《Darkest Shadow》 Prologue- Birth Peace currently reigns over the eight continents. With two continents in each direction, West,East,North, and South In the Northern continents, one continent is made of frost and ice.The other magma and fire. The home of demons, split into clans of their own races but ruled over by the most powerful demon. The Demon King. Their highest affinity is to Fire and Ice depending on which continent they live in. (In the north) The Western continents, vast plains and mountains on one of the western continents, and countless dense forest, and branching rivers in the other. Clans of beast men and humanoid kingdoms, such as dwarves, have their own leader respective to their race. But all are under the jurisdiction of the tribal council. Where five of the most powerful beast men of different races gather and set laws,rules,and make decisions for the good of the western continents. Their highest affinity is towards thunder,earth, and air. The Eastern continents, with the biome of dense forests in each continent. Where fairies and pixies ruled by forest guardians live in one of the two continents. While the other continent is where elves and treants reside ruled by the forest king. A combination(merge) of an elf who is the most charismatic and cunning, and the strongest treant. Their races live in solitary and ignores and condemns all other races. Their Highest affinity to nature,water, and light. The Southern continents with differentiating biomes, where human kingdoms rule. Ruled under the authority of the royal family. Abundant in population but also greed,lust,slaves, and power. Their highest affinity is all around, but most are born with one of the main four elements, fire,water,earth, and air. But the time of peace is ending. A soul once filled with innocence taken away by the vile nature of man. - In a one room cottage in a village located in the outskirts of the Rose Kingdom, that soul is being born. ¡°Keep going Honey! The baby¡¯s almost out!¡± A slightly tan muscular man with short black and red hair yelled in anxiety, tightly holding his wife¡¯s hand. An agonizing cry could be heard as she came to her final push. ¡°It¡¯s a boy! It¡¯s a boy! Cleo, look we have a baby boy!¡± The man yelled out happily, lifting up their slightly bloody newborn son for his wife to see. ¡°That¡¯s good..A baby boy¡­¡± Cleo weakly said with tears of joy running down her snow white skin as her eyes slowly closed. ¡°Cleo? Cleo!? Cleo!! Wake up! Weren¡¯t we going to raise our baby boy together! Please Cleo! Wake up! Don¡¯t leave me, Wake up! Cleo!¡± - A week after Cleo¡¯s death, Flaire age twenty eight, named their child Rinea with the nickname Rin. And in their one room cottage, Rin is joyfully eating the bowl of oatmeal placed in front of him on his wooden high chair. ¡°What an energetic little boy.¡± Flaire said with a bit of sorrow and bitterness but was soon replaced by a sweet caring tone. ¡°Okay that¡¯s enough Rin, it¡¯s time for bed.¡± Flaire easily picked up his energetic week old son and laid him on a wooden crib next to his bed. ¡°Good night Rin.¡± Flaire said kissing his son¡¯s forehead goodnight, while Rin flailed his arms around, still energetic. After doing so Flaire himself went to bed and slept sideways, so that his view was on his son. An hour later, the still awake and lively Rin was happily giggling until a shadow of a beast brood over him and swallowed him whole. The day later, and for years to come, Rin was quiet and emotionless surrounded by a calm and indifferent aura around him, that most children didn¡¯t have his age. ¡°I wonder what happened to him?¡± Flaire said puzzled noticing the change in his son overnight ¡°Ah! It must¡¯ve been that oatmeal I gave him!¡± Flaire said coming to a reasonable but misunderstanding. -Five years later- During the years Flaire had worked hard as a village guard to feed him and his growing son. Who over the years showed intelligence far from his age, acting like a wise old hermit. He was able to crawl in a month¡¯s time and barely walked by the age of eight months, but was soon mastered the following year. He learned to read and write as soon as he reached two but has never uttered a word. Flaire thought he was mute, but his worries were poofed from existence when Rin wrote using cow¡¯s milk on the table that he ¡®didn¡¯t like to speak¡¯. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. But unbeknownst to Flaire, his son was far more than those simple achievements. -Rin¡¯s P.O.V- It¡¯s been five years since¡­ Visions of people I knew. People who I seemed to have grown up with, drank,ate,goofed around, and fought together with. People I loved and cared. The psychopathic, crazy,overprotective black haired demon lady, the silent, indifferent yet fierce phoenix when provoked crimson haired sorceress, and the sweet adorable blond princess. They showed me the happiness and joy in living despite it only being images, it felt like I was there, in the bliss and joyful memories. But those happy memories were shattered...All chained up¡­ Their eyes were gouged gouged out, their entire bodies covered with countless cuts, some light and some deep. Their nails ripped off and replaced with staples punctured in. Their hair pulled so hard some of the flesh underneath was too. Even some of their insides were visible due to the acid poured all over them. They had their bodies brutally defiled by men and women alike. It didn¡¯t stop, not even if they were lifeless corpses¡­ Worse part was that they couldn¡¯t even die and move past the terror and horror! People would come in, revive them and heal them¡­ Then it¡¯ll happen all over again. I wanted to scream, but I couldn¡¯t... I wanted to plead, but I couldn¡¯t... I wanted to help, BUT. I. COULDN¡¯T! I stood there and watched petrified over and over again! Then the scenes would finally stop at one point and would transition to the sins of man. Pride, Envy,Wrath, Gluttony, Lust,Sloth and Greed. Innocent and pure maidens raped by the dirty hands of lustful men who were in power and others, when had the chance forced themselves upon them. Envy for wealth,looks,power, women that others have that they don¡¯t have. Corrupting you slowly from the inside with hatred and jealousy. Greed for wealth,power, pleasure, anything, that sloops you down to immoral acts to get what you want and desire. Murder, betray all who stands in your way, be it family,loved ones, or friends. Leaving those with short end of the stick to a fate worse than death, enlightening on the corruption of man only when it¡¯s too late. Wrath a more unsatisfiable then lust. Bullying and ruining the lives of people who are weaker than them, taking out the anger they had built up for when they were in their place, after finally attaining power. Slothful people who are too lazy to do anything about it, watching at the suffering of others from the sidelines. Than there are those who are prideful, thinking and acting for their own benefit even if their purpose says otherwise, because humans are stubborn and selfish. Haughty and arrogant their up on their high horse, above all the rest due to their status,wealth, and power who think they''re invincible and right because of these. Especially those who act on justice and righteousness, their the worst of humankind. Saying their doing good but what good is there if you can¡¯t do it for everyone out there, saying it¡¯s justice when they¡¯re just shoving their ideals down their throat, they make things worst acting on their ideals and emotions but can''t stop to think and ask themselves, why do I even care? Is it because of my ideals? Or is it the need to be praised and worshipped by others to raise their own ego and pride. I kept rambling on and on, until a fateful encounter happened. It was a shadow. The same shadow that gave me these images of sour images. Did I resent it? O no, instead I embraced it. The shadow, the memories, and images, they all resolved myself to not be the naive little child I was supposed to be and showed me that you need to be strong. Strong enough to protect those you love, strong enough to hold word amongst others, and strong enough so nothing can be taken from you. To do that the shadow gave me the power to act upon it and what I see fit. Brought me to another dimensional plane, a dimension made of vast darkness and trained me there to control the darkness and shadows, to control it like it was a part of me, like I am one with it. And a just in case I can¡¯t use shadows or darkness I was taught swordsmanship originating from their glory days. After I was three I was shown the an Army of shadows, shadows that can take on any shape and holds sinister and evil power that will be used at my will and used to accomplish not only my goals and aspirations but the shadows that started it all. The mother of Shadows, Zilla. Although I have a army of shadows, I have to understand the fact that I¡¯m too weak to bring it out it¡¯s full potential and would only attract unnecessary attention that will get myself killed. So I¡¯ll decide to wait till I¡¯m strong enough, by training,making connections, gathering wealth, and those who have the same aspirations and goals as I. Until I have enough. To plunge the world in darkness! Chapter 1 Magic Rankings -Narrator P.O.V- ¡°Rin! Dinner¡¯s ready!¡± Flaire called from the fireplace, stirring a pot of carrot stew cooking on the fireplace. Slowly rising from bed, Rin sleepily rubbed his eyes before getting up and walking while swaying side to side to one of the two chairs in the room. Sitting down he laid his head on the table looking sideways at his father who was bringing a bowl of carrot stew. ¡°Eat up!¡± His dad said smiling, placing the bowl of carrot stew next to Rin. Picking up a wooden spoon already placed on the table, Rin swirled the carrot stew around before scooping a spoonful and inserting it in his mouth. ¡°Is it good?¡± His father asked while taking a spoonful of carrot stew as well. In reply Rin simply nodded with the same indifferent look he always had. You¡¯ve grown quite handsome Rin, just like your father!