《THE BANE OF DARKNESS》


 PROLOGUE

    The environment was quiet when a loud rustling sound was heard. A wild boar was running through the forest leaving behind a blood trail in its presence. From looking at it one saw the boar was wondered, and it was trying to escape from the hunters who were behind it.


    It had a gaping hole near its right front leg which rendered the leg useless, thus it was using the remaining legs to propel itself as far and quickly as possible. However, the only downside to this was the hunters who were not too far behind it.


    ¡°Flame wall,¡± chanted a woman


    A wall of pure flame appeared in front of the boar which caused it to halt its movement and turn behind the flame wall. Now coming towards it were two dark creatures, one of which was wielding a short sword. The boar did what any cornered animal would do and charged towards the beings hunting it.


    The boar saw the man was unarmed and decide to attack him rather than risking a fight with the other one. The man saw the boar running towards him to attack. When the boar was close enough, he dodged it and began his chant.


    Earth prison silently chanted the unarmed man.


    When the boar missed him, the spell had already activated and the ground it was standing on sunk together with it, thus trapping it inside the ground. The hole was deep enough that it just couldn¡¯t get out.


    The two people walked to where the boar was trapped. With nowhere to run, it looked at the two beings walk towards it. Its eyes still had flames in them as it didn¡¯t accept this fate to which it was lured.


    ¡°Flame chain, Ice lance,¡± shouted the lady.


    Chains made from flames held the boar in place while the air around it started to become cold which caused the water in the air to freeze and create multiple lances of ice which stabbed the boar all over. This killed it instantly without giving it the chance to cry out in pain.


    They dragged the boar out of the hole and the lady helped heave the boar onto his shoulder¡¯s as they started walking back towards their village.


    As they walked through the forest it started raining and suddenly a large cry filled the vicinity with their environment. They both held on to their weapon and prepared themselves for the worst. However, when the crying continued, they listened to it carefully and found out that it wasn¡¯t an animal cry. Both slowly listened to the sound and concluded it was coming from far ahead north.


    It would be in their best interest to walk away now. Many a time they had been told not to disturb anything rather than the food they were hunting. The elders of the village had always let nature takes its course by taking only what they needed and nothing more but today was different.


    The elders had sent these youngsters today to hunt which served as a lesson and both as a reward. By hunting, they would learn how to work together and also develop their own individual¡¯s roles. They would also learn about the forest terrain and in the process, they might be acknowledged and gain some new skills to their collections.


    However, the two were caught by their adventurous spirit and decided to find out what the cry was. They put the boar down and tied it near a tree for safekeeping. As they walked towards the source of the sound the usual terrain they were used began to change vastly, and now they had entered where they weren¡¯t supposed to.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    By approaching the sound, the air grew heavy and cold accompanied by an ominous feeling which slowly began to manifest itself as fear and malice. Both of them didn¡¯t notice that most of the animals and birds were heading away from the sound because these animals had developed such that they could sense evil presence targeting them. This time they were not sensing evil but instead, they were sensing the devil among them. Most of them were able to escape the presence but the few unlucky ones collapsed on the spot with some of them dying.


    Suddenly the crying sound was heard and this time it was just a few trees in front of them. When they approached the tree where the sound was coming from, they noticed that the surrounding trees had begun to wilt and some were oozing a black asphalt like liquid from their stems which flowed to the direction of the tree from which the sound was coming from.


    When they came close to the tree the crying stopped and after inspecting the tree, they found something warm which was wrapped in old dirty rags.


    ¡°Nini, let¡¯s leave now,¡± shouted her partner, Koji.


    Koji had felt something glide just past him and none of his sensory skills had picked up on what it was. This made him afraid and thus he decided that both of them should leave whatever Nini was holding because their presence wasn¡¯t welcomed in this place.


    However, Nini didn¡¯t follow through with Koji¡¯s plan but instead, curiosity took hold of her and she opened the rags.


    Instead of being met by something ominous she found inside what appeared to be a baby.


    It was dark just like them and suddenly the baby stretched its tiny arms after feeling the warmth was gone which was replaced by a cold breeze.


