ã€ŠThe path to an Overlordã€‹


 Book 1 Crossing the Eternals ch1

    ¡°What if? What if!? That is the ultimate question isn¡¯t it class.¡± Professor John Mox surveyed his class meeting a few eyes along the way including my own. ¡°The theory of alternate realities is the best example of the question what if. An example of a simple what if is what if I wore a red shirt instead of this blue one this morning. Would it change anything?¡± He paused and looked around. ¡°Probably not and maybe so life is a mystery that way but, let¡¯s say there was more than one moon in the sky or no moon at all. Class what would happen then?¡± No one raised their hand or spoke. The class being a late night class made most of us pretty tired. ¡°Well anyone want to guess what might be different?¡± I might as well get it over with and speed the lecture on, or he will just keep asking questions tell someone answers, so I raised my hand. ¡°Ah! Dick Kaltefeuer what do you think the differences would be?

    ¡°I prefer Richard professor.¡± I frowned.

    ¡°My apologies please go on.¡± He waved with an open palm.

    ¡°I believe the biggest difference would be the effects on the planet from the added gravitational pulls from the multiple moons or lack thereof with no moon.¡±

    ¡°Good guess Richard. A reality with multiple moons might have more mountains and volcanos than our reality with one moon, as well as no tides on a reality with no moon.¡± Professor Mox looked around at everyone as well as the back of the class. ¡°Different realities can be extremely different than ours, or so similar that the only difference might be weather you stepped on a single bug today or none at all.¡± The professor paused an looked to the back of the class. He probably looked at the clock in the back of the classroom. ¡°Ok class, I want to remind you all to turn in your 5 page minimum essay on virtual realities at the end of the two week brake. Write about 3 small what if¡¯s, and what their consequences may be, and 2 major reality what if¡¯s, and please everyone don¡¯t wright about the moon example. Fifty two essays about moons become dull very quickly¡± I chuckle a little bit with the rest of the class. ¡°Oh and I want them typed or emailed to me. I won¡¯t grade any hand written ones just typed. Ok class, I will see you all in two weeks seeing as all the holidays happening next week.¡±

    Everyone started to shuffle around picking up there books and other materials they had out. I got up as well and put my books away in my backpack.

    ¡°Hey Richard¡± Someone smacks me on the shoulder nearly nocking me over. ¡°We got a party happening next week. Want to show up?¡± The bruiser weighing 230 pounds at six foot 3 and all muscle and no brains in my opinion, is my friend Brock McCone.

    ¡°Sorry Brock I can¡¯t make it. I¡¯m taking a plane tomorrow to Europe for a family reunion.¡± He may be tall but I¡¯m no slouch at six feet myself. I met Brock seven months ago at the local liquor store with a confused look on his face. I was bored at the time, so I asked him if he needed help. He was responsible for getting all the alcohol and snacks for a party, and Brock didn¡¯t know what to get. I offered to help him and asked him a bunch of questions and led him around town acquiring all the drinks, snacks and paraphernalia for a party.

    It was at that party were I learned he was a fitness trainer who is attending the same collage as me. Brock had no degree in mind and was just taking random classes. I suggested he take the Science fiction class by Professor John Mox for the fun of it. Professor Mox¡¯s class is generally an introduction to science fiction and covers moves, books, TV shows, and comics. Both Brock and I were taking the class as an elective.

    ¡°Well damn man I sort of need ya. Hmm¡­ I¡¯ll come up with something I guess¡± Brock retorted.

    ¡°Sorry about that man, I would help you out if the reunion wasn¡¯t such a big deal. The family reunion is only held once every fifteen years, so I can¡¯t skip it.¡± We left the classroom, and headed to the exit of the building on the first floor.

    ¡°Every fifteen years? Damn! Why only every fifteen?¡± Brock opened the door and we went outside.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s supposedly some great family secret, and I wasn¡¯t privy to it since I was nine last time it happened.¡± We turned left onto a concrete walkway and headed to the parking lot were we both like to park. ¡°Apparently we are only allowed in on it when we are 15 or older.¡±

    ¡°15! Why at 15?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s believed we can¡¯t keep the secret unless we are that age¡± We stepped onto the asphalt parking lot. I pulled out my key ring and shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the reason though.¡± Brock pulled his key ring out and hit his unlock button, and a M1 Hummer lights lite up. Brock got the Hummer from his father as a gift when he started college. I don¡¯t have rich parents, well off yes, rich no, so I have myself a 2003 Honda accord that I recently finished paying off.

    ¡°So why don¡¯t you think that? It sounds like a good reason?¡± I hit my unlock button on my key ring and my Honda lit up just a couple of cars further down.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. There was something about the way my father looked at me when I asked him about it nine years ago. He did not say what the great secret was. All my father said was to just wait tell the next reunion.¡± I was angry with my father for not trusting me and it was one of the reasons we drifted apart until I left home. This is information I don¡¯t like to talk about. ¡°Well since I¡¯m about to find out the secret I might make up with my father¡­maybe.¡± We reached Brock¡¯s car.

    ¡°Well good luck with that. Oh and bring me some souvenirs man.¡± With a smile he heads to his car as I chuckle.

    ¡°I will try man but no promises.¡± I waved him goodbye and went to my car.

    The drive home was uneventful beside the usual rage at bad or slow drivers. I live at an apartment complex close to the college for convenience and privacy instead of the local college dorms. I live in a second floor apartment with one bedroom a living room, and a kitchen with one bathroom. Arriving home I threw my backpack on my couch in my Spartan living room. One sofa, a loveseat, foldable dining table, small knee-high table in front of the couch, 72inch flat screen on the wall, and my computer desk in the corner.

    As a student on financial aid I consider myself poor and unable to afford much. Yet I was able to acquire my TV with some help from Brock. Apparently Brock felt my apartment was boring and wanted to watch some football game at my place. We Ordered the TV online then drank tell we forgot about it. The TV delivery rudely awoke us up early that morning to the glory of our hangovers.

    It is 9:46 pm at the moment and my flight doesn¡¯t leave tell 7:20am. I guess I will get ready then, so I head to my bedroom. My room is a little messy compared to my living room. Don¡¯t get me wrong it¡¯s not messy per say just unkempt, for I¡¯m not a morning person. The beds unmade, a dresser drawer is left open, and my radio is still on, and a game or two is left on the floor, and my game controller is next to my TV stand across from my bed. I guess I didn¡¯t put them away from last night. I like to play video games in my spare time especially role playing games.

    Putting my games away and I pull my suitcase out from under my bed. Grabbing a weeks¡¯ worth of clothes out of my dresser I organize them and place them in my suitcase. Shutting my suitcase I place it near my living room door. What now? The laundry is done and the dishes in the kitchen are all clean. Heading into the kitchen I stop at my fridge and pull out a beer. May as well double check the flight time watch a movie then head to sleep. Going to my computer I set my beer on the knee-high table and turn it on to surf the web.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    ¡°Yup 7:20am no delays, now what to watch¡± leaving my computer I sit down heavily on my couch. I turn my TV on and switch to Netflix. I like to watch science fiction and fantasy so I head to that section. ¡°Hmm¡­<u>A Mage in Armon</u> is out! Sounds good.¡± Opining my beer I relax further and enjoy my movie. After the movie I head to bed, set my alarm, and call a taxi to pick me up for the airport at 4:30 am.

    The taxi got me to the airport at 6am and I made it through airport security just in time to board my plane at 7:15. Well I guess I¡¯ll sleep a bit to catch up on what I missed to get to the flight. My flight has two stops before I get to my destination. In fact I switch planes after I fly from Portland Oregon to New York City. After the flight took off I fell asleep.

    We arrived at the airport in New York on time. I left the plane and went to go find my new plane terminal to Europe. Finding the correct terminal I sat down on one of the empty seats. Looks like I have to wait 2 hours till my flight gets here and is ready. I just hope my bag makes it.

    ¡°Hey Richard how are you doing¡± I look to my left to see who is talking to me, and I see a blond woman with emerald green eyes like mine. The blond is 5 foot 9 and about 27 years. The woman smiles at me. Damn she¡¯s a beauty and has a great set of boobs, it¡¯s a pity I know who she is.

    ¡°Hey cuz!! I¡¯m fine like usual.¡± I¡¯m bound to meet relatives in transit so I¡¯m glad I met my cousin Jannat first. This is pleasant, out of all my relatives I¡¯m familiar with, Jannat is the one I enjoy the most, for we share a lot of hobbies. One such hobby is video games. We play a lot online games together and were founders of several guilds ¡°How¡¯s school going? Did your teachers take it well that you would be missing classes?¡± Even though I have a week off Jannat did not, for she will miss a day this week of classes and two next week if memory serves me.

    ¡°They took it ok, but I still have to do some work while I¡¯m over there. I just hope the castle has enough outlets so I can charge my laptop.¡± Jannat scowls and I give her a wry smirk. Today is Wednesday and all my classes are held on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Jannat on the other hand has Monday and Wednesday classes. Jannat is missing some classes to attend the gathering.

