Adion didn’t know how long he just sat on the stone floor, confused. It was a lot to take in. His parents and probably the entire clan were dead, except for his brother, sister, and grandfather. He was a mage. He had formed a space core, an element he had never heard of anyone else ever having. He didn’t know where in the world he was. And he was probably the first person to see a Phoenix in Ages. 

After a while, he decided to meditate and increase his strength. He had a core now, and since he didn’t know what else to do, he just started to manipulate mana and feed his core to increase its size. 

Mages increased their strength by manipulating mana and feeding it to their core, bending it to their Will. When it couldn’t grow any bigger without mana escaping the core, they had to compress it, making it denser and more potent, thus advancing a minor stage. Controlling mana was arduous, but you could somewhat relieve that feeling while meditating. It was slow work, but once a mage reached the higher ranks, they could sit and meditate for days without a break. If they needed to rest, they could continue to meditate without manipulating mana and simply ponder over their element.

Adion was just about to begin when he noticed something was wrong. 

Am I in the high Stone stage? I just formed my core, though. Have I somehow skipped the low and middle Stone stage?

After thinking about it for a while, Adion realized it made sense. He didn’t have a spark that automatically filled up until it reached the threshold for the low Stone stage. He had to make an estimate himself, and since he didn’t want to risk not having enough mana to form a core, he ended up gathering much more than what was needed and directly condensed a high Stone core. 

Well, that's nice, I guess. Adion thought and continued meditating. Eventually, he got too tired to continue. Manipulating mana and pushing it into one's core was taxing, and Adion needed to be stronger to do so for any extended amount of time. He stopped his meditation and realized he didn’t know what to do. He didn’t feel like doing anything, he didn’t feel like crying, he didn’t feel like thinking about his parents, he didn’t feel like training. 

I don’t even feel hungry. He thought as he looked around. He noticed that the cave wall below the opening that the Phoenix had flown out of was wet, and he could see a small spring at the bottom.

Though I guess I am a bit thirsty. 

Adion moved to the spring, scooped up water with his hands, and took several large gulps. 

Now what?

Adion looked around once again. He hadn’t taken the time to look around properly, so he started walking around to see what he could find. 

The cave where Adion had appeared looked a lot like the one below the family treasury. If only a little bigger. The runic formation had stopped being active, and Adion guessed it had only acted up because of the insane amount of space mana in the surroundings before. That had somehow connected to the formation at the Remori clan and leaked some of the space mana through. 

Besides the big metal plate with the runic formation, the rest of the cave was simply stone, surprisingly smooth stone. 

Perhaps this was a place with a lot of activity during the Age of Wonder. Not a lot has made it through the years, though. 

The only thing in the cave room was that runic plate. And the only way out seemed to be the small hole in the cave roof. That was what Adion thought until he made it to the other side of the cave. Behind a corner, he saw what looked like a large doorway. It seemed to be made using a different kind of stone. Unfortunately, the doorway had collapsed and had large chunks of rock blocking the way. 

Perhaps I can try to get through, though. The opening is about 10 feet tall, so if I climb up, I might be able to make my way through. 

Adion started climbing the boulders and noticed that there indeed was enough space for him to get through. He noticed that his body had gotten stronger as he had become a mage. The mana core strengthens the body so that the bones get tougher, muscles get stronger, and basically every facet of the body improves. 

It wasn’t like mages were invincible, though. Even a non-mage could pierce a regular steel knife through the heart of a Silver, killing them. It got slightly more complicated with Golds' and Diamonds' tough skin, but it was theoretically possible. Of course, it was very hard for a non-mage to sneak up on a mage, and the attack would be seen as very slow from a mage’s point of view. So it wasn’t like stuff like that actually happened, but it could be done if the circumstances allowed it.

Adion tried out circulating his mana through his body. It gave him a temporary power boost, but his mana would eventually run out, and it would tire him out quicker, so Adion chose to rely on his normal, slightly stronger mage body. 

He jumped from boulder to boulder and noticed that the path was slowly spiraling downwards. At times, the way in front of him would be blocked, and he had to jump down and crawl under a boulder stuck above the floor, but there seemed to always be enough space for him to get through. 

His luck eventually ended, though, as after almost two hours, Adion faced a wall of big and small rocks completely blocking the way forward. If before there only seemed to be some slight damage to the ceiling and walls in the long hallway, now it seemed like the area in front of him had wholly caved in.

That sucks. I almost wish I had an earth core. Do I have to go all the way back up again? 

