《-Scarlet Surge-》


 Chapter 1 – Powerless

    A pair of hazel eyes looked up in awe at the marching procession that moved past, shaking the ground with their might.  The surrounding citizens of the Starsk Kingdom watched as each soldier went past all possessing a stoic visage.


    As strong as the soldiers looked, their strength was eclipsed by the strength of the beings by their side. Wolves and four legged magical animals tended to be a common occurrence within the ranks of the army, however, the higher up the chain of command one went, the more exotic and stronger it they got.


    ¡°Look, the Thousand-man commander, Loren and his famous sixth stage White Griffin¡± a bystander in the crowd shouted, and nearly everyone¡¯s eyes turned to that direction and sighed.


    The young boy with the hazel eyes turned as well and saw another strong figure. A White Griffin, so strong. I heard from father, that it could defeat a thousand regular companion wolves with no sweat.


    Cain had waited in the alley-way connecting to the Starsk Central Square for an hour before any-one else had even arrived. As people began to arrive one by one, each brought a companion. Most had smaller non-threatening companions such as variant birds, smaller magic dogs and the like. However, a lucky few, had companions with a more grand appearance; golden eagles and even a rare flying Wyvern. The noble who the Wyvern was a companion of, clearly hailed from a noble family, his rich clothes sparkled in the sun.


    Regardless, each companion gifted their master with a special ability, whether it be healing, attack or one of their many countless quirks.


    As the crowd began to build up waiting for the practice of ¡®Annual Yearly March¡¯ of the Starsk Kingdoms army to the Kings Castle, the hubbub and rabble of their companions filled the square. The reason why young Cain stood covered by the shadows that the alley cast, was precisely because of companions, or lack thereof. He was a cull, and despised. Even now, two bullies had spotted him and stealthily approached.


    Cain sighed and thought. Those two think I can¡¯t see them, I may be weak, but I can see them approaching too easily.


    ¡°One day I¡¯ll be strong as a Starskian soldier¡± he muttered while begrudgingly backing away and hurrying away.


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    Mistiming a jump over a wooden crate full of fruits, Cain scraped his shin and tumbled into the dirt. Picking himself up of the ground he quickly glanced over his shoulder for his pursuers, not seeing anyone he continued to run franticly.


    Cain ran with a limp through the winding streets of the Starsk. Making sharp turns and doubling back, his movements were beginning to slow. If one took a closer look at his route, the young boys¡¯ keen intelligence could easily be seen. The blood began to drip from the shallow wound on his shin, and his breathing became ragged. He had doubled back many times and even hid to get them of his trail.


    He leaned against the wall of the alley and muttered ¡°I should have lost them.¡± Before he could even catch his breath he heard the familiar raucous grating behind him coupled with a bestial growl.  A shadow blotted the sun out as it leaped over him and landed blocking his path, it was infant magical Golden Panther with black stripes. A small child like him could not overcome the might of a companion, even one as young as the Golden Panther in front of him. After all, companions are stronger than humans.


    Cain turned slowly in despair, realising he had been caught and readied himself for the beating that was sure to come.


    ¡°We got ¡®im. Jasper, run faster or the cull will get away,¡± yelled the one of the despicable kids that chased him.


    The term he heard for the majority of his short 10 years of life, ¡®cull¡¯. Meaning companionless, soulless or bondless, a term well suited for one such as himself. Cain¡¯s two tormenters barrelled around the alleys wall, skidding to a stop right in front of him and caught their breath.


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    He heard the growls behind him and stared defiantly at the two figures that stood in front of him.


    ¡°Today, the mighty Jax and my Golden Panther will conquer the cull of Starsk.¡± The second of the two tormentors shouted out. The first boy with his companion already trapping the young boy, jostled him and replied.


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget me, Jasper will make him bow beneath the glory of my Crane.¡±


    As they finished their arrogant declarations the blows of both the boys and their companions came raining down upon him. Cain whimpered at each shock and his vision faded.


    ¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®


    Cain woke up to the sky dyed orange and groaned. He was bruised and battered, feeling a sharp pain in his side he gritted his teeth and used the alleys wall to drag himself up. Years of bullying and being pushed about gave him thick skin. Not literally, he still felt every punch and bruise, but steeling himself to pain was something he was use too.


    ¡°At least I can get home in time for dinner, whatever that may be¡±, Cain muttered to himself as he slowly walked back through the now-dark winding streets of Starsk.


    It was the only major kingdom that could boast a hundred thousand strong army, the greatest in the entire Airlenn continent. Over a hundred squads of soldiers each having a companion of at least the first stage. To put it in perspective, even if the companion was naturally strong like the flying Wyvern of a citizen that watched the practice parade, it still wasn¡¯t on the same level as a ranked companion.


    That was just the beginning, at the very top of the army resided the elite squad known as the Guardians.


    ¡°A legendary squad which has fighters with fifth stage and sixth stage companions,¡± Cain continued to mutter to himself, a trait which brought him even more unnecessary hate. It was rumoured that a soul mate led them, an existence which the common folk of Starsk couldn¡¯t understand much less a lowly cull.


    Although the aristocrats loved to parade around, boasting the might of the army in carnivals and tournaments, the army wasn¡¯t only a show piece. Starsk was surrounded on the east by the ¡®Dark Expanse¡¯ a dense forest so thick that light didn¡¯t even reach the floor of it. Just thinking about it caused shivers to run up Cain¡¯s spine.


    Despite its terrifying appearance, even more dangers littered the dark expanses¡¯ territory; caves, ancient tombs, and even wild companions known as beasts. Controlled by no-one and completely vicious to anyone but their family, the beasts roamed. The only way that the Starsk Kingdom was not already annihilated from the beasts and other existences of the dark expanse was because of two factors.


    The first was the army, but the second was the trade route which started from Starsk and expanded all over the Airlenn continent. The trade route brought goods from all over, but these goods were more importantly accompanied by subjugation forces and guards which ¡®culled¡¯ the population of wild beasts every month.


    ¡°Such a despicable name,¡± Cain reflected. The culling was associated of getting rid of unwanted and dangerous beasts from the world. It was eventually shortened and applied to those without companions. An anomaly considering one of the origins of companions is the soul.


    An intense hate began to spread for ''culls¡¯ in Starskian society and pretty much anywhere else. Being a cull meant a life of pain at best and death at worst. Cain just hated that it dragged down his father as well.


    It¡¯s bad enough that I¡¯m in pain, but to become a burden to my father as well.


    All he could do was shake his head, although his father didn¡¯t show it and treated him with true paternal affection, he knew his father had it tough.


    :)

 Chapter 2 – Thirst for Knowledge

    After ambling through the streets and passing the city gates, Cain finally reached the door of his house. It sat on the outskirts of the Kingdom and was just outside of twenty meter high walls that surrounded Starsk.


    The walls dominate landscape, but they are just another barrier against the area known as the ¡®Dark Expanse¡¯. Only the extremely strong, or very poor would choose to live there, unfortunately Cain and his father were of the latter.


    Opening the door wide he called out for his father; ¡°Dad, are you home? Dad?¡±¡±


    Not receiving an answer he deduced this father was at work and hadn¡¯t returned.


    Cain¡¯s father worked as a wood cutter on the borders of the ¡®Dark expanse¡¯. It was the only job that he could get, most employers that his father talked to were condescending towards one that could birth a cull as a son. A dangerous job was the only one that he could obtain.


    It fact, Cains¡¯ mother left him and his Father at young age once she realised that he was a cull.  His father rarely ever talked about her, Cain used to casually attempt to bring her up in conversation when he was younger in order to goad his father into talking about her. Instead his father¡¯s face would darken and he would keep silent, he wasn¡¯t angry at Cain, rather at his absentee wife.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need her, I only need dad,¡± was a mantra that he repeated whenever seeing other children bask in the warm affection of their mothers, and he soon began to believe the lie himself. Cain realised that she was like the rest of Starksian society, leaving them just because he was a cull, and stopped caring or asking about her a long time ago. It only made him more attached to his dad.


    Cain slowly moved to the kitchen and began cooking for his father. After a long day of work logging trees he would be hungry as usual. Slowly bringing the pot to a boil, he chopped up vegetables with a practiced hand and threw them into the pot, along with other cheap spices. Giving time for the spices to bleed into the stew he was preparing, he sat down as a dirt-brown woodpecker flew in through the window and landed on his shoulder.


    The birds eyes glinted and it tilted its head, almost as if to ask the young boy a question.


    ¡°Tell that Dad that dinner is almost ready, Bark. Get him to hurry up otherwise it¡¯ll be cold.¡± Cain told the bird which was the dear companion of his father.


    A slow deep warble leaked out of the bird¡¯s mouth and it flew around the room perching on the shoulder of a large man opening the small door.


    ¡°No need, I¡¯m already here.¡± Cain¡¯s father exclaimed as he ducked his head and entered the door. He was a large man, years of wood cutting built his physique up. Thick muscles rippled across his arms as he lifted his son into a bear hug.


    Tok¨¨ had been surviving for years working on the borders of the Dark Expanse, anyone could testify to both his strength and wit. But regardless of how he looked, he was the definition of gentle giant.


    ¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®


    ¡°Did you enjoy the practice for the Annual Yearly March son? I heard a commander even turned up,¡± Cain¡¯s father said.


    Still finishing what was left of the measly stew, the boy responded with bright enthusiasm. ¡°Of course I did. It was a thousand man commander with a White Griffin Companion, I even saw a noble with a flying Wyvern, even though it was unranked.¡± Cain barely even breathed in between the sentences.