    ¡°I already turned in my work early so I don¡¯t have to worry about the classes I¡¯m missing tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°You started your architecture classes this term?¡±

    ¡°Yup! Just last term. I don¡¯t see Mark here I take it he¡¯s not coming?¡± I met Mark only 3 times sense he and Jannat got married two years ago. She turned away from me and peered outside and looked troubled. ¡°You don¡¯t have to talk about it. I will understand.¡±

    ¡°No its ok it¡¯s better to talk about it.¡± She sighed and stared outside at the planes. ¡°He understandably was a bit upset that he would not be allowed to know the family secret whatever it is.¡± Like me Jannat was not 15 the last time we had this reunion being 12 at the time. ¡°I had to get my parents to talk to him before he calmed down. The fact that my father still doesn¡¯t know either helped.¡±

    ¡°I told you that you should not have told him that our family has a secret. Hell we don¡¯t even know it.¡±

    ¡°Well not for long I guess. He¡¯s not coming because he feels like our family wont trust him. Knowing him he won¡¯t be upset long. Good thing he¡¯s usually so laid back.¡± And that¡¯s the queue for a case of awkward silence. Well it wasn¡¯t quiet being an airport, but an awkward silence between us happened none the less. ¡°I wonder what it is.¡± She broke the silence.

    ¡°Yah¡­ that is the big question.¡± I smirked ¡°If it¡¯s just that we are some estranged royalty I¡¯m going to rage¡± she smiled and laughed a little. At least she smiled again better for people to be happy then stressed out all the time. If the secret really is that petty I won¡¯t forgive my father.

    ¡°So¡­ Richard! Why were you not at the raid last Saturday?¡± She looked back at me, or should I say down at me with accusation in her eyes. For the next hour or so we talked about nothing but the games we played together tell the plane arrived.

    Long flights are more endurable when you have someone to talk to. I was able to kill the boredom of the flight over the Atlantic by talking to Jannat who successfully convinced a fellow passenger to switch seats with her. Arriving in Europe we left the plane and went through customs so we could reach our last flight. The last flight is on a smaller plane owned by our European relatives and will take us to a private airfield close to our destination.

    My relatives here in Europe mostly all work in a family run company that owns multiple other company¡¯s all around the world. It is safe to say the main branch or those allowed to stay and chose to do so usually get rich quick within the family. Why my parents were not rich being part of the main branch I don¡¯t know. I hope they won¡¯t look down on Jannat for her being a branch family.

    ¡°So Richard got all your bags¡± I look at Jannat who was pulling two suitcases with wheels.

    ¡°Unlike you Jen I only took the essentials, so one bag is all I need.¡± I snobbishly smiled at her. Jannat just squinted her eyes and stared at me. ¡°Well I guess we should head to our family plane¡±

    ¡°Yes lets.¡± Jannat walked outside onto the airfield to the private plane outside. I could see a couple of people boarding it from where I was standing. Jannat looked behind her and said ¡°Come on slowpoke it¡¯s got to happen sometime.¡± She probably means my father who is most likely already on the plane or at the castle already.

    ¡°Don¡¯t remind me.¡± I walk to the plane and arrive after Jannat disappears into the plane.

    ¡°Your luggage sir.¡± I look to my right and see a man in a suit with his hand out palm up. I guess he wants my suitcase. I should have learned German but never really got around to it. I sigh handing him my suitcase and climb up the stairs into the plane. I see 5 others on the plane siting here and there in its luxurious trappings. One is Jannat then her parents, and of course as I predicted my parents are seated in the middle so no matter where I sit it will be near them. I sigh and take a seat and look out the window just in time to see them pull the stairs away. A steward shuts the plane door and looks at us all.

    ¡°Ladies and gentleman we shall be leaving shortly so please stay seated¡± he left to the front of the plane despairing behind a door. A few moments later the engines started and the plane moved. It didn¡¯t take long before we were airborne and at a level altitude. A few minutes later the steward returned. ¡°You may now walk about the compartment. May I interest any of you in some beverages?¡± I spoke up first.

    ¡°Give me a glass of your strongest wine.¡±

    ¡°It will be done sir.¡± He looked to the others on the plane. ¡°Anything else?¡± responses were given of cups of water and some soda. The steward left to go get our drinks.

    ¡°Gotten a taste for wine now Rich?¡± I look at my father who has one raised eyebrow. I don¡¯t drink wine very often, but my father on the other hand is an avid wine connoisseur.

    ¡°No it¡¯s just the first thing that came to mind, so I ordered it.¡± He grunted and lowered his eyebrow. I looked my father in the eye. ¡°I prefer Richard now father¡±

    ¡°Right right I forgot. How¡¯s school?¡± I have not physically talked to my father face to face since I left for the navy after High school. We sent a few letters back and forth but they were always short and nothing but update letters. I had not called him and herd is voice for five years.

    ¡°Ok I guess in my second term at the moment.¡±

    ¡°Architecture was it?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°How is it? Do you like it?¡±

    ¡°Yes I like it.¡± I love it in fact. To design things that may be built it¡¯s thrilling to see your creations come real. I was thinking of either architecture or graphic design. But I feel awkward talking to my father after so long so all I said were short one liner¡¯s. Jannat and her parents were chatting away to give us privacy.

    ¡°Come now Richard we haven¡¯t seen you for years you can let us know more than that?¡± I looked at my mother and smiled a little. I guess I have been a little selfish not talking to my mother as well. The steward entered and gave me my drink, and passed by to give the others their drinks.

    ¡°Your right mom, I¡¯m sorry. I like learning to be an architect a lot.¡± She smiled back. Well I may as well talk to them about what I¡¯ve been up to for the past few years, for it can¡¯t hurt to talk about myself. We spent the next couple of hours speaking of my school and former navy life. The plane landed and I felt refreshed and regretting a little my treatment of my parents. They still love me, and I¡¯ve grown sense I left.

    We all got out of the plane and stretched and walked to reduce the jetlag. A few vans drove up to the airstrip we were on wile our luggage was being unloaded.

    ¡°I guess it¡¯s time to meet the rest of the family.¡± Jannat had walked up beside me.

    ¡°Yes it seems that way.¡± The vans pulled up in front of us, and the plane crew loaded our luggage onto the vans. I smiled ¡°Well let¡¯s get this raid over with shall we.¡± Jannat laughed and all 6 of us got into the two vans. Trying to shake off the remainder of my jet lag I attempt to take a nap as the cars take off¡­

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Thank you for reading. please feel free to comont on anything it will only help. Oh this story that i intend to eventually publish after getting it perfetionaly edited when i complete it so even if there are large gaps between chapter updates don''t fret im not abandoning it.

    This story has been cercalating in my skull for a couple of years, and i finally decided to right it after reading Fimbulwinter, and Black Coven. So thank you for reading.

 Book 1 Crossing the Eternals Ch2

    BANG!

    ¡°Gha! What the hell?¡± I woke up with a jump chafing my neck on the seatbelt. ¡°What was that?¡± I ask the driver who was at the wheel to my right.

    ¡°It was just a rock sir.¡± What just a rock? I straighten up and look out the window finally noticing were we are. We are very high up. I stare out the van¡¯s window nervously griping the safety handle on the door. We are driving on an unpaved 10 foot wide road with a sheer cliff on one side and an unhealthy drop on the other. Judging by the small looking trees we must be pretty high.

    ¡°How high are we?¡± I hear my father laughing behind me.

    ¡°Ha! So you have decided to be awake for this part of the trip this time.¡± I grunt and look at the ground below. Last time we came this way was when I was nine and I slept on the way there, and I fell asleep in the car before we left, so yea I never saw the cliff.

    ¡°Sir we are about a hundred and ten meters up and should arrive at the gate in less than five minutes.¡± The driver starts to slow down after we pass a large alcove in the Cliffside and a sign in germen. That¡¯s weird the sign had a camera above it drilled into the rock. I look at the driver quizzically? There is a gate up here?

    ¡°What did the sign say?¡±

    ¡°Turn back trespassers will be shot.¡± The driver didn¡¯t even flinch or hesitate in his answer.

    ¡°Did it really say that? That is an exaggeration right?¡±

    ¡°No sir, it is plain and simple. We have been driving on the Kaltefeuer estate for the past twenty minutes. People are usually intercepted before they get this close to the residence. I have been on guard duty up here before, so yes those are the orders.¡± I look at my parents. My father shrugs, and my mother has her eyes closed with nothing but her poker face showing, yet she¡¯s giving my father¡¯s hand the death grip. My father looks me in the eye.

    ¡°There are reasons I would not come back here son. I am here to see you through your initiation into the family. Your mother is here for my support and yours.¡± I raise an eyebrow.

    ¡°Initiation? I hope it¡¯s not some ritualistic hazing?¡±

    ¡°Nothing like that. We will go over details later. We should not talk about it here.¡± My father looks at the driver then sadly at my mother. She opens her eyes and looks sadly back at him and nods.

    ¡°Please do that sir. Hearing that information could get me killed.¡± I look back to the driver.

    ¡°WHAT!? What do you mean by that?¡± I look at him for some seconds. It does not look like he will answer me. He slows the car down to around ten miles per hour, and I look ahead. The road seems to meet another cliff face and turns into an opening in the cliff side.

