《Is it Possible to Kill a Hero?》 Informative Author''s Note: This is mostly just to help everyone keep track of things. I have a feeling this story will have a lot of info in it. Informative Goddesses Spoiler : ? Nyxalia, Moon Goddess ? Solaya, Sun Goddess ? Yggdrasil, Nature Goddess ? Letriya, Chimera Goddess ? Rulace, Construct Goddess ? Zavenel, Goddess of Illusions and Reality ? Telaire, Goddess of Balance ? Vritria, Goddess of Space ? Celeste, Goddess of Stars Races Spoiler : ? Humans ? Elves ? Dwarves ? Dryads ? Beastkin ? Fairies ? Imps ? Succubi ? Liches ? Vampires ? Werebeasts ? Goblins ? Arachnee ? Slimes ? Angels ? Dragons ? Phoenixes Magic Spoiler : ? Fire ¨C Orange colored mana that controls fire and heat ? Water ¨C Blue colored mana that controls water ? Wind ¨C Clear colored mana that controls wind ? Earth ¨C Brown colored mana that controls earth ? Ice ¨C Light blue colored mana that controls molecular movement. Fire magic used in reverse. ? Lightning ¨C Purple colored mana that controls lightning ? Metal ¨C Silver colored mana that controls metals ? Nature ¨C Green colored mana that controls plants ? Light ¨C Pink colored mana that heals and modifies the body ? Dark¨C Black colored mana that controls shadows ? Solar ¨C Golden colored mana that controls light from the sun. Divine magic ? Lunar ¨C White colored mana that controls light from the moon. Divine Magic Demon Eyes Spoiler : Hero Abilities Spoiler : Kingdoms Spoiler : ? Nelium ¨C Human kingdom that worships the Solaya, the sun goddess. It is ruled jointly by the descendants of the angels which are the royalty and church. The descendants of angels are practically immortal due to their bloodline which allows them to practically get away with anything. Characters Spoiler : ? MC(?) ¨C A quiet, young man with light brown skin summoned by the demons using a modified summoning circle. He was granted the ability to use every demon eye in existence thanks to the summoning ritual. Has a bad habit of having an inner monologue instead of actually talking to people. ? King Valos Selvim Seraph Nelium ¨C A scumbag king who does what he wants even if it¡¯s his own family. He has incited a war with every other kingdom and is currently maintaining a stalemate. ? Prince Richter Ravel Venadier Nelium ¨C A warrior prince who enjoys fighting and torturing others. He possesses no affection for his family as he was raised to be merciless. ? Princess Natalie Netuna Sayutel Nelium ¨C A wandering princess who fell in love with an elven prince in a foreign kingdom. She is currently engaged to marry in the next few months. She has a soft spot for her little brothers and sister. ? Prince Dravilos Regis Vanadis Nelium ¨C A prince who suffers from a sister complex and will do anything for the sake of his sisters. He has been planning for years to kill his father once and for all. His density has prevented him from realizing the real face of his sisters. ? Prince Ventra Vapite Hevapel Nelium ¨C A shy prince who is scared of his family for various reasons. He prefers to stay back and avoid getting caught in the crossfire. ? Princess Eyutria Eluvia Fayel Nelium ¨C A calm princess who easily deals with every issue that comes up. She has an extreme brother complex due to being saved from a tragic fate. Strange things happen to anyone who tries to get close to Dravilos. Chapter 1 - Demon Summoning Chapter 1 ¨C Demon Summoning A blinding purple flash illuminated my surroundings and forced me to cover my eyes. At first, my body felt as if it was floating until I made a sudden landing on the ground. My head was spinning and I couldn¡¯t help myself off the ground. I could hear voices around me, but couldn¡¯t focus on what they were actually saying. Soon, I had passed out. ¡°Did it work?¡± Putting a finger on her lips, a black skinned demon made a contemplating expression. She had short, white hair that covered one of her black eyes and a white robe. ¡°I think it did?¡± A purple skinned demon with grey hair simply shrugged his shoulders. He wore a black robe that had orange, blue, green, and brown designs on it. ¡°Aren¡¯t we supposed to get a demon?¡± Her tone was mixed with worry as she questioned the wizard. ¡°Why are you asking me?¡± He responds while tilting his head. ¡°You are the one who summoned him!¡± She screams while pointing her finger at him. ¡°This is my 1st time modifying such a complex spell! Don¡¯t blame me if there are any flaws in the result!¡± The wizard quickly sputters out excuses in hope of not bearing the sole blame for their failure. ¡°Ahhh! His majesty is going to kill us if we don¡¯t obtain results!¡± Collapsing onto her knees, the priestess holds her head in her arms. ¡°Ugh! It will all work out¡­maybe. At least he should have obtained the power that we programmed into the circle.¡± Trying to cheer himself up, he mentions the successful parts of his summoning as he can perceive the magical power coming from the boy. ¡°I can feel immense amounts of mana comparable to them inside of him, but did he really receive the blessing?¡± Brightening up a little, she gazes at the boy while still kneeling on the floor. ¡°He should have?¡± Scratching his head, he responds back with a clueless tone of voice. ¡°Can¡¯t you make sure?¡± She glares at him for not giving a reassuring answer. ¡°Obviously not! Do I look like her Highness to you?¡± Rolling his eyes, he looks away from the priestess who has yet to get up off the floor. ¡°Maybe if you lost some weight between your legs, gained some weight around your chest, grew your hair out, and applied some skin care?¡± With a smirk she takes a jab at the useless wizard. ¡°I did not need an actual response to that question.¡± He looks back with a look that tells her that ¡®enough is enough.¡¯ ¡°But what do we do about that thing? Dispose of it?¡± She glances over at the human with a look filled with disgust. ¡°We spent too many resources on this to just stop due to a single failure.¡± Shaking his head to dispel their doubts, he anxiously looks at the human he summoned. ¡°If you say so, but you are carrying it. I don¡¯t want to catch anything.¡± As if in a hurry, the priestess walks towards the door. ¡°You know there is no such thing as cooties right?¡± The wizard gives a disparaging look as he scratches his head. ¡°Only the dead can answer that question.¡± She answers without even taking a slight pause in her steps. ¡°¡­¡± Leaving those cryptic words behind, the demon priestess left the chamber. After a long sigh the old wizard grabbed the young teenager by his ankle and dragged him outside. ¡°I am too old for this.¡± Shaking his head, the old wizard continued down the halls after the priestess. Inside a room that is primarily used for discussing military strategies and politics, which are often the same thing for demons, are a dozen figures surrounding a table. Lying on top of the table is a human male that looks around 15 years old with brown skin and long, black hair. Everyone that is seated are giving a mix of looks such as anger, concern, disgust, fear, and despair. The pair of demons who brought the boy are currently hanging upside down above a fountain from the ceiling by their ankles. The water in the fountain looks normal, but it is currently enchanted to have an extremely spicy effect on anyone who drinks it. A spell is redirecting the water gushing from the fountain into their mouths. It was the demon lord¡¯s clever punishment for using a flawed summoning ritual. He enjoys coming up with odd punishments and watching others suffer. Everyone is grateful that they won¡¯t be killed for their failures even if they must suffer a little. ¡°Ugh!¡± In the midst of waking up, the young boy groaned from the still present nausea. He blinked several times to get used to seeing his surroundings and what he saw would have surprised him if not for the fact that he occasionally has weird dreams with demonic beings in them. ¡°Are you awake our frail, little dark hero?¡± A majestic blue skinned woman with long, white hair that shined in the light spoke to him. She was wearing a fancy white dress with blue designs and black embellishments that left no doubt that she was a person of wealth. Several demons snickered when they heard her words. ¡°At least he isn¡¯t a frightened kitten.¡± A deep, charismatic voice came from a pale-skinned young man with long, silvery-white hair. His crimson eyes were mesmerizing and he gave off an aura of majesty as if he was royalty. ¡°His appearance is quite different from the humans of this world.¡± An icy tone came from a red-skinned woman with black wings and a tail. Her turquoise horns grew from the sides of her head and curved around to form a natural crown that radiated elegance. She had short black hair that covered one of her eyes. ¡°Maybe he is similar to us dark fairies?¡± A sweet, melodic voice came from a young woman with long, pointy ears and snow white skin that had black markings running throughout her body. Her butterfly wings were of obsidian color that allowed light to slightly pass through. Her long, silky, black hair flowed down to her waist while her contrasting pitch black pupils and white iris seemed to suck you in. ¡°Perhaps that is so. There are no dark skinned humans in this world and no heroes have ever had dark skin as well.¡± A dreadful, ancient voice came from a skeleton wearing a black robe. If that wasn¡¯t enough then there were also reddish-black flames in his eye sockets. ¡°Then maybe we did succeed after all?¡± A cheerful voice filled with vigor came from a green-skinned woman with long, flowing, purple hair that shimmered as if it was channeling static. She possessed violet eyes and long, pointy ears. ¡°If that is true, then all is well.¡± A deep voice that radiated power came from a young man that sat at the head of the table. His left eye¡¯s pupil was a fiery orange while his right eye¡¯s pupil was an icy blue. His white hair was short, but turned clear at the edges. His black horns formed a crown with purple, brown, and green markings running along its length. His wings, unlike the others, were feathery like an angel¡¯s but were painted shiny black. Seeing all the weird beings around him, he merely thought that he is either having a very detailed dream or he has simply gone crazy. Either way, everything tends to work out as long as he keeps his mouth shut. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Going by the records of the past human kings, this is where I would go on a spiel about why you are in this world, how you must protect the demons for some noble cause, and get laid by a bunch of beautiful women. However, I don¡¯t have the patience for that kind of nonsense! So I ask you young boy, do you have any strategies for us demons to defeat those despicable humans and their meddling heroes?¡± At first it seemed that this was going to be the normal introduction into a new world, but the majestic demonic figure betrayed all expectations. Or maybe he was wrong to expect otherwise from a group of demons. ¡°Uhhm, maybe?¡± Shrinking back a little, he anxiously responds. ¡°Like?¡± Leaning a little closer, the majestic demon presses for an actual answer. ¡°Guns?¡± It was mentioned an almost inaudible whisper, but everyone in the room has a good sense of hearing. Can¡¯t be considered a demon if you are bound to human limitations. ¡°Ah, I believe that is the name of the artifacts used by heroes in the past but the knowledge of its production was never spread due to some silly reason. They called it too dangerous for this world. Utter nonsense if you ask me.¡± The skeletal figure who is somehow able to talk explains the history of guns. ¡°Sounds impressive! Do you think you can get our inferno dwarves to build some of those?¡± In a jubilant voice, the majestic demon couldn¡¯t contain his excitement at getting his hands on a powerful weapon. Soon enough, demons will be dying en-mass to a bunch of children so it won¡¯t hurt to even the odds a little. ¡°I can draw a rough sketch of it and explain how the different types and parts work, but I am not sure if you will be able to reproduce them.¡± ¡°Good! Good!¡± Rubbing his hands together, the majestic being smiles triumphantly. ¡°Now for the main problem in our future.¡± He then turns serious as his face becomes expressionless. ¡°For ages past we have been plagued with countless defeats by undefeatable heroes. As a hero yourself, surely you must know a way to kill one!¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Taking a minute to think, the young boy contemplates the magnitude behind the effort in stopping a hero. ¡°Well, you probably have a few options to winning a hopeless fight against a hero.¡± Hearing this, everyone in the room brightens up while the skeletal figure had somehow pulled a notepad from somewhere. ¡°Simplest method is to send another hero to kill him, but that likely won¡¯t work since the humans always win in the stories.¡± Groans sound out as the audience had their hopes crushed. ¡°Mentally breaking the hero can crush his will to fight and get stronger, but there is no hero who doesn¡¯t come out stronger afterwards.¡± This time, heads slump downwards at the mention of more bad news. ¡°Turning the world against the hero can break his goals, but that usually ends in the hero somehow proving his innocence after honing his strength to survive on his own.¡± Now there is practically no hope left in the visage of the surrounding demons. ¡°Attempting to kill the hero early will just end up with the hero miraculously surviving and getting a massive power-up that will likely put him on par with the demon lord.¡± Not even a response is made as it is now the 4th time this has happened. ¡°Honestly, fate has so heavily blessed the human¡¯s hero that it is nigh impossible to kill him. However, that might also be the way to actually kill the hero.¡± With those words, light or I suppose darkness in this case had rekindled in everyone¡¯s eyes. ¡°To prevent any sudden power-ups, do not push the hero to his limits by fighting powerful enemies. To weaken or potentially twist his will, force him to empathize with the suffering of demons. If he remains blind of the scheming of the nobility, then they might kill him later to remove a hindrance.