《Novam Vitam》
Chapter 1: Death then Rebirth
1173 Word''s in total.
I feel empty and drained of strength, tired and¡ regretful. Regret for not doing more in life, for not helping those who need help, for not righting all the wrongs I ever came across and finally regret for not being a better person in life. What I felt the most was guilt. I felt all this as I lay on the floor bleeding out, my broken body riddled with bullet holes.
¡°Is this what it¡¯s like to die?¡± I whisper ever so quietly to myself as a shadow loomed over me, I felt a cold circular shape on the side of my head. ¡°Goodbye Mr Finn.¡± A voice said, a loud bang followed and I saw no more. Just darkness. Silence. I felt nothing either, as if my body was no more.
¡®I¡¯m dead I¡¯d guess.¡¯ This darkness reminds me of that song, The sound of Silence, ¡°Hello Darkness my old friend. I¡¯ve come to talk to you again.¡± I sang out loud, to be met with the echo of my words and then the aftermath of silence. Then I felt a presence, dark and foreboding it was, or so it felt but I felt also sadness, a sadness just like my own.
Then from all around me I heard. ¡°I have never seen you before mortal, and I would remember if I did but alas I have not.¡± Boomed from all directions, the voice was steeped in power and authority.
¡°Who are you mortal? For you have peeked my interest.¡± It boomed once again.
¡°I¡¯m Liam Finn.¡± I whispered with eyes wide from shock, shock then turned into acceptance. ¡®Why should I be shocked? I¡¯m dead¡¯ I thought.
¡°What were you before you passed Liam?¡± Once again darkness asked me. ¡°A scientist.¡± I replied. ¡°An intellectual then?¡± I nodded. ¡°You¡¯ll be perfect. Would you like another chance at life?¡± But¡ I¡¯m dead I can¡¯t come back to life can I? Even if I do come back the government would capture me and do all sorts of invasive tests on me.
¡°But I can¡¯t come back to life.¡± I voiced and then it chuckled. ¡°Oh you won¡¯t be going back to your old world my dear Liam, oh no. You¡¯ll be going to what you would consider a world of fantasy. Elves, Dwarves and other mystical races and creatures will exist alongside humans. You will be going to the world of Eloria, So mortal. Entertain me.¡±
Minutes pass by in silence and I dare not speak due to shock once again. Soon I muster up the courage to speak but as I open my mouth and begin to utter a word I begin to feel my body once again, then an intense pain emanates from my head to encompass my whole body. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
Knowledge, suddenly I know things that I did not before. Knowledge of magic, what it is, how to sense mana, how to use mana and how to manifest it into magic spells. How each person has an affinity, be it for Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Light and Darkness, a person is born with their affinity and they may only have one but sometimes a half-breed may have two affinities¡¯.
Besides knowledge of how to harness magic, I now know of how to manifest my mana into certain spells, spells of Nature magic and Dark magic, Blood magic, Necromancy, how to cast Hex¡¯s, demon summoning and how to not be possessed by the summoned demon, how to speak to animal, then both offensive and defensive spells, spells utilising either shadows in day or darkness at night to conceal myself and knowledge on how to create my own spells, knowledge of the soul and certain magic¡¯s based around the soul and knowledge of languages I¡¯ve never heard of and their names, knowledge of crafting and magical equipment, knowledge of what all the bones and muscles in the body, what they are made of and how to create them using magic.
Suddenly the pain ends, my mind overflows with knowledge of the dark arts. I feel the darkness around me ripple and I feel it pushing me ever so slowly as well, soon I start to see a light.
A light at the end of a long tunnel, minutes more pass by and as I near the end of the tunnel I hear muffled sounds that become louder as I come closer to the light.
They soon become loud enough that I can make out what there are. Voices, voices saying things like ¡®Push! Almost there!¡¯ and ¡®Soon you¡¯ll be a mother!¡¯ from these sentences alone I think I can figure out what is currently happening to me, I¡¯m being born once again. Only this time I know what¡¯s going on, and this time I¡¯ll at least get to know who my parents are.
Because in my last life, I was raised in an orphanage. From what I learned later on in life my father died before I was born and my mother died shortly after I was born so I never knew the loving touch of my parents, hopefully this time I¡¯ll get to experience it. I hope at least.
Soon I am out of that tunnel which I¡¯d assume is the vagina of my mother then I am being held as babies usually are. I open my eyes and the first person I see is a rather¡ Happy fellow ¡°It¡¯s a boy dear wife!¡± who appears to be my father, he has golden-blonde hair, blue eyes, a long braided beard, long pointy ears and a sharp nose that looks as if it¡¯s been broken multiple times.
¡°I know I can see from here you buffoon now pass my precious child foolish husband!¡± I hope my mother and father are not one of those couples who argue regularly, but instead of retorting my father puts on an idiotic smile and hands me to mother who I can now see, a face that could only be called beautiful greets me, white hair, violet skin, red eyes and long pointy ears. My new mother is an elf, and now that I¡¯ve noticed that I take a clear look at my father, who is noticeably tall, thus he must be a normal elf.
