1 Chapter 1 : Round Two

John Whitaker is just a regular student. He learned always to be logical and calm. Yet, his thinking frightens him to his core despite all of that.

This undying need for pure logic and composure comes from a painful childhood.

He has never seen his biological father as far as he can remember. His mother left him when he was just a baby. The only luck for a family was that some good folk decided to adopt him when he was three years old. Yet, John still felt abandoned his whole life.

His adoptive father was a drunkard, and his adoptive mother seemed never to be home as she was moonlighting while constantly changing jobs. Sadly, his misery didn't end with abandonment issues. John's new brother Kayn made sure he was in his "place" by bullying whenever his parents weren't looking.

Unfortunately, this despotic behavior led to another tragedy in John's life, when Kayn and his sidekicks went overboard with a stupid prank, which resulted in John losing his left arm due to infection.

On the whole, his life up to 18 years old was pure misery and pain. Only after leaving this family did he find some solace in life. The sole consolation for this is that John learned to be calm in all kinds of depressing situations. However, as he made more and more normal relationships as a student, he began to understand that this calmness is way more absurd than any bullying can cultivate.

John's first girlfriend left him after being tormented by his poker face. Later on, he found it more and more difficult even to begin any romantic relationship. He didn't even have a real friend up to 2nd year in University. It may seem difficult to understand, but John prefers isolation and silence in his dorm room rather than troublesome socialization with strangers. To boot, his constant iciness and absolute neglect of others' feelings is a true dealbreaker for any relationship.

As life went on, John realized that he felt safer alone, and he truly enjoyed being a student, thus deciding to learn as much as he wished. This scholarly behavior resulted in him being a doctorate in several subjects, such as physics, chemistry, literature, and even programming. He consistently worked as an academic to fund his studies and just enjoyed this calm life, and now he is 32 years old scholar who is well respected and liked in the scientific community.

Unfortunately, good times end when you least expect it. Just as he was about to have everything he wanted, a terrible pandemic crushed economics first, then igniting wars all over the world for various resources needed for survival. Wars became campaigns, terror reigned, and as a well-known scientist, he was absorbed into the system by his government to work regardless of his wishes.

His colleagues and like-minded scientists understood that the wheel of history was turning the good times into chaotic ones. If they didn't try to escape this situation, they would probably die soon under the change of higherups or conditions in the wide world.

Honestly, one would think that this mutiny would fail without a doubt, but the vast part of the world was in chaos, and they were able to escape this regime with a few casualties along the way.

John became a reclusive farmer in the countryside, hiding from all the chaos in the world, and it worked for the time being. But, sadly, as the saying goes, bad luck comes in threes, his short period of calmness was destroyed by a full-out war between Americans, Russians, and Chinese.

A crazy terrorist organization sabotaged his escape to Africa, and he could do nothing about his safety no matter how hard he tried to avoid it. The only thing he remembers thinking was, " Is this how I died? ". As the light left his eyes and unimaginable hunger and pain disappeared from his tied body, forgotten somewhere in a cellar deep underground in the Sahara desert.

John fell into comfortable senselessness, void of anything, pure nothingness. He remembers being afraid that there would be some afterlife like religions preached, but he only found darkness.

But this makes no sense. So why was John still able to think?

"Is it my imagination, or can I feel touch ?" John wondered. "Nevermind, I like this silence." His all existence now was simple, and there was no trouble, so he just enjoyed the experience.

He isn't sure how long he just existed, but he finally felt something after what seemed like a very long and good nap.

Now he is sure that he has a feeling of touch. Surprisingly, after this long slumber, he began to hear a muffled sound. As he focused more and more, he became sure that some sounds were words, and some touches were a natural movement.

These sensations didn't frighten John as he calmly assessed his situation. Logically thinking, he should be in somebody, and he gains senses over time. But, as an educated guess, he felt that he was a baby.

"Now what ?" John was confused as he gained more and more clear senses of what he could understand from his surroundings.

"Am I going to have to live one more life with no purpose?" He experienced an existential crisis once again. He was fed up with his previous life, as nothing was in his power. He couldn't even stay safe, so there was no need to talk about being happy.

"Ehh, we will see. Maybe I'm not even correct about my situation. Let's sleep some more." John again calmed himself and began to slumber.

After what felt like an eternity, he felt something he had never felt before—feeling like electricity passed through his body like a feeling of cold water. It came in waves, and the pressure was getting stronger and stronger as if gravity itself was molding him into a human clay doll. The only thing that changed was his consciousness became more vigorous, and he wanted to sleep less.