¡± Flaire said giving a thumbs up to Rin. Rin despite his age was incredibly handsome, standing tall at 3¡¯6 a bit taller than most boys his age. He has smooth frail looking snow white skin, with an oval face sculpted with delicate yet sharp facial features. With the same hair as his father and mother, black hair with edges of one side being red and the other blue that contrasted with his red and blue eyes. The red side being from his father and the blue side from his mother. Raising his head up from eating another spoonful of carrot stew he looked at his father with tired emotionless eyes before pushing the carrot stew away and standing up from his chair and exiting the house through the door. ¡°Damn, how could my son be so cold despite being so young?...Was the oatmeal that bad?¡± Flaire said rubbing his temple remembering the time he fed Rin oatmeal, which he has never eaten since. Outside their small cottage, Rin would often wander around the village observing everything around him. Good morning Rin, here for your daily apple?¡± A robust man carrying a basket of food greeted Rin before handing him a ripe red apple. Taking his daily apple he slightly bowed his head towards the man and bit down on the apple before departing. Heaving a sigh the robust man looked at the back of the departing Rin. ¡°What I would do if I could see a different look on the boys face...Ow!¡± Behind him an old lady, his mother, annoyed by his words whacked him with a broom stick ¡°Don¡¯t be getting any weird ideas, you hear me? That child will naturally come around sometime no need to be doing foolery.¡± She said lecturing her son. As he wandered around the village, people would often greet him and hand him food like the Robust man earlier. Simply due to the fact that Rin was good natured, and quiet unlike the other kids in the village. The other more popular reason is, seeing his appearance right now he will definitely become incredibly handsome in the future, and thinking that if they raise favor with him they could marry him off to their daughters. After wandering, Rin eventually made his way out of the village and to a nearby creek, a half day away to train his control over his power as well as increase his mana¡¯s capacity. Why he took the time to travel to a creek instead of somewhere near is to not attract any unnecessary attention from the villagers, such as thinking he was a demon for his elemental magic , and simply because manipulating elements is very dangerous and could cause massive explosions if done poorly or incorrectly. In this world, everything is dependent on mana. Because the more mana you have the more spells,enchantments, and elements you can cast to destroy your enemies. It is also the symbol of power and ranking you have in the world, as elementalist and summoners if strong enough can have more power and even reign over human royalty. This is rarely the case for other races as their leaders are already above the food chain in their respective kingdom/clan. As said before mana allows you to conjure/cast elements but also manipulate it on your own will. The power that you send it out,size,shape, the change of its properties such as temperature and density is all dependent on the control of the elementalist as well as how much mana he has. Since the more mana you have the more options you have when manipulating your element. Ways to increase your mana is either to consuming the mana cores embedded in the hearts of every living being for a quick increase which is considered taboo if you¡¯re consuming a mana core from your own race, counting as cannibalism. Another way to increase your mana is to concentrate on your current mana and run it throughout your body via blue veins, strengthening your body as well as increasing your mana capacity over many years. Stolen novel; please report. While if you¡¯re any other race besides humanoid species than you¡¯ll mana core will naturally grow in size and density over the years without the need of any practice or training to increase your mana. These races often focus more on control. A more dangerous way of increasing your mana is by depleting the amount of mana you already have, causing the mana core to instinctively grow more in size as its current capacity is seen as insufficient. Reason why it is seen as dangerous is because when depleting your mana it has a chance for your mana core to shatter, due to the strain it has on the body. Which is seen as surpassing the bodies limit because your mana core cannot be truly empty, if it were you would be dead, as mana is an essence of life. A simple and dangerous way that has bountiful benefits but also disastrous backlashes and consequences. You can¡¯t determine how much mana you have in total, but when you gather mana it¡¯ll change color depending on the density and size of your mana core. This decides the power rankings throughout the world. - Blue- The starting and origin color of mana. The average amount of mana relative to every living being in the world. Cyan- You have twice the amount of mana an average living behind has. Yellow- You have four times the amount of mana a Cyan ranked being has.. Orange-You have five times the amount of mana a Yellow ranked being has. Green- You have ten times the amount of mana a Orange ranked being has Red- You have twenty times the amount of mana a Green ranked being has. Pink- You have fifty times the amount of mana a red ranked being has. Violet- You have hundred times more mana than a Pink ranked being. Black- You have a thousand times more mana than a Violet ranked being. White radiance in mana- You have achieved the level of control where all mana you gather is 100% pure. - Rin proceeded to sit on one of the smooth stones in the middle of the creek(river) and meditated on his mana. Currently at Cyan rank, an inch away from yellow rank. Rin could be considered a genius to the world due to his latent talent with seemingly no assistance from any teacher or master. But of course they wouldn¡¯t know that Rin has a goddess teaching him. ¡°Remember concentrate on not what you see, but what you feel. What does the world feel to you, do you feel hatred? Resentment,peace? Imagination is a key factor in manipulating your mana but when obstructed by emotions, it¡¯ll impede your advancements. So let go of those emotions, get over them. And you shall soar.¡± Zilla said appearing from his shadow, and moving herself so that she and Rin faced each other. Zilla is a beautiful pale woman with a black cloak covering her bare seductive body underneath. Her face drained of all color yet still retained her charming and mature look making all that gaze upon her think she¡¯s a goddess from above. Well she is a goddess of darkness and death, and mother of shadows after all. Rin heeding her words, looked sharper than before but ended up being scolded by Zilla. ¡°What did I just tell you?¡± ¡®Let go of my emotions.¡¯ Rin said telepathically repeating her words meanings. ¡°And what were you just doing?¡± Zilla asked. ¡®Concentrating on getting rid of emotions that I don¡¯t have.¡¯ Rin indifferently said with irony. ¡°That¡¯s the problem. You¡¯re not supposed to concentrate on your feeling. You¡¯re suppose to be natural. Flow like a river not obstructed by anything in its path Rin.¡± Zilla enlightened Rin. Nodding his head, Rin went into a deep trance.
(Whenever Rin is talking to Zilla he does it telepathically, with others he writes in the air using the element of darkness.) Chapter 2 A Dream? -Rin¡¯s P.O.V- After going in a deep trance I found myself in a dense jungle surrounded by the cries and roars of beasts. Brushing off the nearby branch and ducking under another I traversed the jungle with the cries and roars growing louder and louder. Until it stopped. Confused at the sudden stop, I found myself in a open field with the jungle around me. What¡¯s going on here... I asked myself and took a step forward, only to collide with a far larger body. Falling down on my butt, I raised my head to see what made me fall. It was a body...one of the bodies inside my dream...bloody and without a head, he floated there, chains entangling his neck. My eyes widen and my pupils grew little, I was too shaken to speak, too shocked to scream, and too scared to even think. My body was stiff as wood, colder than frostbite, and far more shaky than a rupturing volcano. I kept staring and staring, until I noticed bodies dropping down from the now bloody sky, same as the body in front of me. They started to swing side to side, encircling around me, heads started to appear from the gaps of the circling bodies. They had no eyes, for they were gouged out, no ears, for they were ripped off, and no mouth, for it was clogged up with bloody rags. My surroundings grew active with whispers, cries, and screams everywhere, whispers of hatred, cries of agony, and screams of pain. Help me...Someone help me¡­was all I could think of in that moment, then pop. The bodies and heads disappeared, leaving me once more in the empty field. I gasped for air and fell flat on my back, huffing and puffing, trying to calm my heart. That was far worse than the images I see every night, far worse. I wanted to help them, I wanted to scream for help, I wanted to plead so it all could stop...But no I was powerless. Too scared to do anything. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Calming down a bit, I started thinking and realizing. I never felt hatred or resentment for them. I felt fear that led to me thinking I was angry and resentful. Feared that I would be next, bloodied,beaten, and raped. I¡¯m not a good person, I¡¯m not righteous either, I¡¯m no evil being, nor a demon. I¡¯m just human, a human like all the rest, that puts up a fa?ade. A fa?ade of their own self interest and desire, the will to live, and the fear of death. I never wanted for someone to help them, nor did I want them to stop. I knew that if they stopped they¡¯d go for me next and that anything I seemed to hate, they would be pressured to repeat it over and over again, just to make me suffer more. Not knowing that I never hated it in the first place nor was I suffering. They were the ones suffering, while I hid behind a sheep¡¯s skin, avoiding the same treatment and fate they got. As I was thinking, a loud terrifying and bone chilling scream shook the entire area, and from the sky countless heads rained down. Falling and attaching to necks of the bodies now surrounding me, numbering millions and billions. I could only lay, and smile a little. This is what I deserved, as the bodies walked closer and closer, their lacerated pale arms reaching out to me, and their empty eye sockets now brimming intense red light. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hope you liked it! Chapter 3 Carriage and Bandits -Rin¡¯s P.O.V- After regaining consciousness, I immediately felt a change in my body as if a huge load had been taken off me. Gathering mana on the palm of my hand, it appeared as a yellow color indicating that I broken through the cyan rank and advanced to yellow rank. Seeing the advancement Zilla congratulated me then proceeded to ask about a trance. Asking her what that was about, Zilla simply brushed it off saying it was nothing. Since she wouldn¡¯t tell I was about to take my leave until a loud crash filled the air. Looking at Zilla she nodded and we went into our shadows and traveled jumping from shadow to shadow. Jumping from the shadow of a rock, to the shadow of a nearby daisy, to the shadow of a tree, we exited our shadow forms and landed on top of one of its branches and looked at the situation in front of us. An expensive looking white carriage with golden patterns is being targeted by about fifteen bandits in leather armor with their faces covered with dirty rags. Guarding the carriage and fending off the bandits were five knights in shining iron armor valiantly fending off the attacks of the bandits with their swords. Near the slanted wagon, there¡¯s a young girl hiding behind an old man in the same iron armor as the knights but with no helmet. With his short thin yet long sword he parried the attacks of the five bandits one after another getting slower with each block. ¡®Go assist the knights with the bandits.¡¯ Zilla said looking over Rin¡¯s shadow. ¡®Why?¡¯ I asked looking casually at the battle down below. ¡®You can test your newfound prowess having attained a higher rank and make new connections with the girl. She probably belongs to a noble family or even royalty, it¡¯ll be good since she¡¯s a naive little child watching a scene that would traumatize any child her age.¡¯ Zilla replied. ¡®If you say so.¡¯ I complied. Standing upright on top of the thick tree branch, I launched my feet forward, descending upon the nearest bandit. With a slight curved sword made of pitch black darkness I conjured on my right hand I decapitated the bandit¡¯s head as I neared him, then rolled and kicked my feet back, launching myself at another bandit decapitating him as well. Landing in the center of battle, everyone stopped and had their eyes glued upon me confused to what just had happened. Avoiding any more unnecessary troubles, my red and blue eyes turned pitch black giving off a dreadful feeling to everyone that saw it. With that I started manipulating their shadows impeding their movements and having them move at my will. Controlling them like puppets I had them stab their own allies in the heart with their rusty blades immediately killing eight out of thirteen bandits, with the remaining five bandits on the old man and little girl. Controlling the knight¡¯s shadows and movement, to avoid any possible troubles, I casually walked to the five bandits,old man, and little princess. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Kid! You might have some fancy moves and magic but you''re just a brat so de scattle! Before I gut ya!¡± One of the five bandits said with a vicious grin. ¡®Looks like their not affected by your ¡®shadow control¡¯ Zilla said. ¡®A work in progress¡¯ I replied. Slashing my pitch black sword behind me, creating a crescent shaped blood stain, I walked closer ignoring the bandit¡¯s threats. ¡°Tsk this kid¡¯s got some balls.¡± The same bandit said charging forward with his sword behind his shoulder ready to slash sideways in front of him. Ducking the slash as soon as he swung his sword, I stretched my leg and kicked his groin causing him to retch forward in sudden pain. Following up I spun in a circle with my hand supporting my body, causing my stretched out leg to trip him, causing him to fall face first on the ground. After I spun in a full circle I used the momentum to stand upright and detach the head of the bent forward bandit. Seeing me kill their friend in a matter of seconds the four remaining bandits were a bit rattled. ¡°So what if he killed one of us! If we attack him together there¡¯s no chance of him winning since his elemental magic doesn¡¯t affect us!¡± One of the four bandits shouted encouraging his allies. Nodding their heads they smirked and charged together. ¡®Do I have enough mana to do that?¡¯ I asked Zilla nonchalantly watching the bandits charge. ¡®You controlling Ten bandits and forcing them to kill themselves already took 20% of your mana plus the five knights you¡¯re currently controlling,draining a percent of your mana every five seconds totalling at two percent lost. Right now you have 88% of your mana left, if you perform the elemental spell you want will cost you ten percent of your current mana, leaving you at 78% of your mana once the elemental spell is casted.¡± Zilla calculated. Nodding my head, I stretched out my slightly closed palm looking like it¡¯s about to claw something and had it face the four charging bandits. ¡®Be pierced by the spikes of darkness¡¯ I calmly chanted telepathically to the bandits causing them to visibly shiver but didn¡¯t stop at their tracks. Not like it mattered, four spikes, five inches at base and two inches at the tip completely void of color(pitch black) rose six inches tall from their shadows at a forty five angle impaling the charging bandits in their chest, killing them instantly then retracted back into the shadows of their dead and pierced bodies.. Lowering my hand I swept my gaze towards the old man now dead and without a head and the bloodied little girl with a bloody rusty sword at hand, sweetly smiling with a hint of madness at me and her spine chilling gaze scanning. Chapter 4 Old Mans P.O.V -Old man¡¯s P.O.V- My name is Marlow Duke, a knight belonging to the royal guards of the Rose Kingdom, the elites of elites. A group of myself and five others tasked with escorting the princess to a nearby kingdom that neighbors the Rose Kingdom, The Astral Kingdom. The poor princess due to being the fifth daughter is used as an expendable and used as a political tool to strengthen relations with a neighboring kingdom, the Astral Kingdom. To be married off to the third prince against her will and to make it worst, the third prince is the scummiest of scum. He rapes and defiles young girls,that were bought or taken by force, on top of wooden stages in the middle of the cities. And to make it worst if one pays enough coins they could join in too. Not only that but due to his arrogance in his status he despises and belittles the commoners, seeing them nothing but mere toys. He forces them to do things they would never do in their entire life, sell off their daughters, stripped bare naked while in crowded streets, and torturing their own children just so they can live another day. Not to mention how many orphanages and charity causes he destroyed in just one months time. The only reason why the commoners don¡¯t revolt is because the king is highly military focused, making his forces near impossible for the commoners to fight against and that the king is actually not a bad person, as he was the one who started those charity causes and orphanages, and personally apologizes for his son¡¯s actions. But that had only infuriated the third prince more. Demanding a wife he can play with under the pretext of both kingdoms benefitting and joining together, and the sign that he is going to change his old ways. The princess only being five years of age was obviously shocked and disgusted by the idea of them giving her to a sixteen year old prince she had never met before. Ah...the princess acted smart for her age, smart enough for her parents not to notice that they''re selling a rough gem that only needed to be refined to a dazzling one. Such a waste. The princess tried to voice her opinion but was shut down by her father. Seeing that they had already came to this decision and sealed the deal. She could only seal her opinion and relinquished herself to her fate. She¡¯s now sitting to the right of me in the carriage, me being here as her personal servant and bodyguard. Her golden eyes were empty and void with her body slightly shaking with the bumpy roads not being the cause. It was a quiet trip and probably her last, so I decided to strike up a conversation with her. ¡°Marriage huh?¡± those words flew out of my mouth like a typhoon hitting the princess hard. ¡°A simple agreement between a man and a woman.¡± The princess said in a dull tone. ¡°Huh...so what did you want to do before you were forced into marriage¡­¡± I said averting my gaze from the princess and to the outside. ¡°...I wanted to sing.¡± the princess answered with a hint of longing. ¡°That so?...Mind singing for me?¡± I asked. ¡°I¡¯m not very good but very well¡­¡± The princes said complying and began a humming tone. It was soothing and pleasing to the ear that I almost hummed along. Right when I was about to say she was a good singer, the carriage crashed,slanting abruptly as the two carriage wheels on one side were ripped from the carriage. ¡°Bandits!¡± The driver outside announced jumping from the carriage and blocked a swing that came from his right with the edge of his sword. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°Princess it¡¯s not safe here.