《Dark Jokes》


 Chapter 0 - Prologue

    In a world ruled by Magic and swords. He laughs. In a world where the weak obeys the strong. He smiles. In a world where greed is the symbol of each nation¡¯s ruler. He jokes.


    In a world where both light and shadows exist. He lives.


    ¡°What a joke¡± he thought. Around him was a pile of corpses and blood was spilt on the walls. He was the only living being in this room. At the sight of this macabre scene, he could only let out an uncontrollable laugh. After laughing for a good minute, he finally calmed down and left without a word.


    This would be later known as the ¡°Silent massacre¡±.


    ***


    A substance called ¡°Magic¡± for convenience is widely considered to be the origin of the world and all life. For several millennia, many of the races populating the world known as ¡°Sigmas¡± have tried to understand how Magic works in order to be able to grasp the meaning of life. Although such answers have yet to be found, many advancements have already been made.


    The most significant one to mention is the ability to manipulate Magic that races have developed. Although raw Magic can be manipulated roughly by any living being, some of the most intelligent communities have understood how to make use of their knowledge in order to use Magic more efficiently.


    After decades of experimenting, the first control of Magic was made possible by an Elf called Arcadeus who later became known as the First Sage. He taught the world that the Magic present in all living beings was called ¡°Mana¡± but there was also Magic floating around, and present in the environment. He called it ¡°Cindril¡±.


    According to him, such a distinction between the two kinds of Magic was necessary in order to be able to manipulate Magic. He explained that Mana could be considered raw Magic while Cindril was Magic that had already been infused with elementary Magic.


    As raw Magic is unusable and mostly useless, it needs to be molded and infused with elementary Magic in order to be usable, however the process of infusing elementary Magic into raw Mana takes a lot of concentration and that¡¯s why it is easier to use Cindril that can be directly manipulated by infusing a tiny amount of Mana into it.


    For example, if a fire was lit by normal means, the flame would be considered ¡°Fire Cindril¡± and therefore would already contain fire Magic. The only process left to turn it into a fireball would be molding it by using Mana to make a ball shape with the Fire Cindril.


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.On the other hand, using Mana to make a fireball on your own would require the user to first create the fire element and then use more Mana to mold it into a fireball. Since half of the process was already done by using Cindril, most people abandoned the idea of using only their own Mana to manipulate Magic.


    To further add to this disadvantage, one could think that manipulating Magic using only Mana would cost 50% more but in reality, the process of creating elementary Magic was much harder than the process of molding it.


    As a matter of fact, if one were to digitize it, creating a ¡ºFireball¡»using only your own Mana would use about 50 Magic Points and creating one using Fire Cindril would cost about 10 Magic Points. Considering that 1 Magic Point is the same as 1 Mana Point, one could say that the process of creating an element takes up about 80% of the whole Mana required for a spell.


    Talking about races, the world of Sigmas is currently divided into several ones. The intelligent ones and the others, known as ¡°monsters¡±. The intelligent ones consist mainly of the Human race, the Dwarf race, the Elf race, the Orc race and the Half race.


    Humans have lived for a long time as one empire, the ¡°Porcephone Empire¡±. The Porcephone Empire controls roughly 70% of the Sill continent. The other 30% is owned by the Half race. The Dwarves decided to make use of the numerous natural resources present on the Klug continent and the Orcs followed them.


    Ever since Arcadeus taught the world how to use Magic, the Elves secluded themselves on Dorua, a continent separated from the other two by a large sea and mostly dominated by vegetation in order to deepen their knowledge about Magic and follow the teachings of the First Sage.


    Surprisingly enough, there hasn¡¯t been any war between the races, as the only records of large scale wars concern civil wars in the Human and Orc races.


    The past few years however have been relatively peaceful inside of the Porcephone Empire. Or at least, that is what it looks like¡­

 Chapter 1 - Fathers arrival

    I ran outside as soon as I heard Father. He was finally back after 6 months away from home. I¡¯ve heard from Mother that he had received a promotion and was now working at the capital. When I saw him, a big smile appeared on my face as I ran to him.


    ¡°Father !¡±


    ¡°Ah, Zw?lf ! You¡¯ve grown quite a bit since I last saw you.¡±


    ¡°Of course. I¡¯m almost 15 after all.¡±


    ¡°15 ? Haha that¡¯s right. Is your Mother home too ?¡±


    We came back inside of our house together. Mother was waiting inside of her laboratory, preparing a potion. When she saw Father, she made a surprised face and embraced him.


    Mother is an Alchemist. We live in a small town called Aldenaf, at the limits of the Porcephone Empire. In this small town, we lack of a lot of things and a healer is one of them. In most towns, there is at least one Elf that works as healer using the Elf¡¯s Healing Magic but our village probably doesn¡¯t have enough inhabitants to attract an Elf. Therefore, whenever a villager gets an injury, they go to Mother¡¯s shop to get treated or buy a potion. I heard from the other villagers that she¡¯s quite skilled in alchemy so she¡¯s quite relied on and respected. It makes me proud to be her son.


    Father on the other side is a regular soldier who was placed in this town to protect it against monsters. And when I say ¡°regular¡±, I should rather say very clumsy. He fell in love with Mother after getting treated by her multiple times after his patrols, or so I heard. He isn¡¯t too skilled which is why he often gets injured by medium level monsters that most guards can defeat rather easily.


    Nevertheless, I was sent on an errand in a nearby town by Mother to collect some ingredients 6 months ago and it was at that time that Father was summoned to the capital by the Emperor to be appointed as the new Patrol Leader. Don¡¯t ask me why he is the one who got chosen, I¡¯ve got no idea either. I wasn¡¯t there when he was summoned; I heard that from Mother late that day.


    I was happy that he had come back for my birthday. 2 days left and I would finally be 15. 15 is the age at which one can get married in the Porcephone Empire and is also the age at which one is officially considered as an adult. Needless to say, I was overjoyed with the fact that Father had at least been able to come back to celebrate my birthday.


    ¡°How long are you staying, dear ?


    ¡°Only 4 days. I¡¯ve had a lot more work now that I¡¯m the Patrol Leader so 4 days is as long as I can stay away from the capital.¡±


    ¡°Oh what a shame. Well at least we¡¯ll be able to celebrate Zw?lf¡¯s birthday as a family.¡±


    ¡°Yeah ! Is Hell here too ?¡±


    ¡°Yes, he was training in the garden.¡±


    Hell is my little brother. We¡¯re 2 years apart. When I was born, Father tried to teach me sword techniques but be it because of my inability to properly handle a sword or his clumsy teaching¡­ it didn¡¯t go well. Hell on the other side has been showing great success in handling the sword and even though he is only 13, he already defeats Father in mock battles. Despite this, he doesn¡¯t get cocky and keeps training hard.


    Since I couldn¡¯t see any future in me being an imperial guard or anything military-related, I started studying in our library. After having read all the books at home, I started spending time in the town¡¯s library. Although most books at home were about Alchemy, one was about history of Magic. This book talked about how an Elf called Arcadeus taught the world how to use magic. Even though he was said to have lived 500 years ago, there is apparently no record of his death. According to the book, he is still living in Dorua.


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    After learning that much, I became quite intrigued by ¡°Magic¡±. I could somehow feel the flow of Mana inside of me although up until now, I had never considered manipulating it. Although the book talked about the basic concept behind creating a fireball, it lacked actual explanation on how to create one. I learnt later that fireballs are actually an advanced level spell, not something a total beginner like me could handle.


    All this was 6 months ago, when Father left home. I came to realise that I wouldn¡¯t stay at home all my life either and I needed to devote myself to something in order to make a living out of it, as children are expected to have left home when they reach 16 years old. 1 year and a half was all I had left to find something to live on.


    5 months ago, I started visiting the town¡¯s library regularly and one day I borrowed a book and practiced in the garden at the spot where Hell usually hits a scarecrow. The book taught me that wind Magic was the easiest to use and recommended that I made use of the Cindril contained in the air to launch a spell called ¡ºWind Cut¡».


    First I needed to calm myself up to a point where I was able to grasp the fact that I was surrounded by Cindril. Then I focused myself on the Wind Cindril contained in the air before me. Once I was able to do that, it was a piece of cake. All I had left to do was to let some of my Mana flow towards the Wind Cindril, shape it into a Moon Crescent and throw it towards the Scarecrow. At first, I thought I had failed as nothing happened. After a few seconds though, I finally realised the extent of the power of ¡ºWind Cut¡» as the upper half of the scarecrow fell on the ground.


    Apparently, no one bothered firing spells without making use of Cindril because it cost too much Mana. One would have to replicate the elemental Cindril using their own Mana which was the most expensive part. If one¡¯s Mana was exhausted, one would faint and wake up when the Mana would have replenished to a safe level. This could only be done by drinking Mana potions or sleeping. It is however impossible to know exactly how much Mana one has, or at least a mean to do that is yet unknown. Although it is widely recognised that the order for Mana amount goes like this :


    Elf  >  Monster  >  Half  > Human  >  Dwarf  >  Orc


    To be truthful, Orcs have such a weak perception of Magic that they can barely use any, even when using Cindril. On the other hand, Elves have a very large quantity of Mana that allows them to use spells on an almost continuous level although even they depend on Cindril for their spells.


    When I tried to test how it felt to not use Cindril, I tried to launch another ¡ºWind Cut¡» using only my Mana. It took me half an hour to realise that from the very beginning, I was only molding raw Magic and therefore it was all wasted efforts. Since it was considered useless, none of the books at the Town¡¯s library taught me how to create elemental Magic using my Mana. Maybe they didn¡¯t know ? I¡¯d have to find out on my own or else find someone who knew (although the chances were very small).

 Chapter 2 - First battle

    I met Blume 3 months after Father¡¯s departure. She was a girl who was also studying at the library and although it was not the first time I had seen her, it was the first time I had gathered the courage to talk to her. I am by no means a coward but¡­ she was just too beautiful. So dazzling in fact that I couldn¡¯t help but blushing as I approached her.


    ¡°H-Hi¡­ I often see you studying there¡­ what are you studying ?¡±


    She looked at me, slightly surprised then showed a gentle smile. She had big green eyes and a nicely shaped face along with blond twin tails. Aaah, such a perfect sight¡­


    ¡°Hi. I noticed you come to the library rather often as well. I¡¯m studying botany and alchemy. You see, my mother is sick and I wish to cure her but we lack the money to afford a doctor or the services of an alchemist and to be honest with you¡­ I don¡¯t really understand these books. They¡¯re rather hard or maybe I¡¯m just stupid ? Hahaha¡­ I¡¯m Blume Dorthfield by the way. Nice to meet you.¡±


    ¡°A-Ah, I¡¯m Zw?lf Kreizig ! N-Nice to meet you too ! By the way¡­ about your mother¡­ would you let me see her ?¡±


    ¡°Huh ? Why ?¡±


    ¡°A-hum well, I just happen to be slightly knowledgeable about illnesses and how to cure them. I can¡¯t guarantee anything but I may be of some help ?¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case then please do !¡±


    In truth, I had read so much about Alchemy in Mother¡¯s books that I knew just about as much as her on a theoretical level. Of course, I lacked practice but I did help her gathering materials and I watched her making potions before. Blume led me to her house and there I met her mother. She was lying on a bed and kept coughing. Her eyes looked bloodshot and she had trouble to breathe. After examining her I asked Blume if she had been in contact with a Daranthia lately and turns out she had. Daranthia were monsters born from any poisonous plant being exposed to accumulated Magic. They gained the ability to move on their own and poison people by merely touching them. Although they were rather easy to kill and the poison could be cured, they could still be fatal to normal humans. Blume¡¯s mother was lucky to have been examined by a someone who knew about them. A few more days and she¡¯d have died from the poison.


    I went back home to gather a few ingredients and using Mother¡¯s laboratory, I attempted to craft a medicinal potion. It looked just like the one Mother made so I assumed it was a success. I went back to Blume¡¯s house and gave her mother the potion to drink. It would take 2 to 3 hours for the symptoms to clear if I made the right potion. In the mean time, I tried hunting the Daranthia in Blume¡¯s garden. Most of the time, monsters never entered the town thanks to the protection of the guards but sometimes a monster sneaked in the town when vigilance was reduced.


    Daranthia can be killed by any normal mean, a single sword swing is usually enough to cut them in pieces. Although I didn¡¯t have a sword with me, I did have my newly learnt ¡ºWind Cut¡». That should do the trick. I faced the monster and cut it in half as predicted. Although it was that easy, when I turned around, I saw Blume¡¯s eyes shining brightly.


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    ¡± Zw?lf ! That¡­ just now¡­ you cut it using Magic didn¡¯t you !? That¡¯s awesome ! So   cool !¡±


    ¡°Is it really that amazing ? I thought it was just beginner level magic ?¡±


    ¡°Even so, not many people can use magic in our town. Besides, to face off a monster and instant-kill it¡­ that¡¯s just¡­ cool.¡±


    ¡°I-I see.. Well thanks¡­¡±


    Being complimented so much by Blume, I started blushing until my whole face was dyed red. Then we went back to check on Blume¡¯s mother. She was completely cured and although still a bit weak, she was able to breath perfectly and had stopped coughing. She thanked me many times and offered to eat dinner at their house as thanks.


    ***


    A week went by and the news about me saving miss Dorthfield quickly spread around the village. Things like ¡°As expected of Miss Kreizig¡¯s son, a real healer¡± reached my ears many times. I did know a lot of the people in our village, though it was merely limited to knowing their names. My one and only friend was called Tras and when he heard the news, he came to congratulate me.


    ¡°All I did in the end was stealing Mother¡¯s job.¡±


    ¡°Nah, don¡¯t say that ! You helped save a life. I¡¯m proud of you, hahaha.¡±


    Tras was one year older than me and was very good looking. He was also very talented with a sword and often helped Hell with training. He was probably the best swordsman in the whole village and everyone had high hopes for him as a knight. Having such a friend, I may have been jealous but I was just happy for him. This time, having him congratulate me was quite the honour.


    ¡°So, I hear the daughter of the woman you saved is quite the looker, huh ?¡±


    ¡°¡­ Yes she is¡­¡±


    ¡°Ohoo ? Could it be that Zw?lf has finally awoken to his primal instincts ?¡±


    ¡°Nothing like that, idiot !¡±


    ¡°Ahahaha, if you like her, just confess ! I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll accept if it comes from a man like you.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean ¡°a man like me¡± ?¡±


    ¡°Well you might not be the best fighter in the world but you¡¯ve got the brains. I think you¡¯ll make it far.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ thanks.¡±


    ¡°No problem. And I¡¯m cheering on you for the confession !¡±


    ¡°Hueeeh ? When did I say I would confess !?¡±


    Blume kept hanging out with Tras and I after that event and I did end up confessing to her. Like that, I gained my very first girlfriend.

 Chapter 3 - Fear

    1 month after starting going out with Blume an incident occurred. Since Father had left for the Capital, more monsters had been able to infiltrate the village. It sounds stupid but the fact is that although 1 soldier was taken away by the capital, the Emperor didn¡¯t bother sending more soldiers to ensure the village¡¯s safety.


    I was taking a stroll with Blume in the village. It¡¯s a shame but since her Mother healed, she stopped visiting the library so these kind of strolls are the only moments where I get to meet up with her. It could be considered as romantic if Tras wasn¡¯t always with us. I wonder why he doesn¡¯t read the mood. Well it¡¯s not like I don¡¯t enjoy his company though. However, for once, it was only us two.


    We usually passed next to the forest. Normally, normal villagers don¡¯t enter the forest because there are a lot of monsters in it. Mother often goes inside of it to gather ingredients but ever since Hell defeated Father in a mock battle, she started asking him to escort her. Usually, I wouldn¡¯t approach the forest either but ever since I started learning Magic, I felt more confident in my fighting abilities. Blume wasn¡¯t scared either because she felt secure next to me. Aaah, it sure feels nice to be depended on like that.


    Currently, I knew 3 beginner level spells : ¡ºWind Cut¡», ¡ºWind Push¡» and ¡ºEarth Wall¡». I had kept training using the fixed scarecrow in our garden and I had become better at using ¡ºWind Cut¡» and could now cast it in an instant. ¡ºWind Push¡» used magic to create a whirlwind that was supposed to push back the enemy and potentially make them fall. ¡ºEarth Wall¡» simply used Earth Cindril to create a defensive wall.


    I had spent the whole month trying to improve my Magic molding speed and I also tried to improve the shapes of my molding. For instance, how sharp Wind Cut was merely depended on how well I molded the Wind Cindril.


    I still didn¡¯t know how to use my own Mana to launch spells but that didn¡¯t really matter to me at the time. I understood the molding part but how to turn raw magic into elementary magic was where I was stuck at.


    ***


    As we walked next to a tree, Blume approached a flower and showed it to me.


    ¡°Look Zw?lf ! I found a rose ! Such a lovely red¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s nice. Let me see¡­ Huh ? That shape is a bit weird¡­ that¡¯s not a rose¡­¡±


    Although most people would have thought this flower to be a rose, someone like me who had studied Alchemy and Botany for a long time knew the difference. This was a Lisianthus. It was weird though¡­ red Lisianthus are not supposed to grow in this forest. I knew that because red Lisianthus is what Mother sent me to get for her in the nearby town. If they grew here, she wouldn¡¯t have bothered sending me on an errand¡­


    After looking closely I noticed that what Blume had thought to be red petals were in facts white petals tainted by blood. Fresh blood. Worried, I looked around to see where that blood came from and I found it. The corpse of one of the village¡¯s guard was lying behind a tree. It had been impaled by something.


    ¡°Kyaaaaa !¡±


    Behind me, I heard Blume¡¯s scream. I thought it was due to her seeing the corpse but as I turned around I noticed the origin of her cry.


    A giant boar was staring at us. When I met its eyes, I felt like it was staring right into my soul. Now, even though I say boar, you have to imagine a creature that is 2 meters high with tusks about 1 meter long. I could see at a glance that this beast was not at the same level as other monsters that roamed around the forest.


    I remembered reading about a class system to determine how much of a threat a monster is. It goes from E to S, E being the weakest type of monster while S ranked monsters were the kind that required a whole army to be taken down.


    As an example, the Daranthia that I killed was an E-Rank Monster. Dragons on the other hand tend to be considered either A or S rank.


    I had seen a picture of this monster in a book. They called it ¡°Iron boar¡± due to having a skin as strong as iron. It was considered to be a C-Rank monster.


    ¡°I need to protect Blume !¡± is what I thought to myself immediately after seeing the Iron Boar. However I could only stand there helplessly as I was being intimidated by the monster¡¯s stare.


    After seeing the Iron Boar charging at Blume, I finally snapped out of it and used ¡ºWind Push¡» on it. Although it wasn¡¯t enough to make it fall ¨C I didn¡¯t expect that much ¨C it was enough to make it deviate from its trajectory and I was able to catch Blume by jumping.


    ¡°Go get the other guards Blume ! I can¡¯t take it down by myself !¡±


    ¡± Zw?lf !¡±


    I knew that what I was asking her was rather stupid. I was acquainted to the soldier who was killed. His name was Bors and he was the strongest out of the guards. There were only two guards left that were still alive, assuming they weren¡¯t killed by this monster already¡­ I did realise that no one could take that beast down but I ordered that to Blume in order to make sure that she¡¯d be away from danger.


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    As I told her that, the Iron Boar had started charging at me. When I noticed that, it was too late for me to dodge and all I could do was erecting an ¡ºEarth Wall¡» quickly. However, the Iron Boar destroyed it easily and I was hit with the recoil.


    ¡°Ugh¡­ I must have broken my left arm¡­¡±


    I looked back and Blume was gone. Ah¡­ I knew this situation was pretty desperate. No one could come to my help and I, who only started learning Magic a few months ago, was far too weak to take down a C-Rank monster.


    ¡°At least I need to injure it as much as possible so that it won¡¯t try to attack the other villagers.¡±


    Although I had such a thought, the main reason was merely that it may give me a chance to flee ¨C if I was still alive at this point, that is.


    The Iron Boar screamed and then came at me at full strength for the third time. I was the only one weakening after each strike. As it came right into my direction, I used ¡ºWind Cut¡» to try to pierce its eyes.


    That¡¯s when I realised how powerless I was. I had largely overestimated its power. ¡ºWind Cut¡» did literally no damage to the only part of the monster that was unprotected.


    ¡°Why !?¡± I screamed in despair.


    I thought that I could make a ¡ºWind Cut¡» more powerful by making it sharper but the sharpest ¡ºWind Cut¡» had literally no effect. Is it because each spell has a natural limit ? ¡ºWind Cut¡» is indeed taught as beginner level magic but isn¡¯t it just because it¡¯s the easiest to use ? However that doesn¡¯t necessarily mean that even with enough polishing it is locked at a certain level, right ? Can¡¯t I just make ¡ºWind Cut¡» sharp enough to cut through its eyes ?


    Such thoughts kept popping in my mind as the Iron Boar approached. I closed my eyes. I was about to get hit and waited. However I was never hit. That is because Hell was standing in front of me and was holding the boar on his own. On his own ? Wait, no, Tras was also grabbing the Iron Boar from behind and holding it in place.


    ¡°Hell, Tras ! Why are you there !?¡±


    ¡°Haha, your girlfriend came running in tears. There¡¯s no way I¡¯d ignore a damsel in distress !¡±


    ¡°Big bro, it is useless to spend my life training without ever fighting. This is the kind of challenge I needed.¡±


    ¡°Wow, so cool Hell ! Hey Zw?lf, your little brother has become a true warrior, right ?¡±


    How were they so calm ? A monster was in front of them ! A C-Rank monster that even killed the best soldier in the village¡­ Tras was even laughing !


    After having such thoughts, I immediately understood why they looked so confident. The difference in our strength was immense.


    ¡°I leave the immobilisation to you, Hell !¡±


    ¡°Roger.¡±


    Tras let go of the Iron Boar but it didn¡¯t move as it was still playing tug of war against Hell. Tras then unsheathed his sword and used a skill that I had seen Hell practice many time against the scarecrow.


    ¡°Take this ! ¡ºFurious Slash¡»! ¡±


    It was as if the boar was struck by lightning as one of his legs got cut by the strike. Now I can understand why Tras has potential as a knight¡­


    The boar lost its balance and that¡¯s the moment Hell chose to use his own version of ¡ºFurious Slash¡». Although it was still not as polished as Tras¡¯ it worked well enough to cut one of the boar¡¯s front leg.


    Soon after that, Tras ended the fight with a last ¡ºFurious Slash¡» by beheading the monster. After the fight, I was told that ¡ºFurious Slash¡» was the strongest skill Tras knew and he was the one who taught it to Hell.


    Talking about attack strength, magic and sword skills are ranked the same way :


    Legendary  >  Master  >  Expert  >  Intermediate  >  Beginner


    As I said before, all my spells are Beginner level whereas Furious Slash is the strongest Intermediate sword skill. I could now understand how much of a strength gap there was between me and the other two.


    ***


    ¡°Hahaha, Zw?lf you should take a look at your face. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll save you any day, any time. We¡¯re best buddies after all ! Hahaha !¡±


    ¡°Big bro, you should train more. Otherwise, you¡¯ll end up as bad as Father.¡±


    There was nothing I could reply to Hell¡¯s words. I could barely save my own girlfriend, and if it wasn¡¯t for these two, I would have been dead by now. A sour taste was left in my mouth. That day, I swore to myself not to overestimate my own power ever again. From now on, I would devote myself to training to protect those that I love. Or so I thought.


    Behind Tras and Hell, 5 Iron Boars were silently looking at us.

 Chapter 4 - Wind Cut

    ¡°Behind you !¡±


    ¡°Huh ?¡±


    Despite what they had just said, Tras and Hell were taken by surprise. Although I had understood that the two of them could deal with one C-Rank monster, 5 vs. 2 was probably too much for them.


    We quickly got encircled by the monsters. They prepared to charge at us. It seems like they were planning to squash us together at the same time from all sides. The was no way we could dodge them and protecting against all of them at the same time seemed impossible.


    In face of that desperate situation, Tras¡¯ smile finally vanished. He now looked tense, just like Hell.


    ¡°Is this the end ?¡± That thought crossed my mind. Wasn¡¯t there anything I could do to help ? I gathered all my knowledge about how Magic works that I had gathered so far. ¡ºWind Cut¡» was too weak, no matter how well I molded it. If the molding isn¡¯t the problem to increase the power of ¡ºWind Cut¡»¡­ it could only mean two things. Either there is a natural lock on the power of each spell, which seemed unlikely to me as I couldn¡¯t understand the logic behind it¡­ or it meant that the lack of power came from the elemental Magic. That would mean that the Wind Cindril was too weak to begin with. So going along with that, how to make it stronger ?


    The only solution was to pour my own Mana into the Wind Cindril. Basically increasing the amount of Magic contained inside the ¡ºWind Cut¡». If a regular ¡ºWind Cut¡» was equal to 10 Magic Points (8 provided by the Wind Cindril and 2 by molding via my own Mana) then what would happen if it became 50 Magic Points ? That would be 8 from Wind Cindril + 42 of my own Mana). According to the amount of spells I produced during training, my current Mana amount is probably around 200. I must have used up about 50 Mana already which leaves me with about 150¡­


    Which means I can launch 3 ¡ºWind Cut¡» with more Mana poured into it.


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    Now the question is ¡°How to I add my own Mana into Cindril ?¡± I thought it should be easier than creating elemental Magic from Mana because here I¡¯m just supposed to fuel the elemental Magic so just infusing Mana should be ok ?


    To see it from another perspective, I wouldn¡¯t be able to create fire out of nothing yet but I¡¯d be able to lit it using fuels. Here, the fire is Wind Cindril and the fuel is my raw Magic.


    ¡°Well it¡¯s not like I¡¯ve come up with anything else anyway, I¡¯ll just have to try it !¡±


    While Tras and Hell waited helplessly, the Iron Boars started charging towards us. I forced myself to calm down and felt the Wind Cindril around us. I gathered about 40 Mana in 3 different places around me and infused it into the Wind Cindril. I could feel the Wind Cindril becoming more dense as I poured my Mana into it. Then I used 6 more Mana to shape 3 ¡ºWind Cut¡» that I launched toward the feet of 3 Iron Boars.


    The result was unexpected. Two of the boars got cut in half while the third one lost two legs and fell on the ground before reaching us. Using this opportunity, Tras somehow recovered, grabbed Hell and we both jumped aside to dodge the remaining two boars.


    ¡°Zw?lf¡­ how did you¡­¡±


    ¡°No time to talk ! They¡¯re coming !¡±


    I used all my remaining Magic to launch a last ¡ºWind Cut¡» at the 4th boar. This one got sliced in half horizontally. Looks like its scales weren¡¯t that hard after all. Tras beheaded the 5th one with a ¡ºFurious Slash¡» while Hell finished off the one that had fell on the ground.


    We looked around us to make sure that there was no remaining monster. Finally, we were safe. That¡¯s the moment I chose to faint.

 Chapter 4.5 - Hells point of view

    As usual, I was training in the garden against the dummy. I haven¡¯t had the chance to battle many monsters but occasionally, I¡¯d get to kill a few when escorting Mother to the forest. Although they are usually no stronger than D-Rank.


    Ever since I was born, I had a natural ability with handling the sword so Father decided to start training me when I was 10 year old, although Mother was against it at first. I think it is because she thought that I would be wasting my time; she believed that I was would be as bad as big brother when it comes to fighting skills. It turns out that I was talented and 1 year of training is all I needed to finally defeat Father in a mock battle.


    Now, one might think that Father is weak, being defeated by a 11 years old, but despite his clumsiness, he is actually able to face average level C-Rank monsters and come out victorious. After I realised that I wouldn¡¯t learn anything more with Father, I started training alone.


    One day big brother came back with his friend. Tras was his name and even though it was the first time I met him, I had heard about him before. He was the best warrior in the village despite being only 14 and he far outclassed Father. Everyone had high hopes for him as a knight and rumors said that he had the potential to defeat an inferior B-Rank monster by himself. I was quite impressed that such a talented swordsman was friends with my brother who literally had no fighting skill whatsoever.


    My brother, who was a rather calm and plain person, and Master, who was outgoing and laughed loudly all the time¡­ how did they end up together ? Well, I guess opposite personalities attract each other, as they


    say.


    I call him Master ever since he started training me. I was already acquainted to him through my brother so it would have been stupid of me to make light of this opportunity and not at least try to ask him to help me with training.


    ¡°Put more strength into your slice. You have to visualize your enemy getting cut in half ! Look at me, hahaha !¡±


    ¡°¡­ Yes, Master.¡±


    Today, we were practicing ¡ºFurious Slash¡». Master had already fully mastered the technique whereas I had just recently started learning it.


    ¡°Try to cut my shield in half ! If you do that, I¡¯ll acknowledge that you¡¯ve become strong enough to have mock battles against me, whahaha !¡±


    ¡°¡­ Yes, Master.¡±


    Although Master¡¯s ¡ºFurious Slash¡» was powerful enough to slice a tree in half, my version could barely leave a scratch on the wooden shield. Most techniques I knew were Beginner level and a few were inferior Intermediate skills but ¡ºFurious Slash¡» was the strongest Intermediate attack. I thought to myself that I needed more training to fully control it.


    As I was about to attack the shield one more time, big brother¡¯s girlfriend ¨C yes, that introverted brother of mine got himself a girlfriend, a beautiful one at that; most likely thanks to Master ¨C arrived, running.


    ¡°Yo, Blume ! Sup¡¯ ?¡±


    ¡°Hello, miss Dorthfield.¡±


    ¡°Tras ! I-It¡¯s terrible ! It¡¯s Zw?lf, he¡­ he¡­¡±


    Soon after she arrived, we noticed something was wrong. She wasn¡¯t her usual cheerful self and instead of her natural gentle smile, tears were overflowing from her eyes.


    Tras¡¯ face immediately darkened.


    ¡°Blume, calm down. What happened to Zw?lf ? Weren¡¯t you guys together ?¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ a huge monster looking like a boar appeared out of nowhere¡­ it killed the guard who was meant to patrol around the forest ! Zw?lf held it off on his own but he isn¡¯t strong enough to defeat it !¡±


    ¡°An Iron Boar ? What the¡­ They¡¯re not supposed to be living in the forest or anywhere near the village¡­ Anyway, Blume, Hell, go search for the remaining guards, I¡¯ll try to take it down myself.¡±


    ¡°Master, I refuse ! Allow me to come with you. I want to show you that my training has paid off in a real life-or-death situation. I am not scared of monsters !¡±


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    ¡°Whahaha, despite the danger you¡¯re volunteering yourself ? I like that ! Sure, come with me. Let¡¯s hurry !¡±


    ¡°Yes, Master.¡±


    We hurried to the place Blume came from and found big brother lying on the ground. He was holding his left arm, which was bleeding. The monster that was facing him was no joke either. I had fought a few E-Level monsters before but that thing was just way bigger than what I had imagined. Not only that, it also emitted an aura that induced fear in my heart. Despite this, big brother had been able to fight against the beast for that long ? Until now, I didn¡¯t dislike him but I couldn¡¯t help thinking of him as weak. I never thought of him as a warrior and yet, he was able to face a monster that paralyzed me in spite of having little to no fighting experience ? I couldn¡¯t help but be impressed.


    As I was thinking that, I saw Master sneaking behind the giant boar as readying himself. It looked like he was waiting for something. I saw the boar preparing to charge towards big brother.This time, he wouldn¡¯t be able to dodge it. Without thinking I jumped straight in front of the boar and blocked its tusk with my best parade skill, ¡ºHard Wall¡». Although I was expecting to be blown away, the impact was lighter than I expected. It was weak enough for me to hold on. Then I noticed that Master had grabbed the monster from behind.


    ¡°I leave the immobilisation to you, Hell !¡±


    ¡°Roger.¡±


    As soon as he let go of the boar, the burden I was trying to hold on doubled. However, I successfully protected big brother and in the meantime, Master took down the beast¡¯s lower legs with a ¡ºFurious Slash¡». As the monster collapsed, I was able to test my own ¡ºFurious Slash¡» on a monster for the very first time. I slashed the enemy¡¯s upper legs with it but as I thought, it wasn¡¯t as neat of a cut as Master¡¯s. Though dealing with the weakened beast was a walk in the park after that.


    Having saved big brother, Master approached him to laugh.


    ¡°Hahaha, Zw?lf you should take a look at your face. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll save you any day, any time. We¡¯re best buddies after all ! Hahaha !¡±


    ¡°Big bro, you should train more. Otherwise, you¡¯ll end up as bad as Father.¡±


    Although I said these harsh words, I respected him for being able to pull off such a fight. But if he wanted to become a magic warrior, he would need to train much more.


    We thought we were safe and that¡¯s how Master and I committed the one mistake a warrior should always avoid. We let our guard down.


    ***


    Everything happened so fast that I can barely remember what happened. From what I could see, we got surrounded by 5 more boars. As much as dealing with one wasn¡¯t a problem, their strategy was quite smart. Even if we were to fight them like we did with the first one, we would still get squashed by the others.


    Realising that death was inevitable, even Master seemed scared.


    The one who saved us was unexpectedly big brother. In less than a second, he fired three crescents that looked like wind razors and took down 3 of the boars by himself. Master, who had somehow recovered from the shock, grabbed me and we dodged the attack. The fight then proceeded smoothly as Master and Brother got rid of the remaining two monsters.


    I thought I would be the one saving big brother but it turns out he is the one who ended up saving both Blume, Master and I. Instead of feeling ashamed, my respect for big brother grew much bigger than before and I started seeing him as a genius. Anyway, I would never treat him as coldly anymore. I have now acknowledged the fact that big brother is one worthy of respect, at least as much as Master.

 Chapter 5 - Magic training

    I woke up in my bed. Blume was resting next to me. It looks like she had cried quite a lot. She looked so cute like that¡­ When she noticed my movement, she woke up and then suddenly hugged me.


    ¡°You¡¯ve woken up ! I was so worried !¡±


    ¡°Ouch, my left arm hurts !¡±


    ¡°O-Oh sorry.¡±


    It didn¡¯t hurt as much as before though. It looks like my wounds had also been treated. They weren¡¯t serious in the first place. As far as I know, I probably collapsed from using up all my Mana rather than because of my injuries.


    When they heard the ruckus, Tras, Hell and Mother entered my bedroom. Tras was wearing his usual wry smile, Hell seemed relieved and Mother looked worried. ¡°Is there something on my face ?¡± is what I thought to myself.


    Mother spoke first.


    ¡°Zw?lf¡­ When you first started reading the books inside our library and then went to the town¡¯s library, I thought it was because you had taken a deep interest into alchemy¡­ But it turns out you started learning Magic instead ?¡±


    ¡°Well yeah¡­ I¡¯m still a beginner though haha¡­¡±


    ¡°A beginner ? You beat 3 C-Ranked Monsters on your own and injured a 4th one¡­ Do you know how much of a feat it is ?¡±


    Although she said that, she sounded slightly disappointed. I think she started to expect that I took over her Alchemy shop after seeing me reading all her books.


    Tras and Hell joined the conversation.


    ¡°Your mother is right, Zw?lf. Without you, we would have died back there.¡±


    ¡°I always thought that big brother was not the type to be a fighter and was kind of a coward¡­ But Tras is right. To be able to take down 3 C-Rank monsters by yourself¡­ and you¡¯ve only started learning a few months ago¡­¡±


    ¡°Mmhm¡­¡±


    ***


    After finishing the conversation, everyone let me to rest a bit. I thought about what had happened back then. I successfully understood how to improve each magic. It was actually quite simple in theory but not having any material to learn it was quite the barrier. Anyway, that ¡ºWind Cut¡» could now be considered as an Intermediate spell. I called it ¡ºWind Blade¡». It was roughly on the same level as ¡ºFurious Slash¡». In other words, in 3 months I had mastered a spell on the same level as the skill that Tras took 3 years to fully master. Kinda overkill in my opinion. However I could currently use it only 5 times due to my Mana limitations whereas Tras, who has been training his body for years is able to use ¡ºFurious Slash¡» 10 times without breaking a sweat.


    Now if you ask how to increase one¡¯s Mana, there are many ways to do so. Mana naturally increases as one ages but every time Mana is used, the total Mana capacity of the user is increased. As such, the best way to significantly improve Mana capacity is to train on a regular basis. Some enchanted items can also help increasing Mana capacity by storing Mana inside of them, however such items are usually extremely expensive.


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    ¡°It¡¯s a shame that all the books at the village¡¯s library only talk about Beginner level Magic. That¡¯s probably the reason why barely anyone tries to learn it around here¡­ Anyway now that I understood how to fuel Cindril with my own Mana, the barrier that stood in my way to learn Intermediate level spells is lifted.¡±


    I decided to start my own Magic training. There was nothing like a Magic academy in our small village so I had to teach myself Intermediate Magic, for the most part. First off, I started by revising my basic knowledge of elements. According to all the books I read, there are 5 elements : Fire, Water, Wind, Earth and Lightning. Each element has its own weakness and attributes. Fire was the most efficient to deal damage, Earth was the best one for defence, Lightning was the fastest one, Wind was the sharpest one and Water was the one that required the least Mana to manipulate big quantities.


    Lightning is an element that is barely ever used due to the fact that Lightning Cindril only exists in thunderbolts and as such, it only ever possible to use it during heavy storms. Fire was also rarer as one would have to use flames or fire of some kind. Therefore I decided to focus on Wind, Water and Earth.


    After 1 month of training, I was able to manipulate these 3 elements to an intermediate level. I knew different kind of instant-launch spells such as¡ºWind Blade¡»,


    ¡ºEarth Spike¡»,¡ºRock Wall¡»,¡ºWhirlwind¡» and¡ºWater bullet¡». Most of them are pretty self explanatory. ¡ºRock Wall¡» and ¡ºWhirlwind¡» are simply stronger versions of my previous¡ºEarth Wall¡»and¡ºWind Push¡». As I kept training and my Mana capacity increased, I simply stopped using Beginner level Magic. I also knew the theory for¡ºTsunami¡» which was an expert level Magic (at least according to my own rating). However I lacked the sufficient amount of Mana to launch it.


    To put it simply, Intermediate level Magic adds one step to Beginner level Magic.


    Beginner Magic works by finding elemental Cindril and molding it.


    Intermediate magic works by find elemental Cindril, fuelling it with Mana to make it more dense or bigger and then molding it.


    Which is why Intermediate Magic requires of course more Mana.


    Although I had made such a discovery, I still couldn¡¯t understand what it was that allowed raw Magic to turn into elemental Magic. Although it was probably a waste of time to try to understand a kind of Magic that I would never use¡­ something just kept me curious.


    ***


    As my 15th birthday approached, I kept training. I wanted to surprise Father whenever he would come back.


    It was frustrating to know that the answer to my questions could probably be learnt if I lived in a bigger town, one with more Magic-related books or a Magic academy.


    Well, little did I know that it would all be solved when Father came back.

 Chapter 6 - Birthday

    On the day of my birthday everyone gathered in my house. My whole family was there but Blume and Tras were also invited. Father looked at me with a surprised look when I introduced Blume to him. He said something along the lines of ¡°That¡¯s my son, he¡¯s got the eyes for the ladies¡± which made Blume blush.


    We all started feasting and after eating a birthday cake, Blume approached me.


    ¡°Zw?lf¡­ I have a present for you too¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes, what is i- huh !?¡±


    She kissed me in front of everyone. My first kiss¡­ Haaa it did feel good. But did she have to do it in front of everyone !? I couldn¡¯t have been more embarrassed. I was blushing furiously and Blume¡¯s face was dyed red. I didn¡¯t expect her to be that bold. Father and Tras both whistled, Hell said ¡°Get a room, you two¡­¡± and Mother just looked at me happily. Then, after being congratulated by everyone, Father walked towards me with a serious look.


    ¡°Zw?lf. I want to have a serious talk with you.¡±


    ¡°I thought so. It¡¯s about me finally being an adult isn¡¯t it ?¡±


    ¡°Indeed. You¡¯re 15 now so let me ask you. Do you have any plans for the future ? You¡¯ve got your hands on a beautiful girlfriend so you need to live up to her expectations and find a job to start a family, right ?¡±


    ¡°I have decided on my path, Father. I want to become a Magician.¡±


    ¡°A Magician, huh ? Not a bad idea¡­ Magicians can find jobs in lots of different areas¡­ I¡¯ve heard from your Mother that in the few months I wasn¡¯t there, you¡¯ve devoted yourself to Magic training¡­ She even said that you defeated 4 C-Ranked monsters on your own. That¡¯s very impressive indeed.¡±


    After saying that, Father observed me. I knew he wanted to see how resolved I was and it looks like he wasn¡¯t disappointed. A wide smile showed on his face as he resumed talking.


    ¡°Reaching Intermediate level Magic on your own, that¡¯s quite impressive. But I hear you¡¯re stuck at this level due to your lack of knowledge and learning material¡­ So let me ask you this. Would you like to go back to the capital with me ?¡±


    ¡°The capital !? But¡­ I¡­¡±


    I didn¡¯t know what to answer. Going to the capital was the best way to discover new kinds of magic but on the other hand it would also mean abandoning Blume and Tras.


    Seeing my disturbed face, Father interrupted my thoughts.


    ¡°Of course, not forever. You see, there is going to be a Magic tournament held in the Capital. It is hosted by the Emperor himself. You could come with me to take part in it, right ? And pick up some Magic knowledge on the way. Also, the age cap is 20 years old, so I don¡¯t expect anyone to be higher than Expert level. I think you¡¯ve got all your chances. And then, once it¡¯s done, I would send you back to the village while I¡¯ll stay in the capital for work. What do you say ? ¡±


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    ¡°¡­¡±


    I thought quickly. There would not be any other chances like this one. Such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I decided to grab it.


    ¡°I accept.¡±


    Father nodded and we started making preparations for the trip. It was going to be a 5 days long trip so I hurried.


    Father went to the stables to buy a second horse for me. According to him, reaching the capital by horse would take 5 days. We would camp on the first night and second night, stop at Bruneciel for one day to replenish our provisions and camp every night after that until we reached the capital. Then, after the tournament was finished, Father was planning to send me back alone.


    5 days was all I would have to train myself. After all, even though I had defeated monsters, I still only knew Intermediate level Magic. Furthermore, I had yet to fight an opponent that could control Magic or had fighting skills. Although I had taken out C-Rank monsters, I have to admit that their movements were monotonous and relied primarily on sheer strength. On the other hand, this was a tournament where several youths came from all around the empire to participate. It definitely wouldn¡¯t be as easy.


    The next day, I had finished all my preparations. Although it was still dawn, Hell could already be heard training in the garden. He and Mother came to see me off. Although Hell patted my shoulder (as if he was the older brother), Mother went for the hug. She could be strict at times, but most of the time she was as sweet as the flowers she collects every week. Well, still, a hug at my age was kind of embarrassing. I was already an adult after all.


    As I was about to leave, I saw Blume running towards me. Did she come to see me off ? How sweet of her¡­


    ¡°Zw?lf ! Waaait !¡±


    ¡°Hmm ? Did you wake up that early to see me off Blume ?¡±


    ¡°Yeah and¡­ something else. Come here¡­¡±


    Something else ? What could it be ? I approached her and stood in front of her. Did I mention that she was beautiful ? And she let out such an arousing smell too¡­


    As I walked closer to her, she locked her arms around my shoulders, drew her face closer and kissed me. Unlike the kiss from the day before, this one was¡­ rather lewd. She embraced for a bit longer and then let go of me. I couldn¡¯t help but blush furiously. Her face was also dyed crimson.


    ¡°W-What¡­ I.. I¡­¡±


    ¡°Zw?lf¡­ if you come back victorious from the tournament¡­ I will let you do whatever you want to me¡­¡±


    ¡°W-W-Whatever I¡­ want !?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­¡±


    After hearing that confession, a new kind of resolve had been born inside of me. Just look at me Father ! I will be the one to win that tournament, hahahaha !

 Chapter 7 - Bruneciel

    We arrived at Bruneciel without any problems. It was a rather large town, roughly 5 times the size of Aldenaf. The best word to describe it would be ¡°lively¡±. Although the street weren¡¯t crowded, everyone looked like they were living a happy life. In the merchant section of the town, numerous merchants were shouting at the public to try to get some attention on their products while many people were trying to bargain the items sold on the stalls. There were also several shopkeepers displaying their best tools and weapons while one could hear laughter and music from the nearby taverns. The smell of alcohol, incenses and perfume reached nose and my head started spinning with these new sensations.


    I quickly got drunk with this magnificent sight, which was something that was totally unknown to someone like me who had grown up in a quiet environment.


    Seeing me like this, Father showed a wry smile on his face and approached me.


    ¡°Zw?lf, here are 10 gold coins. If you find something that you want, please buy it. Consider it a birthday present from me.¡±


    ¡°Wow, 10 gold coins ! Can I really, Father ?¡±


    ¡°Of course. Now go. We¡¯ll meet up here in one hour.¡±


    ¡°Thank you very much !¡±


    After separating from him, I walked straight to the town¡¯s bookshop. Although I had noticed all the tempting things the other shops had to offer, I ignored them as my mind was set on one thing : buying as many magic books as possible.


    As expected, there was a rather large number of magic books displayed on the shelves. I decided to buy ¡°Deeper analysis of the Magic concepts¡±, ¡°Wind Magic ¨C Expert level¡± and ¡°Earth Magic ¨C Expert level¡±. I would have liked to buy the other ¡°Expert level¡± elementary magic books but I didn¡¯t have enough money as I was left with only 1 gold coin after my purchase.


    Since I didn¡¯t waste any time meaninglessly, I had 50 minutes left to before the meeting time. As expected of town dedicated to commerce : there was no library. All the books from this town had to be bought from the bookshops. Having nowhere to study quietly, I decided to put the books in my bag and read them in later . I headed to the nearest tavern to buy my first beer ¨C the legal drinking age in the Porcephone Empire is 15 years old.


    When I entered, I was welcomed by a waitress who looked more like a dancer. Waaa, too much skin was exposed ! Her clothes revealed her beautiful thighs and deep cleavage, which she was almost shaving in my face while greeting me.


    ¡°Welcome to the ¡°Dragon¡¯s Breath¡± !¡±


    Talking to her without stuttering was indeed a challenge for me as I wasn¡¯t used too much to the opposite sex. She led me to the bar. The bartender looked at me suspiciously.


    ¡°How old are you, kiddo ?¡±


    ¡°I just turned 15.¡±


    ¡°Is that so ? Well, there are witnesses around me. If you lied, you¡¯re the one getting in trouble with the guards, got it ?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    ¡°So, kid. What will it be for you ?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like some beer please. Will 1 Gold Coin be enough ?¡±


    ¡°With 1 Gold Coin, I can serve you my best beer, boy. It¡¯s expensive but heh, you¡¯re in the best tavern in town after all.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have that, please.¡±


    The maid approached me. Her sweet scent made my head dizzy and as I was bewitched by her lukewarm breath that tickled my neck, she whispered into my ears.


    ¡°So you¡¯re having your first beer as you turn 15 huh¡­ shall I also take your other firsts as a special service ? For only a few more gold coins, fufufu¡­¡±


    ¡°W-W-W-What !? O-Obviously that¡¯s out of the question !¡±


    ¡°Ara ara¡­ what a shame¡­ such a cute boy.¡±


    I blushed furiously when I heard that and turned to face her. I saw her jiggling and heading to another table. My heart was beating fast just because of this small stimulus. Since when were waitresses that bold !?


    As I thought that I was still ignorant of the world, my beer was served by the bartender.


    ***


    I was savouring the delicious taste of my very first beer when a man wearing only black clothes entered the tavern. At his belt was a sword that was characteristic of imperial knights. In fact, under his heavy black clothing, an imperial armor could be seen. He was wearing a menacing expression and when he entered, everyone in the tavern quieted down.The happy atmosphere that floated in the air died down as it was quickly replaced by a general feeling of fear and anxiety.


    I inquired quietly about his identity to the bartender.


    ¡°Who is he ?¡±


    ¡°¡­ This is Grog¡­ He used to be the captain of the guards but he got kicked out because of his tendency to get drunk and go on a rampage. Despite this, he is quite skilled at Magic and also rather strong with sword techniques. Ever since he¡¯s been fired, he has gone berserk more often but even then, the guards are too scared of their former leader to do anything¡­¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±


    ¡°Be careful not to get in his way, kiddo. He¡¯s killed people for stupid reasons before.¡±


    ¡°No one tried to stop him ?¡±


    ¡°No one is strong enough. He is probably the best swordsman in the whole town and his knowledge about Magic is enough to help him to face most opponents who dare stand in his way. This only contributed to make him more arrogant; since no one opposes him, he thinks he is above the law¡­¡±


    He definitely looked strong. Probably not an opponent I could win against in my current state.


    The waitress approached Grog with a pale face. She looked terrified.


    ¡°W¡­ Welcome to the¡­ ¡°Dragon¡¯s Breath¡±¡­¡±


    Grog stared at the waitress then shouted to the bartender.


    ¡°Oi, old man. You¡¯re the one in charge, right ?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s right.¡±


    ¡°Serve me your best alcoholic drink. And I¡¯m taking the bitch as well. All for free of course.¡±


    ¡°W-What ? Even that¡¯s¡­¡±


    ¡°Oooh ? You dare oppose me ? Do you have a death wish, old man ?¡±


    ¡°Please¡­ at least let the girl go¡­¡±


    ¡°Haaaa ? I¡¯m giving you 10 seconds, gramps. Serve me a beer or else I¡¯ll butcher you.¡±


    There was nothing the bartender could answer to such threats. Grog had already grabbed the waitress who had tears flowing on her face. I¡¯m not really the type to stand for justice and I knew I don¡¯t stand a chance¡­ but even then¡­ even then I couldn¡¯t forgive his man for behaving like that. Without thinking, I stood up and went to face him.


    ¡°Let her go.¡±


    ¡°Aaaah ? A kid ? What do you want, brat ?¡±


    ¡°Are you deaf ? I said, let her go.¡±


    His face turned red from anger. The tavern had gone dead silent. Everyone¡¯s attention was focused on the both of us.


    ¡°Oi, oi¡­ I¡¯m gonna slice you, you brat.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    He released his grip on the woman¡¯s arm . With a single look, I told her to get away from Grog. A terrifying killing intent could be felt from him. I sharpened my senses. He had drawn his sword. He was going to attack at any time, most likely with his sword and then probably follow up with magic. I could see that although he was probably underestimating me because of my age, he wasn¡¯t too careless either.


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    He attacked first. Grog went for a surprise attack by throwing his scabbard at my face. Although I didn¡¯t expect him to do that, I was prepared for some kind of underhanded attack and sliced his scabbard in half with¡ºWind Cut¡». Although I did say that I didn¡¯t use Beginner level magic anymore, his scabbard could be easily cut with low level Magic so there was no need to exhaust my Mana meaninglessly. After all, I didn¡¯t know how long this fight would last so I couldn¡¯t afford to waste my Magic.


    ¡°You bastaaard ! I¡¯ll make you pay for destroying my scabbard ! With your own blood !¡±


    Grog charged at me. It was a skilled attack, much quicker than the Iron Boar¡¯s charge. However, I was able to avoid it by using¡ºWind Push¡»on myself. His sides were left unprotected but that was probably a feint to make me attack at this moment. I had seen Tras do that against Hell before. I ignored the temptation to attack him and jumped back.


    I fired a¡ºWind Blade¡»towards his chest but he deflected it with his sword. I didn¡¯t expect that much. I understood that his blade had to be enchanted with a Magic capable of deflecting lesser spells like mine¡­ Which means it would be extremely hard to inflict any damage to him as long as he had his sword. I was totally incompetent in close combat so I had to stay away from him to avoid getting sliced but none of my Intermediate level spells seemed to affect him as he also resisted an¡ºEarth Spike¡».


    ¡°Hahaha, it looks like you¡¯re all talks, kid. If that¡¯s all you can do, it¡¯s the end for you !¡±


    Straight after saying that with a triumphant look on his face, he ran towards me at an impressive speed and although I pushed myself back one more time with¡ºWind Push¡», he followed me and didn¡¯t leave me any time to recover. Aah, I get it. He used the same spell as me to make himself accelerate.That¡¯s what the bartender was talking about. He uses wind Magic to improve his speed and the sharpness of his sword while his skill and power are already very developed. I can now understand why the other guards fear him. This guy is a truly balanced fighter and he¡¯s got experience. On the other hand, I have barely anything to fight him with.


    He drew close to me and held his sword high in the air. This strike would most likely behead me if I didn¡¯t do anything. In the face of this desperate situation, I couldn¡¯t do anything but watch as he struck down. In a last effort, I gathered 60% of my total Mana inside my body and attempted something that I had never tried before : ¡°Self-enchanting¡±. I spread my Mana all over my body and imagined a dragonfly. The raw Magic that was stuck to my body turned itself into Wind Magic and my whole body started oscillating.


    I blinked and suddenly, the world seemed slightly slowed down. I could clearly see the trajectory of Grog¡¯s sword and dodged it rather easily. Everything around me was going about 10% slower. Or rather, I was the one who was going faster. Even with this new power I wouldn¡¯t be able to take down Grog due to the inability of my offensive magic, however I could now efficiently manage to dodge his strikes without using


    ¡ºWind Push¡».


    One could say that casting self-enchantment Magic was purely a fluke. I did it as I had a hunch that it may work but to be honest, I didn¡¯t expect it to actually work. As I was recalling the situation and wondering how I managed to enchant my own body, it all came clear to me.


    ¡°That¡¯s how it is ! Then, it all makes sense now ! Hahaha !¡±


    I called the self-enchanting I performed ¡ºDragonfly¡». Successfully activating that spell finally allowed me to understand how to cast spells using only Mana. My whole thought process was actually wrong from the very beginning because I had assumed that the steps for casting the spells using only Mana were the same as the ones when using Cindril. This is where I was wrong.


    Using Cindril is basically a two step process. The first is to locate the elementary Magic under the form of Cindril and then shaping it with Mana.


    However I thought that to achieve the same result with only Mana, I needed to turn Mana into elementary Magic as a substitute for Cindril and then try to shape it.


    But I realised that it was simply impossible to turn raw Magic into elementary Magic because what is required for the cast of a spell to work only with Mana is to visualise the final result immediately.


    For instance, instead of trying to create Fire Magic from Mana and then turn it into a Fireball, I had to think about making a Fireball directly.


    The Mana consumption was indeed much higher. However, now that I knew the basic theory, a whole new range of options opened up to me. I could basically cast anything as long as I had enough Mana.


    For the first time since the start of the fight, a smile showed on my face. Considering all the spells I had cast so far, I had about 25% of my total Mana left remaining.


    ¡°Let¡¯s finish this, kid. Die now !¡ºHateful Slash¡»!¡±


    Looks like Grog was getting fed up of me dodging. He used a skill that was like a berserk version of¡ºFurious Slash¡». Strikes came from multiple directions and it was going so fast that one could see their afterimage. However, thanks to¡ºDragonfly¡», I was able to dodge them although I received some damage on my flank and shoulders. Still, I was able to hold on against what was most likely his strongest skill. It was time for my counterattack.


    I gathered up 20% of my remaining Mana into my fist and imagined a blue fireball. I tried to imagine it as powerful and hot as possible and as expected, as soon as I got a clear image in my mind, it appeared in my fist. Not only was it a fireball (which was supposedly Expert level Magic) but it was also affected by¡ºDragonfly¡». Looks like self-enchanting also applies to my other spells. The blue fireball started oscillating and looked like a ghost flame. I named it¡ºPhantom Fireball¡» and fired it at Grog.


    Grog noticed that and since it was too fast for him to dodge him, he used his sword to protect himself. As expected, the enchantment on his sword must have been a higher level one as it absorbed even my Expert level fireball¡­ or so it seemed.


    It looked like the sword had successfully absorbed the fireball but in reality, it was just an afterimage. This was due to¡ºDragonfly¡» having affected the properties of my spell. The real fireball landed magnificently on Grog¡¯s chest and blew up. An explosion of blue flames occurred and the fallen guard was blasted away. He immediately fell unconscious as the blue fire kept consuming his clothes and burnt skin.


