《Ascended Dark Sovereign》


 Chapter 1: The Primal World

    In times past there existed two brothers, today they are known as the Primal God''s or the power creators, this pair of brothers are said to be one of the first creations across all space and time. Each brother was bestowed power by the primal world, resonating and representing their true selves. The older brother gained the power of what we call Magus'' he could command and bend the powers of nature to his will, create Golems the size of mountains, evaporate lakes with a single glance, engulf plains in fire and brimstone and even allow living creatures to thrive and evolve, He was a god with dominion over everything. In contrast his younger brother did not conquer the primal world nor did he hold power to create storms at will instead he gained unparrelled physical strength and eternal life, something the older brother had dedicated his life to obtain, on the other hand the younger brother wanted to rule, he wanted to win, however whenever he faced his brother he would lose so he dedicated his life to find strength and win against his brother.


    While the younger brother went across different worlds, landscapes and plains in search for strength, the eldest scoured the astral plane in search for eternity and the truth of creation all whilst building foundations for the future of the humans, the eldest invented the Magus power system a way to harness the magical energy in the environment and strengthen the magical essence within the body in an effort to harness magical spells capable of creation and destruction. The youngest although slightly less intentional created the martial strength power system, a way to strengthen the body with the magical essence within and to create unbeatable attacks. Feeling like he was lacking in power still the youngest began feasting on the flesh of beasts and drinking blood of monsters, he also learnt of a way to harness the powers of defeated beasts and create bestial imprints which replicated that beasts attacks, thus through this the youngest believed he finally had the power to face his brother and when they met back on the primal world they both had made legends across time and space. The oldest brought death to all those that didn''t submit and granted riches to those that supported him taking the title of Heavenly Death God, whereas the youngest crushed his foes in an instant and harnessed bestial imprints to ravage the lands of men and beast alike obtaining the name of Eternal Martial God.


    Above the world''s boundaries the brothers met, one draped in a black cloak plated with white titanium and the other with meteoric armour coated with a mix of beast skins and furs. They stood opposite one another radiating their immense destructive power, ready to slaughter and destroy the other. "My younger brother you have wasted so much time in this endless life of yours trying to become stronger than me yet you will be sadly disappointed here as I plan to drain your eternal life and truly become a god above all others." The eldest brother proclaimed to the entire primal world.


    "You think too highly of yourself older brother I do not believe you have the power to beat me up like all those times before and even you said so yourself you are not a god just yet." The younger brother rebuked. After talking for that brief moment it was said the sky was lit up with dazzling lights and roars of dragons reverberated across the primal world. Thunder and lightning, giants cries, tornadoes, banshee screams and gigantic lasers could be seen ripping through space. This scene was said to last for hours, the pure terror caused many deaths across the primal world, however at an unknown time it came to a halt showing that the battle was resolved, yet neither brother stepped out to claim victory, leaving the primal world in a state of confusion and shock for many generations.


    An Elderly man slowly heaved a large sigh after narrating the story of the Primal Gods, he looked up to see expressions of enticement and anticipation. He could tell that these youths at the age of twelve had started to believe they could achieve such things in their life. "To this day no one knows what truly happened to the pair of brothers. Followers of the magus power system believe that the older brother won and reached god hood soon after, ascending to the land of Gods. Practitioners of martial strength think the younger brother completed his dream of defeating the most powerful existence he knew of, deciding to then drift through the astral plane in search of an even more powerful being. However most folks believe that their power was too massive for even them to handle resulting in both of the brothers deaths. However the sad truth is that because of these conflicting opinions battles have broken out all across the Primal world, the biggest and most deadly being the Primeval Wars that each last tens to hundreds of years. The Magus'' and the Martial Strength Cultivators battle for the most benefits, no longer are the wars fought for their patrons the Heavenly Death God and the Eternal Martial God, but for who controls what region on this continent of Azalea. The youths then began chatting to each other about how they would become a Primal God in the future almost completely ignoring the information on the Primeval Wars.


    ''So much power evaporated just like that, as well as starting a war that will last for eternity all because of a foolish rivalry.'' Thought a boy with short black hair with unnatural pure white strands coming from it. He wore velvet and silk formal robes that were pitch black with the hem and rims golden in colour giving out a majestic feeling to others. His eyes were pearlescent purple and if one were to look directly into them they would feel a form of nobility enticing them. This boy at the age of twelve was Malithis Darkblight a youth that grew up in a wealthy environment, he showed keen intelligence at the age of just four and from then on was seen as a genius. However the world always holds a balance, with his prospects in life growing broader he was content however both his parents were killed during the last Primeval War which left him with a great fortune but almost no family, he only every knew his mother and father, his grandparents seemed to be non existent. He was taken in by his aunt who was a bar maid in a town close to the capital of the country Zafaris located within the Azalea continent. Moving into this new environment Malithis didn''t know any one and because of his intelligence growing to that of an adult he found it hard to connect with children his age thus keeping to himself.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Right now he was at the towns school of sorts, set up for those who have yet to have their Magical essence awakened. What was magical essence? It was the driving force of all humans, they would use it to complete jobs or use it to become stronger and get rewards for beating up those weaker than them. The people of the primal world believed in only one thing and that was power, if you had the power to conquer a country who could stop you, if you had the power to kill your enemies then all they could do was grovel for their lives at your feet. In such a world there are few people who are content on being farmers with the greatest goal being reaching the pinnacle of the Primal World.


    Magical Essence was found within the body once it was awakened at the age of twelve, it flows through your blood, muscles, heart and brain. It all coalesced within ones mind and if you had the power to, you could see it, move it, control it, even make it solid and bring it out of your body. Magical essence didn''t just flow within people but also moved around the world preparing to be used by those with the spirit and strength to.


    Malice already knew this and was feeling anticipation and excitement to harness this famed magical essence. ''I believe magical essence within people is split into grades based on how much is present within the body, this also acts as a way to gage the future potential someone has. There are 6 grades ranging from A to F. An F grade is given to people that are measured to have 10% to 24% of their body filled with magical essence, E grade being 25% to 39%, D grade being 40% to 54%, C grade being 55% to 69%, B grade being 70% to 84% and finally A grade having 85% to 99% of their body filled with magical essence. It is apparently impossible to have 100% and it is extremely rare to have above 96% of your body filled with essence. Also if you have below 10% your are useless and can''t train your body at all, after all people capable of gaining strength won''t be willing to become farmers.'' Malice went over the grades in his mind hoping he wouldn''t be anything worse than a D grade.


    ''There is also stages among the grades, being lower, middle and upper stage. This just helps to understand if your potential is closer to the grade above or the grade below.'' Malice finished contemplating, thinking that there is nothing he can do to change the outcome. ''Oh well I suppose I''ll find out tomorrow what my future will hold, either way it would be best if I could join the Magus class considering my family were all Magus'' it would put their hearts at ease in the after life.'' Malice had zoned out from the class and was in a melancholic mood after thinking about his family, although he had genius level intelligence and felt detached from the world he still couldn''t help but morn their deaths.


    "Alright children this will be your last time learning from me because tomorrow you will all be awakening your magical essence, so this is goodbye I hope you all have A grade talent!" The elderly man gave each youth a wide warm smile seeing them out of the class for the last time.


    ''If everyone got A grade talent then the balance between the Magus'' and Martial strength cultivators will be broken turning this small town into a war zone. Maybe this elderly man may already know this and it''s just courtesy to wish us all good luck.'' Malice analysed subconsciously, he had been doing this for awhile now and would usually dismiss the things he picked up on however he knew it would come in handy in the future.


    Malice returned to his aunts house which was rather grand, although she was a bar maid her deceased husband was a wealthy Magus who gained some fame and wealth back in his day. Malice tried to be humble and not accept the money his aunt would constantly give him as he had his own inheritance, yet she would not accept it back. Malice believed her giving him the money was a way to pay back her husband for all that he had given her, this was likely because he was Malice''s biological uncle and she viewed him as close family.


    Malice walked in and saw his aunt was at work, she often worked from midday to midnight meaning Malice only saw her in the mornings, they didn''t have a very close relationship it was more like a business deal, by staying with his aunt he would allow themselves to both have closure for their families losses. Malice decided to quickly have a meal so he cooked some fish caught from the local lake. He then went to bed in his spacious bedroom filled with ornaments of all kinds, of course he was given the most gracious looking room. He delved into deep thought as he laid on his soft bed with silk covers, thinking that his life would be shaped around the events that unfold tomorrow and there would be no going back after his magical essence was awakened.

 Chapter 2: Awakening

    The day of awakening had finally arrived, Malice opened his eyes steadily whilst his heart started to race. Still feeling somewhat tired he yawned constantly whilst preparing himself for the day. Excitement evidently plastered across his face, he briefly talked with his aunt before setting off to the towns great hall where all the children at the age of twelve would get their essences awoken.


    Malice made his way to the great hall at an increasingly quick pace, although he usually felt cold and indifferent Malice right now was in a good mood after all becoming a Magus and increasing his strength was his goal.


    When Malice finally arrived at the great hall he saw several figures that wore large white cloaks these were the town elders and protectors, past these figures was a massive gathering of people with ages ranging from young to old with each one of them attracted to a large stage with a azure orb the size of a head on top. Malice knew that this was what would test his magical essence amount, so following the other 12 year olds he made his way up to the stage. By the time they were all gathered there was around 20 youngsters gathered on the stage.


    "Good morning and welcome my fellow former towns folk, my name is Klaud Striegzik, as I''m sure you are aware I am an Elder Magus from The Zafaris Magus Institution here on behalf of my Institution to recruit those talented enough to become legendary Magus. I am also proud to be back at my home town and hope every youth present has the power to become an exceptional genius.


    The Elder Magus that was addressing the crowd wore a long blue robe covered with steel plating that gave him a very lofty feeling, he was in his 50''s and had deep silver hair and an aura that emitted a deep chill making mid spring feel like the ice cold winter.


    After he finished speaking a middle agreed man walked up to the podium he had a long mane of chestnut hair and embodied the look of a lion, his ferocious and scarred face added to his viciousness. His armour was outstandingly sturdy, with obvious blood stains streaking across it, he also possessed several beast like tattoos of different colours on his arms and neck obviously these were bestial imprints capable of replicating beast and monster attacks. When he walked past the Elder Magus they both transmitted a burning hot killing intent towards each other, everyone in the room could feel their rivalry.


    The Lion like man then stood up on the podium and shouted "I am the great Ezekiel Lionblade, a Martial Strength Elder and today I will create martial strength cultivators of you all and bring you to the Martial Power Hall for I posses the strength of a Brimstone Lion and the heart of a Primeval Griffin." When the martial strength elder finished he jumped off the stage instructing the town elders to start the magical essence awakening.


    ''Comparing their strength it would seem that the power system elders on either side are about equal, the Magus Elder had a icy cold aura that felt like it could freeze over the world, whereas the Martial Strength Elder had a unique feeling of a Lion that could devour everyone present without spending any energy at all.'' Malice was comparing the strengths of each elder, he even guessed that when the martial strength elder said he had the strength of a Brimstone lion and heart of a Primeval Griffin that was him being literal.


    After the elders spoke the awakening began. The children being awakened only had to step forward toward the azure ball and place their hand on it. After that the ball would light up different colours, no colour meant the person had less than 10% of their body filled with magical essence making them useless, yellow indicated F grade talent, red was shown if they had E grade talent, green meant D grade talent, blue for C grade talent, purple suggested B grade talent and finally silver for A grade talent. These colours would also have different tints depending on what stage they had within the grade, if one had lower stage in their grade then the colour displayed would be the talent grades colour with small amounts of the grade belows colour, If they had middle stage on the other hand the colour displayed would be solid with no other colouration, upper stage would be similar to lower stage instead the small colouration wouldn¡¯t be from the grade below but the grade above.


    The children slowly went up placing their hands on the azure ball, looks of anticipation were constantly shown, the azure ball flashed every now and again, however so far the ball only flashed yellow or red. The children on the receiving end were disappointed, their options were now limited because to become a Magus one needed at least middle stage D grade talent, however seeing this the lion looking elder smiled this meant that he would receive more martial strength practitioners, he seemed to care more about quantity than quality. However the Magus Elder looked disappointed what he wanted wasn''t some untalented trash he was looking for a talented young genius, however he started to feel that may not happen.


    When Malice finally made his way up to the azure ball all 19 children had already awoken their magical essence, of those nineteen 2 had no magical essence, 5 had F grade talent, 5 had E grade talent, 3 had D grade talent, 2 had C grade talent and 2 had B grade talent. They all chose their respective power system to join, the Magus elder had a B grade and 2 C grade talents stood behind him, the Lion like elder had the rest, he stood with an expression of winning.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    Malice wasn''t really paying attention to this and slowly placed his hand on the ball, he felt a slight suction power from it, then it started to change colour, the azure slowly discoloured into a greyish colour however it didn''t stop there it then became darker and darker, ending up a jet black colour, when the crowd saw this they were confused thinking that the azure ball had broken. Yet a few individuals stood there with surprised expressions. "Ha ha ha my luck is truly beautiful, living my life as an old fool has finally paid off" what broke the silence was the laughter of the Magus Elder, who seemed in a joyful mood.


    "Who said he will become a Magus, everyone knows Martial Strength is more powerful." Yelled the Martial Strength Elder. The crowd was shocked it seemed that these two elders were fighting over Malice, which hadn''t happened for any of the previous children.


    "Excuse me exalted elder did something go wrong with the awakening?" Malice asked in confusion, he wasn¡¯t certain what was going on, he also was very formal so he wouldn''t offend this elder for being rude.


    "Ah young lad it seems you are unaware, if so let me enlighten you, when the Awakening Orb goes silver or purple silver it indicates Middle stage A grade talent and Lower stage A grade talent respectively. However, what does Upper stage A grade talent look like?" The Magus elder said this answering everyone''s inquisitive gazes with that simple question.


    "I have Upper Stage A grade talent, well that makes things so much easier" Malice knew the answer there and then, finally realizing his future prospects were destined to be filed with fame and grandeur.


    "Well then let me not trouble the elders to fight I have already decided to join..." Malice said this steadily making nervousness appear in the Magus Elder''s eyes. " the Zafaris Magus Institution." Malice finished and jumped over to the Magus Elder. The Martial Strength Elder was angered he lost but still felt pleased having the greater number of practitioners.


    "May I know your name young one, you can just call me Elder Klaud." Elder Klaud showed an expression of anticipation and warmth as if picturing Malice¡¯s future to be bright and glorious.


    "My name is Malice Darkblight, this one greets Elder Klaud." Malice was formal and polite to create a favourable impression of himself.


    Elder Klaud smiled lightly but what Malice didn''t see was a trace of fear flash through Elder Klauds eyes which he quickly concealed. ''He is a Darkblight? Then what is he doing in this rural town?''. Malice clearly wasn''t aware of what Elder Klaud was thinking and was waiting for this Elder to explain when they were leaving for the Magus Institute.


    "Ah right now everyone has had their essence awoken we can proceed to the Magus Institute, we will leave tomorrow at dawn so prepare before then and don''t be late." Elder Klaud spoke those words and then vanished, Malice was quite surprised thinking they could talk more about Magus'' yet he disappeared in a flash. Malice decided to just ignore it and went back home to get ready for the journey tomorrow.


    "Elder Klaud reporting in, I have managed to rope in two C grade, one B grade and a single A grade talent from this town." Elder Klaud wrote in the wind however each word would hover for awhile before vanishing into the distance. "The A grade talent is remarkable however he has the surname of Darkblight, will this be a problem." Elder Klaud finished with this and waited awhile before he got a single sentence reply "Good job, no problem cant be solved." After reading these words Elder Klaud sighed whether it was one of relief or reluctance only he knew.


    Malice had finally made his way back to his Aunts house, Malice saw his aunt and explained what happened, she was glad he had such potential and knew that she no longer needed to protect him. His Aunt then pulled out a special Black ring that had a ruby on it, "Malice I already knew you would become a genius so I packed all your things, your vast fortune is all stored inside here as well, if you didn¡¯t know this is an interspatial ring capable of storing a lot within. I suppose this is goodbye Malice, I hope the next time we meet you will be a powerful Magus with all manners of magical powers." Malice¡¯s aunt said softly before passing him the ring she then went toward the garden as though hiding her tears.


    "Thank you for everything Aunt" Malice gave a reply and then prepared to leave although he had only briefly stayed with his aunt he understood why she was upset after all they were the only family each other had. Malice was in a good mood and couldn¡¯t wait until the journey to the capital tomorrow.


