《Unsanity is Relative》 Prologue He had been in the white room for a long time. A really long time. Like a really really long time if you were being dramatic. He had been alone in the room the whole time, excluding visits from Mr. Stick. He was fed through the slot in the door, his meals consisting of unidentifiable pieces of ¡®meat¡¯ and sometimes ¡®pudding¡¯. The pudding was his favorite, he got it once a week and it came in three flavors. Chocolate, vanilla, and other. The ¡®other¡¯ flavor seemed to be a mix of asbestos and rat poison, but he liked it well enough. The room he was in was small but quite comfortable, boasting padded floors and walls. There were no windows or beds, but he did have a flickering fluorescent light in the ceiling that cast a sterile light over his room. The room was always quiet and smelled of a captive animal, the quiet sometimes got to the man that resided there and he would hum to keep the quiet away. He was nearly always making noise, because when the quiet came, the voices got louder, and when they started it became hard to quiet them down. He had begun humming too loudly and Mr. Stick had taken notice, he banged hard on the locked-from-the-outside safety door and yelled, ¡°Shut your goddamn trap you filthy animal! Be quiet or I¡¯ll beat you quiet!¡± The man in the white room didn¡¯t like Mr. Stick, he sometimes stole his pudding, so he had started to hum louder, and louder until he broke out into song. ¡°Old Slick John wasn¡¯t so slick, when he fell and tripped on a brick! He tipped and fell down the well, and the brick came tumbling after!¡± he sang out with glee evident on his grimy face. The screeching sound of a chair being moved sounded out from the other side of his safety door and the door swung wide. Mr. Stick stepped in gripping his namesake in his right hand with white knuckled fervor. He took a step towards the smiling man and stumbled, he mumbled something under his breath and regained his balance. ¡°C¡¯mere you disgusting ape!¡± He reached out with his free hand and stumbled towards the laughing man. The laughing man stepped back as his hand came out, dodging it. He jumped back towards the guard with grace that belied his malnourished frame and flicked him on the nose. This caused Mr. Stick to growl out with animalistic rage, his dull eyes and pudgy face screwing up in anger. He swung out towards the gown wearing man and missed, the man had stepped back again and was laughing even harder now, his voice echoing in the small room. ¡°Mr. Stiiiick, come on you can do better than that!¡± he paused to sidestep another swing, ¡°We¡¯ve played the hitting game so many times, how can you still be so bad at it.¡± the man paused in his movements, ¡°Look I¡¯ll give you one free hit. Come on!¡± Mr. Stick took the opportunity to vent his rage as the dirty man spread his arms wide in a beckoning motion. His baton careened towards the man¡¯s stomach with surprising force and crumpled him. The man fell to the floor gasping for air, ¡°Nice.. hit¡­ dumbass¡­¡± he took another deep breath as Mr. Stick roared out and started to beat the downed man, the whole while screaming obscenities at him. His breath smelled like cheap liquor and smoke. The man on the ground smiled while his ribs were broken and the squishy inside bits got bruised, between each meaty thwack he managed to call out advice to the pudgy man, ¡°Swing¡­ overhand¡­ more¡­ force¡­ target¡­ squishy¡­ bits.¡± he managed to get out before unconsciousness swallowed his mind. He awoke alone again in his white padded room, the flickering lights illuminating his dirty gown that hung loose over his gaunt frame. He had a clean shaven face with manic yellow eyes, his hair hung in dirty black waves over his head and covered his face. The only part of him that seemed in good repair were his teeth, brilliantly white, and nearly always smiling. He pushed himself up off the floor, ¡°Good match Sticky Boy! Maybe next time you can hurt me a little!¡± he wheezed out, fully expecting round two of their game to start. But no angry voice called back, besides the ones in his head of course. He sighed, Mr. Stick¡¯s and his game was one of the only forms of entertainment around here, so without him he was left to the quiet. And that just wouldn¡¯t do. He started to sing again and rock back and forth on his heels. He stayed like this for a while, clutching his wounds and drowning out the quiet. It wasn¡¯t enough though and one of the ever present voices coiled around his mind, its voice hissing in his ear. ¡°Why do we allow the pudgy one to hurt usss?¡± He shrugged, once a voice addressed him there was no real point in ignoring them. ¡°It¡¯s more fun that way.¡± he replied simply. ¡°Fun? What isss that?¡± the voice hissed out a question. He shrugged again, ¡°Something to pass the time, or kill boredom.¡±A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Fun. Fun. Fun.¡± it said the word multiple times, as though tasting it, ¡°I like fun.¡± ¡°Most people do, and anyways, you''re just saying that because I said it¡¯s used to kill boredom.¡± he chuckled at the voice. ¡°Why do you laugh? You like to kill asss much asss we do.¡± the voice replied. ¡°Nope, nope, nope. Not anymore my stalwart compatriot, the good doctor said that enjoying killing is un-sane. And I am here to be un-un-sane.¡± he corrected the voice with a nod, putting extra emphasis on the ¡®I¡¯, as many of the voices in his head would disagree. ¡°You needn¡¯t lie to usss, we enjoy tasssty, deliciousss, sssalty blood as much as you do. You have more dangerousss proclivitiesss than I.¡± the voice paused and seemed to shiver delectably at the thought, ¡°I missss when you would lisssten to us, when you would feed usss. Why mussst we wassste away here? Next time that disssgusting brute comesss in with hisss ssstick, grab him by the neck and bite hisss throat out, ssso that we may shower in hisss blood.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that a bit much?¡± he questioned, ¡°And you need to tone down the blood talk, it''s gross. Even if it would be delightful to ba- Nope, I am perfectly un-un-sane. I have no feelings on the deliciousness and warmth of blood, even as it washes over you and makes you feel cozy and content. Nope, no feelings at all.¡± he declared with a nod, staring intently at the blood patches on his disheveled clothing. ¡°You have no desssire to tear open a flesh sssack and evissscerate it, keeping it twitching and ssscreaming for hoursss asss we used to?¡± it asked suspiciously. ¡°Nope, none at all. I am perfectly un-un-sane.¡± he said through gritted teeth. ¡°Sssure¡­¡± the voice replied, dripping with sarcasm. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you don¡¯t believe me Spooky, I¡¯m certifiably certifiable. I am one hundred percent fine. I am as right as rain. I am good to go. I am alrighty. I a-¡± he was cut off with a chorus of voices telling him to shut up, with varying degrees of politeness. The man was expecting Spooky to say something once the voices quieted down. So when no response came he was a bit confused as Spooky usually at least said goodbye, or told him to end himself, before leaving. ¡°Spooky? You there buddy?¡± he asked, again there was no reply. As he was about to call out again something strange happened. A blue box appeared in front of the disheveled man, it seemed to appear out of nowhere and hovered in the air. The box displayed a message in simple black text.
Madness Affinity Requirement Met¡­ Parsing Summoner¡­
The box hung there in front of the man, and he noticed something even stranger than the floating hover-box. The light above him was no longer flickering and the dust that was constantly floating about him hung suspended in the air, as though trapped in glue. The blue box didn¡¯t startle him too much, as hallucinations were not the most uncommon thing, for even with all his declarations of un-un-sanity he still had voices in his head and saw things that weren¡¯t there. While the box wasn¡¯t something he had seen before, it obviously wasn¡¯t something physically there, proven when he reached out towards it and his hand went through it, rippling like water. ¡°What in tarnation?¡± he asked, putting on a bad southern accent, ¡°Well I¡¯ll be darned, them gypsies musta¡¯ worked their curse magic on me.¡± he laughed at his own joke, as unfunny as it was. He was about to laugh off this whole thing, because as far as he knew, floating blue boxes were not a daily occurrence for most folk, when he tried to take a step he found he couldn¡¯t. His upper body moved fine, shown as he waved his arms around wildly and started calling for Spooky. His flailing stopped suddenly as he looked down towards his legs and saw why they wouldn¡¯t move. Wrapped around each leg was a glistening violet chain, it seemed to shimmer in and out of reality as it slowly coiled its way up his legs. ¡°What in tarnation again?¡± he cried out. The chains were slowly but surely making their way up his legs, and as a soon as one made contact with his waist the box in front of him flickered out of existence. He took a deep breath and started trying to pry the chains off his legs, he didn¡¯t know what they were, or if they were real, but it seemed like the best course of action. As soon as his hands came into contact with a chain every inch of him lit up with nerve flaying agony. He cried out, while pain wasn¡¯t something he cared much about, it still wasn¡¯t fun to endure. He withdrew his hand from the chain and the pain subsided, the chains had increased their speed and were now wrapped around his abdomen. At the same moment a new box flickered into reality, with a brand new message.
Summoning Process Start... Transfer Request Sent Awaiting Response... Response Affirmative... Transfer Start in 5...
¡°What!? Transfer!?¡± he cried out. 4¡­ The air seemed to be charged with an unknown energy, it eddied and swirled like a river. Coursing and crashing through the air. 3¡­ ¡°Can I talk to a manager or something? This seems a bit much for me, I¡¯m more of a not doing whatever this is kind of guy.¡± he said hesitantly. 2¡­ The energy in the air seemed to converge in one specific point and became visible. It looked like the shimmering above a heat vent, distorting the air. When suddenly a terrific tearing noise sounded out in the small padded cell. 1¡­ The air itself seemed to be torn apart and a gash appeared in reality. It was ragged and looked like a knife wound, though instead of flesh and blood, it was a dark void that seemed to suck the warmth out of the air. Dark black and red liquid sloshed out of the bottom of the portal, pooling on the ground before evaporating. The air seemed to freeze, and the blood that hadn¡¯t been absorbed into the floor turned to ice. ¡°I¡¯d really rather stay here. If that¡¯s ok with you Mr. Portal Thing.¡± the man said. Either the portal didn¡¯t listen, or it couldn¡¯t hear him. Either way, the chains that were wrapped around his legs crawled the final stretch and coiled around his neck, the chains seemed to come alive like snakes and dragged him towards the portal. A laugh escaped his lips, ¡°Haha! Bound in chains, just like how I lost my virgi-.¡± Those were his last words before he was swallowed whole and thrown into the cold dark void, with nothing to do but fall. Chapter 1 He had been falling for a long time. A really long time. Like a really, really long time, if you were being dramatic. It felt like he had been falling for years, time had long since lost meaning in the dark void. He was still chained up to his neck and could only move his mouth and face, he put this to good use by singing and telling himself jokes nearly the whole time. The voices in his head were unnaturally silent, usually you could hear a background murmur if you tried, but he couldn¡¯t hear a peep.The only reason he knew he was still falling was that his hair was blowing back, he couldn¡¯t feel the wind blowing against his face, if there was any, because he had become numb from the unceasing cold. ¡°How many baby ducks were following the mother duck?¡± he asked himself, ¡°None! They died in the oil slick! Haha!¡± he laughed at his own joke, even though they had long since stopped making sense. He had tried to fall asleep to pass the time, but wherever he was, sleep apparently was impossible. Being awake 24/7 was really starting to take a toll on his psyche, he hadn¡¯t had a single hallucination or heard a single voice, unless this whole thing was somehow a hallucination. He screwed his eyes shut and screamed as loud as he could, there was no particular reason, it just seemed like good fun. The man felt as though he understood what it was like to be blind, to see absolutely nothing, just¡­ dark. He let out a sigh and opened his eyes again, opting for the darkness of the void rather than the darkness of his eyelids. But instead of the absolute darkness that he had grown used to, he was instead greeted by a brilliant pin prick of light in the dark. It probably wasn¡¯t that bright, but for a man who hadn¡¯t seen light in what seemed like forever it was nearly blinding. He blinked back tears as his eyes watered, the light was growing larger and brighter as he fell towards it. To hell with not going towards the light, he wanted to get out of here! He fell closer and closer until finally his vision was swallowed whole, the brilliant white light filling his mind entirely. When he opened his eyes he had to squint against the light, though this light wasn¡¯t the perfect white light, instead it was the orange flickering of firelight. He shielded his eyes again with his hand, attempting to adjust to the new change of lighting. The ground under him felt like stone, it was cold and slick like it hadn¡¯t been cleaned in a long time. It reminded him of the stone inside a cave he had played in when he was a child, now that he thought about it, he could hear and smell things that reminded him of a cave. The sound of water dripping from stalactites, the smell of stale air and earth. The only difference than the cave he remembered was the firelight and the chanting. ¡®Chanting?¡¯ He thought. ¡®What¡¯s going on?¡¯ It wasn¡¯t in any language he knew, and the air felt charged with the energy he felt when the portal first opened. His eyes adjusted to the dim torchlight, and he took a cursory glance around for the first time since he arrived. He was indeed in what looked like a cave, surrounded by several cloaked figures. Their cloaks were a dark purple in color, and gave off a sinister air. Arrayed around him were multiple torches, and braziers, set in a circle. He looked down and saw he was still covered in those thrice damned chains, though they had receded down to his waist again. He looked again back towards the cloaked figures who were chanting at him, they were waving their hands in arcane patterns while strange geometric patterns floated around their wiggling fingers. The man sitting in the center of the circle thought they looked quite silly. The man was on his back on the cave floor, he sat up, pushing himself with his arms. He yawned and stretched, satisfying popping noises sounding out from his joints and back. The air was warm compared with the void he had been in and he was feeling extraordinarily tired. He could hear the voices chattering in the back of his head, though they were strangely quiet and subdued. The funny looking guys that were chanting at him seemed to be quite busy with whatever they were doing so he decided to take a quick nap. He lay back down against the cold stone floor, closed his eyes, and was instantly asleep. He wasn¡¯t about to let a silly little thing like an ancient summoning ritual get in the way of his nap. The cloaked figures stopped chanting and wiggling their fingers and stared at the sleeping figure. They looked at one another, confused at the sight before pulling back their hoods. The three of them stepped forward into their runic circle and walked over to the man. One of them stooped down and reached over to poke the figure. ¡°Get your hand away from it! We do not know what manner of creature that is! For all we know it could be an archdemon clothed in the guise of a man, it could tear your heart out as fast as that!¡± the man snapped his fingers to show him just how fast ¡®that¡¯ was. The cloaked man that was reaching towards him recoiled violently and straightened out his robe, ¡°I knew that¡­ I wasn¡¯t gonna do it.¡± he pouted. ¡°Goddamn noobies¡­¡± he muttered back, the third man stood further away from them and had been silent throughout the whole exchange. He stepped forward into the torch light revealing a grizzled face with a milky eye and a balding head. The grizzled man looked towards the ¡®noobie¡¯ and scowled sending him into a flurry of motion where he stepped further away from the sleeping creature and stooped into a subservient position. ¡°Scan the creature. Use one of the [Identification Stones].¡± he called out in a voice not too dissimilar from two boulders grinding together. ¡°Are you sure we should use one of the Stones? We only have a few left, and it could be wasted on this summon.¡± he asked in a halting voice, afraid of gaining the older mage¡¯s ire. ¡°Do it.¡± the leader replied, scorn filling his one good eye. The mage hopped to it without another word, fear was plain on his face, he knew what had happened to the last man to disagree with their leader. He stalked away from their summoning circle towards the back of the room, it was darker over there without the torchlight so it took him some time rooting around in their packs to find the Stones. They were simple enough looking until you looked at them with mage sight, then they blazed brilliantly with a wide range of colors. They seemed to contain every known color inside of them, he took the smallest one and went back towards the summon. The ¡®noobie¡¯ was still hunched over avoiding any eye contact, his childlike face betraying his naivety. Their leader looked towards him expectantly, so he made his way to the center of the circle. He clasped the stone between his hand and began the incantation, words of power spilled from his lips as he cast a high level spell. It was a spell nearly any class could learn at high enough level, but required a Stone to use if the second party wasn¡¯t willing to be scanned, and even with the Stone anyone with a high enough level could stop the attempt.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. He finished the spell by crushing the stone between his hands, multicolored sand spilled out from between his fingers and a Status screen appeared, visible only to him and his party, the three mages.
