The alley reeked of rotting garbage and old blood.
Zarin coughed, iron thick on his tongue, as another kick slammed into his ribs. The laughter of his attackers echoed like hyenas circling dying prey.
"Pathetic. A maggot like you shouldn't have even looked at me, let alone spoken."
The Viscount's son, Leon, and his two boot flickers crouched in front of him, his polished boots crushing Zarin's fingers into the filth-covered cobblestones. Moonlight glinted off the dagger in his hand—a toy for nobles, a death sentence for the powerless.
Zarin groaned in pain and his face contorted in rage as he spat blood on Leon's face. "Go to hell."
Leon's grin widened as he slowly wiped the blood off his face. "I'll send you there first."
The blade flashed down—
Then the world exploded.
A sound like a thousand furnaces roaring to life tore through the night. Zarin's vision whited out as heat, unimaginable and divine, erupted from his core, an immense heat emanating from his body as his clothes turned to ashes. His blood turned to liquid fire, his scream no longer human—it was the cry of a raging flame.
When his sight returned, Leon was scrambling back, his fine clothes singed, his face twisted in terror. The dagger in his hand had melted into slag.
"W-what are you?!" he yelled as he hit the wall behind him, fear now gripping his arrogant heart.
Zarin looked down. His hands were wreathed in pure white flames, dancing like living things, hungry and eager. The pain was gone. The fear was gone.
All that remained was power.
Powerful and Intoxicating.
He smiled.
"Your end." The flames road to life as a tsunami of fire surged forward to consume Leon and his friends.
--------
The next day.
Zarin woke up from his bed with a frown on his face as a slitting headache assaulted him.
'Ugh, what the heck' he muttered as he massaged his temples as he he rose to a sitting position.
'What the hell happened yesterday? How did I get here?' He thought as he tried to remember what had happened but the headache would hit him with intensity causing him to loose focus.
Just then, snippets of the recent events flashed in his mind as his body froze in shock. A vivid image of a transparent panel floating infront of him still in his mind.
[Ding]
[Congratulations, Host!
You have awakened the supreme element: Divine Flame The essence of creation and destruction now burns within you. Wield it wisely.]
' Divine Flame?... '
He muttered as he gazed at his rough hands, not believing what had transpired. He kept looking at his hands in wonder before the reality sank in. He had killed people.
Not one person but 3 people. As the fact sunk in his mind, his heart started beating frantically his breathing erratic.
The guilt of taking a life gripped his heart mixed with fear of what the Viscount would do when he found out that it was him who had killed his son.
He was in a bad situation indeed.
But wait... He had practically reduced them to ashes, no one would find out right?... Hopefully.
He took deep breaths to clear his mind as he got off the bed and stood infront of a mirror that was beside his bed.
A very handsome 17 year old looking boy appeared on the reflection with short white silky hair, deep blue eyes that seemed to contain an ocean within, perfect jawline and a well defined body due to rigorous exercise. He was a handsome boy indeed.
Though some people would bully him with jealousy and beat him up sometimes and he couldn't retaliate because he was too weak to fight back. He has no background because he was an orphan who was taken in by the Vexaris family thus becoming Zaris Vexaris. He was also had no magic, it was quite shocking considering that almost no one had no magic in the world of Valtaris.
And for that he was treated as another species entirely and a monster of some sort. Even at the orphanage where he lived, the other kids would pick on him. Even though he was a magic-less boy, he didn't give up. He resorted to physical training in line of trying to compensate the lack of magic with physical strength. He was quite ambitious despite his unusual condition, he also aspires to be at the top, even after finding out about his condition, he never let that dream go.
As he was looking at his reflection he noticed that his skin was looking so flawless and smooth which shocked him because he clearly remembered that he had scars all over, especially all over his abdomen.
'How did they go away?....' he muttered as he run his fingers all over his hands.
'Is it because of that?...' he thought as he remembered the panel that had flashed to him before. Suddenly all the previous notifications popped up in front of him which led him to jump up a little as he was not still used to it.
[Ding]
[Eternal rage detected... Forceful awakening initiated]
[Congratulations host. You have been chosen by the Immortal Flame Emperor System as the new host]
[Initialising System-Host Synchronisation]
[Syncing...]
[1%...]
....
[100%...]
[Congratulations, Host!
You have awakened the supreme element: Divine Flame The essence of creation and destruction now burns within you. Wield it wisely.]
[Host profile has been updated in 'status']
.....
As he read all of the notifications, he couldn't help but feel a bit overwhelmed. Had he really awakened an his magic? This was all to good to be true.
He then saw the last message and went into a deep thought.
'How to I look at this status?...'
He thought as he tried to tap the message with his hands only to find out he can't as if there was nothing there, but luckily, the 'system' seemed to understand his thoughts...
[Status]
[Name: Zarin Vexaris]
[Race: Human]
[Age: 17]
[Talent: low]
[Level: 0]
[EXP: 0/100]
[HEALTH: 100/100]
[MANA : 50/50]
STAMINA: 80/80]
[Attributes]
[STR: 10]
[AGL: 09]
[INT: 15]
[STA: 09]
[DEF: 08]
[CHA: 10]
[LUC: 9]