I am definitely in a fantasy world, as soon as my mother got a hold of me she smiled and her face radiated happiness. ¡°What should I call you? Hmmmm¡.¡± she says then suddenly my father cuts in ¡°We should call him Duane!¡± After a few moments of debating with herself mother finally agrees ¡°Duane is a good name, Duane it is! That¡¯s surprising of you to think up something good for once, usually your only good for fighting, hunting and carpentry.¡± She smiles towards father,
¡°I¡¯m good for other things Ardith!¡± suddenly her smile is gone ¡°No you¡¯re not Avery.¡± There was no argument ¡°Ye-yes Ardith.¡± Well father is¡ submissive to say the least.
¡°Now my dear child let¡¯s get you cleaned up.¡± Mother said to me. And so my new life began.
Chapter 2: 7 Months old.
7 Months Old
Duane Von Mannenheim is my new nameand considering my own personality I''m the kind of person that loves to plan ahead. Unfortunately for me in this kind of situation I can''t just plan yet.
Why you ask? Why those dearest parents of mine keep me locked in my spacious bedroom and I have no access to information on the outside world I mean, at least they left with with a literal tonne of toys. They shouldn''t be slavers at least...
Any way, my bedroom has my cot, two strategically placed book cases by the far wall taking up the whole of the wall and filled to the brim with books. A window too high for me to currently see out, a comfy fur rug made out of a large creature''s pelt, a literal tonne of toys (Building blocks, stuffed toys/plush toys and wooden toy creatures.) a wardrobe, dresser and an overall homely look to the place.
My mother only comes in to dote on me and breastfeed me, everything else like looking after me and changing my diapers -Yes Diapers in a medieval society, amazing right?- is done by a young looking maid, sickly complexion and overall petite body, ice blue borderline grey eyes, human ears and blonde hair, If I had to guess she''d be around 13-18 years old. She also happens to have a sad expression constantly on her face whenever father and mother aren''t around. From careful listening I found out her name was Henrietta.
The very next morning as soon as the sun shines through the the window as per usual she opened my room''s door and came in with her usual sad face muttering "Good morning young master." thinking that I couldn''t understand her. Little did she know...
As soon as she changed my diaper, I spread my arms open which is the baby gesture meaning ''Pick me up'' and I said her name, well tried to but it came out something like "Enwietta!" which fortunately could still be understood. As soon as I uttered her name the effect was much bigger than I expected, her normal sad frown changed instantly to a beaming smile.
She picked me up saying "Who''s a smart baby? you are!" after she started to walking to the door with me in arm which is a break in the normal routine since I''ve never left this room. I wonder where we''re going? I''ll have to wait and see.
As soon as we exit my room I immediately see the blood stained walls, what the fuck? I look back at Henrietta''s face and I notice that her eyes are glazed over as if she''s not completely coherent. I don''t know what''s happening but I''m sure I''m not going to like it.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
"Mama!" I call out, only to be shushed by Henrietta "Shush now child, you''ll be with them soon!" she say''s in a somewhat exited tone, her face gaining an expression halfway between crazed and excited. Somethings going on, and I sure as hell am not going to like it.
As we continue down the blood-stained corridor the wooden floor creaking at every step, I finally see the most likely thing that all this blood came from. A pile of corpses, after a moment or two of counting the corpse-count is at 34, each body different than the last, some tall and some small, some masculine and some feminine. The only thing the corpses had in common was that they''re all pale husks as if they were drained of every last drop of blood which they probably were considering the state of the corridor wall''s.
Fortunately despite their condition the faces were still recognisable and luckily for me my parents were not among the dead. Soon my focus on the pile of corpses evaporated and condensed on the open double doors that we entered shortly after.
What was inside was truly worrying, mother and father kneeling on the floor towards what i recognised as a succubus, pale white skin, two black horns on her head curling back, a face that could only be described in one word, ''Beauty.'' (A.N Succubus''s love changing their appearances to tempt differant men so I''ll let you imagine her face of ''Beauty.'')
Besides from my parents who are either demon worshippers or are under a charm spell. In the room was a pentagram drawn in blood with a lit black candle at each point. "Ah so our sacrifice has arrived!" The succubus said excitedly as I and Henrietta approached "Yes mistress!" said Henrietta in a tone much like the demon''s own.
"Quick slave place him in the center, don''t scuff the pentagram, I don''t want to have to draw it again." She directed and Henrietta did as ordered placing me in the center.
As soon as I was placed down Henrietta stepped back and walked to the side of the room, Well sufficed to say I think I may be fucked. Only moments later the succubus pulled out a midnight black jagged dagger and started chanting "Zrui Na''adra''uf Dalai Idan!" she started to chant, the chant imbueing her dagger with infernal energy.
From the knowledge given to me by that dark entity I recognise the ritual due to the chant as being a ritual to summon a powerful greater demon or a demon lord. And as I remember what has to be done next I feel sadness.
The succubus walks to my parents snared in her charm, they present their throats with maniacal smiles and the succusbus slices their throats open. Blood spewing out then starting to float and gather in a large orb at the tip of the sacrificial dagger.
"Daiganus Ilyeta Jya''Barom Opanium Graigus!" She chants once again then lets go of the dagger, which starts to float over to my body. Once it reaches the pentagram it goes into position 2ft right above my chest.
