《A Warlords Origin》
Chapter 1: The Birth and first encounter with a monster
Chapter 1:The Birth and first encounter with a monster
In the village of Urk, the eastern most outpost of Bellor the smallest of the three kingdoms, there is a baby being born. Born to a weaver and a poor shepherd farmer, while they aren¡¯t the poorest in the village compared to the rest of the people living in the kingdoms most would consider them destitute. Urk is a village of 50 straw, thatch, and mud houses surrounded by a 12 ft. wall wood most consider it a miracle monsters haven¡¯t overrun it yet. In one of the better looking mud houses there is the couple. On the only bed in one of the three small rooms in the house there is a woman giving birth.
*****
Father¡¯s pov:
Beth is giving birth now. The village midwife is helping her but so far it has been a difficult birth.
¡°Wahh, wahhh¡± I hear and I rush into the bedroom. The midwife had kicked me out of the bedroom because I was pacing too much so I race back in to check on my wife and the baby. My wife was there holding our child in her arms her curly silver hair matted with exhaustion and the tips of her slightly pointed ears showing.
¡°You look so beautiful there with our child. I was worried I might lose you I tell her¡± I tell her.
¡°Come over here and hold your son¡± she says sounding exhausted and worn out. The midwife had already wiped him off and cut the cord so I reached out and grabbed him. He was so tiny in my arms. He had curly black hair and green eyes, like his mothers, his pudgy little hands grasping my finger as I swept the air out of his face.
¡°What will we name him¡± I ask her.
¡°Since he was so stubborn being born and after your grandfather we¡¯ll call him Will short for William Shepherd.¡±
The midwife walked over to her and said ¡°you need to rest now honey, you¡¯ve had a long night the baby is fine now and you need to take care of yourself¡± she said and helped clean my wife up before pulling a blanket up over her.
After doing this she took the baby from me, showed me how to feed it with a bottle of my wife¡¯s milk and then wrapped him up in a little gray wool blanket my wife for him. She handed him back to me and I placed him into a wooden crib I had carved this summer.
*****
Five years later, Will¡¯s pov:
Dad was finally letting me go with him to take the sheep out into the pastures. He had always kept me from going with him but after all my begging and pleading to go outside of the walls he finally agreed to take me with him two weeks ago on my birthday since I was now 5.
This was the first time I will have ever been outside the walls. Before I always helped mother with her weaving, listened to a village elder teach twice a week, and played with the other kids running around the village.
I was jumping up and down waiting for dad to get ready. Mother finally got tired of it and said ¡°sit down and eat your breakfast, your father will come in once he has finished checking with the guard and talking to the elders about where the flock will go today.¡±
I sat down and started eating my bowl of oatmeal. It was what we had every morning for breakfast and most nights. We would occasionally have deer, fowl, or a leg of mutton but as poor as are family was we could only afford to eat maybe one or two of our sheep a year, usually the oldest ones. Everything else was bought from the miller who ground the grain or hunted by my father.
Come on, come on hurry up father I was thinking in my head scooping the food into my mouth as fast as I can. Finally when I was scraping the bowl to get the last of the oatmeal father came back.
¡°Good news son¡± he said. ¡°A few guards went out to check the forest outside this morning and they came back saying there were predators or strong magical beasts around us. That means instead of just letting the sheep eat the grass in front of the forest we can go a little bit into it to show you what it looks like.¡±
¡°Howard, you better be careful out there if our son gets hurt out there I¡¯m blaming you. He¡¯s 5 years old he shouldn¡¯t even be thinking of going outside the village let alone allowing him into the forest¡± my mother said.
¡°Of course I¡¯ll take care of our son Beth. I won¡¯t even let him out of my sight¡± father told mother.
¡°Come on son, are you ready for your little adventure.¡±
¡°Yes, yes I am¡± I said shouting out while bouncing up and down. I had been waiting for this for so long. I would finally be able to see what was outside the walls. Father went outside every day with his sheep; however, other than the guards he was one of the few people who regularly went outside the village walls.
¡°Okay come on Will, follow me. We¡¯re heading over to the sheep and then we¡¯ll drive them out the gates and into the forest. Once we¡¯re there you can look around as long as you stay within sight of me.¡±
I followed father out of the house and toward the sheep pen that was between the wall and our house. Our house was in the outer row, the section of houses closest to the wall.
We arrived at the sheep pen and I opened the gate. Father got behind them and started herding them out with a wooden crook. We had 15 sheep a fairly large number for a poor family. There were 4 with white wool, 6 with black wool, 5 with gray wool.
Mother always said the white sheep were the best because their wool could be died pretty colors. Father raised the sheep and sold most of the lambs while mother turned the wool into yarns, sweaters, socks, and pants.
On our way towards the gates father stopped to talk to the guards to see if anything had been spotted since he talked to the elder earlier.
¡°No, the only thing we¡¯ve seen out there are a few beginner tier 1 or 2 magical beasts nothing strong enough to worry about. Though there have been rumors that the nesting period for some of them has started.¡± The guard told father.
¡°That¡¯s good to know¡± Father told him.
¡°Okay son, so you need to be careful out there. The guard said there are some tier1 and 2 beasts that have been seen today. Those are mostly insects and small animals like lizards, mice, and rabbits. Still you need to be careful if you get separated from me even if they are considered weak. Against a child like you they are still considered deadly.¡± He told me.
