《The Golden Book (Heavy Crown book 1)》 Chapter 1 In a golden cathedral sat a man with blue skin and a head full of golden hair around him where 7 pedal stools holding seven crowns all radiating different powers like the one that sat a top of his head. Memories seem to fill his mind of all the friends who had left him not of old age no they had long left that behind but because they want to sleep the final true sleep. He alone had holed out for he knew that he was all that held the grand seal togother, but he too was tired of his job. With a wave of his hand one of the crowns floated from the pedal stool to his hands and a long sigh spilled from his mouth. ¡°The adventures we had my friend still play through my mind. We all believed you to be crazy when you suggested we obtain these crowns of power as a team. One group holding all the power of the crowns on how we made history and then came the true war. A hard looked passed over the being¡¯s eyes as he looked to the middle of the building. The crowns pedal stools all had a line connecting them to a circle at the middle of the floor. A seal that kept their most hated foe locked in a prison, a prison that he had grown tired of watching over. Sighing one last time he beganto harden his heart as he knew it was time he grabbed the other crowns and began cucking them across the universe and slowly his hand touched his crown. He pulled it off to get one last look and cucked it out as well. With the crowns gone he walked into the circle and began using his own energy to keep it sealed. He would give the universe time to find new owners for the 8 crowns and by extensions the 8 hidden pillars. When the moment came, and he could no longer hold out he would send his conscience across the univrse to warn all who lived. He could already feel the universe snap back into space undoing the changes they had done all those years ago. Most wouldn¡¯t even notice and out of the ones who did very few would know what it means. But one thing would be clear that war was around the corner and only the strong would survive. ***************************** The last moments of my life was in a haze I could never remember what exactly happen but when I woke up I was no longer on earth but a planet by the name of Zoiria. I was no longer the African American 5¡¯9, 20-year-old college student Marshaun Stevenson. I was 5-year-old Isaac, a rakshara a race of humanoids who only real differences to humans where we gain wings when we reach adulthood (which in the world of Zoiria wasn¡¯t as exciting as it sounds). There were two major differences between Earth and Zoiria that I had a hard time adjusting to. One was the difference in treatment of the 1 percenters and the rest of the population. Sure, earth had rich people, but they couldn¡¯t just kill you in broad daylight and nothing happen to them. The motto was simple if you weren¡¯t one of them bow or die and they had the power to enforce that motto. And that power came from magic something Earth as far as we knew it didn¡¯t have. Those who knew magic where put in ranks of power from Knight, Baronet (Baronetess), Baron(Baroness), Viscount(Viscountess),Earl(Countess), Marquess, Duke(Duchess) and finally King(queen). Each with more strength than the last. Magic was split up into two forms combat and world enchantment and both where not taught easily. There were 4 ways to learn magic one was to join a school and pay money the second was to pay money and learn from someone but that usualy was only about world enchantment. Third you could join an organization, but you would lose your freedom that way. And lastly you could gain the information of magic by buying the information, but you wouldn¡¯t have the personal touch of someone teaching you. Though the last one sound better it really wasn¡¯t as you could only buy what people would sell which wasn¡¯t usually the best stuff. For 12 years I had lived in this world and today I was afraid like no other as I was dragged in chains and placed into a metal cage. That turned into absolute rolling rage as I looked at into the crowd and saw the reason I was arrested. Trorin he was like me an orphan who worked in the magic stone mines. It was one of the few places young orphans could work if they didn''t want to join gangs or do significantly more dangerous jobs. I had start working there 2 years ago and while the pay was little you were given a bed to sleep and one meal, so I stuck with it. The whole problem started when I had an accident in the mine tries to escape from some equipment falling over a piece of it caught on my shirt ripping the front show a dirty pendant underneath. Trorin saw it and immediately decide he wanted it and in the mines, he was the alpha of all the boys and was angered that I denied him my pendant. For most of the others he could intimidation because of his size but I was also a big guy, so he got to taste the bottom of my feet. I had assumed he would get back at me but not by stealing a magic stone and dumping it under my bed. The owner of the mine believed he did a good service by giving orphans work and a place to stay so any caught stealing where sent to The Red O another name for the gladiator colosseum found in most cities. Win 20 events and live to get set free or die. The problem rose that I knew nothing of magic as the price to learn anything good meant I would have to starve for a whole year just to take the general knowledge class. And all events required such powers to survive. The more you win the more you would gain the ability to learn little bit about magic, but it was common knowledge that the stuff the Red O offered was sub-par. My heart slammed into my chest as we slowly rode up to one of the four building to the red eye. We were pulled of the cage and lead into some double doors that let us into a courtyard. Standing alone was a man of who looked to be in his mid-50 only from the face up. his body however told the story of a physical fit athlete in the prime of his life. He gave off a creepy smile as all the inmates where lined up as the solder released us from our chains. ¡°Welcome to my humble abode" he said as if he was a grand performer. " my name to you is taskmaster blue and my job it to make sure you either die entertaining as possible or win to fight another day. If any of you wish to escape before your time is up I wish you the best trying to get off the premises as I promise you will die long a painful. Do any of you wish to try now that you have been unchained.