《Shadow Reborn》 A Tragic Death Today is the day I died. It¡¯s not what I expected to happen but here I am, floating in endless darkness. As I reflect on my life I can¡¯t help but feel as if I wasted it. I didn¡¯t accomplish much, I wasn¡¯t handsome, smart, or popular. I was just average. The last thing I remember is being pulled over by a cop. He asked for my license then when I reached I heard a loud bang. I always heard of people like me being treated differently by the police. I just never thought it would be me. "Sir do you know why I pulled you over today?" "I''m not sure officer. Was I speeding or something?" "Don''t be a smart ass. You know what you were doing. Your kind is always trying to play dumb." "...My kind?..." "License and registrations. Let''s go." *Kinkaru extends his arm to his glove compartment in compliance with the officers orders.* "He''s got a gun!" *POP* *POP* *POP* "Unit 303 there has been shots fired. Suspect Is down. Send backup." Kinkarus vision begins to fade. All he can hear is the faint thumping of his heart beat as it begins to slow. He could feel the warmth of his blood as his life drained away. AHis heart stopped thumping and all he had was the darkness for what seemed like an eternity.A light shines in the distance as Kinkaru loses himself in self-pity. He decides swimming in the sea of blackness towards the only light source is the best move to make. As he swims the finality of death swells up within him. This must be the light at the end of the tunnel. This must be ¡°moving on¡±. Suddenly Kinkaru fears not death but the possibility of judgment and who knows where that could lead. The light engulfs him blinding him for a second. When his vision regains he is in what appears to be a library. ¡°This isn¡¯t what I expected,¡± he says as he scans the room. There are no angels, no demons. There aren''t any Viking warriors or any other religious finality that he was familiar with. All he saw was the silhouette of a man. The scary thing was the room was brightly lit, yet the man was a mass of blackness. A black figure sits behind a desk looking at a book. The figure has no defining features and appears to be a black mass. Kinkaru wonders to himself if the creature is even solid. He thinks this thing maybe a ghost or something far worse. ¡°Hello Kinkaru, I have been expecting you. I am what you¡¯re kind may refer to as a god of death. I am in charge of the books of life. I can see every mortal¡¯s life and death in these pages. Welcome to the afterlife. I am sure you have many questions, speak to them now.¡± Kinkaru knew he was dead but hearing it so casually really bothered him. He felt no fear because the mass in front of him radiated pure neutrality. It was apparent that the being meant him no harm. ¡°Am I to be judged and sent to heaven or hell?¡±This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°There is no heaven or hell. Just life and death. However, death may not always be permanent. There are many ways to return but in most cases never to your original world.¡± The figure¡¯s body begins to swirl and expand while speaking Kinkaru pauses reflecting on his circumstances. Then he asks ¡°what will happen to me now then.¡± As he speaks there¡¯s a gust of wind that lifts him off his feet. He begins being pulled towards the creature. Kinkaru is set on the table in front of him. In comparison, Kinkaru isn¡¯t even as big as the book in front of the creature. The shadow hovered its finger over the pages of the massive book. He seemed to scan through the pages and as he did so they begin to glow letting out a ominous hum. The shadows face seemed to peer as if it were trapped in deep thought. It then shifted its empty gaze at Kinkaru before speaking. ¡°Your story says you shall be sent to another world. As a reward for a deed, you did as a kid. When you reached out to a suicidal friend and saved his life you were granted a redo. Normally you would need better karma to be revived as a human again, however, the life you saved had become a practitioner of medicine. As a result, you have saved many lives. When you saved his life you set in motion a series of events that lead to the saving of many other lives. Had you chosen to ignore the pleas from your friend many of these lives would have been forfeited.¡± Kinkaru is shocked to hear this from the creature. He long forgot about his friend who was suicidal. When he was 14 a kid who he played with was bullied all the time for his sexual preference. Kinkaru befriended him and would actively discourage the Boy from self-harm. Then suddenly he remembered the boy was sent away by his parents. He smiles, maybe his life wasn¡¯t so mediocre at all. ¡°The world you¡¯re going to is much different. There will be magic and all manners of creatures you are unfamiliar with. As such you will be reborn as a baby and you must learn to adapt. As a bonus for the good deeds you brought on, I will make you extraordinary. I would also like to inform you that you can only live in a world once. That means you cannot be reincarnated to the same world ever again. ¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t, I would like to be like everyone else. I only ask that I keep my memories¡± he says in an almost begging manner. ¡°Farwell Kinkaru. Make this life count¡± as the creature speaks Kinkaru is surrounded in darkness again. Kinkaru couldn''t help but notice that death did not answer his plea or even really acknowledge it. This time the light is pulling him further and further out. Suddenly he feels as if there is great pressure on his body and he¡¯s forcibly pushed by this invisible pressure. Kinkaru sees a room filled with light. A man who is in torn clothing is extending his hands as Kinkaru drops into them. Kinkaru began to finally understand what was happening. He was being born and now everything made sense. This moment showed him that maybe having his intelligence so early was not a good thing. Being born is a traumatic experience, even more so when it is in a foreign land and the people speak a language you do not understand. Kinkaru could feel the body fluid and fecal matter on his body. He was utterly disgusted but there was nothing he could do about it. The Early years The hardest thing about being reborn while being a grown man is that your body feels like a tomb. Every time Kinkaru attempted to move or speak he was met with flashing red text that stated ¡°your skill level is not high enough to perform this task¡± As the ragged man who assisted in his birth say him into a pile of soft hay, he understands that he was a conscious and intelligent mind stuck inside of a body unable to perform the tasks given to it. ¡°Check status¡± The ragged man said while hovering over the newborn. At that moment a screen appeared with various writing on it. Unfortunately Kinkaru could not read the language. It was nothing he had seen previously before. ¡°Completely average¡± the ragged man was smiling while talking. ¡°At least he¡¯s isn¡¯t a weakling like the rest of our family. The odd thing is he already has a name. I¡¯ve never seen this happen before¡± The men say in confusion while staring at the stats. The main appears to have been waiting for a response from the mother. He looks over and his heart sank into his stomach. The woman lay motionless as the vibrant color of life was rapidly leaving her body. Kinkaru felt an overwhelming amount of pure sadness. This is his first day in the new world and he¡¯s already causing death. Maybe this was the god of death saying no one is truly given a free second chance.
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The next few years went by fairly somberly. Every few days Kinkaru would attempt to talk and would be reminded that his skill level was too low. One day after his first birthday he noticed a blue bar under one of his status skills. The more people spoke around him the more it went up. Using this massive clue he came to the conclusion that this bar was relative to his speech skill. He also noticed when someone spoke directly to him it went up faster. What he didn¡¯t understand was the lettering in reference to the level. His father began attempting to teach him to speak after his second birthday. It only took a week before the progress bar filled then reset. A message appeared in English saying ¡°you may pick 3 words for auto-translation ¡°one. Kinkaru thought hard and decided to say out loud ¡°teach me more¡±. His father¡¯s eyes gave a shocked look and he questioned his own sanity. The next few years went by in a blur as Kinkaru¡¯s father began to teach him regularly. His metered began to fill at an extreme rate and he could finally start repaying his actual thoughts out loud. He began to gain the function of his body and move as he had constantly thought of doing. His body now no longer felt like a Tomb. He then approached his father and asked to be enrolled in school. Kinkaru wanted to learn as quickly as possible but his father wasn¡¯t very intelligent. This meant that his progress bar stopped moving on his 4th birthday. Kinkaru¡¯s father reluctant agreed. He had been overprotective of his son, this was most likely due to the miner loss of his wife during childbirth. But Kinkaru is now 6 and he needs at least a miner education if he wants to be anything other than a farmer like his father. Kinkaru had one goal that was to learn how to read and write. Then he could unlock the secrets of his status menu. After departing on foot for the town with his father Pair reached the tiny school. It was a dilapidated and old building. It looked as if it were made a hundred years ago and that the town failed to keep up with repairs. Kinkaru¡¯s eyes however only saw the good. He can finally free himself from this curse that seems to prevent him from utilizing his mind completely. As they approached the worn down entrance his father ushered him to go inside alone. ¡°How can I expect you to grow if I¡¯m always there babysitting you. I have done my best to keep you safe but, now it¡¯s time for you to leave me and attend school. When I next see you, you will virtually be a man. Please be a safe son¡± He held back tears as he hugged his son goodbye. Kinkaru wiped his tearful eyes and walked into the school, as he did he was blinded by a flashing light. He turned around and the door behind him was gone. He was now in a courtyard bustling with children of all ages. A message flashed on his screen that read ¡°confirming stats and age please wait¡±. After a series of unreadable text scrolled across they suddenly became audible. ¡°You have been granted admission into Meznor¡¯s academy, welcome first year. ¡° Kinkaru was amazed at how big Meznor academy was. He never expected there to be all of this inside that small broken down building. Then he realized he must have teleported or maybe walked through a cloaked building. He was sure it had to be teleportation due to the fact that it would seem to take more room than the entire town had to hold just the courtyard. As he was pondering his first real view of magic he was greeted from behind. When he turned around he saw a creature flapping small black wings. The creature was a bright red with little horns on its head. It had giant yellow eyes and was around the size of a house cat. ¡°My name is Tenue I will be escorting you to your dormitory. After reviewing your stats I see you fall into the normal category and come from a farming background. You will be staying in the outer territory with people of similar stats. You can move up and into better classes and housing if you raise your stats comparatively to the students in the school. Right now you are ranked at number five hundred. The exact middle of our thousand students.¡± Kinkaru was unprepared for such a unique ranking system. But after giving it some thought he remembered how in high school their similar rankings were based on test scores. The major difference was that no one but the super-intelligent actually cared about those. ¡°I see you have not learned to read yet. We shall put you into a class befitting someone of your current handicap. If you cannot learn to read within a month you shall be removed from the school and your slot will be given to someone who can read¡± Kinkaru just realized maybe that was why his father lacked formal education. He must have been removed for being sup par. This meant the stakes were suddenly raised. But how could he learn without having any utilities at his disposal? ¡°We will give you reading material and an audio translation stone which will tell you what each book says. It is up to you to decipher it with the two objects. Please follow me.¡± Kinkaru¡¯s heart pounded in his chest, this is his first test and he just got here. How Hard Could Reading Be? The trip to his living quarters was filled with amazement. The farm that Kinkaru was from had only a tiny village beside it with very few residents. Kinkaru was never allowed to venture out on his own so he wasn''t even familiar with what type of world he was in. As he walked through the school campus he got his first real glimpse of what this world had to offer. There were street lights what appeared to be students on motor scooters. This surprised him as he never remembered seeing magical worlds having traditional vehicle. They almost always relied on their magic in the books and shows he was familiar with. There were students sitting on benches practicing magical incantations and some of the students were obviously not human. There were students with horns, students with tails, there were so many different kinds of species he stopped trying to guess what they were. The most amazing thing was everything was very flashy. There were walls of text that seemed to be holographic, however he was unable to see exactly what they were. He came to the conclusion that maybe the world that he was in was just advanced as the earth he was familiar with. Kinkaru arrived at the small room he would be staying in. He sat down with the books that Tenue had given him. He pulled up his status menu and sat down the audio translation stone. It suddenly hit him that he actually didn¡¯t know how to use it. The stone was rather small and have runic type engravings all over the body. It was circular in shape and seemed to be made of weird metal. He ran his index finger across feeling for a button or anything he could use to turn this device on. After a long time, he finally gave up. He sat in this uncomfortable chair looking at the books in front of him and feeling utterly defeated. The door to the room opened and another young student entered the room. ¡°Oh awesome we¡¯re gonna have a roommate. I was worried I¡¯d be alone¡± Kinkaru thought to himself as he saw the student walk in. The student threw a bag on the floor and walked past, Kinkaru. He sat down on one of the beds and said: ¡°I claim this one for myself.¡± Kinkaru honestly didn¡¯t care where he slept, especially since he was used to sleeping on a straw lined sack opposed to a bed. He did feel as if this movie was some type of power play but it could also just be the customs in this world to be straight forward. ¡°Sure take it, oh, by the way, do you know how to use an audio tablet.¡± The boy looked just as confused as Kinkaru when he saw it. Kinkaru felt a bit of relief that he wasn¡¯t alone in his confusion. The boy extended his finger and it began to glow blue, he then placed his finger on the tablet. The tablet lit up and began to glow awaiting instructions. ¡°Have you never used magic before? A baby could activate this as it cost less than one mana to turn on.¡± The boy said as he looked at Kinkaru with a smirk. It had never occurred to Kinkaru that magic would be used in such away. He always thought it would be used for things like spells or transport. This opened up the door to many ideas into his head. The boy sighed then spoke ¡°look man just imagine your pushing electricity through your fingers or imagine that you have an invisible aura that extends past your finger. You should be able to at least activate a tablet that way.¡± Kinkaru extended his finger and then thought about the years he spent wanting to use magic. Back in his original world, he was a giant fan of fantasy novels and RPG style video games so he was used to pretending to cast magic. When he imagined a force of energy coming from his finger instead of a glow, a tiny bolt of electricity shot from his fingertip and hit his roommate right in the head. His roommate was left with a black scratch on his already brown skin. ¡°What the hell, how did you do that?¡± The boy said with an enraged voice. ¡°I just did what you recommended for me to do.¡± He responded. ¡°You just cast shock without using words or using a magic item! My family is filled with mid tiered warriors and only a few of them can cast without words!¡± Kinkaru thought hard at the boy¡¯s words and didn¡¯t understand why it would be so hard. ¡°You still haven¡¯t said your name,¡± Kinkaru responded trying to change the subject. The boy pushed his thumb into his nest pointing at himself in a grand gesture, my name is ¡°Garth Blaze.¡± This was the first time Kinkaru has heard someone use the last name. He himself wasn¡¯t even Aware if he had one. His father never used the last name and neither did any of the traders he would visit. He wondered if the last name was a sign of wealth or maybe even status, but then Again this kid was in the mediocre class, Kinkaru turned around and hovered the tablet over the text on the books. The tablet began to speak ¡°The Magical Tiers by Robert Johnson ¡°Kinkaru watched as one of the skills in his status bad got a little blue line under it. He could finally start learning to read and it seems as if he wouldn¡¯t have to physically decode anything due to the inherent abilities gained from his resurrection. ¡°I¡¯m going to study for a bit Garth, thank you for your help¡± Kinkaru slumped over the books and began scanning them over and over. The more he scanned the more the blue line filled up. Finally, after around two hours it filled pup and text flashed in front of his eyes saying ¡°you can now read at a basic level, your progress will only continue from actual reading now ¡° Kinkaru flopped the book back to the first page and began to scan the text with his index finger reading them. {There are up to 3 tiers of regularly usable magic. However that does not mean there aren¡¯t more than that, it just means we won¡¯t be covering them in this book. The 3 tiers that are commonly used are 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. 1st consists of basic low destructive spells like shock and spark. These spells lack the ability to kill or damage anyone more than maybe a scratch. They, however, are fundamental in unlocking the second and more destructive tier and so on. Everyone has their own elemental affinity from the moment of birth. The most common element is earth and the rarest is dark or light. The average human can cast up to 2nd level spells with extensive training. Higher tier spells are for those strongly attuned to their element and can take a lifetime to achieve just one. This book will cover all of the elemental spells of 1st level and discuss their mana usage as well as the practical application.}Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. After continuing to read he felt he had a solid grasp on the fundamentals of basic magic. He was pretty surprised at how basic the concepts were. Essentially mana is the life force that flows through everyone and it can be used to empower things as well as be pushed out externally. If you think of the spell as a part of yourself they are easier to cast. Most spells have incantations and the militarized spells usually require rituals involving multiple people. However, spells can be used in more than the redefined spell ways as long as you have the mana and the concentration. If you want to regain mana then you need to consume mana potions mixed with special herbs or rest. Kinkaru checked his status menu one more time and saw he had risen his reading skill by two more levels. As he looked his eyes widened he could finally read his status menu and was shocked at what he saw.
