《Soulreaver》 Prologue: The Crimson Flower A humanoid figure hidden under the shroud of a jet black cloak, wielding a long staff stared at the image of carnage. Dozens of corpses, man, woman, elderly, and young, were all charred to the point of being unrecognizable. Those who were barely able to survive the sudden attack ran into the forest hoping to find sanctuary, and yet their fate has indefinitely been set inside the stomach of the demonic beast living within who waiting for careless prey to tread upon their territory. ¡°You humans never change¡­¡± The figure turned around towards the forest behind her and prepared to leave the horrendous scene, but before she could, the weak dying voice of a woman called out to her from somewhere amidst the sea of raging fire and disfigured corpses. ¡°Please¡­¡± Turning her head towards the source of the pitiful plea the cloaked figure saw a young woman, her legs crushed under a large wooden beam which used to support one of the houses. In her embrace was a newly born baby. ¡°Please save my child¡­¡± With tears running down her face the mother begged as she stretched out the baby within herarms towards the cloaked figure which laid motionless before her. Seeing the baby within the dying woman¡¯s hands, the cloaked figure bent over and picked up the child. ¡°What¡¯s the child¡¯s name?¡± The cloaked figure asked the mother. ¡°Sirus¡­ his name is Sirus¡­¡± Answered the woman, smiling. Moments later the fires died down and what was left of what was once a small humble town was nothing more but a pile of burnt corpses. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Standing in front of the corpse of the mother of the child within her hands, the cloaked figure offered her respect, ¡°may your soul rest in peace¡­¡± With a simple snap of the cloaked figures fingers, the ground as if it was alive, swallowed the woman¡¯s body, and in its place a single crimson flowerbloomed. Then, walking around the ruined village was a man wearing rusty iron armor with a huge scar on his left eye and a steel longsword on his back. He was the leader of the human bandits which pillaged the village, and behind him was fifteen of his subordinates. ¡°Boss! There¡¯s someone still alive over there!¡± Shouted one of the subordinate bandits upon spotting the cloaked figure. ¡°Bring ¡®em here then!¡± Shouted back the leader of the bandits who was busy looting off a silver ring from the burnt corpse of an old man. ¡°Uwaaaaaaaaah!!!¡± A sudden head splittingly loud cry resounded within the entire vicinity causing all the bandits to shut their ears closed. Looking at the crying child within her arms, the cloaked figure placed her hand which had a soft green glow on the boy¡¯s stomach, ¡°don¡¯t cry child, mother will take care of this.¡± With the boy in her hands put to sleep, the cloaked figure put him on the ground and erected a transparent magic barrier around him before turning to face five bandits closing in on her with their weapons drawn. ¡°You humans should really learn not to judgesimply by appearance.¡± From within the cloak which blended with the darkness of the night came out four creatures, they had a long silver body comparable to a snake with a widthof an adult human male, covered in scales of steel and a head of a giant wolf-like beast. The beasts¡¯ eyes glowedin a deep crimson as they bared their sharp serrated teeth at the armed men, snarling and growling like monstersstarved of food, their dripping saliva more deadly than any poison. Seeing the beasts¡¯ which came out of the cloaked figure the bandits froze in fear, although one of the was able to gain enough strength in their legs to make a run for it and screamed, ¡°DEMON!!!¡± Panic and dismay spread around even faster than the wild fire which consumed the village, even the bandit leader was forced to drop all that he had looted from the village to hasten his escape. In the end they were nothing but a slave to fear. ¡°Tonight you shall have a feast,¡± said the cloaked figure, petting one of the beasts¡¯ on the head. And before any of the other bandits could escaped the scene, the beasts¡¯ launched towards their prey like arrows fired from a longbow. One tore off a bandit¡¯s leg while he tried to run away, the other got his head severed from his neck, and another was torn in half with his innards spilling on the ground before he even knew what had happened. A few minutes passed with only the sounds of deathly screams, flesh being torn, and blood spilling on charred earth. It was now about the time of daybreak, the sun had started to creep up from the horizon coloring the surrounding area with its soft gentle light, illuminating what was once a human village beside the said forest of demons. Now, what was left was nothing but