Adion was really exhausted at this point, not only physically but mentally as well. He had already strained his Will a lot while meditating earlier, and when Adion reached deep enough in the spiraling hallway, he noticed it kept getting darker. He couldn’t keep a fire conjured for long as it really took a lot of effort with even the smallest of flames. Thankfully, he had always had a good spatial awareness, and with his space core formed, it had only gotten better. It wasn’t like he had a crystal clear picture of his surroundings, though, so he often had to conjure up a flame again, exhausting his Will completely.

Adion didn’t feel like climbing back up, so he climbed the slope of rocks and boulders and tried removing the stones. Adion was pleasantly surprised when he noticed that no new rocks started falling down as he moved the stones closest to the ceiling. 

Looks like the stone walls are somewhat stable. 

Adion continued to dig his way through until he finally noticed the light on the other side. He managed to dig through a small opening and arrived at the other side. What he saw on the other side completely stumped him. 

It looked like a grand hall with massive pillars reaching up toward the stone ceiling high above. Much of the hall had caved in, though. He noticed that the room layout spoke of a much grander area than Adion could see. A lot of large rocks were strewn here and there across the floor. The floor was made of some kind of stone or metal Adion hadn’t seen before. As he stepped down and swiped off the dust on the floor, he noticed it was really beautiful. It looked almost like black glass, but considering it had held from the boulders crashing on it, it must be a lot more sturdy than ordinary glass. 

To the left of where Adion had stepped out was nothing but piles of rock. To the front, a bit further in, he saw the same thing. To his right, though, was the light source in the old hall. Large openings that might have been windows at some point lined the wall. As Adion stepped forward to take a look outside, he saw a marvelous view. 

A forest. Stretching as far as Adion could see in all directions, the treetops were far below Adion. It seemed like the structure he was in was built into a mountain. 

Is this the Endless Forest? 

That was the only thing he could imagine. He could see thousands of miles from this height, and there was no sign of civilization. No forest was this big in any of the kingdoms and empires. 

The Endless Forest was the name of the forest that surrounded all the nations on Shiora. The middle south of the continent was inhabited by sapi, but to the west, north, and east was all forest that no one had seen the end of. Ships had sailed along the coast in order to map the continent, and while they managed to make it a bit up the west and east side, they have never managed to sail all the way north. The trip was too long, and supplies would run out before they could make it that far. And if they made landfall, they would have to fight dangerous beasts at every stop. It was impossible to survive the whole journey like that. 

Every nation bordered this forest at some stretch of land, and many mages joined the Outskirts Guild to fight the beasts residing within and slowly gain more ground for their kingdom or empire. Something that had been done since the first sapi arrived on Shiora thousands of years ago. Well, the first sapi from Quemer, the Kuwamin and Sabamin had always been on Shiora.

His mother used to tell him stories about the Saba Desert, how her people lived, and how they had struggled to survive from the beasts that greatly outnumber them. Even if the Alago Empire had taken over the Saba Desert in name, the Sabamin still lived like they always had to a large degree. The Empire had no way of controlling such a large area. 

It was pretty scandalous when his mother had married his father. The Sabamin thought of his mother as a betrayer of her people, and the family clans scorned his father for marrying an uncivilized Sabamin instead of a lady from a family clan.

His parents never cared much, though. They loved each other. Adion thought that was all that mattered and didn’t understand what the big deal was. 

Adion looked out at the forest below and had to admit it was a beautiful view. He had never been in the Endless Forest before. Of course, he couldn’t be sure he was in the Endless Forest. Who knows how many places like this existed in the world.

I might be close to the border of the Valis Kingdom or on the other side of the world. There is no way to know. 

Adion let out a sigh. He really hoped he wouldn’t be too far from home.

I want to see brother, sister, and grandpa. I should let them know I’m alive. 

The thought of the part of his family that was still alive gave a little life to Adion’s eyes, which had been dimmed ever since he woke up.

That’s right, I still have a family. I can’t wallow in despair. I need to get strong so that I can at least keep them safe even if I failed Mom and Dad. 

Adion then clenched his fists as anger started bubbling inside him for the first time.

I also need to get strong enough for revenge. As I am now, I can’t do a single thing. Not even a Gold stood a chance. People with power can take what they want, step on the weak, and no one can ever stop them. I have always known that that is how the world works; I just never thought my family would be affected, but I was wrong. Unless you have strength, nowhere is safe. Anyone with more power can always come to your doorstep and take everything away from you. And no one can stop them.

I will just have to become the most powerful of all. So what if those guys are Diamonds? I will reach even higher. I will walk into their little nest just like they stepped into our home. I will kill them. I will look at the despair in their eyes as they realize that they are powerless, that I can take their lives with just the wave of a hand. They thought they were powerful, powerful enough to do evil. I will show them how wrong they are.