(Status Menu) Inventory Quests Settings
General Information
Name: Kinkaru Level: 1 EXP: 0
Affinity ? Skill Points: 15
Class/Job NA
HP: 100 Mana: 200 Stamina: 200
Status Information
Stats Spells Skills
Strength:3 Shock Reading: 3/4
Agility: 3 Speech: 1/4
Wisdom: 6 Wisdom of Another Life?
Endurance: 3 Critical Thinking 4/4
Kinkaru noticed his wisdom was well above his other stats. He figured it must be due to the fact that he lived through second life. That must explain why he levels skills that involve thinking very quickly. He also noticed he had 15 skill points left over. Although he wanted to spend them asap he figured he would wait until he understood the importance of each stat and their application to this world. Ultimately he decided to spend 4 points on wisdom to make it a solid 10. With every point, he put in his understanding of everything around him and the material he just read increased. It was insane to feel himself getting smarter by pressing a button in the sky. He also noticed his mana went from 200 to 400. Out of curiosity Kinkaru pointed his finger and allowed the shock spell to escape. As he did he saw his mana drop from 400 to 380? Meaning a 1st level spell would only cost 20 mana. After around a minute his mana recovered 1 point. At that moment he noticed another menu titled quests. After clicking it he saw he had an active quest that said ¡°obtain basic reading skill¡± there was a checkmark next to it. Out of curiosity, he clicked it his eyes flashed and the message ¡°level up¡± appeared. He had gained another 2 skill points and his base stats all jumped by 1. Time for be he thought with excitement and he crawled into his bed amazed how much his world had changed.
(Status Menu) Inventory Quests Settings
General Information
Name: Kinkaru Level: 2 EXP: 100
Affinity ? Skill Points: 13
Class/Job NA
HP: 100 Mana: 400 Stamina: 200
Status Information
Stats Spells Skills
Strength:4 Shock Reading: 4/4
Agility: 4 Speech: 1/4
Wisdom: 11 Wisdom of Another Life?
Endurance: 4 Critical Thinking 4/4
Whats My Affinity? Kinkaru was awakened only to see an ugly red face hovering over his. Tenue was staring him in the face eyes while pulling his ears aggressively. ¡° wake up boy, I¡¯m here to escort you to your first class ¡°. This surprised Kinkaru as he hadn¡¯t even informed the school that he finished the quest given to him. Maybe this means that when a quest is complete the giver of the quest is noticed of its completion. Kinkaru decided to ask Tenue as they walked to the classroom. ¡° when a quest is assigned the completion awards are stored in a virtual and unreachable space until it is completed. This is so that the quest awarder can not take back or lower the prize after completion. That means that negotiations must take place before the acceptance of the quest.¡± Kinkaru couldn¡¯t help but be amazed at how far ahead the designers of the quest engine thought. The pair arrived at a classroom marked 450 to 550 class. This must mean that the classes are also assigned based on ranking. The unique thing was that the door to the room was beside the next class up with virtually no space in between. This must mean that all the rooms are attached to the same space or they are also portals. As the pair entered Kinkaru arrived in an auditorium type classroom but instead of walls, there was a vast empty white space. It was like someone designed a room with nothing but the seats and a teacher''s desk but put infinite space around then objects. Kinkaru turned to ask Tenue about their current location but the chimp seemed to have vanished. Kinkaru sat at the desk marked 500 as that was his determined rank. A thin male with black hair walked to the teacher''s desk and stood behind it. He was middle-aged and had a suit on, he looked super professional. ¡° my name is Michael I am the teachers of this class. This class is the magical affinity class and you will remain here until your affinity or affinities have been discovered. This may affect your ranking. You will also notice we do not have school years here, you will be assigned by rank and courses completed. Your fellow student body may be as young as 6 and as old as 45. Avoid manipulation by your peers¡±. Kinkaru gazed around the room and saw there were several people far older than him in the class and also noticed that one row up was Garth signifying he was ranked above Kinkaru. As he looked around a piece of paper appeared in the front of him. The teacher then spoke ¡°students you need to draw a drop of blood and place it on the circled part of the paper If your magical level is high enough the paper will react and your status menu will be marked with your affinity. However, if the paper reacts and turns white again you must complete the process again as you have a second affinity.¡± Kinkaru lifted the paper and a small needle appeared under it, he took the needle and stuck it into his thumb. After the pain subsided a drop of blood came forth. He pressed his finger onto the paper and watched it closely. The paper began to darken slowly than it rapidly speeds up and turned black. The paper then turned white. This meant Kinkaru had a second affinity and he again squeezed the blood onto the paper. However, his paper did not change color. It simply ignored the blood and remained normal looking. This upset Kinkaru as he was excited to have two affinities. Kinkaru opens his status menu and indeed saw the writing that said affinity. Right beside the word, it said ¡°dark, ???.¡± Kinkaru was puzzled as his second affinity had been blocked from sight. He also had assumed he had a lightning affinity due to him learning shock with ease. He also wondered what dark affinity could be useful for as to his knowledge it couldn¡¯t be destructive. The teacher then waved his hands in an upward motion. As he did a large whiteboard with numbers from 450 to 550 appeared. Names began filling the slots next to the numbers. At rank 460 he saw the name Garth and at rank 480 he saw his name. He had jumped 0 rank slots by simply having the dark affinity. Then as he looked around he saw a few students begin to vanish from the class. ¡°The students who have vanished failed the magical affinity class and are doomed to repeat it or be expelled. Their rankings have dropped due to their inability to manifest magic at this time. Kinkaru finally noticed how brutal this school was. The students weren¡¯t even notified of the likelihood that they would fail. Kinkaru summoned his menu and saw his rank at the bottom of the screen. But he was left floored when he saw the number was 480/500. He thought this might mean that the student body had decreased by 50% on the first day. He instinctively raised his hand ¡°sir, does this mean that only half the students are remaining?¡± The teacher nodded his head and spoke: ¡° yes every year we allow students to the renter and attempt the exam again, however, most never make it in or take a very Long time¡±.
(Status Menu) Inventory Quests Settings
General Information
Name: Kinkaru Level: 2 EXP: 100
Affinity Dark/??? Skill Points: 13
Class/Job NA
HP: 100 Mana: 400This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Stamina: 200
Status Information
Stats Spells Skills
Strength:4 Shock Reading: 4/4
Agility: 4 Speech: 1/4
Wisdom: 11 Wisdom of Another Life?
Endurance: 4 Critical Thinking 4/4
Kinkaru thought the book he read said that most could magnify this level one magic so he was confused why this wasn¡¯t being shown here. The. He realized the book may have meant most established magic users could and not most of the population. Maybe the book was written under the assumption that the reader was already an established magic-user. ¡°The teacher spoke out-loud, you will partner with your roommates and begin magical training. Check your quest menu you will use this open space to spread out and experiment within your affinity.¡± Kinkaru then raises his hand again¡± what does it mean if you can cast spells out of your affinity.?¡± The teacher looked at Kinkaru and said ¡°anyone with magical abilities can cast any low-level spell however the mana cost is usually higher and the magic is harder to control. The more demanding of the spell the less likely it would be at being cast. If you attempt a spell too hard it could turn on you and kill you. Do not attempt spells of the opposite category as it will consume vast unpredictable amounts of mana.¡± The elemental affinity break down goes like so. Fire -fire>Earth>Lightning>water Dark=Light and are neutral to all other elements. In a magic fight, the person using the weakness of the other has an advantage. That is why mages with two affinities tend to do better as their weakness are spread. All of this made sense as it was a common RPG mechanic. Kinkaru opened the quest menu and it stated ¡°manifest your affinity and help Garth manifest his¡± when Kinkaru clicks it, it said, ¡°reward is the use of magical affinity, classroom upgrade, experience, and title of beginner mage¡±. This almost made Kinkaru jump with excitement as the rewards were huge in comparison to his reading quest. He could probably jump a few levels if he does this. ¡°Begin your training class¡± as the teacher spoke the classroom became vibrant with noise as everyone scrambled to find their partner. Kinkaru already knew where Garth was so he beelined to him with excitement. ¡°Garth I¡¯m glad we both made it. Let¡¯s hurry and begin so we don¡¯t get left behind.¡± Garth nodded his head but seemed less enthusiastic. The two-headed a good ways away from the class into the white space. ¡°Kinkaru how did you jump up 20 spaces, what exactly is your affinity,¡± Garth asked with an upset look on his face. Kinkaru then spoke ¡°I have the dark affinity ¡° he decided not to mention his second one as he didn¡¯t know what it was. ¡°I have fire and I only moved up one space. Dark must be rarer even though I doubt it is as useful in combat ¡° Garth responded. Kinkaru hadn¡¯t thought about the fact that they could be training for combat as his old life was rather peaceful. ¡°What do you mean combat?¡± He asked. ¡°Well, most people with magic take up jobs as soldiers, mercenaries, or adventures. That¡¯s how the world works and you can make massive wealth doing so ¡°. Garth explained to Kinkaru. Kinkaru realized his knowledge of the world as small as the farm was pretty isolated and they didn¡¯t have any visitor. ¡°Alright let¡¯s begin,¡± Garth said. The two sat down beside each other and began extending their fingers. Thinking hard they were trying to express their elements with their mind Garth began to chant ¡°Feel my rage as it burns hot and releases it as Embers¡± a single flame smolder into existence for an instant the. Disappeared just as quickly. ¡° how do you know what chant to use?¡±Kinkaru asked. ¡°You try to express what you think the magic embodies and it will respond, ¡° Garth said in response. Kinkaru was glad his partner knew so much otherwise he¡¯d be pretty screwed. ¡°Take away the vision of those who seek to harm Blind!¡± Kinkaru said out loud and forcibly. Suddenly darkness erupted from his fingers and surrounded the two. However, they could see perfectly fine as the darkness was see-through. Kinkaru felt defeated that his spell did virtually nothing. Maybe this element is as useless as Garth says. The two began to repeat the process over and over slightly modifying the words. As they did so the embers that Garth used got bigger and extended put further. It was like shooting a small projectile of sparks. Garth opened his menu and clicked the quest icon. Suddenly energy wrapped around his body and the message level up displayed 3 times. The attire he was wearing also changed, he now had on what appeared to be a school uniform. This signified he had completed the quest. Kinkaru wondered what he was spending his stat points on, he assumed it was likely wisdom so he could progress further and quicker. He did think it would be rude to ask for some reason so he kept his thoughts to himself. The teacher''s voice could be heard through the classroom ¡°Return to your seats ¡° Kinkaru dreaded his return because he felt as if he failed the quest. The pair returned to their spots and sat awaiting further instructions from the teacher. The teacher waited until everyone had taken their seat and spoke again ¡°class you have done well to ask it this far, don¡¯t worry no one else is being removed from school at this time. Most of you have figured out how to manifest your element in some way. You will be given a month to grow your element before the next exit exam. Those of you failing to make tier-one progress will automatically fail out. You will also attend classes on magic theory during this time. Those should help you develop in a faster manner. This made Kinkaru feel better. He wasn¡¯t as worried about failing now but the pressure was beginning to mount. ¡°Those of you in school uniforms will not have to take the next exit exam. However, it is highly encouraged that you continue your growth to reduce risk in the future.¡± The teacher spoke in a way that seemed to be giving a hint. A young girl in the back raised her hand ¡°what exactly is the next exit exam?¡± The teacher grinned and raised his hands again. A giant arena filled with horrible monster appeared where the text once was. ¡°It is a practical combat-based test, where your application will be tested in real-time. The school plans on bringing the number of students down to 250 with this test.¡± The class became an uproar of panic as it seemed only a handful were wearing uniforms. This would mean half of the remaining would be removed as there were already students in uniforms. The teacher dismissed the class and everyone departed. Kinkaru decided to sit in his chair pondering his next plan. He pulled his menu up and decided to explore the setting and see what it could do. He noticed he had an inventory tab, a settings tab, and the player status menu. He clicked the settings tab and turned on the option for active monitoring. When he did so his health appeared in the top corner of his vision it also notated his mana and name. Now he could monitor his basic status at all times. My Magic Is Useless Kinkaru spent the night pondering how to word his dark magic incantations. He honestly couldn¡¯t think of a use for the magic as it was the only nonphysical type he had seen. He reached out to Garth and asked Garth to assist him in his training. ¡°Hey, bro, do you mind helping me train, I know you already passed but I think it could help us both¡± -k ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t mind helping you. My family,y believes in helping the needy. Plus like you said I may get a bit stronger doing so.¡± Garth ¡°Do you happen to know any other dark magic users? It may help me if I can find someone who uses it in a practical manner¡±-Kinkaru ¡°My dad has a friend who uses it, but I¡¯ve never seen him do it. Honestly, most dark users are kind of creepy or completely useless. Sorry, bro¡±.-Garth This made Kinkaru a little upset, I mean Garth was likely right. I mean he does have more experience in this world than I do. Kinkaru thought carefully about the quest and the future. He could not think of a way to pass this hurdle and this depressed him. He should have take deaths offer for a boost. Now he risks being just as useless as he was in the previous life. When he dies this time would he only be known for being the kid who helped Garth achieve greatness? He wants his legacy this time and doesn¡¯t want to be judged based on how well others did. This ignited his desire to improve beyond anything that he experienced in his previous life. He brought out his quest menu and read the quest carefully it said: ¡°improve your magical ability and avoid elimination in the practical exam¡±. Kinkaru decided to take the quest literally. Maybe this meant he didn¡¯t have to use his magic to win. What if he physically became stronger? With this line of thinking he and Garth decided to train. Kinkaru looked around campus for Tenue. He figured if anyone could show them a great training spot it would be him. Tenue was hovering next to a statue in the courtyard. The statue showed a giant horned man holding a staff in his hand. The stone man appeared demonic in appearance but he was surrounded by knights clad in armor. The statue''s inscription said ¡°Valarek the Uniter¡± Kinkaru noted this name because he seemed important. Kinkaru approached Tenue and asked him to show them a training ground. Why didn¡¯t you just use the message feature as opposed to walking here? -Tenue Wh...what¡¯s the message feature? Stuttered Kinkaru Kid, you are utterly clueless. Here watch.-Tenue Tenue displayed a status screen and clicked on the settings menu. He clicked a box that said, ¡°send and receive messages from others¡±. Kinkaru saw this but didn¡¯t think to turn it on. He had no clue how to send a message so he wanted to wait. Tenue then spoke out loud ¡°Message Kinkaru¡± as he did an alert screen appeared saying ¡°User Tenue would like to contact you, do you accept? Kinkaru clicked to accept and everything Tenue spoke began to play In his ears as if Tenue was right beside him. Kinkaru was excited this meant he could contact his father. He thanked Tenue and decided to try the feature himself. ¡°Message Edward¡± when he spoke an alert appeared ¡°user cannot be reached. Kinkaru wondered if his father''s magic level was too low or he couldn¡¯t access the menu because he couldn¡¯t read it. This saddened him a bit but he had to take these thoughts out of his head. ¡°Hey you little red shit, can you show us to the training facility or not¡± - Garth seemed to be getting super impatient. It was the first time he seemed to be aggressive. ¡°Follow me,¡± Tenue said. His voice sounded upset as if he was holding back his thoughts. ¡°These Demi-humans always try to act equal. They think because they had one great hero that they suddenly deserve a place in our society.¡± Garth said this with disgust as they walked towards the training center. This reminded Kinkaru of how he died. He never thought that this society full of magic would be hateful to those other than their kind. He figured it was unique to his original world. Do humans hate, simply to feel superior? The thought bothered him and he spoke up ¡°I don¡¯t see why he can¡¯t be equal, after all, he isn¡¯t that different from us¡±. This seemed to bother Garth as everyone he knew hated Demi¡¯s. He never honestly hated them himself but he felt he had to act like everyone else. ¡°They¡¯re weak, the weak die or get taken advantage of. Don¡¯t lower yourself to weakness.