ashes of what used to be houses, rotting flesh of what used to be people, and in the middle of it all was a patch of earth with a single crimson flower in full bloom with the severed heads of sixteen men, faces full of anguish, decorated around it as an offering. Chapter 1: Soul Collecter Two days... Sirus had been staying in the Red Swamp for two days without any food or drink. Kneck deep in blood red mud he stalked his prey, waiting for it to show itself, not letting his guard down for even a second. [Hey! are you still alive?] A voiceresounded within his head. It was the familiar voice of a girl which annoyed him to no end. Continuing to wait for the appearance of his prey, he continued to stay quiet and motionless... completely dismissing the girl''s voice. [Ey! Stop ignoring me! We have been here for two days straight now! The thing you''re hunting is probably long gone or dead by now!] Nagging as always... he never did understand how an artifact could be so talkative. For the first part he knew his prey was still there, since a faint mana signature can be felt deep in the dark abyss in the middle of the swamp. He also knew that the thing was also aware of his existence... and right now, it was only a battle of patience, and he who strikes first dies. But in reality he had already won. [Is he about to come out know? Maybe you already killed it with the poison and is already lying dead in the bottom of the swamp.] "It''s alive I can feel it, the poison is strong but it will take time to actually force the beast out of it''s hiding place, it''s not an idiot like you." [Who are you calling an idiot!?] "Shut up, I can feel it getting closer." A darkfigure appeared in the middle of the crimson swamp quickly growing in size before suddenly launching out of the water''s surface, it was a six foot long eel-like demonic beast covered in countless tiny little needles all over its body. Opening its gaping maw wide revealing several rows of sharp serrated teeth, the three-eyed demon beast shot out a torrent of blood red acid. Sirus quickly disappeared from the demon beast''s vision and instantly moved at the beast''s side. With a simple slash with his longsword the beast''s iron scales were easily broken through---a plume of blood shot out as its head was severed from the body. Now laying dead, the needle like spikes on the beast''s body retracted back into its flesh. After catching the demon beast''s carcass in mid air, Sirus landed back onto solid ground. [You dealt with it with one blow why couldn''t you just have swam into the swamp and killed it instead of waiting for it come to us for two days!?] Hearing the loud complaints within his head while putting the demon beast carcass into a sack, Sirus sighed. "Only an idiot would jump into enemy territory without thinking, individual power isn''t the only thing important in a battle. If I were to fight in the demon beast''s territory the swamp water would have slowed my movements, the beast would be able to move faster in water, and the small space would be a disadvantage for me." [Sheesh... alright, alright, you''re the tactician, lets just get back to town already... it''s smelly here.] After the voice in his head finally resigned, for the time being at least... he picked up the sack and hung it around his shoulder to set off back into the town he was staying at. =0 = 0 = 0 = 0 = 0 = Without much problems except the ocassional dire wolf which would be baited by the smell of a demon beast carcass, Sirus was able to safely return back to Greywood.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. It was anpoor old town by the border of the Blood Saint Empire. A backwater town where thieves, murderers, whores, mercenaries, bandits and all other kinds of shady people converge. Most the townspeople and even the empire''s guards stationed here are corrupt. It was basically a town dedicated to sin, the best place for Sirus to stay low as long as he had enough money to pay all the ''curious'' folk. After giving the guards a few silver coins they opened the city gate despite his obviously suspicious looks wearing a black cloak stained by blood and mud with a sack dripping with blood on his back. Sirus walked the town''s streets... drunkards, beggars, criminals, mercenaries, and prostitutes was all there was to behold other than the run down houses and buildings. He stopped for a moment and looked up at the darkened sky, a series of memories played inside his head... ''Pathetic humans...'' He continued on his way... It was an unexpectedly uneventful walk back to the inn he was staying at---a rare occassion for such a place. "Welcome back kid, I was almost sure you had died in the Red Swamp but what do you know, you even return here with the corpse of the Blood