《Cliche?》 Chapter 1: Typical Reincarnation? James is tired, dirty, and rather annoyed. Anyone would be, if they were laying in a puddle of mud. For James, however, this did not account for why he was tired and annoyed¡­ Just dirty. Let us review why James feels this way. James was a young man of 23, living on the planet of Earth in the year of 2015. He lived a fairly simple life of working to survive like anyone else, enjoying his hobbies during his free time. Of course, had he a girlfriend he would rather devote all his time to her, although such actions would probably drive a woman away, but that was just how James was. During this simple life James was walking home from work, which happened to be only 4 blocks away from his home (how convenient). Standing at the corner of a cross-section of streets a single block away from his home, James patiently waited for the cross signal and the lights to change (better safe than risking it, right?). Sure enough the lights changed to let him begin his last trek, and as he was crossing, his life changed dramatically, like suddenly being hit by a truck (only in James¡¯ case, literally!). A truck had run through the red lights and struck James, in the middle of the cross-walk, at 40 mph. As James watched his blood thoroughly coat the grill of the truck in the last milliseconds of adrenaline fueled brain functionality, he thought just a few last phrases¡­ [WHAT THE FUCK! Are you serious? So fucking clich¨¦!] [Darkness? Oh. Right. The fuck-tard truck driver hit me. So this place is the end? Maybe I am in some kind of coma? Nah, not after that, no way.] James was, understandably furious. He was only a block from home, ready to kick of his shoes, play some video games, read some light novels, and work on his plastic board game models. Now he is dead, in this endless darkness¡­ Wait, how can he be aware of himself and his surroundings if the mind of his body was dead? Did that mean souls existed? As James pondered about his existence he slowly began to feel warmth around him. Odd, considering he only sensed himself until now. Was the warmth always around him, or was this a new existence in the darkness in addition to himself? As James busied his mind about this new sensation, his senses became aware of yet something else new to the darkness. A steady sound, constant, like the beat of a drum with a muffled bass, sometimes fluctuating in tempo. James knew this was a heartbeat, however it sounded loudly below his feet. It was not his own, yet he could feel it surrounding him. [Warmth, darkness, and a heartbeat that is not mine¡­ NO it can¡¯t be. Pleaaasssssee don¡¯t let it be that¡­ It¡¯s just too clich¨¦!] If there was one thing James hated, it was the clich¨¦. James preferred to be unique in everything he did, if it could be helped. What James had just pieced together with the little information he had, was that he was going to be reincarnated. It was popular among the light novels and fan fictions he read. Thanks to that popularity, the concept began to feel clich¨¦! [Well I can¡¯t really do anything about that now¡­ Hope I get born into a unique world that isn¡¯t too dull] Some undeterminable time later James, stewing in his thoughts, heard a roar from without the womb of his new mother. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. [An attack from some wild beast? Am I going to die again before I am even birthed? Well at least it wouldn¡¯t be too clich¨¦ and maybe I will have another chance. Perhaps next reincarnation I will even lose my memories?] As James thought, which recently he had too much time to do, the roars grew louder and sounded more pained than predatory or threatening. James Abruptly saw light, the warmth gone, he could feel only the cold harshness of the new world. James didn¡¯t cry out. Even though it was clich¨¦ for a reincarnation not to cry, it was more so to cry. He didn¡¯t care if the mother thought him stillborn, he wasn¡¯t going to be so clich¨¦. James wasn¡¯t being held by a doctor or a midwife, it felt as though he were laying on a cold, hard floor. He felt a nudge from something larger than him. James didn¡¯t react, he wanted to see his surroundings first. [Who allows a newborn to lay on such a cold hard place? Hell would be more welcome than this cold surface] He put all his might into opening his eyes the tiniest bit. James felt the cold beneath him permeate his very being at the sight before him. Teeth like a sabretooth tiger, long, curved, menacing. Pure ivory claws, sharp as daggers and as long. Eyes with a deep, bright blue glow as though the sun shone through the purest blue ice. Thick white fur, coated in a sharp frost that looked like it could shred the one who touches it, and two long, especially fluffy, flexible tails. On all fours, it looked as though it was as tall as an average human, somewhere between five and six feet. It looked like an arctic breed of whatever species it was. James wasn¡¯t sure of the breed, feline or vulpine? It had features that belonged to both. James wanted to lash out, defend himself, but he had no strength. Did this creature kill his mother? Is this where the roars came from? As James willed his body to move, strength quickly drained from him and the creature drew nearer. The creature circled around James once, and abruptly lay down next to him, tails curling over him as though the softest and warmest of blankets. [That fur is deceptively warm¡­ Wait¡­ Huh? I¡¯m not food?] As James thought such things he heard an angelic voice within his mind. ¡°I will call you¡­ Veloth.¡± It was full of warmth and lulled James to sleep. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author¡¯s Note: Hello readers! I¡¯m new to writing fictions so I would appreciate if: ? You constructively criticize me so that I may improve and give you, the readers, and enjoyable experience! ? If you notice any spelling errors or grammatical errors that makes my fiction difficult to read, let me know in the comments or through another method, that I may fix them! Also, I don¡¯t expect much from this so depending on the reactions to my fiction I may write more (or less) often. Currently I plan to get at least 2-3 chapters out a week. Note to self: FP. Strike lots of commas. Grammar. Chapter SelectChapter 2 >> Chapter 2: Greed One year. One full year with the creature Veloth has come to know as mother. One year of getting used to his new body full of primal power. One terrible year. Veloth was upset because he learned of his species. Turns out he and his mother are of an ancient race with great magical and physical capability. It also turns out that this oh-so-powerful ancient race, that his mother has yet to name, has an insanely low fertility rate, and have many enemies. In other words, it¡¯s clich¨¦, a powerful race that is near extinction and thus rare. [How come beings that are so mighty end up as nothing but legends and folklore? At least I¡¯m not a dragon¡­] Veloth lay curled in his new home, a cave at the peak of a mountain made entirely of ice, one massive glacier in a world of sparkling blue and white as far as the eye can see. His fur had thickened so that he could no longer feel the cold. Veloth¡¯s claws had become sharp and hardened and could carve into the iron-hard ice of the mountain as though it were dirt. Veloth had grown massively in the one year, already four feet tall on all fours, nearly as large as his mother. He suspected the males of his race were larger and that the young grew quickly for that was the only way to rationalize his size. His teeth had fully grown within two weeks and had been eating the meat of many white furred critters his mother brought since. At two months of age he was made to hunt for himself in the great sea of snow and ice, although it was unnaturally easy for him. No matter the creature he was faster, stronger, and made for the hunt. Veloth was passing his time by trying to learn how to speak to his mother. His species apparently utilized telepathic communication. Often his mother¡¯s telepathic voice sounded tinged with worry when she spoke to him. Veloth knew it was because it was probably natural for the young of his race to learn how to communicate quickly, and he had yet to succeed. [How do I use my telepathy? It isn¡¯t like it¡¯s a new concept or anything so why can¡¯t I figure it out? I¡¯ve already managed some magic spells of my own for fuck sake, so why not telepathy!] He had used magic to form spikes of ice to impale or imprison larger prey before, simply feeling a bottomless well of power within him and drawing out a mere speck of power from it. Following his train of thought, he tried to manipulate the power to move to his mind, as though he could use the power to somehow project his mental voice. Veloth felt it working but he was missing a crucial step somewhere, he knew, perhaps due to retaining his human memories. Due to his lack of communication, his mother worried, and it was difficult to learn much about his new life. [The hell, was I born a mute? Is that even possible with telepathic communication? Nah, I must be missing some crucial step. Ah! I¡¯m an idiot! I never tried a direct mental connection, only to project my voice!] Following his new train of thought, as Veloth saw his mother entering their cave for the night, he sent his power to his mind, and from his mind to his mother¡¯s. He sent one word through the new mental link ¡°Mother¡±. A flood of emotions suddenly swamped his own mind through the connection of power. It began with surprise, followed by joy and relief, then by fear and worry. It was his mother¡¯s emotions, but why fear and worry? Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. There was a new light source in their home, it was not natural. It was a darkness that permeated from what appeared to be runes made of a crimson color on the cold ice floor of the cave. There was no time to react in that heartbeat of a moment, as that darkness which had its own light spread and covered Veloth¡¯s body. ¡°Mother!¡± Veloth cried out one last time before the world appeared to bend and blur. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- General Zavus Greed of the demon army¡¯s Seven Sins watched in impatient anticipation as his strongest hemomancer worked on the summoning circle drawn of blood. The runes were carefully painted within perfectly circular rings, interweaving with each other gracefully in complicated patterns. ¡°Hurry up! You are taking too long to summon the war beast! You said if I provided you the greatest quality of mana enriched blood I could find you would summon a great beast, so what¡¯s the problem!¡± Patience was not Zavus¡¯ strong point. One of the hemomancers, acknowledging his master¡¯s impatientce spoke up. ¡°We are nearly done master, just a small bit longer.¡± All you needed to placate that impatience was to promise it would not be much longer, even if it would have taken years longer, simply saying it would happen soon would suffice, surprisingly without implications or punishment to the speaker. Zavus frowned but did not say anymore. To prepare himself for the arrival of his new and powerful war beast, and to remove himself of boredom, he traveled to his private quarters within the obsidian palace of demonic kin known as Pandemonium, the dark spot that plagues the world of Cres. Zavus entered his chambers and glanced at his many glorious things, everything here belonged to him, the three women of varying species laying within the silvery silk smooth sheets of his harpy down feather bed. Zavus briskly moved to his gold inlayed ivory pine wardrobe and thrust its doors open. Before him were many extravagant outfits of gold, silver, purple, blue, read, and any other of the finest colors that caught his eye. He snatched one in particular that he liked, a black robe with a gold threaded and silver threaded dragon winding themselves around each other all throughout the robe. It once belonged to a human who called himself dragon king. Zavus plundered his nation of anything that caught his eye, and left the rest to his subordinates. Attempting to tidy his unruly charcoal hair within a mirror framed almost entirely by diamond, he notices a faint stubble upon his chin, which he quickly remedies with a pearl handle knife inlaid with a single ruby. Zavus washes his face with water magically provided from a crystal basin, flushing some color back to his red skin and a sparkle back to his golden snake-like eyes. Smiling at his magnificence which he wished to one day obtain copies of in the form of art, he straightens his robe one last time and leaves the treasure room that is his. << Chapter 1Chapter SelectChapter 3 >> Chapter 3: Fury Too much time on my hands today + boredom = more chapters! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Veloth felt like he was being pushed and pulled through a vast distance as planetary bodies and stars flashed by like orbs of wonder, winking in and out of existence as quickly as it takes to move ones eye a faction. Veloth could probably only see these worlds and stars for such a brief period because of his species¡¯ heightened senses and abilities. He was fuming mad. He had finally learned how to speak to his mother, only to be taken away from her. Veloth could only hope this situation was not what he thought it was. [I swear if this is a summoning I am going to kill someone.] Veloth¡¯s senses abruptly returned. The first thing he noticed was that the dark power that coated him in the cave remained clinging to his fur. No, not clinging, more like it was absorbed by his fur, changing its color to the purest, void-like black. The protective frost on his fur was gone. He had determined the frost was not only from the cold of his home but also from an aura his species emits, an aura of intense cold. Frost created from his aura began to reform on his fur, only this time it resembled frozen tar. Next Veloth noticed he was standing in a large crimson circle, and the same darkness was permeating from it, as though a visible odor. That darkness, as soon as it wafted from the circle, swirled around and settled on Veloth, as though to thicken his coat. Veloth then noticed seven creatures which can only be described as demons. Six of them stood at set intervals around the circle, hands held palm-down in front of them. They wore crimson cloaks and multiple tools of varying sizes and shapes, almost all caked in fresh or dried blood. Their appearances varied greatly, some with or without horns, wings feathered or bat-like, tails scaled or furred, red skin, blue skin, gray skin, slit eyes and not slit. ¡°Hah! Finally! It looks magnificent! Well done!¡± The seventh demon boomed. Charcoal grey hair, golden snake-like eyes, clean-shaven red skin, a robe that could probably be called a kimono with gold and silver dragon entwined around it, rings of varying metals and gems on each finger including the thumbs, and large diamond earrings hanging from each lobe, causing them to stretch. Absolutely gaudy. A perfect target for Veloth''s fury. ¡°GROOAAAAARR!¡± Letting out a roar more akin to a lion¡¯s, Veloth pounced. The gaudy demon¡¯s face contorted from one of satisfaction into one of surprise and fear. The demon appeared to move very sluggishly as it began to utter a single word. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Zavus watched as his hemomancers worked, pouring massive amounts of mana into the edges of the already mana enriched blood circle. The circle emitted a pure, dark energy, more than even the demon king was capable of possessing. The dark mana swirled and frothed in the middle of the formation, as though trying to pull something from the very air into existence. There it was, a grand figure, about four feet tall, claws that looked menacing, teeth that could surely puncture and shred the toughest mnna infused armors. Eyes that glowed a deep blue piercing the very soul. Two tails perfect for balancing high-speed maneuvers. Lastly, void-like fur that was absorbing the massive amounts of dark mana meant to bind the bea- Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. [Eh¡­? That mana is meant for the binding, why is it being absorbed?] As Zavus began to panic internally, his outer appearance soon came to mirror his inner turmoil as the beast roared and dashed with an ungodly speed straight for him. With some of the greatest reflexes among the Seven Sins, he uttered his emergency word. ¡°Teleport!¡± Zavus shrieked in an unrefined matter. A ring on his left hand glowed brightly, made purely of diamond, and the world distorted as he appeared once more in his chambers within the palace of darkness, Pandemonium. ¡°Geh¡­ I have to tell the others about this. But if they kill it, I will never possess that power!¡± When the creature charged at him he felt purely mismatched. Zavus, a demon general of such great power, he is recognized world-wide by demon and human kind alike as one of the Seven Sins, the mightiest powers on the world of Cres. He was defeated by a single action, before combat could even hope to take place. Zavus had one tool among his possessions which could possibly tame the beast. He had planned to use it on the demon king, but the demon king¡¯s power is no longer needed if he possessed this beast. Zavus removes an ivory collar from his desk beneath his diamond framed mirror. This collar had an ancient enchantment which would make the wearer unable to act against the wearer of its sister ring of similar ivory. ¡°With this, I will be the greatest power without doubt, on this world.¡± Zavus grinned and shuddered as he imagined owning such a power. As though to serenade him, screams could be heard throughout the palace Pandemonium. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [The cowardly fool vanished!] Veloth growled to himself as he turned towards the six other robed figures in the room, who were now drawing kris daggers and other such blood-letting or sacrificial weapons and tools. [Judging from appearance alone they are blood mages of some sort, so it is probably best to wipe them out quickly. The more blood there is, the more difficult things will become.] Veloth discovered while hunting that his mind only needs to will his power to create something for it to become a spell. If he were to imagine a great field of levitating, iron-hard ice spikes, for example, they would appear as his power spreads from its bottomless center within himself. Next if he willed such ice move with such force as though being launched from a massive nail gun, they would pierce his desired targets. There was one thing about his spell that was for some reason off. The ice that formed the spell was the same color as the protective frost aura emanating from his fur, appearing as though a void of nothingness could be frozen and launched as a weapon. Screams from the dying and punctured hemomancers sang throughout the room Veloth was summoned to. << Chapter 2Chapter SelectChapter 4 >> Chapter 4: Heroine Sealed. Veloth was sealed. Worse, something was wrong with his magic. Immediately after he one-sidedly slaughtered the blood mages he attempted to break out of the dome-like room he was summoned to. First he tried his magic. No matter what spell he attempted, it would have same dark aspect as his first spell. Whenever he attempted to cast a spell at the domed ceiling, the floor, or the door, the darkness would dissipate from his spell, leaving a weakened version of the original spell. Veloth attempted to remedy this by producing an even stronger spell. Veloth imagined an explosive ball of fire, the explosion would have had enough force to make C4 look like child¡¯s play. He imagined blue fire for the highest temperature. The fire ball formed around a foot before him, however the flames were black, as though they consumed the light rather than oxygen. Though the flames were not what he imagined, the heat of blue fire was still there, so Veloth deemed it sufficient and willed the fire ball toward the doorway. Just as the fire had connected with the surface of the door, the darkness was sucked from the flame into the door¡¯s surface. What was left was a pitiful flicker of flame as though emanating from a match stick. Forgoing magic, Veloth attempted to use his physical strength. With every forceful strike against any surface, he felt the strength sapped from him. Only when his strikes sought to damage the room, was his strength sapped. He could tear apart any desk or chair that happened to be in the room, just not any part of this domed structure. [They took precautions, tenacious bastards. I¡¯ll work my way out of here eventually and decorate your gaudy corpse with every precious thing you own and smelt it!] Veloth vowed to himself. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was too quiet. The human hero, Tara, cautiously advanced up the stairwell in the midst of the demon palace Pandemonium. Tara was an unparalleled prodigy in both the sword and holy magic among humans. Tara was the 8 year old daughter of a simple farmer in a modest village on the edges of human territory. The lands there yielded very grand harvests, but the danger in such an area was just as tantamount. Though there were a barracks of roughly 50 soldiers stationed in such towns, it did not prevent harm befalling them. There was an attack on Tara¡¯s village by a force of demons. The demons were repelled, but the losses were high, and that included all of her family, mother, father, elder brother and younger sister. When reinforcements came to the village from the capital of Meilum, Tara immediately enlisted. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Tara was hailed as a prodigy at young age of 10 and trained almost non-stop in the arts of the sword and learned the most useful of spells from the light mana class, or holy spells. The demons apparently used dark mana spells almost exclusively, which made light mana spells, its perfect counter, and the ideal weapon for her crusade of vengeance. At the age of 20, Tara had received the title of hero, and deemed herself ready. Not wanting to drag anyone else into her spiral of vengeance, and confident in her abilities, she immediately set off for the palace Pandemonium. Finally arriving at the palace, she forced her way in. Once inside, it was eerily quiet, unguarded, not a soul to be seen. Reaching the top of the stair well, it appeared to be a dead-end. Tara, however, knew better. She could see the light mana surging through the obsidian stone that made the dead-end. Tara had read stories of heroes past, and marveled at their exploits. Before her was the previous heart of Pandemonium, where a powerful monk hero named Davek battled the demon king Kel¡¯thul to a stand-still for 3 continuous days. In the end, Davek was the one to fall. Though he had sealed the room with a magnificent light mana barrier, Kel¡¯thul¡¯s right-hand subordinate, Prast Pride of the Seven Sins, managed to create an opening, and the Seven Sins entered and dealt a fatal blow to Davek. The room they battled, to this day still maintained the barrier infused within the stone, and it was before her. Using light mana, Tara willed an entrance to appear, and entered the dimly lit room. After stepping through, she let go of her light mana holding open the entrance, and it formed closed once more behind her. Tara could smell the thick scent of death and blood within the room, and it was still fairly fresh. There were 5 light sources. Three of the light sources were flickering candles, nearly at the end of their wicks. The two remaining light sources were very disturbing. Cold blue orbs of light that seemed to spark with an angry energy, and they were looking directly at her. A shiver went up her spine.
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Chapter 5: Light and Dark She had just waltzed in¡­ He had missed an easy chance to get out of this dreaded room. Veloth stared intently at the new arrival. She was human, clearly female, about five and a half feet tall, a moderate chest size and wide hips. She had a well-toned body and wore leather armor that did not cover or restrict her joints. Her hair was waist-length and was a silky black, tied in a ponytail. Her face was angular and her cheekbones were high and pronounced. Her eyes were a soft emerald color, even in the flickering candlelight. Her skin appeared to be tanned and smooth. ¡°A b-beast is this floor¡¯s guardian?¡± she stuttered aloud after taking stock of her surroundings. [Did she really just call me a floor guardian? So. Damn. Clich¨¦.] Holding his emotions in check, Veloth created a mental link. There was no resistance to the link, though he had expected some. ¡°Tell me, human, how did you open that wall?¡± Veloth must discover how she did it if he was to get out of this place. The woman jumped at his voice and peered more intently into the flickering darkness of the room, looking for the owner of the voice. All the woman found was smashed furniture, and corpses impaled with multiple dark ice spears, no more than a few hours dead. ¡°Y-you can speak, beast?¡± The woman asked him in a baffled manner. ¡°Telepathically, yes. Also my name is Veloth. Yours?¡± At that, the woman seemed to regain her composure and slowly drew the short sword her hand had been on since entering the room. ¡°Veloth¡­ My name is Tara, and I will be the one to defeat you and move on to achieve my revenge against the demon king!¡± ¡°¡­Chunnibyou and clich¨¦¡­¡± Veloth unintentionally muttered telepathically. ¡°Eh?¡± Tara appeared to be truly baffled by his slip. Veloth guessed they didn¡¯t have a term like chuunibyou on this world. ¡°¡­Forget it. So tell me how you entered this room?¡± ¡°I used light mana of course.¡± Tara stated it as though it was matter-of-fact. ¡°Light¡­ mana¡­?¡± Veloth inquired further. Mana. Another clich¨¦ term. He knew what he had referred to as power all along was mana, but he did not want to admit it. There also seemed to be different types of mana. Veloth looked inside himself, at his bottomless mana well. It was as though it was tainted with darkness. Darkness swirled and stagnated within his mana well, but did not fully mix in, as though a drop of black die had been dripped into a glass of water and frozen. So this is where his mana problem was? ¡°Yes, this room is sealed by a powerful light mana barrier. Even the strongest dark mana would have trouble breaking through, light mana however, would be a different story.¡± Tara continued to explain as she poured light mana into her sword. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tara kept the beast, or Veloth as it called itself, occupied with her chatter as she prepared for battle and channeled light mana into her blade. She had never seen such a peculiar beast before. It seemed to be the most powerful enemy she has yet to come across, based on appearance alone. It radiated massive amounts of dark mana as though it were an endless commodity. Tara had undergone strict training to detect dark mana. It had caught her off guard when it spoke telepathically. She did not sense even the faintest mist of dark mana when it had spoken. This is also the first time Tara had come across a demon war beast capable of any type of speech. Disconcerting. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The war beast Veloth appeared to be occupied thinking of something, so Tara made the first move. Still at a distance of about eight feet where the beast sat in the center of the room, Tara made a horizontal slash in the before her. Following Tara¡¯s slash, the light mana she had stored into her blade moments before poured out in a blinding flash, as though the slash of her sword flew forward. Following the wake of her slash, Tara dashed forward before it had even reached the target. War beast Veloth tilted its head, as though curious. The beast did nothing to counter Tara¡¯s light mana slash, and as it connected, it warped around the beast and broke. The dark mana that seeped out of the creature had completely protected it from harm, as though a barrier. Veloth¡¯s eyes widened in surprise as though it had not seen the attack. Could such a powerful beast not see light mana? Had Tara overestimated its ability? As Tara pondered this, the beasts¡¯ dark mana poured forth in even greater quantities, almost like a tsunami of darkness. That tsunami frothed and tore itself apart and quickly, formed a great minefield of ice spears around and above the center of the room. Every spear of ice looked as though darkness itself had frozen over and they all oriented themselves in Tara¡¯s direction. Three seconds had passed as the battle had started and Tara at last had the beast within reach of her short sword. A puff of chilling breath snaked its way out from Tara¡¯s supple lips as she attempted a high diagonal strike and Veloth back-handed the blade aside with the intimidating claws of its left paw, quickly followed by a spear of ice launched from Tara¡¯s left, at her thigh. Tara had been accumulating light mana within her during her charge and released it as a protective film over her body. Dark mana ice spear meets the protective light mana film, and the spear dissipates. Tara felt a prick at her thigh, and immediately leapt back to her starting position. Taking a fraction of a second to glance at her thigh, she saw an ice spear, small in diameter and about a foot in length of a deep blue color, impaled into her thigh. [A very strange fighting style. The beasts¡¯ mana formation is wild, wasted, unrefined, but still massive. He throws it around like there is no end to it. And then there is this in my thigh. Was it made with mana?] She could not sense it at all but she could see it with her own eyes and the cold throbbing pain in her thigh told her it was certainly there. Tara was no expert on a beasts¡¯ expressions, but its brows were definitely furrowed right now.
<< Chapter 4Chapter SelectChapter 6 >>
Chapter 6: Getting Nowhere Author''s Note: This chapter is a little short but it was a good cut-off point for this portion of the story. I hope you enjoy it regardless! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Veloth had not seen the abilities Tara had used. She had slashed the air and charged at him. Veloth was curious about the slash, and soon felt its invisible impact as it warped around him. Veloth didn¡¯t know what it was meant to do, but he did not notice any changes in his condition. He had retaliated with his own spell and deflection but another peculiar thing had happened. The ice spear meant to incapacitate Tara had lost all its energy, just as his spells had done against the room earlier. [So this is light mana. That must mean the mana polluting my mana-well is dark mana, which in turn must mean my original mana is a normal type of mana. Light mana and dark mana seem to directly counter each other.] Veloth¡¯s brows furrowed in thought. [It seems my spells are still made partially of my original mana, although a majority of the spell is made up of the dark mana.] ¡°Stop this nonsense Human Tara, I do not wish to fight¡± ¡°Truly, what ARE you, beast?¡± ¡°I said so before, and I will say it again: My. Name. Is. Veloth. Tell you what, almighty hero, you are a hero, yes? We can leave this room together.¡± ¡°So you can back-stab me while my guard is down? I think not, beast Veloth.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be so damn stubborn, woman!¡± ¡°My stubbornness is what keeps me alive!¡± ¡°So damn clich¨¦! Fuck it!¡± Veloth was now and truly in a rage. He looked within himself and pulled at the darkness within his mana well. This stuff was in the way, he would make a new spot for it. Drawing the darkness into a massive orb, he removed all the darkness from within his mana well and proceeded to use his primary mana to encase the orb, separated from his well. ¡°Hah! To think such a simple solution could work! NYAHAHAHAA!¡± Laughed Veloth in a manner that would make you ponder his sanity. Now unfettered from the restraints of the dark mana, he pulled harshly at his own mana and willed it to form. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. During their small argument, somewhere along the line, Veloth had snapped. Blue energies swirled amidst his already sparking eyes, his fur seemed to absorb the dark mana it was previously spewing forth. A beautiful snow-white fur took the place of the menacing void-black, and seemed to emit a greater cold and sense of danger. Shivers ran down Tara¡¯s spine and her skin pricked in goosebumps. This was not an enemy she should have fought. She needed all her mobility for what she felt coming, and grasped the small ice spear that had impaled her thigh early. With brief gasp of visible breath only seen on the coldest of days, she pulled the spear out and tossed it aside. Before Veloth, who now was laughing madly, a sparking, crackling ball of a purplish energy about five feet in diameter formed. That would be difficult to dodge. Tara poured massive amounts of light mana into her legs. The wound on her thigh began to regenerate at an amazing rate, but this mana was not to heal. She would need to be very fast to avoid such an attack at this range. ¡°Die clich¨¦ chuunibyou!¡± Veloth roared and sent the energy ball forward at an astounding speed. Tara let the mana burst from her legs as she drove to her right to narrowly escape the ball of energy that singed her left arm¡¯s leather bracer. The wall directly behind where she had been a heartbeat before was not blown apart, nor was it melted. It was completely disintegrated in a perfect hole matching the projectile. Her sword held at the ready and another burst of energy ready to be released from her legs, as Tara began her counterattack, Veloth suddenly bolted for the new opening at an incredible speed that even she would have difficulty keeping up with. The last words Tara heard of Veloth that day surprised and confused her even further. ¡°Finally free! I¡¯ll be back for you, gaudy demon asshole!¡±
<< Chapter 5Chapter SelectChapter 7 >>
Chapter 7: God of Sacrifice Veloth had made a whole through wall of the room he was trapped in and launched himself through it so quickly he was virtually flying. His spell had created a hole through not only the room, but the whole structure. Veloth had a straight path to freedom. It had been fifteen days since then. Veloth had traveled far from the obsidian castle which he wanted to destroy on the spot for having such a clich¨¦ ¡®evil¡¯ look. He chose not to because he was not prepared to fight who knows how many demons and the stubborn human woman. Veloth attempted to find some form of civilization or even a road for seven days, not that he knew how he could interact with the humans given Tara¡¯s reaction, but he was deep inside a forest who-knows-where. Veloth eventually chose to make his way back to the castle, but he was thoroughly lost at this point and could not find it after searching for eight days. It was now raining. Veloth was effectively aggravated. The only shining point on his journey so far was that Veloth had learned that roasted dire wolf tasted like venison¡­ Odd, that. Whilst lamenting his impulsive dash from the castle and his current predicament, something smacked across is eyes and his vision was obstructed. [What is this? Paper? Does that mean civilization is nearby after all?] Curious, and his hopes rising, Veloth looked at the paper. Hello manna spirit known as Veloth. I am the God of Sacrifice, Zahramiik, and I am sending this message to te- Veloth incinerated the letter. [NO, DEFINITELY NO. I am not going to get jumbled up in some clich¨¦ god bullshit] Another paper slaps across Veloth¡¯s eyes. Now that is not very prudent of- Veloth tore it apart with his claws and thoroughly stomped on it. Another paper. [The hell are these coming from!?] I¡¯m not stopping until I have conveyed my message so you may as well just read it. Seriously, and you called that woman stubborn. Ahem, as I was saying, I am the God of Sacrifice, Zahramiik. I WAS going to tell you about some very important matters, but now I will just tell you this: You, against your will, have been brought into a rather convoluted war between your species, manna spirits, and the gods. I WAS going to be nice, help you out, and give you important information. I have, obviously, since changed my mind, so instead, because I know how much you LOVE the clich¨¦, I am going to throw so many clich¨¦s at you that you will beg for- Veloth willed an explosion and a 100 foot diameter of forest disappeared along with the letter. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. [This is a sick joke right?] Veloth fumed. The only good piece of information Veloth got out of this encounter was that his species is called manna spirit? Then again, it could be another delusional joke. Veloth smirked. If this god really could do something like throwing clich¨¦s at him, then he would have done so much¡­ earlier¡­ Unless those earlier clich¨¦s in fact were¡­? Another explosion in a larger radius. There was now a five foot deep crater and another ring of trees missing. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tara jumped at hearing an explosion. She was extremely edgy right now, after being forced to retreat from Pandemonium. She ran into Zavus Greed of the Seven Sins almost immediately after Veloth bolted. Both Tara and Zavus stared at each other in a surprised and confused state for a good minute before combat had started. If Tara hadn¡¯t used up so much light mana in her fight against Veloth, she would have been an even match for Zavus. She needed to get stronger. Her goal was to kill the demon king, and that meant fighting the Seven Sins, but she couldn¡¯t even fight one, much less seven and then the demon king himself. Tara jumped at another explosion. [What on Cres is going on?] Tara was headed toward the nearest human fort, but curiosity gripped her, and she moved towards the source of the explosions. Moments later she found a crater, and in the midst of it lay Veloth. He was doused in mud due to the rain and the newly turned soil. A small pool of mud had formed at the center of the crater, and Veloth, brows furrowed, blew bubbles and glared at them. [What, did the mud have an opinion?] She almost laughed at the state of the beast that had nearly killed her because of this ¡®chuunibyou¡¯ term, whatever it meant. [Seeing him so down in the dumps, and the fact that he didn¡¯t want to be in Pandemonium, might mean I can bring him to my side. He could be very useful with all that oppressive mana.] Tara bravely sets her sights on her new goal and walks forth.