"Now, this is different. Am I electrocuted, or what the hell ?" John wondered if he would die by electricity before he was even born. After all, he could recall that some people were electrocuted for various reasons in his previous world. "Damn, is my current mom being tortured?" John couldn't comprehend why else he would feel this way. However, his worries about his carrier receiving electroshock therapy had disappeared when John thought that this electricity was being absorbed into his mind by a small vortex, which gave him more clarity than ever.

"What the hell is this?" John is genuinely concerned by now. Who wouldn't be? He now actually had a visualization of a small vortex spinning in his mind, and it worked because he felt this electricity going into the vortex.

John tried to calm down. Fortunately, his previous life experience let him do it with no effort. So now, he focused only on his senses and vortex.

This small spinning vortex looked like water spinning after taking out a bathplug. Only in John's mind, there was no water, but darkness, where a small white vortex was getting bigger.

His constant grueling focus gave some results as he noticed the vortex was slowly stabilizing. It was getting more expansive, and there were more minor fluctuations. Now that he had time to think about it, the vortex gradually became a little ball. The only trade was that John could feel his thoughts becoming more precise and fast in the process.

Regrettably, this focus was very taxing on his mind, and after some time, he started feeling pulsating pain in his head, which forced him to stop observing the vortex. Unfortunately, fatigue was overwhelming at this point, so John had no other choice but to fall into slumber.

Unfortunately, this time, it felt even longer. However, when John woke up, the changes were equally more extraordinary.

"What is this feeling?" John was thoroughly confused. As his mind became stronger after rest, he could see a small white ball pulsating in his mind, releasing refreshing cold waves that made him feel better every time. John also noticed that his ability could clearly feel his body and audibly hear clear words from the outside. But, alas, he now was sure that he had never heard this language before. Also, the voices he heard sometimes had such a clear ringing, which made his mind spin.

"This is truly unfathomable." Thought John perceiving this for the first time.

John was now thoroughly interested in these new sensations. "I should explore every inch of my mind. Maybe I can understand what is going on?"

He dived into his mind visualization with a child's curiosity but was instantly surprised by what he found. The vortex, which turned into a ball, was nowhere to be seen. Now in his mind-space, there was a transparent sphere of pulsating energy. It was a lot bigger than the previous ball, and the power inside was full of tiny sparks, various weird colors, and in the very center, there was still some slight spinning movement. Also, now he could enter that sphere, and as he did so, he observed that all the tiny particles inside were avoiding him. This phenomenon left him in confusion. "Why do these lights evade me like the plague?" He looked around curiously to find if he had missed something. This time, his observation was unsuccessful, and the familiar fatigue and pain forced John to leave the mind-space again.

"Now, I am sure that the sphere absorbs less energy than at the beginning of vortex. However, the pressure is getting bigger. Maybe the amount of available energy is not as huge as in the start, but the pressure is a different element altogether ?" John tried to comprehend his new knowledge until fatigue forced him to sleep again.

Slumber lasted even longer this time. However, John eventually regained his consciousness, and it seemed that his mind was even more robust. Now he could see the same lights he had in his mind-space, without even going inside of the sphere. Nonetheless, the number of particles was thousands of times smaller than in his sphere.

"Well, this is just great, one more mystery." So jokingly thought John as he observed the tiny colorful lights. "Let's see if something changed in my mind as well?" Said John and dived into frustrating visualization again.

This time everything went smoothly, and not many changes were visible. However, the sphere was slightly more prominent, and the number of particles was more considerable. The spinning in the center was a little more substantial as well. John tried to touch particles again to no avail.

They just seemed to be intent on avoiding him at any cost, so he was left with the only option to observe them. As his fatigue increased, he became more frustrated as he could not understand what he should do with all of this new stuff in his mind.

After all, this should have some purpose, but he couldn't decipher it for now. "Well, let it be." John relaxed again. He rested while staying inside the sphere and began to feel unprecedented serenity.

As he closed his eyes, his mind became harmonious with the lights. This harmony empowered the globe to increase the absorption of energy, and the spinning inside of it quickly turned into a colossal vortex full of suction power. John remained in this trans-like state for much longer than maintaining his focus in the previous attempts. Yet, he eventually began to sleep after fatigue became unbearable.

John woke up to extreme shaking and sounds of screaming. Everything around him was squeezing and churning, and the sounds were so loud, he couldn't help but become scared.

"Am I going to be born?" John was very excited now. He could finally see this new, unfathomable world.

Childbirth is always a complicated matter, so he could only pray that everything went well. As he was thinking about these things, he could finally see a bright light. His tiny body was squeezed and pushed until it finally was pulled out by the experienced hands of a midwife.