¡°Okay father I will pay attention¡±
¡°Who knows though, the guard said some of them are nesting so maybe you can find an egg. If you find one and can safely get it I will help you convince your mother to let you form a bond. As commoners we can only have one bonded magical beast though so you have to think carefully about it, wouldn¡¯t want to be bonded to a snail now would you or a fly. I never found a beast I liked enough to bond with and since it can only be done with eggs it is fairly rare to get a bond beast unless you buy the egg.¡± Father told me.
I knew about magical beasts because there were a few in the village. There were some magical chicken east owned by the Village Head. The guards where the only people I knew with bonded beasts though one of the guards had a snake bonded beast and another had a dog and five others had bug bond mates though the village often made fun of them for having bugs as bond beasts.
¡°What is the difference between ranks of magical beasts? Can I really have a magical beast?¡± I asked father.
¡°Magical beasts are similar to animals however they have mana, which they can cultivate to get stronger. Magical Beast ranks are based on how much power they as a species on average have when they reach maturity. Most beasts get killed off around this rank so that is the generally excepted beasts rank; however, like people they can cultivate so over time an older rank 1 beast will become as strong as a rank 3 or 4. Lower rank beasts take longer to get as strong as higher rank beasts however with enough time they can be equal in strength to a stronger rank monster.¡±
¡°So a fly can be as strong as a dragon¡± I asked amazed thinking maybe I should stop making fun of the guards with bees, ant, and fly beasts.
¡°That is stretching it a little far now cause let¡¯s remember a dragon will get stronger the more it cultivates but theoretically after 20 or 30 years a fly beast could equal a young dragon type beast.¡± My father says while laughing.
¡°To answer your second question if you find an egg you can bond with it. However, let¡¯s not get our hopes up too much son causes it¡¯s rare to find a magical beast this close to the village, let alone find a nest¡± father tells me.
Disappointed that I might not even see a magical beast let alone get one as a pet I say ¡°okay dad.¡±
¡°Cheer up though, now that your mother has let you outside once it¡¯s bound to be easier to get her to do it again¡± my father told me with a smile.
¡°You¡¯re probably right. Maybe she will let me go with you every day now.¡±
¡°I wouldn¡¯t try to push your mother that much, maybe try for once a month and then when you get older once a week¡± father said. ¡°Besides she¡¯s not gonna let you slack off on your chores to play out beyond the wall. Come on lets go. You wanted to see the outside didn¡¯t you.¡±
Excited once again I follow father who was driving the sheep through the open gate. Wow, it is so big out here. In front of us is a massive forest filled with pine trees, maples, and countless others. Looking around I see a road curving around our village and heading away from the forest.
I can¡¯t even see the end of that road. There are giant mountains off in the direction of the road and countless other things I can¡¯t even describe.
¡°Pretty amazing isn¡¯t it son that road leads to the capital Bellora, which is ruled by the royal family of Bellor, the Bellinghams.¡±
¡°Well come on son, we¡¯re here to take the sheep into the forest try to stick close to me.¡± Father said walking off after the sheep into the forest.
I hurried after him trying to keep him and the sheep in sight. We stopped a small clearing about 10 minutes into the forest.
¡°Okay Will, the sheep are going to be eating here for the rest of the day. You can explore till noon but then you need to go back inside to help out your mother. You got about three hours till then so you can explore till then just remember to stay in sight of the clearing so you know how to get back to it.¡± Father said as he turned away from me to watch the sheep.
I finally got to go exploring, mother always caught me when I tried to sneak out and go exploring. Then I would always have to listen to her ranting about how dangerous it is and how I¡¯m going to give her a heart attack trying to sneak out of the gate.
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So today was the first time I had really ever been exploring on my own. I look around trying to absorb all the sights into my memory so I can brag to the other kids, I slowly walked out of the clearing and deeper into the forest.
Spotting a pine cone I rush over to pick it up. Looking it over it looks the same as one I might see on a tree growing in the village but I hang onto it anyways, more bragging points after all. Next I wander around looking for more stuff to take with me. In the end I find a moss covered rock, the pinecone, and a neat looking crooked stick. With everything in hand I go to head back to the clearing when I hear the brush rustling and see movement along the side of a tree.
Torn between fear and curiosity I inch over to the tree and peak into the whole where I saw something disappear into. Straining my eyes to see what¡¯s in there I see a squirrel and am about to leave when I notice three things: the squirrel has horns, it is injured, and there are three dark brown eggs beside it.
Thinking wow a horned squirrel I decide I have to find out more about it. Looking closer at the squirrel reveals a large fang protruding from the side of it leaking a dark green liquid. The fang appears to be from a snake. I know cause someone dared me to stick my hand in the guards snake beasts mouths and I saw them. The green liquid must be poison, Mama says that¡¯s bad.
With the squirrel barely breathing now I decide it is safe enough to grab the eggs, these will be the ultimate bragging rights. Reaching in I grab two eggs and pull the out as I grab the third though I hear a hiss and run away with the eggs in hand. Looking back I see the squirrel flying at me.
¡°Aaaah¡± I scream running from the crazy flying demon squirrel. It is definitely a demon, mother says those are really bad evil horned things and this totally matches the description. Luckily I get out of the way before it gets to me and I keep running back to father. Going back to the clearing I run into my father.
¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± he says ¡°Is there a monster, did something bite you, attack you?¡±
¡°A flying demon squirrel, there was a flying demon squirrel. It had horns and everything and it just started chasing me.¡± I shout out in hysteria.
¡°A flying demon squirrel, huh¡± he says raising his eyebrow. ¡°And it just attacked you out of nowhere.¡±
¡°Well¡± I say shifting from foot to foot ¡°I might have seen it was injured and grabbed these as souvenirs¡± I say showing him the three little dark brown eggs.