¡± Garth said as they arrived at the training center. Kinkaru decided not to respond, he refused to hate just for the sake of it. The training center was just like the classroom. It had a series of numbers that said 400-500 training grounds. So even the training center was designed with stats and rankings in mind. When they walked through the door they arrived in a giant green field. The field had forest surrounding it and mountains in the far off distance. There was a wooden podium beside the entrance that had a crude map as well as some text. The text read ¡° Meznor academy is not liable for injury due to training. Those under level 10 should stay in the plains and out of the Forrest.¡± Each section of the map had a number written on them. The plains they were in had 1-10 written on it. Kinkaru turned around to ask Tenue why there were levels but he was no longer there. When the pair took their first step the door behind them vanished. They were now surrounded by the expansive plains. The air felt very real. It felt as if they were physically outside. The grass made his legs itch slightly and it made his wish he was wearing pants and not shorts. He looked around thinking about how he could use this field for training and it seemed a bit useless. Were they supposed to just sit here and shoot magic off into the distance? Garth, on the other hand, was excited. He grabbed Kinkaru by the arm and said: ¡°let¡¯s go!¡± Pulling him deep into the plains. After a few steps the ground under the. Shifted and a creature stepped out of the tall grass. The creature looked as if it were grass tied together mixed with a Venus flytrap. It was green in color and the head was just a giant plant mouth covered in razor-sharp teeth. The creature seemed clumsy as it stumbled out the grass. When it made what appeared to be eye contact with the pair it began to swing its grassy arms threateningly at the pair. Kinkaru was unprepared for this development. The vine-like arms expanded and whipped across Kinkaru''s bare arms. He received a small cut. It wasn¡¯t even deep enough to draw blood. A message appeared ¡°you are now in a combat zone¡± as it flashed across his eyes he jumped back into a haphazard fighting stance. He had basic boxing lessons from his old life but with his child''s body right now he doubted he could even hurt the creature. Garth took a stance and started speaking. ¡°Rage in my heart show my foes the fear of my strength!¡± As he finished the incantation his first began to glow. A very small flame covered them. It was more like a tiny latest glove of fire. Garth rushed forward to throw a flurry of punches. He was admittedly larger than any other child their age. But he was still a child and his arms were short making this a hard feat to accomplish. As he rushed forward the vines rapidly made contact with his body repeatedly. They began to cut his shirt and repeated shots to the same side drew small amounts of blood. Kinkaru felt helpless watching his only friend fight this monster. The vines combined into one large drill-like shape and shot from the body of the creature toward Garth. He sidestepped the projectile and buried his flaming fist into the body of the creature. The creature immediately Burt into flames and began to thrash about. It swung wildly attempting to hit Garth while blinded by pain. Garth never stopped punching. Relentlessly hitting the body over and over. The creature let out a screech as it stumbled and fell to the ground. The fire consumed its body quickly turning it to ash. After the fight concluded a message appeared ¡°victory, 100 exp gained. Party share is active¡±. Garth smirked at Kinkaru ¡°today the exp is on me. This is thanks for helping me learn magic in the dorms¡±. Then it finally hit Kinkaru, he has the shock spell. Why not use it instead of the dark spells. Sure it would cost more mana than his dark spells, but it could be his secondary affinity. It would also do actual damage. This made him excited. Maybe he wouldn¡¯t be useless after all. Kinkaru saw something else that caught his eye, Garth¡¯s health bar was now below his own. However, it didn¡¯t have numbers but it did have a visual indication of how much was remaining. If he were to judge it would appear as if Garth lost 25 percent of his health in that very quick exchange. A ding sound revisited ¡°items received - weeds x2, stick X1, plant tooth x1. Kinkaru opened his inventory menu and saw he had items in there. He also saw there were items he didn¡¯t know about. One thing grabbed his attention it was a metal rod. When he was back at the farm he would pass time by pretending to be a swordsman and swing this metal rod around at the trees. He clicked it and it materialized into his hand.
(Status Menu) Inventory QuestsThis novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Settings
General Information
Name: Kinkaru Level: 2 EXP: 500/900
Affinity Dark/??? Skill Points: 13
Class/Job NA
HP: 75/125 Mana: 100/400 Stamina: 250
Status Information
Stats Spells Skills
Strength:4 Shock Reading: 4/4
Agility: 4 Speech: 1/4
Wisdom: 11 Wisdom of Another Life?
Endurance: 4 Critical Thinking 4/4
Dark Manipulation
Blunt Weapon Mastery 1/10
¡°Hey, what the hell? Where did you get that!¡± -Garth ¡°Out of my inventory¡±-Kinkaru ¡°I don¡¯t have that option, you mean to tell me you have spatial storage?¡± -Garth ¡°I thought everyone had this, maybe it¡¯s unique to my affinity?¡±-Kinkaru ¡°That would explain why dark is rare.¡± Garth As he spoke the pair were caught off guard by another plant creature. This one came out of the tall grass in full-on attack mode. It must have seen its brethren fall before it or felt the heat from the fire. Garth repeated the previous incantation and charged forward being hit repeatedly by the vines. These hits were doing a lot of damage this time and Garth seemed to not be moving as fast. ¡°It¡¯s got me, bro, help out a bit,¡± Garth said in a bit of a panic. Kinkaru saw that the grass had wrapped itself around Garth. This forced him to suppress his fire to not set himself ablaze. Kinkaru started swinging the rod at the vines and could feel the attacks weren¡¯t impacting. The vines had too much leeway in them and weren¡¯t solid enough to be damaged by blunt force. The creature shifted its focus to Kinkaru and wrapped itself around the rod and him. It laid its body flat on the ground and opened its mouth wide. The vines retracted pulling the pair towards its mouth. The creature''s body expanded and it was apparent it intended to inject the two. Kinkaru began to panic and thought about how to get out of this situation. He tried to speak but the vines wrapped around his mouth preventing him from doing so. He shifted his eyes and saw Garth was entangled the same way. Neither could use incantations now. They seemed utterly doomed. Kinkaru thought hard and decided to pour his mana into the pipe. He activated the shock spell and sent it cursing thought the pipe like a stun gun. As he did the electricity pulsated through the pipe and down the vines. Kinkaru kept constantly pouring his mana into the spell giving it everything he had. The electricity flickered and traveled to the main body of the plant creature. It danced around his body in an elegant blue glow, as it did the creature began to convulse and shake. The vines went limp for a split second and the two freed themselves. The creature seemed dazed as if paralyzed. This bought enough time for Garth to finish his incantation while charging forward. He jumped and brought his fist down full force crushing the mouth of the creature. The creature burst into flames and turned to ash. A familiar message appeared ¡°victory exp earned 500!!¡± This meant one of two things, the creature was either stronger or exp was given based on contribution. Another message appeared ¡°new skill acquired blunt weapon (you deal 5% more damage while wielding a blunt object ¡°. Kinkaru only needed 400 exp to level up. But both of their health was under half. The two decide to exit and come back better prepared.
(Status Menu) Inventory Quests Settings
General Information
Name: Kinkaru Level: 2 EXP: 500/900
Affinity Dark/??? Skill Points: 13
Class/Job NA
HP: 50/125 Mana: 100/400 Stamina: 250
Status Information
Stats Spells Skills
Strength:4 Shock Reading: 4/4
Agility: 4 Speech: 1/4
Wisdom: 11 Wisdom of Another Life?
Endurance: 4 Critical Thinking 4/4
Dark Manipulation
Blunt Weapon Mastery 1/10
The two-headed to the nearest shop in the academy. They wanted to see if the items they had were worth anything. The lady at the shop informed them she would by the products but they weren¡¯t too much. The only valuable object was the teeth. She would pay them 20 silvers for the entire inventory. The two talked it over and decided to sell the items. They took the silver and split it between themselves. Kinkaru decided to head to a weapons shop. He was greeted by a short and very fat man. He had a long beard and was busy polishing a blade. Kinkaru greeted the man and inquired if there were any swords available within his price range. He needed a weapon to cut the vines. The shop keeper said there were no swords but he could sell him a decent dagger for exactly 10 silver. Kinkaru thought about it and decided he didn¡¯t have any other option so he purchased the dagger. The man seemed pleased and through in a sharpening stone for free. Kinkaru waited until he was out of view of the shop keeper and stored them into his inventory. He felt a little more secure now that he had a weapon to fight with. After he had finished his shopping he met back up with Garth. The two began the long walk to the training center. As they walked Garth was the first to initiate conversation. ¡°Kinkaru you did a good job back there. There aren¡¯t many people that are dependable in this world. You aren¡¯t as strong as me but if I can I will ensure you pass this test.¡± Garth seemed lost in thought as he said these words. This was Kinkaru''s first time seeing the boy in such a state. ¡°What about your family? Aren¡¯t they dependable ?¡± Kinkaru Asked ¡°Family is a bond that can¡¯t be severed by dependency. If my older brother were here you would see that he is the most dependable person in the world. Everyone else however.. who knows¡± Garth had a saddened expression on his face as he spoke. ¡°Where is your brother?¡± Kinkaru assumed his brother was working somewhere important and too busy to visit. ¡°Gone, he vanished during a demon raid on my dad''s work facility. I plan to become an adventure and find him or his killer.¡± Garth had an aura of vengeance around him as he spoke. The two proceeded to the training facility and began to improve on their magic. Talon A year ago. A talk and muscular man sat behind an office desk. He had red hair in a Mohawk shape, a tattoo that says all hope ends here on his right skull side, and he was dark-toned. He sat in a giant room covered in office supplies and books. There were stacks of paper all around him. The man was lost in thought as he recorded inventory in the black book when a man in armor barged into the room. ¡°Sir, the site is under attack. Demons are crawling everywhere. We need you to evacuate.¡± The armored man breathlessly yelled out. The man behind the desk stood up and placed his hat on his head. ¡°The blaze family doesn¡¯t retreat, we inspire fear." The man spoke with authority. As he walked towards the door with an armored man. Outside of the building the entire town was in flames. There were giant bird creatures with Scorpion tails and human faces. These creatures were clutching the remains of the city dwellers. In the streets, armed guards and mages were locked in conflict with the flying invaders. Spells began whirling through the air and making an impact on their assailants. One of the birds falls into the town wall, it¡¯s feathers on fire from the spell. It climbs onto its feet and charges the nearest person launching its tail at him. The man had no chance to react as the tail ripped through his stomach tearing him in half. Blood soaked the street as the creature began to devour his head first. The knights rushed the injured beats and began Thrusting their swords at it. The creature responded by throwing the other half of the human torso at them causing a domino-like effect knocking them down. The creature''s wounds faded as if it were healing from something and it rushed the downed knights tearing its claws deep into the first knight''s chest. A fountain of blood shot out as the man''s heart was pierced by the creature''s talons. The mages stepped back trying to gain distance as they had no armor on and couldn¡¯t defend from the attacks while chanting the next incantation. The creature seized this opportunity and rushed forward over the nights towards the mages. If it could kill them the cities defense against their attack would become almost zero. The creature was so close to the mages that they could smell the rotting flesh of its victims on its feathers. As it swung its tail at the neck of the closest mage it came to a crashing stop. There holding the tail of the creature in hand was a teenaged boy. The boy was thin with red hair, he was dark-toned and covered in the flame-like aura. ¡°Your dashing hero is to the rescue! No one attacks the innocent while I¡¯m around ¡°. The man said as he lifted the creature by his tail and began slamming it over and over onto the ground. The creature''s defense was strong and it managed to stand on its feet. As it lunged again towards the mages it began to stumble and appeared to be almost drunk. ¡°You may have an armored like body, but your insides are soft. Enough concussive force to the brain can knock out any creature.¡± The man spoke while drawing his arm back. As he did he whispered an incantation and his aura shifted to his hand. The fire erupted in a giant blaze that whirled around threatening to consume anything it touched. The man thrust his fist into the creature''s chest and the creature writhed in pain. As it swung its body in a twisted manner it slowly began to disintegrate leaving nothing but ashes behind. While the war outside raged on the muscular adult man approached a room. The guards in front of the room let out a bow and opened the door. As the man entered he became enraged. ¡°Where is my son, where the fuck is Garth¡±. He spoke with an amount of force that struck fear into the guards. ¡°Sir he never left. We¡¯ve been standing guard all night¡± the guard said in a shaking manner. The muscular man looked around and saw that there was an open window. Garth must have snuck out he thought to himself. ¡°Who is the ranking officer here.¡± A guard with 3 stripes on his arm bowed his head, ¡°me sir, but I..¡± Before he could finish his words his head had left his shoulders. The muscular man looked at another guard with two stripes.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°You¡¯re in charge now, find my son or you will be replaced too. Also, clean this mess up.¡± The guard bowed his head and the entire group ran frantically through the building searching for the child. As the bird disintegrated all of the remainders began to hover around preparing to attack the teen. As the encircled a bolt of lightning came from the sky as the mages finished chanting. The electricity bounced from bird to bird, striking them and knocking them from the sky. The birds didn¡¯t have a chance to react as the electricity impacted their heartbeat and caused heart attacks amongst them. In total there. Were 9 birds, 7 were killed by the strike. Their proximity to each other had made the spell far more effective. Two of the mages passed out from mana exhaustion. Their rapid firing of spells was finally affecting their ability to fight. The man knew he had to end this encounter quickly before they could recover. ¡°Burn the fire of the sun, erupt with the force of a volcano and show no mercy!¡± The man spoke and a tornado of flames spun into the remains two birds. The birds were lifted into the air and were spinning while colliding with each other. The tornadoes crashed into the grow incinerating the creatures. Text appeared in front of the man ¡°message from Henderson, do you accept.¡± The man clicked yes and a voice was heard. ¡°Your brother is missing. We must find him urgently. Talon search everywhere bring him home safe¡± The large man spoke in a deceptively calm manner. ¡°Yes, father¡± talon spoke as he began racing through the streets looking for his little brother. Talon approached the playground where he knew Garth loved to play. If he was anywhere he¡¯d be here. His eyes widened as he saw the park was on fire. There were large horned lizards shooting flames from the mouth and engulfing everything they could. Talon ran forward and hit the first creature so hard its head exploded. He then spun around striking a second before it could react, this attack crushed its skull. Talon was sweating from combat, mana use, and the flames around him. There were two lizards left. They extended their claws towards him attacking from two sides. Talon was tiring as he parried their attacks looking for an opening. One of the creatures missed its timing and swung too wide. Talon saw this chance and brought forward and uppercut. As his fist glided through the air he caught glimpse of the slide. Inside the slide, he could see Garth hiding and it caused him to hesitate. The second creature dug its talons into his side breaking 2 of his ribs on the right side. Searing pain ran through his body as he responded by grabbing its arm and head butting the creature so hard it collapsed. Talon was weakening quickly. He knew he was low on mana and couldn¡¯t fight much longer. He engulfed his body in flames and used the fire as a shield to cause the lizard to hesitate. When he did this he spun around with an elbow to its neck. The creature wasn¡¯t fast enough to respond and could feel the flames singe it as its neck broke. Talon let out a sigh of relief. He walked towards his brother and was about to escort him to his father when more lizards arrived. This time there were 6. They let out a screech and charged. Talon knew he couldn¡¯t defeat them, but he couldn¡¯t let his brother be eaten. ¡°Don''t worry Garth. I will protect you like I always do. Stay there and wait for dad.