"REDYUSA!" That fucking succubus screams and the dagger plunges down and pierces my chest. My life ends once again and I return to the darkness. I was not pleased once bit.
ANNOUNCEMENT
Just thought I''d let you guys know, I''m going on a Hiatus! NAH I''M JUST FUCKING WITH YOU!
Now onto the serious stuff, Originally I''d of thought that I''d only get a few readers but there are like 120 views on the first chapter with 2 encouraging comments. It took me a while to get chapter 2 out due to the fact that it was my birthday yesterday so i spent all day, all night celebrating. Hence why chapter 2 was a slow release, but due to the views and the comment I''m going to do something.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
I''m going to pull an all nighter just to get chapter 3 typed out and submitted, I should get it done around 10:am tommorrow or lunchtime maximum (GMT UTC +0), and once that''s done and a little nap''s been had, then I''ll get started on chapter 4.
So that''s my little announcement then. If i don''t get it done by the time I''ve mentioned then guess what? I''m a tosser!
Chapter 3: Compensation.
Back once again, floating in a dark void. This time not with sadness and regret but rather fury and hate. Fury for his new life that was squandered, and hate for that infernal race that had ended him, fury and hate so vast and intense it engulfed his entire incorporeal being.
"IF ONLY I COULD RETURN DOWN THERE! I''D RIP THAT SUCCUBUS WHORE LIMB FROM LIMB!" I roared into the abyss, each word seething with hate. What happened next was unexpected and took the edge off of my words.
"But you can mortal! You can return for a price I tell ye!" A jolly voice chirped from all around me, a voice much differant to the one from last time that I was here.
"Oh aye! I know what yer think''. I ain''t the same fella, why no I ain''t! Last time ya'' spoke to Damien! and now yer speakin'' to me! The magnificent Cadavron! Now I know what yer think'', ''What''s this silly tosser goin'' on about? I wanna get back down there to rip that bitch limb from limb!'' Ah! But you ain''t heard o'' me magnificent deal!" He intones.
"Whats this deal? Just like you''ve said I''m impatient to get back down there!"
"Oh aye, feisty one you are. You know most mortals would be bowin'' an'' grovelling to me since I''m a god an'' all, but Naaahhh not you! I like you already, with yer balls that be bigger than beachballs! Now the deal be this, obviously you''re a bit dead at the moment and your old body is well... Very baby''ish if i do say so my self and with that kind o'' body it''s gonna be a tad bit impossible to rip that succubus limb from limb which to be honest is somethin'' I''m lookin'' foward to immensely, cos'' it''ll be damn right entertainin''! Now back on track, I can''t send you back to that body but I''ll let you choose a body of your own design instead."
This intrigue''s me, it''s an attractive deal and some would say it''s too good to be true but it''s too good and it''s definitely true!
"Now before you say anythin'' that ain''t the end of the deal, ah aye I caught your interest there ain''t I? Now I''ve digressed once again, but any way besides from the body I''d say all that black magic mumbo jumbo and nature shite that good ol'' Damien gave ye is good alright, but how about I trade something for that? When i say trade I mean remove all that knowledge he''s put in yer noggin and replace it with a bit o'' my knowledge which is better! Damien is the God of all things dark and what goes bump in the night, and I''m Cadavron the Magnificent, god of the magic!"
Depends what kind of knowledge or magic that he''s going to give me. Is it helpful short term? Long term? Both short and long term?
"Now of course you know all magic spells are powered by mana right? Now all things in existance are made of mana, solid objects like dirt are just condensed mana, so what if I give yer the ability to manipulate mana itself? No need for spells, spells are for chumps! The possibilities with mana manipulation are vast and the pros far outweigh any cons there might be. But besides from a new body I''ll give yer Robes made out of enchanted silk that''ll be harder to cut that steel, but HAH! I''m not done yet, I''ll give you a bag full of Mana stones which as the name suggests are crystals made out of pure mana, and finally I''ll give yer 30 Wisdom pearls." He finishes finally, a great deal both long and short term, first I must ask what these wisdom pearls are.
"You''ve explained everything but the wisdom pearls, enlighten me to their purpose please." I ask politely.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"What, yer not feisty any more? Any way what are wisdom pearl''s you ask? Good question! If a person swallows a wisom pearl they''ll learn any knowledge that be stored on it, say if it''s knowledge on how to be a master blacksmith or a master swordmens then not only will there be knowledge on how to perform all those fancy sword moves but there also be muscle memory as well, so you don''t have to practise or anythin'' you''ll know how to and be able to perform all that fancy stuff no problem once yer swallowed a pearl o'' wisdom!"
To be fairly honest there''s no way I can decline this offer, it''s too good to pass by. I mean once I''ve accepted it I can claim my vengeance on that demonic whore... But first one more question.
"Will it be of random knowledge? Will you pick what knowledge they contain? Or will I get to pick?" I ask that one final question.