    ¡°Koji, look it¡¯s a child that looks like us,¡± shouted Nini to Koji who was walking away after seeing that Nini wasn¡¯t listening to him.


    Naturally, he went to take a look and indeed the child looked just like them. As they were observing the child it opened its eyes to reveal a unique combination of colours.


    Its left eye was red but its right eye was black just like the ooze coming out from the nearby plants. The baby was intrigued by the people who looked just like it thus it raised its hand and firmly squeezed Nini¡¯s index finger.


    Nini looked around the area to see who might have left the baby but found no clue as the visible are looked undisturbed. She put the baby back where she found it as she recalled the elders¡¯ warnings of not disturbing nature and she started to walk away.


    When she started disappearing beyond its view the baby cried as it didn¡¯t know what else to do. Somehow the baby couldn¡¯t remember how it got here but after seeing Nini it felt somehow attached to her who was now leaving it to nature.


    Nini felt the baby¡¯s cry but she decided to walk away but suddenly she saw Koji change his direction and walk back towards the baby. He didn¡¯t know he was acting this way but only felt an obligation to protect it. So, they both walked back towards the baby with Nini carrying the baby. Koji went and retrieved the boar they had tied down at the tree and both walked towards the village each with something to show they had acquired.


    As the two walked away something profane and ominous came into view. Its existence was a blurred mess of reality portraying evidence that gods didn¡¯t always know everything. Wherever it walked only death and chaos followed in its footsteps. This creature was an abomination that roamed the world without belonging.


    However, it watched its saviour vanish from sight while seated on an old tree branch and it let out a long happy sigh. This was everything it had wished for a long time as her fate and the boy were tied by strings thicker than fate. The boy was its source of redemption, her only source of happiness and her existed wholly depended on that boy and it swore to never let anything get between her and the redemption she was promised long ago before the ages of the kingdoms


    ¡°Lachesis, everything has gone splendidly,¡± the shadow conveyed the message in the dark. If one listened closely enough, they could hear the sound of joy from them.


    Lachesis, who was called evil and vile was conveying so much joy it almost encompassed her divine realm.


    ¡°Tremble heaven and hell for the awaited end is here. The gods'' death march if I may say so,¡± Lachesis said while happily drowning in laughter, recalling her troublesome past.

 ARC 1: THE RISE OF A DEMON KING CHAPTER ONE: LETIFER

    A light breeze filled the room causing the room to become stiff and cold. As people felt the chilling breeze graze over their bodies each held their blankets tightly trying to fight the foreign invasion of cold.


    However, the breeze didn¡¯t only carry the cold but something else ominous followed behind it. It glided gently and carefully without causing unnecessary movement. One¡¯s it reached its target it slowly raised its hand over its target.


    The hand caressed the target from head to toe checking to see whether anything was wrong with it. Once it was satisfied nothing was wrong it gently glided out and its presence replaced by the breeze as if nothing had occurred.


    The target a young boy felt something touch him and then suddenly disappear into the night. He raised his head drowsily and saw nothing was there. As he got back to bed and prepared to sleep his back was hit by a cold breeze which destroyed his chance of finding sleep.


    Now fully awake he got out of his grass bed and slowly walked over the other children who were sleeping and made his way outside the house.


    Once out he saw the moon was silently fading to give way to the sun. Seeing morning was not too far of he made his way inside the forest to his favourite spot.


    Incidentally, his spot was where Nini and Koji had initially found him. He didn¡¯t know why he was so attracted to this place. All he felt was something drawing him there every time he came to the forest. It gave a sense of Euphoria and control which he desperately required.


    Once he got there he checked if there was any sign of disturbance and once, he saw there was none he started his routine practice of magic.


    ¡°Flame arrow,¡± he shouted while raising his palm.


    The only thing that appeared was a weak candle flame which was quickly by the cold breeze that suddenly swept the place.


    He was not disappointed but still, he tried again which proved to be useless. Each time he repeated the chant the flame only got weaker until finally, no flame came out of his chant. He thought the chant was the problem so he decided to try and repeat some other spells they were taught.