¡± He smiled at his little brother while turning around. "Don''t cry, bro. Am I not your strong and dare I say dashing older brother? I will be back. Trust me." Somehow his voice didn''t portray the confidence his face had. In fact, his voice had a slight tremble in it. He launched several small ember attacks at the creatures and they began to rush him. Talon ran as fast as he could luring the creature away. As he ran he sent a message to Henderson telling him where Garth was. Talon could hear the lizards gaining on him. He used his fire magic to enhance his movement speed. He lured them deep into the heart of the city before mana exhaustion hit. He was far enough away that he knew His father would find Garth before the lizards could. He turned around and took up a sluggish fighting stance. The lizards circled him as his vision faded. Talons eyes narrowed as darkness took over and the last he could see was a lizard lunging towards him. Henderson arrived at the playground and found Garth hiding in the slide. He took the small boy into his arms and told the guards to find Talon. None of his message attempts were registering and all came back as unreachable. For the first time, he felt fear. He was scared not of the attack but of losing his family. "A hero doesn''t fall. Do you think you can take me out? You guys aren''t even the main villain. I will show you the power of the blaze family!" Those were the last words anyone ever heard spoken by Talon. The attack raged on through the night until the demons were finally pushed back. Homes were destroyed and there was death everywhere. The creatures completely ignored the town''s mana shield and somehow attacked without anyone seeing them crossing the neighboring land. The guards searched everywhere and there was no sign of talon or his body. They did find his necklace of the family crest in the center of town. It was surrounded by lizard tracks and there were scorch marks as well as blood. There was nothing that could be done to determine what actually happened. All of the homes nearby had been destroyed in the conflict and there was no way there were any survivors. Henderson knew he needed Garth to be stronger so he decided his best bet was to send him to Meznor academy while he got to the bottom of the attack. "My son, grow strong. When you''re stronger we will hunt down whoever did this to us." Garth heard his dad speak but the words felt hollow. All he could think about was how he wanted to be a strong hero like his brother. He wanted to find him. "I will be a hero." Danger Exam Garth stood in the middle of the plains his hands extended in the air while chanting ¡°let fear come to those who seek to harm¡±. His words radiated through the air as fire swirled around him like a thin whip. It raged twirled changing directions when it finally shot forward like a spear into a plant creature''s chest. Garth bent down and took a blue crystal out of its ashes and slid it into his pocket. A lot has happened over the last month. Every single day after class he and Kinkaru have come to the training grounds and fought these plants. Their levels were steadily rising throughout the battles. The two had managed to climb their way up to level 10. Garth had also managed to gain a more intimate connection with his fire magic. He was beginning to understand how to use them more effectively without lengthy and mana heavy chants. In all aspects, he was at least twice as strong as he was before the training. On the other hand, Kinkaru was failing to precessions as quickly. The entire time he only used lighting magic and barely increased his ability to use it. It was as if the concept to understand it was there but he physically couldn¡¯t progress. On two occasion Kinkaru vanished during training and when asked all he said was it was necessary to develop his affinity. Garth was starting to think that he failed to help Kinkaru be prepared for the exam and felt partially at fault. He quickly changed his line of thinking however, it wasn¡¯t he Garth¡¯s fault Kinkaru was born with useless magic. It had been two days since Garth last saw Kinkaru and he began to worry that maybe he was abandoning the exam altogether. He doesn¡¯t believe he is the type to run away, but not everyone is as they seem. All Garth could do is to continue to grind out mobs and levels. He needed to secure his place in school. He wanted to find his brother at all close. As he stood in the field waiting for some of his mana to return he had brief flashbacks of his brother talon. Garth knew the disappearance of his brother was ultimately his fault. He dreamed of the attack on his city every night. He dreamed of the lizards surrounding the area and burning it to a crisp. He longs for the day when he¡¯s strong enough to punish whoever allowed the creatures past the cities forcefield. Every time he slays a monster he can feel himself taking a step in the right direction and he knew he was on track. He clinches his fist allowing mana to pour into it. If he had just been at least this strong his brother would still be here. A single tear rolled down his right eye as the grass behind him shifted. Vines lifted from below him attempting to ensnare him. A plant monster had him in its clutches just like before. It laid its body flat and opened its giant mouth using vines to pull the lone boy towards it. If he were to pull in, it would use its acid if fluids to digest him quickly. This, however, did not bother Garth, he wasn¡¯t the same mage as he was before. He wrapped his fingers around one of the vines and sent a single flame racing down it. The flame rushed towards the main body and began to consume the creature. Ironically, the monster tried to eat him was consumed by Garth instead. Garth shifted through the ashes and again pocketed a blue crystal. He looked at the time through his status menu and saw that it was just a few minutes from the practical. He rushed out of the training center and headed towards the coliseum. No one wanted to miss this exam. It would likely be the most entertaining thing that happens all day. Garth arrived at the entrance to the colosseum with a few minutes to spare. This was his first time arriving but he was familiar with its scale. His older brother participated in the first exam voluntarily. When he got home Garth would make him tell the story of the exciting battles and explain what it looked like in detail. The building''s size is incomparable with anything that we have in the modern world. Imagine a football stadium with a different biome for every climate. Now place that football field into a stadium designed to hold an entire Forrest of them. That was the scale of this arena. It¡¯s not uncommon for students to get so lost that they have to be pulled out by school officials. Just navigating it alone was a task in itself, but it¡¯s also inhabited by monsters and other students gunning to take your spot in the school. Garth took his seat in the audience, he sat in the seat designated for student rank 400. His leveling had raised his base stats enough to raise his rank, he also never spent skill points. As he sat and the crowd finished arriving a giant monitor appeared showing the name of all 475 students competing. All of the names have a spot that said score beside them and they all had the number 0. Garth used the screen in front of him and found Kinkaru''s name. That confirmed he was still at school. A man appeared on the screen. He was dressed in a very Nobel attire. He had a fancy and eccentric green suit on and a hat with a feather tucked into it. He then began to speak ¡°Hello students of Meznor Academy, I am Dean Norris and I am excited to present you with the annual practical exam. People from all around the world have traveled here to see potential stars compete in a bloodthirsty battle against each other and the creatures of the world. By the end of the exam, less than half of the students will be allowed slots per into the school. Everyone focus while I explain the rules!¡± Garth shifted in his seat, the crowd around him roared in excitement. It¡¯s likely tickets to this event are expensive and fuel the school''s expensive operation. As this was a magic stadium the seating was expansive. There were easily over a hundred thousand in attendance. Garth had never seen so many people in his life at one location. He was glad that he had an assigned seat as a student because he couldn¡¯t imagine looking for a slot without it. Dean Norris began to speak when the cheers leveled off ¡°Each student will be spawning in a random biome. They have to obtain a minimum of 100 points to guarantee a placement. Killing a monster will grant anywhere from two to ten points each, however defeating a student will return their points to zero and give all of their points to the student that defeated them. There is a total of 200,000 points available. A student may acquire as many points as they want, there are no restrictions on teamwork or tactics. If you fail to have a minimum of 100 points by the end of the time limit, then you will be removed from school and forced to reapply next year. The crowd went insane at the revelation that there were virtually no rules. Garth assumed it would be an elimination match but he never expected a battle royal where even more could be eliminated. In theory, a single student could gain all 200 thousand points and eliminated the entire student body. That was unlikely to happen but it does add an extra level of risk. Garth pulled up the menu and selected to prioritize spectating Kinkaru. He was excited to see that Kinkaru was in fact in attendance. It looked as if he was in a forest crouching. The dean concluded with the time limit being set at 72hours. As he said it a virtual clock appeared over the biomes. The clock was set in a way that students could look into the sky and see how much time they had left. Every 20 minutes a scoreboard would appear next to it showing the students, their points, and their last known biome. This meant hiding would be significantly harder for students who had points. Garth began to focus on his friend''s movements and uttered good luck under his breath. Kinkaru looked around frantically trying to figure out his surroundings. He stayed low and was thankful he had so much over around him. He felt his past life¡¯s experience may help him in this situation. When he was 18 he had joined the military where he learned a lot of tactics and survived techniques. He was medically discharged out after basic when he received an injury during a training routine. He knew he needed to secure shelter and a water source first. He darted around hiding behind trees and observing his surroundings. As he made his way through the Forrest he found a stream in the distance. As he approached the stream he became more and more cautious. Everyone would need this water as well as the monsters in the area, so he needed to be prepare. He had managed to acquire a decent short sword by selling the magic crystals of the grass creatures. It wasn¡¯t magical but it was a form of defense at the very least. He climbed up a nearby tree for a vantage point and began to watch the steam carefully. A few moments later a beautiful deer could be seen making its way towards the water. It lowered its head and began to take small sips of water. Kinkaru couldn¡¯t help but admire the beauty of nature. As the creature drank a shadow figure emerged below it. Before the creature could realize what happened a tentacle shot out and wrapped around its neck. It began to pull the deer into the water and vanished with its remains. Kinkaru was shocked at what he had seen but was glad he was cautious or that may have been him. This, however, meant that the stream was far deeper than it looked and he would either have to defeat the monster or find another water source. As he was thinking of his next plan of action he saw two students walking g towards the water. They were coming from the east and west side of it and had not noticed each other or him. A man who appeared in his 30s kneeled to drink from the water. When he did the familiar shadow floated towards him. The creature launched its tentacle at the men next attempting to pull it him in. The man was quick however and caught its tentacle in his hand. He then muttered some words and lightning raced down its body shocking it over and over. The creature floated to the top of the water stunned where the man manifested a spear of lightning and stuck it into the creature''s head. The creature faded into darkness and appeared to despawn. The other student a young girl noticed this conflict and hid behind a tree observing the man. If Kinkaru had not already seen her he likely would have lost her as quickly as she crouched. This girl had significant skill in hiding and sneaking. He couldn¡¯t help but admire it. She crept up on the man as he continued to drink the water from the stream. She was much stealthier than the monster he had just slain. Right before the man stood up she had already struck him in the back of the head. The man collapsed on the ground and the girl began rummaging through his pockets. The sky lit up as the words ¡°student eliminated ¡° appeared. The man faded away and despawned as the scores appeared. Of all the students with scores, there was only one that was a girl, the name read Sarah and she already had 20 points.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Kinkaru began to mimic her movements trying to make himself more adept at concealing himself. He kept his distance as he watched her throughout the day. She kept the same ritual of hiding and sneak attacking the students she came across. It was apparent she was used to this type of fighting. Her score had scored to 50 points by the end of the day. Kinkarus sneak skill had grown 3 levels from just mimicking her. He could feel himself getting more and more confident in his ability as he progressed through the grounds behind her. The night was beginning to fall at this point and already 30 students had 100 points and over 50 students had been eliminated. Kinkaru was in a weird position as he forgot to find shelter and was worried if he moved too suddenly the girl may hear him. He decided to take an elevated position in a tree and sleep there when she made camp. Kinkaru laid wondering what he would do to get points when he heard the girl singing in the distance. She had a beautiful voice, but the voice was filled with sorrow. As she sang he felt more and more invested in the song as it spoke of a girl trapped in poverty. It spoke about eating from garbage cans and what sounded like a horrible childhood. This girl couldn''t have been much older than he was.How could something sound so beautiful and be so sad he thought. As he glanced over at the girl while she laid in bed. Something in the distance caught his eyes. There were 2 very faint blue lights as if someone was channeling magic. As Sarah closed her eyes ready to finally sleep she felt a tug and sprang up. Her legs were covered in tree roots. She couldn¡¯t free herself from them no matter how hard she tried. The tree roots began to move upwards in an attempt to secure her arms. She struggled and pulled before finally escaping the grass of the trees. She pulled a small ragged from her pants and took a crouched position. A whirl of blue light flung by her head. It looked like an arrow of lighting had been shot. When she jumped the roots attempted to catch her on landing. She frantically looked around for who was targeting her. Kinkaru noticed the students were smart and keeping their distance. They used teamwork to limit her movements so they could eliminate her with ease. Kinkaru wasn¡¯t sure why, but he couldn¡¯t let this girl be eliminated. He jumped from the trees and darted towards their location. He crouched down and used the techniques he learned from shadowing her to conceal himself. Sarah kept dodging lightning arrows and roots for as long as she could. She had just barely dodged an arrow before slipping on a rock she had overlooked. Before she could scramble to her feet the roots took hold and held her still this time binding her arms and legs. She knew she was trapped at this point. She let out an angered and defeated yell. This was her one chance at a better life, and she knew it was over. The two students came out of the bushes laughing at their handy work. ¡°You had some nerve getting all of those points while being a frail little girl.¡± The earth user said. He was around the age of a teenager may be a young adult. His voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard. The lightning used made his way closer to her. He took the dagger from her grasp. ¡°You know there are no rules here right? We can do whatever we want to you and the audience will cheer¡±. The man began tracing the blade down her body. Sarah began to panic, she knew what he was implying. She knew people like him in the city loved taking advantage of defenseless girls. ¡°She spat in his face ¡° you¡¯re weak and targeting me because no woman wants you. "You may get what you want today but no one will ever give it to you willingly.¡± She managed to spit right into the eye of the man assaulting her. The lightning user was enraged by this and struck her in the face drawing blood. He began to cut off her clothes piece by piece while the roots wrapped themselves around her mouth quieting her. As the blade made its way to the pants she was wearing he heard a thud. He turned around and was greeted by a short sword swipe across his cheek. The roots behind him vanished and Sarah was freed. The man looked at his attacker and saw a young boy with black hair swinging again. He jumped back and called out to his friend, when he received no response he looked over and saw the headless body. The body began to despawn but left behind a pool of blood. He let out a battle cry as launched lightning arrows towards the boy. The boy ducked and dodged all while sprinting forward. The man swapped his stances and let out a laugh as he clapped his hands. When his hands made contact lightning erupted forward like a thin net attempting to catch Kinkaru in its path. Kinkaru jumped to the side losing the momentum he had. He thought the earth user was the stronger target but now he knew he miscalculated. The lightning user jumped forward with an onslaught of lightning arrows. Kinkaru moved to duck behind a tree, hearing the impact of the attacks. The user kept firing into the same spot drilling a hole through the tree and striking Kinkaru in the arm. The man stepped forward preparing to continue his attack when suddenly his vision was upside down. He realized he was airborne and his feet were where his head should be. Sarah let out a laugh, the man had fallen for such a primitive trap. Sarah chanted and water began to rise, as she shot it forward they pierced the man''s arms which fell limp. He let out a cry in pain then begged ¡°let me free, we can work together! I can give you money anything you want. Just spare me¡± his cries were desperate. But as he gazed In her unforgiving eyes he knew his words fell on deaf ears. Her face was twisted in a way that made her frightening. Her eyes almost seemed red with anger as she pushed her dagger into his throat. ¡°I didn¡¯t cut the vein, can¡¯t have you dying too soon. ¡° she said as she twisted the knife. The next moments of the mans life were pure agony and no one felt the least bit sorry for him. Finally, when the man couldn''t handle the pain anymore he fell unconscious. The man coughed blood and life left his eyes as she cut with a wide swing. Blood fell from where his body once was as he vanished. ¡°Student eliminated¡±. Sarah yelled out to Kinkaru ¡°why did you help me?¡±. Kinkaru responded with ¡°because no rapist deserves to live¡±.
