Sam chased after her.

She rushed out of the mansion, mounted her horse, and started racing at full speed. Sam cursed but got on a horse and followed behind her.

…

Back in the present.

Drake didn’t believe it at first, but after exploring, he realised that this place really was an inheritance ground!

They were definitely in a labyrinth; however, it was quite tame. There were a few traps and some weak demons but they mainly just had to make sure they didn’t get lost. Drake made marks along the way to indicate the paths they took, so this wasn’t an issue for them.

There were many rooms in this labyrinth. Most of them were empty, but not all. Some of them contained money. Some of them contained pills and pill recipes. And some contained cultivation techniques and summoning spells!

Drake thought he was dreaming. One second, he was almost about to die from a minotaur attack, and the next second he was enjoying the inheritance of a mage emperor!

Fate was too unpredictable!

What really convinced him that this was the inheritance grounds of the founding ancestor was one of the cultivation techniques. He found a martial arts cultivation technique.

Specifically, it was the twelve-star body transformation arts; more specifically, it was the second part!

He did not realise that the cultivation technique he had was only the first part. The first part, although exceptional, talked about using mana to temper and strengthen the body like any other martial arts cultivation technique. However, what really made this cultivation technique stand out, was the second part.

The second part contained twelve incredible martial techniques. Like how mages had spells and summons, martial artists had martial techniques. Although martial artists could use their strong physical body as a weapon directly, martial techniques were like special skills they could use in combat. Like spells and summons, they were also rare to find and hard to learn.

But now, Drake had twelve of them! And the techniques went all the way from the tempered body stage to the astral body level!

He was incredibly pleased. This alone was worth the trip and everything he suffered thus far.

Drake had no idea where the founding ancestor got such an incredible martial arts cultivation technique from, but he was very happy to have inherited it.

The two stumbled through many rooms and Drake also learnt some new pill recipes, and artifact and spirit summons. The artifact summoning wasn’t very useful for him, but he learnt three new rank one spirit summons, and even a rank two spirit summon. This was a huge gain.

They explored for several hours checking every room to make sure they didn’t leave anything else. Finally, they came across a large door.

“This is it then,” said Drake. They finally reached the end.

The two brothers pushed open the door, however what they found was not an exit like they expected, but rather another large room.

They entered the room curiously and the door shut behind them. Mana gathered in the centre of the room and a spirit formed. It was in the shape of an old man, close to his seventies maybe. He had a long white beard, wore white robes, and rested his hands on a cane. He emitted an aura of timeless wisdom.

This must be the ancestor’s will!

“Welcome, my descendants,” the old man spoke.

Both Elwin and Drake kneeled in respect.

“There is no need for that, please rise.”

They did as they were told.

“I hope you enjoyed the little gifts I had prepared outside for you.”

Those were ‘little’ gifts? Drake thought.

“Yes, ancestor. And we are very grateful for them.”

“Then, are you ready for my main inheritance?”

…

At the same time.

Unbeknownst to Elwin and Drake, just above their location, in the same forest, a dark, hooded figure was standing in front of a young man. They were the dark mage and Henry. They were both facing a huge circular platform that contained a gigantic inscription.

The inscription was made from a variety of precious materials, and some of it included the flesh of warrior class and commander class demons, and even human flesh. This was a very expensive and intricate process.

“Is this… it?” asked Henry.

“Indeed. Once you step foot onto the platform, you will be bombarded with a huge amount of the world’s mana. If you are lucky, and you control the mana well, it will condense into a mana core, and you will become a mage!”

Henry became excited.

“Thank you! Thank you so much, my lord!” He bowed deeply to this mage. This was it. This was his opportunity. His chance for power.

“But remember, don’t absorb too much mana. Otherwise, you will explode from the inside out. And if you absorb too little, then you won’t form a mana core, it has to be the perfect amount.”

“Yes sir!”

“And… you will be on your own during the process,” the mage said calmly.

“Oh… why?” Henry asked puzzled.