    ¡°Ah¡­ I won¡­¡±


    Finally, the fight was over.

 Chapter 8 - Bruneciels Hero

    I looked around as I could finally rest. I was exhausted and slightly wounded but I was OK. I had managed to defeat this town¡¯s biggest threat, the fallen guard known as Grog.


    I disabled¡ºDragonfly¡»and fell on my butt. Although maintaining¡ºDragonfly¡»didn¡¯t consume my Mana as I thought self-enchanting would, the burden applied on my body was proportional to the additional power I gained from it. Currently, my whole body ached.


    I looked around me and everyone was baffled. ¡°How could a brat like him defeat the town¡¯s most feared fighter ?¡± is what they were probably thinking. Eventually, the bartender approached me and helped me to sit on my chair. He went to Grog to check him and shouted.


    ¡°Grog¡¯s been knocked out and seriously injured ! Someone go get the guards ! And a healer !¡±


    Two persons immediately went outside. The rest still looked dumbfounded. Then bit by bit, the fact that Grog had been beaten started to sink in and the dreadful atmosphere was replaced by an uproar.


    ¡°Oi oi, did you see that ? That kid cast Fire Magic without Fire Cindril ! How did he do that !?¡±


    ¡°This guy is no joke¡­ Grog¡¯s power was on the same level as that of an imperial knight¡­ and yet that guy defeated him with almost no wounds at all !¡±


    ¡°Did you see how fast he was moving near the end ? He managed to dodge most of Grog¡¯s best strikes ! That kid is amazing !¡±


    I was under the assumption that Grog was a kind of bandit but I didn¡¯t expect him to be such a high level criminal. The waitress approached me with a big smile on her face and hugged me strongly. My faced was buried in her breasts and it became hard to breath.


    ¡°Thank you so much ! Who knows what would have happened to me without you¡­ You are this town¡¯s hero !¡±


    ¡°Hero ? Surely you¡¯re exaggerating¡­ I mean, if the guards were too scared to fight him, why didn¡¯t you try to send a letter to the Emperor ?¡±


    Hearing this, the bartender joined the conversion.


    ¡°Ah kid, it looks like you don¡¯t know anything about this town. Saying that Grog was just a simple criminal would be an understatement. This guy kidnapped many girls and forced the merchants to give him whatever he wanted for free. He also committed murder. Despite this, he was strong enough to beat all of this town¡¯s guards by himself.¡±


    ¡°We did try to send letters to the Emperor to get more guards but no reply ever came back. We started thinking the world had given up on us and that Grog would keep behaving like a tyrant around here¡­ but you saved us !¡±


    ¡°What will happen to him now ?¡±


    The bartender replied.


    ¡°He will probably be executed. The sooner the better.¡±


    I didn¡¯t feel any sympathy towards the man I had just defeated and yet, I thought of he idea of killing him as disturbing. Well, nothing I could do about it though. That¡¯s probably how the world works nowadays¡­ Criminals are killed to atone for what they have done.


    The so-called ¡°justice¡±.


    ¡°What is your name, kid ? My name is Artis and this is Elestasia.¡±


    ¡°I am Zw?lf Kreizig. I¡¯m aiming to become a Magician.¡±


    ¡°A Magician huh ? With such skills, you¡¯re sure to succeed. Wait, are you going to take part in the capital¡¯s tournament ?¡±


    ¡°You know about it ?¡±


    ¡°Of course, kid ! Everyone knows about it. It¡¯s the main talk in town right now. So you¡¯re travelling towards the capital, right ? In that case, take this.¡±


    ¡°Hmm ?¡±


    Artis handed me an envelope.


    ¡°I have a friend in the capital and he manages a rather good inn. If you give this to him, he¡¯ll let you stay at his place for as long as you want for free. This is my thanks for getting rid of Grog.¡±


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    ¡°Wow¡­ I¡­ I¡¯ll gratefully accept it.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t the one paying for the expenses but Father would surely appreciate saving money on something as expensive as inn fees.


    ¡°On behalf of everyone in Bruneciel, allow me to express my thanks and wish for your victory at the tournament.¡±


    Elestasia hugged me one more time.


    ¡°Good luck Zw?lf ! If it¡¯s you, I know you can win the tournament. Also please drop by to visit whenever you¡¯re around. We¡¯ll welcome you warmly and give you a discount, right Sir ?¡±


    The bartender nodded.


    After hearing these kind words, I left and headed back to the meeting place.


    ***


    I found Father waiting for me in front of the fountain where we had separated earlier. It looked like he had bought food and medicine and was ready to travel. I showed him the letter Artis gave me and he looked at me with surprised eyes.


    ¡°I heard some people shouting about someone having defeated this town¡¯s tyrant¡­ was it you by any chance ?¡±


    ¡°Seems like it.¡±


    ¡°¡­ You could have got yourself killed you know. What am I supposed to tell your mother if that happened ?¡±


    ¡°I, hum- I¡­¡±


    ¡°Sigh¡­ Anyway, it¡¯s no use scolding you¡­ if you defeated someone like the rumored Grog, that means you¡¯re already stronger than your old man, hahaha.¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡±


    ¡°Well, still. Try to avoid getting into dangerous situations, ok ? ¡°


    ¡°Yes, Father.¡±


    We departed from Bruneciel soon after. At nighttime, we finally stopped to set up the camp. After eating, I finally got time to read. Although Father went straight to sleep, I went inside my tent and tried to produce light with ¡°Creative Magic¡±. That¡¯s the name I have given to Magic that only uses Mana.


    I imagined a yellow flame that wasn¡¯t hot at all and produced maximum lighting. The difference between Cindril Magic and Creative Magic is how easy it is to know how much Mana to use to cast the spell with Cindril Magic. On the other hand, Creative Magic works more like a hunch and often requires trial and error.


    The first 7 fires I cast were too powerful and blinded me. After some experimenting, I finally succeeded in casting one that was bright enough to read but not too powerful.


    Once I remembered the Mana input needed and the overall design of the spell, I¡¯d just name it. Saying the name out loud would help me to cast it immediately without thinking about the parameters. Thus I named this blinding light ¡ºFlash¡». I also tried to fuse it with ¡ºDragonfly¡»but as expected it didn¡¯t change its effect.


    Since I finally had some quiet time, I decided to start reading the ¡°Expert level¡± books.


    Although Creative Magic was very useful, its cost in Mana was extremely high so relying on Cindril was still a better solution for fighting. At least until I increased my Mana capacity significantly.


    After 2 hours of training, I had mastered a few new spells. ¡ºWind Razor¡» was the Expert version of¡ºWind Blade¡». It was the sharpest and fastest version of it.


    I also improved¡ºWhirlwind¡»into¡ºHurricane¡»and¡ºRock Wall¡»into ¡ºRock Shield¡».


    It was easy to improve Intermediate skills into Expert ones, as opposed to learning totally new ones. All I had to do was refine my molding and spend a bit more Mana to fuel the Cindril in order to fortify my Intermediate spells into Expert level ones.


    After feeling exhausted from using up so much Mana, I felt asleep quite easily. As I was sinking into a deep sleep, I felt happy as I finally felt like I had powered-up significantly.

 Chapter 9 - Naxus

    We continued to travel safely by horse. The roads were quite safe thanks to the regular patrols and we encountered neither monsters or bandits on the way. ¡°It¡¯s a bit of a shame¡± is what I thought. I would have liked to gain more fighting experience before the tournament.


    The travel was long and I had time to think about a battle strategy. First I would try to evaluate the opponent¡¯s strength by firing a few¡ºWind Blades¡». Then I would try to subjugate them while using my Expert level Magic. However, I decided to keep Creative Magic as a trump card in case I was pushed back to my limits.


    Thanks to my continuous Magic training and experimentation, I was now able to make a more efficient use of Creative Magic. My Mana capacity had also improved by quite a lot.¡ºDragonfly¡»now required only 10% of my total Mana to activate properly and¡ºPhantom Fireball¡»used up 25%,¡ºDragonfly¡»included. It was still quite a lot compared to¡ºWind Razor¡»which only cost about 10% of my Mana, although¡ºPhantom Fireball¡»was much more powerful.


    ¡ºFlash¡»was the least expensive Creative Magic I had so far. To achieve a brightness that could blind the enemy, I only needed to use up about 5% of my total Mana. Although it can¡¯t be called ¡°overpowered¡± because it is a trick that won¡¯t work twice against the same opponent.


    ¡°You¡¯ve become stronger, Zw?lf. I can feel it.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Father. Although it might not be enough to win the tournament.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be just fine, hahaha. You¡¯re my son after all.¡±


    ¡°¡­ That¡¯s why I¡¯m worried.¡±


    I had wanted to test the boundaries of what I could do with Creative Magic and although it was almost limitless, there were still some restrictions. First off, despite all my training, my Mana capacity was at most average for a Magician. I could improve it with training but it would take a long time. Also, when trying to imagine the final result of the spell I¡¯m training to cast, I had to have a very clear idea of what it would look like and how it worked. This is the reason why I was unable to cast any kind of healing Magic. How it worked was simply unknown to me.


    Talking about Creative Magic, back when I was in Bruneciel, no one seemed to know what it was or how to handle it. According to them, there was no other way to cast spells other than using Cindril.


    The very first book I read about Magic clearly separated both kinds of Magic but the more I inquired about it, the more it seemed like Creative Magic was an ancient lost Magic that no one knew about.


    ***


    We finally arrived at the capital. Naxus was the name of the first Emperor of the Porcephone Empire and the capital was named after him.


    The first thing I noticed from a distance was the giant wall surrounding the city. What I assumed to be the castle also stood out. Such a big building, that elevated nearly as high as the walls.


    Unlike what I was expecting, the city was much quieter than Bruneciel despite its size. It was separated into multiple districts. The crafting district, the guild district, the residential district and the shopping district were the main ones. Although the residential district was clean, I was surprised with how dirty the crafting one was. Well, it¡¯s not like I was disappointed by the town in any way. Actually, it matched the mental picture I had of it.


    ¡°Alright Zw?lf, now let¡¯s head to the inn indicated by your letter.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    After following the directions written on the back of Artis¡¯ letter, we arrived at an ¡°average¡± inn. Maybe it was considered mediocre, but for someone like me who¡¯s never left my small village, it was quite luxurious.


    We showed the letter to the tenant of the inn and after reading it, he nodded in silence and showed us our rooms. The beds were comfortable and the room in itself looked like it had been cleaned recently.


    According to the tenant, we were considered as guests instead of customers and had been given the best room. Food was also free. Looks like saving the bartender in Bruneciel really paid off. Father looked satisfied as he walked up to me.


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    ¡°Ok Zw?lf. I will go register you for the tournament. You can use this time to relax or train.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try to visit the town first.¡±


    ¡°Sure. But don¡¯t approach shady people, alright ?¡±


    ¡°Of course I¡¯ll stay out of trouble.¡±


    We both parted ways and I headed toward the guild district first. It was composed of a huge alley with massive buildings on each side. The mercenary guild, the alchemist guild, the adventurer guild¡­ all those looked tempting. Maybe I¡¯d try joining one of them in the future ?


    I then left for the shopping district. It was designed as a gigantic agglomeration of shops of different sizes. I took a look at the displayed goods : books, weapons, armors, potions, ingredients, magic items, furniture, mounts¡­ Everything and anything was sold here. However, the price were generally too high for me, even with my allowance of 10 Gold Coins (Father gave me more money as we arrived in the town). I saw an interesting stall full of enchanted items. The cheapest was an earring that apparently allowed the user to store extra Mana. Its cost was 50 Gold Coins. Dejected by my lack of money, I headed back to the inn and went in the backyard.


    I first finished reading ¡°Deeper analysis of the Magic concepts¡± and it helped me to understand a few more things about Magic.


    First of all, although it was true that Mana was only raw Magic, this only applied to humans. It seemed like each race had a different kind of natural ¡°attribute¡± inside of their Mana. As such, Elves¡¯ Mana contained a natural healing ability which essentially worked on cell regeneration.


    I did mention before that healers were Elves. As a matter of fact, the reason for that is that they are the only race that can manipulate Healing Magic. Although most Elves had migrated towards the Dorua continent, some of them decided to stay in Sill in order to make money thanks to their natural ability.


    Orcs, despite their lack of Magic awareness, had an attribute inside their Mana that strengthened their bones, skin and muscles. Dwarves also seemed to only have raw Magic though.


    When it came to the Half race ¨C which was a race composed of different evoluted subspecies of monsters ¨C it was different for each species. The only two this book mentioned were the Ghouls with a Mana attribute increasing their physical abilities and the Vampires with the attribute to turn ingested blood into Mana.


    Father came back while I was training on the new Expert level Magic spells. I had only succeeded in mastering ¡ºWind Bullet¡». This technique focused on compressing a large amount of Wind Cindril into a small cylindrical shape and then release it all at once.


    It took me the entire afternoon to put the theory into practice as it required a large amount of concentration to avoid the Wind Cindril from leaking outside of the bullet. Furthermore, an additional command similar to ¡ºWhirlwind¡»needed to be executed on the bullet to fire it as fast as possible.


    Although this technique was hard to use due to me having to be extremely focused on the molding, it was indeed very powerful. It could easily pierce through normal metals such as iron plates and even shields.


    ¡°Do you feel ready for the tournament ?¡±


    ¡°I could still use some more training but I think I¡¯ll be able to put up a fight.¡±


    ¡°Well do your best. I just registered you. The first half of the tournament starts tomorrow at 10am.¡±


    ¡°Tomorrow !? Wow that¡¯s fast !¡±


    ¡°Good luck ! I won¡¯t be able to watch to the tournament tomorrow because of my work but if you make it into the finals, I¡¯ll be able to come and watch you. The Emperor has requested my squad to keep an eye on the last part of the tournament to ensure it¡¯s safe.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll do my best !¡±


    I went to sleep soon after eating and mentally readied myself for tomorrow.


    Just like that, my first day at Naxus ended.

 Chapter 10 - The Magic Tournament

    I woke up early and did a few stretches before heading towards the town¡¯s Coliseum. It was located in the centre of the capital and was of an impressive size. It was big enough to host approximately 1000 persons. I walked to the entrance and presented myself to the guards. They showed me the way for the contestants.


    According to the schedule, assuming that I¡¯d keep winning, I would battle 5 times today and tomorrow would be dedicated exclusively to the semifinals and final. Not forgetting the promise I made with Blume, I was determined to make it as far as possible.


    I looked around me and noticed other participants. Most of them were youths of various age between the range of 13 ¨C 20 years old. A lot of them looked quite powerful and I suddenly started doubting my strength. But once again, remembering the promise I made with Blume was enough to fill me with confidence once more.


    One of the contestants approached me. He looked sturdy and at first glance, one would think of him as a swordsman rather than a magician. Although my Magic training included muscle work, my body still wasn¡¯t built on the same level as Tras or this man.


    ¡°Yo ! I¡¯m Boogie. I heard you talking to the guards, you¡¯re Zw?lf, right ?¡±


    ¡°Yes, nice to meet you.¡±


    ¡°Drop the formalities, my friend, for I am your first opponent !¡±


    ¡°Oh is that so ? What kind of Magician are you ?¡±


    ¡°Ahahaha, sneaky ! You¡¯re trying to find out everything about me before the match even begins, right ? Well it¡¯s a secret ! You¡¯ll find out during the match hahaha.¡±


    ¡°Ah, is that so¡­ well, good luck.¡±


    ¡°Yeah you too !¡±


    It looks like my information gathering approach failed. Well, not that I expected too much on that side though.


    The rules prohibited the use of physical weapons and any magical items. In other words, Magic and martial arts were the only thing allowed. It was a Tournament that was focused on pure ability with Magic after all so it was natural that they¡¯d eliminate things that could make the difference between a poor and a rich Magician.


    Considering Boogie¡¯s body build, it was probable that he was the physical type. Since weapons and Magic items were not allowed, the chances that he¡¯d use Water, Fire or Lightning Magic were close to 0. I was an Expert in Wind and Earth Magic so I should be fine when it comes to Magic power, however his reflexes and physical ability (dodging, close combat and running) might prove higher. I couldn¡¯t release my guard around him.


    When the time for my first match came, we were brought in the middle of the arena. I felt hundreds of stares on my back. It looked like this event had gathered a lot of spectators.


    Boogie stood in front of me, with a wry smile on his face. He looked pretty confident. I, on the other hand, was calm and pragmatic and was trying to evaluate each potential move carefully. Then finally, the referee shouted ¡°Go !¡± and the duel started.


    I was the one to move first. According to my strategy, I fired¡ºWind Blade¡»twice. As expected, he wasn¡¯t as weak as to be defeated by Intermediate Magic and managed to dodge them, barely in time. He then rolled on the ground and fired a ¡ºWind Bullet¡» at me.


    It went so fast that I only had time to escape it by using ¡ºWind Push¡»on myself, just like I did against Grog. However, the bullet was faster and grazed my right flank. As I was preparing to counter attack, I was surprised to see Boogie still on the ground. The smile he had kept up until now was now gone.


    I fired a¡ºWind Blade¡»at him. Right before getting hit, it looks like he managed to snap out of it and dodge. However, unlike last time, he was too slow to react and the blade of wind slashed his stomach. He fell on the ground.


    I watched him as he started bleeding and convulsing on the ground. A Healer immediately ran to him to treat him and behind me, the referee shouted.


    ¡°The contestant Boogie Drake has been defeated ! Zw?lf Kreizig is the winner !¡±


    A roar rose all around the Coliseum. I had¡­ won ? But why ? Why didn¡¯t Boogie follow up ?


    I ran up to him to ask him that but he was breathing heavily. Although the Elf healer had closed his wound, he could still feel the pain from the impact.


    ¡°Ah¡­ ah¡­. well done, Zw?lf¡­ You¡¯re¡­ really strong. I¡­ didn¡¯t expect you¡­ to dodge my¡ºWind Bullet¡»¡­ No one¡­ has ever¡­ dodged it before¡­ Where I come from¡­ I am called¡­ Boogie of the Certain Death¡­¡±


    ¡°But¡­ but why didn¡¯t you follow up with another one after that ?¡±


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    ¡°Although it is very powerful¡­ at my current level, it takes me¡­ half an hour to prepare one bullet¡­ and I can¡¯t move much for 10 seconds after that¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I didn¡¯t feel that way after using it¡­ Was it because of my training using Creative Magic in addition to the repeated burden inflicted to my body by¡ºDragonfly¡»?


    Well anyway, I won my first match like that. Talk about something anti-climatic.


    ***


    My next opponent was a girl with deep blue hair who had a very different approach to battling. She basically spitted and used the Water Cindril inside of the saliva to fire ¡ºWater Bullets¡»at me. Although it was quite a creative idea to use Water Magic, I could easily protect myself with ¡ºRock Shield¡». I don¡¯t know if she expected to beat me with only low-level techniques but I was a bit disappointed. She kept spitting and firing bullets at me with a high firing rate but it had no effect against my strong defense.


    I waited there until she finally ran out of saliva and was left helpless as to what to do next. Surely, she had imagined she¡¯d knock me out before that. Did she only know Water Magic ? Anyway, it was now my turn to attack.


    She was a frail-looking girl and she was easily knocked out with a single¡ºWind Blade¡».


    Even if she got a deep cut from it, thanks to the amazing Healing Magic cast by the Elf referee, she didn¡¯t keep any scar.


    It may be a bit disrespectful to not mention them but my next three opponents were beaten almost as easily.


    I honestly couldn¡¯t tell whether I was the one with overpowered Magic or whether they were the ones who were weak.


    Just like that, I qualified for the semifinals and returned to the inn. A bit later, Father also came back and didn¡¯t look surprised when I told him I had gained a place for the semifinals.


    ¡°Well, I expected that much, after seeing you training. You might not have noticed it Zw?lf but even though your Mana capacity is normal, the speed at which you learn and master things is incredible.¡±


    ¡°Is it really like that ? As long as you understand the theory, it¡¯s just a matter of having enough Mana to cast a spell, I think.¡±


    ¡°You might think that way because it¡¯s you but it¡¯s not the case. Look, you¡¯re at an Expert level after having started to learn Magic for only a few months¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ so what ?¡±


    ¡°Most people take about 2 years to reach Intermediate level and mastering Expert level spells takes so much practice that usually, one¡¯s at least 20 when they finally succeed casting their first Expert spell, or so I heard.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I see. I understand now.¡±


    This tournament¡¯s cap age is 20. This was probably done in order to limit the use of Expert magic which is a lot more lethal than Intermediate level, even with a Healer ready to act.


    Boogie managed to cast an Expert level spell but to him, it was such an achievement at his age that he was certain that no one could stop his ¡ºWind Bullet¡», that¡¯s why he didn¡¯t expect anyone to be able to beat him with such a high level technique.


    ¡°You know, most people who can use Expert level magic are given high rank positions in the army. With your current level, you could probably get my job almost immediately. And although most people don¡¯t try to improve their magic any further due to the difficulty, the rare people who can use Master level Magic stand at the very top of the hierarchy in the Empire.¡±


    ¡°Is that so ? Wow, I didn¡¯t know Magic allowed me to get a job that easily.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha, that¡¯s my son ! Although you could be considered a genius with this ability to assimilate Magic that fast, you still lack awareness in some other areas !¡±


    ¡°Hearing that doesn¡¯t make me happy¡­¡±


    I had actually heard something like that. Apparently, the current Emperor was a Fire Master and also knew Master level Earth Magic. According to the rumors, every Porcephone Emperor up until now knew Master level Fire Magic.


    ¡°Ah, by the way, did you know that the Emperor¡¯s son also entered the tournament ? He qualified for the semifinals, just like you.¡±


    ¡°Oh really ? Will I be facing him then, I wonder.¡±


    ¡°Maybe. Well I heard he¡¯s very strong so be careful if you do.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, sure.¡±


    I braced myself for the oncoming semifinals as the first day of the tournament ended.

 Chapter 11 - Semi-finals

    My opponent for the semi-finals wasn¡¯t the Emperor¡¯s son. It was a boy my age who looked about Hell¡¯s age. He was wearing glasses and had messy hair. He came to introduce himself to me 5 minutes before the match.


    ¡°I am Arism and I¡¯ll be your opponent today. Nice to meet you.¡±


    ¡°Ah, nice to meet you too, I¡¯m-¡±


    ¡°I already know who you are. Otherwise I wouldn¡¯t have bothered introducing myself.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I see¡­¡±


    What¡¯s up with that attitude ? Sure he¡¯s a child who made it into the semi-finals but shouldn¡¯t he respect his elders a bit more ?


    ¡°By the way, I didn¡¯t talk to you out of courtesy. I came to give you a warning.¡±


    ¡°A¡­ warning ?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Give up before the match begins. The chances that you die if you face me are very high.¡±


    ¡°What the ¨C Of course I won¡¯t back down !¡±


    ¡°Mhm. I expected as much. But you see, I am a genius Magician. I have never been defeated, even by adults. So don¡¯t come crying if you lose one or two arms, ok ?¡±


    He walked away with an arrogant face. After witnessing such display of overconfidence, I was fired up and determined to teach that brat a lesson.


    ¡°I can¡¯t afford to lose against that kid¡± is what I was thinking. I honestly didn¡¯t want to reveal my trump card by using Creative Magic in the semi-finals but if it came to it, I¡¯d do it anyway.


    Shortly after, we were told to enter the arena. There was at least twice as many spectators as yesterday. Although the throne at the top of the Coliseum stayed empty, for the Emperor only showed up to watch the finals.


    I couldn¡¯t see Father anywhere but surely he was also watching me from somewhere. There was no way I¡¯d shame him by losing against that obnoxious kid.


    I walked to face Arism. The referee said ¡°Go !¡± and as soon as the duel started, Arism used a technique I had only witnessed in my books before.


    ¡°Let¡¯s end this quickly, shall we ? ¡ºCompression¡»!¡±


    ¡°Huh ?¡±


    Arism made a movement with his hand as if he was squashing something and then I felt a great oppression from the air around me.


    The attack came from all directions. I felt like my body was being crushed by an invisible force. As I had read in the book, ¡ºCompression¡»was one of the most deadly Expert level Wind Magic spells which basically manipulated Wind to trap an enemy and gradually crush them by applying equal pressure from all around the victim with powerful wind.


    The problem is that I couldn¡¯t move and therefore couldn¡¯t defend myself against the attack. Since I was already trapped inside, my usual Earth defense techniques were useless. I tried struggling but I couldn¡¯t move an inch.


    *Crack*


    ¡°Aaaaarggg !¡±


    I felt 4 of my ribs breaking at the same time. I spit quite a lot of blood. The pain was so intense that I thought I would faint immediately. However, thanks to my harsh training, I was able to hold on.


    I didn¡¯t have very long left until my whole body turned into mash. Breathing became more difficult and I could feel a sharp pain every time I breathed in. I started thinking fast about my possible options.


    Let¡¯s see. I quickly analysed the situation. Arism was still holding his hand in the air so he probably had to keep doing that in order to control the continuous pressure. Maybe if I attacked him I could disturb him enough for him to release his grip ?


    I tried firing my strongest ¡ºWind Razor¡»at him but he created a ¡ºRock Shield¡»with his remaining hand. Unfortunately, it was strong enough to resist my attack.


    That didn¡¯t go well¡­ During this time, I felt one more rib breaking. The only remaining option I had was to try to destroy this spell from the inside.


    I tried to remember what I had read about ¡ºCompression¡». I hadn¡¯t had the time to practice that technique but I had read the theory.


    Basically, the first step was to increase the density of the Wind Cindril around the opponent, then mold the Wind Cindril into a cylinder-like shape with the victim in the middle and finish by applying a continuous¡ºWind Push¡»to it to crush the enemy.


    Now, knowing this allowed me to execute all these steps backwards.


    First, I used ¡ºWind Push¡»towards the exterior and finally I felt the grip on my body weakening. Then I used ¡ºWhirlwind¡»around me to disperse the molded Wind Cindril.


    Finally, this Expert technique had been defeated.


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    Arism looked at me surprised while I used that time to regain as much energy as I could before launching my next attack. I tried firing more¡ºWind Razors¡»,¡ºHurricane¡»and¡ºEarth Spikes¡»at him but his shield was strong enough to block all the attacks.


    I felt considerably weakened by ¡ºCompression¡». Usually, ¡ºHurricane¡»would have been strong enough to blow his shield away but I couldn¡¯t focus well enough to make it that powerful.


    It was obvious from his behaviour that Arism had to concentrate for a while before being able to cast another ¡ºCompression¡»and he had decided to fight defensively until I ran out of energy because of my wounds.


    Reluctantly, I was preparing to finally use Creative Magic when I got an idea. I remembered Father¡¯s words of praise about how fast I could master new spells as long as I understood the theory.


    Considering that I knew enough about ¡ºCompression¡»to dispel it, I could probably cast it successfully as well. I held my hand in the air, followed the steps carefully and¡­


    ¡°¡ºCompression¡»!¡±


    Just like me a few moments ago, Arism dropped his shield on the ground and started struggling. His arms started bending in unnatural ways and he let out a cry of agony. He fainted only a few seconds after having his bones crushed by my spell.


    When he saw that, the Elf referee immediately declared the winner and rushed over to Arism to treat him as fast as possible.


    Behind me, the spectators were roaring and I waited for the Elf to be done with Arism to treat me as well. It really was a close match¡­ a few more minutes and I¡¯d faint.


    The referee ran over to me and started using Healing Magic on me. A sweet feeling ran through my body and the pain quickly disappeared.


    ***


    I met up with Father soon after that. He came to congratulate me for winning. Apparently, he was watching from a platform located behind me, hence why I didn¡¯t see him.


    He told me that my next opponent would be the Emperor¡¯s son. As expected, he was a strong Magician. And despite what I thought about Arism¡¯s arrogant attitude, he was indeed a genius Magician for being able to master Expert Magic.


    ¡°Arism Stalford ? You don¡¯t know about him ? Oh, I guess you wouldn¡¯t since you don¡¯t live in the capital.¡±


    ¡°Is he famous ?¡±


    ¡°Not just him, the whole Stalford family is well known all around the country as an elite clan of Magicians. They start teaching their kids Magic as soon as they learn how to speak so it¡¯s not surprising that a 14 years old like Arism could use Expert level Magic.¡±


    ¡°Wow, I should consider myself lucky to have been able to beat him then.¡±


    ¡°I think you need more than just luck to beat a Stalford.¡±


    He winked at me and left me to rest a bit. I had one hour before the last match so I decided to spend it reading. My body still ached a bit and Healing Magic can¡¯t cure fatigue so the wisest decision was to rest a bit.


    I thought about Arism while reading. He probably knew nothing aside from Magic¡­ while at the same time, it was probably everything to him. To be honest, before I was 14, I didn¡¯t have any interest in anything. I spent my 14 first years as a normal boy whose only interests were reading and playing cards.


    Not to brag but I was unbeatable when it came to card games. I always played with Hell or Tras and always ended up winning. However, it¡¯s very unlikely that I¡¯ll get a job by being good in that area. So I decided to focus on the only other thing I was good at : studying.


    My interest in reading led me to become very knowledgeable about Alchemy and eventually Magic.


    Mother always supported me and my decisions but when she noticed that I knew about as much as her in Alchemy, she started thinking that I would take over her shop and it apparently made her very happy. However, when I told her that I had decided to become a Magician, she didn¡¯t look angry and instead, she even smiled at me. Once again, she just said ¡°Do your best, I know you can do it¡± and cheered me.


    There was no way I could disappoint her. I was going to win this tournament and show my worth as a Magician. This was the best way for someone from a small village like me to get recruited and offered a good job.


    Lost in my thoughts, I didn¡¯t see the time fly by and when I woke up, it was time to go back for the final match.

 Chapter 12 - Unexpected outcome

    On my way back, I met Arism. Looks like he had somehow recovered from his pain and injuries. When he saw me, he approached me at a surprising speed and started to talk to me.


    ¡°Hey ! Hey ! Wait !¡±


    ¡°Mm ?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I want to ask you a question.¡±


    His arrogant smile was nowhere to be seen and instead he was wearing a serious expression. He looked at me straight in the eyes, despite our height difference. He readjusted his glasses and continued.


    ¡°You¡­ you¡¯re only 1 year older than me right ? For how long have you been learning Magic ?¡±


    ¡°Hum¡­ just about a few months.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    He seemed shocked and looked at me with a baffled expression.


    ¡°A few months. huh¡­ I¡­ You- I mean¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah by the way, was your family watching the match ? They must be proud that their son made it to the semi-finals even though you¡¯re only 14 years old.¡±


    ¡°Proud !? Are you kidding ? I have yet to face my father. I have brought great shame upon the Stalford family¡­ Being defeated by a country bumpkin like you¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah don¡¯t let it get to you ! You¡¯ll just have to practice more with your friends so you can get stronger and defeat me next time we battle, right ?¡±


    ¡°My¡­ friends ? I don¡¯t have any¡­.¡±


    ¡°Heh ?¡±


    ¡°All I¡¯ve been doing since I was a little child was training and learning. I haven¡¯t had time to make any friends¡­¡±


    Wow, so he really did nothing but that. Was it because of his strict family, I wonder.


    Despite how irritating I found him yesterday, seeing him so pitiful only made me want to cheer him up.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t have any, then you can consider me your first friend.¡±


    ¡°Wha- you¡­ are you jok¡­ wait, really ?¡±


    ¡°Yeah ! That¡¯s unfortunate though because I¡¯ll have to go back to my village after the tournament but it¡¯s fine ! We¡¯ll just have to train ourselves a lot and next year, we¡¯ll get to fight each other again right ? Besides, even if I don¡¯t meet you in next year¡¯s tournament, I¡¯m planning to find a job at the capital so I¡¯ll be back soon enough !¡±


    ¡°A-Awesome ! Yeah, I¡¯ll train as well ! I won¡¯t lose next time ! That¡¯s a promise !¡±


    ¡°Yeah !¡±


    We became both excited at the idea of getting both a new friend and rival.


    With this unexpected development, we parted ways and I prepared to enter the arena.


    ***


    Unlike for the semi-finals where the stadium was only about 75% full, the Coliseum was now crowded with spectators and some people had to stand up. I didn¡¯t expect this competition to be that popular.


    As expected, the Emperor was sitting on his throne. He was an old man with white hair and an imposing stature. His eyes were as intimidating as the Iron Boar¡¯s eyes although I could now withstand that much pressure. This man was known in the whole continent as Emperor Elasius II Porcephone.


    He silently looked at me as I entered in silence. However, as soon as my opponent made his appearance, the whole Coliseum went crazy. The Emperor stood up and raised his hands. He started clapping. In front of me was Orth Porcephone, the Emperor¡¯s only son. He was, to say the least, a beautiful man. He had a strong and handsome build and his looks were top notch. He had a smile that could make any girl fall in love. His blond hair and golden eyes were hereditary and made him look like the perfect prince.


    On the other hand, my looks were average with my dark brown hair, dark brown eyes and slightly tall height. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t care. I¡¯ve already got my own super-cute girlfriend, no need need to be Mr. Perfect¡± is what I thought.


    Just like most of my other opponents so far, he was displaying a fearless and confident smile. It irritated me quite a bit. Does he think he¡¯s so powerful that his victory is already a fait accompli ?


    This just tickled my sadistic instincts. I wanted to see the smile on his face change into fear. Well just the fear of losing, not the fear of dying. I¡¯m not a killer after all.


    I could hear the fans cheering mainly on Orth. Whatever, I know what I have to do and I know there are also people rooting for me.


    I positioned myself in front of him and readied myself for the battle. I was so annoyed by his attitude that instead of sticking to my usual strategy, I fired 3 simultaneous¡ºWind Razors¡»at him, as soon as the match started.


    ¡°To go all-out from the very beginning is anti-climatic but I can¡¯t afford to take this match lightly¡±. However, the result before me made me frown. In this short amount of time, Orth had had time to cast one of the only protection spells sturdy enough to resist my full power ¡ºWind Razor¡»: ¡ºRock Armor¡». This was an Expert level Earth magic spell that could withstand most of my offensive spells.


    Even I required a minimum of 20 seconds to cast it, therefore he probably was either very good at Earth Magic or he had prepared a defensive strategy beforehand.


    Before I had time to think of a better offensive approach, Orth looked at me with his unbreakable smile and talked.


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    ¡°You¡¯re not getting away from this unhurt ! Hahaha !¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t be able to defeat my ultimate armor ! ¡ºGaia¡¯s Protection¡»!¡±


    He used a spell I had not read about in my book concerning Expert level Earth Magic which meant it was probably Master level. Suddenly, his ¡ºRock Armor¡»started to compress until it was the same size as a regular knight armor and the rocks that composed it polished themselves. The whole armor became smooth and sharp.


    A blade came out of one of his gauntlets. Orth carried on and said ¡°¡ºGaia¡¯s Spear¡»!¡± . Following that, a spear that looked exactly like a real one with the exception of its colour detached itself from the armor and took shape in his hand.


    ¡°This full set of armor is called ¡°Gaia¡¯s Armor¡± and it far surpasses normal armors ! It is as resistant as diamond ! A mere commoner like you stands no chance, hahaha !¡±


    ¡°Kuh¡­¡±


    According to the rules, it was forbidden to bring weapons within the Coliseum, however nothing forbid creating them with Magic during the fight.


    I tried to use ¡ºCompression¡»on him but his armor was strong enough to withstand the pressure exerted by ¡ºWind Push¡»and even by adding more power, I couldn¡¯t succeed in even binding him.


    Orth started running after me (still unarmed) and it became a one-way beating. Using his blade and spear, he slashed me many times and cut through my shirt, leaving a high number of wounds and cuts.


    ¡°Aarg¡­¡±


    My whole body was bleeding like a stuck pig however I couldn¡¯t give up there.


    The problem was that unlike during my battle with Arism, I didn¡¯t know the theory behind Gaia¡¯s Armor so there was no way I could make one of my own. Besides, I noticed how skilled his footwork was. This guy was an excellent swordsman, I could understand that much. Right now, he was just amusing himself by making me bleed as much as possible.


    Finally loosing my cool at the sight of my own weakness, I decided to finally use Creative Magic.


    The Emperor¡¯s son was still harboring that blinding smile of him as he ran towards me to put an end to the fight, brandishing his lance high in the air.


    ¡°Aaah¡­ this was fun. But I¡¯ve grown tired of you, Zw?lf Kreizig ! Allow me to end this fight quickly.¡±


    ¡°-Ut¡­ up¡­¡±


    ¡°Ahhh ? What did you say ?¡±


    ¡°SHUT UP !¡±


    I first activated¡ºDragonfly¡». One thing I had noticed during training was that ¡ºDragonfly¡»also increased my thinking speed, in addition to my physical abilities, which greatly helped me focusing on Creative Magic, even during situations such as the current one.


    After having enchanted my own body, I used ¡ºFlash¡»at full power. I knew what was coming so I closed my eye. A light similar to that of a lightning flashed in the Coliseum for less than a second. Orth was, as expected, successfully blinded by the light.


    Not seeing where he was running anymore, he tripped and fell miserably on the ground.


    I used this chance to gather 75% of my remaining Mana to cast my most powerful ¡ºPhantom Fireball¡»ever made. However, I didn¡¯t want to grievously injure Orth so I reduced the temperature to 10? C only.


    I cast my ultimate spell towards Orth who was still on his knees and he was hit with full force. It looked like I had underestimated the power of ¡ºPhantom Fireball¡»because even though we were in the centre of the Coliseum, the impact was so powerful that Orth was sent flying in the air and hit the walls of the arena, knocking him immediately unconscious.


    This was all considering the protection provided by his Gaia Armor. Who knows what would have happened if he wasn¡¯t wearing any protective gear.


    ¡°Ah¡­ I won¡­ I won¡­ the tournament ! YEAAAH !¡±


    I felt relieved and waited for the referee to declare my victory. He¡¯d then come and heal me just like he did in the previous matches (I was still bleeding a lot after all).


    However, the announcement never came.


    I looked around and saw the referee unable to move due to the shock. His face showed total disbelief.


    I took a look at my surroundings. Everyone in the Coliseum was making the same face.


    I started to become anxious as I noticed they were all staring at me.


    The only person with a different expression was the Emperor. His previously intimidating eyes showed a mix of fear and anger.


    He stood up from his throne and walked slowly towards the limits of his balcony. Then he faced all the spectators at once and shouted.


    ¡°This contestant cheated ! He brought illegal items with him and tried to assassinate my son, Orth Porcephone ! Guards ! Take him to the jail !¡±


    ¡°Heh ?¡±


    I could only watch with a baffled expression as I was knocked out from behind by a guard. I was slowly fainting when I heard a man¡¯s shout. I think it was Father¡¯s.


    I then closed my eyes and my world became black.

 Chapter 13 - Torture diary

    Day 1.


    When I woke up, I was chained in a medium dark room. It was dirty and smelled horrible, however I was more worried about my wounds that made my whole body ache in agony. The bleeding had stopped but it still hurt a lot.


    I noticed that the chains binded both my arms and feet and I was left totally unable to move. Since it was useless to waste energy, I focused on collecting my thoughts first.


    I tried to recall the past events and when I finally composed myself, I understood why I was in prison. They probably thought that since it was impossible to use Fire Magic without Fire Cindril, I had sneaked in some kind of fire item.


    However, why did they not even let me try to explain myself ? I¡¯m sure someone would have understood that I had used Creative Magic, right ?


    There was no light at all in my cell. It was as if I was closing my eyes and I could not see anything. I wasn¡¯t afraid of the dark but such a situation disturbed me.


    I waited and waited¡­ for who knows how many hours. No one came to visit me. I knew I was too weak to use Magic because of my previous battle. Although Mana replenishes while resting, the process is slowed down significantly if one is wounded or in pain.


    Having nothing better to do, I slept once more.


    ***


    Day 2.


    I was woken up by Orth, who was standing in front of me. I could see him because a flame was burning in his hand. In his other hand, he was holding a candle.


    ¡°So, did you sleep well ? Hahaha. Did you think you were going to successfully kill me ? YOU MORON ! I am the great Orth Porcephone, the next Emperor !¡±


    ¡°Wait ! I didn¡¯t try to kill you ! I just used Crea-¡±


    ¡°Silence ! How dare you talk back to me !? I didn¡¯t come here to hear your excuses. I came here to punish you. Do you know what happens to assassins who try to kill the Emperor ? They are executed. E-XE-CU-TED !¡±


    ¡°You¡­ you¡¯re going to kill me ?¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately for you, I¡¯m not the Emperor just yet. But I¡¯ve been allowed by Papa to deal with you personally. And I¡¯m not as kind as him. You will die indeed. But not now¡­ Not before you suffer a thousand times the pain I suffered from your sneak attack.¡±


    A sadistic light was burning in his eyes. His smile was distorted by a mixture of anger and enjoyment. A very unsightly face that was spitting on mine.


    The torture started soon after. Orth used a pencil to draw a line separating my body in half, vertically and symmetrically. He then moved the Flame in his hand and started burning the left side of my body with a precision that showed it wasn¡¯t the first time he did something like that.


    ¡°AAAAARRGGHHH !¡±


    An inhuman shout came from my body. I knew I wouldn¡¯t die from the burns because humans rarely die from being burnt alive. Normally they die from suffocation first. However Orth used Wind Magic to push the smoke aside. All that was left was an agonising pain running along my left foot.


    He started burning my left leg and gradually went up. However I didn¡¯t faint. That was because he had drugged me beforehand so that I would stay awake.


    This hell continued for half an hour. Although burning half of my body finished quickly, the Elf referee was ordered by Orth to continuously heal me.


    I was stuck in an endless cycle of burning and regeneration. Just when my mind couldn¡¯t take it, Orth finally stopped after burning my left half a last time. The Elf didn¡¯t heal me and they left.


    I was left with half of my body black and red from the blood and burnt skin. Ah and my left eye was also destroyed in the process. My face¡­ I could neither touch it nor see it but I could imagine what it looked like. And it was not something I wanted to show anyone.


    By the way, when I said that Orth burnt the left side of my body¡­ he burnt everything. And by everything, I mean everything.


    ***


    Day 3.


    Orth came again today. The torture resumed. Exactly the same as yesterday. He only focused on my left side.


    This time it lasted one whole hour.


    Then I was left in the dark, once more. All¡­ alone.


    ***


    Day 4.


    I have come to accept this daily routine. Today, it was one hour and half. Looks like it will be increasing by thirty minutes everyday.


    I can¡¯t use my Magic. Not enough focus¡­ not enough will power. My only salvation is the moment I get healed by the Elf. He is also the one who takes care of¡­ my excrement.


    I¡¯m fed a minimum. I¡¯m starving¡­


    I don¡¯t have any clothes on. I¡¯m cold¡­


    Someone¡­ please¡­ save me¡­


    ***


    Day 5.


    No one¡¯s coming to save me¡­ why ? I can¡¯t escape on my own¡­


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    Of course, I¡¯m still being tortured. Every day. Every single day. For a longer period of time.


    I can¡¯t cry anymore. I¡¯m too dehydrated and tired. But I still can¡¯t sleep. They still drug me. The food is full of this drug that forces me to stay awake. But if I don¡¯t eat it, I¡¯ll die from starvation.


    Dying¡­ it might not be so bad¡­.


    ***


    Day 6.


    Instead of leaving with Orth after the torture, this time the Elf stayed behind.


    ¡°Your father¡­ has been executed yesterday. For high treason .¡±


    ¡°Ha¡­ this is a lie¡­ right ?¡±


    The Elf shook his head with a serious face and left.


    I see¡­ Father¡­ died¡­


    Why was he killed again¡­ ?


    I just want¡­ to sleep¡­ and forget everything.


    ***


    Day 10.


    It¡¯s been more than a week¡­


    I¡¯ve been tortured 9 times so far¡­ that means it¡¯s my 10th day in jail.


    The torture lasts 3 hours everyday now¡­ it¡¯s not increasing anymore but that¡¯s just because that¡¯s my limit. More and I¡¯d die from the pain.


    I started talking to someone. I can hear him replying to me. I can¡¯t see him though. I don¡¯t know where he is.


    He said he didn¡¯t have a name so I called him Wahnsinn.


    Even though he¡¯s there¡­ it still feels like I¡¯m alone.


    Wahnsinn never contradicts what I say. All he does is agreeing and stating his opinions.


    When I don¡¯t want him to talk, he doesn¡¯t. What a convenient cell partner.


    I¡¯ve realised something after talking with Wahnsinn. No one will come to rescue me.


    Because¡­ because¡­ Father is dead ? Nah¡­ that must be a lie. It¡¯s impossible¡­ Father can¡¯t have died. I¡¯ll wait a bit more.


    ***


    Day 13.


    I noticed something after today¡¯s torture session.


    Orth and the Elf can¡¯t see Wahnsinn. That¡¯s because he is inside of my head. I didn¡¯t realise it until now but my mouth moves by itself when Wahnsinn talks.


    I¡¯m becoming insane¡­


    I started to think about Father. I¡¯ll be honest. Until now I didn¡¯t believe the Elf. I just accepted what he had said about Father¡¯s execution because I thought it was just¡­ I don¡¯t know actually. I just couldn¡¯t accept it. I still can¡¯t accept it.


    But there is a fact that scares me. The fact that no one has come for me yet. I know Father can¡¯t have been killed. He hasn¡¯t done anything right ? Surely, he¡¯s working on trying to find a way to rescue me. Right ?


    ***


    Day 14.


    I usually faint at the end of the 3 hours of torture and wake up with a little bit of meat on in front of me for me to eat.


    Today however, it stopped before I fainted. The reason for this is that Orth wanted to show me something.


    ¡°Jerius, bring it to me.¡±


    ¡°Yes, my lord.¡±


    When Jerius (the Elf) came back, he gave something shaped like a sphere to Orth. Orth put it in front of me and placed a candle next to it . They then both left. I could hear his sadistic laugh weakening as I was back to solitude.


    When I first saw the ball-like thing in front of me, I didn¡¯t understand what it was. I took a good look at it with my only remaining eye.


    It was Father¡¯s head.


    ¡°Ah¡­ aha¡­ ¡°


    I broke down into a nervous laugh. It¡¯s the only thing I could do since I couldn¡¯t cry anymore. Instinctively though, I switched to another way of expressing my feelings.


    ¡°AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR !!!¡±


    My roar surprised me. I didn¡¯t think I had still enough energy for that. However, my feelings couldn¡¯t be contained.


    Father died. I couldn¡¯t deny it anymore. He had passed away. I¡¯d never see him ever again.


    ¡°Whose fault is it ?¡±


    Soon after grieving for Father¡¯s death, my sadness let place to an urge to find the one responsible for it.


    Was it me ? No. Wahnsinn agreed. It wasn¡¯t my fault. Whose fault was it then ?


    The Emperor. Orth. The Elf. The guards. The spectators. They¡¯re all responsible. They are the origin of my pain and suffering.


    THEY ARE THE ONES WHO DESTROYED MY LIFE !


    I felt a feeling I had never felt inside of my chest before.


    A feeling of hate. These people. Why do they even exist ? It¡¯s an error. A bad joke.


    Ah yeah. That¡¯s what it is. It is all a joke isn¡¯t it ? It was all outside of my control. The world made fun of me. I need to rectify things¡­


    From now on, I will be the joker.

 Chapter 14 - Breakout

    It has now been more than two weeks since I have been imprisoned.


    I have barely had any sleep in these two weeks. I have barely been fed too. And yesterday, my last ray of hope of getting rescued was shattered when I saw Father¡¯s head rolling on the cell¡¯s pavement.


    However, it¡¯s not like this situation is desperate. First of all, Wahnsinn has become a lot more noticeable since yesterday¡¯s shock. Despite knowing that he¡¯s only a split personality, I have come to accept his existence. I find it funny that although he is in my head, I can only hear his thoughts through my own mouth.


    We talked during hours after Orth and the Elf left yesterday. He told me a few things. That he had been storing Mana ever since he ¡°awoke¡± inside of me.


    Ever since the first day of the torture, I had lost control over the left side of my body. This is where Wahnsinn apparently ¡°resided¡±.


    He also said that I could order him as I wished¡­ such a convenient split personality.


    In other words, this means I now have a way to escape via his Magic.


    However, there are a few drawbacks to using Wahnsinn. First of all, because of my rotten left side, where I have lost the use of my 5 senses, he can neither feel Cindril nor can he see anything. He claimed that he lived in a world of shadows and that the only thing he could feel was my presence. However, he had access to my memories, which allowed him to get some kind of awareness of my environment.


    Since he couldn¡¯t feel Cindril, all he could do was using Creative Magic. However, it was hard for him to imagine something he had never seen in reality and therefore the only type of Magic he could create was Shadow Magic. Having access to my memories wasn¡¯t enough to provide him with the accuracy that he needed to cast other types of Magic.


    I knew from habitude that I had a few hours left before Jerius came to clean my excrements.


    We (Wahnsinn and I) decided to train before that.


    It was time to break out.


    ***


    As expected, Jerius came roughly 3 hours later. He entered the cell as usual and started cleaning the faeces around me. Since both of my arms were bound by metal handcuffs attached to the wall, I supposedly couldn¡¯t move. That¡¯s why he was being so careless as to not look at us while doing his dirty job.


    ¡°Orth has decided that you would be executed tomorrow. He said he has grown bored of torturing you.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°The Emperor allowed the public execution. You¡¯ll be burnt alive at 13:00 tomorrow in the central place.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Nothing to answer ? Well I guess that¡¯s to be expected, after what you¡¯ve endured. Well, if it was up to me though, I would have kept torturing you a bit more. Trash like you doesn¡¯t deserve a quick painless death.¡±


    ¡°Hehehe¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh and by the way. Orth has sent troops to your village. Don¡¯t think the rest of your family won¡¯t be executed too. I¡¯m sure traitor¡¯s blood runs in your veins.¡±


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha, ha.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s so funny, you piece of scum !?¡±


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha¡­ Sorry. I would be hateful too if I was stuck with a shitty job like yours, ha. Let me relieve you from this humiliation.¡±


    ¡°Wha-!?¡±


    The next instant, his head rolled on the ground and hit Father¡¯s like a boules ball. Surprise was the emotion frozen on his lifeless face while his headless body fell miserably on the ground.


    Oh, we were still attached. We had just used a simple Creative Magic spell that I had invented with Wahnsinn.


    The fact that Wahnsinn had access to my memories made things easier. The Magic he used was just a variant of¡ºWind Cut¡»using Shadow as its element. In other words, it was a crescent-like black spell that we called ¡ºShadow Cut¡».


    At first, I was doubtful about whether shadow could actually do any damage but Wahnsinn claimed that it could cut through anything, which made it even stronger than my original wind spells. I couldn¡¯t understand the logic behind it, but seeing the result on Jerius was enough to convince me.


    Since we shared the same body, Wahnsinn and I also shared the same Mana capacity. However, I couldn¡¯t cast Shadow Magic myself as long as I didn¡¯t understand it first, which is why I ordered Wahnsinn to do it instead.


    For some reasons,¡ºShadow Cut¡»consumed only as much Mana as¡ºWind Cut¡», which is weird considering that it didn¡¯t require Cindril to work¡­ Shadow Magic is still full of mysteries, isn¡¯t it ?


    But that only means that I can abuse it as much as I need without needing to worry too much about my total Mana consumption.


    I ordered Wahnsinn to cut the chains that were still binding me. I fell on the ground and an intense pain ran through my left leg. The burnt skin was in direct contact with the ground and I could barely bear the pain.


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    During one of the torture sessions, Orth had explained that he was using a Master level Fire Magic spell that let the victim feel the burn forever unless it was cured by Elf¡¯s healing Magic.


    However, I remembered what Jerius had said. Orth was going to attack Mother and Hell¡­ my only remaining family. I had to protect them.


    Breaking out on its own wouldn¡¯t be too difficult with this new Shadow Magic but I would surely be hunted by the guards and going back to Aldenaf without a mount before the soldiers seemed even more unrealistic.


    ¡°Ha¡­ I killed him¡­ That¡¯s all good but what now ?¡±


    ¡°Leave it to me, Zw?lf.¡±


    ¡°Wahnsinn ? What do you mean ?¡±


    ¡°Shadow Magic has an unlimited number of uses¡­ here, let me show you.¡±


    My left side moved on its own. Wahnsinn raised our left arm and almost immediately a pitch black string of Magic came out of our left hand and spilled on the ground. Little by little, a big puddle of black substance formed on the ground. Once Wahnsinn was satisfied with its size, he dropped our left arm and the substance started moving towards us. It tangled all around our left side and slowly covered the burnt skin.


    Soon enough, my entire left body was covered with the black substance and not a single bit of burnt skin could be seen anymore (as far as I could tell).


    ¡°W-What did you do ?¡±


    ¡°I used a kind of self-enchantment. I call it¡ºShadow Skin¡». It has¡­ many uses. One of them is to allow me to interact better with our environment.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by that ?¡±


    ¡°Trust me, this spell will protect you better than any armor. Besides that, it allows me to cast spells way more easily than with only half of your body. Well, you¡¯ll understand once you see it.¡±


    Following that, our left arm that was now covered with Shadow Magic extended and turned itself into a blade.


    ¡°I can shape any part of our body covered with¡ºShadow Skin¡»into whatever I want. I can even cast spells. For instance, that allows me to fire backwards, if needed. By the way, I will endure the burden of the self-enchantment for you so don¡¯t worry about any recoil. If possible, we should let this spell activated passively at all times.¡±


    ¡°Wow, pretty useful indeed. Then use it to cut Jerius into pieces.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing.¡±


    ¡°And¡­ can you make a bag out of shadow ?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ items would just fall through it. However, I can do something better.¡±


    Wahnsinn instructed me on what to do. Doing as I was told, I gouged Jerius¡¯ eyes out of his head. Wahnsinn covered them with the same black substance. Then I used a simple enchantment that I was able to cast despite my dangerously low reserve of Mana :¡ºLevitation¡». Just like its name suggests, it allows items to float as long as they are in contact with Wind Cindril (which is pretty much everywhere).


    What we were left with were two small floating black spheres.


    ¡°The left one will be called¡ºEntrance¡»and the right one will be¡ºExit¡».¡±


    ¡°Huh ?¡±


    ¡°Watch.¡±


    The eye called¡ºEntrance¡»expanded upon Wahnsinn¡¯s wish and turned into a big dark sphere twice the size of my head. Then it approached the pieces of Jerius¡¯ corpse and swallowed them. At last,¡ºEntrance¡»reverted back to its original size.


    ¡°What just happened ?¡±


    ¡°In addition to your¡ºLevitation¡»enchantment, I also enchanted the two eyes with¡ºShadow Skin¡». What I did then was using¡ºShadow Skin¡»to eat the pieces and send them to another dimension : the shadow dimension that surrounds my consciousness. I call it ¡°Void¡±. Anything that is sent to Void can be retrieved using anything enchanted with¡ºShadow Skin¡».¡ºExit¡»comes in handy for teleporting you.¡±


    ¡°I can teleport too ?¡±


    ¡°Yes. As long as you keep a beacon in this world that is tagged with ¡ºShadow Skin¡», you can move freely between Void and this world.¡±


    ¡°I think I understand.¡±


    ¡°Be careful however, because Void is essentially a dimension that contains nothing. That includes air for you to breathe. If you stay there for more than a few seconds, you¡¯ll die from asphyxiation.¡±


    ¡°Understood. And since I can move¡ºExit¡»freely thanks to the levitation spell, I can basically teleport wherever¡ºExit¡»is.¡±


    ¡°Either that or I can create another shadow tag. But¡ºExit¡»is obviously the faster method.¡±


    ¡°Nice¡­ now I can finally break free !¡±


    We turned towards the wall of my cell and used¡ºShadow Cut¡»on it to cut our way through it.


    After a few seconds, I finally got blinded by the sunlight for the first time in two weeks.

 Chapter 15 - Back to the village

    Following our breakout, we were now running in the forest in border of the town.


