《Wanna play the game of your life?》 The Awakening ?Wanna play the game of your Life?¡° The voice came out of the light. A light so strong, that it transcended his whole being. Nothing could have been kept in the dark before this light. Just moments ago he has been incinerated by a crazy terrorist on his way to his god. And now he stood in the light and was been questioned like it was the most normal thing in the world. Was this the afterlife, heaven or perhaps nirvana? ¡°You''re dead. This you should''nt forget! But as it happens, you carrying a spark of divine power in you, just as some other of your people. This spark gives you the power to become an Avatar. That''s a being with the power to reincarnate itself. As such you can partake in the Game. It''s a chance to become more than you were before. A creator perhaps of your own small or maybe even bigger universe.¡± The voice was strangely not male or female, somewhere in between. Powerful, but not uncomfortable. ¡°This game is like the games you played before. I think, you would call it a MMORPG. You get power by solving quests, absorbing the power of your enemies, or just by existing long enough. If you die, you lose a portion of your power. By losing too much your divine spark dies out on you and your immortal soul with it, as long as you did not associate yourself mit a higher being. This excludes you unfortunately from becoming yourself such a being!¡± So you had to become a god or you search for a sponsor to get new chances. The choice was clear, if he wanted to play or not. Nobody wanted to bite the dust. ¡°I''m going to play! Sounds fun. But where exactly do I start the Game?¡± ¡°Do not make such a haste, young one! First some rules for dummies! Your old life is over and all your ties with it. No returning to family and scaring the shit out of them. Do not go Jesus on them!¡± ¡°If they happen to become Avatars themselves, then you can reconnect with them but not sooner. And yes this means that you live on earth for the next time. You will soon realize the endless potential of your future, even the possibility to travel to the stars. Avatars are a powerfull force, even at the beginning of their career. So what you do with your life depends only on you. But be warned that other Avatars or higher beings have their own goals and by disturbing them, you will be painting a targeting cross on your back. Almost all the big wars have been instigated by Avatars in their struggles for power. By forcing your hand in them, you could cross the path of people you don''t want to mess with! And if you get killed by an Avatar you lose much more power than by an usual mob, sorry I mean a mortal!¡± Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Could he hear a little bit of sarcasm here. ¡°Oh, I forgot to tell you, that the mortal world has a bad memory when it comes to Avatars. Just imagine what a mess it would be, if in the digital world every immortal could be traced back. You can even use your power to fasten this process. But this has a steep price so you should refrain from this in the beginning. For now I think, that I have said enough. Have fun with creating your Avatar and enjoy the Game!¡± Just as he wanted to say something the light vanished and he saw a humanoid being without a face and sex. Looking closer he had as only race the human standard but perhaps this could be changed some other time. He began with the creation of his Avatar. First he should be a man, clearly, and muscular but not to much Arnold Schwarzenegger. Good muscles but a lean build. Then he wanted to be around 1,85m high and now came the face. This was something difficult. He wanted to be good looking but not handsome like a Brad Pitt or David Beckham. A strong face, that gives the impression of being trustworthy. When he thought of the latest examples of modern Pop culture he remembered himself of Russel Crowe. Then he changed the eyes to a dark blue and removed the beard completely. Then the chin became somewhat smaller. And last but not least the hair became black as night. Finished with the looks he got to the attributes and he noticed that there were uncountable skills and talents but nothing like a standard rogue, mage or fighter. Instead the attributes ruled what you could become and learn. Looking to the attributes he could see strength, endurance, intelligence, dexterity, wisdom and luck. There were also secondary ones like speed, energy, stamina, health points and perception. All of these seemed to depend on the primary ones. Then the voice was back again. ¡°So, wow, I thought your looks would take longer! You have the chance to roll three times for your attribute points. When you died, you gathered the soul energy of all the people around you. See it as a little karma gift from the universe.¡± Then she was gone like she came. So, now he only had to discover if 20 points was much or less in regards to the 4 dices he could roll. After a second he shrugged with his not existing shoulders and rolled. ¡°FUCK!¡± Skills are troublesome There it was. The dices showed a 9 all together. So 20 was a nice number and now there was no way, that the next roll could be worse. and he could now see that the dices were ten-sided. ¡°NO WAY!¡± There was a 4. That¡äs the worst possible outcome you could get. So now a bit of fear crawled done the back of the young Avatar. One last try was everything he had left and if this one should also be a miss then he would be just a common human with some benefits and would need a long time to get beyond the line of superhumans. So the dices got a last chance for greatness, turning like crazy until they laid still. ¡°YES, now Fortuna does like me!¡± There was a 37 right before him and a big rock dropped from his heavy heart. With this he would be able to become a Avatar that could reach for the sky. Literally. Now, how should he distribute the points. First on his list was survivability. And for this he needed a lot of HP. Only way to get them was by increasing his endurance. For now he had a average 10 in all attributes and by increasing endurance to 20 he got 100 HP for a total of 200. Also he recognized an increase in his stamina by the same value. Just as he was thinking about his future, he remembered, he always wanted to be a sorcerer. There had to be a way for him for being a spellcaster of some sort because there was the resource of energy. Also high intelligence was a proven method for learning skills faster, also for spells hopefully. This has been the way in all the games, he had played. So 10 points went into intelligence, increasing his energy pool to 200 points. Just testing what a high wisdom could do, he also pumped 5 points into wisdom and watched his energy regeneration rise to 1,5 points per second. Not especially remarkable but he spotted his perception rising 2 points. Now there were only left strength, dexterity and luck. He was always somebody who favored a smooth body against pure power, so strength had to lose in the decision. Also luck was a very helpful way to get better loot in games. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. So he increased his dexterity for 8 points and his luck for 4. The young avatar recognized a increase in his speed by 4 meters per second for a total of 14. Now he could run Usain Bolt ito the ground and go olympic. Thinking of his increased stamina there was a good chance for going for a world record in classic Marathon. A look for his encumbrance showed him that he could carry 25 kg in easy and 50 kg in heavy encumbrance. There was much to be left for future development. Especially if you looked at his body. He had the looks of a Spartan warrior but could lift like a girl. Shame on him if this kept the way it was now. When he ended the play with his attributes a new window with his skills came into view. From his former life he rescued some of his hard earned abilities but he wasn¡ät impressed at all. He had Apprentice level in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, also Master in the languages German and English, but only Basic in Latin. He could also cook, assemble computers, write and play as an Apprentice, but for what this could be relevant he had no idea. And last but not least in the Basics he could tinker with toilets, electric cables and furniture. He was impressed that he made it to Apprentice in Bows and Sword fighting, so his training in this part had not been in vain. But his knowledge in foreign myths, cultures and rituals was just in the Basics. His best skills seemed to be left overs from his school time. He had biology and history as an advanced skill. So he could keep somebody alive to tell him that Adolf Hitler was the biggest asshole in history. By examining his skill list he discovered that he had 50 points left for investing in new skills. The price list was also there. 1 point for a skill in the Basic level and doubling for each new category. So there was Basic, Beginner, Apprentice, Journeyman, Advanced, Ascended, Master, Legend and Deity. So after thinking it over, he could advance one skill to Advanced or a bunch to a lesser degree. First victim If he wanted to be a sorcerer, he had to look for magical skills. On his search through the endless list he discovered the good old meditation, which increased his energy and stamina regeneration. Also there were ritual knowledge, casting technique, elementary knowledge for all the known elements like earth, water, fire, air, mind and ether. To top it off there was summoning of demons, ghosts and archons. But this was something that was not in his preferred direction. As he was looking through the list he recognized a skill called spirit sense. In the description you could read that it let you sense any active spirits and souls in your near region, meaning everything that was able to think in a way. Now there was really a way to testify if politicians had more brain than 100 meter country road. But he could see the use of such a skill in more than one way. So he chose Beginner in meditation, air, water, fire, earth, mind and ether. But because he wanted to be a reliable caster he put more in casting technique and let it rise to Journeyman. It didn¡ät make him a powerful sorcerer but his spells would have a really tiny chance to misfire. Known from many stories and games mages were not the most skilled frontliners in combat, and so the young avatar had to invest some skill in close combat. He had his skill with swords but it was near impossible to conceal a sword in public, so he chose knife fighting as a Apprentice skill. Just imagine somebody attacking him and then SURPRISE! Poor enemy gets cut into filets. Regarding his last skill points he chose sneaking and the most common languages on the planet as Basic skills: Arabian, Chinese, Russian and Spanish. After thinking about his foreseeable future on planet earth as an immortal he understood that being able to speak with most people would be a big advantage to avoid misunderstandings in speech and action. Just when he ended his skill selection he got a new window that told him that he got a special ability for his special kind of death. It was called soul catcher and to his anger there was no description of this particular power. He hoped that this did not mean, he would become some kind of demon snatching the souls of people and monsters alike. This was not the future he envisioned for himself. Now he had only one window open. The name he wanted to call his own for the rest of eternity. It was not really a big problem for him because he used the same name in almost every game he ever played. And so he called himself Iranueel! You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.With a flash of light he appeared in a park. Looking in every direction he could see that was in an asian town after seeing many buildings with typical chinese roofs. You could see the city expanding some kilometres in every direction reaching to the ocean. So he got stranded in a big city in asia with nothing more than a knife and clothes on his body. By examining his pants he discovered also 100 dollars. Not much to call his own but he was an immortal so time wasn¡ät an issue. By examining the small park he discovered a pond in the center where he could see a transparent being floating a hand above the water. It seemed to not have taken notice of him so Iranueel took a closer look. It seemed to be a kind of ghost. When he tried his spirit sense he got the impression that this being was only a minor threat for him. So it was the perfect testing ground for his first use of magic. As a ghost physical attacks would not do any good. So Iranueel chose to use lightning for his first test subject. He imagined electricity running down his arm and jumping over to his target. Iranueel didn¡ät need to speak words or use complicated hand gestures. His high casting technique did make it possible for him to be a silent caster. Static lightning rose from his left arm and then stroke directly to the offenseless ghost. It seemed to be stunned for a moment and then screaked in a high pitch. Wobbling it came closer. Iranueel used the time to rise his right hand too and fire a continuous arc of lightning in his victim which tried to get out of the way of destruction. But for such a low creature there was no way to escape and so it got caught in the electrical discharging. After only 5 seconds it perished with a small scream. In the moment it died Iranueel felt his power rise. He was now level 2 but the fight left a bad aftertaste in his mouth. The ghost wasn¡ät a worthy enemy but only victim of chance. After thinking for a moment Iranueel decided that was better than just killing a homeless man in cold murder to check his power. After checking his mana he saw that he had not even used a thenth of his energy pool and even that regenerated fast. So he was good to go for his next fight. Curious he searched the park for more mobs to rise in level. Using his spirit sense he feeled a weak presence in the north of him only some 50 meters away. Iranueel only shrugged with his shoulder and thought: ¡®Easy experience is good experience¡¯ First loot If it was just as easy to level in the near future, it would be a real good start to grind for a while and get a safety cushion in case he got killed. If this world was some kind of game then he had to be careful with choosing his enemies. Turning north he tried to sneak his way into some bushes to avoid being seen by his next victim. But after getting stuck in some branches he had to let this idea get away. Going back on the path he tried to find a way to keep being unseen which wasn¡ät so hard after the way made a slight curve to the west. The place where his next opponent rested was surrounded by high bushes with dangerous looking spikes. Iranueel was not in the mood to get his new clothes ruined, so he kept on the way and prepared his attack. By focussing on fire he visualized a small ball of fire in his right hand. After a moment he could see the flame come to life. It had a weakyellow colour and seemed not very strong to him, as if a strong wind could extinguish it. He send more energy into the flame and watched it getting bigger und changing to a bright blue. Iranueel heard suddenly a fizzle from the place right around the corner and a moment later a small creature came running. Its skin was some kind of bark like substance and standing only 1 meter high it gave a downright nasty impression when it opened its mouth filled with razor sharp teeth off polished hardwood. When the little tree creature saw him it immediately attacked him with uplifted arms and opened claws. Just 5 meters away from Iranueel it did not have much way to make. But Iranueel was prepared and cast his bright fireball at the enemy. Only that this small menace was faster than he had anticipated. It jumped to right just a moment before the fire could make contact with its bark and rolled on the floor. Then it jumped up directly at Iranueel with opened mouth and screeched loud. He evaded fast by stepping three steps back and focused the fire back in a steady stream of destruction. The fire shot from his fingers and caught the wooden demon right into the chest. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Furious and neglecting his own defense it attacked the young avatar. Fast and nimble it clawed Iranueel and hit his outstretched arms, leaving a bloody mark. He fought for control of his spell after feeling the pain. Although he set the small creature on fire, it didn¡ät try to get get away from him. Instead it seemed to be determined to take him with it in the grave. A little bit suicidal. Ending his spell Iranueel kicked the monster, trying to get some space for his next attack. It flew back landing on its back and rolling to extinguish the fire in the same move. Iranueel focused his magic in the earth right under it and made shackles from stone encasing the small legs of the creature. Pure rage filled the eyes of the monster as it sensed its cemented ankles. It wailed like crazy when Iranueel concentrated again his magic into a steady stream of fire to burn its body in a pile of ash. After the fight he stood silent for a moment and watched the park for activity. The fight was not silent and he would have to leave fast if there was a indication for the next battle right after. But he could hear nothing and his spirit sense did not show any presence. Looking back to his fallen enemy he saw 2 small acorns lying on the floor. Curious he picked them up and examined them. He could sense magical energy in them and he was sure that he could use them as a kind of arcane battery. Grinning about his first loot he turned to leave the park in search of a safe place to stay. ¡°Nice fight young mage! I did not think you would search so fast for a challenge but you see me corrected. I just forgot to tell you something about your special power young man and then I will leave you alone!¡± __________________________________________________________________ would be nice if you would give some feedback because english is not my first language A Goddess as teacher! He turned around to discover a young and astonishingly beautiful woman with pointed ears and blond hair eyeing him up. Standing 1,70 meter high she couldn¡ät quite look him straight in the eyes but the power in these said him to not anger her. ¡°Now, young avatar, I am quite impressed with your first fights. You acted faster than most and this is quite promising. I did not get your settings for powers but it seems you are going for the mage way. And you havent¡ät missed the importance on enough health also. Seems to me you played a fair part of games in your former life.¡± She grinned with flawless teeth and came a bit closer. ¡°My name is Arya and I am a goddess of another planet. Nobody wants a premature influence on fletching avatars so it is the duty of otherworldly gods to teach new ones the ways of the game. As you can see, i¡äm an elven goddess. Perhaps some time in the future you will visit my home turf and we can have a little chat about your adventures. It¡äs the only disadvantage as a god to leave the life as an adventurer behind with all its glory. Sometimes I miss these times!¡± Arya seemed in thoughts for a moment before coming back to the here and now. ¡°Nonetheless I have to instruct you on your special power as a soul catcher. Yo have to be really careful to not let any god on this world get a clue on this ability because it gives you the same power like myself to sponge on souls either with their consent or not when you kill your victims. You can make contracts with unbound mortals and avatars alike but as you do, be careful with whom you choose such a ligation. I can promise you a short life if any god on this planet gets information about it. Your planet is a little bit overcrowded with gods and goddesses for my liking!¡± She walked to a small boulder and sat down on it. ¡°Also your power enables you to revive any soul bound to you. You can even resurrect them as avatars which is something that is forbidden for any gods. It¡äs a rule that no one will ever break because the backlash of the universe is really serious. The last one to try his luck disappeared in a black hole never to be heard again.¡± Then she stare harshly at Iranueel. ¡°By the way, this reminds me that I am the only one that knows of your power!¡± Her look was calculating as she examined him. Iranueel swallowed hard as fear for his very life hardened his gut. ¡°You don¡ät have to fear me, dear. You are worth a fortune for me because with your power you can do amazing things for me. And I am always paying my debts in full. There is someone in my sphere of influence back home that could use to get a promotion to an avatar somewhere in the future. She shows big promise to me, but she is also very young for her people and so you have much time to grow and grind the necessary levels for making her an avatar!¡± Now real interest showed on Iranueels face. And a bit of greed, just a little. ¡°Hah, I can see it on your face. Now we¡äre talking!¡± Energetic she jumped up and walked to him. Stopping right before him, she stared in his eyes. ¡°I will make you an offer you can''t refuse!¡± A smirk appeared on her face. ¡°I always wanted to say this phrase! The best sentence ever in my opinion!¡± Iranueel had his doubts about her choice of entertainment! She seemed to had sensed his feelings about her hobbies. ¡°What?! The entertainment industry of your world is amazing! I don¡ät think there is a single planet in this galaxy as interesting as yours in this special part of mental distraction! It is one of the best selling products that your hillbilly world has to offer.¡± With that said she returned to her boulder. ¡°Now listen closely! I will save your life should you die too often. But only if you do not die willingly angering some bigshots knowing I will save you. And I will offer you a seed to build your own demisphere to collect your souls there for gathering energy!¡± The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Iranueel sloped his head and looked sceptical. ¡°I have no idea how precious a seed is!