    The night passed by listlessly, Malice spent the entire time trying to get a feel for his magical essence but felt that he could only vaguely feel something powerful within his body. Soon dawn came, Malice said his final goodbyes and joined Elder Klaud and the other youngsters, however with the youngsters there were even some family members. Malice inquired "Elder Klaud family members are allowed to accompany a Magus Institute student?" Malice was not aware of this.


    "Ah well I left in a rush yesterday so I didn''t tell you but you can take three family members with you to the Institute. Do you have any family that you wish to accompany you?" Elder Klaud explained, when Malice heard this he thought of his aunt but from the way she is living it seemed more suitable than in the capital, so Malice decided to not bring her, "I have no family, I was only wondering" Malice said rather coldly then he asked just as blandly "Could I take slaves?" Elder Klaud was clearly quite shocked at the fact Malice had no family and even wanted to bring slaves. Elder Klaud seemed like quite a righteous man that believed slavery to be inhumane so he rejected Malice and said servants will be provided when he arrived at the institute.


    Malice was surprised by this after all being someone who possessed quite a lot of wealth he and his aunt had bought slaves to keep the mansion at peak standard, so why would a grand figure such as an Elder Magus not bother with slaves, Malice truly thought that slaves were cheap and allowed menial tasks to be done easily. So why wouldn''t a Magus who studied magic essence not have slaves to help out or even test on. However After thinking about it Malice lost interest and started to meditate after all only the elder would know why and Malice was too weak to question him. Soon after with everyone prepared the carriage set off to the Capital Zafaris, towards their new home.

 Chapter 3: The Capital

    The journey to the Capital Zafaris was relatively quick by carriage, Malice mostly focused on trying to meditate and sense his essence, lately he was getting closer and closer to seeing within himself, to feel his magical essence.


    After a single days worth of travel they arrived at Zafaris, it was huge with walls towering over head, beasts of different kinds flew above the walls, some travelling and others defending. Even above the walls grand towers with glittering lights stood lofty and untouched, Malice guessed these were Magus watch towers capable of using destructive magic. Zafaris was the capital of the Azalea continent so it was heavily populated, with people ranging from mortals, blacksmiths, shop keepers, soldiers, Magus'', Martial Strength Cultivators and many more different and varied people by this one could tell it was an advanced and beautiful city.


    Getting in was very simple, one of the guards had a quick look at Elder Klaud realising he was a Powerful Magus allowing Malice and everyone else through the massive overbearing gates. Once through buildings of all shapes and sizes could be seen scattered across the city, from where they were it was simply impossible to see past these waves of buildings.


    "Zafaris is made up of three districts, each district with a set purpose." Elder Klaud spoke to everyone present giving them a brief explanation of the city.


    "The district that is on the outskirts of the city in between the outer wall and inner wall is the commercial district comprised of shops, bars, inns and several other leisure real estate. The second district is the residential district which is located past the inner wall and ends at the Core Wall. As the name implies this is where most permanent accommodation is located, obviously those with smaller fortunes choose to live in the commercial district. Finally the third district surrounded by the core wall is the Political District, the place where those with power within Zafaris live, it also houses the greatest seat of power within the Azalea Continent, The Azalea Emperor, who lives in the Divine Infernal Palace. The Zafaris Magus Institution and Martial Power Hall can also be found within the political district." Elder Klaud explained slowly as to drill the information into everyone''s minds.


    "The political district will also be the place you will live whilst you are students of the Magus Institute. More specifically as you are from a town a days journey away and have no means as to travel here faster you have to take up residence within the Magus Institute. We will be heading there now, where you will get your Magus robes, class assignment and room keys." Elder Klaud finally finished his long explanation about Zafaris'' situation.


    As they continued the journey the three other students and their family members asked several questions about places to sight see and visit, Malice was dismissive of this conversation and continued to observe the city. From his observations the three outer, inner and core walls were the main defence of this city excluding the Magus'' and Martial Power cultivators within the city itself. Each wall seemed stronger and more powerful than the last, the outer wall was greatest in height and was excessively thick, made out of some extremely solid form of stone. The inner wall was small in comparison but shone with a black lustre as it seemed to be reinforced by obsidian and other strong metals. However when the group began to approach the core wall everyone present gasped in shock because it was truly the definition of impregnable defence. The wall towered up like a gigantic beast, it was completely white in colour said to be made from one of the strongest stones on the planet the ''Everlasting Pale Stone''. Moreover the wall was covered in formation circles, glyphs and many different kinds of runes making it magically enforced. When Malice saw this he finally realised the overwhelming power of the capital of a continent.


    Finally After extensive travelling the carriage had arrived at the Magic Institute, it looked like a large school with hundreds of classrooms, there was stages for fights and rooms for experiments, rune creation, alchemy, enchanting, weapon forging and studying. There was many grand plazas capable holding hundreds of people at a time and even a famed Spell Pavilions. Moreover there were separate buildings that held many rooms capable of holding almost every student present. Malice couldn''t see all of it but knew that this Magus Institute was enormous and had at least thousands of students.


    "Alright we have arrived at the institute after a long journey, I will now guide you to the reception where you will obtain all you need for your time at the institute. Follow me." Elder Klaud spoke loudly as he hopped off the carriage instructing everyone to follow him.


    Malice listened to Elder Klaud and followed behind him. "Elder Klaud how many students currently go to this institute?" a small child from Malices Town asked that question.


    "Currently there are 12,500 Magus trainees within the institute, obviously this number shifts as those aged 18 will either leave the institute or become management Magus who help out around the institute. Also many young 12 year olds join every year which boosts the number up increasingly as time goes by." Elder Klaud kindly answered that child¡¯s question then decided to explain further some details relating to the institute "There are 5 academic levels within the institute each varying in difficulty, these academic levels are beginner, advanced, adept, expert and master. You will all start in the beginner class where you will learn the basics of being a Magus, you are required to be in the beginner class for a year at which point you will join the advanced class, to advance to levels after that you must pass an advancement test, classes depend on ability alone it doesn¡¯t matter if your 13 or 17 you could be in the same class. Any way that''s all in the future, right now you need to go and collect your Magus robes, Class assignment and key to your living quarters from over there, I hope to see you in the future." Elder Klaud finished speaking pointed at a table where a young man sat and then departed.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    One by one the people Malice travelled with went up to the young man and collected their robes, key and class assignment. Malice followed soon after telling the young man his name and size after that Malice was given an aqua blue robe by the man and a belt with a title plate on it with the words ''beginner'' inscribed into it. "It is not compulsory to wear the Institution robes unless you venture outside of the city, however you must wear your title plate for identification purposes." The young man gave a simple explanation for clothing requirements. "Classes will start in two days so explore our Institutes territory until then." Next the man passed Malice a piece of cloth that had a map with 2 destinations marked down, the first destination was his living quarters which was beside a large lake in the middle of the Magus Institution territory and the other destination was where his assigned class was which seemed to be among the masses of rooms in the main building.


    Malice fastened his title plate belt around his waist and then proceeded to walk toward his living quarters, on his way he saw many students walking around the Magus Institute Territory ranging between twelve and eighteen years old many had unnatural and powerful auras coming from their body''s, being surrounded made Malice feel quite nauseated so he quickened his steps to escape all those auras, Malice felt sick but also felt envious he also wished for power that could surpass others like that. Malice had desired strength ever since the death of his parents as he never wanted to feel the weakness he did the day he found out, he simply would never accept being weak again. Seen as a genius in intelligence made him weak and ignorant to the worlds horrors thus instead of continually lazing around accepting his weakness he strove to become an insurmountable existence.


    Malice had arrived at his living quarters, it seemed to be quite a luxurious building with at least 5 rooms, for Malice this could be considered small but he did not mind as long as he had a place to sleep and train.


    In the Magus Institute there was a large overbearing building that held all the rooms with the purpose of teaching within. However despite this building there were hundreds of other buildings much smaller in size capable of holding up to 5 people, these were spread across the Institutes domain. These hundreds of buildings were for those more than a days travel from the city. Moreover a great majority of the Institutes students were residents of Zafaris so these hundreds of buildings was just enough for the families of each student from distant towns.


    After Malice¡¯s arrival he only unpacked clothes, cleaning products and other essentials from his interspatial ring, he then proceeded to rest after all he spent the entire way here trying to feel his essence.


    Two days passed relatively quickly, Malice didn''t really do much except meditate and look around the lake next to his quarters, on the day Malice had to go to class he managed to feel the essence within himself, see it flowing through his body However that was the extent of what he could do, he couldn''t look deeper and only had a superficial understanding of his essence.


    ''I have spent three days simply trying to feel my essence let alone use it, does that mean even with this talent I have its going to be difficult, what does talent grade even measure? Now that I think about it no one has actually told me if it decides how fast I learn or how pure my essence can become, oh well I will probably learn my answer in my class today.'' Malice was contemplating his talent whilst making his way to his class. Whilst walking hundreds of people brushed past also wanting to get to their destination and from the amount Malice saw he had a new respect for the reputation the Magus Institution had.


    Malice eventually made it to his class, there was about twenty odd people within, already some had started to form cliques, then again it was probably just them being friendly and Malice being cold and pessimistic. Malice then decided to sit down, he wore seemingly royal attire of a abyssal black velvet and silk formal robe adorned by golden plated shoulder pads and obsidian ornaments which also had his family crest which was a sword or more of a snake that wrapped around a black rose which was the crest of his Darkblight family and although he was the only one remaining he would always don the crest as a sign of respect. Whether it was his outfit, his unnatural black and white hair or his aloof, cold demeanour to the others in the class he seemed like royalty completely thoughtless of these ants around him.


    "Welcome, Welcome everybody you may call me Teacher Li, I will be your Magus teacher for your beginner year, now we will all introduce ourselves and tell everyone our talent grades so we can know each other just a little better, alright you start." A middle aged man walked into the class room he wore an old yellow robe tied up with a large piece of red rope, his hair was long and ruffled and looked to not care about his messy appearance. Teacher Li even seemed like an enthusiastic and spirited person trying to get everyone to join in.


    "My name is Miya Greezhalt and I am a lower B grader" a young girl said.


    "This one is called Vivek Ironite and I''m a middle C grader" a sturdy looking child spoke next.


    "My name is such and such I''m a something grader" This was repeated several times till it came to Malice.


    "My name is Malice Darkblight and I''m an upper A grader." Malice said his introduction cold and clearly he wasn''t trying to show off his talent so he simply ignored any shocked expressions or attempts to befriend him.


    ''Surely this teacher Li must realise that saying their talent grade will allow arrogant bullies to easily pick their targets and see who to steer clear of, *sigh* Well at least I''m the latter so it won''t affect me.'' Malice simply couldn''t understand this excitable teacher.


    "Well now that we all know each other we can begin our first lesson, we will go over magical essence refinement and foundation spells, alrighty lets get started." Teacher Li was upbeat as before truly exhibiting his eccentric behaviour.

 Chapter 4: Foundation Spell

    "As you know all living things have magical essence flowing through their body whether it be humans, beasts, monsters or even farm animals they all have magical essence flowing through their bodies. You also know the quantity of this magical essence is variable meaning that it is different for each being, obviously in farm animals magical essence is low and this will not change, farm animals will always have low amounts of essence. On the other hand a magical beast such as a Dragon will always have high amounts of magical essence, each Dragon will obviously have different quantities however these quantities will always be high. When it comes to humans though the laws and facts about magical essence are ignored instead all humans have a chance of having high amounts of essence yet they have the same chance to have extremely low amounts. I''m sure you have all come to understand this before having your essence awoken however what we are now going to do is refine that essence within to make it stronger. This essence refinement is how we as Magus become stronger. Each time you refine your essence it becomes stronger, more dense and powerful. The quality of your essence is split into realms each harder to achieve than the last."


    "The first realm is known as the Mortal Realm everyone begins in the Mortal Realm, that is to say all of you are currently in the Mortal Realm. However after you have refined your essence to a certain point it will start to change in density, power and appearance. The realms are as follows Mortal, Earth, Sky, Heaven, Royal, Imperial, Infernal and Primeval with each more powerful than the last. Moreover your essence will turn from Mortal White to Earth Green to Sky Blue to Heaven Gold to Royal Purple to Imperial Silver to Infernal Red to Primeval Black . Furthermore these Realms are split into six ranks Iron, Copper, Silver, Gold, Cobalt and Mythril, these are also referred to as rank one through six. The more you refine your essence the more dense it becomes and as you increase the density of your essence it becomes more powerful, it also takes on a slight coloration depending on what rank you are, for example iron ranks will have a reddish coloration, copper ranks will have a brownie coloration and cobalt ranks will have a blue coloration and so on."


    "Obviously you are all wondering how could you possibly refine the essence that is inside your bodies, well it''s simple all you have to do is meditate and then whilst mediating and feeling the essence inside your body you compress it, push it together, channel it through your body to strengthen it. Although It is simple to do, to actually break through is difficult other wise everyone would be in the Primeval Realm. These breakthroughs can be supplemented by medicines, herbs and other cultivation resources yet as your realm climbs higher the more medicine is required or possibly even stronger medicine is needed, I''m sure you understand the journey of cultivation is a long and arduous one."


    "Alrighty I think we covered all main points of essence refinement now lets talk about Magus spells shall we. So Magus spells are split into three categories - Foundation, Combat and Formation, today we will talk about foundation spells."


    "Foundation Spells are the framework for all Magus, before you start learning other spells you must create a foundation spell. The Foundation spell is created through making your essence come out of your body in a corporeal form suitable to you, this essence you control is then supported by the magical essence in the environment, once you can do that the foundation spell will be complete allowing you to summon whatever you created as long as you have enough essence. It also supports our development in the future as combat and formation spells you use down the line are heavily influenced by your foundation spell . Moreover this spell is unique to you and only blood relatives could have a foundation spell resembling yours. Of course you may still learn from teachers and masters as they contain their own insights into spell creation, because if we relied on inexperienced students to create spells with no training there will be very few who could accomplish that." After a very long narration Teacher Li let out a breath and seemed quite tired after speaking for that long without breaks.


    Malice was then instructed to feel his soul and look at his magical essence, to reach out and feel his magical essence, to create a unique foundation spell, obviously with his lack of experience he could only faintly sense a sharpness like that of a knife, an indescribable blade edge. Actually it was as if his very soul was a sword capable of piercing the world. He continued to urge the magical essence within to create a more corporeal form, Teacher Li only briefly explained this part obviously imagining that these youths would be incapable of such a thing given how little they have learnt so far.


    Yet to Malice''s surprise he only felt his essence move slightly which made him feel rather dejected. Retracting himself from his primitive form of magical mediation Malice realised that he still had a ways to go before he could form his foundation spell, however he did manage to at least urge his magical essence to move which would already be seen as outstanding.


    After an hour of students attempting to meditate, control their essence and even attempt to materialise it , Teacher Li gathered everyone''s attention. When everyone was awoken the room was filled with faces of unwillingness and sadness, after all they believed they had failed to achieve even the basic step of moving their essence, yet Teacher Li had a trace of understanding in his eyes.


    "Do not be upset or ashamed that you didn''t manage to complete the task, this is your first lesson and the creation of your foundation spell is what we plan to work on this week. Some of you may achieve this within a day or two whilst others may take even longer than the given week, there are two key factors that will affect your speed, those being your attitude and your talent, for without an attitude to train even if you have A grade talent you will be worse off than those with a D grade. However talent is still very important as those with A grade will need to spend a considerably less amount of time meditating than those with C grade talent . So whether you are an A grade talent or a D grade talent I want you all to try your hardest to create your foundation spells, I''m sure I will not be disappointed. Therefore that concludes our practical lesson for today, the next few lessons will focus on your foundation spell creation, magical history and magical application, Farewell see you tomorrow. "Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    When Teacher Li stopped talking the students all started to get up and get ready to leave, very soon many conversations broke out attracting Malice''s attention.


    "He said that we shouldn''t feel ashamed or angered that we failed, but how can we not? Does he not see that it hurts one''s pride when you fail in front of so many people" growled a pompous chubby kid


    "Didn''t everyone fail you dimwit how can your pride be affected at all? However it does bug me that he assigned an impossible task that we all wasted our time on." responded an overbearing little girl


    Malice held back a look of disdain after hearing a few comments that were around him, he only thought to himself how foolish the other students were, ''Pride? Like the girl said we all failed, is there nothing else that happened in that lesson to comment on? Impossible task? The instructor clearly stated that it is ongoing and the point is to make us train, so you think that training is time consuming?.'' A look of contempt flashed in Malice''s eyes he almost felt that he was put in a classroom of fools.


