《Chains Saga -》


 Chapter 01 - Covered in mud

    This book is dedicated to Tommy and May Ingeborg, Stewart Gabriel, Richard, Catherine, Mark, Chad, Ana, Wojciech, Kamil, Christopher, Adrian ¡°Yami¡±, Anna, Carmelo, Rina, Angela, Stefania, Giusy, all of my family and all of the people that, knowing how hard I tried for more than a decade, didn''t laugh in my face when I called myself a writer.


    Chains Saga ¨C ¡°Hidden¡± Arc - Book 1: Shedding Skins


    Chapter 1: Covered in mud


    It wasn''t a day for anyone in their right mind to be ambling about... it was far too dangerous.


    The sun had not shown its face since the morning while clouds were terrorizing the sky. Flashing and boiling within those clouds, ominous thunders gave the sky a violent, persistent glow.


    Nature was seriously up to no good.


    The wind wasn''t strong or high enough in the sky to move the storm away either, the lazy thing, but sure it was cold enough to make the living chill to the bone and make the brown dead leaves brush soundly. Just to complete an already gloomy picture, it was raining too.


    Since earlier, under such a sky, Ethan had started feeling uneasy. He was just there, without really knowing how he had gotten there, where he was going... or where ¡°there¡± really was, if he had to be perfectly honest with himself.


    He had tried looking around for signs, answers, or someone, yet the only thing he had come up with were a few jump scares due to the lightnings. He hated being scared, which he thought was fairly normal. Really, who does like being scared?


    All of a sudden the young man, which had been skipping from one scaly foot to the other trying to keep himself warm, froze in terror like he had been struck by an arrow to the back. Rain was still hitting him hard all over, dripping from his face and pooling up to his ankles, but he didn''t notice, as he tried hard to swallow his saliva and breathe normally: Ethan was almost sure he had heard some rattling noise come from a bush behind him, to the left.


    When he finally managed to swallow all of the sounds around him were turned on again. It wasn''t like he didn''t know if the rustling noise was real or not, but he had to decide if it was worth checking it out or... not. Maybe pretending it never happened. A few complicated breaths later, he decided he had to keep it cool, stay positive.


    Ethan turned around and slowly started inching toward the bush, keeping himself slightly slanted backwards, cautious of a possible attack, wishing and praying it was nothing.


    Leaving claws marks in the mud with every step, after a long while, he had finally got to the bush.


    To his memory, that had been the scariest and longest minute of his life. When he could almost touch the leaves with both hands though, the bush shook again, giving him a start:


    ¡°Why, in the name of all that is sane have I decided to go towards the creepy noise?¡±, he wondered.


    He was sure it made no sense at all! If what he was going to find behind the branches was an animal, it could easily jump at him, from that close. Was it a human, it could still be there to attack him and if it was neither... He really didn''t want to know!


    Still, he had gone that far... He closed his eyes and slowly shook his head with a groan, while a concert of ¡°dumb!¡± was loudly going through his ears. He started leaning in again and finally, he opened the bush with his talons to look inside: sticks and bark were in there, aplenty. Scary indeed. He half smiled with relief, although, before he could finish, he asked himself


    -What is that...?


    Something had caught his eye. There was indeed something black and yet shining with its own light swelling up at the bottom of the bush.


    It looked to him like some kind of bubble: in waves, like breathing, it was growing, bigger and thinner, making Ethan weary.


    Slowly getting closer, so close in fact his face was surrounded by leaves, he clearly saw something was inside of the bubble. He decided he had been brave enough and finally stepped back.


    As he did so, he couldn''t help but hear a loud pop: whatever the bubble was, it had burst open.


    Ethan didn''t stop, cursing in his thoughts, silently and carefully backing off, while huffing the rain away from his eyelids.


    In spite of Ethan''s inner prayers, something soon came out of the bush, of course: a small snake-like animal with the head of a crocodile. It was looking at Ethan with curious eyes, which rapidly switched to pissed off as soon as it realized he was trying to walk away.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    In an outrage, the little creature opened its mouth as wide as it could and bit into the shadow beside it like it was a steak, gulping it, slurping it loudly.


    Ethan felt that was his chance to get lost. Turning, he started to run as fast as his scrawny legs allowed him to, trying to make less noise that he could at the same time, staying on the tips of his feet. He was weary of his prints in the mud: following them couldn''t have been easier, but he really had no time to stop to confuse them or delete them either.


    Besides, for all he knew, snakes had an amazing sense of smell too. It was still raining though, and the animal he was escaping from was a newborn... and he was running fast...


    ...


    And yet, for some reason, he couldn''t shake the idea that the animal would immediately bounce on him, had he even dreamed of slowing down. A thunderbolt suddenly made him jump as it webbed crazily in the sky. He swore under his breath.


    When a moment later he caught some nasty noises at his back, he couldn''t help but look over his shoulder, where loud crashes were roaring.


    The creature had become big enough to trample over trees. He knew that thing was fast, at least as fast as he was or maybe even more, considering it had to slither while he was running.


    He was just going though, aimlessly. Hisses and roars grew taller behind him, while he jumped over puddles and dangerous plants. A thicker group of trees was right in front of him, making him almost hope, when he noticed the shadows of all things around him were getting unnaturally longer.


    They were reaching for the Shadow Gobbler''s mouth, which he could see had a collection of ugly, pointy teeth, on several rows.


    Devouring and growing as it was, the ugly creature would soon be fast enough to overtake Ethan... No matter how close the forest was, it was still too far for him. The young man was rapidly growing out of breath, thanks to the slippery, heavy, muddy ground. And yet, he understood in a moment, that could have been his saving.


    He started looking for a strong rivulet of water going downhill and soon found it on the left side of the road, while yet one more powerful lightning whipped the sky, making his scaly skin crawl, but not slowing him down.


    He looked one more time behind, to the source of devastating rustling that was the reptile, uglier and bigger than it had been a few short moments before, and then Ethan jumped on top of the water stream, sliding on his belly, fast as an avalanche, which, he hoped, the snake was not going to send after him somehow. The beast stopped, angrily watching him grow smaller, as he went, yet not daring not follow him, for fear of not being able to stop sliding, and it started backtracking instead.


    Ethan dared to think he was safe when he couldn''t hear the Shadow Gobbler any more.


    After not even a minute, Ethan had reached the bottom of the hill, where a big puddle of brown water stopped his very fast and very dangerous descent. He went in deep, head first.


    Feeling the slimy and astonishingly cold embrace of the water, the young man kicked and swam to the surface, fighting to keep his breath in.


    As soon as he surfaced, he pointed himself at the closest border, while shaking hard, feeling his muscle resisting his will, hard and tight due to the cold. He eventually reached the slippery ground and pulled himself out, having to count on his talons for a good grasp. He planted the hard curvy nails, hands and feet, deep in the mud and working his legs hard, he got himself out. He coughed several gulps of dirty water out, before dragging himself up to a tree where he finally hoped to catch up his breath.


    He sat, wheezing, trying not to drink more rain while inhaling, still coughing out some more grey-brown fluid. Before long though, before he even got to reopen his eyes, he heard some heart stopping thrashing, followed by a massive explosion as the beast landed almost on top of him.


    Thrown a good twenty meters south-west, he crashed in the middle part of another tree. Ethan''s brusque landing''s impact had shattered several of his bones. The pain was telling him so.


    Yet, he knew he didn''t need worrying about that: he was already fainting before falling face first on the ground. Which meant, the last thing he was ever going to see was the freak beast ¡°smiling¡± at him, sure feeling happy it was going to have lunch with Ethan''s broken body.

 Chapter 2: Who are you?

    It was dark, every sound muffled, each instant was painful, every part ached. Ethan found himself out of breath, but not able to let any air in... And he really wanted some air. His lungs demanded it.


    -Bweeeeagh!


    He gasped pulling his head out of the foamy mud he was resting into. Immediately this action of his was punished by a razor-sharp, hot pain in his chest and the poor boy ended up coughing out several spoon-fulls of slimy blood. His face was also quite a gross dripping mess, speckled in hot blood, cold mud and lukewarm drool.


    And yet he wasn''t too unhappy: he was awakening! He was still alive!


    He rolled on the side, instinctively hugging his rib-cage and tried to breathe again.


    He coughed a little more, but it was better, all things considered: he had several broken ribs, bruises to his entire right side, a gash on the back of his head and blood in his eyes. All he could think though was:


    ¡°Why am I not dead?¡±


    Again, not really complaining... just, positively surprised by his sudden ¡°luck¡±.


    Getting to a sitting position, with no little pain and effort, he saw a very angry Gobbler staring at him. It was frantically attacking ¡°something¡± and getting a lot of punishment for it in return.


    Ethan blinked quickly, again and again, trying to cry the blood out of his eyes. When he got to look at his surroundings again, he realized he was inside a pillar of light, which went up sky-high, leaving no chance for the Shadow Gobbler to get in: the animal was actually shrinking with every attack due to the light burning away the mass of its body.


    -What the hell is happening?


    Ethan finally got to ask. The young man knew he had to keep on moving, but stepping out of that god-sent golden cage, was not an option. He hadn''t run until now just to offer himself as a meal after getting well tenderized.


    He looked around one more time and, after some good searching, he noticed a small craggy entrance on a rocky hillside, which looked just like a gray mouth in the shape of a surprised ¡°o¡±. Ethan carefully stood up, not really able to put weight on his right leg, nor use his right arm, and half hopped, half stumbled toward the cave. He looked at the darkness in front of him with keen eyes, suspicious of what that place could hide, shaking a little, due to an equal mix of fear, cold and pain.


    Before venturing forward though, he turned around to throw rude gestures at the increasingly smaller Gobbler


    -Y...


    He coughed again, with some more blood. It wasn''t a good thing, no. What he would have wanted to say to the animal was something in the lines of:


    -You are a bastard and your mother was a very bad snake-like thingy, and I wish you to eat something rotten and to wither away!


    Which was kind of a failure as an insult, and very inappropriate, he knew, being that creature just a hatchling.


    It probably didn''t know any better... Still he didn''t really feel all that friendly or compassionate at the moment: he angrily flipped the now horse-sized Shadow Gobbler the middle finger and then he wobbled towards the cave.


    He stopped just one step away to smell the air, but from inside the hole came nothing, not even a whiff of rot, moss or animal musk, like it was unnaturally empty...


    He had just gotten a bash with unnatural, and he hadn''t liked it one bit: no sir.


    He swallowed hard, looking back, wishful... but there was no other way. He didn''t know where the surrounding pillar of light had come from, nor for how long it was going to stay active, but he knew he couldn''t remain inside that small circle forever.


    He slammed his tail to the ground, resolute, and braved his foot into the sinister hollow.


    Ethan, among his many talents, could count some sort of night vision, so he didn''t stumble on the stone steps going down, getting some support with his left arm on the wall... It was dry, like the floor, like everything else in there.


    ¡°How can''t the rain be able to cross over the entrance?¡± he wondered. It was indeed really odd.


    Only a couple of meters inside and all the sounds from the the rest of the world had disappeared too. He sighed his dislike out, almost bursting in another coughing shoot-out.


    He resisted the urge and kept on going though, slowly and purposefully. After a while, the dusty floor started being less and less steep, opening up to a scarcely lighted room, with a strong echo. As he entered, he saw a gigantic hooded man standing in front of him. His back was really wide and he was busy looking at the statue of a tall woman, surrounded by inscriptions in a language Ethan didn''t understand. Before Ethan could make his presence known, the other one turned around and looked at him with a questioning, angry gaze.


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    -Who are you?


    He asked with his booming, husky, calculating voice.


    Yeah, who was Ethan R. Samhal? Well, stating the obvious first: he wasn''t human.


    He was a Rokian, a humanoid that earthlings could compare to a mix of lizard and frog, yet bipedal, small in stature but surprisingly resilient and strong.


    What were Rokians useful for?


    Rokians, it was common knowledge, were a creation of man, not of a higher power, with the sole purpose to serve and revere the mages of planet Havenrock: human mages.


    The same humans which were indigenous of planet Earth. They had been a reality of the magic world since a long while back, and had spread all across the universe. Like many others, they had become magical at the time of ¡°The Awakening¡±, many centuries before our story. But ¡°The Awakening¡±, which had indeed ignited in all the sentient and semi-sentient beings their potential for magic, was a thing of the past that only involved creatures and species that were around back then... supposedly, not Rokians.


    About this ¡°Awakening¡± stuff: it was the result of a not so friendly bet some magical creatures forced upon Death.


    Death had wagered the future of the universe that giving people a potential for immortality and magic powers was too much, being sentient beings irresponsible and too selfish to handle all that. In his idea, they were going to not just screw up, but destroy all creation. He had been proven wrong by the people he had bet against, several times, until now. The result of the bet had been a massive incantation, which gave all the universe the same chances at magical powers. This mass-magic was very originally called the ¡°Awakening¡±.


    So, back on Havenrock, a planet colonized by Earth''s mages... These mages'' life was, in their eyes, meaningful, hard, and full of mental labor: they were usually too busy being lost in a twisting nether of thoughts to care for mundane things such as laundry and groceries. Someone, or something, had still to take care of all of that though, since they clearly couldn''t.


    With selfish precision, they had created Rokians, creatures with barely enough brain to understand orders, barely enough free will as not to be an annoying nuisance, and barely enough good sense as to fulfill those orders just the way their master liked them.


    A rokian''s life, wasn''t a fun life.


    And lots of good having Rokian servants had done to them mages...


    First of all, not all mages were equals: there were poor people on this planet; extremely poor people. So very poor in fact, as to not really being able to qualify as mages at all. They couldn''t study for it, and they were unable to get a job, because all the menial, day to day jobs on the planet were handled by unpaid rokians. All these people could do was getting their ¡°monthly princely allowance¡± at one of the prefect''s court, which was enough Thalers for eating, paying rent, and nothing more. The amount they were given, was calculated precisely for being just so.


    In a sense, poor people''s life, was even worse than rokians, on Havenrock. At least, rokians were not aware of the way they were treated...


    The owners kept their rokians all over the places: cages, cellars, dungeons, kennels, really everywhere.


    In the wild it was even worse though. Since rokians really didn''t care for danger, bad weather or such ¡°mundane¡± aspects of life, they nested really wherever. They were not an element of nature, and as such, they stuck out like a sore thumb, without even the faintest spark of survival instinct... which came in quite handy when ordered to protect someone.


    The problems with their race were rooted deeply within their artificial DNA, chosen just to make them the perfect slaves and nothing more.


    And no matter how many times rokian couples reproduced, they could never really fill in those genetic gaps: doomed to be unnaturally ¡°unable to¡±.


    The following story, we could say, tells us how Ethan R. Samhal changed it all.


    In order to see how it all started, we need to go back at when Ethan, still hadn''t earned his name, met his destiny or found his path.


    Thusly from here on after, we will call him not Ethan, but simply ¡°the Rokian¡±, because, as already stated, We are going back to the day life really begun for him. To the day he still had to become... many wonderful things...

 Chapter 3 – Eating some bad stuff

    The year was 2751 ad. It was just another day, in the life of the fifteen years old Rokian. Just another witless, meaningless day, that he was going to spend eating what he could, staring into nothingness, and finally, sleeping or collapsing from exhaustion. Fun, enjoyment or any sort of feeling really, wasn''t part of his day, no matter how gorgeous the weather was, how beautifully the birds sang or how good his food tasted. He simply had no idea of what ¡°enjoying¡±, ¡°beautiful¡±, ¡°day¡± or ¡°weather¡± were and meant.


    He was randomly chewing on some balsamic grass in the thick of a forest, on all four limbs, meaning to keep at it until his belly was full, not worried if it was really edible or not.


    Slowly and uncaring, he just went on, passing over fallen trunks, rocks and other foresty stuff.


    Something in there though, almost caught his attention: a glowing, shimmering sphere was hovering above ground, in the general direction of his eating path.


    It wasn''t relevant enough to stop him, he almost ¡°decided¡±.


    When, after a while, he came in range of the strange object, it started shimmering even more, with rays of black and white. Whatever that was, it went crazy shiny as he ¡°pecked¡± at it, in the attempt to make sure it was alright eating it. To this creature though, it didn''t matter how intense the black light was: the object was smaller than his mouth at its core, it didn''t attack him back, therefore... in it went.


    He chewed on the sphere, with a sensation of pleasant refreshment, without really stopping his lunch. One minute later he was still gnawing on some other grass, still uncaring...


    He didn''t get to two minutes though: he collapsed to the ground, belly up and, a few moments after, he farted a little puff of light.


    It was way later in the day when he started coming to: the inside of his mouth was hurting like bees had had a party in it and his brain was buzzing like the party had moved on upstairs.


    Weird, he didn''t remember caring for such a futile thing as pain.


    And then he thought...


    The little creature had thought!


    His heavy eyelids trying to focus on what was going on, he realized he was still on his back and all he could see were green, flat, large, fat leaves pierced by the charming, warm, afternoon light. He sat up and curiously took a look down at himself: he had limbs, muscular and long-ish on all four the corners of his body, covered in scales, almost entirely, with four not too long fingers, hard to the touch, and scratchy curved nails.


    His feet were just as scaly but with membranes in between his thumbs... and there were some weird knotty things in the middle of his lower limbs: when he moved his legs, those things bent. He still felt groggy, didn''t know why. He kinda of remembered eating weird stuff in the past...


    No shinies though: that had been a first. He tried to recollect what he had eaten before collapsing hoping to exactly understand what the shiny thing was: he remembered grass, green, spicy and extremely chewy, he wasn''t able to fully digest it either, some aromatic plants, good stuff... he smiled.


    Then he remembered gnawing happily at some dirt... with fat oozing green-silver worms in it... thinking about it made him want to vomit, which he did. It stank, badly. He cleaned his bony mouth with a forearm, but after, he felt the need of spitting out more nastiness. Once that was done, the Rokian stopped and painfully tried to focus: he knew he had taken in something else, something his brain now deemed important. He went onward with his memories until he got it... the refreshing round small thing of light! That hadn''t come out of his belly. He kept focusing on that specific item of his meal and tried get a better picture of it: he thought of light, bright, both white and silver in color, with a swirling spotted, black mass at its core. Weird. That wasn''t food, he was sure of at least that. Yet he still had no idea what to think of it.


    Suddenly, he heard sound of water coming from not too far away and instinctively his mouth opened and closed, dry and disgusting as it was after puking, longing for the satisfaction of a primary need.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.He forced himself on shaky legs and arms, as he remembered moving before... he took a first step and then decided it felt wrong. He willed himself up to his feet, with almost enough strength to fall on his back, rising leaves and dirt all around, but before that could happen, his long tail touched the floor and pushed him back straight.


    His arms outstretched for balance, he noticed he was very naked, his yellowish belly, clashing against his black-green scaly back side. That nakedness felt wrong too... and yet, pleasant, all in all.


    First things first: getting to the water. He tried a few steps, the heavy tail always to the ground, and he felt like he was able of doing it, so he started walking, with longer paces as he went, until he tried too long a step and his knee bent a little backward, in a painful way.


    He didn''t like the crunching sound it made when that happened, so he stopped to evaluate the damage. He bent it, holding onto a tree, flexed it and turned: it stung and didn''t hold his weight alright, but he could still move, so he started walking again, shorter steps, this time. The sounds of the forest were nice, relaxing: birds singing, grass rustling, river gurgling... he soon reached his goal and knelt over to drink: as the water touched his lips he closed his eyes and drank, careful not to fall in, holding onto a tree root with his quite useful tail. Oh, the happiness he felt coming into him as that freezing freshness melted into his mouth.


    He kept on drinking until he felt he couldn''t anymore, then he sat on the river edge, still latched to the tree, his feet in the water: he really was skinny, except for his middle. Yet he remembered packing quite a punch in his arms. Looking down at the running water, he noticed he could almost see himself into it, but it was bubbling and moving too much to have a clear picture: he was curious to know what he looked like... and he did realize that was the first time the thought had come into his mind. Something was different with him.


    He had a puzzled expression while trying to make out his features in the river.


    Not good enough: a part of river with placid water in it was what he needed. Nothing like that was around though: he stood up to check better, but he could only confirm what he suspected already. As he was there spinning thoughts in his now less-in-pain brain, he started feeling the need of letting water go.


    Somehow, he knew that peeing in a river wasn''t something smart or nice to do, but the idea of doing so made him all giggly and naughty feeling; he looked around one more time, to make sure he was alone in there and he let it all out. Peeing felt good too. He couldn''t help but sighing with relief as he was done tinkling all over. For some reason, he immediately felt compelled to wash his hands. As he did a sense of righteousness struck him and he smiled.


    After a little thinking, he had decided that if there wasn''t a calm pool, he could make one: he dug a hole in the black, greasy rich dirt and after a while water surged into it. He knew he couldn''t go any deeper. The water got absorbed immediately by the soil though. Easily enough, his brain got to the answer: flat big leaves, the place was covered in those. There were heart shaped leaves, long ones, wave shaped ones, some green, other brown and rusty, all covering the ground. As he gathered them all up, he felt a nice smell of dirt, something he couldn''t understand, but that made him feel at ease... still not wishing to eat it ever again though, with or without worms in it. Snapping back to the task at hand, he had gathered not only enough leaves to cover his hole, but even enough to layer them up, so that the water wouldn''t flow out easily. Now all he needed was a way to let the water into it.


    Once more, the answer he found was easy enough to get to: his mouth was big and his cheek''s flesh was thin and stretchy, so he filled it with as much water as his anatomy allowed him to and spewed it back into the basin.


    He did so three times, but he had to stop then: not only the pool was full, but his brain felt weird due to the extreme coldness of the water. It was a stinging pain like the one to his knee... in a different way. As soon as the water in the pool calmed down, he was finally able to see his reflex: he was short, compared to the trees, his skin was colored like the forest, orange crests were on top of his head and his eyes were bulgy and funny.


    That said though, he didn''t dislike what he saw in there. Still, being naked bugged him quite a bit... He turned to the trees once more and found one that had bark thin enough and soft enough to be carved by his talons into a makeshift belt; from the belt he started hanging green leaves, the longest he could find. In a short ten minutes he had made a convincing skirt that made him not so much naked anymore. So, he wasn''t hungry, his head was clearing up nicely and he sure wasn''t thirsty. He didn''t really know what to do though. He stopped for a while, cupping his chin with his right hand and thought about it.

 Chapter 4 – The price of beauty

    He really had nothing to do... The Rokian started thinking and squeezing his eyes as to try to focus on the impalpable, invisible reality he wanted to see: he was alive, he was thinking and he wasn''t before. His thoughts were still quite rudimentary, given that he didn''t really know words of any sort, but he understood whatever had happened to him, had to be related to him eating the black and white sphere.


    Suddenly feeling a colder gust of wind coming from the river side, he remembered that night wasn''t too far away and thus he would have been better off thinking about finding some kind of shelter. He didn''t feel alright with the idea of sleeping around at random.


    He knew he used to, but the more he thought about it, the less wise it seemed to him, especially remembering of many of his kind were always taken by night birds and bear-like monsters.


    He wondered: was staying in this forest the right choice at all then?


    He recalled some nice ¡°things¡±, whose people entered into when night came... And he was ¡°people¡±, wasn''t he?


    So many questions, or better, puzzling images, chased each other in his head he soon found himself feeling dizzy. He was also growing bored by the never ending liquid sounds of the water, making it harder for him to think... it was a novelty to him and really demanding of his intellect.


    The Rokian started moving out of the thick of the forest, making the undergrowth rustle with each step, thinking it amazing, and waving his tail, happy of the trail he was leaving behind.


    The air felt so crisp and satisfying in his chest. Eventually he came across a dirt road:


    ¡°What is the purpose of this?¡±


    He wondered. He went down to his knees and sniffed it down, patted it and caressed it... it looked like its only function was being a semi-flat portion of land.


    He couldn''t figure it out. Something caught his eye then right at the side of the road: a black flower that looked gorgeous, dazzling even, so alluring he felt his heart long achingly. The beautiful flower was encrusted with small droplets of water, no doubt taken here from the stream close by; it was being hit by the light, and sparkled like crystal.


    It really was a thing of beauty and smelled incredibly delicious. That being said, looking at its plump petals, the thought of eating it was painful... it just felt... outrageous, an action only a lesser being could take. The flower was something so simply incredible, the Rokian wanted and maybe even needed, to look at: bathe in its majesty and entrancing simplicity.


    The young Rokian sat down, his tail swinging slowly, crossed his legs, put his elbows on his knees and his head on top of his hands. This aching happiness gave him warmth, as a sated smile slowly sneaked on his face.


    It was way later when a large wooden cart, dragged by a ¡°mule¡± with no hairs, except for the mane on his head, a short horn on top of his mouth and a wide posterior, came close to where the Rokian was.


    It was getting dark, which meant, the little one had stayed there for at least two hours.


    On the cart were two men, which showed traces of what had once been human here and there: Havenrock was a human colony, after all. The two individuals didn''t spot our Rokian friend until they were quite close, green as he was, covered in the dying day''s frail light.


    -Oi, Samson, check out that shorty over there. What do you think?


    Asked the youngest and least dirty of the two.


    -I say we just found some extra cargo, Pope.


    Samson answered stopping the cart with a slow backward movement of the reins.


    This man called Samson was an old trader: he had seen it all, done it all... he had taken a new partner a little more than a year ago, just a short while after shooting the previous one in the back over a money matter. It had been absolutely nothing major: Samson just wasn''t the kind of man to be cut out of whatever he thought was his, no matter how small... and he, being a thug worth of such a name, baldly claimed as his a lot of stuff.


    He was through and through a true human of Havenrock: a new planet, with lots of opportunities, a new fringe reality, for many aspects, with low morality and high greed.


    That being said, a wild Rokian was hardly something people would miss or frown upon, if captured and sold. They were, after all, just mindless slaves.


    -Pope, why don''t you take this one?


    -For real? I mean... sure thing Samson.


    The young man said trying to look calm.


    It was clear who was the one in control of their operation, but young Pope had joined old Sam for his own convenience too: he wanted to learn the trading job.


