Feelings

In a faraway continent, within the embraces of Nature, also known as Underground, was a boy who was walking aimlessly in a dark cave.

This boy, as he took eventual steps onto the mystery, held his fear and anger by the leash. In his mind, unrest turns to ease, resentment seethes before turning to underlying fury. Grief and lament that was chaotically eating at him receded as he forced himself to calm down, although his version of calm was slowly twisting, like a thief gradually opening a doorknob in the middle of the night.

He eventually reached a sunken entrance, leading to a glimmering cave network. Crystals illuminated the walls as the mana became so heavy it was visible. Little sprites of light jumping from one gemstone onto another, like little frogs in a swamp. He was amazed but he snapped out after remembering his objective of coming here.

«I'm here because of my own fault. I'm too reckless, I'm too arrogant, I'm too pretentious. Now, I should learn and overcome those who are trying to kill my parents. This is my true goal as a Mage King.»

He found Truyle standing on one of her toes as she stood like a Yoga Instructor. She opened her eyes and stared deeply into him, staring and researching his emotions that he wore on his sleeves.

"If you want power, you need to learn. Feelings, a fragile thing that makes or breaks people. Liches are born from unending rage or underlying revenge. Heroes are born from intense feelings of justice or self-doubt.

"They're the same, but because of their feelings, they're also different. Can you tell me why that is?" Truyle asked as she shifted positions, holding her legs upwards, tightening it in front of her chests with her arms.

Red pondered over the question carefully as he assumed basic gymnastic postures, all thanks to one of his lives. He tried to look into the concept if Liches and Heroes in their shoes while his breathing assumed a calm and silent rhythm.

«A Lich is represented as an Undead King, and a Hero is represented as the Symbol of Hope. Death and Life. Yin and Yang.»

"They are the same because of the emotions that push them forward, not because of their circumstances?" Red asked as his foot remained on the ground and his other foot took on a bent position.

"That's both correct and wrong. They're indeed the same because of the emotions that push them, and exactly because of their circumstances. A Hero that has defeated the strongest evil in the world becomes the evil of the world.

"Justice is confused with Religion, when in reality, Justice is impartial on both sides. As long as the will is strong, Justice chooses that side.

"In other words, you can say that there is no real Justice, just a sliver of hope people have and hold onto. Do you understand?"

Red stared at her before nodding. He put his palms on the ground as he started to support himself through his hands.

"Heroes are born from war, destruction, and terror, whilst Liches are born from the same circumstances, but in politics and rich man fights. They both want to eradicate what hurts them, that's the feeling that pushes them forward." Red added as he closed his eyes, intaking all the information.

"That is indeed correct. Feelings are indeed very fragile. Now, for you to be either a lich or a hero, it is up to you. What you need to do though, is harness your feelings and call upon the elements to gather within you.

"First, the process called Feeling. I brought you here so you can easily feel the mana and the elements in the air. Once you have a feel for it, you can slowly absorb it to your body and circulate it to your brain, your heart, and your hands. This process is called Calling."

Red nodded, as he started to gather all the mana around him, letting it phase through his skin and muscles. He let it all form into an intangible ball of mana, before enveloping his brain with the said mana.

The sensation he felt was soothing, to be frank. He felt like a thousand kids were telling him cheeky little secrets, never to be known by anyone but him. He also felt the playfulness of these voices and felt the dread in some.

He understood that these were the elements in the mana, slowly being introduced to him. He let the mana stay around his brain before retrieving it. He now let the mana flow through his spine and slowly 'drip' to his heart, filling it instead of coating it.

«This feels like a snake trying to slowly wrap around my chest. It doesn't feel that nice»

His chest felt like exploding, but he endured. If the mana on his brain felt like a soothing mistress giving you comfort from a long day, this one felt like the betrayal of said mistress with an uglier but richer man who did not have to suffer his entire life.

He endured until the end, up until he felt something click within him.

«That's it. My body is supposed to be the "perfect vessel". So if I continue to nurture it in this path, I'll deteriorate it. Instead of forcing the mana to change or alter my body, I need it to give sustenance to my body!»

Red felt enlightenment settle within him as he decided to gather more mana from around him, coalescing it into a vague hamburger shape. He giggled and stuffed it into his stomach, but was surprised to witness the mana actually dispersing in his stomach instead of staying.

DING!

「User has unlocked skill: Mana Feeder.」

「Mana Feeder has been integrated with Innate Skill Predator」

「Evolved into Gourmet」

「Gourmet

Rank: Earth

Description: Gourmet uses the

principle of consuming

and allows user to consume

and own any skill from eaten

object/person. It has a

cooldown of 5 hours.

Side Effects:

•Boosted Metabolism

•Magical Stomach

•Strong Stomach

•Nullify Poison」

Red nodded at his notifs and started to absorb the mana from his surroundings and shoved it into his stomach, making him reach his pre-set quota of eating a few kilograms of food.

He absorbed and absorbed, before letting his thoughts stray further and further as he continued, even speeding up, his mana consuming.

«If there are the Primary Elements, like Fire and Water, and Combined Elements, like Mist, Blazing Roots, and the like. Are there Origin type Elements like Space, Time, and Sound?»

「To answer User's query, there is indeed a category of magic called Origin. It consists of the 5 Governing Elements: Life, Death, Space, Sound, and Time.」

Red felt that it was too coincidental, so he tried to call forth the element of Life. He surrounded his thoughts with things that represent life; plants, animals, humans, and the world itself.

It didn't take long for the Life element to settle within him like the primary elements. However, unlike the primary elements, Life did not get locked, as it is too strong to get locked, but remained dormant.

Red felt that it should be as easy, so he called forth Death. Summoning his thoughts of moments before his— Bryan's— death. He also wracked his brain and tried to remember the deaths of the previous bodies.

One died of poisoning, another by suicide. One jumped off a cliff, while another was shot on the head. All of them were unpleasant and gruesome, but it got the job done as Death followed his mentality and settled within him.

Red, who repeatedly called forth Origin Elements, suddenly felt a tightening feeling in his chest.

When he looked, he didn't see physical harm befalling him, so he tried to see it with his mana. What he saw was the elements — the Origin elements — colliding with each other, mixing and merging, before spitting each other out.

He couldn't control the pain as the Abyss Element was forming within him; the Chaos Element.

He tried to separate the elements, but they only clung to each other like stickers. He used his mana like a blade and tried to extract them from each other, only causing more mayhem as Chaos' creation was sped up with Red's panic.

His body felt pain all over, as his vision slowly started fading out.