<< Chapter 6Chapter SelectChapter 8 >>
Chapter 8: Companion Veloth was tired. As he lay in the increasing puddle of mud at the center of his self-created crater, he lamented. [That isn¡¯t fair! I was basically thrown into a war at birth! Against gods no less¡­] Veloth didn¡¯t know what his first step should be. All he could do right now was to survive. He didn¡¯t know anything about this world, or whether his birthplace was on this same world somewhere. He did not know whether he could interact with the intelligent beings of this world, or whether they had the same language other than Tara. Just as he made the though, A feminine figure appeared at the crater¡¯s edge. It was Tara, and she looked haggard, her leather scratched and torn as though she threw herself into a giant blender. ¡°Hoh, the hero returns!¡± Called out Veloth with a mental link, an idea forming. Tara hesitated at the words, but continued to Veloth¡¯s position and stopped ten feet away. ¡°I need you¡­¡± ¡°I need you.¡± They spoke at the same time. Tara was baffled for a moment, then her face was flushed red for a moment. [Ah, that came out wrong. She probably misunderstood.] After a long awkward silence, Veloth was first to regain his composure. ¡°Erm, well since it seems to be mutual, could you lead the way to the nearest village? I am sort of¡­ lost¡­¡± Veloth muttered embarrassingly. Tara blushed further. [Ah! I was misunderstood further? So¡­ clich¨¦¡­ Am I speaking to an anime love interest?] Veloth unconsciously furrowed his brows, causing Tara to stutter out ¡°O-o-o-OK, just follow me!¡± And she began walking in a direction. ¡°Ah, so, what cardinal direction are we moving towards right now, for future reference? I am not keen on getting lost you know.¡± ¡°O-oh, erm, this is east¡­ See there in the distance? Those are the Pearly Gates. Once we have crossed them we will be in the human continent, Paradiso. Tara pointed over the forest to the east, the direction we were walking, at a row of twelve mountains that were tightly spaced. ¡°So I am guessing there is a valley we will be traveling through?¡± Veloth ventured a guess. ¡°Yes, and there is a human fortress on the other side of the valley, Sancti Petra. That is our destination.¡± [These names¡­ They sound¡­ Latin¡­] Veloth mulled over Paradiso and Sancti Petra. [They are Paradise and Saint Peter? As in guardian of the twelve pearly gates to Paradise Saint Peter?] ¡°You¡­ There was something that was bothering me¡­ What kind of mana are you using? And why is it always so cold around you?¡± ¡°It¡¯s cold near me?¡± This was the first time Veloth heard of this, not that anyone had mentioned it before now considering they were fighting. ¡°Yes, it is as though you are made of winter itself.¡± Tara half-complained. ¡°Maybe it has something to do with my mana. Let me try something.¡± Veloth said as he looked inward. Indeed, as he suspected, it was as though Veloth¡¯s mana-well had a leak somewhere in its invisible bottom. No wonder he never detected it before, it was difficult to discern something like a leak at the bottom of something that had no end after all. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°You don¡¯t even understand your own mana?¡± Tara asked baffled as Veloth patched this ¡®leak¡¯ with mana just as he had done to separate the dark mana. ¡°How can I? I am only a year old so far and was separated from the only other manna spirit who could properly teach me, my mother.¡± Tara abruptly stopped walking. ¡°A y-y-year old? MANNA SPIRIT?¡± She looked truly baffled now. ¡°Well initially I was a 23 year old human on a world without any sort of magic, but knowledge about magic from another world that has no mana, after all, can only go so far.¡± Tara stared at Veloth in shock. Her expression was deadpan. [Did her brain fry at that?] Veloth smirked to himself. ¡°S-so you are a manna spirit?¡± ¡°Supposedly.¡± Veloth shrugged his shoulders, which considering he was on all fours, worked surprisingly well. He didn¡¯t mention the god Zahramiik. Gods only cause trouble when you even mention them. ¡°That means you are made of pure primal mana?¡± She started petting and patting me all over as though searching for something. ¡°W-what are you doing? K-knock¡­it¡­off¡­¡± It felt oddly and disturbingly good to be petted. ¡°So this is primal mana? But then why do you use dark mana?¡± ¡°¡­Ah¡­ right there¡­ huhm¡­? Oh, right, er, I don¡¯t know, after I was summoned I just found it mixed into my mana and messing with my spells.¡± ¡°I see¡­ Your spells as well, they were unrefined, you were pouring too much power into them. I wondered about why in our battle two weeks ago, but I guess you being a reincarnation and a manna spirit explain it.¡± ¡°I have already been out here for two weeks¡­ Ah, so then a week in this world is¡­?¡± ¡°Seven days. A month is 30 days, with some at 28 days or 31 days to account for daylight savings, and there are 365 days a year. A day is 24 hours, an hour is 60 minutes, and a minute is 60 seconds.¡± ¡°Hoh, just like earth.¡± Tara looks at the ground beneath our feet at Veloth¡¯s comment. ¡°Yes, yes, I know, terrible naming sense. Let¡¯s move on.¡± ¡°I think you should go to a spell craft school once we reach Paradiso.¡± ¡°With this body? It¡¯s impossible¡­ and also clich¨¦.¡± ¡°Do you hate clich¨¦s or something? And you have plenty of mana to maintain a shapeshift spell if you are a manna spirit.¡± ¡°Huh, I hadn¡¯t considered shapeshifting. And yes, I absolutely despise clich¨¦s.¡± They continued to banter like that on their way east.
<< Chapter 7Chapter SelectChapter 9 >>
Chapter 9: Cliche Encounter They had been traveling together for three days now and were almost at the valley¡¯s entrance. Veloth was still trying to figure out how to shapeshift. Veloth had however, figured out how to use telekinesis and how to sense and obtain precious metals and gems. When they were travelling towards the mountains the forest had become more hazardous, and there sometimes ambushes by packs of goblins, dire wolves, and once even a swarm of strange insects. Every time they were ambushed, Tara would receive a scratch here or there. Though she could heal herself by channeling light mana to the wound, she would grumble under her breath, and Veloth got tired of it. Veloth looked for an exposed iron vein, which he thought would be more likely the closer they got to the mountains, but to no avail, so he developed a way to obtain iron. He sent a pulse of primal mana, as Tara called it, through the earth in a massive radius and then it returned back to him. Everything the mana moved through changed the nature of the mana slightly, effectively acting as a version of sonar. Veloth eventually learned how to differentiate the different signatures and painted a picture of the ground beneath him, pinpointed a deposit of iron, and willed the portion of the iron to the surface. He then willed away the impurities in the iron and willed the pure iron to form a needle. From there on, telekinesis was relatively easy, effectively one step less than what he had done to pull the iron to the surface without the need to part the earth in the way of the iron. He proceeded to take three of the pelts they had obtained from the dire wolf ambush and some sinew which was effective as thread. By no means being any sort of expert on tanning, he did his best. The tanned hides were brittle and soft in some areas, but they would suffice. Veloth then asked Tara to give him her leather armor. She obliged surprisingly readily. Now without her armor, Tara looked especially attractive and womanly. Veloth set to work on repairing the armor and crafting a new bracer for her left arm, since the old one was singed beyond repair. Thus they finally find themselves at the mouth of the valley, the path to Paradiso. Before entering the valley, Tara approached him. ¡°Erm, before we travel through the valley, I wanted to¡­ bathe¡­ at a nearby lake.¡± ¡°Ok, go right ahead. No reason to neglect your hygiene. In fact, I have been dousing myself with magic water I created myself, since it¡¯s the best I can do right now. Wouldn¡¯t it be easier if I did that for you as well?¡± You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Tara blushed furiously and shook her head like a rabid dog ¡°No!¡± Veloth shrugged. [I guess though I am a beast, she sees me as a man? Is it because I can speak?] Although she was right to refuse him. Veloth retained his libido for human women since he never lost his memories. ¡°The thing is¡­ can you stay on watch nearby? I don¡¯t want to be left defenseless¡­¡± ¡°Oh, yeah sure. No problem.¡± Veloth resolved himself not to peak. It was extremely clich¨¦ to peak on a bathing women during travels in light novels and anime. About an hour after the conversation, whilst listening for Tara should she need help, Veloth practiced his shapeshifting. He willed his mana to surge through every pore of his body, and to warp it. He had a solid image in his mind, of himself when he was still human. A well-built man standing at 6 feet who would visit the gym regularly to maintain his lithe and toned body. Thick straight blond hair that reached shoulder length. Sapphire blue eyes that got him many compliments. High cheekbones that gave his face an angular appearance. Veloth felt his body shifting. He willed it to continue, to finalize, and to hold. He felt his body¡­ solidify. Veloth looked down at his hands and tested their motion. After confirming his hands were working well, he tested the range of motion of his limbs. Everything seemed to be in working order. The only problem was that he was naked. ¡°Kyaaaaaah!¡± As Veloth finished testing his range of motion, he heard Tara¡¯s scream. He immediately dashed to the nearby lake to see what was wrong. There, face down and bleeding from his skull, was a large man in full plate armor, his helmet had fallen of and skittered to edge of the lake. Standing over him was Tara, the full glory of her smooth bronze skin and supple curves in full view, a rock in her right hand. ¡°Kyaaaaah!¡± She screamed again and threw the rock directly at Veloth. It happened so fast that Veloth had only time enough for two thoughts. [Clich¨¦¡­hot¡­] Darkness overwhelmed Veloth¡¯s vision.
<< Chapter 8Chapter SelectChapter 10 >>
Chapter 10: Virtue of Diligence Author¡¯s Note: Due to some much-needed criticism I have changed the point of view to work on Veloth¡¯s character. Tell me what you think in the comments, and let me know how I may improve further. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I woke with a groan. It felt like I was spinning faster than the world for a moment. I blink a few times to clear the dizziness from my mind and get my bearings. As my vision begins to clear I try to bring a hand to my throbbing temple, but my hands were restrained by a rough material. What the hell happened? Oh, right. Luscious bouncy mounds. No, that is not quite right. Ah! Tara threw a rock at him! How sad to be downed by a mere rock. Why the hell did she even have me standing guard nearby if she was able to defend herself anyway? Looks like I am at our camp¡­ something is at my back? Ah, it must be the man Tara knocked out before me. Good thing, Tara seems to have removed his armor. That would have been uncomfortable to lean against. It seems we are tied together by a makeshift rope made from strips of the dire wolf hides twisted together. ¡°Tara¡­? Ugh.¡± I groaned again. It exasperated my headache to speak loudly. ¡°Guh¡­ that smarts¡± the man behind me stirred with a groan of his own. ¡°How do you know my name?¡± Tara said. She was off to my left, situated with our camp¡¯s lit fire between us. ¡°What do you mean ¡®how¡¯ damn it? I¡¯m Veloth!¡± Ohhh¡­ my head. ¡°V-Veloth! Prove it!¡± ah, she¡¯s stuttering again. ¡°I¡¯m a manna spirit. I was reincarnated. You have been perversely picking up the ice that fell from my fur ever since I blocked my frost aura.¡± I spit out a few lines that only I should know so far.¡± ¡°Wha? Guhh¡­ my head¡­ Manna spirit? Who?¡± The man behind me groaned again. ¡°I-I am NOT perverted! Those shards are made up of primal mana!¡± ¡°So what does it matter what kind of mana they are made up of? Besides, if you wanted ice from my mana I could always make it for you.¡± ¡°No, I mean those were pure manna crystals made of your primal mana and they crystalized from your fur. Manna, not ¡®mana¡¯ mind you, in crystalized form can be absorbed into one¡¯s own mana-well, allowing it to expand more easily with the appropriate exercises.¡± ¡°Manna? Mana? What does it matter? They sound exactly the same to me. Also, since you know I am Veloth, could you untie me already?¡± I am getting slightly irritated. This is uncomfortable and my temple is still throbbing. ¡°No-can-do. I would have to untie that fellow there as well.¡± Tara said matter-of-factly. ¡°Who ARE you anyway?¡± I pointedly asked the man behind me. Out of the corner of my eye I could see only that the man had short curly brown hair. ¡°I am¡­ Ohh¡­ Dillon Diligence Gran¡­ ugh¡­ of the Seven Virtues¡­¡± He managed to rasp out, fighting his own battle against dizziness and an aching noggin. ¡°L-Lord Gran? What are you doing here!?¡± Tara knows this man? ¡°I was¡­ patrolling the forest on this side of the valley with my unit¡­ I got separated from them after an ambush¡­ MY UNIT! Quick, Tara, let me loose! I must find them before it is too late! Huh? Tara? What are you doing here?¡±¡­ Did this guy develop short term memory loss from the bash to his head? Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°O-of course, give me just a moment.¡± Tara began to approach us to undo the bindings. ¡°H-hey! Wait a minute! You didn¡¯t even recognize this guy, but he knew you? Are you sure he is who he says he is?¡± I interrogate Tara. ¡°Y-yeah¡­ I know he is who he says he is¡­¡± Tara blushed and pointed to the man¡¯s armor that was piled near the campfire. The chest piece had the symbol of a gate etched lightly on the left breast. ¡°That doesn¡¯t tell me anything!¡± I say in an exasperated tone. How am I supposed to know what that means? ¡°O-oh. Right. That is the symbol of the Seven Virtues, the protectors of all Paradiso and chivalrous servants of the people. They are appointed their position and title personally by the king of Meilum, Jek Thuras III.¡± Tara described as she cut the hides to free us. ¡°Lord Gran, let us assist you as an apology. I am truly sorry I did not recognize you right away!¡± ¡°Gyahahaha¡­ ohhhh¡­ fear not, young Tara, I was at fault. I was so desperate to rejoin my unit that I did not properly take into account my surroundings and intruded on you.¡± So chivalrous. Tara just blushed in response. Finally free, I stood up and stretched, working out the kinks in my shapeshifted body. When I had stood up Tara blushed an even deeper red and covered her eyes, whilst Dillon unsteadily wobbled to where his armor lay. I glance down at myself, and I am still naked. ¡°Oh, interested Tara?¡± I teased. ¡°No way!¡± her face resembling the skin of a tomato, she turned away. Anticipating that I would be naked after shapeshifting I had used some dire wolf pelts to make a simple pair of fur pants and a fur vest measured to my previous life¡¯s sizes. I looked pretty barbaric in them, but I planned to acquire something else once we reached Sancti Petra. In the time it took me to get my clothing, Dillon had already fumbled his hauberk and greaves on over his simple leather clothing. In the end, Dillon only took five minutes to suit up in the many pieces of his full plate armor. Fast. ¡°Then, Lord Gran, where did you last see your unit?¡± I inquired. ¡°Somewhere south-east of here. We were ambushed by a party of about 15. Ira Wrath of the Seven Sins was with them. Probably they were scouting the mountains for a hidden invasion path and we ran across each other.¡± Dillon grimaced. ¡°Ok.¡± I sent a mana-pulse southeast in a wide arc. A few moments later it came back, showing the location of a battle in progress. ¡°Wow¡­ Dillon, do you have any sense of direction? They are nearly a MILE southeast and are in the midst of battle as we speak. We must hurry.¡± Dillon¡¯s face full of determination, he immediately heads¡­ northeast¡­ ¡°Ah! Er¡­ THIS way, Lord Gran.¡± Tara called out, and we head southeast.
<< Chapter 9Chapter SelectChapter 11 >>
Chapter 11: Sin Vs. Virtue We jogged at a quick pace southeast. Dillon, in full plate armor, hauberk, and chain coif underneath seemed to be keeping up just fine. He didn¡¯t look fatigued in the slightest. I guess I should say, as expected of one of the Seven Virtues directly appointed by the king? ¡°So¡­ Veloth was it? I heard some banter of manna spirits before¡­ What was that?¡± Dillon casually asked. For a guy who managed to get separated from his unit and knocked out, he was pretty calm. ¡°Veloth is a manna spirit. Right now he is shapeshifted, but I assure you he can handle himself in a scrap.¡± Tara answered proudly for me. Why are you acting like I¡¯m some sort of achievement for you? ¡°That reminds me Tara, since you are here did you... accomplish your goal?¡± Seriously, this guy is chatty. Actually, I was starting to wonder about that myself, but I never thought to ask. ¡°Yeah why aren¡¯t you off fighting the demons at that black prison?¡± I chipped in. ¡°Ah, you mean Pandemonium? Turns out I¡¯m not strong enough yet. I need to be stronger. After fighting you, Veloth-¡° ¡°You fought?¡± Dillon interrupted. ¡°Y-yeah¡­ there was a misunderstanding. So after I fought you Veloth-¡° ¡°Mind you Dillon, the misunderstanding was entirely on her side. Attacked me out of nowhere, spouting something nonsensical like taking down the floor boss to carve her path to revenge.¡± ¡°I said no such thing!¡± ¡°Close enough.¡± ¡°So your reason for being here Tara?¡± Dillon insisted. ¡°Well if you two would let me-¡° ¡°We¡¯re close! Stay quiet and we will keep the element of surprise.¡± I interjected in a whisper. Tara looked furious now, but she complied. The sounds of clashing metal and a few explosions were heard periodically through the thinning trees. At this point they were basically out of the forest and at the foot of a mountain. The sounds of battle could be heard further up the slope of the mountain, and as we neared, we saw three demons standing guard outside the entrance to a cave. ¡°There, in that cave, is where your unit is holding Dillon.¡± I whisper to him as we stealthily moved from the sparse shrubbery at the edges of the forest to a nearby outcropping of rocks. Dillon earned another point of respect from me as he moved as quietly as a ninja even with that bulky armor. ¡°So what¡¯s the plan?¡± Tara fidgeted. Was she nervous? ¡°I will face Ira Wrath directly. You two should help my unit as well as you can. Tara, I will be counting on your light mana¡¯s healing ability to keep my men alive.¡± Tara nodded in confident affirmation. ¡°Once you guys have cleaned up their scouts we can team up against Ira if we are still fit for battle.¡± ¡°What about this lot?¡± I jerk my thumb over my shoulder in the direction of the three guards in front of the cave. ¡°Don¡¯t you have spell you can take them out silently with?¡± Tara raises her eyebrow. I think you might be overestimating me silly woman¡­ however¡­ ¡°Hmmm there is something I have considered trying. I don¡¯t know what the results will be though.¡± ¡°Give it a shot. My unit doesn¡¯t have the time for anything else.¡± Dillon tensed up. He was ready. I nodded and turned to peak ever so slightly over a rock. There the three guards watched their surroundings. One guard watched the mouth of the cave, while the other two were on the lookout for unwelcome guests. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. For scouts they were pretty heavily armored. Illustrious red scale armor covered them from head to toe, the only signs of individuality coming from the appearance of an imp-like tail on one figure. Well, I have my new lab rats, so I may as well start. I slowly willed the oxygen away in a large sphere around the trio. I did it slowly to avoid their attention until the last moment possible. The guard watching the mouth of the cavern abruptly dropped to one knee, drawing the attention of the other two. One of the others had turned his head too sharply and stumbled from dizziness. Noticing the state of his companions, the one still standing was about to call out. I made the sphere I was controlling completely devoid of gasses to block the travel of any sound. The trio writhed on the ground for a few more moments, and stopped moving. The sudden depressurization must have caused a lot of damage, as liters of blood seeped out from each armor and dyed the earth crimson. ¡°Just what in the god¡¯s names did you do?¡± Dillon asked awed as he moved to take off a helmet to feed his curiosity. ¡°Wait! First, I don¡¯t recommend taking that helmet off. It is a mess inside that armor, trust me. Second, your unit doesn¡¯t have much time, right?¡± I drew his mind back to the battle before us. ¡°You¡¯re right. Let¡¯s go!¡± Dillon took the lead as we moved swiftly into the cave, maintaining our stealthy approach. The battle was growing louder, but more than that, one man¡¯s curses and yells could be heard as though his voice were a megaphone¡­ ¡°Break their fucking formation! Do I have to do this shit myself? Useless fucking fodder! Get out of my way or I¡¯ll gut you along with them!¡± ¡°That was definitely Ira¡¯s voice! Quickly! We have to strike him before he makes his way forward!¡± Dillon surged forward, all pretense of stealth gone. Literally one second later, we came around a sharp bend, and just turning around to meet us was a very angry looking demon. He had short, white, messy hair. He was at least seven feet tall, and his muscles bulged as though they would overtake the red scales that grew in patches on his black skin. His eye were a fierce red and his eyebrows had a steep incline, making it appear as though his brows were permanently furrowed. He wore the same red scale armor greaves, cuisse, and gauntlets that the guards outside did, and his top was nude. He seemed to be the type that relied on his build for defense. ¡°Oh and what have we here? The incompetent fool Dillon Diligence makes an appearance with back-up! Came back for your beating, coward?¡± Ira smirked at our appearance. Instead of answering Ira¡¯s provocation, Dillon thrust his sword forward¡­
<< Chapter 10Chapter SelectChapter 12 >>
Chapter 12: Sides Dillon¡¯s thrust was batted aside by Ira¡¯s massive left hand and immediately countered with a jab from his right. As their fight only just began, the clash of swords and yells could still be heard raging on somewhere behind Ira¡¯s mountain of muscle. He was too big to get around even if he presented an opening. ¡°Tara, this way! We have our own job to do!¡± I called Tara as I willed the earth to part, creating a tunnel that lead around the battle of sin and virtue. Sending out a mana-pulse to see the battle¡¯s position, I find a group of 9 men holding at a narrow point in the cave. Three men shoulder to shoulder were holding the passage, and were switching out with each other frequently at set intervals, like a well-oiled machine. Ira¡¯s forces which consisted of 11 men were hard-pressed to attack Dillon¡¯s unit. Though Ira¡¯s men were more heavily armored than Dillon¡¯s unit, who wore leather armor, their bulkiness hindered their movements. In addition to that, the narrow space of the cave prevented anyone from utilizing their sword to their full extent. I opened the tunnel behind Dillon¡¯s unit and collapsed it as soon as Tara had exited in order to avoid any unwanted flanking maneuvers. The six soldiers who were resting jumped at our appearance and pointed their blades at us. ¡°W-who are you? Are you with Ira?¡± One of the scouts asked. ¡°We came with Lord Gran to help you. I am Tara, this is Veloth.¡± Tara answered for the both of us. At Dillon¡¯s name, the scouts seemed to relax and dropped the point of their swords. ¡°So Lord Gran survived, thank the gods. Where is he?¡± The scouts are just now noticing he is not with us. ¡°Currently fighting Ira. Move aside, let me handle Ira¡¯s troops. I am the best suited to close combat in this situation.¡± I claimed as I released my shapeshift. The scouts panicked for a moment at my new appearance and quickly sided away from the passage, as if they sought to hide behind Tara. As the scouts blocking the passage retreated, two of Ira¡¯s men squeezed in behind them, swords already thrusting at the backs of the scouts. I retaliated by diverting the sword¡¯s points with telekinesis to impale the floor of the cavern instead. The scouts now clear of my path, I lunged forward and swiped at both foes before me, my claws rending through their armor and flesh as though they were made of soggy paper. The strike was fatal, as they fell, one of them making a gruesome gurgling sound. Nine remained, and I am impatient to aid Dillon. I will the earth of the tunnel to form earthen spikes. Ira¡¯s remaining forces screamed in agony and died as the earthen spikes impaled them all, giving the cave an appearance as though they were inside the maw of a great beast. The cave rumbled, and somewhere deeper into the cave stone could be heard crumbling. That wasn¡¯t safe, I caused a cave-in. Well, whatever, it did the trick and the only casualties were Ira¡¯s men. ¡°Tara, you look after Dillon¡¯s men, I will go help with Ira.¡± ¡°Mmmm.¡± Tara nodded. I dashed forward and found Ira¡¯s back blocking the passage. He was vulnerable. I thrust my right claw towards the location of Ira¡¯s heart, and pierced¡­ very shallowly. The muscles were so insanely dense that even a piercing strike from me only just broke the skin. ¡°GRAAH!¡± Ira roared at the sudden prick in his back, and turned his back to the wall so he could keep an eye on me and Dillon. As he saw me, his face of pure rage abruptly became one of understanding. ¡°Hah! No wonder Zavus was pissing and moaning about his missing toy. So you¡¯re the one he summoned right?¡± Oh, I didn¡¯t expect a brute like him to be capable of conversation in the midst of battle. ¡°Zavus? Is he a demon with a very gaudy appearance? I owe that bastard a personal hell for what he did to me.¡± As I said this, Tara and Dillon¡¯s units caught up, and the cave trembled once more. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°Is that right? How about you join us instead of these humans? I can¡¯t promise you Zavus¡¯ head, but I can help you with that.¡± It was a tempting offer, and it ultimately felt like I was being asked to ¡®join the dark side¡¯¡­ ¡°Haaaaahh¡­¡± I sighed. The cave trembled again. It was probably going to collapse very soon, and Ira would be very difficult to kill. Even Dillon was heaving profusely, and he looked battered. Shit. Ah! An idea occurred to me. ¡°Tell you what, Ira, I will join you, on two conditions.¡± ¡°What are you saying!?¡± ¡°Why did you help us if you were just going to turn against us?¡± The scouts behind me voiced their surprise and dissensions behind me. ¡°You guys don¡¯t know me well enough yet, but I need my revenge on that guy. He took from me the one chance I had¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t finish my sentence. I was not about to tell these guys my life story. About how my single mother gave birth to me, and died for it. About how I had no relatives to take me in. About how even amongst the orphanage I was singled out for not having had ever known my parent¡¯s existence. How I grew up completely isolated from any form of friendship because I happened to get into fights and was labeled a trouble child by others who did not understand. So your parents died? So what? At least you knew your parents. At least you had someone to love you. The first person to show me love like that, and I was separated from her before I could even speak to her. So what do you know? Rage was trying to take over again. Rage I often felt when reading stories and comics with their clich¨¦ happy endings, even though the protagonist so often had a difficult life like me, they were the ones to get the happy ending. Fuck that. I could see one person who immediately understood, if not my situation, then my desire for revenge. I didn¡¯t tell her my situation, and I didn¡¯t ask for hers, but I could feel that understanding. Tara, you¡¯re a good woman after all huh? ¡°So what¡¯s your conditions then?¡± Ira asked expectantly. ¡°First, you help me deal with Zavus as I see fit, like you offered before. Second, we leave this cave, and everyone unharmed. No one will win if we continue fighting here. There will be a cave-in soon. Even with your massive defense, Ira, you will not survive being buried under a mountain, I¡¯ll bet.¡± As if to illustrate my point, another portion of the cave further on could be heard collapsing. ¡°Fine¡­ I¡¯ll agree to your terms¡­¡± Ira gritted his teeth. ¡°No! I won¡¯t let you go so easily! Without you, the demon army will be severely weakened. Even if I go down with you Ira, you at least will not leave this place!¡± Dillon roared and lunged at Ira. Before Ira could even move to defend himself, I tried another new spell. I willed the gravity around Dillon¡¯s plate armor to grow to two times as much as earth¡¯s normal gravity. Dillon dropped like a lead weight, unable to move. ¡°Sorry Dillon, but this is the best option. I¡¯ll release you once we are away so that you can escape the cave-in.¡± I said to him as we stepped over his body, making for the cave¡¯s exit.