    Fresh joiner of the commerce guild as he was, his rank was that of apprentice, but there wasn''t a queue of mentors eager to help creating their future competition. Samson had scarce hygiene and was as rough as a Foban pig''s rear, but Pope had learned a lot from him, so far.


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.Still, it was rare for the old man to trust him doing anything major with their precious merchandise. This was Pope''s first time wrangling a rokian. For what he got to understand of the process, some kind of magic had been used when creating the creatures so that as soon as a human imprinted on them with a simple touch and the intention to do so, they would ¡°absorb¡± the person''s DNA and become their servants. Furthermore, it was possible to change this sort of contract relationship, transferring it onto someone else in a similar easy manner.


    Making as little noise as possible, the oddly clothed, skinny blond man crept up to the happy Rokian''s back and softly pushed his right hand on the small creature''s bare scaly shoulder. There he was! Pope was pink with excitement, but this moment was too perfect for having it ruined by his inexperience. Impressing Samson positively meant a lot for him; hopefully a better status in their partnership and maybe the chance to finally progress his magical training.


    He needn''t waste this chance: he breathed deeply, and concentrated, ¡°ordering¡± the Rokian as his own. As he did so, a red sparkling dust-like power rushed from the young man''s forearm, down, going fast toward the Rokian. It was being absorbed: he had done it!


    Or... not? As in response to the enslaving spell''s request for submission, the Rokian stopped wagging his tail, sat up a little straighter, then turned to look Pope in the eyes, annoyed. Looking at each other, unspoken questions on both of their faces, the awkwardness was growing with every passing second. The Rokian then shrugged the foreign hand off of his shoulder and turned back to his devices.


    -What is taking so long, partner?


    Asked with little patience Samson from the cart. With every angry movement, he let out dust as to underline his raggedy manliness.


    -Man, it... it didn''t stick.


    Pope whispered, as to not startle the animal.


    -What the hell are you talking about?


    -The spell, dang it: it didn''t go through!


    -Like he is under contract already or sumthin'' ? Uhu, try it again.


    Samson hopped off the cart and moved in fast, close enough to see Pope trying his contract again.


    This time, he forcefully applied even more wishfulness, more longing for the deal to go through and closed his eyes, really trying to grasp at the monster''s essence. The strong red jet that came down his arm, although impressive, stood there this time, like thinking about it, like he, the Rokian, was considering it; in the end though, he turned around with a sad look, waving ¡°no¡± with his head and hissing both men away, before turning back once again.


    -Did this ugly runt just hiss at me?


    Asked Samson, incredulous of what had just happened. Hesitantly, a little scared of what was going to happen next, Pope nodded.


    -That is it, mister, under contract or not, you are mine, now.


    Receiving absolutely no answer from the recipient of his calm retort, Samson stepped in front of him with heavy, angry stomps, that surely enough, squashed the marvelous black flower the Rokian had been so entranced with. The creature''s first reaction was disbelief, he rushed for Samson''s foot, trying to move it away, but the man didn''t budge, making him even more desperate. The next moment, the tall and stinky man had grabbed the Rokian at his armpits, bringing him close.


    -Here I come, monster. Get a good taste of me.


    While Pope''s essence before had been a nice, bright, pure red, Samson was a nasty, dirty yellow. The man really went for it: while it was painful, it still couldn''t compare to having lost his nice friend flower. The grasp of Samson was hurting him, like an iron clad sinking deeper into the Rokian''s skin as he went: he had got enough.


    The Rokian savagely bit, scratched and kicked Samson, wherever he could in a matter of seconds. That had proved enough to get Samson down, ass to the ground, grasping at his bleeding neck. The little devil was nothing to laugh at. Once free, the Rokian reached for the plant he cherished so much, wanting to save it, digging, putting it up straight, eventually crying over it, but he didn''t know what to think or what to do, really.


    Pope, for all of that time, had remained still, petrified by the scene, making Samson mad to the point of yelling at him as wild as an injured rhino.


    -Do something, you useless moron!


    Was it really up to him? What could he do? He looked around and came up back with the only thing he could find: a rock. He took it and shakily cleaned it as to make it less slippery, reluctantly going for the Rokian''s head with it. When he was right on top of the little one though, his resolve quailed just for a moment, enough for the Rokian to realize he was there again. The little one covered in tears, hissed, out of frustration, like he was begging ¡°leave me be!¡±


    It looked like the message got through to Pope: he dropped the rock and said


    -I''m sorry. I''m done.

 Chapter 5 – Of men and Rokians

    The Rokian stopped to look at Pope, silently thanking him with a nod of his head. He was sad but he couldn''t feel any anger towards the young man... being seemingly understood by the younger trader, gave him some hope. The Rokian sat down and wiped off his tears.


    Samson though, didn''t care at all about what a Rokian might want or think: the beast was going to be his meal ticket, end of the story. A moment later, coming from the creature''s blind spot, he savagely kicked him in the head, making him pass out on the spot.


    -And stay down, mother f*****!


    Without wasting time Samson staggered back to the cart on his injured legs, biting on his lower lip and quite sweaty. He reached for some enchanted rope that once knotted, could only be undone by the same person with magic; with it Samson tied the Rokian so tight the rope was sure to bite into his skin. Looking around, he found his young partner, which looked like he had kind of lost his wits. While inwardly livid, Samson asked


    -Did I really just hear you say you were done, boy? Now, what could you possibly have meant by that, huh?


    -I dunno, Samson... that guy, he... I think he is ¡°smart¡±. Have you seen how he behaved? He doesn''t want to come with us.


    Pope answered uncertain, turning to look his partner in the eyes, scared, but not yielding to his overbearing presence.


    -I see. I get the feeling that this might be a problem for you, Pope... and I get it, you are young, but stupidity, that is something that I might have a big problem with. Look at what that beast has done to me!


    Samson was struggling quite a bit: he was stopping the bleeding on his neck with the first aid enchantment he always kept in his pocket, but the Rokian had fractured his left knee with a kick, something only a hospital could take care of. The old looking man somehow managed to kneel down near the Rokian. Once there, he took, the creature''s chin in his hand and pulled up.


    -Now, look here and tell me, knuckle-head: what do you see, huh? A man?


    -I think so...


    -Well, think again, damn it!


    He sounded angrier than Pope had ever heard him


    -This is a thing of trade! Just a damn thing! No more, no less! Now, he might have some sort of brain, and that is strange, but who the hell cares? A damn frogman remains just that: a silly thing for men to do how we please. Will I lose any sleep upon this one? No! I could kill it here and now and no one would give a damn, look!


    Samson took the Rokian''s head and pushed it hard into the soft dirt until half of it had disappeared.


    -No buts, no ifs...


    Pope was too shaken up to answer with more than an unconvincing short nod.


    -Get it on the cart and let''s get out of here, nerd! I need a healer for this mess.


    He spat on the ground; there was a little blood too. While going back to his sit, he kept on swearing about his pain, before grudgingly starting to chew on some analgesic fruit that looked a lot like a coconut.


    Evening was coming fast and it would have been unwise to keep on moving the cart for too long. The closest town was Yeokia, forty kilometers from where they were at the moment. Too much road to burn before night fall, which was twenty minutes away at best.


    Wolves, mountain cats, and night birds were too much trouble to face after what had happened already.


    No, that night their campfire had to suffice. The few minutes they spent turning wheels after Pope carried the small Rokian on board passed in total silence, except for a louder swear chant Samson aimed at pretty much anything now: the road, the Rokian, the night...


    They stopped in a clearing just a little off the road. Samson waited for Pope to unload the cargo, then pressed the button on his side of the cart which transformed it in a small cottage. A little technology and a lot of simple magic. Needless say, Samson wasn''t happy: not only he had a few broken bones that were going to slow down his business and cut into his profit, but he had that bad feeling... about the beast and also about Pope.


    He could feel the same bad taste in his mouth as the last time he had to get rid of his business associate. Pope had indeed lost it: he was more concerned about a Rokian than he was with him. What could that ever tell him about that silly, silly boy? Samson spent good part of that evening inside the cottage, with a slow burning purple magical fire and a few succulent slow roasting sausages.


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


    At the same time, the man was slicing through layers of wood from an oak look-alike tree branch he had dragged inside, trying to shape a decent enough long cane, with a bulgy, heavy head.


    Pope instead, on the cold outside, couldn''t help but look after the little creature he had refused to kill while wondering on his choices. His dinner was going to be a meager floppy ham sandwich.


    Gnawing at the slightly rancid meat he questioned himself.


    What had gone wrong? When the need had arisen, why couldn''t he finish the job? Wasn''t he man enough? Was he not eager enough? Was there really something wrong with him? Or was he not the one in the wrong at all?


    Those and many other questions kept on chasing each other in his brain, while at the same time, he felt a soothing sensation coming over him, due to a pleasant smell of Samhal that, he could swear, was coming from the Rokian. He really had felt sorry for the little thing when Samson had stepped on that pretty Samhal flower.


    That frogman was a continuous source of head scratching. The Rokian himself was still to return in the reign of the living due to the strong kick he had taken to the head... Pope shook his own head, before dozing off, without having finished his dinner. He was not rich and that sandwich was going to be his breakfast as well.


    Poor, trustworthy Pope.


    But, indeed, where had our sleepy main character wandered off to, within his sleep?


    He really didn''t know himself. He had been in a complete painful darkness for a long while, before starting dreaming.


    He wasn''t in a place he could recognize, not by sight, sounds, or smell.


    He was inside a guard post, made of wood, on top of walls which encircled what looked like an entire city... he wasn''t sure about this, because no matter how hard he tried, he wasn''t able to turn his head. Whatever was happening, he wasn''t in control of this.


    He wasn''t happy, that he understood. Looking at the the road which snaked its way through the mountainside underneath the city, he could see a bunch of weird creatures, humans it seemed, coming closer. Indeed he wasn''t happy... Nor was the rest of his platoon, all made of tall and muscular veteran looking Rokians, swearing under their breaths and commenting in angry whispers


    -The prince has done it now: filthy aliens! Getting in bed with those humans.


    -The commander told him not to.


    -Yeah he he is a spineless idiot. Never been to war and already leading! I swear the king must have gone senile!


    In front of the walls, just a few steps from the huge open door, was a short male Rokian, a heavy diadem on his head, bouncing from one foot to the other, excited by the arrival of those human visitors.


    Not our Rokian though... He too hated humans. Especially the seven humans which were leading the delegation on that windy spring day.


    They brought with them the smell of violence, greed and lies... And even worse. Alas, he was the personal guard of the royal prince, a war hero, or something like that, forced to look after the brainless royal brat.


    -Feed your mellow manners and lies to the prince humans... But I won''t let you destroy this world, I swear, I...


    He couldn''t finish his sentence. He was awake, all tied up, his head hurting like crazy still. He opened his mouth, with a rough click that made him wince as his mandible popped back in place. The left part of his face felt puffy and sore: that had to be the place he got hit to. He opened the one eye he could and saw the man named Pope sleeping at his right side, snoring a little.


    It looked like morning wasn''t too far off. From inside the cottage, Samson was grunting like a bear: now that was a fierce snoring. The moon, in the sky was small and far, but Rokians could see in the dark, as previously mentioned.


    The pain he felt was numbing him a little, but still he felt quite happy about what had happened while he was asleep. He had dreamed! And he remembered it well. So well he could still feel some lingering anger. He kept looking around: all was calm. Too calm, in fact... not even the morning birds were singing. Now, that was a real bad sign. Finally he found what he was looking for when his good eye caught sight of a big cat-like creature called Tiganga.


    The famished looking animal was on a tall tree, not too far from them, looking at Pope like he was a juicy spare-rib. The Rokian sighed heavily: one unhappy encounter after the other! He felt really lucky...

 Chapter 6 – Yeokia

    The Rokian was still looking up at the tree top, where the big tiger-like creature was evaluating the situation of their encampment while heavily drooling. A Tiganga was a noble beast, usually: sneaky hunter, precise and lethal, but able to keep even the hungriest of rodents and snakes from overpopulating the forests.


    This Rokian remembered the many others of his specie he had seen being snatched away at night. When you were a regular Rokian, you were on all sorts of carnivores'' menus. This exemplar of Tiganga was about three meters long and one and a half tall, with green and brown fading stripes and a scaly front.


    Tigangas normally hunted in packs, but this one was alone, it seemed, making him an omega male. Way less dangerous.


    The Rokian liked animals... Yet he didn''t dislike Pope enough to allow him to get gnawed upon, even though he smelled a little. The small Rokian, first bore his fangs at the Tiganga, trying to be intimidating. He growled quietly, not wishing to alarm Pope, which could make the cat attack.


    It didn''t work: the Tiganga was now flat on the branch, almost ready to pounce. The Rokian closed his mouth and sucked in a lot of air, puffing up his cheeks, making his face as large as he could.


    All he obtained though was to make the beast lick its whiskers with anticipation: damn ignorant cat, knowing nothing of intimidation tactics!


    Seeing the feline was starting to jump, left with no choice, the Rokian croaked as loud as he was able to.


    What came out of his mouth was a croak so loud it could have been a cannon salve.


    After crashing to the ground, the silly Tiganga finally started running for dear life. The Rokian''s tumid face showed hints of pride, but the sudden explosion had woken up the two men as well. Pope jumped up with a scream and a worried look, reaching for a knife. The man didn''t know what the heck had just happened, yet he was deaf in both ears. As Pope got up, The Rokian was sent tumbling on his back. He looked at the other one with his still good eye: with the free part of his tail, he pointed in the direction the cat had gone and spelled as slow as possible, sure that Pope couldn''t hear him.


    -T*I*G*A


    The latter still tried to read the Rokian''s lips


    -What? Tidy up? Yeah, I know I am not clean but... what happened?


    The man was yelling out loud.


    The Rokian shook his head and pointed again. Looking in the direction he was given, Pope could only see a big scared Tiganga running away from them.


    -Wait, did you mean ¡°Tiga¡±, as in Tiganga, by any chance?


    He screamed, trying to unplug his ears.


    -Yes.


    -Oh, you did...


    -Yes.


    -Wait, you talk now?


    Before they could finish their conversation, Samson had finally shuffled out of the cottage, a ball of plasma in his right hand while hugging his long cane on his left side.


    -What the hell is going on here, boy?


    Samson looked rather scruffy. His beard grew fast; he was still wearing his night gown and had even oilier and crazier hair than the day before.


    The small Rokian didn''t look at him at all though: out of thin air something had appeared in front of his face for him to read, even though a stranger''s voice was already doing it. Surprisingly, he could actually read.


    -Hello and welcome to your awakening interface, or Aw-k for shorter. I am one of the help guides that comes with the awakening spell, a tutorial of sort. To deactivate me, Master, please feel free to go to the option panel by saying ¡°OP open¡±.


    The female pleasing voice continued


    -You have one magical unread message, do you want to open it now?


    -Y... yes?


    Whispered the little man sure enough that no one else could hear the voice, while Pope was, still screaming, giving an explanation about what had happened to Samson


    -System message number one: through a special action you have created a new spell!


    ¡°Intimidating croak¡± - Spell minimum duration 45 seconds, max 60 seconds, depending on target''s


    mental resistance. Spell cooldown 30 seconds. Usable only until the caster''s


    throat allows it. The recipient of this spell feels shaken to the core by a sense of impending doom, reducing his attack speed, defense and casting speed. Ulterior effects or variants could be unlocked if the spell is charged with magic.


    So many questions were swarming into the little man''s head, but he was adamant on concentrating on one thing at a time: he was tied up and in trouble. He needed to figure that one out first. Although, while trying to focus, a picture of his dream sparked for a moment in the back of his eyes.


    He tried to sum that situation up fast, scared to forget parts of his weird dream. He had dreamed of being a leader of armies, maybe a war-hero, some powerful figure, yet still a Rokian, in a Rokian society.


    Also he had been a mindless worm-eater up to the day before: how could that be? It didn''t add up at all, considering that his dream, or probably a memory, was hinting to humans having pretty much just arrived on Havenrock. And humans had been on Havenrock for centuries... how did he know that, though?


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report itHe deemed those thoughts too complicated and moved on. Aside from that problem, he had no intention of being sold as an item of merchandise, maybe getting into an even worse scenario; but he had really no idea of how to handle that side of his predicament.


    He had magic, apparently, but he had no clue on how to use it. Not that he felt like trying something while Samson was around. Showing magic would only convince Samson to ask for a higher price for his skin... So, even magic was of no help to him currently.


    He had already tried to attack the rope with his talons, but that thing was seemingly, reinforced with some sort of spell that made it impossible to cut with simple physical means.


    All in all, he really couldn''t do anything but wait until the balance of the situation would shift in his favor. Maybe, had he not stopped the Tinanga before... No, his freedom wasn''t worth Pope''s death, he decided. Samnson''s maybe, but not Pope''s!


    When the camp had been lifted and everything reshuffled onto the cart, they started moving towards the town Samson had mentioned the day before: Yeokia.


    As they went, the light of the first morning grew stronger, making him close his eye almost entirely: he was tied up salami, but the weather sure was lovely. After a long while, the trees lessened, the road grew more even under the cart and their pace was faster too. The Rokian could smell the sea too...


    Reaching Yeokia had taken less than two hours, their good pace motivated by Samson''s will of getting patched up and go back to his lazy, comfortable and, more importantly, lucrative devices. Looking at the way these people traveled, one could ask, ¡°Why, in such a place, in the future, with time being of the essence and magic afoot, someone would dream of going around with a cart instead of a magical God-knows-what?¡±


    Because everyone else had the same means and less than nice intentions.


    Flying machines were risky and expensive, while magic transportation could be always hijacked, making people risk to lose way more than their cargo at the hands of pirates.


    Sadly but surely, the wheel was the safest way. And with no chance of having service stations at regular intervals along the way, an animal pulling the cart was the best choice they could make, as far as engines went.


    Regular law officers on Havenrock were so lazy, they would never even dream of searching for Samson''s less than honest commerce caravan. And even in the rare eventuality he could get caught, a bribe was still a very effective way of dealing with the problem.


    Other planets around the universe rested under the more than vigilant eyes of the big guilds, but here, on this lagged back, laid back hell of a planet, no one had so far taken notice of their businesses, making it still a criminal paradise.


    No human of Havenrock was going to be a whistle blower, no matter how much they suffered: the most rich and powerful of them liked the planet just the way it was, which meant the poor people could only nod in silence.


    Samson, on one hand, was just a proud representative of a bigger, dirtier system; on the other, he was a damn son of a witch... with a b.


    When they finally entered the city, it looked like they had arrived at a bizarre pet resort. Animals were everywhere around humans, instead of just being attached to their fancy cars-lookalike. Weirdly though there was no excremental proof of that on the streets, because of a mass relocation spell which displaced them at the closest power plant to be used as fuel just as soon as the animals ¡°produced¡± them.


    The prevalent color for the houses was white, while the most used housing material was wood, even though Yeokia was a coastal city.


    This city was based at the mouth of the river the Rokian had drank from the day before, the Huxtable river. Without slowing down, screaming to people to give him way, Samson pointed them towards his contact, past the local market: a lowlife profiteer woman with her hands in all sorts of pies.


    In their society, weird stuff always had a market, but talking Rokians were a forbidden fruit a little too forbidden to be matter of public commerce. Only someone as jaded, arrogant and reckless as Samson would ever dream of trying to sell one. A sentient Rokian was a matter which really would make any sheriff stand up and run like he was chased by the devil. By royal decree, all sentient Rokians were to be taken into custody or reported to the authorities with the minimum amount of fuss possible.


    This was in fact the first time Samson had seen one, which made him think: ¡°If the old tree falls while no one is watching... it never happened¡±.


    Samson, as already explained, was not the kind of man to renounce to any source of Thalers, which was their currency, law or no law. The woman he was headed to, was the only one which he knew had ever expressed having a remote curiosity towards owning a thinking Rokian.


    While they passed the noble''s houses, a little more than a kilometer away from the open-market, Samson couldn''t help but frown at their opulence. The envy of those wooden villas always made him sour.


    The noble people of Havenrock lived in another world compared to him, Pope and the vast majority of the populace.


    Samson was no less vile or eager than a noble, but he was born with less power than any of them, magical or otherwise.


    Pope was trying to lighten up the mood and break the heavy silence, chatting with himself about what kind of meal he was going to have once they had Samson''s injuries fixed.


    As waking up from a daze, Samson winced at a spike of pain in his knee, while he also slowly caressed the bandaged deep cut on his neck.


    -Don''t worry boy: if things go the way I think, soon there will be Thalers enough for way more than a meal... who knows, maybe could even buy your elemental branding ceremony, huh?


    Shocked by the sudden, uncharacteristic kindness, Pope turned too fast to look at Samson, which sent fire up from the nerve on the back of his neck, all the way to his right eye. The young man face was a mix of puzzlement, pain and horror: after having gone through most of the ¡°shiny¡± part of Yeokia, they could finally see the creepy manor of their buyer.

 Chapter 7 – Madame Boule

    This gentlewoman''s building wasn''t really in the middle of the city, nor was it pretty...


    Actually it was properly intimidating: half metal and half white wood, looking at the house, one would have the impression of a rust parasite growing, corrupting and devouring the pure wooden fiber with bolts, gears and metal plaques. Barbed wire was on top of every wall and under every window for good measure, in order to trench the ¡°living merchandise¡± inside the perimeter, one could assume.


    If that was not enough, the outer layer had the best protection money could buy, a mana dome that looked like a faint round flame of a color which waved from a tame teal to a pale purple.


    The entire estate was covered by the dome, with its radius spreading three hundred meters in every direction.


    The Rokian was deeply intrigued by it. Samson, catching a glimpse of his intense look, jumped at the occasion to mock him mercilessly: he flicked his fingers in a pattern, materializing some small electrical insects out of thin air, only to have them slowly charge at the fiery dome.


    The poor bugs caught fire violently in mid air with small high pitched heart rending screams before being completely vaporized, leaving no dust or ashes behind.


    Samson received a small, warm, cherished dose of delight out of the pain and fear he had kindled inside the Rokian.


    The beast had dared injure him: not even a millennium of torture could have quenched his burning anger... Thalers on the other hand, he could spend, so... He was going to take what little revenge he could while he still had time.


    The cart stopped. With his own dead rodent charm, Samson barked


    -Boy, be useful for once and help me get off this old piece of junk!


    Pope hopped off from the back of the cart and hurried over to Samson


    -It is your damn fault I got injured, after all...


    The old man showered himself with a good dose of self pity, pulling at the strings of Pope''s inexperienced heart.


    Pope could have argued about whose fault it was, but it wasn''t worth the fight nor the retort, so he just stood by Samson''s side and let him use him as a human crutch in order to step down.


    Samson was still less irate and annoying than Pope thought he would be, which all in all was a generous stroke of good fortune. The crooked trader took the few steps he needed and then closing his eyes, charged his hand with an energy very similar to one the shield brimmed with, cursing under his breath and, lucky for him, not getting vaporized. The answer was a simple, disgusted


    -I see... come in.


    A female voice had mumbled that half sentence from the estate, but they could all hear it reverberate from every inch of the dome.


    Less then ten seconds later, the place''s doors opened, as did the barrier, letting them enough time to go through, but closing immediately after they had with a desolate, long, clang.


    The wind that day was really flat-lined, leaving the smell of the place hovering and festering right where it was, stale and messy... Pope was in a hurry to leave the ¡°Freaky mansion¡±, such he called that big sinister place, and his face twitched a little as he caught glimpses of some disgusting details.


    He really wanted to be on his way to a healthier part of town as fast as possible. He climbed once more off the cart as soon as they stopped, having to help his partner again. Samson still smiled creepily at the Rokian, displaying the same quivering expression a reformed vegetarian wishing to eat his first burger in twenty years could have. Unsightly, but he was caught in a strong current of clashing emotions and couldn''t really control himself.


    They were quite close to his favorite part of the job too: the pay-up, which as usual sent him on a ¡°Thalers high¡±.


    Pope had already unloaded a few sacks of trinkets and some mana crystals chunks when the house owner aggressively showed at the front door.


    The woman was tall, muscular in an intimidating way, dark-skinned, with sharp features and had a penetrating gaze. Pairing this with her ¡°battle ready¡± clothing, she looked so fierce she could have made a roaring lion pale in comparison.


    She had several scars but instead of hiding them she put them on display, the biggest one on her face, where her left eye had been replaced by a red sight crystal implant.


    She still had a beautiful and interesting face, even though at the moment it seemed to scream


    ¡°I will murder you and your entire family if you come too close¡±.


    -Sam, you ugly thing, I wasn''t expecting any delivery, from you.


    Her voice was strong and somewhat hard, but the Rokian couldn''t help feel a little warm when he heard her.


    -Well, well, well... Madame Boule dearest, am I happy to see you today. You are a balm for these old eyes!


    -You know you are actually younger than me... Let''s cut to the chase. What do you need ¡°old man¡±?


    -Need? Oh no, Madame: I just happen to have some cargo that, I will not lie to you, is a little hot, so I''m itching to have it taken off my hands. But I can ensure you, is something you need.


    -Oh really? You want to tickle a girl''s curiosity like that? What is this about?


    -Well, I have all the usual black market flimflam that you can sell in a heartbeat and with a good margin, but this article here... is something different entirely. And I recall hearing you say you might want one to add to your ¡°bizzarro¡± collection Madame... And I also hope you will remember I stopped here first, instead of considering other customers when we are talking price.


    Samson was trying to pitch the young male Rokian with his best impression of a decent man.


    -Really?


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.Madame Boule took a few steps and got to see what was still on the cart. She was greatly disappointed.


    -Old man have you gone senile?


    It was just a round of the mill Rokian, she thought


    -Madame, if you indulge me just for a moment, come and look the little rascal in the eyes and you will know what I''m talking about.


    And so she did. Answering to Samson''s nod, Pope unloaded the Rokian from the cart. Although, realizing Madam Boule was getting closer to him, he dropped the small creature a good foot to the ground.


    The Rokian whimpered his disappointment. Pope cursed: despite his best effort at handling him carefully he had still hurt the poor thing; a laser killer look had flashed on Samson''s eyes when that happened.


