《Heretic's Wrath》


 Ch. 0.5 Prologue

    With a full moon hanging high in the sky illuminating the stillness of night, a dim red streak of light undiscernable to the naked eye was plummeting down from the heavens.


    Crux, a young slave boy of a Baron in the Whitedrake Empire, was out gathering herbs near a river just outside of Dhyila City. While washing his hands in the river with a bucket of muddy herbs to his left, a loud bang sounds out at the other side of the river. The sound of trees toppling and birds screeching was a stark contrast to the usual stillness of night.


    Peeking over at the bucket of herbs, Crux clenches his fist and with the curiosity getting the better of him, he heads over to a more shallow area of the river to cross to the other side. Being just outside the borders of Dhylia city, it isn''t likely that any more dangerous beasts could be lurking in the forest. ''I can always just run'' he thought.


    The dried soil now turned mud covering his scrawny body from crossing the river, Crux makes his way over to the disturbance in the trees. Doing his best not to make a sound, he tiptoes his way closer and closer. As he almost makes it to where the sound was, the sound of hysterical laughter enters his ears. Almost jumping out of his skin in fright, Crux does his best to calm down his beating heart. Crossing out the idea of bandits being so close to the city, Crux still decides to turn back. With people here, even if they are patroling soldiers of Dhylia City, they still won''t treat a muddy slave boy with courtesy. It wouldn''t be all suprising if they killed him over snooping around. Sighing, Crux turns around to head back to the river. However, before he makes it a few steps away, a hollowed out voice sounds out from behind him.


    "Hey kid, if you''re gonna come all the way, at least keep this old man''s last moments company, hahahaha! Cough! Shit, fucking bastards..."


    Followed by a string of curses and coughs from the voice, Crux nearly trips over himself face first into the ground. The sound of that hollow voice nearly made him die straight from fear. The voice itself sounded like it came straight out of hell. In his attempt to run away and never look back, he finds his back soaked in cold sweat, unable to make a single step forward.


    "Hahahaha! Hey brat, come on over. I can''t do anything to you anyway, bahahahaha. This - *Cough* old man here is at the end of his life. I just wanna have a talk with ya. Hey, maybe you''ll benefit! You can have all my possessions! Hahahahaha!"


    Once more hearing that hollowed out voice, Crux is besides himself in fear. His breathing unconsciously speeding up, his lungs stinging. His heartbeat sped up to the max, Crux nearly goes mad from the fear. "Please... let me go.. let me live..." he mumbles.


    "Huh? Live? Brat, I just said you can have my possessions. In fact, you can be my successor! Why would I kill you- Oh. Kid, are you below the Spirit Realm? My bad! Bahahaha. I must''ve fallen farther than I thought! My bad, my bad. Here, come on over. Don''t be afraid, you won''t die. I''m just going senile it seems."


    *Cough*


    Blood dripping from digging his nails into his palms so much, the invisible pressure that was bearing down on Crux from the voice slowly subsided. His breathing heavy, Crux struggles to stand up to try and escape.


    "Hey brat, don''t run. This old man is gonna die, I can tell from your little aura, you haven''t cultivated before. This old man can give you power. I need a successor afterall, just a few promises. Come on over, if I wanted you dead I wouldn''t be toying with you. Bahahaha!"


    Noticing that once hollowed out voice slowly gaining some humanity, and hearing the word ''power'', Crux makes a decision through the cold sweat, to at least see what the voice wants. Taking a deep breath, Crux makes his way through the trees. As he makes his way through the bushes, seeing all of the toppled over trees and the massive crater where the voice originated from, Crux begins to wonder where the hell the patrols are. Seeing the apprehensive kid on his way over, the old man can''t help but continue his hysterical laughter.


    Finally reaching the crater, Crux is stupified with what he saw. It wasn''t an old man like what the voice said, but an extremely devilish young man. With black hair and red streaks the color of blood flowing down to his shoulders, chiseled jaw, and bloodred eyes that seem to peer into his soul, Crux felt his heart stop, and nearly toppled over. Looking down towards his body, Crux can''t help but vomit out everything he had eaten over the course of the day. This ''old man''s body was entirely mangled and full of blood. His four limbs barely still on his body, dangling by a few strands of bone. A fist sized hole where his heart is, or should have been. His heart was gone. ''How the fuck is this guy breathing and laughing?'' he thought as his dinner spewed out onto the ground. While he continues to vomit, the ''old man'' once more laughs hysterically. "Brat, it''s just a little blood, you shouldn''t lose your dinner over that! Bahahahahaha!"Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    ''A little? The fuck is a lot?'' he thought as he wipes his mouth. He musters up his courage, and once more looks at the man. He makes sure to just focus on the head this time. Taking a deep breath, he musters up all of his courage to speak, "Who are you...?"


    The bloodied man, hearing the question, abruptly stops his laughter as he peers at Crux with his cold, blood red eyes. As Crux makes eye contact, his entire body shivers.


    As the man continues to stare at Crux, the man himself can barely hold in his astoishment and excitement. Also, a tad bit of sadness and disappointment. After a few more minutes of staring at Crux, the man opens his mouth to speak with a slightly hollowed, serious voice; "Kid, I won''t lie to you, had my soul not been damaged, I myself wouldn''t have hesitate to occupy your body! Bahahahaha!"


    Hearing these words, Crux finally plops straight to the ground in fear. Shaking as he looks at the bloodied man.


    "Brat, I just said I can''t anymore. No need to freak out, sheesh. What a waste of a good body. All I said is that I wouldn''t hesitate if I could, and your soul nearly left the body itself! Bahahaha."


    The man once more breaks out in a hysterical laugh, but Crux''s heart goes slightly cold. He''s been a slave since he was eight years old, being sixteen now, he has been a slave for the latter half of his life. When he was eight years old, his parents were murdered in cold blood on their travels to a nearby city by bandits, leaving him, an only child, to be nothing more than a slave to the baron of Dhylia City. Some people might treat him better, but he knows it''s just pity. Except a select few that maybe do it out of the good of their hearts, he knows it''s mostly pity. He''s just a slave after all, nothing else anymore. As these thoughts flow his mind, Crux gets courage from who knows where, and yells; "Shut the fuck up!"