    ¡°Sir¡¯s and Ma¡¯am we have arrived.¡± He slows further and turns into the cave and comes to a complete stop. There is a big gothic looking metal door in front of the car illuminated by a light on the roof of the cave. There is a guard house looking thing on the right against the wall with a guard standing at its door. He is wearing a black beanie and Kevlar vest as well as an mp5 in his hands. His finger is on the trigger. Just then the other van with my cousin and her parents stop behind us. ¡°Say nothing until the door is open.¡±

    Our driver rolls his window down and holds his hand up palm out to the guard while holding his ring finger down with his thumb. Must be none verbal password to get in. The guard blinks his left eye once. The driver then makes the Vulcan live long and prosper sign with his palm facing himself, and the guard blinks with his right eye this time, and our driver responds by bringing his middle finger and ring finger together palm still facing himself. The guard takes his finger off his trigger and visibly relaxes, and walks up to our van.

    ¡°How many?¡± the guard looks into the van then glances to the other van.

    ¡°Six.¡± The guard nods.

    ¡°That¡¯s the number I was told. I will get the door open.¡± He walks back into the guard house. I wonder how the door will open. Judging how the cave has a rounded ceiling and there are no square shapes on the top of the door I think it will slide into the wall or come down and we will drive over it, or rise into the ceiling. A loud screech assaults my ears then a grinding sound. The door starts to move towards the guard house. Well that answers that it¡¯s sliding into the wall.

    The door stops sliding and we move forward and we enter the lit tunnel. I glance at the door as we pass. The door is thick.

    ¡°Wow is that door five inches thick or something?¡± the driver glances at me and responds.

    ¡°It is four and a half sir.¡± We drove a little ways in the tunnel until we came out into a courtyard of the castle that I remember. From the open area you could look up and see the sky from a large opening or chasm if you¡¯re looking down from the top. We took a right turn toward another large door that was being dragged open by another armed guard. Our driver drove into an area that completely resembled an underground parking garage. All kinds of cars were parked in there even two armored personnel carriers, or APCs, and a tank.

    ¡°Wow is that still here? That¡¯s a leopard right.¡± I had completely forgotten that there was a tank here, but I¡¯m not going to admit that. The driver smiles and parks the van.

    ¡°Yes, and she still runs, unfortunately we don¡¯t get to drive her out much. She makes a lot of noise in here¡± turning off the van he opens his door and gets out. ¡°You may get out of the van now.¡± We all get out of the vans and look about the garage. A door across from us opens, and an old man in an expensive looking black suit walks towards us. He spreads his arms open as he notices that he has all our attention.

    ¡°Welcome, welcome family to my humble abode away from the cities.¡± A little echo forms in the garage. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about your luggage it will be taken care of, and moved to your rooms. Follow me please.¡± he motions us to follow him and turns around and walks back to the door. I guess he is our welcoming committee, so I fallow him through the door with everyone else close behind. I fallowed the old man past several doors and turns in the hall. You can easily get lost here without knowing where you¡¯re headed. I was a victim several times to the maze that is this underground castle when I was last here.

    The old man led us to a room with a couple of tables with a bunch of people around. I assume they are the rest of the family, for I can only recognize just a few. The old man turned to us. ¡°You six are the last to arrive, feel free to sit where you please and order some food¡± he turns back around and heads to a raised section next to a stage in the back of the room, and takes a seat at a table with a couple of other older gentlemen and women. I look around and spot an empty table with six chairs.

    ¡°I see a table we can take over there.¡± I point to the table and wave every one behind me to the table. The table was round and near the left center of the room. There seems to be about forty people here of all ages, and with the noise you would expect with such a mixed crowd. Adult and kids laughing are herd from all over the room, some smiles, as well as couple of serious looking conversations are going on in a few tables. I look to my table at my parents and jennet with her parents. ¡°Well that was quite a ride wasn¡¯t it? The cliff spooked me a little when I woke up.¡± That got a couple of chuckles from them. A man in waiter clothes walks up to our table.

    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen may I take your orders.¡± He hands us all a couple of menus just like a restaurant. I guess it pays to have rich relatives. We all order our food and he leaves.

    ¡°So when will we be in on the secret? I assume it has something to do with the initiation you mentioned.¡± I ask my father and jennet looks our way.

    ¡°When the elders of the family are ready, could be today or a week from now.¡±

    ¡°Are the elders the ones at the table that that old man sat at?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that old man is your great grandfather.¡±

    ¡°What! He couldn¡¯t be that old.¡± I ask a little surprised, for my great grandfather was a little over forty when the world war two was over. That would make the old man over one hundred and ten. ¡°If that¡¯s so he looks very healthy for someone his age?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, it will all be revealed later.¡± A couple of carts come our way and stops at our table. ¡°Our food has arrived we can talk about the details later when it¡¯s appropriate.¡± I nod as I remember the conversation on the drive up, our food is served to us. I barely start to eat my food when a loud gong rings out. I look up and see my great grandfather up on the stage with the rest of his table.

    _____

    ¡°Welcome everyone to the thirty-eighth reunion of our great Kaltefeuer family.¡± Thirty eight? That would make our family over five hundred and seventy years old. ¡°Normally I would be making this announcement in our local german, but too many of us don¡¯t speak it anymore. In a way this is a good thing, for it means our family has spread and not in as much danger as it was hundreds of years ago.¡± Hmm laying it on a bit thick is he? ¡°We have gathered here for the members of our family to finally be initiated into the fold. I have talked it over with the rest of the elders, and we are ready to begin the initiation tonight after this meal.¡± Well that was quick. The family business is bigger than it has ever been and it calls us so we can¡¯t stay long. One of the two old women on the stage walks out and replaces my great grandfather as he steps back.

    ¡°Out of the 10 who would have been here today only five survived the last fifteen years to make it to us. A moment of silence please to remember our fallen and may god hold them dear to his heart as we have.¡± I looked down and closed my eyes with everyone else. The silence lasted maybe five minutes. ¡°Thank you every one, let¡¯s all please enjoy the rest of our meals.¡± The old lady steps back and an old man with a cane steps forward. This guy looks like the grumpy type.

    ¡°All five of you whom have come of age this last fifteen years exit out the door to the left of the stage after you finish with your food. You may bring only one person with you who has blood of the Kaltefeuer in there veins.¡± With a thunk he hits his cane against the stage and walks out through the door he mentioned with the rest slowly shuffling after him. Well he is definitely the grumpy type. I smirk and look to my father and he nods.

    ¡°I will come with you son.¡±

    ¡°Ok.¡± I give Jannat a serious look and she returns a nervous one. I turn back to my food and finish quickly. I stand up and see my father did the same as well as Jannat and her mother. Pushing in our chairs we head to the door to our initiation.

    We have been walking down a small hallway for at least twenty minutes. When I say down I mean down, for the hallway has had a slight slope downwards for quite a while. The small hallway could only fit two of us side by side going one way. There are lights every fifteen feet so we are not walking in the dark. We have not spoken a word sense we came through the door a ways back. I think I see the end or a chamber ahead, and what looks like candle light illuminating it. Ok I was wrong they were torches, for they aluminate a circler room with a hole in it. I approached the hole and looked down. There was a spiral staircase that led down the hole with torches all the way down lighting it up.

    ¡°I guess we go down.¡± Jannat was right behind. I look back down the hallway and I see a couple of people heading our way, probably the other three. My father grunts and starts to head down the steps.

    ¡°The elders are below. Come.¡± With a shrug to Jannat and her mother I head down as well. On my way down I notice that there are small alcoves along the stairs. As i pass one I peer into it, and I¡¯m startles a little bit by what I saw in there. The alcoves have skeletons in them. Every alcove I pass and looked into had one. Well this is creepy walking down a stone staircase, with skeletons every foot or so, and the only light is from the flames on the torches. I don¡¯t think it could get any creepier then this. I was wrong.

    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

    At the bottom there was a stone cut opening that led into a round torch lit round room. The room looked like a perfectly circle with a domed roof. The shape of the room was not the creepy part. The creepy part was that the elders were in a circle and facing a sphere on a pedestal. The sphere gave me goosebumps and raised the hair on the back of my neck the moment I saw it. It was a perfect obsidian looking sphere that gave off a purple light. A rock gave off light? How is this possible?

    To say I am shocked would be an understatement you only see stuff like this in movies or books. I could hardly move from where I was standing. My first thought was that the sphere was fake, yet I could not deny my own eyes or ignore what feels like static electricity in the air. My great grandfather looks away from the sphere and turns to us as six more people silently file into the room.

    ¡°The five who will be initiated into the family line up and stand before me.¡± He points before himself. ¡°Everyone else, join the elders in the circle.¡± My father passes me and joins the elders in the circle with Jannat¡¯s mother and the rest. I get into the indicated position and look as Jannat stands next to me and three of my cousins stand next to her. My great grandfather looks us over standing strait with his hands behind him. ¡°Five of you are here today. You five will be initiated into the family¡¯s secret.¡± He looks us over his face passive. Our family¡¯s origin is magic, from the very first, so it shall be with the last. What do you know of magic?¡± He stands there silently looking at us. The cousin on the other end coughs, and we all turn to him.

    ¡°That it doesn¡¯t exist it has not been proven.¡± He¡¯s speaks with obvious nerves cracking his voice. He looks to be about seventeen years old. ¡°Psychic phenomenon maybe but magic no¡± the old man nods.