¡°Are those what I think they are? Those are magical beast eggs. You said it was injured come show me where you found those eggs. An injured squirrel type beast should be easy enough to deal with after all.¡±
¡°Okay dad, but was the demon squirrel really a magical beast and does this mean I can hatch an egg and have my very own pet magical beast. I wonder what it will be.¡± I excitedly said bouncing up and down my earlier terror forgotten.
¡°Well if you found these with a squirrel type magical beast they will probably hatch into squirrel type magical beasts.¡±
¡°Why¡¯s that dad? What do these eggs have to do with the squirrel I found earlier?¡± I asked curiously looking at him with questioning eyes.
¡°Why don¡¯t you ask your mother about that, she¡¯s better at explaining things after all.¡± He said looking nervous. Then I heard him mumble under his breath ¡°Who that was close, she would kill me if I explained sex to a five year old.¡±
¡°Well why we don¡¯t go and see this mighty winged demon squirrel of yours, just don¡¯t be disappointed if it isn¡¯t as scary after I¡¯m done with it¡± he said.
¡°Okay dad¡± He was acting a little weird but I wanted to show off the monster squirrel so I led the way back to where I saw it.
It took us about 5 minutes to get there but when I was running from the monster it felt twice as far. About twenty feet from the tree where I first found the beast was the squirrel lying motionless on the ground. It must have died in the time it took me to get to dad and bring him back here.
¡°There is the beast¡± I say stepping to the side and pointing towards where it lays on the ground. Father walks past me and rolls the beast over with his cane so he can see it better. Looking at it now I notice it was a mixture of black, reddish brown, and a pale cream color. It was black with a cream underbelly and end on the end of its tail; it had red ears and a red saddle like pattern on its back. The squirrel beast had 2 reddish brown spiral horns growing between its ears and flaps of skin connecting its front and back legs.
¡°Where are the wings, I know it could fly it jumped off the tree and flew after me.¡± I asked father questioningly.
¡°This is a rare type of squirrel magical beast known as horned flying squirrel. They are the magical beast form of flying squirrels a type of squirrel which flies by spreading its arms and catching the wind.¡± Father said staring at the corpse like he was surprised.
¡°Oh, so it was born that way it¡¯s not all saggy skinned cause it¡¯s old.¡±
¡°Yes, they are naturally born looking like that, and you must remember to never call someone old and saggy, especially a woman.¡± He said staring at me intently like it was the most important thing in the world.
¡°Why¡± I asked father looking innocently at him.
¡°Let¡¯s just say it would be bad for your health.¡±
¡°So I could get sick for calling mother saggy or old.¡± I ask surprised looking at him.
¡°Yes or worse but let¡¯s put that aside for now. This squirrel is not only a flying squirrel magical beast but a dual element one at called a horned tri color flying squirrel. It has an affinity with both darkness and earth elements and is classified as an initial third realm beast because of this. Normally a horned flying squirrel would be a peak second tier however when it has a second affinity it gets a major power boost.¡± He said shaking his head in disbelief that his son had not only found one but got three eggs from it.
¡°Come on son let¡¯s get the body, those eggs, and the sheep and head back in we need to have a talk with your mother about all of this. I have a feeling she isn¡¯t going to be happy with me about this adventure.¡±
¡°Why¡¯s that dad?¡± I ask looking at him with questioning eyes.
¡°Let¡¯s just call it a feeling¡± he says with a dry laugh.
*****
After showing the corpse to the guards we put the sheep up and headed towards the house.
Father put his hand on my shoulder and said ¡°Okay just let me do the talking and explaining everything that happened to your mother.¡±
¡°Sure, okay¡± I say not really listening and run inside the house shouting ¡°guess what I saw mamma, it was this flying demon squirrel it attacked me but I¡¯m okay and I found some eggs dad said I could hatch to keep as pets.¡±
Father started turning pale and sweating and mother started looking mean and turning a shade of red. ¡°Is that true honey?¡± she asked father. ¡°Did you let our son be attacked by monsters and tell him he could keep some in our house?¡± she said with a cold tone releasing her killing intent.
Father was fidgeting from side to side and started with ¡°Well you see, he was always within hearing distance and he doesn¡¯t even have a scratch on him.¡± Mothers killing intent only seemed to grow stronger with his words.
Wanting to help father out I said it¡¯s true ¡°When I screamed father came running and the monster was already dying from a poison fang stuck in it.¡±
My plan to help father out didn¡¯t seem to be working out the way I planned it.
Mother just seemed to be getting angrier and angrier looking like she wanted to strangle father. Trying one last thing I showed her the three eggs I had found and asked her ¡°how do eggs get made, dad said you could tell me?¡±
Stammering and momentarily forgetting her anger she said ¡°that¡¯s something you can find out when you¡¯re older, but what¡¯s this about finding some eggs.¡±
I once again raised up the eggs in front of her to show them to her ¡°I found these by the mean squirrel.¡±
Looking at my father she says in disbelief ¡°are those what I think they are?¡±
¡°Yes, honey. Those are magical beast eggs, more specifically they are initial 3rd tier Horned Tri-color Flying Squirrel eggs.¡± He says calmly looking at my mother. ¡°I said he could have one as a bond beast.¡±
¡°What!¡± Mother shouts. ¡°These are dangerous beasts, we can¡¯t let a five year old bond with one.¡±
¡°If you think about it¡¯s not that rare. There is no minimum age on getting a bond beast and most nobles would have an even more dangerous one by the time they turn eight.¡±
¡°The key difference is he is a five year old though, he¡¯s a little kid he shouldn¡¯t even have been outside the village let alone encounter wild magical beasts!¡± Mother said shouting at my father and starting to look angry at him.
