《The Darkness that Follows》 Chapter 1: Splinter ¡°Neo where have you gone now?!¡± I could hear mother calling me as I was hiding nicely in the closet in order to head to the edge of town to meet my friends, the town kids where not up this early but the animals where. So as soon as my mother left in search of me, I dashed out of the house as the sun was coming up to meet with the foxes. I reached the edge of the forest just as the sun had completely risen. To my surprise Zillah was standing there as if she was expecting me. My little sister Zillah was actually stunning if she could ever stay clean. With her jet black hair that reaches all the way down to her waist. With white porcelain skin underneath the layer of dirt that covered her. My favorite feature though woulddefinitely be her eyes, they look to be the color black at first glance but they are actually a deep purple. I on the other hand possess dirty brown hair that is slightly wavy, my skin had a slight tan to it. Honestly not sure if that¡¯s from always being outside or if it¡¯s my actual completion. My only "unique" quality that I possess is that my right iris of my eye is a deep red while my left is a ice blue. When I asked my mother why my eyes where two different colors she explained to me that she is from the white kingdom originally. While my father on the other hand is from the red kingdom, so I got the traits of both. Zillah and I possess entirely different physical quality''s due to the fact my family took her in when she was very young. Even though we are not biologically related we treat each other as if we were. ¡°Good morning Zillah, what bring you here so early?¡± I said with a hint of sarcasm. ¡°You know very well that mother was looking for you, and you decided to run off. I have come to capture you Neo.¡± She proceeded to stand in a stance imitating a knight. ¡°Dear little sister you act as if I¡¯m some criminal?!¡± ¡°Shall we fight then if you won¡¯t come willingly?¡± She said with a dark look. ¡°Oh but it¡¯s not fair for me to harm a young lady as yourself.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Neo you only call me a ¡°young lady¡± when you are avoiding a battle.¡± Sadly it looked to me the Zillah was not going to let me go easily if I resisted. Even though she was younger than me by a year, she was not easily beat. At best I might be able to win but at the cost of being entirely covered in bruises for the next week. So I decided to forfeit. ¡°Alright, alright I¡¯ll come back. I¡¯ll apologize to mother as well.¡± ¡°Good that¡¯s what I expect from my older brother¡± she said with a sarcasm. As we started walking back I decided that a race would be a better way to go all the way back home. ¡°You up for a race?¡± ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I be? You think you can beat me Neo?¡± ¡°Alright let¡¯s make a bet then? If I win you have to show me how you get to the forest faster then I do. If I lose I will ask you permission to leave the house for a week?¡± ¡°Alright make it a month and we have a deal¡± ¡°Ok, deal¡± We got ready, we decided on the route we would take home in order to show that just shear speed and maneuvering would be the only way to win. We decided the finish line would be the door home. And the first one to touch the doorknob would be crowned champion. ¡°Alright ready, set....go¡± BAM instantly Zillah got in the front of me, though I was not surprised. She always had the most instant energy but I know I have more stamina. Though when I look up Zillah was far more in front of me then she should be, that¡¯s when I realized she must has used a support spell in order to get a even bigger jump ahead.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°Damn it, Zillah I never said we could use magic!¡± as soon as those word escape me I see my sister with a devilish smile. ¡°You also never said we couldn¡¯t.¡± her smile growing brighter. Even though I am older then my little sister she has a wider knowledge of spells then I do. She must of gotten this knowledge from her previous family because just getting a couple of spells from my mother and father is like pulling teeth. Still I know the basics because my mother thought it could help me if I ever got in danger. I know support, protect and emit. So I immediately support my feet in order to get the much needed boast. That moved me closer but I was still about 200 yards away. I realized I would need something bigger than usual to make up that distance and if I¡¯m lucky get me up ahead. That¡¯s when I thought why can I use emit behind me and let the aftershock propel me forward? I could use protect while being propelled so I wouldn¡¯t take any damage. I have never tried this before and also never used all three basic spells simultaneously but I decided it was the only way. As I was sprinting forward I had kept support on my feet in order to have more control in the air. I also cast protect over my entire body and strengthen it even more on my back. I jumped forward and in the instant I used emit. Which caused a huge sound and even though I was protected the push forward caused me to lose my breath for a instant. As soon as Zhillah heard the noise from emit she turned with concern, and then she saw me flying above with a huge grin on my face. She instantly turned around trying to maintain her lead, but it was no use. Because my plan had worked better than expected, I was having trouble maintaining my upright position initially but not long after I got accustomed to flying through the air. It felt almost natural. I quickly flew over my sister who looked at me with astonishment and anger. She though using magic would only benefit her. That¡¯s when I realized I was still very high in the air when I passed over my sister, who was initially 200yards in front of me! Oh no! I didn¡¯t think it would be too powerful and there is no way I can slow down! the best I can hope to do is maintain my position and I¡¯m flying right towards the house. Shit.... BAM I landed right into the door, luckily I had maintained protect or else I would of had a broken leg or maybe two...The door was shattered and in a couple of minutes Zhillah was above me yelling, while mother stood there confused. ¡°Are you a idiot or something? You could of gotten yourself killed, for a race!¡± ¡°Well I¡¯m fine aren¡¯t I.¡± Maybe that would of been believable if I didn¡¯t have trouble getting to my feet. ¡°Look at you, you can barely stand! Neo are you going to be buying a new door?¡± As she was continuing yelling at me I realized I still had not touched the door handle. Zhillah was to angry to notice as she immediately started yelling at me as soon as she arrived. In that instance I lunged and took hold of the door knob that was no longer attached to anything. Zhillah looked at me in disbelief. ¡°Neo are you kidding me?! I am here telling you, you almost got yourself killed for a race and you reach for the door knob??¡± ¡°Well we hadn¡¯t finished the race¡± I say with a small chuckle. She was fuming, I swear I saw steam escape her ears. That¡¯s when she lunges at me with the intent to kill. At that moment my mother decided to intervene. She had used a spell to that cast a small bubble on both of us and pulled the two of us apart. ¡°That enough you two. Zhillah I asked you to help me find Neo and it seems you succeed. Even though I would like to see my children without the cost of my door.¡± As she said this she looked directly at me with dagers in her eyes. A shiver ran down my spine. ¡°I¡¯m sorry mother, I didn¡¯t mean to break the door my spell was just stronger than I expected.¡± As soon as I said that I immediately regretted it. ¡°You used a spell?! Neo I have told you to only use spells when you absolutely must. Until you are old enough to truly study and understand what you are casting.¡± Zhillah immediately looked at me and all her anger drained from her face and was replaced with a look of pleading. I already knew why, she always wanted to be on mothers good side and if mother found out she not only used a spell but initiated it she would be distraught. ¡°Why did you use a spell Neo?¡± She looked from me to Zhillah. ¡°We decided to have a race on the way home and I was losing to Zhillah and decided to use a spell in order to win.¡± ¡°You are grounded. We will re-learn the importance of only using magic when in a life and death situation.¡± well that took her a long time to decide... Zhillah was immediately relieved, I could see a twinge of guilt but not enough to confess. Probably because I didn¡¯t necessarily lie. I just carefully decided not to mention how Zhillah had gotten in front of me. ¡°Neo you will also work with the wood worker in order for us to have a new door. Until you complete that you are not ungrounded.¡± That instantly got my attention. ¡°WHAT?!¡± I had expected the re-teaching of magic but the wood worker! We lived in a very small village and the wood worker was a good mile away from us. He never smiled and didn¡¯t usually talk though him and my mother got along quite well. So I knew her threat was something she could ask of him. ¡° You heard me Neo, that¡¯s the end of the conversation. Now both of you clean up this mess.¡± After mother left the room, we started picking up the pieces of shattered wood from my collision. ¡°Thank you Neo¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, though I didn¡¯t expect mom would make me go to the wood workers house.¡± She looked up at me with eyes like black dark deep pools, as if overflowing because she seemed about to cry. ¡°HEY, it¡¯s okay really! I¡¯ll be fine, besides what are big brothers for¡± I said with a smile. She pushed back the urge to cry after that comment. We both knew Zhillah acted far more mature than I did, even though I was older. ¡°Don¡¯t forget about the bet, I did win after all.