Within a certain room, three figures stood. Surrounded by beautiful mirages as well as colorful and radiant crystalline walls, two females, one male – together, they walked along the quiet pathways that weaved between the many different elemental environments.

“Okay…we’re here, at the first section counting from left to right – Fire,” Feng Mian said with her hands on her hips.

The three figures in question – Feng Mian, Qing Yue, and I – had decided to start at the beginning of the Magic Training Room on our journey to test my elemental aptitude. We began on the left side, since that’s where the Primary Elements were.

“Right! Well, go on in!” Qing Yue exclaimed giddily while giving me a playful push on the back.

Me, on the other hand…I was very confused at what exactly we were doing. “…I still don’t understand why I can’t just try spells belonging to different elements at once. Why do we have to go into each training room?”

Feng Mian merely sighed. “Look, you said it yourself. This place is normally full.”

“…Right…but what does that have to do with anything?”

Feng Mian then rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Ah…you’re so dim-witted. Since we’re in here, we might as well make the most of it. You understand?”

“…No.”

“…”

“Okay okay! Break it up!” Qing Yue quickly interjected, since Feng Mian looked as if she was about to break the very same nose that Qing Yue had healed just moments ago. “Basically, what we’re doing, is giving you a chance to train.”

“Train?”

“Correct! If it turns out you do have aptitude for a certain element, then you can just stay in the respective barrier to help you make it more powerful!”

This train of thought (no pun intended) made sense…but there was just one tiny flaw.

“…Why couldn’t I have just went through the spells of all the elements that I knew, then go to the sections of the ones I can cast?”

“…”

“…”

Qing Yue looked as if someone had whacked her head with an invisible hammer, and was staring at me with a blank expression.

Feng Mian, meanwhile, also perked up at hearing this, and had the same expressionless face.

However, she was also the first to compute what I had just said. “Er…” she opened her mouth, but closed it once more soon after, not being able to think of anything good to say in her defense.

Qing Yue seemed to have processed the information overload that had been dumped on her with a single sentence as well, and blinked twice. “Hehehe~” she, however, just laughed it off. “Well…you’re right, but we’re here now, so what’s the problem? Let’s go!” she said as she latched onto my arm and pretty much dragged me into the fiery orange barrier.

After the three of us were all in the barrier, I sat down on the ‘ground’, which looked suspiciously like magma. Surprisingly enough, it didn’t burn me at all. Qing Yue and Feng Mian weren’t let off so easily, however. The moment they had stepped in, both had let out a cry of surprise and pain. Neither one had a Fire Element affinity, after all. Feng Mian had to cast a Glacial Floor spell to avoid burning up, although the radius was limited to only 1 meter from where she was standing – the extravagant amount of Fire mana in the surrounding air has greatly weakened Feng Mian’s Ice attribute abilities. Thus, Qing Yue stood closely by her.

I couldn’t blame them. After all, our surroundings were devastatingly hot. Though it didn’t cause me to sweat or affect me too much, I could definitely still feel it. In front of us was a volcano – or rather, a miniature version of one, separated from us by a river of lava. The entire landscape seemed burnt up, the ground was pure black and no signs of anything green could be seen. As expected of a Fire-Element based area.

“I…guess this means you have a Fire Element affinity?” Feng Mian murmured hesitantly. She seemed oddly depressed for some reason – perhaps because I was now on the same level as her, having two innate elements, when I was mere trash just days ago?

“Go on! Try casting a Fire Element spell, Big Brother Xuan Kai!” Qing Yue could barely hold in her excitement.

“Alright then…” I prepared myself. Shutting my eyes, I visualized the mana in my Dantian stirring and stirring, until it formed the shape of a perfect sphere. I then took that condensed energy, snapped my eyes open, and chanted. “Level One Fire Magic – Infernal Arrow!”

Immediately, I felt the sphere break, and the energy spread all around my body. The energy then formed a full cycle, circulating back through the Dantian and out again.

A bow then formed in my left hand, made of pure Fire energy. I could feel the blistering heat, yet it wasn’t painful at all. Then, in my right, a deadly arrow blazing with fire appeared. However – my Fire energy…instead of being bright and orange like the textbooks and demonstrations showed, it was black…black, and red.

Where have I seen those colors mixed together before…?

Conclusion: My casting was successful.

Conclusion II: I had awoken the Fire Element in my body as well.

Conclusion III: My Fire Magic was definitely not normal.

And as for the power…I slowly nocked the projectile in my right hand, calmly placing it in the arrow rest. I didn’t have a specific target I was aiming for, and Qing Yue and Feng Mian were behind me, so I just vaguely pointed the bow at a small mini volcano in the distance, closed my eyes once more and let the arrow fly.

BOOM!

The huge explosion made me snap my eyes back open, and the first thing I noticed was that the mini-volcano – my target-

-Was not there anymore.

It was gone. Literally obliterated. I was taught that because this spell summoned an bow and arrow that were made out of legitimate fire energy, it would detonate instantly upon contact. But…did the explosion really completely ERASE the mountain – albeit a small one – but a mountain made of solid rock nonetheless?

