The night settles in, grasping at the land with its cold touch, as if wanting to erase the last bit of warmth given from its hateful counterpart. We walk, with the stars shining brightly above us, mocking us from their thrones of infinite height. Step by step, our destination draws closer, yet the pain does not recede. The boy seems to have found his calling and however foolish it appears to be, his determination is unfailing. For two days he has walked towards the north. His pain just as piercing as mine, yet he has withstood two long days, but it seems he''s coming dangerously close to sanity''s edge.
“Haha… hahaha. Hey! Demon! I know you’re there. Say something. You can feel them too, can’t you? The hounds… they’re here. They are hunting us, I know it! My sister escaped and now they think I’ll lead them to her, but I won’t, you hear! I WILL NOT! Hehe. I will grow, demon. I will become stronger and slaughter them when they try and kill her, you just see!”
Poor fool. Does he realise that a five year old girl cannot even dream to escape on her own?
No matter, this might be as good a time as any.
<Rest, boy. There are no magical beast anywhere close to you. This wretched forest is only filled with weak creatures. Hares, deer and the occasional fox. Nothing to rave and wail about. Rest and train here, the journey is long and we are too weak to withstand it. This vibrant land, lush with traitorous plants and terrain proves a good place to defile and use for our gain.>
“You’re wrong demon. I sense them! I… I know… I…”
<Rest.>
Silence.
How I have missed the pure bliss of it. Ever since I was stuck in this abomination, his thoughts and experiences flew through me in screeching winds and faint echoes, nibbling away at the edges of my mind. If it were not for my revenge, I would have caved in long ago. Finally, there is silence…
In the back of my mind, I know that I cannot trust it. The dreadful presence, the one who reduced me to this unseemly state, was the one to give it to me. This window to the outside , used as a tunnel for my knowledge and power, ever so slowly seeping into him. Merging my mind with the boys’. How could I trust it? I don’t know what he is planning… for now, I need to cultivate this vessel, however. Let’s hope the boy is more willing to learn, now that he knows just how pitiful he truly is.
………………………………………………………
I slowly open my eyes, feeling the damp cold of the forest. A pounding headache assaults my senses and a tingly feeling shoots across my entire body, as if ants are walking all across it. Disgusted and hurting from every muscle in my body I shoot up and regret it almost instantly.
“Argh, god… how long did I walk? Where are we?”
Trying to rub my temple I suddenly realise again, just how different everything is, as my left hand never reaches my face. Looking at the crudely bitten of stump, I cannot help but remember what happened. As everything becomes blurry, I quickly shake my head, hot liquid running down my face.
“Focus, Owen! You have a mission! You have a goal. Your sister still lives and she needs you. They think you’re dead, so she might have been given into an orphanage. All alone with no one to protect her… you need to be strong and find her as soon as you can protect her from these creatures. Come on, Owen!”
The demon has said something along the lines of me causing all this. I might not trust his motives, but I don’t think he has truly lied to me yet. If it’s the case that I bring danger, I need to be able the fend it off. Alone, she will just live in misery, so I need to be there for her!
<Enough of the misplaced sentiments, Owen. As you are awake and fit enough to motivate yourself, let’s start your training.>
“Right! You said I could use magic, right? Teach me then!”
<I do not need to teach you what you already know, but I can help you speed things up. You are pressed for time, if you truly deem to help these sickening creatures. So move towards that clearing in front of us. Sit in the rays of the sun, passing through the leaves and meditate.>
Ignoring the pain, sadness and incredible thirst I make my way towards a big stone in the clearing and start to grasp for that fuzzy feeling I had before, while sitting cross-legged on top of the big rock.
<Calm your mind, Owen. Focus on my words and the world around you. Your dantian is the centre of your energy and stores your internal energy as well as breaking down and transforming any elemental energy you absorb through meditating. Think of as a fist sized ball just below your abdomen that has infinite space inside of it. Like a trick box, of sorts. From there you will draw from your power to form battle-qi and mageforce. Your mageforce is the purified, distilled elemental essence you absorb into your body, which is then used to direct natural elemental essence to produce spells, under the guidance of spiritual energy. Think of it like tainting water with your colour, then send it out, causing ripples and discolouration in the original source, which in turn causes an effect. The internal energy that forms your battle qi is the raw form of that. It is usually in the form that represents your being, for us that would be a unique form of dark type battle-qi.>
<This world is full of hypocrisies! Filled with the gently light of the heavens, that comfort you, while secretly burning your skin, mutating your essence into something it should not be. Filled with sweet fragrances of beautiful flowers, luring you in with their appearance to poison and kill you for nutrition. Hate and despise me, Owen. Seek power for that pitiful human girl of yours, but do it honestly! Revenge can be a powerful motivation. At least it’s honest! Crush this depravity and climb on top, Owen! We do not need to smile to our betters; we will not grovel before the powerful. We will NOT bow and deceive, sharpening our daggers in the dark, to pierce their heart, while smiling at them.>
<Seek the essence surrounding us. Use your mind to grab it, force it to your will and bring it towards your dantian. Lesser practitioners would attune themselves with this foul, twisted world. Would give themselves into the state of merging, but we will not, Owen. Take what you see, take what you need and force it to be yours. Only by walking our own path will we succeed. Feel the hatred and pain of the eternity spend inside the lake of the damned. How the world burned us, consumed us, just to spit us out again. The endless torment we received! Now BE that fire! Consume! Burn! Hate!>
Suddenly, thousands of thousands of lights surround me like bees swarming their nest. A purple swarm of lights that expands to everything and build the world around me. Even with my eyes closed I can see every little detail of the forest around me. Not only that, but at times there are even red lights, like a stream coming down from above, some hitting me and filling me with warmth. As the demons voice drones into my mind I can feel it more and more, when sudden irrational anger begins boiling inside me, as if these lights were taunting me by being this beautiful. I reach out at try to erase them, to blot them out, but whenever I try, they suddenly move, as if fearing the disturbance I caused.
