Alex

Meanwhile, somewhere in the southern continent, a young man with long white hair stared down on the whole continent from the sky.

"Now, where should I go?" he muttered to himself with a contemplating look on his face.

His eyes suddenly zoomed far into a distant part of the southern continent, a small place so far and hidden that it almost looked like it was not part of the continent.

Vee's eyes turned bright red as his stare pierced through thousands of miles and landed on a small house in this desolate village that was hidden behind mountains and seas.

"Hmm, he has the star of a protagonist and his talent isn't inferior to mine!" Vee exclaimed as his sight fell on the boy that had just arrived in the world from his mother's womb, he was only able to see so far due to the red color shrouding his eyes and was unable to hear the baby's cry.

"But he is too hidden and will not be able to archive anything without guidance. Hehehe, I'll make him the strongest then so he will stand at the top with me" A mischievous chuckle escaped Vee's lips as he started flying in the direction of the newborn baby.

.....

Fifteen years later.

Planet Edrichrio, a planet ruled by magic and mana. Where magic beasts and mages battled for territories.

The planet originally did not have such a thing as magic or mages in its ancient history but records of how magic came to be after millions of years had already been long lost in the annals of time and those born later on just had to accept the power known as magic.

Of course, not every human was fortunate enough to be able to wield this power, and those who were able to be known as mages were the chosen ones of the elements.

Each mage would get access to one element upon awakening and only after then can they finally start their journey on the mage path.

Water, earth, wind, and light, were the four most popular elements also known as the common elements.

Fire, lightning, ice, and plant, these four are the rare elements and according to their category, they are rare to awaken and only one out of a hundred seedlings were able to awaken any of these elements.

Healing, and curse, two were known as the cosmos elements because not only were they extremely different to awaken, but they would form an additional element to themselves the stronger a mage becomes and thereby giving the said mage two elements. Healing would create the blessing element or the revive element while curse would create the shadow element or the chaos element.

A mage would only be able to awaken just one out of these ten elements, the only exception being if they manage to awaken a cosmos element since they just have to wait to get their second element later on.

The mage rank is divided into ten ranks to identify a mage's strength, no one knew who named the ranks but everyone simply followed it as it had already become the norm throughout the whole planet.

The mage ranks are known as the seedling rank, being the lowest rank, to the apprentice rank, Noble mage rank, Nebula mage rank, mage king, archmage, alpha mage rank, supreme mage rank, the divine mage rank, and the Transcended mage rank being the highest.

"There had only been one person who had managed to reach the Transcended mage rank since the beginning of history but he died fifteen years ago, his death was very mysterious and no one knows the cause of it even today.

The strongest mage to have ever lived, Vee of the northern continent. And no one had been able to replace him after his sudden death even after so many years" an old man who looked to be in his late eighties with a long dirty beards, a bald head, and wrinkled skin said to a group of kids sitting on the floor in front of him and listened to him with fascinated and wrapped attention, the kids ranged from nine to sixteen year of age.

They were all sitting under the shade of a tree with the old man sitting on one of the tree roots like a stool.

"How are you so sure that the record is accurate? What if that vee is not actually dead but it was just a big lie of the northern continent to reduce the defense and vigilance of the other four continents?" An aged voice sounded from behind the children, carrying a hint of mockery and amusement with it.

The old man who was busy with his storytelling and all the kids listening to him turned to look at the newcomer who happened to be another old man in dirty clothes, a sack on his shoulder and a sickle in one hand, it was obvious that this old man was just returning from the field after working all day.

"You dirty old man, what do you know compared to me? I have traveled a lot during my young days and have seen things, unlike you who have spent all your life here. Most of the kids grew up seeing your irritating face, how dare you argue with me?" The bald old man sneered at the farmer after he was doubted.

"I'm not saying that you are lying, I'm just saying that we are in a very hidden village in the southern continent and very far away from the next city much less the northern continent. Information that had passed through so many sources can't be trusted. Besides, you have been here for five years without leaving" The old man carrying a sack raised his sickle in a defensive gesture as a smirk formed on the side of his old and dried lips.

"Still arguing with me, you think you know more than me huh? You cocky old man, I'm beginning to suspect you. You have the same name as that monster, are you sure you are not him?" The bald old man was instantly pissed by the smirk on the face of the farmer and a calm way of speaking like he was sure of his claims.

"Well, looks like you are really as knowledgeable as you claim. I'm actually Vee of the northern continent pretending to be an old farmer in an unknown village in the southern continent" The farmer, who happened to be named Vee nodded with a satisfied look on his face. This action of his caused the beards of the storyteller to tremble from rage, he was expecting the old farmer to deny it but the old fart was shamelessly agreeing to be the so-called strongest mage in history.

It was no secret that many people had named their kids 'Vee' after the original Vee died fifteen years ago and even some shameless people changed their names so the old man being one of them was nothing suspicious.

"Ptui!! You old fart, how can you lie through those old teeth of yours? That Vee was already thousands of years old and had terrifying power, you are only a a mage apprentice and already have on foot in the grave. Dare to lie again and see if I don't beat you up even if I'm just an ordinary person"

" Yeah yeah, whatever you say old man" Vee waved his sickle lazily and walked off.

"Tks! He just shows up and ruins my mood, why not stay at the field longer?" The bald old man grumbled as he watched Vee walk away to an old house that looked like it was going to collapse at any moment.

"You all go home, I'm no longer in the mood to tell stories. We will continue tomorrow" the old man said to the children and got up to leave without waiting for the kids to even reply to him.

All the kids stood up as well and began to leave for their homes one after the other, it was already getting late by the way and most of them had to help their mothers in making dinner.

A particular kid was left alone under the tree after everyone had left. He stood there and kept looking in the direction that the bald storyteller had gone in with a serious expression on his face.

'A mage huh? I will work hard to become a mage and make a lot of money to help everyone in my village' the body thought to himself as he clenched his small fists.

His name was Alex and he was currently fifteen but looked like a twelve-year-old kid because his body did not develop properly due to malnutrition. He had white hair that was as dirty as his tattered clothes and beautiful white eyes.

He was born in this village and as long as he could remember, the village did not have a name since no one bothered to name it, they all just addressed it as a small village that was located somewhere in the southern continent.

Residents of the village all survived by farming on the field outside the small fence of the village and they did not trade their goods since the next city was very far away from the village, they only grew food for their consumption so they were not rich in the village. Most of the villagers were old men, women, and children since some of the men had left to work outside the village with most not returning in years.

The strongest person in the village was only at the apprentice rank as well, just like old man Vee but people did not expect the old man to be able to protect them since he was…old.

All these things were what surrounded Alex as he grew up and built the desire to become a mage in him. When he started listening to the old man's stories of his travels, he wished to become a mage one day and help everyone in his village.

"Alex, what are you still doing there standing like an old man? Don't you know you have to join me to make dinner?" A woman's voice shouted at Alex, causing him to turn around in a jolt.

Standing behind him was a woman with long red hair who looked to be in her early Forties. She was glaring at him with a displeased look which made Alex realize that she must have been waiting for him for a long time.

"Sorry Mom, I'm coming now!" Alex called out and jogged over to his mother's side.

The red-haired woman rubbed his hair roughly when he arrived beside her with a helpless smile forming on her face.

" Brat, thinking of that mage stuff again? Just pray to be lucky, it's not easy to become a mage" She said with a sigh before turning to walk towards a slightly bigger house on the west side of the village and Alex followed behind her.

Meanwhile, someone was lamenting in his rundown house.

" Ahh, I wish I was as tired as I look!"