¡± I said opening the door of the carriage, hopping down and helping the princess down as well. It¡¯s better this way, now I don¡¯t have to worry about any bandits getting through the other side of the carriage without me knowing, nor can we be surrounded at our back. The other knights being elites as well were able to deflect any attacks but soon exhaustion would overcome them as we were outnumbered one to eight. With some bandits catching sight of the princess, five of them slowly advanced to me, circling around the princess who stood behind me unaffected by their lecherous gaze. One of the bandits stepped forward, stabbing at me with his sword only for his strike to be moved upwards with a deflection of my sword. A second after another bandit stride forward with a diagonal swing of his sword while another bandit swung long aiming to cut my guts. I quickly blocked the diagonal swing by making my sword stand upwards then took a step back so the gut aiming slice could only graze my clothing. I could handle two at a time but three was too much, and these guys don¡¯t seem like your regular bandits at all. They watch your movements patiently and attack like a viper when they see a chance, they have beautiful teamwork with none of them getting in each other''s way, and their swords skill don¡¯t match that of a bandits. Looking around even my fellow knights were having slight troubles as if the bandits were just playing with them. That was until that little boy came in. He looked to be the same age as the princess, but his beauty and demeanor outmatched that of the princess. His partially red and blue black hair swaying in the wind, his sharp gaze on his tiny face yet handsome face were all imprinted into my soul. Because once he had arrived he had already killed two bandits that even our elites couldn¡¯t kill and could only hope to block and parry. After killing the two bandits, something sinister came from his shadow taking the shape of a sexless human, that disappeared then reappeared behind the backs of the bandits easily taking their life. Then I noticed he was walking towards the princess and I, with an indifferent and calm look, I couldn¡¯t help but feel cold sweat running down my face, even though he seemed to be on our side. he instantly vanished from the path he was walking, leaving my ears to twitch under the screams of pain coming from my side and the sound of iron falling. Regaining awareness I turned my head to the origin of the scream only to see a bandit with his hand cut off with magic I¡¯ve never seen. The next second his head was lying on the floor, same with the other four, and same with the rest. Looking at him, I noticed he was untouched by blood, unfazed by the gore and the sight of death, when someone at his age would freeze and tense up, but mature over the years. But not this kid, he looks like he¡¯s familiar with death, like he¡¯s seen it more times than I a veteran of war. Looking behind me, I could see the princess, her dull and emotionless eyes lit up with a flame I¡¯ve never seen before. And the only thing I could say to the princess was ¡°Good luck.¡± ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Next chapter on the princess P.O.V and some backstory on her family and some explanation of her character. Chapter 5 Princess P.O.V -Princess P.O.V- Hello there! My name is Iris Rose, the fifth princess of the Rose Kingdom! Fufu, I¡¯m so nervous, this is my debut after all! But before I was a princess I was a psychopathic murderer! Yup! A murderer! But not just a regular sane murderer. A crazy murderer~~. How crazy you ask? Well let¡¯s look in into my heart warming story! I was raised by an alcoholic abusive father and a whore for a mother. They had two children the sweet innocent me and my quiet twin brother. We lived life like any other kid, we were beaten just for breathing, and starved so food wasn¡¯t wasted. Not to mention my caring classmates up to high school were so nice to me. They would steal my only possessions, belittle me whenever possible, and isolated me from society. And you know how that works right? With nothing but negatives in your life, you would go crazy, you know? So I took up the sword! Well a knife for say. And hacked away at all the monsters and gained experience points! The first monsters I killed was a goblin a.k.a my father, and a slime, a variant of my mother. Ah the memories. As for the experience points they allowed me to pinpoint where cuts hurt the most and where tendons, muscles, and veins were located making it easier for me to kill even more monsters in the cruelest manners possible! I was the knight in shining armor and when my brother saw what I had done. I added him to my party! And we became known as the psychopathic twins. In total after five years of slaying monsters we racked up a total of six hundred forty three kills each! And with all the experience points we leveled up to Most wanted Serial killer, Isn¡¯t that exciting!? I would have loved to continue my hunt for monsters but my darling little brother found love, how sweet~. So in the dead of night I was stabbed by my little brother as I was quote unquote too crazy and was a danger on his new life. So I was left to die until a storm came by and washed me away to Narnia! There I was reborn as the fifth daughter of a king and queen, isn¡¯t that great? Like before I was treated so nicely. From what I¡¯ve heard when I was born I had a demon''s tail and snake like eyes and the first word I¡¯ve heard was, it¡¯s a monster! I was so happy, sniff* sniff* no one¡¯s ever called me a monster before, sniff* sniff*. So instead of getting rid of me they were going to make use of me and sell me off to another royal family whenever they had the chance, as suggested by my loving eldest brother also known as the crown prince. Once again I meet my dear old friend, darkness and isolation. Ah it was a nice feeling instead of being violently blasted out from your mother¡¯s womb. No one wanted to get near me nor get in sight of me, was it because I was too pretty? When I looked in the mirror I would say I was a beauty! I had long rose colored hair, a cute adorable face, void empty golden eyes, and quirky horns that grew as I got older. Yup a beauty to the brim! They had to be peeking while hiding in the bushes, I just know it! Five years had passed without any interactions from my real family, well no contact with anyone in general as I lived a lonely life by myself in my shack. Of course I hadn¡¯t spent the five years just sitting in the darkness, I learned to walk, read and write, and because of my apparent demon heritage I grew up quicker than most and was able to take care of myself a week after I was born, wow! A different level of puberty! After relearning the basics I took up the sword again! And chopped at the trees that grew behind my shack and hacked and slashed at it until it took the shape of a man which had its wooden head chopped off. As for food, they were sent by a catapult! Dozens of bread and meat tossed into the air and into the roof of my house, how convenient and resourceful! That was until I was visited by my father who gave me a loving glare filled with disgust and an old man in white robes who looked at me in disdain, how pleasant~. The old man reached out his hand to touch my forehead until I chopped off his hand with a kitchen knife, which caused him to panic. It was only a little cut, I swear! The old man than glared at me and snapped his fingers showering me in disgusting white light. He then told my father in a annoyed tone that the job was done and he expected his payment by tomorrow. My father restrained me and tossed out the knife, then pulled me by my hair and went for a nice relaxing walk to a carriage where I was thrown like a rag doll inside saying that I was to be married off to a prince eleven years older than me. Of course I had to argue, I don¡¯t want to be near no pedophile no matter how crazy I am, I¡¯m still a maiden you know! And once the carriage door was slammed closed the window reflected my appearance and I was shocked. They made me uglier! Those bastards, they made my horns disappear, my snake like eyes normal, and my tail was no longer there! Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. But before I could jump out and slaughter my father, the carriage sped away before I could even move and eventually slowed down to a reasonable pace, where knights slowly followed after a brief stop. There I sat down depressed that my beauty was reduced and that I had to be married off to a lolicon. Well that wasn¡¯t a problem since I can get a unique monster kill, a pervert monster, the first of its kind! I was making wonderful plans on what to do after I kill the perverted monster and gain enough experience to be leveled up to criminal, I was so excited I was trembling from excitement. But was snapped out of my thoughts by an old husky voice. ¡°Marriage, huh?¡± the old man next to me said. I was a bit annoyed being bothered while I was inside my thoughts and was about to murder the old man but refrained due to the chance of my plan being ruined. So I gave him the definition of marriage. ¡°A simple agreement between a man and a woman.¡± The princess said in a dull tone. ¡°Huh...so what did you want to do before you were forced into marriage¡­¡±He said averting his gaze from me and out the window. Stupid old man, making me look back at the memories when I was a na?ve little child, you¡¯ll pay for this once my plan is finished. But thinking back I did want to sing... ¡°...I wanted to sing.¡± I answered faking longing. ¡°That so?...Mind singing for me?¡± he asked. Who the hell does he think he is!? You know what screw this old man if he really wants me to sing, then I¡¯ll hum the theme song of school days, let¡¯s see how he likes it! ¡°I¡¯m not very good but very well¡­¡± I said. What is this old man!? He¡¯s actually enjoying that horrible show that even I hated? What the actual fuck!? Right when I was about move and murder the man regardless of the consequences the carriage violently slanted and someone yelled Bandits. Yes! More monsters that I can kill! I said letting out a small sadistic smile before reverting back to my indifferent expression. ¡°Princess it¡¯s not safe here.