<< Chapter 11Chapter SelectChapter 13 >>
Chapter 13: The Hunt I had traveled with Ira to a demon village that was relatively nearby. During our travel I asked him questions and got... some questionable answers. One such question was why they named their generals after the seven sins. Apparently the humans began it first with the Seven Virtues, so to not fall behind their enemy, the demon king formed the Seven Sins. Such a childish reason¡­ the demon king was 10 years old at the time. The war had been going for 86 years, and demon king Kel¡¯thul had ruled all through it since he was 8 years old. Basically Kel¡¯thul was 94 years old. Ira was easily angered by numerous things during our travels. Fortunately the demon knew a modicum of restraint, for every time I angered him one way or another, he would just grit his teeth until he calmed down. If it was anything else, he would pulverize it. There was a point in our journey that a tree had fallen over, and spouting some insane nonsense about assaulting his ears, Ira turned the tree¡¯s corpse into splinters. At one point Ira even asked me a question. He wasn¡¯t a very curious guy, a muscle-head trope through and through, so this did not happen often. He had asked about how I killed his forces in the cave. I told him the embarrassing story of how I am a manna spirit and I used primal mana to will the earth to pierce his troops, causing the pending cave-in. In response, Ira didn¡¯t even get angry about his slaughtered unit, and just nodded solemnly as though he understood. We had reached the demon village Julak in six days. It was a modest village with a high number of stationed troops, and was in the process of erecting stone walls. Upon our arrival, the demon army soldiers greeted Ira warmly and welcomed him, and I followed him, earning curious stares. ¡°Are you sure I don¡¯t need to disguise myself Ira?¡± I was still in my manna spirit form, and spoke telepathically to Ira. I discovered, by remembering my time as a humanoid, that I was unconsciously speaking with my mouth rather than telepathically. It¡¯s easy when you remember you were once human, I guess. Ira just nonchalantly waved his hand in response. He couldn¡¯t care less about what other think huh? Judging from the soldier¡¯s stares though my being with Ira must be an oddity. Arriving at what looked to be a command center located near a barracks, I followed Ira inside. Within the command center stood a demon in a black scale armor from head to toe, like Ira¡¯s men were. Her helmet rested on a table next to a large map which seemed to depict the mountains we just traveled from, the Twelve Pearly Gates. She had pale skin and soft brown hair. You could mistake her for human if you did not see her eyes, which were snake-like and the color of amethysts. ¡°Ah! General Ira! What can I do for you?¡± she spoke as we entered, as though she were expecting us. ¡°Commander Julie, do you happen to know of Zavus¡¯ current location?¡± Ira got straight to the point. ¡°Uhn. So it¡¯s about that? The general was searching for the last few weeks a beast fitting the description of that one there. To think you had such generosity to find it for him, General Ira¡­ He has just returned to Pandemonium, last I heard.¡± If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Thank you commander, keep up the good work.¡± Ira said in a nonchalant manner, and turned to leave with me close on his heels. ¡°So we are heading back to Pandemonium then?¡± I asked anxiously. I was not exactly thrilled about going back to that place. ¡°So long as you want to deal with Zavus, yes. Besides, this way I can introduce you to the king and any generals who happen to be at Pandemonium when we get there.¡± Ira gave me a beaming smile. It was a little creepy because he had some not-so-subtle fangs. Hell, if he had two more arms, you could call him a Shokan. We made our preparations and set off for Pandemonium. During this journey there was even less talking. I did ask Ira if there was a demon magic school I could attend. Ira scoffed at the mention of school, something he typically did when you ask him about something he didn¡¯t know, as if the knowledge were below his existence. I also asked whether the armor colors had any significance within the demon army, and apparently they are color-coded to the Generals they serve. Red for Wrath, black for Greed, green for Gluttony, white for Pride, blue for Sloth, and violet for Envy. Supposedly Lust¡¯s subordinates did not wear armor, as they were solely a force of mages who wore robes. They had many colors but Ira did not know any reasons behind them, and scoffed once more. In a rather silent and quick passage of four days, we arrived at the gates of the obsidian castle known as Pandemonium. Apparently there was a city, but it was about two miles from the castle itself, somewhere to the west. As the gate opens, I see waiting to leave the castle from the other side was Zavus. Our eyes met, and Zavus let out a shout of surprise. ¡°Ira!¡± he quickly tossed something to Ira, and followed up with ¡°Quickly! Put this on the beast!¡± Ira caught an ivory band, and while looking it over asked Zavus, ¡°Why? What does it do?¡± ¡°It will make the beast subservient to the possessor of its sister ring, here, so do so quickly!¡± ¡°I see.¡± Ira responded, and made a dash, not for me, but for Zavus, and slapped the band around his neck. With the sound of a latch locking in place, the band fitted itself to Zavus¡¯ neck, whilst Ira grabbed Zavus¡¯ hand and ungraciously tore an ivory ring from Zavus¡¯ hand. Zavus had no time to react to the sudden attack. ¡°W-what are you doing! Zavus ineloquently screeched. ¡°Giving our new companion a gift.¡± Ira said with a malevolent smile as he tossed the ivory ring to me. I caught it with a malicious grin similar to Ira¡¯s. This man makes good on his word quickly.
<< Chapter 12 Chapter SelectChapter 14 >>
Chapter 14: Brother ¡°Hehahahaahaheheheeh- *hack, cough*! Zavus, your mine- *cough* now! How does it feel to be- *wheeze* enslaved?¡± I was practically hysterical, already thinking up many torturous scenarios for Zavus. ¡°¡­Bro, that beast can speak?¡± Was all that Zavus said in response to my crazed question. Bro? Who is? ¡°It¡¯s a manna spirit you putz. You let your greed get us into a lot of trouble, you know? Do you even know what punishments you receive from the gods for summoning a manna spirit?¡± Ira was the one to respond. Wait. Ira and Zavus are¡­ BROTHERS? But, Ira sold out Zavus so easily¡­ and they look nothing alike, much less from the same species of demon! ¡°Ah, well I guess I will have to give it up then¡­ At least no one else will ever have it¡­¡± Zavus solemnly shrugs. ¡°I swear, sometimes you sound exactly like envy.¡± Ira responded with an irritated gesture of his hand. ¡°Kwon-si.¡± Zavus spoke. As soon as that phrase had finished a ring made purely of amethyst shattered into a beautiful dust, and along with it, the band around Zavus¡¯ neck and the ring in my claws. ¡°W-what? But¡­ My plans¡­¡± I hung my head in sorrow. It was a glorious opportunity, and it vanished like a short and sweet dream. ¡°It¡¯s ok Veloth, we can get back at the idiot later.¡± Ira consoles me, patting the back of my neck¡­ feels good. ¡°A little lower, Ira, just between the shoulders¡­ mmm, yes¡­¡± Zavus looked at us like we were mad. What? I can¡¯t help it. I can¡¯t explain it, but it feels irresistible when in my natural form. That aside, what to do about Zavus? I need to get back at him for taking my chance at a, at least somewhat, proper childhood. ¡°I can¡¯t forgive what you have done to me Zavus. I WILL punish you, mark my words.¡± I warned him as we moved on toward Pandemonium. Even though Ira was so willing to assist me with Zavus, knowing they were brothers made it difficult for me. My morals may be tainted, but they are not so depraved as to pit family against each other. I will deal with you later, alone, Zavus. As we passed Zavus, he had a look of resignation about him. I wonder if it¡¯s because his brother sided with me? Or perhaps this talk about the god¡¯s punishment? Probably both. Upon reaching Pandemonium, Ira guided me to¡­ the throne room? Wasn¡¯t there supposed to be some sort of request to receive us? Seems like a pretty lax demon king. Ira thrust open the massive ornate pearl double doors the lead to the throne room. The throne room, unlike the rest of the castle, was entirely made out of pearl, ivory, and white marble. It was a massive contrast to the rest of Pandemonium. There, I saw the demon king, err¡­ Kel¡¯thul, was it? He sat upon a throne made of a dragon¡¯s up-turned skull. Embedded in the skull¡¯s eye sockets were a massive ruby and a massive sapphire. Each fang of the skull was capped in silver. It seemed appropriate for a throne, and surprisingly, didn¡¯t appear too gaudy. Kel¡¯thul wore a robe of the darkest black I had yet to see, as though any shadows in the room were created from it. It looked soft, but simple. The king himself had pure white skin ¨C you couldn¡¯t call that pale. Was his skin made of bleached paper? His eyes were completely black- sclera, iris, and pupil were all the same black, and you could not tell where one began or ended. His hair was as orange as¡­ well, an orange, and it was waist-length and thick. Upon his right ring finger was what appeared to be a signet ring. He had short ivory claws protruding from his fingers. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Ira! I told you to make an appointment to come see me! For fucks sake! Do you not learn?¡± The king immediately lost his cool, and was shouting at the top of his lungs at Ira. Ira just shrugged and continued to saunter right up to the throne¡¯s pedestal of about 10 steps, I right behind him. ¡°Well, this is important after all.¡± Ira nonchalantly responded to Kel¡¯thul. ¡°The last time you said something was important, you ended up taking half, HALF, of the army to catch a wild boar! I¡¯m not giving you a single soldier this time! And where is your personal guard? I heard reports saying they were not seen with you! They¡¯d been with you a mere two weeks!¡± The king had left all pretenses of a kingly posture the moment Ira had entered. The guy was furious, and he seemed to have good lungs. ¡°Oh, them. They died.¡± Ira now seemed a little anxious. I guess this is a reoccurring topic for them. ¡°By the gods Ira! Dead! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!? What compelled me to make a fool such as yourself a general is beyond me!¡± ¡°It¡¯s because I am strong!¡± Ira proudly replied¡­ Yeah, that¡¯s kind of all you got going for you buddy. ¡°You are an imbecile who can¡¯t hold onto a weapon nor a soldier! First of all, how did you even manage to break the god-hammer Indissolubiles!? That was crafted by a god specifically to be indestructible!¡±¡­ This seemed like it would go on all day, so I should probably jump in here somewhere. *gulp* ¡°Um...err¡­, my liege Kel¡¯thul? I am Veloth, and Ira brought me here to introduce me to you¡­¡± I stated hesitantly. At once Kel¡¯thul stopped screaming at Ira, and spared me a brief glance of surprise. ¡°Ira. Did that beast speak to me? Telepathically? Pray tell, what is its species?¡± Ira was sweating bullets now. ¡°M-manna¡­spirit¡­¡± He could barely mumble those words out. Immediately after, it seemed as though Kel¡¯thuls hair became flames and his eyes glaring black holes. ¡°And how did that creature come to be here, Ira?¡± His voice was dripping venom. ¡°Z-Zavus! It is most definitely Zavus¡¯ fault! He performed a summoning!¡± Ira blurted out. He looked like he wanted to be anywhere else right now. Is Kel¡¯thul really THAT scary? ¡°Zavus? A summoning? You brothers¡­¡± Kel¡¯thul calmly repeated Ira¡¯s words. He no longer looked to be angry. ¡°Ira, bring Zavus back here immediately. I am going to punish the both of you.¡± Kel¡¯thul simply stated with a smile, displaying rather large and viciously pointed teeth. He seems to have gone beyond the point of displayable anger and came full-circle. Is he a Tarkatan? Shokans and Tarkatans, perfect. The punishment is probably going to be a brutality, announcer and all.
<< Chapter 13Chapter SelectChapter 15 >>
Chapter 15: Audience Ira made a mad dash out of the throne room. It seems he wasn¡¯t keen on angering Kel¡¯thul any longer than he already had. I turned to find and then follow him, but Kel¡¯thul stopped me. ¡°You. Veloth, was it? Stay here a moment.¡± His voice was very commanding, so I stopped and turned back to him. ¡°Yes?¡± I simply asked. ¡°I cannot simply let a being like you wander about, so tell me, what are your goals? What do you plan to do, now that you are in another world not your own?¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­ Well, I have been told my control of mana is¡­ rampant¡­ so I intend to find a schooling to learn how to control my mana, and possibly learn new things. I think I would also like to learn martial arts for both my beast form and humanoid form.¡± I replied after thinking about it for the moment. That was my immediate goal, to get strong enough to challenge the gods, since it seemed like I was involved in such a war, if that Zahramiik was telling me the truth. A school would also be a good place to learn about the gods without drawing too much attention to myself, in theory. I should ask Kel¡¯thul about Zahramiik while I am at it. I should also learn about summoning circles, because although I stared intently at the circle that summoned me, I could not memorize its intricacies, nor could I understand how it worked, and it was probably a one-way sort of thing. ¡°Also, King, I wanted to ask if you know about a god called Zahramiik?¡± I asked hesitantly. ¡°Schooling, huh? Well, that is easy enough, and I would gladly provide it to you, and anything else you need in return for your service. Hmmm¡­ Zahramiik¡­ Can¡¯t say I have ever heard of god by that name. Pray tell, what this god¡¯s specialty is?¡± Kel¡¯thul answered easily. ¡°Hmmm¡­ supposedly he or she is a god of sacrifice¡­¡± I mulled over telling him about Zahramiik¡¯s threat to swamp me with clich¨¦s, but decided against it. It is dangerous being targeted by a god after all. ¡°Sacrifice¡­ can¡¯t say there has ever been a god with such a strange specialty¡­ So there is a god of sacrifice, huh? What is his view towards you that you would bring him up?¡± Kel¡¯thul put the dots together and asked the question I was trying to avoid. ¡°Well, err¡­. I guess I slighted the god somehow, and now they have threatened to throw any and every clich¨¦ situation at me¡­¡± ¡°That¡­ seems pretty tame for a god, much less one of sacrifice¡­ You are certain they were a god? Or perhaps it is a god of mischief? Very odd¡­¡±Kel¡¯thul continued to mull it over for a moment before he continued, ¡°Regardless, I will set up schooling for you in Pandemonium city, a V.I.P. dorm room for you to stay in, an assistant to guide and help you with anything you don¡¯t understand in this world, and a stipend of funds. Are these terms acceptable, in return for your service?¡± ¡°You have my full cooperation, MY liege.¡± I bow my head to him, and he immediately motions to a nearby steward, who vanishes behind a pillar of the throne room, and returns with a scroll on what appears to be a writing board, complete with fanciful quill and ink jar. Whilst busy writing, Kel¡¯thul called out, ¡°Hahnu!¡± what followed was the appearance of a petite cat woman, for lack of a better term. Her skin was a shining ebony in concert with short black hair, long black tail and ears on top of her head resembling that of a panther. She had the eyes as well, cat-like and fiery yellow. ¡°Yes, my liege, nya?¡± she exclaimed, revealing pointed fangs. Did she just add ¡®nya¡¯ to the end of her sentence¡­? ¡°You are to guide Veloth¡­¡± Kel¡¯thul gestures toward me, ¡°¡­ To the academy, Schola, and you are to assist him in any way. Understood?¡± ¡°Yes, nya!¡± Hahnu replied energetically. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡°Good, then take this to the headmaster of the academy. You may leave at once.¡± Kel¡¯thul said as he sealed the scroll with a ribbon and wax, pressing his signet ring into the seal. Hahnu swiftly and gracefully moved to receive the scroll from Kel¡¯thul. ¡°At once, my liege, nya.¡± Hahnu then turns to me, and flashes a beaming smile. ¡°I-I¡¯ll be in your care.¡± I said to her as I bowed my head, a little off guard from that radiant smile. ¡°Let¡¯s get moving then, shall we, master Veloth nya?¡± Hahnu lead the way out of the throne room. I enchanted, followed. She may be petite, but she had copious curves¡­ No, wait, don¡¯t stare, you will get caught¡­ but the swaying of that tail¡­ Oh, that gives me an idea. I should disguise myself. It would be troublesome to remain in beast form and use telekinesis all the time, and human form was a no-go, so a subtle change should do the trick. All I really need to do is add my beast tails and ears to my human form, while removing the human ears. ¡°Hahnu, was it?¡± ¡°Nya?¡± she expressed questioningly. ¡°I want to shapeshift, but I will need some clothing. Can we obtain some here before we leave?¡± ¡°No problem, nya, I will take you to Zavus¡¯ wardrobe, he has the best selection, nya, and if he complains, the king will set him straight, nya.¡± Although the solution seemed perfect, I¡¯m worried Zavus¡¯ selection may be too gaudy to choose from¡­ My fears were assuaged as we perused Zavus¡¯ wardrobe. While there were many gaudy outfits, there were also some more plain ones made of high quality materials such as silk. In the end, I picked out a black silk outfit that resembled a tuxedo, minus the bow or tie. I attempted the shapeshift once I had picked out the outfit, eager to try the subtle differences to my human form. Though the changes seemed small, it was difficult to finalize properly. No matter how hard I tried, I could not form just one tail, instead, both tails remained. The other part that wouldn¡¯t go right was my hair and fur color. Though I went for my normal blond color, no matter what it remained my beast form¡¯s white, almost silver, really. After finally finalizing my form, I notice Hahnu staring at me intently. I forgot she was still around, and went ahead with the shapeshift. She had a slight blush and a grin, and her eyes were wandering my body like a ravenous beast. I quickly put on my new attire to hide my shame and embarrassment. For some reason I did not care about being nude while in beast form, but once humanoid, embarrassment hit me like a wave. Human memories affecting me I guess. ¡°L-let¡¯s be off then.¡± I try to take Hahnu¡¯s mind off my previous state. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A/N: Thank you for being patient with me! As you can see, things will be moving towards a harem + school arc. Don''t worry though, the re-summon arc may come next, the vote was so close after all! Hope everyone enjoys! Leave comments and let me know if you did or did not! Tell me what you think, I need that feedback!
<< Chapter 14Chapter SelectChapter 16 >>
Chapter 16: Nilus The great demon race Dragsul, descended from the ancient dragons themselves, superior in whatever they strive for. Nilus was one such demon. At the verge of Dragsul adulthood at the age of 15, Nilus was sent to the finest academy of the capital, Schola. Dragsul tend to remain secluded in their inactive volcano home of Wyrm to the south of the capital, so Nilus was enamored with the things he saw as he traveled. Once Nilus reached the academy, he strove to uphold the expectations put on him, to uphold the Dragsul¡¯s superior position in society and standing. Nilus eased his way into school life, excelled in his studies of geography, history, mathematics, language, theorization, rune crafting, mana manipulation and detection, anatomy study of common races, physical education, weapon care and handling, weapon forms and stances, and far more. For three entire years, Nilus excelled in and remained at the top of ALL of his studies, regardless of what they were and with whom he competed against. Now 18 years old, Nilus dutifully awoke in his dorm room, cleansed and dressed himself. Now ready to proceed with his day, Nilus makes his way toward the cafeteria building located in the center of the six dorms that formed a hexagon. It was still early enough in the morning that the skies were gray. All around Nilus were paved paths, and in between them, fields of grass with occasional trees. The trees, called Flos, remained in bloom all year yet bore fruit one day that year, and the petals were always a soft pink color. The Flos were always invigorating to Nilus, in fact, they seemed to energize him, to rile up his blood, as though urging him to do his best. Accepting the Flos¡¯ energy, and breathing deeply, Nilus quickened his pace to the large gray structure that is the cafeteria. While the structure itself was not very artistic, it had a beautifully tiled roof of a dark blue which seemed to shimmer under the sun¡¯s midday rays. Nilus entered the cafeteria and saw the usual sight. There, behind a counter were the usual demons who drudge out healthy meals day by day for the students. The meals were by no means meager either, the portions were large and fit for nobles. There were few ho rose this early in the morning, only about 100 students of the 1500 or so in this academy. These were the students who were serious about their studies and future vocations. Nilus received his tray of food. He had chosen a meat dish packed with protein, since his typical day this year and the last two years begins with physical education as a warm-up followed by weapon forms, single combat, and then group combat. Nilus took a seat at a long wooden table that had no students seated at it yet. He was a rival of all students currently in the cafeteria due to his persistence in being the best in everything. Nilus proceeded through his physical education smoothly. Once the instructor for physical education understood each individual¡¯s physical capability, they would tailor a personal system for each student. Nilus¡¯ current physical curriculum was a far sight harsher than the other students. At last it was time for Nilus¡¯ favorite classes, form practice, followed by single and team combat. Nilus was able to arrange his classes the way he desired due to being in the top percentile of students, or as the instructors called them, Neophytes. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Halfway through his two-handed form practices, Nilus noticed a disturbance among the instructors and students. He chose to finish his practice before he investigated himself what caused the commotion. It seems his rival in physical combat, a Ladren demon woman, which the humans liken to their ¡®angels¡¯, and goes by the name of Sival, also chose to finish her practice. Now both done with their practice, Nilus and Sival walked towards the disturbance together, in silent curiosity. The other students made way for them, and as they approached the front of the crowd, Nilus could just make out the last bits of what an instructor was saying. ¡°¡­ Suggest you treat him as royalty. This is his aide, Hahnu. She will participate in classes as she sees fit¡­¡± Did he hear royalty? The demon king had an heir? Nilus carefully sized up the new student in question, standing beside the instructor who was speaking. He was about six feet tall, a Kithran demon like his aide who stood next to him, except he had two tails. Nilus never heard of a Kithran with two tails before. His build was on the lean side, toned. Nilus got a flash of inspiration. Before him was, potentially, royalty, and single combat class was about to begin. Nilus would duel this newcomer and solidify his position as the strongest. He would show this ¡®royalty¡¯ what strength was. He would show this ¡®royalty¡¯ and everyone else why the Dragsul were superior in every way, even to royalty. ¡°You! I challenge you to a duel!¡± Nilus¡¯ thoughts ran away with his mouth and he said it. He had interrupted whatever the instructor was saying. He got stares from all the students, who began giving him a wider berth than even before, a distance initially from respect and awe, now of fear. The previously speaking instructor stood slack jawed, confused as to what just happened. Sival looked annoyed, as though she had come to the same conclusion as Nilus, though he beat her to the duel itself. The challenged party had a difficult expression to read. His eyebrow was twitching slightly, and his cheek as well, as though trying to hide a snarl. He glared at Nilus with deep cold blue eyes, as though the unknown depths of the ocean sought to swallow him. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll accept your silly duel.¡± He said with clear contempt in his voice. ¡°A-as the challenged, you have the right to choose your weapon, Lord Veloth¡­¡± The previously speaking instructor stammered. ¡°Oh, well then, I suppose hand-to-hand combat? Besides, there is something I wanted to test out for a while now.¡± Veloth said after mulling it over for a moment. Nilus grinned as though already assured of his victory, for in hand-to-hand combat, he was peerless, and none could come close to matching him, not even the instructors.
<< Chapter 15Chapter SelectChapter 17 >>
Chapter 17: First Impressions This scaly bastard challenged me to a duel. A clich¨¦ fucking duel. He should be glad if I don¡¯t outright kill him. Then again, when I was being introduced by the instructor, he was one of the two he remained serious about their training, so maybe he will be a good demonstration of this world¡¯s martial arts. I decided on hand-to-hand combat because there were some earth world martial arts moves I wanted to try to mimic from films, regardless of whether or not they were fake. The instructors guided us to what appeared to be a dueling ring or practice ring, a space of dirt sequestered away from the field of grass this class took place in, beside what appeared to be an equipment shed. We were prompted to take positions on opposite sides of the circular ring. ¡°Ah, Lord Veloth, will there be magical enhancement, or none?¡± Instructor Garret, the one who was initially introducing Veloth to the class, asked. ¡°Ah, lizard boy there can use it, while I will refrain from doing so.¡± I wanted to see the greatest strength he could muster, and then crush it. Maybe it will prove a challenging obstacle for me, but if the gods themselves are to be my opponents, then I should make destroying a lizard within my capability. That very lizard''s scales abruptly turned from their dark blue color to a shade of purple, and he began trembling. He glared at me with his slit pupil sapphire eyes and roared loudly, ¡°I am no lizard! I am a son of the mighty Dragsul! I will make you regret holding back!¡± Oh, so that resembled his anger then? Garret raised his hand and asked us, ¡°Are you both ready?¡± We nodded our ascent, and Garret brought down his hand in a chopping motion ¡°Then¡­ Begin!¡± Lizard boy lunged at me with a good speed, but it was still extremely slow to my senses. I simply waited for him to come within my range. Once he stepped in my range, my fist swiftly met the underside of his extended lizard-like maw in an uppercut. The lizard boy went flying up a good distance. I propelled myself above him, steering myself in the air with my tails. I did a front flip, landing my foot squarely on his stomach, sending him in the direction of the ground. I steered and propelled myself past him to reach the ground first using my tails. I was genuinely surprised I managed to get this part to work, because physics dictates it should not be possible. Now underneath the falling lizard boy, I thrust my fist into his back when he was within the desired range. A classical DBZ video game move, although to the point where it bordered clich¨¦¡­ Now I feel regret for actually having pulled it off. Lizard boy simply fell to the ground and did not stir¡­ Was that all his constitution could handle? ¡°Tch, damn lizard.¡± I clicked my tongue in exasperation. I wanted to try out more moves on him, but my new punching bag is already down for the count. ¡°W-winner, Lord Veloth!¡± Garret announced to gasps of surprise and astonishment. Was my combo too harsh? There should be no other reason to make those obnoxious sounds¡­ Hahnu was just smiling, almost to the extent that she looked proud, while another stared at me intently. It was a beautiful angel girl with pearlescent skin and long curly blonde hair. Her feathered wings were large, probably a wingspan of 10 feet when extended, and an icy-white color. The rest, instructors and students, all had looks of awe or fear. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°As expected of master, Nya.¡± Hahnu was the first to speak up. When she spoke, the students suddenly began murmuring among themselves. Normally I would be able to hear what they were saying, but there were so many speaking at once I couldn¡¯t sort it out. Amidst the noisy students, angel girl approached me. ¡°Lord Veloth? My name is Sival. Marry me.¡± My mind went blank and the surroundings suddenly fell silent. Hahnu also now wore a frown. ¡°P-pardon? I think I misheard you?¡± I stammered. ¡°Marry me.¡± She simply said once more. I didn¡¯t mishear her¡­ So sudden. What is with this woman? I don¡¯t even know her and she proposes marriage? The surroundings were even awkward now. ¡°No.¡± I answered her simple words with one of my own. I¡¯m not about to marry some stranger, even if she is a beauty. ¡°No. Marry me.¡± Did this woman speak nothing but simply? And what does she mean ¡®no¡¯? Is she denying my denial? ¡°I said no, damn you!¡± Clearly I need to be more forceful with my words. ¡°You will marry me.¡± This woman was insanely persistent¡­ She is probably hat trope¡­ the kind I need to beat some sense into¡­ ¡°Nya! Who do you think-¡° I cut off Hahnu with a motion of my hand. ¡°Then, if you can defeat me in a duel, I will marry you.¡± She saw what I did to lizard boy. Surely she wouldn¡¯t be so foolish as to challenge me. If she did, I just had to knock some sense into her. ¡°Then I challenge you to a doubles duel. When Nilus recovers¡­¡± Here, she gestured toward a now stirring lizard boy, ¡°He and I will duel you and any person of your choosing.¡± Her sentences were as curt as her words. She didn¡¯t seem to be the type to banter, and simply stated what she wanted. ¡°Then I accept. My partner shall be¡­ Hahnu.¡± I gesture towards Hahnu, and she nods as if it were a matter of course. Even if she couldn¡¯t fight at all, I should be able to handle the both of them. ¡°Ah, t-then, Lord Veloth, as the challenged party, you once again have the right to choose the rules of the duel¡­¡± Garret prompted me for the details of the duel. ¡°Whatever suits each person best. A no-holds-barred battle!¡± Was my answer.
<< Chapter 16Chapter SelectChapter 18 >>
Chapter 18: Second Impressions We used the same ring. Now with four people, it seemed quite a bit more crowded. Hahnu and I stood to one side, while Sival and Nilus stood at the other. Nilus was in surprisingly good shape, even after having been dealt with so handily. He was stretching a bit, and throwing jabs with his short claws combined with a few swift slashes at the air as a warm-up. He was clearly glaring at me. Sival, on the other hand, was swinging around a steel short sword. I have also been lead to believe that the weapons here at the academy were enchanted so that they could not cause any significant harm. Sival¡¯s sword movements were swift and graceful, full of power and precise. Hahnu was beside me, she had picked out a dagger, which she wielded with her right hand. In her left hand, I could already see dark mana flowing. It seemed she favored a sort of short range combat using magic, or perhaps she preferred to stay at range and fling spells, while using the dagger as her close range defense? I, like Nilus, remained empty-handed. This time I intended to use the ¡®magical enhancement¡¯ that the instructor mentioned before. While I don¡¯t know how to use it, I had a pretty good idea. Magical enhancement or strengthening usually involved infusing or utilizing magic or some other power to enhance one''s physical abilities and constitution. Following my train of thought, I sent primal mana to course through my entire body. I willd the primal mana to fuse my muscle and to coat my skin and bones. Now more or less ready, I just waited for the instructor. ¡°Everyone ready?¡± The instructor called out to us. We all looked to him and nodded. ¡°Then¡­ Begin!¡± He shouted out. Immediately I grabbed Hahnu by the scruff of her neck as though she were a kitten¡­ and tossed her into the air. To test my strengthening, I had an idea, and Hahnu was in the way. ¡°Nyah!?¡± She shouted out in surprise as she sped into the air. This also caused both Nilus and Sival to pause in hesitation and confusion. Now for step two. I gathered all my strength, and punched the ground squarely. The impact had the desired effect. The ground of the entire ring, and the ground for some distance outside the ring, cracked and writhed, rupturing into rocks and rubble rather than the smooth surface that was the ring. Sival and Nilus stumbled a bit as the ground writhed. Having lost their footing, Sival leapt into the air while expanding her great wingspan. Nilus was left to face me on the ground, while Sival darted directly towards Hahnu. Now to see if step three of my plan would be successful or detrimental. For the first time, I would willing use dark mana. I looked within myself, and found the ¡®orb¡¯ I had seperated from my primal mana¡­ except it was no longer an orb. For all intensive purposes, I could only describe it as now another bottomless well. The primal mana I had set to hold it as an orb had vanished, and rather than tainting my primal mana once more, it seemed to grow in the virtual space I placed it. Just as well. I took a great amount of it, and willed the arena to be shrouded in darkness. From the same hand that was now embedded into the ruptured arena, darkness seeped out, covering the surrounding space in a dome of darkness. As this happened, I heard Sival¡¯s shortsword clash with Hahnu¡¯s dagger above me, while Nilus could clearly be heard to fall flat on his face. Now unable to see anything, I used the mana-sonar I had developed before to locate my surroundings. I would not have to move from this spot if used magic, and if I did, it should not be a problem. It was just a matter of remembering the shapes of the ground that my mana-sonar returned to me. Ten feet in front of me, nilus was crawling forward on all fours like a lizard, scrabbling over the rubble of the arena. Above me, Hahnu repeatedly blocked Sival¡¯s strikes as she fell, countering with shotgun blasts of the dark mana, forcing Sival back a distance. Perfect. Now that Sival was separated from Hahnu, I would take away her mobility. I willed the gravity on their half of the arena to increase. This used up massive amounts of my primal mana, but my primal mana was still without an end in sight. Indeed, truly a cheat character. Sival flapped furiously as she fell slowly back to the ground. Nilus¡¯ movement was halted for a moment, as he struggled with the new pressure. Surprisingly, they were both still able to move, albeit severely restricted. ¡°Hahnu, remain on this half of the arena. I have increased the gravity of their side. Use this time to prepare yourself.¡± I spoke to Hahnu as I sensed her land gently beside me. ¡°Right, Nya. Please don¡¯t throw me again, Nya?¡± I heard her pouting. It was kinda cute, made me want to toss her again just for the same reaction. ¡°No promises¡­¡± I might not be able to resist after all. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°Nyaaaaaa¡­..¡± She pouted further. See? That¡¯s why I can¡¯t promise. My mana-sonar told me Sival and Nilus were both almost beyond the edge of the gravity field I placed. I don¡¯t know what Hahnu used for sensing them, but she could clearly cope based on that exchange with Sival earlier. Now I tried another new trick with my primal mana. I willed the mana to surge through me sporadically, like lightning discharging. The result was surprisingly close to what I wanted. I could sense both Sival and Nilus turn their full attention toward my direction, probably they could see the energy of the lightning discharging, and thus I became their visible target. Secondly, I was now coated in energy that would discharge through any who touched me, or any I touched. Almost at the same time their attention turned towards me, I sensed a massive increase in their movement speed. They shot out like bullets, aiming directly for me. They had passed out of the gravity field, and the extra energy they were using to traverse the increased gravity caused them to spring forward like a mousetrap spring that was released abruptly. Hahnu disappeared somewhere to my left as they shot forward. The first to reach me was Nilus. He jabbed forward with his claws, aiming to pierce my chest. I simply pushed his hand aside. As I made contact, a massive surge of electrical energy forced its way through Nilus. I felt him convulsing as my hand finished deflecting his strike. Sival attacked using a different method. While she still struck with her blade, which I also deflected, the gathered electrical energy did not pass through. It felt like she insulated her blade somehow, possibly with magic. As I deflected a second, and then third strike, I sensed Hahnu re-appeared behind Sival. Hahnu thrust her left hand forward, and a shotgun blast of dark mana struck Sival in her exposed back. This caused Sival to stumble forward. I moved to strike her in the stomach, but I forgot about my surroundings and tripped. The result was¡­ mortifying. The cliche situation where guy and girl falls into a kiss. My first kiss stolen in combat¡­ As I fell forward, Sival falling beneath me, our lips had met. Hers were supple and moist, regardless of her hard breathing. Trying to break my fall, I put my hands forward, but this was a bad idea too¡­ Another grand cliche happened. The typical guy falls on girl and ¡®accidently¡¯ gropes her breasts¡­ As I righted myself, I felt the fleshy lumps under the gymnastic like uniform the students used for physical exercises. She was probably about D cup. As I tried to lift myself off of her, she abandoned her sword and wrapped her arms around me. ¡°Got you now, husband.¡± She said as she squeezed my face into her generous bosom. It became very difficult to breathe. So she intended to suffocate me? I willed the electrical energy within me to surge forth, thinking it odd that it had not already done so. The energy just burst forth at random, but did not discharge through Sival. She seems to have also magically insulated herself as well as her sword. As I struggled to come up with a way to free myself from Sival¡¯s grasp, I could hear Nilus clashing with Hahnu. It seems he recovered from my magic. Not good, Hahnu is not in a position to help. Then, perhaps I can will another aura. I was able to manage an electrical aura after all. Heat would probably do the trick here. I willed flames to surge through my body. I didn''t bother to stop the electrical current because it was still usefull against Nilus, who was still in this match, and my mana could handle it anyway. ¡°Kyaaah!¡± Sival let out a beautifully feminine squeal as her grip loosened until she finaly released me. ¡°Sorry, but this game ends here.¡± I said as I willed a ball of energy into my fist, and swiftly propelled it with my fist into her stomach. ¡°Geh...¡± The air forced out of her made an ungraceful sound as she fell into unconsciousness. Turning to deal with Nilus next, I sensed he had finally been dealt with by Hahnu. Now that the battle was finally over, I dropped the dome of darkness. The students jumped at the sudden disappearance of the dome and my current appearance. I must have looked devilish because I got many looks of fear. I forgot to drop my auras. ¡°Winners! Veloth and Hahnu!¡± Garret announced.
