《The Explorer's Guide》 Chap.1 - Pointless struggle The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep Frost, Robert.
I sigh, as I first look at the blue sky in a long while, thenfocus on the yard filled with criminals. Even after spending six years inside for aggravated assault out of a ten-year sentence, I still fear that one day in this same yard with the same god-awful heat in West Texas ill die because I was in the wrong corner at the wrong time, or that I was leaning at the wrong spot in the fence. I move along the dust-riddenground and sit down on the usual bench of the Arian Brotherhood. I don¡¯t believe in their neo-nazi and racist dogma, but I had to adapt if I was to overcome my sentence, plus they protected me, sometimes. It was either that or doing nasty business to people¡¯s genitalia, and I truly treasure my anal virginity. I am greeted by Shane and his ¡®affiliates¡¯ with smirks and quirky remarks about my appearance after I had my liver punctuated by a ¡®home-brewed¡¯ knife, made by a young boy from the 95''s gang. The painfulness of the ¡®shank¡¯ still lingers in my mind and even after almost two months of recoveryI still walk with a semi-limp, for which I am being mocked right now by my ¡®gang¡¯ peers. Truth be told, I hate violence. I still wonder why and how I came to be here like most of us do. In my unremarkable beliefs, some are born evil and some are mistreated by society to the point of being beyond repair. Then there are people like me, who did a bad deed once and are locked up and labeled as monsters for the rest of their lives. It amuses me when people say prison is the best way to correct someone. My days consisted of a routine, first, I wake up and put on a facade of a criminal, then I head to the toilet and do my ¡®''business¡¯'' in full view to the whole world to see, after having woken up I probe my cell-mate about the affairs of the multiple gangs, take a shower avoiding eye contact with most and lastly head for breakfast right afterward''s to get the most disgusting meal a human being could possibly ask for. After all of this is done we are all escorted to the ¡®yard¡¯ like sheep for what they call exercise and bonding. I truly hate what my life has become, I hate what this place stands for and I hate the people who make aprofit off my hatred and suffering. A large percent of prisons in the U.S.A is privet and profiting of Us inmates. But the thing I abhor the most is fear that wells up inside me because I am scared of my release date. What will I do with myself? will I be able to adapt once again to the ¡®normal¡¯ world? Many times at night I silently wonder how people would react if I killed myself or if someone took my life. My mother would probably have a mixture of sadness and happiness, the kind only mothers could feel for their ¡®wicked¡¯ son¡¯safter she got my death¡¯s certificate. My father would probably be disappointed that I didn¡¯t die sooner and my friends would treat the news of my death as gossip and I will eventually become part of somefaded memory in peoples minds. Sometimes feel like there is no other point in life other than to stare at the ceiling of my cage. As I was having this littleintrospection about myself, Shane''s voice reached my ears. "So you¡¯re finally back motherfucker, how is your liver doing?" I harden my facade while sighing inwardly and respond. "I''m fine, just a couple of stitches and its good as new." "Good, now ya can go back to work and start makin¡¯ me money again¡¯ like in the good old times." A jolt of anxiety passes through my spine as I recall the illegal fighting Shane organizes for the guards as ''entertainment''. The fact that I do not like violence doesn¡¯t mean that I''m bad at fighting, it just means I came to dislike fighting in prison because of it¡¯s raw and pure homicidal intent, the eat or be eaten atmosphere. "I will do my best for the Brotherhood." I re-assure him while feeling my forehead moist. "Good, good!" Suddenly I hear a commotion coming from my right side and I shift my body immediately only to see the kid who stabbed me call me out loudly from the 95¡¯s gang corner. I direct my gaze quickly to the shirt he lift¡¯s showing his ink and a bright object to which I can only assume to be a razor of sorts imbued into a toothbrush stick.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ''Again he will come for me, and this time I can assume he will finish the job.'' I try my best to keep my hands stead while watching the rowdy crowd. Fear invades my body but also another feeling, deep down I feel relief, as it seems my time will come soon. I ignore the insults and badmouthing and focus on Shane¡¯s face as he smirks knowingly. As I had suspected while bedridden in the infirmary, I outlived my usefulness in this hell-hole and probably die by the schemes of Shane and the 95¡¯s boss, Carter. Disgusted and fearful I get up from the bench and go directly towards my cellblock, where I pass most of the afternoon looking out the windows of the common areauntil dinner is called out. And again I have the impression of being unwanted on the table. The ¡®white-heads¡¯ and their offensive tattoos about hate and death to minorities, greet me, and like always I see the hypocrisy of it all. I''ve donned a few tattoos myself. It couldn¡¯t be helped and every time I see myself in the mirror I feel disgusted toward the twisted symbols and racist remarks on my skin. I grew up in an ordinary house, with no good parents and fleeting friends, never developing true bonds and always feeling out of place. I wonder what my so-called friends would say ifthey saw me now. Cold black eyes,skin-head and a chiseled body that one could only get in prison. As for my personality, I¡¯ve become more and more emphatic and senseless to everything and everyone. "It¡¯s time!" Shane whispers with excitement. "Finish that shit of a meal and get on with your duties as our most trusted fighter." "Ok"I reply, making myself ready for the end to come.
I enter a damp and humid room used for laundry and I''m greeted by a dozen or so spectators yelling at me and my opponent loudly. Instead of focusing on the ¡®kid¡¯ to which I do not know the name of I focuson the gray walls that summarize my bland and empty life. Watching the shadow-play of lights and madness filling the walls I wait for the start signal to come and sure enough, a booming voice startles me back to reality. "We''ve been waiting for this for over a week haven''t we yall?" Say¡¯s the fattest and most disgusting human I''ve ever had the displeasure of knowing, the prison chief deputy O¡¯hare. I snap out of my daydreamingas he yells. "Come¡¯on boy¡¯s today yall fight forthirty packs of cigarettes and two get out of jail free cards." He laughs hard at his subpar joke, while I think about how my life is worththirty packs of cigarettes and the commodity of being able to beat someone twice to a pulp, without going to solitary confinement for a month or two. Looking at both, he signals us with his hand. "Ready!?" he shouts "GO!!" I automatically lift my arms as I approach the boy who is by no means skinny nor short. I try a kick to his lower body but get countered on account of the pain in my sides. He launches a flurry of punches that hit my arms, some even landing on my face. Out of desperationI swing my right fist and land a direct hit on his temple. He sways backward''s and I lose no time in getting closer to finish him off, but unfortunately, he regains his composure right afterward''s and I am forced to step back. He keeps me at bay with his longer reach and bulkier physical frame, but I still land another punch, this time square onthe chin and make him go to the floor. I hear the roar of madness from everyone around me andI try to only focus on the kid and how he is trying desperately to get up as if had his strings cut out. While watching the scene with a calm mind I sweat profusely and feel tired. My body sluggish as I close my fists to deliver my opponent rest. Making my mind up I make a final charge towards him but as I am getting closer at a fast speed, I see something shiny slide through the floor. By the time I reach him my inertia and my tired condition make me almost fall on top of him as I try to retreat, at the same time, I see him clawing at the homemade knife and pick it up. As I extend my fist in a hurry desperate to knock my opponent out cold before he has time to use the razor, I feel something I know all too well penetrate my throat. I feel something warm and at the same time cold pouring through my neck. ''So this is death, this is were it all ends, years and years of my life doing nothing fruitful, followed by twenty seconds or less of brawling... To let it end here...'' Gasping for breath I feel everything leaving me, my strength, my will, and my very self,all being replaced by cold and numbing darkness... Infinite Darkness....
After an undefined amount of time, I am awoken only to realize I am able to think and sense my surrounding but not move my body. Panicking I tryto open my eyes but I don¡¯t seem to have anyas I am totally deprived of my senses. Just me wondering this endless void of darkness. No penitence and no paradise. No more yells from crazy driven, alcohol-fueled middle-aged men. And most important, no pain...
After countless thoughts go through my mind for what I couldn''t say to be minutes, hours, years or even eons, I feel for the first time something else other than me in this void, an anxious feeling wells within me andI try to stirmyself away from this ''something'' slowly making its way towards me. Capable of awakening a primal fear and obedience within me that didn''t exist before. Madness resurfaces and I try to escape by any means, but all reaching the same conclusion of pointlessness as before. Then, from the void,I hear ¡®IT¡¯ calling me... Chap. 2 - Transformation "What do we have here?" The being asks. Startled by the deep and imposing voice I try to yell for help or rescue, but obviously, no-one comes to save me and I resign myself to the fate of being toyed by this ''thing''. Seeing me struggle very much amused the being, so with a hint of mockery ''he'' said. "Do not worry child, I am yet to eat the souls that are unripe and have a lingering taste of desperation." Once again his thunderous voice echoed in my very core. I shuddered while thinking what kind of entity had the power to communicate over this endless void. As I am fearfully thinking, the entity interrupts my musings. "I can smell the emotions of almost every being in the void and your¡¯s are interesting, to say the least. I caught whiffs of resignationwith a mixture of fear and relief, and as such, filled with curiosity I transversed the void for a little bit until I found you." Suddenly and with no warning, Iam assaulted by physical feelings after what I assume to be a very long time inthis place. Something slowly touches me, grabbing onto myself and making me very wary of its intention. "Truly interesting, you have potential to become something more than a powerless little soul, you have within the power to transcend yourself and not a lot of souls on the void do. This is a place for those who gave up on everything, for those who lament the past." He laughs menacingly as he say''s. "I am a being that likes to nurture future troublemakers and I can tell you that if you stay here, you will not advance any further than this, and eventually be overrun by madness losing any sense of self..." As he speaks I can only think of one word,Fear. Ishudder, not wanting to become a monster that has lost its rationality in this emptiness and darkness. I want to live in peace and quiet, but it seems that staying here will lead me down towards the worst possible ending. "You have doubts about what I just said, but I understand. A figureless form suddenly tells you the true nature of the void is that of destruction and not self-reflection and peace. But you must have started to feel it too, am I right?" With dread, I realize he is right about this place. Not knowing the time, coupled with the loneliness, even the most lone of wolves would become insane. "But don''t fret nor despair child I have a solution for you, become my vessel in the mortal world and reach your true potential." he proclaims while chuckling. "In the mortal world, to become powerful with a physical body for you would be easy, even more so with my backing, it would truly be a waste to let you fade into madness." Pondering the offer I concur with the ''thing'', but I am still not naive enough to believe he is doing this for free and out of the kindness of his heart, but unable to speak I can neither accept nor refuse. "What you''re thinking is right, this is not for free. I expect you to do some things for me in the future but I will give you some of my powers so that you''re neither weak nor frail. Albeit an insignificant part of my powers, but it will help you grow faster than normal and become a pillar of strength." His presence is truly that of a God in every sense of the word. But I do not feel reassurance in his request for favors as that is one of the things I hate the most. Hearing his monologue I try veryhard to liberate myself from its grasp, imagining myself trashing all over the emptiness.
Only then, making a fool of myself in front of this powerful being do Irealize how truly hopeless and impotent to change myselfIhad been. For my whole life, I¡¯ve feltpained and hopeless, even after trying countless times to take a different path than the ones already established for me andI havealways felt alienated from everyone. From my family, my friends and even my surroundings. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Living day by day in a gray specter of mediocrity and boredom, helpless to change the outcome, realizing that Ihad grown in the wrong environment, but most of all, with the wrong father. I start to sob inwardly as I recall my life and the harsh surroundings were I grew up. The almost daily beating¡¯s by my father flash through my soul as well as the images of my desperate mother, crying for help. The cold mornings where Icould only hide the bruises by wearing layers upon layers of clothes and the summers where Icouldn¡¯t go swimming due to the anxiety of showing my naked body covered in markings. The gap that was created between me and my friends, as they lived happy and fulfilling lives whileI could only envy them for their normal lifestyles. So I began distancing myself more and more from society, resentment piling up until reaching a boiling point where my father took the first prize in the lottery. Then, after having a meltdown what followed was apathy and more apathy, until I was nothing but a stuffed doll living for the sake of living. Now that I reminisce and acknowledge my once violent household, I can recall every attempt for help that never came. The clearest of those that I remember, was whenIran towards my neighbor''s house and knocked on his door, he opened the door with his indifferent eyes and looking down on me, a little boy filled with bruises and crying for help. But to him, I was only a nuisance so he furiously closed the door and left me to be handled by my emotional molester and physical abuser. My own father who was supposed to protect me, a meager child, from the cruelty driven real world was the first to harm me.