¡± Nods of agreement are being made by the surrounding demons. ¡°Allow him to come practically unimpeded to the demon lord¡¯s castle in order to trigger a sure-fire kill zone where he will definitely not survive. Like nuking the entire castle the second the hero¡¯s guard is lowered with a spell powerful enough to annihilate the entire castle and anything inside in one shot. Especially make sure teleportation is not possible and that they can¡¯t escape by going underground or through the air.¡± Although the demon lord isn¡¯t that fond of the idea of sacrificing his castle, but the plan does sound like it may work. He never would have thought that ignoring the hero might work. Perhaps he should cancel that plan to kill the hero with a dragon breath from a black dragon inside a training dungeon for heroes. ¡°Ah, but won¡¯t the hero get suspicious if things get too easy?¡± The skeletal figure brings up an important point. ¡°That is the only flaw, but we might be able to work around that. If he has to fight a demon general, then that person should hold back or run away before dying. Never make the hero aware of how much power a demon can actually have.¡± ¡°Hmm, that might just work your highness. It can possibly be even better if we can implement those artifact weapons that have been solely utilized by heroes for our troops.¡± ¡°Although I want to kill that hero with my own two hands, but I can¡¯t deny the futility in that endeavor. Alright, we will go with your plan for now. Everyone is dismissed!¡± All of the demons stand up and leave the room. Only the blue-skinned woman had remained in the room. Not counting the two demons with scalding mouths. ¡°Now that we are alone, I would like you to answer something for me.¡± She says while resting her head in her hands. ¡°Records of past heroes indicate that either they help the king so that they can role-play being a hero of justice or they are ditched for being useless and somehow become a 3rd force in the war.¡± ¡°Tell me this. Why are you helping us?¡± Her expression was full of smiles and her eyes were curious. A normal man might be entranced by her, but therein laid the trap. A woman¡¯s natural weapon is their beauty and one would be a fool to trust a woman completely. ¡°Well, I am not exactly helping you now am I? I only told you a few things and was asked to sketch and describe how exactly a gun works. Neither of which requires my constant presence here. Besides, I already know how this goes. I am stuck in this world until the day I die so I might as well settle down somewhere and get a job right?¡± I simply tilted my head as I pointed out the obvious. Her eyes widened for a split second before she lightly giggled. After wiping a tear out of her eye, she continues the discussion. ¡°I suppose that is true in a sense. I guess that archmage over there actually did modify the summoning circle correctly. We would truly be doomed if you were too na?ve.¡± ¡°Be that as it may, I am to be your teacher of sorts. Follow me so we can get started.¡± ¡°I see, but what about those two?¡± I say while pointing at the two demons that are hanging upside down from the ceiling. They seemed as if they were in pain because of the fountain constantly shooting a stream of water at their mouths, but it seemed like normal water to me. Then again, normal is probably suspicious in a world of magic. ¡°They will be fine. It takes more than that to harm them.¡± She only spared them a moment¡¯s glance before continuing out the room. The demons in question were shifting about in their restraints as they futilely tried to break free. P1 - Royal Insider Edition P1 ¨C Royal Insider Edition (Prince POV) Inside a throne room are lavish carpets, banners, chandeliers, and other expensive decorations. The floor, walls, and ceiling is made of mithril in order to strengthen the power of traps that are primarily used to kill assassins or execute anyone against the father¡¯s decisions. The thrones where my father, mother, and my sibling¡¯s mothers sat also have parts made of orichalcum enchanted to protect anyone sitting on them. A maid had informed me that my father had requested my presence in the throne room. There are not many reasons why my father would need me outside of a marriage arrangement or some diplomatic mission. Strangely enough, all of my siblings have been called by our father. My elder brother, Richter, with short, blonde hair was wearing a golden vest and trousers with orange embellishments. My younger brother¡¯s, Ventra¡¯s, blonde hair extended to his shoulders and he was also wearing a golden vest, but with brown embellishments. My elder sister, Natalie, had long, blonde hair that extended to her waist and she was wearing a golden dress with transparent parts in some areas. My younger sister¡¯s, Eyutria¡¯s, blonde hair extended down to her shoulders in curls and she was wearing a golden dress with silver and green embellishments. As for me, my blonde hair was kept short and I was wearing a golden vest with purple embellishments. ¡°My children, I have called you here today to inform you that the heroes will soon be summoned.¡± Everyone¡¯s eyes lit up with pride at the thought of getting to meet the heroes. ¡°I know everyone is excited, but please calm down for a bit. As we all know, heroes can be quite selfish and cause a lot of problems for the kingdom. Luckily, our ancestors figured out that heroes are most cooperative when you satisfy their desires for a harem, fame, and wealth.¡± Despite my fascination with the legends of heroes, I can¡¯t help but grimace as I remember what the academy taught us in history class. Heroes can be quite idiotic in their pursuit of justice, slow at their acceptance in killing others, against slavery but try to reel in beautiful women in any way they can, keep secrets from us, and never spread knowledge about the weapons in their world. At one point in our history, the king was killed by the hero who had then claimed the throne. He slept with the king¡¯s wives, concubines, and daughters as well as every other woman he had obtained during his journey. That despicable hero had even gone to a rival kingdom to capture one of the princesses that our country had married off and killed her husband. Nobody could do anything about it as he also had 3 other heroes in his harem. Eventually he died of old age after leaving behind a world record for harem size with 666 women who all bore his children. ¡°As such, I would like for each of you to provide for them in any way you can. Should they want money, then give it to them. Should they desire to be popular, then sing them praises across the kingdom. Should they desire comrades, then gather the best for them. Should they desire your body, then offer yourselves up to them.¡± Most of those requests were reasonable, but that last line caused my sisters to slightly tremble. Natalie is supposed to marry in a few months with an elven prince that she fell for. Unfortunately, Eyutria is still open and will likely have to bed the hero in order to protect our sister. I grit my teeth at the thought of MY sister being abused by those heroes. Even if they are legendary, I swear I will cut them down if they lay even one finger on my beloved younger sister. She is mine and mine alone to savor the taste of her beautiful body. ¡°I know I am asking far too much of you, but I believe it is better to cooperate than to provoke a hero. Do you agree Richter?¡± With a powerless sigh, father continues on. In any other situation I would slit father¡¯s throat here and now, but even I will need to plan when I am up against a hero. ¡°Yes, father.¡± Without a care in the world, Richter agreed with father. It irritates me that he doesn¡¯t even care about the wellbeing of our siblings in the slightest. ¡°Natalie?¡± While briefly closing his eyes, he continues his roll call. ¡°¡­Yes, father.¡± A hint of hesitation and unwillingness was present in Natalie¡¯s voice. Nevertheless, she has resolved herself for what may be the inevitable. Sister, you are too good for that trash. ¡°Dravilos?¡± Father grimaces as he asks me next. He knows my love for my sisters, yet he hopes for me to understand ¡®his way¡¯ this time. ¡°Yes, father.¡± I gave a smile that hid all traces of danger from my face. It seemed to work since father¡¯s expression lightened up a bit. ¡°Ventras?¡± He continues while slightly turning his head towards my youngest brother. ¡°Yes, father.¡± I would hate Ventras too for easily agreeing, but he has always been a pushover. He doesn¡¯t have the guts to rebel against father. That is fine. I am more than capable of ending father¡¯s life on my own. ¡°Eyutria?¡± Finally, he asks my beloved younger sister that dreadful question. Overflowing rage fills my entire being, but I kept it under wraps. For now. ¡°¡­¡± The room falls silent for a minute while waiting on my beloved younger sister to respond. ¡°Eyutria?¡± That despicable father of mine repeats his question in order to force MY beloved younger sister to accept such a cruel fate. ¡°¡­Yes¡­.father.¡± Unfortunately, she had no choice to but to accept. That doesn¡¯t mean I didn¡¯t notice her tear stained eyes in my peripheral vision. Don¡¯t worry! Big brother will never let anyone touch you with their filthy hands! ¡°Everyone has agreed then. That¡¯s good.¡± A long sigh of relief escapes his lips. ¡°Now, we must make our way to the courtyard to grace the heroes with our presence. Do not forget to show them the majesty of royalty. Most of those country bumpkins are easily swayed by those with authority.¡± You might be wondering why we are not already waiting for the heroes from the beginning of the summoning ritual. The reason is because it is an ungodly long ritual. Forget the complications in order to start, but about 50 archmagi have to constantly chant that spell for a whole week in order to succeed. Utterly stupid and ridiculous, but that¡¯s magic for you. As we crossed lavishly decorated hallways and maids donning the regal uniform of a royal maid, we spotted the dozens of archmagi surrounding a complex summoning circle that had a radius of 20 feet. Each of them are completely focused on their task which is admirable since I don¡¯t think I could ever pull it off. Respect is also reserved for the maids that took care of their bodily needs during this time. Off to the side is a podium with multiple floors where some of the nobility and priestesses are seated. A scowl forms on my face as a few of the nobles give lewd looks to my sisters. If only I killed more of those bastards back then. We walked up the middle ramp all the way to the top for our prestigious seats that will further amplify our aura as royalty. It¡¯s some silly tradition amongst royalty that we have to signify our position by claiming the highest spot. Supposedly, it encourages loyalty but it never seems to stop assassination attempts. One day a king might realize their own naivet¨¦. It seems we arrived just in time as a bright golden flash erupted from the center of the summoning circle. Majority of the nobles were blinded, but we royals and the priestesses have strong enough eyes to not be bothered by it. As such, we were able to see the heroes earlier than the others. There were 21 heroes lying on the ground. Each of them are dressed in their otherworldly attire that is made with far better quality than even father¡¯s clothes despite being so plain. Their genders, like usual, are equally distributed. It seems they are groaning from the nausea from being teleported across dimensions, if there is such a thing. Some magi theorize that their world exists in another dimension since it has no mana. Good luck proving it though. As the intense light died down, everyone else began to regain their vision. The heroes were steadily getting up even if it they were still a little wobbly. Many of them seemed dumbfounded by their surroundings so father took it upon himself to begin his role as the benevolent king that is desperate to save his people. Benevolent my ass! One of his so called concubines used to be a beastkin princess who was captured by slavers that were coincidentally funded by the royal treasury for their heroic mission against the invaders that attacked one of our villages. Need I mention that said village was exterminated by human knights and the princess was an ambassador on her way to make a peace treaty with us? ¡°Heroes, welcome to the world of Fetria. I am King Valos Selvim Seraph Nelium and I am the current king of the kingdom of Nelium. I have summoned you here today so that we may call upon your power to defeat the demon lord and his sinful army. Please save our people!¡± Father pauses for a minute to allow his words to sink in and to wait for the inevitable doubts within that these supposed ¡®high school¡¯ students will have. And sure enough, there were quite a few ¡°Bullshit¡±, ¡°Don¡¯t joke with me¡±, and ¡°Take us home or I will beat you¡± lines all over. Heroes truly lack composure. All of the bickering ended when one of heroes walked forward and kneeled before the king before spouting similar lines to what the main hero always says. ¡°Of course we will help you Your Majesty! How can we possibly ignore people in need?¡± The blonde haired hero says all this with a righteous grin on his face. Justice maniac confirmed. Following behind him were 2 girls who were most likely a part of his harem. One was a girl with rich, chocolate hair that was combed to cover one of her sapphire eyes. The other was a girl with long, black hair that went down to her waist. It bothered me slightly that she had black hair, but I only needed to remind myself that their world has no mana. Her hair will naturally change colors soon enough. ¡°Yup, Yup! There is no need to ask us to help people!¡± Chocolate hair girl cheerfully says while skipping towards her friend. ¡°Besides, we get to be heroes! Those heroic figures revered by the people for doing heroic deeds!¡± Black hair girl energetically says while jumping on her feet and squirming like a girl in love. Slowly, the others came forward and kneeled as well. Only one guy seemed hesitant to join them. ¡°Hey guys, are you serious? Doesn¡¯t this seem even a little suspicious to you. We don¡¯t even know them or if the demon lord is even evil!¡± It always happens that one hero in such a large group will actually have a brain. It¡¯s never conducive for the plans of the king, but that hero will inevitably end up becoming more powerful than the other heroes due to relying on his analytical skills. Records state that it¡¯s best to just let this one go as the others won¡¯t follow us if he just disappears for no reason. ¡°Josh, how can you say that? Can¡¯t you see how desperate the king is to help his people?