    ¡°Water cannon,¡± he shouted again. This time the spell activated had better results than his first spell. A water ball was created from his palm which shot and hit the tree in front of him. The damage wasn¡¯t much but at least he had managed to strip a small portion of the bark of the tree.


    However, a green glow appeared where the water cannon had inflicted damage and started repairing itself. First, the tree grew some green vein-like structure that attached itself to the part where the bark was ripped off. Then a brown overlay covered the vein-like structure which then mashed together returning the tree to the original state.


    After practising the water cannon spell for some time, he felt exhausted and decide to go and rest near the big old tree behind him. He walked over to and sat down placing his back on the tree.


    He felt his mana tank had taken quite a huge drop and being near the tree had a sweet spot which made him close his eyes and doze off.


    ¡°Dark flame¡±


    He got up hurriedly while confused and looked around. Something had whispered into his ear but when he looked for any signs of intruders, he found signs indicating no one had been there.


    He had only heard dark flame he heard the sound and woke up. What is dark flame he wondered? What is a spell because it definitely had the chant of a spell but still, he was weary whether it was something else?


    By its chant it meant it was some sort of fire spell but what did it do. Now the curiosity had gotten to him and he wanted to test whether or not it was a spell.


    So, he prepared himself and the chant and when he was ready, he cast the spell.


    ¡°Dark flame,¡± he shouted.


    However, nothing out of the usual happened. He tried repeating it but nothing magical per se happened. Nothing was happening he thought but why did he feel his mana being drained far quicker than when he used to cast the other spells. He thought maybe the problem was the way it was arranged or the chant was not full he thought. So, he decided to cast the water cannon magic to check whether he still had mana.


    ¡°Water cannon,¡± he shouted.


    This time the sensation of casting the magic was different than the dark flame.


    They had been taught that magic was activated through a four-step process.


    First envision what it is you want. For example, for flame arrow one thought of an arrow that was set on fire and shot by the bowman.


    The second step was what the spell was for or the intended target. For example, what is the purpose of the flame arrow or what was the intended target? If you want to attack another person then that person becomes your intended target.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    The third step was now the mana. Mana is a source of magic but not magic itself. Magic depends on mana which is found in almost every living being. Each and everyone had different capacities of mana but some creatures possessed higher and purer mana than other creatures.


    Mana has two properties. The first is that it is not visible or tangible. This means one cannot touch or see mana thus only one can feel mana.


    The second is that mana concentration and level of purity is different across different creatures and races. Some races have more concentration and a higher level of purity than others.


    The higher the concentration of mana one has then the higher the level of purity of mana one also has.


    For one to cast a spell, one must channel their mana and link it together with the thought of the spell to be cast. The higher the mana one pours then the higher the effect the spell will have. But also, each spell has its minimum and maximum amount of mana required which when not met will prevent the spell from activating.


    The fourth and final step was the chant. These were the words that one said was to bring your imagination to reality. Using the example of the flaming arrow the chant was ¡®Flame arrow¡¯. By chanting this spell, it uses the mana in the body which enables one¡¯s mana to be reformed and cast in the shape of a flaming arrow which appears from the caster being visible and also tangible.


    Now the spell-like ¡®Flame Arrow¡¯ would be mostly used to attack one¡¯s enemy by piercing them with the flaming arrow.


    Also, chants have various level of degree with the lowest being called the base chant.


    For fire, the base chant is ¡®Flame¡¯. When one casts the spell ¡®Flame¡¯ a fire will appear but will do nothing but only illuminate.


    By giving the base chant another form like ¡®Flame arrow¡¯ it causes the base chant to evolve further into a flaming arrow. This flaming arrow is now superior to the base chant ¡®Flame¡¯.


    So, for the water cannon, the boy thought of water falling from a waterfall but only faster and more powerful. He then poured his mana linking it together with the thought and finally by saying the chant a water ball appeared which then shot forward and hit another tree in front of him. Just like before he damaged the bark and the tree repaired itself.


    Now for Dark flame, he didn¡¯t have any concrete thought and also didn¡¯t know how much mana to pour into the spell which caused the spell not to activate but also drain his mana which became wasted.