Recalling all the pain I no longer feel apathy, but a burning rage swelling inside me as if a volcano was about to erupt. Facing the void I make a vow to never again feel hopeless facing others. ''I will fight, struggle and conquer so my destiny will be made by me and me alone''. I proclaim with a booming voice inside my head. I focus on the deal offered to me, boiling with anger and not minding if I am actually selling my soul to the devil by becoming ''his'' vessel, I make the most dangerous and rash decision ever since I was a little kid. ¡®I agree!¡¯ I shout inside my ''head'' trying to convey the message through feelings and thoughts hoping they reach the being. The specter laughs loudly into the void as he somehow know¡¯s my state of mind. "Ha-ha. I am glad you accept my offer." He then coughs, in an exaggerated manner while he says. "kid I want to tell you a secret, you were merely one of the many victims of fate, most of the time she is impartial to everyone, but to some, she is cruel and resentful. Your soul type to her is the most dangerous, so she tries to kill anyone who has such strong souls as fast as possible, and when they die, they go to what you humans call ''hell''. But you''re different, you came to me, you came to the void. Changing your fate forever. Trust me you¡¯re not the first one to feel wronged by that cunning bastard." His voice filled with spite as he rambled on. "If you are to become my vessel I cannot let you go in such a pitiful state to your new world." He says while referring to my uncontrolled rage and anger. Saying this I feel myself grow and expand in unison with a small part of ¡®Him¡¯. Tranquility and knowledge assaulting my very core against my will, but in turn, I now know some bits and pieces of his intentions by reviving me, as well as feeling every part of my soul being engraved with some sort of ancient writing. While the process takes place I realize the amount of power the being truly possesses and for what seems to be an eternity my small soul grows to a quarter of the size of ''His'' soul. "Now without further ado, it is time for you to join the living," he say¡¯s after my mind is clearer and calmer. "Iknow what regrets you have and I know of your desires. My power, for now, is beyond your comprehensionand so you wouldn¡¯t understand towhat extents I am willing to go in order to send you to your new world. But I can assure you, you will leave this Limbo to never return." Hearing him say all of this I understand now that there are powers beyond my comprehension not only here, but elsewhere, where the ''divine'' and powerful cohabitate. For example, heaven and hell. "I will now open a path, or as you humans call it, a ''worm-hole'', all the while infusing you into an unborn child from that world before the body is taken by a brand new soul." unexpectedly I start being sucked by true power, a power Icouldn''t evenbegin to fathom, much less understand. "Remember, to transcend yourself will be a grueling path filled with pain and unforgiving trials but in the midsts of it, do appreciate good moments and the little joys too. Now go, fulfill your desires of becoming truly free, become the true master of your own fate. BE GONE NOW!" As Ibarely hear his last ''words'', Ilook forward to what kind of life is waiting for me in this new world.
Passing through the worm-hole Ifeel my soul bend and twist, impossible vertigo is followed by mild fear and then to finish, unbelievable speeds, I am thrown around in such manner that my own consciousness cannot help itself but to blackout. And that was how I was reborn in this new world of magic, fantastic beats, and multiple races waiting to be discovered. Chap. 3 - Reborn in blindness
The first thing i realize when i woke up, is that i can feel myself, i have a head, back, arms and legs. This is not some ethereal feeling whereupon i am aimlessly wondering the infinite space, alone and weary of ¡®mosters¡¯ that lurk in the void. As try to open my unfocused eyes, I eventually can ''see'' my surroundings and this simple action almost bring me tears. To be able to recognize forms and shapes, although blurry and unfocused, i indeed can determine they are shapes and colors and not darkness. But i soon discover i am in a body with near-sighted eyes as i can¡¯t focus. I also discover the possibility to be crippled as i can¡¯t move from my head down. I struggle to move at all in this lethargic new body of mine only to feel hunger and tiredness wash over me and after a while, i am assaulted by a headache. I scream in my mind as loudly as i can but no one comes to help me. While fighting this feeling of hunger and debating against the pain, i think to myself that ¡®I am really glad to have regained a body.¡¯ with heavy hints of sarcasm. Honestly, i do not care if i am to become a useless person stuck in a bed who cannot even cry because of head-splitting pain, but at least i need meals and from the smell of it, i need changing too.
Due to what i assume is the hunger and pain I''ve been feeling, my consciousness starts to fade once again and sleep for what it feels like an eternity. When i wake up i have the strange sentiment of not being alone, i dart my eyes from right to left and stop to watch a humanoid figure staring at me, he is lean from what i can discern, and taller than a normal sized human, honestly he feels like a giant. My first instincts are to dart my eyes in madness looking for an escape, to which deep down i know to be none. My useless body isn¡¯t helping me and i feel trapped. ¡®Why doesn¡¯t my body respond to me¡¯ i yell inside my head. Frustrated and angry i try to search for a logical answer, no control over my body, no sight and apparently no control over my bowels. Then the truth that i was avoiding hits me like a freight train.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡®I AM AN INFANT!¡¯ I roar a maniac-induced cry inside my head, as i swivel my pathetically small head to the maximum extent allowed. I curse the foulest insults that would make my mother faint and glare at the humanoid form. He then approaches me and i retract by impulse as fear creeps inside of me. I¡¯m merely an infant and i cannot defend myself at all. He picks me up with what seems to be care and i let my guard slip as i think to myself ¡®If i am an infant, i must have parents, i was surely not born of ether nor some summoning magic like in some cheap novel, so this man must be a relative, possibly even my father¡¯. While i was distracted by my thoughts i feel my small body being transported to another location as i see things blur and go past me at much higher speeds than normal due to my distorted perception. As we advance I can hear more clearly what my possible father mumbles but i do not understand it, i really try to make heads-or-tails out of it but it seems to be difficult for my entangled thoughts, i can guess by his intonations that he is upset and in a hurry to take me somewhere.
We approached the only source of bright light in the dark corridor and enter the room, the sunray¡¯s touch only my face as the rest of my body is wrapped in a silky blanket. I feel much better now as the sun somehow heals some of my worries of dark dungeons and brutal torture. I may be an infant, but i do not know of this unknown world and its dangers. I am laid on a bed and i feel my blanket being stripped out of me and my legs lifted, what reaches my nose is undoubtedly excrement of the infant kind. I still feel human enough to inwardly redden my cheeks and apologize to whoever is changing the cloth with such foul odor. I let my mind wander to the possible state of this world. What language was the man speaking, what countries are to be studied and what amazing wonders are to be discovered? More and more i become unaware of my surrounding. ¡®The being to which i shall from now on call ¡®Berefte¡¯ spoke about the power of the soul, that is the most important part of oneself. I must understand his words and what they mean and then i must find a way to strengthen both my physical body and my soul¡¯. I feel a light tugging and i try to look up to the face smiling down on me, i barely see the shine of the sun reflecting on the face but i can tell it is not the same person who brought me here. The facial traces make me believe she is a woman, she smiles to me and begins to sing, her voice too melodic to be described in words as i hear her whisper into my ear soft words that make me forget every single train of thought. My eyelids begin to close as she lull¡¯s me to sleep while i hear echoes of a truly happy laugh, something that had been foreign to me in my previous life of a prisoner.
Chap. 3.5 - The birthing
(Orvar son of Oden''s P.O.V) I sight as i wait in the corridor for the midwives to be done with the birthing of my child. ¡®My first child!¡¯ i yell in my head with happiness, while a smile creeps across my face as i think of what gender it will be as we didn¡¯t want to know. Of course, my dear wife Signy wants a baby girl, but i can¡¯t help to wish for a strong and healthy boy, but i truly do not care as in our society any births are considered almost miracles as we have long-lasting lifespans but for some reason low fertility rates. I pace in the corridor from one point to the other and touch my ring given to me as a child to channel the spirits on my left hand. I¡¯ve always worn it on the thumb, but when i married Signy i changed the location as to make it my wedding band. I suddenly turn as i hear a crack coming from the wooden door of our room and Freya, my wife¡¯s younger sister comes out. "She has birthed a healthy baby boy, Orvar!" She beams me a smile. "Come in, she is waiting for you." I enter the room and see my pale wife¡¯s skin, fear gets a hold of my heart as i readily approach her. "Are you hurting my dear wife? Is there anything i can do for you?" i ask. She smiles weakly and says. "Yes, you can hold our son for the first time."If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. I turn to where she was looking and find the midwife a couple of steps behind me looking disgruntled and tired. Then for the first time, i notice the bundle she carries, so small and looking so fragile that i fear to pick it up, but non-the-less i approach and take the bundle into my arms. An indescribable feeling of love feels me as i watch my son¡¯s eyelids dart and his mouth open, im mesmerized by him and when he reaches for my finger a wave of reality hits me. This is my son, i made him, i created life and now that life is in my very arms. I have to contain myself not to cry as i watch such miracle sleep soundly, then my wife speaks with a weakened face. "Love, come, bring him to me..." She suddenly gasps for air and her face turns cramped as she seems to be in tremendous pain. "QUICK! The healers!" I am thrown out of the way by the midwife who was constantly controlling my wife¡¯s vitals through the portable bio-machine. Freya escorts me out of the room and hurries back inside as i am in a dazed state, i aimlessly end up in our spare bedroom, painful thoughts assault me and my knees begin to shake making me lay my son on the bed. After what seems like an eternity i regain some of my bearings and prepare to leave the room but as i am walking towards the door i hear gasps from the bed and turn at my newborn son and i freeze. ¡® I¡¯m Orvar son of Oden, the one known for his strength and unwavering character!¡¯ I sit restlessly near the bed as i wait for news of my wife while staying vigilant for my son.
Thirty minutes pass when i hear rustling and the voice of Freya call to me. "Orvar, the healers are finished and she is fine!" I run towards my and Sig¡¯s room with my son in tow and sight in relief as i watch my wife conscious and weak face. "Give him to me Orv." She gently requests. "He looks hungry and smells bad." I finally realize what a poor job i did whit taking care of my son and reprimand myself for it. I gently lay the bundle in the gentle arms of Signy and watch her change our son and feeding him like an expert.