¡± A frown forms on the blonde hero as he looks at that guy as if he is crazy. So his name is Josh? ¡°Yeah! And we all know the demon lord is evil in the stories.¡± Chocolate hair girl only tilted her head as if stating the obvious. ¡°What else is a hero to fight if not the demon lord?¡± Black hair girl says as she has a hand on her hips. Ah, the utter cluelessness of heroes. It¡¯s actually quite amazing how easy they are to manipulate if you just throw out a few words to egg them on. That Josh guy is grimacing due to the fact that he knows he can¡¯t stop this. ¡°No need to fight amongst each other heroes. Unfortunately, we can not send the unwilling back to their world until the demon lord is defeated. It is unknown why that is though, but it is the experience of heroes in the past.¡± Father speaks a half-truth in order to seal the deal and all but Josh readily accepts it. It is not completely wrong as we can send the heroes back, but it is like a black box. Nobody comes back to tell if it works or not. Nobody knows if heroes who possess magic suddenly appears in a world without magic will have health concerns. Most heroes stay behind anyways since they can¡¯t let go of their immense magical power in a world that is more primitive than theirs. ¡°However, we can not possibly send heroes without training to the demon lord. As such we will have you properly taught by the best warriors and mages in the country.¡± A dozen knights and archmagi walk forward and introduced themselves to the heroes in turn. Afterwards father had a few maids show the heroes to their rooms and invite them for dinner later. Tomorrow is the day where I can watch the heroes in action. Feelings of excitement well up within me, but it is quickly dampened when I noticed a few heroes lustfully appraising my sisters as they were being led away. It took everything I had to not scowl then and there, but I am glad I kept it in. Now, nobody will think it is me if a few heroes mysteriously vanished. Only I am allowed to look at my sisters in that way and especially my beloved younger sister! I will flip this country to destroy whoever dares to get close to her! With the heroes departure, the rest of us began to prepare for the dinner. Using this brief moment of respite, I excused myself so I could discretely meet with someone. I walk through the halls of our castle that was built as a maze to ward against intrusions. Not that it matters if an assassin got inside since it¡¯s impossible for them to kill us. After making a few specific turns and heading down the stairs leading to the basement, I am greeted with my father¡¯s entertainment room. Inside are a bunch of women that he has kidnapped and locked inside to fulfill the ¡®oh so grand¡¯ mission of relieving his stress. One of the 1st victims I see is a famous priestess who dedicated her life to helping everyone she could. The people revered her as a saint for her many charitable deeds. Now, however, she has her limbs chained to the walls to force her into a shameless position with her legs spread out. One of her fellow priests came to investigate her disappearance, but was bribed with money to keep quiet about this as well as letting him join in on the ¡®fun¡¯ when he is visiting the castle. It didn¡¯t help that he was next in line to claim her position should she not be found. It utterly broke her when she realized that her fellow priest was allowing this to go on for his own greed. Apparently, they used to work together on many missions so it must have been shocking when she finally saw his true colors. Another victim was a beastkin princess that was traveling to our kingdom for peace negotiations. Father hired a bunch of mercenaries to slaughter the entire village she had arrived in and blame it on the invading beastkin. The princess was then captured and ¡®imprisoned¡¯ here ever since. Obviously, the war with the beastkin never ended, but got more intense. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The princess was forced to bear several children which she got to raise until they were a few years old. She loved them with all her heart despite all the suffering she was forced to endure. That is until one of her children mysteriously vanished and she was served a hamburger, a famous dish made by a past hero, which smelled like her child. She cried for days on end, but was inevitably forced to eat it as father didn¡¯t want her dying of starvation. Now she is broken and alone with no children left. Father loves doing this to many of the women here as a hobby of his. One of his excuses is that he doesn¡¯t want our royal blood being passed on to bastard children, but I know the truth. He is a sick bastard! A couple of lesbian lovers are huddled in a corner. They were given the option of being able to protect their lover in exchange for exposing their body to anyone who wants some pleasure. In another meaning, it means that they must decide which of them is going to be raped every day. There are many more tragic lives locked in this basement. One of them is a friend who managed to maintain her sanity throughout all of the torture she went through. Actually, saying that she still has her sanity is a bit misleading. She actually just wants the entire kingdom, possibly the whole world, to burn while starting with father. I met her during an unfortunate incident a few years ago. My beloved younger sister and I were very close back then, albeit to a lesser extent. Father wasn¡¯t fond of this so he decided that we needed his ¡®help¡¯ to understand what real love is. I was simply eating dinner as usual and went back to my room to sleep when I was done. Soon enough, I was awakened by a bunch of nude women clamoring on top of my body which I noticed was naked as well. I was even chained very securely to the bed to the extent that it would take even me a while to break free with my magic. I was panicking and trying my hardest to break free when one of them told me to calm down and enjoy the service that my father provided for me. It took me a few moments to process what she said and I asked why father would do this to me. She had only said that father would give them freedom if they did this. The gears in my head were moving rapidly trying to figure out why father ordered them to do this. Then everything clicked when I remembered one of the prior discussions I had with father. He wanted me and my beloved younger sister to spend time with a few select nobles for political reasons. Naturally, we refused and he got angry with us. It was then that I realized that if I am going through this, then what about my sister? Fear coursed through every fiber of my being as I forced far more power than my body could handle to break free of my restraints. I didn¡¯t care about how broken my body was afterwards and only pushed myself harder to reach my sister in time. I was constantly tripping and bumping into furniture and servants, but I never stopped running even when I fell or ran into something. I simply moved faster and faster to the point in which even my body looked like a golden ray of light. All so I could reach my beloved younger sister¡¯s room even a second earlier. When I finally got there, I heard my sister screaming. She was doing everything she could to prevent herself from being raped by a dozen men who were laughing and joking about her futile actions. Like me, she also had chains that were severely restricting her magical power to keep her from escaping her dilemma. My mind was serene as I took in the situation and even as I started butchering all of those men who dared to attempt to lay their hands on MY beloved younger sister. When they were all dead, I did my best to comfort my beloved younger sister and tell her everything was okay now. Or it would be I thought as I looked at the crests of the dead nobles in the room. It was only after she calmed down and I told her I would be right back that I jumped out of my beloved younger sister¡¯s room. I rushed straight for the noble district where I quickly slaughtered each and every remaining member of those noble houses who were cooperating with my father that night. Every man, woman, child, and elderly met their ends that night as I am no one to show mercy. It runs in the family. When I returned to the castle, father was furious but he couldn¡¯t do anything about it. We are royals because our bloodline and that of the church was blessed with extremely powerful healing capabilities from an angel ancestor. Even if you cut off my head or burned me to ashes, I would be just fine in a fraction of a second. It¡¯s because of this that it¡¯s ridiculously difficult to restrain us. Ever since that day, me and my beloved younger sister actually started to have real love for each other as we could no longer trust anyone else. I started calling her my beloved younger sister on that day and she would call me dearest elder brother. She also started sleeping in my bed for safety, but I never blamed her as I would have gone to her room anyways. Of course, with our clothes on, but we take a bath together anyways so it doesn¡¯t really matter. Neither of us was comfortable with the thought of being apart when there was no telling when father might try something. It was because of this incident that I met this person who helped me on a few secret matters as well as learned that the room I woke up in was a part of the basement. Near the middle of the prison¡¯s hallway was the door that led to her room. Inside was a beautiful dryad with plant-like angelic wings growing out of her back. She was being chained to the wall so she would hover in the air like the priestess. Several magical restraints was placed on her body to prevent her from escaping. This woman is my accomplice and she is a half angel, half dryad. ¡°The heroes have been summoned.¡± I keep my talks short and simple as I rather not be noticed by father. An illusion spell only goes so far. ¡°Are any of them capable?¡± She asks me the question on both of our minds. ¡°We will be checking their abilities tomorrow.¡± It is better for the heroes to be given rest on the day of summoning so they can let everything sink in. Otherwise, people might go crazy like it was written in the history books. ¡°Hopefully, one of them will possess it. Any progress on ¡®that¡¯ yet?¡± Her voice is filled with concern over the state of our ¡®project.¡¯ ¡°It should be finished soon.¡± It would be finished quicker if we could get our hands on a hero with that ability. ¡°Then we can finally begin our preparations.¡± A look of relief and determination flash across her face. ¡°I have already handled matters on my end.¡± A grin briefly forms on my face before I return to my expressionless fa?ade. ¡°And I have just signaled those on my end to get ready.¡± A beautiful smile creeps up onto her face, but I know that her smile is one that means death. ¡°Then excuse me as I deal with other matters.¡± I inform her as I make my way out of the room until she asked me something. ¡°Did one of the heroes give a lewd look at your sisters?¡± She gives me a smug look as she says that, but I merely turned around and left without answering her question. On my way back, I head down the corridor reserved for heroes. It¡¯s decorated with more calming furniture to help them get comfortable quicker in their new luxurious life styles. I am rather fond of the scented candles even if we have magic lights. It helps you relax which is sorely needed with all the stress that a royal accumulates from dealing with scumbags. One of the rooms is subtly different from the others on the outside, but is blatantly more luxurious on the inside. It is meant to show favor to the true hero and help coax him into our diabolical plots. History warns us to be subtle with our nudges though. I quietly enter the room and find the true hero scrutinizing all the valuable items in the room as if he is scared of being convicted of not being able to pay for a replacement. We don¡¯t have those fancy ¡®prisons¡¯ that otherworlders waste their money on so we either execute most criminals or put them into slavery. I cast a silencing spell around the room to make sure no one hears what is said in here. As he was still preoccupied, I decide to make my presence known after cancelling my illusion spell. ¡°Good evening Mr. Hero, I am Prince Dravilos.¡± I give him my best political smile that lacked any stiffness in it. It only conveys my heartfelt affection towards all living things. Not in a good way though. ¡°Ah, good evening Prince Dravilos!¡± He bows towards me in an awkward fashion that shows he has no experience in formalities. None of the heroes ever do. ¡°No need for formalities Mr. Hero. Oh, but it would be rude of me to not be aware of your name.¡± Keeping up my fa?ade, I try to subtly acquire the name of my guinea pig. ¡°Thank you then. My name is Richard Bright. Did you need my help with something?¡± Although he is still a little stiff, it won¡¯t change anything. ¡°Richard is it? Then pardon me for asking you this, but I wanted to ask you the reason for giving suspicious looks towards my sisters.¡± I take a few steps towards him without dropping my smile in the slightest. It must have scared him a little as he backed up until he tripped onto his bed. ¡°Uhh, it¡¯s not what it looks like! I wasn¡¯t thinking anything weird! I swear I am telling the truth.¡± He looks scared of what might happen to him as he spews forth a bunch of excuses. Everyone always gives me an excuse. ¡°Be that as it may, I am not going to hand over my sisters to anyone. If you want them, you will have to go through me 1st.¡± I declare as I loom over his helpless figure. For some reason, he seems to calm down instead of panicking even more. ¡°Oh is that what this is about?¡± He asks as he looks into my eyes with determination. ¡°It seems that this is all a misunderstanding.¡± He mentions as he starts to stand back up. ¡°Misunderstandings? I doubt I can mistake such a fervent gaze directed at my sisters.¡± I know what I saw and I will not be misled. A cornered rat can kill a lion as they say. ¡°Then allow me to prove it!