《One's Destiny》 Prologue I - Weapon ¡°Are you sure we need to use Number One?¡± ¡°This is the strongest angel we¡¯ve encountered, it¡¯s already taken out 12 of our mid-level demons. We can¡¯t afford to lose any more.¡± ¡°Surely we could send out Two, Three and Four instead, your highness.¡± ¡°I know of the risks. All has been taken into account, and this is the only way of sure victory. Go now, awaken him. Do not give him room to misconstrue his orders.¡± - In the darkest corner of the castle sits the strongest Weapon. They call him One, the strongest demon to ever live. The place smells of a sour, fetid odor. The room is about 30 feet wide and in the shape of a dome. 56 magic imbued chains hang from the ceiling holding One in place by his neck and four limbs, that sap the very will from his body. He adorns a vest of gold on his chest, an extremely expensive, one of a kind piece of equipment. The vest ensures that any command that is given to its bearer will be fulfilled, whether the command be with or against their will. As the Keeper of the Weapons approaches the cell, One already knows that he is coming. His eyes open slowly, it has been long since any of the foolish humans have entered his cell. As the keeper opens the door silently, he looks up to see 2 white dots glowing at him in the darkness, somehow emanating pure hate and killing intent in their truest form, causing the keeper to shudder and freeze in his tracks. After several moments he gathers himself and continues into the dome shaped room. He stops about 5 feet away from the gleaming dots of white and lights a candle. There he kneel. With black hair unkempt and down to his knees, dust and grime covering him like a thick film. The smell is putrid, and the keeper has a hard time keeping his breakfast in his stomach. The Weapon has been in this cell for 12 years, untouched since then. The keeper clears his throat as to ensure that no mistakes are made in his order to the Weapon. ¡°One, you have been chosen to partake in a mission. Your orders are to intercept the angel that is wreaking havoc on our lands and kill it. There will be no other casualties and you will return to this exact position when you are finished with the angel.¡± This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. After several moments of silence the weapon responds in a deep grumble that seems to shake the very earth below him. ¡°...Acknowledged.¡± The keeper turns around and exits the dome in a slightly nervous and hurried way, relieved that he did not have to spend another second in the cell with with that monster. He draws the complex password on the crystal tablet to the right of the door and then places his thumb below it so it can read his fingerprints. The dome slowly starts to part at the back of the room and the chains are systematically released to let One, the strongest demon to ever live, move. Although he can move, he is not free. His chains may be gone, but he is still imprisoned by his vest, which makes him obey any command, forever. As the chains unlatch themselves from his appendages, he drops his arms to his side and simply kneels there for several minutes. The dome¡¯s back wall finishes it¡¯s opening and the keeper finally gets a good look at the Weapon''s body. At about 7 feet tall he is average size for a humanoid demon, with large and toned muscles. The weapon is able to keep his form even after 12 years of no food or exercise by absorbing the mana around him, something that only those that are very gifted in magic can accomplish. There are large black horns that sprout from the base of his head and circle around the front where they turn outward for about a foot. His skin is a dark grey, although that may be because of the years of grime that has accumulated on his body. Otherwise he looks much like a human. In a flash of energy the Weapon suddenly disappears. A demon with magic, such a thought makes the keeper shudder as he walks back to the throne room to alert the king that the job is done. Prologue II - Choice **One** I feel my chains release my arms and they fall to my side after 12 years of being held in place above my head. I hardly remember how to move my own body, it has been ages since I even attempted to move any muscles that are unrelated to breathing. My body may look exactly the same as before on the outside, but I feel the weakness and discomfort as I slump over when my chains release me. How strange it feels to move again! But there is no time to waste on meaningless thoughts. I correct myself and get a feel for my freed body. The vest I wear is powerful, but in the hands of idiots it is not used to its full potential. I know I succeeded in intimidating the Keeper due to his short and stifled commands. No mere human can withstand my killing intent unfazed, not after everything they put me through. Suddenly my whole being screams ¡°KILL THE ANGEL!¡± It takes all my willpower to stay in control of my own body as the command I received ravages my mind. I try to hold it off as long as I can while I wrack my brain for a plan to escape from this hell hole. Many years ago when I was first given the vest I was given a lengthy set of commands to prevent me from somehow escaping the confines of the human¡¯s control. I thought endlessly over the years trying to find some sort of loophole in the commands that would allow me to shed my vest when they finally decided to mobilize me again, but to no avail. Speaking of the that, what could they possibly be fighting that would require them to use me after these 12 long years? The demons must still be putting up a good resistance if I am finally required to scare their rebellion away again. Suddenly another wave of the command washes over me, this time much worse than before. Suddenly I teleport