¡± I said chuckling a little. Zhillah hit me on the shoulder and we cleaned up the rest of the splintered pieces in silence. Chapter 2: Wood Worker Part 1 For the past couple of days, I have been working at the wood workers house. My mother has also told me that I must help Tillett with anything else he might need. It was early when I left the house to head to Tillett¡¯s house, in fact it was so early the sun had only just started to rise. He worked very early so if I didn¡¯t head there now I would arrive late and didn¡¯t want any more reason for mother¡¯s wrath. The walk wasn¡¯t all bad. I enjoyed the fact that the path was through woods and if I didn¡¯t live in the village a random traveler would have trouble finding his home. On my way to Tillett¡¯s house I would run into the many animals that bordered the village they mainly consisted of foxes, birds, squirrels and the occasional wolf. I was never afraid like the other village children and I suppose it¡¯s due to the fact that I can talk with the animals I run across. ********************************************************************************************************************************* I once was with the other village children when I was around the age of 5 and the foxes where running around with us as we played tag. The parents were watching as supervisors. I told the kids which fox would be ¡°it¡± in our game of tag. The parents laughed at this and one of them feeding into me asked ¡°how do you know which Fox is ¡°it¡±?¡± I simply answered ¡°Well that¡¯s because I¡¯m talking to them. ¡° All of the woman burst out laughing thinking it was cute, but this of course excluded my mother. I can see now why they thought it was funny they thought I was being a child. Just how kids can have imaginary friends they thought I had a huge imagination, so I believed I could talk to animals. I was confused because I thought everyone had been able to talk to them as well. Sitting there puzzled my mother told the women that she had forgotten that it was her turn to cook today. So, she had to hurry home, this also made me confused because when my father was home he always wanted to cook, he liked to re-create the dishes he had eaten at the many towns, cities and country¡¯s he¡¯s been too as a merchant. So, when father was home mother never cooked in fact he never let her. As soon as I was about to say something my mother quickly scooped me up. On the way back home, she asked me a series of questions. Sternly she asked, ¡°Neo can you really talk to the animals like you said earlier?¡± ¡°Yes, can¡¯t you as well?¡± I asked puzzled. ¡°No dear, other people can¡¯t normally talk to animals. I believe the only time someone can talk to a animal is with their familiar but even that is extremely rare.¡± ¡°Honey is it only certain animals?¡± ¡°No momma I can talk to all of them, though they can choose of course not to talk back. But only the wolf does that.¡± ¡°Wolf?! When have you talked to a wolf child?¡± Now in our village the animals don¡¯t harm us, we live almost directly on the border of the dark zone. Our small village has many traditions and one is the freedom of exploration, of course we are never supposed to enter the dark zone unless it is for rituals. That is the agreement our village chief set up apparently, with this agreement the animals will never attack the people of the village. Unless provoked of course. So even though me seeing a wolf rattled her, I believe she was more concerned that I had possibly entered the dark zone without permission.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Frantically I told her ¡°NO mamma the wolf came to me! I didn¡¯t enter the dark zone, I was in the back yard when he came to me.¡± She was mumbling to herself quietly, so in a panic I decided to continue. ¡°The wolf came to our home only a moon cycle ago, he didn¡¯t want to play though.¡± ¡°What did he say?¡± ¡°Well the wolf told me a riddle.¡± ----------------------------------------------¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª-flashback¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª------------------------------------------------------------- Playing outside on my own I was becoming more and more bored. That¡¯s when I heard a twig snap, I immediately thought it was the foxes and thought I could convince them to play! ¡°Foxes let¡¯s play! Do you want to play hide and seek?!¡± ¡°I am not a mere fox little pup.¡± I immediately looked in the woods where I heard the voice. I was surprised I had never heard this voice before, so I was trying to figure out what animal had come along. In that instance I saw two amber eyes starring directly at me, though I could not see the whole body I knew he was about 20 times the size of a fox. I hesitated but asked ¡°Well who are you then?¡± ¡°I am a wolf, but not just any mere wolf. I am the wolf that watches over the dark forest.¡± ¡°Well Mr. wolf what are you doing here?¡± I knew as a child that the dark zone was deep into the forest that surrounded the village. This made it so walking into the dark zone could never be a accident, you have to walk for almost a day before you reach the entrance. ¡°Well pup I heard much talk from the animals about you, so I decided to see you for myself.¡± ¡°Well if you like what you see, would you like to play then Mr. Wolf?!¡± The wolf¡¯s laugh seems to resonated in my ears ¡°Oh pup you have made this old wolf laugh for the first time in a long time.¡± I have given him a big smile seeing as the wolf was clearly pleased. ¡°Alright pup I will continue to let the animals come to this village, as you clearly possess an innocent heart and I can see you have no ill will to harm the animals. As a parting gift I will give you two things. The first is a protection spell that will only activate if you are on the verge of death. Now stick out your paw.¡± I stuck my hand out and he came down to bite me, I almost screamed but then I realized it didn¡¯t hurt at all. In fact, it felt warm and soothing. He chanted something, but it was too soft for me to comprehend. While he was chanting I saw light emit from his coat. That light seemed to travel to through his coat to reach his canines then that light flowed into my hand. Once all the light was gone he removed his teeth, and the wound closed immediately. ¡°Now the second gift pup will be a riddle.¡± ¡°A riddle?!¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s very important so listen pup.¡± I immediately focused my attention at him and when I had finally settled he gave me a quick nod and said ¡°The more there is of me the less you see. What Am I?¡± ¡°When you figure out the answer make sure to never be afraid for the answer will help guide you.¡± ¡°What does that mean Mr. Wolf?¡± He looked directly at me one more time and then turned around without answering my question. **************************************************************************************************************************** ¡°Momma the riddle was ¡°The more there is of me the less you see. What Am I?¡± But I have already figured out the answer, I¡¯m still confused about being not being afraid and how it could help me.¡± I could tell that momma was trying to figure out the riddle herself, but I decided I would help her and tell her the answer. ¡°Momma it¡¯s darkness.¡± ¡°Well darling I always knew you were smarter than most children. How long did it take you to find the answer?¡± ¡°Right after the wolf left¡± Her mouth dropped, she felt like it would have taken her a couple of days at best. ¡°Darling it seems to me that if you are smart enough to find the answer of the riddle I am sure you will understand what the wolf meant when the time comes." She then got very serious and looked directly at me. ¡°Neo Dalia, you need to listen to me." I knew she was extremely serious because she had used my full name. ¡°You must never tell anyone that you can talk to animals again, I believe you got this gift through your blood.¡± ¡°My blood?¡± ¡°Yes, my great great grandfather had the power that you speak of. There is some magic Neo that no one can do with a spell it must be inherited. If people find out you have this gift you could be in danger people will try to come after you to take advantage of your gift." It surprised me that mother spoke of her family, because she never did and never seemed happy to do so. Even as a child I knew it wasn¡¯t a good topic. ¡°Okay momma, I will not tell anyone.