    Intrigued by such a ¡°lively¡± reaction, Madam Boule searched into the Rokian''s deep eyes: they were oddly silver-gray colored, but while uncommon, it didn''t make it any special. Then she noticed, the creature was looking back at her, with a little anger. He seemed actually sentient.


    -Is... this thing... for real?


    -Oh, as real as they come, dear Boule.


    Knowing he had her right where he wanted, Samson had lost the honorifics, which still made her rise an eyebrow indignantly. The seasoned trader couldn''t help but notice, which made a single droplet of nervous sweat pour from his right temple before continuing.


    -He did a number on my leg here and he refused the binding contract too. Little devil bounced the spell right off, no matter how hard we tried. And I think he can also understand speech.


    Samson said this last line as slow as honey.


    -If what you say is true, this is indeed a really dangerous article. Forget a little hot, this is the whole volcano.


    Samson was unscathed by the allegation only in appearance and shrugged his right shoulder like it was nothing, still heavily relying on his crutch.


    -And yet, I know something like this you can''t just pass by, Madame Boule.


    She half smiled, then inched closer to the little thing''s face.


    -Hey, you! Can you actually understand what I am saying?


    The Rokian nodded shortly.


    -See? He is a goddamn genius!


    He said loudly with roaring pride.


    -Doesn''t prove anything, you could have thought him that. Hey, do you want me to beat you up until you are dead?


    She asked the Rokian with a cheerful and charming tone. The small man looked very perplex, then strongly waved away the proposition with his head.


    -Yeah, he seems to be the real deal. How can he, though?


    She asked more to herself. Samson secretly sighed his relief knowing he actually had a potentially big deal to conclude.


    -Does it matter? I found him on the road some time ago. Do you... Want him?


    -If the price is right, sure.


    She answered locking her arms in front of her and turning to look at Samson again.


    There he was, being sold like a piece of meat and having no chance of escaping or fighting it in any way. The Rokian was not pleased; he stirred and sighed, while Samson and Madame Boule had started going back and forward with prices about his skin. In the meanwhile, Pope had finished his menial job and was brushing off some sweat from his brow with a handkerchief.


    It should be noted that the street value of a loaf of bread was a single twenty cents dark metallic coin, while a regular Rokian''s price varied from ten to fifty Thalers. Uncanny and incredibly gifted Rokians could fetch even more, so getting a price tag now on this scrawny, yet unique item, was quite complicated.


    The not-really-friendly negotiation was now verging toward a sum that was far from the one hundred she had started with and the one thousand he had asked at the beginning: six hundred Thalers.


    -I''m not going to give you six hundreds just for the Rokian, old man. It is still not good!


    Young Pope was resting in front of the cargo, to the right of Samson, still panting: it all happened in a moment. The leathery old man charged a plasma ball in his right hand, and tossed it at his back, sending him to the floor.


    -How about I add this one to the lot too?


    He asked happily with a thrilled little voice, a nasty smile slowly spreading on his dirty face.


    After a moment, he noticed the boy was still twitching in the dust.


    Samson arched back while planted to the ground with his good leg and used the hard wooden ball on top of his crutch to knock Pope out for good, hitting him on the neck. The loud ¡°thump¡± that came from this hit was sickening, too much for the Rokian to handle. After a moment of bewilderment the little scaly creature wormed as fast as he could to the young man side, putting himself on top of him, hoping to defend him or, help him, somehow.


    He didn''t feel smart nor brave at that moment, just surging with explosive anger: if looks could kill, Samson would have dropped dead to the floor a hundred times.

 Chapter 8 – Out of control

    Samson''s face was really ugly to behold, covered in a mix of anger, hate and, to his own surprise, fear.


    Withstanding such an intense hate was something Samson was not prepared for. He found himself shivering with emotions, as a cold, empty smirk, covered his desire to savagely delete the troubling look from the Rokian''s face.


    The small creature, still on top of poor Pope, was bearing his fangs. He really felt like he was able to see through Samson for what and who he was: a revolting monster, something he couldn''t tolerate. Pain, worry and wild resentment were all welling up in the little creature''s chest, demanding to be satisfied, to be unleashed... for a moment the Rokian thought he was going to lose it, so much was his outrage.


    Finally, without thinking any longer about it, the Rokian inwardly yelled


    -¡°Intimidating Croak!¡±


    Pointing it at Samson. What came after, was definitely stronger than the one he had used earlier that day, but he was sure only Samson had gotten effected by it: only him was on his knees with a blank stare of anguish on his face.


    Samson had indeed heard something.


    Something far out of the human range of comprehension: all of those raw, bottled up feelings transformed into a single magical sound, aimed at his inner core, exploding, invading him, devastating him like he had become an ant being endlessly ravaged by a savage behemoth.


    Samson grabbed his head tight with his hands, his eyes bloodshot, slightly twitching, silently screaming with terror.


    He really looked like a pathetic, tormented statue. After almost a minute of silence, Samson suddenly ¡°remembered¡± he had to breath. He coughed, then very slowly got to his feet.


    Still shaking, and unblinkingly Samson raised his cane once more, feeling the urge to hit the Rokian, and Pope, primordially scared for his life: he was in danger and had to do something. He had to, or he felt he could just die.


    He was less than ten centimeters away from clobbering them one more time, when Madame Boule grabbed his wrists, using just one of her big hands. She had talked to him since earlier, but under the effect of the Intimidating Croak, he had been unable to hear a word.


    He sure tried now.


    -Old man, I don''t know what the heck you think you are doing with the merchandise, but this is my stuff now. More importantly, do you honestly think you can come in here and kill a man in front of me? Are you really that stupid?


    She stepped towards him and with her other hand she grabbed his tattered shirt in the breast area, pulling him closer, before ordering through ground teeth


    -I am going to give you six hundreds for these two, one hundred and fifty for all the other items and you are going out of my property, this very moment. Our business is done! For good. Get out of here... I don''t want to ever see your face again.


    Samson stared in the woman''s eyes, at a loss for words. What had come onto him? He was damaging the goods and almost killed a man he was supposed to sell to one of the most influential lords of the region, in her house. This was going to be suicidal for his commerce.


    Not only he was going to lose profit in the future, but this could badly affect his trading guild... If anyone ever got words of this out to them, he would be extremely lucky to survive.


    Commerce for them was their religion: breaking its rules and offending influential customers was usually a one way ticket to a very dark place... often underground.


    Even though killing was illegal, there were still ways to hire an assassin. And every big guild on Havenrock had their own killers on speed dial.


    -I... he... I don''t...


    He blurted out without being able to make sense. He was filled with confusion, trying to get to the words which could have saved him from this dreadful situation, and yet the more he struggled, the more he felt he was drowning into an oceanic disaster of his own making... He was lost.


    -Have I not made myself clear? Get the hell out of my residence, this instant, old fool! Hugo, drag this idiot out of here, please!


    The tall woman shouted to a big and muscular hooded Rokian behind her before shoving a one thousand roll of Thalers into Samnson''s open mouth, tossing him on the cart and slapping the weird mule away.


    The cart moved away fast, with Hugo leading it. She even paid extra, knowing that she was going to be the end of his trading career. On Havenrock, overpaying, usually screamed bad intentions.


    A murder: what kind of extravagant idea was that? Even if it was the murder of a Rokian. A person prone to extreme violence could easily escalate to humans and the authorities would always know.


    Madame Boule was many things: a trader''s employer, a profiteer, a retired warlord and much more... But she wasn''t delusional nor jaded enough to just stand and watch.


    And she liked to think she still had a droplet or two of integrity in herself. She went down to her knees, lifting the Rokian and moving him to the side. He tried to move back in again but she told him with what a certain degree of kindness


    -Stay there for a moment, Rokian, I just want to check him out before it''s too late.


    He wasn''t too sure what to make of the woman, but she sure didn''t look worse than Samson, so he did listen to her.


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.Madame Boule checked the kid''s lungs with her ear: there was a gurgle in his shallow breath. She opened her hand and from her chest a light rose and went down her right arm.


    When it was at her fingers, it focused on her index, pouring out into a small, compact fire iris. Madame Boule then opened Pope''s mouth and sent the little flame inside of him, while little fiery wires, which looked like long thin roots, extended out of all her finger tips, snaking their way into the open mouth.


    She closed her eyes to see through those flames. Soon she had arrived to the damage: one of the lungs had collapsed and had a tear in it, with blood pouring in.


    Madame Boule had to act fast: she found the tear in the lung tissue, and making sure it was the only one, she closed it, cauterizing it with her gentle tendrils. Then she moved her probes outside the lung to check the area where the blood loss had generated.


    She found the hole in Pope''s back, already cauterized by the plasma and closed it with a small suture until there was no longer fluid oozing on the inside. It took her a good two minutes to finish the job.


    All the while, the small Rokian had not lost sight of her, understanding what she was doing, more than actually seeing it.


    When Madame Boule was done patching Pope up, she pierced his left side, pushing the blood that was causing the lung to stay collapsed out of his body. Eventually she closed that cut too. As she opened her eyes, she looked at the very worried Rokian and said


    -I can''t say he is going to be fine: the blood loss was severe and the shock was too, plus we can''t bring him to a hospital for... reasons. I wish I could, really, but I am a criminal, after all, and I suspect they wouldn''t believe me if I said it wasn''t me. Do you understand what I am saying?


    -Yes.


    He answered, with a nod. She was very surprised to hear how much his gentle and husky voice didn''t match his body.


    -Good, then, if you promise you are not going to cause me any troubles, I will cut you out of that rope. Is that okay, little one?


    He nodded again, vigorously. She covered one of her fingernails in mana of the same blue color of the dome on their heads and paying care as not to cut or burn the Rokian, she freed him.


    The rope, had lost its magical capability and stood powerless on the ground. The Rokian went up on his feet, carefully, stretched a little, pulling his tail with his hands then asked Madame Boule


    -Is there really nothing more you can do to help him?


    -Well, sure there is: from putting him in a bed to recover, to fixing his spine, which I''m pretty sure is broken... I myself have smashed quite a few back in my warring days and that sure sounded like a very bad fracture.


    -Well... fix it then, please. A broken spine is bad, isn''t it?


    -Absolutely, he will not be able to move at all, but then again, why should I? I have done all I could for being sure he survives, haven''t I?


    -But...


    -No... you listen to me.


    She cut him short with an impatient hand gesture.


    -I am an honest woman, alright? I might have saved his life, for now, but I will only fix him when and, most importantly, if I feel like it. Now, if you excuse me, I am going to get something to drink: it is very hot here today.


    She left him kneeling by his human companion. He looked at the woman while she disappeared inside her gigantic house; he only turned away his head after he was sure she was sadly, really gone...


    But she was not really gone, secretly looking at the talking Rokian from the thick shadow of the doorway. She wanted to test him, see who he was, what he was capable of. She was indeed a crafty one. Or maybe just a fool.


    The scaly young man didn''t really know about magic or anatomy, sure not enough to repeat what she had done, but he felt like had to try something. Pope was still in a bad shape and he was... He felt like he was important to him, for reasons unknown. It could be that the small amount of mana he had absorbed from Pope the day before had actually slightly imprinted on him, giving him feelings of belonging, but so what if it did?


    -Aw... Aw-k, are you there?


    He asked with his small, gravelly voice. A square featured, little, silver and black female cat face with an arched eyebrow appeared in front of him


    -No need to ask, master. I am indeed part of your magic.


    -Good, how do I help my... ¡°friend¡±? He has a broken spine.


    -Are you asking me if there is a way for you to help him with magic? If that is the case, I can''t say! Not like this, at least.


    -Then how?


    He was in equal parts curious and excited: he should have been worried, more than anything else, but he had been waiting since the night before to be alone for doing this. He wanted to check out his magic!

 Chapter 9 – Discovering

    Aw-k, for being a magical assistant, had not just a little sass, on her side, and was enjoying being the ¡°tutorial¡± a little too much, for her own good.


    -Alright then, explanations on the awakening interface: every single action could influence your skills and transform into a menu of some sort, like creating a new spell or receiving a new quest, plus everything you do is going to give you experience, master, piling it up until you will be able to level up.


    He knew that was true, because even using his ¡°Intimidating Croak¡± on Samson, technically having brought his defeat, had popped up a screen with a large number of experience.


    -Let''s start by opening your skill list, master: say, or think, ¡°skill list¡± out loud now.


    She continued


    -Skill list?


    He repeated a little uncertain.


    A piece of parchment in the same colors of Aw-k''s popped up near the little fem-cat face, with the title ¡°Skills¡± right on the top, and a list, with small icons near them.


    -Very well, let''s start filtering the page by selecting the ¡°Passive¡± voice, shall we?


    A silver arrow was blinking near the word passive on the top left; under it, were voices such as ¡°Active¡±, ¡°Defense¡±, ¡°Attack¡±, ¡°Healing¡±, ¡°Elemental¡± and ¡°Mana¡±.


    As the Rokian pressed his finger on the button, only five skills were left on the page:


    ¡°Adaptation¡±, ¡°Rokian scaly toughness¡±, ¡°Natural Singer¡±, ¡°Regeneration¡± and ¡°Primal Blood¡±.


    -All of these skills are always active, some of them could be deactivated, as you will gain them in the future, but not these. ¡°Natural singer¡±, in example, is a skill that you created at birth allowing you to learn and release the ¡°Intimidating Croak¡± before, and will let you master all kind of battle chanting you will ever need; not all people have it.


    On the other hand, something like your ¡°Regeneration¡± is a skill that allows you to naturally regenerate wounds, fractures, even re-spawn whole body parts if needed, that comes from being a Rokian. The first thing to check, is if the human ¡°Pope¡± has something of the sort.


    -R... right. How do I do that?


    -Well master, for starters, you should invite the young man to your party, which is a fancy way to say you would share your Awakening Meta-Enchantment with him.


    Now, he seems to be shamefully unconscious at the moment, so you will have to accept the party invitation using his hand. In order to invite him, you need to know his exact name: do you?


    The Rokian shook his head in denial.


    -We are in luck, in your Aw-k system you have unlocked an active skill called ¡°Identify¡±, which will reveal it to you, together with many other data and facts on its target. Please master, say the word identify while pointing at the man.


    The Rokian''s head was spinning wildly in the attempt to follow and understand all that he was learning. With the biggest smile ever on his face, the Rokian did as asked.


    Near his skill window, another appeared, not as shiny or pretty, but stating what he needed to know. Clearly it was bearing Pope''s Meta-Enchantment.


    ¡°Name: Tommy Renee Pope.¡±


    -Tommy Renee Pope, now that is a fancy name if I''ve ever seen one. Alright, let''s create a party. Master: you need saying ¡°Party Create¡± followed by the name of the party.


    -Alright, ¡°Party Create¡±... Aaargh! I don''t have a name for it.


    -The party ¡°Aaargh!¡± has been successfully created.


    -Really?


    He asked with a hint of sadness


    -Afraid so, master. But back onto the task at hand, ¡°Invite¡± Mr. Pope, will you?


    -Right: ¡°Invite¡± Tommy Renee Pope.


    As he did say the words, in front of Pope''s face a pop-up black page with silver, refined characters appeared, with the options ¡°Accept¡± and ¡°Refuse¡±. As previously instructed, the Rokian picked up the unconscious man''s hand and, with a little effort, dragged his finger on the first button.


    When he did that, another window appeared in front of the Rokian with some of the party options, followed by the little, crooked, mellow face of Tommy''s pale and sickly, yellow-green interface helper.


    At the same time, Madame Boule was still watching, not losing a second of it, with increasing interest, while biting her lower lip a little.


    -Master, this troglodyte interface appears to be Master Pope''s Meta-Enchantment System.


    Aw-k looked to be in a disgusted and shocked status.


    -Is something the matter, Aw-k?


    -As a representative of the magical A.I.s I can''t but be ashamed. Whoever designed that thing had no love for whatever he or she was doing. I am afraid there would be no helping Master Pope, until that ¡°individual¡± is in control of his System.


    -Is there a way to...?


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.-Simply put, yes, we can erase the silly piece of fecal engineering by just letting my Meta-Enchantment take over! Overwrite the entire thing for good, if you will.


    -Mmm, why is his Meta-Enchantment so bad? How is it different from you?


    She sounded even more outraged after the comparison


    -Well, it doesn''t update for starters, it doesn''t interface with the commanding user, and it is faulty and buggy. For what Master Pope is concerned, he might even have forgotten he had one entirely. That thing, to say it mildly, is a mutilated, cheap, aberration!


    The anger in Aw-k''s voice was reflected by her reddening color too: she wanted nothing more than forgetting the other ¡°thing¡± even existed.


    -I see... how do we overwrite it then?


    -Just two simple clicks away from righteousness: in the option panel that has popped-up for your ¡°Party System¡± window, switch from shared control to leader. Worry not, Master Pope will be able to revert to that disaster later, should he so desire... even though, I wouldn''t...


    -Noted, and switched.


    -Be gone, heathen.


    Aw-K said slowly, with her most glacial tone yet, glaring at the crooked pale monster. The sickly thing coughed and then just popped like a soap bubble, slowly taken over by the other, more sophisticated system.


    -It is done! We shall now proceed with the analysis. Try and Inspect him again.


    The Rokian did just as suggested, only to find out this time the panel was different, in the same shapes and fabric of his Aw-k, but in a lush deep green color with scarlet letters and with way more details, on four pages: ¡°Skills¡±, ¡°Equipment¡±, ¡°Social¡± and ¡°Stats¡±. On the social page was even a detailed Biography of the poor man, but the Rokian refrained from reading it for respect of the other''s already tarnished privacy.


    A gust of wind finally spurred to life, passing between the crests on his head, but he didn''t feel a thing, so much he was focused on the unrealistic and yet amazing thing that was happening. Going through Tommy Pope''s Skills, he found very little active ones, with names that made him think of commerce, like ¡°Haggle¡± so he went for the passives like he had done before with his own. The list was still long, but reading through all of them, he found two skills that made him wish well: ¡°Sunflower: Health regenerates faster while exposed to the light of day¡± and ¡°Bad Weed: through being exposed to excessive and repetitive traumas your body got used to regenerating faster and with less scarring.¡±


    Heavens only knew what kind of pain that kid had gone through, but there was hope. Actually, given the presence of not only one but two regenerative skills, he thought he had to move fast, or the man''s body could have healed in some weird way.


    -How do we... help him now?


    -Master, his neck appears to be swollen and battered: given my knowledge of human physiology I can safely assume he has slivers of bone stuck in his tissues. The safest way to make this mess right would be collecting them all, if possible, and maybe putting it all back together.


    -Alright, how?


    -Well, you need to cut open the back of his neck and grab the shards, but it should be done into some kind of safe environment, aseptic, possibly. A dirty lawn seems hardly the best choice. And you need to disinfect the part too, before and after it all. Without talking about stitching... acting recklessly would make him more harm than good, I am afraid.


    -Then I can''t do anything for him? He saved me... I can''t let him be like this.


    All the Rokian was left with was a saddened heart and a very stinging headache.


    He put his hand on Tommy''s chest: he could feel his heart beating, his breath, regular yet still a little bit shallow. He really was as useless as a newborn, he thought to himself.


    -Feeling useless?


    The voice he recognized was that of Madame Boule: she had come back! He nodded without turning to look at her, secretly resenting her for those words and reading him so easily.


    -You know, I was a drill sergeant in another life, so to say, I have thought many things to many men and women. You are a first, in more than one way: you are a talking, thinking, magical Rokian...


    He had been found out and felt a knot in his throat, making it hard to breath, as soon as he came back to his senses from the shock, he tried his best to look bewildered and dumb, shaking his head in denial.


    -I saw you: you do have magic. The question is why do you think you have to hide it from me?


    He thought about his answer well, before formulating a sentence and he decided to go with what he thought being the truth.


    -I don''t know you, plus I have been ¡°alive¡± for not even three days and you already said I''m not normal. Call it trust issues.


    -I see, help me bring him inside into my operating room and I''ll let you help me with fixing him.


    The woman was clearly observing the Rokian like he was something really precious, for some reason; it was apparent she wanted him to trust her and the little creature knew it. She was strong, extremely strong, sure she didn''t need him to carry the feather weight Pope was: damn, even he didn''t need her to carry the thin man. Still she wanted to involve him into healing what she thought being someone of importance to him so that he could feel indebted to her, at the very least.


    He really didn''t know her and he didn''t want to judge her for something she was not, but how could someone who was a skilled healer and had an operating room in her private residence, be classified as a bad person?


    He decided to follow her.

 Chapter 10 – Nicer on the inside

    Carrying the lower part of Tommy Pope''s body, the Rokian still felt a hint of worry, while entering the house, imagining how terrible its interior might be, given the dreadful look of the outside.


    But his expectations were betrayed by the sober and homely, nice smelling, bright and all round heartwarming place he found the house to be.


    Hard wood dark brown furniture was harmoniously framed by stone pieces in light colors, with brightly painted walls, a different color in each room. Still looking all over the place, he suddenly got over it prompted by Madame Boule''s pulling of Tommy. They moved fast inside the house open spaces, veering a few times, up to a room which lighted by itself as they went in, full of shiny metal objects, a table in the middle, trays and cupboards. It all looked a little eerie, even though there were nice forest pictures painted on the walls.


    -Push him higher, he has to go on the table over here.


    She said with her warmest tone yet


    -Yes, Madame Boule.


    He pushed his side of the man on top of his head, so not to bump on the table. When they were done, Boule smiled at the Rokian tenderly, which gave her rough face a very feminine look, and told him


    -My name is Simone Boule, people call me Madame Boule, as you have heard, but you should really call me Simone.


    -Nice name! I don''t really have one for now, even though I know it should begin by E... somehow. So currently you can call me E. What do we do now?


    -Well, E, now we go to the sink on the other side of that mirror and scrub ourselves up to the armpits with soap and sponges, then we put on some operating gowns. Surgery, as your Aw-k was saying before has to be done in the most aseptic environment which is possible.


    -Right. And what is ¡°aseptic¡±?


    -Oh, well, in the air there are all sorts of invisible small particles that can cause nasty afflictions for the body. When you cut someone open, everything has to be as particles-free as possible in order to avoid those to cause the injured person infections and side effects that could be worse than what you are treating him or her for.


    E had made a worried face once more. Simone had him follow her out of the operating room through the wooden door near the mirror she had mentioned. This time too, the room got lighted on its own, revealing it to be small, light green colored, with brown furniture, various type of small tools, towels, sinks and a clean lemony smell.


    -See, the entire operating room is no exception: pressing this button, I will radiate a blue light for a minute and that will kill all of the nasty particles, called pathogens. Hop on that stool so you can check it yourself.


    E hopped on a metallic stool which was in front of a stone sink and the fake mirror. Simone pressed the round button she was talking about and a deep blue light flooded the operating room, making things look way paler than they really were.


    -Interesting: so the light is killing all those small particles. Convenient.


    -I know, right? Not all technology that came from our home land is bad. Now, we prepare on our side: those leaves that you are dragging on the floor are quite the outfit, but I''d so much rather you tried some of the Rokian clothes which are in the third drawer from the bottom, on the wall.


    E opened it and got some black small clothes, light pants and a dark tank-top. Before he could ask, Simone told him


    -You can go behind that curtain in the corner for getting dressed. And put some scrubs on... The blue cheap clothes you''ll find on the other side of the curtain.


    -Thank you.


    -Don''t mention it, now get going: the more we have Mr. Pope wait for us, the worse it will be for him.


    E half ran behind the curtain and abandoned, with a sigh of sadness, his leaves skirt into a trash bin.


    The clothes he had chosen surprised him when, as soon as he had put them on, they started shrinking just enough to be a perfect fit for his small body. He really wanted to know how he looked, but that wasn''t the time he reckoned, so he hurried and wore the scrubs. Coming out, he found Madame Boule elbow deep into some yellowish bubbles'' soap, getting clean, already into the same blue weird clothes he had on now. He went to her and mimicked what she was doing until he was sure to be clean. She made him wear a cap, mask, gown, gloves and they went into the room where Tommy Renee Pope was waiting.


    She had explained him a little of what they had to do and he had risen to a state of both excited and horrified, his guts a little queasy, but also he had a steel resolve: he wanted to assist her. If nothing else, because he felt Tommy was important.


    -Now, help me turn him belly down, and take his shirt off.


    E received a quest pop-up from his Aw-k stating ¡°Help Simone performing surgery on Tommy Pope: reward 580 exp points. Exp possible modifiers: 100 points for successful outcome, 100 points for first time on this quest¡±


    Whatever that was, it looked like E was going to gain something out of it, so he accepted it in order to focus on what he actually had to do. Once they had removed it Simone spoke once more


    -Good, now we clean the neck and all the area around it with this cotton swabs and disinfectant: grab one and do as I do.


    E noticed a stool laying by the operating table and moved it so to be more up to level with Tommy.


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.The boy was skinny indeed, but he had some muscle after all, tanned only on the arms and from the neck up. E cleaned all he was told to and then Simone called him by her side, so he took the stool with him.


    -Now we put on this sheet around the area and you start passing me the tools on that tray as soon as I ask you to, alright?


    -I''ll try.


    -Good boy.


    They shaved the area, cleaned it once more and then started cutting with a scalpel. Simone had to explain what every single tool was, but E was very perceptive and didn''t need too much direction to follow her. He was laser focused as he was chasing after every move of the blades, or the forceps that Simone used, careful to observe and record even the slightest nuance. Soon they had removed all the shards of bone from the tissue thanks to a big lens which enhanced the area, allowing them not to miss even one. Two of the boy''s neck vertebrae had been shattered, but using some of his surgical magic and mana, Simone had glued the pieces back together into a mana mold; what parts were too damaged she had just left out, sure that the young man could replace them with his passive healing skills. Magic sure made the whole process almost look simple to E, which couldn''t help feeling a mix of admiration, fascination and envy towards the woman Simone Boule was.


    She even thought him how to apply stitches when they closed the cuts they had made, which she called incisions.


    Two hours later, Tommy Pope was left to sleep, under sedatives, still belly down in a room which had plenty sunlight coming in through the windows and roof.


    -It is better for him to sleep for all today. It shouldn''t take him longer than three days for fixing the bones to a point where he can walk again, but if he moved too much now, that could ruin what good we have done.