Chap. 4 - The growth of knowledge
I wake up to the morning light shining through the windows, i try to turn my head to the side and feel my movements still stiff and laggy as always but there has been an improvement in that regard as i can now control my hand movement and my feet. I can also see better, myvision no longer a blur of shapes and colors, but normal eyesight. I involuntarily begin to bawl and get the attention of my new mother who seems to have the features of what i saw in earth¡¯s fantasy aselves, she has pointed ears and sharp but beautiful features, and is taller than the average human. She approaches the cribthat located at the feet of her bed and her face comes into focus, i concentrate on the marvelous mixtures of golds and greens that are her hair and eyes. She smiles and whispers reassuring words." ___ child _______ hungry?" the language, to which I''ve deciphered to some minimal extent already because of my ¡®mothers¡¯ lullaby songs made me find parallelisms between English and this new language. As i am picked up to be fed and cleaned. I feel truly embarrassed as a grown man, to rely on someone to this extent but it can¡¯t be helped as i am still only two weeks old. I¡¯ve absorbed every little detail that can bring me a bigger picture of this world and its inhabitants. Firstly i think about their features and agility, i¡¯ve never seen such graceful movements from normal humans and their physical strength isn''t weak either, perhaps a head and a half taller than normal humans from earth and carry themselves with imposing manners. And through those discoveries, i¡¯ve also figured that there is actual magic in this world, it also seems that this world is not as medieval i though it to be in the first place, there is digital devices and other technological gadgets. From what i see, magic does not work as one would expect, there is a need for some sort of amulet, something that my mother wears always in her neck. She uses some sculpture of a foreign bird with two tails as a magical amulet, it is made from some kind ebony and when she sings for me it lits bright jade, the mixture of colors making the amulet have a beautiful gleam. She moves me around the room and places me in her bosom for me to feed. Right after, she cleans me of my mess and after that is done she puts me on the floor to play with the toys. She looks out the window as though she knows something is there and exits the room as if something caught her eye. After such an odd action i think of my first time in this room, in the beginning, i felt as this was yet another world where all was to be routine, boring activities followed by the same old pattern i had lived until now, at least physically. I recall my memory of five days ago were my mother laid me down in front of my baby toys. I stared harshly at the wooden blocks hoping they would implodeuntil some rough and muffled sounds came from the big window on the room, such window had a full view of the yard and there two men fought as if with special effects. They threw each other magnificent sword strikes and precise and agile martial arts. The leaner man with the golden buzzcut on his head was later revealed to be my father. The other man was burlier, not much but there was an obvious muscular advantage to which he tried to exert.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. The biggest surprise though was not the amazing clashes or the speed that occurred. But instead where the raw elements that flew from their fingers and arms acting as if they had minds of their own, seeking their target and being repelled by the enemy. I sat in the velveted floor gawking at this phenomenon like a total idiot. From then onwards i tried to make any semblance of a spark appear on my fingers every day but to no avail. "Pherhaps i need a talisman or a totem of sorts, like my mother." As i mumbled i felt, more than i heard a big tremor and i quickly deviated my attention to the fields outside and focus on the very same window with the view to the yard, and what i saw was the sight of nigh impossible. The two women were walking confidently towards each other and emanating physical auras of great strength. One of the auras was jade and the other yellow, the most impressive part was the magic that they were using. Throwing in times flames condensed in balls and other times massive walls of ice. After a while, i saw all kinds of spells done in succession, until a rumbling shadow of darkness descended on my mother, just as the other woman countered the bright warming light spell done by her opponent. Using magic they dueled each other with brutal precision and murderous intent. I started to worry about the one i recognized as my mother in the jade-like aura. I had become somewhat attached to the woman that was now my progenitor, she had sung for me, lull me and even she played with me. How could i, a man who never had such attention''s before resist with a cold heart to such affection, especially after the loneliness of the void? "Th-this is a magic duel, right?"i though "My mother is holding her opponent back, but i feel like they are almost equal in power." As i tried not to blink my mother launches several spikes through the ground up into the position of her foe, only to be countered by a small but thick wall of ice in an angular position to the ground thus deflecting them, but as her oponent focuses on the spikes my mother forms another spike of earthly color and throws it ending a few milimiters away from her oponents face as it is cought by the vines made from the mysterious girl, as they wrap arround her arms as an uncouncios set of armour, just as quick as the battle began, it ended with both mutually staring and the strange woman giving a resigned look at her feet signaling her defeat. I fear the worst when they start to approach each other, but soon relax when i see them laugh and hug while holding what seems to be a polite conversation, making it seem as nothing really happened. My first pure magical duel ended and i start to understand how magic works, i realize they were drawing their power from their surroundings and interacting with the particles to be of use, some even mutating the elements. ¡®To create fire, particles tend to bond with each other to form a physical reaction. So they must make them obey them and fuse them even possibly creating new types of particles¡¯. I feel excited just thinking of the thousands of possibilities, like creating plutonium and splitting them to create a massive reaction, of course, i''m not that well versed in physics and certainly, i''m am not going to ¡®nuke¡¯ anybody, for now at least. As my thoughts flyinside of me i try to close my eyes and clear my mind to focus on the spar between my mother and her opponent. Then i feel it, for the first time i feel more than the air wrapped around my body. I feel something ethereal, like a second skin, and i try to manipulate the particles forcefully making them obey me. Agitatedly i summon all my will and i feel it, it is nothing but a gentle sway, not even noteworthy, but to me is the true beginning of my journey.
Chap. 5 - Learning the ropes
When one is born, they are born with innocence and curiosity towards life, that is the whole point of being a child. To experience new things, develop character and above all be prepared for the future, and I am no different. In the last year in this new world, I¡¯ve felt that my personality has begun to change, my outlook on life has become more positive and I have learned new things every day. For example, I have parents who truly care for me, even though I seem a bit different from the other children they do not think of me as strange. These whole year has been fruitful in regards to my body, gaining complete control of my limbs and neck, as I struggled to move at first but now I do just fine. I sometimes wonder if they would still love me if they were to find out I am no child at all. I obviously try to keep an appearance of childishness but I''m not perfect but sometimes I feel like I am back in prison masking my true self. Even though I''m hard-pressed for information, I have learned the complex language after a year of watching some kind of television device that looks more like a mirror. They call this mirror, glass mirage and when I threw one of the damned wooden blocks at it by accident, the mirror began to speak and show images out of the blue and I almost had a heart attack, my mother seing me so attached to the glass mirage let me watch the broadcats about all types of things almost every day, the programs are mainly propaganda to the state and documentary type programs and through those I¡¯ve discovered not only how to speak and read but also that I¡¯m in the Edden Kingdom, a peacefull and economically advanced kingdom in the enourmous Continet of Merio. The planet seems big and the distances between countries are massive enough that traveling from one point to the of the Continent would take almost three years. Almost four weeks after I arrived, I also learned that my father¡¯s name is Orven son of Orden, and my mother is called Signy wife of Orven, and as such my name is Ragnar son of Orven. I have relatives like my aunt that are from the Borhil clan but we still consider ourselves family. This country is ruled by the clan heads and those form an assembly of people that is called The council of Edden. My father¡¯s father, to which I only met almost a month after being born is one of those clan heads. Strict, severe and very stoic a complete opposite of my cheerful and bright father, who likes to play with me at childish games. The addition of magic has made my days less boring and uninteresting as I train my control. Apparently, without a totem given by the blessings of the God named Isha, any high-level magic would go out of control and possibly kill the caster, so I''m focusing in controlling the particles that nowadays swivel to a noticeable extent when I will them. Magic, to the understanding of this Kindom¡¯s scholars, is inherently engraved when we are born as it concentrates on people with more or less potential. For example, I can feel that my mother is surrounded by the particles to an absurd amount of numbers and that she does it unconsciously. I for once think that we have a different type of brain from the humankind. Some kind of gland in the brain that allows us to meddle with the physical world to a molecular level. Thinking those complicated and extense thoughts I am startled by my father''s quick embrace as he went behind my back to catch me unguarded. "Did I scare you, my son?" He laughs rowdily as he smiles towards me. I can¡¯t help but smiles back and nod at his words saying."Yesh."My teeth underdeveloped and simple sentences making me a fool, but it can¡¯t be helped as it would be strange for me to speak fuller and with more complexity. "My son is a genius little boy, truly the son of I, Orven!" he praises me as he laughs even harder and put me back on the ground. "To be able to speak so well at such young age, a miracle I say!" Rowdy as always my father boast towards no one, while I watch the scar that crosses his left eye from up towards down making an even bigger impact on the light blue color of his eyes. While looking up I realize that my father is truly tall, he also wears his hair short and has a swimmers body. But after having only bad male role models in my previous life, this type of childish father isn¡¯t bad at all. At that moment my mother enters the room and reprimands my father for speaking too loudly and beacons me. "Come to mommy my child, we have to go. It¡¯s your first time outside so be nice." She smiles. "Wer go?" I ask my mother while being picked up in her embrace. "We¡¯re going to the tournament, baby." then she turns to my father. "Are you sure your parents are fine taking care of him?" The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "It¡¯s fine, my mother will take care of things." My father then camps his face. "This annual tournament to showcase power is stupid, I would rather spend my time at home training or with my lovely wife and son." "You know these things are mandatory." She hurridly exists the room with me in tow. "If we were to miss it, your father would probably disown you, and then we would be clanless." The conversation sparks my interest but my father just closed himself in thought and my mother simply hurries to the front door. Once we go outside I am greeted by a sunny day with chirping birds and mild temperatures. I haven¡¯t been outside of the house, not for the lack of trying as I can now crawl and walk almost for a minute, I¡¯ve wondered outside the playroom only to be caught by my mother. I try to bask in the sun but I¡¯m soon put inside a carriage with no horses. We start to move as my father talks about every little thing that comes across out the window, about threes I can¡¯t pronounce the name or birds that are rare or beautiful. The journey takes us almost two hours, and as we advanced from our rural mansion to the city it became clear that this part of the Kindom is used mostly for growing crops and cattle. I wonder why we live so far away from the city but I don¡¯t voice my question and as such, time passes and we arrive at the biggest gate I¡¯ve ever seen. Made out of some sort of crystal, the gate looks magnificent as the run-rays shine through the almost opaque color of the walls, guards stand all around the wall and others in the road to enter asking for permits or tax fees. The carriage comes to a halt in the long line formed mostly of traders, when something draws my attention. A trading caravan with horses is lined up to exit the city and the man speaking to the guard has a short stature, and by short I mean that the man is the shortest person I¡¯ve ever seen in this world. Although I haven¡¯t seen much of this world if I saw this person in my last world he would have been considered to be a dwarf with around half the stature of a normal grown man. I approach the window climbing over my father, who looks at me curiously when I point to the person and ask loudly. "Wat is he?" My father follows my finger to the man in the other lane and says. "My boy, that is a Dwarm and he belongs to the race of Dwarmen, they are the best traders and smiths in the continent. They also have the second biggest numbers in terms of population."My father says as he answers my question with complicated words that I somehow understand to an extent, seeing my complicated frown he smirks. "Don¡¯t tease your one-year-old son, Orven!"She points an accusing finger at his chest. "He is still learning and he has plenty of time to do so." My father pales and stutters as he looks at my mother. "I-i was joking my love, he needs to learn what a joke is as he is always frowning with worry." I frown? I didn¡¯t know this¡­ We move along the line with this mysterious carriage of ours, the carriage makes me feel uncomfortable as there is no driver nor animals polling them to which I do not understand the mechanics behind yet. We reach the checkpoint and my father flashes a metallic object and the soldier and he immediately stands at attention doing a military-style salute and we begin to advance again. As we enter the city I begin to see European style houses and apartment blocks, people roam the streets in mass and to my surprise almost all of the people have a different type of ears and skin complexion that me and my family have, some a white as snow, some glow red, and other have pitch black skin. Mesmerized by the amazing different types I start looking for more differences, like eye color and body sizes. My thoughts are cut short by the view of an imposing mansion, and by imposing I mean big like I¡¯ve never seen before. Our carriage is guided inside through the big gates and to my surprise my father hardens his face losing all traces of playfulness. My mother noticing this and speaks calming words using magic, and my father¡¯s clenched fists start to loosen up. "Thank you Sig, but I just truly hate this place, I wished I''d have bought a house even further from this place," he says to my mother. "It brings such hateful memories." Seeing this I tilt my head in though, the meaningful hate spoken by my father¡¯s words reminds me of my time in prison and that very memory brings me sadness. How can people with such amazing powers be afraid of yet another symbol of oppression? We exit the carriage and are taken by a maid to an ample living room where I am greeted by true lavishing furniture and decoration, all in golds, whites, and reds. I remember reading a book on the Italian renascence and this was the exact same feelings of opulence. We sit down and my mother informs me that we are to wait for my grandparents. The first meeting with my grandfather was a total disaster, he was cold and distant and I didn¡¯t show much effort towards bonding. After a while, I hear steps coming down the entrance hall and I climb up the sofa to look behind me. What greets me is a couple with almost forty years of age, but I know now that to be deceiving and that age matters very little after I learned that my race, ¡®The higher Elf¡¯s¡¯ live for a long time, and when I say long, I mean for thousands of years. We greet each other as my father glares at his father and my mother makes small talk with my grandmother, she seems like a fairly nice person, she isn¡¯t exactly oozing with joy to see me but she is polite as she greets me in an awkward manner, speaking to me as if I was a grown man. After the hurdle of forced and awkward chit-chat, while enjoying a little matin¨¦ [1], we are escorted to our carriage and head towards the venue of the tournament. We arrive and I am separated from my parents as it seems they are going to fight in this showcase of power for the face of the clan. We walk toward the assigned seats in the viewing booth and my grandmother faces me with a cramped expression. "Child, do you need anything, food or water?" she asks as if I¡¯m nothing more than a horse. To which I replied shaking my head toward her. I sigh as I think of the feeling of awkwardness in the room. But everything goes away when the announcer makes his way towards the center of the stadium, and climbs up the stairs and starts to speak without the need of a microphone. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we are here in the 584o meeting of the clans, to show us who is the most hardworking and prodigious of all the clans for this past five years. I remember everyone that in this tournament there will only participate the higher clans, and it is a death free zone where no single participant will be able to die as we have the judges and other strong members to stop the fights if they become too violent." "AND NOW, WE BEGIN THE 584o ANNUAL TOURNAMENT!"