¡°Son, why don¡¯t you go to bed and your mother and I will talk this over more.¡± He said crouching down and looking me in the eyes.
¡°Okay dad¡± I said and raced off to bed excited to go to sleep so I could wake up in the morning and hopefully find out I have a new pet to play with.
*Hope you guys liked the chapter. The squirrel monster is based off the color pattern of a Indian Giant Squirrel. I will post a link to a picture of one if I can figure out how to do it.
indian giant squirrel
Indian Giant Squirrel pic 2
*These are not my images I just wanted to show you what they look like
These squirrels look bad ass I have to say. Hope you guys like the story. My fictions are World Update: The Era of Monsters and A Warlords Origin
Chapter 2: The eggs
Chapter 2: The Eggs
I woke up in the morning and the first thing I did was race out of my room and into the kitchen. ¡°So do I get to keep one?¡± I asked with pleading eyes at mother who was cooking oatmeal.
¡°Yes, your father and I have decided that you will be allowed to keep one as a bond beast. One will be sold to pay for your schooling, if you have talent since you already have a bond beast you can go to the mage and warrior academy in Bellora. There you can get stronger and learn to fight monsters once you turn 15. It costs around a gold coin to stay there the first year but after that if you get accepted to continue on to the next year it¡¯s free. The last egg we¡¯re planning on selling so we can get better close, a few more sheep, and a better loom so we can do better in the future if that is okay with you.¡± Mother said looking at me.
¡°Okay mom, dad already said I could only have one soul beast cause we¡¯re commoners and it would be really cool to learn how to fight monsters and wield magic. Could I maybe get an elemental stone with some of the money though so I can learn how to use magic?¡± I asked looking at her. I was fine with my family taking money from one of the stones cause if mother and father had more sheep and better tools we could eventually get a bigger house and more stuff because it was what mother called an ¡®investment¡¯ whatever that is.
¡°If you can graduate from Bellora Academy after five years you will gain the right to have a second beast, there are other ways but this is the easiest. At the academy you will learn more about using magic and fighting. Sadly I and your father don¡¯t know much about either. He has a low earth affinity and I am a high water affinity but even though I qualified for the academy I never got the right to go there I was the third daughter of a noble¡¯s fourth mistress. He didn¡¯t want any of his bastard children attending the same school as his heirs and my mother had no real money of her own so I never got to go. Your father didn¡¯t meet the qualifications for the academy and his family has always been shepherds so he knows even less about magic.¡±
¡°So I might be able to learn how to use magic and get another beast if I go to the academy.¡± I said excited. Magic was so cool I had seen mother occasionally conjure up water, some of the guards use simple fire magic, and the village healer use light magic on me once when I had gotten hurt falling out of a tree after a doing a dare from the other children.
¡°Yes, we can get you an elemental stone if you want. You will only be able to use one if you have an affinity for it. This can help us find out what yours is. However, we won¡¯t be able to test how strong it is till you turn ten.¡±
¡°I hope I have lightning affinity¡± I said rubbing my hands together with glee. They have the power to manipulate thunderstorms and control lightning.
¡°We can see after your father sells the eggs but it is most likely you will have water or earth since affinities tend to run in families though the power of one is often random.¡± Mother said but seeing my disappointed look she continued ¡°but why don¡¯t you go visit your father he¡¯s trying to sell the eggs. The elder said a trader arrived last night and he was setting up his wares today. You can go with your father to see the trader¡¯s wares and then come with me later today to check out elemental stones at Mabel¡¯s.¡±
Mabel was an old woman who had a small store in the village with a collection of odds and ends. Her shop was an assortment of odds and ends but it was the only place to get magical items in town. I was excited to go because I had only been in there once or twice before and I was never allowed to buy anything.
¡°Okay, mom¡± I said and started out the door rushing to get there as fast as I could.
¡°Wait; don¡¯t forget the eggs your father left them here so you could pick out the one you want.¡± Mother said looking exasperated that I would just take off running.
¡°Oh yeah, I forgot about picking which one I wanted.¡± I looked them over and decided on the biggest one.
They were all a dark brownish color; however, the one I picked was the biggest and darkest of the lot. Grabbing it I ran into my room and set it under my pillow.
Then I ran back into the kitchen/living room grabbed the door and raced off to the village elders house hearing mother sigh as I simply ran out the door. The village elder wasn¡¯t really that old or at not as old as Mabel. He had three children and the youngest was a daughter around my age.
I wondered if I could impress her with tales of my heroic fight but that can wait. Now I need to find father to give him the eggs and check out the trader¡¯s wares. I was so excited about not only getting a bond beast but also an elemental stone and getting to look at everything the trader had. If we were lucky our family wouldn¡¯t be so poor after this sale.
My family normally earned about 35 silver a year for us to live on, this was considered very little but the poorest families in our village get by with 25 silvers a year. Since father owned sheep and mother was a weaver we were one of the richer families in the village not that it means very much when you compare it to what people in the army, guards, and nobles make.
I found father talking to the elder in the village elder¡¯s house. The elder was a dark haired scarred man in his forties. I heard he was once in the army when he was younger. Father had set the horned tri-color flying squirrel¡¯s body on the table between them. He was telling him about me finding it and asking about the trader telling the elder he wanted to sell two of the three eggs I found.