    -I see. Bones are tough to fix.


    -Exactly. We can check his vital signs through this machines, but our job here is done.


    E was in awe and got a little scared when he received another quest pop-up for having finished the job properly. In addition he got a few other messages.


    ¡°Passive skill unlocked: Basic Human Anatomy. After extensive observation of the human body, you understand its muscular and bone structure, increasing the possible damage to all humans with your attacks by 10%. Double clicking this passive skill will activate its active component, initiating a body transformation to appear more human.¡±


    ¡°Passive skill unlocked: Basic Blades Mastery. After observing a Master class blade artisan, you obtained a basic knowledge of how to operate a short cutting tool, or knife, increasing the damage you deal with the weapons of that class by 2% per each skill level.¡±


    To top it all up, he had received something called ¡°level-up¡±; but that needed to wait until later, when he was, hopefully going to be alone. E kept looking at Tommy''s back, raising as he inhaled, now realizing how silly he had been thinking he could heal him on his own: he had so much to learn in order to keep the pace with that new life of his, but he so wanted to learn it all.


    As the boy opened his mouth to ask something of Madame Boule, he got unexpectedly interrupted by a rather violent grumbling drum roll, coming from his own belly: it was lunch time, after all. For the first time, E got to eat something that had not come from the ground... directly. Simone Boule was a renaissance woman, with mad skills; by observing her put their meal together, E had learned several abilities: ¡°Cooking¡±, ¡°Spicy¡± and the passive ¡°Gourmet¡±.


    He felt overwhelmed by all of this knowledge: he needed time alone, but there was still the one issue on the table, he remembered when he was done eating his okonomiyaki... He shouldn''t have trusted Simone too much, since he didn''t really know her. He swallowed his meal''s last bit and he drank, only after cleaning his mouth, like he had just been taught. He sighed with satisfaction before starting to talk to the smiling woman. Her smile was really something, kind and open, making it really hard to be mistrustful.


    -Simone, once more, this was amazing: thank you so much...


    -It was nothing much. It has been quite a while since I last had any guests for lunch. I got the feeling though you are itching to ask me something, E: what is it?


    Her eyes, both the real and the artificial one on him while she rested her head on the flat of her hands, scanning every last sign on his face.


    -You have been kind, although a little crafty, so far with me... Us. I feel like I gotta ask: why? You bought us. Not that I am against this treatment, about anything you have done, keep in mind, but it doesn''t... Fit.


    -Can''t I just be a good Samaritan?


    -What is that?


    -A person who likes to help the other without expecting anything in return. You have helped Mr. Pope quite a few times, now. Do you expect something back from him?


    -Hell yeah I do!


    -That I didn''t expect.


    She said with amused surprise.


    -Don''t get me wrong, I don''t expect payment like you did give to Samson earlier, no. I want him to cooperate with me... and maybe to tag along for a while. So, I don''t think you want money either, but you must have some deeper goal that you think we can help you reach.


    Simone unleashed an even more charming smile so bright and powerful it was like it had magically deleted her scars and made her face look sweeter than honey. E steeled his resolve and braved against the tide of cuteness which had slammed against him. He wanted some decent answers.

 Chapter 11 – History Lessons

    Simone Boule looked at E still with the same affectionate smile, although the air between them was standing still, like they were having a deathly ¡°stare duel¡± and it didn''t dare to move... After a while, she was the one to give in, understanding the need of the young man for clarity.


    As she started to explain, both E and the air sighed inwardly with relief. (lol)


    -Well, let''s say you are right, it is not something simple that I can explain in two words though, are you willing to listen to me until the end, even if some parts of my story might be a little disgusting or heavy?


    E received a pop-up of the situation, in a quest form, asking if he wanted to listen to Simone''s story. He accepted it and nodded.


    -Alright then. Let me see, where to begin... humans! That is what we are, here. Colonizing a planet, without too many cares, with a lot of pretence and madness. Some would say it is the human way. The humans have been always able to do and think horrible things through history.


    -Massacre, war, genocide, ethnic cleansing, mass murder, holocaust, extermination, pogrom: these are just some of the words I can come with on the top of my head to describe massive killings of people. All violent types of killings. With the passing of the ages, humanity generated powerful men, and ¡°jobs¡±, so that they could kill indirectly without even having to look at who they murdered.


    She looked away for a moment, like recalling some unpleasant things, then continued


    -The reasons for killing were many; more often than not very silly: love, hate, power, money, rage, envy... Petty stuff, really. A good reason for a kill is even more rare than a good human being. Still, at the end of the 21st century humans had silently decided that killing people for whatever reason was less interesting than actually living.


    -Hate and all other ¡°motives¡± still existed, with men finding plenty ways to make each other miserable, but with always less and less deaths. Jumping to a more scientific setting, without any more massive deaths, we all too soon realized how much our world was to be considered as a closed system which, in all of its aspects, tries to get balance.


    -Without death, and with increasingly longer life-spans, humanity almost entirely lost the faculty to procreate. Some of us were just happy to call it entropy, the invisible hand that shakes the cosmos looking for the lowest energy status of balance.


    -Now, some might say that the concept doesn''t apply, because entropy is originally a thermal phenomenon, but for many of us it did. We tried to look at death for the first time with a detached, scientific approach as something more than what we considered it being as mortals.


    -At the beginning, people killed each other and died for all kind of reasons, with births being higher; soon though both became less and less until... We had no births and no deaths.


    -We lost the capability for procreation, yet we died, just slowly, of extremely old age. Balance at times means death, sadly. After all, what was this if not life trying to get to a low energy balance?


    Her face hardened for a second, almost bitter


    -On Earth some immortal creatures always existed, some jelly-fish which never died, unable to reproduce. We had become like them, simpler beings, in a sense.


    -Many scientists of all sorts of fields kept on studying this ¡°social entropy¡± tying it more and more with philosophy, ethic and even religion. The results of those studies, which I was a part of, were not important, but made us understand that ultimately entropy is neither good or bad, yet it is both and still more... More important, it is real and no matter what we did, universal entropy would always win.


    -Everything, sooner or later naturally deflated... Everything eventually went down, to put it simply. Overpopulation was the real problem, at that time, so we had to do something. Ideas for colonizing other planets had to be brought to fruition pronto, but they were not as fast as necessary.


    -The situation grew really desperate, to the point were people, entire families at times, were being paid for volunteering to die, receiving money in exchange, which they could leave to whomever they wanted, hoping that sooner or later, with lower numbers, humanity might naturally find a different kind of ¡°balance¡± and maybe, find back its ability to procreate.


    -Killing, was once more humanity''s big solution. But, at the verge of the 23rd century, came the Awakening.


    -All beliefs were shattered, magic was a reality and... All that came with it too, including new births. The new balance was found within chaos.


    -Humans abandoned Earth through fiery portals in large numbers, leaving only 30% of its original population on it. We all could begin again, and humanity rejoiced because of this. It was probably a drunken epiphany due to the celebrations, but some of those involved in our death study, decided to create a secret society with the purpose of further studying and challenging universal laws, called Entropy.


    Simone laughed and shook her head with resignation


    -Scientists don''t have the best brains for giving names, I know, not even when they become mages. They just become bigger nerds.


    -Anyway... As a part of Entropy, I take on the moralist and good side, at least right now. As you might have heard, I was a warlord back in the day, we could say that has been my more degenerate contribution to Entropy.


    She took a moment to evaluate what she had said, E looking at her with a complicated, serious expression but not saying anything.


    -With time, Entropy has become bigger, stronger, wider, yet mostly unknown to all other races. We now largely study magic really, though death related and universe related studies still remain at our core.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    She was done talking.


    E remained silent for a while, weighting it all up, trying to get the shape of what he was pondering.


    -So, bad and good were both necessary... Otherwise planets could die?


    -To a certain degree, yes.


    -See? There was a way to say all of ¡°that¡± with simpler and fewer words.


    -Young people... so lacking in patience.


    They slowly started laughing.


    -Well...


    She turned out of breath after a while... For some reason she couldn''t stop laughing.


    -Weeeee... okay... Thank you E, it had been quite a while since my last hearty laugh.


    She had told him everything she thought humanity was, all of their insanity and struggles and he had not shrunk away with disgust. More importantly, she realized, that was really the first time she had spoken about it in those terms in a long while and it felt good. It felt to her like a huge weight had been removed from her shoulders, like explaining it to that particular Rokian had been an important milestone long in the coming... it was weird... yet nice.


    -As we were saying though, I am trying to implement the ¡°good¡± while several others are the ¡°bad¡± on this planet and I am not given the option of knowing whom of them is doing evil under the Entropy banner, nor I want to. It is sad though.


    -What? Thinking that bad is necessary?


    -Indeed. In fact, I don''t really think it is anymore. Which is why I am defending the good. Problem being there is so much bad on this planet it is impossible to just attribute it all to Entropy...


    -What do you mean?


    -Do you know who were the original inhabitants of Havenrock?


    -No.


    -Criminals and crazy people, those judged not worth or needed in a new world environment: the rejects. When they found out they were going to be left on planet Earth, where they would always be looked at as deranged society outcasts, they all banded together and managed to abandon ship in secret, choosing a planet in a far away galaxy, out of the major circuit, not mapped or touched by the big interplanetary guilds.


    -These people are a ton of bad, then?


    -Not the way you might think. You see, at times social entropy is not a bad thing: I mean, who wants to live in a totally criminal society? No one, not even criminals! Nobody likes going in the streets and getting mugged at every step as a social costume. No one enjoys being robbed at night in their own houses. Those kind of crimes almost entirely died out, and pretty soon too.


    -Makes sense.


    He answered nodding with crossed arms.


    -Silent wars on the other hand, are still going strong, underground, through political and economical channels, which is revolting to me. We could have left our love for currency back on Earth if you ask me. Human nature, I guess?


    -What do you mean?


    -The passion my people have for getting money without really doing anything to earn it and love for power that only benefits themselves. Incidentally, this is why I want you.


    -I am afraid I don''t follow.


    -We need to take this society rulers down to their titled knees. People came here being burglars and robbers, and those who still are, think themselves worthy of picking new fancy titles. They have themselves called barons, princes and senators. I would like you to make this people''s life impossible until they fall apart; I want to target the untouchables of this planet, together.


    Before even considering Madame Boule''s proposal, E stopped for a moment and asked


    -Uhmmm, what do I get out of this?


    -For starters, I could teach you and Mr. Pope to use real magic.


    -So you would like to employ him as well? I won''t lied, that kinda makes this feel better.


    Simone caught a glimpse of relieve and immediately a creepy ¡°fat cat¡± content smile coming from the Rokian.


    -I get the feeling you are more complicated than what I originally prognosticated.


    -You have no idea Simone, but who am I to refuse a job? I would love having a contract signed and such, but I get the feeling this is not the kind of job you get an insurance for. So, when do we start?


    -Immediately, if you want. Say, before you have created a party, right? Invite me into it.


    -Okay. Party invite Simone Boule.


    Madame Boule received a party invitation, which she accepted, together with the Aw-k meta-enchantment; later she would change its color to a pleasant lavender with pearly white letters.


    She stared at the meta-enchantment with eager interest.


    -This meta-enchantment is way more advanced than anything I have ever seen. Where did you get it?


    Her scientist and collector souls were both on high alert.


    -Afraid I can''t reveal that. Nothing personal, but I am not too certain myself.

 Chapter 12 – Whats my name again?

    Simone was more than a little surprised.


    -So, I am to understand that you got this meta enchantment, but you don''t know how? You know Rokians don''t have magic right? You must have gotten it somewhere...


    -Not saying it ain''t so, Simone. I ate something and sure as hell there I was, thinking and magic ready. What was it? Where did it come from? I can only speculate, but the more I do so, the less convincing my theories sound, even to myself. Oh, and it was not even two days ago.


    She looked at E, searching deeply: the flow of energy inside of him was stable, the air about him relaxed... He didn''t seem to be lying to her. He didn''t really know what had happened to him.


    -Mmm. I undestand. Well, back to business. Here, let me enlarge my interface panel so you can see better into it too. This is my character sheet, as you may see: there is my name, my class and title. Underneath, is a list of stats and such. While this is all fine and good...


    E got to read ¡°Slumbering tree¡± under the title, ¡°Martial Artist, Disciple of the Yellow Flame¡± under class and finally her full name: Simone Gemma Boule.


    -The interesting part is that magic can be so much fun! If you click on the sidebar on the right, where it states RPG mode.


    She did so and prompted E to do the same. On his page, under Class was just stating ¡°Confused Trainee¡±, which made him smile; opening his RPG mode window, he got to see some kind of epic cinematic animated short video, with Aw-k''s voice over and lastly, he landed on a panel where two very cool looking figurines of himself were flashing back at him: one had a hood on, an elegant suit and a cane, busy in the act of giving shape to a mana creature with it, while the other was clothed in some kind of armor and had two axes at the waist, a shield on the back and mana coming out of all of them. On top of it all was this statement: ¡°Welcome to your story, mage. This is your first choice: what kind of enchanter do you wish to be?¡± his options were called Martial Artist and Spells'' Singer.


    -See? Isn''t this exciting?


    Simone could have been a little girl, the way she was jumping on the spot, all happy and gleaming.


    -I... it... my... what? What am I supposed to do?


    -Okay, first of all breath. These are just two of the options that the meta-enchantment has selected for you. In total there are four meta-classes which correspond to close range, the martial artist, mid range with the Slinger / Archer, and long to extra long range with the Shooter and Singer; all different types of mages. If you scroll right you can see the other two as well.


    As E did so, other two pictures of himself appeared, one wearing a hunting hood, perching on a branch with a slingshot, aiming at something far out of the frame, while in the other he was aiming two cannons, one per arm to the himself looking at the picture. He felt a fascination toward all of them, he thought, yet there was one screaming a little more to him; he clenched his fists hard to not let it out straight away.


    -Keep in mind, this are all just fighting styles for mages, not something that decides entirely of the quality of your spells. Remember I used fire magic to perform surgery, yet I am a Martial Artist. You can click on any of them to see what kind of techniques you could be learning.


    E did just that: there were so many... From the magic bolts and barriers of the Singer, to the plating and auras of the Martial Artist they all looked wonderful.


    For last, he checked the one he liked the most, the Slinger. His mid-range was all about covering his bullets and weapon in mana to obtain different effects, while the close combat specialized in short swords and avoidance. He was sold. He had so many ideas of himself rushing through his mind doing amazing things looking like the man in the picture he found himself salivating.


    -So, when do I choose?


    -We can do it immediately if you want, but I think it would be better to wait for Mr. Pope to join us, don''t you?


    E felt a little frown crawling on his scaly face, but he stopped it as soon as he realized it was there. It wasn''t the time to act like a totally spoiled brat. That being said he had been a sentient only for about two days, yet he did have all of the faculties and brains of a young man of his age, whatever that might be.


    He and Simone decided to split up and she left him in the room with Tommy, waiting for the man to wake up, while Simone would have done something on her own. Only boring adult stuff, she promised. All the time he spent waiting, E kept on looking at the suggested skills for all the different mage styles and he was in awe of those concepts: it was all so incredible. He was checking his stats and level-up page sitting on a very soft and comfortable armchair by Tommy''s bed when he started groaning and coughing.


    -He lives...


    E jumped to his feet and slid under the bed so that Tommy could see him face to scaly face. The Rokian was smiling.


    -So... you are alive.


    -So, you still speak.


    -A lot happened. Hi, I am apparently the first real sentient Rokian with a knack for magic. Cool, huh?


    -Nice clothes, can I stand up?


    -The doctor, Simone... the woman...


    E stumbled a little, not really knowing how to call her and finally deciding to go for a neutral


    -Madame Boule, said better not. Awesome woman, by the way. You should have a full recovery in about three days, but you can start walking already tomorrow, according to her. And she had to do two surgeries on you, one to salvage your collapsed lung and the other to fix your spine.


    Tommy was feeling very groggy. In his mouth he felt the taste of a disgusting stale mix of blood and anesthetic. He wished he had to puke. Not that he wanted to vomit on the Rokian, but that might have sent the bad taste away. Tommy had to ask


    -What happened to me?


    -Well, turns out Samson was a real bastard.


    -No shit.


    -He hit you on the neck with his cane. When he did that I jumped in for stopping him from doing anything else to you. You are so welcome.


    -Ah, thank you.


    Tommy hurriedly slipped in


    -Pssh... It was whatever. Anyway, I sang him the same spell I used on the big Tiganga today, only stronger.


    -He lost it! That song is called Intimidating Croak and it makes you afraid and paranoid, so he tried to kill us, aka the merchandise, which gave Simone an excuse to kick him out. You should have seen him, he was livid, but he tried so much to apologize. Simone said his trading days are over. Oh, he wanted to sell you as spare parts or something.


    Stolen story; please report.


    -That is messed up... Hey, what is your name?


    Asked Tommy realizing he didn''t know anything about the little guy.


    -Well, I don''t really have one, but I had a dream, or something, so I decided it has to begin with an E. Since you are the closest thing to a friend I have right now, I think you should be the one deciding the name, Tommy.


    -You know my name. How?


    -Magic, how else? I still need a proper name though so, start thinking. Oh, and since we are already in the thanking department: thank you for not hitting me on the head the other day with the rock.


    He said gingerly while clapping


    -Eh... Still not sure I did the right thing there.


    Tommy smiled mischievously before asking


    -Are you sure I should be the one to name you? For all you know, I could be terrible at it, or name you something silly.


    Tommy started coughing again and asked for some water, which E provided, together with a straw to drink it.


    -Thanks.


    The injured man sighed, more than breathing, a few times, then he went back to the names.


    -With an E... Ether?


    -Isn''t that a drug? A proper name, please.


    -Etrigan: I always loved that.


    -Mmmm, that sounds somehow nerdy.


    -Hey, is the name of an old comic book character. He was a demon...


    E cut him off with a freezing look and a long, low pitched


    -Neeeerd!


    -Your loss.


    Tommy said sourly, even though he had blushed a little.


    -I told you I would have sucked at this!


    But E was looking at him, waiting, all serious. He had to pick a good name.


    -E... okay, quickfire then, you stop me if you like one. Edward? Ethan? Emanuel? Erik? Esteban? Evan?


    -Now, These feel like proper people names.


    He interrupted Tommy one more time


    -I don''t hate any of them. Evan or Esteban, though... I don''t think I can pull those off. I''m not that manly.


    Tommy snickered.


    -Well, you don''t really look like an Edward or an Emanuel to me.


    -So, Ethan or Erik?


    -Can''t really say. You know what? Let''s look them up on the meta-enchantment. P-c.


    Tommy called, but nothing happened. His meta wasn''t appearing.


    -Weird, P-c is not coming up. P-c?


    He tried one more time, louder, coughing a little.


    -About that...


    E explained to him how he had to overwrite the old meta-enchantment and why.


    -Again, I am very sorry of having fiddled with your stuff, man.


    -Nah, if it is better, it''s alright. You know, P-c was just a hair shorter from being pointless crap in the first place, and I wasn''t even the one that decide to buy it: perks of being poor, sadly. Now, Aw-k.


    He called.


    -Hi, I am your awakening assistant, Awesome Kitty, or Aw-k. Nice to meet you.


    -Hey, aren''t you nice. Aw-k, could you please search for the names Ethan and Erik and tell us what they mean?


    -Sure thing, master Tommy. Ethan, Hebrew name meaning ¡°Strong, enduring, long lived¡± while Erik is a Nordic name meaning ¡°Powerful, forever ruler¡±.


    -Tank you, hot new enchantment.


    -You are very welcome, sir.


    -So, what do you fancy being? A powerful ruler or a strong and long lived man?


    E considered for a moment


    -Both strong names but to be honest, I don''t think I am someone who cares for ruling the others. Plus Rokians are not really about that... On the other hand I would love to live a long life.


    -Then Ethan it is. Anything else I need to add to it? A last name?


    -No, I''m good for the rest of it. Ethan R. Samhal.


    -R.? What''s that?


    Asked Tommy squinting his eyes questioningly


    -That is a secret.


    -Okay, Ethan.


    Out of the blue, Ethan turned his head towards the door and shouted.


    -Simone! I got a name: is Ethan R. Samhal!


    As he finished roaring that, someone''s voice repeated the name. One would have thought it was some freaky echo, but really it was very womanly, as voices go, and it didn''t sound at all like Simone. Tommy was the first to ask.


    -What the heck was that?


    -Magic of some sort, I think. Only, what kind?


    Ethan scratched his head with his talons, feeling rather puzzled.

 Chapter 13 – The Enchanter Pool

    Simone walked in the room.


    -Who was that just now? Someone said the name Ethan, three times.


    Ethan shook his head, peeking out from under the bed.


    -Hey there, come out and help me turn Tommy on his back, Mr. Ethan R. Samhal. By the way, what is that R. standing there for?


    -Wouldn''t you like to know...


    answered him quickly making both of his eyebrows go up and down in a funny way. One on each side of Tommy, Simone opened a drawer, fetching a collar from inside it.


    -Before we proceed with turning him we have to slap this bad boy on for support.


    -What is it?


    Asked a worried Tommy.


    -Just a collar, dear boy. Hold still: I''ll try and do it as carefully as possible.


    When that was done, with the same amount of care, they flipped him and raised the top of his bed so that he could see them better.


    -Now, if you feel up to it, Tommy, we would like to bring you up to speed on the current situation.


    -It''s alright. I can listen.


    Said him in a very guarded tone. For some reason he had no problem being less shielded with the young Rokian than he did with Simone.


    Not that he lacked motivations for not trusting shady merchants, as of late. When they were done with the show and tell, unlike Ethan, Tommy wasn''t as impressed: he had a bitter expression and was looking angrily at his magic interface.


    -So, your big plan is to put all of us in danger for some obscure reason?


    -Nothing obscure, Tommy.


    Said Ethan from his armchair raising a finger as to pin what he was saying to an imaginary board.


    -Look, I am new to thoughts and all, so maybe to you my opinion might not carry lot of weight, but even I understand that treating people the way these royals are, like less than trash, is no way of government and that creating slaves for fun, and thinking that all is allowed to them because they are self-proclaimed VIPs is disgusting. This is no small favor we would be doing for the whole Havenrock.


    -Glad that you feel that way, but this is not my priority: I am a trader.


    There was no whining or aggression in his tone of voice, he was calm, straightforward and direct, saying what he felt he had to with genuine honesty.


    -I have someone I have to help already, and it would be a fool''s errand too many, was I to add your chore to the list.


    Madame Boule stepped forward a little, promptly bottling Ethan''s rebuke in his throat.


    -Well, tell us about it: maybe we can help each other out. I mean, no offense but, at current, I don''t think you would go very far as an independent trader. You might have some contacts, but you have no credit, no merchandise nor means. While I really want us to work together and a trader might come in handy: a trader, might be just what we need.


    She said with emphasis.


    -And what would an ex-warlord turned profiteer need a trader for? I think you already have enough money to finance your suicide mission, don''t ya?


    -Cheeky boy... is not polite to ask about one''s finances, but we are not here to care about politeness. Yes, I do have... Plenty: money is not what I would be after. A trader is a perfect excuse, a believable cover for traveling the lands and possible source of information with the advantage of being able to go wherever he needs to be, whenever he wants to. Am I correct when I assume that you would only need to undergo your final test in order to become a certified trader?


    -Yes, you would be right... but it is not easy.


    -That, we can indeed help you with. You have no combat experience nor magic handling practice: should your final test involve exploration, wilds'' materials gathering, or even shady deals with third parties, you must be able to defend yourself.


    She paused for dramatic effect then casually asked


    -Tell me, as far as you know, how many are crippled or killed during the final tests?


    -Quite a bit... Actually, too many for my liking.


    -I don''t know why you need to be a trader to fulfill your personal quest, but we are your best chance, I would say.


    -And all of this help, just for some information gathering?


    -And again the chance to be where we need to without arising suspicions. A strike is only good if it can reach its target, is it not? We have to be subtle and outplay our enemies: also shooting in the dark is not an option. I am a member of the royal princes court, so I can give you contacts beyond your imagination for both trading and... Whatever else it is that you have to do.


    Tommy Pope averted his eyes, pointing them at his Aw-k, where his ¡°first choice¡± was showing him the four options, with the cards. His heart wasn''t light and he didn''t know if he could trust these people, but they had saved his life, so far: sure more than Samson would have ever done for him.


    -Alright, I don''t like making big mysteries out of something that is simple and so important to me. Teach me how to fight, help me out with my finals, and I will tell you what I need to do and help you with whatever you need, for as long as our paths will allow it.


    Ethan was smiling, looking at Madame Boule for confirmation: she nodded.


    -Very well! Gentlemen, we have a deal. And don''t worry, we will make it all legal: God knows the traders'' guild likes its bureaucracy, if nothing else, for covering their arses and screwing up people.


    Madame Boule firmly shook hands with both of the young men.


    -Where do we start?


    Asked Ethan, his tail wagging left and right so fast it would have made envy to a rattle snake. Tommy was trying to keep a calm and collected facade, but his engine was spinning just as much; he thanked the heavens he didn''t have a tail.


    Madame Boule clapped her hands then explained.


    -No matter what type of mage you guys will choose to be starting tomorrow, right now the day is almost over and I really want to give you time to think things through and not rush into this choice: it is an important first step that would take a lot of time to rectify in case you would want to change style later because you will learn and combine a lot of skills, for best suiting your magic''s type and your personal needs.


    -This evening, we will find out your natural element. It is a simple task that only takes maximum one hour, for what I have ever seen, but it is basic and necessary. Is it something you have done already, Tommy? Oh, can I call you Tommy?


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    -Little late to worry about that, but that is my name, Madame Boule.


    -Simone, if you please.


    -Alright. I don''t have my main element unlocked, yet. Samson always said there was some expensive procedure to fulfill, an elemental branding ceremony, and that I needed to save the money on my own.


    -I don''t know what he was having you save the money for, but to initiate the process you just need to go to someone who has an enchanter pond, which I happen to have in the other room. Allow me to go and grab it.


    Madame Boule left the room and, before long, Ethan was in front of Tommy, on a red chair.


    -Magic, man. We are going to learn flippin'' magic. How cool is that?