against my will to the battlefield where I hover a few hundred feet above the to the east of the capital city Crestfallen. I notice that not much has changed about the city since I was locked away. I scan the ground for the enemy. Regular demons can¡¯t use magic and any powerful demon with wings can be heard from quite a distance, so I keep my eyes glued below me. Demons have extremely strong bodies and can move much faster than humans ever will, so I keep my distance from the ground so I don¡¯t get jumped on from below. Just then, I feel powerful impact on my chin and am sent hurtling towards the earth at an insane speed. As I tumble through the air I get a glimpse of what seems to be a human female in very decorated silver armor with wings that look like they are made out of dust. Suddenly she vanishes and before I can get a grip on the situation she appears right next to me and punches me again mid-air with incredible power to my abdomen. I spit up blood as I tumble through the air and smash against the ground with the sound of . I feel disoriented with incredible pain on my shoulder which just met solid rock moments ago. I look up to see the enemy clearly for the first time, preparing myself for another quick attack. It was a good thing I put up a mana barrier around my body before I left the cell, or my brain may be a smear on that woman''s fist by now. But that is no demon. Is that a human? It just looks like a regular human female with some expensive armor, albeit the wings of dust. I¡¯ve never seen anything like those but I sense no mana coming from them, so they aren¡¯t what I know as magic. No matter the enemy, I will kill them. My command demands it. As I step out of the small crater I made when I impacted the ground, I put a sizable amount of mana into my legs and brace them for a powerful jump towards the enemy that is now about 100 feet above me. I blast off with a visible ripple of energy as I careen toward the unknown assailant. The enemy readies herself to intercept my position with a hardened arm of pure mana. I see that, and put my body into a kicking position and teleport above the back of her head with a mana inforced kick. She anticipates it and just manages to block by raising her arm and turning slightly, but she still takes the kick to her mana hardened arm against my leg. The energy is transferred to her and she is sent down toward the earth until she plummets only feet from the crater that I made. I raise my hand straight outward and aim my palm towards her and unleash a volley of thin black laser beams, hot enough to melt any known substance with ease. I watch as the barrage strike the earth and a loud crash sounds out. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. As the dust settles I see the body of the enemy lying still on the earth, so I slowly descend to see the extent of the damage. Small pockets of molten rock litter the land and the dry summer grass is set ablaze as I approach the body. It seems she only got hit twice, but apparently that was enough to put her out of commission. One laser hit her thigh and another took off her right arm at the shoulder. She seems to be in extreme pain, so I decide to ask a few questions in return for a quick and painless death. ¡°Who are you?¡± I say in an intimidating tone. The woman looks at me with a surprised expression and carefully responds, ¡°My name is Lydia, an angel. Why do you still have the ability to talk, if I may ask?¡± I stare at her with a dumb expression. ¡°Why are angels attacking the human lands? I have been chained up and kept in isolation for 12 years, I expected to be pit against a strong group of demons if I were to ever be awoken again.¡± Lydia gapes at me. ¡°It¡¯s you, you¡¯re One aren¡¯t you? The strongest demon, who can also wield magic?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± I say, a bit annoyed. Lydia looks at me with determination. ¡°One. Listen to me. The entire demon race is dead, except for you and 88 others, all kept chained up just as you were. But they have been fighting us angels. You were the only one that did not appear to fight, even though we were aware of your existence you were never sent to battle us until now.¡± I respond with a grave expression on my face, ¡°They are afraid of my power. They know that if I am somehow set free they will have nothing left strong enough to stop me from annihilating them.¡± Lydia nods slowly in understanding and looks directly into my eyes as she responds in a whisper, ¡°Then that is what needs to be done. I shall set you free from your binds, but there is a catch. The Gods need you, One, to help them. In return for your freedom from the humans, you will help us eradicate their leaders and replace the current ruling system. Usually the heavens do not involve themselves with such trivial matters, but this is different.¡± She pauses for a brief moment to think about something, and continues. ¡°Time is running short, make your decision please.¡± So they will free me from one pair of chains and bind me in another pair. A vicious smile steals itself onto my face. ¡°So I will be able to kill all the ones responsible for my treatment?¡± I ask in an inquiring tone. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Let it be done, then.¡± I reply. Lydia¡¯s eyes focus off into the distant sky as she lay dying in the blood soaked crater. ¡°Okay¡­ I need you to eat me.¡± Not surprised, I do as I am told. Chapter 1 - Beginnings ¡°How does Azekiel sound? Do you like that name?