Chapter 23 : Lincoln (Present)

The alvan had no sense of time.

It was four in the morning when he popped into Lincoln's room and woke him up. It seemed Lincoln wasn't the only one with news. The alvan looked stressed as if he was forced to make a decision not too long ago, a decision he didn't quite like.

"Our leaders have requested your presence in Alvanian. I'll take you there in a week from now." Aytrex spoke. "Why is that?" Lincoln asked. "They want to meet the first human energy manipulator," Aytrex replied. Something about this made Lincoln feel honoured, and a little proud of who he was. That feeling was then replaced with excitement and curiosity as he'll be going to a new planet for a while. A new planet, a whole new ecosystem, Lincoln wondered how all that would turn out.

"But before that, there's a test you need to pass," Aytrex added.

A test? What was it for? "What is it?" Lincoln asked and got out of his bed. "I'll explain later. Now, you had something you wanted to tell me?" Aytrex replied and leaned against the curtains. "I heard a voice." Lincoln started. "A voice? Who's?" Aytrex asked. "I'm not sure. But this connection with the voice felt so much like the connection I had with the power. I can't explain it, but it felt so familiar. One moment I was talking to my wife, and the next I'm in this dark tunnel where I heard that voice, but I can only remember its words." Lincoln continued and rubbed his forehead.

"Tell me what you remember then," Aytrex spoke and opened Lincoln's curtains to let the light into the dark room. "It's automatic," Lincoln said, referring to the curtains. "Oh," Aytrex replied and gestured Lincoln to continue.

He nodded and relayed everything the voice had told him when he was unconscious. "And then I wake up, I don't think it was finished with what it wanted to say, but it last said something about bonding," Lincoln explained. A look of realization dawned on Aytrex's face. "I see. So, you suddenly lost consciousness, without any memory of how you did." Aytrex confirmed.

"Now that you mention it, I feel a blank spot between the time I spoke to my wife and losing consciousness. The same empty feeling in my memories when they're taken away by this power." Lincoln added, and Aytrex nodded. "You were probably going to get rid of the stone. And so, it went through its normal procedure of making you forget ever trying to do it and then appearing back into your pocket. However, this time it had a message for you too." The alvan concluded.

Lincoln nodded in agreement, "I thought so too."

"Now then," Aytrex said as Lincoln's room began to light up more with the sun rising. The light shone into the alvan's hair, it looked enchanting, almost like a flame. "Your test," Aytrex said and placed his arm on Lincoln's shoulder. "Where are we going?" He asked. "I'll explain once we're there." The alvan replied before they teleported away.

They reappeared on a hill, in the middle of a desert. The heat had already started overwhelming Lincoln as sweat dripped from his brow. "Where are we?" Lincoln said as he looked around. "We're in a canyon, this is where you'll be fighting Crescent," Aytrex explained.

"Who's Crescent? And why am I fighting?" Lincoln asked, suddenly scared. "Someone from our planet is coming to Earth. He goes by the name Crescent, and he's a wielder. I'm not allowed to reveal his ability, however, as he wanted to show you himself. He has challenged you to a duel, one in which the majority of Alvanian will be watching." Aytrex clarified. "A duel? What?" Lincoln asked as his heart pounded against his chest. With a guy from another planet? Someone who may as well be more experienced than me? Lincoln thought to himself, his fear visible to Aytrex.

The alvan chuckled, which was a rare sight for Lincoln. "Don't worry, I have a feeling you'll do well. Think of this as training, but bear this in mind Crescent fights with killing intent, and so I suggest you do the same." Aytrex warned. Lincoln shook his head, what's going on? He couldn't just have everything decided for him? Can't Lincoln have a say in this too? "I haven't even agreed to the duel yet." He deadpanned.

"Yes, you have all the rights to turn this duel down. But keep this in mind, you have gotten yourself quite a reputation on our planet. You go by many titles, the 'First Energy Manipulator of the Solar System', the 'Crimson Wielder', the 'First Cyber Wielder'. Even though Crescent is one of our own there seem to be more alvans rooting for you. Are you ready to disappoint them? There's someone with a real-time streaming ability, she will be here to watch this fight, and through her, there will be millions if not billions of alvan's watching too. So, what's it going to be Lincoln Blaze?" Aytrex asked, knowing he'd hit Lincoln in the right spot. The alvan did sound sympathetic too, however.

This was probably why Aytrex seemed stressed earlier.