¡± ******************************************************************************************************************************** I never told my mother about the first gift the wolf gave me because at the time I didn¡¯t think it was of any importance. In fact, I didn¡¯t think that the riddle I had received had any significance either. I stumbled and when I looked up I realized where I was, I had almost made it all the way to Tillett¡¯s house! Chapter 3: Wood Worker Part 2 Walking up to Tillett¡¯s house I paused when I reached the door, taking a deep breath of the forest air that surrounded me before I knock on the door and start this god-awful day. However right before I could knock on the door Tillett opened it, causing me to almost fall forward. Does this bastard wait till I am about to knock on the door, so I look like an idiot when he comes out?! Standing directly in front of me is a gigantic man that stand past 7 feet, he doesn¡¯t hold the most delicate features to say the least. Having a vast scar that starts from his jaw and trails below his shirt defiantly doesn¡¯t help him seem approachable either. He possesses black thick hair that is a couple inches long. His eyes are almost as dark as his hair, and seem to hold little emotion towards me. This man¡¯s build is massive I learned why after helping him for a few days, the amount of labor he does is immense. Though the most unapproachable aspect of Tillett is that he is a man of little words, not that we have anything to talk about anyways. He walked past me without saying a word and I now know that is my que to follow. We walked into his small workshop directly next to his house, which has a wide range of furniture from tables and chairs to small little decorations that have the most intricate work I have ever seen. Not that I did any of that work, I was basically a free mule. My job is to cut the trees and carry the wood to him. Sounds easy right? Maybe that would be the case if I could cut the tree into smaller pieces. However, Tillett apparently needs big pieces for the furniture he builds, I know this because I initially tried to cut a log into segments and let¡¯s just say he wasn¡¯t happy. He doesn¡¯t express much but you can tell when that man is angry. So, because of that I have spent the last three days attempting to chop down this god damn tree! Explain to me why Tillett points to the biggest fucking tree in the forest? I understand I¡¯m free labor, but hasn¡¯t anyone taught this man restraint? Luckily yesterday right before I was going to head home I gave one more swing and this tree finally came crashing down! So today my mission is to bring the tree all the way back to the workshop. The question I am now asking myself is how it is physically possible for me to bring this huge tree all the way from the forest to him? I tried of course, but as I expected the tree didn¡¯t move an inch. Now¡­ this might not be the brightest idea that has come to me but, the only way I can move this tree is to use support magic. I know it¡¯s extremely stupid of me to do the thing that got me here in the first place, but mother did want me to help with whatever Tillett asked, right? And I actually have some general knowledge on support magic I know it is usually used with the idea it can help amplify whatever you already possess. My mother didn¡¯t tell me, but I know there is ten levels in support magic that you can eventually break through as a mage. I only know the basics of the first level and you¡¯re not supposed to use higher levels if you don¡¯t have enough magic, because the spell will pull the energy from your soul which can potential lead to being crippled or worse death. I only know all of this because I ¡°borrowed¡± one of my father¡¯s book. haha thanks dad¡­ In the book it went over how you can potently find out the amount of magic your body naturally stores; however, it requires a ritual. Why can¡¯t anything be easy? Another benefit from doing the ritual is that it shows you what Mother Nature has blessed you with and your affinity to said blessings. I learned that there are four basics of Mother Nature these consist of fire, water, earth and air. They go beyond this but that¡¯s after training, meditation and experience.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. The city holds the ritual every year with a high-level mage conducting it, because of this families in our town make it a growing of age celebration and travel for three days towards the city. The chances of my mother taking me there is slim to none and that¡¯s being optimistic. Even though I don¡¯t know the amount of innate magic I possess I still find time to practice meditating every day. I might not know my starting point but I¡¯m hoping fathers book is right and it makes a difference. Not that I¡¯ll know¡­ Well looks like I¡¯m going to do this¡­I glance around my surroundings, and then I chant the support magic. I can actually use magic without chanting but I know that if I chant it, the magic is immensely more stable and in fact more powerful. After chanting to support my arms and legs I decide it¡¯s finally time to try and attempt to move this mass of tree. Even if I can only move it a little each day I can eventually bring it all the way up to the workshop. I decide to get right under it, and with much surprise it moved forward! Yes! Without much resistance I am able to push the tree all the way to the workshop! ¡°Why didn¡¯t I use the support magic earlier? I wouldn¡¯t have wasted three days cutting this tree down?!¡± As I was saying this a hand came down landing on my right shoulder. With dread I turned around slowly to see the only person who could be in the woods with me, Tillett Well time to beg for my life... ¡°Tillett please don¡¯t tell my mother she will literally kill me! You don¡¯t want to be known as a murder, right? well if you tell her, you are handing me to the slaughter! It wasn¡¯t like I was using magic for my own purpose there was no other way to bring the tree here!¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you ask me?¡± Tillett said this as if it should have been the most obvious thing to do. I sat there dumb founded, why didn¡¯t I think that?! Had I just wanted an excuse to use magic again even though that¡¯s exactly what I was punished for?! As I sat there asking myself all these questions Tillett simply said ¡°It¡¯s fine, I won¡¯t mention it to the healer.¡± God bless this man he does have a heart. Tillett obviously meant my mother seeing as she was the only healer in the village. Apparently healing magic isn¡¯t something that just anyone can do. The village gladly excepted her when my father brought back a woman he said he fell in love with while going to the blue kingdom initially for work. ¡°On one condition.¡± Tillett said this while staring directly at me with the look that he had just found something very entertaining. what could this man want? Why did I believe for a split second this man had a heart?! ¡°What is the condition?¡± I ask hesitantly. ¡°For you to be my student.¡± He stated sternly. ¡°Tillett, I¡¯m sorry but I do not wish to become a wood worker. I would rather you tell mother than be stuck in a job I have no interest in.¡± I realized I needed to stand my ground and be honest with my answer or else I would be persuaded to live the life of a wood worker instead of dealing with the wrath from mother. He looked at me confused at first and then chuckled to himself. I looked at him in horror, what could this man be laughing to himself about?! Is he laughing because he said that on the premise that I had to, and it was not a choice? ¡°Neo, become my ¡°magic¡± student.¡± Before I can stop myself, I say what I was thinking out loud. ¡°Do you even know how to use magic?¡± I put my hands over my mouth horrified that I have insulted him. With a small chuckle he said ¡°Yes and no but you shall be the first student I have taken, consider yourself very lucky. For many have wished to be in the position I have just offered you.¡± If my head wasn¡¯t attached to me, it would have rolled off that instant. At first, I wasn¡¯t going to believe that Tillett even knew anything about magic let alone be some kind of teacher. But the way he said it and the fact he said it at all made me think that he was not one to joke about this. Gathering what little composer I had left I asked, ¡°Who are you?¡± He laughed and said, ¡°Oh me, I¡¯m merely a simple wood worker.¡± Did I know this man? Maybe I was wrong about Tillett since the beginning, maybe I had just gotten to see the man in front of me for the first time. Without saying another word, he walked right past me, and headed in the direction of his house and just like this morning I knew that was my que to follow. I could tell that Tillett had given me the choice to either go back home or follow him. A phrase my mother has always told me instantly popped in my head at that moment. "Remember Neo curiosity killed the cat" and as I walked right behind Tillett I muttered to myself "Good thing I''m not a cat.¡± Chapter 4: Wood Worker Part 3 As I walked into Tillett¡¯s house for the first time what caught my eye immediately was his familiar staring directly at me. I instantly stopped in my tracks when both of our eyes met. I was transfixed by the two golden eyes locked on me. However, those eyes didn¡¯t stop me from admiring the sheer beauty. Wrapped in brilliant blonde fur that seemed to pull me in, almost asking me to manipulate the perfection. as I inspected closer the four massive paws where actually slightly discolored holding a deeper hue of brown. Instantly with a quick flick of the tail I was reminded that those eyes where still locked on my position. I had never seen this familiar in person, but I had read about it. Even though I am not permitted to have magic books till I am older, I am still given other subjects. I receive these after my father goes on long merchant expeditions as a way to make up for his absence, even though we all understand he is supporting us he insists on a gift from where he ventured. The book that held information about Tillett¡¯s familiar was not a book from the red kingdom but in fact the gold kingdom. If I remember correctly this familiar is called... ¡°...is that a lion?¡± I said barely audible enough to hear. With a raised eyebrow Tillett responded ¡°Hmm..I¡¯m surprised you know the name considering they are not from this region. How did you know?¡± Without breaking eye contact from the lion, I answered back ¡°Well I had read about it in one of the books father brought back, it had all known familiars that resided in the gold kingdom. But how is a lion here?¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s simple, I¡¯m from the gold kingdom.¡± As he said this Tillett went over to his familiar and placed his hand on his head, as if it was a small feline. The familiar purred and it felt as if the whole room vibrated. With sweat condensing on my head ¡°Tillett that¡¯s not why I¡¯m surprised, I¡¯m surprised because I know that lions are only given to the highest official knights of the gold kingdom. How can you be an official knight?! And why in god¡¯s name would you be here in the red kingdom hiding in this village?!