No More

Chapter 18: Update

Sometime in the far future

"Auntie?" the little girl asked.

"Yes, Jennifer?" she replied, looking down at her niece.

She fidgeted under her aunt's gaze before taking a deep breath. "Why do people hurt each other?" Jennifer asked.

"Two reasons." Her aunt said. "They are angry and disappointed with themselves, so instead of fixing their own lives, they decide to make everyone else miserable."

"And the second reason?" Jennifer asked.

"Because they think they can get away with it, thinking that they're invincible when they get a taste of power, and unleash it on those weaker than them." her aunt replied without hesitation.

Jennifer didn't say anything for a moment, until she took another deep breath, and looked into her aunt's eyes; determined to ask the question that has been bugging her for a long time.

"Aunty..." Jennifer started, trying not to falter under her aunt's cold eyes. "Why do you kill people?"

"... It's because I'm simply too good at it." she said.

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6 months later.

I got up from bed, stretching as I let out a tired yawn, and walked towards the outside of my cave.

I look out and see the sun rising in the distance, the grey clouds overhead, and feel the crisp morning air in my lungs.

It felt... nice.

I had spent part of my time reading the basic summary of what happened in the three years that passed.

Mana. That one is the big question, so what is it exactly?

Simply put, it's a dormant energy inside everyone, even animals, and unfortunately mobs, and everyone has the power to shape it, wield it, and use it.

They also used it to kill each other.

Mana can be used as a weapon, or as a utility. It all depends on the person. So when this new source of power, that everyone has, that didn't stop the other kingdoms from weaponize it.

With magic, they could boost their armies, grow and harvest resources, and even research it.

Of course, with Mana being so abstract, and widely used, they categorized the magic user into a Class. Ranging from things to like Warrior, or Wizard, or other things like Conjurer and Illusionist.

Each person can study and train to figure out what Class they are, and focus on that type of magic.

A Warrior would be someone with great physical attributes while a Wizard would have spells to use. A Ranger is excellent with bows and crossbows. A Conjurer for example can summon things as an Illusionist can create... illusions!

Then there's my brother Jesse.

My brother got married and adopted a child because his wife couldn't bare one. He knew this, but still was able to make his marriage.

The child, a little girl, named Jennifer, was a victim of the ongoing war between the Kingdoms of the Sand and Forest and Ocean; or as history calls this war, the Triple Devastation.

Her parents were killed in the fighting, and she was left to die, but my brother and his wife saved her and took her back to their home; and I'm not talking about the tree house.

No, I'm talking about their house in the City. During the Triple Devastation, people spent the first year of this war on top of a mountain so huge that it went beyond the clouds. My brother and his family and friends were there.