Cierra wakes up as the sun rises, still on the branch and slowly descends down to the ground. She looks around and behind her to see if anyone had followed her when she escaped. No one in sight. 

‘Guess I’m still fine for now.’ She stretches her arms above her head.

She starts to jog through the woods to keep up a consistent pace and reach the tavern at least by the end of the day. As Cierra jogs through the forest, trying to find The Lost Ale, Aron and Gilan are training in the forest near the tavern to get stronger in their fire magic. 

“You actually aren’t half bad, son.” Gilan smiles with fatherly pride.

“Shut up, old man.” Aron smirks slightly. He breathes in slowly and focuses all his energy into the fireball that he’s about to cast. 

“Use that energy and store it within you for now, you can stockpile it into stronger and stronger flames.” Gilan smiles.

“Can I use the energy and transfer it to any part of my body?” Aron asks curiously.

“Like your fists?” 

“Yeah, or my legs. Any part?” Aron responds.

“Why don’t you try it?” Gilan smirks.

Aron envisions the mana going toward his fists and punches the tree in front of him. The tree burns with scorch marks on it where Aron punched. He looks at Gilan and smiles.

“You just practiced imbuement. It’s a fairly complicated skill, actually, but once you learn how to do it, it becomes almost second nature.” Gilan smiles proudly.

“I’ve heard about that from Auntie Trish’s lessons, but I never got to practice it before. I think I saw her doing it one time just to cut a watermelon.” Aron chuckles, Gilan chuckles with him.

“Trish was a good woman and a hell of a teacher. She deserved every title she got.” Gilan smiles.

“I need to do better. For her. Also the world, but mainly for her.” Aron smiles and imbues his fists again, getting ready to punch the tree a few more times. He lunges for the nearest tree and punches it multiple times with his mana-imbued fists, making deep scorch marks. Gilan chuckles and holds him back a little bit.

“Slow your roll, son. Don’t overdo it, okay?” Gilan instructs in a serious tone.

“Why? We only have a week together.” Aron pushes him away.

“That’s true, but mana imbuement takes a toll on your endurance if you use it too much. You have to train to be able to use it for long periods of time.” 

“So I’m training it.” Aron clenches his fists.

“You’re gonna burn yourself out, no pun intended, and you won’t be able to fight.” Gilan tries to emphasize. Aron ignores him and lunges for another tree with imbued fists. He steps back with a wobble and falls down to the ground.

“Aron.” Gilan shouts. He sits Aron up on a tree and waits for him to regain consciousness. Aron’s mind clouds with darkness, a few specks of light enter his field of vision. He looks around and sees billions of stars lighting up the darkness of where he is. 

“Alright, real funny, Voice. What upgrades do you have this time?” Aron looks around for the Voice.

“Child, why do you still call the Destructor, ‘Voice’?” A booming voice, as if multiple people were talking, louder than anything Aron has heard before, speaks.

“Who are you?” Aron asks fearfully.

“I am the God of Prophecy. I have woven these strings of fate personally. You will kill the one who has killed you.”

“So you’re the one who’s actually behind all this?” Aron clenches his fist in anger.

“No, no one except for Aldir is behind this in reality. We, the gods, gave him our power in naivety, thinking that he would do his world good in giving them magic. Instead, he used our powers to corrupt the flow of mana and direct it into the people of this world. Humans, elves, and dwarves are not built for that type of power and eventually, everyone who is affected by the flow of mana will have a decreased lifespan in the coming generations.”

“So why can’t you stop it or kill him?” Aron asks, confused.

“We are bound by an eternal pact to not interfere with the creatures of the world. Aldir was once a god like us, however, he fell in love with an elven woman and was banished from Godhood. Without his Godhood, he is considered a creature of this world with divine abilities, and thus, cannot be interfered with.”

“Aren’t you interfering with me right now, though?”

“You are a creature from Aldir’s world, not ours, so we are not breaking the pact.”