<< Chapter 17Chapter SelectChapter 19 >>
Chapter 19: Campus A/N: NOOOO! Burnt my tongue eating ramen while writing this T^T -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The battle was finally over. There was a convenient side effect to boot. None of the other students wanted to come near me for fear of me. I was a person who valued my own space, considering I was ostracized in my previous life anyway. Although, I dare say, it was a nice feeling to rule through fear. Students aside, the instructors looked to me with admiration. they readily applauded Hahnu and I when the battle had ended. As they applauded, a melodic ring chimed through the air. I was lead to believe that was the magical clock that kept time and signified the time changes by the hour via those chimes, and each class typically only ran an hour long. ¡°Ah, Hahnu, what was I taking next?¡± I asked my memorable aide. ¡°Nya, I believe that is mana manipulation? This way, Lord Veloth, Nya.¡± She readily began to guide me to my next class. The students parted from my path as though I would kill the next person to get in my way. ¡°Nnnhh¡­¡± Sival was already stirring as the instructors rushed to check the conditions of the defeated. Nilus almost looked like a statue, sprawled on the ground without even a twitch, as though he were petrified. Perhaps Hahnu had some useful tricks I could learn later. Hahnu led the way amidst numerous multistoried structures. Most of the structures were of a dull gray and rectangular design, but the rooftops were always tiled in beautiful colors that became more elaborate as the sun changed position and one¡¯s viewing angle changed. ¡°Lord Veloth sure is powerful, Nya.¡± Hahnu began some idle banter as we proceeded to our next destination. ¡°Huhmm¡­ But you seem quite capable yourself, Hahnu. Just what did you do to lizard boy to put him in that state?¡± ¡°Nyahah¡­¡± She pulled out her dagger while blushing and removed its pommel. There was a secret compartment in the hilt of the dagger, and there appeared to be traces of a powder inside. ¡°It¡¯s a paralytic pollen gathered from vantha flower and it is very potent, Nyahah.¡± she said with a laugh and a cute smile. ¡°Hoh, that is clever.¡± I admitted. While that Nilus had a tough exterior, if he were to breathe something like that in, he would be defenseless. It would probably be wise for me to prepare things like this as well. We at last reached our dorms. There were no changing rooms at this school, so if you wanted to change, you had to return to the dorms every time. We entered the noble¡¯s dorm structure, where those of noble birth or great wealth dwelled while enrolled in this academy. We climbed all the way to the 5th floor, which was reserved for the wealthiest of the students. Whatever Kel¡¯thul wrote in his letter to the academy principal, it sure got the job done. The principal was stammering and falling over himself to get me whatever I needed or wanted at the time, as though if I were displeased in some way I would kill him. Hahnu had just stood by with a knowing and self-satisfied smile. We separated temporarily as we individually entered our rooms which were located right next to eachother. I entered an oversized and extravagantly furnished room. While each student only got a single room with a single bathroom, those rooms located on the 5th floor of the noble¡¯s dorm could house six students comfortably. Well, at the very least, there was no way I was going to develop claustrophobia living in this place. I changed quickly into the school uniform. The uniforms here resembled japanese school uniforms of the anime variety. In other words, girls wore very short skirts. The uniforms were a dark gray for the boys, while the girls sported a flashy orange, with a dark gray skirt. The instructors also appeared to adhere to the same dress code. I had just finished changing when Hahnu barged in through my door without a warning. ¡°Lord Veloth¡­¡± She had a disappointed look on her face, ¡°We should hurry if we are to be on time, Nya¡­¡± Geez, ever heard of knocking? Although she looked rather attractive in that uniform. The skirt threatened to flip up every time her tail swayed to and fro. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Fortunately uniforms were tailored to the individual races, so my uniform had a tail hole, although it had to be altered further to fit both of my tails, which lead us to visit my first class whilst my uniform was made to spec. ¡°Right, lead the way.¡± I prompt Hahnu to lead. Until I could remember my way around campus, I will rely on Hahnu to guide me with the map given to us. As we made our way, the students in the paved streets between buildings began to part and give us space. It seems word has already begun to spread about the duels in the short time it took to change. I could hear whispers, but once more they were too numerous at the moment for me to pick anything out. The one thing I did manage to hear was quite an absurd rumor about me being the demon king¡¯s son. While I wanted to correct that person, there was no way for me to pinpoint them amongst the throng of students flowing to their next classes. We shortly came upon a very large building that had eight floors and had a plaque above a large entryway labeled ¡®Magical Studies¡¯. As we are about to enter, I hear a sound above my head, a ¡®fwump, fwump, fwump¡¯ it was rhythmic until it abruptly became a swoosh, and I found myself on the ground, a light weight hanging to my back. ¡°Veloth! Marry me!¡± It was Sival¡¯s voice¡­ I felt her generous bosom pressed into my back as I stood back up, her arms hanging around my neck. She was much lighter than she looked, probably had hollow bones like a bird. Although, from my fight with her, her bones must have been far more dense because I¡¯m certain I did not break any. ¡°Nya! Get off of master!¡± Hahnu immediately retorted and started pulling at Sival. ¡°No, wait Hahn-¡± I tried to stop Hahnu but she was too fast, and caused a chain reaction. Hahnu fell back, pulling Sival with her, and Sival me along with them. I could hear Sival¡¯s wings beat briefly in an attempt to keep balance, but it was fruitless. I felt like I was flipped through the air multiple times like some ragdoll. I don¡¯t know how exactly it happened, but the resulting position was with me gazing at a white pair of panties and someone straddling my waist. Judging from the flawless smooth ebony skin, the panties were Hahnu¡¯s. ¡°Haahh¡­¡± I let out a sigh of exasperation at this cliche moment, which I now regret. The sigh caused Hahnu to squeal and leap up, a cliche reaction. The moment Hahnu leapt off of me, Sival leaned down and clung to me once more, pressing her breasts into my abdomen. Really, what is it with this woman? You would think a beating would deter someone¡­ I could hear nearby students and those walking by with a wide berth gossiping at this sight. I heard things such as ¡®pervert¡¯, ¡®polygamy¡¯, ¡®libido¡¯, and some more profane words. Some of those gossiping students even looked on in envy or jealousy. Hahnu eventually managed to drag Sival off with great effort. While I didn¡¯t mind a woman giving me so much affection, I barely knew her. If she is this persistent, I may eventually give in. When Hahnu pulled of Sival, she had begun scolding her. At some point during the long rant, the bell rang. ¡°Ah! Hahnu! The bell! Let¡¯s go already!¡± I got her attention. She was so into the scolding she hadn¡¯t even heard the bell, and looked at me with a start of surprise. We hurried into the large building, closely followed by Sival, and we all entered the same classroom.
<< Chapter 18Chapter SelectChapter 20 >>
Chapter 20: Jevel and Viridi Well, Sival followed us all the way. We made our way to a fairly large room with desks, and on the wall perpendicular to the door, there was a massive chalk board, and a podium. I took a seat near the front, so as not to strain my eyes. Hahnu promptly seated herself to my right, and Sival to my left. Other students filed in, full of noisy banter, at least until they saw me. Upon gazing my visage, they fell deadly silent and shuffled to the furthest empty seat from my position. Next to enter was the Instructor. He was a very skinny man, he had gray skin, large saucer glasses, and shaggy silvery hair and mustache. He glanced around the room briefly, all his motion abruptly stopping when his eyes fell upon me. Why am I getting this much attention? I feel like the protagonist of some fiction or a delinquent who shows up rarely in an anime. He only took a moment to size me up, before he moved to the podium. ¡°Right then! Let¡¯s begin class then, shall we?¡± He was scrawny, but he had a booming voice. ¡° My name is Jevel. I am your Instructor for mana manipulation. To begin, we will discuss the different types of-¡± As he was speaking, he reached for a piece of chalk. Abruptly, Jevel brought the chalk across the board at a bad angle, causing a terrible screeching sound. Everyone twisted and shivered at the noise. Jevel got the worst of it, since he was on the receiving end of the chalk. He shivered madly and fell to the floor. The students glanced at each other, unsure what just happened. Jevel very abruptly sprang up, cartwheeling his arms to maintain balance from his sudden movement. This guy was almost the picture of a clown. He shuddered once more before continuing. ¡°First is the principal of mana. There is a mana type for each of the elements. The fundamental mana elements are: Fire, Water, Wind, and Earth. After those elements, are the binary elements, such as Ice, Magma, Lightning, and such. Dark and Light mana are rare binaries, which are comprised of each other¡­¡± As Jevel continued, he became more and more energetic with his motions upon the chalk board, drawing diagrams and superfluous pictures that did not look at all like what they were meant to depict, much less a piece of art. Hahnu squirmed in her seat a bit. It seems she was getting impatient or bored with the lecture. Sival was dividing her attention evenly between me and Jevel. It was as though she was torn between the desire for knowledge and love. Some of the students were trying to hold back giggles during Jevel¡¯s lesson, as the enthusiasm he put behind his drawings were greatly exaggerated, and still only amounted to what could be called elementary drawing skills. At last class ended with the chimes of the bell that resounded across the campus.The students around me rushed to get out of the classroom quickly. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was to let loose their pent-up laughter or to get away from me. I rose along with Hahnu and Sival to move on to the next class, which was rune magic. I chose to take rune magic not for its use, but rather to discover if there was a way to send myself back to my world, or perhaps to summon my mother here. By no means was I able to memorize the complicated patterns of the circle used to summon me. As Hahnu led the way, Sival took my right arm and firmly held it between her breasts, as though she were trying to seduce me with her breasts. Hahnu took notice, and while glaring at Sival, took my left arm and sandwiched it between her own modest breasts. A woman in each arm, I proceeded through the campus, jealous, envious, and disgusted whispers behind my back. We arrived at the classroom for runic studies in short order. Things more or less went the way they did in the previous class, with one exception. A quiet looking girl with green eyes, green hair, and four translucent green wings gave an abrupt shout of surprise when she saw me. Rather, she did not seem to be looking at me, but through me like she had x-ray vision. She blushed in embarrassment at he own shout, and quickly seated herself directly behind me. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Curious that she would choose to sit so close to me, given the reaction she had upon seeing me. Just what was it that she saw anyway? The other students also began gossiping amongst themselves. There were surprisingly few taking this class, so I could make out some of what they were saying. ¡°Hoh, so Viridi does have a voice. She¡¯s always so quiet you wouldn¡¯t know.¡± ¡°She surprised me with that shout. Veloth sure is scary, huh?¡± ¡°Poor Divalei girl. Veloth must have a mountain of mana, for her to react that way. They are really sensitive to mana after all.¡± ¡°Oh, look, she sat behind him¡­ I wonder if she knows about what he did to Nilus?¡± ¡°Geez, Veloth has girls all over him and it¡¯s only his first day at the academy¡­¡± ¡°No waaaayy. Viridi is too shy to go for a guy like that¡­¡± The gossip turned in that direction, so I stopped paying attention to it. About then, the instructor entered¡­ Oddly, it was Jevel again. He had the same reaction as before when he saw me once more. Jevel reached the podium and¡­ tripped. I don¡¯t know what he tripped on, or if there was anything to trip on, but he did it grandly, face first. Amongst the student¡¯s suppressed giggling, the gossiping banter began again. ¡°Was master Jevel always so clumsy?¡± ¡°He did some weird things in his previous classroom too.¡± ¡°I bet its because of Veloth. If I had to teach that guy, I¡¯d be a nervous wreck too.¡± Or so it went. Was it my fault that Jevel was a clown today, or was he always a clown. At this point it is becoming difficult to think of him as anything other than a clown. The class continued much like it did in the last one, except this time I had a pair of eyes I could feel boring into my back. Jevels drawings on the chalkboard this time were accurate and precise, as they were displays of runes and how to combine them, he needed to be accurate. The day more or less continued like that. Any magic classes I took were taught by Jevel, while any physical classes were instructed by Garret. Not sure how I ended up with only the two of them for classes. They themselves also looked surprised and nervous at my repeated reappearances. I did not take any supplementary lessons, such as mathematics, literacy, or history. I had no interest in those after all. The day at last ended and I wound my way to my dorm room and entered¡­ Problem was, three people followed me into my dorm. The shy and quiet Viridi, who upon questioning, would not tell us her reasons for following me, the straight-forward and loud Sival, who said something about sleeping with her husband, and the watchful discerning eye that is Hahnu, who was attempting to ¡®correct¡¯ the situation by also sleeping with me¡­ While I wouldn¡¯t mind so much with Sival and Hahnu, Viridi also insisted, and it was creepy because I did not know her motives, I also knew her for the least amount of time. My answer to the situation? It was to blow them out of the room with a powerful magical wind, quickly followed by locking the door. One day over, an unknown number left to go. It was already very tiring, as somehow I acquired myself the ultimate anime cliche harem¡­ At least it was a smaller harem than some, and no one else would be joining it¡­ right?
<< Chapter 19Chapter SelectChapter 21 >>
Chapter 21: Guardians of Order Well, apparently there is a school disciplinary committee here. Well, that¡¯s what they were called in the animes I watched back on earth. Here, they call themselves ¡®Guardians of Order¡¯, and I seem to have made mortal enemies of them. While the instructors never admonish me for accidents and the like, the Guardians swarm me with complaints, accusations, and threats. Really, I didn¡¯t mean to completely obliterate the storage room that was conveniently empty of any living persons¡­ I just fell into a small depression at the fact that I died before the release of ¡®Return of F¡¯, and now I can¡¯t see it. Following this depression, I got the idea in my head to try and emulate one of my favorite villain¡¯s iconic moves, the Death Beam. The problem with my own Death Beam, however, was that I still lacked control in my mana manipulation, although I had already been practicing for three months. Instead of a small purple beam firing from the tip of my finger, meant to pierce through the structure I chose as my target practice, a massive laser that seemed like an orbital precision strike surged forth, and the storage room was no more. Basically, that was the last straw for the Guardians, and now they are getting in my way wherever I go, regardless of the teachers and other students, who fear me, warning them not to. Really, it¡¯s beginning to get on my nerves, to the extent that I really may become the villain they think that they are fighting. Then again, I have always fantasized what it would be like to be a villain. I was the type who would cheer on the villains, regardless of knowing they would lose. I guess I just empathized with the villain¡¯s views and tribulations more often than not, where the hero just nonchalantly becomes almighty and smites the villain, regardless of his goals or aspirations. There was a knock at my door. I was in my room, meditating in the attempt to gather each of the main elements of mana. So far, in the three months I have spent at this school, I have only acquired the primary element of earth. It was an earthy colored mana that was now a deep well within my body, alongside the dark mana and the primal mana. It was difficult to absorb any amount of mana. In addition to absorbing it, to foster its stability, you had to¡­ connect¡­ with the element and conceptualize it¡¯s meaning. This happens to be very difficult. The only reason I am doing this is because magic made with their element have ever greater potency and stability, for example, ice spears made of are flimsy and weak, and perhaps may dissipate mere moments after conceptualization. Spells of the opposite element cannot be made, such as creating fire with water mana. Primal mana, however, is unique. Evidently, Primal mana is extremely rare, to the extent that there have only been three known individuals throughout the planet¡¯s history to have ever possessed it in any quantity. These people were known as Primals, and even with so little of the primal mana at their disposal compared to me, they managed grand magical feats befitting of gods. While I was meditating to acquire my second element, my mind had wandered. Now I am brought back to reality by that knock at the door. It came a second time as I stood, and upon reaching it, I hear a faint voice, ¡°Primal Veloth, may I enter?¡± It was Viridi. She referred to me as Primal, due to the primal mana within me. Her species, the nymph-like Divalei, were extremely sensitive to mana, and the greater and more varied mana elements one possessed, the greater the attraction the Divalei felt towards that person. Essentially, Viridi fell in love at first sight. I unlocked the door and let the shy soft-spoken girl into my room. She promptly seated herself on the extravagant couch, next to the curled Kithran whom was sleeping cutely in the lap of the attractive Ladren woman who was drooling on her wings. These three were so incessant on being with me these past months, that I finally caved in and allowed them some¡­ freedoms¡­ around me. ¡°Was there something in particular you wanted, Viridi? I asked her softly, so as not to wake the others. ¡°Guardians¡­¡± She said in a whisper. So they are coming to kick up another fuss huh? As I recall, they recently recruited Nilus into their ranks as well. Nilus was always looking for any way to compete against me directly after naming himself my ¡®rival¡¯... It was such a cliche idea, that I knocked him out on the spot. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°Haaahh¡­¡± I sighed in exasperation, ¡°Wait here, I¡¯ll deal with it.¡± After a previous scrap inside the noble dorms, the Guardians were forbidden from entering. This also meant that anyone in the Guardians who were residing in the dorms had to get new rooms in the other dorms, including Nilus, while I didn¡¯t get so much as a slap on the wrist. It is clear that I am an object of favoritism. This also has the unfortunate result of a large number of fools joining the Guardians in their desire to defeat me for their own misbegotten reasons. I exited the noble dorms to see a mob of demonic students loitering in front of the building. Upon sight of me, they took various battle stances and readied various spells, such as fireballs, ice spears, wind blades, and so on. The current leader of the Guardians, Perator, stepped forward. He was a massively built lion Kithran. ¡°Veloth!¡± He sneered at me, ¡°Once more you desecrate these sacred grounds of knowledge for your ¡®experiments¡¯. You WILL answer for your crimes today!¡± Every time I listened to this guy, it sounded like a hero¡¯s monologue. ¡°Haaaahh¡­ What is it this time, Perator?¡± ¡°You will refer to me with respect! I am your senior AND a Guardian! Did you really think we wouldn¡¯t notice? Every Guardian is missing an article of their underwear!¡± ¡°Well, clearly you haven¡¯t actually noticed yet, KITTEN.¡± I antagonize him with what I discovered he absolutely hates being called. ¡°Grrrraaaoooaaaaar!¡± He roared at me furiously, but the meaning of my words seems to have taken his curiosity a level over his rage, ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Honestly, I had forgotten I set it into motion, but it seems to have been a successful experiment. So, without further adue,¡± I let out a high pitched whistle. The ground behind the mob began to rumble. A massive hand shot out, and an equally massive body kicked and clawed its way from beneath the surface of earth. It was a golem. ¡°Th-thats¡­ How¡­?¡± Perator looked back aghast at the sight of the golem. It was made of many pieces of both male and female undergarments belonging to every Guardian. I had forgotten that I placed a rune spell on a pair of panties Sival snatched away from her room mate to spite her for joining the Guardians. After that, Sival stayed in the same room as Viridi and Hahnu, right next to mine. The rune spell I placed on it turned it into a little golem whose goal was to snatch the Guardian¡¯s undergarments to make a part of its own body. Vellum, as I named it, steadied itself. It towered at the size of a building. Were there so many Guardians? Or did Vellum take multiple undergarments from each Guardian? Regardless, it awaited my order, almost with an eager anticipation. ¡°Vellum, take care of the Guardians for me.¡± I granted Vellum motion. ¡°Oh, Kitten, I suggest you fight back, otherwise it may accidently kill someone.¡± I told Perator in a mocking tone. It seemed somewhat poetic, the mighty Guardians being devastated by their own underwear¡­ ¡°Graaaaooooaaaaar!¡± Perator roared and turned back to me, claws raised, and pounced. I was ready for this action however, and it appeared slow to me as well. I willed the earth between us to match the shape of Perator¡¯s body. I swiftly carved a rune spell in a random position within its body, creating a golem. I chose a random spot for the rune because so long as the rune was not harmed, and as long as I had mana, the golem would rapidly repair itself with the element it was made of. I wonder How Vellum will repair itself? The golem I just made stopped Perator in his tracks, as I made more and more copies of him. ¡°Fight your own battles, coward!¡± He roared in frustration. ¡°Says the one who brought a mob for one man.¡± I retorted, as my newly created golems jump into the fray, adding to the chaos.
<< Chapter 20Chapter SelectChapter 22 >>
Chapter 22: Summons One year ago, in the continents held up by the massive world tree Yggdrasil that grew from the world of Cres, one man answers his summons, and approaches the well of Urd where three gods idle. Urd, Verdani, and Skuld, all taking the appearance of women, one young, one middle aged, and one old, awaited the man. ¡°He has already arrived.¡± Urd, the youngest in appearance, spoke. ¡°He stands before us presently.¡± Verdani, the middle aged in appearance followed. ¡°And he will fulfill our wish.¡± Skuld, the oldest in appearance said as though it were already done. ¡°Norns, I have heard your summons, and answered.¡± The man kneeled to the three. ¡°There is a creature not of this world,¡± Verdani begins, straight to the point. ¡°It came through unconventional means, the meddlings of a detestable god,¡± Urd continued. ¡°You will destroy it. It calls itself¡­ Veloth. It¡¯s power is great, and you will enter a warring continent to fight it.¡± Skuld finished. ¡°So, to destroy this creature, I need to conquer Midgard?¡± The man surmised from the information given him. ¡°Indeed, you shall gather the Jotun, Vanir, Aesir, Dark Elves, Light Elves, and Dwarves, but leave behind the dead of Niflheim. In conquering Midgard, you will also come into conflict once more with the demons of Muspelheim.¡± Skuld confirmed. ¡°Show us that power, Odin, which you used in the past to unite the 8 continents dwelling upon Yggdrasil.¡± Urd encouraged. ¡°That is all, you may go.¡± Verdani Finished. The man known as Odin nodded, and briskly turned to return to his eight legged steed, Sleipnir, to speedily make his preparations. ----- Hahnu¡¯s perspective: I watched as my mighty Lord Veloth poured impossible amounts of various manas into a magnificently drawn rune circle. The very circle was crafted by Lord Veloth to summon¡­ something. He was pretty vague in answering what exactly he was trying to summon, but he made great strides, in merely a year, in gaining each of the prime mana elements, control of his mana, and especially in his runecrafting. While Lord Veloth had failed in his summoning multiple times already, only with a click of his tongue, he would proceed to alter and repair the rune circle to perfection. At this point, the rune circle was very complex, and even the missing blood mages of Pandemonium would be baffled at its inner workings. The rune circle shimmered many bright colors, the air in the large room the principle of the academy granted Lord Veloth wavered and felt thick with mana, almost as though you could swim through it. Abruptly, a large cracking sound emitted from the circle, as though multiple bolts of lightning struck simultaneously. It was loud and deafening. Viridi, standing to my left, covered her eyes as though she saw a sudden flash that I and Sival, to my right, could not. The air felt like it had cleared, similar to when one who was in a cave exits, and is hit with a breath of fresh air. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°FUCK!¡± Veloth roared as he struck the ground, causing a tremor. It was the first time I had seen my Veloth so troubled. Even when the Guardians of Order had pestered him for half of the year, he had remained calm, only steadily increasing the level harm to them until they decided it was too dangerous to get in his way. ¡°FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!¡± Veloth roared again, striking the ground with each word, causing even greater tremors in the ground. There was nothing within the circle, meaning that this was another failure. Veloth seems very distraught, so i''ll go comfort him before the other two catch on. Or so I thought, but then came a knock at the door to our backs. ¡°I-I¡¯ll get it, Lord Veloth.¡± I called out to him as I turned with displeasure at the chance I missed. I cracked open the door to the building and looked out to see a royal messenger who looked haggard, as though he had run all the way from the castle. ¡°I¡­¡± He wheezed, taking a moment more to fill his lungs with just enough breath, he continued, ¡°I am looking for Lord Veloth? It¡¯s an urgent summons, from our liege, Kel¡¯thul.¡± ¡°I see¡­ You have delivered your message. I will tell him.¡± ¡°N...No, I must tell Lord Veloth directly to be sure.¡± he persisted. ¡°Lord Veloth is¡­ in an unpredictable mood at the moment. Trust me, it¡¯s fine to leave the message with me.¡± I said as I closed the door in his face. This wasn¡¯t good. Veloth¡¯s mood really was unpredictable at this stage, his frustration finally having caught up with him, and instead of being able to continue his work, he had to travel to Pandemonium. I looked worriedly at Veloth, who was crouched and muttering something to himself. ¡°L-Lord Veloth?¡± I hesitantly called out to him. He raised his eyes to look in my direction questioningly. ¡°An¡­ urgent summons¡­ from Lord Kel¡¯thul¡­¡± Sival and Viridi turned to look at me in surprise, then simultaneously whipped their gazes back to Veloth. ¡°I see¡­ Well, in the end, this free time and preferential treatment did come at a price. I guess I need a break from this anyway. A fresh new perspective after coming back to it later may give me an answer.¡± Ah, Veloth had calmed down already. The frightening atmosphere of before had dissipated. Sival and Viridi made a fuss about Veloth leaving the academy. ¡°Then come with me.¡± was his answer. It took them only a moment of thought, before they agreed. Damn, it seems they will still be getting in my way. Regardless, I will make Veloth mine.
