《Ascendant Archer》


 Prologue I: Alexander, Heir of Apollo

    Archery. The bow and arrow have been utilized by humans for thousands of years. As tools of war, those proficient with the weapon dominated battlefields. As tools of hunting, the skilled provided for whole tribes and villages.


    For thousands upon thousands of years, archers were honored and respected. Ullr, Artemis, Hou Yi,  Anat, Satet, Eros. Gods of archery were worshipped for milleniums.


    Apollo, god of the sun and light, god of music and poetry, god of plagues and prophecy. Together with his twin sister Artemis, they destroyed threats to Mount Olympus with sheer strength and skill. Born of Zeus and Leto, and armed with bows forged from the sun and moon, their arrows reaped lives from thousands of miles away.


    Long before the Olympian gods disappeared from Earth, Apollo had many lovers. Among them, Ana of Sparta was worldshakingly beautiful. However, her obsession with the art of archery turned away many a suitor. To win her heart, they would first have to beat her in a contest of skill. Ana''s talent with the bow was unsurpassed. It was said that only the twin gods of archery would best her and she would stay unmarried the rest of her life.


    One day, Apollo looked down from the heavens and laid eyes on Ana of Sparta. He watched with interest as she defeated suitor after suitor and listened to the whisperings of the crowd. He jumped down from his solar throne and took on the guise of a mortal. Taking up Ana''s game, his first arrow destroyed the target. His second arrow traveled around the entire world before landing in his quiver once again. His third arrow blacked out the sun. His fourth and last arrow brought sunlight back to the world.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    To the sun god, taking away the sun and placing it back in the sky was as easy as breathing. After all, it was his task at the end and the beginning of every day.


    Ana, deceived by the sun god''s antics, fell deeply in love with the man. More specifically, she fell in love with his archery skills. She didn''t really care about the man at first.


    The descendants of Ana and Apollo created the Blacksun clan. A family of demigods originating from the Age of Mythology, obsession with the bow and arrow was deeply ingrained into their blood. Unknown to the vast majority of the world, they practiced their art to the point of perfection. While the earth adopted firearms with enthusiasm, the Blacksun stubbornly stuck to their heritage.


    Tens of thousands of years after the Olympians had departed for a higher realm, in the year of the dragon, a boy was born to a lowly couple of the Blacksun clan.


    As if sensing the second coming of Apollo, the clouds parted and the sun flared repeatedly. Songs were carried down by the winds of the heavens and prophets around the world kneeled, sensing his presence. Humanity''s greatest poets felt a flash of inspiration and wrote masterpiece after masterpiece.


    The couple named their son after one of the greatest conquerors the world had ever seen. Thus the demigod Alexander made his arrival on Earth known to humanity.

 Prologue II: Gone

    As beautiful hymns drifted down from the skies, a pillar of light descended from the sun, piercing through the roof of the home. It enveloped Alexander in blinding white light. Surprisingly, the light beam was not accompanied by blazing heat. Rather, the pillar of light felt as warm and gentle as a loving parent''s gaze towards their newborn child.


    The pillar persisted for less than a minute before disappearing with a flash. When the light subsided, two black markings took shape on baby Alexander''s shoulders. On his right arm, an arrow, and on his left, the sun.


    <hr>


    When the Sun''s light descended on Alexander, every descendant of Apollo could feel a tugging sensation coming from deep within themselves.


    This sensation, now known as Bloodline Resonance, alerted the myriad Apollonic clans of Alexander''s birth.


    Indeed, as the resonance subsided, the humble home of Claire and Hadrian Blacksun had been surrounded by their clan members. In a trance, they had followed the pulling of their bloodline and found themselves on the doorstep of a lowly outer clan couple.


    Inside the small home, Claire and Hadrian had been overcome with joy...at first. However, knowing their son was destined for greatness, the couple could not help but feel anxious. Alexander would have to endure much and carry the weight of the entire Blacksun clan on his shoulders from a young age. He would be the focus of the other demigod clans and have to bear the envious and greedy gazes of countless others.