¡± ¡°Ok, I will give you a hint! You need first 500 levels worth of power to even buy this power, and this is only when it¡äs in your choice of selectable powers. True, you can change this selection, but this comes with a cost. I can give you a seed now without you having first the necessary levels and the available power!¡± Iranueel thought hard about this offer. ¡°I don¡ät think, that it¡äs a good idea to give me the seed now! Correct me if I am wrong, but is this seed possible to be detected by other gods?¡± She nodded cautious and seemed in thoughts for a moment. ¡°You are right. It could provoke unwanted attention to your person if someone sensed it and also knows about your new status as an avatar! So let me keep this power on retention for the time being. When you are powerful enough we will resume this chat! Now let us come to teaching you about using this wonderful ability of yours.¡± With this she walked to the small pile of ash on the ground. ¡°Concentrate on this place and try to sense the residue of your latest enemy!¡± Iranueel looked at the place and tried to sense anything at the place. After a moment he felt a kind of connection. And after that he could see a faint golden sphere hovering half a meter above the ground. Seeing his enlightment Arya grabbed him and pulled him to the small globe. ¡°Now reach out your hand and put it right in the center of the sphere and absorb it!¡± Doing as said Iranueel reached out and tried to pull the energy in. He felt a slight sensation when the golden light began to lessen. It was almost sexual exciting when the power flowed into him. With a satisfied look Arya nodded and went back to her boulder. ¡°Good! I think you saw the sphere being golden?¡± Iranueel nodded curious. ¡°This means the soul being unaffiliated to any bigger power. Meaning that there will be no repercussions if you take it. Any other colour means game on! Only go this way when you want to reveal yourself and your power to the world!¡± She had now a teacher like look on her pretty face. ¡°Next lesson! You can also absorb an avatar when his power is weak enough to die permanently. Also if you have some kind of contract with him and he dies unfortunately. Reviving him will cost you about 10 levels, so you have to keep a safety cushion for yourself! Reviving a mortal soul to a normal mortal life will cost you only 5 levels, but then you have to give a good explanation for this special occasion. And as an avatar will cost minimum 50 levels depending on how much power you want to give the new avatar for his start!¡± Now this was some serious energy for him at the moment. On the other hand he could get a loyal partner for his future, so perhaps it was an good investment. ¡°I can hear you thinking! Don¡ät do this on earth! Every god here will know what you did faster than you watching an episode of Star Treck!¡± Apparently this goddess knew her shit! ¡°Now the next lesson! You can invest your levels in new powers or strengthen your body or just rise your level for safety. I recommend first to get a minimum of 60 levels for starters to be safe. If you acquire a new power it always starts as Basic. Only by starting as a new avatar you can rise your talents further. And when you die, and believe me, you will die often, you lose a small part of your knowledge and a bit more when you are killed by an avatar. The other way around gives a slight more power also so try to keep on the winning side!¡± She stood again and saluted him grinning. ¡°Now it¡äs time for good bye! Keep cool and stay alive! And never forget to have fun. Eternity is waiting!¡± ___________________________________________________________ Had a long day full of stress and tried to relief some of it by writing a bit and to fix your needs! ;) Its a dark place Iranueel stared for a moment at the place where Arya stood and disappeared before he turned with shrug of his shoulders and followed the path to leave the park. It was getting darker with every minute. The park was surrounded by small old buildings that got gradually larger the farther away from the small green oasis. All of them had seen better days and gave a dark and hard feeling. Standing at the entrance to the park Iranueel saw a narrow street left and right and a dirty alley right before him. The smell was not so strong to get disturbing so he chose the follow the alley deeper into the shadows. Perhaps there were other opportunities to earn some fast levels. When he was some 80 meters into the path he smelled some blood in the air. Getting extra careful he checked the proximity with his spirit sense but now that he was in the buildings there was too much interference to determine clear dangers. Guarded he sneaked closer to the smell that seemed to come from behind a big and empty waste container. He drew his knife and prepared an earth spell in his left hand in the form of a small metallic spike levitating above his hand. Iranueel took a quick glance around the corner and saw a man with multiple bleeding holes in the chest. They seemed to be caused by a knife. After detecting no imminent danger from the unmoving man Iranueel got closer to examine him. The blood had stopped to flow and the chest of the man didn¡¯t show any movement and after checking the pulse at the fallens throat Iranueel was sure that he was dead. Shortly thinking he began to search the dead for his belongings. Iranueel needed desperately money and perhaps a better weapon. By feeling for any of these he sensed that the jacket seemd kind of armoured. Iranueel took it of and checked for the size. Whoever killed the man had opened the jacket to get to the unarmoured chest. Not that Iranueel wanted to complain about it. It was a near perfect match for him. A little bit tight at the shoulders but better than being unprotected. He could now see holster right under the dead mans left shoulder but unfortunately it was empty. The mugger had apparently taken the weapon for himself. Iranueel looked for clues on the ground to determine the size of the attacker. But the missing light in the alley made the search not very productive. Looking back to the now plundered man Iranueel decided to destroy any clues about his own appearance. He walked back and used his flamethrower spell to burn the man to ashes. He didn¡¯t expect the disgusting smell of burning human flesh but endured it to the end. After that he waited a bit for his mana to fill up, all the while watching the alley for any activity. Iranueel looked for the soul fragment of the man and after a few seconds he could see a ever weaker becoming blue sphere that disappeared just seconds after he discovered it. Not that he was interested in absorbing it. He was eager to rise his level but he wasn¡¯t stupid. He stood silent in the alley when he suddenly hear fast steps running in his direction. Sneaking behind the waste container Iranueel waited for what ever was coming his way. It didn¡¯t take long for the person to run around the corner into the alley. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The person came from the other end of the street, deeper into the city. Whoever it was, did not make a lot of noise and seemed to had a light build. The light in the street was weak and it was hard to see anything other than a big shadow at the opposite wall. Impossible to say if the person was male or female. He could now hear hard breathing. Iranueel got ready to fight on a moments notice if necessary. Just as the person was to pass his hiding place, he could hear somebody shout from the end of the alley in Chinese. ¡°Stop! I ¡­. shoot if you don¡¯t surrender!¡± Iranueel got the gist of what was said. The fleeing person jumped now right to his place and was quite surprised to see somebody already there. He saw a young asian woman with a scared look in the eyes and a bloody knife in her left hand. She didn¡¯t wait long after taking a look at his new jacket and tried to gut him where he kneeled. A bullet hit the waste container where she had been a moment before. Iranueel noticed only the weak noice of a silencer when the weapon fired, but he now had another urgent problem right before him. The woman striked with fast and obviously experienced movements and he had real problems to deflect the approaching knife to his right side. ¡°Idiot! I¡¯m not your enemy!¡± Iranueel pressed between his teeth while trying to get out of the way of the attacker. Now more bullets hit the container trying to lay a kind of suppressing fire. The woman seemed to reconsider her actions for a moment. ¡°Why do you have this jacket?¡± she hissed at him. ¡°I found a guy with it and thought, it would be a nice addition to my wardrobe. By the way, he had some holes in his chest!¡± And with that he took a obvious look to her threatening knife. She got the gist of it. ¡°The guy tried to kill me! The same as the one peppering us now. I can offer you a good reward for helping me. And by the way, if you don¡¯t, he will try to kill you anyway!¡± Iranueel made a face at the thought of not having any choice. His look got to a wound on her shoulder that just closed right before his eyes. She seemed to be more than the eye could see. Making a decision he concentrated lightning in his hands, getting a surprised look from the young woman. Then he rolled fast out of his hiding place and took aim at his new and irritated enemy. The man saw the jacket and hesitated just a moment to long when Iranueel let loose hell on him. A lightning arc hit him straight to the chest and made him spasm. He lost his weapon as his body couldn¡¯t control its motions anymore because Iranueel continued his attack in the best Star Wars style. The woman wasn¡¯t hesitating either. She ran to the man and in the moment Iranueel stopped his electrical massacre he moved her knife around the throat oh her enemy. Blood erupted the same moment but with a fast movement she got out of the way. Then turning her back to the dying man she stared at Iranueel. ¡°Let¡¯s talk! Seems to me, we have a story to tell!¡± A new dangerous ally I would appreciate it if any of you would rate my story and give me a bit of feedback! Thank you for your time;) _______________________________________________________ The street was unnatural silent after the fight. It seemed that nobody wanted to check what was going on in his neighbourhood. This told Iranueel all he needed to know in which part of the city he was located. Examining the woman he saw many pleasing things. She had long slim legs, a classic hourglass figure and full but not to big breasts. Her face was more Japanese than Chinese with high cheek bones and dark brown eyes. And she had the most amazing black hair he ever saw. It seemed to have starts shining in it. ¡°Are you done?¡± said the young woman with a mocking grin. ¡°I think, introductions would be indicated. My name is Misako Ayano and as you seemed to have noticed i¡¯m an avatar as yourself! And thank you for your help. I was in a real predicament. These guys don¡¯t give up until their prey is dead. But for now I should have a little breather.¡± She came closer and hid her knife with an unconscious motion in her clothes. Misako wore mostly black things. Jeans, leather boots, jacket and t-shirt. She took a curious glance at Iranueel. ¡°Oh ah yeah, sorry, my name is Iranueel and thanks for not attacking any further. I happened to go my way when I discovered a guy with some holes in him and liked his jacket. So I just took what he didn¡¯t need anymore. No hard feelings from you, I think?¡± She shook her head and pointed to the other dead guy. ¡°Take what you need from him and then let¡¯s go to a more pleasant place. I should have some days of peace for now. The usually take 2 to 3 days before the start their hunt again!¡± Iranueel was a little bit irritated after her statement. ¡°What did you do for getting hunted like that?¡± She shrugged with her shoulders and made a sad face. ¡°I took an offer from the government and got betrayed by some friends. I tried to smuggle some things to south korea and the local mobsters thought they should have their cut for it. I refused and now I¡¯m on their black list!¡± ¡°You refused and now you have a killer squad on you? Sorry, but what exactly is your way of refusing?¡± A predatory smirk appeared on her beautiful face. ¡°I told the guy to get lost or get shot! He stayed and got a bullet between the eyes. Unfortunately he was the son of one of the local triad high ups. That caused this problem. I didn¡¯t know that the boss here is an avatar himself. After that I died 15 times and without your help just now I would have died permanently. Thanks a lot for that.¡± Iranueel broke into cold sweat. He didn¡¯t want to get this much problems right after the start with the local underworld. ¡°How big is the chance that the locals will not notice my involvement in your little skirmish?¡± She took a look at the dead guy. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°He is a fried chicken! You could disintegrate him right at the spot. They know that I¡¯m not a magician, so they will know that another avatar is involved but if you can destroy the body completely, you have a chance to get by without any further problems.¡± Iranueel went to the guy and checked his soul globe. Grinning he saw that the guy had a golden colour. Taking the energy into himself he then started his fire streaming from his hands to disguise the energy spike wandering to his heart. Misako observed him suspicious. She sensed something strange for a moment but she didn¡¯t inquire what was going on. After Iranueel reduced the guy into a pile of ash he used some earth magic to fuse the remnants with the street. ¡°You are some resourceful mage it seems. I don¡¯t think that any magical connections remains after this. Perhaps now I have some days more time for my escape. I would like to get your support in exchange for money or information.¡± She came to his side and looked into his eyes. ¡°I know you are new in the business. You trust much to fast. I won¡¯t try to get one on you as a thank you for my rescue. I will help you instead to survive your first steps into the world. You have an interesting set of skills it seems. And I could use an ally like yourself to get out of town. There is a place where an old acquaintance of mine is waiting and he owes me. Perhaps he can take us to a safer location and in the same time I can teach you the rules! What do you say?¡± Iranueel reflected shortly about her offer and it seemed genuine. He needed insider information. The danger of her company was surely not to be underestimated but on the other hand stood a wealth of knowledge he could use in his own survival. And he got a nice power boost from the dead guy. Level 9 in one go and that on the first day. ¡°How many levels does it cost to revive?¡± ¡°Oh it depends how powerful you are. As long as you are under level 200 you lose only 5 levels and some knowledge, after that it gets more and more expensive. And when an avatar kills you the penalty doubles.¡± She now went right before him and offered her hand for a shake. ¡°So would you like to party with me?¡± Iranueel took her hand and felt in the same moment Misako overall condition. Her health, mana and location. ¡°That was my next lesson! Try to make parties with mortals and immortals alike. So you can always sense when somethings goes downhill! And you can also exchange messages with other awakened beings like avatars or magical creatures. Just think of somebody and formulate your message and then send it.¡± Iranueel tried to say hi to Misako and got the same back a moment later. He could see a small window in his vision down left. ¡°Nice! Just like a MMO!¡± ¡°I think, I never played them. Life is enough for me. So let¡¯s get going before the people in this place decide to call the police after all!¡± She turned and walked deeper into the city. Oath taker Please tell me your opinion of my story so far, and if you have any ideas you would like to see implemented. _______________________________________________ Iranueel followed her after some seconds reflecting if he should this trouble magnet, but she seemed to be a fun to be around and so he decided to walked the same way for a while. He walked by her side and watched the surrounding area closer for any potential enemies. ¡°So what¡¯s your next step? Trying to get out of town is obvious but where to? I mean, the world is a big place, so where exactly are you or should I say, we, go?¡± Misako looked to him with a mischievous smile. ¡°So you will follow me? That¡¯s nice! Really! It has been some time since I had someone other than my goons follow me. They have always been somewhat silent, you know! By the way, my first power is to raise dead. I was really good before this death game of my bill. But now, I can start from scratch. On the other hand I know the drill already for getting my powers back.¡± She stared into the air and was kind of melancholic for some seconds. ¡°I lost quite a good portion of my friends after I went for the necromancer route. Perhaps I should take another way for the future.¡± Iranueel nodded quite enthusiastic. ¡°Please do that! I hate the Undead! I always said, only a destroyed undead is a good one! Perhaps you could do some summoning? It would also help to distract your enemies from your track. Necromancer have a way to raise suspicion, you know!¡± She scowled to him and put a raised finger into his face. ¡°To raise dead isn¡¯t something bad in itself. I used the power for getting last messages to surviving members of family in my old days. But after some time my services got used ever lesser and people got scared of me, so I had to leave my hometown and went on a journey!¡± She turned and walked to a restaurant on the other side of the street. Iranueel could see that its main dish were any kind of noodles. But its outer appearance didn¡¯t tell of high sanitary standards. Misako walked to the door and took a fast look around and entered. He followed her closely. The room had many niches with old used red leather couches and metal tables. And some of the windows had cracks in them. One even had a bad looking bullet hole in it. The red leather of the couch had a deeper shade of colour than the others. Iranueel took a closer look at the place and saw a golden sphere. As inconspicuous as possible he took the energy into himself after sitting exactly at the spot. Misako looked alarmed and watched him alerted. ¡°I know, you did something just now, but I don¡¯t know what! There was a short rise of ambient power leaking from you. We just met and I know I have no right to inquire any further if you do not want to share your powers but I noticed that your level rose by almost two levels!¡± Iranueel was now level 15 after all and after concentrating on Misako he could see her level of awesome 2. So she really didn¡¯t have the power to revive herself. He contemplated for some seconds and opened his mouth to say something when he was interrupted. ¡°What do you want to drink and eat?¡± Surprised he looked to his side. The waitress had sneaked up to him without causing tzhe slightest noise. Misako didn¡¯t seem to be intrigued, so he tried to be as cool as possible. Hs companion didn¡¯t make any signs of ordering for herself so he made his choices. Stolen story; please report. ¡°Just bring us some Coke and the dish of the day for starters!¡± The woman nodded and walked to the counter. Iranueel watched her for some seconds and then looked back to Misako. ¡°I will tell you the reason for this increase in level if you take a blood oath to keep my secret for yourself! Just to be clear, the oath will make sure to kill you permanently if you reveal anything about my special power!¡± Misako seemed shocked and reflected for almost half a minute about her answer. Her curiosity was obvious. ¡°Ok?! Now I¡¯m really intrigued! If I would take the oath, are there some benefits in for me?¡± Iranueel smirked and nodded. ¡°Hell yeah, but you would be bound to me after it!¡± She grinned malicious. ¡°I see, you are some kind of disciple of Magnus trying to get my lovely ass! And after completing a quest to rescue me he gave your reward!¡± She emanated an ice-cold aura and Iranueel could see her hands moving to the place where she hid her knife. He raised his hands bewildered. ¡°Who is Magnus? And i¡¯m definitely no ones follower! Believe me, I am just a starter avatar trying to defend his secrets!¡± Cautious she watched his every movement. ¡°This might be the truth but I have to be certain! This lecherous idiot of a half-deity tries to get me since almost half a century. I will check your aura for any traces of his influence. If you do anything funny I will try to kill you immediately, you understand?¡± Iranueel gulped and gave a short nod as answer. He sensed something touch his mind and pressure against it. It wasn¡¯t invasive and not unpleasant so he didn¡¯t try to block it. Misako seemed content and he could see her stress level declining. ¡°You appear to be clean of Magnus influence, but you have a real odd aura. There is a touch of power in it I have only seen by observing gods. You are a real enigma, but a nice one as far as my senses reach!¡± She made a serious face and said. ¡°I will take the oath to protect your secret and never reveal it to anyone without your consent. If I should break my oath, I will die immediately and permanent!¡± After vowing the oath she took a fast cut with her knife into her hand and reached out with it to Iranueel. ¡°I take your oath as presented and will help you with my power as long as you do nothing unreasonable to endanger me!¡± Iranueel toke his own knife and also made a cut into his hand and then took Misakos hand and shaked it. He felt a powerful jolt shaking his very being and knew that the oath was accepted by the powers that are. Misako put on a joyful face and grinned like she just got the first price in the lottery. ¡°Now I am really curious what secret is necessary to be protected by such an oath!¡± Iranueel smiled somewhat uneasy. ¡°I possess the power to revive you the same way any god would do with his followers. But I am no god as you can see clearly. If any of them knows of my ability, they will try anything to get me killed for good!¡± Misako was shocked beyond reason. ¡°Holy shit! Now that¡¯s something! We will have to get of town as fast as possible now. Preferably to a place where no one is listening at every corner. Seems I have gotten the fat chance this time!