    Not really able to keep his hands still while talking.


    -It is... interesting okay? We might be awful at it, plus after a while it all becomes old skin and you won''t think about it.


    -Man, who pooped in your milk?


    Asked with a disgusted frown Ethan.


    -I am sorry. I am happy too, but it has been a weird pair of days, man and I have so many things to take in... I don''t know what I should be feeling. I am still alive, but I have to reconsider...


    he slowed it down grasping for words.


    -A lot, maybe all my life.


    Ethan patted him on the shoulder. Real life was messy.


    Simone came back not a moment too soon, holding a black velvety bag by its long cloth handles which didn''t look too heavy, judging by how she was carrying it with just one hand.


    -Here we go!


    She pulled a milky shiny ball of what looked like glass and dropped it with care in Tommy''s lap.


    -This is an enchanter pool. As you might see it is nothing fancy: just some water containing a spell and mana of all known types in it, plus a lot of neutral, element-free mana. Please, be careful not to drop it on the floor or it would create some kind of mini tornado with very unpleasant bells and whistles.


    -Usually having a go at this is available at any decent bazaar from ten to maybe fifty Thalers, depending on the city and occasion.


    -Right, another of Samson''s lies. I get it, being unable to pass the final exam meant less competition for him... And for me, following the man around like his minimal wage pet indefinitely.


    -Don''t waste energy hating him: he is a lowlife old school tough guy, a criminal at heart. Too many years of self-serving loneliness made it only worse. In his eyes he still made you an enormous service: I am actually surprised he paid you period.


    -Eh, I had to squeeze him hard to get that. That was actually the reason why he took me in: he said he had no need for spineless people.


    Madame Boule took a needle pen from the bag and put a fresh prod in it, then passed it to Ethan.


    -This is how it works: you use the needle to prick a finger, then let just one droplet of blood on it and enjoy the light show.


    -That''s all?


    Asked the Rokian with mixed feelings


    -Meh. We are humans: laziness comes natural to us, which also means making things easy. Once, this took a soul trip during which your spirit would literally abandon your body for entire days. It wasn''t too rare for people to be unable to get back.


    -I''ll take the light show, thank you.


    She giggled a little. Ethan was looking at the swirling Pool, lighted by sheer magical force, wondering what was going to happen. He winced a little when the needle pierced him then dropped his one red bead on the sphere. The blood stood on the surface for a few seconds, waiting for the water to be still, then sipped through what was clearly not glass and slowly fell towards the middle of the pool swinging like a dead leaf, leaving a smoky squiggly red trail behind itself. The light from the ball got stronger but Ethan couldn''t close his eyes: he tried moving back but he was like hot glued in his position, unable even to breath.


    It took him all he had got to muster the will to shut his eyelids, and got surprised, to say the very least, by what he experienced on the other side. It was a rainy and gloomy day: he had a cape on and some old rags, instead of the stylish clothes Simone had given him, a black snake waiting for him, hidden in a bush. What happened after, is already history. (Note: See chapter one)


    When it was all over, he found himself with his left index stuck in his mouth, his face all too close to the pool and, without wanting to, gasping, hungry for air, shaking, while filled by a strong mix of fear and anger: inside the ball was a simpler, smoky black rendition of the gigantic snake, looking at him with shiny blood-red eyes. Madame Boule got to his side, supporting him just before he could fall to the ground. The young man gazed at her face for a second, worried, then immediately looked back at the pool, but the ¡°thing¡± was already disappearing, sucked back in the mana that had started swirling once more.


    -Sit down, here.


    She helped him, passing him a glass of water too. The cold water helped him slow down his gears.


    -Magic. I saw things. I was... somewhere else, a gigantic black snake was chasing me, like that in the ball... I somehow had let it out of its egg. Then... I can''t really say what happened after, not sure.


    He took another long, generous gulp of water.


    -It was all so real: the rain, thunders, the pain... and I was so afraid. I almost died in there, but all I could think about was that I was failing myself, and you guys, and I didn''t want to, so I kept on going.


    He thought he was done talking about it, but he was starting to feel better, so he added


    -Tonight I am going have my first nightmare, for sure.


    -You saw all this?


    -Way more than this, man. A good thirty minutes of trying not to die.


    -It was no more than twenty seconds here, just the time for the enchanter pool to draw the snake with your blood.


    While they were talking, Madame Boule had taken out a paper booklet and was quickly flipping pages searching, until she yelled


    -Aha! Here you have it: one single black snake. It''s Shadow. Good to know. Never actually worked with your element, but I guess there is always a first time.


    -Shadow... is that a good or a bad one?


    He asked unsure of what to make of himself.

 Chapter 14 – Make your own decisions

    Simone looked at Ethan for a little while, pondering on the answer, before shaking her head in a happy denial.


    -There is not a good or bad element, they all have their good perks and can perform wonderful magic. There are many kind of different spells: some do depend on the user element, but in example quick battle enchantments, called combat magic, solely depend on easy mana and elemental transformation. Any element can use its own.


    -There are also complicated enchantments that require deep knowledge of mana manipulation and ¡°spirit magic¡± which is rare and unfathomable, also called ¡°miracle magic¡± and even neutral enchantments like... I dunno, a simple levitation magic that doesn''t depend on any element.


    She said, pointing her finger and making the enchanter pool hover a few inches above Tommy''s feet and back in his lap.


    -Okay, then, combat-wise, what is shadow good for?


    Ethan asked her like begging her to go the point.


    -Talking about real fighting, pretty much all elements, for what I know, can allow you to deal damage, defend and even heal people. You have seen me perform surgery with my fire tendrils, by modulating the yellow fire, I can heal people, black and red fire are the best for damage, while purple and black fire are the most suited for defense. Ask me why.


    -Why?


    -Because for what we know, the Black Flame, the most powerful of the Flames, was a badass woman named Dana with a passion for protection, kicking people and transportation magic, so she developed some spectacular techniques for just those purposes, using her Flame''s power. I am part of the yellow Flame school, which was created by the Yellow Flame, a man by the name of Ronan, which being married to an amazing healer, was influenced by her into discovering a way to heal people with his type of Flame.


    -Well, this is the first time I have heard about any of this ¡°Flames¡±. What are they?


    Asked Tommy


    -None of this is common knowledge, mind you. In the past people searched long and hard for these information, but I got it all through the Entropy libraries. It seems like the elements as we know them, Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Lightning, Life, Energy, Light and Shadow, are more complicated than what we ever thought, some even say they could be incarnated as ¡°people¡±, living among us.


    -Every one of them has a certain amount of prime elementalists, like some generals, which are dispatched wherever the element they serve orders them to. There is no fixed number to those generals. Mages found powerful enough or worthy enough in the past have been bestowed with their own ¡°color¡± and later stepped up to creating their own speciality.


    -Some planets worship those generals like gods among men. Joining their ¡°school¡± allows a mage higher learning of their techniques and for their mana to mutate to a more powerful state.


    -For what concerns the Flames, they are Fire''s generals. From what I have learned, there are at least five:  Red, Yellow, Green, Purple and Black Flames. Entropy is sure there are more, but the universe is too big for them to find out yet.


    The boys were both looking down, excitedly wondering about those unfathomably powerful entities. How cool would it be to create something out of nothing? Being able to become the voice and representative of one of the higher elemental powers? Suddenly their mental processes got critically interrupted by Simone which said happily


    -Hey, long faces... Return with your feet to the ground. Tommy still has to spill some blood!


    -Right... Never been a big fan of needles. Could one of you do the poking for me?


    Simone reached for the pen and told him.


    -I''m going to count to three, please don''t flinch or tense too much.


    Tommy closed his eyes and tried to get some deep breaths in, thinking away at somewhere, something remote and pleasant. He was slightly shaking, he knew he was going to get stung as soon as she was done counting.


    -One...


    As she started counting, she also released the needle


    -Hey... what happened to good old two and three?


    He barked


    -You know you are an adult and people might want to kill you in your line of work, right? Are you really going to give me attitude for a small puncture?


    Tommy didn''t answer, but instead looked at the ruby red blood starting to spill from the tip of his finger and carefully got it to the enchanter pool. Just like the first time, the vortex inside the ball stopped, allowing the blood to plummet to the middle. Ethan watched as Simone took Tommy''s finger and stuck it into his mouth as he froze, eyes wide open and unblinking, like in a daze, but incredibly focused on whatever it was he was seeing.


    -Look, it has started.


    Said Simone. The blood had exploded, dripping in all directions in rivulets that were painting a spectacular picture. It was something partially orange, with some brown too and finally a lot of green on top. With the passing of the seconds, the picture was becoming more evident: it was some kind of tree.


    -That looks a lot like a willow tree to me...


    It hadn''t been long and Tommy had returned, coughing once more and convulsing a little.


    -That was real! There is no way what I saw wasn''t REAL!


    He blurted out fast, half chewing on his own finger.


    -Simone, what is with you and sticking fingers in people''s mouth?


    Asked Tommy with ample raising of both eyebrows, scowling at her


    -Do I look like a cleaning lady to you? Dry blood is a pain to wash off, so suck on it until it stops. By the way, I went on and looked what the willow tree means, element-wise and, not surprisingly, it is a life element omen. Congratulations!


    Ethan was up and about, he tugged at Tommy''s elbow and asked with concern


    -What did you see?


    -Well, in the beginning I was suspended in mid air: I was so high in the sky I could see the clouds below. It was damn freezing and I couldn''t breath, but it didn''t last for long. It was hella painful though. As I started falling, I tried to keep telling myself it was a vision, nothing more, still I was crying from the air whipping me on the face while going down and I felt like puking. I won''t tell you the amount of swear words I used the closer the ground was to me. I was gonna land in a river, but just a few meters above the surface, I came to a halt, and I started rolling like a ball down a waterfall.


    -Of course the absurd jumped up even higher as I got to the bottom: there was another me. A buffed, stronger me, older too, meditating under the waterfall, making all things levitate and shooting them up in the air at times, not seemingly aware of any of this, and I... I mean he was taking roots in the riverbed.


    -You were becoming a plant?


    Ethan asked with an incredulous face


    -I guess so... oh, and there was some kind of little tree on the riverbank looking at me... Him.


    -Looking at you? Like in ¡°he had eyes¡± looking at you?


    -Yeah, I think he was my pet or something, he... or she, was so sad... I came back when I had become a full tree.


    Tommy was genuinely worried


    -Not the happiest of visions I''d say. Is that all?


    Asked Madame Boule while sending the enchanter pool back into its black bag.


    -Yes, I guess. I wasn''t happy of becoming a tree. I was deeply heartbroken: I could tell. I think that is why things were flying around like crazy, like I couldn''t really control myself.


    -Let''s hope for it not to be an omen of the future then.


    She said patting him on a leg.


    -Well, this is it for the evening. Shadow and Life: we got a lot of work coming our way tomorrow, trust me. Hugo will bring you dinner up here as soon as it is ready. Tommy, I guess you are a vegetarian, aren''t you?


    -How would you know?


    He asked with suspect, like she had violated him, somehow


    -It is rare for life users not to be. Those that aren''t, usually look more like wild beasts, which is not your case.


    Madame Boule didn''t spend the evening with the boys, leaving them with enough space for talking things over between themselves and getting to know each other better.


    Ethan though didn''t think it wise keeping Tommy up for too long: he had to rest all he could if he was to be up on his feet the day after. He left him to his own devices two hours after dinner.


    When he remained alone though, Tommy Pope couldn''t help but obsessing on his vision of his older self. The more he thought about it, the more he was getting convinced that what he had seen had to be a snippet of his future.


    What had happened? What, could scar him so much? Or what could require him to transform into a tree? And why did he even know how to? By the time he gave in to the sleepiness, he had asked himself so many questions he felt again like he was falling through the sky.


    A little later, Ethan was wandering alone in the house. He was feeling thirsty after all the talking, so he went to the kitchen. He had seen many fancy and tasty beverages inside the fridge that day, but as he had found out, the sugar in them made him even more thirsty, forcing him to drink water after.


    Knowing that, he went straight for a jumbo glass of cold water. Sip after sip he felt better, reminding himself though of his chugging in the forest. He wisely decided to drink more slowly. Turning away from the fridge, he noticed Simone in the balcony outside the kitchen: she was ¡°playing¡± with her fire, creating figurines.


    Getting closer, Ethan noticed weapons, animals similar to horses with their riders... It was an army, marching toward war, its ranks very close; it was was very accurate and serious looking. He managed to get behind her; just a moment before she could notice him, he asked


    -Bad memories?


    She turned, almost surprised, her face void of her precious, heartwarming smile


    -¡°There was never a good war, or a bad peace.¡±


    -What does it mean?


    -Well, you have never been in a full out war, and god knows I hope you never will: no one ever should. What that sentence means to me is that no matter the reasons for fighting against someone, war is always ugly and more often than not, has nothing to do with the people fighting it on the front lines. People die for reasons that are not theirs and ideals which they might or might not even share.


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    She focused her eyes once more on the moving little fire men


    -On Earth we always came out with so many reasons, but really it was all about money, with people trying their best at hiding the disgusting reality while also pulling the strings of conflicts.


    -Why becoming a warlord then?


    -It just happened, I guess. I wanted to protect some ideals and got caught into my silly blind straightforwardness without really being able to properly weight the up and downs of war. It sure got me prestige, respect and...


    She sighed


    -An empty house, but in the end, it didn''t free the right people and only got the wrong ones richer. I thought age had made me smarter, but no matter your years, ego will always put you into trouble.


    -Ego?


    -Pride, mixed with too much self esteem. But enough ghosts for tonight.


    She waved at the small bright red and yellow army and they disappeared, crackling, without even a puff of smoke, then she turned to talk again


    -I really want to ask you something: why did you accept to help me?


    -Is not like I have anything better to do, plus I really want to learn magic from you.


    He answered shrugging his shoulders.


    -That may be, but you sure had options. This is something that has a meaning for me, maybe for Tommy, since we are humans, but you... Your race has only been screwed by ours so far.


    He sighed


    -I get that, but let me ask you something too, before I answer: I couldn''t help but notice you have a house Rokian. Yet you are a very good person, I see that. How come you keep him here?


    -Hugo, my house Rokian, as many before him, is a creature I rescued. He had a nasty owner, you know; treated him like crap sun or rain, everyday. I stole him, so to say. Freeing Rokians from their imprinting is hard, but once done, I let them go in the wild. I know they don''t really have that big of a survival instinct, but I still think that to be a better life than being leashed, punished and tortured by mages.


    Ethan nodded


    -I would agree. What''s the deal with Hugo, then?


    -He came back on his own after two days. At first I thought he was scared or didn''t get the concept of freedom, but he kept on coming back. In the end, I just gave up. He doesn''t speak, but there is intelligence in that brain of his. Knowing him, made me understand the need of destroying this society''s standards even more. He cares for me but only does what he wants to. I never ask anything of him twice nor order him around.


    -See? That is why I have to help you: you are good. If I wouldn''t, you could get destroyed.


    -Why, aren''t you a good person too?


    He had surprised her once more


    -I sure hope not. Not that I think being a good person is a bad thing in itself, but how can I say when I don''t have yet seen both sides for myself? I have no interest in being a saint: I am here to watch and have a laugh while helping you and mostly myself.


    -I will try and keep that in mind, then. But I am relieved.


    A faint little smile shyly appeared like painted on her lips.


    -Really? What about?


    -You see, there is one thing that I have seen many times which is very dangerous: indoctrination mixed with blind hatred, young animosity or zealotry.


    -Okay, I really got very little of what you just said.


    -Right: making it simple, I forgot. An example then. Once, I got to see an archive interview of two kids, born and grown on two countries back on Earth which were very far away but still considered each other as enemies. One was a beacon of the western civilization, America, the other country was poor and deeply religious Pakistan, in the east.


    -The American kid, thought of life as full of opportunities, games and was somewhat attached to very shallow things, but in his defense, he wasn''t even eleven years old. The other boy had the same smile the first one had, but only talked about religion, hatred towards Americans and so forth. When they were both asked what was their biggest dream, the American kid answered he wanted yet another toy, the Pakistani kid said he wanted to die a martyr for the good of his cause.


    -Back in the day there was a lot of ignorance on both sides about religion. Religion though was just another control device: it was all a matter of blind hatred instilled into young people through legends and imprecise or invented stories.


    -Americans and westerners were called spawn of the devil, or demons and such, depriving them of an identity or a face, teaching to those kids that the only way possible was killing them all in the name of their God, which, of course never asked for any of those deaths. Not only that, but soon those grown in that hate, started killing even their own which had anything to do with westerners, deeming them corrupted or impure. In reality they were being manipulated and pointed towards an enemy they didn''t need fighting. Entire generations grew with the idea of demons walking on Earth and similar nonsense, thinking of themselves as saints which had to purge this evil. This is called indoctrination.


    They were silent for a while, before Ethan said with finality


    -Earth really was a bad place.


    -I can''t deny it. But now you know why I am happy you want to think and decide for yourself. Changing subject again, is there something you want to do right now?


    Ethan kept on thinking on the sad story she had just told him, but was able to let out a full sentence


    -I wouldn''t mind a movie: you said people from Earth used to watch them.


    Soon they were sitting in a cozy room with a soft white couch, watching a comedy: Simone had to pause several times to explain Ethan the jokes, but he still looked like he had a lot of fun. She laughed too. Once the movie was over, she brought her guest to his room and hugged him good night. Ethan couldn''t help but be bothered by the fact she had to go all the way down to hug him.


    It didn''t feel right. If that wasn''t enough, he had to stretch a lot to hug anything at all. The next morning he would start doing so much more and he could not think it being easy either: using tools, weapons... He could already see himself clumsily struggling with it and not being as fast as Tommy.


    He sat on his bed, which was soft and comfortable, way better than the cold ground in the forest. He looked down to his hands, then went to the toilet he had noticed when he had entered his room.


    As he stepped in, the lights went on: he looked around, but there was no stool in there or something that could boost him up to the sink. Even the other Rokian in the house, Hugo, was taller than him, although also older. He really felt short. Back in his room he grabbed a wooden chair of an exquisite hazelnut color and carried it in front of the sink. He climbed on the chair and finally was able to look himself in the mirror: he liked what he saw. He was a Rokian and there was nothing wrong with it... Still... He felt like that wasn''t one hundred percent right either and not only for the facts he had already thought of. He peed, washed his teeth and went back to his room.


    Somehow he felt he was meant to be taller. Hugo, the only other Rokian he could take as reference,  wasn''t just bigger, he almost looked like a different specie entirely. He was like those Generals Simone had told them about: he had mutated, somehow, while Ethan had not.


    He kept still for a while, still thinking.


    Somehow that word, ¡°mutation¡±, made a lot of sense to Ethan. The more he kept on thinking about it, repeating it in his head, the more he thought of it as true: Rokians could mutate, but he had no idea how... And yet it was simply impossible, given that Rokians were a fairly recent human creation... Or, were they? His dream would sure suggest otherwise.


    He kept on pacing back and forth, unsatisfied.


    He stopped, crossed his arms and started making his head bounce from one shoulder to the other.


    Soon he felt dizzy and decided it was enough.


    Next, he tried jumping... But he really couldn''t shake that ¡°not being right¡± feeling.


    Finally he sat back on the bed: his feet didn''t even touch the nice soft carpet on the floor. He opened his Aw-k. It was still flashing him the ¡°first choice¡± page: he looked at all the different versions of himself once more.


    He really liked all of them and, had it depended on him, or gotten the chance of taking it easy and just focus on the training, he would have tried all of them before choosing, but this was a time sensitive situation, he thought, and his guts were just aching for that slingshot fighting.


    Even looking at the cooler himself on the Aw-k card wouldn''t manage to make him fully happy, though. He cleared his mind and tried focusing on ¡°the one thing¡±. He silenced all the buzzing, the voices and thoughts in his head, the excitement, euphoria and all things which kept him spinning in circle, only searching for that one nagging, yet important, screeching voice.


    After a while he found it: the one thing that was really weighting on him, was how sad that embrace had him feeling.


    Ethan crossed his arms once again and laid on his back. Was this his ego, as Simone had called it?


    Was he thinking about this because he just valued himself too much? Because he had too much pride?


    There was a little pride inside of him, yes, but he decided it wasn''t just his ego poking at him. He stood there, silent and not moving for a few minutes, letting it all stew and finally he came to the ¡°logical conclusion¡±. He turned the page onto the skills and double clicked on ¡°Basic Human Anatomy¡±. As he did so, he got prompted


    ¡°Are you sure you want to activate this skill?¡±


    He really wasn''t.


    He still did it.


    He waited, looking at his arms, his fingers...


    After ten minutes, nothing had happened.


    -Weird...


    He fell asleep soon after, his last thoughts being for the useful Simone Boule, an interesting woman, and his beautiful room.

 Chapter 15 – Interrogatory.

    The time was a little later, that very evening. Most of the people had already gone home: poor people had no place in Havenrock''s society.


    Private armies were always growing larger because of rich people being showy, paranoid and egotistical. At the same time, criminal guilds were plumping up constantly as well. People everywhere had adapt to what on Earth would have not been considered a job.


    There just were no regular safe activities available: being a florist or a farmer or a factory worker was impossible; those were all Rokian''s jobs, which was just another way to say that rich people owned all those kind of places and only used unpaid slaves as working force.


    A Rokian would never be a decent barkeep though. Too much brain necessary: watering the drinks just enough, staying out of trouble, prioritizing, inventorying... staying out of trouble again.


    That was still a job for folks that knew how best to employ good common sense and all sorts of smarts. Perfect example, when a half drunk customer goes and, in his inebriated stupor, lets out having been injured the day before by a sentient Rokian, thinking that the barkeep was just some sort of serving appliance.


    In a Havenrock pub not only walls, but also chairs and tables had ears; Samson normally wouldn''t need to remember this basic notion, but he had recently terminated his relationship with the man whom usually avoided him trouble with a blunt weapon to the guy''s neck. Now, when something so troublesome was heard, it was to be reported to the competent authorities, which later would reward the concerned citizens.


    Hadn''t the barkeep done it, someone else in the pub would have. Someone would call this retribution of a karmic fashion, but even Tommy never saw Samson as anything more than a stepping stone on his path, so he didn''t even bother holding a grudge against the scumbag trader.


    Ten beers and just as many tequila shots in, the tavern keeper decided the man was cooked to perfection and it was time for a showstopping performance: he stepped out from behind the counter and went to the wobbly headed customer Samson to say


    -Man, you are done for the night. Should I call you a cab?


    -Who... are you? Boy, Tom... Tommy, is that you?


    Samson asked. For good measure, in Samson''s last tequila shot, the good barkeep had poured something spicy to ensure the present brain-dead outcome.


    -Sure thing, time to go home, buddy.


    -Right. Listen I... shorry for today. That bitch...


    He didn''t really make a lot of sense, while the barkeep shouldered him out of his precious establishment dropping him into a dark, padded carriage without windows.


    It was morning when Samson came to his senses, more or less. It took him a good fifteen minutes to get anything into focus.


    He didn''t recognize the place: it was a sad, desolate looking room with a table and one chair. And shackles... He smelled rubber all around, which meant the people that had taken him in knew about his element. There were bars on the door, small ones, just enough for glancing at part of the hallway outside and few other doors: it was, as he easily summed up, some holding facility, but way too fancy to be a regular prison.


    He had done nothing to deserve being in there, he thought... unless it had happened after he had gotten drunk. Something wasn''t right, but it didn''t look like he had options: he sat on the hard, rubbery chair and waited.


    There had to be some kind of surveillance in the room, because in the turn of ten minutes since he had started moving, a strange man had arrived at Samson''s cell door. This odd looking man was tall, more than Sam, he had a tremendous amount of muscle, but he was also too fat to be called lean.


    As he entered the room, Samson noticed a heavy stubble and two scars on his round face : one thin and long on the forehead and one, bigger and irregular on the lips, probably result of a metal puncher beating. The man, who was wearing a dark shirt on red Indian style pants and sashes, closed the door, showing his large back to Samson, evidently unafraid , then slowly turned around again with a tired look. He had dark bags under his eyes, full and purplish, clear sign of very little sleep. He had a small notebook in his left hand and, rushing through several pages, he soon found what he was looking for. His voice was forcibly calm and little weary, clearly trying to hide his more violent and feral nature.


    -Hello, citizen, my name is Bakool Faedani: you have been brought here because of rumors about your involvement with a sentient Rokian and therefore I am here to question you on the matter.


    -Listen baby face, I got a bad hangover and I have been pretty much kidnapped, haven''t I? I know guys in high places and I know nuthin'' about no Rokian. That''s all YOU need to know. You don''t want me here and I, sure as hell, don''t want to be here.


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    The interrogator''s face didn''t change in the slightest.


    -First question: is your name Samson Hauser?


    -''Course it is. Have you...


    He cut him off, uncaring.


    -Second question: did you or did you not get attacked by a Rokian while on your way to the city of Yeokia? Please, keep in mind that we have medical records from the county hospital showing a complex fracture of several bones in one of your legs.


    -I don''t have to tell you squat, and for the second time: I know nothing! So fuckin'' stop wasting my time and get me out of this dump!


    The other man sighed a little and without even seeming to have heard what Samson had said, simply repeated.


    -Second question: did you or did you not get...


    -Hey, are you taking the piss, fatass? I said I know nuthin'' at all about whatever it is you are yammering about with your fucked up pie hole.


    Bakool Faedai with the same enthusiasm of a sloth, moved his eyes on Samson


    -That is... Unfortunate. Citizen, I would like to inform you that if cooperation is not provided and if hostile behavior is shown, I am allowed to employ extreme measures.


    -You know what fat boy? I got enough of your annoying nonsense. Let me out of here! NOW!


    Samson got to his feet, sparked up an electrical shield that set the table half on fire and loaded big plasma projectiles in both of his hands. When he saw Bakool Faedani''s underwhelming reaction, (he simply pocketed his small notebook) Samson roared with exasperation and kicked the floor, sending lightnings flying all over the place.


    Bakool Faedani clapped softly, then tore the table apart like it was made of cheap paper. Samson panted more than breathing, fueled up by his own anger, and went for the throat.


