《Regis》


 Authors Note

    Hello readers,


    This is my first work so please do give me feedback. I am in school so I will try to release a chapter a day, but probably might end up doing 1 chapter every two days. This is based of many of the light novels I''ve read. It''s mostly going to be like a xianxia but there might be some content like a  wuxia as well. My first language is english so I think my grammar is pretty good. Anyway, first chapter will be out today so watch for it.


    Also if you want to see some scenes or want me to include certain content, don''t be shy and ask. I will always be open to new ideas and will always welcome them. Although I may not be able to put them into the story immediately, I probably might incorporate them into the story later on. Also the first 10-15 chapters are what set the story up and then it really dives into it so please do be patient. Since I also don''t like information dumps/expositions, I will try and keep it to a minimum.


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. I don''t know whether to include horror in the tags because there will definitely be some gory scenes, but does that require the horror tag? please provide insight.


    Also there will DEFINITELY be MATURE CONTENT. although I will try and tone down the sex scenes, unless you guys want more of it("cough"perverts"cough") There will be plenty of blood and gore and swearing. I know some people don''t like this king of stuff but it''s really hard not to have this stuff. If you think I''m going overboard please tell and I''ll fix it. Any ways, chapter incoming later on, watch for it


    Thanks

 Prologue

    ??????, Year ?????


    The sun was setting, painting the land a deep scarlet red. The earth was covered in red liquid seeping from tall hills present as far as you could see. 4 figures stood on a mountain watching over the scene.


    Figure 1: What a mess. Did you really have to be so messy little brother? There are far more easier ways to wipe out an army.


    The hills were in fact bodies, corpses. There were beasts, winged creatures, humans, evil looking things, puppets, and pointy eared beings. Their bodies still carried a frightening pressure. Nobody could get near without dying. Yet those 4 figures stood there as if they didn''t even feel the pressure


    Figure 2: HAHAHAHA!!! Bit it''s more fun this way. Tearing their bodies apart was fun! Look! one of them even managed to scratch me. HAHAHA!! If I did it your way would I have gotten this wound. NOPE! I got a battle wound. I''m not like you. I like the feeling of battle. HAHAHAHA!!


    Figure 3: Disgusting battle freak.


    Figure 2: Don''t say that to me. I''ve what you do to your opponents and victims.


    Figure 3: Hmmm (snorts)


    Figure 4: ........................


    Figure 1: All right you two stop fighting. What are we going to do know? This is what you should be focused on.


    Figure 4: His majesty is dead


    Figure 1, 2, 3: ..............


    Figure 2: Big Bro ...... Does this mean that......


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.Figure 4: No. His majesty might have died but his power lives. His essence survives and his successor will arise. It is our duty to guide him.


    Figure 1: So big Bro we wait then?


    Figure 4: Yes. We wait. For now. And soon we will rise and vanquish everyone who stood against his majesty. Lets Go.


    Figure 1, 2, 3: Yes


    Figure 4 then turned his head towards the corpses and looked. The corpses suddenly disappeared as if they evaporated. The only remaining evidence of the war fought here was the numerous craters and fissures that remained. The blood, the corpses had vanished.


    Figure 4: Now that that''s taken care of. Lets go.


    Figure 2: HAHAHAHAAAAA!!!  Big Bro your power hasn''t changed at all. HAHAHA!!


    Figure 4: Enough talk.


    WHOOSH there was a sudden breeze and suddenly the 4 figures all disappeared in the blink of an eye. They could not be seen. They vanished and no evidence of their existence could be found.


    Under the setting sun, the stage is set and an entity stares down upon the world, smiles and whispers. "Try your hardest. Show me what it means to be the REGIS"


    __________________________________________________________________________________________________________


    Here is the first chapter guys. Please do tell me how my writing is. Thanks

 Chapter 1 - The Beginning

    Northern Continent, Year 12205


    In a small town located on the outskirts of a forest, there was a large house. Normally the people would be going to work in the stores and fields. But today they were all congregated new this large house. The plaque on the gate said House Zenith. Inside a tall, toned man about 20 years of age was impatiently pacing. He had blond hair with streaks of red. His eyes were a dark yellow color, very close to a light orange color. He was about 6.5 feet tall. He had muscles but he was not overly buff. One could say he was well toned. He was dressed in a crimson robe, not overly flashy but he did have several rings on his fingers. From outward appearance he appeared to be a rich noble or retired adventurer.. But right now, that man was walking speedily in circles while biting his fingernails. A man who was watching this said, "My lord, stop worrying, Selina is a very strong woman. Nothing is going to happen to her."


    The Lord said, "I know, I know Doran. But my cute little daughter is about to be born. Oh my little Sarah. fufu Daddy is going to hold onto your hand and carry you and.....(starts mumbling)"


    Another man watching asks in worry, "Ummm... Doran should we be worried??"


    Doran just replied, "No. His lordship sometimes goes into random fits like that. Just ignore him. He''s just excited to be having a daughter."


    The other man suddenly asked, "But why is he so sure that it''s a girl? What if its a boy?"


    CRASHHH!!!. The Lord suddenly turned around and stared at the man. The Lord asked the man, "W.. Wh.. Wha. .What..What did you say? Can you repeat it?"


    The Man confused about what was confusing the Lord said, "Uhhhh... Your lordship I just said what happens if it is a boy?"


    The Lord stared blankly at the floor. The Lord suddenly mumbled, "If if if if ... If its a boy. ......... Kill."


    Doran (shocked) shouted, "My lord! You can not be serious! You can''t just .. . ."


    The Lord suddenly turns around with tears in his eyes. The Lord shouts at Doran, "What am I going to do? Doran! HELP MEEEEE!!!"


    Everyone stares at the Lord shocked at his behavior. This was not their usual composed Lord. Doran calmly refused, "My Lord. I am afraid I can''t do that."


    The Lord screamed in anguish, "NOOOOO!!! If you can''t help me think of a name for a boy....... Selina is going to KILLLLL MEEEEE. I said to leave it to me and that I was going to come up with the best names ever and I got so caught up in a baby girl that I totally forgot if its a boy!!!!!!!!!!!!"


    Everyone just stared blankly at the Lord. So he didn''t mean that the baby boy was going to die. He meant HE was GOING TO DIE. Everyone just stared at him with a look of pity. The Lord wailed, "NOOOO!! Stop looking at me like that and somebody quick!! Give me a name."


    Doran coughed dryly, "Cough.. Cough.. My Lord I''m afraid we can''t help you on this."


    The Lord pointed at Doran and ordered him, "Why not!!! I Know!! I order you as Zaenor, The current ruling head of the House of Zenith and this town."


    Doran flatly refused, "I am afraid we still can''t help you."


    Zaenor started begging, "But But But Why not. Please I''m asking Please help me Doran, Pretty Please help me?"


    Doran plainly stated, "Your Lordship, It''s not that I don''t want to help you but its that I can''t."


    Zaenor was confused, "Huh?? (tilts head) What do you mean??"


    Doran explained, "I mean that your wife, Selina EXPLICITLY told us that if we so much as even gave you a hint, she would get VERY PISSED.


    Zaenor just stared blankly. .........


    Doran spoke to Zaenor, "Your lordship, remember when Selina last got angry?? The remains of that town are still there. Nobody dares move there because they fear the ''Wraith''s Wrath'' "


    Zaenor suddenly announced, ".... Quick Everyone Evacuate the town. Take only what you need. This is not a drill. I repeat this is ......"


    Suddenly the doors opened interrupting Zaenor''s order and a woman came striding out.


    The Woman informed Zaenor, "Your Lordship, the child is born. Her Ladyship requests you to come in."


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Zaenor asked, "Selina asked for me?"


    The Woman hesitated and then said, ".... No. She said she ORDERED you to get in."


    Zaenor couldn''t say anything. .......


    The people all suddenly turned away and slowly started walking away.


    Zaenor turned to Doran and said, "Doran, my old friend. If I don''t come out, the town is in your hands."


    Doran just laughed, "HAHAHA nice joke your Lordship. If her Ladyship is that pissed, I''m afraid even that prince would run away to the neighboring kingdom."


    Zaenor sighed, "Haaaaah. Wish me luck."


    Doran mumbled, "Good luck... Zaenor."


    Zaenor stopped and asked, "Calling me by my name. It''s that serious huh."


    Doran replied seriously, "Yes, it is."


    With that Zaenor slowly walked into the room. In the room there was a beautiful young woman, around the same age as Zaenor lying on the bed. She was holding a little bundle to her chest. Her hair was a gorgeous blue, the curls tumbling down to just below the shoulders. Her eyes were the color of ice, created the effect that she could freeze you with a gaze. She stared at Zaenor as he walked into the room. Zaenor quickly walked up to her and asked with concern, "Selina! Are you alright."


    Selina looked at Zaenor and assured him, "I''m fine Zaenor. look it''s a baby boy. Isn''t he cute?? Want to hold him??" Selina stared innocently at Zaenor as she asked him this.


    Zaenor grimaced and asked, "You heard it all didn''t you?"


    Selina just smiled and said, "You forget Zaenor, My affinity with wind is higher than yours."


    Zaenor looked downcast as he mumbled, "Yes How could I forget. ....... Please don''t kill me."


    Selina smiled as she said, "fufufu we shall see. For now here hold our little baby and see if you can come up with a good name. If you can I''ll forgive you."


    Zaenor suddenly became energized. Zaenor exclaimed excitedly, "Haha my beautiful wife, This is the only chance I need. Here let me see my strong little boy."


    As Zaenor took the little boy, the first thing he noticed was his eyes. They were a dark violet color and his eyes were crystal clear studying Zaenor''s every move. The next thing he noticed was his hair. It was a dark golden color with streaks of azure. It was like the Sun and the Sky mixed together. He looked like a reaper thought Zaenor. He shook his head and thought of names. One name came to mind.


    Zaenor proclaimed proudly, "His name shall be Rykor. Once the strongest of all dragons, now he shall be the strongest of all humans."


    Selina lifted an eyebrow as she said, "Hmmm. I didn''t think I would say this but nice choice. Hmmm calling him Rykor all the time would be such a drag. Haaah. I know!! Rykor.. Ryu. His nickname shall be Ryu. A dragon amongst men."


    Zaenor mumbled, "If he has your temper, forget bane of dragons, he will be the bane of all creation."


    Selina turned with a smile and asked, "Hmmm Did you say something dear??"


    Zaenor shivered as he saw the aura something that should not exist behind Selina, "Of course not dear. I was just saying what a wonderful nickname."


    Selina looked doubtful but sighed and said, "Hmm I''ll let you off today because I''m really happy today."


    Zaenor sighed in relief as he had dodged a bullet.


    As they admired their little boy they planned for his future, but they could never have imagined that this day would go down in history as the birth of a Ruler beyond their imagination.


    Similarly, they were unaware of an unknown entity staring down at their child. The mysterious entity sighed and spoke softly, "This is the 52nd candidate. I hope that at least one of you from this batch can entertain me. I hope your better luck than your predecessors. Sigh.. At least get the inheritance, don''t even need to become as strong as he was."


    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________


    Here''s the first chapter. Sorry for the delay. I couldn''t make up my mind if I should split it into two chapters or not. Then I decided whatever.

 Chapter 2 - Daily Life

    Hey guys this is an extra chapter for Halloween. The regular chapter will be out later today.


    Northern Continent Year 12206


    Selina POV


    We just celebrated Ryu''s 1st birthday. I gave him a new toy. It was nice to see him playing. My idiot husband got him a sword... Sigh.. I don''t know what to do with him anymore. What is a 1 year old baby going to do with a sword? Can''t he even think first. Always running around with Ryu saying that he''s going to be a great warrior. Fufu... I am going to turn Ryu into a super powerful mage. And if my dear husband dares to object..... fufufu I have some punishments for him. Fufufu should I use that one? No this would be better fufufu.


    End POV


    --------------------


    A dark aura swirled around Selina. All the maids turned around acted like they didn''t see anything. Somewhere in the house, a man suddenly started shivering.


    Zaenor POV


    What was that? Is something dangerous nearby? Why did I start feeling like my life was in danger? Hmmm? The feeling is gone. Maybe a dragon flew by? Whatever. What was I doing again? Oh yeah. What should I give Ryu as a replacement for the sword. Hmph. (snorts) Can''t believe that Selina didn''t let me give Ryu a sword for his 1st birthday. If he doesn''t start playing with swords now, how is he going to become a legendary Warrior? I mean my parents started training me with weapons since I was 4 and look how I turned out. I am great aren''t I. Yeah I am. Hahaha. Now what should I give him. Oh I know, maybe Selina didn''t let me give him a sword because he can''t pick it up yet! That must be the reason! [author note: no its not. I feel sorry for this guy] She is so smart! In that case, what can he pick up and play with. This dagger? Hmm how about this dart? Oh I know this needle! It''s perfect! It''s sharp and can be concealed and since it''s small Ryu can easily weird it. Fufufu. Let''s start training Ryu. RYU, RYU, WHERE ARE YOU?


    End of POV


    -----------------


    Meanwhile....


    Ryu was in the courtyard playing with his new toy. His mother had gotten him a toy horse with wheels instead of legs. There was a rope attached to the head of the toy horse. He was fascinated by it, pushing and pulling it around with him everywhere he went. He laughed in delight as he played. The maids were watching him making sure to keep him safe. The occasional guard going past on patrol would smile as he saw this adorable scene. The maids were all thinking that it would be nice if he was like this forever. They were hoping that he didn''t inherit his mother''s temper or his father''s block headedness. Just imagining him with his mother''s temper made them break out in cold sweat. Suddenly the doors to the courtyard burst open, interrupting everyone''s thoughts. They turned around to see who it was and they saw....


    Zaenor shouted, "RYU!!! Look what daddy has for you!!!"


    Everyone stared at Zaenor wondering what was going to happen next. Ryu just stared at the man who interrupted his playtime. Zaenor excitedly explained, "Daddy brought you a brand new toy! It''s an assassin''s needle! You can conceal it and you can use it easily and ....."


    As Zaenor rambled on, everyone stared in shock. The lord had brought his 1 year old son a weapon as a toy. However the shock soon turned to dread. If.. If her Ladyship were to find out about this.... The thought made their insides churn. Just as a maid was about to warn the Lord... A voice spoke up, "Fufufufu. Looks like someone''s having fun doing something they shouldn''t be doing."


    Everyone turned around and saw their worst nightmare, Everyone turned pale. Standing in the doorway was a woman surrounded by a dark, menacing, evil aura that was covering the entire courtyard. The atmosphere became suffocating. Zaenor stood there looking normal. Everyone thought that he was going to stand up to his wife. Their view of the Lord began to rise. Suddenly they noticed something. His legs were shaking uncontrollably. Their perception of him went lower than it originally was. What a coward they thought.


    Zaenor said while shaking, "Darling, look I got him a new present."


    Selina smiled while shaking her head, "Dear, I thought I told you no weapons last time."  [Author: This woman is scary]


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Zaenor was shocked, "WHAT! i thought you said no sword because Ryu is too small to wield it!"


    Everyone stared at him and thought all at once, "What an IDIOT!!"


    Selina was still shaking her head, "Dear look like you need to learn a lesson."


    Zaenor suddenly ran and picked up Ryu and said, "Ryu help daddy!!! Save me from mommy!! Please Please Please."


    Everyone just stared dumbly and sighed. Why doesn''t he learn his lesson??


    Selina moved forward while an overwhelming aura spread out from her back, "Oh you dare to talk back DEAR??"


    Zaenor stammered, "Look Look Ryu is on his daddy''s side. You don''t want to make Ryu sad do you? Come on Ryu tell mommy. Come on Ryu."


    Ryu kept silent. Selina said, "See he''s not helping you. Fufu now put him down and get your ......"


    Ryu softly said, "Mo...Momma"


    Everyone suddenly stopped everything and all thoughts came to a halt. The one thing on everyone''s mind was DID RYU JUST SPEAK?? Ryu had always been a quiet child and would always play silently. Even when the other children had started talking, Ryu would just sit quietly and stare. He was not retarded, everyone knew. His gaze was intelligent as he was observing everything. Everyone thought maybe he''s just shy or quiet nature. They always took it in stride and pampered Ryu. but his one word had suddenly brought tears to everyone''s eyes.


    A Maid asked, "Did.. Did the young master just speak?"


    A Guard replied, "I heard him but i don''t believe it."


    Selina just laughed, "Fufufu." She started giggling even though she had tears in her eyes from the sudden shock.


    Zaenor was worried, "Selina, .... are you okay?"


    Selina laughed and proclaimed, "HAHAHA, fool. Ryu''s first word was mommy. That means he likes me better. How do you like defeat?"


    Zaenor shouted in denial, "N. N. O.. NO WAY!!! This can''t be true. this isn''t happening."


    Selina proclaimed, "HAHAHA it''s my victory!"


    Zaenor stammered, "B.Bu.But if if if I hadn''t told him he wouldn''t have said mommy first."


    Selina suddenly shouted in shock, "Wah! This can''t be."


    Zaenor seeing this put on a smug face and started to say, "So that means this is..."


    Selina interrupted, "A draw. Unless you want OTHERWISE?"


    Zaenor shrugged not wanting his wife to get into a bad mood, "That fine. Although Ryu come on say daddy say daddy."


    Ryu said softly, "Da...Dada."


    Zaenor shouted in joy, "OH!!! My little son said daddy. Yes! We''re having a feast today."


    Selina softly prompted, "Ryu say mommy. Come on."


    Ryu responded, "Momma."


    Selina gloated, "HAHA my son is a genius. HAHAHA"


    Zaenor pouted, "No fair. My turn. Say daddy Ryu. Say daddy."


    As the couple took turns having their son say their names, the Town soon turned into a festival. Zaenor started a feast and invited everyone to take part in it. Drinking, singing, and dancing began happening all over town. And so the festivities continued all night long.


    Still No-one noticed the entity standing over the town though.


    The Entity Sighed, "Should I go down there and enjoy a bit too? Hah.. Well too late now, their closing up. I shouldn''t be so indecisive. Anyway I heard it''s fun to hang around mortals sometimes. This one truly is entertaining. Especially his parents. Never seen mortals that are so................rare? No that''s not the word.........Hmm Unique! That''s what they are. Unique. Especially that woman. Seriously why are all woman so ... soon.. Hmmm, whats the word I''m looking for. Ahh! Thats it, Terrifying. Seriously no matter which realm or if they are mortal or not, why do women have such tempers. Seriously I am so lucky. Hahaha. Anyway what was I thinking about? Oh yeah the boy! Huhuhu. With those parents, I wonder if the Boy is also going to turn out to be more UNIQUE??? Hahaa, lets see."

 Chapter 3 - Lets Go!

    Northern Continent Year 12209


    Ryu had just 4 years old this year. He was now 4 and half years old at present. He had grown to about 2 feet or 2/3 meter. He was now more active than before, running about the house calling out to all the guards and maids. For his 4th birthday, His mom had given him a small flute, enchanted by wind magic. His dad had tried again to give him a weapon, after which he was dragged off by Selina. Ryu''s dad wouldn''t say what happened, but he came out of that room shaking and shivering. After finally compromising, *cough* begging *cough* Ryu''s dad had given him a wooden sword to play with. Ryu started taking music classes with his mom and swordsmanship classes with his dad. But to this day, Ryu had never crossed the house gate. He had never left the house.


    Zaenor called, "Ryu, come down here we need to talk."


    Ryu shouted back, "Coming Dad!"


    He shouted and ran downstairs, sliding down the handrail of the stairs. Zaenor was sitting down in a chair and drinking tea. He gesture to an empty chair right beside him. Ryu sat down and wondered why he was summoned. Ryu asked, "You wanted to talk to me Dad?"


    Zaenor responded, "Yes son, me and your mom have been talking and we were worried about something."


    Ryu reassured his dad, "I won''t tell anyone that you get beat up by mom, I promise Dad."


    Zaenor spit out the tea in his mouth and started coughing violently. Zaenor looked at Ryu and asked, "Son where did you here about that?"


    Ryu tilted his head and said, "I heard one of the guards mention that you were henpecked. I asked Uncle Doran what henpecked meant and he said it''s when the wife beat up the husbands. Is it wrong?"


    Zaenor ignored the question and started muttering, "Huhuhu, looks like I need to have a chat with your Uncle Doran about this."


    Meanwhile somewhere in town, Doran suddenly sneezed.


    Ryu seeing his dad muttering asked, "Can I go now Dad, you have that weird look on your face again."


    Zaenor shook his head and began to smile normally. Zaenor asked, "Never mind that, the reason why me and your mom were worried is because you have never been outside the house.. All the other kids your age have already started playing in the town and running all over town causing a nuisance. But you haven''t stepped outside. Don''t you want to play outside?"


    Ryu put on a puppy face and had tears in his eyes as he asked, "Dad, (Sniff) (Sniff) Do.. do you want me to become a nuisance? Is Ryu not a good boy? (Sniff)"


    Zaenor shouted as he tried to console Ryu, "Waaah! Ryu is definitely a good boy. Come here. Don''t worry Daddy will make everything all better."


    Zaenor said as he left out of his seat and hugged Ryu. He started patting his head and tried his best to calm down Ryu.


    As he was doing so, Selina walked in through the door and saw Zaenor hugging Ryu and comforting him. She smiled as she though that Zaenor had convinced Ryu to go outside with them. Selina asked her husband, "So Zaenor, is Ryu going to come outside with us?"


    Zaenor turned around with fire in his eyes and said, "NO WAY!! My little boy doesn''t need to go anywhere. I will give him everything he ever needs. Ryu can stay right here with his super awesome Dad."


    As the guards and maids saw this they thought his Lordship had finally become a man and stood up to his wife. All the guards were giving Zaenor a thumbs up. As they were doing so, a dark shroud covered the entire room.


    Selina said in an eerily monotone voice, "DEAAR, I don''t know where that courage came from, but I will teach you what happens to brave fools."


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    BAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!       CRRRAAAAAAASSHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!


    A few seconds later Zaenor sat in the corner and was holding an ice pack to the lumps that had appeared on his head. A pathetic Wuuuuuuh could be heard from coming from him. The guards and maids had disappeared in these few seconds and where nowhere to be found. Selina ignored Zaenor as she sat down next to Ryu. Selina asked, "Ryu why don''t you want to go outside?"


    Ryu tilted his head and had a puzzled look on his face, "Why do I need to go outside? I have everything in this house. You and Dady are here with me. There are lots of books for e to read and sometimes you read me bedtime stories. There are lots of uncles and big brothers (guards) for me to play with and all the big sisters are super nice(maids).  I can practice the sword in the garden and you teach me how to play the flute. Why would I need to go outside?"


    As Ryu said all this, Selina listened closely. After Ryu had finished, Selina let out a little sigh, "Ryu, do you remember the story I used to read to you for a bedtime story?"


    Ryu excitedly began to ramble on, "Yup! It was super awesome and the hero was so cool and super strong and he had the strongest friend and......"


    Selina interrupted Ryu and said to him, "Ryu, don''t you want friends like that? Don''t you want to have adventure like that? Don''t you think it would be fun to travel the world?"


    Ryu stayed silent.


    Selina continued on, "Remember reading about what a great time the hero had in school? Don''t you also want to go to school? You can get a super strong pet and wander through all 5 continents. You like reading right? You know there are uncountable number of books waiting for someone to read them. There are books from ancient era''s that nobody has found. There are dungeons and ruins waiting to be explored. Don''t you want to enjoy all of these?"


    Ryu lifted his head up and Selina saw stars shining in them. His entire body was shivering and there was an excited aura about him. He opened his mouth and starting talking nonstop, "Alright. In order to have fun, I will go outside. What''s first Mom? A dungeon or going to a different continent or maybe school or fighting a dragon or ......."


    Selina interrupted Ryu, "Ryu, calm down. First you need to grow up to go to a different continent or even dungeon exploring. As for fighting a dragon, I hope you don''t do that because they are extremely powerful. You have to be prepared to fight them. You can go to school, BUT you need to be 10 years old. So you have to wait another 6 years."


    Ryu pouted, "AWWWWWWW."


    Selina continued on ignoring his pouting, "But for now, you will accompany me and your dad to walk around town and do some shopping."


    Ryu shouted in excitement, "Yay, Let''s Go!!"


    <hr />


    Later


    Zaenor got up and walked over to Selina after talking off the ice pack. He seemed to be thinking deeply about something.


    Selina asked, "What are you thinking about Dear?"


    Zaenor replied absent-mindedly," I was just thinking about our trip to town. You know what happens if he meets a cute girl in town? "


    Selina froze. She stayed that way for a few minutes. Then frost began to cover the room. Selina started muttering, "Fufufufu I will never let some vixen take away my darling little boy. If some witch tries to steal him then I will truly get furious. HAHAHAHA....."


    A dark air spread throughout the house and anyone who saw it shivered from fear. A woman in town saw the house and shivered instinctively. Then she sighed, "Haaaah, it seems Selina has gone into that mode again. Geeze she should really learn to control that bad habit of hers. Well that answers my doubt if she was present or not."


    <hr />


    Here''s your regular chapter for today. These will be another one tomorrow! Happy Halloween. Have fun, Be Safe, Enjoy your Candy

 Chapter 4 - Exploring the Town, LIBRARY

    Northern Continent Year 12209


    After lunch, Ryu along with his parents, a few  guards, and a couple maids, walked into town. Ryu''s house was located near the western part of the town. It was only a 10 minute walk to the shopping district. As they walked, Ryu was staring at all the things he had never seen before. His eyes were sparkling so much it seemed like they might become miniature lasers. Along the way many people payed their respects to Ryu''s mom and dad. After so many of these encounters, Ryu payed attention and afterwards he had a question, "Mom, why does it seem like everyone is scared of you?"


    Everyone suddenly froze. The guards and the maids had pale faces. Ryu''s dad looked like he was about to burst into laughter. Ryu was puzzled at their reactions. He didn''t understand why they were so scared. Ryu''s mom turned around ignoring the other''s reactions. Selina said to Ryu, "They''re not scared of me."


    Ryu asked in a doubtful tone, "Really?"


    Selina assured Ryu, "Really. They are just intimidated because I am from a super noble family. They probably have bad experiences with other nobles. After all not all nobles are as nice as me or your father. They''re just not used to it."


    Ryu responded, "Oh is that so. That makes sense. Hey look why are so many people wearing jewelry? isn''t it uncomfortable?"


    Selina explained to Ryu, "Oh no Ryu that is because ......."


    As Ryu and his mom talked about things that were new to Ryu, everyone else felt their faces cramping. Zaenor was thinking that he was indeed nice. He was thinking about what gift to buy his wife for the compliment. However, the maids and the guards were screaming in their hearts, "INTIMIDATED?? THEY''RE TERRIFIED. IF YOU ARE NICE THEN THERE ARE NO EVIL NOBLES" They were struggling to keep their true feelings hidden. After all they didn''t want to get on the bad side of her Ladyship.


    A few minutes later they arrived at the bazaar. There were merchants selling their wares and farmers selling their produce. There was shouting as the merchants advertised their wares and customers tried haggling. Ryu''s eyes were almost falling out as he tried to take everything in at once. Meanwhile the maids left to buy the groceries and some of the guards went with them. Zaenor and Selina looked around as they were deciding where to go. Suddenly Ryu let out a gasp.and pointed at a tall building. It was shaped like a spire and was the tallest building around.


    Ryu gaped, "Is...Is..Is that a LIBRARY?!!!! Can we GO!! PLEASE Dad? PLEASE MOM??"


    Zaenor laughed as he saw Ryu''s reaction, "HAHA of course we can. Lets go right now."


    Selina also agreed, "Alright let''s go then Ryu. Do you want to borrow some books?"


    Ryu chanted excitedly, "Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes!!!"


    Selina tried to calm him down, "Alright young man calm down. you can check out some books. How about we even get you your own library card?


    Ryu stood there his mind almost exploding from excitement, "Th... Tha... THAT WOULD BE AWESOME!!!!!!!! Let''s go, let''s go, let''s gooooooooo!"


    And so the group approached the library. Zaenor, Selina, and Ryu went inside while the guards waited outside. As they went inside, Ryu saw hundreds of shelves packed with books. Just the the thought of thousands or even tens of thousands of books in front of him almost drove him crazy. At home the personal library only consisted of about  800 to 900 books. As he looked around in amazement, he saw a spiral staircase leading upwards. His eyes shone at the thought of even more books.


    Ryu asked while looking at the staircase, "Dad, how many floors does this library have?"


    Zaenor pondered a while before responding, "Uhhhh..... Let''s see. Last time I was here there was 6 floors. Although the tower seems taller so they probably added a floor or two. No that I think about it. I gave the library some funds to buy more books. So they probably have around 8, maybe 9 floors?"


    Ryu just opened his mouth and left it hanging. Just on this floor alone there were maybe close to ten thousand books or more! And his dad had just told him that there was EIGHT FLOORS at LEAST. that meant almost ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND BOOKS!!!! Ryu''s eyes began to swim, his excitement threatened to overcome him.


    Selina giggled, "Fufufu. What do you think Ryu? Isn''t it impressive. Although some of the basement floors and upper floors are reserved for ummm other uses, the 1st to 3rd floor is open to the public for reading. There is about maybe forty thousand books, I think? It''s pretty good for a small town library but our family''s main building has more books that this on a single floor. So this isn''t that impressive."


    Ryu couldn''t process this piece as he tried to imagine how that library would look like, "O....ON....ONLY F..FO...FORTY THOUSAND BOOKS!!!! "


    Ryu held his head as a headache threatened to burst open his head. Forty thousand BOOKS!!!! That''s enough to last him 1, 2, 3, no it was enough to last him a LIFETIME!!! And his Mom said it wasn''t that impressive??? So what was impressive?? Then he remembered something his mom had said. Their family''s main building had more books than this ENTIRE LIBRARY on ONE FLOOR!!!! Ryu turned around and faced his Mom.


    Ryu drooled as he asked, "Mom, can..can we go to the family''s main building? PLEAAASE???? Huhuhu Uncountable number of books, that.. that.. that is HEAVEN!!!!!"


    Selina laughed as she saw his reaction, "Hahaha, you can go in the future when you grow up. But for now if you can''t even finish these books, then how are you going to read all of those books there? For no read what you wan to here. I can guarantee that there is probably all the books you want here."


    Ryu mumbled in a low voice, "Fufufu, Mom said I can go in the future. Hahaha, those books are mine, mine."


    Stolen story; please report.


    As Ryu began mumbling there was a little dark aura present around him. It wasn''t to the point of other people being scared of him, but people began to subconsciously avoid him. Zaenor''s eyes widened a bit as he saw this and he mumbled, "Not good. He is slowly gaining Selina''s personality. Must change it somehow. Can''t let another person like her exist. By herself, she managed to corner a kingdom. If she joins forces with him...... I can''t even begin to imagine what will happen. Must do something."


    Meanwhile at the same time, Selina also mumbled, "Fufufu, my son is beginning to grow up. Good if he continues to mature like this, forget this kingdom we can rule the WORLD!!!! Huhuhuhu........"


    As each person began to dwell in their own thoughts the Librarian was beginning to wonder if they''d ever move away from the entrance. After all they were scaring away the townsfolk from the library.


    -------------------------------


    After what seemed like an eternity, the family moved to the librarians desk. As they approached, Ryu saw the librarian and began to observe him. The Librarian was a dark skinned, think coffee color, man who was about 6 feet in height. He seemed more like a mercenary with his bulging muscles and dark tattoos. His hair was black and his eyes were a deep red color. He appeared to be about 30 years of age, older than Ryu''s parents. Ryu was surprised at his appearance because it was the first time he had seen someone with such dark skin or red eyes. Some of the townsfolk were tanned but not this dark skinned. Zaenor walked up to the Librarian.


    Zaenor waved his hand as he greeted the Librarian, "Yo Syra what''s going on? No matter how many times I see you, you don''t look like a librarian at all. "


    Syra responded, "Hmm. What does that have to do with anything? Look at you. Just from outward appearance people might think that you are a young smart noble. Instead your an IDIOT, but we can''t tell from your appearance can we?"


    Zaenor flared up as he shouted, "You!!! Alright fine lets take this outside punk. "


    Syra just sighed at Zaenor''s behaviour, "Ha, say that once you''ve beat me little brat."


    Selina tried to mediate between the two, "Alright gentlemen, calm yourselves. Honestly, you guys are like children, fighting whenever you meet."


    Syra just responded, "Isn''t it the same with you and her?"


    Selina asked in a chilly tone, "Hmmm, I''m sorry. It seems I didn''t hear what you said. Could you REPEAT that?"