Then, my hunger and thirst hit me. The stress of the past days come over me like an unending torrent of desire. Come to think of it, I haven’t drunk anything in two day… when was the last time I’ve eaten? So much blood lost… I should be dead and yet, those lights shine so brightly.
I reach out again, desperate this time. Angry at this world, angry at me and angry at this demon that resides within me. With a hunger I have never felt before I take these lights within me and consume them, leaving a darkness, a void where there was a bright light before. Quickly I can only see darkness surround me, shining light slowly piercing the edges of my reach, just to be consumed again.
Deep within my dantian, a fine red and purple mist forms. Nurtured by the elemental energies absorbed, it starts to grow denser at a rapid rate, beginning to calmly repel and attract each other. The mist is very slowly moving in a circle while attracting and repelling each other, as a gently glow is emitted in the very centre of my dantian. The light travels through the mist, causing a sudden vibration within the mist itself, piercing trough the flesh and muscle, tearing and healing it at the same time. As the body strengthens, the light travels further trough my organs, seemingly enveloping and hardening them, yet they still remain flexible enough to be functional. Unhindered it travels through the bones, that become sturdier almost immediately and finally leaves through my skin and merges with the darkness I caused.
My hunger recedes. Like hot coals being doused in water, I am suddenly filled with a dreadful sense of fullness. As if filling you stomach with rocks. As I open my eyes I a calm comes over me, that fills me with unease at the same time. Was this really me? What have I done?
The world had changed to my eyes. I had not expected such cruelty from the light. For in the embrace of the sun, I could find no comfort, only malice. The calming clearing in this beautiful forest, previously so full of light and life, now is devoid of anything that gave it this feeling of happiness and nature. Withered grass, the trees, leaf- and lifeless, are creaking under the pressure of shifting, because the dried earth can no longer hold their weight.
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Standing up, I suddenly topple and fall of the rock. As I catch myself with a hand I thought I no longer possessed, I lie stunned on the ground.
<Now we are one step closer, my young self. You have entered the first stage of the Demonic Arts. Compared to a fighter of the first rank, you are much tougher and stronger. Even a fighter of the second rank would pose no problem to the current you, but beware. The path of darkness holds more than just the ancient horrors of the deep, dark corners no one dares to venture to. You will find yourself changed. Yet you have go forth, there is no turning back now, child.>
“What have you done to me!? To grow back limbs, such a magic is of, at least, the ninth rank! Dad once told me that he saw a saint ranked magician that used his light magic to heal a high ranking general, because he took fancy to him. That should have been a once in a hundred years deal for our army! How could I have healed completely like this?”
<You haven’t used magic, Owen. You took the life force of the land. Everything holds life force, even the land itself. When you absorbed the elemental energy, you did not attune yourself to nature, like as lesser vermin would be forced to. You took the path of kings, the path of a true demon. You just took the raw energy, giving back only death and decay. In this forceful method, even the life energy will be absorbed of anything weak enough to be swept in the current. This, Owen, is the essence of our peculiar magic and battle-qi, only our noble family can possess it. Other than our former brothers and Lord, no one possesses this power. Even our own clan, our spawn, has only the unique aspect evolved from us, not the power itself.>
I did this… I can’t believe it. I should be appalled. I should be angry, but somehow… I just feel like I could do anything. My power is surging within me, unlike anything I have ever felt. My body, showing no sign of injury what so ever, is more muscular than ever. Having grown a few centimetres, I’m now about 1,50m, my black hair dangling down in my face seems to have a sort of purple streak in it and I can just feel the packed power within me, rippling through my body. Standing up, regaining my balance, I clench my fists and start stretching, gaining a feel on my transformed body.
“Our clan? What did you mean by that?”
<It is of no concern now… we once had our own kin. An army created and led by us. Every brother had his own and each evolved differently as they cultivated and pursued their own aspect of the demonic arts. This is only the first step in the path and the road diverges endlessly. You will see, in time.>
“I see… then, the next step would be to use this power and get used to it?”