    He tried to guess what dark flame might be but nothing came to mind.


    While still pondering on the spell he had someone shout his name.


    ¡°Letifer¡±


    He wanted to respond immediately but once he recognized the person calling him, was Nini he decided to ignore her.


    When Nini called Letifer again but heard no response she went towards where she mostly found him near that big old tree.


    Once she reached, she saw signs of Letifer being there but no signs of him. Instinctively she guessed that the worst-case scenario had happened and she switched her mode to that of hostile.


    ¡®Dark vision¡¯ ¡®Mana essence¡¯


    She activated both of the skills and started searching for Letifer.


    The dark vision was for superior sight at night or in places of dense growth like forests.


    While Mana essence was basically like the name said. It was used for tracking the mana signature of a specific person because each one had its different mana qualities.


    She began seeing traces of Letifer¡¯s Mana which presented themselves to her eyes like whiffs of black-purple smoke which started leading her to him.


    However, once she got near the old tree the black-purple smoke started disappearing.


    This could only mean one thing. Someone had used another skill to cancel out the ¡®Mana Essence¡¯ or there was something stronger than her that possessed higher mana which automatically cancels out any skill below it.


    She moved her left hand near the short sword on her hip and began gripping it slowly because she sensed something hiding above her.


    However, the sensation she got from the intruder was a familiar sensation of joy mixed in with some grief and there was only one person who gave off that aura.


    ¡°Flame blade,¡± Nini chant.


    While Letifer was sitting on the branch looking at Nini searching for him, he saw a yellow flash move past him suddenly.


    What followed next was a moment of weightlessness as the branch he was sitting on broke off from the main tree.


    He could himself getting nearer to the ground and he didn¡¯t have any spell to break the speed and make him land safely.


    Nini on the other hand saw Letifer falling while closing his eyes waiting for the worst. Just as Letifer was getting closer to her she grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt.


    Letifer was waiting for the sensation of pain but nothing came so he opened his eyes to assess the situation and found himself caught by Nini.


    They both looked at each other for some time when Nini began speaking to him.


    ¡°You woke up early again to practise your magic. Then show me what you gained?¡± she asked him.


    ¡°Nothing much has changed from before. I still can¡¯t properly cast fire magic,¡± he replied.


    Nini looked at his dejected face while he said that so she decided to end the conversation there.


    She still didn¡¯t release him and decide to carry him back to the village as she saw the sun had started rising and was slowly dyeing the clouds crimson red.


    As Nini carried Letifer and walk back to the village something that was concealed from the general eyes came into view and watched the two head back.


    From its eyes, one could tell it had a longing look as it watched Letifer disappear from its view but it also had another repressed emotion which one could only notice if you knew it or looked closely enough.


    ¡°Ten years have passed since I last saw you, Letifer. Will you succumb to fate or be the one to rewrite it I wonder?¡± it continued, ¡°I have already given you a very special spell but I still want to see how you will use it?¡± it said as once again it slowly faded away from sight.

 CHAPTER TWO: PYKE

    ¡°So cold,¡± muttered Pyke.


    It was early morning when Pyke had woken up and left the Impure Mug tavern. While opening the tavern door he was greeted by the sight of about four bodies that lay there motionless.


    He walked towards the first body and kicked the man on the rib only to have the body squirm and resume its motionless state.


    He walked over the first three bodies and reached the last body which held a mug near its mouth which still had some wine in it. His throat felt dry so he picked up the mug and drank the wine and only parted with the mug when the wine was empty.


    Apparently, these people had drunk the night away and when they decided to go back home, they collapsed outside the tavern and some of them had lost all sense of self-control and they just piss themselves.


    Pyke didn¡¯t judge them because he had once been caught up in a similar situation which made him re-evaluate his priorities in his life. This sudden change helped him keep the drinking to an acceptable level.


    He clutched the sword on his waist and walked towards the city gates. On his way, he noticed that none of the shops had opened but one merchant was in the process of hauling his good which was covered with sheets inside the store.