Chap. 6 - Tournament
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Chap. 7 - Father & Mother
I focused on the announcer and saw him smile as he introduced the warriors. ¡°The next participants are something special, after so many great battles we finally reach one of the major great clans pitted against each other, first we have the Bj?rin¡¯s whom we know for having played a great role in the ongoing war, slaughtering thousands of demonic beats and conquering a lot of land from the Humans.¡± ¡®Humans? Is he saying that we are at war with the humans?¡¯ With my mouth agape, I stare at the commentator. ¡®So we are killing humans?¡¯ I don¡¯t know how to react as I was gobsmacked by this piece of information, I don¡¯t know much about the other races, I only know of the dwarmen and my own. To think that my own race is waging war against my previous race¡­ I look at my grandmother and ask. ¡°War?¡± She turns her head towards me in surprise. ¡°You want to know what is this war?¡± I nod my head and wait for a reply. ¡°Well for the last 600 or so years there has been a war raging in the borders of the High humans kingdom, we along with almost every race tried to stop the advance of the plaguing virus that affected the mortally fragile humans and turning almost 80% of their population in to crazy driven that seek blood to satiate themselves.¡± I stare in bewilderment at this information, never would I have thought that there was an ongoing war and that there were humans vampires like people that succombed to a desease. My grandmother thought of my face as confused and turned to the tournament again. Left to my machinations I couldn¡¯t forgo of the feeling that this world wasn¡¯t as simple as I thought, so many questions about the this ¡°Demons¡± along with, who are these High Humans and why are they different from normal humans? As I couldn¡¯t answer these questions I focused on the arena. With a wave of his hand, the announcer pointed to one of the doors as they open. "Ladies and Gentleman, who we have here is the one of a kind warrior that last year was a serious contender for the top spot in this competition and a battle frontier Lieutenant, Ollie Bj?rin!" People seemed even more excited about this fighter than the last few fights. When the man walked out I could discern that he was tall and muscular, with chiseled features that revealed a commanding and imposing aura he approached the center and let out a cry that made me flinch. ¡®Is this some kind of technique?¡¯ To answer my questions my grandfather snorted. ¡° To be this cocky in front of such a large audience and perform a battle roar technique, this is simply too much.¡± I felt like this magic system was getting out of hand and becoming more and more complicated. When I trained for these months my magic control was what I considered to be high, on the other hand when I started to see the different types of magic and how they were so proficient in them I felt like a frog in the well looking at the sky.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°The next participant is known for his swordsmanship, reigning supreme for the last couple of years in this tournament, reaching the finals every single time as the most frightening physically enhanced magician in the Kingdom, Orven Oden!¡± he pointed to the other door as my father walked out of it with an annoyed expression as if he didn¡¯t want to be here. Donning a silvery and black light armor and a sword I had never seen him wear, he stopped in the middle of the right. Seeing this his opponent, Ollie started to bicker with my father claiming he wasn¡¯t taking him seriously, to this my father simply replayed. ¡°Yes, yes whatever let¡¯s just start.¡± Making the other party even more furious. Even from here I could see the reddened face of this Ollie character. ¡°Well, I wish you both luck in this fight.¡± Said the announcer with a smile. ¡°Begin!¡± Neither both my father nor his opponent were moving from their place, as my father was busy yawning and his opponent was fulminating my father with his eyes and activating his black aura. Seeing this my grandfather was very displeased with my dad¡¯s attitude, simply c accusing him of dragging the Oden name through the mud. I simply blocked his words from entering my mind and watched carefully trying to analyze what my father¡¯s true strength was. Suddenly my father moved and he withdrew his sword from the scabbard walking slowly toward his opponent with no sort of stance in his movements, taken aback by his actions Ollie took a couple steps back, but then, my father disappeared out of sight. Quickly darting my eyes to find him I focused all my attention only to find him standing in the back of Ollie with his sword against his lower back. I could see poor Ollie¡¯s bravado disappear as he lowered himself and touched the ground very slowly admitting defeat. The announcer to his surprise had to rush over almost Two minutes after he had exited the fighting ring. He approached the two and said towards the audience. ¡° A-and the winner is...¡± As he was announcing the winner father put his sword back in its place and walked out of the arena. Nobody said a word as people had a flabbergasted expression on their faces looking at the man who had defeated a renowned expert in a couple of minutes. ¡®My father teleported! Teleportation is feasable in this world!¡¯ Interrupting my thoughts out of the blue my grandfather formerly in a state of shock, started to yell. ¡°Impossible! How is this even possible!!¡± A look of astonishment flying across his face. ¡° To have perfected to this degree the mirage step.¡± he whispered. I was still trying to figure out what had happened in the fight, my grandfather had made the comment on this mirage step and I once again looked towards my grandmother. Putting an innocent smile I said. ¡°M-miraghe?¡± She turned to face me. ¡°What a curious child! ¡®Mirage¡¯, is a very advanced technique passed down in our family.¡± I kept looking forward to more information but my grandmother didn¡¯t provide more as she assessed that talking about this technique to an infant, would be wasting words and returned her attention to the announcer. The next contenders were good, but not a single one was capable of making people speechless like my father did. I saw various races of the Elves in the public, like the beautiful forest elves, they emanated a natural charm and almost all of them had a smaller constitution than us and smaller ears, but they had a vibrant mossy green as hair color. Through the whole tournament, I was marveled to this display of people in attendance, although none of these races participated in the event as this was a matter of the clans ruling the Kingdom of Edden, they still were within my eye range and I could see a lot of different people. As people fought I started to gradually lose interest in the combat, although very different from one another the core was very much the same. I dabbed in thoughts about magic until the announcer said my mother''s name. Being more attentively I heard him say. ¡°I believe everyone knows this person, as she was one of the most renewed blood huntresses and an archmage of the court.¡± The crowd starts to applaud and cheer like I haven''t seen before, seeing this the announcer smiles as he looks towards his left.¡° ¡®Renoun blood huntress¡¯; ¡®Archmage of the court¡¯? I look at my mother as my head spins with astonishment for her titles.
Chap. 8 - Leaving
(Sygni Oden POV) Waiting impatiently for this farce to be over with, I try to locate my son¡¯s booth for the prominent clanswhile walking towards the ring I see him with my magically enhanced vision looking flabbergasted. I smile, but a thought enters my mind. ¡®Sometimes I think he¡¯s too expressive to be a one-year-old child. I''m sure that he understands more than he lets us know, like watching the glass mirage filled with propaganda and documentaries about this rotten Kingdom.¡¯ I am angered at the thought of my son ending up as a mindless drone for the Elder Council to control, so young but already given the favor of the Gods by the sheer amount of mana he attracts. I shake my head as I reach the arenas stairs, taking large strides I reach the announcer. ¡°Now, for the opponent of the blood huntress we have a man who has clashed many times with the demons and returned victoriously!¡± the announcer grins towards me and continues, voice booming towards the crowd. ¡° It is my pleasure to announce, Reynold of the Emiurgen clan and a prodigy!¡± ¡°He is new to clan tournaments, young and not very experienced fighting against magicians but on the other hand a very powerful and proficient warrior. The young promise of the clan¡± I shake my head in displeasure. ¡®Maybe I should do as my husband and overwhelm this boy.¡¯ But I soon decide not to, my union with my husband proved to be very troublesome as both my clan and his clan almost expelled us, making our union frowned to all. If I don¡¯t give some face to them trouble surely would ensue after. Who would expect in the past for people to take such liberties with me, the once claimed to be one of the best mages in the country and triple element magic caster, a true genius in the battlefield now demoted to a simple dull housewife in the eyes of others. Reynold, a shorter and thinner man than normal by our standards, approached the ring and put on a haughty expression before me and mockingly said. ¡°As the former archmage of Edden, you better watch yourself now that you aren¡¯t backed by your clan, we younglings are the future so please be a good stepping stone for me!¡± I lift my finger in disgust as I watch the rotten face of this young man, ready for the signal. I start to rotate the mana around me through my totem, making sure to calibrate my wavelengths to get the desired effects by first multiplying the particles for more abundant mana in the environment. signaling with his hand and leaping out of bounds the announcer initiates the confront. Reynold swiftly raises his sword to his shoulder showing just how immature he is and starts to run really fast in my direction, he laughs as he thinks me of slow and unable to dodge his shoulder strike. ¡°Watch as I use you to further my military career and prestige.¡± I frown, before the marriage no one would have dared to speak to me in such insolent mannerisms. I reach my limit of insults becoming my past self and will the thick mana particles on the tip of my finger, being able to use three elements one has to have an even bigger control over their body. For example, if one person is proficient in fire magic and dedicates ten decades to reach the first level of magical apprenticeship they will take twenty years to become knowledgeable on two elements and so forth and so on, for me, it took twenty-four years to reach intermediate apprentice and almost thirty to reach master magician. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. After years on the battlefield slaughtering demons as a ¡°blood huntress¡± gaining respect from the commanding officers, I fell in love with one of the campaign generals and married him, due to our clans hating each other over petty squabbles dating millennia they opposed our wedding and almost withdrew any sort of backing we had from them. It turned worse because we decided to retire to the middle of nowhere four years ago and start a family, as such it is of no wonder that this sixteen to seventeen-year-old does not fear me nor respects me, but as I am now no more than a branch existence attached to the main clan even the ones who know about the real me have no fear. I guess its time to show them how wise and fearsome I¡¯ve truly become after growing in other aspects of my life. Smirking, I Ignite the mana concentration modifying it to suit my lightning style launching forwards a blinding blue flash of pure force and electricity. I do not even bother aiming the lightning as it is so overbearing that it turns to charcoal the entire arena. This is not only to show youngsters respect but also to slap the elders in the face, as I don¡¯t care for the rules engagement. Dust lifting I hear cries of fear from the crowd, expecting to see an almost obliterated person on the floor what greets me is the four elders protecting the arrogant child with deep frowns and unhappy faces. ¡°Are you mad?¡± The first one with black hair and a black tunic shouts towards me. ¡°You could have killed thousands were we not here!¡± I grin at those words. ¡®So what you old coot''s? Of course, I knew you would be here. This is a reminder of how I retired by my own accord, a reminder to not send this pathetical youngster to make a fool out of me.¡¯ ¡°You must be seeking punishment Sygni, for you to defile such a sacred tournament¡± The oldest looking of the Elders has the passing of time imbued in his wrinkles and rebukes me for my actions. Turning to him with a murderous gaze I recognize my father. ¡°You have no strength to touch me ¡®Elder¡¯ not even you with you thousands of years in magical training wouldn''t be able to harm me.¡± I throw him an insult, to which he fiercely looks at me but does not dare to respond knowing I am right. These Elders live behind the walls of the Kingdom not ever participating in life and death battles, how could they reach enlightenment in their magical proficiency like I did? ¡°Enough!¡± Not getting any face from me the Elder from the N?rm clan tries his luck in making me lose any credibility I have. ¡°You clearly have lost some normal aspects of a sane person, therefore trying to kill so many people. What would have happened if we four didn¡¯t notice such mana gathering on your finger?¡± ¡°Mass murder, she would have killed countless innocents!¡± The fourth Elder speaks with a solemn expression. Unable to control myself, poisoned words start pouring from my mouth. ¡°To think you Elders care about the people. Were you not the ones sending younglings towards war only to be slaughtered, all to shield yourselves inside your pristine palaces?¡± I furiously look at them, gaining satisfaction realizing they flinch at my words as my aura surges in waves, my totem gleaming in the sunlight. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have killed even one percent of the people you have sent to their deaths, you gain power and live lavishly treating other races as inferior and unfit to rule your hypocritical and broken system!¡± Flabbergasted by my rash words the crowd can¡¯t speak nor move, forming a silence around the circular stadium. ¡°Nonsense child, we protect the Kingdom, not through violence but through knowledge, therefore, steering the nation to bigger things!¡± My father yells, making his voice boom in the stadium. I snort at his pathetical attempt at an excuse and turn around to leave having spilled my mind only to see my husband at the entrance of the stadium with his left hand in ¡®Mjurn¡¯ his most powerful sword and a grin in his face. ¡®Sigh, I even told him to not make a scene with the Elders and it turns out I am the one to do it!¡¯ Not daring to get closer to me, the guards and master magicians alike part ways from my path as i approach the entrance of the arena to go fetch my son from the most arrogant Elder out of them all. ¡°So¡­¡± My husband teases with a silly face, making me smirk involuntarily. ¡°It''s you who has a debt to pay if I remember your words from last night correctly?¡± He hugs my sides and we hurriedly walked towards the booth of Orven¡¯s family. I look at my husband and say. ¡°It seems we have to relocate from the capital, with this kind of afront to their authority we can¡¯t afford to be lenient, even if almost every competent warrior is fighting in the frontier they will come for us without a doubt labeling us as traitors. I will only miss my dear sister, I hope she won''t face trouble even in the murky frontlines.¡± ¡°So what? We should just move!¡± He smiles sweetly at me making me melt at the core. ¡°and your sister will defiietly be fine.¡± Making me feel like this was the best decision we made so far, he ruins the precious moment. ¡°Its not like I didn¡¯t know I married a hot-headed and bold woman!¡± We bicker with each other playfully as we walk through the white polished marble floor eager to leave.