Eel." The one who originally gave Sirus the job to hunt for the Blood Eel was the woman who owned the only inn of Greywood. Mama Hem, a big woman with short curly hair the color of flames. Once hailed as an A-class adventurer known as the Blazing Lion, she was now managing the only inn of a backwater town after being discharged when she killed a young female adventurer who had an affair with her ex-husband who was now also six feet deep in the earth. After Mama Hemmy had fully inspected the kill, she gave Sirus a small pouch with fifteen gold coins inside. Finished with counting his pay Sirus walked upstairs to his room and overheard a group of drunk mercenaries on the way. "Did you hear that the empire''s Blood Knights are actually here? They say the Soul Collecter had been spotted near the town." "Hah, bullshit rumors! Who would believe in such a thing? Soul Collecter my ass!" "But the stories are true I tell ya!" [Looks like they''re talking about you...] ''We''re leaving this town tomorrow.'' Entering his room Sirus decided to take his long awaited sleep and threw himself at the bed. = 0 = 0 = 0 = 0 = 0 = Augustin Redd, the current leader of the Blood Knights.A group of some of the empire''s best soldiers dedicated to the containment---or in some unavoidable circumstances--the eradication of all mysterious beings or phenomena that may prove harmful to the empire. He is one of the empire''s most promising warriors of the current generation, the first born of the noble Redd family that was known to bear sword masters ever since the birth of the empire, but Augustin was even more special as he was personally trained by a hero for some time. Stength, status, merits, and even a fiance he loved with all his heart... he had it all. That was until his fiance, the former leader of the Blood Knights had come into contact with an unknown enemy that had reportedly caused the destruction of a few of their encampments and even a fortress---the Collector of Souls. It was the only reason he took up the position as the Captain of the Blood Knights... to get revenge. Unlike the rumors would like to exaggerate, he believed that whoever, or whatever the Soul Collector really was, it wasn''t some death god who had come to punish men, but a mortal that can bleed himself, and it would be a mortal he would kill. After being on the Soul Collecter''s trail for more than a month without any reliable findings, a supposed sighting in which was arguably the empire''s worst town came up. Wether reliable or not, it was his only lead. "Captain! Is it really true that the Soul Collector can kill a person just by looking them in the eye?" The youngest and most energetic of his squad members, Abigail Grimm, codenamed ''The Crimson Vortex'', asked him with her trademark carefree smile stamped on her face. "Actua-" Before he could even reply someone else raised their voice. "Bullshit! I heard he was actually the old lord of demons himself and could actually split a mountain with ease!" It was another one of his subordinates, a big burly man with a physique that would put an ogre to shame, ''The Hands of Reinzen'', Andre Ax. He used to be a gladiator in the imperial city, but after a while, no more worthy opponents could quench his thirst for a challenge... of course that was until he was completely beaten by Augustin who he swore to follow until he becomes strong enough to beat him. "You two are wrong, the Soul Collector is surely nothing more than a mortal, nothing our leader could not handle." Again another one joined the conversation. It was the usually timid Edina, ''The Shadow of Death'', a slave that Augustin had rescued a few years ago, which turned out to have talent with the sword comparable to even the sword saint himself. She was the closest one to him out of them all, and Augustin saw her as a younger sibling in his eyes. "Heh? Is that so but actually I heard-" All of his subordinates argued about the Soul Collector on the road, except for Diane, ''The Howling Reaper'', the most mysterious of all his squad members. She rarely spoke, even more so than Edina. And her face would always be covered by a mask and not a patch of skin would not be covered by her thick leather gartments. The only thing really visible was her long and slightly curly jet black hair that would peek out the hood of her cloak. Augustin could only sigh as he saw the Town of Greywood coming closer into view from the horizon. Chapter 2: Soul Collector (2) A familiar scene was laid out before Sirus''s eyes. A woman was in front of him... she had a beautiful youthful face, smooth pale skin with platinum colored scales on several areas, long silky brown hair, chesnut colored eyes with slit irises, and the most noticable feature was the strange crimson mark