"Why you can pick of course now hurry up and choose so I can watch ye tear that succubus apart! Oh and before I forget the little continent you''ll be goin'' back to is in ruins with demons every where! Some idiot thought it''d be funny to summon shit loads of ''em, want some advice for when ye get back? Make sure not to kill lil'' Henrietta, why? Because she''s yer ticket off of that shithole of a continent, you know what? I''ll throw in a magical compass as well, when ye get to sea make sure to follow it and after a week or so o'' sailin'' and you''ll reach a place you can call home once you fix the place up a bit that is." He says excitedly.
"Alright I accept this offer of yours. I''ll take 16 Pearls to contain weapon mastery, All weapons both melee and ranged, from the sword and spear to the bow and crossbow. 1 pearl containing building and architecture mastery, 3 pearls containing mastery of leather-working and tailoring, 4 pearls containing mastery of blacksmithing, 4 pearls containing mastery of carpentry and wood-working. And finally 2 pearls containing mastery of Earth magic." I list off after spending a few minutes thinking about what I''d need for what I''d like to do after my business with that succubus is done. I might just become a feudal lord.
"Finally done aye? Well for yer body just picture it in ya'' mind!" Now what do I want my new body to be like? Let''s start with height, 6ft with a lanky build should do, eyes are a dark blue, hair-wise I''ll go for short hair and short beard both a light brown. Skin tone? Pale beige. Nose will be sharp but with the look as if it''s been broken a few times. Thats all the simple stuff done, so now I picture that body with bones ten times as dense as a normal human and muscles twice as dense as well.
As soon as I finish picturing that in my mind I feel a tingling as my new body forms, I feel much more powerful and sturdy which is probably due to the dense bones and muscles.
Once the tingling ends I open my eyes and look down to my newly formed body, now don''t look at me like I''m an evil person but I may or may not have used this opportunity to gain a large schlong, because I mean What kind of man would pass up an opportunity such as this one? (A.N I''ll leave the exact size up to your imaginations.)
Suddenly just like last time knowledge was implanted into my head I feel an intense burning pain in my head, much like a migraine on steroids. Soon the pain end''s and I no longer know what I knew of the dark arts but instead... Mana manipulation is truly a powerful gift, so many possibilities and options with it, the only negative about it is that it take''s a while to make items due to having to gather large amounts of mana for it, not only that each material has it''s own ''mana pattern'' so to say, and for me to know that pattern I''d have to have studied a certain material for a couple of hours.
Althought the negative about spending large amounts of time to create items can be negated by having Mana Crystals which Cadavron was kind enough to give me a bag load.
After the knowledge transfer a set of robes appear on me (A.N https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/44/bd/e0/44bde0aa22a4864588aa2e0bd126a6e0.jpg ) and a bag appears on my back, but something I need has not appeared.
"Cadavron where''s a pair of shoes for fuck''s sake?" I angrily snap at the magic god.
"HA! I DIDN''T SAY ANYTHING IN THE DEAL THAT''D GIVE YOU ANY! NOW GO BACK AND TAKE YE VENGEANCE O'' MIGHTY MORTAL AHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHA!" He finished with a maniacal laugh.
As I was about to retort he once me proclaimed "Now go back and take ye revenge!" One moment I was floating in the abyss then another moment later I found myself standing next to my old infantile corpse.
Chapter 4: We must flee! Part 1
I soon felt my bare feet come into contact with a cold floor and myself back in the room wtih the summoning circle I immediately reach into my bag and pull out a mana-crystal. I''m not as angry as I was earlier, the conversation with Cadavron calmed me down somewhat. Deep down I''m still angry but I''m not at the point that I want to literally rip the succubus limb from limb any more.
Of course I still want to kill the silly bitch, but I''m not going to kill her as quick as I was going to earlier. Oh no. I''ll make sure to savour this kill, It won''t be the first time I''ve enjoyed a kill, that''s reserved for people who''ve annoyed me, wronged me dearly and those I hate.
And I tell you now, I''m not too keen on demons at the moment. I mean I know nothing of this world but I''m pretty sure they can''t be all bad? I''ll just have to ask the next god I see. But for now I''ll just kill every demon that comes close.
Once the mana-crystal is within my grasp I realise I''m outside of the summoing circle and looking in the wrong direction at a blood covered wall, so I whirl around just in time to see the succubus still chanting, about to plunge the dagger into Henrietta who has now taken my place within the middle.
I can''t let her kill Henrietta, as Cadavron said she''s my ticket off of this continent that is now as he also said infested with demons. I mean with the magic compass all I''d need to do is hijack a ship or steal one but then I''d need a willing crew, wouldn''t want them killing me in my sleep now. But Henrietta must be a much more easier option to get off of the island than that, and should be safer aswell.
But I digress, as I''ve said I can''t let her kill Henrietta! With the mana-crystal in hand I activate my mana-sense with just a thought, I then push my mana into the crystal mixing that mana with my own thus allowing me control over it.
Once my control was established over the crystal, I used my own mana that was mixed in to unravel the patterns of the object thus turning it back into mana with my own mana to keep it around me.
As I finish that, the succubus is just about to plunge the dagger down into Henrietta. I will the gathered mana into a 6 by 6 ft wall of condensed energy and I will it foward.