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I walked up to father and when he saw me he stopped talking. ¡°I brought the two eggs.¡± I said handing them to father. ¡°Mother said I could go with you when you sold them to the trader¡± I said with pleading eyes begging him to agree.
¡°Haa ha, yah you can come with me though the elder has expressed an interest in buying one after we confirm their identity with the trader and figure out their price.¡± He said laughing at my expression and then looking at the elder who nodded.
¡°Yes, both my sons have bonded beasts two mid third tier flare hounds but my daughter has expressed she wanted something cute and fluffy not big and scary. I plan on giving one to her as a present. They are fairly rare and hard to come by so if I pass this chance up I might have to find a weaker tier monster to get her.¡± The elder said.
¡°So let¡¯s go see what the trader has to tell us about them.¡± He said saying goodbye to the village elder and heading toward the village square that¡¯s near the main gate with the horned tri-color flying squirrel in hand. The village square is on the opposite side of the gate as our sheep pen.
Usually, the village square is empty and just used as a place for meetings and kids to play but when a trader comes they set up their wares there. Today it is quite busy since a trader only comes to our village maybe once a month and never in the winter time. There were only maybe one or two more visits before traders stopped coming for the winter so the market was extra busy today.
In the fall and spring traders are on the lookout to buy beast eggs like the ones I found. Fall and spring is the primary times when magical beasts lay eggs. Some species like bugs and chickens lay eggs year round but they tend to be weaker and strong beasts only lay eggs once a year or less. Traders buy the eggs and bring them to the capital and bigger cities to sell to nobles and anyone else who can afford them.
When there was a break in the crowd of people surrounding the trader father walked up to him.
¡°Hello, my name is Josan Herto a trader from the Southwestern part of Bellor. Do you see anything that you¡¯re interested in? I can tell you what each of my wares are.¡± He said gesturing to the tables of assorted items in front of him.
My father shook his head and set the body of the squirrel beast on the table. ¡°We have two horned tri-color flying squirrel eggs we would like to see how much our worth. I am willing to sell one of them to you for the right price.¡± He brought them out of his pocket and showed the trader.
¡°If these are horned tri-color flying squirrels then that means they are initial third tier beasts. With a double affinity of earth and dark I would be willing to pay 1 gold 20 silvers for an egg. A normal beast of initial third tier would be about1 gold but with their double affinity they are worth a little more. However, I can¡¯t just pay you the money without confirming their identity. Can I see them please?¡± Father seemed a little shocked about the price but handed over the two eggs.
The trader brought out a white marble stone tablet and touched one of the eggs with it. It emitted a white glow and words were inscribed on the tablet as well as a black and white outline of a horned tri-color flying squirrel below the outline was Tier 3. The trader tried the tablet on the other egg and it glowed before showing the same thing as the first egg except for one different symbol on the top right corner.
¡°These are both horned tri-color flying squirrels. One is a male egg and the other is a female egg. I am willing to pay you 1 gold 20 silver for each one of them so a total of 2 gold 40 silver for both.¡±
My father shook his head ¡°Like I said earlier I can only sell you the one egg; however, I will sell it to you for 1 gold 20 silver and a bonding scroll.¡±
¡°Since a scroll is only 2 and half silver I guess I could throw it in but I would be willing to pay 2 gold and 45 silvers for both instead.¡± The trader said trying to get the second egg. However father was shaking his head he had after all promised the village head the egg.
Sighing the trader asked ¡°which one do you want?¡± Father said ¡°the female egg.¡± The trader handed over the female egg, 1 gold 20 silvers, and an old dusty scroll covered in some runic markings. The trader put the egg into a metal box and locked it. Then he turned back to father and said ¡°You should know that the bond is formed by setting the egg on the scroll and dripping blood on the egg until it runs down it and onto the scroll. However, if you decide not to bond it you know where to find me. I¡¯ll be here for another two days.¡±
I decided to head back to mother. Father handed the scroll to me and told me to tell her what he sold the egg for and that he was selling the other to the village elder. I couldn¡¯t wait to bond my egg and for it to hatch. I would have to ask mother when that would happen.
* If you guys have any comments about grammar or the story I would appreciate it.
Hope you guys like the story. My fictions are World Update: The Era of Monsters and A Warlords Origin
Affinities and their rankings
Here is the list of Affinities and their power rankings. I will post cultivator ranks later when he finds out more about them around the time he starts the academy. Affinities affect how good someone is at manipulating an element and how powerful their attacks with that element can be.
It is something that everyone is born with. In addition to elemental and spiritual magic their is mana or pure magic. Anyone can manipulate mana; however, mana uses more energy to cast and is is weaker than elemental and spiritual when the same amount of energy is used.
For example an earth shield and a mana shield. A mana shield costs more energy to make because it is solid energy, while an earth shield uses energy to manipulate the earth. Rock is stronger than energy and takes less energy to maintain.
Affinities:
¡¤ Elemental:
o Earth
o Water
o Wind
o Fire
o Lightning
¡¤ Spiritual
o Light
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.o Dark
Affinity Power Ranking:
o Minor
o Lesser
o Low
o Average
o High
o Greater
o Supreme
To get into the Bellora Academy a person needs a high affinity or two average affinities, 1 gold for fees, and a bond beast.
Hope you guys like the story. My fictions are World Update: The Era of Monsters and A Warlords Origin
Chapter 3: The stone
Chapter 3: The Stone
When I got home I found mother working on the loom. She was a weaver and knew how to make rugs for the rich using a loom and could make sweaters, pants, and socks out of wool. Most of our money comes from close mother sells to the villagers, she is one of only three weavers in the village and I consider her the best.