    ¡°Imagine the real march, only a little of the military forces participated in the practice.¡±


    Chortling deeply, Tok¨¨ stroked the head of Bark his woodpecker companion. ¡°That¡¯s good. So how did Companion School go today morning?¡±


    Cains eyes widened in shock; ¡°How did you know.¡±


    The boy was a cull. Meaning even if wanted to satisfy his thirst for knowledge, the teachers would not only reject him, but enjoy doing do. A Companion School existed in every gathering place of human beings, be it the mighty Kingdom of Starsk or even a small villages on the outskirts of the Airlenn continent. Being a cull not only meant barred access to basic knowledge about companions, but even about the world in general.


    Cain wasn¡¯t one to waste time idly when an opportunity arose. Ironically, he overheard his tormentor Jax boasting his entry into the top class of the Companion School, purely based on his companion of course.


    A Golden Panther like his was an extremely strong companion. Even if Jax didn¡¯t develop on his own, the Panther would reach at least the first stage. Not only would it be able to break into the ranked point by itself, but gain a stage in power. Potential like Jaxs¡¯ clearly an asset to the kingdom so the instructors would give precedence and allocated many resources to fostering such a youth.


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    As soon as Cain realised a new batch of students entered the school, he found a path from the lower district to the upper district of Starsk were the Companion School was situated. Following alley-ways hidden in the recesses of the Kingdom in the Lower District, he reached the Upper District. Even in the lower district it was dangerous for a cull like him, the lower class and the nobles shared their dislike for the companionless.


    Traversing the upper district was even tougher because of city guards, he had to painstakingly hide in the shadows and make his way to the Companion School.


    ¡°You think your father wouldn¡¯t know when his own son was up to something,¡± Tok¨¨ said with a jaunty tone. ¡°I realised the moment I came home and dinner wasn¡¯t waiting for me. I don¡¯t mind as long as you don¡¯t get caught.¡±


    Tok¨¨ wasn¡¯t a stupid man, he knew his son would get deprived of the basic education entitled to all citizens of Starsk regardless of how he felt. So if his son wanted to rely on his own skill to ¡®listen in¡¯, who was he to deny him.


    ¡°Go on. Tell me what you learned,¡± he urged, smiling at his sons shocked face.


    ¡°Well after the introductions, they talked about geography of the world,¡± Cain began with a gleam in his eye. ¡°According to the lecturer, the world has three continents; Faerln, Erf and Airlenn. The one we live on is the Airlenn and it had four major kingdoms. Farsi, Trejor, Estone and Starsk.¡±


    Cain had obviously adopted the tone of the lecturer he had observed, and completely forgot that his father obviously knew this information. Even though he had a cull son, he himself had a companion and was encouraged to go to Companion School.  Regardless, he dotingly obliged his son as he started to recount the geography and characteristics of each nation.


    ¡°But only Farsi, and Starsk have armies on the same huge level because they both border the ¡®dark expanse¡¯. That¡¯s all they did today morning, but tomorrow they are going to talk about companions!¡± Cain finished, catching his breath from his long recount.


    Getting to the Companion school was actually a huge effort for the boy. Even though he could walk the streets the abuse he would receive meant it just wasn¡¯t worth it.


    ¡°Okay son, you better get to sleep so you can stay awake tomorrow.¡± Tok¨¨ lifted his son who had drifted off to sleep. Moving to the only bedroom that they both shared, he lovingly tucked Cain in before setting up the bamboo mat of on the hard stone floor.


    ¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®


    Tok¨¨ looked at his son¡¯s peaceful, sleeping form and sighed. How could he be oblivious to the fact that his son was being bullied? He came home with bruises on his arms, legs and sometimes even face. Each bruise drove a needle into his heart and made it hard for him to breathe. His son shouldn¡¯t have been accustomed to such a life.


    It might not seem like it, but Tok¨¨ and his companion had broken through to the first stage, even though it was uncommon for weaker companions. After many years together, high trust and bonding, Bark and his master broke through. It should have entailed a little bit of respect in the Starskian society, but what little esteem he garnered for it was nullified by his son being a cull.


    Although it was quite a feat for an untrained labourer, Tok¨¨ never told his son. He couldn¡¯t bear the admiring eyes he would receive, not to mention the subtle hints of sadness upon realising his father was ranked. He knew Cain would feel like he was a disappointment regardless of what Tok¨¨ would say.


    After staying back from work one day he observed a certain pair of tormentors.


    Even though they were not even of noble status, one of the many bullies had a Golden Panther. If he was to report it to the Starskian authorities, they would laugh in his face. His first stage rank wasn¡¯t worth a pile of horse shit in front of talent that could break through to the first ranked stage in a matter of a few months.


    So, all he could do was keep quiet and love his son in place of his mother, in place of friends and in-place of teachers. All he could do was shield him as much as possible.


    Tok¨¨ pulled the rough canvas covers over his son, blew out the candle on the table and laid down onto mat. His fitful sleep peppered with nightmares involving his son being tormented, as usual.


    :)


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 Chapter 3 – A Budding hope

    Cain grunted and rolled out of bed, drowsily rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Staggering to the only other room in his small house he began to eat the left-overs from yesterday. His father had left at the crack of dawn without waking him.


    Gotta get ready early today, only have about three hours until they start the first real class.


    Looking into the small mirror that his father had managed to get at the market for just 30 copper, he sighed at the hazel eyes that stared back at him. Cain tousled his pitch black hair and put on his coarse clothing, unwashed from the day before.


    Cain wasn¡¯t overly small for a ten year old, but he was lithe. A strange feature for a small kid his age, but a useful one nonetheless.


    "It let me get away from a couple beatings at least," Cain reflected regretfully. He was hoping that at some time in the future he would muscle up and look like his father. Instead, his underdeveloped features seemed sharp, but not in a


    rugged way. Still handsome, although a child.


    ¡°Must have gotten it from my mother."


    None of that mattered though, it was the main reason he wished he would fill his loose clothes. A select few trained warriors could fight companions that weren¡¯t overly strong. He was sure his father could beat Jax. In his immature mindset, Cain forgot his dad was a fully grown adult who would be punished for physically touching a young child. Much less, for a cull.


    A couple more minutes and he had gotten ready and walked out the door. Upon reaching the gates, he found a group of people travelling with wares they were obviously going to trade within Starsk. Donning his hood he walked behind them pretending to be a straggler.


    It was illegal for non-citizens to enter the gates of the city. Once the guards found you inside without being confirmed at the gates, they would be brutal. Cain wasn''t a foreign citizen, but he was always harassed at the gates nonetheless.


    Adrenaline pumping as he pretended to catch up to the group in front of him. In fact wasn''t very hard to get into the city seeing has he had been doing so for a while. Must be because of all the strong people in the city Cain thought.


    As soon as he got past the inattentive guards, Cain changed directions to a side passage. Following the darker alley ways till he reached the border between the lower and upper district. Taking a deep breath he dipped out of the shadows and hurried on the edges of the streets.


    Most upper class citizens were too self-involved or busy to even glance at the strange, dirty figure walking on their sides. The few strange glances he received made him change from a hunched stroll, to a brisk walk.


    ¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®


    Cain scrambled through the rafters of the extremely tall building. He had to climb an alarmingly fragile drainpipe to make it to the rooftops. Reaching the schools building, he climbed through fearlessly and discovered himself right above Jax.


    Why don¡¯t I join the top class? What do you think about that Jax, I don¡¯t even have a companion and I can still participate in your stupid top class.


    So he lay there upon a wooden rafter covered in dust, a rag around his nose and mouth, listening in rapt attention. Making sure he shifted small amounts of dust on the bully below him.


    ¡°Settle down students, settle.¡± The overweight lecturer with an oversized earthworm on his shoulder shouted. He began to lecture in a lower tone, looking down at his students from an elevated wooden podium.


    ¡°Yesterday we talked about the basic geography of the world, today we talk about the basic concepts of companionship. This is a top class, so all of you have great quality companions and can understand their obvious strength, but you have only released but a fraction of their potential.


    In fact all of the companions you hold are unranked. They might be strong, but it is highly unlikely they could beat a ranked companion.¡± At this point the obese lecturer wiped the sweat rolling down his double chin and took a breath. A question rang out from the students.


    Ohh, look Jax is asking a question, Cain thought as he looked down and observed.


    ¡°Sir, can you tell us about these rankings and how we can get a rank.¡±


    The lecturer smiled, although with his chubby features it looked more like a grimace.


    ¡°Good question Jax.  The basic stages start from; unranked, which all of you are, first stage, second stage all the way up to the ninth stage.


    After that is a soul-mate stage, something I barely even understand. Beyond that, well, only the true experts can even think about. I myself and my Fire-Earthworm, Poe here, are at the second stage.¡±


    The lectures¡¯ face twisted into another pride filled smile.


    ¡°To graduate any basic Companion School, you have to at least be able to gather spirit power into your soul. But the Starsk Companion School recommends students to particular companion academies, depending on their ability. So study and train hard! ¡±


    Another student asked a question; ¡°What is spirit power sir, is that how we become ranked?¡±


    Still breathing heavily the lecturer responded; ¡°Indeed it is. An unranked companion-human pair, such as yourself, are yet to sense natural power and cannot break into the first stage. In fact a huge amount of people cannot sense natural power, even if they have immensely strong companions. To gain spirit power, one has to gather the natural power from the environment and convert to spirit power inside his or her soul.