(Status Menu) Inventory Quests Settings
General Information
Name: Kinkaru Level: 2 EXP: 15000/20000
Affinity Dark/??? Skill Points:5
Class/Job NA
HP: 1000 Mana: 400 Stamina: 2000
Status Information
Stats Spells Skills
Strength:10 Shock Reading: 4/4
Agility: 20 Speech: 1/4
Wisdom: 11 Wisdom of Another Life?
Endurance: 10 Critical Thinking 4/4
Dark Manipulation
Blunt Weapon Mastery 1/10
Sword Mastery 1/10
Sneak 2/10
Magical Evolution? The two sat in the darkness in a make shift camp. Neither of the two really trusted each other and the both had trouble sleeping that night. Kinkarus arm was injured and he knew he couldn¡¯t leave at this point, but he also was aware she could take him out in his sleep. After about two hours of inability to rest he spoke up ¡°I promise not to attack you if you promise not to attack me¡±. Sarah was caught off guard by this blunt statement and laughed out loud. How foolish was this kid to just trust a stranger with the entirety of his future. As she laughed she decided that this foolish kid wasn¡¯t a threat and was likely someone she could tolerate through the night. She couldn¡¯t believe she spent the last few hours wondering what his motivation was. It was apparent that he¡¯s just and idiot who didn¡¯t have one. The artificial sun rose at exactly 6am. The clock in the sky indicated that there 54 hours left. As the sun rose the score appeared and they indicated that Kinkaru and Sarah both have 100 points. Sarah actually had 150 points. That indicated the two they killed had more than enough points to pass and likely had hunted several other players previous to their encounter. The two made their way through the forest and it appeared neither were going to branch away. They both had the points they needed so it felt a lot less tense, they also knew there was no reason for them to hunt each other. After a few hours of mindless walking Sarah spoke up, ¡° how about we build a shelter and way out the contest? It would be easier to defend familiar territory and we could avoid further risk.¡± Kinkaru nodded in agreement. Earlier when he looked at the board there were a few players with over 100 points indicating they were actively player hunting. There were only 150 students left and there were more than enough points for everyone to pass at this point. The two made camp in a dense portion of the forest and set up the best make shift camouflage they could. As they gathered the resources for traps they discussed a little bit about their situation and agreed that it would be easier as a duo. There was a few hours left of day time and Kinkaru decided he would like to practice his magic. As he sat down by his makeshift tent he stared at his shadow. He began using dark magic to manipulate it like a shadow puppet. He thought about his previous life and how he felt let down with his rebirth. He could have made any other magic more useful but his just doesn¡¯t make sense. Maybe this was a big middle finger from death for circumventing the whole karma process and getting a new life regardless. Suddenly a branch behind him snapped as if something heavy stepped on it. Kinkaru darted to the side and crouched down scanning the area. He had no clue where Sarah was and didn¡¯t want to attack her on accident. A creature towering at around 8ft walked through the trees towards their camp. It appeared to be a four armed ape wearing a crude wooden chest plate and a sharpened wooden spear. It¡¯s hands were so big it could easily fit Kinkarus entire head in it and likely crush it with ease. The creature sniffed the air and it¡¯s eyes almost instantly locked onto Kinkarus position. The creature threw its spear and hit the tree behind him with such force that the spear shattered and the tree tumbled over with a crash. This was by far the most terrifying feat that Kinkaru had physically witnessed in this world. The creature jumped forward advancing towards Kinkaru clearly ready to engage. Kinkaru launched an arrow of lighting copying the studen he had seems technique. The arrow struck the wood chest piece leaving no lasting damage. Then he remember that earth magic defeated lightning. All he had at his disposal was his machete at this point. Kinkaru decided that running was his only option. He turned around and sprinted full speed towards the thick tree line. He began weaving in and out trying to be unpredictable as he heard the apes giant steps behind him. The ape reached out attempting to grab him before he dodged to the right and behind a tree. The cape followed him at a terrifying pace. Kinkaru kept his tactics up launched a few more arrows at the apes eyes. The ape raised its arms blocking the attack with ease. Kinkaru threw a rock to the left and darted to right. This confused the ape and it went the wrong way before realizing its mistake. Kinkaru had gained a good bit of distance but the ape was actively looking for him. Kinkaru took his jacket off and stuck it to a tree using his dagger. He then covered himself in mud to mask his scent and hid at the top of a tree. From the tree he saw the ape blindly attack where it thought Kinkaru was. It began to flail around as it realized he wasn¡¯t in that spot. Kinkaru wondered if he should attempt a sneak attack and garner the expierence points that were sure to be massive. The Ape used a lot of energy in its rage and sat still momentarily. This meant Kinkaru could not leave the tree. Finally he decided he would defeat this creature somehow. He raised his hand and spoke the words ¡°darkness rise and lead my foes astray.¡± His shadow stood as if it were a person. The shadow was dark but still slightly see through and was the rough shape of a human with no features. It walked directly in front of the apes vision luring it towards it. The ape blinded by its hunger fail for the bait and chased the shadow. The shadow turned around running straight back. It then laid on the floor under a tree. The ape saw this and crouched down grabbing a handful of dirt expecting it to be flesh. As it did the shadow extended and became part of the tree. Kinkaru lept from the tree bringing his machete down onto the neck of the ape. The ape didn¡¯t have a chance to react as it was cut deeply by the blade. It swung its arm hitting Kinkaru in the chest and knocking him into a tree. The ape was bleeding heavily but was not dead and seemed stronger and angrier now. Kinkaru clutched his side and limply ran away. The apes speed has slowed but it was still in pursuit. Kinkaru ran back towards camp leading the Ape on. As he ran he scanned the forests for the traps that they had set previously. Kinkaru saw a pile of leaves that they had placed purposefully on the ground and he leapt over them. As he did he raised his right hand forming his shadow into the shape of a knocked over tree right in front of it. The ape blinded by his rage thought this tree was real and kept over it landing on the leaves. The ground gave way and the ape fell into a pit of sharpened sticks with vigorous force and skewering itself on the sticks below. As the create laid there bleeding out Kinkaru walked to the edge and monitored it to ensure its death. The creature for a brief moment looked up with a bit of fear and let out its last breath. It quickly faded away and Kinkaru received 10 more points as well as a massive amount of experience. The exp from this and the player he killed gave him multiple level ups and brought him to level 10. This made all of his base stats at 10 and his wisdom at 20. Kinkaru could feel the physical change. He now was more muscular and almost had abs. He opened his menu and noticed he now had 25 skill points to spend. He decided to spend 10 on wisdom bringing it up to 30. He spent another 10 on strength making his muscles increase by a noticeable amount. His strength now was at 20. Kinkaru spent the remaining 5 on agility. He wanted to ensure he never came that close to being caught by a monster again. His agility was now 15. In comparison the fastest man in his old world may have a speed of around 20. The strongest man in the world may have a strength of 30. He was only 6 years old and was now stronger than most adult men.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
(Status Menu) Inventory Quests Settings
General Information
Name:Kinkaru Level: 10 EXP: 15000/20000
Affinity Dark/??? Skill Points:5
Class/Job NA
HP:1000 Mana: 600 Stamina: 1500
Status Information
Stats Spells Skills
Strength:20 Shock Reading: 4/4
Agility: 15 Shadow Summon Speech: 1/4
Wisdom: 30 Scan Wisdom of Another Life?
Endurance: 10 Critical Thinking 4/4
Dark Manipulation
Blunt Weapon Mastery 1/10
Sword Mastery 1/10
Sneak 2/10
Shadow Memorize
He noticed a new skill had appeared called ¡°memorize shadow¡± when he clicked on it the details said ¡°scan a creature after death to memorize its shadow¡± Kinkaru decided to try this feature and scanned the shadow of the ape. A new skill subcategory appeared that said ¡°summon Fraper shadow.¡± When he clicked this his mana dropped by 50% and his shadow transformed into the Fraper he had just slain. This didn¡¯t excite Kinkaru as he had already learned to change shadow shapes, but then he noticed the Fraper shadow had its own shadow. There¡¯s no way what he was seeing was real. Out of instinct he reached out and touched the shadow. His hand made contact and the Fraper responded by nudging it¡¯s head into his hand. This shadow was occupying physical space. This move was a game changer, Kinkaru was no longer useless. He dismissed the shadow summoning and decided to keep it to himself. This was now his ace in the hole for future emergencies. Kinkaru headed back to camp where he found Sarah sitting at a fire with a stick roasting over it. She had been fishing and caught enough fish to feed them for the night. Kinkaru sat down at the fire covered in blood and sweat. His HP was sitting at fifty percent from the one hit the ape caught him with. He suddenly realized how close to dying he had just come. Sarah didn¡¯t bother to ask what happened as she figured it was none of her business. After all the two aren¡¯t actual friends and she never bothered to even ask his name.She handed him a fish however as if he was going to stay here she needed him to be reliable. He ate the fish with excitement and laid flat on his back, before he realized it he had fallen asleep. Sarah woke him up a few hours later and the two spent the night taking turns on watch. The next morning as the sun rose the score screen appeared and there were only 130 students left but all had 100 points or more. An explosion could be heard in the distance and the familiar message of student defeated appeared in the sky. The student count dropped to 125 and all of the sudden the dean appeared on screen. ¡°Congratulations students, I know there is time still remaining however we have decided to cut this exam short. You guys have lowered the count enough that we can make an exception while simultaneously keeping our mages at the highest quality.¡± As he spoke the message student defeated appeared on the screen again and the count dropped to 120 students. The deans face seemed as if it was almost concerned for a split second. The fake sky vanished and the pair could see the coliseum Cameras above them. Kinkaru turned and looked at Sarah but before he could speak she faded away. When he blinked and opened his eyes he was standing in the courtyard of the academy right beside the statue of the Demi human. He opened his menu and saw the quest had a check mark next to it now. When he clicked it a uniform appeared in his body and a school I.D was in his pocket. Kinkaru also gained enough experience to almost level up as well as all of the items the player he had killed had on him. He now had had 3 minor health potions and a mana potion. He was relieved that the test was over and he had earned his place. He overheard two students whispering beside him ¡°they have never ended the exam early, there must be an emergency or something.¡± ¡°Yeah I¡¯ve never seen that many monsters working together, what was up with that¡± ¡°I have never seen that many players really die. Something strange is happening. I bet the dean pulled them out because those weren¡¯t their monsters¡±. A shiver went down Kinkarus spine. Could the school have been secretly under attack? Suit Up! Kinkaru made his way towards the dorms. He felt completely exhausted and all he wanted was to take a power nap. As he left the statue plaza he was greeted by Tenue. ¡°I honestly thought you would fail the reading portion and never expected you to make it this far. I am kind of ashamed that I judged you on your mediocre stats and poor background. Imps are constantly ridiculed for our appearance, and here I am judging. I apologize.¡± Tenue said with a look of determination on his little red face. Kinkaru was lost for words as he never really considered that Tenue even noticed him aside from the occasional escort. ¡±It¡¯s no big deal, hopefully we can be friends or something ¡°. Kinkaru smiled at Tenue expressing that he was indeed unbothered. Tenues eyes lit up and tears poured out, ¡°a mage wants to befriend me? Thank you sir, thank you!¡± Kinkaru didn¡¯t expect this reaction, of course they could be friends. Then he remembered that in this world Demi humans are viewed as lesser than humans and ostracized. ¡°It¡¯s no big deal buddy, I have to go get rest¡±. Kinkaru said as he waved good bye and headed towards the dorms. He threw himself on his soft mattress and fell deep in sleep. While he slept he dreamt of his mother and father back home. He was like a ghost watching the events after his death. His funeral was likely not that lively and his mom was collapsed on the ground crying. He was deeply saddened by the sight of the pain his death caused. At the very least he hope there is a settlement from the city over his wrongful death. Kinkaru walked through the dream world wishing he could comfort his grieving parents. If only he had been a better son, he wouldn¡¯t regret leaving as much. All he can do is make this life count for something. The sadness of the dream filled him like a void when he heard a grunt behind him. He turned around to see the shadow of a Fraper standing directly behind him. It towered over him looking him in the eyes and breathing heavily. ¡°What are you doing here, you¡¯re just a shadow a manifestation of my weak magic.¡± Kinkaru said slightly annoyed that this beast was interrupting his family time. The ape grabbed him by the arm and pulled him through the dream world, as they walked the world shifted into a Forrest. The two made their way through wooded area until they were standing in front of a cave. The Fraper pulled him harder and entered the cave. What Kinkaru saw saddened him even further, he saw baby Frapers sitting there staring at the doorway. Through his connection with his shadow he understood these were its children. The school had captured it and taken it away from its offspring and that was why it was agitated. As they watched the children time fast forward as they lay their starving. They were too small to feed themselves and the world outside was sure to be dangerous. Kinkaru was forced to watch as the creature perished waiting for a mother that would never return. Kinkaru was confused why his magic was in his dream. He didn¡¯t quite get what showing him some made you scenario would accomplish. He already felt sad, he didn¡¯t need this added on. The more he thought about it the angrier he got, his magic was bad enough and now it bothers him in his sleep. ¡°You¡¯re just a shadow, stop bothering me when I have real problems.¡± Kinkaru spoke with anger. The creature didn¡¯t accept what he said and proceed to grunt back at him. Memories and emotions filled his mind as if pouring from the monster. The thoughts invaded every fiber of his being, then suddenly they stopped. Kinkaru understood now his summoning wasn¡¯t a shadow, it was summoning the dead. Kinkaru felt sick, the implications of this power were immense. He could raise the dead. His power could change the way he looked at future encounters completely. Kinkaru opened his eyes and saw the ceiling above. He decided to use his menu to check the time. It was early in the morning and Garth still hadn¡¯t returned. Kinkaru decided to head to the shops and sell his leftover items from the exam. After browsing around a bit he walked into the weapon shop and was greeted with the usual welcome. Kinkaru pulled out the monster items and offered them to the owner. He was offered a whopping 5 gold for the creatures parts. As Kinkaru was thinking of selling he wondered what exactly the shop owner needed monster parts for anyways. He decided to ask the shop owner just that. ¡°Well isn¡¯t it obvious? I forge weapons and armor with them. The stronger the monster the stronger the item. They even take some of the creature¡¯s traits. For instance a basilisk blade has the chance to paralyze whoever is cut by it.¡± Kinkaru was surprised at this revelation, this world was just like a video game. ¡°What can you make with these parts? ¡° Kinkaru asked with excitement. ¡°Hmm, I¡¯d likely make Fraper armor. It¡¯ll have solid defense and boost the user¡¯s strength by 2 points. If I get lucky it¡¯ll have the rage bonus which would trigger when the user take damage, temporarily doubling the bonus and adding it to agility as well.¡± Kinkaru decided that armor would be perfect for him. ¡°How much for you to forge the armor for me instead of buying the parts?¡± Kinkaru inquired. The shopkeeper thought and the said he¡¯d do it for 1 gold piece. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Kinkaru checked his inventory and realized he only had 8 silver. He counter offered with that instead. The shopkeeper agreed under the pretext that the remaining 2 silver would be paid later. Kinkaru handed him the parts and the shop keeper vanished to the back. When he returned he had what appeared to be a very furry chest piece, torso, and what looked like arm guards. Kinkaru wondered how he knew his sizes and how it was made so fast. The shop owner informed him that magic items mold themselves to the user. The process is Called binding. This would fit him and only him perfectly, if someone else wanted to use the armor they would have to take it to a shop or have high smiting skill. The shop owner declined to explain the smithing process as he wanted the business. Kinkaru stores the items in his inventory. He was glad he raised his strength as he now had 15 slots of storage. He decided to check his schedule and saw that he had a class coming up. Kinkaru arrived at the usual classroom when he realized he forgot to check his rank. After reviewing it on the board he saw he was now ranked 50 in the school. He wondered if it was because of his level or because of his performance in the match. He also noticed Garth was ranked 49 and Sarah was ranked 20. There were only 150 students left. Kinkaru took his seat and waited for his friends to arrive. Sarah arrived first and looked warm down. But Kinkaru still thought how she was oddly beautiful, even with rings under her eyes, Garth arrived next and he was covered in scratches as if he had been in a fight recently. He two fist bumped on sight and Garth bragged ¡°I told you I¡¯d get you to pass¡± he smirked as he made a thumbs up gesture. Sarah then spoke up ¡°um he only passed because of me. I did all the hard work.