¡± the old man said getting off the carriage and lifted me from the carriage and into the ground. He- he actually put his hands on me!? But before I could take action, five bandits, ignoring their lecherous gazes, were already on the old man sending attack after attack, while he could only hope to parry and block. I can¡¯t take on five bandits, not with this body at least. So I waited for this man to slowly exhaust himself and die under the hands of these bandits, while I find an opportunity to escape. As I was about to a person the same age as me swooped to the battle and instantly killed two bandits. I stared in awe as he landed in the middle of the fight and came a surge of warmth inside of me from the sinister and evil feeling that came from him and his shadows. I watched in interest as his shadow split into two and manifested into physical sexless beings and how easily they slaughtered the bandits. I watched as the boy walked over closer and closer and instantly killing the five bandits that surrounded us. T-This is my knight in shining armor! His swaying black hair with red and blue on each side, his cold and indifferent demeanor, the empty and void black eyes, and merciless methods of killing. I drooled inside my mind, I wanted him, I wanted him all to myself and no one else can have him! He has me bewitched, enchanted by everything about him. A fire was lit inside of me with the one goal in this new life, to capture this boy in front of me and make him mine! ¡°Good luck¡± the old man said his final words before my eyes turned cold with the fire still lit deep inside my heart, and decapitated the old man with the swing of a rusty sword laid near me. Chapter 6- Blood binding contract and succubus??? -Narrator¡¯s P.O.V- ¡®Why did you kill him?¡¯ Rin wrote to her in the air using letters made of darkness. ¡°He¡¯s irrelevant.¡± Iris smiled sweetly, her white dress stained with the old man¡¯s blood. ¡®To what?¡¯ Rin wrote raising an eyebrow. ¡°To the story of course~¡± Iris replied hiding her hands behind her back. ¡®Story?¡¯ Rin wrote confused by the answer. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s nothing~, Oh! I know, can I be with you!?¡± She asked while excluding a ¡®if you decline I¡¯ll murder you¡¯ aura. ¡®What do you think Zilla?¡¯ Rin asked her through telepathy. ¡®She¡¯s a keeper. She¡¯s completely entranced by you, and will obediently follow you at your will. I¡¯m even sure that she¡¯ll find pleasure in you killing her. Not only that she¡¯s experienced the worst of mankind personally unlike you who has only seen in it images and memories of others. So she¡¯ll be perfect for the job you have. Not to mention she¡¯s at your level of swordsmanship.¡¯ Zilla replied evaluating the little girl ¡®O but make a blood binding contract with her, so she doesn¡¯t end up murdering the rest of your companions¡­¡¯ ¡®Murdering the rest of my companions?¡¯ Rin asked raising another eyebrow. ¡®She¡¯s a bit...crazy for you in a whole other level.¡¯ Zilla said, wryly looking at the little girl through Rin¡¯s eyes. ¡®But the contract prevents this right?¡¯ Rin asked a bit worried for the future if the little girl happens to join along. ¡®Yes, once she makes the blood binding contract, with you being the master and her being the slave/servant she is obligated to perform your orders and put your life before her own.¡¯ Zilla replied. ¡®By obligated you mean?¡¯ Rin asked for further info. ¡®Well. Let¡¯s say if they don¡¯t, they¡¯ll experience something far worse than being physically tortured for an eternity.¡¯ Zilla wryly said ¡®O but don¡¯t worry! She¡¯ll get a warning saying what¡¯ll happen if she disobeys your orders.¡¯ Zilla assured Rin. ¡®If you say so¡­¡¯ Rin replied before returning his attention back to Iris. ¡®You may.¡¯ Rin wrote,immediately making the little girl jump in joy. ¡®But.¡¯ which halted Iris''s jumps of joy. ¡°But what?¡± Iris tilted her head with a smile, her ¡®I will kill you¡¯ aura increasing ten fold. ¡®You¡¯ll have to make a contract with me through the blood binding contract.¡¯ Rin wrote creating a small sewing needle from darkness. ¡°If I get to be with you then I¡¯ll do anything!¡± Iris declared,her eyes filled with endless worship and blind love. ¡®Give me the palm of your hand.¡¯ Rin wrote to her, to which she happily and readily complied. Following Zilla¡¯s instructions, Rin pricked the middle of Zilla¡¯s palm where blood mixed with something black started to ooze out. ¡®What¡¯s this?¡¯ Zilla widened her eyes while she scrutinized her blood. ¡®What is it?¡¯ Rin asked wondering what had surprised the calm and not so easily surprised Zilla. ¡®She actually has demon blood in her.¡¯ Zilla said confirming the origin of the black substance mixed with the red blood. ¡®What kind?¡¯ Rin asked interested. ¡®I don¡¯t know if you¡¯re going to like it though¡­¡¯ Zilla replied, her eyebrows twitching as she looked at the smiling girl in front of Rin. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡®Tell me.¡¯ Rin demanded not wanting any secrets kept from him. ¡®Well...She¡¯s a succubus.¡¯ Zilla said averting her gaze to the side. Upon hearing the word succubus, Rin almost coughed up blood, his face showing his shock. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Iris asked frowning at Rin. ¡®Nothing.¡¯ Rin quickly wrote, letting out a few dry coughs. It¡¯s for the plan, the plan, she¡¯ll be useful in the future, Rin hopefully thought. Pricking at the center of his own hand with only black colored blood oozed out he held Iris¡¯s pricked hand with his own pricked hand, allowing their blood to mix. He brought their bodies closer with their held hands closer to each others heart. As Rin was about to continue with the contract he could hear Iris rough and ecstatic breathing on him her golden eyes slightly teary. ¡°Be gentle¡­¡± Iris meekly said. Puzzled Rin wrote ¡®With what?¡¯ ¡°My first¡­¡± Iris shyly said covering her mouth with her other hand her whole face beet red. ¡®This girl¡­¡¯ Zilla said shaking her head with her hand covering her face. Not knowing what to make of the situation he could only reply ¡°O-okay¡± his hands slightly shaky. Continuing with the contract he asked ¡®Your name?¡¯ ¡°O ya, so that¡¯s what I was forgetting!¡± Iris said making a silly expression while lightly knocking her head with her free hand. ¡°It¡¯s Iris Rose, but my family name has no meaning to me anymore.¡± Iris answered. ¡®You¡¯re a princess?¡¯ Rin asked slightly surprised. ¡°Yep the fifth princess! But not anymore. Bastards wanted to sell me off to a perverted monster!¡± Iris said while frowning. ¡®Anyhow¡­¡¯ Rin wrote getting back on track ¡®I Rinea offer my blood to the blood goddess, to contract with Iris Rose as her one and only master.¡¯ ¡°And I Iris Rose offer my blood to the blood goddess, to contract with Rinea as his one and only slave and wife.¡± Iris wholeheartedly followed saying what Rin wrote her when it was her turn, minus the wife part. Before Rin could rebuke the wife part, their blood rose into the air in a straight line straight into the heavens where the it disappeared turning into blinding red light that showered upon only Rin and Iris. ¡®With that the contract is sealed...As well as your future love life¡­¡¯ Zilla satirically said pitying Rin. ¡°Hehe, Now we¡¯re binded in heart and soul¡± Iris sweetly smiled with a visible crazy look to it, while she held Rin¡¯s hand tighter. As for Rin¡­ He could feel cold sweat running down the side of his head while he looked into Rin¡¯s devoted golden eyes. Wryly smiling a little, he couldn¡¯t wait for what awaited him and whoever gets in the way of Iris¡¯s love life in the distant future. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hope you enjoyed it! Next chapter is going to be a little short since it''s the p.o.v of a knight that guarded the carriage, but the chapter after the next one is going to be decently long. -Authors note- Whenever Rin is talking he''s writing in the air... Extra- A Knights P.O.V A little extra! To be honest it''s pretty boring, and lacks the spice and flavor the other chapters had, but hey free chapter. The next chapter won''t be as dark and actually be a bit lighthearted but after the next chapter look forward to it! __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ -A knights P.O.V- As the knights of the royal guard we swore eternal loyalty to the royal family and no one else. Tasked with the hardest of missions, and trained to the highest point possible, we were ready for any threats that came our way during missions. This time a few buddies of mine, and a old man were tasked with escorting her highness to the Astral kingdom where she¡¯ll be wed. No one had ever seen the fifth princess so no one knew what she looked like or what she acted like, but we were to abide either way. Seeing the approaching carriage it stopped briefly, allowing the other four knights to position themselves on each corner of the carriage and allowed me to replace the driver. Grabbing the reins of the carriage I lead the two horses carrying the carriage forward. It was a leisure ride, with no signs of danger and a seemingly easy task, cause who would attack a noble with five knights guarding it. Certainly not bandits, even if there were fifty of them, with our skills we could easily decimate them. I admired the countryside of our kingdom, a vast jungle that extended farther than the eye could see on one side and a seemingly endless grassy plains with flower fields here and there on the other, with a village barely visible half a day away (about four to five miles). Caught in the beauty of nature I nearly failed to notice a loud air penetrating whistle that grew louder and louder, until crash! The wheels that faced the jungle were teared off causing the carriage to violently slant leading a halt to any movement. Turning my head to the jungle where the loud whistle originated, forty figures sprinted their way towards the carriage with weapons at hand, ready to surround us. ¡°Bandits!¡± I yelled out subconsciously, blocking a downward swing of a bandit that leaped towards me with my trusty sword. I jumped off immediately after blocking and stood my ground. I thought it would be a pretty easy fight, even though there were forty of them, they had to be inexperienced and could easily be dealt with. But I was wrong, we were being toyed with. We were like puppets dancing to their tunes as they allowed us to fight them two to three at a time, while they laughed and cursed at us. I too was having trouble with even just one bandit. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. With a smirk the bandit took a step forward and slashed at the open part of my neck unprotected by armor. Dodging the attack by bending my upper body into the shape of a C, I managed to avoid the blade and retaliated with a swift kick to his groin. Hey all¡¯s fair in a fight. Hopping back he retained his smug look and moved looking like he wasn¡¯t playing around anymore. But before he could a small figure swooped in with the head of the bandit flying. And before I knew it, the small figure vanished from where it landed and had already ended another bandits life. There he stood his hair swaying in the wind with his empty black eyes giving me a dread like feeling as if something was burrowing deep inside my bones, freezing me from moving and only stare in awe. From his shadow grew two sinister black figures with the shape of a sexless human being there they slaughtered the bandits in the duration of a minute and simply vanished once every bandit were dead. Ah! The princess she was safe, I sighed in relief once I averted my gaze from the bodies of the dead bandits and to where the princess and old man should be. But I froze after a closer look. In her hand was a bloody rusty sword and near her the old man¡¯s headless body. Tracking the river of blood that ran from the open neck of the old man¡¯s body it led to his upright head where the eyes of the old man were still open as if he never got over the shock of being killed. I was terrified, the princess was a beauty just like the boy that had swept over here and saved us. But both were cruel,cold, and indifferent to death, this was simply impossible they''re just children after all! I wanted to set their minds straight, but thinking about it, I¡¯d probably just get myself killed. So I stood there in silence waiting to see what would happen next. They were now holding each other¡¯s hands and I don¡¯t know why but I couldn¡¯t help but pity the boy. Blood colored in black, and red started to rise in a straight line from their held hand to the sky above where it vanished and turned into blinding light that disappeared seconds later. The princess was smiling happily while the boy was sweating. What could have happened to the boy that would make him sweat!? When he was so indifferent to bandits whom were far stronger than Rose Kingdom''s strongest! The only conclusion I could make, was women are scary. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Thank you for reading~ Chapter 7- Spirit Realm Ahaha...I sorta deviated from my story path a little... But fear not!...I''m getting there... But any how, next few chapters will be relaxed and explain how magic works, summoning, etc and some character development for Rin as he''s kinda lacking in that department despite being the main character. And Flaire won''t be left out as he''s being developed as well. After a few chapters, I''ll think of doing a time skip but probably won''t and the story will be picking up its pace on outlining the plot. So look forward to it! -P.S- My auntie''s wedding is tomorrow, but don''t fret there will be a chapter, but it''ll be out late. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ -Rin¡¯s P.O.V- Where am I? I remember making the blood binding contract with Iris then we were going to deal with the knights but presumably I blacked out and now here I am, in an empty white space. ¡°You are certainly a fool.¡± A powerful voice resonated throughout the white empty space. ¡®Eh?¡¯ I wrote confused as to where the voice is coming from. ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for I, you wouldn¡¯t have been able to even contend with those bandits, or should I say Rose Kingdom¡¯s knights.¡± The voice continued ¡®What are you saying?¡¯ I asked. ¡°The knights guarding the carriage are merely dummies for the real royal guards.¡± The voice answered. ¡®Then the bandits are the real royal guards?¡¯ I asked frowning. ¡°No they are not, they are just mere regular soldiers enchanted with magic to be as strong as a regular royal guard.¡± The voice replied ¡°A elementalist ranked red that casted the enchantment was there observing the whole fight, and you failed to notice. If it wasn¡¯t for that dreadful feeling I made you give off, you would have been dead by now, either by the elementalist staff or the supposed bandit''s sword.¡± the voice replied slightly annoyed. ¡®So the dreadful feeling that I lack invoked fear into my enemies that allowed me the opportunity to kill?¡¯ I said analyzing my fight with the bandits. ¡°You aren¡¯t incompetent after all. But you are still lacking, especially your mana pool.¡± The voice said pointing out inadequacies. ¡®Lacking?¡¯ I asked seeking for guidance. ¡°If i hadn¡¯t given you some of my mana, you would have blacked out as you are now. Luckily I had enough mana to spare to get you through.¡± The voice said. ¡®Then, thank you.¡¯ I thanked bowing my head, raising it slightly after, in question as to what this voice name is. ¡°I, I am known as The Great Shadow!¡± The voice declared shaking the white empty space. I¡¯ve heard of that name before,thinking back to one of Zillas lectures I recall a mention of the great shadow. An existence feared by even the gods, the first son of Zilla, Shade. He caused the calamity known as the Great eclipse, where he casted his shadow over the planet drowning everything in darkness and chaos. It stopped plants from growing, causing it to shrivel up and die. Thus causing famine, it led to wars breaking out for the last bits of food left, it caused diseases and sickness to plague the lands, and left the gods weak due to the lack of worship from their creations. And it lasted for a hundred years before Shade for unknown reasons let light shine upon it once more, causing life to blossom and bloom into a beautiful and truly peaceful world that slowly wilted and died out transforming into this world. ¡°Hoho, I didn¡¯t know they were still telling stories about me.¡± Shade happily said. ¡®They don¡¯t. Records and legends of The Great Calamity has to be buried now, since it¡¯s been five thousand years since then.¡¯ I wrote making an assumption. ¡°What!? Five thousand years since, how long have I been asleep?¡± Shade said slightly dejected the fact that his name was longer known ¡° Then I assume my mother was the one who told you the story?¡± Shade continued. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡®Yes, she¡¯s still pissed off that you didn¡¯t finish the mission she gave you.¡¯ I wrote warning Shade. ¡°Thank the shadows that she didn¡¯t notice I had awakened inside of you after you went into a trance.¡± Shade said with relief. ¡®Awakened? I thought you were a part of me this whole time and never bothered to talk to me till now.¡¯ I wrote slightly confused. ¡°You probably don¡¯t remember, but you went in a trance and unintentionally seeked to find your true self which is in a way related to your emotions.¡± Shade said before continuing ¡°But once you do find your true self, you¡¯ll be a figure far more powerful than the gods. But I¡¯m not so sure about the true gods.¡± ¡®True gods?¡¯ I wrote interested, since I¡¯ve never heard the mention of true gods from Zilla. ¡°Has mothers lectures been lacking?¡± Shade sighed ¡°Like you humans, you rank yourself so you have an idea of position and power a person has. Yours being ranked by colors, Blue,Yellow,Orange,Green,Red,Pink,Violet, and Black, but that''s only the mortal realm.¡± ¡®How many realms are there?¡¯ I asked piqued with interest. ¡°There are three realms, the mortal realm, spirit realm, and god realm.¡± Shade answered before continuing ¡°Not getting into much detail on how to get in the realm. There are eleven ranks in total for the spirit realm. It starts off with Spirit then splits between into two paths you can go down on, a spirit warrior or a spirit shaman. Spirit warrior> Spirit lord> Spirit Warlord> Spirit King> Spirit Emperor Spirit Shaman > Spirit guide > Ancestral Spirit>Ancient Spirit> Time Spirit You can only choose one path and the path you decide heavily determines your future success and power. If you decide to go down the Spirit warrior path then you will gain immense physical strength, near indestructible body, move near light speed, and precise dexterity as you move on this path. But let it be known that Spirit warriors and above are all weak to magic and will lose fifty percent of their mana pool at first, and as they move up ranks they will lose 10% of their mana pool each time they move up rank. Leaving them with 10% of their original mana pool in tack once they reach Spirit Emperor. While those who take the spirit shaman path, will have their mana pool increase by one hundred percent, increasing twenty percent each time move up ranks. The last benefit is a third eye, grown on the forehead of the being once they reach the rank of Spirit guide. This allows them to see five seconds into the future, with five seconds added for each rank they go up. But seeing into the future requires twenty five percent of that being¡¯s mana regardless of how much mana they have. Spirit shamans have weaknesses as well, once they choose this route their body will weaken to the physical state of an average human. And even with enchantments on the body their physical capacity will never exceed that of a Spirit warriors. So once a Spirit shaman and above exhaust their mana pool, then their fate is already sealed. That covers the spirit realm. I won¡¯t delve into the god realm until you reach Spirit King, or Ancient Spirit since there are a few things you need to learn on your own. So you won''t be learning about the true gods till then. ¡®I understand, thank you for the enlightenment.¡¯ I said bowing down and straightening back up where I was blasted with light to my side. ¡°Looks like we finished in time. See you in your next trance boy.¡± Shade said appearing before me but his appearance blurred by the light. But for a second there, I could see him waving me off. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hope you enjoyed! ~ Sorry if this is boring, I''ll try to work on the quality of the chapters as I make more! Chapter 8- Mana Sorry for the short chapter (In comparison with the other chapters) I drank too much at the after party, and too many smoothies, and buttery popcorn at the movies. Ending with me getting sick and slightly disoriented, preventing me from doing anymore then this without passing out or writing too many errors and nonsense. To make up for the short chapter, expect two chapters tomorrow. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ -Zilla¡¯s P.O.V- Huh? Rin¡¯s been showing different reactions and other emotions besides his indifferent look lately. Well I can¡¯t blame him, Holding hands with a the crazed, love obsessed, possessive, psychopathe, whom you made a contract that last for life. Anyone would be as nervous and scared as him. But it¡¯s still a matter I need to look into. Moments later... Ah, he collapsed flat on his back after he untied his hands from the girl¡¯s grasp. But still this boy is rather amazing, lasting this long when his mana was exhausted the moment he summoned the two shadows. Well, now he¡¯s going to get taken advantage of by this girl if I don¡¯t come out and help him. ¡°Eh? did someone cast a sleep spell on you Rin?¡± Iris said in a squat position, poking Rin¡¯s unconscious body''s side with her finger. Never mind, that¡¯s not even the problem anymore. The problem right now is Rin¡¯s well being, since the after effects of mana exhaustion can be very devastating if not treated.I can go into his mind to forcibly wake him up , so he can absorb mana before his core has a chance of cracking, destroying ten percent of his mana pool and slow down his progress. But because of something or someone I can¡¯t go inside his mind which is rather worrying and troublesome, but I''ll look into that later. Alternatively I could reveal myself right now and give him proper care, such as pouring my own mana in this mana core so there¡¯s no backlashes to his mana exhaustion, but that requires me to touch his mana core, embedded in his heart. But I don¡¯t know how she¡¯ll react when I do so. She¡¯ll either try to kill Rin and I or just try to kill me, due to her possessive nature...And there¡¯s that possibility that she¡¯ll kill only Rin and kill herself turning it into a lover¡¯s death...Brrrr, I don¡¯t even want to think about that. Whatever, Rin¡¯s condition is more important, and besides I can just protect both, him and I if the situation calls for it. As I was about to appear from Rin¡¯s shadow, Rin gasped for air, coughing violently after. -Rin¡¯s P.O.V- This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Regaining conscious I suddenly gasped for air and coughed violently afterwards, nearly spewing out a mouthful of blood. Damn mana exhaustion is dangerous, Shade must have took some of the load off me so I wouldn¡¯t have any major problems in the long run. Thanks shade, I owe you one, I thought, making a mental note inside my head. Recovering from my violent cough, Zilla¡¯s voice rang into my head. ¡®Hurry up and absorb mana or your core cracks, and you know what that means. After your done with that, were going to have a talk.¡¯ Heeding her words, I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, and closed my eyes, focusing on absorbing mana. Absorbing mana is rather simple, the hard part is how much mana you absorb into your body. To absorb mana you first have to sense it. Mana is all around you, in every living and nonliving being, it''s even in the air. It takes the shape of a blue orb that gradually grows bigger when denser and looks like a blob when many gather. You then absorb the mana with your mana core acting like a magnet, pulling all the mana particles into your blue veins and into your heart where the mana core is at. You can¡¯t rush absorbing mana and there¡¯s no benefit in it when your training, as it takes months and even years for your mana core to grow. But there are some whose mana cores grow faster then most, and those people are usually called geniuses by the public. If you do rush absorbing mana around you then you could absorb too much for your mana core can handle, leading your body to bloat, your eyes to fire off violent blue light, and eventually explode, leaving nothing but a splatter of bluish red blood. So that¡¯s why you need to train in controlling your mana and the rate of how much mana you absorb, if you want to be successful as a elementalist . Absorbing enough mana to fill up 50% of my mana pool, I opened my eyes to see Iris squatted down, while intently staring at me. ¡°Teach me magic too!¡± _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Again sorry for the short chapter. But thanks for reading! Chapter 9- Sub-Elements,Variations, and Blood magic Next chapter by tonight! _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ -Iris¡¯s P.O.V- ¡®Eh?¡¯ Rin wrote quickly with such a cute surprised expression on his face. ¡°Ya! I want to learn magic so I can protect my husband!¡± I declared. Hehe, now I won¡¯t only have a way to protect you, but now I can use that magic to keep other girls at least three feet away from you!¡± -Zilla¡¯s P.O.V- ¡®Should we teach her?¡¯ Rin asked slightly wary of teaching Iris magic. ¡®If it¡¯s her who knows what she¡¯ll do with magic besides protecting you, but that doesn¡¯t outweigh the fact that,due to her elements,she¡¯ll be a powerful being that grows on par with you if she learns magic.¡¯ ¡®What¡¯s her element?¡¯ Rin asked raising his eyebrow in curiosity. ¡®She¡¯s a succubus so unlike humans she has two elements to start with. Hers being Mind control, and blood magic¡¯. Rin¡¯s face slightly paled and stuttered ¡®L-Let¡¯s not teach her mind control. Ever.¡¯ ¡®You know she¡¯ll learn it whether you want her to or not. Besides you''re right, not right now, her mental state isn¡¯t stable enough to be using Mind control. If she were to use Mind control now, she¡¯ll only damage her mental state even further due to not being able to control her thoughts and overall craziness.¡¯ ¡®So you¡¯ll only be teaching her blood magic.¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t know how to use blood magic, how am I supposed to teach her?¡¯ Rin wrote frowning. ¡®Sigh, do you remember what I taught you about the elements?¡¯ Rin nodded his head in reply. Then you should know, that elements are forces that make up the world that have their own separate color. -Fire being red -Water being blue -Earth being Green -And Air being yellow As for elements such as thunder, and magma, they are merely called sub-elements, elements made from combining two or more of the main elements(Fire,Earth,Water, and air) while elements made from modifying the properties of one of the main four elements is called variations. Variations have different shades of color depending on the element that¡¯s used and modified. For example ice will be a different shade of blue, while mist has a different shade of yellow. As for sub-elements, the elements used together, will lead to their colors mixing. From there the mixed color (depending on the elements used) can have a different shade of color, if one chooses to create a variation with it. But you can¡¯t just mix any elements together, if you mix the wrong ones the color will turn black and if used it will explode in front of you.That¡¯s why the races created books that show what elements can be mixed and what can¡¯t, but they are very expensive so most people just experiment with what they can combine or not, which often leads to death. You can get the same element by either using the sub-elements method or variational method. But variations although having more possibilities,require more mana compared to sub-elements. That¡¯s why most people turn to sub-elements instead when starting. There are cases of magic not originating from the four main elements called Black magic, such as blood magic, and mind control.¡¯ ¡®I understand the sub-elements and variations but why are they called black magic?¡¯ Rin asked seeking for understandment ¡® Reason they''re called black magic because they are a taboo to the church who believes in that stinking old hag Elemantala(El-Man-Tala) the goddess of the four main elements, because they believe magic who has no correspondence to the four main elements are demonic and evil. Brainwashing freaks is one way to describe the people of her cult. But getting back on track, it¡¯s time to teach the girl.¡¯ -Iris P.O.V- ¡®Okay Iris, I¡¯ll teach you magic.¡¯ Rin wrote to me. Elated I happily awaiting for my darlings instructions. ¡®First close your eyes and sense mana,feel mana, it¡¯s all around you and a part of everything, living or nonliving.¡¯ Rin instructed. Closing my eyes, I tried to sense mana...five seconds later...ten seconds later. Ah! There¡¯s a blue orb floating around me, ah! There¡¯s more! Is this mana?! Let¡¯s ask darling~. ¡°Darling~, is the blue orb floating around mana?¡± ¡®Yes that¡¯s mana. Now all you have to do is absorb it into your veins, do that by simply thinking of absorbing mana and your mana core should do the rest. But be careful not to absorb too much, start by absorbing only a little.¡¯ Rin wrote ignoring the darling part. Hehe,he¡¯s worried about me, Don¡¯t worry darling, I won¡¯t let you down! Closing my eyes once more, I thought of absorbing the mana orbs floating around me. Slowly but surely the floating mana started to drift closer to me, completely absorbing into my skin once it made contact. I could feel the sensation of it moving through my veins and into my heart, yosh! I did it!
Mana1/100
¡±I did it darling! I did it! This window says so!¡± I said pointing in front of me where the blue window is at. But sadly I only received his confused look. ¡®If you say so... But never mind that, keep absorbing mana until you think you¡¯re at full capacity.¡¯ Rin said ignoring me. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Pouting because he didn¡¯t even praise me I let out a hmph! I¡¯ll show you face. Absorbing more and more mana into my skin the numbers in the window in front of me started to go up as well.