    Following which, the sound of laughter abruptly stops. Huffing and puffing, Crux stares dead into the blood red eyes of the man. The shivering in his body slowly disappearing. As silence descends on the two, the only sounds to be heard are the sounds of nearby crickets.


    The man''s laughter stopped, once more examines Crux. After a good few minutes of silence, seemingly satisfied, he nods his head. Before he speaks, Crux abruptly says, "You said you can give me power?"


    Seeing the slight hope in Crux''s eyes, the man''s lips slowly curve up. "Indeed. However, kid, what I can give you, to some people isn''t exactly ''orthodox'' and ''good''. Infact, you most likely would end up just like me here, hunted down, and finally killed. Are you willing to be hunted down, and cursed as a demon?"


    Following such a question, Crux takes only a moment before he hardens himself, and nods his head. ''A demon? Hunted down? Much more exciting than dying as a damn slave'' he thought. He could die tomorrow from being overworked, so who cares? If he can have power, enough power to protect himself, he could even live in luxury.


    Seeing Crux decide so quickly, the man started laughing again, but this time in a slightly better tone. "Alright kid, being honest, you won''t end up like me as long as you don''t go overboard. Let me be honest, I will be teaching you demonic techniques. Or more to say, giving them to you. As you can see, I will die within the hour. My soul is damaged, never to be seen again. I went overboard, and killed far too many people. So, I was hunted down, and thus here I am, on my deathbed. I will transfer the techniques straight to your head, and as you get stronger, and go down the demonic path further, the techniques that I have given you will further unlock and you will gain further power. I will not give it all to you immediately, as that is as good as killing my only successor! Once you reach a certain level of strength, you will know my name. You must promise me this one thing, that you kill those that killed me. Understood?"


    After processing the information, Crux nods his head with unconcealable excitement. Despite all the warnings, he still can''t wait to have power. He could finally get out of slave life, and who knows where he could make it to?


    Seeing Crux nod his head, the man gives a slightly devilish smile that sent chills down Crux''s back once again. "I will give you the first three layers of the Demonic Subduing Qi technique, and once you reach the second layer, you will then know the fourth, and so on. Now, before I do, my last wish is that when you learn my name... Try not to curse the dead too much. Hahahaha!"


    Before Crux could react, the man lifted his finger and shot something into his head, and tossed a ring from his finger into Crux''s pocket. As the man continued to laugh and Crux was starting to feel pain so unbearable that he nearly instinctively killed himself on the spot. Still laughing, the man waves his hand, and everything around Crux starts to disappear, as if it was only an illusion, and finds himself once more next to the bucket of herbs by the river. However, from the unbearable pain in his head and the mass of information flooding in, he knows it wasn''t and illusion.


    Besides himself in pain, Crux nearly rolls himself into the river. All of the information pertaining to the first three layers of Demonic Subduing Qi and other information pertaining to certain lesser techniques fills up his mind. After the pain continues on, Crux himself finally loses consciousness.

 Ch. 1 Cleansing Meridians

    Crux slowly begins to wake up to the sound of birds chirping, followed by the rays of the sun beaming directly into the narrow slits of his eyes. He slowly sat up with a groan. Feeling a piercing headache he unconsiously begins to rub his temples.


    With his mind still blurry, Crux begins to recall some of the matters of what happened before he lost consciousness. Remembering that bloodied man in the crater, Crux takes a look around to find himself in a small, five by five meter little room. With trash piled up in the corner of the room, dirt and pebbles smothered all over the floor, and the small two meter long rock bed topped with grass for a pillow he happens to be sitting on. Finding himself in his usual room, Crux began to wonder if all of what he experienced last night was a dream.


    Before his mind began to clear up from his early morning drearyness, footsteps began to sound out outside the door of his shed. Noticing the sun high in the sky through a crack in the wall, Crux abruptly got out of bed; however, in his haste Crux fell to the ground onto his side. Feeling an excruciating pain on his right thigh, Crux grits his teeth. Assuming he fell driectly ontop of one of the rocks sprawled on the floor Crux painfully crawls towards his bed and begins to roll up his dusty, ripped and haggard pants. Seeing a ring shaped mark indented into his skin, Crux feels a sharp pain in the back of his head, and began to remember that after than man shot something into his head, he was tossed a ring. Quickly reaching his hand into his right pocket, Crux finds a completely pitch black ring. With the sounds of footsteps getting closer to the door, Crux immediately went over to the pile of trash to hide the ring. But, before he made it all the way over, as if possessed, Crux abruptly brought his left middle finger to his mouth, and without any hesitation, bit down and ripped off the skin to make his blood flow. Then, he quickly catches the drops of blood onto the top of the ring. With a flash of a blood red light, the pitch black ring began to glow red, and began to liquify. Completely dazed, Crux watched as the now liquified ring began to flow into his finger wound, and disappear along with that very wound.


    As a warm feeling began to flow up his left arm from his finger, the door to his room slowly began to creak open. Shaking his head, Crux turned his head too look. Coming in with a bucket of water, a little girl that looked to be around the age of sixteen with blond, disheveled locks flowing down below her shoulders, greyish blue yet downcast eyes, and an extremely frail apperance came in through the door.


    "Eh?"


    Startled, the girl looked over at the standing Crux. Tilting her head, she looks him up and down. With a slight smile, she walked towards the bed and put down the bucket of water. Rinsing her oddly unblemished hands, she signals Crux to come over and do the same with a nod of her head.


    After coming over and smelling the light fragrance of flowers emitting from the little girl, Crux unceremoniously dunks his head into the water bucket. Shaking his head in the water, he then whips his head out; his long brown, once dusty, hair flips back. Slicking his hair back with his hands, he looks over at the now giggling little girl. Putting on his best smile, the girl looks at him with an amused expression. However, that amused expression quickly replaced with one of worry and anger. Seeing the abrupt change of expression, Crux also stops messing around at looks over to the girl with a questioning gaze. Seeing his that gaze, the girl lightly sighed and said, "Crux... two days ago, you were brought back unconscious from the river... you should know what happens when you don''t work for two days... I''m afraid, since you were brought back by one of the patrols, me and Jack couldn''t cover it up... Jack worked twice as hard to cover your work for the past two days, but..."