    ¡°In a way you are correct, but the only way we have been able to explain the orb and what you will be doing here is nothing but magic.¡± He holds up a hand palm out stifling anyone from responding right away. ¡°You all will be gaining psychic powers tonight. We do not know what you will manifest but it will be real in fact I have a substantial one myself, Telepathy. To prove this I will ask you all to think of a number between one and ten and name a color in your head. I shall tell you all your number and the color.¡± Telepathy really! Let¡¯s see one and black. There was less than a minute of silence when he looked at the first cousin to speak. ¡°Six and green¡± he looked at my next cousin who looked to be in his twenties like me and Jannat. ¡°Two, and pink.¡± He raised an eyebrow and looked to the guy next to Jannat. ¡°Five, and Red¡± He looked at Jannat next. ¡°Five, and blue.¡± Then he looked at me. ¡°One, and black. Now did I say a wrong number or color.¡± He narrowed his eyes and looked at us all. None of us responded, for that was pretty impressive it took him less than a minute to look at us all and say the number and color.

    There was silence in the chamber, yet I could hear low humming. I look at my father and the rest and they all have their hands aimed at the sphere and they were all humming a low tune. ¡°All whom go through the initiation will gain some power be it telepathy, telekinesis, pyrokinesis and even precognition. These skills are vital for our family, and have allowed us to survive since the roman invasion of Gaul. This is a secret that may never be shared on pain of death. Do you hear me if I feel you cannot hold this secret you will die or never leave the castle above.¡± Damn he doesn¡¯t look to be joking. He looks at me. ¡°I¡¯m not joking and none of you will live if you think otherwise.¡± Fuck he said that with a straight face. Calm down calm down, I can handle this. I stand straighter look him in the eye. He nods and looks back to the others. ¡°You will be offered a position in the family business that fits your skills afterword if you wish, If not you may go your way in peace if you can be trusted to keep your mouths shut. Your parents are aware of these facts.¡±

    The old man turns around and walks into the circle. ¡°We shall begin.¡± He walks up to the sphere, and its purple light gets a little brighter. It is legend that the progenitor of our family came to this world with this sphere and only he can return with it. It grants us with his blood power beyond most mortal men for as long as the blood runs in our veins.¡± He stops under a hands length from the black sphere. ¡°For all others its touch means death.¡± He reaches for the orb and electric arcs come out between it and his hand. ¡°To gain our power you must touch it and be reborn into us.¡± He touched his palm to it and nothing happens. He takes his hand away and steps back to us. ¡°Do not be afraid. The first touch will always be the worst.¡± He points to my first youngest cousin at the end of the line. ¡°Come forth and gain your birthright. Do not let go of the orb until there are no more arc¡¯s between you and it.¡± Wow these are scenes and lines you¡¯d only see in movies and books.

    My young cousin whom I¡¯d never met or heard a name for walked to the circle. I don¡¯t know any of them only Jannat. He walked into the circle and like before the purple light brightens up as he approaches. He reaches for the orb and arcs hit his palm like before. Touching the orb the electric arcs increase in intensity and shoot out to his face and body. He grits his teeth and closes his eyes in what looks like pain. The electric arcs stop and he immediately screams and falls to his knees holding his head. He then slumps over apparently unconscious. One of the guys from the circle gets out and picks him up and takes him out of the circle and lays him on the floor outside of the circle. ¡°Next.¡± My great grandfather looks back to us.

    ¡°This is going to suck.¡± The oldest looking of my cousins looks to the rest of us ¡°Wish me luck.¡± A nervous look in his eyes he walks into the circle. Approaching the orb the same thing happens with the electric arcs, yet instead of a scream he squints his eyes shut and grunts and starts acting dizzy and drunk. Someone walks into the circle and takes him to join the two from before. This looks like it hurts I shuffle a little nervously and look at Jannat. She looks excited with her eyes wide open.

    ¡°Next.¡± My third cousin walks confident as he walks into the circle with a smile on his face. Like before the arcs meet his palm as it closes and the purple glow turns red as he touches the black orb. The electric arcs turn red as well and spread out all over his body and violently speeds up in intensity. He screams a blood curdling scream that I have never heard before then its cut off suddenly. His is still there standing up touching the orb. The electric arcs are gone and the purple glow is dim again.

    ¡°NOOO, no, no, no it can¡¯t be.¡± One of the men in the circle falls to his knees crying both his hands forward. Making fist the man looks down and slams his fist into the floor. A loud crack is herd and cracks appear on the stone floor where his fist hit it. My great grandfather looks at him.

    ¡°You did not know and will be forgiven.¡± The old man with the cane walks into the circle and pokes the figure touching the orb. It disintegrates quickly into a pile of dust and clothes. What the hell how did that happen he disintegrated. I sort of believed them when they said death would result if we were not blood related, but to see it confirmed in such away. I looked quickly to my father and he still had his poker face on. Looking to Jannat her pervasive excitement was replaced by fear as well as my own. The old man with the cane speaks to the distraught man on the floor.

    ¡°This betrayal will be punished. Bring her.¡± The man nods and gets up. With tears still falling he leaves the room. ¡°The ceremony must go on.¡± He looks at my great grandfather. ¡°Next time we do blood test first.¡± He smacks his cane against the stone floor then walks back to his position in the circle, and raises his hand again to the orb. My grandfather nods with his eyes closed and then looks at Jannat.

    ¡°Next.¡± I hear Jannat swallow and she doesn¡¯t move. Her mother looks at her.

    ¡°It¡¯s ok dear you must do it. It will be alright, for you have nothing to worry about.¡± With that Jannat slowly walks into the circle as well and stop¡¯s at the orb as its strange purple light brightens. Reaching her hand out the arcs meet her hand, I hold my breath and hope nothing will happen. The same regular arcs as the first two times come out and spread over her body. She quickly looks up at the ceiling and loudly sucks in a breath. Jannat faints and falls. My great grandfather catches her before she hits the floor. My aunt walks into the circle and takes Jannat out. Ok it¡¯s my turn. I can do this nothing to fear. There is nothing to fear.

    ¡°You are the last one. After you touch the orb the ceremony will end and we will learn what you have gained. Now enter.¡± The old man speaks to me and waves me in. Taking a breath I walk into the circle and the orb brightens brighter than it did for the others. What¡¯s this? I continue to walk forward and I hear the buzzing of electricity and the orb rises a foot off the pedestal that it rested on. Stopping my eyes go wide as a purple arc comes out of the orb and touches me. I didn¡¯t feel a thing, yet my body feels like it¡¯s being pulled to the orb.

    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± I look to my great grandfather and he only looks at me then back to the orb with wonder in his eyes.

    ¡°We have never seen it do this. Keep going.¡± He waves me to continue.

    ¡°Ok.¡± I look around and see the same wonder in everyone¡¯s eyes and a little fear in my fathers. I slowly walk closer and the purple arcs continue to touch me in ever increasing intervals. The orb starts to rotate and the sound of electricity intensifies. Coming to a stop with the orb within my reach I look at it. I thinkI can feel the energy within it. My hand reaches for it before I realize I was doing it and touches the spinning orb. The orb starts to disintegrate and the particles flowed into my hand. Into my hand! What the hell?

    Pain immediately assaults my hand as if I put it into a pan of boiling water. I scream at the top of my lungs. The pain intensifies and spreads down my arm and into my chest. I scream again and tare my shirt off as I see black vain like tendrils crawl down my arm and into my chest. Oh god this hurts. I close my eyes and scream again. The pain spreads to my chest and into my legs and other arm. I can¡¯t control my body as I fall and start to thrash on the floor. Opening my eyes I look to my father to see the horror in his eyes as he¡¯s being held back by the rest of the circle. I try to raise my hand to him and ask for help, yet all I do is scream in agony as the pain intensifies further. I watch and add horror to my screams as my hands, arms, and legs start to disintegrate like dust flowing in the wind.And my visiongoes black with nothing but the most intense pain of my life as company.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Well i guess i finished this chapter sooner then i expected even though it took me 12 hours to write all of this. This chapter is about 4525 words.

    Im working on a cover pic but.... the artist is being stubern and taking there sweet time. fyi i asked them to draw a cover pick for this story more then a month ago Q-Q

 Book 1 Crossing the Eternals ch3

    ¡°Oww... that hurts!¡± A light hurts me even though my eyes are closed. ¡°What?¡± Wait a minute I¡¯m not in intense agony anymore. I¡¯m on my back and I can feel something solid and warm underneath me. Testing my legs and arms I discover I can move without problems. Opening my eyes I¡¯m momentarily blinded by light. My eyes adjust quickly and I see a clear blue sky above me. I can hear birds and insects. Sitting up I look around, and I see that I¡¯m inside a clearing surrounded by large tree¡¯s that resemble Californian redwoods. Correction I¡¯m sitting in a small ash covered crater that¡¯s slightly smoking with some embers still burning in places. I¡¯m in the epicenter of a thirty foot crater.

    ¡°What the fuck?¡± I look around wide eyed. ¡°This can¡¯t be? How? What the fuck?¡± Ok get a grip. I close my eyes and take a slow breath. Tasting ash and smoke I try to think. Last thing I remember I was deep underground and I touched a black orb that tried to absorb me or something. Opening my eyes I look at my arms and legs. ¡°Looks normal? No black or purple stuff on my limbs. Hmmm¡± My head feels awkward. Reaching for my head I touch and feel something that was not there before. I take my hands away from my forehead then touch the new things again. ¡°What the hell?! Horns?!¡±

    The horns on my head feel like they are as hard as stone. I yanked on them and feel around their base. The protrusions are solid and feel like they have grown out of my skull. ¡°What the fuck?¡± The horns curve up then back and up again with a slight twist. I also felt that my ears are longer now and have a sharp point to them. ¡°This is weird.¡± I stand up with no problems, well if you ignore the fact I was naked as the day I was born. I look down. ¡°Holy shit!¡± I notice that there are red hot coals on the ground where I was laying in the shape of my body.