¡± The woman playfully asks the new addition to her family. Maria found the baby abandoned and bundled up in a blanket. He was quietly laying next to the fountain in the center of town. After coming up empty after checking city hall several times for anyone claiming to have lost their child, she finally decided that she would keep the child and raise it as her own. The baby giggles as his new mother caresses him in her warm embrace while she sits in the only chair in her small one bedroom cabin on the edge of town. ¡°Azekiel it is then! We are going to have such a fun time together my baby boy.¡± Maria hugs Azekiel close to her chest as she displays a warm smile on her face. - **Azekiel** Mother always works hard every day to pay for our food, I wish I could help her. I just turned five, I should ask her if I can start helping her in the fields during the day to help pay for our expenses. Mother always works all day and comes home dirty and exhausted late at night. It must be hard on her to work such long hours out in the hot sun, I really hope there is something I can do to help. Just then, I hear the door open to our cabin so I get out of the chair I was sitting in and start to voice my previous question to my mother before I reach the door. But the person who is in the doorway is not my mother. A short, grimy man steps through the door and I instinctively throw myself behind the wall to the bedroom before I am seen. The man looks around curiously and shows off a grin full of rotten teeth as he starts to walk around searching for me. ¡°I heard you little piggy, come out and say hi to your uncle Ben!¡± Mother has no living relatives. She warned me herself, if anyone comes into the house other than her, they are an enemy. He must have picked the lock because I didn''t hear a knock. Is he after me? There is nothing else of value in the house. Clearly this man thinks of me as just some normal five year old that will believe anything anyone tells them. I decide to play along so I won¡¯t rouse his suspicion while I think of a plan to escape from here. I peek around the corner childishly and smile at the man, ¡°You¡¯re my uncle? Mommy doesn¡¯t tell me much about our family. My names Azekiel!¡± ¡°Well hello there Azekiel. Yes I am your uncle, I just arrived in town today. Your mother is still working for a few more hours right? How about you come into town with me to get to know each other?¡± The man says, with a slight hint of deviousness in his voice and expression. I came up with a plan after a quick scan of the room, so I continue playing along like a child to keep him off guard. ¡°Only if you can catch me!¡± I say as I start dancing around the main room of the house. Meanwhile I have my eyes on a palm sized rock on the window sill next to the doorway where the man is standing ¡°Oh you little rascal, don¡¯t make me do any unnecessary exercise.¡± Says the man as he circles around me trying to pin my movement. I am waiting for him to enter the space between me and the window sill with the rock. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Just as he enters the correct path I put my palm towards him and utter a few words under my breath. The rock behind him rockets forward and hits him in the back with tremendous force, and I hear an audible crack as he crumples to the ground. Force spells are hard to use on objects you can''t see, but if you concentrate hard enough on the position the object is, you don''t need to see it. Mother has many books on magic, although she has no talent for it herself. I have many hours of free time every day while I wait for her to come back from work, so I usually spend them reading the various books she has on the shelf, and training my mind. The simple force magic I used on the rock is a basic spell I recently taught myself to use by reading the books and practicing every day. I am still not very good at controlling the direction of the spell, so I made sure I would hit my target by placing him between me and the rock, so I would just need to pull the rock towards me as hard as I could and it would hit him. Unfortunately the rock was not at the height of his head, so I had to break his back to immobilize him instead of an instant kill like it would have been if his head was hit. The man¡¯s body is contorted and broken as he lay on the ground trying to grasp what just happened to him while simultaneously starting to realize that his can¡¯t move anything below his waist. He looks at me with a horrified expression as I innocently ask, ¡°What¡¯s wrong mister? Aren¡¯t you going to catch me?¡± The man starts to scream but I press my foot against his throat to shut him up long enough to ask him a few questions before someone starts running to his aid. ¡°Why are you here?¡± I ask the man with a serious expression as I release some of the pressure on his throat. ¡°What the fuck are you? You¡¯re a monster! There¡¯s no way a five year old can use magic like that!¡± He tries to flip over to crawl away from me with his arms, but I don¡¯t let him. I find it funny that he is now the one trying to run away from a five year old. ¡°I asked you a question.¡± I reply solemnly. ¡°I was hired to abduct you, but that is all I can say! Please let me go and I swear I¡¯ll never come near you or your mother again!¡± He replies in a pleading tone. ¡°Where do you plan on going? Your back is broken.¡± Clearly the man is at a loss for words so I continue without receiving an answer. ¡°Tell me. Who hired you?¡± ¡°Please, I can¡¯t tell you. Bring me to the closest healer and I will never come back, I beg you!¡± ¡°Tell me. Now.¡± I raise my palm towards his stomach in an intimidating manner, showing him that should he disobey me his death will not be quick and painless. The man looks at me with despair in his eyes as he opens his mouth to speak¡­ And then drops his expression completely and takes a dagger from his belt and plunges it into his brain through his temple. His head falls to the side and he dies immediately. ¡°Fuck!