¡± Life is mad Hey there! Sorry for the long wait but i had to find some inspiration and after my 40th birtday the headche had to declline a bit also! :) Enjoy and comment plaese a bit because it''s my fodder for writing! ______________________________________________________ Iranueel thought for a moment and looked Misako straight into the face. ¡°There is a possibility to get your enemies lost for good. But I know that you will not like it very much!¡± Cautious and distrustful Misako frowned for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m ready to take some quite serious actions to get them off my track. So if you suggest what I think, then I will need another blood oath from you. Don¡¯t take me for a fearful person but there is too much for me to lose, if you don¡¯t get me back on my feet after we have left the town!¡± He nodded and grinned that it seemed his face split in two. ¡°I will kill and absorb you, then revive you after say a week! This should be enough for anyone to get of your track and believe in your death. Perhaps we should do it near some triad guys to make it more realistic!¡± ¡°Believe me, if I have to die, then it will be showy and everyone will notice it! How long after the death of my body can you revive me?¡± Now Iranueel was for a loss of words. ¡°I¡¯m not sure myself. First time doing it. Perhaps we should experiment a bit with some animals? Or some guys with questionable character and who will not be missed a lot? I mean, there have to be some guys in this town, that need to get downed!¡± ¡°Haha, I like your style. Yes, I know some of those! Tried my best, to never get into contact with them, but I know where they have their base. Nobody will miss them and in fact we will do some good by kicking their butts.¡± The waitress came back with their order and for the next 5 minutes only noises of eating and slurping of noodles could be heard. Iranueel enjoyed his first original asian food. He had to admit that nobody in his former life made such tasty noodles for him and smiled friendly to the waitress. She blushed nearly at once. Misako watched the scene. ¡°Such a ladykiller! With your looks you could lay the girl with no problems at all. But believe me, where she comes from, there are thousands alike. Search for some girls in your league if you want to enjoy bed sports to the fullest!¡± Iranueel nearly chocked on his meal and stared angry at Misako. ¡°If this should be an offer, then I politely decline. All I wanted, was to let her know, that I appreciate the food and nothing else.¡± Smiling and a little bit pouty his counterpart leaned back on the couch and watched him careful. ¡°It was not an offer, only good advice. I am a little bit too old for you even though I had better days. What I meant, never bed a mortal girl for more than a one-night stand. They die much too fast and will leave too much pain in their wake. Believe me, I know what I¡¯m talking about!¡± He could see some old pain in her dark eyes and her look was somewhere in the past it seemed. She spoke only after a minute again, and Iranueel didn¡¯t try to say anything until then. ¡°Now, just take this advice to heart and get yourself a nice immortal girl. Perhaps you have some luck and can score with an elven maid visiting earth for sightseeing. If you happen to discover one, you can be sure that she will be an avatar herself. Only our kind visits earth. After all, we humans are not the very best hosts where aliens are concerned!¡± The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Curious Iranueel raised one eyebrow. ¡°Don¡¯t Spock me! Area 51 is not for show! Some idiots couldn¡¯t control their flight path and slammed into a mountain in the USA some decades ago. I heard the guys there try to decrypt the technology since that time. And even the fact that our power as avatars to make people forget about us wasn¡¯t enough to put this matter to rest. Now the Americans try to get the technology cracked but they have no chance with that. If it isn¡¯t possible to make them forget about some UFO then at least they will never solve its riddles. That¡¯s the way it is here on earth!¡± ¡°But I know there are other worlds out there where everybody knows about avatars!¡± exclaimed Iranueel. ¡°You think you know! As far as I know, nobody ever came back from space to give some antics about his life out there. Only some other species. But they said, that they saw humans and their avatars on other planets roaming around. So maybe there is some kind of barrier stopping anyone human coming back to earth to share his knowledge. I don¡¯t know and I don¡¯t care for heaven¡¯s sake! If I got the chance to leave earth, I will take it.¡± Iranueel watched Misako nodding and leaned back. ¡°Ok! But we have other problems to be solved first. I think, we should search for some bad guys that are not hard to kill and experiment with them a little bit. After that, there comes your big showdown and then we leave the place. But where to? I¡¯m not from this region and I don¡¯t have enough money or a passport to leave the country. That¡¯s something for you to solve! My part in this venture is to rescue your sorry ass when the shit hits the fan!¡± ¡°Nice from you! Just leave all the hard work for the poor little woman and enjoy your life as a macho!¡± Snorting Iranueel replied. ¡°Poor and little my ass! You killed two men in cold blood and wanted to gut me also. I¡¯m just a noob here so for this operation you¡¯re the main actor. Let me watch and learn. In your long life you have to have learned the one or the other trick! I will learn and help as good as possible but it¡¯s your ass on the platter here not mine. So where will we go after this little adventure if you want to try my way of dealing with this mess?¡± Misako fell silent and thought for some time eating the rest of her meal and looking outside every now and then. Iranueel watched the other side of the watchable surroundings and tried to discover any discrepancies. It was dark out now and nightlife began to fill the street. He could see some couples walking and entering cabs. An old wife walking her dog. Iranueel never saw anybody in her age carrying such a big bag with her. You could have hidden some serious weaponry in it and had enough left for any womanly needs. Misako recognized his look and turned around to see what spiked his interest. ¡°Fuck! We have to leave! Now!¡± Misako stood and made a bee line for the kitchen door before Iranueel had a chance to react. A look back to the granny left him speechless. The hag drew something big out of her bag, much bigger than the bag itself and it resembled alarming a rocket launcher. He tried his best to follow Misako now. Some screams could be heard outside. Seems, the night would become lively again. Iranueel knew that Misako would be trouble, but life became a damn action movie since he met her and he loved it! Grinning like a madman he ran for his life! New Skill He followed Misako to the counter as fast as possible and the young waitress tried to get in his way by blocking his path with her body. Iranueel knew she would be dead seconds from now, so he used his heavier body like an American football player and shoved her to the side. She smashed into a table behind her with a sickening sound which he registered only only in the background. Misako had stormed through the swing door into the kitchen and Iranueel could hear loud screams coming out of it. Hammering the door open he tried to find his partner but she seemed to be a lot faster on her feet than him. He knew that any moment the crazy bitch behind him would fire her launcher and ending his life with it, so he had to find a solution for this sticky situation. Then he grinned and ran to the only place he thought where he had a chance of surviving this mess and emptied a big refrigerator filled with a half of a slaughtered pig under the disbelieving eyes of the cook. Then he slammed the door shut after climbing into it and tried to reinforce the metal with all his mana behind the spell. Moments later he was smashed into the backside and flipped over. Spinning through what ever was in his way he was nearly knocked unconscious when his safe place stopped moving at last. Some bones might be broken but that was much better than the alternative. Just as he was thinking of a way to get out of his improvised tank, the door was opened and a unbelieving young asian woman gaped at him. He grinned back and said. ¡°Haha, never thought that this would work out so good. Indiana style approved.¡± Her bewildered look said everything. ¡°I have no clue what you¡¯re talking about, but if this Indiana knows how to survive something like this, I will try to learn from him.¡± Now it was Iranueel that was not believing what she said.Stolen novel; please report. ¡°You don¡¯t know Indiana Jones? Ah, forget it, we have bigger issues now. Let¡¯s get going. I have no idea how they found you so fast, but perhaps it would be better to leave this place a bit faster than we anticipated.¡± Misako nodded and helped him on his feet and started running. The place was a complete mess. Burning fragments of the restaurant fell still from the sky and he could see destroyed windows everywhere. He didn¡¯t see ground zero because a wall with a big hole in it blocked his view. He was in a living room with an old television on his right side and a destroyed and bloody couch on his left. The remnants of a human body were plastered on the wall. ¡°Sorry!¡± A short look showed a blue orb and so he left the spoils of war behind following Misako through the flat. Whoever lived in this place was thankfully a loner. Iranueel wasn¡¯t so sure if his conscience would have taken much more after this. He knew that killing things was his bread and butter in this new world but this person was an innocent as far as he was aware. ¡°Don¡¯t be such a pussy! If you think this will be the last person dying in your path as some collateral damage, then it would have been better to die when you got the chance to do. And now run. This old bitch is not the fastest person, but her arsenal is not to be underestimated. She could wipe out a whole police station and had left some spare ammunition to start a small war, so if you don¡¯t mind, let¡¯s just make run for now.¡± They left the flat through the frontdoor onto a dark street and fell into a slow sprint away from the explosion site. The buildings became larger and higher with every street the passed. Iranueel heard police and fire department rush to the place they fled. People everywhere had their smart phones in their hands and made pictures. Some cried and others were scared of a terrorist attack. Misako and Iranueel passed them all as fast as they could. After 10 Minutes running they stopped beside a cab and Misako opened the door fast, entering the car. Iranueel followed her, but couldn¡¯t understand her fast directions to the driver. His Chinese wasn¡¯t good enough to get the gist of it. The driver pulled out on the street and Misako closed the glass window that separated front of back. Then she turned to him and with a serious face said. ¡°I will teach you a way to scan my aura for anything unusual. They must a have a way to find me and only another person has a chance to discover this. They isolated me from anybody so I never had a chance to let me be scanned. The driver will drive us out of town taking every detour he knows of, but we only have 4 hours and then my money will dry out. So for now just give me your hand and learn what I teach you. It will cost you 5 levels but believe me if I tell you, that it will be provitable for your future!¡± Iranueel did as she said and took Misakos hands. Time seemed to fly by faster than before. Everything became a blur and he felt Misako touch his mind again like before. But now he saw a window like in the character creation before him. ¡®Do you want to get Misakos skill aura scanning?¡¯ Iranueel wondered why it said ¡¯get¡¯ and not ¡®learn¡¯ but accepted it nonetheless. Then he felt a rush of power entering his mind. Understanding and knowledge of souls flooded his memory in an instant. Then everything became black and he was knocked out. Friends He did not know how long he was out of it but I must have been some time, because the sun begun to rise again when he took a look around. They weren¡¯t in the cab anymore and also not in the city as it seemed. He was surrounded by trees and bushes and the air was much better than before. Mist danced in the cool air and rays of sunlight tried to get through it. ¡°Took you long enough to wake up. I feared to have damaged your mind by giving you my special power. You are just born and have gotten two powers could have been too much for you. But now that you are back, we can progress faster than before. First you need to scan me and then we figure out, what to do in the future.¡± Misako stood some steps away and stoked a little fire at her feet with a long branch. The smell of roasted meat filled the air and made Iranueels stomach growl. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s get it over. I hope, this shows us, what is wrong with you and then we can settle it.¡± Misako came to him and sat on her knees before him, looking him deep into his eyes. Under different circumstances he would really like this situation but now, there was serious business to be done. He concentrated and tried to look deeper than just her eyes. After a few seconds he recognized a shine rising from her body that had a dark and menacing feeling. Using her imprinted knowledge he understood that this was her aptitude for necromancy. But that was not what he was looking for. Looking deeper he saw some kind of lightning sparkle in her aura and shoot of into the distance. ¡°I think I saw just now, what seems to be a kind of homing magic transmitting your position to the recipient. Removing it will be tricky and if i say so very uncomfortable. I will have to separate your mind from your body for a moment and that is something a bit too much for a simple spell. We will have to build a spell array for this and that will consume some time. Time we possibly don¡¯t have.¡± Iranueel watched Misako closely to ascertain what she thought. She let her head sink in a depressed way and sighed deeply. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°How long do you need for this to happen? I mean, if this is mind magic, it¡¯s bound to be complicated and as far as I know, you¡¯re just a beginner with magic. How can you make a spell array if you just started to be an avatar?¡± Iranueel leaned back and thought about his response. ¡°I have invested heavily into my spellcasting technique when I created my avatar. So I have more knowledge about casting spells and rituals. But my knowledge about the different categories of magic is quite limited. So I have to rely on rituals to create strong magic. Most of my spells are very weak but quite diversified. I want to be able to cope with a wide array of situations. You would call it a jack of all trades. I don¡¯t know if this a good idea in this world, so please enlighten me a bit.¡± Looking to Misako, Iranueel saw her contemplating his words. Her eyes were dark and staring into space. Then she sought his face. ¡°It¡¯s nothing bad being able to cope with many situations, but a specialist has more power in the beginning. Only some time later in their development most avatars broaden the repertoire. But this also makes most dependent on other avatars or mortals. You have to raise many skills but at the same time your potential grows exponential.¡± Iranueel nodded and reflected on this a bit. ¡°I will need two days to build this array and also need some ingredients for it. I don¡¯t know where to find them, but this is china, so getting strange things like tigers piss should be easier to get than in Europe. So do you think, we have these two days and also the ability to fetch the needed materials before your pursuers catch up?¡± ¡°We could travel deeper into the country where their power is weaker, but that will also cripple our grip onto materials, but I have some connections still going on and some people still owe me. 10 kilometers from here is a small town where I can get money. My enemies will know where we are when I withdraw some cash but I will give us the option to get away faster.¡± She seemed unsecure about his reaction and looked to the side. ¡°I would understand you, when this whole mess is too much for you and you want to leave me behind. The triads will hunt you too if they discover you with me and trying to help.¡± Iranueel saw some tears coming from her eyes and felt a strong impulse to hug her but he also knew that Misako was an experienced avatar and also a woman. She used all her weapons to influence his decision to follow her. ¡°Now, now, please don¡¯t cry for me lady. It will do you no good to pull this womanly trick on me!¡± Misako took a look at him and then a sudden smile appeared on her face. ¡°Hey, I see, you¡¯re learning. Don¡¯t be mad for me trying this trick. Some men fall for it and in my position I have to use all of my arsenal.¡± ¡°I do understand but believe me or not, but I will stay with you. You¡¯re fun to be around and you seem to care about me, at least enough to not let me die in vain. So get back on track and find a way to get out of this mess. You¡¯re the experienced one here and I will follow your lead. And if everything goes downhill, I can absorb your soul as a last resort.¡± Misako watched him and leaned suddenly forward to kiss him directly on his lips. She smelled like peppermint and lemon and her lips were soft and smooth to the touch. ¡°Thank you! Really, I appreciate it more than you can imagine. Friends that stand at your side in this world are a rare trove. I will do my best to repay your kindness with my knowledge and power. So together we rise or fall.¡± Learning of some things Iranueel was in a world of his own. Misakos lips were intoxicating and he was enjoying it very much. She smiled when seeing his dreaming eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t let it go to your head! We have other problems to solve for now. So let¡¯s walk to the next town and discuss some things on the way.¡± Iranueel came back to reality and stood. Misako went north and he followed her with some fast steps to walk by her side. ¡°So what can you tell me of our real history?¡± ¡°If you mean the unseen world of the avatars then listen carefully. Most of history has been directed by us avatars. We act unseen and often merciless with mortal life. If there is a big war happening around the world you can be sure that is instigated by one of us. Most bigger countries are directed by a single powerful guy or a group of them. They harness the emotional and magical energy of their people to make themselves stronger. And if you now want to ask which magical energy then there will be a big surprise waiting for you. Every human produces mana but it gets sucked away by us avatars or Gaia herself to disguise our world from mortal eyes.¡± Misako took a quick check of her surrounding and went now more to the west. Iranueel saw smoke rising in the direction they now went. ¡°We call a world with this way of handling magic an unawakened world. There are others out there that are awakened but I don¡¯t know the exact reason for it. All I know is that somewhere in the dark past of our people something has happened that made humans forget about magic. Most visitors of earth have a healthy respect of humans and try to not upset us although most of them have really heavy artillery with them. Seems to me that humans are a force to be feared between the stars.¡± ¡°There are many gods and powerful factions on this planet and all fight for supremacy. Try to not get in their way if you want to survive. I made this mistake and you can see what happens. The bigger criminal organisations like the triads, mafia or the yakuza are governed by one or more of us. If you can offer them a bit of compension for looking the other way when you enter their turf then they will let you be. So try to keep up to date with the local power structure, pay some respect and you will live long and prosper.¡±You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. She collected for a moment her thoughts and then talked again. ¡°Most of the gods of history like Odin, Ra, Zeus and Shiva for example have been avatars. There are only some really old powers in the world that have existed long before any of human kind have entered the stage. Gaia is the most powerful of them and she has a short temper for everyone that angers her. I don¡¯t know what she does with all the power she gets from the humans on this planet but nobody, even the most powerful of the avatar gods tries to piss her off. It¡¯s a death sentence.¡± ¡°Ok, I understand this and I have no intention to get the attention of these beings. But now please tell me more about the ways to strengthen myself. I mean, I know I can use my levels to get new abilities and more muscles.¡± Misako nodded and took a look at him. ¡°Basically this is right, but I don¡¯t think anybody said to get that if you strength your body directly and you then die, this power will be lost, right?¡± ¡°Uh, no, the goddess who introduced me to the game didn¡¯t say anything about it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s always the same. No clue why they never tell anybody about this. So here is the gist of it. For every point of a body attribute like strength, dexterity and endurance you need two levels but you will lose them by dying. But if you put 6 levels into your soul to power the same attributes you will not lose them when you bite the dust. Took me 10 years to figure this one out. I lost a lot of levels this way. Rampaged for a whole day after this discovery and cursed the bastard that initiated me.¡± ¡°When you study your character screen, and invest levels in your physical attributes, the first number is your physical and the second your avatar value. So you can raise your strength beyond your avatar limits for a boost at a lower cost but will lose it with your next reincarnation. Problem is, you only see the second number when you know it¡¯s there.¡± Iranueel concentrated on his character screen and suddenly there were two numbers at strength, dexterity and endurance.