¡± Tillett could see me trying to comprehend how all this was possible. ¡°Neo how much do you know about the 5 kingdoms?¡± He said this as he motioned to a chair stationed to the right of me almost directly in the kitchen. I followed his lead and found a chair to sit in, situated myself and answered ¡°I have of course been taught the basics of the kingdoms, though I receive the more interesting facts after father goes on a journey to a specific region and tells us his experiences. I know there are 5 kingdoms they consist of the red, blue, green, white and the gold kingdom. Each kingdom usually represents one of mother nature¡¯s blessings.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Red kingdom stands for fire, Blue kingdom stands for water, Green kingdom stands for earth, White kingdom stands for air, However, the gold kingdom is the only exception this is because they rely on physical attributes instead of only magical attributes.¡± With a smile Tillett says ¡°Well Neo you know more than I expected, however you are missing some key points. For the four kingdoms that rely on magic there only means of defense consist of mages while the gold kingdom on the other hand relies on knights. Therefore, the people of the gold kingdom have no physical attributes that you can distinguish from. For example, people of the red kingdom can possess red eyes, this actually shows their ties to fire magic. Most of the civilians don¡¯t know that, they instead think you just received traits from their parents. While yes you will physically look like your father or mother there is no guarantee that child will possess the same blessings that their parents were born with. That¡¯s why some siblings can have entirely different eye colors or skin complexion or possess no blessings at all and have no distinguishing characteristics. However, people don¡¯t usually think anything of it because you usually receive the blessing from the region you are born in.¡± With a shaking hand I reach up to touch my right eye surprised by what Tillett had said. ¡°So, are you saying my blessing is fire?¡± ¡°Well actually Neo your left eye is a different color entirely making me believe you at least have two blessings. Your right eye shows fire and your left eye is probably air if I could guess. However, the only way to truly know is with a high-level mage conducting a ritual.¡± My jaw dropped I had always wanted to know if I had a blessing but hearing the possibility that I could possess two I was shocked. ¡°Does this mean you are going to teach me how to use fire and air?¡± With a laugh Tillett said ¡°No, like you already know I¡¯m from the gold kingdom. What I can teach you is how to fight. Many warriors either become a mage or a knight, but you Neo will learn to master both.¡± ¡°You know you did say I would be your ¡°magic¡± student¡­.¡± a frown forming on my face. ¡°Well even though I cannot use magic myself that doesn¡¯t mean I know nothing about it. In fact, I probably know more than a scholar studying magic, however we will not be learning anything about magic until you have mastered fighting.¡± I was slightly disappointed by Tillett¡¯s response, I had wanted to know more about magic especially after hearing that I could possibly possess two blessings. But I also know that learning to pick up a sword is something invaluable. This is even more so if I¡¯m learning for an official knight, and a high ranked one at that. ¡°Okay Tillett I will become your student, I don¡¯t exactly know what this entails but it¡¯s something I have set my mind on learning.¡± With the biggest smile Tillett says excitedly ¡°Well this will not be easy to say the least, but I¡¯m glad you have chosen this path. As a knight I will teach you all I know, then you will be able to protect what you love.¡± Protect what I love? Couldn¡¯t these knights come up with a better phrase to initiate me? Tillett immediately stood up and said, ¡°alright let¡¯s see what your made of kid, grab a wooden stick and meet me in the back.¡± ¡°W-ai-t¡­NOW?!¡± With a sudden serious tone Tillett responded ¡°Yes Neo, now.¡± Chapter 5: The Gold Sadist Part 1 Tillett¡¯s expression was serious, ¡°The rules are very simple, beat me within a week or I will inform the healer you used magic.¡± With eyes wide ¡°WAIT! how can you say that? I can¡¯t be your student if you tell my mother?!¡± ¡°Neo if you can¡¯t beat me in a week you are not worthy of being my student.¡± I immediately grew quiet, Tillett was testing me to see how serious I am. My mother¡¯s opinion was not important to him...I was well aware of that. The reason why he mentioned my mother at all was because it terrifies me, he only said that for motivation. Tillett wants me to fight him without holding back and he just views this simple threat as a means to get me there. With this in mind I say calmly ¡°May I know the rules before I agree to fighting you?¡± With a slight smile ¡°You must either defeat me or disarm me. You may use whatever you possess in order to achieve this. I will not use Nala while we battle.¡± Hmm...Nala? That must be his familiars name. I only though familiars could help magically not physically. But looking back at the massive lion next to him I can guess that ripping someone apart would not be very difficult. Shaking away the picture of Nala mauling someone ¡°Okay Tillett I only have one question, if I hit you in a critical spot with my weapon does that count as a defeat?¡± ¡°Yes, you can either strike a critical spot or get me flat on my back and I will count either of those. Not that you¡¯ll be able to accomplish any of these that simply.¡± He answered while chuckling to himself. ¡°Okay then we will start today and by the time next Monday comes I will have either defeated you or lost.¡± ¡°Shall we begin then?¡± while getting into his stance. ¡°Yes¡± The first thing I noticed before the fight began was Tillett¡¯s stance, he seemed comfortable. With his right foot forward and his hips following the position of his legs. His hands however where held in the middle of his torso. While the stick or ¡°sword¡± was placed firmly in his left hand. Tillett only needed one hand to hold his weapon, I however needed to use both. Tillett had not moved, he was waiting on me to start. So, without any more hesitation I jumped forward thinking I could block his sword while simultaneously hitting his ankles causing him to lose his balance and fall.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. I learned very quickly that battles with an official knight never go as planned. As soon as I lunged forward, instead of keeping his ground like I was expecting Tillett to do, he instead dodged my feeble attack and used the momentum from my lung forward to his full advantage. He swiftly got behind me and in an instance, he struck right in the middle of my back. The force of his swing caused me to lose all the air in my lungs. I laid there gasping for air while Tillett towered above me. was this man trying to kill me?! While that thought crossed my mind he simply said ¡°Again.¡± We continued like that till the end of the day, by the time he finally told me to head home we had 10 battles and the only thing to show for it was 10 nasty bruises. As I was about to head home Tillett said ¡°Tomorrow we will train all day, so be ready.¡± I simply nodded my head, to tired to do anything more than that. ***************************************************************************************************************************************** After arriving home my mother had immediately wanted to know why I was covered in bruises. I knew of course that I couldn¡¯t tell her that I was training, all because I hadn¡¯t learned my lesson and used magic again. so, I made up a little fib. I told her that I had been trying to cut down a tree when part of its branch broke off and struck me. I mean I wasn¡¯t entirely lying, just instead of the branch falling off it just so happened to be Tillett who was actually striking me. Well I suppose I wasn¡¯t cutting a tree either... Alright! it was a lie. But it¡¯s not like I can tell her? Plus, shouldn¡¯t a son and mother have some secrets?! After telling her my story, mother sat me down, so she could heal me. God was I lucky she was a healer, there was no way I could fight all day tomorrow covered in bruises. She hummed a sweet chant while a warming white light radiated from her hands. The only thing that ruined this peaceful moment was that my Zillah had been hysterically laughing the whole time after I said I had been hit by a branch! If I wasn¡¯t completely exhausted I would have killed her¡­ ******************************************************************************************************************************************* As I lay there in bed going over my defeats. I tried to recall everything Tillett did, how every movement he made was with precision with no wasted energy. As I was recalling my losses I remembered what Tillett had initially told me when we first started. ¡°You must either defeat me or disarm me. You may use whatever you possess in order to achieve this. I will not use Nala while we battle.