《The Hero of Imps》 Prologue: Battles Peak The hero slumped to his knees, using his large sword to hold himself upright. He held his hand clutched tight to his chest, blood dripping endlessly from the grievous wound. His eyes were drawn upwards, looking at the powerful figure before him. A young man much like himself covered from his shoulder down in a dangerous looking spiked armor. The dangerous looking figure was none other than the infamous Demon King Izukai himself. The hero grinned, noticing the demon lord too, was injured. The fight had been lengthy, the surroundings had been completely annihilated and even now there was no clear victor to the furious battle. They both sat in silence for a while, exchanging glares, before the demon spoke up. "Heh.. you bastard Kaden.." He coughed, trickles of grey blood dripping from his mouth. "Without your.. without your weakling followers.. you''re nothing!" He shouted, struggling to his feet. Kaden cursed to himself, he cursed himself for not being able to stand, and he cursed himself for telling his friends to stay behind. The demon stood, his pitch black armor crumbling to dust as he made his way over to the helpless hero. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. "I will show you.. with the last of my power.. how it feels to be truly weak." Izukai spoke in a hushed tone, shakily holding out a finger and pressing it to a wound on the hero''s forehead. In his condition, Kaden shouldn''t even be conscious, let alone stop the demon pressing into the cut. "G-..get away from me.." He spoke through gritted teeth as a sharp pain wracked his mind. The white-haired demon ignored him and spoke. "Turn to dust.." At these words, Kaden''s eyes closed, his whole body losing the tiny amount of strength it was so desperate to cling to, and he fell into unconsciousness. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hey guys, this is my first story on the site after being a lurker for quite some time. Please tell me what you guys think of this prologue. Also, warning you now, if OP protagonists aren''t your thing, I don''t think this story''s for you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1: Getting Up Darkness, only darkness. How did this happen again? Oh yeah.. that bastard demon king. Damn it! I wish I didn''t train like I did, I wish I wasn''t chosen to fight the demon king! Damn it! I cursed to myself for a while, for what seemed like an eternity to me. It took a while for me to calm down.. I sighed.. is sighing even possible in the afterlife? Who cares, it doesn''t matter anymore, I''m just a corpse laying on the battlefield. A fuckin'' awesome battlefield might I add, that Demon King might''ve been an evil bastard, but he sure as hell put up a fun fight. It was exhilarating, I''ve never been pushed to my limits like that before! Well.. I guess I''ll never be pushed to my limits again huh? I try to move my arm, no luck. I guess I really am dead, not blinded or anything, straight up dead. Damn.. I had so much stuff I needed to do, so much training to get done, all gone in an instant. Damn demons.. Why the heck did they start that stupid war anyways? I mean, my friends always said I had muscles for brains, an addiction to fighting, (which I won''t deny) but couldn''t we just coexist? It''s not that hard.. Well, getting pissed about it''s not gonna do anything, and neither is talking to myself. ... .... I wonder if I''ll get reincarnated, like from one of those novels Boris always talks about. (Boris is our tank by the way, built like a brick wall protectin'' a marshmallow. In other words, a real softy.) Yeah, maybe I''ll get to be something cool, like a dragon! Pssh, no, dragons are overdone. What''s the point of being super powerful when you''re destined to get your ass beat by a human. No thanks. An elf maybe? Ugh, no I''ll pass on that one. Every elf I''ve ever met was a snobbish up ''em self twat. They think because they sooo beautiful and they eat leaves n'' shi-.. I''ll just stop, if Elise had heard me there I''d have a few new holes in my face. A dwarf would be interesting, always wanted to build robots n'' stuff, it''s uh, a real shame I wasn''t born so blessed in the brain department I have no shame to admit. And there''s always that damn cookie jar on the top shelf thing, poor guys. Then there''s the high humans. God if there were a more uptight race than the elves it''d be the goddamn high humans. Even though there are only like, ten thousand of em left in the world, I''d sooner fight an orc with my bare hands then be reincarnated as one of them. Orcs huh, geez it doesn''t get any uglier than those guys. Arms like tree trunks and a face only a mother could love. If that mother was a bloody troll-pig abomination herself. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Last of all the demons, these tenacious freaks of nature always ruining people''s days. They come in all shapes and sizes, some huge and powerful, others weak and frail at the lowest of the freakish food chain. I sigh again, why was I listing these races off in my head again? Maybe it''s God telling me all the races I can pick from for reincarnation! Or then again, maybe it''s some author''s lazy way of world building.. My mind continues to wander, I don''t know for how long I''ve spent in this pitch black afterlife, waiting for God to come. I thought about everything I had done up til'' this point, all the adventures I''d been on, all the friends I''d made, all gone in a single battle. I''m not gonna cry.. I swear.. Elise, our one and only ranger, girl could shoot a fly between the eyes at a hundred yards.. Boris, our tank. I swear I saw him throw a truck at a troll in the midst of a heated battle, but he denied it, a humble guy for sure. Nadia, our mage, one of the top students at our academy actually. Beautiful and a gifted fire mage, she was the cause of most of our turn in items being heavily scorched when we brought them in. And Bob, yes our badass, silent assassin''s name was Bob. Not that there''s anything wrong with the name Bob though, it''s just one of those names, ya know? I cried out, I wanted to seem them again so badly, it hurt my heart just thinking about what they were going through at this moment. I''m so sorry guys, I''m so sorry I died.. Ahem.. if anyone''s out there.. you never heard that.. At least that demon bastard is dead though, no amount of dark magic is gonna bring him back from the wounds I gave him, not from my holy sword of justice! Ah, is this chuunibyou? This darkness is driving me insane, when will it end?! "Goddamn it God, just show up already!" I shouted out into the darkness at the top of my lungs. ... Wait a minute.. I can talk..? I have lungs..? Maybe.. I thought for a moment.. No.. it couldn''t be... I opened my eyes only to be greeted by a dazzling light. The sky, the beautiful blue sky. I was alive! ... Shit! I had an existential crisis for no reason! --------- Author''s Stuff: Jeez, I''ve got a new found respect for authors now, this stuff is tiring. Doesn''t help that I''m writing in the middle of the night though.. Please make sure to point out any errors, it''d really help a lot! ^^ Anyways, my next chapters should be a bit longer, maybe continually extending every chapter. Hope you enjoy. --------- Chapter 2: Realization ''Ugh...'' I groaned as I awoke from my long-lasting slumber. I shook my body a little, apparently I was wet by something while I was asleep? I don''t really feel like thinking about that.. I try to force my body upwards, using my arms, but I can''t feel anything, no sense of touch, no nothing. It''s like they''re not there or something. I tilted my head a little to the left, with a bit of difficulty to notice a lack of a certain useful appendage. I swore profusely, not daring to look to the other side to confirm my suspicions. "If I ever see that asshole again, I''m gonna feed him his own arms!" I swore to myself and convulsed, moving my body randomly in attempt to stand back on my own two feet. "Damn it." I laid back in the grass for a while, wondering about a few things. ''Is this reincarnation? I thought a new world would look, y''know, a little different from the old one..'' I pondered, maneuvering my body and twisting, doing one of those cool martial arts moves where they leap back to their feet, like the ones in the movies. The surrounding area was beautiful and vibrant with colour, an almost enchanting forest encroaching upon a slow moving river. The wind lazily blew through, making the grass and the flowers sway gently. I shrugged. "Some reincarnation, this place is exactly like Earth." I scoffed, before looking around again. ''No.. of course, this is Earth, all those weeks of jumping to conclusions really did a number on my common sense.'' I began stretching, leg stretches of course. It was then when I really started to notice that my body was much different than I remembered. Aside from the whole missing arm thing, the scenery around here just seemed.. bigger. I''ve never seen such a large amount of huge trees, even the flowers are up to my chest in height. ''Just what did that demon bastard do to me..?'' I said, looking down at my feet. ''Ah.'' I noticed I had no feet, just little pitch-black stumps that fed into my equally shortened body. "What the fuck!?" I screamed, "That piece of shit turned me into a goddamn demon!" I ran around, cursing to myself. "No, no no!" I screeched, charging over and slamming my head into a colossal tree. "Nothing, I feel nothing, no pain at all. This has got to be a dream, no manner of magic can do this to a man, especially not someone like me! This has to be an illusion, he''s messing with me!" I grinded my head against the tree. If I had my human body right now, my face would be covered in cuts and small wounds. ''Oh god..'' The waterworks began flowing again, blue tinted droplets falling to the ground and slowly begin forming an almost exaggerated pool of liquid. I figured it out.. what Izukai turned me into.. the lowest of demons.. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. "Bastard! I don''t want to be an imp! Turn me back!" I cried out as loud as I could. An imp.. a goddamn ash golem.. why.. how..? It didn''t make any sense. Nobody in the world should have the power to reduce a mighty hero like myself into the lowest type of demon possible. I turned, heading over to the slow flowing pool of water as I tried to wrap my head around this ludicrous situation. Carefully, I stepped forward, peering into the reflective surface of the water only to confirm my suspicions. Looking back at me, was a strange creature. I''d even describe it as cute, if it wasn''t me. A pitch black creature, standing at about a foot tall with two large pointed ears atop it''s head. It had short, stubby little legs that were fortunately not as impeding as they seemed, and a long, cartoonish demon tail protruding from it''s rear. The main features of the demon however, were it''s two huge blue eyes. Seriously, combined they took up almost half it''s head, and they had no pupils either.. just two glowing blue eyes. I shook one of my tiny legs, watching the reflection in the water do the same. I kicked some dirt into the water in a fit of rage. So I''m just supposed to live like this from now on? I refuse. I''ve gotta find a way back to normal, I.. although I don''t want to admit it.. I need help. I swallowed my pride, and shouted out as loudly as I could. "Somebody help!" Weird, I could''ve sworn there was an ech- "Please! Anyone!?" A female voice cried out, interrupting my train of thought and scaring away some of the wildlife. ''Shit..'' I swore as I charged into the heavily wooded area, thick with foliage, as fast as my little legs could take me. I charged towards the voices, the closer I got, the more I heard. I heard metal clashing together, accompanied with groans and yells. I eventually reached a vantage point, hidden in some bushes. I saw a group of huge, troll-like beasts surrounding three students, two guys and a girl. One of the boys was heavily wounded, and resting against a tree. They were so young, why were they in such a dangerous place like this..? I shook my head, that doesn''t matter now.. I''m the hero and these kids need help and I''ll be damned if turning into a useless demon is gonna change that! I leapt into action, wondering if a life like this was the same as being damned. Chapter 3: Confrontation I charged out into the clearing, unleashing my heroic battle-cry as the two hulking trolls turned to me, their rippling muscles tensing and relaxing as they moved. Their grey, bloodshot eyes locked on to me, eyes that were looking at prey. After all, I was only a tiny, foot tall imp and they were colossal, power-ridden trolls exceeding eight feet tall. I flinched and stood back for a while as I fully grasped the situation here. The trolls didn''t look like they percieved me as a threat, and I''m not quite sure the two students could see me as they were to busy concentrating on the trolls and their companion''s health. Speaking of which, it seemed he had taken the full brunt of one of these troll''s cudgels. I know from experience, that''s not an easy thing to do, so I nod a little, impressed with his vitality. "BWAHAHAAA!" My concentration was broken as a strange noise filled the air, a strange guttural bellow. The trolls were laughing, laughing at the puny speck of a demon in front of them who dared to challenge them. They were pointing and laughing, having a good old time at my expense, the assholes.. "Haha, liddle imp fink he can.. um.. chaleng uz!" The smaller troll roared with laughter as the other made a comment about the strange situation. I glared up at the larger troll. "Oohh.. Oak fink liddle impy iz angry!" Said the larger one, now identifying himself as Oak. From this naming sense I can discern that the smaller one is called.. let''s call him ''Twig''. Twig slowly approached me, and despite having such a lame name, he was still incredibly terrifying. I stepped back a step, he grinned and took another step closer. What is this feeling? I was the strongest when I was a human, even above those who trained their abilities their whole lives, how could I let this simpleton frighten me? I steeled my resolve and took a step forward, and at this, the troll became obviously confused. He was used to his prey running the other way, not going towards him. "Heheh.. dis hunt wil be eesy.." he laughed, stumbling closer. I breathed heavily a few times, standing firm and placing a foot behind the other. "I could beat you with one hand tied behind my back.." I hissed. "Haha! Da imp talkz! Twig never see a imp dat can talk!" Twig slapped his knee as he laughed. (I was right!) "And imp, do not even hav a arm!" he said through the gaps of laughter. ''Damn it! He''s right.. Outwitted by a troll.. is this the lowest point of humanity..?'' I cried internally. ''No.. this guy..'' I looked up at him, shaking my head and walking closer, before breaking out into a sprint. "Y''AAAAAAAGH!" I let out my terrifying battlecry, and now Oak is laughing alongside his butt-ugly brother. I charge, headfirst at the small troll. CRASH! My head collides with Twig''s leg, creating a resounding noise as he.. didn''t flinch at all. "Bwahaha! Did yoo see dat