Humanity's Hero Of Despair

We follow the Emperor to the Imperial Training Grounds.

The vibrant glow of the Elemental Sphere of Earth fills the Imperial Palace's hallways. Imperial guards look at us in awe as they notice the power emitting from the sphere. Even just being within a one-hundred-meter radius of it can stop you in your tracks. We all look at each other curiously as we continue making our way to the Imperial Training Grounds.

All of us are thinking the same thing. How powerful is the sphere truly?

The Emperor, sensing our thoughts, speaks up.

"The Elemental Spheres are things of legends. Many people don't believe they are even real. Some think they are parting gifts from the Elemental Gods, if those even exist. People correctly believe they originate from the Heart of Glozaria, which is located within the Kingdom of Tarondar. That is why King Grey most likely has a few of the spheres."

"Nobody knows how to fully harness them, though. However, we have done our research."

Zephyr raises his hand as we continue to walk. The Emperor nods in Zephyr's direction to give him permission to speak. We all look at Zephyr curiously.

"I remember the last time advanced spells were used at the Imperial Training Grounds, it took a lot of work to put out the flames and repair them. Did you already arrange for there to be extra protective magic and imperial guards in case there is too much damage? I don't know how powerful the spheres are, but we can't be too careful."

Quillen shoots Zephyr a look, but the Emperor doesn't mind. Instead, he smiles.

"Yes. I made sure of that," the Emperor says as we make it to the Imperial Training Grounds.

He urges us to stay in place as he walks into the center of the area away from us. He makes sure we are looking at him, and he holds the Elemental Sphere of Earth in one hand and his wand in his other hand. He flicks his wand in an upward direction.

"Geodorn!"

Massive boulders sprout up all around him, encasing the field as we all struggle to maintain our footing among the rumbling. It is like he created an entirely new rock formation. It transforms the area into a rocky mess. Anybody not lucky enough to escape in time would be trapped by the boulders. Such a simple spell, yet it can do so much damage with the sphere.

We are all amazed. The Emperor gestures for Estes to join him. He hands over the sphere.

Estes holds the sphere nervously in one hand while he raises his wand with his other. The Emperor helps Estes channel the mana of the sphere and keep it steady. We overhear the Emperor tell Estes to try a simple earth magic spell—for example, to conjure up a boulder.

Estes nods and channels the power of the sphere as the mana around him glows a brilliant green. He moves his arm upward and points the wand upwards.

The rumbling starts to happen again, and I have to hold onto the wall so I don't fall onto the ground. A huge rock appears from the ground. A rock so large that all of us are surprised.

This goes far beyond the magic Estes used in the GKC.

The huge rock levitates in the air above Estes as it is encased in a green aura, which shows he is controlling it. His arm starts to shake slightly as the rock becomes even bigger. My eyes widen. If I got hit by that rock, I am pretty sure every bone in my body would be crushed.

The Emperor helps Estes control the power and brings the rock back down onto the ground. Even though the rock hit the ground softly, it still created a big enough shockwave to make us brace ourselves.

The Emperor then gestures for me to walk over as Estes walks back to us.

I clap Estes on the shoulder for doing a good job and head over to the Emperor. I am very nervous, as I hardly ever use earth magic. Even though my origin magic makes me capable of it, and even though my Wand of Origin can easily handle it, it still makes me slightly nervous, as I am simply still very new to all of it.

The Emperor shows me a technique he used on me during our duel and wants me to use it.

"Eighth affinity level magic, Titan's Embrace!"

The ground shakes again as an enormous stone titan erupts from the ground, clad in armor with two large stone axes. Each axe is larger than my entire body. I stare in awe. The titan the Emperor used against me wasn't nearly as big or powerful. The sphere basically enhances all these spells by a fuck ton.

No wonder it's considered such a dangerous artifact.

The Emperor and I head back to the area where all my friends are.

"Congrats, Nico! You were able to get the hang of the sphere pretty well. As you notice, the sphere, as well as the other spheres, are pretty small. Bigger than a marble but smaller than a bowling ball by far."

The Emperor says as he brings something out of his pocket and makes the sphere into some sort of necklace. He hands it to me and tells me to put it on.

"This is something the Professor came up with, along with our magic engineers, to create a device that allows you to carry around the sphere and protect it without you worrying about it twenty-four seven. It is disguised as a simple necklace, but in reality, it's one of the most powerful magic artifacts."

I nod as the weight of the sphere weighs me down but at the same time makes me feel more powerful than ever. The Emperor mentions I can rotate the sphere necklace among my friends if it is too much for me. He then makes sure that we remember not to misuse it, as there is a strong possibility that the sphere may try to control us if we let it.

That we don't fully understand these artifacts at all.

After the demonstration, all of us do our own thing for the rest of the day. All of us try the sphere necklace on to see how it feels and how each of us can handle it. Soon, nighttime rolls around, and we head to bed after eating dinner.

Let's see what tomorrow brings.