Who was that?

In a dark, cold, wintery forest, where there would normally be tranquility, a group of people were chasing a young man. If Alex were here he would be shocked because this young man was him.

"Do not let him get away! Kill him." a beautiful young lady who was clad in white screamed.

'This is troublesome, I might not be able to escape today. I guess I'll use that spell.' Just when they were closing in on him Alex cast a forbidden spell called, 'Black Death.'

Immediately black flames shot out in all directions from here he cast it, but to his pursuer's surprise, nothing happened at all, then again if you were to look carefully you would see black dots forming on most of their foreheads.

"Flames of darkness kill their souls and let them serve me as a host. Destroy my enemies." Alex chanted out, they thought nothing of it at first until some of the weaker cultivation levels started to attack each other.

That's right they were not mages, they were Martial Cultivators.

"Celestial Swordplay." a young man's voice could be heard and suddenly, a piercing howl sounded through the sky and without notice, all those who had been affected by 'Black Death' we're killed. If the people of this realm world saw the young man they would be shocked because he was Li Feng the Sword Emperor.

'Black Death' was forbidden a high-tier flame magic. Normally flames would burn your body but this flame heads straight for the soul, eating it away slowly, making you suffer a pain worse than death. You would also lose control of your body and attack the closest person to you. This process will go on forever until your soul has been devoured completely or until you've been killed.

Alex saw his plan had failed so he tried creating a diversion, "Explosion!" before changing the direction he was heading, but could he escape?

"Ice temple." It was the young woman from earlier, her frosted gaze looked as if it could freeze anything in place, She was the Ice Empress.

Unfortunately, Alex couldn't escape in time, he was caught, held captive by the martial tactic cast by the Ice Empress.

"Li Feng, I thought you were my friend, how could you do this to me? WHY?" Alex was breaking down but received no reply from Li Feng.

"It seems like even your friends have abandoned you lad." this person speaking was the Flame Emperor, Tang Xuan, but just as he was about to continue, he felt a cold breeze just below his chin.

"Continue talking and you'll lose a lot more than just your beard." it was Li Feng.

After staring at Li Feng for a while, Alex started laughing. He laughed and laughed, which made everyone around him wary, then he stopped. Looking towards the sky he said, "I have fallen, I lost this fight, dear God I'll use your wish at last."

"It seems he's gone mad! Hmph. Don't worry Alex I'll finish this quick." the Flame Emperor was getting impatient.

Casting his martial tactic he said, "Undying Flame."

But just before it could reach Alex he said something, no one knew what he said nor did they notice him saying anything. they would likely never know what he said because...

He was burnt to a crisp.

.....

"AHH!" Alex shouted with fear as he woke up. He started touching his body as if to check if he was still alive, "It was only a dream?"

Milo came rushing to his aid as soon as he heard the scream, "Alex! You alright?"

"Yh, I'm fine just a bad dream." Alex didn't feel comfortable talking about it, what was he going to say? I just saw myself getting burnt to death?

"Ok." Milo didn't ask any further, "Well if there's nothing else I'll get back to studying."

But before he could leave Alex stopped him, "Studying?"

"Yes. The Academy gave us another test, to be more precise they are giving us one final chance to prove ourselves."

"Oh?"Alex was intrigued.

"We were brought to the hall of spell and we're told to choose three beginner spells. One for attack, defense and agility. Then they told us that we were to study those spells for three months and after that, they would check what kind of progress we made on the spells."

"Interesting, well best of luck with that, I'll head to the library before breakfast to read a book or two."

"Ok then, later." and Milo went back to what he was doing.

...

Alex was headed to the library he'd been there a few times so he knew his way around.

On his way there he couldn't stop thinking about the dream he had, 'The man they were after looked exactly like me, a little older yes, but no mistaking that it was me.'

After a while he gave up, 'It was just a dream no need to take it so seriously, and just because he looks like I don't mean it's me.'

He had a point there were lots of people who looked exactly the same in the world.

...

He arrived at the library doors, they were always wide open, and inside was a big hall around the size of one-quarter of a football field, filled with books and bookshelves. After greeting the librarian at the counter he went in.

He searched for something to read for quite a while, and finally settled on a book he saw, called 'Adventures'

Sitting at one of the tables available in the library he began to read, and the story was quite interesting.