    They worried and worried the more they discussed it. That is, until they heard Alexander start babbling nonsensically from Claire''s arms. For some reason, his nonsense exuded confidence. He lifted his tiny baby hand and gave his parents a thumbs up. Stunned, Claire and Hadrian looked at their child and found a big toothless grin on his face. Suddenly, all their worries were washed away. They knew he would be fine.


    Alexander''s parents were right to be worried. Indeed, even within their own clan, there were already those with designs on Alexander''s pure bloodline. They cared not for the child, spending more time thinking of ways to take his birthright for themselves.


    Despite just giving birth, Claire was full of energy. The resonance she had experienced was not a pulling sensation, rather it reinvigorated her and allowed her body to recover to peak condition instantly.


    With Alexander bundled up in her arms, Claire walked with Hadrian outside to greet the Blacksun clan.


    When the massive crowd caught sight of Alexander they erupted. The family was met by a cacophony of cheering from thousands of members of their clan. Looking throughout the massive crowd, everyone in the clan bore expressions of veneration and joy.


    Suddenly and subtly, a golden eye symbol appeared on Alexander''s forehead for an instant. With the eye''s appearance, the inner feelings of the clansmen were laid bare. While the majority were genuinely happy and continued to cheer, there were some whose facial expressions instantly became nasty and instead of cheering, began to vocalize their malicious thoughts.


    As more and more people stopped to listen to what these nefarious few were ranting about, the excitement of the crowd came to a screeching halt. Looks of horror spread amongst them like wildfire.


    Among the malicious, there were those who planned to somehow steal the baby and eat him in the hopes that it would grant them power. There were those who wanted to sacrifice him in a dark ritual and gain his inheritance. The more straight-forward were those envious few who wanted to rush forward and kill the baby as he laid in his mother''s arms. Plans of violence and evil were spat out in a seemingly never-ending stream.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    The crowd was so stunned that no one thought to interrupt them. Regardless, it wouldn''t have done any good to try. The exposed seemed to be caught up in their own world as they revealed their intentions. They could not hear anyone else, nor could they stop the words from flowing.


    As if he could understand them, a look of focus appeared on Alexander''s face as he concentrated on the exposed clansmen. He ignored those who bore ill will towards himself and focused on those who wished to harm his parents.


    Baby Alexander could not yet understand languages but he could read hearts. His chubby face contorted with anger as he zeroed in on those who would cause harm to his mother. As his rage grew, the black markings on his shoulders gradually turned crimson.


    Unable to bear it any longer he cried out, "BAH AH!"


    Thirtyarrows of light shot down from the sky, instantly incinerating those unlucky few whose black hearts targeted Claire.The already silent crowd did not know how to react as ashes were carried away by the wind.


    In an instant, 30 demigods were destroyed. Their bloodlines were incredibly diluted but they were strong individuals nonetheless. Regardless, ababy had taken their lives with ease.


    Seemingly satisfied, baby Alexanderraised his head and nodded with a content expression.


    "Ahh ba," he said.


    He fell asleep as he lowered his head into his mother''s arms. He was exhausted after exerting himself to that degree. Those who still bore ill will towards him would not dare try anything after that display.


    Clearly, Alexander had inherited Apollo''s Eye of Truth and could already exert some control over the sun. He had even inherited Apollo''s (over)defensiveness of his mother.


    Gods are born with inherent understanding of their ability. To trigger their powers is as natural as breathing. Demigods are the same, albeit to a much lesser extent. Alexander was a special case, being the most pureblooded descendant of Apollo to appeaer since the Age of Mythology.


    While Alexander slept, elders of the clan recovered from their shock and made arrangements with Claire and Hadrian. Since Alexander''s attack had cleared out quite a few of the elder seats, the clan needed to fill those spots. His parents would be elevated to fill two of those seats. The culprit himself would be groomed to be the next clan head and the Blacksun woulduse all the resources at their disposalin helping to raise him.


    They believed the Heir of Apollo would lead them into a glorious future.


    By no means would the clan dare to separate Alexander from Claire and Hadrian. They had justseen what he had done to those who had yet to act on their evil desires towards his family.


    Thus Alexander grew up smoothly in the Blacksun clan. He was taughteverything under the sun and he took to learning with endless enthusiasm. While he was unbelievably gifted, his affinity for hard work left no room for complaints.