Name?? Iranueel Race Human Level 15 HP 200
Strenght 10/10 Intelligence 20 Energy 200 E/s 1,5
Dexterity 18/18 Wisdom 15 Stamina 200 SP/s 2,0
Endurance 20/20 Luck 14 Perception 12
Special Power Soul Catcher Aura scanning
¡°WTF! That¡¯s really a bad joke of this bastards. I could have dumped a shitload of levels and lost all this power. Why do they misdirect us this way?¡± Misako shrugged and went her way. ¡°I think, to penalize starter avatars. Most of them start to kill everything in their path to become powerful. And then realize it was all for nothing. I have also a suspicion that they absorb the energy for themselves as a kind of payment for their time to instruct you on the game. But this is only my thought so don¡¯t take it as a fact.¡± Suddenly Iranueel heard a voice in his mind that resembled Arya. ¡®That¡¯s a smart one over there!¡¯ Iranueel wanted to give her a hard answer but her presence disappeared as fast as it arose. Some Lore never hurts ¡°Seems to me that you are on the right way for an answer. Just got a little message from the goddess that you¡¯re a smart one.¡± Grinning, Misako looked to him with a smirk on the lips. ¡°I know that.¡± Iranueel smiled at that and had a sudden idea. He went ahead of her and turned walking with face to Misako. ¡°There is something that bothers me a lot. Where are all the magical creatures then. I mean, I have seen a ghost and something like an elemental, but nothing like an unicorn or a dragon. These must be hard to disguise for Gaia.¡± Misako halted for a moment to collect her thoughts. ¡°You are right and this leads to the next thing I wanted to talk about. When our world went into magical slumber, all the magical creature were banished into one of Gaia¡¯s seeds. I think that¡¯s where some of the mana goes that she is siphoning of all the humans. By considering the mass of energy she assembled this way, her worlds must be really huge by now.¡± The stupefied look on his face made her laugh a little. A very pleasing noise to hear. Iranueel felt a little bit like a small boy when talking to her like that. Considering her age, which he would never ever spoke loud if she was near him, it wasn¡¯t a bad comparison. ¡°Why do you look like an idiot. All gods have their own seeds. Odin has Valhalla, the Indian gods have their Nirwana, western religion has heaven and hell, and Gaia has several magical realms. So the only magical creatures on earth are ghosts and smaller elementals, that are easy to disguise and some creatures that have no problem with shapeshifting or a similar enough to a human to impersonate as such. We avatars can step into the realms of the gods by passing some portals dispatched all over the globe. The gods notice this for sure but they allow us to do this as long as we don¡¯t try to kick them from their throne. They will try to collect you to their flock but if you refuse them, there¡¯ll be no revenge for it. But you should never use your soul catcher power in the realms of other gods than Gaia. All avatar gods will disembowel you for using it and stealing from their worlds.¡±This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. This was something to stomach for Iranueel. There were many worlds to discover on earth alone and all magical ones. He could spent hundreds of years for this task alone and rise to power by venturing into the deep. Misako examined his silent frame for some time. She left him alone with his thoughts and instead watched the environment for any dangers. They were walking in a forest that had clear signs of human meddling. The trees were planted all 3 meters to harvest as much wood as possible and there was little undergrowth. Almost every tree was a Korean tree and the needles on the ground had killed most of everything on the ground. Only little noise from birds and insects could be heard. She missed the living forests of her youth in this moment. Since humanity claimed more and more of the planet, the nature had ever less place to grow wild. Iranueel had some answers but the more he knew the more he wanted to ask. It seemed for every answered questions arose two more. ¡°You said, that there¡¯re some creatures that live among humans undiscovered. Which ones would this be and can I discover them somehow?¡± Misako smiled at him like a teacher would look at her bright student. ¡°Right question! There are vampires, werefolk like werewolves, werebears or werecats and many more spirits that have assembled enough power to materialize a human body. The more powerful the creature, the harder it is to discover them. The power I gave you, can help you with it, but you have a lot of training to do if you want to unveil even the weakest humanoid spirit. They are a powerful bunch and shouldn¡¯t be angered lightly.¡± With a frown she looked at him. ¡°By the way, it took some serious power from me when I gave you my special power. I¡¯m slightly above being human now and I think only our soul link with the blood oath keeps me alive. So we should try to kill some smaller prey to get me back on track.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better if I gave you your power back, after we have destroyed the tracking magic? I mean, it¡¯s your ability and I don¡¯t want any hard feelings with you by keeping it.¡± Misako shrugged and came real close to him now. Her face only millimetres from him. He could smell her fragrance and feel her breath against his skin. And her eyes were looking into his with real concern. ¡°This power is yours for now. I gave it willingly to you. We will be together for quite some time I think, and with enough blood magic, I can get my ability back without taking it from you. We will both have to grow a bit but then it will make us much stronger. Information is power in this world the same as in mortal life. I will watch your back and you mine. I don¡¯t know you very long but I¡¯m certain, that you will become a power to be reckoned in this universe and I will stay at your side. So man up and strive to become someone no one wants to mess with.¡± Then she took a step back and gave him a peck on the cheek. After that Misako went again in the direction of the town and left him standing. ¡®Please, no pressure. I¡¯m just a small fry in this world and she wants me to take on the big guys in the future. But she sure is worth the pain¡¯ And he took a glance at her well rounded bottom swaying from side to side. A small sigh was all that came from him and then he followed her again. Blood loss ¡°We should find some smaller fights on our way to strengthen ourselves. Usually there can be found some elementals near bigger rivers or mountains. Near here that would be at a river some 5 kilometers in our general direction. Because the town we¡¯re walking to lies at this river we can combine our directives in one go. I think our enemy will close the gap to us in about 1 or two days so we have enough time to get 10 or even 20 levels by killing small prey. Because you don¡¯t like undead I will only use spells for siphoning life energy to destroy the targets and be your tank while you should focus on magic. If this is ok with you?¡± Iranueel reflected for some seconds before he answered. ¡°I think you¡¯re right. And some extra levels would be real nice. By the way where is the next portal to Gaias dimension?¡± ¡°The next one I know of is in Tibet and is heavenly guarded by her followers. They will demand a price of 50 levels in energy. Oh yeah, I just forgot. You can store some of your levels in a soul container. It¡¯s the usual method of paying for deals between avatars. You can create these things by selecting how many levels you want to store in it and then think of creating a marble containing the energy. It¡¯s really easy and when you crack the marble in your hand the energy is absorbed by you. No energy loss.¡± ¡°50 levels is a steep price to pay for starters like me. A question on a side note. Do the usual powers of earth have any influence in Gaias spheres?¡± Misako shook her head. ¡°No, if we can make it there, we would be safe for sure. But I think, that with my mark they would immediately note the change in directions and take precautions against it. We should really get this mark removed.¡± Iranueel agreed to this and just as he wanted to say something, Misako took his arm and pressed it lightly and with the other hand gestured him to be silent. She laid her head a little bit to the side to hear better and he followed her suit. Concentrating on the sounds in the forest he acknowledged quite silent noises of breaking twigs that approached them from north. He looked to Misako who signed him to move silently to the left to hide behind a big boulder. She stood there and drew her knives, preparing for a fight. The tension in her muscles rising her eyes scanned her surroundings with fast movements. Whatever closed the distance seemed to have noticed that it has become silent in her part of the forest and accelerated without trying to disguise its movements anymore. Iranueel watched his back also and if he wouldn''t have done this he would be backstabbed pretty badly. A asian looking man with a slim build attacked him with a long machete like knife in hand. Iranueel dodged to the side and brought his own knife in position. The man stood with his back to the boulder and the young avatar concentrated his magic into it to make an earthen spike directly in his enemy''s back. Sensing danger the mobster threw himself forward only to get scratched a bit by Iranueel''s magic. He seemed to be shocked by it to a certain degree.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Iranueel took his chance and made a step forward to get his knife in his enemy''s throat. The man dodged nimbly to the side and caught Iranueels arm turning it with him. The young avatar learning the power of martial arts the hard way was tossed over on his back and landed hard on the ground, directly followed by an elbow right into his solar plexus winding his breath out of him. The enemy fighter stood back up and attacked again with his knife in hand, trying to end the fight with a slash over Iranueels throat. But the young man regained his senses in the last possible moment and rolled to the side only getting a shallow cut . Still hurting but nothing life threatening. Iranueel collected a bit of power in the earth under his opponent and made it rise with a violent thrust. Caught unaware the gangster was hurled 2 meters into the air. Seeing where he would land, Iranueel rolled fast around with the knife backhanded. Burrowing the blade into his enemy on impact he only got a wound in the right tigh, but this was enough to slow the fast moving man. He had to give it to this sucker. The guy was tough as nails because he didn''t even flinch when the knife left his leg with a wet sound. They both stood up as fast as they could, but the triad member limping and bleeding hard. Iranueel seemed to have hurt the bigger blood vessels, indicating that the man would die soon if not treated fast. A smirk on his face Iranueel knew, he only had to draw the fight a bit longer and he would win. His desperate enemy knewing his imminent death threw himself forward trying to grapple Iranueel and kill him with his last strenght. But withdrawing from him with fast steps he denied this option. Instead he made a beeline for Misako, knewing that every step would leave his enemy with less life. The gangster tried to follow him with rage in his face but the leg didn''t have enough strenght for fast movements anymore. Iranueel came around the boulder and saw Misako cornered by two men against a tree. Both of them had long katanas with them and made simultaneous attack, one high and the other low. Misako threw herself forward with the grace of a cat right between the blades and rolled herself back on her feet. Iranueel took this opportunity to threw his knife with a fast wink of his wrist right into the left mans back. The man screamed and Misako took the chance and jumped into him driving her blade deep in his chest. The big man became limp and fell to the ground with her on top of him. Cursing the other man made a fast overhead slash right onto Misakos back, leaving a deep wound in the woman. Misako cried out loud and slumped to the ground. Iranueel hoped that she had enough life left in her that she wasn''t dying on the spot because now he had the undivided attention of the last unhurt member of the team. He ran to the side, watching the man careful taking his time to screen the overall situation. ''Bad idea, you moron'' thought Iranueel and used the time given to him for collecting energy for a spell. Lightning flowing down his arms and to his finger tips he was ready to release it into his surprised enemy when the dead colleague of the mobster suddenly jumped to his feed and grappled his former ally from behind and took a bite right into the throat. Ripping it open like a bag of sweets the blood sprayed all around the place. The obvious risen zombie turned around and went to the last surviving gangster who just limped around the corner. With a terrified look on his face the young man tried to defend himself when the undead rammed him to the ground. Iranueel watched the scene with disgust and already having collected the needed energy for the spell released the lightning, toasting the crying mess of flesh on the ground. He looked to Misako and caught her eyes. She seemed to be in bad shape and in a lot of pain, but smiled still. ¡°Sorry for the zombie. Old habits die hard.¡± Rising his left brow, Iranueel answered. ¡°Really?! I had everything under control, you know.¡± Choices and one way only Misako smiled and tried to stand up, but the injury in her back was so bad that she could do nothing other than cry out loud and slump back to the ground. Iranueel was by her side in the next moment and examined the large cut the blade caused. Although it was already beginning to close the wound would take some time until the woman would be able to walk normally again. He thought about his magic and discovered a serious gap in his knowledge. He knew nothing about healing magic. Sure he could cauterize the flesh, but he didn''t think, that Misako would approve of him trying to roast her. ¡°So no healing for me? Nothing surprising. Classic amateur failure. Most new avatars forget to learn this feature in their arsenal. You are an elemental mage, so you can substitute healing magic a bit by combining several kinds of magic, but that''s not easy to do. For healing even the smallest wound you have to use earth, fire, water and air in one spell and match the elements exactly with the recipient of it. Therefore you have to scan me and then pull the same amount of elemental mix into your healing spell. I would recommend a really small spell for starters. I don''t want to get boiled and killed, after I have survived this fight.¡± Iranueel used his new aquired skill to look at Misako and finding her special elemental mix. After some seconds he saw a kind of circle with different colours in it. And there were 6 of them in it. ¡°I see 6 colours, not 4. Is that a problem?¡± He helped Misako to lean against a tree. She made him a face and drew her breath sharply. ¡°So you have all 6 ways? You surprise me again. Most young avatars are not that versatile. But for a wound of the body you only need the 4 baseline elements. If my mind or soul would be damaged, you would need the rest also.¡± Iranueel then again scanned her and tried to memorize her mix for the spell. After that he began to collect the different kinds of magic in the spell. The opposing powers like water and fire made it not easy to combine them and tried to fight him. Fusing the energies into the spell was quite taxing and took some effort from him. He felt his mana declining fast and a headache began to manifest in his skull. But the spell began to mend the big wound and the separated spine together. But after only 5 seconds it stopped again. Misako smiled painfully. ¡°Elemental mages are not the very best at healing efficiency, that''s for sure, but they have a unique advantage. There''s no wound they cannot heal. But only if they can get their spell mix exactly right. They only need massive amounts of mana for it.¡± Iranueel sat back and began to meditate to restore his energy as fast as possible. He didn''t know how much time they had before the next kill squad would come around the next corner. It took almost a full hour before Misako''s wounds were fully healed and he felt drained like after a marathon. But after looking for his abilities he recognized a significant rise.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Tired he helped Misako to her feet and they began their journey to the next town again. ¡°I don''t want to say the obvious but we should just get to the town and steal the next car we can find and try to get some distance between us and this unpleasant place. By the way, when do you plan to get rid of your minion?¡± Iranueel took a look to the zombie that was following behind some meters. The dead man with the big hole in his chest where Misako''s knife hit him, had a bit of intelligence in his eyes that Iranueel found disturbing. ¡°He seems to be conscious of his situation if i''m not mistaken?¡± ¡°Yeah, my minions retain some of their wits but are completely loyal to me. They are even able to level. One of the reasons, why I never had the urge to make many friends outside my inner circle. Some of my oldest minions had quite the intellect. When the triads destroyed my friends I was devastated. They accompanied me for more than a hundred years in some cases. Kabuko was a vampire I created 140 years ago after my village had chased me away.¡± Iranueel bobbed his head and tried to imagine this lonesome life away from normal society. ¡°If you show any kind of compassion for my miserable life then I will kick your ass. I decided to follow this way out of my own will and don''t regret it. But now I will try to go another path. Not only to make it harder for my enemies to follow me but also to get along with you.¡± ¡°Thanks, I really appreciate this. Undead make me nervous. I don¡¯t know why, but even as a child I never liked them, be it in tv shows or in games. I found it quite disturbing that some movies made vampires appealing for women. Sure immortality has its perks but not in this way. It makes your life harder, I know, but please refrain from this habit of yours.¡± Misako looked back to her newly created zombie and concentrated for a moment. Seconds later the undead fell to dust before their eyes. Iranueel thought, he had seen a thankful nod from the guy before his face vanished. They turned back to their way and jogged for the next 3 kilometers when they reached the end of the forest and could see a small village in a valley. A river meandered through it went right through the locality with its farmsteads. Iranueel counted 23 buildings of varying sizes. ¡°There is a SUV right in the center. I think it belonged to our attackers. But it could also be their reinforcement. If it is, then we have to be extra careful when we try to steal it.¡± Iranueel thought for am moment and asked then. ¡°Will the people in the village perhaps help these guys? I want to avoid collateral damage if possible, but if they help our enemies I will kill my way right through them if necessary.¡± A smirk on her face Misako answered. ¡°You know, some of my vampires have been less bloodthirsty than you. But to return to your question, I think they will take cover at the slightest kind of violence. These are farmers, no fighters and they will try to flee the site as fast as possible. So no, there will be no reinforcement from locals. Only the eventually mobster on the place for us to worry about.¡± Iranueel nodded and then began to check for a way down to the village where he could hide himself the best way. But the rice fields before him didn¡¯t offer much without getting really wet. And every time they had to slip into the lower field they would be open for any watching eyes. Then he looked further into the valley and saw that 2 kilometers north the forest reached till the river. There they could slip into the river and let it carry them down into the village. But this would take them more than an hour to reach the place. ¡°We could take the river and risk more reinforcement arriving in town or we try to sneak through the rice fields directly. We will get wet anyway, so what do you think?