The gentle rays of the sinking sun illuminated the room. It resounded with the complaints and displeasure of a child who was no older than 9 years. The child was trying hard to make something out of his Darkness element. Every time he came close to forming the shade of the woman who sat in front of him, his elemental ability vaporized. He was so tired that his small and weak body ached, but he was still pushing himself.

“Aizen” The woman called out his name softly. “That’s enough for today.”

“No!” The child’s stubborn eyes held within them wisdom unusual for someone his age.

“I want to draw you as you drew us with your Ice element.”

“Stupid. That’s not something you can learn in just a week.”

The woman walked over to him and patted his head.

“Every element is different than the other. The amount of time needed to master the Elemental arts varies.” Her affectionate smile adorned her lips.

“Your darkness element is believed to be one of the hardest to control. So don’t feel bad. One day you will master it to its perfection.”

“But I will never be able to form the pretty sculptures you can make with your Ice element. My affinity for Ice is just too weak.”

The boy lowered his head in disappointment.

“Mother, why am I so different from you?”

He voiced the question that was always on his mind.

Aizen wanted to be like her. Have the same snow-white hair and those crystal blue eyes. He was her son yet he was so different from her. His hair was black and his eyes were of the blue shade of the night’s sky.

There was no answer from the lady and the light in the room dimmed all of a sudden. It was as if the night had fallen and devoured all the light of this world.

When the child looked up to see his mother, he found a trail of blood trickling down her mouth. She wore a mirthless smile on her sickly yet beautiful face.

“You are my Son. Never question it.”

Her voice faded and her body faded like a fleeting image.

“I love you.” Her heartfelt words whispered in his ears.

The child panicked. Tears streamed down his face uncontrollably.

“Mother!”

“Don’t leave me. Please.”

He begged and tried to embrace his mother’s fading image, but his arms passed right through her and she was gone. A thought appeared in his mind that he had lost his mother forever. His heart ached and seemed to be on the verge of breaking in a thousand pieces.

The time seemed to have stopped, and some part of his mind told him that he had experienced this pain before. And this was just a dream he had been in several times.

His turbulent heart settled down and he willed himself to wake up. But no matter how much he tried this time he just couldn’t escape this dream. It had never happened before and his instincts told him that something was wrong.

The world around him started to crumble down and an agonizing pain assaulted his mind.

He saw inscriptions and images he couldn’t understand and recall. There was a never-ending stream of them and they were too blurry and vague for him to focus on.

Aizen realized that he had been holding his breath. He tried to breathe but there seemed to be no air around him. Panic engulfed him and those inscriptions and imagines faded in the corner of his mind. His vision darkened and soon there was nothing but a world of darkness.

His eyes snapped open and he sat up gasping for breath. He was sweating profusely, and his mind still hurt from what he had just experienced. It was perhaps a dream, but it felt real. It felt so real that it scared him.

It took him a while to realize that the couch he was sitting on was being devoured by his darkness. There was no sound as the darkness slowly erased its existence. His clothes were missing as well and it was not hard to understand where they had gone.

He called back the element and got off the couch or what remained of it. He sprawled on the ground and stared at the ceiling before his eyes. He couldn’t understand what had just happened and was too tired to seriously think about it. His eyes were drooping, but the fear that he would be caught in the same state again kept him awake.

The nightmare concerning his mother still haunted him after all these years. 12 years it had been since she had died. And he had been in similar dreams hundreds of times. However, this time, what had followed after the dream and all those inscriptions and images he vaguely recalled, were something he had never experienced before.

Against his will, his tired mind soon won and he drifted off to sleep.

…………………

The Castle of Knowledge, the University-Town he lived in, was bustling with people as always. Well, the entire continent was always bustling with people. The Arkadiom Star existed on the Lower Realm of this world called The Origin. It was one of the biggest stars that had the honor of being called a continent, and The Castle of Knowledge was its pride.

What attracted people to Arkadiom was the freedom it provided. There was no ruling clan or ruling organization and the number of influences residing on it made it impossible for just one family to rule it. Surprisingly, even with so many people living on it and with no order and control, it was the place where crime rarely took place. For this reason, it was known as the safest and the liveliest place in the two realms.

The third and highest realm was a mystery. The only thing everyone knew was that it existed, but what existed on it was not known. Little knowledge that the most honorable families had about that realm was considered taboo and was never shared or talked about. This world itself was a mystery. Every millennium or two a new star would be discovered in the Lower or Middle realm, so no one exactly had an idea of how big this world was.

He had always been skeptical about the mysteries of this world and he used to ask many innocent questions when his mother was still alive. Most of his knowledge of this world was passed to him by his mother and the rest was what he learned from this place that had been his home for 12 years.

The Castle was heaven for anyone who wished to learn. It was a place where only those willing to teach and learn resided. You could learn everything here that included knowledge of the Elements, Magic of the Creation, Etiquettes of the Nobles, and Codes of the Economy. You could also learn The Arts of War and Pleasures of Life.

Aizen had decided to walk to The Hall of Economics today. People usually walked to the schools when they wished to enjoy the serenity and beauty of this University. Otherwise, they preferred to directly arrive at their destination through space portals set all over The Castle. Some even preferred to use their space artifacts to travel.

However, his mind right now was not focused on the scenery that surrounded him. He had not even raised his head to look at the pair of Jade-crafted Angels that stood at the entrance of this grandiose building. The sparkling gems that continuously moved from one Angel to the other were a sight to behold. They were only illusions but looked exactly like real gems. It was a sight he always marveled at.

He entered his class and sat down on the last table. At some point, he had lost the sense of his surroundings. His mind was fully immersed in the Images and Inscriptions that were flooding in. By now, he had gotten used to them. It had been a month since the night he had experienced it for the first time. But today it had not stopped even after he woke up. He bore a headache that tempted him to dig his brains out, but he bore it all because he wanted to understand what was happening to him.

Time passed and soon he felt the blood in his veins shiver in excitement and run feverishly. It was not just his blood that was excited. His element of darkness was urging him to call it. At this point, he finally understood what was happening to him. He was having his Blood Awakening.

Aizen had not had his Blood Awakening when he reached puberty. For most, this was the sign that they would never attain it and remain the weaklings of this world. He had given up all hopes to ever attain it. All the disappointment he bore in his heart for almost a decade had now vanished and was replaced by the sheer joy of finally attaining his Blood Awakening.

He felt his element of darkness burst out and he only wished that it wouldn’t harm his classmates. He could not see anything now as his consciousness had arrived in a realm of darkness. The inscriptions and Images stopped flooding in and the excruciating headache vanished. A serene feeling enveloped his mind. He felt like he had finally arrived at his real home.

In the Darkness where he was present now, it felt like several days had gone by. He walked or stood, it was all the same. He could only see his naked self and the wisps of the Black flame that emerged on his body from time to time. He did not feel tired, rather with every passing moment, the boundless energy generating in his veins made him feel more alive.

Suddenly, waves of images and inscriptions flooded his mind again. They were no longer blurry, and he could understand them now. But he had no time to focus on one as there was just too much information. The things kept appearing in his mind for a time that felt no less than 21 years he had lived for. And when this all ended he found himself shrouded in darkness again. His consciousness escaped but just before that he heard a low, mellifluous voice of a girl he was unfamiliar with.

“Wait for me. I am coming to you.”