After analyzing the map for a while,
He searched the map for a city named Zephyr. This was currently in....
After scanning the map for a while, he found it.
Zephyr was located close to the Unknown near the right side of the map. That placed him in the Eastern Territory.
He was making progress.
He flipped to the next page.
But as he read, it became clear That Everything had to do with Element.
Inferno? Tempest? Bound? Echo? What is all this?
His head was spinning. He closed the book.
He needed context.
He walked back to Sister Twilight and asked, "Can I have a book about the basics of Element?"
She raised an eyebrow. "You didn't even finish five pages of the last one and now you want another?"
As much as Alger wanted to say, 'Shut up woman!' Or, 'You simply can't comprehend my genius!' He kept a calm smile.
"Please?"
She sighed, and handed him the book he pointed at, a thick book titled Basics of Elemental Energy.
After she gave him the book, she left to check on other kids who were in the library.
Now alone — in the Element section of the library with two books in front of him, Alger exhaled with relief.
"Finally... some peace."
He opened the book and started reading,
'Everything in the world has Elemental Energy. But this energy is useless unless it's first converted into something useful. This useful Energy is called Element.
To do this conversion, all living creatures possess something called a Gate.
Gates differ in two ways: Their Elemental Affinity and their Tier.'
Alger was immediately intrigued.
'Each Gate can only be tied to one Element. The total number of Elements and their knowledge is lost in Unknown. There are only four affinity of gates humans can be born with, Inferno, Aqua, Tempest, and Terra....'
After reading for a while, he turned to the next section.
'Gates have 10 tiers. While elements are equal in strength, the tier defines mastery. Each tier unlocks a new realm of control over your Element.
Every human starts at the first tier, Broken. And are capable of having only one gate.
And as of the year 935, humans have only managed to reach the fifth tier.
After your gate ascends to the next tier, the amount of Elemental Energy you can store in your body also increases.....'
Alger continued to read the book for the next few days, learning new things every time. He learned about the world he was born in, the creatures of the world, and about Element.
But even after reading the books carefully, he couldn't find anything related to Unknown....
***
Today, Alger was going to try and sense his gate. He was sitting in a corner of the library, separated from the rest of the world. The books related to the Basics of Element lay in front of him. he closed the book and took a deep breath.
But before he could do anything, he was interrupted by a blonde girl with a ponytail staring at him with sparkling curiosity.
To an adult, it might seem that she is just a cute little girl.... but to Alger, she was the devil himself.
Although she was only a few months older than he was. But she used to dominate him. She used to pull him towards the field to make him play with her, she used to steal the books he was reading and didn't give them back until he played with her.
And if Alger ever tried to refuse.... she would start crying and use the 'Alger hit me' card. And of course, Sister would never suspect an innocent young girl like her to be lying.
Alger never thought he would admit something like this... he was being bullied by a four-year-old.
She was standing next to a young boy. Although the kid next to her looked like he was seven, he was only a month older than Alger... When Alger stood in front of him, he looked like an infant.
To an adult, it might seem that he is bullying other children, taking advantage of his size. But he was the exact opposite.... he was a kind and innocent soul.
Together, they were the youngest children in the orphanage.
"Ivory, I don't think we should disturb Alger...", said the boy.
Ivory? Oh, that's right.... even these kids got names today. Yes! Please listen to him Ivory.
The girl looked at the boy and said,
"Dawn, even you wanted to ask him."
So he is Dawn....
Wait, what do they want to ask me again?
The girl looked at him and pointed at his forehead.
"What name did the headmaster give you? I am Ivory, but you can call me Ivy if you want—The headmaster said it was his grandmother's name," she said, while acting all smug.
Of course....
"I am Alger..."
She started laughing a little,
"Alger? What a lame name! Let's play Alger!"
Calm down, Alger. Breathe. You are not going to commit war crimes over a four-year-old girl.
Alger wanted to refuse her... but he knew what the result would be. At the end of it, he had to leave the books behind and play with Ivory and Dawn.
It's okay, Alger. You can just come to the library tomorrow.....
***
It was the middle of the night.
Sister Twilight held a small lamp in her hand as she walked silently through a dark corridor. Her steps echoed softly against the stone floor. After a moment, she stopped and turned to the right. She opened the heavy wooden door and stepped into the long sleeping chamber.
The room was wide and quiet, with a single row of beds on each side, spaced about a meter apart. The only light came from Sister's lamp, casting long shadows across the floor.
She walked between the beds, making sure every child was fast asleep. After confirming they were, she gently closed the door behind her with practiced silence.
Just as the latch clicked shut, Alger opened his eyes.
His bed was near the end of the row, directly beneath a window that let in the faint whisper of night wind.
It has been a few days since he first learned about Element. And today he was going to try to sense his gate.
Ascending your gate to the second tier, or becoming an Awakened, was supposed to be the easiest, compared to the other eight, that is.
Awakening a broken gate was simple in principle. All you had to do was sense your gate... until it became as natural as moving a limb. You had to accept the Element it was tied to.
He knew it was pointless to try sensing his gate this early. Most people couldn't even feel theirs until their teens. But... knowing the Element of his gate would give him a head start.
He sat cross-legged and focused on the center of his mass, just like the book had instructed. He visualized a gate—something personal, something meaningful.
He imagined the front door of his old apartment.
Slowly... the image began to take shape in his mind.
But then something strange happened.
He didn't just see one door.
He saw many.....
He stood in a vast, dark space... the ground beneath him was an endless void of darkness, the sky above was pitch black. And yet he was able to stand. The place felt like a dream.
He turned slowly.
Ten doors surrounded him in a perfect circle.
Ten gates.
His voice echoed out softly.
"Th-This... wasn't in the tutorial..."
Wasn't I supposed to have just one gate?
Ten? What does that even mean?
Wait, why do I even have 10 gates?!
His heart pounded in his chest.
If he had 10 gates, each tied to a different Element, then Alger might just be the most powerful living being on Terra.
But he forced himself to calm down.
'Even with ten gates, it means nothing if I can't awaken even one. And besides, more than half of the elements are lost in Unknown, humanity doesn't even know about their existence. Even I don't know what they are, so awakening those gates is out of the picture.
And what would people think if they discovered what I have?'
Apart from that,
It takes most mages ten years to reach the fourth tier in just one element. If I tried to train all ten, it would take me well over a century to bring every gate to the fourth tier.
I have to be smart....
He decided then and there that he would choose one gate. One element to develop first... bring it up to the third tier, A Conjuror, before even touching the others.
So now, he has four choices. Inferno, Aqua, Tempest, or Terra....
His journey was about to begin.
And it started with a single choice.