The Succubus get''s hit full-on and I hear the sound of bones cracking and breaking and her scream of pain, her dagger goes flying and lands in a nearby wall far enough away from her still-living mangled body.
She lay on the floor with limbs bent at unnatural angles, bruises forming all over her body already and moans of pain. ''I''ll enjoy this.'' I thought with a grin forming on my face.
"Mistress!" I realise I''ve been too caught up in dealing with the succubus so I turn around to Henrietta who''s now up and running for the dagger imbedded in the wall.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
With my mana-sense I notice an incorporeal string of ink black mana originating from the now broken demon and connecting to Henrietta''s head. ''This is probably the charm spell that the succubus is using to control her, I wonder...''
I will the wall of mana to disperse and gather around me once again, I seperate a small amount and send that to the string of what I''ll refer to as infernal mana.
As my mane pentrates into the string and starts to mix with it I feel a resistance coming from it, but not enough to deter me. As Henrietta is about to reach the knife in the wall my mana finishes infecting the demons charm spell, I forcefully take control of the mana and will it all to disperse.
Bending to my will the mana does as I command and disperses, thus cancelling the spell in theory. As the spell dissipates Henrietta stumbles and stops just before she reaches the dagger. She turns around and instead charges at the now downed succubus. I can see that her eyes are no longer cloudy and her face warps into an expression of fury.
Once she reaches the down succubus she starts stomping on her head, the succubus screaming in pain all the whille. After bringing her foot down 3 times the screams of pain finally stop, after 6 more stomps she finally finishes turning the demons head into paste.
All the while Henrietta is faced away from me while she does this violent deed so I can''t see what her expression is. A pity really, I wanted to give that succubus a much more slow and painful death.
After finishing her gruesome business Henrietta stood staring at the succubus''s corpse panting. "Are you finished?" I ask.
She turns around to me, face flushed from her anger at the demon. "You freed me from her charm?" She asks hurriedly so I nod in response.
She kneels down, "Then for freeing me and allowing me to gain vengeance for my former liege''s death and thus regaining my lost honour, I Henrietta Galligor of the Galligor Clan do so offer my fealty to you as my new Liege lord." Unexpected to say the least but not unwelcome.
As I am about to utter acceptence of the oath I realise something. I can''t go by my old name of Duana Von Mannenheim because she won''t believe me. What name can I go by? Hmmmm... Frederick Von Zarenstatt will do.
There are two great leaders that I remember have the name Frederick. Frederick Barbarossa the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and Frederick The Great, king of Prussia.
"I Frederick Von Zarenstatt do so accept your oath of fealty Henrietta Galligor of the Galligor Clan. Do you swear to serve me loyally?"
"I so swear." A expression of determination appears on her face when she utters her answer.
"Then I as your lord do so swear to protect and cherish my vassal to the best of my abilities, do you Henrietta accept my oath to you?"
A surprised expression appears on her face so I guess the Lords here take only fealty and give no oath such as the one I have just given. "I accept your oath to me my lord." A smile appears upon her face.
"My lord what do we do now?" She ask''s.
"Henrietta we must gather sufficient supplies and flee!" I say with a neutral expression.
Chapter 4: We must flee! Part 2
"Henrietta we must gather sufficient supplies and flee!" I say with a neutral expression. "To be specific, we need travel cloaks to keep us warm, food and essentials enough to last us a week or more, bedrolls if there are any in this house, a pack to carry the food and essentials and finally-" I look down to my bare feet. "-Shoe''s for wear."
As I mention the items she nods each time, but when I mention shoe''s she looks down at my feet to check the size of them. "Hmmmm, you should be about the same size as my old lord." She says as she looks over to my dead father. Sorry father, I haven''t seen you since my birth so I don''t know you very well, but I''m going to have to steal your shoes.
I walk over to the pale dried out husk that was once my father and I remove his shoe''s carefully. "Oh and before I forget, Henrietta do you know of a place where we could get a boat?" I ask.
"Yes I do, my Clan''s village is a day of travel south on foot east. There we could get a boat but you''d need to buy it." She answers while I''m putting on my new shoe''s.
"Is there any other way to obtain one?" I ask, I don''t have any money and I don''t think I can earn much at the moment due to the demons running amok.
"Yes." I get hopeful- "But you would need to marry me, my clan is a matriarchy and I am the heiress to the Galligor clan. If you would marry me and prove yourself to be a good warrior then you would most likely get a ship as a dowry." She finishes with a dazzling smile.
Marriage? I raise my eyebrows in surprise. "Just how old are you Henrietta?"
"I am 20 years old my lord." She delivered with her still dazzling smile. I never really interacted with women much in my previous life, maybe a prostitute or two but that was it. Luckily for her I have a thing for petite women.
"But would you be willing to marry me? I would not wish this upon you without your own willingness, marriage is a serious commitment." To be honest I''m surprised, offering to marry a complete stranger is well... Strange to say the least.
But if it''ll get me a boat then I don''t mind, having a wife in a medieval time period is quite useful. Besides if she''s the heiress to the clan then marrying her may have more benefits than just getting a ship for the dowry.
She''s attractive but I know nothing about her, Given time I guess I could come to love her. But once we get a ship, set sail and reach a new home I''ll have plenty time.