    Sighing, Crux cuts her off from continuing. Knowing he hadn''t woken up for two days and two nights, Crux understands exactly the reason she would be worried. However, in his heart, he is extremely excited. Not even neglecting his duties for a year and recieving the punishment could break apart his happiness. Finally being clear headed, Crux is completely convinced what happened wasn''t a dream. All sorts of information is overloadding his brain, and he needs time to digest it. But, one thing he knows for sure, he won''t need to be a slave for long. Looking at this little girl infront of him, his gaze goes soft. Thinking that if all goes right, he can fight for her freedom as well. "Sigh... Chelsey, no need to worry. Isn''t it just two days? No matter the punishment, as long as I''m alive, none of it matters."


    Giving a beaming smile, Crux lifts his hand to pat Chelsey''s shoulder. As his hand lands, his face immediately pales in regret. With a scream, Chelsey quickly swats his hand away and backs up to the wall. With tears unconsciously begin to well up in her eyes as she began to shake uncontrollably. "Shit, Chelsey, it''s okay, you''re okay. No need to worry, no one is going to hurt you."Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Looking at the panic stricken little girl, tears begin to well up in the corner of Crux''s eyes. He had been a slave working for the baron of Dhylia City since for the past ten years, being sixteen now, Crux had been a slave for most of his life. Chelsey, on the other hand, being only fifteen, had only been a slave for a little over a year. Her entire family had been ransacked by bandits, with herself being the only survivor. Almost being defiled by said bandits, Chelsey was barely saved by the soldiers of Dhylia City. Afterwards, without anyone to rely on, she ended up becoming a maid to one of the baron''s mistresses. Ever since the event, anytime a man touched her, she would uncontrollably freak out, like now.


    Seeing her uncontrollably shaking in the corner and being completely absentminded, Crux cupped a handful of water and lightly splashed her face. With the abrupt splash of cold water, Chelsey was able to slowly calm down. Looking at Crux with tears in her eyes, she began to wipe off the water and tears from her face. "You''re safe... Chelsey..."


    "M-hm, I''m sorry.."


    Shaking his head, "No no, I''m sorry. I forgot. It''s my fault."


    Lowering her head, Chelsey walks over to the now half full bucket of water, cupped some in her hand, and with a cheeky smile, splashed it into Crux''s face.


    "Humph."


    Grumbling, Chelsey walked towards the door. Before she left, she once more looked at Crux with a slightly misty gaze. With a slight smile, and reminding him to start work as soon as possible to avoid a harsher punishment, she left and closed the door.


    ...


    After staring at the closed door absentmindedly for a few minutes, Crux finally came back to himself and shook his head.


    With unconcealable excitement in his eyes Crux ignored going out to do his work, and went over to sit on his bed in a criss cross position. Closing his eyes, Crux began to focus on some of the information in his head. Within his dark consciousness, a red light began to illuminate the darkness. After an unknown amount of time, the red light began to condense into an old, tattered book. On the cover of the book were the words: Demonic Subduing Qi.


    After the book had finally solidifed in his consciousness, Crux found himself floating inside a vast darkness, illuminated by that old, tattered book that stood directly infront of him. Seeing the book with the title Demonic Subduing Qi, Crux excitedly opens to the first page, the first layer, and began to read.


    Demonic Subduing Qi, First Layer, Reforging Body


    Stage One: Clearing of Meridians


    Stage Two: Cleansing Body


    Stage Three: Strengthening Body


    Stage Four: Reforge the Body


    ....


    Finished reading through the first layer, Crux sat aside his curiousity on the second and third layers, and closed the book. Following the instructions of the first layer, Crux excitedly began to attempt to start the first stage, Clearing the Meridians. Clearing his mind of distractions, Crux began to focus soley on himself.


    After an unknown amount of time of being in a meditative state, Crux''s real body began to glow in a faint red light. Within his body, a reddish, black liquid was flowing through his body uninhibited. If one was to pay attention to this liquid, they would notice that it was revolving in a set path that repeat itself over and over again. If Crux himself were to see the pattern that the liquid was moving in, he would notice that it is moving in the exact way of moving his Qi as stated in the first layer of the Demonic Subduing Qi.


    Even after the sun had gone down outside with the moon now high in the sky, Crux was still in his vegetative state of meditation. The red light coming from his body slightly illuminated the darkness of his room. If one was to look closely, one would notice black sludge coming out of the pores of Crux''s skin all over his body. A disgusting stench began to permeate throughout the room.


    After another hour of meditation, Crux''s eyes began to slowly open, and the redlight surrounding his body faded away. After fully opening his eyes, Crux stood up onto the dirty ground. Taking an abrupt step forward, Crux through a fist into the empty darkness of the room. The sound of a whistle came from the darkness, as the fist flew through the air unimpeded with undiscernable power. Lowering his arm, Crux looked at his fist with a satisfied smile. Following the smile, Crux began to silently laugh. The smile on his face not fading in the slighest, Crux began to mutter to himself, "Cleansing meridians... it was said in the manual, and according to my memories that I inherited, normal people are able to only step into it after a month of cultivation and guidance, yet... I already completed it.. not just stepped in... I completed it! Ahahahaha!"


    After an unknown amount of time in self satisfaction, Crux, taking a big breath of fresh air, immediately paled. ''The hell is that smell?'' he thought. Lifting his arm and smelling his armpit, Crux almost passes out right there. With a pale face, Crux grabs the bucket from earlier, and quietly opened the door to leave his shed. Looking around, Crux began to make his way towards the river.

 Ch 2. Demonic Bloodsworn Ring

    After cleaning himself off in the river, Crux stood bare while bathing in the moonlight as drips of water slid down from his body. After completing the Clearing Meridians stage in the Demonic Subding Qi, Crux felt as though his entire body was one entire unit. Rather than the usual four limbs, Crux felt as though they were all connected through some invisible force. If he were to punch out, he would gather power unconsciously from his entire body. According to the Demonic Subduing Qi manual, the clearing of the meridians would allow him to gather World Qi from his surroundings, using the world''s elements to further strengthen and cleanse his body. Examining his outer body, Crux couldn''t help but be in awe. Before today, Crux was just a 5''6", malnourished little boy full of scar tissue and calusses. Having cleared his meridians, the scar tissue and calusses had already begun to fade away. His original 5''6" body had grown an inch and a half. And this was just clearing his meridians! He couldn''t begin to imagine the changes to his body if he were to complete the next stage, Cleansing Body. Uncontrollable excitement began to boil up from within himself.