<< Chapter 21Chapter SelectChapter 23 >>
Chapter 23: Mother I felt it again¡­ A familiar resonance¡­ It called out to me, more strongly than the last. It grasped blindly for my presence. Out of curiosity, I searched the resonance. Why did it feel so familiar? I felt this sensation only once before, but where? This is¡­! Veloth! My child lives! Immediately I search for the origin of the resonance, but it fades before I can pinpoint it¡¯s exact location. However, I know the general direction, and no world, no universe, no dimension can keep me from my child. ¡°Drema, what is it?¡± my husband asks of me. ¡°Jargen, our child lives, and I found the direction he is hidden.¡± ¡°That is grand news Drema!¡± He leapt into the air with pure joy. ¡°He must have grown strong for you to be able to detect him from this dimension, after his own father!¡± He boasted proudly. ¡°I am glad for it. He had such trouble learning to speak, it worried me.¡± ¡°I guess you will be taking his fiancee to find him and return to us here then?¡± ¡°Ah, yes, bringing Myria is a wonderful idea.¡± ¡°Right then, i¡¯ll continue dealing with these pesky gods of chaos and destruction and what-not with their silly titles, until your safe return!¡± He puffed his chest out. So boastful, it made me giggle. ¡°Try not to destroy a world that would upset the balance of their universe, you know the implications, dear.¡± ¡°I told you that was an accident! let it go already!¡± He pouted. ¡°No, no, no, dear, mistakes should be remembered in order to avoid repeating them.¡± I reprimanded him. ¡°Geez, I get it already! i¡¯ll incapacitate them tactfully! You will see!¡± He pleaded. ¡°Fufu¡­ I¡¯ll leave it to you then, dear. I¡¯ll be off now, take care my sweet.¡± I rub my nose against his, inhaling his scent deeply, before teleporting to Myria¡¯s location. ¡°Drema!¡± Myria shouted excitedly upon seeing me materialize, and excitedly dashes before me, rubbing her body affectionately against mine, tails wagging. She was a beautiful mana spirit at two years old. She had grown into a magnificent adult. ¡°What facilitates your visit to this volcanic mess of a planet?¡± She inquired me. ¡°Your fiance, my son, lives, and I have found the general area he has been hidden in. I¡¯ve come to take you with me to fetch him back.¡± ¡°Oh, gladly! I can¡¯t wait to meet him! My fiance!¡± She said with starry eyes, probably imagining Veloth¡¯s appearance as I had described him before his disappearance. ¡°Let¡¯s be off then.¡± ---------------------------------- Veloth POV: We approached the gates of Pandemonium. The castle was bustling with activity. There were soldiers of the varying colors Ira had described to me. It looked like all the Seven Sins were here, although i¡¯m not sure if Ira himself was here, considering there were no red-clad soldiers. Upon approaching the gate, a soldier clad in white, one of Pride¡¯s soldiers, if I am not mistaken, rushed up to us. Hahnu stepped forward to announce my arrival and avoid any confusion, but it was unnecessary. The soldier knew exactly who I was, and ushered us through the bustling soldiers and into the castle. We were guided not to the throne room, but instead to another room with double doors elsewhere in the castle. Shouting and arguments could be faintly heard from this side of the doors. The two guards, both Pride soldiers, stood at attention at our arrival, and one of them knocked on the double doors loudly, before opening it a fraction to whisper something to those inside. ¡°Well let him in already, fool!¡± Kel¡¯thul could be heard, and he was clearly in a bad temper. I wonder if that temperament is common for him? If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. The guards flusteredly threw open the double doors and gestured for us to enter. Before me was the sight of vastly different demons who seemed to exude their own unique personality. I saw first those I recognized, Kel¡¯thul at the head of a long table laden with maps and figurines, followed by Ira, Brows furrowed whilst glaring at those maps and chewing his lips. Zavus was fiddling with a figurine, looking disinterested. Standing beside Kel¡¯thul at the head of the table, was a man who wore white armor. His skin was made up of white scales, and his eyes were cherry red. He was definitely of the Dragsul race, like that annoying Nilus, and judging by his armor, he was Pride. Next was a small girl eating a steady stream of candies from a bowl placed in her childlike lap. She had white skin, pointed ears, large round violet eyes, and platinum blond hair. She stared intently at the maps while absent-mindedly placing the candies indiscriminately into her mouth. If I had to place her trope, she would be Gluttony. By far the most alluring site, was a woman wearing a nearly transparent white robe, with a low cut to show off her generous bust. She had long smooth black hair, ruby red lips, emerald eyes, two small pointed red horns, a pair of red batlike wings, and a long dextrous tail that ended in a spearpoint. Another trope, Lust, and a succubus to boot. Next was a man who looked to be in his teens. He had curved horns, like a ram, and hooves rather than shoes. His hands were outfitted with long intimidating claws. He looked longingly at one of Zavus¡¯ rings. Envy, I guess? Next a man who nearly matched Ira in size and muscle, his skin looked like it was made of rock, and gray in color. He was also bald, almost similar in appearance to the Thing of the Fantastic Four. He slouched in his seat, head in his hand, drumming his fingers against his chin impatiently. Sloth, perhaps? ¡°Ah! Veloth! Hahnu! And¡­ guests! Welcome back! So Hahnu, what did you think?¡± Kel¡¯thul¡¯s expression immediately brightened up, and everyone''s gaze pointed in our direction. ¡°More than suitable, nya. I want him, nya.¡± Hahnu responded. ¡°Then, Veloth, won¡¯t you marry my daughter?¡± Kel¡¯thul asked. ¡°Huh? Marry who?¡± I asked in confusion. ¡°Hahnu of course!¡± ¡°Wait¡­ She is¡­?¡± ¡°Nyahah.¡± She grinned mischievously at me. ¡°Marry me, Veloth?¡± ¡°W-wha?¡± What the hell is going on? Was I called here just for this? Equally surprised were Viridi and Sival¡­ Or I imagine they were dumbstruck beyond words because Viridi was contantly shielding her eyes after glancing anywhere into the room and Sival¡¯s jaw dropped. ¡°Well, lets worry about the ceremony later, we have more pressing needs right now.¡± Kel¡¯thul declared and gestured for me to have a seat. ¡°It seems the Aesir have attacked...¡± Kel¡¯thul began¡­ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A/N: Sorry for the very late chapter (a few too many personal issues all at once decided to crop up and rear their ugly heads). I know it might be smaller than some would like but I figure getting something out is better than nothing. Hope you enjoy!
<< Chapter 22Chapter Select(PLACEHOLDER)
Chapter 24: POV ¡°It seems the Aesir have attacked...¡± Kel¡¯thul began as I seated myself at the nearest empty seat, ¡°And they brought one hell of an army with them.¡± He gestured to the multiple maps and figurines strewn about the massive rectangular table made of polished red onyx that could be mistaken for a deep red ruby if not for the bands of white strewn throughout the stone. ¡°Particularly troubling are their Jotun vanguard,¡± Kel¡¯thul continued as he glared at Zavus and snatched back the figurine, placing it with more of its vaguely humanoid shaped kind on a map of the continent¡¯s edge to the east. There were twenty figurines thereafter. ¡°Seeing as you were summoned, you may not know Veloth, but Jotun are giants, very big, very strong, and very resistant to magic.¡± ¡°Ah, so how many Jotun does each figurine represent then?¡± I asked, the image of an army of giants stampeding over forests in my mind. ¡°One.¡± Kel¡¯thul answered with a rasp. I raised my eyebrow at that. Why were twenty giants such a big deal? Upon seeing my questioning glance, Kel¡¯thul continued, ¡°Among them, Surt was sighted, a champion of the Jotun who wields a dangerous blade of fire that could burn through some of the most potent defenses. It¡¯s not just Surt, either, all giants possess such troubling weapons and methods. The most troubling aspect, is that we don¡¯t know where the rest of the Jotun made landfall.¡± I see, so Jotun could be considered the equivalent to elite soldiers or super weapons, like a Gundam rampaging amongst a medieval world. ¡°So what were you arguing about earlier? Can¡¯t you send enough forces to deal with them?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the problem,¡± The man next to Kel¡¯thul spoke up. ¡°Our forces are stretched thin to deal with the human¡¯s forces. To send forces to deal with the Jotun would weaken our front lines significantly.¡± ¡°Ah, I forgot, Veloth, let me introduce you to Prast Pride, and while we¡¯re at it¡­¡± Kel¡¯thul introduced me to his generals. I managed to get all their stereotypes correct, as each person was introduced to me. ¡°So, can¡¯t you call for a temporary cease-fire?¡± I asked Kel¡¯thul pointedly. ¡°Bah! The humans would sooner watch us be torn asunder then give us any respite.¡± The one to answer me haughtily was Ira. ¡°Indeed, it would be wiser of them to let us fight it out, then exterminate the weakened victor.¡± Sloth followed up rather gloomily. ¡°But it doesn¡¯t make sense to assume there is no cease-fire before we even try.¡± Lust pouted. ¡°Besides, we could appeal to them the threat the Aesir pose to the humans as well. We know of the Aesir¡¯s power because our ancestors fled Muspelheim when Odin¡¯s foul magics took control of Surt, our then ruler. If the humans could come to understand this¡­¡± ¡°They see us as nothing but invaders! The humans would sooner claim all of Midgard as their own then share it with any other species!¡± At this point an argument started up again, each general arguing with those whose views were not similar. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Myria POV: Myria could feel it now, the beacon of power Drema was guiding her to. This is her fiance¡¯s strength? With this much power, the manna spirit¡¯s future as a race was secured, for with such power defeating even gods would be but a simple matter. It excited Myria, Veloth had survived, and even from such a great distance, she could feel that his power could overwhelm even a star, a feat performed only in legends eons ago. Myria¡¯s mind began to drift, thinking of the stories Drema had told Myria about Veloth¡¯s youth. She could envision the young manna spirit hunting down the ancient and powerful beasts of Holoth, beasts so powerful they were nearly gods themselves. She envisioned Veloth slaying these beasts with relative ease, consuming their flesh as though such prey was only natural. Myria¡¯s thoughts shifted again, she imagined herself, captured by a malevolent god of magnificent power, caged within a palace that existed at the center of a star. Then in Myria¡¯s daydream, a magnificent manna spirit burst through the palace¡¯s walls. The malevolent god and the manna spirit confront each other, flinging spells that could destroy entire worlds at eachother. The malevolent god begins to lose confidence as the mana spirit begins to use increasingly more intricate and powerful spells. The malevolent god at last falters, and with an easily produced yet precise spell, the mana spirit emerges victorious. The mana spirit shreds Myria¡¯s cage, nuzzling her, and she nuzzles him in return. Abruptly the mana spirit creates a massive spell, and the star explodes. ¡°Buh-geh!¡± ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Drema POV: ¡°M-Myria? Are you alright?¡± Drema saw Myria face-plant straight into a planet. She hadn¡¯t realized the silly girl was day-dreaming again until it was too late. Drema approached the new crater on the planet and called out to Myria. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°W-what happened?¡± Myria called out. ¡°Whew, good, you''re alright.¡± Drema let out a sigh of relief. The girl was prone to daydreaming, making her a little clumsy at times, such as not paying attention to astral positioning during dimensional travel, and crashing into one thing or another. Last time she crashed, it was into a space-faring insectoid hive, and they were certainly less than happy about a hole being punched through their ship. Fortunately David, Myria¡¯s father, was there to aid the mortals. ¡°O-oh¡­ Sorry Drema! Seems like I wasn¡¯t paying attention! Tee-hee¡­¡± Myria giggled as the stuck her tongue out and lightly bopped herself on the head. ¡°It¡¯s ok dear. We should get moving again before any mortals show up.¡± ¡°Right!¡± ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tara POV: Tara narrowly avoided the giant¡¯s crushing blow as she countered with a slash at its achilles tendon. The slash was very shallow, barely a scratch on the giant¡¯s skin. With a swiftness that did not match its size, the giant aimed a kick at Tara, who again narrowly avoided. She had trained so hard to become stronger. ¡®If I had been stronger, Veloth would still be with us, he wouldn¡¯t have joined Ira to spare everyone.¡¯ With that train of thought she tirelessly sought to improve herself, so much so that she was no longer a hero, but a champion of the human race, the general Tara Humility. Yet, why could she not bring down this single giant? They had appeared abruptly from the eastern side of the continent, and brought destruction and mayhem mindlessly with them to whatever village lay in their path westward. There were only twenty of them sighted thus far, but a single one brought with it great destruction and power. The King, desperate to save his people, dispatched all the forces that were currently at the castle to intercept the giants in an attempt to slow them so that civilians could evacuate. Tara has been successful only in slowing the two giants she and the forces under her command had encountered. Though Tara desperately wanted to save the village in the giant¡¯s path so that the people could return to their normal lives, they could barely damage the massive tyrants. For some reason Tara¡¯s thoughts shifted. She began to think about Veloth. She missed him, though they had spent so little time together. She wanted to get to know him better, she wanted to ask him about his life before reincarnation, she wanted to know what he thought about her body from the time he¡­ ¡®Wha! What am I thinking about right now?¡¯ Tara shook her head fiercely as she blushed. ¡°ARAAAAHH!¡± She roared in frustration as she attempted to strike the same exact spot of the giant¡¯s achilles tendon, deepening the wound slightly more. She struck again, then again, and again. She lost count of the strikes as she worked out her frustration on her foe. ¡°AAAAAH! PUNY BITCH!¡± The giant roared, attempting to create distance from Tara by leaping into the air. Tara saw his muscles tensing for the jump and plunged her blade into the wound and held on tightly. She soared through the air with the giant, like a thorn stuck in its leg. ¡°Bastard, you think i¡¯ll let you run away after the atrocities you committed!?¡± Tara roared back as they landed. ¡°I WILL CRUSH YOU BITCH!¡± ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Veloth POV: The argument settled finally settled down after an hour. Kel¡¯thul, Zavus, and I had silently listened whilst the rest¡­ ¡®conferred¡¯. That is when there was an abrupt knock, and a guard who was out of breath promptly entered without waiting for a response. ¡°What is it, we are in the middle of a war counsel here!¡± Kel¡¯thul boomed. ¡°It¡¯s the humans! they sent a message asking for a cease-fire!¡± Looks of disdain, surprise, contempt, understanding, and sympathy spread throughout the room all at once. ¡°So the Jotun made landfall on their side of the continent as well¡­ That settles it, tell them we accept-¡± ¡°Wait!¡± I interrupted Kel¡¯thul. I had been mostly quiet during this entire time, so it was no surprise to me that Kel¡¯thul shot me a look of confusion. ¡°We can ask for an alliance against a mutual enemy instead.¡± I proposed. As soon as I did, the room erupted once more into heated words, only this time I participated. ---------------------------------------- A/N: Unfortunately, there''s a lot going on with my side of things, so I haven''t been able to find a lot of free time to write. I truly wish I could give you more to read, and I will do my best to get more out quickly. Hope you enjoy! Tell me what you think of the chapter, what you do and do not like about it, etc. via comments or PM. Chapter 25: Messenger At last the uproar died out slightly. Everyone was equally divided about allying with the humans. Those on my side for the alliance, surprisingly, were Sloth, Lust, Wrath, and Pride. I guess Pride was not as stereotypically aligned as I had previously thought, otherwise he would certainly be against something like allying with his enemy. Those voicing their concerns against the alliance were Envy, Gluttony, and the before now uninterested Greed. Kel¡¯thul also seemed to be against an alliance, but Hahnu was staring daggers at him, so the little he did say on the subject took more or less of a neutral stance. Viridi and Sival had long since retired to a room offered them by the guards at the doorway, and even I was mentally exhausted at this point. ¡°Look, the positives of allying with the humans far outweigh the negatives! Allying with the humans will give us access to knowledge, such as outposts and base locations, army composition and numbers, defense measures, supply routes, and so much more! If you ally with the humans against the Aesir, or even just against the Jotun vanguard, as soon as the alliance is halted you will have more information than you did before!¡± ¡°But we also would be sharing such information, willingly or not! There would be no upper hand, it would become a war of surgical strikes as soon as the alliance ends!¡± Envy countered. ¡°You could pad the information, feed them misinformation when it counts!¡± I persisted. ¡°And they could - om - do the shame¡­ same!¡± little miss Gluttony said around another mouthful of candies. ¡°While I wholeheartedly agree with Lord Veloth, further argument is pointless. Ultimately, you must decide my king.¡± Pride addressed Kel¡¯thul. Kel¡¯thul seemed to agonize about the decision before him. Either way, the demon¡¯s situation is far better than it was before. ¡°Kel¡¯thul, one last thing. The humans are the ones who asked for a ceasefire. You could ask for a compromise. The fact that they asked for a ceasefire after only encountering the Jotun without full knowledge of the Aesir¡¯s army means they are already hard pressed with their side of the continent.¡± I pushed him one last time, tempting him with the knowledge that the humans know not what is still to come and the fact that they sought a cease-fire before the demons did. Kel¡¯thul thought a few moments more, scrunching his brow and rubbing his temple. ¡°Send a messenger to the humans. Accept their cease-fire¡­ if they agree to the terms of an unconditional alliance against the Aesir. If they ask about the Aesir, have the messenger tell them everything about them¡­¡± Kel¡¯thul looked irritated as he spoke, but at the last word he seemed to relax once more. ¡°Nyahah, my Veloth is brilliant!¡± Hahnu purred, rubbing her cheek against mine, making me blush slightly at the unexpected and sudden skinship. I responded with patting her head, causing an even louder purr to rumble out. Kel¡¯thul smiled at that and seemed to take it as his cue for dismissing the assembly to make preparations for the coming war. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Daimos is a Ladren man, a speedy and efficient royal messenger, tasked with the most important deliveries. His feathered gray-white wings had a massive wingspan of twenty feet, five feet greater than the average male Ladren. This made him excellent at gliding, allowing him to span great distances without much rest. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Today, Daimos was entrusted with a scroll sealed by an ancient magic that can only be undone by a royal messenger, general, or the royalty themselves. This meant that the message was of the greatest importance, but the destination it was due was insane to Daimos. Meilum, the human capital. Daimos, however, did not question the destination he must deliver the letter to. He was a professional, and he has never, and will never, fail a mission. Daimos donned the gear of the royal messenger, elaborate and sturdy leather armor with the symbol of a scroll etched in white in every conceivable place, the universal sign of a messenger. ¡°Fuuuuu¡­ Alright!¡± Daimos took a deep breath, and launched himself high into the air, using warm currents occasionally to lift himself higher without using his own strength, and at when it became difficult for even a Ladren such as himself to breath, he pointed himself in the direction of Meilum, and began his long distance journey. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Daimos had almost reached the mountain range that separates the continent in half, the pearly gates, after 10 hours of endless gliding. He was tired, exhausted, and soon he would be able to rest at the peak of the nearest mountain. As Daimos joyously imagined his soon-to-be brief respite, he abruptly felt a sense of danger. Almost simultaneously with this sense, a great pillar of flame flared up from the ground, missing Daimos by about fifty feet. Fifty feet too close, as Daimos could feel the searing heat from here, and from the brief exposure was already sweating even though he was at such a high altitude that the cold winds could freeze any creature unprepared in minutes. The heat from the sudden gout of flame had forced Daimos to a higher altitude. Daimos looked to the base of where the flame had sprung, and there saw a man very clearly. A man of average height should be nearly impossible to see from this height, but this was no man, it was a Jotun. This Jotun had long black smoky hair, swaying with the harsh winds that swept up the Pearly Gates from the plains. It¡¯s eyes were pure hatred, tongues of flame lickinglicking out from a bottomless sea of fire. The Jotun had a massive blade wreathed in flame and black smoke pointed straight at Daimos. This was undoubtedly Surt, as described by Daimos¡¯ great grandfather. Daimos no longer had the option to rest, nor the option to save energy by gliding. A Jotun could keep up with him gliding, even if the Jotun had to scale a mountain. Daimos pumped his massive wings furiously, putting all the energy he had saved up into them, while simultaneously casting a body enhancement spell called Haste, followed by a spell that lessened his wind resistance, creating an invisible cone in front of him that bore through the air. Daimos will not fail his mission. His pride would not allow it. -------------------------- A/N: It was a short chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless! Rate/Review/Comment/PM your opinions so I can see if my story actually is enjoyable so far! Chapter 26: Burning Blade Veloth observed the blue crystalline sphere, proud of his latest work. Although it made him look like some sort of fortune teller, it functioned just as he wanted, showing him the view from the eyeball sized sister sphere. He had created the spheres as a magical experiment, seeing what could be done with magic. After confirming it worked, he chose to sneak it into the scroll that was given to a messenger, no one the wiser. Unfortunately, wherever the messenger was going, it was taking forever, so Veloth chose to check back only every so often to see if he could get a view that was not the inside of the scroll. Once more, as before, Veloth channeled his magical energies into the sphere. This time, the view was not that of the inside of the scroll. the sister sphere appeared to be falling from the sky. The view above the sphere was that of a great expanse blue sky, and diving at a straight ninety degree angle was the Ladren messenger, one hand reaching out towards the sister sphere, the other clutching firmly to the scroll. The messenger looked as though he had been scorched, a good many of the feathers of his right wing were burnt and singed, and the leather armor he wore also looked to have been burnt away in some places. The view below the sphere was that of a sea of clouds, with a line of landmasses peaking through them. It looked like the peaks of the Pearly Gates mountain range. Standing on the peak directly below, was a massive giant, standing at around ten stories tall, wielding a massive flaming sword, which was pointed directly at the messenger. ¡®He matches the description for Surt, huh. If I recall, the Aesir was able to bring him to their side with some sort of mind control or manipulation¡­ And Jotun are supposedly very resistant to magic to begin with. That means they do have an imperfection in their magical defense somewhere. He will make an excellent test subject. Oh¡­ I¡¯m beginning to sound like a cliche mad scientist¡­ Shit¡­ Veloth began harnessing his energies¡­ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Daimos POV: That last attack came dangerously close to Daimos. It seared away many of the feathers of his right wing, and much of his leather armor, including the pouch in which he kept the message. The scroll did not burn up due to the magical protection of the ancient seal, and as it began to fall, Daimos snatched it. Something rolled out of the message, a small icy blue marble. Was it part of the message? But the message was supposed to be secured by the ancient magic! ¡°Shit!¡± Daimos exclaimed as he began to dive for the marble. Daimos began to spiral due to the mismatch of feathers on his right wing, but he would not be deterred. He maintained his dive, slowly accelerating to his maximum downward velocity. Daimos cast magic to strengthen his body against the g-forces caused by his spiral, and snatched the marble from the air. Daimos immediately expanded his wings to slow his descent. Without the magical fortification he performed on his body moments before, the sudden g-forces caused from that would have torn his wings right off. He flapped furiously, tilting slightly to the right as the feathers of his right wing were still damaged. There was nothing he could do about that right now. the tilt took him the direction he least wanted to go: towards the Jotun, Surt. Just as Daimos was about to make contact with the mountain peak, he retracted his wings and tucked into a tight ball, cradling the message and the marble. Daimos painfully bounced off of some rocks and came to a skidding halt at the Jotun¡¯s feet. Daimos tried to stand, but even with the fortification spell, he had taken a great amount of damage, and collapsed to the ground. Daimos stared defiantly up at the Jotun. Surt raised his left fist, the one that did not wield the sword of fire, and brought it down toward Daimos. As the shadow of the fist enveloped Daimos, he closed his eyes thinking to himself, ¡®I have failed...¡¯. But there was no pain. There was only a sudden cracking of rock, and seismic rumble throughout the ground upon which he lay. Daimos opened his eyes, and before him was a two-tailed kithran, a very distinctive kithran. He knew this kithran as his future king, the one betrothed to princess Hahnu, Lord Veloth. Lord Veloth had stopped the Jotun¡¯s strike with a single open palm,the ground around his very feet giving way to the force of the strike, yet Lord Veloth appeared unperturbed. Instead, Lord Veloth mumbled something to himself, Daimos too muddled to make it out. ¡°H-how¡­? L-lord¡­ Veloth!¡± Daimos asked, many questions on his mind, such as where did Lord Veloth appear from? When did he get here? How did he stop a Jotun¡¯s strike with one hand? Lord Veloth glanced back at Daimos¡­ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Veloth POV: My teleportation experiment was a success! Walking for days just to reach a destination? Screw that! I can teleport now! Uhn? Something is coming toward- holy giant fucking fist! I wasn¡¯t paying attention, shit! No time to dodge, need to block and hope for the best! Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. I braced myself and held an open palm forward, putting all my strength behind it. There was a resounding crack as the ground beneath me gave way. Somehow I was still standing, and what¡¯s more is that I didn''t even feel the force of that hit. ¡°Did I get stronger?...¡± I mumbled to myself. ¡°H-how¡­? L-lord¡­ Veloth!¡± A raspy voice came from behind me. I glanced over my shoulder to see it was the messenger, much worse for the wear since I last saw him moments ago. He had a starry-eyed look, as though¡­ Oh, I must look like¡­ ¡°Fucking giant, now I look like some cliche last-minute hero.¡± The messenger started at that, and looked genuinely confused. I turned my attention back to the fist before me, and struck it with my other hand, full of my rage. ¡°GAAAHHHH!!¡± The hand was flung back, and the giant even stumbled back a few steps as he roared in pain. The hand now hung limp by his side, and the giant, eyed me with widened burning eyes, the look of surprise replacing that of pain. ¡°DEMON¡­ HOW¡­¡± The giant spoke only those words as he raised a flaming sword that had to be at least five stories tall in length. ¡°Huh, I figured it would be like a game, looking for the boss¡¯ glowing weak point and striking it.¡± I mumbled to myself, but I guess the Jotun have good hearing because the giant responded. ¡°YOU THINK THIS IS A GAME, LITTLE DEMON!?¡± He said while striking down with his flaming sword. ¡°No, this is a joke.¡± I responded, unleashing an explosive spell at the giant. Before the giant¡¯s blade came down, my spell made contact squarely with his chest, erupting in a brilliant explosion, causing the giant to stumble back and lose his balance. The giant did not take much damage from the spell, but there were scorch marks on his chest. ¡®They really are pretty resistant to magic¡­ I wonder if that is just skin deep though?¡¯, I theorized. While the giant was off balance, I dashed forward and leaped up to stomache level. As I reached stomach level, I saw a tiny scar, as though something had pierced the giant here before. This only furthered my belief in my own theory. I thrust my hand forward, simultaneously transforming it partially back to the claws of a mana spirit. My claws pierced through the giant¡¯s skin, like a needle in comparison to the scale of the giant''s body. I channeled a magic intended to remove any spell, beneficial or otherwise, into the giant''s body. The giant convulsed for a few moments, and dropped to the ground as though he were a puppet with his strings suddenly cut. ¡°Did it work¡­?¡± I wondered aloud. If it didn¡¯t work, this would become an obnoxiously long battle. The giant would become wary and getting in close may become difficult. ¡°... What did you do?¡± The messenger rasped out. Ah, right, that guy is here. I¡¯ll need to help him. Time to see a regeneration spell in action! ¡°I penetrated his magical defense, and sent a spell designed to dispel throughout his body.¡± I answered while approaching the messenger. ¡°What is your name, by the way?¡± ¡°Daimos, my Lord.¡± He readily answered. Daimos was a wreck, one arm, a leg, and both wings were clearly broken. Well, time to get started. I began plucking any burnt feathers I could find, and began setting his bones right with a telekinetic spell. Regeneration only does so much after all. ¡°Gyaaaaahhhhhh! My Lord! Is this¡­ Punishment!?