    A truly warm and cheerful kid, Alexander was loved by Blacksun and the majority of the other demigod clans. He truly had inherited Apollo''s personality along with the god''s abilities.


    With a seemingly permanent but genuine smile, he befriended others with ease, bypassing the walls created out of their inherent fear and jealousy towards him.


    The golden haired youth was a prodigy, masteringmany fields of academia, nine schools of martial arts,and seventeen languages before he turned 16.


    He taught himself blacksmithing and carpentry, all for the sake of creating his own bows and arrows. Without the guidance of a teacher he rose to the peak of musical talent. He wrote masterful poems and delivered accurate prophecies. He experienced much and rarely found things he was unskilled at.


    While he excelled in almost all areas, his true strength came out with a bow in hand and arrows in his quiver. At 17, he decimated thousands upon thousands of monsters that had escaped from Tartarus without even touching his solar abilities. With impossible precision and the strength of a demigod, he sniped creatures from miles away.


    <hr>


    On his 18th birthday, Alexander happily sat amongst friends and family as they celebrated his coming of age. Soon, he would be able to take on the mantle of Clan Head and the Blacksun clan would continue their shockingly rapid rise to prominence. However, this was never meant to be.


    In the middle of the dinner, a beautiful, harp-like voice cut through the large hall.


    "Ah, it''s you? Wonderful."


    As everyone turned to look towards the source of the voice, they were puzzled to find that there was no one there. When they turned back to look at Alexander, he was gone.

 Chapter 1: Shiro and Sanctus

    When the revelers turned to look for the source of the voice, Alex too turned his head. However, as his eyes traveled, his surroundings changed in an instant.


    Instead of the Great Hall of Blacksun, Alexander was sitting in a plane of pure white. Nothing existed in the plane except for Alex and the chair he was sitting on.


    Initially stunned by his circumstances, Alexander closed his eyes, took deep breaths, and calmed his nerves. He had never experienced anything like this and was greatly rattled. Regaining his composure, Alexander opened his eyes to survey his situation. Standing up, Alexander began to walk forward from his seat in an attempt to explore the place.


    Alexander walked and walked... and walked, but his surroundings never changed, endless white space stretched out as far as his senses could reach. Frustrated, he spun around only to find that his chair was gone.


    For the first time in his life, Alexander was completely and utterly alone.


    Rather than despair, Alexander resolved himself. However, he could not think up any plans to escape. He knew nothing about the space he was trapped in.


    But determined to break free from this prison and with no other options, Alexander decided to make use of his divine bloodline to cause widespread destruction. Hopefully, it would give him some clues on how to get out of there.


    Calling upon the mighty strength of the sun, he yelled, "Break!" ...yet the black markings on his shoulders remained inactive. The world shaking phenomenon he expected had not occurred.


    "Pahahah," a radiant laugh sounded out from behind him. It belonged to the same harp-like voice from the Great Hall.


    Spinning, Alexander finally laid eyes upon his abductor. A half-naked man floated in midair amongst the pure white with a bright smile on his face. With jet black hairand handsome features, his appearance severely contrasted with the rest of the space. A fierce flame blazed above his shoulder on his right side and shards of ice glistened on his left. His obsidian-colored pants glistened as ifmade of stardust.


    "My champion! I am the God of Order, but you may call me Jin. Are you puzzled? Hm? ''Why isn''t my divine power activating?'' Haha. Something like that must be running through your mind I''m sure. Half-mortals are so amusing."This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Alexander glared at the God and questioned, "Where am I? What have you done to my family and my friends?"


    Jin spoke with a smirk, "Hehe. Fear not, brave descendant of Earth''s Sun. They are unharmed. However, you will be unable to see them for quite some time. You need not worry, I will not touch them... so long as you fulfill your role as my champion. Ah. I would advise you not to try to tap into your heritage abilities. They will not work in this space. This is my domain, I call it Shiro. No one''s divine strength can be used here, except my own."


    Alex could sense that the being before him was completely out of his league. With his bloodline sealed, he had no hope of going against Jin. Even if he had access to his divinity, he was unsure if he could could do any harm to this man. Thus, though his rage exploded at Jin''s thinly veiled threat towards his family, he did not let it show outwardly. It would not do him any good to attack this God of Order.