¡± ¡°From what I saw, he saved you from an undignified death.¡± Garth said with a laugh. ¡°If it had been me I wouldn¡¯t have fallen for their lousy trap.¡± Garth spoke with confidence. Sarah shit him a middle finger the turned back towards the teacher¡¯s desk. The teacher stood up and amplified his voice with magic. ¡°Congratulations students, your officially part of the elite. All of you are destined to have better lives than the rest of the population. What you do with your education is up to you, but you will certainly have more offers than you can wade through. But before we begin today¡¯s lesson there is an announcement I need to make. There is a new school rule, all students must move into groups of 2 or more when on school grounds. You may no longer be alone as there have been reports of students being attacked. Don¡¯t worry, we will find the person responsible for these actions soon.¡± The students groaned out loud. ¡°Quiet, this rule is in effect right.....now. Also due to the short attendance this year, all students will be moved to the main dormitories. We have decided that we will allow you to pick up to 2 roommates for the housing. That¡¯s right, you and 2 students will be sharing a house and not a dorm. That¡¯s the perks of your status and you will notice that there are far more that are to come.¡± Kinkaru looked at Garth and Garth nodded. The teacher said up to 2 that meant they didn¡¯t have to have a 3rd. The teacher began to speak again ¡°today¡¯s lesson is on levels¡±. The class went on for another 2 hours discussing the properties of levels and their functions for the owners. To summarize the details here is what was said in a way that makes the most sense. A typical human in Kinkaru original world was around Level 2 or 3. An athletic man would be around level 5, and a professional athlete would be around level 8. The rare humans would sit at around level 10, these people are known in history as myths. Think of someone like King Arthur or Hercules. As for levels in this world the scaling is as follows 1-10 normal people, 10-20 can fight an entire village, 20-30 fight and entire city, 30-40 fight an entire country, and finally 40-50 God like power that can change the scale of the world. A typical mage never makes it past level 20 as the XP requirement is insanely high. The demon king hero of myth was rumored to be around level 35. Kinkaru was unique however as he received the bonus 15 stats from Death. That makes him comparable to someone 3 levels higher. Kinkaru and Garth headed for their new home after class. The house was solid brick with a green roof. There was a privacy fence around the back and a gated front. You needed a student I.D to open the gate. The inside reminded Kinkaru of a mansion, there was marble counters, a water fountain in the entrance, and crystal lights everywhere. It was bigger inside than out which meant it was magic as well. The room Kinkaru picked was bigger than his entire house in his old world. This house blew his mind. He threw his bag in the floor and laid on his new omg sized bed. This was the most comfortable thing he had ever touched in his entire life. He almost passed out on initial contact. Then there was a loud bang on the door. Garth answered and Kinkaru could hear him from upstairs. ¡°Ah hell nah, you ain¡¯t staying here.¡± Kinkaru peered out his door to see what was going on. At the door was Sarah holding what looked like a single bag of clothing. ¡°You two are the only ones I know and the teacher said we had to have a roommate.¡± She responded as she pushed her way in. Garth started to protest when Kinkaru spoke up ¡°come on Garth this place is huge, you will hardly notice her.¡± Garth didn¡¯t like this and yelled back ¡°what, this house is tiny. You should see mine. Fine, but I ain¡¯t calling her friend!¡±. Kinkaru didn¡¯t really understand why he didn¡¯t like Sarah, but it looks like they have a new roommate regardless. Sarah walked to the fountain and started to chant, as she did the water turned a slight darker blue. She then muttered ¡°insurance¡± as she walked up stairs and took the room across from Kinkaru. *Bonus* Insider information The world of Elysium is very diverse and vastly field sphere. There are 4 major contenital land masses that have a large ocean in between them. The four land masses belong to 4 individual kingdoms and each has their own ruling style. The MC is currently residing on the north western content known as Atlas. Meznor Academy is located somewhere in the capital city of Howlett. The best way to describe the time period is modern with a twist. Everything in this world revolves around the access to magic and mana. Different varrients of magic are used to provide power, heat and etc to the every day average citizen. There are cars, skyscrapers, and all of the traditional ammenities. There are even missles and firearms however they are virtually useless against anyone who has a magical affinity. The natural armor provided by Mana will prevent most non magical weapons from harming a half way decent mage. That''s not say thing that guns aren''t useful for controlling the masses of weaker/ non magical personnel. On Howlett the primary race is human, however there are a great number of variant Demi humans that live along side them. Demi humans are not Native to Howlett and come from a neighboring continent. This and a long standing war that ended hundreds of years ago has lead to mass predjudice against the Demi Human citizens. Overall Demi Humans are considered secon class citizens on the continent.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. The power structure of the land falls mainly to the king. The king rules everything with an absolute iron fist. However it could be argued that his 4 generals are the real power holders. They all are responsible for a large section of the continent and take care of everything from taxes, to preventing or starting conflicts. The balance of power is delicate but it is absolutely fundamental in this world. The peace between the 4 great lands are constantly stressed but the threat of constant monster invasions tend to keep the prospect of another Great War at bay. There is mass segregation that separates everyone based off their magical power. The weaker the magical powers of the individual the lower the standard of living is. Most guards don''t even patrol the weakest and poorest neighborhoods. Middle class people tend to live decent and normal lives and tend to feel superior to the lower class. The upperclass live a grand life filled with riches and prosperity. For the most part they have the ability to do virtually anything they want within reason. Most of the upperclass consists of Nobels, adventures, high ranking military personnel and some extremely wealthy merchants. When you reach this level of status you can opt to have a family name as well as a family sigil. Time Moves On The three roommates had a rather eventful time at school. Unfortunately, they were so busy learning and taking a written test they didn¡¯t have time to hiring exp. All 3 are sitting at level 3 and they are in their 3rd year. The rumors of uncontrollable monster attacks continue to spread, and the school has patrolling guards. Halfway into the 3rd year, mangled bodies of students started appearing. Everyone is on edge and this had led to numerous random conflicts amongst stun dents over misunderstandings. The school is tense, and everyone can feel the pressure. Not all everything has been bad, however. Kinkaru and friends have gotten closer. Kinkaru doesn¡¯t think of home near as much and he¡¯s pretty sure he¡¯s caught Sarah staring at him a few times. In his mind live is good. Kinkaru sits in class listening to the teacher talking about the necessities of mana management. Most fights end quickly so it isn¡¯t an issue, but I¡¯m a prolonged conflict it can easily cost you the right and your life. After the teacher finishes her talk, she informs the class that they will need to think about their future. Their 4th year is coming up and it will be drastically different. The students will pick a form of fighting called an art. The entire year will be spent learning to use that art and combining it with their current magic. The students are given a small booklet with a list of arts and are told they must decide which one they want to specialize in. After class, the trio walks towards home and discuss their future arts. ¡°Well mine is going to be an easy choice, I am going with the bruiser art. It¡¯ll focus on unarmed combat. My entire family specializes in it¡±. Garth seemed almost bored with the topic as he spoke. Sarah also was confident she knew what she wanted. She wanted assassin art, which focuses on sneaky single target burst damage. Kinkaru had no clue what he wanted. When he arrived in his room he sat down and looked at the book the teacher had given them. He stared at it with great frustration completely torn on what to do. The assassin class would work well with his dark magic, but he wasn¡¯t confident that it would be as dependable in the long run. After frying his brain with heavy thought and indecisiveness he gave up. All he wanted was to nap. He crawled in bed and allowed himself to drift into the sweet void of sleep, he saw himself on a battlefield surrounded by enemies as the swarmed him his blade shimmered covered in black. He cut the first two down before they had realized he swung, the other two took their time blasting various magician attacks from a distance. That was when Kinkaru''s body reacted and he did something so surprising that he woke from his sleep. His dream had helped him pick his art. Kinkaru circled the art and signed the paper in his blood. The paper vanished a messaged appeared *art registered* *New Skill Dream State" "Skill combined with Wisdom of Another Life" "Results unknown"* The school was surrounded in black nothing could be seen except two solid red eyes. The eyes stalked through the brushes evading the armed guards. It wasn¡¯t targeting blindly, it wanted magic blood, It vanished into the darkness when it saw two students sitting in the park, it appeared the love birds were trying to express their feelings for each other away from prying eyes. The creature licked its lips as it readied its fangs. It would wait for the moment the couple embraced each other most intimately. As the couple began to breathe heavily the creature crept out quickly. The man never had a chance to react, his throat was already crushed by the creature''s fangs. The girl attempted to scream as she began to run away. Her body was completely exposed and the concrete tore into her feet. Her naked body was exposed and the thrill of the sight excited the beast. She knew she couldn¡¯t escape whatever that beast was on foot, so she prepared to fight it. She spun around allowing her aura to cover her. That¡¯s when the sense of impending dread melted her resolve. The creature was gone, she looked everywhere in a panic, but it was too late, The creature came from the side and crushed her chest with a bite. The creature''s fangs penetrated her heart and she lay limp. Unsatisfied with its hunt, the beast began to horrifically dismember the body of its prey. The meat on this human girl tasted dull and the fear hadn''t had time to marinate in her flesh. The creature was disgusted with the flavoring, but this was its mission. Had he been in the wild hunting the adventures and mages of the land, he might be eating a high mana flavored hero at this point. Instead, the dark lord had tasked him with destroying and demoralizing the young and weak students of this school. He yearned for the freedom to hunt the higher classed students, but they were almost always well protected by multiple school officials and the beast wasn''t certain it would be a hunt it could return from. The creature did what it always does and left the bodies destroyed and in the open. e ripped her arms from their sockets and tore her breasts from her chest. He dismembered her with surgical precision and ensured the blood would soak deep into the concrete. The beast cut her head off and took her arms and legs with him leaving the torso in the location of the kill.It let out a growl as it backed into the shadows. The creature had an uncanny ability to blend in with the darkness. In video game terminology you could say this creature had a maxed-out sneak stat. Kinkaru noticed the school was on edge. The tensions were high and that could only mean another body had been found. It was very surprising that a monster could get away with murmuring so many students. The last targets were a pretty strong second year. If it weren¡¯t for the influx of new students every year the school would likely be almost deserted at this point. Tenue saw Kinkaru walking and floating to him. ¡°We must walk in pairs friend.¡± He said as he flew around in small circles. Kinkaru had been in such a rush he forgot the school had added that rule. they arrived at kinkaru''sclass and Tenue bid him farewell. The teacher started the class by splitting the class up by their registered arts. They were the. Introduced to their new teachers. This would be the first time since he arrived at school. Kinkaru''s teacher was a middle-aged man with a grey beard. On his bad, he has a monster of a sword. The man introduced himself as a Sir Michael. He told the group he would be teaching them the ways of the sword. "All of you are weak right now. I could cut all of you down in an instant before you could register what had happened. Usually, he would slowly introduce you to the art function but as events outside the school''s control are happening, we need to ensure the strength of our upper-class." The group was escorted to the train grounds, ¡°stick with my class, I¡¯m going to show you the power you have when you don¡¯t rely on just magic.¡± ¡°Right now, you guys wouldn¡¯t last a second on an adventure. The world is much more dangerous than this school and you will have to fend for yourself on the outside. What do you do if you can¡¯t defeat a creature with those pathetic spells of yours? You will die. There no in-between and it will be horrific.¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°But on the off chance that you are at least decent with a blade, you expand your horizons. No more relying on complex spells to win a fight. By the end of my class, you WILL be able to go on adventures and serve the residents of whatever city you happen to travel your spoiled ass too. ¡° ¡°If you fail to perform in my class then you WILL NOT graduate. This is your last chance to back out of this art now. I am the strictest teacher here and I will not allow you to represent me in a shitty manner on the outside world. I have had students fail my class 4 times in a row. This will inevitably be a few of you.¡± The knight spoke with absolute authority and no one in the class doubted his words. Just by looking at this giant of a man, it was easy to determine that he was strong. Kinkaru knew that unlike the people he was familiar with at this point, he wanted to be this strong. He decided after hearing Sir Michael speak that he would give his all to the training at hand. It certainly helped that he wouldn¡¯t need to rely on his magic as he still was at a loss of the practicality of its usage. The group collectively was nervous as they walked into the level 20 and up area. Sir Michael turned to the group and began to lecture them on the importance of situational awareness. As he spoke A crouching monster crept close. The monster was a feline with razor-sharp claws. It was similar to a tiger, but it had two horns on its head and was easily twice a tiger¡¯s size. The creature leaped at the knight and was met with the end of a blade. Michel spun around and in one swift motion, he removed the creature''s head and stepped out of the way of the body. ¡°The key is to always assume you¡¯re being watched. Wait until the threat thinks they have won and then destroy them. Never falter or toy with your opponents, otherwise, you will be the one being lured ¡°. Kinkaru watched the man''s movement and precision. The grace in which the knight acted with such a lethal attack left Kinkaru in shock. He one shouted a level 20+ creature and he did it so casually. Kinkaru wondered what level his instructor was and how long it had taken him to get to this level. He was aware that the higher the level of the individual the longer their life span would become. The mana in one''s body would stimulate cell growth and would allow the person to remain young for a longer period. The knight in front of him had grey hair, if he had been strong from a young age he could easily be over a hundred years old. Kinkaru raised his hand. "Sir, would it be rude of me to ask your level?" "Normally that is a forbidden subject for most. Being as this is a class I will gladly tell you. I am level 30 and have not been able to climb above that. To supplement the fact that I am hard stuck 30, I have trained twice as hard in sword arts." After this Kinkaru began the hardest training he had experienced since coming to the new world. They were instructed on the forms of swordplay and the vital locations of most creatures. Every morning he would meet with his class in the training center. They would be given wooden weapons and forced to spar each other vigorously. During this time, two students were failed when they were caught using magic to assist themselves in combat. It turns out the wooden swords changed color when the user channeled mana through their body. Kinkaru found he was excellent with a blade and took his training much more seriously than his classmates. Most of them were in the mindset that their magical power would protect them in the rare case that their swordplay wasn¡¯t strong enough. Then they would be tasked with defeating a grass beast with the wooden weapon alone. It took Kinkaru a full week before he was able to subdue one of the weaker creatures without the assistance of another student. When he did he could feel the difference in his strength. Sir Michael made it clear that not all creatures fell into each category but overall, most had a general genetic makeup similar to creatures of the land. There was your basic feline creature which could make up numerous other subspecies of various sizes and appearance. But overall, they all had the same general skill set. Fangs, Class, and Stealth. Then you had canines which used mainly raw biting power and, in some cases, fought in groups with extreme intelligence. There were apes, snakes, lizards (including dragons), birds, humanoids, and spectral creatures. By the end of the third year, his strength stat had naturally raised by 2 points but more impressively his agility rose by 5. He also noticed another area in his menu that had a level for arts mastery and sword mastery had risen to 3! Kinkaru decided to dumb the remainder of his 5 skill points into endurance bringing it to 15. This would keep him alive longer and would make drawn-out fights less dangerous. After repeating this process every day for the remainder of the year Sir Michael permitted him to continue onto the advance training for 4th years.