    Calming himself down, Crux looked up to face the moon. Seeing the moon still high in the sky, Crux decided not to return to his shed yet. Walking over to a nearby tree, one that would need two people to wrap around. Crux took an awkward fighting stance, and with his shoulder cocked, sent a punch straight to the trunk of the tree. With a loud bang, Crux''s fist smashed through the outer bark half a foot into the tree, sending woodchips and tree sap flying around in the surroundings. Astonished, Crux examined his fist. Not a single drop of blood, not a single blemish to be seen. Only a slight ache can be felt on his fist. Excited, Crux sends a kick flying straight to the side of the tree. Bang. His kick nearly unhindered through the outer layers of the tree, the kicks force only stopping after nearly making it to the center of the tree.


    Hearing slight cracking sounds, Crux''s face abruptly contorted. Removing his leg, Crux immediately fled away from the now falling tree. Crashing sounds sounding out behind him, he books his way back to his shed without looking back, his face flushed with happiness.


    ...


    Having made his way back to his shed, Crux was sitting on his bed with his mind racing. Thinking about what he should do now. As of this moment, he is still a slave for Baron Aschner of Dhylia City. When he was six years old, Crux was an orphan who was bought as a slave by the Baron for a measley three gold. Being as weak as he was just yesterday, Crux never had any ideas of making extra money to buy his freedom. He was at the very least fed rations every day, and was given a place to sleep. The life is still slightly better than dying on the streets. However, now, with the Demonic Subding Qi and all the other techniques he can practice in, Crux can''t help but want to immediately get rid of his slave statusl. While he''s at it, he cannot forget Chelsey and Jack. Jack had been a slave for the Baron even longer than he has, being nineteen this year, Jack had been a slave since he was three years old. In a way, he owes his life to Jack. If he had the chance to give him a new life, he wouldn''t hesitate. The only issue is finding a way to make some money. With his newfound strength, he could easily go and complete a few hunting jobs and make the money. The only issue is that, with his slave status, the Adventurer''s Guild wouldn''t accept his identity as a slave without permission from the Baron.


    Thinking about wealth, Crux''s mind couldn''t help but slip towards the ring that he was given by the man who transfered all his techniques. He has no idea what happened to it though. When he dripped blood onto it, the ring disappeared into his body. Looking at his finger where the ring disappeared to, his head began to ache. Thoughts began to overload his head, and when he focused on those thoughts, he felt like he was struck by lightning. He immediately understood many things about the ring, like what it was, how to use it, and all sorts of other things. As if it was something he had known all his life. With just a thought, Crux felt something moving through his veins, moving from his heart, to his arm, and to his finger. A ring began to manifest on his left middle finger. However, he was stunned to see that the original pitch black ring, now had blood red lines flowing on the surface of the ring as if alive.


    Tracing the surface of the ring, Crux''s lips began to curve unconsciously. According to what he now understands, in the world there are things known as spatial rings. Spatial rings were created by someone who understood the Space Laws, and created an independent space within the ring. And according to the strength of the person, the size of said space differs. However, this ring on his finger isn''t an ordinary spacial ring. In the world of the man that gave it to him, it''s known as a Demonic Bloodsworn Ring. It does indeed have space within, but that isn''t all. According to what the bloodied man knew, this ring also assists when cultivating in demonic techniques. The ring liquifies into the bloodstream, then sends energy into the meridians to assist in the cultivator''s ability to move and absorb Qi. Which explains why it was so easy to complete the Clearing Meridians stage, as the liquid was able to move within the meridians, any blockage within the meridians was completely removed with the liquid''s cleansing. According to his knowledge, this ring could be seen as a Divine Artifact for demonic cultivators. The Demonic Subduing Qi is itself, a demonic cultivation technique. And not just an ordinary one. Demonic Subduing Qi is a demonic technique that adheres to non - demon races. The word ''Subduing'' does not mean to subdue demons, but subdue all enemies. In other words, The Demonic Subduing Qi could also be called the Demonic Killing Qi. It''s a Divine Demonic Technique that isn''t classified within the regular standards of Mortal, Earth, Sky, Heaven rankings of where it originated from. Meaning, those who can cultivate the Demonic Subduing Qi, will be nearly unbeatable within the same realm.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Crux could barely hold in his excitement. From the knowledge he has gathered from listening to the Baron and his family''s conversations, the world he lives in has Mages and Knights. Mages are weak bodied people that are able to use the World''s Qi to use the five elements. Knights are people who use Inner Force to have strong bodies, and have explosive physical abilities. Of course, there are people who are both a Mage and a Knight at the same time, however that is a rare occurance. After all, on average, the ability to become a Mage is only 1 in 10,000, and those lesser Mages focus only on Magic, as they don''t have all the time in the world. Only those super geniuses are able to cultivate both Magic and Inner Force. For example, most Mages are barely able to become higher ranked Mages'' throughout their entire lifes work. And if they were to focus on becoming a Knight as well, they would never have the time to reach new heights. Mages'' are categorized into: Apprentice Mage, Junior Mage, Journeyman Mage, Low Mage, Mage, High Mage, Archmage, followed by Pure Mage. After Pure Mage, he hasn''t heard of it. Knights'' are classified as: Foot Knight, Lesser Knight, Low Knight, True Knight, High Knight, True High Knight, Great Knight, and Grand Knight. Again, Crux''s knowledge of his world is limited, so he can''t be sure what follows. The information a slave can gather is quite limited after all.


    Thinking of all of this, Crux is dumbfounded when he thinks of his own Demonic Subduing Qi. He had never heard of the concept of ''Qi'' before. It could be because he hadn''t heard of it, but something in the back of his mind is telling him that that isn''t the case. And that ''Qi'' is a force greater than anything these Mages and Knights had ever heard of. Remembering the second layer of the Demonic Subduing Qi, the Spirit Realm, Crux remembers seeing the outline of that layer. At the Spirit Realm, a demonic cultivator can command the elements to do the cultivator''s bidding, creating strong elemental and spirit attacks. With Crux''s knowledge, most Mage''s are only able to use one or two of the elements. Compared to a Demonic Cultivator who can command the elements, a Mage seems sort of weak.