Chap. 9 - A mothers circumstances
I watch as my parents enter the room and come closer to me, without a word my mother picks me up in her embrace while my grandfather stares daggers towards my father. In all the time I¡¯ve spent with my new parents I never thought they would have such renown reputation and power to back it up, obviously, I knew they were strong but never imagined them to be strong to the point where everyone would be rendered useless towards my mother''s outburst. Deep in thought I miss the start of the conversation between my father and his father. ¡°You can call me whatever comes to your mind, but never insult my wife nor my son. Keep my family out of it!¡± To my father¡¯s reply, the old sack of bones turns towards me and my mother frowning deeply. ¡°Your family? Your family is made up of a child that is strange and a wife that is dangerous! I told you not to marry her, she was bad news but you still went against my wishes and now look at you, disrespecting the clan and your own kin!¡± He points towards us with anger in his eyes, flabbergasted at my father. ¡°Enough, you two stop right now!!¡± To everyone else''s surprise, the one to speak is my grandmother, the person who I thought of cold but weak-willed is showing bravado and command. ¡°This is enough, the two of you are always bickering with each other about petty things. When you were a child Orvar, your father was merciless in his training. I understand why you carry so much pain in you to the point of hating not just him but me too.¡± No one is able to reply, while I¡¯m on my mother''s tight arms I still feel de-attached of the whole drama, but I can¡¯t help to feel saddened about the face my father is doing as if stabbed on the chest. ¡°You were such a bright child back then, always playing and feeling an overwhelming happiness. Then your father became a member of the council and we decided, as parents, that you needed the strength to live free, were we ever to perish in this political game of deceit.¡± Tears streaming down her face, heartbreak clear in her expression. ¡°Your father loves you, though you might not believe my words for the lack of demonstration and affection, he¡¯s always been there to help you. And when you came home defiant but happy, about to marry someone and on top of that from a rival clan, we both felt dejected but I still understood the feelings of love you had towards Sygni, it was only logical because for the first time in your life you defied us to this point.¡±Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°Mo-Mother¡± Father is taken aback by his mother¡¯s words, while I watch this scene I wish that my parents in my previous life were like this, only demanding and not abusive. My father''s parents are both strict and severe, but at the same time, they hoped they would mold a strong character with the ability to reach the top. My parents on the other hand only game me anguish and helplessness. ¡°Let me finish! When you found someone to be with and became so happy I could only sigh as I knew you would never allow us inside your little family. So the best i could do was watch over the two of you with an intense bittersweet feeling¡± Saying this she turns to her husband. ¡°And you, you stubborn old mule, throughout the countless time we have been together you have always been like this and I can¡¯t take it anymore, either you change your ways of doing things or I will leave.¡± Astonished to the point of almost falling to the ground, the old man looks as he had swallowed the most bitter pill in existence. It is almost comical the expressions of both shock and bewilderment. ¡°I-I...¡± The old man before being able to speak is ignored by my grandmother, then she turns to my mother smiling, walking up to us she hugs her taking my mother by surprise. While looking at me she caresses my face mumbling. ¡°What a beautiful grandchild, I am sorry I will never be able to see you grow and spoil you like a normal grandparent should do.¡± I am rent speechless while looking at such deep sadness. Then the person who was the quietest of all, my mother, speaks. ¡°I¡¯ve always thought that you and your husband were so cold towards your only child, although I can¡¯t believe your husbands way of behaving was all an act put for the wellbeing of your son, as a mother I can tell that you love your son, as no mother can truly hate their own son to the point of having no love, and no son is able to hate their parents to the point of not having any filial love.¡± Frowning, my mother hugs me tighter showing a protective instinct. ¡°But this decision is not mine to take, he is the one who you both have wronged.¡± Then she looks to my father, who has been dazed for almost the whole conversation. ¡°I-I don¡¯t know, you and father have always been the people I¡¯ve tried the most to avoid.¡± Face darkening my father comes closer to us. ¡°I don¡¯t believe I can forgive the both of you so easy. I can try if given enough time and space, but I fear that my feelings for hate are too deep and rooted.¡± Father places an arm around mothers shoulders and ushers us to go. Seeing us leave my grandmother didn''t say anything, fearing she will make matters worse and grandfather is still flabbergasted by the whole incident. Before we pass the threshold of the door, my parents turn around and with an inscrutable face, my father says. ¡°We¡¯re leaving the kingdom, I don¡¯t know where we will go but once I do know and if you want, I can send word of my location.¡± Hearing these words my grandmother can only reply¡¯s with a meek ¡®yes¡¯ and we leave towards the carriages. Lifting my head I ask. ¡°We leave?¡± My mother looks down smiling at me and replies. ¡°Yes baby, we¡¯re going to live in a new place, you will make new friends and learn new things.¡± I wonder what kind of place we¡¯re going to move to and inwardly feel excited. ¡®We are going on an adventure!¡¯
Chap. 10 - The road
After we went home I thought that it would be a slow and grueling process to move out of the Kingdom but to my surprise, it was not so. From what father said to us, he went to the merchants guild and found a buyer for the house in less than a week, all the while mother was making preparations for the journey. As life went on the time came to make the trip, having no idea to where we were going I thought that we would roam across the land giving me a broader ¡®feel¡¯ for the outside world. We traveled through the paved roads of the kingdom on a carriage made specifically for traveling while seeing various fantasy-like elements, like for example the very annoying kobolds who upon seeing us transversing the woodlands would roar in rage, or the infamous goblins who were dispatched by father in a heartbeat. Mother explained that this kind of wildlife was called here of ''the lesser sentient'', possessing some semblance of intelligence they roam through the land causing havoc, death, and misery to the weak and frail. Of course, not everyone is a mage or augmenter, but as we were journeying through the main road to leave the Eddin kingdom I realized that every small town had guards and walls. Unexpectedly there were no shabby wooden villages, as even the small villages were at least filled with over five thousand inhabitants. Mother said that it was because when people rally to places with favorable conditions to create the villages, usually, the capital dispatches a small number of military personnel to train a small force of guards on the newly created villages. This is not to say that there were no monster related deaths, but there were small in number and usually, the ones who were killed by monsters were weak people, like children, unsuspecting women or even drunkards. We usually traveled on the main road, we encountered people going to and fro between villages providing various goods. These caravans of merchants were accompanied by either mercenaries or contracted warriors, to my surprise magicians were scarce and few in number, as being a magician is a difficult road coupled with the need to study in-depth and high pockets to buy materials, whereas the warrior path or augmenter was a simpler and more economic road to transverse. Stolen story; please report. And so weeks went by and I became accustomed to the uncomfortable rattling of the carriage, hard sun and the nights where we had to camp outside.
It had already been approximately two weeks all the while training my connection with mana in the back of the carriage we came to a sudden halt, opening my eyes I tried to analyze the road but seeing nothing I relaxed a bit more, until my father stood up with a frown and unsheathed his sword and disappeared in a blur which startled me. Turning to my mother I asked with an alarmed face. ¡°Where fath-...?¡± Seeing the expression on my mother''s eyes I knew right away that something was amiss, but still didn¡¯t understand why such expression would appear in the face of one of the most powerful people I¡¯ve had seen in the capital. What did the wilderness have that would shake my father and mother so much? Feeling the tremors on the ground travel upwards towards the carriage I frowned, as I was going to stand my mother grabbed me in a fluid motion and the world spun making me feel dizzy, suddenly just as quick it began, it stopped. Looking around in confusion I understood why mother had been so quick to move us both. In front of us was a severed carriage, whatever had severed the carriage obviously had aimed at us trying to obliterate me and my mother, luckily we escaped in the last breath. Roaring my mother said. ¡°Who dares to lay a hand on us, show yourself.¡± To which a hoarse voice said mockingly. ¡°Oh my, did I startle the Huntress?¡± Of the shadows of the trees came out a lanky man covered entirely in black clothes and a hood, the only distinct feature was his red large beard. ¡°Its a very big deal for me to meet you, Huntress, I''ve always been a fan.¡± Again with the mocking tone, he antagonized my mother. I looked at my mother''s face and knew that if there was to be a fight, this would be difficult to deal with and even more so if I were to stick to her arms while she fended this man. ¡°Do you wish to die?¡± Frowning, my mother said. ¡°To have the nerve to attack us, even more so in the presence of both me and my husband, before dying you best pray to the gods!¡± ¡°Haha, I didn¡¯t know that the legendary killer would be so fearful and useless facing little old me.¡± Laughing and twisting his expression, the man said. ¡°For someone at the master level you sure feel confident, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡®Master level?¡¯ Confused I wondered since when did this world have such a system of ranking, but then I remembered how my mother was called archmage of the court. ¡®Maybe that was one of the ranking levels?¡¯ looking at the lanky man in front of me, I feel that this is not the only enemy in sight, something about how I can feel the mana surrounding him makes me ¡®see¡¯ that something is wrong and behind are various mana signatures. Unable to shake the feeling of helplessness for not being able to warn my mother of this, I realize the man is stalling and waiting for something. ''I suppose mother is powerful but there has to be a limit to how much people she can handle at once.'' Suddenly I feel danger, danger like I¡¯ve only felt in the void. Something dark and primordial is being summoned, oblivious to this, mother and the man keep the stalemate. I see something from behind the man creep in the floor at high speeds and i can¡¯t help but yell. ¡°MOTHER DODGE!"
Chap. 11 - The darkness & me
Incredulous both mother and the man look at me while she notices a shadow that is approaching on the flood from her blindside, face paling she suddenly surrounds herself with a protective bubble of yellow aura. Feeling safer I let out a breath of relief and hope that my mother isn¡¯t in the mood for interrogations of why I spoke so fluidly. ¡°You summoned a dark stalker?¡± My mother''s face is filled with rage at both the man and the ¡®thing¡¯ on the floor trying to break the bubble but to no avail. ¡°So those old men actually used the assassins guild to put a contract on our heads? Unforgivable.¡± While laughing in disbelief my mother''s aura turns cold as ice looking at the man, the man, in turn, flinches from the pressure and backs away two steps, with a voice filled with false bravado he proclaims. ¡°Yo-You are an archmaster of the third level? Impossible! At such a young age, to wield so much power you are indeed worthy of your titles.¡± Like a true professional the man that was startled regeined his composure while unsheating a dark dagger, chills spread across my body as my mana ressonates with it. Feelings of the void, darkness, and loneliness compress against my body and thoughts, I reach for those feelings neither distressed nor fearful. After a while, something inside of me snaps, old feelings of rage come flooding out of me and as I extend my arm as if reaching towards the man''s dagger. ¡®Why is this man, with no grievances towards us, trying his best to kill my loved ones?¡¯ As I mutter in my head time seems to stop and the dagger becomes black as a starless night, I reach deeper in the void inside of me, looking at my arm I realize it''s pitch black while my hand is clawed and morphed. My mother seeing this lets go of me wordlessly, while retreating she sends me a fearful look because of my appearance. ¡®Who can blame her, I must look like some sort of monster with this pitch black arm.¡¯ Everyone looks at my appearance, eyes shining with fear of the unknown monster before them. ¡°Monster!¡± ¡°God help us, it¡¯s a demon!¡± ¡°Impossible an elve turning to a demon, the virus suffered a mutation?!¡± Listening to the reaction of the hidden men and the main assassin, I focus my hearing on my mother''s whisper.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°T-that is m-my son¡­?!¡± My heart starts to bleed after hearing such melancholic cry but I still focus on the shadowy monster and the dagger, then taking a step, I will the dagger to me and sure enough, the dagger comes flying towards my now clawed hands all the while I exit the protective barrier created by mother. Analyzing myself, I realize that in this state I¡¯ve grown to have the body of a ten-year-old child, so I use the newly acquired reach of my hands to stab the sharp object in to the ''dark stalker'' making it wriggle and suffer while pinned down, and with the other hand, dark mana starts to gather and forms around the necks of the assassins, this mana is cold, dark and unforgiving. A smile appears on my face as I watch them silently die of air deprivation.
