Chapter 4 - I am Alexander Nihil

I could not stop crying, Lord Cornelius was gone and I could do nothing to avoid it, at that moment a great storm began to whip the kingdom as if the world was crying for the death of a great person, while I was lost in my thoughts a violent voice resounded among the storm.

— Prison of fire! —

Suddenly I was surrounded by a great wall of red flames that emitted an embracing heat, I panicked imagining that the sinister man could have returned, I began to strengthen my body and that of Mr. Cornelius with all the mana possible to resist at least one blow, while I channeled my mana the same voice as before resounded again but calmer and closer than before.

— Amazing young man, you must have trained very hard from a very young age to strengthen your body with mana and another person's body with mana —

Even though I could not see the origin of that voice I was a little calmed after verifying that it was not the voice of that monster, but even so I could not be calm and even though the tears stopped flowing from my eyes because of the fright and fear I still could not stop shaking, and despite that I tried to speak to clarify the situation, with a weak but stable voice I answered him.

— I have trained under the tutelage of Mr. Cornelius for as long as I can remember—

Shortly after a superb and very loud laughter could be heard on the other side of the great wall of flames and seconds after that laughter was silenced a man not very tall like 1.6m tall at most, with black hair well combed and wore a very striking and elegant red suit, while watching the mysterious man he fixed his eyes on me and then sketched a smirk from ear to ear and with a mocking tone said.

— You are telling me that you are a descendant of house Volkner, but that is impossible since Cornelius was the last remaining living member of house Volkner—

When he finished speaking he began to inspect me with an incredible doubt in his eyes while he whispered something between his teeth, seconds later he spoke with a more serious tone of voice than before.

— If you claim to be a disciple of the Volkner house then prove it in combat, if you manage to defeat me you can leave, but if you can't defeat me, then you will bear the guilt of this event as an accomplice of murdering an archduke" —

His words left me frozen, I did not know how to react or if I could win, I had no idea how powerful this man was in front of me, but why do I have to fight against him if I am innocent, with a voice of fear and desperation I answered instantly.

— I am innocent, I saw the man who killed Mr. Cornelius, why should I be treated as an accomplice! —

 After hearing my words the man in front of me erased his smile and then with a somber voice, "You are still very young and you don't know how to be an accomplice.

— You are still very young and you don't know how the world moves, even if you are innocent the royal family will need a scapegoat to calm the people since the death of a man like Cornelius is not something that can be hidden and right there you enter as a simple screen, so stop whining and fight or face your destiny! —

As the man finished speaking a strange pale blue fire started to emanate from his hands, which made me even more scared, as he formulated his last sentence he lashed out at me with his arms completely covered with blue fire, when I noticed his attack I strengthened the mana protection in my body to resist the attack as the man's speed was not even remotely close to that of Mr. Cornelius, the man hit me with his fist covered with fire right in the center of my face and even though I could see it coming his strength was greater than I imagined as he sent me flying, although my mana reinforcement helped me not to receive serious injuries the pain in my face was immense but compared to the blows of Mr. Cornelius I could still try to counter them.

When my vision was restored I tried to look for the hunger to avoid his next attack, but when I found him he looked like a completely different being, his body was almost completely covered by the same blue flames as before giving him the appearance of a monster rather than a man, while I was lost in my thoughts he began to run in my direction while shouting in a serious but strong voice.

— Don't tell me that's all the supposed apprentice of the most powerful and feared man in the kingdom has or maybe you're just an impostor!!!? —

His words opened my eyes, if he says that Lord Cornelius is the most powerful man in the kingdom that means that this man in front of me is nobody compared to the man I have faced all my life, so I have nothing to fear, I must defeat him so I have a chance to avenge Lord Cornelius, With my mental stability restored I decided to defeat him and look for the monster that killed Mr. Cornelius, I got up from the ground and reinforced my whole body with mana and I focused on the fight to be able to receive the attack of the flaming man and shouted with all my strength.

— Come to me you wretch! —

A mocking laugh came out of the flaming man's mouth and I said with laughter.