Name: Tobias Level: 1
Class: N/A Race: Human
Titles: N/A Affinity: Madness - 97%
Traits: N/A Skills: N/A
Spells: N/A Abilities: N/A
Stats: STR - 8 CHR - 8 AGI - 10 DEX - 10 INT - 9 WIS - 9
The leader scowled deeper and it seemed that the lines on his face were permanently etched in, like a statue. The ¡®noobie¡¯ looked up for just a moment to quickly scan the page, his bright blue eyes flitting across before, again, being cast down towards his feet. The mage who had scanned him sighed, he knew that he was correct in not wanting to waste their Stones, but he wasn¡¯t going to say anything for fear of being the next summon sacrifice. ¡°Put him with the rest. He will obey like all the others.¡± the grizzled man looked away, casting the incident out of his mind. He stalked towards their packs in the back of the room and grabbed the necessary ingredients for the next summon, [Stalk of Moonlight], [Petal of a Golden Child], [Blood of a Hero]. Nearly all of the ingredients were of [Ancient] quality or more and had taken massive amounts of resources to obtain. Though even with these rare ingredients they still needed sacrifices, and for that he walked into the connecting room. As soon as he passed through the tunnel that led to another room he felt the familiar disturbance of a ward, this one blocked sound and smell. As soon as he passed through it, like a pebble tossed into a pond, he was submerged in a cacophony of sight, smell, and sound. Screams and sobs echoed discordantly through the room and and the smell of excrement and blood was overwhelming. Arrayed against the wall were lines of cages, made from natural elements inside the cave. Raw metal and stone were formed together to keep captive thirty five sacrifices, men, women, and children alike. There used to be more, though their ranks had been whittled down. As soon as the grizzled mage stepped into sight of the cave dwelling prisoners, their cries took on a new level of desperation. Fear dripped palpably from their words, and their cries for help and pleas to be left alone were unheard as the mage walked towards the end of the room. His soft leather boots caused nearly no disturbance or noise as he walked steadily, peering into each cage for their next sacrifice. A hand shot out of one of the cages and snagged on his resplendent robe, ¡°Please! Let us go, we did nothing wrong! Nothi-¡± his pleas turned to screams of agony as the hand the prisoner had reached out was violently severed from his body. The grizzled man growled, his robe was already covered in dirt and grime, but now it was truly in need of a wash. Blood now covered the bottom of the robe and he looked at the offending man with rage in his eyes, ¡°You.¡± he stated simply, with all the finality of death. ¡°No! Please take someone else, not me!¡± he choked out through the sobs, but they too were cut off as the mage cast a simple sleep spell on the man, not for any sense of mercy, but because it was easier to move them when they didn¡¯t struggle. The mage levitated the prisoner out of the cage that dissolved around him, using his magic the mage carried him back down the prison hall, through the connecting tunnel and into the summoning room. Blood dripped in concentric patterns from the man¡¯s severed arm, he was placed roughly in the center of the circle and the mages got into their positions. The previous summon of the man like creature that wore a strange dirty gown that revealed its posterior was nowhere in sight. The three mages stood silently, the two older mages not sparing a single glance at the bleeding man in their midst, while the youngest stared intently at the patterns of blood running on stone. The grizzled man placed the three ingredients around their sacrifice and stepped back, raised his hands, and began to chant. They spoke in tandem with each other, like a well oiled machine, their words were layered and smooth. The three ingredients blazed brilliantly before being replaced with a swirling storm of color that hovered over their sacrifice. The storm of color seemed to sharpen down to a point and three lines appeared, they connected and dashed over the stone ground until they formed a triangle. Centered in the triangle was the one armed man, his skin was leaking blood now and his whole body was spasming. His eyes flew open but instead of eyeballs there were brilliant orbs of green light. The man¡¯s mouth opened and the same light blew out of it in a cone, illuminating the cave room in an eery glow. His skin peeled back and his body began twisting and writhing on the ground. Once the entirety of his skin was gone his flesh seemed to bubble and twist, forming what looked like gnarled bark where once there was a man. Thick roots shot out of where there were once legs and branches came from where there used to be arms. Small green leaves burst from the wood and began to shake violently. The glowing eyes and mouth closed, leaving a blemishless piece of wood. That was until a roar like a forest being felled sounded out and the roots shot together, interweaving like a tapestry, forming arms and legs. The creature shot to its legs and charged at the mages. The youngest, on the far left, startled back while the other two trusted in their magic to keep it contained. And contained it was, as soon as the treant reaches the border of braziers it rebounded off an unseen wall sending out ripples in the air. The creature fell back and its glowing eyes and mouth closed yet again. ¡°Treant. Probably a juvenile summoned for its high earth affinity. Put it with the others.¡± the grizzled man ordered the youngest mage. The mage, still startled from the sheer ferocity of the creature hesitated, ¡°Now!¡± called out the leader. Startled out of his inaction, the mage stepped into the circle and summoned one of his own bound familiars. ¡°Guil, carry the tree, put it with the other summons.¡± an unnatural and unseen wind blew violently under the treant at the youngest mage¡¯s command. It tossed it into the air like a cat playing with its dinner and carried it away towards another connecting tunnel where the other summons were located. ¡°Hesitate again and we won¡¯t need another prisoner to sacrifice.¡± the old man stated. ¡°Y-yes sir.¡± the youngest mage¡¯s eyes darted towards the middle mage, fear evident in his gaze. On the far right the other mage turned his hazel brown eyes towards the older man, sweat streaming down his brow, ¡°May we rest, sir? My mana is bordering empty.¡± The old man scoffed at him, ¡°Your low mana cap makes me wonder why you were chosen for this operation.¡± the brown eyed mage gulped and paled, he wasn¡¯t usually one to stand for abuse. Not even from royals, and why should he? He was a self made man, from the slums of Azuld, he had scraped his way all the way to becoming a King¡¯s Mage. Yet in front of the one eyed mage he didn¡¯t feel powerful, he felt like a fly that had accidentally caught the gaze of a spider. The brown eyed mage stood stock still for a moment, worried that he wasn¡¯t going to be able to rest, or worse. But the grizzled mage sighed, ¡°Rest now, take this.¡± he said and handed the brown eyed mage a bottle with blue liquid that had flecks of gold inside of it. The mage took the bottle and retreated to a dark corner of the cave, gulped down the mana potion and sat down. He put his head in his hands and wondered just what the hell he had gotten himself into. He knew he would do anything for his country, even using sacrifices to raise summoned warriors wasn¡¯t enough to make him question his loyalty. But he still wondered why in the hell he had to work with that scary old man. He looked old, and if you were a mage, that meant you were old. Many mages had ways to make themselves look younger, and once you reached a certain level the aging process would slow. So for someone as strong as him to look that old, he either had no desire to look young or he was truly ancient. ¡°That¡¯s long enough. Come, let us begin.¡± the voice ordered out towards the mage. He stood up from his corner and walked back towards the mage circle, and began the ritual again. In another room of the cave a strange wind blew in carrying a humanoid tree, it dropped the tree with a crash that startled a gown wearing man awake. ¡°Oi! What the hell was that for?! People are sleeping here!¡± he called out. There was no answer, besides the sound of strange grunts, groans, howls, and other animal noises that echoed in the huge stone room he found himself in. He looked around and noticed that he was in a cage made from raw metal and stone, it looked like it grew directly out of the wall, and was cold to the touch. As far as he could see there were identical cages lining the walls in every direction around him, though he couldn¡¯t see far in the unlit room. He couldn''t quite make out the occupants of said cages, but he could tell most weren¡¯t human. There seemed to be a wide array of animalistic shapes around him a, cat here, a supersized slug there. Although he couldn¡¯t see details he could have sworn that his neighbor had wings and glowing red eyes. He yawned and stretched again, realising again just how tired he was. He fell asleep to the smell of blood and waste, along with the sounds of wild beasts and the voices that echoed in his head. Chapter 2 The mages had completed their summoning rituals and had run out of sacrifices. The brown eyed mage sat down on the floor, his body shaking from exhaustion. The older mage and the younger were discussing something in hushed tones he couldn¡¯t quite make out, but from the way the younger mage was shifting his weight from foot to foot clearly meant he was uncomfortable. The mage sighed and closed his eyes, rubbing at them with balled fists. He was tired, but they had only accomplished the first part of their mission. They had summoned the warriors but now they needed to control them. The dangerous beasts that could have broken out of their cells were sedated with [Sleep Nettle], it was an uncommon herb that they had refined and used to create a powerful sedative. While many of the creatures were immune they still had many ways to keep them contained, from spell wards all the way to soul bindings. He sighed and stood up from his resting position, he wanted to stay longer but he feared gaining the ire of their leader. Knowing what was to come next he stalked over to the other two mages who had fallen silent, ¡°Are we to begin the taming process?¡± The older mage glared at him, ¡°Aye. Let¡¯s go.¡± the three of them walked in a line towards the summons room. Yet before they left they raised a stone wall to block off the no longer needed sacrifice prison. They arrived in the summons room to the sound of banging and howling. The room was dark but all of them had long ago activated their mid level spell, [Night Eyes], it allowed them to see in the dark, and made their eyes glow a menacing grey. Though they could see well enough with the spell they preferred the flickering of torchlight, although they wished for magelight they didn¡¯t want to waste mana. Unseen torches blazed to life on the walls at the mages command, revealing rows upon rows of cages. In each cage was a different creature, they had a wide range of warriors. It put a smile on the brown eyed mage¡¯s face at a job well done. Some of the creatures they had never seen before, but many were easy to identify. Multiple treants stood solemnly in their cages while, lanthers paced restlessly, their tails swishing back and forth in the air. Some beasts seemed to be in a deep sleep induced by their [Sleep Nettle] sedative, and there was only one creature in the cells that looked fully human. The reason for that was that humans had low affinities until they increased them on their own, and the ritual only summoned creatures with high affinities, but by the time humans had high affinities they also had the ability to resist the summons. It was for this reason the three mages looked at the sleeping man suspiciously. The man in question was sound asleep in his cage, face down ass flying proudly in the wind. Each of the mages had their own theory on what manner of creature could have such a monstrously high affinity and yet such a low level. All of them came to the conclusion that they must have summoned some manner of fiend from the depths of the abyss with the ability to disguise its race and level. The reason for this was that no known creature or living being besides demons that had ever managed to get a Madness Affinity to above 50%. It was massively difficult to raise your Madness affinity and even if you did, many of those who had had met terrible ends. The Mad Mage Caltrix had drowned in a vat of glue when trying to create a ¡®sticky golem¡¯, the Invincible Insane Beast of the Trilton Hills had tripped over a log and snapped it¡¯s neck whilst fleeing from a pack of rabbits. The fact this creature was still breathing meant it had to be some manner of demon. This was why they had decided to break its will last. They had come to the agreement that soul binding wouldn¡¯t work on a demon, as they were notoriously hard to subdue. While many of the beasts could be beaten, coerced or otherwise tricked into becoming a subservient slave, demons were known to be the most difficult. They had a wide range of ways to control creatures magically, make them your familiar, use will dampening collars, etch a control mark into its soul. Yet nearly all of these were originally developed by demons, which was one of the many reasons they were the hardest to control. The oldest mage grumbled and made his way along the lines of summoned warriors, skirting away from outstretched claws and bared fangs. He pointed to three different creatures, one for each of the mages to break. The first was the treant that had tried to attack the youngest mage, he had asked to break that one. The oldest mage chose a drakil for himself, a medium sized cat of prey with drake like wings and a scaled hide. He then chose a massive rat with a high plague affinity for the brown eyed mage, there was nothing of particular note about this creature so it would be perfect for the weakest of the three mages. Each of the mages whisked their summon away to separate rooms, they were bare except for a stone slab raised on a dais in the center. The air was stale and dry but would soon reek of blood and desperation. The blue eyed mage smiled widely as he took his subdued treant into his room, he bound it to the slab with glowing blue chains. Each chain seemed to freeze the bark that it touched and small tendrils of frozen air wafted off them like smoke. The youngest mage caressed the rough bark with a hand, the treant bucked and flailed trying to break free but the chains held. There were many ways to break a treant, most of which just involved leaving it in a place with little to no water and sunlight and waiting until it weakened. The blue eyed mage didn¡¯t want to wait. ¡°We¡¯re going to have so much fun you and I. So much fun.¡± he began to pluck the leaves one by one from the creature''s body sending it into more violent spasms. The mage reached into his robe and withdrew a small blade, it had an ornate handle and the blade itself was covered in frost. He loomed over the treant and slowly drove the blade into its abdomen, twisting as it went. The creature cried louder and louder until the ground seemed to shake, this made the mage only smile wider. Green iridescent sap leaked out from around the blade, pooling on the stone before sloshing off the edge and onto the floor. The mage withdrew the blade and started to saw the legs and arms, smiling wickedly to himself. He was truly glad he was allowed to break a treant, most creatures were so frail, but he could do whatever he wanted to to break the beast¡¯s will. It didn¡¯t matter how much he hurt the creature, as long as he kept it alive. Because no matter what he broke, no matter what he cut off, and no matter how much it screamed and roared, it would all just grow back. He smiled wider yet. Multiple days had passed since the creatures had started disappearing from their cages and returning later with a dull look in their eyes. Some had silver collars bolted around their neck, and others still had visible wounds on their bodies. The more intelligent creatures had since noticed their compatriots come back different, but by the time they did it was already too late. There no longer were the sounds of howling and animalistic screaming, instead there was the steady intake of breath and a placid desperation that hung in the air. There were no more creatures that needed to be broken in and controlled, except for the still sleeping man in one of the cells. He had woken several times, muttering something nonsensical, before falling fast asleep. The three mages stood around his cage warily. If they were right and he was a demon, then that meant they were going to need to pull out their best tactics. A gruff voice sounded out, ¡°Take him to the main chamber.¡± the middle and youngest mage nodded silently before using a sleep spell in tandem, their words overlapping and morphing together. The ¡®human¡¯ in the cell didn¡¯t move a muscle and remained asleep, they slowly dissolved the cage and summoned their bound familiars. The youngest summoned a whirling storm of freezing wind that cupped the unconscious creature and carried him, while the middle mage summoned a humanoid flame elemental that singed the ground where it stood and let off a sulphur like smell. They brought the man to the main torture chamber, a rounded room with rough walls, and lit torches that flickered to life near the entrance. Similar to the other chambers this one had a raised stone slab in the center where the two mages bound the creature with red and blue chains. After checking if the restraints were secure the older mage strolled in with a black leather pack slung over his shoulder. He lay the pack on the ground and slowly withdrew the implements within, the other two mages let out a rushed breath at the sight. Inside were countless types of tools, from saws with rough edges, to blades with edges that could cut cleanly through paper. Deeper in the bag were numerous vials filled with multicolored liquid, and deeper still was a silver collar with strange runic symbols pulsing with light across the brim.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. He withdrew the tools and lay them out neatly on a raised stone platform that had shot out of the ground at his command. After making minute adjustments to make sure they were all in order he stood up and straightened his robe, ¡°Wait here. Inform me when it wakes.¡± The two mages nodded silently again, and took position on either side of the stone slab. The room smelled of sulphur, and it was unnaturally cold and hot at the same time, due in part to the elementals that waited alongside their masters. The mages that were watching the prisoner had begun to get bored, the sleep spell should have worn off ages ago but the man still slept as peacefully as ever. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t he be up by now?¡± the youngest mage asked whiningly. ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t quite understand why he isn¡¯t up yet¡­¡± replied the other quizzically. ¡°Should we stab him?¡± he fingered the tip of his knife excitedly. ¡°Maybe we should just wait a while longer, don¡¯t want to anger the old man.¡± the youngest mage paled slightly at the thought of their leader getting angry with them. ¡°I don¡¯t think I can wait much longer. I might be going mad.¡± the youngest complained again. The other mage sighed heavily. ¡°I¡¯ll go ask.¡± with that statement he straightened up and strutted out of the room. The man¡¯s eyes cracked open slightly, it seemed he was trying to hide the fact he was awake, but he wasn¡¯t doing very well as the mage saw him near instantly. ¡°Aha! You¡¯re awake!¡± ¡°Nope, still sleeping.¡± the man named Tobias replied. The mage looked at him, confusion written on his face. ¡°But you¡¯re talking to me. You can¡¯t be asleep.¡± Obnoxiously loud fake snoring noises filled the room, the blue eyed mage grumbled loudly and stalked away to inform the other two mages. They would be here soon enough, but if the older mage came in to the sound of obviously fake snoring he might fly into a rage. Nearly as soon as he exited the room he stumbled directly into the path of the two mages, ¡°He¡¯s awake and faking sleep.¡± he stated, staring at his boots expectantly. ¡°Good.¡± the voice of the oldest mage hissed out and sounded more like a snake than a man. They walked together back into the torture room, their feet beating out a quick staccato rhythm on the hard stone floor. The beat stopped abruptly as they entered the torture room, the youngest and middle mage gasped at what they saw, while the oldest roared furiously, ¡°Seize him!¡± The two mages were too stunned to do anything but gape openly, the man they had bound in multiple layers of magical chain and who they had under guard was now pacing around the room. He looked at the walls like they held the greatest tapestries known to man. Further adding to the mages confusion was the lack of their elementals, while the chains lay empty on the stone slab, their summoned familiars were nowhere to be seen. The man who was studying the walls with the utmost focus didn¡¯t notice the intrusion of three highly dangerous mages. ¡°You useless fools! I said seize him!¡± The mages, finally broken from their stupor, charged forward. The middle mage had a furiously burning ball of flame in his right hand that hissed and spat, while the other had multiple shards of ice floating dangerously around him. ¡°Stand down foul demon or be smote!¡± The ¡®demon¡¯ looked over towards them, his eyes growing wide at the sight of floating icicles and a man holding a ball of flame with seemingly no harm. ¡°Wow! That¡¯s so cool! How¡¯re you doi-¡± he paused and looked curiously at the youngest mage, ¡°Did you just say ¡®smote¡¯?¡± A crooked grin split across his face and manic laughter spilled like a river from his lips. ¡°He said smote! Haha! What is this? Some kind of crusade?¡± he burst out laughing again, the two mages looked at eachother, confusion warring with anger on their faces. ¡°I said stand down beast, or I shall pierce your legs and he shall burn the skin from your body!¡± the youngest mage had gone with anger, and his words echoed off the walls. The oldest mage in the back stood stock still, torn between ripping apart his idiot subordinates or silencing the annoying demon. His decision never came as the man covered his face with one hand and clutched at his belly with the other, ¡°I¡¯m so-sorry.¡± he gasped out between labored breaths, his body shaking from laughter. ¡°You guys are so serious about this, and you set up such a nice room for me. I may as well be kind and proper.¡± With that statement, and tears leaking from his eyes, he sat down on the stone slab and pulled the inescapable magic chains over his body like a blanket. The two mages in the front seemed even more shocked, if that was possible, at the scene. From experience their threats never seemed to work, so this demon going along with it, and for such a stupid reason as to be ¡®proper¡¯, was boggling their mind. The two mages looked back towards their leader for guidance, ¡°You guys can have this one. I¡¯ll stand guard.¡± the leader opted out of the duty to somehow break this creature¡¯s will. ¡°Begin.