    Swallowing down his hatred, Alex spoke, "I have a few questions."


    With a patronizing smile Jin responded, "Ask away."


    "Why haven''t I heard of you before? I know of thousands of gods and not once have I heard of a God of Order named Jin."


    "Ah, that''s because I''m not a god of Earth. No, I come from a much greater realm, called Sanctus. Out of all the possible candidates from many lower worlds, I have chosen you as my champion. Be proud, half-mortal." Jin put a great amount of emphasis on the word "mortal."


    "You keep calling me your champion. Can you explain that a bit?"


    "In Sanctus, I am the Overlord of all celestial beings."


    Jin''s expression turned fierce, "However, for the past ten thousand years a rat has been building up her strength in an attempt to overthrow me. At first, I believed she served no threat. It was only recently that I decided to crush her. Now, if it was up to me, I would waltz into her domain and eliminate her once and for all, but millions of years ago, I was forced to swear a non-interference oath. All of the deities in Sanctus are not allowed to directly act against each other, or interfere in the affairs of mortals. Of course, there are exceptions, such as the occasional blessing and things of that nature. For anything else, we must choose champions to do our bidding in Sanctus. And for me, you are mine. As the most gifted mortal among all of the lower worlds, I have chosen you."


    Jin continued, "Since she cannot go against me directly, she must plunge the world into chaos. Only then will she be able to dethrone me. The minor deities do not pose a threat so do not worry about them. I will send you out into the world momentarily. Your task is to eliminate all of her forces as quickly as you can.


    "Among the lower worlds your strength is at the peak, but here, you are only strong enough to catch unnecessary attention. Thus I have sealed your divinity for the time being. You must amass allies and resources and MUST grow stronger. How you accomplish this, is all up to you. When your league reaches an appropriate level, you will be able to break the seal on your divinity. The only thing I can do for you now is to bless you with the ability to speak and understand all languages of Sanctus. Now go."


    Jin snapped his fingers and Alexander was thrown out of Shiro. The pure white scene faded to black as he lost consciousness.

 Chapter 2: The Journey Begins

    When Alexander regained consciousness, he opened his eyes to see a clear, blue sky. The familiar sight suggested that he was back on Earth, but the first thing he noticed was that there was more than one sun burning in the heavens. Alexander counted seven of them total.


    The second thing he noticed was that despite the intense heat that one would expect from seven stars, the temperature was quite comfortable.


    Sitting up, he was surprised to find that gravity had increased by several times. It wasn''t too difficult for him to lift his upper body off the ground, but it was surprising. Looking around, he found himself atop a very tall hill covered in grass. A vast forest stretched out in all directions from the foot of the hill.


    Beside him, a very standard looking short bow made of wood lay in the grass. A brown quiver lay next to it, holding only five arrows.


    Sitting in the grass, Alex''s began to get his mind in order. He thought about his friends and especially his family. He wished he had been given a chance to tell them what was going on. No, instead they would surely worry for many nights about him. They would probably comb the entirety of the earth, looking for him.


    After that came resentment. In his heart, Alexander hated the existence called Jin. Not only was Alex separated from his loved ones, their lives had been threatened. If Alex did not fulfill the role thrust upon him, who knows what would happen to them? Alex vowed that if the chance arose, he would strike Jin down.


    With a sigh, Alex stood up and dusted himself off. What could he do now? He was weak. Terribly weak. He felt as if that God of Order could kill him merely by blowing air at him.


    Resigned to his fate, Alex checked his condition. Though the increased gravity affected him somewhat, Alex''s herculean strength remained in part. But he could tell he was nowhere near as physically strong as he used to be.


    He sealed my physical strength? It''s like he''s trying to lose this war on purpose.


    Reaching out towards a random sun, he tried to invoke his powers. But sure enough, nothing happened.


    Holding his hand out in front of him he spoke, "Soul Arrow." Yet again he was greeted with silence.The black arrow tattoo on his shoulder remained dormant.


    Looks like my divinity really has been sealed, Alex thought to himself.He said I would get it back when I grew stronger, but how do I do that?I really know nothing about this world.