¡± Daimos cried out, as I set to work. I didn¡¯t answer him, my focus was on setting his bones properly, or else he would regenerate in some odd fashion. Once the bones were set, and the brunt feathers plucked, I cast my regeneration spell on him. Jevel had taught me numerous healing spells, and I improved upon them greatly, as I always had the mana to spare. Daimos¡¯ screaming settled, bruises, cut, open wounds, all healed, and plucked feathers regrew rapidly. ¡°Th-this is¡­¡± Daimos looked himself over, stretching and testing his newly healed limbs. ¡°My Lord¡­ You possess such impossible power¡­¡± ¡°Flattery aside, do you think you¡¯re ok now? Nothing regenerated out of place?¡± I asked. He vigorously noded, and looked at the marble and letter he had never stopped clutching. He then carefully placed them into an undamaged leather pouch. ¡°What about you, my Lord? Should I return to the nearest village to acquire transportation for you? And what of Surt?¡± Daimos inquired. ¡°No, I¡¯ll be just fine on my own. As for the giant, I¡¯ll deal with him.¡± I answered simply. Daimos nodded, and immediately took flight. After watching Daimos glide into the distance, I turned my attention to the giant. Surt, was it? Well, if my dispel worked, then we have just gained a powerful new ally. If not, I may have to kill him. Surt began to stir... Chapter 27: Reunion Glaring light hit the back of my eyelids. It feels like I am laying down¡­ Why am I sleeping on such uncomfortable ground? My mind¡­ is very hazy¡­ I remember¡­ Odin¡­ Leader of the Aesir. I was fighting him. I hated him with all my being. I was going to crush him with all my might¡­ He managed to pierce my stomach with his legendary spear, Gungnir¡­ The wound was like a pin prick, a pest¡­ but then there was an abrupt searing pain¡­ Ah, I was made a slave through his vile magics¡­ I tormented the very people I ruled over, I aided Odin in turning the other Jotun into his slaves, and drove away the demon-kin that I presided over. How can I call myself a king any longer? Ah, that¡¯s right. I was fighting moments ago. A demon-kin¡­ Was that a dream? I try to lift my left arm¡­ ¡°Unnnhhhh¡­¡± I groaned pitifully. My arm was shattered. I had never been so damaged in my life¡­ So this is pain? ¡°Oi, you awake?¡± A voice called out to me. It was a voice full of confidence¡­ and arrogance. It must be the voice of the demon-kin. He didn¡¯t sound hurt from our battle¡­ that is good¡­ ¡°I¡­ am¡­¡± I answered weakly. It was difficult to put my thoughts in order. It felt the same as when you lay on one of your limbs while sleeping, and wake to find it numb, the strange pain that courses back into your limb when blood flows freely once more¡­ It gave me a massive headache. ¡°You have control of yourself?¡± The demon-kin asks. He is a cautious one, regardless of his arrogant tone. ¡°...Yes.¡± I said as I let go of my fire-blade, ¡®World Scorcher¡¯, and used my right arm to lift myself up to a sitting position. The small demon-kin observed me carefully as I did so. Seeing I posed no threat, he approached my left side. ¡®Still being cautious, hu-¡¯ ¡°Gaaahhhh!¡± my train of thought was interrupted by an abrupt searing pain in my left arm. I could feel the many shattered bones moving with a will of their own. ¡®What is this?¡¯ As if he could read my mind, the demon-kin answered, ¡°I¡¯m re-aligning your broken bones so I can heal you properly¡­ tough it out, big guy.¡± I did as he said, and gritted my teeth as the bones continued to shift. ¡°Wow, I really did a number on your arm, huh?¡± What is he doing? Rubbing salt into the wound that is my pride? ¡°What should I call you by, little demon-kin? I should know the name of the one who freed me from my slavery.¡± I attempt to divert my thoughts from this newfound unbearable pain. How do the smaller creatures live with this all their lives? ¡°You can call me Veloth. Or savior. Master maybe? Yeah, call me Savior Master Veloth. Your soul is mine now.¡± He answered. It was difficult to make out the inflections of his tone¡­ Was he being serious? ¡°T-then, Savior mast-¡± ¡°It was a joke, a joke. I¡¯ll kill you if you really did that.¡± He interrupted in a tone you could not mistake for anything other than serious. ¡°Done.¡± He said as the bones finally stopped moving. There was a bright green glow that covered the entirety of my arm and the pain melted away¡­ A healing spell of such magnitude, in addition to the strength that broke the arm in the first place¡­ This demon-kin¡­ Veloth... already surpasses Odin in power. Was he the one Odin is using an army to find and kill? ¡°V-Veloth then?¡± I hesitantly asked. I didn¡¯t want to get on his bad side and feel that pain again. Veloth nodded as I flexed my now healed left arm and tested its range of motion, starting with the shoulder, then the elbow, down to my wrist and fingers. There was no pain, and it was as good as new. ¡°I am-¡± ¡°Surt, right?¡± He cut me off again. He really is arrogant, but he has the power to justify that strength. ¡°...Right.¡± ¡°Then, Surt, I¡¯m going to use you as a guinea pig.¡± ¡°Guinea pig? What is a guinea pig?¡± I asked as Veloth placed his hand on my arm. Abruptly the scenery of the mountain¡¯s peak surrounded by a sea of clouds became a wide open virulent green plains with gently rolling dotting the landscape. ¡°W-where are we? What did you do?¡± The sudden change in scenery startled me and I asked Veloth in a panicked fashion. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Hmmm, that¡¯s kind of cheatsy. How OP is my character going to be? Ah, sorry, just talking to myself. We are about five miles from the Demon castle Pandemonium, to the south west. I used a spell called Teleport that instantaneously moves us to any place I have been before, and I just confirmed I can teleport others regardless of size and magical resistance with me. Your sword too, I was able to include even though I had no direct contact with it. Very cheatsy indeed¡­¡± Wait, so I was used as some sort of experimental test subject just now? This man¡­ Is insane¡­ I picked up and clutched my sword in my hand tightly to make me feel a little safer¡­ It wasn¡¯t working¡­ ¡°Well, let¡¯s walk towards the castle¡­ I¡¯ll just hitch a ride on your shoulder. I should introduce you to the current king of the demons, and we can devise a way to free the rest of the Jotun. Sounds good, right?¡± The words Veloth spoke were music to my ears. The freedom of my people was now within reach¡­ thanks to a maniac who is more likely to use us for experimentation and transportation than as war potential¡­ The future of the Jotun seemed bleak indeed¡­ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Veloth POV: Surt was obediently doing everything I asked of him. I guess he is the type to feel indebted to someone who saves him. I am currently riding on his shoulder towards Pandemonium. I couldn¡¯t just teleport us into the castle because it would cause a panic. After all, as far as anyone other than me knows right now, all Jotun are enemies. Besides, 5 miles should be very quick and easy ground for a person ten stories tall to cover. Sure enough, five minutes later, we approached the gate of Pandemonium. Arrayed in front of the gate was every available soldier, and each of the generals who were not ordered to make preparations for war. They clearly saw Surt on his way far before we actually reached the castle. He was a huge guy, after all. ¡°Helloooo there!¡± I called down from Surt¡¯s shoulder. Many soldiers and the generals started in surprise. I could see them squinting trying to make out where I was. I jumped from Surt¡¯s shoulder, causing him to panic, and he catches me with his left hand which did not carry his sword. ¡°Veloth! Are you ok?¡± He asked concernedly. ¡°I¡¯m fine! You didn¡¯t have to catch me, you know.¡± I retorted as I leapt off his hand as well. At my second leap, I could hear soldiers speaking in surprised whispers ¡®Veloth?¡¯ ¡®Did the Jotun say Veloth?¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s Lord Veloth!¡¯. I landed, and at the same time, Prast Pride stepped to the front line of the soldiers to address me. ¡°Lord Veloth? What is going on?¡± Pride¡¯s demeanor always seemed to be calm and collected, but I caught the tone of overwhelming curiosity in his voice. ¡°I freed Surt from the Aesir¡¯s mind control. He¡¯s on our side now.¡± I said simply. More whispers surged through the army. ¡°Is-is that true?¡± Pride looked inquiringly at Surt. Surt answered by taking his five storey blade¡­ And laying it at the feet of the assembled army. The army abruptly burst into cheers, and I could barely hear Pride¡¯s astonished voice. ¡°Veloth¡­ T-that is miraculous! That should have been an impossible feat for one man¡­ How did you¡­?¡± Pride¡¯s question went unanswered, as the army parted to let Kel¡¯thul through. The cheers died down, as if by silent command. Kel¡¯thul looked up at Surt with a fierce expression. Surt returned Kel¡¯thuls gaze. ¡°Welcome back, Grandfather.¡± Kel¡¯thul said. What? Grandfather? ¡°Is that¡­ little Kel¡¯thul? My little Kel¡¯thul!? You did survive! I¡¯m¡­ so¡­ glad!...¡± Surt¡¯s eyes dimmed and tears of boiling water began rolling down his face. His nose began to run, and he sniffed, making a sound like that of a cannon¡­ They are really related¡­? Wow¡­ I guess that means Hahnu is¡­ huh... Chapter 27.5: Memory A/N: Sorry for doing this to you, but I¡¯m going back in time a little to flesh out some characters! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sival POV, during war council: The generals had been arguing for quite some time. Viridi was tiredly rubbing her eyes, and we stepped out of the room for a bit. Recognizing that we had come with Veloth, a guard offered us a room to rest in. I accepted his offer, and Viridi just responded with her typical nod. We were shown to a room fit for any noble, luxurious and soft large bed, velvet drapes, and a fireplace of curvaceous design. I lay with Viridi on the bed, and begin stroking her emerald hair, losing myself in thought. She reminded me so much of my little sister. She would probably be about the same size, were she still alive. That dreadful scene crept into my mind again... My home was on fire, feathers and blood were scattered everywhere. I could hear the sound of a struggle as I hurriedly hide with my sister in a small space under the floorboards. My sister is crying, and I try to hush her, tears rolling down my own face, cries stifled by willpower. The sound of struggle began to lessen. There was a scream, it sounded like father¡¯s. Another scream immediately after. Mother¡­ My tears flowed more freely now. It was becoming difficult to breathe in the tight space. I could feel my sister trembling in my embrace. I hear loud footfalls, coming closer, causing loose floorboards to squeak. A foot fell on the carefully designed floorboard that concealed us. It was designed not to squeak, wobble, or give way to force. It failed in it¡¯s design, and wobbled, probably due to the home¡¯s foundations being twisted and torn by the fire. The footfalls stopped, and my sister trembled even more so. I take my hand from my sister¡¯s mouth to cover my own, to suppress the terrified scream that wanted to find its way out. That was a mistake. A small squeak escaped my sister¡¯s own lips. I felt my heart skipped a beat, and the floorboard was abruptly torn away. There, stood a human, wearing the typical chainmail of a soldier, bloodied sword drawn and ready. ¡°Hah! ¡®Twas no more than mice!¡± The human boasted, taking my sister by the collar of her shirt. ¡°Kyaaaaaa! NO!¡± ¡°NO! LET HER GO!¡± She screamed, and I pleaded, striking the man¡¯s leg. He was unfazed by my pleas or my strikes, and kicked me. Great pain found its home in my side, and my breathe was taken away, landing me on the far side of the burning room. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The man raised his bloodied sword. I knew what was coming, I struggled to stop him, I crawled forward, only moving agonizing inches, slowly. ¡°NOOO! SYRIE! SYRIE!¡± I cried out as I saw the blade move through Syrie¡¯s small convulsing body. My heart shattered. My mind went blank. My tears stopped flowing. I was beyond thoguht or hope. ¡°Hmmm, you actually might be large enough to have a little fun with¡­ Why don¡¯t you come with me?¡± The man said as Syrie¡¯s corpse was thrown aside. He approached me, picking me up by my collar. I was too shocked to understand what was going on, I did not resist. He carried me out of the burning building, and I was abruptly dropped to the ground. Something warm and wet splattered across the back of my neck. I turn my head to the find the source of the sudden stimuli, to find the man¡¯s throat pierced by an arrow. He clutched and clawed at the arrow, gurgling and choking. He fell to the ground writhing for a few moments more before one last convulsion. ¡°Over here! A survivor! Medics, quickly! Hey, you alright? Hey, hey! Stay awake! You alri-¡± The man large man who wore the armor of Wrath faded.. To be replaced by Viridi¡¯s concerned face, ¡°-ght? It¡¯s ok, Sival, it was just a dream.¡± She comforted me, wiping tears from my face. ¡°Yeah¡­ Just a dream... ¡° I repeated, trying to convince myself. As I finally began to calm down, I could suddenly hear the cheering of many voices. What¡¯s going on? As I rose to investigate, The air suddenly began to shift and fluctuate, it became hard to breathe. ¡°KYAAAAAA!¡± Viridi screamed and covered her eyes, rolling off the bed and away from the shimmering air. ¡°Viridi!?¡± I called out to her, eyeing the shimmering air cautiously. Abruptly, in the blink of an eye, a figure appeared there. It wore an extravagant robe of crimson red and pitch black, and upon its featureless and eyeless face stood out a malevolent smile. ¡°Who are you!?¡± I take a defensive posture. ¡°Hmm¡­ Heheh¡­ You will do.¡± The figure raised it¡¯s hand rather than answering my question, and my consciousness began to fade. I tried to fight it, this desperate feeling of despair that began to overwhelm me, and eventually I lost, succumbing to darkness... Chapter 28: Faceless The army¡¯s cheers began to die down. That is when my ears picked out a distinct scream. ¡°That was¡­ Viridi!¡± I made a mad dash toward the castle, straining my ears to make out any other loud sounds. Soldiers dodged out of my way, voicing words of concern and confusion. Some were too slow to move out of my way and I shoved them aside. Entering Pandemonium, I began to search the halls, looking for Viridi. I found her stumbling out of a room, eyes squeezed shut, feeling her way blindly through the doorway. ¡°Viridi! What happened?¡± I approached her with concern, looking her over for wounds and preparing a healing spell. Fortunately there were no visible wounds, but I released the healing spell at her anyway. She turned awkwardly and pointed to a specific spot in the room, shielding her already shut eyes as she did so. ¡°It is¡­ So powerful¡­ It took Sival!¡± tears began to fall from her face. I took her head in my arms and patted her head to comfort her as I looked at the spot in the room Viridi pointed at. The air was shimmering there slightly, still disturbed by whatever had been there. ¡°Stay outside the room, I¡¯m going to investigate.¡± I told Viridi as I placed her against the wall. I didn¡¯t want to risk her if something suddenly happened. She nodded that she understood, and I entered the room, closing the door behind me. I heard footsteps outside almost as soon as I closed the door. ¡°Viridi? Are you ok, Nya? Where is Sival?¡± It was Hahnu. She had heard the scream too it seems. I¡¯ll leave Viridi to explain the situation. The room felt saturated with magical energy. I could tell just from walking into this room, whatever had taken Sival, was stronger than me. ¡°I might finally meet something stronger, huh?¡± As an extra precaution I opened a small dimensional space. It was a space I discovered I could create, albeit it was not very large. As an experimental method of enchanting items with properties, I tossed a weapon into that space along with as many random spells as I could come up with. It was a potluck, either the magics would infinitely rebound in that small space, destroy the weapon, or be absorbed by the weapon. I reached into my dimensional space, to find the weapon was still intact, and pulled it out. It was a pair of claws that extended from the knuckles of a matching pair of gauntlets. It seems the experiment was successful one way or another. The claws seemed to exude a purplish miasma. I didn¡¯t recall putting a spell like that into the dimensional space, so it is probably a fusion of some spells. ¡°Well, it might be better than nothing, or I may not need them yet.¡± I equip the gauntlets. I didn¡¯t have chainmail, so they might chafe at the elbows, but I could just heal that. I felt like Wolverine with these things. ¡°Fuuuu¡­¡± I took a deep breath, and took a hesitant step towards the shimmering air. As if waiting for that step, the air abruptly fluctuated and the shimmer expanded swiftly, wrapping around my body faster than I could react. The scenery suddenly shifted from the luxurious room of the castle to a space. The space had a solid white floor, no walls or ceiling, just an empty void. I knew that was just an illusion because this place is a larger version of the dimensional space I am able to create, and I am sure dimensional spaces are closed off. In front of me was a creature with a disgusting appearance. An elaborate red and black robe was the only normal thing about it. It had deathly white skin, as though taken from a manikin. On it¡¯s face was only an obnoxious looking grin, comparable to that of the cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland. It¡¯s teeth were pointed and sharp. It was bald, with pointed elf-like ears. Next to it was an over-sized bird cage, where Sival lay unconscious. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.¡°Welcome, Veloth!¡± The disgusting creature said, somehow grinning wider. ¡°Ohhhh, that must be them then¡­¡± The figure commented, tapping his fingers together excitedly. What is he talking about? ¡°Bastard, release Sival.¡± Was my only response. My guard was up. I was ready to fire off any and every spell that can run through my mind. Just looking at this guy gave me the chills. ¡°Awww, is that any way to speak to an acquaintance? You are so cruel, Veloth.¡± ¡°What are you talking about? I¡¯ve never met you before.¡± I am absolutely confused. Is this guy just playing mind games to get me to drop my guard? ¡°No? I guess your soul doesn¡¯t remember the reincarnation process too well. Although, that wasn¡¯t our only interaction¡­¡± He knows about my reincarnation? ¡°Who the hell are you?¡± This guy was getting on my nerves. ¡°Quite the cliche question, no? What about this situation, pretty cliche right? The hero comes to rescue the damsel in distress. Just like all those heroes in those books, or in those anime. I¡¯m the ¡®Bowser¡¯, and you¡¯re the ¡®Mario¡¯... Bwahahaha! The princess is mine! How was my Bowser impression?¡± The guy just rambled on instead of answering my questions. His words really fucking irritated me. He was right about the cliches too. Somehow he knew also of characters from earth. ¡°I said who the fuck are you!?¡± I was starting to lose my cool. I was struggling to maintain composure to avoid any overly reckless maneuvers. I swear I could feel veins popping out. ¡°How does it feel to be the center of attention for once? To have a parent - albeit shortly? How does it feel to be pampered, respected, feared, and loved? Maybe you will even make a friend soon! Oh, how sad, to have everything you ever wanted, everything you never had before, but it all came from one little reincarnation cliche. You know, I said I would throw the cliches at you left and right, but that was a joke. I didn¡¯t need to. You are an epicenter of your own hatred. Poetic.¡± He rambled on, again avoiding the question, but something he said rang a bell. ¡°You¡¯re¡­¡± ¡°God of sacrifice! Zahramiik! At your every inconvenience!¡± He made a mocking bow, his grin growing even wider yet. That did it. Something inside me snapped. ¡°AAAAHHHHHHH!¡± I yelled, casting every strengthening spell I could think of on my body, dashing forward in an attempt to pierce the faceless fuck in front of me. As the claws of my right hand move forward to pierce him, they whistle from the shear speed of the strike, even going so far as to blur in my enhanced vision. The faceless god vanished, reappearing next to the birdcage. My heart dropped as I saw at the same time he had reappeared, his finger was pointed at Sival. At the end of his finger was a small ball of purple energy. The ball fired off as a beam, creating a high pitched sound, and piercing through Sival¡¯s sleeping form. ¡°That is how you perform a ¡®Death Beam¡¯, little Veloth.¡± He said, his ever-present grin growing impossibly wider yet. ¡°NO! FUCKING BASTARD! I WILL KILL YOU!¡± The last fragment of sanity I had left vanished. I Unleashed all my strength, all my mana, pushing it outwards¡­ Not enough. Not enough to give this man a cruel death¡­ MORE! I pushed more out, releasing any control I had over the mana. Vortexes of the variously colored mana swirled, frothed, and raged, until all last receding again into my body. ¡°Fuhahaha! You are far from being able to kill a god, little Veloth! Even with the prophesized Fangs of Fenrir, You will no more than flail helplessly! Oh, wait, you aren¡¯t supposed to know about the super-cliche prophecy. Forget I said anything.¡± This bastard didn¡¯t know when to stop. Must kill. Kill. KILL. KILL. KILL. My thirst for his blood raged. Chapter 29: Dimensional Combat My vision blurred, a filter of red blanketed the one being that was the center of my attention. It felt as though my body began moving on its own, as if I had lost all control over it, and yet I was aware. My body lunged at the faceless being. I didn¡¯t care to stop the reckless attack. Zahramiik vanished once more, reappearing a moderate distance away, with a finger raised to fire a beam at me as a counter attack. As the beam came within reach, my body swatted at the beam with the claw weapons. The beam fully dissipated, as if a mere illusion. ¡°Ohhh! They really do work! Magnificent! Hahaha!¡± He said loudly, and followed with another barrage of beams. I swatted those away just as easily as the first. I countered with a ranged spell of my own. It was complete chaos, a random mix of mana that was congealed into a flashing ball of energy. I ended up executing the attack like a Street Fighter hadouken. I berated myself mentally for that. ¡°Wha- Are you trying to blow everything up? Hahaha, as irrational as always, friendo.¡± Zahramiik opened a dimensional space within this dimensional space in front of him - ¡®you can do that?¡¯ - and my attack flew into the opening that appears like a hole in existence. Once the attack was inside, Zahramiik hurriedly closed it. The very air where the dimensional space was cracked like a window pane. ¡°Ohh, that almost became a black hole. You really should be more careful! What would your only friend from earth think if he were alive to see you?¡± Those words broke me out of my rage for a moment. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare speak of him!¡± I screamed at Zahramiik. ¡°What¡¯s wrong friendo?¡± His grin widened yet again. He knew exactly which buttons to push¡­ Why was he pushing me into a corner? ¡°Don¡¯t mock his manner of speech!¡± Hearing him say ¡°friendo¡± was really tearing at my heart. I could feel so much blood rushing to my head in fury that I actually lost consciousness for the briefest moment. I attempted another spell. It was more controlled this time, and actually had a purpose other than chaotically blowing up. I shot multiple beams of shadow and light mana out in the general direction of Zahramiik. The beams abruptly traced Zahramiik the moment they got close. The dark mana beams were designed to wrap around and immobilize the target, while the light mana beams were designed to pierce the target. Zahramiik attempted to teleport to avoid the attacks, which seemed to be his favorite evasive maneuver. Unfortunately for him, the beams just locked onto his new position. Whilst Zahramiik was busy teleporting around, I made more beams. This time however, I switched their functions. It was now dark beams that pierced and light beams that immobilized. This would serve to misinform Zahramiik of their functions. ¡°Why do you even - have a problem with me - taking or killing - the girl anyway? It isn¡¯t like you haven¡¯t killed a demon - before. Or are you saying you are trying to - make up for killing those people? Maybe you you don¡¯t even consider - them people? After all, you have never - killed a human, yet you so easily killed a - handful - of demons already.¡± Zahramiik said in between teleportations. ¡°Enough!¡± My temper was reaching its peak once more. I thrust forward my left hand, and from my fingertips lightning made of primal mana coursed straight for Zahramiik, destroying my beam attacks in the process. Zahramiik countered with his own lightning, creating a power struggle between the electrical charges. ¡°Oho! Force lightning, friendo? I thought you were more partial to force choke! You always played the Sith Marauder after all!¡± He was mocking my friend again, referencing our time together on the game Star Wars The Old republic. That brought up painful memories. I had only made one friend back on earth. At first we were rivals in opposing factions of World of Warcraft. Somehow, we would continue to find each other in other games, after moving on from a previous game. Our rivalry slowly became a friendship. The guy really loved cliche situations, and always cheered on the hero, while I despised the cliche and cheered the villains. Then came the fateful day that I was told by a family member of his over skype. He was dead. I grieved. I grieved like I never had before. I never knew my parents, so I had no reason to grieve when they were brought up. I was ostracized at the orphanage and at school, so I had no reason to grieve when something untoward happened. When I learned of his death, I could not stop grieving. I searched for him in all the places we had met in the past, beginning with the most recent game we played, SWTOR. I hoped against hope as I searched for him, that it was some cruel joke, or that I was misinformed. Instead, I continued to run across other friends of his, all telling me the same thing. That which I did not wish to hear. He is dead. And this man in front of me dared mock him. He dared mock the only person in my previous life to make me consider life was worth something. My anger for him surged. I put all my power behind the lightning. For a moment, I was winning the power struggle, but just as abruptly, I was pushed back. I was steadily losing ground as my lightning spell was steadily eaten away by Zahramiik¡¯s own lightning spell. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Wan¡¯t to know something very funny, friendo? I killed him. Your friend from earth? I deliberately killed him to get you here. How does that knowledge make you feel? He died because I needed to manipulate you to this pla-¡± ¡°RAAAAAGH!¡± I abruptly released my spell, while simultaneously blocking his own lightning with the left hand of my claw weapon. I created a dimensional space while charging forward, as large as I could manage. The dimensional space ended up just large enough to swallow us both. Now in a tiny dimensional space, I clawed at the god. He had nowhere to run to. His eleaborate robe was being torn to shred. Blood began to paint the invisible walls of the dimensional space. Zahramiik however, just continued to smile. ¡°No no no, that isn¡¯t how you kill a god, friendo.¡± With those words, he threw a swift strike to my stomach. It was a mighty strike that expelled all breath from my lungs. I felt my ribs shatter and my sternum crack. I was knocked flat against the invisible wall of this dimensional space. My consciousness threatened to fade. I could not regain my breath. I was desperate to win though. I had to win somehow. I could not find the strength to throw a fist or a kick. I could not steady mind to cast a spell. I used the only tool left available to me. I released my shapeshifted form while simultaneously biting his throat. Zahramiik¡¯s smile abruptly faded and he seemed surprised, as much as a mouth on a featureless face can express surprise. ¡°Gah...Geck¡­¡± Zahramiik grasped my jaw in an attempt to pry me off, but I held on with every ounce of strength and will I had left. I could taste his iron blood, but also something else, something I have never sensed before. It was delicious, and I wanted as much of it I could get. It drained into me, and I welcomed it. I could feel my strength grow and Zahramiik¡¯s strength lessen as the substance was consumed. Zahramiik eventually stopped struggling, and I released my grip on his throat, letting his body fall to the ground. Even in the end, the bastard ended up dying with a smile on his face. It was insanely difficult to breath. I cast a healing spell on myself, but it only helped marginally. Whatever he hit me with was going to take time to heal it seemed. I stepped out of the dimensional space that was within the dimensional space, and crawled my way to Sival. It was easier to crawl in my mana spirit form than humanoid form fortunately. I reached Sival after great pain and suffering, only to find she didn¡¯t have a wound on her anywhere and was breathing¡­ ¡®But I could have sworn that Zahramiik¡­ Well, she is safe now anyway.¡¯ I felt my consciousness slipping. I had to get us out of here before I lose my chance. I looked for a way out. It was very difficult to see, but there was a shimmering space not too far away from where I (probably) entered the dimensional space initially. I grasped Sival by the collar of her shirt and dragged us toward it. As we approached, it abruptly activated just as it did before. We were deposited back into the room at the castle. The landing was a bit much for me, and I finally passed out. Darkness overcame my vision, but was soon replaced by the image of that faceless bastard. He wore a grin that would put the cheshire cat to shame. ¡°Well done, friendo.¡± He said to me. ¡°But¡­ I killed you!¡± ¡°Not quite, more like you assimilated my essence with your own. It is what the mana spirits call ascendance. It is the epitome of your power, the power that makes you the natural predator of gods. More simply put, my power is now yours.¡± ¡°Fine, whatever, how do I get rid of you?¡± ¡°Whoa there, friendo, calm down. Getting rid of me would require ripping your soul to pieces. That¡¯s some dangerous and messy stuff.¡± ¡°Would you at least stop doing that then?¡± ¡°Doing what, friendo?¡± ¡°That. Stop mocking my friend, you piece of shit.¡± ¡°Mock myself? Why would I do that, friendo?¡± ¡°What are you on about?¡± Zahramiik was beginning to thoroughly confuse me. ¡°You don¡¯t recognize my voice friendo? I never died you know, I staged my death. Had to manipulate you appropriately and all that. Can¡¯t get something for nothing after all.¡± ¡°Whatever stalker god.¡± ¡°Believe me or not, but if you have questions, I¡¯m right here in your head!¡± ¡°... I really wish you weren¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°Well, I wouldn¡¯t be if I hadn¡¯t planted that punch. I basically made a copy of myself and forced it into you.¡± ¡°Tch.¡± I clicked my tongue in exasperation. ¡°Well, just call for me and I¡¯ll pop up. See you then¡­¡± With that, Zahramiik¡¯s stupid grinning not-a-face vanished from my dream-like state.