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    For example The Starsk minister of finance has a legendary Fire Sphinx, but despite trying for over fifty years he hasn¡¯t been able to sense natural power, hence, he never graduated companion school.  Natural power is everywhere in the world, some-places are more dense than others, but all one has to do is gather it inside oneself to become powerful. From there the next step is to gain spirit power, meditation is the most popular method.¡±


    Wow, is that all you have to do? Even I can do that.


    A sharp ringing bell resounded throughout the class-room and the school grounds, making the students break out into conversations. Cain was so enraptured with the lecture he nearly fell of the perch he lay on in shock.


    ¡°Okay students, return in twenty minutes, don¡¯t wander too far for the break,¡± the lecturer shouted over the clamour of the students who had already began to flood out of the room.


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    Cain slowed his breathing and made sure he didn¡¯t move.


    I definitely can¡¯t make any noises now, since there is no one in the room except for us


    He had kept still on top of that same rafter for just under ten minutes, resisting scratching his nose or sneezing from the dust. The lecturer on the podium was shifting around in his seat, occasionally muttering.


    On second glance, Cain noticed he seemed to be uncomfortable or nervous but he couldn¡¯t tell at the distance he was at.  Just as the lecturer began to mutter again he shot up straight out of his chair and bowed.


    Cain crawled forward carefully, but couldn¡¯t get a view of the figure in the doorway.


    Someone that could get a second stage man to bow must be extremely strong or important.


    ¡°Have you notified everyone I have told you to leave the Starsk kingdom in   two days Jerold,¡± the man spoke to the lecturer who Cain realise was called Jerold.


    Jerold replied still bowing; ¡°Yes, sir it has been taken care of.¡±


    ¡°Good, I will be leaving now. You will not be able to contact me. Make sure you  ¨C remove ¨C any obstructions. Nothing can ruin the future, make sure the plans for the Annual March aren''t disrupted¡±


    ¡°Of course sir. Salut¨¨.¡± Jerold exclaimed while striking his chest with his hand. The man responded in like and left.


    Just as the mysterious man left the bell sounded and children slowly started flooding back in. Cain was confused at what he had just overheard.


    Leave the kingdom? Did that man just say to kill anyone who interfered?


    There was a lot of questions revolving around Cain¡¯s head and he hadn¡¯t paid any attention to the lecturer who had already begun. He knew that so much happened in the intricate kingdom of Starsk than he would ever know. I don''t even live in the city anyway, how would I know what they are talking about.


    Cain was shocked out of his reverie after he heard the word cull. His stomach was in his mouth and his heart was beating loudly. Cain felt that if it was any louder everyone would look up to see what the disturbance was. He held his breath until he realised the lecturer, Jerold, was actually speaking of culls in general and hadn¡¯t discovered him.


    ¡°Good question, although it is about culls. Can culls get a companion?¡± Cain¡¯s heart which just calmed down began to beat faster.


    ¡°I am only going to spend a second on this topic since you aren¡¯t culls and don¡¯t need to worry about such unnecessary scum. Of course all of you know the dangers of the ¡®dark expanse¡¯, one of its many dangers are beasts. But do you know the origins of these beasts.¡±


    All of the students shook their heads obediently, only the more academic of them still actually listening. However, to Cain perched above them, this was the most thrilling part of the entire lesson. He listened carefully as the lecturer continued.


    ¡°These beasts actually in fact originated from early times, thousands of years ago. When humans had no control over the strange existences known as a companion. Not having the same years and years of accumulated knowledge that we now have, they lost all control of their soul companions.


    These wild companions escaped into the wilderness and became wild beasts. The beasts mated and produced more exotic and rare beasts. They became a part of the natural environment.


    So one way for a cull to obtain a companion is taming one of these beasts. The cull must have a sufficient amount of spirit power to even try to subdue the beast.


    Of course that is not the only way, it is rumoured that extraordinarily powerful companion-man pairs, nothing that we could even compare to, can create companions as well. However this is only here-say, regardless let¡¯s get back on topic.¡±


    Cain didn¡¯t even listen after he heard that small amount of knowledge.  Unbelievable, this is the best, the best! He could barely form coherent thoughts, as he started backing out of the rafters. Cain made sure he shook more dust onto the oblivious Jax below.


    :)


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 Chapter 4 - Sensation

    Jax walked out of the lecture hall laughing and talking with his friends.


    ¡°Hah, that fatso Jerold actually talked about culls. I wonder what that loser cull would think if he knew that he could actually get a companion.¡±


    Another student replied; ¡°Even if we told him, he still has to be able to gain spirit power. There would be no fun in telling him!¡±


    The whole group tormented the young boy, so naturally they would have no inclination to help him whatsoever.


    What is this? Jax thought as he rubbed copious amounts of dust out from his hair.


    Looking around he felt someone¡¯s gaze on him, but couldn¡¯t spot anyone.


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    Chuckling in the shadows, Cain watched as Jax shook the dust out of his head and looked around. He hurried home, he had finally found a way out of being ridiculed his entire life.


    Finally exiting the city gates he reached the houses outside the walls of Starsk. Noticing many of the ragtag bunch of inhabitants all heading somewhere, he looked towards the group and searched for someone he could ask. Most of the people outside of the walls of Starsk didn¡¯t care whether he was a cull or not. People who were too poor to afford a house inside the walls, where rejects themselves. Not on the same level as Cain, but still a blight on society in the eyes of the nobles.


    The other group of people outside the Starsk wall wanted to better their strength and for the most part  just didn¡¯t care!


    Cain asked a familiar figure that was walking with the rest of the group. ¡°Hey Mr.Warrior, where is everyone heading to?¡± Cain didn¡¯t even know his name, the fighter was equally grumpy with everyone and since he was second stage ranked he could be mad without any repercussions. Like most second ranked people he could pull his companion into his soul. Most ranked warriors, however, kept it outside of his body to show off how powerful they were.


    ¡°Cain, you were sneaking around the city I presume?  Well everyone is going to see a birth of a child.¡± He said as he walked off, not even glancing back.


    ¡°Oh, finally. I can see a birth!¡± he muttered to himself.


    Cain had lived outside the Starsk walls where a birth was an event, still he had yet to see one. His father didn¡¯t like to show his son something that he could never have, a companion.


    But Cain didn¡¯t know that, he had no idea where companions even came from. Following the rest of the group to a small house, he saw everyone crowding around a makeshift bed strangely positioned outside of the house.


    Shoving and burrowing under peoples legs, he managed to get a place in front of the rest of the crowd, albeit, showered with complaints.


    "Hey" shouted some of the those he scurried under.


    The mother was covered by a cloth and a midwife was crouched in front of her encouraging the young lady to push.


    Dad wouldn¡¯t be very happy with her, thought Cain who saw that she yelled obscenities he had never even heard before.


    Finally the cries died a way and a baby was born, blood and all. It still hadn¡¯t taken its first breath yet. Wait, that¡¯s all! I¡¯ve seen way more disturbing things in the streets of the lower district and near the dark expanse.


    ¡°It¡¯s a boy¡± the midwife said, relieved after finally delivering the baby.


    Before Cain could turn away in disappointment the surrounding air suddenly heated up and the adults held their breath. The midwife tapped the bottom of the newly born babe trying to get him to cry. The moment the baby took his first breath a shining green light burst forward and raced straight upwards.


    ¡°The natural energy left the baby, it¡¯s coming,¡± a member of the crowd exclaimed.


    The natural energy coalesced into a ball barely a meter above the baby and light continued to stream upwards into ball which slowly grew in size.


    All of this happened in a matter of seconds. The light continued to stream until the ball looked like it was about to burst. Cain held his breath.


    I can feel the natural energy changing to spirit energy. Is this what the teacher mentioned, Cain mused.


    Still in total awe of the scene in front of him he didn¡¯t realise the significance of his observation. It was the reason that it was an attraction to people who trained. The moment the ball burst, an indistinct curled figure was visible. It was cloaked in blue a throbbing energy.


    That must be the spirit energy. As the babies cries calmed down, it slowly descended onto his small chest.


    An infant wind fox slowly breathed in an out, looking up at the babies face. Tears streamed down the mothers face and the crowd began to congratulate her while Cain walked away.


    ¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®


    Cain was in the kitchen hurriedly putting together his father¡¯s dinner.


    ¡°I have to quickly get this done so I can try to convert natural energy, before father returns¡± he said under his breath.


    Remembering what he had witnessed just moments before, he was very eager.


    Finally finished he sat cross legged on the cold wooden floor of the kitchen. Cain had closed his eyes, he began to meditate. Ever since I saw the birth, I can sense the natural power very faintly. Causally reaching out with his mind he saw green particles that floated in the air. Cain counted all of the particles he could sense, eight.


    I can only feel about a meter around me.


    Not able to sense any further around him, he focused on the small amount of the strange particles he assumed to be natural energy around him. Not really knowing what to do, he tried to move them around. Revolving them around his head and feet. Cain didn¡¯t have his eyes open but he could sense the room around him.


    He could see the grains of the wood on the floor and even the dust. Not visually, but as a reflection of where the green natural energy couldn''t reach. Strangely enough they moved exactly to his will.


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    Mabye!


    He tried to break apart the particle and it split into two pieces. Almost a second past and a minuscule amount of blue energy dissipated suddenly moving towards his chest.