    Even though Wahnsinn was bearing the physical burden of¡ºShadow Skin¡», I was still exhausted from these two weeks of daily mental and physical torture. and I also felt the intense pain from the eternal burns. However, I couldn¡¯t afford to stop running . Hell and Mother were in danger and I had to reach Aldenaf before the soldiers.


    To keep a relatively high speed, I was continuously pushing us with¡ºWind Push¡». Following Wahnsinn¡¯s advice, I also cast¡ºDragonfly¡»on myself to further increase my movement speed which obviously made my remaining Mana finally run out and made me faint.


    However, Wahnsinn kept my body going while I was sleeping using¡ºShadow Skin¡»to create an extra leg and carry the right side of my body.


    When I woke up, I retrieved one piece of Jerius¡¯ body via¡ºExit¡» and started chewing on the Elf meat. It honestly tasted like chicken.


    Surprisingly enough, I didn¡¯t feel disgusted by eating Elf meat. After all, it tasted much, much better than the pitiful meals I had been given for the past weeks.


    After eating both legs, I finally felt full. The best way to recover one¡¯s Mana was to sleep but it would regenerate much slower if I were hungry.


    My little rest and the Elf meat were enough for me to finally gather a satisfying amount of Mana. I tried casting¡ºLevitation¡»on myself and after ordering Wahnsinn to let me run, I started hovering a few centimeters above the ground. This allowed me to skate on the air and go much faster than before.


    We kept advancing towards Aldenaf for 4 more days. At night, I would let Wahnsinn skate in my stead and I would sleep with him moving my body for me. I also kept eating all of Jerius¡¯ meat until nothing but bones were left.


    I finally arrived at the entrance of the village, only to be stopped by three guards. They looked very suspicious of me and didn¡¯t recognise me at all despite me being the son of their former colleague.


    I guess I must have looked way different than when I left.


    ¡°Stop right here. Where do you think you¡¯re going ? Have you realised you¡¯re naked ? And what¡¯s this black thing on your body ? Is it a sickness ?¡±


    ¡°Ha, ha, I am not ashamed of my body but I would gladly accept if you gave me your pants.¡±


    ¡°You think you¡¯re funny, you punk !?¡±


    Another guard joined the conversation.


    ¡°Look at him. Either he¡¯s homeless or he¡¯s escaped from jail. Either way, we¡¯re not letting you inside the village.¡±


    ¡°Tch. You¡¯ve decided to get in my way right ? Well, what about you let me enter if I show you a magic trick ?¡±


    ¡°What ? There¡¯s no way we¡¯ll let-¡±


    ¡°Now you see me¡­¡±


    Wahnsinn teleported us for the first time. We ended up in a black space without any noise or light where I couldn¡¯t breathe. Immediately after, we were teleported back to my world as¡ºExit¡»¡°spit¡± us out.


    ¡°Now you don¡¯t¡­ ha, ha, ha¡­¡±


    While I was talking to the guards, I had sneaked¡ºExit¡»in by moving it above the soldiers¡¯ face. I looked back and I could see the soldiers shaking their heads a few 10 meters away, not understanding what just happened.


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    I had now successfully entered the village. I rushed to my house and stormed in, expecting soldiers.


    I looked through the living room, however there was nothing unusual.


    Nothing aside Mother¡¯s corpse lying in the middle, lifeless.


    From the smell, I understood that she had been raped and killed¡­ or the other way around.


    Her face was bright red with swollen eyes and a sorrowful expression.


    I looked around the whole house but Hell was nowhere to be seen.


    ¡°They really took everything away from you¡­¡±


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha. Yeah¡­ really.¡±


    ¡°Wait, not everything ! You still have your girlfriend, don¡¯t you !?¡±


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s true !¡±


    I had almost forgotten about Blume. Cursing myself for my carelessness, we hurried to her house. It was unlikely that Orth¡¯s soldiers knew about her but who knows ? It was possible that he had tortured Father too and forced him to reveal everything about me.


    After only a minute, we arrived at her house. Unlike before, I wasn¡¯t greeted by her mother. There was no one in the entrance so we walked deeper only to hear¡­ Blume crying !


    The cries were coming from her bedroom. The more I approached, the more they sounded like painful screams. She was probably being tortured by the soldiers ! There was no way I¡¯d let her go through the same pain I suffered !


    At last, we finally kicked her door open and what I saw defied my wildest expectations.


    Blume was there, alive, sitting on her bed. At least, that¡¯s what I thought at first.


    ¡°Blume !¡±


    ¡°Kyaa !¡±


    The reality was quite different. She was actually on top of Tras. Or should I say riding him. Naked of course.


    Mistaking moans of pleasure for screams of pain was quite shameful¡­


    Despair¡­ hate¡­ jealousy¡­ wrath¡­


    My vision got blurred by the whirlwind of emotions. This made us stagger.


    At this point, something snapped inside of me.


    Finally, I had lost my last bit of humanity.


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha¡­ one liar and one horny bitch.¡±


    ¡°Wh- Who are you !?¡±


    Tras got up in a hurry and drew his sword. His usual confident attitude was nowhere to be seen. Ah I see. Seeing as how I was still naked, he must have taken me for a pervert.


    ¡°That¡¯s so mean, Tras¡­ you don¡¯t even recognise your best friend ?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me¡­ Zw-¡±


    He didn¡¯t have time to finish his sentence. We cut his body in half with a¡ºShadow Cut¡»and blood splashed everywhere. Tras died before hitting the ground.


    With a horrified look, Blume was about to scream in terror but we didn¡¯t give her enough time. She was beheaded the same way as Jerius almost instantly.


    We stood there, alone. In my right hand, I held my ex-girlfriend¡¯s head.


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha. Looks like I¡¯m not the only one who lost my head there. Get it ? Losing my head ? Ha, ha, ha. Now that¡¯s what I call an explosive breakup.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t contain my laugh. I kissed her one last time and threw her head on the bed.

 Chapter 16 - Resolution

    ¡°So what are you going to do now ?¡±


    Wahnsinn asked me while we were walking toward the central place of the town.


    ¡°I first need to verify a few things before doing anything else.¡±


    Wahnsinn and I were now in perfect synchronisation. It seems our coordination had developed significantly during the breakout and we had therefore no problem to walk, run or fight. Although Wahnsinn couldn¡¯t read my mind, it seems he could guess my emotional state.


    Although I didn¡¯t specifically tell him to attack Tras and Blume, he felt my urge for murder.


    That¡¯s why he was able to take action without me ordering him, just by me emitting killing intent.


    Although lately, I have started to consider myself as two different entities (Wahnsinn and I), now that we work so well together, there may be a need to find a name for ¡°us¡± as a whole.


    While pondering about that, we came across the only tavern in the village which was quite small in comparison to the one in Bruneciel. I had never been inside of it before, but I knew the tenant as he was a regular customer from Mother.


    Just as we were about to get passed it, a loud sound could be heard and a group of imperial soldiers came out of the tavern. When they saw us, they started walking in our direction.


    At this point, I feel that it is important to mention that I was finally wearing pants, that I had taken off Tras¡¯ body. His shirt was torn though so it I was still topless.


    Even though the soldiers weren¡¯t guards, they probably felt intrigued by my weird appearance and decided to come mess with me. Well, good timing. I could guess pretty easily why these soldiers were dispatched in a small town like this one without hearing their explanations.


    The soldier leading the group talked to me. He didn¡¯t seem drunk.


    ¡°Hey you ! What¡¯s that on your skin ? A new kind of plague ?¡±


    ¡°¡­ Have you heard of the name Kreizig ?¡±


    ¡°What ? How do you know¡­ Wait. No one could possibly¡­ Hey, I¡¯m the one asking the questions there. So, is it a plague or not ?¡±


    He looked disconcerted after hearing my surname. That was enough to convince me. I decided to play dumb just to amuse myself a bit more before the massacre.


    ¡°A plague ? What¡¯s that ?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t even know what it is ? You must be an idiot¡­ well let me tell you with simple words. A plague is something that kills people.¡±


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha, is that so ? Then, it is a plague indeed !¡±


    The leader got beheaded with a quick¡ºShadow Cut¡»and died before having the time to even realise what was going on. Wahnsinn cut the one behind him with a shadow spike that extended from our left arm. This all happened in less than 2 seconds.


    Only after the two first corpses hit the ground did the remaining 10 soldiers understand what was happening. They quickly readied their weapons and surrounded us.


    I could have taken out several of them at the same time with creative Magic however I still hadn¡¯t had time to rest and my Mana was therefore still running dangerously low. Therefore, I let Wahnsinn deal with them.


    ¡°Did you see that ? They died instantly !¡±


    ¡°What is this !? This isn¡¯t Magic ! This guy must be a demon !¡±


    ¡°Kill him ! Avenge our fallen comrades !¡±


    Seeing our unknown power, the 10 soldiers decided to attack in a smart way and all strike at the same time rather than one by one.


    We fell on all fours and four black tentacles came out of our back. They pierced right through their bodies and they fell down. It looks like the third one didn¡¯t die though.


    At the same time, Wahnsinn fired both¡ºEntrance¡»and¡ºExit¡»towards two of the soldiers. However, unlike when I teleported, they hadn¡¯t expended before hitting them, so they pierced through their bodies like bullets. Which means that as a result, only a part of their body had been teleported to Void and it was now missing from their body.


    Blood overflowed from the hole in their body and they fell down before being able to hit us.


    That was 6 out of 10 soldiers taken out in an instant.


    The 7th and 8th soldiers tried to slash me with their swords but¡ºShadow Skin¡»expanded to cover the parts of our body that were aimed at.


    When their swords came into contact with it, they were swallowed to Void.


    That¡¯s essentially how all Shadow Magic worked. Any Shadow Spell was somehow related to teleporting in and out of Void. Now I understood why¡ºShadow Cut¡»could cut through anything; it wasn¡¯t because it was sharper than Wind Magic but because instead of slashing, it teleported to Void the section it came into contact with.


    After disarming them, our tentacles killed the 7th and 8th soldiers in the same way as the others.


    The last two had stayed in the back and had their arms raised towards us. As I noticed they weren¡¯t geared with weapons I understood they were Magicians.


    We were still crawling on the ground and they were out of our reach. Before we could fire another¡ºShadow Cut¡», they finished what seemed like high level spells preparations.


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    ¡°Oooooh¡­ now !¡ºAbyssal Tomb¡»!¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t be able to survive this !¡ºDeadly Chamber¡»!¡±


    They cast what seemed like a coordinated spell. The first one opened a huge hole under our feet and the second one turned the ground into a very high number of sharp earth spikes.


    We fell before having the time to react efficiently. I had thought about using the tentacles to catch something but it seemed like¡ºShadow Skin¡»only kept a physical entity as long as I didn¡¯t change its shape. As soon as it was molded into something like a blade or tentacles, the effect of the self-enchantment would activate in order to teleport anything it touched to Void.


    And to make sure I would die, the soldier suddenly closed the walls of the tomb. At this moment, everything around me became black. No more sound, no more light. It felt like¡­ I had died.


    ***


    Seeing how we got squashed by their techniques, the two soldiers left let out a sigh of relief and rushed towards their fallen comrades to check their state. The result : only 1 survivor.


    ¡°What was that all about¡­¡±


    ¡°That monster came out of nowhere and killed everyone¡­¡±


    ¡°Are you ok ?¡±


    The 9th and 10th soldier helped the 3rd one (the one who had survived my shadow tentacle) to get back on his feet and bandaged his wound.


    Surely, they thought that because they had seen me disappear, it meant I was dead. That¡¯s probably why they didn¡¯t bother checking their surroundings.


    That was, however, a big mistake.


    ¡°Well, well¡­ you almost had me there.¡±


    They turned around with a shocked look on their face. Then they saw us.


    The shock soon let place to an immense scare. It was an expression that had become familiar to me : the fear of death.


    ¡°Huh !? You¡¯re not dead !?¡±


    ¡°Impossible¡­¡±


    ¡°How did you escape our ultimate trap !?¡±


    Hearing such absurdity just made me burst in laughter.


    ¡°Ultimate trap ? Ha, ha, ha, now THIS is a good joke.¡±


    I was expecting something like a big scale spell so Wahnsinn had hidden¡ºExit¡»right behind them. It was most likely the safest place, assuming that they weren¡¯t planning a suicide attack.


    We then simply teleported before hitting the ground and reappeared immediately after.


    During the short moment I spent in Void I could feel a few bits of meat floating around.


    Most likely the parts that had been cut from the soldiers.


    I need to remember to clean later.


    The three defenseless soldiers were a piece of cake to deal with after that. After enjoying butchering them for a few minutes, we made¡ºEntrance¡»swallow the corpses of the soldiers and we headed back to my house.


    I ordered Wahnsinn to make¡ºEntrance¡»swallow Mother¡¯s corpse and we took it easy for the rest of the day, making sure to gradually replenish our reserve of Mana.


    Wahnsinn whispered to me.


    ¡°How do you feel, Zw?lf ? We have avenged your family.¡±


    ¡°Mother¡­ Father¡­ Hell¡­ they have yet to be avenged. You thought murdering these soldiers was the end of it ?¡±


    ¡°Ooh ? So we¡¯re killing more people then ?¡±


    ¡°This world¡­ this reality. It¡¯s all just a game in which we are all players. However, this game lacks a game master. Which means that one can do anything and there won¡¯t be any external impact. They can decide not to play fair and yet no one will care. Therefore, players can only be stopped by other players. If they lack the individual power to do so, they will band together to make sure that they can be undefeated by even the strongest individual. Then they can set rules favourable to themselves. Rules that allow them to suppress anyone at any time convenient to them.¡±


    ¡°Do you mean¡­ like the Porcephone Empire ?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but not only that. Every single community works the same way. But that¡¯s not how it should be. Take cards as an example. In a game of War, you can play as many 3 or 4 as you want, they will never ever beat a 10. But in this world, banding together allows you to disregard that. This is just plain stupid. Why should the stronger bow down to the weaker ?¡±


    ¡°What do you plan to do about it ?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s simple. Overthrow this world¡¯s logic. Destroy those pitiful concepts created to please someone at the cost of someone else¡¯s suffering. Induce anarchy.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m liking what I hear¡­ And how do you think you¡¯re going to achieve such feat ?¡±


    ¡°In this world, there is no god. There is no cheat. The only thing that can disregard logic, concepts and the established order¡­ is a joker.¡±


    After that, we went to bed and I fell asleep.


    Being able to use my Mana would be needed for my plan so I needed to make sure it¡¯s full.


    Tomorrow would be the first day of what would later be known as ¡°The Era of Shadows¡±.

 Chapter 17 - Disappearance

    I woke up around noon, feeling relatively well for the first time in two weeks. That was without mentioning the burn on my body that still caused me to feel an endless pain.


    I could feel that my Mana had replenished to about 70% of its maximum capacity. That was due to this pain getting in the way of a full recovery.


    ¡°Well that¡¯s more than enough.¡±


    I don¡¯t know if it was due to my continuous use of Creative Magic with Shadow enchantments but my total Mana capacity now far exceeded how much Mana I had before leaving Aldenaf for the Capital.


    Let¡¯s see.. if I were to compare how much Mana I had with numbers, I used to have around 500 Mana when I left the village and now I could feel I had about¡­ 10 times more ? Around 5000 Mana at only 70% of my total power¡­ that was considerably above average.


    One could even say that I had as much Mana as the best Elven Magicians.


    The Elves are usually born with a naturally very high Mana capacity, far exceeding that of the human race.


    This was useful to me, because I would need an extreme amount of Mana to reach my goals.


    After having woken up, I wanted to check my physical appearance. There was a large mirror in my room that I used to see what I now looked like.


    I ordered Wahnsinn to disable¡ºShadow Skin¡»and braced myself before looking in the mirror. What I saw was within my expectations but was still horrifying to watch nevertheless.


    There was only burnt skin left on my left side. In the place of my left eye, there was now a deep empty black hole. Some bones were also visible on my arm and rib cage. A big part of my lips was now missing as well, fully exposing my teeth.


    On the other side, my right eye that used to be dark brown now looked more reddish than anything else and my dark brown hair had turned silver, probably due to the intense stress of the torture.


    Wahnsinn reactivated¡ºShadow Skin¡»and we left my house.


    Since it was noon, the time was perfect. Wahnsinn and I hurried towards the central place of the village, gathering the attention of several villagers.


    We were wearing clothes we had found in my cupboard : a white shirt and black pants along with a white tunic. We were also wearing white gloves and a white mask I had kept for one of the village¡¯s festivals where kids dress up as ghosts to scare the evil spirits away.


    The mask covered up our whole face and had two small holes for the eyes and a mischievous smirk. The mask was made to cover up my identity and to avoid the villagers from recognising me.


    Wahnsinn had enchanted the left half of the clothes as well, to provide extra support during fights, except for the mask that was covered by black on its right half.


    As such, we were now wearing clothes that looked like they were designed for a masquerade ball. No wonder why the villagers looked at me with a face full of surprise.


    It was clear however, that no one recognised me.


    We stood in the middle of the central place, which was just like I remembered. It was a circular place that was located in the centre of the village and where local and foreign merchants would gather every 10 days to sell all kinds of products. Despite the village being very small, it was a popular event that attracted all kinds of people.


    However, today wasn¡¯t the market day and as such, there was a relatively small amount of people gathered here.


    I first started by using Earth Magic to create a platform on which I stood higher than the other villagers.


    There were only around 5 people here, looking at us with astonished expressions. That wasn¡¯t nearly enough. I needed to gather everyone present in the village.


    I used Creative Magic to shoot a fireball in the air. It was a rather big fireball that contained smaller ones inside of it, each embedded with the¡ºFlash¡»spell. I had imagined it to be an explosive fireball and when it reached a satisfying height, it blew up, throwing a huge tantrum among the stupefied spectators. This explosion released 20 smaller fireballs that exploded in the sky at different heights and time, emitting a massive light every time.


    As expected, as more and more of these fireworks blew up in the air, more and more villagers gathered to see what was going on.


    I heard things such as ¡°Is he a street performer ?¡± and ¡°Isn¡¯t he casting Magic ? Nah, that¡¯s impossible, I¡¯ve never heard of using Magic like that.¡±


    Finally, most of the village was gathered around me, watching the fireworks with intrigued expressions.


    Wahnsinn and I took a step forward and faced the crowd. There were around 50 people there. I started shouting.


    ¡°Good day to you, ladies and gentlemen. My name¡­ is irrelevant but you may refer to me as Joker. I am here today, not just to entertain you but also to give you a choice.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    The villagers were listening closely to what I was saying, not having a clue about the situation.


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    ¡°Now, listen closely. Think well and choose wisely for it will be the choice of your life, deciding of your fate. I am now going to size this village as the first milestone for my world conquest. Here is the choice : you may either leave the village safely and never return, stay here and become part of my kingdom or you may refuse to abide and die here.¡±


    I let that information sink in for a good minute. The villagers started whispering to each other and the disbelief soon let place to anger. Some villagers were cowering in fear while others were causing an uproar.


    ¡°Who do you think you are !?¡±


    ¡°Sizing the village ? By yourself ? What kind of joke is that !?¡±


    ¡°Someone go get the guards and Tras. They¡¯ll teach this guy a lesson !¡±


    Hearing this, I decided to show them how serious I was.


    I located one of the men who were objecting and Wahnsinn quickly beheaded him with a ¡ºShadow Cut¡». Our precision had reached such a level that he was the only one hurt in the process, despite being surrounded by a group of villagers. The surrounding people were splashed by blood and women started screaming while the children didn¡¯t understand what had just happened.


    A few people tried to run for their lives but I let them. I did allow them to leave the town if that was what they wanted.


    A few moments later, 5 guards came running towards me. Before they were even able to say anything, Wahnsinn slayed them with Shadow bullets.


    ¡°I will repeat what I said earlier. Either surrender or leave the village, but do not try to oppose me unless you have a death wish.¡±


    To further crush the resistance,¡ºExit¡»spitted out Tras¡¯ body parts. When they saw that, the villagers¡¯ faces changed to show only despair.


    ***


    In the end, against all odds, the day ended with 11 deaths, 44 villagers leaving the town and 3 remaining.


    The 3 remaining people were children. Two of them were orphan twins: Burs and Armius, both 11 years old boys that I knew because they used to hang out with Hell. They were easy to remember as they both had red hair and were quite tall for their age. Despite this, Burs had a very shy personality while Armius always clung to his brother.


    The third one was a black haired 13 years old girl who looked at me with an expression I couldn¡¯t read. It seems her name was Alae and she was the daughter of the first man I slaughtered. Her mother seemed to have abandoned her when she ran away from the village.


    The twins were looking at me with a frightened expression and teary eyes. They were both hiding behind Alae, who despite witnessing me killing some villagers including her own father, didn¡¯t look scared.


    ¡°Well, well, boys. No need to look so scared. I¡¯m not going to harm the very first citizens of my kingdom now, am I ?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°By the way, you can live in any house you want, I don¡¯t care. I have something important to do so I¡¯m going to leave you now.¡±


    From the moment I called myself Joker on the platform, I started considering Wahnsinn and I as a single entity once again. Zw?lf didn¡¯t exist on his own anymore and the fusion of Wahnsinn and him now made up who I am : Joker.


    I walked towards the exit of the village that was now deserted. The guards that used to protect the entrance of the village had all been slaughtered so there was now nothing preventing outsiders from entering it.


    Now standing in front of Aldenaf, I raised my arms and started spreading Shadow Magic all around the walls. Since I now understood how teleportation Shadow Magic worked, I could control a vast majority of its many uses, which made the process of surrounding the village with Shadow Magic way quicker than it would have been with only Wahnsinn.


    I noticed that Alae was silently watching me from inside the town. The twins were nowhere to be seen.


    After a while, I felt that the whole village was now surrounded by Shadow Magic. I entered the town once more and activated what I had spent the whole night thinking about.


    ¡°Wahnsinn¡­ It¡¯s time to do it. Now !¡±


    ¡°Yes, it is indeed.¡±


    ¡°¡ºShadow Dome¡»!¡±


    After activating this spell, the Shadow Magic that was spread all around the village started expanding upwards and soon covered the sky. After a few minutes, the sunlight disappeared as the town was now covered by a dome made of Shadow Magic.


    Looking at it from another perspective,¡ºShadow Dome¡»was essentially a bigger version of ¡ºEntrance¡».


    Having the same properties as its smaller counterpart,¡ºShadow Dome¡»reacted upon my order to swallow the whole town.


    That day, the small village that used to be known as ¡°Aldenaf¡± was quietly erased from the Sill continent.

 Chapter 17.5 - Alaes point of view

    When I was born in a village called ¡°Aldenaf¡±, I was called Alae by my mother. She was a beautiful woman with long straight black hair and gentle brown eyes. My father on the other hand was a chubby merchant who often had to leave to go sell his goods in other towns.


    Despite this, I grew up happily in a loving and caring family. Daddy would always come back with gifts for me, things that the other kids in the village didn¡¯t have. Mommy was always nice with me, even helping me with school homework and she¡¯d always welcome daddy home with a happy expression on her face.


    Until I was 11 years old, that is.


    I remember it well because it was the day of my 11th birthday. Daddy had been gone for one month at the time and he had come back especially for my birthday.


    As always, I was wondering with impatience what kind of presents he¡¯d bring me back.


    Usually, mommy and I would be waiting next to our house¡¯s door for daddy to return but this time, he came back earlier than predicted.


    I remember being very happy about it, so happy that I ran towards his carriage.


    However, one of the horse saw a rat in the street and suddenly panicked. This caused the carriage to go out of control and¡­


    It fell on me.


    From my feet up to my chest, everything got squashed.


    Blood was split everywhere around me and mommy and daddy started screaming. I didn¡¯t understand why they seemed so shocked, I mean I could hardly feel any pain at all. My breath got rougher and I thought I was about to die.


    However, instead of dying, something else happened : an intense pain suddenly appeared in my lower body and the squashed meat that used to compose my body started regenerating at a horrifying speed.


    1 minute later, it seemed like nothing had happened to me.


    It is only later that I understood the origin of this miracle. Daddy¡­ wasn¡¯t my real daddy. Apparently, back before mommy married him, she had an affair with an Elf who worked at the hospital in the town where mommy and daddy used to live before moving to Aldenaf.


    Apparently, I had inherited Elven genes, which contained the Regeneration attribute. This means that as long as my Mana wasn¡¯t totally empty, my cells would regenerate by themselves in case of an injury. That was the very basis of Healing Magic.


    However, even a normal Elf wouldn¡¯t regenerate that quickly. Most of them would even die from such an accident. I was what the world called ¡°Hybrid¡±. Apparently, Hybrids benefit from reinforced attributes and an abnormally high reserve of Mana.


    A child born from a human and an elf is usually impossible due to the high incompatibility of the two races. That¡¯s why even among Hybrids, I was one of a kind.


    I heard about all this from mommy, who knew from the very start I wasn¡¯t daddy¡¯s child. She thought she would be able to conceal the fact that I was a bastard child from daddy thanks to me not having any apparent Elven features such as longer ears, golden hair or emerald eyes.


    After hearing all about my origins, I came to understand one thing. My unusually high supply of Mana in addition to my strengthened Regeneration attribute made me pretty much immortal.


    I think it is correct to say that most people are afraid of death. However, I came to treat immortality as a curse instead.


    This was all because of daddy¡¯s behaviour. After hearing the story from mommy, his personality that used to be gentle and caring did a sudden half turn. Mommy was apologising to him as much as she could, saying things like ¡°But you are the one I like !¡± or ¡°I would never do it again !¡± but it seemed that it didn¡¯t have much of an impact on daddy.


    A few days later, daddy started drinking.  A lot. When he came home after going to the tavern, he would be violent and start beating both mommy and I.


    He would punch and kick mommy until she fainted. He also locked me in my room and forbid me to ever leave the house. I couldn¡¯t go to school or play outside anymore.


    Everyday, he would come back from the tavern and beat both of us up. This became a daily routine for us. Mommy was the one to bring me food in my room. However, as the days passed, I noticed that daddy¡¯s violence turned more and more into cruelty and mommy looked worse every single day.


    One day, she entered my bedroom and looked at me with a heinous expression. Her gentle face was nothing but a memory. She came up to me and said ¡°it¡¯s all your fault.¡±.


    This made me fall into further despair as my only ally in this world had finally betrayed me.


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


    This all continued until that day, two years later.


    Mommy had entered my room around noon to give me my pitiful lunch. Just before she left the bedroom, we heard explosions coming from the central place.They were loud enough to make the walls tremble.


    Daddy didn¡¯t have work today so he was resting at home but as soon as he heard the explosions, he went outside to check what was causing the ruckus.


    Mommy followed him in a hurry and forgot to lock my room as daddy had instructed her.


    Finally being able to escape for the first time in two years, I immediately rushed outside only to notice that the streets were desert. It seemed like all the villagers had gone to the central place.


    I also headed there. It¡¯s not like there was anything else to do anyway. If I had gone to the guards, I thought that they would probably send me back home, only to get another beating from daddy. Same if I had knocked to any other house in the village.


    I made my way through the crowd and looked up, and saw a slick man about 1m85 tall wearing black and white clothes as well as a monochrome mask covering his entire face except for his right eye. He was shouting to the crowd.


    At first, I couldn¡¯t hear what he shouted but after a while, I caught up to what he was saying.


    ¡°Here is the choice : you may either leave the village safely and never return, stay here and become part of my kingdom or you may refuse to abide and die here ~¡±


    Who was this man ? Was he crazy ? But it seemed he was the one who had cast fireballs in the sky earlier. If he really did that, he was probably someone that shouldn¡¯t be underestimated¡­


    Despite this, some villagers started arguing and opposing him. The man laughed a bit and used some kind of unknown magic.


    I didn¡¯t know what he had just done but I could clearly witness the result. The man that was standing 5 meters away from me on my right was beheaded and fell on the ground.


    Only when I saw his face rolling on the ground did I understand who that man was. It was daddy.


    Mommy started screaming like an idiot. I, who should have been horrified from the sight of having my father killed before my eyes, felt empty.


    Or, rather¡­ relieved. Saved from an inescapable misery. Why was mommy crying anyway ? Did she really like being beaten by that man so much ?


    Well, never mind that. That man standing on top of the rock platform took down a few other villagers as well as all the guards that came after him. He, alone, forced all the villagers to leave the village and stood up against all the guards.


    As a 13 years old girl, the natural reaction should have been to be afraid of such a dangerous man. But instead, I only felt admiration. I only felt affection. I only felt grateful.


    This masked man was my saviour.


    Furthermore, according to the choice he gave us earlier, I was allowed to stay by his side.


    The man called himself Joker. It was obviously not his real name and I was dying to know it. Joker¡­ I wanted to stay with him forever. I felt that if I was with him, I would be safe and secure. No more pain or hopelessness¡­


    When he looked at me, I felt petrified. I couldn¡¯t see his entire face but only the sight of his blood red pupil made my whole body feel hot. It felt like an electric shock went through my whole body as my heart started beating faster and faster.


    The two twins that had stayed in the village clung to me and hid from Joker.


    He approached them and talked to them to reassure their safety.


    ¡°Well, well, boys. No need to look so scared. I¡¯m not going to harm the very first citizens of my kingdom now, am I ?¡±


    I wanted to tell him what I felt but he left before that. He started using this weird Magic again all around the town while I was just standing there, staring at him.


    Just before finishing, Joker took a glance at me.


    I returned his glance and then ran away in the nearest house while blushing furiously. I couldn¡¯t let him see me in such a shameful state. I had just wet myself after all.


    After cleaning myself, I went outside only to notice the sky had changed colour. The bright blue sky was now¡­ pitch black.


    From afar, I heard Joker shouting to the twins.


    ¡°Transfer complete ! Ha, ha, ha. Welcome, my new citizens, in the Kingdom of Shadows !¡±

 Chapter 18 - Pledge inside the shadows

    I smiled after having successfully teleported an entire town into Void. I was unsure of whether I would have enough Mana to make it work but it seems I had more than enough.


    I mentioned it before but Void is a world similar to a vacuum, which doesn¡¯t have any sound, light or air to breathe, which is why I had gone and cast a globe of air enveloping the town. I had also created an artificial sun with Creative Magic.


    All in all, making Void habitable wasn¡¯t too hard. The most difficult parameter was gravity. In order for us not to drift in the air while walking, I was forced to experiment for hours before finding an appropriate gravity level.


    Gravity was an enchantment I had cast in the air. With everything set, it was finally possible for me to live inside of Void.


    Soon after the teleportation, I met Alae once more. She was looking at the sky. I approached her from behind.


    ¡°Hi, Alae ! How do you find the new scenery ? Rather dark isn¡¯t it ? Ha, ha, ha.¡±


    ¡°!!!¡±


    ¡°Hm ? Did I frighten you ? I apologise if I did. But from now on, this is where you and the twins will live.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Not very talkative, are you ? Well, it¡¯s fine. Anyway, I have other things to do, so see you later.¡±


    I left her there. She was trembling as I was speaking to her. I wondered if she was still scared of me. Of course, considering I killed her father, she should be.


    So far, everything had gone according to my plan. The very first step to it was turning Aldenaf into my headquarters.


    I remembered what I had told the twins earlier¡­ ¡°Welcome in the Kingdom of Shadows¡±. A kingdom that would be fair and not soiled by human¡¯s greed.


    Right now, it consisted only of Aldenaf. I had also told the 3 children that since they were the only inhabitants of the town, they could choose to live wherever they wanted. I, however, needed a place that showed off my power as the leader of the kingdom.


    Aldenaf had unfortunately no such place but it was no problem to me. All I needed was to create one myself using Creative Magic and Earth Magic.


    I decided I would build my new home in the central place of the village. I gathered my Mana and started the task.


    ***


    Since the sun in this world is artificial, it is also eternal and it is therefore difficult to determine how much time is spent in here. It also means there is no night time.


    Thanks to my teleportation skill, I was able to determine that one second in Void is equal to one second in the other world. This means that the only way to assess the time was to teleport.


    I didn¡¯t bother doing that but I think building my castle took approximately 5 hours.


    It was made out of Earth Magic and was rather huge. Actually, the castle itself was half the size of the original village¡¯s size.


    One may have wondered how I managed to build such a big castle inside the tiny village but that¡¯s because I used a combination of Creation Magic and Earth magic to also expand the boundaries of the floating island that Aldenaf had become.


    I was rather satisfied with the result. Reshaping the earth around me proved harder than casting regular spells. However, the theory was rather easy, the difficulty only resided in the control of my Mana during the process, something I actually excelled in.


    Creative Magic was used to make earth out of nothing and Earth Magic was used to make use of the Earth Cindril contained inside of Aldenaf (which was now a floating island) and turn it into whatever shape I wanted. This way, Aldenaf was now roughly the same size as Naxus and my castle was comparable to the Emperor¡¯s castle.


    ¡°A castle fitting for an overlord, ha, ha, ha. But it may be a bit too much for a simple joker like me¡­¡±


    Wahnsinn answered me.¡±


    ¡°Nothing stops you from being the other world¡¯s joker and this world¡¯s overlord, if that¡¯s what you desire.¡±


    ¡°An interesting point of view, indeed. But there is no Overlord without minions and territories.¡±


    ¡°Everyone starts at the bottom. Look at the bright side, you already have 3 citizens¡­¡±


    ¡°True.¡±


    I felt someone¡¯s gaze on me. Normally, I would instantly react and prepare for a fight but this time I knew it could only be one of the kids who were teleported with me.


    I turned around and noticed that the two twins were looking at me, both displaying a baffled face.


    ¡°Hello, Burs, Armius. How do you like this change of landscape ?¡±


    Armius hid behind his brother and Burs looked like he gathered all his courage to answer.


    ¡°I-It¡¯s so black¡­ it¡¯s s-scary¡­¡±


    ¡°Do you not like it ?¡±


    ¡°We¡­ we don¡¯t really mind but¡­ it is like the dark night¡­ i-it reminds us of the nights we spend alone¡­ W-we don¡¯t have parents you see¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah, I see. Well, if you stay with me, you won¡¯t be lonely anymore.¡±


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    Burs hesitated before answering anything else. Hearing this, Armius finally jumped in front of his brother and exploded.


    ¡°Y-Y-You ! How could we ever stay with someone like you !? Y-You¡¯re a murderer !¡±


    At the sight of his brother throwing a tantrum, Burs looked surprised. Then he seemed as if he remembered something and he looked at me with a face that showed both shock and anger.


    ¡°Y-Yeah ! That¡¯s right ! You killed some villagers ! You¡¯re a monster !¡±


    ¡°A monster ? Ha, ha, ha. That¡¯s funny. You have never seen anyone kill or get killed before, have you ?¡±


    ¡°We¡­¡±


    ¡°Ugh¡­ why would we !?¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, that is the world we live in. I can understand why kids your age would be horrified by murder but what I can¡¯t fathom is why you are defending the very villagers who were always cold to you and who treated you like insects ?¡±


    ¡° ! ¡°


    ¡°What !? How do you know that ? Or rather, that¡¯s not true. There is someone who always treated us kindly. There was another child our age called Hell. We asked him to play with us but he was often too absorbed in his training to spend time with us¡­ however, his brother would spend time playing cards with us and teaching us about things he read in his books !¡±


    ¡°Y-yeah ! That¡¯s right ! Zw?lf Kreizig wasn¡¯t like the other villagers ! Did you kill him as well ? Or perhaps you forced his out of the village !?¡±


    ¡°Zw?lf Kreizig huh¡­ so you two still remember me I see¡­¡±


    ¡°What ?¡±


    I removed my mask, disabled¡ºShadow Skin¡»and showed the two of them my face.


    Their anger soon turned into an expression of pure shock and surprise.


    ¡°Zw?lf¡­ is that you ? Is that really you ?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it is. I had quite the makeover, didn¡¯t I ? Ha, ha, ha.¡±


    ¡°What¡­ happened to you ?¡±


    I put the mask and back on and enabled¡ºShadow Skin¡»once more.


    ¡°I was¡­ held captive. By the Empire. The rotten Porcephone Empire. They tortured me and killed my family. For no reason other than their own justifications. But I have escaped. I have escaped them and come back here. Even then, I wasn¡¯t able to save Mother and Hell. You see¡­ the current emperor is greedy and so is his son. This empire is fated to be an unfair threat to my survival and it must therefore be eliminated. That isn¡¯t however an easy task. For starters, I have currently no army to face the Porcephone Empire. So I have decided to create one.


    To summarise, I guess you could say I am mainly going to destroy the Empire because of my own selfish reasons more than anything, ha, ha, ha. I will become the new Overlord and overthrow the Porcephone Empire. And no one will stop me.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ Aldenaf is part of your kingdom now ?¡±


    ¡°Exactly. Aldenaf is my recently created Kingdom of Shadows¡¯s capital. The villagers I killed tried to resist me and therefore died. They may not have been evil or anything, but from my point of view, they were the ones in the wrong, so I simply erased them.¡±


    Burs nodded in acknowledgment and whispered.


    ¡°I see¡­ there is no good or bad side¡­ no just or evil. Basically, everyone who opposes you is to be erased¡­ Then it¡¯s simple ! We just have to be on your side, right ?¡±


    This may have been a simplistic judgement made by a 11 years old, however it was exactly what I also thought.


    Armius looked like he had calmed down and listened to my explanations very carefully. Out of the two twins, he was probably the smarter and more pragmatic one.


    He looked as if he had an idea and finally spoke his mind.


    ¡°If we stay with you¡­ we won¡¯t be alone anymore, that¡¯s what you said, right ? Then we accept.¡±


    ¡°You made the right choice. You may have known me as Zw?lf in the past but I would like you two to forget about this identity and simply pledge your loyalty to your new Overlord.¡±


    Armius looked at his brother, they both nodded and said it together while resting one of their knees on the ground.


    ¡°¡­ I swear to obey your orders and devote myself to serving my new lord, solely known as the Joker Overlord.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t a perfect pledge but it was good enough for 11 year olds.


    I nodded in acknowledgment and answered.


    ¡°Well done. I expect a lot from you. Don¡¯t disappoint me, ha, ha, ha.¡±


    Just like that, I gained my two first loyal servants. Considering their age, there wasn¡¯t much they could do right now and I therefore decided that I would start training them thoroughly from now on.


    I was preparing to leave when I got surprised by an energetic voice shouting in my back.


    ¡°I-I¡­ I swear to obey his orders and devote myself to serving my new lord and master, solely known as the Joker Overlord ! My mind and body both belong to him and I shall not go against his decisions ! He can do whatever he wants with me, for I now am his sole property !¡±


    As I heard that, I turned around only to see a bright red Alae kneeling in front of me, bending her head as low as she could, in proof of an extreme respect.

 Chapter 19 - Promise

    I returned to my castle later, with Alae accompanying me. The twins had chosen one of the most luxurious houses in the village but Alae had decided to follow me in the castle. Not that I really minded though, after all it was big enough to host more than a hundred people.


    I didn¡¯t ask her about her pledging although it bothered me a little. I didn¡¯t understand why she wanted to serve me, who killed her father and made her mother abandon her. Was there some kind of underlying motive ?


    Maybe she was planning to assassinate me during my sleep to take revenge on her deceased parent ? Well, she could always try but I was protected all the time thanks to Wahnsinn. He didn¡¯t need to sleep so he was ready to slay any intruder at any time.


    My Mana reserves were vastly depleted because of the massive scale warping and the reshaping of the entire village. I headed straight to sleep and changing clothes except for my mask that I kept on my face. It had become kind of natural for me to wear it.


    ¡°The rooms for servants are over there. I¡¯m heading to my own bedroom. Good night, Alae.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    We separated and I headed towards my bedroom. I entered the bed I had created earlier with Creative Magic and pulled the sheets. I closed my eye and tried to fall asleep as soon as possible.


    A few hours later, I was woken up by Wahnsinn who had felt some movement in my room.


    He couldn¡¯t see or hear anything due to my left eye and ear missing but he could sense nearby Mana. And he warned me of Alae¡¯s presence near the bed.


    I kept my eyes closed and waited. There it was¡­ she was probably going to try to stab me in my sleep. Her attack would be countered automatically by Wahnsinn and she¡¯d probably be slain as well. No need for me to bother moving. I had to replenish my Mana as much as I could so unnecessary moves were to be avoided.


    I could now hear her footstep as she approached the bed. Finally, she was standing right next to me and pulled off the sheets. And right when I thought she was going to attack and be cut into pieces¡­


    She sneaked into my bed and wrapped her whole body around me.


    I see. It was naive of me to think I was going to be stabbed. Strangulation is what she had in mind.


    That wouldn¡¯t work either though. Wahnsinn could just use the properties of¡ºShadow Skin¡»to ensure her arms go through my enchanted body and are teleported back into the other world, Sigmas, cutting them from the rest of her body.


    Still I didn¡¯t move, waiting for her to attack and get passively slaughtered. It was a shame that I had to kill one of my citizens but it couldn¡¯t be helped if she was going to get in my way.


    I waited, waited and kept waiting¡­ one minute¡­ two minutes¡­ five minutes. After ten minutes, I finally turned around and faced her, causing her to let out a little surprised squeak.


    ¡°Kya ! You¡¯re still awake !?¡±


    ¡°¡­ Can you tell me what you¡¯re doing in my bed exactly ?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ ahem, I¡­ that¡¯s embarrassing to say but¡­¡±


    ¡°Embarrassing ? Are you not going to try to kill me to take revenge on your father ?¡±


    ¡°Eh ? Eeeeeh ? You thought I was going to kill you !?¡±


    ¡°You weren¡¯t ?¡±


    ¡°NO ! Not at all ! I was just feeling¡­ a bit lonely you know ? So I thought it would be fine if I came and slept with you¡­ I can¡¯t ?¡±


    She looked at me with puppy eyes. Well, it looks like I was seriously mistaken about her. Must be because of my bad experience with my previous girlfriend. Just because she was a slut doesn¡¯t mean I have to start thinking all women are evil, right ?


    ¡°Yes, you can. I don¡¯t see any problem¡­ I¡¯m the one to blame for your loneliness anyway, right ?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not true ! You actually saved me you know ? You killed my father¡­ who was torturing me every day. And mother hated me because of what I am¡­¡±


    ¡°What do you mean ?¡±


    She started explaining that she was a Hybrid between an Elf and a human woman, that her human father tortured her when he learnt that she wasn¡¯t in fact his daughter and her mother started hating the poor girl after her husband discovered she had cheated on him.


    She was a girl that had lost hope in her family and was suffering from an endless physical and mental pain. And apparently, my arrival was the event that allowed her to escape this dire situation.


    I could now understand why Alae was acting so clingy to me. It looks like I was everything she had left now and so she was depending entirely on me.


    One thing tickled my interest though. In a book about the different races, I had learnt that Hybrids are a rare race of offsprings from interracial breeding and that they possessed strengthened Mana attributes from both of their parents.


    Which meant she most likely possessed the Elf¡¯s cell regeneration attribute which allowed them to use Healing Magic.


    ¡°Alae¡­ can you use Healing Magic ?¡±


    ¡°Huh ? Healing Magic ? Was there such a thing ?¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t know ? Ha, ha, ha¡­ well¡­ that doesn¡¯t matter. What do you know about Magic ?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ not a lot. I know that people called Magicians can use Magic to cast spells but that¡¯s about it.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ Do you have any plans from now on ?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I was planning on staying with y- I mean, not really¡­ I don¡¯t have anything to do now. Do you have any orders for me, my lord ?¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t hear the first part¡­ well whatever ! Ha, ha, ha, it looks like things are getting interesting. From tomorrow on, I¡¯ll be teaching you all I know about magic. Prepare yourself !¡±


    ¡°Y-Yes, my lord !¡±


    ¡°For now, let¡¯s sleep. We need to be as healthy as possible for Magic training. Good night, Alae.¡±


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.¡°Good night, my lord !¡±


    We both fell asleep rather quickly. Or that¡¯s what I think at least. Alae was very agitated. Did the idea of learning Magic excite her that much ?


    ***


    I woke up in more pain than the previous day. My burnt left side was aching due to Alae hugging it tightly. The pain of the burn was constant but today it had reached a point that was nearly intolerable.


    Alae looked cute in her sleep, slightly drooling. Up until now I hadn¡¯t really paid much attention to her but since she was going to be my student, I took a better look at her.


    She had long silky jet black hair and a well shaped face that showed no imperfection. She wasn¡¯t too tall nor too small and was the just right weight. She¡¯d surely grow up to be a beauty although right now, she only looked like a cute sleeping angel.


    However, after staring at her face for a good minute, an image of Blume superposed itself with hers which caused me to frown. As if feeling my disgust, Alae opened one of her eyes and looked at me.


    She was staring at me as if she had seen something strange¡­ oh I know. I wasn¡¯t wearing my mask. She couldn¡¯t see my face because of the darkness in the bedroom  yesterday but now she had witnessed my identity. Not that she¡¯d know who I was though.


    Since it had come to this, I decided to go ahead and show her everything.


    ¡°Alae. Since you¡¯re going to be my student, I will show you the entire me.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean ?¡±


    ¡°Yesterday, I called myself Joker. Consider Joker as the host of two souls : Zw?lf Kreizig and Wahnsinn.¡±


    ¡°I-I don¡¯t think I understand¡­ do you mean that there is someone else inside of you ?¡±


    ¡°Exactly, although you don¡¯t have to fear about my personality changing. I am in perfect control of my other personality.¡±


    ¡°Mhm¡­ ok¡­¡±


    She looked a bit anxious after hearing this but she soon forgot about it as we  headed outside the castle to start practicing the basics.


    We spent half of the day practicing. One thing I noticed is that she Alae wasn¡¯t picking up things as fast as me and I needed to explain to her the same thing multiple times in order for her to assimilate it.


    Even after acquiring the theory, she had to do a long session of trial and error before successfully casting Beginner level Cindril Magic spells.


    At the end of the 5 hours we spent training together, she managed to master Earth Spike. It looked like she had an easier time working with Earth Cindril than other elements.


    As we ate the lunch I had brought from one of the houses, I noticed that despite wasting a lot of mana on so many spells, she didn¡¯t seem tired at all, which must have confirmed the fact that she had a ridiculously high Mana reserve, probably way higher than mine when I started.


    The twins were eating with us as well.They had been watching our training session and had decided to start training by themselves. Although they didn¡¯t want to study Magic as much as Alae, they were practicing the same moves I remembered Hell and Tras executing.


    Not only were they doing it, but the movements they were displaying seemed flawless to me. Having watched Tras and Hell practicing so much, I could tell that these twins had the ability to be highly skilled swordsmen.


    ¡°Where did you learn how to execute these moves ?¡± I asked.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t learn¡­ we just saw Hell doing it.¡± Burs answered.


    His brothered nodded and added ¡°We can copy and reproduce whatever we see¡­ it¡¯s useful, right ?¡±


    Indeed, such an ability showed a lot of potential. Of course it was incompatible with Magic due to knowing its rules being indispensable in order to cast spells, however I could teach them Magic myself.


    Hearing that I would start teaching the twins too, Alae started to pout in silence. Well I guess she is annoyed she won¡¯t  be privately tutored anymore but that shouldn¡¯t hinder her training.


    We spent the rest of the day training together and went home when I decided it was enough training. I have to admit that not having a day-night cycle is disturbing but at the same time, it was also possible to go sleep whenever we felt tired.


    I went back inside my bed and I let out a small cry of pain because of my left side. The intense pain had subsided the entire day and it had tired me out faster than previously. It was already a miracle I could handle this much pain for a whole day without fainting.


    Before closing my eye, I felt Alae sneaking inside the sheets as well.


    ¡°Do you intend to sleep here everyday ?¡±


    ¡°Can I not,  my lord ?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see any problem in doing so.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ thank goodness¡­ I mean, did it hurt just right now ? Do you feel pain in your left side ?¡±


    ¡°To tell you the truth¡­ yes. Only healing Magic can cure the burnt skin, which is why I asked you if you could use any. But this much¡­ even though it hurts, I can handle it. Don¡¯t worry about me.¡±


    ¡°My lord¡­ I promise my lord !¡±


    ¡°Promise what ?¡±


    ¡°Before my 18th birthday, I will definitely find a way to use Healing Magic and I will cure you from this curse !¡±


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha. That¡¯s nice of you¡­ Don¡¯t push yourself too much, ok ?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d give my life for you, my lord ! But yes, I will most definitely master Healing Magic and heal you. And then, when that happens..¡±


    ¡°When that happens¡­ ?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a secret !¡±


    She giggled and closed her eyes. We fell asleep soon after. Still, I wonder what she is planning. The drooling face she makes while sleeping makes me kind of suspicious, after all.

 Chapter 20 - Preparations

    As the days passed, our training was going well. After one week, Alae managed to master Intermediate level Magic. She could use any elements perfectly, including Water, Fire and Thunder thanks to me creating them with Creative Magic.


    The twins made progress as well. Even with the eyes of an amateur, I could tell that they were on par with Hell when it came to swordsmanship. I was also teaching them Magic at the same time and although they were not on the same level as Alae, they created an original style of combining Magic with sword skills. I had read about such style before : mixed users of magic and sword were called Paladins.


    It may have seemed that everything was going for the best. I had planned to start building my army but¡­ I couldn¡¯t. My body was weakening every day. Despite my knowledge about Alchemy, I couldn¡¯t tell exactly what was wrong but I highly suspected the strain that was put on my body because of the burn to finally start having a negative impact on my health.


    It all started with simple coughing. Coughing that became more and more frequent around the time I started teaching Alae how to use Creative Magic. By this time, 2 months had passed since the transportation of the village.


    To be honest, I was surprised myself I resisted that long to such a serious injury. After all, Wahnsinn had helped lessening the pain with a mental barrier but he was still a part of me so it wasn¡¯t in any way totally suppressed.


    Despite my worsening condition, which I hid from the Alae and the twins as much as possible, I carried on training them. I thought teaching Alae Creative Magic might lead her to awakening Healing Magic. At the same time, I pondered about the logic behind Healing Magic.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ I know that Healing Magic comes from an attribute contained in Mana. That much is certain. Now how do Elves make use of this attribute ? Mhm¡­¡±


    Wahnsinn exchanged his opinions with me.


    ¡°The Elf we killed back then didn¡¯t know any Creative Magic, as far as I could tell.¡±


    ¡°Can you sense whoever uses Creative Magic, Wahnsinn ?¡±


    ¡°No, but if he did, he would have been able to beat us easily when we tried to attack him, given our poor state. Being defeated by such a beaten up mage must mean he had very poor knowledge of how to use Magic.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­ could it be that using Healing Magic is something innate, rather than something they learn ?¡±


    ¡°Then Alae would know how to use it.¡±


    ¡°Not necessarily, she¡¯s only half-elf after all.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s innate, then no matter what I do, I won¡¯t be able to teach her.¡±


    I thought about something for a second and then an idea popped in my mind.


    ¡°Elves can use offensive Magic, right ? Then that means that they can decide whether to make use of their attribute or not, otherwise each offensive spell they cast would also heal the target !¡±


    ¡°Which means¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes ! The user can decide whether or not to toggle their attributes.¡±


    ¡°Still¡­ how does she activate it ?¡±


    ¡°Hum, that is¡­¡±


    The main question remained. As much as I could think, there was no way for me to guess something with so many unknowns.


    Since I couldn¡¯t count on Alae healing me with her Magic, I had to find another way to cure myself. At this rate, I wouldn¡¯t last more than a few more months.


    Seeing as I was lost in my thoughts, Wahnsinn suggested something.


    ¡°If you are to die soon, don¡¯t you want to leave me behind ? At least, let me accomplish your objective for you.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right¡­ it would be foolish of me to have gone that far only to accomplish nothing. I have been thinking about it for a while as well but there really is a way to separate you from my body, isn¡¯t there ?¡±


    ¡°Yes. All I need is an altar.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡±


    I headed towards the back of my castle where I had left an empty space for me to build more later and now was the time.


    Using the same techniques I had used earlier, I made an altar in about 20 minutes. I stated it earlier but humans didn¡¯t have any religions. However, some other races do.


    We humans simply believe that our soul is reincarnated after our death and that we are reborn after going through some kind of purgatory. These suppositions come from some old legends that have been spread before the arrival of the first Sage.


    Talking about the first Sage, if there is anything close to a ¡°god¡± in this world, he could be considered it. Although he is a mortal elf, his almost limitless knowledge and power make him an omnipotent being that no one dares disagree with.


    That is the reason why Elves apparently worship the first Sage as some kind of god. And there is a reason he is called ¡°the first Sage¡±: it is because there has been other sages after him, all of them being Elves. According to what I have read on the subject, they are all still alive and well, despite all of them being over 100 years old.


    The other sages aren¡¯t revered as highly as the first one but they still own some incredible wisdom and power and as such, they are the leaders of the Elves¡¯ community.


    Their power is on such a scale that I can¡¯t even compare myself to any of them, from what I¡¯ve read. Although it wasn¡¯t mentioned in the book, they probably all know Creative Magic.


    I finished constructing the altar. It was a medium sized building that had an artistic feel to it. Not something as sacred as what people are usually used to but not totally disrespectful either. Something fitting what I was about to do, I think.


    The transfer of Wahnsinn to the altar wasn¡¯t too hard. It was actually quite simple : I just had to extend my left arm and the shadow started dripping on the ground. The accumulating dark mass then moved on its own inside the altar and the transfer was done.


    Of course, I still had¡ºShadow Skin¡»on my left side but I felt like Wahnsinn¡¯s presence inside of me was gone.


    ¡°The transfer is complete, Zw?lf. I am talking to you from the altar.¡±


    ¡°Indeed, I can¡¯t hear you inside of me anymore. The sound of your voice comes from the altar.¡±


    ¡°I am still able to talk to you from¡ºShadow Skin¡»though. A kind of telepathy, if you want. It is using the same technique as teleportation, except here I¡¯m only teleporting my voice to you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s useful. *Cough* *cough*.¡±


    A sudden cough interrupted our conversation. This is the first time it happened during a conversation so Alae wasn¡¯t suspecting anything.


    ¡°Since you¡¯re not in my body anymore, does that mean that¡ºShadow Skin¡»isn¡¯t acting independently from my will anymore ?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I was the one controlling it at all times, after all.¡±


    ¡°That means I just lost a very powerful defense mechanism then.¡±


    ¡°While that¡¯s true, you now understand how to use Shadow Magic so you can use it yourself, right ?¡±


    ¡°I can, but that won¡¯t protect me at all times. I¡¯ll have to rely only on myself now.¡±


    ¡°Why¡­ are you planning to leave somewhere ?¡±


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s right. I forgot to tell you. I¡¯m leaving Aldenaf tonight.¡±


    ¡°What !? Why didn¡¯t you tell me something that important !?¡±


    This reaction surprised me. It was the first time I had witnessed Wahnsinn losing composure. I couldn¡¯t see his expression since he was only a voice inside a stone but I could still decipher emotions through the way he sounded.


    Maybe the transfer had modified his personality somehow ?