¡± He paused to look over everyone. We could see the glee in his eyes the hope that someone, anyone would give him a challenge. But we knew there was a reason he would be in charge and he alone could probably kill us all. ¡°Seeing no one wishes to try let''s began with today''s agenda¡± He said in a sad tone. ¡°Tonight, you will have you very first event which is -he paused as he pulled a paper out of his pocket to quickly look over it and a broad grin plastered his face. "Monster fighting lucky for you guys right! Anyway, I will take one hour to teach all who wishes the basics of whatever weapon they want in that time. For those who already know these things congratulations you are one step closer to not dying during the next event and may choose to do whatever you want in this courtyard. For the rest of you pick a weapon on the wall and let''s begin.¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Only a few people walked over to a wall that had a plethora of weapons on it as the rest of us seem to take a moment to let it set in that tonight might be our last night. I tried to move to the weapons as well but fear so strong it seem to stop my breath kept me in place. At the side of my eye I seen a huge man walk forward out of the line. ¡°Any magic user who can help me get a bit of a warm up? He said as he twisted his hand in the air. Water seem to materialize out of the air and gather in his hands slowly coming togother into a double headed Axe. As the axe finished solidifying it didn''t look like any metal I had ever seen it had a deep blue metallic look and was big enough to require to hands to lift it. 2 other people also left the group, an old man, and a young man with a snake like face. They also put their hand in the air, the old man seems to summon fire that formed a long scroll while a young man with a snake-like face summoned a book using water. "If you want to practice, go to the left there''s a courtyard for magic users. Shaking their head in understanding they all moved to the courtyard and it took everyone a moment to get them out of our heads. They were at the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to magic or the wouldn''t be put within the same holding area as us. but to us without magic they were the elites those who had little fear to the events we be facing later tonight. Clenching my tetth I forced myself to move forward to the weapons area and slowly looked over the weapons. I need something that require the least amount of effort to learn how to use I thought First a shield to keep me from danger is a must. Picking up a shield with a metal outline I began looking over the weapons. Swords supposedly require a lot of training to be good and I don''t have that time. So, I picked a mace Instead of the king of weapons the sword. Look around I notice that people have started getting it on the line the game instructions from Taskmaster blue, so I also got in line and waited for him to finish teaching the other inmates. When it was finally my turned he walked up to me and looked over my weapons. ¡°Had any weapon training boy?¡± The boy part annoyed me, but I answer anyway ¡°No, I haven¡¯t¡± ¡°So, what made you choose a shield and a mace?¡± ¡°I thought they would be the quickest to learn.¡± ¡°Yes, they are the quickest to learn but they are also the most tiresome to use.¡± Seeing the look of confusion on my face he contuied ¡°while you do look strong for your age it take practice to gain the necessary endurance to use them for a simple reason to attack or defend you must carry their weight in one arm and while that sounds different in a fight the one who tires first give a huge advantage to the enemy. ¡° ¡°So, are you saying I should have pick something eles?¡± ¡°No just understand the way you need to fight is simple stamina management you want to fight in quick burst as long fights will likely kill you.¡± He began showing me the right way to hold my weapons and the stance I want to take for simple blocks and strikes. ¡°Just practice those and try to keep them in your head before moving to the red o." He moved on to the next person as I contuied through the stances and I being feeling my arms tire. I quickly stop practicing as the last thing I need was to be too sore or tried to use them. The time went by agonizing slow as we waited I tried to keep my mind off it by practicing every couple of minutes by going through the stance once. When it was finally time to leave we were put in a line with guards on both sides as we walked through some log hallways. The red o was 5 buildings with 4 being the size of a football field and the one in the middle being the size of 3 football fields. Each building held different participances at different strengths. Blue was the building that held those who hadn¡¯t practice magic or knights. Red which held particpants for Baronet and baron level magic users, White which held viscount particpants. And lastly black which held the strong earl level magic users. These 4 building where the connect to the Conner of the red eye which held the events. We were lead into a waiting room that where taskmaster blue being splitting people up into groups and sending us off to gate areas. My heart began pounding as we were ushered to our gate a man stood in front of a gate and looked over a sheet of paper as we walked up. ¡°So, from my understanding not only are most of you new to the red o you are serving a sentence for various crimes. Let me be the first to say when you time comes to enter the red O stragglers will be killed quickly. Same goes for after the battle move promptly out of the red o and absolute no attacking another participant unless you are in a event that allows that. You all are the second event of the day and have been randomly given a monster fighting challenge. After you fight is finished you can stay here to watch the rest or be lead back to building blue and shown to your rooms. For those who survive you will have 2 weeks till your next event that must be attended, or you can join an even that happens every 3 days to finish you sentence faster. You may also use the stores in blue to gain knowledge or training of magic to survive your upcoming battles better. But do be warned while you will be able to use magic you learn through the store it will still be subpar to any you will learn at a school.