    ''This intelligence that I posses and have strangely nurtured can''t be that outlandish, I have seen that I most likely posses the intelligence of a smart adult at the age of twelve but even then it doesn''t take a genius to figure out what the instructor wanted, huh maybe having this genius makes me look down on the other kids, honestly in this case I have the right to.''


    Malice was put in a bad mood after hearing constant comments which were foolish, idiotic and unreasonable, he didn''t know whether it was him being smarter or the others being unnaturally stupid that caused his rage but he did manage to figure out that he would try to avoid these people as much as possible. Whilst Malice was coming to this realisation a boy and girl walked up to him whilst he was leaving the class.


    The male looked older than twelve yet still retained the feeling of a twelve year old, possessing a minute but tangible dominating aura, wearing leather armour that covered most of his body creating a mystical ten point star on his chest which was all lined with ghostly grey fur. On the other hand the girl was draped in an elegant black and red dress gown possessing small diamond and ruby ornaments on the shoulders and neck with a gold plated shining star on her abdomen, appearance wise she was definitely a stunning beauty, even at this young age you could see the makings of a royal princess. But what caught Malithis'' attention was not her beauty, nor her extravagant outfit but her aura, it was greater than the males it was small yet still real however it''s feeling was completely different it was like a bright fire was coiling around her, showing her power and progress in training.


    "Would you mind having a little chat with us in the courtyard?" The female softly sounded, her melodic voice was soothing to the ear but also melancholic at the same time, Malice was surprised at first he wasn''t sure why she wanted to talk. He guessed that it was to do with his A grade talent. He decided to follow her out of curiosity, Neither Malice nor the other two spoke as they approached the courtyard only stealing glances at each other now and then. They arrived at a small stone table where they all sat down.


    "Hello there Malice my name is Isabella Starlyte Valroyeaux, you may call me Bella, I am from the Starlyte clan and the granddaughter of the current patriarch. This is Nova Starfyre, he is from a side family of the Starlyte clan, the Starfyre side family, so we like to stick together."


    "What do you want?" Malice asked simply and coldly, he didn''t have any connections to this Isabella.


    ''Why is she here there is obviously no such thing as free charity and considering she is part of a blood clan she isn''t here to recruit me so I wonder what she wants''


    "Ah I''m sorry if I came on a bit strong, the thing is we heard that your are a high ranked A grade student and me and Nova were thinking we could become friends, after all there are few A ranked people in this class and well if you aren''t opposed to it we could make a little A ranked friendship group" Bella gave a warm smile that caused Malice to feel her true intentions surprising Malice very much. ''Am I a idiot? Clearly we are all twelve year olds, I think like someone who is sceptical of everything, she clearly just wants to make friends and having friends of the same talent grade will make it more likely to stay friends as you progress at roughly the same speed. Hahaha I should really try thinking more like my age, however having a little bit of scepticism is always helpful but I''ll agree.''


    "Ah I must apologise that was quite rude of me it''s just I usually don''t socialise with others I like to keep to myself, but having friends would be nice." Malice gave a slight smile and seemed sincere. ''I usually secluded myself after all having an adults frame of mind means it''s hard to understand and enjoy the company of children.''


    "Don''t worry about it honestly it is refreshing having been spoken to like that, being a direct descendant of a large clan means I am always feared and respected without anyone even knowing me. Anyway let''s stop talking about this, there is still two other A grade talents would you like to join us in expanding this group of ours?" Bella seemed happy and serene every time she uttered a word now which was in a large contrast to Nova who still had yet to speak and just sat there seeming completely detached.


    ''It looks like he is meditating, he must want to also become strong quickly, clearly having A grade talent means they are far smarter than those idiots from earlier. Well looks like having a few friends won''t bring any disadvantage, but to have them as powerful allies in the future will definitely be helpful.''

 Chapter 5: Group of Geniuses

    "Sure why not I am intrigued to find out who these other A graders are." Malice replied calmly. "Well then shall we go. I''m pretty sure one of them hangs around the spell pavilion, even though we can''t obtain any spells we are permitted to stay within and read historical records and books based on Magus''." Bella said peacefully. The group then made their way to the spell pavilion whilst talking, Nova decided to introduce himself to Malice "Hello as you already know my name is Nova, well you don''t seem very... wait have you managed to move your magical essence?" Nova sounded quite domineering and disdainful when he began to speak, however he showed an expression of surprise as he asked that question.


    "Well when I was told about the mediation I tried to turn my essence to a more solid form but it only moved slightly." Malice said, his tone showing confusion to the question. "Hahaha you have managed to already move your essence no wonder you are an A grade worthy of Miss Isabella." In response Nova seemed to become more friendly however he still wanted to show that he is just as competent following up "While you and Miss Isabella were talking I managed to move it then, Hahaha no wonder after all we are all A graders. "


    After Nova finished speaking Malice finally understood something, he realised that the instructor did mention that it was difficult to even complete the first step of moving your essence. ''So this is the difference in talent, the A graders managed to move their essence whereas none else could. ''


    "So Malice you have already achieved the first step of foundation spell creation, well done. If I wasn''t a member of a strong clan I may not be able to have done it so soon. Also Well done Nova this will make the Starfyre family very happy." Bella aimed a pleasant smile at Malice and Nova showing that she was genuinely happy.


    Malice smiled back humbly saying "Bella I don''t believe your talent is in anyway worse than mine, please don''t belittle yourself like that." Bella shrugged her shoulders as it would be impossible to know. ''There is nothing wrong with being slightly humble it allows me to gage her personality with no risk and high reward.'' Malice thought.


    Nova on the other hand had an expression of reverence as if he was praised by a goddess. "How could I possibly compare to young miss who has already started to make her essence more corporeal?" Nova said loyally as if the progress he made couldn''t be compared to her.


    "You have already started to control your essence to make it more solid?" Malice asked although it wouldn''t be surprising given her talent, background and aura he felt earlier. Bella only gave a slight nod showing that it wasn''t that big of a deal.


    They walked forward at a steady pace arriving at a large building. When malice looked up he saw what seemed to be an old library which actually caused a bit of disappointment, since he was told about this spell pavillion he was imaging something much.. Grander looking.


    "I will go in and talk to him, his name is Zak Kilburn and from my information should be the lowest talent A grade , Nova please stay behind I know how you think when facing someone weaker than you, it may make them feel unwelcome." Bella said cautioning Nova not to display his domineering aura. "Would you like to meet him Malice?" Bella asked sweetly almost urging Malice to say yes.


    ''Hm so Nova was showing a small amount of disdain earlier, he clearly only looks up to people stronger than him and down on those weaker, honestly this is the most common mind-set among humans so I can''t fault him for it. But Bella clearly understands how he thinks, so the only reason he approached me with her was because he was in a form of mediation.''


    "I think it would be best if you went alone, coming at a person secluding himself in a library as a group would probably disturb them. " Malice said this but he only felt that if this person said no to joining this group they would butt heads in the future so it would be best to avoid contact till that point.


    "You do make a good point, well if that''s the case then you and Nova can go find the last A grader. Her name is Violet Venomwind and she will probably be at the dining hall, she has purple hair so she should be pretty easy to find, when I was leaving the classroom earlier I could tell she was about to complete the first step of foundation spell creation." Bella gave a slow wave before turning around and entering the spell pagoda.


    "Well looks like it''s just me and you Nova, We are going to meet this girl Violet, have any interest towards girls?" Malice decided to make conversation after all if he joined this group he should at least try and be friendly.


    "Even though you look cold and detached at least your mind has matured." Nova slightly laughed he held an expression of winning as though he had already conquered many girls before.


    ''My mind has matured much more than you know and even though we are young it seems Nova also holds increased intelligence, sigh I didn''t expect this response well looks like we will talk about his experiences while we walk to the dining hall.'' Malice smiled mischievously and started to hear Nova''s stories of female domination. He continued until they had reached the dining hall, Nova seemed more friendly now finding a common interest between him and Malice. ''So Nova is the typical shameless young master preying on women who fear his family and believes himself to be a descendant of god. He is essentially Bella''s loyal dog so ill just ignore this personality trait of his, although it will definitely trouble him in the future.'' Malice realised this but didn''t really care as long as he wasn''t the one troubled.


    Walking into the dining hall a cacophony of noise drifted into the pair''s ears, from a glance one would see hundreds of long tables and tens of smaller tables allowing 10 people and 5 people to sit at them respectively. "Look over there Malice! That must be the Violet girl that the Young Miss was talking about" Nova pointed out a girl with purple hair sat at a table in the dining hall, the strange thing was that the table could fit as least 8 people if it was crammed yet she sat on her own, after inspection this seemed weird because the dining hall was full today with 15 people barely managing to sit on a single long table with each long table having a similar situation.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ''She either inspires fear or reverence for all these people to ignore that entire table, either way I''m not confident in getting her to join this little group Bella started.'' Malice had his doubts considering peoples behaviour around the girl. On the other hand whilst Malice was contemplating the situation, Nova showed a rather lascivious expression as though he would devour this little girl, however that expression soon vanished as he feared what Bella would do to him if he showed this side of him. After all most men had the desire of pleasure yet Nova being only 12 and displaying that form of expression showed his uncontrollable nature.


    Malice saw Nova hide the expression and could only sigh at how Nova''s acts will give himself endless difficulties.


    "So Nova do you want to talk to her or should I?" Malice asked Nova this question not out of the kindness of his heart but to make sure he wasn''t blamed just in case Bella gets upset that they failed.


    Nova looked at her then at Malice in contemplation before finally turning to leave saying with his back turned "I''m going to check on the young miss I''ll let you try persuade her." In response Malice gave a knowing smile before approaching the girl called Violet. ''Nova would obviously use his shameless techniques if he was alone with her he wouldn''t be able to help himself so he had conceded so as to not anger Bella, because he has a personality like that it would be hard to look at everything from an objective point of view.''


    Malice was a few steps away from her so he could finally get a good look at her, from her looks you could tell she was twelve but she also had a unquestionable beauty hidden underneath her fringe that acted as a cover for her face, which was only natural considering magical essence made people look more attractive given its mystical properties. She wore a rather simplistic dress that looked like lavender and violets were interwoven to create it, which was topped off with a emerald Scorpion inside an Amethyst Violet flower, probably her family''s symbol. What Malice saw deep down was someone lonely and cut off from the world, alone and forgotten as though in this space she was not living just existing.


    ''She is alone not out of choice but because others don''t want to be around her. Hmm this is quite interesting, I wonder why she has accepted this fate.'' Malice wore a thoughtful smile feeling like this situation was quite like his, showing an expression of sympathy for the first time in awhile.


    "Good morning, are you Violet Venomwind?" Malice spoke up as he sat down at the lonely table. When She looked up Malice felt a numbing feeling through his body, he seemed to feel paralysed and unable to move.


    "It is a good morning indeed wait what do you want?" The purple haired girl seemed relaxed at the start but then started to sound rather annoyed as though speaking took too much effort.


    "I don''t mean to trouble you in any way, I came here with the intention of becoming friends, the thing is I to am an A grader and with this status others don''t really think of you as equal only someone to look up to or fear. Me and two other A graders are already in this little group of ours, a group of geniuses in a way and I hope you would like to become friends with us." Malice spoke slowly and calmly to soothe her tension.


    When Malice was speaking he saw through the cracks in her fringe a hint of anticipation mixed with an expression of reluctance which caused him to show her a warm smile. "You... you just want to be friends?" She was completely baffled by Malice''s speech, to her that was the last thing she expected to hear.


    "Ha-ha I used to be like you secluded and not paying attention to others but when Bella, the person who thought of this idea, approached me I decided that in the future it is best to have people you can rely on and spend time with." Malice lied through his teeth as he uttered these words in an attempt to befriend this girl, obviously he only cared for the support part of the relationship however he wasn''t completely closed minded and thought if he made a friend it would just be a bonus.


    "I um... I would... I Would very much like to be your friend!" The purple haired girl seemed invigorated by Malice''s speech, turning from shy to outgoing in an instant.


    "Really that is great, so what should I call you? And would you like to meet the others?" Malice was quite content knowing she had agreed, feeling the pressure he felt earlier almost disappear. ''That must be her unique aura that is displayed after touching and moving her essence being that of some kind of poison, wait if that''s the case shouldn''t I have an aura as well?'' Malice came to a realisation whilst thinking about the auras he had felt so far. Bella had an odd flaming aura, Violet had a venomous one and although Nova only seemed to naturally feel dominating maybe that was actually his magical aura. ''Nova¡¯s aura must have just started to form when we first met. But ever since talking with them it''s like I have gotten used to it.''


    "As you already know my name is Violet so you may just call me that and I wouldn''t be against meeting the others." Whilst Malice was in deep thought he was suddenly awoken by Violets shy but cute voice. However Malice was still pondering on the matter of his aura so he asked "Violet may I ask you if you felt an energy from me like an aura of sorts?" Violet seemed baffled by this question yet she did seem to recall something "Ah yes I did when I was sat down meditating, I remember you came over and said that it was a good morning, at first I thought someone was being kind so I replied yet mid-sentence I felt like I had many blades focused on me so I thought you had bad intentions, in fact it disappeared as soon as you spoke again so I ignored it. Do you think that the blades were your magical aura?"


    "Yeah I think so, thank you for telling me it is very helpful." Malice spoke matter of factly, finally realising that the sharp bladed sensation he felt when mediating must have been his own aura.


    "Anyway enough about me, should we go meet Bella and Nova and perhaps this Zak person?" Malice asked again although already knowing the answer, he was in a calm and peaceful state of mind so he had no need to be forceful.


    Violet gave a simple nod and the two walked back to the Spell Pavilion. Whilst walking Malice talked more with Violet, instead of the joy of bedding girls, this time Malice found out why she was alone all the time. From what she said it had something to do with her father being very protective making sure no-one would be brave enough to approach her, this seemed cruel for a young girl however apparently her mother was killed and her father had become very protective of his daughter. Violets father was the Head of the Venomwind family and had a powerful reputation making even those older students reluctant to approach Violet, after all he was an expert in the Royal Realm which was considered the base requirement to be a powerful expert. It was a few year''s ago that he declared his daughter of limits so her father didn''t have that attitude any more but the other children still held fear and doubt leaving Violet to be forgotten and alone.

 Chapter 6: Trickery and Friendship

    After hearing Violets story Malice was feeling rather sympathetic towards this suffering, considering both his parents were killed he could understand her feelings thus tried to console her "Don''t feel like you don¡¯t belong anymore, Bella asked for you specifically which means not everyone has forgotten about you, and now that I have met you I would be glad to be your friend." Malice actually wasn''t acting this time, being sincere. Violet started to feel rather emotional and was about to cry when the sounds of a commotion came to the pairs ears. Both Violet and Malice wondered what had happened so they increased their speed as it sounded like it came from the direction they were headed to, from the spell pavilion.


    "You are a disgrace to A graders you think your so powerful yet you haven''t even managed to complete the first step of foundation spell creation" someone with a loud voice shouted at the top of his lungs.


    "What''s going on here?" Malice inquired as he approached the spell pavilion, what he saw was a large crowd gathered around three people, two of them being Bella and Nova. Bella looked quite upset and Nova was absolutely furious as though his own family was murdered, they stood opposite a stickily thin boy who had bags under his eyes and wore a rugged brown robe, Malice guessed this was Zak that Bella spoke of.


    "Ah Malice your here just in time to punish this filthy creature that dared to disgrace young miss" Nova seemed to relax when he saw Malice after all two against one had an obvious outcome.


    "Malice the thing is I went and proposed to Zak here to join our group. He agreed at first but when we were leaving and coming to find you guys, Nova came back to see if I succeeded and when Zak saw this he wanted me all to himself and forcefully grabbed my arm pulling me away, I tried to dismiss it but when Nova saw it he was enraged and now they are having a standoff of sorts." Bella said lightly, clearly never having encountered such a situation in her life before.


    "That must have been so surprising and made you feel defenceless. I''m Violet I hear it was your idea to start this group." Violet tried to console Bella and introduced herself.


    "So you are Violet I am so sorry that we need to meet under these circumstances, I would love to get to know you" Bella felt Violets kind intentions but felt awkward meeting in this situation. Malice saw that they were already warming up to each other, but then shifted his attention to this standoff Nova and Zak were having. ''This is troublesome, I don''t imagine Bella had lied as she doesn''t seem like that type of person. Nova being a side family member has sworn to protect her honour and he probably looks down on this Zak so he wants to fight to show his strength. Zak honestly looks like someone who doesn''t want to get involved in drama, he probably thought being an A grader meant that nothing could be done to him. Then again it could be a misunderstanding and he is the victim as well.'' Malice concluded then stepped forward towards Zak.