    ¡°Did you really think that I was going to stay here and die quietly ? I still have so much to accomplish. Not being able to use my own Magic or Alae¡¯s Magic to heal myself doesn¡¯t mean I have no way to survive, ha, ha, ha.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ you¡¯re setting on a quest to find a way to heal yourself ?¡±


    ¡°That is not the primary objective but I consider it as a side quest, yes.¡±


    ¡°What is your primary objective then ?¡±


    ¡°What, did you forget already ? We talked about it quite a lot¡­ let me remind you, Wahnsinn. My main aim is to gather an army. Did you think I would be fine being called an Overlord with only 3 people in my army ? How ridiculous is that, ha, ha, ha.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you talk to me about that quest ? If I¡¯d knew, I would have stayed with you to increase your chances of survival !¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the thing. You have access to my memories but not my thoughts.And because memories shape our decisions, you always agree with me, since we have the exact same ones. Separating you from me will allow you to have your own memories from now on and therefore make your own decisions.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not all. You¡¯ll be of much more use to me if you stay here rather than if you come with me. After all, I have no idea how successful I am going to be in forging an army so if you complete the tasks I leave you with here, I¡¯ll at least have some kind of backup solutions.¡±


    ¡°Tasks ?¡±


    ¡°Yes. First of all, you have as much Magic knowledge as I do, so I delegate Alae and the twin¡¯s Magic training to you. Secondly, you are to continually gather Mana and store it in the altar.¡±


    ¡°Hum¡­ I will obey your orders¡­ but is it fine to ask you why ?¡±


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°Yes. When creating an army, you can either recruit soldiers or¡­ make them yourself.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean ?¡±


    ¡°Ha, ha,ha. Isn¡¯t it obvious ? First, by training Alae and the twins, I am turning them into weapons. And I got an idea from the transfer. You are going to use Creation and Earth Magic to create an army of Earth Golems. You¡¯ll then take control of them by transferring portions of yourself to each Golem.¡±


    ¡°What a plan¡­ but how do you want me to create Golems ? I can only use Shadow Magic, remember.¡±


    ¡°It should be fine as long as I provide you with a vessel, right ?¡±


    ¡°If I had a physical body that has Mana, I am confident I could cast Elemental Magic, yes.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll just make you one then. I¡¯ll create a vessel Golem with a large Mana capacity. And although it won¡¯t be able to replenish its Mana by itself, you will be able to recharge it via the Mana contained in the altar.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a plan. I don¡¯t know about controlling them though.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s have a trial with one Golem before I leave. If it is successful, then creating an army of Puppet Golems should be achievable.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right ! What a brilliant idea you just had !¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s get started.¡±


    I used Earth Cindril and shaped it into a humanoid statue. Once that was done, I enchanted it with¡ºShadow Skin¡»by applying it all over its body.


    I waited to see if Wahnsinn could take control of it.


    After a short minute, the Golem effectively moved. The jet black mouth opened and Wahnsinn¡¯s voice came out of it.


    ¡°Transfer successful.¡±


    ¡°Are you still inside the altar as well ?¡±


    ¡°Of course. I am controlling him from the altar. From the altar, my world is all black. I am surrounded by darkness but as soon as the connection was made with¡ºShadow Skin¡», it¡¯s like a window opened. When looking through it, I can see what the Golem can see. And I can control it easily.¡±


    To showcase his control over the puppet, Wahnsinn made the golem move, jump and punch in the air.


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha, that¡¯s good enough. But can you control two puppets at the same time ?¡±


    I spawned a replica of the first Golem and enchanted it the same way. However, even after a minute, it didn¡¯t move.


    When the second Golem finally moved, the first one fell on the ground, lifeless.


    Taking control of the first Golem one more time, Wahnsinn complained with a voice full of disappointment.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry¡­ a second window popped up when I made the link with the second Golem¡­ But it seems I can¡¯t control both of them at the same time.¡±


    ¡°How exactly do you control the first Golem ?¡±


    ¡°I give it mental orders and the puppet responds to them, doing exactly as I wish. But as soon as I try to do it on two Golems at the same time, it seems the commands cancel each other and nothing happens.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ What if you tried giving simple commands to the second Golem while focusing the more accurate orders on the first Golem ?¡±


    Wahnsinn tried doing as I told him and successfully made both Golems move at the same time. The first one could move like an actual person whereas the second one was moving in a more mechanical way.


    ¡°It seems to be working, as long as the commands are simple and basic such as ¡°march forward¡±, ¡°fight¡±, ¡°stop¡± or ¡°bow¡±. I can¡¯t order them complex things such as ¡°Help this person to defend the castle¡±.


    ¡°So they¡¯re only good as pawns ?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what they¡¯re meant to be anyway, right ?¡±


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha, that¡¯s right.¡±


    We tried experimenting with more golems but there was no problem. As such, Wahnsinn could take basic control of an entire army of weak golems that we called Soldier Golems and fully control one more that we called Avatar Golem.


    I was now facing the Avatar Golem, talking to Wahnsinn as if he was a real human being.


    ¡°With this, even if I fail to recruit soldiers for my army during my travel, at least we have a back up plan.¡±


    ¡°As you asked me, I will continually gather Mana into the altar and spawn more Golems on a daily basis thanks to that. What about you ? Are you going to see the kids off before leaving ?¡±


    ¡°Of course, I also have tasks to attribute to each of them. Well I¡¯d like to say farewell to you but I will be relying on that telepathic ability of ours to keep in contact.¡±


    ¡°I see. Have a safe trip.¡±


    I left the altar and headed towards the training grounds were Alae and the twins were practicing, as usual.


    ***


    The first one to notice my arrival was Burs. Out of the two twins, he had the best reflexes and had quite sharp detection skills for a kid his age.


    He told his brother and Alae and they all came running to me . The twins were about to start chatting with me like they usually did during the training¡¯s breaks. However, Alae knelt down in sign of respect and threw a dark glance at the twins, urging them to do the same.


    Confused, the two twins immediately remembered that they had pledged loyalty to me and shouldn¡¯t be treating me the same way as before. Not that I really minded though, they¡¯re only 11 after all (I¡¯m only 15 too so I don¡¯t necessarily deserve that much respect).


    ¡°Stand Alae. No need to be so formal during training.¡±


    ¡°Y-Yes, my lord !¡±


    ¡°Also, thinking back, I don¡¯t really like the name Joker Overlord. It sounds a bit crazy to me.¡±


    ¡°Does it !? What title should you go by then, my lord ?¡±


    ¡°Hmm.. I haven¡¯t really given my title that much thought. Any ideas boys ?¡±


    Armius, who had stayed quiet until now, finally spoke his mind.


    ¡°What about simply calling yourself Overlord until we find something better ?¡±


    ¡°Fine by me, ha, ha, ha. Anyway, I need to tell you something important so listen up, the three of you. I am going on a journey.¡±


    ¡°When are we leaving ?¡±


    Alae was the first to answer, almost immediately. She probably thought that I was bringing them with me but to be honest, they would just get in my way at this point. It was better for them to stay here.


    ¡°I¡¯m going alone.¡±


    ¡°WHAAAT !?¡±


    Alae shouted suddenly after hearing my answer. I know she is the type to stick to me as much as possible but my decision was made.


    ¡°Let me be clear : I am not abandoning you. One of the purposes of this journey is to cure myself from an illness that has arisen because of my unhealed wounds. At first, I thought that training you Alae might help you awaken to your Healing Magic but since it is not the case, I will need to find a cure myself.¡±


    Alae¡¯s face went pale when she heard that. Woops¡­ it looks like I chose my words poorly. It kind of sounded like I was blaming her for that.


    ¡°An.. illness ? I haven¡¯t heard of that¡­ If I knew¡­ My Healing Magic¡­ I¡¯d work even harder to awaken to it¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not blaming you, Alae. But there is a reason I want you to stay here; maybe more Magic training will help you awaken your Healing Magic, that¡¯s why I want you to focus on that.¡±


    ¡°How ? With you gone, I¡¯ll be clueless on what to do¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I will have Wahnsinn supervise your training as well as the twins¡¯.¡±


    ¡°W-Wahnsinn ? Is that¡­ your other personality ?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ I wonder if you could still call him that. He¡¯s an actual being now you know ?¡±


    ¡°What ? Really ?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, he resides in the altar I created earlier and he commands the Golems you may see in the castle later. He will use the black Golem ¨C Avatar Golem ¨C to train you.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ I wanted to stay with you¡­¡±


    ¡°Listen. Wahnsinn and I can communicate through telepathy. If, by chance, you succeed in using Healing Magic through your training, he will immediately contact me. Besides becoming stronger there is also something else I need you to do here while I¡¯m away.¡±


    ¡°Anything you want, my lord !¡±


    The fact that I was about to give her an important task seemed to make her face shine once again. It looks like she isn¡¯t too hard to read, even for a child.


    ¡°Despite your limited knowledge of Magic, you still possess an incredible amount of raw Mana. I¡¯d like to transfer half of it to the altar, on a daily basis.¡±


    ¡°Hum¡­ I don¡¯t really know how that can help you but I¡¯ll do it ! You can count on me, my Lord !¡±


    By pouring her Mana into the altar, Wahnsinn could make a lot more Golems than by using his own Mana.


    After giving out the final instructions to Alae, I turned to face the twins and told them to train well under Wahnsinn¡¯s guidance.


    They both nodded and we parted ways.


    And thus, my long journey around the world of Sigmas would start once more. But no longer as the old me.


    This is the end of the story for Zw?lf Kreizig. But only the beginning for the one who will soon be known around the world as the ¡°Dark Joker¡±.


    <hr />


    Last chapter of [Arc 1 - Innocence].


    [Arc 2 - Revolution] starts next chapter.

 Chapter 21 - Arism Stalford

    I was born in a wealthy family that is famous in the human capital Naxus for having given birth to some of the most powerful human Mages in history. At early age, I too was forced to learn Magic and start training just like my father and my grandfather did before me.


    While it is true that I managed to cast elementary Magic at the age of 10, I didn¡¯t think of myself too highly. This is because I would always be told things such as ¡°As expected of a Stalford¡± and ¡°just like his Father¡±.


    A genius ? I never considered myself one. I am but a child who was taught Magic over and over again until I outperformed other kids my age.There is no talent about that.


    To be perfectly honest, Magic never was my cup of tea. I was forced to learn it but all in all, Magic is nothing but a weapon and I always hated fighting.


    First, I was scared of blood. In addition, I hated the feeling of pain more than a regular person, I just couldn¡¯t stand doing anything that would risk me even the slightest injury. I prefered reading books about adventures and heroes much more than fighting.


    I never told anyone about that though because¡­ well I had no friend or anyone I could share secrets with.


    I was an only child and I never went to school like the other children. Instead, I would just be tutored at home and have additional Magic lessons and training.This was all for the sake of guaranteeing my future as a powerful and influential Mage.


    My grandfather, Gan Stalford, was a legendary Mage who had defeated a dragon by himself. Ever since that, a gold dragon had been the Stalford family emblem.


    My father on the other hand, proved his worth as a Warmage during the civilian revolution that happened a few years before my birth. It was a short revolution that opposed the current Emperor to a faction of insurgents labelled as mere anarchists.


    It is not surprising that few people have heard of it. It¡¯s simply due to the fact that my dad, Vlad Stalford and his colleagues, nuked the rebels and annihilated them.


    He was the leader of the Anti-Insurgency Warlock Squad before being promoted by the Emperor himself to the rank of Emperor¡¯s Mage. He now serves the Emperor and works at his palace as the Emperor¡¯s personal Mage.


    My mother died of illness when I was 2 years old so I don¡¯t really remember her at all. That¡¯s around the time Father was promoted.


    Ever since, I¡¯ve been tutored by a myriad of teachers and as I approached my 14th birthday, I finally mastered the most advanced Expert level Magic spells.


    Even on the day of my 14th birthday, Father didn¡¯t come back home. However, he sent me a package along with a letter that I opened I soon as I received them from one of our maids.


    Inside the package was a pair of glasses. This was useful to me because my eyesight wasn¡¯t very good although I already owned a pair of glasses, which is why receiving another one raised my curiosity.


    I took the letter out of the envelope it came with and read it out loud.


    ¡°Arism,


    I¡¯m afraid my duties towards the Emperor force me to miss your birthday. You are now 14 and need to start worrying about your future. In one year, you will be an adult and to prepare for that, I decided to offer you a very valuable item. These glasses may look mundane but they are enchanted with a strong spell : they allow their user to see the changing flow of Mana around people. With some training, you will be able to use them to predict how their Mana is used to cast spells and therefore gain a clear advantage over them by being able to foresee their next attack.


    This package also comes with a registration ticket for the Magic Tournament hosted by the Emperor. I already registered you as one of the candidates and of course expect you to win it. This will allow you to get noticed not only by the Emperor but also some other potential aristocrat and increase your chances of obtaining an influential position as a Mage very quickly.


    As the heir of the Stalford family, a lot is expected from you.


    Your father, Vlad Stalford¡±


    I sighed.


    ¡°As expected, not a single ¡®Happy birthday, son¡¯¡­ Oh well, thanks to my Magical prowesses, this tournament will be a walk in the park.¡±


    The day of the tournament came quickly and the first qualification matches went perfectly, as expected. A single Expert level spell was all I needed to destroy my opponents.


    The rules of the tournament prohibited the use of magical items but the guards didn¡¯t seem to notice that my glasses were enchanted when I presented myself in front of the gates so I just kept them on.


    At first, I didn¡¯t consider myself a genius. However, comparing my strength to the other competitors¡¯ made me become cocky and I started seeing myself as a gifted genius after all.


    I thought of myself so highly after these repetitive victories that even my personality was affected by it and I greeted my opponent for the semi-finals in a way I would never have thought of before.


    Although he was a tall man, his face showed signs of him being around my age. He had dark brown hair and brown eyes. He wasn¡¯t really handsome nor was he ugly. His face was average.


    This annoyed me a bit, considering I was on the small side. I forced a smile and approached him.


    ¡°I am Arism and I¡¯ll be your opponent today. Nice to meet you.¡±


    ¡°Ah, nice to meet you too, I¡¯m-¡±


    ¡°I already know who you are. Otherwise I wouldn¡¯t have bothered introducing myself.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I see¡­¡±


    I really knew who that man was. It was an unexpectedly strong Magic user from the countryside called ¡°Zw?lf Kreizig¡±. He had apparently defeated most of his opponents with the same ease as me. However, I had not heard about him using any Magic above the Intermediate level.


    Since it was the case, I thought my victory was assured, hence my arrogance.


    ¡°By the way, I didn¡¯t talk to you out of courtesy. I came to give you a warning.¡±


    ¡°A¡­ warning ?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Give up before the match begins. The chances that you die if you face me are very high.¡±


    ¡°What the ¨C Of course I won¡¯t back down !¡±


    ¡°Mhm. I expected as much. But you see, I am a genius Magician. I have never been defeated, even by adults. So don¡¯t come crying if you lose one or two arms, ok ?¡±


    If I was to beat him anyway, I might as well have saved some time by having him forfeit, right ?


    What I was about to learn however, is that my knowledge of Magic came with hard work and repetitive efforts. There was nothing like ¡°talent¡± involved. On the other hand, what I understood during my fight with Zw?lf is that this man was the real definition of a genius.


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


    The fight started well for me. I used one of my strongest spells,¡ºCompression¡», and started strangling him with an invisible pressure. It was evident from his movements that he didn¡¯t know this technique and had not reached this level.


    And yet¡­


    He seemed to understand the very way the spell worked while being crushed and he used it backwards to negate the effects of my ¡ºCompression¡». He then used this technique on me, who knew no way to escape it myself. I was able to see all that thanks to my special glasses.


    The difference between him and I is that he understood the way a spell works and how to use it just from seeing it, whereas I needed to read the theory and practice during month just to achieve the same result.


    Anyway, the fight ended with my spectacular defeat. I did say that I hated pain but even though my bones were crushed, what hurt the most was the feeling of being put back in place after becoming too arrogant.


    The biggest of my problems though was facing Father after such a defeat. Luckily for me, he wasn¡¯t at home because of his work but I would have to confront him at one point or another.


    Agonising with these thoughts, I wandered aimlessly through the town after the match and somehow ended up meeting Zw?lf on the way. When I saw him, something popped up in my mind and I ran towards him.


    ¡°Hey ! Hey ! Wait !¡±


    ¡°Mm ?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I want to ask you a question.¡±


    ¡°What is it ?¡±


    ¡°You¡­ you¡¯re only 1 year older than me right ? For how long have you been learning Magic ?¡±


    ¡°Hum¡­ just about a few months.¡±


    Just a few months !? I took a good look at his face and guessed that he wasn¡¯t lying. Truly¡­ a genius. There was no way I could even hope to beat him in the first place.


    Dejected, I was about to leave when he called out to me. He told me to train with my friends and be ready for a rematch next year. But when he heard from me that I don¡¯t have any friends¡­


    ¡°If you don¡¯t have any, then you can consider me your first friend.¡±


    ¡°Wha- you¡­ are you jok¡­ wait, really ?¡±


    Didn¡¯t I treat him awfully badly earlier ? Yet this guy wanted to be friends with me ? Could it be¡­ out of pity ? I seriously couldn¡¯t believe it.


    ¡°Yeah ! That¡¯s unfortunate though because I¡¯ll have to go back to my village after the tournament but it¡¯s fine ! We¡¯ll just have to train ourselves a lot and next year, we¡¯ll get to fight each other again right ? Besides, even if I don¡¯t meet you in next year¡¯s tournament, I¡¯m planning to find a job at the capital so I¡¯ll be back soon enough !¡±


    This guy¡­ he looked honest. He really wanted to be my friend. My first one¡­ having no more reason to refuse his kindness, I accepted his offer. After that, he headed for his final match in the tournament and I decided to go watch it.


    ***


    Much to my surprise, the final match did not go well at all for Zw?lf. It didn¡¯t start well against me either but  at least he opposed some kind of resistance.


    However, this looked more like a one-sided beating than anything else.


    I had to admit that his opponent, the Emperor¡¯s son, was obscenely strong. However, I could see that something was wrong in Zw?lf¡¯s behaviour thanks to my glasses.


    As resistant as Orth Porcephone¡¯s magic armor was, Zw?lf¡¯s attack should have been able to inflict some significant damage to it. However, something was missing.


    From what I could see with my glasses, it was as if¡­ his mana had been corrupted. Some way or another, his Mana flow was suffering as if one had poisoned him. That¡¯s why none of his attacks worked.


    To put it simply, Mana has a colour. From what I gathered after looking at different people with my new glasses, the colour mainly depends on the person¡¯s affinities with the different elements.


    Zw?lf¡¯s Mana was gold which meant that he had an equally strong affinity with all elements although it was harder for him to exceed in any of them. This was quite a rare colour but it was still properly balanced. Maybe it was due to his genes but Orth¡¯s Mana was blazing red, proving his high affinity with the Fire Mana. However it had shades of brown, meaning that Earth was also one of his forte.


    The problem lied in the fact that Zw?lf¡¯s Mana was that of a pure gold before the final. But the Mana I was witnessing in front of me right now contained dark spots that tainted his Mana. Did that mean that someone had cursed him somehow and that was interfering with his ability to cast Magic ?


    Anyway, despite the situation, something incredible happened before Zw?lf¡¯s apparent loss. His Mana condensed, I could clearly see it, and took the shape of a fireball in his right hand.


    Before releasing it, his Mana looked like it exploded, which blinded the entire audience as well as his opponent. And right after that¡­


    I could not believe what I saw : Zw?lf casted a blue fireball without the help of any Fire Cindrill ! That alone was enough to completely ignore Orth¡¯s armor and knock him into a wall. The Emperor¡¯s son fainted before being able to realise what just happened.


    That was clearly amazing. Clearly something that would revolutionise Magic. Zw?lf¡¯s victory was spectacular and yet¡­ the Emperor stood up and shouted something like :


    ¡°This contestant cheated ! He brought illegal items with him and tried to assassinate my son, Orth Porcephone ! Guards ! Take him to the jail !¡±


    I wanted to protest ¨C I had clearly witnessed Zw?lf winning by his own means ¨C but my voice was lost as a much louder one covered it. It was one of the soldiers near the Emperor.


    ¡°IMPOSSIBLE ! HE¡¯S MY SON ! HE HASN¡¯T CHEATED ! HE¡¯S INNOCENT ! ZWOLF !¡±


    It looked like Zw?lf¡¯s father didn¡¯t believe in the obvious Emperor¡¯s lie either but he should have kept his mouth shut. His opposition only led to him being arrested a few moments later as well.


    Witnessing such injustice, I went back home, not knowing what to do. My precious first friend had been framed and his father had been arrested¡­ what to do ? What could I possibly accomplish ?


    I wasn¡¯t the head of the house yet so I had very little influence, even as the heir of the Stalford family. Besides, it was possible that the Emperor had orchestrated everything just so that his son wouldn¡¯t look like he lost against a country bumpkin.


    Clueless about the situation, I just went to bed as usual and waited to see what would happen. Hopefully, the truth would be exposed some way or another. I truly hoped for that.

 Chapter 22 - Rescuing a criminal

    I was woken up by one of the maids. I was feeling tired due to not being able to sleep properly last night. Despite my bed being comfortable, my worries kept me awake most of the night.


    I had thought about countless ways to save Zw?lf but all of them seemed ridiculous and pointless. The only thing I had left was to try to convince Father to get him out of prison. His position made him the direct counsellor of the Emperor and he was therefore able to influence him to some extent.


    I headed to the castle and was stopped at the entrance by two guards. I was prepared for that and although it was a gamble, showing them the Stalford emblem apparently allowed me to get passed them.


    I met with a butler who asked me what I was here for and I told him I had an important private message for my father. The butler nodded and left me to wait in a guest room while he went to get Father.


    While waiting, I overheard a conversation between two maids. It¡¯s not like I was eavesdropping but what they said managed to catch my attention.


    ¡°Hey, hey, have you heard ?¡±


    ¡°Hmm ?¡±


    ¡°They say the Orcs have made a move on the Dwarves !¡±


    ¡°Really ? Weren¡¯t they living in peace ? Why would they start a war, especially with another race ?¡±


    ¡°Well the Orcs have always been inclined to start wars easily and they are very good warriors too¡­¡±


    ¡°Are the Dwarves going to be ok ?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like the Emperor is going to send any reinforcements to the Dwarves, despite our trading alliance with them¡­ It seems he is afraid to get on the Orcs¡¯ bad side.¡±


    ¡°Well there is the sea separating the Sill continent and the Klug continent so we have an advantage over a race as primitive as the Orcs, right ?¡±


    ¡°While that¡¯s true, if the Orcs manage to win against the Dwarves, they could very well take over their fleet to come in Sill.¡±


    ¡°Haa, that¡¯s scary. Good thing that we have top level Mages in the Porcephone Empire¡­ compared to the Orcs and their inexistent Magic power.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I think we can rest without fear.¡±


    So the Orcs attacked the Dwarves ? But as the first maid said, there is nothing to fear. Mere Orcs warriors stand no chance against human Mages. I¡¯m not so certain about the Dwarves and their low Magic power though.


    A few moments later, Father arrived wearing the Archmage¡¯s Robe, symbol of the highest magical might in the country. He had always been a tall man but seeing him wearing this grey and golden silk robe made him look even more intimidating. Unlike me, his hair was perfectly laid back and he was wearing a serious expression.


    ¡°Arism, I heard you came to talk to me. Good timing, I also had some important matters to discuss with you.¡±


    He glared at me with a cold look and I could imagine what the discussion was going to be about. I had lost the tournament after all.


    ¡°I¡¯m disappointed in the fact that not only did you lose the tournament but you also didn¡¯t even reach the finals. Furthermore, you even lost to a kid from the countryside. You brought great shame to the Stalford family !¡±


    ¡°I¡­ well¡­ it¡¯s true that I lost to Zw?lf¡­¡±


    ¡°Well knowing you, you must also be disgusted to have lost to a clueless person like him, right ?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    What he just said proved that he knew nothing about me. I wasn¡¯t disgusted at all by losing to him, on the contrary I felt some respect for him and his skill. However, Father seemed to think that I was as arrogant as him¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s fine though. Since you must feel down, I will tell you a secret that no one else aside from the Emperor and a few others know.¡±


    ¡°Hmm ?¡±


    ¡°Although he is indeed a countryside brat, the Emperor couldn¡¯t afford to have his son lose against him. That¡¯s why he ordered the Elf referee to magically poison Zw?lf Kreizig while healing him. It was a simple trick to an elf, as what most people don¡¯t know is that their magical attribute also allows them to use the opposite of their healing Magic : draining Magic. On the surface, the kid got healed but in reality, his Mana was altered by a curse restraining his Magical power.¡±


    I was astonished by this revelation. So that¡¯s what the black spots on that Zw?lf¡¯s Mana were¡­ But to think that the Emperor himself ordered something like that¡­


    ¡°Would he have done it to me if I was the winner ?¡±


    ¡°No. The elf was ordered to only poison Kreizig in the case he was a winner. He told me there was no shame to Orth Porcephone losing to a Stalford so it wouldn¡¯t matter. However, they couldn¡¯t afford to have him lose against that Kreizig kid.¡±


    ¡°And how is that supposed to make me feel better ?¡±


    ¡°Well in the end, that was useless since Kreizig was disqualified. That brat dared sneak in some fire item that allowed him to cast Fire Magic when it was clearly prohibited by the rules. And since it¡¯s improbable that he could win against a Stalford, he probably cheated to win against you too !That means that your reputation won¡¯t be ruined because every spectator now knows that he was only a mere cheater.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Aah¡­ I see. I was stupid to expect help from Father anyway. After hearing say that, there was no way I could potentially ask for his help in rescuing Zw?lf.


    ¡°So¡­ what did you want to tell me that was so important you had to disturb me during my work, Arism ?¡±


    ¡°Oh, well I already got my answers from you¡­ I wanted to ask you if it was possible that Zw?lf had cheated but it seems like he did, hahaha¡­¡±


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


    ¡°Is that so ? Then please excuse me but I have to go back to my work. I have a meeting with the Emperor in a few minutes.¡±


    ¡°Yes, of course¡­¡±


    Clueless as what to do, I headed back the the town thinking about other ways to potentially rescue my friend.


    ***


    Days passed and I still couldn¡¯t find a way to save Zw?lf. I knew time was running out as the only punishment for attempting an assassination against the Emperor or his family was capital punishment.


    However, what could I do ? I couldn¡¯t possibly break into the prison and knock out the guards to rescue him, right ? Even if I did that, then what ? There would be nowhere for us to hide¡­


    In this situation I had no ally either¡­ Having no friend aside from Zw?lf really worked against me this time. The only person that could have potentially helped me was Zw?lf¡¯s father but I knew for fact that he had been arrested during the tournament.


    It looked like fruitless thinking is all I could do. As I realised how useless I was in this situation, 5 days had already passed since the finals of the tournament.


    I was walking in the town centre, looking around and trying to find a way by observing my surroundings. Who knows, maybe an unexpected opportunity would come up like in these adventure books I read all the time.


    However, the complete opposite happened. I was drawn to a crowd of people gathered around a wooden platform but I couldn¡¯t see anything due to my small size. When I finally managed to make my way through the nearest row to get a view of what was happening, it was already too late.


    The man who had shouted at the tournament, who I recognised to be Zw?lf¡¯s father, had been decapitated by an executioner wielding a massive axe.


    Despite not knowing anything about this man, I felt a huge sadness taking over my body as I blamed myself for my incompetence to save anyone. The pleading eyes of the father added to my guilt as if they were asking me to go rescue his son.


    I headed back to the manor, only to be sick the rest of the night.


    Once again, I wasn¡¯t doing anything.


    ***


    When I woke up the next day, I thought I had an idea with a chance of succeeding, for the very first time.


    I was from a well-off family so I had as much money as I wanted. And although I had no ally, I could still hire some. Naxus had a mercenary guild and I had heard that the people working there could do almost anything as long as they were paid for it.


    I hurried over and passed in front of the Adventurer guild. I turned right at the corner of the street and ended up in a shadier part of the city, where the Mercenary Guild was located.


    I opened the door and was surprised by the atmosphere of the room. I was expecting it to be full of brutes and dangerous-looking people but all I saw was normal-looking people. There were men but also women as well as one or two Half-race.


    I was welcomed by one of them, who was half human and half rat. His ears were pierced and full of piercings but his face looked human although he had a sly expression. He was wearing casual clothes and wasn¡¯t hiding his rat tail.


    ¡°Sup¡¯ brat. This ain¡¯t a place for lit¡¯ kids ya know ?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t give me that. I¡¯ve come with a fancy amount of money, you know ?¡±


    ¡°Oh ? Now we¡¯re talking. So what¡¯s the job like ?¡±


    ¡°I need you to make someone escape from jail. Can you do it ?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s very risky mate, ¡®specially if he¡¯s a dangerous criminal, ya know ?¡±


    ¡°And I have an appropriate amount of money for the job.¡±


    ¡°Okay, who¡¯s the target and how much we talkin¡¯ ?¡±


    ¡°His name is Zw?lf Kreizig. He was arrested last week during the Magic Tournament. And I¡¯m ready to offer 200 Gold Coins for his escape.¡±


    ¡°200 Gold Coins ? Haha, ya must be jokin¡¯ mate. I¡¯ve heard of him, we all have here ya know ? The kid is in deep trouble. He¡¯s going to die for sure. No way am I riskin¡¯ my life to save him for a mere 200 coins.¡±


    ¡°How much would you take then ?¡±


    ¡°500 Gold coins, and now we¡¯re good. Make it 600 and I can even offer you a basement where to hide.¡±


    ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary. Here are 500 Gold coins.¡±


    The rat opened his eyes wide as I took the money out of my pocket. I did have a lot of money prepared as I expected the price to be very high.


    500 Gold coins was a very high price, one could buy a small house in the city with that. But I was already happy to hear that they were ready to take on the job.


    ¡°The name¡¯s Blutch. What¡¯s yours, dear client ?¡±


    ¡°My name is¡­ Osmir.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t possibly give him my real name. The Stalford name was too famous after all and it would become something big if people learnt that I tried to rescue a prisoner.


    ¡°Alrighty, Osmir. I¡¯ll be working toward savin¡¯ your lit¡¯ friend.¡±


    ¡°When are you going to get him ?¡±


    ¡°In 3 days, if everythin¡¯ is going well. I just need to gather up a few of my mates, the usual stuff, ya know ?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to you then. Don¡¯t disappoint me.¡±


    I left this shady place as soon as possible and hoped for the best. These guys are professionals after all; if he says that he will succeed, I can¡¯t do anything but believe him.

 Dark Jokes - Illustrations

    I did say I''d draw pictures for my novel as if it was a light novel however I draw illustrations way slower than I release chapters which is why it may be hard to keep track of the illustrations I will update every now and then so I made a list here that I will update every time I post a new picture.


    Volume 1


    Arc 1 - Innocence


    Front cover - http://imgur.com/3EpNABQ.png</a>


    Chapter 1  : http://oi65.tinypic.com/2q84oap.jpg</a>


    Chapter 2 : http://oi66.tinypic.com/jikxop.jpg</a>


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    <hr />


    Arc 2 - Revolution


    Cover & Chapter 37 :  http://oi64.tinypic.com/29y1tax.jpg</a>


    <hr />


    Arc 3 - Inescapable fate


    Chapter 43 : http://oi67.tinypic.com/xogvx0.jpg</a>


    <hr />


    Fan art :


    http://orig11.deviantart.net/db3d/f/2015/120/7/d/photo_2ps_by_triagex0-d8rnnqs.jpg</a>  -  By TriageX

 Chapter 23 - Fugitive

    I was waiting anxiously in front of the Mercenary Guild. I didn¡¯t know whether to enter or not. It had been 4 days since I first came to this place and entering it would tell me whether the rescue succeeded or not.


    I managed to gather my courage and went in. It seemed like nothing had changed since my last visit. As soon as he saw me, Blutch came to talk to me with his usual sly expression showing signs of stress.


    ¡°Ah, there ya are, kid. I have some bad news for ya.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°As promised, I gathered a few of my mates and we sneaked into the jail. However, the target wasn¡¯t there.¡±


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t there ? What do you mean !?¡±


    ¡°Well, long story short, the kid isn¡¯t in the normal part of the jail. I gathered some information and it looks like he¡¯s been put into a cell of the deeper part, where only the most dangerous criminals are thrown, ya know ?¡±


    ¡°And¡­ ? Does that mean you cannot rescue him ?¡±


    ¡°No worries, you have paid so I have to do my part of the job, ya know ? However, I am going to need more prep¡¯s and time if I want to make the operation a success.¡±


    ¡°How long are we talking ?¡±


    ¡°I need at least one more week. Give me that and I can manage it for sure. However, here¡¯s the problem : the kid¡¯s already been in jail for more than a week and he¡¯s accused of trying to assassinate the Emperor¡¯s son. I highly doubt they¡¯re going to make his execution wait. They want to make an example out of it while the assassination attempt is still fresh in people¡¯s mind, ya know ?¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying you might run out of time before you can successfully carry out the operation ?¡±


    ¡°Exactly, dear client. Well nothing I can do about it. If we arrive too late, then I¡¯ll just give ya your money back, ok ?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care about the money ! Do you think 500 Gold coins means anything in front of the life of this person !?¡±


    ¡°¡­ ¡°


    The rat looked indifferent to my troubles. Well, there was no point getting mad at him. I just had to wait and hope now.


    ***


    More bad news arrived a few days later. It was the day of the operation. I was anxiously waiting in the Mercenary Guild for Blutch¡¯s return but I felt disappointment taking over my body as he returned alone, once more.


    ¡°Where is Zw?lf !? Did you rescue him ?¡±


    ¡°Here are the 500 Gold coins back, mate. Our job couldn¡¯t be done unfortunately.¡±


    ¡°WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT ?¡±


    The face of the rat was irritating me even more by the second as I directed my full anger towards him.


    ¡°Calm down, kid. We couldn¡¯t rescue him because the target already escaped.¡±


    ¡°Escaped¡­ wait, what ?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s impossible to escape alone from the deeper part of the jail so that means someone else beat us to it.¡±


    ¡°Who could it be ? Wait, I don¡¯t care about that, where is he now ?¡±


    ¡°No idea. From our information, the kid comes from a place called Aldenaf, in the border of the Porcephone Empire. It¡¯s not too far from here so chances are he mighta¡¯ tried to hide there. He¡¯s a fugitive now, ya know ?¡±


    ¡°A fugitive¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, a bounty¡¯s placed on his head now. By the imperial family apparently. 2,000 Gold coins. Wanted posters of him everywhere. There¡¯s no way he¡¯s going to hide in Naxus with so many people after him in the capital, ya know ? That¡¯s why Aldenaf seems like the most likely choice.¡±


    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    ¡°Alright I see. Thank you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s my job, no need for thanks mate.¡±


    I hurried and left the Mercenary Guild. Looks like it was time for me to head towards Aldenaf.


    One might have thought that it was strange for a 14 years old kid to be wandering around all day long. Well in fact I was ditching most of my tutored lessons so I could be sure to get a good nagging from Father as soon as he¡¯d learn about it.


    Never mind that though. Right now my priority was to make sure that Zw?lf was safe. I bought a map of the Porcephone Empire, ran towards the town¡¯s stables and bought a horse. After all, I was currently carrying over 500 Gold coins with me.


    Thus I rode my horse for 4 days straight, only stopping to eat and sleep. Despite my tutoring sessions, one thing I was bad at was reading maps. This led to me ending up in the wrong town.


    I was in front of the gates of a small village called Ardamant. I heard the name from one of its guards and after closer inspection, it was actually a neighbouring village of Aldenaf. From there, only half a day by foot would be necessary to reach Aldenaf.


    Despite this, I was feeling physically tired and so was my horse. A break was needed. I let my horse in the nearest stables and made my way through the village, asking around where to find an inn and then headed there.


    ***


    After having rested, I decided it was time to go and walked towards the stables. I was so focused on my objective however, that I didn¡¯t pay attention and bumped into a boy around my age.


    He was carrying two bags of herbs that fell on the floor when I bumped into him.


    ¡°Hey watch where you¡¯re going !¡±


    ¡°Ah sorry, I¡¯m in a hurry.¡±


    ¡°You bumped into me so it¡¯d be polite to at least help me gathering the herbs¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ yes you¡¯re right.¡±


    I apologised and started helping him.


    ¡°So, what are you in such a hurry for ?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ a long story. I just need to head to a village called Aldenaf. It¡¯s close by, right ?¡±


    ¡°Aldenaf ? What a coincidence, I also need to head back there.¡±


    The boy glanced at me and I took a closer look at him. He was slightly taller than me and definitely built like a warrior despite his age. If I had to say, his face reminded me of someone but I couldn¡¯t clearly see who.


    ¡°Are you walking ? If it¡¯s alright with you, you could ride on my horse with me. It¡¯s to apologise for my rudeness.¡±


    ¡°Really ? That¡¯d be great, thanks. I was meant to go back three days ago already but I got slowed down due to some unexpected events so I¡¯d appreciate it.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t afford to waste more time here so having this boy guide me to Aldenaf was a great help. We headed back together and made our way towards the village.


    ¡°Wh-what¡­ is this ?¡±


    After only one hour, we arrived to the location on the map. However, there was no Aldenaf there. Or should I say, there was no longer anything there.


    Much to the boy¡¯s and my surprise, a giant crater now stood in front of us.

 Chapter 24 - Hell Kreizig

    Ever since big brother had left Aldenaf for Naxus, I had been training. Usually, I would do mock battles with Master but he had become a bit more distant lately. Maybe he was missing big brother ? I did not know whether Master had any other friend, even though he was very popular in the village.


    So there I was, swinging my sword alone. Today again, Master was busy with other things so training by myself was all I could do. There was a school in Aldenaf but only people who want to become accountants or something of the sort go to school. Others are either formed as apprentices or taught by their parents before taking over the family business. This is what Mother had in mind with big brother and Father had high hopes for me to engage in the military when I would be 15.


    This is the reason why training every day was so important. To make it to the top, I had to work myself hard because I wasn¡¯t a genius like big brother so I had to actually provide some effort to succeed.


    ¡°Time for a break.¡±


    I was sweating a lot due to having practiced for three hours straight. I headed towards the area where Master left and decided to pay him a visit.


    I reached his house but it looks like he wasn¡¯t there. His mother welcomed me instead.


    ¡°Oh, if it isn¡¯t Hell ! How are you ?¡±


    ¡°Good thank you. Do you know where I could find Master ?¡±


    ¡°Tras ? I believe he went to meet his friend¡¯s girlfriend. He told me nothing else.¡±


    ¡°Oh thank you very much. I¡¯ll be on my way then.¡±


    ¡°Take care.¡±


    Blume¡­ I was of course very happy to have heard that big brother had finally managed to get himself a girlfriend but I was skeptical as to why she was with Master right now. Could it be they were friends too ?


    I headed towards the town centre with no real purpose and overheard some women chattering.


    ¡°Did you hear ? Miss Dorthfield passed away recently¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh my¡­ How will the little Blume manage ?¡±


    ¡°I heard she has a boyfriend who¡¯s an adult so maybe she will depend on him ?¡±


    ¡°Poor girl..¡±


    Oh¡­ so Blume¡¯s mother died ? It was starting to make sense. Maybe she was spending time with Master because she couldn¡¯t bear the loneliness and since big brother was away¡­. She must be very sad right now. Hopefully big brother will be back soon so that he can comfort her.


    Thinking about this, I made my way back and along the way decided to take the shorter path that cut through the edge of the forest.


    After a few seconds though, I stopped walking. I could hear a sound, or rather a groan. Could it be¡­ more monsters have approached the village ?


    I looked around, making sure to stay alert in case of a sneak attack. And as I came closer to the sound, I started to see what looked like¡­ two people having sex.


    I could not see their face because they were hidden by a tree but I could now clearly understand that what I mistook for groans were just moans of pleasure. I was planning to sneakily get away from there but something I heard just made me freeze.


    ¡°Oh yes, Tras¡­ you¡¯re so goooood¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think we should be doing this, Blume¡­ Zw?lf¡­¡±


    ¡°Zw?lf wasn¡¯t there¡­ he wasn¡¯t there when I needed him the most¡­ Do you know¡­ Haaan¡­ Do you know what my mother died from ? She¡­ Haaaaaaaaaan¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes.. ?¡±


    ¡°She died from the after effects of the potions he gave her¡­¡±


    ¡°Really !?¡±


    ¡°Sure it healed her on the short term¡­ but on the long term she should have been given another treatment¡­ and she didn¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I see¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Zw?lf killed my mother. Anyway¡­ just enjoy it now¡­ Haaan¡­ You¡¯re the only one keeping me company¡­ Where is Zw?lf right now ? Having fun on his own I bet¡­ Why shouldn¡¯t I have some fun too ?¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t bear to listen to anymore of this. I ran away as fast as I could.


    Big brother killed Blume¡¯s mother ? What is this madness ? If he hadn¡¯t been there, she would have died from the immediate poison anyway !? This girl should be grateful that her mother got to live another three weeks thanks to big brother since they couldn¡¯t afford any potion.


    To me, it looked like she was just trying to find an excuse to cheat on him. From an objective point of view, sure, Tras would be more attractive than big brother. But blaming her mother¡¯s death on him just to be able to be with Tras was unacceptable.


    I couldn¡¯t forgive Master either for taking away big brother¡¯s girlfriend and having sex with her behind his back.


    ***


    I was furiously venting my anger on the scarecrow in the backyard and for once, Mother came to watch me. Or so I thought but she actually wanted me to run an errand for her. She would always ask big brother but he wasn¡¯t there right now so there was no helping it.


    My task was to go to the nearest town, Ardamant, and gather some medicinal herbs that grow only there. It bothered me a little that I had to put my training on hold for a few days but it wasn¡¯t very often that big brother was missing so it was a good opportunity to cool down the rage I felt this morning.


    Travelling to Ardamant would only take half a day if I was to walk. If I departed now, there was a chance for me to make it back before the end of the day. Mother gave me indications to recognise the medicinal herb and I left the village.


    I arrived at the village before noon and used was planning to use the money Mother gave me to buy a meal at an inn.


    ¡°Here is your chicken soup.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    I was served by a man with insect wings on his back and scales on his jaw, meaning he probably was part of the Half-race. It was a rare sight in this part of the continent as the Half-race mainly lived in the north east of the Sillis continent, outside of the Porcephone borders but some of them had migrated to Naxus and its surrounding towns.


    I started eating and it honestly tasted delicious. While thinking that if it was for this meal, it was worth going through the trouble of coming all the way to this village, I heard the sound of plates breaking and some roaring behind me.


    ¡°WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU¡¯RE DOING YOU LIZARD !?¡±


    ¡°My most sincere apologies, dear customer ! Allow me to wipe your shirt.¡±


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


    Two tables behind me, the insect-like man looked troubled and anxious. He had apparently spilled some water on a customer. After closer inspection, the customer was a massively fat human who was wearing some expensive-looking clothes. However, they were tainted with sauce spots so a little bit of water didn¡¯t look like that big of a deal.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare touch me with your filthy hands ! I don¡¯t care about your apologies, you bug ! I want some kind of compensation, right now !¡±


    ¡°But¡­ I¡­¡±


    ¡°Is this the behaviour of the Half-race !? How dare you disrespect me ?¡±


    ¡°This wasn¡¯t my intention, dear customer¡­¡±


    ¡°YOU DARE TALK BACK TO ME !?¡±


    The man was causing so much of a ruckus that everyone else had stopped chatting and eating and was watching the scene that was unfolding in the inn.


    All, aside from one man who stood up and walked towards the one causing the tantrum.


    ¡°Hey, please let it go. You¡¯re disturbing my lunch.¡±


    ¡°HAAA ? Who the hell are you ? And why are you protecting this sickening beast ?¡±


    ¡°My name is Yaquinn and the only beast I can see here is you, you pig.¡±


    The fat man stood up, pushing the table aside with his belly. His eyes were filled with rage and his whole face was sweating like a pork.Two people who were sitting behind me stood up right after him. They looked like two warriors.


    ¡°NEVER IN MY LIFE I HAVE BEEN HUMILIATED THIS MUCH ! Arsh, Snarl, teach this guy a lesson.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    ¡°As you wish.¡±


    The two mercenaries ¨C that¡¯s what I gathered they were from their behaviour ¨C faced Yaquinn and drew their weapons. The one called Arsh was handling a dagger in each hand whereas the other one drew a claymore.


    I noticed Yaquinn had a sheathed sword attached to his belt although it looked quite thin compared to the ones I was used to.


    ¡°Against the likes of you, I won¡¯t even need to use my weapon.¡±


    ¡°Huh, are you underestimating us, old man ?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s finish this, Arsh.¡±


    The two of them attacked Yaquinn at the same time. It went so fast that I barely had time to see what happened, despite having trained for a long time. This taught me that the two mercenaries were powerful foes, probably both above my level.


    Arsh turned his daggers around and dashed behind Yaquinn whereas Snarl was launching a heavy blow towards him. I see¡­ this was a good strategy because there was no way he could potentially escape a heavy attack and a swift one from both sides at the same time. He had to at least take damage from one of them, however they both looked deadly.


    Unlike what I expected though, Yaquinn wasn¡¯t scathed in the least after this double attack. He had simply slightly unsheathed his sword but the speed at which he did it was so high that it caused a shockwave around him, deflecting the blows of his two opponents.


    The two mercenaries were disconcerted by this surprising skill and Yaquinn took advantage of the situation to swiftly strike down his two opponents with his palm. When he hit them, powerful shockwaves were emitted and they were sent flying on other tables around him.


    The fatty who had just witnessed his two comrades getting defeated so easily ran away while screaming multiple times that he¡¯d be back.


    The Half-race man approached his saviour with an apologetic look on his face.


    ¡°Thank you very much, kind sir ! You saved me there.¡±


    ¡°No problem. I don¡¯t like the way Half-race are sometimes discriminated against in this country.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ the Half-race and Hybrids are often victims of racism, even this far into the Porcephone Empire¡­¡±


    I had heard something along the lines of these races being inferior a few times but I didn¡¯t know that the hate against the Half-race and Hybrids was so strong.


    After finishing my meal, I walked up to Yaquinn¡¯s table where he was still enjoying the taste of an omelette.


    ¡°Hello, sir. May I talk to you for a bit ?¡±


    ¡°Hmm ? Sure ! I am never against a little bit of company, especially when eating such a fine meal.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°So, what¡¯s your name, kid ?¡±


    ¡°I am Hell Kreizig.¡±


    ¡°Hell Kreizig huh¡­ I am Yaquinn, the wanderer. And I can see it in your eyes. You¡¯re a warrior aren¡¯t you ?¡±


    ¡°Well, I am only 13 and still training. I could never have defeated these two thugs like you did just now.¡±


    ¡°They weren¡¯t that bad, hahaha. I could have beaten them with my eyes closed but I didn¡¯t want to humiliate them any further.¡±


    ¡°So strong¡­ please, teach me how to get stronger !¡±


    There was no way I was ever going to be Tras¡¯ student again. Not after what happened. Besides, Yaquinn seemed much stronger than him.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be against the idea of teaching my sword skills to a motivated youngling like you but unfortunately, I am going to leave this town soon.¡±


    Feeling disappointed, I took a closer at him. He was a man about 1m85 tall with black hair tied into a tight ponytail that reached his hips. He had no facial hair but fierce eyes despite a gentle expression.


    His clothes were quite exotic as he was wearing a grey cape and green baggy pants. He had no shirt and was topless under his cape that showed his abdomen. His pants were held by a belt made of a black rope tied in a way I had never seen before. He was also wearing dark green boots with metal bits on the edges.


    What was the most intriguing however, was his sword. I had not learnt of such a thin sword and it looked like it could easily break despite being made of metal.


    ¡°This ? This is a katana. Unlike the swords you use in this country, this is a sword designed with speed in mind, rather than raw power.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ interesting. And you used some weird techniques earlier as well, didn¡¯t you ?¡±


    ¡°They are skills I created myself so it¡¯s not surprising you¡¯ve never seen them before.¡±


    We kept chatting for a while longer before leaving the inn together. We were about to part from each other but as soon as we got outside, we quickly got surrounded by about 30 thugs.


    ¡°Now, now, it¡¯s payback time.¡±


    Just as I thought, the fat man was back. And he had brought quite a lot of backup.

 Chapter 25 - A fateful encounter

    ¡°Now, Mr. Yaquinn, it¡¯s time to pay for the humiliation you inflicted upon me earlier, don¡¯t you think ?¡±


    ¡°Let the kid go, he¡¯s got nothing to do with this.¡±


    Yaquinn took a quick look around us and tried to protect me but it looked like fatty didn¡¯t care.


    ¡°He was chatting with you, so it¡¯s safe to assume he¡¯s one of your friends, right ? I think a little beat up is required to teach you both respect. Guys, get them.¡±


    The thugs drew out their weapons and approached us. As strong as Yaquinn was, there was no way he could took out 30 enemies on his own. I had to help him somehow.


    ¡°Leave half of them to me !¡±


    ¡°Wait, it¡¯s danger-¡±


    I didn¡¯t listen to him and jumped straight into the battle, aiming to make use of the surprise element to knock down as many opponents as possible.


    The thugs were not in the least fazed however and I found myself confronting 5 of them at once. Their fighting skills were average but their number was just too high.  I used the only sword technique I knew for this kind of situation and started spinning around at a high speed.


    ¡°¡ºSteel tornado¡»!¡±


    This was a Beginner level technique but it seemed to be effective enough to slash 2 out of the 5 thugs until I got countered by one of them. A simple parade was good enough to stop a low level skill such as this one.


    I followed with a¡ºSwift strike¡», a skill that dealt multiple damage at once, in order to hit several enemies. I couldn¡¯t use¡ºFurious Slash¡»due to the number of enemies being too high and its cost being too expensive.


    Much to my disappointment,¡ºSwift Strike¡»wasn¡¯t powerful enough to knock down anyone and I was surrounded before I could follow up on it.


    I was attacked from all directions and could only manage to counter some of the strikes aimed at me. I suffered from direct blows and pain started covering my whole body. Soon enough, I felt my legs going numb and my vision started to fade as I fainted. The last thing I saw before going into a slumber was Yaquinn using some strange techniques again and blasting his opponents away.


    ***


    I woke up with a strong headache, proof of my beat up. I was lucky to still be alive, I thought. I took a look around me and noticed I was in a bedroom of the inn I where I was just earlier.


    Yaquinn was right next to me, sleeping on a chair. Despite not having known each other for longer than a few minutes, he still took care of me. I needed to make sure to thank him for that.


    Yaquinn woke up abruptly ¨C probably because of the sound of me moving around as I got up.


    ¡°Ah, you¡¯re woken up. Are you feeling better ? You slept for two days straight after all.¡±


    ¡°My head hurts a bit but I¡¯m fine. More importantly, what happened after I got knocked down ?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s just say I took care of things.¡±


    ¡°Wait¡­ did you beat all of these guys by yourself ?¡±


    ¡°¡­ Yes.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s amazing ! I knew from the start you were strong but to be that powerful is just¡­ unthinkable.¡±


    ¡°These were only low level thugs. A few Mages could do the same with area of effect spells, you know ? Have you heard of the man called Vlad Stalford ? This guy could blow up an entire town if given enough time.¡±


    ¡°But you¡¯re no Mage, right ? You¡¯re wearing a sword after all.¡±


    ¡°While that¡¯s true, it¡¯s also incorrect at the same time. I use an art I created myself, the art that I called Wind Dance.¡±


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    ¡°Wind Dance ? Is that a set of sword skills ?¡±


    ¡°Again, true but not only. It would take too long to explain though and I need to leave this town. Sorry to have got you involved in a fight because of me.¡±


    ¡°Ah, no problem¡­ I was kind of useless after all¡­¡±


    I looked at the ground, feeling disappointed in my skills. This man had taken more than 30 enemies at once. Compared to him, I looked like a total newbie in swordsmanship.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be down because of that. Should I remind you you were facing more than 5 opponents at once ? And you took out half of them. Honestly, I am impressed by your skill at such a young age. That reminds me¡­ you told me you wanted to become my disciple, right ?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­ Too bad you cannot teach me.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s true that I cannot teach you right now but I could in the future. If you are still interested, come to this location in two weeks time.¡±


    He showed me a map with a red cross on it. It was around 6 days of walk away from Aldenaf.


    ¡°I need to ask my mother first but¡­ if it¡¯s for the purpose of training, there should be no problem. I definitely will come !¡±


    ¡°I see, hahaha. Well I¡¯ll be looking forward to your arrival then.¡±


    We parted from each other, going in our direction. I had been out of it for 2 days and as such Mother was probably going to start worrying. I needed to finish the task I had been assigned as fast as possible.


    I started gathering the herbs just like I was told and soon enough, my two bags were full of them.


    I hurried back towards the gates of the village but I was careless enough to bump into someone. This caused my bags to fall on the ground and the herbs to be spilled.


    I looked at the man who bumped into me and noticed that he looked like he was no older than me, in fact he was even smaller.


    ¡°Hey watch where you¡¯re going !¡±


    ¡°Ha sorry, I¡¯m in a hurry.¡±


    ¡°You bumped into me so it¡¯d be polite to at least help me gathering the herbs¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ yes you¡¯re right.¡±


    The boy apologised to me and started helping me. He was wearing thin glasses and had messy hair. His clothes however, looked quite elegant and expensive.


    ¡°So, what are you in such a hurry for ?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ a long story. I just need to head to a village called Aldenaf. It¡¯s close by, right ?¡±


    ¡°Aldenaf ? What a coincidence, I also need to head back there.¡±


    What could a boy that was most likely from a rich family have to do with a regular small village like Aldenaf ? Was he perhaps visiting a relative ?


    ¡°Are you walking ? If it¡¯s alright with you, you could ride on my horse with me. It¡¯s to apologise for my rudeness.¡±


    What an interesting proposition. I had already wasted too much time because of the fight so being back as soon as possible was ideal. The boy in front of me was a stranger but I couldn¡¯t feel too much power from him. He was most likely no threat for me.


    I accepted the boy¡¯s proposition and hopped on the back of the horse. It saved me a few hours of walking thanks to that.


    However I noticed soon after that I was already too late. When we arrived to our destination, I was finally confronted with the harsh truth : there was no more Aldenaf.

 Chapter 26 - Suspicions

    I fell on my knees at the sight of this unbelievable scenery.


    Aldenaf¡­ my hometown¡­ was gone ! It couldn¡¯t have randomly disappeared, could it ?


    I first I suspected that it may have been hidden by some kind of Magic and rendered invisible, as a kind of defensive mechanism. That would have been the best outcome, to be truthful. But there was no point in deceiving myself : there was a giant crater in front of me, clear proof that the town had been erased rather than hidden.


    The boy I travelled with looked astonished as well. A the beginning, he asked me with his eyes whether this was really the right location but after seeing my serious expression, his disbelief was made clear.


    Mother¡­ she barely ever leaves the village so there was a high chance that she was¡­ No, I didn¡¯t even want to think about it. The fact that a whole village could be wiped out as cleanly was already unbelievable.


    But right after thinking that it was impossible, something that Yaquinn had said popped into my mind.


    ¡°Have you heard of the man called Vlad Stalford ? This guy could blow up an entire town if given enough time.¡±


    No way¡­ could it be that the man mentioned by Yaquinn¡­ had effectively destroyed the village ? But why ? Why would a small village like Aldenaf need to be destroyed ? I knew nothing about this Vlad Stalford in the first place but in my mind, it was the only possible reason for what I was witnessing.


    ¡°Hey I never asked for your name, by the way.¡±


    The boy turned his face to me. He looked both desperate and anxious.


    ¡°I¡¯m Hell. Hell Kreizig. And you ?¡±


    ¡°Kreizig !?¡±


    As he heard my name, his eyes that were half-hidden by his bangs widened and he looked surprised. Before long though, he answered my question.


    ¡°Kreizig, huh¡­ I am Arism Stalford, nice to meet you.¡±


    Stalford !? It was now my turn to be surprised. Could it be that he¡¯s a relative of the man who potentially blew up Aldenaf ? That could explain why he was here. According to his reaction though, it didn¡¯t look like he was expecting to find the town missing.


    ¡°Hell, what are you going to do now ? You used to live in this town right ?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it looks like my home is gone¡­¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ I¡¯d like to ask you a question. Could you happen to have a bigger brother ?¡±


    I was now very cautious of this boy. Looking at his clothes, it wouldn¡¯t be surprising if he came from the capital. That¡¯s where big brother was¡­ could it be that something happened to him ? In that case, telling the truth there would definitely put me in danger. I had to find out more without raising suspicions.


    ¡°No, I am an only child.¡±


    ¡°Oh ? Is that so ?¡±


    He looked disappointed but doubtful at the same time. Looks like he didn¡¯t completely trust me either.


    ¡°What about you ? Where are you going now ?¡±


    ¡°I have some urgent matters to attend at the capital, so I¡¯ll be going back to Naxus now.¡±


    As I thought, he was heading to Naxus. In that case, it was the best opportunity for me to find out more about Vlad Stalford.


