The sun graced the city of Shanghai, illuminating the streets as people once again enjoyed their stay, living amidst one of the most magical cities of the modern era.
Near Pearl Magic University, in the most prosperous part of the city, Damon stood alone inside his newly purchased house.
The room was completely empty except for a practice dummy standing in front of him.
Unlike the brilliant white outside, the interior of the room was entirely black. The walls were engraved with intricate carvings, the tiles sturdy and black, and the entire room enshrouded in darkness—save for the dummy, which stood alone under a spotlight.
Taking a deep breath, Damon closed his eyes. The temperature around the room began to rise as a red magical aura swirled around him.
A giant magic circle formed below his feet as flames slowly radiated outward, covering the floor.
His hair floated upward as scarlet fire emerged from his hands, swirling and spreading over his entire arm.
Seven starpaths, forming a constellation of seven intertwined paths, materialized below Damon's feet, while the flames in his hands roared with fury, engulfing the star map entirely.
Taking his stance, Damon threw a punch, unleashing a colossal fist of fire that surged forward like an extension of his arm.
"Fiery Fist: Exploding Heavens!"
BOOM!
True to its name, the giant fist of fire smashed the dummy before him, destroying it into pieces. Debris, engulfed in flames, spread across the room, burning fiercely until it vanished completely.
"Hoof… minimum power, but still… intermediate magic is intermediate magic for a reason." Damon ceased the fire, retracting his magic as he admired the destruction he had caused with excitement.
More than a year had passed since the calamity of Bo City, and now Damon stood as a full-fledged Intermediate Rank Fire Element magician.
Releasing a sigh of relief, Damon cheered for himself—being a magician again felt incredible.
'No more paperwork, meetings, or worries,' he thought, recalling the year-long journey he had devoted to his company.
He had sold Instagram for 600 million US dollars while still retaining 10% of its shares. This was his greatest accomplishment in this world so far.
Six hundred million was a fortune for anyone, and for Damon, it meant he no longer needed to worry about the cost of resources for the rest of his life.
He planned carefully: 200 million kept as an emergency fund, 300 million reserved for future expenditures, and the remainder entrusted to capable financial experts. Damon would never have to concern himself with money again.
Ding Dong!
As Damon cleaned up the remnants of the destroyed dummy, the doorbell rang.
He had purchased the house a month ago and renovated it completely—a personal training room for his magic reinforced with the highest quality magic enforcement, soundproof walls etched with sound magic diagrams, a private gym with custom-made equipment foreign to this world, three bedrooms, a luxurious living room, and a furnished kitchen. Damon had literally built his dream home in the heart of Shanghai.
Opening the door, delivery men greeted him, placing cartons inside before leaving.
"They arrived earlier than I expected," Damon muttered, already anticipating the treasures he had ordered at great expense.
Starting with the smallest box, he opened it and retrieved a small metal disk.
An octagonal, palm-sized disk made of gold, engraved with a silver figure of a kneeling knight wielding a shield and sword at its center.
"Divine Knights Protection"
A rare defensive magical equipment manufactured by Parthenon, limited in number and released annually. One of the finest defensive magical items in the world, enchanted with the element of light, capable of withstanding three attacks from even a Level 3 Death Thunder.
Sending his intent into the equipment, Damon claimed it as his own, storing it in his spirityak space before moving on to the next box.
Opening all the boxes at once, Damon laid out their contents on the table.
A magic suit made of lesser dragon scales from the United Kingdom.
Magic wings crafted from a Night Hawk King, an intermediate rank monster.
Sky Stepping Boots, capable of allowing one to walk in the air.
A troll's preserved finger, frozen with ice magic and sent directly from the Amazons.
And finally, two Flame Veins.
Five extraordinary items, for which Damon had spent a fortune. The magic suit was a luxurious, black, tight-fitting armor, similar to the Knight's Protection but wearable in combat.
The magic wings—a coveted item, granting humans the ability to fly even without advanced wind magic.
The Sky Stepping Boots allowed one to tread the air at the cost of magical power.
Damon focused his intent into each piece, equipping the suit, wings, and boots, fully arming himself from head to toe.
'What's the point of money if one doesn't spend it on equipment?' he thought, continuing with his preparations.
Finally, he turned to the two flaming, goose-sized red crystals—consumables containing immense fire energy for high-level intermediate mages. He placed them in his inventory, followed by the troll's finger.
The finger had been the result of a quest he had personally commissioned a year ago through the Hunter's Association. Trolls, true to fantasy, existed in this world.
They lived in the Amazons, a forbidden land, and possessed unmatched regenerative powers.
Giant, mindless creatures, lacking elemental abilities or absolute powers, yet capable of surviving due to their incredible regeneration.
Four teams had attempted the quest—three annihilated, one barely escaping with half their members lost, delivering only this finger to Damon.
Storing the finger in his inventory, Damon cleaned the room before dressing.
Eager to merge with the troll's traits, he reminded himself of an immediate task. He had an important appointment with the Magic Association.
"Second Element… be ready."
***
A/N:
Okay so as it is the time for awakening the second elements. Honestly they all are good but I am leaning towards the below mentioned elements.
Please vote and decide which one do you all want:
1) Lightning
2) Water
3) Light
Yeah no elements of Shadow, Space and likes.
For now I refrain on handing mc Advance elements.
Yeah they sure are great but sorry for this stage I don't want him to possess any of those.
Also do you also feel that the story is more mc heavy? Well it's been only one day since I started writing and it's the beginning.
Even in original it was mc heavy and info dump only at the begining, from this point onwards there would be time skips increasingly, and we would be skipping on a lot of plots too and focus only on main things.