Sygni''s (POV) I see my darling son try to extend his arm, but soon I realize the bizarre color of his arm and let go of him in a panic. He transforms, lacking any better words, into a monster. Such thing is impossible but it happens right in front of me as his body becomes larger. Darkness exudes through his body making him seem like a shadow in a poorly lit room. Black smoke emanates from his skin pores and his appearance is impossible to discern and ethereal in form. Then the startled hidden men who a minute ago filled with bravado seem to deflate and start to yell in fear. While listening to them I hear that he might have contracted the virus, but it¡¯s just too different, this is something else, something cold and dark. Fearing that my baby son has turned into a monster, unable to turn back from this ''thing'', my face contracts in pain and worry. Turning his head sharply he looks at my face, all that I notice are the eyes that are red like rubies, in them I see is heartbreak and after a moment he again focuses on the assailants. Slowly he walks out of the magical shield that I painstakingly worked for and with swift and unparalleled movements for such a small child he stabs the dark stalker. Petrified by the vision of my child defeating something that even I would struggle to kill I stagger and fall to the floor ruining my white and yellow dress. He lifts his arm, and darkness surrounds the neck of the assailants as they start to choke and lose consciousness. Unable to suppress my fear and astonishment I think inside my head. ¡®My darling son, is he a deamon? Bu-but if so, how can he use magic without a totem granted by the gods? The demons are incapable of magic, granted, they have strong bodies and physical strength to match it, but they aren¡¯t pitch black like this and they have rotten spots in their bodies, even missing limbs, but this...this is impossible.¡¯ Folowing this line of thought I hold a little spark of hope that his state could be reversed. ¡°Mother, I am sorry. I¡¯ve lied to you and father¡­¡± My son speaks to me with a warped voice and I finally realize that what covers him is mana. ¡®He is able to talk in that state of pure dark mana, I would have chocked?¡¯ My head spins while my body trembles. ¡°I-I¡¯ve been holding myself back as to appear normal this whole time, but I can¡¯t explain the why of my condition right now nor why I deceived you and father.¡± With a flip of his small wrist the men''s neck twist in unhealthy ways. To me, death is no stranger, but for my child to be able to even bear the burden of killing is just¡­ Then I notice the aura receding and disappearing, as my child turns back to the angelic cherub with a toothy smile that I know. My mind washes in relief from this and I stare flabbergasted at my baby boy, I want to pick him up and embrace him but I can''t move as my body seems paralyzed, then I hear a rustle to my right, I know who it is immediately and I don''t bother looking. ¡°What is going on, why the gloomy faces?¡± My husband says while shooting his trademark grin. Then he sees the caravan and frowns. ¡°They targeted you too? to be honest, they were pretty strong are you guys ok?" He comes closer to me and helps me up, then looking around to search for anything that can be salvaged he notices for the first time the massacre, with our son standing right in the middle of the men with the twisted necks. Lifting an eyebrow he asks silently, expecting the answer to come from me, my son replies first to his questions. ¡°It was me who did this father.¡±
Chap. 12 - The truth & Understanding
¡°What?!¡± My father looks at me in confusion. ¡°It was me who did this, father.¡± I feel like my life with the two amazing and caring parents I have, is about to end and I can¡¯t help but feel the deepest and saddening feeling. ¡°H-how are you talking so well, and more importantly what happened here.¡± Looking at mom for an answer, father tries very hard to remain calm. ¡°H-he told me to wait¡± Both look at me searching for an answer, but I divert my eyes not being able to endure the faces the betrayal or horror when I speak the truth. ¡°I am...¡± I start speaking but my words choke in my throat as I watch both their eyes darken. ¡°I was dead, in the void, filled with nothingness.¡± Tears start streaming down as realize this will probably be the biggest turning point in my life, these two people who have been my father and mother did nothing but love me and I betrayed them, plain and simple and I feel ashamed by my acts of deceit. ¡°After I was dead, I thought that was the end, that life was just that. Live, suffer and die, but then ¡®IT¡¯ came looking for me, lurking in the dead space of nothingness and he made me an offer, of course, the power it had over me made it impossible to refuse and so...¡± I told them everything about my encounter and my reincarnation in this world, the speed at which I progressed and why I was always a bit odd. ¡°T-this...¡± Father shakes his head while mother is pale as a ghost, both are finding it difficult to articulate anything. Suddenly I hear a carriage coming our way so I turn my head fearing another attack, but I relax after seeing a merchant caravan pull on the side of the dirt road. ¡°Hello, strangers!¡± A fat middle aged man approaches us with a warm smile, but seeing the corpses laying around he immediately retreats with a frown while looking at my parents. ¡°Please, we are just passerby''s we mean no harm.¡± My father snapping out of his thoughts looks at me and then at the merchant with a flash of malicious intent that only last a second, and I, of course, can probably deduce what he¡¯s thinking. The most probable is for him to be pondering to whether to give me to the merchant as some sort of commodity or not, but he finally sights and at the same time I feel my knees almost lose their tension with a sigh of relief.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Sygni, come...¡± He grabs mother by her waist and saying nothing goes to towards the merchant. ¡°Hello, name¡¯s Orvar.¡± Without any energy I see my father handing money to the fat merchant, who introduces himself as Nero. They both get in while I''m just paralyzed in place gawking at them. ¡®So this is it, how we part...¡¯ While musing words of defeat, I hear mother¡¯s voice who was almost too quiet through the whole ordeal. ¡°We¡¯re going Ragnar, get in.¡± I hurriedly walk with my small body towards the merchant''s caravan. Not sparing a single glance at the bodies or our belongings scattered, as father has all the money in his pockets for safe keeping. Awkwardly climbing inside I feel almost rejected by the both of them until mother¡¯s face changes and a determined look appears on her face. ¡°Regrets...¡± Doubt filling her eyes she asks. ¡°What regrets are those you spoke off, that made that powerful being so willing to give you a second chance at life?¡± I fumble in the wooden floor of the carriage not expecting this turn of events at all. I expected hate, accusations or even scorn, but doubt, that i can manage. ¡°In my previous world, we only had one race, the humans, albeit with different types of skin colors, view, and social standings. But to me, those didn¡¯t matter, because while the rich and truly powerful made use of our hate to blind us, we would just act like puppets. Of course, there were millions of people who were aware of the strange system created, but on the other hand, there were people who were happy with their life¡¯s being as they were.¡± I start to introduce my parents to my worlds differences, like different religions, cultures, and people. When my father hears that in my last world, there was no magic curiously asks. ¡°So people defend themselves how?¡± I smile bitterly as I recall firearms and other weapons. Earth was in no way a walk in the park, what it lacked in magical confrontation and superhuman beings, it made up for technological advancement just to kill. Thinking about it now, almost all our advances in the numerous fields of study were to be used as weapons, first tested in the armies and then given to the people.
As I watch the sunset and the birds chirp, not daring to face my parents in the eyes I speak about how my life had been lived with an alcoholic father, the beatings and the misery. All the humiliating moments in my life compiled in a few minutes as I talk about my time in prison and how I died. I watch in silence, after the monologue of hours on end about all that made up my previous and meaningless life. Then I hear my mother rustle and place a hand on my face, willed by this action I turn to look at her and surprise fills my chest. Small tears stream down her face, mixed feelings conflicting with each other, while also in my father¡¯s face I can see sadness. ¡°So much grief.¡± She whispers. ¡°You truly are our son.¡± ¡°What?¡± Flabbergasted by the actions of my parents I can only ask this. ¡°Your father and I were the same as you, of course for different reasons other than your¡¯s, but our parents were abusive as well, didn''t you know?¡± I frown, understanding now the hate my father carries towards grandfather. I look meekly at both of them, heart warmed by their words. ¡°I-i thought that you would hate me.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t hate you we just...needed time to understand your circumstances, even if it was your own choice to come back to life we can understand, after all, we¡¯re death fearing creatures that will cling to any opportunity to live and that¡¯s not a bad thing, it only means that you¡¯re human.¡± Saying this father gets up from his seating position and kneels placing his hand on my shoulder. ¡°You didn¡¯t have a normal childhood, normal parents nor real friends. So to us, you¡¯re just a child with a lot of emotional baggage that needs to know how to grow up relying on others.¡± ¡°My darling son, of course, we would love you.¡± Mother smiles and kisses my forehead, trying to cure my damaged self one bit at a time. ¡°And I know you love us, if not, why would you have risen to protect me from those assassins.¡± I look down towards the wooden floor not daring to raise my head, fearing that I will weep into a pool of tears. ¡®Thank you Berefte for a second chance at life, thank you mother for being so kind to me, thank you father for being so understanding.''
Chap. 13 - Goblins & Gabriella
After we talked about my previous life to the fullest, my anxiety had gone down and things were looking better. Almost two weeks passed, we had long gone through the Edden¡¯s border, days went by with questions and answers between each other, nothing was hidden by me, if they were able to understand me and forgive me for taking the place of a blank and immaculate Soul, then I couldn''t hide anything from them, that would be shameful and so our bond as parents and child only grew stronger. One the same day of ¡®the talk¡¯ that we had, I also learned where my mother and father were headed. It turns out there is a city, not considered a Kingdom nor Empire, but what would be called The Principate of Nokt to the south, while other countries surrounded their borders, it had remained neutral and independent. From what I was told as we were traveling, it had a very strong standing because of the mixed races. Not only it had various types of Elves but also Dwarmen, High Humans, The Beasten Race and even mystical beings like golems and fairies, just to name a few. The diversity occurred because of various factors, but the most prominent was the commerce and the Exploration Guild. While it was located in between the Higher Humans, the Elves and the Beasten race territory giving them top-notch strategical position, it also had the Guild, there were many guilds but this one was different. While the Adventurer¡¯s Guild was designed to kill sentient monsters, this guild was made to explore beyond the charted continent and even sail the almost whole unexplored sea. While killing monsters was appealing and lucrative to an extent, the real money was made while exploring and discovering ancient artifacts. The mirage mirror was actually a discovered technology that after almost a millennia of reverse engineering was able to be used again. Due to the reclusive nature of the elves and the low birth rates we had almost no Explorers on the Guild, while the ones that had the talent or strength to be high ranked were fighting on the frontlines. Of course, there were elves living normal lives in Nokt but not everyone was from the higher clans or had the resources merchants or experts in their fields had. As I gaze at nothing while piecing the information given to me by my parents and the merchant''s bodyguards, I am startled by the cries of a female voice, turning my head to look at the woods I see a small child running directly towards the caravan while snot is falling down her face in impossible amounts. Father who is napping and mother who is reading are both startled by the screams and immediately run out the back of the caravan, then I hear a commotion of squeals and shrills. Poking my head out, I see my father impaling goblin after goblin while the bodyguards and mercenaries take defending positions and gawk at his strength awe. ¡°Truly these annoying little pests are everywhere.¡± A voice startles me from my daze, turning I see a pungy and affable man. ¡°Mr. Nero!¡± I look at the merchant with a confused look, not expecting this heavy man to be so silent in the way he walks. Seeing my face, he chuckles while almost closing his eyelids. ¡°You didn¡¯t expect me to be this nimble did you Ragnar, my boy?¡± My face turns hot as I realize what my expression must have looked to him. ¡°I''m sorry Mr. Nero, I didn¡¯t mean it in that way.¡± ¡°Ha-ha!¡± He laughs harder as he sees my flustered face and says. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, even if you¡¯re a little genius at most things I wouldn''t take offense from the words a child, I am not that petty.¡±A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Then I realize that the screams and shrills are gone and turn my head towards where my father was fighting, only to see him standing in the middle of over fifty goblin corpses. ¡°It was a good deal, yes sir!¡± The merchant smiles like an old fox while looking at my father. ¡°Giving you guys such a long ride and food in exchange for protection is one of the best deals I¡¯ve ever done.¡± I can help but smile while this weird man is always around, he is charismatic and at the same time cunning to a manageable degree. The first time bonding with the Nero Company of trading, they all saw me speak like an adult, of course with a few errors that couldn''t be helped as I haven¡¯t mastered this difficult language to the adult level. But even after seeing that, they did not alienize me nor they were afraid because I was such a small and capable child, instead, they were very welcoming of not only me but my parents too. ¡°Well, now that we have stopped...¡± Sighing, Nero gave the command to unpack the tents and other utensils to have lunch. ¡° Alright, I have to go interrogate the little child your mother is tending to.¡± I nod while getting out of the caravan and touching the dusty road with my small feet. ¡®Aaaaah this is bliss, after half a day inside that meat grinder nothing beats firm land.¡¯ Smiling I head towards my father who is cleaning his sword. Walking past the bodies, the smell of blood turns pungent and difficult to bear, but I still preserve until reaching father. ¡°Ragnar, how do you like my swordsmanship?¡± Turning his serious face into a smiling one father asks. ¡°I love the way it is so elegant while other times it is so explosive, dad.¡± I nod in a knowing manner as if I¡¯m a sword connoisseur. "Ha-ha" He laughs while pointing a finger at me. "You really think you that?" "No..." Disappointment flashes through his eyes, but in turn, I smirk letting him know it was a joke. Our bland banter keeps flowing in an unhurried manner until mother approaches us with the running little girl. Looking at her small face I notice the red eyes, a small nose, the ruffled brown hair and the slightly swollen lips. But the biggest impact is made by her blue eyes and numerous freckles. ¡®When she grows, she will become an unparalleled beauty.¡¯ But then, I stumble when I notice her most redeeming feature of all, her ears. They aren¡¯t pointy in the top, but round and smooth. ¡®She¡¯s a High Human!'' Everyone in the convoy that is headed to Nokt are either Elves or Elven-kin of some kind. Although they are different to some extent they still keep the most basic and redeeming features of the Elven race, like the ears or the hight. As we traveled we hadn''t seen any other races, later my mother explained that this road was used mostly by merchants from the Elven Kingdom and the surrounding Clans to trade with Nokt so there were not a lot of diversity to be found while transversing. Noticing my intense stare, the girl who is a mess of bruises and tattered clothes avoids my gaze and looks at the ground. Coughing I restrain my emotions. ¡°She¡¯s from Nokt, her name is Gabriella and she had been traveling for tree day¡¯s heading towards the Shuman Clan territory until her entourage was attacked by a Wivern. Apparently, her mother is in Elven territory for medical treatment and father is with her.¡± Mother sighs and shakes her head in sorrow. ¡°The head guard, feeling they were losing, had ordered her to run while they fought, she could only take a small amount of food. She had been wandering the forest for two days, not eating nor drinking anything for a day and a half until she stumbled on a river, unfortunately, there were goblin patrols and they spotted her.¡± ¡°Aaaaah...¡± Father puts a hand on the girls head, and in turn, Gabriella concentrates even more on the floor, as if it was the most dazzling painting she¡¯s ever seen. ¡°Such a small child getting lost in one the Raktack forest, don¡¯t worry you¡¯re safe now.¡± Mother look¡¯s at me. ¡°Ragnar stop staring, she¡¯s scared as she is and you''re not helping.¡± ¡°I-i had never seen a High Human before.¡± Shaking my head I say. ¡°I''m sorry for staring.¡± The girl named Gabriella nods her head but doesn''t say a thing. I feel somewhat sad at the sight of such a child being helpless and scared for two days in an unknown forest. ¡°Are we taking her to Nokt?¡± ¡°Yes, we will take her to her house and explain what happened to her and her convoy,¡± Father says whit a righteous tone, while he shoots mother a wink. In the end, we had lunch and proceeded toward nokt hoping to reach the City-state at sundown the next day.