    Startled I hopped to my right and ended up jumping at least five feet in the air and falling on my side eight feet away. I didn¡¯t expect that. Getting up slowly I walk back to where I was and look at the smoking coals. It looks hot, yet I don¡¯t feel the heat that¡¯s obviously is radiating from the body shaped coal bed. I kneeled down and looked at it. Reaching for the coals I still can¡¯t feel the heat, so I tensely touched then picked one up. ¡°Wow this is cool.¡± It¡¯s definitely a red hot coal and lights up as I blow on it, yet I feel no heat from it, and my skin is not burning I just feel some slight warmth. ¡°Gain power he said. I hope it didn¡¯t turn me into a demon.¡± With the horns and pointed ears and unnatural jumping skills, I¡¯m not confident that I¡¯m still human.

    I have to find out where I¡¯m at before I should worry about any odd body parts. The giant trees surrounding the crater seem to be redwoods. Redwoods are in California. How did I get to California? I run to a tree to get a better look at it. Well more like launched myself like a rocket, and slammed face first into a tree as I tripped on the lip of the crater. I felt no pain as I collided with the tree, that¡¯s good I guess. Looking at the tree, it has bright red-orange bark, fifteen foot diameter base, and probably over two hundred feet tall. Well that¡¯s interesting but tells me nothing about where I¡¯m at.

    I have horns and pointed ears I jump higher than normal with less force. My speed has increased. I need to control this or I¡¯m just going to end up bouncing off trees all over the place. I start a few stretches and flex some muscle. ¡°Damn I¡¯m ripped.¡± I admire the well-toned looking body I now have. I was fit before but damn not as I am now. ¡°Let¡¯s test a few things.¡± I hop up lightly and end up nearly a foot in the air without trying. This time trying I flex my legs and bend down and jump with all I have. I jumped over twenty feet in the air, and on landing I ended up planting my feet into the ground a few inches.

    This is confusing. I pull my feet out of the ground. Is gravity lower here? I hardly felt that landing. To sink a couple of inches into the ground means the ground is more malleable then I thought or I¡¯m denser then I used to be. ¡°Hmm time to test some more.¡± And test I did, first I tested my speed by running around the crater for a bit. My new stamina is great, for I wasn¡¯t even winded after running around and jumping around the crater. I punched a tree a few times until I planted my hand and wrist in it. I felt I could punch the tree harder still, but decided not to. Satisfied that I can now move around without my new found strength interfering I look up to the sun.

    ¡°Ok let¡¯s get out of here and find civilization.¡± I look up to find the general direction of the sun. I guess it¡¯s in the afternoon. ¡°West sounds good¡± I leave the clearing and head toward the setting sun into the forest. It¡¯s a good thing there¡¯s not too much brush or weeds in between the trees, or walking through this forest would be a pain to travel in my naked state. Picking up a thin branch off the ground I snap off one end reducing its length to match my 6 feet. It should be useful as a makeshift weapon. Hopefully I come across a house or a river to follow before I have to use it.

    After walking for a few hours I found nothing but more trees and it started to get dark. The sun set while I kept walking, yet I didn¡¯t feel tired, nor did I get blinded by the night, for I could still see. This is neat I could see in the dark. I could see as if everything was in a dark shade instead of just black. I could still see color, it was duller but still I could see. That¡¯s so cool. Even at night this forest never stopped making noise. In fact there seems to be sounds of something behind me. I stop and look behind me. I see nothing for a moment then I see it. Some kind of four legged animal came around a tree that I passed just a moment ago.

    ¡°Shit.¡± The animal looked like a cross between a tiger and a canine. It was sniffing the ground and it had a big jaw, clawed feet and plenty of muscle. Should I run? Should I fight? With my new speed I think I can out run it? Damn! It just lifted its head and saw me. Opening its mouth it revealing a set of nasty teeth resembling how sharks have their teeth. ¡°Shit!¡± putting my stick in front of me I decide to see if I can fight it. Probably a fatal decision but with my new strength I think I can scare it away. It starts to run at me picking up speed and then everything starts to slow down. What? It¡¯s still running at me but now it seems like it¡¯s going in slow motion. It slowly jumps up in the air at me and spreads its clawed paws out and opens its jaw further. Moving through the air slowly towards me I swing at its head with all my strength. Damn even I¡¯m moving slower than normal but only slightly, but compared to how fast the tiger-dog thing is moving time may as well of stopped for it.

    My stick hits the tiger dog thing and shatters on its head pieces slowly flying away. The animal¡¯s trajectory started to change starting from its head but too slowly for my taste, so I continue my motion and round house kick it in the head again. Time seems to resume suddenly and a loud crack and boom nearly deafens me as the tiger-dog thing spins away and smacks into a tree hard. It bounces off and lands next to me twitching. I think I heard some bones braking as it hit that tree. It stops twitching after a few seconds. I watch it for a few minutes. I think it is dead, for its skull looks like it is caved in with brain matter leaking out were I hit and kicked it. I didn¡¯t feel any resistance when I struck it with my make shift weapon, but only when I kicked it did I feel something. I poke it with my now three foot stick.

    ¡°You are one ugly monster.¡± I wonder if I can eat you? I do feel like I¡¯m starting to get hungry. Kneeling down I check it again to be sure. Finding no pulse I nod and think how I¡¯m going to eat this, for eating it raw at the moment doesn¡¯t seem too appetizing. Getting up I gather some sticks for firewood and spend an hour or more rubbing sticks together before I got a fire going. I pull one of the tiger-dog¡¯s claws off. The claws were about three inches long. Using the claw I skin the animal and gut it. Good thing I learned a few things while I was growing up. If my dad never took me hunting I don¡¯t think I¡¯d ever of learned these skills.

    While setting up the skin and cooking some of the tiger-dog over the fire I came to terms with what happened. Time had somehow slowed down to a crawl when I had fought the thing, and I could move myself almost as if time hadn¡¯t slowed. Was it time manipulation or just time perception sped up by adrenalin in my brain? I need to experience it a few more times to be sure. I did more damage with my kick then I did with the stick. If I¡¯m not mistaken I think I cased a sonic boom when I kicked the tiger-dog thing as well as driving my heel into the ground as I spun.

    The tiger-dog thing did not taste so great. It was not the worst I¡¯ve eaten so I guess it wasn¡¯t too bad. Using the claw I pulled out, I scraped off all the fat and flesh I could from its skin. I intend to use this for clothes, for I don¡¯t like walking around completely naked. Now all I need is to find some water so I can clean the skin and get all the blood off of me after I butchered it. Standing up I put the fire out with my foot. It¡¯s pretty cool that I can brush out flames and stomp out coals with my bare feet without getting burned.

    I wrapped some of the meat in a big leaf from a bush, and tied it with a vine I pulled off a tree. While I¡¯m at it I may as well give myself some modesty. Pulling more vines down I take more of the big leaves off A bush and thread the vine threw them and tie it around my waist making a kilt nearly to my knees. Picking up the skin I had stretched out with some sticks I continue my trek west. I walked undisturbed for the rest of the night and into the next day. It took me all day before I heard the sound of water.

    Heading to the sounds direction I found a small river that flowed from northeast to southwest. Arriving at its banks it appeared to be crystal clear all the way across and probably about shoulder depth at the center. I see some fish in its depths and in the shallows. Nothing deadly looking in the small river that I can be seen in it right now, yet I better keep my eyes open. Placing my food and the tiger-dog skin down on some rocks I walk into the river to wash off the ash, dirt, and blood that accumulated on my skin. Walking waist deep in the water I relax. I wonder if I can catch some fish. Some fish try to pass me and I reach for it and surprisingly catch it easily like it never moved from when I started to reach for it. The time slowing thing must have happened again. Maybe I can replicate it while catching some fish.

    After a little over two hours of fish catching I finally had the time phenomenon pegged. I was relaxed while trying to catch the fish. Every time I decided to try to catch one of the fish that wandered close, time seemed to slow to nearly a standstill, and I was still able to move normally and catch them as if they never moved. Each time I created a large splash after I caught each one as time resumed. I was relaxed so time was not speed up for me, so I think I¡¯m manipulating time in some way. I am probably manipulating time with magic somehow, for it¡¯s the only thing I can think of at this time. I only kept the big fish I caught and threw them ashore releasing the rest.

    Getting out of the water I gather the fish and clean them. Gathering more wood I make a fire and set up the fish to smoke and set the remainder of the tiger-dog meat to cook over it. Grabbing the skin I walk back to the river¡¯s edge and clean the tiger-dog skin. Finishing cleaning the skin I stoke the fire again to cook the meat faster. I finish eating and wrap up the fish in leaves from some bushes growing near the river. I guess I will follow the river south and hope to find someone.

