Humanity's Hero Of Despair

Silence.

The entire Imperial Training Grounds is filled with silence as everyone drops what they are doing to look at me. Captain Daelon stands to the side with his arms crossed and his expression unreadable. Professor Aldric has his pen ready to write as he studies me from afar.

The cold wind ruffles my cloak as I continue to stand in my battle position. My left hand holds my original wand while my right holds the Origin Wand. I take a few more deep breaths to calm my mind. One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

I open them again and put all my focus on the targets.

I steady myself as I strengthen my grip on both my wands. The mana in my body starts to circulate faster and faster as I prepare for something never done before by any current mages of the time. This is the stuff of legends from books I have seen in the Hero Academy. Even Estes is completely focused on watching me, his book lying closed next to him.

One last deep breath. Today, I can make history.

"Eleventh affinity level magic, Burning Frost!"

Large amounts of fire and ice magic form at the tip of my Origin Wand as I struggle to keep hold of the power it is taking to tame it. Fire whips around in the atmosphere, wanting to consume everything in its path.

Ice causes some people to put their arms around themselves as it thrashes under my control at the tip of my wand.

"Eleventh affinity level magic, Yin Yang!"

Light and dark magic form at the tip of my first wand, swirling together in a massive ball of dark and light energy. It is taking all of my mental and physical energy to keep these spells going. I direct both attacks at the same time toward the magical training dummies. It is very safe to say they did not last long.

The fire and ice magic manage to freeze and burn all of the targets to the ground, while light and dark magic ensure none are left alive.

I manage to take down the entire supply of magic dummies on the field.

It takes a few minutes for all the dust and debris to clear out as the field is still burning with fire and ash. Magical knights run over to the intense fire to make sure it doesn't spread outside the arena. Even with enchantments, the destruction was so strong everybody was flabbergasted.

Gasps and murmurs spread throughout everyone who was present to witness the miracle. I didn't notice it too much since I feel lightheaded now. I fall to the ground, losing my grip on both wands. Captain Daelon and a few of the healing mages run over to me.

The Captain gives me some mana potions to restore my energy.

It works, luckily.

"You actually did it, kid. I am so proud of you."

The Captain says to me as he helps me to my feet. One by one, everyone comes to congratulate me except Professor Aldric, who is busy writing down notes incredibly fast. Ivy gives me a great big hug. Zephyr and Matteo give me a pat on the back. Neve says she is in awe, and Estes says they should write a novel about me.

Great compliments from all of them, though I am still in awe at myself from it.

"Write to King Grey immediately! Inform him about the updates with Viscount Lotus as well as the travel party in general. Please write to the others to speed up their arrival here if they can. If we act fast enough, we can turn the tides of this global war with the dragon and goblin continent around."

"If the Eradicators still exist, that is even more reason."

The Emperor says to his messengers loudly as soon as the dust clears. The messengers run off to create the letters and send them out to all the other countries as soon as possible. Captain Daelon walks back over to me with several small flasks of potions.

"Since you exceeded expectations this far, I would like you to fight one hundred of my magic knights to see how you fare against this many mages. None of them can use tenth affinity level magic, though they are still highly skilled, mind you."

The Captain says to me as I stand there in shock. He places the flasks of mana-restoring potions in my cloak pocket.

"Anytime you do start to feel like you are losing mana, drink one of these quickly. It will completely restore your mana to max capacity. These are very rare, mind you, to have instant mana restoration, so use them wisely. If you manage to eventually wipe out all one hundred soldiers, the Emperor says he will give you honorary nobility at the Duke level under Grand Duke Lancaster."

I look at him in disbelief. Why would the Emperor trust me this much? Is my power that astounding to warrant nobility? I tell Captain Daelon I do not need that, but it looks like I can't refuse. I glance at Grand Duke Lancaster, who seems to know what I am thinking. All he does is smile at me and wink.

Well, looks like I have no choice.

"When do we do this fight?"

"Tomorrow morning. Right now, you need to get some sleep after all of this. Right now, you are considered the strongest mage based on feats alone. You should be extremely proud of yourself, Viscount Lotus. The hope of humanity rests a lot on your shoulders. We are here to support you through and through."

He says as he places his hand on my shoulder. I thank him for the compliments and agree that I need some rest. I meet up with my friends and tell them I am heading up to bed a little early to sleep.

Once I reach my room, I take a shower and instantly flop myself onto my bed. The ceiling looks so fancy with its cool intricate designs. My hand reaches to my nightstand and picks up both of my wands.

Who knew I would make it this far in my journey?

Let's just hope tomorrow goes well.