¡± The guards that had ushered us to the gate walked up to him and escorted him away from us. I guest someone took a swing at him since we do all have weapons. I could hear the crowd outside getting riled up by the announcer till it reach a feverous pitch in which the late out the first match which seem to be between two gladiators. On the left side roared a beast of a man with two swords in his hands. While on the right came a lanky man holding a long sword in his. When they were just a few meters away the large man roared again and lifted both of his sword above his head. The other just sneered and swung to split the man from his upper and lower body. The large man jumped back bring his sword down slicing the man¡¯s wrist off causing him to howl in pain. The gaint kicked him square in the chest knocking the man over and stepped on the man¡¯s blade, He turned back to the crowd and roared at the crowd which roared back in excitement at him. Turning to his downed foe who was scrabbling to get up he kicked his sword back to him and yelled for him to pick it up. The lanky man looked up at him with rage in his eyes and picked up the sword and the two began to dance. Anyone could tell the big man was playing with him. Only using one sword and doing small slashes towards him. This seem to amuse the crowd as the wacth another man bleed in the dirty as he tried his best to defeat his enemy. Having enough of the small man the gaint man brought his left sword slaming into the side of the other. Causing the lanky man to stagger to keep the sword from digging in his side but he was too late to dodge the next strike when the gaint man thirst his sword through the man¡¯s heart. Chapter 2 As the crowd roared in approval I was afriad deathly afriad. Sure, I had gotten into fights before but death matches! No, I had never done that before. The two people had only been fighting for maybe 2 mins and already one was dead to never see the sun rise tomorrow. I quickly looked around at the people who had been assigned to this event with me. Out of the magic users only the snake like young man who use water magic was with us. Out of the other inmates only 10 out of the 37 where doing this event making me assume there was other monster events they were assigned to. The gate slammed open and one of the guards yelled ¡°time to fight boys!¡± Slowly we walked out into the arena and heard the announcer ¡°Yes that was a glorious battle and we still have more to come next up we have a monster hunt challenge! Today we have a rare treat we have the rarely seen beast a Jagulla. The crowd roared in approval while the announcer contuied. Let the second match began!¡± On the other side a gate opened and slowly the Jagulla came walking out growling as it saw us. It looked like a wolf with spikes on its back making a v shape and green fur. But it was big I was about 5''9 and it looked to come up under my chin while on all 4''s. It erupted in a busted of speed slaming into a man that clearly wasn¡¯t ready. His spear was by his side so when the Jagulla slammed into him the spear was pinned on his body. The Jagulla began mauling him tearing through skin and bone. Another man seems to gather some courage and slammed his sword in the Jagulla hind legs. The Jagulla roar in pain and swiped at the man who barely got his sword in time. He flew back from the hit and the Jagulla was preparing to go for the kill when an arrow slammed into its nose. This time it turned to where the rest of the group was and rushed towards us. We tried to spread out as it lunged at the archer with its tetth coming down on the man¡¯s throat. ¡°We all need to attack it togother or it will kill us all!¡± screamed someone. We all rushed up towards it attacking it togother. My whole body felt heavy as I forced away my fears to fight for my life as I brought my mace up to slam it in the sholder of the Jagulla. This turned it sights on me and a swipe of its paw came speeding through the air. It slammed into my shield knocking me over and the Jagulla came jumping behind it. All it weight slamming on top of my body knocked all the air out of me. I could barely keep the shield over my face as its teeth came snapping at my face. I swung my mace slaming into its sides doing everything to push the wolf off me. Its teeth stop looking to come down on my face and instead went for the arm attacking it. Its teeth came down on my sholder causing me to yell in pain. Before it could begin to tear pieces out of my arm something seems to grab its attention causing it to let me go. The next moment all its weight was gone, and it slammed into the ground beside me. Four large icicles pinning it to the groan as it shudders and then breath its last breath. The crowd roared, and the announcer voice boomed throughout the red o "Their we have it folks a grand battle of death and destruction agianst the Jagulla. But don¡¯t get out of you seat up next, we have- As the announcer continued keeping the crowd hyped up I slowly got up with pain shooting through my sholder.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Guards began walking out to escort us back to the gate yet the all flowed around me and started pushing me back to the blue building. ¡°Why am I the only one being sent back¡±? I asked in confusion. One of the guards looked at me "you really don¡¯t know? Shaking his head ¡°I hate to be the bearer of bad new but the Jagulla is a natural user of soul power. If you didn¡¯t know there is 8 official powers that magic users use and a few unofficial powers that are documented but people have yet to figure out how to use. Soul power is one of them we know certain beast use it but not how anyway right now you are poisoned not physical but spiritually. No one can help you either as all you can hope is your soul is strong enough to survive. We must send you to your room because people tend to go crazy right before there death to soul posioning. T-that can¡¯t be true! I wanted to run away I hated the last few days the fear of dying so strong it felt like it was suffocating me. We pulled up in front of a door and one of the guards opened it. ¡°In you go!¡± ¡°Please you must help me!¡± I begged running up to the guard who had spoken. ¡°I told you no one can help you now go!¡± he said shoving me in the room and closing the door. ¡°No please I don¡¯t want to die!