He was scared; he feared death and the thought that his young life might just vanish. He trembled in the corner with Emily until they were discovered, and Emily was snatched away from him.
At that moment, he suddenly woke up. For the first time, he truly recognized this world. He rushed towards Emily like a madman. He couldn't let this girl, whom he had raised like his own daughter, be taken away. He was afraid of death, but even more afraid of a fate worse than death.
However, he had only taken less than a meter before he was pulled back.
"Kid! What are you running for? Do you want to die?" Ethan still clearly remembers the words and the fierce expression of the person who stopped him. And with that delay, Emily had already been taken to the car.
"No! Let her go! Let her go!" Ethan struggled, but it only drew a round of mockery. The captors weren't even in a hurry to take him to the car; instead, they watched his struggles with interest.
Despair is the best catalyst for collapse. They didn't mind giving the child in front of them an early lesson.
Despite repeated fruitless struggles, Ethan never gave up. The stimulation of blood seemed to put him in a trance. At that moment, he had only one thought: to save her, at all costs.
He didn't know if the paternal affection he once felt had changed, nor did he know how powerful the enemies before him were. But he knew he couldn't let anything happen to her, even if it meant sacrificing the mere eleven years of life he had been given.
The naturally awakened Moon Power surged wildly within his body, and a faint pink tint gradually appeared in his eyes. Finally, a dazzling light erupted from Ethan, striking the captor who held him, sending them flying. The light reached the sky, illuminating the entire night.
"It's just a pity that I repelled the Temple and attracted the Patrol Officers, but I couldn't save her. Otherwise, perhaps things would be different now?" Ethan sighed in his heart. That was the first time he had used the power of an elf, the first time he realized how powerful the strength he possessed was.
The moment the light appeared, the people from the Temple felt something was wrong. Such a light illuminating the night sky was enough to attract everything. They didn't even have time to pack their things, quickly leaving with the captured children. Before leaving, they even remembered to kill the survivors. Fortunately, due to the effect of the magic flash, there were no other captors around Ethan, and he was spared, becoming one of the few survivors of this summer camp.
However, after releasing his Moon Power, Ethan was already exhausted, only able to lie weakly on the ground, watching the car carrying Emily disappear before him. He could even hear her crying shouts.
When he was rescued, his father and Emily's father had already rushed back, along with all ten members of their small team.
"Kid! You're safe!" This was the first thing Emily's father said to him.
Next came some questions about the situation at the time. Emily's father didn't speak, just listened quietly, until the questioning ended. Ethan anxiously urged them to save Emily, even trying to get up and go himself. It was then that her father stopped him.
"Kid, you're still young. When you grow up, you'll have plenty of opportunities to protect her. For now, let us adults go!" This was the second and last thing he said to Ethan. Although Ethan didn't agree at the time, he regarded this sentence as a lifelong promise.
Two months later, a stronghold of the Temple was discovered. Disregarding the gradual instructions from headquarters, the team of both fathers directly infiltrated the stronghold and engaged in a fierce battle, ultimately successfully eradicating the stronghold. A large number of captured children were rescued, including Emily, who had been taken two months prior. The cost was the lives of two search officers and nearly half of everyone's elves, one of whom was Emily's father, Eric.
...
A cold sensation came from his fingertips, pulling Ethan's wandering thoughts back. His bloodshot eyes gradually cleared. He took a deep breath and showed a slightly pale smile to the girl beside him.
"I'm fine now," Ethan said faintly.
"Mm!" Emily responded softly, letting go of his right hand. This wasn't the first time this had happened, and she was his salvation.
"Speaking of which, have you decided which type you want to specialize in?" After calming himself, Ethan asked.
A person's energy is limited, and the training methods for each type of elf vary greatly. Even the same type of elf can have vastly different effects when trained in different ways. Therefore, students in the Elf Department generally choose one type to specialize in, especially for those aiming to become trainers.
Trainers are different from breeders. Breeders focus more on cultivating elves, so they need a very broad knowledge base and an understanding of the medicinal properties of different materials. Trainers, on the other hand, aim to maximize an elf's combat power. Their main task is to deeply explore an elf's combat potential, which requires a very profound understanding of an elf's moves, attributes, and so on.