¡± Misako reflected for some seconds before she smiled mischievously. ¡°Or we could just run down the path over there and try our luck. It¡¯s the shortest and fastest way and something they would never expect. Sometimes you have to do the crazy thing to survive. They know I like to hide and sneak. So this could turn over their evaluation of me and overthrow their way of dealing with me for some time.¡± Watching every movement he could see in the village Iranueel tried to rate their chances. He saw the farmers go into their houses. By looking for the sun he estimated that it was midday. Time for lunch. His stomach made a quite loud noise and Misako laughed a bit before stopping because hers also complained. ¡°We should eat something but I have nothing on me right now. You?¡± Misako shaked her head and watched the surrounding. And her sight rested lastly on the village again. ¡°Whatever we do, everything points over there. So what will we do?¡± World of pain Thinking for a short moment, Iranueel began to cast a spell. His skin turned to a metallic grey colour and looked really tough. He evaluated his mana usage and the duration of the spell and was content with its power. They had 5 minutes until the spell ended and he could cast it 5 times in a row, so he casted it on Misako also and then meditated for a minute to regain his mana. ¡°Let¡¯s get them! On 3 we run as fast as possible. You take the path right and I take the left one, so they have to divide their fire. Any questions?¡± Misako bobbed her head and took position. ¡°1¡­2¡­3!¡± And then they ran like the devil incarnated was on their back. Iranueel broke through the undergrowth and sprinted down the path that was limited by broken stones knee high. The ground was made with pebbles that made each step slippery, but he had made his choice and it was to late to change it. His look alternating between the ground, Misako and the village he discovered movement on a roof. A reflection of light warned him just in time. He took a fast dive to the left and rolled on the ground to get to his feet again. The loud and sharp sound of gunfire resonated in the valley. Iranueel didn¡¯t take a look back to watch the damage the bullet caused fearing to weaken his will. He now saw the shooter on the roof holding a big rifle. So it was a singleshot sniper rifle. He could guess that a single bullet could take him out easily. The guy loaded his gun again and took aim on him.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Iranueel had crossed near a third of the way and this punk could shoot 2 times again and there was a good chance for a hit for him, so Iranueel had to take care of this problem some way. He had never tried his mind magic and the distance was a bit greater than he would like to normally cast a spell but there wasn¡¯t much an alternative. All he needed was just a little distraction. So he stopped hard and casted a spell that should make his enemy see him only half a meter to his right. The less the influence the less power the spell used and the greater the chance for the suggestion. He didn¡¯t know if the spell was successful or not, but Iranueel dashed forward for all it¡¯s worth. The bullet missed him only a margin but the shock wave it caused almost knocked him over. His head hurt like somebody had used it as a bell and hammered it with the biggest clapper available. Without his protection spell his head would have popped like an air balloon. If that was the feeling of a super sonic projectile just passing by, he really didn¡¯t want to be hit by it. Whatever size this bullet was, he was sure, that he would look real bad in case of a strike. Iranueel recognized now that there seemed to be only this one shooter, because there was no other gunfire and movement before him. The farmers hurried to close their windows and doors and ran for their houses, knocking the doors shut. Children crying and women screaming, the village was in a tumult. Everywhere was movement and he couldn¡¯t take it all in because he had first to get the rest of the way. Curses could be heard from the roof and the reloading of the rifle. Iranueel made a hard sprint in a zigzag pattern to make the aiming harder for the shooter. But every lucky streak had to end sometime and just before he left his enemy¡¯s shooting range the last bullet made connection with his left arm. Pain and shock exploded in his already hurting brain and the force of the impact left him tumbling to the ground, hitting it hard and sliding to a stop. He saw his arm separated at the elbow and only connected by a thin skin tissue. Blood splashing out of it and colouring the ground red. His HP were down to only a third and driving home to nothing. He was out of the shooters rifle range but there was a high chance that this guy had also a pistol and was ready to use it. Iranueel knew it would hurt like crazy but he had to close the wound. So he used a fire spell on the wound and hoped that Misako could take this motherfucker out. Because only the black screen of Knockout was greeting him after he used the spell. Angel of Death Misako heard and saw the shooter. With shock she watched Iranueel got taken out, but she also noticed that his HP didn¡¯t go down all to nothing. Running like crazy she dashed to the first building in sight and tried to get to the sharpshooter in any way possible, knowing that he would try to end Iranueel as soon as he could. She knew that Iranueel wouldn¡¯t like what she was going to do but results do justify the means. So she called upon the power in her and searched for any lingering ghost in the town. Perhaps there were some graves in the vicinity that she could use. But there was nothing that called to her. So she ran around the corner of the building and tried to make it to the next without getting shot. A bullet stroke only a hand to her left the wall and the splinters hurt her face, but ignoring the pain she bolted to the house her enemy was shooting from. There were only 20 meters to cross and he had to reload so she gave her all and crossed the distance with amazing grace. On the way she figured a way to get to the roof and discovered some crates standing beside a wall where she could jump on to get upstairs. Misako saw the guy standing up and drawing a pistol out of a holster under his left shoulder. Her knifes were never far from her hands and naturally they did an almost perfect throw to the guy faster than him getting his weapon aligned on her. He was painfully remembered that his opponent wasn¡¯t just target for practice when the blade hit left shoulder and imbedded itself deep into it. He cried out and lost his stance a bit, what was good for Misako because his shot didn¡¯t get near her more than 2 meters.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. She hurled around and used the momentum to make her next throw more powerful. The shooter dove to the right and hurled himself to the ground. But the roof was old and never meant for this kind of action and so it gave way. In a cloud of dust and debris he fell into the building leaving a hole in its ceiling. Misako heard cries of people from the inside when she raced to the door leading inside to put this guy out of misery, once and for all. But before she could open the door, it flew open to reveal a young woman trying her best to get out of the house. Her eyes opened in panic and fear showing when she saw Misako with a knife in the hand right before her. She dove right fearing for her life when Misako was already striding to the inside. Her enemy was just on his feet and cursing from the pain. The room in great disorder with dust everywhere hindering the sight, Misako threw her knife disregarding the chaos. But the guy had learned his piece and dodged surprisingly fast. Pumped with adrenalin and anger he hurled himself at the woman before him. Misako received him with a hurl using his own strength and weigh against him. He crashed against the wall behind her and got his air knocked out of him. In the next moment Misako was above him and kicked against his throat. He just got his right arm up to protect the sensible body part and rolled against Misakos feet dropping her to the ground. Now both on the floor the guy rolled on top of Misako and used his greater weight and muscle power to pin the woman to the ground. Misako could still use her legs and took the chance to draw her knee sharply into her foes groin, making him bend in pain and freeing her so. She rolled right and then hammered her elbow into the guys temple stunning him. Then she got to her feet and drew her last knife from its sheath at her left thigh. With disgust and hate in the eye she burred the blade into the mobster in the most sensible areas like kidneys and breast. After the first into the kidney the guy scream like a pig spluttering blood everywhere. But his fight was over fast with the fury of a woman going down on him. The fight was over and Misako came out of her blood rage and recognized for the first time that other people were also here. In the corner beside a massive oven heated with crackling wood were an old woman holding her crying niece in her arms. Angst in her eyes she pleaded the angel of death before her for mercy. ¡°Are there any more of theses guys in town?¡± Misako asked cool and with murder in her voice. The grandmother shaked her head in denial. ¡°They came some hours ago and all but this one left for the woods. They threatened us with death if we tried to deny them anything.¡± Misako nodded and eyeballed the ground for the mobsters weapon, discovering it in the pile of rubbish where he dropped from the roof. It was a cheap pistol of chinese origin with an almost full clip. She took it and then ran outside to look for Iranueel. Leaving town He laid on the ground with closed eyes and a puddle of blood, but the fact that he was losing no more of it, is what made her sigh in relief. She checked his overall condition and noticed nothing life threatening. The missing part of his arm made little progress in regenerating, but Iranueels HP did climb slowly. She gave him a peck on the cheek to wake him up, but with little success, so she took to heavier methods and went looking for water, finding it near a house. A small spring was originating there and a bucket was right beside it. She filled it and returned to the unconscious young man. Misako took a handful of water and sprayed it into Iranueels face, but he didn¡¯t wake up. Next she just threw the whole bucket on him. This gave results into waking him up instantly and then crying out with the pain of his arm. ¡°Sorry for waking you so rude, but we have to move our asses out of town.¡± Iranueel moaned for a moment before looking at her. ¡°Thanks for waking and as it seems that I am still alive, I get it, you took this son of a bitch out?¡± With a smirk on the lips Misako grinned at him. ¡°He¡¯s on the way to his creator. By the way, thanks for bullet catching. Next time, try to stay in one piece. Regenerating your arm will take quite some time, even with your healing power. And it will hurt, believe me, I went through it some times before.¡± She helped Iranueel stand up and then guided him to the dead guy. The young and old women in the house almost fainted when they saw Iranueel entering. Missing half an arm and covered in blood he was not a sight to remember fondly. He took a look at the globe of the killed guy and absorbed the golden sphere without further thinking. ¡°Oh that one had quite some power. Got me to level 18 in one go. And you have also gotten some power back as I see.¡± Misako had now level 8 herself. The fights before and this one had helped her a lot. ¡°Yeah, this helps a lot. We could farm this village real fast if you like, but I think it better to leave this place as fast as possible.¡± Iranueel took a moment before he recognized the meaning of it. ¡°Don¡¯t mention this ever again please. I like to keep my humanity. We will kill only the scum and the ones that attack us first. The rest will keep safe from us and if I ever deviate from this path, please give me a hard smack on the head.¡± Smiling Misako gave him short hug. ¡°Only wanted to check on you. I like this attitude and will hit you hard if you ever digress on the dark path. I always turned only the bad guys and the ones that attacked me into my goons. That way I had a clean conscience and I don¡¯t want to change that.¡± The sudden closeness of the beautiful woman made Iranueel a bit uncomfortable and also quite a bit excited. With conflicting feelings he distanced him a bit from Misako and then left the house ignoring the traumatized women trying to hide themselves in a corner. ¡°This guy had a sniper rifle. We should get it and then search for their car. And because I miss half an arm you should look for the rifle and I will look for the vehicle.¡± The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Misako nodded and added to it. ¡°You did search the guy for the car keys, did you?¡± Featherbrained grinning he shook his head and returned to the building with Misako grinning mischievously behind his back. Then he went on finding a way to the roof without falling down. Iranueel searched the corpse and found some money and also car keys for a BMW. ¡®Driving with style, I see. At least it will be a nice ride.¡¯ He thought to himself. For a moment he thought about getting the guys clothes but after a second thought he disregarded it because of the blood and the many holes in them. ¡®Misako really went down on this guy. He didn¡¯t have a pleasant death. Not that he didn''t deserved it, that asshole!¡¯ When he left the house he heard Misako from above. ¡°I have the rifle and some bullets and I also have seen the car from here. It stands just three houses down the road behind some bushes. Hard to see from the ground. Now, try to give me lift down. I don¡¯t want to sprain an ankle jumping down.¡± ¡°You know, that I only have one arm left now, right?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be such a pussy! You are a man, so help a girl and be my knight.¡± Shaking his head a bit unbelieving he held up his remaining arm and stood steady when Misako jumped down into him. He catched her and was quite pleased feeling her bosom pressing against him. She grinned a bit and then left him standing going down the road to the parking car. ¡°I will drive as you are a little bit disposed now. But in the future I hope that you will be the driver. Regarding out future prospects we should think about our development regarding our skill sets. Perhaps also hiring some other avatars or mortals for special occasions.¡± Iranueel followed her reflecting on her words. He would need a much broader power base for this project and also money. All things he didn¡¯t have at the moment and it also was highly probable that Misakos enemies already assumed that she had help and would try to get behind this little secret. So they would begin their chase of him all too soon. ¡°I do agree with you there, but I think we should really go for one of Gaias worlds for starters and get powerful there so that next time we come around we have a bigger hammer to swing down on our foes. And this would also make getting support of other avatars much easier because I could make mortals that are on the good side with us to avatars myself. That would cost me much power but I think it would be very profitable to do so. If I could sweeten the deal with Gaia by paying her something for it, I think she would appreciate it.¡± Misako looked back at him with surprise. ¡°Don¡¯t mess with Gaia. She will talk to you if she wants to, so don¡¯t try to start a talk with her yourself. She is a power not to meddle with, so keep her out of it as long as possible. All I know from her, is that she will have no problem with your special power, perhaps even offering a deal to you, when she recognizes you the first time doing your thing. But please do not initiate the contact. She could take it the wrong way.¡± Iranueel chuckled a bit after her real fear showing. ¡°Ok, ok, I will be reasonable. It was only a thought for now. Oh, what do we have here. A BMW X1 if I am right, don¡¯t you think?¡± Misako took a short glance at him and nodded. ¡°Yeah, they sure knew how to get around in style. It will be much more comfortable with this one than with the cab last time. But we should check for any tracking devices before using it.¡± Iranueel lifted his hands helpless. ¡°I fear I have no skills for this kind of task. Have never been an automobile fanatic in my life. So you have to step up here.¡± Frowning Misako looked at him and shaked her head a bit. ¡°And there I thought a guy like you would have a bit more experience with it. Lucky for you I have learned some skills in my time. They are all back to basic now, but I kept them at least. Remember this also for the future. You will keep all your skills, only loosing attributes and skill levels by dying. This sucks more than enough by the way because some skills cease to function when your attributes drop too low.¡± Surprised Iranueel gazed at her. ¡°So you still have all your necromancer powers? This should make you quite OP against mortals. So why did you have such problems with these guys?¡± Glowing to him Misako hissed. ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear me before? Most of my necromancer powers aren¡¯t useable because my attributes reached an all time low! Throw me the keys and get inside the car, Iranueel and then shut up.¡± Knowing when to keep silent this time Iranueel went to the passenger¡¯s side and got inside. A very pleasant brown leather seat welcomed him. The interior was made with dark exotic woods and much chrome. Misako opened the door and then searched for the opener of the cowl. After finding and pulling it she went before the car and started her dismantling of some parts of the car Iranueel knew nothing about. ¡°Start repairing the damage to your arm now. Better now than at a less opportune moment later. It will take some time and do me a favour and don¡¯t cry too loud.¡± Contrite Iranueel started on searching for his own special elemental mix and was surprised that it was much easier than before. Then he started the spell and almost cried out loud because intense pain erupted from the stump of his elbow. Misako came around and with a little bit of compassion, said. ¡°Sorry for my last remarks. I¡¯m a bit touchy about this matter. I recommend to bite on something. It makes it easier handling the pain.¡± Iranueel nodded and had to meditate to regain his mana again before he could repeat the casting. He took Misako¡¯s advice to heart and bit into a piece of fabric he pulled from his wrecked shirt. A bit of blood in it remembered him of his last misfortune. The iron taste made him much clearer in the head. Then the process of casting, pain and meditating began to repeat itself again. Misako needed 10 Minutes to settle the matter with the car and then seated herself behind the wheel. Starting the engine she watched the display and nodded content. ¡°Good, we have an almost full fuel tank, so we don¡¯t have to stop in the next time. This should get us some distance for now. I will take us north for now. There I have an old friend that could help us getting the needed time for the ritual. And it will also give you the opportunity to heal your wound.¡± Iranueel only nodded with cold sweat on his forehead and concentrated on his own task. He didn¡¯t look forward to it, but it was necessary, so he tackled the issue with all his will. Misako went on the road and tried to ignore his suppressed wails. No Pain no Gain ¡°By the way, perhaps you should invest a little bit of power in a passive defense skill. It would help to mitigate a bit of the damage you are so willing to sponge. And also pain resistance would help you keep going when the shit hits the fan. Only my suggestions, but it could help you a lot. Besides I know some places on the way where we can level a bit without to much risk. There are sites where elementals gather that are no big problem to wipe out. Hopefully they haven¡¯t been farmed lately by other avatars.¡± The young man beside her nodded only and brought his available skills up and searched for pain resistance because he had a strong suspicion that this skill would level like crazy in the next hours. After a short while he found it and the cost was only 5 levels so it left him with a bit of a cushion in case of a sudden death. Opening his character after buying the new skill he recognized some heightened skills in his elemental powers.