    ¡°Could I come with you ? I need to find a job to survive now that my home is gone. I heard I could enroll at the Adventurer Guild in Naxus in order to earn money quickly.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Well you can come with me if you want, I wouldn¡¯t mind.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. By the way, could you happen to be a relative of Vlad Stalford ?¡±


    I waited for an answer, inspecting his behaviour. However, it didn¡¯t look like the mention of this name unphased him. Maybe they weren¡¯t related after all ?


    ¡°Oh you¡¯ve heard of Father too ? I guess he is quite famous as the Archmage, after all.¡±


    His Father !? The Archmage ? There was too much important information for me to handle at once. I jumped on the back of the horse and started organising my thoughts while riding.


    So Arism was Vlad¡¯s son. And Vlad Stalford was the Archmage, which meant he was the Emperor¡¯s personal Mage and the most powerful Mage in the Porcephone Empire. Now it made sense that he could blow up a whole village by himself, but the most important question remained : why would he do that ?


    If he worked directly under the orders of the Emperor, didn¡¯t that mean that the Emperor was behind all this ? But¡­ why ? I had to find out and the best way to do that was to head to Naxus. Travelling with Vlad¡¯s son was also a chance for me to discover the truth.


    I really hoped that Father and big brother were safe. I realised that although I could guess what had happened to Mother, I hadn¡¯t shed a tear. Was I really cold-hearted ? Maybe reality just hadn¡¯t hit me completely just yet.


    ***


    We camped after riding the horse for a whole day. It seems that Arism had prepared a lot of food for the trip so he shared it with me.


    I decided to see whether he knew about the incident or not.


    ¡°Arism, do you know what happened to Aldenaf ?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ in fact I was after a man that used to live there. He disappeared and I was after him¡­ a long story.¡±


    He didn¡¯t look like he was playing dumb. Even if his father was the cause of all this, it didn¡¯t necessarily mean Arism was involved. Either way, I had to use him to squeeze out as much information as possible.


    ¡°We have time, don¡¯t we ? Who¡¯s that man you were after ?¡±


    ¡°¡­ He is someone who escaped from jail. He is a wanted man.¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯re after the bounty ?¡±


    ¡°Not exactly, although you could say that I am on the side of justice, heh¡­¡±


    On the side of justice ? Did that mean he wanted to get the man for justice rather than the bounty placed on his head ?


    ¡°So your father is the Archmage, huh. You must be good at Magic too then ?¡±


    ¡°I scored third in the Magic Tournament so I¡¯m not too bad, haha.¡±


    ¡°The Magic Tournament ? Then do you know about Zw-¡±


    Woops. I almost slipped there. I bit my tongue and tried to cover up for my mistake. I told him I didn¡¯t have a brother so I shouldn¡¯t be talking about big brother.


    ¡°Hmm ?¡±


    ¡°Third huh ? That¡¯s amazing isn¡¯t it¡­¡±


    We kept chatting for a while before falling asleep.


    We carried on travelling after that and I organised my priorities.


    First of all, I needed to enroll at the Adventurer Guild. At first I was thinking of becoming an imperial soldier but it was now impossible for two reasons : first because I lacked freedom but also because I didn¡¯t trust the Empire right now.


    Adventurers have it easy : they don¡¯t have to complete a quota of quests or anything like that. They can just take on and complete quests whenever they want, making it a very interesting choice for me considering that I wanted to meet up with Yaquinn in two weeks time. I therefore had two weeks to discover why Aldenaf was destroyed and who was behind it.


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    When we finally arrived at Naxus, I was feeling physically exhausted from the travel but I had neither the money nor the time to rest in an inn.


    I thought that Arism had said he had urgent matters to attend but surprisingly enough, it looked like he had decided to enroll as an Adventurer with me.


    ¡°This way, we can form parties and complete quests more easily. Besides, I always wanted to be an Adventurer.¡±


    ¡°I see, that sounds interesting indeed.¡±


    To me however it looked more like he wanted to keep an eye on me for some reason.That was an advantage for me too though because it meant I could also keep in touch with him and use this opportunity to learn more about the incident.


    We both registered at the same time. I expected some kind of quest ranking system but I was surprised to find out that even newbies have access to any quest they want. I was told by the receptionist that the reason for that adventurers who fail a quest are fined heavily. This decision allowed them to think twice before taking on a quest that looked too hard while it allowed experienced fighters to accept harder quests even if they just recently joined.


    ¡°Here are your Adventurer cards. They allow you to accept quests and prove your identity as an Adventurer.¡±


    The receptionist, who was a plain looking guy with dead fish eyes, carried on his explanation.


    ¡°If you wish to take on quests as a party rather than alone, you will have to create the party before hand and register it here so that the Guild makes sure to split the rewards and fame amongst all members of the group.¡±


    ¡°I see. Anything else we should know ?¡±


    I was doing most of the talking because Arism was actually too small to face the receptionist. He was fuming next to me as I was gathering as much information as I could.


    ¡°Yes. As adventurers, you may join or create a Guild to further enhance your social recognition, financial benefits or find teammates more easily. Applications are inspected and approved or refused by the Guild Leader. You may create your own Guild as long as you have 5 members from the start and are ready to pay a fee of 5 Gold coins. Additionally, Guilds are ranked by fame in the following order :


    White < Bronze < Silver < Gold < Platinum < Dragon < Legendary


    Guilds gain financial advantages as their rank increases. As a matter of fact, a White guild has no advantage whereas a Gold one has a -15% discount in inns and weapon shops as well as a reduction of taxes from Quest rewards.¡±


    ¡°Taxes ? There are taxes on Quest rewards ?¡±


    ¡°Of course. The Adventurer guild is still a business and as such, it requires money in order to be operational. That is why taxes are effectively placed on Quest rewards. Single adventurers and White guild members have 25% of the Quest reward deducted from it that is given to the Guild. On the other hand, Platinum guild adventurers only have to pay 5% taxes and Dragon ones don¡¯t have any taxes to pay.¡±


    ¡°That sounds good.¡±


    ¡°Platinum and above are extremely hard ranks to achieve though. Most adventurers are lucky if they reach Gold before retiring. There is currently only 1 Dragon guild in the whole world and there hasn¡¯t been a single Legendary one in the past 50 years.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for the whole explanation, sir.¡±


    ¡°No problem, it¡¯s my job.¡±


    I turned around to face Arism. It looked like he had stopped listening a while ago and was already looking at the sign where all the requests were pinned.


    ¡°Look at this, Hell. This joint quest looks like a good start. It¡¯s a bit dangerous but considering how high the reward his, you shouldn¡¯t have to worry about accommodation for a while if we succeed it.¡±


    ¡°A joint quest ? One where we have to cooperate with other people ?¡±


    ¡°Let me read it. Here it is, it says¡­¡±


    [Introduction] A dragon nest has been spotted in the north plains of Naxus. This could be a threat to the town¡¯s safety and as such, we have started preparing a raid on the dragon living there. But while scouting the area, we discovered a second dragon that was living there with the first one. It looks like the second one just recently laid some eggs. We cannot afford to let them give birth to more dragons hence the reason for this request.


    While our Guild will draw the two dragons away from the nest and fight them, we need someone to get rid of the eggs.


    [Requirements] Destroy the dragon eggs


    [Reward] 100 Gold coins. ~800 fame


    [Client] Den Morthorius, leader of Aurora¡¯s Grace


    ¡°Aurora¡¯s Grace¡­ let¡¯s see the register¡­ of they¡¯re a Platinum Guild !¡±


    Arism looked surprised as he announced that.


    ¡°Their Guild apparently counts a total number of¡­ 357 adventurers ! That¡¯s huge.¡±


    ¡°Besides, 800 fame would allow us to become Silver rank immediately if we made a guild.¡±


    ¡°Well we don¡¯t belong to a guild so it¡¯s meaningless to us and we don¡¯t have enough members to make one either.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, true.¡±


    We grabbed the letter and brought it over to the receptionist. He looked at us with surprised eyes.


    ¡°I know I just told you that even beginners can take on any quest they want but are you sure about this ? This is quite dangerous : if the dragons decide to come back before you have left the nest, you¡¯re as good as dead.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re aware of the risks. We accept the quest.¡±


    ¡°As you wish.¡±


    The raid was planned for the next day. We would meet up with Aurora¡¯s Grace in the morning and travel together before hiding .


    Arism lent me some money for me to get a room at the inn and he went back home. I¡¯ll make sure to repay him after the quest is complete.


    Just before going to sleep, I thought about all the events that had happened recently. Blume cheating on big brother, the mysterious Yaquinn the wanderer, Aldenaf¡¯s disappearance, and me becoming an adventurer¡­


    So much had happened in such a short time, it felt like I was dreaming.


    I closed my eyes and an image of Mother popped into my mind. Before long, I felt some tears rolling on my cheeks. I couldn¡¯t help but imagine the worst when I thought about her.


    One thing was certain though : for now, I could only rely on myself.

 Chapter 27 - Dragon nest

    I met with Arism a few minutes before heading to the meeting place. Aurora¡¯s Grace was already waiting there and their leader was not very hard to discern from the others as he was standing above the rest of the members on a platform created with Magic.


    He saw us approaching and us and although he looked at us with surprised eyes, he still showed us a smile. He was a middle aged man who looked like he was in the middle of his forties as his hair was grey and had a sharp but short beard.


    The reason why he didn¡¯t question two kids taking part in such a dangerous mission is probably because he had already experienced similar situations in the past and he now had the wisdom not to underestimate even the weakest-looking individuals.


    He nodded slightly as we stood in front of us and greeted us with a firm tone.


    ¡°Welcome, we were waiting for you. My name is Den Morthorius and I am the leader of Aurora¡¯s Grace.¡±


    ¡°Hi, sir¡­ I am Arism and this is my teammate¡­ Hell.¡±


    Arism had decided before hand he would be the one to talk with Aurora¡¯s Grace leader this time but his pride was further crushed as the already noticeable height difference between the two of them was made even more obvious by the platform Morthorius was standing on.


    ¡°Since you came for the Quest, I assume you already know your task and the risks, right ?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, sir.¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s not waste any time. Here is the strategy : we will march together as one group and will split 500 meters before reaching the dragon den. As you can see, all of our guild members are there so we should be able to kill both dragons. But in the case we can¡¯t defeat him, they will probably return to their nest to rest from the battle, which means that whether or not we win, you¡¯d better finish the job quick if you hold your lives dear.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    He finished explaining a few details and we started heading towards our objective with a fast pace. A night battle wasn¡¯t conceivable as the guild would suffer more casualties in the dark.


    As planned, we split before reaching the lair and waited for Aurora¡¯s Grace to start the fight and draw the dragons away from their nest.


    After having received the signal ¨C a horn sound from one of the members ¨C we hurried and reached the location without any problem.


    I was expecting some kind of dark obscure cave with piles of bones everywhere on the ground but that wasn¡¯t the case. It seemed like the couple of dragon living there had been feeding off  nearby animals. Still, there was no telling when they might decide to change their diet to start eating humans.


    ¡°Wow, so this is a dragon¡¯s lair, huh ? I¡¯m feeling excited all of a sudden.¡±


    Although Arism was the one to say that, I was thinking exactly the same thing. Sweat was dripping from my back but the adrenaline rush I was experiencing from the hazardous situation made the experience thrilling in my opinion.


    We finally found some eggs but something threw us off. They were as hard as rocks !


    There were around 10 of them but even breaking one was a hard task. It took us 10 minutes just to break one using a combination of Arism¡¯s Magic and my raw strength.


    Our deed was nearly finished as only 1 egg remained. More than one hour had passed since we penetrated the nest.


    One thing I noticed is that the eggs had different colour patterns. Red, blue, yellow¡­ Arism told me that the colour of the egg defines the attribute the dragon will have. For instance, red eggs will mean it will be a Fire Dragon whereas yellow ones show that it will be a Thunder Dragon.


    The last egg was unique however as it was the only one in the whole lot that was white.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what this colour is for. Snow perhaps ? Or maybe ice ?¡±


    ¡°It looks so beautiful I feel bad to break it.¡±


    Before we started attacking it though, the egg started shining, something that had not happened with the others.


    Arism¡¯s eyes widened and his confident expression was replaced by one of fear.


    ¡°This is bad ! The egg is hatching ! Dragon don¡¯t stay babies for very long and they grow at an exponential rate right after they are borns. If we let the egg hatch, even if it¡¯s still a baby, we¡¯re screwed !¡±


    ¡°What can we do ? We don¡¯t destroy it in time !¡±


    ¡°It will be most vulnerable right after it is born, before it starts growing. We HAVE to kill it then !¡±


    Both on the edge, we waited anxiously for the egg to finish hatching and when it finally did, the light became so bright it was enough to lit the entire cave. Both blinded, we couldn¡¯t see exactly what happened after that, however I could feel¡­ an earthquake !? The ground had started shaking as the baby dragon was being born.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think that a dragon¡¯s egg would be so powerful as to cause earthquake when hatching !?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because it¡¯s not the baby, Hell. One of the two dragons is back. We¡¯re dead.¡±


    Arism said that with a monotonous and rather calm voice. It seems he had already given up all hope of living to see another day.


    I looked at the entrance and there was indeed a giant blue dragon in front of me. Something felt wrong though. One entire minute passed without us getting eaten or the dragon displaying any aggressive behaviour. Then I noticed the wounds on the dragon¡¯s body.


    Its wings were pierced, one of its eyes was missing and it had deep wounds on its cheat, tail and legs. The dragon was breathing heavily but it wasn¡¯t using Ice Breath to freeze us instantly.


    Arism didn¡¯t look like he had noticed and instead screamed at me.


    ¡°For whatever reason, it¡¯s not moving ! Let¡¯s make a run for it, Hell !¡±


    ¡°What about the newly born dragon !?¡±


    ¡°Screw that, we have no time ! The cave¡¯s about to collapse as well !¡±


    Arism was right; perhaps due to the earthquakes caused by the Ice Dragon, rocks were starting to fall from the roof and cracks could be seen on the walls.


    It was weird that the cave would collapse from the weight of the dragon since two of them had been living there for a relatively long time. Could it be the Ice Dragon crashed into the cave while trying to land ?


    Arism and I started to run towards the exit, which was half blocked by the dragon. Arism managed to get outside first but the cave crumbled faster as I was nearing the outside. As I passed the dying dragon, I heard it whisper to me.


    ¡°Please¡­ save¡­ daughter¡­¡±


    Astonished, I looked backwards and saw the dragon¡¯s head getting crushed by a rock.  I didn¡¯t dream however : I could have sword the dragon talked like a normal human being, despite being a mere monster.


    Swayed by what I had just heard, I did notice the shadow of the baby dragon in the back of the cave, although it looked humanoid, if anything. Without thinking, I started to rush through the cave once more and reached to the newly-born monster. I grabbed what felt like its hand and without looking at it, managed to make a run for it while holding on to it.


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    By the time we reached the exit, most of the cave was destroyed and there were a lot of rocks in the way.


    We almost made it but¡­ as if in slow motion, I saw a giant part of the roof fall off towards us, ready to squash us. I gathered all my strength and threw the dragon towards the exit and tried to duck. I managed to avoid lethal damage but my leg got stuck underneath.


    ¡°Arrgg¡­¡±


    The humanoid monster looked at me from the exit. I couldn¡¯t see clearly what it looked like as my vision was already starting to fade. More rocks fell on my body and I thought it was the end for me.


    Until a strong wind pushed all the remains away from me and the pressure on my leg was lifted. Arism appeared in front of me and dragged me out of the cave. Despite his small build, it looked like he was capable of carrying me to safety.


    ¡°Ah¡­ ah¡­.¡±


    ¡°You really scared me there, Hell¡­ Don¡¯t make me go through that ever again, ok ?¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ sure¡­ thanks¡­¡±


    We were both breathing in and out, trying to regain some energy. i suddenly remembered about the dragon and looked around me. The cave was gone and there was nothing like a rank A monster around us.


    The only people there were Arism and me. And a lady.


    A lady ? After closer inspection, she didn¡¯t look as human as I first thought. Sure, he had the same figure but her eyes were black instead of white with purple irises. She had very long white hair that fell past her waist. She looked like she was naked at first but in fact, some hard looking scales were covering her nudity. She also had some scales on her cheeks and shoulders as well as on her arms.


    If I had to describe her in more detail, she was rather tall, had a cold and serious face, her hair looked very silky and smooth whereas her scales looked like the ones of the dragons I saw earlier. She had nice curves and bursting breasts that looked like they could hardly be contained by the bra made out of scales. If I had to say her age, I would say 20 years old.


    ¡°Could it be¡­ you¡¯re the dragon¡­ from the egg ?¡±


    She turned around to face me. No, actually, she had been staring at me ever since I had been rescued from the cave. As soon as she heard the sound of my voice, the strict face she was displaying turned instantly into a meek and flushed face. Tears formed around the corners of her dark eyes and she jumped on me, pushing her breasts onto my face. My wounds hurt but I could not help but feel aroused by this.


    ¡°You ! Saved ! Me !¡±


    ¡°So you really are the baby dragon ! But¡­ why do you look like a woman ?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    She looked at me and looked like she was struggling to find the right words.


    Arism, who was watching dumbfounded until now, seemed to remember something.


    ¡°Ah, I did read about something like that¡­¡±


    ¡°Huh ?¡±


    ¡°I did say that dragons grow extremely fast after their egg hatches, right ? Well the organism living inside the egg hasn¡¯t developed at all until the egg starts shining and is still undefined. You could call it a polymorph organism. Apparently, the light emitted is used to scan the genetic surroundings of the egg and help the baby to take a final form.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡±


    The explanation was a bit difficult for me but I kinda understood the gist of it.


    ¡°Usually, the first thing scanned by a dragon egg will be its parents, hence the egg taking a dragon form. But here, it was humans ¨C us. Of course, the baby already has dragon attribute and some genes from its parents when the egg is created so it won¡¯t be totally human but this dragon here is special. I don¡¯t even know if you can call it a dragon.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s almost like¡­ a Hybrid.¡±


    ¡°That is pretty close to reality, yes. And that would mean she is the very first case of Dragon and Human Hybrid ever created¡­¡±


    The woman, who looked like she had been listening attentively to the conversation suddenly started talking.


    ¡°I¡­ am grateful. You¡­ saved me.¡±


    ¡°So you can talk just fine. Even though you are the daughter of a dragon.¡±


    ¡°Dragons inherit most knowledge from their parents. My ancestor learnt the language of Humans so I can talk it too. I just.. need a bit of practice since I was just born.¡±


    I glanced at Arism and he responded by shaking his head with a surprised expression.


    ¡°Hey, this situation feels weird, Arism¡­ I don¡¯t know if I should address her like a child or like an adult¡­¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t say¡­ besides, you know¡­ she¡¯s theoretically  a dragon¡­ shouldn¡¯t we kill her ?¡±


    ¡°What are you saying at this point !? Do you really see her as a monster ? She is more human than draconic to me.¡±


    ¡°At the very least, we can¡¯t let Aurora¡¯s Grace or anyone else know about her existence. They would hunt her down for sure if they knew. I heard they are also pretty harsh towards people from other races, just like most people the closer you get to the capital. We need to hide her.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ I might know a person who doesn¡¯t judge others based on their race¡­ but I can¡¯t meet this person right now. I can only meet up with him next week.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯ll just have to survive by herself for one week then. I mean, she said it herself : she¡¯s got the passed down knowledge of all her ancestors, so she should already be more than ready to live by herself.¡±


    Hearing that, the dragon girl who had been listening quietly up until now raised her voice.


    ¡°Living alone !? No way ! I am staying with Hell !¡±


    ¡°Huh ?¡±


    ¡°As I said, I am not going anywhere else other than where Hell is going !¡±


    Arism and I looked at each other with a surprised face and I faced the woman.


    ¡°Why do you want to stay with me that badly ?¡±


    ¡°I owe you my life, Hell. You saved me when the cave was falling apart, I saw it.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t want you to misunderstand. I am part of a punitive force that raided your cave. The reason your siblings aren¡¯t there is me. And my comrades killed your parents.¡±


    ¡°¡­ But you saved me. You could have killed me too, right ? But you didn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡±


    Did this girl not understand ? Why did she feel the need to stay with someone who had caused her to not be able to be born in a happy family ? The more I was chatting with her, the more I was feeling guilty for what I had just done. Was destroying the eggs really the right thing to do ? Was killing the dragons really necessary ?


    ¡°Thinking about it, you heard my name but I haven¡¯t heard yours.¡±


    ¡°Heh, that¡¯s because I don¡¯t have one yet, silly.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ is that so.¡±


    Of course she didn¡¯t have one. We took her parents away from her !


    ¡°Then, you give me one.¡±


    ¡°Me ?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you. It can only be you.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­ your name will be Glace.¡±


    ¡°Glace huh¡­ I think it fits me well, fufu.¡±


    ¡°So Glace.. hum¡­ I don¡¯t think you should associate yourself with someone like me who took away everything from y-¡±


    ¡°Hell¡­ you think too much.¡±


    Before I could finish my sentence, she grabbed my head and kissed me.

 Chapter 28 - A new ally

    My first kiss got stolen by a beautiful Hybrid dragon girl called Glace. However, something didn¡¯t feel right in my heart. A shadow covered the happiness and some dark feelings overwrote the joyful ones I was supposed to be experiencing.


    According to what I had heard, a kiss was supposed to be sweet but right now it only left a sour taste in my mouth. As if it was filled with salt.


    Why was that ? I thought about it for a second and realised why I was reacting the wrong way to the situation.


    First, the picture of Blume having sex with Tras popped into my mind at the time I got kissed; this made me feel disgusted, as if I was kissing her instead of Glace.


    Furthermore, if one were to consider the situation logically, there was definitely something wrong going on. Why would a mature girl like her kiss a thirteen years-old guy she had just met and who had destroyed all hopes of her having any siblings ?


    An alarm sound rang in my head and I decided not to let myself get deceived by this dragon. Maybe she was trying to seduce me to make me pay later ?


    Arism, who had kept quiet until now, decided to speak up with an annoyed face.


    ¡°Ahem. I¡¯d like to tell you two to get a room, but considering Glace¡¯s appearance, it¡¯s not going to be easy.¡±


    This made me come back to reality. The beautiful Glace let go of me with a bashful face.


    ¡°What do you mean ? She looks human enough to enter a town without any problems, as long as we dress her up, right ?¡±


    ¡°Hell, are you still so entranced by the kiss that you haven¡¯t noticed ? Look at her. She¡¯s got horns on top of her head and scales on her face. There is no way the guards won¡¯t notice that.¡±


    ¡°Ah, if it¡¯s only that, I can withdraw them !¡±


    Glace interrupted Arism to show us what she had just said. Her horns decreased in size until they disappeared completely. As for her scales, they looked like they were absorbed by her skin and vanished as well.


    ¡°Should I also remove the scales on my chest ? I¡¯ll do it if you want me to, Hell, fufufu.¡±


    She said that with a wry smile while looking at me. Arism sighed while I blushed. Even if I didn¡¯t trust her, I was still a teenager who had already started puberty !


    ¡°Stop teasing me. If there is one thing I hate, it¡¯s slutty behaviour.¡±


    I answered her with a tone that sounded even colder than I thought possible. I didn¡¯t think of myself as intimidating though, especially how despite my tall build for my age, she was still taller than me. Despite this, the look on her face changed drastically to an apologetic one.


    ¡°Aw¡­ sorry.¡±


    Arism raised an eyebrow but didn¡¯t let out any comment.


    ¡°Anyway, since the problem is sorted, we can successfully have you enter the town. Your white hair and purple eyes are still unusual but it should be fine. We just need to find you some clothes.¡±


    Arism looked like he had an idea and spoke up.


    ¡°Leave that to me. I¡¯ll head home quickly and get some for her.¡±


    ¡°Home ?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll take some clothes that belonged to Mother.¡±


    I didn¡¯t ask about why he said that using the past tense. I could guess from the way he said it so I didn¡¯t pry into it any further.


    Arism hurried home and I was left alone with Glace. This made me feel uneasy so I tried to distance myself a bit from her but every time I did, she would stick to me over and over again.


    ¡°Why are you avoiding me¡­ could it be that you hate me ?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t trust you.¡±


    I said the truth as bluntly as possible because I didn¡¯t want to cause any further misunderstanding. This woman¡¯s behaviour made me feel uncomfortable.


    ¡°¡­ Wasn¡¯t it you who saved me though ? Risking your own life for it ?¡±


    ¡°That¡­  is true. But considering the facts and what I told you before, the way you act with me is clearly abnormal and suspicious. Are you planning a sneak attack on me as soon as I get seduced by you ?¡±


    She looked at me with surprised eyes. Did I say something stupid ? It was all very logical to me.


    ¡°You¡­ dummy. Did you perhaps have a bad experience with women ? Or is it because you¡¯re feeling guilty about the eggs destruction ? Then let me tell you something about me. Just like a normal dragon would, I was born with the knowledge of my ancestors, which is why I can converse with you like this. But this knowledge also lets me know a lot about the dragon history and our relationship with humans. So let me tell you the story of my people.¡±


    ¡°What does that have to do with us ?¡±


    ¡°Be patient, allow me to explain. First of all, dragons were not always considered as monsters. There was a time, a little over 500 years ago, when they were considered as one of the major races. That is because dragons are intelligent creatures, capable of speech and are not only focused on their primal instincts like most monsters. But came the day when the Emperor of the Porcephone Empire, one of the most influential people in the world at the time, decided that dragons were lowly beasts that deserved to be hunted just like other monsters. Although dragons were stronger than humans, we were by far outnumbered and decided to hide since we could not defeat them by ourselves. As the years passed, the dragons started to develop a hereditary hate for humans, the reason they were exiled. Almost all dragons nowadays are born with an urge to kill humans when they see them, which is the reason we are feared and hunted down by you.¡±


    ¡°That includes you too then, right ?¡±


    ¡°Yes. But our mindset is not set in stone, we are merely born with it. It may be subject to change, just like mine after you saved me. When I was born and saw the eggs destroyed, the thing I thought was that it was normal. That is the way things are : we kill humans and in return, humans kill us. We hate humans but there is no reason to hate them when something like that happens because this is the way things are. However¡­ you were different. Not only did you come back to save me, your natural enemy, but you were also ready to sacrifice yourself for it. This made me think that maybe not all humans were bad. Not everything is black and white and just like that, there are some of your kin that do not deserve our hate. You were honest when you said you don¡¯t trust me so let me be honest with you as well : I trust you. You are all I have and what I wish is to be able to follow you wherever I can. I want to be with you and have you teach me more about the kindness of humans.¡±


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    It looks like my prejudices fooled my critical thinking after all. Glace¡¯s feelings¡­ they reached me. I felt ashamed for seeing her the same way I saw Blume. Just like she said, everyone is different and she is also a unique individual. She deserved a chance to be accepted by me.


    ¡°But¡­ if you really cannot bear to have me by your side¡­ then I will disappear. The last thing I want is to cause problems to you after all.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    ¡°Huh ?¡±


    ¡°I said it¡¯s alright. You can come with me.¡±


    ¡°Can I¡­ really !?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I have my conditions though. First, no slutty behaviour. As I said, I hate that. it reminds me of¡­ nevermind, just don¡¯t do it.¡±


    ¡°Ok, no problem.¡±


    ¡°Also, I¡¯ll have you register as an Adventurer. You can¡¯t just stay jobless if you¡¯re planning to be with me as I cannot guarantee I¡¯d earn enough money for the both of us. You can probably be of some use to complete quests so it¡¯d be best if you became one. That way I could keep an eye on you as well.¡±


    ¡°Of course, I want to be an Adventurer with you too !¡±


    ¡°And the last condition is that you make sure not to let the fact that you¡¯re a dragon be discovered. It¡¯ll be problematic if people see your horns and scales so make sure you hide them when in a town.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I agree.¡±


    ¡°Perfect then. Now let¡¯s just wait for Arism to come back so that we can finally put some clothes on you.¡±


    ***


    I was waiting in front of the reception at the Adventurer Guild. Arism and Glace were standing beside me. She was now wearing a black sleeveless tunic wrapped by two darker belts with silver spikes, black detached sleeves held by golden straps, a short grey skirt and black tights with one golden stripe on top of each. These clothes suited her extremely well and the beautiful contrast between the black clothes and silver white hair made me speechless. Arism couldn¡¯t find a bra her size so Glace was still wearing her bra made out of scales. The tunic looked a bit tight around the chest area though : three buttons had to be undone, revealing a deep cleavage.


    As expected, most males in the Guild had their gaze fixated on her. That was including the receptionist as well, who was paying more attention to her than to me even though I was the one talking to him.


    ¡°Excuse me ? Are you listening to me ?¡±


    ¡°Huh ? Ah, hum, yes sorry ! The reward was it ? One of Aurora¡¯s Grace members reported that the whole cave was destroyed, successfully getting rid of all the eggs inside. I¡¯m impressed you managed to complete such a dangerous quest. Well done, it seems I underestimated you slightly. Here is your reward.¡±


    We got the money and I split it equally among us. Even though Glace didn¡¯t take part in the quest, it was always better for her to have some money.


    Arism put the money in his pouch and looked at me.


    ¡°Now, what should we do ? I guess you should start by securing a room, right ?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Then we should maybe look at the quest board, maybe we¡¯ll find some other interesting ones. By the way, these clothes¡­¡±


    ¡°As I said, they belonged to my mother. She passed away when I was a baby. However, Father is almost never home so he never had the time to get rid of them.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I see.¡±


    As expected, it was a tough topic. Not wanting to carry on this conversation any further, I dashed towards the quest board and picked on that looked easy. It was a monster extermination quest. The target was a little community of Bulks.


    Bulks were little blue humanoid monsters with one eye and 4 arms that were only rank D. On their own, their strength was only that of a rank E monster but the threat rose when they banded together. They could get annoying quickly as they were well known for surrounding their target and sacrificing a few of their own kind just to take down stronger opponents.


    But considering the current strength of our group, this quest was a rather easy one. The reward however was worth the effort : 400 Gold coins.


    It was already nighttime so Arism went home and I went to my room with Glace. For the purpose of saving as much money as possible, we were sharing the same room. Although my heart was against the idea, my purse was the one dictating my choice.


    The one thing I feared was to not be able to get any sleep because of the fact that I was sleeping beside a perfect beauty. But unexpectedly, Glace didn¡¯t try to cuddle me or tempt me like she did earlier. Was it because of the fact that I told her I hated slutty loose behaviours ? Anyway, this allowed me to rest properly and be ready for the quest the next day.


    Nothing really extraordinary happened that day. I met up with Arism, the three of us headed to the quest location, destroyed the group of enemies rather easily and came back. I also witnessed the fact that Glace was an extremely powerful Magician, probably better than Arism, which was due to her immense and accumulated knowledge. She was also able to use dragon breath despite her human appearance. She still had dragon attributes after all.


    We then went back, collected the reward, ate together and spent some time in town. At night, we went back to inn and slept there.


    The following days went the same way and we started to get recognised whenever we entered the guild. Whether they were interested in Glace¡¯s beauty or our skill, more and more adventurers talked with us everyday. This made the place friendlier than it was before but the Adventurer Guild wasn¡¯t my objective right now.


    The deadline had grown closer and I had gathered money for the trip.


    It was finally time to meet up with Yaquinn.

 Chapter 29 - A new master

    Yaquinn was currently residing in an inn at the edge of a small village called Roget. It was a village similar to Aldenaf in its size and the feeling of community that was present in the air. The sight of such a town left me nostalgic and reminded me of my goal : undergoing a special training with Yaquinn in order to get stronger and find out about the catastrophe behind the disappearance of Aldenaf.


    Why did I need strength for that purpose ? It was quite simple : by assuming that it was caused by one person ¨C potentially Vlad Stalford, the strongest Mage in the Porcephone Empire, I needed to be able to defeat such an opponent. However, my current level was ridiculously low so I had no other choice but to train vigorously with my new Master.


    I managed to find Yaquinn quite easily. Just like the first time, he was busy eating quietly at a table in the inn where he was accommodated. Despite looking absorbed in the task of eating his pork and rice, he seemed to notice me as soon as I entered the inn.


    ¡°Ah, there you are Hell ! I was getting tired of waiting !¡±


    ¡°What¡­ you were the one who told me to wait two weeks before meeting you again.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true, but it doesn¡¯t change the fact that I¡¯ve been looking forward to this day, haha. I¡¯ve never had an apprentice before nor have I ever taught someone.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best to make the most out of what you teach me, Master. I am looking forward to be under your guidance.¡±


    ¡°Master ? Haha, no need to be so formal, keep calling me Yaquinn please. By the way¡­ who¡¯s that dragon behind you ?¡±


    ¡°What !?¡±


    I turned around to check on Glace. Her scales and horns could not be seen so there was no way to guess she was a dragon Hybrid. Just how did Yaquinn¡­


    On the other hand, Glace didn¡¯t look surprised, only suspicious.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be surprised, Hell. This man can see my Aura.¡±


    ¡°Aura ? What is that ?¡±


    Yaquinn spoke up with a smirk on his face.


    ¡°Oh, what a clever dragon. You¡¯re a bit off though. Listen up, Hell : the most basic knowledge about Magic is that all living things have a Mana. However, it is invisible to the naked eye, to normal people that is. To the people who can see it though, each individual has a different type of Mana, with a different colour and different patterns. Aura is the word used to describe the individual Mana, from these people¡¯s point of view. I do not have the ability to see Aura though. All I did was¡­ sensing the wind.¡±


    ¡°Sensing the wind ?¡±


    Glace frowned, as if she didn¡¯t understand what Yaquinn had just said.


    ¡°Unlike the ability to see Aura, sensing the wind is a skill that can be acquired, given enough training. It is a bit hard to describe but to make it short, it allows me to determine the rough identity of a person, sense their bloodlust and helps predicting their moves just by feeling and analysing the air surrounding them. As for you, girl, the air around you is very hot yet cold. It¡¯s something I have not felt since I fought an Ice Dragon.¡±


    ¡°I guess I cannot hide it from you. I am a dragon Hybrid.¡±


    ¡°A dragon Hybrid ? Oooh, now this is something new. What is your name, if I may ask, young lady ?¡±


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.¡°I¡¯m Glace. Nice to meet you¡­ Yaquinn ?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Are you perhaps here for training as well ?¡±


    ¡°No. I am only here because I am Hell¡¯s girlfriend.¡±


    ¡°Oho ? Girlfriend ?¡±


    She said that with a straight face. I was shocked and embarrassed at the same time. My face started blushing and I tried to deny it.


    ¡°G-Girlfriend ? I-I didn¡¯t agree to anything like that ! For one¡­ I am only 13, I am a bit young for love, no ?¡±


    I looked up to Yaquinn as a last resort but it looked like he was enjoying the situation quite a lot and decided not to help me.


    ¡°There is no age for love hahaha. Must be good to be young. Enjoy your lovey dovey time now because I will work you up to the bone for the next 2 years !¡±


    2 years. That¡¯s how long my training was going to be. Yaquinn was known as the Wanderer for a reason though. He didn¡¯t intend to settle in just one place so moving around from one inn to another was going to become a daily routine for me. I did miss my relatively relaxing life back in Aldenaf but all good things come to an end. After all, my home was gone now.


    ***


    We finished eating and went up to our rooms. The training would start tomorrow but for now, I had to rest because of the exhausting journey to reach this place. Yaquinn went back to his own room and I went in the one I got from the innkeeper with Glace following me.


    As soon as I noticed that we were once more alone in a single room together, I started feeling uncomfortable again. She said she was my girlfriend but I didn¡¯t ever say anything about being her boyfriend. Besides, I was still doubting the extent of her love for me. After all, she may be grateful for me saving her back then but wasn¡¯t her falling in love with me a bit¡­ quick ?


    I remembered the thing she said to me earlier : ¡°you think too much¡±. I couldn¡¯t help it though ; unlike big brother, I wasn¡¯t very pragmatic and always ended up doubting everything and having trouble reaching a firm decision.


    Glace saw through my troubles and looked apologetic.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ did what I said to Yaquinn annoy you ? Maybe I got a little bit ahead of myself by saying I was your girlfriend¡­¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±


    ¡°Do you perhaps¡­ have someone you like already ?¡±


    ¡°I, uh, no I don¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah, great ! Then I¡¯ll do my best so that you also fall in love with me !¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­ sure.¡±


    As a healthy 13 years old, I was of course interested in falling in love although it may still be a bit too early for me. Anyway, these thoughts were overloading my brain so I decided to clear my mind and go to sleep.


    Despite what she said, Glace didn¡¯t try to sneak into my bed like I suspected she would. It looked like she was taking the ¡°no slutty attitude¡± condition seriously. That was good for me ¨C and my mental sanity.


    I woke up the next day and started to learn the basics of Wind Dance with Yaquinn.


    6 days a week of training, 1 day of rest that I would spend mostly relaxing with Glace.


    That was what was about to become a daily routine for the next two years.

 Chapter 30 - The Dark Joker (1)

    I looked around me. No one was paying attention to me. I was wearing a mask, which was unusual but it was also hidden by a hood anyway. Good¡­


    I didn¡¯t know what the people of this town would think if they recognised me. For some, I was a hero but for most of the inhabitants, I was merely a face on a wanted poster.


    This was the first time I had seen them since my breakout. The face depicted on the posters was the one I had before being tortured but people could still probably link it to my current face if they saw it. Luckily, I had taken some precaution by hiding my identity.


    I have to say the bounty on my head was quite enormous. 1,000 Gold coins, that¡¯s how much it was. But I doubted anyone would collect the money anytime soon.


    Bruneciel. I had not been here since the beginning of my journey with Father. Ahh, such nostalgic feelings. Why was I here ? The answer is quite simple : I was on a journey to find a way to cure my burns as well as creating an army. The first objective was to heal myself though.


    When thinking about healing, the first thing that came to mind was Healing Magic. I knew for sure that there was a healer in Bruneciel and since it wasn¡¯t too far from Aldenaf, this is where I headed first after leaving my headquarters.


    Naturally, I didn¡¯t go inside the tavern where I went last time I visited the town. I simply asked around and managed to find where the Healer of the town was. He was working there as a full-time Healer so I didn¡¯t have too much trouble discovering his location.


    I entered his office and went directly to face him. The Elf was sitting behind his desk, filling in some paperwork and looked up to me with a surprised face.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ did we have an appointment ? What¡¯s your name, sir ?¡±


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha. I am afraid I forgot such thing. But I am in great pain so could you please examine me ?¡±


    ¡°Is it life threatening ?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I believe so.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ then let me have a look.¡±


    He approached me and I showed him my left arm first.


    ¡°Oh, by the 7 Sages ! Your arm is covered with third degree burns ! How long have you had it for !?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ about¡­ a few months¡­¡±


    ¡°Goodness¡­ then I am terribly sorry but I cannot do anything for you.¡±


    ¡°Why not ?¡±


    ¡°Healing Magic is dependant of how strong the attribute of its caster is. For most Elves, wounds have to be healed by Healing Magic within one week after being inflicted or else, they won¡¯t be powerful enough to cure it.¡±


    ¡°So you are not powerful enough, huh. Is there anyone you know that would be able to heal me though ?¡±


    ¡°¡­ At this stage, only one of the Sages could heal you.¡±


    ¡°And where can I find them ? On the Dorua continent ?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that should be the place where they reside. Elves are wary of outsiders though so you should be careful.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ thank you.¡±


    I left his office and headed towards the gates of the town. I casted¡ºLevitation¡»on myself and started skating on the air. I actually went faster than by riding a horse this way, although it was a more tiring.


    An easy way to make a Sage heal me was to threaten them but considering their healing abilities, the best to do that was to seal them into Void and only accept to release them on the condition they heal me. That was however impossible now.


    Not long after leaving Aldenaf, I had noticed that my mastery of Shadow Magic was relatively weak. Without Wahnsinn to assist me, I could not use¡ºShadow Warp¡»and although I could shape¡ºShadow Skin¡»to use it in battle, I could not use it to teleport myself.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    I regretted separating myself from Wahnsinn. I didn¡¯t expect my power to decrease that much just because I didn¡¯t have full control of Shadow Magic but after using it for so long, not being able to use it as well as before made me feel weaker than ever.


    Normally, understanding the theory behind Magic was enough for me to master it but Shadow Magic was complex and required a tremendous amount of concentration. I didn¡¯t feel it before because Wahnsinn was there to support me but I could now hardly rely on Shadow Magic as much as I did before.


    Something else I had noticed was that I had trouble using telepathy to talk to Wahnsinn. I thought it would be fine back in Aldenaf but it seems I was wrong. Truthfully, I was alone right now.


    My chances of getting healed didn¡¯t look very big but looking at the bright side, the Elves secluded themselves from the rest of the world so there was almost no chance for them to know that I was a wanted man in the Porcephone Empire. I didn¡¯t fool myself though. No one was generous enough to use their power to cure a total stranger from another race. I¡¯d most likely have to force one of the Sages to heal me.


    ***


    I arrived at my destination a few hours later. Luckily, Aldenaf and Bruneciel were rather close to the coast so reaching the nearest port town, Shorcoast, wasn¡¯t too long.


    The Porcephone Empire extended over two thirds of the Silis continent and the region in which Aldenaf, Noxus and Bruneciel were located was close to the sea separating the Sillis continent to the Klug one. This made it easy for the capital to trade with the Dwarves, who had a lot of natural resources to offer ¨C especially minerals and materials.


    The fastest way to reach the Dorua continent was to go through the Klug continent and take another boat to reach the Dorua coast. Klug was divided into two main areas : the Valley and the Desert. Going through the entire Valley would take a few months but it was not too long for me if it meant recovering from my injuries.


    I had no idea where I was meant to go after arriving on the Dorua continent though. I thought that I would have to think about it when it in time and headed towards the port.


    I approached one of the sailors that was waiting in front of the boat.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to get onto one of the ships that go to the Klug continent.¡±


    ¡°No problem, sir. That¡¯ll be 100 Gold coins.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ never mind, I forgot to bring the money with me.¡±


    ¡°Whatever you want sir.¡±


    As I thought, a boat trip costs a lot of money. Money which I totally lacked of at the moment. I could probably steal money from someone but I didn¡¯t want to attract too much attention on myself right now.


    I could also fly over short distances thanks to my mastery of Gravity magic but there was no way I would have enough Mana to fly over the entire sea.However, I could just hop on the boat like that as soon as it would depart.


    I decided to do that and waited for the right moment. I then jumped reduced the Gravity on myself to a minimum and used ¡ºWhirlwind¡»on myself to fly and land on the ship.


    Now, on to the Klug continent.

 Chapter 31 - The Dark Joker (2)

    I managed to stay hidden inside the boat until it reached its destination. By spreading ¡ºShadow Skin¡»on the rest of my body, I could hide in the darkness of a corner of the boat.


    Rochenoire was the name of the town I was in. It didn¡¯t look like much of a lively town but for the first time in my life, I was witnessing a different civilisation from the human one.


    The architecture was unique, with rock buildings of a relatively small height composing the residential district. But the thing that was really impressive was what I could see behind it : giant flats covered the horizon. Some were made out of glass, other out of metal. The way they were built was varied and innovative and made it look like I had just discovered a new world.


    I was in awe in front of such magnificence but my body soon reminded me of the reason I was there. An intense pain flew through my entire left arm, descending to my stomach to finish by biting my left leg. It was so intense that it made me fall on the ground, gathering a few stares from the passing dwarves.


    ¡°Aaaarg¡­ I need to find these Sages¡­ quickly¡­ ha¡­ ha¡­ .haarg¡­¡±


    ¡°Are you alright sir ?¡±


    I looked up. A young dwarf was looking at me with a worried face. Why was he talking to a stranger like me ? Are the dwarves not worried about outsiders like the Elves ?


    ¡°Do¡­ you need something from me, kid ?¡±


    ¡°Not really, I was just wondering whether you were fine since you look like you¡¯re agonising on the ground.¡±


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha¡­ I¡¯m fine.¡±


    ¡°Could it be that you too were wounded by the Orcs ?¡±


    ¡°The Orcs ?¡±


    ¡°Yes sir ! Have you not heard ? You must live under a rock if you don¡¯t know about the Orcs invading us.¡±


    ¡°¡­ Could you tell me more about that ?¡±


    ¡°So you really haven¡¯t heard !? Wow. Well I¡¯ll tell you anyway. A few weeks ago, the Orcs, who were up until now in a peaceful relationship with us, started a war for no reason and began invading our towns one by one. Half of the Dwarf territory has already fallen and there is nothing we can do : the Orcs are way more powerful than we are. The Elders have decided that we¡¯d surrender when the Orcs take the capital.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re still fighting them right now, huh ? That sounds interesting¡­ yes interesting indeed, ha, ha, ha. Thanks for the information, kid.¡±


    I left the youngling and started skating through the Klug continent as fast as I could.


    My next destination : Crevasse, the dwarf capital.


    ***


    By skating I could travel faster than by horse and it wasn¡¯t too exhausting although I had to take regular breaks to replenish my endurance. I had too much Mana to run out of it just by skating for hours though.


    Even then, the Klug continent was the largest one in the world and the distance between Crevasse and Rochenoire was huge.


    Going through cities one by one, I reached the capital 2 months later. It looked like the Orcs had made some progress as well in the meantime though because the place where I arrived looked more like a battlefield than anything else.


    From afar, I could witness just how huge the Orc army was. From the looks of it, there were approximatively 50,000 Orcs surrounding the capital.


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    I headed towards the back entrance of the town and used Magic to fly above the Orcs and enter the city. I made sure no one saw me do that, asked for directions and headed where I wanted.


    ***


    ¡°With all due respect, Grop, we have to surrender ! Let¡¯s stop this farce and spare the life of the innocents !¡±


    ¡°Stop with this nonsense ! We cannot afford to let ourselves get captured by these primitive warriors ! They will just take away our freedom and treat us like slaves !¡±


    ¡°What do you suggest then ? We have no chance of winning against them.¡±


    ¡°If we are to be annihilated anyway, we should at least die with honour, rather than as slaves !¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t we try to organise an escape ? That may work¡­¡±


    ¡°Dirk, my old friend, you know that won¡¯t work. The city is surrounded. We¡¯re doomed.¡±


    Inside the council house of the capital, the Dwarf Elders were arguing with each other about how to deal with the invasion. However, it didn¡¯t look like they were anywhere near reaching a satisfying solution. That meant it was my time to shine.


    I was lurking in the shadows, hiding my presence from the old men. Since most of the security was focused on the entrances of the capital, it was relatively easy to sneak in here.


    I left my hiding spot and walked up slowly to the four Elders who were sitting at a round conference table.


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha. It looks like you are indeed in a lot of trouble, gentlemen.¡±


    ¡°Wh-Who are you !? How did you manage to enter this place ?¡±


    ¡°That is not what is important right now. You are in a pinch because of the Orcs, aren¡¯t you ? Then how about I offer you my services ?¡±


    The Dwarves all looked at each other. They were suspicious of me but one of them looked interested by my proposition. It was the one called Grop.


    ¡°How is a single man going to make any difference ?¡±


    ¡°Well, actions are more meaningful than words. All you have to do is to agree to my terms.¡±


    ¡°Your terms ?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not much really. I will tell you what I want but rest assured : you won¡¯t have to agree if I fail anyway and if I do manage to get rid of the Orcs, you will know that the best course of action would be not to go against me.¡±


    The Dwarves consulted each other for a few seconds after I told them what I wanted and Dirk announced their answer with a forced smile.


    ¡°Well it will all depend on your result right ? Although some of us are reluctant¡­ we have no alternative.  It has been decided that the fate of the entire Dwarf race is in your hands. By the way, you haven¡¯t told us your name.¡±


    ¡°Me ? I am known as¡­ Joker.¡±


    ¡°What the¡­ well, no matter. Good luck, Joker.¡±


    They didn¡¯t look too surprised by the fact that I didn¡¯t reveal my real name to them. Considering my face was hidden though, my identity being a secret was already a given.


    ¡°Now that everything is set, it¡¯s time for me to finally get serious.¡±


    Let¡¯s show these Orcs the power of the Dark Joker.


    <hr />


    <-- Previous chapter</a>

 Chapter 32 - The Dark Joker (3)

    One man. Could one single man change the fate of a battle ? I was convinced that it was possible. At the very least, considering the circumstances, I thought I was able to decimate the Orc army.


    The Orcs didn¡¯t use Magic at all when fighting due to their extremely poor control of it. They didn¡¯t use sword techniques of the Way of the Swordsmanship like Hell or Tras either. What they relied on was merely their destructive power and raw strength, which was more than enough to beat most weaker races, especially the Dwarves.


    But I believed that Magic was a far greater power that was underestimated. And I had the most powerful type of Magic as my asset : Creative Magic.


    I mentioned it before but my current strength was only about 80% of my total power due to my constant pain on my left side. Even then, 80% is still an incredible number to me.


    After leaving the council house, I used Wind Magic to fly above the gates of the city and I faced the army of Orcs.  It seemed like most of the soldiers had gathered in front of the entrance and were waiting for something.


    The one that looked like their leader, considering his more flashy armor, took a few steps forwards and brought what looked like a horn to his mouth. A few seconds after, an echoing voice could be heard throughout the entire city.


    ¡°I am Kar¡¯Ballor, first general of Orcia Groupius ! This is an announcement to the Dwarves inside of Crevasse : surrender now and open your gates if you wish to live ! You are surrounded and cannot hope to defeat us !¡±


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha. I wouldn¡¯t be so sure about that.¡±


    I landed a few meters away from the Orc and approached him without him noticing. I was now standing a mere 2 meters in front of him. He finally took notice of me when I spoke up, looking surprised.


    ¡°A human !? Who are you ? What are you doing here ? Are you on the Dwarves¡¯ side ?¡±


    ¡°Indeed, it looks like I am. You may call me Joker.¡±


    ¡°Whahahaha ! What a dumb human ! And what do you want ? Are you the messenger to tell us they surrendered ?¡±


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha. If anything I would be the messenger of your death.¡±


    ¡°What are you gonna do ? You¡¯re alone against an army of 85,000 Orcs.¡±


    ¡°Watch and pray. Pray for your life.¡±


    I lifted my right arm and about 500 Orcs on my right fell into a giant pit made by combining Creative and Earth Magic.


    I lifted my left arm and a wave of about 800 Orcs was exterminated by a fireball of such size that one could have thought it was shot by a dragon.


    These two actions decimated quite a lot of Orcs in a mere 5 seconds but also depleted my Mana quite a lot. However, I still had more than enough to keep fighting.


    Kar¡¯Ballor looked astonished but he quickly regained his mind and ordered his army to charge.


    The Orcs army was approaching very fast, considering how close I was but I had planned such an event and used Gravitational Magic to push them away, all at once. What I did was emitting gravitational pulses from my hands to push the Orcs away. I also cast a magnetic ball in the air that attracted quite a lot of Orcs to it before blowing up and annihilating all kind of life that was stuck to it.


    ¡°Prepare yourself. This is nothing compared to what I have in stock for the Porcephone Empire. The Orcs will just serve as the appetizer to accomplish my revenge before I unleash my full wrath upon the Porcephone Empire.¡±


    ***


    The battle continued to be one-sided like that for a good hour. By then, about 75% of the Orcs had been decimated and I still had not been scratched at all. This was because none of them were able to approach me due to my constant magnetic waves.


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    Surprisingly, Kar¡¯Ballor was still alive. I had not been targeting him specifically so one could just say he was lucky not to get caught up in one of my attacks.


    However, I was starting to get concerned. My Mana had dropped significantly low due to the constant use of Creative Magic and I could feel I had about 8% of my total Mana left.


    At this rate, I would run out of it before I could kill all of them. This wasn¡¯t looking good. It seems like I had overestimated my sustain¡­


    What saved me was the fact that Kar¡¯Ballor did not know that. From what he had just witnessed, he seemed to be considering me like some sort of monster that was too much for the Orcs to handle. That bluff was all to my advantage though, because he used his horn and ordered the remains of the Orc army to fall back.


    After a few minutes, the Orcs were nothing more but a sight on the horizon.


    It was a good thing that Kar survived. He would be able to tell the other Orcs leaders about how fearsome of an opponent I was, or so I hoped.


    Anyway, my deal with the Dwarves was not done. I had promised them to win them the war, not only this battle. The Klug continent was huge and so was the Orc army. And this battle today showed clearly one thing : even I cannot take on their whole army at once. I needed to get some allies.


    I could not possibly count on the Dwarves¡¯ help. They were terrible fighters, hence their current losses against the Orcs. But my poor control of Shadow Magic made me unable to create a portal to go back to Aldenaf at the moment.


    Now that I thought about it, there was currently no way for me to go back to Aldenaf. That was kind of a stupid move from me¡­ Even if Wahnsinn had built an army for me, what was the point if I could not go back to get it ?


    This was indeed a troublesome situation for me. I headed back to the council house and announced the Orcs¡¯ defeat. The Elder Dwarves couldn¡¯t say a word because of how amazed they were. They offered me to stay at an inn for free, which I gladly accepted. It was still better to be hosted as an important guest rather than having to murder one or two people to get into a room for free.


    For a few months, I kept fighting for a few villages under the control of the Orcs. These little battles were quite easy for me but when I feared having to go up against the main force of the Orc army; I was not sure about my chances of winning. Actually, they looked very slim.


    Despite this, my reputation among the Orc and Dwarves started to grow little by little and the ¡°Dark Joker¡± had slowly become a name feared by many and said with respect by others. It seems like some Dwarves considered me to be some kind of deity while some Orcs thought I was a reaper, a messenger of death. That wasn¡¯t too far from reality in my opinion ¨C especially considering half of my body looked more like a skeleton than a normal human.


    Despite this, I realised that even though I boasted being pragmatic, I had failed to plan what I should do in case of me not being able to go back to Aldenaf. Besides, me going up against the entire Orc army was reckless as well.


    Even then, I did it because I knew I had the potential to succeed. And the luck I needed to defeat them was on my side. After all, the ally I was looking for presented itself five months after my one-man war against the Orcs started.


    An ally that would change the outcome of the future battles.

 Chapter 33 - The renegade

    For five months, I kept on fighting.


    I was aware however, that it was impossible for me to face the entire Orc army using only my sheer strength. I was almost overwhelmed in my first battle against them and I therefore had to rely on more strategic approaches to win against them.


    I studied the geography of the Klug continent in more detail and made use of the landscape to set up magic traps that allowed me to defeat the Orcs more easily.


    Although I was using these clever tactics, the Orcs started adapting as well. As the months passed, they came more and more prepared, scouted the area meticulously before sending their troops and stopped acting recklessly.


    The other problem was that I could feel myself weakening constantly. It was a very slow and agonising decay of my health and I felt myself coughing more often as the days passed. If I had to say, I could probably only use 65% of my total Mana now.


    ¡°*Cough *cough*¡­ Ha, ha, ha¡­ Maybe helping the Dwarves wasn¡¯t the best choice considering my priorities¡­ But still¡­ I have to go through the Klug continent to reach Dorua so I have no choice but to fight the Orcs¡­¡±


    This was because the sea that separated Klug and Dorua was too large for me to fly over it. I needed a boat to cross it but the harbour that would allow me to do that was under the control of the Orcs.


    At this point, I had freed twenty-four towns from the Orcs, three of them being strategically important points. I was now in the centre of Klug where there was nothing around me but a valley.


    This was probably the best checkpoint in the entire continent. It was currently under the control of the Orcs, just like all the other cities that I had not yet reached, on the northern half of Klug ¨C up until now I had come from the south. Whoever controlled his valley, called the ¡°Sandstorm Desert¡±, could navigate freely between the two halves of the Klug continent.


    It is therefore needless to say that it was the location with the highest number of Orcs, behind the Orc capital. Not something I could take on myself.


    But despite the odds, I had no choice but to try to steal it back from the Orcs. The longer it was under their control, the longer they could keep sending reinforcements to the southern part of Klug.


    The Sandstorm Desert was essentially a giant rift that split the continent in half. A bridge had been built for people to cross over but there was now an Orc fortress at the southern end of it.