<Ha! Indeed. Draw upon your power, breathe in deeply and send it forth.>
I concentrate again, visualizing my dantian. I can feel the mist slowly spreading out as I grasp on that light emitted from my core. Soon a faint layer of purple surrounds my and acts as a shield as well as strengthening me at the same time.
So this is battle-qi! Now… for fire magic!
I grasp upon the red mist, sending it forth, willing it to manipulate the elemental energy. I start to deeply meditate and soon.
BOOM!
A small, fist sized fireball explodes right into before me, a wave of heat scorching my face.
<Haha! Doused in flame, you emerge with newfound knowledge. A fitting start for any mage. Very well, you should know that using voiceless casts is very much a weaker form of spell casting. Meditate upon it and you shall find the chants and words you will need to use your mageforce much easier and with greater effect, for they are already known to you.>
“…so you say, after having me doing it without…”
<Enough sulking, Owen! You have learnt the basics. Our unique magic shall have to wait until our body has adapted enough. Learn it, cultivate it, but never use it!>
“Very well… let us begin, then. Nothing shall stand in my way, now!”
<Indeed, let this forest become your bloody playground of carnage! Maim. Kill. Destroy and thus take more life force within you. Only that way shall you walk the path of our righteous vengeance!>
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Every day, Owen would spend only six hours sleeping. All of his other time was spent in physical training, learning demonic arts, intellectual studies, magical instruction, and meditation.
In truth, entering the meditative state was extremely taxing, far more tiring than anything these measly humans would ever get to know in their daily lives. Every day, Owen entered a disturbed and nightmarish sleep, plagued by the death he has caused around him. His head pounding and his entire body hurting, he would scream and experience a tiny fraction more of the pain I had to endure.
I cannot help but smile, as this child reminds me of those days long gone, spend in the far reaches of the frozen wasteland of the 7th plane of the Nine Hells. My first kill, my first steps… how the times have passed. He will have to learn, as I had.
Whilst he studied the intricacies of using his battle-qi, his fire magic and our own, unique magic, a season passed and the forest took on a soothing, homely sense. It was quite relaxing to have a form of home and comfort after an eternity of pain of torment. I am almost loath to leave this lifeless and twisted place when the time draws near.
<You have mastered the first step of the demonic arts, Owen. I must congratulate you; I have not thought you would do so, so quickly. Even I had nearly spent half a year on it and was considered a genius. Feeding upon your own tail truly made you grow remarkably quick. >
“Very well… let’s move on.”
Ha! He truly has changed, that brat. His aura and temperament have finally matured a little. That goofy happy face of his, now transformed into a serious and grim expression. Even his eyes have some semblance of our demon heritage.
<Let us set forth, child. Your speed has increased enough and you should be able to take any magical beast of the 3th rank without problem. It’s time to venture north, through the edge of that dark forest of magical beasts and towards the ancient, demonic source of power hidden deep within the northern regions. Let our dark journey of vengeance begin at last.>
………………………………………………
I use my battle-qi, which comes to me like breathing and set forth with a blinding speed I had thought impossible to achieve previously. Using the strange arts rooted deep into my memory I use my hands like claws, speeding up more and more, jumping 50 meters into the air and finally I can see it. Our first stop is in the far distance. The huge jungle spanning hundreds of kilometres, with huge parts unknown to anyone, the dark forest. Even saint level combatants have died in the deepest parts of this rotten place.
There, I will be able to finally test the power I have attained, by casting aside everything that I was. Everything that was once dear to me. With a trembling heart I draw ever closer, a faint, feral smile forming on my face.
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This will mark the end of the beginning and the start of the first ark!
I decided to keep it a longer chapter, thanks for the feedback. Please feel free to let me know any mistakes you have spotted. Hope you’ll enjoy the next ark! Thanks for reading.
It might also be time to give away a bit of trivia! Those who have read “Coiling Dragon” aka Panlong, will be familiar with the magic/internal energy system I am going for:
<b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''> In this setting you are born with certain affinities to the elemental magics. There is earth, fire, water, wind, lightning, light and darkness. There are also 3 known higher magics (Necromantic, Oracular and Life magic) that have even harsher criteria regarding purity of soul. Normally it''s a one in a hundred thousand that someone can use any type of elemental magic. A dual element magician that can use multiple is even rarer. Someone that can use a unique magic, is someone with tremendous luck and power.
To be able to be considered a magician your soul energy needs to be at least 5 times higher than normal and you''ll have to have an affinity or very high purity of soul.
Battle-qi is an internal energy. It’s something almost anyone can use, given the right techniques and proper cultivation passed down from their master/family/school. It’s a more common thing that any powerful warrior can use, without it, it would be almost impossible to train above anything over 6th rank. You need the money or connections to be able to learn these cultivation methods, though. A huge problem for any peasants. They try to do their best with physical cultivation, to be able to prove themselves in the army and get a chance to get their hands on some of these techniques.
There you go for trivia for today! :D