Name Iranueel Race Human Level 13 HP 101/200
Strenght 10/10 Intelligence 20 Energy 200 E/s 1,5
Dexterity 18/18 Wisdom 15 Stamina 200 SP/s 2,0
Endurance 20/20 Luck 14 Perception 12
Special Power Soul Catcher Aura scanning
Skills Level Exp. Skill Level Exp
Spellcasting Technique Journeyman 5%Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Mathematics Apprentice 10%
Fire Beginner 10% Physics Apprentice 15%
Water Beginner 4% Chemistry Apprentice 5%
Air Beginner 17% German Master 15%
Earth Beginner 9% English Master 1%
Mind Beginner 2% Latin Basic 90%
Ether Beginner 1% Computer Hardware Apprentice 15%
Meditation Beginner 17% Games Apprentice 40%
Rituals Basic 97% Tinkering Basic 90%
Cultures Beginner 89% Archery Apprentice 25%
Myths Beginner 27% Swordfighting Apprentice 37%
Spirit sense Beginner 5% Knife Fighting Apprentice 11%
Arabian Beginner 1% Chinese Beginner 37%
Russian Beginner 1% Spanish Beginner 1%
Cooking Apprentice 7% History Advanced 2%
Pain Resistance Basic 1% Biology Advanced 6%
He was quite satisfied with his casting skills, but he would need to increase his knowledge in rituals if he wanted to get rid of Misako¡¯s problem. Perhaps she knew herself a bit about it and he could learn some things from her on the way. After searching for some defensive powers he was quite downcast because most of them were quite pricy. The only skill that he could buy was Though skin and it cost 10 levels and it only reduced any damage by 1%. That was not much and he didn¡¯t know how that increased when he levelled the skill. So for now he had to take this on the backseat. He always wanted to keep 10 levels at minimum. And then he began his personal hell and casted his healing spell on the wound. He knew that it would keep his abilities increasing but he cursed inwards for his misfortune. Misako kept quiet for more than 1 hour. She watched his arm grow from the elbow to the first stages of a hand. She had watched a movie last year in which a similar scene happened. After thinking for some seconds she remembered that it was about a hero named Deadpool and also that this guy was the epitome of profanity. Iranueel was much more sophisticated, she hoped. At least he showed such prospect. Iranueel looked at her with a smirk on the lips and just wanted to say something. ¡°Shut your trap! I know this scene and if you say anything out of that movie I swear that you will regret your words. I will give your new skill quite a gain.¡± Grinning the young avatar kept quiet and turned the child like hand around. And then resumed with a grunt. His skill really did gain much from it. It only reduced the felt pain by 10% now but that made the whole procedure much more tolerable. Perhaps he would get a title like Masochist after some time, but he really hoped to find a healer in the future who could make this special occasions much more enjoyable. It only took half an hour more for him to heal the rest of his Hand back to original size and then he took a small nap to regain some needed mental sanity. After that he checked his skills again and recognized that air, water, fire, earth and meditating each gained 3% and his pain resistance even 9%. Torture had its perks, it seemed. ¡®Never mind¡¯ He glanced over to Misako and prepared his next question with a serious face. ¡°I know that you lost quite some abilities the last weeks but perhaps we could exchange knowledge about rituals. My lore on it isn¡¯t very profound, so it would be better to get some pointers before messing with your aura.¡± A bit of pain crossed her beautiful face and then she smiled again slightly at him before looking back to the street. ¡°You are right of course. But I warn you, I only am a Apprentice myself in rituals.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s much better than myself, so I can learn many things from you, Master.¡± Misako reached to him and gave him a peck on the back of his head. ¡°Call me Master again and I will kick your ass. It makes me feel old and if there is anything a woman doesn¡¯t like it¡¯s feeling ancient.¡± And then she began a lecture about anything she knew about different kinds of rituals, their origin, materials needed and what personal would have to be at the place. It helped Iranueel to get his skill to Beginner. They drove for almost 2 hours down county roads evading any bigger streets and crossing some smaller villages and towns. Then Misako parked the car at the side of a dirt road and opened the door. ¡°We are here. 500 meters south of here is a place where smaller elementals gather. We can level here with relative security I hope. So move it.¡± Elemental chaos She turned down the path leading south but Iranueel still stood motionless. He concentrated on his spirit sense skill and tried to get an image of his neighbourhood. But the limited range of the skill allowed him only 100 meters to scan. And they were clear for now. Misako turned back and laid her head to the side with a question in the eyes. ¡°Just checking if there are any problems ahead, I can sense, but I don¡¯t have enough range. By the way, I have an idea, that could warn us if any hostiles stop by here, but I would need a bit of time for it.¡± ¡°Hm, about how much time are we speaking?¡± ¡°10 minutes, I guess. I want to draw a magical circle around the car with a big diameter, that warns me as soon as any people with hostile intentions enter it.¡± Misako nodded and then turned sceptical. ¡°The problem is, that any avatar with a bit of magical aptitude could sense and move around it.¡± ¡°Yeah, but then we¡¯re fucked anyway. Runabout mortals will not recognize it and trigger it, warning us ahead of time to turn on them before they can turn aggressive.¡± ¡°Ok, seems solid. Take your time, I will check the ritual, perhaps I can learn something myself. Or discover any mistake you make.¡± A bit hurt Iranueel began concentrating on his earth magic and created a circle a little bit beneath the ground by turning the dirt into solid stone. It was a bit arduous, but after 3 minutes and meditating he began to infuse the circle with mind magic. He was surprised how much energy it took to cast the spell and it took him al last 15 Minutes more to end the spell and Misako looked quite irritated. He turned to her with a satisfied grin. ¡°Ready to go. Sorry for the delay but it was my first time casting a ritual and I wanted to keep a bit of a reserve of energy in case of a sudden attack.¡± Misako¡¯s look softened and then she turned around. ¡°Good idea, but now enough time lost. The longer we stay at a single place, the more forces our enemy can direct to us. So we will have to make more of the remaining time. I want to be on the street again in less than an hour.¡± She began to jog down a hardly visible path leading to big bushes some distance away. They stood between 3 and 6 meters tall and seemed to consist more of thorns and unfriendly looking gnarled wood than green leaves. Iranueel would never go in between them if he had a choice but Misako steered right down to them. When they reached the copse Iranueel and Misako were a bit sweaty and had an unsteady breath and had to stop for a moment because Iranueel activated again his spirit sense. ¡°There are 6 small entities some 30 meters away.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a convenient skill you have there. Why didn¡¯t you use it at the village?¡± Shrugging Iranueel turned to her. ¡°Its range is quite limited and I can¡¯t keep it activated without neglecting the rest of my senses.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s bad. I guess there had to be a drawback anywhere. So, back to topic, how would you take them on?¡± ¡°How much time do we have?¡± ¡°The less the better, but I guess we should stay here for no longer than 10 minutes.¡± Iranueel examined the copse and estimated its size to be around 150 meters in diameter. Then he calculated some things in his head. ¡°We have two ways of dealing with the guys in there, but I would tend to reduce our risks. the frontal assault is the obvious one and also the one with the higher risk. The other one takes around 10 minutes to complete, but would leave us with minimum risk and a depleted mana reserve on my part.¡± ¡°You want to cast another of these fancy circle spells, right?¡± Misako raised her left brow somewhat sceptical. ¡°Hey, it¡¯s an elegant way to deal with the problem!¡± Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°Yeah, sure. I forgot that I¡¯m travelling with a fledging wizard eager to level his skills.¡± That hurt Iranueel¡¯s feelings quite a bit. ¡°The circle won¡¯t take as long as before because I don¡¯t have to conceal it and the spell itself is a simple ether spell targeting the inside of the circle. It will siphon the power of the elementals and killing them that way.¡± ¡°The moment they sense the spell they will be hellbend on killing you and ignoring everything else. And you will have to keep the spell running as long as possible.¡± ¡°I¡¯m almost sure, that I have enough juice for this.¡± Misako snorted and shacked her head. ¡°Almost he says. You know, I will have to save your sorry ass, if this turns bad?¡± Iranueel grinned pleased with himself. ¡°I trust your magnificent skills with the knives. And for emergencies we can still use the pistol. The surrounding should dictate the kind of elementals that are around, so we will likely have to deal with earth elementals, perhaps a wood kind, but they can be killed easily by steel.¡± ¡°You are right there. Ok, enough time wasted. Do your thing and we will see how it goes.¡± Iranueel took a branch and used fire magic to create some ash he then used to mark the circle. He had to do this six times more and when he completed the circle he had to meditate again, much to Misako¡¯s anger. Ignoring her he sat down and let his mind clear and take in the energy of the world. Just when he was finished he sensed his warning spell triggering. ¡°Misako we got a problem. Hostiles have triggered the circle at the car. We should get around the copse as fast as possible to get out of the line of sight!¡± The woman took a fast look back and recognized a bit of fog disturbing the sight and then ran following Iranueel to get to the other side of the copse. ¡°Try to not break the circle, we could use it against this suckers.¡± ¡°They have to be blind to overlook it.¡± ¡°So we will have to make them look another way. We will have to use the gun to make them more concentrated on us than the ground.¡± Misako stared at him angry. ¡°And I will have to animate them, right?¡± Iranueel pacifying raised his hands. ¡°I have to cast the spell and need all the energy and concentration I can muster.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just that I¡¯m not happy with being the one with the target painted on its back. But I understand the matter. I hope they do not break the circle by accident, because then we¡¯re fucked.¡± Iranueel shrugged and tried to take look around the copse by sneaking careful around its border. ¡°Then we have to improvise. At least they have no one with magic powers with them, because then they wouldn¡¯t have given us this warning.¡± Misako admitted he was right with this one. Then she followed Iranueel and overtook him shortly after to get a better look herself. ¡°If I am right, I will have to lure them in the copse to get them inside the circle, right?¡± ¡°Unfortunately yes, but I can exclude you from the spell. I will have to change the spell to attack them and the elementals also, so I will use mind magic to kick their asses. Do you think, you can lure them inside?¡± ¡°Depends on how much there are, which weapons they use and how much ammo they can spend.¡± ¡°Hm, I didn¡¯t take that into consideration. We will have to change the plan then.¡± Misako shacked her head. ¡°No, we will try it and in case the whole story goes south, get away as far as possible and leave me. My blood oath will hopefully bind me long enough to the world that you can revive me.¡± ¡°If this is over we should look into ways, that your soul just travels to me in case of your death.¡± ¡°Yeah, that would make the whole thing much more convenient.¡± Misako got down into a crawl and went the rest of the way leading inside the copse on her stomach. Iranueel stayed back and also went down to make the smallest target possible. The grass concealed him quite good but it also made it harder for him to watch the surrounding. He activated his spirit sense sporadically. After 10 minutes he sensed 7 people entering his range moving in a half circle towards the copse. A quick glance above the grass made him see that all of them were equipped with assault rifles and watching the path leading inside the bushes. They were only 50 meters away from it when the head of the guy in the middle rocked back and the body fell lifeless to the ground. The next moment all of remaining team dropped to the ground and opened fire. Fire and smoke exploding out of their weapons they sifted the bushes with everything they got. Iranueel saw Misako¡¯s HP dropping a bit, so she had been hit at least one time. Then he heard an inhuman scream erupting from inside the bushes. The mobsters didn¡¯t get disturbed by it and emptied their clips into the copse. When an earthen figure stormed out of the path and moved into their direction they put everything into it after they had just changed the clips in their weapons. The elemental shattered into small bits but gave its brethren enough cover to get into close range. They moved much faster than Iranueel had estimated regarding the fact that they consisted out of wood. The mobsters were now scared enough to stand and getting together. Misako took the chance and fired another shot, but only hit the protected chest of the target. The guy looked for a moment in her direction and regretted it the next when an elemental reached him clawing his face with wooden hands. All the other magical creatures turned to him and under heavy fire went down on the guy shredding him and gotten shredded themselves. Misako fired 4 times more during the fight but didn¡¯t score another deadly hit. Then he heard a loud curse and breaking branches when Misako went deeper inside the copse. Iranueel watched the squad taking a moment and then taking pistols out of shoulder holsters. ¡°Open field¡­ can¡¯t flee¡­Inside¡­¡± was everything Iranueel could understand when all of them followed Misako inside with weapons raised. Iranueel prayed that the commotion didn¡¯t destroy his circle and began to collect his power for the spell. Formulating it carefully and excluding Misako from it, he felt its power rising inside trying to reach out forcefully. His energy dropping like a stone he touched the ashen circle and released the magic with a headache building in his head. Screams and fired weapons erupted from the inside. He stood and ran around the bushes ignoring any sneaking. Drawing his knife he turned around the corner leading inside and saw the remaining 5 mobsters trying to get up. Blood flowed out of their ears and noses and they were definitely dizzy. Iranueel moved as fast like a lightning to the first guy and rammed his blade in his enemy¡¯s throat, moving right after to the next one ignoring the thorns slicing his arms and face. Misako came from the other side moving like a rabid wolf slicing and hacking at the first guy in her way. When Iranueel reached his second target he watched sickening green energy connecting with the next mobster on Misako¡¯s side and turning the man¡¯s skin black and sour. In the same time a wound on Misako¡¯s right shoulder popped out a bullet and closed. Iranueel hammered his knee into his target¡¯s face crushing its nose inside and knocking the guy out. The last remaining triad member lined his pistol with Iranueel¡¯s chest and fired. The young avatar felt an overwhelming pain erupting from his ribs and got knocked back to the ground. Wailing like a fury Misako threw herself forward into the mobster¡¯s back and stabbed her blade into his neck repeatedly. She stopped only after the guy was a total mess and the head almost disconnected from the shoulders. Then she stood and looked a horrified Iranueel holding his hurting ribs. The flattened bullet stopped by the armoured jacket he stole some time ago fell to ground. A little bit ashamed Misako went to the last living enemy and siphoned the same green energy from him and directed it to Iranueel. With surprise Iranueel noticed his pain vanish. Simultaneously Misako¡¯s target turned into a rotting pile of pure gore and innards. Iranueel stood and reached his hand out to Misako. ¡°Let¡¯s collect their weapons and then leave this unpleasant place before more of them appear.¡± Misako only nodded and followed him outside after they gathered the loot. They took 2 bullet proof vests, some pistol ammunition and four .45 caliber Colt 1911. They also collected 50000 Yuan, the Chinese currency. Outside the also took two of the assault rifle with them. They were of Chinese manufacture, so Iranueel wasn¡¯t quite impressed with them, but perhaps they could sell them somewhere. Then the two of them jogged back to their parking car. Old friend ¡°Man, I forgot to absorb their power. I really have to get used to do this.¡± Misako shook her head and sighed. ¡°Ok, then we can see this as a kind of training. I will remind you also in the future if you should forget it again.¡± They went all the way back and Iranueel checked the soul orbs and was very satisfied when all of them were golden. Without any further hesitation he absorbed all of them which bumped him up to level 20. ¡°Hey, I also got 5 levels just now when you absorbed their power. This is amazing. Now I have little cushion myself again and take some risks again with this suckers.¡± Iranueel grinned at her and then turned back to the car. Misako followed him in a good temper and whistling a popular theme song. Iranueel now sent out his spirit sense in short bursts to not get surprised by any goons around. He somehow became a bit paranoid since he travelled together with the Japanese woman. When they came into sight of their car they saw another one parked right beside theirs. And it also was the same model. Iranueel was the first to reach the car and stopped right in his track when he saw a european looking guy leaning on their car. The avatar was sure that he saw nothing with his spirit sense when he last checked. Misako almost crashed into him when he halted his steps and went almost instantly into battle mode. ¡°Hi, there fellows. You really took your time getting here, didn¡¯t you?¡± He wore a long grey trench coat, a white shirt and black knee high boots with a dark brown leather trouser covering slim thighs and an athletic body. Iranueel¡¯s gaze fell onto the long katana on his back.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. He was more than surprised when Misako suddenly went around him and threw herself with open arms into the guy. ¡°Levato! It¡¯s a pleasant sight for my sore eyes to see you here. Did you get my message?¡± He closed his arms around Misako and took a deep sniff of her hair. Then his eyes turned to Iranueel. ¡°Obviously I got it, because if not I wouldn¡¯t be here saving your ass from the little army that¡¯s gunning for this place right now. I took the liberty to twitter the local triad boss that you are with me and that he would get his ass handed to him if he messes with me.¡± Then he held Misako at arm length away and gazed her deeply into the eyes. ¡°So now, you have to tell me the story how you messed this up. And also don¡¯t forget that now we are even. It¡¯s no small favour you asked of me this time and I even was tempted to give you up, but after some consideration your always friendly ways with me gained favour.¡± ¡°Also who is this young man behind you? He seems to be an avatar himself. I can sense his aura even if it¡¯s a bit strange.¡± Misako went to Iranueel¡¯s side and clapped on his shoulder. ¡°This is my friend Iranueel. He saved me from sure and final death without asking for more than some information. He is a new born avatar and has shown himself a capable mage and resourceful in many ways. More than anyone would expect from one only a week old.¡± ¡°You are only a week and already made the triads your mortal enemy? You have some nuts I have to say. But a friend of Misako is a friend of mine, even if you have quite the delicious smell.¡± Iranueel looked with a big question mark in his eyes to the woman at his side. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t shit yourself now, Iranueel, but Levato here is a vampire, a higher one even. My past as a successful necromancer led me to his home and we became business partners and friends after half a century.¡± ¡°That is¡­ quite a surprise. Some of the newer movies about vampires must have got something right when you can stand in bright sunlight and not turn to ash instantly.¡± Levato frowned and abruptly stood only a inch away from Iranueel. ¡°Do not mention this crap again in my presence! It took me many years and more resources you can imagine to get myself a way to walk in the sun again. These movies and books you speak about are an insult for any vampire worth his name and if I ever get near any of the producers I will suck them dry, revive and kill them a thousand times over for their mistakes about my noble race.¡± Iranueel swallowed hard. He felt the bloodlust and power of the creature before him like a wave pressing him down. Levato¡¯s eyes were blood red and stared him down, promising pain and torture. ¡°I apologize for my words and my ignorance. I didn¡¯t want to insult you or your people.¡± Snorting Levato turned around and got on the back seat of their car. ¡°Get in and drive us to my home. I don¡¯t take any chances with the triads. They are a traitorous kind and I don¡¯t want to give them any reasons for trying an attack on us. I may be powerful but I only have one life instead of you guys.¡± Misako got into the car also beside Levato and waited for Iranueel to take the driver seat before she told him, where he had to drive. Iranueel programmed his GPS and went his way listening on the talk behind him. Story of murder At first the two of them only talked about old stories that happened long before the recent events, but Iranueel learned that Misako was a kind of loner that only talked with her minions and some vampires around the place. ¡°How did this mess happen to you in the first place? I mean, I know you better than most do, but I can''t imagine you some mindless killer, that shoots first and asks questions later.¡± Misako looked to Iranueel and with a apologetic smile said. ¡°Sorry buddy, I will tell you now the whole truth of it, don''t be angry with me, because when we met, I wanted to be some badass that you don''t want to mess with.¡± Iranueel frowned for a moment and then nodded. ¡°This son of the local triad boss came to my ship and demanded to talk with me. He didn''t come alone by the way. There was a little army of goons following in his wake and so I was cautious of the situation.¡± Anger filled her eyes as she talked about the story. ¡°In the moment I came into his sight he shot me right between the eyes without any provocation from me. There was no talk, no haggling, nothing. Only the bullet that sent me for respawn. I was furious and my minions were also and began attacking his troops. But he was prepared and his guys took out most of mine. But higher vampires are hard to kill and the situation began to look bad for him after I came back some minutes later. I killed every guy in sight and worked my way to his sorry ass, when he discovered me again and killed me a second time. I have to admit, that he was a hell of a shooter, but then one of my last standing friends took out his defenders before dying under heavy fire from this sucker.¡± Tears streamed down Misako''s beautiful face as she spoke of her friends death. ¡°When I came back this time, I was alone and he waited for me to come for him. I tried to be sneaky, but I underestimated his skills. I think it was then that I realized that he was an avatar himself. I didn''t know, that he was a new one and hadn''t leveled enough. Most of the experience gained from killing my goons went to his minions, so he didn''t get much power for it and I was really angry. I used a big spell this time and it was overkill. I kept the spell going for his respawn and killed him again and then a third time. After that he cried out for a cease fire. He said he only wanted to make a point, that he was more powerful and had the backing of the triads. The bastard didn''t think for a moment about his misgivings. He only wanted to impress his father by killing me over and penalize me for not paying my dues to his lot.