Oak, liddle imp hit at me!" he guffawed as he swung his leg forward, launching my tiny body at an insane velocity into one of the large surrounding trees. "Ack!" I coughed, the sheer impact almost reducing the tree I collided with to splinters. I bounced off the tree, landing in the lush soft grass. My eyesight flickered while my mind fell in and out of consciousness as I tried to stay awake. "Huh.. bro.. wat is dat bloo?" said one of them.. I''m not quite sure, I can''t see straight, let alone differentiate two shits from each other.. "Yoo''re rite Twig.. me never see a imp with bloo before.." -------------- Nate''s POV I held my sword steady at the colossal beasts as they approached us, that damn creepy grin spread across both of their faces. In a single swing, these supposed ordinary mountain trolls had sent Thomas flying, and even though Catherine was tending to his wounds as I held my ground, she had told me that he was injured badly, and she had to give him our minor healing potion to keep him going. ''Damn it..'' I turned back and watched the trolls'' every movement, every subtle breath they took, using my ability. An ability I''ve had since birth, though not recognised as a magical sigil''s ability, it was still quite useful in it''s own right. The ability to percieve many times more than a normal human ever could. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. With this, I was supposed to be assured of victory. I could watch the enemy''s moves, figuring out new ways to slip past their defenses and strike, like lightning. But these trolls, they were monsters. They moved so fast, and their attacks were.. they were faster than lightning! They closed in even further as I was thinking, until we all heard something strange. A loud ''SQUEAK!'' resounded through the battle. We all searched around, almost forgetting about the fight at hand as we watched for the source of the peculiar noise. There was a quietly rustling noise, and we all turned our gazes towards it, even the trolls. Out of the bushes bounded a little imp. "Cute.." I heard Catherine whisper quietly to herself, forgetting that I could hear her. I shrugged, turning my attention back to the little critter who''d just forced his way into the battle. The trolls'' attention was fully focused on the smaller demon, a chance! Waiting for the trolls to get further away, I slowly inched closer to Thomas and Catherine. With a bit of help from Catherine, I now had Thomas slung over my shoulder and began to run before I was stopped. Catherine had gripped on to my arm. "Tch, Cath, what are you doing..?!" I whispered to her, in an urgent manner. "That little creature, he''ll die if we don''-" "Catherine, no, we''ve got to get out of here while we have the chance. That''s just a demon, he''d attack us too if he wasn''t an imp!" I cut her off and turned to run, dragging her along with me. Although she was reluctant, she also wanted to see Thomas to safety above all else. As we ran, I noticed her bow her head a little and whisper something even I couldn''t quite make out. -------------- Kaden''s POV My eyesight flickered in and out as I stared up at the two trolls. They were inspecting me, something about my eyes being blue.. It was strange, I didn''t know different colours in an imp made a difference but here these two demons were, making a big deal out of it. I coughed, blue blood dribbling out of my mouth and down past my chin. Even though there was no pain, I was still filled with the dread that came with dying. It''d happened already once before, and I really didn''t want to die again.. The blood dribbled further, creating blue patterns across my pitch black body. The two demons were staring at me in awe, when in truth, I was just an imp on my last legs, ready to keel over at any moment. As I squirmed, trying to get back up, I noticed that the trolls had stopped laughing. "Tch.. what''s the matter, is me dying such a buzzkill...?" I grinned, managing to maneuver myself into a seated position against the busted up tree. My eyes were finally working again as I stared up at the two trolls. They were pointing at me, and within their bloodshot eyes was a look I''d never seen on the beasts. It looked like a mixture.. of curiousity and fear, maybe a little bit of excitement as well. I tilted my head, confused. "M-m...majik.." They said in unison as Twig took a step backwards. "Well, yeah I mean, plenty of people have mag-.." Suddenly it dawned on me. Demons were a race that are totally incapable of using magic in any way shape or form. The most they could do is draw on energy from their own world through the rifts they use to get to this one. That makes them most powerful when near their gates, and weaker when further away. Me, being a demon who used to be a human must have kept my magic sigil from my human body. That means.. "Woo! I''m not a useless demon, I can still use my magiiic!" I cried out in happiness, before coughing out some more blood. --------------- So sorry it took so long guys, I got sick and I didn''t want to write this while my brain was all loopy. ---------------