¡± I wailed as I tried to open the door. I feel to the ground sobbing. I laid at the door for what seems like hours worrying about the pain I would feel from the soul poisoning. I drifted to sleep hoping that I was fine and maybe the guard was making it up. I awoke with a pain shooting in my brain that felt as if someone had shot a railroad spike into my brain. Screams erupted from my lips as I felt as if someone was pulling it out lining up for another area of my body and hammering it in again in one hard slam. I screamed and screamed until my voice was horse and then I hurried a large snap. Blood spilled out my mouth stifling the next scream. My vision felt blurry and I couldn¡¯t tell when I had begun to cry. For moment I felt no pain only the cold stone floor as I laid there with my arms wrapped around my legs. I felt a cold metallic fell on my crest and pulled at the amulet that started all this. It was a dingy and dirty thing but and likely causing my death, but I still wouldn¡¯t have given it away. It was the only thing I had from my parents. My father had died in some war and my mother died when I was six from an illness what made all that worse is that while I can¡¯t remember how I died in my first life the memories of the last few months where vivid. I had lost all my family in a plane crash my little sister, little brother and both parents all died taking a vacation that I decide not to go to. I felt that I was in college and so it was better to go with some friends on a different vacation instead. So, in both lives I had lost those close to me and all I had was this dirty pendant. Tears streamed down the side of my face as I stared at the pendant. If I could live again I would want to have a place of my own with a family that would live with me till the end. I laid there hugging the pendant to my chest as my eyes close even though I tried to keep them open with all my might. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Trorin couldn¡¯t keep the smile off his face as he took a sip of his drink. Sure, Isaac was still alive but to watch him fight for his life sent pleasure through him. How dare he fight him he was the leader of the mines and ever since Isaac won the fight the other boys began rebelling. Now they would know what would happen if they step out of line. But he did learn from the whole thing he could not only be matched in strength he could be overpowered. He really didn¡¯t want to follow under someone else, but he need power. Yes, seeing power was no longer enough but still today was a good day. Chapter 3 I awoke in confusion as I sat on a stone throne in the middle of a clearing. In front of me floated a book that seemed to be made in pure gold. Next to it floated a pendant it reminded me of the one that I always wore around my neck. But this one was new with 13 symbols that seem to throb with blue pulsating light. As I sat on my throne the golden book floated before me and out of instinct my hand raised to touch it. Light flashed into my eyes as my hand met it and a feeling of warm flash through my body. When I open my eyes, I was a child again a man was holding my hand as we walked somewhere. I kept trying to see his face but all I could see was a gold shimmer where his facial features should be. I could tell he was looking at me but nothing else. ¡°I know you have many questions¡± he said slowly. ¡°And it pains me not to tell you, but you are just not ready yet to learn most of it. First you should know that I have sealed your memories my son as soon me and your mother will begin a journey you just can¡¯t join us with.¡± He paused for a min and I could tell this sadden the man no my father quite a bit. ¡°The pendant I gave you will only activate to slow give you back your memories when you reach adulthood or when your life is in danger. It is the key to your inheritance but before you can grow strong enough you will use another item. The book of knowledge it has the power to divine any question about none sentient specific things. It is a rare item one many will fight wars for so never reveal it.¡± Sighing heavily, we stopped walking and he bent down to be face to face with me. " I know I have open up a box full of question for you, but I can only tell you this. Your mother and I may or may not be dead by the time you remember any of this. And second when you do gain these memories back I ask no beg that you find a place to fortify and allow yourself to gain stregth as there will be plenty of reason to need it in the future.¡± His last words seem to be slurred as I was slowly pulled from the memory. I awoke on the stone floor and knowledge slammed into my brain. I knew how to summon the book of knowledge out of my pendant and that I could choose if anyone eles saw it. ¡°I¡¯m alive.¡± I said softly. ¡°I¡¯m alive!¡± I screamed in elation A huge grin began forming on my face and I couldn¡¯t make myself remove it. For a moment I debated if the memory of my father was a dream but knew I could only test it by summoning the book. Holding out my hands I summoned a book I was only supposed to see. A flash of light and in my had was a golden book with a square with three linking triangles in it. The book felt soft to the touch which let me know it wasn¡¯t made of metal like I thought. Slowly I opened the book and staring back out me was a blank page. Are all these pages blank? Words began appearing on the page. What Knowledge would you like to divine? 8,760 ¨C KP available ¡°What is KP?¡± I asked confused. New words began appearing on the book mimicking what I just asked. What is KP? (Cost 0 KP) Yes or No? ¡°Um yes¡± I murmured. A book can understand that I¡¯m asking it questions? Well it is a magical book. KP points are better known as Knowledge points are used to divine information. They are 2 points regenerated each day and additional points can be added using mana. Understanding bloomed in my mind along with excitement. Knowledge is power it was a saying that always stuck with me. And wasn¡¯t that the problem with me I knew nothing of magic or really about the world. It wasn¡¯t like earth where education was free some places. ¡°What is the basic information to become a magic user?