¡± The blue eyed mage cleared his throat, ¡°You have no chance of escape foul wretch. Bind yourself to our command and you will not suffer.¡± while he may have wanted to hurt the demon at least a little bit, he decided to follow instruction with the old mage so close by. ¡°Nah.¡± the man-demon said, removing his hand from under the chains and wiping a remaining tear from his cheek. ¡°How did you do that?¡± the middle mage asked, pointing wildly at the demon. ¡°Do what?¡± ¡°That!¡± he said pointing at his free arm. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Tha-¡± the old mage cut him off by clearing his throat, ¡°I mean. How did you free your arm?¡± he looked back towards the old mage who made a ¡®more¡¯ motion with his hand. ¡°Tell me how, or I¡¯ll peel your skin off like a fruit!¡± he looked back to the old mage who nodded. ¡°Oh.¡± the man said, understanding dawning on his face, ¡°Like this.¡± he said putting his arm back under the chains and slowly removing it from its binding. ¡°This is impossible, those demon binding chains should bind any demon up to the archfiend rank.¡± the middle mage muttered, he looked towards the youngest mage and oldest mage, and saw the same fearful expression on their faces. If this was true, then they had accidentally summoned a Demon Prince, and if that was the case they needed better restraints, or all their lives were forfeit. The youngest mage and middle mage had nothing more powerful than the restraints they had already used, and so they looked at their leader expectantly. He sighed and raised his arm, chanting out harsh words that grated against everyone''s ears. Small motes of light flickered into existence around his hand and he made a pushing motion and sent them spiralling towards the demon. The motes were part of a high level demonology skill called, [Binding Boost], this spell did as its name said and boost any binding to nearly triple its power. If a binding meant for an archfiend that became tripled in strength wasn¡¯t enough for this demon than there was no reason for any of them to expect to see the next morning. As the bright white light reached the blue and red chains they seemed to get sucked in. The chains rattled loudly and grew in size, before rotating and closing in on the demon like a vise. ¡°Ooh. Cozy, I can¡¯t even move anymore.¡± said the bound demon with a lazy smile. Sighs of relief were let out at that, though they were still on their toes as demons were known to lie. The youngest mage stumbled forward, and very carefully laid a finger on the chain. He coated his hand in mana that mimicked the abyss, and gave the chain a tug. An informational screen flashed in his vision, telling him the chains were strong enough for a fledgling Demon Prince. He looked back and gave his companions a tired smile and a thumbs up. ¡°Soooo¡­ What¡¯re we doing here friendos?¡± asked the now securely bound demon. The middle mage stepped forward and stood alongside the other mage, ¡°We are here to offer you a deal. Maybe now that you can¡¯t escape you will reconsider.¡± he paused, letting the suspense build, ¡°If not, we are going to have to hurt you, really, really badly.¡± ¡°Nah, I¡¯m good. I think I¡¯ll just hang here.¡± the man went back to studying the rock formations on the ceiling and muttering to himself, or the voices, it''s hard to tell. ¡°You may act tough now, but once we begin you will wish you hadn¡¯t.¡± the youngest mage threatened. ¡°I¡¯m not the biggest fan of pain, but I¡¯m a pretty avid consumer. I bought the daily issue, they deliver it right to your home.¡± he giggled. ¡°Very well, we warned you.¡± the two mages stepped away towards the torture implements. ¡°Yup, you did do that, didn¡¯t you.¡± he took a deep breath and yelled, ¡°Let¡¯s get this started! My friends are getting bored!¡± The youngest mage picked up a sharp looking object with a curved hook at the end, while the middle mage picked up a vial of some red blood like liquid and a needle. He tapped the vial menacingly and stepped back towards the stone slab. Wordlessly he extracted some of the liquid into the needle and looked towards his partner. The younger mage had a wolf like smile across his face as he preened over his hook. He stepped towards the demon and snapped his fingers, the chains disappeared from vision, but still held the demon tight. ¡°I¡¯m going to need your hand.¡± The youngest mage grasped the demon''s hand and placed the edge of the hook under its middle finger¡¯s nail. He wedged it deep under the nail until blood trickled down the blade, ¡°Last chance to reconsider, just give us your undying servitude, and this¡± he indicated the finger ¡°can all go away.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get on with this.¡± the man smiled wider than even the mage, ¡°It looks like fun.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad you think so.¡± he replied wolfishly, ¡°I think it sounds like fun too.¡± With that statement he levered up the hook, slowly lifting the nail until it reached the edge of its containment within skin. The skin around the nail started to rip, small string like pieces of flesh clung to the edges of the nail until they too snapped. The restrained man winced and held in a breath, he looked at the blood welling out of the wound and bit his bottom lip. He bit his lip too deeply and it cut into it, blood welled out and onto his tongue. A strangely excited moan escaped his lips and he muttered too quietly for anyone to hear, ¡°Oh yesss¡­¡± The blue eyed mage, mistaking his pleasure for pain continued to pry the nail until it popped off sickeningly. At that point the other mage came over with the needle and stuck it into the open wound, the blood like liquid was injected into the flesh and the man let out a rushed breath between clenched teeth. The pleasure he felt from tasting blood had overwhelmed and mixed with the pain from his finger, but now the poison coursing through his veins knocked all thought of enjoyment out of his mind. He didn¡¯t want to scream, as that would be rude to his kind hosts so he held in his pain, and let out only groans. The pain coursed through him and scoured his body, leaving him slack and hollow. He lay there numb to the world, unable to hear the mages threats. He lay silently until he felt the next nail start to be pried off, and knowing the pain that would follow, the measly amount of blood trickling from his lip and into his mouth was barely a comfort to him. Chapter 3 The mages stood awkwardly around their prisoner, his body covered in a myriad of bruises and cuts. They had brought out the whip the day prior and his body clearly reflected that, but obviously it still wasn¡¯t enough to break the man. He had been asking for something called ¡®pudding¡¯ which the mages assumed was some type of devil food. They fed him what some could consider food, a strange slop of leftovers from their earlier torture sessions. The man breathed raggedly, he had two missing nails on each hand, the middle finger and the pointer. On his left hand the pointer finger was missing from the top knuckle onwards. His already ragged gown was nearly nonexistent at this point. The mages looked at one another and sighed, they only had a day until they were expected back with their soldiers and they still had yet to make any leeway on their current subject. If he didn¡¯t break soon they were going to have to kill him, though they didn¡¯t want to waste any warrior, they just didn¡¯t have the time. ¡°Take an eye next, if that doesn¡¯t work.¡± the one eyed mage inhaled deeply, ¡°Kill it.¡± The other mages nodded, they too knew of the time limit they were on and as things stood if something as painful as taking an eye wasn¡¯t enough, than they had no chance to break him in a day. The oldest mage walked out of the room without another look at his companions, and the two mages walked over to the blood spattered tools. The youngest withdrew a spoon like object with small pointed ridges around the bowl. He smiled maliciously at the thought of hurting this demon, he prayed fervently that this would be the time it finally screamed. The middle eyed mage had summoned his fire elemental, and was stand guard at the base of the table. He was still wary, as the first time the demon escaped the elementals had been missing with no explanation. Truthfully, he didn¡¯t understand why the old man and the other mage seemed so carefree about torturing a demon. A demon! He had heard some of the stories of people who made deals with devils, entire towns found smoldering with not a body to be seen. Small city states reduced to rubble and undead. The thought of something going wrong sent a shiver down his spine. Yet still he nodded towards the other mage, ¡°Do it.¡± The mage smiled and stooped down to the table to work, he put his thumb and forefinger on the sleeping man¡¯s eyelids and pried them open. ¡°Are we playing again?¡± the man asked innocently. The mage scowled, his fun had been ruined. Somehow this demon still pretended to not care at the abuse it was suffering, that took all the fun out of torture. The mage violently jutted the spoon under the man¡¯s eye, scraping the underside of it. The man sucked in a violent breath, ¡°It¡¯s fine. I only need the one.¡± he said referring to his eyeball. The torturing mage let out a dissatisfied noise and hooked the spoon to the back of the eyeball, running the sharp ridges along the cord that connected the eye. The man let out a quiet breath and smiled up at the man currently sawing his eyeball out, ¡°If you push while you rotate it should cut cleaner.¡± The mage let out a sound suspiciously like a growl and shoved the spoon violently forward, a small snap sound signified the eyeball¡¯s escape from its fleshy prison. Yet still the man didn¡¯t scream, though the mage did. He screamed in frustration at the unfairness of it, he had done his best and still the demon didn¡¯t cry out! It just wasn¡¯t fair! And to make matters worse, the now one eyed man smiled up at him, his left eye socket leaking red down his cheek. ¡°S¡¯allright buddy, you¡¯ll get em¡¯ next time.¡± he said, punching him friendly with his free hand. The two mages stared at the man, mouths hanging open, ¡°You should close your mouths, might catch a fly like that.¡± he advised. The mages did so, shock written over their features. The man wiggled about until his body seemed to pop free from the invisible restraints, ¡°Attack the demon!¡± the middle mage commanded to his flame familiar. The elemental shot forward to the ragged man that was wiping futilely at his clothes. The elemental raised it¡¯s hand and thrust it forward like a spear, blisteringly fast. Though the instant before it hit he man standing there, it disappeared in a flash of golden light. The mage looked at the spot his familiar used to be in before turning tail and running, he might be loyal to his country but he wasn¡¯t about to fight a demon that could banish a familiar without so much as a gesture! As soon as he turned around he was greeted by several feet of burnished steel straight through his throat, he looked up at this wielder of the blade, and gurgled faintly. The man who had pierced his throat had green eyes and hair so blonde it seemed to be made of metal. His face was twisted into a look of disgust and his iridescent white armor was spattered with blood. ¡®My blood¡¯ he thought faintly, before the light left his eyes. ¡°In the name of our lord Aasari, I decree you unclean!¡± the warrior shouted out before pointing his finger at the man bleeding on his sword, the body seemed to be consumed from the inside by a golden light. The golden light turned out to be a crackling flame that licked at the charred remains long after he was dead. The blue eyed mage stumbled back. He had never fought a real enemy, the biggest thing he had ever fought was a wild dog that he had stumbled across. Now, faced with an enemy that stood regally a head and a half higher, that had so easily dispatched his ally, he panicked. He had seen how the paladin had banished the flame familiar, he knew the demon hadn¡¯t done it. The light that appeared was obviously holy light, and no demon could wield it. He turned away from the paladin and looked at the one eyed demon, he still stood there, grimacing as he scrubbed vigorously at his dirty rags. Taking the risk, the mage sprinted past him and arrived at the other wall. The demon didn¡¯t even glance up at the retreating mage, he just raised a hand in greeting and mumbled out a goodbye, before returning his utmost focus to cleaning his clothes. The mage reached the wall and slapped his hands against it, while earth wasn¡¯t nearly his highest affinity, he was still skilled enough to slap together a hasty earth forming spell. He extended his senses out into the wall, reaching deep into the steadfast earth. Feeling every imperfection in the cold stone, searching, searching. And then he found it, a connecting tunnel nearly thirty feet away from where he now stood. He recalled a mana pattern he had seen in one of his books, it had reminded him of the mana pattern used to form ice, it wasn''t perfect, but with enough mana to fill in the gaps, it should work. He focused on it, and inverted it. This gobbled up his mana hungrily, but with his monstrous cap of 3600 he wasn¡¯t too worried. He knew using unformed magic that hadn¡¯t grown into a spell yet was dangerous. ¡®But so is that paladin!¡¯ he thought to himself.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Using the hastily formed mana signature along with his impeccable control he managed to cobble together an earth un-forming spell. Using it he carved open a small pathway into the wall, before throwing himself inside and reforming the wall behind him. Before the earth swallowed him, he looked behind him towards the encroaching paladin and saw that he had been joined by five other individuals, each one garbed in holy looking armor. The earth closed behind him, and he started the arduous process of carving his way to the connecting cave. This entire interaction happened in nearly twelve seconds, a testament to the potential held by the sadistic ¡®noobie¡¯ mage. Back in the room a man covered in caked blood and dirt stood silently, rubbing vigorously at a specific patch of grime. The six paladins that surrounded him looked on silently, staring intently at the one eyed man. The man in question, seemingly satisfied with his job, looked up from his cleaning. His good eye opened a bit wider as he took in the men surrounding him for the first time. ¡°Who¡¯re you guys?¡± he asked. ¡°We are members of the Holy Order of the Resplendent Holy Blade of Aasari!¡± they said in unison, each striking a pose for the man. ¡°So you¡¯re paladins for the HORHBA. Bleh. That¡¯s a real mouthful.¡± he scowled as he stumbled over the strange acronym. ¡°Aye! A mouthful of justice and holy vigour!¡± the leading man replied, a brilliant smile on his bloodied face, ¡°Though we request you use our orders full name when addressing the holiness that is the Holy Order of the Resplendent Holy Blade of Aasari.¡± ¡°Nah, too many words.¡± he said simply. ¡°O-ok. I guess that¡¯s fine.¡± he stumbled over his words, unused to people not following the requests of the Holy Order. ¡°You guys are real understanding." he smiled up at them, "Welp! Nice talking with ya, I¡¯ll see you around!¡± he said merrily before waving and slipping between two of the paladins in the encirclement. Though slipping was meant in the more literal sense, as he had to pick himself up off the ground afterwards. They made no move to stop him until he was near the door. A strong gauntleted hand grabbed his shoulder and held him back, ¡°You musn¡¯t leave yet! We require you to speak before our court and give description to this foulness!¡± the green eyed leader said, indicating the room they were in. ¡°I¡¯m really very busy. Perhaps another time.¡± the dirty man replied. He made to move further away before he stopped and tilted his head quizzically, ¡°Whatd¡¯ya mean I¡¯m not busy? I do stuff.¡± The paladin behind him looked confused, ¡°I didn¡¯t say anything.¡± the man turned and looked at him, ¡°I have just received a call from my Secretary. And as it turns out, I am not busy now, or ever apparently.¡± he nodded once. ¡°So¡­ you will come with us to describe the horrors here? We will of course provide succor and heal your wounds.¡± the paladin leader had no idea what a ''secretary'' was but he didn''t feel like questioning it. The man looked around before leaning in and whispering to the paladin, ¡°I don¡¯t swing that way but thanks for the offer.¡± he leaned away from him and said in a normal voice, ¡°I will however take you up on the healing.¡± he pointed to the countless wounds on his body, ¡°These are starting to sting a bit.¡± The paladin, again, had no idea what he meant when he said he ¡®didn¡¯t swing that way¡¯ but now that he truly looked at the man he noticed just how badly the man was injured. Truthfully it was a miracle he was still standing. The paladin had a newfound respect for this mentally disinclined man. To be still standing, even with such horrible wounds, he had to be strong, and this particular paladin respected strength. The paladin outstretched his hand to the man who clasped it and shook, ¡°Might I ask your name strange traveler?¡± the paladin asked. ¡°I¡¯m Tobi. You?¡± he said with a lopsided grin. ¡°Why I am the Second Lieutenant of the Holy Order of the Resplendent Holy Blade of Aasari! Nickelios the Fourth!¡± he said, dislodging his hand from the man¡¯s grip and smiling brilliantly. ¡°Alright. I got one last question Nick.¡± he leaned in conspiratorially and opened his eye, revealing an empty socket with bloody ropes hanging inside, ¡°You seen my eye?¡± Further away, past the entrance to the small cave system was a one eyed man with a host of various beasts and monsters, crawling, sprinting, and flying through the woods. They had avoided the nearby villages, and made their way through the forest, slaughtering beasts and travelers alike. They had made their way to a deep grove in the center of the massive forest, it was surrounded on all sides by trees that seemed to go on forever. Once he and his small army reached the center he commanded them into rows, ten long and thirteen deep. He had one hundred and thirty creatures with a high affinity of one sort or another, ready to be groomed into an elite fighting force. He sat down on a protruding rock in the middle of the clearing, and stared off into the deep expanse of the forest. He sat there, waiting for his two subordinates. He waited nearly four hours before he noticed something, in the underbrush nearby the bushes shook slightly. He stood up, calling on the power of flame and earth to summon a ball of magma that coursed through the air menacingly. ¡°Show yourself.¡± he called out. From the bushes came the youngest mage, his robe was tattered and he had a wild look in his eyes. ¡°Where is the other?¡± he called out. The mage took a moment to catch his breath, his hand on his knees before calling back in a halting voice, ¡°Dead, the paladins got him.¡± The old mage scowled deeply, ¡°No matter. We have the summons. They presumably don¡¯t know about that. Do they?¡± he asked the last part menacingly, the ball of magma above his head morphed and elongated into a spear shape. The other mage paled, ¡°No, we moved the summons out before they came. They shouldn¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t? Shouldn¡¯t is for amateurs and men who deal in half measures!¡± he stomped his foot angrily, and the air heated up several degrees, ¡°Do they know, or do they not? It¡¯s a simple question.¡± The mage gulped, ¡°They can¡¯t know. They were probably only there because of the reports of missing persons in the nearby villages.¡± ¡°Good. I assume you are not so incompetent as to have left the demon alive.¡± he said dismissing the magma spear and looking back towards his troops. There was no response. The one eyed mage turned around again and looked back towards his subordinate, ¡°You did kill him before you left. Right?¡± Again the blue eyed mage didn¡¯t respond, he did instead walk closer to his leader and fall to his knees, his eyes pleading with the mage. He clasped his hands together, tears streaking his face, ¡°I had to run! They would have killed me just like they did Jelsin!¡± his eyes were filled with desperation, ¡°I didn¡¯t have time to kill the demon! Plea-¡± Blood burst forward from the mages throat, a pillar of earth had shot out from behind him and cleaved him through the neck. The older mage wiped his robe disinterestedly and sighed, ¡°Gross incompetence and negligence. The king will not be glad.