¡± Misako shook her head for a moment as if to clear it of all to accumulated anger. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°I was beyond reasoning after his words and went for the kill right after. He didn''t come back this time. I killed him for good and became game for his father ever since.¡± ¡°Don''t be mad at me, but you wanted to look strong just like that asshole when you met me?¡± Misako glared at Iranueel for a moment before she began to laugh. ¡°I am stupid. You are right and it is somewhat looking ironic, isn''t it? I will try to better me.¡± Levato watched the talk and smiled a bit. ¡°Hah, your enemy told a hard edited version of the story. He didn''t mention the minions and that his son began the fight. Sure, I have two opposing stories but I know you and I know him and you are way more trustworthy than he will ever be so I will believe you for now.¡± ¡°There''s one more thing to add to the whole picture. I had advanced my necromancy to Master but now i''m at the start again with it and my new companion isn''t fond of most undead, you know.¡± Anger flashed in Levato''s face and then he turned to the suddenly scared Iranueel. ¡°So you don''t like my kind?¡± Iranueel felt the power and bloodlust of this being behind him, ready to strike. ¡°I''m sorry if this offends you, but it is true. I don''t like undead. Never did and I think I never will.¡± Suddenly all the anger in Levato''s face disappeared and he smiled again. ¡°Good, you''re not a coward in the face of certain death. I appreciate that. Misako didn''t choose wrong for a companion, even if this means that I lost my chance for my personal necromancer to advance me.¡± ¡°Come again? I don''t understand what you want to tell me.¡± Levato hesitated for a moment and collected his thoughts. ¡°I want to become a revenant and the only way is for a necromancer to cast the necessary ritual on me and he has to be a master in his skill. The triads have killed the only one ready to adnace me and that makes me a little bit angry. I waited nearly 100 years for this to happen and invested quite some ressources into Misako. All of it wasted now. Even if you would be guilty of starting the fight, I would kick their asses for it. They will pay for it but for starters I will offer you asylum in my mansion. If they are really crazy enough to attack me there, I will wipe their band out and make the world tremble before me.¡± ¡°I don''t want to insult you, but you know, that the triads have some powerful avatars backing them?¡± Arrogance plastered Levato''s face. ¡°I know, but i''m not some pushover like you. I have been around for more than 3000 years and have made many allies and favors that I can claim. They will pay for this and in full by the way.¡± ¡°What''s the benefit of a revenant by the way?¡± Levato looked to Misako unbelieving. She shrugged and said. ¡°Don''t forget that Iranueel is new in our world. He hasn''t been around long enough to gather all the knowledge you take for granted.¡± Sighing Levato turned back to Iranueel. ¡°Ok, sorry, a revenant is the next best thing to an avatar. He can revive himself, look like a human and get stronger like your kind. I cannot become an avatar myself because I lost my soul long ago, so that''s the next best thing for me to reach.¡± ¡°And the little lady beside you was your ticket for it?¡± ¡°Yes, she was. Now I have to search again for someone that follows the way of a necromancer and nurture him for decades after making him a friend and trusted ally. Quite troublesome.¡± Iranueel nodded and concentrated again on the way before him. The mood in the car was ground bottom and it was quiet for the rest of the way to the home of the vampire. Old and new guy When they arrived two hours later Iranueel saw a big building in western style surrounded by a 4 meter high wall with watch towers every 30 meters. It was rectangular build and one wall measured at least 250 meters. In the guarded space were several smaller buildings at the wall with a massive mansion in the inner court and a large garden around it. He could also see some training areas where people were training in martial arts. They stood on a small hill and looked down on the vampire¡¯s home when he said his first words in the last 2 hours. ¡°Welcome to my humble home. It¡¯s not my biggest asset, but the one I reside the most in. Just drive to the entrance over there and we will walk the rest, so that I can show you around.¡± Iranueel did as said and drove the car to the gate at the entrance, made of solid steel and with two heavy armoured guards watching over it. Inspecting them Iranueel recognized silvered swords at their backs and strange guns at their thighs that he had never before seen anywhere. Levato recognized Iranueel¡¯s gaze and explained. ¡°I see, you have discovered the spellguns at your first look. They are my answer to anybody from the supernatural department visiting me with hostile intent. The man using them are normal humans but the guns are powered directly of my power, which gives them quite a punch. They would disembowel you with a single shot in your current state. Perhaps in some time you can withstand them better but for most creatures they are deadly as they come.¡± Iranueel left the car and opened the door for Misako who was really pleased with that. ¡°A gentleman in this time, I didn¡¯t see this coming. But I like it, please continue with that. Manners today are not what they have been in ages past but they haven¡¯t been forgotten as I see.¡± Iranueel took a bow and grinned widely. Levato watched the scene and smiled slightly. ¡°Not all hope is lost on you. So now follow me and I show you around. The triads will surely try to make an appearance some time in the future, so it would be better if you know the land.¡± He led the way and guided them through the gate with a short nod to the guards that opened it immediately after. The ground was plastered with old granite plates smoothed by many years of feet walking over them. Ornaments and reliefs carved into wood were on the walls inside the gate. They showed mystical creatures and also some vampires at their business. Some smaller gems were integrated in the eyes of the vampires and Iranueel had the distinct feeling that they watched him. People were gathering and welcomed their boss and started to ask questions about business matters and other trivial things Iranueel wasn¡¯t interested in.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°Enough! All of that will done later, now I have guests. Prepare some rooms for them and a feast for the evening. We will dine in the great hall today. Tell it the chefs.¡± Levato turned around and with a frown said. ¡°I¡¯m sorry but there seems to be some matter I have to care about immediately so I will leave you in Razell¡¯s care. Misako, you already know him from some time ago. Iranueel, he is an avatar like you just a little bit older and more experienced in some areas. I would recommend some sparring sessions with him at some time. Now please excuse me.¡± With that said he turned back to his assistants and walked with brisk steps to the main building, leaving said Razell back. Iranueel saw a man in a black leather armour covering him almost completely. A black silken hood with strange red runes at the seams was on his back and also one of the spellguns on his right thigh in a holster strapped to his leg. It was made out of something that looked like obsidian and had the same strange red runes covering it. The grip was made with mahogany wood and looked as if it had been used many times over. A menacing aura encased the man that said to not mess with him. His dark brown hair was short like in the military and hard lines cornered his sun darkened face with a short beard. Eyes blue like Terence Hill watched him with anger in them. Iranueel didn¡¯t know what he did but it was obvious that the dark figure didn¡¯t like him very much. Razell had a designer stubble strengthening the impression of a hardened warrior and he pressed his lips together right now, seeming to grind hid teeth. ¡°Razell? I don¡¯t seem to recognize you even though Levato said, we know each other. Can you give me a hint?¡± Misako hadn¡¯t recognized the tension in the air between the two men. She went right before the strange guy and looked him over. ¡°Uhm, I think you know me under an other name. I was once called Dennis. Perhaps that rings a bell?¡± When talking to Misako his eyes lit up and a friendly smile plastered his face and completely change his whole demeanor. He almost seemed to be shy and bearish. Iranueel was almost sure that this guy had a serious crush on Misako. The said girl smiled wholehearted at him and all of a sudden hugged him closely. Iranueel only raised a brow and waited for an explanation. ¡°You made the ascension to an avatar. How awesome is that! Last time I saw you, you were an old tattering grandpa instructing Levat¡¯s guards in swordfighting and shooting. How long have you been an avatar and why didn¡¯t you visit by the way?¡± Razell was stumbling back a bit when Misako gave him a fist stroke to the shoulder and tried to regain his footing. All his hostile behaviour against Iranueel had vanished and he gazed at the other man as if to call for back-up. Iranueel only raised his hands and shaked his head as if to say, not my business. ¡°I was busy with things my former master ordered me to do. After all I still work for him, and that has been for the last 15 years, I think. Time passes quite fast if you travel around the world. I wanted to visit but every time there was a new problem to be solved.¡± Curious Misako watched him making excuses. ¡°Problem, huh? You are his hitman, am I right?¡± Razell let his arms hang down his side. ¡°Yeah, I am. I know it¡¯s not the best job around but I have to make a living, you know. I always have been a fighter and when I ascended I just didn¡¯t want to change my ways. My Master took me in and gave me work so that I could get my bearing. I¡¯m grateful for this and all the other things he did for my family.¡± He looked up to the Japanese and then glanced shortly to Iranueel. ¡°By the way, who is the guy besides you. He seems to be alive and kicking, not one of your minions.¡± ¡°Aha, there is someone jealous. Don¡¯t be. Iranueel is my friend who helped me get out of this mess. He¡¯s also an avatar and a fledging mage with some excursions into the close combat department. When everything came down on me he was my saviour in my time of need and helped me to get away from the bad guys and since then killed anybody trying to mob me.¡± Razell looked Iranueel over from head to toe and then bowed to him. ¡°Please excuse my rude behaviour and take my thanks for helping the esteemed Lady Misako. I am in your debt.¡± A bit taken back Iranueel answered coyly. ¡°It¡¯s ok, I did what I wanted to do and it¡¯s not that I didn¡¯t profit from her watching my back also. This new world as an avatar is quite overwhelming and I am grateful for her advice and help.¡± Misako watched the two men amused and nodded shortly. ¡°Ok, now that this is cleared, we can move forward and find a way to get this beacon spell on me erased. Dennis, oh sorry, I mean Razell, please help Iranueel acquire all the necessary ingredients while I take a bath and relax a bit. See you later, guys.¡± And then she turned and walked to one of the smaller buildings with steam coming out of the tilted windows. Iranueel and Razell looked at each other for a moment and then both shrugged. ¡°Women are always the same.¡± Prelude for the fight ¡°She said that you are a mage with close combat experience? If you wouldn¡¯t mind, I¡¯d like to take your measure. A little match with swords or knives as you like for checking out your skills. Perhaps I can give you some pointers for your own development. I¡¯ve done this for some time here.¡± ¡°Yeah, I thought so. You seem to have lived here before your ascension to an avatar, but I thought that this is prohibited by the rules?¡± Razell nodded and answered. ¡°That¡¯s right. But Levato is a supernatural creature himself and all his people here know this and therefore it¡¯s no problem for me. And I didn¡¯t especially made an announcement that I returned if you know what I mean.¡± They now went inside the compound to an open place beside a building that was build like a bunker. The walls were black and smooth and no windows were to be seen and the only door was made of solid steel. ¡°That¡¯s the weapon chamber. Only the people of the compound are tolerated inside, so you have to wait outside until I can gather a weapon for you. What would you like? A longsword, a katana or some other blade? We have quite a collection in there.¡± Iranueel thought to himself, that he didn¡¯t agree to the test fight but he was eager to learn and an swordmaster like his companion could surely help him with his skills. ¡°If you have a bastard sword, I would be pleased. I like to have a hand free for a spell or use both hands for a hard strike. Therefore I like the diversity of this blade.¡± Razell nodded and grinned. He was a blade nerd and liked any discussion about his favourite fighting style. ¡°You are right but someone with two blades can easily cover you with his strikes so that you only can defend yourself without a chance to counterattack. Your footwork decides such a fight. Having a favourite sword style isn¡¯t something bad, but you should be experienced in all the other styles as well to counter them. Also training in other weapons than swords and knives is recommended if you ask me.¡± Iranueel fully agreed. ¡°Yeah, Misako and I decided that we would try to enter one of Gaia¡¯s portals to live some time in her magical world to gather some strength and experience. I don¡¯t think that modern weapons are common on the other side.¡± The older avatar shrugged and answered. ¡°I¡¯m not certain but as far as I know, you are right. Everyone I talked with said that there are no modern weapons allowed by Gaia. You only can use magic or medieval weapons over there. Do have weapon skills other than sword and knive?¡± Iranueel shook his head. ¡°No, that¡¯s all I have for now. I haven¡¯t had much points after investing most in my magic skills. I am an elemental mage and after buying the needed abilities I only had some spare points for getting the knife skill. I was trained in sword fighting before my ascension. Before my premature death I belonged to a medieval club and trained sporadically with some friends. With real blades and not those fake plastic chunk some idiots throw around for fun. I liked the sound of the clashing blades and the kick you got from the danger of real pain and injure if you didn¡¯t get it right.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°Yeah, there is nothing better to sharpen a man¡¯s instincts than a good blade dance. I always enjoyed the thrill and the chance of being killed or being the killer. Perhaps that¡¯s the reason why I never had a chance with the girls. They seemed to feel my darker side and stayed clear of me.¡± Iranueel took a look back to the house Misako went inside. ¡°It seems to me that there is a girl you like here.¡± Razell gazed furiously at him and Iranueel felt Razell aura getting darker immediately. He raised his hands in defense. ¡°No hard feelings from me. She¡¯s all yours. I like Misako but only as a friend. She¡¯s not in my strike zone so if you want, you can take your chances with her.¡± All of a sudden Razell became coy and pale. His steps faltered and he almost ran into a latern post at the side of the path they went on. ¡°Don¡¯t mention this to her. I¡¯d like to take this slow and steady and not take any unprepared steps. She is high class and has never looked at me in a special way before. I¡¯m just the generic guy from the road she can find anywhere.¡± Iranueel snorted and responded. ¡°You forget that you were a mortal before. She herself said to me that I should only search for other immortals if I looked for more than a quick enjoyment in the bed. You never stood a chance before but now you should take your chances. She has been beaten hard in the last weeks and could use somebody like you. Hell, I would like you to accompany us on our journey.¡± Razell was silent for a moment and thought about it. His eyes closed and in deep thoughts he stood still before the black building. After nearly a minute he opened them again and gazed serious at Iranueel. ¡°She could stay here with me and the master. We can protect her and give her time to get back her bearings. She doesn¡¯t need to follow you right into the danger of Gaia¡¯s world.¡± ¡°You are right, but I think she will come with me. Perhaps if you come along, I will tell you the reason for it after some time to get a feeling for you.¡± Razell watched him closely and with caution in the eyes. ¡°What do you hide? You must have some kind of leverage against Misako that she would follow you into the unknown. She has never been someone that trusted other people easily and took nothing for granted.¡± ¡°You are right, I have something in the my hands, but it¡¯s not something to suppress her. She¡¯s a friend of mine and if she wants to stay here then I will not coerce her into leaving with me. And I will be leaving as soon as possible, because the triads will come for my head just because I helped Misako survive long enough to escape their clutches.¡± Razell nodded and went shortly into the weapon chamber, returning only seconds later, holding a bastardsword made of an almost white metal. He threw the weapon to Iranueel who catched it nimbly at the hilt. What took him for a surprise was the lightness of the blade. If it would have been made out of steel the sword would have weighed about 4 kilogram but if he judged right it was around the half of it. The metal itself was milky white and a bit flexible like steel. And it was sharp when he tested it against his thumb. A clear cut was visible after he put some force against the blade. Curious he looked to the older man. Smirking and a bit laughing Razell said. ¡°It¡¯s called Mithril. Yes, lord of the rings has got it right. It has some connections to titanium, somewhat the magical version of it. Use it for our sparring match. Any other normal blade wouldn¡¯t survive long enough against my weapons and I don¡¯t want to change mine.¡± With that said, Razell turned and went to the training spot, where a circle was painted on the ground with a diameter of 10 meters. The circle was totally black and the space outside white. ¡°Over stepping costs one point. Everytime one gets hit an additional point is accredited. For starters we begin with 5 points for each of us. You can use your whole repertoire if you like. Surprise me at bit. Don¡¯t hold back because inside this ring we can¡¯t kill each other. But it will hurt nonetheless, believe me.¡± Iranueel took some probing swings and tried to get the balance of the blade. It was a real masterwork. Its weigh perfectly distributed between the blade itself and the hilt. There was only a little bit more weight on the blade, just enough for a good hit but not too much as to hinder smooth movements. He took position 4 meters away from Razell. ¡°Where is your sword? Do you fight barehanded to give me some leeway?¡± Razell smiled slightly and shook his head. ¡°Believe me when I say that I¡¯m not unarmed. First rule when fighting. Try to be ready for everything. Surprises can end a fight faster the bullet to the head.¡± With that said he suddenly grabbed back above his shoulders with both hands in a smooth movement and closed his hands around two now appearing black swords. One a katana and the other a wakazashi. They seemed to be made out of shadows and red menacing runes danced along them. ¡°I wanted to give you a warning before I smack you down for the first time. Most people only recognize my blades when they are already dying. So, let¡¯s dance!¡± And Razell moved. There was never a chance Iranueel tried to follow his body razing straight at him but wasn¡¯t very successful. But he managed to get his own sword in a defensive stance that got in Razell¡¯s way. Not that it helped him very much. His opponent was trained and developed for close combat and Iranueel wasn¡¯t. He was pushed back and thrown onto his back by the overwhelming power of the swordmaster before him. Razell stood a bit of in a daze after he knocked him back. ¡°I know that you shouldn¡¯t give such information away but what in the hell is your strength? The weakest of my pupils seems to have more power in his arms than you?¡± Iranueel stood up ashamed of himself. ¡°I invested most of my stats in my mental facilities for increasing my mage powers. So there hasn¡¯t been much left for my muscles. I only have a strength of 9. Sorry, if this is not enough for challenging you.¡± Iranueel waited with sunken shoulders and hanging head for an answer but there never came one, so he looked up to see Razell grinning at him. ¡°Boy, you never have been a challenge to begin with. But I honor the will to fight in someone. You knew that you couldn¡¯t fight on equal terms with me, but you did not falter in the face of defeat. I know of some ways to make a swordfighter out of you, but it will need some serious investment of power into it, but you will not have to change your actual stat build for it. It¡¯s called a swordmage, a wizard who uses his arcane power for fighting with a sword and defending his compatriots. You have to learn some special powers for it and then train hard to master it, but even I would have some serious problems with a capable swordmage. And now go and take a bath and think about it. If you choose this way, I will come with you for some time to train you and defend Misako from harm.¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. He turned his back to Iranueel and walked to the biggest building whistling some song the young avatar didn¡¯t recognize. ¡°Oh, and keep the sword as long as you are inside this compound. We will train again even if you don¡¯t choose the way of the sword. You seem to have a basic understanding of fighting with a blade and that¡¯s something I don¡¯t find so often nowadays.¡± Iranueel was somewhat disappointed by his own weakness but he also knew that he would have to be many years older if he wanted to be a serious challenger for the older avatar. But there was one thing he remembered from his life as a mortal. And that was when he played D&D, a pen and paper roleplaying game. In it there was a character class called swordmage. He suspected now, that someone in the development department was an avatar himself when he knew about swordmages. Thinking back he recalled that s swordmage could always call his chosen blade to himself. He didn¡¯t have a personal blade and he didn¡¯t want to claim the mithril sword, so perhaps there was a way for creating his own unique sword by combining his magical powers. He already combined them when he tried himself at healing and id something can be used for creating, it can also be used for destruction. If you recall humanity¡¯s history it was most of the time the other way around. First came the use of destruction and then after some time the creation. The nuclear science was just one of the latest inventions in this way of applying knowledge. Now he tried to force all of his six magical forces into one sphere hovering an arm¡¯s length before his chest. They resisted fiercely and tried to break out of it whenever they came into contact with their opposite element, but he pressed them even harder together and watched his mana and stamina plummet to the ground. When they reached rock bottom his health began to decline also and pain erupted with a strong migraine. Blood began to pour out of his nose and every bone ached like somebody mistreated him heavily. Razell just looked back this moment to Iranueel and saw a blinding light as big as the head of a needle illuminating Iranueel when an explosion of force threw the younger man across the training court. It was the same court that saved Iranueel¡¯s life because it protected its user from dying in a limited way. Razell had forgotten to dismiss his duel challenge with Iranueel so the protection was still active. Iranueel¡¯s battered and bloody corpse lay at the edge of the place and showed only small signs of life. The young man was on his back and stared into the sky reading a prompt he received after the explosion.