¡± I knew it was a broad question, but I wanted to see if it would answer it. What is the basic information to become a magic user? (257- KP) What is the basic Information to become a magic user? (Hidden-473-KP) What is the basic information to become a magic user? (Forgotten- 1012 KP) There are 3 different options to choose from and the each have a different cost. Is it based off how valuable the information is or how unknown it is. I wondered. Instead of guessing I asked luckily it was another that cost nothing. One question can prompt more than one answer the more valuable and broader the information the more it cost. That means the question that has forgotten on it was not rated for its age but its value being more than twice that of hidden. I thought.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. It was expensive since I only had around eight thousand points, but I still decide to get it. Saying yes, the book seems to glow, and letter seem to begin showing up on the pages. 293 pages of information was quickly shown. Magic I was finally learning magic! Magic was split into 8 official powers Fire, Earth, Water, Wind, Arcane, Void, Death and Life. Each power gave a basic abilty for those who practice that path. Magic users choose one power and then choose which way they will both gather that power and use it. These ways where classified as Warrior, Mage and Magic Warrior each gives advantages and disadvantages. Warriors puled the power of their choice into a weapon first and then slowly use it to create body armor boosting the defense and melee attacks. Mages pulled their power into a book or scroll something they can see their spells on, so it makes it easier to cast while also creating robes which gives massively less defense than warriors but help them gather magic power to throw out powerful spells. A Magic Warrior was someone who does both while they will never be as strong as someone who choose one path they gain versatility to compensate. The other diffrence was there way of gathering magic. A warrior pulls in power while doing a set of workout routine to refine his body but not really touching his brain while a mage mediates while pulling in power to refine his mine. A Magic Warrior however pulls in magic to refine his whole body equal. I looked over the three different classifications and becoming a Magic Warrior excited me. I wanted to be able to use spells, but I also wanted to be able to fight with melee weapons. Next, I looked over the powers to decide which best fit and looked over the additional abilty the gave besides the manpulation over the certain powers. Fire- The manpulation of fire and the abilty regeneration uses fire to slow heal injuries (grows stronger with every level) Water-the manpulation of water and the abilty cloning using water (grows stronger with every level) Earth- the manipulation of earth and the ability hardening vastly increases defense for an amount of time (grows with every level). Wind- The manpulation of wind and the abilty fluttering vastly increase speed for an amount of time Void- The manpulation of the void striping the powers of the elements and arcane. The abilty devour able to take in the energy of the world to augment abilities. Arcane- the manpulation of all elements and the abilty copy able to use other elements abilty (at a lower efficiency) Life- summoning the creatures of life and the ability life stream able to heal all things. Death- summoning undead creatures and the ability undeath gaining endless stamina when mana is above a certain threshold (grows with every level). The one that I could stop thinking about was death my first reaction was not to choose it but another part of me screamed to fight my fear. I gritted my teeth and decide to go with death. I was afraid of dying I had experience it before even if I couldn¡¯t remember it every time I tried fear seem to slam into me. I didn¡¯t like the feeling no I didn¡¯t like anything in this life and with this book I would change that. The knowledge I now need was split into different part. To become a magic user and grow in power you need a cultivation method along with that was spells for attacks defense and other special spells. A warrior used skill for attack and defense but since I was a Magic Warrior I would need all of them. ¡°I want the strongest death Magic Warrior cultivation method.¡± My face went long when I saw the number of points required for that 26 billion KP points, so I decide to continued asking till I got something in my price range. As cultivation methods can easily be change if it¡¯s in the same power I knew it was a use money to make money scenario. I would get the best cultivation method I could get now put in energy into the book to get a better one later. The cultivation method I ended up with was Chilling Undead for 1576 KP and the more I read it the more I understood the difference between cultivation methods. First each cultivation method affected the spells you use for example while all fire mages used the fireball spell the diffrence came in how much damage and any additional affects the fire ball may have. If someone practice a sun gathering method than their fireball would be extremely hot and even have a good effect agianst death users while someone who practice a magma cultivation method fireball would do splash damage. Second was how long you can use it for like the Chilling Undead method I had now I could first summon low-tiered to mid-tier skeletons and low-tiered zombies. Next, I could only use it to gain the rank of knight, so I would immediately have to change once I reach the peak of knight. Finally digesting everything I need to know I immediately began becoming a magic user. I closed my eyes and began trying to count my heart beat after finding it and counting I began to slow my count to be between my heart beat and just like the book said I felt a weaker beat from within my body that was following that beat. My mind seems to enter a black space. A clear crystal was the only thing I could see in the dark space know as my soul place and I knew this crystal was the very essence of my being, where my soul and my body meet. To use magic, I slowly sank my awareness into my essence crystal and began feeling around for the different powers of the universe. Even though it was my first time feeling the different powers I could instinctual tell what each was. I began trying to only feel death and my crystal seem to fly out of the dark space to somewhere else. I knew I was going to the source of death magic I had wonder exactly what that was, but the cost of that knowledge was even higher than the best cultivation method. My crystal seems to land on a planet all around me where the