    I was observing the Orc fortress, planning my next course of action. From afar, I could see a group of Orcs patrolling around the walls of the fortress. Whoever wanted to reach the southern part of Klug had to go through it.


    From the looks of it, the only way I could destroy the fortress would be to make the cliff it was on collapse or use a large scale spell to destroy it in one go. But the problem was that the Sandstorm Desert¡¯s rocks were made out of a special mineral called Lunq.


    Lunq was a stone that was commonly used for enchantments because it had the propriety to absorb Mana. The fact that the Sandstorm Desert was covered with Lunq made me totally unable to cast spells in this area ¨C my Mana would just get absorbed into the ground and make the spell vanish before I could cast it.


    In other words, I couldn¡¯t even fly past the rift. And travelling around it would not solve the problem because it would just make it harder for me to retreat later on and that would also mean I would be definitely surrounded by the Orcs if I were to proceed further into the Klug continent.


    I was at a loss over what to do. That¡¯s when I heard it. A growl that came from the deepest part of the rift.


    It looked like the Orcs had been throwing waste in the rift while building more fortifications around the fortress and by the sound of it, the beast that was sleeping in the gap was not happy about that.


    Suddenly, the ground started shaking and a pillar of black flames erupted from the bottom of the valley.


    The bridge got destroyed very fast and a black dragon emerged vertically from its hideout at an impressive speed.


    Very quickly, the dragon flew over the fortress and started showering in dark flames, turning the desert into a land of fire.


    It was the first time I had seen a dragon in reality and it looked way bigger than what I had imagined. It had a high number of grey spikes on its black scales and bright red eyes that glowed in a furious manner.


    After five minutes of pure destruction, nothing was left from the Orcs¡¯ buildings. The dragon was still hovering in the skies, looking for more opponents to exterminate. As it realised there was no longer any Orc alive, it shifted its gaze towards the only living being left in the area : me.


    However, I was expecting that and had already started running as soon as I saw the dragon going on a rampage. The reason is that I could not hope to defeat it as long as I stayed near Lunq rocks.


    Luckily, I was already standing at the borders of the Sandstorm Desert and when the black menace caught up to me, I had reached a location that no longer restricted me from using Mana.


    Despite my predictions, the dragon didn¡¯t attack me immediately. Instead, it stopped in midair and stared at me. It then opened its mouth and talked.


    ¡°Human¡­ you are like me, aren¡¯t you ? A renegade.¡±


    ***


    I was speechless. First of all because I did not expect a dragon to be able to speak ¨C the books I had read about them describe them as A rank monsters, not intelligent creatures capable of speech.


    The second reason is because it looked like he had seen right through me. I was intrigued and curious to know why he called me a renegade. I decided to speak with him before fighting, although I was almost certain of winning a fight against him, even with only 65% of my total power.


    ¡°A renegade ? Ha, ha, ha¡­ Maybe you could call me that.¡±


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    ¡°There is nothing to hide, human. My eyes do not lie and I can see your Aura. It is tainted. It used to be gold but it is now full of shades of black. Only a forsaken could have such an aura. Just like me.¡±


    ¡°Do you have a tragic story as well ? I¡¯d be glad to hear it but my time is precious you see ?¡±


    ¡°Such an insolent human¡­ I am being extremely kind by allowing you to live another few seconds before I burn you to a crisp like I did with these primitive Orcs.¡±


    ¡°Burn you say ? Ha, ha, ha¡­ that¡¯s funny but I don¡¯t think you could burn me more than I already am.¡±


    I decided to remove my mask and show the dragon the ugly truth about my face.


    ¡°Clinging to your life like the pathetic human you are. I do not know the reason you were at the same place as Orcs but the fact is that my sleep has been disturbed. I shall not forgive such insolence. I shall now be merciful and free you from your suffering.¡±


    Dark fire started accumulating in the mouth of the dragon. It was obvious that its next attack was going to be aimed at me. But I was prepared.


    ¡°If you are able to see my aura, then you should not have started a fight with me¡­¡±


    The black fireball was shot but never reached its target. That is because it was trapped into a gigantic tornado.


    ¡°I had a plan in case I ever met a dragon. It would be stupid to waste Mana trying to take one down with fireballs and such due to how mobile they are in the air. Therefore it is best to use Wind Magic and Gravity Magic.¡±


    Although the dragon managed to dodge the tornado, the wind generated by it disturbed the black lizard¡¯s flight which allowed me to pin it down easily with¡ºExtreme Burden¡», a Gravity Magic spell that puts a high pressure on the enemy to squash it to the ground.


    Although it was now on the ground, it didn¡¯t make the dark drake any less dangerous. But for me it was now a piece of cake to defeat it.


    The dragon charged towards me and tried to slash me with its razor-like claws but¡ºWind Push¡»allowed me to dodge the attack. After evading several desperate attacks, I finally used Earth Magic to trap the dragon by sealing its legs and arms into the ground.


    I then spawned an¡ºEarth Spike¡»strong enough to pierce the dragon¡¯s scales and enchanted it with¡ºShadow Skin¡»before stabbing it into the creature¡¯s chest. I tried to avoid killing the dragon but still stabbed it deep inside him.


    The dragon screamed in agony but it did not die. However, its fate was now in my hands as it could neither move nor attack me anymore.


    ¡°¡­ Looks like this is the end. My pride got in the way and I did not realise how powerful you were, despite seeing your threatening Aura, human. Kill me now.¡±


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha. What purpose is there in killing you ? No, no¡­ I have much better plans for you. You are coming with me.¡±


    ¡°I hope you are not trying to tame a dragon, human mage. I would never bow down to a weaker being, especially a human.¡±


    ¡°You clearly saw that I am stronger than you, right ? This isn¡¯t even my full power.¡±


    ¡°Dragons are honourable creatures. That may work with some of my kind, but I am not a normal dragon. You can be sure I would kill you whenever I get the chance.¡±


    ¡°Oh but I never believed in a relationship built on trust. That¡¯s why I stabbed you with an enchanted spear. I read that dragons have a high healing rate. Your chest is going to recover from that wound very fast but that spear is going to stay inside your body. And I can make it devour your insides by reactivating it whenever I want.¡±


    This was not actually entirely true. It was possible for me to make¡ºShadow Skin¡»eat the dragon from its insides but I would require Wahnsinn¡¯s assistance, so what I just said was currently a bluff.


    ¡°I see¡­ you¡¯re a clever one aren¡¯t you ? But that matters not. I would still choose death over losing my freedom.¡±


    ¡°Aaaah¡­ you¡¯re a stubborn one aren¡¯t you ? When did I say you were becoming my slave ?¡±


    ¡°What ?¡±


    ¡°You said you are a renegade, right ? Then I am logically assuming you are a renegade to other dragons. That being said, you also seem to despise humans and Orcs.¡±


    ¡°This is all true. I wish for the destructions of dragons and humans. I don¡¯t care about the Orcs, these ones just paid the price for disturbing my sleep.¡±


    ¡°Then we have a similar objective ! Look, I will help you getting revenge on dragons and I also seek for the destruction of humans.¡±


    ¡°A human seeking the destruction of his own kind ? Truly¡­ you sound like me. Speak, human for I am listening. What do you expect from me ?¡±


    ¡°I want you to help me get rid of the Orcs first. Then we will  go over to the Dorua continent and get my burns healed. Finally, we will come back to Sill and eradicate the humans there. After this is done, I will help you to annihilate the dragons.¡±


    ¡°It sounds too good to be true¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, I am still threatening you with a bomb inside your body. You¡¯d better not get in my way.¡±


    ¡°You do have the upper hand. If you help me accomplish my revenge, human, then I shall accept. What is your name ?¡±


    ¡°I am Joker. What about you ?¡±


    ¡°Houhandorkalis used to be my draconic name. But I now hate it. Feel free to call me whatever you want, Joker.¡±


    ¡°Now that you are on my side, I can finally complete my quest, ha, ha, ha. Spades will be your name.¡±


    This would be the first ace in my army to accomplish my goals. With a dragon on my side¡­ nothing could stop me.


    At least, that is what I thought due to my joy of gaining a powerful ally. But it was my mistake for overlooking how many Orcs there actually were.


    What I thought could be finished in a few months actually took four more years. Four years during which I had to survive from my disease by absorbing a kind of potion I crafted that allowed me to slow down my health¡¯s decay.


    I was close to reaching my 20th birthday when I woke up in one of the beds of the Orc capital, Gal¡¯Bruud.


    At long last, there was not a single Orc remaining in the entire world.

 Chapter 33.5 - He, who watches

    ¡°Ooooh¡­ I see that one of the main races has been entirely decimated ! How interesting.¡±


    I was currently watching the Klug continent. Watching is all I could do since I did not exist in this realm anymore. But I still had eyes to oversee the world. My world. Yet the one thing that was stolen away from me.


    ¡°The Orcs have never been a really interesting race anyway. I always disliked these brutal idiots. They couldn¡¯t even control Magic. Such failures. But still¡­ even the Orc children were killed. That¡¯s quite brutal. Looks like the one who calls himself Joker is serious about what he¡¯s doing. Ooooh, how I wish I could be there at this point in time. But it¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll wait a bit longer.¡±


    It¡¯s not like I was in a dull place. I was in the world I had created after all. And it was dream-like. But I was lonely. I was alone, after all these years. Even an amazing place gets boring after a while if you¡¯re the only one there.


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    ¡°This Joker kid though¡­ he can use Xii, huh ? I have not seen anyone else use Xii ever since my disciple erased all traces of it. Hahaha, this is interesting, ooooh how interesting. Hopefully he will meet my disciple. That would be another interesting event.¡±


    I really wanted to meet Joker. There were so many things I wanted to do.


    ¡°It¡¯s been awhile since I watched Sigmas. Sleeping so long makes you even more tired. How long did I sleep for this time ? Ten years ? Twenty years ? I wake up and an entire race has been erased by one human who can use Xii. Is this fate ? Maybe the time has come for me to come back as well ? Hahahaha¡­¡±


    But for now, I am waiting. I have been waiting for years. Hundreds of years. My return is unavoidable. No matter how long it takes, I WILL be back.


    And when that happens¡­

 Chapter 34 - The living god

    ¡°It¡¯s been such a long while since I celebrated my birthday. I think the last time was when I turned 15 years old¡­ Not that I could really call this a celebration, ha, ha, ha.¡±


    I was currently talking to myself, while eating in the middle of a giant room that used to be the Orc High General¡¯s dinner hall in the capital. He was the highest ranked Orc in the world and also one of the Orcs I crushed last. Despite this, his personal rooms were far less luxurious than what the Emperor probably had.


    That and the fact that there was no standing wall left around me, as I was in the middle of a destroyed battlefield.


    After allying myself with Spades, the war had become pretty one sided. Unlike my Magic, the Orcs weapons were unable to take down a dragon and his raw power combined with my Creative Magic allowed me to erase some entire Orc cities at once.


    Large scale mass destruction Magic was obviously the one I used most often. It could be an Earthquake, a massive Tornado or a rain of fire. They would usually leave me exhausted but after resting and taking in my daily dose of potion, I would feel ready to continue.


    The Orc capital was the last one to fall. Despite the heavy guard of the city, I entered very easily by riding Spades. He started decimating the Orcs with his tremendous firepower while I used Earth Creative Magic to literally make the city collapse on itself. No survivor.


    By moving towards the capital, I had been progressing towards the north of the Klug continent and now that I had reached it, only the vast sea was separating me from the Dorua continent and my salvation.


    Although the potion had indeed slowed down the effects of my sickness, I could feel it becoming much more of a burden than when I left Aldenaf. I was now coughing blood and had some regular nosebleeds after exhausting myself.


    It looked like Spades had come to respect me as his comrade and was showing concern about my health. His attitude was still generally cold but he no longer treated me as an inferior organism.


    At first, I was thinking of going back to the Dwarf capital to take my toll but I quickly realised that if I were to take such a detour, I may very well run out of time before I could make it to the Dorua continent. I would have all the time I needed to make sure to have the Dwarves Elders keep their promise after I got healed by the Elves.


    Rather than going there by boat, it was now fast to just ride Spades to Dorua. I could have done it from the moment I allied myself with him but if I had delayed the Orc¡¯s extermination, that would have meant the cancellation of the deal I had with them, which, I had to admit, was disadvantageous to me.


    Thus, after finishing my 20th birthday meal, I flew to the Dorua continent on Spades¡¯ back.


    ***


    The first thing that came to sight when approaching the Dorua continent was its extreme vegetation. Trees that were taller than anything I had seen before were standing in front of me, emitting a sacred feeling.


    I had indeed read in books that Elves were creatures that lived in harmony with the nature so such a scenery was something to be predicted. What lied beyond however, betrayed all my expectations. An enormous amount of buildings made of steel and stone hid in the back, behind the disguise of the forest.


    The sky, which was deep blue where I was, looked more grayish than anything else around those buildings. Skyscrapers reached out to the clouds while the activity on the ground was surprisingly active. I could see hundreds of Elves walking in the streets with a busy look on the face of each of them. Their clothes did not match the ones the Healers wore in the Sill continent. They had a weird feel to them but it was definitely something that I was seeing for the very first time. These clothes were made out of tissue; most of them were grey or black, covering a white shirt and the men were wearing a tie while the women walked with black high heels.


    Smoke came out of thicker buildings as well as a noisy sound. This noise was enough to cover the sound of me approaching on a giant black dragon, fending the skies.


    I had strictly no idea where to go now that I had arrived in what I had guessed to be the Elven capital. I jumped off Spade¡¯s back and told him to wait for my signal. I landed on top of a building which I proceeded to exit by going through it.


    I did not spend any time visiting it but I did see that many Elves were working on their own desk, all coordinated like an army of ants. When I finally reached the ground, I decided to interrogate a passing woman Elf.


    ¡°Excuse me, what can you tell me about the Sages ? I¡¯m a tourist so I don¡¯t quite know but I heard about them and I am interested..¡±


    ¡°Get out of the way.¡±


    The woman pushed me aside and carried on walking, paying no further attention to me. This annoyed me quite a bit so I decided to change my course of action.


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha¡­Getting ignored is the worst for a joker. Change of plans.¡±


    I fell on the ground, feigning me fainting, as if the woman was the cause for my fall. I stopped moving after doing so and waited. Despite how busy she looked, the Elf noticed me falling and came back to check on me.


    ¡°Hey, are you alright ? I didn¡¯t push you that strongly¡­ Come on wake up¡­ oohh¡­ at this rate I¡¯ll be late for the meeting¡­ but if I let this guy die I¡¯ll be sent in jail. Someone, please call a healer !¡±


    A few minutes later, a Healer wearing a white blouse came to check on me. When he noticed my burns after removing my mask, the Healer and a few other Elves carried me to a room. The Healer slapped me and I opened my right eye.


    ¡°Come on, stay with me. Stay awake. Do your best to stay awake. You¡¯re suffering from very grave burns that I cannot treat with my Magic due to how long you¡¯ve had them for.¡±


    ¡°It¡­ burns¡­ Haaa¡­¡±


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.To be honest, the pain had become something I was used to and it was bearable, for now at least. But I did my best to act as if I was in a maximum amount of pain.


    ¡°Don¡¯t move. I¡¯ll have to call one of the Sages.¡±


    ¡°Where¡­ am I ?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t even know that ? Well talking with you is the best way to keep you awake so asking me questions is fine. You are currently in Glavopolis, the Elven main city.¡±


    ¡°Why would¡­ someone like a Sage¡­ bother wasting time just to¡­ heal a stranger like me ?¡±


    ¡°Believe it or not but the Sages are actually working as heads of the Healers. When we get patients we can¡¯t cure, it¡¯s part of their job to cure these patients themselves.¡±


    ¡°Arcadeus¡­ as well ?¡±


    ¡°Yes, although we only ever call him for life and death situations, which almost never happens. Elves can self-regenerate so healers in this city only exist for the tourists. I didn¡¯t know we still had some tourists though, I thought the port of the Dorua continent was closed¡­¡±


    So the port was closed ? Not surprising, considering that the Orcs had probably also threatened the Elves as only the sea was separating them from each other.


    ¡°Well, do your best to hold on. One of the Sages should be here soon.¡±


    I waited for about ten more minutes and an Elf wearing traditional clothing finally showed up, followed by two others. They seemed about twenty years old each. As they approached, the Healer ¨C who also looked to be in his twenties ¨C bowed down respectfully.


    ¡°Here you are, Sages. Sorry to call you on such short notice but this patient is a human and has got very grave burns that need immediate healing.¡±


    ¡°I will take over from here, Klaus. Hi sir, I am Irslan, the 4th Sage. Behind me stand the 3rd and 2nd Sages.¡±


    The three Elves looked at me. They seemed so young that I would not have believed they were Sages had the Healer not bowed down.


    The Healer bowed once more and left the room, leaving me alone with the three men.


    ¡°It¡¯s just as Lord Arcadeus had predicted. This is the cursed kid. Kill him.¡±


    I must thank my training that allowed me to react fast enough to the ¡ºWind Razor¡»and ¡ºEarth Spikes¡»that were cast on me.


    Had I not used¡ºDragonfly¡», I would have been either impaled or cut in half before being able to do anything.


    I readied myself for battle and cast three¡ºPhantom Fireballs¡»at them. Even Elves that were skilled in handling Cindril could not protect against a spell that ignored shields and armors.


    The three of them erected an¡ºEarth Shield¡»each and as expected the blue fireballs went through them. But they got stopped before reaching their targets. Or rather, they disappeared into nothingness. A second after, a shock wave was emitted from each place where the fireballs disappeared and the three Elves were knocked back. They still stood still though. They didn¡¯t look surprised though, as if they had planned all this.


    ¡°Lord Arcadeus, you saved us¡± the 4th Sage shouted.


    Behind the three of them, a fourth Elf wearing grey traditional clothing appeared. Unlike the other three however, he was wearing golden earrings and a golden pendant. He also looked young but his hair was white despite having no apparent wrinkle.


    ¡°Irslan, Kalagos, Grisis, stand aside. This opponent is too powerful for you.¡±


    ¡°With all due respect, Lord Arcadeus, are you sure about your claim ? We are 3 Sages and he is a lone wounded kid. Clearly he shouldn¡¯t stand a chance.¡±


    ¡°I am saying that for your sake only. Even lone against the three of you, this human is powerful enough to kill you all without suffering a single injury. Your legendary level spells are nothing in comparison to his power. Only I can defeat him.¡±


    ¡°Do you mean to say that he is a god, like you, Lord Arcadeus ?¡±


    ¡°A god, huh ? He is nothing but a deceiver. Do not insult me by grouping him with me. However powerful he is, he is still nothing before me.¡±


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha. Is your little conversation finished ? I don¡¯t quite know what¡¯s going on but I guess I can say goodbye to you healing me back to full health obediently. Well that¡¯s a shame but I guess I¡¯ll just have to force you to do it once I beat you.¡±


    ¡°Do not overestimate yourself because of your knowledge of Xii, human. I have far more experience and Mana than you. Besides, you are but a wounded animal in front of a god. Let me show you true power.¡±


    I cast several¡ºPhantom Fireballs¡»but they all disappeared into shock waves like the ones earlier. Arcadeus walked up towards me, and as he approached, the Earth started to crumble. As he got closer, Earthquakes formed around us and a little arena was built from the rest of road crumbling around us.


    I tried to take off with¡ºLevitation¡»but I was pinned down by an intense gravity, just like what I had done to Spades. I was stuck in this arena with Arcadeus.


    He was now too close for me to try to shoot him with spells. I dashed up to him and tried to slash him with a blade made of shadow on my left arm. I created an¡ºEarth Spear¡»and handled it with my right hand. I then managed to slashed Arcadeus multiple times with my weapons before he collapsed.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    The Elf¡¯s body suddenly melted, as if it was made of water and I could hear the sound of meat being stabbed. I had just been stabbed in the stomach from behind by a spear made of ice.


    ¡°Pathetic. A weak 20 years-old-human trying to take down a nearly 950 years-old-Elf. How laughable. It¡¯s disappointing that Porcephone didn¡¯t kill you when he could. Yet another useless puppet.¡±


    I fell on the ground and rolled to get a clear sight of the first Sage. Blood was dripping out of my wound and I could feel my vision becoming blurry. Arcadeus lifted his spear in the air and was about to deal the final blow.


    He swung his spear towards my head.


    And then¡­


    Pitch black.

 Chapter 35 - Reunion

    Is this¡­ the afterlife ?¡±


    This was a legit question. Thinking about it, I had been cut down by Arcadeus and I saw myself getting absorbed into darkness. And now I could no longer feel a pain in my stomach, where I was stabbed.


    In fact, I could not feel any pain in my left arm either. And my left leg. Anywhere in my left side. After experiencing an unending pain for five years, the relief felt so surreal that I could not believe it. I had to look at it with my eyes to be sure.


    Wait. Eyes ?


    My left eye¡­ it was there ! I was completely healed !


    But¡­ the only person who could have done that was a Sage and they started attacking me for some unknown reason. Which meant¡­ that I was currently dead.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think that the afterlife would be a common room like this one. To be honest, I did not even believe in a life after death.¡±


    ¡°Who says you are dead, Joker ? You still have your vengeance to accomplish, right ?¡±


    ¡°W-Wahnsinn !?¡±


    I finally noticed the golem that was looking at me ever since I had awakened. This was the Avatar Golem, in other words, Wahnsinn. Which meant I was most likely back to Aldenaf.


    ¡°How did I¡­ hmm¡­ if I was to guess, I¡¯d say you teleported me, Wahnsinn, right ?¡±


    ¡°Indeed. Although I was unable to communicate because of the weak connection, I was still able to watch over you through¡ºShadow Skin¡». But because of the mission you gave me, I was lacking the Mana to establish a link between the two of us strong enough for us to talk to each other.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, I see. Speaking about that, how many golems have you made since I was gone ?¡±


    ¡°Approximately 500,000 golems.¡±


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha, that¡¯s quite the satisfying number. Even if that is only about a third of the Porcephone Empire¡¯s army, that¡¯s more than enough. So, coming back to what happened earlier, how did you teleport me if the connection was so weak ?¡±


    ¡°I asked Alae and the twins to pour Mana into the Altar when I saw how your fight with Arcadeus was going. Fortunately, they were in the castle when you started fighting him so they had enough time to reach the Altar. Although the twins did a fine job, Alae filled the Altar with so much Mana that it became overloaded and allowed me to teleport you via¡ºShadow Skin¡». But there is something you seem to have got wrong. Your fight with Arcadeus wasn¡¯t just a moment ago¡­ it happened three days ago and you were unconscious all this time due to your wounds.¡±


    ¡°Is that so ? By the way, how did I get healed ? Could it be that Alae managed to awaken to Healing Magic ?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. She nursed you back to health for three days that she spent healing your burns. Considering a Sage was needed to heal these wounds, this means her power may be even higher than what we had predicted. The only thing she couldn¡¯t regenerate was your left eye.¡±


    ¡°But I can see just fine with it¡­ What did you do to it ?¡±


    ¡°Well it looks like she could not regenerate something that was entirely missing because of her current lack of knowledge of Healing Magic so we used one of Jerius eyes, the one we had kept as¡ºExit¡». We transplanted it onto you thanks to her Magic. Who would have thought that saving the Elf¡¯s eyes would come in handy ?¡±


    ¡°I need to thank Alae. She did an amazing job.¡±


    ¡°Well she¡¯s right next to you in case you still haven¡¯t noticed. I¡¯ll leave you two alone.¡±


    I turned my head and finally saw her. She was sleeping on my bed, resting her head against my right leg. She looked like she had not had enough sleep for a while and was even drooling a little. Even then, me talking with Wahnsinn was enough to wake her up. When she saw me awake, her eyes widened and an expression of extreme relief showed on her face. She jumped on me to hug me as tears were stacked in the corner of her eyes.


    ¡°Joker, you¡¯re fine ! I¡¯m so glad ! Oh, sorry for hugging you, are you alright ? Did I hurt you ?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, ha, ha, ha. Although I¡¯m a bit surprised¡­ the only reason I recognised you is because I know there is only one woman in Aldenaf. You changed so much in five years.¡±


    If I recalled correctly, she was now eighteen years old. The child I had left five years ago had turned into an adult. And what a change¡­


    Her already long straight black hair had grown even longer, slightly past her waist. Her face had grown more mature but it remained innocent and youthful. Her figure had shaped into a pronounced hourglass one as she had developed some nice curves.


    I surprised myself looking at her in a lustful manner. This scene was similar to that one time when I was wounded by Iron Boars, years ago, when Blume was on the side of my bed, waiting for me to wake up.But to be perfectly honest, I had now forgotten what she even looked like and amongst the distorted feelings that had driven me to commit murder in Aldenaf, jealousy and despair had disappeared.


    Only wrath remained. A wrath I was fully directing against the Porcephone Empire.


    That being said, I was (now) a healthy twenty years old and a girl very much to my tastes was hugging me tightly. I could not help but feel aroused by that. And considering the way my body had been destroyed for the past five years, I had not been able to relieve myself as I would have naturally needed to, making her display of affection all the more difficult to bear.


    ¡°I trained so long to try to control Healing Magic and heal you¡­ but it was all fruitless until I hit my eighteenth birthday. Around that time I naturally started to be able to cure the twins when they got wounded during training. It¡¯s like something triggered inside me as I became eighteen.¡±


    ¡°So the control of the healing attribute would be linked to biological development, huh ? That¡¯s interesting¡­¡±


    ¡°When I heard from Wahnsinn that you were in a grave danger, I got so scared¡­ I was so worried about you that when he asked me to pour Mana into the Altar, I ended up pouring enough to teleport you¡­ We already tried to teleport you back before using the same technique, but the amount of Mana was never enough. This time however, it looks like I was able to fill the Altar, thanks to the help of Burs and Armius.¡±


    Tears started rolling on her cheeks.


    ¡°Please¡­ don¡¯t scare me like that anymore¡­ it was already hard enough not being able to be with you for five years¡­ *sniff* but¡­ thinking that you may end up wounded¡­ or worse¡­ *sniff* you are all I have left. So please don¡¯t leave me alone anymore¡­¡±


    ¡°Alright, alright, I promise. I won¡¯t leave you alone.¡±


    ¡°Ok then¡­ *ahem* I¡¯m sorry I showed you an unsightly side of me¡­ Drooling earlier and crying right now, I-I¡­¡±


    She blushed and tried to hide her face in embarrassment. She looked so cute that after hearing what she said, I could no longer stop myself from doing what I was about to do.


    I moved her hands away from her face and as she showed me an expression full of surprise, I moved my head towards hers, lifted her chin with my hand and kissed her.


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    ¡°Eh ? Eeh ?¡±


    She looked astonished and confused. When she realised what was going on after a few seconds, her face became even more flushed than before.


    As I said before, what happened when I was fifteen was an error, something that should never have happened. My experience with Blume, who I could barely remember, was nothing else but a nightmare¡­ a bad joke.


    In other words, I considered this kiss to be my first one. Feeling somewhat happy, I headed outside the castle and left Alae daydreaming on the bed.


    ***


    I met with the twins in the backyard of the castle. They were training just like they used to before I departed. The difference is that both of them had turned into giants.


    Seriously speaking, they were both two heads taller than me, despite being only sixteen and I was by no mean a small person. On the contrary, I was rather on the tall side so these two could be considered as giants.


    I could however no longer differentiate Armius from Burs.


    ¡°Joker you¡¯re back ! We were worried when you came back wounded but it looks like Alae fixed you well good, hehehe.¡±


    ¡°Burs, watch your speech for goodness¡¯ sake. You¡¯re talking to Lord Joker. Be more respectuous.¡±


    After saying that, the twin I had identified as Armius bowed down to me. Soon after, his brother did the same.


    ¡°Oh, yes you¡¯re right. My lord, welcome back. We have been training hard, awaiting for your return, for all these years.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see Alae finally healed your burns.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡±


    ¡°But your eyes¡­ they are not the same colour¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah is that so ? I haven¡¯t had time to check them yet¡­¡±


    Now that I think about it, what colour were Jerius¡¯ eyes ? I could not remember a fine detail like that. I created ice with Creative magic and looked at my face.


    It looked like a normal twenty-years-old¡¯s face. Except for the fact that my hair was silver and that my left eye was light purple, in contrast to my dark brown right eye.


    I could feel a strange amount of power located in this new eye. Something that was all new to me. A fresh and cool feeling.


    Wahnsinn came to meet me soon after.


    ¡°Your eye is still embedded with¡ºShadow Skin¡»you know ? You should be able to use Shadow Magic from your eye now.¡±


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha, I see.¡±


    ¡°Nice pun.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Anyway, now that you¡¯re back, what are you planning to do ?¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m healed, you probably saw Spades as you were watching me and my army is ready. I just need to check on the twins¡¯ ability and then all that will be left to do will be to march towards Naxus.¡±


    ¡°I can affirm that the twins have made major progress as Paladin warriors.They cannot use Creative Magic but they mastered Expert level Elementary Magic. Well you could just have a mock battle with them to test their abilities, if you feel better.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I was planning on doing that.¡±


    Hearing this, Armius and Burs approached me.


    ¡°Hey bro, should we show Lord Joker how strong we¡¯ve become ?¡±


    ¡°Burs, we shall show him proof of our training.¡±


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha. Ok boys, let¡¯s do this.¡±


    We readied ourselves. I had read about the way Paladins position themselves but it was nothing like the way the two of them did. They were standing close to each other in complementary positions that showed that they were ready to lean onto each other whenever they would need to.


    Then they attacked.


    It was a strike directly aimed at me launched simultaneously by them. They propelled themselves with¡ºWhirlwind¡»and their swords slashed me with fire and lightning enchantments.


    Or at least would have slashed me if I had not blinked behind them thanks to¡ºDragonfly¡»and¡ºShadow Warp¡».


    ¡°I see¡­ you are fighting coordinatively, huh ? That¡¯s smart of you. Using combo attacks is certainly not something your opponent would expect or be used to. In that case¡­¡±


    I spawned two¡ºStone Swords¡»in my hands which I enchanted with¡ºDragonfly¡»and hardened with my control of Earth Magic. I normally did not use weapons to fight due to my lack of ability to handle them but the extra reaction and movement time given to me by¡ºDragonfly¡»allowed me to make up for this handicap.


    I had enchanted the swords with the same spell as well for some extra swiftness when fighting the two of them. As a result, the blades were so easy to manipulate that it felt like they were naturally following my mind as if they were a part of my body.


    I then proceeded to spar with the two for a good couple of minutes. They had some very nice moves which put me in difficulty ¨C simply because I had decided to fight them with weapons instead of unleashing my raw power. In the end, they did manage to unarm me and right when they were going for a final strike, I readied myself to use a shockwave to send them flying but Wahnsinn interrupted us by enveloping us in darkness and warping us at a different distance from each other.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough. Any more than this and the fight could degenerate. But I gather you had a good chance at seeing the progress these two made, right Joker ?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right, we wouldn¡¯t want to end up with some injuries, although I wouldn¡¯t mind getting nursed back to health by Alae once more, ha, ha, ha. But yes, the level they achieved is remarkable. Enough for me to brand you with titles.¡±


    Armius lifted an eyebrow.


    ¡°Titles ? What do you mean, Lord Joker ?¡±


    ¡°Armius, you shall be known as Ace of Clubs. And Burs will be known as Ace of Diamond. Alae will be the Ace of Heart. And I, of course, am the Joker.¡±


    ¡°Does that make Wahnsinn the Ace of Spades ?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re quick on the uptake, Armius but no. Wahnsinn is a part of me so he is also Joker. The Ace of Spades¡­ well you¡¯ll meet him soon enough. Anyway, good work today. Rest well because we will soon depart for the Porcephone Empire.¡±


    Burs brightened up and lifted his fist up in the air.


    ¡°Long live the Kingdom of Shadows ! The revolution against the Porcephone Empire is coming ! Hooray !¡±


    We spent the rest of the day feasting with food prepared by Alae ¨C she had developed some incredible cooking skills. We were getting the ingredients from the outside by teleporting to a nearby town from where Aldenaf used to be, Ardamant.


    The next day, the Solitary Army from the Kingdom of Shadows would start its march upon the corrupted Porcephone Empire.

 Chapter 36 - It begins where it all ended

    ¡°Welcome ladies and gentlemen for the twenty-ninth edition of the annual Porcephone Magic Tournament !¡±


    Cheers rose up in the new Coliseum, which had recently been expanded by the new Emperor. There was now a commentator sitting on a platform in the upper side of the arena.


    ¡°But before the matches begin, please salute our Emperor, Orth Porcephone !¡±


    The cheers stopped as a young man walked up the highest platform of the stage, a balcony dominating both the audience and the dueling grounds. He was a man who was in his early twenties and was wearing the traditional Emperor clothes.


    Behind him, an old man ¨C his father the previous Emperor, could be seen with a satisfied expression. A third man, who according to his clothes looked like the Archmage, was also there.


    Both Emperors then sat on magnificent thrones made of gold and steel. And the first match began.


    Just like every year, it was a competition for those ranging from ten to twenty years old. Just like every year, weapons other than magically created ones were prohibited as well as any magic accessory. Just like every year, most participants were battling using Intermediate and Expert Magic.


    There was a challenger however, who defeated all his opponents without getting scratched a single time.


    Unlike the previous Emperor, Orth Porcephone was actively watching all the matches, thoroughly enjoying his time, not just the finals. That is why the contestant that scored a perfect in all of his fights spiked the Emperor¡¯s interest.


    He was a man with a black hoodie that was hiding his face. He looked slick and slim but the rest of his clothes were mostly hidden by a black cape.


    Eventually, the matches kept going on and the mysterious undefeated man made it to the finals, still without any injury.


    ¡°And now¡­ the finals, ladies and gentlemen ! On my left, the terror of the west side of the Porcephone Empire, the one feared by many of his peers¡­ Artwarth Drakes  !¡±


    ¡°And on my right¡­ a mysterious unscathed challenger who seems to be an unstoppable force¡­ the man who people call Kehrr Jo !¡±


    ¡°Get ready for the fight of the year¡­ go !¡±


    Drakes started the encounter very offensively by creating a magical¡ºEarth Armor¡»to protect himself. He then spawned multiple¡ºEarth Spikes¡»in the air, which he launched at full speed towards Jo with the force of¡ºWhirlwind¡». To further increase the damage output, he had made the spikes spin beforehand using¡ºWind Push¡»very precisely. This truly showed that Drakes was an experienced Magic user.


    But all this looked like nothing but childsplay to Kehrr. Jo swept the spikes with a¡ºWhirlwind¡»on a whole different level than Drakes¡¯. He then proceeded to use¡ºWind Push¡»on himself to get closer to Drakes. He ripped through the armor with a few¡ºWind Razors¡»despite how sturdy it looked. He finished his deeds by knocking his opponent in the air with another¡ºWhirlwind¡».


    A match that was supposed to be the greatest match of the year was finished in mere seconds.


    The audience eventually looked like they understood what had just happened and while an Elf was rushing to Drakes¡¯ side, the spectators started cheering the mysterious man.


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    The Emperor truly looked impressed as he moved up to the border of his balcony.


    ¡°A very beautiful victory indeed, Mr. Kehrr ! I must applaude your mastery of Wind Magic as you defeated your opponent using only the power of this element. Come in the middle of the stage, you shall now be crowned victor of the twenty-ninth Magic Tournament.¡±


    ¡°No need.¡±


    For the first time, the mysterious man spoke. He was however talking loud enough for the entire Coliseum to hear him.


    ¡°Dear inhabitants of the Porcephone Empire ! This has probably nothing to do with you. But I personally know that your Emperor is rotten. I have come here to announce you my declaration of war against the Porcephone Empire !¡±


    The new Emperor, his father, the commentator and the spectators, all looked confused, like they had misheard what the man had just said.


    ¡°This means that while I have nothing against all of you personally, anyone who gets in my way shall be deleted.The safest choice for you would be to quit the Empire as long as you still can. But today is supposed to be a joyful and exciting day isn¡¯t it ? So I will end this ceremony by freeing you of one of the many parasites of our world !¡±


    Following that, a blank. Nothing seemed to happen. But it was more like no one noticed the change in scenery. Then finally, a scream arose.


    ¡°The Emperor¡­ Elasius II ! His head ! The previous Emperor has been beheaded !¡±


    People stood up with haste and tried to leave the Coliseum by running. Meanwhile the young Emperor known as Orth Porcephone and the Archmage called Vladimir Stalford were both splashed with the blood of the old man, both of them still shocked by the event.


    Finally, Orth managed to get a grip and ordered the soldiers dispatched all around the Coliseum to surround the man who called himself Jo Kehrr.


    Jo simply used his mastery of the wind to knock away the twenty guards around him with ease.


    He then readied another one of his¡ºShadow Cuts¡»to behead the current Emperor.


    Unfortunately though, the Archmage reacted fast enough and carried the young Emperor to safety with several different Wind spells.


    ¡°Tch. Looks like I¡¯m going to have to come again. Well, it¡¯s fine. This is war after all, ha, ha, ha. I wasn¡¯t expecting to kill the enemy king in one turn.¡±


    After saying that Jo Kehrr, or should I say Joker, vanished through the shadows.


    Meanwhile, I had been watching carefully from the shadows myself. It looks like everything was going rather well. The previous Emperor had been killed and the whole human capital was now in a state of pure chaos and panic.


    As Wahnsinn, it was my role to support Joker. And now, according to his plan, our army of 500,000 golems had been teleported all around the town and was now surrounding Naxus.


    ¡°Although Joker just said that, I know well myself that he willingly let the Emperor live. That is also part of his plan.¡±


    After five years, the Revolution was finally happening.

 Chapter 37 - Revolution

    Naxus was the capital of the Porcephone empire and the biggest city in the continent. It was shaped as a circle and was surrounded by giant walls that protected the insides of the town. There were three entrances : the south, east and west gates. There was no gate in the northern side of the capital, where the Imperial Castle was located.


    As the imperial capital, Naxus was naturally the most heavily guarded city in the entire Empire. This is why being taken by surprise by a huge army of humanoid earth creatures was totally unexpected.


    Normally, an army this size would have been spotted from far away and taken care of before it could even reach the gates. However, the Golems had been teleported directly in front of the gates, ready for a siege.


    This had led to the imperial soldiers being mostly unable to react fast enough and the fights that would usually be happening outside where now being held within the capital.


    ¡°Both the east and south gates have fallen already ! Send some reinforcements to these points and make sure the western gate doesn¡¯t let anyone in !¡±


    Such were the orders shouted from one of the generals of the Porcephone army, Brell Ganoi.


    He was a dignified man who had led his troops to over fifty victories and had distinguished himself as a cunning leader and great tactician.


    However, even such a man was at a loss over the situation.


    ¡°How did these monsters enter the town !? Well anyway, it¡¯s too late to think about that. The western gate is the most heavily guarded one due to it being the one most merchants usually go through. As long as it does not fall, we still have a chance. Sergent Lionel !¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir !¡±


    ¡°Send 80% of our remaining foot soldiers as reinforcements to the eastern and southern gates. I want you to push the enemy back outside the walls. Send the remaining 20% to the western gate and call for the Black Legion. I want them to help the western gate to hold on until we¡¯re done with the eastern and southern one.¡±


    ¡°Sir, yes sir !¡±


    The sergeant left urgently while Brell was carefully analysing the situation.


    ¡°The positive point is that we are not outnumbered. We currently have about twice as many soldiers as they do. Although they are mainly clay soldiers according to the reports so they seem even weaker than your average soldier. What caused the most problem is the speed at which they entered the town. They are coordinated so well it is as if they were all controlled by a single person¡­ Well as long as the situation does not change though, we should be able to take back both gates. Besides, it is only a matter of time before the Black Legion sweeps the enemy.¡±


    The Black Legion was one of the Porcephone army¡¯s trump cards. They were a legion of 200 highly trained Paladins ¨C this means that they were remarkable soldiers that could further enhance their abilities thanks to a great control of Magic. In addition, they were kept at a maximum of 200 soldiers in order to maximise their teamwork and coordination potential.


    These soldiers were such an asset to the imperial army that they could literally change the course of a war. According to reports, they are able to fight on par against an army of 2,000 normal soldiers.


    ¡°Although this is certainly an alarming situation, this is nothing that cannot be taken care of.¡±


    The general could not be any more wrong however, as two hours later, the western gate had finally fallen as well.


    ¡°HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE !?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m terribly sorry sir but¡­ the reinforcements at the southern and eastern gates have been annihilated by what looked like to be two paladins, both wearing a black armor.¡±


    ¡°Two paladins you say !? Did the some of the Black Legion betray us ?¡±


    ¡°It is still unsure who these two are, sir but I have more bad news.¡±


    ¡°What ? Even if the western gate has fallen, when the Black Legion gets there, we will take it back.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ the fact is, the Black Legion got entirely decimated¡­ sir.¡±


    ¡°¡­ Could you say that again please ? I don¡¯t think I heard you right.¡±


    ¡°The enemy is not just an army of Golems, sir¡­ right when the Black Legion arrived at the western gate, a black dragon appeared out of nowhere and killed most of our troops there, including the Black Legion.¡¯


    ¡®A dragon¡­ impossible¡­¡±


    ¡°Sir, what should we do ? We cannot fight properly against a dragon ! Our soldiers are not trained for such a task.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. The only people who can take down dragons are the people at the Adventurer Guild. It is shameful but we are going to have to ask the Adventurers for their help. Also, go find the Archmage, Vladimir Stalford. I remember that his father took down a dragon on his own, so the son might be able to help.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir, immediately !¡±


    After the sergeant left, Brell sighed. For the very first time, he thought that victory may not be the only option.


    ¡°¡­ This is not looking bright for Naxus¡­¡±


    ***


    While the swords were clashing outside, a man was busy walking around in circles inside the Imperial Castle. It was Orth Porcephone, the new Emperor.


    ¡°This guy killed daddy. I¡­ I did not get to see his face because of that mask¡­ Who is he ? Well, this matters not, for I am safe. However¡­ damn that cursed Elf. He said we were protected, he said we were safe. HOW AM I SAFE WHEN THIS GUY JUST KILLS DADDY IN FRONT OF ME !?¡±


    Vladimir Stalford was standing next to Orth, trying to calm him down.


    ¡°Fear not, your highness. I am here. I shall protect you, like I swore to your father.¡±


    ¡°Oh, well great job protecting father earlier !¡±


    ¡°This was¡­ unexpected. I have myself to blame for my lack of reaction. I cannot even begin to apologise for such failure. But right now, you must focus on recovering from the shock. This man is still out there, looking for you. Surely, he will make his move soon enough. We must catch him before that.¡±


    ¡°Ha, don¡¯t make me laugh. You saw it, this man used some unconventional Magic. He destroyed the guards that tried to stop him and he even managed to behead daddy before you could even bat an eyelid ! I don¡¯t think anyone can catch him currently. What we need is to set up a trap for him. For instance, we could¡­¡±


    ¡°Sir, your highness, sorry for intruding but I have some important orders !¡±


    Orth got interrupted by a soldier who according to his armor, was a sergeant of the imperial army.


    ¡°How dare you enter my room without a warning !? I hope you have a very good reason, soldier. Speak or I will send you in prison.¡±


    ¡°Yes, your highness ! I have been sent by the general Brell Ganoi to ask Lord Stalford for his assistance !¡±


    Stalford raised an eyebrow at the mention of his name.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ ? Assistance ? What for ?¡±


    ¡°Sir, we are currently surrounded by an army of Golems ! All three gates have already fallen !¡±


    ¡°What !? What is this madness ? Just what is the Black Legion doing ?¡±


    ¡°Sir, the Black Legion got wiped out by a dragon that is most likely on the side of the Golems. That is why the General sent me to get you. He said we need your help to take down the dragon.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ A dragon huh¡­ I wonder who our enemy is¡­ Anyway, your highness I am afraid I will have to leave your side. But you still have the Kurotsuki clan to watch over you while I am away.¡±


    ¡°The imperial assassins huh¡­ well their leader, Kankuro, is here today so with him by my side, I have nothing to fear. Besides, I can fight by myself as well. Shall I remind you that I can use Master level Fire Magic ? And I have a Fire Crystal in my pocket so even if someone comes at me, I¡¯ll be ready to take them on, fuahaha !¡±


    ¡°I shall be on my way then.¡±


    Vladimir left the room along with the sergeant and Orth was left alone in his room. Or so it seemed.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°Kankuro.¡±


    ¡°Yes, my lord.¡±


    A man had appeared from behind the shadows along with three other people wearing black clothes and a mask that hid their identity. The man however, was not wearing a mask like the others and his face showed him as a man in his forties with a few scars on his face.


    ¡°Dispatch your men around the town. I want them to report the situation to me as soon as possible. As for you, I want you to act as my personal bodyguard.¡±


    ¡°As you wish, my lord.¡±


    The men behind Kankuro nodded and disappeared just as stealthily as how they appeared.


    ¡°Now¡­ Masked man¡­ what will be your next move ?¡±


    ***


    An hour later, the Kurotsuki members had regrouped to report to Orth Porcephone about the disastrous situation of the town.


    All gates had fallen to the Golems and the exits had been sealed with Earth Magic by someone.  The inhabitants were thus trapped inside of the town while the soldiers dispatched outside of the town that were not part of the first fights were unable to rally to the inside of the capital as reinforcements. In other words, Naxus was isolated from any external help.


    Most of the residential districts were occupied by the Golems as the imperial soldiers had been mostly annihilated.


    The Golems had progressed throughout the entire town and were now surrounding the Imperial Castle. The last line of defense of the Emperor was made out of the survivors of the earlier raids and the members of the Kurotsuki clan. However, they were now greatly outnumbered and tired from the relentless assaults of the Golems who, on the other hand, seemed unaffected by fatigue.


    Orth was watching this very scene, the fall of Naxus, from his balcony. Due to the structure of the town, it made it very difficult to reach the castle, as an invader but it also meant that if such feat was accomplished, the Emperor had no way to escape.


    ¡°I will not go down without a fight. Actually, I will not go down at all ! I don¡¯t know where Vladimir went but Kankuro and I should be more than enough to wipe out these pitiful clay creatures ! Come at me, Golems ! I dare you to enter my castle !¡±


    Finally the Golems killed the last remnants of the forces guarding the entrance of the Imperial Castle. However, they stopped at the entrance in a circle, not entering it. They stopped moving and stood still as a man, the masked man, made his triumphant entrance.


    ¡°YOU ! DO YOU REALLY THINK YOU CAN TAKE ORTH PORCEPHONE DOWN ALONE !? WHAT A JOKE ! COME, I¡¯M WAITING FOR YOU !¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°What did you say !?¡±


    ¡°A joke, huh¡­ A joke indeed.¡±


    The masked man entered the castle alone and Orth left his balcony to go welcome his guest of honour.


    A few minutes later, the two men were standing still in front of each other in the main hall.


    Orth took out his Fire Crystal and broke it on the ground, spreading fire around him. However, that fire soon took shape in his palms and he threw some¡ºFirebolts¡»at the masked man. But they looked like they were absorbed by the darkness around him and disappeared into nothingness.


    ¡°What the- What is this !?¡±


    ¡°This is the result of what you created yourself.¡±


    Joker removed his mask. Although his face looked more mature and his hair had turned silver, Orth still recognised him.


    ¡°Impossible¡­ Zw?lf Kreizig¡­ so you survived.¡±


    ¡°It took me a long time. But at long last I am back. Back to erase you from this wold. You, the bad joke.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha, you idiot ! There is no way you can beat me ! You use shadows as your main weapons ? Fine, Kankuro here is a master of the shadows too. He will teach you true shadow mastery ! Kankuro, kill him !¡±


    A blade was about to stab Joker from the back, in his blind spot. The assassin called Kankuro had been quiet, so quiet in fact that Joker had not noticed his presence earlier. His attack was swift and precise, meant to kill Joker in one hit.


    But despite not having vision of the assassin, Joker turned around at the perfect time, grabbed the man¡¯s throat with one hand and pinned him down using Gravity Magic to enhance this action. The man¡¯s throat was crushed but Joker did not let his guard down.


    Three black tentacles came out of his back and pierced the hearts of the three other assassins who had sneaked behind him while he was busy with Kankuro.


    Although blood was shed from the three masked enemies, Kankuro ¨C despite having his throat crushed ¨C did not bleed. This could be explained by the fact that it was merely a puppet that Kankuro had substituted right before the impact.


    When Joker realised that, it was too late. Kankuro had already appeared underneaf him and tried to slash Joker in half with a katana.


    This would have worked if the weapon went through Joker without being absorbed into nothingness, much like the¡ºFirebolts¡»earlier. Before Kankuro could remove his hand from the shadows that covered Joker¡¯s body however... they vanished, cutting Kankuro¡¯s arm with a fountain of blood.


    When Kankuro tried to retreat, he was pinned down once more by Gravity Magic. Much to Orth¡¯s horror, the man soon suffered the same fate as the other Kurotsuki members.


    Orth started feeling an immense fear. The kind of fear preys feel in front of their natural predator. He fell on his bottom and tears gathered at the corner of his eyes. Joker had put his mask back on though so his expression could not be seen. Only a ruthless and merciless red eye could be noticed through one of the two holes of the mask.


    ¡°Finally, it¡¯s only you and me, Orth.But don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t kill you.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t ? You will spare me ? I could make you rich and powerful if you do, you know ?¡±


    ¡°¡­ Ha, ha, ha. You¡¯re a funny guy aren¡¯t you ? Rich ? I will be rich once I have taken over your Empire. And famous ? Well, I soon will be as well.¡±


    ¡°What...¡±


    ¡°Well I did say I would not kill you but that¡¯s only right now. Before that, I want to make sure you enjoy the same treatment I did in your jail. Oh and if you¡¯re wondering I do have someone to heal you after I wound you, just like you did back then.¡±


    Orth''s eyes widened in fear as he was absorbed by Joker¡¯s shadows. His scream stopped when he disappeared completely. Only Joker remained.


    ¡°There is no way I am killing you immediately¡­ After all, I have a lot of questions to ask you, Orth. About the Elves. They are plotting something big. I will need to take care of Arcadeus, as soon as I am done with you so I¡¯ll at least enjoy your delightful screams for a while. By the way, good job protecting me, Wahnsinn. I knew it was a good call having you fuse back with me.¡±


    ¡°Of course. Our synchronisation is perfect so the two of us should be undefeatable. Even Arcadeus stands no chance against the both of us. I can cover your blind spots and cover for you with Shadow Magic while you do your own thing.¡±


    The man known as Joker had finally completed one of his main objectives : taking down the Porcephone Empire.


    ¡°What a joke¡± he thought. Around him was a pile of corpses and blood was spilt on the walls. He was the only living being in this room.


    At the sight of this macabre scene, he could only let out an uncontrollable laugh.


    After laughing for a good minute, he finally calmed down and left without a word.


    This event was now known as the ¡°Silent massacre¡±, marking the day of the fall of the Porcephone Empire.

 Chapter 37.5 - Alae/Arisms point of view

    Soon after he woke up from his three-days coma, Joker kissed me. Sure, this had an enormous emotional impact on me but unlike when I was thirteen years old, I managed not to wet myself from the shock this time. Not that it was something I should be proud about though¡­


    I was already happy enough that I managed to heal him back to full health with my newly awakened Healing Magic. The way it worked was still unknown to me, all I knew was that I always had the ability to heal myself but I could never manage to use that power on others, until I hit my eighteenth birthday, that is.


    After smiling at my blushing face, Joker left the room without a word, probably heading to meet the twins. I rolled on the bed and grabbed the pillow he had been resting his head on. I then proceeded to giggle like a little girl for a few minutes. I could still hardly believe that the man I loved had kissed me out of nowhere.


    I personally did not mind the fact that half of his face and body was missing. I still felt attracted to him, simply because he was Joker. But after fixing his face, I found myself thinking that he was a very handsome man after all.


    Now one question subsided¡­ why did he kiss me ? He had not displayed any clear sign of affection in the past so maybe he was still groggy from his slumber ? Could it be he did not actually mean to kiss me ?


    Full of uncertainties, I kept wondering about what our relationship exactly was until the day before the invasion of Naxus.


    I had never actually been to the capital myself although I could remember my fake father¡¯s stories about the main town of the Empire. According to them, it was a rich and entertaining city, full of opportunities for merchants around the world.


    At first I thought it was a shame that such a capital was to be raided by us but I then remembered that Naxus was in reality governed by a corrupted Emperor, the one who had inflicted pain and suffering to my beloved Joker. Funnily enough, I had no more regrets about destroying the town after remembering such fact.


    As we were eating our last dinner before the battle, I asked Joker a question that had been bothering me.


    ¡°I heard from my fake father that Naxus had the best army in the world in terms of elite squads, efficiency and infantry size. Will our 500,000 Golems really be enough to deal with them ?¡±


    Joker replied with a smile.


    ¡°Do you not believe in me, Alae ? I¡¯m disappointed by your lack of trust.¡±


    ¡°Wh- of course I believe you Joker ! I¡¯m very sorry for expressing any doubts ! I-¡±


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha. Relax, I¡¯m only teasing you. I do have a strategy.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ please don¡¯t scare me like that¡­¡±


    ¡°Anyway, I do have an ace up my sleeve. Literally, ha, ha, ha. My ¡°Ace of Spades¡± is strong enough to change the balance of this war. Well even if he were to be taken down, I believe myself to be powerful enough to make this work.¡±


    ¡°Is this Ace of Spades really that powerful ?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah. The only downside is that he hates humans so although it works in our favour if we¡¯re having a war against humans, this is also a drawback considering I haven¡¯t told him about you guys yet. I¡¯ll force him to cooperate though.¡±


    ¡°Is that so ? That shouldn¡¯t be a problem unless we meet each other though, right ?¡±


    ¡°Well normally it wouldn¡¯t but for my strategy to work, I¡¯ll need you to ride him.¡±


    ¡°What !? By ride you mean¡­ No way ! The only one I want to ride is y-¡±


    ¡°He is a dragon. But I appreciate the thought, Alae.¡±


    ¡°Wh- I- I- arg¡­¡±


    I heard Burs whistling and Armius looking at me with a shocked face.


    I don¡¯t know what confused me the most. The fact that I said something so bold or this embarrassing situation ? Or maybe the fact that Joker managed to get a dragon on his side ?


    The last dinner before the war ended with me hiding in shame in a corner for the rest of the night.


    ***


    It had been five years since I parted ways with Hell Kreizig, sole reported survivor of the Aldenaf incident. During this time, I, Arism Stalford, had carried on working as an adventurer.


    I had been working mostly as a solo adventurer; I had the opportunities to join a few raids but I never bothered joining or creating a party or a guild¡­ I wasn¡¯t a very sociable person in the first place.


    The thing I feared the most at first was Father¡¯s wrath. I do not think that a career as an adventurer was something that would please him, especially considering how he was always going on about ¡°the Stalford¡¯s reputation¡±. Although adventurers in general were not looked down upon, ¡°adventurer¡± was not considered to be a very high class title.


    Much to my surprise though, Father came to visit me for my seventeenth birthday. He looked exhausted and he had more white hair than when I last saw him, which was when I talked to him in the Imperial Castle, around the time I met Hell.


    Although the Imperial Castle was not very far from the Stalford Manor, he literally never had had the time to come home. He had been very busy as the Archmage and Imperial Mage due to the change of Emperors.


    He greeted me for my seventeenth birthday, entering the manor and surprising everyone as no one was expecting him ¨C especially me as I had not thought about a way to announce him that I was working as a full time adventurer rather than studying further and taking part in Magic Tournaments.


    ¡°Arism¡­ it¡¯s been a long time.¡±


    ¡°Yes.. Father¡­¡±


    ¡°First of all, I¡¯d like to apologise for not being able to be there for your fifteenth birthday. And for not coming home all during all these years.¡±


    Was he really apologising ? That was the first time I ever witnessed that.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine Father¡­ Ahem- I know you were very busy. By the way¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes, I was busy¡­ but that¡¯s not an excuse. I realise I was too harsh on you. The real reason I wouldn¡¯t go back home is because you remind me too much of your mother¡­ Well that and my investigation¡­ ¡±


    I did not manage to hear the last part as he said it too low. A sad expression formed on his face.