¡± He turned back around for a final time, not sparing a glance from the rictus form of his once companion. In front of his army was a series of pillars, seven in number. They were arranged in a circular fashion and each had a single huge rune carved into the side. They each pulsed a different color, from green on the far left to red on the far right. The one eyed mage flicked several flecks of blood from the dead mage onto each pillar as he walked by them, they blazed brilliantly for several seconds before calming down. He had used the mage''s blood as magical creatures, mages included, had a high concentration of mana in their blood, which allowed for the activation. Once each pillar had been activated, he stepped back to the front of his silent army, he spread his arms wide and barked out a command. The air rushed forward from the pillars, carrying with it a sense of emptiness, energy in the air seemed to fizzle out and be sucked towards the pillars. Several of the weaker creatures near the front fell to the ground, their bodies shriveling and becoming corpses. The older mage weathered the vacuum of power, though even he stumbled slightly at the aggressiveness of the pull. The seven pillars blazed brighter than before, their colors intermingling in the center to create a disc of multi hued brilliance. The disc burst apart, sending javelins of light back towards the pillars. The javelins seemed to be connected by small cords and when they pulled taught, they created a vast interwoven tapestry. The tapestry flattened out and stretched before it rotated until it was facing straight up. Once again the colors flashed brilliantly, but this time, once the blinding light dispersed, in place of the rainbow of magic was a hole in space. Through the hole was a wide hallway made from cobbled stone with torches lining the wall. The hallway had multiple oaken doors leading off of it, and at the far end was a wide double door with gold inlaid on the border in winding vine like patterns. The mage smiled. The portal was complete, and it led to the dungeon under Ultirn, a long abandoned series of ruins located far to the west of the portal. It had been repurposed as the country¡¯s base for the Summoned Arms Division. The mage took a step forward, towards the portal, and his host of monsters and creatures followed, silently as always. Chatper 4 The blue eyed mage watched from the bushes as the older mage speared his summoned doppelganger through the throat. He had debated whether or not to even show up, or if he should attempt to fool him. In the end he had used his familiar to fool the old man, it was a real risk, because if the old man had attempted to use any identification spells the doppelganger wouldn¡¯t be able to fool them. The doppelganger was quite a low level at only 12, but it had a strangely high water affinity. The old man used the doppelganger''s blood to activate the portal, the mage inhaled sharply and held the breath. If the doppelganger didn¡¯t have enough mana in its blood to mimic that of mage blood then the activation wouldn¡¯t work and his ruse would be ruined. He sighed in relief as he watched the portals flare to life and activate. The old man left with his host of warriors and the blue eyed mage exited from the shrubbery he had hidden himself in. He got a good look at the doppelganger familiar as its shapeshifting reverted in death. The skin darkened to a deep burnt purple, and the face elongated and smoothed out leaving no mouth, nose, or eyes. The body shrunk slightly, and the limbs extended and became more spindly. He shook his head at the waste of such a good familiar, he had told the old man when he was breaking it that the torture proved too much for the frail monster. When in reality he had bound its soul using his [Intermediate - Rank IV] - [Monster Tamer] ability. After he had bound the creature instead of breaking its will and bringing it to his leader, he had used its powers of shapeshifting to fake its own death. He had brought it over to the reject pile, the smell of decay cloying in the air, and dropped its limp ¡®corpse¡¯, covered in fake and real wounds, onto the pile for all to see. Later on the next day, it¡¯s corpse would miraculously disappear. No one missed the dead creature in a pile of dead creatures, and the youngest mage had made off with a brand new familiar. However short lived as it was. He turned away from the dead monster, truly dead this time, and looked around the clearing. The old man must have been growing rusty to think that a single earth spear could take a level 50 [Frost Mage] by surprise. He shook his head thinking back on the way his companion was speared through the neck, if the fool had just taken the time to think rationally none of that would have happened. The mage stood alone in the clearing, wondering at where he should go. He couldn¡¯t go back to the Gazzril Empire, the old mage had probably already spun some story of false treachery and given it to the king. If he was seen there then his life would end shortly. He thought deeply, stroking a non existent beard, the Gazzril Empire was a marauding one. They had achieved a massive force of more mundane units but they also utilized a secret summoning ritual to summon high affinity creatures. Their military might was second to none, and they had reached the top through bloodshed and conquest. Nearly every country that bordered the Gazzril Empire was under it¡¯s rule, officially or not. He rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration, he could go to a small town or village and lay low, but that didn¡¯t appeal to the mage. There weren¡¯t many places that were free of the Empire¡¯s rule, and nearly all that were against it, were also fighting it one way or another. He didn¡¯t feel like getting involved in any ill fated rebellions, so that was out. The mage grew tired of thinking, there was no need to stress about what to do next, not yet at least. Decided on a more simple course of action, the young mage set off into the forest, towards where he thought the road lay. Nearly two miles away, a group of three massive men clad in silver and white armor walked steadily. They were accompanied by a man in nothing but rags, his body split and torn. Contrary to his depressive state, the man in question was prattling on endlessly. The paladins had long ago grown weary of his incessant chattering, but they indulged the poor man, at their leader''s orders, ¡®We are glorious paladins! Defenders of the weak, and saviours of the poor! We can let this poor soul speak as long as he wished.¡¯ he had said. Though they followed the order, one of the paladins ground his teeth and fingered the hilt of his broadsword. The paladins had introduced themselves to the man, though they were in serious doubt he had paid attention, as he just called them by his own names. The green eyed leader was Nick, the only one to receive a name befitting of their status. The second in commands was named Blondy, for his long blond hair, the man currently wishing he was allowed to stab him was dubbed Scowl-o, the other three didn¡¯t stay around long enough to receive a name. The three nameless paladins had went ahead down the dirt path, that lied and called itself a road, towards the nearest settlement. The village in question was a small place composed of a dozen or so thatch roofed, mud brick homes with small farms out in the back. There was a general store made from rickety wood, boarded together into the facsimile of a shop. The building were arrayed haphazardly in a lush section of meadow near the border of the woods. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. The paladins that had gone ahead were sent to try to obtain lodgings and see if there was a resident [Healer] in the village. The chances of a class like [Healer] being in such a small place was slim, but any chance was worth taking. The paladins couldn¡¯t heal the injured man, as his injuries were not unholy in nature, and none of the paladins had a healing subclass. Most paladins focused on offensive skills and skills to buff and protect. They excelled in either stopping you from getting hurt, or killing whatever was going to hurt you, they also dabbled in the occasional holy smiting. They had used their medical supplies to bandage the ragged man, he had bandages covering him from the neck down. Aasari have pity on the man who bandaged his pelvic area. They had tried to find the man¡¯s eye, but were unable to. They also offered to bandage the empty socket, but the man had responded with, ¡°I won¡¯t be able to look for my eye if you blind me.¡± they had assured him they would only bandage the one, but he was adamant on that fact. The sun was lowering itself in the sky and the light filtering in through the leaves above was becoming scarce. Nick saw a small clearing surrounded on its sides by boulders. The clearing was empty except for grass and several herbs that favored the dark forest, the paladins had to be wary of wolves and other predators moving through the forest road but they were trained professionals and they had honed their battle senses. ¡°Come my brothers in arms! Rest is but a few yards away, we shall survive this battle yet!¡± Nick called out victoriously. Blondy and Scowl-o rolled their eyes at their over excited leader, their legs were sore and there eyes filled with grit. Both of them wished with all their hearts they could have been the ones to go ahead to the village, they didn¡¯t want to waste time slogging behind with the slow bandaged man. ¡°Quiet down. There¡¯s no need to be so loud.¡± Scowl-o groaned. ¡°Oh but there is! Grab the packs and we shall set camp for the night. It is truly a wonderful place to rest!¡± Nick roared out again. Scowl-o scowled. The paladins took their sleeping rolls, along with an extra for Tobi, out of small pouches on their hips, each pouch could contain a massive amount, they also costed a king¡¯s ransom. Tobi looked up from a nut he had been attempting to open using only his thumbs, so far no progress, but he was still hopeful. When he looked up he saw the men retrieving sleeping rolls from too-small bags, he wanted one. ¡°Come, Tobi, you shall have a roll to sleep in as well!¡± he indicated a roll set on the ground, little more than a hide bag along with some fur, ¡°I shall take first watch.¡± he stated before finding a well suited boulder and sitting down, the crisp clinking of his armor sounding out in the cold night air. Tobi hadn¡¯t napped in a while and he felt the urge to, so he padded over to his sleeping roll and pulled the top flap over his shoulder. The other two paladins did the same, still garbed in metal their armor, they lay their blades down next to their rolls and fell into a light slumber. Nick peered into the dark woods restlessly, his eyelids had grown strangely heavy, yet he kept them open through sheer force of will. Strange motes of orange dust floated in the air and the tall trees stood resolutely, unchanging in the moonlight. He hadn¡¯t seen a single thing to alert him, yet still he felt the ever present uneasiness gnawing at his core. He had felt this sensation before, he had a unique ability that allowed him to sense when monsters were nearby. Ever since they had entered this clearing he had the feeling they were being watched, stalked even. So he never let his guard down, he stared off into the forest, looking for any sign of the beast following them. He groaned, whatever it was, it obviously had patience in abundance. The strangely set up rocks in the clearing would provide cover for whatever it was, along with the bushes, trees, and strange abundance of vines clinging to the trees around him. There were strange indentations in the ground that his eyes kept falling on, they looked like some great beast had lifted boulders out of their resting places and moved them. Unless. ¡°Get up! Wake up!¡± he screamed at the top of his lungs, all the evidence moving into place. He jumped off of the rock he had been sitting on and sprinted over to his companions, he kicked at their still forms, knocking them awake. ¡°What is it sir!¡± they asked in unison, all evidence of their annoyance with their over excited leader gone at the presence of potential danger. ¡°The plants! Get away from the plants!¡± he replied. They didn¡¯t question him and did as they were told, leaving behind their sleeping rolls and their forgotten injured companion in their haste. The three men burst out of the clearing, their breathing labored. The two paladins looked at their leader confusedly, ¡°Why did we run from the plants?¡± ¡°I had a suspicion when I had started to feel more tired than I should have been, along with my [Monster Detection] ability being on alert ever since we neared the clearing.¡± he answered resolutely. Scowl-o looked over, his signature scowl replaced with a look of even deeper confusion, ¡°I still don¡¯t get it. If there was a monster there, why didn¡¯t we fight it.¡± ¡°Because we need to regroup here if we are to fight it.¡± he looked over seriously, ¡°Those stones weren¡¯t separate boulders, they were segments of a Plant Elemental. I don¡¯t know what manner of Plant Elemental it was, but this one must be high enough level to use spores to attempt to make me sleep. I¡¯d guess it was around level 75, that¡¯s usually when most monsters obtain unique racial magic.¡± Blondy opened his mouth to speak, but shut it instantly, his eyes opened wide. He looked as if he had forgotten to turn off the stove before leaving his house, and he might as well have, ¡°Tobias! We forgot him!¡± Scowl-o looked over, ¡°Let¡¯s leave him, we don¡¯t have a mage, and elementals are nearly impervious to our attacks.¡± ¡°No. We promised him safety and he shall have it. We fight!¡± Nick called out. Blondy didn¡¯t look too excited, ¡°I, for once, agree with him. We shouldn¡¯t attempt to fight a plant elemental. There is no way we can save him and all of us escape.¡± Nick took out his blade, ¡°Are you refusing a direct order?¡± ¡°No. I just think it¡¯s a stupid order.¡± ¡°Will you fight for Aasari? Will you help me save this man?¡± His answer was delivered when Scowl-o knocked the hilt of his blade into Nick¡¯s unguarded head, ¡°I am not dying for that imbecil. Drag him into the clearing and lets go.¡± Nick fell to the ground with a clank, Blondy looked at Scowl-o with trepidation, but did as he was told. The two paladins left behind their leader inside the clearing, along with a still sleeping Tobias and a slowly forming Plant Elemental. Chapter 5 Three figures held court in a place that didn¡¯t exist, they were arrayed around a Tower that wasn¡¯t there. The non existent Tower stood high, so high that the top wasn¡¯t visible no matter how far up you went. The figures took the forms of a snake, a wolf, and a man. The snake¡¯s scales shimmered darkly, and bands of smoke coiled around its length. The wolf, larger than any man, lay on its side lazily, its dark gray matted fur ruffling in an unseen wind. Atop the wolf¡¯s head was a crown of bramble and thorn. The man stood stock still, like a statue, his one eye gazing off into the vast chaos around the Tower, his bandaged form outlining his frail body. Countless voices could be heard from the Tower, echoing discordantly in the wide expanse. The snake hissed out, ¡°Why mussst you alwaysss take the form of our hossst? It isss, unbecoming of one of the triumvirate.¡± The one eyed man chuckled darkly, ¡°I see it as an homage to the one kind enough to Host us,¡± he gestured to the Tower, ¡°and our brethren.¡± The wolf let out an unamused grunt, ¡°This is entertaining, though I wish you would explain the need for this meeting.¡± The man raised a hand, ¡°Ah! But you must already know, as the Guardian of his flesh you have sensed it have you not?¡± The wolf nodded, ¡°Indeed. Though I doubt a mere Elemental could do our Host harm, he can deal with it on his own.¡± ¡°That would be true. If it weren¡¯t that the Elemental was Named.¡± a wolfish grin spread across the man¡¯s face. ¡°Tend to your flock,¡± the wolf indicated the Tower of Voices, ¡°and I shall tend mine. Do not interfere.¡± it threatened. The man let out another laugh, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dream of it mutt.¡± The wolf let out a threatening growl, ¡°Enough, thisss isss not why you brought usss here. Not even you are ssstupid enough to call a meeting jussst to taunt usss.¡± ¡°Correct! I called this meeting because we have two important issuse to discuss.¡± he folded his hands, ¡°One of our brethren in the Tower is nearing the next stage. As you know, the last time we let one of them grow unchecked we nearly lost our Host.¡± The wolf and snake looked uneasily at each other, ¡°Do you have a plan?¡± the wolf asked. ¡°Aye. We must bring the Voice to us, and we must tell It the Rules. If it is a safe aspect of the Host¡¯s mind we shall allow It into the Chaos.¡± he replied curtly. ¡°That seemsss dangerousss. The Voice may be a wild assspect, we may not be able to contain it.¡± the snake said. ¡°You think we are not powerful enough to contain a single Voice? We are the triumvirate!¡± the wolf announced proudly. ¡°Very well. Thisss seemsss rash, but I see no other choice.¡± the snake bobbed its head. ¡°When shall we call the Voice?¡± the wolf asked. ¡°After we finish discussing the second matter. The second matter is the new world out Host finds himself in, it is filled with power, and it has changed us as much as him.¡± he replied. ¡°What do you mean?¡± the snake asked. ¡°I mean that we used to be just simple aspects of the Host''s mind, but now, we are so much more! We have power beyond just whispering in his ear, we could change the Host, bend him to our will!¡± the man cried excitedly. The wolf growled, ¡°If we are more powerful then so is he, we mustn''t be rash about anything. The time will come when the host shall learn of real magic, chances are sooner rather than later, and when that happens he will also have power over us.¡± The man scowled, ¡°Alright, though there is another issue regarding these two points. The Voice. We have never summoned a Voice in this world, so much power¡± he indicated the swirling Chaos surrounding them, ¡°could lead to disaster.¡± The wolf nodded, ¡°We still have no choice. We should get this over with.¡± ¡°Very well. Summon It.¡± The man nodded, he raised a hand and put it onto the side of the non existent tower. His hand seemed to fall through the wall and when he pulled it back he had a strange light grasped in his hand. The light swirled in multi colored brilliance, it looked like a less maddening form of the Chaos that pervaded this non existent place, it shined wildly as it struggled in his grasp. ¡°Be still young one.¡± he told It. A voice that seemed to clash with itself sounded out, ¡°Wh-where? Who?¡± The man smiled down at It, ¡°You are outside now. We are brethren, family.¡± The light stopped struggling, It sat there in the man¡¯s hand. The light seemed to have a physical form, as It adhered to gravity, Its edges drooped around the man¡¯s hand, ¡°Outside?¡± It asked in a small voice, not too dissimilar from a child¡¯s. The man indicated the tower, ¡°You used to be in there. Do you not remember?¡± ¡°No. I-it¡¯s all fuzzy before now. It¡¯s all just noise.¡± the light started shaking again, ¡°O-oh my, so much noise.¡± It sounded afraid. A loud buzzing filled the triumvirates ears, ¡°Calm now pup, you are safe here.¡± the wolf said. The light¡¯s struggling started anew as it attempted to flee the strange trio, fear driving it and giving it strength, ¡°Let go! Let go! Let me go!¡± it screeched. The light blazed brilliantly in its attempts to flee, waves of power radiated out and staggered the three Voices. The man dropped him, startled at its sudden struggle. He reached for the splatter of light again, and stopped instantly when the ground started to rumble and the Tower shook. The Voices inside the Tower became louder and more insistent, overpowering the triumvirates yells. The Chaos thrummed with power, a deep rumbling noise shook the Tower further. The small pool of rainbow light slowly slid across the ground, inching like a worm. It made Its way to the edge, the point where Chaos intersected with Order, and it crossed the boundary.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Silence. No sound echoed out, the triumvirate stood still, shock written on their features. They had failed to contain the Voice, the small light pool had reacted strangely, It had fled, and they had failed. The snake, the wolf, and the man stood there, staring into the Chaos. The Chaos was still, unnaturally so. Though this brought them no comfort, as the stillness reminded them of that before the storm. The Chaos bucked suddenly, and was still again, before bucking again like a great stallion and spilling forth like the sea. The snake fled, the man retreated to his tower, and the wolf stood to weather the storm. Tobias awoke with a splitting headache, it felt like someone had gone at his head with an axe. He clutched the sides of his head and attempted to silence the Voices in his head. They screamed at him, though not as they usually did, this time they begged for help. He knocked his hand into the side of his head, as if trying to dislodge the Voices. They spoke of a storm that shook the Tower and split the world. Tobi looked confused, he frowned. The Voices went quiet and a new Voice sounded out. It sounded like a child, and it begged his forgiveness. It said the Storm was It¡¯s fault, and that it was an accident. He had no idea what any of them were talking about and just decided to be thankful that the child¡¯s voice made it all quiet. Tobi looked around the clearing, the sun was just peeking over the horizon and pink light filtered through the skyline. He extradited himself from his sleeping roll and looked towards the towering monster in front of him, it stood three times his height and was composed of vines and plants strung along several boulders in the shape of a man. The vines seemed to be holding the thing together, and weird orange dust floated around it. He dismissed it and looked away towards where the paladins should be, but saw only Nick, he lay awkwardly on the ground, his face in the dirt. He had a nasty looking gash on his scalp, and blood trickled down his face. Tobi remembered the cool little pouches that the paladins had and walked over to the unconscious man. A loud boom sounded out behind him, and a wave of air blasted over him. Tobi staggered, ¡°What the heck was that?¡± he looked back towards the monolithic creature, ¡°Oh yeah¡­ You.¡± The creature had swung it¡¯s boulder fist into the ground, where it landed was a small crater. Tobi sucked a breath in through his teeth, ¡°That would not feel good.¡± he turned his gaze back towards the creature, ¡°Would you mind not crushing me? I¡¯m just trying to rob my friend over here.¡± he asked kindly. The elemental responded by leaping towards him and crushing him with two boulder fists, or he would have if Tobi hadn¡¯t tripped over the aforementioned ¡®friend¡¯ and fallen flat on his ass. A wave of dust and leaves obscured Tobi¡¯s vision, ¡°Huh. Guess that¡¯s a nope.¡± ¡°Host, I am tr-truly sorry about the Storm, it must hurt your mind very much.¡± the child¡¯s voice stuttered out. Tobi rolled away from the elemental¡¯s foot as it crashed towards him, he winced at the noise Nick¡¯s leg made when it was stepped on, ¡°Who¡¯re you? I know Spooky the best, and he didn¡¯t tell me about a Storm. ¡° ¡°It is the reason the Voices won¡¯t be q-quiet. I can make it sound like they aren¡¯t talking, but they are. They¡¯re so loud.¡± the Voice shuddered. Tobi got to his feet and dodge to the side, stumbling slightly at the shockwave of the elemental¡¯s fist, ¡°I can¡¯t really talk right now, big rock man is trying to smash me.¡± ¡°I can bring you to somewhere we can talk for a while. I-if you want. I can¡¯t do it very often, but it¡¯s so lonely here.¡± the Voice sounded sad. ¡°It¡¯d be kinda rude to just abandon rock guy here, he¡¯s trying really hard to get me.¡± Tobi sounded apprehensive, he rolled to the side, taking a glancing blow that sent him tumbling fifteen feet into a tree. He coughed up blood and gave the elemental a weak thumbs up. Truth be told he was getting quite tired of always just taking the abuse, he missed the days when he could dish it out too. But that would make him un-sane, and he had been working so hard to be un-un-sane, just like the Good Doctor ordered. ¡°F-for it, it would take only a moment. Time flows differently here.¡± the Voice replied. Tobi coughed up another mouthful, ¡°Sure, then I can come back and kick him right in the stones.¡± he chuckled. The world disappeared in a flash, the elemental¡¯s stone fist only a foot away from crushing Tobi¡¯s face in. A new place reappeared, full of clashing colors that swirled like liquid. In the center of it all way a small clear area of pure white with a strange puddle in the center, the puddle shimmered like an oil spill. The puddle shimmered at him, ¡°Nice crib.¡± Tobi complimented. ¡°Thank you. Though I cannot claim ownership, this is your mind. We are currently in a sea of Chaos.¡± the puddle told him. ¡°That¡¯s kinda cool. Why did you bring me here?¡± Tobi cut right to the chase. ¡°So you wouldn¡¯t die?¡± the puddle seemed confused at the question. ¡°Ah. Yeah, I guess that would be bad.¡± the last part sounded strangely like a question. ¡°And you wanted to beat up the ¡®rock man¡¯ as you called it. I can help.¡± ¡°How can you help me? Give me a quick lesson on how to punch a rock man to death? Because I don¡¯t really see what else I can do.¡± ¡°You seriously haven¡¯t figured it out yet?¡± the puddle seemed genuinely surprised. ¡°Figured what out. That I¡¯m going crazy talking to puddles about how to kill a rock guy? I figured that out.¡± he replied. ¡°No, that all of this is real. And that I can prove it, all you need to do is say ¡®status¡¯¡± the puddle said again. ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± ¡°Yup¡± ¡°Alright.¡± he cleared his throat overdramatically, ¡°Status.¡± The familiar blue box appeared in front of Tobi,
Achievement! - First Status!
