There is yet another mastermind above this mysterious man.

That was the only explanation.

Otherwise, there was no reason to hold back on his own lustful desires, and place the stone pendant before everything else. Considering how menacing he was, just thinking of the man above him was enough to send a chill down my spine.

But alas - one more question, perhaps the most important of all, remained:

Why?

However, as I was just in the process of racking my brains out to find the answer to the very same query I gave up on just a day ago, Feng Mian began to walk towards the exit of the dark alleyway - and where Li Yi Fei and his two lackeys were waiting in anticipation.

I looked around for the man, but unfortunately, he was nowhere to be found.

Well, it's not like I could do anything to him anyway, considering the massive barrier he put up. But I snickered at how careless he had been, leaving the top open. The man had also been wearing a dark black cloak and a mask the entire time, leaving no clues as to who he was except for an approximated physique. And even then - advanced magic users of certain elements could alter their body forms to their liking, meaning the appearance that he had shown me today had a high chance of being a fake one, considering how careful he was.

My thoughts were interrupted once more by the unmistakably haughty and pompous voice of Li Yi Fei.

"Well well well...what do we have here?"

"H-Hey! What are you doing?!" the high-pitched scream did nothing to hide the surprise and fear of Feng Mian.

Although...the fear didn't seem to be because of Li Yi Fei and the others. I doubted Feng Mian, a cool beauty that rivals Yu An Xue, would be so scared of a trio of street boys, even if one of them happened to be an heir to the Li family.

The most likely guess would be that she was terrified of the mysterious man from earlier instead. The ominous aura around him was no joke - even a person without magic and unable to sense mana like me could tell that much.

"Hey boss, she's not such a cool beauty now, ain't she?" I could make out the voice as to be Pang Zi, who truly lives up to his name.

"Haha! I agree, Pang Zi!" Li Yi Fei said with a laugh.

"Yeah yeah, look at that face she's making. So scary! Hahaha!"

Zhang Zhe Rui. The one that came up with this vile plan. I really didn't like the way this was going, but if I jumped down there right now I would probably get burnt to a crisp by their Fire Magic.

"Hehehe...Why don't you come play with us for a bit, Lady Feng Mian?" Li Yi Fei said with a lecherous grin.

Feng Mian then let out a lengthy sigh, apparently regaining her composure.

"Would you mind not addressing me in such a courteous manner while saying something so repulsive?"

"Tch. And boss was trying to treat you nicely too...play with us, little bitch."

Pang Zi's tone was very different, rough and demanding. It seemed he had the shortest patience of the three (not that the other two were better by much).

"I refuse. Step aside if you don't want to get hurt." Feng Mian said dangerously.

I admired her bravery...but in this situation? Anyone could tell it was a bluff.

Considering the weakness she had shown a moment ago, no matter how tiny it was, the three perpetrators in question are probably fully aware that she isn't powerful enough to take all three of them on.

"Heh...you think you can defeat all three of us?" As expected.

"I'll at least take down two with me."

The confidence in her voice didn't seem fake...truth to be told, I have seen her agile movements as a thief - and an assassin; but haven't seen her use them in a battle. Therefore, I couldn't be too sure about her fighting capabilities. However, I doubted she was good enough to take on multiple mages of the same level as her together. It would be a different matter if she was an Intermediate Mage, but I assume all four are only Novice Mages, seeing as how they were only in the second year of high school.

"Hehehe...then let's see how well you do," Li Yi Fei said with a dark sneer.

This is bad. I could see the purple lightning forming in his hands. Li Yi Fei was a dual element, Fire/Sky. This made him a talent by Novice standards.

"Voltage Strike!" Li Yi Fei unleashed his attack. I glanced quickly at Feng Mian and wondered what I should do.

My worry, however, was quickly erased.

"Glacier Form - Wall!" she yelled, concentrating her body's mana into her hands. She then crouched down and slammed her palm onto the gravel so hard that I feared her hand (if it had a consciousness) would cry out in pain.

Immediately, a massive wall of ice rose up from the ground in front of her. The lightning attack struck directly in the middle of it-

-And disappeared. The wall made from ice - or glacier, to be more accurate - was more formidable than I had thought. All that Level One Sky Element attack left behind were a few cracks. Clearly, Li Yi Fei and the others were just as shocked as I was - perhaps even more so.

"Think you're pretty good, huh?" Li Yi Fei taunted."Let's see you take this then!"

He looked towards his two lackeys for a second, then called out together.

"Level Two Fire Magic - Abomination Flare!"

"What?!"

A Level Two Spell...this could mean trouble. They had utilized a special technique possible only for people that share a common element - Conjoined Release. I noticed Feng Mian struggling to put up the glacier wall once more.

No...a Level One spell would do nothing against a Level Two one. That was the harsh truth regarding the difference between tiers.

CRRACK.

The glacier wall was already beginning to break down from the impact, while the fiery embers known as the powerful Level Two Spell - Abomination Flare, still showed zero signs of disappearing. At this rate, the defense wouldn't hold up much longer.

"Shit..." I murmured.

