Heretic

I was initially surprised but when I thought about it for a second time it all made sense. The man clearly stated that he was Lucan's descendant and since Lucan had abilities that were told to be the same as this heretic, it was easy to connect the dots and understand that Lucan's ancestor was the heretic. I had acquired some more pieces of this grand puzzle of questions that I had since I had come here and this was the opportunity to get some more.

"I thought you would be more surprised, but I guess you put the pieces together quite fast. Quite an intelligent lad you are. I suppose you still have questions for me, don't you? Ask away and be quick, I don't know how much time we have here" he said.

"What is this place and what exactly are you, are you a ghost? Are you a person? Why are you here?" I asked.

"Calm down a bit kid, I know this is overwhelming, but you need to keep your nerves. This place is a byproduct of the powers you have inherited from me. This place is all in your mind and you are dreaming right now. Your powers allow you to manipulate your conscience into entering this dream and you have full control over your 'body' in this space. If you have full control over your powers this dreamland can become anything you desire, but the drawback is that it only lasts for so long depending on your strength. The reason this whole place is filled with nothing is that you are too weak. The stronger you get the more control you have over this dream and the longer you can stay in it" he said.

I was in awe. If I were to believe what he was saying then this place is essentially a utopia. If I master these powers then God knows what I could do with them.

"Don't get ahead of yourself kid. Have you ever heard of the law of equivalent exchange? It is a law as old as time itself. There will always be a price to pay for power. The more powerful the power, the larger the price as well. Now, for your next question, I already told you who I am but as for what I am...I am neither a real person nor a ghost, I am a fragment of Ambros's memory. The real heretic had died centuries ago. In his dying moments, he used all his power to implant a fragment of himself, me, into his descendant and instructed me to warn the descendants who inherited the same power as himself".

"Over the years, No one has ever been able to awaken their powers, so the fragment was passed down from generation to generation until today, you are the only one in history who was able to awaken the dormant powers within you. My duty will finally be complete and I will be able to rest for eternity" he said.

"You said that your job was to warn me, what do you mean by that?" I asked.

"Brace yourself, this is going to get heavy. First and foremost, you need to know what your powers are, you already seem to know what magic is but you don't know how it works. This world has a fundamental source of energy called mana, mana exists in all things both organic and inorganic. Humans found a way to harness this energy and perform miracles of nature, this was the birth of magic. All humans are born with a certain set amount of mana in them and they cannot exceed that limit in their lifetimes. The more magic they perform, the more the mana is used, once this inherent mana is depleted, they are not able to perform magic for a certain amount of time until the mana regenerates" he explained

"What does magic do though? You said they are like miracles but what is it capable of? " I asked.

"Magic shows itself in the fundamental attributes of nature, namely fire, water, earth, and lightning. There are many subcategories and exceptions to this classification, but this is just a broad generalization. Fire and lightning are very destructive and suited for offensive attacks. In these cases, the mana is projected outward from your body to form a very destructive enchantment. Earth is an attribute that is unsuited for offense but the best at defense. They can strengthen their bodies and make their bodies like shields and take a lot of hits. In this case, they are using their mana to strengthen their own bodies. They can also control the ground beneath their feet to some extent and block attacks from others. Water attribute users can use both offensive and defensive enchantments, but the drawback is that they are much weaker power-wise on both fronts. A unique trait about this attribute though is its healing prowess, water attribute users are very good at healing their own as well the wounds of others provided that the wound isn't life-threatening".

As he was explaining the fundamentals to me, he showed me all the different types of attributes and their basic enchantments. It was truly like a miracle of nature and I was in complete awe of what I was seeing. A huge ball of fire destroying everything in its path, a lightning strike that would make you deaf, a huge wall of earth that was like an immovable object, and the agile and deadly strikes of water that slice anything in half.

"While all humans are technically able to use magic, in practice, only people who have a very high amount of intrinsic mana have any hope to use their powers usefully. These people are called mages, They work in different fields but most of them are either a part of the military or are nobles who use magic as a statement of power. Most mages can use only one attribute for their magic, but there are some who can use multiple attributes and they are considered to be the most skilled mages of that era".

"But you can use all the attributes, so why do people hate you so much? Whenever someone takes your name, they are terrified and an unquantifiable range exudes from them. Those bullies and the gang leader also had the same emotions. What did you do that made them so fearful?" I asked.

"I will pass on this very important advice to you kid, every single human has fears no matter how strong they may be. The source of all this fear is change, or rather, change with an unpredictable outcome. When the aftermath of this change is incalculable or different from the normal, humans fear it because they cannot control this outcome and feel threatened. Humans fear death because they do not know what happens after it, they fear the strong because they don't know what will happen if they fight them, they fear the people who are different from them because they don't know what their abnormalities are capable of, they feel threatened and do unspeakable things to alleviate these fears. I was also a victim... or rather a byproduct of this fear, and you will be too if you don't heed my warnings".