Chap. 14 - Arrival
Today is finally the day we arrive at Nokt, or at least that is what I was told at dinner yesterday by one of Nero¡¯s guards. All in all, we had a very bumpy ride but I feel like many good things came out of it. My parents still ask me questions but rarely about myself and mostly about earth in general and I, in turn, try to ask about this world. Some things are hard to explain about earth, while others are hard for my parents to explain to me about this new world. As I ponder, I feel my clothes being tugged and look to my side and what greets me is the face of Gabriella. After spending some time together I found out she¡¯s almost two whole years bigger than me, making her three years old. By now I am fairly certain of her character as well, at first I thought that she would be a spoiled brat given her high-class status in Nokt, but then I found out she was very shy, not at all what I had expected. ¡°Ragnar, are we there yet?¡± I shake my head and sigh to myself, she only communicates with two people, one being me and the other being mother, when father or other people speak to her she always grabs either my shirt or my mother¡¯s dress. She got attached to mother because she¡¯s the only woman in the convoy and she became attached to me because we¡¯re both the only kids. ¡°It¡¯s still a bit far off Gabriella.¡± ¡°Hum¡± She nods in understanding and goes back to dozing off.
Out of boredom, I start to meditate again and feel the mana flowing around me. After transforming into that ''thing'', I have been able to sense my surroundings better while at the same time my body strength is almost five times higher than what it was. Obviously, as I am developing much faster than a normal child, mother had to lie about my age to everyone, saying I¡¯m four years old. No matter how much of a genius someone is, it¡¯s impossible that by the age of one I am able to speak, walk or read like I do. ¡®That¡¯s strange.¡¯ With my eyes closed, I focus on my surroundings and I meditate by beckoning the small particles towards me, bending and gathering them by my own will. ¡®It¡¯s much faster than yesterday, and I suddenly there is more mana around me, such progress is not normal, right?¡± ¡°Mother...¡± Opening my eyes and looking at my parents in front of me, I voice my concern. ¡°Mother, the mana is gathering faster than normal and in larger amounts.¡± ¡°Hum? Oh, my baby, that is¡­.¡± Looking at me her features, they suffer alterations from shock to happiness. ¡°You¡¯re an apprentice now!¡± ¡®Hum? Apprentice?¡¯ With a puzzled look I try to understand what that word means, but after a while, I give up and ask. ¡°Mother, what is an apprentice?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right! Even after all we spoke about we haven¡¯t explained the stages of magic or augmentation one goes through,¡± Clapping her hands while smiling she continues to unload information. ¡°They are fundamentally different, but at the same time equal. Normally young children are instructed in magic that affects the surrounding while child augmenters focus on affecting his or her body.¡± Rising a finger she starts to use her magic to draw yellow letters, numbers, and pictures that form a basic system. ¡°As you can see, normally someone starts learning magic or augmentation between the ages of five or six, reaching the apprentice stage or the first stage as a mage approximately two to three years after, then the more you practice the more your magic control and magic gathering ability raises.¡± ¡°The stages are divided in: Apprentice Magician; Initiate; Enlightened Magician; Master; Enlightened Master; Archmaster; Immortal magician and lastly God¡¯s mage. Above being a God¡¯s mage, there is no information of what comes next, some say a person can become a God in theory, but there have never been records off anyone reaching the Immortal magician stage, so nobody knows for sure.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. I ponder and digest the information about this magical system, and in the end, I voice my question. ¡°Mother, at what level of magic are you? Everyone calls you an archmage but there is no stage called that.¡± ¡°He-he¡± Father laughs at my words while looking at me. ¡°Your Mother holds the title of Archmage but her stage is actually that of a master, still, it¡¯s a powerful stage for her age and that is one of the reasons the elders didn¡¯t try to kill us but instead alienate us, that is until we decided to tip the scales of power and became useless in a political standpoint.¡± ¡°Yes, and it¡¯s very difficult to advance as they are divided into three sub-stages, the more one advances the more it complicates things as there is more than to gather mana.¡± Mother finishes her drawings while the magical particles still linger in the air. ¡°But there are also the augmentation stages, but your father is a better choice to explain that.¡± ¡°Yes! That''s right, augmentators have their own stages and their own rules.¡± He starts explaining the augmentation side. ¡°It¡¯s very simple, magical particles imbue themselves with one''s own body to produce strength and then bring out the explosive power of the muscles and other variants.¡± ¡°It¡¯s total stages are: Apprentice Warrior; Initiate; Enlightened Warrior; Conscript Warrior; Master Warrior; Higher body; Immortal body; God¡¯s Warrior body,¡± Father explains the various stages with a bittersweet smile. ¡°I really would have liked for you to choose the augmenters path, but the magician''s path is good none the less.¡± My eyebrows shoot up in a realization of what I just did becoming an apprentice magician. ¡®I chose the Magicians path thinking that I could use both, but now I''m not entirely sure!'' Face sunken I hurriedly ask my father. ¡°Can I not be both, a magician and augmenter?¡± ¡°Of course not, because when you turn five you get a totem from the gods to help you channel magic in accordance with what you¡¯re naturally better at, be it magic or augmentation. Either you are born better at controlling the environment or your own body.¡± ¡®Shit, Fuck!¡¯ All form of insults are said in my mind as the realization hits me, big mistake on my part when I started to train magic thinking that it would give me an edge over the others. ¡®Oh, how ignorant I was.¡¯ Mother brows furrow as she sees my expression. ¡°You did mean to train in your magical ability, did you?¡± ¡°No...¡± Ashen-faced I reply to my mother. "I-i thought it would give me an edge over others..." Both father and mother look at my ashen face and sigh at my foolishness. After the explanation, I realize the biggest problem is that if I had more talent for augmentation than I have for magic, then I wasted the opportunity for becoming much more powerful and dangerous. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, my darling son. If you¡¯re an apprentice at your age then you surely are more talented at magic then augmentation.¡± She tries to cheer me up, but I cannot stop thinking about how foolish I am. ¡°Well we can discuss things later, there is still time until you get your totem when you turn five.¡± I nod signaling my dejection only to realize we¡¯re coming to a halt. I try to move my torso but feel something heavy in my legs, looking down I realize Gabriella fell asleep in my left tight while we were having the lengthy talk. Grabbing her head gently I perform the old switcharoo with a pillow and get up to go see what is happening. ¡°Halt!¡± A deep and scratchy voice reaches my ears before I can peek through the driver''s high seat. ¡°This is Nokt¡¯s outer border, you are to step outside for inspection and pay the entrance fee!¡± I hurry to jump out of the carriage as everyone else does and stand to the side of the wheels while the black and silver armored human soldiers inspect our caravans. One of the approaching soldiers emanates a commanding aura, evidently being a human and their commanding officer, he nods towards all the products and other miscellaneous things while looking thoroughly for smuggled weapons or other paraphernalia. ¡°Clear!¡± One of the soldiers says while inspecting the first carriage of our entourage and soon after we hear the same from every other carriage. ¡°Ok, who is the leader of this merchant band?¡± Suddenly Nero appears next to the tall and commanding man as if by teleporting and says. ¡°It¡¯s me sergeant Nizze, I¡¯m returning home after a long trip if you could please hurry the procedures for payment...¡± ¡°Oh, Mr. Nero I didn¡¯t know it was you sir.¡± The man named Nizze suddenly straightens and respectfully addresses Nero. ¡°Of course I wouldn''t want to delay your homecoming Sir.¡± And just like that, the procedures went smoothly and without a hitch with the soldiers. My parents had to pay the hefty sum of two golden coins, while Gabriella and I had to pay one gold coin each. The carriages rolled slowly throw the amazingly high, fortified and sandy colored walls dividing the Raktack forest from the Nokt land.
Half a day later, expecting to have long reached the city of Nokt I watch as the sun finishes setting with my elbow resting in my tight and my hand firmly placed on my chin while listening to the crickets melodies and the fading golden shine of the wheat crops. ¡°I thought that by now we would have reached the damned City.¡± I complain like a little kid towards no one in particular. ¡°Don¡¯t be impatient, we will only reach the actual City tomorrow at mid-day,¡± Father informs me. ¡°For now we¡¯re in the outskirts that the locals call the Elysian Fields, crops and farms used to fuel the needs of the actual city, tonight we won¡¯t camp outside, as there is a small village roughly two clicks (2km) away.¡± Looking in amazement towards my father my mood rapidly improves after the news of indoor sleep coupled with clean beds. Slowly night descends, unforgiven, while the stars shine in the sky while we approach a bunch of brick houses through a well-illuminated pathway. ¡°We¡¯re here, don¡¯t worry about Gabriella ill take her inside.¡± Mother lifts her small body while we descend from the carriage heading towards a simple yet homely building. Inside what greets us is hall connected to a living room filled with loud noises and a festive ambient, while rowdy men chat about all sorts of things we make our way towards the front desk of the middle sized Inn. We ask for the biggest room and head upwards through a wooden staircase reaching a long corridor. After entering the room we eat, talk and later in the evening we go to sleep. While in bed I wonder what kind of adventures will greet me tomorrow.
Chap. 15 - The city of Nokt
After having a rejuvenescent sleep the night before, I can now endure the constant rumbling of the carriage, monotone and constant. We tried to make small talk like telling stories about great heroes and relevant people in the history of this world and so bit by bit the time passes in horrid boredom, until father suddenly smiles, curious I whisper to mother. ¡°Mother, why is father grinning like an idiot?¡± Looking at me knowingly, father replies faster than mother. ¡°Son, we¡¯re here¡± Getting up from his seated position he grabs me and Gabriella despite her protests and takes us outside. ¡°Look! That''s Nokt one of the biggest Cities in the whole continent. We¡¯re still an hour away more or less, but even from here you can smell the city life.¡±Shaking my head at the remark that only a person who has an enhanced body like father can make, I focus on the only thing I can actually see, and what greets me is a giant purplish wall that awaits us in the far off distance. Turning my head to the side I look at Gabriella and notice her hopeful look as if she has seen an oasis in the middle of the desert. ¡®She really was unfortunate in her failed travels, I guess she is lucky that she found the main road and even luckier that our caravan was passing by the Raktack forest.¡¯ ¡°Gabriella, you¡¯re going home.¡± Smiling towards her I notice the childish smile on her face and can¡¯t help but imitate her.