"You defeated a powerful demon using chantless magic and only the oldest and most powerful of mages can do that and yet you are still young, a strong husband will provide strong heirs for the clan. I am willing to marry." She says with a smile and without a care in the world.
"We will travel to your clan''s village. I''d like some time to think on this matter so I''ll give you my answer either on the journey or when we get there, but for now we must get what we need for travelli-" I am cut off by faint muffled voices then the sound of metal biting into wood coming from the barred entrance.
Someone''s trying to get in, that much is obvious. But who is trying to get in? Are they hostile or friendly? I don''t know and I''d prefer to fight first then ask questions later.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
"Stay behind me Henrietta, your good at killing downed demons but I don''t know what''s going to come through that door." I say to her before turning around to fully face the door. I gather my mana but this time instead of forming it into a wall I will it into 6 balls covered in spikes. If the impact doesn''t kill whatever comes through the door then hopefully the spikes will.
After roughly 4 minutes the door starts splintering and we see that it''s an axe being used to break it open, and after 2 more minutes the door finally gives in.
Three bulky men charge in as soon as the plank barring the door gives in. Two men wearing a steel lamellar cuirass each, both with a chainmail undershirt and what looks like a gambeson under that, chainmail leggings as well, helmet-wise they both wear chainmail coif''s that cover the entire face except for the eyes, with a steel skullcap helmet with straps connecting under the chin to top the ensemble off.
The third fellow is not as well equipped with only a leather lamellar cuirass, leather vambraces, greaves and a chainmail coif and steel skullcap helmet just like his two comrades.
Weapon-wise, they all have slightly similar weapons to a point, 1 of the steel-clad warriors has an oval shield like a Roman oval cavalry scutum strapped to his back, sheathed on his waist in a scabbard is a shortsword. In his hand''s is a sharp looking halberd with a spear tip and an axe blade which is what I''d assume he''d cut through the door with.
The other two warriors despite having differant armor they have the exact same weapons, Oval scutum and shortsword in hand, hand-axe''s tied to their waists. I can see
As soon as they catch sight of me they charge towards me weapons raised, I bring my spiked mana balls to bear and am about to launch them but I was interrupted.
"Jorgen stop!" Henrietta calls out in a commanding tone towards the 3 charging warriors. Their response is to obey and grind to a halt, lowering their raised weapons as well.
Henrietta walks out from behind me with a smile on her face. "My lady are you hurt?!" One of the men calls out in an elderly voice.
"No I''m fine Jorgen, why are you here and not back at the clan''s hold?"
The 3 warriors look down, if I could see their expressions I''d guess they''d be something like shame or akin to it. "There was a marauding army of demons 5 days north my lady, your mother stayed behind with most of the Tagmata and the eldest people that could not move. You are the clan Matriarch now my lady Galligor." Jorgen squeezes out.
Henrietta had no response, she just suddenly fainted and luckily I caught her. "Now that the lady Galligor is indisposed, I would say we leave this place. How did you get here? On foot?" I ask while putting Henrietta in a princess carry so it''s much easier to hold her unconcious form.
They just stare at me saying nothing for a few moments. "Well?" I ask again, I can''t see their expression due to the chainmail coifs covering their faces so I''ve no idea of their expressions.
"We came in the Dromon down at the docks. Now listen here I don''t know who y-" He''s cut off by a roar coming from down the hallway towards the door. "Oh seven hells it''s a fiend!" He finishes.
I sigh, "Let me take care of this." I say abruptly before charging past them, willing my mana spiked balls to shimmer. They charge after me moments later.
After just a few seconds of running down the corridor I see the fiend comes around the corner. The fiend is an 10ft tall red monstrosity with goat hooves, hairy legs and two large jagged horns for charging and painfully goring enemies.
I give it no such chance to charge, I will my 6 mana balls of doom foward, 1 towards each ankle, 2 towards the face, one towards the chest and the final one towards the stomach.
The result was, spectacular to say the least, both of it''s hooves disapear alongside it''s head. 2 holes appear in it''s chest and stomach with blood gushing everywhere.
It''s body hits the floor and starts spasming and twitching for 7 seconds more before it finally realises it''s dead.I stop running and turn to the 3 warriors following who stop alongside me.
"Would you mind leading the way to the Dromon?" I ask, still holding Henrietta in a princess carry.
All 3 just stare at the dead fiend in what I''d assume was shock for a few moments, "Errrr... Yes Lord Magus!" Jorgen pipes up before leading the way out of this manor.
Chapter 5: The Battle at The Docks.
I followed Jorgen the halberd wielding warrior and his 2 fellow warriors through the winding corridors for a couple of minutes until we heard multiple screeches of pain. "Imps, and it sounds like someones givin'' ''em a beatin''." The other steel-clad warrior said.
"I say we go help whoever''s givin'' them a beating, what say you Lord Magus?" Jorgen ask me.
"Let''s go and help. What are these imps like?" It''ll be useful to know atleast.
"Short pale little things with sharp teeth, sharp claws and a single pointy horn on their head, they can range from 3 to 4 ft in height and usually travel in groups. Very weak and easy to kill." Jorgen answers my question, so don''t let them bite you, claw you or stick you with their horn is my conclusion.
