《Death, the Savior》 Prologue 1 - Past Life Author Notes: Enjoy!! Roran: 16 years old. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I woke up in the shed, and I felt the cold drops of rain touch my cheek as I stay laying on the hay. "Why must this happen to me?" I whispered, as I cursed under my breath. I heard the rain hit the shed harder, and I left to collect the water with a small bucket in my hands. I hung the bucket on a pole outside, which was nailed to the shed''s window, and waited. I heard voices in the distance. "Heh.. Look honey, its the bastard child of the Arstil family, Roran. Wait. No, not even their child, he''s just their possession, since he was adopted. Have you heard of the things that he has done Catherine?", The man wearing noble clothes muttered to his wife, while openly exhibiting his evil smirk. "Oh honeybuns, don''t worry about him, he''s just collecting his water. Let''s leave him be, shall we?" The wife exclaimed. The husband nodded, and trotted off with a cane in one hand, and an umbrella the other. I sat motionless, and I showed no emotion. I long ago decided that showing emotions was equivalent to showing weakness and showing weakness was equivalent to allowing oneself to be hurt. I collected the bucket of water and re-entered the shed. "Hey, George. Do you think I''ll ever live a fulfilling life?" I questioned the only horse in the shed, which was also my only friend. George neighed, and I sighed almost at the same time. I sat in one place running my hands through the scars on my face, pondering about the mistakes I have made in my life that has led up until this point. The continent of Baldaan contained three countries, all governed and owned by high-ranking noble families. Each country was named after the ancient noble families, one of them being the family of Arstil. Now, I was located in the shed of the Arstil family -- four miles from the main house. I looked at the position of the sun that was covered by clouds. I washed my clothes, and I set out for the 4-mile walk to the House of Arstil for my job. The house was a large mansion, two stories tall, with 9 total rooms, and 5 bathrooms, How much money do they have? I wish I was as fortunate. I sighed. The rain had stopped, and I knocked on the door, only to be scornfully greeted as trash by a butler as soon as he opened the door. My father came to greet me- or so I thought. I felt a hot, stinging pain on my face. "D*mn that hurt. Kid, lose some muscle," he leered, " It''ll help the family," the father shook his hand, and exclaimed, "Alright ''trash'', let''s get to work." I was lying on the floor, as my father kicked me in my stomach multiple times. Words couldn''t come out of my mouth, only a painful look of hate covered my face. I WANT TO KILL HIM.. I inadvertently thought. I quickly wiped the look off my face as my father said, "Ok. Its about 8:30 AM right now. Your brother will be done with his ''work'' soon, so go and help him. *smirk* The people of our city will also be here in 15 minutes for a speech from the future successor, and my only son, Maxus", the father kicked me one last time, and headed towards the kitchen. I got up and walked towards my brother''s room. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Maxus, my brother, smiled, and slapped me on my face. He said, "Let me introduce you to Sasha, the girl you raped because you were sexually frustrated." I looked pitifully at Sasha, who was naked on the bed, crying. She was very beautiful, with pearl-white skin, and beautiful emerald hair, only to be sullied by Maxus. My brother was 18 years old, and he was to become successor soon. I thought of a life without him, and accidentally smiled. Seeing this, my brother strategically punched me in my gut so no bruises would show. He sighed, and said, "You never learn. Alright, now take all your clothes off, except your underwear.. heh, I''m sure no one wants to see you naked, don''t worry. Go stand in front of the house with Sasha, now." Ten minutes later, Sasha and I were standing in front of the house, both naked, while my brother gave his speech to the crowd of Arstil. "Citizens of Arstil. Do you see this man? He is unfortunately my fake brother. I cannot say how much I despise being in his vicinity. I say, to all citizens, this man raped this young girl, Sasha, and left her to die. He is the epitome of a failure, and this is an example of someone that you all, as citizens should STRIVE NOT to be, " Malicious Maxus continued, throwing any insults he could muster towards me, the innocent brother. The citizens looked at me with a look of fear, and hate. I could only do the same. Sasha, standing next to me, was gagged with a rope, and was crying. I can''t believe it. They actually believe that fake brother of mine. He''s not only brought a woman to tears, but has schemed multiple thefts and murders -- all to be blamed on me. Why am I not dead you may ask? It is because they NEED me to take the blame. I HATE THEM. I HATE HUMANS. That was the last thought that left my head before fainted from the pain all over my body, due to rocks being thrown at me. I woke up again, opening my eyes to see that I was in the same shed I lived in for 5 years. I didn''t cry, no, I smiled and swore that I would kill the whole family. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author''s Notes: Hi all, this prologue was really slow, but I wanted to capture the daily life of the scapegoat of the Arstil family. Any suggestions for improving my writing? I didn''t edit this yet, so there may be mistakes. Next chapter will be the last prologue. Next chapter: The Bastard Boy Kills the Whole Family - Prologue 2 Prologue 2 - Death of the Arstil Family Author: I will begin italicizing the thoughts of Roran. That''s all, Enjoy! Prologue 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The next day, in the morning, I woke up and got ready to hunt to satisfy my hunger. As I wandered around in the nearby forest, I thought of all the possible ways I can end the lives of the family that torments me. I ran through different scenes in my mind, coming up with different scenes, each with a different look on my face after committing the act. I sighed, and disregarded the thoughts in my head. I decided: I''ll just kill them in the most agonizing way possible; this world will be better without them, no matter how they die. As I daydreamed while trotting around the forest with a knife in hand, I suddenly spotted a large, brown bear 2 meters away. I distanced myself, and hid behind the bushes nearby. It was a mother, leading its cubs to the nearby river to catch food. I eyed the mother bear like a wolf that has decided on its prey. I stealthily walked parallel to the mother bear, and threw a rock in the direction opposite that it was walking. The mother bear stopped, turned around, and stood on two feet, to take a look at the situation. The moment its paws left the ground, I threw my knife at the bear''s neck. It struggled with the knife stuck in its neck for a few minutes, and finally, stopped moving. I smiled, and thought, Looks like bear meat today. I''ll leave the cubs alone. Don''t need to over hunt. After scaring the cubs away, I skinned the bear right where it laid, and stashed the pelt and meat in my hunting bag. I hurried back to the shed, and I slowly roasted the meat under a fire. As I chewed on the meat, I realized that the dependence of my brother, Maxus, upon me was enough to murder the whole family. "George, it looks like today is going to be a great day." I turned, and looked at the horse next to me. Its 6:00 AM right now. I need to sharpen my weapons, make a plan, and head over to the head house by 8:00. I took a deep breath, and I immediately got to work. I sharpened my two kitchen knives, and tested them on my own skin. I felt a hot liquid trickle down each of my hands, and then I decided to head towards the Arstil house. I felt that I was unexpectedly calm; no human being could abandon their own humanity with murder so easily. Merciless. Agonizing. Merciless. Agonizing... I repeatedly thought, as I walked to the house. When I reached the building, I waited for the butler to open the door. I should kill the butler too. He''s a failure of a human being. I thought of each and every person I would kill, and I evaluated that I should really just extinguish the entire human race. Hmm..The look on their face when they threw rocks at me... ending all their lives.. SOUNDS GREAT! , I thought, and grinned. I shook my head, came to my senses, and whispered to myself, "No, no. I need to keep calm. I cannot let emotions control me." Suddenly, I heard the butler open the door, and say, "Hello, trash." I responded, "hello sir," as I tried to stay as polite as possible. I continued, "Butler, sir, I saw a man with a mask holding a knife right next to the house! Can you help me identify him? I don''t want tragedy to befall the great house of Arstil. Please help..." After my lie, the butler looked surprised, and followed me to the right side of the house, where the maids wash the clothes of the family. I picked the most opportune time to call the butler, since the maids only wash the clothes at night. I called him over, and stopped for a second, in order to have his back facing me. I muttered, "Goodbye Butler..." in the cruelest way possible. By the time he had noticed, it was too late. I kicked his legs, causing him to fall on his knees, and stabbed his throat. I jumped back, in order to avoid the spraying blood. I saw him struggle, and lay still. I remembered the scene of the mother bear dying, and thought, Looks like you died like an animal butler.. Three more to go. I wiped my hands with the butler''s handkerchief, and tied the knives back onto my thighs. I stealthily headed inside the house, and noted the locations of the maids and family members in the house. Next, my father , I thought, and headed towards my ''father''s'' study room. He was sitting in his chair, writing quickly. I walked slowly up to him, my knives unsheathed, and stabbed both knives through the sides of his head. The blood sprayed onto my clothes, and I decided to take them off, in order to cover my tracks. I wiped my body of the blood that I could remove, and headed to my mother''s room. I stopped in front of the double doors, and hid behind the corner. I heard voices. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. "Oh don''t worry about him Maxus. He is a tool, the reason for his existence is to help you succeed. I would have thrown him away long ago if you didn''t find a use for him," the mother explained, and looked toward Maxus for a response. "Yes, I understand, Mother," the 18-year-old man spoke with the tone of a child, which made me cringe. D*mn I need to move. I need to kill them separately, or I will be found. I turned, and walked toward the end of the hallway in front of me. I was located just on the right side of my brother''s room. At the edge of my vision, I spotted my brother heading in my direction. Here it is, Its a good thing we are the same height (5'' 10").. makes him easier to kill, I thought, as I imagined him as just another animal to kill. As soon as he neared the end of the hallway, I grabbed him, and stabbed him twice through the gut with one of my knives. Blood poured out onto my hand, and I grasped his mouth to keep him from yelling. He was crying. I cannot pity him. This thing cannot be allowed to live, I surmised, and continued towards my mother''s room, after confirming the death. My mother was avidly putting on her clothes with a smile, and didn''t notice me entering the room, and closing the door. "Huh? Oh Clarissa? Are you here to help me put on my clothes?" She gestured without turning, and I slowly walked towards her. She turned, and looked at me in utter surprise. She screamed, "Noooooooooooooooooo! You demon! Don''t come close to me!" "Me? A demon? Don''t make me laugh. You and your family are the real demons. Cease to exist," I calmly retorted, and used the two knives to to cut her throat. There, you will stop talking now. The world will be at peace, I happily thought, but turned to see five guards enter the room saying, "Mrs. Arstil are you ok?" "F*ck. I forgot to kill her quietly. Well, no matter, I''ll kill them as well," I openly confessed. The guards charged, all with full-body armor and a longsword. I sidestepped, and dodged both the first and second strikes, but failed to avoid the third. I looked down, and I saw the sword pierce my body. Sharp sword. In through one end, out through my back. It looks like my spine might be broken.. I calmly explained to myself. With the sword lodged in my stomach, I coughed blood, and stabbed the knife through the guard''s face in front of me, the same one that stabbed me. As I slowly lost my consciousness, I looked at myself in the nearby mirror, with a sword through my body. I fell to the floor, glanced at the dead people, and thought, I am a monster... The world around me went dark, and I suddenly heard a voice... "Would you like a second chance? A chance to change? A chance... to accomplish your goals?" I was confused. Who was this man? I thought I was dead. I regret not living my life to the fullest, but at least, I killed what I thought were the dregs of society. "That''s good, but I''m sure you have something else that you wanted to accomplish right? Hmm.. Like the annihilation of the human race? " The mysterious entity continued to talk. Who are you? , I thought, without the slightest bit of curiosity. "My, my. No need to be so vicious, I am just the Death God, and I go by the name of Nex. Anyway, let me introduce you to your new comrades." I slowly opened my eyes, only to see a silver skeleton, covered in maroon-colored plate armor, and a sword that was flying in midair. I turned, and I saw another man and woman, all clothed with only some black robes, like myself. "WELL HELLO THERE CHILDREN. I NEED YOUR HELP IN EXTERMINATING THE LIGHT..", The Death God Nex continued with his booming voice, and eyed each of us with an evil smile. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: Short chapter this time! I will try to increase the size of my updates from now on. This chapter has not been edited yet. Any thoughts on the story so far? I know it is slow, but it will pick up speed in the next chapter - not a prologue. Any constructive criticisms? Thanks for reading! Next Chapter: New World My Summoning - Chapter 1 Author: Tell me about what you think of the story so far! Again, if you guys see any mistakes, please do comment, and if you enjoy this series, please follow/favorite! Thanks for reading, and Enjoy! Chapter 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I stared at the silver skeleton in blank amazement. I glanced at the two others, and noticed that they were around the same age as me: 16. I then thought about the many questions I had: Why am I here? Why am I not dead? Where am I? Did the Death God think my crime was unforgivable? We sat emotionless on the pitch black floor, as the Death God Nex continued, "Children of the old world, welcome to my abyss. I am sure you have many questions, but worry not. I have called you all here for a single purpose: to control the expansion of the Light. All three of you have done so-called ''unforgivable deeds,'' but I believe that experience is necessary to carry out my mission. With that said, you MUST be able to have the conviction to kill, of course, when it is necessary. All of you that don''t think you are able to carry this out, leave the room." The skeleton muttered his last words with disgust. A door in pure white appeared out of nowhere in front of us. The man on the far right shivered, sweat, and stared at the door, as if expecting something to occur. The woman next to me didn''t flinch. She turned to look at me, curious of what my decision would be. I returned her stare, and said, "I''m staying." She replied with, "Of course, I will as well." We both looked at the man on the far right. He got up, glanced at the skeleton and said, "I''m sorry. I cannot help you. I lived a life that I am not proud of, but I don''t wish to keep killing." He turned to look at us, gently said, "Good luck you two," and walked through the colorless door. The skeleton eyed the man as he left, and explained with a grin, "Hmph. One less shouldn''t damage the plan. Don''t worry. Ok. You two will be sent to the world of Arcadia. It is a growing world, so don''t expect too much. There are a total of 6 races. Elves, Dark Elves, Demons, Humans, Dwarves, and Beasts. Every race has an affinity with either Light or Dark. It is possible to switch one''s affinity, but it is very difficult. Dark Elves, Beasts, and Demons are your friends, since they share the affinity of the Dark. The other three are Light, but I''m sure you don''t care about that. I have chosen you two to spawn as demons." "Please let me be half human," I interjected with a pleading face. "I as well," the woman followed. "Why, if I may ask?" the skeleton questioned, as he stroked his non-existent beard. "It is said that one must be close to your enemy to deal the most damage. Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer," I explained, and continued, "I plan to take the humans out from within their own society." "I see. I will try to do so. Leaving that aside, let me inform you of your mission. You are to destroy the hidden weapon of destruction that the bearers of Light are building. The Church of the Light God Lux, has already summoned their heroes. In Arcadia, the Dark''s influence is decreasing. The beasts, the largest of the Dark-affinity population, are being enslaved and forced to convert into Light. The Dark controls about 15% of the continent of Altino now. Oh, and there is only one continent on the world of Arcadia, and it is Altino. It is divided into sects based on the power of the noble families that own the land. " "I understand Death God Nex," I said as I stood up. I continued, "Where will we be summoned to?" "Anxious are you? No, it seems like you can''t wait.. to kill? Good. It looks like I have chosen correctly. You two will be summoned together randomly. I am sorry I cannot help my own heroes. This is the best information I can give: DO NOT BE CAPTURED. There is a high possibility you will be lynched. I cannot keep you here any longer. I am sorry, good luck, and goodbye." The skeleton appeared to be panicking, he hurriedly looked around and frequently took glances at a space behind his back. Suddenly, as I was slowly loosing consciousness, I noticed a large white crack in the black box that we were confined in. The Death God turned, and unsheathed his flying sword. The Death God excitedly shouted, "Hahahahahaaaaa! You finally show your face, Light God.. Today is the day I ...." The scene in front of me soon disappeared, and I couldn''t decipher his last words. I suddenly felt myself getting lighter. Before I could tell, I woke up. I immediately opened my eyes, to see four skeletons kneeling down in front of me. I faintly heard one of them say, "Wellllcome, my lorrrd. I am suuure you you talked to Death God Nexxx..." I noticed that I was summoned in a dense forest, filled with huge trees that were at least 400 feet tall, and it was in the morning. I slowly looked around for the female that was with me in the black room. When I found that she wasn''t summoned with me, I sighed. Thanks to my benefactor, and savior, Death God Nex for giving me a second chance, but d*mn. These skeletons will hinder my mission. I will dispose of them later. I will go get some food and water, I thought as I dragged myself towards the river. When I got to the river, I was taken aback at how I looked. The reflection of the clear river showed me my face, but instead with long, navy-blue hair, heterochromia eyes, and longer ears. I took a look at myself, and I noticed that I looked physically fit. My eyes are disturbing. I look too evil to get close to humans, I thought as I looked into my black eyes, that had a burst of red in the iris. I quickly took a sip of water from the river, and hunted a rabbit. After finishing my meal, I headed back towards the summoning circle that the skeletons made with the bones of recently deceased humans. I examined the summoning circle. I shot a glance at the skeletons, and calmly said, "Where is the closest town? Do you have a weapon for me? and did you scout the area to look for any humans?" "O...oh. I a..am sorry milord, I only know that the closest village is northward," the skeletons said simultaneously. I must look quite frightening, I surmised. I unsheathed the longsword of the skeleton closest to me, and massacred them all with one quick side swipe. I grinned, and thought aloud, "This body is comfortable. It is much stronger than my past self.." I ran as fast as I can towards the closest village. When I reached the marketplace, I walked around looking for an adventurer''s building. In my past life, adventurers were looked down upon.. I wonder what the situation is here. I spotted a building that was surrounded by people with all kinds of weapons and armor. The moment I entered, I felt the stare of over 2,000 people upon me. I hastily looked at the ones that eyed me with hate. I slowly walked up to the counter and said, "Miss, I''m here to become an adventurer." She was profusely sweating, and said, "O..oh ye...yes. I will immediately get you the adventurer''s status tag." The lady immediately left, and came back a minute later. Hmm.. I can properly understand and speak this unruly language.. "Here is the status tag. It uses magic in order to tell you things such as the strength, intelligence, and affinity the user has. It cannot be seen by anyone other than yourself, unless you permit someone else to take a look. To take a look at your status, just think ''status'' and it will appear in front of you. There are 5 levels of rank in the adventurer''s guild. It goes from the highest, A, to the bottom, E. A..and everyone starts at E.. so..sorry, " she hurriedly explained. Hmph. I don''t think I need to remember these things. I am only here for two things, to destroy the weapon of Light, and exterminate the human race. Speaking of extermination, I need a plan... , I thought, as I smiled. I took a look at the tag and then glanced in the direction of the desk lady. I noticed that she was shaking, and had a look of fear in her eyes. I disregarded it, and headed outside with my newly acquired status tag hanging around my neck. I thought ''status'' and a window appeared in front of me. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Roran Nex Age: 16 Years Level: 1 Class: Death God''s Advocate (lvl 1) Titles: Jaas Village''s Demon Rank: E HP: 150 MP: 10 Strength: 100 Endurance: 50 Vitality: 50 Intelligence: 60 Agility: 60 Skills: Active Perception (lvl 1) -- Can inspect items/living things to extract basic, known information from them. User must be touching the object. Blessing of Death God Nex (lvl 1) -- Can reach an ''enraged'' state at the cost of 100 HP. (Enraged) = 10% boost to all stats. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I read through the information, and thought, Jaas Village Demon? I already have a title? Anyway, these skills are useful. I should head out to see some quests. I need enough money to stay at an inn, buy food and a slave. I can''t join a party and I can''t trust anyone. I headed towards the quest board that was outside the Village Jaas''s Adventurer''s Guild, and found a request for 30 rabbit pelts in exchange for 50 coppers. As far as I remember, in my past life, the exchange rate should be 100 coppers = 1 silver and 100 silvers = 1 gold.. I reminisced about the past, but came to my senses a second later. I noticed 3 men behind me. They repeatedly shot glances towards me, even though it looked as if they were just conversing. After discovering them, I walked towards the center of the marketplace to disguise myself among the crowd. Sh*t I''m going to have problems now.. I''m causing a commotion even though I haven''t done anything wrong. I must take care of this problem once I return. I scowled at the thought, and left towards the forest. I crafted 60 rabbit traps around the locations I spotted paw prints. I left to try to hunt bigger game to satisfy my hunger. So far, I am only carrying black robes (which I am wearing right now), a bag, and a simple longsword. After I personally hunted a rabbit to eat, I roasted it under a fire, like I did to the mother bear. I decided not to remember my past, I told myself, So I should work towards my ambition, rather than wasting time reminiscing. I faintly laughed at my own stupidity, and after eating, went to check on the rabbit traps. It has been around four hours, so I expected to catch a few. I saw that I caught 10, and after skinning them, I nodded off. When I woke up, I collected the rest of the pelts, and left to collect my reward. The same men I ran away from started trailing me again. Once I entered the guild, everything went quiet, and I received even more scornful stares, enough to make me uncomfortable. I carefully walked towards the counter lady. I handed her the pelts, and without a word, she handed me a silver coin. I need to be cautious, since I only have basic stats, I thought, as sweat slowly dripped down my forehead. I can only take, at most, 3 people at once. The group of three that are trailing me must have figured this out, since it looked like there were 10 more people with them. I can''t kill anyone yet, since I won''t be able to fit into their society, and I won''t be able to purchase any goods. I quickly walked towards the exit, when a few men stopped me. As I was around 5'' 10" in this new body, the tall, burly men looked down at me. I smiled, and thought, You can get muscles that big? The man in front of me started to get pissed. He crossed his arms and said, "Why are you smiling DEMON? I''m going to eradicate you now, so no hard feelings." The man was so angry, he forgot the fact that we were still standing inside the guild. I responded, "Sir, we are still standing inside the building. I also suggest that you calm down, since I am not a Demon, but an unlucky human. The demons from the north experimented on me, and I ended up looking like this. I am sorry for troubling you.." I made the most sorry face I could, despite the fact that it hurt my pride, since my brother so kindly taught me that surviving is better than keeping one''s pride. The man looked at me with an untrusting face, and responded, "That is probably a lie, since you look like a demon, you can''t possibly be human. That is enough reason to kill you." Suddenly, we heard a booming voice from the back of the room, "LET HIM GO. WITHOUT TRUST, A GUILD CANNOT FUNCTION. HE JOINED THE GUILD WITHOUT ANY PROBLEMS, AND LOOK, HE SPEAKS THE HUMAN LANGUAGE, ISN''T THAT ENOUGH TO TELL THAT HE IS TELLING THE TRUTH?" I turned to see that the man speaking was an old man, who spoke as if he had a lot of influence over the guild. I glanced at the burly man behind me, and saw that he lost all anger on his face. I took a deep breath, and turned back to talk to him. "Are you ok now? I honestly didn''t mean to hurt you. I am sorry," I said as I lightly bowed with a hand on my chest. "No, it is my fault. I apologize, I failed to see that you speak our language, unlike those demons," he scowled at the last word he said, and continued, "Come, I shall pay for a drink." Feeling that I couldn''t decline, I followed him to the bar, and the guild became loud again. After sharing a drink with him, I left to sell the remaining rabbit meat that I was carrying with me in the bag. I asked the first merchant I saw, "Oi, merchant, will you buy the rabbit meat I have for 2 silvers?" He immediately declined,"No, sorry sir, I cannot do that. I can do 1 silver. How about it?" I followed with, "Are you sure?" and eyed him with the most frightful face I had. "I c..can wo..rk out a d....d...eal.. I''ll pay! Just leave now.." After procuring 2 more silvers with "persuasion," I carried my 3 silvers and headed towards the slave market. I had already decided that I wanted a female slave, since I didn''t want to be close (emotionally) to a man after seeing my brother. I headed down an alley and walked down the stairs and knocked on the door. A man opened the door, and I entered to see a room filled with people examining slaves locked up in many cages. A slave merchant walked up to me, and said,"Sir, would you like to buy a slave? The lowest price starts at 5 silver coins!" "Show me your cheapest female slaves, the ones less than 5 coins," I asked with an emotionless face. "Are you sure? Those slaves aren''t good ''quality,'' for a man such as yourself, I would recommend this elf, with high magic affinity, and can speak all languages! Only for the price of 200 gold! " I declined, "No, show me what I asked for." I followed the merchant down to an isle where there was no one but us. He introduced the three slaves that were present. "This is Tama, she is a beast-girl (bunny) with big breasts, at age 14, no ''experience,'' all our girls are clean. While this seems just fine, she has severe burns on her feet from a fire, which makes it difficult for her to walk from time to time. 5 silvers. " The way he describes them disgusts me.. I scowled at him, and said, "Just show me the others." "Oo..ok. I will continue. Next is a 15 year old half-beast (wolf), named Evie. She doesn''t have large breasts, or anything desirable on her. Not only that, while she has no scars on her body, her mind is a different story. She always seems far away, and doesn''t talk much. Let me tell you, she has excellent reflexes and strength, just as a beast should have. 2 silvers. Last but not least, an elf named Celea. She has a nice figure, at age 16, but she is blind in one eye and almost blind in the other, making her useless at the things the elves excel at: archery and physical prowess. She is only good for using magic. 1 silver. " The merchant finished explaining the situation of the three girls, and I contemplated the pros and cons of having each of them with me. Tama won''t bring me profit, let alone fight when I want her to. Evie seems ok, but it will take time to get to understand her situation. Lastly, the elf is good, but she can''t see, so how will she cast her magic? I''ve narrowed it down to Evie, or Celea. Hmm.. why don''t I just buy both? I made my decision, and I said, "I''ll buy the elf and the half-beast, thanks," I said as I handed the 3 silver coins to him. He unchained the shackles on their necks and arms, and walked them over to me, saying, "This is your new master, girls." Celea looked at me with cold eyes and said, "Thank you for buying me master. I hope to serve you well," while Evie didn''t even glance. Evie stood emotionless, with empty eyes staring at the ground. I surmised, I must break her. Even if she resents me. She cannot be useless when I have paid 2 silvers for her, 1 more than the magic-casting Celea. The merchant left the collar on the girls, drew their blood, and performed a ritual. A minute later, a red glow emitted from their chests, and it was branded with the name: Roran. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: Sorry I don''t know how to make tables!! I''m new to Royal Road, so I''ll do my best. Thanks for reading, and please comment on what you think about the story so far! I appreciate the support. Again, if you spot any mistakes, comment on it! See you next time! Next: Chapter 2 - Evie and Celea Celea and Evie - Chapter 2 Author: I plan to update as soon as I can. I wan''t able to post a new chapter yesterday because I was busy, and I thought that I lost the draft for the chapter, but I was able to find it soon after. Please fill out the poll with your opinion! It gives me an idea of what my readers expect from me, so thanks! Also, this chapter was a bit difficult to write, so I''m sorry if anything seems confusing. Do let me know if you see any mistakes. and, I apologize for not updating sooner! [th_009_v2.gif] Anyway, Enjoy! Edited! Chapter 2 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As I exited the merchant building, the merchant led the two girls outside after cleaning and clothing them. I stared down at the two girls, and I noticed that they were just a few inches shorter than me. Evie had short brown hair, sharp dog-like ears, and a long braid, coupled with a cute face. Celea on the other hand, had a more mature look, with long blonde hair, and pointed ears. Both of them were clothed in rags, and noticing this, I thought, I need to buy Evie some lightweight armor, and Celea a wizard''s robe to maximize their potential. I sent a quick glance towards them, turned around, and commanded, "Hmph. You two. FOLLOW." Despite my command, Evie didn''t move an inch. She stood motionless, as still as a tree, with only the breeze to move its leaves. When I noticed this, I turned around to see Celea following diligently, but seemingly nervous. I changed my line of vision towards Celea, and I noticed that she wouldn''t look me in the eye. I sighed, and I heard Celea advise, "Evie, it is a good idea to get moving. Otherwise, we might be punished." I heard her stress the last word, and I eased up, Is this what Celea was nervous for? Just to advise Evie? She is a good buy, only 1 copper coin at that.. I saw Evie''s ear twitch, and she lifted her head to look at me. Her face as emotionless as ever, she gently muttered, "Carry me." My eyes opened in surprise, and I thought out loud, "IS THIS WHAT A SLAVE SHOULD SAY? USE CELEA AS AN EXAMPLE! SHE FOLLOWS HER ORDERS, UNLIKE YOU!!" I realized what I just did, and cursed, D*mn. I messed up, I wasn''t supposed to be this demanding on the first day. I need to be kind to be able to properly manipulate them both.. As I was talking to myself, I suddenly brought my attention to the crying Evie. While her face did still seem emotionless, a few tears dropped from her face. I stared at her for a second, and conceded, "Fine, come here." I picked her up in a princess carry, advised Celea to follow calmly, and continued to exit the alleyway. I explained to them that I had no home, but I found that purchasing slaves might help me earn money faster. The two didn''t respond, but Evie stared curiously at me, as if looking at a peculiar object. I noticed her stare, and disregarded it. I sighed, and walked towards my ''camp'' in the middle of the forest. When I reached the area with the magic circle, I remembered, Why didn''t my command to follow work on the girls? The magic is supposed to let me forcefully command them, at least that is what I thought. Hmm.. this must be how it is supposed to be in this new world, I suppose.. I laid Evie down against a tree, and I sat down next to her. I motioned for Celea to come over, and she sat next to me on the side opposite of Evie. I suddenly recalled, I need to get some meat and some firewood to feed these two. I announced, "Evie, Celea, I am going to get some firewood and some meat to eat." As I said this, I tied them against the tree with a rope I received from the slave merchant, and left to find some food. An hour after gathering firewood, I came across a deer-like animal, and I decided to try and hunt it. Assuming that this animal would have the same reactions as a deer, I calmly approached it from behind without making a sound. I mustn''t alarm it, I noted to myself, and grabbed my longsword to cut its head off. The deer was oblivious to the fact that I was nearing, and as soon as I was in range, I decapitated it with one quick slice. I took a look at the bloodied sword, and I noticed that it was dulling very quickly. I need a new sword. This piece of sh*t must have been taken from a junkyard or something. My kitchen knife back home stayed sharper longer.. As I continued to insult the blacksmith of the weapon, I was nearing camp. I faintly heard two voices speaking, but I couldn''t make out what was being said. I was curious for a while, but knowing that the slaves cannot betray me, I relaxed and declared, "Time to eat. Let me untie you two." I first untied the rope, and detected that Celea and Evie were a little anxious. I concluded that the topic they were talking about was uncomfortable, and I quickly made the fire and cut the meat into sections before putting each of them on separate sticks over the flames. I faintly smiled, seeing Celea sniffing happily, and Evie watching motionless. I felt a breeze, and I immediately motioned the girls to stay cautious, since there was a possibility of getting attacked by wolves for the meat. With that thought in mind, I insisted, "You both eat first. I''ll stay on watch until then." Celea and Evie responded by starting to eat as soon as the meat was done cooking. I watched for any predators in the location, and when I discerned that none were in a 1 mile radius by scouting, I imagined my status to check if anything had changed. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Roran Nex Age: 16 Years Level: 1 Class: Death God''s Advocate (lvl 1) Titles: Jaas Village''s Demon; The Oblivious One Rank: E HP: 150 MP: 10 Strength: 100 Endurance: 50 Vitality: 50 Intelligence: 60 Agility: 60 Skills: Active Perception (lvl 1) -- Can inspect items/living things to extract basic, known information from them. User must be touching the object. Blessing of Death God Nex (lvl 1) -- Can reach an ''enraged'' state at the cost of 100 HP. (Enraged) = 10% boost to all stats. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seeing my status, I didn''t expect anything to change, but I appeared to have gotten another title: the Oblivious One. I immediately set out to deciphering this message: Am I oblivious? Is this a test? Or is this an insult? I angrily left the matter of my status aside, and went to eat, seeing that the girls were finished. I recalled that it is probably a good idea to take a look at the girls'' status as well. I need to think about how I can put them to use. In my book, three silver coins were expensive, especially for these slaves that don''t seem to be anything special. After eating, I extinguished the fire, and we sat below the blue gleam of the moonlight, leaning against a tree. The sky was clear, and all the stars were visible. The moon was in full view, and I calmed down looking at the beautiful scene in front of me. I turned to look at Evie, and asked, "Can you tell me of the situation of how you became a slave? I''ve been in a similar position before." Remembering my past life, It dawned upon me that I was just like these two girls, a slave to the Arstil family. I didn''t expect Evie to answer, so I relaxed my body and appointed myself as the night watch. Suddenly, the silence was broken by a sorrowful, but gentle answer, "I hate my life. I don''t know why I live. My father is human and my mother a wolf (beast). They cared for me when I was a child, but when they saw that I was being abused by others, they felt the need to protect themselves from being hated, and joined the others to abuse me. The week after, I was sold to a merchant, and I was chained without being fed anything for days on end. I shut myself off from the world. No one bought me, so I chose to give up. That''s when you came. When you bought me, I thought I was going to be punished again, so I wanted to see if you were kind. I asked you to carry me. Sorry." Her voice was very soft, and soothing, but I was surprised, since that was the most she ever spoke in front of me. I responded, "It''s alright. If I were in your position I would do the same." I turned to look at her, and I saw that she wore a faint smile, with a tear running down her cheek. I wiped her tear off, and she looked at me. I caressed her head, and moved closer to her. I whispered, "I''ll take care of you." With that, Evie fell into a deep sleep within minutes. Seeing her sleeping face made me turn my attention to Celea. In order to not wake up Evie, I lightly asked, "Celea, are you asleep?" When I received no answer, I glanced at Celea''s face, and confirmed that she was sleeping. I rubbed my face to keep myself awake, and stayed vigilant until morning. In the morning, I rubbed Evie''s hair to wake her up, and shook Celea''s shoulder. When the two woke up, I headed back towards the guild, to get another quest to house ourselves for the next night. Having needed to check something, I passed the quest board and entered the adventurer''s guild and made my way to the counter. There, I noticed the same counter lady, except this time, she seemed much more relaxed. She spoke, "Hello... I am sorry that I was rude to you yesterday. My name''s Felitia. So what''cha name?" I heard that she switched to speaking in a more natural, country-side fashion half-way through her words. I was startled for a moment, but continued, "My name is Roran. Nice to meet you. I had a question from before that I forgot to ask.. Are there dragons anywhere in this world?" I questioned her about dragons because I believed that I can have a reliable source of information about the weapon of mass destruction that the church was supposedly building. I eyed her with pure curiosity, and it was returned with a seductive smile. She slowly leaned forward and placed her arms on the table in front of her, exposing her breasts. I was dumbfounded, since I have never before experienced such a scene before, in both the past world and present. Felitia softly replied, "My, aren''t you a curious one. I was hopin'' that you would ask more questions ''bout my own self.." This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it I sweat a drop, and I stammered, "A..ah ye..yes," I cleared my throat, and continued, "Anyway, is there anything I should know about managing slaves? And also, any missions that pay high in my rank?" She thought for a moment, stood up, and replied, "Before that, yea, there are dragons in existence. Of course, very few live now, and most are liked by us humans," she paused, and for a moment looked disappointed before she said, "Aaand, I''m sorry fir being rude to ya earlier. I don''t like demons ya see. That ''side, I forgot to tell you, your adventurer''s status tag should allow you to go into any city without payin'' them entrance fees, but in return, you gotta do at least one quest of your level there. Also, I didn''t explain the things on the status tag. Yer level just reflects your ''power level'' - or how strong you are in a numerical value altogether. The class just gives ya new skills fir every 10 levels, and yer title tells ya what others think of ya essentially. HP and MP is just health and magic power, in numerical value, and your rank, I''ve already explained. " Felitia lightly smiled, and continued, "Your strength tells ya how much damage ye can deal, Endurance is yer stamina, vitality is yer ''strength'' in bed and taking toxins. Weird combo I know. Anyway, Intelligence helps ye cast more powerful spells, while Agility controls yer speed." I nodded in response, and she cautioned, "As for your slaves, you mustn''t be careless! Here, we don''t have the magic items to make them completely loyal, so watch yerself. Oh, lemme git some status tags fir them. As for the quests, hun, I''ve got a mighty fine payin quest here fir ya." Felitia passed me the tags, looked around to check her surroundings, and pulled out a gray piece of paper. She explained, "This here is a black market quest. I can only give it ta the ones I trust, since I''m a dealer too." She smiled, which felt uncomfortable, given the new information she said. I thought, I''ve might''ve just gotten myself into a sticky situation. "Don''t think yer gettin away tellin this to the higher ups, " she whispered, and said, "Well, this quest is ta kill everyone in the merchant wagon that is heading in this direction right now. You can keep the loot, but the men must be killed. They are influential businessmen, and they git in the way of our business! The pay is 1 gold coin, but don''t make a mess when killing them. You might attract monsters towards this location." It faintly startled me that she used some complicated words, but I tossed that thought aside, and said, "I''ll be leaving in a few minutes, so wait for me here, I''ll get it done quickly." After that conversation, I asked Celea and Evie if they understood the information, and I decided, "Evie, Celea, you guys will stay behind for this one and watch. I can''t have you two getting hurt when you have no weapons. Speaking of weapons, Evie, Celea, can I see your statuses?" With their nod of approval, two screens simultaneously appeared in front of me. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Celea Age: 16 Years Level: 2 Class: Elf Wizard (lvl 1) Titles: The Slave of the Demon; Rank: E HP: 110 MP: 60 Strength: 60 Endurance: 45 Vitality: 60 Intelligence: 75 Agility: 90 Skills: Casting (lvl 1) -- Casting speed increases every level by 10%. Elven magicks (static) -- Can give a teammate 10% buff in Strength. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Evie Age: 15 Years Level: 1 Class: Wolf (lvl 1) Titles: The Slave of the Demon; Rank: E HP: 170 MP: 10 Strength: 80 Endurance: 40 Vitality: 30 Intelligence: 55 Agility: 100 Skills: Blessing of the Hated (lvl 1)(Passive) -- Given by God of Hatred, for every 10 HP lost, 10 agility will be gained. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Hmm.. Evie has a seriously overpowered skill. I''d say she is already worth the two silvers with her cuteness, but this is a bonus, I guess. I''m glad no one found her before me," I thought aloud, as I sighed. Not noticing that I voiced my thoughts, I turned to see Evie lightly blushing while starting at the ground. She really is cute, isn''t she, I thought, and walked towards the exit, with full intention to procure the 1 gold coin. I sharpened my worse-than-trash sword, and I set out to the trail to meet the merchant wagon. As soon as we got to the trail, I signaled the girls to hide behind the bushes. I walked parallel to the trail behind the trees, to catch the merchants oblivious. Half a mile in, I noticed a caravan of two wooden wagons heading in my direction. I quickly hid behind the trees and waited. As soon as the wagon passed, I unsheathed my weapon, and stealthily jumped onto the back of the wagon, which was covered in robes. I found a child sleeping in the back of the wagon, and was distraught for a second about what I should do. Making my decision, I muttered, "sorry," and stabbed the child through his neck. Blood spilled, and he died painlessly, without a sound. I opened the window in the back of the wagon to see the back of the merchant that was riding the wagon. Seeing this, I stabbed straight through his heart from his back, and he yelled, which caused the wagon in front to stop. I noticed this, and headed outside the wagon, prepared to fight. The merchant in the leading wagon hopped down, and unsheathed a very expensive looking sword. Seeing this, I smiled, and thought about how I should go about killing him, in order to get the sword. It was a two-sided half-length weapon, with blue jewels lined on the bare steel hilt. I hopped off of the wagon, and immediately rushed to stab a hole through his chest. My stab was parried, and the merchant responded, "You are weak. Did the bla.." I interjected him by kicking his stomach, and decapitating him. I pondered, Will he have survived if he didn''t speak? Hmph. Well, no matter now. I then thought, I didn''t get to see Evie or Celea''s skills, but I WILL get them to attack next time. I grabbed the bejeweled sword on the ground, and tried cutting the wood of the tree closest to me. As soon as I made my strike, the weapon snapped in half, and I groaned. Again? This time an even more sh*tty sword. Fed up, I commanded the girls to bring all items from the merchant''s wagon. The wagons weren''t full, but I was sure that they contained some useful items. The items were laid on the ground, and I grabbed each one in order: 5 Basic steel swords (lvl 1) 2 Copper-alloy spears (lvl 2) 1 Basic Magic staff (lvl 1) 1 Magic Pouch (lvl 1) 1 Katana (lvl 2) Seeing the Katana, I wasn''t that pleased, since my Perception skill told me that it was only a level 2 - rated weapon. I might have to switch to another weapon at this rate, I thought. I replaced the basic sword I held with the katana, and asked, "Girls, pick the weapon of your choice. Of course, Celea, I''m sure that you would pick the staff." In the end, Evie picked up the spear, while Celea inevitably grabbed the staff. With our new weapons in hand, we left to collect our gold coin and get ourselves into an inn. We reached the adventurer''s guild two hours after our quest, and received the gold coin from Felitia. We got ourselves a room in the cheapest inn for two weeks, with a large bed - for the price of 30 silver coins. The payment included food, drink, and baths at any time. Satisfied with our job today, I was happy, but I couldn''t help but recall the guilt that ran through me when I stabbed the child on the wagon. I laid down in my bed, with Evie on my right and Celea on my left. I pondered about what that child might have enjoyed, and what food he liked, and felt a tear running down my hot cheeks. Surprised, I shook my head, and thought, Nonono... I cannot let emotions overpower me.. I must control them. What I did to that child was the right thing. Yes, I was going to kill the humans anyway. I reassured myself, and felt my drowsiness kick in. My eyes closed shut, and I fell asleep with Evie hugging me on my right side. I heard shuffles, and I faintly opened my eyes to see Celea getting out of the bed, and walking towards the exit of the room. Where is she going? Bathroom? Could it be that she see where she is going, especially in this darkness? To prove my hypothesis, I got out of bed quietly, and exited the room. Watching her exit the inn, I followed like a panther stalking its prey. Seriously, where is she going? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: Thanks for reading and supporting me! I''ve been busy, so I couldn''t upload earlier. I''ll do my best to upload earlier.. and learn how to do the tables. This chapter was somewhat challenging to write, so if you see any mistakes, comment below! Next Chapter: Celea''s Secret - Chapter 3 Please fill out the poll, and thanks again! Celeas Secret - Chapter 3 Author: Again, I really wanted to post a chapter a day, but my time seems to be really constricted. So, I''ll try my best to update as soon as possible. Please fill out the poll - whether or not you want me to write a Valentine''s Day Special! Also, on the subject of the tables, I found out that I don''t have M*crosoft Silverlight, and I can''t get the extension for chrome, since chrome doesn''t support the extension anymore. I''ll try to figure this out, but please be patient with me! [th_084_.gif] Here it is, and thanks for reading! Chapter 3 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Celea''s POV My plan is ready to be executed. I''ve planned this excruciatingly throughout my life, even before I became I slave, and even that I had predicted. I am actually a dark elf, my darker complexion hidden by my magic. I had once been part of a large, happy family, worshipping the God of Death. I put my heart and soul into praying for Nex, but in return, I was only given pain. Now, my ''master'' is a man named Roran, and since he looked like a demon, my suspicion that he is one of the dark affinity arose. While my hate for him is ever growing, I had already prepared for the worst possible outcome. I will escape today, with or without Evie. I tried convincing her, but she never responded to my words, so I set her aside. I got up from the left side of the bed, and I headed towards the exit. I took a quick look around the inn to make sure no one was following, and headed outside to find my fated person. He had promised to take care of me earlier, and with hope I waited. I was separated from him during the ''incident,'' and using magic, I made it seem as if I was blind, as well as a normal elf. I sent him telepathic letters with my vast amount of mana, and I hoped to reach him. He soon later sent me a message back, asking me about my circumstances. As I reminisced about the one light in the eternal darkness of my past, I headed towards the meeting location. As I exited the inn, I stared at the moon for a second, and headed towards the edge of the village, using as many dark alleyways as possible to shake off any pursuers. As a dark elf, I could see better in the dark, due to my dark affinity, but I hope to change that. I''ve heard many good things about the Light God Lux from my loved one. I think to myself everyday, He wants to meet me! He cares about me! I love him... I neared the edge of the village, and I saw a man draped in bright white robes. His face was covered, and it couldn''t be seen due to the darkness. I immediately thought, This must be him! His posture is the same as him, and he seems to worship the Light God, hence the white robes. I ran towards him, and I felt his gentle embrace. He whispered, "You have someone following you, so I''ll come and get you afterwards. Try to escape from him, even if it means hurting him. Buying a slave is unjust, so you have the right to pay him back. I''ll talk to you telepathically afterwards. Goodbye." With that, he left the scene as fast as a startled bird. I turned around to see a man hiding behind a crate next to a merchant''s shack. I walked towards him to ascertain his identity, but instead, something else caught my attention. In the middle of this prospering village, the grasses were set on fire. Next, a loud booming noise silenced my ears, and I shook my head to confirm what I was seeing was real. Four hundred meters in front of me was a single, large, fire-breathing red dragon. Its scales glimmered in the bright light of its flames, and it sent a chill down my spine. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roran''s POV I followed Celea to the edge of the village, only to find her lightly embracing another man. I was furious, and I knew it was necessary to beat her into submission. As I saw the man leave, I got up to talk to Celea, only to be interrupted by a bright red dragon, razing the town with its fire. Amidst the screaming of the people, I faintly heard a booming voice, seemingly to have come from the dragon, "WHO KILLED MY CHILD? I WAS RELUCTANT TO HAVE HIM LEAVE IN A MERCHANT''S WAGON, AND I LEFT TO CHECK ON HIM, ONLY TO SEE HIM DEAD!" I started sweating in fear of what the mother dragon would do to me if she found me. I steeled myself, and I disregarded the matter of Celea for the moment. Now is the time to kill a dragon, I thought, and continued, Wait a moment, I''ve already killed a dragon... that child was a dragon? I thought ''status'' and saw a screen appear in front of me. ************************************************************************************************* Name: Roran Nex Age: 16 Years Level: 20 Class: Death God''s Advocate (lvl 5) Titles: Jaas Village''s Demon; The Oblivious One; Merciless Child Murderer Rank: E HP: 300 MP: 30 Strength: 180 Endurance: 90 Vitality: 90 Intelligence: 70 Agility: 100 Skills: Active Perception (lvl 5) -- Can inspect items/living things to extract basic, known information from them. User must be within a 10 meter proximity to the object. Blessing of Death God Nex (lvl 5) -- Can reach an ''enraged'' state at the cost of 100 HP. (Enraged) = 15% boost to all stats, can be given to another person, in exchange for 100 of their HP. *************************************************************************************************** Hmph. Well, looks like I''ve leveled up. My Active Perception and my Blessing has been upgraded, and they seem much more applicable. I can earn more money, and this way, I can more easily control my slaves. After calming myself by seeing my new abilities, I headed towards the inn to retrieve my weapon, and to get Evie out of harm''s way. I thought, I need to make sure my slaves can''t betray me... I''ve realized today that I should not trust them. With the new problem in front of me, I retrieved my level 2 katana and advised Evie to keep watch on Celea, in case she tries to make any unforgivable moves. With that, I unsheathed my weapon, and headed towards the location of the fighting adventurers. I knew that I mustn''t let them know about the murder, so I braced myself in possibility for any questions about the subject. I approached the dragon, and once I reached within a 10 meter radius of it, I thought of my Perception skill, and a window appeared before me. *************************************************************************************************** A Red Dragon. Starts out as an egg, and grows up to look like a human, until it transforms into a full-fledged dragon at age 30. Can breathe fire and battle multiple enemies at once. A major cause for the death of many adventurers, most people don''t approach or try to talk to these dragons, since these, especially, are known for their erratic behavior. If angered, it will reach an enraged state, and proceed to decimate anything, or anyone in its vicinity. Name: ??? Level: ??? HP: 15,000 MP: 100,000 Skills: Fire Breathing (MAX level) - Deals 1,000 HP worth of damage to the victim (per minute from burns). It is advised to stay away from the lingering fire - Deals 100 HP worth of damage per second. Passive Fly - can float/fly with wings and magic. *************************************************************************************************** As soon as I was brought back to my senses, I realized I was just 10 meters in front of a DRAGON. The dragon towered over me, and it spoke, "Human, why do you stand so close to me? Humans are already stupid, but it seems you have set a new standard for how low a species''s intelligence can drop. Well, goodbye human." With those words, I reacted immediately, and I tried to activate my Blessing from Nex twice, only to see that I cannot stack my abilities. My agility was raised only to 115, but my speed increased just enough to escape the hot flames of the dragon. My health was decreased by a hundred, now at 200 HP. I decided, the only way to kill this dragon is to sacrifice the rest of the townspeople and the adventurers. Once the adventurers deal enough damage, I''ll finish off the dragon. I fled for the moment, and watched the scene before me unfold. The dragon was being attacked from all sides, by civilians armed with throwing spears, and the adventurers with bows and arrows. The citizens were burned to a crisp, which made me unintentionally cringe. The adventurers looked like they were going to run away in fear, since they backed away 50 meters for every civilian killed. I sighed, and thought, the only one who is going to have to kill this dragon in the end is me, since everyone will be dead before then.. With that thought in mind, I convinced myself that there is no point in waiting for the adventurers to deal damage, since they already don''t seem to be doing much. I carefully observed the red monster to find any vulnerabilities on the dragon''s scales. I then realized that the dragon always stopped before it spewed its flames, rather than moving, or even flying. I concluded that the dragon can be defeated if one''s agility is high enough to avoid the flames, while dealing damage slowly at close ranges. I immediately thought of Evie, and ran towards her last location. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. After I found her at the edge of the village, I ordered Celea to cast her buff on Evie - giving her 88 Strength in total. After that, I granted my Blessing to Evie, taking away 100 of her health, and adding 100 more agility, equating to a total of 200 Agility. I ordered the girls to follow, and we approached the Dragon at an alarming rate. As I was not as fast as Evie, I decided to make her the main attack, while I was the diversion. I told Celea to watch from a rooftop, while Evie and I started to damage the Dragon. Evie and I both avoided the lingering fires while we attacked the dragon, and stepped back for a few minutes to gather our breath. We fought for hours on end, with the village already razed to the ground. A day later, our drowsiness was eating away at us. It took all our strength just to stand up, and we counted every point of damage that we inflicted, in hope that we would soon kill the giant. Expecting to speed things up, Evie and I dealt constant damage at the dragon''s feet, and tried to make it fall down. An hour and 500 damage points later, the health of the dragon dropped to a mere 1,000, and we watched as the red dragon struggled even more to keep up with our speed. Finally, the beast fell to Evie''s final attack a few hours later, and we celebrated this victory with sound sleep at our old camp in the forest. After resting for another few hours, we got up to hunt for some food, and check out our statuses. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Evie Age: 15 Years Level: 35 Class: Wolf Emissary (lvl 10) Titles: The Slave of the Demon; The Red Dragon Killer Rank: E HP: 370 MP: 50 Strength: 130 Endurance: 60 Vitality: 50 Intelligence: 75 Agility: 170 Skills: Blessing of the Hated (lvl 8)(Passive) -- Given by God of Hatred, for every 10 HP lost, 20* agility will be gained. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I took a quick look at Evie''s status, since she was the one to finish off the Dragon. I watched in blank amazement, patted her head, and saw her blush, which made me smile. We then fed on some roasted rabbit that we caught using some traps. Our meal finished, Evie fell asleep. Noticing this, Celea and I sat down and leaned against a tree under the dim moonlight, covered by clouds. Again, seeing this sight calmed me down enough to approach Celea more naturally. I calmly asked, "Celea, may I ask who that man was? Was he a part of your past? I need you to answer me, why did you leave in the middle of the night without telling me?" These questions rained down on Celea, and she appeared nervous, like many times I have seen before. She replied soon after, "I....I have lived a life that anybody would be jealous of. I had my happy family, friends, and teachers, yet I can only remember the time of that incident as clear as day. The ''incident'' happened a week after my 16th birthday, and by the time of my birthday, I felt that something was wrong. I told this to everyone I knew, but no one believed me. As an elven town, no one would dare attack us, but one day two lone merchants riding a wagon entered our home. I knew that those two were bad company, and informed everyone of my thoughts, but everyone hesitated to listen under the many presents that the merchants gave us in return for our hospitality...." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Celea''s POV I don''t know why my words flow out so smoothly, or why I feel it is ok to talk to Roran about this. I continued, ".......the presents they gave us were mostly furniture, which were all lined with gunpowder, and at the time I didn''t know. One morning, I went to the nearby forest to go hunting for food, and I found the whole village burned to the ground. The merchants looted all the money, and they took me and a few others to be sold as slaves. That''s how I ended up in the market." Roran then asked, "I see.... but you didn''t tell me who that man was." I thought up a lie on the spot, "He is an elf, like me, and he informs me of the position of all of the other elves of my village, Zbran. I only went alone because I didn''t want to disturb your sleep." I gulped, and hoped that he would believe my dishonesty. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roran''s POV I watched Celea intently for a minute, and I watched her grimly smile. I responded with a light smile and told her, "I''ll help you find the rest of your village. Don''t worry." She sighed, and said, "Thank you." The next morning, the three of us set out towards the elven city of Azbarak, having decided that going there should be our next step to investigate about the weapon of mass destruction. We walked through the ruins of the city, to find most ''people'' cremated into ashes by the dragon, and some who died from mortal wounds. We looted their money, which came out to an amount of 5 gold. I checked my magic pouch, and saw that I held a total of 5 gold and 70 silver coins. I daydreamed about the type of armor that I would buy Evie and Celea, and thought about their smiles after they tried them on. I smiled at the thought, and entered the second forest, that would lead to one of the city of the elves. A path to the city was not laid out for us, and there were tall trees everywhere. Since I expected to reach the city in a few hours, we took a break and rested in the forest at nighttime. I slept, but I was soon awoken by a burning pain in my chest, in the same location as my heart. My consciousness slightly returned to me, and I woke up to find blue blood oozing out of my chest, and Evie tied up against a tree. I struggled to move, but I soon found that I too was tied to a tree. I looked around for the perpetrator, and found Celea holding a bloodied Katana in her hands. My eyes slowly started to close shut, but I forced them to stay open. I looked to Celea''s right, and found a man clothed in pure white robes, with a hood covering his face. I managed to murmur a few words, "Why?" My question was answered by the man instead, "Because you own slaves, brother. Do you not know that it is unjust?" The man flicked his hood back, and exposed his human face. It was him, my one and only brother -- Maxus. He walked up to me, and whispered in my ear, "Well, I didn''t think I would find my younger brother here after what you did to me. This is revenge. Just die." He kicked me in the face, and told Celea, "Good work, Celea. I am sorry if I seem violent, but this man did many terrible things to me. He cannot be forgiven." Celea innocently nodded, her face reverted to one of a dark elf, and said, "I''m sorry, Roran. This is what you deserve." The scene of Maxus and Celea kissing was the last thing I saw, as I thought, What did I do to deserve this? I woke up again, as if the betrayal that happened was a lie. I found myself bandaged around my chest, and saw Evie walking towards me holding a soup-like dish in a wooden cup. I muttered, "I''ve failed both you and Celea. I''m sorry Evie." My apology was responded with a light smile, and Evie started to try and feed me the soup. I took a couple sips, and asked, "How long have I been out? Have you eaten?" Her gentle, and soothing voice as beautiful as ever, she responded, "I''ve eaten. You have been sleeping for 3 days." I laughed lightly, and said a matter-of-factly, "Why didn''t you follow Celea? Why didn''t you leave by yourself?" She again compassionately responded, "I didn''t want to leave you, Master. You cared for me unlike my own parents." I smiled brightly at her words, and said, "Of course I''ll take care of you, but please call me Roran, master doesn''t suit me." She lightly blushed, and responded, "Okay." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: I''m sorry to my Celea fans! I''ll make it up to you I promise, one way or another. Well, I hope you enjoyed! See you next time, and thanks for your support!! Again, if you want me to write a valentine''s special, please vote (on the poll)! If you see any mistakes, have any constructive criticism, or find something interesting about the story, please comment! It gives me much more of an incentive to keep writing! Thanks for your support, and please do tell me about what you like about the story so far! **This chapter is 1/2 edited** I prefer a one-shot rather than a side story, since this story hasn''t developed very much yet.. just wanted to let you know~ Again, please do rate/comment! If you find anything wrong with this story, or with my style of writing, please let me know! I would like to improve~~ :) Next Chapter: Betrayed - Chapter 4 Betrayed - Chapter 4 Author: Another chapter! Anyway, just a quick rant: Please follow/favorite/rate!! It helps me get more readers, and I''d like to see what more people think of my work! Please help! Also, if you didn''t enjoy the story, do explain, because if you don''t tell me, I won''t know! ;) Oh, and fill out the poll if you have a preference of which weapon Roran should use. Thanks for the support, and here it is: [th_096_K.gif] Chapter 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roran''s POV Two days after the betrayal, my injury fully healed, mainly because of my race as a half-demon. Evie often scouted the area, so she couldn''t see me often, but nevertheless took care of me. Since I never moved far from the bloodied tree I was stabbed at, I couldn''t help but replay the scene from two days ago again, again, again, again...... until I felt myself break. Hehehahaaaa... my brot..ther.. he..he''s back!!! I was much too kind before..yes, yes, yes... I can kill him AGAIN!Don''t worry, I didn''t forget you either CELEA! I DIDN''T FORGET ABOUT YOUR VILLAGE! I''ll make them pay.. unforgivable.. yes, yes.. their pain is my bliss.. I''ll torture them.. oh yeah.. which way shall I use? Hmm... internal organ damage? Maybe dislocating all their joints first.. I''ll torture them slowly... I seriously pondered every possible way I could torture the traitor, the false brother, and the villagers. I reassured myself that I needn''t trust anyone. Then, I came upon a sudden realization: Waitwaitwait...yes...I know now.. WHY didn''t I think of this before! HAAHAAAHAHA.. My maniacal laugh resounded through the forest, and moments later, a large bear walked towards me on all fours. As it approached me, it opened its jaws to rip my head off, but I smiled. I put both of my hands on its neck, and the bear flinched. I then used my right hand to rip out its throat. The blood splattered all over me, and the bear fell unconscious... and I was still smiling. No..no..n..no.. I''ve been too kind.. This way to kill a person is tooo sofft... Yes! yes... I''ll avenge myself, I don''t need anyone to help! I know they are here... If my brother was brought here with me, I''m sure I CAN KILL THE REST OF THE FAMILIY AGAIN!!! While I was daydreaming, Evie walked towards me, surprised, while looking at the dead bear, and me. She calmed down, and said, "Roran, you are fine now. Let''s head into the city. But first wipe the blood off your body." After cleaning myself, we headed out into the city, and I immediately set out looking for a merchant that deals slave collars, since I knew I couldn''t trust Evie either. Thirty minutes into the city, I found a merchant, and I saw an interesting collar. It was black leather, with three small, dark blue gems hanging down the middle, staggered. Since I took a liking to it, I asked for the price, and the merchant replied, "Hello sir. This collar is one of our most reliable products. While it does prevent the slave from attacking the master, It doesn''t completely stop the slave from disobeying an order. This was made with the newest magic yet, so it goes for the bargain price of 2 gold!" I thought that the collar would fit Evie perfectly, and I paid the 2 gold, so I had a remaining 3 in my pocket. I tied the collar onto Evie, and whispered into her ear, "I don''t forgive betrayal." Evie shuddered at my words, and I walked away to look for the cheapest-looking inn, and entered the first one I saw. The desk lady at Jak''s Inn asked for 1 gold coin for a week''s stay, and I retorted, "Impossible. This inn looks like sh*t, and you are asking for one gold coin? I''ll pay 20 silvers, with bath, food, and a map." The lady looked frightened. She handed me a map, told me my room number, and agreed to my conditions. With 2 gold and 80 silvers, I followed the map to the adventurer''s guild location. I walked around cautiously, and a girl with black hair and cat-like red eyes came into my view. She looked similar - no exactly the same as the girl that was with me before my summoning. I accelerated into a sprint, and caught up to her. I stood dumbfounded, since I realized that I never knew her name. I tapped her shoulder, and said, "He...hello." She replied with a bright voice, "Oh its you! How are you doing? I wanted to be summoned here with you, but I guess everything can''t go our way.. But at least you found me. Well, let''s go get a quest! And go on an adventure!" She talked quite quickly, and my cool-beauty impression of her collapsed, since the way she looks doesn''t match her personality. She started running amidst the crowd, and I yelled, "Wait! Tell me your name!" She stopped for a moment, and said, "Oh right, I didn''t tell you my name yet, huh Roran? Well, my name''s Akia." With that, she continued on with her sprint to the guild, and both Evie and I followed her. I realized, Wait. How did she know my name? I don''t think I told her.. We entered the guild, and went to the help-desk man for a quest. He sighed, and said, "Akia, no one wanted this, so I''ll just give it to you... I still don''t understand why you do these crazy things.." I looked at the piece of paper in Akia''s hands, and it was a rank A quest. I knew that this was a level too high for me, a rank E. I thought ''status''. ************************************************************************************************* Name: Roran Nex Age: 16 Years Level: 30 Class: Death God''s Reaper (lvl 10) Titles: Jaas Village''s Demon; The Oblivious One; Merciless Child Murderer; The Betrayed Rank: B HP: 500 MP: 100 Strength: 260 Endurance: 180 If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.Vitality: 130 Intelligence: 100 Agility: 160 Skills: Active Perception (lvl 10) -- Can inspect items/living things to extract basic, known information from them. User must be within a 100 meter proximity to the object. Blessing of Death God Nex - ENRAGED (lvl 10 MAX) -- Can reach an ''enraged'' state at the cost of 50 HP. (Enraged) = 30% boost to all stats, can be given to another person, in exchange for 100 of their HP. [CAN BE STACKED] Sacrifice (Passive)(lvl 5) -- Every time a living being is killed, all stats are buffed permanently, based on the amount of pain that the being feels. In exchange, the soul is sacrificed to the Death God. [Cannot be used with Soul Eater] Soul Eater (lvl 5) -- Blessing from Nex. In return for being betrayed, and your mind weakened, you are given the power to eat souls. For every soul eaten, you gain one of their abilities. One soul may be called upon at a time. [Cannot be used with Sacrifice] ---- (No Souls) Reap (lvl 6) (Passive) -- [Obtained by lvl 10 as a Reaper of Death] Can grant excruciating pain to a person (using souls), but does not kill the person. In exchange for 10 HP, you can feed the souls already obtained with the pain of a living being. *************************************************************************************************** I was surprised at the huge increase in stats, and my raise in rank. The rank promotion was probably due to killing the Dragon, while the stat increase was probably from killing the bear. I became curious of Akia''s status, and I asked if I could take a look at hers. She nodded, and a screen appeared before me. ************************************************************************************************* Name: Akia Nex Age: 16 Years Level: 55 Class: Hero of NEX (lvl 20 MAX) Titles: The Savior of Azbarak Rank: A HP: 800 MP: 1500 Strength: 700 Endurance: 670 Vitality: 600 Intelligence: 900 Agility: 500 Skills: Mind Perception (lvl 20 MAX) -- Can inspect the thoughts of any person that is standing within a 10 meter radius. Blessing of Death God Nex (lvl 10 MAX) [Salvation] -- Offer salvation to the departing souls, by allowing them to sacrifice themselves for Nex. In return for every soul, your level is increased by 5, and you are given 100 points to spend in any category (except levels/skills). Demolish (lvl 10 MAX) -- [Given at lvl 10 Hero Class] Can break another person''s mind, making them confused permanently. Their actions and words will not make any sense. - Easier collection of their body w/ Necromancy. Uses 100 mana. Black Magic (lvl 10)[Control] -- [Given at lvl 20 Hero Class] Can re-animate bodies that have already passed. Can control 3* at one time. Uses 50 mana for every minute used. *************************************************************************************************** Looking at her stats, I almost pissed my pants. She''s a monster. Her skills are so powerful, that she doesn''t even need to move to kill me right now. Right, there are people like this good thing she''s on my side -- Oh wait.. she can read my thoughts I took another look at the quest paper, and I noticed that it was a monster subjugation -- of a 5 headed Hydra. Looking at this, I told Akia, "Ok Akia, Evie and I, Oh I didn''t introduce you two. Akia, this is Evie, Evie this is Akia." They both greeted each other, and I said, "Anyway, we''re not as strong as you Akia. We need a plan, so meet me at room 201 in Jak''s in in two hours. Agreed? " "Of course! I''ll see you later!" After demonstrating her happiness, she trotted off, exiting the guild. I sighed, looked at Evie, and said, "Where does she get all that energy?" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: Please do comment/favorite/follow/rate!!! It helps me get more readers, and with more readers, I can get more insight on how I can improve my writing style and the flow of the story, in and of itself. I really appreciate the support so far! This chapter was just to introduce the new character, and to get an update of their statuses. Evie''s is unchanged from before. I''d like to see some comments on what you think of the story so far! Next Chapter: Akia''s Belief - Chapter 5 Thanks for the support! Akias Belief - Chapter 5 Author: Thanks for your support, and PLEASE rate/comment/favorite/ follow! It helps me get more readers which gets me more insight on my writing! [th_085_.gif] This chapter was hard to write... anyway, here it is ~~ Chapter 5 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Evie''s POV I watched as Roran bid goodbye to the new girl, Akia. I think I hate her. She has absolutely no seriousness, and she is also one of the darkness, which I deduced from the fact that she has the same colored eyes as Roran. I want him to trust me.. I took care of him when he was injured.. isn''t that enough of a deed to gain one''s trust? I thought about why Roran was acting this way towards me, the only person that cares for him. I knew that Roran and I must hunt both the traitor, and the false brother(?). I think heard him mention something about that once... That''s when I realized that I haven''t asked him about his story, I never once talked to him about who he was, and what he was... With my many mistakes in mind, I think I''ve become scared. I found that this new Akia girl seems to be comfortable around Roran, and Roran seems to trust her as well. I remembered the scene of Roran putting the collar around my neck, and his words -- "I don''t forgive betrayal." I shuddered again at the thought. I don''t want to be abandoned.. I''m sorry Roran.. I''ll try to make up for my mistakes.. don''t leave me for that other girl.. I complained about myself, as I followed Roran out of the guild, and into the crowded marketplace. I watched his back, and I didn''t mutter a word. I looked down at the ground, saddened by the fact that I will be replaced. I lifted my face, and found no sign of Roran. I faintly smiled, and a tears rolled down my cheek. This is what I get for being an useless slave.. I''m not needed anymore.. Just as the thought crossed my mind, someone grabbed my arm, and I saw that it was Roran. He had a worrying expression on his face, and said, "Hey, where are you looking? I can''t afford to lose you here now.." I didn''t respond. I only looked back into his eyes. Roran wiped the tears off of my face, and sighed, "Do you need me to carry you?" I lightly nodded, and smiled. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roran''s POV My heart sunk a little when I saw Evie standing there in the middle of the crowd... I watched as Evie''s eyes seemed to slowly return from their previous lifelessness, as I offered to pick her up. I gave her a piggyback, and thought, Hmm... Evie seems to be out of it for some reason.. did I do something wrong? Maybe the collar was a bad idea.. WAIT. What am I thinking.. I don''t think I want to suffer another betrayal, so I can''t be softhearted... I lightly laughed at my predicament, and continued, "Evie, let''s get you some armor." Her expression brightened immediately at my words, and she exclaimed, "Yes!" I followed the map that was given to me by the inn clerk, and I was taken to a suspicious looking store. The shack was made of wood, and it was fully painted black. At first I wasn''t sure if the map was correct, but a man opened the door in front of me, and said, "Are you looking for a blacksmith?" I nodded, and he let us in. I took a look around, and found that there were piles of weapons on the floor -- and all of them seem to be basic, lvl 1 items. At this scene, I asked, "Do you have any armor or custom weapons?" The man responded, "Oi! Take it a bit slower.. Haha. My name''s Keith. Nice to meetcha. Oh, and yes, we do have armor and some higher grade weapons." I apologized, and introduced myself, and Evie. "I''m looking for some armor for Evie. Can you show me the ones you have?" Keith eyed Evie for a second, and said, "Lemme take a look. Uhh... Gimme a sec. " He shuffled through a large box, and dejectedly said, "Sorry, I don''t think we have any in her size... I can make one for her though. I''ll be expensive." I looked the man straight in the eyes, and said, "I''ll pay 2 gold for a custom-made lightweight steel-alloy armor. Don''t cheap up on the materials. Those are my conditions." "Alright. I''ll get it done in a day. I already have some pretty neat materials on hand. Now, if you''ll excuse me, I''ll need her measurements.." Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. I looked at Evie and she shot a glare at Keith. Keith stiffened, and continued, "D...don''t worry. I won''t do anything wrong.. right Roran?" I looked at him and said, "Don''t ask me.. this is your problem now.." I paid Keith the two gold, and with my 80 silvers left, I asked Keith to bring me some katanas. Keith looked troubled, "For 80 silvers, sorry. I can only get you the smaller katanas -- the Wakizashi -- the one handed ones.." Sh*t. I originally planned to buy a two handed one... but it seems that with the money I have now, this is all I can afford... Ok time for some bartering. I sighed at the thought, and asked Keith about one particular one-handed Katana that was laid across the floor. The blade was in pure black, with violet-colored wavy lines going across it. The hilt was especially beautiful. It was a dark brown - natural wood, with the wrapping being a darker pale-blue. On the end of the hilt, there was a silver chain that reached about 3 meters long. He sighed, and said, "This is a very expensive companion sword. It was designed to kill, and it was passed on from murderer to murderer. Because of its long history, no one wants to buy it because of its dark ''aura'' or something.. I don''t get it. It looks great in my eyes." I agreed, and asked him to sell it to me. He agreed, and reluctantly continued, "Uhhh..Well.. How about this? I''ll give you the weapon that goes with this.. no extra fee. BUT. In exchange, you need to only use my store as the only smithy you''ll go to in order to buy weapons and armor. Agreed?" The deal seemed to be going well, since the weapon that goes with the one I bought looked equally beautiful. Instead of a purple outlining on the blade, it used bright red. It shared the same characteristics, in the sense that it also had a 3-meter long chain attached. I thought I would just remove it off the one I bought at first, but it seems like this was supposed to be designed this way. I agreed to the conditions, and realized that I didn''t have any armor. I set that fact aside, and tied the chain end of the two swords onto my arms, and sheathed them into their respective scabbards. I waved goodbye to Keith, and asked Evie, "Hopefully you''ll like the armor he makes.. if not, I''ll be talking to him." Evie smiled, and followed behind me. I entered Jak''s Inn, and I saw Akia waiting for me in my room. Wait, how did she get into my room... I thought there was at least a lock on this door... I greeted Akia, and immediately asked her the one question that I was thinking about when she was in the black room with me, before I was summoned. "Akia, why did the Death God summon you here? I mean... you just don''t look the part.. " She faintly laughed, and said, "Yea, you really don''t know me. I was killed before the Death God called to me.. I was a normal girl.. at least I considered myself one. I was bullied every day at my school, and I didn''t like it. My friend came to me, offering her help. She fought with the people that bullied me, and accidentally killed one. She then came to me, asking me to dispose of the body, since it was my ''problem''. I reluctantly agreed. I brought the body to an alleyway, but the police found me. I think they thought I was doing something aggressive, so they shot me. " I was shocked for a second, but said "H...how can you stay so positive?" "Yea.... I sometimes wonder how as well.. but I know one thing for sure. I like to think that staying positive, even during the bad times, can bring a person salvation." I watched her in awe. She''s gone through betrayal in her life before, but still can stay strong, and work towards a new goal. Though I don''t know what her new goal is, she is an amazing person. I can''t wait to see her in action tomorrow, against the 5- Headed Hydra. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: Thanks for reading!! Do rate/favorite/follow/comment!! It gives me some more motivation! :) I''d like to see some comments on my writing style. I feel that it is a little lacking sometimes, but I don''t want to put too much exposition into the story.. what do you think? Again, thanks for the support, and if you see anything wrong, don''t hesitate to comment. Next Chapter: Hydra - Chapter 6 Hydra [EDITED] - Chapter 6 Author: Thanks for your support! I plan to write chapters a bit slower when I am busy, so sorry for the late update. Do comment/rate/favorite/follow! Thanks again! THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN RE-WRITTEN!! DO RE-READ THE ONE SECTION THAT HAS BEEN MARKED WITH "[EDIT]" Please fill out the poll! :) [th_091_-1.gif] Chapter 6 - Hydra ----------------------------------------------------------------- Roran''s POV Soon after hearing about Akia''s story and her implications, she left the room with a somewhat warmer smile on her face. I took a look around the room, and I saw Evie lying awake on one of the 2 beds. In the room was only a chair, a desk, with two beds. Nothing special. I laid my newly-acquired weapons next to my bed, next to where Evie had left her basic spear. I looked at Evie, "Evie, do you want anything to eat?" "No," she declined. As I wasn''t hungry either, I silently nodded. I was exhausted, but as I laid down on my bed, I realized that we hadn''t even come up with a plan to fight the hydra. F*ck. Why did I forget... D*mned plans.. Well, I''m sure that since Akia''s a rank A adventurer, she can come up with something. With a relieved expression on my face, I laid down on the bed, and fell asleep. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Evie''s POV I watched as Roran laid down on his bed to sleep. It''s good that I have a caring master.. I imagined him wearing his very rare kind smiles, and with that in mind, I started to feel sleepy. Suddenly, I heard a yell. "f*ck... f*ck, F*CK!!! WHY ARE YOU HERE CELEA? Oh.. was it my fault.. is that what you''re saying? HAHA.. I''M GLAD YOU LEFT! SOMEONE AS INCOMPETENT AS YOU SHOULDN''T EXIST!" Roran sprang up out of his bed in cold sweat. His face was terrifying... Just watching him yell makes me shiver. He looked towards me, and apologizes, "Oh. Sorry Evie.. I didn''t want to wake you up. I''m just having bad dreams, I guess.." His calm expression made me depressed, but I said it was ok, and tried to fall asleep again. I opened my eyes to check on Roran again, only to see that he was uncomfortably moving around in his bed. Seeing this, I got out of my bed, and laid down next to him. I felt strangely embarrassed, and my cheeks were hot, but I decided that I must be a useful servant to Roran. I give him a hug from his back, and felt his body ease.. I heard him mutter a word in his sleep, "Evie..." With his last word replaying in my mind, I fell asleep. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roran''s POV It was morning again, and I felt two small, but soft things pressed against my back as I slowly opened my eyes. I lightly turned my face to look behind me, and saw Evie sleeping, while holding on to me... rather tightly. What the hell did I do yesterday? I remember yelling, but nothing after that.. why is she sleeping next to me? My mind confused, I tried to recollect any memories from last night. When I was sure I didn''t do anything, I tried to loosen Evie''s grip to slip away, but when I tried to move her hand, I heard her protest, "Mmm...." Her face became stern, and her grip tightened even more. Wait.. I don''t think I can get out of this..... ....and so I slept another 2 hours. I opened my eyes yet again, to see Evie already awake, laying down two plates on the one desk in the room. "Evie, when did you get up? Why didn''t you wake me.. we needed to get up much earlier you know?" I questioned, and she answered, "Oh, you were peacefully sleeping, so I didn''t want to disturb you." I silently got up, and felt stinging pain around my sides. Ugh... d*mn, she has a tight grip.. She''s probably angry at me...I should be careful not to wake her when she is sleeping from now on.. It is said that one shouldn''t wake a sleeping tiger... As I made my comparison, I got out of bed, and grabbed one of the plates on the desk. The food was mashed potatoes, which I thought was weird, since potatoes were always thought as the devil plant that poisons people. Either way, I ate the potato silently, and motioned Evie to follow me. We left our room, and bid goodbye to the desk lady, whose name was Kath. I exited the inn to see the same bustling marketplace as yesterday. On further inspection, there were alchemist, trading, and jewelry shacks with the ''roofs'' filled with the leaves of the towering trees next to our inn. As we didn''t have much time, I planned to take a look at the others later. I sighed, Well... I forgot to ask where Akia was staying. I should start paying attention... Just as I was thinking that, I heard the same excited voice as yesterday, "OHelloooo! How''re you two doing? Great morning huh? But, we should head off quickly, to finish off the hydra before he,she, or it awakens!" She was standing right behind me. How did she get there? I don''t know. I turned, and asked, "Don''t tell me... you were in the same inn as us?" She saluted, and said, "Yes Sir!" Oi. This isn''t the time for comical relief... I sighed yet again, and said, "Alright, as you were saying, we should leave before the Hydra awakens. You seriously should have told me this yesterday... And we didn''t make a plan, so you have one in mind?" She continued smiling happily, and stated, "No Sir!" D*mn you''re useless... With that, I came up with something like a plan on the spot, and it was consisted of 4 steps: 1. No body moves until I give the signal to attack when it is asleep. 2. Don''t make any careless moves that can get you killed. 3. Don''t disturb me unless it is for something important. 4. Akia is the vanguard, with Evie as the middle guard, and me as the rear. 5. Don''t let one person take over 200 damage at once - there needs to be distractions. As I was explaining these steps to them, I felt a hand grab at my pants, or the location where I kept my money. There was a crowd around us, but no one dared bump into us, since two of us looked like demons. At the moment I felt the hand on my pocket, I grabbed the arm, and flung the man onto the ground. It seemed like I made a commotion the moment I did that, since everyone around us stopped to watch once the man was on the ground. I heard whispers among them, "Oi.. is the demon going to kill him? Should we stop him?" The moment I noticed the uneasiness in the crowd, I turned to Evie, and nodded. Evie explained, "Everyone. Please quiet down. No need for a commotion, Roran has just caught a bandit. Look. In his hands is our money." I heard some boos, but the people around us left after a few minutes, and returned to the busy city center. I took a look at the man I threw, and saw that he wore a large smirk on his face. I was disgusted, so I tied him up with the rope I had in the magic bag that he had stolen. I noticed earlier that my magic bag is rare, and since it only looked like a pouch, it didn''t seem like there was much money, so bandits usually don''t notice. I knew that this one knew, however. So after I tied him up, I returned a smile, and declared, "Hey, how''s it going? You''re going to be my bait for the 5-HEADED HYDRA that we are going to fight soon. What do you think? Great! Thanks for trying to steal my stuff. Let''s go!" With a large smile on my face, I walked the struggling man to the edge of the city, and headed towards the Pond of Disaster, or the location where the Hydra was at. The man started disturbing me by struggling even more, so I kicked his knees, and started dragging him across the dirt. Not one word came out of Evie''s or Akia''s mouth. I turned to look at them, and saw that they were smiling uncomfortably. I sighed, and continued on the dirt road through the forest with huge trees. There were no hills, not much light shined through the canopy, and the only noise that could be heard is the scraping of the floor from the man I was dragging. Akia, sensing the awkwardness, spoke up, "A...ah.. Ummm..Oh yea! let me tell you guys about the one time that I talked to a dragon! It was a bright blue one..... " D*mn... now I have to put up with her rattling... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Akia''s POV I hurriedly started explaining about my encounter with a dragon when I noticed that no one was talking. What can I say? I don''t like awkward situations... As I was explaining, I glanced over at Roran, who was walking ahead of us, dragging the bandit. He didn''t seem uneasy to fight the Hydra, rather it seemed like he was calm, collected, and was analyzing any possible situation that might turn the tide of battle to our side. I looked at Roran''s long hair, and thought, How does he fight with such long hair? I only keep mine since it makes me look nice... but it seems like he never cared. Let me ask him! I stopped explaining, "...Aaand that was my story of how I met the blue dragon, Hyadd... Well, anyway Roran! How do you keep your hair so long when you battle? Don''t you tie it up or something?" He turned back to look at me, and sighed. Then started explaining, "I never cared... but I don''t think it is long enough to get in my way.. It''s only to my hip, unlike you, who has it going down all the way to your knees. But I guess I''ll cut it off later when I have the time.. thanks for reminding me." With that, it returned to silence, of course aside from the dragging sounds from the guy on the ground... I wonder what Evie thinks of Roran... The moment I thought that, Evie nudged me on the shoulder, and declared, "Where are you looking? Roran is mine, you know... hands off." I was instantaneously surprised. This girl seems quite assertive... maybe she fights well? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roran''s POV Well, after 4 hours of walking and dragging, we have finally reached the pond. Problem is, it''s not a pond. The trees were parted, and the blue lake glimmered under the sun. It was a dazzling light blue, and there seemed to be all sorts of animals nearby, since I was able to spot a deer drinking water from at least a mile away. My eyesight seems to be improving....I don''t even understand why. F*ck I don''t get this body! If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. I looked around for a Hydra, but I wasn''t able to see one. I turned to look at Akia, and I saw that the man I dragged wore a terrified expression. He timidly got on his feet, and slowly pointed to the pond. That''s when I realized. The Hydra was invisible. F*CK! Just when I wanted to kill something to settle myself down, a F*CKING INVISIBLE HYDRA POPPS UP! WHAT THE F*CK! I SHOULD''VE JUST KILLED THE BANDIT! I grabbed the bandit, and underhand threw him close to the pond. I heard a low growl that seemed to be getting louder for every second that passed. The man screamed, and started running, but to no avail. His torso was torn off, and blood erupted from his lower half. His legs were still moving, but after two steps, they came to a halt. Some of his intestines fell from the mouth of the hydra that had removed its disguise. It growled again, and ate the man''s lower half, and the intestines that had fallen down - with the other two heads. The silver-scaled Hydra was in full view, and it covered what seemed to be at least 80% of the ''pond.'' Neither Evie nor Akia moved. I silently sidestepped into the bushes, and motioned for the two to follow. They positioned themselves on each side of me. Hmph. So much for bait.. I observed the 5 heads. Each of them had different colored eyes, and I assumed which attacking trait each of them would have. Hmm....The one with blue eyes might be water, the one with green is probably poison, the red possibly fire, the black I guess is void? And there is one left, but it''s closing its eyes. D*mn. What to do.... What to do? I tried to conjure up a plan in my head that would kill the Hydra without any problems, but to no avail. I asked Akia and Evie for suggestions, and Evie replied, "I think we should attack the one with its eyes closed first.. it seems suspicious. It is known that the best way to kill a hydra is to blind it, and melt its heads." With Evie''s brilliant suggestion, I smiled, and thanked her for her good work. First to blind them, and then cut off their heads.. I think that should work.. Am I forgetting something? Well, I''m sure I''ll remember sometime soon... I wasn''t wearing any armor, just plain robes, and I had two chains wrapped around my arm. (from the wakizashi - katanas) I unsheathed each of my weapons silently, and wrapped the rest of the chain onto my arms. Time to abandon my position as the rearguard... I notified Akia and Evie that I would be moving first, to try and take out the eyes of the head that most suspicious. I suggested that Evie throw her spear at each of the Hydras'' eyes, and Akia to go collect the spear thrown. I dashed up a nearby tree, and perched on a branch. The tree lightly swayed, and one of the heads turned towards me. As I jumped off the branch, I saw the first head''s eyes, and launched my two swords at it, and pulled. The chains unraveled themselves off my arm, and stabbed through the eyes of the Hydra that had its eyes'' closed. When I pulled, I was brought on top of one of the heads of the hydra. The head I stood on screeched, and my body jolted. I turned my head to see the head with black eyes glaring at me. It took a deep breath in, and my instincts told me to run away. I launched myself off of the head, with the chain dangling behind me - and the swords still stuck in the head of the suspicious Hydra. The moment I launched myself, bright yellow lightning was launched towards the first head of the Hydra, from the black-eyed head. I was surprised, and immediately pulled my swords away from the head that I stabbed, pleased to see that the blades weren''t damaged. They flew towards me, and the chains wrapped themselves around my arms again, while brimming with a black sheen. The head that was attacked with the lightning seemed unharmed, and opened its regenerated eyes. It had white eyes, but I had no clue what they could do. I contemplated different solutions, taking in the fact that the heads could regenerate, but without knowing what we are fighting, we won''t be able to win. A spear was launched towards the head with the white eyes, but it didn''t move. It screeched, and the spear flew past the head. [EDIT] ----------------------------------- I heard Evie yell, "How did I miss? I was sure that was going to hit. My aim shouldn''t be that bad..." I trusted Evie''s ability with the spear, and figured that the one with white eyes had the power of foresight. It assumed a favorable position even before the spear was launched. As I was thinking right in front of the hydra, red flames flew towards me. I couldn''t move. I can''t move. I CAN''T MOVE! WHY!? MOVE! MOVE!!! F*CK I''M NOT DYING HERE! I was stuck in place, and I realized that the one with green eyes froze me in place. It had the power to stop time. Probably only for a few seconds, but it was long enough for me to get scorched. I let out a yell, and Akia ran towards me with blinding speed. She was able to push me out of the way, and avoided getting hit by the flames as well. She pulled me up, whispered, "sword," and a great sword appeared out of nowhere. She threw the huge weapon like a spear at the green-eyed head, and it resulted in instant decapitation. She turned towards me, and said, "Don''t get all weak now.. keep fighting!" With a smile, she called again, "sword," and the same weapon appeared before her. The head that was cut off began regenerating, and I took the chance to inspect its stats, of course standing 100 meters away from the monster. ************************************************************** 5-HEADED HYDRA AVOID IF POSSIBLE. Embraces the dark element, so in turn, each head is given dark magic. In exchange, it is hard to move, due to being tied to the water. Name: ??? Level: 75 HP: 800 [1000 MAX] MP: 10,000 [15,000 MAX] Skills: EYES: Green: Stop time for 5 seconds. Costs 1,000 MP per use. Blue: Regenerates health at 100 HP per minute in exchange for 5,000 MP - Stops at full health. Black: Black lightning. Costs 1,000 MP per use. White: Precognition. Passive. Uses 100 MP every minute. Red: Uses Red Flames. Costs 2,000 MP per use. Blood Stain: ??? [Unknown Ability] *************************************************************************** I looked at Akia, and asked, "So technically speaking, we can stop it from regenerating if we cut off the blue head?" She nodded, and threw her sword again. D*mn if I knew that you had that sword, I wouldn''t have asked you to get Evie''s spear. The head of the blue-eyed Hydra was cut off, and blood poured out. Because of her proximity to the monster, some of the blood hit Akia''s face, and she flinched. She wiped it off her face, and called on her weapon again. Evie threw her spear, and it hit the right eye of the black eyed hydra head. The head screeched, and tossed its head around, trying to get rid of the weapon stuck on its face. I charged forward, and let my two katanas loose. The chains unwrapped, but missed the hydra head that had precognition. Hmm...I don''t think that its foresight affects the other heads..that''s good for us. I recalled the fact that Evie''s spear hit the black-eyed hydra, and send one of my katanas again at the black-eyed hydra. It connected, and I threw my other katana at the spear that was stuck to its other eye. The weapon wrapped its chain around the spear, and when I pulled, the spear was launched towards me. I grabbed it, and tossed it to Evie. She thanked me, and I turned back to take a look at Akia. She was heavily breathing, and she was on her knees. I assumed that it was because she was tired, having thrown that gigantic sword twice. She didn''t have any injuries on her body, but the silver Hydra blood was still smeared across her face. She returned my stare, and muttered, "Hah...Ugh.. I feel sleepy... Roran... I didn''t know monster subjugations were this hard... this is my first time....Lemme get some help...''skeleton-one,''" She admitted something I didn''t want to hear, but I hurried towards her as she fainted onto the floor. I reached for her arm, to feel her pulse. I couldn''t feel anything. Her heart had stopped beating, and a skeleton materialized out of thin air. This is no time to be surprised... f*ck you hydra.. what have you done... I turned to look at the hydra, and noticed that the blue-eyed head and the green-eyed head were regenerating slowly. Silence surrounded us for a few seconds, but it was broken with my voice, " WHY DID YOU HARM HER YOU F*CKING HYDRAA!!??" My voice boomed throughout the forest, and the Hydra didn''t move, or speak. I turned to look at the hydra, and I saw it take a step back in fear. I smiled, and I must have smiled like a maniac, since the Hydra squealed, and took a few more steps back. "Oh you''re not getting away... come back here Mr. Hydra.. Where are you going?" , I asked. I stared at the right into the eyes of the blue-eyed hydra. "You''re first, " I declared. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Roran''s inventory: - Two wakizashis - katanas. Chains attached. - Magic pouch - no money - rope - small carrying bag(empty) - when he was summoned - Black robe (wearing) Author: Don''t worry guys, I''ve got something planned for the next chapter. The MC seems to be getting crazier, and that''s ok with me :) Well, look forward to the next chapter, since I have something pretty interesting planned. Thanks for the support, and PLEASE comment/rate/favorite/follow. Do the poll please!! I''ll add in Evie''s and Akia''s inventory next chapter! This time, I''d like to see some comments on Akia''s situation! Thanks! [EDITED] - Hopefully this makes it a little slower.. I might have written this chapter too quickly the first time. Sorry about that! Next Chapter: Hydra 2 - Chapter 7 (Might be renamed). This chapter was pretty long, since i didn''t update sooner. Next chapter might be a bit shorter.. just a heads up! First Soul - Chapter 7 Author: Hopefully you all liked the action in the previous chapter...I know it went a bit fast, so I did some edits. You can re-read it from the section that says [EDIT] [th_093.gif] Well, anyway, thanks for your support/guidance! Oh, and I was thinking of writing an original comedy for a while now...I actually started with one, but I ended up not liking the result as much. I plan to write a comedy on the side, just when my mood isn''t equal to the setting of this story..if you know what I mean. Well, fill out the poll if you''re interested! Chapter 7 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A small window appeared before me: ***************************************** New stats: - Willpower: You have the ability to power through any obstacles that come before you. Due to your position as a reaper in this new world, the more effort you put in, more bad luck might get in your way. This stat inversely variates with the luck stat. The more emotion you show towards one action, the more powerful the according stat is permanently buffed. - Luck: Some things can go your way, even when everything looks bleak. ***************************************** Seeing this, I thought status, and another screen appeared before me. ************************************************************************************************* Name: Roran Nex Age: 16 Years Level: 35 Class: Death God''s Reaper (lvl 15) Titles: Jaas Village''s Demon; The Oblivious One; Merciless Child Murderer; The Betrayed Rank: B HP: 550 MP: 200 Strength: 300 Endurance: 190 Vitality: 150 Intelligence: 120 Agility: 190 Willpower: 5 Luck: 0 Skills: Active Perception (lvl 15 MAX) -- Can inspect items/living things to extract known information from the largest library database in the world - (the Kingdom of Katylda). User must be looking at the object. Blessing of Death God Nex - ENRAGED (lvl 10 MAX) -- Can reach an ''enraged'' state at the cost of 50 HP. (Enraged) = 30% boost to all stats, can be given to another person, in exchange for 100 of their HP. [CAN BE STACKED] Sacrifice (Passive)(lvl 5) -- Every time a living being is killed, all stats are buffed permanently, based on the amount of pain that the being feels. In exchange, the soul is sacrificed to the Death God. [Cannot be used with Soul Eater] Soul Eater (lvl 5) -- Blessing from Nex. In return for being betrayed, and your mind weakened, you are given the power to eat souls. For every soul eaten, you gain one of their abilities. One soul may be called upon at a time. [Cannot be used with Sacrifice] ---- (No Souls) Reap (lvl 6) (Passive) -- [Obtained by lvl 10 as a Reaper of Death] Can grant excruciating pain to a person (using souls), but does not kill the person. In exchange for 10 HP, you can feed the souls already obtained with the pain of a living being. Black Phoenix [Legendary](lvl 30 MAX - default)(Active): {You have risen once from the dead, now...*don''t* rise again..} Granted by the Death God''s favoritism. In exchange for being sacrificed once the user is killed and not being able to use any other magic, the user is granted the divine power of a black phoenix. The Divine Power is the ability to fly, and steal 1* skill of the same attribute of the darkness. Only one of such a phoenix lives, and to see one is considered too "holy for the eyes" by the followers of Death. Obtain the Blessing of the Black Phoenix to maximize the potential for this skill. To activate this skill, you must be almost dead, or someone you know needs to be dead. *************************************************************************************************** The soft cry of a phoenix resounded throughout my mind. At that moment, immense pain ran throughout my body, and it felt as if someone was tearing me apart into pieces. I grasped my head, and felt blood running down my cheeks, seemingly from my eyes. I let out a yell, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH" I heard a loud crack behind me, and black wings grew from my back. It ripped through my black coat, and there were 2 knife-like claws that grew out of both the ends of the wings. Feathers floated around me, and the silver blades on the wings gleamed under the dimming sunlight. The Hydra watched patiently, as if wondering whether or not to attack. I heard growls coming from each of the different heads of the Hydra. I tried to move my wings, and a gust of wind was blown towards the hydra. The hydra took another step back to steady itself, now at the edge of the lake. I grinned at the sight, and I flung each of my katanas at the one head in the center - the blue eyed hydra, and the chains wrapped around its neck. I put all my strength into pulling it towards me, and I saw another screen appear before me. *********************** Willpower: +50 - Strength: +5 Luck: -100 *********************** What the hell? Looks like the Gods of luck don''t appreciate me... I forced the Hydra to take a few steps forward. I needed it to be closer to be more accurate with my katana throws. The black hydra breathed in, and black lightning was sent towards me. I flinched, and took a step back, but I didn''t run away. I reached my hand out, and the lightning ran throughout my body. Despite the pain, I was able to steal the ability to wield lightning. Getting ready to attack again, the black head opened its mouth. I stretched out my hand, and sent my lightning at the black head''s open jaws. The black hydra screeched, and its head started to disintegrate. I jumped off the ground, and flapped my wings. After I had gotten used to being in the air, I sped towards the white eyed hydra with breathtaking speed. The Hydra dodged, but I did a dive pull-up, and planted my two katanas in the head of the white hydra. Silver blood flowed out of the holes made by my blades. Hmph. Looks like it can only predict so far... Not waiting for it to regenerate, I elongated the blades at the end of my wings, thrust myself towards the blue hydra, and spun in mid-air to decapitate it. I slowed myself down, and saw the hydra head drop into the lake with a loud splash. I was pleased with my work, so I smiled, and waited, expecting another attack from the 2 hydra heads left. I noticed again that the blue hydra was steadily healing, with a black aura around the decapitated area. I turned to look at Akia, and saw that the same black aura surrounded her. By this time, the skeleton was already dismantled, and in pieces, laying next to Akia''s body. Akia''s probably still alive....The f*cking hydra seems to be taking Akia''s health and MP... I''ll take a look at her status. ************************************************************************************************* Affected by: Blood Stain . MP is being taken out at a rate of 100 MP per minute, and HP is being taken out at a rate of 1 HP per minute. The MP and HP goes towards healing the Hydra. Name: Akia Nex Age: 16 Years Level: 65 Class: Hero of NEX (lvl 20 MAX) Titles: The Savior of Azbarak Rank: A HP: 5 MP: 300 Strength: 800 Endurance: 770 Vitality: 700 Intelligence: 1000 Agility: 600 High magical affinity for: Void-related Magics.. Skills: Mind Perception (lvl 20 MAX) -- Can inspect the thoughts of any person that is standing within a 10 meter radius. Uses no MP. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Blessing of Death God Nex (lvl 10 MAX) [Salvation] -- Offer salvation to the departing souls, by allowing them to sacrifice themselves for Nex. In return for every soul, your level is increased by 5, and you are given 100 points to spend in any category (except levels/skills). Uses no MP. Demolish (lvl 10 MAX) -- [Given at lvl 10 Hero Class] Can break another person''s mind, making them confused permanently. Their actions and words will not make any sense. - Easier collection of their body w/ Necromancy. Uses 100 mana. Black Magic (lvl 15 MAX)[Control] -- [Given at lvl 20 Hero Class] Can re-animate bodies that have already passed. Can control 3* at one time. Uses 50 mana for every minute used. Once dead, you can choose to become a lich, or preserve your abilities in the case that you are revived. *************************************************************************************************** Seems like I can extract some better info...not only that, it seems like Akia''s level raised from decapitating some of these hydra heads...Akia will die in 5 minutes... I need to wrap this up quickly. I knew that the heads are healing very slowly, since Akia doesn''t have as much MP or HP as this monster - so she doesn''t have much to give. Taking this into account, I should be able to finish this quickly once I get the flame magic from the red hydra. Suddenly, red flames were blown towards me. I let it hit me, and my skin started boiling. I gritted my teeth, and waited for the pain to end. Blue blood poured out of my burnt skin, all around my body. Once the pain from the flames was gone, I let out my hands, and sent flames towards the decapitated heads. The heads melted, and didn''t start regenerating again. Thanks to being a half-demon, my physical state would recover quickly, so I didn''t pay much heed to the pool of blood around my feet. "HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA! YOU THINK YOU CAN KILL ME NOW D*MN HYDRAS?" I yelled, and I expected to get the hydra heads angry. The green hydra head stopped time, and I wasn''t able to move once again. Again, I expected this as well. All the green hydra can do is stop time for about 7 seconds in the scope of about a 1 meter radius, but that is enough time for the red hydra to burn me once again. As expected, the red hydra sent its flames at me. I materialized the flames outside the scope of the time-stopping ability, and sent them towards the flames sent at me. The two flames mixed, and both sides were unaffected by the fire. I was able to move again, so this time, I sent each of my katanas on both sides of the neck of the green hydra. The blades pierced, and I pulled as hard as I could once again. *********************** Willpower: +50 - Strength: +5 Luck: -100 *********************** Well, f*ck. That ability is only useless...this is a product of my luck I guess. I continued pulling, and the green head was pulled off of its body. The head came flying towards me, so I jumped back, and flew out of the way. I melted the newly decapitated section of the hydra, and smiled at the only head left. The Hydra roared, and at that moment, I swung my two katanas in the left direction on the chain, and sent flames running down the blades. The blades were lodged in the red hydra, and I saw that the neck area was slowly melting. I strengthened the flames on my weapon, and the last head finally dropped into the lake. I sighed, exhausted, but I immediately called for Evie, who was hiding in the bushes. We crouched down, and inspected Akia''s body. I called for her status. ****************************** Akia Nex - DEAD Blood Stain HP: 0 MP: 0 ****************************** I screamed in my head. I''ve failed once again. WAIT...I can still take her soul with me. I''ll get her a new body...hehe..what am I worried for? I....Ive never eaten a soul before... I just do what feels right.. I think I''ll get it. I sat down, closed my eyes, and placed my hand on her chest. A blue light started glowing from her chest, and flew above her body, now at eye-height for me. I reached out to grab it, and felt the warmth of the soul around my hand. I pulled it closed to my mouth, and ate it. The sensation was enjoyable. I felt the warmth once again, except this time all around my body. After the feeling was gone, I thought of Akia''s face, and she appeared before me in spirit form. Her body was a dim blue, and she looked perfectly healthy. She was surprised for a second, since she looked at her semi-transparent arms, and asked, "Am I dead?" I nodded, and she looked depressed for a moment.. "Akia, it''s alright. I''ll get you a new body, don''t worry. I don''t know if you can get your abilities back, but you can work towards getting new ones.." Akia looked at me, and responded to my words, "Thanks Roran! I''ll do my besht! Ow..." She bit her tongue... Suddenly, a screen appeared before me again.. ***************************************************** Your first Soul Acquired. Name: Akia Nex lvl: 65 Abilities: Saved. Choose which one to attain: Mind Perception (lvl 20 MAX) -- Can inspect the thoughts of any person that is standing within a 10 meter radius. Uses no MP. Blessing of Death God Nex (lvl 10 MAX) [Salvation] -- Offer salvation to the departing souls, by allowing them to sacrifice themselves for Nex. In return for every soul, your level is increased by 5, and you are given 100 points to spend in any category (except levels/skills). Uses no MP. Demolish (lvl 10 MAX) -- [Given at lvl 10 Hero Class] Can break another person''s mind, making them confused permanently. Their actions and words will not make any sense. - Easier collection of their body w/ Necromancy. Uses 100 mana. Black Magic (lvl 15 MAX)[Control] -- [Given at lvl 20 Hero Class] Can re-animate bodies that have already passed. Can control 3* at one time. Uses 50 mana for every minute used. Once dead, you can choose to become a lich, or preserve your abilities in the case that you are revived. ******************************************************** Ok.. let''s choose one... I''ll make sure this mistake doesn''t happen again. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: I haven''t forgotten about Evie! Don''t worry! It''ll be in the next chapter. I plan to get some explanations done, and to do an update for Roran''s and Evie''s statuses. Next chapter is going to be a lot more Evie-oriented. As for Inventory: Akia(dead) inventory: - 3rd-Grade armor[leg-piece, arm-piece, body, gloves, boots]: Used by A-ranked adventurers. Nothing too brilliant, but is very reliable. Standard equipment. Mainly made of leather, and bolts as fasteners. - Warrior''s Vengence [RARE]: Great sword. Weighs 8 pounds, needs to be used with two hands, about 4.5 feet long. Returns to user''s hand in the case that it is broken, or lost, when it is called for. - Money: 1 gold piece. 1 platinum piece (worth 100 gold). Evie inventory: - Worn robes: simple fit. Made of cloth, comes down to make a skirt. - Slave Collar: Makes sure the slave doesn''t attack the master. - Basic lvl 1 Spear: basic standard spear used by military cavalry. - Simple boots. This should be it. With some more cash on hand, inventory should change. Should I keep updating it every chapter? Please comment on your opinion. As for the poll, if you want to see an interesting comedy, then do vote! I plan for it to be a light-hearted read, just for fun, and to better one''s mood, I guess. Well, Thanks for reading, and your support! See you next time! Next Chapter: Trust. - Chapter 8 Trust - Chapter 8 Author: So....I figured out how to do the tables! It''s great, but it took me forever to understand how it worked.... Sorry if I missed anything, or it looks wrong... just let me know if it is though. I might be adding some more stats to the Status tags, since I thought that might be more specific. Lastly, as for my comedy, I have planned it out, but I have some things I am uncertain with, so it will take some time to finalize the setting. The comedy will be updated late, specifically not as fast as this one. I will try to keep this FF updated more frequently, but I do believe in quality over quantity... Anyway, I''ll be writing this every week, but if I''m not busy, then a weekday update can happen! Well, that''s enough of me... Warning: There will be graphic scenes in the chapters ahead, such as gore and rape. Hope you enjoy! Please do comment/rate/favorite/follow! [th_059_.gif] Chapter 8 - Trust -------------------------------------------------------------------- Roran''s POV I sat there all night, leaning on one of the dead hydra''s heads, and pondered about which of the abilities might be the best for me. I think I''ll take the mind reading.... hehe... It''ll help me not hesitate to kill when someone belittles me in their damn heads.. The evil smile on my face grew with every second that passed. I touch the mind reading option from the list of skills that I am allowed to choose from.
You Have Chosen: Mind Perception (LVL 1) -- Can inspect the thoughts of any person that you are touching. Does not affect party members. --- Uses 100 MP per use. [Limitation: Works for only 5 seconds] NOTICE: This skill will be returned to the owner in the case that the soul is no longer in the possesion of the user. This skill will also be reset to the default level.
I see... The level is reset. Is this because of my luck.....Damn it. Problem is, I need to touch a person to read them... Spirit Akia was standing in front of me, wondering what I was doing. I told her not to worry, but I remembered my promise to get her a new body. Fuck... the problems keep piling up.... I said it on reflex.... No matter. I''ll get this done. I whispered Akia''s name again, and her body instantaneously disappeared, turning into a blue light. The light then flew into my body, and it glowed for a second in my chest, but it then dimmed out. I turned towards Evie, and saw that she was walking towards me. My smile was replaced with awe. The full moon glow reflected off Evie''s pitch black hair, and her unblemished skin glistened. Her eyes sharp, it seemed as if she was looking straight through me. Her black robes fluttered in the midnight breeze, and exposed her naked legs. Her long, previously braided hair, flew with the wind. In fascination, I didn''t blink once. By the time I noticed it, she was already next to me. Evie stood above me, and the full moon was behind her, ever radiating its pale blue light. The silence was broken with Evie''s words, "Roran. I''ve gotten some new skills. Would you like to take a look? I''m sure I can fight together with you much better now. " Broken from my mesmerization, I thought ''status,'' and Evie''s screen appeared before me.
Name: EvieClass: Wolf Queen (LVL 20 MAX)
Guild Rank: BAge: 15 Years
Titles: --- The Slave of the Demon. --- The Dragon Slayer. --- Follower of Darkness. (Blessed by NEX) --- Wolf Queen.
Level: 50HP: 1000HR: (Health Recovery) 50/Min.
Special: [All stats buffed at every increment of 50 Levels.]MP: 400MR: (Mana Recovery) 10/Min.
Strength: 500Endurance: 450Vitality: 300
Intelligence: 600Charm: 600Agility: 1000
[LOCKED][LOCKED][LOCKED]
Sub-Classes:[NONE][NONE]
Afinities: --- Illusion Magic. (LVL 0) --- Fire Magic. (LVL 5) [LVL 0 = No Skills/No Training]
Skills: --- Blessing of the Hated (LVL 20 MAX)(Passive): -- Given by God of Hatred, for every 10 HP lost, 100* agility will be gained. --- Slave (LVL 10 MAX)(Passive): -- All experience that your owner obtains is also given to you. [Blessing of NEX] --- Queen (LVL 5): -- As the Queen of Wolves, you can call on 2* wolves as companions to fight. Grants intimidation towards every enemy you face. With only your presense, you can deal 50 damage. [Must be looking at target.] {Uses 200 MP per use} --- Bloodline (LVL 5): -- As the Queen of Wolves, the Queen is expected to be wise, and intelligent in her descisions. You can summon the Book of Knowledge = The book that can show you the weakness in any living being. {Uses 400 MP per summoning} --- Slayer [LEGENDARY] (LVL 4): -- As a Slayer of Dragons, you are granted the ability to talk, ride, and use abilities related to a Dragon. [Abilities: Fire Magic{Fireball, Explosion, Dark Fire}] Dragons are not rare in this world. Seek a Dragon for its wisdom, and through training, you can increase the potential for this skill. [Blessing of NEX]
Powerful.....She''s become a Queen.... As I thanked Nex for his blessing, I looked at Evie, and saw the soft breeze expose her dog-ears. Charm...huh.... She suddenly smiled, and I felt flustered for a second. I felt my cheeks become a little warm, so I quickly turned around, pulled out my weapon, and started skinning the silver-scaled hydra head in front of me. Evie was puzzled at this reaction, and took her spear to help me remove the scales from the monster. A few hours later, I was still carefully removing the scales off of the hydra head, and Evie was sleeping next to me, while leaning on my shoulder. I decided to take a break, so I wiped the sweat off of my brow, and thought, ''status.''
Name: Roran NexClass: The Reaper of Souls (LVL 20 MAX)
Guild Rank: BAge: 16 Years
Titles: The Titles [Jaas Village''s Demon, The Oblivious One, The Merciless Child Murderer, The Betrayed] Have been converted to: --- The Hated
Level: 47HP: 900HR: (Health Recovery) 40/Min.
Special: [All stats buffed at every increment of 50 Levels.]MP: 300MR: (Mana Recovery) 5/Min.