undead slow moving aimlessly. Earlier I couldn¡¯t tell because there was nothing I could measure it with but next to undead I seem to be about the size of a grain of rice. My soul seems to brighten as I followed the instruction of how to move my essence inside my crystal to gather the power of death. It felt weird to move something that¡¯s apart of you that you have never moved before. Energy seem to gather into the crystal quickly filling it to the bream still moving my essence through the chilling undead cultivation method my crystal began refining the energy I had. My conscious seem to leave my crystal at the source of death magic and return to the black space where an identical crystal seem to be created but this one was the ghastly grayish black color of death magic. As the black crystal the same size and shape finished forming in the black space I felt my conscience be knocked back to my body and warm heat began slowly press all over my body. I understood the entire process was like setting a personal antenna by leaving my soul crystal there and making another to receive the energy from the source of death magic. Sighing in comfort I knew I had become a knight. I knew it was easy to start on the path of magic but extremely hard to gain true stregth, but I was still happy. I had become a magic user! Even though endless energy seems to flow through me I still laid my head on the bed deciding to sleep as today had been a LONG day. Chapter 4 A hard knock on the door awoke me in the morning and then an old man came in robes came in holding a bag. ¡°Still alive I see good for you.¡± I was sprawled out on the bed and even turning to him sent pain throughout my body. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°I am doctor Eduard the red o usually takes care of the health of its forced participance.¡± He had to help me take off my shirt and then he began looking over my arm. ¡°Why?¡± I could help but asks. ¡°Simple they make money off your fights. Hold still this will itch a bit¡°he said as energy swirled out of him to create a book. He began flipping through the pages finding one words of power began spilling out of his mouth. I strain myself to understand it his words but given up as the words went into one ear and out the other. So, I instead thought about how the red o making money from prisoners¡¯ fights. So basically, they keep track of everything we do to better determine if we will live which allow them to set the best bets and lose less money. That also means it will be a little suspicious if I start using a lot of magic when I didn¡¯t use any during the first match. Though I can say I just learned a cultivation method beforehand and that the most important one anyway. I will just use my credit to buy spells and skills latter. Finishing he said word I could finally understand [Life Mend]. More green energy seems to pour out of his hand as he slowly poured it over my wound. Just like he said it itched. I patched up your arm, but it will still take a day or two before it gets back to fighting shape. Every day you can schedule to be released for practice by touching the crystal ball. It also what you can us to purchase skills and spells " He said as he pointed to a crystal I didn¡¯t notice was next to the door. Going through his bag he pulled out some cloth that smelled like medicine and began wrapping it around my shoulder "allow this to sit for about an hour and your wound should barely scar when its finish healing. Grabbing his bag, he left the room leaving me in the stone cell once again. Sighing I once again went over what happened yesterday. I was too excited over having magic that I missed one big revelation my parents¡¯ might still be alive. It was weird as I still remember the grief of thinking I was alone in this world. Even so I decide not to dwell on it to much as it seems there was only a chance they were still alive. Sighing I summoned my book again and began reading more of the basics of magic users. First was the diffrence between combat and world enchantment magic. World enchantment magic had no combat power, but people had the most access to it. It allowed mundane things such as mining be a hundred time easier and more profitable. It also had its own way of gaining ranks but because of where I was I had little interest in learning from it now. Next was about the magic everyone instinctually knows after becoming a knight rank magic user. Excitement filled me as I quickly used it. Words of power spilled out my mouth and then the final word escape into a word I knew. [Status] Some transparent boxes of information appeared in front of my face. Name- Isaac Ranked Low-tier Magic Warrior Cultivation method: Chilling bones- Gather death energy. Can reach Early Baronet rank. (adds Icy aura to user and abilities. Icy Touch- Add low level chill affect when enemy is wounded. Icy Aura- 10 Feet around the user temperature drops drastically ( user no longer effect by freezing temperature higher than 15F )The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Mp-105/105 Strength 3/10 Physical Defense 1/10 Magical Defense 1/10 Magic Power 2/10 (Every 10 secs) Magic Regeneration 2/10 Spell focus 1/10 Endless stamina- When mana is above 90% never tire from any activity. (Next rank drop percentage by 10%) Spell slots:2 unused/0 used - - Battle Skills slots: 2 unused/0 used - - Isn¡¯t this kind of like a video game!? I quickly looked over the book to understand what I was looking at. Ranks seem to be even more divide than I knew. Each rank had a low middle high further splitting up the forms of power. MP was of course magic power, but it was when we get to strength where things began getting a bit different. Stregth was exactly how it sound it told me how strong I am but the number 3/10 had to do with cultavion. Right now, I had 3 in stregth showing that I had to cultivate to gain 7 more points in stregth to get the max 10/10. After I get 5 out of 10 in 3 categories I would promote to Mid-tier knight and once I gain 10 out of 10 in every level I would be a high tiered knight. From there I would promote to the next tier of Baronet and gain a new stat update. I also learned the different between magic knight and other classes. Other classes took 2 points away to put them in more worthwhile stats. Ranked Low-tier Mage Mp-105/105 Strength 1/8 Physical Defense 1/8 Magical Defense 1/8 Magic Power 2/12 Magic Regeneration 2/12 Spell focus 