    Right now Cain could see that his soul was a transparent sea, the minuscule amount of natural energy raced towards that sea. Even if he wanted to stop it, it was too late. The moment it touched the surface of his soul¡¯s sea, it turned wild. Huge waves smashed against each other and the natural energy slowly dissipated.


    It began to calm down and even looked as if nothing happen. Cain was stunned, inspecting further he could not see any differences or changes but he knew something was different. Hearing the door move he got up.


    ¡°What! It¡¯s already dark?¡± Cain exclaimed. He didn¡¯t notice but his meditation had taken almost two and a half hours. It seemed like hardly a second.


    Cain looked to the door as his father rushed in, slamming the door open. Looking around frantically, he asked.


    ¡°Cain. Was anyone here a moment ago son?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Cain felt a little guilty, hiding something so important from his dad. A soon as I become even more powerful I will shock him so much. A small grin emerged on the boy face.


    ¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®


    Tok¨¨ had hacked against the trees, putting the might of his lower back into each swing. He had yet to reach his quota, so he had to hurry if he wanted to get home before dark.


    When the sun went down the dark expanse became infinitely more dangerous, bigger more dangerous beasts could appear.


    He heard rumours that a fifth stage Sun Lion and even stronger beasts had killed some workers in the past the last two months.  A shiver ran down his spine as he looked up and wiped the sweat of his brow. Its already pretty dark.


    ¡°Bark,¡± he called to his companion ¡°Get ready, we are going to speed things up!¡±


    The little woodpecker chirped back and spread his wings as he landed on Toke¡¯s shoulders. The pair started to glow an iridescent yellow, the same as the companion¡¯s feathers. Suddenly Tok¨¨ let out a short bellow, ¡°Speed!¡±


    Almost immediately Tok¨¨ began to increase in speed and hacked almost triple the speed. The wood splintered and another tree was felled.


    After a good ten minutes of using his first stage ability, he was able to finish his quota. Just in time Tok¨¨ thought as he realised the sun had set. Ignoring the dark looks from his jealous co-workers he dragged all the wood he had pile up to the boss.


    ¡°Boss, I need to request something.¡±


    The boss was a taciturn old man, who somehow managed to piss of big shots inside of Starsk and land himself in the most dangerous position outside of the city. Yet, he still was fair and just to those who worked the hardest. Not saying anything but a nod of acknowledgement to continue.


    ¡°I need a day off tomorrow, it is my son¡¯s birthday.¡±  Tok¨¨ wasn¡¯t a man to make excuses or complain and requested the favour outright.


    The boss raised an eyebrow before glancing at the huge pile the man had just turned in. ¡°Fine, but you won¡¯t get payed.¡±  Tok¨¨ nodded gratefully before thanking him and began to head home.


    Tok¨¨ headed to the city walls entered without a problem, people rarely bothered him. Even though within the huge city of Starsk the amount of people was nothing to scoff at, a cull was still a one in a million rarity. Most people recognized his son but not him, unless he mention his name.


    Tok¨¨ headed to one of the only jewellers in the lowest district, it was extremely close to the high district. Reaching the door, he opened it and heard the bell behind the door chime. An old man came to the desk with a smile on his face he said;


    ¡°Dear customer what will it be today.¡±


    Toke took of his necklace off and replied ¡°My good man, I wish to remove the aquamarine gem in this and place in bracelet for a child.¡±


    ¡°No, problem. It¡¯ll be quick job, maybe a few hours. It¡¯ll be ready for you tomorrow.¡±


    Tok¨¨ nodded and handed the necklace over, but hesitated as it landed in the old jewellers hand. Almost as if he didn¡¯t want to part with it, he let out a sigh departed.


    ¡°Ill come back for it tomorrow¡± he said as he walked out the door.


    ¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®


    He strolled peacefully towards his house, until he felt the tell-tale ripples of soul energy in the air.  Of course he wasn¡¯t surprised, many people practiced their energy or practiced attacks with their companions. In fact, many times he and Bark practiced while working. However the closer he got to his home the more the strange feeling grew.


    Oh, by the gods!


    Tok¨¨ realised the displacement of soul energy was coming from his own home. Not sparing anything he called on Barks power.


    ¡°Speed,¡± a bellow emitted again as he began to run. The dirt on the ground blew back in plumes and he began to move extremely fast.


    The closer he got to his house the more scared he felt. Barely even opening the door before shouting, ¡°Cain.¡±


    Looking around carefully, he realised there was no-one in the room except his son. ¡°Was anyone here a moment ago son?¡±


    Cain said no, but how could he could mistake the feeling of soul power coming from his house.


    Double checking the room he scratched his head while his son smiled strangely.


    :)


    Thanks for reading. I just thought to mention that bold text is for thoughts, if it wasn''t obvious.


    ps. HURRAH, for followers and stuff


    pps. mirror</a>, I put this chapter up early there because my net dc''ed for a while randomly. Weird  :0

 Chapter 5 (1) - Danger and Demise

    ¡°Get him out of here¡± a portly man yelled at the guards.


    This was the third prince of the royal Starsk court. He stood on the steps barely three meters behind the royal throne, petitioning to his father to look into the matter of the disappearances.


    At the beginning he thought that these figures were just leaving to some of the other great kingdoms, he didn¡¯t give it a second thought. But barely three days ago, even more citizens had disappeared. A notable general, court politicians, merchants and even a fat old second stage teacher from the Companion School.


    The only reason he could mention it to the king, his father, was because even his two brothers had left. The first and second princes had fifth stage companions and were a valuable asset to the kingdom not to mention being royalty.


    ¡°Who was he¡± an aged voice reached the third princes ears. His father had barely reached the second stage before becoming 80 years old.


    To be 80 years old and not reach the third stage meant he would not live much longer. In fact, the princes at fifth stage would live for over a hundred years with no problem. This was the main reason royalty were trained from a young age. If the crowned king had reached past the fourth stage they would be able to live 90 years in great health.


    The stronger the person was, the longer they could rule. Hence the importance of the two strong princes.


    ¡°Father. I caught him trying to recruit a merchant into some sort of cloak and daggers organisation when visiting.¡± The third prince said, while recalling visiting his good friend in the merchant sector of the city.


    Just before he could be shown in by the servants he heard a huge commotion. Rushing into the room he found a man intimidating the merchant. After the guards disabled him and discovered what he had told his friend, the prince dragged him to the palace immediately seeking council with his father.   Who could have known that the man would kill himself with a poison capsule in his teeth the moment he woke up? the prince thought.


    As they dragged the still twitching body of the man outside, the prince took a deep breath. ¡°He¡¯s from the organisation that has been taking our people.¡±


    The king paused and seemed to deflate on the throne. ¡°They began to act.¡±


    ¡°Yes, they are finally beginning and we don¡¯t know why. We must leave at once!¡± The prince addressing the king in such a way was blasphemous, but the reasons behind the outburst allowed him pardon.


    ¡°No¡± the king replied. ¡°The other major kingdoms of Airlenn are sending their diplomatic groups to lend their power to us.¡±


    ¡°Father, please!¡±


    ¡°No, do you want to offend the major warriors and nobles of the Farsi, Estone and Trejor at once. Do you know what that means? Do you?¡± The king began to shout in rage, his son could only bow his head and clench his fist.


    I will not be like my brothers, those bastards just disappeared and left father.


    ¡°We might have a huge military with many ranked fighters. But we lack real power, the guardian squad do have some powerful 6th stage fighters, but above that!¡± A sigh burst from the old kings¡¯ mouth. ¡°I made up the existence of a soul mate leading the squad to keep the other kingdoms from getting to pushy.¡±


    ¡°If we leave, at least we won¡¯t be caught up in whatever is going to happen¡± the third prince replied in a dejected tone, he knew he would be rejected. His father would rather die than abandon his post as the king.


    ¡°LEAVE. On what basis, because of some man you found in a merchants house. Who knows if it really is them, if it is, so what? Do you know what existence these diplomatic groups are? Every single one of them has a soul-mate leader, a soul-mate for gods-sake. One soulmate could decimate at least a quarter of our military without a problem, not to mention four.


    No we must stay and greet them with respect, we have no choice. We must display our meagre military might to them in the Annual Yearly March.¡±


    ¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®


    Cain dragged his reluctant Father out the front door. ¡°Don¡¯t worry dad there are too many people to recognize me.¡±


    He had woken up early. Usually his birthday was a boring event since he didn''t have any friends to celebrate it with. But this year the ¡®Annual March¡¯ was on his birthday and he could witness all the powerful companions in the city.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you want to watch from afar like usual and then go home to celebrate your birthday?¡± Tok¨¦ asked his son. Although it was a sad query, it was one he was used to obliging.


    ¡°No way, there are so many cool things going on and since it¡¯s the annual march all the food is cheap.¡± Cain replied with enthusiasm.


    ¡°Fine.¡± Tok¨¦ was happy to stay at home like regular. He should¡¯ve known that he would be going to the city anyway.


    Tok¨¦ whistled and from the sky dived a brown blur which landed on his shoulder. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Bark has returned anyway.¡±


    The usually dreary outsides of Starsk had become bustling, crowded with humans and companions entering the walls. The Annual March had become a festival over the years with the majority of the population, whether noble or commoner, witnessing the event.


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    In fact, all of the workers on the edge of the dark expanse would not be able to attend. Fortunately Tok¨¦''s boss knew he always asked for a day off on his son¡¯s birthday and allowed it.