    Syra just snorted, Humph, Talk like that when you can beat me little girl. Go show your scary side to someone else. Anyway what do you need? This is the first time you lot have come here in a while.


    Selina ignored the rebuttal to her attempt to frighten him and responded, "My darling little boy would like to get a library card. So issue one please."


    Syra looked at Ryu and then scanned him as if evaluating him. Syra asked, "Hmm brat don''t you want to play with the other kids? Why spend your time reading all these useless books?"


    Ryu shook his head and said honestly, "No I like reading. And these books are not useless Mister. They teach me a lot. Like what kind of magical bests there are and how to tame a beast and all the different kinds of dungeons and more!!!"


    Syra smiled at this response, "Looks like you didn''t inherit your father''s idiocy. Good job."


    Zaenor bristled at the insult, "Hey!! Alright I''m going to kick your ass today. Get outside."


    Syra ignores Zaenor and starts shuffling around the shelves of his desk. Papers go flying and ink spills. Syra finds what he is looking for and pulls out a card. The card is blank and completely white. Syra gestures towards Ryu, "Alright kid, give me your hand."


    Syra takes Ryu''s hand and suddenly using a needle breaks the king of his thumb. Ryu flinches from the sudden pain and starts to suck on his thumb. He starts glaring at Syra thinking about how to get him back. Syra looks at him and then sighs, "Kid that wasn''t out of evil intentions. It''s procedure for getting you a library card."


    Ryu just tilts his head and asks, "Huh??"


    As he stares all evil ideas fly out of his head. As he stares at Syra, Syra puts ryu''s blood on the white card. There was a small flash aa the card suddenly levitates. The card drops back into Syra''s hand. It''s now a dark gold color with swirls of azure and weird violet designs embroidering the sides of the card. In the middle is his name, Rykor "Ryu" Zenith. There was a weird symbol underneath his name that seems like the number 4.


    Syra explained what the card can do, "Kid here is your library card. This will grant you access to almost all libraries in the Northern Continent and to some even on other Continents. This symbol represents that you have tier 4 access. It''s the highest I can give you for now. The tiers start at the bottom with tier 7 and go up to tier 1 being the highest. I myself am  a tier 3 so if you prove yourself in the future I''ll give you tier 3 access. Also this card is bound to you by blood so no one other than you can use it now. Alright??"


    Ryu''s eyes sparkled and he started hearing all this new information. His mind swirled as he realized he could borrow books now. Ryu just vanished as he looked for new books, "Huhuhu, Hahaha Book getting time!!!"


    He sprinted towards the shelves to get some books.


    <hr />


    Here is your chapter for today. I might release another one today, but probably will release it tomorrow. Please do note that there will be some exposition/ information next chapter. It had to happen sometime and I prefer sooner rather than later.

 Chapter 5 - Eternia

    All right guys, here it comes. WARNING - MAJOR INFORMATION DUMP. I tried to make it interesting but couldn''t really find a way. I promise to make the next time not as painful or as long. Sorry for this painful long chapter. I will release a chapter tomorrow. Think of it as an apology for this one.


    <hr />


    After excitedly running around looking for books Ryu collapsed at a table and there were already pile of books on the table. As Ryu gazed at the Library he observed what the books in front of him were. The titles went, The 5 Continents of Eternia, Fun Facts About the Races, and Training Guide. Ryu decided to read the book about the continents first. He started reading.


    The World we live in is name Eternia. This world has five continents. 4 of the continents are named by the 4 cardinal directions. The Northern Continent, The Southern Continent, The Eastern Continent, and The Western Continent. These 4 continents form around the Central Continent. Each Continent is dominated by a different race.


    The Northern Continent is the birthplace of humanity. Humans are dominant on this continent and have established two different Empires. The first is the Imperial Empire and the second is the Zoltor Empire. The Imperial Empire is composed of the Nylor Kingdom and the Dryland Kingdom. (The Royal Family¡¯s names are the same as the name of their respective kingdoms.) The Zoltor Empire is composed of the Molgor Kingdom and the Vane Kingdom.


    The Imperial Empire believes in Human superiority and elitism. They believe in nobles right and power. They believe more in the power of Knights than the power of magic. The Imperial has an elite Knight legion. The Zoltor Empire believes in co-existence of all races. They are more open to interactions between other races. The Zoltor Empire also believes more in meritocracy than elitism. People are promoted to noble status based on their merits and abilities, not their ancestry or heritage. They are also more inclined towards magic than the Imperial Empire. They promote both magic and martial path of cultivation. The Zoltor has both an elite magus squad and an elite knight squad.


    The Southern Continent is the homeland of the demi-humans and beastmen race. The beastmen have more animalistic features than human. For example the Lamia or Mermaids. The Demi-humans are more human-like. For example the Neko, cat eared people, or the Lycan¡¯s, the wolf eared people. The Southern continent has only one empire. It is united under one of the Divine Beast, the Qilin family. It is said that the ancestor of the Qilin was the legendary magical beast, Qilin. His descendents rule the Southern Continent. They have horns/ antlers and a dark reddish mane and sometimes have a thin dragon like tail. The Qilin Empire consists of the Avian Alliance, the Beast Kingdom, the Dwarf Nation, and the Amphibious Nation. Each of the kingdoms consist of the respective types of demi-humans and beastmen. The demi-humans and the beastmen do not discriminate against each other.


    The Eastern Continent is the home of the Dragons and Titans. They are ruled over by the Dragon Emperor and the Titan King.They have no kingdoms and each dragon or titan is free to go anywhere they want. Dragons love sleeping and playing more than anything. Although both dragons and titans enjoy a good spar, not many of the races are strong enough to do so. So most of the time, the dragons and titans compete with each other. One of the most ¡°free-est¡± continents.


    The Western Continent is the Home of the Fey, the magical races. The ruling body is the Fey Empire. The Fey Empire consists of the Demon Kingdom, The Elf Nation, and the Spriggan Territory. The high ranked devils are usually the ones in charge of the Fey Empire. They are the strongest of the Fey races and therefore view themselves as the protectors of the Fey races. The Demon Kingdom is bound with the Fey Empire. The Elf Nation population is mostly Elves and Fairies. The Elf Nation live in the great forests of the Western Continent. They distance themselves from politics. The Spriggan Territory is very loosely governed as Spriggans love freedom.


    The Central Continent is home to the Magical beasts. They are ruled over by the Beast Emperor. One of the most united Continents. They do not hate any race and have expanded to be present almost in any Continent. They vary greatly and are present almost anywhere.


    Ryu put down the book and started processing the information. Dragons, and demons, and demi-humans, and elves, and¡­¡­.. His mind started wandering everywhere. He began to wonder when he would be able to tour all of the Continents. He was thinking which of the races are the most friendly.


    Ryu (thinking): ¡® It said Dragons love playing, does that mean they will play with me if I go? How about Spriggans, they seem mysterious. Ooooh I wonder, can the Titans grow???¡¯


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    As Ryu was thinking about all of these, his a book caught his eyes. It was the 2nd book in the pile. the one titled Fun Facts About the Races. It might have the answers to the questions that he had! He immediately picked up the book and began reading.


    There are many races present in Eternia. The first race is humans. Humans are a race that is born weaker than most races. However as if balancing out this weakness, humans have higher potential than most of the races. Humans are one of the only races able to use almost all of the elements/attributes. Humans practice both martial arts and magic. Humans are also better than most races in enchanting, alchemy, and crafting.


    The second race are the demi humans and beastmen. The avian species include all humanoids with wings and mostly bird demi humans. These avians almost always have wind affinity. They also mostly have lower potential than humans. Although there are always exceptions to the rules. The beast varieties include all humanoids of best descent. For example wolf, deer, rabbit, or snake.They have the highest potential of all the Demi-humans and Beastmen. They are stronger than most of the other beastmen. The amphibious varieties are mostly lazy and love to sleep most of the time. They are the most peaceful of the beastmen and demi-humans. The dwarves look like short and stubby humans. They grow to be average of 3.5 feet. They have the highest potential in crafting out of all the races. They also have the potential to become strong warriors as well.


    The next race is the Fey. These are the most magically inclined out of all the races. The Elves consist of multiple varieties of elves like Nature, dark, Wood, and High elves. They are considered to be peace loving and nature loving. However, they make excellent mages and archers. Dark elves  in particular are strong warriors/swordsmen. They are also some of the best healers of the races. The Fairies/Pixies are mischievous pranksters and unchangeable. They coexist with all of the humanoids and Fey races in peace. They are the most friendly and peaceful of all the races. Dragons and Demons are particularly fond of them. The Demons are the strongest of the Fey race. They consider themselves as the guardians of the other Fey races. They do not get along with Elves, with exception of dark elves. They adore the Fairies and will kill anyone who hurts them. They and the dragons became friends through the common friendship of the fairies. The Spriggans are the offspring of the wind and nature elementals. They are the closest beings to elementals. As such they love freedom.


    The next race is Dragons. Dragons are the most powerful of all the races. They can grow to be on par with gods or deities. They also include lesser dragons like wyverns, drakes, and wyrms. Once dragons reach a certain level in strength, they can morph into human form.


    The next race is Titans. Titans are said to be the descendents of a god and they have power on par with Dragons. They are peaceful and their original adult forms are around 30 feet tall. The Titan King is rumored to be 90 feet tall. It is known that Titans reach maturity at 20 years and at maturity they can reach 30 feet tall.  It is said that Titans grow additional foot every 1,000 years. Titans can shrink to size of humans from birth, it is an inherent ability. Titans like competing and they like dragons because they can go all out when fighting them.


    The next race is Magical Beasts. They are very strong and present on all continents. However the strongest beasts are found on the Central Continent. Magical Beasts are known to be able to morph into Human form when they grow powerful enough just like dragons. Most Magical Beasts are born with a lower intellect than humans. It is only by growing stronger that they become smarter. However, some exceptions do exist and some types of Magical Beasts are born with equal intellect as a human. It is also known that the Magical Beast Emperor is on par with the Dragon Emperor. They have a friendly relationship.


    The final race is the Elementals. They are literally manifestations of the elements themselves. Their personalities depend on their element, and they are all free minded and they love wandering and lazing around. It is not known where their home continent is, but they are hard to find, elusive.


    As Ryu kept his head stuck in the book, almost as if he was falling into it, Syra looked on in approval. He had rarely seen a child who acknowledged the importance of knowledge and took time and effort to read and understand a book. The few children he met that were like this, usually preferred stories like hero tales or princess stories. Ryu was indeed special, and Syra could tell that he would grow up to be an incredible figure. However, not even in his wildest dreams did he imagine that Ryu would become a Legend.

 Chapter 6 - Way of Training

    Here is your regular chapter for you guys today. Sorry that it is late, I was busy with class work. I will not be releasing another chapter tomorrow as I have class tomorrow. I will release another chapter on Wednesday.


    <hr />


    Ryu shut the book and looked up. His eyes were swirling and everything he read was going through his head. Dragons...Titans...Fairies....THEY ALL SOUND SO AMAZING!!!!!! Ryu had never felt anything like this before. He was simply too excited. When would he get to travel? When would he get to meet and play with all these creatures and races? He was too excited.


    As Syra saw the fumes coming out of Ryu''s head and his eyes transforming into miniature stars out of excitement, he sighed. Syra thought "This kid, geeze better go calm him down before his head explodes." Thinking this, Syra walked up to Ryu. Ryu was so involved in his day dreaming that he didn''t even notice Syra walking up to him. Syra shook Ryu''s shoulder and snapped him out of his daydream.


    Syra sighed, "Kid what''s wrong with you? Did the books get into your head?"


    Ryu exclaimed, "Mister Syra!!! Sorry, I was too amazed by what I read.Is the real world really this awesome?"


    Syra said, "Yeah, the world really seems awesome though the books right?"


    Ryu nodded, "Uh-huh!!!!"


    Syra stated, "Yeah. But in real life the world is much more cruel."


    Ryu asked, "Huh?? What do you mean??"


    Syra said, "Reading this is all nice and pretty, but in the real world strength is what matters."


    Ryu asked in confusion, "Strength?? Isn''t everybody nice with each other??"


    Syra pointed out, "Do you really believe that Ryu? I know you are smart. Do you think that there won''t be people in this world that will abuse their powers?"


    Ryu silently thought about what Syra had said.


    Syra continued, "Think about your story books. If everyone is nice why is there a villain? Why would the hero have to kill the evil person? Why would there need to be a hero?? If everyone is nice than a hero is not needed because everyone will help each other with their problems. It is because there is evil in this world that there is a hero. Do you understand?"


    Ryu asked slowly, "I think so but can I travel around like the hero??"


    Syra said honestly, "That depends on you. Whether or not you can become powerful enough to do so is up to you. Whether it be me or your dad or your mom, we can only show you the path. To travel the path and reach the apex is all on your little shoulders."


    Ryu asked earnestly, "All right I''m ready how strong do I have to be?"


    Syra just smiled and said, "I''ve already laid out the path for you. Finding your way through it is your job. Now if you''ll excuse me."


    As soon as the words left his mouth, Syra disappeared, as if he had never been there. Ryu just stared dumbly at this scene. The only thing he could think right now was " AWESOME!!!!!!!". This was the first time that he had seen any skills being performed in front of him. He began to wonder when he could become that strong. As he day dreamed, he suddenly snapped out of it and began to recall their conversation. What did Syra mean that he had laid out the path?? As he was thinking, the last book on the table, caught his eye. Training Guide. Was this what Syra meant when he said that the path was already laid out for him? The that meant while Ryu was running around with his new library card looking for story books, Syra had already gathered the books and left them on this table AND he predicted that Ryu would sit at this table. Ryu stared blankly as he realized how far above Mister Syra was from him. His eyes suddenly showed a hint of resolve and he picked up the book and started reading. Syra watching all of this,


    Syra remarked, "As expected. He realized everything that I did. What an intelligent boy. Really now, can''t believe his dad is Zaenor. Ah well it makes sense in a way. Just have to make sure that Selina doesn''t influence him to much."


    As he was talking to himself, he suddenly felt an itch.  Syra suddenly mumbled, "Wait... No Way....... She came HERE!!! Crap, gotta take care of this before Selina notices."


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    As he said this he vanished from the library as another person walked up to the desk wearing the tag, Employee. Meanwhile, Ryu had already begun reading.


    Cultivation in Eternia is broken up into Realms. Realms are divided in to Ranks and Ranks are further subdivided into tiers from 1- 10.


    The 2 realms are Earth Realm and Heaven Realm. The Earth Realm is divided in to 11 Ranks. The ranks go:


    Earth Realm : (Ranks)


    Initiate, Novice, Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced, Adept, Expert, Master, Grandmaster, Guardian, and finally Earth.


    After the Earth Realm is the Heaven Realm. The Heaven realm is further divided into 10 ranks.


    Heaven Realm : (Ranks)


    Storm, Typhoon, Saint, Paladin, Profound, Sky, Warlord, Sage, King, and finally Heaven


    Each rank has 10 tiers. For example a 2nd tier Elementary ranked knight of the Earth realm.


    [Author: I''m just going to refer to it as Elementary 2nd tier when I write otherwise it''s too long]


    Earth realm experts use the mana/qi present in the earth to battle. The Heaven realm experts use mana/qi present in air and earth to fight. Heaven realm experts can use this mana/qi to fly. The divide between each realm is enormous and is impossible to bridge.


    There are many cultivation manuals but the core essence of every manual is the same. How to achieve each level of cultivation may differ but the goals are the same. Every living being uses the omnipresent energy to cultivate. Warriors refer to this energy as Qi and Magus refer to this energy as Mana. Although the names are different, it refers to the same energy.


    Mages and Warriors must cultivate using their Dantian/Core. Warriors refer to it as Core and Magus refer to it as Dantian. There are different arguments for where to establish the Dantian in the body. The most prevalent and accepted is for Magus in the head and Warriors in the navel region.


    The path of cultivation is difficult, for we mortals are trying to overcome the heavenly laws placed on us. To overcome our mortality, to become immortals, to ascend to Godhood.


    Ryu couldn''t stop shaking from excitement as he was reading the last paragraph.To become immortals, to ascend to Godship. These were words that might seem silly coming from the mouth of a child, but Ryu engraved this onto his mind. It was his new goal. Strength is no longer enough. These continents will not restrain him in the future. His power will know no limits. It was from here that Ryu''s passion began.


    -----------------------------------------------------


    Somewhere in town.


    Syra questioned softly, "What are you doing here? Do you know what will happen if Selina sees you??? Do you remember what happened last time??"


    The other person said with their head down, "Yes, I know Syra. It''s nice to see you again as well. I''m fine too by the way. It''s nice of you to ask."


    Syra''s gaze softened.


    Syra said, "I know alright. Sorry for that rudeness. Although I am just worried -"


    The other person interrupted, "For me right?  I know but for these ones lives I must be here. "


    As she said this two little shadows peeked out from her legs.


    Syra seeing this sighed, " Haaaaaah. Fine I''ll help you meet. But I am not responsible for what happens afterwards. "


    The other person said softly, "Thank you... I owe you too much."


    Syra responded with a wry smile on his face, "Yeah you do. So pay me back after you get rich quick."


    The other person just smiled with a tinge of sadness in her eyes.


    <hr />

 Chapter 7 - Hide!!

    Sorry for the delay. I was busy with class work. Here is your regular chapter. the next one will come out the day after tomorrow. I have class tomorrow sorry :p.


    <hr />


    Ryu was reading everything with great concentration. Suddenly, a hand shook him out of his reading. It was his mother. Selina asked, "Ryu, have you had enough for today? We can always come back tomorrow, right?"


    Ryu nodded, "Alright mom, let¡¯s go."


    Ryu picked up the books and brought them to the front desk to return them to Syra. Upon reaching the desk, Ryu discovered that Syra was not there. Ryu asked the man at the desk, "Excuse me. Is Mister Syra here? I have some books I have to give back to him."


    The other librarian said, "I¡¯m sorry, he¡¯s not present now. Why don¡¯t you give me the books and I¡¯ll give them to him after he returns."


    Ryu said, "Ok, here you go."


    After he handed the books back to the librarian, the librarian took the books and flipped through them. He stopped Ryu from leaving and said, "Excuse me young master. These are not books from our library."


    Ryu was confused, "Huh? But I found them on that table."


    The librarian responded, "No, see here. If this was a library book, there would be an insignia on the last page. See on this book there isn¡¯t."


    As he was showing the books to Ryu, a little not slipped out. Ryu picked up the note and began reading.


    To Ryu,


    This is Syra. So I missed your birthday a couple months back. So just take these books as your birthday present. I heard you like reading right. So enjoy, I¡¯ll give you some more books next year.


    -Syra


    Ryu thanked the Librarian for his assistance and apologized for the inconvenience. He then walked back to his mother who was waiting for him by the door. Ryu showed his mom excitedly, "Mom, look. Mister Syra gave these books to me as a gift! He said its an apology for missing my birthday."


    Selina said, "Ah yes. He had some work to do so he wasn¡¯t able to make it. How nice of him to get you something. Did you enjoy them?"


    Ryu continued, "Yeah the books were awesome. Also Mister Syra is Super Strong!!!"


    Selina muttered, "Yes he is. Otherwise why would he be able to live for so long. tch."


    Ryu asked in worry, "Mom, what¡¯s wrong?"


    Selina smiled and said, "Hmm nothing. What do you want to go look at now?"


    Ryu asked with puppy eyes, "How about some weapons. Can we, Can we please. Just looking, we don¡¯t have to buy anything."


    Selina gave in and nodded, "If it¡¯s only to look around¡­. I guess it¡¯s fine."


    Ryu shouted and ran in circles around Selina, "YES!!!!!!! Let¡¯s goo¡­. Hey mom I just realized where is Dad?"


    Selina said, "Hmmm. Syra said he needed your dad to help him with something. So they took off together."


    Ryu thought for a bit and then said, "Oh. I bet they are bringing back more book! Hahaha, more books for me to read!"


    Selina muttered, "Tch. More like getting drunk somewhere."


    Ryu shouted as he ran ahead, "Mom!! Weapons now please¡­"


    Selina called back at him, "Alright, Alright we¡¯re going. Don¡¯t be so impatient."


    Ryu nodded and slowed down, "Ok."


    So Ryu and his mother walked towards the merchant stores, looking for a decent weapons store. As they walked past Ryu saw a weapons store with lots of sword inside. He dragged his mother inside after pestering her if they could go inside. As they opened the store the merchant inside greeted them. The Merchant welcomed them as they walked in, "Welcome dear customers Wel-..... YOUR LADYSHIP what are you doing here??"


    Selina asked with a frosty smile, "Oh, does that mean I¡¯m not welcome here?"


    The Merchant shook his head in a hurry, "Of course not, I was just surprised as to why your ladyship would visit this lowly one¡¯s shop."


    Selina said in a monotone, "My little boy wanted to browse through some weapons. Show us what you have."


    Merchant nodded frantically, "Of course your ladyship."


    Inside his head the Merchant was thinking, ¡°Why is she here, Dammit. I heard last time a merchant pissed her off and the next day he went missing. Not a single hair was found. Must not offend her. Have to keep her in a good mood. I know, I heard that she dotes heavily on her child. Let¡¯s impress/entertain the child. Maybe that will put her in a good mood.¡± He turned towards Ryu.


    The Merchant turned towards Ryu and asked, "Young Master what kind of weapons would you like to see?"


    Ryu shouted, "SWORDS! I read that all the heroes used swords. Do you have any good swords?"


    The Merchant said proudly, "OF COURSE. We pride ourselves on our collection of swords. Over here you can see our best swords."


    As he was saying this, the merchant opened some glass cases and pulled out a sword. The sword was long, thin and had a straight blue line running down the middle of the blade. The grip/handle was a shining silver engraved with grooves and the pommel held a small turquoise gem.


    The Merchant explained, "This sword was created in Vane City, the capital city of Vane Kingdom. It is classified as an upper grade Normal class weapon. The small turquoise gem can be used to store a decent amount of energy and the energy can be used to attack."


    At his comments, Ryu began staring at the sword. He was almost at the point of drooling. However, Selina was not impressed. She just evaluated the sword with a frown. Feeling that his life may be at the risk. The merchant quickly said,


    The Merchant continued proudly, "Of course this is not our best swords. Over here we keep our prized collection."


    As he spoke, he pulled out a key and opened a large shelf mounted on the wall. Inside there were 4 different swords. One was a orangish colored longsword. It had the carving of a lion on its blade. The pommel held a thumb sized orange gem. It looked fierce and powerful.


    The sword next to it was a green colored rapier. There was an ornate drawing on its handle and the pommel held a pinky sized dark green gem. It looked as if it was swaying on the shelf.


    The 3rd sword was a light blue colored saber. The blade looked flexible and the grip hid a small pebble sized sky blue gem. It felt flexible and gentle.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    The final sword was a broadsword. It was tinged light brown and there was some inscriptions on the blade of the sword. The pommel held a thumb sized dark brown crystal. It looked imposing and unyielding.


    Ryu was standing there taking in everything, from the polish on the blades to the irregular shapes of the gems and crystals. Next to him, Selina finally showed different emotion than disappointment. She did not approve the swords but she did not find them lacking.


    The Merchant explained the history of the swords, "These four swords were forged in the workshops of a famous smith. He also resides in Vane City. Each of these swords has a different elemental affinity. The longsword has fire affinity, the rapier has wind affinity, the saber has water affinity, and the broadsword has earth affinity. All four of these sword are classified as mortal class weapons. The longsword is a lower grade Mortal class weapon, the rapier is mid grade mortal class weapon, and the broadsword and saber are both peak grade mortal class weapons. "


    Ryu asked, "Mom what¡¯s elemental affinities?"


    Selina told him, "Hmm. That will be a long discussion, so how about we talk about this at home honey?"


    Ryu agreed, "Ok Mom!"


    The Merchant asked nervously, "So how are they your ladyship?"


    Selina said, "Hmm, so there are some good swords here. Good job."


    The merchant felt as though Selina was telling him that he had just saved his life. After hearing her say this, he finally let out a sigh of relief. Suddenly, Selina turned towards him and said, "Since you have the capability to possess all these rare weapons, then you must definitely have a better weapon? Am I right?"


    The Merchant said hesitantly, "This¡­. I do indeed possess a better weapon. However, it is not something people are willing to buy."


    Selina said, "I will be the judge of that. Go bring it out and I will see if it is worth it or not."


    The Merchant nodded and said, "As you wish."


    Having said this, he walked into a side room and started rummaging around. As he was doing so, a large amount of smoke came into the room. Ryu sneezed, "Achoooo!"


    The merchant came out carrying a large box. He set the box on the table and grabbed a cloth and began cleaning the dust off. After he was done, he slowly removed the cover. Inside was a golden colored spear. The only difference was that both ends of the spear had blades. It was a double sided spear. The blades were ornate and deadly. The handle was engraved and there were two gems on the handle. However there was 4 more empty slots along side the two blades.


    The Merchant said proudly, "This is the best weapon that I have. It is a peak grade Magical class weapon. It also has 2 extremely pure lightning element gems. This make it able to be on par with lower grade and some mid grade Earth class weapons. Actually, the smith who forged this weapon could not finish it. See here, there are four more slots for gems. If you could find a smith to finish this and find some high grade gems, then this spear would definitely become an Earth class weapon, maybe even a upper grade Earth class weapon. However, this is a hard task to do. Another reason nobody would buy this spear is because nobody has ever mastered the way of this spear. To use this spear you would need a new martial art. That¡¯s why no one has ever bought this before."


    Selina said bluntly, "I¡¯ll give you 100 gold coins for the four swords and 500 gold coins for this spear."


    The merchant looked up in shock. He couldn¡¯t believe his ears. Did she say that she was going to be buying the swords AND the spear?? And she was giving him more than the market price. The merchant hesitated because he did not like cheating customers. The Merchant asked to be sure, "Are you sure your grace? That is more than they are worth. And the spear-"


    Selina interrupted him, "Hmm. Are you questioning my word?"


    The Merchant frantically shook his head, "NOO Your Grace!"


    Selina said, "Good. Then go and pack them up. Also since I¡¯m paying you more than the market price, do me a favor."


    The Merchant nodded, "Of course your grace."


    Selina said, "Throw in a couple of those common daggers. "


    Merchant asked in confusion, "Are you sure that what you want. I can give you something else if you wish??"


    Selina said impatiently, "Of course it¡¯s what I want you idiot. Hurry up and pack it all up and send it to the manor. Ughh. You are taking forever. Just hand me the daggers. You can send the rest to the manor later."


    The merchant packed 2 daggers in a steel box and quickly handed it over to Selina before she lost her temper.Selina was holding the box as they walked outside. She turned around and faced Ryu, "What do you want to do right now Ryu?? We still have some time before we need to go back to the house."


    Ryu was just looking around and observing the town. Suddenly, he tugged on Selina¡¯s dress, "Mom."


    Selina said, "Yes, dear."


    Ryu asked, "Are you sure that Dad is with Mister Syra??"


    Selina confirmed this, "Of course dear. Why are you asking."


    Ryu asked, "Then how come I just saw him enter that house with another woman??"


    As he said this he pointed to a shady house in an alley that was generally unnoticed. Selina asked frostily, "What did you say dear?"


    Ryu repeated, "I said that I saw him enter that house with some strange woma-"


    BREEEAAAAK!!!!!!


    Ryu turned around at this sound and faced his mother. She had a scary expression on her face even though she was still smiling. What was even scarier was that the steel box with the dagger in her hand was completely CRUSHED. Pieces of broken box and dagger were falling to the ground. Selina¡¯s hand was not injured in the least. And at the same time there was nobody on the street. It was as if everyone had vanished in mere seconds.


    Selina said as ice covered the street, "Let¡¯s go Ryu. It seems your father needs some punishment. Huhuhuhu. "


    --------------------------------------


    A few blocks over, on a house.


    Syra was sitting there and watching.


    Syra laughed, "Hahahaha, now how are you going to escape Zaenor. I want to see this. Fufufufu, This is why I like living near these two. They always make life so interesting. Fufufufu."

 Chapter 8 - Cute!

    Here is your regular chapter. By the way. Small change. Ryu is not 4 years old. He is 4.5ish years old. I went back and changed the years. Alright here we go.


    <hr />


    Two figures walked towards a mid sized house secluded in an alleyway. One was female, tall and beautiful. The other was a boy, short and handsome in a devilish way. His purple eyes felt as if they could look into the very depths of your soul. On the other hand, the woman¡¯s frigid blue eyes looked like they could freeze you with just a glance. The woman was angry, which could be found out because a vein was protruding on her forehead. The boy looked worried and constantly glanced towards the woman.


    Ryu tried to calm his mother, "Mom, don¡¯t be so mad. I¡¯m sure that Dad is only has some business with the woman. All right calm down, ok?"


    Selina muttered, "¡­..Business??.... Hohoho, I am going to bury him together with that whore in that house. Huhuhuhu."


    Ryu kept trying to calm her, "Mom, there is a reason why Dad would lie to you alright? Let¡¯s find out what it is and then you can punish him if you are still mad."


    Selina seeing this snorted, "Humph. Fine. Now let¡¯s go quick."


    They both hurried towards the house. As soon as they approached the courtyard, Selina held up her hand, "Hold on Ryu. There is some detection magic up ahead. Let me disarm it."


    Ryu exclaimed, "Woahh, there is MAGIC!!! Where, Where!"


    Selina said, "You can¡¯t see it with just your eyes. I¡¯ll teach you later. For now, let¡¯s find out what you father has been up to."


    After disarming the traps, Selina and Ryu walked inside. After they walked inside, they noticed that there was a light coming from a room down the hall. As they crept down the hall, they realised that the light was coming from the living room. They stopped close to the doorway and waited to listen what was going on.


    Selina cast a concealment spell back when they had dismantled all the detection spells. She had also cast a silence spell on Ryu. This made it so that any sounds he made would not be heard and he could not hear any other noises as well. Since Ryu did not know this, Selina simply put her forefinger to her lips and signaled Ryu to be quiet. Ryu, simply nodded and tried to listen, not knowing that he couldn¡¯t no matter how hard he tried. Meanwhile, Selina tilted her head and listened to what was happening inside.


    Zaenor said, "Hurry up and get this over with. If Selina finds out she would be Soooo Pissed."


    A high pitched feminine voice responded, "I know, I know. So let¡¯s get this over with quick. She can¡¯t know that we met today."


    At this line, Selina started to get both extremely angry and a bit sad that her husband would keep secrets from her. As she was about to rush in and beat them up, she heard her husband¡¯s voice, "So what is so important that you would risk getting killed? What is it that you want to tell me, ELENE? ... Also why did you change your voice?"


    Selina felt as though she had been hit in the face with a hammer. She just stood there shocked and astonished. Elene was a name she had not heard for years, yet alone seen the person. At this point Selina could not stand still and barged into the room. "What the hell are you doing here Elene?", She asked frostily.


    Zaenor saw Selina and started making excuses, "Se...Se..Selina, this was not prearranged. This was totally an accident. I have no idea what is going on. I mean who are? Who am I? Why am I here?" He muttered, "So this is why Elene changed her voice. Dammit"


    Elene rolled her eyes, "Oh, stop acting Zaenor. Selina has been here for quite the while. Haven¡¯t you Selina?"


    Selina ignored the question, "What are you doing here Elene?"


    Elene chuckled, "Don¡¯t be like that. Geeze is this how you greet someone you know?"


    Selina shouted, "Shut up! Answer the question, Why are you here?"


    Elene sighed, "You are still far too stubborn Selina. Haaah fine. If you wish to know, I am here on an extremely important matter."


    Selina muttered, "Ohohoho. Is it that important?"


    Elene sighed, "If it wasn¡¯t there is no way I would be here. You know that better than I do,  Little Sister.''


    Selina shouted, "DON¡¯T CALL ME THAT. YOU LOST THAT RIGHT BACK THEN!!''


    Selina shouted this as she stomped her foot against the ground. Elene looked sad. There was a hint of grief in her eyes. Zaenor looked unsure as to whether he should intervene in this sister¡¯s fight. Suddenly Selina spotted two somethings behind Elene¡¯s legs. She calmed down and asked, "Who are they?" as she gestured to the two someone¡¯s.


    Elene smiled and said, "These little ones are the reason why I came here. Come out you two."


    As she spoke, two little figure came out from behind Elene¡¯s shadow. They were two little girls around the same age. One was a demi-human girl. She had white furry cat-ears and a long thin catlike tail. Her ears and tail were snow-white with dark spots. Her hair was silver hair that was somewhat similar in color with her white ears and tail. She had piercing bright blue eyes that contrasted with her hair color. She was standing defensively in front of the other girl. The other girl did not have animal features. Instead, she had long thin ears. Her hair was a blond color and her eyes were a mesmerizing green color. She stood timidly behind the cat-eared girl.