"What a beautiful boy!" Midwife rejoiced at the healthy little creature. As these words passed the spacious chamber, everyone wore excited and happy faces. "Madam Sitri, here is your child. He is healthy and safe. You have nothing to worry about." The chubby midwife gently passed the child to his mother. "Yes, let me see this child's eyes. He seems very intelligent already as he calmed down after crying so quickly."

John couldn't understand what they were saying, but he could guess that everything went fine. His body automatically gave a light cry as he was born, so he didn't have to worry about that. Also, this chamber was a lot bigger than he expected.

The ceiling reached three times the height of a human, and the lighting was very mild and clean. There were no windows, only white wood walls and a black crystal floor. Apart from the colossal bed his mother was on. There was no furniture, just a lot of space, where quite a crowd was looking excitedly.

"Mother, could you look if he is truly healthy?" Sitri asked while turning to look at an elderly beautiful lady. "Of course, my dear." Said the elegant lady. She went to bed and took the child in her arms.

John was shocked when he heard the ringing tones and saw the light in the room swirling in all directions. These sounds he heard while he was still inside of his mother made him feel fuzzy. Now, however, John witnessed a magical sight. He was floating! The warm and gentle breeze and light wrapped around him like a cloth.

"Sitri, this child is very healthy and robust. However, his talent seems to be mediocre." Stated the elegant granny. "His mind seems to be very tough. However, I can't seem to find any bloodlines, nor does he seem to have a bodily constitution, like his bigger brother and sister." Stated the woman.

"It is okay, mother. As long as he is healthy, he can live his life unfettered. Our family doesn't lack talent anyway." Said Sitri with a warm smile on her face.

"What do you think we should call him ?" Said a man, exuding a weird feeling, as if he wasn't there.

"Uncle, as you know, his father now is in seclusion after that battle so that he couldn't leave his estate. Moreover, his grandfather is also dying because of the injuries left from the last war. Therefore, it seems that only we can protect him for this period. Thus, I should name him after the goddess of luck and god of protection so that he would survive this difficult time and no misfortune could bar his path. Therefore, his name will be the same as one of the Ancestors of our Westgate family! Therefore, he will be known as Felix Westgate the second!" Sitri exclaimed with a sonorous voice that spread quickly through the city with a booming noise.

"It seems this world isn't so simple as my previous one." John was contemplating everything that was happening in the room. But, then, his quiet behavior and bright, intelligent eyes met with the elegant lady's eyes.

It seemed that the world had stopped. John had no more thoughts in his mind, just those eyes that emitted so much power that he couldn't even utter a cry. He quickly appeared inside his mind-space in the middle of the sphere. John could see that the elegant woman avatar was inside there as well. As she turned around, he came back to his senses.

"Sitri, it seems that I almost overlooked the magnitude of Felix's mind power." Said the older woman while gently caressing Felix's cheeks.

"What did you discover, mother?" Asked Sitri with visible excitement in her eyes.

"It is clear that he has no talent to become warrior, bloodline warlock, or even an assassin. However, his mind has already begun absorbing elemental energy into his mind palace. Although it's still only a rudimentary form, it is unheard of for a baby to have raw power inside his mind palace."Said the granny after considering what she saw.

"Mother, what exactly are you saying?" Sitri asked with utter confusion in her mind.

"I am saying that if this child keeps absorbing energy into his mind and survives the palace formation, he will have the qualifications to become a full-fledged mage!"As the older woman stated this, John could see how the facial expressions in the room drastically changed from smiles to frightened looks and even some jealousy.

"It seems that my mind sphere isn't widespread. Damn, will it be something bad for me?" Thought John as he was looking at his mom, granny, and others.

"Sitri, it seems that all three of your children have a difficult path to follow. Felix will become a mage. You have to prepare yourself as it will cost us a nominal amount of resources. I will contact the main branch right away, as it is no longer our problem. A mage is a rarity even for our Westgate clan. It has been over 300 years since the last mage was born in our branch, so we must do everything according to the protocol." Said granny with a very grave face.

"You are right, mother. We will do everything according to the rules. Now even if we contact the main family, it will take a few years until Felix can start his education, we only need to ensure he doesn't die during mind palace formation, and it will be fine." Sitri told with a sober look and a very ferocious glint in her eyes.

"Good, I will make arrangements as you need to get stronger yourself, Sitri. Take care of this child." Instructed granny with a warm voice and stepped out of the chamber.

"Okay, everyone, I'm tired after all this commotion. Let's convene at a later time."Said Sitri with a smile and just held her newborn in her arms while gently rocking and humming a soft tone.

"Wow, I need to learn this language. I'll try to learn as much as I can, but now I am so tired, it is best to go to sleep."Thought John as he was already shutting his eyes in a cute baby way.