    On the second night walking I stopped and was stunned. I can see two moons in the sky now that there wasn¡¯t a tree canopy blocking my view. The two moons in the sky are alien to me. The bigger moon of the two had a ring around it like the planet Saturn and the second moon looked more normal, yet it seemed bigger then Earth¡¯s with a whole lot more craters on it. The shock had me staring at them for a few hours before I came back to myself. ¡°Toto we are not in Kansas anymore.¡± I am defiantly not on Earth anymore. Looking around the sky I don¡¯t even see any constellations I recognize.

    On my third night I finally felt sleepy and slept on a flat rock close to the river. Waking up early before sunrise I found that some animal had stolen and ate half my fish while I slept. The next couple of nights I continued to follow the river, fish, and work on the tiger skin until I was able to dry and soften it enough to allow making clothes from it. I made myself; some crude pants, a tattered vest, crude shoes, a water skin, and a backpack. On my trek I saw plenty of herbivores a couple of lynx like cats but not once did I see another tiger-dog thing. After a few more days of walking I started to feel an uncomfortable pressure in my chest.

    I¡¯ve lost track of how many days I¡¯ve been walking along this river. The pain in my chest has gotten worse every day and I¡¯ve been starting to sweat from the pain. The pain seems to lessen a little every time I sleep but gets even worse each time before I sleep. I¡¯m walking slower now and have been getting dizzy and short of breath today. I think I may have a fever. I just have to man up and keep walking I should reach someone sometime. I trip on a rock and fall on my hands and knees to stabilize myself. ¡°Damn¡± my vision is blurry and I close my eyes and wait out the dizzy spell I got from the fall. Opening my eyes I see something shiny on the ground.

    I laughed and reach out and pick up the shiny object. The object is a shiny white metal comb. I laugh louder and start to cry. Finally a sign of civilization be it human or other I don¡¯t care as long as they are people. Wiping the tears of joy from my eyes I fight off another dizzy spell and look around. I find some human looking foot prints that lead off from the river to a well-used looking trail. Standing up my vision blurs and I fight to stay standing. The pain in my chest feels worse than it has ever been. I can¡¯t let it defeat me, for possible help might be close by. I slowly walk onto the trail.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

    I walk along the trail for what seemed like forever, but was probably less than an hour before I saw an intricately carved wooden arch over the trail. Some sort of writing or runes line the insides of the arch. As I pass through the arch I feel like I just walked through some cobwebs and the runes glow green for a few seconds. Feeling the pain and dizziness increase I continue to walk forward. I don¡¯t have time to admire the arch I got to find help. As I walk I enter what looks like a lavish garden of some kind as the trees thin out. The path turns from sand and dirt to a carved stone walkway.

    As I slowly walk along the path I start to hear someone singing. My hart sooths and the pain in my chest lessen. I slowly walk towards the singing and my pain lessens yet my dizziness remains. The song is beautiful and serene and I feel it could lull a raging beast to sleep. Coming around a corner of some preened shrubbery I see a woman sitting on a stone bench singing under the shade of a tree. I thought the song was beautiful but it is nothing compared to her.

    From her pointed ears, and silver blond hair, and fair skin she looks like what I imagine an elf would look like. She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. She is wearing a stylish looking white dress and a jeweled tiara. The dress started at her neck, and ended at her knees, and was sleeveless. She has her eyes closed and seems to be totally zoned into her song. Walking forward I stop and lean on a tree to fight away the dizziness. ¡°Beautiful.¡±

    With an intake of breath she looks at me then jumps up off the bench, and spins her body in my direction with surprise on her face. The pain in my chest returns from the dull ach her song soothed to a crushing pain stronger than before. Sliding off the tree I fall to one knee. I look at her and grimace in pain and raise my right hand to her. ¡°Help me please.¡± My strength leaves me and I fall face forst into the stone walkway. Dizziness overwhelms me and my world goes black as I close my eyes.

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    ¡°¡­ch¡­energy¡­sick¡­not¡­mal¡­¡± Voices I can hear voices, but I can¡¯t make them out. The sentences are too jumbled I can hardly make out words.

    ¡°¡­Sleep¡­¡± I think I recognize that voice. I think she is the elf I saw before. How do I know that? Opining my eyes I see a light and its being held in some ones hand, yet it¡¯s too bright to make out who is holding it. ¡°Sleep¡± her voice again. My eye lids feel heavy and I can¡¯t seem to hold them open. Damn I didn¡¯t get to look at much. I¡¯m going to assume they are helping me. I awoke a couple of times more to see the same light hidden person above me, and each time I was put to sleep within seconds of opening my eyes. The pain in my chest was there each time I awoke yet lessened each time. I didn¡¯t hear her voice again just a man¡¯s.

    ¡°The Vedrin mutant should be awake soon.¡± I hear a man¡¯s voice filled with contempt. What¡¯s a Vedrin, is he talking about me?

    ¡°Then leave Halidashin Cis¡¯Gorn if he bothers you so much. Besides we don¡¯t even know if he¡¯s Vedrin. This man¡¯s horns are not the same as the Vedrin." That¡¯s the female elf¡¯s voice I saw before. I open my eyes, and I¡¯m not immediately blinded by light, yet there still is someone standing above me holding some kind of crystal. The crystal seems to give out a small white glow. The pain seems to be just a barely perceptible dull ach in my chest now, and I no longer seem to have a fever.

    ¡°Good he¡¯s awake.¡± The man above me spoke and lowered the crystal. This must be Halidashin Cis¡¯Gorn whom spoke earlier. Halidashin looks like you¡¯d imagine a pompous arrogant elf would look like with his fancy frilly clothes. He had long smooth light brown hair that looked well taken care of. He looked at me with disgust in his eyes. ¡°Do not get up you are still affected by magin syndrome.¡± His voice seemed odd like he was trying to speak with an accent.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I looked around the room. There were five people in the room besides me. Two were in the back of the room by the door and they were armored and armed. There armor looked like fancy decorated plate mail and covered them from head to toe. They had diamond shaped tower shields with a sword sheathed and held some kind of javelin in there hand. The coat of arms on the shields is a dragon wrapped around a tree. They must be guards of some kind.

    The other two in the room besides the guy hovering over me are the woman who was probably talking before, and a meaner looking armored elf. The elf was not wearing a helmet instead he had red hair and some kind of circlet on his head, as well as some earrings on both ears. His face looked handsome like I assume all elf¡¯s are, yet he had a wicked three pronged scar across the left side of his face just missing his eye. I guess that explains why the tip of his left ear is gone. His armor is plate like the other two yet his has fancy writing all over it. He had two short swords on either side and no shield.

    The room is made out of stone, Spartan and bland looking, a wooden desk and chair against the wall on the left, and the bed I was in has an end table at the end. The room was lit by a lamp on the desk and end table, as well as some light filtering in threw some bars in the window. Why are there bars in the window? Is this a cell?

    ¡°Oh good you speak elvish. I don¡¯t have to speak that brutish language.¡± Halidashin snorted in disgust. I looked back to him. What the hell is this guy¡¯s problem?

    ¡°Please just answer his questions and then you may leave Halidashin Cis¡¯Gorn.¡± This Elf woman was the one I saw and heard in that garden park like place from before.

    ¡°Very well princess.¡± He looked back to me and raised his head a little. What the hell! This guy is arrogant. ¡°You were suffering from magin syndrome. You had excess mana in your body to a point where you suffered from a mana overdose. Usually this effects children at puberty who do not use there mana when it manifest. Though rare it is not unheard of for adults whom come late into their power to be affected by it. Standard treatment is to siphon out the excess mana or have the patient cast magic daily until his body becomes acclimated to its own mana.¡±

    ¡°Excess mana. Why do I have an excess?¡± I guess this confirms that I was casting magic before. If I was casting magic before how come I was suffering from excess mana.

    ¡°In your case you have an extreme excess of mana that I have never seen before.¡± He actually looked a little impressed. ¡°So much excess that casting a few spells would only be a few grains of sand on a beach. Siphoning was the only safe method to use from the state your body was in.¡±

    ¡°So how did you do that.¡± I tried to sit up from the bed and failed. Damn I feel week. I probably should stay under the blankets being naked and all.

    ¡°Simple.¡± He raised his right hand and held the crystal so I could see it. ¡°I pulled your mana out of your body by using crystals like this.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± he put the crystal into a sack on his side, and looked back to me with an irritated look, then he quickly looked at the woman then back to me.

    ¡°It¡¯s a mana crystal and it stores mana for future use. They can be used to safely help people adjust to their mana capacity.¡±

    ¡°How many did it take and will you need to still use them on me?¡±

    ¡°No, your body has adjusted and will no longer require help as its capacity for mana grows.¡± What did he just say? My mana capacity will still grow. ¡°The usual amount is two or four crystals for children who suffer from magin syndrome, and one to two for adults.¡± He started to look excited. ¡°In your case I was using four a day for one Sun Moon.¡±

    ¡°How long is a Sun Moon?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± he looked at me confused. ¡°What are you talking about? A sun moon is 4 weeks everyone should know that.¡± What! I was out for an entire month. ¡±Are you suffering from memory loss?¡± he and the women looked at me quickly and the armored elf just grunted. Hmm I could play it this way, for it would make it easier to explain my ignorance about this world.

    ¡°Yes I think so. I remember my name, but nothing about where I¡¯m from.¡±

    ¡°Convenient.¡± The scared elf grunted

    ¡°A possible side effect of magin syndrome, for it is not unheard of for some to be afflicted so.¡±

    ¡°Where are my clothes?¡± I look about the room. The Beautiful elf woman blushed and looked away from me, so I looked back to Halidashin.