    Selina stared at the two and then suddenly twitched. She stared at Elene and was about to start talking when a sudden movement captured everyone¡¯s eyes. They all turned towards the doorway, where a young handsome boy stood there with his eyes sparkling and mouth moving excitedly. This was Ryu. However, nobody could hear a word that he was saying. At this Selina smacked her head and suddenly chanted a few lines and a sparkle came from her fingertips and hit Ryu.


    Everyone was staring at Selina. Elene too stared at but she opened her mouth and asked Selina a question, "You cast the silence spell on him? Why? Wait who is he?"


    Selina replied, "He¡¯s my son Ryu. And I cast the spell because I didn¡¯t want you guys to find out that we were listening in on you. I didn¡¯t think that you would notice anyway. Tch."


    Elene giggled, "You still haven¡¯t changed. Now what was Ryu saying?"


    At this everyone remembered that the boy had been moving his mouth like crazy. They were curious to know what he was saying. As they turned to the doorway, it was empty. He wasn¡¯t there. They all looked in confusion. Had the boy run away? Elene turned towards Selina, "Did you feel anything. I didn¡¯t notice any movements from the boy. Did you cast an invisibility spell?"


    Selina shook her head, "Noo. Why would I cast invisibility? Useless spell anyway. But I didn¡¯t feel any movement at all. I thought that he was still there."


    As they looked at each other in confusion, they heard a sound.


    Nyaaaaa¡­¡­.


    Everyone turned towards the sound and saw Ryu petting the cat-girl¡¯s ears. She was fidgeting. However she did not fight the petting. As Selina and Elene stared at this scene, they suddenly felt a tiny shiver travel down their spine. If this boy could move without them noticing, he could have killed them if he wanted.


    Brrrrr¡­. They felt the shiver again. What a terrifying boy! However as they stared at the boy petting the girl, the uncomfortable feeling faded away.


    Ryu POV


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.(A few minutes before)


    Mom told me to remain silent. I nodded and closed my mouth. I saw mom tilt her head as she listened to what the conversation inside the room. However, I noticed something weird. I couldn¡¯t hear anything. I tried tapping the ground and even punching the wall. However I still couldn¡¯t hear anything.


    Suddenly, I felt a small vibration coming from the room. Mom told me to stay here, but I can¡¯t stand here. I want to know what¡¯s going on as well. So I peeked into the room and I see Mom arguing with another lady. The lady looked bit like mom. Only she had dark green hair and brown eyes. Also, as I stared I noticed that she had short pointy ears. ELF!!!!! SHE WAS AN ELF!!!!!!!!!! Will she tell me what it¡¯s like in the Western Continent? Will she take me to visit the Elf Nation? WILL SHE????


    As I was wondering two figures suddenly came forward and I could see them. Suddenly I felt my heart constricting. Those two girls¡­..They¡­...They...THEY WERE TOOO GODDAMN CUTEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!


    I ran in front of the door and in my excitement began jumping up and down while shouting, ¡°CUTE. TOOO CUTE. DAMN IT, HOW CAN THEY BE SOO CUTE!!!!¡±


    Suddenly Mom cast a spell and I got hit with some sparks. I Could HEAR AGAIN!!!! I hear Mom and that woman discussing something but I don¡¯t care. Those Cat-ears. I MUST PET THEM. AND NO ONE CAN STOP ME!!!


    I suddenly rush forward and weave through the shadows and arrive behind the two girls in an instant. After this I touch the Catgirl¡¯s ears. She flinches when I first touch them. BUT¡­¡­ BUT¡­.. BUT¡­  THEY ARE SOO SOFT! I can¡¯t hold back and I start petting her ears. She suddenly makes a noise.


    Nyaaaaaa¡­¡­


    TOOOOO CUTE!! FUFUFUFUFU. I SUDDENLY FEEL THAT I MUST HAVE HER. I see the other girl move closer. Suddenly I get the urge to touch her ears as well. I trace her ears all the way from the base to the tip. Suddenly she blushes and lowers her head timidly.


    THIS ONE IS ALSO CUTE!!!!!!!! FUFUFU. NOW I HAVE TO MAKE MOM ALLOW ME TO BRING THESE TWO GIRLS WITH US HOME¡­. FUFUFUFU.


    As I am thinking I subconsciously start petting both the girls heads.


    END OF POV


    Selina and Elene stare at this scene. They see Ryu deep in thought and they both shudder for some reason. Elene said quietly, "He reminds me of you."


    Selina tilted her head, "Huh???"


    Elene pointed towards Ryu, "Look carefully. Do you recognise that aura?"


    Selina stared at Ryu, "What aura. Ha that ¡­..is...That is my plotting aura!!!!!"


    Elene said, "Yeah I know isn¡¯t it horri-"


    Selina interrupted, "Amazing. Ryu is such a quick learner. Fufufufu. We are going to have so much fun in the future. HAHAHAHA"


    Elene shook her head, "That¡¯s probably not good. Ehhhh. At least I don¡¯t live in this continent. I just hope this continent doesn¡¯t unexplainably sink like that island you were vacationing on."


    Selina tilted her head as she said innocently, "Hmmmm. What do you mean?? I had no idea that island was sooo fragile.."


    She said, "Of course you didn''t", while rolling her eyes. Meanwhile off to the side, poor Zaenor lay there forgotten. He started mumbling to himself, "No. How is this possible. I was there, trying to make him more easy going. !!!! Could she have brainwashed him in the short time that I left him with her! Selina is already enough. There can NEVER be another one."


    While he was murmuring to himself, Elene turned towards Ryu. Sensing this, Ryu looked up at this woman.


    Elene smiled and said, ''Hi Ryu. I am your Aunt Elene."


    Ryu asked confusedly, "Aunt??? But Mom is not an Elf?"


    Elene laughed, "Hahaha. Our father is the same person. but we have different mothers."


    Ryu shouted, "So your stepsisters!"


    Elene smiled, "That¡¯s right. You''re a smart boy."


    Ryu smiled and nodded, "Thanks! Ummmm¡­..Why are you here Aunt Elene?? Do you have some Business?"


    Elene laughed, Hahahaha. I take that back. You are Really Smart. Not many kids could figure that out. Yeah I am here on some business. By the way, (pointing at the catgirl) This is Yuki and this is (pointing at elf) Sylphie.


    Ryu stopped petting them for a second. They looked up in confusion. Yuki, in confusion because the petting felt good. Sylphie looked up timidly because it had felt good but she was very shy. Ryu looked at both of them and smiled brightly.


    Ryu stood straight and introduced himself, "Hello nice to meet you. My name is Rykor Zenith. But you can call me Ryu."


    Yuki said softly, "Nice to meet you too."


    Sylphie stuttered shyly, "N..Ni..Nice to meet you."


    Yuki looked more confident and Yuki said loudly in a high pitched voice. The adults looked on in amusement at this scene.


    Elene asked Selina, "By the way, Selina. Can these two stay at your house. They need to be safe and so they can¡¯t stay with me. Your house is the next safest place I know. Afterall, even that coot Syra stays here. If anyone wants to get past you lot, well then they would truly be terrifying. "


    Selina said while thinking, "Yeah I know. Hmm Well let me think. Hmmm-"


    Ryu interrupted, "Of course they can stay Aunt Elene. You don¡¯t have to worry about it. They won¡¯t be harmed in the slightest."


    Selina asked in confusion, "Huuuh??? Wait Ryu, this is-"


    Ryu ordered Selina, "Not now Mom. So Aunt Elene. Would you like to stay for a few days as well?"


    Selina stared in shock.


    Everyone stared at this scene in awe with an open mouth. Had ¡­ Had Ryu just ordered his MOM to stay out of this!!!!! Zaenor couldn¡¯t believe that a day would come that Selina would be outmatched. Elene stared in amusement. HAHAHA Selina had been outmatched by a boy who would turn 5 in a few months. HAHAHA--..... ¡­.. Suddenly, the terror set in. If this boy could ORDER SELINA AT THE AGE OF 5, then when he gets older how much more terrifying would he get???  Everyone shivered in fright, except Selina who shivered in anticipation. Zaenor thought that he had to do something before it was too late.


    Elene nodded her head, "Thank you Ryu, but I have to get going now. Bye bye girls."


    She hugged Sylphie and Yuki. She looked at Selina and nodded. Selina gave an almost imperceptible nod. Elene then put on a bracelet and chanted a verse. She vanished in a shower of particles.


    Sylphie and Yuki looked on sadly. Ryu, catching this rubbed their heads and said, "It¡¯s alright. I¡¯ll take care of you from now on ok?"


    Sylphie and Yuki nodded. As Ryu kept petting them, he noticed that the hint of grief was still there. So he pulled them in closer and said, "It¡¯s ok let it out. Don¡¯t keep it bottled up."


    Hearing this, Sylphie and Yuki both pushed their faces against his chest and began crying. Ryu just kept comforting them.


    <hr />


    Chapter tomorrow

 Chapter 9 - Sleep

    Here is your chapter. Sorry for the delay. I was really busy yesterday with work. I will try to release another chapter today. Anyway thanks for responding to the poll


    <hr />


    After some time, the two girls calmed down. Ryu had been petting their heads all this while. This was a major reason why they calmed down so quickly, otherwise they would have normally cried for half a day. As soon as they stopped crying, Ryu let go of them. He turned around and faced his parents. Selina and Zaenor just stood there silently and waited all this while patiently.


    Ryu told them, "Alright. They calmed down so how about we go home for now."


    Selina agreed with Ryu. Zaenor also nodded his head and said, "Alright let¡¯s go!"


    As he proclaimed this, Zaenor led the way. By the time they reached their house it was dark outside. As they entered the house, the guards saluted and stared at the new additions (the girls). However, they were professionals and did not start for long. The girls held onto Ryu¡¯s shirt the entire way home and refused to let go. After they reached home, Selina turned towards the girls and asked, "Now, I imagine that you girls would be quite hungry, am I right?"


    The two girls remained silent, however as if betraying them, their stomachs growled. Both girls looked down and a slight blush came on their faces out of embarrassment. Selina and Zaenor just smiled.


    Selina said, "Alright, dinner should be ready. Let¡¯s go eat ok?"


    The girls just stared at Selina and didn¡¯t make the slightest movement. Suddenly Ryu started speaking, "Dinner will be super delicious. I guarantee it. It¡¯s super tasty, don¡¯t you want to eat?"


    At this, the girls both nodded and walked towards the Dining Room with Ryu. Zaenor and Selina just looked at each other and gave each other a wry smile. It seemed like the girls were quite attached to Ryu. It would be some time before the girls opened up to them as well.


    In the Dining Room, there was a small table, enough for about 8 people to sit down and eat. There was a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. On the table there were already many steaming hot dishes out. Ryu ran up to the table and sat down. Yuki went and sat down on his right, while Sylphie sat down on his left. Selina and Zaenor came in and sat down on the other side of the table. As they took the covers off the dishes and started taking food, the girls just sat there and waited. Ryu looked towards the girls and noticed that Yuki was staring at the meat dishes while Sylphie was staring at the salads and fruits. Ryu gestured to his mom and dad. They seemed to understand. Selina started helping Sylphie while Zaenor started helping Yuki.


    Selina said gently, "Sylphie, here try some of this salads, they are really good. But here try this Garden Soup first, it¡¯s really tasty."


    Saying this, Selina put some of the salad in Sylphie¡¯s plate and also gave her a bowl of soup with some bread. On the other side, Zaenor was doing the same with Yuki, "Here, try some of this hamburger meat, it¡¯s really good. Also try this chicken and bacon soup first."


    Saying this, he put some hamburger meat on Yuki¡¯s plate and gave her a bowl of chicken and bacon soup with some bread. Seeing that, the girl¡¯s began drooling and staring at their plates. However, they did not start eating yet. They hesitated and just looked up at Selina and Zaenor. Seeing this, Zaenor and Selina started smiling. Selina smiled, "You know, you can start eating right. You don¡¯t need to ask anyone for permission."


    Zaenor laughed loudly, "That¡¯s right. Hahaha, eat to your fill. Just ask if you want something and we¡¯ll give it to you, alright?"


    Hearing this, the two girl¡¯s hesitation was almost gone. Ryu gave the final blow to their hesitation, M"om and Dad are right you know? You are part of our family now. You don¡¯t need to wait for permission anymore."


    Hearing this, the two began tearing into their food. They were clearly content with the food, because they were smiling and eating with great gusto. They were eating non-stop. Seeing this, Zaenor and Selina just smiled. To them the girls were quite cute. With this the dinner scene became quite lively.


    After dinner, Selina decided it was time for everyone to take a bath. Selina took the girls with her to bath while Zaenor and Ryu went to bathe in a different bath.


    ------------------------


    Zaenor POV


    I sat down in the bath and soaked in the hot water. It was so relaxing.


    Haaaaaah. This is so relaxing. So comfortable.


    Ryu said, "Baths are nice."


    I started to stare at Ryu. It seems he noticed me staring at him after a while. He started fidgeting.


    Ryu asked me, "Ummm. dad why are you staring like that?"


    I told him because it¡¯s not fair.


    Ryu didn''t understand so he asked me, "Umm what''s not fair."


    I asked him, "Oy why did you get so close to those girls?"


    Ryu fidgeted and said softly, "Ummm, I don''t know. I just felt like I must when I saw them."


    Geeze, how is life this unfair. He is only 4 years old but he already has a player''s attitude. DAMMIT. He doesn¡¯t even realize that he has TWO GIRLS in his harem already. DAMMIT, he doesn¡¯t even realize that he has a harem. Wuuuuh, how is life this unfair. Every man¡¯s dream and he gets it within a few minutes of meeting them. And he even gets an elf and demi-human! I feel like crying, DAMMIT life, WHY???


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    END ZAENOR POV


    ----------------------------


    RYU POV


    Dad looks weird. He suddenly started groaning out of nowhere. He also is looking very pathetic. Why is he soo sad??


    I asked Dad, "Hey Dad, is anything wrong?"


    Dad just said, "No GODDAMMIT, Life just sucks. Haaaaa, never mind. Just relax and ignore me while I wallow in my incompetence."


    I didn''t know what to say so I just said, "Ok? I guess."


    I didn¡¯t understand most of what dad said other than life sucks. I guess dad is scared of mom¡¯s punishment. I probably shouldn¡¯t disturb dad when he is this scared. Hmmm. Whatever, anyway those girls are super cute. I just want to pet them and hold them. Fufufufu, I¡¯m never letting anyone take them away. Otherwise, fufufu, I¡¯m going to KILL THEM HAHAHAHA.


    END RYU POV


    --------------------------


    Zaenor suddenly looked over at his son and shook his shoulder. Ryu snapped out of his aura and looked at Zaenor. Ryu asked, "Dad is anything the matter?"


    Zaenor told him, "Stop doing that."


    Ryu asked, "Doing what??"


    Zaenor said, "That whole thing where you go fufufufu and start smiling evilly."


    Ryu understood what Zaenor was talking about, "Ahh, but mom told me that I could get super strong by doing that."


    Zaenor cried, "Aggh. No don¡¯t listen to her."


    Ryu told Zaenor, "But I want to get super strong so I want to do it."


    Zaenor unable to convince him sank into deep thought. Suddenly he had an idea. He thought ¡°Fufufu Selina you can¡¯t change his personality. I won¡¯t let you¡± And then he turned towards Ryu, "Hey Ryu."


    Ryu looked at Zaenor, "Yes dad?"


    Zaenor: You know, Yuki and Sylphie might be scared of you if you keep doing that.


    Hearing this Ryu froze. He sat there silently, a hundred thoughts going through his head. Ryu mumbled, "No..way. Then..Then I will stop doing that!"


    Zaenor smiled as his plan had worked perfectly. Now Ryu would no longer be influenced to have his personality become like Selina¡¯s personality. It was his victory. The two continued to soak in the bath, each to their own thoughts. Ryu worrying if he had already scared the girls and Zaenor basking in the feeling of victory.


    Afterwards, the men met up with the ladies. Yuki and Sylphie seemed to be happier and they were clinging to Selina¡¯s dress. Zaenor and Ryu were surprised. In this short period of time, Selina had managed to get both Yuki and Sylphie to open up to her. She was a terrifyingly powerful woman. Both Zaenor and Ryu looked at her in surprise and a bit of awe. Seeing this, Selina just smiled and spoke to Ryu, "Ryu, how about you show them their bedroom?"


    Ryu nodded his head, "Ah! Sure¡­.. Wait which bedroom did you assign them?"


    Selina said normally, "Oh you know, the bedroom next to yours."


    Ryu asked, "The one with the door or without?"


    Selina smiled, "Of course the one with the door."


    Ryu gave his mom a thumbs up, "Good job mom."


    Selina snickered, "Fufufu. Obviously. Who do you think I am. Alright girls go with Ryu and he will show you your room."


    The two girls just nodded and followed Ryu. Ryu led them upstairs and took them down the corridor. He showed them their room. It was about 15 square meters or 160 square feet. There was a large bed in the corner of the room. There was a wall to wall cabinet/ closet. The closet was a walk in closet and there was a desk and bookshelf on the other side of the room. There was a bathroom located to the far corner. What caught the girl¡¯s attention was the existence of a door on the wall. Yuki tugged Ryu¡¯s sleeve and pointed towards the door. Then in a quiet voice she asked, "Why door?"


    Ryu almost jumped in shock. Yuki¡¯s voice was smooth and silky. It was not extremely high pitched but was higher than his own voice. He mentally pumped his fist. Then he put on a smiling face and said to Yuki and Sylphie, "That door leads to my room."


    Yuki looked at him, "ehh?"


    Ryu smiled, "Yeah and it¡¯s special because you can open it only from this side and not from my side. This way, if you need something from me just can come over and ask."


    Saying this he smiled and left after having explained to them all the features of the room. The girls just stared at each other then they went to the bed to sleep. Afterwards, Ryu went to his room and laid down on his bed. He smiled going through the day¡¯s events. As he was going to sleep he felt two presences creep into bed with him. Feeling who the presences were he pulled them in closer to him. Smiling he went to sleep. Today had been a good day for Ryu.

 Chapter 10 - Training Arc Begins

    Here is your daily chapter. Sorry for the late chapter. I will try to release another one tomorrow. By the way, If I wasn''t clear in the previous chapter, Sylphie and Yuki are twin sisters. Anyway enjoy the chapter.


    <hr />


    Ryu: (Yaawn)


    Ryu woke up slowly, blinking his eyes to get rid of the sleepiness. As he woke up, he felt two weights on both of his arms. He turned his head on both sides and saw what was on his arms. On his right arm was Yuki. She was sleeping soundly, her ear flicking from side to side occasionally. Ryu smiled as he stared at this scene. On his other side was Sylphie. Whereas Yuki was sleeping on his arm, Sylphie was wrapped in his arm and sleeping on his chest. She was sleeping soundly, and he could feel her breath softly on his face. As he slept there alternating between watching Yuki and Sylphie, someone knocked the door. Upon hearing the knock, the two girls woke up. They looked up to see Ryu¡¯s face only inches away. Yuki sat up slowly while Sylphie just lay there in Ryu¡¯s arms, her whole face was red down to the tips of her ears. Ryu just smiled at this cute little girl and said to both of them, "Good morning."


    Yuki replied promptly, "Good morning"


    Sylphie stuttered shyly, "G...Good ¡­.. Morning."


    Yuki responded normally while Sylphie stuttered in a soft voice. Ryu let go of Sylphie, stood up and said, "Alright go brush and change your clothes. Afterwards just knock on the connecting door and we will go down for breakfast."


    As he was saying this, the person outside began to knock the door more furiously. Ryu asked, "Yes?"


    A Maid responded from the other side the door, "Wake up young master. Your parents are waiting downstairs and breakfast is ready."


    Ryu said, "Alright we¡¯ll be down in a few minutes."


    The Maid airily replied, "O~kay."


    The maid called out freely and left. Meanwhile both the girls had gotten up and were about to open the main door of Ryu¡¯s room to leave. Ryu asked, "Hmmm? Why are you opening that door?"


    Yuki answered, "You said connecting door doesn¡¯t open from your side."


    Ryu suddenly stood up and bowed, "Ahhh. Sorry!"


    Yuki and Sylphie stood there confused. Ryu smiled, "Hahaha. I lied."


    As he said this with a grin on his face he opened a secret handle and pushed the connecting door open. He explained, "It was designed to be opened from one side only, but me and dad might have modified it a teeny bit."


    Yuki asked him, "Why did you lie?"


    Ryu answered honestly, "This¡­. I thought you two might move into a different room because you don¡¯t trust me fully enough to let there be a door from your room to my room."


    Yuki said softly, "¡­¡­¡­ We trust you."


    After saying these words in a soft voice she took Sylphe and left, leaving behind only those words. Hearing these words, Ryu smiled in glee. They didn¡¯t hate him. He pumped his fist in the air. As he was celebrating, he remembered that his parents were waiting. And his mom was not the most patient of people. Remembering this, he scrambled to get ready. After the girls got ready they went down together.


    Selina and Zaenor were already downstairs waiting. They were sitting at the table and drinking tea. Going down, Ryu greeted them first, "Good morning, Dad, Mom."


    Yuki greeted them next, "Good Morning."


    Sylphie also stuttered out a greeting, "G.. Go¡­. Good Morning!"


    Sylphie stood there with a red face as she stammered out her greetings. Hearing this Selina and Zaenor smiled. Selina smiled, "How adorable."


    Zaenor also agreed, "They are so cute!"


    Hearing that they were not mad at them for not greeting them at first, Sylphie and Yuki both blushed at Selina and Zaenor¡¯s compliments. Ryu just smiled and led them to their seats. Afterwards he started serving them food. At this Yuki looked puzzled. Ryu saw this and asked, "Hmm? What¡¯s the matter Yuki?"


    Yuki looked at them and asked, "You are nobles right?"


    Ryu nodded, "Yup, At least I think so."


    Yuki asked, "So why are you serving yourself? Auntie Elene said that nobles have servants to all the work for them."


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Selina and Zaenor started laughing, ""Hahahaha""


    Hearing this comment Selina and Zaenor both broke out in laughter. The continued chuckling and and snickering for a while. Finally they stopped and wiped the tears that came from their eyes.


    Selina wiped her tears off, "Haaah, I haven¡¯t laughed that much in a while. Yuki, although we are noble we believe that simple tasks like this should be done by ourselves. Stuff like cooking or laundry we ask for the servants assistance. Other stuff that we can do by ourselves we do it. Why be so spoiled?"


    Yuki seemingly half-heartedly responded, "Oh¡­.. Ok.''


    Selina still snickering, "Are you disappointed?"


    Yuki just said, "No¡­..Surprised."


    Zaenor still hadn''t finished laughing as well, "Hahahaha, you might be surprised by a lot more you know. We are known as the eccentric nobles around these parts. A lot of what we do is uncommon behavior for nobles."


    Yuki looked up and asked, "Really?"


    Zaenor nodded, "Yup. Hahaha."


    As they spoke on trivialities, the children ate breakfast while the adults drank tea having already finished eating. Afterwards, Selina and Zaenor looked seriously at Ryu. Ryu sensing the seriousness sat up straight and waited for his parents to begin.


    Zaenor started, "Ryu."


    Ryu nodded, "Yes."


    Zaenor came straight to the matter, "Normally we would begin your education after your 5th birthday. However, due to some circumstances we have to begin it early."


    Ryu nodded his agreement, "Alright."


    Selina explained further, "Although you won¡¯t have much of a physical training besides maybe swinging the sword, there will be education on our family bloodline, languages, magic, and martial cultivation. Ok."


    Ryu¡¯s eyes had sparkled the instant, magic had been mentioned. Again He agreed, "Ok."


    Selina having heard Ryu¡¯s affirmation, turned towards Sylphie and Yuki. Seeing this they visibly tensed. Selina¡¯s gaze softened a little upon looking at Sylphie and Yuki. Selina explained to them, "Although you are a little young, we will start your education too. Yours will be purely academic and not martial cultivation until you reach 6 years of age. Your schedule will also be considerably less strict and you will have more free time compared to Ryu. Is that Alright?"


    Yuki nodded, "Mmmm. Ok."


    Sylphie also agreed, "Ye..Yes."


    Hearing this both Selina and Zaenor looked happy. Then Selina smiled at Ryu. For some reason this smile made shivers go up Ryu¡¯s spine. Ryu asked, "Mom, why are you smiling like that?"


    Selina just kept smiling and said, "Now that you have agreed, your training will start immediately."


    Ryu halted, "Wait, right now?"


    Selina repeated, "Immediately. "


    As soon as she said this, she picked up Ryu and dragged him off into the house. Seeing this both Yuki and Sylphie stiffened. Seeing their reaction, Zaenor snickered and reassured them, "Relax. Your education will start tomorrow. And yours will have the basics only. As for Ryu, his training will be much more ¡­. eh how do you say it¡­. um Intense. As for now, both of you can walk around the house and enjoy alright? Selina will bring Ryu back for lunch. "


    Both Yuki and Sylphie nodded and wandered off. Watching them leave, Zaenor sighed, "Haaa. It is for your sake that Ryu must get stronger. If he or you are to survive the upcoming tribulations. We of the older generation will help as much as we can, whether it be me, Selina, Syra, or Elene. However, it is up to you of the younger generation to brave the storms."


    --------------------------------------


    As the Entity watched this scene it jumped, in a metaphysical or rhetorical sense.


    Entity: HOLY SHIT!!! Those girls are .................. HAHAHAHAHA, this kid might actually succeed. He is not even 5 years old and already he has such powerful allies. If this rate continues he might actually make it. HAHAHAHA, and I even prepared a plan to help him out and HUHUHUHU don''t disappoint me kid HAHAHAHAHA


    The laughter echoed, even though nobody heard it.


    <hr />


    Enjoy! Alright it seems like Serpent type magical beast is in the lead. I will leave it open until Wednesday to see if there is anymore changes. Anyway I hope you guys had a fantastic Weekend.

 Chapter 10.5 - Midnight Meetings

    Sorry for the late chapter. The next one will be out on Wednesday. Enjoy.


    <hr />


    Last Night


    After making sure that the children had fallen asleep, Selina and Zaenor went into the study room. There were 4 armchairs around a coffee table. Zaenor and Selina sat down, leaving 2 chairs empty. Both of them had serious faces on. As they were sitting there. Suddenly Syra was sitting there on the right side of Zaenor. Selina was situate on the left side of Zaenor. The two just nodded towards Syra. Syra acknowledged their nod and then laid back and closed his eyes. They all just sat their as if waiting for another person. Suddenly, Syra opened his eyes, "Elene is not coming. She is in a bit of trouble, so she can¡¯t make it."


    Selina snorted, "Hmm. Good riddance."


    Zaenor asked, "Will she be okay?"


    Syra nodded, "She should be, there isn¡¯t anything that can threaten her right now."


    Zaenor sighed, "Ha, if you say that, then we can be assured."


    Selina just looked at the both of them, "Can we get back to the reason why we met up like this?"


    Syra just said, "Sure."


    Selina''s face became serious, "Alright. Those girls, what are they?"


    Syra just said, "Hmm. There is no easy way to describe them."


    Zaenor asked, "Can you tell us what you know about them first?"


    Syra nodded, "Alright. Those two are sisters, twins in fact."


    Selina''s jaw dropped, "Impossible. Sisters I can believe, but twins? The laws of this world should not allow such things to happen"


    Syra hummed while he explained, "The laws don¡¯t matter in their case. They both have different divine ancestries."


    Selina and Zaenor suddenly turned towards Syra, their gaze sharpened. Selina asked, "How is that possible? Both parents are from divine bloodlines? Was it intentional? An experiment?"


    Syra sighed, "Haah, no it wasn¡¯t intentional and it wasn¡¯t an experiment. Be thankful for that."


    Zaenor pushed on, "Then out with it man, who are her parents?"


    Syra looked at him in derision, "Use your brain dumbass. Look at their two different races. It should be easy to understand who their parents."


    Selina speculated, "The older sister is a cat type demi-human and the younger is an elf. So one of the parents is elf and the other is a demi-human. Is the mother that ¡®Frozen Witch¡¯ ?"


    Syra smiled, "Hahaha, good guess. But you forgot one thing."


    Selina didn''t know what she forgot, "Huh?"


    Syra continued, "An offspring between a magical beast that can transform into human and a humanoid race also results in a demi-human child."


    Selina froze. "!!!!!!"


    Syra laughed, "Haha, based on that look on your face I think you¡¯ve guessed it."


    Selina shook, "It CAN¡¯T be HIM, right?"


    Syra confirmed her thoughts, "Indeed it is him."


    Zaenor suddenly interjected, "Umm, who is ''him''?"


    Selina remarked, "Idiot, this is why I say that you are a dumbass."


    Syra laughed, "Haha, agreed."


    Zaenor protested, "Hey stop bullying me and tell me."


    Syra explained, "Haha, we are talking about the Tyrant of Niflheim."


    Selina added on, "Glacier, Ruler of the Frozen Hell."


    Zaenor suddenly stood up in shock, "Syra, are you telling me that THAT OLD GEEZER GOT MARRIED!!"


    Syra confirmed it, "Yes."


    Zaenor questioned, "To who?"


    Selina voiced her train of thought, "His wife is an elf and she has a divine bloodline¡­¡­ No way. She is from THAT FAMILY???"


    Syra laughed at this chain of events, "HAHAHA, yes. Even I would never have guessed that this would have happened.".


    Zaenor snickered while looking proud, "Fufufu."


    Syra looked at him oddly,  "Why are you looking so proud for?"


    Zaenor said with pride, "This time even I know what you guys are talking about."


    Syra said sarcastically, "Good job."


    Selina ignored this and asked Syra a doubt, "How was she even allowed to meet him?"


    Syra explained what had happened, "Turns out she is a great-granddaughter of the Vizier and her bloodline was not as strong as her siblings. Therefore she was allowed more freedom because they didn''t view her as important. However, the family did not think that she would marry Glacier."


    Zaenor stuttered, "No...Way"


    Syra asked, "What?"


    Zaenor shouted in frustration, "He got married to a young and beautiful wife. UNFAIR, WHY CAN THAT GEEZER ---"


    A giant sound rang out. CRASH!!!!!!!!!!


    Selina said normally, "Don''t mind him."


    Syra sighed, "HAHAHA, right."


    Selina continued, "Anyway, didn¡¯t they try and break them apart? Knowing the Vizier, he should have interfered. "


    Syra nodded, "He did. But with his personality he didn¡¯t interfere directly. He instigated that old monkey to start attacking Glacier¡¯s territory."


    Zaenor snickered, "Pbbbb. HAHAHAHA, It seems that old monkey is still a dumbass. HAHAHA"


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Selina pointed out to him, "Someone like you shouldn¡¯t be saying that."


    Zaenor protested, "Hey!"


    Syra interrupted before it would go any further, "Oh stop your little couples argument and listen to what happened next."


    Zaenor reluctantly gave up, " ¡­. Fine."


    Selina stared at him angrily, "¡­¡­..Hmph, I¡¯ll get you for that comment later."


    Syra didn''t even care and continued, "Psssh, in your dreams. Anyway, the Vizier thought that Glacier would immediately leave his great-granddaughter and return to his home because of that old monkey. He didn¡¯t expect that Glacier had already married Lina and took her with him. He also didn''t expect that Lina would be pregnant by then."


    Selina didn''t know the name, "Lina?"


    Syra exasperated, "For god¡¯s sake. Lina is the Vizier¡¯s great-granddaughter and those two girl¡¯s mother."


    Selina nodded, "Oh¡­.."


    Syra continued, "As I was saying, Glacier returned to his territory and stayed in his castle with Lina. It seems the Vizier personally went to Niflheim and attacked Glacier¡¯s castle along with that old monkey. What they didn¡¯t expect was that Lina was about to give birth. Remember getting news of that battle."


    Selina nodded, "Yes, a bit less than 4 years ago that dumbass Yeti attacked Glacier and was killed."


    Syra explained further, "That was the publicized part. What actually happened was that Glacier was enraged and killed that stupid yeti. Then he engaged in combat with the Vizier and injured him badly."


    Selina interjected, "Wait weren¡¯t both the Vizier and Glacier on the same level?"


    Syra dressed her question, "Yes, however they were both at the 10th tier. However, that Glacier hid the fact that he broke through."


    Selina and Zaenor sat up extremely straight. They were shocked by this fact. Selina sighed, "It seems that the Vizier was beaten quite badly this time."