    ...


    Pushing those thoughts aside, Crux brought his attention back to the ring. According to what he knows about this Demonic Bloodsworn Ring, besides the ability to help in Demonic Cultivaton, the spatial aspect of the ring is much more profound compared to regular spatial rings. And with the knowledge he found in his head on spatial rings, anything non living could be placed inside. And remembering how strong that man seemed, if all of his treasures are within, Crux would become unbelievably rich. According to the method of opening spatial rings, Crux focused his entire mind onto the Bloodsworn Ring.


    As Crux began to feel unbearably dizzy, before he lost his consciousness, Crux found his surroundings began to distort. He found himself in a room about the size of his shed, with rippling walls surrounding him on all sides. Like four waterfalls on all sides, blocking his vision. Before he had a chance to look around, a familiar, hollow voice began to sound out in his surroundings.


    Hehehe. Brat, it seems you already cleared your meridians, and made your way into the Demonic Bloodsworn Ring. Good, good. This is one of the wisps of consciousness I left in the ring for you. As you are still weak, I sealed the ring into multiple sections. As your spiritual sea expands, more room will open and you will be able to claim more of my inheritance, heheheh. As you haven''t made it to the spirit realm, this room is all I didn''t seal. However, after I sifted through your memories, I left a few things that might be useful to you in this unsealed section. I have a bit of time to explain them to you.


    As the hollow voice was speaking, a silver face mask began to float up from one of the corners of the room to the front of Crux''s consciousness.


    This is the Unforseeable Truth Mask. Like the Bloodsworn Ring, after dripping blood onto the mask, it will enter into your body. With a thought, the mask will cover your aura, as well as has the ability to completely altar your facial features. After falling to your realm, I send out my senses and found the general power level of your surroundings. Almost nobody should be able to see through the mask, you should be able to understand what this can be used for. Heheh. Aren''t I a generous master? Heheeheheh!


    Ecstatic, Crux watched as a black robe began to float over to the side of the Unforseeable Truth Mask.


    This... this black robe, is one of my most prized posessions. The Great Demon Robe, any and all attacks are completely and utterly nullified, and all of your power will multiply by 500%... Heheheh!


    Kidding, it''s just an extremely comfortable black robe that has a cooling and form fitting enhancement. It doesn''t have a name. Heheheheh! Kid, you barely have any strength, don''t expect to much. Hehehehe.


    Dumbfounded, Crux watched and listened as three grape sized beads floated forward, along with a palm sized black jade.


    These pills are the Body Cleansing Pill, Bone Strengthing Pill, and the Blood Strengthing Pill respectively. You should understand how to use them. And this black jade, is a Blood Weapon I found a long time ago. A Blood Weapon is a weapon tailor fit for the user, that grows as you grow. Naturally, I found it late in my life and saved it till I found a successor. Naturally, this falls to you. When you drip your blood onto the stone, the weapon will fuse into your soul and you can summon it at will. Naturally it won''t immediately be a divine weapon. But as you grow, the weapon will as well. Someday, it might even form a conscious soul of its own. Naturally, not even I know what sort of weapon it will be. That is up to your soul and the Blood Weapon''s decision. It could be Great sword, a whip, a spear, anything. Anyway, those crystals in the corner are spirit crystals. I wouldn''t recommend selling them yet, as they are helpful for you in absorbing World Qi before you transcend the Spirit Realm. Now, I must go. Once you reach the Spirit Realm, return to the ring and you will find see me again. Don''t disappoint me, boy. Heheheh!


    As the hollow laughter faded out, Crux found his surroundings once more distort. Finding himself in his room, Crux looks around to see the Black Stone and the mask sitting on his lap. Crux unhesitantly cut open his finger, and dripped blood onto the Black Jade Stone, the Blood Weapon.

 Ch. 3 Jack

    As his blood slowly dripped from his finger onto the Black Jade Stone, his supposed Blood Weapon, the stone itself seemed to have swallowed up the blood. The original Black Jade slowly began to glow a dark crimson red. As more and more blood continued to be swallowed by the Black Jade, the crimson red continued to glow brighter and brighter. When the ninth drop of blood was swallowed, the stone shot out in ray of crimson red straight towards Crux''s forehead. Before he could react, the stone seemed to have vanished straight into his head.


    As seconds turned into minutes with nothing happening, Crux was just about to drop blood onto the Truth Mask when he felt his entire being shake. He felt as if tiny needles were poking all over his body. Yet, he instinctively knew his physical body wasn''t affected in the slightest. This was a matter of the soul. In his pain, Crux began to recall how that bit of consciousness in the ring told him how the Blood Weapon would form within the soul. That the weapon would take shape according to the wishes of his soul. However, he heard nothing about this pain. Sweat began to permeate from every pore on his body, as his consciousness was hanging on by a thread.


    For some reason, Crux felt as though he had to stay conscious through this pain. Or else something would happen. So, he not so silently endured the pain. Loud groans escaping his mouth, his nails began to scratch off the skin of his palm.


    Blood dripping from his nails, Crux was about to finally lose consciousness when a resounding boom came from within his head. Following which, the original pain of needles piercing him was washed away with warmth of spring. He felt as though he had been a starving man given the food of royalty.


    Coming back to his senses, Crux closed his eyes and focused into his sea of consciousness. Within, he found the Black Jade Stone glowing with that crimson light, contorting into an undiscernable shape. Unconsciously, he felt a sort of longing for the stone. He felt a connection between himself and the Blood Weapon to be. As though they were one and the same. He instinctively knew he would be able to see it soon.


    ...


    Removing himself from his sea of consciousness, Crux looked over to the mask feeling a bit apprehensive. That pain was unbearable. After a few seconds of pondering, he hesitantly dropped a piece of blood onto the mask. Following which, like the Bloodsworn Ring, the mask began to liquify. Instead of going in the wound like the ring, the liquid shot straight to his mouth and nose. He tried to dodge to the side, however the liquid seemed to have a mind of its own as it followed along and went straight into his mouth and nose. However, instead of feeling like he was drowning in the liquid, he felt like he was just breathing in air.


    Calming himself down, Crux watched as the liquified mask was inhaled straight into his mouth and nose.