Therefore, most experienced trainers inevitably specialize in a certain type. On one hand, elves of the same type often have commonalities in their training methods, which can greatly reduce training difficulty and cost. On the other hand, they only need to deeply cultivate the moves and combat styles of that one type, making it easier to reach the pinnacle and make breakthroughs.
"Dark type!" Emily answered decisively. Ethan had long expected this answer.
He didn't know what Emily had experienced during the two months she was captured by the Temple, but she had already awakened when she was successfully rescued. However, the ability she awakened was the power of darkness, leaning towards the dark side.
The scope of Dark Power's effect is not as broad as Moon Power's, only affecting Poison, Ghost, and Dark types. However, being able to simultaneously cover three types is considered extremely rare.
Speaking of which, even though Ethan and Emily are both awakeners, the probability of ordinary people awakening special abilities is actually very, very low.
According to statistics, the number of awakeners currently alive in the United States does not exceed four digits, and the total number of awakeners worldwide does not exceed 5,000. It is important to remember that this world is ten times larger than the former Earth, and the population base far exceeds that of the previous life. Yet, with a population base of hundreds of billions, there are fewer than 5,000 people who can activate awakened powers, which shows how rare awakeners are.
The birth of every awakener can be said to be remarkable. Ethan and Emily have even been protected during their years living in South City.
"Then you'll have to be careful. It's best to raise some other types of elves to cover your tracks; after all, the people of the British Royal Family are not so easy to deal with." Ethan raised an eyebrow, reminding her.
People's exploration of elves in this world is still incomplete. The Alliance only recognizes fifteen types of elves, with Dark, Steel, and Fairy types not yet classified. However, according to his maternal grandfather, who is a senior researcher, these types have not been discovered, but rather have not been announced to the public due to certain unknown obstructions.
Especially the Dark type. There have been many researchers who specialized in Dark types that mysteriously disappeared, and the shadow of the British Royal Family is faintly present in these incidents. They are a famous psychic family in Western Europe, and the public release of the Dark type would undoubtedly be a provocation and declaration of war against them. In this regard, America's Dragon Taming Family is much more open-minded; at least the Fairy type is not a secret in the eyes of America's high-ranking officials.
However, fortunately, after so many years, the British Royal Family seems to be having trouble suppressing it. According to his maternal grandfather, who is a senior researcher, if all goes well, the data for the new three types should be released within the next two years, and at that time, the entire elf world will undergo significant changes.
"Mm! Ghost type." Emily nodded. Although her personality was cold, she knew the seriousness of the matter, not to mention that having experienced the events of her childhood, she understood the darkness of this world better than Ethan.
And the Ghost type is indeed a good cover. After all, she possesses Dark Power, which can be said to be the best supplement for Ghost types. However, Ghost-type elves are very rare, and it is not easy to find and capture them.
"Ghosts can be very dangerous to raise! But since you have Dark Power, if you're careful, there shouldn't be any major problems. It seems I'll have to prepare one more set of materials for you," Ethan said softly.
He had been following his mother in elf breeding and research since childhood, and his knowledge of elves was no longer limited to his past life's memories. According to his mother, if the research data for the new three types could be released, he would even be qualified to challenge for the title of top breeder, a height many people could never hope to reach in their lifetime.
"Which type are you planning to choose?" Emily suddenly asked. All this time, Ethan's family had been helping her. She suddenly wanted to know what choice the boy in front of her would make at this most important moment in his life.
"Huh? Me?" A hint of surprise appeared on Ethan's face. After all these years, this was the first time he had felt curiosity and anticipation from her.
"Mm!" Emily nodded, her aura growing a few degrees colder, but in Ethan's eyes, the girl in the school uniform became a little more adorable.
Finally, she's showing a bit more personality! Ethan thought to himself. He already had an answer to Emily's question.
"Since you plan to fall into eternal darkness, then I will be that ray of light in the darkness, an unextinguishable lighthouse on the other shore, guiding the lost home."
His somewhat cheesy, emotional words made Emily uncharacteristically flustered. However, those close to Ethan generally knew about his dream, and he seemed to possess enough talent to walk this path, even if it was incredibly difficult.
But, if it's him, he should be able to, right?
Emily thought uncertainly, turning her head to look at the young man in front of her. There was an indescribable sense of security, just as it had been all these years.
Even though she had awakened a power completely different from his, even with the accident from that year, he was still the most important person in her life.