    Syra laughed, "Haha, yup he was beaten black and blue. In fact the only reason why he is still alive is because Lina asked Glacier not to kill him."


    Zaenor interrupted, "So the Vizier was beaten. Why are the twins with us then? Shouldn¡¯t they be with their parents right now?"


    Syra sighed but answered his question anyway, "You could let me finish the whole story, Anyway I\indeed they should. However, it seems that both the Beast Emperor and the Elf King found out about their existence."


    Zaenor grimaced, "Oh shit. This complicates things terribly."


    Syra sighed softly, "Indeed. They set a time limit. Once the girls reach 18 years of age, they will be taken into custody by the either the Beast Emperor or the Elf King. I''m pretty sure that the Beast Emperor is going to take Yuki and the Elf King is going to take Sylphie."


    Selina speculated, "So Lina enlisted the help of Elene to help send the twins far away. If they do not have the twins, then they can¡¯t turn them over to the Emperor or the King."


    Syra affirmed her speculation, "Exactly. Fortunately, they do not know the appearance of the twins. They only know that Glacier has two children, twins. They are not even sure of the gender of the kids. So they should be safe here. After all, most would not dare to make trouble here. This is our territory after all."


    Selina nodded, "Indeed and with you here even the Beast Emperor would reconsider before taking any action."


    Hearing this, Syra just smiled. Selina just continued, "Now our focus should be on how to protect those poor girls."


    Syra lifted an eyebrow and said, "Isn¡¯t it obvious? Just leave them to Ryu."


    Selina shouted, "What are you talking about!!!"


    Syra rolled his eyes, "Oh come on. You¡¯ve seen how they act around him. I am willing to bet anything that those two will marry your son when they grow up."


    Selina looked down and kept quiet. Zaenor sighed, "It¡¯s alright Selina. They are nice children and don¡¯t you like them?"


    Selina looked up and said, "That¡¯s not the problem now."


    Zaenor asked, "Then what is the problem?"


    Selina explained the problem, "If he already has two girls before he even turns 5 years old, think about how many girls he will have!!"


    Zaenor mumbled, "The..heavens are truly not fair¡­¡­"


    Syra laughed, "HAHAHA, based on your thinking I am 100% sure that you are sad because your son is the one to complete the true man¡¯s dream and not you."


    Zaenor just sighed, "Haaaah."


    Syra moved onto a new topic, "Enough of that. I suggest that you put aside these for now and focus on training Ryu. He might surpass all of us so be sure to train him well."


    Selina stated, "Obviously. His training will start tomorrow."


    Syra cautioned, "Remember not to put too much stress on his body otherwise it might be harmful."


    Selina & Zaenor said in sync, "Who do you think we are, amateurs?"


    Syra lifted an eyebrow, "You are in total sync when it comes to training huh? Anyway let¡¯s leave this for now. Focus mostly on academic studies and not cultivation. At this point it is more helpful for him to swing the sword rather than cultivate."


    Selina exasperated, "Yeah, Yeah, just leave."


    Syra said, "Alright, see you."


    Saying this he disappeared. Selina and Zaenor just stared into the ceiling thinking of various training methods for Ryu.


    <hr />


    Have a nice week!

 Chapter 11 - Magic, History, Elements, and History

    Hey guys, sorry for the late chapter. I didn''t have enough time yesterday to finish the chapter. This chapter is longer than usual. There will be a chapter tomorrow for SURE.  Anyway, Enjoy!!


    <hr />


    Selina dragged Ryu into a room before he could even speak. She threw him into the room and Ryu fell onto a soft pillow. Ryu sat up and looked around. The room had a board towards the front. There was a big desk/table and chair in front of the board. Then came a smaller desk and chair that looked the perfect size for Ryu. Ryu looked up at his mom like he wanted to say something. Selina stopped him, "First, go sit down. Then we will talk."


    Hearing this, Ryu knew his mom was serious. So, he held in all the questions that he had and went and took a seat. After Ryu took a seat, Selina went to the front of the room[going to start calling it a classroom from now on]. Selina permitted him to ask, "Alright I know you have a lot of questions. Ask, but ask one question at a time."


    Ryu asked,  "Before you said that I didn¡¯t have to train until I was 5 years old or even 6 years old. Why am I suddenly starting to train now?"


    Selina asked him seriously, "Haa. Those girls, what do you think of them?"


    Ryu mumbled, "They are super cute. Fufufufu, I¡¯m going to keep them forever. HAHAHAHA."


    Selina thought He¡¯s catching my personality and started snickering. Fufufu.


    Ryu remembered what his father had told him and thought, ''Wait no if I keep doing this, they might be scared of me''. Ryu snapped out of his aura and looked at his mother.


    Selina was confused and was thinking, ''Wait, why did he stop? Argh, I¡¯ll convert you. Fufufu.''


    Ryu looked back at his mother and asked, "Mom, so why did you bring up the girls when I asked you about my training?"


    Selina said seriously, "Because those girls have a very troubling past."


    Ryu looked at his mother with worry on his face, "Troubling past?"


    Selina said, "If you don¡¯t become strong, then someone is going to take them away from you."


    Ryu''s face turned ice cold and an evil and dark aura came out from him, "WHO DARES, I WILL KILL-"


    Selina interrupted him, "CALM DOWN."


    Ryu snapped out of it and looked down in shame, "¡­...Sorry."


    Selina said softly, "Fufu, that was nice."


    Ryu looked at his mother in confusion. Selina said, "Never mind. You still have time, but you have limited time. So we are going to train you to become strong."


    Ryu acknowledged this,  "Alright."


    Ryu turned serious. Selina had sparked his seriousness and set a goal for him. Although the goal was somewhat vague, it was still the first goal Ryu had set for himself. Selina asked, "Alright. By the way you know that those girls are sisters, twins in fact right?"


    Ryu looked at Selina in shock, "Really!! But they are two different races!"


    Selina explained, "Their Parents are different races."


    Ryu began to become excited, "Oh!! Who, Who, Who?"


    Selina cut off his excitement, "I¡¯ll tell you once you reach a certain strength. Even if you know right now, it won¡¯t help you."


    Ryu stayed silent.


    Selina reminded him, "Focus on your training for now Ryu."


    Ryu reluctantly agreed, "Alright ¡­¡­"


    Selina asked, "Good, now do you want to start now or do you want some time?"


    Ryu looked with determination at Selina, "Now, I don¡¯t want to waste time."


    Selina smiled and became happy at her son¡¯s resolution, "Good, let¡¯s start first with History. The two empires-"


    Ryu interrupted, "Mom."


    Selina asked nicely, "Yes?"


    Ryu asked, "Can we start with a different topic?"


    Selina wondered what he wanted to learn first, "Hmm? Fine what do you want to learn about first?"


    Ryu requested, "Can you tell me about the elemental affinities first? Yesterday you told me that you would tell me later."


    Selina thought about it, "Hmmmm, that could work. Alright listen up."


    Ryu focused, "Ok."


    Selina began, "The world is made up of the basic elements. They are; Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Light, Dark, and Lightning. "


    Ryu asked, "Basic? Does that mean there are other elements?"


    Selina answered, "Yes. There are fused elements and True elements."


    Ryu was confused, "Fused? True?"


    Selina responded patiently. "Yes. Fused elements are a fusion of two different elements. For example, Magma is a fusion element of Fire and Earth Elements."


    Ryu grew excited, "Woah!! What else can you fuse."


    Selina listed, "Some other standard fusion elements are Ice, Thunder, Holy, Evil, and Metal."


    Ryu questioned, "Standard?"


    Selina answered his question, "Yes. Standard fusion elements are those that basically have an universal formula."


    Ryu asked another question, "Formula? Does that mean there are fusion elements that don¡¯t have a formula?"


    Selina kept going patiently, "Yes. Fusion elements are special because if you understand your elements perfectly and you have an idea for what you want as a result, then you can create your own fusion elements. For example, I have high affinities toward Wind and Dark elements. I fused them into the Phantom element."


    Ryu looked at his mom, "Woah!!"


    Selina continued, "Fused elements can be achieved through fusions of various elements. For example, you can get Ice by fusing wind and water or dark and water. How powerful your fusion element is depends on your affinity with the element. "


    Ryu went on to his other question, "Uh, what then what are True elements."


    Selina replied, "Those are elements that stand alone by themselves and can not be made through fusion. They are like laws. That''s why they are called True elements"


    Ryu thought, "Laws?"


    Selina continued, "Yes. For example, Space is an True element. "


    Ryu asked, "Are there any more??"


    Selina listed some, "Yes. There is Time, Aura, Nature, Runes/Arcane, and Chaos."


    Ryu looked in awe, "Woah. Can I get True elements, please please, please?"


    Selina rolled her eyes, "You don¡¯t chose elemental affinities, Ryu. You are born with them."


    Ryu slumped over, "Awwwwwwwww."


    Selina reassured him, "It¡¯s alright Ryu. You will have elemental affinities though. You can always fuse them."


    Ryu looked up again, "HAHAHA, then I¡¯m going to get the strongest fused element. Can I start fusing right now please???"


    Selina said bluntly "No."


    Ryu asked, "Haah? But why not?"


    Selina explained, "You will undergo the affinity test on your 6th birthday. So you can start training your elements after that."


    Ryu sighed, "Haah, fine."


    Selina looked at him, "Good. You will also start cultivation after your 6th birthday."


    Ryu looked at his mom and asked, "Is it related to the affinity test?"


    Selina shook her head back and forth, "Yes and no. We will tell you on your 6th birthday. "


    Ryu sighed," fine. Ooh then what¡¯s the difference between mages and warriors??"


    Selina raised and eyebrow, "Good question. Warriors use their qi to strengthen their body and weapons. Mages or Magi, can manipulate their mana farther from their body than warriors. They can cast spells because they can manipulate it in free space. Most warriors need a medium like their body or a weapon to utilize their qi. Mages can manipulate mana in air or water. They don¡¯t need a fixed medium. Do you understand?"


    Ryu tilted his head, "Hmm. I think so. But what¡¯s the difference between qi and mana? And what¡¯s the difference between Magi and Mages? And-"


    Selina interrupted his rant, "One question at a time."


    Ryu apologized, "Sorry."


    Selina said, "It¡¯s fine. There really is no difference between qi and mana."


    Ryu looked in confusion, "Ehhh?"


    Selina stared at him, "You know what a dantian is right?"


    Ryu nodded, "Yeah. It¡¯s the place beneath the navel where warriors store their qi."


    Selina nodded, "You are both right and wrong."


    Ryu looked at her in confusion, "Hmm? But that¡¯s what it said in the books."


    Selina smiled, "Fufu, a dantian is the space in which you create your cultivation. Warriors create their dantian in the navel space because that is where warriors draw their power from. Their dantian is technically called a lower dantian."


    Ryu started rambling on again, "Does that mean that there is a middle dantian? Or an upper dantian?"


    Selina stopped him, "Let me finish."


    Ryu apologized again, "Sorry¡­.. Again."


    Selina sighed, "It¡¯s fine just listen carefully this time."


    Ryu nodded, "Ok"


    Selina started writing on the board as she explained, "Mages establish their dantian in their skulls. This is because they need to keep their mental prowess strong."


    Ryu asked, "Why?"


    Selina explained as she pointed to the board, "Because controlling spells requires more mental power than augmenting your body and so they use their mana to continually and slowly refine their mental energy."


    Ryu shouted as he understood, "Oooh!"


    Selina continued, "Their dantian is called the upper dantian."


    Ryu tilted his head as he began to think, "Huh?"


    Selina looked at him, "What¡¯s confusing."


    Ryu asked, "Then who has middle dantian?"


    Selina said bluntly, "There is no such thing as a middle dantian."


    Ryu confused asked, "But there is an upper and a lower-"


    Selina interrupted, "It is technically called true dantian."


    Ryu repeated his question, "So who has it? Special warriors? Elite Mages?"


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Selina said, "Nobody."


    Ryu shouted, "EHHH?"


    Selina: That is because the techniques for creating it has either been lost a long time ago or has never been made."


    Ryu mumbled, "But then¡­.."


    Selina said, "Don¡¯t worry about it. There is nothing you can do anyway."


    Ryu stayed silent as he thought about it.


    Selina asked, "Didn¡¯t you have another question?"


    Ryu looked up, "I did? ¡­¡­¡­¡­ Oh yeah! What¡¯s the differences between mages and magi?"


    Selina said bluntly, "No difference."


    Ryu asked, "Then why the different names?"


    Selina replied, "Different races use different names."


    Ryu stared in confusion.


    Selina built on what she said previously, "Most humans say mages, while most Fey and demi-humans say Magus or Magi."


    Ryu clapped his hands together, "Oh! So you can tell what race they are from by their chosen name!"


    Selina nodded, "Yup! Good job. Now any other questions?"


    Ryu shook his head, "Not for now."


    Selina smiled, "Good. Then let¡¯s start on history."


    Ryu shouted, "WHAT! No break??"


    Selina snickered, "Fufufufu, you will have your lunch break right??"


    Ryu stammered, " But..But-"


    Selina smiled, "Fufu, now it¡¯s time for some history."


    Ryu lamented, "CAN¡¯T I HAVE A BREAK!!!!!!!!!!!!"


    ------------------------------


    Lunchtime


    Ryu lay collapsed on the table. Selina sat on the opposite side calmly sipping tea. Lunch was ready on the table, the dishes steaming. Zaenor walked into the dining room with the girls. As they walked in, they saw Ryu collapsed on the table. The girls ran to Ryu¡¯s side and started patting him to make sure that he was okay. Zaenor just looked at Selina. Selina didn¡¯t change expressions and continued to sip her tea.


    Yuki asked anxiously,  "Ryu, Ryu, are you okay?"


    Sylphie said softly, "Ryu...Ok?"


    As they shook Ryu, he just lay there not moving. Zaenor turned towards Selina, a vein was twitching on his forehead. Zaenor shouted, "Selina, WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM????"


    Selina said slowly, "Nothing dangerous. He¡¯ll be fine, he¡¯s just processing all the information that I taught him."


    Zaenor asked angrily, "HOW much did you teach him?"


    Selina said with a light tone, "Pretty much everything~". Selina said with a light voice as if she had just gone for a walk.


    Zaenor shouted in surprise and anger, "ARE YOU CRAZY?? YOU TRIED TO TEACH HIM MORE THAN 12,000 YEARS OF HISTORY!!!"


    Selina said, "It¡¯s not THAT bad. He¡¯ll wake up soon."


    As the girls stood over Ryu, watching him with worried faces, Selina turned towards them, "Dears, sit down and start eating. Ryu will be fine."


    Yuki tilted her head, "We¡¯re not waiting for Ryu?"


    Both Yuki and Sylphie tilted their heads and stared at Selina. Selina seeing this chuckled and said, "No, it¡¯s fine. We can start. Ryu will join us(in spirit) after he is done with his work."


    Yuki and Sylphie just sat there and didn¡¯t speak. However, by their actions Selina understood that they wished to wait for Ryu. She simply sighed and let them be. There is no use in forcing them to eat. Since no one else was eating, Zaenor refrained from doing so as well. After a few minutes, Ryu stirred. He slowly lifted his head and looked around, Hmmm? Why am I at the dining room? Is the cramming done?"


    As he looked around confusedly, the girls and Zaenor looked at him with a hint of worry in their eyes. Zaenor turned towards his wife and said, "Selina, I swear if you go this far again¡­."


    Selina asked flippantly, "Oh what will you do?"


    Zaenor said seriously, "I will stop you from teaching him until he is 6 years old."


    Selina rolled her eyes, "Please, like you would do that."


    Zaenor said with a serious face as if he hadn''t heard what Selina just said, "I remember that there was a home-tutor that Doran told me about."


    Selina looked him in the eyes, "Oy, you¡¯re serious aren¡¯t you?"


    Zaenor just sat there with a serious face and didn¡¯t say a word. Selina sighed, "Fine I won¡¯t go this far again. Geeze."


    Zaenor just nodded, "Good."


    While they were talking, the girls had made sure that Ryu was okay. Ryu had finally shook off the dizziness and sat up straight. He looked at lunch and as he was looking, his stomach growled. The girls giggled at the unexpected sound. Ryu flushed in embarrassment. As the girls were giggling, their stomachs also growled. This time it was their turn to blush while Ryu laughed. Selina and Zaenor watched this comical scene and smiled. As they began eating, Zaenor looked over at Ryu and asked him a question, "So Ryu, what did you learn in the morning."


    Ryu replied excitedly, "Oh! I learnt about elemental affinities and magic and history."


    Zaenor asked, "Oh, what did you learn about history."


    Ryu replied, "I learnt that our current era is called the New Kingdoms Era and it has been 12,000 years since it began."


    Zaenor continued to question, "Why is it called New Kingdoms?"


    Ryu tilted his head as began to remember, "Umm, it¡¯s because the old kingdoms fell. For example, in the Human Continent the old empire which had united almost the entire continent fell and splintered into 6 kingdoms. Afterwards the Imperial Kingdom conquered the Dryland Kingdom and the Nylor Kingdom to form the Imperial Empire. And the Zoltor Kingdom formed an alliance with the Molgor Kingdom and the Vane Kingdom."


    Zaenor asked, "Then why is it called the Zoltor Empire if it''s an alliance?"


    Ryu replied quickly, "Because the Zoltor Ancestor was stronger than those from the Molgor and Vane families and was made into the leader of the Alliance."


    Zaenor nodded his head, "Good. But why is it called New Kingdom Era in all of Eternia if it only happened in the Human Continent."


    Ryu took time to remember the answer, "Uhhhhh¡­¡­ Isn¡¯t it because the leaders of the other Continents changed?"


    Zaenor nodded but kept asking, "Yes, but why did they change?"


    Ryu stammered a while before he finally shook his head, "Uhhhh? No idea??"


    Zaenor nodded his head, "Good job."


    Ryu looked up in confusion, "Huh?"


    Zaenor said clearly, "It¡¯s not necessary for you to know why they changed yet. That will come later. It''s good that you admitted you didn''t know rather than make something up."


    Ryu tilted his head, "Ok, I guess??"


    Zaenor ignored it and said, "Alright now eat, you have stuff to do after lunch."


    Ryu cringed, "More??? "


    Ryu kept cringing and started eating. He began talking with the girls while Selina and Zaenor began talking. Selina asked Zaenor, "Are you going to train him after lunch?"


    Zaenor nodded, "Yeah."


    Selina questioned, "What are you going to do?"


    Zaenor replied, "Basic swordsmanship drills. Swinging a sword, learning the form etc. No muscle training until he is 5."


    Selina kept asking the details, "How long are you going to train him for?"


    Zaenor looked at her and said, "Not too long. Maybe 2-3 hours. Not like you who trained him for almost 7 hours straight."


    Selina stuck out her tongue, "Pbb.."


    Selina stuck out her tongue and giggled. Zaenor just sighed when he was watching this. After they finished eating lunch, Zaenor turned to Ryu, "Ryu!"


    Ryu sat up straight, "Yes!"


    Zaenor continued, "After lunch I¡¯m going to train you in the sword."


    Ryu said, "Yes!"


    Hearing this Yuki¡¯s ears drooped and Sylphie looked sad. Seeing this Zaenor¡¯s gaze softened and he said to Ryu, "You have two hours to relax or play. Then you have to meet me in the dojo to train."


    Hearing this all three of the kids looked up, their faces shining. Zaenor rolled his eyes, "Just hurry up and go play. Or do you want to sit here all day?"


    They all stood up in a hurry and looked at Zaenor and thanked him "Thank you !", "Thanks.", "T..Th..Thank You!"


    They all said quickly and ran off. Zaenor poured himself a cup of tea and began drinking. He looked at Selina and gestured to the pot of tea. Selina nodded and Zaenor refilled her cup. As they sat there sipping tea and enjoying the peace, Selina suddenly spoke, "You are such a big softie."


    Zaenor smiled, "I may be a softie, but you don¡¯t have a right to call me that."


    Selina raised and eyebrow and said, "Ohoho, I wonder what you mean by that?"


    Zaenor looked at her teasingly, "If I hadn¡¯t given him some playtime today, you would have given him the entire morning off tomorrow. Don¡¯t act around me."


    Selina pouted, "Hmmm. It¡¯s not fun when you can see through my actions."


    Zaenor just smiled, "If I still couldn¡¯t understand you, then I wouldn¡¯t have the right to call myself a man."


    Selina just kept pouting, "Hmmph."


    Selina snorted and sat there sipping her tea. Suddenly Zaenor felt something leaning against him. He looked over his shoulder and saw Selina. Selina had finished her tea and was leaning against Zaenor and sleeping. Zaenor just smiled teasingly, "Fufu, why tire yourself out as well by using your ability to help him? You could have him learn the normal way. Who is a softie now?"


    Selina closed her eyes, "Shut up and let me recharge."


    Zaenor just smiled and and sat there and continued drinking his tea.

 Chapter 12 - Forest Trip

    Hey guys here is your chapter for today. I will try to release another chapter tomorrow and the day after. However I do have midterms coming up so I might not be able to. Sorry in advance if I don''t manage to release chapters this weekend. Anyway Have a WONDERFUL Weekend.


    <hr />


    Northern Continent, Year 12210


    ------------------


    11 months later


    The sky was just rising in the east. A person was lying down on a patch of grass and thinking about the past few months. He was about 3.5 feet tall and covered in sweat. He was toned and fat could not be seen on his body. This was Ryu and there was a reason for his current appearance.


    Ryu turned five years old 9 months ago. His parents held a small birthday party with the girls, his parents, and his uncle Doran and Syra present. Mister Syra had given him a training manual. His mom had given him a water gun. His dad had given him a training sword.(think Bokken-wooden obviously) Uncle Doran had given him a book about a hero¡¯s adventure. The girls had got him a nice bracelet as a gift. It was obsidian black with small amethyst gems in it.The gems allowed him to store a bit of mana in it so it would help him out when he began to cultivate mana.


    Thinking of the bracelet, Ryu pulled out a small book that only had one chapter. It was the training manual that Syra had given him. He opened it and read the title of the first chapter, Training-Body Refining. He began to read it again.


    In this stage the person must absorb mana to refine his Skin, blood, bones, muscles, and organs. The person must refine his body in the following order; Skin, Blood, Muscles, Bones, and finally Organs. After completing this stage, the practitioner will be at the peak of the Initiate Rank.


    And then the book described several breathing techniques to absorb mana into the body. So far Ryu had not made any progress. His father consoled him saying that it is very difficult to practice before one is 6 years old. Even so, Ryu was disappointed and spent his time training his body. Although his father didn¡¯t allow any weights or muscle training, he trained his body other ways. He ran, swam, and practiced the sword. He had become stronger over the last 11 months. Especially after he had reached 5 years old, he felt as if there was a boost to his progress. What he didn¡¯t know was that with every year that passed, a limiter was removed from his body.(This applies to all people in this world) The next limiter would be removed after he reached 6 years old. At this point he would be able to cultivate. The final limiter would be removed when he reaches 8 years old and this would boost his cultivation by a large amount.


    As he lay there thinking about what to do, two figures suddenly ran up to him. They were carrying a bucket and without any warning, they poured it¡¯s contents all over Ryu. Ryu jumped up as the ice cold water splashed all over his body, wiping his sweat and exhaustion away. He turned towards the girls and started shouting, "AHH! COLD!!! AHHH! Why do you keep doing that??"


    Yuki said bluntly, "Because you¡¯re not playing with us as much."


    Sylphie shyly scolded him, "Th..That¡¯s Right! Ryu bad."


    Ryu just stood there, his mouth wide open. He couldn¡¯t believe that they would throw ice cold water at him just because he was spending more time training. This behavior had started about a month ago. Ryu had just increased his time training and when he was resting from exercising, the girls had thrown a bucket of hot water at him. Although the water was not hot enough to burn, it was hot enough to cause discomfort. He had wondered why they had begun to act like this. And every time he asked they said the same thing, that he wasn¡¯t spending enough time with them. He sighed. He was getting stronger so that he could protect them in the future, but his mom told him not to tell them otherwise they might feel guilty. So he just sighed and put up with their pranks. Instead of being angry, he took it as training; how to get used to extreme conditions.


    Ryu held up his hands in defeat, "Alright, alright. Your birthday is in 2 days right? I¡¯ll spend the whole day with you. Is that alright?"


    Yuki nodded, "Deal!"


    Sylphie smiled, "Ok."


    Ryu sighed as they responded and ran off without waiting for him. He looked up at the sky and thought about what to do. The girls birthday was in 2 days and he had yet to pick out a present for them. He sighed, "I guess I¡¯d better go eat breakfast and then go get them a present."


    Then he ran back to the house.


    ---------------------------


    A Few Hours Later


    Ryu ran through the forest, looking around and scanning the area around him. He pulled out a  book and opened it. The title on the book was ¡®Flora, the Complete Edition¡¯. He proceeded to flip through the pages until it came to a particular page. The title on the page read ¡®Jade Hydrangea¡¯ and under it was a drawing of the flower. Ryu was looking for this flower because a few hours back during breakfast, the girls said that they very much liked the flower. So he decided to get it for them for their birthday. And so here he was, running around the forest looking for it.


    Suddenly he saw a glimmer and he ran towards it. A flower was sparkling in the morning sun and Ryu reached out to grab it. As he did a vine suddenly burst out from the ground. Ryu jumped back and climbed up onto a tree and watched the situation. There were vines extending from the plant¡¯s roots and they were waving around as if looking for prey. Ryu checked his book. As he was flipping through, he suddenly spotted a page. On the page was a drawing of the same plant that was on the ground. It¡¯s name was Jade Mimic Plant. Ryu read the description.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Jade Mimic Plant: This plant often mimics nearby plants to lure in prey. After its prey gets close enough, it launches out with its vines to ensnare and kill its prey. It then pulls the dead prey underground where it can decompose the body and suck the nutrients out of the corpse. Beware, this plant¡¯s vines have miniscule razor sharp blades that are used to latch onto the prey and suck out it¡¯s blood. It¡¯s vines have a radius of about 20 feet. This plant also has miniature sensors that allow it to detect vibrations both on the ground and in the air. This plant has a core that can be crushed to be used for a large variety of potions and medicines.


    Seeing the last line, Ryu¡¯s eyes lit up. That meant that this plant could be useful to him in the future because he could use it or sell it for money. Upon thinking about this he decided to get it¡¯s core. But that meant that he would have to kill the plant. He resolved himself, determination showing in his eyes, and he pulled out the dagger that he carried with him. Holding the dagger in his right hand he started to devise a plan. If he ran on the ground the plant would realise and attack him. So the right way is to attack from the air. But he has to be fast, otherwise the plant would sense him and kill him. Observing the plant he realised something. The plant didn¡¯t attack the leaves that were falling towards it. Did that mean that it couldn¡¯t sense the leaves or was ignoring them? Deciding to test this, he picked up a small acorn like nut and threw it at the plant. When it reached about a foot away from the main body, the vines suddenly attacked it. Observing this, Ryu came up with a plan and began throwing nuts at it.


    A few minutes later, Ryu had climbed up the tree and was directly above the plant by about 30 feet. He noticed that the plant reacted slowly when the nuts moved extremely fast. It also ignored objects that were falling from above that were smaller than a certain size. And if they were bigger then it took an extremely long time for it to react, almost allowing the object to hit it. Ryu suddenly positioned himself and threw some leaves into the air. He counted to 5 and jumped after making sure that he was in the right position, holding something in his hands.


    The plant was on the lookout to see if the prey that had escaped it earlier was going to come back. As it was on alert it suddenly sensed something approaching it from above. As it prepared its vines, it realised that it was just leaves and relaxed. Suddenly, there was vibrations coming from the ground about 15 feet away. The distance was not at it¡¯s max distance so it launched all of its vines all at once. The vines struck the target and they all crashed into the ground. As the plant was puzzled it sensed a large threat above. Quickly, it began to retract its vines. However it was too late and a sharp object cut it off from its stem. Its conscious began to fade and its vines fell to the ground.


    Ryu stood up holding the flower head in his hand. He carefully pulled of its petals and discovered its core. The core was dark green, blending into its petals. As he began to leave since he got what he wanted, he suddenly tripped over its stem and landed face first on the ground. He looked down and he could see the entire root system in the ground. At the center of the root system, a bright green object caught his attention. It looked just like the core he found except this one was much brighter than the core.


    Little did he know that he found a plant variant as it possessed intelligence far above its level. This 2nd core was responsible for its intelligence and was 10 times more potent than the one in Ryu¡¯s hand. Ryu stuck his hand in and pulled out the 2nd core. When he pulled it out a rich fragrance began to spread from the core.


    As Ryu breathed in the nice fragrance, a sudden ruckus to his right side caught his attention. There was a sudden noise and the birds rose away from that direction, the one he came from. As Ryu observed all of this, he had a bad feeling. Suddenly, he put the cores in a pouch and began to run in the opposite direction. As he ran, a shadow began to chase him. Ryu looked back and saw a magical beast. It was a Novice Ranked Moonlight Badger. As Ryu had not even broke into the Initiate Rank, the Badger was a frightening existence for him. It was on a totally different level from the plant that he had killed. The plant was a common beast. It was a plant that had sentience that was not in the Initiate Rank. This is why Ryu had confidence when facing the plant. However this confidence shattered when he saw the Moonlight Badger.


    As he ran he remembered something his mom and dad had said to him many times, ¡°Never panic. Always think calmly and run if you can. Don¡¯t be a foolish idiot. Use your brain.¡± This drove him and so he began to run away.


    As he thought, he also observed his surroundings and suddenly he saw a chance. There was a depression in the ground up ahead and there was a crack in the ground where he could hide. He began to push himself to his limits and began to run faster as the Badger was slowly catching up. As soon as he reached that hole, he dove in and went as far as he could. Behind him he heard the Badger begin to tunnel. As he realised that the Badger could tunnel, he suddenly felt that this was a bad idea. So he began to move faster.


    As he went deeper, the rock around him changed color from dark brown to a deep black. Not paying attention, he just began to crawl faster. As he suddenly reached a dead end, he turned back and looked. The Badger had reached the black rock but was unable to tunnel any further and the passageway was too small for it to fit. So it stretched and began to wave its arm around in an attempt to kill him. Although Ryu was not close enough for it to injure him seriously, it did manage to scratch him. The blood from his wounds splashed on the tunnel. A bright light flashed and Ryu disappeared. The Badger pulled its arm out and looked into the tunnel to see where Ryu had gone. Not finding him, the Badger grumbled and turned around to leave. The place where Ryu had been was empty, not even a drop of blood or a single hair remained to tell that he had been there.


    -----------------------


    The Entity was in the sky watching Ryu. As he disappeared, it chuckled, "Haha, the fun begins now. Don''t let me down little boy. I hope you make it through. HAHAHA."


    <hr />


    If you find any mistakes please do tell me. After all I am not perfect. Thank you.

 Chapter 13 - Battle

    Hey guys, I''m sorry that I wasn''t able to release a chapter yesterday but I was busy. I have a midterm and several papers due this week so releases will be random. Anyway do tell me how this chapter feels. This is my first battle scene and I would like to know how I can improve. So please feel free to criticize any flaws. I hope you had a marvelous weekend.


    <hr />


    Ryu POV


    Aahh. My head hurts, my arms feel like jelly. I can¡¯t feel my legs for some reason. Ahhhh! What¡¯s with that bright light. I slowly open my eyes. Is the Badger still there? As I open my eyes, the first thing I see is a pitch black corridor. There was light coming from the sides of the corridor. It looked like the rocks were glowing, providing the tunnel with some light. I look down to make sure I am not hurt. My arms are all right, same for my legs. I look at my legs and see that the scratches from the Badger were all gone. How did they heal that quickly? Then my attention goes back to the tunnel. The Badger is not there. And the tunnel is bigger and wider than I last remember.


    Ow, my head. Where am I? What is this place?


    I sit up and take note of my surroundings. Should I explore the tunnel? There is no way back, it is a dead end behind me. Before I decide, I make sure that all my stuff are with me. My dagger is on the ground near me. Same with my bokken. I search through my pouch. The herbs and medicines are all there. Then I see the two plant cores and I am relieved. If I had gone through all that for nothing, then I would have been very depressed. I tie up my pouch and make sure that it won¡¯t fall off.


    I then look towards the walls around me. The walls to the side of me don¡¯t have any noticeable features. However when i look back at the wall behind me, there is a mural. A picture of 4 books. I read the description.


    The ruler¡¯s test you must face,


    To conquer all you must show


    Valor, cunning, wits and more.


