《Tale of Noir: Angel of Darkness》 Volume 1: Chapter 1: Creature From Beyond It is said that when the countless worlds were created, each world had a twin, similar in many ways but different in many others. One such world was called Elam, the twin world of Alem, a world of fantasy and magic. Many legends have been told of the brave adventurers overcoming the mighty monsters in epic clashes, often leading to fights to the death. In the end, the strong would always triumph. Unfortunately, not everyone was destined to be strong. And many who were weak met a rather grisly fate, just like the corpse of a man who was skewered with countless blades, left behind by his killers. Though his killers were now dead as well, their corpses were lying on the ground surrounding him. Such was the price of the forbidden magic they have cast, the cost being their lives. All for the goal of summoning the ¡°Fallen One¡±. Perhaps they were hoping to summon the legendary rebel, Lucifer himself, but now they were no longer alive to see the results. All spells have a cost, and this one required not just the sacrifice of the offering, but the lives of the casters as well. Perhaps they knew but did not care. As for the fate of the corpse, it was to rot away, worn down by the elements, the soul having long abandoned the body. Sadly, even in death, that was not the end of that body¡¯s adventure. A strange portal opened, like a door leading to another reality. It was a Gate that connected one world to the next. This was their reward for having cast such dark magic that cost them their lives, they have indeed summoned the ¡®Fallen One¡¯, but perhaps not the one they hoped for. What emerged from the gate was nothing short of amorphous; a being that was made of darkness and miasma, vaguely humanoid in shape, but one look at his true form could drive any onlooker insane. It was scarier than any monster, a creature that truly deserved the title of abomination. As horrifying as it was, it was still a creature without flesh or a body of its own. At this rate, it would vanish from existence very soon unless there was a vessel that could hold sustain him. Looking down, it saw a bloody corpse, impaled with countless swords. As damaged as it was, it was in far better condition than the other corpses that were reduced to shriveled husks. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. It was not perfect, but at the moment, there was no choice. To survive, this corpse would have to do. The darkness swirled around the corpse, entering into it, making the body its new home. Slowly, the fingers of the corpse started to twitch, and then the hands and feet started to move. With a steady motion, the corpse stood up and proceeded to remove the blades that impaled it. The head that used to be lifeless now was cracking its neck from side to side at odd and unnatural angles. Overall, it was a bizarre sight of a dead man seemingly coming back to life. ¡°Aaa-aaa-aaa¡­.At least the vocal cords were not so badly damaged¡± The body needed to be repaired soon, but for now it could function well enough. Seems like not much time passed since the owner of the body died, the corpse did not have enough time to decompose. If he had to guess, less than an hour had passed after the owner of the body had passed on. It was a rather lucky coincidence. If the body was damaged much further, it would have been of no use to him. ¡°Now to see who this meat suit belonged to¡± The corpse was rather low level, at least in his opinion. This would be rather restricting; many of his skills and abilities would be restricted while he is wearing this meat suit. And the magic he could use would be either limited or far weaker. He wondered what abilities would still be retained and which ones would be inaccessible. But it could not be helped. Having a body was the only thing preventing him from being destroyed for good. While the members of his species could survive losing their body, provided their will is strong enough, they needed to find a vessel quickly or their will be destroyed for good. Unlike most mortals, his species did not possess souls, so death was truly the end. Looking at his reflection in the pond, he sighed; the left half of the face was severely damaged and was already cauterized. Combined with the injuries the body had sustained, his presence was the only reason the corpse could even move. When he leveled up enough, he should be able to fix the damages, but for now, it will have to do. Perhaps if he managed to find certain resources, he could make the body a better fit to host him. ¡°I wonder if there are any dragons nearby that I can eat?¡± He would not have to go to such measures if the body was still living. But that required the consent of the body¡¯s owner, so a corpse in a relatively good condition was the best he could do for now. Since the corpse had no soul inside, it was an empty vessel he could easily take over. But having a corpse for a body made him much weaker than if he was in a living body. ¡°Lloyd, huh? I thank you. I will use your body to the best of my ability¡± The man who seemingly came back from the dead was surrounded by an aura of overflowing darkness. ¡°Now then, a new life, a new beginning. A fresh new start. Just the way I like it¡± He smiled and as he did, his black eyes momentarily turned glowing crimson. As much as the damaged organs allowed him, he began to laugh. A new world to explore, a new body to occupy, a new life to live. He could not help but be excited, no matter how bizarre his current situation was. It was so long since he was here, so much must have changed. Regardless, he felt joy in his essence. No matter what fate or punishment awaited him, he was content. All he knew was, he had come back home. Character Profile: Morphus Noir Name: Morphus A. Noir/Loid Lancer/Angel of Darkness Race: angel lord (spirit), human (vessel) Level: 100 (spirit), 10 (vessel) Birthplace: Anhelium, Noir clan territory Hobbies: Experimenting, observing, hedonism Classes/levels: Angel (5): angels start with level 1 in angel and gain 1 level for each 9 levels gained. Angel Lord (5): after level 50, angel gains a higher level of Angel Lord for each 9 levels obtained. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Mutant (5): a deviant of completely unpredictable nature, often goes against the norms of the race. Usually achieved by evolving on the verge of death. Lord of Hell (5): a higher tier evolution of Devil class, obtainable only by those that have survived Hell. Telepath (5): able to communicate by and hear unguarded thoughts. Limited only by range and user''s experience. Chronomancer (5): time control magic. Gives user passive resistance or immunity against other time magic users. Holy Healer (5): healing and purifying magic Others (?) Personal Character: An angel that ended up stranded in a world parallel from native reality, who finally came back after 900 years. In simplest sense, he is a man who lost everything. While not the strongest in the world, he is certainly the Most Dangerous. All the horrors he had suffered through had made him twisted, hedonistic, somewhat self-destructive and with questionable sanity. A man who is not bound by rules and does whatever comes to his mind, be it for good or evil. A man looking for a good way to go. Volume 1: Chapter 2: Ranga Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Chapter 3: Party Morphus: ¡®Now then, what does this human want from me? I agreed because he said he would pay for food and I am a bit short on cash¡­. I don¡¯t have any cash¡­. I really did not think this through¡¯ Ranga: ¡°You sure can eat, huh¡± Morphus: ¡°Isn¡¯t this the normal amount for an appetizer?¡± Ranga: ¡°Appetizer? There was enough food to feed at least five people¡± The table was covered in empty plates. He really was not kidding when he said he was hungry. Morphus: ¡°Really, I did not notice¡± Without Ranga noticing, Morphus activated his eyes and through them cast a status skill. Luckily, this young man did not have any protection spells to prevent his status from being read. ¡­.. There was a lot more information about Ranga Drake, but Morphus was too bored to care. Users of status skill were rather rare in this world, but everyone¡¯s accuracy and version depended on their mastery of that skill. Morphus¡¯s status skill was of the highest level and his version in particular could see any unprotected person¡¯s notch count (number of past sexual partners.) Morphus: ¡®I wonder what this hopeless virgin wants from me¡¯ His eyes could also see that Ranga¡¯s body was a little strange. Most people¡¯s bodies have mana flowing through them, in a way, they were like jugs full of mana. But in Ranga¡¯s case, his body had no mana at all. He had zero capacity for storing or producing mana. He will never be able to use magic. As for his life force, it was clear he had used up large portion of it. The amount he had left would not last him 10 years and if he kept using it up, he would have even less time. It seems this Ranga was a rather reckless kid. Ranga: ¡°Regardless, I have a proposal for you¡± Morphus simply took a bite from the chicken leg. Clearly, he was barely paying any attention. Ranga was not sure how to handle this guy, but it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Morphus¡¯s eyes were rather strange. Most human eyes had whites parts, but his were pitch black, made even more creepy due to the blood red iris. By now, Ranga had seen many people with strange eyes, but Morphus¡¯s eyes were unique, to say the least. They say eyes are the window to the soul, but Ranga could see nothing within those black and red eyes. Perhaps he was not completely human, but to Ranga, that did not matter in the slightest. Ranga: ¡°I would like the two of us to form a party. What do you say?¡± Morphus: ¡°A party?¡± Ranga: ¡°Yes, we will work as a team to complete missions¡± Morphus: ¡°Who are the other members?¡± Ranga: ¡°You are looking at them¡± Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Morphus: ¡®So he is a loner, huh¡¯ Morphus: ¡°Is that really a good idea?¡± Ranga: ¡°If you are concerned about the division of profits, you can have 70% and I will take 30%¡± Morphus: ¡°It¡¯s not a matter of money. Also, please don¡¯t sell yourself short¡± Ranga: ¡°Then what is it?¡± Morphus: ¡°I am not exactly from around here¡­. Well, technically yes, but not exactly¡­.¡± Ranga: ¡°I can be your guide¡± Morphus: ¡°I am not an easy guy to work with and I do not like being told what to do when off duty¡± Ranga: ¡°That is perfectly acceptable as long as we can work together on the missions¡± Morphus: ¡°I am not a good guy¡± Ranga: ¡°Neither am I¡± Morphus: ¡°You really are a stubborn one, aren¡¯t you?¡± Ranga: ¡°Takes one to know one¡± Morphus: ¡°True.¡± Ranga: ¡°What do you say?¡± Morphus: ¡°I warn you; I am bad luck. Expect nothing good from me¡± Ranga: ¡°At this point, I am ok with any kind of luck¡± Morphus: ¡°Don¡¯t say I did not warn you¡± Ranga: ¡°Duly noted¡± Morphus: ¡°Kids these days¡­.¡± Ranga just smiled. There was no telling how old Morphus was, but he looked younger than Ranga, however, there were races that aged far slower than humans. If Morphus happened to belong to such a race, he might well be far older than Ranga. Ranga: ¡°At the moment, I am an Iron Ranked adventurer. You don¡¯t happen to be an adventurer too, are you?¡± Morphus: ¡°No. At the moment, I am¡­. unemployed¡± Ranga: ¡°Unemployed? Aren¡¯t you something like an arch-priest or a mage or something like that?¡± Morphus: ¡°I dabble. I would not go as far as call myself a mage, just a guy who picked up a few tricks from lots of strange places¡± Ranga: ¡°Your healing magic seems very potent¡± He showed Morphus his right hand, it was completely ok except for a scar that run over the tendons. It was especially impressive because all the potions and healers Ranga could afford could not fix the permanent damage, but with just a single spell, Morphus repaired it to a top condition. Ranga: ¡°Before you used that spell on me, I could only use my left hand, but somehow, you fixed the damage on my right hand. Can you¡­. raise the dead?¡± Morphus: ¡°Not at the moment¡± Ranga: ¡®What does that supposed to mean?!¡¯ Ranga knew for a fact that arch-priests could use resurrection magic, but that kind of magic was available to only the cream of the crop. Even among arch-priests, then ones who could use resurrection spells were the select few. Resurrection spells required the one being resurrected to be at a certain level and the caster had to be at a certain level as well with a specialization that allowed one to cast such a spell. The one who is resurrected will lose some levels but if the level is too low, the corpse will turn to ashes. It truly was a magic of elite among elite. He did not honestly believe Loid could perform such magic, so he expected an answer along the lines of not being able to cast it. Instead, his answer was ¡®not at the moment.¡¯ He truly could not make sense of this guy. He was too strange to understand. Ranga: ¡°I see. What other spells do you know?¡± Morphus: ¡°Cutting magic, glue magic, sleeping magic, stomach magic, bladder magic, inflammation magic, digestive magic, purifying magic¡­.¡± Ranga: ¡®Is this guy serious? I don¡¯t know much about magic, but aren¡¯t those basic daily life and health spells¡­. Even a child can learn them. Though, as someone incapable of using magic, I have no right to judge.