1/12 Spell slots:4 unused/0 used - - - - Ranked Low-tier Warrior Mp-105/105 Strength 1/12 Physical Defense 1/12 Magical Defense 1/12 Magic Power 2/8 Magic Regeneration 2/8 Spell focus 1/8 Battle skills:4 unused/0 used - - - - Understanding that I once again looked over the description of the stats. Physical Defense, magical defense, Magic power and Magic regeneration where self-explanatory. While spell focus had two different affect it helps you use spells in stressful situations and help aiming. Spell slots where something only Mages and Magic Warriors used. But it had to deal with your artifact which I now knew was what I seen other magic users summon earlier today. Warriors summoned weapons while Mages summon something to read spells off like books and scrolls. Using scrolls and books mages could have hundreds of spells but they take time to use. Spell slots drastically shorten the time to cast spells from a spell that took an hour to one that took on 10 secs. Wow that¡¯s a drastic cut in time to use a spell. For Warriors they used arts but unlike mages they could only use what skills they had in their slots. To change skills, they would lose the abilty that they removed. A rattling noise pulled me from my book as I seen them place a food on it. I almost jumped out of my bed to get to the food. After scoffing down my food a wave of weariness hit me. Ignoring it I decide to do the last part of become a magic user creating my artifacts. . It wasn¡¯t hard once again I followed my heart beat. Then I felt the beating behind it and found myself back to the world of darkness with the grey crystal floating there. I slowly began controlling it to create an artifact was simple to envision it and use the energy I required to create it. I had already known what artifacts I would create first I created a Heated shield. It was plain with no decorations and unfortunately, I would be able to add any till latter ranks of power. Next, I decide to create a hand and half sword while I had used a mace last time this was something I would hopeful use for the rest of my life. While it was possible to change your artifact later it took massively longer to create a new one as you had to destroy your first one. For my mage artifact I choose a book. All the artifacts where plain with a grey dull color to them. Opening my eyes, I slowly summoned my artifacts grey energy poured out of my body slowly forming the items. I could feel their connection to me as the floated around me. I could control them from about 24 inches from me so while I would use the weapons I could just have the book floating around me. De-summoning my artifacts I walked up to the crystal ball I ignored most of the intro and schedule a practice tomorrow with task master blue. With that I can finally sleep. I thought as I laid down on the stone bed . Chapter 5 I awoke only to grab a bite to eat than went back to sleep until the morning. I felt somewhat refreshed as I walked over to look through the crystal contents again. First, I notice the credits I was given which on was about 250 credit and decide to look through the few spells. Spells and skills had their own rating system from 0-10 which stated their power and cost. Most mages choose 3 level 0 spells and 1 level 1 spells simple because level 0 spells where cheap on mana. As a Magic warrior I could pick what I want as spells where only half the way I would fight. The spells selection for death was pitifully small however. Bone spike- Rank 0- Shot a small finger bone at high speeds. (50c) Spirt chain-Rank 0- Summon a small chain from the ground to root your enemy. (30c) Summon Weak undead swordsman -Rank 1- Summon a weak undead swordsman from the death plane. (100c) Bone Spear- Rank 1- Shots a bone spear at high speeds. (200c) Before deciding I also looked at the skills for death users. Empowered strike- Charge weapon with death energy for stronger attack. (200c) Ghost walk- Enhance movement speed. (35) Ghost shield- Summon a ghost around the user¡¯s body to temporarily raise defense. (50) I decide to choose to summon weak undead swordsman as I knew summons would be my bread and better abilty. Next was an easy choice of Death shield as I had come to close to death in the last match and wanted to lower that chance for the next one. Paying for them I was told the books for these would be delivered in 5 hours. A little sad I would have to wait so long I ate my breakfast and waited for the time I had schedule with taskmaster blue. A guard came knocking door in about an hour and walked me to the training yard. There were already people practicing with taskmaster blue as I walked up. Summoning out my sword and shield I waited my turn. ¡°Finally became a magic user eh¡±? Taskmaster ask as he walked up to me. ¡°Yes sir¡±. ¡°Good that will keep you alive for a while now let¡¯s go over your basics.¡± The training was weird as I didn¡¯t feel tired when I knew I should have. Endless stamina is always activated well that¡¯s good to know. Though I still feel a slight pain in my sholder if I wave a shield around too long. Stopping to take a break I walked over to a wooden table which held a water pitcher and some cups on it. Grabbing some water someone began speaking up from behind me. ¡°So, you¡¯re one of the new guys who got hurt on the first day correct?¡± Turning around a skinny man with pale skin and a third eye between his brown looked back at me. It took me a moment to awnser back as I was started that his third eye would change color every time he blinked. ¡°Um yea I was injured¡± I muttered after a moment. A smile flashed across his face ¡°Name¡¯s Caldwell, Caldwell Bush and the two man behind me are Maik and Oxford ¡°He said. Pointing to a short man with a big belly holding an axe and a tall man with 4 arms and a sword in each. ¡°When you get a little more practice in if you want you can join our sparring matches. We do our practice every time the same day. I immediately began weight the pros and cons with pros being I would have some experiences seeing other people¡¯s magic. But that was also a con as the would know my moves and while we are sometimes on the same team there was also a lot of team vs team or participant vs participant events. In the end the pros where still better I hadn¡¯t seen much magic as I didn¡¯t spend money to wacth the battles at the red o instead I lived by hearing others talk about it, so I could save money to go to school. The other thing was I had already wacth others user fight in the training ground any deathblow was protected by a magical shield. ¡°Sure, sounds good to me and my name is Issacs. I replied with a smiled. After a few quick words we parted ways and I practice for another 30 mins before heading back to my room. I couldn¡¯t keep a smile from pulling across my face as I saw the scrolls I had order laying on my bed. I quickly grabbed the scroll on summoning first ready to summon my first minion into the world.