    If you are to have any chance


    To return above with the powers


    Of death, destruction, empires, and life.


    This inscription was below a drawing of 4 books. The books all looked different. The books were placed in a diamond formation. The first book had a drawing of a sphere with green and blue. Above this sphere was a big ornate spear. The description underneath merely said, ¡®The Codex¡¯. The second book had a picture of a skull on it and green fires on its edges. Its description said, ¡®The Grimoire¡¯. The third book had a picture of a scythe and a dark grey smoky design was present on its cover. Its description said, ¡®The Tome¡¯. The last book had a crimson fire like pattern on it¡¯s cover. The fire was behind an image of a greatsword wreathed in dark crimson flames. It¡¯s description was even simpler. It merely stated, ¡®The Book¡¯.


    Looking at these 4 books, I was puzzled. What did the riddle mean? And did it have any connection to the drawings of the 4 books? There were 4 books and there were 4 powers. Did that mean that there were magic spell books at the end of this tunnel! Haha, I can find Super Powerful Spell books. That means I can become Super Powerful too. Yes, Hahaha. I will succeed. I will become the Strongest. I clenched my fist and made this vow. I picked up all of my stuff and moved forward. I kept on holding the dagger, just in case there was some danger. As I move forward cautiously, I come across a turn ahead. As I reach the turn, I see a shadow moving. I stop immediately and slowly move forward. I peek my head around the corner and see a figure moving.


    The figure is about 3 feet tall and has green skin. It has a stumpy and sharp nose. Its eyes are small and beady. It is covered in ragged clothes and holding a rusted sword. I KNOW THAT!! It¡¯s a Goblin. I read about it and Dad even told me a lot about them. From what I know goblins have a hierarchical society based on strength. And that goblin should be at the bottom. If it¡¯s like this then even I should be able to kill it.


    However, Dad always told me that I should observe my opponents for weaknesses. So I sat there and watch the goblin for half an hour. The goblin would act like it¡¯s patrolling, moving up and down the corridor. It walks towards me for 5 minutes, getting up to 15 feet away from me. Then it turns around and walks for 5 minutes and the farthest point is about a couple hundred feet from me. Alright, I have to aim for the time when the goblin is closest to me and then turn around, facing away from me. The I have to sneak closer and rush the goblin. I have to kill it in one shot otherwise¡­.. I will die. And I won¡¯t be able to see Mom or Dad or Yuki or Sylphie anymore. I made a promise to get strong. And I can¡¯t let them down or break my promise.


    I take a deep breath and hold my dagger in my right hand. My hand is shaking. But I must succeed. There is no room for failure. I get into position and wait for the goblin to turn around. The goblin just stands there for about a minute. Then it slowly turns around and starts moving. This is it, the moment that I have been waiting for. I start moving, trying not to make a sound. Dad always told me that only the stupid people scream while attacking others. Why alert them to your presence when you can kill them without creating danger for yourself? So just like Dad said, I started creeping closer to the goblin slowly. There is only 15 feet distance between me and the goblin. 10 feet. 5 feet. 3 feet.


    The goblin turns around suddenly as if it felt my presence. I stop walking and begin running towards the goblin. I am right in front of it. The goblin raises its sword, preparing to strike. I draw my bokken with my left hand, moving it so that the goblins sword will be blocked by the bokken. I stab my dagger towards the goblin¡¯s head. The goblin¡¯s sword moves toward me. My dagger pierces its forehead.


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    YESSSSS!! IT-


    WAIT! WHY WON¡¯T IT GO DEEPER???


    THE DAGGER IS STUCK IN IT¡±S SKULL!!


    The goblin shrieks in pain. It¡¯s sword swing gets faster and hits my bokken. Although my bokken doesn¡¯t break, the force makes the bokken hit me. The bokken hits my side.


    AHHHH!!!! My RIBSSS!!!!


    I think some of my bones are broken. I can¡¯t let the goblin get another chance. I pull the dagger out of its skull. I then stab it through the goblin¡¯s left eye. The goblin hits me another time. This time I couldn¡¯t stop the goblins sword completely and the sword scratches my leg.


    AHHHHH!! OWW!! OW!!! OW!!


    I thrust the dagger in deeper until the goblin stops struggling. Not willing to take a chance, I push the dagger in deeper until even part of the handle is inside the goblin¡¯s head. I sit back, close my eyes, and start breathing in deeply. After some time I look back at the goblin and it¡¯s gone. I sit up straight instantly, check my surroundings almost instinctively. Where is it? How is it still alive? As I am looking, I see my dagger. It¡¯s right there in front of me where the goblin corpse was. Underneath the dagger was a thin pamphlet and a small bright green stone. I pick up my dagger and inspect it. It is completely clean. There is no sign of blood from the goblin¡¯s corpse. I pick up the pamphlet and open it. The inside is blank. Confused I put it in my bag.(pouch changes to bag) I pick up the green stone and look at it. I can see through the stone, it¡¯s completely clear. I don¡¯t know what it is, but I can probably sell it for some money.


    I pocket the gem and move forward. After some time, I reach a junction. The path branches in two different paths. One is closed door to my left side and the other is still going straight. As I am about to turn to my left, I see a sword on the ground in front of the North path(the one that keeps going straight). I go and pick it up. It looks exactly like the goblin¡¯s sword. This probably means that there are more goblins up ahead. I decide to check out the other path first.


    I turn towards the door. There is no handle or anything. I try pushing the door but it doesn¡¯t work. There is nowhere to pull the door as well. I punch the door in frustration and realize something. There is a small hole in the otherwise smooth door. I stare at it and then reach into my bag. I pull out the small green stone.


    This was the only thing that the goblin forgot when it ran away. This is also the only thing that makes sense to fit in the hole. The sword and pamphlet obviously don¡¯t go in here. Oh well. Here goes nothing.


    I put the stone in the hole. For a moment there is no change. Disappointed, I try to pull out the stone. Suddenly The stone disappears and the door shakes. Surprised, I move back a few steps. The door just retracts into the wall.(Think how elevator doors open.) I peek my head in and I am blinded by the sudden brightness.


    END RYU POV


    ---------------


    Before Ryu woke up


    When Ryu disappeared, something woke up, "Hmmm? Looks like we have another challenger."


    Another one responded, "Should we lower the difficulty? Afterall, every other candidate failed the very last stage."


    The first one responded, "No. It doesn¡¯t matter if he fails. What we want is the strongest. If he fails this test then he isn¡¯t qualified."


    The second one said, "As you wish. "


    Having finished this discussion, they both went back to sleep.


    ------------------


    The entity was watching Ryu progress through the tunnel and chuckled at his actions, "You are amusing little one. Normal kids your age would cry and break down. However, you came up with a plan and killed another creature without much remorse. Other humans would probably call you a psychopath. But it¡¯s because you grew up in such a unique family that you can do this. Huhuhu, those parents of yours groomed you well. Hell they pretty much wired your brain for combat. I am rooting for you little one. If you manage to pass, you will be the first one in tens of millennia. Hmm. If you pass then I guess it would be appropriate to give you a little gift, considering then you will continue to entertain me for millennia. HAHAHAHA."


    <hr />


    As I said before, please feel free to criticize.

 Chapter 14 - More Goblins

    First of all, I apologize for the lack of chapters, but I have been very busy this week. I will try to get out another chapter today and tomorrow but I might not be able to. I have had a bunch of papers and midterms this week and the previous week. Anyway, enjoy this chapter that I really quickly wrote.


    P.S. Releasing chapters from class is not easy. You have to pay attention to what the teacher says and write at the same time. Really quite difficult.


    <hr />


    Ryu walked into the room after opening the door. He paused, blinded by the sudden flash of light after opening the door. After a few minutes, he shook his head and his vision was restored to normal. Granted there were still some fuzzy dots in his eyes, he could still see for the most part. He looked inside the room and saw a pool of crystal clear water. The pool was about 24 feet in diameter and was 32 feet deep at its deepest part.


    Ryu¡¯s eyes sparkled, it was a bath. He could finally wash off the dirt and blood from killing the goblin and running away from the badger. Ryu hurriedly took off his clothes and put them to the side. He put his pouch to the side of the pool and walked in. He did not go in too deep and stayed around the edges. The depth around the edges was only about 2.5 feet so Ryu sat down comfortably and soaked in the water.


    He closed his eyes and began to recall what had happened. He had gone into the forest to find the Jade Hydrangea for the girls¡¯ birthday. He ran into a Mimic Plant and killed it. Then he encountered a Moonlight Badger and fled. He was lucky enough to find a tunnel and crawled to the very bottom. Then there was a flash of light and he felt dizzy. When he woke up he was in this cave. He walked forward, encountered a goblin and killed it.


    WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON!!!!!


    Why is he here? How did he get here? What was that mural on the wall with the books earlier? Ryu had no idea what was going on. However he knew one thing for certain. He looked down at his bracelet and mumbled, "I swear that I will get home. No matter what."


    As Ryu swore this in his mind, he leaned back and relaxed in the pool. The water was not cold, neither was it hot. To Ryu, this water was perfect, cooling his body and wounds. He lay there for a few minutes. Suddenly, he started having an intense itching sensation. He started scratching the itchy spots. At first it was just a little, then it became full blown and Ryu couldn¡¯t sit still. He jumped out of the pool and started itching over his arms and body.


    After a while, the itching stopped and Ryu looked down. What he saw shocked him. His injuries had healed, he was back to his uninjured state. And that¡¯s not all. Ryu felt stronger than before. His arms felt full of power, and power coursed through his body. Ryu threw out a punch and he could feel that it was a lot stronger than before. He frantically dressed himself and took his bokken. The bokken had a few scratches but otherwise it was fine.


    Ryu took a few practice swings and felt that he had improved a bit. He started practicing the forms without any rest.


    A few hours later, Ryu was back in the pool. He had discovered that soaking in the water reduced the stress and fatigue on his body. It also had the additional effect of healing his body. While relaxing, a comfortable feeling came over Ryu and he fell asleep.


    ZZZZZzzzzzzzzz¡­...zzz¡­¡­...zzz¡­¡­...zz¡­.z¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­..


    The next day Ryu woke up and suddenly realized that this was the girls¡¯ birthday. He had to hurry and leave this place so that he could get back in time. He threw on his clothes and packed his things. He held the dagger in his right hand and put the bokken and the goblin¡¯s sword at his waist. He suits up and gets ready to go. He has a resolute look in his eyes.


    Ryu left the room and went up the northern path. He creeps forward and spies 4 goblins. These are two patrols of 2 goblins each. They take turns walking up and down the tunnel. Ryu hides near a wall and observes the area. There are lots of rocks, but they are not very big. Ryu judges the distance between each rock and finds it to be about 3-4 feet. Deciding that using the rocks to get close is the only way to kill the goblins, Ryu lays down and starts crawling from rock to rock. He watches the goblins and moves only when he is in the goblin¡¯s blind spot. Finally he makes his way to the other end of the tunnel. As he gets ready to kill the goblins, Ryu suddenly realizes that he can just ignore the goblins and continue onward. Deciding to take this chance he stands up, forgetting that 2 of the goblins are right behind him.


    The Goblin let out a cry, "HUUUUUUMAAN!!!"


    Ryu suddenly remembers that he forgot to check where the goblins were before he stood up. He turned around immediately and saw the 2 closest goblins rush at him. Luckily, the other 2 are at the opposite end of the tunnel. Ryu draws his sword with his left hand and runs forward. He aims the dagger at the goblin''s eye, having learnt his lesson from his previous encounter. His dagger pierces the goblins eye, hits it¡¯s brain and kills it instantly. The other goblin raises its sword and swings it at Ryu. Ryu brings up his sword and blocks the attack, not receiving as much damage as he had in the previous tunnel. He attacked the other goblin and and swung his sword and dagger at it. The sword hit the goblin¡¯s sword and was knocked back. Unfortunately, he became unbalanced and hi dagger cut the goblin¡¯s throat. The goblin did not die instantly and had enough power for one more attack. It swung its sword hard and sent Ryu tumbling away. Having used up the last of its strength, the goblin collapsed.


    Ryu struggled up and saw the last two goblins approaching. He moved towards the 2 remaining goblins and stopped when he got to the dead goblins corpses. He quickly knelt down and picked up their two swords. As the goblins got closer, Ryu sheathed his dagger and held a sword in each hand. Once the goblins came within 5 feet of Ryu, he swung both swords at the goblins. The goblins dodged and swung their own swords at Ryu. However, what they didn¡¯t expect was that Ryu actually released his grip on the swords, effectively throwing them at the goblins.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    The goblins were sent flying back, but they were not injured badly. They recovered from their shock and rushed forward again. The goblin on his left side reached him first and swung its sword at him. Ryu used his dagger to block and thrust his sword into the goblin¡¯s throat. The goblin gurgled something and the light in it¡¯s eyes dimmed. The other goblin had reached Ryu by now and swung its sword at him. Ryu pulled on his sword to use it to block the goblin¡¯s sword. But, the sword would not budge. Ryu turned his head and saw the goblin holding onto his sword with both arms and he could swear that the goblin sneered at him. Seeing this, Ryu shouted, "NO!"


    Having no other choice, Ryu let go of his sword and jumped back. The remaining goblin shouted and ran towards him. Ryu gritted his teeth and decided that he couldn¡¯t run away now. He moved forward while drawing his bokken. He thrust the dagger towards the goblin¡¯s eyes while at the same time, swinging his bokken towards the goblins sword. However contrary to Ryu¡¯s expectations, the goblin moved backwards and avoided both his dagger and bokken. As Ryu struggled to move backwards the goblin struck it¡¯s sword at him. Ryu could only bend his body and avoid a fatal blow. The sword struck his side and cut deep. The sword cut all the way to his ribs.


    Ryu screamed in pain, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"


    Ryu screamed as the pain suddenly hit him. However not letting go of this chance, Ryu thrust his dagger into the goblin¡¯s eye. The goblin managed to get his hand in the way and so the dagger only pierced its eye and did not kill it. The goblin shrieked in pain and moved away from Ryu. Ryu bent over and picked up a sword that the previous goblin was holding. The previous goblin had died by now and so Ryu was able to take back his sword. Ryu then looked at the goblin and rushed forward.


    The goblin was still shaking in pain and the hatred in its eyes increased greatly. It also rushed forward and attacked Ryu. Ryu used his sword to block the goblin¡¯s sword and thrust his dagger towards the goblin. However, the goblin managed to dodge and moved back. Ryu attacked again and this time his dagger managed to pierce the goblin¡¯s chest.


    Ryu shouted in joy, "YESSSSS!"


    Suddenly the goblin grabbed Ryu¡¯s hand and stabbed Ryu through the chest. Ryu screamed in pain, "I will not DIE!!"


    However, reality did not conform to his expectations. His dagger did not managed to pierce the goblin¡¯s heart and only managed to scratch it¡¯s ribs. However the goblin¡¯s sword pierced through Ryu¡¯s chest and punctured one of his lungs. Ryu took in a deep breath and resolved himself, "If I am going to die then you are going down with me. DIE!!!!!!"


    Ryu thrust his sword through the goblin¡¯s eye. The goblin screeched and fell down dead. Ryu collapsed and watched as his whole world went dark. His vision went black and he thought to himself.


    Ryu mumbled, "Sorry I couldn¡¯t make it¡­¡­¡­  "


    -----------------------------------------------


    Somewhere in pitch blackness a voice spoke out.


    The second one from earlier said, "Hey look he died, should we kick him out?"


    Hearing this, a different voice than before could be heard responding, "WHAAT? Already? Hmmm, didn¡¯t we let the others live a couple times? Shouldn¡¯t this one also be given the same chance?"


    The second voice said, "Yeah, but eldest brother said that the test should be put on it¡¯s ORIGINAL difficulty."


    The third voice exclaimed, "WHAT!! But didn¡¯t we agree to modify it a bit last time?"


    The first voice said, "Yes we did."


    !!!!!!!!!


    The second figure said respectfully, "Eldest brother."


    The first figure said, "However give this one another chance. Not all mortals are willing to stand in the face of death and resign themselves to it."


    The second figure said, " As you wish Eldest brother."


    The first figure said, "Next time we shall meet when he reaches the 2nd level."


    Having said this, the first entity vanished. The second and third began to discuss in quiet voices.


    The second figure was thinking, "Hmmm."


    The third figure asked, "What¡¯s wrong?"


    The second figure voiced out his doubt, " Why did eldest brother seem so sure that this one would reach the 2nd level?''


    The third figure shrugged, "Ehhh, who cares. I¡¯m going back and gonna find something else to do. "


    The second figure nodded, "Alright then."


    The 3rd entity also vanished, though not as quickly as the first. The second one just sat there and did a few hand symbols before it also vanished.

 Chapter 15 - Discovery

    Hey here is your 2nd chapter and I will try my best to release another one tomorrow. This is a bit longer than usual so enjoy your slightly longer chapter.


    <hr />


    Ryu slowly opened his eyes. He looked up and saw rock? Was this the afterlife? Ryu was confused. He looked around and realized that he was in the pool. He stood up suddenly and studied his body. There was no sign of the injuries from the battle with the goblins. Had it all been a dream? Why was he back here?


    Ryu stood up and tried to make sense of what happened. He stood there and went over the events that he remembered. Then he came up with a list.


    <ol type="$type"></li>


    <li>The fight with the goblins had been real.</li>


    <li>He was killed.</li>


    <li>Something saved him and brought him to this place.


    </li></ol>


    Ryu now had a question. What saved him and why? Ryu thought for a while and then decided that it probably had something to do with this place. However Ryu did not grow complacent. He remembered something that his mother had told him, "There is such thing as resurrection magic or revival magic but it can not affect the same person multiple times. There will be a time when they hit their limit and their soul gets destroyed. This is why people have it cast on them a maximum of a single time and not more than that. Another problem is that there are a lot of restrictions on revival magic and it is extremely expensive. Probably only royalty and extremely strong people can afford it."


    Ryu decided that he should not rely on whatever brought him back and that he should strive to live. He sat back down and soaked in the pool. As he was doing so he brought up his bag. He took out everything and made sure that they were all there. His gaze fell on the pamphlet that he had found with the little gem that had granted him access to this room. If the gem had such a good function then this little book should also be very good.


    As he was staring at the book, some of the water from the pool fell on the pamphlet.


    Ryu scrambled frantically, "Wait, no..No..No...No"


    He was worried that the pamphlet might come apart in his hands. As he was trying to dry it, words suddenly formed on the book. Ryu stopped moving and stared at the book. The title formed after a bit.


    The Conqueror¡¯s Book to Cultivation


    The Number 1 Cultivation Technique in the Multiverse. No others surpass my technique. My technique is very simple.


    First you must sense the mana in the air. Sit in a location with dense mana and let your mind become blank. You should feel or sense particles in the air. This is mana. Then slowly bring it in and rotate it around your chest. Keep doing this until a dense rotation like motion forms in your chest region. After that, you must go onto the second step¡­¡­¡­¡­..


    The words were cut off there. Ryu stared at the manual. It was the NUMBER 1 CULTIVATION TECHNIQUE!!!! Ryu did not know what multiverse meant, but maybe this was the best cultivation technique in the kingdom. That meant that Ryu could become super strong!


    Ryu sat down in the pool and began to follow the first step. He sat there and began to clear his mind. A few minutes passed before he was able to do so. Normally, most kids his age would not be able to clear their minds and meditate. However for the past year, Ryu¡¯s parents had trained him on the basics of cultivation. They had obviously included cultivation in his daily training. So clearing his mind came easily to Ryu. However despite all this, Ryu still had not managed to sense mana at home. He did not have any extravagant hopes that he would be able to now. However, there was that small spark of hope in his heart that he might be able to.


    Ryu cleared his mind and sat there, the water coming up to his neck. As he meditated, he began to see a dim light in the distance. Slowly, the number increased...2¡­.5¡­.10¡­.25¡­..50¡­..80¡­...100...and so on until it became a veritable stream of mana. Ryu slowly began to guide the stream into his body and to his chest region as the technique described in the manual. He then began to circulate this stream into a sphere like shape as described in the cultivation manual. Slowly the stream began to pick up speed until the gas like mana solidified into a sphere. The mana kept pouring in and adding to the sphere, increasing it¡¯s size. Slowly it grew from a quarter inch diameter to a half inch diameter, then became a sphere with a one inch diameter.


    Ryu spent close to two hours and the max he could increase the size to was 3 inches diameter. Ryu then slowly cut off the mana and allowed the sphere to stabilize. The sphere continued to rotate, slowly strengthening his body. Ryu opened his eyes and stared in wonder. He could feel that he had become nearly 2 times as strong as before. And yet he still had not entered the Initiate rank. It was simply amazing. He believed that he could now fight on par with those at the later half of the Initiate Rank. He looked down at the manual that lay next to him and observed that some more text had appeared.


    After you manage to create a solid sphere of mana in your chest region you must expand it¡¯s size. The optimal size is a sphere with a 5 inch diameter. After doing this you will be ready for the next step.


    Ryu blinked in surprise. 5 INCHES!!! He had struggled to make it have a 3 inch diameter and now he had to increase it by 60%!! However Ryu did not have anymore reservations because this technique had strengthened him greatly without even making him a cultivator. This meant that after he managed to form a core, he would be able to become even more powerful! However from the requirements of having the sphere reach a 5 inch diameter, Ryu understood that this path would be incredibly difficult. However succeeding meant extreme power. So Ryu decided that he would follow this cultivation technique.


    But Ryu did not continue to cultivate. He stood up and put on some clothes. He then held the dagger in one hand and the sword in the other hand. He exited the room and stood on the northern path. For now, it was time for revenge. He ran forward on the path that he had travelled on before. He reached the same spot and like before there were 4 goblins. However, they seemed to be stronger. Their equipment also seemed shinier and less rusted and cracked. However to Ryu, this didn¡¯t matter. The goblins also followed the same patrolling power as before. Seeing this Ryu gained a confident air.


    Stolen story; please report.


    Ryu sneaked to exactly halfway in the corridor. He waited until both groups passed and had their back to each other and to Ryu. Ryu counted to 10 and sneaked forward. He moved towards the 2 goblin patrol that was going in the direction that he came from and suddenly brought up his dagger and sword and stabbed them through the necks. Unable to make a sound the goblins collapsed. Before the goblins hit the ground Ryu turned around and ran towards the other pair. Hearing his footsteps, the goblins turned around and saw Ryu running towards them. However, Ryu had become much more stronger and managed to cover the distance between them before the goblins could respond.


    In an instant another goblin died and only one was left. However, this goblin managed to dodge Ryu¡¯s attack. Ryu frowned and pressed his attack. The goblin managed to block 2 more hits before Ryu pierced through it¡¯s head and it died.


    Having killed all 3 of the goblins, Ryu sat down and panted. Although his power may have increased greatly, his body was still not used to the stress and so his stamina decreased as well. Ryu rested for about ten minutes before he was able to move again. He stood up and examined the goblins and looted them. Afterwards he put the loot on the ground and went over them. He had looted 4 swords, 1 dagger, a bag with berries in it, a bag with nuts in it, some iron ingots, and a bottle with water in it.


    The first thing that Ryu did, was to clean the bottle, wash the berries and food and then put it in his bag. He also cleaned the iron ingots and put them in his bag. He looked at the swords on the ground. 3 of them were iron swords that had a bit of rust and a few cracks.. The last sword was from the goblin that had managed to evade and block Ryu¡¯s attacks. Although it¡¯s sword wasn¡¯t cracked, it was still rusted and had a few scratches. Ryu then looked at his sword, it was scratched, nicked, and had rust. As he was examining it, he noticed that there was a gem in the pommel of his sword that was a dirty dark red color. As he was deciding whether or not to replace his sword, he sat down next to the swords. His hand holding the sword came close to the other swords on the ground.


    His sword started vibrating all of a sudden. Startled, Ryu let go of the sword. His sword landed on one of the goblin¡¯s swords and there was a little burst of light. Ryu saw that his sword had sucked in or ¡®swallowed¡¯ the goblin¡¯s sword. Astonished, Ryu picked up the sword and examined it. Some of the scratches had been fixed but otherwise it was the same as before. Excited over this discovery, Ryu put the remaining 3 swords on his sword and once again his sword swallowed the 3 other swords. Afterwards, he examined his sword and saw that the majority of the scratches were gone. Smiling, Ryu sheathed the sword. He turned his attention to the dagger. The dagger also had a gem in its pommel and it¡¯s color was so dark red it was almost black. The dagger did not have much rust and had some scratches. The dagger was about 5 inches longer than Ryu¡¯s dagger and was made of a metal that Ryu did not recognize. The dagger was black and had an intricate design on it¡¯s handle. There was a dragon coiling around the hilt/handle and its mouth was at the guard and it appeared as if the blade was coming out of the dragon¡¯s mouth.


    Excited, Ryu put his dagger on top on the other dagger and watched as his dagger was swallowed up by the other dagger. As he examined it, it seemed that the number of scratches had decreased. Excited at wielding such a cool dagger, Ryu spun it around. As he was waving it about, he slowly got used to the balance. He stopped after about 15 minutes and examined the edge. He remembered that his father had told him that daggers usually have a false edge for blocking and a true edge for killing. Since this dagger looked different than his old dagger, Ryu didn¡¯t know which was which. He ran his finger along the dagger¡¯s edges and cut his fingers. Some of his blood spilled on the dagger. Ryu suddenly stopped running his fingers along the edges and sucked on the fingers that were cut in his mouth, "Owwwwwww¡­¡­¡­ That¡¯s odd. This blade had 2 true edges. Both are meant for killing. There is no false edge for blocking. Odd¡­."


    As he was murmuring to himself he didn¡¯t notice that the gem in the dagger change color for just a tenth of a second. Still thinking to himself, Ryu packed up and moved forward along the path.


    A few hours later


    Ryu had walked into a clearing. On the path there had been a couple more goblin patrols and it had taken time for Ryu to kill all of them. After killing the goblins he had fed their swords to his sword and the few daggers to his dagger. His weapons now had close to zero scratches and nicks. He hadn¡¯t found anything weird or unusual. It was the usual berries and nuts and occasional ingot of iron. Although he didn¡¯t know what the ingots would be used for, they were not that much weight and he didn¡¯t want to regret it later if they turned out to be amazing so he kept them. As he arrived in the clearing, there were two paths for him to take. One that continued north and a door to his left that seemed awfully familiar. He went towards the door and put his hand on it. The door opened at his touch and Ryu saw the pool again.


    Ryu smiled and decided to go cultivate again.


    --------------------------------------------


    A few hours before


    Somewhere in inky darkness, "ROOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!"


    The roar was so loud and powerful that it almost seemed to shatter space and time. The creature unwound itself and stared into space, "It seems it is time for me to awaken. Hmm, let¡¯s see who had the potential to awaken me this time. It had better be good, otherwise I wouldn¡¯t mind rampaging a while longer."


    --------------------------------------


    The mysterious Entity clicked its tongue, "Tchh. It seems a troublesome one has awoken this time. Why can¡¯t any of these children be nice and quiet and sleep all the time? Siggh. Such a pain to deal with."

 Chapter 16 - Dantian

    Hey guys. Happy Thanksgiving. Here is the first chapter for today. Another one is coming right after this one. I still have one more midterm tomorrow, so I most likely will post a single chapter on Sunday. Anyway have a fantastic weekend.


    <hr />


    Inside the pool, Ryu sat there trying to increase the size of the mana sphere for the last couple hours. He had tried to cultivate on the ground, but found that he cultivated much faster in the pool. He was continuously refining mana and increasing the flow of mana to his sphere. As time passed, Ryu became more and more proficient at this process. Soon he had increased the diameter of the sphere from 3 inches to 4 inches. However from 4 inches onwards became exponentially more difficult to complete.


    Unknown to Ryu, the mana sphere had continuously drawn in mana when he was fighting, although it was slow, the flow had begun refining his body. He had already stepped into the Initiate Rank. He had already become a cultivator/practitioner. Unaware of this fact, Ryu continued to train. As he was guiding the mana to the sphere in his chest, he remembered what had happened yesterday.


    One Day Before


    Having opened the door and spotted the pool, Ryu went in and cleaned himself and trained for about 2 hours. Although he managed to increase the diameter from 3 inches to 3.2 inches, Ryu found that it would take significantly longer to increase it any further. So, he stood up and walked out of the room and continued onwards. Having arrived at another patrol area, he spotted 10 goblins. There were 8 goblins that looked the same as the ones he had killed before, while the remaining 2 looked different. They looked more intelligent, dressed in robes rather than leather armour, and carried wooden staffs rather than swords for weapons. Seeing this new type of goblin, Ryu grew cautious. He carefully examined the goblins and realised that their staffs had gems at the top of them. The goblins also carried them differently than swords or spears. Ryu decided that these were the goblins that he had to kill first.


    Ryu crept forward and sneaked from rock to rock. In all of the patrol zones he had come across there were boulders and rocks on the side. Ryu was baffled because it felt like someone was trying to help him get to the end. Thinking about this, Ryu crept forward. As he was getting to the middle, one of the patrols grew near to him. All of a sudden, one of the staffs of the goblins shined. The goblin wielding the staff pointed in his direction and screamed.


    Ryu mumbled, "Darn it! That¡¯s Magic! You are a goblin mage!"


    The goblins with staffs were mages! They had cast  a detection spell and found Ryu. Ryu was still behind the boulders so he was shielded from attack spells. Ryu remembered what his mom had told him, "Most of the lower and middle mages need to see their targets in order to cast attack magic. Only the upper tier mages can cast attack magic without their eyes on the target."


    Ryu hid, hoping that this mage required to see him in order to cast an attack spell. As he began creeping from rock to rock to escape, the two goblins closest to him had arrived at his position.


    They screamed and swung their swords at him. By now, Ryu was already used to their attacks and he easily killed the two goblins. It also helped that he had grown stronger because of his mana sphere. As Ryu was making his escape, the other patrol ran to the spot where he had entered and blocked his way. From there it became an elaborate game of cat and mouse.


    In the end, Ryu had slain all the goblins, including the goblin mages, but it had come at a terrible cost. One of Ryu¡¯s arms was injured badly. A goblin had managed to cut him and the sword had cut all the way to the bone. There was a similar wound across his back, when he had failed to detect a goblin sneaking up on him when he was fighting two other goblins. The goblin mages had cast enchantment on the goblins like strength, agility, light armour, and enchantments on their swords like sharp edge, speed, and power. These enchantments had made this fight very difficult for Ryu to win. If it wasn¡¯t for Ryu¡¯s mana sphere constantly cycling mana through his body healing his wounds slowly, Ryu would not have survived. After the battle, Ryu had sat down and circulated mana through his body, stopping the bleeding and closing some of the minor wounds.


    After he was done temporarily healing his wounds, Ryu gathered all of the goblin¡¯s weapons. He had used his sword to absorb all of the goblin¡¯s swords and his dagger to absorb the few dagger that he had found. However, he did not know what to do with the staffs. He sat there and brought his dagger close to the staffs but his dagger did not change or respond. Then he brought his sword close to the two staffs and it began to vibrate. The sword shined a golden color and absorbed the two staffs. After the light faded Ryu observed my new sword. The sword had become a deep blue color with golden runes on the blade. The gem in the pommel had become a lighter shade of red, even though it was still dark red. Ryu picked up the sword and noticed that the length of the sword had shrunk a bit, becoming more balanced in his hands. The sword had also become lighter, which made it easier for Ryu to swing about. Ryu smiled at it¡¯s changes. Although the sword became lighter, it did not seem weaker. In fact, Ryu felt that it became even more stronger.


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.Ryu sheathed his sword and dagger and slowly walked back to the room. Ryu started calling it his cultivation room because it was the more effective place for him to train. He had stumbled into the room and barely managed to undress before collapsing in the pool.


    Present day


    Ryu had decided after he woke up that he should finish expanding his mana sphere to a diameter of 5 inches before going out again. Otherwise he might really die next time. It was out of pure luck that he managed to survive. He was not going to risk it again. After all, whenever Ryu ran into a goblin patrol their numbers always increased. The first time it was 1 goblin, the second time it was 4 goblins, the third time it was 5 goblins, the 4th time i was 6 goblins, and the last time it had been 10 goblins. The next time there might be 12 goblins or 15 goblins. There was no way that Ryu could be sure. So he chose to train.


    Ryu thought in his head, "Sylvie. Yuki. I¡¯m sorry that I missed your birthday. I promise that I will come home so we can celebrate your next birthday. Mom, Dad. I¡¯m sorry I¡¯m making you worry. I promise something like this will never happen again."


    After promising this, Ryu closed his eyes and spent his entire concentration on training.