¡¯ Ranga: ¡®Still, he can kill a Spider Monster with one spell, there is no way that was just an expansion spell, it looked more like a high-level detonation or explosion magic¡­. I see, he must be concealing his power and identity. He might be some kind of a fallen hero for all I know. It is probably for the best if I don¡¯t pry further. If I stick my nose in too far, he might just use that magic to permanently silence me. I can¡¯t afford to be not cautious. But I need him in my party, otherwise, I need to start preparing my own funeral¡¯ Morphus: ¡®Funeral? Isn¡¯t that tad bit extreme?¡¯ Unbeknownst to Ranga, Morphus was listening to all his thoughts. In his current vessel, the range of telepathy was limited and it could only be used on one person at a time, but the telepath class he possessed proved to be extremely useful. His current vessel was a mere level 10, so he could not exert most of his power through it, otherwise, the vessel would explode. So, now he was limited to using only his weakest low level skills and spells and even they were burdensome due to the vessel being a weak corpse. If the vessel was still alive, it would have been a little simpler, but this was the best body available that he could obtain without consent of the owner. Ranga: ¡°My name is Ranga, Ranga Drake, and you are?¡± Morphus seemed to be in deep thought before he replied. Morphus: ¡°Mo¡­. Loid. Loid Lancer¡± Ranga: ¡°So, Mr. Lancer, what is your answer?¡± Morphus: ¡°50-50, I will not accept more than that¡± Ranga: ¡°Eh? Do you mean¡­?¡± Morphus: ¡°I accept. And don¡¯t bother with Mister or honorifics, just call me Loid¡± Ranga: ¡°Pleasure to be working with you, Loid¡± Morphus: ¡°Pleasure is all mine, Ranga¡± Two strangers have crossed paths, what could fate have in store for them? Chapter 4: Werewolves (Part 1) Morphus: ¡°Wow, so many kingdoms, so many that the kid knew 8 off the top of his head¡± Ranga was not exactly a native to this land, having immigrated to this continent from a place called the Land of Rising Sun, but he did acquire basic knowledge of the geography and neighboring kingdoms, so he at least knew this much. The 8 Kingdoms that were known to him were: Midgard Kingdom, Ignis Kingdom, Aquarius Kingdom, Ventus Kingdom, Tonitrus Kingdom, Lumen Kingdom, and Nox Kingdom. There were probably other ones, but those were definitely the big ones. Midgard Kingdom was the kingdom with the greatest number of known heroes, producing more than other countries. The sheer number of normal heroes they had was mind boggling, and they have even produced several Champion Level Heroes, and yet, the elusive Legendary Level Hero has yet to appear. Rightfully, it was also known as the Kingdom of Magic Knights. Ignis Kingdom was arguably the most powerful kingdom among them, not because of power of individual heroes, but because of their unique leader. For over the last 400 years, the kingdom was led by rumored to be an immortal sage, King Leamas Ignis, who brought unprecedented revolution that made the kingdom advance so fast that now there is a saying that Ignis Kingdom is 2 centuries ahead of everyone else. Petros Kingdom was a land where rules and rights were defined by might. Strength and skill were a measure of everything. For some, enormous mana reserves and extreme magical power were most valuable traits, while others focused on physical sight of strength. It was a common knowledge in this land that anyone could be challenged at any time. Perhaps because this was a land where might triumphs over everything else, beast folk and demi-humans have taken it over. Human beings were viewed as a slaves at best and source of food at worst. A common etiquette was that killing was allowed, but only during duels. Refusal of a duel was seen as a shameful display and was like an admission of defeat, leading to being seen as a weakling by everyone. For the prideful Petros kingdom beast warriors, backing down from a challenge was seen as a greatest form of shame, which is why, many would rather perish rather than back down from a duel. In a duel, the rules were simple, anything goes and Winner Takes All. Uniquely, unlike the other kingdoms that had royal lines, Petros Kingdom was ruled by the one who bore the title of Golden King, the strongest warrior in all of Petros Kingdom. The current Golden King was the Golden Lion King. He could be challenged at any time, and if he were to lose, the victor will claim his title and throne. Such was the way of the might obsessed Petros Kingdom. Because beasts controlled the land, this was likely the worst kingdom to be born a human. Ventus Kingdom was a land ruled by Dragon Riders. It is said that only the descendants of the royal line had the capacity to develop magic that allowed them to bond with and control dragons. Every single Dragon Rider of this kingdom had some royal blood in their veins. Fully grown dragons were believed to be impervious to all known forms of magic, extremely resistant to weapons, and could cause mass casualties and devastation. If it were not for King Leamas, Ventus Kingdom would have, without a shadow of a doubt, to be the strongest kingdom on the continent. When not united against a common enemy, Ventus Kingdom was at a constant war with itself, with each ambition ruler pitting themselves either against rivals or the existing ruler. Due to this, the lifespan and reign of their rulers tended to be incredibly short. The longest a single monarch managed to rule in peace was about 40 years, far cry from 400+ years under King Leamas¡¯s belt. Tonitrus Kingdom. Apparently, all Ranga knew about it that the ruling lords were called Lords of Something. Local rumors claimed that many strange people came from there to the point it was called the Land of Weirdoes. Lumen Kingdom was known as a Holy Kingdom. Unlike many kingdoms that had religious majority worshipping the Secondary Gods, Primary Gods, and King of Gods, they worshipped something entirely different. Ranga was not entirely sure what they worshipped. They viewed Holy Magic as the greatest form of magic and like the Midgard Kingdom, had their own order of greatest heroes, the Sacred Order, all gathered around the round table. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Nox Kingdom was ruled by a tyrant, the Masked Princess. It had similar beliefs to Petros Kingdom, but while Petros Kingdom emphasized might and strength, in Nox Kingdom, Power was everything. Unlike Petros Kingdom that were all about direct confrontation, for Nox Kingdom, power meant all forms of control. They would do anything to gain more power: bribery, manipulations, dark magic, poisoning, torture, mutilation, threats, murder, hostages, etc. anything was a fair game as long as it let them have more power. Select few in this Kingdom worship the Ender, also known as the Stranger, The Reaper, or simply, Death. If Lumen Kingdom was the Light, then Nox Kingdom was the Darkness. Aquarius Kingdom was by far the weakest of all kingdoms. This was widely known to be a kingdom of retirees and rookies. In terms of development and everything important, this kingdom was so behind that it was a miracle it was still intact and not conquered by others. Morphus: ¡°And of all kingdoms, we are in Aquarius Kingdom, the Country of Rookies. It¡¯s kind of fitting¡± Current situation was self-explanatory. Morphus could only sigh as he watched the scene unfold before him. A monster subjugation¡­at least that was it is supposed to be. What he bore witness to was nothing more than a slaughter. And not from the monster side. Most of the adventurers that took on this quest were reduced to chunks of meat, and they were the lucky ones. Some unlucky chaps ended up swallowed whole by the enormous jaws of the beasts. Morphus: ¡®They must have racial trait for an increased stomach capacity, otherwise, no way in hell can they eat that many of them in one sitting¡¯ Adventurers were clearly outmatched. Their weapons did nothing to pierce the skins of the monsters. Perhaps because they were underprepared, but not a single adventurer had a silver weapon, but with this kind of difference in power, it would not have made much of a difference. Werewolves. Even a pup is strong enough to kill a grown man. And there were 20 of them. To kill a werewolf, one needs to be at least a gold rank adventurer. Their current group consisted of Low Rankers: Copper, Iron, and Bronze Rank adventurers, eager to take on a quest that did not pay much. Mid to High Rankers, Silver and above, have refused to take on this quest due to low rewards for their work. But to be fair, the ones who made the request for the guild had no idea what type of monster they were dealing with, assuming it was a small fry that could be taken care of even by low rankers. Boy, were they wrong. Human beings were, in simplest terms, balloons of flesh filled with red water. And those werewolves were simply popping those balloons, one by one. Ranga was fighting for his life, but his level was too low and his equipment was of poor quality. The sword he wielded had already snapped in half and he was wildly swinging what remained of it at the incoming monsters, but it was just a matter of time before he would also be consumed. In this world, anyone could gain experience by training or killing monsters. Training took far longer, but it was safer. Killing monsters allowed you to accumulate experience much faster, but it was a dangerous endeavor that could cost one¡¯s life. None could tell how much experience points a person has accumulated unless they could use status skill, which apparently was a skill rare enough that people had to actually pay someone to get an accurate measurement. Experience, after reaching a certain quantity, is converted into a level. To reach a higher level, one needed far more experience than the previous level. To become level 3 in a warrior class required more experience than it took to become level 2 warrior, and it only got harder with each level. Many tried to take the easier route of killing an enormous number of monsters, thinking it was the fastest way to level up, but more often than not, it led to a meat grinder. You were far more likely to be killed along the way before gaining any valuable experience or levels. Not to mention, some people had an undeniable level cap, the highest level they were capable of reaching, turning dreams of many into dust and tears. Killing weaker monsters could only take you so far. After a certain point, no matter how many weak monsters you killed, you would not level up. If you truly wanted to become stronger, you had to kill stronger monsters. Morphus: ¡°Perhaps not the best choice for a mask¡± With the money Ranga lent him, Morphus bought a mask that resembled the face of an elephant. To say that he looked ridiculous would be an understatement. There was a ring on his right hand¡¯s middle finger, but apparently it was on the corpse before Morphus possessed it. Perhaps the man whose body he had stolen was married and Morphus was desecrating his memory. It made no difference to Morphus. He would use anything he could get his hands on, no matter how dastardly or evil it was. While everyone and Ranga were fighting for their lives, Morphus was sitting on the grass, sipping on tea, and eating sandwiches. Amidst all the death, destruction, and slaughter, he was having a picnic. Had Ranga not been fighting for his life, he would have certainly punched Morphus in the face. Out of the 50+ adventurers that came here for a subjugation, only about a 6 or so remained alive, including Ranga. Morphus: ¡°Well, he was gracious enough to treat me and even gave me money for clothing, so I might as well interfere, just a little¡± Chapter 5: Werewolves (Part 2) This mission was a mistake. It was a death trap. We are no match for them. WHY DID I AGREE TO THIS? Loid, where the hell are you? After Loid effortlessly slaughtered the Spider Monster, Ranga thought that he found a rare gem of a person, someone of value that he could not pass up as a partner, but this guy, he was someone completely unpredictable. When the monster subjugation began, he was nowhere near to be found. Then the subjugation turned on its head and became a one-sided slaughter. None told them that the monsters in question would be werewolves. Not only were they several times stronger than humans, they also had a racial trait that made them have extremely high resistance against any material except silver. Silver Weapons are not cheap to come by and none had the foresight to bring any. Their weapons did them no good, they simply were not strong enough to pierce the belly of the beast. 