    The crowds that entered the city had no indication of stopping and the guards were overwhelmed as usual. They didn¡¯t scan for people who were allowed in the city but for dangerous people with weapons instead.


    Cain and his father got through the gates without being hassled and began strolling around the city waiting for the Annual March to begin. Tok¨¦ looked at his son swivelling his head as fast as possible trying to take in all the sights and smells.


    I can¡¯t wait to get his present .  Tok¨¦ thought smiling to himself.


    Suddenly Tok¨¦ felt himself being dragged to a Noi store. Sighing, he realised he was going to lose a bit of money today. Noi was Cains favourite food, it was meat wrapped in pastry dipped in a spicy sauce.


    Most of the time it was way too expensive to buy regularly and Cain would rarely get to eat it. But the cheap prices of the Annual March meant that Tok¨¦ could buy his son some without worrying too much.


    ..


    ¡°Come on Dad. The Annual March starts in a few hours, we have to go and get a good seat.¡± Cain exclaimed basically on the toes of his feet with Noi sauce all over his face.


    Chuckling at his son¡¯s unrestrained excitement for an event that won¡¯t even start for a couple of hours, Tok¨¦ laughed. ¡°Don¡¯t you want to go get your present? I got you something great this time.¡±


    Cain looked up at his father and laughed nodding his head, ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±


    ¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®


    Tok¨¦ stood in front of the jewellery store with his confused son beside him and opened the door. The bell went off and the old man came to the front.


    ¡°Ahhh. Your package is ready sir, that will be 2 silvers.¡± The old man said to Tok¨¦ with a brown paper bag in his hands. Cain behind him gasped at the price, it was much more then he¡¯d ever seen in one place.


    Retrieving the package from the man and reluctantly giving him the two silvers he left with his son in tow and smiled.


    ¡°Here is your present for your 11th birthday.¡±


    Handing over the brown paper bag to his son as they slowly walked to the city square with the rest of the crowds to where the best view of the Annual March was. Barely waiting even a second, he ripped open the brown paper bag and saw his father¡¯s aquamarine necklace.


    Looking up at his father confused, he threw away the wrappings and realising it wasn¡¯t a necklace any more, but rather a bracelet. Placing it around his wrist he adjusted the sliver chains, admiromg it as it captured the sun¡¯s rays and split it into many little blue lights.


    ¡°But isn¡¯t this yours father?¡± Cain asked his dad. Although he was enamoured with the bracelet, he knew his father had been wearing it as a necklace since he was a baby.


    ¡°Actually, it wasn¡¯t mine. It was your mothers. ¡±


    Cain¡¯s eyes widened and he became confused. No matter how much he asked about his mother, his father never really said anything. His father¡¯s attitude seeped into his son and Cain subconsciously disliked his mother for leaving them.


    Seeing his sons face darken, Tok¨¦ sighed.


    ¡°Before your mothers, it was my mothers. Your grandmother. It¡¯s a family heirloom and now it¡¯s yours to keep safe. Ok?¡± The question emphasised by a quick tweet from Bark on his shoulders.


    Cain visibly smiled at that. Even though my mother had it, it¡¯s still pretty cool that I have a family heirloom. It looks pretty expensive, maybe it¡¯s even worth a gold coin. Cain thought to himself.


    ¡°Ok¡±, he replied. ¡°Can we go to the City square now. Pleaseee.¡±


    Chuckling, Tok¨¦ and Cain continued walking. As soon as they reached the outside of the city square, the crowds became even thicker and the excitement was palpable. They had come just in time for the march to begin.


    ¡°Look, dad. Look!! There¡¯s a giant-eagle.¡± Cain shouted from atop his father¡¯s shoulders.


    ¡°Look, see a silver Wind-Wolf¡±, Cain exclaimed. The boy began to shout all of the passing companions to his dad as they went by.


    Suddenly he went silent.


    ¡°What happened son.¡± Toke shouted to his son over the sounds of the crowd. Looking to where his son was staring.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that the royal viewing platform¡± he muttered to himself.


    Suddenly everything went quiet. The chatter of the crowds died down and even the marching of the army stopped. Everyone¡¯s eyes faced the royal viewing platform in shock.


    :)


    Thanks for reading </a>as usual.


    I appreciate reading comments and if you think Scarlet Surge is good, please drop me a review or follow.

 Chapter 5 (2) - The Departed

    A small group of men and woman stood in front of the golden gates of Starsks'' castle. Behind them were a larger retinue wearing matching colours. Red, green and blue where the resounding colours that dominated each group.


    All of the members where in conversation, relaxed and at ease. Almost as if standing outside of the ruling castle of the kingdom had no effect on them.


    For the three figures at the front, it didn¡¯t. Their posture and smiles looked like they were being waited on instead.


    ¡°Crenol, made advances in your cultivation?¡± an old man said to the younger lady. He was dressed in dark green garb native to Farsi officials.


    The lady in question wore a revealing red dress and was stunningly beautiful.  She began to laugh, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you like to know. If you keep worrying about others cultivation you will fall behind yourself. If you do, Trejor will be happy to accept you.¡±


    Sighing to himself the old man responded; ¡°You and Jarl already advanced so far at such a young age. It took me almost a hundred years to reach half my current cultivation.¡±


    Shaking his head with a smile and muttering to himself; ¡°Young ones these days!¡±


    The last man had a sky blue robe and a matching ice cold expression. ¡°Crenol, do not attempt to poach experts in front of me. There is a delicate balance that must be maintained and what must be done to keep it.¡±


    ¡°Relax Jarl. You need to lighten up, in fact here comes a joker from the Starsk kingdom anyway.¡± Crenol laughed at her quip and faced the gates as the coined ¡®joker¡¯ approached.


    The doors of the Starsk castle raised and a lone man stood at its entrance. Each of the three experts smiled to themselves. The caller was only a sixth stage expert, but was probably selected to be a show of strength.


    Jarl smirked, Flaunting a sixth stage cultivator in front of us, you must be joking.


    ¡°I am the second general of the Starsk army. Come, come. The King is waiting for you.¡± He proudly declared and turned around marching back into the castle.


    ¡°Lets go!¡± Each of the three leaders called on their entourages and streamed into the castles front gate. None of the three groups allowed the others to go first in an attempt to gain superiority. As a result, only the leaders who were afforded a wide berth due to their stature, got in without shoving anyone.


    ¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®


    The king stood at a mahogany table which lay two meters away from the royal viewing platform. It overlooked the people crowding around the centre of the square waiting for the Annual March to begin.


    At the table sat four people.


    ¡°Thank you for gracing us with your presence great cultivators of our Airlenn continent. I hope the travels have not been too tough.¡± The said to everyone sat at the table. He was at the head of the table looking around. I''m sweating under this robe, the pressure of their strength is too much .


    ¡°Please, I am Crenol. Travelling the Airlenn continent poses no threat to me, a soul mate cultivator. I don¡¯t know about these chumps, but I could travel alone and have no problems.¡± The beautiful woman smirked and glanced purposely at the other two representatives.


    ¡°You might be younger than me but I am still higher cultivation stage than you Crenol,¡± the old man from Farsi said.


    Replying in a heated voice; ¡°So what, you¡¯re so old I¡¯ll catch up to you in a decade no sweat. Don¡¯t even talk to me you old bastard!¡±


    ¡°Bitch¡±


    The name calling and arguing escalated while the king overlooked uncomfortably. The Estonian representative Jarl observed unaffected, his stone expression remained the same.


    Straightening out his robes and looking to the rest of the table the old man cleared his throat. ¡°Ahem. Ok down to business and to why the three great nations visited Starsk.¡±


    The King of Starsk face visibly darkened for a second at the statement. You think I don¡¯t realise that you are insinuating Starsk as an inferior nation. Knowing that he couldn¡¯t refute the man, he hid is displeasure at the statement and nodded for him to continue.


    ¡°We have created the Airlenn Alliance.¡±


    The king¡¯s body tensed up and his mind began to calculate at a rapid pace. This is worse than I thought. They didn¡¯t ask Starsk to join so the rulers of Trejor, Estone and Farsi obviously believe us to be an inferior nation as well. The only reason they would come post creation of the alliance is to pressure us.


    The king¡¯s face had long since hid what he was thinking and smilingly asked the old man from Farsi to elaborate.


    ¡°Well, the Airlenn Alliance is the collaboration of might to conquer and defend the human race against threats. We came here to ask you to join.¡±


    ¡°Why would Starsk need to join the any alliance? We have no threats to our nation.¡± The king replied. He already knew this meeting was going to go bad the second an alliance was mentioned.


    This time Crenol intervened. ¡°There are no threats posed to your nation ¡®currently¡¯. The AA have been protecting and defending against threats behind the scenes. The AA has been created for many years and has accomplished a lot of things while Starsk, well, just existed.¡±


    The kings bowed his head, he couldn¡¯t believe it had been years since they had created the alliance without any word from his intelligence of such an entity. Wait, threats. Behind the scenes. Accomplishments. This sounds a lot like crusade talks.


    He slowly raised his head and in a soft voice said; ¡°You still haven¡¯t told me what threats.¡±


    Crenol smiled. ¡°Of course. As you know the Airlenn continent is the safest continent on the planet, but it is also the poorest. We have mined most of the precious metals and haven¡¯t found a single deposit of soul crystal in over a 100 years.¡±


    They are still searching for soul crystals. They were only found 300 years ago and are almost 5000 gold for a single piece. According to the historians at the Starsk institute, they can increase your cultivation by leaps and bounds.