    <hr>


    Strapping the quiver to his back, he picked up the bow and inspected it closely. No matter how he saw it, it was just an average wooden bow. The wood and bowstring were not special whatsoever. Pulling an arrow out of the quiver, he felt the balance was a bit off. Checking the other arrows, their situation was the same. Alex would have to take special care when firing these.


    Taking note of the shoddy craftsmanship, Alex cursed the god who had given this to him. I made better stuff than this when I was four.For someone who wanted Alexander to effectively save his ass, Jin was unbelievably unhelpful. Sighing once again, Alex slung the bow on his shoulder and set off from the hill. He had seen a small village off in the distance. It was time to gather some information.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Climbing down from atop the hill, Alexander entered the forest and headed north. As he traveled, he constantly threw out various combinations of punches and kicks. Even though he could walk, run, and jump with little to no issue, combat required a much, much greater amount of bodily control. He needed to completely calibrate his body to conform with the new gravity of Sanctus.


    Though they were hardcore archers, the Blacksun clan knew better than to believe they could keep enemies at distance forever. Thus, they incorporated many close combat martial arts styles into their training. Alex progressed through the forest while slowly getting used to the overall difference in weight.


    About halfway to the village, Alex heard a harsh voice pierce the air in the calm forest.


    "Ah? What''s a foreigner doing here? Oi. Hands up and turn around slowly. No sudden movements."


    Alex was greatly startled. The voice came from behind him and was relatively close, but Alexander hadn''t sensed him until he spoke. Slowly, he turned around to face the voice. The source of the voice was a well-built, bronze-skinned man wearing leather armor. Scars covered his whole body, and his most prominent scar cut down from the top of his bald head to just below his right eye. He was flanked by two equally burly men who appeared to be twins.


    "Bomi, who is he?" said the leader.


    One of the twins lifted what appeared to be a telescope up to his face and peered through it. "Boss, the Reader isn''t showing anything. This guy hasn''t raised his tier. There''s no Aura Mark on his body."


    With that, a wicked grin appeared on the face of "Boss."


    "So he''s a weakling, but looking at him, he''ll probably fetch a high price. Take him."


    Alex was taken aback. He thought to himself, Reader? Tier? Aura Mark? What?


    He didn''t have any more time to contemplate because just as the boss finished speaking, a shadow burst out from the bushes behind him. Spinning, Alexander gripped his bow and nocked an arrow in the blink of an eye. Pulling the bowstring back with great strength, Alex fired the arrow at the approaching assailant. Instantly spinning back to face the trio, he pulled three arrows out of the quiver and shot them simultaneously.


    Taken by surprise, the twins gracefully received the arrows with their faces while "Boss" hastily dodged. The first bandit had been shot through the throat, Bomi had an arrow sticking out of his eye, while his twin had an arrow shaft poking out of his mouth. Due to the bad balance of the arrows, even though Alex had aimed at the foreheads of the men, his attacks were off by a bit.


    Shrieks of agony resounded throughout the forest as the bandits fell to the ground screaming. The scarred man was enraged. Looking at his dying followers, veins started bulging out of his forehead. Then, a flash of "realization" struck him...


    "Golden hair, bow skills...hehehAhAHAHA. AN ELF! I''ve truly struck it rich this time!"


    Alex paused for an instant in confusion at the bandit leader''s rapidly changing mood. The bronze skinned man reached for his sword and Alex turned and ran, snatching up the dagger of the first bandit as he went.


    That guy''s definitely crazy. Elves aren''t real...wait they might be. Damn it, I gotta get away.


    Alex could tell the scarred man was on another level. He had caught the others off guard because they thought he was weak. The bandit leader had let his guard down too but he had still dodged Alex''s shot from such a close range. Having most of his stats sealed away temporarily, fighting in close combat with this man would be akin to suicide.


    From behind him, Alex heard that harsh voice yell, "Sword Wave!" He turned his head just to see a arc of white light flying towards him at high speed.

 Chapter 3: Bounty Hunters

    As the wave of sword light rapidly closed in, Alexander dove behind a tree to the side.


    The arc of white light continued to slice through the air, continuing in a straight line until it smashed into a tree. The light dissipated, but not before carving a deep pit in the tree¡¯s trunk.