    As he walked past the merchant, he caught a glimpse of what he was unloading so early. The goods were slaves and particularly dark elves mixed in together with some other race which he couldn¡¯t tell from the way they were all squeezed in together.


    However, the only things one could see were whips and stab marks littered across their bodies which meant that most probably they were hunted from their villages. He didn¡¯t feel any remorse as this was a common occurrence across most of the races.


    They were all taught from early childhood that all races belong to the Goddess of Harmony were evil beings which required them to be purged. Thus, growing up around that notion most people were quite okay with this sight as they saw themselves on the right side of history.


    When he was near the city gates, he noticed that the night guards were changing shift with the regular guards. From their eyes, most of the night watch squad looked worn out and dragged themselves slowly waiting for shops to open so that they would eat and sleep.


    ¡°Sir, where is your guild card,¡± asked the guard as he reached the gate.


    He reached deep into his pocket and removed a rusty worn-out guild card that had his name and rank. Once the guard confirmed his card, he let Pyke pass through the gate.


    Pyke continued walking until the city wall faded out of sight and he was inside the forest of Nirit.


    Inside the forest of Nirit stood the local city dungeon where he usually went every day to hunting monsters and trying to raise his rank.


    The entrance of the dungeon was a cave that was surprisingly well lit. He walked inside and went to his usual hunting spot. Before he reached there, he found a few herbs which had recently matured.


    But before he picked them his intuition told him something was wrong. He unsheathed his sword and held it tightly with both his hands.


    Pyke heard some unintelligent sound growling and running towards him as its plan had failed.


    When the creature came into view, he saw it was a goblin. He had wanted something to warm him up and this goblin just happened to be the perfect punching bag.


    The goblin began to run even faster trying to scare the person but today that didn¡¯t work. Once the goblin was near Pyke it leapt at Pyke who made quick work of it by slashing at its neck which chopped its head off.


    Pyke then walked towards the head and cut off the goblin ears as proof of killing a goblin and he continued to head further into the dungeon.


    ¡°Finally,¡± said Pyke after seeing the level 18 sign on one of the walls.


    Suddenly Pyke felt a swoosh sound that just passed over his head. He instinctively jumped forward and then looked at what was behind him. What he saw behind him was a kobold armed with some kind of rusted sword.


    From how the sword looked he thought that maybe the Kobold had collected from the dead adventurers.


    Currently, he was a D adventure and Kobolds were usually ranked D with some few exceptions which had developed thought that was ranked a C rank.


    Most Kobolds which were D ranked were usually killed by the C rank and the C rank Kobolds are then killed by the B rank adventurers.


    From what he had learnt in the adventurer¡¯s guild was that a monster required one to have a higher level than it to be able to successfully kill it. But to fight monsters of the same rank as an adventurer was mostly unwise as most adventurers usually died.


    Pyke was unsure which Kobold was so he kept his guard up in case the worst happened and he was forced to retreat.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡®Earth attribute, Lesser self-healing¡¯


    He activated his skills as he prepared to tackle the Kobold.


    Both of them suddenly ran towards each other when the Kobold slashed its sword at Pyke¡¯s left thigh who then blocked it and returned an attack of his own by having a spike suddenly appear from the ground and pierce the Kobold¡¯s right foot.


    This caused the Kobold to shriek in pain as it now concentrated on removing its heavily bleeding foot from the spike. Pyke having found an opening slashed at the Kobolds left hand which it parried which now left Pyke defence open with the Kobold exploited and delivered a knee strike to Pyke¡¯s gut.


    The sudden essence of pain left Pyke on his knees while the ¡®Lesser self-healing¡¯ skill started to slowly heal him. Now the Kobold attacked again and this forced Pyke to raise the ground near him to form a wall between him and the Kobold which was cut down by one strike from the Kobold.


    Having the wall cut down Pyke then threw dirt onto the Kobold eyes which caused it momentarily blindness as it tried to get rid of the dirt.


    Pyke stabbed the Kobold knees which rendered it unable to move and caused it to fall.


    When Pyke saw it was down, he let his guard down and the Kobold now free of dirt caught Pyke¡¯s right ankle and twisted it causing him to also fall.


