Humanity's Hero Of Despair

When I wake up this time, Ivy is still sleeping.

My eyes widen slightly as I notice her beautiful figure sleeping beside me. She looks extremely tired. I smile slightly as I slowly roll out of bed to not disturb her. I quietly walk to the bathroom and take a quick, refreshing shower. The warm water feels good as it runs down my body.

I get out and dry myself off. Then I go brush my teeth and comb my hair. Once I start putting my day clothes on, I hear the bed sheets ruffling behind me. Ivy stretches her arms out and rubs her eyes. She quickly gets out of bed as she starts getting ready as well.

"I am sorry, babe, I slept in. All these mornings getting up early to prepare things made me become at my breaking limit," Ivy says to me as she rushes to get ready. I laugh and say it's alright.

I grab my wands and polish them while I wait for Ivy to be ready to leave.

We then walk together out of the room and to the dining hall for breakfast. The weight of the sphere necklace feels a little heavy this morning. Ivy squeezes my hand and asks if I am okay. She is quick to notice.

"I am alright. I promise, beautiful."

I say as I smile as we enter the dining hall.

Our friends are there already. They wave in greeting and we sit down.

The food is delicious as usual as we small talk. Once we finish breakfast together, we all go into one of the private rooms with the Emperor's permission to discuss what to do with the Elemental Sphere of Earth that has been condensed into this necklace I am wearing.

After some debating, we decide that we can rotate the earth sphere necklace among all of us. We then take some time to analyze it. I take the necklace off and lay it on the table in front of us. One by one, each of us takes turns picking it up and holding it.

Ivy picks it up in her hand and it starts to glow brightly, which freaks us all out for a moment. The mana in the room intensifies, but nothing happens besides the extra glow. Ivy is an earth mage, so it makes sense why the earth sphere would react so well to her. Then it's Quillen's turn and the glow is faint, but the mana in the room lessens.

Perhaps it is due to his calm personality?

Matteo is up next and the intensity of the glow is not great but not bad. It kinda does nothing, which makes a lot of us laugh. Leena goes next and it glows brighter than Matteo, which makes her stick her tongue out at him. Estes goes next and it glows so brightly we have to cover our eyes for a moment.

That is Estes for you. One of the most powerful earth mages that I know.

He smirks as he hands it off to Zephyr, who looks eager to try to connect with it. We all laugh as Zephyr looks like he is straining his face to produce power from the earth sphere, but it doesn't seem to work. Zephyr might be a good fit to handle the sphere since the impact on him may not be much. Neve picks it up and the earth sphere doesn't react much either.

Then it is handed to me once again.

I pick it up, the earth sphere senses my mana and touch.

It starts glowing brighter and brighter. The room even shakes as I hold onto the table to prevent myself from falling down. An ancient voice speaks into my mind like the sphere is trying to tell me something. Words from the Earth God? Impossible.

Suddenly, everything goes back to normal.

My friends ask if I am alright. I tell them it's okay. If anything, I felt even more powerful holding it. I place the earth sphere necklace back on my neck. My resolve is stronger now to protect it since I know also why I am protecting it. The earth sphere cannot fall into the wrong hands, and I can also use the earth sphere necklace for extra power if I need to use it.

I feel the earth sphere on my neck and roll it around in my hands a bit while my friends discuss what this all means and what to do with it. After about ten minutes of deliberation, we decide it's best if I keep it for now until we come up with a better plan.

"Are you sure you can handle it, Nico?"

Quillen asks me with concern.

"Yeah, I am sure. Thanks for asking, Quillen. I just have to be careful to not overuse its power is all," I say to him as I tuck the earth sphere necklace under my shirt. The weight of it I can handle easily if I keep my willpower strong. My other friends also confirm if I will be okay and I reassure them it's truly alright.

I mean, I am, besides my sister, the sole other mage who can use origin magic to handle the earth sphere properly. It's not easy though to potentially manage a remnant of one of the Elemental Gods.

My friends and I start undoing the magic security seals around the room. For now, we have figured out the plan regarding the earth sphere necklace. If anything else happens regarding it, we can come up with a new plan.

We leave the room and we all walk together to the main lobby area of the Imperial Palace.

Just as we are about to say our goodbyes, an imperial guard runs past us toward the Imperial Courtroom. He turns around to look at us for a moment.

"King Grey is arriving very soon! He has been seen at the outer gates of the Imperial Palace. I am going to alert the Emperor right now. Everyone, please get ready!"

I can't help but smile at the news.

Maybe I can get a taste of home again.