    Hiding behind his tree, Alex readied an arrow. But before he could act, he heard voices yell out.


    ¡°There he is!¡±


    ¡°Finally! Don¡¯t let him get away!¡±


    ¡°Frozen Spear!¡±


    It seemed three people had entered the fray. Alexander poked his head out to check out the situation.


    The scarred bandit laughed as he cut down an ice spike aimed at his heart, ¡°Bounty hunters? What do you think you can do to me with just you three weaklings?¡±


    With a sneer, a man in scholarly robes said, ¡°Three? No, I¡¯m sorry Bruton, we¡¯re not so foolish to go against you with just us three.¡±


    Alex silently climbed the tree and watched the scene from above. The party of three was made up of two women and the man in scholar robes. The woman in front wielded a sword and a shield and the other held a seemingly plain wooden staff. The scholar held a book with runes inscribed on its covers.


    Approaching from behind, a barbaric looking man brandished an enormous greatsword as he began to charge.


    The bandit turned to face the barbarian. Scoffing, he entered a battle stance.


    The woman with the shield rushed forward while the other two began casting from range.


    This gave Alex the opportunity to get a better understanding of the battle standards of this world. So he watched closely from his perch in the trees.


    The barbarian launched an onslaught of heavy slashes and the shield maiden stabbed at Bruton repeatedly while blocking his attacks with her large shield. The mage girl shot out ice shards incessantly like a machine gun. The scholar healed any damage the other three took.


    The bandit skillfully defended himself from the assault, somehow fighting 4 on 1 for a commendable amount of time. If it was just the mage and the shield maiden attacking him, Bruton would have no issues, even with the protection of the scholar. However, the barbarian was particularly skilled and powerful. Soon enough, the bandit''s movements grew sluggish from fatigue. One missed block and he lost his sword arm. In the next instant, he lost his life.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Not wasting any time, the group of bounty hunters looted the bandit and cut off his head. They brought it with them as they left. They did not even spare a glance at the bandit''s fallen henchmen as they hastily made their way back to claim their bounty.


    Alex waited a few minutes to see if the coast was clear. Dropping down from the tree, he approached the dead bodies of the other bandits and checked their pockets. Finding a few pieces of silver, he pocketed them, as well as the telescope-like Reader. Grabbing a rusty sword from one of the twins, he fastened it to his belt.


    He attempted to retrieve his arrows but the shafts snapped in two when he pulled on them. Alex could do nothing about it but sigh.


    Taking a few moments to catch his bearings, Alex once again made his way towards the village in the distance.


    <hr>


    When Alexander first appeared in the world of Sanctus, not one existence in the Heavenly Realm noticed his arrival. That is, except for one man.


    In a space that very much resembled an archery range nestled in the clouds, a handsome man stood holding a bow made of golden flames. Rings of fire hovered around him and his well-built chest was bare.. except for an extravagant golden necklace. His wavy golden hair came down to his shoulders.


    Breathing in, he began to focus. Without nocking an arrow, the man used his otherworldly strength to draw back the burning bowstring. As he took aim, a blazing white arrow took form in his hand. Releasing the arrow, an explosion, originating from the bow, thundered through the silent range. Almost instantly, another explosion rocked the domain as the arrow found its target. A shrill dragon cry pierced the air almost simultaneously.


    "Well shot! Your arrows fly true as always," a grey haired man stood off to the side and complimented.


    The man covered in sunflame smiled, "Thank you, Julon."


    He dropped his hands and the bow dissipated, "So why have you graced me with your presence this ti-"


    Before he could finish his question, the archer felt a pulsing from within himself. Placing a hand on his chest, his eyes grew wide.


    "This feeling," he said. He broke into a wide smile, "Oh.. well this is interesting. Very interesting. One moment, Julon."


    The man''s piercing red eyes shined completely white and a third eye opened on his forehead. A moment later, his body shook and his third eye began to bleed. The man also began to cough up blood. However, seemingly ignorant of the pain, the archer began to laugh excitedly as his eyes returned to normal.


    "Haha! Yes!"


    The man called Julon looked puzzled, "What? What''s going on? Why are you laughing?"


    The man''s smile shined as bright as the sun as he said, "About your previous offer, I accept. An opportunity has arrived."