Great. He thought to himself with a sigh. "This is an unfair battle, I have no idea about my opponent's ability, while he knows it all. But fine, I'll go with it." Lincoln said, for some reason, he now felt motivated and yearning for the fight. "I'm sorry, but let's look at it like this. A highly inexperienced energy manipulator goes against the wielder our energy manipulator had troubles with. If you do win, you'll earn an even better reputation. And since that'll be passing your test then once you go to Alvanian you'll have a lot of respect." Aytrex said, trying to boost Lincoln's spirits.

"What the hell? Your energy manipulator, who's far more experienced with his power had troubles with this guy? There's no way I'm going to win this." Lincoln said. Aytrex facepalmed, Lincoln then saw how comfortable he was starting to be around him. He started to finally see the teenage alvan was finally acting his age, "I knew I shouldn't have said that. Well, it's either you win or you die. I told you the day we met; you're going to be tested with killing intent. If you die, there will come another energy manipulator. And if you live, you're worth enough for the power." Aytrex reminded him.

"How can I be tested for my worth when I have no training with the power?" Lincoln asked, frustration all over his face. Aytrex tapped his forehead, "It's all in here. Energy manipulators are classified as a top tier creation ability. So, all you have to do is be creative. And I'm going to let you in on a little secret." Aytrex spoke. "What is it?" Lincoln asked, still not hiding his tone of annoyance.

Lincoln jumped from the hill he was in. He then warped and reappeared on the flat base of the canyon, if Lincoln was being forced to a duel, he was going to choose where he'll fight from. He then felt a soft tap on his shoulder, turned around and made eye contact with a tall man. He was dressed in light clothing, to best accommodate the heat. His hair was jet black and he had bright blue diamond-shaped eyes that shone the same way Aytrex's did. "My name is Carzen, I'm from the teleporters guild, and I'm the person who has brought your opponent." The man said.

A guild? Lincoln guessed that was how wielders were divided in Alvanian.

Carzen then teleported to the top of the hill and was engaged in a conversation with Aytrex. Behind where the tall teleporter was standing was another man. He was almost the same height as Lincoln and his hair was brown with pale diamond-shaped eyes. However, for some strange reason, his eyes did not shine as Aytrex's did. Nevertheless, Lincoln was sure this man was his opponent. "I'm guessing you are Crescent," Lincoln spoke, and the man nodded. "And you are Lincoln Blaze. It is an honour to meet you." Crescent said, stretching out his hand, which Lincoln shook.

He was surprised alvans had similar greetings to humans, or it could just be that this alvan was familiar with things the humans do.

"Well, then shall we start?" Crescent asked and Lincoln grinned, "It already did." He said and moved to fire an energy blast. However, before he could do so, he was blown away by an invisible force and Lincoln was sent flying back towards the walls of the canyon.

Before his back could touch the wall, he disappeared and reappeared back few feet ahead, where his mysterious opponent was nowhere to be found. Lincoln looked around and spotted Crescent running on top of one of the hills. He then disappeared once again and reappeared in midair next to his opponent, his arms charging as he went in for a punch when suddenly his body froze in midair. He felt hands all over his body as if he was strangled by an invisible force.

Crescent stopped running and made eye contact with Lincoln, a grin slowly forming in his face as he thrust his palm a few centimetres away from Lincoln's chest. A few moments after doing so, Lincoln screamed agony as he started feeling pain equivalent to being stabbed in the chest by a blade. He struggled within the invisible grasp, but his body wouldn't move.

He was then again sent flying back down by the same invisible force, and he fell twenty feet towards the ground.

Lincoln's breath caught up in his throat as he fell, the wind smashing against his hair as he thought of his next move. He then blasted the ground until there was dust everywhere, he then fell into the dust screen, completely blinding his opponent to his whereabouts.

Crescent slid down the walls of the canyon and made his way to where Lincoln fell. When the dust cleared Crescent could see him, lying on the ground, knocked out completely. He chuckled disappointingly, "That wasn't even a challenge." He commented as his shadow merged with the shadows of the canyon and shot towards Lincoln, tearing him completely.

But He just disintegrated into particles of energy.

"What?!" Crescent yelled as his instincts made him turn his head right, to see Lincoln coming at his head with a kick. But before his foot could come into contact with its mark, Crescent's shadow caught Lincoln's, completely restricting his movements and keeping him suspended in midair. "There's no point trying the same thing again," Crescent said, clearly amused at this, before this Lincoln disintegrated too. Crescent then looked around, trying to make sense of what was happening.

"And I'm going to let you in on a little secret." He remembered Aytrex saying. "What is it?" Lincoln had asked. "While us alvans are more powerful than you humans, we are less smart, hence less creative. For example, I have never seen our energy manipulator use clones before. Use this information wisely." Aytrex had explained. Lincoln grinned at this, "Very well, I will."