¡± His voice was filled with determination and something else as he looked at me. I will admit that I was extremely curious to how he will work his way out of this mess. That is until he grabbed my head and kissed me. ¡°!?¡± Something impossible has just happened. Something horrible has just happened. Male heroes are always surrounded by women and this is especially true for the true hero. It has never been recorded in history that the true hero was into men. This guy even had 2 girls clamoring for his attention! ¡°You see, I was always into guys from the beginning. Somehow, I unknowingly attracted a bunch of girls who kept doing me favors like cooking all my meals. Even at my house, they somehow bribed my family to allow them to sleep over, cook my breakfast, scrub my back in the shower, and other things. I had already accepted that I would never get the chance to love another guy with them around so I was jealous of your sisters for attracting all of their attention. Even more so because of how she looked at you every so often.¡± You could feel the sadness and anger leaking out of his voice as he talked about his life issues. Realization dawned on me that I might have made a terrible miscalculation. Heroes can claim any lover they choose with little resistance and this one now has his eyes on me. Not to mention the fact that father will jubilantly hand me over if he hears of this. After taking a few moments to quickly process everything, I chose the 1 option I had left. I ran. I ran as fast as my legs could take me without causing a commotion. Goddess forbid someone starts asking questions! ¡°Wait! Don¡¯t leave me all alone!¡± Richard shouts out as he chases me out of the room. Luckily, the silencing spell was still active when he did that or someone would have noticed. I rushed through all the corridors that are known for having less servants walking in them as I try to shake off this nightmare behind me. Even though I am going fast as is reasonably possible, he is still right behind me. Curses! Why couldn¡¯t he learn how to reinforce his body later? Damn otherworldly prodigy! As I make another sudden turn, I passed by my beloved younger sister. Before I could turn around and warn her of the situation, I heard a loud thump. Fearing for the worst, I turned around the corner and I couldn¡¯t believe my eyes. Lying on the ground unconscious was the nightmare hero who was chasing me. ¡°Are you alright dearest elder brother?¡± Looking at me worriedly is my beloved younger sister. Noticing how awful I probably looked, I straightened my posture and changed into a dreamy smile reserved only for my sisters. ¡°Yeah, I am alright. Sorry for worrying you.¡± Her tense face relaxes a bit from my response. That¡¯s good. I wouldn¡¯t be a good brother if I made my sister worried. ¡°That¡¯s good. I was worried when I saw you running like that with a hero right behind you.¡± Her face returns to a concerned look as she glances back and forth at me and the nightmare hero. I don¡¯t think she fully believed everything was alright, but she is willing to let it go. ¡°About that. May I ask what happened to him?¡± Now that she is slightly calmer, I start to dig for information. She looks unhurt, but she is too fragile for me to not be worried over when a hero nearly slams into her. ¡°I think he tripped over his own feet and crashed into the floor. I was honestly shocked when it happened.¡± She covers her mouth with her fan to hide her expression. I almost laughed at how clumsy the hero was until I realized that I am still in dire straits. ¡°It¡¯s good that you weren¡¯t harmed because of this, but we should call a servant to treat him. I doubt he is hurt, but that was still enough to knock him out.¡± I make my plans to handle this mess and my beloved younger sister agrees to cooperate with me. It was a hassle to explain to a guard what happened, but it was written off as ¡®boys being boys.¡¯ I feel insulted, but whatever works. The dinner that night was slightly awkward, as the heroes were not used to such a fancy dinner. Richard kept throwing subtle glances at me which prompted a questioning glare from everyone else. Everyone let the matter slide when they heard that we were racing down the halls like we were little children. Again, I feel insulted. After dinner, I walked with my beloved younger sister to our room and promptly went to sleep. I never noticed the creepy smile she made when she realized I was asleep. I never noticed the raspy breaths she made as she stripped herself naked and groped my body. I never noticed the contented expression she had on her face as she constantly kissed me all over my face. I didn¡¯t even notice that she woke up early to quickly dress herself before anyone noticed. Chapter 2 – Religion, Races, Magic Author''s Note: This chapter is mostly an info dump, but I am also trying to present it in a decent way that won''t bore most people. Do tell me if i did a good job. Took me a while to think of everything I wanted to add here. Chapter 2 ¨C Religion, Races, Magic ¡°Now then, allow me to explain the world to you before we move on to teaching you magic.¡± The blue skinned woman informed me while smiling. We were currently sitting on a couple of comfy chairs in a small room. It was probably made for privacy when discussing as such rooms are supposedly enchanted to prevent sound from leaking out. On a table between us are cups filled with drinks that a maid gave us. I immediately requested for juice instead of tea as I prefer sweet things and have never been able to like the more ¡®mature¡¯ drinks. ¡°In our world there are many races and each race may worship a particular goddess or multiple goddesses. Demons worship the moon goddess, Nyxalia, who grants us the power to wield moonlight as well as being influenced by her power. The type of influence can differ from person to person and race to race. An example would be the Were-Races that transform under the moonlight.¡± ¡°The humans worship the sun goddess, Solaya, who grants them the power to wield sunlight. Sunlight boasts a higher potential for healing and purging spells than our moonlight, but it lacks the power to influence their wielders. Unlike moonlight, sunlight will harm anyone with an affinity for dark mana.¡± ¡°Why are there 2 types of light when moonlight is just sunlight reflected off the moon and how does moonlight thus not harm you?¡± This part bothered me as demons generally are incapable of wielding light magic. Yet, this world holds a type of light that doesn¡¯t harm them. She only giggled again from my questions as if she found my ignorance amusing. ¡°You see, the moon changes the properties of light when it reflects off the moon. This moonlight is much weaker than the original sunlight to the point that even we demons can safely wield it. And to correct your earlier statement, there are actually 3 types of light magic. The last is just a normal pink light that is primarily used for bodily modifications which include buffs, healing, and genetic changes. Very few people can wield it properly so most just rely on the divine light magic.¡± It was still a little awkward as reality differed so much from stories, but it does make sense. Werewolves and vampires are almost always considered evil creatures, yet they can freely travel under the moonlight. I particularly found it funny that the real light magic is pink colored and it sounds like it even includes those ki warriors in some stories. I do not regret the fact that I busted out laughing at the thought of male warriors covered in a pink battle aura. I nodded towards her so that she could continue before my sides were beyond repair. ¡°The elves and dryads worship the nature goddess, Yggdrasil, whom granted them the power to greatly alter nature. Although anyone can learn to wield nature magic, the elves can will nature to do their bidding without casting a single spell. It is because of this that their forest is an invincible fortress.¡± ¡°Are there no racial gods?¡± As this is the 3rd goddess, it struck me as weird that none of them actually symbolize a specific race. That and they are all women. ¡°Why would we worship something as small as that? Isn¡¯t it natural to have faith in an unshakeable, almighty existence?¡± She merely raised her eyebrows before she started stifling her laughter. My eyes are lowered in embarrassment as I feel that I made a fool of myself. It¡¯s not that I am stupid okay! You are just defying common sense in my world! ¡°Moving on *giggle*, the beastkin worship the chimera goddess, Letriya, whom grants the power to alter one¡¯s form to that of a beast. Some spells come with a price that may make you more beast-like, but it takes very special circumstances to actually change your body that much. I will go into more detail when I teach you about magic, so hold that question for now.¡± I was wondering if she was referring to forbidden rituals when she mentioned a price. Those shady spells used by cultists who crave power and end up sacrificing their humanity. ¡°Dwarves are known to worship the construct goddess, Rulace, who granted them the ability to sense and understand all metals. Even a dwarf who has never forged a weapon in his entire life can make a weapon greater than the best blacksmiths from other races due to their ridiculous compression of the entirety of a metal.¡± This came off as a bit more normal, but different from being just a racial trait. Dwarves have always been known for the craftsmanship, but this sounds a bit more extreme than normal. ¡°Are constructs just golems and living armor spirits? Also, what did you mean by ¡®will.¡¯¡± I inquire while thinking about how Rulace is being worshipped by a different race. ¡°Constructs are any inanimate object granted a will through a spell. There are also spells that can grant them a soul, but that is something most people would avoid due to its price. A will is the caster¡¯s intent or instructions for controlling the construct. I will speak more on that later when I teach you about magic.¡± So there is no naturally occurring golem race? Weird, but stories never mention golems and similar beings raising children unless it¡¯s one of the vrmmo stories. ¡°The fairies worship the goddess of illusions and reality, Zavenel, whom granted them the power to hide away from the world. Their power is difficult to understand in the fact that it¡¯s hard to tell what is real and what is an illusion when dealing with them. Although unconfirmed, there is likely an illusion world where they all live secluded from worldly matters.¡± That ability¡­sounds dangerous. It sounds more like that skill from a ninja show where you can potentially be forced to live in a permanent illusion until the day you die or somehow break out of it. Noticing the grimace that formed on my face, she relieved me of my worries. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about their powers. Although it is mostly uncounterable for most people, some demons possess a demon eye that can see through them. Luckily for you, our summoning ritual gave you every demon eye in existence so you should be immune to it.¡± Demon eyes? I possess every single demon eye? Is it like that demon lord girl who can rotate her eyes around inside her skull? Is it like that bloodline ability in that ninja show where both eyes have a bunch of pupils? Or maybe it¡¯s like that story where a white spider can activate 1 demon eye per eye she has available. I would really like to look in a mirror to see what they have done to me, but she keeps giving me this look as if I am making the most hilarious expression on my face. If I didn¡¯t know any better, then I would think she could read my mind. Or maybe I am just easy to read? ¡°*giggle* Aww, I had the perfect response prepared for when you asked ¡®that¡¯ question. You are quite the killjoy.¡± Hearing this, I couldn¡¯t help but look towards the floor. On one side, I am happy that I avoided running into another embarrassing moment. On the other hand, she still makes me feel embarrassed regardless of what I do. ¡°Next is for angels and you should pay really close attention as they are our mortal enemies. Angels worship the goddess of balance, Telaire, who granted them the ability to know everything and everyone that can potentially upset the balance of the world. They used that cursed ability to not only track them down, but also to strike down anyone who gains too much power in this world regardless of their race. It is also because of that ability that they make yearly raids on our lands to keep us down as they call it.¡± Not really surprising to know that angels and demons never get along, but that divine gift of balance is just overpowered. So if I get too strong in this world, I will be hunted down by angels? ¡°Wait! Don¡¯t all heroes naturally become the strongest beings on the planet?¡± My voice was filled with anxiety as I questioned her. Heroes are one thing, but angels definitely don¡¯t play around when they go on a purging spree no matter what story you read. ¡°Yes, they do and they are all inevitably killed by angels in the end. Some manage to skirt along the edge of what angels deem the limit for a while, but that is only a temporary stop-gap.¡± So if I want to survive in this world, I have to kill or suppress the heroes and somehow defeat every angel that comes after me. That sounds easy right? Right? Didn¡¯t think so. ¡°As for the last 2 religions, they are about dragons and phoenixes. The dragons might worship the goddess of space, Vritria while the phoenixes supposedly worship the goddess of stars, Celeste. Nothing is really known about their religions as they don¡¯t bother themselves with ¡®inferior¡¯ beings. This ends the discussion about the religions of this world.¡± Although I am not really surprised about dragons being arrogant, but aren¡¯t phoenixes supposed to be all about being holy and respected beings for their ability to heal and purge taint. Both of which are highly valued by the church. This world is truly weird compared to fantasy. ¡°To further your pitiful common sense, I shall inform you of the many races lumped together in the category that humans call ¡®demons.