¡± Is the only thing that escapes my mouth as the scene plays before me. Chapter 2 - Debauchery **Azekiel** Why does mother always scold me? Today, I took my first test at the Academy that is located near the center of the city. Apparently it is free to anyone that shows great potential in magic. After the incident when I killed a man with magic when he tried to abduct me, the city patrol alerted the Academy that I would be someone to look out for when I reached the proper age of 10. I believe mother¡¯s harsh treatment of me started around that time at the age of five. She started looking at me with worried looks as she explains that I need to have more regard for other people¡¯s lives. And again today she practically screamed at me for no reason at all when I returned from school. At the academy there are tests at the end of every semester to allow the students to demonstrate their mastery of the magic principles that were taught during the year they studied. The students are matched up against another student of similar skill level to test themselves. My opponent was four years older than me at 15, and was apparently top of his class in the 14-16 age group. As the test started I prepared myself to show my mastery of the magic I was taught. I immediately put a small amount of mana into my body to allow me to react quicker to whatever the opponent decided to do. Not too much, I intend to make this a long fight so that I can show my ability and if I put too much mana into my body I will exhaust it too quickly. A strategy like that is only good if you intend to take out your opponent very fast, and it is much more risky if you do not know the strength of your foe. I charge at the boy and engage him in hand to hand combat which I accel at. I do this first to test him much more safely than if I were to start a magical battle. It is very hard to use magic when you are constantly being pressured from a close range by an aggressive melee attacker. We each batter each other with punches and kicks, but his are unrefined and are easy to dodge or block. Mine on the other hand are crisp and in perfect form. I have put most of my study into my body and enhancements to it that can increase its power. I am very large for my age and so I am just about as tall as the boy I am fighting. After I judge his physical attributes I back off and give him some space as I plan my attack. Then I put my hand out and fire a simple fireball, holding back so I can judge his defenses and lower his guard. He swings his hand a few feet away from the fireball and a gust of wind blows it away completely. Satisfied, I decide there is no reason to hold back any more. I put up a mana barrier around myself to prevent most types of magic attacks from hitting me. This type of defense uses a lot of mana very quickly, but according to my teacher I have a very large pool of mana for someone my age. I widen my stance and bend my knees as I aim both my palms at the boy and prepare my attack. With my shield up I am confident that the boy doesn¡¯t have the ability to break through quick enough to interrupt my cast time. I see the teachers around me widen their eyes in disbelief as they see the position I am in. But I don¡¯t give them time to stop me as the boys legs break at his knees and he slams into the ground with the sound of two collapsing lungs and crunching bones. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. The boy is dead on impact. I increased the gravity to about 150x normal in a 3 foot area around the boy. He saw my position and did not move, it''s his fault. This attack is generally used to take out buildings and other fortifications in warfare. It is a much higher level technique and shows exceptional magic control along with mental capacities as it is very hard to aim on a moving target. Well the boy was standing still, so I guess that''s not the case here. After that I was escorted out of testing hall and was taken back to my cabin, where the escorts even waited outside for my mother to arrive. My mother started crying while they talked outside. And that was when she yelled at me. I just don¡¯t understand. What is wrong with hurting another person? We both agreed to fight each other and we were demonstrating our skills. I showed my best skill which is very hard to aim and he didn¡¯t even try to stop me, so I feel nothing for him. ---- 2 years later ---- Azekiel was suspended for 5 days until a decision was made on what to do with the young boy. Eventually it was decided that Azekiel would be expelled. The Academy did not want to train such a powerful magician at the young age of 10, that showed signs that he may fall onto the path of darkness. Azekiel went back to his work in the fields that he had stopped when he started attending the Academy. He works long hours in the hot sun now just like his mother. At night Azekiel reads anything he can get his hands on and trains his control of his magic. He likes to go out to the river a few miles east of his house on the outskirts of town where no one will see him. **Azekiel** I fire another black laser into the river and a large wave of water splashes up. Just then, I hear voices at the clearing of the forest behind me. ¡°Over here! Do you hear that? It sounds like magic.¡± Five men on horses ride out of the forest and spot me standing near the river. One of them is wearing expensive looking clothes and the other four are wearing heavy leather armor and carry swords. They all start to smile as I look at them. ¡°What¡¯s a boy like you doing out here all by yourself?¡± The man in the expensive clothes asks me. ¡°Training.¡± I say calmly. ¡°Can I help you?¡± ¡°Yes actually, you can. You¡¯re going to be coming with us.¡± Immediately I hear a rustle of grass behind me and try to turn around but it''s too late. I black out.