54 Adventurers came to this mission, not counting Ranga and Loid, now there were only 4 left, one died a few seconds ago, eaten by the werewolf. Oh god, I am going to die here, I will be eaten. For them, I am just a meal. Perhaps Loid got eaten as well. I wonder what I taste like? Knock it off, me! Being an adventurer meant facing life and danger on a daily basis. Only the strong would survive, the rest met their ends. As someone who failed to become stronger, perhaps this was a fitting end. Even if this was the end, Ranga would not go down without a fight. But right now, he needed to run, as fast as he could. Loid, if you are already dead, I think I will see you soon¡­. Then Ranga saw Loid, casually walking in the direction of monsters. He was wobbling like a lunatic and even from a distance, Ranga could tell Loid was drunk, with a bottle of booze still in his hand. This is a life-or-death situation and he is drinking? What is wrong with him? Not good. At this rate, this drunk idiot was going to get himself killed. Although they have just met, Ranga was not about to let his partner end up dying in such a stupid way. Loid, even if it costs me my life, I will save you. What the heck was that? What was the voice inside his head just now? As bewildered Ranga kept running towards Loid and the incoming werewolves, something did not feel right. From an outside perspective, Loid was completely surrounded. And yet, for some reason, Ranga felt that it was not Loid that was in danger, but the werewolves. It is the same feeling; it feels exactly like the last time! That unshakable confidence and conviction in what he was doing. If anything, Loid seemed more bored than anything else. Even when one werewolf pounced upon him, sinking its fangs into his flesh, he did not as much as utter even a faint cry. He simply grabbed hold of the head of the beast from both sides and twisted it, breaking the werewolf¡¯s neck in the process. The monster fell on the ground, Loid¡¯s black blood still leaking out of its mouth. Black Blood? He really is not completely human! Wait, that¡¯s not important. Loid was injured. How in the world he managed to break werewolf¡¯s head with a simple twist was beyond Ranga¡¯s imagination, but that changed nothing. Loid was still facing an entire pack of werewolves, not to mention he was slowly bleeding out. Casually, Loid picked up a knife from a corpse of a dead adventurer near him. What could he hope to accomplish with that tiny knife? It was smaller than a dagger and it was not made if silver, so it would do him absolutely no good. Werewolves were enormous monsters, far larger than any wolf, in terms of size, they were 2-3 times larger than a bear, but far faster. Even if he killed one, the rest would not stop. If anything, this motivated the monsters to single him out. By now, he was completely surrounded. A large circle composed of werewolves surrounded one unlucky victim. For any person, this was a death sentence. 19 werewolves vs. 1 Loid. When Ranga tried to break into the circle, he ended up facing two werewolves who pretty much made it clear they would not let him interfere. Ranga used to think dying was the worst fate imaginable, but watching your friend die might be a fate worse than death. Granted, they were not exactly friends, but having to watch him die before him was too much. One werewolf proceeded to attack Loid, clearly aiming at Loid¡¯s neck, but Loid somehow stepped back then forward, plunging his hand into the werewolf¡¯s mouth. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. A sound of pure agony followed by yet another werewolf¡¯s corpse falling to the ground. When he took out his arm out of the beast¡¯s mouth, the answer became clear, it was the very knife he took from the corpse. But how? Werewolves were immune to anything but silver. It was that voice again. Was he finally losing it? Did the stress and the horror of the situation finally make Ranga lose his mind to pure madness? Loid?! You can do that? Why did you not tell me? Ranga: ¡°Just how many hidden skills do you have?¡± Ranga: ¡°This is way beyond dabbling!¡± From his tone, it was obvious, Loid was not worried, not even a little. Ranga: ¡°Is there any way I can help?¡± Ranga: ¡°Are you sure? It¡¯s broken¡± Ranga: ¡°Can you catch it?¡± Ranga: ¡°Ok. Loid! Catch!¡± Ranga threw what was left of the sword in Loid¡¯s direction. He was not confident Loid would be able to catch it, but as his partner, he had to do something. Mere moments later, silver light erupted from within a circle of werewolves. The shockwave was strong enough send all of the werewolves stumbling back. Even Ranga ended up knocked off his feet. On his knees, he watched something unimaginable happening right before his eyes. The broken blade he tossed to Loid was glowing with swirling silver light around it, the lights around it gave it the illusion of being a complete blade. Holding the Silver Blade in his left hand, Loid smirked. Loid: ¡°Come at me, I am waiting!¡± He was taunting the werewolves. Anyone who could do that was either the bravest man in the world or an absolute madman. Either way, it was clear that Loid definitely had balls of titanium. Before, they came at him one at a time, but this time, the werewolves threw away the idea of fighting him 1 vs. 1, and started to attack him simultaneously. Loid: ¡°Let¡¯s dance¡± He was holding the Silver Blade with his left hand, but his movement was different from any form of swordsmanship that Ranga ever witnessed. If he had to describe it, it was a style that seemed to have no defined form. No, the more accurate description was that it was Formless. There was no wasted movement, rather than something that was done for maximizing a certain aspect of like speed or power or following some style, it felt like a natural motion. It was as easy as cutting watermelons with a knife. Not much skill required. Yes, just like watermelons, the werewolves started to be cut up into pieces one after another. Morphus knew very well of their racial weakness, so he was more than willing to take advantage of it. Using a low-level transmutation spell, he converted the steel blade into silver blade. Technically, transmutation could be used to transmute any material from one into another, as long as one knew the structure of both what is used and transmuted into, but converting one type of metal into another was much easier. Then, he cast another low-level enchantment that converted matter into pure magic energy. Silver metal would turn into a silver energy blade. One downside is that it was a one-time use spell for any object, after it has been cast, the material would end up used up and how long the energy lasted depended on the skill of the user and the amount of material. With the amount of metal Ranga gave him, Morphus had approximately five minutes before his Silver Energy Blade disappeared into nothingness. Since he was stuck in a low-level corpse, he could not afford to cast any higher-level spells, they simply took too much toll on his body, requiring him to use such indirect means. Of the 20 werewolves, only several were left. Their leader, the biggest one of them all, faced off against Morphus. Strangely enough, instead of attacking head on, he shifted into a humanoid form, standing up on his two feet. Even by human standards, he was enormous. Rather than a human, he looked like a humanoid wolf. Obviously, this was his wolf-human hybrid form, while his previous form was his pure beast form. He growled: ¡°You killed so many members of my pack. Absolutely unforgivable. I will kill you¡± Morphus: ¡°Are those your last words?¡± Alpha Werewolf: ¡°Your name. Tell me your name. I am Luan Razorg, leader of Razorg clan of werewolves¡± Morphus: ¡°Like hell I am going to remember that. My name is of no importance. At the end the day, I am Just a Guy¡± Alpha Werewolf: ¡°Justaguy. I will remember that name. Now face me!¡± Morphus: ¡°You really suck at listening, don¡¯t you? Oh, well¡­let¡¯s get it over with¡± Ranga: ¡°Unbelievable¡± Alpha Werewolf was clearly abnormal even by Werewolf Standards. Because of his strength he managed to obtain class of Werewolf Lord. Suffice to say, he was at least ten times more powerful than an ordinary werewolf. With the class of the Werewolf Lord, the werewolf obtained an Ultimate Battle form, its potency was devastating, to say the least. With his current abilities, he could sustain this form for about 10 minutes before reverting back. Morphus: ¡®He resembles a small hellhound¡¯ Small bolts of electricity surged from the body of the Werewolf Lord. His teeth and fangs elongated along with the changes of his body. Other werewolves were in awe, seeing their leader in his Ultimate Form was a very rare occurrence, for some, this was the first time seeing it in person. They knew in their hearts that this puny human, even with a Silver Energy Blade, stood no chance against their leader. Werewolf Lord: ¡°Prepare to¡­¡± He did not even get to finish his sentence before he was cut vertically in half, with both halves falling in opposite directions, exposing his brain and internal organs. Morphus: ¡°You talk too much¡± Gesturing at the terrified werewolves, he casually asked: ¡°So, who is next?¡± Just that question alone made the remaining werewolves run for their lives. This man was no mere human. He was Death itself. They were not the only ones terrified by the display of ultra violence. Ranga¡¯s right eye was twitching. I almost pissed myself. When he first met Loid, Ranga suspected Loid might be some kind of Fallen Hero. After seeing such display of power, it only confirmed his prior suspicions. He was stronger than a Gold Level adventurer. Perhaps Platinum, maybe even higher. Why did someone of such strength and might decided to become a partner to a mere Iron level like Ranga was beyond him. Who was this guy in his former life? Loid was rather secretive and never told much about himself so Ranga did not pry, but he could not help but be curious. Whoever he was, it was abundantly clear that he was someone with a past, a seriously dark one at that. And he likely killed an enormous number of enemies and lost so many allies that death itself became a casual affair for him. When he killed those monsters, he did not do so much as blink. If he had rage or sadistic delight in his eyes, Ranga would have understood. But to Loid, killing monsters incited as much enthusiasm as someone throwing out garbage or using toilet paper. It was something he simply needed to get done and over with, nothing personal. I wonder just how many he killed over his lifetime. Loid may look like a young man in his twenties, around same age as Ranga, maybe a little younger, but his red and black eyes, his personality, and his ridiculous power, Ranga was certain he belonged to some king of long-lived species. It was entirely plausible that Loid was much older than Ranga, how old, he did not dare to ask. Morphus: ¡®Oh come on, I am not that old. I am only 975¡¯ On one hand, Ranga was grateful, but on the other, he was a little scared of Loid. Morphus: ¡°It is done¡± Ranga: ¡°You did it¡± Morphus: ¡°Sorry about your sword¡± What remained of the broken blade crumbled into dust and vanished into nothingness. Ranga: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it was already broken. I will get another one.¡± Morphus: ¡°I am hungry, let¡¯s eat and get wasted¡± Ranga: ¡°Loid. Do you not fear death?¡± Morphus: ¡°Fear it? Why should I?¡± Morphus sighed. Morphus: ¡°When you lust for death, it saves you for last. When you run from it, you will simply run straight into its embrace. Quite the conundrum, is it not?¡± Ranga was dumbfounded. This is how he views life, he thought. Morphus: ¡°Wanna have a contest with me? The loser buys lunch¡± Ranga: ¡°Sure why not¡± When the surviving adventurers returned, they were shocked to discover that the field was littered with mutilated werewolf corpses, and so many of them. The marks on the corpses resembled cuts made by a blade. To be able to cut werewolves like this would require nothing less than a swordsmanship of a hero. As far as they knew, Loid was a magic caster. That left only a single possibility. Ranga, the warrior, was the one who defeated the werewolves. Perhaps Loid provided magic support, but it was Ranga, with his supreme swordsmanship, that managed to kill the werewolves. Much to the confusion of surviving adventurers, Loid and Ranga were engaged in a pissing contest, competing on who could piss the furthest. After this incident, unbeknownst to him, Ranga gained a reputation as Wolf¡¯s Bane and Werewolf Slayer, and soon enough, the guild decided to promote Ranga and Loid to Bronze Rank for their accomplishment. Chapter 6: Impossible Quest Aquarius Kingdom may be the weakest of all the kingdoms on the continent, but it¡¯s Adventurer¡¯s Guild was same as anywhere else. Occasionally, Adventurer¡¯s guilds of various kingdoms would receive requests for Jobs that were regarded as Impossible Quests. Some tasks were regarded as too difficult for anyone to complete or were proven impossible to accomplish. Anyone who completed any of these Impossible Quests would be guaranteed a rank up promotion. High Ranked Adventurers (Orichalcum, Palladium, Adamantite) would wisely avoid these types of jobs since most of the time they either were not worth the effort, took too long, or paid too little, etc. Low Rankers, Newbies and weak adventurers (Copper, Iron) were easily replaceable, but their inexperience and lack of power made them ineligible to take on the Impossible Quests. The Guild learned it the hard way after sending 200 Low Rankers to complete one of the Impossible Quests, only to learn later than most of them were cooked and eaten by the monsters and the survivors were too maimed or traumatized to continue being adventurers. But rejecting these types of quests outright would raise a scandal, and at times like these, the guild could not afford to make any enemies. Because of this, the only ones who were deemed eligible to take on the quests were Mid-Tier Adventurers or Higher (Copper and above). Realistically, only Bronze and Silver level adventurers would even try and inevitably fail these Impossible Quests. By now, failing the Impossible Quest had become something of a rite of passage for the longtime adventurers. Those who were just promoted to Bronze Rank would think taking on an Impossible Quest was an opportunity of a lifetime, meanwhile the veterans knew of the despair that awaited. With their recent promotion to Bronze Rank, Ranga and Morphus had become eligible to take on one of the Impossible Quests. Even the Guild Receptionist who handed them the Job pitied them for their cluelessness. ¡°My Condolences¡± Morphus: ¡®Not you too¡¯ After spending some time with his partner, Morphus began to realize that Ranga, for the lack of a better word, was an absolute idiot. He was the type to jump into danger without thinking of a plan. Just bravado and foolishness in the shape of a person. Morphus: ¡®How did he survive until now?