¡¯¡± She rolls her eyes as if to show her displeasure of the moniker that humans labeled them with. ¡°I, for one, am called an imp and no I am not some grunt for manual labor nor has anyone of my race been. That is just some superstition created by humans since they believe we are the weakest amongst the demon race. Our gift from Nyxalia allows us to amplify our magic with the powers of our soul. It is difficult and time-consuming to master as well as risky if we use too much of our soul¡¯s power for our spells. That is the real reason why we appear weaker than other demons when we are younger.¡± I could feel the pride emanating from her as she spoke about her race as well as her irritation towards how others look down upon her race. Her soul magic sounds very interesting as well. Perhaps this is the source of the famous hell flames? ¡°Liches as you know summon souls of the dead to bind them to corpses. What most people don¡¯t realize is that a lich has no real control over their minions as they can¡¯t control what their souls do. They also don¡¯t eat souls like the rumors say they do unless they want to become lunatics that are warped by the clashing identities of multiple souls in the same body. And trust me when I say that you don¡¯t want a crazy lich on the loose! This is why they make contracts with the dead to ensure some form of order and safety for both sides. Their gift from Nyxalia is the ability to assimilate corpses into their body.¡± It was interesting how liches weren¡¯t an overpowering race that could constantly raise a legion of the undead that could almost never be stopped without somehow killing the necromancer hiding behind their army. Besides, it never made sense how a lich has full control over the dead, yet have no control over the living. I mean, that¡¯s practically slave magic that is used in most stories but no lich should have the power to do that to so many souls. It also makes sense that they can¡¯t eat souls to empower themselves without suffering from an identity crisis. ¡°Moon Elves are elves who had abandoned their faith in Yggdrasil in favor of Nyxalia. Their power over nature was significantly weakened, but still exists as it has been completely integrated into the entire elven race. In addition to that, they were able to gain Nyxalia¡¯s gift which granted them extreme mana recovery under the moonlight.¡± People can abandon their original faith and gain more power from another one? Isn¡¯t that a betrayal to their religion? I would expect religious fanatics to hunt them down for that. ¡°Isn¡¯t that-¡° I was about to inquire, but she had preempted me as if she had expected the question. ¡°Blasphemous? Sorta. Although most races don¡¯t like those that worship a different goddess, but they also don¡¯t reject other religions as the goddesses symbolize the balance of our world. Religion is pretty open to the point of being considered a pantheon, but there are disagreements here and there.¡± So it¡¯s like a pantheon? Worship one goddess for a particular blessing and possibly retain a racial blessing if you follow a religion that differs from your original race. But if that¡¯s the case¡­. ¡°Then why are demons considered evil if everyone is free to worship Nyxalia?¡± I asked the question that floated in my mind. ¡°It¡¯s mostly because demons tend to have darker and more frighteningly honest personalities. A common misconception is that demons can¡¯t lie due to divine will, but it¡¯s more like we have no need to lie. If we want to have sex with someone, then we will ask them outright. If we want someone¡¯s money, we will make an offer for it. If we want to kill someone, then we will challenge them to a death match. Unlike other races, we simply don¡¯t hide our intentions to others. This scares them so much that they think we are barbaric, sex-crazed, disloyal bastards. It doesn¡¯t help that the humans worship the sun which is the antithesis of the moon. To compound matters, many demons have racial tendencies that horrifies them.¡± What she had told me does mostly coincide with what I know demons are described as, but it is still enlightening to hear the truth of the matter from an actual demon. It¡¯s actually kinda sad that demons are being unfairly discriminated against. If demons really don¡¯t lie that is. ¡°Hey! Hey! Don¡¯t give us those looks filled with pity! We are strong enough to handle a few bigots.¡± As if to further exacerbate her point, she flexed her completely nonexistent muscles. I think she was trying to look intimidating, but it only came off as cute. Her eyes even slightly narrowed when I thought that. I swear she is a mind reader, but I am not willing to ask that question. ¡°Ah, sorry! I guess it would be awkward if demons couldn¡¯t protect themselves.¡± I anxiously apologized which she quickly accepted and returned to her previous cheerful face. I feel like I got scammed. Why are all women professionals in that expertise? This thought was followed by a poorly concealed attempt to hold in her laughter. ¡°We do preach self-sustaining lives as a basis. Every man, woman, and child is expected to be able to defend themselves from a low-class monster in some manner. It¡¯s harsh, but so is reality for most demons. It¡¯s still an easy task that most 7 year olds can accomplish with little effort.¡± So demons can hunt monsters when they are mere children. How strong are these low-class monsters? I was quite impressed by that statement which I could tell she noticed by the smug smile on her face. ¡°Next is the overly famous succubi and this will be a long one. They do have a need to feed on another person¡¯s vitality, but that is where the similarities stop. Succubi have no real gender as they can change their appearance at any time in only a few moments. They drain vitality as a female and they give vitality as a male. If a man was willing they could drink the waters of the fountain of youth, but few are. In order to sate their urges, a succubus may work in the scarlet district or form their own harems. As they can fulfill every role, they tend to have mixed harems if they are into harems. Many succubi, however, lust after powerful individuals who can single-handedly provide them with their vitality. In that case, it¡¯s a ¡®get the fuck out the way¡¯ situation as they will probably get rid of any extras so they can have a 1-on-1 relationship. Succubi are very jealous and don¡¯t like to share any of their mates, but don¡¯t think that means the mates will share a succubus with you either. Their ability also makes them a valuable member of the punishment squad. If a male decides that rape and slavery are what he enjoys, then we just get a succubus to turn him into a woman and sell him to some slave trader. Nothing hurts them more than that. An eye for an eye right? Nyxalia¡¯s gift granted them a dimensional space within their bodies. It can serve as a storage tank for vitality and as a method of growing multiple babies inside them. Some also use it for other essentials like food, water, clothing, etc.¡± There was so much to comment on, I did not know where to begin. Incubi don¡¯t actually exist since it¡¯s suicidal to be one without somehow taking vitality is the first weird part. It is also awkward that a succubus can be female one moment and male another moment depending on the tastes of their mate. It kind of reminds me of that question guys like to ask in middle school that goes like ¡°if in order to enter heaven, you have to sleep with god in his male form and in order to enter hell, you have to sleep with god in his female form then what would you do?¡¯ I wonder how many old men will go for it though. I always knew a succubus would likely have a harem, although stories portray them as a 1 man at a time kind of race, but that is for their own perversion. What really stands out is how they might kill for 1 powerful person to sate their hunger. Do they hate having sex all day that much that it¡¯s driving them crazy? I think it¡¯s fucking hilarious how a succubus can issue punishment like that. Most stories just have people crush the balls or outright kill them. These succubi, however, are like ¡®if you can¡¯t beat them, then join them.¡¯ I find their ability quite fitting though. A race like them being hindered by pregnancy would be a little silly. But it¡¯s also quite sad if that is the only inventory system on this world. How am I supposed to carry all my items? Throughout my entire inner monologue, she had been cheerfully smiling and occasionally having a fit of laughter. I was trying to ignore her, but I can¡¯t help feeling shy when a beautiful, albeit blue, girl keeps reading my mind. I like to think a lot, but I am starting to feel¡­violated. And she completely fell off her chair this time. After she recovered, she continued on with the next race. ¡°Next are the vampires who mix well with succubi. A vampire as everyone knows needs blood to live. That blood is a measure of their own vitality which can then be drained by a succubus. Healing magic can then replace the blood which creates an infinite loop. This is why almost every succubus mates with a vampire as they are the only race that can get around the loss of vitality from sating their own hunger. In terms of feeding though, a vampire can be rather picky. They actually prefer biting the breasts and genitalia of their mates as those areas gives the blood an exotic taste. The neck is just a passable alternative when they lack the intimacy to get access to their favorite spots. If they overfeed on someone, then they might become a vampire as well but it¡¯s not necessary as vampires can have children normally. Nyxalia has gifted them the power to turn their entire bodies into blood. A decapitation used to be an easy method of killing a vampire, but now they can just dance all day in front of their enemies and not give a shit. Immortals becoming even more immortal¡­¡± A part of me was almost thrown for a loop at the thought of a vampire and a succubus being able to feed off of each other forever. Ultimately, it sounds like you are using mana to substitute for vitality, but why couldn¡¯t a vampire just drain mana then? Also, the thought that a vampire likes milky blood and ¡®sex¡¯ blood is¡­different. I do agree with her complaint on their immortality. They should share it with the rest of us! Without vampirizing us I mean. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Why can¡¯t a vampire just drain mana if you can replace blood with mana?¡± I inquire her of the question on my mind. ¡°Mana is a measure of one¡¯s soul force and vitality is a measure of one¡¯s life force. Healing magic can restore one¡¯s vitality in exchange for mana which will then heal one¡¯s life force. Vampires and succubi are only able to tap into another¡¯s life force to keep their bodies functioning as their bodies can no longer sustain themselves on normal food. Also, as there is nothing wrong with their bodies, healing magic used on themselves won¡¯t replace the life force needed to keep them alive. It¡¯s more like their body¡¯s vitality and their life force are completely separate in comparison to other races. Even if their body is perfectly healthy, they will die if their life force will run out and vice versa. I think what allows them to infinitely feed on each other has something to do with efficiency as a small bit of life force can supercharge their vitality which then rejuvenates their own life force for as long as their vitality is empowered.¡± So rather than the blood or sex they used to sate their hunger, it¡¯s moreso the life force from it that they are feeding on? This world lacks science and yet they are advancing their biology pretty well. ¡°The werebeasts, as you know, are people capable of transforming under the moonlight. Their gift grants them an immense increase in every physical statistic in their body so good luck fighting one. They can remain sane after transforming, but they are all hardcore battle idiots. A life without fighting for them is akin to torture. If you get bit, then you will not become a werebeast. Instead, anyone who mates with a werebeast will then become a werebeast themselves. They are quite a loyal race that will always pay off their debts. Honor and pride are the only things they value more than their livelihoods as warriors.¡± So werebeasts include more than just werewolves? I think I would like to see a werechicken. Can something so harmless become just as fearsome? I probably should not incite the wrath of the shield. ¡°Goblins are a race that is considered both a part of the demon race and just another dumb monster. Some mad human scientist created them in the hopes of creating his own elven slaves to be sold as sex slaves, but he gave up after seeing the results of his experiments. The goblins were full of vigor to have sex all day long and could procreate quickly as well. The flaw was that they were ugly and bald, but he did originally plan for them to be stupid so as to not rebel against their owners. Another flaw was that they didn¡¯t even care for hygiene so they smelled horrible. What he didn¡¯t realize is that the goblins got smarter, less stinky, and more aesthetically pleasing as they got older and became hobgoblins. Although I said they became smarter, only the magi had actual brains and the warriors were still a bunch of idiots. Later on the hobgoblin magi became goblin lords while the warriors became ogres. At this point, the warriors had already certified their position as disposable meatshields. It¡¯s because of this that the lords are the only ones considered demons while the warriors are just a bunch of somewhat intelligent monsters. As for their gift from Nyxalia, it is the power to obtain any ability from an enemy that they eat. Sounds ridiculous right? Well a goblin isn¡¯t going to have a dragon breath on par with an actual dragon so it mostly just increases their diversity in abilities.¡± I knew about the bit of lore of how goblins were created although most stories never mention it. The social hierarchy between goblins is interesting as only the intelligent goblins have rights, but it makes sense since most goblins probably lack the brain power to do anything properly. They even suck at being bandits in the stories. Actually, is there even a good bandit group? Their ability is pretty normal though. Almost every reincarnated goblin is like that, but it¡¯s now a racial ability. ¡°Next up is the all female arachnee race . They are a fun little bunch that are good at sewing with their specially made silk, but they can also use it as a weapon too. Their love lives are filled with S&M and bondage play. Nyxalia gifted them with the power to create demon eyes on a whim which they occasionally offer to other demons. As every arachnee has 10 eyes, that means they can use 10 different demon eyes simultaneously unlike your summoning ritual that fused every demon eye ability into both of your eyes and allows you to activate as many as you can handle.