Open your Status for the first time.
Name: Tobias Level: 1
Class: None Race: Human
Titles: Un-sane, Un-un-sane Affinity: Madness - 98%
Traits: [Passive - Unstable Mind] Skills: None
Spells: None Abilities: [Unique - Chaos Manipulation]
Stats: Health: 9/100 Mana: 100/100 STR - 8 CHR - 8 AGI - 10 DEX - 10 INT - 9 WIS - 9
¡°What is this?¡± he asked interestedly. ¡°It¡¯s your status.¡± the puddle replied, ¡°It shows your progress in this world. Every living being has a status, you can see a monster¡¯s status, but for a sentient being you need specific items to see it, unless they let you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re trying to tell me that everything I am is summed up in a small text box?¡± he asked. ¡°B-basically, yeah.¡± ¡°Sweet.¡± he said simply, and then in a rare moment of lucidity he asked, ¡°So is my status any good?¡± The puddle hesitated, ¡°Not really. Except for your unique ability you¡¯re essentially useless. I don¡¯t even know what that does, I can control some of the Chaos around us, but it makes my mind bubble.¡± the puddle seemed to cringe at the memory. ¡°What is Chaos, and why does it sound like you¡¯re saying it with a capital C?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the nothing inside of everything.¡± ¡°Wow! That may be the most useless thing I¡¯ve ever heard! Thanks so much!¡± he replied sarcastically. ¡°No need to be so rude.¡± the puddle hesitated, ¡°For a more literal explanation, it¡¯s the sea of stuff around us, it¡¯s most closely related to magic, though I don¡¯t know exactly how.¡± ¡°Wait. So if this is my mind, then it¡¯s filled with Chaos? Does that mean I am really un-sane?¡± he asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know what un-sane means, but essentially, yes.¡± the puddle shimmered. ¡°How do I ¡®manipulate Chaos¡¯? It sounds kinda silly.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, but if you focus on anything in your status screen it will give more information. Also before you do anything try to think ¡®Identify¡¯ on me. I think I¡¯m technically a monster, that¡¯s the only reason I can think of for having so much knowledge on this stuff, even though I¡¯m only a day old.¡± the puddle said adamantly, ¡°Also be careful when working with Chaos i- Actually don¡¯t worry about it.¡± ¡°Wait, what were you gonna say?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just that when sentient species work with Chaos, well, they go insane.¡± Tobi looked stricken, ¡°So you¡¯re saying that my only power will make me go un-sane? That sucks. I guess I won¡¯t use it then.¡± The puddle let out a confused noise, ¡°But¡­ You¡¯re already¡± a sigh, ¡°un-sane. I don¡¯t think it can ruin your mind anymore.¡± Tobi gasped, ¡°I am perfectly un-un-sane. I will not ruin my progress!¡± ¡°Just, forget that I said that. There are absolutely no chances you will go un-sane, I misspoke.¡± the puddle let out a deeper sigh, ¡°Go ahead and use ¡®Identify¡¯¡± Tobi nodded,
[Fledgling Chaos Construct] [Sub-Class: Voice] {Level - ???}
¡°It looks like it works.¡± Tobi said. ¡°Alright, try focusing on your ability and see what it is. After that you will have to leave, I can¡¯t keep this up much longer.¡± at that, the puddle slipped out of the clearing of white nothingness and into the sea of storming Chaos. ¡°Thanks little buddy!¡± Tobi called out to the puddle as it disappeared. He did as was suggested and focused on the [Chaos Manipulation].
[Chaos Manipulation]
Summary: Chaos Manipulation allows the user to manipulate the nothing in everything. Madness Affinity Requirement - 70% Cost: (??s) Activation: ???
¡°Wow! Thanks so much for the super duper information!¡± Tobi yelled to no-one in particular, he sighed as the Chaos around him dissolved and was replaced with a giant stone fist rocketing towards his face in a familiar forest clearing. Chapter 6 ¡°Well shit.¡± was going to be Tobi¡¯s last words, that is if it weren¡¯t for the lucky awakening of Nick. Nick threw out his hand towards Tobi, holy golden light filling his palm before shooting out and forming a protective bubble around him. The elemental¡¯s fist crashed into the golden bubble, cracks webbed out from the impact and Tobi scrambled to his feet, wincing at his broken ribs. ¡°Thanks buddy boy!¡± there was no response as the paladin had fallen back into unconsciousness from the exertion. Tobi looked at the bubble and estimated it would last for one or two more strikes, he sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, ¡°Yo, puddle buddy. If you can hear me, I need a little help. How did you control the Chaos?¡± The elemental slammed its fist into the wall again, the cracks deepened and a sound like glass echoed in the clearing. Puddle buddy didn¡¯t respond, Tobi decided to just wing it, if magic was real here what would he do to cast it? He racked his brain for answers, ignoring the stupid definition puddle buddy had given him, Chaos seemed to be some kind of energy. It was different than chaos with a little c, but also seemed similar, with its clashing color and formless nature. Puddle buddy also said it had something to do with magic, and Tobi was pretty sure that rocks and plants didn¡¯t come to life in the shape of a huge man without some sort of magic. Maybe there was some way to see the Chaos, if it was in everything there should be some type of vision that would let you see it. Tobi peered at the elemental, nope, no dice, that way at least. It still looked like a giant rock man with vines connecting its body together. Maybe instead of focusing his eyes he should unfocus them, like what he would do to get double vision and pretend he got double portions for dinner. He did so and as the elemental¡¯s monolithic fist became two, he saw that in between the two fists was a familiar sight. A torrent of writhing colors was packed in between the two, it seemed to be coursing down the vines like blood through veins. He heard a strange ding noise followed by a shattering sound as the protective bubble shattered. ¡®Great! Now I can see pretty colors while I die!¡¯ he thought to himself as the elemental brought back its fist again. He was too injured to dodge or roll away, his legs were nearly buckling under his weight, and his vision was swimming. He was still looking at the Chaos, and when he looked down at his beaten form, his eyes went wide, ¡°Wow, I¡¯m so pretty.¡± he said dazedly, his body was covered in swirling patterns of color. He thought he looked like one of those rainbow lollipops with the swirls. He raised his hand feebly towards the elemental, and decided to use ¡®Identify¡¯ on the creature, he saw no reason not to.
[Plant Elemental] [Named Monster: Protector of the Clearing] {Level: 76}
¡®That is one shitty title to have. Woe to those that enter the clearing!¡¯ he let out a wet chuckle. The creature¡¯s hand crashed into Tobi¡¯s hand, plant segment first. He looked at the beautifully blazing Chaos, if he was to die he wanted to die from something that gorgeous. He wanted to die with Chaos inside of him, he reached for it and the brilliantly glowing Chaos leaped from the elemental to Tobi, like an arc of electricity. His hair stood on end, and the segment that touched his skin withered, turned gray and fell from its form. The monster recoiled, it let out a violent roar and took a step back. Tobi looked at his hand, the swirling pattern of color under his skin seemed brighter than before. He smiled up at the rock man and took a step forward, his knees swaying dangerously, ¡°Hey little buddy, looks like we got some things to talk about.¡± The boulder that was suspended on its left arm fell off, it didn¡¯t have a magic vine to hold it up, so it collapsed under its own weight. Tobi was still wary of the parts not blazing with Chaos, so his advance was slower than it could have been. The creature wheeled back one arm comically, before sending it flying towards him again. It seemed slower than before, as if the creature was unsure if it should fight. The slight decrease in speed was all Tobi needed, he ducked awkwardly under the arm, the fist ghosted so close his hair writhed in the wind. He was near the abdomen of the creature, a massive knot of vines and plants were coiled where its stomach should be. He hopped up onto the creature and gave it a massive bear hug. The elemental shook both arms wildly, attempting to dislodge the strange creature hugging its mid section. The knot of vines started to wither as the Chaos seeped from the center and into Tobi. ¡°C¡¯mere rock guy! It¡¯s been so long, let¡¯s catch up!¡± he cried with manic delight, relishing in the tingly feeling of the Chaos. He cackled madly as the top half of the elemental could no longer hold itself up, it let out a pained cry as it tumbled over. All the vines weaved around its arms and chest withering and then splitting into dust. The bottom half continued to wobble awkwardly with the added weight of the strange bandaged man clinging to it. The vines around the legs followed suit to the top half and crumbled to dust. In the center of the dust was a brilliant green emerald, but in Tobi¡¯s vision it blazed like the sun with Chaos. He literally drooled as he stooped down to pick it up, a small wretched cry sounded out as the Chaos was drained from the gem. Once it was all gone the gem crumbled to dust, Tobi stood there on shaky legs, grinning from ear to ear. ¡°I can enjoy killing monsters right Doc?¡± he asked the air, ¡°It ain¡¯t un-sane, cuz they aren¡¯t human.¡± he clapped his hands in joy and did a little jig at the new found realization. He heard a series of dings and felt a surge of vitality. His whole body was in bliss, the Chaos seeped under his skin, so dense it was nearly visible to the normal eye. Tobi uncrossed his eye and sighed contentedly, he sat down on the dust covered ground, and leaned up against a boulder to relax. That was until someone lit a fire inside of his chest, his skin felt like it was ablaze and he slapped at it ineffectually. He hopped from foot to foot and a strangled cry left his lips, his eyes went wide at the feeling of pain, it felt so similar to the stuff in the needle when his hosts had tortur-entertained him.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. A bloody tear escaped his left eye socket, it felt like he had taken in so much power, too much. He felt like his body wasn¡¯t strong enough yet, he had to get rid of it. Now. He crossed his eye again and focused on the seething mass under his skin, he tried to command it to leave, to get out, but nothing happened. It felt like his entire body was going to melt, he pleaded with it, cajoled it, he even tried to sing to it. Anything to make it go away. He dug his fingers into the wounds in his arms, reaching under the skin for the things that weren¡¯t there. He tried to dig them out but received only blood for his troubles. He opened his status, his health was ticking down, it was reaching dangerous levels. He couldn¡¯t make it leave how it was, but maybe he could do something with it. He clawed at the energy inside of him, desperation fueling his actions, he again tried to command it, not just to leave his body, but to create. With the writhing mass of maddening power he envisioned something, anything to make it leave. His mind raced as thoughts popped into his head and he created, the rainbow streamers leaving his body in waves. They coursed through his veins and out through the wounds on his arms and body, his whole body was alight with Chaos. Around him seemingly nonsensical things popped into existence, a table set with tea cups filled with bile, a dead rabbit with its back legs missing, an upside down fountain, a statue of a knight without armor, a halberd made of bone, another statue of a wolf chasing a small girl in red, and a pumpkin on wheels. These things and more seemed to pop into reality, the streamers of Chaos swam through the air and wove together. His left eye socket bled Chaos, it swam wildly and he fell to his knees. He gasped in air and felt his body return to a normal temperature, he no longer felt lava course through his veins, or fire boil his skin. He closed his eyes and dropped into an exhausted sleep, surrounded by a multitude of seemingly random objects that populated the once empty clearing. He awoke hours later with a groan, he clutched his ribs through his tattered bandages and attempted to stand up. His legs failed him several times before he finally managed it. He looked around at the strange sight surrounding him, there were countless baubles and items around him. Though if he looked closely they shimmered like a desert mirage, he walked over to a fancy table with tea cups on them and reached for it. His hand passed through it with no disturbance, ¡°Huh.¡± There were several people and animals that also shimmered, though they looked more like statues than living beings. They stood stock still, their chests neither rising nor falling. He walked around the clearing, stumbling every few steps, and looked at the items, he recognized some, but others seemed completely fabricated. There was a set of chairs that looked to be made of insects that writhed and wriggled disgustingly, he looked away towards another figure. Though this one didn¡¯t shimmer, it was Nick, and his left leg was in shambles. The elemental had stepped on it and what was left looked more like ground beef than a part of a person, ¡°You up buddy?¡± he asked. There was no response, he walked over to his prone form and gave him a good kick. The man still didn¡¯t move, so he reached down and removed his magic pouch, ¡°Even in unconsciousness you still help me out, thanks pal, you shall not be forgotten.¡± he stated solemnly, though a small smile quirked his lips up at the prospect of acquiring the strange pouch. He chuckled a bit, thinking about how confused the paladin would be if he woke up, surrounded on all sides by strange illusions. He heard another of the weird beeping noises and focused on it, a flurry of blue screens filled his vision,
Level Up! Level Up! Level Up! Level Up! ¡­ You are now Level 13!
New Skill Learned! [Chaos Vision] Peer into the Chaos of reality, though beware, Chaos has been known to melt the minds of weak willed men. Most mages learn mage sight early on, many attempt to level this skill up into [Chaos Vision] though few succeed. You have somehow bypassed the mage sight portion and blundered your way into the next level! Great work, even if what you did makes no sense from a magical standpoint.
[Chaos Manipulation] Increased! Chaos Manipulation, a skill unique to you, has increased in rank. You have managed to absorb Chaos from a magical creature and then expel the Chaos from your body, creating illusions. It has been said that Chaos can create anything, beyond mere illusions, it is also said that Chaos can destroy as easily as create. Beginner I - Beginner II
New Passive Learned! [Chaos Form] By taking in too much Chaos you have changed your body. The whorls of Chaos energy inside of you have been bolstered, you will find it much easier to absorb Chaos. It will also require more Chaos to obtain [Chaos Sickness] than you had before.