An hour and a half later we encounter the end of the road followed by a purple and polished massive wall that extended itself to at least twenty meters, up above one could barely see soldiers patrolling. To block the passage of unwanted people through a gigantic wooden door with silver hinges, soldiers were also stationed below. After arriving, we all descend from the carriages that had been our partial home for the last two weeks and headed to the main carriage at the front where Mr. Nero was engaging in small talk with a bulky guard while the rest of the soldiers were inspecting the contents and merchandise. As we approach what I notice atop the head of the bulky man makes my eyes widen in surprise. ¡®T-Those are...Animal ears, fluffy ears!¡¯ My eyes shine in curiosity as I inspect the features of the bulky man approximately two meters in front of me. With wolf-like ears on the top of his head and the color of the silvery moon, his ears twitch to the whims of the wind. Finally reaching both men, I stare intensely at the ears in admiration for what seems like an eternity. ¡®So this is a person from the Beast-race, and he should be of the wolfkin.¡¯ Letting out a rare childish moment overcome me, I exclaimed for everyone to hear. ¡°So awesome!¡± Hearing this, everyone looks at me in a strange fashion and I immediately realize that my words might be considered offensive toward the Bulky man. Looking at me the man starts to laugh in a rowdy manner. ¡°Hahaha! This child is funny, never in my 224 years has anyone looked at me and used the word awesome to describe my appearance!¡± ¡°Please, I am sorry for my son¡¯s behavior.¡± Shaking her head, mother apologizes in my stead while grabbing onto my sides with her fingers and pinching to the point that I think that she is trying to squeeze orange juice out of me. ¡°It¡¯s ok ma¡¯am, he¡¯s only curious as a child should be.¡± The bulky soldier placed a massive hand on my head while grinning and began to mess my hair up. ¡°Everything has been inspected Captain Mozier!¡± A skinny soldier said while approaching us and the bulky Beast-Wolf nodded in acknowledgment. Then the captain handed back some papers to Mr. Nero and said. ¡° Sir, everything is in check with the cargo as always and you may proceed inside." Turning his head to look at me with a smile Cap. Mozier said. "Nice to meet you kid and I hope to see you and your lovely family again.¡± Saying this he turned around and went back to his post. After a few minutes of putting everything back in order, we headed for the inside of Nokt for the first time. My first impression of the city was that it offered a more of an eighteen-century European feel. While transversing a large and paved avenue, filled with people roaming about in their daily lives there were pleasant and yet subtle smells of freshly baked breador intense flowery aromas, giving a view of prosperity and bustling activity.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. After a couple of minutes of dodging the intense crowds, we arrived at a large-sized building approximately eight hundred meters away from the wall, Mr. Nero stopped the carriage while heading inside a parallel storage-like building, seeing this we descended to the firm and paved soil. Thinking of the size of the building father thought it to be the merchants guild and as such, we stood idly to one side while father and mother organized a schedule. The first thing on the list was to ask Gabriella some questions about her home. I stood beside mother and father as they were talking with Gabriella, asking her where her house was located and on what street. At first, Gabriella resisted to talk in front of father, but the constant nagging from mother persuaded her to spill the beans shortly after. With a grin, I noticedher red face while explaining that she lived in the upper-class part of the City and that her home had a golden gate at the entrance. Having finally discovered where Gabriella''s home was located, the four of us went inside the large storage building beside the main one, there, we asked around to the busy staff forthe location of Mr. Nero and what surprised us was the information provided by an employed boy, who with disdain towards our ragged clothes informed us that Mr. Nero was a busy person not only because he was a merchant but also because his status a noble, and a powerful noble at that. Apparently, in the eyes of the young boy, Mr. Nero had no time for us because he had to manage one of the biggest trading enterprises in Nokt and at the same time manage dozens of properties, investments, and even the monthly auction. Ignoring the young boy''s attitude, father headed toward the back of the large storage building wherevoices could be heard coming from. Reaching the cramped space, we could immediately see the figure of the pungy man dressed in fine clothes and before father could even talk, Mr. Nero turned around with a big smile and said. ¡°Mr. Orvar, I thank you for your assistance in this long voyage. Normally I wouldn''t go on such trips anymore but this one was a bit special. It involved a certain treasure that one of the clan members in your Kingdom was interested in selling. But after a bitter turndown and a meaningless trip, I¡¯ve met you and your lovely family and as such, it can be said to be worth all the trouble. Ha-ha.¡± After such monologue truly befitting a cunning noble, the man laughed like a lazy cat while his eyes narrowed, myfather not familiar with such flattery scratch the back of his head. ¡°O-Of course Mr. Nero, it was mutually beneficial for both to have met on the road.¡± Then father awkwardly reached for his pouch and asked. ¡°Forgive my forthcoming but how much do we owe you for the lift to Nokt?¡± ¡°Oh-oh, Mr. Orvar do you take me as a swindler? Through the whole trip, we benefited mutually, so let¡¯s call it even. dare I even say that if you ever need a job, please come and see me.¡± Reaching for a handshake, father and Mr. Nero said their goodbyes, while we also said some parting words.
Now on the street with the sun setting on the horizon, we headed first to book a room in an inn located in the middle-class district, so we wouldn''t sleep outside that night. We reached the ¡®Pass-on¡¯ Inn that Mr. Nero had recommended a few days ago while on the road and we entered a hall with a cozy and homely atmosphere. ¡°Hello, can I help you?¡± Said a woman behind the counter with a bored look on her face, probably displeased to spend her days waiting for costumers to arrive. ¡°Yes, we would like the suite, with breakfast and a bathtub included please.¡± Mother smilingly approached the woman while father hushed words of comfort to the home-sick Gabriella inside the inn. Looking around this inn, it seemed more of a personal house than an actual hotel with flowers pots and rustic sofas on the corners, while the smell of homemade meals spread through the polished wooded lobby. ''I guess the owner knows how to decorate to please and relax the guests.'' ¡°I¡¯m sorry the suite is already taken, but we have another room that is just as nice.¡± Smelling the opportunity to make money out of a country bumpkin young couple, the woman changed her attitude towards mother. Although we looked ragged, how poor could we be to ask for a suite? ¡°We also include a meal with the room and hot water with the bathtub. The total amount for everything is 2 gold coins.¡± Mother looked towardsfather flabbergasted and then towards the woman not believing her words. Father, having traveled more than mother approached the counter hand in hand with Gabriella and said. ¡°Miss, the thing is, Mr. Nero recommended this place to us, however, he never said a thing about the steep prices. So you can understand my wife''s reaction.¡± After hearing the name of Nero the woman immediately excused herself about the price, brushing it off as a mistake. The inn''s bill after being haggled by father like an expert, dropped from the real price of 80 silver coins to just 65 silver coins making fathers mood improve immediately, after retrieving the key we headed outside, and I spaced out remembering how the conversion and value of coins was a standard fantasy 1 (Gold) = 100 (Silver). The biggest difference from fantasy novels from earth was that if one needed greater amounts of money they could buy Nokt bank bonds, where one could cash out the amounts in an account with a balance through an easy transaction and signing process. There was still a fair bit until dinner so father decided that taking Gabriella back home was the next move to be done. While heading towards the nobles district, we walked past clothing stores and mother began to talk about how we needed new garments for the three of us since we had lost all of our belongings and we only had the clothes on our own bodies. The quality of the goods obviously went up as we headed for the center and after we had walked for about an hour and a half we reached the nobles central district. This part of the city was better maintained and better guarded than the lower class districts, the people weren¡¯t in a rush and actually walked leisurely around the paved streets and few to no carriages transited through. The sight of our outfits and ragged looks must have startled quite a few of the nobles as their faces cramped when they laid eyes on us, but seeing that we didn¡¯t seek any trouble, they let us roam until we got to a four-story mansion with a golden gate and white walls. On the inside, a luxuriously green and well-maintained garden could be seen. As I was wondering how we would make our presence noticed, I peeked at Gabriella out of curiosity and I could see her hands trembling and her lips quivering, while her moisty eyes were locked at the mahogany colored front door. In the meanwhile disregarding all manners as always, father shouted at the top of his lungs. ¡°HELLO, ANYBODY INSIDE?!¡±
Chap. 16 - The Akermans house & Grief After the yell, every passerby frowned in disdain at the sight of an adult elf screaming and disturbing the peace, but father wouldn¡¯t be father if he was fazed by that level of embarrassment, so he kept yelling at the people inside the mansion until we saw the mahogany door slowly open. A human aged man in an impeccable black shirt and tight black trousers came out with an imposing stride and an embarrassed face yelling improper words all the way towards the front and massive golden gate. As he approached us his face changed from anger to surprise when he saw the little figure grabbing into the hem of mother¡¯s dirty white dress, and yelled in surprise. ¡°Little Miss! What are you doing here?¡± After which more than walking, the stoic man began to run at full throttle towards us. Once there, he clumsily opened the lock and snatched Gabriella into the air and tightly hugged her. ¡°Miss are you okay? What happened?¡± After a moment of a barraged questions, to which Gabriella was unable to answer the man finally turned towards us as we were standing awkwardly and waiting quietly for him to regain his composure. Seeing this, his visage assumed a protective stance and he bellowed. ¡°Who are you, was it you filthy bums who drove our Little Miss to this battered state?¡± The man said in a proud and angry demeanor confronting us. Father who tried to speak was ignored by the man as he lifted a finger in an accusing manner. ¡°It was you people, who mistreated the young lady, furthermore, you even came here thinking to take advantage of us servants while our masters are away. Why did you come, what do you want?¡± Losing his temper, father clenched his fists in a way that signaled his impending attack. ''Who would have thought that a servant in such a big household was so short tempered?'' I internally thought. Putting Gabriella down on the floor the servant started to exude killing intent that turned into an aura of thick and heavy red miasma. Things turning for the worse, Gabriella who was quiet until now, mustered up all her courage and bellowed in a small and trembling voice she said.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°N-no Uncle Bali, t-they saved m-me!¡± The servant with a look confusion turned his head once again towards Gabriella. In response, she nodded her head as she reiterated her previous statement making the so-called Uncle Bali deflate in an instant. ¡°I am sorry for such an uncouth behavior, as the main butler of the Akerman household I would like to extend my deepest apologies.¡± Coughing in an awkward manner, the butler turned towards us and with a hand on his chest, he performed a small bow.
Having cleared up the misunderstanding with the Butler, we headed into the big mansion and Gabriella was taken away by a young maid. Saying our goodbyes to her we passed through a luxurious main entrance and were directed towards the living room painted in refined tones of blues and whites. We were made to wait on the couches by the enormous fireplace while I took the opportunity to observe the room in detail and appreciate the uniformed victorian furniture. It all exuded an old feeling of use but at the same time, it was well taken care of and thus making the living room a very comfortable place. As the butler named Bali prepared some afternoon tea and pastries the awkward atmosphere thickened. Noticing this he served us a fragrant and aromatic blend of tea that I didn¡¯t recognize. While pouring my tea a dark line crossed Bali¡¯s face as he heavily sighed and asked. ¡°Why isn¡¯t the little miss on her way to the Elven Kindom?¡± Father who was drinking the tea lifted his head and all the habitual joking mannerisms suddenly vanished. With a heavy voice, he informed Bali of Gabriella''s nightmarish days. ¡°Apparently, little Gabriella was ambushed in her journey by a Wivern.¡± Bali¡¯s face contorted in a pained face and his hands were shaking as he mumbled a whispered prayer after guessing the extent of the loss when only Gabriella had returned. In his stupor, his knees gave and he heavily seated himself on the coffee table in front of us. While he mourned his loss, he asked through gritted teeth. ¡°What exactly happened to her escorts? And why did it take so long for her to come back?¡± Understanding the man¡¯s emotions, father responded in the most tactful manner he could. ¡°Well Mr. Bali, the men... most probably all lost their lives sacrificing themselves so that little Gabriella could escape.¡± I uncomfortably rustled in my seat and couldn''t help but feel sorry for the loyal men who died just so that Gabriella could come back home safely. ¡°Then she wondered the forest for a couple of days until meeting our caravan that was fortunately, traveling from Edden to Nokt.¡± ¡°I see, that is truly both fortunate and unfortunate...¡± He said as he slumped his back in defeat, black hair covering his face. After re-telling the whole story to Bali in a more detailed way, one could see that he probably was good friends with some of the dead warriors, so the loss was a heavy one towards not just to the household but to him as well. ¡°T-thank you¡± Bali finally said in a chocked manner, avoiding eye contact as his pride probably didn''t allow for others to see him cry. ¡°Thank you for bringing the little miss back to us, please if you ever need anything from me or the Akerman household, just say the words and we will do anything to assist your family.¡±