    ¡°The truth is¡­ the previous Emperor always expected you to succeed me as the Archmage when the time would come for his son to become the new Emperor. He thought a fresh and young Archmage would be beneficial to the court. But when you lost the match against that kid from Aldenaf, he got mad and lost interest in you. At the time, I was under great stress so I said some things I didn¡¯t think but I want you to know that I am on your side, no matter what.¡±


    Could it be that I was mistaken about Father all these years ? It seemed too good to be true.


    ¡°Is that so ? Then¡­¡±


    ¡°And so, the new Emperor is very whimsical and I was thinking it¡¯s about time for me to retire. I¡¯m getting old and a new Archmage would go well with a new Emperor. And of course, as a Stalford heir, you are still the first choice of recommendation as a potential Archmage. What do you say ?¡±


    Of course. It had to be about that. I decided to gather my courage and tell him what I wanted.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    ¡°Father. Listen to me. I have decided to live my life as an adventurer rather than a court mage. No matter what you say, this is my final decision.¡±


    ¡°¡­ If that¡¯s what you have decided¡­ then I shall support you in that decision.¡±


    ¡°Wait¡­ Really !?¡±


    ¡°Yes, indeed. I¡¯ll look for a new Archmage myself. If being an adventurer is the path you¡¯ve chosen, then so be it ! I will support you to the best of my ability. Retiring from being the Archmage will also allow to spend more time with you.¡±


    And thus I reconciliated with Father two years ago.


    I was currently just coming back from an expedition led by a somewhat famous guild against a cavern full of Troglondius. They were rank B monsters that had an humanoid shape and had the ability to absorb Mana and turn into into theirs. They were the product of much research but they were equally dangerous to humans around them and lately, the Troglondius living in this cavern had started to threaten the neighbouring village.


    And so, the punishing force had been sent to exterminate these monsters. My role as a mage adventurer was to work with the other mages to make the cavern fall on itself and seal so as to make sure there were no surviving creature inside.


    I was on my way back to Naxus  and from afar, I noticed some black smoke in the sky. I wondered if there was a fire somewhere and kept walking.


    As I approached the capital,  my worries grew bigger and bigger as I realised there was too much smoke.


    I finally got a view of the town and what I saw reminded me of the scene in front of Aldenaf five years ago. Except this time, Naxus was under attack.


    Or rather, the attack had already finished. My expedition only lasted for a few days so it was inconceivable that an army could have broken through Naxus¡¯ defenses so quickly.


    But the reality was in front of my eyes and it would have been foolish to deny it.


    ¡°What is this¡­ ?¡±


    Remnants of the Imperial army were burnt to a crisp. Their armor were black, tainted by some kind of fire. I also noticed some pieces of armor from the Black Legion.


    ¡°How could this be¡­¡±


    The thing that shocked me most though, was finding a piece of cloth on the ground that I knew too well.


    It was the Archmage¡¯s robe.


    ¡°Father ! Where are you !?¡±


    ¡°¡­ Behind you¡­¡±


    I turned around and noticed what I had taken earlier to be a burnt corpse. But after closer inspection, it was indeed Father.


    The Archmage Vladimir Stalford, known as the strongest Mage in the Empire, had been reduced to such a pitiful state. Tears formed at the corner of my eyes and blurred my glasses.


    ¡°Father ! Don¡¯t move ! I¡¯ll get some help !¡±


    ¡°¡­ Too late¡­ it is too late, Arism. There is¡­ no help.¡±


    ¡°Who did this to you !? What happened ?¡±


    ¡°¡­ An army of golems¡­ led by a powerful Mage¡­ I fought his dragon¡­¡±


    ¡°You fought a dragon !? I don¡¯t understand¡­ the dragon was with a Mage ?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­ I killed the dragon. Twice¡­ Three times¡­ Eight times¡­ Every time¡­ it revived.¡±


    ¡°How is that possible !?¡±


    ¡°Someone¡­ riding it. They healed the dragon entirely¡­¡±


    ¡°I unleashed my strongest¡­ spell. A nuke I used¡­ in a previous war¡­ to at least take down the dragon and the rider¡­ But¡­¡±


    ¡°But !?¡±


    ¡°Wizard¡­ appeared. The leader with the mask. He¡­ made my nuke disappear. He absorbed it into nothingness. He¡­ deleted my spell. Then the dragon finally managed to hit me with his black fire¡­¡±


    ¡°No way¡­¡±


    ¡°The masked man probably took¡­ over Naxus already. I failed to protect both Emperors¡­ I failed to protect the city. I am a complete failure as¡­ the Archmage.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that¡­¡±


    ¡°I also failed to protect your mother¡­ and I failed as a Father all these years¡­ I¡¯m sorry Arism¡­¡±


    ¡°Please, just get some rest, Father¡­¡±


    ¡°It is too late for me¡­ but at least¡­ at least you¡¯re safe¡­ I have something to tell you before I die¡­ listen.¡±


    ¡°What ?¡±


    ¡°Arcadeus¡­ isn¡¯t the real danger¡­ he is the puppeteer. But a much bigger threat¡­ exists. You must absolutely not let Arcadeus die¡­ The way the masked man acted¡­ I think he is after the First Sage¡­ no matter what happens¡­ if Arcadeus dies¡­ it will be¡­ the end¡­ of us all¡­¡±


    Father closed his eyes after saying this last sentence.


    ¡°Arcadeus as in the one who discovered the principles of Magic ? Father ? Father !?¡±


    ¡°Damn that Vladimir. Who knew that he investigated that much into me while using his job of Archmage as a cover. How much more did he know ? I¡¯ve got to watch out where I head out from now on.¡±


    ¡°Who ?¡±


    Having no time to mourn Father¡¯s death, I lifted my head and saw a tall elf wearing clothes that looked like the Archmage¡¯s¡¯ robes but with a different pattern.


    ¡°Have you not guessed yet ? You might not be as bright as your father then. I am Arcadeus, known also as the First Sage or the Living God.¡±


    ¡°Arcadeus¡­ I thought you were only a legend¡­¡±


    ¡°Tch. Things really don¡¯t seem to be going my way. First, Porcephone fails to kill the kid who knows Xii, then the same kid comes back for vengeance, causes a genocide on the Orcs that I set up to take over the Dwarves¡­ then he escapes death once more when I try to kill him¡­ And now he kills my two Porcephone Emperors and takes over Naxus¡­ I have not met anyone as troublesome as him since Master Ox.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about¡­ ?¡±


    ¡°Nothing that concerns you, Stalford kid. Although you might be of some use. You heard your father¡¯s last words, right ? You need to avoid my death at all costs. Well, I have bad luck you see and there¡¯s unfortunately someone other than that masked man trying to kill me. I¡¯ll take care of the masked man myself, so could you go and kill the other person yourself while I¡¯m busy with the  guy who took over Naxus ?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t get it¡­ But I know father said that I needed to protect you in order to avoid a great catastrophe.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exact, young Stalford. Now go ahead and kill the one known as Yaquinn the Wanderer for me please. This man is threatening the balance of the world with his sole existence.¡±


    Yaquinn the wanderer¡­ I had heard that name somewhere before.


    ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ll be on my way to take care of the mess my silly puppets have caused. Meanwhile, you shut down the man, alright ?¡±


    He disappeared the same way he had appeared, leaving me alone in what was now the remains of a battlefield.


    There were too many mysteries that bothered me. What happened to Zw?lf ? What happened to Aldenaf ?  Who was that masked man that took over Naxus and why ? What were Arcadeus and the Porcephone Emperors plotting ? Why did Father want me to protect Arcadeus ?


    One thing was certain though : for now, I needed to find this Yaquinn.


    Thus I set out in the direction of the nearest town in my new quest to unveil the truth.

 Chapter 38 - The truth

    ¡°Please, please ! I¡¯ll tell you whatever you want to know but stop it ! It buuuuuurns, haaaaaa !¡±


    ¡°Oh, come on. Ha, ha, ha. I want you to stay sane for now so I¡¯m not even using one tenth of the power you used on me back then.¡±


    ¡°Haaa¡­. haaaa¡­.¡±


    ¡°Ok then. Alae, heal him. It¡¯s time to tell me what you know, Porcephone.¡±


    At first I thought that Alae may be against torturing Orth Porcephone but after I told him he¡¯s the one who burnt me back then, she looked like she enjoyed his screams even more than I¡­ What a fearsome woman.


    ¡°Too bad my healing Magic also negates pain¡­ I wouldn¡¯t mind this piece of thrash suffering more.¡±


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha, my Alae. We can¡¯t have him die from the pain. So, Orth. I¡¯m waiting.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­ haaa¡­ Even if you tell me that¡­ what exactly do you want to know ?¡±


    ¡°First, tell me all about Arcadeus, the First Sage.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ he¡¯s been around for as long as I know. He regularly met with my father. For my fifth, tenth and fifteenth birthday, he came to meet us. Also, when Vladimir Stalford was appointed as the Archmage, he also travelled all the way from the Dorua continent. He was also there during the Magic Tournament where you got arrested.¡±


    ¡°Oh really ? Now that¡¯s interesting¡­ what does Arcadeus, an elf, have to do with the Porcephone Emperors ?¡±


    ¡°From what I know, Arcadeus has worked closely with every single Emperor ever since the creation of the Porcephone Empire and when I became Emperor, he made sure to come and greet me as well. I don¡¯t know what his aim is but I also know that he is the one who told Father to arrest you back then.¡±


    ¡°He was watching the match ?¡±


    ¡°Yes, the finals only.¡±


    ¡°Hum¡­ what else do you know ?¡±


    ¡°There is one other thing¡­ it¡¯s about a certain ¨C uuurg¡­ haaaa¡­¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong ? I haven¡¯t started burning you again.¡±


    ¡°Argg¡­ haaaa¡­¡±


    Orth¡¯s face became distorted by an expression of awful agony and the golden ring on his left thumb starting vibrating.


    Then Orth¡¯s body blew up. Literally.


    Alae and I were standing far enough from him not to get splashed by the blood but the room  we were in ¨C one of the underground rooms of the castle in Aldenaf ¨C was now dyed with red stains. And flesh.


    What emerged from Orth¡¯s ring, which had fallen to the ground, was none other than Arcadeus himself.


    ¡°We meet again, Kreizig. Or should I call you Joker ?¡±


    ¡°Tsk, so you killed him off just so that he wouldn¡¯t talk ?¡±


    ¡°Not really, I broke him because he was of no use to me anymore. The Porcephone Empire has already fallen after all, all because of you. Besides, being able to master Xii by yourself to the extent of creating your own world¡­ You are truly as terrifying as Master Ox.¡±


    ¡°Xii¡­ I¡¯ve heard that before¡­ Is that how you call Creative Magic ? The Magic that doesn¡¯t use Cindril ?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. Now, we are about to have an inevitable fight to the death.¡±


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha, you¡¯re quite blunt about it.¡±


    ¡°I can feel that your power is nothing compared to the level you had back in Dorua¡­ Back then I acted prideful in front of the other Sages but this time I feel that you are roughly on the same level as me.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because you allowed me to heal back to full health. You should have slayed me when you could.¡±


    ¡°Indeed. And since the outcome of this final encounter is uncertain, I have to tell you¡­ the truth of the world.¡±


    ¡°Huh ? Aren¡¯t you there to silence me ?¡±


    ¡°I am. But there is a chance, even slim, that I may die in this battle. And if that happens, at least one person needs to remain aware of the dark truth.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ I¡¯m listening then.¡±


    ¡°Before that, you¡¯d better tell the woman to go elsewhere. You wouldn¡¯t want her to end up as a collateral damage would you ?¡±


    I nodded and signed to Alae to leave the room.


    I was now all alone with the First Sage.


    ¡°Good. Now allow me to start by reintroducing myself. I am Arcadeus Sigitor, student of Master Ox and the one called as the Living God and First Sage. But these titles are just usurped you see.¡±


    ¡°Usurped ?¡±


    ¡°I guess my real title would be Arcadeus Sigitor, the Fake Sage. The real First Sage was my Master. He is the one who discovered how to manipulate Xii and Cindril. All this happened about 2000 years ago. Now let me tell you the story of Ox, the First Sage.


    Once upon a time, 2000 years ago approximately, a man was born as a Hybrid from two Hybrid parents. You could say that this combination was almost impossible considering the high incompatibility of Hybrids with other Hybrids but he was an exception. Hybrids are born with an abnormally high amount of Mana but as a child from two Hybrid parents, his Mana pool was on another level. An almost endless amount of Mana, coupled with the Healing attribute he got from his mother, and other attributes inherited from his father.


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    Healing attributes bloom when a woman reaches her eighteenth birthday and when a man reaches his twentieth. As our cells constantly regenerate, Elves age very slowly and can live very long.


    But he was different. His control over his attribute was so strong that he could affect his own cells, meaning he could become older or younger at will, also making him immortal.


    Master Ox spent hundreds of years experimenting on his own body until one day he managed to draw a line between Cindril, the natural Magic and Xii, the life Magic. The first thing he did when discovering such a thing was to write books about his research and take an apprentice to pass down his knowledge ¨C that is me.


    He taught me all he knew about both Magics. Then one day, he said that he wanted to share his knowledge with the rest of the world. Before I could argue anything, he sold his books and started to talk about teaching the world Magic. I was against it however. I believed that sharing his knowledge of Xii, which was a much more powerful and destructive Magic than Cindril, would cause wars and end up destroying the world. However, Master Ox argued that he would avoid all conflicts by acting as a living god. That¡¯s when I realised just how much of a threat Master Ox was for the balance of the world.


    Just like you, Master Ox had managed to create different realms thanks to Xii. Seven of them actually. But although he was powerful, he was also very naive. He had only created fourteen beacons to teleport between his realms and this world, all of which I destroyed. I knew I had no chance to win in a fair fight against him so without him suspecting anything, I drugged his meal and manage to critically wound him. However, that was useless. After all, he was immortal. When critically injured, he would automatically teleport to his fourth realm, the one called Eternum, which was basically a gigantic bath full of water imbued with Healing Magic. But since I had destroyed his  beacons, he could no longer come back. In other words, I had successfully sealed him away. Or so I thought.¡±


    ¡°What happened then ?¡±


    ¡°I made the mistake to forget about one more beacon. Ox had printed an enchanted tattoo filled with Magic on my back the day he took me as his apprentice in order to raise my Magic capabilities but since it contained some of his Magic, it could also be used as a beacon. Ever since, I had to express an enormous amount of Mana control to suppress the Magic contained in the tattoo by overwriting it with my own Magic. Do you get it now ? If I die, the seal on my back will come undone and Master Ox will reappear once again.


    Anyway, after I took care of Master Ox, I tried to erase all traces of him. I tried to recover and burn all of his books but some of them escaped my grasp and ended up lost. Since it was too late to completely erase his existence, I took up the name of the Living God and First Sage and acted as if I was him all along. That¡¯s how I got to become the leader of all the Elves.


    After that, I used my influence and political power to place a human, Miro Porcephone, on the throne in the Sill continent. With my help, he became the first Emperor. I kept all the Emperors after him under my control as my puppets to make sure that no one who knew Xii would ever rise. Then one day, you appeared. Since I deemed you dangerous, I ordered Elasius Porcephone to put you under arrest and kill your entire family. I also recommended him to burn the library of your town since there was a great chance it contained one of Master Ox¡¯s books. After all, Xii is too dangerous to exist. That¡¯s why I erase all traces of it, including you.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ So now, either I let you kill me to preserve a peaceful world or I kill you and Ox comes back to this world ?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. Now that you understand that, surely you would sacrifice yourself for the future of the world, right ?¡±


    ¡°... Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha¡­ HA, HA, HA, HA, HA ! Are you serious right now ? You are really asking if I feel like letting you kill me after all you''ve done ? And I''m the joker here ? The world  has only brought darkness upon my life. It¡¯s about time I make the world pay. I don¡¯t care about your "peace". All I have left is a cold heart and my own intentions. You will die here, Arcadeus.¡±


    ¡°I see. There is nothing left to say then.¡±


    We both readied ourselves for what was going to be one of us¡¯ last battle.

 Chapter 39 - Duel in the shadows

    The first thing I did was to draw out shadow tentacles from my back. I was aware of Arcadeus¡¯ abilities to some extent. I knew he could use Cindril very well and he had the ability to teleport around as well - without using any kind of warping to another world, unlike me. In order to not be taken by surprise like last time, a perfect defense was needed. This was lucky for me because with Wahnsinn by my side, I had no blind spot this time.


    I casted a few¡ºShadow Cuts¡»to see his reaction. Arcadeus dodged them swiftly by using his mastery of Wind Magic and moved towards me with an¡ºEarth Spike¡»in each hand. He imbued the spears with Magic and tried to stab me when he  managed to get close enough to do so. However, Wahnsinn had reacted fast enough and had already spread¡ºShadow Skin¡»all over my body, absorbing Arcadeus¡¯ enchanted spears.


    ¡°Ha, you¡¯re predictable, Joker !¡±


    ¡°Wha-¡±


    The air around me suddenly started constricting me as I disabled¡ºShadow Skin¡»to try to counterattack and as I tried to cancel it with my own mastery of Wind, Arcadeus jumped back and I was hit by the full blast of one of his shockwaves. The shock was so strong that I hit the wall behind me which broke a few of my ribs.


    ¡°Ughh¡­¡±


    ¡°Give it up. I have much more experience with Magic than you do. It will be less painful if you stop struggling.¡±


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha¡­ I¡¯m not done yet.¡±


    The cell we were currently in was restraining my movements. I believed that one of my main forces was my high mobility so I needed to leave the room as soon as possible.


    ¡°Let¡¯s change the scenery, shall we ?¡±


    I used¡ºShadow Dome¡»all over the room and teleported both Arcadeus and I outside, in a deserted field, where I had previously left a beacon on a stone.


    ¡°Ahaha, fighting in the open is not a disadvantage for me. Now I can use my full strength !¡±


    Arcadeus then unleashed his real artillery with a multitude of¡ºFirebolts¡»and other colourful spells that looked mainly like fireballs and thunderbolts of very high level.


    I erected an¡ºEarth Wall¡»but it quickly got destroyed by the power of the Fake Sage. I used¡ºDragonfly¡»and dodged most of them but I was starting to weaken because of my broken ribs. I countered Arcadeus by hitting him with some nice¡ºPhantom Fireballs¡»but he healed himself immediately, sustaining no subsequent damage. As I thought that the fight was not going my way, Wahnsinn reached out to me.


    ¡°The eye that Alae transplanted contains Jerius¡¯ Healing attribute. Even though it is nowhere near as good as an actual Elf¡¯s healing ability, you should still be able to fix your broken ribs if you focus.¡±


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha. I see. I¡¯ll try. Take over my body for a moment.¡±


    The problem is that it was difficult to focus while dodging Arcadeus¡¯ relentless attempts at bursting me so I had Wahnsinn move my body for me, just like back when I escaped the prison, while I was channeling the Mana in my left purple eye and redirecting it towards my ribs.


    After some time, I managed to heal myself to some extent.


    ¡°Now, time to turn this around.¡±


    I had an idea while I was focused on healing. Darkness was my element after all, so why not make full use of it ?


    I used¡ºShadow Dome¡»in the sky and covered the artificial sun that I had created when I made this world habitable.


    Then Void became filled with darkness once more.


    ¡°... I see you¡¯re cutting off the source of light in this world¡­ I can¡¯t see a thing but neither can you. I don¡¯t think you¡¯re getting anything out of this, Joker. Besides, I can just turn the light back on, immediately.¡±


    Arcadeus spawned his own artificial sun and sent it in the sky. But the light died out quickly and the sun was absorbed by the darkness. He tried again, with the same result.


    ¡°What the¡­ how !?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re in my world now, Arcadeus¡­ a world filled with darkness. Darkness is what I use as my beacons so now that the world is nothing but black, I have total control over what happens around here. I don¡¯t need to have vision of you. Wahnsinn can still see everything in here.¡±


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    ¡°Tch¡­¡±


    Arcadeus started casting Magic in random directions but it was all useless and everything died out without a sound. This was the true nature of Void. A lifeless world. Pure naught.


    Meanwhile, Arcadeus started being slashed from all directions, by invisible¡ºShadow Cuts¡»that shred through his skin. As he was constantly healing, the slashes got faster and the number increased by the second.


    Arcadeus finally understood the hopeless situation he was in. His Magic - his only source of damage - had been neutralised.


    ¡°Ah¡­ I see there is nothing I can do but endure your attacks¡­ I think it¡¯s about time for me to go back to Sigmas.¡±


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha. If you think I¡¯ll let you, you¡¯re really a hopeless fool.¡±


    Before he could do anything, I pierced Arcadeus with all of my tentacles. Since he could not see anything, he did not notice me approaching him. Arcadeus screamed but managed to teleport back to the world of Sigmas.


    ¡°It¡¯s too late to run, Arcadeus. You¡¯re already bound to this world.¡±


    When I stabbed Arcadeus with my tentacles, I dropped a gem made of shadows inside his body. As his wounds healed immediately, the gem became trapped inside of him, allowing me to expand that gem from a distance and warp him back here. This was the same strategy I had used against Spades to threaten him and later teleport him from the Dorua continent to Naxus.


    ¡°What !? Why am I back here ? This makes no sense !¡±


    He tried to teleport to Sigmas again and once more he was sent back to Void.


    ¡°You cannot escape the shadows, Arcadeus¡­¡±


    I stopped Arcadeus from moving by chopping off his legs and arms with¡ºShadow Cuts¡»and turned the gem inside him into a giant star that pierced holes through his body from his insides. Even with his Healing Magic, there was no way Arcadeus could survive that.


    I spawned an artificial sun again to turn the light back on.


    Arcadeus¡¯ bloody corpse was lying on the ground. His limbs had already grown back but the damage within his body was probably too high.


    But despite sustaining mortal wounds, Arcadeus was still moving.


    ¡°Arg¡­ this is not the end yet¡­ I still have some Mana¡­ I can recover¡­ you shouldn¡¯t have turned the light back on, hahahaha¡­¡±


    Arcadeus stood back up and a giant fireball five sizes bigger than my artificial suns was created in his hand.


    ¡°Even you cannot absorb this amount of raw power, hahaha ! Now die, Joker !¡±


    He was right. I had made a fatal mistake¡­


    Right before he launched that fireball though, he fell on his knees.


    ¡°Ugh¡­ no way¡­ I should still have some control¡­¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s happening ?¡±


    ¡°Arg¡­ looks like you win, Joker. After I healed myself, Master Ox intensified the burden on the tattoo¡­ But with this much Mana going into my fireball, I don¡¯t have enough left to contain him¡­ Urg¡­ Lizabeth¡­ at last¡­ we can be reunited...¡±


    The fireball that was floating just above his head fell on him and he started burning in silence.


    Arcadeus had died.


    And¡­ nothing happened. I was expecting the one known as Ox to come out of the tattoo on Arcadeus¡¯ back but as I waited, nothing seemed to happen.


    Was it because the fireball had burnt his skin, destroying the tattoo ? Either way, there was nothing more I could do about this matter so I used Magic to destroy the body.


    Full of uncertainties, I headed back to the castle where Alae and the twins were waiting for me. From what I knew, the last obstacle was finally out of my way.

 Chapter 39.5 - Oxs diary

    Sombrar, 10th of X5 2040.


    This is my first time writing a diary. I will write it according to the Dwarves calendar since this is the only one I have at home. For any potential reader who does not know of the Dwarves calendar, it basically sorts a year into twelve months, each of them four weeks. Each week is made up of seven days :


    Sombrar, Marciar, Grociar, Eltar, Marchar, Sismar and Merculiar.


    The twelve months go like this :


    X1, X2, X3, X4, X5, X6, P1, P2, P3, P4, P5 and P6.


    In other words, each year is made up of 336 days. But all in all, it is almost identical to other calendars, except for the names.


    Anyway, nothing really special to say today, except for the fact that I am currently 215 years old and it was my birthday yesterday.


    ***


    Sismar, 16th of P4 2040.


    I made a discovery today. Magic is not just contained in me but also in other living beings and even in everything around us.


    I believe the Magic in us and the Magic in the environment are different.


    ***


    Marciar, 2nd of X6 2042.


    After two years of experimenting both on the nature and on my own body, I have reached the conclusion that there are indeed two different types of Magic :


    The elemental Magic, which I decided to call Cindril.


    The life Magic, which I decided to call Xii.


    I say life Magic because using Xii has a price. It is harmless for those with the Healing attribute like me but overusing it will make someone sick in the long term. Not being cured while still using Xii will eventually result in the death of the user.


    ***


    Sombrar, 8th of P2 2170


    It¡¯s been awhile since I¡¯ve updated my diary. Since I¡¯m immortal I don¡¯t really have the same notion of time as normal people but still¡­ I was busy writing all my discoveries in my research books.


    I decided to write something here again because something big happened today. I was taking a stroll in the forest of Glavopolis, the Elven capital. I had been experimenting on my magical discoveries in the forest when I met him.


    He is a young Elf named Arcadeus Sigitor. He is about nineteen years old. When he saw me using all different kinds of magics, he became very interested and asked me to teach him. Naturally, I accepted; there was nothing that could make me happier than to share my knowledge with a youngling.


    As an Elf, he had a natural disposition towards the use of Magic. Even Xii, which was the hardest one to master, became available to him after I tattooed him with a Mana seal that was infused with my own.


    This is because I became aware that Xii was not something that could be naturally used by any individual. It depended on the Aura of the user. Some with a certain Aura could use it while others couldn¡¯t. Elves, Hybrids and the Half-race had a very high chance of having the right Aura but Arcadeus was one of the unlucky ones. However, colouring his Aura with my own through the use of the Magic Tattoo solved this problem.


    I started to believe that these races have a higher chance of being able to use Xii for a specific reason : unlike Cindril, which made use of the elemental Magic contained in everything around us, Xii made us of the user¡¯s life force, hence the extra Mana cost. It was thus extremely affected by the user¡¯s emotions, his Aura and his health.


    This also meant that for races that couldn¡¯t heal themselves like the Elves or that lacked a high amount of Mana like Hybrids or the Half-race, the use of Xii was dangerous and could threaten the user¡¯s life way more easily.


    Anyway, I started to teach Arcadeus everything I knew about Magic.


    ***


    Eltar, 27th of P3 2276


    It has been a little over a century since I met Arcadeus. I had nothing more to teach him after a couple of years but he still kept on working with me. Thanks to his help, I managed to unravel almost all the secrets hidden behind Magic, except maybe for the reason for its existence in the first place. I am still working on that though.


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    Was there a god that created this world ? Was there a superior being that introduced Magic ?


    The thing is, I could also create my own dimension, my own world. I showed how to do it to Arcadeus and although he lacked the Mana to do it, he understood the theory behind it.


    The way to navigate between my worlds was quite simple. I just had to create beacons ¨C items imbued with my Mana.


    I had created three of them, one in Glavopolis, the Elven capital, one in Naxus, the biggest town in the Sill continent and one in the middle of the Klung continent. Thus, I could freely access any part of the world easily.


    So, all in all, I could create my world, I was ageless  and immortal and I had the power to go wherever I wanted instantly. Did this make me a¡­ living god ?


    Maybe the world did not have a physical god because it already had one¡­ me ?


    What was my purpose after all ? Since I was not meant to die, did this mean I was meant to accomplish something ?


    The more I thought about it, the more I thought I understood : what I had to do was to discover the secrets of Magic and share them with the rest of the world.


    Arcadeus had expressed concerned about teaching everyone Xii. He said that unscrupulous individuals would soon use it to commit crimes and that it would become very hard to preserve peace and keep everyone safe if just about anyone could blow up a city as long as they were gifted with the ability to use Xii.


    While he was certainly right to be worried, there was no need for that : as a living god, I could very easily keep the world safe. If need be, it was possible for me to erase anyone that had evil intentions. And when people would understand that they could not oppose me, they¡¯d naturally stop causing problems.


    ***


    Sismar, 29th of P3 2276


    I haven¡¯t seen Arcadeus in the past few days. We had an argument about the balance of the world if I were to teach Magic to everyone through my books but when I told him I already sold off a couple of them, he became mad and left. I haven¡¯t heard of him since.


    ***


    Merculiar, 30th of P3 2276


    How foolish I was¡­


    Arcadeus came back yesterday night. He looked calm so we had dinner together to reconcile. But I was deceived¡­


    He drugged my meal and while my body was healing the poison, he took care of the situation to unleash his full power on me and take me out in a few seconds.


    My body automatically teleported me to Eternum, the world I had created in case of emergencies to heal myself.


    But when I got healed and tried to go back¡­


    I realised.


    There was no beacon left.


    So that is what Arcadeus has been up to these past few days, huh¡­ The only gate I have left is the tattoo on Arcadeus¡¯ back but he sealed it with his own Mana¡­


    Which means that I am currently trapped inside Eternum until Arcadeus dies¡­


    Well, since it will probably take a while ¨C a very long while ¨C I might as well start sleeping. Not that there is anything else for me to do here.


    ***


    ???, ??th of ?? ???


    I don¡¯t know how long I have been here. It was possible for me to keep an eye on the exterior world through the tattoo. My vision of the world was lacking but I was still aware of what was going on out there to some extent.


    Anyway, I have had a brilliant idea which I have been thinking of ever since I was sealed in here.


    Was I naive when I was still in the world of Sigmas ? I doubt it, since as a god, I am meant to be perfect, right ? Which means that if I have been betrayed in such a fashion, the living beings in the world out there are not worth being saved by my knowledge. What is needed is¡­ yes, a world without any of these problems.


    This is my mission.


    I must erase this failure of a world and create a new perfect one. This is the reason I was born.


    Now, there is nothing left for me to but wait¡­ Wait for my time to rise once more¡­

 Chapter 40 - He knew so little

    After defeating Arcadeus, I headed back to my castle where Alae was waiting for me. I had made the twins wait for me in Naxus. It was now time to celebrate my victory but I first had to announce it to every inhabitant of the capital. They deserved to know that they now had a new ruler after all.


    I warped Alae and myself in the Imperial Castle and walked outside, on the balcony dominating the entire city. The twins were standing on each side of the door, guarding it.


    I then fired a succession of fireballs in the sky, as fireworks. I made it last for a couple of minutes. Wahnsinn had regrouped the Golems that were now either in front of the castle or around the city¡¯s walls, patrolling.


    Little by little, the residents of Naxus came outside. They still felt threatened but I had made sure that no inhabitant was harmed by the Golems during the invasion.


    ¡°Dear citizens of Naxus ! Today, the Porcephone Empire fell to me, the Dark Joker ! I am here to instigate some change in the twisted society that is ours ! From today onwards, there is no longer any Porcephone Empire. Naxus is now a part of the Kingdom of Shadows !¡±


    ¡°A very nice speech, as expected of you, Joker !¡±


    Behind me, Alae was kneeling while the twins were applauding. No one else in the audience was applauding or cheering their new ruler and that was fine. I did not come here to please the weak, I came here to claim the prize of the strong. Not that I had any intention to bully the weak either though.


    ¡°Armius, Burs. Go dispatch some messengers from the Adventurer guild to spread the news that I, the Dark Joker, have taken over.¡±


    ¡°Yes, my lord.¡±


    ¡°Immediately, lord Joker.¡±


    They rushed outside and I was left alone on the balcony with Alae. Now, what were my priorities ?


    The first thing I needed to do as the ruler of a kingdom was to dive into politics. Luckily, I had already established strong links with the Dwarves thanks to my intervention in the Klug continent.


    Thanks to the favour the Dwarves owned me since the war against the Orcs, I had secured the knowledge of their technological improvement. As a race that lacked physical power as well as Magic mastery, they had made use of advanced technology to keep up and that had got me very interested when I witnessed it in Klug.


    I wanted to use this connection to turn the cities of my Kingdom of Shadows into something greater, something more advanced ¨C I had developed this wish after seeing the architecture of the Elven capital in the Dorua continent. A greater technology meant a higher standard of living for the citizens, a more secure nation and more possibilities for further improvement.


    Furthermore, I had planned to open the Kingdom for mass immigration from the Klug continent. After all, many Dwarves were now homeless because of the war and the Kingdom was in need of diversity and a variety of skills. I was also aware of the racism going against the Hybrids and the Half-race. I wanted to sort that out as quickly as possible. After all, I did not want people to suffer like Alae did because of their background.


    The next matter at hands was my promise with Spades. I had thought of simply killing him now that the war was over but after being witness to his raw power, I had developed an interest in the potential of the dragon race as well. Was there a need to exterminate them ? Well anyway, I¡¯d find the answer by dealing with Spades.


    Hmm¡­ what else ? It seems like I was forgetting something. I turned around and noticed Alae was still there, pouting.


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha, why are you making such a face ? Did I do something ?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you sure did. Before going on about politics and such, maybe you should pay more attention to the one close to you ! Don¡¯t you want to spend some time with me ?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Ugh¡­ am I so unattractive that you have come to dislike me ? C-Could it be, you hate the type of woman I am !? No, wait I¡¯ll change my personality to fit your tastes ! I can¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re cute, Alae.¡±


    ¡°Huh ?¡±


    ¡°Sure, let¡¯s spend some time together. I haven¡¯t really rested since the beginning of the war. Let¡¯s go on a date. The Golems haven¡¯t gone on too much rampage in the shopping district.¡±


    ¡°But.. a date !? Is that fine ? Won¡¯t people recognise you ?¡±


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha. There¡¯s a reason why I¡¯m constantly wearing a mask, Alae.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right ! Let¡¯s go then !¡±


    Just like that, the day ended with me spending some intimate time with Alae for the rest of the day. But even after so many years, it seems I still had a lot left to accomplish. But now that Arcadeus was out of the way, I had as much time as needed. Or so I thought¡­


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    ***


    ¡°So sending you there wasn¡¯t the right choice either, huh¡­ Well at least the fake clone of yourself I dropped there seems to have worked. Although faking your death is only a temporary solution. After all, you will have to go back to Dorua at some point. Fake or not, you¡¯re still considered as the leader of the Elves. And it¡¯s only a matter of time before Joker sets his sight on Dorua¡­¡±


    ¡°Where am I¡­ ? Am I dead ? Lizabeth¡­ ¡°


    ¡°You are not quite dead yet.¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡±


    Lurking in the shadows, a man was facing the injured body of the Fake Sage, Arcadeus Sigitor. He was wearing ragged black robes and his face was hidden by a hood. He was standing in the darkness and was hardly detectable. Not for Arcadeus however.


    ¡°So you saved me at the last minute, huh ? And you even healed me.¡±


    ¡°I was merely doing the world a favour by not allowing the seal to break. And it is not so much healing you as rewinding your time. Be careful though. I can alter an individual¡¯s time as long as they are alive only because I influence their Mana flow. Thus resurrecting you is impossible so try not to die on me please¡­ I thought you could easily get rid of Joker but it looks like you were not up to the task.¡±


    ¡°Tch¡­ if you can freeze people¡¯s time to rescue me like that, why did you not use this opportunity to kill him ?¡±


    ¡°I cannot kill him myself, I believe I already told you that. Me killing a person in a world that isn¡¯t originally mine would cause a continuity failure and break the balance of the world. That¡¯s why I asked for your help.¡±


    ¡°But why did you advise me to fight him in his own world ? Even with my power, he was able to beat me because you recommended that ! If it was up to me, we would have fought in Sigmas, not in his world of shadows¡­ I was at a total disadvantage there.¡±


    ¡°Think about it like that : if he had really killed you, Ox would have been trapped inside his realm. On the other hand, if Ox was released in Sigmas, there isn¡¯t much that could have been done to contain him. I do not want history to repeat itself.¡±


    ¡°Then why rescue me ? If I was going to die in this other realm then there was no problem for the balance of the world, right ?¡±


    ¡°Unless Joker allowed him to escape. It has happened before you know ? I just don¡¯t want to make the same mistake twice. Or should I say thirty-seven times ? The probability that these two end up working together is too high to be ignored. It¡¯s one of the two worst possible outcomes. This was the first time I actually sent you to fight there. I want to try every single possible situation if it can stop the world from being destroyed.¡±


    ¡°As usual, it¡¯s quite hard for me to understand what you¡¯re talking about, lord Zeit¡­ well I understand some of it though. But the blabbering about your time travel is confusing.¡±


    ¡°Listen, there are two outcomes that lead to the world¡¯s destruction. First is Joker allying with Ox. The other one is even worse, it leads to Ox breaking free and defeating Joker, leading to the end of the world. Either way, as long as we avoid Ox¡¯s escape, there is still a chance to preserve the future.¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t a very good idea to tell me to go fight Joker in the first place then¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes. But the twenty-two times when I didn¡¯t tell you to lead to you dying anyway so I thought I might give it a go.¡±


    ¡°What I don¡¯t understand is why you didn¡¯t advise me hundreds of years ago ? Or tell me to kill Joker when he was born¡­ if I had known¡­ we could have avoided all this trouble.¡±


    ¡°I cannot go back to a time period when I wasn¡¯t born. I need to use a percentage of the Mana of my own self in this world as an anchor to exist in a world other than mine, hence why I cannot go back to a time when I did not exist in the first place.¡±


    ¡°Sigh¡­ changing the future sure is tough isn¡¯t it ?¡±


    ¡°Yes but if you keep helping me, I will keep my promise and rescue Lizabeth for you.¡±


    ¡°Of course. That¡¯s why I joined forces with you in the first place, lord Zeit.¡±


    Arcadeus left the dark room they were in. After making sure he was gone, the man known as Zeit chose to light up the room revealing his face. Or rather, a mask that was hiding it. It was a simple white mask with two holes for the eyes.


    It was identical to Joker¡¯s mask, aside for the fact that this one had cracks in it.


    The man with the broken mask sighed and started thinking.


    ¡°How many more failures will I commit ? How many more worlds will be destroyed because of¡­ me ? But I have a feeling¡­ that this time around, my struggle will finally come to an end.¡±


    <hr />


    Last chapter of [Arc 2 - Revolution].


    [Arc 3 - Inescapable fate] starts next chapter.

 Chapter 41 - The Time Traveler

    It had been a year.


    One year since the downfall of the Porcephone Empire and the rise of the Dark Joker.


    Many things had changed since. The Porcephone Empire had been renamed into the Kingdom of Shadows. Its population had changed too. For one, the number of foreign species within the kingdom had increased drastically, with a major dwarf immigration but also tribes of Half-race that had been nomad in the past that came to settle down here.


    The dwarves brought some interesting technology that allowed a new era to begin. Machinery powered via condensed magic had been developed, improving the transports as well as hygiene conditions.


    Boats now used magic powered engines that allowed them to travel much faster and more reliably than the old versions. And with the improvement of naval transports, trading and travelling became much simpler.


    Since the death of their leader, the Elves had started to travel outside of their continent more and more as a way to explore a part of the world that had been hidden from them because of the Fake Sage¡¯s control on Dorua¡¯s docks.


    Many of them came to the Kingdom of Shadows and some Elven scholars decided to work together with Dwarves scientists to improve the healing methods and extend the average life expectancy by combining technology to healing magic. Thanks to their accumulated knowledge, more schools were opened and the level of education of the masses was raised by quite a lot.


    This is due to a law that I created, forcing all children between the age of seven and fifteen years old to attend school at least 3 hours a day, no matter their status.


    I personally always hated the fact that people can be separated into classes at birth because of where they are born. I believe one should be able to choose their fate themselves.


    Following this technological boom, Naxus had been renovated, expanded and improved to welcome the migrants.It had become the ¡°official¡± capital of the Kingdom of Shadows as it was still located at a converging spot for trade and travel and its population was still the highest in the Kingdom. Although the real capital was of course Aldenaf (but it was kept secret from rest of the world).


    ¡°So what¡¯s my plan for today ?¡±


    I asked Alae if I had any appointment. Things quickly became busy after I took over the Empire and Alae appointed herself as my secretary.


    ¡°The council of Sages from Dorua just arrived in Sill. The meeting with them about the new trade taxes with Dorua was set to be today but it looks like they had some during their trip so their arrival to Naxus will be delayed.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ I see. What about the case of goblin extermination next to Rougeterra ? Is the Adventurer guild still taking care of that ?¡±


    ¡°The head of the Adventurer Guild said they were busy with other matters so they cannot take care of it at the moment.¡±


    ¡°Do they not have a single free adventurer ? That sounds like a big lie to me.¡±


    ¡°Shall I send Burs or Armius visit him to check whether he is lying or not ?¡±


    ¡°Send Burs there with a squadron of Technolems. Armius already has his hands full with the assassination attempt on me from last week.¡±


    The Technolems were an upgraded version of my golems that used metallic parts. During the Klug war, the Dwarves had tried to develop exoskeletons that would allow them to fight on par with the Orcs despite their lack of physical strength but the research was abandoned as the only way to power such an armor was to use Magic and it was unfortunately too demanding for the Dwarves¡¯ poor natural magic pool. However, my magically powered Golems had just enough magical power to make the exoskeletons work so after a bit of experimentation, a fusion of the two had been made possible. This meant that the enhanced version of the Golems was about three times as powerful as normal ones.


    ¡°Very well. Should I also investigate the state of the Adventurer Guild to determinate whether they¡¯re lying to us ?¡±


    ¡°I suspect that the Guild Master doesn¡¯t trust me yet but I¡¯ll sort that out on my own later. For now, just deal with the goblin extermination.¡±


    ¡°Yes. I will meet you later, Joker.¡±


    Alae left first. I was reminiscing myself of our relationship as I watched her silhouette disappear.


    During the entire year, one could say our bond had deepened and my love for her grew as she supported me in my duties as the new ruler. She had let her flowing jet black hair grow even longer and it was now reaching her waist. She also had a very seductive body, which I feasted upon whenever I was not too tired from my duties as the new leader.


    One thing that had worried Alae was the custom of rulers to have a harem of concubines and mistresses. I, on the other hand, did not feel the need to love anyone else but her. I reassured her by telling her that I was not bounded by customs and traditions of a fallen country.


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    On the other side, Burs and Armius proved to be both insanely popular with women, probably due to their good looks and reputation as young generals of my army as well as Paladins.


    And although it had been made known to the public that their new ruler was the Dark Joker, my real identity was still concealed and I was still wearing my old mask during all of my outside appearances.


    ***


    As I was leaving the imperial castle, I started walking down the stairs that lead to the town centre. I was on my way to talk to that Guild Master and find a way to earn his trust. But someone was standing in front of me.


    A person wearing ragged black robes with a hood hiding their face. They were barefoot and had shackles attached to their feet. From the figure of the person, I guessed it was a man slightly smaller than me.


    ¡°I¡¯d appreciate if you could move out of the way, I am rather busy.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so cold to me¡­ it¡¯s been a long time, Joker.¡±


    ¡°¡­ Do I know you ?¡±


    ¡°Oh please, we¡¯ve met a countless amount of times ! Hmm¡­ not in this timeline though. Anyway, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll recognise this.¡±


    The man lifted his hood and what he revealed shocked me. It was a mask that was exactly the same as mine, except his was broken on the side. This was a mask that was crafted exclusively for one of Aldenaf¡¯s parades so only someone from there could have had one.


    ¡°The mask heh ? You¡¯re probably wondering where I got it from. I don¡¯t like suspense so I¡¯ll tell you straight away, this is yours.¡±


    ¡°¡­ Mine, huh ? Ha, ha, ha, as impossible as it sounds, could it be that¡­ you¡¯re a time traveler ?¡±


    ¡°Oh, you did well to figure that out so quickly. Yes, that¡¯s right. I go by the name of Zeit.¡±


    ¡°Ever since I learnt Creative Magic, I always wondered if instead of only bending space to my will Magic was also able to alter time¡­ Considering this is my mask and the crack on it, I¡¯m assuming you got it by somehow killing me in another timeline¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°So ? Did something happen and you decided you needed to get rid of me in this timeline too ? Sorry to tell you but I¡¯m not going to go down without a fight.¡±


    ¡°Sorry to disappoint you but I am not here to kill you. As a time traveller, there are some fundamental laws that I have to abide with. One of them stops me from killing you, the man who is linked to my mission. Rather, I need you to help me with something.¡±


    ¡°Something¡­ ?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I won¡¯t hide the truth and be straightforward: the Arcadeus you believe to have killed in your shadow world was a dummy. I stopped time before you killed him and saved him.¡±


    ¡°What !? Well it is true that Ox did not come out Arcadeus¡¯ body. That wouldn¡¯t have mattered anyway, as I could have trapped him in my world.¡±


    ¡°You know, after time-leaping so many times, I have come to be rather tired. I want my mission to end as fast as possible. So I want to play it as safe as possible and avoid letting Ox out if possible.¡±


    ¡°Your mission¡­ ?¡±


    ¡°Yes. To be rather straightforward, your very existence is linked to the end of this world. I have been tasked with creating a timeline where the events that break the balance of our world do not take place.¡±


    ¡°As grand as my plans are, I do not plan to destroy the world¡­Not anymore at least, ha, ha, ha.¡±


    ¡°You may laugh but 674 is the exact amount of times I had to time-leap because I was unable to stop the world¡¯s destruction from happening.¡±


    ¡°So how about you tell me exactly what causes it.¡±


    ¡°As much as I would like you to, that isn¡¯t a safe bet. Rather I will tell you something. You are free to listen to me or not but I would advise you do.¡±


    ¡°¡­ Well let¡¯s hear it.¡±


    ¡°Here is my advice: if you value your child¡¯s life, do not believe in your shadow, no matter how tempting it sounds.¡±


    ¡°Eh ? My child ? What do you mean-¡±


    As I was about to press Zeit for more answers, he suddenly disappeared. What a troublesome power. By my child, he surely meant the one I would have with Alae¡­ but by my shadow¡­ did he mean Wahnsinn ?


    What event led to him discovering Wahnsinn ? And why would listening to Wahnsinn cause my child¡¯s death ?


    ¡°Sigh, this complicated situation is really bothersome¡­¡±


    Leaving these thoughts aside for the moment, I kept heading towards the Adventurer guild.

 Chapter 42 - The Wind Samurai

    It had already been a few years since the training of my one and only student had ended.


    I have to say that the first time I met him, I saw a lot of potential in him. But his determination and hard work allowed him to be even more successful in his training that I had hoped for.


    Indeed, Hell Kreizig had mastered my original fighting style, Wind Dance, in only one single year. He spent the remaining one sparring with me and perfecting it himself. I have no doubts that he will one day become much stronger than I am.


    His girlfriend ¨C or friend, they never really made it clear ¨C had a lot of potential too. It seemed she had the knowledge of past dragons stored inside her, making her very powerful. I did not get to personally see her make use of these powers but I had a feeling she was secretly practicing too. After all, I do remember her telling me once that she wanted to be strong enough to be able to protect Hell.


    Ah¡­ these are good memories. With the time limit of two years reached and me having nothing left to teach Hell, he departed with Glace, to an unknown location. During these years of training, I had learnt a lot from him: how his town had suddenly disappeared, how his brother was missing and how he was planning on investigating the case after the training was over.


    I have to admit that now that he was gone, I felt a bit lonely. I was always a lone wolf, wandering across the continent in the first place but having been accustomed to company for a while changed my personality it seems. That and the fact that I did not really have an objective of my own either¡­ until that day.


    Wandering across the entire continent, one is bound to hear rumors about what is going on in the Empire. But what surprise was at its highest when I heard that Naxus had been taken over and that both the old and the new Emperors had been murdered. What shocked me the most though, was to learn that my former colleague and friend, Vlad Stalford, had died in battle.


    This was also worrying for the state of the Empire¡­


    I had met Vlad back when I was working for the imperial army. The first time I talked to him was during the Rebel Repression campaign. It was a civil war that, according to the Emperor himself, had started because some rebels were trying to accomplish a coup d¡¯etat.


    As the best swordsman in the Empire, I was leading the top division of the Imperial Infantry. On the other hand, Vlad was in charge of the Mage Squad. Since we fought together, we quickly became friends.


    But something was off. Not only did the rebels lack in terms of military power compared to what we had been informed but they were also mostly formed of people from the Half-race. Even as they surrendered, direct orders from the capital led to Vlad having to nuke the town serving as base for the rebels.


    After witnessing such horror, I decided to leave the army. I became a deserter and a bounty was placed on my head. However, strangely enough, I kept in touch with Vlad.


    I learnt a few things from him. First, he regretted having had to nuke the town and wished he could erase that action. Secondly, he was suspecting the Emperor to act under someone else¡¯s orders as his decisions looked devoid of any benefit for the kingdom or even himself.


    The two of us allied together and created a secret two-men organisation which aim was to uncover the truth behind the Porsephone Empire and bring it to light.


    While Vlad was working undercover as the Archmage, I was wandering across the continent trying to find information in my own way.


    A few months before his death, Vlad sent me some valuable information. Information about the one known as the First Sage, his master Ox and how despite being behind many massacres and corruption in the Empire, it was imperative for him to stay alive as his death would bring about the world¡¯s destruction.


    While it was true that killing Arcadeus was the wrong decision, Vlad and I had planned to abduct the Fake Sage and keep him captive while finally bringing out the truth about the Porcephone Empire. But suddenly, a masked man known as the Dark Joker had taken over Naxus and killed Vlad¡­


    Now that I was the sole remaining member of those seeking to bring justice forward in the Empire, I was unsure of what to do¡­


    ***


    One day, while visiting the town of Dawnreach at the northern edge of the continent, I met him: Arism Stalford ¨C Vlad¡¯s son.


    He presented himself to me while I was packing my baggages in my room, in a tavern. I did not know how he heard of me but it looked like he had been searching for me for a long time now.


    ¡°So I finally get to meet you, Yaquinn. I have been looking for you for a very long while.¡±


    ¡°So this is Vlad¡¯s son. I¡¯m glad I was able to meet you.. How did you find me though ?¡±


    ¡°I was told by a man called Zeit.¡±


    ¡°I do not know of such person¡­¡±


    ¡°Anyway, you called me Vlad¡¯s son¡­ could it be you knew my father ?¡±


    ¡°Yes, he and I were friends. We fought together in the civil war.¡±


    ¡°I see ! Then maybe you could-¡±


    Because I was with Vlad¡¯s son, I had let my guard down. A huge explosion that looked like a much more powerful version of ¡ºFireball¡»detonated right next to the two of us and I was taken aback. I merely had time to react but I made the safety of Vlad¡¯s son my priority. Using the wind, I had no choice but to redirect the blast of the explosion that was going to hit Arism onto me, all while pushing Arism aside. At the last second, I was able to somehow avoid a mortal wound by shielding some of my body with the wind but my right arm was gone in that explosion.


    ¡°¡­ It seems you survived. I tried to make this as painless as possible but it looks like you are trying to struggle. I¡¯m sorry I have to do that but this is all for the sake of the world¡¯s balance.¡±


    As the smoke around us disappeared, an Elf who was none other than Arcadeus himself appeared.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.¡°So this is the famous Yaquinn huh ? I¡¯ve had my eye on you and Vlad ever since you started meddling in the Emperor¡¯s affairs.¡±


    ¡°The Fake Sage huh¡­ ? It is an¡­ honour to meet you. Although¡­ I don¡¯t think you came all the way here just to exchange courtesies¡­¡±


    ¡°No you¡¯re right. I failed to kill Joker so I need to at least get rid of you.¡±


    Arism looked genuinely confused by the situation.


    ¡°You¡­ Arcadeus ? You followed me ? This man is friend knew my father, I can¡¯t let you kill him. There is a lot I need to ask him.¡±


    Arcadeus looked at Arism like one would stare at an insect.


    ¡°Do you really think I have time to waste on a useless pawn like you ? To be honest, it would have been great if you could have just disappeared in that situation but it looks like the renowned ¡°best swordsman¡± of the Porcephone Empire is still in shape and was able to save you¡­ sigh. How troublesome.¡±


    ¡°¡­ Did you lie to me ?¡±


    ¡°Tsk, I didn¡¯t lie. It¡¯s true Yaquinn is a problem for my plans so just die already.¡±


    Arcadeus had finished preparing a gigantic fireball the size of a castle that he suddenly shot at Arism and I. Being wounded, I was unable to properly make use of the wind in time to save my friend¡¯s son, let alone escaping this attack unscathed.


    As I was preparing myself for the worst, I gathered all my remaining energy into the wind to act as a shield, although I knew very well that it would not be enough.


    But as the situation looked hopeless, the fireball suddenly became trapped in some sort of black hole that swallowed it in a few seconds.


    ¡°What the !? Who dares get in the First Sage¡¯s way ?¡±


    ¡°Stupid Elf. I leave you alone for a moment and you start threatening the world¡¯s balance by yourself. Is this really what I saved you for ? At this rate I will have to time-leap again¡­ ugh¡­¡±


    ¡°Lord Zeit !?¡±


    At the sight of this masked man wearing black ragged robes and chains, Arcadeus looked like he lost all confidence.


    ¡°Forgive me, Lord Zeit ! I did not understand that these two individual lives were linked to the balance of the world¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, Yaquinn¡¯s life isn¡¯t. Although I would hate for him to be killed because of a misunderstanding because I owe him a debt. Well not this one, but in a previous timeline, he did save my life.¡±


    ¡°A misunderstanding ?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Yaquinn has no intention of killing you Arcadeus so let him live.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ if that¡¯s what you ask of me, then so be it. What about the kid ?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha, Arism huh¡­ His journey is only beginning. It would be a grave mistake for you to kill him here, trust me.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡±


    The one known as Zeit turned over to face me. I couldn¡¯t decipher his expression through his cracked mask but although the wind around him felt familiar, at the same time I couldn¡¯t help but sense that this person must have lived for centuries.


    ¡°Yaquinn. I know you act because of your promise with Vlad but I ask of you that you drop the matter. The corruption of the Porcephone Empire has already been revealed by someone else and in the event that someone would kill Arcadeus, you are not the one fated to do so. Instead, I would like to task you to do something much more important.¡±


    ¡°From what you said, I understand that you come from a different time-line¡­ if that¡¯s even possible¡­ What could have caused you to have to time-travel ?¡±


    ¡°Nothing more than the end of my original world. Its utter destruction. And my journey through time can only end in a time-line where the balance of the world is saved. And I do believe you have a role to play in that matter, Yaquinn.¡±


    While it is true that I knew nothing about that man, it was also true that the Fake Sage himself deeply respected him. This must have meant that this man was really what he claimed to be. And it¡¯s not like I had an actual objective anyway now¡­


    ¡°I see¡­ what do you need me to do ?¡±


    ¡°First, I¡¯ll have Arcadeus heal you.¡±


    Hearing that, Arcadeus approached me and while I stepped back by reflex, he locked my feet to the ground with Earth Magic and began regrowing my missing arm.


    ¡°Now listen well. Whether the world is saved or not may entirely depend upon your very actions. I need you to find your student, Hell Kreizig, as well as the dragon that accompanies him. And together, I need you to travel to Naxus and meet with its new ruler, the one they call the Dark Joker.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ Do you happen to have any lead on where my student could be ?¡±


    ¡°Aaaah¡­ I¡¯m not some omniscient being you know ? But I do know the answer. If you decide to listen to me, then you will find Hell and the dragon in a remote village in the east of the continent, close to dragon territory.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ I¡¯ll head there then.¡±


    ¡°My last piece of advice¡­¡±


    ¡°What is it ?¡±


    ¡°If you do not wish to reunite with a dead student and a dragon corpse, I suggest you hurry and find Hell before a certain beast does.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean ? Wait-¡±


    Before he could answer any more of my questions, Zeit and Arcadeus disappeared the same way they had appeared.


    I was left alone with Arism in a room that lacked a wall or a room due to the explosion.


    ¡°Well then, I would have loved to talk a bit more but you heard him. I have to leave as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°Wait. I know Hell. This may sound surprising but I happen to have travelled and even fought with him in the past. Please take me with you.¡±


    ¡°Well that¡¯s fine but I¡¯ll be going ahead !¡±


    ¡°Ahead ? What do you mean ?¡±


    ¡°Well, being a wanderer and all, I don¡¯t exactly have a lot of money you see¡­ So I leave the reparation fees of the tavern¡¯s room to you, young Stalford ! Hahaha !¡±


    ¡°Wait !¡±


    But too late. I was already gone. And I was determined to find my student as fast as possible. In addition to what Zeit had said, I could sense the air¡­ and I had a very bad presentiment.