¡± Oh, so they can create demon eyes? Not sure how comfortable I am knowing that I am very similar to them. Hopefully one of them is not a white arachnee. Bad things happen around white spiders. ¡°The slimes are another race that are considered both monsters and demons. They originally start off as a blob of slime that will eat mostly everything. Their intelligence is pretty low, if not nonexistent, at this stage, but it slowly increases as their mana core that acts as their brain absorbs more mana to get bigger. After a certain stage, they start to properly learn to use their slime to change their forms into creatures or objects they have seen. Later on, they become intelligent enough to communicate telepathically with other slimes and order around the less mentally developed ones. Eventually, they can perfect a form that allows them to communicate orally with other races. Their gift was the ability to assimilate their core into their slime which removed their primary weakness of having their core destroyed. The downside is that they now have 2 types of slime to manage as their core slime needs a lot of mana to be replicated and their original slime is what will hold their body together until they get enough core slime.¡± So slimes have telepathic communication? It would be funny if people actually died because of slime tactics. If they no longer have a solid core, then that means that it is probably impossible to kill a slime without magic now. Most stories also have slime cores being used for medicine brewing, but now it is highly unlikely to get anything from a slime as magic will probably destroy their entire bodies. ¡°Last, but not least, are the moon angels which are a type of fallen angel. Fallen angels are angels that have abandoned their faith in Telaire for one of the other religions. They are still able to retain their former blessing, but they can only get a vague hunch on whether or not something is good or bad for them and can only get a precise vision if the event will occur around 1 minute in the future. The original blessing could see decades ahead in the future, but not as precise the further the vision is in the future. Moon angels are the best healers amongst the ¡®demon¡¯ race due to having high affinity to light magic. They are quite excessive in being a neat freak and like to avoid getting dirty. They give a good ¡®holier than thou¡¯ act, but they can be quite sadistic when they need to be. As for their gift, it is the power to draw in all of the surrounding moonlight into their wings to power their magic. It is slow, but it is difficult for any other race to best a moon angel when it comes to brute force in their magic.¡± So in this world, fallen angels are not depicted as evil. Well, they probably are but not in the truest sense. Even as a fallen, they still act like a holy emissary with their healing abilities. Although I do find it silly that an angel of all things is have a racial need to keep things clean, but it¡¯s also somehow fitting. What really bugs me though is that the original angels can see decades into the future. Accuracy is a problem, but that means they might already be aware of me in some manner if I am to trigger their alarm system within the next few decades. I just have to hope that they won¡¯t know who I am until much later. Never was a fan of the hero/reincarnator hiding their identity, but I am not some overpowered freak capable of shrugging off everything from chapter 1. ¡°There are more races like the dwarves and gnomes, but they are not something you will come across often in the Releweize Continent. Dwarves in particular feel suffocated outside of their caves so they almost never leave. The others have similar traits that make them more isolated. An important point of interest is that pure blooded demons only make up half of the population. The rest are mixed breeds from a variety of races. Unlike humans, we don¡¯t care much for blood purity when it matters little towards individual power. Vampires and Werebeasts aren¡¯t even actual races since they are just people from a different race that have been infected with a peculiar virus as well as the descendants of those infected. Something which you should also keep in mind is that in demon culture, nobody wants to give their name unless someone earns the right to hear it. This is mostly centered around those who work together to encourage an efficient work environment. That being the case, I am not going to tell you my name unless you work for it!¡± She winks at me as she finishes her declaration which makes me look away for a bit. I wasn¡¯t bothered by anyone not telling me who they were since I never cared much for names and titles. I guess this also means nobody wants to hear my name until I am able to impress them. ¡°Now for what you have been waiting so long for!¡± A drum roll can be heard in the room, but there are no drums or any musical instruments for that matter. ¡°It is time for your lessons on magic! Woohoo!¡± She finishes with an excited cheer as she pumps her fist into the air. Her mood was contagious, but then again I was waiting for this from the beginning. I was giddy with excitement at the thought of manipulating gravity, distorting space, flying in the sky, leading an army of monsters and whatever cool spells I could learn. Without warning her face instantly went serious as if she was about to speak of a troubling matter. ¡°But before I tell you how to use magic, you must 1st know the price of magic. All magic comes with a price depending on what you used it for.¡± I was a little startled about the sudden change in atmosphere. Is the price of magic that bad? It can¡¯t be if an entire world uses magic. Without minding my thoughts as she normally would, she continues without making a single reaction. ¡°The simplest of prices are those related to magical affinity. If one attunes oneself to any element, then one¡¯s body will naturally take on the traits of that element. It also changes the colors of one¡¯s body parts to match the element. This is generally labeled as Elemental Price. Those with fire affinity will have warmer bodies while those with earth affinity will have more durable bodies. Those with ice affinity will have colder bodies while those with water affinity will have a glossier body from the higher water density in their bodies. Those with wind affinity will have stronger lungs while those with lightning affinity will have faster reaction times. Those with light affinity will have faster healing bodies while those with dark affinity will have bodies that can destroy foreign elements in their bodies. Body Price is another category that one must pay if you use spells that modify, reinforce, or enhance your body. A classic example is the lightning spell that speeds up one¡¯s thought processes. Consistent use of this magic will make one¡¯s mind naturally shift to a faster time ratio which will completely wreck any chance of communicating with people who have not enhanced their thought processes. Another sad case is all those liches that have formed their own race. They became like that because of their obsession of working on bone golems and making contracts with the souls of the dead which ended up in their flesh just dying and falling off. Soul Price is the last category one must pay if one use spells that deal with one¡¯s soul. Taming monsters and creating soul weapons both require one to sacrifice a piece of one¡¯s soul in order to fulfill either of those paths. Each fragment of one¡¯s soul will grant intelligence, memories, experience, and personality to those it is granted to. Soul fragments also act as an anchor for the main soul so that if one dies, one¡¯s soul will be ripped apart and absorbed equally towards the other fragments. Many beasts, items, and spirits use this as the price of a contract with them in order to increase their strength over time.¡± Unlike creatures who already have a soul, extra complications form from inanimate objects that have no soul. All things in existence accumulate a will from the thoughts of others and this will then forms the base of a personality when granted a soul. Giving a soul fragment to a weapon made by someone else would mean gambling on the type of will that was carved into the weapon when it was forged.¡± I was shocked when I heard what the price of magic really is. Adaptation. The more you use a particular spell or element, the more your body will adapt to it. Even without magic, this has always existed in all forms of life, but now magic is amplifying the rate and degree of adaptation. Elemental Price is probably manageable, but I am not sure I want earth affinity if it makes my body harder to move. Lightning would be amazing if it didn¡¯t mean that I would be forced to learn the language of static. Bzzt. Yeah, not happening. As for Body Price, I am probably at risk of opening a 3rd eye or a bunch of them like that ninja with the creepy arm. Then there is my wish to be a summoner which might force my body to gain traits of any being I bond with. If that¡¯s the case, then I will likely need to figure out a type of minion that won¡¯t screw over my body. I have mixed feelings about Soul Price. As a hero in a fantasy world, I might just reincarnate when I die so this might screw me out of a 2nd life. Then there is the fact that I might not even keep my memories anyways so I might as well risk it. Ironically, I find it interesting that spirits need soul force rather than mana to get stronger. Never understood how creatures with a functioning body can¡¯t absorb mana like every other person in the world. Even a phoenix which is sometimes portrayed as just an elemental can live just fine without forming contracts all the time. But one thing bugs me though¡­. ¡°Didn¡¯t you mention earlier that liches go crazy when they try to absorb souls? How are spirits, tamed beasts, and soul weapons fine?¡± I tilt my head as I ask her. ¡°Yes, I did. You see, a crazy lich or rather legion is formed when a being absorbs an entire soul which still contains the personality. A soul fragment on the other hand will just give memories, knowledge, and experience from the main soul which still contains the personality. Even after the main soul¡¯s body dies, the personality is still never absorbed into the fragments, but nobody knows what actually happens to it.¡± So a fragment of a soul is safe to absorb, but not the entire thing? If that¡¯s the case then the soul¡¯s persona might actually retain a single piece of the soul to inhabit when the body dies and is not absorbed by the other fragments. Those who absorb soul fragments might just suffer from knowing a bunch of things that never happened to them, but nothing beyond that. ¡°Cheer up! It¡¯s not like it¡¯s the end of the world!¡± She does her best at an attempt to brighten the room up with her smile. I fight it for a few seconds, but I break into a smile too. One day I will learn to remain expressionless when somebody smiles and prove that my wish from childhood is actually possible. ¡°Although your wish is a hopeless endeavor, you can still accomplish your dream of being a summoner. You just have to pick retainers whose appearance you don¡¯t mind transferring onto yourself and besides mutations never happen immediately so there is no need to worry. But now that you understand the price of using magic, allow me explain to you the different types of mana in the world. Fire is orange colored mana that controls fire and heat. Water is blue colored mana that controls water. Wind is clear colored mana that controls wind. Earth is brown colored mana that controls earth. Ice is light blue colored mana that controls molecular movement, but it is just fire magic used in reverse. Lightning is purple colored mana that controls lightning. Metal is silver colored mana that controls metals. Nature is green colored mana that controls plants. Light is pink colored mana that heals and modifies the body. Dark is black colored mana that controls shadows. Solar is golden colored mana that controls light from the sun and is a divine mana from the sun goddess. Lunar is white colored mana that controls light from the moon and is divine mana from the moon goddess. Figuring out which types of mana you want to specialize in will be up to you. In order to show you how to manipulate your mana, please give me your hand.¡± In response to her request, I reach out with my hand. After she places her hand under mine, a weird sensation started to bubble up in my hand. It was a sweet, intoxicating feeling that felt like it was leaking out of my hand. Before I even knew it, a white ball of light was hovering above my hand. ¡°This is a sphere of lunar mana. Try to feel out the sensation of mana being used and copy it over to your left hand.¡± I did as she said, but it was easier said than done. The jolt of pleasure that her mana sparked in my body made me aware of all the mana in my body, but moving it is an entirely different matter. Focusing on feeling through my right hand just makes her sphere bigger or shoots out weak white lasers. Nobody was hurt by it since my control is barely able to move much mana for now. After a few minutes, I got the hang of it by only twitching my muscles to direct my mana towards my left hand. I formed I misshapen sphere, but it was still a sphere. ¡°Good, keep practicing your control on your own. Also, wear this just incase you get hurt. It will protect you from most injuries and provide you with minor healing. If you need any assistance, you can ask one of the servants outside to help you. They can bring you to a library to study, a training room to practice bigger spells when you learn to control your spells more, and anything else you may need.¡± As she said this, she passed me a white necklace in the shape of a lunar crescent. Then she got up and started heading to the door. ¡°Are you not going to supervise me to make sure I am practicing properly?