    With both of them down the Kobold then pulled Pyke near itself and started choking him.


    In a situation of raw strength, the Kobold was superior which left Pyke desperately gasping for air.


    Pyke¡¯s hand moved aimlessly around the ground searching for something to use as a weapon and his right hand caught hold of a rock which he used to strike the Kobold¡¯s skull.


    The only problem was that this Kobold¡¯s skull was exceptionally thick and even though blood was dripping from its skull it still didn¡¯t let go of Pyke¡¯s skull.


    This human had brought it so much pain so the only way to quench its thirst was by killing him.


    Now Pyke¡¯s legs had started trembling and he could feel his consciousness fade. As the final attempt, Pyke activated his ¡®Earth attribute¡¯ skill to form a short knife which he used to stab its right eye.


    Now the pain was too great for the Kobold to even ignore so it released Pyke who gulped huge chunks of air as he felt life flow back into him.


    Before he got carried away, he grabbed his fallen sword and limped to where the Kobold was now retreating slowly with its blurred vision.


    When Pyke reached it, he stabbed the Kobold¡¯s back along with its spine and the Kobold collapsed unable to move any of its limbs.


    As he saw the Kobold was unable to move, he looked at in the eye which was now filled with fear. Their roles had changed and now it was the hunted something which it had yet to experience.


    ¡°Don¡¯t show me those eyes,¡± shouted Pyke.


    He chopped off the Kobold¡¯s head and when he saw its eyelid close, he knew it was finally over.


    He sat down beside the now dead Kobold as he started feeling the effects of ¡®Lesser Self-healing¡¯.


    The healing was wouldn¡¯t fix his dislocated ankle now as it would take a few days. He thought of visiting the church but remembered how expensive those bastards were. It was maybe for the good to let his body slowly heal.


    Now how would he get back to the city he started wondering. He wanted to form a staff using his earth skill but his mana had been largely expended and using any more of it would risk a blackout and considering his location that was not the best idea.


    He took the Kobold''s head and cut off the ears which he put together with the goblin ears and forced himself to stand up and he continued to limp slowly until he met a group of adventurers who were coming into the 18<sup>th</sup> floor.


    ¡°Does any one of you have a healer or healing magic,¡± Pyke desperately asked.


    ¡°None of us is a healer but we happen to have a pain reduction item,¡± replied one of the female adventurers.


    ¡°I think that may help,¡± said Pyke as he slowly sat down on the nearby rock.


    ¡°So, what happened down there?¡± asked the lady.


    ¡°I was unlucky any met with a Kobold,¡± replies Pyke.


    ¡°If you met a Kobold and it injured you this badly then that means you are D ranked. What were you doing in the C rank section?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t see the sign,¡± replied Pyke calmly.


    She saw that Pyke was lying but she didn¡¯t push further considering his injuries. Thus, she took out the pain reduction item and hang it on his neck.


    Just as the necklace had been placed upon him, he could feel the pain greatly reduced to the point where it manageable.


    ¡°Don¡¯t lose it, Pyke,¡± she said as the group walked further into the dungeon.


    He wanted to ask how she knew his name but before he had the chance the group was already out of sight.


    Thus, Pyke continued to slowly walk out of the dungeon. Luck was on his side again as he managed to get a lift from a merchant cart which was travelling to the city.


    By the time he had reached the city, it was midday. Once he got off from the cart, he thanked the merchant and made his way to the adventurer¡¯s guild.


    When he stepped inside, he didn¡¯t find the large crowd of adventurers that were usually there so he was relieved and he walked up to the reception desk.


    ¡°What have you brought now, Pyke,¡± asked Irim who looked irked by the mere sight of Pyke.


    ¡°I just want to sell some items,¡± replied Pyke who also looked annoyed.


    Pyke then dropped the goblin and Kobold ears on the counter which Irim look at with disdain.


    ¡°So, you have only managed only one Kobold and goblin?¡± asked Irim.


    ¡°It seems so,¡± replied Pyke.


    Irim walked talked to the next receptionist who gave him the reward which he then passed on to Pyke.