    "Hey who are you? what do you want! I didn''t do anything wrong. Bella asked me to be her friend so I agreed, who would have thought when this idiot came charging over I tried to move Bella out of the way but she thought I wanted to have her to myself, resulting in this fool attacking me is this not unjust?" Zak sounded out loud seemingly telling the truth.


    The crowd shifted likely believing Zak''s words however no-one said anything just wanting to enjoy the show after all they wouldn''t get involved just because a child was being aggressive. "I saw the look in your eyes as you grabbed the young miss, I wasn''t even charging at that point in time." Nova retorted angrily as though he had been seen through.


    ''Bella didn¡¯t think much of the incident but found out that Zak had an alleged disgraceful expression on his face so she felt violated in a way. Truthfully I think Bella has been confused by the events and didn''t intend to spark animosity but Nova was angered by Zak touching someone he sees as a goddess thus ending with this situation.'' Malice carefully thought over the facts and figured that Zak accidentally revealed an expression all boys here have towards Bella secretly, in which case he wasn¡¯t completely in the wrong. ''Ah but the problem is that I would rather side with Bella as she is just confused by what had happened as she has never experienced this before. The issue is that everyone thinks Nova is being unjust and acting like a bully, which is sort of true but I''m going to have to reroute this crowds opinions from him onto Zak. Ahh Zak is right it is unjust but it is his own fault for showing his true emotions and going against Nova.'' Malice finally came to a conclusion and decided to dispel the crowds feelings and then allow Nova to finish the mess he started.


    "So you are saying you dragged a girl by the arm with enough force to shock her because someone was running over?" Malice spoke calmly as though he was an impartial mediator, which was the complete opposite of what he was.


    "Yes that is exactly what I''m trying to say, I was protecting her from this person who seemed to have Ill intentions" Zak sounded quite well versed with his words, but this meant nothing in Malice''s mind.


    "So if you saw some one coming at you with Ill intentions why did you not step forward, why did you not try to stop them. Are you telling me you would drag a girl from the front away from an attacker, leaving her at the back open to these ill intentions you speak of?" Malice finished his speech granting Zak an ultimatum, one option being seen as a coward who uses girls as shields or the other being someone who is a shameless creep who uses force to take women.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    ''Either way Nova will fight you either for having the intention to use Bella as a shield or because you wanted to act shamelessly. I have done my part, now it''s down to Nova to clean it up. I have humiliated Zak making it easier to handle him in the future and have kept Bella from feeling guilt due to her confusion if I had not the outcome could have been bad for her training, I even will have managed to boost Nova''s ego which is hard to be called a positive. I''m sorry Zak but you doomed yourself when you agreed to Bella''s proposal after all Nova can''t have two rivals.''


    The crowd all seemed to guess that Zak was either a coward or a shameless creep, no longer caring about his words of justice. "I.... I.. Your wrong.... I mean...." Zak was stuttering and tripping over each word he spoke, being unable to rebuke Malice''s comments, Zak realised he had lost and when he knew of this his mind shattered, he looked at Nova and Bella with rage in his eyes then stared at Malice with not only seething anger but fear, he actually felt like he was an ant in front of Malice''s tricks.


    "You were right I was being cowardly and used Bella as a shield, out of fear I even showed a nasty expression." Zak said slowly, sealing his fate. The crowd burst into uproar at the sound of his words everyone felt like going over and hitting him for being tricked by his righteous words even though they didn''t step in earlier they still believed him so being tricked naturally made them mad.


    Nova felt joyful being able to finally act, he looked in Malice''s direction with a look of applause as though he was incapable of moving the crowd''s hearts like that, then proceeded to launch several punches towards Zak. Zak could only look on helplessly as he received each punch, one after another landed on his face and abdomen resulting in blood spurts every now and then. Frenzied Zak ran over to Malice expecting him to be only good with words, he couldn''t have made a bigger mistake.


    Malice hit away Zaks arms foiling his attempt to grab Malice which was followed up by Malice clutching Zaks neck. Struggling for breath Malice simply smiled gripping harder and harder making Zak fall to his knees spurting out blood. Malice then produced a powerful kick that broke Zaks jaw on impact. Then tearing off one of his obsidian ornaments, Malice prepared to cut Zaks throat. Yet Malice managed to stop himself just in time remembering the spectators around him, so instead he threw Zak over to Nova to finish off.


    ''I almost went to far in front of all these people, I wanted to hide my love for fighting and violence and just act my usual aloof self. But then Violet and Bella came along showing me pure human emotion which seems to only feul my emotions of sympathy, rage, care and violence and yet I still enjoy their company.''


    Bella and Violet werent really able to see whay just happened but thought of Malice as the hero defending Bella''s honour and Nova as the person to execute the heroes will. If Nova knew this he would probably try to kill Malice then and there. Malice walked over to the girls who seemed to ignore what was happening merely meters away whilst sweetly chatting. "Are you alright now Bella? Also I hope this display doesn''t put you off becoming friends with us Violet." Malice voiced his concerns because in this situation some may view Malice and Nova as evil bullies, that was if they didn''t believe Malice¡¯s words.


    "I''m fine now that I know that Zak was in fact thinking of me as an object whether a shield or a friend he had control over. Either way thank you for finding the truth, also me and Violet have been getting on very well wouldn''t you agree Violet." Bella chimed in before Violet could respond then projecting a question to Violet as well.


    "That Zak person was in the wrong and deserved to be punished, my daddy does the same thing in our family so of course I still wanna be friends and as Bella said we have been getting along well. It''s fun to have friends that look out for you." Violet treated the act of punishment like it was just a normal thing to see.


    "Well that¡¯s good to hear, well I am going back to my room to meditate as I wish to make my spell as soon as possible, see you guys tomorrow." Malice said his farewell, he gave a wave to Nova who had bloody knuckles standing over a crimson soaked Zak and then went back to his quarters.


    ''So much drama within an hour of making friends, I know I said there were no disadvantages and only rewards, man was wrong this may be very difficult and troublesome just for some future support.'' Malice was thinking about the days events however he didn''t really believe his own thoughts, thinking he might have made some good friends, even he felt that his solitary life was pitiful so why not have friends.


    Malice sat on his luxurious king sized bed with silk sheets, closing his eyes he began to once again try and move his magical essence. Over and over, again and again he would push his essence this was as much as he could do at the moment. However what he wanted to do was shape the essence within him, once he managed that all he had to do was then bring that shaped essence out of his body and make it into a corporeal spell. Malice understood that once your essence formed into the ''object'' that resonated with your soul only then would your foundation spell be complete. This formed object could be anything such as fire, ice, water, swords, shields, wings, extra arms etc. Anything could be formed, this was the power of a unique foundation spell moreover it wasn¡¯t just limited to objects being made, as one''s foundation spell could change physical attributes as well such as someone''s eyes to become more perceptive or ones feet to become extremely fast. Malice was digesting all this knowledge whilst meditating to maximise his comprehension of Magus''. He also knew that all the spells he learnt in the future were determined by his foundation spell for example if one''s foundation spell was a water jet then the spells he learnt in the future would need to have water affinity, this was why the foundation spell was also referred to as one''s Soul Attribute and only when your Soul Attribute had an affinity with a spell would you be able to learn it.

 Chapter 7: Knowledge and Disdain

    Malice spent hours moving around his essence, he started to become proficient in moving his essence around his body which was the most basic way to refine one''s essence so at the very least he was happy with that, however he still couldn¡¯t shape it in any way however getting the essence to circulate his body was good enough for now.


    After meditating for almost the entire day Malice finally went to bed, although he heard that those with powerful strength in the Earth Realm could go a week without sleep Malice knew he was no where near that strength so he shut down hoping to have the energy to complete his foundation spell tomorrow.


    The sun started to shine on the horizon signifying a new day, Malice always woke up early to train his body ever since he began studying to be a Magus and although it wasn''t required to have a strong body if one became a Magus, that didn''t mean you shouldn''t after all the stronger and healthier your body the easier it was to circulate your essence, well at least Malice thought that was the case as he wasn''t sure if it was his health or talent that helped more.


    Finishing his morning workout Malice washed himself and then put on a purple and black robe reinforced with obsidian plating. The well known durable and sturdy obsidian was specifically mined by Malice¡¯s family back in the day and was constantly used for defensive purposes such as the several types of obsidian plate mail Malice would wear with his formal robes.


    After finishing his preparations Malice left for today''s class, Malice felt it was regrettable that Violet, Nova and Bella weren''t in his class and instead was exposed to Idiotic Ants, well Nova was Idiotic but at least he was strong. However Malice cared more about learning how to become a Magus than his social standing so he still sat through the idiocy even though it was painful. On his way to class today he could specifically tell a difference in aura of those around him, perhaps it was the fact he could move his own essence or that he was more knowledgeable on the topic but Malice could clearly sense Mortal realm Magus'' of different ranks, there was even the occasional Earth Realm Magus, these Magus emanated a very powerful aura that left Malice in awe, he wanted power just like that and soon.


    Arriving at the classroom Malice sat down displaying his cold demeanour to ensure no one associated with him after yesterday''s discovery of these youths lack of intelligence.


    "Well if it isn''t my favourite class, you all remember my name right? It''s Teacher Li remember it okay, you must all remember it for I will become the most famous teacher in the entire world. Well then time to get started" Teacher Li seemed to step out of thin air, once again showing his eccentric side.


    ''That was incredibly fast, I didn''t even see a blur, well that should be obvious if he is a Magus teacher. I simply can''t read his aura so if I was to guess his realm he would be in either the Sky or Heaven realm I simply can''t imagine the strength they possessed.'' Malice admired this Teacher Li after all he had a strength that far surpassed Malice¡¯s.


    Teacher Li then proceeded to lecture about all sorts of topics, most of it Malice already had an understanding of considering his early intelligence he was made to learn rather early so topics such as geography and general Magus history was simply boring to hear repeated to Malice. However when Teacher Li mentioned anything to do with those supreme experts in the Azalea Continent then Malice would instantly zone back in to reality, this was because he truly thought of those experts with reverence, Malice respected those with strength more than anyone else.


    "Although many experts have appeared across the years since the Azalea Continents Creation only those at the Primeval and Infernal Realms could really call the shots and become Emperor level characters, whether they were Magus'' or Martial Power Cultivators if they reached the Infernal Realm no one could stop their assent. Even now the most powerful existence in the Azalea Continent The Azalea Emperor is an Expert at the peak of the Infernal Realm. Despite the Azalea Emperor there are no other known Infernal Realm existences let alone Primeval experts however Royal and Imperial Realm Magus'' and Cultivators can''t be looked down upon either as they hold the various heads of their respective powers" When speaking up to here Teacher Li even showed hints of respect towards this continents leader.


    "Which power system does the Azalea Emperor follow teacher?" Suddenly one of Malice¡¯s classmates shouted out to Teacher Li in curiosity.


    "Actually the current Emperor is a Martial Power Cultivator, even though this is the case in the last Primeval war which ravaged the world he used the Magus'' power to increase his standing, this has become common in the last few Primeval Wars no longer is it for the Primeval Gods but for those continent and country leaders benefits. However the antagonism between Magus'' and Cultivators still remains." As usual Teacher Li gave a long explanation for such a simple question.


    ''Primeval Wars have constantly evolved through the years alternating between a war for supremacy between the two power systems and a war for riches and benefits. The type of war depends on the ruler, if they hate the opposing power system they will exterminate that power system within their own country before fighting a war with opposing countries on their borders which had come to be called a ''Primeval Religious War'', yet if they care more for their countries advancement then they will utilise both power systems to attack neighbouring countries also known as a ''Primeval Power War''. Primeval Wars are just what battles with other countries have been come to known as to almost justify them.'' Malice knew a lot about Primeval Wars considering his parents died futile deaths during one. ''It is truly a mystery as to why the Azalea Continent hasn''t had a Primeval Religious War in the past thousand years.'' Malice always wondered this but he guessed it happened like this so as to not weaken the countries power because it had to be known that removing an entire power system within one''s country would severely lower a country''s battle power.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    The lesson went on Malice zoned out again as he already knew most of the information, it had to be said that this beginner class was to teach basic Magus lessons however it was also used to teach the students information that they probably had no knowledge on, this was mostly the case however people like Malice appeared as well so all he could do was meditate. Classes would usually last six hours with breaks every two hours, beginning with two hours of history, geography and general knowledge then two hours of Magus training then two hours of alchemy, enchanting and spell studies.


    Malice thought the first two hours were completely useless to him except for the odd fact that Malice didn''t know. So after waiting for some time the training segment arrived, during this Teacher Li would go around helping the other classmates and give them pointers, but compared to these classmates who couldn''t even move their essence Malice was circulating his constantly and even though his main goal was shaping his essence refining it would also be helpful.


    After the two hours of training a B talent grader had managed to move their essence albeit only slightly yet Malice took zero notice of this because he finally was able to shape his essence. It formed into a long cylinder and although it was small in his body he knew it would naturally expand in length combing with the essence outside in the environment. All he needed to do was perfect the shape then bring it out of his body.


    "Okay everyone I see almost all of you have not managed to move your essence don''t feel you have failed, don''t be disheartened as you still have plenty of time. Although there are some among you who have moved your essence so I have to congratulate Damian, Malice and Mars for their achievements and progress." When Teacher Li congratulated Damian everyone clapped they had already known he had succeeded earlier, then came Malice although they were surprised that was only momentary because they remembered he had upper stage A grade talent so it was natural he had done it but when Malice heard this he was bewildered he felt as if he was seen through.


    Yet what shocked these children was that another character had moved their essence and this person was Mars an average height youth that wore poorly sewn clothes and seemed on all levels ¡®Average¡¯ except for one thing and that was his talent it wasn¡¯t the Average C grade it was actually the poor D grade. Mars one of the weakest people in the class had actually moved his essence before the many C and B grades, this left them speechless and some even extremely depressed they began to feel inferior to D grade talent.


    ¡°So what if he moved his essence before us, either way he is a D grader there is no way he will surpass us in the future. Mars you will be lucky to even reach the Earth Realm so cherish this victory because it won''t be long before we all surpass you.¡± A grade B talent voiced his opinion in front of the class to make himself feel better for losing to a D grader.


    ¡°Yeah Mars don''t think your anything special because your moved your essence that is probably as far as you will ever go and be kicked out the Institute¡± another B grader shouted her opinion, these B graders had damaged egos due to Mars so all they could do was berate him.


    Continuous abuse was being hurled at Mars and although he seemed to be able to endure, Malice was not but it wasn¡¯t because he felt Mars to be wrongfully abused rather the racket that was being made over theses class mates¡¯ failure was really triggering Malice¡¯s rage.


    ¡®If this Mars really ends up being stuck at the Core or Earth realm his whole life then that is his fault for being weak so why do you have to say these annoyingly arrogant words, what if you get stuck at the Core Realm wouldn¡¯t you be the trash you are referring to.¡¯ Malice had always had a detached feeling from his peers and would use intelligence over emotion in every situation he had almost been forced to become this way being alone fuelled by grief yet when he met Bella, Violet and even Nova in a way he felt that he could have an emotional side deep down but when faced with people he didn¡¯t have this emotion towards he could easily become ice cold and think of them as people to use as either stepping stones or just simply blades of grass willing to be cut down.


    It was precisely these people in front of him that he thought of as grass even that Mars who just seemed to be a weak willed person, if Malice didn¡¯t resect someone he would liken them to sheep, maybe it was arrogance or maybe it was antisocial behaviour either way this was Malice¡¯s state of mind. As long as you couldn''t earn Malice¡¯s respect you were nothing more than a drop of water in the ocean.


    ¡°SHUT UP!! Listen carefully until you surpass Mars you don¡¯t have the qualifications to abuse him, so what if you have better talent if you were to lose all your limbs would your so called talent help you then, abuse and beat him up all you like if you can surpass him otherwise just Shut The Fuck Up!¡± Malice had chosen to shout in anger instead of remaining silent he felt that although they were idiots that pissed him off he could still remain calm however he decided to act utterly infuriated so he didn''t waste time on some stupid bullshit argument and could actually learn something from these lessons for once.

 Chapter 8: Battle Slave

    ¡°Alright alright that¡¯s enough no need to dwell on the topic, now let me tell you about the pride of all Magus, that being their spells." Teacher Li consoled those that seemed depressed and tried to lighten the mood.