Stat Gain! For constantly enduring abuse and pain you have received END, this will increase your stamina and pain thresh hold. For figuring out the basics of Chaos manipulation, with a little help from a friendly puddle, you have received INT. For your skills in dodging you have improved AGI. AGI + 1 INT + 1 END + 2
He felt a strange sense of accomplishment at the prospect of gaining new skills. He wasn¡¯t so naive as to not know about leveling up giving you increases in stats and strength, and knowing this he activated his ¡®Status¡¯,
Name: Tobias Level: 13
Class: None Race: Human
Spells: None Skills: None
Titles: Un-sane Un-un-sane Affinity: Madness - 98% Chaos - 16%
Trait Name Rank
[Passive - Unstable Mind] MAX
[Passive - Chaos Form] Beginner I
Ability Name Rank
[Chaos Vision] Beginner I
[Unique - Chaos Manipulation] Beginner II
Stats: Str - 8 CHR - 8 AGI - 11 DEX - 10 INT - 10 WIS - 9 VIT - 8 END - 11
Free Stat Points - 60
Health Points: 68/230 Mana Points: 100/230
Chapter 7 Tobi sat cross legged in the clearing, he scratched the back of his head and let out a defeated noise, ¡°What stats do I do?¡± he whined. Nick still lay on the ground, his eyes closed, but his chest still rose and fell. Tobi looked around at his illusions, if he used [Chaos Vision] he could see what they truly were. Each of them were like a storm, the colors inside writhed around. He had tried to make something that wasn¡¯t an illusion, but so far all that happened was sparks would fly out. He would take the Chaos, he would try to form it, and it would just fizzle out. He couldn¡¯t even make illusions reliably. He didn¡¯t know what stats to level so he set about distracting himself, he took the pouch he had taken from Nick and sorted through it. Inside he found several strange looking bottles, some were red and others were blue, and some others were neither. He drank a couple but didn¡¯t like how they tasted. He also had a map inside of the pouch, it was basic but gave a general layout of the area he was in. He had no idea how to read maps though, so he stuffed it back into the too-big-pouch. Deciding he wanted to do something, and not knowing where to go, he walked over to an illusion of a lady holding an umbrella. He knew how to absorb the Chaos, and if he just took a little maybe it wouldn¡¯t hurt so badly. The blue boxes had also told him he could hold more energy too. He reached out his hand and willed the Chaos to enter him, the lady dissolved slowly into streamers of light. They flew towards Tobi and wriggled under his skin, they felt hot and cold at the same time and Tobi sighed contentedly. He could see under his skin the Chaos wriggled like a snake, he reached for it and called it back out. Maybe if he had more control over it he could make it do more interesting things. He tried to make it flow smoothly through air like a serpent, he tried to shape it like one too. In the end he only managed to form a strange looking tube that wiggled awkwardly in the air. Though it wasn¡¯t what he was going for, he was still proud of his tube snake. He tried to pet it like he would a real snake, but his hand floated through it again. He sighed and made the tube flow back into his body, he then went around to all of the other illusions and absorbed them too. He had only left them to try and confuse Nick if he woke up, but it didn¡¯t seem like he was going to. Though he had no idea which direction to go, he decided to follow the path that they were on previously. He waved at Nick, ¡°See ya squishy leg! Been a jam dude.¡± he turned away from the unconscious fellow and started down the path. He tried to block out the thought of all the poor wasted blood lying in a pool around him, he failed, and shuddered. With all of the Chaos inside of him he felt full, like he had just eaten a huge meal, he assumed he could contain it all because of his new passive. He patted his stomach and rubbed his head as he walked, he knew that helps with multitasking and control, so maybe it could help him learn control with Chaos. Taking it up a notch he also started cycling through different songs he knew, he started with ¡®It¡¯s Raining¡¯ and moved on to ¡®Jack and Jill¡¯. Time passed quickly like this and he arrived at the edge of the forest, a swathe of stumps greeted him, along with the sound of birdsong. In front of him was a wide plain, it sprawled out like a vast green sea, small patches of trees stood in random clusters, their leaves whipping in the wind. He could see several settlements scattered around, smoke wafting lazily into the midday sky. The smell of manure and fresh earth was carried towards him on the wind, and the nearest village provided the sounds of laughter and daily life. Deciding on the nearest village he set off towards it, a slight skip in his step. As he walked merrily along he attempted to summon his Chaos tube-snake again, this time, if you really looked closely, you could tell it had something resembling a head on the front. It¡¯s movements were still awkward and jerky, but there was a marked improvement. This was proven further when he was shown a familiar blue box,
[Chaos Manipulation] Increased! Beginner II - Beginner III
He smiled, enjoying the feeling of progress. The the funky looking snake circled him as he came up to the village, if he wasn¡¯t mistaken, only high level mages with [Chaos Vision] would even be able to see it. Or he could be completely wrong and get in a whole heap of trouble. The village he came upon was simple, it had wooden buildings with stone chimneys and several wide patches of farmland. There also seemed to be a well in the center of the village that all the buildings were centered around, the closest one being what looked like a shop. People milled about in their daily lives, carrying buckets of water to and fro while children dashed between their legs, baring wooden sticks as weapons. He hummed a ditty as he made his way towards the well, still rubbing his stomach and patting his head, he was mighty thirsty and it seemed clean enough. His feet made crunching noises on the hard gravel and dirt pathways that criss crossed randomly in the village, and he ignored the strange looks the villagers gave him. He peered down into the well, but the light cut off before he could see any water, and there was no bucket and winch to lower. He stepped back from the well and inhaled deeply, before letting out the breath. He caught the faint scent of baking bread, he sniffed at the air again and followed the smell, dropping his hands to his side. It led him to a building that looked the same as the other wooden homes, though this one was three stories tall, and a small sign rocked slowly in the wind. On the sign was a picture of an overflowing mug, ¡°Even I can figure this one out.¡± he said to himself. He opened the door and a wave of chatter broke over him like the tide. The scent of fresh cooked bread and meat mingled with the smell of sweaty hardworking farmers and adventurers. Off to the left of the door was a bar, several individuals sat there nursing a tankard. In the common area was a hearth directly in front of Tobi, and scattered about were tables. All of the tables were populated by folk with rough faces and rougher clothes. The talking died down as the strange looking man came in, he looked around and then made his way over to the bar. The talking didn¡¯t die down for long, as most were used to strange visitors, being one of the closest inns to the Volin Forest, one of the premier adventuring spots in all of the Gazzril Empire. He sat down in a rickety wooden chair, he placed his right hand on the bar and clenched his pouch in the left. He leaned forward towards the matronly woman standing at attention, ¡°Hello alcohol distribution lady?¡± he called out to her. She turned towards him, she had short brown hair and browner eyes set in an unremarkable face, ¡°How can I help ya?¡± she asked through a false veneer of kindness. ¡°You got any milk?¡± he asked. ¡°Aye. If you got the coin.¡± she looked suspiciously at his ragged form. ¡°How much for some pudding, milk, bread, and a room?¡± he asked, pulling out several silver coins from his pouch, and laying them on the bar with a metallic clatter. She looked at the coins surprisedly, ¡°That¡¯ll do. Though I don''t know what ''pudding'' is.¡± she quickly, and professionally swiped the coins and trundled away towards the back room. She came back with a small cup of milk and half a loaf of rough brown bread. She lay it in front of him, along with a key, ¡°Rooms on the top floor, first on the left. You paid enough for a night.¡±A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. He sighed forlornly at the lack of pudding, ¡°You think you can tell me about any job opportunities that involve monster killing?¡± he asked with an excited lopsided grin, a total 180 from his previous mood at the thought of killing monsters. She turned around and looked at him strangely, ¡°Obviously being an adventurer would be your first choice.¡± ¡°Ah. Yes, obviously. My thanks alcohol distribution lady¡± he nodded at her. She rolled her eyes and turning around swiftly she walked towards the next customer. Tobi downed the milk without another word and wolfed down the bread, relishing its warmth. He swiped the key from the bar and went upstairs, the stairs creaked under him as he made his way to the third floor. He followed the inn keeps directions and unlocked the door. Inside was a plain, but comfortable enough room. Squared away to the right was a cot with a single pillow and woolen blanket, he made his way towards it, and placed his pouch on the nearby nightstand. He sat down on the bed and absorbed the Chaos tube-snake, ¡°Hey puuuuddle buuuuddy! I haaave some quuuuestions for youuu!¡± he called out in a sing song voice. He needed to learn more about the whole Chaos thing. He had some semblance of an idea of what he wanted to do in this world, and step one was to learn more about his power. A familiar childish voice appeared in his head, ¡°H-hello?¡± it asked. ¡°Yo buddy. I got some questions about this whole Chaos dealio.¡± he replied. ¡°Oh, ok.¡± it paused, ¡°What do you need?¡± ¡°In the description of my ability, it says I can use Chaos to make illusions. I did that once, but can¡¯t seem to get it again, it also said something about how Chaos can create nearly anything and also destroy. You got any info?¡± he asked. ¡°Oh! That¡¯s all. Um. To make Chaos into illusions you do what you normally do with controlling Chaos, like what you did with the snake.¡± it paused, ¡°After that you just need to solidify it into a single form, you can make illusions move, but that¡¯s too advanced. It¡¯s pretty simple, try it with the snake.¡± ¡°Alrighty.¡± he said. He pulled the Chaos from inside of himself, he nearly always [Chaos Vision] on, so it was visible as soon as he withdrew it. He sculpted it into the form of a tube-snake, and even went so far as to add eyes and alter its color to green. It hovered there in front of him, shimmering slightly, before he focused it into a static form, it stopped shimmering. ¡°Did I do it?¡± he asked his puddle buddy. ¡°Just de-activate [Chaos Vision]. If you can see it then it worked.¡± it replied. ¡°Okey dokey.¡± he did as instructed, and the almost-snake stayed suspended in mid air. It was a rough facsimile of a snake, it didn¡¯t have any visible scales, and its head was strangely shaped. The eyes were just small divots in the head, but it worked. Tobi smiled at his awkward creation, ¡°I did it!¡± ¡°Y-yeah. You did. It¡¯s not too good, but you¡¯ll get there.¡± puddle buddy responded. ¡°I got a new skill too!¡± he nearly shouted in his excitement, ignoring puddle buddy¡¯s response, ¡°It¡¯s called [Chaos Illusion], and it says it¡¯ll be easier to make illusions from now on!¡± ¡°That¡¯s helpful. Do you want to move on to other types of creation and destruction?¡± it asked. Tobi bounced up and down on his bed, ¡°Yes! This is great!¡± he cried out. ¡°Ok. Let¡¯s try it with the snake again, get rid of your illusion.¡± he did, ¡°Now make the snake again, but don¡¯t solidify it yet.¡± he created the snake again, but this time, if you really stretched the imagination, one might think it had scales. ¡°Ok, now make the snake again, and layer it on top of the other one. Make sure it¡¯s lined up as perfectly as possible.¡± Tobi nodded and summoned another Chaos snake. He wiggled it onto the first one. ¡°How many times do I gotta layer it?¡± he asked. ¡°For now, just do five.¡± puddle buddy responded. Tobi did as he was told and soon had five snakes lined up near perfectly, though some of the sections didn¡¯t overlap. By now Tobi was running strangely low on Chaos, it seemed that doing this consciously took more energy than when he had made the illusions in the clearing. ¡°Alright. Now solidify them together like what you did with the illusions, but when you start to do so, infuse more Chaos into it.¡± the mind puddle instructed. It was tricky, like trying to fill a glass to the brim without it spilling over. He barely managed it though, and as the snake solidified and he poured more Chaos in, it seemed to click into place. The snake continued to wiggle slightly in the air, but it didn¡¯t shimmer. He stopped pouring in energy and flicked between [Chaos Vision] and normal vision, the snake was visible in both. The snake looked even more awkward than the illusion, it¡¯s eyes were lopsided, and part of it¡¯s head was dented. Some parts of its body were strangely thin, while others were too fat. If he had seen this creature in the wild he would put it out of its misery. It didn¡¯t even have a mouth! As awkward looking as it was Tobi felt a sense of pride looking upon its bumbling visage. He reached towards it slowly and with trepidation. His hand met its side, he felt rough scales under his fingers, it was also disgustingly smooth in some spots. It was neither cold nor hot, but something in between, and it wiggled slowly. As soon as his hand touched it, gravity seemed to realise that something wasn¡¯t right. So it snatched the snake from its precarious perch in midair and sent it falling towards the ground. It hit the floorboards with a slap and whoever was in the room under his knocked heavily upon the wood. Tobi leaned down and picked up the almost-snake, it was oddly heavy considering it could only wrap around his neck twice. ¡°Wow! You did it on the first try!¡± puddle buddy congratulated, ¡°It took me four tries before I could make anything that large. Don¡¯t worry about how it looks, you¡¯ll get that down in time.¡± ¡°I like him.¡± Tobi said, caressing its faux scale hide. He heaved the thing onto his shoulder, it sat there perfectly still, it only moved when he commanded it, ¡°Can I make it live? So that it can move on its own.¡± he asked. Tobi felt that if mind puddles could nod that his buddy just did, ¡°If you can get someone dum- I mean trusting enough to become the mind for a vessel you created. Or if you just want it to have the mind of a snake. You can, with enough power, make minds forcefully become one with Chaos vessels. Though that can end with a number of problems.¡± Tobi nodded happily, imagining a party of funky looking pals to do stuff with, ¡°Ok! On to the last lesson. Try absorbing it. It might be more difficult as that thing is very dense, but you¡¯re going to need the Chaos.¡± Tobi complied sadly and murdered his new friend, though it¡¯s up to better minds than his to determine if that thing was truly ¡®alive¡¯. He felt a rush of energy as it entered him, and several dings popped up in his mind, he ignored them. ¡°Alright. For the last lesson you need to understand how magic works. In this world, magic is a combination of Chaos and Order.¡± puddle buddy the professor paused, ¡°Chaos is used for the power, as it is the primordial power, the makeup of matter. While Order is used to contain it, to shape it, and to control it. Everything has Chaos within it, even if it is so tiny an amount that not even you can see it. What makes mages so powerful is they have Order, this allows them to control the Chaos to some degree. ¡°Even you use Order to control Chaos, but you do so consciously and work much more closely with Chaos than others. If a mage should lose control of the Chaos any number of things could happen, a rift to another dimension, horrifying disfigurements, or just plain old death. What you¡¯re about to learn is linked much closer to that section of Chaos, to truly destroy something with Chaos you need to let it off the leash. Free it, but still control it. That is what will allow you to obliterate something.¡± Tobi smiled at the thought, ¡°So how does it work? How can I free it and still control it?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t really control it, not truly, you more guide it towards whatever it is you want to be gone and let it do it¡¯s thing. That is another part of what makes it so dangerous, you need to let it go on it''s own, but still be strong enough to stop it or contain it once it starts. If you truly wish to control Chaos you must let it become a part of you intrinsically, or be born as I was. If you are powerful enough, theoretically, you should be able to become one with Chaos, allowing you to control it like another limb. Though I truly have no idea how.¡± Tobi was feeling excited at the prospect of more power, ¡°Alright. So I just have to remove the Order from Chaos and let it go free towards something I want destroyed?¡± ¡°Yup! Then just absorb it and hope it hasn¡¯t become too strong for you!¡± puddle buddy sounded excited as well. ¡°Alrighty! Let¡¯s do it!¡± he summoned a small amount of raw chaos, it flowed out from his hand and coalesced into a bubble in the air, shining like an oil slick. He remembered he had learnt to see the Chaos before he controlled it, and he needed to get rid of the Order. So maybe he had to see Order as well? Satisfied with that line of thought he tried to opposite of what he did to see Chaos and focused his eyes, he had originally tried this to see Chaos, and nothing happened. But now he really focused at the hovering rainbow ball. Inside the ball something came into sight, it looked like a pinprick of grey light at the center of the Chaos. He tried reaching out to it and physically moving it but nothing happened, next he tried moving it with his mind like he did with Chaos. The most he could manage was to make it shiver, but that might have been in his head. He sighed, he knew he didn¡¯t have the ability to control Order, but he decided then and there to obtain a way to do so. In a moment of brilliance, or stupidity, he had an idea. Instead of moving the Order, he would have the Chaos consume it and then try to make it destroy his nightstand! The moment he tried to do so the temperature in his room rose several degrees, ¡°What are you doing!?¡± he heard a scared puddle buddy say. ¡°Getting rid of the Order, so it can go free!¡± he said with glee. The floor boards under him started to rattle, the dust that lay forgotten in the corners rose into the air, and his skin started to crawl. ¡°Stop! You don¡¯t get rid of the Order! You just move it away, I don¡¯t know what will happen if you do this!¡± puddle buddy cried out. ¡°Don¡¯t worry! This is gonna be amazing¡± he replied, a manic grin plastered onto his sweating face. The Chaos ball seemed to be being drawn into the center, towards the dot of Order. The grey speck shimmered violently and the air seemed to tremble. A mad laugh flew out of his throat and joined in the maddening cacophony of shaking floorboards and screams from the floors below. The grey dot gave out one last shake, before a high pitched whine signified its end. Then all hell broke loose. Chapter 7.5 The dust would have cleared, if there were any dust left. Where once there stood a proud settlement, filled with folk from all walks of life, villagers, adventurers, and other such sort. Now there was a crater, as wide and long as six football stadiums end to end. The crater was perfectly spherical, and in its epicenter was an one eyed, bandage wearing man. A torrent of Chaos writhed around him, circling his body and pooling under him, ¡°Oops.¡± The man in question sat up, the pool of Chaos following behind him in ribbons. He looked around at the remains of the village, ¡°Oh dear.¡± He knew he was the cause of this devastation, a shaky smile tugged at his lips at the thought. He forced down the giddy feeling of destroying something so utterly, and reminded himself that to feel this way was to be un-sane, and that just wouldn¡¯t do, ¡°I feel such remorse for my actions, I just don¡¯t know what I¡¯m going to do with myself.¡± he said with as much fake sincerity as he could muster. The Chaos following him must be the remains of the ball that caused all of this, he reached out towards it and started the task of absorbing it. It was slow going, as the energy was massively dense and it felt like trying to force the square block through the circle hole. At first it seemed like nothing was happening, and then all of the sudden the Chaos flew into him. He let out a shocked yelp at the speed in which the energy moved, and scrambled backwards a bit. He let the energy move into him, and at first he felt the exciting feeling of power coursing through him, but as he obtained more and more it felt like he was going to burst. He really wasn¡¯t looking forward to another session of [Chaos Sickness], so when it finally stopped he let out a relieved breath. ¡°What was that!?¡± a childish voice scolded in his head, ¡°I had to force the Chaos away from you so you wouldn¡¯t be consumed! Do you know how hard it is to do stuff out there from in here!?¡± it cried out. The sheer volume of the voice made Tobi wince and apologize, he patted the side of his head, imagining he was patting puddle buddy reassuringly, ¡°I¡¯m fine now aren¡¯t I? Thanks for the save though, honest.¡± he said. ¡°I guess so.¡± the puddle moped, and noticing Tobi''s chipper mood asked, ¡°Don¡¯t you feel bad for destroying the village and killing several hundred people?¡±. ¡°Of course I do! What kind of question is that?¡± he cried out, ¡°Any un-un-sane person, such as myself, would feel remorse at committing such atrocities!¡± ¡°Ok. Ok.¡± puddle buddy placated, realising his mistake of bothering to ask. The dinging noise in the back of Tobi¡¯s head was insistent so he focused on it,
New Passive Learned! [True Sight] Allows the user to view Chaos and Order at all times, with no extra cost. This was obtained due to using [Chaos Vision], and [Order Vision] at the same time. Something that by all means should be impossible, great work breaking the laws of reality again!You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
[Chaos Manipulation] Sub-Skills Unlocked! [Chaos Creation], [Chaos Destruction], [Obliteration]
He smiled at obtaining new skills, he already had [Chaos Illusion] so now he had four [Chaos Manipulation] subskills.
[Chaos Creation] Allows the user to create physical manifestations of Chaos! Later attempts become easier, and more refined.
[Chaos Destruction] Allows the user to free Chaos from the restraints of Order, this is one of many ways to destroy using Chaos, but also one of the most effective. Chaos creations may also destroy, though in a more limited capacity. This skill allows for destruction without absorbing the Order that controls it, which resulted in the catastrophe.
He didn¡¯t know what catastrophe the blue box was talking about as the only thing he could think of which fell into those parameters was amazing.
[Obliteration] [LOCKED - FLEDGLING CHAOS CONSTRUCT (PUDDLE BUDDY)] Somehow you managed to destroy the speck of Order controlling the Chaos, withthe Chaos, something that should be impossible. This allows you to destroy matter on a fundamental level.