Was tired when I wrote this - sorry if it isn''t the quality you were expecting XD Chapter 30: New Strength ¡®I¡¯ve been following this man for hours¡­ and I can swear we have gone in circles¡­ is he trying to delay me?¡¯ Daimos thought to himself. Upon reaching the human capital, he was assigned a general to guide and guard him. He had given the king of the humans the letter and the orb, and was now patiently waiting to be summoned for the return message. I¡¯m starving¡­ ¡°How much longer until we get to the mess hall, General?¡± I asked impatiently. ¡°Erm¡­ Not much longer bird-man¡­ I think¡­¡± Dillon answered back. ¡°Ah! Right around this corner!¡± Dillon swiftly rounded a corner and threw open a door, stepping in. I followed him into¡­ A bathing room. This also appeared to be the woman¡¯s bathing room as well since there was a woman with a lovely tan. She had hair black as the void matted to her slender curvaceous back. The muscles on her stomach were well toned and seemed to draw you to her waistline. Her hips were pleasantly wide and not lacking in the slightest. Her breasts were of a moderate size and perky, only shifting with more aggressive movements. Her thighs appeared to be well toned as well. Her eyes were a nice soft emerald color, but was abruptly replaced with a burning fire. ¡°Dillon! Again? What is wrong with you!?¡± She shouted, dashing out of the bath whilst picking up a towel to cover herself. She covered the distance between us and herself in the blink of an eye, a truly remarkable speed, and knocked Dillon flat with a quick jab to his face. He lay on the ground with a bloody nose, whether from the sight of the girl or from the jab, I couldn¡¯t know. I was next to be laid flat with a jab, my consciousness fading with a beautiful memory. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Veloth POV: My head was swimming. I couldn¡¯t feel my limbs. I open my eyes groggily, and I discover why my limbs were incapacitated. Viridi lay sprawled across my legs. Clutching my left arm of all its blood flow was Hahnu, lightly purring with each breath. On my right lay Sival, my arm firmly pressed between her large breasts, and my hand clutched between her thighs. It would be an enjoyable position, if I could feel my arm. It was going to be painful when the blood flow returns to my limbs. For now, I had to wake these three. ¡°Wait! Don¡¯t wake them! You can play with them while they sleep!¡± Zahramiik interrupted my thoughts. ¡®How would I manage that smart-ass?¡¯ I spoke to him within my head. ¡°Magic! Just use a strengthening spell to get your blood flow back quickly. Then, you can carefully mess with them, and to reposition them you can use telekinesis.¡± What Zahramiik said was actually a good idea. Yeah, I¡¯ll make these girls pay for using me as a body pillow. As soon as I used the strengthening spell, I felt the blood rush back into my limbs. There was only a moment of the painful numbness that comes with re-introducing blood to your limbs. Just as quickly, Viridi shot up. ¡°Very sensitive to mana, that one. I wonder how she can stay near you now that you have mana beyond a god.¡± Zahramiik commented. ¡®Beyond a god?¡¯ I asked. ¡°Take a look at your inner self.¡± Zahramiik said simply. I did so and what I found was what appeared to be a bottomless sea of varying colors below me and the same mirrored above me. For as far as I could see, the sky and ground were covered in this sea. ¡°You see? Now your power is truly only limited by your imagination.¡± Zahramiik said, materializing in front of me within this plane of mana within myself. ¡®Are all mana spirits capable of this?¡¯ I asked curiously. ¡°No. We have a special connection because of the time I spent learning about you and guiding you on earth. On top of that, I also guided your reincarnation. Once I got you to assimilate my power and ascend, you received all of the power. It takes a mana spirit assimilating- Oh, six gods, maybe? - to get to this point. Plus you won¡¯t often find a god trying to be assimilated.¡± ¡®Trying to¡­ You mean, that was all staged? Bastard.¡¯ I stopped looking within myself to get away from his obnoxious ever-present grin, only to find Viridi staring at me. Her eyes seemed were not the usual color, and instead were an opaque white. ¡°Veloth, you are awake?¡± She asked inquiringly., even though my eyes were clearly open. Was she blind? How did that happen? ¡°Viridi, what happened to your eyes?¡± I asked her alarmed. I was a little too loud, causing Sival and Hahnu to stir. Damn, now I had completely lost that chance. ¡°When the creature appeared and took Sival¡­ It had such great mana that my eyes literally burned out. Your healing spell restored my eyes, but could not restore my sight. Don¡¯t worry, I can manage. I can still sense mana and use it to see. Speaking of, what happened? Your mana is even greater than that creature¡¯s now.¡± The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Viridi wasn¡¯t usually so chatty. What happened while I was unconscious? ¡°Yeah Veloth, what exactly happened? All I remember is getting knocked out by that guy, and then suddenly you were lying on the floor with me¡­¡± Sival piped up, snuggling my arm deeper between her breasts. ¡°Nya, of course it¡¯s because our husband is strong. He is the future king of the Demons after all.¡± Did she say OUR husband? When did this happen? ¡°How long have I been out for?¡± I asked them, my curiosity greater than theirs. ¡°Three days, Nya.¡± Hahnu answered. Three whole days, huh? Was I healed as well? I don¡¯t have any trouble breathing. ¡°Mana spirits have some pretty intense regeneration. Even your bones are able to knit themselves back together.¡± Zahramiik answered my question. Great, just make me more of a cheat character why don¡¯t you. I motioned for the ladies to let me up. They released me reluctantly, and I was able to sit up without any problems. ¡°What¡¯s this talk about ¡®our'' husband¡¯?¡± Was my next question. ¡°Well¡­ We had a little competition with Kel¡¯thul for the right to marry you¡­¡± Sival began hesitantly. ¡°Sival and myself were evenly matched, so the King declared us both as victorious. He said he would adopt us both as royalty and that we could share your hand in marriage.¡± ¡°What exactly did you compete in?¡± And what the hell is the King doing, playing matchmaker? ¡°We¡­¡± Sival blushed furiously. ¡°We had a swimwear competition. The King was the judge.¡± Ah, so that¡¯s it. Pervert King. ¡°Nya, and of course my marriage was unquestionable.¡± Hahnu gloated. Am I just some piece of meat to be married off? ¡°Veloth! Quick, imagine a barrier around the planet!¡± Zahramiik abruptly interrupted my thoughts. ¡®What? Why?¡¯ It made no sense¡­ Why would I do that? ¡°Trust me! Just do it!¡± ¡®Why should I trust you?¡¯ ¡°Fine! Spoiler alert! It¡¯s to help your mother!¡± ¡®Mother?¡¯ Did she find me? Ecstatic, I did as Zahramiik said, and imagined an entire planet within a massive unyielding bubble shield. ¡°Good! Now, punch a hole through it using lots of mana!¡± Zahramiik instructed. What? I have destroy it? Whatever, if it helps mother somehow i¡¯ll do it. I imagined the entire bubble being shredded to pieces and dissipating, putting vast amounts of mana behind it. At first I felt some sort of resistance in my mana flow, but then it gave way and my mana torrented forth. ¡®Did I do it?¡¯ ¡°Bwahahahaha! That works too! I can imagine the terrified looks on the Norn¡¯s faces! That was beautifully excessive. You only needed to punch a hole through it.¡± ¡®What did I do?¡¯ ¡°You destroyed a barrier around this planet that was preventing your mother from coming here.¡± ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Myria POV: We were at the planet after taking quite some time finding the correct dimensional plane, but a new obstacle blocked our path. A barrier around the planet specifically designed to expel mana spirits. ¡°Judging from its strength, it is maintained by three gods. We can¡¯t break through this easily, Myria.¡± Drema observed. Nearly right after this observation, the bright beacon that was Veloth¡¯s mana surged. It now rivaled his father, Jargen¡¯s mana. It was perhaps even stronger. ¡°Veloth has already ascended this far!? How many gods were on this planet?¡± I exclaimed out of astonishment. I had only ascended once myself. ¡°It almost looks as though he consumed several gods at once¡­ Yet the barrier remains strong. Truly, how many gods reside here?¡± Drema pondered. We spent quite some time trying to develop a spell to pierce the barrier. When finally we were ready to try the spell we developed, the barrier was abruptly torn to shreds. It was definitely Veloth¡¯s mana that had done it. ¡°Amazing, he did it with such ease.¡± I marveled at his strength. Even the power of multiple gods could not stop my Veloth. ¡°Come, Myria, Veloth knows we are here and is clearly awaiting our arrival.¡± Drema led the way to the surface of the world. Chapter 31: Encounter We were seated in the dining hall having dinner. Father was outside the castle having dinner with grandfather. He had been spending a lot of time with grandfather since Veloth brought him back. Veloth was voraciously eating, unlike usual. He was consuming impossible amounts of food, keeping the servants and chefs on their toes to bring out more and more to the long table. Taking their meal with us was of course Viridi and Sival. Viridi seemed to be carefully picking at a Drugal fish. The flesh of the fish was cooked to a perfect silver. It was a pity she could not see the beauty of the dish. Sival almost seemed to be competing with Veloth in how quickly she consumed dish after dish, yet she came nowhere near Veloth¡¯s current level. As for me, I was enjoying a favorite dish of mine. It was a slab of a Dire Rat steak. The meat was tender and juicy, cooked to a lovely bronze and garnished with a slightly spicy leaf of a plant called Sorano. ¡°Nya, You have quite the appetite this evening dear Veloth.¡± I attempted conversation with Veloth in order to give the servants a moment of rest. ¡°I¡­ grumph.. grfff grff¡­ can¡¯t¡­ nom nom nom¡­ explain it.¡± He said while continually inhaling the food like a bottomless pit. Veloth is already consuming more food than Lady Gluttony at this rate. ¡°Pwahhh! I can¡¯t keep up!¡± Sival spoke out¡­ So she really was trying to compete¡­ Abruptly Viridi sat up straight and appeared alert. Her eyes widened, and their gaze seemed to pierce through the dark castle walls. ¡°Veloth! Powerfull beings are approaching! One is as strong as you used to be. The other is only a few times weaker than you are currently! They are fast, they have almost reached the castle! Wait! Two more are approaching! They are nearly as strong as the last I mentioned! No, they are headed for the other two sources of power.¡± At this, Veloth abruptly stopped eating. It looked as though he was listening to something. His eyes tended to cloud briefly these days, as if looking at someone unseen. He suddenly shot up from his seat. ¡°My mother!?¡± Veloth shouted out. Just as abruptly as he stood up, he vanished, a loud crack resounding from the sudden displacement of air. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Veloth POV: I teleported to the front of the castle gate. The guards jumped in surprise at my sudden appearance. Before they had even a moment to question me, I teleported to the position at the edge of my vision. Zahramiik was directing my direction.I would suspect him to be setting me up, but I had already heard from Viridi about the strength of these creatures, and soon I was able to feel it. As I got closer the air seemed to thicken. Was it like this around em for other people? Or was this due to multiple high power levels coming closer¡­ Oh I just referenced their power to levels¡­ I berate myself for my cliche train of thought. ¡°Their power levels are all over nine thousand!¡± Zahramiik commented. ¡®Just¡­ shut up¡­¡¯ ¡°Ghost Nappa does not shut up! Are we there yet?¡± Zahramiik continued. ¡®...¡¯ ¡°This is where you say ¡®God damn it Nappa¡¯!¡±... No way in hell am I going to say that. I could see the figures in the distance. They had stopped moving. I could see that two of the figures were humanoid, while two were clearly mana spirits. I chose to release my shapeshift before teleporting into the situation. I had not taken my normal form in quite some time. The last time was at the end of my battle with Zahramiik, and that was while I was barely conscious. I also snapped back to my shapeshifted form apparently, because Sival didn¡¯t mention anything about me in mana spirit form, a form that I have never shown her¡­ or any of the girls. She did mention I was but naked though. I remembered that last tidbit too late, and as I shapeshifted, another expensive piece of Greed¡¯s wardrobe was torn to shreds. I seemed taller than before. I hope this was fully grown because I was probably standing at about six feet and seven inches tall. Any taller and I would have difficulty fitting in human structures while in this form. My fur seemed to shift between many colors. This was probably the influence of my mana. I chose to focus on darkness mana and bring it to the surface, so as not to be so flashy. My fur became the same void black it was when I came to this world, and seemed to permeate its own shadowy darkness. The biggest change to my form was the addition of 4 tails¡­ I now had six tails, and I was fully able to articulate them as if I always had them. After that was done, I teleported near the group that seemed to be having a mexican standoff. ¡°-last warning, creature. Leave, or we will - Another!?¡± The woman who was speaking started, and took up a defensive position. The other three also started in surprise. One was my clearly recognizable mother, now shorter in appearance to me since she stood at about five feet eight inches. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. The other mana spirit had deep violet eyes and a very soft looking pure white fur. she stood at about five feet four inches. Something about her intrigued me. I wanted to rub my body against her and lose myself in that soft fur¡­ No, this isn¡¯t why I came here. The two women were nearly identical except for their age. They both had eyes so dark they appeared black. Their skin was deathly pale. Their hair was as void black as my fur. Their eyes and their hair seemed to emit a pale blue light. One appeared to be in her middle years, while the other appeared to be in her mid teens. ¡°They are two of the three goddess Norns, Urd the youngest and Verdani is the middle aged woman.The Norns are the ones that sent the Aesir to attack this continent¡­ It would be beneficial for you to kill them and absorb their strength.¡± Zahramiik informed me. ¡°Who are-¡± I didn¡¯t even hesitate in my decision. I let out a massive burst of mana towards the elder Norn who was speaking while charging the younger Norn. The chaotic blast of mana served to push the Norn back and disorient them¡­ Or it was supposed to, but as soon as it made contact, the Norn dissipated. Nearly at the same time, my claw swiped through the younger Norn, and she too dissipated and vanished. ¡°Figures, the cowards only sent out illusions.¡± Zahramiik clicked his tongue in exasperation. ¡°Veloth!¡± My mother yelled out with the typical mana spirit way of speaking through telepathic mental connection. I turned just in time to be tackled to the ground by an affectionate mother. She was incessantly rubbing her vulpine muzzle against mine. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Myria POV: Drema stopped us for two reasons. The first was that Veloth could be seen getting closer. It seemed like an odd method of movement, as his vibrant power would vanish, and then just as quickly reappear much closer. The second reason were the two unfamiliar powers approaching us. Most likely, they were gods. I could see two trails of dust in the distance. They were moving at a very fast speed just as we were moments ago. Before long, two humanoid women stopped about twenty feet away from our position. They had a very threatening aura about them. ¡°Leave this world, mana spirits. You do not belong here.¡± The older woman was first to speak. ¡°We will do no such thing.¡± Drema replied without hesitation. She had a steely determined gaze. That was the gaze that said if anything got in her way, she would nullify its entire existence. Myria shuddered, all too familiar with that gaze. ¡°This is your last warning, creature. Leave, or we will - Another!?¡± Everyone¡¯s gaze turned to the very sudden new arrival. Myria had not noticed his approach, distracted by the women before her. He was almost an entire two feet taller than herself. His fur was an all-consuming black. His eyes were a radiant, glowing deep blue. He had the characteristically lean and sturdy body typical of male mana spirits. His claws and his teeth appeared almost new, and well taken care of. It was love at first sight. One peculiar difference about the mana spirit was that he had six tails. The tails were usually associated with the age and power of the mana spirit This confused Myria because even Jargen or her father, only had four tails at most. Drema had just received her third tail only recently. It was a manifestation of a mana spirit¡¯s strength that increased naturally with age. Did this mean the mana spirit was an anomaly, or that this world¡¯s time was distorted? ¡°Who are-¡± The older woman began, but abruptly the male mana spirit that could be no other than Veloth sent forth a large burst of mana while dashing toward the younger of the women. The spell was chaotic, uncontrolled, and disorienting. It was a swirling mix of different mana types. Usually mana spirits did not bother to obtain any other mana types because their natural primal mana was more than sufficient in every element. However, due to the chaotic nature of the spell, Even Drema would probably have had a difficult time countering it. Just as quickly as Veloth had started his attack, it was over. Each of the women had vanished to the attacks. Just as soon as it was over, a giddy Drema charged. ¡°Veloth!¡± She seemed to be so excited that she did not limit the reach of her communication, and made a mental communication with Myria as well. ¡°Ah! That¡¯s right! Veloth! This is Myria, your fiancee!¡± She giddily introduced me. ¡°Pleasure to meet you, husband. I hope to make our lives together very happy.¡± I stepped forward and lowered my head to him in the mana spirit greeting. I could feel his body suddenly tense up. What was that about? Chapter 32: Boss Rush Fiance? ¡°Fufufu, quite the ladies man, aren¡¯t you?¡± Zahramiik teased. ¡®Shut up, Cheshire cat.¡¯ ¡°Erm, a pleasure to meet you, Myria. I am, as you have heard, Veloth.¡± I returned her greeting with a similar bow, although mine was far more ungraceful considering how little I have actually been in my original form. In fact, I am definitely taller than I used to be last time I took note. The extra tails are also an odd feature. Even mother had one extra tail since last I saw her. ¡°So, were they your prey?¡± My mother asked. What is she talking about? ¡®She means those Norns. Your species are the natural predators to gods after all. In fact, long ago there was a pitched battle between gods and mana spirits. See, a group of gods foresaw their end and sought to destroy the race that would bring it. Instead, they solidified their fate, along with many others they roped into their scheme. The results? Both gods and mana spirits are now very few in number throughout existence.¡¯ Huh, Zahramiik was helpful for once. ¡°I guess you could say that. How did you find me, mother?¡± ¡°I felt a pull a few times and it tugged at my curiosity.¡± she shrugged before continuing, ¡° Once we locked onto your position your strength served as a beacon that would be very difficult to lose.¡± Perhaps those ¡®pulls¡¯ were my attempts at summoning her to me? ¡°Are you going to claim this world?¡± Myria asked, gazing around her and into the distance. ¡°It is fairly pretty in its own way.¡± Claim this world? I wonder¡­ I already have a harem. If I were to settle down¡­ oh. The harem. I was so caught in the cliche of ¡®parent picks out future spouse¡¯ I forgot that situation. ¡°Ehh, I guess?¡± I responded to Myria¡¯s question. ¡°Mother, I need to talk with you privately for a moment¡­¡± I nudged my mother away from Myria. ¡°Oh?¡± My mother exclaimed and allowed me to lead her away. Myria was still just gazing about at the landscape. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Dear?¡± ¡°Erm¡­ Mother¡­ I have¡­¡± Damn, this was hard to say for some reason, ¡°That is, i¡¯m¡­ engaged¡­¡± There. Got it out. ¡°Well of course darling. Myria is a nice girl. I¡¯m sure she will make you very happy and give birth to lots of-¡± ¡°T-th-th-th-that¡¯s not what I meant!¡± I stuttered, the image of baby Veloths and Myrias in my head. ¡°What I mean to say is¡­ I¡¯m ¡®engaged¡¯ to three¡­ others¡­ on this world¡­¡± I squeezed out. I shut my eyes tightly as I said, waiting for an inevitable rebuke. ¡°Oh! Have you found a way to procreate with other races as well? That¡¯s my boy! Single handedly repopulating our clan! It could be a competition between you and your father-¡± The rebuke did not come¡­ ¡°Wh-wh-wh-wh-what are you talking about!?¡± I exclaimed with sheer embarrassment. Also, did she mention my father? A competition? Of wha- ohhh¡­ If I could blush through fur¡­ ¡°What about Myria? Won¡¯t she be¡­ You know¡­ Upset?¡± ¡°Oh, most definitely. She is a young woman, so she is quite single minded and possessive. You will have your hands full with her. Oh, I should go tell Jargen the good news. I¡¯ll leave you to your hunt and your¡­ fiancees. I need to pester Jargen for some¡­ alone time¡­ If we are to keep up with you.¡± Wait, she is going to just up and leave? Oh, she was serious about the competition. So she and Jargen¡­ father¡­ are going to¡­ Wait, expunge. Expunge those thoughts. No more of that. ¡°You¡¯re going already? But¡­¡± I attempted to protest. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.¡°Oh, I¡¯ll be back soon and see how your hunt¡­ and fiancees¡­ are doing. It would be unwise of a parent to interfere in such a pivotal point in your life. Be well my magnificent child.¡± Just like that she shot off into the sky. I stared after her until she quickly became invisible to my eye. I turned my head toward Myria who was looking at me with an expectant expression, head half cocked to the side¡­ How do I go about this? ¡°Just tell her. What could go wrong?¡± was Zahramiik¡¯s input. ¡®Plenty could go wrong. It could be cataclysmic...¡¯ ¡°Nah, all you gotta do is treat this like that one dungeon. Remember the one where I accidentally rolled need on that super rare mount drop? And then I got it? And then I traded it to you!¡± ¡®... You traded it to someone else remember? Wait, no, stop that. You aren''t him!¡¯ ¡°Ok, so maybe bad analogy, but point is we ran the dungeon another seventy eight times and the mount dropped again! So no matter what, everything will turn out ok!¡± ¡®... You accidentally rolled need on that too. Then you accidentally sold it for more than I could afford on the auction board¡­ I would accidentally slit your throat if I could¡­ Your analogy is way off by the way.¡¯ ¡°Oooh someone is salty.¡± Inner monologue aside, I guess I had to tell her. ¡°Uhm, well, I guess you are staying with me, Myria. I should tell you before we return to the place I have been residing¡­ I¡­ Am engaged to... three others... ¡° It felt like my heart leaped out of my chest as I said. I expected Myria to cry, or to strike me, or any other numerous reasonable reactions other than what I received. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s good. So where are we headed?¡± Was her rather simple answer and smile. Was she even paying attention? ¡°Th-this way.¡± I said as I turned to begin walking in the direction of the castle. I would have teleported us but I wanted to be sure of Myria¡¯s demeanor¡­ What was that white blur that just sped past¡­? Oh, it¡¯s Myria. And she is running in the direction of the castle. She also appears to be emanating a bloodlust so intense it could be seen, felt, heard, smelled, and even tasted. ¡®Well, Fuck. It¡¯s the dungeon all over again...¡¯ ¡°Whooo! Boss rush! Let¡¯s go!¡± Zahramiik exclaimed wildly as if he had lost his sanity. I began teleporting to catch up with Myria... ============================================================================================== Sorry, this chapter is shorter than I should have done considering how long it took me to get it out there. Things have been pretty busy for me on my end of the world so it may or may not take about as long for the next chapter. Also, this fiction is going to be reviewed by a member of The Group, per my request. I am doing this for feedback and for other readers to determine whether they want to use their time reading my fiction or not. I ask that you objectively read the review, and either ''thumb up or thumb down'' the review based on your own view. If you greatly disagree with the review you can make an in-depth review yourself, but objectively please, I don''t want you bashing any reviewers. I hope you enjoyed reading this latest chapter! Leave me feedback in some way or another, as I pay attention to comments, reputation notes, and private messages. Chapter 33: General Mayhem Damn she was fast. Every time I teleported to catch up, when I got my bearings again, she was already at the edge of my sight. I had to start running. I felt incredibly fast while running on all fours like this, but she was still faster. I strengthened myself with a spell but it helped minimally. I tried to lessen the effects gravity had on me to lessen my weight and gain speed. Still not enough. I had to catch up to her before she does anything serious. Come on, think, what could I do? I have magic limited only by my imagination¡­ An earth wall maybe? I attempt to create an earth wall ahead of Myria while we ran. I succeeded and a massive wall of earth erupted from the ground to block Myria¡¯s path¡­ She plowed straight through it, punching a hole into it like a cannon¡­ She didn¡¯t even hesitate. ¡°Myria, stop right now!¡± I shouted out to her while trying to think of something else. Ah, maybe increasing her gravity? I attempt to increase her gravity to slow her down¡­ Only, she appeared to gain more momentum¡­ ¡°Fuck it, if that¡¯s how we¡¯re going to play¡­¡± I shot out a bolt of lightning. Myria made a quick leap to the side and glanced back in surprise. Her surprise took a sudden turn into a look of determination, and she seemed to redouble her efforts¡­ Great. ======================================================================== Neith the guard patrolled the castle walls of Pandemonium, keeping an eye out particularly for the army of the Aesir or the Jotun. Instead what she saw were two figures approaching at incredible speeds. The closer one was white, while the other was black. The black creature was firing bolts of electricity and some other ambiguous spells at the white creature, but the white creature avoided everything and continued running¡­ Straight for Pandemonium. ¡°Sound the alarm!¡± Neith immediately called out. Creatures that could move that quickly and used spells had to be dangerous, and she wasn¡¯t going to take any chances. A bell rang out as another of the guards heard Neith and pulled the rope swinging the massive bell found in each of the castle towers posted along the walls. Guards rushed up the ramparts and along the wall to ready themselves against the threat, lining up on either side of Neith with long bows. Neith nocked an arrow to her own bowstring and readied herself to take aim. ¡°Take no chances! Fire as soon as either get in range!¡± The captain of the guard called out. They would be in range in only a few moments. Simultaneously, every guard drew back their bowstrings and took aim. As if with a silent order, all the guards released their bowstrings simultaneously. Arrows filled the sky, then suddenly evaporated into oblivion. ¡°Wha-what is going on?¡± The guard next to Neith voiced her own concerns. ¡°F-Fire again!¡± The captain of guard ordered. Quickly, we nocked arrows and drew bowstrings once more. This time the arrows were fired as soon as possible, rather than going into the sky as one massive wave of death, they would come down in bursts. Again, however, every arrow that reached its zenith evaporated into nothing. The guards did not get another chance to fire more arrows, the white creature leaped onto the the walls, right in front of Neith. Guards fell back in surprise, and some had enough of their wits about them to draw daggers and swords. The creature eyed Neith critically for a few moments. ¡°Are you Veloth¡¯s fiancee?¡± It asked sweetly. Neith blushed. ¡®As in L-Lord Veloth¡¯s¡­?¡¯ ¡°N-no.¡± Neith stammered out. Certainly she would not be against it however. What would it be like to marry? ¡°Where are his fiancees?¡± The creature again asked with its feminine voice, sweetly. Neith, however, was not about to answer. This creature was an unknown and powerful threat. Neith was not about to endanger her future rulers by telling the creature. Neith simply shook her head while drawing her sword, pointing it at the creature. The creature frowned, abruptly leaping over the guards and the rest of the wall to land in the courtyard of Pandemonium. Abruptly the black creature appeared out of thin air. ¡°Where?¡± It simply asked¡­ Its voice was strangely familiar. ¡°Where did Myria go?¡± The creature asked again, growing more impatient. Did he mean the white creature? Then it would be best to stop him here and lessen the threat to Veloth¡¯s fiancees. Neith pointed her sword at the black creature along with many others nearby. A large number of guards had also gone to chase the white creature. ¡°You will go no further, creature.¡± ¡°Ah! That¡¯s-¡± The creature sounded surprised. He abruptly interrupted himself with an astonishing feat¡­ His shape shifted. He looked almost exactly like Lord Veloth in the nude. However, his hair and tails was a virulent burning orange like Lord Kel¡¯thul¡¯s, and the man had six tails instead of Veloth¡¯s two. ¡°Impostor! You dare to take the form of our future king!¡± Neith shouted in outrage while blushing at the sight of the man¡¯s crotch. Many other soldiers also shouted in outrage, many calling for the impostor¡¯s head. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°No! I am¡­ Oh...¡± The creature exclaimed upon seeing one of his own tails. ¡®Fool, if you were going to perform such an outrageous act at least get the visage of our Lord right.¡¯ ======================================================================== I lost Veloth! Now I just need to find those whores and get rid of them. It was surprising that veloth went to such lengths to stop me, all the more reason to get rid of them. I can birth as many children as Veloth wants, he does not need mortals to hinder him. Now where? I managed to get inside and past the weak mortals guarding the entrance. I still ran into patrols inside this castle as well. I could attempt to blow the entire place up with an explosion, but I wanted to confirm the death of all the other fiancees. Besides, what is so special about them that they deserve Veloth¡¯s attentions? I am everything he needs. I needed to finish this quickly as well, after all Drema was already headed back to Jargen, and I refuse to fall behind. ¡°What¡¯s this? Veloth, you¡­ No, wait, you are not him.¡± A gaudily dressed man now confronted me upon turning a corner. He knew Veloth. That means he must know where the fiancees are. ¡°You, tell me where Veloth¡¯s fiancees are.¡± I demanded of him. ¡°Oh, sure, I¡¯ll tell you, just let me put this on you.¡± The man said, pulling out an ivory band from a pocket somewhere with a large grin. ¡°I lost much of my collection in order to restore this for Veloth, but you should do just as well I think, If you are at all comparable to him. I was immediately skeptical of the band. Something about it did not feel right. I backed up a step, from a mere mortal, no, from a mere object. This action I involuntarily performed then infuriated me. I lashed out in anger at the man, forgetting I wanted him alive long enough to tell me the location of the fiancees. My claw struck the man¡¯s face, but something was wrong again. My claw had bounced off the man. The man looked at a now glowing ring on his right hand. ¡°Wow, that actually took quite a bit. I had been seriously developing my collection for the moment I would fight Veloth, and so far it is paying off.¡± The man grinned widely, raising his right hand, palm outward towards me. I felt an abrupt shock through my body. Another of the man¡¯s rings was now glowing. I quickly lost all feeling in my body. What is this mortal? ¡°Hoh, you are resisting quite well. How about this one then?¡± The man said, and one of many earrings on his left ear began to glow. Chains abruptly surged from the castle floor, wrapping my body and making my already numb and jerky movements more restricted. ¡®This mortal, I¡¯m going to kill him, regardless of whether he knows where the fiancees are.¡¯ The man had the largest grin plastered on his face yet, and with his left hand reached toward me with the ivory band. I readied multiple spells, and began flinging them furiously at the man. Energy beams, Ice spears, Lightning bolts, very explosive fireballs, mental disrupters, mana drains, boulders of earth, anything I could think of in the moment. The man staggered back at the onslaught of spells, now many of his gaudy jewelries were glowing and shattering. ¡®His power seems to lay within the jewelry, but it appears they can only take so much.¡¯ Following my train of thought I continued to bombard him with my decidedly weak spells. I did not use stronger spells because I still did not want to destroy the castle yet. The man at last fell unconscious, and the chains dissipated, but the paralysis I felt still lingered a bit. I struggled to stand, but with this paralysis it was nigh impossible until it dissipated. I began to hear footsteps. Someone was coming this way. They sounded light and small. Soon enough, coming around the bend ahead of me behind the fallen man was a small girl with a bowl of candies in her hand, of which she partook frequently. ¡°Oh? Om nom nom nom¡­ Greed, you dolt¡­ Om nom nom nom¡­ How many times do we need to tell you not to play with your prey?¡± ¡°Oh, Gluttony, I just wanted to see how strong she was¡­ Doesn¡¯t feel as strong as Veloth is now, but she is as strong as he in the past. Makes you wonder does it not? Are they all this strong?¡± The fallen man sat up, yet not a scratch was on him. He had faked his defeat? ¡°Greed, you broke a lot of toys¡­ Some of those were Envy¡¯s I¡¯m pretty sure... Om nom nom nom... If Envy finds out¡­¡± ¡°Leave it Gluttony. I took care of the¡­ ¡®replacements¡¯ already.¡± The fallen man stood. ¡°Are you Veloth¡¯s fiancee?¡± I asked, the paralysis now faded enough for me to stand. ¡°Bwahahaha! Me? You are a funny one... Om nom nom nom.¡± Was the girls only response. Was she playing dumb? I readied a magnitude of spells to release at once and emitted a fierce bloodlust. I¡¯m am going to kill both of them. Chapter 34: Awesome Force ¡°You cannot pass, fiend!¡± ¡°We, of the Awesome Force, Will stop you here!¡± ¡°We are the righteous fury of demons everywhere!¡± ¡°We are elite among the elite!¡± ¡°Rue the day you crossed us!¡± ¡°... I already ¡®rue¡¯ this encounter¡­¡± I swear, if I were an anime character I would have an enormous, no, many veins popping out of my forehead. I feel like my brain is just going to¡­ pop. Before me stood fully armored demons. Each demon wore a different colored armor, meaning they were from the different general¡¯s forces. What irked me, however, were those cheesy lines, and their absurd choreography as they stated them. I swear to god - to Zahramiik even - if they summon giant robots or magically transform somehow I¡¯m going to destroy this entire wall¡­ ¡°Can you just get out of my way? I really don¡¯t have time for this¡­¡± ¡°Impostor, you will not get away for assuming Lord Veloth¡¯s image!¡± The one wearing white armor at the center of their comically stupid choreography, one of Pride¡¯s soldiers, stubbornly refused. ¡°I¡¯m flattered, really, but you are testing my patience with your ridiculous poses¡­¡± My patience was indeed teetering on a blade''s edge with the sudden appearance of this group. ¡°Wha- RIDICULOUS!? I¡¯ll have you know, our excellent teamwork and choreography strike fear into the hearts of our enemies! It is a sound tactical advantage-¡± ¡°It looks like a comedy act to me¡­ More so that name¡­ Awesome Force?¡± ¡°... NOW YOU¡¯VE DONE IT! Awesome Force! Assemble manual golems!¡± The Awesome Force members changed their poses, calling out some cheesy name here or there, such as Earth man, Cosmic man, and the like. As they did so, Large golems of various garish and bright colors matching their armors rose from a secret entrance beneath the wall of the castle¡­ ¡°Pilotable golems? That does it. I¡¯m saving you fools for later.¡± I swear I felt a blood vessel in my eye pop. I created a dimensional space, and a vortex of wind in front of it. The Awesome Force were at least competent enough not to be immediately swept into the dimensional space, holding onto whatever was nearby. Two had latched onto nearby soldiers who were then swept up along with them into the dimensional vortex. ¡°Quira! Eaan! Damn you, impostor! You will pay for this!¡± ¡°No, you will be the ones to suffer, fool.¡± I increased the power of the wind vortex, dragging the remaining three in along with the various objects they clung to such as cannonballs, cannons, and ballistas. I¡¯ll return everything later, but not before I¡¯ve dealt with these fools. In fact, I¡¯ll rename them. The Fool Force. I¡¯ll come up with individual names for them later. Just as the last of the Fool Force was swept inside, I sealed the dimensional space. Simultaneously, there was a quake and an eruption blowing out of one the castle¡¯s thick walls. ¡°There you are, Myria. I have some guests for you when I manage to find you.