    It was an instant, not even one meter to cover: Samson was sure he would damaged the other man badly... And to hell with his asinine bureaucratic stubbornness.


    Samson could almost feel the cloth coming in contact with his power, when the other man, at the very last moment, with a movement that wasn''t fast, but extremely precise, caught his right arm at the elbow, using just his fingertips. The old looking man saw the fingers getting covered in pale spiky rocks, before gently squeezing. The bones in Samson''s elbow area were no more, not just shattered, but pulverized.


    Interrogator Faedani was immune to Samson''s lightnings due to his opposite elemental nature, he didn''t need to defend, but he was indeed a bureaucrat at heart and this was simply what his training suggested.


    It took Samson a good three seconds to realize what had happened.


    When he finally did, he screamed like never before in his life, with a mix of terror and agony for what he had just experienced.


    Samson was fighting with all he had, trying not losing his mind, faintly thumping on Bakool''s big hand with his scrawny opened one.


    -More resistance. Again, not necessary, citizen... I need to remind you: you are doing this to yourself.


    Bakool, with the same mechanically precise gesture, grabbed the other arm, always at the elbow, and dusted another handful of bones.


    Samson''s eyes rolled backward and he started foaming at the mouth. Interrogator Faedani, sat the man back on the chair, but he immediately fell on the floor, wildly shaken by spasms of bone-shattering violence.


    The big muscular man sent sand to douse the flaming table, then focused back on Samson with just a hint of a satisfied smile for having done his job properly.


    Some time later, he didn''t know how much, Samson, taking very shallow breaths came to, immediately hoping he was dead. Like reading in his mind though, Bakool Faedani, emotionless as a broken gramophone which endlessly tires out the same bit of a broken record, told him


    -You are not allowed to die, citizen. Whenever you will be ready: second question...


    Death: Samson now knew there was a lot worse.


    Early morning, back in Yeokia, where Ethan, Simone and Tommy had gotten a nice and abundant breakfast with waffles, fruity jam, peanut butter, milk and cereals. Tommy was walking now, with the aid of crutches for not straining the newly reformed bones in his neck. The sun had indeed helped a lot, as had done the moon light.


    Oh, yeah... Also panic had ensued earlier that morning when Ethan had gotten out of bed.

 Chapter 16 - Brand new day.

    It was early.


    Ethan''s room had a gentle ray of sun dripping on him and warming him up, seeping life energy into his cold body like a reviving potion, bringing him back to life in the gentlest of ways, with birds chirping outside of his window. Everything was mellow. A small, confused smile was on Ethan''s face as he worked his jaw a few times, smacking his lips and rolling his tongue.


    He was undeniably still on a high from the day before and as soon as the room came into focus, he knew he hadn''t dreamed it all. His smile grew larger as he stretched in the middle of the bed. Nature was calling him to order and he snailed out of bed.


    As the young man entered the bathroom he sat on the toilet, not registering that it felt kind of weird. When he stepped on the chair he had left in front of the sink though, all he could see in the mirror was his navel.


    Still, it took him to try and reach for the sink''s handle to fully grasp that something was not quite the same. His hands were bigger, his skin different and less green, more human like in fact; worried, he looked at his bottom, where his tail still was as perky and floor-steady as usual.


    He was so happy of still owning a, now hairy, tail, he took it in his hands and hugged it like a little kid would have done a teddy-bear. He stepped down from the chair and looked in the mirror: he had a more human face, with dark lips, eyes that still had little of his old self, a nose, a full head of spiky hair, with his crests having become red hair in the forest of otherwise sepia colored strands.


    His head hadn''t changed in shape: he had still the same pointy chin and fine jaw, but his teeth looked less sharp and human. More than anything, he was taller, probably still less tall than Simone but more than enough. A little surprisingly, his clothes had grown on him during the night the same way they had shrunk the day before when he was done putting them on, still fitting him quite nicely.


    He wanted to scream his approval and joy, but he felt the need to surprise the others: he simply washed and went down the two ramps of stairs, turned left twice, tiptoeing, and stopped near the kitchen entrance, where thanks to his ears he knew, someone was already busy at work.


    Ethan was about to enter, when he heard fast steps coming rattling behind him: he only had the time to turn around when something hit him right in the middle, sending him flying. Crash landing on the floor, his already empty lungs were deprived by all air when Hugo came down thumping on his chest. The other Rokian took Ethan by the neck and then started letting out a high pitched scream, in order to call his master.


    Ethan felt the need of breathing, but really couldn''t.


    He tried to break the iron clad grip around his neck open, but Hugo was way stronger: the poor boy struggled for a few seconds, then it all went black. When he came to, his head was hazy, like somebody had shoved in it a painful cloud of cotton candy. Simone was slapping him on the cheek, beautiful as ever, but as he smiled and went to talk, she took one of the kitchen''s knives to his throat and said


    -Good, you are awake: care to tell me who you are and what you are doing in my house?


    -Damn, and good morning to you too, Simone.


    His husky voice felt more manly, but Simone was still not moving and was nowhere closer to lower her knife. He looked at her a little more serious and said punctuating every word


    -I am Ethan, okay? I used one of the skills I learned yesterday. In case that isn''t enough, let me refresh your memory: you bought me yesterday from a man named Samson whom thought it a good idea to cripple his partner, Tommy, which named me. Today we are to start training with you. Now, can you help me get up?


    -A skill did this to you? Which one?


    She asked sounding slightly less angry, but yet umoving.


    -After we were done patching Tommy up, I learned a passive about human anatomy that had an active aspect as well and... You are looking at it.


    -Let me see it.


    She simply said and he did just so, not wishing to get slashed first thing in the morning.


    When she was done reading, she said to Hugo


    -It''s alright, my friend, you can relax: he is who he says he is.


    Hugo looked at her a little vacuously through his leathery brown mask and returned to his chores. Ethan couldn''t help but think he looked like a serial killer with that thing on, but as he had learned the day before, Hugo''s previous master was an abusive one which had deemed funny chemically burning good part of his face off.


    Simone had given him the mask because every time Hugo would catch a glimpse of his own ruined face in a mirror, he would start moaning and screaming in a painful way. Ethan had been grateful for his good stars when he heard the story.


    Simone helped Ethan up and told him


    -You know this skill you can also deactivate, right? It is simply fascinating. This has so much potential.


    -Can anyone come and help me with the stairs?


    Tommy called out loud from the upper floor.


    -On my way, man.


    Answered a still wobbly Ethan.


    -Whoa, dude what happened to your mug now?


    Asked Tommy when the other young man had arrived


    -Cool, huh? And I still have a tail.


    -Magic is awesome!


    Whispered Tommy, then he added


    -This is not an illusion, right?


    -No, it isn''t. Oh, and Hugo knocked me out cold because he didn''t recognize me!


    -You probably deserved it.


    -I was sneaking behind Simone...


    -I rest my case.


    Later, after their breakfast, they went to the backyard.


    In order to get to what Simone considered being a suitable spot for what they had to do, they didn''t need leaving the protection of the house. A mention should be given to the fact that even if he was almost bursting out of his skin with excitement as well, Tommy didn''t allow himself to let it show, while Ethan couldn''t stop smiling like he had strings pulling at the sides of his mouth.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.The backyard, just like every other square inch of the grounds was totally barren and unsightly, with rusty metallic scraps, burnt remains... not fit for what Simone had in mind. After a short walk, they reached a corner of the house where a golden colored, mushroom shaped, piece of metal was resting in a seemingly casual manner.


    The woman whispered something, then knelt by the oddly shaped plaque and put her hand on it.


    -Please, sit down, close your eyes, mouths and ears. What comes next could be a little unpleasant otherwise.


    Ethan, now as tall as Tommy, helped him down in a circle Simone had indicated them, then they both did as told. What came next still felt very unpleasant, like someone had pulled them by the head hard and made them spin. It only lasted for a few seconds, but Simone sure wasn''t kidding.


    Still, at the end of it all, Ethan felt a little chilly; the air had changed. He could smell something very nice, like fresh grass, green undergrowth, tree bark. When he opened his eyes, he did it slowly, just to peek, in case whatever was going on wasn''t over yet.


    He couldn''t believe it, but what he had smelled was actually all around him: the trees, and the lush green... The full forest package. Simone had just closed the golden cup, hiding back whatever it protected and gestured Ethan and Tommy, who had opened his eyes as well, it was okay to remove their fingers from their ears. They did so and got back on their feet.


    -Very well, time to start, boys.


    -Wait a second, aren''t we even going to mention we are not where we were before?


    Asked Tommy, a little afraid.


    -What is there to say? You already summed it all up. I am a businesses woman that needs to go around a lot and wants to do it in the comfort of her own house: we left a magical empty copy of my humble abode back in Yeokia and transported all that was under the dome here.


    The young man replied a little sarcastic


    -As simple as that... Of course: silly of me to be surprised. How?


    -Money, naturally. A lot of them, to be precise, but on the black market pretty much everything is on sale, if one is willing to pay the price.


    -Thank goodness for human greed, then.


    Tommy whistled with admiration.


    -Precisely. Ethan is there something you would like to ask?


    -No, not at the moment, I just wanted to say: you rock.


    He gave her a thumb up.


    -Thank you very much. I don''t want to keep you standing for too long, Tommy, so I will try and be short: we are here to teach you how to sense and emit mana through exposure to your own element.


    She had taken a very martial and serious posture, squaring her shoulders with legs slightly spread and hands behind her back, underlined by her thick hair pushed together in a sober low tail.


    -In your case, Tommy, this involves you getting deep into the Life, while for you, Ethan, the Shadow.


    -And how do we do that?


    Asked Tommy, slightly concerned for himself.


    -The ideal situation would be for you to be swallowed by a gigantic animal, but that would imply for you to be digested and for me to be punishable for animal endangerment.


    She shook her head with a sigh


    -So, we are going to settle for the next best thing: I know of a hollow tree which is still alive in that direction.


    She pointed towards the east with her right hand.


    -You will enter its trunk and try and have the mana flow from him to you and out. Ethan, you will help lowering him in and then you will do the same in a nice shadowy place. Now, follow me to the tree.


    -Did you really consider the idea of feeding me to an animal?


    -Come on... It was a joke. Unless you know where we can find a Mega Pommel, or similar, that doesn''t like eating humans.


    She didn''t sound too convincing. A Mega Pommel, by the way, was a gigantic round sea clam, native of Havenrock, as big as a tennis court and always hungry.


    -Funny, really. I am laughing, on the inside. Just waiting for the outside to catch up.


    Said Tommy bitterly dragging his words.


    After about a minute, they had reached a tree of the dimensions of Earth''s average baobab, with a fat middle and widely spread branches, which had a serious crack in its bark, wide enough for a crouching man to step in, probably the former hovel of an oak bear, a big red furred omnivore rodent.


    -This is where you young gentlemen will be sitting for this exercise. Before you do that though, I want you to listen to me for a moment. You are both already awakened beings, which means, to a certain degree, you should be able to feel the energy of your element.


    -This exercise is not unlike dipping yourselves into a river, how strong the current will be, depends on how strong you are able to feel it, but just like for a river, its flow could be strong enough to carry you away and even drown you. That is why I want you to never lose grasp of your concept of self and on your surroundings.


    -Finding something strong enough to anchor you to reality is the best way to go. It can be a smell, a sound, an object you touch... just take something from this wonderful lush forest and bring it inside your experience, alright? Something that, for you, is unquestionably real.


    -Why, you make it sound very dangerous.


    Said Ethan.


    -Well, it really can be: the mana is by all means like a living thing. It is part of us and an energy residing into all things. It is your first time and you don''t know how to float in these waters yet, let alone swim. I would like to avoid accidents, that''s all.


    She looked at him encouraging and yet seemingly very concerned.


    This was not a joke.

 Chapter 17 - Where did you go?

    -Understood. Let me think: an anchor...


    Tommy went mentally through a list of all things surrounding them and decided to be literal: he chose a rather gigantic rock and with some help made it roll into the tree, where he sat down hugging it tightly.


    -Alright I''m set. What do I do when I get in contact with the mana around here?


    Simone smiled a little at the scene, but the determined face of the blond, short haired man demanded respect; she felt whatever he wasn''t telling them, gave him all the motivations he needed.


    She only hoped for it not to backfire onto him somehow.


    -Your body should try to automatically absorb the mana and get tuned to it. Mana will flow into your body through the blood and major organs so, later, letting it out from, say... Your fingertips, shouldn''t be too hard. Remember, Life''s favorite mana channels are the breath and taste for letting it flow in and out, so try and concentrate on those at the beginning.


    -Is that all?


    -For now, yes. Good luck, Tommy.


    Ethan, had found a spot under the same tree, in the middle of its trunk''s shadow and thought it appropriate, but before sitting down he asked. No matter where he looked at though, he didn''t feel any connection. The only ¡°thing¡± was... Her.


    -Simone, would you mind being my anchor?


    He asked


    -Sure I could, but why?


    -You said I needed a strong feeling to make me stick here, so on the top of my head, I thought that if I held your hand, it would be hard for me to get lost.


    -Alright then. For feeling the shadow, you should try using your skin and eyes at the same time, so I suggest you look intently at it while barefooted.


    Without losing time, Ethan took off his shoes and planted his feet to the ground.


    When he was all set, Simone gave him her hands: she was tall, so her hands were proportionally big, but soft and smooth, airless, with nails just slightly arching over her fingertips. A safe hand. Ethan held them without squeezing too much, not wanting to hurt her.


    He cleared his mind a little and started staring at the shadow in between his feet, unblinkingly, at fist, but without really understanding what he was meant to do. When he finally gave up on that silly attempt, he shifted a little, relaxed his shoulders and felt a little encouraging squeeze coming from Simone. He controlled his breath and really started focusing on the shadow in front of him, thinking of it as a living organism, trying to keep in his mind the picture of a river and a rock.


    He could feel a little prickly sensation under his feet, not sure of what it was meant to be.


    Still controlling his breath, he let go of Simone with his left hand and touched the floor, no, the shadow he was sitting in.


    The sensation was on his hand too, real and a little unsettling. Still he knew it wasn''t enough, he didn''t feel any strong energy try to seep into his body. Simone had said that the energy was indeed meant to start flowing into him, but how was that to happen if he was the rock in the river? Maybe if he was some kind of sponge, instead of a rock... A fish maybe, something or someone who would naturally live and interact with that environment...


    He was going against what she had told him, but still he tried to shift his mental image, thinking of himself as a big black-green fish. Keeping on caressing the shadow, he really sunk in his new self image, he was swimming upstream, breathing the water, feeling it, needing it. Gradually, his feeling for the shadow started shifting, now it was less of an itch and more of an oily caress.


    As that was happening, he heard a whispering sound buzzing in his ears, quiet and distant. A persistent, annoying little thing he couldn''t get a grasp upon.


    Redoubling his focus on his element, trying to push the noise aside, he realized the shadow he was looking at had changed color, being more sepia now; it was warmer too and more welcoming. Ethan kept on swimming, in his head, gulping it in, concentrating on how that had to make a fish feel: probably normal, as breathing would to him and yet different, refreshing, life-giving... And he felt instinctively grateful.


    When that happened, looking around, he could see that everything was getting higher, which in a far corner of his brain, translated ¡°no, you are getting lower¡±, but he didn''t really pay it any attention: he was a joyful inhabitant of the shadow river, and it was just normal for him to be inside of it... Lower... Deeper... Right?


    Simone at first had thought nothing of it: she didn''t know enough of shadows to react either way, but when Ethan had sunk in it up to his waist and had grown weaker on his hold, she tried pulling him back.


    She could have benched his weight three times, dead weight, but for some reason, he was there, smiling like an idiot and going down in spite of her efforts: she had told them about ¡°drowning¡± into their mental river and losing themselves but this was ridiculous. There he was, knees still up to his chest, neck deep into the oily shadows, his hand being held up by Simone, which tried to pull him up with all she had, apparently to no avail.


    He was dragging her down and she really couldn''t touch the shadow either, afraid of following him wherever he was digging himself into. All she had left to grasp on, out of the shadow pool, was his hand, but soon, against her own will, she had to let it go too: apparently the shadows, to whom she didn''t belong, acted like an acid or poison, and she was feeling her skin burn.


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    Once he disappeared, she mended her hand as fast as she could from the burnt, but the shadow that she had on was still spreading on her skin, sinking into her, forcing her to badly burn her own arm in order to cleanse it and then restart the healing technique on a blackened, almost charred limb.


    It barely took a minute for her to be fine: looking at the shadows where Ethan had disappeared, she couldn''t see trace of the sepia liquid, it was just a normal, plain shadow of a big tree. She decided she would have taken care of it somehow, but before that, she had the feeling she needed to check on Tommy. She circled back around the tree, still searching for signs of ¡°something¡± Ethan related, soon able to see the other man, in his hole, surrounded by very small twigs that were sending greenish spheres through his mouth and nose, while he kept on breathing them in.


    She would have waited for him, under normal circumstances, but decided not to and coughed; when that didn''t really give the desired result, she called his name, several times, with increasing impatience in her tone. The fourth time, he finally came back. He was, for what she could tell, alright.


    -How did I do?


    He asked without daring standing up due to his head spinning like he had been in a centrifuge instead of a ¡°river¡±.


    -Well, I think. We will see about how well later, Tommy. Right now we have a big, ugly problem with Ethan.


    -What did he do now?


    He slowly got up, steadying himself with the tree.


    -He was focusing on feeling the shadow''s natural energy and he lost balance, he got in too deep for his first time and overdid it: long story short, the shadow reacted to him and swallowed him.


    He stood slack jawed for a moment before asking


    -What kind of risk could he be in?


    -A person lost inside an element could get overwhelmed, and if not in control of the energy fluxes, get turned into a mana husk, an unstable and usually deformed monstrosity, so we gotta be fast and get him out of there.


    -What the hell? That could have happened to me as well?


    -No, not really... I mean, for it to happen on a first exposition would be as rare as being struck by a lightning on a clear day: no newbie normally has that strong a pull towards the elements in the beginning. The only mana husks I know of, are people that actually decided they wanted to become such creatures.


    -Okay, first awakened Rokian: he couldn''t be any further from what you would call normal.


    -You can blame me later young man, right now I need to try and pull him back out of there and I need your help.


    -At least you have a plan: what do we do?


    -Come with me.


    She went for Tommy, thinking of helping him walk, but he abruptly declined. Realizing he had overdone it he said.


    -Thanks, I think I can manage now, really. I feel like the mana I absorbed has taken the pain away, somehow.


    They moved towards the place where she had lost Ethan and Madame Boule sat down.


    -Go and find a long branch: it needs to be still green and possibly clean of prickly bits.


    As he started to move, Simone traced a flaming rune in the air and begun charging it. Tommy didn''t need looking too hard to find the kind of branch Simone had asked for, still attached to its tree: they were in a forest after all. He took care not to damage the trunk too much and pulled it away, cleaning it from leaves and twigs as fast as possible.


    -What now?


    He asked carrying the branch in front of himself feeling nervous.


    -This I am preparing is a magical rune that is normally employed for a spell called ¡°Trill Trap¡± a lure for mana sensitive beasts. As soon as ready, I will apply it to the branch and you will swing it on top of the shadow. At the same time I will send energy inside the shadow, trying to destabilize it one more time so that Ethan will be able to see the lure from the inside.


    -This will really drain me, since I don''t belong to the shadow element.


    -While all this happens, I will not be able to move, so you have to be the one to pull him out using the branch like if you were using a fishing pole. The Trill Trap should become the hook Ethan will latch to... pull horizontally in order not to break this magic line.


    She recommended, attaching a fiery string to the branch.


    -And before you could object in any way, at the moment, this is our best bet for getting him out of there fast.


    -I didn''t say a thing!


    He reassured her, secretly putting to rest all of his buts and ifs


    -Let''s fish ourselves a frogman!


    Tommy sighed seriously worried for his friend.

 Chapter 18 - The dark kingdom

    Just in case someone might be curious about what was happening to Ethan, the young man was just done floating, or better, sinking, into the sea of shadows and had touched some kind of bottom.


    In his mind though, he was still swimming, free, against the current, breathing in the vital dark water, kinda surprised of how long this process was taking, yet very at peace with the whole, smiling in a very silly way.


    The silence he perceived was mesmerizing, leaving him deeply connected to the shadow energy: he really could feel it becoming part of his being, sustaining him more than food or even air.


    He had to wonder how he had survived until that moment without it. If only it wasn''t for an annoying clacking sound that had started thumping at his ears, he would have wished that experience to last forever.


    Thinking still about sounds, he noticed all the birds, had disappeared, which wasn''t normal... Opening his eyes seemed like a crime, something blasphemous that would ruin everything, but he had to see what was going on.


    Before he could get anything in, he felt a very sharp pain coming from his right arm: looking at what it was, he almost wished he hadn''t.


    There was another forest around, all colored in tones of sepia, wilder and more peculiar in shape than the one he was before and, of all the places, he had landed on top of a gigantic centipede''s nest, a creature way longer than Ethan''s current height.


    If that wasn''t enough, while the "cute little animal" was trying to nurse her eggs, Ethan was shamefully resting his head on top of them, to which, big momma centipede had reacted by stinging him in the arm. The limb was bleeding and felt already very numb. Ethan could also feel something crawling uncomfortably underneath his clothes; probably several of the centipede''s kids.


    Slightly terrified, Ethan had to resist the impulse of peeing himself, followed by that of panic and tears; he wanted to scream, but having already seen other very possible predators around, he tried to stop himself, breathing out a very long yet soft ¡°ahhh¡±. Noticing Ethan''s lack of movement, the shiny centipede was now slowly going for his neck, crawling on top of him fast. It took a deep breath and hissed heavily, coiling back before attacking the poor man.


    Without having the luxury to care about the other predators or  what was going to happen, Ethan flexed the muscles in his abdomen, clenched his fist tight and from the diaphragm, he ¡°vomited¡± a scream which was the same as his ¡°Intimidating Croak¡±, yet quite different. He tried to distract, maybe harm the centipede, or somehow making it back away, charging his voice with what he thought was the mana energy he felt had sipped into his body.


    While all of this happened, Ethan was thinking ¡°I don''t want to be eaten! I want to survive and get stronger... I don''t want to be food!¡±


    Once the voice and energy left him, Ethan felt all of his muscle burn for a moment and then drop to an icy coldness, understanding several muscles in his torso were damaged due to the immense pressure the spell had applied to them.


    The sound he emitted was thunderous and angry, able to shake the ground and make lesser beings faint on the spot. Later, he would decide to name this new advanced skill ¡°Demons'' Croak¡±.


    He had acted on instinct, not even stopping to wonder if a centipede had ears... Which it didn''t.


    Yet the skill was way more than a sound: it slipped in with ease through the cracks of the beast''s chitinous skin, through its comparatively small mouth and shook it wildly, creating severe damage and paralysis.


    A few seconds later, the gargantuan body, trembled a little, spewing some nasty gray body fluid and then flopped down on top of Ethan. It was still slightly twitching, but the centipede was clearly unconscious.


    Ethan was struggling to breathe, so heavy was the beast on his chest, exhaling rancid and probably dangerous vapors on his face. The boy struggled for a little while, but eventually broke free.


    Ethan rolled out of the nest, which was inside a circular hole level with the ground, and went back to his feet. Still feeling troubled by what he knew was under his clothes, he slowly jumped on the spot, while whipping his head and arms like a wet dog.


    When at least five centi-kids fell to his feet, he shivered with disgust.


    Ethan reached for his left pocket while backing away from the nest some more and pulled out a tissue, together with another small hatchling, which he gently flung back where it belonged. Swearing under his breath, he tried to stop the bleeding onto his arm with the tissue; with a few attempts, he had more or less managed, but he really couldn''t feel his right arm at all, not a good sign.


    He decided to keep moving, even though it wasn''t a very easy task, with the ¡°air¡± around there being really as thick as water.


    Ethan was sweating and he had difficulty swallowing, but he wanted to get to somewhere he could be a little safer: he didn''t know what effect his ¡°Demons'' Croak¡± had had on the other animals around, but he rather not find out from up close.


    All he could see around though was forest, in all directions. He decided up was probably the only way to go: he vaguely remembered falling after all. He trudged to the biggest tree he could see and looked for some spot with enough nooks and crevices for him to climb up.


    When he found the right place, he started going up a root, careful not to slip and fall. It wasn''t too arduous a task, but he had to keep going with just one arm and, as soon as he had  reached the vertical part of the climb, he started feeling dizzy and a little feint, breathing harder than he imagined. He tried to keep on going, but for all his efforts, after a good minute he had only gone up something shy of a meter.


    -Need a hand?


    A powerful old voice hissed all of a sudden, giving him a startle.


    -Who are you? And where are you?


    Just as he had started looking around for this mysterious man, from higher up, an enormous spider had appeared, inching down with the help of a silky thick thread. The difference in size between this spider and mother centipede was the same which ran between a basset hound and a great dane. Ethan didn''t know really a lot about spiders, except that they always walked on top of him when he still lived in the wild and that once, a small one, had deposited its eggs in his ear.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    He used to eat the big ones too. He hoped this one didn''t know about that habit of his: he wasn''t ready to be anyone''s meal, but probably neither were all the tarantulas he had munched on...


    They sure didn''t taste bad, he recalled... But he had to force himself out of the ¡°kitchen¡± and into the now. This spider was less than three meters away and Ethan didn''t want to have to dodge another bullet, nor he thought he had the energy, so he whispered once more


    -Where are you? Can you help me... Please?


    -Why, can''t you see me? I am coming, be quiet. Oh, and be very, very still, alright?


    The only reason he could think of why he had to stand still was probably because that particular spider had trouble seeing unmoving targets, yet the giant seemed to go right for him without any problem.


    ¡°What is with me and big damn crawling beasts?¡± Ethan wondered, breathing heavily, in spite of what his brain demanded. The spider''s butt was in his face, and very much so; the animal stopped his descent and planted six of his eight legs on the tree trunk, turning his majestic bottom and revealing a dangerous, heart stopping, line of eyes and teeth, all suddenly pointed at little Ethan.


    -Absolutely, don''t move now...