 Chapter 43 - The fall of a king

    ¡°Akmantosh, give me a full report on the current state of the war.¡±


    ¡°Yes my king. It seems the Porcephone army is currently advancing towards our last stronghold.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ so the dragon army I had set up in Bruneciel was defeated¡­¡±


    ¡°It looks like the Porcephone Empire is receiving the help of the legendary First Sage, my king. I don¡¯t believe we have the power to oppose him¡­ Forgive my rudeness but I suggest surrendering, my king !¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Behind Akmantosh the messenger and myself, another draconic figure appeared. It was Hylda, my most loyal supporter, as well as the strongest Ice Dragon in the world. Upon hearing the plea suggested by Akmantosh, Hylda frowned and seemed to get angry.


    ¡°How dare you suggest such a thing to our king ? Do you not know how hard it is for him !?¡±


    ¡°But¡­ I still think that we do not stand a chance against the First Sage himself¡­¡±


    ¡°While that may be true, our king is fighting for the freedom of our people ! He is fighting for us to keep our territory.¡±


    ¡°Enough, Hylda.¡±


    ¡°Excuse my anger, my king.¡±


    Despite being the strongest Ice Dragon, Hylda still deeply respected me. As the Dragon King, I was considered to be the most powerful dragon and as such, it was my duty to unite my people and stand up against the oppression of the Porcephone Empire to fight for our freedom. I was ready to give up on my life if it would allow us to remain just like we have ever been.


    ¡°How long before the Porcephone army reaches our stronghold ?.¡±


    ¡°They will be there in about twenty hours.¡±


    ¡°Then I shall receive them myself. Hylda, you will be in control of the army while I¡¯m gone. If I do not come back, please make the choice that will involve the fewest casualties for our people.¡±


    ¡°My king, please allow me to fight alongside with you !¡±


    ¡°As powerful as you are, you do not stand a chance against the First Sage. I will be the one to duel him.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ if that is what you wish then so be it, my king. But please be careful¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be on my way, waiting for them to arrive then.¡±


    I left my room and flew in the direction of the stronghold¡¯s gates. And there I waited. And waited. Until finally, in the horizon, I could see the imperial army approaching.


    ¡°First Sage ! I am the Dragon King ! As the leader of the Dragon Race, I challenge you to a duel ! In order to reduce the casualties in both of our ranks, I ask that this uninterrupted one-on-one battle will decide the winner of the war !¡±


    I shouted loudly enough for everyone around to hear. After a few minutes, I got my answer from the only Elf in this army full of humans.


    ¡°I accept your challenge, Dragon King. My name is Arcadeus. Now, let us duel.¡±


    The Elf walked away from the rest of the army and I rushed towards him. I was already flying in the air so I had the upper hand. The First Sage fired dozens of spells at me, all of which I dodged with ease thanks to my unparalleled speed. I then made use of my¡ºDragon Breath¡»to try to roast the man. However, despite the huge power of this attack, Arcadeus had managed to parry it with a shield made of hardened rock.


    He then tried to pin me down using some kind of wind Magic. But as the Dragon King, my mastery of Magic itself was high and as such I was able to deflect whatever he tried to do to me.


    After an intense exchange of¡ºFirebolts¡», ¡ºDragon Breaths¡», ¡ºThundershocks¡» and ¡ºDraconic Slashes¡», I finally managed to put the Sage in a position that satisfied me. Flying straight at him, I surprised him by accelerating thanks to¡ºWhirlwind¡»and crashing onto him, successfully pinning him down.


    As he was at my mercy, I readied a deadly¡ºDragon Breath¡»and waited before firing it.


    ¡°You have lost. Do you surrender, First Sage ? As member of a Race that values honour highly, I do not mind sparing my opponent.¡±


    ¡°Do it.¡±


    At first, I thought Arcadeus was asking me to finish him. But after this moment of carelessness, I soon realised that I was not the one he was talking to. Behind me, a hundred Mages fired their spells at the same time, hitting me with a deadly combination of destructive Magic.


    ¡°Do you really think that petty things like honour can achieve victory on the battlefield ? As I thought, the Dragon Race is really naive¡­¡±


    Arcadeus stood back up and faced me, with a loathful face. I had a hard time believing that one as great as the First Sage himself had cheated to defeat me¡­


    My whole body was critically wounded but I could hardly feel the pain, mainly due to the rage that I currently felt.


    ¡°IS THIS REALLY THE WAY OF HUMANS ? IS THIS HOW YOU TREAT A FAIR DUEL ?¡±


    Exploding with furor, I managed to shake off the humans around me and aimed straight at Arcadeus. However, he used some kind of unknown Magic and sent me flying in the air.


    ¡°You¡¯re a bother now. Just die.¡±


    As I landed on the ground, I got swallowed by a gigantic fireball and I fell into a deep slumber as my whole body, that used to have bright red scales, became tainted by the burns and turned full black.


    ***


    In the darkness surrounding my consciousness, I could only feel the echo of my own regrets.


    ¡°Sorry, everyone¡­ your king has failed you¡­ I wasn¡¯t able to protect you¡­¡±


    As I thought all hopes were lost, another voice popped up in my mind.


    ¡°Are you really going to let your people die ? Are you going to let the entire Dragon Race go extinct ? Will the renowned Dragon King really let his kin down ?¡±


    ¡°NO, OF COURSE NOT !¡±


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.My sheer wrath alone was able to bring me back to life. Whether I had actually died or not, that I did not know. But what I knew was that I had the duty to protect my race and I could not die until I had successfully repelled the human invaders.


    As I awoke, I noticed the colour change on my scales. But this did not matter for I knew others would recognise me thanks to my tall stature (I was about three times as big as a normal dragon). Something else that looked strange though, was the fact that I could not see a single soldier around me. Where could they have gone that quickly ?


    I flew straight towards the stronghold¡­ which was no longer there. Instead there was only a gigantic crater, most likely caused by some kind of high scale Magic.


    Where¡­ where is everyone ? Could it be that I slept for much longer than I thought ?


    Hylda¡­ my best friend¡­ and the rest of the Dragon Race¡­ I need to save them¡­ but where ?


    ***


    After wandering around the entire continent for six months straight restlessly, without even wasting time drinking or eating, I searched. But there was no trace of my people anywhere.


    Still, it was my willpower alone that had brought me back to life and it was also that willpower that was keeping me alive. My sense of duty to protect my fellow dragons was so strong that the pain on my own body did not matter to me.


    I had witnessed multiple new towns and villages occupied by humans. As I had searched everywhere for my kin, I had noticed that most of the towns previously built by us, dragons, were now inhabited by humans.


    Until at last, I reached a place on the far end of the continent. A place in the mountains around a village called Duskharbor. A village that wasn¡¯t there before the war¡­


    And by searching deep into these mountains, I finally stumbled upon a dragon¡¯s den.


    Although it was called den, it was big enough to host the community of about three hundred dragons that were living there.


    When I noticed this, my wrath and sadness seemed to disappear for a moment. I rushed towards the den and met some of the dragons guarding its entrance.


    ¡°Who are you ? I¡¯ve never seen a dragon like you around here before¡­¡±


    ¡°What ? How come you don¡¯t recognise me ? Oh it must be the black scales¡­ they used to be red. I¡¯m the Dragon King !¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King¡­ no way¡­ hey Asphalth, go get Lady Siprieth.


    Siprieth¡­ that name¡­ yes I remember. She used to be one of my generals.


    Soon after, Siprieth showed up. But instead of greeting me, she looked at me like I was some kind of stranger.


    ¡°So it¡¯s you¡­ you have some nerve showing here, Demonic King.¡±


    ¡°Demonic King¡­ wait what ?¡±


    ¡°Everyone knows that the Dragon King betrayed us on that fateful day, three years ago.¡±


    So it had been three years¡­ but wait a minute, betrayed ? I mean, sure I lost the battle but why did she have to say that ?


    ¡°I went to battle their leader for the sake of our kin¡­ Hylda and Akmantosh should know !¡±


    ¡°Akmantosh died in battle during the fight of the stronghold. Hylda managed to get away before being captured and went into hiding.¡±


    ¡°Get away¡­ I told her to lead our people to the safest place, should she have to go hide¡­Not go hide by herself¡­¡±


    ¡°Whatever happened, what you did was way worse. You promised to go fighting for our sake and you left us. You left your own people while you hid yourself like a coward !¡±


    ¡°What do you mean !? I went to have a duel with their leader !¡±


    ¡°Yeah right, that¡¯s why he was unscratched when he invaded us. And that¡¯s why you¡¯re still alive too. You¡¯re just a liar. I don¡¯t know why you even had the audacity to show your face here. Everyone in this den thinks the same. No one wants to see you ever again, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°What is this madness¡­¡±


    ¡°Everyone loathes you here. And be assured the legends will not pass down your name as the Dragon King, but rather as the Renegade. Look at you, you¡¯re not even half as strong as how you used to be. Merely seeing you leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Now leave this den forever. I banish you from this place.¡±


    As she said that, she left the place. The dragon guards looked at me with scornful eyes.


    Suddenly I forgot why I had been looking for this place. It literally disappeared from my memories. ¡°Why am I here¡± I thought.


    Hylda¡­ betrayed me


    My enemies¡­ the ones who hate me. The ones who loathe me. The humans and¡­ the dragons.


    It makes sense now. I have no duty towards them anymore because I am no longer their king.


    So¡­ what is it that I truly want to do now ?


    I want¡­ to go on a rampage. This darkness that surrounds me¡­ I want to embrace it.


    A renegade huh¡­


    Yes, that¡¯s what I am.


    I screamed in wrath and let out my power. Or at least I tried to let it out but the harsh truth is that I had not been eating or drinking for six months. My power had diminished so much that the guards easily kicked me out of the mountains.


    To be reduced to such a state¡­ how shameful. But it¡¯s fine.


    I flew in a straight line for who knows how long. The change in scenery led me to believe that I was now on the Klug continent. And I had found a deep and dark pit.


    Yes¡­ if I sleep here¡­ If I bathe in the shadows of this pit¡­ I will be able to recover my powers¡­


    And when it happens¡­ the world will feel the wrath of Houhandorkalis, the Renegade.

 Chapter 44 - The kings wrath

    ¡°Are we almost there ?¡±


    ¡°Yes, look you can see it over there !¡±


    Glace and I were currently travelling to what was rumored to be the last remaining dragon community.


    Six years had passed since the Aldenaf incident. I was now 19 years old.


    After having completed my two years training with Master Yaquinn, we both headed different ways. My objective was to travel across the lands in order to try to find clues on what had happened to Aldenaf and big brother.


    For a few years, my quest ended up unsuccessful. I met in person with the Archmage after waiting for an audience for a long time but I could not gather any valuable information. The only thing I got from that was that he was not the one linked to Aldenaf¡¯s disappearance.


    I then kept on travelling around the Sill continent, honing my techniques and searching for anything that could be useful. In the meantime, I had heard that Naxus had recently been attacked by a masked man and his army and that the Porcephone Empire and its capital had fallen in a single day.


    I thought going back to Naxus for investigation could be a good idea but unfortunately, its access was restricted ever since the changes that took place there. Visitors were controlled and needed to have a clear purpose to be allowed to enter the town.


    As I was at a loss over what to do, Glace ¨C who was still with me ¨C gave me a new objective. She personally wanted to meet the other remaining dragons and according to the knowledge she got passed down from her father, there was still one big draconic community remaining in the world. However, she did not know where it was located.


    So we searched for a long time¡­ and at last we found it. It was a huge dragon den located in the mountains in the far east of the Kingdom of Shadows (this was the name that had replaced the Porcephone Empire).


    After reaching a village called Duskharbor, we were now heading towards the nearing mountains.


    The bond between Glace and I had also naturally strengthened in the past years. Master Yaquinn¡¯s training was harsh and the comfort she brought me after each session helped me cope with the burden on my body.


    Despite the fact that I had told her not to act slutty, she was still overly attached to me. Needless to say that as a teenager in the middle of puberty, it was hard for me to resist her.


    Eventually, I lost my virginity to her when I turned 16. Since then, I was acting less shy around her and I was no longer contradicting her when she claimed to be my girlfriend. Maybe I had matured a bit ?


    Either way, I was actually thankful to have met her. After having lost my entire family, it was indeed hard to bear the sadness alone. But having her by my side was a cure that I had come to gladly accept.


    Coming back to the dragon den, I did not know whether they would be aggressive or not towards us but I wanted to at least grant Glace¡¯s wish to reunite with her kin.


    As I had travelled with her, she had taught me many thing about dragons through her ancestors¡¯ knowledge. The first thing was that dragons used to be an actual race, a long time ago, instead of mere monsters.


    But everything had changed when the rapidly expanding Porcephone Empire started to take over the territory of the Dragon race and Half-race, who used to be the main two races living in harmony in the Sill continent.


    Due to the threat of Miro Porcephone ¨C the very first Porcephone Emperor ¨C the Dragons had no choice but to declare war to protect their territory.


    While the Half-race cowered and hid, the Dragon race was considered fierce, brave and powerful. The different dragon community were united by the one known as Houhandorkalis, the Dragon King.


    The dragon quickly overwhelmed the human armies but the appearance of the First Sage turned the outcome of the war and by helping the Empire, the dragons eventually had no choice but to surrender.


    This is when their King, in a last effort to protect his people, set off to challenge the one known as the Living God himself, to a duel. Despite the myths about the Elf being an unstoppable force, Houhandorkalis was ready to sacrifice his own life if it could help his people.


    Glace¡¯s knowledge stopped there as her ancestor did not know what had happened to the Dragon King after.


    But since the dragons had lost the war, they had been reduced to be considered as monsters by the Empire and were hunted down, almost becoming extinct.


    And the dragon den that was now in front of us was considered as the last peaceful ground for the draconic kind.


    ***


    The dragon den was in reality a huge network of caves in the mountains linked to each other through underground passages.As we approached its entrance, we were stopped by two dragons that looked like they were guarding the place.


    When they saw me, they immediately looked ready to attack. However, the sight of Glace made them think twice.


    One of them approached me and started speaking. He was a slim dragon with red scales that looked like a huge snake with two legs and two clawed wings.


    ¡°Stop right here, human ! You are in dragon territory. Normally, I would roast you on the spot but out of respect for that weird creature that feels distantly related to a dragon, I will allow you to turn around and leave.¡±


    Hearing that, the other dragon guard seemed to disagree.


    ¡°Orosmir, you can¡¯t do that ! Lady Saphagard has ordered not to let any human leave the den alive.¡±


    ¡°Yes but look at the person next to him¡­ my ancestors¡¯ knowledge makes me feel like I¡¯ve met her before¡­¡±


    ¡°No matter how you look at her, she¡¯s a human ! Wait¡­ actually¡­ it does feel like she¡¯s a dragon with a human look¡­ How is this possible !?¡±


    Glace chose this moment to introduce herself.


    ¡°My name is Glace ! I am a dragon under human form. An ice dragon to be exact.I ask of you that you let me meet your leader.¡±


    The two guards looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Eventually it seemed like they reached a conclusion.


    ¡°Orosmir, go get Lady Saphagard. I¡¯ll keep these two in check.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    After waiting a moment, the dragon named Orosmir came back.


    ¡°She said to let them in. She wants to speak to them in the main room.¡±


    The two dragons then led us through the caverns. The architecture was simplistic but it showed that the dragons were definitely able to live in a community, something that normal monsters are not able to.


    At least, we reached a room far bigger than the others and met with their leader, the dragon called Lady Saphagard.


    Unlike the other two who looked closer to a winged snake than anything else, she was similar to a winged lizard. The main difference is that she had two arms, in addition to her wings.


    ¡°Are you surprised by my appearance, maybe ? Not all dragons are of the same type you know ? Stronger ones usually have arms.¡±


    The dragon seemed to look both serious and calm at the same time. She speaked with a gentle tone but it was clear that she was acting suspicious of us.


    ¡°So, I allowed you in because I wanted to witness first-hand a true human and dragon Hybrid.¡±


    ¡°You guessed that I was a hybrid just by looking at me ?¡±


    Glace looked surprised even though she was the one who told me dragons could see the Aura of living beings, allowing them to identify their identity.


    ¡°Of course. I can even tell who your ancestor is, if I focus a bit more. This is an advanced technique that only more powerful dragons can perform but out of respect for your privacy, I won¡¯t do it unless you allow me to. But first, let me hear the reason of your visit in these unwelcome lands.¡±


    I personally stayed quiet the entire time, letting Glace do the talking. I thought it would make things easier that way.


    ¡°Yes, having lost my parents at birth, I was saved by this human, called Hell. What I seeked was to find out if there was still any dragon left alive¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, while we have certainly almost reached extinction during the last war against humans, my ancestor, Lady Siprieth, created a place for us to hide. In the end, this is all because of the Renegade¡­ sigh¡­¡±


    ¡°The Renegade ? Who is that ?¡±


    ¡°Could it be that your ancestors did not know of him ? They must have lived cut from the external world then¡­ The Renegade is the title we gave to the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Why do you give the legendary Dragon King such a disgraceful nickname ?¡±


    ¡°Do you not know of his actions ? During the war, he claimed that he would go duelthe enemy leader for our sake but used that as an opportunity to leave the battlefield, leaving us behind. And then he even had the audacity to come ask for asylum here, years later. Good thing that Siprieth banned that cursed dragon.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ That¡¯s a shame. I remember my ancestor really looking up to him.¡±


    ¡°Banish that thought immediately. The Renegade is a dragon that is thought of very badly around here so if you don¡¯t want to make any unneeded enemies, you should not speak of him like that. Besides, all this happened hundreds of years ago and even he should have died since then.¡±


    The two of them kept chatting for a while, until finally Saphagard seemed to reach a conclusion.


    ¡°Since you¡¯re like family, you can of course stay here. And although most dragons hate humans and they are obviously not allowed in here, I¡¯ll make an exception since he is your¡­ boyfriend¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. Thank you very much, Lady Saphagard.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. I¡¯ll let every other dragon know that they must not attack him. For their own safety.¡±


    Although I was unable to take on so many dragons at the same time, it seems that Lady Saphagard had sensed that I was strong enough to take on one or two of them at the same time. Not that I wanted to make them my enemies in the first place. Being on friendly terms with dragons was something I deemed to be very useful for my own survival, especially since they were like Glace¡¯s family, hahaha¡­


    We stayed in the mountains for about a week, getting to know most of its residents. Many of them had a hard time accepting me but Glace managed to calm them down enough for us to eat together multiple times. We then decided to leave and continue for my quest of information.


    But on the last day we spent there, the dragons¡¯ great bane happened¡­


    ***


    ¡°We¡¯re leaving the den in a few hours, have you finished saying goodbye to everyone Glace ?¡±


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


    ¡°Almost, there¡¯s only Lady Saphagard left.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s head to her room then.¡±


    Today was a bright day. The sun was strong and as such, most dragons were hanging out outside. But due to her duties, Lady Saphagard had stayed indoors.


    We were walking towards the entrance of the cave and met the two dragon guards again when suddenly, the earth started shaking.


    ¡°An earthquake ?¡±


    Orosmir looked around, suspicious.


    ¡°That¡¯s weird, they don¡¯t usually last that long.¡±


    But as the ¡°earthquake¡± lasted for way too long, the sound of something fending the air with an impressive force made us understand that what was cause the earth to shake was not a natural disaster. But rather giant wings flapping in the air.


    All at once, the sunlight disappeared. But it was not a cloud that was hiding it. It was a gigantic black figure, one that Glace seemed to recognise immediately. The two dragon guards looked like they did too.


    Orosmir seemed terrified.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe it¡­ it¡¯s the Renegade !¡±


    ¡°Quick, go alert Lady Saphagard !¡±


    In the sky, a gigantic jet black dragon was flying towards us. He was about five times as big as Orosmir and three times as big as Saphagard. He had two arms in addition to his wings, proving that he was the more powerful type. Something else that could be used to judge a dragon¡¯s strength, according to her, was whether they had spikes on the back or not. And the dragon called the Renegade had too many too count.


    A dreadful scream could be heard from him. A scream that made my soul scream in fear.


    Quickly enough, Saphagard showed up outside and looked at the Renegade in disbelief.


    ¡°So you were still alive, fallen king.¡±


    The mad dragon stopped at the sight of Saphagard and opened his mouth. It was not fire that came out but rather a very deep voice, one that showed his anger.


    ¡°SIPRIETH, YOU¡¯RE STILL ALIVE ! GREAT, THEN I WILL HAVE THE PLEASURE TO KILL YOU MYSELF !¡±


    ¡°I regret to have to break your bubble but Siprieth was my ancestor. She died a long time ago. But I do remember her banishing you. You should have accepted the mercy she showed you a long time ago by not killing you. But it was a mistake for you to show up again. I will execute you myself, Houhandorkalis.¡±


    Hearing himself be called by his real name seemed to tick off the Renegade more than anything else.


    ¡°I HAVE LEARNT A LONG TIME AGO THAT MERCY, TRUST AND HONOUR ARE STUPID VALUES. AND I NO LONGER GO BY HOUHANDORKALIS, I AM NOW CALLED SPADES !¡±


    ¡°You have become a disgrace. Just disappear !¡±


    As soon as she finished her sentence, Saphagard fired a huge fireball from her mouth, directed at the Renegade. But let alone dodging it, he did not even try to parry it.


    ¡°I knew that you are only the shadow of what you once were. You¡¯re nowhere near as strong.¡±


    ¡°HAHAHA, PITIFUL DRAGON, IS THIS ALL THE NEW GENERATION CAN DO ? THIS IS NOT EVEN A TENTH OF THE POWER ARCADEUS USED TO BURN MY SCALES !¡±


    After the smoke from the explosion disappeared, both Saphagard, Glace and I were left in disbelief. The huge fireball she had shot had not even scratched the Renegade.


    ¡°I WAS ALREADY CONSIDERED THE MOST POWERFUL DRAGON BEFORE YOU WERE EVEN BORN. BUT NOW THAT I HAVE GIVEN MYSELF UP TO THE SHADOWS AND MY WRATH, MY POWER IS NOTHING COMPARED TO BEFORE !¡±


    After saying that, he shot a black laser towards Saphagard. She managed to dodge it but as she was flying in front of the mountain, the Renegade increased the output of the laser, turning it into a giant one that engulfed both Saphagard and the mountain¡­ leaving nothing behind.


    At the sight of this apocalyptic power, Glace became terrorized. I tried my best to snap her out of her terror.


    ¡°Glace, we gotta run. Glace ! Damn it¡­ Don¡¯t worry I¡¯ll protect you to the best of my ability, even if I die trying !¡±


    As if he heard me screaming to her, the Renegade then turned his gaze towards us. Surprise replaced the anger that had been showing in his eyes up until now.


    ¡°That aura¡­ no way¡­ could you¡­ HYLDA¡¯S DESCENDANT !?¡±


    Furor soon took control of him again and he used that black breath towards us.


    As Glace still looked dazed, I had no choice but to try to defend her myself. I immediately removed my internal limiters using a technique I had developed with the help of Master Yaquinn.


    ¡°Wind¡¯s Determination !¡±


    Having removed all my limiters, I try to deflect the attack to the best of my ability by drawing out my sword ¨C which was a katana given to me by Master Yaquinn at the end of my training ¨C at such speed that it created a tornado that clashed with the dark breath. Somehow, it was powerful enough to deviate the enemy ability.


    I then took Glace in my arms and jumped as far as I could from our current location. As I had predicted, the Renegade had soon followed with a barrage of dark lasers that completely destroyed the area we were standing on.


    Finally, Glace looked like she had snapped out of it and realised the situation.


    But it was too late. after deflecting ten lasers in a row, my stamina was reaching its limit and Spades had started to overpower me.


    ¡°Hell, quickly leave ! It looks like he is only after me because of my ancestor ! You can still escape if you leave me !¡±


    ¡°No way am I leaving you now, Glace ! You¡¯re all I had left so don¡¯t you go disappear on me. We¡¯re in this together, till the end you hear me !?¡±


    Understanding my resolve, Glace looked like she became serious too. Scales appeared on her cheeks, shoulders and thighs, as they would whenever she was about to use her full power.She then unleashed similar laser beams except hers were snow white.


    Her frozen breath clashed with dark ones and seemed to be enough to contain the Renegade¡¯s power. Meanwhile I was trying to recover as fast as possible to help her.


    Fortunately, it is at this moment that hundreds of dragons finally arrived and assisted us, either rushing straight to Spades or firing their elemental breath at him.


    However, it seemed to have very little effect on the mad dragon and he easily got rid of them with a few slashes. At the same time, he redirected  his shadow breath towards them and even fired some other spells from his hands.


    All was left was dead or wounded dragons on the ground as well as Glace and myself. The situation looked quite dire as the Renegade still looked unscathed.


    ¡°YOU STRUGGLED WELL ENOUGH, AS EXPECTED OF THE DESCENDANT OF THE STRONGEST ICE DRAKE, THE DRAGON THAT BETRAYED ME. BUT YOU WILL NOW SUFFER FROM MY FULL HATRED !¡±


    Spades looked like he stopped firing his dark breath for a few moments. Instead he started compressing it within his mouth. When he finally released it, it was much more powerful and destructive than before and quickly overpowered both Glace¡¯s ice breath and my tornadoes.


    But as the situation looked desperate and Spades looked like he was to finish us off, a gigantic whirlwind coming from behind me hit Spades straight in the face, deflecting his breath and sending him flying even further.


    I turned around to witness who had sent that attack but seeing the sheer power and the type of technique, I already knew.


    It was Master Yaquinn.


    ¡°Oh fancy meeting you here, Hell and Glace. A certain someone warned me you might be in trouble so this old man here thought you might need a hand, haha.¡±


    ¡°Of course, Master ! Perfect timing !¡±


    Finally, I started being hopeful again. With Master Yaquinn here, we finally had had a chance to turn this battle around.


    ¡°ANOTHER MEDDLESOME HUMAN¡­ ALL OF YOU SHALL PERISH BY MY HAND !¡±


    ¡°Hey there¡­ I heard you¡¯re the one who took down my friend Vlad¡­ I¡¯ve come here to avenge him. Hell !¡±


    ¡°Yes, Master !¡±


    The two of us used a special technique that we had developed and that combined both of our power. We both created a tornado at the same spot but spinning in a different direction. The clash of the two tornadoes created a gigantic maelstrom that we fired at Spades.


    Spades looked surprised by the size of the attack. He attempted to pierce through it with his dark breath but the maelstrom was too dense. When he realised it was useless, he tried to fly away from it but the gravitational force was too strong and instead he got attracted towards it.


    No matter how strong his scales were, there was no way, he could not potentially survive an attack of this magnitude.


    ¡°NO WAY¡­ THIS CAN¡¯T BE ! ARRG !¡±


    The maelstrom swallowed Spades and the sheer pressure started slashing him. His blood could be seen flying everywhere but he was still alive. However, the Maelstrom always ended by imploding and now that Spades was trapped in it, he had no choice but to be crushed to death by the pressure.


    ¡°ARG¡­ NOOOO !¡±


    Finally, the maelstrom disappeared¡­ but Spades took no damage.


    Yaquinn looked like he had seen something similar before.


    The maelstrom had not actually imploded¡­ all of it had just¡­ disappeared. As if it had been sucked out into some kind of void.


    Soon after, some kind of black vortex appeared where the Maelstrom used to be and a man came out of it, landing on Spades¡¯ back.


    From the distance I could see what the man looked like.


    It was a tall man with silver hair, wearing a black and white vest over a white shirt and black pants. A black and white mask that I had seen in Aldenaf before was hiding the man¡¯s face.


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha. Now that won¡¯t do. I let my Ace of Spades out of Aldenaf for a moment and you guys try to kill him ? I can¡¯t let you do that.¡±


    Did this guy say Aldenaf !? And the mask he was wearing was definitely from there. Could this man be the one behind Aldenaf¡¯s disappearance !?


    Yaquinn looked like he was familiar with the man¡¯s appearance.


    He turned to me and told me.


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen him on posters¡­ this is the man that took over Naxus¡­ this is the Dark Joker.¡±


    I looked at the man once more but for now, it did not look like a conversation was possible. I was going to have to fight this man right here and right now if I wanted my answers.

 Chapter 45 - Giving in to the shadows

    ¡°Ah what a pain¡­¡±


    I was heading back to my castle, right after leaving the Adventurer guild. The guildmaster had proved to distrust me but at least he did not contest my new authority. ¡°Politics don¡¯t matter too much to me, as long as the guild remains as it was before¡± is what he claimed.


    Ever since the fall of Naxus, a lot of change had been happening. The hardest choices came with dealing with the organisations and people that used to live in the town before my invasion. There are those who contested the change of power. I dealt swiftly with these troublemakers myself and made sure to shut them down ¨C forever.


    This sounds like a tyrannical rule and it may well be. But the fact is that assassination attempts were made on me and I had to make sure that the people who had the idea of going up against me were ready to face the consequences.


    Obviously, dealing with the assassins and revolts in such a way instilled fear in the heart of many. While this managed to calm down the chaos that had followed the war, it also led to many people not trusting their new ruler.


    The guildmaster was such a person. I knew he wished to stay professional during the meeting I had just had with him by claiming that he¡¯d just abide by the new Government but the truth is that he personally did not want to follow me. Well whatever, as long as they kept doing their job, it¡¯s not like my reputation really mattered.


    Besides, while I claim my reputation is rather bad, that is mainly amongst humans. The Half-race and Dwarves who moved in seem to support me more than anything else. I was, after all, considered as a war hero by the Dwarves. Furthermore, my policy that punished racial discrimination seemed to have me gain the favour of the Half-race.


    Despite this though, the word started to spread that I was some kind of ¡°Evil Lord¡±. Proofs for that were that my main army was one of magical creatures ¨C golems, rather than a human one. I had, in fact, disbanded the previous army myself. I found golems to be more powerful, reliable and I feared a potential uprising is someone was to take over the human army. I did not fear for my life, but I did not wish to crush so many people ¨C this would only lead to my reputation decreasing again.


    I may be partly to blame as well for the negative view of me spreading around the continent. Calling myself the ¡°Dark Joker¡± and my territory the ¡°Kingdom of Shadows¡± both sounded like things like to evil. But then again, all of this did not matter to me as long as I could improve the quality of life and standard of living of the inhabitants. My goal was not to be a loved ruler, after all.


    Alae was waiting for me in front of the castle¡¯s entrance.


    ¡°How did it go ?¡±


    She had an anxious face. She was clearly worried about me, how cute.


    ¡°Well, it could¡¯ve gone worse. For now it seems they¡¯re under control.


    ¡°I see¡­ well now that your schedule is clear, how about spending some time with me¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry but I still have important matters to discuss with Spades. Do you know where he is ?¡±


    ¡°Aw¡­ ahem. I mean ¨C yes, he said he needed some exercise so he was going to go flying around the continent for a while.¡±


    ¡°Around the continent ?¡±


    Spades was a giant kind of dragon. He could travel by flight much faster than most others of his kind and saying he would ¡°fly around the continent¡± was surely not an overstatement.


    After the war, I had allowed him to fly free until I had time to fulfill my promise with him.


    That¡¯s what I wanted to talk to him about : the matter concerning our potential assault against the dragons. We had had an argument a few days ago when I talked to him about this matter. The fact was that before doing anything rash like a genocide against the dragons, I wanted to learn more about them before.


    It seemed to have angered him and he claimed that the dragons are only worth being annihilated. I, for one, thought differently. The fact that dragons were considered A-rank monsters was strange in its own right. Spades was a dragon himself yet he was capable of speech. This contradicted our basic knowledge of monsters. I had suspicions that some kind of historic event may be linked to this situation.


    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll have to wait for him to come back then¡­¡±


    I had planned to discuss our plans once again when he would come back. However, rather than me waiting for him, circumstances led me to have to go to him instead.


    ***


    I had warped myself to Spades immediately after sensing his power suddenly spiking. Back when I first met him, I had stuck a shadow gem inside his body. This acted like a beacon and allowed me to teleport to him. However, seeing how it was in direct contact with his Mana, it allowed me to feel when his Mana flow suddenly changed, like it did just now.


    As I was teleporting myself, I noticed a huge kind of tornado surrounding me. Spades seemed to be caught in it. I immediately used¡ºShadow Warp¡»to absorb all of it and send it to Void. I then tried to assess the situation. Spades was bleeding ¨C which was a feat of its own considering the hardness of his scales ¨C and on the ground were three people. Two men and a girl.


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha. Now that won¡¯t do. I let my Ace of Spades out of Aldenaf for a moment and you guys try to kill him ? I can¡¯t let you do that.¡±


    I did not recognise any of these people although the younger man looked somewhat familiar. I could have sworn I had seen that face before although shadows seemed to cloud my memories.


    After further inspection, I noticed the bodies of several dragons lying on the ground. Could it be¡­ I finally understood. Seeing how I had refused to immediately go wipe out the dragons, Spades had decided to go wreak havoc by himself.


    I did not really intend to destroy these people without first hearing who they were. However, the first one to strike was Spades.


    He suddenly used his¡ºShadow Breath¡»to try to eliminate all of his opponents at the same time, although the two men riposted with some kind of wind techniques that created a maelstrom similar to the one I had just absorbed.


    ¡°Sigh¡­ how long is this going to last¡­ ?¡±


    Just like before, I absorbed the maelstrom and waited. For some reason, something inside my mind was telling me that I¡¯d regret killing the young man whose face I still could not recognise.


    But at the same time, a whisper in my ear told me otherwise¡­


    ¡°They are trying to kill your Ace of Spades¡­ your strongest weapon. In other words, they are opposing you, the Dark Joker¡­ Are you really going to let them do as they please ?¡±


    The voice came from Wahnsinn. As I was in combat form, I had cast¡ºShadow Skin¡»on myself automatically upon teleporting, making my manipulation of shadows much more convenient.


    That¡¯s right. These people were in my way¡­ so why should I let them live ? Was my policy not to get rid of anyone who was not my ally ?


    I casted a gigantic version of¡ºPhantom Fireball¡»upon them. This allowed me to assess that these individuals were quite skilled at fighting as they managed to dodge such a fast and wide-scale spell.


    The older man riposted by drawing out his blade, which caused a huge shockwave to be sent our way.


    I jumped off Spades who lacked the momentum to dodge it and instead tried to block it. Despite sustaining next to no damage, he still got sent flying further away.


    I increased the force of my fall with gravity magic and landed right next to the three enemies in front of me, causing a mini-earthquake of my own upon landing.


    Surprisingly, the girl drew out white dragon wings and dodged the attack by flying in the air. The younger boy was holding onto her. The older one was not so lucky and despite blocking some of the power of the impact, he also got sent flying and landed a few meters away.


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°Master !¡±


    The young boy shouted in surprise as he saw his ¡°master¡± painfully crash on the ground. However, the old man recovered almost instantly and charged at me with his sword sheathed.


    His speed was unlike anything I had ever experienced before and he reached me in the blink of an eye. Drawing his sword, another shockwave hit me and it was my turnt to be sent flying.


    ¡°Hell, do it !¡±


    The old man shouted to his student, who followed with a simultaneous attack from above me. Having no time to wonder why Hell sounded like something I had heard before, I managed to activate¡ºDragonfly¡»in time to twist my body and block the blade that was aiming at my neck with a¡ºShadow Shield¡». The young man¡¯s blade got absorbed into nothingness but he himself managed to avoid getting caught into Void by using some weird wind technique to push himself out of danger.


    I then used¡ºWhirlwind¡»to safely land on the ground. During this time, Spades was fighting on the dragon girl one-on-one. Her two companions seemed to want to go help her but she shouted at them.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me, Yaquinn, Hell ! Be careful with the masked man, his Aura looked terrifyingly dangerous !¡±


    ¡°Do you have the time to care about others when you¡¯re in such a situation, little girl !? How foolish ! You will meet your demise at the hands of the one you all shunned, centuries ago !¡±


    Spades was unlike anything I had seen him before. I was used to him being angry but his wrath was currently on another level. This anger somehow seemed to fuel his power as shadow was leaking from all sides of his body and he had truly turned entirely black. Only his red eyes could be differentiated from the rest of his body now.


    Meanwhile, I felt something was off. Why did the name Hell sound so familiar to me ? Could have I known someone like him before ? But my oldest memories were still shrouded with darkness¡­


    ¡°For you to have survived that long is an impressive feat, ha, ha, ha ! You truly must be strong warriors. But now it¡¯s time for me to end it !¡±


    Did I say that ? No¡­ Wahnsinn spoke these words for me. I personally felt too troubled to feel like fighting. However, Wahnsinn took over and as¡ºShadow Skin¡»spread all over my back, shadow tentacles emerged from it.


    They extended and Wahnsinn tried to impale the two swordsmen with them. However, they were swift enough to dodge and attack me. Although the one called ¡°Hell¡± no longer had a sword, he still came at me with his sheath.


    As I realised the situation, the two men had already closed the distance. They looked like they had learnt from that one attack earlier that my shadows could absorb them so they struck me on my chest, where I was unprotected. It was the first time since Arcadeus that I was facing an enemy who was aware of my weakness.


    The older man slashed my chest with his sword while the younger one unleashed a miniature version of the shock wave from earlier right on my wound, making it even more painful.


    This was not a lethal wound although it hurt so badly that it left me crawling on the ground. With all the Magic I knew¡­ with my mastery of Xii¡­ with my power of the shadows¡­ how could I be defeated in such a manner¡­ ? Were these two swordsmen really that strong ? The older one in particular, he looked like he had trained to face off especially against someone using high level Magic¡­


    It seems like the two swordsmen went to help the dragon girl (the fact she was a dragon Hybrid had become clear to me once I saw her wings) and together, they managed to pin down Spades, striking a deadly blow on his abdomen with another one of their wind techniques. Spades crashed on the ground, bleeding heavily from the wound.


    Sigh¡­ is this really how it all ends ?


    ¡°Maybe¡­ now that my revenge is complete, maybe it is time for me to die¡­ I should have died long ago after all¡­ I was lucky enough to survive all this time just so I could get rid of the Porcephone Empire¡­¡±


    I was about to close my eyes and wait for my demise. But for the first time ever since I met him, Wahnsinn disagreed. He laughed in a wicked manner¡­ much like I would. And told me something I was about to forget.


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha. Is this really the end of the Dark Joker ? Is your revenge really finished ? Arcadeus still lives, you know ? Alae is pregnant with your child too, have you forgotten ? Do you know why you are losing ? True, these two men are strong. Very strong. In fact, they are on the same level as Arcadeus in terms of fighting prowess. But you have the shadows¡­ you have me ! The reason you are losing is because you are being so indecisive¡­ just unleash your full power on them¡­ unleash all the shadows. USE ME !¡±


    That¡¯s right ! Why do I have to go down now !? This is only the beginning ! They should have made sure to finish me off before leaving me to go help their friend, ha, ha, ha !


    ¡°DON¡¯T UNDERESTIMATE ME !¡±


    I abandoned myself fully to the true source of my power : the shadows. For a moment, it seemed like the sunlight was blocked out and the whole world became monochrome. Or maybe that was just how I saw it. Who knows ?


    Darkness emerged from my body in a spectacular fashion. I remembered these feelings. Back when I was already fully indulging in the shadows, back when I broke out from prison.


    My whole body became covered with¡ºShadow Skin¡». The number of tentacles on my back doubled, while the ground I was stepping on became pitch black.¡ºShadow Skin¡»extended to the floor I was stepping on as I healed myself with the little healing Magic I had and stood back up. I started walking towards the trio who, after having heard my sick laugh, turned their sights towards me.


    I was walking¡­ then slowly starting jogging, then running at full speed towards them. That speed was increased by¡ºDragonfly¡»and¡ºWhirlwind¡»but it was still unlike anything I had experienced before. It seems I was laughing the entire time but this I barely noticed.


    I reached the three in a matter of seconds. I started by tearing off the right wing from the girl, who crashed on the ground. As the other two dashed to me, I expanded¡ºShadow Skin¡»in such a way they could literally not approach me.


    I then turned my right arm into a shadow blade and managed to pierce a hole into the old man¡¯s abdomen. He painfully landed on his back and did not stand back up. I then turned towards the boy called Hell and was preparing myself to drill a hole in his chest.


    The hesitation I had before disappeared. I no longer felt like something was stopping me from killing this kid. I lifted my right arm and lunged it towards him¡­


    ¡°Oh no you won¡¯t !¡±


    My arm was stopped in motion. It felt like some invisible force was restraining me from cutting Hell down. Despite being enveloped with¡ºShadow Skin¡»I still needed air to breath. But this was cut off from me and I started struggling for oxygen. I recognised that spell¡­ it was something that was used on me a long time ago. And I knew how to defeat it.


    I countered the spell, which allowed me to breath again. And as I turned around to see who had casted it, a powerful¡ºWhirlwind¡»sent me flying away. I managed to cushion my fall with Wind Magic and from a distance, I recognised the man who had just interrupted me.


    He was wearing glasses and had messy hair, just like the first time I met him.


    It was Arism Stalford.

 Chapter 46 - His decision

    ¡°Arism¡­ ?¡±


    The bespectacled man with messy hair could not be mistaken for someone else. It was indeed the friend I had made years ago, back when I had visited Naxus for the first time.


    ¡°What are you doing here¡­ ?¡±


    My anger seemed to quell when I saw Arism. I had no idea why he would be there. Truth to be told, I had completely forgotten about him ever since my breakout.


    ¡°What, do you know me ? I don¡¯t know where you heard of me but I can¡¯t let you harm my friends, Dark Joker.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ of course you wouldn¡¯t recognise me¡­¡±


    After analysing the situation, I decided to decrease¡ºShadow Skin¡»up to the point where it was only covering half of my body ¨C this was the most natural way for me. Seeing how the girl and the old man were unable to fight, I thought it was safe to do so. The boy called Hell was not as much of a threat himself.


    I removed my mask and showed my face to Arism. He looked like he did not recognise it at first. But soon his expression changed to show extreme surprise.


    ¡°This face does seem familiar¡­ and now that your shadows have died down¡­ your aura is unmistakably his¡­ I can¡¯t believe it¡­ Zw?lf !¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve heard that name, ha, ha, ha. Come to think of it, you should have been directly affected by the invasion of Naxus since you used to live there¡­¡±


    Arism looked at a loss for words. On the other hand, Hell approached me with an expression of pure shock.


    ¡°Big brother¡­ is that really you !?¡±


    Big brother ? Did I have a brother¡­ ?


    Suddenly the shadows that seemed to have been clouding my mind since the fight had started lifted and I remembered. This was my younger brother Hell, who I thought dead all this time.


    There was a hundred things I wanted to say. But Spades ¨C who seemed to have recovered in the meantime ¨C did not allow me such time to sort out my feelings. He lunged himself at Hell and tried to bite his head off.


    As soon as I noticed, I immediately warped Spades back to Aldenaf. Getting him out of the way was the logical thing to do to stop the fighting.


    I then approached the two boys. Arism looked at me with a perplexed look.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know where to start¡­¡±


    ¡°Well maybe I should first start by healing the girl and the old man I¡¯ve injured.¡±


    I walked towards the person called Yaquinn and conveyed my Healing Magic to close his wound. I did the same on the dragon girl. The two of them seemed to wake up straight after and got up in a hurry. Yaquinn pointed his weapon towards me and the dragon girl emitted killing intent again.  Seeing their hostility, I decided to speak to them.


    ¡°No need to fight any longer. If I wanted you dead, I would not have healed you. It seems I may have been a bit hasty in starting a fight. I have to admit Spades is a bit impulsive himself, after all, ha, ha, ha.¡±


    Yaquinn looked at me then his serious face soon changed into a friendly smile.


    ¡°Is that so ? Great, I¡¯m getting too old for this kind of things. So, you¡¯re the Dark Joker I presume¡­ What¡¯s up with your dragon attacking us all of a sudden ?¡±


    Before I got a chance to reply Hell suddenly walked up to me with an excited attitude.


    ¡°So big brother¡­ you¡¯re going to have to tell me everything that has happened since you left, many years ago.¡±


    ¡°Well the dragon won¡¯t bother us anymore so yes, let¡¯s have a long, nice talk.¡±


    ***


    After roughly an hour spent discussing the events that had happened ever since I left Aldenaf, we were finally done. Since I knew I already had a reputation, I mentioned the numerous slaughters I had committed. Hiding them felt useless so I went ahead and gave them the honest version of the facts.


    For some reason, Arism did not look shocked by my acts of violence. Yaquinn stayed quiet the entire time but Hell showed a face that looked like it disagreed with my methods. The dragon girl chose to not say anything as well.


    Once I was done talking, Arism was the one to ask the most expected question.


    ¡°So that¡¯s what happened¡­ so what are you going to do now ? What are your plans ?¡±


    ¡°Well, as the de facto ruler of the country, I have plans to change this continent how I see fit ¨C for the better that is. But to achieve this, there is still a nuisance I need to get rid of.¡±


    ¡°Do you mean Arcadeus ?¡±


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha, you understand ? Yes, I mean Arcadeus. Despite the fact that he seems to be under the protection of the time-traveler, he is still far too dangerous for me to leave alive. Furthermore, I expect the Elves to be on the move soon enough because of him. And considering how proficient they are with Magic, a war against them would not be a sure win.¡±


    As I finished talking, I took a look at Hell. He had become a fine young man, with an athletic body that proved how hard he had trained over the years. I was also surprised by the fact that there could be a dragon hybrid but I did not think too hard about this matter. I had more important things to reflect upon right now.


    On the other hand Arism was still the same as the last time I had seen him, except he had grown slightly. However, his trouble face showed that he had more he wanted to say.


    ¡°I did not mention it until now¡­  but if you are the Dark Joker¡­ that means that during your attack on Naxus¡­ your dragon killed my dad.¡±


    ¡°Your dad¡­ the Archmage ? He was protecting the Emperor so he was probably caught up in the situation as a collateral damage.¡±


    What I said was what I truly felt. Maybe I should have felt some guilt towards indirectly murdering my friend¡¯s father but now¡­ I just felt empty. However, this seemed to greatly anger Arism.


    ¡°As I thought¡­ you¡¯re not the same as I used to be, Zw?lf ! How can you say something like that with a straight face !?¡±


    Yaquinn suddenly walked between us and interrupted our argument.


    ¡°To be frank¡­ Vlad Stalford was my only friend. Hearing you call his death a collateral damage also makes me furious. I knew it from the beginning, but I really can¡¯t bring myself to see you as a good person¡­ even though you¡¯re my disciple brother.¡±


    ¡°Oh ? So what are you going to do ? Come at me ? Although I find it regrettable to kill my brother¡¯s friends, if you get in my way I¡¯ll have no choice but to get rid of you.¡±


    ¡°In addition to my personal hatred for you, I cannot let you kill Arcadeus. This is a promise I made with Vlad. No matter how powerful you are, if you are set on killing the Fake Sage, I will do everything I can to stop you.¡±


    I readied myself to fight. Yaquinn got in position and I could see from the corner of my eye that Arism intended to attack me as well. However, this time it was Hell who got in the way.


    ¡°Arism ! Master ! I¡­ I beg you. Please do not fight. Trust me, I am also conflicted by big brother¡¯s deeds but¡­ after hearing what happened to the rest of my family, I don¡¯t want to lose the one person I have left ! Big brother too ! Please come to your senses !¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I had mixed feelings about this plea. A part of me still felt affection towards Hell and wanted to listen to what he said. Meanwhile, the darker side of me, the one that had been my drive since the breakout¡­ it told me to ignore his begging.


    Perhaps it was because of my hesitation, Wahnsinn spoke up to me in my mind.


    ¡°Ah¡­ there you go again, being all indecisive ! We can¡¯t have that.¡±


    ¡°What do you think I should do¡­ I finally got to be reunited with Hell¡­ Should I just give up on my quest ?¡±


    ¡°You already know the answer, don¡¯t you ? Zw?lf Kreizig is dead. He died years ago, in the hands of Orth Porcephone. You¡­ you are no one but the Dark Joker now. And what does the Dark Joker want to do ?¡±


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha¡­ that¡¯s right. The world cannot be safe until I get rid of that parasite known as the Fake Sage.¡±


    I turned towards Hell and faced him. He looked at me with a face full of expectations. I decided to betray them.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Hell. This is my objective and I will carry it until either Arcadeus or I will die.¡±


    ¡°No way¡­¡±


    Upon hearing that, Yaquinn turned around and started walking away.


    ¡°Is that so ? Sigh¡­ my disciple is giving me quite the unreasonable request here. But as his Master, it¡¯s my duty to listen to it. Do what you want, Dark Joker. But know you¡¯re playing with fire if you are not scared of releasing Ox upon Arcadeus¡¯ death.¡±


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°However, if you need some help to take him down should that day ever come. I will assist you with all my might. For the world¡¯s sake, not yours. Well then, farewell. I hope never to meet you again.¡±


    Arism headed in a different direction as Yaquinn and from a distance he shouted at me.


    ¡°I cannot imagine what atrocities you have been through. But that doesn¡¯t mean I can accept what you¡¯ve done. In the name of our previous friendship, I will not pursue my revenge but I also hope never to see your face again.¡±


    I had no idea where these two were heading. Arism used to live in Naxus but since he just said he never wanted to meet me again, I assumed he would not return there.


    As soon as they left, Glace finally spoke to me first the first time.


    ¡°I have to admit that when Hell talked about his brother during his stories, I never imagined he would be a madman. But as long as you don¡¯t harm Hell, I won¡¯t get involved with you.¡±


    Hell looked at me with a disappointed face.


    ¡°I regret not having been there for you, big brother. If I had been there, maybe I could have saved father and you¡­¡±


    ¡°No you could not have. No one could have. This was all a series of events carefully planned by Arcadeus. He is the bane that hit our family. I will take it upon myself to avenge father and mother¡¯s death.¡±


    ¡°I am worried that the path you are heading towards is one not only dangerous for the world, but also for yourself. If you give in to your dark desires, you may end up losing yourself.¡±


    ¡°If this allows me to complete my objective, becoming a monster is not something I am afraid of, ha, ha, ha.¡±


    ¡°Is that so¡­ well now that my quest for clues on what happened to Aldenaf is complete, I will probably head to the Adventurer¡¯s Guild in Naxus and make a living there.¡±


    ¡°I see. I can warp you directly to Naxus along with your girlfriend if you want.¡±


    ¡°No¡­ it¡¯s fine.¡±


    Declining my offer showed how broken our relationship had become. I personally did not know how to feel either. Learning that my brother, who I thought dead all these years, was still alive should have lead to a cheerful reunion. And yet¡­ this is what happened.


    ¡°Is that so ? Well then, I will return to Naxus myself.¡±


    Despite what I said, I warped myself to Aldenaf. Before doing anything else, I needed to have a talk with Spades.


    ***


    ¡°WHY DID YOU GET IN THE WAY OF MY FIGHT !?¡±


    ¡°Shut up. I saved you in case you don¡¯t remember.¡±


    ¡°Grrrr¡­ but then why did you have to teleport me back when we were winning !?¡±


    ¡°For a simple reason. I did not want you to mindlessly kill these people. They could be useful to my plan.¡±


    ¡°It was my long awaited revenge on that betrayer !¡±


    ¡°From what I could see, you slaughtered every other dragon aside from her. Isn¡¯t that enough ? That dragon hybrid doesn¡¯t carry the sins of her ancestors.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ So ? Then why did you bother saving me ? After all, my objective was complete and so was yours so it¡¯s not like you still needed me alive, right ?¡±


    ¡°Who said my objective was complete ? There is still one more person I need to kill. And because of this person¡¯s status, I may very well have to cause another genocide, on the Elves this time. Although I personally hope they won¡¯t get in the way. My reputation already has it bad enough with one racial extermination on my record, ha, ha, ha.¡±


    The mention of the Elven race seemed to pique Spades¡¯ interest.


    ¡°Who¡­ who is your target ?¡±


    ¡°He is the Fake Sage, also known as the First Sage or Living God: Arcadeus Sigitor.


    Upon hearing the Fake Sage¡¯s name, Spades started laughing. The laugh soon turn into an uncontrollable hysteria.


    ¡°Hahahaha ! Yes, YES ! Count me in ! I have a personal different to settle with the Fake Sage so you can be sure I will assist you in this battle !¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear that. Well then, first we¡¯ll need to locate him. I have no idea where he is so the safest bet is to return to the Dorua continent. The Elves are the most likely to know his location so let¡¯s start with their capital, Glavopolis. I also need to investigate the meaning behind this weird architecture. This has been bugging me ever since I went there.¡±


    And so, two days later my preparations were complete. I had left Naxus¡¯ leadership to Armius and Burs and had prepared everything necessary to the trip. Being able to whatever I needed within Void like an intangible backpack was still as useful as ever.


    The one difference with last time however was that Alae had decided to come with us. As far as I can remember, it was the first time I was having an argument with her.


    ¡°You won¡¯t be fighting him in your realm of shadows this time. That means the fight won¡¯t be nearly as easy ! Then you should make sure all the chances are on your side, right ? If you want to be able to face off against someone who can continually heal, then having me do the same to you is not a luxury.¡±


    ¡°Even so, do you realise how dangerous it will be ? Besides, it will mean I will have to protect you at the same time. This will arguably make the fight even harder.¡±


    ¡°Heh, don¡¯t say that ! I did have some training while you were gone, thanks to Wahnsinn ! Even if I¡¯m nowhere near as powerful as you, I can still avoid getting in your way !¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯m worried about you, Alae !¡±


    This made her blush furiously, which is something that I had not seen in a while.


    ¡°That isn¡¯t fair¡­ saying something like that.¡±


    ¡°You also need to care for our baby !¡±


    She seemed surprised as she had not yet told me about being pregnant. Woops, I made a blunder.


    ¡°Eh ? Eh ? How do you know I am¡­ pregnant ?¡±


    ¡°Well, hum¡­ er¡­ my mastery of Magic allowed me to discern a different Mana inside you. I deduced it was a baby¡­¡±


    She seemed to buy this cheap lie, probably because she did not know the extent of my power.


    ¡°Well, hum¡­ I was waiting for your workload to die down to tell you. I was told by an Elven healer just the other day as I went to consult him about my Healing Magic.¡±


    She looked anxious about my reaction. I smiled and hugged her.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s amazing. I can¡¯t wait to see our child. But that¡¯s another reason why it would be too dangerous for you to come, right ?¡±


    Despite what I had just said, she looked at me seriously.


    ¡°No. I still refuse to let you go by yourself. I cannot imagine myself raising this child without you. So I have to make sure you come back from this fight alive. This is my duty as one who loves you from the bottom of her heart.¡±


    Hearing her resolve¡­ I had nothing left to say. As much as I felt genuinely worried for her, I could see that she was not going to let go until I allowed her to come.


    ¡°Sigh¡­ do whatever you want.¡±


    ¡°Yay, I look forward to it, Joker !¡±


    Thus, we both left Naxus on top of Spades. Even though I knew what would happen if Arcadeus were to be killed, my decision was still absolute. This world could not progress without his death and I was willing to bet on the ¡°balance of the word¡± to make things change.


    ***


    As I clapped my hands in joy, my shackles made some noise. Not that it mattered since I was in an isolated place.


    This turn of events looked very promising. Maybe I had finally done it right ? After time-travelling so many times, I had become used to failure but the way this was going, it looked like everything was set for success this time. Or so I prayed.


    Arcadeus was incidentally back in Dorua, preparing some unknown scheme. His fated encounter with the Dark Joker was bound to happen and soon, the conclusion would be reached. Whether I would have to time-leap again or not, that I did not know.


    But what I knew for sure was that the fate of the world had already been altered to an irreversible extent in this timeline. All that was left for me to do was to sit back and watch as the final act was about to be unfolded right in front of my eyes.