    The king had stopped searching many years ago after all his forefathers had found only small amounts. Although it was barely anything, the soul crystals managed to boost the kingdoms strength enough to compete toe to toe with the other kingdoms.


    The king still didn¡¯t believe that the other kingdoms had found any major threats. Unless... Not daring to believe he continued listening to the lady.


    ¡°Fortunately, we had found soul crystals in the continent of Erf. Unfortunately we encountered some of the filthy monsters while searching for the crystals and had a minor skirmish losing two soul mates and enraging a minor nation. Apparently a son of some King was killed, crazy that the bastards have familial ties. They look like animals, I didn¡¯t expect them to have any culture.¡± Crenol chuckled. She didn¡¯t mention to the king that she initiated the fight and coincidently killed the son.


    Gasping with horror, the king realised two major things.  The reason why Stark has been supressed by the other nations was they have soul crystals. No wonder we can¡¯t match military might to a single one. They lost two soul mates in a minor skirmish. Shit, how strong are the inhabitants of Erf.


    Finally Jarl, the last representative of the nations present decided to speak. ¡°We came to Stark today to gift your nation a secondary position in Airlenn Alliance and want your army to help combat against the possible invasion of a Erf army.¡±


    The king still had his pride as the leader of a nation and indignantly exclaimed. ¡°Secondary, what does that entail and why can we not be primary?¡±


    Laughing Jarl responded. ¡°The force that we attacked in the Erf Continent was a quarter the size of ours and had one expert. Their strength is unbelievable and we need numbers to counter against it. We discovered that they are only a small nation, just the size of the city of Starsk. Although you command this Kingdom with all its fiefdoms and villages around, you do not have any soul mates. There are three in this very room.


    We want numbers and numbers is what you have. But the alliance has the real strength.¡±


    An unsettling silence pervaded the room, only shouts of the people outside the viewing chamber could be heard. In the heated conversation and complete shock, the king had completely forgotten about the annual march. The platoons had been marching past for a while, each member¡¯s companion proudly walking alongside its human.


    The king straightened up and firmly responded. ¡°And if I refuse?¡±


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


    The old man, Crenol and Jarl all sighed. The old man of Farsi told the king, ¡°Refusing is not an option. You cannot defend against those of Erf with your strength, you cannot even defend against us.¡±


    Disguised in his statement was a thinly veiled threat. The king of Starsk slowly stood up while thinking to himself. Even if they kill me here, I cannot accept their terms. Numbers? All they want is a meat shield so they can save themselves while picking off the enemy. Farsi has a large army, so many alternatives exist. I cannot let all of Starsk suffer such a fate. Even if the kingdom falls, we can regroup and rebuild with the fiefdoms.


    ¡°I refuse and ask you to leave Starsk.¡±


    For the second time that day the three representatives of the Airlenn Alliance sighed. Jarl, an icy expression on his face, stood up along with the other two. ¡°I see you still don¡¯t understand. We expected so!¡±


    The king looked on in horror as the room began to freeze over and Jarl began to hover. He floated towards the royal viewing platform and even further over the crowds gathered in the city square.


    Suddenly a mirage of an azure eagle appeared underneath him, its wings spanning over fifty meters.  He stood on its head as the eagle somehow hovered without flapping its wings. It immense pressure brought all the festivities to a halt.


    ¡°Greeting citizens of Starsk.  I am Jarl, representative of the Airlenn Alliance.¡± His booming voice echoed across the entire city.


    ¡°I am one of the soul mates that our alliance possesses and we come from all kingdoms of the Airlenn continent. Your king has decided to rebel against the alliance and therefore, against humanity itself.


    Starsk must bear the punishment.


    For those of you who wish support humanity you must be reborn from its ashes. For those who cannot, you will endure the curse of weakness for only a short while longer.¡±


    ¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®


    Cain, along with thousands of people, marvelled at sight above the royal viewing chambers. However, Cains face didn¡¯t morph into outrage and anger like the others. He was completely absorbed, looking up at the huge bird that was opening it beak bit by bit.


    He was suddenly jolted awake by his father, who began to back away quickly along with the rest of the crowd. Cain almost fell of the back of his father¡¯s shoulders in the panic. His eyes were still glued to the gargantuan bird which was now gathering a blue mist around it open beak.


    ¡°Cain, Cain,¡± his father cried out from underneath as he swung his son down and began to run, shoving people out of his way.


    The man on the bird had finished his preparations and screamed a resounding word.


    "HAIL"


    It suddenly began to hail. Pieces of ice pelted onto the ground without even the slightest trace of a cloud. As the crowds began to flee the size of the hail began to increase in size and the man that initiated the mayhem was nowhere to be seen.


    Faster. Faster. Toke repeated over and over in his head. At this point Cains feet hadn¡¯t touch the floor due to his father dragging him along so vigorously.  Bark flew overhead, nimbly ducking between pieces of hailstones.


    The father and son where on the main road that led outside of the city, along with a slew of escaping people and their companions.


    The small hail stones had a surprisingly vicious effect. If a single piece of ice managed to hit your head and knock you out, or even make you trip, only death followed. Bodies of companions and humans littered the road as the fallen were continuously pelted with hail stones.


    The longer anyone stayed in the same place, the greater their chances of dying.


    Toke almost faltered when a hailstone pierced straight through the head of an armoured bear in front of him. It died instantly with its master at its side trying to wake it up uselessly.


    ¡°Miss, miss. He¡¯s dead. You have to¡­MOOVE¡± Toke let go of Cain tried to call out.


    The girl lost in her sorrow didn¡¯t notice what loomed above her. Toke looked on in horror as a massive hailstone the size of man came down in a flash.


    BANG


    Only her blood remained, it pooled around the bottom of the hailstone which didn¡¯t even shatter and splattered across Tokes face. The dead bear burst into a sparkling array of green natural energy and disappeared, signalling the masters death.


    ¡°Quickkk,¡± Toke yelled as his son froze both his legs locked. Grabbing him once again Toke sped away.


    ¡°SPEEEEDD, come on bark.¡± Screaming out at his companion.


    Borrowing the power of his companion, Toke pumped his legs, shattering the ground travelling faster than he even had before.


    He ignored the look his son gave him as fully utilised the power that the first rank had to offer. They had already reached the gates of the city which were completely destroyed. When a hailstone pierced Cains forearm.


    A guttural high pitched scream exploded out of the boy¡¯s mouth and destroyed Toke¡¯s concentration. Their speed dropped dramatically as they slowed to a stop.


    Cains whimpering worried his father immensely as he inspected the wound. Fortunately it was one of the smaller projectiles.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go¡± he motioned to his son. Noticing the shocked expression Cain was making, he turned his head upwards and saw the biggest hailstone hurtling straight down on top of them. Without sparing a second of thought he dived forward pushing his son backwards.


    It wasn¡¯t enough , Toke thought to himself as he felt his legs pinned down. Bark flew around franticly, twittering to his master.


    ¡°DAAAD,¡± his son screamed out as he got up of the floor and saw what had happened. His father was pinned under the hailstone, both his legs stuck and the blood of the girl they had just seen die decorated his face. Even more disturbing was his own blood which dribbled down the corners of his mouth.


    ¡°Go bark, lead him out of the city,¡± he called out to his panicking companion weakly.


    ¡°Tweet¡±


    ¡°NO, dad I can¡¯t leave you.¡±  Both Cain and Bark seemed to share the same sentiments.


    Cain sobbed, the pain of his own wound was ignored as his he cried. Pulling as hard as he could on his father¡¯s torso.


    It didn¡¯t budge.


    He couldn¡¯t move his father normally, so being pinned down by a mammoth hailstone made trying to even more hopeless.


    ¡°Go on son. Get out of here, survive. I know you can,¡± he said softly while caressing the face of his balling son.


    ¡°No.. no. Please dad, get up! Please.¡± Cain cried, on his knees still pulling uselessly.


    Bark realised it was impossible to help his master and pulled on Cains collar. The boy sprawled backwards just as another hailstone shattered in front of him, the pieces nicking him as they flew past.


    Toke looked up and realised that all of the projectiles had increased in size. ¡°GOOOOOOOOOOOOO¡± he yelled. Sighing as his son had finally began to run, his own companion tugging him out of the way of danger.


    He smiled as the mixture blood from two people rolled down his face and the tears of one joined the wretched cocktail. He could barely see his sons little back anymore.


    ***


    Cain found himself in the dark, exhausted and afraid. He couldn¡¯t remember how long he was running for, but he knew that he was in the Dark Expanse.


    Looking back at the way he had come he saw pitch darkness. Turning forward, he still couldn¡¯t see any light. There was nothing except for the little brown bird which hovered around him.


    Cain looked towards his father¡¯s companion and began to frantically shout; ¡°Quick Bark, let¡¯s turn back. Take me back to the city. The hailstones have stopped, we can save dad. Come on!¡±


    Bark warbled in a broken tenor and began to slowly descend before being caught by Cain.


    ¡°What happened Bark? We have to go back and save dad!¡±


    But the little bird that laid in his palms did not stir. Before the boy could even call out to his father¡¯s companion it burst into multitude of green sparks. The shock of the flare pushed Cain onto his knees.


    Looking at his palms tears streamed down his cheeks as he realised why Bark had dissolved into nothingness.


    ¡°Happy Birthday Cain,¡± he muttered to himself in between uncontrollable sobs.