¡± I was a little alarmed at the thought of being left alone without a magic teacher. ¡°The way everyone uses magic is different so not everyone can actually teach someone else anything beyond the basics. We can both be healers, but the way we go about healing may be completely different even if we use the same elemental affinity.¡± She only tilts her head before she continues out the door and leaving me to my own devices. I guess I can¡¯t blame the demons for being too lenient in their teachings. I wonder if the human heroes are being worked to the bone 24/7 against the kingdom¡¯s knights/magi? I only sigh thinking about all the effort I am going to have to put in to be a magister summoner. Taking what she told me to heart I asked the vampire maids outside for some books on all the different types of summoning and taming that they have. It¡¯s going to be a long while before I can do anything impressive. Chapter 3 – Can you Avoid the Death Flags? Chapter 3 ¨C Can you Avoid the Death Flags? It has been a few days since I started practicing my control over various elements and studying up on various bits of information. Unsurprisingly, my mastery over magic has already increased leaps and bounds from where it was before. If an angry bear were to stroll on towards me, I am confident in my ability to not die. Not that I have fought monsters yet. It may be that even a tiny rabbit can shoot death lasers. It would be really sad if I died to a rabbit of all things. I wonder if a carrotman exists in this world of heavy mutation. If it did, then at least I won¡¯t be the saddest existence in the world if I did end up dying to a rabbit. Anyways, one of the things I studied up on was what a will truly is. There are 2 types of will which are active will and passive will. Active will is more like programmable instructions put inside an inanimate object for convenience. Passive will, however, can be summarized as strong thoughts directed at anything in existence. Someone who kills or harms people will accumulate negative will from the anger of the souls that has died. Negative will can make people uncomfortable around you, make you prone to bad luck, and/or outright strike you down with lightning consistently which should theoretically be impossible. It also forms the foundation of what people consider killing intent. Positive will can accumulate when someone heals or saves people. It has the effects such as making people feel safe around you, making you prone to good luck, and/or potentially saving your life when you normally should have died. This is why a will can make things complicated when I give a soul fragment to a weapon or golem. A weapon or a golem formed with the intent to kill could potentially harm me in its desire for bloodshed. I sigh as I look around the room I was given to sleep in. I am currently laying on a decently sized bed that could easily fit 2 people and it is very comfy. I expected bed bugs or something that would make me burn it to the ground. I may be a guy, but I hate bugs. Like, really hate those nasty things. On the wall is some crystal screen used to playback recordings stored in a memory crystal. It¡¯s basically a magical television without the modern entertainment value. I asked one of the maids if it was possible to upload some of my memories into a memory crystal, but it¡¯s impossible unless I learn mind magic or ask someone proficient in it to go through my mind. As I am not that trusting of people, it looks like I also have to learn mind magic if I want to watch tv. I wonder if I can make a lot of money if I sold all those tv shows and movies I watched. Everyone must be bored with so little to actually do to have fun. Then again, circulating tv shows might turn people into couch potatoes and shut-ins. I still think the money might be worth it though. Near the bed is a mirror which I used to finally get a look at my eyes. They actually look pretty nice. It¡¯s similar to the white spider except that all of my pupils are moving around inside my iris. There are so many pupils swimming around in both of my irises that I find it difficult to count how many demon eyes I actually possess. Because of that, I asked one of those vampire maids for a book on demon eyes. I have just 1 thing to say about it. How much overkill is it to have over dozen ways to kill someone? Yeah, that¡¯s what my demon eyes are like. Lots and lots of death. I do like the demon eye of sight though. I can do so much with it as long as it is limited to seeing things. Downside is that it is that it is also called the demon eye of stalking. It¡¯s even impossible to detect. Demon eye of telepathy is another convenient eye ability. It allows me to connect to someone¡¯s mind and do anything I want if they can¡¯t protect their mind. Nobody can lie to me as long as I keep this eye active. This eye is similar to that vampire chick who can make people feel pain by just looking at them except much better. At least now I know how that blue skinned woman was violating me. The elemental eyes just kill by drowning, burning, freezing, petrifying, electrocuting, and suffocating. Light can heal and darkness can make them blind. Plague is a really nasty one as it can make people come down with something like the bubonic plague. Death just outright kills someone. This leaves the utility eyes like gravity which can alter someone¡¯s weight and magnetism which can keep people away or bring them closer to me. Void is an interesting one since it can devour all mana and magic to replenish my mana. Magnetism makes me feel like my understanding of true pain has increased. All in all, these eyes are ridiculously overpowered. As long as I can look at someone that is. Judging by my demon eyes alone, anyone that can move faster than I can perceive, invisible to my eyes, or someone who can blind me are capable of countering them. Considering how easy it is to just shine a flashlight in my face, light might be the biggest middle finger to me. Of course, this is something that only matters sometime in the future. I don¡¯t even know how to tell them apart when I send mana to my eyes. The elemental eyes are color coded, but the others are very weird and complex. And this book doesn¡¯t even try to describe what their magical aura looks like to me. Another downside of having multiple pupils in a single eye. A knock interrupts my thoughts. ¡°Pardon my intrusion hero.¡± An ominous voice echoes throughout the room as a robed skeleton walks in. ¡°Hello elder.¡± Yesterday, I had asked the maids for someone to explain to me about being a summoner or at least the basics. It seems the necromancer is the most proficient in this area. ¡°Greetings young one. Are you ready for your lessons today?¡± His voice is so deep, scary, and yet somehow cool. I feel like the women of this world suffered a massive loss when he decided to be a necromancer. He just gives off that air that makes you want to look up to him if not for the fact that he lost his flesh. ¡°Yes elder. Thank you for taking the time to teach me.¡± ¡°Then allow me to begin. Before you can even think of creating a bond, you must be able to separate a piece of your soul without actually harming your soul. To make things easier, a soul crystal was developed that was designed to absorb the bare minimum of soul force that all infants have which is a soul force value of 1. For most people, the creation of a few bonds isn¡¯t that impactful on their daily lives, but it does add up over time. Increasing the size of one¡¯s soul is also not an easily accomplished task. A soul gets stronger as it accumulates memories, knowledge, experience, and age. Even a professional magician will struggle to make their soul force surpass a value of 200. Even the demon lord is still stuck around 750 and he has lived for centuries. In your case, you have a soul force value of around 4000 due to the hero summoning ritual infusing your soul with raw soul essence. This allowed you to skip the entire ordeal of having to strengthen your soul normally, but it has also made your soul very unstable. That instability will likely force you to absorb all forms of knowledge and expertise like a sponge which is why you heroes are able to grow so rapidly in just a few weeks compared to the decades or centuries of practice that everyone else has to go through. It doesn¡¯t even end there as your soul will grow faster than an ordinary person¡¯s because of being made of so much pure soul essence thus ensuring that the hero can inevitably defeat anyone should he be incapable of doing so from the start.¡± My mind was blown. My soul is already among the strongest alongside other heroes and possibly the angels. I always thought heroes were so strong because the ritual forced their bodies to have large mana capacities or strengthened their bodies to an inhuman degree, but it actually amplified your soul beyond the limits of common sense. I did notice that my mind was very clear-headed to the point of allowing me to recall every single detail these past few days and even in my old world, but I didn¡¯t think this was the reason. So I have a soul force of 4000 and I only need 1 point per bond eh? Sounds like I can just make an army. But 1st, I should make sure that my minions can actually become strong. I nod towards him that I am ready to continue. ¡°When you create a bond, you share a fragment of your soul with your retainer. Through this bond, your follow will have their growth sped up significantly. In exchange, your soul fragment will send a small bit of their power back to the main soul to reinforce it. As you have probably heard, it is the underlying reason why I no longer have flesh anymore. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. As you get more experienced in utilizing your soul, you may get access to a soul realm. A soul realm is an empty realm that is full of mana. Every being that has bonded with you can be absorbed into your soul realm as they are considered a part of you. Over time, your soul ream will advance down the path to becoming a divine realm. Divine realms are so rich in mana that they can possess an entire world inside that is fully under the control of your soul. I only possess a small city in my soul, but I do hope to gain an entire undead kingdom someday. I have plenty of time after all.¡± You know, I almost got my hopes up on this being an inventory system. Yet again, the man keeps knocking me down. At least I can store my soul weapons and have a surprise ambush with my minions. Should I bond with a few cats? ¡°This concludes your lesson on the basics of summoning and taming. Now then, do you have any idea on what type of retainer and weapon you wish to bond with. I may be able to find one while you are busy practicing. There is even a golem shop where you can buy or custom order golems that suit your needs.¡± ¡°Well, there are a few things I have in mind. I wanted to start off my taming career with a wind slime since that should be the simplest to raise. I would like a beautifully designed ice bird golem, but that is probably too much effort for someone to make. A plant fox golem with 10 tails might be fun to have around. A 6-winged steel valkyrie golem would make the perfect defense. Lastly, I think I want to specialize in chakrams as my weapon.¡± I respond to his question with detailed descriptions. I am of the opinion that if you are going to make a golem sentient, you should at least give them a functioning body. A certain sculptor, though, would disagree with my thoughts. I think his skull twitched for the 1st time as he pondered over what I said. ¡°The slime should be easy to acquire and it does serve as practice for most tamers before they move on to stronger retainers. It is also one of the unofficial requirements that golems made specifically for harboring a soul to be as artistic as possible as most sentient golems lack the skill to make themselves look better. Unless they started off so horrible from the beginning. Might I inquire as to why you want a fox to have 10 tails, a valkyrie to have 6 wings, and a chakram as your weapon when it is a barely used option while swords are extremely popular? Not to sound rude, but I am very interested in why heroes do weird things.¡± So golems are not known for the artistic talents? I pouted a little when he called me weird. I like to think I am normal. You don¡¯t see me rushing to get myself killed on the frontlines like some justice idiot do you? ¡°Well, a fox is considered to be stronger if it has more tails. I once saw a movie where an angel ripped people apart with their wings so I figured it might be useful. As for chakrams, I have some ideas that might make it a powerful weapon for a ranged fighter, but I have to test it out 1st.¡± What I said was true, but I think there was a hundred tailed fox in some story. Not sure how you can have much of a body with that many tails. My ideas on a style of fighting are a secret though. I think? Mind reading magic can¡¯t see images right? One of these days I need a mind protection spell. ¡°In other words, your weird actions are due to your perception of power as shown in a moving picture book.¡± His words actually hurt me on the inside a little. ¡°Ah sorry! I am quite curious of heroes and I never had a chance to study one up close.¡± Something about the way he said that made me a little anxious. It¡¯s that feeling that a white mouse has when staring into the eyes of a scientist. ¡°Is that so? Then I am glad I was able to help.¡± I respond to his apology with a stiff smile. ¡°I am glad to be of service.¡± As if not even noticing my concerns, he gives off that satisfied feeling until he spoke again. ¡°If you ever need anything, please send me a message. I would even be very grateful if you were to ever agree to some more hands on experiments.¡± In a fluster, he grabbed my hands and shook them very hard. ¡°Now if you don¡¯t mind, there is knowledge to be gained.