¡¯ Just that morning before leaving, Morphus had put on a black hooded cloak and started to sharpen the scythe he had bought for experimentation. When Ranga woke up, he freaked out, screaming ¡°Get away from me, Grim Reaper!¡± Apparently, the hooded dark figure is what Death looks like in most depictions. For Morphus it was just his fashion choice. Morphus: ¡°It¡¯s not like he wears that all the time.¡± The so-called Impossible Quest was from the Village of Destiny, a place famous for having prophecies that always come. Every year, someone from that village would issue a quest, sometimes anonymously, essentially asking for an adventurer to defy what has been foretold. This time, the mission was simple. Find the sender and if the sender is still alive after a marked date, then the mission would be considered a success. As simple as it sounded, it was no simple request. Because of the nature of fate, none has yet managed to defy the fate. Fate is one thing mortals could not hope to escape. Knowing that all the prior requests from the Village of Destiny were failures, the requester was clearly desperate. Since trying to defy fate shows lack of faith in the goddess, the sender had no choice but be anonymous with their request, desperately hoping someone could do something about their impending doom. It took them about half a day to get to the location of the Village of Destiny. Overall, it looked no different from any other village, except for the fact that they saw a massive crowd praying to an enormous statue of a Goddess of Fate, Tiana. Their prayers seemed less of a reverence as more like outright begging for mercy. If you could hear their thoughts, you would know exactly why. ¡®Please, my daughter is sick, please, her life can¡¯t end so soon!¡¯ ¡®I will be crippled and will spend rest of my existence never able to accomplish anything? I beg you, anything but that!¡¯ ¡®I do not want to outlive every man that would ever love me!¡¯ Morphus: ¡°Religion. The only reason to call madness justice.¡± While there were some that were content with their fates, many were praying because their fates were too horrifying for them. But not a single one of them said their prayers out loud, so from the outside view, it looked as though they were happily worshipping the goddess. For the first day, they simply walked around, trying to find the requester. Their time was running out, if they did not find the requester within 3 days, the mission would be considered a failure. As usual, Morphus was clearly drunk, chugging on booze from the moment he stepped into the village. Ranga had no choice but to be walk around and listen to what he could find. The two of them somehow found themselves watching a theatre performance based around a real prophecy. It was called the Dance of Two Kings: King of White and King of Black. Ragna had no idea what they were talking about while Morphus was too drunk to care. From what Ragna could understand, Kings of White and Black were two rivals, each one was the other¡¯s sworn nemesis. Each one was granted the mantle of Light or the mantle of Darkness. There could only be one king. King of Black and King of White were destined to clash, and the winner will be able to ascend to become a true Supreme Being, a Kamui, guided by the Beginning or the End. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Ranga: ¡°I wonder those mantles look like¡± Morphus: ¡°I made a loincloth out of it¡± Ranga: ¡°Just how drunk are you?¡± Morphus: ¡°Not drunk enough¡± He was chugging them by gallons. Ranga wondered just how did he drink so much wine without blacking out or even showing any sign of hangover. Ranga: ¡°I wonder what the King of White or King of Black would be like? Just out of curiosity, of course¡± Morphus: ¡°Nothing special, really. Just a couple of madmen and megalomaniacs¡± Ranga: ¡°You can¡¯t really say that without having met them, can you? By the way¡­.why are you wearing that?¡± Shortly after entering the village, Morphus visited one of the stalls and purchased an leather eye patch, wearing it over his left eye. As far as Ranga knew, Morphus¡¯s left eye was not damaged, so the eye patch was completely unnecessary. Morphus: ¡°Uh, fashion?¡± Ranga: ¡®I have heard of these types before. Could he be a chuuni delusional?¡¯ Sometimes, when Ranga would ask him a question, Morphus¡¯s answer was so non-sensical that Ragna started to wonder whether his companion¡¯s mind was intact or not. Ranga: ¡®Come to think of it, Loid drinks all the time, has weird fashion sense, so him spouting drunken nonsense is not really surprising. If he is perpetually drunk, who knows what¡¯s going on inside that head of his. But he is without a doubt, powerful mage. I guess everyone has their own plusses and minuses¡¯ Even if he was a drunken idiot, his skills were legit. Without him, Ragna was sure he would not have survived that encounter with werewolves, not to mention ranking up as an adventurer. The sole reason they even were qualified for this quest was because of Morphus. Even if he was an absolute weirdo, by now, Ranga thought of him as a trusted comrade. On the second day, Ranga and Morphus paid a visit to the village elder, who was said to be blessed by Goddess of Fate, and could tell one prophecy per person or answer a single question about one¡¯s fate. Elder: ¡®Is my vision failing? This young black-haired man, I can see nothing absolutely nothing but pitch-black darkness. My age must be catching up with me¡¯ But even if his vision was failing, he could not say he saw nothing, that would be an absolute embarrassment and dishonor his goddess. But how was he going to avoid telling that man he could see nothing? Morphus: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, elder. I am not interested¡± Elder: ¡®How did he know¡­. Thank goodness¡¯ Looking at Ranga, however, the elder was perplexed. He glimpsed at him again, rubbed his eyes, wiped all the dust away, and looked at Ranga, clearly in disbelief at what he was seeing. With Morphus, he could see nothing but darkness, perhaps he was not allowed to see it. It never happened before, but it was an explanation he could accept, after all, he could only see what his goddess allowed him to see. But with Ranga, it was completely different game. Elder: ¡°That can¡¯t be right. No, it can¡¯t be¡­.¡± Ranga: ¡°What is it, elder?¡± Elder: ¡°I surely hope I am mistaken, but from what little I can glimpse¡­. you should have died weeks ago. Unless you are a walking corpse, that can¡¯t be right¡± Ranga: ¡°I assure you; I am not a corpse!¡± Fuming with rage, Ranga left the audience with the Elder, with Morphus simply shrugging in response and following after. Elder: ¡°My ability must be declining due to old age¡­.¡± After they exited, Ranga was still infuriated. Ranga: ¡°A walking corpse! I will show you a walking corpse! Goddammit!¡± Morphus: ¡®Technically, your partner is a walking corpse, but it¡¯s best I don¡¯t tell him that¡¯ Ranga: ¡°Loid, I am gonna search the other side of the village, I will meet with you tomorrow morning¡± Morphus: ¡°Sounds good¡­excuse me¡± Ranga: ¡°You are not going to go drinking again, are you?¡± Morphus: ¡°¡­.¡± Ranga: ¡°Never mind. I will meet up with you tomorrow morning¡± Morphus: (Thumbs up) Ranga (fuming): ¡°A walking corpse¡­.¡± Just like that, one went on a fruitless search all over the village, while the other simply walked back to the local pub. * * * Bartender Al: ¡®I have seen some heavy weights, but this guy¡­just how much can he chug?¡¯ It was almost morning already, almost all of the guests have already left, except for two. One was probably the biggest drunkard Al has ever seen and the other one was a young woman sobbing in the far corner. For some reason, the two of them met each other¡¯s gaze, and then, like two drunken fools started to sing together, a song that was too much for the Bartender¡¯s ears. Eventually, the two drunkards (one definitely drunk while other mostly depressed), left the pub, with the Bartender wishing to never have to hear that kind of singing ever again. * * * Ranga: ¡°I spend all night searching¡± Morphus: ¡°From the looks of it, I assume, no progress¡± Ranga: ¡°Damn right!¡± Now it was Ranga¡¯s turn to get drunk. Ranga: ¡°Weird to see you not chugging any¡± Morphus: ¡°I got a date¡± Ranga: ¡°A date! We are in the middle of a mission!¡± Morphus: ¡°Why can¡¯t my mission be a date?¡± Ranga: ¡°It¡¯s the last day¡­.at this point, the mission is pretty much a failure¡­¡± Morphus: ¡°Cheer up, my friend. Don¡¯t count your chickens before they hatch¡± Ranga: ¡°I don¡¯t know what that means and I really do not care¡­..(chugs an entire glass of wine)¡± He was clearly a lightweight. Just one glass was enough to make him pass out on the table, requiring Morphus to carry his tired and drunken companion to the inn they both were staying at. * * * For his upcoming date, Morphus dressed up in a truly bizarre fashion, with a suit and conical hat, while still wearing that eyepatch. They both were strangers, and even though Morphus asked this girl on a date, it was rather surprising she agreed without hesitation. And she came in right on time, wearing a simple dress which suited her. The girl herself was in her twenties, and despite her lovely looking face, what stood out were her tired-looking eyes. Those were the eyes of someone with severe sleep deprivation and bottled-up stress. Their date was mostly walking and talking. Talking was mostly on Morphus¡¯s part, the girl seemed not much of a talker, but she clearly was listening to every word. Morphus: ¡°Personally, I find it rather odd. It is a weird pattern. Those who want to die young tend to make it to elderly age, while those who want to live a long life die young. Weird, is it not?¡± Even without looking, Morphus could tell she flinched at his words. As the day went on and on, their date continued. Eventually, it was already night, around 11 pm. Girl: ¡°It was a rather enjoyable night¡± Morphus: ¡°I talk a little too much for my own good, I hope I was not too big of an annoyance¡± Girl: ¡°I know not who you are, but thank you for making my last day a memorable one¡± Morphus: ¡°Last day, you say?¡± Girl: ¡°My time is almost up, I might as well tell you. When I was 16, I foolishly asked the Elder about my future. He told me I would die on the midnight of my 26th birthday. That day is today¡± It was easy to see she was holding back tears. Girl: ¡°As you may already know, once the fate has been decided, nothing can change it. Many in this village have tried to against their predetermined fate, but their efforts simply led to fulfillment of their ending¡± Girl: ¡°Why was I given so little time? Why did I foolishly ask about my future? I could have lived out my life without knowing it and even when my life would end, I would not have minded it!¡± Morphus: ¡°Ignorance is bliss¡± They talked and talked, and now, it was almost midnight. When the clock struck 12, she would lose her life. She knew that and by now, she accepted that it was inevitable. Why was fate so cruel? Morphus: ¡°Now that the time is almost up¡­. the key question would be¡­Would you like to have more time?¡± Girl: ¡°But the goddess¡­.¡± Morphus: ¡°Would you like more time?¡± Girl: ¡°I do¡± Morphus: ¡°Very well¡± Right before clock struck midnight, she closed her eyes, expecting her body to die on the spot. She just hoped it was painless. But at that moment, she felt nothing but a tickling on her hand, as though it was touched by a feather. Then, the midnight came. She opened her eyes. She was not in Heaven, Hell, or Purgatory. She was still alive, looking at her date with visible confusion. Girl: ¡°I am not dead¡± Morphus: ¡°Nope. As long as you don¡¯t do anything stupid, you will be fine.¡± Girl: ¡°I don¡¯t understand¡± Morphus: ¡°Live a long and happy life, Minia. If you are lucky, you might live long enough to see grandkids¡± Minia: ¡°How do you know my name? No, more importantly, how¡­. But the prophecy said¡­.¡± Morphus: ¡°Originally, yes, that was your time of death. I altered some things, just a little.¡± Minia: ¡°How is this possible?¡± Morphus: ¡°Couple of decades, stretched over like a piece of butter, though, there are some limitations, I think it should be decent enough for one human lifetime. Not sure how long it will be, our perceptions of time are too different to compare.¡± Minia: ¡°Who are you?¡± Morphus: ¡°Currently, I am going by Loid, just an ordinary guy, at your service. Oh, I believe the mission is completed now, so please meet us in the afternoon to present us with the reward for the mission. Ciao¡± Like a ghost, he simply vanished into thin air with a teleportation spell. Minia: ¡°Lord¡­. Lord Loid¡± Morphus Noir, a.k.a. Loid Lancer, unknowingly gained his first follower. * * * Ranga: ¡°You have got to be kidding me¡± His right eye was twitching, not because of disappointment, but sheer disbelief at what was right in front of him. It was their client, Minia Reuel, alive and well. In other words, their mission was success. For the first time in Village¡¯s entire history, their request was completed. Their reward was much bigger than any payment Ranga received until now. Minia: ¡°I am ever-so grateful, Lord Loid¡­.