    ¡°One silver and three copper coins,¡± said Irim.


    After Pyke checked the amount was correct, he put the money into his pocket and walked towards the tavern where he went and laid down on the bed were slept without worries Kobolds and Goblins.


    Thus, on that day, one adventurer lay on his bed with his body full of injuries while on the other side Letifer was preparing to begin his day.

 CHAPTER THREE

    The sun had already risen while the villagers were slowly getting up from their homes. When one carefully observed the village, one could notice that there were three main races. The first race and the majority were the dark elves followed closely by the succubae who were mostly half breeds between the dark elves the succubae and the last race was the lizardmen who mostly the elders.


    Their village was located in some ancient city which was now in ruins and it mostly served its purpose of putting a roof over their heads against the harsh weather.


    Some years before they relocated to the ruins the village was only made up of dark elves who never settled at one place but kept relocating from place to place due to the heavy persecution and purging mostly from the elves who saw them as an evil existence which needed to be erased.


    Due to lack, they were able to escape the Elf kingdom and found themselves in a new place. Here they first met a few succubae who were also escaping persecution. They both formed a bond due to their unfortunate circumstances which later lead to their integration into their community.


    After travelling for months, they finally reached an ancient city in ruins. When they investigated the ruins, they found yet another race which was the lizardfolk who welcomed them which led to the whole village settling in the ruins until today, ten years later.


    Outside the ruins stood a ruined colosseum from which the sound of sword clashing against each other emanated. Inside the colosseum stood a woman who had pointed her sword against a young boy who was lying down with his sword knocked out of his hands.


    ¡°Letifer, you still can¡¯t defend yourself properly,¡± Nini said as she slowly walked towards him.


    She picked up the fallen sword and threw it to Letifer who had now gotten up who caught the sword.


    Letifer looked tired and injured as he took his form and prepared to block Nini¡¯s attack.


    ¡°Have you prepared yourself?¡± asked Nini while raising her sword preparing to attack.


    Letifer didn¡¯t respond which Nini took as a yes as she rushed towards him.


    She swung her sword at his calf which Letifer blocked and she responds by changing her form as she swung her sword horizontally aiming for his right ribs.


    Letifer had seen this attack many times and tightened his grip on the handle as he had already decided to parry the attack. Thus, when he saw the sword dangerously close to him, he moved his right arm counterintuitively to receive the oncoming attack.


    The only problem was the level of difference between the two. Nini had the advantage of too much experience on her hand while Letifer didn¡¯t have the experience of Nini.


    Nini had already seen Letifer¡¯s hand moving to parry her attack but instead of following through with the plan, she decided to spice things up to see how Letifer would react.


    Her swing which was aimed at Letifer¡¯s right rib suddenly changed its pace and direction and instead opted to aim for his delicate neck.


    This caused Letifer to struggled as he awkwardly changed the direction of his sword so as block the strike aimed for his neck. As he did so he left his body unguarded which gave Nini the opening she was looking for.


    By increasing the pace and power behind her attack Letifer received the full blow with his sword which caused him to slip up and stagger slightly back.


    Nini dropped her sword and instead opted for hand-to-hand combat which left Letifer in a dangerous position.


    Nini curled her hand into a fist and aimed at Letifer¡¯s nose which Letifer blocked and suddenly Letifer felt his body gravitate towards the ground.


    Nini had thrown the punch which was meant to lower his guard against his lower body which Nini exploited and with one quick blow to both knees Letifer had fallen at the mercy of Nini.


    He looked disappointed that Nini had always bested him yet again.


    As Nini looked at Letifer who had a dejected face she couldn¡¯t help but feel sorry for him.


    She remembered how they found him abandoned in the forest which had raised a lot of concern when they suddenly came back to the village with a foreign child.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    Back at the village, the people took the information surprisingly well. The only problem that was left then was its name. Inside the cloth which wrapped the baby, they only found one thing which was a small wood piece that had the name Letifer written on it on both sides. Thus, Letifer was raised just like any other child of the village.


    Letifer grew up in the village surprisingly well and somehow, he developed an aptitude for magic from a young age which was good news.