    A Few Days Later


    Ryu was standing up from the pool with a look of joy in his eyes. He had finally finished expanding his mana sphere to a diameter of 5 inches. Ryu had thought about further increasing the size but he felt a premonition that if he had increased the size further he would have died. Ryu was lucky because he did not know that if he had increased the size further, his body would have exploded from overloading his body with mana.


    After Ryu had reached the maximum size for his mana sphere, he felt a change. His strength had increased multiple times. Although Ryu did not know, his strength had increased by 6 times. He had reached the 10th tier of the Initiate Rank. He was at the very peak, on the verge of breaking into the Novice Rank. All that was left for him to do was to create a dantian. Once he created his dantian he would step into the Novice rank.


    Ryu stood up and stretched and performed his daily exercises. This involved sit-ups, jogging, and sword practice. This was his daily routine at his house. However, Ryu had also added dagger practice in because he wanted to be proficient in the use of a dagger as well. So he trained for the last couple days. Although he was not a master at using the dagger, after practicing he became more used to wielding the dagger.


    After exercising, Ryu stood up and packed his things. Afterwards he went to the pool and filled a couple vials with the liquid. He had found these on the goblin mages. The water was not for drinking. He had tried to do so 2 days ago and he had been filled with horrifying pain. He had passed out several times and it has taken 1 whole day for him to get better. Although it was extremely painful, it did boost his cultivation speed for 1 day. He kept the vials with him in case of emergencies or if this room disappeared in the future. As he was about to step out he realized that he hadn¡¯t checked the book after he had reached the 3rd stage.


    Ryu opened his bag and pulled out the manual(book -> cultivation manual). Opening it, Ryu saw the same text he had seen before. Nothing new appeared and just as Ryu was putting it away, he decided to go through all the pages. Turning the page Ryu saw some new text. The first line went.


    The 4th stage is to create a dantian.


    Reading this, Ryu became excited. He was going to become super powerful. However, the next line made him feel depressed.


    However, before forming a dantian one must get used to the mana core and accustom themselves to it. Otherwise if you form a dantian and your body is not strong enough, then you will die. The correct time to form a dantian is when your body stops absorbing mana from your mana core. When you feel that your mana core cannot strengthen your body any further, this is when your body has become totally accustomed to your mana core.


    Ryu sighed. It seemed like he still had to wait before creating his dantian because he could feel the mana strengthening his body. He put the book away and took one last look at his mana core(mana sphere -> mana core) before walking out the door and back into the tunnel.


    -----------------------------------------------


    The Entity stared down at Ryu and sighed, "Haaaah¡­.. Little one, this is where your true test begins. Most of the other candidates also made it up to this point. However, they all failed the 2nd part of the test. I hope that you can pass. "


    As it was speaking, it felt another pair of eyes watching Ryu as well. It turned around and stared into the darkness.


    The Entity sighed again, "Haaah, child. Do constrain yourself this time. And do go easier on this one. Even I have lowered my expectations for this one."


    As soon as it spoke, it sensed the other presence disappear.

 Chapter 17 - 2nd Stage

    Here is your second and last chapter for today. Sorry that I didn''t post anything the last week but I had my midterms and I really need to study. Anyway enough of my life. Enjoy the chapter.


    <hr />


    A figure stood panting, slumped down on the side of a wall of a tunnel. He was covered in sweat. He held a deadly looking dagger in his right hand. There was a dark blue sword sheathed at his waist. He was holding a bottle and drinking water. This was Ryu. For the last 6 hours he had been walking forward in the tunnel. He had run into several goblin patrols in this time. The last encounter had left him completely exhausted. The first three encounters had been just goblin grunts(the normal ones) and a few goblin mages. He had used the hit and run tactics to kill off the patrols.


    However the last patrol had included a new type of goblin. It was more humanoid than the regular goblins. It was also taller, standing at 4 feet while the goblin grunts had been 3.5 feet tall. The new goblin was also better equipped. it either had a longsword or a broadsword. Some of them also had planks of wood with straps that they used like shields. Ryu had started calling them goblin soldiers. The goblin soldiers also co-ordinated better with each other as opposed to the goblin grunts that just rushed towards him.


    Ryu had gotten cornered by the goblin soldiers and he had almost gotten hit by some of the spells from the mages. It had taken a considerable effort on his part to escape the encirclement and kill all of the goblins. He had feinted an attack on the goblin soldiers and instead attacked and killed a goblin mage to escape from the encirclement. After escaping he had done his usual strategy, but this time he went after the mages first, then the goblin grunts, and finally the goblin soldiers. This was because even though the goblin soldiers were stronger and better defended than the goblin grunts, they were much slower than the goblin grunts. So Ryu was able to use this weakness against them and kill them. After killing them he was running on adrenaline so he did not feel the pain or fatigue yet. Instead he had absorbed all of their staffs and swords and daggers into his sword and dagger.


    His sword was now a deep blue color with dark golden runes all over the blades. It had also grown a bit in length and also grown a bit broader. The runes emanated a terrifying aura that felt as if it could destroy entire armies with it¡¯s power. The gem in the swords pommel had also become a lighter red color. Ryu felt that as the gem became a lighter color, the sword became stronger. However, this was just his feeling and Ryu had no proof that this was actually happening.


    Ryu continued looting the goblins after absorbing all of the goblin¡¯s weapons. He found the usual metal ingots, vials, bottles, etc. However he had discovered a new item on the goblin soldiers. They had coins that looked like they were made of copper. After searching all of the goblin soldiers, Ryu had found a total of 24 copper coins. Ryu had also found that his bag was almost full so he took one of the goblin mages satchels that was relatively undamaged. Although he was carrying more stuff, Ryu did not feel impeded. This was because he had grown extremely strong compared to his previous self. Also, his mana core was constantly cycling mana through his body continuing to strengthen it. This was the reason why Ryu would feel stronger as time went by.


    After he had looted all the goblins and surveyed the surroundings to make sure there were no goblins left, he relaxed. With the adrenaline effect fading away, all the exhaustion and pain hit Ryu at once. This was the reason for his current appearance. So he had collapsed and lay there on the ground panting.


    Once he had finished recovering, Ryu stood up and picked up his bags. He had rearranged his possessions so that the bag and the satchel that he had looted from the goblin mage were both balanced. He then strapped the bags on and prepared to set out. However, before he took another step he changed his mind. Ryu was in a hollow section of the wall. There was only one way in. This helped Ryu feel safer and more secure as he sat down again.


    Ryu had been going over the last battle and he had realized that if he had been any weaker, he probably would not have been able to break out of the encirclement. So he decided to train. Although he could not form his dantian yet, he could speed up the circulation of mana to quicken up the process of strengthening his body. So Ryu decided that this would probably save his life in the future.


    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    Ryu sat down and began to meditate. He pulled in mana and directed it towards his mana core. As the inflow of mana began to increase, so did the rate of circulation. The mana began to cycle faster as the mana core began to rotate extremely fast. Ryu was not satisfied with the rate of circulation so he reached into the satchel without breaking his meditation. Ryu had stored the vials with the water from the pool in the cultivation room. He had taken a total of 15 vials worth of water. Each vial had about 250 milliliters of liquid in it. Although he had a considerable amount of liquid, it did not weigh him down much as the vials somehow decreased weight.


    Ryu took out one vial and poured about half the vial onto his chest region. This liquid increased his absorption and cyclical rate by almost 4 times! Ryu continued to cycle the mana for the next few hours. After about 3 hours, the liquid dissipated and his absorption and cyclical rated fell back to normal. Ryu opened his eyes and stared. His body had become tougher and stronger than before. Ryu stood up and stretched, testing what was different and familiarizing himself with it. As he finished stretching and warming up, his stomach growled. Ryu smiled and took out some nuts he had looted from the goblins. After he had finished eating the nuts, he took out an apple and ate it. He had found some apples on the goblin soldier and goblin mages. He wondered where they were getting all these fruit from.


    After Ryu finished eating, he sat back down and began his meditation again. He used up the other half of the vial and continued cultivating for another 3 hours. After he had finished, Ryu went outside and brought some rocks to his little grotto. He blocked the entrance and went to sleep.


    The Next Day


    Ryu woke up and his first thoughts were as always, his family. He hoped that they were doing well and got up. Some streams of light were shining through the cracks in the rocks where he blocked the entrance. Ryu moved the rocks and ate his breakfast. Afterwards he did his morning routine(training exercises and stretching and some light cultivation-about 15-20 minutes worth).


    Finished with his morning routine, Ryu began to move forward as he was eating an apple. As he walked he wondered when he was going to get out of this tunnel. As if the gods were mocking him, the instant he thought this he saw a bright light in the distance. Growing excited, Ryu ran towards it. But when he got closer, he grew cautious as most of the surprises that he encountered had almost killed him. Finally he stepped into the light and was blinded by it for a minute or so. As he got used to the light he slowly began to see what was beyond it.


    A wide world came into his view. Shocked, Ryu gaped, his mouth wide open. The apple falling from his mouth. There was a blue sky and a giant forest. The trees were almost 10 stories tall and the land was green and vibrant. Far off in the distant he could see waterfalls, glistening from the water, and rainbows forming from the water mist. As Ryu thought he couldn¡¯t be any more surprised, he spotted smoke coming from deep in the forest. Ryu screamed, "PEOPLEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"


    -----------------------------------------------


    Somewhere


    The 2nd figure once again stirred. It looked out at Ryu and spoke, "It seems like he has arrived at the second stage. Let¡¯s see if he can pass it or not. I don¡¯t think I have to wake up big brother for this. It¡¯s not worth his attention."


    After deciding this, the figure once again dissolved into the darkness.

 Chapter 18 - Elsewhere in the forest

    Hey guys. Here is a chapter for today. Pardon me, if the chapter is a bit short but I''ll make the next one a bit longer than usual to make up for this. Anyway enjoy!


    <hr />


    Ryu started running towards the forest. He was excited at the thought of meeting other people. This was because Ryu had been stuck in the underground tunnel for almost two weeks. Now that he had come into what appears to be the outside world, Ryu is beyond excited as this means that he can go home. As he was running towards the direction of the smoke from the forest, he tripped on a rock and fell on his face, "OWWWWW!!"


    He slowly sat up and rubbed his face. He had a small cut on his cheek and his nose was bruised. As he was sitting there and rubbing his nose, his mind began to clear up. The excitement began to cool down and his head began to clear. He went over all the events so far. There were goblins in the tunnel. Could it be that they came from this place? As Ryu was thinking, he suddenly realized that the goblins had fruits and nuts. This forest probably had fruit trees and nut trees as well. If so, then this would most likely be the home of those goblins. If this happened to be true, then Ryu would be in a lot of trouble. Having had his head cleared up, Ryu slowly collected himself and then stalked off into the forest.


    --------------------------------


    Somewhere deep in the forest


    A squad of goblins were walking through the jungle. There were about 60 goblins. There were two distinct types of goblins in this group. First was the goblins that looked weak and frail. These goblin made up the majority, with there being close to 45 of these goblins. The 2nd group consisted of goblins that were armed and looked ready for battle. These were the rest of the goblins, which was about 15. In the second group, there were goblins with heavy armour on, goblins in robes with staffs, and goblins with bows and arrows. In the middle of this group there was a goblin that stood out amongst the rest. It was a goblin that was almost 5 feet tall. It¡¯s skin was dark brown and had red patterns on its right arm. This particular goblin also had tiny horns coming out of it¡¯s forehead. It also carried a dark red heavy sword. The other goblins kept a respectable atmosphere around this goblin and acted like they were under it¡¯s command. As they were slowly moving through the jungle, a shadow suddenly leaped from the trees above and crashed into the goblins.


    ROAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!


    A couple normal goblins died instantly. The rest began to attack the shadow. A few goblin soldiers swung their swords and they were blocked by teeth and claws. A tail with scales swung out and struck one of the goblin soldiers, sending it flying and crashing into a tree making a storm of leaves fall and obscure the scene. As the leaves fell and the scene was visible again, there was a group of goblins surrounding a cat like beast with scales. The cat was snarling and growling at the goblins. The unique looking goblin marched towards the cat and swung his sword at it. The cat lashed out with its claws and hit the sword head on. The sword and the claws unexpectedly clashed and ended in a tie. The cat launched its tail at the goblin. The goblin just smiled and shouted, "RAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"


    His sword glowed red and the sword cut through the cat¡¯s claws like a hot knife through butter. The sword didn¡¯t stop after cutting through the cat¡¯s claws and continued on its path and tore the cat in half. The cat¡¯s scales was only able to stop the sword for a fraction of a second. As the sword tore through the cat¡¯s body, it was bisected into two parts and the two parts crashed onto the ground.


    The other goblins watched in awe. The common goblins especially were shocked by this goblin¡¯s feat. As they stood there in amazement, the goblin turned towards them and roared, "You lot!! Get back in formation! We are close by and we need to hurry up! Help those who are injured and leave the dead behind! Those of you who are free, go skin that armoured cat. We can use some more supplies."


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    The armed goblins replied,, ""Yes, Commander!""


    The goblin commander snorted and helped up the goblins who were knocked over from the cat¡¯s attack. Some of the goblins were helping the injured goblins, while others were mourning the dead. Some of the goblin soldiers that were free went over to the armoured cat corpse and started salvaging supplies from it. After they were all done, the group began moving. On the move, the normal goblins began to talk about the fight that just occurred.


    A random goblin asked, "Did you see that commander just now? Nobody else was able to do anything against that armoured cat but that commander just sliced it in half in one blow."


    Another goblin replied, "Yeah, he was just like Whoosh and the cat was like Snarl and the cat just died like that. It was sooo cool!"


    One of the goblin soldiers snorted, "Obviously. who did you think our commander is. He is one of the 3 great goblin commanders. Only the goblin general and goblin king is above him. And even compared to the other goblin commanders, our lord is strong. "


    A random goblin was awed, "Woahh!! Soo Strong!"


    One of the goblin soldiers had a proud smile on his face. "Yeah. Our lord Firesword is super strong."


    As the goblins continued to talk they reached a palisade that was about 20 feet tall. The wall was primarily made of stone with wood interwoven in between, providing additional defense. There were guard towers behind the palisade overlooking it and the goblins in the towers noticed the group of goblins. A goblin in one of the towers spotted Firesword and he shouted, "The lord is back. Open the gates!"


    The gates began to slowly open. Firesword stood in front of the gates and walked in with the group trailing behind him. Greeting him was a group of armed goblins. These goblins looked far stronger and deadlier than the goblin soldiers. One of them stepped forward and saluted to Firesword, "Reporting to Commander. Lord Frostsickle sent a messenger stating that he wishes to send a joint raid group to conquer the Deadly Caverns. He is also seeking the help of Lady Ghostblade. "


    Foreword snorted, "Hmm. Reply that we will decide at the half-yearly meeting."


    The Goblin knight saluted again, "As you wish."


    Saying this, Firesword led all the goblins inside and the gates closed behind him with a boom.


    -------------------------------------------


    The Entity hovered over the forest. Yet it seemed like nothing could detect it.


    Entity snickered, "Huhuhu, the fun begins right now kid. What will you do?"


    <hr />


    Anyway. I can''t believe how many people voted little sister because they want to see some action in the future. Just saying this upfront, NO SIBLING ACTION!!! Probably. Maybe. Huhuhu. I mean NO. ARRGHHHHHH!!! Now look what you guys have done. Your comments are actually making me consider it!


    Sorry for my rant. Have a nice day!

 Chapter 19 - Tantrum

    Hey guys. I know that I said that the chapter would be out on monday. But the reason why it came out today is because I couldn''t find a point to stop the chapter and it just kept going. This chapter is 2 times the size of my normal chapters and then some. I usually aim for 1200-1500 words a chapter. This chapter is almost


    3100 WORDS!!! It''s unbelievable. Anyway enough of me, Enjoy the Chapter!!!


    <hr />


    A lone figure could be seen resting against a tree. This person was high up in the branches of the tree. He was panting, sweat could be seen all over his body. Ryu had been scouting the forest for the last couple hours. He had run into a couple magical beasts. Luckily, they were weaker than he was and he was able to escape. However, he had later run into a pack of low level magic beasts, Rabid Dogs. Although he was stronger than even the leader of the Rabid Dog pack, their sheer numbers caused him to flee. Ryu had eventually shook them off his trail and escaped. This long chase and evasion was what had caused this exhaustion. As Ryu sat there recovering, he began to rewind his experiences and made a list of what he had learnt.


    <ol type="$type"></li>


    <li>This place is not in the Northern Continent. </li>


    <li>There are a huge amount of magic beasts in this place.</li>


    <li>There are signs of civilisation or some kind of settlement by intelligent creatures. Although it¡¯s not at the city level, signs point that the civilisation is at the village level of construction.</li>


    <li>He probably has to traverse the whole length of this place to find the exit. Also, the exit should be in the side of a mountain much like the place he emerged from.</li>


    <li>Most importantly, he must stay vigilant always as anything could kill him if he makes a single mistake.


    </li></ol>


    As Ryu went over these points, he took out his canteen and drank some water. As he recovered some strength, Ryu once again stood up and prepared to head out. He jumped through the trees and wandered about looking for any other signs of civilised life that he had found before. Previously, he had found some houses grouped together in a clearing, about 20 houses. Another time he had found a broken down cart that was usually pulled by a group of oxen type magical beasts. Now these were the type of signs that he was looking for.


    Suddenly he heard a sharp shrill sound. It sounded like something was screaming for help. Ryu immediately changed directions and headed towards the sound. He ran quickly and arrived at the scene. He found the pack of Rabid Dogs surrounding a nest. In the nest there was a chick left and just as Ryu arrived he could see the mother bird flying off with a chick in each foot. Ryu looked down and came to the conclusion that the mother bird only had time to get 2 of her 3 chicks to safety. As he watched, Ryu grew angrier by the second.


    The Rabid Dogs were not only eating the chick, but the were also toying with it. The single chick would not be enough for the entire pack or even a single one of them. However, they were toying with the chick by rolling it around and smacking it down whenever it tried to run away. As Ryu watched this scene, he grew angrier.


    What gave the Rabid Dogs the right to torture the little chick? They had the right to hunt it but not to torture the poor thing. As Ryu grew furious, anger clouded his mind. Without thinking, he suddenly dropped down and using his dagger stabbed the pack leader in the head, instantly killing it. The rest of the pack turned towards him. Seeing him on top of their dead leader they howled in anger and charged towards him. Ryu quickly drew his sword and started hacking and slashing. With every blow, a dog fell to it¡¯s death. Seeing the carnage, the rest of the pack ran away. However, the few minutes had resulted in a devastating loss for the Rabid Dogs. Out of their original 50 members, only about 30 remained. In about 2 minutes, Ryu had killed about 20 of the Rabid Dogs, including their leader.


    As Ryu saw the Rabid Dogs running away, he relaxed, his body aching everywhere. He was covered in cuts, from head to toe. His victory had not come for free, rather it had come at quite an expensive cost. As Ryu was about to leave, he turned around and spied the injured chick lying down, fainted. Ryu slowly walked over to the chick and picked it up.


    The chick was about the size of his hand. It was a dim yellow colour, its feathers speckled in a light brown colour. Its¡¯ beak was slightly curved, just like a raptor¡¯s beak. It¡¯s beak was a black colour in contrast to it¡¯s yellow feathers. The chick had barely gotten feathers, it still had a coat of down(the fur like thing baby birds have before feathers. Think what baby chickens have). It had tiny wings, still growing, that had a pattern that wasn¡¯t easily discernible.


    Ryu gently picked up the chick and slowly climbed a nearby tree. Once he got to a high enough vantage point, he scouted the landscape. He quickly found a suitable hiding spot and rushed towards it. About 10 minutes late he was on a branch of a tree with a large hollow. Although it was not apparent at first, once one took a closer look, one could see that there was an entrance in the tree trunk. Ryu climbed back down and went into the hollow at the base of the tree.


    The tree was huge, about 25 feet in diameter at the base and the tree was about 75 feet tall. Although this tree seemed huge in comparison to the trees from Ryu¡¯s hometown, it was actually only slight bigger than average in comparison to the other trees in this place.


    Ryu walked inside and found a giant room like empty space. The first thing he did was to place the chick on his bag which he placed on the ground. Then he took a piece of bark that was on the ground and blacked the entrance. Then he came back and saw that the bird was injured and still bleeding. So he gathered some mana at his hand and attempted to transfer it to heal the bird. However, he did not have a dantian yet, so he couldn¡¯t yet control mana outside his body.


    As he started to panic, his hands hit his satchel. A clinking noise could be heard in the bag. Ryu suddenly lifted his head and searched his satchel. Pulling his hand out from the satchel, he held a vial in his hand. He uncorked the vial and slowly dripped a couple drops onto the chick¡¯s injuries. Suddenly there was a glow and the chick suddenly screeched in pain. Luckily, the tree¡¯s bark was very thick and stopped the screech from being heard by something else outside the tree.


    A few minutes later, the chick stopped screeching and the glow faded away. The wounds on its body had disappeared and it was healthy once again. Ryu sighed in relief as he noticed that the chick had healed. After gently setting it down, Ryu quickly headed out of the tree. He barricaded the entrance and rushed into the forest. He quickly jumped through the trees and arrived back at the location of the battle. It had hardly been 15 minutes since the battle and it looked like no other beast had arrived yet. Ryu quickly pulled out his dagger and began skinning the fur of the dogs. He also collected their fangs and claws as he could sell them for a high price back at his homeland. Also he could use them as materials for weapons here. Like for arrows or spears.


    After Ryu finished collecting all of the materials, he quickly jumped into the trees and ran away from the scene. He ran around a bit and then ran into a small stream on his way back. He quickly ran through it, ridding himself of any scent for other beasts to track him. After washing himself and the materials, Ryu quickly jumped straight up and ran away on the branches.


    About 10 minutes after Ryu had left the stream, a magic beast appeared at the stream. It raised it¡¯s head and sniffed. Not finding a trace of Ryu¡¯s scent, it growled in frustration and paced around. The beast looked like a large housecat with pointed ears. This was the Novice Ranked magic beast, Jade Lynx. It primarily hunted by ambushes and rarely fought head on. After pacing a while, the Jade Lynx also departed and fortunately for Ryu, left in the opposite direction.


    Meanwhile Ryu had arrived back at the tree and he removed all of the barriers and walked inside. Once inside he once again barricaded the entrance. As he sat there he looked at the chick. It¡¯s tiny chest moved up and down steadily, indicating that it was sound asleep. Ryu looked down and saw that his multiple injuries had begun healing, he was no longer bleeding.


    He sat down and began cultivating. In the process, he had to circulate vast amounts of mana around his body, which led to his wounds being healed at a much quicker pace. After a few hours, Ryu felt that he was approaching some sort of limit and he slowly began to stop cultivating. As he opened his eyes, he suddenly saw two small eyes gazing into his. The face of the chick was about only 2 inches away from his face.


    As he sat there staring at the bird, he realized that the bird must be deciding if he is hostile or not. As he was thinking this, the chick jumped of his chest and ran into his bag. As he was feeling relieved that it was no longer so close, he suddenly realized that the bird had run into the bag with all the materials he had harvested from the Rabid Dogs. He quickly opened the bag and found that the chick was eating. As it sensed him, it turned around and stared at Ryu, a piece of meat dangling from it¡¯s beak. As it stared, Ryu felt uncomfortable once again and he sighed deeply.


    Ryu: Fine, you can eat.


    Hearing this, the bird began to voraciously stuff it¡¯s face. Ryu seeing this, interrupted.


    Ryu: But you know, if I cooked the meat, it would taste way better.


    The bird suddenly stopped and turned towards Ryu.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Ryu: Haaaah. Why am I telling you this anyway? It¡¯s not like you can under-


    As he was speaking, he suddenly became silent. The bird had dragged a chunk of meat to Ryu, left it there, and was now staring at him as if forcing him to cook the meat. Ryu was stumped at it¡¯s human like behaviour. Sighing, he picked up the meat that the bird had dragged over to him. He turned around and searched around the ground in the interior of the tree. After some time, he finally found a piece of stone that fit his needs. He used some oil that he found on the goblin mages and the fat from the Rabid Dogs and some dry branches from the tree to start a fire. He used the piece of stone to hit one of the metal ingots that he had and it created sparks on around his 10th try.


    Lighting the wood, Ryu skewered the meat and roasted it. He kept adding branches to the fire to keep it going. Ryu also got more meat from his bag and began to roast them as well. The bird could not tear it¡¯s gaze away from the roasting meat and Ryu could swear he saw saliva dripping from the chick¡¯s beak. Although he shook his head and when he looked again it was gone, so he convinced himself that it was just an illusion. About 15 minutes later, the meat finished cooking.


    Ryu took the meat down and cut the large chunks into bite size portions. He placed them all on a clean leaf and placed it in between him and the chick. The bird stared hungrily at the meat. However, it did not immediately start eating. Instead it looked at Ryu as if asking for permission. Seeing this Ryu chuckled, "Haha, you don¡¯t need to look at me like that. Just go ahead and start eating. You are hungry after all."


    Hearing this, the bird had no more inhibitions. It tore through the meat like a hurricane. Watching this scene, Ryu smiled and he also began to eat. As he ate he began to think about this baby bird/chick. It was an energetic little bird and he suspected that the pool water had something to do with this. Although he had his suspicions, there was no evidence for him to work with. Ryu also had no idea what to do with this little bird. Should he go back and return it to it¡¯s parents? Should he just release it into the forest? He had no idea. As he was thinking, the bird sensed that he was staring at it and the chick stared back at Ryu, with a questioning look. Amused by this, Ryu decided to leave it up to the chick. It could obviously understand him, something which amazed him. So he asked the chick what it wanted to do, "Do you want me to return you to your nest?"


    The bird shook its head.


    Ryu asked again, "Then do you want to search for your parents?"


    The bird once again shook its head. But this time, Ryu was able to detect a hint of sadness in its eyes. Ryu asked, "Then what do you want to do?"


    Hearing this, the bird looked up at him. Before Ryu could understand it¡¯s intention, it jumped on him and climbed into his shirt pocket. It climbed inside and began to make itself comfortable.


    Ryu was making sure, "Do you want to stay with me?"


    Hearing this, the chick¡¯s eyes brightened and it nodded furiously. Seeing this Ryu smiled, "Fine then, you can stay with me as long as you want."


    Hearing this, the chick chirped in joy. After a while the exhaustion caught up to it and it fell asleep in Ryu¡¯s front shirt pocket. Ryu stopped the fire and cleaned up the mess they had made. While cleaning up, he remembered the little bird¡¯s antics and he smiled. The little one could stay with him as long as it wanted. Smiling, Ryu lay down on a pile of leaves and fell asleep.


    -----------------------------------------


    The Entity was watching Ryu when he was saving the chick, "Hahaha, this one is such a nice and gentle little person. He¡¯d better be introduced to the horrors of the martial world quickly otherwise he will die quickly with that na?ve mindset of his."


    As the Entity was contemplating this he watched as Ryu slaughter a bunch of Rabid Dogs, "Hmmm. It seems he can really be ruthless when he wants to. However he really has to thank the 1st trial for that, otherwise he wouldn¡¯t be able to even kill anything and would definitely fail the test."


    As the Entity was analyzing Ryu, Ryu had already returned back to the chick and the lunch scene commenced. Seeing the actions of the bird, the Entity chuckled, "What a strange little bird. I wonder what it is."


    As he was saying so he probed the bird and tried to find out it¡¯s origins, "Hmmm. Hmmmm? I can¡¯t find any of its details? ME! HAHAHAHA!!!! How long has it been since something was hidden from me? Far too long indeed. HAHAHA. Let see if they can still hide from me."


    As he said this, a terrifying aura burst from the Entity. Everything that was too close(too close = within a few galaxies near the entity) was instantly vaporised. Or it would have been vaporised if the entity hadn¡¯t been in a special dimension preventing mass destruction and death.


    The Entity laughed, "Hahaha. Done. Let¡¯s see what this stupid bird really is. So it is---- No-- No way¡­¡­¡­¡­.. This bird is¡­¡­..is¡­...HELL NO. I CAN¡¯T BELIEVE THAT SHE BEAT ME TO THE PUNCH. I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE FIRST TO GIFT HIM WITH AN AMAZING POWER OR MAGICAL BEAST!!!!! ARGHHHHHHH!!!"


    The Entity threw a little tantrum. Sometime later.


    The Entity frowned, "Humph. Well Since the person who gifted him was my darling little wife, I guess that I can overlook this. HAAAAAAAAA. But why did she have to give him a magical beast. I was going to give him one but now I can¡¯t because he can¡¯t possibly have two right now. Hmp. Since all of you want to play that way then I shall gift that boy with THAT. HUHUHUHUHU. Let¡¯s see how you deal with him then. FUFUFUFU. "


    The maniacal laughter resounded through space even though no one could hear in that dimension.


    ---------------------------------


    The first figure woke up and said, "Do the rest of you sense that? It seems like that one came here to watch the trials."


    The second figure asked in annoyance, "Can¡¯t we keep it away by using pesticide or something?"


    The first figure said plainly, "No."


    The third figure also asked, "Can¡¯t we just kill it and be done with it?"


    The second figure turned and looked at the third figure, "Kill that thing? I knew that you were stupid but are you really that much of a dumbass?"


    The third figure said, "You know that I can kill you anytime right?"


    The second figure chuckled, "Heh You can try, DUMBASS!!!"


    The third figure shouted, "HEY!!!! THAT¡¯S IT. OUTSIDE NOW. I¡¯M GONNA KICK YOUR SORRY ASS AROUND A COUPLE TIMES!!!"


    Suddenly an ancient presence could be felt. All 3 of the figures, stopped and stood straight.


    The ancient one said, "That¡¯s enough. Let that one watch. It¡¯s not like we can do something to him anyway. Besides, he¡¯s been watching every single one of the candidates so far."


    The third figure respectfully asked, "Is that true Big Brother?"


    The ancient one turned to the first figure and said, "Yes. Brother, given your power you should have sensed him too. "


    The first figure nodded, "Indeed I had. However I knew that these two would have made a fuss so I didn¡¯t tell. Plus it wasn¡¯t doing any harm, so I didn¡¯t interfere."


    The ancient one simply acknowledged this and gave out an order, "Is that so. Anyway the child is still at the 2nd stage. Let us all meet again when he passes the final stage"


    Saying this the presence faded away.


    The first figure said, "You heard him. Stop messing around."


    Leaving behind a little warning the first figure vanished. The second and third figures just stared at each other. They snorted and they too disappeared.

 Chapter 20 - Compression

    Hey guys, here is your chapter for today. I will release another chapter over the weekend. Maybe two. But don''t get your hopes up. I have some work to do. Anyway enjoy this chapter.


    <hr />


    6 months later


    A figure rushed through the treetops, chasing after a beast that was fleeing on the ground beneath him. The person drew his dark dagger and sword and rushed forward. Once he judged that he was near enough, he jumped towards the beast, his speed increasing by a large amount. He closed the gap between him and the beast and in one slash managed to leave a deep and serious injury on the beast¡¯s body. There was a gash from the beast¡¯s torso all the way to it¡¯s hind legs. The beast¡¯s speed slowed down by a large amount due to the injury and was no longer able to escape the figure. As both the figure and the beast came to a stop, their details could be seen.


    The beast was a large boar, covered in red stripes. It¡¯s tusks were about 2 feet long and they were covered in a green substance. The boar had thick scales on it¡¯s shoulder and neck region. There was also a horn sprouting from its forehead. Determining that it could no longer run away, the boar decided to go all out. It snorted causing embers to come out of its breath. This was the Novice Rank magical beast, Flaming Boar. It¡¯s strength was usually in the 1-3 tiers of the Novice Rank. However it was able to fight on par with those humans who were 1-2 tiers higher than itself. However, the figure on the other side stood there calmly, not showing any fear.


    The figure was human, with deep golden hair with azure streaks. His eyes were a piercing dark violet color and he was holding a dagger in his right hand. He looked to be about 7 years of age. However, the Flaming Boar did not look down on him because of his age. After all, this child had already injured it heavily. The boar took a step forward and charged at the child. The child sidestepped at the last second and stabbed the Flaming Boar in the ear. The dagger pierced through its ear canal and into its brain. Instantly killed, the Flaming Boar did not have any time to make any noise. Rather the Boar¡¯s eyes glazed over and it collapsed within seconds.