    ¡°Those so called rags were inspected and burned.¡± The look of disgust returned to his face. ¡°Given Vedrin physiology you should be back on your feet in a day or two.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think I am a Vedrin.¡± I think what the girl said before about my hornsto be more likely.

    ¡°Ha you can¡¯t fool me. You are obviously a hybrid probably half moon elf and vedrin. It¡¯s the only thing that can explain your misshapen horns and elfin ears.¡± The elf looked at me with distain. Ok he is totally pissing me off.

    ¡°Do you have a way to prove that, or are you just the type who judges everything on looks alone.¡± I look at him angrily.

    ¡°In fact I do, how else do you think I was able to correctly diagnose you.¡± He returns my angry look with contempt. That¡¯s interesting I wonder how.

    ¡°How can you show me?¡± I stare into his eyes and he flinches and looks away towards the girl.

    ¡°Go ahead Halidashin Cis¡¯Gorn I would like to see this too.¡± The elfin girl waves her hand toward me. She is a breathtaking silver blond elf with silver white eyes. She¡¯s wearing a green gown with gold embroidery. ¡°Please humor us.¡±

    ¡°As you wish princess Elestia Voean Cis¡¯Viacion.¡± Halidashin bows to the girl. He turns away and walks to the desk in the room and looks into a bag on it.

    ¡°You¡¯re a princess?¡± I hope my surprise doesn¡¯t show too much on my face. She looks at me and smiles.

    ¡°I am, If I am to speak with you I need your name.¡± she looks at me expectantly. Since they like to say full names so much I better lay it on thick.

    ¡°Forgive me Princess Elestia Voean Cis¡¯Viacion I am Richard Von Coldfire.¡± Kaltefeuer is not bad but I felt like saying its English translation for it sounds better to me. ¡°I am pleased to meet you, and I thank you withall that I am for helping me.¡±

    ¡°I am pleased to meet you as well Richard Von Coldfire you may call me Elestia or Princess Elestia in the presence of others.¡± She gave me a smile and I could swear my heart just skipped a beat.

    ¡°Y..you may call me Richard princess Elestia.¡± Crap I stuttered. Did she really make me nervous with just a smile? With looks like hers no wonder I got smitten so quickly. I got to get ahold of myself. I close my eyes and take a deep breath and let it out.

    ¡°Are you ok Richard?¡± Opening my eyes I saw that she had come closer with concern in her eyes. Crap! Stay cool.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± I hope that didn¡¯t sound lame.

    ¡°Ahem...I am ready to precede princess.¡± Halidashin had returned to the bed side with a sack in his hands.

    ¡°Oh!¡± she looks back to the elf and takes a step back.

    ¡°These crystals will light up when the holder has the blood of the race that they are keyed to.¡± With one hand he hands me two small crystals, one which was glowing already. Both crystals had one symbol carved into it. One symbol was a leaf the other was a circle with two lines coming out its top. ¡°One crystal will light up if you have the blood of a Vedrin the other if you Have Elvin blood.¡± Both crystals glowed in my hand. ¡°There do you believe me now princess Elestia.¡± He holds his hand out to me and I place the crystals in it which he emiditly places back into the bag.

    ¡°Yes, but there must be more.¡± She looks at me and cocks her head slightly. Elestia looks back to Halidashin. ¡°Yet it still does not explain his skin tone, for Moon elves have light blue Skin and Vedrin have a light red color. Wouldn¡¯t that make his skin light purple?¡± Halidashin smirks and squints his eyes looking at me.

    ¡°You are right princess.¡± He looks back into the bag and reaches in and pulls out two more crystals. ¡°I shall solve this by testing him for all the races I have crystals for.¡± He hands me two more crystals, one has a stick figure of a man on it the other a hammer. ¡°These two are for dwarves and humans.¡± Both crystals light up. He takes the crystals back and pulls one more out and looks at it. ¡°This one might explain your teeth. This is for beastkin.¡± The crystal had something carved into it, and it too lite up. ¡°Ha you are a true mutt indeed.¡± That pompus attitude is back.

    ¡°Halidashin! He is my guest and you will treat him as such.¡±

    ¡°My apologies princess Elestia I will try to do so.¡± He takes the crystal back and puts it back in the sack and lowers it to his side.

    ¡°Is that it are there more?¡± I ask him. Halidashin looks back to me and laughs. ¡°Hardly I have three more, and the chances that you have their blood is impossible.

    ¡°How do you know that until you try.¡± He laughs again and pulls one out of the bag.

    ¡°This is for dragon blood.¡± He smiles at me. ¡°And you have no chance of having their blood.¡± He gives me the crystal and it lights up. ¡°What!¡± his eyes grow wide and moves closer to me and looks at the crystal. ¡°Impossible.¡± Sweet I have dragon blood this is so cool.

    ¡°Any others?¡± I smile at him and glance at Elestia and she too has her eyes wide, as well as the scarred elf at her back.

    ¡°What?¡± Halidashin looked at me with a confused look.

    ¡°Do you have any more crystals? I would like to find out what else I am.¡± This is awesome, what else is flowing in this body¡¯s veins.

    ¡°Yes.¡± He blinks and continues to stare at the crystal in my hand wide eyed.

    ¡°Well are you going test me with them?

    ¡°What?¡± he closes his eyes and shakes his head. ¡°Yes give me a moment.¡± He takes the dragon crystal from me and switches it with two more crystals and both light up as well. Halidashin¡¯s jaw drops and his eyes get wider, and he drops to his knees. What a reaction he¡¯s having from just these two crystal¡¯s, I wonder why. Looking at the crystals I see a wing carved into one and an eye in the other.

    ¡°What is it Halidashin what are they for?¡± the princess puts a hand on his shoulder. Halidashin doesn¡¯t respond and continued to be slack jawed and wide eyed. ¡°Halidashin Cis¡¯Gorn.¡± Elestia raised her voice to him.

    ¡°Imp¡­ p¡­ p¡­ Impossible. This can¡¯t be? How? Impossible.¡± He starts to stutter.

    ¡°Halidashin. The crystals what are they?¡± Elestia shakes his shoulder. Wow that guy is flabbergasted about these two crystals more so then the dragon one.

    ¡°Cel¡­ celestial and and¡­ Demon¡­¡± He spoke the last word with fear.

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Hello every one and thank you for reading. First of all im sorry for every one who fav or followed for the long update time. I procrastinated and sat on the first half for a whole month. I ended this chapter with 5666 words. No lie i didnt entend for that to happen but MUahahahaha im good.... joking joking i wasnt trying for that number it just ...happened.

    Please comment on likes dislikes mistakes, for all comments are welcome they will only help me git better. And feel free to speculate i just may comment. I will attempt to git the next chapter out by the end of the month at the latest. Got to keep my self motivated.

 Book 1 Crossing the Eternals CH4

    <hr>

    The first thing I heard after a moment of stunned silence was the sound of a sword being drawn. Looking to the sound I saw Mister scarface elf with one of his swords drawn and standing in front of Elestia. With a serious look on his face he motions for the two guards at the door to me.

    ¡°Restrain it.¡± Scarface points his sword at me while speaking.

    ¡°Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. I haven¡¯t done anything.¡± I drop the crystal''s I was holding. I¡¯m already bed ridden how much more restrained can I be.

    ¡°What are you planning demon? Why are you here?¡± The guards pass Princess Elestia and scarface heading to the bed I¡¯m lying on. This isn¡¯t good.

    ¡°STOP!¡± the guards stop as Elestia yells. ¡°This man is my guest. He has asked for help and I will see to it that he gets it.¡± Elestia has an angry look in her eyes as she stairs down scarface.

    ¡°Princess, demons are not allowed on palace grounds, allow us to cleanse it.¡± Fuck that does not sound good.

    ¡°I¡¯m not a demon.¡± I hope to hell not, even though I suspected it when I first arrived. I can¡¯t be one?

    ¡°You will do no such thing. If he was truly a demon he would have been revealed by now as such.¡±

    ¡°Princess the crystal said he was a demon.¡± Mister scarface waved in my direction while looking at princess Elestia.

    ¡°No! Having some demon blood is not the same as being a demon himself. You should know this.¡± Scarface grimaced and lowered his eyes; there must be a story there. Elestia looked at Halidashin. ¡°Halidashin also knows this.¡± The mentioned elf was still on his knees staring at me slack jawed. ¡°Halidashin Cis¡¯Gorn?¡± Halidashin twitched then blinked twice and looked at the princess with a dazed look.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Is he a demon or not?¡± Elestia raised her left arm and pointed to me.

    ¡°No¡­ he isn¡¯t.¡± Halidashin stood back up closed his eyes and composed himself. ¡°In fact he has celestial blood as well as demon. Both of which will counter each other from over influencing his behavior, yet that does not mean he does not have a psychopathic or benevolent personality.¡± He brushes his legs off and straitens up. ¡°Besides if he was a demon I would not have been able to treat him the way I did, not to mention he would have been burned by the wards placed in the palace.¡±

    Scarface sighs and sheaths his sword then motions the guards back to the door. I watch the two guards in armor go back to their place at the door. I¡¯m glad and relieved that didn¡¯t go the way it looked like it was. Picking the crystals back up I motion Halidashin to take them back, which he does. Scarface looks back to me.