    After all of it was absorbed, Crux was about to head back to the river when he remembered the scene he caused back then. There was no way the city patrol isn''t trying to figure out what happened. So, looking up at the sky and seeing the moon still out, Crux decided to head to sleep and experiement tomorrow. Falling down onto his rocky bed, Crux began to drift off into his own dreamland.


    ...


    Crux woke up with a start as he heard the sound of his door creak open. Begrudgingly opening his eyes, he was greeted by a pouting Chelsey, and a man who seemed to be drowning in dirt. He stood at around 6''0" tall, his muscles toned but uneven, a scruffy beard that seemed to be a dirt magnet, and long curly brown hair that seemed to not have been washed in months. As Crux looked closer, he noticed that the man seemed to be extremely irked. His eyebrow twitching as he watched Crux lazely get out of bed.


    Crux watched as the man began to crack his knuckles and slowly walk towards Crux. His eyebrow unceasingly twitching, the man used his big, callused hand to grab onto Crux''s skull, and drag him out of bed.


    As Crux was about to resist, he decided against it to see what happened. With a strange smile on his face, Crux watched as he was dragged unhindered from his bed.


    Not expecting Crux to give up resisting, the man''s expression was odd. Shrugging his shoulders, he dragged Crux out of bed while still holding his skull. Giving a nod to the still pouting Chelsey, he dragged Crux out of the door like a corpse.


    After dragging Crux a good hundred feet without saying a word, he was about to speak when he heard the sound of someone yawning. As he turned around to see Crux being dragged along looking extremely comfortable, he without hesitation immediately let go of Crux''s skull. Having expected that outcome, Crux began to laugh as he stopped his head from banging on the ground with his arm, and bounced back up to his feet with a light somersault.


    Tears streaming down his eyes from laughing, Crux went over and gave a giant bearhug to the confused and astonished man.


    "Jack! How has the extra work been? Hahah-"


    Crux''s laughter was cut short by a fist in his stomach. To the bewilderment of Jack, Crux just blew out a mouth of hot air as he continued laughing.


    Giving his rapt attention to his fist, Jack gave an annoyed look to Crux as he through out a hook to the side of Crux''s abdomen. With a light thump, he watched, dumbfounded, as Crux just stumbled to the side a step, and looked him in the eye with a smile.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "Crux... what the hell-"


    "Three punches for three days, one more Jack! Ahahaha!"


    As he started to laugh again, said laughter abruptly stopped as he saw an uppercut going straight for his chin. Alarmed, he realized his taunting might be a bit much. With a bend of his arm, a slapping sound sounded out as Jack''s fist landed, caught inside of Crux''s palm.


    Jack, staring at Crux, flabbergasted, was about to speak before Crux cut him off.


    "Oi, Jack, we said no face! A punch a day for missed work, BUT no face! That was a bit close don''t ya think? Hehe."


    "Well, who the hell told you to have replaced your body with rubber! What the hell man? You took those punches like a fucking champ! That''s some bull-"


    "Humph. Jack, I told you to stop with the cussing!" interrupted a puff cheeked Chelsey.


    "Ah shit, I mean, oops, sorry Chelsey.."


    Looking at Jack''s innocent smile, Crux couldn''t help but shake his head and once more fall into a fit of laughter. Following which was Jack, followed by a light chuckle from Chelsey.


    As the other two continued to laugh, Crux came back to his senses and looked at the two with warmth. These especially Jack. He is closer than a blood brother to Crux. The two have been together for ten years now. As for Chelsey, for the past year, she has only been close with him and Jack among the slaves, along with a few of her fellow maids. After looking at Chelsey and Jack with a warm gaze, and noticing Jack''s look of infatuation at Chelsey, Crux ruefully smiled. Ever since Chelsey was taken in as a maid a year ago, Jack had seemed to fallen deeper and deeper into his one sided love. With her fear of touch, as well as being a few years older, Jack hadn''t been able to show that deep affection. Meanwhile, being the closest in age to Chelsey, she unconsciously got closer to himself instead. This was a big source of headache for Crux as of late.


    Shaking off his thoughts, Crux was about to speak when Jack turned to him.


    "Crux... you missed three days. The warden is pissed. I tried to cover for you, but he wasn''t having it. When he heard you were sick, he only lightly let loose his anger. But... yesterday... when Chelsey said you were better, I reported it and said to go easy... but you didn''t show up either..."


    Only now did Crux remember Chelsey checked on him yesterday. He was indeed perfectly fine. It''s also only natural for her to tell Jack, and for Jack to report it. Crux can''t help but feel shivers down his back at the thought of punishment. Normally, it would just be a light punishment for being sick. Extra chores and the like. However, three days, along with ignoring duties yesterday despite being fine... Crux can''t help but be concerned. Looking over and seeing the worried gaze on Chelsey''s face, Crux just gave her a laugh and a wink. After she began to giggle, he turned to see Jack''s slight change in expression. Sighing, he gave Jack a ''don''t overthink things'' look.


    Clapping his hands together, Crux gave a big smile and said, "well, let''s go see what the warden has for me."


    ...


    Having walked a mile away from the slave and maid''s quarters, Crux and Jack found themselves at a two story building. It was built out of fine willow logs, stacked high with a balcony on the second floor hanging out. Beautiful flowers decorated the pathway to the front door. However, to Crux, such luxury only annoys him. Living in his run down shed for the past ten years has left him feeling sour. Having gained a bit of strength recently, Crux has begun to feel a newfound arrogance engraved into himself. An unconscious arrogance that stems from confidence. He might not know how powerful he is at the moment having only cleared his meridians, but he knows in the future, he will only grow stronger. However, he knows he can''t be outwardly arrogant until he becomes much, much stronger.


    Taking a deep breath, Crux walked up to the door and gave it a few knocks.


    After a few minutes went by, Crux was about to knock again before the door swung open. An old man who looked to be in his sixties, yet packed full of bulging muscles. Standing at 6''6", with a shiny bald head and a long grey beard, was the warden, Rover. When he opened the door, he seemed incredibly drowsy. But, when his eyes landed on Crux, his eyes immediately revealed disdain and anger as his palm went flying towards Crux''s face.