Occasionally like now she will work on rugs like she is now.
They can be sold to traders which bring them to the cities. It is more profitable then selling close to the villagers but her rugs are considered low quality because they¡¯re made from wool and no die is used. It looks like mother is trying to finish this one up before the trader leaves.
¡°Mom can I bond my egg now and when is it going to hatch?¡± I asked excitedly jumping up and down with anticipation. Would I really get to have a pet now, I couldn¡¯t wait.
¡°You can do the bonding ceremony tonight after we get an elemental stone and your father gets home. Did he sell the eggs and tell you what he was doing now?¡± Mother asked me calmly only glancing over from where she was sitting down weaving the last of the rug.
¡°Oh yeah, he sold the one egg and he was going to take the second egg for the village elder to buy. He wanted me to tell you he sold it for 1 gold 20 silvers.¡±
¡°That much, are you sure you heard him right?¡± Mother said spluttering in disbelief. She had expected maybe 60 or 70 silvers a piece but they got more than 1 gold for each.
¡°Yah, I was there when he sold it. He even let father have this bonding scroll. He said since they were double affinity beasts they were worth more than normal ones.¡±
¡°Okay, with all this money I think we should be able to easily get you an elemental stone and get you into the academy if you pass the requirements, and even if I hate to say anything good about my father his line has never had anything below average affinity, so it is likely you will possess a high or greater affinity in earth or water.¡± She told me.
¡°Does that mean I will get to learn how to use magic and fight?¡± I said with wide eyes. They had talked about it earlier but it had seemed almost too good to be true.
¡°Yes, but that¡¯s not for another 10 years so don¡¯t get too excited.¡± She said laughing at my expression. She set down the loom and walked over to me. ¡°Come on, even without the money your father had I still have enough to get an elemental stone, let¡¯s go find out what your affinity is.¡±
¡°I hope it¡¯s something cool like fire or lightning. I heard the King of the royal family was a supreme in both fire and lightning and he could call down storms of fire and lightning, breath fire, and shoot lightning from one of the guards.¡± I said amazed that someone could be that powerful.
¡°That¡¯s true; he is the most powerful person in the entire Bellor kingdom. The royal family is the only one with double supremes or supremes that have a second affinity at all for that matter.¡± Mother said very seriously. ¡°If you¡¯re lucky you will be a greater affinity since only nobles are supremes, but even a greater can become more powerful than you can imagine.¡±
¡°Wow¡± I said. ¡°I just hope I don¡¯t get wind. Who wants to control the wind? All you can do with it is make a big gust or a small gust.¡±
¡°That¡¯s not necessarily true son.¡± Mother had started into lecture mode. ¡°With wind you can also fly and create twisters of wind strong enough to rip up houses.¡±
¡°What!¡± I shouted. There were people strong enough to rip houses out of the ground with only wind and I had to admit flying did sound cool.
¡°Ones power is only limited by their affinity, cultivation level, and imagination.¡± Mother told me. ¡°Your affinity affects how well you can manipulate an element, your cultivation how much energy you have to use at your disposal and your imagination what you can do with all your power.¡±
With that we had gotten to Mabel¡¯s and walked into the little shop. She had one room full of wares and the rest of the house was where she lived. I gravitated over toward the glowing rocks placed on a shelf in one corner. There were five different kinds: jagged brown ones that gave off a brown glow for earth, bright red ones in the shape of a flame that gave off an orange glow for fire, big yellow crystals that sparked that gave off a yellow glow for lightning, clear round ones that gave off an almost translucent glow for air, and blue ones in the shape of a fish that gave off a dark blue glow for water.
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I reached for the lightning stone and felt a shock. ¡°Ow¡± I cried out that hurt. I pulled my hand back and rubbing it against my leg that hurt. I looked hurt and innocently at mother silently asking mother what happened.
¡°Haa ha, you didn¡¯t think you could just grab any elemental rock did you?¡± An elderly woman came out of the house portion of the shop hobbling our way with an old wood cane in hand. This must be Mabel I vaguely remembered she was old had wrinkles and had white hair and this woman matched the description.
¡°A person must have an elemental rock of the same elemental affinity as them and within 1 rank of their affinity. You can use lower quality rocks but it hurts your cultivation speed.¡±
I didn¡¯t know this, did that mean I could find out my cultivation rank before my tenth birthday however this was shattered when she continued speaking.
¡°However, unfortunately I only have 20 or 30 low quality stones and one or two of each element greater quality stones. I am assuming you will need a low quality stone but if you should have a higher affinity I have them though the price is significantly higher.¡± The old woman said.
This hurt my dreams of finding out my true cultivation level but at I would know if I had more than average affinity or not, if I did I would need the greater stone and I could go to the academy. I nodded that I understood and waited for her to tell me what to do.
¡°Okay boy, sit down over there.¡± She pointed to a clear spot in the center of the room. I walked over and sat down crossing my legs in my lap. ¡°Close your eyes.¡±
I heard her quietly speaking to my mother telling her to put a stone here and there. Finally she said ¡°Clear your mind.¡±
Sitting there I tried to empty my mind of everything and focus on my core where a person¡¯s pool of energy is located. Eventually I was able to feel a drop of energy in my core. ¡°Now look outside your body and try to find the energy that feels right.¡± I heard the old lady say.
I reached out with what felt like arms but weren¡¯t. It was some kind of fifth limb; it let me sense the energy around me. It was faint but I could see a sparking yellow one, a burning orange one, a pale windy one, a cool blue one, and a brown earthy one.