¡± Wait...he did say whatever I possess? Doesn¡¯t that include magic?! How did I not notice that initially! W-ai-t...did Tillett purposely include his familiars name in order to distract me? This knight thinks I¡¯m a fool?! Here I am basically risking my life if my mother finds out, and this guy is trying to trick me? He¡¯s acting like I didn¡¯t have a disadvantage to start with!! May I remind you you¡¯re only a freakin¡¯ knight! Well Tillett I wonder how long you expected to have me fooled? Well don¡¯t you worry because playing the fool is something I will fully take advantage of. Just you wait and see. Chapter 6: The Gold Sadist Part 2 DAY 2: Heading towards Tillett¡¯s that morning I decided that even though I can use magic I¡¯m going to wait. After all I decided to play the fool. Even though I won¡¯t be using my magic I¡¯m still going to utilize my time wisely. I¡¯ll spend my time learning Tillett¡¯s movements and if I¡¯m lucky maybe I¡¯ll see some kind of weakness. With this plan it gives me a couple days to learn proper swordsmen-ship without revealing the only surprise I can throw at him. The issue though is if I use my magic I feel it isn¡¯t strong enough to even truly surprise Tillett, after all he¡¯s an official knight. Tillett has more than likely seen magic and probably has his ways to deal with it. I won¡¯t be ignorant and expect surprising him to be enough. So besides from learning Tillett¡¯s movements I¡¯m also going to learn a new spell. On top of that I decided that for the next 5 days I¡¯m going to be using the support and protect incantation. However, I won¡¯t be using these moves in battles until the last day. This is the only way I can get the power upgrade that I defiantly need. So, every other time I¡¯m not battling I will activate them. I know that if I chant the spell they become immensely stronger and more stable but the moment you do that it materializes. That means Tillett will see it and if he has seen the spell used before he will know how to react. Due to the fact I¡¯m using the basic of the basic I¡¯m sure he has seen it¡­. However, my solution is that I can use mind materialization which activate spells without the need to chant it out loud. Even though its weaker and not as stable, the advantage is I¡¯m the only one that can see it. I only know this because I am the one that created the ¡°mind materialization¡± spell. Cool name huh?! Though I originally made it, so I could use magic without my mother knowing. Who would of thought that my mother being a tyrant would help me now?! The whole way to Tillett¡¯s house I used mind materialization with support and protect. Once I arrived I still kept it activated, I know the longer I¡¯m able to use these spells the stronger they will become. However mentally it¡¯s draining, the amount of focus needed in order to activate these spells and the fact I have two activated at the same time is an overload in itself. Combine that with the fact that after 30 minutes of mind materialization sweat starts condensing on my forehead and my ability to focus deteriorates. Luckily Tillett seems to think the reason I¡¯m sweating is for an entirely different reason. With a smirk of victory before the battles have even begun ¡°Seems to me someone is nervous for day 2? After yesterday¡¯s defeat do you feel like you have no hope? If you are so hopeless I will permit you to give up right now, and if you do so I won¡¯t tell the healer about your use of magic. However, you must never come here again.¡± So yesterday Tillett scared me and today he is giving me a way out. Does he believe I haven¡¯t noticed everything he says is to either provoke me or test my resolve? With frustration from his comment and the exhaustion I was feeling from mind materialization I answered ¡°Do you believe I am stupid? I have already told you I want to be your student, nothing you say will change that!¡± Battling is the only time I can stop using mind materialization, I am actually wanting to jump in and get beaten right now! With that thought in mind before Tillett could even respond from my outburst I got into the same stance he had used yesterday. Right foot slightly forward with my hips following the same position. My hands in the middle of my torso, the only noticeable difference was I required the use of both hands to hold my weapon. Tillett didn¡¯t miss a beat and followed my lead. There was a moment of silence and then we both lunged forward. Instantly both of our wooden weapons clashed, the amount of strength Tillett had used surprised me and caused me to take a step back. Of course, in that moment he tried to throw me off balance by attempting to kick me with his right foot. He didn¡¯t know then, but I was ready... Only because after fighting all day yesterday with Tillett I had learned the basics of his fighting style. I learned he was not the kind to miss an opportunity to defeat his opponent, even if it is risky. If there is the slightest opening, he will attack. Though I know that¡¯s not the most dangerous aspect of Tillett¡¯s fighting style. What makes his fighting style deadly and unique is that even though he has a weapon he does not solely relied on it.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. By the time it takes you to realize that though it¡¯s already too late. However, for someone like me who gets beaten by Tillett multiple times I have learned this VERY quickly. After you realize this it causes you to be extremely fearful when Tillett is in close proximity, because you never know if he is going to slice you open or use his free hand to break your ribs. Basically, you have to fight Tillett as if he possesses two weapons, his sword and his fist. The moment you don¡¯t pay attention to one of these weapons you will regret it. Trust me. The moment Tillett lifted his right foot to try and trip me I knew that was my chance. I would have to use all my power to knock his weapon out of his hand. Not having both feet planted makes it, so you can¡¯t use as much power. Seeing how Tillett had lifted his foot in order to trip me had caused him to automatically lose half the power he initially had when our sticks clashed. Also, our weapons where still touching from the initial clash. So, all I have to do is add some power. The moment I put all my body weight and effort into forcing the weapon out of Tillett¡¯s hand was the moment he smiled. well I¡¯m happy to see him get excited about beating me¡­ What is he a sadist? The force I exuded on Tillett¡¯s weapon causes him to retract his foot, because of this he couldn¡¯t trip me or else he would lose his grip. I know the moment Tillett has both feet planted I¡¯m at a loss. The fact that he only needs one hand to keep me at bay while we clash weapons means he can easily use his right hand to literally knock me out. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that he was off balance I believe I already would be¡­ So, at the very moment he retracts his foot in order to overpower me, I instantly stop applying pressure against his weapon while simultaneously taking a step back. Tillett¡¯s eyes seemed to grow bigger as he momentarily fell forward because of the force he was using against me. HAHA..How do you like the taste of your own medicine!? In that instance I use the same technique Tillett had used on me the day before. While Tillett was trying to stop from falling forward I used his momentum against him, just like he had done to me. I immediately got behind him using the side step he had implemented the other day and within an instance I struck his back with everything I had. Unfortunately, the moment I struck Tillett¡¯s back he had already used his weapon to strike my left side. Like I said fights with an official knight never goes as planned¡­ The moment I had used the side step Tillett had placed his right hand on the ground in order to stop his fall forward and at the same time he used the other hand to strike the life out of me. That strike hit my left ribcage causing me to be gasping for air and at the same time landing me in my most familiar place....the ground. Regardless if that man had balance or not he was strong, and you felt it. While I was laying on the ground clutching my left side, Tillett had stood up and extended a hand ¡°let me help you up.¡± As I was helped up I became extremely frustrated that Tillett didn¡¯t even seem to be hurt by my attack. While I on the other hand was almost crippled by the attack he had given me. What the hell was this guy made out of?? As if Tillett knew what I was thinking ¡°Even if you feel like you caused no harm after hitting an opponent Neo all you can do is hit them again. Just because you don¡¯t see damage doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s not there.¡± ¡°Well I might be blind because I don¡¯t see any damage¡­¡± I pouted. ¡°Huh¡­.to explain it simply Neo when you are fighting someone it is more than just a physical fight there is a psychological fight going on as well. The moment you struck me even if I didn¡¯t take immense damage, I might start to second guess all of my movements. If I feel like you know how I¡¯m going to react I can become desperate. These are all things that you can do in order to exhaust your opponent in battle. This is even more true when you are battling someone who thinks they can¡¯t be defeated. Even though you didn¡¯t critically hurt them you were still able to hit them, pride gets in the way and anger blinds opponent¡¯s. So yes, Neo you didn¡¯t cause damage physically, but you can significantly rattle your opponent psychologically.¡± As I soaked in everything Tillett said I knew he was right, battling someone isn¡¯t just about strength. Experience, knowledge and mental state play a huge role. But just because I understood didn¡¯t mean I was ready to admit that he was right¡­ While looking down still upset over the way I reacted earlier ¡°Still there is no denying that power plays a huge role, I have more to be fearful of because I know that with one hit you can potentially end the battle.¡± I finished while frowning. With a smile creeping on his face ¡°Your fear makes you crafty, and as you saw it is to your benefit. Today Neo you were able to hit me, you were also able to do the technique I used the day before. Even though you didn¡¯t win you have improved significantly and you should take pride in that.¡± ¡°.... Hmmm, I suppose it is a big accomplishment to hit an official knight, are you sure you weren¡¯t holding back?!