(Status Menu) Inventory Quests Settings
General Information
Name:Kinkaru Level: 10 EXP: 15000/20000
Affinity: Neutral Dark/??? Skill Points:0
Class/Job Magic Swordsman Visitor From Another Life
HP:1500 Mana: 600 Stamina: 2000
Status Information
Stats Spells Skills
Strength:22 Shock Reading: 4/4
Agility: 20 Shadow Summon Speech: 2/4
Wisdom: 30 Scan Wisdom of Another Life?
Endurance: 15 Critical Thinking 4/4
Dark Manipulation
Blunt Weapon Mastery 1/10
Sword Mastery 3/10
Sneak 2/10
Shadow Memorize
The Beast and The Hunt Feet patter on the dark campus grounds. A cloud of warm air exits the mouth of the unknown monster. It loosely circles the campus grounds searching for anyone dumb enough to be alone. It passes through the courtyard its red eyes darting from side to side. In the distance, a group of students is outside and they¡¯re making a lot of noise. The creature snarks with delight as it sprints towards the noise in the distance. ¡°The hunt is on ¡°it whispers behind its long canine teeth. It slows its pace to a stalking walk as it crouches behind bushes next to the student housing. There were 4 students outside and none were in school uniforms. The creature knew they wouldn¡¯t be able to put up much of a fight. It licks its lips I¡¯m anticipation waiting for the right moment to attack. "I told you to have my money today you twerp!" "But I don¡¯t have any money my family is poor, please don¡¯t hurt me again! "You made it difficult, you didn¡¯t even bring a portion of it. I would look weak to the other first years if I let you off." "Tommy, Smash this face." Two of the students hold one of the students down. The student recoils I¡¯m fear as the third and biggest student begins to punch and kick him. Soon he¡¯s a battered mess as the students finish with their attack. One of the students search his pockets for money and spit on his unconscious body when he finds none. The trio then turns and walks towards the dormitories. The beast approaches the unconscious boy and begins to sniff him. He is no scavenger he doesn¡¯t want others prey. The thought of eating something that had already been hunted disgusts the creature. It turns and begins to stalk the trio. Its eyes were focused on the ringleader. He had enough meat on him to please the beast. The other two would just be bonus snacks. "I told you we need to find richer kids. These low stats having little shits are always broke." "Yeah but the richer the kid the higher the stats. Were unlikely to beat any other mid-tiers." "You idiot there¡¯s 3 of us. Kicking the piss out of one person should be easy. " "Yeah, maybe you¡¯re right. Fuck it I¡¯m down bro." The trio nod in agreement and decide to lurk the campus for another 1st year out alone. As they walk the creature conceals its bloodthirsty aura and stalks them. After an hour the leader decides to break off from the group. He turns a corner around the barracks and begins to relieve himself. The creature struck quickly from behind rushing the student''s neck. The student''s body goes limp as he struggles to breathe. Finally, the creature felt the familiar feeling of the student''s body weight falling. That always meant the prey was dead. He was hungry, so very hungry. However, there was more hunting to do. It backed into the darkness and found the duo waiting on their leader. He could sense their impatience from his vantage point and his excitement grew. The creature already had its main course waiting so it decided to have some fun. The beast allowed its bloodlust to leak out and filled the air with its sinister mana. It slowly walked into the view of the students. The duo was at a loss for words when this hideous creature slowly approached them. From the first glance, they knew they didn¡¯t stand a chance. They had to flee. The two turned around and fled trying to reach the nearest dorm room. *How I love the hunt. Run, Flee, Scream. The taste will be much better when your fear soaks into your flesh. * The beast has a singular focus, the hunt. One of the students made a sharp turn separating from the other. He hoped the monster would focus on his partner and not himself. If the stayed together they would both die. At least one may get away with this palm and he was betting on himself. The creature''s heart pounded with excitement as Its prey separated. Its eyes darted looking for the tougher of the two. Based on the idea that the one who separated was smart, it assumed that he would be the tougher kill. So the beast turned sharply increasing its speed. The student was running with all of his heart afraid to look back. He could hear the creature panting behind him. The fear he felt was so overwhelming that he felt he would die from a heart attack. The creature leaped in front of him blocking his path. The beast stood on to two legs and revealed razor-sharp claws. ¡°Fight me human.¡± It said as it walked towards the students. Thinking quickly the student leaped backend started chanting. He fired tiny needles of water at the beast. The shards dug into its chest and failed to penetrate its flesh. The creature was let down by this attack and could tell by the boy''s fatigue that it was all he had. It proceeded forward work its claws outstretched.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Another disappointing hunt. If this were the wild, I wouldn¡¯t bother killing you. Too bad for you, he sent me on a mission.¡± The student backed up and fumbled falling. Everything went black. The final student didn¡¯t hear or see the beast. He knew it had veered off and attacked his friend. Although this saddened him, he was happy to still be alive. He sprinted and made his way to the closest door he could find. He pounded and pounded with all his might and was starting to panic when the door finally swung open. He pushed passed the sleepy student and slammed the door behind him. ¡°What the hell are you doing?¡± ¡°The monsters after me man. Please I need to stay here tonight.¡± ¡°What monster?¡± ¡°The one that has been terrorizing the campus. It is right behind me man. It is vicious. Please, please, please HELP!¡± ¡°The fucking monster? And you brought it here!?¡± The two students quickly shut their mouths when they are interrupted by the absolute feeling of dread. The creature¡¯s magical aura was intense and violent. They couldn¡¯t see it, but they knew it was on the other side of the door. The two backed up against the wall and the owner of the room began to chant. As he did claws appeared through the door cutting deep lines into it. The ease that the claws cut through the door was alarming. The homeowner concluded his chant and ice began to form all over the door. It completely covered it and the window next to it. The other student who had escape liked the quick thinking and began to do the same, he poured all of his mana into making a wall of thick ice on top of the owner''s wall. The creature sneered at their cowardly tactics and attempted to claw through. As it did the ice was reforming and pushing his claws back. Although they were weak it wasn¡¯t worth the risk of being caught to pursue further. The creature fell to all fours and sprinted off. It had already secured two kills. That was more than enough for now. *The hunt is over* The beast thought before vanishing into the shadows. The frightened students managed to reach out to security. It was as if once the beast left their message feature began to function again. Maybe the creature could stop people from communicating through magical means. Whatever the case may be the students were safe now. The two were escorted by security to the headmaster¡¯s office. He asked them to have a seat and explain everything that happened that night. ¡°Sir, I never actually saw the beast. I could just hear it. However, this guy says he encountered it directly. I don¡¯t know if I can help much.¡± ¡°That is perfectly fine son. You may leave. I would like a word in private with this one.¡± The student followed the headmaster¡¯s instruction and left the survivor alone. ¡°You are aware that lying to the headmaster is a great offense, right?¡± The boy was shocked that the headmaster seemingly changed his personality on a whim. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dream of it, sir¡± ¡°Ah, excellent. Then what were you and your little friends doing out after curfew?¡± ¡°Oh¡­ we were just hanging out. Nothing special.¡± ¡°That¡¯s very strange. Another student seemed to indicate that you may have been extorting a weaker student. Do you think we allow that type of behavior?¡± ¡°Sir¡­ I thought this was about the monster.¡± ¡°Silence CHILD. YOU WILL ANSWER WHATEVER I ASK¡± The boy was frightened by the headmaster shouting. Furthermore, the headmaster is well known to be a high-level induvial and rumors suggest he may have participated in hunting the previous demon lord. Not a single person on the planet would ever doubt the headmaster¡¯s strength. There are maybe 4 people in the entire world who could defeat him in combat and none of them could help the student in this situation. He decided to comply. ¡°Sir, we were just showing the difference of strength to the boy. Why have this power if we can¡¯t use it occasionally?¡± ¡°You present a good argument son. Maybe the strong should flex their power occasionally. However, if that is the case then why even bother expelling this beast from the campus? It is strong and its opponents shouldn¡¯t be so weak right? ¡°It is not the same! It¡¯s a monster¡± ¡°Indeed, the weak would see anything stronger than them as a monster. Allow me to demonstrate.¡± The headmaster extended his right arm opening is hand. He looked the student in the eyes as a massive amount of mana flowed into his hand. Time seemed to stop for the student as the pressure of the mana began to feel physical on his body. He was slowly being pushed into his chair as more and more mana formed. The headmaster''s hand begins to glow a golden color as the student¡¯s lungs began to deflate. There was so much mana pressure on his body that he could not breathe. His chest was being pushed in by the pure force of mana. The mana swarmed violently making a humming sound. This was the first time the student had ever witnessed such power. As the student¡¯s vision began to fade, the chair under him collapsed and the headmaster closed his fist. The student stood up. He was covered in sweat and panting hard. His heart was thumping loudly and rapidly. He understood that the headmaster was indeed a monster of a different caliber. ¡°Now from the beginning. Tell me everything.¡± ¡°Yes sir..¡± The next morning the students reported the events to the school. The school was now out in full force attempting to find the beast. As the morning sun began to rise there was a gruesome discovery. The heads of the two students were found stuck to the welcome sign of the school. The creature seemed to be telling everyone that it was out to get them. It was the first day of school and many new students left due to the fear of being hunted. The school''s population was already low as it is due to the war raging in the country. Now it had to prove that it was generally a safe ground for the new students. This marked the beginning of Kinkaru¡¯s 4th year, and it was already shaping up to be a fight for survival. Kinkaru took a deep breath and headed towards the training center. He needed to get much stronger if he wanted to stand beside his friends. A New Prey Kinkaru has been spending the majority of his extra time in the training center. However, instead of fighting the typical dwellers of the facility, he has been actively sparring him shadow Fraper. Through this he discovered a few things, 1) His summon takes about half of his mana, 2) His summon is nowhere near as strong as when it as alive. He has a connection with some type of mental wave, which tells him the creature¡¯s stats. He just seems to know, 3) The summon gets stronger individually, however, he cannot read their stats. 4) Kinkaru has also tried to summon other creatures he¡¯s defeated and seems to have no option for it. He¡¯s beginning to think summoning the dead isn¡¯t the primary function of his magic.
(Status Menu) Inventory Quests Settings
General Information
Name:Kinkaru Level: 10 EXP: 15000/20000
Affinity: Neutral /??? Skill Points:0
Class/Job Magic Swordsman
HP:1500 Mana: 600 Stamina: 2000
Status Information
Stats Spells Skills
Strength:22 Shock Reading: 4/4
Agility: 20 Speech: 4/4
Wisdom: 30 Scan Wisdom of Another Life?