Using my extra limb I reached toward the fire energy I had already experienced failure with the lightning and I had no desire to try again. However, I couldn¡¯t quite seem to grasp it every time I almost reached it, it moved out of reach. Discouraged I moved on to the next one wind this time it was even more evident as soon as I came close it would be instantly repelled. Next I tried water but like fire it was just out of reach. Holding onto one last hope I grabbed at the earth.
This time I could feel the energy welcoming me. A trickle rushed down my limb and into my core pooling with the energy already there changing it from completely colorless to a deep dark brown. Suddenly I felt the connection cut and my senses came back to me.
I saw mother and Mabel standing in front of me. She was holding a brown stone that had lost most of its glow and had veins of grey running through it. ¡°It looks like you will need a greater stone¡± she said ¡°you almost destroyed this stone by draining more than it can handle and channel at one time.¡±
I was ecstatic, while earth wouldn¡¯t have been an element I would have chosen, being able to go to Bellora Academy to learn about magic and how to fight monsters a dream in every boy¡¯s heart was coming true. I turned smiling to mother who beamed with pride ¡°well aren¡¯t you my talented child.¡±
Mother turned toward Mabel and said ¡°thank you for your help Mabel.¡±
¡°It was no problem at all it¡¯s my business and I always enjoy seeing a child with such potential¡± Mabel said before going back into the house and coming back with a brown palm sized batch of crystals. ¡°This is a small greater quality earth stone you can absorb energy from the surroundings and it won¡¯t break like the smaller stone. The size of the stone affects how much energy it can hold and your affinity affects channeling or absorption rate. This is the biggest one I have so it will have to do until he gets to a bigger town or the academy.¡±
Mother paid Mabel for the stone took it from Mabel and we headed home.
*******
Here is my other story if you want to check it out. World Update: Era of Monsters
Chapter 4: A greater bond
Chapter 4: A greater bond
When we got home we saw father had made it back from the elder¡¯s house. He was smiling from ear to ear at our mother. ¡°Its official we are now the third richest family in the village only after the elder and the millers. Of course half of it is for Wills schooling but with this you will be able to get a new loom and we can probably even buy a first or second tier magical sheep ram for our flock. Then we can start having higher quality fibers to weave on a better loom bringing in even more money. This is a great day for us.¡±
Mother smiled back at him and said ¡°yes it is¡± showing him the greater earth stone. ¡°Our son has at least a high earth affinity so we don¡¯t have to worry about him getting in anymore.¡±
Father grabbed us all in a hug. Maybe now we would finally be able to afford that stuff I had heard of from traders feather pillows, jade, silk something even finer than wool, and best of all maybe even swords I could see it now me wielding the perfect weapon a giant great sword with a jewel encrusted handle against monsters slaying them left and right.
Mother brought me back down to earth with though ¡°yes, with an enchanted loom I could weave fabrics of much greater quality. However, even though we are now one of the richest families in the village we are by no means even equal to nobles our wealth might be comparable to a low middle class family in one of the bigger families. I think we could probably only afford a low quality magic loom and a peak first tier magic ram.¡±
Disappointed I started to sulk a little I thought we were rich but I guess everything is all a matter of perspective we might be rich villagers but we are still poor compared to almost everybody else. Seeing my depressed face father said ¡°It¡¯s a start son. You can¡¯t expect us to become nobles overnight; if we work hard we can keep getting richer and richer you just have to belief in yourself and work hard.¡±
Starting to understand I nodded. We might never be rich but we would be able to have more stuff if we worked hard enough and got lucky. ¡°So can I bond my egg now? I really want it to hatch.¡± I said with pleading eyes.
¡°Haa ha, yes son we can work on the binding now it can even be a greater binding because we have something from its parent and her mana core. There are 3 types of bonds that can be formed a regular bond where you simply drop your blood on the egg over a binding scroll this forms the basic bond and each members of the bond can feel the others emotions and needs this is the most common each members work together to help one another as they are tied together. The second type is a slave bond where blood of one of the parents is used along with your blood to make a bond. A slave bond forces the bond beast to obey your commands. The third type of bonds are greater bonds by absorbing the mana core of one of the parents and giving it a part of its parent to absorb you tie yourself even tighter together than a regular bond. Once the beast reaches maturity they will be able to communicate with you and their humanification skill requirement is decreased one tier so for your beast it would be fifth tier now. This is the most powerful of the bonds but is often not chosen because the slave bond allows complete control of your beast.¡±
¡°I want to do a greater binding.¡± I said I didn¡¯t want to make my pet squirrel a slave it was supposed to be my friend and if I could talk to it even better.
Father nodded his head like he figured I would and said ¡°why don¡¯t you go get your egg we can¡¯t do it without it.¡±
I ran into my room grabbed the egg and ran back to the living room as fast as I can I didn¡¯t want father to change his mind or mother to say I couldn¡¯t do it. Father smiled when he saw me running into the room while mother frowned about it muttering about how I never listened to what she said and always ran around the house.
When I got back to the living room father had just finished unrolling the scroll on our old gray carpet and had secured two of the corners by using one of the foot and a half long reddish brown spiral horns and the other was held down by a small black and brown crystal that seemed to glow.
¡°What¡¯s that rock?¡± I asked father pointing at the black and brown crystal.
¡°That¡¯s a mana core. They are formed by magical beasts and contain about 60% of their mana. Each one is made up of the beast¡¯s mana. This one contains earth and darkness mana. Now come on son we don¡¯t have all day.¡± He said gesturing for me to put the egg down on the center of the scroll.