on her forehead. And in the background was the interior of a cave---damp and cold. "You must not hate the humans for what they have done... it is only in their nature... and you have to remember... you are one of them... and yet... you are also one of us... but most importantly... you are my son..." It was his mother, Asareth He knew what was bound to happen... the memory had already played inside his head hundreds of times by now, and yet he still couldn''t get over it. He would try even if it was a dream---to persuade her not to leave, and yet... he always found himself unable to move just like when it happened. He was frozen in place unable to do anything---he was in the clutches fear... a fear caused by weakness... a fear from being human. Suddenly the scenery changed. A burning forest, ashen ground, traces of magic, of struggle, and of slaugher. Crimson blood was spilled everywhere... corpses of Holy Knights clad in their silver armor and mages draped in their magical robes were strewn about and in the middle of it all was a headless demon corpse on a cross... mangled and beaten to the point that it became unrecognizable... no limbs were left... only the torso where even part of the flesh was torn and ripped remained. He looked at his hands as he fell to his knees in front of the corpse he once known as his mother---his hands were tainted in her blood. At first he tried to blame the humans, then the Gods, he even blamed fate, but he knew... deep inside... he knew the only one to be held for the torture of his mother was no other than himself... his weak human self. Then... as saw the face of the only other person he blamed responsible from the beyond the smoke, the sound of a voice calling out to him pulled him out of the nightmare. ... ...... ......... "..." Sirus stared blankly at the wooden ceiling. [Hey! Do you know how long I''ve been trying to wake you up?!] Without replying to the voice ringing inside his head, he got off the bed and proceeded to wear his worn-out leather boots that was almost completely covered in hardened mud. He then proceeded to put on his black cloth shirt and his light vest made from the hide of a Rock Salamander, and after finally finishing all preperations he reached out for his longsword, a weapon that has proven to be reliable so far. But just when he put the trusty sword into its scabbard he heard something quite troubling just down below. "Yeah I''m pretty sure the man you are looking for is somewhere here in this town, at first I thought he was some traveling mercenary, but now that you mentioned it... he was quite suspicious... too suspicious, and then I actually caught a glimpse of a strange mark on his forehead, but if you want to know more it''s gonna cost you, nothing that you rich empire boys couldn''t afford though." It the voice of the inn owner. He had obviously been sold out. Well... he was sure that it would have happened sooner or later and it was not like it was his first time being backstabbed. He spread out his mana around the vicinity to see how many of the empire''s soldiers there were---an easy task because of the faint mana signature that their crests gave off, but while in the process of scanning the area Sirus felt someone tap into his mana. ''Shit!'' The mana frequency he was using must have been near impossible to trace for a normal magician, this would only mean someone strong was nearby. The next thing Sirus saw was a pillar of crimson flames erupting from under his feet. = 0 = 0 = 0 = 0 = 0 =Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. A genius, an elemental saint, peerlessly talented, it was how most would describe the young girl Abigail Grimm, an orphan adopted by the noble family Quinn, after a girl had reportedly burnt down the orphanage in their territory killing everyone inside in the process. This was of course caused by Abigail''s strange talent with handling mana---something so powerful and terrifying that it was said that she was blessed by the Elemental Gods themselves. To the declining Quinn family, they saw this as nothing more than a change to get back up and restore their former power. Abigail become nothing more than a highly decorated pawn. The so called love and care her "family" had showered her with was nothing more than a stunt to give the public a better image of them. She was educated in the art of magic by a Great Sage at the tender age of five, all the while she was also taught how to act like a prim and proper noble of the Quinn family at the same time. The Quinn family made many arrangements to efficiently make use of Abigail. She was even set to marry the young master of the noble family of Grenne. And yet they failed to see that the tool they think they were using was no tool at all. Abigail, a