¡± He then rushes out of the room as if his life depended on it. It probably did. Note to self, researchers are dangerous no matter what world you live in. Extra note to self, do not ever be alone in a lab with that skeleton. Extra crucial note to self, just avoid every lab in the 1st place and not be burdened by the hassle. I shake my head with a sigh. I have been wondering why these demons have been so courteous to me. They give me a lot of items and services that are probably expensive, yet they desire nothing from me in the foreseeable future. It¡¯s more like they have no actual need of me outside of being an anti-hero defense. I guess that¡¯s true since they always lose to the hero, but it¡¯s still weird compared to the treatment that the human heroes would normally receive. By now they would probably be thrown into a training dungeon where they will barely escape with their lives from a dragon or something. Another note to self, avoid training dungeons like the plague. Now that he is gone and my control over magic is suitable, it is time to enact one of my safety survival plans. Magicians have an Achilles heel where they are weak in melee, but I intend to fix that. Nay, I tend to crush that proverbial nail on the head. I had thought of many ideas to increase my defense and healing rates. One of them was to have scales covering crucial areas of my body, but I am not sure if that would mutate into covering my entire body. It¡¯s still an option in times of emergency or I can make sure that it only covers crucial areas. Another idea was to change the structure of my bones into something stronger, but that might make my body heavier. Then again, magic metal might just do the opposite and be lighter just to be weird. One of my favorite thoughts involves utilizing soul weapons to subconsciously protect me 24/7. Minions would get tired eventually, but a weapon won¡¯t. Although, being granted a soul means that they might get bored of such a job so I probably need multiple soul weapons to rotate that duty in set intervals. If I do it right, this might make for a very powerful primary defense before I even get hit and will give me the time to counter. My best thought leaves me a little conflicted. In this world, there is no such thing as mana veins, mana heart, mana core, or anything similar that generates mana and holds it in your body. So I figured that maybe I could just fill up my blood veins with mana and get something similar. This is all well and good, but what type of mana do I use? Light mana might grant my blood a healing effect and possibly make my body stronger. Dark mana might be able to grant my entire body magic resistance. The other elemental mana types will likely not be useful in terms of survival. Lunar mana can grant me anything, but this type of mana is known for mutating demons. A werebeast would never be a werebeast if there was no moonlight. I might come to regret this later, but I don¡¯t think I want a pink body mutation. The stigma may not exist in this world, but I could never be like those guys who can bravely wear pink. They have balls. Gathering my mana, I create a large sphere of lunar mana in front of me. Next, I willed the sphere to allow a stream of mana to slowly trickle into my veins. Was not a difficult process to find them as I am very skinny to the point that I probably weigh less than most women. Some people joked about that, but then some girls would give this horrified look at imagining themselves to weigh like 100 lbs. Ridding my mind of unnecessary thoughts, I brought my attention to the sweet sensation of mana flowing into my heart and being pumped throughout my entire body at a pace that I couldn¡¯t keep up with. This kept going until I felt a bulging sensation in my body warning me to stop. Taking a few moments to check myself out, I noticed practically nothing. The mana was flowing normally inside me like the rest of my blood, but it seems to not be doing anything. Even pricking my finger to let a little blood ooze out just made some of the mana leak out before I healed the wound with my own magic. Either I just created a secondary mana tank or this might take a while for any effects to pop up. That blue skinned woman did say that mutations take a while. Hopefully, whatever mutations does pop up, it won¡¯t make me look too inhuman. Did I just flag myself? P2 - Abilities and Training P2 ¨C Abilities and Training After the heroes had a good breakfast, they were all asked to meet up in the throne room to have their abilities appraised. Unfortunately, a minor complication arose. ¡°Hey! Where¡¯s Josh? Why isn¡¯t he here yet?¡± Richard yells out. The rest of the heroes look anxious. ¡°Be at ease heroes. I do not know where your friend is at the moment, but rest assured that we are devoting our resources towards finding him.¡± Father says to placate the heroes. ¡°How do we know that you didn¡¯t get rid of him for being distrusting of you?¡± A young girl said. Many of the heroes seemed to agree that something must have happened to him. I don¡¯t disagree as father is willing to do anything. At the rate this is going, the heroes might try to riot. I hold my sister close to me in case we need to run. My worries seemed to be unnecessary as Richter alleviated their concerns for a time. ¡°Heroes, I understand your reasons but could it not be true that the hero Josh has ran away to live on his own?¡± Everyone seemed to ponder his question as they could not deny that he would probably escape from the castle. Even I think it was a possibility as we don¡¯t keep an eye on the heroes¡¯ movements. History has shown that it gives a negative impression if we don¡¯t trust them at least that much. Wherever that hero has gone, he is probably prioritizing putting distance between himself and the castle. After that, he might join some guild where he will complete various quests to increase his rank. He might even travel to the kingdoms of other races during his journey and live there. ¡°But, he might need our help!¡± Richard tries to plea everyone to look for Josh. He truly does care a lot for his friends. ¡°Pardon my interruption Your Majesty.¡± One of the knights who is tasked to teach the heroes spoke up. ¡°You may speak.¡± Father grants his permission to the knight so that he may speak. ¡°Not to be rude, Young Master Richard, but don¡¯t you think you should have a little more trust in Young Master Josh? He may be young, but men still take their pride seriously. At times, you must let a youngling prove himself lest you hamper his growth.¡± The knight speaks wise words as if from experience. I like listening to their stories occasionally since they have survived many encounters as normal, weak, frail humans. Something I can never hope to comprehend. ¡°Tch!¡± Richard clicks his tongue in annoyance, but doesn¡¯t say anything else. The other heroes slowly accept the situation and allowed us to start the hero ability appraisal. ¡°Alrighty then, let¡¯s start with the eldest to the youngest. Kyle Stuart.¡± One of our female magi calls out the name of the teacher. I am somewhat excited to see his ability. Kyle puts his hand on the appraisal orb which caused it to glow before revealing a small projection above it detailing his ability. ¡°His ability is Akashic Records. Its power can summon a book that can store all knowledge within the world. Study hard and your knowledge may save lives.¡± He seemed slightly disheartened by his ability, but that is one of the best abilities in my opinion. It holds every piece of knowledge he has learned from his world as well as any new knowledge he learns or obtains in this world. Sometimes, the pen is mightier than the sword. ¡°Brandon.¡± The next hero comes up and places his hand on the orb. ¡°His ability is Directional Law. It can freely control the direction and momentum of anything he desires. Work hard on mastering this power.¡± ¡°Audrey. Her ability is Heavenly Seeress. It possesses the power to see the future, but beware that your own future is undiscernible.¡± ¡°Kevin. His ability is Time Relapse. It possesses the power to go back in time, but at the price of burdening your body in proportion to how far you go back.¡± ¡°Drake. His ability is God Hand. It possessed the power to wield invisible hands over long distances. Work hard in mastering this power.¡± ¡°Claire. Her ability is Weapon Master. It grants the knowledge of every weapon style ever invented. Work hard in understanding this insight.¡± ¡°Nathan. His ability is Game Admin. It grants him access to a game-like system. Work hard in exploring the potential of this power.¡± ¡°Elizabeth. Her ability is Charm Queen. It possesses the power to seduce anyone into doing anything she desires, but is not effective on stronger individuals. Work hard in controlling this power.¡± ¡°Juliana. Her ability is Medical Saint. It grants her the knowledge of the entirety of a person¡¯s biological structure. Work hard in understanding this insight.¡± ¡°Steven. His ability is Enigmatic Voice. It possesses the power to make everything obey his voice laced with power, but it can be resisted if it goes against the wishes of the target. Work hard in controlling this power.¡± ¡°Xavier. His ability is Titan Slayer. It possessed the power to summon a random weapon each capable of slaying a titan, but you must use a weapon before you can switch to another. Work hard in mastering this power.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Richard. His ability is Righteous Soul. It possesses the power to strengthen the wielder for their righteous actions, but will weaken him should he stray from that righteous path. Work hard in understanding this power.¡± ¡°Victoria. Her ability is Backlash Wave. It possesses the power to absorb the strength behind an attack and redirect it back towards her enemy. Work hard in controlling this power.¡± ¡°Sophia. Her ability is Unknown Identity. It possesses the power to transform into anything. Work hard in controlling this power.¡± ¡°Michelle. Her ability is Mecha Summoner. It possesses the power to summon mechanical beings to fight for her. Work hard in mastering this power.¡± ¡°Michael. His ability is Spatial Grasp. It possesses the power to detect everything around him within a certain radius. Work hard in mastering this power.¡± ¡°Tiffany. Her ability is Master Crafter. It grants the knowledge to craft anything to the highest quality. Work hard in understanding power.¡± ¡°Katelyn. Her ability is Power Share. It possesses the power to share health and mana with anyone she links with. Work hard in controlling this power.¡± ¡°Chelsea. Her ability is Angelic Protector. It possesses the power to weaken anything within a certain radius of her. Work hard in controlling this power.¡± ¡°Alaina. Her ability is Beloved Child. It possesses the power to release an aura that makes everyone friendlier towards her. Work hard in understanding this power.¡± Some people were happy with their powers. Some were dispirited when they heard what their ability was. Some were conflicted with their powers. They will all come to enjoy it though. It is impossible to deny a part of yourself. I, for one, think this lot was a good draw. Usually, there are some heroes who get useless abilities, abilities with niche uses, or abilities that are inferior to another. For example, Master Chef has very few uses since it can only make special food that give temporary buffs to the body, but the food must be prepared and eaten prior to fighting or the food will slowly allow the power stored within to leak out. That is not easy to do as you approach the demon lord. ¡°Heroes, now that you understand what your abilities are capable of, it is time for you to learn how to protect yourselves in this world. Abigail, would you please?¡± Father makes the usual request to our army trainer. ¡°It would be my honor!¡± A young knight with short pink hair that covers one of her eyes spoke up. She is one of our best knights in the kingdom and holds a special position in our army. ¡°Everyone follow me okay! I will dedicate everything that I am to ensure that the young heroes become successful in life.¡± Her cheerful voice can lift the hearts of many men and it is one of many reasons as to why she controls the biggest portion of our army. She swiftly leads the heroes outside to the courtyard to begin their training. Some of the heroes were still grumpy, but most were distracted by the revelation of their new abilities. Some were also enchanted by the beauty of the instructor and the ample amounts of skin she shows. Not enough to be sinful, but enough to distract the eyes. She says it is very useful during battle since the enemy can¡¯t keep their eyes on the fight and her subordinates fight harder to impress her. Win-Win! A few nobles who were watching the procession head outside to watch the training session. I, of course, follow too as I enjoy her method of teaching. It is quite unique, but very effective. Outside was the beautiful scene of the heroes trying with all their might to run faster around a several mile track. Behind them was Abigail who was gently reprimanding anyone who was lagging behind with a tap from her whip. Even her encouragements were full of love and care. ¡°What kind of girl are you going to impress with that pitiful willpower? Do you call yourself a man when a girl is calmly overtaking you? Are you going to depend on the men to do everything for you because you think you are a weak, little girl? Hah? You think a little muscle will make you less attractive? That little muscle will decide your fate when it really matters!¡± Countless encouragements are uttered as a way to motivate the heroes even if only a little more. Can¡¯t you see her pouring her heart out with each and every movement of her body? When the soldiers graduate from basic training, they all state that they could only endure it because of her. It doesn¡¯t hurt that they had eye candy the entire time. ¡°Young Master Dravilos, would you care for a cup of tea and cookies?¡± A butler holding a tray walked over to me and asked me that question. Observing the training sessions is a known hobby for many nobles so there are dedicated maids and butlers to serve everyone. ¡°Yes, please!¡± Although I have work to do, it can wait a bit for me to relax my nerves. Taking a sip of the delicately prepared tea made me leak a soft sigh. Nothing beats starting the day than Abigail¡¯s training! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author''s Note: although it''s a short chapter, it took me a while to solidify my thoughts on the future chapters. that and the hundreds of chapters of backlog in stories i need to read. i would have this chapter longer, but that will stretch beyond the current day and put them too far ahead of mc so i stopped it early. Still a good chunk of info dump that some people were already aware of due to an earlier post. after this, there are 2 more side stories before i get back to the mc.