¡± Ranga: ¡°Loid, what did you do?¡± Morphus: ¡°I went on a date¡± Chapter 6.5: Side Story 1: Mystery Grandpa In the mountainous region of Elven Kingdom, there was a single family that was renown to all of kingdom as the family of sages, though only the head of the family and its Founder was the sage in question. They were respected, revered, and feared even by members of Elven Royal family, and it is said that the Elder, Lady Ewig, the Founder, and the Greatest Elven Sage in known history, has more than enough power to wipe the entire Elven Kingdom off the face of the globe. She was less of a mage and more of a force of nature, and the closest thing Elves had to an omnipotent and omniscient goddess. Provoking her was a great mistake that could have dire consequences. But overall, the Elder was a rather benevolent figure who was just most of the time. Many elves over the years have gone to her in hopes of learning and achieving a higher level of power. If they passed her trials, they would be granted the knowledge they were seeking. Alternatively, if they completed one of her quests, she would grant them anything they desired as reward. Though, over the last 2000 years, only a little over a dozen have actually managed to pass her trials and even less have managed to complete a single quest she assigned to them. Considering that the Elder had access to every type of magic known to humanity, completing her trials would allow one to get ahold of magic that they could never have had otherwise. And completing a single quest would obligate her by contract to fulfill a single request no matter how absurd. Emphasis on the absurd. Sara: ¡°Even more elves have come to visit granny¡± Sarael, better known as Sara, was the youngest granddaughter of the Elder, Lady Ewig. She was currently on the path to become an arch elf. To do so, she needed to study all kind of knowledge available in the world, learn higher level magic, and achieve a breakthrough. An ordinary elf had mana reserves a little larger than that of a human being and possessed an average lifespan of 1000 years. But if an elf managed to achieve a breakthrough and become an arch elf, then his or her lifespan would be several times longer and their magical power will skyrocket. It would be something that is very appealing for any elf that heard it if not for how next to impossible it was to achieve. As far as Sara was aware, there were only two known Arch Elves currently among the living: Lady Ewig, and her son, Marcus, Sara¡¯s father. According to her grandmother, there were other Arch Elves in the Ancient times, but they were all currently not among the living. Needless to say, becoming an arch elf was probably one of the hardest things for an elf to achieve. It took her grandmother several centuries to become an arch elf, while her father managed to do so in half a century. Her father¡¯s case was considered abnormal and because of it, he is considered a born genius by elf standards. To make the matters even more complicated, apparently her father, Marcus, was only a half elf and half unknown species, and yet he managed to achieve a breakthrough in record time. Apparently, because of his heritage, her father¡¯s hair was black while one of his eyes was a green elven eye while the other one was a crimson one. But the weirdest part was the extra appendage that he had, a single wing that he could sprout from his right side, but not the left. Naturally, since he only had one wing, he could not fly without using flight spell. Sara herself was only ? an elf and ? unknown species, but according to her grandmother, all the non-elf features she had, she inherited from her paternal grandfather. Like her father, she too had a single wing, but on her left side rather than her right. Aside from that, with the wing tucked away, she looked indistinguishable from a normal elf. With her half elven father managing to become an arch elf only in half a century, since she was mostly an elf, she knew she also had the potential to awaken just like her father and grandmother. Though, she sometimes wondered whether her father managed to become an arch elf much quicker than normal because of the power he inherited from his father. Since she was the granddaughter of that man, her blood was probably too diluted, so there was a chance her potential was the same as that of an ordinary elf. Sara had already been training and learning as much as she could for the last 80 years. Even if becoming an arch elf took some elves many centuries, she still felt frustrated, often comparing herself to her elven prodigy of a father. Even if her elder siblings had no such ambitions and were content to lead a simple life, she could not bring herself to give up, even if all her efforts so far produced next to no results. Even if one were to take a shortcut and go to Lady Ewig to pass her trials, one needed to pass 3 of them in order to even have that chance. Passing 3 trials was absurd when most struggled to pass even 1. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. In terms of quests, it is said that to achieve a breakthrough, an elf needed to complete only 1, but to this date, only two have actually managed to pull it off. One became known as the First Hero of the ancient age, and the other one was Sarael¡¯s own grandfather. But apparently, her grandfather did not complete the quest in order to achieve a breakthrough since he was not an elf, which was not the most absurd part about it. The most absurd part was the fact that he is said to have completed the quest in a single day, something that was never done before or after him. After learning of her grandfather¡¯s epic feat, Sarael practically flew into her grandmother¡¯s place to enquire her if the rumors were true. It turns out, it was even more absurd than she imagined. Apparently, about 1500 years ago, the world was plagued by one known as the Dark Dragon Emperor, one of the two Dragon Emperors that were present at the time. Without a doubt, he was the peak of what it meant to be a dragon, towering over Dragon Lords and Dragon Kings of the past. Sarael knew firsthand just how powerful even ordinary dragons were and Dragon Lords treated them as some small fries. A single Dragon Lord was strong enough to destroy an entire kingdom while a Dragon Kings were continental level threats. Sarael could not imagine just how powerful a Dragon Emperor could be if he stood higher than even the most dangerous Dragon Kings. Lady Ewig: ¡°My quests by definition are close to impossible by normal standards. Such is a price to ask me for a single favor. If anyone completed such a quest, I would be obligated to fulfill any single wish of theirs, as long as it was within my ability, by the power of the contract¡± Once a covenant between two was established, it would create a magical contract that could not be broken, trying to do so would incur a penalty far worse than death, which is why, such contracts could never be taken lightly. Ewig: ¡°When I saw him for the first time, he struck me as an unremarkable fellow. He asked to take on a quest from me and to that end, to establish a contract with him should he succeed. I agreed, with the terms that I would fulfill a single wish of his if he were to slay the Dark Dragon Emperor and bring proof with him. I thought I would never see him again¡± Ewig put both of her palms on her face: ¡°Even in my wildest dreams, I would never have thought he would come back the very next day with the head of Dark Dragon Emperor in a bag!¡± Sara: ¡®Just who the hell is my grandpa?!¡¯ Ewig: ¡°And when I asked him what kind of forbidden knowledge or magic, he wanted as his reward, he said he had no interest in something like that. So, I asked him what his wish was¡± Sara gulped in anticipation of her grandmother¡¯s story. Ewig: ¡°He said ¡°I would like you to give birth to my child¡±¡± Sara: ¡°What?¡± Ewig: ¡°I was just as surprised as you are. Mind you, there were other single elven women everywhere, many young ones. At that time, I was already over 2000 years old, mind you!¡± By elven standards, 900+ year old elf was considered elderly. By those standards, even if arch elves had much longer lifespan than a regular elf, a 2000+year-old arch elf woman would be considered to be pretty much a granny. Though, in terms of appearance, if a human being were to take a look at Sara and her grandmother, he would probably come to a mistaken conclusion that Sara was Ewig¡¯s older sister or something like that. Like elves, arch elves retained their youthful looks, but for much longer. Sara: ¡®What kind of an overpowered weirdo was my grandpa?¡¯ Sara: ¡°Perhaps he did not know how old you actually were?¡± Ewig: ¡°No. He had the ability to use status spell, and it¡¯s not like I was concealing my age or anything like that. If anything, during that time I had already given up on any ideas of having any family of my own. I mean, none would want a single hag like me¡­.¡± Ewig: ¡°At first I thought his request was absurd, but he sweetened the deal by giving me this book and telling me his true name¡± The book in question was a spellbook likes of which Sara had never seen. It had so many pages that apparently took the elder a few centuries to finish it. And it¡¯s not because the elder was a bad reader, she could easily finish several books within a day, provided she is entertained enough. The problem was that the book was enchanted, the number of pages seemed to increase as you kept going further and further, and its magic functioned in such a way, that all those pages were kept within a tiny amount of space. Once, Sara tried to read through the book herself, and it took her an entire year to read through, comprehend, and digest a single chapter, and she was trying her best too. Whoever wrote that book belonged to much higher-level civilization. The book of was titled, Introduction to Magic, Volume 1. Even to an elf scholar, that book was revolutionary. Sara managed to comprehend far more from that single chapter than from any other knowledge sources combined. It was no wonder her grandmother, the greatest elven scholar and sage, enjoyed it so much. Ewig: ¡°He said that if we ever were to cross paths again, he would give me the second volume. I am looking forward to it¡± Sara: ¡°I don¡¯t know which one if you is weirder, grandfather for making such a ridiculous request or for you to be so easily swayed by a book¡± Ewig: ¡°Hey! That book was unlike any other book I ever read, and I should know, I read nearly every single one produced by humanity!¡± Sara: ¡°And he just happened to be a scholar who just happened to have a book that not even you had seen before, and he just happened to be someone strong enough to slay a Dragon Emperor in a single day. The more I think of it, the more grandpa seems like a fictional, made-up character than a real person¡± Ewig: ¡°He is real! The extra limb you keep tucked away in your back is the proof of it!¡± Sara: ¡°Did he also have only a single wing, like me and father?¡± Ewig: ¡°As far as I could tell, he had at least two¡± Sara: ¡°At least?¡± Ewig: ¡°Some members of his species have more than one pair, at least according to the book¡± Sara: ¡°Just what kind of a monster did you marry?!¡± Ewig: ¡°Well, we did not actually marry¡­. We only spent one night together¡­.¡± Sara: ¡°That is infinitely worse!¡± After calming down, Sara asked: ¡°So, who is my grandfather? What is his name?¡± Lady Ewig smiled at her grandchild¡¯s obvious curiosity: ¡°If you manage to become an arch elf, I will tell you¡± Sara: ¡°Aw c¡¯mon!