    "As I have mentioned before Magus Spells can be split into three categories Foundation, Combat and Formation. I will be explaining Combat spells so prepare yourselves for a long and juicy lecture." Teacher Li wanted to make sure everyone had calmed down from earlier before starting.


    "Combat Spells are as numerous as the clouds in the sky and the grass on the ground every single one varies in power and form, some capable of toppling mountains and others of creating mountains to crush your enemy heh but im sorry to tell you that these spells are currently out of your reach, to put it simply you are weak and thus to help people measure the capabilities of Combat Spells they are split into tiers there are 8 tiers each corresponding to the Realm required to utilise them as you can guess they are simply called Mortal tier, Earth tier, Sky tier and so on.


    Right now you are obviously only capable of using Mortal Tier Techniques but which techniques you can use depends on your Foundation Spell otherwise called your Soul Attribute. Soul Attributes decide which techniques you can learn, Soul attributes are split into classes these are Elemental, Armament, Physical and Mental.


    Elemental Soul Attributes are the most picky as you may only learn elemental techniques that have an affinity with that soul attribute an example would be if your soul attribute is fire you may only use fire techniques but you can learn any Physical, Mental and Armament Techniques you desire.


    Physical soul attributes allows you to learn any technique that isn¡¯t associated with a Mental attribute, this is the same for a Mental soul attribute instead being unable to learn any physical techniques. This could be seen as harsh conditions as you will be unable to train your body or mind depending on the attribute however, those with Mental and Physical Soul Attributes are known to improve their essence quality much quicker than those at the same level.


    Finally Armament Soul Attributes can learn every technique except for other Armament techniques. Thus people say that Armament Soul Attributes are the most flexible, that is assuming your foundation spell creates an armament you can use." After a long breath Teacher Li sat down with a smile on his face, "Okay then I have finished my lecture you must now write down everything you have learned today and then you may go." Teacher Li gave an instruction and then sat down and began reading something.


    Malice naturally had to comply and began writing down what he had heard, Teacher Li truly gave long explanations that even Malice thought had too much detail, but it didn''t take long for him to finish so he left class and waited by the nearby courtyard, Malice was unsure where Bella, Violet or Nova¡¯s classroom was so he could only wait for them. He had decided that he would always focus on cultivating and meditating no matter what but would take time out of his day to nurture relationships with strong individuals like Bella, Violet and Nova.


    Malice knew deep down he was using them but he felt that letting out bottled emotions gave him peace of mind therefore, improving his meditation efficiency. Even while he was waiting Malice was constantly trying to perfect his essence shape, Malice was almost positive that his foundation spell had something to do with a sword, knowing that he had an Armament Soul attribute relieved Malice as it would allow him to be more free with his spell choice.


    "Malice what are you doing sat there alone, don''t tell me you forgot about us." A charming voice drifted into Malice¡¯s ears awakening him from meditating.


    "Violet he clearly cares more about meditating than us hehe" Malice turned around and saw Bella say that in a joking manner.


    "Ah come on no need to poke fun at me for being diligent and it''s just I have no way of meeting you guys in this vast array of classrooms." Malice responded walking toward the two girls.


    "Oh well if that¡¯s the case let me mark our class on your map. There much better you can now find us in the future." Bella marked her and Violets class on Malice¡¯s cloth map


    "Thanks, where is Nova I would expect him to be with you at this time." Malice questioned Bella.


    "He has been struggling to move his essence any more than a slight push, so he is training with his father the vice-head of the Starlyte family. He has Middle stage A grade talent just like me and Violet however he doesn''t wanna lose to you so he has been training extra hard." Bella narrated why Nova was absent she seemed happy he was training so hard.


    ''After knowing I moved my essence before him he probably felt jealous in his own way so he is now training extra hard to surpass or at least stay level with me.'' Malice thought that with Nova¡¯s personality that he wouldn''t let himself be beaten in any capacity.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    "Shall we go to the Dining Hall, I can get us a whole table without much trouble." Violet spoke as if to mock herself but still joyfully giggled.


    "Okay let''s do that maybe we will eventually fill this table you have reserved for us." Malice also joked along but thought that it was unlikely he would actually make more friends, Malice made friends with people who had valuable traits such as determination and strength, that was if he kept an open mind. Right now he was handling his new friends just fine what was the need for more.


    Although this group started off as a way for Malice to get powerful backers, he actually grew to respect the company of Violet, Bella and Nova. Regardless of who you were being in the company of two powerfully backed beauties would make you feel some kind of emotion, although Malice would be lying to say they weren''t attractive he cared more about their talent, power, daringness and willingness to accept outsiders. Moreover although people would usually dislike shameless and arrogant people like Nova, Malice simply didn''t care about his personality rather he appreciated Nova¡¯s tenacity, talent and vigour which was rare for such a young person.


    Malice, Bella and Violet made their way to the Dining Hall found a table where they then proceeded to chat and eat together. Malice truly changed personalities in front of these girls from cold to sociable.


    They soon after parted ways saying goodbye before leaving in different directions. Violet and Bella both would travel back to their respective families whenever lessons would end, how they travelled such a distance in a short amount of time made Malice guess they both possessed High Level Flying Beasts.


    Malice at the moment seemed in a excited mood and although socialising was good to an extent Malice was actually thinking over what happened in the Dining Hall earlier, which was Bella¡¯s display of her foundation spell. When Violet and Malice came to know that she had completed it they watched in admiration as she called forth her white glistening essence which then slowly changed into a pink and red flame that she freely controlled around her body, the fire looked beautiful and powerful at the same time. Malice was very intrigued by how powerful his spell would be, this is why he was happy to train and hopefully complete his fountain spell.


    It was only the afternoon so Malice took the chance to perfect his foundation spells shape. Instead of his usual meditation he requested to hire a servant to train with. In the Institution students could hire servants for all types of jobs, the particular type of servant Malice wanted was a Battle Servant who could train with their master and even become their bodyguard if they were strong enough. Malice wasn''t looking for an expensive bodyguard though, no what he needed was someone to stimulate and satisfy his urge to fight and through this he believed he could perfect his foundation spell.


    So after a short time his request was granted and an average sized young adult came to the lake near Malice''s quarters, he looked more like a slave than a servant but was there really a difference in the first place? Malice didn''t think so.


    With a scruffy but clean beard and only a bruised arm it looked like he hadn''t been beaten badly by his previous master and treated quite well. "Good evening Master I am your Battle Servant Gla.."


    "I don''t need to know your name only your ability, now come!" Malice had been waiting impatiently for awhile now and wanted to fight straight away.


    "Should I stand still and let you hit me, I don''t want to hurt you I might get in trouble" The servant didn''t look like a fighter but more like a punching bag used by young kid''s, who probably threw punches that barely hurt.


    "Don''t look down on me Slave" Malice ran forward and gave the Servant a gut punch that made him cry out in shock and fall over.


    "With someone as weak as you I doubt I''ll be able to even train a little bit." Although Malice was yet to truly become a Magus, he still was in peak physical condition thanks to his daily training thus making him quite lethal in a mortal fight.


    "I''m not a slave and will never be one again!" The Servant spat which happened to land on Malice¡¯s family crest, got up and threw a punch clearly triggered by the fact he was called a Slave. The punch caused a loud crunch sound however, the crunch wasn''t from the punch it was from the Servants arm bending upwards half way down his left forearm.


    "Do you know that spitting on my family crest is equivalent to desecrating my parents graves? You are a worthless slave and dare to disgrace my family?" Malice spoke with his usual cold attitude but this time it was a murderous coldness like a Frost Serpent had wrapped it''s tail around the Servants neck, it wasn''t just his natural coldness that came forth even his aura of swords was exhibited making the servant believe he was targeted by an Army of blades.


    The servant couldn''t respond because he was in so much pain but before he could even fix his arm back in place Malice grabbed it with an iron grip and spun it around ripping it right off. The Servant entirely fuelled off instinct not reacting to the fact he lost an arm kicked towards Malice as a last ditch attempt to hurt his attacker.


    "You became a Slave because your weak, you chose to be a servant because you are weak, you disrespected me because you are weak and now you will die because you are simply too weak." Malice easily caught the kick, pulling the Servant towards him. Then with inhumane strength threw the Servant into the lake. Malice knelt down with his hands pushing on the slaves neck and shoulder whilst his head was underwater, staring at his terrified expression with a cold and murderous demeanour.


    Constantly struggling for air the Servant kicked around, panicked and screamed from under the water. All the while Malice held him in place not treating him like a human at all, like this man was simply an object that could be used, that was what a slave was after all and to Malice that''s what this man was.


    "Oi who''s making all that noise, it''s late go back to your residence now, or do I have to report you two." A girl wearing the Institutes Aqua Robes saw Malice in the distance and complained about the noise he was making.


    The girls voice alarmed Malice making him release his grip on the Servant allowing him to gasp for air.


    "What are you two doing in the lake, it''s not even good weather for a swim." The girl had made her way over to the two wanting to check out the situation. Malice wondered if she would tell anybody about an injured servant and if so would he have to deal with her?

 Chapter 9: Serpent Sword

    The Female student started to approach Malice wondering why they were in the lake, he felt that this situation would be blown out of proportion if she saw what he had done to the Servant. After all there were some that believed Servants to be different to Slaves and they would find this sight appalling and wrong. So in defence Malice acted rude towards her.


    "We fell in, now please get off my property." Malice was in a bad mood and was ready to butcher an army, but he still tried to maintain his cool and not create any suspicion.


    "Oh I''m so sorry for trying to be nice, see ya around asshole!" The girl left rather quickly knowing she wasn''t welcome completely oblivious of the Servants Condition.


    "The heavens have smiled upon you today, it would be inconvenient for me to kill you now, so you may leave." Malice was in a bad mood but he wasn''t an idiot, worst case was him being branded a murderous psycho at the young age of 12.


    "Awffgh gghh riighhg" The servant tried to speak but all that came out was incoherent noises, hearing this he started crying heavily which flowed in synchronisation with the blood that he was losing from his now non existent forearm.


    "Looks like I ruined your voice, wrll at least I know you won''t tell anyone what happened here today and you never will. I spared your life so that''s only natural on your part." Malice treated his act of accidental mercy as that Servants god given luck.


    Malice walked back into his property and got cleaned up. He then started meditating and his bad mood was instantly lifted this was because he felt his aura had been refined quite a bit.


    ''Now that I think about it I caught and broke that slaves arm extremely quickly, I also managed to lift his entire weight over me when I threw him. So in the fight my body was utilising the magical essence in a way that made me stronger and faster.''


    Malice soon after looked at his essence when he formed it into his foundation spell and was amazed to see it''s progress, it had changed from a cylinder into a pure white sword, it had pristine edges that gave off a chilling sharpness, engravings covering the entire blade and with the hilt looking like a serpentine figure. When Malice noticed the hilts appearance even the blade itself became like a snake, coiling, twisting and turning. Malice looked on in Astonishment before trying to bring it outside his body, although difficult with the essence on the outside being stronger and supplementing Malice it didn''t take long before he had completed his foundation spell.


    Malice¡¯s foundation spell allowed him to create a pure white sword with a serpentine hilt and an engraved blade. He could freely manipulate the blade making it fly across his room, changing it''s form to be as flexible as a snake and then changing it back to be as strong as titanium. He could even increase the amount of swords he could make, with 3 being his current limit.


    ''Ha ha ha ha I can make powerfully sturdy swords that can float and change form, if this is not an exceptional foundation spell then I do not know what is. I''ll call it Serpent Swords spell.'' Malice was happy that he had finally completed his foundation spell, the spell that he was about to kill for.


    The sun rose once again on a new day, as usual Malice was tempering his body through exercise except unlike before he would also urge his and the world''s magical essence to create and destroy his innate swords, through the repetition of creation and destruction Malice knew he would become more effective when using his innate swords and so he added it to his exercise program.


    Just like yesterday he journeyed to his classroom this time feeling even more prepared to learn. With his Foundation spell completed he knew he could start to learn Combat spells and Techniques, hoping that an opportunity to train with them would present itself today.


    Entering the classroom Malice saw three boys beating up Mars, the boy with D grade talent that showed progress in moving his essence yesterday.


    The three boys heard Malice come in and stopped beating up Mars looking at Malice as if to check whether he would stick up for the beaten kid or not.


    "If you want me to say ''Stop'' or ''Carry on'', I won''t but I will say this if Mars manages to complete his foundation spell before you, you lot will probably pay the price." Malice wasn''t planning to get involved but he knew how Mars was feeling. Emotions such as helplessness, weakness, perseverance and revenge were probably spiralling in his head meaning that if he got stronger before the ones beating him up then he would pay it back in kind.


    "Ha yeah right, a trash like him becoming stronger than us will never happen." The boys all laughed in unison and carried on knowing no one would stop them, some even cheered them on.


    ''Stupid and arrogant, Ahh do I love my fellow students what a shame they haven''t been blessed with intelligence.'' Malice could just have been acting cautious but on the off chance that someone had a trump card to play he would be prepared for it and his intuition told him Mars had some means as to advance quicker than these peers of his.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Mars being beaten bloody with teeth falling out his mouth got up and ran but before he could get out the door he hit into someone, this person was extremely tall and built like a monster. Even Malice looked at him with reservation, the blood red eyes he had and long white hair gave him the demeanour of a giant demon.


    "Sit down!" The man spoke few words but the pressure he brought forth made everyone feel like a mountain pushed down on their soldiers, Malice felt like a microscopic germ in front of this Giant. Mars completely collapsed before scuttling to his seat still bloodied.


    "Teacher Li is conducting important Magus duties, you all must be able to move your essence by the end of lesson time, if not you will keep trying for days if you have to. You may only leave this room if you complete what I have asked." His voice was powerful and seemed to in still fear in some of the students.


    "Those that do that must then form the essence into the foundation spell, this task is optional, for today." The giant commanded the class like a general would an army.


    "You come with me!" The giant pointed at Malice and then walked out the classroom, naturally Malice could only follow.


    "Darkblight? Hm it looks like it. Being ahead of your fellow classmates it would be useless to keep you there. You may leave for today." Speaking slow and heavily the giant dismissed Malice from the class. It seemed like he loathed saying the name Darkblight.


    "I was hoping to lea.." Malice wanted to reply but the giant released his humongous aura before he could even finish his words.


    "I said you may leave!" The giant didn''t look like he was giving Malice a choice at all and walked back towards the classroom. "They really thought I would teach a Darkblight?" The giant uttered these words under his breath as he walked into the class.


    ''My bad for thinking that the teachers would teach me something, what a dickhead.'' Malice was pissed off with that giants attitude, it made him feel like he was his greatest enemy or the Giant had some grievance with Malice.


    So Malice thought he would actually have a look around the Capital. Considering he had been training hard to create his Serpent Sword spell, he didn¡¯t get the chance earlier.


    Venturing out of the Institute''s premises Malice began his sight seeing of sorts, what he desired was to see the Divine Infernal Palace and The Grand library which he heard about from Bella, this library was apparently the greatest collection of knowledge across all of Azalea.


    Making his way through the Political District Malice saw many high class citizens which was pretty much the only people one would see in the most prestigious district.


    ''So this is the Divine Infernal Palace.'' Malice stood before a gigantic Palace that was made of all sorts of Metals and Magic. Towers of Peerless might and windows of pure art adorned the Palace, it had a blissful mix of gold and white colouration and even the guards looked like Immovable Statues each at least being in the Heaven Realm. It really inspired reverence in all that witnessed it because the fact that it had Infernal Quality Essence magically flowing through the walls and rooms made it seem alive. Powered by such excellent quality essence made it just as much a dangerous entity as a palace, how it came to have Infernal Essence within, only the Emperor could know.


    Malice knew he could only look at the Palace and not dare to step foot inside, only those with exquisite strength could even think of witnessing the interior.


    After marvelling at the Divine Infernal Palace he gained a greater motivation to become someone with unstoppable power, only then could he do what he wished in the world.


    Whilst thinking over the Elegant Palace Malice made his way to the Grand Library, he desperately wanted to gain more knowledge on combat spells. This need for knowledge came from Malice¡¯s greed for power and the fact he felt he had hit a dead end because all he could do was cultivate his essence. His current rate of cultivation was inefficient and slow in his eyes, he wanted power quicker for no reason other than him always feeling like an ant in front of others.