No...I can't. I can't let someone else die before my eyes. I don't want anyone else to suffer the same devastating feeling of loss as I did when my parents were taken from me. Feng Mian...you still have people who love you in this world. So...you can't die. Not yet.

If I were to leave right now and you died...I wouldn't be able to live, knowing that. That's why...even if I die here, at least I can pass on knowing I saved someone...I prevented someone from becoming sad. I can rest easy knowing that despite my weakness and powerlessness, I was able to accomplish something useful in my life.

Mother...father...I know. You told me to live on, but...you also told me to be a strong man. And in order to do that, I must make my own decisions - find my own path in life. My own two hands on the rudder of my ship, steering down the direction that I chose. And now...I am choosing to not let Feng Mian just die like this. I'm sorry...I will never be able to avenge you the way I am now, and honestly...I'm on the verge of just giving up.

Perhaps...this will be the only good thing I will ever do in my life. But it's still something.

Then, before I could change my mind and wuss out of the idea, I leapt from the roof-

CRASH!

The defense was broken.

"Damn...ugh, FUCK IT!"

Landing directly in front of Feng Mian, I brought my arms up in an X and prepared for the impact.

BOOM!

I was sent flying-

And multiple thoughts crossed my head, as time seemed to slow down-

Was this what they called your life flashing before your eyes?

"No."

An unknown voice replied.

I...saved her, right...?

"Why did you save her? She tried to steal from you."

I didn't know who I was talking to...but that didn't matter.

...She was forced...

"Do you really believe that?"

...That was the logical explanation...

"What if all that was just an act?"

...She couldn't have...she lied to that man, didn't she?

"They knew you were listening the entire time. It was all an act."

...But couldn't they have killed me right then and there? Why spare me?

"They need you to find the pendant."

...

"She couldn't find it in your room, so she's going to pretend to get close to you first and have you tell her yourself where the pendant is."

...No...I don't want to believe it...

"Then, after she gets what she wants, she'll just leave you."

No--!

"Just like your family. Your fiancee. Your friends."

...Shut up...

"As soon as you prove to be of no worth to them, they'll abandon you."

...SHUT UP!

"You were born as trash. Your parents have paid the price for that."

...Ugh...

"Everyone hates you. Your little sister paid the price for that."

....ARGH!!

"You've been bullied and humiliated for as long as you can remember. And YOU'VE paid the price for that."

...ARRRRRGHH!!!

"Tell me - after all that, what is it you desire?"

...

"Tell me - what is it you thirst for?"

P...

"Tell me - what is it you wish for, more than anything else in the world?"

Power...

"Tell me - what is it you NEED?"

...Power - GIVE ME POWER!

"Acknowledged."

Then, still in the air-

The stone pendant let out a blinding flash-

Crrrash.

I felt my back hit something with a force strong enough to break my spine.

But I was relieved.

I'm...not dead?

Pain meant a lot of things-

But one of them, despite everything else-

Meant that you were alive.

Living, breathing, existing.

I was alive, after getting hit directly by a Level Two spell at nearly full power...

I had expected to die.

I had expected to be erased from this world.

I had expected no one to care about it.

But this-

Despite everything, I felt brimming with energy. My spine wasn't broken, and my body seemed fine as well, though the same couldn't be said about my clothes. The hoodie I was wearing showed no sign of being there in the first place - almost completely incinerated.

Standing up, I looked around. However, the smoke left behind from that attack made it impossible to see anything at all. I then glanced down at myself. I looked filthy. But something around my neck caught my eye.

The stone pendant?

How did this piece of rock...survive that powerful attack? In fact, it looked perfectly fine - not even a single scratch on it. This shouldn't be possible...I should be dead, and the stone pendant should be gone. Then...why? And...it was glowing. What had looked just like any ordinary stone now had an eerie symbol on it. The originally grey surface was now pure black like obsidian, and the sinister red glow emitting from the mysterious symbol was bright enough that I had to close one eye to look directly at it.

Suddenly, I felt an immense pain in my body.

"ARGH...!" I dropped to the floor immediately, unable to bear it.

Pain meant you were alive, but that didn't mean it was always good-

Chains. Black and glowing red just like the pendant, they rose up from the ground and bound me to the floor, burning hot due to the attack from earlier.

I tried to let out a scream, but I couldn't. The chains firmly pinned me down, and wrapped around my throat as well.

I was choking-

I didn't die earlier, but-

Man...I've really got the shittiest luck.

Born without magic, only a useless body.

Living without power, only humiliation.

Existing without companions, only enemies.

But even so-

I forced my eyes open.

"I'M...NOT...GIVING...IN!"

I mustered all of my might and pulled at the chains that shackled me.

"DYING?! ....FUCK THAT!"

I let out a resounding yell that would've made even a magical beast think twice before attacking.

"I HAVE POWER NOW...I CAN FINALLY GET MY REVENGE FOR MOTHER AND FATHER!"

And then, with a satisfying loud click, at last - the pain shattered, along with the black shackles that have bound me for years.

What was left was a resounding and powerful energy - one I have never experienced before.

One I have only read about in textbooks and heard about in lessons.

One I could only admire as it ignited in other people.

One that was the cause of all my years of suffering.

Magic.