    If anyone had seen this scene they would have been extremely shocked. After all, not only did the child possess astonishing strength, but he also possessed a shocking amount of battle sense. For a child of that age to be able to accurately and quickly locate the weak spot of the beast and slay it in such a manner is absolutely monstrous. The child walked over to the corpse of the Flaming Boar and began to skin it and collect it¡¯s meat. After he skinned it, he also took its horn, scales, meat, and tusks. He put all of this in a large bag and as he was doing so a small bird slightly bigger than the size of a fist flew over and landed on the child¡¯s shoulder.


    The child was Ryu and the bird was the chick that he had saved from the Rabid Dogs. Ryu smiled as he saw the bird and smiled, "Spark, come here."


    The bird obediently flew over and landed on his shoulder. The bird had grown and its plumage had gone through change as well. It now had feathers instead of down that he had when he was still a chick. Spark stood straight and tall on Ryu¡¯s shoulder. However Ryu noticed that Spark was eyeing the Flaming Boar¡¯s corpse.


    Ryu  asked, "Spark? What are you looking at it¡¯s corpse for? I already took all the meat."


    Spark looked at the corpse one last time then he turned his attention to the bag that Ryu was holding.


    Ryu moved the bag away from Spark, "Hey! Keep your talons off mister. When we get back to base then you can eat and not any sooner."


    Spark grew downhearted as he heard this. Then Spark turned to Ryu and stared at him with big teary eyes that made it look like he was going to cry. Seeing this Ryu sighed, reached into his bag, and tossed a strip of meat at Spark. Spark¡¯s eyes light up and he snatched the meat out of the air and swallowed it whole. Then he turned towards Ryu and began to give him the same look again.


    Ryu shouted, "No WAY!! I already gave you a piece. Wait till we get back to base."


    Saying this Ryu jumped up a tree and started running on the branches. He had learned that this was the safest method of travel because most of the magical beasts here were not avian types, rather they were beast type like wolves or boars.(think of beast type as mammals) Ryu headed North East until he came upon a grove of trees on a mountain. The trees in this grove were all taller and bigger than average. However they were not too big as to attract attention from the other beasts and races that lived here. They were just wider and broader than most trees in this area. This area had relatively peaceful beasts, they would not attack you if you did not provoke them.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    Ryu walked over to a tree and placed his hand against the ground. Pulling up, he revealed door covered by moss and leaves. There was rocks and boulders blocking the entrance. Ryu reached into several crevices and pulled out several arm sized rocks. Almost immediately after, all the other boulders and rock loosened becoming easier to take out. After taking out all the boulders, Ryu walked in and set up the barricade once again. Inside the tree was a giant hollow that was almost twice as big as the hollow he had gone into the first time when saving Spark. The hollow had luminous moss inside, that were significantly brighter than torches or candles. Ryu had discovered these not far from the tree. The moss was parasitic so he did not even have to feed them. All he had to do was attach them to the wall and they would take care of themselves and produce light for him. He turned his attention away from the luminous moss and continued inside.


    Once he got inside he went to a corner of the hollow and bent over. There was a small hatch and Ryu opened it. Inside there was a deep hollow about 8 feet deep. Inside there was some traces of meat and food. However, presently it was empty, although i would not remain empty for much longer. Ryu opened his bag and dumped the Flaming Boar meat into the hollow. Ryu had discovered this small hollow, but it had only been about 2 feet deep at the time. He noticed that it would be significantly cooler inside than outside. Though he did not know the reason for this, he put the meat inside so that it would not spoil quickly. This was something he had learned from the cook back at his house.


    After storing the meat and feeding Spark some of the meat, Ryu went to another part of the hollow. He sat down and began cultivating. In these past 6 months, Ryu had already finished the previous stage of cultivation. His body had gotten used to the mana core and had stopped absorbing mana. After he had reached this stage he took out the cultivation manual and stared at it. After a few minutes some more text appeared.


    Congratulations! If you are reading this that means you have increased your mana core to the max 5 inch diameter and your body has gotten used to the mana core. This means that you are now ready to establish your Dantian. HAHAHAHA NOPE. YOU ARE NOT READY. What did you expect? Anyway there is 2 more stages for you to complete before establishing your dantian. Right now, your power should be at the Early Tiers of the Novice Rank. Good Job! However, after you finish the next 2 stages your power will be at the peak of the 10th Tier of the Novice Rank. That is when you are able to establish your Dantian.


    Anyway here what you have to do next. Currently your mana in your mana core is in a gaseous form. So you have to compress your mana core to convert your mana into a liquid form. After that you have to once again slowly increase your mana core¡¯s diameter to 5 inches. Good luck little one.


    The last line had made Ryu feel like someone is watching him and giving him instructions on how to cultivate. He had reached this stage 5 months ago. He had finished compressing his gaseous mana to liquid form 4 months ago. And just 1 month ago, he had finally increased his core¡¯s diameter to 5 inches once again. Upon reaching this stage new text once again began to appear on the cultivation manual.


    Wow, that was fast. I had originally thought that you would take another month or so. Good job. Anyway your next step is to once again compress you liquid form mana to solid form mana. Your core currently has liquid mana. You need to compress it so that your core is solid mana. Anyway this should take you significantly longer. At the very least, it would take you twice as long. As usual Good luck little one.


    This time the text started off with an attitude! Ryu was almost certain that something was monitoring him. However he did not know what it was, but he suspected that it was the same thing that brought him here. Anyway, for the last month Ryu had been busy compressing his core and so far it was still liquid form. the liquid mana in his core had become incredibly dense but not solid form yet. He had already compressed his mana core with a diameter of 5 inches to a diameter of 3 inches. Ryu sat down and began cultivating once again.


    After a few hours, Ryu stood up, his body covered in sweat. He had to concentrate and focus on compressing his core. This took considerable effort on his part and caused him great mental strain. After cleaning up he ate dinner together with Spark and went to sleep. As he sank into sleep, his last thoughts were about his family back home. And then everything went dark.

 Chapter 21 - Encounter

    Hey guys, First I would like to apologize for taking such a long time off without prior notice. As they say, Shit happens and I had a large amount of shit to deal with. Some family issues + school issues + personal issues = a huge ass leave for me. Anyway, here is a chapter as and apology and i will start regular releases on Thursday. There may be another apology chapter on Tuesday. Anyway I went back and edited plus added some new info into the earlier chapters. So re-read and you might find out some new details. Anyway enough of me, here you go.


    <hr />


    YAAAAWN!!!!


    Ryu woke up and slowly walked over to bucket in the corner of the room. Leaning over, he splashed some water on his face to wake himself up. He then began to prepare breakfast for himself and Spark. He pulled out some of the boar meat and began to fry it in thin slices. As he was frying the meat, Spark woke up from the delicious smell. He slowly made his way over to Ryu and yawned. He looked at the sizzling meat and his drowsiness disappeared instantly. He hopped onto Ryu¡¯s shoulder and stared at the meat, his drool hanging from his beak. Seeing this, Ryu laughed, ¡°Hold on Spark. It will be done very soon.¡±


    Spark just chirped impatiently


    Ryu smiled at this and said, ¡°I know you are hungry but hold on. It¡¯s almost done.¡±


    Saying this, Ryu flipped the meat and fried the other side. In about a minute, the meat was done and Ryu put the meat on a large leaf and placed it on the ground. Spark hurriedly ran at the meat and started scarfing it down. Ryu blew out the fire under the pan and put it away. Then he sat down and began eating as well.


    After Ryu and Spark finished eating their breakfast, they stood up and headed for the exit, with Spark standing on Ryu¡¯s shoulder. They walked out of the hollow and once again barricaded the doorway. Ryu then gathered some leaves and scattered them about the entrance to mask his scent.


    After doing this, he climbed a nearby tree and started running. This might not be the fastest mode of travel, but it was the safest one so far. These past 6 months, Ryu had been exploring the forest. So far he had explored much of the south and south-east regions. He had just begun to explore the north and east regions. He had made his base in the north-east region because it was less dangerous than the other regions he had explored. The entire western region was extremely dangerous. Ryu estimated that he was only about halfway through the forest and there was still a large distance to cover before he came out of the forest.


    Today, Ryu was heading towards the estimated central region which was north-west of his base. Running on the branches, Ryu arrived at a clearing in which there was several flowers and herbs. Ryu did not recognise any of them and he paused just to admire the beauty of them. He decided to see if he could learn what they were and he pulled out his book on flora. He flipped through the book and still could not learn any clues as to what they were. As he was about to leave, a small blue bird came and landed on one of the flowers and began to drink the nectar from the flowers.


    CRAASSSHHHHH!!!! SNAAAAPPPP!!!!


    All of a sudden, a pair of jaws came out and snapped the bird up. After a couple seconds, the jaws retracted back into the ground and everything went back to normal. Ryu stared in shock. A clump of seemingly normal flowers and herbs held huge amounts of danger. Ryu decided that in the future he would take caution when encountering anything that appeared harmless. He silently committed this to his mind and moved on.


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    A few minutes later, as he was running he heard the sounds of battle. Intrigued by these sounds, Ryu ran towards them. As he heard the sounds getting louder, he slowed down and moved forwards slowly and stealthily. As he was moving forward he saw on the ground, a pack of Rabid Dogs attacking a couple of the Flaming Boars. Although the Flaming Boars were stronger, they were getting pushed back due to the sheer numbers of the Rabid Dog pack. This Rabid Dog pack had nearly 3 times the amount of Rabid Dogs than the one Ryu had exterminated. In the past, the one he had destroyed had only about 50 Rabid Dogs. However this one had nearly 160 Rabid Dogs. The Flaming Boars only numbered 20. Each Boar was being pressured by almost 8 Rabid Dogs.


    Also in this pack there were 10 Rabid Dogs that looked different than the others. 9 of these had darker coloured fur than the others. They were also bigger than the others. They also were much stronger than the others. Whereas normal Rabid dogs are only at the 1-5th tier of the Initiate Rank, these were somewhere near the 8-10th tier of the Initiate Rank. The last Rabid Dog was almost a completely dark grey color and was even bigger than the elite Rabid Dogs. This was a Rabid Dog leader and was at near the 5-6th tier of the Novice Rank. This Rabid Dog leader was alone able to take on a Flaming Boar.


    Although the Flaming Boars were able to hold on by virtue of their fire element, they were running out of mana and would soon lose. Ryu did not interfere and watched this battle. As time went on the Flaming Boars began lose. Finally only 1 Flaming Boar was left. The Rabid Dogs had lost only 10 or so of their members. As the rest of the Rabid Dogs began to attack, the last Flaming Boar also fell, but not before it had taken down 3 Rabid Dogs with it. Having seen the battle, Ryu moved on. He slowly made his way through the forest as he recalled the battle that he had just seen.


    In its last moments, the Flaming Boar had exploded with energy and moved almost instantly forward, crushing 3 Rabid Dogs with it. It¡¯s insane charge had only been stopped when the Rabid Dog leader and the elite Rabid Dogs attacked it head on and sent it flying. Remembering that attack, Ryu was puzzled. How did the Flaming Boar manage to bring up all that energy? wasn¡¯t it heavily injured? But the more he thought, the more confused he got. Finally he just forgot about it and he continued on deeper into the central region.


    As he went deeper into the central region, Ryu saw a thin trail of smoke. His curiosity aroused, Ryu ran towards the source of the smoke and as he got closer he slowed down because of the possibility of danger. Spark narrowed his eyes and shut his mouth due to the irritation received from the smoke. Once Ryu arrived at the scene he noticed a couple things.


    There was a small village like establishment present. He had chanced upon these before but they were always empty. However this village was not empty. However the occupants were not what Ryu expected. The occupants of this tiny village were goblins. There were about 35 goblins and there was a fire engulfing some of the houses. There were only about 10 houses and half of them were on fire. The goblins were escaping to the north east. There were magical beasts attacking the goblins and destroying the village. However what made Ryu astonished was that these goblins were highly trained and stronger than those he faced in the tunnel.


    A goblin soldier shouted to his comrades, ¡°Alright, soldiers protect the villagers, rest of you with me!¡±


    Ryu¡¯s eyes opened wide. These goblins could SPEAK!!!!


    <hr />

 Chapter 22- Battle and Loot

    Hey guys here is my apology chapter. I will start regular releases this Thursday, so in like 2 days Any way Enjoy!


    <hr />


    Ryu stared in astonishment at the scene before him. Goblins were working efficiently and quickly together. And they displayed a shocking amount of intelligence. They could even talk clearly! The goblins he had met before only screamed single words like human or die and rushed him with no strategy or plan. However these goblins had intelligence and were extremely smart. They utilized strategies and teamwork and formations. These goblins were on a whole other level than the ones in the cave.


    However the magical beasts they were fighting were no pushovers either. They were a pack of Bronze Coyotes. Bronze Coyotes were at the Elementary Rank 1-2 Tier, and were one of the most common magical beasts in the world. They were called Bronze Coyotes because their fur was a vibrant tan colour. This was because they had earth attribute and could harden their bodies with their skills. They could also wield small amounts of earth like rocks to attack their foes.


    Ryu remembered reading about them in a Hero adventure book. They were one of the first magical beasts that the hero in the book trained against and killed. Seeing these Bronze Coyotes, Ryu wanted to jump in and start attacking just like the hero in the book. But just before he jumped into the fray, Spark pecked Ryu¡¯s head with his beak.


    Thock!!!!!


    Although the noise was not very loud, the blow made Ryu bend over in pain. Ryu was holding his head and trying to stop the tears from coming out. After a few minutes, Ryu had got himself under control. Ryu looked up at Spark, and said, ¡°Why did you do that!!!!¡±


    Spark just stared at Ryu as if he hadn¡¯t seen a dumber human. As Spark continued to stare at Ryu, Ryu slowly began to understand why Spark had pecked him. Ryu looked gratefully at Spark, ¡°Thanks, Spark for cooling me down. Otherwise I might have rushed in there and been destroyed.¡±


    Ryu had realised that had Spark not pecked him, he might have rushed down there in the heat of the moment and attacked the Bronze Coyotes. And since he hadn¡¯t even formed his Dantian, he would have been killed by the Bronze Coyotes or the goblins. Once he understood this, Ryu thanked Spark and continued to watch over the battle.


    The Bronze Coyotes certainly had quantity, the goblins had quality. There were almost 500 Bronze Coyotes against only 50 or so Goblins. However, the Goblins were extremely powerful. They killed many Bronze Coyotes and were slowly retreating as they fought. As the goblins continued to hold off the Bronze Coyotes, a lightly armoured goblin rushed over to the Goblin Soldiers.


    The goblin scout shouted, ¡°Captain! The 17th and 18th Squads have secured the villagers and are moving them to safety. We have our orders to retreat. The 16th,19th, and 20th squads will link up at point delta and help us to eliminate these magical beasts.¡±


    The Goblin Captain turned around and shouted at the top of his voice, ¡°Alright Men! We got our orders! 2nd Platoon! Slow Retreat! The 16th, 19th, and 20th squads are gonna help us clear out these mutts! Watch your backs and move slowly while holding off these mangy dogs!¡±


    Having shouted out his orders, the Goblin Captain began to slowly retreat along with his platoon. The Bronze Coyotes continued their assault on the goblins and chased them as the goblins retreated. Ryu watched until both the goblins and Bronze Coyotes had disappeared from sight and then he quickly jumped down.


    After taking a quick look around and making sure that nothing was nearby, he quickly moved to the Bronze Coyote corpses. Ryu pulled out his dagger and sliced opened their skulls. Despite the Bronze Coyote being at the Elementary Rank and their skin being extremely strong, Ryu was able to cut it open with his dagger. Ryu had not noticed this since he had never met anything that his dagger could not cut.


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    In a hurry, Ryu quickly skinned several Bronze Coyotes and cracked open the skulls of the rest. Inside the skulls, Ryu found a small muddy brown crystal. This was the cores of the Bronze Coyotes. Just like how humans establish their Dantians at the Elementary Rank, magical beasts form their cores at the Elementary Rank. Ryu quickly took all the magic cores and was about to leave, but something caught his eye.


    Ryu saw the corpses of a few of the goblin soldiers. He hesitated but quickly sprinted over to their corpses and took their weapons, some armour, and their bags. Carrying these on his back, Ryu quickly climbed up the closest tree and fled from the scene. Although Ryu did not know, several magical beasts were drawing close from the smell of blood and they had arrived at the scene shortly afterwards.


    Meanwhile Ryu had slowly searched and found a small stream nearby his base. Ryu had used this stream before and he quickly ran through the stream and washed off any traces of blood that might remain. Then after making sure that nothing was following him, he ran off to his base. Once in his base, Ryu dumped all of his loot on the floor and sat down, breathing heavily. Spark hadn¡¯t moved from Ryu¡¯s shoulder and just sat there like nothing was worthy of its attention.


    After Ryu recovered, he took out his sword and dagger and looked through the goblin¡¯s weapons. There was 2 short swords, 3 longswords, 1 bow, about 12 arrows, and 6 daggers. Ryu set aside the bow and arrows and began infusing the sword into his sword and the daggers into his dagger. His sword became a bit shorter and a bit broader. It was now about 3 2.5 feet long and about ? foot wide. It was quite balanced and fit nicely in Ryu¡¯s hand. The gem in the pommel became slightly lighter but not significantly so. His dagger had become a bit longer and a bit thinner. However the blade was still sharp and strong. The blade was now about 4.5 inches long and 2.5 inches wide. It¡¯s gem also became a bit lighter but not significantly so. Ryu sheathed both his weapons and turned his attention towards the bags he got from the goblins.


    There was 6 bags in total. Ryu opened all the bags and tallied up his gains. There was dried rations, about 3 pounds of dried meat and 6 fruits that looked like apples. Next there was the usual metal ingots, about 13 or so. Ryu was puzzled, what were these ingots and why did all the goblins have them? Finding no clue so far, Ryu shelved this question in the back of his mind and turned his attention to the other items. There was vials again but this time they had something in them. Each bag had 2 vials. One had a red blood coloured liquid and the other was a pale blue coloured liquid. Ryu grew excited. He had seen these before with Uncle Doran and the guards.


    The red coloured liquid was a healing potion and the blue coloured liquid was a mana potion. Although it was called healing potion, it only stimulated the healing abilities of the cells in the body and stopped bleeding. The mana potion also sped up mana absorption to replenish one¡¯s depleted mana reserves. Neither of the potions worked immediately. However to Ryu this didn¡¯t matter because these two could help give him a higher chance of survival. Quickly pocketing the 6 healing potions and the 6 mana potions into his own bag, Ryu turned to the next items.


    The next items were the copper coins. He found about 50 copper coins and Ryu stored these with the ones he already had. Now in total he had about 100 copper coins and 80 metal ingots. The last item Ryu had found were some empty or half full water canteens. Ryu put these aside to wash and reuse. After sorting and packing away all the valuables, Ryu sat down to eat lunch not aware that something similar was happening somewhere North East from his location.

 Chapter 23 - The meeting

    Hey guys sorry for the late release. As an apology, I added an extra chapter. Here are 3 chapters for last week. This week''s releases will come on Sunday. I decided to release all the chapters at once rather than one every couple days. It helps to lower stress on me too and you guys probably enjoy reading more at once. Anyway enjoy these 3 chapters.


    <hr />


    Somewhere in the Northern part of the Forest


    A goblin scout was running through the forest. He was carrying a large cylindrical shaped object on his back. The goblin ran quickly and arrived at a heavily fortified gatel. A goblin on top of the gate looked down and shouted at the goblin scout, ¡°HALT!!!! Who goes there?


    The Goblin Scout replied back, ¡°I am a messenger from Lord Firesword¡¯s camp and I have a message for his Lordship.¡±


    The Goblin Guard shouted down, ¡°Alright we are sending out some members from Lord Firesword¡¯s retinue in order to confirm what you are saying.¡±


    The Goblin Scout acknowledged the order by nodding. As the goblin scout waited, a door opened and 3 goblins came outside towards the goblin scout. One goblin was in the lead with the other two following behind him. The lead goblin had scales that were much brighter than the other goblins. The lead goblin came to a halt. Before he could speak, the goblin scout had already bowed and started talking.


    The Goblin Scout said, ¡°Greetings lord Green Scales. I am Gad, messenger from the 2nd Platoon under Lord Firesword.¡±


    The leading goblin, Green Scales ordered the Gad, ¡°Alright give me the message and then you may go.¡±


    Gad acknowledged the order and handed over the scroll. However Gad did not leave and spoke instead, ¡°Yes Sir, here is the message. However our Captain asked for a reply sir. ¡°


    Green Scales raised an eyebrow said, ¡°Is that so? However, his Lordship is in a meeting with the other Commanders and this will take some time. ¡°


    Gad nodded his head, ¡°That is fine sir, I will wait.¡±


    Green Scales turned around and motioned towards Gad, ¡°Fine, follow me.¡±


    Saying this, Green Scales led Gad inside and showed him to a room where he could wait for Lord Firesword. Meanwhile the meeting was going on in a secret room built underground.


    Meeting Room


    Inside there was a large triangular table with 3 people sitting around it. One was a tall goblin about 5 feet tall with dark skin and red tattoos snaking up his right arm. His hair was a vibrant green with red mixed in with it. A large dark red heavy sword was placed next to him within arm''s reach. This was Firesword.


    The next goblin was a somewhat shorter than Firesword and was about 4.5 feet tall and dark skinned as well. However his muscles far outclassed those of Firesword and the last goblin. This goblin was built like a wall and was extremely muscular. His hair was a dark green with blue streaks. He had a large dark blue sickle that resembled a scythe that was almost as long as he was tall. The sickle was 4 feet long and extremely heavy. This was also in arm¡¯s distance from him. This goblin was Frostsickle.


    The last goblin was unexpectedly female. She was sitting with her eyes closed. She was a little shorter than Firesword but taller than Frostsickle. She had dark skin and pale green hair with dark stripes. Her hair came down to her shoulders. She was thin and lean, not at all muscular like Frostsickle. Unlike the others, her weapon was not big enough to be seen. However the other two knew that it was there. Her weapon was a pale grey blade. It was only about a 1.5 feet in length and was sheathed behind her back, making it easy for her to draw it. This was Ghostblade.


    Firesword broke the silence, ¡°Enough Frostsickle. Just say what you want straight and don¡¯t say any bullshit.¡±


    Frostsickle laughed, ¡°HAHAHAHA. I like that straight forward personality of yours Firesword. Anyway, Remember the Caves of Madness?¡±


    Firesword frowned and responded, ¡°What do you want with those caves?¡±


    Frostsickle grinned and said, ¡°Obviously I want to go in.¡±


    Firesword spoke, ¡° You know of what happened the last time someone ventured into those accursed caves.¡±


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Ghostblade opened her eyes for the first time this meeting and spoke in a soft voice, ¡°There should be a limit to your stupidity, Frostsickle.¡±


    Frostsickle grinned and put on a hurt expression, ¡° Hey, hey. I¡¯m hurt that you don¡¯t have confidence in me. Do you think that I really haven¡¯t thought it through?¡±


    Ghostblade and Firesword simultaneously said, ¡° Yes.¡±


    Frostsickle sighed, ¡° Hey come on now, I¡¯m not that stupid.¡±


    Ghostblade looked at him and said, ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±


    Frostsickle beamed, but Ghostblade continued, ¡°you are even stupider than we think.¡±


    Frostsickle¡¯s face fell, ¡° Hey, that was uncalled for.¡±


    Firesword sighed and intervened, ¡°Ghostblade, stop provoking him. And you Frostsickle, you¡¯d better hurry up and tell us what you want before our patience runs thin.¡±


    Frostsickle glanced at firesword gratefully and then his face turned serious, ¡°Alright thanks Firesword. Anyway, about a month ago I sent in scouts into the Caves of Madness.¡±


    Ghostblade turned her head, ¡°You did WHAT???¡±


    Frostsickle hurriedly explained, ¡°I know it was stupid of me to do so, but we had good reason to believe that things had changed. We found tracks leading out of the Caves of Madness.¡±


    Ghostblade and Firesword narrowed their eyes, ¡°Something actually came out of those caves? That¡¯s impossible. Nothing so far has survived in those caves, goblins, plants, magic beasts, nothing. How could something come out?¡±


    Frostsickle shrugged, ¡°Beats me, but whatever came out was a humanoid for sure. It walked on two legs, based on what we could gather from the tracks.¡±


    Firesword was about to open his mouth and speak when a knocking sound was heard. Firesword glanced at the door as it opened. Walking in was Green Scales with a message scroll in his hands. Firesword narrowed his hands at the scroll and spoke to Green Scales, ¡°What is so important that you have interrupted this meeting?¡±


    Green Scales bowed and said, ¡°Lord Firesword, we have received an urgent message from our 2nd platoon. They request your guidance.¡±


    Firesword was puzzled. Could the 2nd platoon have encountered a powerful beast? He had given instructions to not venture towards the West or North. What could have caused them so much trouble? He looked at Green Scales, ¡°Speak the message, quickly.¡±


    Green Scales nodded, opened the scroll and began to read, ¡°To the Great General Firesword, We have finished evacuating the 8 villages in our jurisdiction. However, we have encountered a problem. Several of our dead were recovered for burial after the battle. However, we found that they were looted.¡±


    As Green Scales read out this part, Firesword glared at Frostsickle and Ghostblade. They hurriedly shook their heads to indicate that it was not them. His eyes still burning, Firesword looked back at Green Scales and motioned for him to continue. Green Scales continued, ¡°After investigation, we also found that several magi beasts had also been stripped of their cores or meat or fur. We have deduced that the culprit waited for the battle to move away from his location and then proceeded to loot. Upon investigating the tracks we found them to lead South-West. The tracks also indicate that the looter was not goblin but some other sort of HUMANOID. Please advise on how to continue.¡±


    At this sentence, the leaders all turned to look at each other having come to the same conclusion. Firesword motioned for Green Scales to leave. Green Scales bowed his head and walked out. As soon as the door shut, Firesword spoke, ¡°I¡¯m going to go look at this humanoid and see what to do.¡±


    Ghostblade also stood up, ¡°I¡¯m also coming. I want to see just what this thing might be.¡±


    As they stood to leave, Frostsickle spoke, ¡°There is one more thing that you should know.¡±


    Firesword and Ghostblade turned around, ¡°¡°What?¡±¡±


    Frostsickle looked them straight in the eyes and said, ¡°Some of our shamans calculated the time when the humanoid exited the cave. It was 6 months ago.¡±

 Chapter 24 - To make acquaintances

    Here is your second chapter


    <hr />


    There was complete silence in the room. Firesword and Ghostblade just stared at Frostsickle. They hadn¡¯t said a word. Annoyed at the silence, Frostsickle spoke up, ¡°Well aren¡¯t you guys going to say anything?¡±


    Firesword raised an eyebrow, ¡°What is there to say? If that truly is the case then we have a person to catch.¡±


    Frostsickle sighed, ¡°You idiot. I never meant that he is the one causing it.¡±


    Ghostblade spoke up, ¡°Oh? Then what do you mean Frostsickle. And please don¡¯t beat about the bush. My patience wears thin.¡±


    Frostsickle waved his hands, ¡°All right, all right. What I meant is maybe those beast are not controlled by him. Maybe they want to kill him.¡±


    Firesword said in a gruff tone, ¡°You mean to say that this humanoid is a victim just like us? And what proof do you have of this?¡±


    Frostsickle continued, ¡°We have found beast tracks everywhere he goes. However judging by the tracks, these beasts are not working with the humanoid. They are stalking the humanoid. Hunting it.¡±


    Firesword stared at Frostsickle, ¡°Then you mean to say that these beast waves are caused by those powerful beasts that want to kill this humanoid?¡±


    Frostsickle nodded, ¡°Exactly as you said. That is why there have been so many big movements in these past 6 months.¡±


    Firesword probed, ¡°Then what is your intention? Do you mean for us to hunt this humanoid and hand it over to the beasts for peace?¡±


    Frostsickle opened his mouth but before he could say a word, Ghostblade cut in from the side, ¡°That would be quite foolish Firesword.¡±


    Firesword looked at Ghostblade with a raised eyebrow, ¡°Oh? And do pray tell why.¡±


    Ghostblade continued with closed eyes, ¡°It¡¯s simple. This humanoid is being hunted by all of the most powerful beasts in this land for the past 6 months. Yet he has not been captured or found by anyone till now. This shows that this humanoid is quite powerful and might even possess power on par with those powerful beasts. So we should form an alliance with the humanoid and finish off those 5 magical beast kings.¡±


    Firesword looked at Ghostblade and smiled, ¡°Looks like I wasn¡¯t the only one thinking like that. Good job anyway girl.¡±


    Ghostblade hearing the end scowled and Frostsickle opened his mouth, ¡°Hey that¡¯s exactly what I was thinking. You praise me too.¡±


    Firesword shook his head, ¡°Not a snowflake¡¯s chance in hell.¡±


    Frostsickle opened his mouth and began to whimper. Firesword chuckled and then said to other two, ¡°All right since we have decided what course of action to carry out, let¡¯s get a move on punks.¡±


    Ghostblade scowled, ¡°Oy, just because you are older than us, doesn¡¯t mean you call call us brat or girl or punks. Call us by our titles.¡±


    Firesword grinned, ¡°Hahaha, maybe when you both can take on this old man and beat him.¡±


    Ghostblade and Frostsickle frowned. What Firesword had said was true. He was the strongest out of the three of them. In fact, Firesword was one of the previous general commanders and was on the border of breaking through to the next rank. Even if the both of them attacked him together it was doubtful if they could beat him. So they shut their mouths and followed him.


    The three goblin commanders walked out of the meeting room and went ot their respective retinues. They brought a squad of their most elite men and then left to the spot where the humanoid was last spotted. Once they arrived, they found the captain of the second platoon waiting for them. Upon seeing the three goblin commanders, the captain fell to his knees, ¡°Greetings to the Goblin Commanders. This one is Captain Gou of the second Platoon. Lord Firesword this is where we found the tracks of the humanoid.¡± As he said this he pointed to the ground a couple of feet away. There was footprints left in the ground near the carcasses of the Bronze Coyotes. The three goblin commanders looked at the ground and began to track the humanoid.


    Firesword looked at Gou and said, ¡° Good, you have done your duty. Go back to the village and stand by.¡±


    Captain Gou saluted and walked back to his men and led them back to the village. Meanwhile the three commanders looked at each other. Firesword said, ¡°Alright girl, this is where you shine. Now get started.¡±


    Ghostblade snorted but she began to track the humanoid. They weaved through the trees with their elite troops and walked to the south-west. Looking at the treetops, there were about 30 goblins jumping through the trees. After travelling a fair distance they came upon a grove of trees. The goblins kept careful watch of their surroundings to make sure that no powerful magical beasts came near them. Firesword turned towards Ghostblade, ¡°Are you sure this is the place?¡±


    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Ghostblade nodded, ¡°The tracks definitely run here. That humanoid definitely is around here somewhere.¡±


    Frostsickle said, ¡°Well where could he be hiding around here. Everything is open ground. Whats that humanoid going to do, dig a hole and hide?¡±


    Firesword looked at Frostsickle, ¡°That¡¯s a smart idea kid.¡±


    Frostsickle looked confused. Firesword sighed, ¡°Kid if you wanted to hide from beasts where would you hide? There are only two choices, some sort of cave or hole or  in the trees. I am willing to bet that the humanoid is around here somewhere and that he is hiding in some sort of natural cave or maybe he dug a hole.¡±


    Frostsickle looked enlightened, ¡° Hahaha, of course I knew all of that. Hahaha¡±


    Ghostblade shook her head, ¡°What an idiot.¡±


    Frostsickle looked like he would cry. Firesword laughed, ¡°hahaha, stop fighting you brats.¡±


    Ghostblade and Frostsickle looked at Firesword resentfully. Firesword rolled his eyes, ¡°All right all right, lets just find that humanoid¡¯s lair.¡±


    Hearing this, the goblins became serious again and continued to search for the humanoid¡¯s lair.


    ______________________________


    Meanwhile inside Ryu¡¯s grotto


    Ryu was lying down after a meal and Spark was resting on his shoulder. They had just finished eating and were completely full. As they lay there, they heard some noises from outside of the tree. Both of them instantly became alert. Ryu sat up and attached some homemade leather armour and equipped his dagger and put his sword within arms reach.He then picked up a bow he was working on and an arrow made with the tooth of a bronze coyote. He turned towards the secret entrance and aimed his bow at it. Spark also stood on a perch nearby and stared at the entrance.


    Outside, the goblins had already found the secret tunnel and were already inside it. They were outside of the hatch and were waiting. Firesword looked at Ghostblade and Ghostblade nodded. Frostsickle opened the door and suddenly an arrow whized towards him and struck him in the side. It did not pierce through his armour but it knocked the wind out of him.