    "May I help you in any particular way? Perhaps finding a specific book or category?" Malice walked into a Large building which seemed to span across a Large distance, the inside looked like a maze of thousands and millions of books and other forms of information. When Malice entered he met a receptionist offering his assistance.


    "I''m looking for Books on Magus Combat Spells and Techniques." Malice simply asked the receptionist, hoping this Library was in fact the greatest gathering of information.


    "He he sorry little boy but without express permission from the Magus Institute people may not access combat spells in the Library, but we do have legendary stories for kid''s like you shall I show you?" The receptionist was being condescending and had already started to annoy Malice.


    ''So Combat spells are a private source of information, that is really irritating moreover this guy is pissing me off, does he realise I''m not a 5 year old?''


    "I''m good, I don''t need a peasant to tell me what to do." Malice thought he would taunt the receptionist after all he had nothing to do now.


    "Well then you may see yourself out." Yet to Malice¡¯s surprise the receptionist just smiled and didn''t react.


    ''Well that''s boring, I wanted to start a little argument or a fight. The capital sure as hell is a mundane place, I guess I''ll just go back to the Institute and train with my Serpent Swords. I have completely wasted this day away.'' Naturally when things didn''t go his way Malice got into a bad mood, leaving the Library and heading back for the Institute.


    Back in the Library after Malice left. "Master why did you tell me not to react? I could have handled a spoilt child even if I''m a mortal" The receptionist spoke into the air looking as if he spoke to himself.


    ''That boy had the Blood of the Blight, fighting or angering him may have resulted in your death, you may not understand what that means but I just didn''t want the Library to become a battlefield.'' A voice sounded in the Receptionist head, making him display a unwilling expression but soon after sighed and put it out of his mind.

 Chapter 10: Pleasure Lounge

    Malice had left the Library a few moments ago and was now at a loss as to what he should do. He thought he would go back and meditate some more considering he had nothing else to do but he wasn¡¯t really in the mood for some relaxing meditation he really wanted to let out his frustration bottled within.


    Malice had lately found an outlet for most of his emotions after metting Bella, Violet and Nova, even that Servant had helped him soothe some of his battle intent. This strange urge to fight and break out into wanton slaughter had always been with Malice, naturally he thought it was just him being alone and wanting to lash out never anything more.


    Adding on the fact he had absolutely nothing to do and was bored out of his mind he tried to start a fight with that librarian which amounted to nothing in the end. Clearly understanding his displays of Arrogance he could only laugh at his judgement of Nova but he wasn¡¯t that idiotic as to think he was superior to everyone and would only display arrogance to those he thought wouldn¡¯t trouble him too much like a slave or a library receptionist obviously he wasn¡¯t prepared to provoke a potential hidden dragon like his classmates might be doing to Mars.


    Perhaps you could view Malice as someone who bullies the weak and cowers in front of the strong much like Nova however , in Malice¡¯s eyes only by displaying your strength can you avoid being looked down on and get the most out of life no matter how distorted that point of view was Malice wasn¡¯t prepared to change.


    Walking the streets of the Political District Malice observed the surroundings noticing a large gathering of expensively dressed men walking down a dark alley covertly, following them for a short while Malice saw them walking into a building guarded by a Bald Muscular man covered in imposing looking tattoos.


    Out of curiosity Malice walked over, not having a single inkling as to what he would see purely motivated by his boredom.


    "Good evening Young Master. Are you here for Dantalions Blood Pit or Lilith¡¯s Pleasure Lounge?" The Bald tattooed guard simply asked Malice holding no suspicion towards him considering the location of this building was hidden among many alley ways and how elegantly Malice was dressed.


    "This is my first time visiting I would like to look around" Malice honestly had no clue what he was getting into, well he had some idea from the names, speaking confidently as if it was natural he was visiting this type of establishment.


    "So its Young Masters first time I''m sure our establishment received a good recommendation for this noble young master to come here." The guard opened the door and complemented Malice to satisfy him and then gave him directions to the Blood Pit and Pleasure Lounge.


    The Door opened up into a hallway with several corridors leading in different directions, Malice followed the guards directions to the Pleasure Lounge understanding it was the closest of the two locations.


    ''Well I think it was pretty clear from the name that this was some sort of brothel but this is far more than I had expected.'' Malice found his way to the so called Pleasure Lounge and what met his eyes was a large dimly candle lit room. Inside the room were countless men and women wearing next to no clothes dancing and standing like they were on display, the ages ranged from as young as 8 to mature women in their 50''s, so it wasn¡¯t unnatural that a 12 year old such as Malice was in this location.


    "Welcome Young Master do you have a product in mind or would you like a guide?" A slim women in her 20''s with heavy make up and beautiful features approached Malice.


    "A guide" Malice was blunt he didn¡¯t want to be tempted by what was in front of him trying to keep minimal contact after all he was a developing male he didn¡¯t know if he could resist.


    "Well let me show you the new merchandise, prepare your Imperial Platinum" The Women¡¯s eyebrow twitched seeing that her beauty was being ignored but still loyally tried to serve this young master in front of her.


    Imperial Platinum was the Currency in Azalea because of Azaleas massive platinum reserves and a general lack of use platinum was used to create the currency of the country, a piece of bread was worth a single platinum coin, whereas a house would be worth hundreds to thousands of platinum coins depending on the quality.


    Through Malice¡¯s inheritance he was probably as wealthy as some of the officials in the Political District so he had no problem pulling out some if needed. The guide then strolled past the men, women and children on display listing their prices and what you could do with them.


    "Children and Torture are the most expensive depending on the extent of torture or in the case of death expect to pay at least 500 platinum coins of compensation. Children have a minimum value of 200 platinum coins with the other products ranging from 50 to 500 platinum coins. After purchase you may do what you want until sunrise tomorrow." The guide explained everything to Malice then stared at him wondering what he would say.


    "You may leave, I wish to browse some more." Malice had no interest in partaking in the Pleasure Lounges activities, at least not till he was older.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    Once the guide was dismissed he looked around seeing older men probably officials lasciviously fondle women and children while being attended to by several other females committing sexual acts that the masters wished. There were several men openly doing this as a way to show a form of power, the amount of girls attending you represented how much wealth you had amassed and could spend without concern.


    Malice also saw many rooms with closed doors showing that not everyone was prepared to put on a public display of debauchery. Malice continued and opened a door that he thought was the exit but instead he found himself in a room that looked like a dump, except it wasn¡¯t for trash.


    "Help us! Heeellpp usss!" The ghastly visage of men and women with cuts, burns and missing limbs appeared before Malice. Even if he could be ice cold and ruthless he had trouble stomaching the sight.


    ''Squeek''


    The Door behind Malice opened and a Man with slicked back red hair walked into the room holding a man with flayed skin on his arms and stab wounds riddling his body, yet he still breathed.


    "Oh someone¡¯s already here, Help me out would you." The man spoke and Malice found himself picking up the feet of the flayed man and helped the red head throw the body on the mountain of suffering people.


    "You know it is really hard work transporting them after removing their ability to do... well everything." The man who looked about 18 or 19 laughed and tapped Malice on the back.


    "Thanks for the help, wow your pretty young how about as thanks you join me for a drink, what do you say?" The red head gave off a murderous aura not that he was directing it Malice rather it seemed to be a natural aura he always had.


    "Sure I¡¯ll grab a drink with mister" Malice was surprised this man was being so friendly and although displaying a murderous aura didn¡¯t really show ill intent to Malice directly so he just agreed.


    Malice and the Red head walked towards a room that had a laughing demons face inscribed on the door. Inside there was blood red candles lighting the room with many torture devices scattered across the room. Red head led Malice through a door to a brightly lit room that had many women lounged on a massive bed and a large table. Sitting down at the table Malice looked at the red head inquisitively.


    "It''s odd to see such a young man here as a guest, you may call me Azazel." Azazel was a slim 18 or 19 year old wearing what could only be compared to a black suit and had flaming slicked back red hair.


    "Nice to meet you Azazel, Im Malice and to be honest I accidentally stumbled across this place out of curiosity I thought I would look around" Malice was honest with Azazel and even though he was apprehensive because of Azazels apparent murderous tendencies he knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to keep up the act.


    "So its like that, well Malice what do you think of the Pleasure Lounge truly a magnificent place right?" Azazel seemed like a wild child even though appearing to be a young adult completely uncaring that Malice was essentially an intruder.


    "I have yet to experience the ''Pleasure'' that this establishment is known for but I can see that if I so desired it would definitely accommodate me." Malice had to admit that this high end brothel would truly be a good place to let ones lust run free.


    "This is the first time one of your guests haven''t screamed and run for their lives or turned into a empty husk." An alluring voice sounded behind Malice and after a few steps what appeared in his peripheral vision was an 18 or 19 year old girl also with blood red hair.


    "Lillian don¡¯t tease, Malice helped me dispose of one of my toys so I thought I would treat him to a drink. You don¡¯t care about what I did to that man do you Malice?" Azazel looked over to Malice as if they had already become best friends, Malice was stunned by how friendly Azazel was being.


    "I will admit I don¡¯t think I could go that far with someone, a simple broken neck, pierced heart or severed head is all I could do but what you do with your property doesn¡¯t really affect me." Malice nonchalantly answered, although he was alert thinking Azazel might try something after his childish attitude Malice felt less guarded.


    Malice had essentially grown up alone, while his parents were alive he only remembered them teaching him words, writing and cultivating his intelligence. They also inspired Malice to pursue the path of the Magus, simply witnessing his parents awe inspiring power made him want to become a Magus. However even though he was uniquely gifted with intelligence Malice still needed to learn from others and couldn¡¯t entirely rely on himself, so when it came to subjects such as justice and honour Malice didn¡¯t take a second look seeing through these concepts realising that they only really brought corruption and with his parents fighting in wars unable to urge him to follow societies right and wrongs such as honour, justice and crime, Malice just extended his knowledge that he thought were useful.


    Well this frame of mind was only intensified after his parents death, with people giving their death labels such as Honourable and Heroic. Was it Heroic and Honourable to die leaving your child behind? Malice contemplated this over and over and could never come to an answer therefore condemning the justice and honour society believed in. Although he still followed the rules he had no hope towards those serving justice and held no opposition to those that went against it.


    "Ah a ''Simple'' broken neck is what you would do, oh how kind of you. And here I thought you were another rich noble that only seeks the justifiable side of the Pleasure Lounge" Lillian remarked at the side as she sat down on the bed having the females massage her body.


    "I''m just a Magus in training that happened to pass by I wasn''t really looking for any pleasure in particular but I will admit the blood pit does sound like a place I could soothe my bloodlust or am I mistaken." Malice didn''t hide anything and even urged his sharp sword aura forward as proof of what he said.


    "Oh so Malice is a Magus, you don''t seem too strong but I can tell you have rather good potential" Azazel analysed Malice and commented on his Mortal Iron essence flowing around him.


    "You look to be quite wealthy and are also a Magus, on top of that you are looking to fight in the blood pit. Since its no secret I''ll tell you that me and Azazel are the children of Dantalion and Lilith the owners of the Blood Pit and Pleasure Lounge so we hold allot of power if you really wish to fit in the pit I can arrange it." Lillian spoke with demonic grace and revealed her identity.


    "So that''s the case, well I must admit fighting in this blood pit sounds quite interesting but I would like to first understand how it works." Malice was ready to actually have some excitement today but was careful as to learn how the blood pit worked before partaking.

 Chapter 11: The Blood Pit

    "Ah the blood pit one my father''s greatest creations, an arena for all those that wish to spill blood for money and sharpen their skills. Mostly people that come here are spectators that bet on the fights that occur in the pit however there are the occasional few who wish to test their might within." Lillian admired the blood pits infamy and explained how the lascivious and sadistic nobles rarely fought themselves.


    "Slaves, Brawlers, Gladiators and Monsters fight it out within the pit, some spectators even throw in bystanders on the side lines just to see more crimson soaked guts flail around. Winners are awarded platinum excluding slaves of course they get an extra day to live, if they are lucky." Azazel had a bloodthirsty grin on his face, looking as if he wanted to join in as well.


    "There are two types of fights, the first being a one on one as simple as that while the second is a large free for all in which up to thirty people battle it out to reign supreme. You must kill at least one person to be spared at the end of the fight but if you wish to take all the rewards you should kill everyone, winning in the free for all naturally grants higher rewards. So shall we head over?" Lillian was intrigued with how Malice was going to respond, she thought there was definitely a possibility of him withdrawing.


    Malice nodded his head and walked with the crimson haired siblings. After a short walk through a long hallway they arrived at a large steel door where deafening screams resounded from behind. Lillian slightly opened the doors increasing the volume of the shouts even more before closing the door behind her.


    "Follow me to where the fighters prepare." Azazel instructed as he made his way through a wooden door nearby.


    Malice was close behind and proceeded down a dark and damp stairwell before arriving at what looked to be a prison, passing by each cell he finally found himself in front of another large steel door where a almost naked man with an enormous black beard stood.


    "Master Azazel it''s good to see you, have you come to fight again or do you want this little lad to spill some blood?" The black bearded man had a raspy voice and spoke with a solemn tone.


    "Rhodar, my friend here wants to have a go at fighting in the pit. So set up a match to his liking, I''ll be in the stands if either of you need me. Good Luck!" Azazel gave Malice a pat on the back before leaving the way they came.


    "So young one what type of fight you looking for?" Rhodar questioned Malice looking down on the twelve year old like he wouldn''t last a second in the pit.


    "Set up a free for all, the amount of people matters not however, I would like them to all have Mortal Iron essence. I''m not in the mood to die today but make sure they have some strength I won''t improve killing defenceless children." Malice wanted to fight but not to the death in any way, he wanted a fight where he could improve but also not die a dog''s death in a fighting pit.


    After about twenty minutes, watching several fighters go in to the arena and only a few coming out, Malice¡¯s battle had arrived. Walking through the large steel doors alongside several other fighters.


    ''It sure as hell lives up to the name of The Blood Pit.'' Malice observed his surroundings, he was in the middle of an indoor coliseum with 3 meter high walls with spectators standing on top. Body parts, blood, weapons, excrement and sand covered the pit in its entirety. The pit was covered in an unquestionable oppression coming from the bloodthirsty crowd. Situated in a certain place were four chairs of the four, three were occupied with Malice identifying Lillian and Azazel as two of them however the last was taken by a towering figure with blood red eyes that could reach into your body and suck out everything within, crimson hair tied back to show a concaving scar across his right eye and chin. Without a doubt this was Azazel and Lillian¡¯s father, Dantallion.


    Malice stood on the blood soaked sand in the pit and counted a total of thirteen opponents, two measly thin slaves, three female slaves, two well built slaves, three light armoured warriors, two old men with deathly auras and a young girl with black crystalline arms.


    ''Those old men seem pretty dangerous but the others should be less of a challenge since I can use my Serpent Sword spell. Yet that little girl also seems odd if I was to guess I would say she is part demon but I''m not certain.'' Malice thought over who would be easiest to handle and who he should be wary of.


    "The Mortal Free For All may now... Begin" Dantallion gave a reverberating shout and commanded the fighters to start the blood works.


    Malice darted towards one of the light armoured warriors channelling his essence into his arms and legs. He did not want to use his spell so early on and thought that using his essence and his fighting ability he could take on a simple warrior without a weapon.


    "Foolish child I''m part of the Vengeful Rhino grou..." Before the warrior could even boast Malice was in front of his eyes with a punch aimed right at his chin.


    Yet Malice was caught off guard by a sudden whistle of an arrow making him retreat and unable to continue his attack. Malice looked over and saw the arrow land near the warriors foot showing that it had not much power behind it, another warrior stood close by looking smug after seeing his trick work.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    ''I was too cautious and thought some one had shot at me but the fucker just threw it? Well now I''m annoyed!'' Malice wasn''t happy he was tricked running towards the man he attacked previously, seeing this the man retreated however, Malice didn''t give chase and instead picked up the thrown arrow launching an assault on the warrior who threw it.


    The arrow throwing warrior was now focused on a female slave and had just grabbed the slaves neck preparing to strangle her to death.


    "Manta!"


    With a shout, blood spilled across the face of the female slave that was being strangled, looking up she saw an arrow spouting from the warriors eye with someone standing behind him with a smile on his face. This was obviously Malice and he was rather pleased killing the man who tricked him.


    "The trickster got tricked, unlucky my friend you should have watched your back." Malice pulled the arrow from the warriors head and then using his essence to power his arms he threw it down impaling the female slave through the neck.


    "BASTARD!!" The Warrior Malice had first attacked kicked towards Malice from behind showing his bloodshot teary eyes.


