Chapter 2 – A Mysterious Voice

Just as Calron woke up, he saw the sun’s light bore through the window as it pierced through his eyes.Scrunching up his eyes, Calron quickly got up as he remembered the events that happened last night. Looking around his small hut, he was surprised that it was still intact with only a few objects jumbled on the floor.

Other than the mess on the floor, there were absolutely no signs that a lightning bolt had actually struck this feeble hut.

Worried that it was all a dream, Calron attempted to release his essence.

Wisps of bright gold light surrounded him as Calron sighed in relief knowing that he had finally awakened to his element.

However, Calron was suddenly hit with the realization that his essence last night was a unique azure blue color, and not the normal gold of other lightning cultivators.

This gold essence felt a lot weaker than the azure essence Calron had experienced yesterday, as he remembered the feeling of unrestrained power that surged through him. Where did it go?

Calron let out a disappointed sigh.

It went back into the locket, kid. The Azure Lightning puts a lot of pressure on your body, and if you had continued to channel it any longer yesterday, you would have instantly died. Just be glad that it protected you.

The Voice abruptly stated with a lazy tone.

“Are you a ghost?”

Calron asked with his voice quivering.

He was in extreme pain yesterday, so naturally, he did not pay much attention to the origin of the voice, but with his mind clear now, Calron’s childish thoughts could not help but remember the ghost stories that his mother used to tell him.

Haha, I’m not a ghost. But, more importantly, why is the son of House Raizel living in this dump, kid?

The Voice inquired in a peculiar tone.

“House Raizel? What’s that, I’ve never heard of that name before…”

Calron replied in a confused tone.

The name was unfamiliar to him, as only the most powerful families were titled by their house names, so why would a servant’s family ever have one? For as long as Calron could remember, his parents just had a single name.

Never mind

The Voice sighed. He seems to do that a lot, Calron inwardly thought.

I heard that! The Voice exclaimed.

“Wait, so you can hear all my thoughts?”

Calron thought inside his mind, in order to test the Voice.

Yes, I can hear your thoughts loud and clear, kid.

The Voice responded back lazily.

“What’s your name?”

Calron sent his thoughts to the Voice. He started enjoying talking to this Voice as it filled a lonely part of him that was empty after the death of his family.

Although Calron could not listen to the thoughts of the Voice unless it intentionally talked to him, he could subconsciously feel that the Voice meant him no harm, and moreover, he even felt a slight feeling of affection from it.

Well, for now, just call me Teacher.

The Voice said lazily, but there was a hint of excitement in his voice.

“Why would I call you teacher?”

Calron already called old Ronny his teacher, as she taught him history and numbers, along with the other village kids. Since his parents worked at the city Lord’s house, Calron had lots of free time to spend, so he usually tried to make friends with the other kids. However, despite Calron’s best efforts, the village kids always seemed to either ignore or condemn him.

Calron saw no reason to call a voice in his head as “teacher”, and besides he hated Ronny, she always ridiculed him in front of other kids because he could not remember the dates in history, and he absolutely abhorred counting numbers.

Calron simply did not like teachers.

Stupid kid, do I look like I want to teach you how to count numbers?

The Voice retorted in Calron’s mind.

I’m going to teach you how to cultivate your lightning element, so you can finally use that Azure Lightning in the future. And one more thing, kid. NEVER tell anyone about that blue lightning, alright?

For some reason, Calron trusted the Voice as he knew instinctively that his blue lightning was different from his father’s or any other element of the other cultivators for that matter, so Calron simply nodded in response to the Voice’s request.

Calron wondered if the Voice saw his nod or if he only responded to his thoughts. Calron knew the Voice was a ‘he’ as no woman would ever have such a rugged voice that sounded like two boulders grinding against each other.

I can see just fine, kid. My soul is connected to yours so anything that you see I can see as well. By the way, the ladies back in my day swooned over my deep manly voice.

The Voice sulked before quieting down.

Calron just smiled at the Voice’s behavior, but right at that moment, he saw them.

………………………..

A trio appeared outside his hut and stared intently at him.

Two of them wore the uniforms of a soldier, while the other one was an older grey haired man who stood in the middle of the trio. The grey haired man wore a simple light brown robe but based on his distinguished aura, it was clear to anyone that he had the highest authority amongst the three. With the city Lord’s insignia of a black bear on their chests, the older man stepped forwards towards Calron.

He raised his eyebrows at the frozen smile on Calron’s face but choosing to ignore the boy’s expression, he simply said to the boy in a stern voice.

“Come.”

Calron knew that they would come sooner or later for him.

He tried resisting by sprinting away, but immediately the older man counterattacked by releasing his own essence.

A thick brown essence began to constrict Calron’s body as it exerted an intense pressure on his mind. With the muddy brown essence coalesced around the robed man, Calron knew that he was a cultivator of the earth element.

Calron’s small body trembled under the pressure but he refused to give up, as he glared at the older man with his bloodshot eyes.

What a tremendous willpower, the robed man inwardly thought and couldn’t help but sigh in pity, as he knew that this boy would soon be taken advantage of just like his father.

Just then, Calron released his own elemental essence and the bright golden essence surrounded him as it warmed his insides and relieved the pressure from the older man. The constricting aura was still there but it was at a bearable amount for Calron.

Surprised that the boy had already awakened and that it was a lightning element, the older man felt giddy in his heart. He knew that the city Lord would be ecstatic as well, especially since their previous lightning cultivator had died in their last hunt.

Although the lightning element was the weakest of all, it was also the rarest, as not many children awakened to it. The chance of awakening to a lightning element was one in a thousand.

Go with him, kid. You are too weak to resist him for now, and it doesn’t look like they’ll actually kill you, so don’t worry. I’ll make sure you’ll get your revenge against them soon enough.

The Voice soothingly comforted the mind of his latest young student.

Calron abruptly stopped resisting and withdrew his elemental essence. Calron did not know why, but for some reason, he completely trusted the Voice.

The robed man was astonished. He was sure that this boy would resist and eventually he would have to drag him by force, but the kid abruptly stopped resisting. Suspiciously, he beckoned the young boy to follow him.

Stepping outside his home, Calron turned back to take a last look at the place he grew up with his family, as he knew that he would never return here again. He had no material possessions to take with him besides his locket, so he simply left with the older man.

Walking behind the grey haired man, Calron clenched his fists as he vowed to make the city Lord and his people suffer for tormenting his family. He would go with them now but on the day that he gained enough power, he would hunt each and every one of them like dogs, and save the most vicious death for the Lord himself.

Meanwhile, the Voice inside Calron silently observed the events unfolding. He knew everything that happened in Calron’s life as their souls had linked long ago, but the violent thoughts of this boy who had yet to reach adulthood, made him wonder just how this world would react once this boy would grow into a man.

Unbeknownst to others, the Voice knew that once this boy reached the Vajra stage, Calron would become a terrifying power, as this was the stage where the Azure Lightning would merge with his mortal body.