“My presence won’t change anything; it is all up to you. Besides…” the dark mage paused and looked into the distance. It was in the direction that Holt and Myra were fighting the two grand mages in, “I have some business to take care of.”

Henry nodded and didn’t press him anymore. “In that case, I thank you again, my lord. Please take care,” he said with a deep bow again.

The mage nodded and slowly rose into the sky, releasing a vast aura. All the nearby demons scrammed away in fear.

It was the aura of a mage king!

The mage turned and flew in the direction that Holt and Myra were fighting in.

…

“Astoria, please rethink this!” Sam begged.

Astoria ignored him. The two were now entering the region of the forest where Drake and Elwin found the inheritance grounds.

Sam was worried. There were always many demons in the woods. Especially in these chaotic times, who knew what kind of a powerful demon would randomly show up? It was not worth the risk. Plus, their presence would not change any situation at all. It was pointless!

But Astoria refused to listen. She charged headfirst into the forest, determined to help her family.

But suddenly, the horses reared in fear.

Astoria was caught off guard and fell of the horse. The same thing happened to Sam.

Astoria got up, only to spot the horses running back in the direction they came from.

“What the hell happened to them?” asked Astoria, but Sam was frozen. “Sam? Sam! Are you okay?”

Sam looked at Astoria in terror.

“Did you feel that just now?”

“Feel what?”

“An aura… a huge aura!” Sam gasped. “There’s a monster here, Astoria. An unbelievably powerful monster. I don’t know what it is or where it is. But if it finds us, we’re all going to die!”

Astoria was stunned.

Sam was naturally referring to the aura released by the dark mage king just now.

Suddenly, a huge pillar of light shot into the sky from a certain distance in the forest. Both Sam and Astoria glanced in that direction. Curious, Astoria began walking there, but was fiercely stopped by Sam who jumped in front of her.

“No! Don’t go!” he yelled.

“Why not?”

“Did you not hear what I just said? Are you deaf? There is terrifying monster in this place. And the aura I just detected - it came from that direction!”

Astoria ignored him and started walking past him.

Sam intercepted her again.

“Astoria are you insane? There is no way we can fight that monster!”

But Astoria ignored him again.

Based on the when the request for reinforcement arrived, when the reinforcements left off, and the direction that they took, it was very likely that her brothers were in these woods. If so, then that light could very well have something to do with them. In that case she could not sit idly back as they were fighting a terrible monster.

Even if she had to sacrifice herself, she would not hesitate to do so.

She could not be that weak, helpless girl again.

Sam pulled her hand back. “Please don’t go Astoria, I’m begging you.”

Astoria looked back at him. Her face was completely expressionless.

But her eyes… they were the same eyes she had when she came to rescue him. Those eyes that looked at the whole world indifferently, ready to destroy anything that came in its way.

Sam decided to let go.

She didn’t need to say anything. He didn’t need to say anything. No one could stop her now.

Maybe, if there’s one thing in the world scarier than that monster, it’s her.

…

“Ah, I can feel it! I can feel the mana pouring into me!” Henry laughed. He was standing in the middle of the platform as an insane amount of mana descended into the formation, and into him.

This was it; he was going to become a mage! From here on out, it would be a new beginning for him. Nothing else mattered.

While rejoicing, he suddenly started hearing some rustling. He ignored it at first, thinking it was some animal, but then he remembered how all the animals ran away when the mage king released his aura.

‘What could it be then?’ he thought. However, he was too focused on the mana influx to pay attention.

Astoria came out of the bush and was stunned by what she saw.

There was a huge stone platform that an unbelievable amount of mana was pouring into. Standing in the middle of it, was Henry!

‘What the hell was this guy doing here?’ her mind worked quickly.

That huge aura came from this spot. That aura clearly didn’t belong to anyone on their side as none of them were so powerful. Previously they thought it was the aura of a demon, however if so, given that Henry was in the same position, he would not be alive.

The only other possibility was that it was the aura of a human being. What other powerful humans were here aside from the people of the villages?