¡°Hey! Why did you get rid of my boom-boom spell?¡± he asked, ¡°Wait. How did you lock the spell?¡± he looked confused. ¡°I locked it because I don¡¯t want to attract any attention from the higher-ups. Also, why would I tell you how, that would be dumb.¡± the voice pouted. ¡°Higher-ups? Who¡¯re they?¡± he asked. ¡°The ones who rule Order and Chaos, and their lackeys. They wouldn¡¯t like to know that you started messing with the boundaries of what¡¯s supposed to be possible within the laws of reality.¡± it answered. ¡°Yeah. That makes sense.¡± he stood up and started to climb out of the crater but stopped, ¡°You will let me boom-boom later. Right?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± it replied. ¡°Why don¡¯t I believe you.¡± Tobi asked. ¡°Dunno. I¡¯m perfectly honest.¡± the puddle lied. ¡°Hmph.¡± he continued his trek up the crater side, deciding to look at the rest of his notifications later. He didn¡¯t want to be caught at the bottom of a crater, which happened to be the location of a magical equivalent to a tactical nuke, when the cavalry came a knocking. He made it to the top, this sun was sinking in the horizon casting a pink glow over the area. Nearby trees filtered the light through their leaves, sending a kaleidoscope of scattered light throughout the area. There was no smoke rising from the crater, there were no birds calling out, and a strange stillness took hold of the land. Tobi wrung out his hands and stretched his back, a satisfied sigh escaping his lips as he did so. He cast a glance back towards the remains of the village, a slight frown on his face. He peered around, looking for a new place to reside, as the last one seemed to be gone. To the north another settlement was in sight, it looked similar to the pre-crater town, and what looked like a group of people were trekking towards him, though they were too far away to make out details. He knew there had to be other places nearby, but as it was he couldn¡¯t see anything. He didn¡¯t know much, but what he did know was to not go towards the group of people coming to check out your most recent ¡®project¡¯. He had learned that from experience. Since he couldn¡¯t know which way lead towards a nearby village, or city, and whether or not they wouldn¡¯t lynch him on the spot. He decided that the forest seemed the best choice, if the worst it could throw at him was a giant rock monster he decided it couldn¡¯t be too inhospitable, maybe he¡¯d find another path to follow, and turn up somewhere less disintegrated. Turning on his heel and whistling a tune he strolled back the way he came, until his face screwed up in horror. If there were anyone nearby, they would mark it as the look of a man who had seen and done terrible things, and only just recently found his consciousness. They would think he looked stricken with guilt because he had committed an atrocity. They would be right. Just not the one they were thinking of. He pawed at his waist, the place where his too-large-pouch should be tied. There was nothing there. Miles away, screams of terrible agony could be heard heard echoing through Pelanar Valley. Chapter 8 Tobi made his way forlornly towards the woods, his precious pouch lost in a disaster of his own making. He was distraught, and his demeanor showed it. His steps were slow and plodding, and his shoulders were hunched over. Maybe after a good night''s rest he could get over such a heart wrenching loss, but not now. The forest was cool, the moon hung high, and the sound of nightlife filled the air. Insects chirped, and the occasional predator let out a threatening growl, sometimes directed towards the bandaged man in their midst. Though he noticed none of this, his mind swamped with melancholy. The trees blended together, looking the same after a while. The vines that hung from their boughs, and the bushes and herbs scattered about seeming the same as the last. He traveled for what felt like days to his grieving mind, but in reality was only a couple hours. He had made his way in a generally eastern direction, and he had no idea where he was. He looked up, and through the trees he saw a beautiful sight. A massive red, glowing pouch hung suspended in the air only twenty feet away, ¡°I¡¯m coming my love!¡± he shouted, a hopeful spring in his step. He charged through the underbrush, breaking twigs and snapping branches in his way. The pouch was only five feet away, and it wasn¡¯t floating as he previously suspected, but instead was hanging from a green glowing vine on a tall tree. The tree towered over its brethren, and under the bark, Tobi could faintly see flowing Chaos. He stopped in his tracks, momentum carrying him the last few feet to where he stood under the pouch. It was close enough to touch, and it smelled overpoweringly of blueberries, ¡°I am here my sweet! It matters not that you have changed your color, you are, and forever will be my one and only love!¡± he professed his undying devotion to the god-pouch. He fell to his knees, hands clasped together, bloody tears welling in his eyes, ¡°Who the fuck¡¯re you?¡± the pouch asked him. Tobi smiled widely, a joyous laugh bubbling out, ¡°It is I! Sir Tobi the brave!¡± he stood and posed heroically, ¡°I have come for you my sweet Poucherella, not even death can keep us apart!¡± he reached out for the pouch, his hand inching slowly towards its divine light. Suddenly a strange rodent like man smacked him on the back of the head with a stick, ¡°Fuckin¡¯ crazy tourist, took you long enough.¡± the foul mouthed rat swore at the bandaged man¡¯s unconscious form. He waddled over to the side of the massive tree, it¡¯s silver bark shining dimly. He knocked three times on the tree and a section of it fell to the ground, revealing a doorway. The rat man muttered to himself, something about how all humans thought shiny things were put on the planet to love them, and how they should all take a long walk off a short cliff. He spent the next hour and a half dragging the man who dwarfed his weight by a large amount through the doorway in the tree, he dragged him into a circular room lit by amber stones, and tied him to a chair. The chair was set at the head of a small round table, another chair was sat on the other side, the table itself was set with plates, cups, forks, and knives. The rat man bumbled back over to the doorway, and knocking on it again three times, the fallen section rose back to its original position, and sealed itself with a flash of white light. The rat man¡¯s stomach rumbled ominously, he scratched his shaggy off white fur and trundled along towards a connected room, his cane making clacking noises on the live wood floor. He entered what seemed to be a kitchen, filled with slabs of fresh meat, some of which seemed suspiciously human. On either side of the square room were wooden counters, some holding cutlery, and others contained various spices of a wide array of colors, one of which seemed to be hopping away desperately. The rat man grabbed the fleeing spice bottle and smacked it heavily against the wood, it fell still. He grumbled about something and walked to the other side of the brown wood room, towards a set of scary looking sharp objects. He took what looked like an obsidian butcher¡¯s cleaver, and retrieved a less human looking slab of meat. After cutting off the best looking bits he snapped his fingers, and what looking like a primitive wooden stove leaped to life. He set the meat on stone slabs set atop the stove, soon the decadent smell of cooking flesh filled the room. He took several spice jars, several of which voiced their protests at being handled so roughly, and put several dashes on the cooking meat. After finishing his impromptu meal, he carried the still blistering hot meat, bare handed, out to the table of the bandaged man. The man was snoring softly, so the rat took a jug of what looked like wine, though its true contents are anyone¡¯s guess, and poured himself a glass. The rest of the just he splashed on his dinner guest, ¡°Wake up!¡± Tobi startled awake, he tilted his head confusedly, ¡°Dear host, I seem to be restrained.¡± he pulled against the rope, his eyes wide, ¡°My Poucherella! Where is she?¡± The rat looked at him askance, ¡°What is it with you crazies, always with the obsessing.¡± he took a bite of his roast, ¡°You know, the last one I had here was obsessed with corn husks. What¡¯s that about, huh? He had a whole thing going, corn shoes, corn clothes, corn hat. Looked like a goddamn scarecrow.¡± he shook his head, completely ignoring Tobi¡¯s plight. ¡°Please good sir! I have just witnessed a miracle, the love of my life was taken from me, but I saw her again outside a tree! She was reborn! You must help me.¡± he said. The rat sighed, ¡°Wasn¡¯t your ¡®Poucherella reborn boy. Just a warders pouch to keep away the forest beasties from my tree.¡± he gestured vaguely to the room around him, ¡°Welcome to the tree by the way..¡± Tobi leaned back, now more interested in this rat man that lived in a tree, his lost love more or less forgotten, ¡°Woah. We¡¯re in a tree?¡± ¡°I just said that dumbass.¡± replied the foul mouthed rat. ¡°You know, I once got stuck in a tree. Much less fancy than all this.¡± he nodded his head to the table, ¡°Wasn¡¯t even really big enough for me to fit in. Though I did meet a rat like you, much smaller though, bushy tail, got real mad about me eating some nuts¡± he shook his head ruefully. ¡°I am not a rat!¡± the rat rubbed the bridge of his nose, ¡°Why do you crazies always think I¡¯m a rat.¡± he sighed.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Cuz ya look like one?¡± Tobi noted. ¡°If anything I look like a squirrel. A goddamn fucking squirrel.¡± he looked at the ceiling, ¡°Why¡¯d it have to be a squirrel?¡± The squirrel looked back at Tobi, who had somehow managed to get a bite of the roast using only his mouth, as his hands were tied behind his back. ¡°Alright let¡¯s get this over with.¡± the squirrels eyes glazed over like he was reciting something he had done a thousand times before, ¡°Welcome to my abode, I am the,¡± he ground his teeth, ¡°rat of this tree. My name is Vilde.¡± he sighed deeply again, ¡°What¡¯s your name, brave traveler.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Tobi.¡± he smiled. ¡°Alright, now onto the fun part of the enchantment.¡± he stood up with a dramatic flair, ¡°I was trapped here by a conniving bitch who betrayed me. I have been waiting for someone as,¡± another sigh, ¡°brave as you, to save me. The curse laid upon me forces me to bring travelers near my tree inside and treat them to a meal, then I have to ask them a riddle. If they get the riddle correct, then I am free.¡± he smiled tiredly, ¡°But they never do, and all the ones who come here with any sort of sanity left seem to go catatonic from the tree¡¯s magic.¡± he indicated the room. ¡°If they get it wrong however, I am forced to kill them.¡± he pointed at the meat on the table, ¡°Not all were human, this little one was a talking bear of ill repute, he had traveled the world and somehow wound up here. Poor bugger didn¡¯t even get past the first question. Now,¡± he sat back down and leaned towards Tobi, fingers crossed together, ¡°Any questions?¡± ¡°Yea.¡± he leaned towards him too, ¡°Why am I tied up? I don¡¯t mean to be rude, but your ropes aren¡¯t very comfy.¡± ¡°Ah. Most of the crazies that I can actually talk with either try to run or kill me. Neither ends well, after enough attempts on your life you start to take, precautionary measures.¡± he pointed to the ropes. ¡°Makes sense I guess, but how did you even get cursed.¡± he asked. He sighed, ¡°It¡¯s a wild fuckin¡¯ story really. I found three schmucks hiding in a cornfield, they had deserted their army and were hiding out waiting for them to pass. I came to them and offered them a deal, I would help them get away, and give them whips that could strike the ground and summon gold. In exchange they would, after seven years, sell me their souls. Though I didn¡¯t use such harsh words, most don¡¯t like to hear the truth of the statement.¡± his eyes had taken on a distant look. ¡°Anyway, they agreed and I sent them on their way. They lived for seven years in riches and luxuries, but their time had come. As per the agreement I came to collect, though I may have been a bit drunk at the time, so when I came across them I offered them a way out. If they could answer my riddle in three days times, they would be free. They agreed again, and I bound the [Deal]. After that I went home to where I had been squatting for the past seven years, and slept off the last of the booze. When I woke up I realized what I had done. For the next three days I thought of a riddle they couldn¡¯t get the answer to, an impossible riddle.¡± he sighed forlornly. ¡°But it wasn¡¯t enough. I had gone to my grandmother¡¯s home to tell her the news. We were close back then, the vindictive bitch, and I told her about the riddle. I guess somehow one of the soldiers had met my grandmother and she had taken pity on him, because under the floor of her hut he hid as I told her the riddle. I went back to the three soldiers, but it was too late. They answered my riddle and went free, I knew something was wrong as they were much too confident, but I was bound by my [Deal]. So I went back to my grandmother¡¯s home, and in it¡¯s place was tree.¡± He looked about sadly, ¡°I stormed up to her, she was sitting at the base of the tree. I asked her how they knew, since I had only told her, she must have betrayed me.¡± he rubbed his temples, ¡°She always was a stickler for being ¡®fair¡¯, it was really fuckin¡¯ annoying. Anyways, she told me why she betrayed me, it was because my riddle wasn¡¯t ''fair''. And so that bitch cursed me to stay in this tree until someone could answer the impossible riddle I had devised, she also made me look like a fucking squirrel for shits and giggles.¡± he slumped in his chair, his story over, he looked like a doll with it¡¯s strings cut. ¡°Wow. That¡¯s a real fancy story mister.¡± Tobi had nodded along the whole while, it reminded him of another story he had heard, it was pretty similar, though with a lot less swearing,¡± Wait, so I gotta answer the impossible riddle? Do I get a reward if I win?¡± he asked. The squirrel man¡¯s eyes blazed with a hellish light, and his voice deepened, ¡°You get to live if you win mortal, be glad.¡± he threatened simply. ¡°Eh. Living is overrated. Trust me, I¡¯ve tried it.¡± he inhaled deeply, ¡°If you promise me some cool stuff I¡¯ll answer the riddle. I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯ve heard your story before anyway.¡± The squirrel perked up at that, ¡°You have heard the story before? Then you know the riddle! Yes! Oh Hells yes!¡± he was nearly bouncing in his chair, ¡°Alright ask me for the cool stuff two more times.¡± Tobi cocked his head but did as was asked, ¡°Thrice heard, the contract is bound.¡± the squirrel slapped his hands together and a reddish light split out towards both of them beings sitting at the table, they shot into their mouths and coiled around their hearts, or what served as one for the squirrel. Tobi nodded, ¡°Alright, ask away.¡± The squirrel named Vilde smiled at him, ¡°Very well. What shall your roast be?¡± Tobi definitely had heard this story before, ¡°A dead dogfish from the north sea.¡± Vilde¡¯s smile widened, ¡°You do know it! Fuck yes!¡± he coughed, ¡°What shall be your spoon?¡± ¡°A whale¡¯s rib bone.¡± Tobi answered with a crooked grin. The squirrel had stood up, his face split in half by a wild smile, ¡°And finally. What is to be your wine glass?¡± he was bouncing up and down by this point. ¡°An old horse¡¯s hoof.¡± he said. ¡°Yes! Fuck yes! YES!¡± the squirrel roared, but it¡¯s voice was even deeper now, like mountains falling on one another. He sprinted around the table, the cane forgotten, and pulled Tobi into and embrace. He tossed him in the air as one would a child and caught him, ¡°You have helped me much mortal! As per the deal, some cool stuff.¡± he snapped his fingers and Tobi suddenly heard several dinging noises, he really should check on those, he wondered how much XP he got from nuking the village. ¡°Now the [Deal] is complete!¡± the squirrel¡¯s fur began to shed, and he gained several feet, standing a head over Tobi now. Where there was once a squirrel named Vilde, now there stood a blonde man with a dark blue suit on made of the finest silk. He had a regal face with harsh angles and red, demonic eyes, ¡°Mortal, our work is complete. You have served your purpose, and though I have given you some ¡®cool¡¯ things,¡± he laughed wickedly, ¡°you cannot even use them. Choose your words carefully next time you deal with one such as I!¡± ¡°Whatd¡¯ya mean I can¡¯t use em? And why are you acting so spooky all of a sudden?¡± he asked. ¡°Because you have freed me upon this world once again! And I shall wreak havoc like this plane hasn¡¯t seen in millennia!¡± he paused, ¡°After a quick vacation of course¡­¡± ¡°Yeah whatever you say, but what do you mean I can¡¯t use the cool stuff?¡± he asked again. ¡°Oh. That.¡± Vilde said absently, ¡°Because to even use the first level you would need sixty levels worth of free stat points, and who just has that lying around?¡± he said. It seemed as though his mind was distant, and he nearly didn¡¯t notice when Tobi replied. ¡°Oh. I¡¯m probably pretty close to that. I mean after destroying the village and whatnot I should be getting close. Maybe I¡¯ll just kill stuff in the forest.¡± Vilde frowned at him, ¡°Well that ruins the fun. I guess I¡¯m getting rusty at the whole, ¡®watch what you wish for¡¯ thing. Used to be I was on point with that, now that I¡¯m thinking about it, just locking your reward away behind a paywall seems amateurish.¡± he sighed, ¡°God. I¡¯m gonna need some practice. Whatever, I¡¯ll get it next time.¡± he turned to leave but stopped when Tobi called out to him. ¡°Hey, could you give me a compass or something. I¡¯m, trying to get to a city or somewhere to become a monster murderer.¡± his eyes glazed over and a string of drool leaked out the side of his mouth at the thought of killing thing for pay. Vilde scratched his head, ¡°I guess. Normally I¡¯d make a [Deal] or something that you would regret later, or something useless, but I just don¡¯t feel like it after trying the stat thing.¡± he slapped his forehead, ¡°Honestly. Stats? Such, such sloppy work. I should have made it so you had the weakest ice spell. Ha! Get it? ¡®Cool¡¯.¡± he smiled but it quickly faded, ¡°I¡¯ll just send you to the nearest city, as another freebie I¡¯ll give you some general knowledge about the world. Wouldn¡¯t want my only contact on this plane of existence to get lost.¡± he snapped his fingers and Tobi¡¯s head felt like it would pop like an over ripe tomato. ¡°If you can just give me information, do you know if there are any places to get pudding?¡± he asked hopefully. ¡°Not on this continent, but I think one of the eastern continent''s dungeons has the recipe locked away. And if not you can always go to a wish dungeon, though those things are wicked fuckin¡¯ dangerous.¡± he stated.Vilde then waved at him, ¡°Guess I¡¯ll see you later.¡± Tobi looked down at his suddenly non existent restraints, he clutched his aching head with one hand and waved back with the other, ¡°Guess so. See ya buddy.¡± He snapped his fingers again and Tobi disappeared. ¡°Buddy? Huh.¡± Chapter 9 The world bucked and swirled as his world view was violently shifted. He passed through some place extraordinarily cold for a split second before erupting out of nothing and back into a familiar, green pastured plain. This time though, instead of small towns and villages scattered off across the plain with farms and homely huts, there stood a monolithic city. It sat atop a rise, and at its center was a gleaming tower with sharp ramparts and balconies jutting off of it like branches. The rest of the city was hidden behind a gigantic white wall, with outcroppings of the same white stone on the top. Around the walls were several small guard huts, similar to the homes he had destro- seen. Thousands of people milled about outside the walls, in something resembling a line. They all had the same destination, the two great gates that stood on either side of the wall. The gates themselves were carved of the same white stone as the walls and the tower, they had ornate patterns of stag charging through bramble and stone. It was a majestic sight that filled many a man¡¯s hearts with wonder and hope. Trult city was one of the pinnacles of human achievement on continent, though it showed signs of wear. Trult was a free city one time, until the Gazzril Empire came stomping to the west with it¡¯s host of warriors and slave creatures, the leaders of Trult had given the city over with little to no fanfare. Since then the gates have not closed once, save against wild beasts, as doing so without threat from an outside source would be considered an act of war. No one in Trult had any misconceptions about what that meant. Most of the travelers were garbed in worn clothing, and were slouched over. There were many merchants wearing much finer clothes, all of them were making their ways towards the gates. At the gates were four guards, they wore silver armor and blue tabards. They all had halberds gripped in their fists, and they were guarding a bored looking man with a large leather bound book. ¡°Next.¡± the bored man said. A group of three peasants shuffled forward, eyes downcast. The man in the front of their group looked up, he had brown eyes, matted hair, and a timid smile. ¡°M-may we come in sir?¡± he asked, scraping his foot against the ground. ¡°Names and purpose.¡± the bored man said again, not even looking up from his tome. ¡°I¡¯m Yole, and my two sisters here are Tali and Moira.¡± he said indicating the two girls behind him, first the small girl with bright yellow hair, and then to the one equal to him in height and hair color. He wore close fitting rags, while the two girls wore large dirty robes that covered their forms. The bored man sighed, ¡°Purpose¡­¡± ¡°O-oh yes.¡± he swallowed nervously, ¡°We came in from the east, you see we were part of a caravan that was bringing goods here. But we were ambushed,¡± he choked down a sob, ¡°our traveling companions were killed. But we¡± he indicated the girls, ¡°survived by hiding. We have been on the run ever since, trying to get here. To the grand city of Trult, where w-¡± ¡°Enough.¡± the man rubbed his brow in annoyance at the overlarge explanation, ¡°Just go.¡± he waved them in. The three companions entered the city, the leader stood awestruck at seeing the tower up closer. It looked like it scraped the heavens, and it was absolutely massive, as wide as several of the larger houses he had seen here. The area directly outside of the gate entrance was a cobbled road with shops lining either side, they had glass windows on the front to advert their wares. The brown haired man strolled forward, a strange skip in his step, as he peered at all manner of wild objects. Many of the citizens gave a wide berth to the strange smelling man, he barely noticed as he searched for a clean enough alley to rest. He had no money to buy lodging at an inn, nor time enough to find work for now. He needed to find the layout of the city, and so he turned sharply towards the first alley he saw. There was some garbage, and several alleycats feasted on it, but the cleared out soon enough at the sight of this man. He sat down and waved his hand, the two girls disappeared in a puff of multicolored light. He wiped at his face and body, as one would when bathing, and his false clothing and face dissolved. Revealing a bandaged one eyed man sitting alone in an alley, covered in dried blood. ¡°Whew! Close one there.¡± he clapped his hands together, it had been risky doing what he did. If the guards of anyone had looked closer at his companions, they would have seen that they had no faces, and their bodies didn¡¯t move. He had made the false robes to hide that fact, and prayed no one would notice. He looked around the alley, a sense of calm filling him at the familiar sight of broken bottles and boxes scattered about haphazardly. It reminded him of that fateful night, him bleeding out through a wound in his side. Shards of broken glass digging into his back, and a beautiful girl with blood red hair finding him. She wore strangely little clothing, and her smile was sad. But she was kind to him, and she saved his life. She never told him what she was doing out so late, and he had never asked. He smiled sadly remembering her, before he smacked his head against the stone wall behind him, leaving a smear of grime and blood. He had no immediate plan, he wanted to become an adventurer, so he needed to become more presentable, and come up with a false identity. He laughed, he had no idea how to do that, and so he did what any half clever person would do, he opened his notifications.
