Sitting on a tree branch was a 4 year old boy with short and ruffled red hair, his amber eyes watched as the other kids were playing with each other. Something he doesn't want to a part of at all.

"Zane! You should join them instead of watching them, you know." A beautiful red haired woman called him from underneath. This was miss Bella, the matron of the orphanage he was staying. She found him in an abandoned house along side the roads to their town.

Seeing that he was ignoring her again, she tried a different approach.

"Sigh, since you don't want to be involved with them why don't you go to old man Bael's shop? I heard he was closing early."

"Yeah, thanks miss Bella." That certainly got a quick reaction from him, she idly thought.

'I wonder what they're doing inside the shop. Whatever it is, Zane really likes him. I just wished that he can help the little one open up more.'

Sprinting towards the only weapon shop in this town, he went to the back door and opened it with a spare key he was given. Inside, he was greeted with the sight of Mr Bael tinkering with some of the armour laying around on the floor. Noticing the new presence in his house, Bael looked up to see Zane.

"Ah! Zane, you came early. Why don't you go and arrange these boxes. After that we'll go through your training then we can have dinner early. How does that sound?" Giving the old man a soft smile, a rare thing from him, Zane proceeded to do just that.

After a few hours of work, it was finally time for some food for the both of them.

Adding some sauce to his meal, Bael inquired his little assistant about his day.

"So Zane, anything new today? Did you make a new friend or see a girl you like?" Rolling his eyes at that last part, Zane replied in a bored tone.

"Not really. You know that I don't like the kids there and miss Bella is busy most of the time. So I just spent my time napping and looking at the clouds." A shake to the head was what he got from the man, he then put his hand under his chin and wisely said.

"You can't just be a hermit all day Zane. You're young and full of life, your future is full of endless possibilities, waiting to be discovered. So, for your sake and mine, try to be more social, ok?" Ending his little lecture with a warm smile, he waited for the kid's response.

Zane kept eating with his head down for a while before answering in a small whisper.

"… But... I want to spend my time here with you... Old man Bael."

Chuckling at the boy's heartfelt words, he stood up and ruffled his hair, making it messier.

"Thank you Zane, for caring about this old man. But my time in life is almost up. While yours is just starting. And who knows, my time could come at anytime."

Zane took a moment to mull over his words before shrugging it off. The two then shared a comfortable silence after that.

'… Your time is coming sooner than you think Zane. And when it does, it will be glorious.'

( 4 years later )

Closing the back door of the shop and locking it, Zane finished his daily routine and started walking back to the orphanage. Over the years, he has definitely grown taller and more muscular. His hair, while still short and ruffled, was even messier and his bangs fell across his fore head, he even has light creases under his eyes.

He climbed up the large tree near the orphanage and made himself comfortable on it. Gazing at the moon, he couldn't help but be mesmerized by it despite seeing countless times. Soon, he fell asleep.

Only to hear a loud explosion at the middle of the town. His eyes fluttered open and he was instantly on guard. Up on the tree, he had a pretty good view of what was going on. The buildings were being burnt to the ground, people were running and screaming while the guards were trying to battle the invaders only to be quickly killed off. It was a disaster. And the raiders were magic wielding cultists.

"Well… shit. This can't be good." Zane muttered, trying to calm himself and form a plan to deal with them.

Seeing a small group of them slipting off to the alleyways, he decided to lock on to them. Running on the branch and jumping off of it, he landed on a nearby roof and started moving towards the enemy.

Standing on top of a house, he observed as the three cultists moved through the alley with a few bricks in hand. He waited for the right opportunity to strike.

'OK, calm down me. You're just going to beat the crap out of three wizards who may or may not kill me in a hit. It'll be a piece of cake... Or I hope so.'

He took a deep breath before jumping off the building. He aimed for one of them and once he got in range, he smashed their heads with a slab of brick in one hand. Knocking one of them out cold and using the same one as a cushion. The other two were visibly shocked at their comrade being taken down by a kid coming down from the sky.

Zane immediately threw the other brick at the one in the back, knocking him to the ground and a bit dazed. The one still standing managed to snaped back to reality and charged at him.

"You little! You will know the might of Zeref's followers!" Using one of his spells, he coated his arms in electricity and threw a right punch. He was surprised when the kid managed to dodged to the side. Not bothered by this, he continued his attacks, thinking that the kid will eventually get hit.

Oh boy, he was wrong when the kid kept on narrowly avoiding him until he messed up. Dropping down to give him a sweep kick, the boy jumped up with his arm cocked back.

"Crimson… Brand!" Widening his eyes at the glowing flames appearing at the kids arm, he was met with a flaming punch to the face, sending him crashing to the ground and cracking it.

"Whoo! That's done." He then sidestepped to the left, avoiding getting stabbed by the guy who was hit with a brick from earlier. He then raised his foot and kicked him in the back, launching him forward and embedding him to the wall.

"Correction. Now I'm actually finished. That was fun, not gonna lie. Now, I understand why old Bael was having so much fun sparring me."

Looting them of any valuable items, he got some jewels, a few spell books and a map of some of the other bases they have.