Dark mages.

But if the dark mage didn’t kill Henry, he must be one of them. Then what was happening now, was related to the dark mages.

That meant it was bad. Bad for them. Bad for her family.

It must be stopped.

Astoria understood the situation in a few seconds and marched fearlessly towards the platform. Sam just exited the bush and saw Astoria walking towards the huge mana pillar.

“Astoria wait, you don’t know what will happen if you go there!”

That voice! That name!

Henry’s attention was brought back to his surroundings again. The name he hated more than anything else.

Was she here?

Was that bitch, here?

Henry cracked his head in the direction of the voice. But losing focus on the mana entering him was a mistake. The mana became erratic and started attacking his insides. He was assaulted by a searing pain and he had to bring his attention back to the ritual. He focused on his mana and tried to calm it down.

At this moment, he felt a pair of hands on his back.

They pushed.

The added force from the mana launched Henry across the forest and he crashed against a tree. He coughed out blood, not only from his physical injury, but the mana inside his body went out of control again and started attacking him from the inside.

What. The. Hell.

What the hell…

‘What the hell just happen- aaaAAAHHHH!’ Henry screamed in pain, his voice echoing throughout the forest.

Henry tried to get up but collapsed onto the floor again in pain. But still, he raised his head. He wanted to see who it was that did this to him.

Who dared? He would never forgive them.

NEVER!

But when he looked up, what he saw was the one person he never wanted to see. The girl who ruined his life. The girl who toyed with him, used him, humiliated him, then discarded him like trash.

AstoriAAAA! Why? Why was she here? Must she always ruin my life?

Henry coughed out more blood. He was in too much pain to be angry.

But hatred was a powerful force.

Henry did his best to control the erratic mana while pushing himself onto his feet. He looked at the platform. Astoria was standing in the centre, exactly where he was before, staring at him with those cold, cruel, condescending eyes. Then, with a mocking smile, she closed her eyes, sat down, and began meditating.

Henry couldn’t believe it. Not only did she kick him out of the ritual, but she was now taking his spot to form the mana core instead!

“YOU BIIIIIITCHH!” Henry screamed at the top of his lungs and suffered another backlash from losing control of his internal mana. But he didn’t care anymore.

I will kill you, I will kill you! I will rip out your eyes. I will skin you alive! Henry kept repeating that as a mantra while approaching Astoria, ignoring all the pain in his body. But suddenly he was stopped. Stopped by the person he hated the second most in the world.

“What are you doing here?” Sam asked in a disgusted tone. “No, it doesn’t matter. Just scram. Don’t you dare try to harm Astoria otherwise I will kill you right here,” Sam threatened, holding a sword to his neck.

Henry paused.

Why was it these two? Why was it always these two? Whenever anything good was happening in his life, these two would find a way to ruin it.

He was going to become a mage. He was going to throw away his old life and start anew.

Was that just impossible? Did the universe always want him to suffer at the hands of these two?

“AaaaaaaaAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHHHH!” Henry screamed once more and coughed out blood again. He fell to his knees and was kicked way by Sam.

Henry collapsed on the floor. There was nothing he could do.

He used the last of his strength to crawl away. He was in the same position again. Every time he met these two, he ended up literally crawling away in defeat.

Wasn’t it better to just die? Wasn’t it? Yes, that’s right. There’s no point in living with such humiliation. He could just die. Why should he struggle when all the good things in his life would be snatched away by Astoria anyway? Yes, he should just give up.

He just thought that when he placed his hands on a particular spot on the ground.

Immediately, he was surrounded by a purple light and disappeared!

Sam saw this and was surprised but didn’t have time to think about it. He wanted to know what was going on with Astoria.

Astoria was quiet. She could feel a huge amount of mana flowing into her.

She didn’t fear it, she didn’t reject it. She welcomed it with open arms.

This was what she always desired.

This was strength.

…

“Then, are you ready for my main inheritance?” the ancestor’s will asked calmly. “It is the total knowledge I have over my entire life as a mage emperor!”