¡± with a sly smile growing on my face. We continued like that for the rest of the day. Even though we had more time compared to yesterday our battles lasted much longer. With us only being able to do 20 battles, no surprise I lost all of them though I was able to hold my own significantly more than yesterday. Tillett let me go home a little earlier and I had no objections. The fatigue I was feeling was not something I was accustomed to. On top of that I am supposed to use mind materialization on the way home. By the time I had finally reached my home¡­.it all went dark. ********************************************************************************************************************************************* I woke up to my mother¡¯s warm healing white light, it illuminated my room which was now dark. Grumbling from still being half asleep ¡°Hmm...sorry mom did I pass out?¡± She smiled sweetly ¡°Yes, Zillah found you first, but it took her about 15 minutes before she could stop laughing in order to tell me where you were exactly. I also wanted you to rest a little bit Neo before I started healing you.¡± I swear I¡¯m going to kill Zillah once this week is over! Well mother letting me rest explains why my room is dark, I must have been out for a while. ¡°Thank you, I must of went a little over board today.¡± as I gave a sleepy smile. "Just try to be a little more careful Neo." she said with a slightly worried look. I just gave a simple nod in acknowledgement. Surprisingly mother didn¡¯t ask about the bruises. She probably thought it was for the same reason as yesterday. After she was done healing me the illuminating white light no longer lit the room, while drifting back to sleep I decided I would deal with making a spell tomorrow. Chapter 7: Thoughts of a Teacher Tillett POV: Thinking back to the fight that had ensued that day made me feel as if I had just discovered a monster. I knew Neo was full of potential from the moment I saw him push one of the biggest trees in the forest towards my workshop. I mean Imagine my surprised when I went to go check on the healer¡¯s son and I witness this kid chant a support spell? Even though I am from the gold kingdom that doesn''t mean I don¡¯t know magic, in fact any knight probably study''s more than a regular mage. For knights knowing what a mage is casting equals life and death. So of course, I know basic magic and with support magic it can only amplify. This magic only increases your existing strength so when that kid moved the log with ease it showed me the strength he already possess. But the fight today proved to me that Neo didn¡¯t just have crazy power he also had talent. In fact, maybe even genius talent. I didn¡¯t tell him, but I was impressed by how much he improved in a single day. The way he was keeping me off balance was ingenious, even though he couldn¡¯t match my strength he used whit¡¯s instead. The way Neo made me stay focused on my footing caused me to lose focus on my power. I was surprised he came up with a way to stand against me in little over a night.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. What made this fight all the more troubling was the fact that his face didn¡¯t tell me anything. I mean usually with new fighters when they think of a way to counterattack they almost always give themselves away. This happens usually by the new fighter hesitating or looking in the direction prior to moving. Neo on the other hand barely showed any emotion. Don¡¯t get me wrong I could tell he was serious but at the same time he was also eerily calm. Even me as an experience fighter felt rattled, how can this kid not be scared? As a teacher I can see that his future opponents will probably act one of two ways. One they will either get angry that Neo is full of himself. Or two they will become afraid, if they battle with him long enough they will more than likely experience the second. Mental state is a huge part of a battle and if you believe you lost, you will lose. So, the fact that his mental state already has the fortitude of an experienced fighter at the age of 8 is unbelievable. However, the moment that kid imitated the side step I had just used the day before sent a shiver down my spine. Not only did he master an upper level technique in a day, but he did it without a teacher. I had no intention of actually fighting this kid seriously but when I witnessed that side step my body reacted on its own. Luckily, I pulled back right before I struck him or else his ribs would have shattered. But the fact that he made me get serious even if it was only for a split second is terrifying. Even more so because this was only day two. In my mind Neo had already passed the test. However, I am curious to see how much my first student can grow in 5 more days. Chapter 8: Worm in a Book Part 1 Day 3: On my way to Tillett¡¯s this morning I was worried about the spell I was planning on making. Mostly because I had no idea what to do! The only person I know who can do spells is Zillah and if I ask her I have to explain myself. So that isn¡¯t plausible. I suppose I can try to do it myself? But if I look at past experience it took me months applying mind materialization and that was after I had an idea about what I was trying to do and now I have to make a spell in 4 days?! My only option is to go to town and try to find a spell already created. The problem with that is the fact I¡¯m supposed to go to Tillett¡¯s every day to battle. He doesn¡¯t really seem like the type to let you run off after an agreement made. Well maybe if I ask nicely?! ************************************************************************************************************************************* I arrive at Tillett¡¯s house climbing up his front steps leading to his wooden door I promptly knock twice and then let myself in, as I walk in Tillett has a surprised expression as if he¡¯s asking, ¡°why are you here?¡± Before I can explain my intent to Tillett Nala pounces on me, this has become our way of greeting each other so I am not afraid to use my hind legs to flip her on her back. As I finally raise to my feet I give her a gentle scratch behind her right ear and head towards the table. Situating myself directly in front of Tillett I decided this is the only time to ask! What¡¯s the worst that can happen? staring intently ¡°Tillett I would like the option to not battle today, I would like a day or even possibly two to prepare for our final battle. I know that is not what we initially set up, but I will ask you none the less.¡± What is this kid made of? He walks in here with no hints of fear. All the while MY familiar is rubbing against him like she is some feeble cat? Do you even know how long it took me to get to that point?? Although I dont want to say yes, it seems like it must be pretty important for Neo to walk in here and ask. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. With some resistance I answer ¡°Ugh...yes that is fine. May I ask why you want the day off?¡± I sigh. ¡°W-ell um-m you s-ee....¡± Neo¡¯s stuttering as his eyes fell to the table. ¡°Alright alright you don¡¯t have to tell me. Just go, taking a day to rest it is also important.¡± While shoving him out of my house in the process. ************************************************************************************************************************************* YES! Tillett let me go, I was not expecting that at all! I was really ready to beg if it came down to it. It was still early as the sun had barely risen as I headed towards my destination¡­. town. Straight towards the library¡¯s even more specifically the restricted section. By the time I finally reached the town it was early morning and people in the village were starting to wake. The village I live in isn¡¯t very big so if anyone sees me, I can almost guarantee mother will know about it. Seeing as I¡¯m supposed to be fixing our door at the wood workers place there would be no navigating out of this if I¡¯m caught. With this in mind I quickly make it to the library unseen, I slip in through the doors quite easily. The first floor is all basic knowledge and even this information is hard for me to get from my tyrant mother. However, I know to truly fight Tillett it can¡¯t just be any spell, so the restricted section here I come! I ascent to the second floor and immediately see what looks to be a golem. The kids of the town have told me stories of the golem they say he becomes activated once a book is removed from the shelf or if the person entering the second floor has malice intent. It¡¯s completely taboo for anyone in the village to go into the second floor without permission so they have never needed anything more. Well there is a first for everything, guess I¡¯ll be the one to break this taboo ha... ha... God I¡¯m so dead if I¡¯m caught. I take a deep breath while thinking happy thoughts of the village, don¡¯t need this golem feeling any ¡°malice intent¡±. As I walk past the golem he only seems to be nothing more than a couple of stones. Why was I even worried? The village kids must have made this up! Once I pass the stones or better yet the ¡°golem¡± I am immediately overwhelmed by the number of books that lay before me. Seeing rows upon rows with the shelves almost touching the ceiling, this place is a maze! Am I even still in the villages library? how am I supposed to find the right spell in these books?? I can¡¯t risk picking a book up and it being a defense spell. I need an attack spell! As that thought goes through my head something catches my eye in one of the rows I¡¯m walking past. I glance around making sure no one can see me and slowly make my way over to the shelf I have spotted. What caught my eye is a book that has all of mother nature¡¯s blessings intertwined. The book itself seem to be made with exquisite leather with intricate carvings that have wrapped the entire book. As I was about to touch it, I swear I saw it start to glow! Rubbing my eyes because I must be going mad, I glance up again but sure enough the book is glowing! Mesmerized I feel inclined to reach out and touch it, but instead of being able to take hold of the book the entire book instantly disappears. Am I fucking hallucinating?! Where did that book go?? As I calmed down enough to come to my senses I immediately became fearful that the golem is going to be activated! Well looks like I¡¯m just going to have to grab and go! At the moment I was about snatch a random book and make a run for it I heard a very familiar voice come up from behind. ¡°Well it¡¯s been quite a while huh...young seedling? Imagine my surprise when I spotted a face like yours in the restricted section? Mind explaining it to an old man like me?