¡± The scuffle with the Fool Force had caused the rest of the guards to fall back enough to give us space. I took the opportunity and teleported to just outside the explosion¡¯s radius. Before me was absolute chaos, the center of it definately being Myria. Swarming around Myria, flinging various spells and using unique sword techniques and martial arts, were all seven generals of sin. Among those fighting were even my other three fiancees. The explosion seemed also to catch Surt¡¯s attention, and I could hear him coming towards the castle from the other side of the castle. Likely, Kel¡¯thul was with him. Surprisingly, Myria was holding her own against the rather large and powerful group. ¡®Not considered the natural predators of gods for nothing, I suppose...¡¯ ¡°Indeed, although it¡¯s obvious she does not have much combat experience, she is doing pretty well.¡± Zahramiik commented. Myria was forming some rather dangerous spells, many of which could destroy the castle should Lust fail to counter one appropriately, although Lust was doing very well with her counters. In fact, countering was all she was doing at the moment. Was she so hard pressed? ¡°Out! I¡¯m out! No more!¡± I saw Zavus run screaming, many of the items he wore were breaking and scattering as he did so. He looked exhausted, and nearly nude. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡­ This has gotten out of hand. I am definitely going to punish Myria¡­ Hope she is not a masochist. Well, for the first step, I had to end this chaos. I amplified my voice with magic, and¡­ ¡°Enough! All of you, STOP!¡± I called out with a voice far louder than even I intended. The reactions were mixed and not quite what I expected¡­ ¡°Veloth!¡± The first person to recognize me, even in this form was Viridi. ¡°V-Veloth¡­ That form¡­¡± Next was Myria. ¡°Impostor!¡± That was Pride¡­ I am becoming very annoyed with being called impostor¡­ ¡°Cute.¡± Was Lust¡¯s reaction. ¡°I want one of those¡­¡± Said Envy, staring at my tails with twitchy hands. ¡°Waaaaahhh! Lord Veloth! The Kitchen! Ira Blew up the Kitchen!¡± Gluttony was just bawling among the rubble of the destroyed room they had been fighting in. ¡°It wasn¡¯t my fault damn it! Tell them Veloth! You saw it, right!?¡± Ira was already refuting Gluttony with a terrified and clearly guilty look upon his face. He was probably afraid of the punishment Kel¡¯thul would meat out to him for this¡­ ¡°Veloth? If you are, prove it.¡± Sloth just demanded proof of my identity. Easy enough to provide... Right? ¡°Veloth? That¡¯s actually not a bad look for you.¡± Sival called out, broad smile across her face. ¡°Nya~, you don¡¯t need to try to imitate my father, Veloth. I like you for you, Nya~.¡± Hahnu purred loudly¡­ She was clearly pleased¡­ Before I could respond to anyone, Pride was suddenly in front of me, sword raised. ¡°Die, impostor!¡± ¡­ Pride always seemed pretty well in control of his emotions, yet now he was clearly ¡®jumping the gun¡¯ and reaching foregone conclusions, acting very rashly. He reminded me of my very recent experience with the Fool Force¡­ Clearly he needs punishment as well. ¡°Veloth!¡± all four of my fiancees called out simultaneously, earning Myria a glare from the other three which she returned steadily. Even with time seemingly slowing around me, my eye able to track Prast Pride¡¯s every movement, he was still very fast. His sword came down swiftly, forcing me to leap to the side of his swing. He immediately went for another strike at my side before he finished the full arc of his swing. I couldn¡¯t dodge this one, so I strengthened my hand and caught his sword. ¡°Impressive, impostor. Perhaps you may be a decent match for- guhhh.¡± ¡°You¡¯re talking too much, Prast. I¡¯m going to punish you severely for your actions. Prepare yourself.¡± I needed an outlet for this swelling rage and annoyance. My patience had long since run dry. I had struck Prast in the gut, denting his armor and sending him flying into a castle wall. The wall splintered and cracked, bits of shattered stone falling to the ground. ¡°You won¡¯t defeat me so simp-¡± Past got up and began to prattle again, to I teleported in front of him and landed another blow to his gut. This one sent him through the wall, into a dark room beyond. ¡°Ah, before I forget¡­¡± I opened in front of Myria a dimensional space and vortex like I had used on the Fool Force. She had only the barest moments of surprise before she was sucked into the space without any time to resist. I don¡¯t know how long the dimensional space can hold her, but it will do for now. At least, long enough to meet out punishment. I heard Prast coughing heavily as I entered the dark room, moonlight sifting through the dust at the hole now at my back. I enhanced my vision with magic, now able to see as clear as day in the dark room. Prast was trying to sit up, his armor caved in at the stomach. I could hear broken ribs rubbing against each other as he struggled. ¡°You know Prast, You are pretty tough. It only took me a single strike to break Surt¡¯s arm, and he¡¯s a giant. I guess the Dragsul deserve their reputation.¡± I said as I approached him, throwing a healing spell projectile at his midsection. He was fully healed, but his ribs were still broken. ¡°Oh dear, seems I ¡®forgot¡¯ to set the bones¡­¡± ¡°Heheheh, you definitely belong to the dark side.¡± Zahramiik commented. ¡®Shut it.¡¯ ¡°Y-you. You really are Veloth!¡± Prast coughed up. ¡°Too late to notice. Accept your punishment.¡± I raised my fist yet again¡­ Chapter 35: Landfall I¡¯m exhausted. The giants became ever more numerous the closer we came to the human/demon border in the valley. Avoiding the giant¡¯s sight was no easy feat. ¡°Once we have left the valley the Jotun¡¯s security should lessen. It seems they were focused on the human side of the continent first. Endure, Tara, We are almost within demon borders.¡± Daimos attempted to encourage me. Clearly, he could see my exhaustion. While experienced in travelling with small groups and facing many foes, hiding from these resilient giants was another problem altogether. At least Daimos was with me. He made a good scout for what is to come. He insisted on helping me reach Pandemonium, saying ¡®Securing the safety of the human envoy is my duty as well¡¯. I was being sent to Pandemonium alone as a gesture of goodwill, and to relay our acceptance of their terms. It was a little hard to stomach though. I would be forced to ally myself with the very demons that destroyed my village. Perhaps, had I declined the title of general, I would be able to go my own way. However, without the title I would not have been able to grow in strength as much as I did, training with the other generals and using my authority to learn many trades and secrets of combat. It felt as though fate conspired against me, presenting these formidable enemies as soon as I was reaching the peak of my training. I thought I was as strong as i could possibly become, but these new foes proved otherwise. Perhaps I would never reach my peak in strength. ¡°Daimos, you mentioned there was a new¡­ Demon King?¡± I asked Daimos so I could get my facts straight. Bringing up the new Demon King caused me to wonder about how Veloth was doing once more. I can¡¯t fathom why I thought of him so often. ¡°Ah, yes, our King-to-be is powerful indeed. His power is such that he was able to bring low a Jotun with ease.¡± Daimos said proudly. Indeed, their ¡®prince¡¯ was powerful if he was able to bring a giant down with the ease Daimos spoke of. I had encountered the same one more than a few times. I was never able to injure it more than a few deep cuts, never able to hobble it or kill it. All I had been able to do was stall it for time. ¡°I¡¯ll fly up and scout ahead once more. Though Jotun security should be getting lighter, it is best not to take too many chances.¡± I nodded for Daimos to proceed, and he shot upward¡­ ======================================================================== ¡°Land-ho!¡± Called the lookout. At last I can finally get off this accursed ship. The constant swaying from the unforgiving cold blue waters of the freshwater sea wreathed havoc upon my stomach. Hopefully commander Freya would give the Valkyries enough time to recover. We were, after all, used to combat, not being shipped across a vast sea like cattle. ¡°Sassa! How much longer -muuuu¡­- do you think until landfall?¡± Hertha, a fellow Valkyrie asked. She seemed to have the worst of the sea sickness, bowed over the ship''s railing. Although, from my own experience, staring out at the sea only made the sickness worse. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be much longer Hertha. You should go below decks and try to get some rest.¡± I knew she would be unable to, but it was best to try to become ready for battle at a moments notice. Although Odin had sent the Jotun as an advanced guard, the fact that he sent nearly all his forces to conquest Midgard means that he expected harsh resistance. ¡°Muuu¡­ Alright, I will try¡­ Please, call for me once we are beached.¡± With that, Hertha took her leave. I looked out ahead of the ship to see a speck of land in the distance. ¡°Winds be favorable and take us to shore quickly¡­¡± I muttered to myself feeling my own stomach churn as the ship tilted to one side, then the other at the mercy of the ocean¡¯s waves. ¡°Sassa! I¡¯m surprised you are above deck. What brings you up here?¡± Myr, a friendly deckhand approached me. The young man was usually tasked with harpooning the massive fish that ruled beneath the sea for food. Given the size and speed of the fish, the deckhand was actually pretty strong for his appearance. Tall and lean, very well tanned, pointy ears, and short sandy colored hair frazzled with the sea winds. The young man could probably wreck havoc with a harpoon on land as well as at sea. ¡°I was praying to the Norns for landfall. It seems as though my prayers will be answered soon.¡± I felt relieved as I said it. No offense to Myr or any other sailor, but I cannot fathom how they take so well to the sea. ¡°Aye lass, you can see Midgard there, in the distance.¡± Myr happily pointed toward the steadily growing landmass. It was somewhat odd seeing a landmass that was not held aloft by Yggdrasil. ¡°Yes, soon to be another part of Yggdrasil. With the current strength of our forces, conquest should be swift. Not even the Jotun nor the Vanir were able to stand against us before. What could a few demon refugees and humans do?¡± ¡°Well lass, have they not been recovering and preparing for this very event?¡± I almost laughed at Myr¡¯s question. I didn¡¯t blame him for not knowing, being out to sea so often as he was. ¡°No, in fact, they had been warring with each other for some time. If anything, they are as weakened as they will ever be. Soon this world¡¯s lands will be united as one under the Norn¡¯s upon Yggdrasil, and the promised peace and prosperity with it.¡± Odin¡¯s goals were ambitious and noble. Freya, myself, and the other Valkyries followed him for that reason. ¡°Captain! Something approaching the bow!¡± The lookout called out. Something? Was it another ship then? ¡°Something?¡± Myr pondered to himself as he ran toward the tip of the ship. I followed close behind. Indeed something was approaching the ship quickly. It was small and white. At this distance it looked some sort of small wolf or cat. ¡°What is that?¡± Myr muttered to himself. Captain of the ship, Arvid, also came forward to peer out at the figure. It appeared to be running across the water¡­ ¡°By the Norn¡¯s what is that?¡± Arvid muttered to himself. ¡°Hard to starboard! Ready the cannons! Fire as soon as that thing comes into range! Battle stations! Half Sails!¡± The captain spilled forth orders upon a sudden decision. Other transport ships in the distance were performing similar actions upon seeing the figure in the distance. ======================================================================== There, that should fix things for now. If she disappoints me¡­ Well, she knows better now. I ended up sending her on an interesting errand, but I will be able to view her progress when I want using the ¡®gift¡¯ I gave her which was a necklace housed with one of my scrying gems (as I was now calling them). Myria should be more than capable of taking out the first wave of the enemy¡¯s army. If she runs back to me with her tails between her legs though, I will have a harsh punishment ready. Once I had caught her she was surprisingly docile. Especially after I met out my punishment to the Fool Force. I may have gone a little too far with Pride though¡­ He was a bit¡­ skittish¡­ in my presence now¡­ In fact, a majority of the generals were. I was becoming starting to become annoyed with the way I was appearing to others. Funny, I never felt that way in my previous life. Ruling through fear meant I could get what I wanted without much trouble¡­ It ended up that way for the most part in school in my past life, but there always those greater than me. Now, however, I may be the strongest being on this planet. I had absolute power¡­ and it was boring. What should I do if I were to destroy all my opposition? Would I end up like ¡®Megamind?¡¯ Would I lose all interest? ¡°You¡¯re thinking too much. There would still be plenty to do. There still is. You could make a game of it! I know I would.¡± Zahramiik put forth his opinion in the usual manner. ¡®Is that right? Then what are you doing that is so entertaining now, Zahramiik?¡¯ ¡°I¡¯m watching you, heheh.¡± ¡®Shut up.¡¯ ¡°Veloth? How about tonight? ¡° Sival pestered me. All three of them were. Once Myria had apologized and left to perform the task I assigned her, they were hounding me to perform the marriage ceremony immediately. Apparently the wedding ceremony was consummation¡­ Sex¡­ That meant a steamy three-way. I wasn¡¯t exactly against the idea, but it felt kind of off. I was a virgin in my previous life. I never had a chance with one woman, much less three. I tried to suggest one at a time, but they wouldn¡¯t agree to anything other than the three of them at once. Amazing. Having three women just throwing themselves at me. Made me feel like some sort of dirty playboy¡­ and then there was also Myria. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Myria had made sure her intentions were understood by the other three. It went something like ¡®I will be first to give birth¡¯... That was another thing that felt off. What would it be like to have a child? Multiple children? Could I love them all equally and give them my attentions? Could I provide them with a decent parentage? I wasn¡¯t sure I could perform my fatherly duties properly. My only parental experience was with my mother, and even that seemed a bit¡­ off¡­ I would probably have to rely on the girls for that... ¡°Hmmm, tonight is¡­¡± I stalled answering. .. Honestly I wasn¡¯t sure how to say it. ¡®Sure. Lets all fuck tonight¡¯... It didn¡¯t seem right to me. Call me old fashioned? Classy? I don¡¯t know. ¡°Come on, Nyah! It will be fun, Nya! Just release all your bestial urges, Nya!¡± That was another thing. When they learned Myria was my mother¡¯s chosen fiancee, they also learned I was a mana spirit. Sometimes they would liken me to some great mythical beast or other. In Hahnu¡¯s case, she wanted me to release all my pent up ¡®beastly libido¡¯. ¡°It¡¯s ok¡­ You can use me however you want¡­¡± Viridi tugged at my sleeve and whispered softly¡­ These girls¡­ Have some shame! Every time they spoke I felt an innocent part of me die. ¡°I-I¡¯ll decide later! I need to get my armor and introduce myself to the soldiers that have been assigned to me. Also there is word that a human envoy is making their way here. There is a lot to do. ¡°Nya¡­¡± ¡°Damned war¡­¡± ¡°...¡± ======================================================================== I parted with the girls to head towards the castle¡¯s smithy. It was a stone structure within the walls that had a massive pit of of flame at it¡¯s center. Waves of heat poured forth from it, dousing the structure with its permeating energy. A rhythmic clang rang out. I didn¡¯t see the blacksmith master at the pit so he must be at the back shaping metal on the anvil. As I made my way to the back of the structure I viewed different kinds of weapons and armors made of various metals and hides. Blacksmiths ran about, cooling heated weapons in oils and other treatment fluids, reheating metals, and taking them toward the back of the building. There at the back sparks flew as blacksmiths sharpened bladed weapons on whetstones and pounded the heated metals steadily into shape. It appeared to be hard grueling work. Just being in this building had to be hot. Fortunately it seems as though the heat just rolled off me. It did not bother me in the slightest. There, with a massive hammer, was an equally massive man. He appeared to be in the midst of pounding a breastplate into form. He stood at a massive eight feet tall. He was as burly as Ira, muscle and tendon threatening to burst forth from the skin with every movement. He had long pale gray hair. Large black horns protruded from his temples and curved around pointed ears to the back of his head. Charcoal colored skin appeared thick and coarse. What stood out the most was his glowing violet eyes. ¡°Is it ready, Bob?¡± I swear I will never become used to calling this man ¡®Bob¡¯. ¡°Mmm, Lord Veloth. It is.¡± The large man spoke with an uncharacteristically high voice. He probably spoke very little because of it. The massive demon stopped his work and released the hammer that rivaled a full grown dog in size. He turned around toward an armor rack that appeared to be covered with a cloth. Seems he has an eye for flair to go as far as hiding it with a cloth for a reveal. Sure enough, he turned a moment to be sure my gaze was upon the covered armor and whipped it off with a smooth flick of his wrist. There was a rather intimidating piece of armor that reminded me of a dark knight from many games. The armor was lacquered in black and red. It was full plate and full helm. I requested full helm because they always seemed more intimidating to me. The shoulder pads were thoroughly spiked, gauntlets thoroughly spiked, greaves thoroughly spiked. The man liked adding spikes as intimidation. The full helm gave off a demonic look. Across the mouth area were rows of metal teeth lacquered in red. The majority of the helm was lacquered in black, while a pair of black demon horns curved over the top of the head from the forehead. From the temples curved a pair of red demon horns to the back of the head, much like Bob¡¯s. There appeared to be a red fur cloak as well. It appeared as though it would clasp over the shoulder pads at the front. The clasps were made of a pair of red wolf skulls that appeared to have holes in them to settle comfortably upon the shoulder pads spikes. The spiked gauntlets were worked around the claw weapons I had developed that Zahramiik had called the ¡®Fangs of Fenrir¡¯. ¡°What do you think?¡± Bob asked, awaiting my praise, as he was clearly proud of his work. Truly, it was magnificent and intimidating¡­ But I would feel like some cliche super villain wearing that¡­ Well, the point was to stand out so I guess it works¡­ ¡°... Intimidating¡­¡± I kept my answer short and simple. That seemed to satisfy Bob, and he made a curt nod before he motioned me toward him. Seems I was to begin the fitting phase. Truthfully, I would rather have Bob stand next to me. I would be easy to spot then, and the guy¡¯s appearance was itself intimidating. He declined, saying he was no warrior, but I persisted. Even if he had no combat training he would be a force to reckon with. He was a person I liked too. Strong, intelligent, quiet, and businesslike. ======================================================================== It was not difficult to move once fully armored. The joints were put together well and I had great mobility. The armor appeared heavy, but to me it felt almost non-existent. Behind me thundered the massive footsteps of Bob. He fought hard, but I convinced him to come with me to ensure the armor holds up and has no problems. He had grunted in resignation and I lead us towards where my standing force waited. Outside the walls to the east of the castle stood an army of around one thousand troops. That was quite an appropriation of forces considering most of them were recently conscripted into service. Many of them I recognized from the Guardians of Order. Nilus was clearly glaring at me. I¡¯m glad he hasn¡¯t lost his backbone, it may help me to keep my sanity. The Fool Force on the other hand were shivering. I can almost guarantee it was not out of fear, but out of restraint. They were trying very hard not to perform their absurd choreographies. The army wore armor similar to mine, only simplified. There were no spikes, no horns, no cape, no Fangs of Fenrir. Their armor was simply lacquered vertically half red and half black. At the moment they held their full face helmets under their right arm and looked upon me expectantly. ======================================================================== The intimidating figure made his way to a podium that waited in front of our assembled force. Behind him trailed a giant of a man that smelled of metal and oil. Our new general leaped onto the podium with an ease that should have been made awkward by the clearly heavy armor he wore. Lord Veloth¡¯s tails that appeared to be flaming with their orange color twitched violently a few moments. ¡°Erm, I am Veloth. I will be commanding you in the coming war with the Aesir. I ask only that you follow my orders and fight well. Some of you are already aware of what happens should you fail. That is all.¡± His speech was simply anticlimactic. ¡°What was that?¡± A soldier to my left asked. I wondered the same thing. Lord Veloth was nothing like the rumors. He didn¡¯t even bother to mention that he is the demon prince. He didn¡¯t seem as violent or bloodthirsty as rumors portrayed him either. It was said even the might Prast Pride was but a child before his wrath. The Awesome Force, which was assigned to their combat unit, also spread some terrifying rumors. Though he appeared humble, clearly he had a hidden temper that could surface at any moment. I swallowed my saliva nervously. I could feel the sweat building up. Was I going to survive serving this man? Teaser AN: I decided to have a little fun with the new table system the Admins of RRL so graciously provided. I intended to add tables at some point, so this is a somewhat obvious (and expected) Cliche teaser of what is to come. (some values may change xD) Over all, I apologize to those thinking this anything significant like a side story or full chapter. ========================================================================
Congratulations!
Through your perseverance You have unlocked the status window! You can now view your status by speaking the command "Window Status".
Name: VelothStatusTitle: The Whimsical Experimentalist
Vitality: 10001 (HP: 150000)Intelligence: 19999999999911 (MP: ???)Charisma/Leadership/Admiration/Fear: 80%
Endurance:15030Wisdom: 27530Active Curse: Cliche
Strength: 8005Focus: 10000Active Blessing: Cliche
Dexterity:5003Faith: 0Active Soul: Zahramiik
Accuracy: 20690Morality: -69Current Estimated Power Level: (ERROR) Definitely Over 9000
If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. That day, stars fell from the sky and roars of uncontrolled rage resounded through the minds of any being that existed within that galaxy. A great calamity was brought unto world after world, and none knew why. Chapter 36: March! We were finally marching. We spent two months learning the ropes of military tactics, command structure, and coordination. Most of our company were recently conscripted from the academy which meant that we are wet behind the ears. I could feel the nervous atmosphere all around as we silently marched to the front lines. We marched to kill and die. The frontlines we marched to are the plains just before the beach in human territory. The Jotuns had established a beachhead there regardless of our efforts to stall them, though the alliance generals already dispatched there had stalled them harshly. For every step the enemy had taken on those beaches they paid in gallons of blood. ¡°Hey, what do you think we should call ourselves?¡± a soldier next to me from a different squad whispered. ¡°Byron, what are you on about now? Just shut up and march!¡± a soldier directly behind Byron chided. ¡°Well, think about it! Theres the Awesome Force, the Prides that serve under General Pride, the Looters under General Greed and such!¡± Byron persisted. ¡° What about the Marchers?¡± someone else chimed in. ¡°How moronically dense are you that you came up with something so senseless?!¡± Another retorted, many also retorting. ¡°Dread Knights?¡± ¡±Dark Hands!¡± ¡±Bloodsworn!¡± ¡±Ironclad!¡± ¡°We are wearing Durium though¡­¡± ¡°Marchers!¡± ¡°Again!?¡± ¡°Dark Feet!¡± ¡°As If!!¡± The nervous tension and apprehension had dissipated greatly as a silly argument rippled throughout the one thousand strong company as we marched.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Halt!¡± The order to halt passed throughout the company. The argument abruptly died down. Some who were not paying attention collided into the backs of others, causing a chain reaction of stumbling and curses. Just as abruptly a figure shot across the sky from the back to the front of the company. A very angry prince floated in the sky. He glared fiercely among the ranks, and when his gaze passed over me I felt chills rove down my spine. He was most definitely upset about the messy order to halt. ¡°Who started it!¡± The General Prince roared. Everyone in response glanced around unsurely, ready to point fingers at a moment''s notice. Such close camaraderie¡­ ¡°Who is the fool that started talking about nicknames for a damned militant company!?¡±... Seriously? He was angry not because of the messy halt, but the argument? Almost immediately fingers started pointing. Someone even pointed at me, poor unlucky me, who did not participate in the slightest. I pointed at that person in spite, rather than the true culprit. The General Prince seethed a while longer, glaring fiercely at everyone who pointed a finger, and everyone who was pointed at. Eventually he sighed with exasperation and flew to the back of the formation. Soon the order to march was once more given. ¡°Phew that was close.¡± Byron the instigator of the whole situation sighed in relief. ¡°What do you think he heard that got him in such a mood? Think it was ¡®Dread Knight?¡¯ ¡°Idiot, clearly it was Dark Feet. As insulting as it is thoughtless!¡± ¡°Marcher!¡± ¡­ Another round of argument on essentially the same subject spread like wildfire among the ranks. ¡°HALT!¡± Another round of clumsily bumping into each other. A figure flew up to the front of the company from the back again and fingers were already pointing in advance¡­ ¡°Do you think this is a game!?¡± The General Prince roared as he ripped of his helmet in frustration and threw it down with a force so great the earth beneath their feet shuddered violently. Coinciding with the quake a high pitched cry of despair called out from somewhere in the back of the formation. ¡°Damned fools! I swear if it happens again¡­!¡± The General Prince flew back to his position at the back along with a severe glare and threat. The order to march soon came again and the ranks once more moved. Some of the soldiers ahead were stumbling over something, and as it came my turn to cross the same area those in front of me were stumbling over, I discovered what it was. It was a small lump of glowing flat metal nestled in a fair sized crater, small fissures reaching out from its epicenter like a spider web. This was most definitely the helmet General Prince had thrown in rage¡­ ¡°Whoah! Wasn¡¯t that made of Durium? How angry do you think he has to be to do that? You think he can go berserk like General Ira?¡± Byron piped up as we struggled through the crater. ¡°Idiot, didn¡¯t you see his face? That was clearly the verge of going berserk!¡± ¡°I wonder if someone said some kind of keyword that he uses to trigger his berserk mode? Bloodsworn maybe?¡± ¡°Dark Feet!¡±... and so another round ensues, enveloping the entire company¡­ Only this time the company was well practiced by this point in halting. It was precise and smooth, every single person this time pointing at someone else, already looking to the sky at the front. ¡°You like games? I have a game for you!¡± The General Prince¡¯s expression and tone was eerily calm¡­ It has been a day and a half and a night¡­ Pure torture. Forced marching at the pace of a jog the entire way in full plate armor!¡­ Any who fell, which were most, were then unceremoniously dragged across the ground by the general using ropes made of mana. We were only moments ago allowed to set up camp and rest, except everyone immediately collapsed on the spot. No one had the energy to erect tents for shelter or fires for warmth and food. Most of the commanders were no better off, other than the General Prince¡¯s blacksmith. The big fellow known as Bob was cradling a lump of Durium in his arms, his eyes glassy as if about to cry. If I listen closely over the thousand strong company gasping for breath as if trying to drown themselves in oxygen, I could hear him. ¡°I¡­ I can fix it! I¡­ I can! I just need to¡­ Uhm¡­ This, and then¡­ but¡­ I.. I can? I¡­ I can fix it! I.. I can!¡± and so he repeated, staring at the lump entirely undiscernible from the glorious piece of work it was once before. Chapter 37: Oblivion I regret my decision. I miss them already. Why did I convince them to stay? I could have had a nice steamy night with them once more and also vented my frustrations from this vexingly slow march to the human beaches. My wives wanted to come but I rejected them saying ¡®it was too dangerous¡¯. I wanted to go back in time and slap myself on the back of the head. Even if it is dangerous, surely I have the power to thoroughly protect them! Currently I sat in a luxurious tent lamenting on my mistakes. The tent was furnished equally luxurious with carpets of intricate weave and furniture of smooth flowing designs. This is luxury that is ¡®earned¡¯ for being a General and a Prince. I certainly did not feel like it was earned, but I will accept regardless. Who am I to turn away comfort? I glance over at the armor stand in my tent that was missing one crucial piece. I felt a wave of guilt remembering Bob¡¯s reaction. The helmet was surprisingly annoying though, restricting my field of vision and being a bit stuffy and overall uncomfortable. I ended up taking my frustrations out on it inadvertently¡­ ¡°General Prince!¡± a voice called to me from outside the tent. It was likely yet another report. So far, that''s all that leading an army feels like; ¡®Reporting this, reporting that, reports reports reports¡¯... Does anyone ever just come by to say hello? Or better yet, just leave the bunch of fools to their own devices. Why should I manage a group who is more interested in cliche nicknames than following commands? ¡°Enter!¡± I finally called out after a moment''s bitter rumination. A soldier in full plate armor lacquered in black and red smoothly entered the tent, saluting. ¡°At ease. What is it?¡± I asked. If I hadn¡¯t said at ease, the soldier would be remain at attention for the entirety he stood before me. I already used the method of having them stay uncomfortably at attention for the entirety of their stay to vent earlier. I know it wasn''t fair to those individuals, but I was really angry at the time. Having been relinquished from standing at attention, the soldier removed her helmet and carried it under her arm. That was all she did however, perhaps afraid of seeming too comfortable in front of me. I don¡¯t blame her for removing the helmet though. ¡°Lieutenant Deva of scouting squad three reporting, sir! There are signs of enemy activity in the eastern regions near the shore. We suspect that there are some survivors of the first wave taking refuge in the nearby caves!¡± The scout reported promptly. Wait¡­ A scout? With full plate armor? How? That makes no sense! ¡°Mana compensates for a lot after all.¡± Zahramiik commented. I suppose that is true as well. Actually, now that I think about it, it is better that way. No cliched group of lightly armored ninja types that way.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°How many are there?¡± ¡°Roughly thirty, sir!¡± So roughly thirty people managed to survive my wife¡¯s interception. Their luck must be great. ¡°Send one hundred men to blockade the suspected hiding places. We will demand their surrender. Kill those who do not. ¡°Yes sir!¡± The scout promptly saluted once more, and seeing I had finished speaking, exited the tent. If there are only thirty or so people then one hundred people should be more than enough force to prompt them to surrender, although there may be some who would sooner die. This is surprisingly a grand opportunity to obtain enemy information. ======================================================================== I glided easily through the sky, wearing full plate armor lacquered in the colors of his new commander of black and red. Clutching the small leather bag that hung from my neck, I very carefully ensured the safety of the spherical silver object within. I thought back with a nervous sweat as to how I ended up in this situation¡­ ¡°Daimos!¡± A figure brimming with power called out to me. It was easy to identify our General Prince in a number of ways. ¡°General Prince!¡± I immediately stood at attention. ¡°At ease! I have something for you to¡­ ¡®deliver¡¯.¡± The General Prince smiled with a mischievous smile. For some reason, that smile sent chills down my spine. ¡°A¡­ Delivery, sir?¡± I asked to confirm. In answer, the General Prince tossed a leather bag he had been holding. I caught it clumsily as i was not expecting it. I could feel something tumble around inside. ¡°I want you to fly over the enemy beachhead and drop that sphere on the highest concentration of their soldiers. Be careful with it Daimos, I don''t want it going off prematurely.¡± ¡° ¡®Going off prematurely¡¯ sir?¡± He said that like¡­ ¡°Yeah. Just think of it as a bomb.¡± A bomb¡­ He just tossed that thing at me! Is this mad man trying to kill me!? I could feel my face pale¡­ ¡­ Remembering that situation I extremely conscious of the sphere in the bag. The last thing I want to do is blow myself up. Right now, I wished for any other task, even if it meant another forced march for days on end I would gladly accept it! Ahead I saw it, the human alliance camp that directly opposed the enemy beachhead camp. The camps, however, were mostly empty. Between them, a battle raged. The humans were harshly outnumbered, their army only numbering a few thousand at the moment, while the enemy must have numbered in the tens of thousands. No wonder the humans were currently desperate for reinforcements. Fortunately there were several company divisions lead by generals on their way as reinforcements. Before that, however, I have something I desperately need to dispose of. I don''t know the range on this thing, but General Prince said drop it at the highest concentration, so¡­ I made for the sky above the enemy''s formation. They had long since spotted me in the sky and began firing magic spells, arrows, and spears as soon as I had come into range. I could do nothing but desperately dodge. I was terrified of being struck, as it would probably guarantee my death by setting of the bomb I carried. At last after too many harrowing close calls, I reached the approximate center of the enemy formation. I quickly upended the contents of the leather bag and beat my wings as furiously as possible to get out of the blast zone. I heard a sickening explosion erupt behind me and felt the heated air tremble with a shockwave that sent me tumbling for a moment before regaining control. I could not help but look back to view the destruction that bomb caused. A massive crater now occupied the center of the enemy formation, the bomb having taken with it a few thousand lives to oblivion, leaving no trace of them. That¡­ is a far more terrifying weapon than even Daimos had expected. Both armies were stunned to silence at the destruction. The human army was too stunned to take advantage of the enemy¡¯s suddenly crumbled formation, while the enemy was too stunned to reorganize. In the end, both sides ended up promptly retreating from the battlefield back to their camps. Look Its Loki! It was chaos. The battle had suddenly become absolute chaos. Loki gazed with hatred as his army is pushed back to the waters of the beach. The enemy had used some outrageous explosive weapon to blast a massive hole in the army''s formation. Smoke filled the air at the blast sight, the scent of burnt flesh permeated the battlefield as the screams of the injured and dying sang their sorrowful melody. "Damn them! This was meant to be my chance to show father how much greater I am! Igot here before Thor and Iestablished the first beachhead! When I get my hands the one that caused such a massive set-back I will...!" Loki seethed with immense fury. He had an immaculate plan to curry favor with his father, Odin. His plans were met with disaster in the very first stages after such a promising start.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. "Order the troops to regroup and retreat to the north!" Loki had grabbed a nearby officer and commanded whilst gritting his teeth. As commanded, the panicked officer began yelling out commands with a magically enhanced voice. The army commanded by Loki began to once again show a semblance of order and unity as they refocused their efforts into a defensive formation and began to slowly retreat whilst fighting. As the army retreated, the human army abruptly began to attack with more fervor and confidence. Loki was soon able to see why. In the distance to the south approached an army of heavily armed and armored Demons. The appearance of reinforcements gave the human army yet another boost of morale. This was far from a battle that Loki''s forces could win any longer. No longer hoping to turn the tables on the humans, Loki ordered a full retreat. Although this location was critical for taking in the survivors of Freya''s forces, this battle was now beyond manageable. Freya''s forces would be on their own now.