    Seeing a slap about to land on his face, Crux backpedaled out of the way with the palm that then began gliding past his nose. A cool breeze enveloped Crux''s face as the slap passed. Crux looked straight into the astonished eyes of the warden. Following his astonishment, the old man sent a punch straight towards Crux''s face with a grunt. Not expecting the warden to be so viscious, Crux, with no time to dodge, crossed his arms infront of his to block.


    Seeing Crux attempt to block, the old man''s gaze slightly wavered, but he then sneered and followed through with more power to his punch.


    With a loud bang, the fist landed as Crux was shot backwards ten feet before he found his feet sliding through the dirt. After balancing himself, Crux uncrossed his now stiffened arms and looked at the old man with narrowed eyes.


    In the back of Crux''s mind, Crux felt like the old man didn''t give it his all in the slightest, which worried Crux. Despite not giving it his all, when Crux blocked, he could still feel his bones nearly snapping from the pressure of that punch, giving him a lingering fear. However, despite that fear, Crux felt another emotion, excitement.


    Looking at the still standing Crux, Rover was completely astonished. The strength of that punch had the ability to incapacitate a newly advanced Lesser Knight. Yet, Crux, someone he had known for the past five years since he became a warden, who just recently would be slaughtered by the weakest of foot soldiers, just took it head on. He was actually afraid when he instinctively powered up his punch. He was extremely worried Crux would turn into mush. Yet, he seemed fine. ''Did this slave boy eat some treasure at the river when he fell unconscious or something? How could he be so strong now?'' he thought to himself. Never would he have imagined something like a Divine Demonic Technique to have fallen into Crux''s hands. After all, that would be absurd. Looking into Crux''s eyes, the man shivered for a moment. His mind seemingly afraid of the eyes before him. However, he immediately shut down that thought. ''I''m a peak Low Knight, this kid can''t possibly hurt me'' he thought to himself. Giving Crux a once over, the man pushed back all thoughts,


    "Brat, you skipped out on three days of work. Normally, I would have just given you extra chores... but, not today. Head to the sewers. Clean the Baron''s Manor''s sewage. I want it spotless by the end of the day." said Rover with a cheeky grin.

 Ch. 4 Direwolf

    With a loud thump, Crux toppled over onto his rock hard bed. After spending all day cleaning out sewage, he is completely exhausted. His nose had gone numb to the stench that was radiating off of his body.


    As he began to doze off, his nose began to loosen up. As he took a wiff of his body odor, Crux shot out of his bed without delay towards the river to wash off the filth.


    ...


    Having made it to the river once more, Crux whipped off his stained, tattered slave tunic and threw it to the side and jumped straight into the ice cold river.


    After bathing, Crux stood stalk still as he gazed at his reflection within the water. He was greeted by his usual slightly childish, rough face. Two little scars on his left eyebrow from past accidents, along with a mole an inch to the left of that same deep blue eye. Slightly tanned skin from working outside for the past ten years. However, his dried skin of old seemed to have gained a newfound moisture after clearing his meridians, removing the blackheads and blemishes that used to accompany his upright nose and cheeks. His long brown hair that reached straight down to his shoulders, one could say he looked quite handsome. If it weren''t for the circumstances, one could very well mistake him for a young noble of the Whitedrake Empire.


    All of a sudden, Crux watched as his face began to contort. His original tanned skin began to pale, his nose began to change shape and got slightly longer and pointier, his deep blue eyes changed color to a greyish brown, and his long brown hair began to shorten into a black haired quiff. The result of him activating the Truth Mask that he contracted that morning.


    With a satisfied smile, Crux walked over to his dirtied tunic. With a wave of his hand, the tunic disappeared. With a snap of his fingers, a black robe appeared within his hand. This was the black robe that was within the unlocked section of the Bloodsworn Ring.


    Slipping into the black robe, as Crux began to walk, the original black, long robe began to contort into a form fitting leather suit, resembling an assassin of the night.


    After giving a once over to his surroundings, Crux once more crossed the river to where he once met with the bloodied man. Taking a deep breath, Crux made his way into the depths of the forest in the dead of night.


    ...


    In Dhylia City, Baron Aschembre, whom could be considered Crux''s slavemaster, has his manor situated on the southeastern area side of Dhylia City. Crux''s slave quarters are outside the boundaries of the city walls, a few miles from the city gate.


    The river where Crux is is just south a mile from Crux''s shed. The opposite side of the river is the Forest of Thousand Beasts. Within the forest are multitudes of Magical Beasts, ferocious beasts that naturally absorb World Qi. Naturally, Dhylia City sends loads of patrols, adventurers, and mercenaries to keep the borders of the forest clear of dangerous beasts. The borders of the Forest of Thousand Beasts is conisdered the safe zone. However, if one were to trek deeper into the forest, uncountable amount of dangers are lurking within the dark.


    As of now, Crux has just past the safety zone of the Forest of Thousand Beasts. Since clearing his meridians, Crux hadn''t an idea of his true strength. He had taken a few hits from the warden, but he wasn''t sure how much power was in those hits. He also hadn''t been able to fight back.


    According to the Demonic Subduing Qi''s manual, the Clearing Meridians stage is simply setting a foundation for the cultivator, one''s strength will not spike explosively compared to the Cleansing Body stage, much less the Strengthening Body substages.


    However, with Crux''s complete lack of cultivation prior to cleansing his meridians, his strength still had an explosive leap. Prior to cultivating the Demonic Subduing Qi, Crux''s strength couldn''t hold up to the weakest of Foot Knights. Naturally, as a slave, Crux hadn''t been able to train in Inner Force much less be tested as a Mage.


    Thus, Crux had passed through the safe zone in the Forest of Thousand Beasts to find a level one Magical Beast to test his strength. In the Whitedrake Empire, as well as the whole Charel Continent which Whitedrake Empire is on, level one Magical Beasts'' have strength classified from Foot Soldier to Low Knight. Naturally, there are weak level one Magical Beasts as well as peak level one Magical Beasts, which have the same strength as a peak Low Knight, or a newly appointed Journeyman Mage.


    Since clearing his meridians the night before, Crux had been naturally absorbing World Qi into his body, sending the World Qi through his meridians to remove the impurities from his body, which is the Cleansing Body stage. Along with cultivation, Crux can consciously move the World Qi frantically through his body, to give himself an explosive power. Having only just started his cultivation journey, Crux hadn''t been able to absorb large amounts of World Qi. Therefore, the power is limited. However, Crux still came out of the safe zone to test what sort of power he can gain with the help of World Qi.