    The rasping voice said once more, and an instant later the spider spat a small web on Ethan''s forehead.


    -There you go! You should hear me way better now, right?


    He did hear it loud and clear indeed, nor rasps, no hisses; just a happy, nice manly noble voice. To say Ethan was confused wouldn''t really suffice, but he didn''t dare remaining speechless in the face of this unknown situation.


    -Yes... Sorry for the stupid question: are you by any chance the big ass spider in front of me?


    -No need to be rude, young man. I am on a diet...


    The spider frowned turning all of his eyes a little down.


    -Oh, sorry, I didn''t mean it like that... Is that... I don''t feel well.


    -Yeah, I can smell the Gruepaa''s toxin on you. Is there someone who can help you with that?


    -My friends are probably looking for me, Mr...


    -Darrel, and no last name or Mr. needed. Now, where should this friends of yours be?


    Darrel asked looking around.


    -Up, I think. That is why I was... trying to climb...


    Ethan was fighting with his brain and eyes to stay awake.


    -No need to add anything else, little man. I''ll take you as far up as I can.


    -Thank you.


    He said, really meaning it and feeling a small amount of regret for all of his previous eight legged meals.


    Darrell walked behind Ethan, not hitting him once with any of his skinny legs, and pushed his head between the man''s legs.


    -Try and hold on...


    -Ethan.


    -Right, nice to meet you. Here we go!


    Darrel let go of the tree trunk, but instead of falling he climbed up, emitting mana from all of his legs'' tips and swiftly, walked up. In no more than five seconds they were already above the treeline. Darrel looked up once more, seeking for some trace...


    -I think I see them!


    In the sky was a white hexagonal rune, moving back and forth, but Ethan didn''t answer. Darrel noticed he had stopped moving and his legs felt weak on his waist, like they had no strength. The spider rapidly tied a thick web around them and up the man''s waist, before rushing up. When he was in range, he spat another thread, in the direction the rune was, hoping for that to be his actual goal.


    On the other side, Tommy was still busy waving his stick on top of the slowly boiling shadow puddle, when some white stuff, hit the branch hard and started pulling.


    -What the heck is that?


    He gasped.


    -Good news, I hope... pull now, remember...


    -Horizontally, yes! Here goes!


    -Slower, don''t break the thread.


    Cautioned Simone, not expecting that three seconds later, she would have found herself up close and personal in the face of a very big spider. She almost did let go of the shadow pool, when a hissed raspy voice told them


    -Hi, I am a spider, my name is Darrel, he is Ethan, and I hope for him you are his friends. He got stung by a nasty one, a Gruepaa, a poisonous centipede of my kingdom.


    Simone slowly nodded.


    -You are... A king?


    Asked a very incredulous Tommy.


    -Among other things... The toxin should be harmless if heated up, but I am almost sure it has already reached his heart. Good luck! If Ethan survives this, tell him to come and say hi next time he is in my realm.


    Simone nodded once more and hurried to Ethan''s side as soon as the spider had gone back through the ¡°Trap¡±. She would have liked going to her operating chamber but she couldn''t take the risk of moving Ethan and let the poison in his body for even a single second more.


    They had to take action.

 Chapter 19 – Mommy! Mine!

    Simone looked at Ethan and licked her lips in concentration, pondering on what to do for a short moment. He had a purulent looking gash on his right arm which was dangerously purple and bulgy.


    -Aw-k, look up centipede''s bites and what temperature is required for making the toxins innocuous.


    -Result found: the required temperature is between forty two and fifty degrees Celsius, master.


    -Alright, interface with Ethan''s Aw-k through the party system and let me monitor his blood''s temperature.


    -Establishing connection with peer; connected. Request for blood temperature monitoring granted.


    The Aw-k opened a page with an embellished big thirty eight on it.


    -Very well: I''m going to heat his blood up, let us know when at least ninety percent of the centipede venom is deactivated.


    In order not to risk killing the man, Simone had to keep the brain from going above the forty two degrees, the lower the better, so she sent her first tendril to the head, then, piercing his body with lots of fiery needles, she wrapped her power around all major arteries.


    The trick was leeching heat from the brain while giving it to everything else. She started a low intermittent heat, with short 0,1 seconds exposition and 0,2 seconds of shut down. In ten seconds the temperature had reached forty five degrees.


    -Toxin thirty six percent deactivated.


    She couldn''t keep the temperature that high for long, or she could damage the heart, lungs and all major organs. She tried to make the temperature spike higher with longer shut down periods, looking at the interface where she could see their effect.


    -Toxin seventy seven percent deactivated.


    Ethan''s blood had started expanding and she could see the veins in his body swell up; his nose was already bleeding and he started coughing blood too. She had to stop soon... But not yet.


    It seemed to take forever: Simone wondered if she had arrived too late, or her magic had been too strong. She knew she needed Ethan. She couldn''t lose him for something so silly: he was her key. What felt like an eternity of anguish, really didn''t take more than thirty seconds. Aw-k gave the message


    -Goal reached! Toxin ninety percent deactivated, master!


    As the magical intelligence said so, Simone carefully started pushing the heat out, until the man''s body reached a stable thirty six. The remaining ten percent of the poison he could have eliminated on his own, she hoped. The minuscule holes in Ethan''s body healed on their own as the tendrils went out and he started breathing better. It was a good signal.


    -He still needs a blood thinner and nutrients. Hugo, do you mind getting them?


    The Rokian appeared from behind a tree, gave a little bow and ran back to the house.


    -Simone, is he going to be...


    Didn''t dare to finish asking Tommy


    -I think so. He could wake up any moment now. If he doesn''t, we are in trouble. Before then...


    Simone stitched up the spot on the young man''s arm where the two stingers had pierced him originally injecting the venom. Hugo in that small amount of time had already arrived with a baggie containing saline solution, some small vial, glucose... And a banana. Simone hung the saline bottle around Ethan''s neck after putting him in a sitting position and stuck its needle into a vein in his arm. When she did, Ethan let out a loud


    -Ouch...


    before slowly opening his eyes. Trying to sound reassuring he nonchalantly said


    -Hey!


    -Don''t you dare! Didn''t I tell you to keep yourselves anchored? Not even ten minutes and you lose it! What the hell where you thinking?


    Ethan opened his mouth and was about to put together some kind of explanation but before actually being able to let words out, Simone started again, while pouring in the saline bottle some of the other stuff


    -No! I don''t even care! It was wrong! So, you better shut up!


    She slapped him soundly on the forehead, but as she did so, from between Ethan''s hair something small and black with a trident pattern on its head sprung forward and tried to bite her. The animal was very close in resemblance to a bush viper, with its leaf-like scales, but had small wings tucked to its sides and a wide fin at the end of its tail; still looking angrily at her, the creature went and slowly wrapped itself around Ethan''s throat, barely long enough to hold on to it.


    Simone was suddenly very still and quiet, while Tommy had stepped back a little and was aiming his pole at Ethan.


    -What is it?


    He whispered slowly


    -Shadow Gobbler... I think.


    It was the "death incarnate" he had seen in his vision: it was here, in the flesh, hanging by his neck as a living piece of jewelry. Had it followed him for devouring purposes?


    -Take it off of me. Please.


    -Alright, stand still. I will open the shadows again. Tommy, get close with your stick and as it bites into it, fling it in.


    -R... Right!


    The man said from behind her. Simone concentrated all the mana she had left in a second attempt at opening a gate with an element she didn''t posses control of.


    Not only it was vexing on her body, but it also was an incredibly tall order of not elemental mana coming out of her which was going to deplete her mental prowess to refine.


    She knew she was not going to be able to do it any more; not that day, at least.


    Ethan was trying his best not to freak out, still remembering the amount of destruction, the Shadow Gobbler had brought in his vision, yet knowing he couldn''t really react with his body still half paralyzed by the toxin''s aftermath.


    With no little effort, Simone made the shadow became semi-liquid once more while Tommy made his branch dance in front of Ethan''s face. It didn''t take long before the snake grew angry enough to attack the annoying thing.


    As planned, the tall blond man, with a single fast swing, dropped the animal into the shadows, together with the pole, for good measure. Seeing that the deed was done, Simone, quick as lightning, interrupted the flow of energy. Her head was spinning and she was covered in sweat: she slowly fell to the ground with a small coarse groaning sound.


    For about ten seconds, they all faintly rejoiced of their success. Then, seemingly unscathed, as nothing had happened, with slow flaps and resented looks all around, the Shadow Gobbler came back and took possession of its place at Ethan''s neck once more. As Darrel had done before, the beast said something, something none of them were ready to hear.


    -Mommy! Mine!


    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.SHE had a young girl voice, and soon started purring, while ¡°kissing¡± and brushing against Ethan''s neck.


    Tommy, in spite of the potentially catastrophic situation, couldn''t manage to resist the strong call of a well placed zinger


    -Congratulations: you have my vote for mother of the year. Now, care to explain?


    -Explain what? I had no idea! The real mother must have left her in that monster''s nest, probably to feed on it and its eggs.


    -Alright, I retract my previous statement: Shadow Gobbler''s momma has my vote for mother of the year.


    On the side,Simone sat up and nodded to herself.


    -It must be like Ethan said: he was the only thing in there this young creature didn''t see as food and therefore, thought of him as a good candidate for "mothership".


    -Huzzah! I think she is cute as a button, but what will happen when she understands that I am not in fact her mother?


    Asked Ethan, caressing the small snake''s head.


    Simone was unsure, but she was thinking ¡°when life gives you lemons...¡±


    -Well, to be honest, as far as I know, Shadow Gobblers at times eat their parents so... This one not yet having tried to, makes me think you are safe. At least for now. Talk to her, teach her... She might be a valuable asset. If she doesn''t kill us, that is.


    -Have you both got your coffee with two shots of crazy, this morning?


    Asked Tommy


    -Are we actually considering the idea of keeping her around?


    Ethan tried to explain


    -Maybe not, but I don''t really feel like trying to...


    He mimicked a strangling gesture not to let his ¡°daughter¡± understand


    -And she seems to be more than capable to track me down, so good luck getting rid of her.


    Tommy soundly slapped his own forehead(aka FACEPALM), resigned to what he feared was going to happen.


    -At least for now. If she ever tries to eat us, then we''ll reconsider.


    -How about you ask her, mommy?


    Ethan weighted the idea, then took the small snake''s head on top of his index finger and looking at her, questioned.


    -Hi, what do I call you, daughter?


    The little one slowly made a delicate ''no'' sign with her head: she looked sad.


    Ethan snickered a little, thinking at how he had been just like her, not even thirty hours prior.


    He rolled his eyes then continued talking to the little creature


    -Right, you have no name. Then... Charlotte it is.


    She nodded.


    -Tell me, Charlotte, do you want to eat any of us?


    -No!


    -But you were going to eat the big centipede in the shadow world right?


    -Probably... I am a little hungry.


    -How do you know how to speak, already? Haven''t you just ¡°hatched¡±?


    -I can read words through your head. And I am what you would call a mammal.


    -So you are learning to speak by ¡°reading¡± me.


    She nodded.


    -Good, keep at it. Food will be ready soon. Simone, Charlotte''s specie eats anything that even remotely smells like shadows, right?


    -That would be correct.


    The woman answered with a slight nod


    -Then as long as I can feed her my mana, we are good. How do I do that?


    Simone was still panting, still feeling feeble after the incredible struggle she had gone through. Gorging the shadows with her energy to make them unstable was now officially in her top ten of lest favorite activities.


    -It is simple, really: I can assume you have absorbed quite a bit of it already by skinny dipping into it before.


    She rebuked sarcastically


    -You should be able to feel its energy spiraling in your circulatory system. Think of it as a liquid again and try to let a droplet out through your fingertip. You can try too, Tommy.


    Ethan tried to clear his head a little, seeking this new energy inside of him.


    He didn''t really feel any different compared to before, a little more ¡°primal¡± maybe, like he had the need to roar or howl at the moon. He remembered what he was told about shadow''s organs being mostly eyes and skin and he tried pushing his thoughts to the skin on his arm, then his forearm, down, lower, through the hand... and there it was: his hand had become very dark. Focusing on his skin was working: he knew he had the power to summon the shadow energy within him, but he still felt surprise.


    Ethan tried one more time from the top: he was actively feeling it now, the mana, moving up, down, left hand, right hand.


    Finally, he tried to focus on the quantity, and from what he had in his hand, he decided to squeeze out the smallest of tears.


    The energy rolled out from his fingernail to form a fat small bead, which soon drizzled down like in slow motion.


    The energy though was rapidly evaporating in a dark blue, semi-transparent mist that Charlotte tried to lick from the air with her cat-like tongue.


    It was his fault. He had been distracted by the surprise and had lost his control over it.


    Ethan tried harder: he called forth the mana, feeling it bubble out of a somewhere in his chest.


    It was indeed a complicated task.


    It felt like acting on faith: he knew it was part of his body, but he had never felt it before. Soon though, the shadow mana started to came out more stable, flowing, like melted butter rolling inside of him, burning a little.


    When it reached Ethan''s right hand, he got it to pour out, keeping it there, until it started changing. The pearly dark liquid crystallized in a pointy talon.


    Charlotte sniffed it curiously once and then happily started sucking on it just like an infant would have done a mother''s breast, while resting in Ethan''s lap.


    The boy was a natural.

 Chapter 20 - Silence fell

    Keeping his mana stable into a static shape wasn''t too hard, Ethan found out, as long as he was looking at it, or touching it.


    Charlotte was smiling and he unknowingly found himself smiling back at her.


    The whole scene was fascinating... And weird. Both Simone and Tommy didn''t feel like interrupting. Not really sure what to do with themselves, they sat down  and kept on looking.


    A pop-up from Ethan''s interface informed him he had acquired a skill called ¡°Mana Manipulation¡± which allowed him to shape his mana in all the ways his imagination could bear picturing, and another active, called ¡°Shadow Claws¡±, a magical reinforcement for his fingers through solid status energy.


    Tommy, was extremely puzzled: his energy still in hand, without realizing it was there, scratched his chin, reabsorbing the mana.


    He soon had grown a goatee, which started with a natural dark blond and ended with a mossy green shade.


    Two minutes after she had started feeding, Charlotte decided she was full.


    She burped softly with her small pearly mouth, confirming that she had not only liked the meal, but that she was also stuffed. Soon the little Shadow Gobbler yawned, seemingly unable to keep her eyes open any longer. She kissed Ethan on the nose and sleep-flew to his left breast pocket, magically sealing herself inside for a nap.


    -Normal days... Remember those? Or are them just a thing of the past?


    Asked Tommy, while fiddling with his newborn beard.


    -Overrated, normal is, young padawan.


    Answered Simone kneeling and holding a short cane, in what should have been an impersonation of some long forgotten movie character.


    -Right... So, correct me if I am wrong, we still need to decide what to do with our fighting styles, right?


    He said while he struggled with making sense of that, so far, crazy morning.


    -At least now we know how to release mana... Sort of.


    -Indeed, checking your ¡°character¡± sheet now, you should have your levels all clear and with a maximum mana value too. Since you just started training that value can be seen as an indication of your natural affinity to your element. So check out what is your maximum.


    -Mine is two hundred and forty at level two.


    Said Tommy, not knowing if it was good or bad.


    -Mine is six hundred and twenty at the same level.


    -Very good, mine was five hundreds and eighty at level two and now is more than twelve thousands at level sixty five.


    -Why is it so different?


    Asked Tommy


    Simone answered like she was saying the most obvious of things.


    -Because life makes us different, Tommy. Ethan, you have lived most of yours in a forest, I assume, taking in what it had to offer and building a strong bond without knowing it with your element. While you, Tommy, were more concerned about surviving and becoming a trader. I am pretty sure that if we confront other statistics, you will have several which are higher than Ethan''s, like maximum health points.


    -Eight hundred and thirty three, with a defense of ninety four.


    He looked at Ethan, waiting.


    -Five hundred and sixty four. My defense is one hundred and thirty one.


    -There you go. This is just what you are right now, though. What you will be in your future is entirely up to you.


    -When I started, I decided I wanted to be a caster, a mage with incredibly powerful spells that could destroy any threat with one spell from afar. Later during my training, I understood that wasn''t really me and I just went back on my tracks, paid a hefty sum to a life mage specialized in alteration and reset my stats, restarting my training as a martial artist.


    -Later still, I studied healing magic as well, creating my own fighting style and skills. This first choice as well is not who you will be forever, but I will give you one suggestion on how to decrease the chances of you regretting it later.


    -Alright, I am all ears.


    Half whispered Ethan not wanting to wake up his... Charlotte.


    -Relax and close your eyes. Focus only on what you feel in this moment, the forest, the sun, the sweat you are covered into... imagine you are in a war camp waging war against a very organized enemy, but with plenty of allies that can help you and already have all the possible roles covered. There are defenders, fighters, ranged assassins, casters, mid-rangers and supports... Probably more. Now, considering you have to join this massive fight, where do you see yourself?


    Ethan really tried to imagine himself on that battlefield... Behind the curtains of his eyelids, soon he could hear the sounds of a military camp: soldiers groaning in pain, heavy steps dragged in the mud, the banging of plates of armor. It all really felt familiar to him, like he had really been on some battlefield before. Before losing himself into those ¡°impossible memories¡± of his, he forced himself to snap back to his current situation, focusing on a fighting scenario... He observed carefully for a while, then he said


    -I think I just want to help in whatever way it is possible: I can''t see myself locked in a specific position for too long, as an enemy is not a lump of clay or a dead circular target. Someone could spot me while I am trying to snipe them or while I am casting a long worded enchantment. I feel like I should learn both ranged and melee fighting.


    -See? That is good, you are thinking about you... Now tell me: what do you think is the most vulnerable aspect of this picture?


    Simone got closer to the boy and zoomed on Ethan''s mid-ranger fighting card while he looked at it.


    After a while, having considered all of what he was potentially doing in the image, he said


    -My hands. My attacks come all from handling a weapon, if they were broken or cut beyond a usable level, I would be done fighting until healed.


    -Very good judgment of the situation, same would be of course if you were hit on the head or any vital part, but without weapons, in this picture you would have a very difficult time fighting indeed. I already have an idea of what weapon we should choose for you. Tommy, what about you? In which position could you be?


    -Mmm, on the front line, with a very agile fighting style, yet very... Solid, if you know what I mean. Resilient and able to use powerful attacks and spells if needed. A threat, a menace, something impossible to ignore and very hard to get rid of. And the part that I should protect the most, in my opinion is my vital spots.


    Then he immediately added


    -In minor amount my legs.


    -Well, I see. Makes sense, given what I know about you. Just remember though, that you have people you can trust into this group. We will help you when the exam will come in two weeks, if you let us.


    -A martial artist and a slinger can work well together if they cover each other and trust in each others'' skills. Hope you will trust us a bit more in two weeks time. In the meanwhile we sure need to get you both weapons to start proper training. Come.


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Tommy helped Ethan back onto his feet while Simone managed to get up on her own. She wasn''t the kind of woman to ever overreact or try to impress, so, for her to walk slowly and carefully as she was, it meant she was indeed running on empty.


    Simone was feeling feint: it had been a long while since the last time she had to summon such a massive amount of energy all at once and looking inside herself, she felt like something had cracked.


    The woman released a droplet of mana from her already depleted vivicar: her core was intact. She then proceeded to search in all directions, still finding nothing. And yet her breath was shallow, her head throbbing in a painful way... In the end all she could think of was extreme fatigue.


    Simone tried to convince herself it was so. Seeing their master like that, both young men understood that emptying their mana pool was not a pleasant experience. When they entered the creepy and rusty manor, they once more got to appreciate how much nicer it was on the inside.


    Ethan had a sudden realization: maybe Simone, to a certain degree, kept the scar on her face for the same reason, not showing people that she was amazing, keeping strangers at arms'' length.


    If all people were like Samson, after all, Ethan sure knew he wouldn''t like them at his door, or too close to his face.


    Eventually they reached the far side of the house, past the living room, and Simone knocked on what looked like a broom closet. The lights went on as she opened the door and once she touched the light bulb with a finger, the back wall in front of her disappeared together with all the tools, revealing a raw dark stone staircase that went down spiraling.


    She didn''t move though, instead asking her disciples to take a few steps back: after a few seconds, a roaring ball of fire came blazing up the stairs.  Simone simply stopped it and breathed it in, transforming it into sustenance for her depleted mana.


    -Better...


    She said, and started moving more naturally. The stone steps where taller than Ethan expected.


    He would have some jumping to do, had he tried to walk them when in his rokian form.


    When they reached the lower level, Simone raised her right palm, lighting up the otherwise pitch black darkness and dropped the small globe of flames she had materialized casually on the floor, where it parted in four smaller fires, which split once more before rushing for the walls. A moment later, the room was magically lit in a proper fashion.


    It was a wide room which gave a martial feeling, without unnecessary ornaments or refined details: a war room. Ethan was sure that Simone¡¯s behavior was all to disengage whatever security system she had in place, and he could understand why: the room was full of fascinating and peculiar weapons.


    -Boys, we have to think both practically and strategically: your first weapons will not be your best... Nor your last, but they have to be light, fast and easy to use, for obvious reasons.


    -Like what?


    Asked Ethan.


    -Well... For starters, neither of you are in a perfect shape or have muscles which ¡°know¡± how vexing is to handle a heavy weapon for say the thirty minutes that a real fight against an equally skilled opponent might take. Sure, in an ideal situation, many fights end with a first good hit or... Soon after, but there are cases when that is just not possible.


    -Real fighters will be as ready as you are, shielded, covered in enchantments and armor... You must get used to use your weapons in these two weeks...


    Simone was pausing a lot while taking, feeling feint yet again.


    Still, she smiled satisfied at both of them, glad for their worried faces, glad that they seemed to grasp this was a serious matter, that they had to get prepared for life and death situations.


    -It might sound clich¨¦, but a good weapon is only as good as the relationship it has with its user. Ideally, it should be like an extension of the mage''s body, which is also why... we will not start with big weapons.


    She turned around and went for where the cutlasses were, on shelves carved into the stone walls and covered by glasses.


    -Cutlasses and rapiers were the swords used by both pirates and armies. Can you guess why?


    Tommy and Ethan were looking at the swords behind her. The thin and long rapiers, sharp and pointy, made the mind associate their use to a piercing, thrusting, fighting style, while the fat cutlasses, with their rounded blades and pointy ends were more of a mystery. What they had in common was...


    -They both have some full cover for the wielder hand.


    Said Ethan uncertain.


    -They look light weight.


    Pointed out Tommy.


    -Both of those things... And more.


    Confirmed Simone.


    -Armies had trainers, but they were made of common folks... farmers, sons of merchants, castless... while the sons of nobles had high class military training their whole life and were made into officers.


    -Those simple soldiers had to get used to wielding those tools fast and rely on them for not dying. More so for pirates, which had no one to teach them how to fence. So... The major reasons why both armies and pirates chose... These weapons are that their use is highly intuitive and they are perfect war tools.


    She took a sturdy looking, dark bladed cutlass from the display and just wielded it in front of her.


    -The weight is good, the blade is not too long... For avoiding hilarious incidents and self mutilations. The guard can block attacks and be used for punching people with gusto and devastating results, the point can pierce... It is, all in all, a versatile, well conceived, all purposes weapon, which was made even better with magic. Now, time to measure you, boys... In order to give you the proper cutlass, we need to know how long your arms are and how tall you are.


    -Alright, the proper ratio for body height is 0,58 for a rapier and 0,33 for a cutlass, more or less, which means we have to multiply your height for 0,33... In order to find out the proper length, with possible adjustments... Yet this value shouldn''t surpass... Our arm length from shoulder... To... Wrist...


    As Simone started to move closer for measuring her disciples though, she felt another  violent crack, inside of her.


    Something was not right, finally broken, crushing her essence, giving her  a sort of pain which, even as a doctor, she couldn''t place or recognize.


    The fierce, stoic woman, fell to one knee, trying to fight the unknown still, only to realize she was unable to breathe.


    She reached for her throat with her left hand, utterly surprised, like she had seen a unicorn in a tutu, but she was already fainting.


    All was dark...


    Silence.

 Chapter 21 – The result of stubbornness

    Unmoving, unexpectedly, cold on the stone black floor. Simone was gone, with her last sound still echoing in the room through the air, with crude finality.


    It took the two boys a good seven seconds to realize what was going on.


    It was like some spell had locked them in place and they were suddenly freeing themselves from it.


    Ethan was the first to run and slide down at Simone¡¯s side, immediately turning her on her back with both hands using not too gentle of a touch.


    He noticed her chest wasn¡¯t inflating and confirmed she wasn¡¯t breathing by putting a finger under her nose... Feeling her wrist he knew her heart wasn¡¯t beating either.


    Tommy, in the meanwhile, still not totally firm on his legs, heavily dragged himself over to her side and crashed down, more than kneeling.


    -She is dying. You need to give her CPR. Five compressions here!


    Ethan indicated the right place on her breastbone


    -Then you breathe in three times. Try not to break her bones.


    Before he could finish what he was saying though, the young man noticed the flames from the walls were sliding down ominously, like responding to Simone¡¯s lack of vitality.


    Ethan couldn¡¯t help but twitch slightly thinking about the ¡°sentient¡± fireball which Simone had eaten before. He wasn¡¯t sure the room was going to spawn another one, but he didn¡¯t want to risk finding out.


    -On second thought, I have the impression we really don¡¯t want to stay in here. The lights are moving and we might get roasted.


    Feeling like his light bulb had just gone on, Tommy painfully tried to stand back to his feet.


    Once again without too much tenderness, Ethan helped him up before grabbing Simone in his arms as he half ran to the door.


    When they were by the stairs, Ethan decided to let Tommy go first: the flames in the room had reached the floor and were joining back together. Sixteen deep red and yellow fires became four, releasing a considerable heat wave which rushed in all directions.


    Tommy had only gone up five steps when the remaining four flames had already crept close to two meters from the middle of the room.


    Two more steps and one meter apart... There was simply not enough time, for them and for Simone.


    Ethan keeled forward and slipped his head between Tommy¡¯s legs, pushing down on the floor with his tail for leverage. His Rokian innate strength came in handy as he started running up the stairs, propelled by the roaring sound of an angry gurgling explosion behind his back.


