"Hide it.
Quara stomped the ground, a fiery flare emanating from her foot and stilled the shadows writhing below Killian.
Killian looked up from the screen to her. "What is—"
She snatched the necklace from his neck and the interface vanished. She looked around quickly for eyewitnesses. The hall was empty.
Quickly, she pulled off her cloak and covered him with it. It draped down to his leg. She tied her scarf around his neck.
"Stay low. We need to get you out before someone finds out about this."
Killian could tell something was wrong. He nodded and they quickly rushed towards her car.
His right ankle was visible to the sun and he could see smoke rise from it, and the black flame engulf the area. There was still no pain.
Had he unlocked a corrupted fire element?
The car ride back to Quara's condo was silent. Killian stared at the interface, wondering what the element he unlocked he meant.
[Killian Dominic]
[Rank: D-Rank]
[Registered.]
[Element: Void]
[Affinity: 45%]
[Capacity: 1%]
[Diagnosis: Anomaly]
[Verdict: Pending]
[Objective: Survive the Sun.]
Being an anomaly was one thing but what type of element was void. He had never been taught about that. He whipped out his phone and searched the web.
"Don't call anyone." Quara said sternly.
"I am not. Who do you think I have as friends to call?" He murmured the last part.
He didn't know if he was being hunted by organizations or his dream of being a Warden would be permanently scrapped. He couldn't risk it.
"A void isn't an element." He read from the web.
"Yes, it is a drastic side effect of…" Quara hesitated. "Darkness. One of the forbidden elements."
Killian looked back at his interface to be sure he saw the right thing. Why wasn't it called Darkness then? How did the schools never teach this?
Right.
It was a drastic side effect of a forbidden element.
And the rulers of their state had the light element.
"Am I now an enemy of the state?" He asked. Her reaction to escape the school immediately would make sense.
The car rolled into her estate's gate.
"Hide the interface for now. You're still a son of the Dominic and Ammon family. No one will hurt you for awakening an element you have no control over."
Killian stared out of the window. He remembered the voice he heard in his head just before the interface stopped glitching.
Could that have been the Void? Was it sentient?
There was an S-Rank Light Warden who created a sentient light but it had been awakened with the souls of the monsters he killed as a Warden.
Sentience couldn't be born from mana alone.
"So what exactly are you? I sure as heck didn't sacrifice anyone to wake you." He spoke internally. "Did you devour the anomaly WLog mentioned?"
"You're welcome."
Killian froze. He did not expect to hear a response.
"What is it?" Quara asked, she had been watching him from the front seat.
"Nothing. Please, focus on driving."
She squinted her eyes, before opening the door for him. Once again, she wrapped him with her jacket and scarf before making a run for the roof.
Inside the house, she closed the window blinds, the doors and all the rooftops shades. The house was pitch black.
"Now," an ember bloomed in her eyes. The light coming from her eyes illuminated a foot from where she stood beside Killian.
"Show me the interface again. We have to get this sorted out before you go for your first training as Warden."
Killian's back straightened. He had been practicing basic martial arts for that moment— His very first realm of monsters as a D-Rank Warden in training.
Even if he had awakened a ridiculously low affinity to fire or lightning, he had planned to use his physical prowess to clear the first stage.
With a thought, the WLog Interface came up again.
Quara's eyes narrowed at the two lower parts.
[Element: Void]
[Affinity: 45%]
[Capacity: 1%]
[Diagnosis: Anomaly]
[Verdict: Pending]
[Mission: Pending.]
"It really is an anomaly." She muttered. "How could this have happened? Why did this happen?"
Despite how calm she sounded, Killian could hear her voice breaking.
He didn't know if he should be worried because this wasn't the worst thing that could've happened to him.
He had awakened something.
Not what was preferable.
But it was something.
"I think my element is sentient."
The ember from Quara's eyes dimmed. Killian nodded. She was definitely twitching now.
He paced around the dark room.
His parents wouldn't want to hear of this. This would cause problems for them because they were loyal to the rulers who wielded the Light element.
Yet the thought that he had something powerful enough to rival the infamous Lightning Element made his heart warm.
If the Void element was anything like the Darkness element, which was as dreadful as the Light element, then he had really scored.
"There's no one in this planet that know how to wield a Void Element."
"He would teach me.*
"Who?" Quara shook her head as she spoke. "The sentient void? Should you even be interacting with it? It can corrupt your mind with evil thoughts."
"Like the Light Warden, who created his sentient 'light fairy', got corrupted with 'good' thoughts to eradicate all Nulls for being impure years ago?"
Quara was silent.
Killian scoffed. "You don't really feed into their good vs bad gimmick, do you? It's hypocritical, really."
But he couldn't blame her.
At only nineteen, she was an A-Rank Fire Warden that had controlled seventeen realms and closed down six C-tier realms.
All without having an active team of her own.
The state's system celebrated talents like her. She would want to uphold their rules and regulations as well.
Meanwhile him, who had already been abandoned by the Goddess and branded a Null, has been given a second chance to wield a Void Element.
He couldn't tell if he should see this as a blessing from the Goddess as well, or a gesture of spite?
"Give me time. During the first training, I'd use the E-Rank monsters to gain experience and I'd be able to get back to you. Don't worry about it."
E-Rank monsters were fodder, meant for D-Rank trainees like him. Simple, safe, yet boring.
It was a lifetime opportunity that he planned to grab with both hands.
.
.
.
"Should I get you a spatial storage? I can buy one for you quickly now." Quara asked, running around the house, gathering provisions. "It will help you keep your weapons since your bag is already filled."
Killian only shook his head, and occasionally said 'no' to her worried questions while staring at the countdown till he would be taken to his first training.
[New! First Training]
[Killian Dominic - D-Rank]
[Accept?]
[Automatic Acceptance after 45…]
[Automatic Acceptance after 44…]
Quara rushed to his side, stuffing more things inside the heavy bag, but Killian was unaffected by its weight.
His eyes never left the interface as he counted down internally with it.
"Are you sure you're ready for this, Kill? You never got training because… you know."
Killian turned to her, a small smile on his face.
"I know. No one expected me to get registered and awaken anything. But I can beat E-Rank monsters easily. The school fees you pay isn't wasted."
Quara smiled back on hearing that. She ruffled his hair gently. "Of course." She patted his back. "Kill at least ten and you'll qualify. Don't overdo anything."
"How many did you kill in your time?"
She paused, then looked up, thinking. "Around sixty, I think. Maybe a little more."
Killian froze.
He wanted to talk big about doubling her number but he might not get up to half of that.
"Well, I'll do my best too." He said simply.
[Automatic Acceptance after 5…]
He tapped the 'Accept' button.
[Transporting Killian Dominic…]
[Welcome to the Realms Of Daln]