Strength: 460Endurance: 400Vitality: 350
Intelligence: 440Willpower: 100Agility: 500
Luck: -200[LOCKED][LOCKED]
Sub-Classes:[NONE][NONE]
Afinities: --- Soul Magic (LVL 10) [LVL 0 = No Skills/No Training]
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Skills: --- Active Perception (LVL 15 MAX) -- Can inspect items/living things to extract known information from the largest library database in the world - (the Kingdom of Katylda). User must be looking at the object. --- Blessing of Death God Nex - ENRAGED (LVL 10 MAX) -- Can reach an ''enraged'' state at the cost of 50 HP. (Enraged) = 30% boost to all stats, can be given to another person, in exchange for 100 of their HP. [CAN BE STACKED] [Time limit: This skill works until your health lost is replenished. For one use: 1.25 Min.] --- Sacrifice (Passive)(LVL 10) -- Every time a living being is killed, all stats are buffed permanently, based on the amount of pain that the being feels. In exchange, the soul is sacrificed to the Death God. [Cannot be used with Soul Eater] [All stats buffed by 100**] --- Soul Eater (LVL 10) -- Blessing from Nex. In return for being betrayed, and your mind weakened, you are given the power to eat souls. For every soul eaten, you gain two* of their abilities. One soul may be called upon at a time. [Cannot be used with Sacrifice] [If the soul is not eaten, it will be automatically sacrificed] ---- Akia Nex --- Reap (LVL 10) (Passive) -- [Obtained by LVL 10 as a Reaper of Death] -- Can grant excruciating pain to a person (using souls), but does not kill the person. In exchange for 10 HP, you can feed the souls already obtained with the pain of a living being. [YOU CAN CHOOSE THE WAY OF TORTURE] [Uses 20 MP per use] --- Black Phoenix [Legendary](LVL 30 MAX - Default)(Active) -- {You have risen once from the dead, now...*don''t* rise again..} Granted by the Death God''s favoritism. In exchange for using this skill, the user will be sacrificed at the time of death, and the user will not be able to use any other types of magic. The user is granted the divine power of a black phoenix. [The Divine Power is the ability to fly, and steal 1* skill of the same attribute of the darkness.] Only one of such a phoenix lives, and to see one is considered too "holy for the eyes" by some of the followers of Death. Obtain the Blessing of the Black Phoenix to maximize the potential for this skill. To activate this skill, you must be almost dead, or someone you know needs to be dead. --- Stolen Skill: Hydra''s Flames (LVL 1 - Static) -- You can use the flames of the Hydra. Deals 200 Damage, and if used long enough, you can melt things. [Uses 20 MP per Min] {This skill will be replaced when you steal another skill.}
Hehe....HAHAHAHA! Yes.... I''ve gotten enough power to kill the way I want to...WHEN I want to... It''s time to go hunting. I finished removing the scales of the Hydra, and counted that I was in possession of 1379 silver scales. Under the moonlight, they shone a light blue. I placed the scales into the magic pouch, and decided that I needed to buy Evie new weapons, and better fitting clothes, to match a person of her caliber. "Evie, get up..." I nudged her with my hand, and she slowly opened her eyes. "....uhhh.....Roran?" I responded to her sleepy response, "Yeah. Let''s get going. We''re going to hunt some unforgivable bastards...." She listened to my eerie response, and continued, "Roran....shouldn''t we look for the weapon of mass destruction.... or whatever the Church of light was holding?" "Hmm....Of course," I dejectedly confirmed, "The hunting is just a side objective... My brother is a worshipper of the light anyway... or maybe even one of the Heroes of the Light." I thought out loud, and Evie acknowledged my words. I started walking towards the elven city, hoping Evie would follow, but she stopped me, "Roran. Wait. You haven''t told me about your brother or the Death God Nex yet.... I heard you talking about it with Akia at our inn... I didn''t ask earlier because I didn''t want to bother you. But now..." I turned around. I stopped her this time, "Evie.....I..." She interjected, "Roran, Do you trust me?" She put her spear at her own neck. I was surprised, so I blurted out, "Evie, that''s obvious! Of course I trust you! You''re the only one I trust here!" Shit...what the hell did I just say... I complained to myself, and Evie dropped her spear. She smiled, and a tear flowed down her right cheek. She ran towards me, and embraced me. I felt her warmth, and put my arms around her as well. I heard her whisper, "Thank you...." I responded with a nod, and she continued, "Tell me about your brother and Nex once we get back... okay?" I nodded again. I gently touched her shoulder, and we separated ourselves. I glanced at her for a second before turning around, and exclaiming, "Alright... Evie, let''s get back then." "Okay!" I started walking towards the city of Azbarak, and the moonlight was hidden from view by the tall trees. Evie excitedly followed behind me, with a light trot. The scenery around me was beautiful. The trees'' leaves were green, yellow, and orange as they fell to the ground. The color was barely visible, as it was still midnight. The only sounds I could hear around me were the crickets, and the shuffling of my feet as I walked forward. I took a deep breath, and inhaled the crisp, clean air. It couldn''t be a better time.... I''m killing those fucking assholes... I clarified my objective, of course, not forgetting about Nex''s mission, about the weapon of the Church. I looked up, and saw a ray of light that shone through the canopy. I remembered the recent event, with Evie''s spear to her own throat, and thought, I trust Evie.... ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: Thanks for reading this chapter! What do you think? I think this might have been one of my better chapters, including the last chapter as well. Fill out the poll just for fun! I already have an idea for what I''m going to do next chapter, so it won''t affect my decision that much. Please do comment! It gives me some more motivation, and I like replying as well! What do you think of this chapter, about Evie''s personality, and how Roran''s changed? Again, Warning: The Next few chapters will have mature scenes. Oh, and its hard to edit my own chapters, but I''m doing what I can. If you see any mistakes, do tell me! That''s that. See you next Chapter! Next Chapter: The Church - Chapter 9 Chapter 9 - The Church Found. Author: Almost to Chapter 10! Anyway, Thanks for reading up until this part! I''ve been slow, so please bear with me. The following chapters are going to be mature, so please be advised. You get a glimpse of what is going to happen next in this chapter! Oh, and yeah, this chapter was late because I was planning for the comedy. I wrote two pages just on the first chapter outline, and on the character outline....maybe a bit too much planning for a comedy. Comedy Update: I''ve already planned the first chapter''s storyline, and I just need to smooth the edges. I''m trying to make it a parody of the reincarnation stories... I think its going to be interesting, so please do check it out when I''m done writing it. To those lazy people like me: I''ll link the FF in the description! [th_057_.gif] Here is the extra long chapter as repentance. Chapter 9 - The Church Found. ------------------------------------------------------------------- I woke up the next morning with a familiar severe pain around my sides. We had returned to Jak''s Inn, and we decided to rest before turning in the Quest form. Fuck...what the hell is with my sides...Damnit..is it Evie again? My eyes opened, and I turned to see no one sleeping next to me. It was bright outside, and the sunshine shone through the glass window across from my bed. Ok...so it''s not her.. Once I got out of bed and noticed that Evie wasn''t in the room, I headed downstairs to grab some breakfast. I''ve been wearing this black cloak for who knows how long....I''ll go shopping to get some clothes for us and maybe even some armor for me.. I thought about making some purchases, and remembered that I still had some 1300 Hydra scales to sell. I saw Evie walking towards me with two plates in her hands, "Roran, you woke up. I was just about to bring this up for you too..." She sighed lightly, and I responded, "Don''t worry, we can just eat here. I have some things I need to tell you, so let''s go back to our room afterwards." We sat down at a small round table, right across the reception, with two chairs located in the middle of the dining room. Everything was made out of a weak wood, with a light maple color. I felt gazes behind me. They didn''t have bloodlust, so I didn''t turn around to see who it was. A couple minutes later, we finished our simple breakfast of eggs, and had a cup of water. We walked back upstairs to our room, and Evie asked, "So you''ll tell me your story? About Nex, your brother, and don''t forget Akia." She seemed a little demanding, I was irked for a few seconds. I knew she was a slave, but I realized that I had already put her in equal standing to myself by saying that I trust her so wholeheartedly. This is my fault....what''s done is done. I sat down on my bed, and Evie sat next to me. I heaved a heavy sigh, and I started my story, with careful explanations and descriptions. ************************************ I told her everything in a few hours. From the butler''s face, all the way to my summoning with the skeletons. The sun shined even brighter than before though the window across from my bed, and the light illuminated Evie''s face. It shined in such a way that she seemed like a black angel. Evie had an understanding face, and broke the silence, "...so this is why you want to kill your family?" I snapped. "THEY ARE NOT MY FAMILY!" Even after my sudden yell, Evie still stood calm, "...I understand. Let''s take care of them. I''ll support you, so don''t worry." I didn''t respond to her words, but instead just walked out the door. Evie followed, and I headed towards Keith''s smithery. The world outside the inn was as busy as ever. The city was still bustling with merchants and many inhabitants. One could easily hear merchants yelling out their deals and ''bargains'' from a mile away. The shack was as suspicious as ever, still covered in what seems to be cheap black paint. I opened the door, and a chime sounded. I heard a voice in the back of the shack, "...o...Oh! Wait a few minutes alright! I''ll be there soon, gimme a sec." Keith was wearing a black bandana around his neck, and he was heavily sweating. He wore a simple shirt, and long pants that covered his feet. "Oh it''s just you Roran....and Evie." "Yea," I acknowledged. "Alright, I''ve got yer armor. I''ll grab it for you. It looks pretty nice. I''m actually quite pleased with it," Keith added. Keith came back holding leather armor. I immediately asked, "Oi. I asked for lightweight steel armor. Where is it?" Keith agreed, "Oh yeah, this isn''t steel armor, but it''s something better. I made this armor out of Steel Tusk Boar hide. It''s top quality, in the sense that the hide itself is as hard as steel, and allows for good flexibility." I nodded, and asked Evie to try it on. She headed towards the back of the shack, and I grabbed Keith and walked out the door. Keith complained, "H..hey! Can you be a bit gentle?" "No." Keith responded to my quick disagreement, "Anyway, let''s go peek. Just a quickie. It won''t do much. We''ll be damaging her pride if we don''t try to take a look, ya know?" I sighed, and declared, "No." Evie opened the door, and I walked into the shack. Keith followed with obvious disappointment. I observed Evie''s new armor. She looked amazing, since the armor perfectly accentuated the curves of her body. Her chest wasn''t covered, but again, she didn''t have much to cover. She was wearing a knee-length skirt, which was the same color as the leather chest armor, an olive green. The armor was mostly green, with the gut section of the armor being a dark brown. Her shoulders had guards on them, as well as her shins - both made with the boar hide. There was also a brown forearm cover, and a pair of boots that seemed rather thin. Keith explained, "The boots are made thin for more grip and accurate handling, if you are wondering." He smirked, and I continued, "Keith, thanks. I didn''t ask for a full set of armor, but you gave them to me anyway." Keith blushed, and put his hands on his face. I turned back to look at Evie, and my right cheek started burning from a sudden slap. "....why did you slap me?" She pouted, "I felt insulted while you were observing me...woman''s intuition." I sighed, and asked, "Keith, I need a good weapon for Evie. Can you bring out your collection of spears? Also, I need some armor for me. I can give you some of these scales as payment, I have about a 1,300. You can''t have them all, since I need to turn it in from a quest, but I''ll give you as much as I can." Keith nodded, and responded, "I knew you would come back and ask, so I already prepared it for you and Evie. I''ll take 1,000 of those as payment. I made your armor light, since it looks like you would need to move a lot with those things as weapons." He pointed at the two blades at my sides. Keith stated, "I personally picked a weapon that I thought would suit Evie, if you don''t mind. I couldn''t find a spear, but the closest thing I have is this rather rare glaive, specially known for its use during the 1,000 Years War, when it was wielded by the Demon general Akulos...aaand so It''s called Akulos'' Glaive." He grabbed a set of armor from the back, and handed Evie her new weapon. The glaive was a majestic green. It was a lighter color than Evie''s armor, but it complemented her very well. It was short, wasn''t very heavy, and the blade attached to the end of the emerald-encrusted pole was a blade about 14 inches long. The blade itself was a clean silver color, with a gray dragon engraved on top. The grip was similar gray, and was a simple wrapping of cloth, tightly wound at the end of the glaive with a knot. Evie spun the weapon around in satisfaction. I then received the armor, and tried it on. This time, Evie was inspecting me. "Hmm..." she lightly blushed, "...the armor looks nice... I think you should take it." Evie voiced her thoughts, and I took a look at myself. Boar armor surrounded my gut area just like Evie''s. The color of the fabric was all a dark blue, similar to my hair color, including the shoulder and shin guards I was wearing. The only things that my armor didn''t cover was my arms, my face, and my feet. It seemed that I was wearing a coat, since the fabric extended up until the length of my heels, and the jacket buttoned up, only to be covered by boar hide. The dark blue fabric had silver lining, and my boots were just simple black sandals, made of straw which was again covered in the same blue fabric. My arms didn''t have any guards, but my two swords hung at a perfect angle from my sides, and their chains wrapped themselves around my arms. The shoulder guards were engraved with symbols I didn''t know of, and I asked Keith what they were. Keith smiled, whispered, "It''s time," and pulled off his black wig. On his head were two horns, about three inches tall. They curved like a devil''s, but it didn''t frighten me. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Evie stood next to me, ready to fight. I motioned for her to stop, and questioned, "Keith, are you.... a devil?" "No! I''m not a devil damnit! I''m the same as you! A demon! Except, I''m a full fledged one, that''s why I have horns. I saw your ears, so I noticed that you''re a half. I didn''t know one lived so close to me. Oh, and by the way, I wasn''t bald before, ok? I lost hair as I aged....." Tears welled up in Keith''s eyes, and I commented, "It fits you. I won''t tell anyone you are a demon. So what is this engraving on my shoulder?" Keith responded, "Yea, I trust you. The engraving is my house, the House of Belire. Each demon has a house, and I noticed you didn''t have one, so I just invited you to mine....you can''t refuse though, sorry. Don''t worry, it''s not bad. When you go to another city with demons, you''ll be recognized. That''s all." The symbol was an engraving of three spiked vines curved together making a triangle. The engraving was done on a silver coin, about two inches in diameter. Looks like I can head to the demon cities then...probably won''t be moving anytime soon. I still need to check the whereabouts about Maxus and Evie. Keith explained, "It''s quite nice, I know, but be careful not to lose it. That engraving is just there until you get yourself marked by the House of Belire itself. Anyway, that''s it, so please...get out. I''ve got some work, so see ya!" Keith led us out of his smithy, and we silently decided to move towards the markets to gather information on the church. People pushed, and shoved, and the crowd became unbearable. The people didn''t care one bit about their rudeness, and I also knew that this was an excellent environment for pickpockets to thrive. I knew was about to snap again, so I calmed myself down by counting from 1 to 1000, took a few deep breaths, and walked into the nearest alleyway with Evie. The day was nearing its end, but the alleyway didn''t seem dangerous at all. The sunshine radiated the alley with a faint light. I felt a stare on my back. A stare similar to the one when I was eating my breakfast. This feeling again...someone should be here.. I turned to see that we were surrounded by men clothed in full black clothing, with red bandanas covering their whole face. 1..3..5..7...9..10.......14.. Fourteen huh? Alright this should be easy... Can''t attract attention, so I should keep it low key. I counted in my head, and I smirked, "Finally. I''ve been waiting to have some FUN! I must thank you all for coming here today, since I had this feeling that I needed to let out since a while ago..." The bandit-like people were perplexed at my words, and didn''t respond. Amidst the confusion, I motioned Evie to get moving, and I had already thrown my two wakizashis at the two men in front of me. The blades pierced through them, and my chains rattled. One of them charged at me, but I flung one of the bodies I pierced at him, and with my other free blade, I cut his head off. No cries or yells sounded. Only the sweet thud of a head being sliced off and falling to the floor caught the attention of the rest of the bandits. I retracted my weapons, and prepared for the next skirmish. I noticed that two of the twelve bandits had escaped quite stealthily. Cowards... Further down the alleyway, two more of the soldiers were quickly taken care of by Evie, with her new glaive. The weapon seemed to be moving at an alarming pace, even for someone like me, who just happened to glance. Evie''s glaive flashed with a quick spin, and the the two necks of the bandits on both sides of her were slashed. They fell to their knees. The red liquid quickly poured down their bodies, while they choked on their own blood. The rest of the eight men inched backwards, taking a few steps back every second, making sure that they would be out of harm''s way before dashing. All eight of them accelerated into a full sprint, but I never planned to let all of them go. I''m kind, so I''ll let them live a little longer before I hunt the rest of them down. It''s like a game! My sword was thrown, and the weapon gouged one of the fleeing bandit''s back. He fell to his knees, but I didn''t finish him. I let the sword lodged in his body, so he wouldn''t die from blood loss. The man whimpered, "...a...ah.." The other seven already fled, but I didn''t mind. I walked towards the man that was on his knees, and I loudly whispered, "Don''t say anything...don''t yell....don''t move. All of these actions will get you killed, ok? I need some information. Give it to me, and I''ll let you live. " The man nodded his head violently. I continued, "Sounds good. First. Tell me where the church and its affiliated buildings are...this damned city is too big. Second. Tell me any rumors about the church. Lastly, tell me who you are, and why you decided to attack me." "I....I..." The man stuttered. "Answer me properly." He coughed blood, and answered, "My name is Evan. I''ll....I''ll help. Promise me you''ll leave me alive. I know I''m not in a position to ask for such a thing, but..." "I''ll leave you alive." "Alright, " Evan confirmed, "The church can be found two miles northeast from here. It''s found near the assassin''s guild, for reference. There is......one affiliated building. A mile west of the Church of Light, there is a cafe. It''s.... popular. The church uses it to make money, I''ve heard. There is only one rumor about the church. It is said that...." He belched blood. There was now a pool of blood around his knees. He cleared his throat, ".....sorry. It''s said that the cafe is a location where one can easily pick up women due to its prime location...or something. Lastly, our group name is the Aldwins. We fight for justice, and we have been successful in helping people many times....but now, it''s just a place where bandits can hatch plans... we originally wanted to steal your two swords, that''s why we tailed you since the beginning. We then saw the new weapon that your wife has, and so, we greedily aimed to get those as well. Take care of the corrupt bandits, please. I was one of the original creators, but I was swayed by the money. I''ll do anything if you return our guild to its former state.... " They tailed me without me noticing for a long time.....they could help me in the future. I saw Evie blush from the corner of my eyes. I turned back to see Evan starting to lose color in his eyes. I grabbed his face with my hand, and used my [Mind Perception] skill to read his thoughts, to make sure that he was telling me the truth. He''s not lying.... My expression lightened, "I''ll kill them for you, since I need some pastime activities..." I smiled, and withdrew my weapon back into its sheath. He returned my smile. I whispered, "You''re free to go." Evan laid there, on the floor, with the pool of blood beneath him growing with every second. "Goodbye. Well, I hope I get to see you again. Try to take care of these dead men for me." After finishing my sentence, I left the alleyway with Evie. I grabbed the first stranger I saw walking back from the alleyway, and feigned a frightened expression while explaining to him that a man was dying. The man I grabbed seemed kind. He nodded to my words, and immediately walked into the alley to see what has happened. The day was nearing its end, and the sun started to drop from the sky. I looked up to see colors of orange, yellow, red, blue, and purple.The air around me was clean, easy to breathe in. I walked alongside Evie, through the diminishing crowd, towards the adventurer''s guild. A light breeze brushed softly against our faces. Evie exclaimed, "It''s finally time to collect our rewards." --------------------------------------------------------------- Author: Hope you enjoyed the chapter! The room is going to be the next chapter. I at least hope so. I aimed to get to the room in this one, but it seemed that it would be too long. So I shortened it. This chapter was a bit of a filler, mainly for Evie and Roran to get some new armor. What did you think of this chapter? Please