    :)


    Apologies for not releasing for a while. I didn''t know how to write this chapter and when I finally did my internet died. Good news is I have another chapter written as a result.


    Tell me if you like it, its my longest chapter yet!!


    Thanks for reading

 Chapter 6 – Dark Expanse - Day 1/2

    Day 1


    On the forest floor a boy lay, surrounded by layers of dead leaves. The muted brown of the leaves slowly turned to bright red after being soaked by his blood. The only sound that could be heard was his shallow breathing.


    A sliver of light managed to reach through the dense canopy above him. Almost a meter away from the unconscious boy, the light shone onto the bark of a black tree. Strangely, the trees bark was slowly disintegrating into red particles only visible for a second after they appeared.


    Almost unnoticeable was the slight blood red hue around Cain¡¯s injured forearm. The particles seemed to be attracted to the blood inside his body through the wound. Suddenly the silence was broken by the dry heaving of the boy, a loud moan caused his eyes to flutter open.


    His mind was blank due to the pain of his wound and although he didn''t realise it at the time, the tingly sensation was from absorbing the mysterious red particles. Still disoriented from the pain of his arms, he looked around and could barely see anything in the darkness.


    I managed to escape Cain thought to himself.


    Dragging himself to the tree on his left while wheezing pitifully from the effort, he leaned his back on the cold bark. The bleeding hadn''t stopped, but it had slowed down. Cain ripped off part of his breeches and wrapped it around his left forearm.


    That should do for now


    The adrenaline had not only numbed his body but numbed his mind. Cain was solely focused on surviving, even with his weak, now eleven year old body.


    He lay there sinking in and out of consciousness, fainting almost immediately after waking up. It took almost half a day before he could open his eyes and stay awake without passing out from the pain.


    Even after his body stabilised, his strength hadn¡¯t. Cain lost too much blood, getting up was a plight in itself. After an hour of straining his muscles he was rewarded by managing to get his legs underneath him while leaning heavily on the tree.


    I can¡¯t go into the city, I will die for sure. He mused to himself.


    He didn¡¯t know if the crazy man from the city was there, of if he was still raining hell into the ground. But he avoided it instinctively, his father dying there just made him even surer of his decision.


    The choice presented between going back and staying in the expanse was an easy one to make for the boy. At least in the dark expanse he would die quickly as fodder for some beast¡¯s stomach. In the city, if there weren¡¯t any crazy cultivators, there could be bandits.


    Looting and pillaging was common in areas with no authority. If a cull like him was caught he could be squashed like an ant.


    All these dangers were avoided through his grief, but a mirical hidden in the curse revealed itself.


    Looking down at his forearm Cain grinded his teeth in pain, both mental and physical.


    ¡°AAARRGHG,¡± he screamed to the empty forest. The small echoes that returned where eerily twisted and layered.


    Cain barely noticed this and angrily promised himself something.


    I''ll find whoever did this to my dad and I will kill them, no matter how long it takes, no matter who I have to go through, even if I die!


    His hand held the azure bracelet on his wrist, an oath to his dead father. Holding his injured arm with his other, he walked deeper into the dark expanse.


    ¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®


    The further Cain walked, the more life he felt. It wasn''t using his eyes, in fact, he walked blindly for almost an hour. He constantly bumped into trees and winced in pain, while at the back of his mind there was an itch. It wasn''t until he was too exhausted to go any further he realised what it was.


    What is that? Cain lay on the forest floor and tried to sleep. But unlike before he couldn''t fall unconscious no matter how hard he tried. The constant tingling in the back of his head refused him such a necessity.


    Still laying down he thought to himself. Father used to heal himself from wounds using the natural energy in the air. Attempting to do the same, he relaxed into the meditative state that he did before his life changed.


    His mind faded into a clear soul sea, completely calm. Wait , Cain thought to himself as he realised that a slow stream of red particles was gathering over the top of the soul sea. The particles were forming a barely visible mist for as far as the eye could see.


    Where are they coming from.


    Following the thickest stream, he moved his mind away from his soul sea and began to travel outwards.


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.Cain opened his eyes wide and looked down at his forearm.


    It¡¯s being sucked through my wounds. Trying to stop the flow he realised he could sense the particles over ten meters around him.


    That¡¯s almost ten times as far as when I sensed natural energy . Still unable to stop the red particles from moving into him, he shrugged shoulders and smiled.  He gained a valuable tool in the Dark Expanse.


    ..


    Deep breaths were being drawn in by the child hiding behind the tree as he intently watched a bush. Cain had been staring at the same bushes for a while but was afraid to move forward.


    As he was trekking forward he discovered a patch of trees that were not as densely packed. A little light somehow managed to break the canopy and land on the shrubbery.


    Using his recently discovered sense of the environment he discovered something hidden inside the bushes. I can¡¯t make out what it is. But it isn¡¯t alive, that¡¯s for sure! He thought to himself as carefully approached the bushes slow as a snail.


    Moving aside the shrubbery Cain discovered a bright orange coloured fruit hiding inside. It was a stark difference from the dark motley colours of the surrounding trees.


    Cain was sure some sort of monster would drop down from the towering trees and casually take away the food, not to mention his weak little life. But his stomach growled and he realised he hadn''t eaten for at least a day.


    I''m too hungry to care about a loose beast.


    Looking around him he quickly detached every fruit growing from the inconspicuous bunch of plants. Obviously his little stomach won over his big fear of death. Backing away from the light, a single thought occupied the boy''s mind as he ran.


    Run.


    (Author: Obviously)


    ..


    From the shadows a figure watched the receding back of the boy.


    A deep growl shook the ground.


    ..


    Cain continued to run until his legs burned. Finally, he sat down on the lush floor of the forest. Bringing the strange fruit to his eyes he rotated it, inspecting it from all angles. Weird, I''ve never this before.


    Although he lived a far from lavish lifestyle on the outskirts of what once was a great city, he still thought he possessed basic knowledge of at least fruits.


    Steeling himself from the potentially nasty effects, he took a hesitant bite of the fruit and gasped. Sugary sweet juices burst into his mouth and dribbled down his chin. Almost instantly Cain devoured the fruit in his hand and started on the second. A few minutes later he lay back against the ground with a satisfied little burp, three fruits still left in his small hands.


    I have to save these for later, who know when I will get to eat more of these delicious fruits again.


    The shambles that his life had become took its toll and falling unconscious was a natural coping mechanism. Unable to stop his eyes from closing, the fear from falling asleep in the most dangerous place in the Airlenn continent faded away.


    ¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®


    Day 2


    Cain suddenly jolted awake with a gasp, it felt like he tripped in his slumber. Tearing up and grasping at the bracelet at his wrist.


    The thought reminded him of a story his father told him years ago.


    After a night of seeing his son tossing turning in his sleep and being jolted in the same way, Toke told him ¡®he was saved¡¯.


    "Saved from what?" he could remember asking curiously.


    "From those that have transcended the world to become angels. Their job is to make sure that people who die in their sleep have a peaceful passage. But sometimes when they remove the soul from the body and fly up into the heavens, a mistake is made. If you wake up with a start, it means a clumsy angel came down to take your soul but dropped it back into your body on the way up!"


    Taking solace in the memory, Cain slowly calmed down. I fell asleep in the dark expanse and nothing happened. It can''t be that bad, I will definitely be able to get to the other side.


    Still not completely at ease Cain looked around;


    Something else is wrong.


    As he got up from where he lay, Cain discovered that the fruits he had found earlier were gone. He definitely saved them to survive.


    The tiniest sounds in the trees around him seemed much louder and the bushes felt like they moved, hiding monstrosities of evil.


    "Rewlwllll" a strange mewl broke the silence of the forest at the same time a branch behind him cracked.

 Chapter 7 - Survival means Change - Day 3

    Yay, 20 followers.  Quicker chapter hehehe


    :)


    Cain slowly span on his heels and made out two red eyes staring back at him.


    "Arfghghhh nooii", he screamed out in a high pitched voice and once again ran as fast as he could in the opposite direction.


    It seemed that he was winding himself deeper into the trap the dark expanse presented to its unfortunate visitors. It remained the same in all directions, tall trees for as far as the eye could see, which wasn''t much at all.


    Completely panicked, Cain forgot to use the sense he had gained and barrelled into trees without abandon. The loud noises he made attracted all manner of nasties towards himself.


    The more he travelled, the more the shadows stirred. As he ran blindly, he attracted a small entourage of predators, all waiting for the chance for the weak prey to stumble or fall. None swooped down in case they became a meal for the others, but they still followed the easy wholesome meal.


    Looking over his shoulder every two minutes was a wasted effort as the boy could barely see past the nearest tree. He did it anyway, the little comfort it gave him was enough to think he was getting away.  He ran and ran until he could no longer feel the cold sweat on the back of his nape.


    ¡­


    One by one the amount of predators dropped off, realising the easily meal wouldn¡¯t be as easy if it continued. The biggest ones persisted, hoping to snatch it with their strength, or remain till the other left.


    The further the prey went the less the pursuers chased.


    Finally, the last one stopped chasing with a huff and turned around in hopes of killing some of the weaker followers of the boy. It had no qualms against cannibalising its own species. Anything to get stronger and survive, maybe even move closer to the middle of the expanse.


    ¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®¦¨ ¦¤ ¡È ?¦¤ ¦®


    ¡°What is this place¡±, Cain said out loud. After running and running, he had reached a clearing. The first he had ever seen inside the dark expanse. It was still small, barely twenty meters in diameter, but it was a complete mystery.