'… After this, I might go and pay them some visits. Yeah, that sounds about right.' Tying and gagging them up, he hid them in the broken cracks this alley has. He made his way over to Bael's shop while taking more of them out.

Sneaking through the back door, he noticed that it was odly quiet.

'Strange... Old man Bael should be tearing these guys up. But why isn't there any signs of fights here? And where is he anyway?' He soon got his answers when he saw Bael in the living room, just... sitting there.

"Hey old man! What are you doing here? Come on, you and me can kick their asses and defend the town." Zane was really confused when he didn't hear a yes, no, he just heard a chuckle from the man.

"Why would we Zane? Those guys can take care of those pesky towns people."

"The guards can't even take a blow from them- Wait, what did you just say?"

"Like I said, those guys can take care of the towns people while we just sit here and wait for the show to be over. Now, why don't you sit down and we can talk a bit." Zane tried to move forward when he suddenly got stuck in place and forced to sit down on a chair that popped up out of nowhere from behind him.

"… You're one of them, aren't you? Why?" Zane quietly asked, making the old man proudly smiled at his patience.

"Of course, in fact, I'm the one leading this whole operation. I have to say, I'm proud of you Zane. Your intellect and control over your emotions right now. And why? Well, I'll have to tell you of my early days as a wizard. Care to listen to this old man's ramble?" He was satisfied with boy's nod, even if it is a bit hesitant.

"Back then, I was just a young and ambitious man. I always wanted to discover more, gain more and learned more. With my skills and wits, I managed to explored quite a few ruins. One of them was an ancient temple that was used to worship the black wizard, Zeref. Now, I was a bit skeptical going into this, mind you. But all that doubt was gone by the time I reached the end of it." Here, he had a dreamy look, like a kid who is excited about his new toy. Quite frankly, Zane didn't know what to think about it.

"At the end of it, I found a a magical orb that is used to store images of Zeref himself from back then. When I looked into it... Words cannot describe the feeling I was experiencing. The power, the raw power I was able to sense from a single image was suffocating, it has no bounds. And the knowledge, from it, I was able to be enlightened by it, blessed and guided by it. It molded me into who I am today. I can't express how thankful I am for lord Zeref and his greatness. Since then, I joined a group dedicated to worshipping him. I climbed through the ranks and here I am." Pausing for a moment, he set his gaze on him, making him stiffen at the unfamiliar expression on the man's face, like it... wasn't the same person anymore.

"While I was on my path to greatness, I was lucky enough to found a successor for my dreams. A young talented boy and magical reserves higher than anyone I have seen besides lord Zeref. Not only that, you and I shared a deep bond despite not being related to each other. That fits all the criteria for my next in line. So... What is your decision Zane? To join me or not? Together, we can rule the world and bring back our lord's former glory. I hope you pick the right answer." Bringing his hand out, he waited for his young friend's choice.

'No… this can't be happening. This can't be true! Bael… isn't like this!? He's not this type of person... No! I refuse to believe it!' He was cut out of his musing when the front door was open and a cultist walked through. He kneeled before Bael and stated.

"My lord, all of the people here have been captured and the one who resisted were executed on the spot. All of the supplies here have been taken."

"Good, anything noteworthy?" The underling hesitantly nodded.

"Yes... While we were regrouping, there were numerous squads missing. When we looked for them, we found that they were ambushed by a kid and got taken out." He kept on glancing at Zane throughout the report and by the end of it, instead of his lord being angry, he was laughing.

"Haha! Good work Zane. I knew that these cannon fodder couldn't match up to you. Anything else?"

"Uhm… yes, while my group were raiding, we found a red haired woman at the orphanage. Seeing that she's quite the looker, we decided to enjoy ourselves with her. Unfortunately, she killed herself before we could do anything. Besides that, there's nothing else to report, my lord."

"Ah! Yes, miss Bella. Such a shame, she did a good job looking over you Zane. Pity that she couldn't join us, let her sacrifice in the name of Zeref. Now, have you figured it out yet Zane?" Turning around, he was surprised when the kid started burning up.

He was shaking and glowing pink flames were constantly spewing out of him. They were rising higher and the temperature was being raised by the seconds until it went out completely.

"Sigh, I was hoping I didn't need to use this. Well, regardless, it doesn't change much. Now, will you join me?" Holding a hand out, he watched as the puppet sigil he acquired from the same ruin he saw Zeref does its magic. After a few seconds, it went completely inside of him and the boy dropped his head down. Then, Zane took his outstretched hand, making him smiled at him.

But then, the cultist leader started to scream in pain as the same pink flames from before enveloped his arm then his whole body. Nothing was left of him, including his soul. The grunt in the room gave out a terrified shout and tried to escape. He too was caught by the flames and suffered the same fate as his leader.

Eyes devoid of any emotion, Zane stiffly walked out of the house while the beautiful flames started to move along him. They kept on growing and growing, torrents of them were being blasted from his body like a never ending stream. It caught anything in sight, the buildings, the plants and the people in town, burning it all and leaving nothing behind, NOTHING.

Soon, the town was engulfed by a sea of ethereal pink flames. Making it a wonderful sight for any person unknown to the tragedy of this town.