He had a grim expression on his face. It was clear that he was reliving some of his darkest memories, so I didn't interrupt him.

"As for what exactly I did to make them hate me so much, well, that doesn't matter. The heretic is already dead and his story is already over. The past does not concern you and you shouldn't even worry about it, this is a warning, not advice. I and you are anomalies in this world and we will never be normal again once we have awakened this power, at least, in the eyes of others. Our powers are not some otherworldly entity or something acquired from some devilish creature. Our powers simply exist because I and you weren't born with a mana limit. This allows us to have an infinite amount of mana and also allows us freely absorb mana from the surroundings" he said.

"What! Isn't this power too mighty then?" I shouted.

"Remember what I told you, kid, there is always a price to pay for your power. You can have infinite power only in theory but in reality, your body and mind can only handle so much in your current state. You are weak, extremely weak, especially physically. The reason you fainted was that your body was destroying itself as the amount of mana you were absorbing was too much for you" he said.

"But I didn't do it on purpose, every time I was hit, I just felt a surge of strength in me" I said.

"There are two very important aspects to your power, mind, and body. The body uses the power while the mind accumulates it. In a situation like you were in, where your mind's main priority is to protect itself, you unconsciously decided to use your latent powers but once you started you didn't know how to stop. You are much stronger mentally than Lucan was, so you were able to enter this space but he was unable to do so even when he used his powers so I couldn't warn him, he would be completely unconscious and even his physical body would become sedentary, this was the reason of the blanks you saw in his memories".

"The key to controlling your powers is very simple, strengthen your body and mind, and the threshold for your powers will be increased. This power can be your greatest strength but also the cause of your undoing, trust me I know. But the payoff for your efforts will be more than you could ever imagine. You said that you wanted to change your destiny, this power is capable of doing that" he said.

Suddenly there was a sound that felt that like glass shattering. This infinite white room was breaking and fragmenting into pieces and this whole place was going to come crashing down soon. In the midst of all this, Ambrose stepped forward and put his hands on my shoulders.

"Listen to me kid, we don't have much time here, this is my final advice to you. Your life... is going to be hard, it's going to be brutal and it will test you till the end of your days, but I promise you that it will all be worth it in the end. People will fear you, hate you, be threatened by you, and try to destroy you but even if the whole world wants you dead, find that one person who will stay by your side no matter what. Find someone who knows you more than you know yourself, live your life for that person's sake if you don't want to live a life for yourself, make that person the source of your strength and happiness. No matter what, don't give up, don't fall into despair, and don't make decisions you will regret for the rest of your life. No matter how hard it may seem at that time, keep moving forward. You have been given a second chance, use it wisely, and don't make the same mistakes that I did. Follow this advice, and you will never be the victim of your circumstances anymore"

As this world was crumbling all around us, I could only focus on the man's eyes. A single tear was falling down his cheek. In his eyes, I could see many regrets but I could see a sense of salvation as well. This man, through me, wants to accomplish what he couldn't. He wanted to absolve the guilt that he was shouldering for centuries and he saw me as the beacon of light that would help him do it. This man was also a victim of his circumstances just like me.

"This is farewell kid. This will be the last time we meet and the last time we talk. This is the start of your new journey, make full use of it. Life will throw one insurmountable hurdle at you one after another, but if you climb that hurdle, you will only get stronger. I have done my duty and now it's your turn to do yours. Make this hated man feel a little better by proving that he at least did one thing right in his life. Do what I wasn't able to do and pave the path to your destiny. Best of luck my child, please don't forget about me....."

He faded away as he said his last words, the ground beneath me also crumbled. As I was falling into the dark void, I could also feel my tears falling down my cheeks. I didn't ever think I would care so much for a man who I met mere minutes ago. I didn't think that I would be so determined to fulfill the wishes of another person so much. He didn't have to do all this, but he did because he didn't want me making the same mistakes as he did. I didn't know I could feel so much respect and gratitude for someone who I had just met. I felt it was my inherent duty of mine to show him that it was right to trust in me. I made a promise to myself that I will never forget him or what he said to me. I felt a newfound resolve in me to fight my destiny as I opened my eyes again.

What greeted me when I regained consciousness, however, were corpses strewn all over the floor, with stains of blood all around me. All the people who I had seen while being beaten were dead. Some had their head split open while and others had their eyes popping out of their sockets. Every corpse was lying in its pool of blood. I felt a weight in my right hand and when I looked at it, my mind went blank. It was the head of the gang leader with a petrified gaze and when I turned around there was a sprawling headless corpse spouting blood from its severed neck. This was my first insurmountable hurdle...