It was about a boy named Aries who yearned to be the strongest there was, he went through various trials, and eventually, he succeeded, but suddenly he disappeared.

But before he left, he created a realm in which living things could dwell in. He called it Apotheosis.

"Apotheosis isn't the name of our realm. Oh no, the time has passed, I guess I got too into it. I should meet up with Milo and the others for breakfast."

Just as he was about to put the book back on the shelve, he dropped it and a page fell out, he didn't notice it when he was reading.

"That's weird, oh there's something written on it, Lost In Crea..." but before he could finish his sentence he fainted.

.....

"Wake up kid!" A voice that sounded like it came from the mouth of a 5-year-old boy spread throughout a certain mansion.

"Where am I? Ugh why does this always happen?" Alex who had clearly just woken up couldn't shake the feeling of how strange this day kept getting.

"You are in 'The Great Mage's Mansion!' also known as 'The Creator's Palace.' Hey, kid, shouldn't you respect your elders, why haven't you responded yet?" This kid had to have eye problems otherwise he would clearly see that he was the child in the situation.

"And you are?" Alex stared at the boy as if looking at an idiot, 'We're children always so brave?'

"Oh, I guess you wouldn't know. I'm the guardian of this palace. My name is Arthur. My master was once the greatest mage that ever lived, and he left behind this palace before he left."

"Yh, sure and I created our world." Alex immediately burst out laughing, as if he'd heard the greatest joke of his life. Greatest mage? Then what was his mansion doing in a place as remote as the Clover Kingdom?

"Kid...Silence!" immediately the temperature dropped by several degrees. It was so cold that Alex was shivering and gasping for air. It was Killing Intent'

Immediately he understood whose territory he was in, and that he was to abide by the rules given by the master of that territory.

"Y-yes..." He was as timid as a mouse barely having any courage to go against this opponent.

"Oh sorry about that! I got a bit carried away." Arthur apologized as he scratched the back of his head, with a smile.

'Monster!' Alex was still shivering in fear and dared not utter a single word.

"So since you've come here it means that you are destined to be the next Palace owner and in turn my master."

"You are kidding, right? I mean, you're so strong." Alex started to panic, he wasn't able to keep calm and analyze like he normally did.

"Yh I wouldn't want trash to be my master either, but what can I say I don't really have a choice. There are 3 tests one must take to officially become Palace Master. We'll start when you reach Beginner's 1st-grade Mage. I think the people of your continent call it Dark Indigo tier." Unlike what he displayed earlier, Arthur was being quite patient.

"Beginner 1st-grade Mage? Dark Indigo tier?" Alex wasn't stupid so he quickly figured out what was going on. He'd read in an ancient text that the strongest magicians we're Dark indigo tier magicians, and now someone was telling that is only the first grade of magic?

"Yes, do I need to explain that as well?" Arthur was confused, 'Did I make a mistake, does he not know what Dark indigo tier magicians are?'

"No that's not necessarily. I was just shocked because Dark indigo tier mages are legends, the top of our continent. It's basically impossible to become one, and you're telling me that it's only the starting point? Don't tell me you're a higher tier mage than that?" Alex was on a breakdown because no matter how he looked at it the kid wasn't making any sense.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I mean!" Arthur said floating around like a plane, not having care in the world. "Oh by the way have you ever heard of Aura?"

"Aura?"

"Yes, it's basically Martial arts for mages, a sort of counter to those Martial Cultivators."

"Martial, Cultivators? As in the Eastern people who cultivate trying to defy the heavens." Once again Alex's knowledge came too light.

Arthur was getting a little annoyed that Alex wasn't asking as many questions as he thought he would. "Yes! They are quite strong and mages have a big disadvantage against them because unlike us they don't have to chant spells to attack they can release their attacks instantaneously. So Aura can make up for that disadvantage."

"Oh, in what way?"

"We'll come back to this topic when you've reached Light Green tier." Arthur felt delighted when he realized that Alex still wasn't strong enough to utilize anything in the palace.

"Oh yeah, where am I? I swear I was in the library not too long ago." he had just realized that this mansion was nowhere near the Academy.

"That's all for now. Remember to always keep that book with you. Now goodbye!" Arthur was in a rush to get Alex out of his sight.

And before he knew it he blacked out.