《The Rules of Fate》 prologue the sound of crying permeated the air. it pierced through the rain and echoed through the forest. a woman lay against a tree a newborn wailing in her lap, her faint breath the only testament to her continued life. if one looked closely, through the dirt and dried blood, it was obvious that she was very beautiful. a few paces from the dying woman, a tall man faced a young boy, perhaps 9 or 10. the boy was stark naked with an unnatural grin plastered to his face. he was not human, that much was obvious from his eyes, his right eye was completely white while the left was pitch black. "what do you want?" the man''s voice was tired and defeated, his sword sheathed and held limply to the side. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "for her life?" the boy asked, gesturing to the dying woman as his smile grew even wider. he stood there unblinking, and though his eyes never changed a singular emotion was written plainly across his face: hunger. "have you named the child yet?" "no," the man almost whispered. thunder crashed in the distance. "then I want the boy. the boy for her life, is it a deal?" silence. "yes." the wailing stopped. the woman gasped and opened her eyes. the naked child was gone. Awake (Unknown) I awoke to silence. an absolute piercing silence that permeated everything, like a heavy fog. to be fair i could hear my breath, i could hear my heartbeat if i concentrated. the silence came from the world around me¡­ it was deafining. I had no idea how i arrived here. in fact i have no memory of anything whatsoever. actually that''s not true, I know concepts, language. I know Leccam''s atlas of the world backwards and forwards, i could recite the compendium of medicinal herbs and there qualities by heart, i know of strategy and warfare and history and philosophy¡­ but no matter how hard i try i cannot recall my name. the image of my face feels like it is just out of reach. I finally gathered the strength to look around. I was in a forest but there was no motion, no bustle of life. everywhere i looked there was only an unnatural, almost predatory, stillness. a sword lay on the ground near me and I bent to pick it up. as i drew it from the black sheath i saw it was a simple sword, just a plain black grip with your average cross guard and straight steel blade. compared to the rest of my surrounding the blade felt oddly familiar. i began walking in a random direction, hoping for some sign of civilization. eventually the sun started to set but there was still no sign of the endless tress letting up. the moon gave off some light, but it was very difficult to see amidst the trees. something caught the corner of my eye. movement. i turned, sword drawn, heart beating quickly. i saw nothing, everything was still motionless, still silent. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. suddenly a fierce pain blossomed in my shoulder and i was thrown forward. i spun, sword in front of me. i felt blood running down my back from my shoulder. my eyes were open and wild, my heart''s rapid beating was the only thing i could hear. I was thrown again, from the side this time. as i got to my feet i waved my sword wildly through the air a primal scream of frustration and fear lodged in my throat. all of a sudden shadows started to shift towards me across the ground. i swung my blade once more and it met some resistance in what appeared to be nothing but air. the shadows reached me. i felt something bite my leg. i screamed and fell. i kicked at the invisible thing, the shadow, on my leg and it seemed to fall off. something bit into my arm and i reflexively dropped the sword. claw marks appeared on my stomach and two more shadows started chewing at me. I felt pain that consumed my soul. i screamed until nothing came out. i should have died. i wanted to die. the entire time that these shadow beasts tore at my body, the entire time they ripped at my flesh, for some reason i was awake, i was alive. all in complete silence. boredom (Unknown) day came. and with it all my wounds were washed away. all evidence of the nightmare that was last night was just¡­ gone. i was left to wonder if all of this was just some fevered dream. and then i remembered the pain. no dream could be that excruciating, no dream could be that mind consuming. i was sure that if not for the damned curse my wits would have left me, scared away by nothing but the memory of such pain. but every time my mind was about to go over the edge something would pull it back. two things were sure in my mind: i would leave this place and i would never be so helpless again. and so my days began to pass. in the light i would travel and train obsessively, in the night the shadows would come. on the second night i tried to run. i made it nearly a minute. the pain was a good motivator. i trained harder. a week passed. i learned some things about this place. i never grew hungry or thirsty or tired. of course in theory i understood the concepts, i just never experienced it first hand. when the morning came all my wounds would always disappear. the forest did end eventually and i stumbled into a town. it was completely empty, devoid of life. that was the first time i tried to kill myself. i tried drowning myself in the river near the village. it failed. i continued to train. a year passed. i learned that the shadows came in all shapes and sizes. some of the shadows are stronger or faster than the others, some of them were humanoids that carry swords, some were the size of houses. you may ask how i know what they looked like, and the answer is that i don''t really. i just developed a sense about those things over time.. it was like an instinct, i knew their general shape. more importantly i started to sense how they move, i was slowly becoming able to fight. i learned that i could hide from the shadows for a short time. they always seemed to know my general vicinity but as long as I don''t make to much sound they still have to search for me. for the first time in a year i found hope. ten years passed. the blade has become a natural extension of my body. for the first time i made it through the night without a scratch for the little good it did me. the nights have started to become longer and the days have gotten noticeably farther apart. the shadows are changing too, they''ve gotten stronger and smarter. the shadows begun laying traps and ambushes. the worst is when the shadow mages find me, they''re a special kind of sadistic. i have traveled for ten years straight. i have yet to see any signs of life other than my own and the shadows, if they count. a hundred years passed. i have long since given up my goals of leaving this place and in that lack of direction i found¡­ boredom. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. boredom. it may sound odd, but in the constant danger and torture i grew bored. it was not that i wasn''t afraid, it was that i was always afraid. it''s an interesting lesson to learn, that constant fear is boring. the human mind measures things by contrast. when there is no change there is no contrast. when there is no contrast then everything is normal. normal is boring. so i started looking for new ways to entertain myself. i tried hurting the shadows the way they hurt me, that was fun, but in the heat of battle it usually ended with me bleeding on the ground. i tried killing myself in different ways. jumping off cliffs. putting my sword through my neck. i tried talking to myself. that one surprised me, it was the first sound i had heard in almost a hundred years. a thousand years passed. i want to die. i have grown fast like the shadows. i have become silent like the shadows. i have become vicious like the shadows, strong like the shadows, patient like the shadows. it is not enough. no matter how strong i become the shadows are always stronger. they are always faster, they are always more patient and they are always more vicious. i want to die. but i am patient like the shadows. i can wait. one million years passed. i am the hunter. my body has been pushed beyond mortal limits. i still wish for death, or at least some way to end the monotony. now all i fear is boredom, boredom is true death, it is all that terrifies me. i watch the world, unseen, and i know how it all fits together. it is always night now. all that means is there is always something to hunt, to kill, something to stall my boredom. i spot a young dragon-shadow. it is as big as a small village. it is playing with the oak trees, ripping them out of the ground and seeing how far it can throw them. it is my prey. i wait in ambush, an absolute stillness encompassing my body. the moment the dragon-shadow is close enough i move, with an inhuman grace and perfect precision, and i sever each limb in the space of a breath. i could have cut off it''s head or stabbed it through the heart. but that would be too quick. that would be boring. one and a half million years passed. "I think it''s time," said the first voice, other than my own, that i heard in over a million years. it came from behind me and so i turned. as i turned my heart beat wildly, my hand clenched my sword hilt, and a smile lit my face. it was a strange array of emotions, the fear i was used to, but the excitement¡­ this promised to be interesting. i saw an young boy. but he was naked. and then i saw his eyes. chapter 3 day came. and with it all my wounds were washed away. all evidence of the nightmare that was last night was just¡­ gone. i was left to wonder if all of this was just some fevered dream. and then i remembered the pain. no dream could be that excruciating, no dream could be that mind consuming. i was sure that if not for the damned curse my wits would have left me, scared away by nothing but the memory of such pain. but every time my mind was about to go over the edge something would pull it back. three things were sure in my mind: i would leave this place and i would never be so helpless again. and then i would kill the bitch that brought me here. and so my days began to pass. in the light i would travel and train obsessively, in the night the shadows would come. on the second night i tried to run. i made it nearly a minute. the pain was a good motivator. i trained harder. a week passed. i learned some things about this place. i never grew hungry or thirsty or tired. when the morning came all my wounds would always disappear. the forest did end eventually and i stumbled into a town. it was completely empty, devoid of life. that was the first time i tried to kill myself. i tried drowning myself in the river near the village. it failed. i continued to train. a year passed. i learned that the shadows came in all shapes and sizes. some of the shadows are stronger or faster than the others, some of them were humanoids that carry swords, some were the size of houses. you may ask how i know what they looked like, and the answer is that i don''t really. i just developed a sense about those things over time.. it was like an instinct, i knew their general shape. more importantly i started to sense how they move, i was slowly becoming able to fight. i learned that i could hide from the shadows for a short time. they always seemed to know my general vicinity but as long as I don''t make to much sound they still have to search for me. for the first time in a year i found hope. ten years passed. the blade has become a natural extension of my body. for the first time i made it through the night without a scratch for the little good it did me. the nights have started to become longer and the days have gotten noticeably shorter. the shadows are changing too, they''ve gotten stronger and smarter. the shadows begun laying traps and ambushes. i have traveled for ten years straight. i have yet to see any signs of life other than my own and the shadows, if they count. Stolen story; please report. a hundred years passed. i have long since given up my goals of leaving this place and in that lack of direction i found¡­ boredom. boredom. it may sound odd, but in the constant danger and torture i grew bored. it was not that i wasn''t afraid, it was that i was always afraid. it''s an interesting lesson to learn, that constant fear is boring. the human mind measures things by contrast. when there is no change there is no contrast. when there is no contrast then everything is normal. normal is boring. so i started looking for new ways to entertain myself. i tried hurting the shadows the way they hurt me, that was fun, but in the heat of battle it usually ended with me bleeding on the ground. i tried killing myself in different ways. jumping off cliffs. putting my sword through my neck. i tried talking to myself. that one surprised me, it was the first sound i had heard in almost a hundred years. a thousand years passed. i want to die. i have grown fast like the shadows. i have become silent like the shadows. i have become vicious like the shadows, strong like the shadows, patient like the shadows. it is not enough. no matter how strong i become the shadows are always stronger. they are always faster, they are always more patient and they are always more vicious. i want to die. but i am patient like the shadows. i can wait. one million years passed. i am the hunter. my body has been pushed beyond mortal limits. i watch the world, unseen, and i know how it all fits together. it is always night now. all that means is there is always something to hunt, to kill, something to stall my boredom. i spot my prey. it''s a young wolf-shadow. i wait in ambush, an absolute stillness encompassing my body. the moment the wolf-shadow is close enough i move, with an inhuman grace and perfect precision, and i sever each limb. i could have cut off it''s head or stabbed it through the heart. but that would be too quick. that would be boring. one and a half million years passed. "I think it''s time," said the first voice, other than my own, that i heard in over a million years. it came from behind me and so i turned. as i turned my heart beat wildly, my hand clenched my sword hilt, and a smile lit my face. it was a strange array of emotions, the fear i was used to, everything else was¡­ alien. i saw an old man. but he was naked. and then i saw his eyes.