¡± I slowly turned around but before I saw him I already knew who it was ¡°W-e-ll hello chief, how¡­have you been?¡± Grimacing because I have been seen by the worst person possible. Chapter 9: Worm in a Book Part 2 The chief was standing there with a look or curiosity evident on his wrinkly face. I mean I don¡¯t blame him, he¡¯s probably wondering how and why I got in here. After all I am probably the first to come up to the restricted section without permission. The old man staring at me is at least three hundred years old and I suppose looks his age. With long gray hair reaching past his shoulders and a wire like gray bread to match. He possesses eyes that have hints of red remnants but seem hazy now, in fact I am surprised he can still see out of them at all. The robes wrapped around him were once red but with years of wear and tear they are more of a dingy soft pink color now. The most prominent item the chief has is a staff which is made of dark intertwining wood and at the top holds some kind of crystal clear stone. However, everyone from the village knows that the stone is influenced by the chief¡¯s mood, usually reflecting a color to correlate. Sadly, even though it is a beautiful staff he has been using as a cane for quite some time. He was still looking at me curiously when I responded ¡°W-el-l... hello chief it¡¯s been quite some time ha¡­ ha, you see I seemed to have gotten lost in the library?¡± My excuses ended up sounding a lot more like a question then my intended statement. He stared intently at me for what felt like an eternity before giving me one final look over. He seemed surprised for a second, but I must have been mistaken. While clearing his throat ¡°Ug-h¡­ well Neo why don¡¯t I escort you out of the library since you seem to be so lost... hmm?¡± A small smile evident on his wrinkly old face. ¡°Ugh...well...yeah of course.¡± As we were descending down the stairs the old man¡¯s smile grows wider as he says, ¡°Neo why don¡¯t you answer some questions for me, it might just help me seal these old lips?¡± Even though my mom might find out I came into town it is immensely better than her finding out I was in the library let alone the restricted section. Plus, if she was also to know the chief was the one to find me¡­...ughh I shiver at the thought alone¡­ Without hesitating ¡°of course what would you like to know chief?¡± ¡°Well seedling why don¡¯t you tell me how you got in here?¡± There is truly no point in lying to the chief, he is the type of old man that will know the moment you say something dishonest. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s from his old age or some kind of power he acquired but he has never been wrong.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Deciding being honest is the most effective way to get out of this quickly I say,¡± Well I walked past the golem. I thought he was only activated after you touched a book is that not true?¡± The old man seemed like he was taking a moment to see if I was speaking the truth he finally answered, ¡°Well yes and no, you should not be able to walk into the restricted library at all actually. You see I have cast a barrier over it, so normally people who ¡°accidently¡± try to make their way up end up right back down.¡± ¡°Does that mean the barriers defective?¡± ¡°No, I still felt someone enter but I knew the golem wasn¡¯t activated so I came here myself to check it out. But imagine my surprise when I see a young seeding here. So, did anything happen while you were here?¡± ¡°You¡¯re going to think I¡¯m crazy if I tell you chief¡­¡± my eyes falling to the floor. With a small smile he says, ¡°try me young one.¡± ¡°Okay umm well... I did ¡°try¡± to touch a book, but when I reached out it started glowing and then next thing you know it disappeared! I know it sounds like I¡¯m making this up¡­ or that I¡¯m crazy ...but it¡¯s true chief!¡± because I feared the chief wouldn¡¯t believe me I had unconsciously said that louder than I anticipated. While slightly scratching his beard ¡°Hmmm...Can you recall what the book looked like?¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Yeah it looked like it had all of mother nature¡¯s blessings on it.¡± Immediately after I said that the jewel on the chief¡¯s staff seemed to turn black, as I was about to ask him what was wrong he looked at me in the most serious manner I have ever seen an old man give. But after a second, he promptly returned to his usual demeanor. After examining me once again he looked me up and down then he asked softly ¡°Young seedling can you hold out your hands for me?¡± Confused by why he asked I just decided to follow his instructions, after all I am the one in trouble. When I stuck my hands out for him he grabbed them softly and then slowly flipped them over, so that my palms where now facing up. To my surprise I had the same intertwining of all mother nature¡¯s blessing that I had seen on the book from earlier. On my right hand I had fire and earth and on my left, I had air and water. When the old man brought both my hands so that they were next to each other it had connected all four of the blessings perfectly. My jaw dropped. HOLY shit! I have a tattoo?? I didn¡¯t even feel anything! ¡°Ch-ief.. I...sw-ear I have no idea how that got there?!¡± Confusion evident on my face. With a big sign the chief said ¡°Now I see how you got in here, well this is going to make things a little more complicated. Why don¡¯t we go for a little walk, I have somewhere I¡¯m going to need to take you? Don¡¯t worry I¡¯ll make it so anyone who sees us today will not remember it, even I will forget.¡± He almost whispered the last part. As he headed out door I followed quickly behind him in utter confusion. Just waiting for the moment this old man would explain more... Chapter 10: A Pair of a Lifetime Before we stepped out of the library the chief tapped his wooden staff on the dark cement ground three times and it looked as if a mist settled over us. well I¡¯m guessing that¡¯s what he meant by no one will remember us? Man, if I could get my hands on this spell it would be useful... The chief looked at me with concern, ¡°Seedling I¡¯m going to be explaining a lot of things to you so please pay attention.¡± I gave a slight nod and he proceeded ¡°The book you saw glowing is called the book of blessings and it did not disappear, it only transferred its knowledge. That mark that is on your palms shows that the knowledge resides in you.¡± ¡°Knowledge? But I don¡¯t recall anything when it disappeared.¡± ¡°Young seedling that¡¯s because the knowledge that book had was not something someone can just learn. It¡¯s a full understanding of mother nature¡¯s blessings. I had the barrier over that library for many reasons, but that book was defiantly one of them. Many people have gone from library to library searching for that book and the power that resides in it. Of course, if any normal person looked at the book it only appears to have blank pages, but it was thought that if you are deemed worthy by the book it would grant you permission to actually read it. However, it seems that the whole book entirely resides in you. The people looking for this book know the mark that you now have on your hands. Neo, I cannot stress enough that you must show no one this, even your family cannot know. ¡° I stood there shocked I had only wanted a spell not a book within me? What does that even mean? What does it even mean to have full understanding of mother nature¡¯s blessings? I don¡¯t feel any different! Seeing the confusion that was evident on my face the chief continued ¡°Neo I know you are confused. Even I didn¡¯t know until now that the book of blessings actually resides in the person it finds worthy. Even if this fact is found out as long as you hide the marks you should be fine. Those markings are the only thing that tie you and that book together.¡° ¡°Chief isn¡¯t this just a book? Why would people be after a book that they can¡¯t even read it? And why would a book like that be in our library?¡± With adrenaline pumping in my veins at the turn of events that have unfolded I was yelling at the chief at this point. ¡°Well that¡¯s because the most precious things are never hidden in the well know places. ¡° Is he answering me in riddles now?? After staring at the palms of my hands the whole way I finally looked up when the chief stopped I glanced up to see where we had arrived at, ¡°Why are we at your old house chief?