¡± Volume 1: Chapter 7: Meeting Chapter 7: Meeting The Adventurers Guild of Midgard Kingdom. While the Midgard Kingdom was best known for its heroes, the adventurers were of comparable caliber. Among them, they had about 200+ Gold rankers, 50+ Platinum rankers, 10 Mithril rankers, 5 Orichalcum rankers, and 3 Palladium Rankers. The Elite 3, as they came to be called, have been Palladium ranked for a few years, being considered one of the strongest members of the human race. If circumstances were different, they could have been Adamantite ranked. However, the reason for them to not being promoted to the highest rank was simple. They were nowhere near strong enough. As of now, there was only one Adamantite ranked adventurer in the entire Kingdom. None knew what race he belonged to, but it was said that he was active as an adventurer ever since not long after the Guild was established in the first place. It was about 500 years ago. Judging by his unchanging appearance, many suspected him to have elven blood in his veins, though he did not share their looks. One thing for sure, he was definitely a member of long-lived race. His face was as usual covered in a helmet, with only his glowing blue eyes being visible. His name was Taurus, the sole Adamantite-ranked adventurer in the entire Midgard Kingdom. He was also the longest active adventurer in the kingdom¡¯s history. Guild¡¯s policy regarding promotions were simple, the one who was level above them must approve or they should be strong enough to defeat him. Taurus participated in countless examinations, each time, it was a one-sided slaughter. Taurus always made sure that his challengers were safe and suffer no-long term physical damage, but the same could not be said for psychological damage. Each time a challenger would inevitably lose, they would understand just exactly how big the gap in power was between them. Many would give up on being adventurers altogether after suffering humiliation at the hands of Taurus. Elite 3 have already challenged Taurus a combined 23 times, 19 times on their own, and 4 times together, facing defeat each time. But without a doubt, they got stronger with each fight. It would not be inaccurate to call them most sore losers in the guild. Today, like many times before, Taurus reserved a room in the guild¡¯s headquarters, to meet his longtime visitor. The visitor in question was obviously of elven heritage, but oddly enough, his hair was black as night. Elves usually had hair on the lighter side, some even had natural green, blue, and silver hair, but someone with black hair was almost never seen. Heck, even among humanity, completely black hair was exceptionally rare, except for some remote lands. They had been meeting each other for at least a few hundred years by now, according to guild records, meeting every few decades or so, but none knew why. All they knew was that the elven man¡¯s name was Marcus. What none knew was the fact that these two were brothers. Half-brothers to be specific, sharing the same father. Taurus: ¡°Greetings, brother. Have you been well?¡± Marcus: ¡°Same as always, Tau, same as always.¡± Marcus was born to Elder Ewig more than a thousand years ago. He never met his father, but according to Ewig, aside from his pointy and long elven ears and facial features, he took mostly after his father. For most of his life, he wanted to meet his father, going on countless journeys trying his best to track him down. He even went as far as learn a very difficult, level 6 spell, Blood Tracker, all in hopes of finding his father. The spell had no offensive function. Essentially it functioned as a compass that allowed the user to find living relatives. Since Ewig was the oldest elf in the Elven Kingdom, naturally she would not have any living relatives nor did she have any children other than Marcus, so the only relatives he could conceivably track down were those on his father¡¯s side of the family. According to Ewig, his father¡¯s entire race was rendered extinct at the hands of gods, he was likely the last one of his kind, so finding any relatives was highly unlikely. Even then, Marcus could not give up. After a few hundreds of years of searching, Marcus finally stumbled upon a man named Taurus, who worked as a mercenary at the time. The spell clearly pointed only towards him. It soon became clear that Taurus and Marcus had the same father. With the discovery of his half-brother, Marcus was rather satisfied with the results of his endless search. Even if he did not find his father, the spell only pointed towards Taurus (and later his children after Marcus settled down), finding a sibling was more than good enough for him. Both of them presumed that their father was no longer among the living since the spell could not point in his direction. Though, the spell¡¯s scope was limited only to this reality, whatever that meant. Ever since then, Taurus and Marcus would kept meeting every now and again to catch up. Since both of them were very long-lived, meeting every few years or decades was not an issue. Unlike Marcus, who was half-elf, Taurus was a strange case. Taurus was half-golem. Golems were usually an inorganic race that were not considered alive and usually had very bulky stone-like frames. In Taurus¡¯s case, he looked almost entirely humanoid, but a little taller than most humans, and rather than stone, he would be best described as metallic looking. His skin was tough and if you were to stab it with a knife, the knife would end up damaged and his skin would not suffer any cuts. Apparently, he was only half organic, everything else was reinforced with metal that was far tougher than Adamantite. In a way, his body was a natural armor, much like that of a turtle. His hair was pure silver colored and apparently it was also metallic. The one feature he did share with Marcus were the extra limbs tucked in his back. When unfolded, you could see two grand silver wings sprouting from Taurus¡¯s back, much like Marcus, though Marcus only had a single black wing on his right side. There were all kinds of races around, but the only race with such peculiar looking, avian wings, was the race of their father. Their father was an angel, and probably the last of the angels after the fall of Anhelium. Many millennia ago, there existed a race that lived almost exclusively on the floating island of Anhelium. They were considered one of the 3 noble races, along with Gods and Dragons. They were the angels. An extremely long-lived race with fully functional wings on their backs. They were said to be the greatest scholars and researchers in the world. They lived their lives mostly isolated from every other race, rarely interfering with world affairs, but for some reason, they incurred the wrath of gods, which led to countless conflicts, eventually reaching its climax when the gods and their heroes invaded Anhelium and slaughtered every single angel living there. After the genocide, the race of angels was rendered virtually extinct, with everyone believing that there were no survivors, that is, until Elder Ewig met their father. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. The world was ruled by gods, led by Lord Solaris, King of Gods. After the downfall of Anhelium, gods killed of all the remaining angel-bloods in the world, hunting down any descendants of angels they could find. They were so thorough that nowadays, angels are considered a myth or a bed time story. With their father likely dead at the hands of gods, Taurus and Marcus were the only remaining angel-bloods, descendants of angels, though neither was a true angel. In Marcus¡¯s case, he could be described as an elf with some angelic features. Unlike other elves, his hair was pure black, he was taller than most elves, and he had one wing tucked in his back, not to mention his ridiculous magical power. As for Taurus, he would be best described as angelic creation, made as an experiment, he even had a designation, TN 975, as in, he was an experiment number 975 of TN series. From what Taurus had understood, he was made in an effort to create a living golem, so that he would grow, even if slowly, rather stay stagnant like a normal golem. It seems like the previous experiments did not yield the desired results, so his creators thought it would be good idea to use angelic genetic material to fuse with the golem parts. The result was a half-angel, half-golem hybrid. And Marcus¡¯s father, just happened to be one of Taurus¡¯s creators who provided partial genetic material for Taurus¡¯s creation. Apparently, Taurus had the same eye color as their father did back then, though Elder Ewig described their father having pure crimson eyes. Though, to be fair, he apparently underwent some type of mutation, which permanently altered some of his features. When they would meet, they would drink all night long, sometimes even longer. They could talk to each other non-stop for hours, sometimes even days. They may have been only half-siblings, but strangely enough, they clicked so well that by now Marcus thought of Taurus as his best friend, and vice versa. Marcus was relatively light weight when it came to alcohol but he kept drinking nevertheless, when drunk he was far more talkative than his normal self. Taurus was immune to getting drunk due to being a half-golem, but he did enjoy the taste and the buzz that the alcohol provided. Due to being only partially organic, he did not require as much sustenance, being able to recharge on sunlight, and only eating occasionally. Marcus was clearly drunk, reduced to rambling, with Taurus, the stoic, answering all of Marcus¡¯s words. Marcus: ¡°And there aren¡¯t any other angel survivors?¡± Taurus: ¡°As it is now, the floating island of Anhelium is barren. Since the genocide over 3000 years ago, there has not been a single living angel on its surface.¡± Marcus: ¡°What about you?¡± Taurus: ¡°I am an artificial hybrid, a creation, I do not count.¡± Marcus: ¡°So, absolutely no survivors on Anhelium.¡± Taurus: ¡°I was the one who identified and buried their remains. So, yes¡± Marcus: ¡°Where were you, during the purge?¡± Taurus: ¡°In a stasis pod, I was activated only after the raid was done.¡± Marcus: ¡°How do you remember father if you technically never met him before activation?¡± Taurus: ¡°Because I am an artificial creation, a lot of my memories were implanted before activation. So were the data from my other creator who is no longer among the living.¡± Marcus: ¡°Just to make sure, father¡¯s corpse was not among them, right?¡± Taurus: ¡°I found a severed arm that matched his genetic code, but I could not find the rest of him. I was under the impression he was deceased, until I met you. Obviously, he must have survived long enough to meet your mother and sire you. As for his whereabouts afterwards, I have absolutely no clue.¡± Marcus: ¡°Could the gods or their followers have hunted him down?¡± Taurus: ¡°That is a possibility. I became an adventurer as a cover so that I could search for angel survivors in secret, but alas, aside from the two of us, there are none who carry the blood of angels, as far as I know, that is¡± Marcus: ¡°How come you have two wings and I only got one? Hick~¡± Taurus: ¡°I am an artificial hybrid, so it is not exactly a surprise. Your case is more surprising¡± Marcus: ¡°How so? Hick~¡± (He is very drunk) Taurus: ¡°Angel blood is notoriously incompatible with bloods of other species, such as humans and elves, like oil and water¡± Marcus: ¡°Incompatible? He did father me though¡± Taurus: ¡°It is possible for an angel to sire children with other species, that much is true, but because of the nature of the angel blood, the offspring will be either angel or the other species, not a hybrid. Most of the times, children of an angel and human are just humans with some minor angelic traits, but they lack angelic wings. Genuine angels can be born from a union of angels with other species, but there is only a 1% chance. One thing for sure, it will be either an angel or not an angel, nothing in between, which makes you, a strange case, since you do have a wing, even if it¡¯s not a pair, you do have one. Why that is the case, I really can¡¯t explain. But rather than an angel or an elf, you would be considered a true hybrid¡± Marcus: ¡°Great, so I am the weird one between the two of us, huh. Were the artificial hybrids common?¡± Taurus: ¡°Residents of Anhelium conducted all kinds of experiments to create hybrids, yes, but I believe I am one of the very few successful half-golem hybrids¡± As half-golem, even with a ridiculously long lifespan of an angel, Taurus¡¯s appearance practically did not change, as far as aging was concerned. But due to being partially organic, he did grow bigger, stronger, and tougher the more he leveled up and accumulated experience, unlike a normal golem which would have stayed the exact same size. Marcus: ¡°So it¡¯s just the two of us, all that is left of Anhelium and its legacy¡± Taurus: ¡°As strange as it sounds, I believe our creator¡­. our father is still alive. Just not in this world, perhaps not even in this time¡± Marcus knew about the theory of existence of different worlds, apparently Anhelium conducted experiments to study the possibility of travel parallel realities, whatever that meant. As for time travel, Marcus genuinely doubted it was even possible. Marcus: ¡°I don¡¯t understand¡± Taurus: ¡°There is high likelihood he is a Drifter, lost in space and time.¡± Marcus: ¡°Sounds like a Kamui to me¡± Kamui did not refer to a specific race, but a term used to describe a being that transcended all the limits of their own reality, a transcended being, at least from what his mother told him. It seems like this was the true goal of the current Gods. Taurus: ¡°In theory, yes, but there are no records of anyone reaching the level of a Kamui¡± Marcus: ¡°Yeah, the more I think of it, the more it sounds like something my mother made up just to tell a good story. Sounds like something she would do¡± Taurus: ¡°I see.¡± Marcus: ¡°I am glad to talk to you, brother. I did not think you would invite me to meet so soon.¡± Taurus: ¡°Originally, I was going to meet you in 5 or 10 years, but circumstances have changed¡± Marcus: ¡°How so?¡± Taurus: ¡°Because of my unique power, I can sense space-time fluctuations. Recently, something entered this world from another reality. I am not certain who it is, a friend or a foe.¡± Marcus: ¡°It could be our father¡± Taurus: ¡°There is a slim chance. Yes. I believe you have a handy spell that could be of use to verify¡­.¡± Chapter 8: Clash Morphus: ¡°Next please!