    Ryu had seen his entrance suddenly open and had immediately shot the arrow by instinct. However after shooting he realized that there were goblins outside. He thought, ¡°They must be here for revenge because I looted those golins. I must kill them before they kill me. Let¡¯s kill those three tough looking ones first.¡±  Thinking this, he shot another arrow at Frostsickle and knocked him into another goblin behind him. Both of them collapsed onto the floor.


    The goblins had not adjusted their eyes to the sudden large amount of light and they could not see Ryu. Seeing this precise and accurate archery skills, Firesword raised his eye. Before he could process another thought, another arrow came whizing towards him and right after another one towards Ghostblade. Seeing this, Firesword struck the arrow away and shouted, ¡°We are not here to attack you. We want to talk to you.¡±


    Ryu heard the goblin shout but did not trust them so he shouted back, ¡°Then put down your weapons on the ground and push them towards me.¡±


    Hearing this, Frostsickle jumped up and started screaming, ¡°Nooo way you ass!¡±


    However, Firesword knocked him down and then picked up his weapon and threw both his and Frostsickle¡¯s weapons towards Ryu. The other goblins followed Firesword¡¯s action and they slowly all threw their weapons towards Ryu. Seeing his weapon being thrown inside the room, Frostsickle started crying. Firesword ignored this and shouted, ¡°We have done as you said, now can we talk?¡±


    Ryu watched as they threw their weapons towards him and considered. These goblins had followed his instructions but if they got close could he beat them? As he thought he decided to take a risk. He shouted towards the goblins, ¡°All right. But all of you can¡¯t come in.¡±


    Firesword had been waiting patiently and hearing this he shouted back, ¡°That¡¯s fine, only 3 of us are coming in.¡±


    Ryu shouted, ¡°Fine, the rest have to stay outside the door.¡±


    Firesword acknowledged this, ¡°All right.¡± Then he turned towards his men and told them to wait outside. Although they protested, Firesword shut them up with a glare and a frown. They left unwillingly. Firesword swung Frostsickle over his shoulder since he was still groaning from the pain of Firesword hitting him earlier. Then Firesword walked in with Ghostblade and Frostsickle over his shoulder.

 Chapter 25 - Kill the Beast Kings

    Here is your third and final chapter of the week(last week that is). Enjoy. This weeks chapters will come on Saturday or Sunday. Most likely Sunday. Anyway Enjoy!


    <hr />


    Firesword and Ghostblade walked in and they looked around to find the humanoid. Firesword spotted a young humanoid walking towards him from the corner of his eye. By his judgement, the little humanoid couldn¡¯t be more than 10 years old. The humanoid was carrying a blue sword with golden runes carved on it. The pommel was a light red color and was glowing. The humanoid child also had a golden bird on his shoulder.


    As Firesword kept studying the boy, he looked him in the face and realized that this boy was dangerous. His golden azure hair and piercing violet eyes have off a sense of celestial handsomeness. But Firesword knew that nothing that beautiful could be harmless.


    He was reminded of one of the beast kings of the forest, The Illusionary Butterfly, The Queen of all insect beasts. It looked harmless at first and quite mesmerizing but it is deadly and powerful enough to be a beast king or in this case a beast Queen.


    Firesword looked at the humanoid and asked, ¡°Are you the humanoid who came out of the Cursed Caves?¡±


    Rui stared back and said, ¡°I don''t know what the Cursed Caves are but I got here from a cave so probably I am that person. And also I am not a humanoid. I am human.¡±


    At the lay part Ghostblade and Firesword looked at Ryu is awe. Even Frostsickle, who was still dropped over Firesword¡¯s shoulder, looked up in amazement from his shock in hearing that Ryu was human.


    Frostsickle shouted, ¡° Impossible, it is recorded in our ancestors records that humans are weak. No human could have walked out of those caves! Even our best warriors have failed.¡±


    Before Ryu could say anything Firesword began talking, ¡°Calm down Frostsickle. Although it is written like that in our ancestral records, I can sense that this child is formidable. Even you and Ghostblade would not be able to kill him. Child are you an exception or are all humans truly as strong as you are?¡±


    Ryu looked at Firesword, ¡°Umm, I am actually not that strong you know? My parents are way stronger than me. Like a thousand times stronger than me or even more. And my name is Ryu not child.¡±


    Hearing what Ryu said the three goblins dropped their jaws in shock. Ryu was already as strong as someone in the 6-7 tier of the Novice Rank. How much stronger was a thousand times that? The goblins couldn¡¯t comprehend this number it his parents strength.


    Ryu looked at them and was embarrassed by their stares, ¡°You know that¡¯s nothing right? After all those Kings and Emperors and Sect leaders are much more powerful than me or my parents you know?¡±


    Suddenly those goblins became confused, ¡° Since when were there human empires in this world? We have heard of hidden sects but not kingdoms or empires? I know we live on the outer rim but our information can¡¯t be that off.¡±


    Hearing this Ryu became stumped. No kingdoms or empires? Which continent was this? Ryu had previously considered that this may not be Eternia but had not really convinced himself of it. He had thought that it was more likely that he was transported to another continent like the Beastman continent or the Southern Continent. Never had he imagined or accepted that this was a different world.


    He looked up hesitantly and asked, ¡°What is the name of this world?¡±


    Firesword looked in confusion, did this child not even know the name of the world he lived in? But he still answered the boy, ¡°The name of this world is obviously called the Omniworld and the name was granted by the first ruler of this world.¡±


    Ryu¡¯s head spun as he thought, ¡°This is truly not Eternia. That means I got trapped in another world. Does this mean that I can¡¯t go back home? Damn it all.¡± Ryu pounded the wall with his fist in anger. The wall caved in slightly from the brute force that Ryu¡¯s body contained.


    Seeing this display of anger, Ghostblade and Frostsickle were astonished. How could such a small body contain such power. Even they could not do such a feat with solely their body;s strength. Firesword was astonished too but for a different reason. He noticed that when he mentioned the name of the world, Ryu¡¯s eyes instantly were engulfed with disbelief then grief then intense anger and rage. Firesword asked Ryu directly, ¡°You are not of this world are you?¡±


    Hearing this, Ryu looked up, rage still present in his eyes. Now it was Frostsickle and Ghostblade¡¯s turn to be filled with disbelief. They looked at Firesword not daring to believe what Firesword had just said.How could someone from another world appear so easily? And how could a kid do it? They had all heard of the myths of how powerful cultivators could cross worlds. But this kid was nowhere as powerful as those old monsters who could cross worlds.


    Firesword and Ryu were the only ones who were calm while Ghostblade and Frostsickle were panicking and breaking their brains thinking.


    Firesword sighed, ¡°Alright you two stop your stupid delusions. Ryu you are from another world aren¡¯t you?¡±


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.Ryu looked Firesword in the eyes but did not sense any killing intent. He had become quite perceptive over his battles in the cave and against the magical beasts in the forest. Seeing no killing intent, Ryu answered back, ¡°Yes I am from another world.¡±


    Ghostblade and Frostsickle jumped in shock as Ryu admitted it to their faces. Firesword¡¯s eyes glowed and asked, ¡°How did you get here?¡±


    Ryu said, ¡°It¡¯s a long story, it will take some time to tell.¡±


    Firesword sat down and said, ¡° It doesn¡¯t matter. We have time.¡±


    Seeing this, Ryu sighed and sat down as the rage in his eyes subsided. Ghostblade and Frostsickle seeing Firesword also sat down. Then Ryu began to narrate his story starting from the time when he ran into the Moonlight Badger. The goblins paid close attention as he described his experiences in the Cave. To Ryu¡¯s relief, the goblins did not display any rage when spoke about how he killed the goblins in the cave. Rather than anger they displayed indifference as if the issue had nothing to do with them. When he described the pool of water and it¡¯s properties, he noticed that Firesword¡¯s eyes lit up. However Ryu did not mention his cultivation technique or any properties of his weapons absorbing other weapons. Instead he skipped over them. But Ryu did not stop there and continued his story and covered everything that happened over the past 6 months.


    After Ryu finished his story, the three goblins were silent as they contemplated over his story. Firesword was the first one to break the silence, ¡°So you are not truly part of this world. Hmmm. Do you wish to return?¡±


    Ryu¡¯s eyes lit up. He frantically nodded his head. Seeing this, Firesword sighed, ¡°All right but there is only one way for you to return to your world.¡±


    Hearing this, Ghostblade and Frostsickle looked at him odly. Seeing this Firesword asked, ¡°What?¡±


    Frostsickle, ¡°Well it is true that you are stronger than me and Ghostblade and that you are older and wiser. But I doubt even you know how to travel to another world.¡±


    Hearing this Ryu¡¯s spirits that were beginning to rise fell. As he thought he realised that Frostsickle¡¯s words did make sense. How could a goblin in a small forest know how to travel to another world.


    Firesword smiled, ¡°Well it is true that I don¡¯t know how to travel to another world.¡±


    Hearing this what was left of Ryu¡¯s spirits broke. And just as despair was going to cloud his eyes, he heard Firesword say, ¡°But I know where there might be an answer.¡±


    Ryu looked up, his hopes rising. Ghostblade frowned, ¡°Do you mean in the inner circle or the Core region?¡±


    Firesword chuckled, ¡°Nope not there. It¡¯s in this forest.¡±


    The little bit of despair in Ryu¡¯s eyes that was left instantly cleared up. Ghostblade frowned upon hearing Firesword¡¯s words, ¡°And how do you know of this place?¡±


    Firesword looked up and he reminisced, ¡°Before you little brats were born, I traveled with the former Goblin generals and Goblin King. Back then their power was unrivalled and the entire forest came under their jurisdiction. When we were travelling, we found a strange place. It was a large pool of water. For some reason, we couldn¡¯t touch the water. However we had some vials on hand and took some samples. The properties of that water are exactly what Ryu described them as. It was due to that water that the Goblin king and generals managed to make major breakthroughs and advance into the inner rim. I suspect that we will find answers to your problem there.¡±


    Listening to Firesword¡¯s narrative, the other two goblins paid close attention and listened in awe. This was a story about Firesword and the GOBLIN KING!!! There was no way they would miss this story. On the other hand, Ryu was excited for another reason, he could go home. Finally there was hope for him. Over the last 6 months he had a doubt nagging at him in the corner of his mind and heart. Now that doubt was put away and instead it was replaced with hope. Ryu looked at Firesword eagerly, ¡°When do we leave? Can we go now?¡±


    Hearing this Firesword frowned, ¡°There is one problem though. That pool is no longer in our territory.¡±


    Ryu looked in worry, ¡°Then what do we do? Can we fix the problem? Can we ask them for permission?¡±


    Firesword shook his head, ¡°There is no way they will give permission. ¡±


    Hearing this Ghostblade and Frostsickle turned around in shock, Just who were these rulers for the normally peaceful Firesword to get riled up and ready to slaughter.


    Ryu asked, ¡°So who are the rulers? And how do we get to the pool?¡±


    Hearing the next line, the two were shocked beyond their belief.


    Firesword smiled, ¡°Easy, we just kill the 5 Beast Kings.¡±

 Chapter 26 - The bird

    Hey guys sorry for the ssssssuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuppppppppppppppeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr  laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate release but recently i started working on a different story. It just was a sudden decision and wasn''t planned. It kinda sorta just happened?? Anyway sorry about that. And releases might be a little random since I have my mid-semester tests coming up. Anyway Enjoy!


    <hr />


    ¡°Easy, we just kill the five beast kings.¡±


    This sentence rang throughout the hollow. Frostsickle and Ghostblade stared in shock, their eyes blank from fright. Ryu looked at Firesword in curiosity, because he did not comprehend what the 5 beast kings were. Firesword just sat there patiently waiting for the first question.


    ¡°Are you insane!!!!¡± ¡°You can¡¯t be serious.¡± Frostsickle and Ghostblade began to speak simultaneously. Firesword sat there as he listened to their rants. Then he interrupted them by holding up his palm, ¡°Relax first you two. Seriously, why do you two get so excited so easily?¡±


    Hearing this line Frostsickle and Ghostblade were stunned. Firesword said something so irresponsible and crazy and they were not even allowed to react? What kind of logic did Firesword follow? Ignoring both of them, Firesword looked to Ryu and asked, ¡°Why are you so calm? You haven¡¯t even asked me a single question.¡±


    Ryu smiled in embarrassment, ¡°Well, I don¡¯t even know what the 5 beast kings are so I can¡¯t ask any questions.¡±


    Hearing this Firesword laughed, ¡°Hahaha, I suspected that you wouldn¡¯t know but I thought that you would at least ask me what they were.¡±


    Ryu said, ¡°Well isn¡¯t it better to listen than to interrupt without knowing the details? At least that¡¯s what my mom said whenever I kept asking questions.¡±


    Firesword nodded his head, ¡°Indeed that is a good principle. Alright listen up, That means you two too.¡±


    Hearing that the last sentence was directed towards them, Frostsickle and Ghostblade looked seriously at Firesword.


    After making sure that the two were paying attention, Firesword continued, ¡°Currently there are 5 powerful magical beasts, each with their own territory. We refer to these 5 magical beasts as 5 beast kings.The 5 beast kings are from weakest to strongest, the Illusionary Butterfly Queen, the Silver Horned Deer King, the Jade Lynx, the Copperbacked Gorilla Leader and the Twin Horned Salamander. Although these are the rankings, remember this is only the ranking for their personal power. The Silver Horned Deer King rules over a large herd of other Silver Horned Deer and can trample over the Jade Lynx. These Beast kings rule over territory towards the North East. This is because that is the direction towards the next region in the outer rim. The pool of water that I was talking about is in the middle of all 5 of the Beast King¡¯s territories. That is why we have to defeat the beast kings.¡±


    Ryu sat there digesting everything he heard and remembering the order of the beast king¡¯s personal power. Meanwhile Ghostblade looked at Firesword and asked a question, ¡°Why now? Why do you want to attack them now of all time?¡±


    Firesword smiled gently as he looked up at ceiling, ¡°That is because I am getting older. Maybe in a few more years I will no longer be able to help keep our villages safe. And because aside from you two there are no more talented children in this generation, after I pass away you two may not be able to hold on against those 5 beast kings. Especially since there was another Leader born to the Copperbacked Gorilla leader and another Silver Horned Deer King was born. In addition that Twin Horned Salamander is trying to mutate into a Triple Horned Salamander. If it does successfully then it will break into the next rank and we won¡¯t be able to hold on for sure.¡±


    Ghostblade asked another question, ¡°Then why haven¡¯t we attacked before now? And why haven¡¯t you told us till now?¡±


    Firesword smiled in exasperation, ¡°If I had told you before now, you two would have rushed ahead without listening to me and attacked without any regards to your safety. That¡¯s why I haven¡¯t told you until now. And as for why I mentioned it now? It¡¯s because we have a chance. With Ryu here, the four of us have a high chance of winning.¡±


    Frostsickle frowned, ¡°So you didn¡¯t have any faith in us?¡±


    Firesword said back, ¡°Faith huh? I have a lot of faith in you two. However, you two brats are still immature. You do not think ahead.¡±


    ¡°I think that you are exaggerating what we would do.¡± Ghostblade looked at Firesword with a hint of anger in her eyes.


    ¡°Hahaha, you think you can fool me Ghostblade? You are even more reckless and stubborn than that brat. You would have been the first even running ahead of Frostsickle.¡± Firesword laughed and pointed towards Frostsickle comparing him with her.


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    Ghostblade just snorted and looked away. Interrupting this conversation, Ryu asked, ¡°Ummm, I don¡¯t mean to interrupt but why are you saying this now. Earlier you said that you mentioned killing the beast kings because of me. What does that mean?¡±


    Firesword grinned and replied, ¡°That¡¯s because with you I am confident that we can kill the beast kings if we fight them one at a time. The four of us should be able to defeat them. This is also because you are strong enough to be on par with the three of us.¡±


    Ryu scratched his head embarrassedly, ¡°I am not as strong as you three. You are overestimating my power.¡±


    Firesword just grinned and said nothing. As Ryu also did not say anything, the room was filled with silence. Unable to stand this silence, Frostsickle shouted out in exasperation, ¡° Why isn¡¯t anyone talkiiiiiinnng? I want to know what comes next!!!!!!! Stop acting like everyone knows what¡¯s going to happen!!¡±


    Hearing this Firesword smiled, ¡°Ha, I was wondering how long it would take you to shout out. Hahaha, looks like you still can¡¯t be patient. This is why I call you a brat. Anyway, I propose that in 2 days, we meet up here and set out to finish the task of killing all the beast kings. Is that alright with you Ryu?¡±


    Ryu looked like he was hesitating so Firesword nonchalantly said, ¡°Remember Ryu, the quicker we finish this, the sooner you might be able to go home.¡±


    Reminded of his family, Ryu¡¯s eyes brightened, ¡°Alright, I will go with you. I will be ready in two days. So you are coming her right?¡±


    Firesword smiled now that Ryu had agreed, ¡°Yup we will be here in two days. Then we will set off and finish off those beast kings.¡±


    After saying this, Firesword held out his hand to Ryu. Seeing this, Ryu also held out his hand and both man and goblin shook hands. Having both agreed, Firesword took the other two and left. Once outside, Frostsickle turned towards Firesword and frowned, ¡°Alright spill it old man. Both you and I know that, that kid is not as strong as us. Why were you so nice to him. You were acting so nice that it even seemed like you were sucking up to him, like he was your boss or something.¡±


    Ghostblade also nodded, ¡°I noticed this too. I would also like an explanation.¡±


    Firesword sighed, ¡°I have been fighting strong creatures longer than both of you have been alive. So I know when I am facing something that is unbeatable and can kill me in one move.¡±


    Ghostblade¡¯s expression turned serious, ¡°Surely you are joking. That boy can not possibly possess that much power. Plus I am sensitive to any dangerous situations but I did not notice anything.¡±


    Frostsickle also snorted and said, ¡°Yeah exactly what my future wife said.¡±


    Ghostblade hit Frostsickle in the face with the hilt of her short sword and sent him flying. Firesword grabbed him in midair before he flew too far. Firesword sighed, ¡°I¡¯m going to ignore that. Continuing on your actual question, what you sense is killing intent. And you have trained yourself to notice it if it is directed specifically towards you alone.¡±


    Ghostblade frowned, ¡°What are you saying?¡±


    Frostsickle also looked at Firesword in confusion.


    Firesword asked the both of them, ¡°What did you two notice when we entered this area?¡±


    Frostsickle answered first, ¡°Well, It seemed like a sudden chill was in the air even though its pretty sunny and the temp--- ¡­¡­.. !!!!!!! No way! How can that be??¡±


    Hearing this, Ghostblade seemed to notice what Frostsickle meant and her eyes opened extremely wide and she stared at Firesword in shock. Ghostblade stuttered, ¡°H-H-How is that possible!!!!!¡±


    Firesword nodded, ¡°Indeed, it is exactly what you are thinking about. There was an entire ¡®domain¡¯ of killing intent around this area. That is why no formidable magical beast is around here.¡±


    Ghostblade couldn¡¯t believe this, ¡°How is that possible, that kid can¡¯t have such killing intent. It¡¯s just not possible!¡±


    Firesword said, ¡°Well you guys got one thing right. It was not the boy who was unleashing the killing intent.¡±


    ¡° ¡±THEN WHO ELSE COULD IT BE!!!!!!!!!¡± ¡°


    Firesword just smiled, ¡°Who else but the bird?¡±

 Chapter 27 - Bullying

    Hey guys here is the super late chapter. I''m sorry for this lateness but I''ve been having midterms left and right. I mean like literally every single week for the last couple weeks. Anyway here is a longer chapter as an apology and I just want to say that I have finished mapping out the future chapters. This arc/volume/book/whatever will end in about 6-7 chapters. I will try to release 1-2 chapters this weekend and the rest by the end of this month but it will be tough, So I''ll try my best. Anyway happy May people. Almost summertime.


    <hr />


    ¡°Obviously it¡¯s the bird.¡±


    This sentence shocked both Frostsickle and Ghostblade so hard that they just stood there staring at Firesword. There was indeed a bird in the room with them, but it was a small yellow bird that was sleeping while perched on Ryu¡¯s shoulder. During the duration of the entire meeting, the bird had not woken up. It was sleeping and so Frostsickle and Ghostblade had ignored the bird and placed most of their concentration on Ryu. Now hearing from Firesword that the bird was dangerous made them sweat thinking of what might have happened if the bird had attacked them for being rude to Ryu. But still unable to accept this, Ghostblade shouted, ¡°That can¡¯t be possible. That bird can¡¯t be that strong. And even if it was Why didn¡¯t we notice. Plus it¡¯s killing intent only produced a little bit of a chill and wasn¡¯t even threatening. So that bird can¡¯t possibly be as strong as you say it is.¡±


    Firesword chuckled, ¡°Ghostblade, you style yourself like an assassin and you are this unnerved? Remember this, just because you can¡¯t perceive it doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s not true. All it means is that you are not strong enough or that you haven¡¯t trained yourself well.¡±


    ¡°But¡­..¡± Ghostblade bit her lips and was still unable to accept that she had not been able to sense the strength of the bird.


    ¡°No buts. Get over yourself. You are not as strong as you think. You couldn¡¯t beat me even if I had a handicap. Thinking that there will never exist anything that you can not see through is stupid and foolish.¡±


    Hearing this, Ghostblade hung her head down as she closed her eyes. Seeing this, Frostsickle asked Firesword some questions, ¡°Why say this now? And why did you only say it to Ghostblade and not me? Why haven¡¯t you said anything before? Don¡¯t you think that this is a little bit too harsh?¡±


    Firesword frowned and shook his head, ¡°Harsh? No, I don¡¯t think so. She has been pampered far too much and most of that is your fault. You have purposely helped her do whatever she wanted and you have coddled her and because of this she is starting to have a condescending attitude. What she had before was a cold view and this is not bad. But condescension is something that she should not act with because it will lead to her death. And as to why I am speaking about it now? Same reason I told you when we were with that boy, There is no more time for me to slowly nurture you. You two have to grow up and fast. I will not be here for much longer and you two can not keep acting like brats. The survival of all goblins in this forest will depend on you two in the future. This is a fact and you must be able to take responsibility.¡±


    Hearing this, Ghostblade¡¯s eyes became more clear. The wisps of despair that was emanating around her before vanished. She stood up and said, ¡°So it¡¯s not me you should scold. It¡¯s all Frostsickle¡¯s fault. Scold him.¡±


    Frostsickle gaped as he heard Ghostblade willingly throw him under without even hesitating. Why him? Hadn¡¯t he always supported and taken her side and helped her out when she needed help? How could she suddenly do this? Thinking this, Frostsickle began getting depressed. Seeing this Firesword sighed. What is wrong with these two. Seriously why did he have to always babysit them? Thinking this Firesword addressed both of them, ¡°Seriously what is wrong with you two? Always fighting. Did you not pay attention to anything I¡¯ve been saying in the last couple minutes? Work together. That is the only path to survival that you have. Remember, your decisions affect not only you but also every single goblin in this forest. And as to why I didn¡¯t scold Frostsickle, it¡¯s because this brat actually knows what he is doing. He¡¯s a smartass pretending to be a blockhead.¡±


    Frostsickle¡¯s eyes widened and he mumbled, ¡°Damn, didn¡¯t think you knew.¡±


    Firesword snorted, ¡°Of course I knew. I¡¯ve known you brats since you were little babies pooping all over the place.¡±


    Ghostblade lowered her head in embarrassment, ¡°That last part was unnecessary.¡±


    Firesword snorted and moved onto a different topic, ¡°Anyways that human brat is still stronger than most of our elite troops. So with the help of that human brat and that bird, we can finally kill the 5 beast kings. This is the only hope we have. Luckily he needs our assistance as well so we can work together.¡±


    Frostsickle understood this point and nodded. Ghostblade just stood there but her eyes displayed a light of understanding. Seeing that they had finally decided to listen, Firesword said, ¡°Good. Now that you have calmed down, you have begun to understand. Let¡¯s go back to the base. Get everything you need. It will probably take us about 2 weeks to kill the 5 beast kings if there are no unexpected circumstances. So, Frostsickle you are responsible for getting enough rations for you and Ghostblade. Ghostblade you are responsible for getting herbs and medicines in case either one of you get hurt.¡±


    Ghostblade asked, ¡°What about you? Won¡¯t you need food and medicines?¡±


    Firesword laughed, ¡°Hahahaha, are you worried for this old man?¡±


    Ghostblade looked away as a hint of red could be seen on her face. Frostsickle stared in amazement, ¡°I¡¯ve been trying to get her to show any girly emotions on her face for so long¡­.. And old man you managed to do it just like that? With only ONE SENTENCE??¡±


    Firesword smiled and said, ¡°Fufufu, Don¡¯t you regret not becoming my disciple now?¡±


    Frostsickle bowed and exclaimed, ¡°I Greet the MASTER!!!!¡±


    Firesword laughed, ¡°HAHAHAHAHA, Sorry kid. Sometimes that which has been done can not be taken back.¡±


    Frostsickle, ¡°NOOOOOO!!!!¡±


    Ghostblade sighed as she watched this 2 man comedy act. This act continued all the way until the returned to their base.


    -----------------


    (Back at Ryu¡¯s Tree Hollow)


    Ryu was lying on his back thinking about the meeting that had just taken place less than an hour ago. He had been extremely surprised to see that the goblins had tracked him back to his base. So he had prepared to fight with his life on the line. However, the goblins called out for a truce and even followed all of his demands such as putting their weapons down and sending away all of the other goblins. This had made them more trustworthy so Ryu decided to hear them out. They had answered many of the questions that Ryu had about this place. They had also given him a clue about how to get home. They had given him Hope. Hope that he will see his family again.


    Thinking about the huge task ahead of him, Ryu sighed. He had to help the goblins kill the 5 beast kings. This would be a very hard task. He had to prepare well. And the goblins said that they would come back in 2 days. That means he had 2 days to try and break through and become stronger. Ryu¡¯s eyes became focused and he set to training. Spark¡¯s eyes flashed with a strange light as he watched this scene. Then he promptly closed his eyes and went back to sleep.


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ---------------------


    (2 days later)


    Ryu was sitting in his hollow waiting for the goblins to arrive. He had tried to condense the sphere of liquid mana into a solid during these past 2 days but he had not succeeded. He had managed to compress the liquid mana further but he couldn¡¯t compress it into a solid. However, the continual flow of mana through his body had strengthened him far beyond what a normal child was capable of. Although he was stronger than he was two days ago, it was not a drastic improvement. His strength had only risen by about 2 percent. It was not enough to make him equal to the goblin commanders. Even Ryu knew that he was inferior to the three of them. However he was much stronger than most at his age, enough to say that he was a legendary genius. Afterall, he was only at the 10th tier of the Novice Rank, but he could mathc up against a 2nd tier Elementary Rank by sheer virtue of toughness of his body and density of his mana. This fighting power that skipped over Ranks was enough to qualify him as a legendary genius.


    Ryu had prepared himself for the upcoming battles. He had made himself protective equipment with the hides of the magical beasts he had killed and some silk threads he found while foraging. He also readied his weapons; his bow and arrows, his sword, and his dagger. He put all of his rations, meat jerky for both him and Spark, into a satchel that he had looted from a goblin magician in the ¡®Cursed Caves¡¯. He also put the vials of water that he got from the pool in the ¡®Cursed Caves¡¯. Lastly he put in all the metal ingots and bronze coins subconsciously. He had even forgot to ask the goblins what these were as if someone had erased these thoughts from his mind. He also put some herbs that he had come across in the satchel in case he got wounded. Spark was perched on a ledge above him, probably sleeping.


    As he stood there thinking about these things and making sure that he was ready, he heard shuffling sounds in the tunnel leading to his door. He stood there and waited for the person to come inside. The person finally came to the door and opened it. The person was Firesword. He looked at Ryu and asked, ¡°You ready kid?¡±


    Ryu affirmed by nodding his head. Firesword nodded back and said, ¡°All right, everyone else is waiting outside so lets go.¡±


    Ryu said, ¡°Ok.¡±


    Following Firesword, the both went outside and saw Ghostblade and Frostsickle waiting outside for the two of them. Spark had perched on Ryu¡¯s shoulder and was currently asleep. Ghostblade and Frostsickle looked at Ryu and then shifted their attention to Spark and their gazes lingered on Spark for a while before they moved on. Having all met up Firesword asked, ¡°You brats ready for this?¡±


    The three of them said, ¡°¡±¡±Yes!!!¡±¡±¡±


    Firesword said, ¡°All right, then move out. Our first target is the The Jade Lynx!!!¡±


    ---------------------------------


    The entity stared down at this group and mused, ¡°Hmm, this boy has some potential. At least he didn¡¯t go on a rampage like those idiots from before. But he is still kind of an idiot. He never stopped to think why he can converse with those goblins so fluently. Or why he is so decisive and quick to attack and kill. Hahaha, it¡¯s all because of that tunnel and that boy hasn¡¯t noticed anything wrong with it. Hahahaha, what an idiot. Speaking of tunnel, that BASTARD!!!!!!! I can¡¯t believe that he Cheated ME, ME of all people. If he wasn¡¯t dead I¡¯d kill him right now!!!!¡±


    As the entity raged, a shadow formed behind him. The entity spoke without turning around, ¡°Oh look who decided to show up! And you¡¯ve gotten stronger too! He would have been so proud of you. Too bad that he¡¯s dead. Huhuhu.¡±


    The shadow simply said, ¡°You don¡¯t have the right to say anything about my master, you sick perverted twisted old man.¡±


    ¡°WHO¡±S A PERVERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡±


    The shadow looked at him and stated, ¡°You are obviously.¡±


    The entity screamed, ¡°I¡¯m not a pervert! And I will never be.¡±


    The shadow looked at him and asked, ¡°How are your daughters doing?¡±


    The entity started giggling uncontrollably, ¡°Oh, they¡¯re doing so fine. I mean they are soo cute so how else would they be, they are my darling little girls¡­¡­¡­..¡±


    As he rambled on, the shadow¡¯s face twisted and said, ¡°Pervert.¡±


    The entity protested, ¡°I¡¯m not a pervert!!! I¡¯m simply a dad who adores his daughters and wants to protect them!!¡±


    The shadow said, ¡°You know that your daughters told my master that they will marry someone eventually right?¡±


    The entity suddenly clutched its chest region and bent over and fell to the floor, ¡°Im..Im-IMPOSSIBLE!!!!! I¡¯ll NEVER ALLOW THAT TO HAPPEN!!! TO-TO-TO STOP THIS I MUST-UH-MUST THAT¡¯S RIGHT!!! I¡¯LL KILL ALL THE MEN AND BOYS IN THE UNIVERSE!!!!¡±


    The shadow clapped its hands, ¡°Thanks for such a wonderful performance. Look forward to the movie being released.¡±


    The entity scratched its face shyly, ¡°Oh thank you, thank yo- Wait! What do you mean movie?¡±


    The shadow replied, ¡°Oh you know I just recorded that scene just now and I was planning on showing it to your daughters and while I¡¯m at it, I might as well show it to everyone else too.¡±


    The entity shook it¡¯s finger at the shadow as a heaven defying pressure began to emit from its body, ¡°Oy, you dare to THREATEN ME???? DO YOU DARE???¡±


    The shadow not being affected by this pressure simply said, ¡°Yes.¡±


    The entity suddenly fell onto the shadow¡¯s feet and held on and begged, ¡°PLEASE DON¡¯T THIS TO MEEEEEEEEE. MY DAUGHTERS WILL KILL ME IF THEY FOUND OUT!!!!!¡±


    The shadow said, ¡°Then shut the hell up and watch if you want to or leave otherwise. And if you say one more thing about my master I¡¯ll send this recording to your daughters and everyone in the divine realms.¡±


    Upon saying this the shadow disappeared without waiting for the entity¡¯s response. The entity let out a sigh of relief and said, ¡°Whew, Really dodged that one by a whisker¡¯s length.¡±


    As the entity was about to continue talking, it remembered the shadow¡¯s warning. Drooping it¡¯s head, it silently continued to watch the trials.

 Quick Poll

    Hey guys just had a quick question. Once I finish with the first 2 books/volumes/arcs of Regis, I am planning to start a new fiction. I want to ask you guys what you prefer. This new work will probably release sometime around the end of august or early September.  Anyway what do you guys prefer?


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    By the Way, This does NOT mean that I will STOP Regis. I just want a side project that I can write for fun. you know besides Regis. Like if a certain day I just don''t feel like writing a Regis chapter, I might release a chapter of the new fiction. So NOT STOPPING REGIS.