As Mark was confusingly looking around and himself, wondering where he was, what was he doing here, what happened to him, and what were those new sets of memories, questioning his own identity, a figure shrouded in a golden aura appeared not so far away from him.
Equipping herself with an exquisite-looking staff adorned with jewels, the woman opened her mouth, "Let me ask something before we talk. Do you know who you are?"
Mark stared at her with his eyes widened, "An Elf? Wow, never thought you people were real. Judging by your appearance and the fact that I'm flying on my own, I guess either I'm Lu Zhen or someone else that I have no knowledge of."
Mark's reaction slightly caused a bit of surprise in the High Priestess but she kept her coolness and said, "Your questions can be answered by your companions over there, but before that, let me confirm something."
"What is…" Mark didn't even get the time to respond before the High Priestess raised her staff and unleashed a spell, or in other words, a skill attack.
Mark's thoughts became blank as a whiskered golden snake formed by energy made its way toward him.
"Dad…"
Steve quickly rose to his feet and was about to fly but was stopped by James before he did so.
"James…" As Steve snapped at him for stopping him, the latter spoke, "You can already sense Dad's cultivation has returned. This sort of attack will not injure him. Just watch."
Meanwhile, Mark was frozen in fear. He didn't know what to do. He could tremendous amount of power within him but he didn't know how to use it. The fact that Mark mostly used the system's help in the past also made his body not have any muscle memory.
But, all is not gone.
As the energy attack almost reached him and opened its mouth to swallow him whole, icy wings erupted from his back and covered him up.
The attack couldn't penetrate the defense and disappeared with the collision. The wings opened up again, revealing Mark with a surprised look on his face.
Soon, his surprise turned into excitement, and a burst of laughter escaped from his mouth, "Haha, an ice element, and that too, wings? So schway. I thought I was floating because of the wind attribute. Wait a second. If I'm not a wind attribute, how am I flying earlier without wings? Am I…"
A crazy thought appeared in his head but he couldn't think further as the High Priestess wasn't done with whatever she planned to do.
Soon, a large sphere of energy made its way toward Mark.
This time, Mark acted in reflex by flapping his wings without even knowing how they work. It just happened to him as natural as breathing.
As the energy sphere missed its attack and went away, the High Priestess calmly raised her staff once again.
And Mark felt angry when he saw that. He didn't understand why that woman kept on attacking him. Was he in the wrong? Or was she in the wrong? Or were they enemies?
He didn't know but for the moment, he had only one thought. Kill her. If he cannot, then, escape.
And that resolve brought specks of golden light out of Mark's body before transforming into a rocket launcher with a loaded warhead on the front, although in gold color.
Mark grabbed it instinctively and put it on his shoulder. He proceeded to press the trigger with his index figure before thinking too much because of fear of death and anger toward the assailant.
The warhead that was shot off the launcher then changed into a ball of golden divine energy as it flew toward the target.
The High Priestess, who was in the middle of invoking a spell, withdrew it in a hurry and proceeded with releasing the ether energy from her body to create a barrier around her.
The ball of golden energy collided with the barrier and not only it destroyed it with brute force, but even the person hiding behind it was also blasted away atleast for a couple of hundred meters, crashing through several trees on the way.
At once, the elves living in the surroundings gathered in one place. Some have a look of fear in their eyes while some develop hatred and raised the weapons. A couple of elves rushed toward the High Priestess to help her.
They didn't know the full story and hence, they looked at a human such as Mark as an enemy.
The High Priestess coughed out a mouthful of blood as she rose to her feet while her whole body started shivering.
Meanwhile, Mark observed the weapon in his hand in surprise. Another warhead already was loaded automatically. "This isn't ammunition, but a weapon of ether energy? But, I didn't have any memory of weapons like these." He grew more confused for a second.
However, it didn't last for a while as his eyes fell on the enemy who got up on her feet and started walking toward him instead of flying.
Mark threw away his thoughts at the back of his mind and flapped his wings. Meanwhile, the elves started moving away as far as possible, fearing that there is going to be an intense battle and they were going to be caught in it if they don't leave. Some followed her though as if they wanted to assist her. Nevertheless, there was no reaction from the High Priestess. She just continued to walk toward him.
Soon, both of them reached a close distance and Mark had his finger on the trigger, just in case she tries to attack him out of nowhere.
But, to his surprise, the High Priestess freed the staff.
*Thud*
The staff fell onto the ground, followed by the High Priestess falling onto her knees and bowing to him, surprising everyone around with her words echoing all over the place, "High Priestess Aeliana greets the savior. You were the one we have been waiting for all this while."
The moment those words escaped her mouth, all the elves that are around dropped down their weapons and whatever negative thoughts they have in their mind and fell to their knees in respect. Only the two teenagers were seen standing on the ground with surprised looks.
Meanwhile, Mark had another jolt of shock at the reaction of the elves. "Weren't they enemies?" He wondered.
Until now, he thought there was some kind of enmity between them. Or else, why would she suddenly attack him, not once but twice?
After hearing her now, he realized that she was testing him to prove something. He wanted to know what she confirmed.
Flapping his wings, Mark landed on the ground, nearby the kneeling High Priestess. He asked, "What is this about, miss?"
The High Priestess raised her head to look at him and answered, "Your grace, there was a prophecy that's been passed down to me from my predecessor.
In the age of shadows and echoes, a prophecy unfolds, a hero from forgotten realms, his destiny foretold. From the annals of the past, a shield once held so strong, shall slip from grasp and brings a curse, the world's peace goes wrong.
Unleashed from shackles deep within, demons surge and swarm, great evil from banished dimension, a world to deform. Chaos reigns, darkness ascends, despair's grip takes hold, yet from the ashes of despair, a story shall be told.
Amidst the turmoil, a mortal walks, to elven realms unknown, with heart enshrouded in shadow and power yet to be shown. He bears the burden of both worlds, a balance to maintain, Harnessing both darkness and light, his destiny to attain.
Through trials and tribulations, he'll rise above the fray, mastering his inner battles, guiding night into day. The demons quake and tremble, before his newfound might, He'll conquer the banished evil, setting the world aright.
A princess fair, with grace untamed, his partner she shall be, together they'll face the tempest, setting all captives free. With unity as their beacon, they'll mend what once was torn, two souls entwined in purpose, a destiny reborn.
He'll weave a tapestry of peace, between elves and humankind, Bringing harmony and kinship, a bridge of ties that bind. The hero's legacy shall echo, through ages yet to come, a tale of darkness turned to light, of battles fought and won.
So heed this prophecy's words, a story to unfold, of a hero from the past, with the courage to be bold. Through trials, darkness, and battles, his spirit shall ascend, uniting worlds and hearts, his saga without end."
After reciting the prophecy, she then said, "We have been summoning mortals from thousands of worlds for the past century to bring the hero to our realm and train him so that he saves our world when the time comes, just like how Sir Adrian saved our world long ago by sacrificing his life and imprisoning the demons.
Ever since I heard you almost sacrificed your life to protect the princess, I was hoping for you to be the hero. However, you were in a deep state of sleep. You woke up one day only to go back into the same state for the next two weeks.
After watching you wake up once again while regaining your powers, I couldn't wait and just went ahead with my test. I apologize for my actions."
She bowed once again and continued, "However, now I have realized that you are the mortal from the prophecy. You are the one who leads us to the utopia."
Mark stood there in a daze, digesting the information and understanding what was going on. His brain automatically decoded the entire prophecy on its own, possibly due to high intelligence stat.
The High priestess patiently waited in her kneeling position until Mark gave an unexpected reaction to one specific statement of all the things, "Did you just imply that I marry the princess?"