We turn a corner and come face to face with a broken double door leading out into a courtyard. In the courtyard are a large number of imps ¨C 23 to be exact ¨C locked in combat with 10 people clad in the same steel armor as Jorgen and his friend, 2 of them have halberds like Jorgen while the other 8 are armed like the other steel-clad fellow with us, Shortsword and oval scutum with a handaxe clipped to their waist.
Jorgen steps foward, "GALLIGOR!" He roars as starts to charge, the other two warriors charge a moment later aswell. I call forth my 6 spiked mana balls and will them forward at the easiest targets so I don''t accidently kill any friendly warriors.
The original 10 warriors were already killing the imps with ease and with us added in the mix, the melee was over in in a short 7 seconds. As the adrenaline from battle wears off the ground is littered with dead imps. 51 of them.
"What are you doing here? I thought you were to stay with the Komes?" Jorgen asks loudly to one of the new warriors.
The new warrior snaps to attention, "Aye honoured one, but the Komes ordered us here to aid you."
"Your a bit late to aid us but nevermind, we must return to the dromon immediately. We have what we came for. Circle formation, protect the lady Galligor!" After Jorgen''s command the now 13 warriors get in a rough circle formation me, Henrietta still in my arms, and then we set off towards the smell of the sea and the sound of battle.
We jogged down the street passing by ruined houses and shopfronts, encountering the occasional group of imps which were dealt with accordingly, the streets were littered with corpses of demons, civillians and what I''d assume to be guardsmen.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
At some point we also came across a fiend going towards the docks like us, before it had a chance to register our presence I gathered my 6 spiked mana balls and dealt with it like I dealt with that fiend from earlier.
Continuing on past the fiends corpse we started to encounter more and more demons on the way to the docks and the sound of battle became prominent. Instead of continueing down the street we turned right off into an alleyway.
In the alleyway was a group of imps which were easily dealt with like the numerous groups before them. At the end of the alleyway was a clear view into the docks and just like I thought there was a battle going on.
A literal horde of Imps with an occasional fiend in the mix, too many demons to count but if I had to roughly guess then they''d number just above the thousand mark. The horde was pressing up against and trying to break into a Shieldwall.
Swords appearing out of gaps to kill the demons pressed up against them, spears appearing over the top of the shieldwall to stab at and kill demons as well. Archers standing on platforms behind the wall let arrows loose from behind the shieldwall towards any fiend that comes close, thus killing it. And what I''d assume to be 3 firemages besides the archers throwing great explosive balls of fire into the crowd compact crowd of demons killing them in large numbers.
All shields were the oval scutum''s that my comrades used, they were painted red with a white ''X'' in the middle and now that I notice my comrades shields are painted in the same way. "Oh seven hells, how are we supposed to get through that?" One of the warriors says with a defeated tone.
In response I just reach into my bag and pull another mana-crystal much larger than the last one, I push my mana into it and take control, I disperse the condensed mana and form them into more spiked balls of mana thus giving me a total of 18.
"Follow me and stick close." I growl before charging out of the alleyway, the 13 warriors close behind. Escape''s just there and I''m not letting any demons get in my fucking way. I charge out into the horde with my spiked balls going back and forth killing the demons in my way in droves with shrieks and roars abounding.
I cut a bloody swath to the shieldwall and as I clear a small area in front of it they create an opening for us to get through to which we promptly accept and rush through before it closes up again. As soon as we are through I pass Henrietta to Jorgen before going over to one of the platforms behind, I jump up the steps two at a time and as soon as I reach the top I started to kill demons once again.
The ''battle'' if you can call it that any more turned into a one-way slaughtered, demons died in droves left, right and centre. After something like 10 to 20 minutes the now decimated demon horde broke and ran leaving behind streets clogged with corpses, our men cheered with victory but kept in formation until ordered break up and return to the dromon with all due haste.
Once the demons fled I had no more need to fight so I gathered my mana around me, mana has a color if you will and the gathered mana which was a light blue earlier now has a slight red hue. My intention was to condense the mana into solid mana-crystals once again and I tried but as soon as the reddish mana solidified it exploded.
Next thing I knew I was midair for several seconds before I hit something and blacked out...
Basic Info So Far.
Frederick Von Zarenstatt''s ability - Mana Manipulation
In our world everything is made up of Matter, in the new world our Frederick find''s himself in, everything is made up of Mana, magic casting works by taking in the ambient mana from around yourself and projecting it into a spell pattern that is created by chant''s in the Arcane Language. With the ability of Mana Manipulation you can manipulate mana itself of course. With enough mana you could make objects, although each material like a spell has it''s own pattern so one would need to study the patternto be able to make an object out of that material.
Galligorian Military Structure - The structure is based off of the Byzantine Army structure.
Thema (Army) - Made up of 4 Tourmai, personnel count is around 9,600. Led by a Strategos (General)Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Tourma (Plural = Tourmai) - Made up of 6 Droungoi, personnel count is around 2,400. Led by a Tourmarches.
Droungos (Plural = Droungoi) - Made up of 2 Banda, personnel count is around 400. Led by a Droungarios.