child of unknown origins fascinated by the mysterious phenomenon known as death. The fire that started in the orphanage was not because she was unable to control her own magic, it was because of her own free will... to quench her curiousity... but what she didn''t think would happen was that it would only entangle her even more into the infinite void that was known as death. It was when Abigail turned eleven that the entire Quinn family was burnt to ashes. It was then she changed her last name to ''Grimm'', the letters engraved on an old gold ring that was supposedly left behind by her mother when she was abandoned at the orphanage. She went out killing indiscriminately, trying to further her research into death until she met a person she couldn''t kill... ... ...... ......... While waiting outside the only inn in the town as their captan continued to ask for clues about their target. Abigail sensed a very thin layer of mana spreading out into the area and quickly tapped into it to find the source. It was certainly the person they were looking for, she could feel something strange in his mana... something that only the demons would posses. Without a second thought she casted a pillar of flames from just beneath the wooden structure of the inn. Surely their captain would be able to get away, and the casualties of a few criminals wouldn''t really matter. The roar of the crimson flames was soon followed by an explosion which completely decimated the entire inn---sending bits and pieces of debris flying everywhere. But what she didn''t expect was that her target would be completely unscathed after getting swallowed up in her flames. She saw something burstout of her flames before suddenly losing consciousness. = 0 = 0 = 0 = 0 = 0 = ''I was too careless...'' Just in time Sirus was able to coat his body in mana to protect againts the flames and shot out a ball of condensed mana back at the attacker. Landing back on the ground, he dashed to finish off the little girl who was able to miraculously survive his magic with only a concussion, thanks to her amazing reflex that caused her to instantly create a magic barrier which weaken Sirus'' spell. But before he was able to draw the blade on his back, another attack came from his left flank, something much faster. Seeing something flash in the corner of his eye he quickly tilted his head to the side, barely dodging a rapier tip which was only able to graze a bit of his hair. Though he was able to dodge the rapier attack, he had been too careless to not realize it was only a distraction for a powerful kick to cleanly make its way into his unprotected stomach sending his body into the air like a flimsy doll. To cancel out the momentum Sirus spun his entire body in midair, only to recieve a barrage of countless rapier thrusts. Pouring his mana into his eyes Sirus was just only able to barely see the trajectories of the sword thrust and the woman wearing a white jacket with the crest of the empire''s elite troops. Evading the sword tip was something he couldn''t do perfectly, since the woman''s movements weren''t only fast, but also skilled. She deliberately attacked places that were vital while also sending out faints to confuse Sirus, but he successfully avoided any lethal thrust and was only left with shallow cuts. The problem was that the woman didn''t even seem close to being exhausted and that Sirus couldn''t find any gaps in her flurry of attacks. [This isn''t looking too good...] A worried voice echoed in Sirus''s mind. ''Yeah no shit...'' Seeing a bluish glint within his opponent''s eyes Sirus quickly realized she was also using mana to enchant her eyes. This would allow her to gain superhuman vision, but when met with something the eyes can follow and yet too fast for the body to react to it could be a fatal flaw in battle. Seeing that the woman was intently focused on his actions he grabbed a pouch on his vest and threw it at her. Almost instantenously the woman thrusted her rapier at the pouch causing a cloud of red dust to explode. Seeing that the fire dust was successful in fulfilling it''s purpose as the woman dropped her weapon and touched her burning eyes, he took initiative to charge. ''She might be skilled, but she''s still green...'' Unsheathing the sword on his back, Sirus slashed at the woman, aiming for the neck. And then to the left three projectiles flew towards him at an impossibly fast speed, unable to even react in time, the first of the arrows hit the blade of the sword causing his attack to change direction cutting only the woman''s arm while the other two shattered the mana coating his body and went through his torso like paper. [Shit! This is really bad!] Looking down on the ground Sirus could see a puddle of red below his feet.