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Summon Weak undead swordsman - Summon a weak undead swordsman from the death plane. -Cast time 5 mins unslotted. -Cast time 15 secs slotted ¨C Time till recast 20 secs-10 MP-Can be summoned in travel form (small bead) for extra 10 MP and extra cast time by 1 min 30 secs. Can control 4 out of 8 at any given time. I quickly slotted the spell which only required me to think about it and it appeared in my spell slot window with a 24-hour window before it could be changed again. Putting the spell down again I began looking over ghost shield. Ghost Shield- Summon a ghost around the user¡¯s body to temporarily raise defense. The more mana poured into the shield the stronger it gets. (Weak=2MP, Medium= 5MP Strong=11 Grand = 25 mana and cooldown on all skills push to 1 min)-Cast time-0.5 A smile began showing on my face with this defense would be the least of my worries. So, I began slotting my new battle skill with an excitement of a child on Christmas. You have slotted Ghost shield and Summon Weak undead swordsman. Ghost Shield and Summon Weak Undead Swordsman have been modified because of Chilling Bones. Summon Weak Undead Swordsman - Summon a weak undead swordsman from the death plane. -Cast time 5 mins unslotted. -Cast time 15 secs slotted ¨C Time till recast 20 secs-10 MP-Can be summoned in travel form (small bead) for extra 10 MP and extra cast time by 1 min 30 secs. Can control 4 out of 8 at any given time. (Frost damage add to attack and has a chance to slowly enemy movement) (50 % stats from summoner) Ghost shield- Summon a ghost around the user¡¯s body to temporarily raise defense. The more mana poured into the shield the stronger it gets. (Weak=2MP, Medium= 5MP Strong=11 Grand = 25 mana and cooldown on all skills push to 1 min)-Cast time-0.5 (+20 % Resistance to Cold and chance to slow enemy attacks) My eyes popped out of my head and I rushed to the crystal ball and looked over the shopping list again to look at the only death user¡¯s cultivation method. Death Cloud. Summoning my book, I quickly divide the method. Death Cloud- Gather death energy. Can reach early knight but pollutes the body making it hard to advance after switching gathering method. Now isn¡¯t that just crappy. Now I once again understood why Cultivation methods where so much more important than spells and battle skills. I could only imagen the boost to skills with a better cultivation method. To use either I enter the death magic source and enter a mountain area. All around me was endless types of undead slowly walking and moaning. Energy roared from my heart as death magic formed a circle around me and then a line of dark mana shot out to a near by skeleton. It was a pure white skeleton with gray energy pulsating in its eye sockets but when my mana slammed into it a change immediately accrued to its body. All its bones became blue and a sword of blue bone also appeared in its hand. It roared an unhuman roar and immediately attacked me. It startled me a bit, but I had already known I quickly dodge the wide swing the undead took to separate my torso from the rest of my body. Note to self always summon your artifacts before using this magic. I hid behind my shield as the Skelton swung back and forth wildly. Taking note of how feral it seems to fight on nothing but instinct. I roared as I pushed my weight behind my shield and slammed into the Skelton forcing it to stagger back. I followed up with a sword swing that looked as if I was trying to reach the sky slashing it sword arm off. Unfazed a boney fist slammed into my face. Grunting I could feel a little chill run through my body trying to slowly my movements. It jumped forward nut caught a quickly slash slaming into its throat dissecting it had from its body. The body fell into pieces on the ground but the light in the skeleton eyes still burning. Walking up to it I slammed my sword through its skull. Its bones began to dissolve, and a mist poured into my body. I knew it was going to my soul realm and would be summoned from there into the real world. ¡°1 Down 7 to go¡± The rest of the skeletons where much easier to defeat now that I had know what to expected. After gathering the skeletons, it was now time for the ghost for Ghost shield. For these undead I wouldn¡¯t have to fight them just allow them to attach to my body which was unpleasant. After reading the words a circle appeared in front of me and a ghost emerged. It reminded me of the Halloween costume of just putting a sheet over your head and cutting out eye holes. It was blue and color and slowly wrapped around my body like a blanket. I felt like I had gone into a blizzard and voices popped into my head. Nooo! I don¡¯t want to die! Maybe dying is for the best. Just spare my life ill do anything! Mommy I feel so cold. The voices unnerved me, but I sucked it up reminding myself it only took 2 mins for the ghost to move to my soul realm. Sighing I slowly sat on the ground and began practicing my Cultivation for the rest of the day taking breaks to eat. At the end of the day my status had updated to this: 1 Point add to Physical defense Ghost Shield Slotted in battle skills Summon Weak Undead Swordsman Name- Isaac Ranked Low-tier Magic Warrior Cultivation method: Chilling bones- Gather death energy. Can reach Early Baronet rank. (adds Icy aura to user and abilities. Icy aura- Add low level chill affect when enemy is wounded.) Mp-105/105 Strength 3/10 Physical Defense 2/10 Magical Defense 1/10 Magic Power 2/10 (Every 10 secs) Magic Regeneration 2/10 Spell focus 1/10 Endless stamina- When mana is above 90% never tire from any activity. (Next rank drop percentage by 10%) Spell slots:1 unused/1 used - Summon Weak Undead Swordsman - Battle Skills slots: 1 unused/1 used - Ghost Shield - Satisfied I feel asleep with a smile on my face a little less worried about how I was going to keep my life in The Red O.