You have received arcane mastery.
Slave for once The older Swordmaster came running back to check on Iranueel and after realizing that he was alive began to yell at him. ¡°Are you completely stupid?! This training circle almost depleted all of its energy trying to sustain your miserable life. You would have killed yourself 20 times over or more if it hadn¡¯t saved your sorry ass. Do you know, what my master will do to you when he has to fill this place again with his power?¡± Commotion could be heard coming from the main house and also from the baths. The doors to both buildings flew open and in the one stood a quite angry looking vampire and in the other a somewhat sparce clothed Misako with a distressed look on her face. Levat stood suddenly only a meter away from Iranueel and grabbed him by the chest lifting him up as if Iranueel was light as a feather. ¡°You better have a good explanation for this or I will see to it, that the next 2 months will be a very unpleasant experience for you, young avatar!¡± Iranueel looked a bit frightened at Levat and answered with shaking voice. ¡°I only tried to fuse all of my magic powers into one single destructive force. I didn¡¯t know that it would backfire this bad.¡± With blood red eyes and exposed fangs Levat rose him even higher. ¡°And what pitiful magic force would that be to deplete almost the whole circle for?¡± ¡°I got arcane mastery out of it.¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Levat suddenly let Iranueel fall to the ground where he crumbled to his back and dared not to even move back from the vampire. With a look to Misako who had arrived just moments before to the scene he questioned her. ¡°Please confirm something for me. Arcane mastery is something which mages need years of training and plenty of resources for, am I right? It¡¯s nothing that can be bought easily by the system, is it?¡± Dumbfounded Misako stared at Iranueel. ¡°As far as I know, only very advanced mages use arcane magic. It offers many advantages, like less mana used per spell and the magic itself is stronger, also the uses for arcane spells are much broader. But you also have to learn casting techniques for it. As far as I know there are 5 different arts for it, but you don¡¯t have to be proficient in all of them.¡± Levat nodded to her and then looked back to Iranueel, who stood up now, knocking the dust of his clothes. ¡°Seems to me, that you made quite the catch here with your new magic, but you will have to charge this circle back to full power and that means some work for you. You will have to substitute 50000 points of mana and repair the damage in the ritual symbols. I think that will be around 4 weeks of work here and then also the ritual for Misako. She is safe here, so for the next 4 weeks you will work for me. That will also help you with your ritual knowledge and lessen the chance for big fuckup when trying to destroy the enchantment on Misako. In the regenerating time for your mana Razell will train you physically. And now that you will have other things to do, Misako can train her necromancy again, to get some power back for fights in the future.¡± He nodded again quite content with himself, grinned at Razell and took an estimating look at Misako. The corners of his mouth twitched a bit and then a full blown grin showed on his face. ¡°My lovely lady Misako. Would you like me to accompany you to the baths? It¡¯s quite dusty outside and I feel the need to get it of me and I would like to have some nice company at it.¡± Razell looked like he wanted to say something, but a short look from Levat silenced him easily. Misako smiled businesslike and turned back to the baths. ¡°Now then, we wouldn¡¯t like to have a dusty lord walking around, wouldn¡¯t we? And Iranueel?¡± She gazed at the young avatar with anger in her eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t fuck up again! Next time, it will be me who knocks your ass around.¡± She went back with head held high and walking like the place was hers. The gazes of all men followed her back to the baths and there was nothing else heard in the courtyard. Razell walked to Iranueel and knocked him on the back. ¡°So your ass will be mine after you have depleted all of your mana into the circle. Make sure to be healthy when we begin, because sure as hell you won¡¯t be it when the training ends.¡± And with a wolfish grin he went to grab a bite. Everyone else left Iranueel standing at the circle with his duty. He went to the line of the ritual circle and connected with it, pumping his mana inside. Vampires are bastards Iranueel was angry with himself for screwing up, even more so because he had no way of using his new power. And for the next 4 weeks at least he had to be some kind of mana slave for the vampire and a punching ball for Razell. He activated his meditation skill and sat dow, trying to keep a connection to the circle and meditate simultaneous. And failed. Now he cursed and sent frustrated looks at the others who just went inside the cozy buildings enjoying their day. Iranueel tried again and this time had success with keeping both actions active. Mana flowed down his arm into the circle and meditation increased his mana and also his health regeneration. At least he would be able to level his skill up and as an immortal time was not really an issue for him anymore. Just when he felt his health full again, he got a slight kick into the ribs, breaking his concentration. ¡°I see, that you have charged the training court enough for one sparring round. This time I will send you against some youngsters trained in hand to hand combat. You will not stand a chance but perhaps I can train you enough that you get the skill without having to buy it from the system. You only have to train it long enough and with your interesting regeneration of mana and health we can put really some heavy training sessions into you. Take him for some rounds and stop, when you have knocked him badly enough that he would need a hospital. Then set him next to the circle and let him heal back again, after that repeat.¡± Turning back to Iranueel after he gave his commands to the 3 young men standing behind him, he grinned malicious at the young avatar. ¡°I wish you a pleasant day and as soon as you have gotten the skill, please contact me and I will reaarange your training schedule.¡± Razell then went to enjoy a good bath with a whistle on his lips. Looking back to the 3 men waiting for him, Iranueel sighed and stood up. ¡°Would you at least so kind to show me the proper stance before you knock the air out of me?¡± Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. The one in the middle looked at him irritated. ¡°Sir, I think you misunderstand something here. We will train you properly. Master only added, that we don¡¯t have to withhold our strikes with you. Maximum possible training without killing, were his words. So I think, that you won¡¯t enjoy this but as hell is my witness, this will train you in the fastest way to become a martial artist.¡± And then they showed him his first proper stance. Iranueel knew after the first few tries that his muscles would hate him at the end of the day and his pain tolerance would level as crazy too. After the stance they showed him easy attack and defence moves, knocking him down in every way, often breaking ribs, fingers or his arms. After being disabled to fight, they sat him down at the circle and let him heal his wounds with magic, concentration and time. This repeated itself for the whole rest of the day. Iranueel had never before known that his bones could break in so many ways. On time his left ell and radius stood out of his flesh and they kept on hammering him from all sides, until he collapsed to the ground. After taking care of his wounds, they just went their way and came back for more. Iranueel began to hate them for every bone broken. When the sun sat down Razell came back and ordered them to rest and eat something, even Iranueel. But barely having ended his meal the older man sent him back to recharging the circle until midnight. Only then would he have ended his daily task. And 6 am morning the day would start with a short meal, followed by training and charging. A short meal at noon interrupting his hellish duty, Iranueel went back to it with a sense of endless pain and suffering. It was at 4 pm in a very heated fight again when Iranueel saw the knee of one of his opponents coming straight for his face when he suddenly wanted to just shield himself from all pain and felt a heavy storm inside pressing outwards. An almost invisible shield of cracking lightning formed for a moment around him and the knee hammered right onto it. Iranueel could see the knee bending inwards, breaking bones and kneecap.
You have learned arcane shield.
His opponents jumped back with the young man crying out loud about his destroyed knee. ¡°This is really impressive, young one. Without any training of a master mage you learned a new technique of the arcane skill tree. Most intriguing.¡± Iranueel saw Levat standing only 10 meters away under a tree, enjoying the view. ¡°Razell will be excited about it, but it has nothing to do with the martial arts you should learn. Please heal the young man and then continue with your training.¡± The young avatar only nodded and went to the injured guy on the ground using his elemental healing to set his bones back into place and knot the destroyed tissue back where it belonged. When he was finished, his patient thanked him and stood up testing his knee with marvel in the eyes. He reach out to Iranueel and shook his hand earnestly. ¡°You still try to follow every strike with your eyes. I think I have an idea to get this habit out of you, but it will hurt. Are you up for it?¡± ¡°It will hurt more than what you¡¯re doing now?¡± Grinning the guy answered. ¡°Just an other way of hurting. We will attack your senses like eyes, smell, hearing and your sense of touch. You are an avatar and can heal all the damage quite easily but it will strengthen your senses and perhaps help you to develop a new sense called uncanny dodge. You will dodge incoming attacks unconsciously without having to think about it anymore. But just as I said, this will hurt you badly.¡± Iranueel heard from behind him the old vampire say. ¡°Do it! I¡¯m interested if he surprises me again with a skill outside of the norm.¡± And so began another training schedule for Iranueel where they blindfolded and deafened him him, and of course hurt him. Seeing and tanking It was painful and created some fright in him, whenever he was hit by someone, but after some days he began to feel his surrounding with his new arcane senses and tried to assuage the incoming attacks. Most of the time he wasn¡¯t very successful but sometimes he got lucky and deflected a hit that would had surely hurt like a bitch. A week went by when he got the skill his attackers wanted to give him. With uncanny dodge came another pleasant surprise that called Levat back to the training ground.
You got the skill Arcane sight.
Iranueel dodged the attacking members of Razell¡¯s team in one moment seeing nothing, only to anticipate their movements the next as if his eyes weren¡¯t closed. Additionally he also got a much wider viewing field. Where before he only could deflect their blows he was now able to attack them again which took one quite by surprise when Iranueel¡¯s elbow caught him in the ribcage breaking some bones with a nasty sounding crunch. All went silent for a moment except the wheezing guy on the ground that tried to get back his breath. The young avatar just kneeled down and put his hand at the exact spot where he hit the guy and began his healing. Silence ruled the place and everyone tried to understand how Iranueel suddenly could see as clearly as them. The young man was surprised himself by how easy it was for him to sense everything around him now, especially when he caught the strong aura in his back now. When his back suddenly hardened he heard Levat¡¯s voice, ¡°Well, well! You seem to be able to suddenly sense me. Interesting skill you got there. Your arcane magic develops much faster than I had anticipated. Would you be so kind to tell me the name of the skill?¡± Iranueel wasn¡¯t sure if it was a good idea to tell the old vampire his whole character build but the old guy didn¡¯t give him much of a choice and he was at least someone he could almost call an ally. ¡°It¡¯s called Arcane sight and it seems to correspond with my spirit sense skill, maybe it is an evolution of it, because I can now sense you whereupon before I wasn¡¯t able to get you on my radar.¡± The sight was also not the same like with his eyes. He could see the elemental composition of everything around him quite easily which would make his healing spell much quicker to be used. Everything around him had a new color to it and gave him a bit of a migraine just from taking all of it in. ¡°Amazing! You would be quite an addition to my team if you are able to discover me now. Not that I especially tried to disguise me, but with some training you¡¯d be also possibly be able to spot my disguised aura. And that would mean that other vampires wouldn¡¯t be save from you too.¡± The old vampire looked eager to check Iranueel¡¯s newest power but then remembered that the young avatar still had some work to do. With a smirk he added, ¡°All of this will come at a later time. For now you have to train some more.¡± He turned around and went some paces away before he took a look back to Iranueel, ¡°Oh, I have forgotten something. The triads will send an envoy to discuss a cease fire after some of my guys took out some major operations of them. I sent them the corrected version of the story and their boss seems to have come to his senses after almost loosing another son. They also want to fight you to test your mettle and show you that you messed with the wrong guys. Most certainly your opponent will be the second son of the boss.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°That¡¯s something I don¡¯t understand. How can his sons get back to him? The rules should make that impossible.¡± Levat shook his head disappointed, ¡°Use your head, young man. He¡¯s an avatar, they are avatars, so there¡¯s no problem at all, because he sired them as an avatar and had told them of his supernatural origin. I think it¡¯ll have cost him quite some power to make them strong enough for ascendancy because a normal mortal has to do some serious power up to get strong enough for becoming an avatar, but it is possible with the right methods and much money and connections. Something this guy isn¡¯t lacking even if I have taken him somewhat down a nodge.¡± He seemed quite satisfied right now. Iranueel only nodded and kept silent. ¡°Anyway, train a bit harder because as sure as hell they at least have discovered who helped Misako and will be bent on murder to get back at you. For now you are under my protection and still will be for some time but after you leave my home, you and Misako will be again open game for them. They will do it disguised and use methods I won¡¯t be able to directly retrack back to them, so they will be safe from any further attacks from my allies without direct proof of violating the cease fire. So get your ass up and improve yourself.¡± He turned around again and walked away with a song on his lips Iranueel didn¡¯t recognize. The old sucker surely knew many songs from his time on this planet. The young avatar would have given his right arm for the knowledge of the vampire. Not that he wouldn¡¯t have been able to regenerate his limb again. The next week was a repeat of charging and hurting with short lessons of sword practice with Razell who, what a surprise, didn''t hold back much in driving his lessons right into Iranueel''s body, often literally. His Sword mastery went up like crazy as did his pain tolerance. Also did his stats get a solid increase, mainly his endurance and dexterity. In the evening he got 3 hours for lessons in ritual magic and spell techniques from Levat and Misako who had a significant increase in her necromantic powers. That didn''t make Iranueel happy. Her increase in levels did as it also increased his power using their connection. On one occasion when he prepared for another sword fight with Razell he asked his teacher. ¡°Before we start the next session of you hitting me into pulp I''d like to know if any of you guys knows any teleportation magic?¡± ¡°I know that master Levat knows some ways to get around quite fast but as you still have some time to serve it wouldn''t be surprising if master would turn down your hopes of learning this. Among us grunts there isn''t anyone able to use teleports, sadly. Would be a nice surprise for anyone I try to kill.¡± Then he suddenly accelerated and tried to disembowel Iranueel with a fast slash against the stomach region but the younger avatar jumped to the side and threw a fast slash himself at Razell''s head. He just turned his head to the side enough for Iranueel''s attack to miss and kicked his attacker hard to the knee which gave way with a crunsh, and Iranueel''s painful cry. ¡°Nice attack there. You got faster but you''ve still got a long way ahead of you.¡± He smiled like a villain and turned around, whistling quite falsely. Iranueel fell on his back and healed his knee again. This wasn''t the first time it happened but even with his increased proficiency he wasn''t able to block or evade the counterattack. It was driving him mad and added humiliation to it too. He was sure that there was something that could help him against Razell just outside his reach. A small pressure that made itself known some time ago and yet he couldn''t grasp it. He looked to the other guys and nodded to them after he was combat ready again. This time he just tried to defend with everything he got and draw out this strange feeling. With every hit the pressure grew and he could feel new passageways created in his mind but only after all four guys hitting him from every angle he felt the power move. He felt his maximum mana drain away to almost half and heard his opponents cry out in surprise suddenly. A faint aura surrounded his whole body like an armor reducing the power of their strikes to something he felt like a slap to the face in strength. It hurt but didn''t really represent any danger.
You learned Arcane armor.
A magical armor surrounds your body and protects it from any direct damage. With rising proficiency the mitigated damage increases and the reserved mana is reduced.
Iranueel could only grin. His attackers stood back and watched him warily waiting for him or their boss to do something. He heard someone clasp and turned to see Misako standing against a tree and watching the show. ¡°I swear everytime I think you''ve reached your limit you surprise me again. Say, does this energy field need an upkeep or does it reserve mana?¡± For a moment Iranueel hesitated before he sent a party invite to the lady. She accepted with a nod and grinned from ear to ear. ¡°Hey, you learn! Last time you gave the information away to everyone able to hear your answer. That''s so much better. So, what gives?¡± ¡°The power is called Arcane armor and reserves a part of my mana. I''ll have to increase my mana capacity again to make up for it but it should be able to reduce any incoming direct damage to an degree I can survive as long the attack isn''t overkill.¡± She thought for a moment, ¡°So only direct attacks? Fireballs, bullets, the like?¡± ¡°I think so. Any indirect damage like poison gas or a camp fire wouldn''t be blocked. Sadly.¡± Misako shook her head, ¡°You idiot! You''ve got an almost invisible armor that doesn''t weigh anything and is able to level. What do you want more? Elemental immunities must be bought and leveled separately. That''s nothing new so no surprises. I would kill for a skill like yours. When the triads send their fighter against you to test your mettle he will break his teeth on your armor that''s for sure.¡± Her vicious grin was reflected on Iranueel''s face. He was much stronger with this newfound power and developed ever more to a tank with some nasty surprises.