Mana5/100
Mana28/100
Mana51/100
Mana76/100
Mana92/100
Mana100/100
Yosh my mana capacity is now full! Step one to being praised complete. ¡°What¡¯s next? What¡¯s next?¡± I asked slightly impatient in getting praised. ¡®Next, Since your element is blood, meaning that you can control blood, all you need to do is use your mana to manipulate crimson red color inside blood.¡¯ Rin wrote. Blood magic!? So I can control blood!? This is the best day ever!! Haha!! So does that mean I can do this!? Waving my hand in front of me I concentrated on the crimson color I see inside one of the knights that was quietly observing us eight meters away. The knights paled after seeing my actions and were about to take action before I started manipulating their blood. Using my other hand as well I moved my hands like I was moving marionette puppets, controlling them like they were dolls! Haha! This is fun! -Rin P.O.V- O boy... Even if it wasn¡¯t mind control magic, she¡¯s still forcing them to do things they don¡¯t want to. Manipulating the knights to remove their armor and clothes, only to have them rape each other, then after five climaxes she made them chop of their own dicks and eat them, while she joyfully and maniacally laughs, enjoying the scene before her.O shadows Zilla what have you helped me create? ¡®I-I don¡¯t know, I didn¡¯t expect this outcome at all. I thought she was just going to control the blood already on the ground, not the blood inside their bodies. But to think she would go as far as this¡­But you should be worrying more about yourself, imagine the things the girl can force you to do.¡¯ Zilla said rubbing her forehead while she shook her head. You¡¯re right, I should be thinking of countermeasures. ¡®Iris.¡¯ I wrote to her. ¡°Yes darling?¡± Iris said joyfully still manipulating the knights to slowly slice their bodies with their swords, with the only thing the knights could do was scream in pain while suffering the tyranny of the being called Iris. ¡®Promise you won¡¯t ever use blood magic on me.¡¯ I wrote to her making use of the blood binding contract. ¡°Tsk¡± Iris clicked her tongue. ¡®Huh, what was that?¡¯ I asked making sure she wasn¡¯t misbehaving. ¡°Nothing-Darling~¡± iris said hesitantly. Whew that¡¯s a load off my back. -Iris P.O.V- Damnit! I should¡¯ve killed the knights quickly then manipulated darling to do all sorts of things with me! Ugh! I¡¯m going to take out my frustrations on these stupid knights! Ruining my chance at precious moments with darling, how dare you! Making them to slice off their limbs and forcing them to eat it. I ended their pitiful lives by having them slit their own throat.
Mana10/100
¡°So darling~¡± I said looking at him with pleading eyes. ¡®What?¡¯ He asked looking indifferent to my pleading adorable eyes. You¡¯re such a tsundere darling~. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to praise me for learning magic?¡± I asked saying what I want. Letting out a sigh Darling wrote ¡®Ya, ya good job.¡¯ petting my head after. Happily being petted like a dog, a window popped up in my head
Mission success
Darling affection points +10
Just you wait darling! I¡¯ll get you at max affection before you know it! _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Thank you for reading. (Spent so much time making and fixing the tables that I didn''t have time to edit, feel free to tell me if of any grammar errors.) Chapter 10- The King and Third Prince -Rin¡¯s P.O.V- ¡®Well let¡¯s go.¡¯ I said releasing my hand off Iris¡¯s head to which she quietly whimpered but was brought to life after making an assumption. ¡°Are we going to your home!?¡± Iris said breathing ecstatically. Looking at Iris¡¯s state, I sighed to myself and started walking back to the village with Iris happily skipping behind me. -Red Magician¡¯s P.O.V- (If you don¡¯t remember this guy, he¡¯s the red ranked elementalist that almost shit his robe in chapter 3 carriage and bandits, and mentioned in chapter 7.) Wh-What are these two? Looking at the backs of a five year old boy who mercilessly and easily killed forty bandits with magic and the demonic princess of the Rose Kingdom who controlled people like puppets making them do inhumane things. I couldn¡¯t help but imagine, what these kids would be like in the future. It¡¯s just too horrifying to even think about it. I was going to do something about it when the kid fell back unconscious, with me thinking at the time, that the time was now. But before I could another shadowy figure rose up from the kids shadow that went unnoticed by the nonchalant princess next to him. It was far more dreadful than the kid¡¯s aura I felt earlier. The reason why, isn¡¯t because it invoked dread and fear, but it was so calm and relaxed with no uneasiness or caution about it. It seemed like everything was just an ant to her, that she could kill any time if pestered. While the boy was simply too cautious, watching every movement and never letting his guard down. Although he had the same indifferent expression as this shadowy figure, you could see it in the movement of his body with his rapidly moving pupils keenly watching and observing everything, calculating his movements, taking in the risk, and the time it takes to do so, that he sensed a danger in everything around him. But this shadowy figure coming from his shadow didn¡¯t have that sense of danger, and that was too spine chilling. But thank the gods they didn¡¯t notice me, or so I think, I¡¯m pretty sure that boy took a glance in my direction when he turned around and walked the other direction. Was it my imagination? Probably so, but I better not let my guard down, even if they look like their going home. Turning around I enveloped myself in wind and flew off to a location I was told about and to go to when the mission¡¯s done. Entering the ruins of an old ancient village, I moved past the crumpled yellow stoned houses and walked on the shattered like glass, stone paved roads, to the center of the village. There in the village is a fifty meter circle in the center of the village, and around the circle are four violet ranked summoner''s/enchanters who has white radiance in their mana positioned north,south,west,and east of the circle. Who¡¯s been continuously chanting non-stop for a whole year with three more to go an ancient summoning text found within the ruins of the village. Right now it¡¯s a quarter done, but once it¡¯s finished the third prince of the Astral kingdom and the King of the Rose kingdom have many plans for the future with it. Carefully trying not to step on any of the lines made by the circle and chants of the violet ranked summoner''s I made my way towards the middle where I kneeled before the third prince and the king of Rose Kingdom who were discussing matters of both their kingdoms ¡°Your highness and Young master, this lowly servant has come with news of failure.¡± I said with my head down in disgrace. ¡°You have failed?¡± The King asked in slight disdain and anger. ¡°Yes your highness.¡± I said and went on explaining what had happened.The deaths of the soldiers, the knights and his old friend. About the boy powers as well as the princess¡¯s new found powers, and how the two had made a blood binding contract. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Who do you think has failed, you or the soldiers?¡± The king said taking a step forward to look down on me. ¡°It is I¡­¡± I said with honesty. ¡°Wrong.¡± The King answered Looking up thinking that I have been forgiven and not at fault I get kicked in the jaw by the king¡¯s boot, leading me to fall back a few feet away. ¡°It was both who were at fault. It was your incompetence of not capturing my daughter. It was your incompetence that the soldiers I trained and paid for were killed. It was their incompetence along with you for not capturing my daughter, and it was their incompetence for not being adequate enough to accomplish a simple task when they were trained for that one task.¡± The King said in clear anger. Slowly picking myself up, I bowed in understanding and flew off before my anger and disappointment in myself were taken out near the summoning circle. Kings P.O.V. ¡°Imbecile,Fools, Ah! What am I saying.¡± I said trying to release my frustrations ¡°How could all my years of planning not bear fruit because of the failure of others!¡± ¡°It is simply your fault.¡± The third prince said shaking his head while taking a step forward. ¡°You never accounted for failure and that is why you¡¯re in this fit of anger.¡± The third prince said lecturing I the king! ¡°And you¡¯ve never failed when putting on the mask of a pervert to not arouse suspicions for when you vanish?¡± I said glaring the third prince. ¡°O no. None at all. Sure putting on the mask of a pervert had its ups and downs but it was a rather simple task. Although, I was restricted by my father and had far lesser power than my elder brothers. I could still do anything at my whim. that branded me as a tyrannical,evil and perverted prince, with the only reason being I could do so is because I have higher status than everyone else.. It goes to show that if you have status, you have power, if you have wealth you have power, if you have power you have all three.¡± The third prince said with an irritating smirk. ¡°If you had to fuck one of those succubus whores until they got impregnated, and raise that child in seclusion with the purpose of making it retarded. But turned out to be a vicious, intelligent child where you then had to send off in disguise of political marriage so your whole council wouldn¡¯t create a fuss of not making use of her. Then fake a bandit attack to take away the princess so it wouldn¡¯t grow suspicion, only to be stopped by a mere five year old boy. Then I¡¯ll happily share you my troubles!¡± I retorted, glaring at the third prince. ¡°Well played old man.¡± The third prince said with the same irritating smirk before continuing ¡°Well now it looks like our plans are delayed a bit. But until she passes ten years of age, we have more time in our hands.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll continue in three years when the magic circle is scheduled to finish, allowing us to send these four violet ranked summoner''s to bring us our sacrifice without any risk of failure.¡± I said turning around from the third prince and looked into the starry night sky as distant as the future. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Thanks for reading! (I''ll probably not do a time skip until the chapter after the next one.) Announcement Don''t you love tests? I sure do <3 Until Wednesday or Thursday I''ll spend some time editing the old chapters and refining them, since I find them lacking. Then I''ll be pumping out chapters at Friday! -Sorry if you see the reediting as a waste of time for you and I, but it makes me feel secure and good about the story. :P- ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ -Edited Chapters- Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.-Prologue- -Chapter 1- -Chapter 2- -Chapter 3- Sorry I hadn''t been adding chapters like I said I would. I''ve been sick because tests took a toll on me. and because I want to get editing over with before I continue with the story. -Not really sure if it''s massive edits/changes to the story.- But I will start making more chapters after editing is done. (Pushed back till summer begins!)