Endurance: 15 Critical Thinking 4/4
Dark Manipulation
Blunt Weapon Mastery 1/10
Sword Mastery 5/10
Sneak 2/10
Shadow Extract
The remainder of his time is spent training with Sir Michael learning how to use swords and better tuning his mana use. Kinkaru has learned through various lessons that magic can be used for things other than spells. For instance, if you allow yourself to expend 1 mana an hour you can essentially stop aging. The more mana you allow yourself to use passively the stronger the effects. Also, you can enhance your physical body using magic as well. A person burning mana and allocating it to his arms can swing a blade harder and faster. This is what he suspects Garth has been doing since he met him. Garth always seemed to be ridiculously strong. He also learned there are multiple types of mages. Typical mages usually only master magic manipulation and fulfill a caster role in battles. While others specialize in augmentation type magic and battle in the front lines. Both have their perks however it can be argued that augmentation is more practical unless you are a part of a group. The school has been frantic this year and Kinkaru is beginning to be glad that his time in school is almost up. Security officials have been frantically combing every inch of the campus. The monster has been attacking much more frequently and has even killed a few second years. Kinkaru is confident that the monster is focusing on easy targets as the gap in power between a 3rd year and a 4th year is pretty significant. So the difference in the 2nd and 3rd is also significant. This must mean that the creature is very intelligent. The ranking system that the school is so very proud of has become virtually useless as everyone is distracted. New enrollments have been on a decline as the school struggles to ensure the safety of its weakest students. It¡¯s better to be a farmer than dead I suppose. Kinkaru spreads his legs in a wide and deep stance. He had already summoned Fraper across from him on the plains ground. The monsters in this area knew they were too weak and therefore avoided Kinkaru especially with the very imposing looking Fraper around. The 4 armed creature slammed its arms into its chest and began to charge kinkaru. He closed his eyes and allowed his mana to radiate out of his body like a bubble. His sword hand ready to swing the instant his aura detected the Fraper. The shadow sped forward at top speed its arms prepared to pummel its master. It leaped into the air bringing down its fists in a hammer motion. Kinkaru sensed the moment the first hair of the monster touched his aura and he dodged left rotating around to the shadows blind side. The Fraper became enraged with its attack missing and began to grow in strength as it frantically thrashed about aiming at Kinkaru. Kinkaru continued to dodge every attack waiting patiently for a chance to counter strike. The creature spun around like a battle top and attempted to break the apparent speed difference. Kinkaru ducked under the fist and drove his blade into the creature''s arm pout and pushed it through the neck. The shadow vanished as quickly as it was summoned. Await timer appeared and Kinkaru sat down waiting so that he could summon his shadow again. Kinkaru was now in his 4th year and every day he struggled to try to figure out what exactly his magic was used for. Every time he thought he had an idea it would be a one-off or not work at all. He was super let down when he discovered he wasn¡¯t a necromancer. In comparison, both Sarah and Garth were superior in their magic use. Both could be considered geniuses in their respective fields and if the ranking system wasn¡¯t falling apart they would likely be in the top 5. In comparison, Kinkaru was likely still somewhere in the middle to the bottom middle. His swordplay was the most advanced in his class but his magic was the worst. All of the students in his art lessons could easily one-shot he summon and a weak tier-one spell of any element would just waste mana at this point. Kinkaru stretched out and closed his eyes.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Fraper sat across from him in the abyss. Looking at his master struggling with his internal thoughts. When in the dream world he could always tell if his master was distraught. Ever since he was first summoned he would always be in Kinkaru¡¯s dreams watching and attempting to communicate with him. This has built their bond and made them grow closer through their time in his dreams. Kinkaru went from considering him a monster to considering him more along the lines of a familiar. Kinkaru allowed his body to melt into the void and he reappeared next to Fraper. Kinkaru noticed that his time in a dream state moved munched slower than before he learned his affinity. While dreaming he could virtually control everything around him and he would spend this time mulling over homework assignments or hatter was plaguing him. Kinkaru melted into the abyss again this time appearing back in his original spot. He threw his sword into the black ground and held his hand out catching it as it fell from the sky above him. The headmaster sat at his office desk. Ever since the trials 3 years ago he¡¯s had a consistent and nagging headache. This monster that hunts his new students is getting bolder and braver. The last group of students it killed it managed to drag their body and place it directly in the center of the courtyard. Everyone heading to early morning classes was treated with the sight of a 1st year''s head and limbs casually in the pathway. Donations to the school are drying up as the government is increasingly putting more stress on the school to resolve the matter. The issue that is perplexing everyone is that the school''s barrier is up and the monster is not from the training center. That means it slipped through the barrier and somehow is escaping in and out every night. This made it virtually impossible to catch. They tried setting a bait false student out and it completely ignored them. The monster is smart, cautious, and brutal. If these events don¡¯t stop soon the school was on the brink of becoming a target for the government to flex its power and take control. *Pant Pant* narrow red eyes lay crouched in the grass. Its eyes watching a student fight a faux monster. The eyes knew its target was weak in magic. It was apparent by the lack of any significant spells begin used. Every day these red eyes stalk him and every day he narrowly escapes. The eyes saw a potent magical field around its prey but unused one. Does this mean he can¡¯t use it or because he chooses not to? If the beast could figure this out it would know if it has a good meal lined up or not. It paces back and forth in frustration as it watches the boy sleep in the grass. ¡°How easy would it be to rip his sleeping throat out,¡± The creature thinks as its bloodlust escapes its body for a brief moment. It takes one step forward lowering its body in a crouching manner. In the dream world, the Fraper¡¯s eyes jolt as it senses an approaching foe. It alerts Kinkaru but it was too late. Kinkaru already felt a sinister aura touch him and he sprang up with his sword ready and looked frantically around trying to figure out where it came from. Kinkaru¡¯s sword glistened in the sunlight. His body appeared stiff but his stance was loose. The creature he saw in front of him did not belong to any part of the training center that he had seen previously. His mind jumped to the conclusion that this was the monster that had been terrifying the entire school. The monster''s breath reeked of death. It was as if the people it had eaten over the last few years were rotting in its mouth. The beast lowered its body into a crouching stance then backed slowly into the tall grass. Kinkaru carefully followed its movement with his gaze until it vanished. He wondered if he should pursue or not. He determined not to do so, because it could easily be an ambush. Where he¡¯s standing now he has open flat land all around him and the beast would have to cross that to get to him. Kinkaru pushed his mana outside his body forming an aura around him. Although he knew he could see if the beast approached he was fearful of it having some type of camouflage or invisibility ability. Kinkaru had never heard of these spells but he also couldn¡¯t rule out their existence. Minutes passed by and Kinkaru stood completely still. The sun bearing on the exposed areas of his body began to make him sweat. Kinkaru let out a sigh as he used one of his arms to wipe the sweat from his forehead. As Kinkaru¡¯s hand moved across his face his aura began to send shocks to his body. Something was coming from above and quick. He instinctively rolled to the right and felt the ground shake violently. Kinkaru¡¯s eyes met with the beasts. It was a large creature that seemed as if it was multiple beasts put together. It had the head of a wolf and its body was covered in scales. On its hands were long claws that were like cats but much bigger proportionally. It looked as if something had made this thing out of all the best parts of other things. ¡°Finally a hunt I can enjoy. Try to make it entertaining human¡± The beast withdrew its claws from the cratered ground. Kinkaru had never seen such raw destructive force. It was like an explosion had occurred where the beast had landed. This ¡°thing¡± is smart. It waited patiently for Kinkaru to block his vision for a split second and then leaped with great speed for a sneak attack. Had Kinkaru not been using his mana aura to sense his surroundings he would surely be dead. Kinkaru saw that Fraper still had a good 10-second cooldown left before he could be summoned. Kinkaru thought hard on how to beat this monster in front of him. His heart was racing and his mind was going into overdrive. The beast began to crouch again this time it darted forward towards Kinkaru and began swiping its long claws at him. Kinkaru used his sword to parry all of the monster''s ferocious attacks. He was losing ground as the beast stood on its hind legs swiping and walking forward. It had a twisted smile on its face as if its victory was assured. Kinkaru luckily had his memories of the previous world. He knew how certain things worked and how to combine certain elements to make new results. If he had been a normal human in this world he might just be doomed. He determined his plan and put it into motion. Kinkaru used his left hand to shoot water into the air allowing it to fall like rain. He then jumped back separating himself from the beast. Kinkaru used his brief escape moment to launch a small fire projectile into the sky. It collided with the water making a mist-like substance fill the immediate area. It wasn¡¯t very thick but it was thick enough to limit the visibility the beast had. Kinkaru then combined that mist with his dark magic to create a black mist that seemed to block all light out of the sky. He expended a good portion of mana to do this, but there was a reason behind this. The beast attempted to locate its prey but could not see him through this dark mist. It began to get frustrated as it swung wildly in all directions. Kinkaru used his aura to locate the beast and then summoned Fraper to the field. Since Fraper was already a black shadow of a creature it would blend completely into the mist. He used their connected minds to launch an assault on the beast with the summon. Fraper rushed forward ducking under the beasts wildly swung claws. He plunged his fist into the chest of the unsuspecting monster and scored a clean hit on it. Fraper went into a full frenzy as it rapidly attacked the beast with all of its strength. All 4 of Fraper¡¯s arms were finding their target on the virtually blind monster. The more hits he landed the wilder he became. His enraged mode was triggering and increasing his strength. Kinkaru became confident in his ability to win as Fraper went into an enraged mode and began to physically dominate the monster. The beast let out a roar as it began to fight back. Launching calculated swipes in the direction it was just attacked from. Kinkaru noticed the more enraged Fraper became the weaker their link was. This process continued until the link between the two was severed and Kinkaru was left only with his aura as an indicator of the battle. He could tell the creature was landing hits on Fraper based on the amount of mana being sucked from his body. It was apparent the creature could adapt quickly. Kinkaru had forgotten to monitor is mana throughout this wild encounter and was shocked to see the rate it was declining in. This meant that Fraper and the mist were draining him dry and quick. He wondered how much damage his summon had done and if it would be the right time to pull the two spells at once. After some consideration, he determined it was his only option and he canceled the two spells. He knew better than to pull his aura, however. He wanted to be cautious as he did not know the strength of this beast and did not want to be a dismembered body in the square. The mist began to recede and the darkness faded into the light. Kinkaru was not excited about what he saw in front of him. The beast was covered in minor scuff marks but had virtually no noticeable damage. Fraper failed to secure any meaningful hit on the beast and wasted a ton of Kinkaru¡¯s mana in the process. The beast glared into Kinkaru¡¯s eyes. It was not happy with the trick that he had pulled and the area filled with an evil vibe. ¡°You like to use silly tricks. Now that you are done with your foolish games I will continue my hunt¡± Kinkaru readied his sword. He knew if he was going to win it would have to be with swordplay. He didn¡¯t have any viable magic for this situation and this beast was not going to give him any more chances to surprise it. The beast jumped forward with scary speed launching its strikes at Kinkaru with renewed force. Kinkaru did all he could to defend from the monster''s great speed and power. He parried and he blocked but the beast found weaknesses in his defense and would land the occasional scratch on him. The beat used both hands in a downward movement and when Kinkaru¡¯s blade collided with its hands the beast grabbed the edge of his blade. It was holding his sword still as it drove its fangs towards his neck. Kinkaru couldn¡¯t avoid the attack but he did manage to make it non-fatal. Instead of the teeth meeting with his artery it met his shoulder blade. Blood dripped down Kinkaru¡¯s arm and onto the ground around him. The creature let out a grunting laugh. ¡°My teeth are covered in a sleep-inducing poison. In a few moments, your movement will become sluggish and you will eventually pass out.¡± Kinkaru could feel the effects almost immediately. It was like a thick burning sensation was pushed throughout his body. Everything began to tingle. His body was falling asleep and he could barely grip his blade. He stumbled back onto his butt. His blade fell at his side and he didn¡¯t have the strength or control to lift his arms. Then the beast approached his limp body licking his lips. It kneeled on him and began to speak into his ears. ¡°I¡¯m going to slowly eat you. I will tear small pieces of your flesh off and enjoy the taste. You will feel everything in your coma-like state. I will get great pleasure from consuming the fear you seep into your flesh.¡± With that, the beast ripped off part of Kinkaru¡¯s leg. Not a giant piece but a fist-sized chunk of thigh meat. It slipped it into its mouth and began to slowly savor the taste. Kinkaru entire body filled with pain as blood shot out of his fresh wound. His panic drove him into a manic state as the monster tore another piece of flesh from the other side. All Kinkaru wanted was to escape from this situation. He wanted to be in his peaceful dream world where he had absolute control over everything. He thought of how he could pass through the walls of his dream world whenever he wanted and he longed for this. *New Skill Acquired* Flashed across his vision as he laid helplessly on the blood-soaked ground. *Shadow step* *When used the user can enter into a shadow and exit out of another shadow. * Kinkaru mentally screamed the words shadow step. When he did his body sunk into the creature''s shadow and he vanished from the sight of the monster. The beast reached out attempting to stop him from escaping but as it did its hands passed through him. Kinkaru fell from the air and onto a wooden table. The room he was in was dark and he could feel the gaze of a man on him. He could see the shadowy portal he had fallen from above him. The creature was still there staring into the shadow as if it could pass through as well. ¡°Are you all right kid?¡± A worried and familiar voice spoke. The headmaster of the school stood from his seat behind the desk and looked down on the boy¡¯s torn flesh. He opened one of the desk doors and pulled out a red potion. He poured it all over the wounds and suddenly the pain stopped. Kinkaru could not speak as the poison was still in his bloodstream but he could flutter his eyes vigorously. As he did so the headmaster looked up in the direction Kinkaru was staring at and could see what he saw. He saw the beast glaring down at them but unable to pass. The headmaster reached up and touched the dark portal with his hands. A message appeared ¡°would you like to allow Headmaster Norris to use shadow step?¡± Norris looked at Kinkaru and nodded. Norris extended his arm and a golden lance flew into his hand. He then looked at kinkaru and pointed at the portal. ¡°Let me through the boy, this may be my only chance. ¡° Kinkaru screamed yes in his mind and the darkness swallowed Norris pulling him into its void. The shadow step had completed and the portal shut behind Norris leaving Kinkaru behind. Whatever was happening on the other side Kinkaru could not see. Eventually, as he lay on the table he was overcome with sleep and drifted into the black void of rest. The darkness enveloped his consciousness and spit him back out in his usual dream state. In this world, Kinkaru regained his motor functions and his ability to think clearly. He began to process all of the decisions he made and how he could have improved. He hoped that Norris would be okay but he also knew he needed to improve his strength. Then he had a brilliant Idea. He recreated his situation in the dream world. He simulated him fighting the monster over and over. Each time he tried to defeat it in different ways. This simulation was almost as good as fighting it in real life. He could feel himself improving with every run. A message flooded across his mind. *Temporary skill consumed*