I set the egg down and stood back looking at him to tell me what I should do. ¡°The first step to a greater bonding is to absorb the mana core. Sit down on the scroll around the egg. Cross your legs so the egg is surrounded by you on all sides then pick up the mana core.¡±
I quickly sat down like he asked me to and grabbed the mana core. ¡°Now feel the energy of the mana core like you did the elemental stones and absorb it all into yourself. This may hurt a little because a third tier beast should be capable of making you go up a rank into the novice second level cultivator rank. However, you have to absorb the core to do greater bond.¡±
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¡°Okay dad¡± I said and focused on the mana core. In the core I noticed some of the friendly earth mana and something I hadn¡¯t felt before it must be the darkness mana. I tried to absorb it into myself grabbing with my other limb and pulling the energy into myself. Slowly I felt something trickling into me. It was warm and made me feel stronger and more alive; however, it kept getting stronger and stronger until it felt like my body was burning up.
¡°Aaaah!¡± I screamed as the burning sensation reached its peak and finally subsided. I looked accusingly at father if this was what a little pain felt like what did he consider a lot of pain.
¡°Amazing he went from someone who had never absorbed mana this morning to a novice mid second layer from just a little earth mana from the stones at Mabel¡¯s and this mana core. I can¡¯t even begin to imagine how high his earth affinity is I think he might actually be a greater affinity.¡± Father said beaming with pride at me while talking to mother.
Mother just sighed looking at a teary eyed me and father beaming with pride. ¡°Your father just gets carried away with things and doesn¡¯t take the time to explain them. You want to slowly absorb the mana from a mana core or it can be extremely painful and even lead to negative side effects.¡± She said glaring at father. What just happened was you broke through into the second layer of the novice cultivator realm. It is the very first realm there is, the realms are then broken up into four greater realms mortal, ascended, immortal, and god. No one has ever reached any of the god realms though. Each greater realm is made up of four realms and each realm is made up of nine levels. The mortal realms are novice, beginner, apprentice, and disciple. I am an apprentice peak second layer and your father is a beginner mid eighth layer. You just increased your cultivation by a level so the pain you felt was your body absorbing the mana from the core and condensing into your dantian. Your dantian is formed in the center of your chest starting at the novice second layer stage. It allows you to use your mana to manipulate your affinities and to use pure mana.¡±
¡°Okay, now that your mother has gotten her lecture in lets continue on with the binding ceremony.¡± Father said causing mother to start glaring at him again.
¡°This ¡®lecture¡¯ was all your fault. If you had correctly explained what he had to do I wouldn¡¯t have had to tell him.¡± Mother said.
¡°Okay now you need to cut yourself with the horn. Be careful not to slice too deep, but use the end of the horn to cut a line across your palm.¡± Father told me. I did as he said cutting myself with the sharp tip of the horn gritting my teeth against the pain.
¡°Now set the bloody horn beside the egg so that they are touching and drip your blood onto the egg.¡±
I leaned the horn up against my leg so one end was on my leg and the other was on the egg. Then I let the blood drip from my cut palm onto the egg. Below me the scroll started glowing. The faded red symbols started a bright crimson and after about 20 drops of blood crimson symbols started appearing on the egg. Suddenly the symbols flared and the horn disappeared turning into energy which was absorbed by the egg. A cracking sound was produced and the egg split down the middle.
Holding my breath and waiting I looked at the egg waiting for my new bond beast to appear. Slowly the egg started to split away from the crack and a fuzzy head with two little nubs on it poked out. Reaching up with a reddish brown little paw it pulled itself part of the way out. Now it got its other front paw a cream colored thing up and crawled the rest of the way out.
It was adorable it had a cream colored belly, left front paw, and spot on the end of its tail. The rest of it was black except for its ears, other three feet and a star shaped spot in the middle of its back. It crawled into my lap and I started petting it, it was so small and soft.
¡°What will you call her?¡± Mother asked me.
¡°Her?¡± I said.
¡°The squirrel is a girl silly.¡± Mother said.
¡°How do you tell?¡± I asked mother curiously.
¡°It¡¯s just a skill mothers have.¡± She said while behind her father started laughing.
¡°I¡¯ll call her Astra then for the star on her back.¡±
*Sorry about the long wait but have been dealing with finals week in college and then I got the stomach flu. I am out of college though for three weeks so expect more to come. I am planning on this being my main fiction. My other fiction is World Update: The Era of Monsters
My two fictions are World Update: The Era of Monsters and A Warlords Origin
Cultivation Ranks
Cultivator Ranks
Mortal
o Novice (realm 1)
o Beginner (realm 2)
o Apprentice (realm 3)
o Disciple (realm 4)
Ascended
o Warrior (realm 5)
o Master (realm 6)
o Duke (realm 7)
o King (realm 8)
Immortal
o Emperor (realm 9)
o Saint (realm 10)
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.o Spirit (realm 11)
o Divine (realm 12)
God
o Lesser Deity
o Deity
o Greater Deity
o Creator God
There are 9 levels to every realm. There are four realms to each greater realm. The highest anyone has ever reached is Divine ninth level peak. However they were killed through poison and swarms of weaker enemies.
Currently the strongest person alive are the three kings which are all in the late Spirit realm.
Each greater realm drastically increases someones power and lifespan. A mortal can live for around 70 or 80 years. An ascended can live to be about 150 years old. Immortals can''t catch any diseases or illnesses and can live for 500 years or more. After reaching Saint realm an immortal will not age. At Spirit realm they may look whatever age they want to.
At god no one knows what powers a person might have.
Just updated it so you guys could see some of the benefits like longer lifespan.