    Ever since leaving the safe zone, Crux had been on his highest guard. If he were to run into something he couldn''t handle, the chances of getting saved are close to null. Mercenaries and adventurers might be out and about, but the forest is massive, chances of running into someone else compared to running into a strong Magical Beast''s habitat, is much lower.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ...


    Standing with his back to a tree, Crux peered around the tree to silently watch an adolescent Direwolf two meters long and about three feet tall he''d been tailing for awhile now. Normally, Direwolves would hunt in packs. However, some adolescent Direwolves are sent away from the pack for experience. Direwolves are level one Magical Beasts within the forest, with the strength of Foot Soldier to King Direwolves being as strong as a High Knight.


    Crux estimated the adolescent Direwolf infront of him to have the strength of a middle level Lesser Knight. Currently, the Direwolf was feasting on a little rabbit it hunted down just recently. In the back of his mind, Crux wanted to just charge out immediately. But, he was still apprehensive do to not being sure if there were anymore Direwolves nearby. If he were to run into a Direwolf pack, he would be dead for sure.


    Taking a deep breath, Crux tightened his hand around the grip of a hatchet he snatched earlier near the lumberyard, he slowly made is way towards the back of the Direwolf.


    While feasting on its meal, the Direwolf''s senses were slightly dimmed down.


    Once Crux was within ten feet of the Direwolf, he abruptly shot out from within the underbrush, brandishing his hatchet high in the air. With World Qi swirling within his right arm that held the hatchet, Crux slashed down straight towards the spine of the Direwolf.


    Startled, the Direwolf swerved its head and opened its blood-filled maw and chomped straight toward Crux''s forearm, staring at Crux with blood red eyes full of anger.


    Crux, not expecting the Direwolf to react before his hatchet slammed down, wanted to immedately pull back his slash in fear of getting his arm ripped off by the Direwolf''s bloodied canines. As he was about to abruptly stop his attack, Crux felt a bit of World Qi unconsciously revolve towards his brain, restoring him to a never before state of calm.


    With his state of mind refreshed, instead of pulling his arm back and risking injury from stopping the force, Crux put forth every ounce of strength into the strike to follow through. ''Let''s see who gets hit first, shall we.''


    A loud crack sounded out, and blood splattered everywhere as the hatchet slashed through the Direwolf''s hard fur unimeded, and crushed its spine.


    With a whimper, the Direwolf''s bloodied maw abruptly shot down, one of its upper canines catching Crux''s bicep. As the Direwolf crashed down, its tooth left a long gash across Crux''s bicep.


    Hissing, Crux stumbled backwards letting loose his grip on the hatchet, still stuck in the Direwolf''s back as blood gushed out from his arm.


    Paralyzed, the Direwolf slumped to the ground and began to howl with every bit of strength it could gather.


    Crux''s expression immediately changed. He charged forward despite his arm going numb, and stomped down onto the throat of the dying Direwolf. World Qi gushing down into his leg, Crux''s foot crushed the Direwolf''s throat.


    The Direwolf''s howl was abruptly cut short. However, Crux could hear howls in the distance. Ignoring the gash on his arm, Crux dislodged his hatchet, and swung down, seperating the Direwolf''s head from its body. With a wave of his hand, the hatchet, along with the body and head of the Direwolf, disappeared into his Bloodsworn Ring.


    Covering his arm from dripping blood onto the ground, Crux darted with all of his strength towards the safe zone.


    ...


    Despite making it into the safe zone, the howling of Direwolves only got closer. The smell of their bretheren was all over Crux''s body. Panicing, Crux urged all of the World Qi within his body into his legs, to gather every ounce of power to escape towards the river.


    After running for a few miles, Crux was able to see the river just infront of himself. Swerving his head to look back, Crux''s pupils immediately contracted. A giant pitch black Direwolf was crashing through the trees barely a mile behind him. With a mile to the river, and a Direwolf mile behind him, Crux found himself not panicing, but rather excited.


    As the the excitement got to his head, Crux found the World Qi surrounding him begin to gush towards him. The Demonic Bloodsworn Ring began to revolve throughout his body, guiding the World Qi throughout every section of his body, removing the impurities throughout his body, as well as sending World Qi to heal his wound. However, Crux didn''t have the time to marvel in the wonders of cultivation.


    Half a mile away from the river, Crux''s arm gash had already scabbed over. However, the massive Direwolf was less than that away from him. However, Crux''s speed was only picking up. As World Qi continued to gush into his meridians, Crux only found himself growing stronger. As he grew stronger, Crux found himself wanting to even turn around and tussle a few rounds with the massive Direwolf. His will for battle abruptly shooting up. However, he could only shake away those thoughts. For he knew instinctively, that Direwolf would instantly kill him.


    As the idea of battling the Direwolf faded away, the World Qi slowly stopped gushing into his body. However, the river was just fifty feet away.


    Coughing up a black substance from his mouth, Crux dove straight into the river, hoping the Direwolf won''t chase him this far.


    Crux only resurfaced after counting out thirty seconds. After his hid resurfaced, Crux looked towards the shore from where he had dove into the water from. However, he didn''t see the Direwolf. As he began to listen closer, he heard the sounds of shouting, and loud bangs like trees crashing to the ground. However, Crux quickly deducted that that''s only normal. This is nearing the city, even almost out of the safe zone of the forest into populated territory. It''s only natural that the city was alerted and sent some guards.


    With curiousity getting the better of him, Crux pulled himself out of the water, and looked towards the trees from where the sounds of fighting were coming from.


    As he looked closer, he saw the body of the massive Direwolf, bloodied and mangled. Fire burning its fur, bloody gashes all over its body. Most frightening of all, a towering man stood before the decapitated head of the Direwolf holding a bloodied greatsword.


    Looking at this scene, Crux was completely dumbfounded. With water dripping from his clothes, Crux took a step forward to say something, but, as he opened his mouth to speak, exhaustion took over, and he slumped to the ground effortlessly.


    As he began to lose consciousness, his ears picked up a few muffled voices, and he felt someone''s soft hands supporting his back.


    Making the logical assumption that these people are helping him, Crux let himself drift off to sleep.