    Malice simply dodged the kick and looked at the man crying on the battlefield, he could only laugh at how quickly he lost his cool in the fight.


    "It''s pointless talking at this point huh? I don''t know why you thought there would only be weak slaves for you to harvest in the blood pit, I guess it''s too late to regret." Malice didn''t really care for this man''s grief, kicking up the sand on the ground into the warriors eyes before smacking him to the floor.


    The Warrior struggled as Malice held him to the ground, knowing full well that waiting too long would get him killed Malice quickly stood up and crushed the Warriors neck beneath his foot. Looking up Malice was fully aware and made sure there were no scavengers looking to sneak attack much like he did. Malice went onto survey the surroundings and saw that the slaves were clashing with each other knowing they only stood a chance against fellow slaves. The old men were standing at the side watching the fights play out and probably thinking over several strategies. Finally the little girl was sat on top of the last warrior tearing out his guts and bones.


    A few minutes later the only ones standing were a giant slave with many wounds, the old men, the little girl and Malice.


    Malice made the choice to engage with one of the old men knowing that they posed the greatest threat, preparing a serpent sword behind his back Malice set off in the old man''s direction.


    "I will face this child you handle the other two, make sure to not over use your abilities unless you desire to become a corpse yourself." The Old man with a black cloak spoke to the other with a silver cloak before walking towards Malice.


    "May death become one with my soul and channel it''s grace and evil through the undeath beneath me." The black cloaked Old man chanted some words and he seemed to be enveloped in an even more intense and deathly aura.


    Malice continued forward before jumping to the left whilst his Serpent Sword continued forward, whistling through the air the deadly blade was precise and was heading right for the old man''s neck.


    "Skilful but not enough." The old man spoke and in a instant the sword was blocked, it was now wedged between a man''s neck, however this man''s head was backwards and his skin deathly white.


    ''Shit he''s a necromancer, then again from what I can see he can only raise corpses. He and his friend can probably only raise one or two undead though considering they are in this match. I suppose I do need some one at least somewhat skilled to improve myself.'' Malice decided to get serious so he conjured three serpent swords and in no time sent one towards the necromancer and another at the corpse, wielding one in his hand flanking to the left.


    The necromancer ran close to his risen corpse and used it as a shield as the swords closed in, pulling bones from a corpse nearby making a bone spike and launching it at Malice. Two swords stabbed into the undead corpse, the necromancer feeling safe came out from behind his zombie and prepared to throw another bone spike. Meanwhile the previous bone spike had reached Malice which he put a lot of strength forward to block making bone shards cut across his arms. Knowing he couldn''t back down otherwise he would die, Malice dissipated his two serpent swords in the undead corpse and created a larger sword. Malice pushed forward the large sword horizontally as fast as he could. Seeing the large blade the necromancer had the corpse hold the bone spike and use it as a shield whilst hiding behind it.


    ''Slzzzt''


    With a loud cutting sound and two bangs the entire crowd went silent. The silver cloaked necromancer who was making no progress against the giant slave and little girl looked back towards his companion however what he saw instead was two lower bodies with two upper bodies scattered at their feet.


    Malice had managed to put enough power behind his large sword and had used his remaining sword as a boost to put a large amount of force behind his attack, enough force to cleave two bodies in half. This was no small effort on Malice¡¯s part as his felt like his body suddenly was five times heavier and knew it would be difficult to fight against three people.


    "No! We were suppose to win, we are servants of Death and will live forever even in the afterlife!" The necromancer shouted in a furious tone.


    "Awwrrgh" A screech was heard across the pit and suddenly all the flesh and bone from the dead swarmed to the remaining necromancer and without warning it burst out again like a storm of blades. Malice saw the phenomenon and created his swords combining three into a makeshift shield hoping the bone and flesh storm wouldn''t cut him to pieces.


    When the blood and bone had settled the necromancer was nowhere to be seen, Malice guessed his own flesh and bones were part of that explosion. The giant was groaning in pain, he had managed to shield his face but the rest of his body was cut up and mangled. The little girl had bone shards sticking out her face and chest, she had clearly been killed along with the necromancer. Malice struggled to stand up being tired from the fight, having cuts from shattered bones on his arms and a large gash on his leg inflicted from the corpse explosion.


    Malice circulated his essence to push himself to actually move and then using his Serpent Sword he finished off the Giant who pleaded for his life making excuses such as having family and such. Malice was declared the winner getting a nod from Dantallion and the excited cheers from the crowd. Making his way out of the pit Malice felt his essence to be extremely hot and erratic meaning only one thing he was about to advance his essence.

 Chapter 12: The Ghena Family

    Malice seconds away from collapsing, rested himself on a bench outside the blood pit. Rhodar questioned Malice to see if he was okay but received stale silence in return. Malice postured himself in a meditative stance and began circulating his essence throughout his body, at one moment it felt like the warmth of tens of fur blankets but in the next instant the heat was like molten lava gushing thorough Malice¡¯s insides burning him from the inside out. This process was excruciating and Malice with his young age and lack of experience felt he would not be able to bear the pain any longer, soon he felt fire engulf his arms, Ice freeze his legs and lightening shock his head and only when he could feel no longer did the pain disappear and in it''s place gentle streams of power caressed his internal organs. Wisps of energy jumpstarted his heart and soul, his entire being became refreshed and felt elegantly pure and last of all a brownish white aura exuded from Malice¡¯s body.


    ''I am now in the mortal copper realm, stronger than my peers and it seems I''m even better than some adults, I don''t see how people such as those slaves and mercenaries remained at the mortal iron realm all their life.'' Malice was perplexed how people at least triple his age were weaker than him.


    "Nice win, thought you were gonna be another body I needed to throw away, but you pulled through at the end and you seemed to have gained some strength from it." Azazel approached Malice and observed the changes in his essence.


    "You didn''t just get more strength, you even got a decent sized pouch of platinum to spend at your leisure." Lillian appeared from behind Azazel and threw a pouch towards Malice.


    "Thanks I guess, It was nice meeting you guys but I really got to go, I need to stabilise my essence after all." Malice felt rejuvenated and was ready to move around as usual.


    "I better see you again soon or the Ghena family will be paying a visit to that luxurious Institute of Magus'' and will bring the fun there instead." Azazel smiled and gave Malice a bear hug of sorts which made Malice truly see the strength of this crimson haired youth.


    "Don''t worry I¡¯ll be sure to visit in a few days, Im anticipating the day I witness you in the arena your so proud of." Malice found the company of these siblings oddly satisfying, considering their ''odd'' personalities.


    "Oho you want to see me spill some blood on the battlefield? Well when you next visit I¡¯ll show you a proper fight between experts, steel your nerves because waves of flesh will be headed your way kukukuku." Azazel projected his killing intent too all those around as if to display how much he loved the pleasure of ending ones life.


    Malice laughed along and was about to leave when suddenly Lillian pulled him aside "You should know that me and my brother are from the Ghena Family, powerful nobles here in this fine city, I''m telling you this as I trust you will not leak the secrets of this place to outsiders and that you will return whether it''s out of curiosity or pleasure, because of that you are now one of us, part of the Blood and Lust seekers, part of the Ghena family, a Devil among men so to speak. The Blood seems to be your current goal and we can guarantee your thirst is satiated, we can even help you become stronger. But we require one simple thing and that is for you to retrieve a fledgling Magus and bring him to us." Lillian stared deep into Malice¡¯s eyes making sure he understood what was being asked.


    Lillian continued on "You see this Magus or should I say child, is the son of a noble family that betrayed my father and stole a lot of valuable materials my father was planning to use to expand our families territories. So you will bring the child to me and my father and then we will accept you as one of our own, Azazel practically thinks of you as a close friend, must be the kindred spirits of blood and death."


    Lillian wasn¡¯t stopping her dialogue anytime soon and left no time for Malice to interrupt "The boys name is Josha Chevalier and recently entered the Magus Institute, average talent and zero chance of being a threat to you. You will still be welcome here if you are not up for the task but you will have to understand our disappointment."


    "I think I can help you as long as you return the favour, that is assuming that I don¡¯t receive any blow back from the incident, I''m pretty sure but I have to be certain that any witnesses will be ''dealt'' with, after all the only thing worse than committing a crime is being caught." Malice¡¯s morals meant he couldn''t care in the least if someone he didn''t care for let alone knew died even if it was by his own hands, he saw the positives and negatives of this outlook but couldn''t change his fundamental beliefs even if he wanted to, perhaps if someone deserved mercy it would be shown, whether that would ever happen Malice didn''t even know.


    Lillian handed Malice all the details on a piece of paper as he left, with his departure he could still hear the screams and shouts from the pit he was in moments ago.


    ''It seems I''m a contracted kidnapper now, but its for my own good as I can be supported by both the Institute and the Ghena Family, who seem like they can hold their own amongst the most powerful families in the capital, with this my progress is guaranteed after all with my family laying at rest I don¡¯t have any background to utilise excluding my inheritance.'' Malice knew what he was doing was wrong but self preservation triumphed over most things and he was prepared to do what needed to be done.


    It was the early hours of the morning when Malice finally returned to his residence, after a long day of exploring and killing he had realised that only when he was fighting on the brink of death did he truly feel the most alive as if his essence was it''s own entity being used in a way that Malice guessed pushed it''s limits and made him advance much quicker.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ''This bloodlust I feel originates from my very soul desiring to evolve and become stronger, if that¡¯s the case would that mean that I would be better off fighting than meditating? If what Lillian said is true and I gain the backing of the Ghena family then im sure they can solve this question without a problem.'' Malice assumed that he progressed quicker when in a battle but felt only his essence was improving whereas his understanding of his Magus powers, in particular his foundation spell seemed to have stagnated in growth. Thus he theorised that through killing his essence increased like that of a Martial power cultivator and through meditation and deep understanding his Magus powers grew.


    Malice was happy with his results of his visit around the capital despite the boring start and was glad he didn¡¯t have to sit through six hours of that giants disastrous aura. Even still he wasn¡¯t going to start slacking, by now he assumed most if not all the new students had completed the first step of foundation spell creation and were slowly progressing to finish.


    ''Nova and Violet have most likely completed their foundation spell and are also ready to learn combat spells, if they haven¡¯t already started due to their families connections, making me think even more that I should just deliver this Magus to Lillian as quick as possible. I want to grow just as much as those around me I''m not losing out because I don¡¯t have the will to put my needs above others.'' Malice had his thoughts constantly swirling in his head as he feel asleep hoping that anyone but the giant was teaching classes the next day.


    The day came quickly considering Malice had only slept for a few hours before he had to go to class, he skipped his usual routine and continued to stabilise his essence which didn¡¯t take too long considering the fact he spent quite a long time on it last night. Wearing his usual Obsidian Plate Armour, which went over a pristine snow white robe adorned by rubies, He made his way to class making sure he was ready to stand his ground against that foul giant, who Malice found he had started to hate.


    Walking through the classroom door Malice noticed each individual had a different feeling to them, some felt cold, hot, tranquil and all sorts of other feelings meaning they had at least moved their essence gaining a small aura of power from within. Malice wasn¡¯t really picking up on anyone¡¯s aura in particular but he noticed that there was one person that he felt lacked an aura completely and that was Mars, which would seem natural to others observing a D grade talent but considering he moved his essence two days ago it wouldn¡¯t be too much of a stretch to think he had formed his foundation spell by now.


    Malice unfortunatly wasn¡¯t the only one who noticed this as two B grade talents, the ''bosses'' of the classroom approached Mars looking about ready to start a fight.


    "Listen here Mars we weren¡¯t going to bother you anymore because we felt you as a D grader would waste away without our help but you actually snitched to Professor Fulgham that me and Charles beat you up yesterday." A scrawny kid shouted at Mars making everyone in class focus on the conflict.


    "The Professor saw you do it, I didn¡¯t say anything, why would I do that when its obvious this would happen?" Mars was pretty convincing but after he hurt the egos and pride of most people in the class the other day he didn¡¯t make a single friend, which in this situation would be helpful indeed.


    "Monty and I know you thought you were tougher than us so we showed you who was boss but then you hid behind a teacher, now look at you, everyone here has a strong aura whereas you have nothing." The chubby kid Charles stopped Mars from speaking and made everyone aware that Mars'' aura was non existent.


    Amongst Malice¡¯s classmates those that were dejected, forced to stay behind after class to move their essence whilst Mars walked free, began to stand up and join Monty and Charles'' side, those who didn¡¯t care either left the class or just stood as spectators. But the group only consisted of about two spectators, the B rank Damien and Malice.


    ''I don''t believe for a second Mars is powerless, either he has a special soul attribute or he¡¯s too strong for anyone among us to comprehend, if its the latter talent means shit and I may as well be a D rank as well.'' Malice would be incredibly surprised if Mars was stronger than him, after all did talent mean nothing in cultivation and was just some made up term to categorise people, Malice doubted that very much.


    "Can you guys do this lynch mob somewhere else, funny enough I don¡¯t think we will learn anything today if the classroom is destroyed." Malice was being honest because if the room was trashed he would probably be reprimanded and not learn anything for another day, knowledge was power after all. Malice also offered Mars a minuscule chance of escape, even if he was stronger individually against a mob he would surely lose. Malice was thoughtful of the future and thought if he had some understanding with Mars albeit a small one then that was one less enemy to face, he wouldn¡¯t go as far as making another friend as Malice realised that your problems and your friends problems become one and Malice thought that the Mars'' issues were countless.


    "What gives you the right to demand how we enact justice?" Monty questioned Malice in anger forgetting to think where Malice was in the hierarchy of this class, which was safe to say right at the peak.


    A sword suddenly appeared before Monty¡¯s right eye, almost piercing it but hovered just far enough for him to notice all it needed was a light tap to skewer.


    "I could cut you down with a thought and that¡¯s not a threat that¡¯s a promise, so I will ask nicely this time, Please leave the classroom if your going to mob him, if you ask me relying on 14 others is a weak move. But who asked me right?" Malice always felt disdain towards his classmates especially the ones who had no right to be arrogant, especially the ones that claim they are enacting false justice. To Malice the word justice itself made him filled with rage and when it comes out the mouth of a weak little arseling like Monty oh how joyous it would have felt to pierce his eyes and hear him scream. Yet Malice had self control, well enough to stop him from publicly executing a child like himself.


    The group slowly disbanded thinking Malice was now protecting Mars, but some still stayed the ones truly indignant with their lot in life to be losing to someone weaker than them, not reading into Malice¡¯s word but taking them at face value, how Malice had intended, proceeding to leave the classroom. A total of 6 students left and Mars could only follow behind albeit unwillingly, he didn¡¯t want the majority of the class to gather as fighting six people is significantly easier than fourteen.

 Chapter 13: Essence Battles

    Sat at his desk Malice was intrigued as to how the brawl between his classmates would play out but there was a chance he would be caught with them and punished, which would be better if avoided. A few minutes passed and Teacher Li appeared out of nowhere again, this time Malice caught a glimpse of a blue trail with a green tint to it making Malice instantly aware that this Teacher Li was in the Sky Mythril Realm.


    ''Teacher Li seems to be in his late 30''s and has almost entered the heaven realm, I''m uncertain if that is good for that age but from what I understand Dantallion and Violets father are in the Royal realm and are around the same age im guessing, so either Teacher Li is average or Dantallion and the Venomwind Head are simply exceptional.'' Malice was comparing the strengths of his seniors and made him wonder how strong Elder Klaud, the man who brought him to the capital, was. ''I reckon he was in the heaven realm, thinking of the strength of those in the Sky realm is already unfathomable let alone a realm or to higher.'' Malice could only be in awe of the power people had around him, utilising it as a motivation is all he could do with this knowledge for now though. Meanwhile Malice was in deep contemplation six students entered the room, Mars was among them with a bloodied nose and some early forming bruises, however Monty was nowhere to be seen making the other kids chat amongst themselves.


    "Where have you all been? You¡¯re only slightly late so I will let it go, was Monty with you?" Teacher Li didn¡¯t seem too bothered by their late arrival and just wanted to know where Monty was.


    "We were just play fighting outside, Monty was a bit too rough and cut his head, the healer said that he would be fine, we still don¡¯t know how it happened." Charles spoke up and confusion was displayed across his face, he really wasn¡¯t sure how Monty suddenly received a deep cut across his cheek and eye.


    "Well as long as he is fine, he can join us later. I must apologise for my absence yesterday but you can rest easy knowing I returned safely. Now I want everyone to get up and stand on each side of the classroom, make sure there is an equal amount of people on each side." Teacher Li coordinated the class to split in half, the class usually has 21 students so with Monty¡¯s absence the class could split into equals.


