Uncommon Sense

The vibrations of the carriage slowed with the ascent to the Inner North. A group of nine Orange core hunters at the ages of eleven and twelve had banded together. There were two ice affinities, two fire, two earth, two wind, and one water.

"So Elijah, what happened in The Catacombs for you to come back alone?" A blue eyed boy asked with golden short hair.

"Uhhhh, I was actually approved for a solo mission." Elijah slightly lowered his head and eyes to seem like he wasn't all powerful and was sent into a cave system that was practically already cleared.

"Elijah." The brown-haired man with teal eyes spoke next. "You are a water mage, was your mission pretty empty on purpose?"

One action crossing his mind was the idea of showing the two orange beast cores to the group. Elijah has been sick of seeming like a weak child, especially when his muscles are hidden by his clothes. Unfortunately, it is necessary. "Yes, it was mainly a scout mission to make sure the previous party actually cleared the cave system. What mission did you guys come from?"

Eyes were staring at Elijah for good and bad reasons. It seemed they were either jealous of a scout mission, or they were simply being kids with stupid grudges.

"Are you participating in the tournament in a couple of weeks?" The blue-eyed boy asked.

Elijah had no hesitation with his manner of speech. "Yes, and I am going to win my core group."

The rest of the party besides the water mage named Daniel and an ice mage named Garret began laughing in astonishment. Elijah did not mind one bit, he simply smiled back with the knowledge that the environments have shaped who these people are. At some point, it is simply muscle memory.

"Elijah. Have you heard the name Niko Trident before?" Garret asked as he looked ahead of him.

Elijah's ears perked up at the name. Niko, one of the people who hated him rather much, until he proved his strength. A ruthless fire mage that would never back down even if he would die to the breath of an overwhelming beast. "Yes. Do you know where he is?"

"Niko is my younger brother, a brother who is not welcome in the family anymore. He told me a little bit about a water mage named Elijah, someone who is a lot stronger than he looks." Garret paused. "He is in the south. He took the test in the west which is why you saw him, but found a better place to live. I have to say, my brother is one of the most powerful mages at his level. If what you saw a couple months ago was mediocre, you should see him now…"

Sad emotions were oozing out of Garret. A brother who lost his brother, and for what?

"Why was he banished?"

"I don't know myself, but it has something to do with his personality… He trusts you, so I suggest you find him soon. Unfortunately, I no longer have information on where he is living, but he is in the south."

The rest of Garret and Daniel's party were surprised at the conversations being held. They all began to feel no ill will towards Elijah, and soon laughed off their obvious dismay towards Elijah. After all, Elijah was over one hundred thirty years old. He was not afraid to bring up embarrassing topics related to other people.

The carriage took Elijah to the Northern Hunter Guild. Elijah gave his thanks and didn't bother to walk inside. It was a long day, and even though he had healed himself as much as possible, he still felt pain, especially in his collarbones and heads. The fundamentals of water couldn't fully heal everything. The body was not made of only water.

The Northside was very similar with the only differences being the layout of buildings, and the shapes of buildings. Everything was slightly bigger. More floors, more space, and even vertical expansions happening as well speak. Metal pipes were slowly being covered by the stone being erected from the earth mages.

'Part of me wants to leave for Gion the next chance I get based on Amaris' description, but also… I care for the people here.'

A topless carriage was found, and Elijah ended up at the Western Hunter guild. Stares were immediately sent his way suspiciously. However, Alessia stopped him in his tracks with a bird call.

"Well done. I assume it was an easy mission?" Alessia stamped the paper with a green star, and slid the paper into the space underneath the counter.

"Besides a couple gorgons and orange core trap moles, I fared well. Although, what comes after the toxic cavern filled with fog?"

Elijah's words dropped the slim jaw of Alessia, and her small lips curled up into a smile. "So you are special huh? Past that cave are strictly Kobolds. There are a couple holes in the floor where the fog and gas are coming from. The cavern is never explored for obvious reasons, but the guild suspects a nest." Alessia paused and stared at him with a confused expression. Her head slightly tilted. "Did you manage to grab any cores?"

"No, I did not."

"Haha, I know. I would have sensed them on you."

"Alessia, can I ask you something important?"

"Sure!"

"What is this 'sense' you are talking about? Does it require a certain mana core level?"

"I am glad you asked. I see promise within you, so I will let you in on a little secret. The 'sense' you describe, is simply me pushing mana out of my body and not converting it into my affinity. I can feel the mana within the area as long as I still have control over that mana. It does require a stronger core, but there are even people stronger than me who don't know the secret. Their rigid imaginations will be the death of them…"

Magic, something that was so foreign had begun to make sense to Elijah. With enough information about the inner workings of mana, he may even be able to start to connect the dots to ideas that have not been confirmed, but are possible. This was one of his greatest weapons in his previous life. The eye for innovation.

Alessia arranged a carriage for Elijah, and walked down the hall into her office. Her long black hair rustled back and forth on the way, and it seemed like she was waiting for Elijah's return.

Cheers were surprisingly heard through the main streets of the Kingdom. Elijah paid the driver a couple silver coins to drive him closer towards the crowd, and tipped his head once he had hopped out. The crowd was thick, and was surrounding the Central Hunter Guild while also flooding into the Grand Park.

There he was.

Calmly standing on a thick ice pillar was Amaris, the Ice Judge.