¡± Apparently, healers were a rather hard to find even among adventurers, especially among Lower Ranks. While it was possible to find healers among higher rankers, they charged sky-high fees for their services. Considering the yearly wages of commoners, it was safe to say, only the nobles could afford such ridiculous prices. Without enough money, unable to find anyone who would treat them, many would end up passing away prematurely. There were temples that could provide healing, but they either cost a lot depending on the severity of the condition or were difficult to reach. For a few weeks now, Morphus started running a service where he would admit patients and cure them of their ailments, charging patients very strange fees, ranging from a pint of blood to locks of hair. One thing was consistent, he would always have them sign a contract that was clearly in another language, but if they did so, he would guarantee to cure them. Everyone thought it was a scam until an adventurer who was paralyzed from neck down got up and sprinted as soon as Morphus was done. He never charged them any money, which is why people started to gradually seek his aid. Soon, more people started showing up at Morphus¡¯s desk (technically the receptionist¡¯s desk at the guild, during after-hours), each time, Morphus would heal a certain number of people and after a while, he would tell them to come back the next day. Because of the perception blocking curse he cast on himself, none aside from those he approved (Ranga) would be able to see or remember his face, which is why he wore a ridiculous-looking mask that had no expression at all, just a white surface with only one visible eye hole. With the mask on, people could see him and remember that he is in Ranga¡¯s healer teammate. This time, right before closing, the receptionist asked him to wait before bringing in what was likely the last customer for the day. It was a young teenage girl of ordinary looks, but what stood out were her broken eyes. Her name was Annet. If one were to look closely, it would be apparent that she was missing both of her hands, in place of which were bandaged stumps. From what the receptionist told him, this girl was someone who was like a little sister to her. Her circumstances were dire, to say the least. Apparently, her parents made a deal with a devil, in exchange for her hands, they would be granted enormous wealth and status. The devil granted them a dagger which her parents used to chop off her hands. Devils were infamous deal-makers, for a price, they were guaranteed to fulfill even your wildest wishes. Annet¡¯s parents had considered her a burden for most of their lives and when they found a spell to summon a devil and make a deal with it to gain wealth and power, they were willing to pay any price. They were quite elated that all they had to sacrifice were their daughter¡¯s arms. Receptionist: ¡°By the time I found her, it was too late. I tried to take her to all the healers I could find, but all of them failed to give her back her hands. I don¡¯t think you will have much luck, but ¡­. please tell me if you can do anything¡­. please. I will pay any price¡­¡± Compared to Annet who was barely expressing any emotions, Receptionist (Runa), was clearly heartbroken and was reduced to sobbing. Morphus tilted his head a little before nodding: ¡°I will see what I can do¡± * * * Another day, another mission, and yet another adventure. When Ranga was alone, his efficiency at clearing the missions was mediocre at best and abysmal at worst. More often than not, he would barely survive each one of his missions. Since he had reached his level cap, he knew he could not get any stronger, so he tried to learn skills to compensate, but with a low-level body, there was only so much he could do. But after he gained a teammate, everything changed. After they managed to complete one of the Impossible Quests, Ranga and Morphus were promoted to Silver rank, just a step away from gold rank. It is said that gold rank is the highest tier normal human beings could reach, those who reached beyond that were geniuses and talent holders, in other words, abnormal folk that defied common sense. For someone who considered himself a talentless loser, Ranga found himself rapidly approaching the ranks of the strongest normal human beings. Even if he was silver ranked now, Ranga was sure that he was still one of the weakest adventurers in the entire guild. After pulling off the extermination of werewolves and singlehandedly completing the Impossible Quest, Morphus chose to not interfere at all during the upcoming missions, leaving Ranga to handle most of the fighting. The only times Morphus personally stepped in was when Ranga was gravely injured. One monster managed to chop off his leg and leave a large gaping hole on his body, and yet, Morphus somehow simply restored him back to normal. Morphus: ¡°As long as you are alive, I will put you back together, though, if you are missing a few pieces, it might take a little longer¡± How Morphus operated and what kind of magic he used were beyond Ranga¡¯s comprehension, but with him around, Ranga¡¯s likelihood of surviving battles against monsters skyrocketed. Just today, he managed to fight and defeat a three headed Ursus, a bear-like monster known for causing mass devastation. This monster is said to have hide strong enough to break common blades and only stronger warriors could defeat it. All his wounds were healed, but the stamina and energy he used up could not be restored by a spell, requiring him to rest after the mission was completed. With the Ursus¡¯s body part serving as proof, they would be handsomely rewarded by the guild and they could feast to their hearts¡¯ content. One strange thing Ranga noticed was that when people were talking about their party, they always mentioned him but never Loid. The guild receptionist even admitted that she keeps forgetting that Ranga now has a teammate, only remembering that Ranga is always accompanied by a masked man. Ranga: ¡°Come to think of it, last few times Loid did something, for some reason, everyone gave me the credit for his deeds. I thought they made a mistake, but that does not seem to be the case.¡± As soon as Morphus was out of sight, for some reason everyone would forget what he looked or sounded like, heck, most people could not even tell what he looked like even after spending days next to him. Ranga could see Morphus¡¯s face clearly, yet for some reason, not everyone had the same luxury. Ranga: Perhaps it¡¯s an anti-detection spell Morphus: ¡°Not a spell, a curse, a passive type, a pretty useful one too¡± Ranga: ¡°How do you keep doing that? Answering my questions before I ask them? Am I truly that predictable?¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. He had yet to figure out that Morphus was a telepathic type. Telepath types, depending how on how high their level is, could easily hear the thoughts of those near them, especially after spending long time familiarizing themselves with the voice of their companion¡¯s mind. By now, Morphus could tell Ranga¡¯s though-signature like the back of his hand. Morphus: ¡°I have my ways¡± For some reason, Morphus referred to some of his magic as curses rather than spells, Ranga was not sure if it was because there is a distinct difference or Morphus just wanted to sound cool. Ranga: Even if he is delusional, with his talents, he could probably get away with it. Morphus: You are right, I can. Of course, Morphus was not about to tell Ranga that he could hear every single one of his thoughts. There are some trump cards that must be kept secret, no matter what. While most magicians used magic, Morphus¡¯s personal preference was to use curses, for practical reasons. Curses, by their origin, could only by utilized by denizens of Hell, devils and Lords of Hell, and those contracted to them. Explaining that much would raise even more questions. Worst case scenario, Ranga would think Morphus is some evil Devil planning on tormenting him and try to kill him. Until he found a better vessel, it is best that he kept some things about himself under wraps. Ranga was not sure, but with each quest, he had easier and easier time fighting monsters, even killing a werewolf, this time without Morphus¡¯s help. But as far as he knew, his level was capped, so the reason he was getting better was perhaps his skills getting sharper rather becoming more powerful. Morphus: I wonder how long it will take him to figure out that his level is no longer capped. Level caps could be removed and Morphus just happened to be a being that was capable of doing so. All the experience that Ranga accumulated over the years allowed him to quickly level up, now he was level 10, rather than level 5. Technically, he could raise his level up to level 100, but it was highly unlikely. Most warriors were lucky to reach level 30, which is considered hero level. Today was supposed to be just another day after a mission, but what stood in their way was a party of gold rank adventurers. Gold Ranker Leader: ¡°Well, well, well, where are you heading?¡± Ranga: ¡°We have no intention of fighting you¡± Gold Ranker Leader: ¡°A fight? A weakling like you thinks he can take us on? As your seniors, how about we give you a lesson on manners? You unworthy weakling!¡± Morphus: a gang of thugs that are trying to get rid of us because of our sudden rise in ranks. How typical. Their leader was a big guy, lots of muscles, from the shape of his body, it was clear he was a warrior type. Ranga tried his best to defuse the situation, but his efforts were in vain, and the leader of the thugs brandished his swords and attacked him. Gold Ranker Leader: ¡°Once I am done with you, your adventuring days are over!¡± The others focused on Morphus, likely thinking he would be an easy opponent because he was, as far as they knew, an ordinary healer. Morphus: ¡°More idiots, more cleanup¡± * * * 30 seconds later. Victorious Morphus sat on a pile of mentally and physically broken adventurers. Morphus: ¡°I let loose a little, but I might have gone too far.¡± Their bodies were bruised up and some had broken bones, but the psychological damage they received was much worse. Skill: Abyss Gaze. Anyone who managed to survive Hell would be able to use this skill. It inflicted trauma and visions that are meant to break the person from the inside, forcing them to relive their worst moments in their lives, and if that was not bad enough, spice it up with torture that lasted for seemingly days, while only few seconds have passed in real life. All that was required to make use of the skill was an eye contact, even the briefest contact was enough to activate it. Physically, it did no damage whatsoever. But mentally, it was most devastating. Those who survived Hell are immune to this skill, and those with stronger wills can resist it, but one would need to be a hero level to be able to shrug it off. For opponents of such low caliber, it was more than enough for them to end up convulsing and motionless, like puppets that had their strings cut. Taking this skill head on without immunity or resistance pretty much guaranteed that their minds were broken. Those with stronger psyches would repair themselves in time, but even they will be traumatized for life, that much was for sure. Weaker ones would basically become barely more than vegetables. Morphus: ¡°Serves them right. Considering they were trying to kill me and Ranga, I believe a lifetime of trauma is a low price to pay. I could have made them immortal and destroyed their body and left only their head, to exist and scream forever¡± Now that was taken care of, it was about time to check up on Ranga. Hopefully he was still alive, and even if he was not, Morphus was confident that he could resurrect Ranga, considering his current level, there should be no issues, as long as the corpse was still intact. He could only hope Ranga did not explode into countless pieces, reconstructing him like that would require enormous amount of time and energy, he would have much easier time finding another companion. Using that much mana, especially in such a weak vessel, was not a bright idea. The sounds of battle echoed across the plaza. Ranga faced off against the gold ranker leader. Despite being at a heavy disadvantage, Ranga managed to keep fighting. At one point, the gold ranker brought down his sword on Ranga, who instinctively caught it with his right hand, but instead of having his hand chopped off, he somehow managed to grab hold of the blade and keep it in place. Morphus: ¡°I did curse his right hand to be near indestructible¡± If Solaris himself were to unleash his ultimate attack on Ranga, even if the rest of his body was vaporized, the right hand will still remain intact. Sadly, that specific curse could only be applied to a small area, so making one hand indestructible the best that could be done. Unfortunately, the gold ranker was not just a swordsman. Mana Impact. The gold ranker unleashed his martial arts skill. Ranga¡¯s limp body was sent flying, from what Morphus observed, he likely fractured a few bones even if he did manage to block it. Ranga¡¯s opponent was likely a martial artist with some skill in swordsmanship and magic, but his primary abilities were centered around using his body to its utmost. Pure martial artists use chi, but those with mixed abilities could use mana in conjunction with their move, creating an even more powerful skill. A skill that was normally just a straight punch was now upgraded into something that could easily explode heads upon impact. It was done by unleashing mana at the moment of the impact. Gold Ranker: ¡°A weakling like you does not deserve to be Silver Ranker. I will show you just how inferior you are!