    -Hey, dude! Easy, man. Ouch. Hey! Easy I said!


    Tommy banged his head a few times while running up, but he too couldn¡¯t complain too much, feeling the scorching heat growing closer to their rears.


    When they finally got to the last flight of stairs, even though the torches had given out, the hall they were in was even too bright.


    Not stopping to think about the chance of his legs giving out, Ethan rushed through the door and used Tommy¡¯s body to close it shut just one instant before the rolling fireball came slamming at it, seeping through just a little from underneath. Ethan dropped both the humans on the hard floor and reminded Tommy


    -Five compressions, three breaths, alright?


    The other man half alarmed, half angry answered


    -You are on fire!


    Ethan didn¡¯t think that was the moment for compliments, but tried to say


    -Thank...


    Before he could finish though, Tommy pointed out at him


    -Your tail, you moron! You are burning!


    Ethan, realizing he actually was ablaze, jumped all over, patting his appendix with both hands, half slapping it. It was indeed painful but he didn¡¯t have time to take it too seriously.


    Simone still needed him.


    While rushing to the back of the house the Rokian started screaming


    -Hugo! Frap, where are you? Hugo!


    Frap was the swearword he had just invented for the occasion.


    Hugo arrived from a side door as soon as Ethan had reached the medical room.


    Hugo looked at Ethan with slightly angry eyes, but that changed as soon as Ethan told him


    -Hey, I need your help. Simone has collapsed, in front of the weapon room. We need to get her here on a stretcher.


    In that moment, Hugo¡¯s eyes became alive, sparked by an overwhelming worry. The massive Rokian ran inside the medical room and came out crashing the door open a second later pushing the stretcher, rushing through the corridor at a break neck pace.


    Ethan followed him almost at the same speed, being not quite as muscular as the older Rokian.


    When he arrived in front of the war room, Hugo arched backwards and billowed in a crazy lament. A moment later he was scooping a very startled Tommy together with Simone from the floor and putting them on the stretcher, ready to push them back towards the medical room.


    After a few seconds of surprise, Tommy went back to the CPR, while Ethan followed them close behind.


    As the latter entered through the door, Tommy screamed


    -She is still not breathing, how long should I keep on going?


    -What kind of question is that? As long as it damn well take! Has her heart restarted?


    -I... I don¡¯t know. I didn¡¯t check.


    -Alright, let me take over.


    Ethan said still too loud.


    Simone¡¯s heart hadn¡¯t restarted yet.


    -Tommy, please turn that defibrillator machine on. Just flip the big red button and put it on ¡°charge¡±.


    Ethan in the meanwhile cleared Simone¡¯s chest from her clothes, using the same emergency medical knowledge she had bestowed on him the day before.


    Ethan never thought he was going to need to use it quite so soon, and on her to boot.


    The tension in the room was unreal, while Ethan begged inside of himself not to screw up.


    After two uses of the defibrillator, Simone¡¯s heart went back to beating, albeit very slowly.


    She still had trouble breathing and Ethan decided to intubate her.


    This process was way harder than he had ever imagined: he had to carefully look at her throat, trying to avoid all the important parts while going in.


    In the end he wasn¡¯t any good, but still managed to attach her to a respirator.


    Simone was still far from being stable though and Ethan had already gone through all that he knew about first aid.


    She was breathing, but Ethan knew that could end at any moment... And he had no idea how to use any of the very complicated diagnostic instruments in the room.


    From the moment Simone had collapsed, nearly twenty minutes had passed.


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.All the while, Tommy and Hugo had gone on letting out worried sounds, watching up close everything Ethan was doing, but now that he had stopped, so had their lament.


    The room was silent, except for the feeble, beeping sound of the heart monitor and the pumping of the respirator.


    Ethan wasn¡¯t ready to give up, he was too stubborn for that, but all he could do, was... Look.


    Just look.


    Suddenly a spark came rushing through his brain. His ¡°Identify¡± skill.


    It was a skill used to look at people and objects in order to find out details about them therefore, at its base, part of it had to be an eye magic.


    Ethan acted fast and used ¡°Identify¡±, at the same time he focused on his vivicar releasing as much mana as he thought his eyes could take.


    Nothing happened, apart from him starting to see things very out of focus and feeling a painful sensation at the back of his eyes.


    He deactivated ¡°Identify¡± and started releasing mana from his fingers, moving them suggestively and rapidly like he was painting, soon giving shape in mid air to some sort of looking glass. He then retried activating ¡°Identify¡±.


    Once more he didn¡¯t get the desired effect: Simone was the same as before, just of a different color, but he felt his ¡°Mana Manipulation¡± had advanced sensibly toward the next level.


    Ethan stopped to think for a moment, trying to give shape to another option. He had divined several possibilities from his overexcited brain; in the end he decided to try and release a mist of shadow mana in the air, filling the room with a substantial amount of loose energy, rapidly burning 50% of his total.


    Once again he activated ¡°Identify¡±, but apart from the same bio information about Simone everything else was the same... Ethan realized something and slapped himself on the forehead.


    Why should anything be different just puking out a little, or a lot, of his mana?


    Is a severed arm something which the body can control? Is a dropped leaf still part of the tree?


    He turned off ¡°Identify¡±, which in that moment leveled up to two and closed his eyes to better feel.


    Ethan, little by little, weaved a thin layer of energy on top of his skin and tried to latch onto the closest free mana of his from before.


    Some of it actually stuck to him, but at the same time he had to try not to bring it too close.


    It took him three minutes to be happy with the result but, by that time, his mana was almost all gone.


    Ethan sat on a chair focusing on the environment around himself to absorb as much of the natural shadow energy as possible and refine it back as mana.


    Controlling this still unborn technique was most definitely the hardest thing he had ever done.


    Not only he had to recharge his mana fast to not let the energy he had released in the air decay but he also had to keep control upon the cocoon he had set around himself.


    It felt to him like trying to walk in two directions at the same time while still trying to not split himself in the middle. If it went wrong he knew he could damage his vivicar, but he had the power of desperation and a bucket load of adrenaline keeping him sharp and focused. If that wasn¡¯t enough, the mechanical silence in the room and the looks coming from Tommy and Hugo made him very ¡°aware¡±: he had to manage whatever it was he was doing.


    While maybe no one might blame him for failing, his own ego and conscience would never let him live another day of peace. He was smart and capable.


    He was the Rokian Ethan R. Samhal and he would not fail... He kept repeating that in his head, as needing all the confidence he could muster.


    After fifteen minutes, all of Ethan¡¯s mana had returned to him in spite of the constant draining from his tentative spell. When he was done, he didn¡¯t get up from the armchair though, wishing to concentrate all of his attention on what he had to do. Had it been possible, had it helped, he would even have stopped breathing.


    He tried to ignore the room, the time, the two other people...


    Slowly, Ethan released many spikes through the skin layer of energy, which moved toward the far out mana... Needless say he soon realized those spikes were too big to be useful.


    Breathing in, Ethan retreated them inside his skin.


    Smaller.


    Thinner.


    The young man¡¯s conscience became as soft as a whisper, and as light as a single speck of dust floating on top of a calm sea.


    Ethan then produced the smallest tendril he could, so thin it would take a microscope to notice.


    He half nodded to himself and kept on creating feelers upon feelers, pushing them out, trying to revitalize his loose mana from before.


    Ten minutes became twenty, then thirty... Almost one hour later he was very close to being out of mana again, but he had connected a room full of mana into his net.


    Ethan realized he was covered in sweat from head to feet, but he was finally done with this extremely complex maneuver.


    He still didn¡¯t dare opening his eyes, wishing not to lose his soap bubble feeble control over the spell, but right when he had scant twelve mana left, he finally received a skill pop-up.


    Ethan hadn¡¯t quite hoped for any skill to be this fast in appearing, still there it was, like a so necessary gift from heaven.


    Looking at Tommy he asked


    -I think I am almost done... how is Simone doing?


    -She could die at any moment... So, nothing new.


    Answered Tommy, immediately getting punched in the guts by a grunting Hugo.


    Six minutes later, Ethan had refilled his mana pool once more and activated his newest skill, ¡°Dark network¡±.


    At a first glance, the skill wasn¡¯t comparable to the spell which had generated it, being only one third in dimensions, but the mana absorption for keeping it active was ¡°only¡± one fifth of Ethan¡¯s entire pool. All in all he felt it was quite convenient, although still very demanding.


    The young man had to get closer to Simone in order to be sure to include her into his network, which to an outside eye looked like a grey waving halo.


    Technically speaking, all the mana into the spell had no mass and no substance, just a strong presence, by design, so to permeate bodies and essences alike.


    Feeling as ready as he would ever be, Ethan activated ¡°Inspect¡± one last time on top of his network, while at the same time he also created an open flow of mana which ran uninterrupted from his vivicar to his eyes and out, latching to his web.


    Ethan held his labored breath until...


    It had worked.


    What he saw scared him to no end.


    At the same time, Aw-k passed him the message


    -Through a complex series of actions, a new skill, ¡°Spiritual Sight¡±, has been has been created.

 Chapter 22 – Lost woman

    The silence in the room was as thick as cold honey.


    Tommy and Hugo were watching Ethan with questioning faces, yet not daring to disturb him for fear of ruining his already long work, while the young Rokian was scared silly by what he was seeing.


    What happened had no logical explanation which Ethan could think of.


    Truth being told, the Rokian knew and understood very little of his new reality.


    The air, which he had been explained being just a mix of different gasses, was instead mysteriously crowded with an endless swarming mass of minuscule, gleaming, two eyed creatures which lazily moved everywhere with a waving circular motion... Everywhere, but near Simone.


    Around the woman, those almost invisible beings proceeded erratically like she was somehow impeding their capability to circulate.


    Some of the creatures avoided her, some like in a daze, hit a wall or pieces of furniture, most of them though were rushing at her body, bouncing off of her violently.


    Ethan knew, or better hoped, to find something out creating this new skill, but he was not prepared for all of this.


    He was surrounded; everyone and everything was surrounded, which troubled him a great deal.


    How could they not feel all of those grain scale living creatures up to that moment?


    The little beings around his body seemed to be very relaxed, like if they were immersed in a nice warm bath, enjoying themselves, same could have been said for those around Tommy, to a lower degree, while they ignored Hugo entirely.


    Simone was, in appearance, the only one being under attack.


    After having observed all of that, Ethan grew increasingly suspicious.


    Tommy approached Ethan and looking around with a sharp gaze asked


    -So? What is going on? Did you manage to do whatever it was you were trying to?


    Feeling like he had been pulled back to reality, Ethan answered


    -This you have to see for yourselves, trust me. I mean, you wouldn¡¯t believe me even if I could explain it...


    As he said so, he moved between the other two men and softly placed his index fingers on their foreheads.


    Focusing on the skill he had created, ¡°Spiritual Sight¡±, he tried to extend its effect to both Tommy and Hugo, then reached down to their Vivicar, allowing them to sustain it with their own mana.


    It had taken a good twenty seconds for the skill to transfer to the other two men, but as it did, it immediately became clear to Ethan they could see what he was.


    Tommy¡¯s lips quivered with confusion, unsure of what he could say: he started to ask several questions without closing any of them.


    -Who...? No! How...? I mean, where...?


    At the same time, while Hugo kept his concerned look on Simone, he also tried to grab the minuscule creatures with his tongue in order to eat them.


    It had taken so much for Ethan to understand this vision skill and its rules, yet it had been comparatively easy passing it to others, fortunately.


    After the massive initial shock, Tommy slowly got to his senses


    -What the hell are those things?


    -What can you see?


    Asked Ethan back


    -Millions of small colored lights, bouncing and swimming all over.


    -Just lights? No bodies? No faces?


    -Why, you can see that?


    Ethan nodded


    -Yes and they are kinda creepy. What do you think they are?


    -Like I could ever know. Actually, I don''t think anyone on the bloody planet does. Theories?


    -More an educated guess: the skill is called ¡°Spiritual Sight¡±, so... Spirits?


    Tommy thought about it for a moment then nodded in agreement having failed to divine a better explanation or reasonable counter argument.


    -Let¡¯s say they are. Why would they be here? And why are they body slamming only Simone?


    -Considering it took us such a flashy skill to see them, there is no way they don¡¯t know we are, but they don¡¯t seem to mind in the slightest.


    -Right...


    -I would say they are part of the environment, maybe even of the natural elements. You know, the same way... What''s the name of the small thing, the smallest water creature in the sea.


    -Krill?


    Asked Tommy


    -Right you are. Although calling them food would be wrong: these guys don¡¯t escape nor hide.


    -Agreed.


    Tommy nodded in assent, aware that Ethan was barely more than bouncing his ideas off of him. The Rokian continued


    -We are sharing the same energy and I assume when we recharge our mana we might also collect it from them. And yet, they don¡¯t seem angry at us because of that, so I would think these creatures live in symbiosis with pretty much everything...?


    Once again Tommy considered and weighted The other man''s words


    -Right. Lots of assumptions there, but let¡¯s go with it. Next issue, they are attacking Simone. We can safely say whatever is killing her might not good for them either, agreed?


    -I am not sure that is the right question. Actually, it is a legitimate one, but before asking any, I would focus on the only thing which is evident: they like us. Me, you, even Hugo, albeit way less.


    -Right, it could be that thing Simone was talking about, how you have lived in the wild and have more... She used the word affinity. Right?


    Ethan snapped his fingers


    -Yes! Hugo is not a proper mage, so they don¡¯t really like him. We are mages, which somehow sets us in tune with them.


    -And Simone is not? That doesn¡¯t make sense, man. She has been a mage for God only knows how much time. Of course she should be in tune. Hell, they should freakin¡¯ love her, given her higher level.


    Ethan frowned but was soon able to recuperate


    -Of course she is a mage but, she must have something wrong withing her spirit.


    -You mean her soul?


    Asked Tommy looking at Ethan with his arms crossed on his chest.


    -Whatever... Yes, that thing. Her soul has something wrong! Would that explain her dying on us?


    -From what I know people without a soul either die, or rot away and become different types of disgusting monsters, depending on the degree of the damage.


    -She is not a monster yet, I would say. She is dying. To sum it up: the damage to her soul must be big... As you were saying before, so big it is also harmful to the spirits, agreed?


    -I am no expert on the matter, I never even knew these things existed, but we could be right.


    Noticing Ethan fixed and still scared look, Tommy asked.


    -What is wrong? Is something the matter? Speak.


    -Tommy, this is all very... Intense. We might be wrong, you know. I could be following an entirely flawed train of thought and we could be...


    -Listen man: were you not around, Simone would already be dead. I believe you are giving her a fighting chance. I believe in you, and what you have tried, makes sense to me so far.


    He continued resolute


    -Whatever we manage to get to, we are in this together and she won¡¯t be angry at you. And even if she will be, well that is her own damn problem!


    -You have been keeping it cool until now and got us to understand where to look for the problem. It might even be the wrong damn place, but I¡¯d say we sure found something broken.


    -Let¡¯s keep on going! And if you have doubts, talk to me. I might not be able to help you for now, but I sure as hell want to try.


    Tommy was looking at Ethan very up close, with eyes half way between angry and faithful, facing what men call ¡°awkward bro moment¡±.


    They silently stared at each other for the time of four breaths, until Hugo mercifully intervened, slapping them both in the face and pointing at Simone with an angry grunt.


    The guys felt their cheeks burn hot with pain and embarrassment and flung harsh words at Hugo, almost grateful though for the timely ¡°help¡±.


    When they were done, Tommy went on


    -Alright, we got to see there is actually something wrong with her; it¡¯s a starting point.


    -Now we just have to find a way to fix it or... Make it at least better. Her soul... Do we have some way to see inside that?


    Ethan and Tommy went through their skills lists and tried to think of ways their own abilities could be deconstructed or modified in order to try and help Simone.


    After several hours of deliberations though, they had only deducted cheap ways to make her body better by sharing some passive effects. In the end, when dinner time arrived, Tommy had left the room wishing to catch some air and clear his mind.


    Hugo on the other hand, was glued to Simone¡¯s side: looking in his almost witless eyes, Ethan knew without the shadow of a doubt the other Rokian was not going to sleep or move until she would be better.


    Everything though was the same as that afternoon: her soul was not working and the magic they knew could only be applied to her body which was working as it was supposed to already.


    The young Rokian had considered even cutting her up like sashimi, but soon realized it wouldn¡¯t help looking into her soul...


    Ethan was feeling very frustrated and angry at himself.


    The only one who might have known about any of this stuff was the one they were trying to help and he was the blind man which was trying to start seeing the light without knowing he had to open his eyes.


    The more he thought about it, the more he could see himself as a real blind man.


    He could see the spirits, but that wasn¡¯t enough.


    Maybe leveling the ¡°Spiritual Sight¡± to a higher level could have helped him, but he didn¡¯t have that kind of time handy.


    A blind, impotent, man...


    He felt so very much frustrated he started scratching his forehead hard, hating his brain for not finding any solution and ultimately planting all ten of his nails into his skin.


    The pain was irrelevant, even though it made him feel less embarrassed of his own ineptitude.


    Ethan''s frustration just kept on ramping up until he felt he was mere seconds away from the very alluring act of smashing his head on the closest wall; in the end, he decided otherwise.


    No matter where he drifted, he would come back to think about blind men, for some reason, grasping to that idea for dear life.


    Eventually he shrugged in defeat, deciding to indulge into his own madness.


    -Was I really a blind man... I guess I would touch things, listen a lot, and smell.


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.Ethan froze: it was so easy...


    -Was I really so focused at looking at her that I forgot the simplest thing? My other senses...


    He sprung up propelled by his own shame as a jack in the box and walked in front of Hugo


    -Slap, please.


    The older Rokian looked at Ethan with a slightly questioning gaze, through his leather  mask, before gladly obliging to the request and, not too heavily*, hitting the younger man.


    *About a six on the ¡°got hit by a truck¡± scale


    -Thank you!


    Screamed Ethan with teary eyes, the reddened harmed skin was slightly twitching.


    -Let¡¯s do this!


    He shouted turning around with his hands triumphantly in the air.


    Ethan tried to retrace his steps with what he had done earlier, focusing on one sense and improving it with the employment of mana.


    The young man thought which senses had the higher possibilities to give him any kind of information on Simone''s status.


    Touch and taste were not good candidates, since no matter what he did he didn¡¯t think he was going to be able to touch or taste her soul. Which left him smell and hearing.


    The boy got very close to Simone and, connecting the main mana channel out of his vivicar with his nose, he sniffed the area which the natural spirits seemed to be attacking the worst.


    The only surprising effect was he could also ¡°see¡± the smells through the ¡°Spiritual Sight¡±.


    Simone had a good scent, for someone very close to becoming a dead corpse: underneath the chocolaty colored smell of her skin, her purple flowery deodorant and gray sweat though, even being able to catch a trace of something dark green and foreign lingering, it didn¡¯t give him any relevant information. Ethan simply didn''t know how to interpret it.


    His senses having been overloaded with all of those different signals, Ethan stepped back and undid the connection with his nose. He shook his head and after a little rest, he focused on his ears.


    As he did so, he immediately realized he was on the right track, having started to feel dizzy in a matter of seconds.


    Ethan looked around the room: everything was warping and shifting. The closer he moved to Simone, the worse it got.


    Now he knew how the small spirits felt, although he wouldn¡¯t necessarily want to head butt Simone in order to make her stop.


    The droning sound coming from the woman was a thing of death and regret, low pitched and dreadful, seriously harmful, even to Ethan.


    Still, the boy was trying to listen carefully, as there were words covered by the noise, a message, underneath that confused dying scream.


    Spurred by his curiosity and ego, and against his best judgment, Ethan moved even closer to Simone, finally able to make out two, simple, sad words through the statics:


    ¡°Free me¡±.


    When Ethan heard those words, something flickered at the side of his eyes, for a moment.


    He could almost see it, but before he had the time to focus, he fainted, rolling down the bed, onto the floor, with his ears bleeding a little and his entire body slowly twitching.


    Ethan was drifting away, further and further... He was back at being the other person he had already seen several times in his dreams.


    He was chained to a cross, his arms spread and his feet not touching the floor, surrounded by several people, some of them hiding in the shadows.


    -She is not going to talk Abramus... Just crush her already and let¡¯s get out of here.


    Said some male youngster behind Ethan with a spiteful voice. In response, a very coy and outraged woman on Ethan¡¯s left asked


    -Excuse me? We are not here to ¡°crush¡± anyone! For the hundredth time, Abramus is trying to get access to her soul in order to finish the enchantment. And you really could stop bothering him, Lev.


    She had addressed the man like he was a mentally challenged highschooler and she was the homecoming queen, bestowing onto him not only the honor of her presence, but even the unthinkable gift of speaking to him.


    Lev, roaring with frustration, eyes wide open and bloodshot, barely covered by a long fur coat, came out of the shadows, sporting an aggressive demeanor, like he had heard nothing.


    -Let¡¯s kill them all and move on with our plans, dividing this fresh, juicy planet. We lost enough time here. Aaaargh.


    The blond man nodded a little and smiled with a perverted sense of anticipation, thinking about a planetary annihilation.


    -Little bitch, how about you quit this annoying barking and prance back into your hole? Some people here have standards, and I for first, simply NEED, WANT and DEMAND to have my slaves. That is all you need to know. If you feel like going away, there is the door.


    The woman said maintaining her nasty and condescending tone


    -Don''t tempt my patience with your arrogance Reece, is not as charming as you think it to be.


    We both know the moment I leave the room, my life is forfeit. Plus, who do you think you are to demand something of us or Abramus?


    Reece gave a cold snort and smiled


    -Smarter then a rotten log, Bravo! And yet not very assertive.


    -Does it seem to you like Abramus is saying no to my proposition?


    Lev knew the answer to the question was no, so he stood in silent, keeping his cold voracious stare.


    -Do you know why? Because for as shocking as it might sound, life has more to offer than killing people at random.


    -Spoken like a woman... What do you know of the satisfaction of walking over your enemies¡¯ bodies? Ripping someone¡¯s frame undone piece by piece, smashing skulls and biting into someone¡¯s flesh to increase your own powers?


    -For cases where magic fucked up someone already pathetic to an even worse level: here is exhibit ¡°A¡±.


    Reece answered with a laugh full of contempt, cutting through Lev¡¯s visions of destruction.


    -Keep your wet dreams in your pants, beastie. Nobody wants to know what you do in the bedroom.


    After a few exchanges of razor sharp looks between the two unlikely brother in arms, another woman, sounding very bitter, yet familiar, said in a dry tone


    -You both disgust me. Slaves? Massacres? Is this the best you think a new planet has to offer? Earth risked to die because of people who thought like you. Are you really going to fuck up this place? If not for a sense of decency, think about your own future.


    -Since when having slaves could harm a planet? Or well... Even killing a few billions of people?


    Asked with  Reece with snow white innocence, batting her eyelashes for added candor


    -Since magic, you headless chicken?


    Hissed back the other one


    -Blah blah blah, how conservative. How naively ¡°positive¡±. We are Earth¡¯s bad eggs, darling, do you really think we will become a delicious omelette just because we are on a new rock?


    -I am not your darling. I am a war leader with more follow and soldiers than any of you here added together.


    -And yet in this council your vote still only counts as one... Therefore, I call for an official and definitive vote: what should we do with these lovely, mingling little creatures? Kill them, save them or enslave them?


    As she said the words, Reece also drew them in the air with her finger. The seven humans in the room reluctantly all pointed out at something.


    Two of them wanted to kill the Rokians, one alone wanted to save them and four wanted to enslave them.


    -So terribly kind of you to have some common sense. Thank you darlings.


    Reece curtsied with a childish laugh and a joyous look, also exchanging a very condescending shoulder shrug with the other woman.


    Suddenly, before Reece could finish celebrating her victory, another female voice interrupted the remarks and discussions which followed their vote.


    -You call this "common sense"?


    This was a slightly husky, yet powerful voice; it was so lofty and slow it demanded attention, so outraged it would make even stones feel guilt and turn with self loathing.


    -You call this nonsensical, tyrannical and deranged flow of incoherence ¡°common sense¡±?


    Taken aback, everyone looked at the woman on the cross with a sudden case of dry mouth.


    They all knew this was not supposed to happen: she was not supposed to be awake!


    Before any of them could react in any meaningful way, The woman begun to sing with a tone at the same time bewitching and dangerously dooming.


    -Turn your souls to me, you vermin.


    As soon as the Rokian woman uttered those words, the humans'' souls shined brightly in their chests, quite literally leaving their bodies, answering to the summoning chant, making all the seven faint, lifeless.


    With the curious eye of a scholar and a mage, the woman on the cross took a moment to look at the shape of those people¡¯s souls, letting out a snort of contempt


    -Ignorant bastards, all of them.


    She was going to be free of her chains soon. All she needed was to apply some strength, or magic. And yet, after about fifteen minutes of attempts, nothing had worked. She was covered in sweat, but otherwise still hanging like a salami.


    The Rokian woman couldn¡¯t help but bitterly exclaim.


    -Well, shit!


    Her magic and physical prowess were as weak as those of an infant, which meant her song probably had not killed any of the people present as it was meant to.


    The humans were not entirely useless after all. One of them knew how to use sealing spells.


    Things turned definitely for the worse when the first of the humans, the male named Abramus, woke up.


    He coughed violently, eagerly gulping some life restoring air, while also calling his soul back with a whipping flare of his left hand; holding it as it was some nice shiny trinket, he came to his feet while coughing some more, soon nearing the woman on the cross.


    His grizzled, almost old looking face was covered in scented oil and by a long, lush beard. He clearly wanted to look refined and very high maintenance, since not even one hair of his face was out of place, under his mage hood.


    -Nifty little trick, young lady. Care to share it with me?


    He smiled with a wide, vile smile, far more oily than his face... Simply disgusting.


    Knowing to be repeating herself, the woman on the cross couldn¡¯t help but look down, slightly depressed, and once more utter a sad


    -Well, shit!


    The last thing she saw before angrily closing her eyes, was the face of the woman which wanted to spare the Rokians: it was... Simone!