— That's the spirit, now tell me who are you! —

A fiery blow hit me even harder and hit me in the pit of my stomach but thanks to my concentration I could see his attack and managed to reinforce the area of impact seconds before receiving any damage, being concentrated in the fight I managed to block a variety of attacks I have received from him, but what I find strange is that his attacks are only physical despite being an attacking mage he has only used his fists, what is he planning, while I analyzed him he shouted at me with a petulant voice.

— I see that you can defend yourself, but you still don't answer my question! —

When he finished his sentence he disappeared as if he had never been here, I became desperate because if I could not see him I could not predict where he would attack, I would have to receive the impact with my body or trust my reflexes, I began to look around desperately but I could not find anything, suddenly his voice resounded everywhere.

— You better not die before you can answer my question kid! —

His voice came from all directions, it was impossible to know where it would come from, so I closed my eyes and concentrated to feel the magic flow so I could feel where it would hit and suddenly I felt a magical fluctuation on my right, I raised my arms as fast as I could to protect my body and reinforced my right side with mana, a few moments later something like a big blue fire knife hit my right side exploding when it made contact with the mana in my body, the impact took me by surprise breaking my concentration, followed by a flurry of blue fire blades coming from all directions, doing my best I managed to repel the damage of most of them but one of them hit me in my right thigh and the other in my left arm leaving them completely numb and practically useless for the moment, I was only able to move them thanks to the mana coating that allowed me to move them in a functional way, while trying to repel all the fire blades the man's voice resounded again everywhere, but this time with a tone of disappointment.

— I thought an assassin capable of killing the legendary Cornelius Volkner would be a worthy opponent but I see I was wrong, too bad kid! —

His words made me furious and I cursed him with all my might.

— I didn't kill him! He was like my father! —

The wave of fire blades kept coming from everywhere and in an instant they stopped, suddenly the man appeared in front of me with only his arms wrapped in blue flames raising them with the intention of holding me, I managed to react and held his hands with mine, now it had become a fight of strength, we both started to press harder to such a degree that the ground under our feet began to sink and crack, all the debris around us were flying through the air around us, the man stared at me and sketched a slight smile, instantly I could feel how his strength and power increased the heat of the flames that was being avoided by my mana reinforcement began to be felt on my skin and sweat began to run down my forehead and my legs began to give way little by little to the point of having one of my knees against the ground, at that moment the man let out a short laugh and said in a mocking tone.

— I see that's all you have kid, it's a pity you die so soon, but don't worry no one will cry for you, the only sad thing is that you answer my question, who the hell are you? —

A great frustration took over me when I was forced to be on my knees without being able to resist, at that moment the voice of Mr. Cornelius resounded in my mind "Never give up Alexander, remember that you can do anything", those words reminded me of those years of arduous training, at that moment I looked up looking the man directly in the eyes and I said seriously.

— If you are so eager to know who I am then I will tell you and make sure you engrave it well in your mind" —

I began to imbue an immense amount of mana in my body and little by little I managed to stand up and when I managed to stand up I told him with a dominant tone.

— My name is Alexander Nihil, son of Cornelius Volkner and I swear that I will avenge his death if it is the last thing I do! —

After hearing my words the man gave a big smile and with a natural tone said.

— You are just as the old man described you, I'm glad you were in his life, a pleasure Alexander my name is Evan Argnil and I'm an old friend of your father's—

His words left me astonished, Mr. Cornelius never mentioned anything about any person during all these years.

At that moment we both stopped exerting force little by little to the point where we were simply standing face to face, I had so many questions for Evan, I wanted to know everything, when did you meet, what was Mr. Cornelius like, what did he tell you about me, but before I could speak Evan put his hand on my shoulder and said in a worried tone.

— I know you have many questions that I would love to answer, but it will be another time because with the magical pressures that were here the generals and captains will be here soon and you can not be here when they arrive, you have to run away and become strong so you can fulfill your duties and so you can live a quiet life in this world that only respects power, go Alexander and never forget who you are, I will delay them while you leave the territory, good luck in your journey —

With those words Evan pointed me in the direction of the border of the kingdom, he turned his back to me and only raised his thumb as a sign of approval, I could not think clearly, I just imbued all the mana that remained in my body and ran at full speed in the direction that Evan indicated, with a goal and tears in my eyes I left in search of the power to avenge my father.

— One day we will see each other again Evan —

— One day we will see each other again Alexander —