What If I Am Not What You Had Expected?

Ambrose and Charlotte got along pretty well, he also learned a lot from her. It is safe to say this is one of the very few times Ambrose is genuinely interested in someone.

Thanks to her, he learned to safely pull energy from a dark realm. I added the word 'safe' because there have been many accidents that come with pulling magical energy from dark realms.

According to Charlotte, if care isn't taken when using dark energy as an Alchemist, a Forge Master, or with whatever spell you plan on executing, you may end up infecting yourself with it, which will most likely attract the Negative realm. Thus, the unfortunate individual will completely lose his/her mind and will be possessed by pure negative emotional explosions and become a demon with the lust for destruction.

"There are two major categories of spiritual energy," says Charlotte, "And we know them as Mana and KI. I suppose you already know that."

"Indeed, I do," Ambrose replied with a nod.

"Mana, also known as essence or realm, has four known magical realms," Charlotte continued. "We know them as Blue Realm, Light Realm, Dark Realm, and Negative Realm. To better understand them, this is an image of how these realms look like,"

She opened a comprehensive book, at the pages that explain magical realms. There are also detailed images to help its readers have a better understanding.

Ambrose could feel his heart pounded as he sets his eyes on the Images of the realms. Why does the Negative realm look very similar to the one he possesses? Does that mean what he thought is a dark realm is a lot worse than that?

That explains why he occasionally hears a kind of demonic voice in his head, telling him to stop hiding his true identity. What does that even mean? What was he before Ackley found him?

The Blue Realm, as it is called, looks very similar to a gentle blue flame. All realms have the same outlook but different colors. However, the Negative Realm looks more like a violent darkish red flame with the desire to consume everything it touches, this is how it feels whenever Ambrose views it.

It's no wonder the blue sealing spell could not hold it in, but just end up becoming nutrition to it.

"Does that mean Dark Realms are dangerous?" Ambrose needed to understand what he was dealing with.

"Not necessarily," says Charlotte, "But because it has close connections with the Negative Realm, mages who have direct access to it are usually viewed as demons,"

"What about mages who possess the Negative Realm?"

"Those who possess Negative Realm are known as Dark Mage and they are extremely rare, which is a good thing if you ask me,"

"Negative Realm users have what we call a dark alter-ego with full negative traits present in them. This makes it very difficult for Dark Mages to keep their emotions in check. With a brief outburst, they can do tremendous destructions to anything on their path." Charlotte had a fierce expression while saying this.

"Alter-ego," Ambrose mumbles with a thoughtful expression. He is getting more clarification, which would be very useful in the long run.

The need to seal his dark magical realm has become more urgent...

"Is there a problem?" Charlotte noticed Ambrose's expression of worry.

"No, nothing at all," says Ambrose in reply. "Please continue," he said.

"Don't worry, the chances of encountering Dark Mages are close to impossible. Like I said earlier, they are extremely rare, almost none existent."

'Except one is currently sitting right in front of you,' Ambrose thought.

"As for Dark realm users, they are not as rare as those of Negative Realms. That doesn't mean they are vicious individuals. They are only referred to as demons by critical people."

"So that means they aren't innately bad,"

"Exactly. People only fear them due to how powerful they can be. Coupled with their mana source, which is a close relative to the Negative Realm. Thus, those who fear them, came up with the name; Demons."

"Have you ever met someone who has direct access to the Dark Realm?" Ambrose asked.

"Not really,"

"Then how do you know they are not bad?"

"My dad has met a few of them," says Charlotte, "He used to fear Dark Realm users, but all of that stopped a long time ago as he gets to know them personally."

"Being evil has nothing to do with the nature of your realm,"

"What about those who possess not Dark but Negative Realm, the ones you call Dark Mage?"

"I... I can't say," Charlotte had a little difficulty giving answers to that... understandably so.

From their long-lasting discussion, Ambrose understands a few things about her. One of which is the fact that she inspires to become a Forge Master and currently has a private teacher helping her get better at what she loves doing.

