Where It All Started

The ancient device was not in the surroundings of the city, but on a small mountain valley east of the city. Made of a strange material, a giant orb with an inky black fluid within it.

When Roderick stepped towards it, he sensed this piece of ancient technology was way above anything he had seen before. The ground around it was solid and dark,

"This orb is the energy reservoir of the whole island. The perfect mix between old technology and elemental powers. You just need to press your hand on the orb to transfer the energy." The moment Roderick approached the orb, a white-dressed Sky appeared right before him and said those words.

"I see..." Roderick put his only hand on the orb and closed his eyes. He was back to the world of darkness, however, it swiftly started to change as the ball of blue light started to crack, spreading its light to the entire world.

BUZZZ!

Thunder and lightning surrounded his body followed by a pillar of light. In a matter of seconds, the whole orb was filled to the brim with blue light, looking almost the same as the blue sphere in his body.

"Great, you really are something else. When it is time to activate the device, all other energy will turn off all over the city with the protective barrier. You will have approximately one hour before we lose the energy barrier." The moment Sky said this he vanished. Suddenly, the barrier surrounding the island was becoming weaker and weaker, they had a few moments before it turned off.

Even with all the energy he provided, Sky would have to take the power from all other areas to support the device's activation.

"Five minutes, so be it." Roderick had told his plan to the others, Ares had spread their forces throughout all the sectors. He would stay with the northern sector together with Mel and the allied forces to delay the enemy.

Soon, he arrived at the entrance to the Northern sector's 1st high school. Mel was waiting for him in a blue dress. Because they needed a place big enough to gather the elemental masters, Roderick had suggested was this high school the meeting place.

"You are late. Take this mask, the others are in the auditorium." Roderick accepted the mask from Mel and put on his face. It was the same model he was used to, so he didn't feel any discomfort. It was the second when he put his feet in the auditorium did a strong sense of deja vu hit him right in the face.

The elemental masters summoned for this emergency mission were all from in the third stage. In the rows of chairs Roderick saw himself in the day he lost many things, with a sigh he walked forward.

"I've returned to where it all started." He thought in his heart.

The second he stepped into the auditorium, all the eyes staring forward turned their heads to see him. Roderick wore a casual shirt without hiding his missing arm as he walked down the auditorium with Artemis on his left. They agreed he would only call her Mel when alone.

Within the crowd, he spotted several familiar faces like Liam, Nerys, Gaius and a few of his seniors from this same school. Few of those had the same age as him, but he recognized all of them. He also saw Nerys, who was staring downwards at a thin bell on her wrist as if praying for something, and her brother who was staring at him full of astonishment.

"Sis! Sis!" Gaius pulled her arm repeatedly. His chubby face was even fatter than before, but at that moment his eyes were wide open.

"What is it, Gaius?" Nerys turned to see what her Brother wanted to show her and she gasped. While Nerys always talked of that day when she saw the divine guardian's Jupiter was very similar to Roderick, he just thought it was her hope and dreams clouding her judgement. Something that had nothing to do with reality, but now seeing the man himself with dark hair and the fact he didn't have a right arm. It was too hard to call it a coincidence.

Even from far away, he saw tears swelling in her eyes as he felt a headache. Those three years were more than enough for him to remove Nerys from his heart, well, as his first love, her shadow would always be there in his heart, but it wasn't like he wanted to be with her again.

As if reading his thoughts, Artemis puts her hand over his and grasped firmly. Hand in hand, they arrived in front of all the elemental masters. Nerys saw both of them holding hands and felt sour in her heart.

Meanwhile, Roderick also found something funny as he exchanged glances with a man in the first row, third chair. Liam seemed a lot mature than the last time Roderick has seen the former, and he smiled when seeing the young lady holding his arm happily.

Her face was familiar to both him and Artemis, she was that young lady that was in the airship when the flame union attacked, a water-element master in the second stage, third stage now. The shiny ring on her finger was enough to see they were pretty happy right now. He was also pretty surprised when he saw Roderick, but then his expression eased and he nods with his head.

"Hello everyone, I'm the Divine Guardians number seven, Jupiter. I was supposed to be telling a lot a lies here to make you risk your life fighting for something not even your leaders know if it will work, but I will be honest with you. A small force of humans working for elemental beasts has awaken a strange, but powerful creature which seeks to wipe out both humans and beasts out of this planet. And this same creature is the same mass of red that surrounded our city, and soon its power would be enough to blow up the whole world." Roderick rose his hand and showed the video with the blood golem killing the church. Whispers and the sounds of screams were heard in the crowd. Most of them were commoners that didn't even understand the level of a king, much less something like this.

"Right now, we are in disadvantage, but we are working on a device that will transport this whole island far away. This is why you were called here, soon, the barrier around the city will vanish and we must gain enough time for this device to activate."

"However, this is just one of the many trials the human race must face if they want to stand in this world. And so, there is no reason for me to hide behind a mask anymore."With his only hand, he removed his mask in the blink of an eye revealing his face to those in the crowd.

"My real name is Roderick Graham, and I'm the first elemental master of thunder." His arm suddenly transformed into a mass of pure lightning.