I turned around. Feng Mian and Qing Yue were also staring into the distance with aghast expressions on their faces.

“Wha…”

“Woah…”

“…Uh…” I couldn’t bring myself to say anything, either. And if they ask me…well, I didn’t understand it myself, how can I explain anything to them?

“Oh…my…god…” Feng Mian was still staring on at where the volcano used to be, mouth agape.

Qing Yue came back to her senses first. “Wow, Big Brother Xuan Kai!! You’re so powerful!!”

Her words seemed to have reached Feng Mian’s ears as well, as she quickly snapped out of it and walked towards me imposingly. “H-How did you do that?!”

Of course – the one question I didn’t want to hear – and the one question I had fully expected her to ask.

“Well…to be honest, I don’t know either.”

“Hehehe~ although I don’t believe it, Big Brother Xuan Kai may have just gotten lucky, y’know!” Qing Yue added in. “Like, the volcano could’ve been already worn down, and he just got the last hit?”

“…Maybe so.” I quickly backed her up, though my opinion probably wasn’t worth too much in Feng Mian’s eyes.

“H-Hmph! Well, that seems unlikely…but it is possible. L-Let’s try out a different element next…”

“But yknow…this means that Big Brother Xuan Kai is at least on the same level as you and me now! Hehehe~”

“Grr…” Feng Mian seemed frustrated and nervous at the same time.

But with that being said, we headed off to the next Element’s section.

*****

– About half an hour later –

“Th-This is impossible…” Feng Mian gasped, evidently shocked.

“Woah…” Qing Yue beside her mused.

I merely sat in silence. However, this didn’t mean that I wasn’t surprised as well.

After all, such a case has never been seen before.

We were currently in the Demon Element section of the Magic Training Room.

What had happened, you ask? Well, to sum it up…

…I have an affinity for all 21 Elements. Every. Single. Element.

And not only that, but the power output of my spells are at least two times more powerful than they would be if another person had cast them. What was strange, however, was that the colors of my spells were always black and red. Normally, each element had their own ‘color’ – this was shown by the different hues of the barriers in the room. But for me…any magic I cast that was clearly visible to the naked eye took on the form of a black and red variation of the original spell.

“But…why is your magic all black and red?” Feng Mian asked suspiciously.

Hey now…don’t look at me, how am I supposed to know? I only received this power yesterday…

“…Well, I’m not sure either,” I replied while scratching my head. “It’s also a mystery why my spells tend to be two times as effective as a normal casting…”

Qing Yue didn’t seem to care, however.

Then, much to Feng Mian’s surprise (and my own), suddenly, Qing Yue leapt from the floor and held on to me in an embrace. In order to not let her fall, I instinctively hugged her back, moving back a few steps from the impact.

“Big Brother Xuan Kai…you did it! You…finally did it…Qing Yue knew you could….”

She sniffled as she murmured these words, and I could tell that she was…crying. Qing Yue was the type of girl that could go from giddily jumping around to sobbing in tears in the blink of an eye…but this time, it seemed that something – a worry she had been holding on to for so long – finally disappeared. It was not a weep of sadness, but tears of joy.

When everyone else had abandoned me,

When the world itself had neglected me,

When even I had given up on myself,

She – and she alone, had believed in me.

Before I knew it, a tear streaked down my cheek as well. “H-Huh…? Why…?”

I was confused. But deep down, I knew. I knew why I was crying along with her.

I was weak. I was someone who couldn’t protect the people and things I love. I was someone who barely held on to life, having lost all hope. But now…if a God truly exists, you’ve really played me, huh? You made me suffer for 14 years. 14 years of humiliation, of pain – but not only that, my parents…they had to carry the burden, to pay the price as well – and the cost was their lives.

And my precious little sister Qing Yue…she has been coping with it all this time – she has been carrying my burdens FOR me. That tiny, fragile body, housed a heart, a will far braver than my own. She was…strong.

I closed my eyes and let all the torment and misery I’ve experienced for my entire life disappear with my tears. When I had first awoken my magic yesterday, I didn’t even realize what that entailed – its significance. But now, I understood. Qing Yue probably had been holding her emotions back on this time, waiting for this day. She had waited for the day I would come through for her, all this time.

I hugged her back tightly, more so than ever before. She was my only family now – my only friend, the only person I could trust unconditionally.

I made a silent vow years ago, on the night of my parents’ death.

And now, on the day of my awakening, I’ll make another one.

My desire for revenge will never waver – it will only grow stronger by the day. But now, I have something else I have to do as well.

Qing Yue…your big brother has power now. He can protect you, and he will.

‘I will protect you, Qing Yue!’

Those words said long ago, your brother can fulfill them now.

‘I promise to keep you safe, even at the cost of my life.’

The once forlorn promise made in my heart, your brother can finally honor it.

That’s why…you don’t have to carry this burden for me anymore.

I’ll keep you safe, for sure this time.