¡± The gold ranker leader was relentless with his attacks, Ranga barely managed to dodge as the fists collided with walls and pavements, leaving sizable indents. Just one clear shot could be fatal. Even if he managed to avoid the full force of the Mana Impact by dodging and rolling with the punches, Ranga was clearly wobbling and not moving as fast as he usually did. He was clearly worn out and injured, and it was only a matter of time before he would go down. The fact that he was already tired from the mission beforehand did not help the matters whatsoever. At last, the gold ranker grabbed Ranga by the throat, and pinned him to a wall, intending to finish him off with the final Mana Impact. Gold Ranker: ¡°You are dead, boy¡± His fingers clutched Ranga¡¯s throat tighter. Gold Ranker: ¡°Any last words?¡± Ranga: ¡°Finally¡± Gold Ranker: ¡°?¡± Chi Impact. It was clearly different from the move the gold ranker used on Ranga, since Ranga had no mana, using chi instead, but the principle was clearly the same. But unlike the gold ranker who used it with a reckless abandon, Ranga was clearly timed and aimed it to maximize the overall impact of the martial art skill. The strike landed directly on the heart of the gold ranker, causing him to fall limply on the ground. Clearly, Ranga did not use enough force to kill him outright but it was enough to make him stagger and struggle to get up. He was slightly convulsing. Ranga: ¡°Took long enough to let your guard down, but¡­just as planned¡± Not wasting time, Ranga used another Chi Impact on the side of the Gold Ranker¡¯s head, knocking him out. The fight was over and Ranga stood there, completely exhausted, drenched in blood and sweat, barely conscious, but victorious. After a moment, once the adrenaline had worn off, Ranga too, passed out from exhaustion. Morphus was the only one to witness the scene. He was suitably impressed. After observing Ranga fight during their missions, Morphus knew that Ranga had no move like Chi Impact in his arsenal. If anything, his moves were mostly centered around basic swordsmanship. So seeing him demonstrate such talent in martial arts was surprising. By carefully observing and studying his opponent¡¯s martial art, Ranga copied its basic principles and made his own version of it, one that utilized user¡¯s chi instead of mana, and even used it far more efficiently than the original. Though, rather than use up mana, the move used up his stamina, just two strikes were enough to make him fall down from exhaustion. Morphus: ¡°It seems like the kid was not talentless after all¡­his talent simply had no opportunity to bloom.¡± Ranga may have lacked any talent as far as magic was concerned, but he had genuine talent for pure martial arts. Talents were an innate ability that a person was born with. They ranged from completely useless such as being able to accurately tell the exact temperature of water to some absurdly useful like the ability to float for a few seconds without using any mana or casting a spell. In Ranga¡¯s case, Morphus suspected it to be a form Replication, and it only applied to martial arts skills. He obviously has not mastered it and he could only make his own version of a skill rather than copy it outright. And to activate it, there seem to be some unknown conditions, and worst of all, Ranga himself seemed completely unaware of even having such talent. During the last few minutes of the fight, he pretty much acted on instinct, allowing him to use his Talent, but it might be a long while before he can use it at will. Morphus: ¡°I wonder, if pushed far enough, could he apply the same talent to other martial arts skills? That certainly seems worth investigating.¡± Chapter 9: White Hero Many members of his squad suddenly disappeared, leaving Blancus Aurelius and many others, perplexed over what could have happened. Among the ones who have disappeared were Blancus¡¯s older sister and best friend. It happened not too long after the madman, a self-proclaimed Lord of Darkness, was finally slain in a grand battle, with the heroes and gods emerging triumphant. Many thought that the evil threatening their world was finally vanquished, only for something like this to happen. Using all the resources at his disposal, Blancus managed to track down his missing squad members, leading it an ominous looking lair. As soon as Blancus stepped foot into it, the mouth of the cave closed. He clearly had walked straight into a trap, but Blancus could not care less. The only thing he could think of was his sister. ¡°I am afraid you are a little too late to the party, mon ami¡± Suddenly, a round object was thrown in his direction, fell on the ground and rolled towards Blancus, only stopping after hitting his leg. The sensation¡­it did not feel like a stone, or a ball, it was much softer. When he picked it up, Blancus¡¯s eyes went wide in horror. It was not a ball at all. It was¡­the head of his older sister. Then, more heads followed, each a head of Blancus¡¯s squad members, his dear friends. Tears streaming down his face, Blancus let out a deathly wail, filled with nothing but despair. Blancus: ¡°I-I-I¡­will¡­will¡­kill¡­.you¡­I will¡­kill you¡­I will kill you!¡± the shock was enough to make him stutter. ¡°You seem to be feeling unwell, let me give you a hand¡± Blancus¡¯s lips trembled as he was offered a disembodied hand. From the ring with a sapphire stone, he recognized it as the hand of one of his squad members, it was the hand of his best friend. Blancus: ¡°You¡­YOU MONSTER! I WILL KILL YOU! I WILL KILL YOU!¡± Blancus unleashed his magic power, a white light that should have pulverized everything in his path, but it was stopped by a mass of darkness. Blancus was no ordinary hero, he was a demi-god, descended from a deity, and inheriting some of the deity¡¯s power. Until today, he had absolute confidence in his strength, knowing that aside from gods, none could match him. But his power had barely any effect on his surroundings. Whatever it was he was facing, it was powerful. ¡°I made sure to use their parts the most efficient way I could find. The womb of the girl proved invaluable to spawning countless goblins and the organs of her and others have made my adorable monsters evolve into something truly breathtaking¡­.¡± No¡­. this cave was not covered in this monster¡¯s power¡­the cave was made entirely of massive number of monsters and he had foolishly stepped right into it. ¡°You should be honored¡­the entirety of this could not have been possible if it were not for your demi-god friends¡± Blancus: ¡°BASTARD! YOU WILL DIE FOR THIS!!!¡± Brandishing his divine blade, Evil Slayer, Blancus attacked the shadows, fully intending on killing whoever was hiding within them. The monsters were a threat, but this mastermind behind it all, he needed to die. His sword was easily countered by this monstrosity. Now they were face to face, but all he could see within the dark silhouette were a pair of glowing crimson eyes. He had seen those eyes before. No, they were blue back then, but somehow, he knew for a fact that the one facing him was not a new threat, but an old foe. Blancus: ¡°Those eyes¡­are you a member of the Order of Darkness?!¡±If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. All those led by the Dark Lord should have perished. Each one of the members of the Order of Darkness was strong enough to be a threat even to the strongest of heroes. Even gods considered them too dangerous and ordered their execution. If even one member of that group of evildoers survived, then it would mean disaster. ¡°I guess there is no need for introductions¡­ I am, the new Dark Lord. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Blancus Aurelius, the heir of the Goddess Lilicia.¡± Monsters started to show their faces, each one hungry for his flesh. The monsters had no heads, only a mass of branch-like tentacles. The tentacles attached themselves to the severed heads of his sister and comrades, wearing their heads in a sick fashion. At a glance, it looked almost like a tree with enormous fruits hanging at the top. ¡°YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s see how well my creations can fare against a demi-god, shall we?¡± It was the first of the many battles he fought against the Dark Lord¡­. * * * Blancus woke up with a scream. It has been so many centuries since he battled the embodiment of evil, the Lord of Darkness¡­and yet, he still haunted his dreams. Unlike his predecessor who was easy enough to erase from history as if he never existed, the second Dark Lord proved to be a menace of global proportions. So many heroes and gods have fallen due to him. In their last battle, Blancus was the last one standing against the invading power of the Dark Lord. He fought with determination, anger fueling every strike and spell, but in the end, he almost lost his life. Yet the death did not claim him. He felt a strange sensation, and then in a moment, he disappeared, only to find himself in the middle of a forest, with a clear lake reflecting his wounded visage under the light of the full moon. Much later, he learned that this world was not his native world, but entirely different world called Elam. Blancus¡¯s native reality was named Alem, ruled by the righteous power of gods. Some things were exactly the same as his original world, but some things were radically different. The highest ranked deity was Solaris in this reality, same as his original world. For that much, Blancus was relieved. If he was in a world ruled by some mad deity, it would have been a complete disaster. But if it was his Lord, the Almighty Solaris in charge of this world¡¯s fate, then Blancus could rest easy. As for everything else, it was completely different, even the kingdoms of this world were not the same as that of Alem. After he ended up stranded, he did everything in his power to find a way back, but each one proved to be futile. By visiting countless libraries, some belonging to lost ancient civilizations, he learned of a theory of existence of parallel realities, with Elam and Alem being only 2 of them. Having traveled from his native world of Alem to a foreign world of Elam, he knew for a fact that it was no mere theory, it was iron clad truth. It was said that only the true creators or those who have ascended may travel between the worlds unhindered, but it seems like some of the lost civilizations have managed to create a flawed machines that allowed one to travel to another world. None of the machines have survived the downfall of civilizations and from the texts, there was no intact instructions left on how to reverse-engineer those machines. Blancus was not sure of how to get back to his world, and after all his search proved ultimately fruitless, he accepted that he could never go back. This reality was his new home. Just a few months ago, he celebrated his 425th birthday. Due to having the blood of God, even if it was just a minor god, the descendants would often have extremely decelerated aging, allowing them to live much longer than most humans. Unlike gods, demi-gods did still age and they were not immortal. After reaching a certain age, the demi-god¡¯s looks would stay mostly the same. His sister once told him that if you take the demi-god¡¯s actual age and divide it by ten, that would be approximately how old they look compared to normal humans. This was not an official rule, but it was right most of the time. During his time in this world, he became known as one of the strongest heroes, currently serving the Midgard Kingdom, the kingdom with most heroes, as one of it¡¯s few Champions, Heroes above other Heroes. Each one of the Champions was given a Color as an Epithet. Blancus Aurelius was known by most of the kingdoms as the long-lived White Hero, a Champion of Justice and Goodness, and one of the top candidates to become the next Legendary Hero. And yet, he never considered himself worthy of the title of a hero. Why, you would ask? Getting to be a famous hero in another reality after failing to defeat the ultimate evil in his home reality sounded like a sick joke. Sadly, this was his life. At the very least, there was no Dark Lord plaguing to world, unleashing the armies of monsters, bringing all of creation to nothing but ash and ruins. His old scar over his left eye used to ache whenever the Dark Lord was nearby, but for the last few hundred years, ever since ending up in this world, that scar did not tingle. Perhaps he had earned his peace. Maybe it was time to let go of the past and move towards a brighter¡­. Then, a sensation came over him, a sensation he thought he had long forgotten. His scar¡­it was not just aching, it was pulsing. Blancus¡¯s long-dead friend once offered a theory to explain why some scars ached. He theorized that the scars are imbued with the aura of the one who inflicted them, so once that being is active or nearby, it would act like a detection beacon. It sounded absurd back then, but after facing off the Dark Lord not long after the scar started to tingle, Blancus had to admit, maybe his friend had a point after all. Excluding phantom pain, his scar pulsing this badly could mean a few thing¡­ ¡­the worst scenario being that the Dark Lord somehow found his way to this world after laying waste to Alem, and intended to subject Elam to the same fate. Many heroes of Alem fought against the Dark Lord, only to end up suffering fates worse than death. Blancus could still hear the screams of the heroes as the Dark Lord literally ripped them into pieces, one limb at a time. ¡°If he is back¡­. I will stop him¡­no, I will slaughter that vile wretch. That black winged monster does not deserve to live!¡±