She has two elder brothers and two younger siblings, most of which, as she said earlier, are not interested in learning magic no matter how much their father persuades them. So it turns out, all the magic books he painstakingly gathered are of no use... something like that.

. . .

Unfortunately, it is time for Ambrose to go, since Ackley is done with whatever he came here for.

"You can come to visit us whenever you want to," Says Chief Barden with a friendly smile. He could see how close Ambrose and his daughter have become.

Barden also handed a Class B magic instructional book to Ambrose. "Keep this, you will need it," he said.

Ambrose suddenly became the center of attention due to the fact he is the son of a well-known individual in the city, and yes, a few of them still recognized him from two years ago.

While stepping out, most of the maids and cooks bid them goodbye in enthusiasm...

While about steps out of the premises, Little_Blue pops its head out for the third time and revealed its tongue to the cooks who had been tirelessly searching for it, saying; "You can never catch me now,"

"That rodent!" the elderly cook said in silence while biting her lips.

.

.

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Late in the night, while the family was asleep, Ambrose, as usual, was still awake. He could not sleep soundly even if he tried to, especially due to what he had learned from Charlotte.

The thought of his Negative Mana growing stronger worries him a lot. It is just a matter of time before he finally turns into a mindless demon.

With the new sense of urgency, Ambrose dive into his inner consciousness once again, this time, he is committed to sealing his Negative Mana to prevent any further growth from it until he is strong enough to control this power without losing his mind... Failure is not an option.

In his mana box where both of his energy sources are located, two vividly bright Magical Energy are relentlessly radiating their celestial aura, one gave a calm impression while the other one, as you already know, has a violent aura.

It could discern Ambrose's intention of sealing it, and as you might have guessed, the Negative Mana could not bring itself to accept its fate. No! it doesn't want to be caged again, and it made it known.

Ignoring any disturbance, Ambrose waves a hand_sign with a slightly precise difference and the same process happened once again, except this magic circle has a different color and 2aura compared to the previous one.

The Negative realm fought to prevent itself from getting sealed, the realm's reactions mean it knows it won't be able to break through this sealing technique so easily as the last one, which reassured Ambrose and motivates him to keep up with what he is doing.

Minutes passed by quickly as Ambrose fought with his powerful will as he concentrates a lot of magical energy to feed the Rejuvenation Seal. Gradually, the Seal-Box trapping his Dark Realm gets stronger and overwhelms it. The Negative Mana tried to break out repeatedly but with Ambrose's control, none of its attempts were of any success, though Ambrose had a hard time suppressing the negative aura emitted by Negative Realm.

Strange written figures appeared on the SeaL-Box, which completes the process... The Negative Realm had been put at bay.

*Sigh*

It is done, and Ambrose could finally breathe a sigh of relief. To his surprise, what Ambrose thought was a few minutes is hours of meditation, all of which he hadn't noticed until now.

... It's almost daytime.

"Can't sleep?" Ackley, who had woken up just a while ago, sat close to his son.

"Yeah," Ambrose replied.

"You know you can talk to me," says Ackley.

Ambrose needed someone he could trust. That doesn't mean he doesn't trust his family, but having to understand how dangerous he might become in the future, he is not sure how they would react to this.

Dark Mages are feared beings known to destroy and bring everything down to nothing, and a Dark Mage is exactly what Ambrose is. So yeah, it would not be a surprise if his family becomes scared of him. Thus, Ambrose could not bring himself to reveal this to them, at least not yet.

"What if you find out I am not what you had expected?" Ambrose asked Ackley. You can already tell why he is doing this.

"You are my son and nothing is going to change that," says Ackley in conviction.

This did not move Ambrose, maybe a little, but he still has doubts, so he is going to keep his big secret to himself...

"If you say so," says Ambrose. He is not in his usual mood and Ackley sensed this, except he wasn't sure what the problem is.