“Aldir’s world? He created the world I’m from?” Aron gasps.

“Yes. To defy us once again, he created a world with his own laws and moral codes, without magic whatsoever.”

“How the hell do you expect me to win against a literal god? I mean, that’s insanity. I’ll be destroyed.” Aron looks into the void fearfully.

“You would be if you didn’t have the power of all the gods on your side.”

“What?”

“You can defeat Aldir if we give you our powers, however it comes at a great cost. If we grant you our divine powers, you will have forty years cut off of your lifespan.” 

Aron’s eyes widen in worry.

“Forty years?” Aron looks down at his feet.

“Yes. You will live forty years less than what you should have, but this is the cost of ultimate power for a human.”

“I– Do I get to think for a little while?” Aron puts a hand to his head.

“You have until you regain consciousness and we will never contact you again until you die.”

Aron breathes deeply and thinks about what to do.

“I’ll do it, then. You’re really good at peer pressure.” He clenches his fists and sighs.

“And so it is done.” A beam of golden light internalizes into Aron’s body and a golden glow emanates from him. He looks at his arms and looks up.

“Is this visible?” Aron asks worriedly.

“No, but if someone were to look at you with mana imbued in their eyes, they would see a shroud of aura around you that would seem to cover the sky.”

“Cool.”

“Train for at the very least a year to defeat Aldir, child. These are highly enhanced powers that can kill anyone besides a god in an instant. Be careful.”

“What about Cierra?” Aron asks, frowning.

“She’s a smart girl. Don’t think that she can’t survive without you.”

Aron nods. He regains consciousness and wakes up on a tree

“Aron, thank gods you’re awake.” Gilan starts shaking Aron in violent excitement.

“Calm down, Gilan.” Aron shakes his head to regain some semblance of a thought. Gilan lets go of Aron.

“Right, sorry.” He clears his throat. “Now, let’s rest up for a bit. I don’t want you to train anymore today.”

“Sure. Thanks, dad. Also, I think I’m gonna be a lot stronger than you.” Aron winks.

“Did I shake you too hard?” Gilan chuckles. They head toward the tavern as the sun starts to set and they hear rustling in the forest. 

“Who’s there?” Gilan says, getting ready to cast something.

“A girl who’s lost. I’m trying to find The Lost Ale.” A familiar voice to Aron speaks from inside the forest.

“Dad, she’s my friend, cool it.” Aron smiles excitedly and runs into the forest to find Cierra. 

“Ci Ci, where are you?” Aron shouts excitedly.

“Right here.” Cierra tackles Aron’s legs and makes him fall to the ground. They both laugh with each other and smile. Aron looks at her intently to make sure that she’s really there.

“I missed you.” Aron smiles.

“I missed you too, Aron. Let’s not focus on the mushy stuff though, okay? I’m safe and you’re safe. That’s the important thing.” She smiles excitedly.

“Let’s go to the tavern now, okay? We gotta let everyone know that the one we were gonna save is alive.” Aron chuckles.

“You were gonna save me?” Cierra stands up and picks Aron up.

“Yeah, we didn’t know how you were doing so we–”

“Did you seriously have no faith in me that I could save myself?” Cierra raises an eyebrow.

“It’s not that, I just didn’t know what condition you were in. I knew that you could be able to escape as long as there weren’t overpowering obstacles. I had complete faith in you though, it was just a backup if you weren’t back here in a month.” Aron tries to explain.

“And if I wasn’t back in a month you would risk your lives to save me? Aron, I’m smart. I know how to get out of situations. I used to live on the streets until you convinced Trish to take me in.” Cierra chuckles and holds his hands in hers. “I know what I’m doing and how to do things, trust me.” She smiles.

“You’re right. I’m sorry. Can we go back to the tavern?” 

“Sure thing.” They smile at each other and go inside the tavern. Gilan follows and enters with them. They go downstairs to the other mages and Cierra waves shyly at them.