    How come no trees are growing in this part of the expanse. They even form a perfect circle. Oh wait, there is one tree.


    Cain found the clearing even more mysterious as he saw a strange tree in the centre. It was made completely of metal with red veins pulsing in an out. Each pulse emitting a similar red haze that presided over his soul¡¯s sea towards him. Its the red particle again, I can¡¯t even sense any natural energy anywhere in this place. Only the red stuff floats everywhere.


    Slowly edging forward to the centre of the clearing Cain could make out the strange supports at the base of the tree. But before he could even take a step forward the scarlet particles in the air began to slowly accumulate, rippling in tumultuous clouds. ¡°Oh¡±, a small gasp left the mouth of the boy realising that he was still in danger and tried to escape. But before he could even take a step back, the scarlet particles surged to him and engulfed his body crackling and entering his body through his wounds.


    ¡°ARGH¡±


    Cain screamed as the particles entered his body reopening the wound on his arms and finding every opening it could. It forced open his mouth and traved down his throat. His scream turned into a choked cough as the particles even blocked his nose. I can¡¯t even breathe , he though as he fell to his knees with his head on the ground.


    As strange voice echoed in his head, whispering one thing over.


    Grow to defy, connect to qualify.


    Cain was only baffled for a second before his throat began to constrict and the blood vessels in his eyes burst colouring his eyes red. Just as Cain thought he couldn¡¯t take it anymore, the particles disappeared.


    Curled up on the floor taking in deep breaths, he realised that all the small nicks he had built up from running had disappeared. Removing the make shift bandage from his forearm he gasped, the entire wound was scabbing over. It looks like I had this injury for months.


    The scarlet particles had a greater effect than just healing his wound as he looked inwards. His soul sea had completely transformed from clear to a light shade of scarlet. I remember the instructor mentioning the soul sea changing colour ensured that a person had reached first stage warrior.


    Even though not having a companion would severely limit any capabilities he could use, if any, it still meant that he had done something no-one back in Starsk thought was possible. Cain was jumping in excitement and yelled out; ¡°Take that!!.¡±


    But even the dangers of where he was couldn¡¯t contain his excitement.


    I broke through into the ranked stage by myself. Well, with the help of this strange scarlet stuff. If I could just subdue a beast in this place and make it my companion, I could definitely reach the other side of the dark expanse.


    Lost in his happy thoughts, Cain completely missed the not so subtle changes that occurred in the  metal tree in-front of him.


    PHSSSSSSSSSSS.


    The sound of escaping air immediately snapped him out of his reverie and onto the balls of his feet. Although he was in the dark expanse for under two days, his survival instinct had already begun to ingrain it-self into all of his actions.


    The supports of the tree had turned into an open case.


    ¡°What on earth!!¡± Cain exclaimed as he realised that on top of the case appearing the middle of the tree had become of statue.


    ¡°How is that even standing?¡± he asked himself.


    The carving of the statue hollowed out the centre of the metal tree which somehow balanced precariously on the surrounding metal. Slowly approaching closer, he realised that the man¡¯s eye glowed red and an ominous smile decorated his face.


    ¡°Is this a grave of a master? Is that the voice I heard¡± asking both himself and the statue, hoping to get some kind of response.


    Stumbling onto the tomb of a master was thought to bring great luck. In fact the only explorations into the dark expanse was solely for this fact alone, the items and abilities stored in these tombs were to alluring to cultivators of any rank.


    Looking down inside of the case that the tree released he began to smile. A scarlet red spear lay in the bottom. The spear itself gave of a baleful aura, its razor sharp diamond shaped tip glowed red feeling like it had already been doused in the blood of its victims.


    ¡­


    Day 3


    Cain was practicing stabbing against a tree.


    Bang, bang, bang.


    Each hit was punctuated by a grunt of the boy. Regardless of the effort he put behind the blows, his small frame couldn¡¯t generate enough power be a killing blow of any sort and he knew this. Finally taking a break from banging against the tree he sat down and rubbed his grumbling stomach.


    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    I haven¡¯t eaten anything since those disappearing fruits. At least the beasts don¡¯t come near the tomb.


    Cain only realised this was true when he discovered he couldn¡¯t find anything alive inside of the clearing except for him. Bugs, fruits and beast all seemed to steer clear of the space. The feeling was bittersweet, he had found some place safe but it didn¡¯t allow him to remain there. Feeling disheartened, he knew he had to leave the clearing or risk starving to death.


    ¡­


    Cain lay down in the darkness while severely regretting his decision of trying to find more of the fruits he discovered before. I can¡¯t believe I couldn¡¯t find anything after searching for so long! He even came prepared. In an attempts not to get lost again, especially after finding a safe spot such as the clearing, he decided to slash trees with the spear wherever he went so he could find his way back.


    However, after searching for what seemed like hours Cain had heard scuffling and hid in the bushes where he was now. Keenly observing every movement, he smothered the flat side of the spearhead under chest. Although this spear looks cool and really powerful, its weird red glowing will give my position away in an instant.


    Still waiting for the source of the sound to move past him, Cains¡¯ back began to sweat and he couldn¡¯t stop his hand from shaking. The sound slowly became louder until he sensed something in his peripheries. Turning his head towards the source his body tensed until he squeaked in shock.


    How can something so little survive in the dark expanse , Cain thought to himself, unaware of the irony in the statement.


    The little creature was rooting through the undergrowth of the forest looking for insects and occasionally chewing on the grass it found. It had long ears which cocked back and swivelled constantly searching for danger. The black fur made it almost invisible in the darkness and it had four sturdy looking legs. It looks like a sleek dog . Although he shuddered when it opened its jaws to chomp down on the grass and revealed a row of long glistening teeth.


    Cain felt a pang of hunger in his stomach when he saw the animal and grasped the shaft of the spear ready to attack it. Although he was completely repulsed by the sight of blood in the city, now all he could think of was the ready to eat meal in-front of him. He wasn¡¯t even completely sure he could kill the damn animal. I have to try at least. It¡¯s probably the weakest thing here.


    Getting ready to spring on the back of the unsuspecting animal, it suddenly tensed. Looking back, its head jerked in all directions and its ears swivelled frantically. Crap, it heard me , Cain thought stopping himself from moving yet. Before he could rush out of the bush a sudden whistle rang out from above and a large bird dove down. In an instant the bird¡¯s talons tore up the dog¡¯s body like paper and ripped open its insides without even giving it the chance to move or make a sound.


    Laying there not daring to make a move Cain held his breath. He was so close to the unaware beast that the blood of the animal had splattered onto his face and shoulders. He didn¡¯t even try to wipe the blood that was slowly dripping down his cheek.


    An hour later he remained stock still. The bird like beast had left a while ago, but Cain wasn¡¯t sure if it was a ruse just to get him to leave the shadows and suffer a similar death.


    While he remained still as a statue he couldn¡¯t help but think; If every predator preys on something here, maybe some animals are weak and don¡¯t eat meat. That small animal must be one that even I could stand a chance against. Even though Cain thought he could fight it, he didn¡¯t know if could actually win. The fact that the weakest animal in the dark-expanse had such sharp teeth and a sturdy looking frame made him shiver.


    ¡­


    This time Cain had learned from his mistake and painstakingly backtracked, silently and laying in the bushes again waiting for any signs of a Blackear, as he¡¯d taken to calling the animal. He had changed spots multiple times, becoming increasingly hungry every time. Finally he had found one grazing and gotten ready to pounce.


    I have to be look everywhere , he thought while looking around him, especially above. The bird like beast had scarred him and now he would always look above him when he scanned his surroundings for danger.


    Again he tightened his grip on the shaft of his spear and edged closer, pausing when the Blackear looked up and moving forward when the Blackear bent its head or turned. Slowly but surely he approached the animal which was completely unaware it was being stalked by a not so fearsome predator.


    Cain didn¡¯t stop until he was five meters away and a still under a bush. Taking a deep breath he sprang out and thrusted forward with the spear aiming for the.


    ¡°Bleeeeeeh¡±


    Somehow the Blackear managed to react in time and Cain just skewered its back thigh. The Blackear began to bleat louder.


    ¡°Bleeeh, Bleeh.¡±


    The whites of its eyes showed in anger as it realised the threat was only a small human, even weaker that itself. Swaying back, the animal lurched forward with its mouth wide open and shot forward aiming for the boys¡¯ face. Without a time to think Cain fell to the side and scrambled backwards narrowly missing the sharp teeth in its maw.


    I have to kill it quick, it¡¯s making too much noise , Cain thought worriedly. He already learned what happened to weak and loud things in the dark expanse. However, his spear was still embedded in the back leg of the Blackear. Crouching low he realised the animal had swayed back again and readied itself in the same way opening its mouth.


    Even injured, the beast was abnormally fast and its¡¯ black hair which blended with the darkness did not help Cain in the slightest. After tensely dodging and being scratched a couple time he realised that the Blackear followed the same pattern of attacking. It would always sway back and burst forward with its mouth open.


    If I had my spear I could easily kill it , he thought to himself as the teeth of the Blackear reached closer to his face than ever before.


    Ducking backwards trying to make some space between them, Cain cried out in horror as he discovered his foot was caught under the roots of a tree beside him. Before he could disentangle himself the Blackear stared maliciously and dived forwards, only a meter away from his tender face.


    ¡°BLEEH.¡±


    The beast shrieked.