    The only problem that arose was that when he reached five years his aptitude for magic stopped while for the other children they started manifesting more strongly. Other children surpassed him and the highest level of magic he could cast were the base spells like <flame> while some could already cast higher spells.


    Most people thought that maybe his luck would instead come from things like swordplay only to have their expectations further dulled. His peers exceeded such that he could not hope to catch up with them. Due to this Nini took it upon herself to train him every day to see whether he could gain any new skills or at least have the minimum amount of skill to defend himself.


    Though he wasn¡¯t proficient in magic or fighting he did possess an incredibly large mana pool for someone of his age. As he grew older so did his mana pool which currently was nearly approaching her own. How could someone have so much potential yet no seeable outcome or even progress came from him.


    She wanted to engage him further but his current state discouraged the thoughts she had.


    ¡°That¡¯s all for today,¡± she said as she stretched her hand to Letifer.


    Letifer grabbed her arm and was pulled up. He was happy that this hellish training was finally over as he could feel some of his bones were dislocated.


    Nini grabbed her sword and started walking out of the colosseum when Letifer called her causing her to slow down.


    ¡°Have you ever heard of any spell named <Dark flame>?¡± asked Letifer.


    ¡°No, I have never heard of it or come across it anywhere,¡± she replied.


    ¡°Ah okay,¡± replied Letifer as he watched Nini go out.


    He had thought that of all people Nini might have some clue. Maybe he could go and ask the elders but considering how rarely they usually responded to the youngsters'' requests he gave up on that thought.


    Letifer dusted himself and walked back to the village. The village was in a joyous mood as summer had arrived and everybody was trying to have everything prepared to cater for the festival that was going to be held a few days from now.


    According to the village, there existed one season which must be celebrated according to the ancient tradition which was winter. This festival held two important reasons for them.


    The first was to thank the god of agriculture Melos, for the good harvest they had received and to pray for more blessing to accompany them for the future.


    The second reason was to conduct the early status check. This was done to see whether one had received any new skills or whether one had increased their rank. Once the status was checked they were usually recorded and this information was accessible to anyone and also one of Letifer¡¯s major issues.


    Since way back Letifer had bad memories of how he was the only one who had the least amount of growth when compared to the whole village.


    He hated this day because year after year served to prove that he was indeed the most incompetent of them all. The only attribute that increased was his mana but everything else had always stayed constant.


    To his defence, it was not like anybody thought he was useless but still he couldn¡¯t help feeling incompetent as he watched his peers tower above him in so many ways. Once this day passed, he would feel much better since he would have already forgotten his stats.


    When he passed the broken gates of the city wall and entered inside, he felt a hand suddenly grab him and a second later he felt his body being embraced in a tight hug.


    The place his head landed on was stiff filled with a few bumps and just from this little information he only knew there was one person who could do this.


    ¡°Letifer, I see you were training with Nini. Did you get what she likes?¡± asked Joki.


    The question hit him hard and caused him to remember that Joki had asked him last week for a favour. He asked him to investigate what Nini liked as he had planned to ask Nini out during the summer festival. At the time Joki was pestering him so he decided to agree to his request and he has since forgotten about it.


    Joki''s face looked at him with expectation and he just couldn¡¯t tell him that he had forgotten about it. That answer would lead to Joki pestering him even further considering the festival was just a few nights away. The only solution now was to lie to Joki.


    Just as Letifer went to reply he heard his name being called behind and he was happy for the sudden rescue.


    Behind him was Nini who had already changed her earlier clothes and was wearing new ones.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Joki but Letifer has some urgent business to attend to,¡± said Nini.


    ¡°Okay, then see you both later and Letifer don¡¯t forget about our meeting,¡± said Joki who had already walked away from them.


    ¡°The elders are calling for you Letifer,¡± said Nini who was wearing a serious face.


    Letifer was confused because this was not the norm. Usually, one requested for the elders but very rarely was it the other way around.


    This could only mean that if the elders were summoning him, it was an extremely important matter which required him to present and whatever that was, he didn¡¯t like it he thought as Nini lead him through the village towards the elders.