comment! Helps me churn more chapters out! Warning: Next chapter will have mature scenes. Thanks for the support! I''ll link the comedy FF in this story''s description. Come back and check in once in a while, you might see that I finally wrote it! :) If you find any faults in the storyline, or anything wrong with the grammar, please do comment! Next Chapter: The Room. - Chapter 10 (Yay!) Chapter 10 - Secret Rooms Author: Last chapter was filler, but I''ll try to make this chapter a little more interesting. Sorry about the long wait...due to work piling up, I wasn''t able to write the next chapter. Thanks for reading, I really do appreciate it. [th_093.gif] Next chapter will have mature scenes. (Hopefully. LOL I''m writing this as I go, so it''ll be here soon don''t worry!) Comedy Status: Unfortunately, I have been running low on excess time....it was quite hard to find time to write this chapter as well...Even after all that planning, I need to drop this due to a lack of time, and motivation. Anyway, if you are interested in the other story I wrote, (even though it is only a prologue) here it is: http://royalroadl.com/fiction/5669 (King''s Road) I''m not especially talented at comedies, (I''ve never written one), so I wanted to try. I don''t think ill be continuing it, but here it is anyway! -- This comedy was unplanned, I just thought of it while daydreaming.. this wasn''t the one I originally planned for. Do give me your input if you like/dislike it! Thanks Well, here it is! Finally chapter 10! Tenth chapter woohooo! Hope you enjoy, and please comment, rate, favorite, follow! Chapter 10 - Secret Rooms ---------------------------------------------------------- The next morning, Evie and I woke up, eating the same breakfast as yesterday, without any problems. We left Jak''s Inn and headed towards the Adventurer''s guild located somewhere in the center of the city. On the way through the bustling crowd, a sharp pain rang through my head. I grasped it with both my hands, and I crouched, attempting to make the pain disappear. People walked passed me without a concern, but Evie placed her hand on my shoulder. "Are you alright Roran?" AAHHHHHHH!!!....My head feels like its splitting apart....I''m sure it''ll subside. I replied to Evie''s question, "O....of course. Follow the plan." I stood up, and through my sudden dizziness, I carefully limped through the crowd, into the guild room. The room was lively and quite loud, the adventurers were jumping, and partying without a care for the world. I was pissed. Their incompetence angers me. Why, why oh, why do they exist? They are not needed in this world. "SHUT UP! You assholes have one job, and you can''t even do that! Hah! At least, sit the fuck down, and let me do my job properly." The whole room silenced themselves quickly, at the sound of my unforgiving words. I dismissed my sudden outburst as a result from my sudden and severe head trauma, and silently walked to the front desk, where the female receptionist wore a frightened face. Again, I didn''t care, so I just proceeded with my business, "Oi. Yeah you. I have around 300 silver scales from the hydra quest here. Give me the payment now." That female receptionist handed me around 200 gold coins, and without complaining, I just turned and left. -------------------------------------------------------- Evie''s POV Roran''s acting weird. I mean, he''s usually the type to keep his calm, until something interesting happens. And by interesting, I mean something to do with killing.....He''s had his hand pressed against his head for a while now too.....Something wrong with his head? No, that''s the usual... I tried to smile, and comfort him, but he just walked passed me, and exited the guild. Without me. That made me mad...a little. I followed him to the exit, with my emerald glaive attached to my back with a sling. The people were still moving around, seemingly doing some important business. The sun was at its highest in the sky, and its radiation made me flinch when I lifted my head to look at it. It left me startled for a bit, but Roran stopped, and grabbed my hand. Good, this is how it should be...without Aria...just me and him....that''d be nice..nono..I shouldn''t be selfish.. _____ Our walk to the Church of Light was a quiet one. One could hear nothing but the sounds of people scuttling by, and not to mention, the sound of a light breeze. A few hours later, Roran and I reached the Church, but he immediately pulled me away from the entrance. "Let''s head to the cafe first. I have a feeling.....that the cafe might have something interesting.....if its owned by the church, its worth looking at," he explained. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! At the sight of my silent nod, he led me towards the entrance of a rather normal cafe, other than the fact that the name was, "Each Cup a Blessing - Cafe." A dry laugh sounded from Roran. ...And so, we entered said cafe. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Roran''s POV There were many square tables laid across the cafe floor, and in turn, there were also many customers. Maids and butlers, dressed in peculiar clothing, served the customers. They wore clothing that wouldn''t affect their movement, for men: a sleeveless white shirt, a pair of boots, a circular necktie, and a pair of loose pants. The women seem to be wearing a similar outfit, but one with a skirt, instead. I kept this in mind, with the thought that the clothing itself was a bit suspicious. I motioned for Evie to wait for me, and sit at one of the tables. She hesitated, but ultimately sat one of the empty bar seats. Ther bartender eyed me suspicously, and I returned his greeting with a fake, but bright smile. His suspicion was wiped clean when he heard my whisper, "I''m here for this cafe''s special services....do you understand what I''m saying?" Surprised, the bartender walked me to the staff room, at the edge of the room. The liveliness of the cafe disappeared, the moment the door to the staff room closed. The door creaked slightly when he opened it, which made me cringe. The man lifted an square door on the floor, and motioned for me to go inside. My steps down to the cave echoed, and the bartender''s steps sounded much louder. I couldn''t shake the feeling of contempt emitting from behind me. I took quick peeks behind me, as my caution was as never ending as the lives of all people that walk on this planet. The bartender didn''t notice, and I proceeded to evaluate the space around me. I deduced that this would be the perfect place for an ambush, or rather, to dispose of dead bodies. Our walk was taking awhile, and my time perception was flawed. I thought it was about 15 minutes, and we soon came to a fork in the road. My sense of smell was not excellent, but the stench of something rotting escaped from the left path. The bartender, noticing my reaction, pointed towards the right pathway, without a word. Our walk to our destination was painful. The silence, only accompanied with the sounds of creaking boots, and light water drops, made my suspicion rise with every minute I counted. Our destination is close....its close....close... , I kept telling myself. It felt like I would go mad, if it took any longer. This isn''t natural...I thought, and I looked forward to see the cave was pitch black. The bartender, who I could barely see, was still walking next to me, according to my ears. I let my suspicion grow, but I didn''t voice any complaints. A small light shone, at a distance which seemed miles away. About 30 counted minutes later, we arrived at our destination. The board hanging at the end of the cave informed me of the business to be made..... "All Actions Illegal." Those words escaped my mouth, and I continued to read the rest of the words below the title, which explained the nature of all transactions, and how they should be maintained. The end of the cave opened up into a room, filled with lantern lights throughout the somewhat spherical room. A kid stood behind a counter, and his eyes pierced right through me, as if trying to kill me with his eyes alone. His build was unnatural, as he was very skinny, and wore loose clothing, that didn''t fit his image of a receptionist. As he was short, he wore a relatively tall hat, seemingly, to compensate. Grim words sounded from the kid, "Weeelllcome! I see you''ve brought a new customerrrrr Barron! Leeetts play some fuuuun games shaaall wee?" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author: Well there it is! I didn''t really have much time to write this, so don''t expect too much. My work time to free time ratio has been getting larger, and my lack of motivation helped me procrastinate on writing this. So, again, due to a lack of motivation and piling of work, these chapters will be updated slowly. Sorry about that. Silent Hill, I appreciate your comments!!! Thanks for the support. I have not edited this chapter, so, sorry if there are any mistakes! Do give me your thoughts on this chapter! PS. I''m hoping to write a sci fi...if I ever find the time.....(I''m trying to find a good genre I can stick with.... comedy was not my forte, unfortunately.) See you next time! Chapter 11 - (TBD) Chapter 11 - Game Explained Author: Hello! Looks like I have some time, so I decided I would try to write a chapter! I''m actually thinking up another story as well with a friend, but I don''t know if I''ll write it....It''s a sci fi, psychological, dementia, mystery, and an action(strategy)...I thought I''d tell you guys if my friend and I ever get to write it out. Nothing''s on paper...we''ve only talked. Well, not much of an intro from me, but here is the next chapter! Thanks for reading, and please rate/comment/follow/favorite!!! I didn''t edit this...so there might be some mistakes. Let me know if you see some! :faill: Chapter 11 - Games ------------------------------------------------ Roran''s POV ------------------- The shadow of a child glistened under the faintly lit lanterns that were placed around the room. The child in front of me voiced his words yet again, seeing as I hadn''t mouthed a word, or changed my uncaring expression. "Hmm....maybe I didn''t say it right.......welll....ok. LET''s PLAaAYY A GAMe!" His words screeched, and echoed around the room, which made the lanterns lit around the spherical room flicker for a brief moment. I flinched, and took a step back, which then caused me to bump into the muscular "Barron" man who was leading me to the "All Things Illegal" store. From the place I was at, I couldn''t even tell if it was a store. Seeing as the kid was crazy, I looked up at "Barron" for an answer, only to receive silence. Due to the room being poorly lighted, I couldn''t catch the face of the child. What is this...."game?"....... It felt like I was standing there forever, under a dim light, and my thoughts resounding throughout my head. But....everything ended with a push of a button. A small click resounded throughout the room, and I felt the ground under me crumble. I looked down, to see myself falling into a dark abyss, and looked up to confirm the identity of the young child. Just in time before I fell, I saw it. Yes, it. The face of the child.....wasn''t a child-like face. No...It was one of a lurker of darkness, which would feed upon other''s misfortune. How I knew this, even I couldn''t tell. The one word to describe his face...and seemingly, his body, was rotting. It was not a skeleton yet, but rather, one that was being eaten by black gouges around his face. Horror covered my face, and for a second, I forgot about my fall into nothingness. I felt pain the moment I hit the floor. I fell on my back, and I immediately took notice towards the pain coming from my abdominal region. My stomach was pierced through by a sharp, icicle-shaped rock. I was stuck in mid-air, with this stone stuck through me. My yell resounded throughout the dimly lit, empty room. I then noticed it wasn''t empty, and looked around to see other horrors. There were similar rocks that protruded from the round, and the one that was located to the right, about 10 meters away from me, had a girl impaled, exactly in the same fashion as me. Seeing her, I felt a smile creep up my face, but it was immediately stopped by the stinging pain from my situation. She probably was dropped recently....like me. I turned right to see the girl speaking inarticulate words. She turned to see me, and I saw her face creep into the smile that I would have shown. To my surprise, she started laughing. The light allowed me to only see the shadow of crimson blood flowing down the conical rock that pierced her. Her arms and legs hung, as if without any energy, but she smiled with an alluring look under the shadows of the light. Suddenly, I heard other groans of pain around me. They were sounds of slow death, and one of inexplicable pain. These sounds fueled my will to kill. With that thought in mind, I called ''status.''
Cursed. (Type: Life''s End --- High Value): --- Cannot recover. EVER. This curse will haunt you for eternity. You have signed a contract with the devil himself with your impaling. --- This curse will prevent you from ever viewing your stats. --- You are under an illusion that you are injured more than you really are, making you an existence close to Death, himself. --- This curse will remove the following skills: ENRAGED, Sacrifice, Soul Eater. --- Also Removed: Blessings of Nex. Your journey to your death is now no longer sponsored by the God himself. --- This curse will grant you THREE skills in exchange for your contract: ------ Soul Collector (LVL 1 - MAX)(Passive): You can collect the souls of the dead. Your betrayal of the Death God Nex has pained you so, and the burden of the souls of those you kill are passed to you, instead of the God himself. The souls you kill are sacrificed to you, and you are hailed as The Reaper of All, Sinners or Not. [Betrayer of Death] --- Akia Nex (1st Preacher of The Betrayer of Death/ Soul 1) (STOLEN SKILL REMOVED) ------ Give Life (LVL 1 - MAX) (Active): You may give life to a soul you have obtained. In exchange for one of your organs, another soul, and all your mana, that is. HAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA [The Soul will receive their own body] ------ Bestow (LVL 1 - MAX)(Active): You may bestow your believers with power. Grant 1000 Str. to one person. That person gets the blessing for 1 minute. Uses 300 Mana. --- To Convert people into your new religion, the believer must say these words: "Your holiness has been acknowledged. I will follow you to the ends of the world."
Name: Roran NexClass: The Reaper of Souls (LVL 20 MAX)
Guild Rank: BAge: 16 Years
Titles: --- The Hated --- Betrayer of Death
Level: 10HP: ---HR: (Health Recovery) ---.
Special: [---]MP: ---MR: (Mana Recovery) ---.
Strength: ---Endurance: ---Vitality: ---
Intelligence: ---Willpower: ---Agility: ---
Luck: ---[LOCKED][LOCKED]
Sub-Classes:[NONE][NONE]
Afinities: --- Soul Magic (LVL 10) [LVL 0 = No Skills/No Training]
Skills: --- Active Perception (LVL 15 MAX) -- Can inspect items/living things to extract known information from the largest library database in the world - (the Kingdom of Katylda). User must be looking at the object. --- Reap (LVL 20) (Passive) -- [Obtained by LVL 10 as a Reaper of Death] -- Can grant excruciating pain to a person (using souls), but does not kill the person. In exchange for 10 HP, you can feed the souls already obtained with the pain of a living being. [YOU CAN CHOOSE THE WAY OF TORTURE] [Uses 20 MP per use] --- Black Phoenix [Legendary](LVL 30 MAX - Default)(Active) -- {You have risen once from the dead, now...*don''t* rise again..} Granted by the D--th G--''s favoritism. In exchange for using this skill, the user will be sacrificed at the time of death, and the user will not be able to use any other types of magic. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. The user is granted the divine power of a black phoenix. [The Divine Power is the ability to fly, and steal 1* skill of the same attribute of the darkness.] Only one of such a phoenix lives, and to see one is considered too "holy for the eyes" by some of the SOON TO BE DEAD followers of D--th. Obtain the Blessing of the Black Phoenix to maximize the potential for this skill. To activate this skill, you must be almost dead, or someone you know needs to be dead. --- Stolen Skill: Hydra''s Flames (LVL 1 - Static) -- You can use the flames of the Hydra. Deals 200 Damage, and if used long enough, you can melt things. [Uses 20 MP per Min] {This skill will be replaced when you steal another skill.}
I''ve been cursed. Moreover, I''ve apparently betrayed Death. A moment of surprise turned into a moment of happiness, as my cry resounded throughout the dark room, "HAHAHHAAHHAHHAHHAHAHAAAAAHAHHAHAAAAAAAA!!!!" The girl next to me wasn''t surprised. Rather, she looked at me understandingly. Fresh blood poured from my body, down the stone. Knowing that I wouldn''t be conscious for any longer, my grim laugh was followed by a rather unnatural plea to the girl, "Won''t you help me..." The world went dark around me as I closed my eyes, succumbing to the pain. I let my mind swim around in nothingness, but I was soon awoken with a cold bucket of water to my face, probably minutes later after my impalement. I awoke to find the girl I laughed with, well, almost. Her age was close to mine, at least that was what I thought. She was short, about only to my shoulder, and she had beautiful, long golden hair that reached her feet, and bright red, cat-like eyes. The darkness that surrounded us accentuated her eyes, and a shiver ran through my back. She was wearing a scarlet one-piece dress, with frills at the end of her short sleeves, but, I couldn''t trust my eyes, given the location I was in. The silence was broken with her haughty, yet elegant voice, "Hmph, why is one like you impaled in such a position, as I was?" She spoke in a slightly condescending voice, and one that implied seniority. As I was confused, I asked, "W...who are you?" My question was answered with a grim smile. I soon wondered where she had procured her water, and I then soon realized that the ground itself was a shallow pond. My body was surprisingly well, and all signs of my injury disappeared. For the girl as well, she was devoid of any injury, rather, she looked very healthy. I felt a slight tickle at my neck, and when I touched it, I noticed that a little blood was flowing down my neck. I looked at the girl for answers, but she quickly turned around, as if avoiding something. "Wake up, human. I don''t know why I helped such an unimportant creature, but I guess it was on impulse. Don''t overestimate your worth," her words resounded. I thanked her, and without a response, she just walked away. I heard some more groans, except this time, the noises were getting closer and closer to me. I didn''t really care for the girl that helped me, because I know for a fact that people always help others with other intentions in mind, or an ulterior motive. I readied my fists, because it seems that my armor was useless, while my weapons might have dropped somewhere. The dim lights didn''t help that situation. I kept my eyes in the direction of the groans, and I noticed a group of decaying kids, men, and women all dragging their bodies towards me. The "people''s" entrails dropped as they walked, and their bodies seemed to be laying for years on end, since a very familiar stench entered through my nose. The smell of death. Soon, even my crazed laugh from before couldn''t be compared to the noise that the groans created in the dark abyss. The echoes further emphasized the sheer amount of pain and people. Ugh. I''ve been hit too hard, I don''t even remember how much mana I have....So. I don''t even know how many times I can use the Hydra''s Flames... I casted while keeping active. This way, I can feed Akia, too. I hope she levels up when I feed her though, otherwise my time and effort are useless. The flames engulfed the people, and the smell of burnt blood and flesh eased my mind. The "humans" - or whatever is following me - aren''t conscious. They lack vital organs, but they still move, I surmise necromancy is being used. A man in front of me turns to black, as his skin degrades. His heart is missing, and he seems to have been a victim of the falling trap, like me. Of course, I don''t really care, but that is vital information to know that someone has been here before me. Even the fact that I would turn into that, is quite important. I suspect that that "child" is a necromancer....the one with the unnaturally tall hat, and degrading body. Just his image makes me want to throw up. His face was covered in black belches, and his skin was tearing off, revealing some of his muscle, and his bone. My fifth call of echoed again, and the flames continued to burn the heaps of people that follow me. Luckily, they seem to only come from one direction, but that makes me quite suspicious of the situation. The flames sometimes didn''t kill them, and the bodies continued to crawl towards me, with only the upper half of their bodies, while dragging their guts along. The rest of the monsters didn''t care, and they nonchalantly walked over the group of waist-less people. Suddenly, a voice other than mine and that girl''s resounded throughout the room. It was the "child." "Well, looks like you all survived round 1!! I wanted to make sure that Barron~ didn''t get me trash toys... Luckily, he didn''t! Good JOBbb Baaarronn~~. Let me explain the rules, and the prizes!! Ok, so here goes: If you die, you get rewarded with death!! yaaay! And, you get to turn undead, and live under there forever!! So fuuunnn~~. But, if you live, I will turn you undead myself, and personally kill you~~ Great Right! I''m sooo~~ kind~~. Of course, there is the third option: somehow, you escape, and you meet me. Once you meet me, you can bring me a body of someone else that is participating. Of course, they have to be alive. I don''t care, woman or man. I need a new body! The one I have is decaying, unfortunately~~.... Well, Staaart~~!" The trail of zombie-like creatures stopped, and they instantly vanished, into thin air. The burnt blood stayed, however, and it bubbled, and fizzed, while evaporating into the air. I stood alert. I now knew that there were other "participants" other than me, and that girl. Knowing this, I started walking towards my fall location, to find my weapons. There- I met it. It''s shadow was the only thing I could see. It was moving slowly, towards me, possibly carrying a dead body as a weapon, if my eyes weren''t lying. The sounds of scraping, and dragging were heard, and for a moment, I couldn''t move. Grunts started sounding as well, and the breathing of the thing reached my ears. But, I now had a worse problem than it. The girl that saved me, yes, the one with the beautiful features. She was approaching me. As stealthy as a fox, and as quiet as a panther killing its prey. Her eyes told me one thing - she wasn''t going to die. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Author: Well, no Evie today, maybe I''ll do her situation next chapter, or the beginning of the next round of the game. What would you like to see? Thanks, and please give me your input on what you think of this storyline that is being uncovered. Please follow/favorite/rate/comment! Next Chapter: TBD - Chapter 11