    Each side stood in a row facing someone on the opposite side, Malice was across from a boy who looked only slightly less noble than Malice himself, he guessed the boy was from a prominent family and had a decent background supporting him after all he seemed to be infinitely close to having a foundation spell.


    "Alright everyone we are going to play a little game, you will face the person opposite you and project your essence, you will do this until one of you concedes or is too exhausted, that will be the end of one round. You guys on the right side of the class will shift to the right and then proceed to project your essence to the opposite person. Choose your battles wisely as you will only get a minutes rest after each round. Alright then begin!" Teacher Li explained the rules of a game that everyone was to take part in, everyone looked ready to go and showed their desire to show off.


    Malice looked at the boy opposite him and didn¡¯t really think at his stage that the boy let alone anyone in the class could rival him, but what this game could test if not his strength, was his endurance as if he were to constantly exert essence he could see how long his strength could last.


    Almost everyone witnessed Malice utilise his foundation spell earlier so the boy most likely knew he wouldn¡¯t win but that didn¡¯t mean he wouldn''t give it a go. So while Malice was thinking how much power to use the boy sent out his essence, it had an earthly feeling to it as if he was blowing rocks at Malice¡¯s face, naturally Malice wasn¡¯t going to take it so he urged his essence to flow and surround his opponents, he planned to trap his opponents essence for as long as he could endure. Malice understood that if he was to go at his opponent directly the suffocating feeling of an army of swords would definitely petrify him, after all even Malice felt fear from his aura and that was when he was only at Mortal Iron realm.


    After a few minutes the boy stopped and conceded, given that Malice¡¯s essence was much stronger, lasting a few minutes was already something to be proud of. Malice felt he could endure another few people before he got tired. This assumption proved to be correct because after the forth round Malice actually needed to utilise the break and take in surrounding essence however whilst he was doing this he felt the essence to be much more pure and almost more denser, from this his recovery was much quicker, even his essence felt like it was being nurtured.


    ''This has to be Teacher Li''s essence he is dispersing it around the class so we recover quicker, it is even helping refine our essence even though it isn''t making a huge impact, it is definitely noticeable even for me at the Mortal Copper Realm. So this game was to make our endurance better on top of nurturing and helping refine our essence, if we did this exercise for a few days to a week then it wouldn¡¯t be surprising if everyone here ranked up.'' Malice may have looked down on Teacher Li''s cultivation level compared to others his age, but he was for sure a good teacher.


    After several rounds the students felt stronger like something inside them had fundamentally changed which boosted their attitude to win. Malice obviously had yet to lose and was now up against Mars, who surprisingly, to some not so much, hadn¡¯t lost either. Standing opposite him Malice saw the tenacious nature of Mars, he could sense weakness and fear but also the will to fight which was an odd combination for sure but Malice knew this boy was fuelled by his emotions, a good kid who broke the norms of society. Now Malice wanted to test him for real, a pure essence clash to measure the true strength of this kid.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    With the signal from Teacher Li everyone began, Malice called forth his Serpentine Aura that violently exploded towards Mars, as though it encountered an illusory wall the Serpentine essence halted but still maintained its power like a flame colliding with a steel door, and just like that with enough power Malice¡¯s essence was going to break through. More and more the essence cascaded against what could only be Mars essence, slowly the essence was breaking the shell that Mars created and before long seemed to burst through in small streams, a cracked dam ready to burst through with tremendous power.


    Mars panted and seemed weak and almost unconscious all the while Malice thought he could erupt essence for two fold the original time he lasted and whilst he was about to make the final push he sensed a disturbing force coming straight for his eye as though a ghostly arrow was about to strike, forgetting about the game he enveloped himself in as much aura and essence he could muster, the sheer feeling it invoked made those near malice feel like they were being hung by a noose over a pit of blades, the pure terror made those with less essence collapse. The attack met with Malice, the aura around him held steady and yet Malice still felt like his brain was pierced making him collapse to the floor. Thus ended the round, Malice had lost because he stopped his essence flow for less than a second, he was physically fine and only felt a strange headache. Malice sat up and a bloodthirsty look in his eyes was quickly hidden, but not quick enough for Teacher Li to miss it.


    ''That fucker could¡¯ve killed me, I don¡¯t know the damage I would have received without the aura around me, I could have died for all I know. I aint sure if it was his doing either but Mars I swear if I find out it was you, I''ll show you the pain of being pierced through the brain.'' Malice may have been overreacting but that was natural for someone who had their life threatened. The reality of the situation was in fact that Mars used his foundation spell, however unbeknownst to Malice, Mars'' spell only has the ability to disorientate or cut someone and isn¡¯t anywhere close to being lethal yet.


    "Alright everyone that will be the end of the Game, well done to those of you who won, if you lost you should be able to see how you can change yourself to win in the future, development is what we desire here at the institute and even if you progress little by little that is still fine. You may now go for a break, Malice you could please stay behind for a bit." Teacher Li dismissed the class and sat in his chair waiting for Malice.


    "I see you are advancing at a much quicker pace than your classmates, but it seems you are ruled by your emotions I could see the anger and contempt in your eyes when you lost to Mars. A Magus must learn to cast aside their emotions and only when they reach an enlightenment of sorts do they ascend at an even faster pace. I was young and full of vigour once and now although I seem eccentric I have put thoughts of rage and arrogance outside my mind and have achieved higher realms much quicker." Teacher Li seemed to be cautioning Malice that his emotions would lead him to his downfall.


    "No offence Teacher Li but I know of experts younger than you who are several Realms higher, my emotions are my driving force behind cultivation, if I was completely unfeeling without the rage that pushes me, I would simply live my life as the young master of the Darkblight on my home estate that is completely barren of all life. Because of people with emotions of hate did those lands become barren, My parents died due to hate and suffering so I think I''m entitled to take on those emotions myself and cultivate the way I wish to." Malice¡¯s eyes were bloodshot this was the first time he had let out his grief to this extent, realising what had happened Malice turned and left.


    "I said that hoping you would agree, when one cultivates through rage, they become something completely different from a Magus, I hope he finds fault in his ways and changes for his own good." Teacher Li could only sigh at Malice¡¯s response and resumed reading some scripture.


    Malice didn''t go to find Violet or Bella during his break like he would normally do, instead he headed outside the main building and towards a certain block of buildings, amongst them were several large mansions, clearly reserved for those of exceptional wealth and status.


    ''I thought my treatment was good, clearly the nobility of Zafaris are treated like kings here in the institute, then again they could just go home it aint that far. Ah well it doesn¡¯t matter I¡¯ve got to attend to this problem Lillian has given me.'' Malice studied each mansion which each had unique names given to them, the building Malice was trying to find was called Snowsea Manor.


    After walking through the maze of manors and mansions Malice finally set his sights on Snowsea Manor, it wasn¡¯t remarkable and just looked like all the other large buildings, that didn¡¯t matter now what did was whether or not Josha Chevalier was within. Malice was thinking that attacking at night would be the best but the security during the day was much more lax.


    ''I have to be able to transport him to the Blood Pit without being seen, also I am unsure if he has personal guards. I suppose I can do a little more recon to be sure.'' Malice approached the Manor and knocked on the door, what greeted him when the door opened was a young man in a butlers uniform.


    "Can I help you sir?" The butler looked like simply saying those words made him angry, Malice could only guess he was a servant that was forced to do this type of job, basically a slave.


    "I''m looking for my friend Josha is there any chance he is here right now?" Malice smiled and acted his age for once. The butler looked at Malice carefully and them let him in. He was about to say something but before he could Malice drew a knife to his throat and said "Now listen to me carefully."

 Chapter 14: Kidnapping

    "I''m looking for my friend Josha is there any chance he is here right now?" Malice smiled and acted his age for once. The butler looked at Malice carefully and them let him in. He was about to say something but before he could Malice drew a knife to his throat and said "Now listen to me carefully."


    A young man was currently being held hostage by a kid. he disappointed with his life, ashamed of how he became forced to do such menial work like being a butler or cleaner and maybe even both. So when a kid no older than twelve held a knife to his throat, how could he not think his life was cursed and that the gods wanted him to suffer.


    "Take me to Josha and I''ll let you go, actually how about you help me with my little Josha problem and I help you escape your miserable life, a pouch of platinum isn¡¯t much for me to spare." Malice whispered his offer into the Butlers ear, the words alone made him ease up a little.


    Malice then let go of the Butler and watched him carefully, he seemed to think for a few moments before agreeing to help Malice, he was basically a slave in this household of course he would want to escape. So he lead Malice towards a large dinning hall where a boy around Malice¡¯s age sat talking to a girl slightly older.


    "Wait for me outside, don¡¯t run off and tell anyone because even if I''m put in prison or executed my family will hunt you to the ends of the world." Malice gave a quite common threat it was just funny how his only family was his aunt and picturing her hunting and killing this butler truly was a hilarious thought.


    Malice dismissed the Butler and continued further into the dinning hall, it was grandiose to say the least with sculptures and paintings and even a marble carved ceiling. Sat at a long table were two people, Malice guessed who one of them were. Josha the small noble with smart clothes and brushed brown curtains for hair who sat opposite a girl with Icy Blond hair and like many in the Primal World, stunning features. Malice was now close enough for the pair to notice him with both now looking very confused.


    "Who are you and what are you doing in my Manor?" Josha questioned Malice as he drew ever closer, baffled how he got inside in the first place. Malice didn¡¯t reply and crept nearer and nearer to the pair, naturally it looked very suspicious so the girl stepped forward ready to block his path.


    "State your business or Leave. You see this, this is an advanced class title plate meaning I can squash you like a bug ''Beginner''." The girl wasn¡¯t sure either why Malice was here but made sure to show her authority. Her hands were suddenly covered in a chilling frost as she prepared herself in a fighting stance.


    ''This girl is in the Mortal Gold realm, she probably has also learnt combat spells, honestly I don¡¯t think I can win. Well maybe if I went for the kill but that would make to much of a mess and the chances of the Chevalier family tracing it back to me would be pretty high. Guess I''ll have to play it by ear then, not much else I can do as me being here right now means that security will increase after today and my chances to get this kid will be low, should have thought through it more but clearly my encounter with Teacher Li still has me shaken.'' Malice decided to formulate a plan before he was beaten by this frost witch.


    "Young miss please excuse my interruption but I have an urgent message for Josha, regarding the health of Count Chevalier, you could say the Count was teaching me the ways of the industry and felt I could deliver this message quickly to you. The thing is it would appear that some unknown illness is plaguing the main family and the count has it the worst, you are return immediately before it may be to late." Malice tried to put on a performance that would urge Josha to leave for the Capital. "There is a Butler waiting outside to escort you unless the business amongst you two is more important. I will wait for you outside"." Malice walked out f the dinning hall, hoping his story hadn''t been seen through. There were several factors that were out of Malice¡¯s control such as the Count may have visited recently or that he hated children and wouldn''t take on an apprentice, there were many variables that Malice was unaware of so he could only hope the story was believable enough for two children.


    "Oi you are here to escort the ''young master'' to the Counts estate, you will say nothing at all. Now go fetch a carriage you better know how to drive or at least someone who does." Malice whispered to the butler his instructions which when faced with threats and money he could only loyally follow.


    "I''ll see you tomorrow Eliza, I have to go check on my father. Please don''t worry for us I''m sure the message was just exaggerated." Josha exited the dinning hall, worry clearly plastered on his face and then proceeded to the carriage outside, completely ignoring Malice whether he didn¡¯t care about him or was just panicking, who knew.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Malice followed behind and in his peripheral vision he saw the girl Eliza, biting her nails also showing signs of worry, Malice felt that his plan worked a bit to well but realised he had created a loose end.


    ''I can''t deal with her right now but she knows my face and when Josha inevitably goes missing I''m the first person they will search for, damn this is going to get messy.'' Malice was calculating how he would get out this mess and solve the current problem of Eliza.


    Malice sat beside the driver of the carriage who already knew where the Counts Estate was, if not Malice wasn¡¯t sure which direction to go, the butler hung on to the side of the carriage and the group set off.


    A few minutes into the journey Malice instructed the Driver that they needed to make a stop he made some excuse about a black-market selling medicine that may help the Chevalier family. With the hope of saving his family in sight Josha agreed instantly to follow Malice¡¯s orders. The carriage moved in a winding oath down several alleys when suddenly the carriage halted altogether.


    "Why have we stopped are we at the destination?" Josha questioned from inside the carriage to no avail. So he decided to climb out and see what was going on. What he witnessed was the driver passed out on the floor and Malice and the Butler nowhere to be seen, suddenly a painful sensation overflowed Josha''s head, as he fell to the ground he saw the butler with a large rock standing behind him, without warning Josha was knocked out. The butler seemed dazed by what he just did, what he was forced to do and while he stood there in his stupor the driver who had witnessed the whole thing, jumped up and began fleeing he saw in his peripheral vision a man with a sword sticking out his chest which frightened him even more, dashing at full speed to escape.


    The man with the sword in his chest slowly stood up and the sword disappeared into thin air, this was Malice and he had just completed the final step of his plan, he hoped that the carriage driver would go the counts estate and tell the Count that his son had been kidnapped by a Butler that worked for him, and killed his ''apprentice'' at which point that lie would be seen through and the assumption that the butler and ''apprentice'' worked together would be made, the butler got greedy and betrayed the ''apprentice'' and kidnapping Josha by himself. Malice knew that there wasn''t a hundred percent certainty that his plan would work but the odds were in his favour.


    Malice and the Butler then dragged Josha down a hidden alley at which point they saw a Burly Black man with long pasty white hair sat on a chair next to a large door.


    "I''m here to see Lillian or Dantallion about a certain business deal." Malice dropped Josha and looked at the Burly man, he seemed to be the Day guard whereas the tattooed baldy was the night guard.


    "Hmm you must be Malice, take the centre corridor and walk straight until you see a crimson door with black spikes protruding from it, you''ll find what you seek. Only you may enter though." The man eyed the butler which made him shrivel back in fear.


    "I can just go if you give me the mon...." The butler felt strange having not finished his sentence, looking down what was even stranger was the now clearly visible crimson gorge in his throat, staring wide eyed at Malice he thought for sure he was being tricked but that thought lasted as long as his final breath.


    "I''m sorry but you are the biggest loose end of all, the only real witness to what happened here, rest easy knowing that you helped me become stronger. Too bad the Chevaliers will never find you, and thus never find me." Malice simply walked through the door and headed down the corridor, his actions didn¡¯t surprise the doorman and actually made him smile, soon after the corpse was gone and all that remained was ash in the wind.


    Malice ventured down the corridor which was eerily quite, except for the occasional scream and cry that would last for barely a few seconds. Continuing on he found himself in front of a crimson metal door, with black spikes as a wild as thorns sticking out. With Josha over his shoulder he slowly entered into a study room, bookshelves with books and scriptures of all kinds collecting dust, alchemical and rune enchanting equipment were displayed and behind a luxurious desk sat a man of gigantic stature, Blood coloured eyes and crimson tied back hair. Trenches for scars across his face and an almost ravenous and death hungry aura.


    "Welcome Malice, Sit." Dantallion was clearly a man of few words or perhaps thought a Mortal Copper realm Magus didn¡¯t deserve his words.


    Malice sat in a chair opposite Dantallion, Malice could feel fear deep down, not for his life but something far more frightening, he didn¡¯t even know what that was and could only comply to soothe it.


    "Azazel speaks highly of you, Lillian likes your ruthlessness and I am pleased with your resourcefulness and will to do what is necessary." Dantallion praised Malice and from someone so strong Malice actually felt proud, like doing this task was fate and destined to happen.


    "The Chevalier family stole from me and so I return the favour. You have done well, have earned the respect of my family. You must wonder how we can accept you as one of our own after so little time. I can say this, when you are as strong as me time is inconsequential. I see your faith and will to be stronger, your talent is an added bonus. Become one of us, a Ghena not in name but in body and soul and we will kill, lust and live together." Dantallions powerful aura burst out his body purple rays with a blue colouration spread throughout the room, the true strength of someone in the Royal Cobalt realm was displayed in front of Malice, it gave him the feeling of a conqueror or that of a king.


    Malice now realised that perhaps the Ghena family needed Malice as much as he needed them, with Malice¡¯s progress the Ghenas would progress. If he was being used as a growing powerful weapon then so be it, he finally had people he could rely on again. With the help of Dantallion, the world could only prepare before Malice engulfed it in his power.