Level up! Level up! Level up! Level up! ¡­ You are level 47!
Quest Complete! [Devil in the Tree] You have freed the devil from his prison! Great work? He has rewarded you for your efforts!If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Reward: Ability - [Pocket] - Cost 275 Stats XP
[Pocket] At rank one the user is able to create a pocket reality for storage.
Title gained! [Devil Dealer] You have made a deal with the devil. Good job? +500 Reputation with creatures of demonic origin.
Title gained! [Walking Disaster] You nuked a village. 5% bonus damage to area attacks.
Ability Increase! [Chaos Manipulation] [Chaos Illusion] Beginner III - Beginner IV Beginner I - Beginner II
He smiled, though his progress was slow, and his ability to use Chaos was still in its fledgling stages. He felt good making progress, and he hoped that soon, after becoming a professional monster murderer, he could make much, much more progress. With no more notifications, and still unsure on how to spend 235 stat points he wiped his pants briefly and stood up. He cracked his neck and stretched his back. He looked down at his dirty bandages, covered in dried blood and grime. He needed to get some new gear to blend in with the other adventurers, and he needed to get washed up, but as it stood he was flat broke. A wolfish grin curled his lips as a thought popped into his head. He had stolen money before, pickpocketing and slashing purses, why not use some of that experience? While it was definitely easier to steal from unwary people when you only went up to their hip, he decided he could make do with being taller. Slipping out from his alley he stepped back out onto the streets, slipping between the crowd of people. Most wore peasant clothes, but several had vibrant hued clothes on, those ones also had their fat pouches of gold on display. They would be the targets. Despite the difference in how the area looked and what everyone wore, this situation was similar in many ways to his younger years. He did as he did then, he found an unoccupied street corner, bustling with men and women going about their lives. Few spared glances at the obviously bedraggled man sitting with his arms outstretched, he smiled. He had learned long ago that if you didn¡¯t want to be seen, the best way was to become something no one wanted to see. In this case, a beggar. He watched with an unnatural focus for his usually wandering mind, looking for anyone with a fat purse that seemed a bit lax in their attention. He eventually spotted one, they were walking slowly, peering into each shop along the roads. Every once in awhile stopping to come closer and peer past the glass, never to actually go in. Tobi smiled, the man was paying barely any attention to his surroundings. Tobi stood up slowly and made his way towards him, taking a slow meandering route that brought him from storefront to storefront, but always in the general direction of his quarry. The man was young, with wild curling black hair and no stubble on his chin, he wore vibrant blue robes and his coin pouch was strapped to a belt on his left side. Tobi walked through the bustle of busy men and women towards his target, his target at the moment was peering into another store, fingering his pouch longingly. The sound of roaring chatter and boots and hooves clopping on the cobblestone road faded away. His mind was focused on his task, everything else seemed more distant, less important. He sidled up to the man, and accidentally bumped him, his hand flashing flashing out towards the pouch, secreting it away in the folds of his clothing, ¡°Shorry bout¡¯ thath my lad.¡± he said jovialy, slurring his words, ¡°Been hitting the bottle a bit hard.¡± he chuckled, miming a drinking motion. Tobi stumbled away from the startled youth, his mouth partially open in response. As soon as he was out of sight his awkward walk was replaced instantly with his usual skip walk. He made his way into a nearby alley, away from the masses of people, many of whom were dressed strangely, he assumed they were adventurers. He crouched behind a pile of boxes, ignoring the stench of rot and waste. He opened the pouch with quick motions and upturned it on the dirty stone floor. Several silver coins fell out, some had a stag head embossed on the center but others had no picture. He counted them out quickly, he had seven silver coins, he scratched his head, ¡°Am I broke? Or am I rich?¡± he asked himself, not knowing how much seven silver was worth, or if the picture, or lack thereof, meant anything to the price. He scraped the coins back into his pouch, there was no need to worry about how much they were worth, he might as well just go find out. With that in mind, he put the pouch back under his ¡®clothing¡¯ and set out to find an inn with a bath, and some new gear. Jeris made his way down Merchant Street, his master had told him to find the alchemist shop run by some old man. He sighed, nearly every alchemist shop was run by ¡®that damn old man¡¯, why couldn¡¯t he have just said the name of the shop or what the sign was. He had no idea what shop he needed to get to, yet he knew he needed to find some shop that sold mage stones. His master was working on something big in his workshop, and so couldn¡¯t come himself. Jeris had been given seven silver to buy the five mage stones, he knew he would have to haggle and an anxious feeling settled in his stomach at the thought. He peered into every shop he came by, partly looking for the alchemist, and partly because he was interested in all the items from around the world. Trult got a lot of exotic items as adventurers from around the world would come here to train in the Volin Forest, it was one of the best spots for starting adventurers. Adventureres. A whimsical smile flitted across Jeris¡¯s face at the though, he often wished he could be like the mages in the stories he had heard as a young boy. Legendary figures that could wipe armies from the face of the world and split the earth with a thought, but he was just a lowly apprentice, with barely enough mana to cast [Candlelight]. His smile died out and he made his way further down Merchant Street. A storefront caught his eye, it had exotic pets displayed in the window. Strange creatures with seven eyes that looked like normal house cats curled in their cages, alongside small water drakes with beautiful blue scales, he wished he had a familiar, as then he could borrow their mana, instead of being stuck with his paltry pool. He fingered his pouch in longing, but knew that even if he could spend the silver on a familiar, seven silver wasn¡¯t enough for even the weakest rock roach. He made to turn away but a strange man bumped into him, he had one eye closed and the other was a brilliant yellow. He smelled bad and wore what one could call rags, if they were being kind. He stumbled into him, ¡°Shorry bout¡¯ thath my lad.¡± he slurred, Jeris was about to respond when he was cut off, ¡°Been hitting the bottle a bit hard.¡± the ragged man laughed and stumbled away. Jeris¡¯s mouth hung open, he wanted to say something, anything. But as usual, he stood silently and wished the world would go away. Once the man was out of sight Jeris made his way yet again down the street, no longer stopping at every store that caught his eye. He was passing in front of yet another alchemist shop run by yet another old man, ¡°Hey! Boy!¡± someone called out, Jeris looked around wondering if someone was talking to him, so used to being called boy by his master. ¡°Over here you dimwit!¡± He spun around again looking for the owner of the voice, he spun towards the alchemist shop he was passing, through the darkwood door was an old man with graying hair motioning at him. He could see some of the dimly lit room behind him, and inside was a room filled with shelves of the same dark wood the door was made of. The shelves were lined with multicolored bottles and trinkets, some of them glowed in the dim room. ¡°Come here.¡± the man waved at him again so he made his way over, ¡°Your blasted master sent ya¡¯ right? Master wassisname¡¯,¡± he snapped his fingers, ¡°Jol? Jill? Joil?¡± Jeris looked down at his feet as he responded, ¡°Juli.¡± ¡°Yeah. That¡¯s the one, he sent you for the mage stones am I right? He sent me a wisp tellin me ta¡¯ look for ¡®the awkward blue boy¡¯. I think that¡¯s you right boy?¡± Jeris clenched his fists, he hated being called boy, but as usual he took it and responded, ¡°That would be me. Can I have the five stones please sir?¡± ¡°Aye. For the ten silver I were promised.¡± the old man said with a malicious grin. ¡°What! I only have seven silver!¡± Jeris¡¯s eyes shot wide, ¡°I¡¯ll give you seven, please, sir.¡± he said awkwardly, not knowing if he should be firm in his demands or just beg the man. ¡°Eh. I don¡¯t know. Were promised ten. I think I want ten.¡± he made a spectacle of scratching his chin, as if thinking over something difficult. ¡°I¡¯ll give you this.¡± he took out a piece of white metal from his robe pocket, ¡°Please. I¡¯m already on thin ice with him, I can¡¯t mess this up. He¡¯ll get rid of me.¡± Jeris decided to beg, he was better at that. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a piece of moonstone, you could make a night vision potion with it. It¡¯s a fair trade, sir.¡± ¡°I guess I could take it. Though I wouldn¡¯t call it a fair trade,¡± he reached into his pocket and pulled out five glowing blue stones, ¡°it¡¯ll do. Now. Where¡¯s my silver?¡± ¡°Oh! Right here¡­¡± he pawed at his belt for the coin pouch, ¡°Uh oh.¡± Chapter 10 Tobi had gone back to the merchant district and then to all of the inns he could find, every one of them was out of his price range, or barred him access. He couldn¡¯t blame them, he was dressed in rags, covered in blood with what was obviously stolen money. He decided he needed to find the slums, every city in every world had them, it was just a matter of finding someone who knew where. You couldn¡¯t just ask someone ¡°Hey. Do you know where I can find the lawless area populated by only the poor and destitute? Thanks.¡± he had learned that the hard way from some awkward looks and harsh word. Instead he decided to find someone who knew where it was and follow them, he decided on a particularly unsavory looking individual. He looked to be an adventurer with his scuffed leather armor and longsword strapped to his hip. The grimy gleam in his eye and the way he spoke in hushed tones with an even shadier looking cloaked individual, lead Tobi to choose him. Even if he didn¡¯t lead him to someplace he could pay with his ¡®unlawfully acquired tender¡¯ then he could just follow someone else. The sun had set hours past and the street was lit by torches and magical lanterns hanging high above the masses on poles set in the stone ground. Tobi watched the adventurer¡¯s interaction with the cloaked man silently, hidden behind refuse and broken boxes in a nearby alley. He liked alleys. He couldn¡¯t make out what they were saying but from the exchange of a coin pouch from the cloaked man to the adventurer, it didn¡¯t seem to be something the city guard would be fond of. The adventurer turned away from the cloaked man and started towards the southern side of the city, straight towards Tobi¡¯s hiding spot. Tobi ducked down lower and hid deeper back in the shadows, pushing his body between two piles of refuse. The man walked past him, only sparing a glance towards his hiding place, and went further down the alley which led back to a side street lined with homes. Tobi got up from his place and began to silently follow the man, making sure not to step on anything that would betray his presence. The man went in a more or less straight line, occasionally cutting through alleys and side streets. Tobi followed him for nearly an hour, hiding behind garbage and ducking around corners when the man looked behind him. ¡°Why ya followin¡¯ that guy?¡± asked a familiar childish voice. Tobi knew that the man would hear him if he started to speak, so he reasoned that if puddle buddy was in his head, he could talk to him in his head. Testing. Testing. One two¡­ three? ¡°You sound weird when you do that. Like you¡¯re talking underwater.¡± Works well enough for me. Why do you care anyway. ¡°Just curious. There¡¯s only so much a Chaos construct can do before getting bored ya know.¡± puddle buddy replied. I guess that makes sense. I get bored easy too. Anywho, I¡¯m following Shady McShaderson over here because he might lead me to someplace I can spend my, um, unusually acquired money. ¡°Thats pretty clever, especially for you.¡± Thanks? I think¡­ ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± By the way, do you happen to know where Spooky has gone? I haven¡¯t heard from him or any of the gang in a while. ¡°I already told you this,¡± a mental sigh, ¡°I blocked them out in the Chaos when I was born.¡± Why¡¯d ya lock up the gang? ¡°I-I don¡¯t really know. I was new to this world, I was alone and scared.¡± it shuddered, ¡°It was so easy to lock them away, they don¡¯t understand this world like I do. I was born here, and I received the knowledge inherent to all monsters. But they, they are something else. I don¡¯t know how powerful they will be once they start to understand.¡± Puddle buddy sounded afraid again. Understand what?Stolen story; please report. ¡°That they can do things that shouldn¡¯t be possible, by this world¡¯s rules, or your old one¡¯s.¡± Huh, maybe they should stay in timeout for a bit. Do you think you could show me how to let them out if I wanted to? ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ I did it in a panic last time, it was a wild attempt. I don¡¯t know if I could even replicate it. When you want to let them out, though I don¡¯t know why you would, just try to manipulate the Chaos in your mind, there¡¯s plenty there.¡± Okee dokee, thanks buddy. I¡¯m just gonna go back to sneak following our shady friend here. ¡°Alright. I guess I¡¯ll just go back to being bored.¡± it sighed forlornly. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll take you out sometime soon. Might even try to make you a body. ¡°R-really? Thank you! I would enjoy that immensely.¡± Puddle buddy sounded excited and it made several strange sounds that may or may not have been giggles, before disappearing into the Chaos of Tobi¡¯s head. During this mental conversation Shady McShaderson had followed his generally straight but roundabout path, inching ever southward. As puddle buddy metaphorically hung up the phone, McShaderson had turned into yet another alley. Tobi inched towards it and poked his head around the corner, at the end of the alley was a run down building, similar to the other run down shacks around it. The red door was illuminated from inside by a smoky orange light, casting an eerie glow to the refuse scattered about the entrance. The sounds of raucous cheering echoed from inside, and the smell of sweat and sex permeated the air. Tobi knew that he would stand out even more inside a back street brothel like this one, so he kept to the outside of the alley¡¯s mouth, waiting for McShaderson to appear. And appear he did, with a lady of the night on his arm, while Tobi might have technically found himself in the slums he stayed around. Not even he knew the reason why, maybe it was the allure of nightlife, or perhaps the strange feeling of familiarity, or even the feeling of a memory half remembered. The man and lady were laughing with each other, and both were stumbling slightly before catching themselves on the dirt streaked walls. The lady wore a skimpy red outfit that showed more skin than cloth, and the man groped at the open areas of her body. His hands leaving grimy streaks on her pale skin, while they both laughed with each other, only the man seemed to be truly enjoying himself. The woman had a gleam in her eyes, one he had seen before in cornered animals that knew the hunter was upon them. While the man stumbled drunkenly, the woman tried to pull away, only to be gripped tighter, a cry for help half spoken in her throat. They turned the corner, exiting the mouth of the alley and moving away from Tobi, deeper into the winding spiderweb streets of the slums. Tobi followed them deeper into the slums, past broken homes and shops that once were. Deeper and deeper they went into this depraved rabbit hole, skirting around forgotten sons drugged out of their minds, and forgotten sisters left to rot in the trash. The man ignored these sights while the woman¡¯s eyes grew crazed as her situation set in. She renewed her struggles, the man jerked her forward violently and spun her to look at him, ¡°Stop screaming or this will hurt more, whore.¡± he growled. He tossed her to the ground and tore at her clothing. She screamed, ¡°Please! Somebody help!¡± The man backhanded her, raising a nasty welt, and tearing a line across her cheek. She still struggled so he struck her again, and she fell still, but tears still streaked her face, not yet afforded the bliss of unconsciousness. The man began to pull off his own clothing, his breathing heavy. Tobi watched, his own breathing heavy, though not in lust. His hands clenched and opened, as another memory struck his mind. Her blood red hair streaked with her own blood, matted to the floor. The fat pig atop her, still rutting, though she had long ago stopped breathing. His own helplessness making his limbs leaden, his eyelids heavy as they begged for him to let it all go away. But he didn¡¯t fall back into the soft arms of sleep, he didn¡¯t let it disappear. He stayed conscious through it all, ingraining every feature of that disgusting beast into his brain, searing it into his memory. He stayed awake for it all, even as his blood seeped into the carpet under him, staining it a brilliant red. Just like her hair. A strange sensation welled inside him, it was a hot, burning feeling. So hot he felt it would scour away anything else, it felt like bottled lava, or a snapshot of lightning coursing through his veins. Anger. Fury. Hatred. He knew it¡¯s name, he had let himself into its fold, he had felt his mind go red, and he had let it bring his hand to bare and let the red out. Out OUT LET ME OUT The anger roared in his ears, blasting away conscious thought. He knew what was keeping it at bay, he knew the Chaos puddle buddle had used locked away this feeling. This rage. He reached for the veil that separated the wolf from him. And he tore it down. Tobi straightened from his hiding spot, both eyes shooting wide. His pupil shifting from its normal yellow to a more lupine one, a wolfish smile curled his lips and his body shivered. Not from the cold, but in delight. He took slow steps towards the man, waiting for him to see him. It didn¡¯t take long, he turned away from his latest conquest, still sobbing on the ground. He stood and grabbed his blade, pointing it at Tobi, ¡°Get the fuck away junkie! You won¡¯t last long, and she¡¯s mine.¡± he punctuated his claim by jabbing a finger at the woman. ¡°Have you heard the story of red riding hood?¡± he asked, swaying lazily. ¡°I¡¯ll give you three seconds to get your grimy ass away from here.¡± he gripped the hilt of his blade tighter, the whites of his knuckles showing through. ¡°No? Shame... It¡¯s such a good story.¡± he wiped brushed away a lock of hair obscuring his eye. ¡°Three...¡± the man growled out. ¡°It begins with a girl, garbed in red.¡± he began. ¡°Two... You better fucking go.¡± he waved his sword drunkenly. ¡°Her mother needed her to bring a basket of food to their grandmother, so she sent little red through the woods.¡± he tilted his head to the side, his hair moving aside to reveal his missing eye. A small line of blood trickled from his empty eye socket to his chin. ¡°What the fuck are you talking about.¡± he took a step backwards, ¡°I¡¯ll give you one last chance, go!¡± ¡°But there was one issue.¡± Invisible to the man waving his blade threateningly, multicolored light coursed out of his body, and coalesced in a ball in front of him. The ball of light stretched and flattened, until it resembled a facsimile of the prostitute¡¯s own red dress. He solidified the dress¡¯s existence and held it out towards the man. ¡°What the fuck is that for?¡± A note of fear entered his eyes, ¡°Where''d you even get th-¡± Tobi cut him off, ¡°The problem was, the woods didn¡¯t belong to little red. They belonged to the wolf.¡±