Bandon (Plural = Banda) - Made up of 2 Kentarchiai, personnel count is around 200. Led by a Komes.
Kentarchia (Plural = Kentarchiai) - Made up of 5-10 Kontoubernia, personal count is around 50-100. Led by a Kentarches.
Kontoubernion (Plural = Kontoubernia) - Made up of 10 Personnel. Led by a Dekarchos. (Basically a Squad.)
Galligorian Dromon Types and Specifications -
Heavy Dromon -
Length = 240ft
Width = 40ft
Height (From waterline) = 18ft
Maximum Passengers = Roughly 900 People
Medium Dromon -
Length = 120ft
Width = 20ft
Height (From waterline) = 9ft
Maximum Passengers = Roughly 300 People
Characters So Far -
Frederick Von Zarenstatt = The Protagonist or in layman terms, the Main Character.
Henrietta Galligor = The 20 year old head of the Galligor Clan.
Jorgen Panos = Retired Strategos with many victories to his belt.
Chapter 6: Breaker Of Chains. Part 1
I awake to the sound of creaking wood. I feel groggy, my throat is parched and my body aches all over, though I lay on a soft and comfy surface. Thank the gods I''m not dead again, I open my eyes only to blind myself so I shut them again due to being unadjusted to the bright light.
I realise it now but the soft surface I find myself to be laying on sway''s ever so slightly.
Again I open my eyes but this time slowly, to give them a chance to adjust to the light. Once I can clearly see I find that I am lying under the sheets of a large silky bed placed in a lavish room of wooden build, a number drawers and cabinets located around the room with a double door in the centre of one of the walls.
Near the bed is a small sitting area, a coffee table with 5 finely carved chairs. On the table is a bag, one that I recognise as my own and a a pile of tattered silk which I recognise as the remnants of my robes, At least somethings left so I can study it''s mana pattern.
In fact looking at the robes condition, it''s a wonder that I''m even alive. And since my robes are over there, what am I wearing? I feel the silk on my bare skin so nothing is the answer. Ignoring the fact that I''m naked and someone must have undressed me I go back to looking around the room from my bedridden position.
Once I finished taking in the surroundings I realise what the origin of the slight swaying is. Last I remembered after that battle with the demon horde I was going to board the Dromon but I tried returning that mana to crystal form and failed which caused a mana backlash or in laymans terms, caused it to explode, Probably because I didn''t study it''s structure in depth.
I didn''t get a look at it due to my focus on the battle but someone must have had my unconcious form taken aboard.
But alas, now I must not look towards the past but rather to the future so I push the sheets off of my chiseled form. I crawl over to the edge of the ridiculously large bed and swing my legs over the edge to plant my feet onto a nice soft rug, I then plant my hands to both sides of me and push myself off of the bed.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Once standing ever so unsteadily I take some time to stagger from the bed to the table, my manhood dangling down and swaying with every movement the whole while.
I steady and support my self on one of the lavish chairs arms with my left hand while my right reaches out to open my bag. I opened the bag and grabbed what enchanted silk was left from my former robes and stuffed it into the bag, sealing it once again.
I pick up the bag and shoulder it, I stagger back to the bed afterwards to place it on top of the covers and crawl back in under the covers.
I''ve nothing else to do so I open the bag and check it''s contents, it''d be a shame if someone stole something while I was unconcious especially if they stole something like a pearl of wisdom, those are invaluable so I''d have to find it who took it then kill them.
The contents of my bag were the tattered enchanted silk, 30 wisdom pearls each easily identifiable as each being a small marble with a representation of what they contain inside. E.g. The weapon mastery ones contained a shield and sword and the crafting ones contained their professions crafting materials, a log for carpenty and a metal ingot for smithing and so forth.
After the silk and wisdom pearls there were mana crystals of 3 sizes, 15 the size of my fist, 32 the size of a pebble and 20 pouches full of small mana crystals the size of seeds, I don''t empty the pouchs to count due to the large amount of time it''d take. And finally after those 3 types of objects there was the magical compass he gave me, It pointed in a north-easterly direction and when I rotated the compass the pointer stayed pointing in that direction no matter what.
Now that I''ve inventoried my items and none of the important stuff is missing I pull out the tattered enchanted silk and begin the process of studying its pattern.
I look deeply into the object with mana sense, sensing it''s pattern, exploring every nook and cranny of it''s mana pattern going deeper and deeper...
I was so engrossed in studying the mana pattern that I didn''t keep track of time, mana patterns are so intriguing. I''m pretty sure now that with a seed sized mana crystal I could make my self a set of clothing out of mana silk, underwear, trousers, long sleeve shirt, jacket and gloves. Everything except from a pair of shoes, I''ll need leather for that.
Infact forget one set of clothing, with the amount of mana inside that small mana crystal seed I could easily make up to a maximum of atleast 53 sets of clothing made out of enchanted silk. Enchanted silk is normal silk thats infused and reinforced with mana, since I can make so much I wonder how much normal silk items I could make...
My musings were interupted by the door opening with squeaking hinges, I put the tattered silk onto the bedhseet covering my lower body then I look up to the door...