"The what?"

"Mana Shell. It's one of the rarest and most important magic item ever made." The stranger says in a whisper. "It was hidden inside their headquarters for so long now."

"Is it true that the reason why they were able to contain so much energy was because of this magic item?"

"How'd you know about that?"

"A rumor about it was spreading all across the city where I study. Of course, I didn't believe them at first since I thought something like that couldn't have existed but now that I heard your story…" Mi Young didn't even finish her sentence, knowing that the stranger already knew what she was going to say next. "Is it the reason why the High Lords hid your city and made it float?"

"Uhn. That's true."

"And now everyone thinks that the main reason why your city is floating was because the High Lords or whatever were afraid of the savage beasts getting inside your city." Mi Young says with an eye roll.

"No. The High Lords were never afraid of those savage beasts. In fact, it was believed that they could tackle Tartarus themselves. However, I believe there is another reason why they didn't get involved with the fight with Tartarus." The stranger says in a small yet grave voice.

"What do you mean?"

The boy seemed to snap out from his thoughts. "Nothing. Anyway, is there something else the rumor said?"

Mi Young stops for a moment to study the stranger, however no matter how hard she tries to figure out who is under the cloak, there's no one that comes into her mind. The black haired girl sighs before she shakes her head and says, "Nothing important. People just tend to spread that the reason why you are able to keep your city floating for thousands of years is because your High Lords have a secret Geo technique that keeps on giving your people mana. And some stupid thing about the unity and love of your people is what keeps your city floating."

"Well, that is indeed stupid." The boy says with a snort.

"I know right. Like, how the hell does unity and love keep a whole city floating above the clouds? Pretty stupid actually." The black haired girl comments while snorting at the thought of people even spreading a rumor like that. "Anyway, why do your High Lords keep this as a secret? And how the hell does this Mana Shell even work?"

"The main reason is that they don't want to share it with anyone else. A couple of years ago, a number of citizens rebelled against the High Lords and threatened to take them down and reveal whatever secret they were trying to hide from them. Of course the High Lords got angry and decided to make these rebels stop so any secrets won't get revealed." The boy starts to say as he walks down to sit on the sidewalk near them.

Mi Young decided to sit next to him. "How did they stop them?"

"I thought it was obvious enough?"

"What?"

"What's better silence than death?" The boy  questions.

"Oh." That was the only thing that left Mi Young's mouth before the boy continued talking once more.

"Anyway, after that any person who tried to rebel against the High Lords was assassinated. Of course, the High Lords denied the accusations being thrown at them. But the people were too scared to go against them so they let them be. But despite their laws, at least the city went safe for a couple of years after that." The boy ends his small story with a sad sigh.

"Then why do you look so sad?"

"How do you know that I was sad if you can't even see my face?" The other party questions. There was a teasing tone on his voice that somehow made Mi Young smile a little.

The black haired girl shrugs her shoulders before answering him, "I can feel it."

"That's cool." The boy says with a laugh. Then he adds, "I just feel like even though they continue to protect the city and keep it safe from intruders, I still believe that the people of Furotingu deserve to know the truth. Aside from that, it was the Goddess' gift to all the Geo people who lived here."

"Gift? Goddess? Why haven't you mentioned that part of the story?" Mi Young asks while looking at the boy with a soft glare and a pout which makes the other party let out a chuckle.

"I thought it wasn't necessary anymore. Plus it's a long story."

Mi Young scooted closer towards him, "Come on, I really like stories."

The boy sighs before saying, "Fine. I don't expect you to believe the story that I am about to tell you but this is from a book that I found years ago that turned out to be a journal of a person from the past that lived even before Tartarus."

Mi Young didn't say anything, just kept nodding at the boy and keeping an eye on him just to let him know that she was listening. So the stranger continues, "So anyway, before there were nine different elements. I know, you might get shocked but trust me, there was. So, these nine elements were represented by nine clans. These clans were the most powerful and terrifying clans in the whole Mage Kingdom and each of them possessed incredible control with the elements they have. There was the four which are still present until now, and there are the Electro, Cryo, Dendro, Lumino, and the Nyxo."

The boy pauses for a moment to look at the young girl's reaction. She expected the girl to look at him like he was spouting nonsense and lies like everyone who heard of his story did before. However, it seems like the tables have turned this time because it was him who went shocked with the girl's next word. "I know about them so you can skip that part. And don't worry I believe you, just get to the part about this Goddess and a gift or whatever."

"W-Wait! How do you know about the nine clans and the nine elements?" The stranger asks.

The black haired girl hums before replying to the man, "Let's just say I met someone who also believed that they existed."

"And you trust that person immediately?"

"Uhn." Mi Young answers with an absolute nod.

"H-How? I mean, they might just be making things up. How are you willing to give them your trust that much?" The boy asks, voice full of wonder and confusion.

"Well, because I simply trust that person." That was what the young girl said, making the stranger's body freeze. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"No. It's just…" The stammers. Then he sighed before continuing, "Your words just reminded me of someone I once knew."

"Is that so? So, what about the Goddess?"

"Oh right." The stranger let out a small awkward chuckle before he continued his story. "So back to the nine clans. I assume you already know which clans have this and that element. Anyway, the people who worshipped the Geo clans didn't know that the Geo clan has a god of their own."

"What do you mean?"

"How do I explain this? Hm. Right, you know that the nine clans drew power from the temples and shrines and the magical items gifted to them by the people who believed in them, right?" The cloaked figure asks. Mi Young nodded her head to confirm his question. "Okay, as this people continued to 'worship' this clan, which was the Kwon's, they didn't knew that one of the Kwon's have attained the ability to become a god."

"The ability to become a god? Is there such a thing as that?" Mi Young questions. As the other party's story continued to progress, Mi Young's mind kept on getting confused as well. She didn't know that such things happened in the past as well. She notes to herself to ask Lady Ning Gwang about it later since she is a person from the past.

"Uhn. They say when one Mage is able to reach the highest part of being an Absolute Mage, then that person is able to become a god. That was what happened to that Kwon member."

"Wait, what Absolute Mage are you talking about?"

The boy turned his head towards Mi Young's direction and asked, "You don't know about the Absolute Mage?"

"No."

"An Absolute Mage is a Mage who has mastered all kinds of magic. From elemental magic, which means controlling ALL elements, Materialization, Healing, Teleportation, everything. Apparently, it was true that one Mage managed to do that, which was that one Kwon member. However, the Kwon's denied this story and said that no one from their family was able to become a god." The man says with a sad and mellow voice.

"Why do they deny it?"

"It's because they are afraid of being executed."

"Executed?"

The man nodded his head. "Uhn. By that time, people have managed to agree with one absolute law. That they are free to worship the nine clans as long as they want, but none of the nine clans shall produced an Absolute Mage or else, their family will perish and they will be executed."

"Why are people afraid of Absolute Mages? I mean that would probably help them in many ways, like defeating Tartarus." Mi Young points out.

"I know. But the people of the Mage Kingdom were afraid of gods back then."

"Why? They are already worshipping the nine clans, that's close to worshipping a god."

"Well, it's because they are afraid that someone higher than the nine clans will reign over them."