Drake and Elwin looked at each other excitedly.

“Yes ancestor!”

The ancestor’s will smiled. “In that case, I-” The spirit was interrupted by a purple light that appeared in the room.

The brothers recognised the purple light, but they didn’t recognise the person that came out of it. It was a man, probably around Elwin’s age. But he was in a miserable condition. His clothes were ripped, he was covered in wounds, he seemed to have a few bones broken. He kept coughing out blood and collapsed on the floor weakly. Drake could also sense a chaotic mana fluctuation coming off him.

‘Who the hell was this guy and what was wrong with him?’ Drake thought. He had never seen Henry before, so he didn’t recognise him.

“Oh my, what ever happened to you?” said the ancestor’s will curiously, floating towards him.

Henry was unconscious.

The ancestor’s will waved its hands and Henry floated into the air. The will then touched his abdomen, and Drake could feel the chaotic mana fluctuations in Henry calm down. It then waved his hands and his injuries started healing.

‘What kind of magic was this?’ Drake wondered. But then he realised, this ancestor was in spirit form, so maybe he could directly heal people the way some spirits could, without summoning a spirit himself? It was very amazing to watch.

Henry slowly opened his eyes to find a weird old man looking at him deeply.

Where the hell was he?

“I have decided,” the ancestor spirit spoke. “You will be my inheritor.”

Huh? Inheritor? What?

Before Henry could understand anything, the ancestor’s spirit transformed into a ball and entered his forehead. The moment the spirit disappeared, the entire labyrinth began to vibrate as if it was struck by an earthquake. The area around Henry was fine, but the rest of the labyrinth began to collapse.

“We have to leave!” Elwin yelled.

“But-” Drake hesitated.

This was the inheritance of a mage emperor! There was bound to be so many pills, pill recipes, invaluable insights on cultivation, and most importantly spirits and other summons he could learn!

He was just about to receive it, but it was stolen by this random guy that popped out of nowhere! What kind of a twist was this!

Drake was reluctant, but when a piece of the labyrinth wall flew towards his face, he started running with Elwin.

…

Meanwhile, on the outside.

Sam stood guard while watching Astoria calmly meditating inside the dense light pillar.

Astoria absorbed a huge amount of mana.

At this moment, in her inner realm, a small core was condensing. It was about to finish, but Astoria had a feeling that if she allowed the core to finish forming, she would miss out on a huge opportunity.

So, she forced the mana to stop approaching the core and condense into a separate core instead. This was extremely difficult as all the mana that flowed into her body was automatically attracted to the almost-finished core. It took an extreme amount of will power to control and manoeuvre them otherwise.

But she needed strength. She would do anything for strength. And this was her opportunity for strength, and she could not give it up.

So, she used all her will power to force a second mana core to condense. It was almost done, but she wasn’t satisfied!

She forcefully stopped the mana flow towards the two almost finished cores and forced a third core to condense!

The extreme concentration and will she had to spend made her sweat buckets.

Her body temperature rose, both from the stress and because of the huge amount of mana.

But she could not give up.

This was a once in a lifetime opportunity!

Slowly but surely, she formed three almost finished cores. At this point, she was at her limit. She could not form any more. So, she willed the mana flow to the third core to stop and instead let it flow freely. The mana that was flowing in was equally attracted to all three cores and rushed towards them.

In an instant, three full mana cores condensed in her inner realm!

As soon as the cores were condensed, they exerted a huge repulsion to the rest of the mana. The remaining mana in her body was expelled, forming a wave of energy that spread outwards.

The wave was so dense that Sam was pushed back several steps, and the nearby trees were uprooted. The influx of mana immediately stopped, and a wave a silence washed over the forest.

At the centre of it all sat Astoria. Her body pulsed with energy, with three mana cores sitting in her inner realm.

She took a moment to enjoy this sensation. It felt like strength, like power.

Slowly, she opened her eyes.

She was no longer weak.

She was a mage.