¡± With a chuckle the chief led me through an old dingy wooden door. As I walked into the house my jaw dropped I was expecting it to resemble the outside appearance, but it was in fact the complete opposite. Instead of the house being small and slightly worn down it was instead extravagant without it becoming gaudy, the inside was MUCH bigger than the outside and the only explanation was that some spell was used in order for this to be accomplished. The furnishing that decorated the house had a somewhat robust look with intricate detail throughout to make heavy wooden exterior seem more delicate. I would never have expected this from the old man standing next to me, especially considering he walked around town in the most worn out robe I have ever seen. Did I call his house old? My house would be considered trash if I compared the two¡­ With my face in the mid stages of resembling a tomato, due to the embarrassment settling over me. The chief didn¡¯t make it any better because as soon as he looked over and witnessed my reaction he started chuckling. Between light chuckles he prompted me over to the living room where I plopped myself down on the couch. ¡°Neo I¡¯ll be right back stay there while I go and grab something for you.¡± As I looked around my eyes where instantly drawn to the massive shelf of books that covered the entire wall around the fireplace, I slowly got up and started reading the first book that caught my eye. The cover looked slightly worn down, but I could still make out the black lettering that was plastered on the front. It read ¡°The attribute of darkness¡± my eyes widened considerably, why did this old man have a forbidden text in his home! As I was about to put it back on the shelf that I just grabbed it from I quickly stopped, realizing I still hadn¡¯t gotten my hands on a spell that could beat Tillett and if I had any chance in finding one this book would defiantly be it. The dark attribute was something most mages chose not to touch and the fact that almost all the books where burned made learning the spells all the more difficult. This book has to have a spell that Tillett doesn¡¯t know! However, did I want to learn the dark attribute? Could I even use this? Most people think dark magic can only be used if it is derived from evil. I would probably be with that same group of people if it wasn¡¯t for the fact my mother was a healer, as she relies on the light attribute almost entirely. Add that and the fact that she once yelled at me for believing otherwise¡­ Zillah and I would often play as good and evil mages when we were younger, due to the fact Zillah wanted to be just like my mother she would be the light mage, and therefore I would automatically be the dark mage. One day my mother saw us playing and got extremely upset that we had associated dark = evil and light = good. She then told us that either attribute can pull from evil or good and that we shouldn¡¯t believe that just because a mage uses light magic he is a good person. Not only did she tell us that, but she even explained how every blessing could have a dark or light attribute so deciding someone is bad based on the attribute they have is prejudice.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. I quickly came back to reality when a hand was placed on my shoulder. ¡°Seedling I was calling your name but you weren¡¯t answering.¡± When he quickly realized what was in my hands instead of being mad like I expected he had a smile on his face. ¡°I see you are just drawn to the mostinteresting books huh? I suppose I should expect you too at this point... If you want, you can keep this book however that is another secret you must hold.¡± I debated for a second but then slowly nodded. He prompted me over to the couch again and as I sat down I rubbed my hand over the cover of the book wondering just how this book could be here in my hands. ¡°Chief why do you have a book like this? I thought anything related to dark magic was burned?¡± ¡°Well yes you are right the 5 kingdoms did try to destroy all dark magic literature after they found out the one to bring demons into this realm had used dark magic to accomplish it. However the kingdoms where driven by fear at the time, any mage now knows that the same can be accomplished with light magic and that it wasn¡¯t even proven if it truly was dark magic to begin with. Sadly the people still hold the belief that dark magic is evil, so many mages learn light magic instead because they don¡¯t want the people to think they are evil.¡± ¡°¡­Di-d you say demons?¡± I stuttered out. ¡°Yes, seedling I did. You should try to stop judging people before you meet them Neo, no one can decide the race they are born as. What defines anyone truly is there actions, people associate dark magic as evil and the same goes for demons. You see how the people are wrong about dark magic so should you really trust all you hear? ¡°I agree with you Chief however a demon was the cause for many deaths not just in our kingdom but the others as well¡­¡± ¡°You don¡¯t think humans have done the same? You will associate a whole race by one demons actions?¡± I thought about it, the Chief was right we have kings that start wars with neighboring kingdoms because of petty disputes. Deciding to change the topic I say, ¡° So what did we come here for old man?¡± ¡°We came here so I could give you a gift. However, after you leave this house you must not mention even to me that you have the book of blessings. I¡¯m going to tell you all that I know though it is not a lot. First is that multiple kingdoms want possession of it. Its believed that that book could tip the scale of the power balance we have with the kingdoms, so you can already assume the people who are after the book want it so they can cause war. Secondly there is one origination in particular that is obsessed with it, I don¡¯t know what they call themselves but I believe members have a symbol that looks like this.¡± The Chief pulled out a piece of paper that had a drawling of circle and inside there was a triangle and in the middle of the triangle was a very small circle. I was actually expecting something menacing but the only thing that stood out to me was that drawling seemed perfectly symmetrical. After I placed the piece of paper down he continued. ¡°If you see anyone with this never trust them. Also this organization is the one responsible for the growing of age rituals that tell you what blessing you have and the amount of magic your body naturally stores.¡± ¡°Well guess I really have no chance of knowing what my blessings are.¡± I mumble With furrowed brows ¡°Neo this ritual is to see what kids are worth taking.¡± ¡°T-aki-ng?¡± I stutter. ¡°Ugh¡­yes even though it is incredibly rare any child that shows to have two blessings is considered a ¡°candidate¡± for the book of blessings. It¡¯s believe the more blessings you have increases the chance for the book to let you read it¡­now we know that isn¡¯t true.¡± ¡°Wait but this group doesn¡¯t even have the book? Why would they go after kids without having the main piece?¡± ¡°Simple they want to be completely ready for when they get the book. However for the past couple years now I haven¡¯t heard about anymore ¡°disappearances¡± so they could have disbanded.¡± ¡°Guess that makes me feel a little better¡± I say sarcastically. ¡°I¡¯m sorry seedling but I have told you all I know, and I suppose the rest is for you to discover. I want you to know that once you leave here I will cast a spell to forget the all events that have happened today. If anyone discovers that the book was once here and is now gone I don¡¯t want to be the reason you are in danger. After all the first person they would come for is me. There is magic that can force me to talk against my will so it¡¯s best for everyone if no one knows. So, for your safety and the village I will forget it all. But I need you to promise me you will never tell anyone.¡± The Chief tried smiling but the statement was too serious for a smile to lighten the load. ¡°Okay Chief I promise.¡± Not only was this overwhelming but the fact that I couldn¡¯t tell anyone made it all the more. Breaking the seriousness weighing down on me the chief started laughing. what in the hell does this old fart find funny?? After his outburst of laughter, the chief tells me ¡°Well nothing is going to change it, so all we can do is take a step forward. Though who would have thought I would be alive to see the day...well... not ...that I¡¯m going to remembered ha-ha. ¡°as he mumbled the rest he picked up a small box that he must of placed on the table earlier. He grabbed it gently from the table it was sitting on and held out a small delicate looking box that had incredible detailed work, carvings all throughout and look to be dusted with gold. If the box itself is amazing what could be inside. As the chief opened the box I was speechless.... but not in the good way. I look up to him as if he is joking ¡°It¡¯s just a pair of gloves....¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s what you need don¡¯t you!¡± Still chuckling to himself Is this man senile? Should I be even being taking him seriously? ¡°Ha ha now Neo don¡¯t doubt me, these gloves have some benefits. For one they can never come off unless it by the owner of the gloves. Also, it can amplify all of mother¡¯s nature¡¯s blessings. They are actually a class three level item so, these are actually quite expensive...¡± as he kept mumbling ¡°Wait did you say class three?? These worn down looking gloves are a rare class item?¡± I looked at them again as if this new knowledge would change there appearance. Sadly it didn¡¯t¡­ Reaching in the book I held up the pair of black leather fingerless gloves and decided that they are probably a hell of a lot better than any other run of the mill gloves. Even though I didn¡¯t want to admit it, the old man was right. I didn¡¯t want to endanger my village or my family and if all I had to do is wear some pair of gloves the rest of my life it seemed like a small price to pay. After putting on both fingerless gloves I said goodbye to the chief and slowly walked out. With my first step out the door I was finally coming to the realization of what happened today and so I tightly held my new book against my chest and with it my new secrets.