    ¡°Speaking of wards how did you get through the barriers guarding the palace gardens?¡± Barriers? I don¡¯t remember any. Maybe that arch with the runes that lit up is what he is referring to.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. If you are referring to the arch on the path that leads to the river, well I just walked through it. The arch lit up but nothing happened. I don¡¯t think I felt anything, well not in the state I was in.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s impossible no one can just walk through a barrier as if it is nothing.¡± It looks like scarface is getting angry. That¡¯s not good for me he¡¯s probably pretty high up in there security around here. ¡°Tell me how¡­¡±

    ¡°Commander.¡± Elestia interrupts him. ¡°I asked you to treat him like a guest.¡± She speaks to him sternly and narrows her eyes at him.

    ¡°But princess he¡¯s trespassed on palace grounds and all we found by retracing his tracks is a broken ward and a small crater reeking of arcane magic. We need to know more about him.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me captain but I can surmise how he just walked through the wards like nothing.¡± Scarface, I mean the captain looked at Halidashin.

    ¡°Well spit it out and get strait to the point with none of your tangents.¡± Halidashin snorted

    ¡°Rude as always it seems. Very well.¡± He straitens up and puts the pompous air back up. ¡°I practically explained it earlier and with the new revelations it is explained further. First was the staggering amount of mana I had to siphon off of him just to keep him alive. Just the amount of mana he has is enough to just walk in as you said. Second are the results of the test which explains his looks and his absurd amount of mana in his body. Greater dragons, High Host celestials and greater demons have the capability to negate some barriers with innate traits.¡± He turns and looks at me with mild curiosity in his eyes. ¡°With Vedrin, demon and dragon in his blood it would explain the shape and size of his horns. The celestial blood would explain the slight glow in his green eyes.¡± Wait! What? My eyes glow? ¡°The Demon and celestial blood could explain his muscle tone and height. The dragon blood could explain his skins toughness and his weight.¡±

    ¡°Well he looks handsome.¡± I quickly look to Princess Elestia. She has a bit of redness in her cheeks and was looking away from me. Did she just call me handsome?

    ¡°Thanks I guess¡± captain scarface gives me a dirty look. Damn man calm down I¡¯m just thanking her for the compliment.

    ¡°That¡¯s probably explained by his celestial and elfin heritage, as his ears are just like ours. I have even herd that some demons have exceptional beauty and or handsome features.¡± Captain scarface looks back to the Healer.

    ¡°I said no tangents.¡±

    ¡°Fine I have done all I can here, for he is in good health. I suggest you find him a teacher quickly now that he can access his magic.¡± I can do that now? Wasn¡¯t I casting magic with the time slow thing earlier? ¡°Preferably before he blows something up with his absurd mana pool.¡± I think he just twitched slightly. I think he¡¯s jealous. ¡°I will suggest a sorcerer, or a wizard if one can¡¯t be found soon. A mage would be out of the question with the amount of aggregate magic he has.¡± Ha he is jealous for he keeps twitching every time he mentions my magic. Speaking of which, I wonder how much I have. Judging by everything Halidashin said it must be a lot.

    ¡°Thank you Halidashin Cis¡¯Gorn you have done well.¡± Elestia nods to Halidashin.

    ¡°Princess.¡± He puts his right palm on his heart and the other behind him and bows with his head down. Halidashin turns and heads out of the room as the guards open the door for him. Princess Elestia turns and looks back to me and smiles. I return her smile with one of my own. Captian scarface¡¯s eyes squint at me again.

    ¡°Princess I still have a few questions for your guest may I?¡± great what is he going ask now?

    ¡°You may captain and please remain civil.¡± He grimaces.

    ¡°I will your highness if he will as well.¡±

    ¡°You have my Word captain. Please don¡¯t hold it against me if I don¡¯t get up as I¡¯m rather bed ridden at this moment.¡± With a Grunt the captain nods at me.

    ¡°I am Captain Little Len¡¯til.¡± He stopped talking and looked at me like he was daring me to say something. If memory serves me Lentils are small beans from Europe or was it the middle-east? So his name is little bean that¡¯s funny, but with his face like that and his hand on his sword I best not joke about it.

    ¡°Greetings Captain Len¡¯til how may I help you.¡± I hope it was safe to leave out the ¡®Little¡¯ part of his name. Captain Len¡¯til visibly relaxes and takes his hand away from his sword.

    ¡°I have just a few. We found a corps of a Merskit wile backtracking your trail.¡± Damn that¡¯s some tracking skills these guys have I¡¯m impressed. ¡°Did you kill it?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I assume it wasn¡¯t a sacred beast or something¡­right?¡±

    ¡°No, it was a menace and had eaten several people from the village just north of here. In fact there was a fifty gold reward for its death. Considering you had crude Merskit leather as clothes I will believe you, yet how did you kill it considering you have no weapons on you other than Merskit claws.¡±

    ¡°I had a stick I was using as a walking stick that I used to bash its head in.¡± Hope they buy that and not that I kicked it to death, for I don¡¯t think he would believe that I killed it in only two hits. He looks at me for a moment and has a look in his eye''s that tells me he didn¡¯t buy it completely.

    ¡°I guess that could be true, a broken branch was found near that had some of its flesh on it. We found a crater from some magical blast that was still radiating mana when it was found. It is where your trail ended do you remember anything about it or before it?¡± Ok play it safe and go with my earlier attempt at memory loss.

    ¡°No. I only remember waking up in the middle of the crater with no idea how I got there or were I was.¡± That is mostly true, for I do not know how I got there or were I was. ¡°As for before.¡± I wave my right arm. ¡°All I have is my name Richard Von Coldfire.¡± Princess looks at me with worry in her eyes. I¡¯m glad it¡¯s not pity, and Captain Len¡¯til just grunts again.

    ¡°Very well, as the healer mentioned your supposed memory loss can be a symptom of what afflicted you, and as you are the princess¡¯s guest I shall believe you for now. Don¡¯t make the mistake that I trust you. I will be watching you.¡± he turns to Elestia. ¡°Princess I have heard that Shalinith Len¡¯til has arrived in Erivenyeth. I will see if she is willing to take an apprentice.¡± It is going to be a pain to remember all these elvish names. Captain Len¡¯til repeats Halidashins salute.

    ¡°That is a very good idea Captain. Tell her it¡¯s a favor for me and I¡¯m sure she would jump at It.¡± with a smile she looks at the captain who returns the smile.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure she would drop everything and rush up here.¡± He salutes Elestia and bows again. ¡°Good day princess.¡±

    ¡°Good day Captain Len¡¯til.¡± Elestia places her right palm over the center of her chest. Captain Len¡¯til nods and exits the room. Elestia turns to me and smiles. ¡°How are you feeling Richard?¡± I meet her eyes and I¡¯m captivated by their silver sheen.

    ¡°I¡¯m feeling much better. Thank you for helping me.¡±

    ¡°I am glad to hear that Richard. You looked like you were in so much pain and I couldn¡¯t leave you like that. I don¡¯t know why but when I saw you I could not stand you being in pain. It was like I¡¯ve known you before. You wouldn¡¯t know anything about that would you?¡± She steps closer with a look in her eyes that makes my heart pound in my chest. Why am I feeling this way I don¡¯t know her.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. All I know is that your singing and beauty momentarily made me forget my pain.¡± That is nothing but the truth, maybe the song had some magic to it, and boy did it come back with a vengeance when she stopped singing. She has a wry smile on her face as she takes the final step next to my bed.

    ¡°Did it now?¡± I look up to her and swallow as my stomach nots.

    ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t think I would of made it to you if not for your song.¡± Her smile and enchanting eyes are captivating. I lift up my arm and reach for her hand. ¡°Thank you for helping me.¡± She smiles at me and my heart pounds in my chest like it¡¯s about to burst. Elestia reaches for my hand as time seems to slow down. Her hand slowly touches mine. As I look into her eyes I see an electrical arc from my hand to hers as they touch. My vision goes dark.

    <hr>

    I feel fear, hate, and anger? All I see is smoke and the ground covered in coals as part of the ground looks so hot it¡¯s liquefied. I¡¯m running through this burnt landscape my breathing heavy. I see a black figure in the smoke to my left magic radiating from it. Anger rages in my mind as I lift up my left arm towards it.

    ¡°Burn!¡± I yell as blue fire erupts from my hand blasting the figure. The smoke is blasted away with the intensity of the flames speed. The figure screams out and teleports away. I feel my hart drop in fear and despair as I see two chard figures holding a woman.

    ¡°Efenia NOO!!¡± I scream as I try to teleport her away. All that happens is her body starts to flicker as I keep trying to teleport her away.

    ¡°You will suffer for what you did. Know your place.¡± A booming guttural voice speaks to me. Efenia looks to me with tears in her eyes. One of the burnt figures lifts a glowing sword and swings it down the center of the woman from her head down. A white line shines from the cut, and she screams a gut wrenching scream of pain that grates on my spine.

    ¡°NOOOOO...¡± I fall to my knees as Efenia explodes into light particles. My vision turns red as I scream out in sorrow and rage. Energy explodes out from me in all directions disintegrating the two beings before me as well as the ground beneath me. My vision turns redder and redder until I see nothing but black as the energy wave expands.

    <hr>

    ¡°Noooo!¡± I jerk up to a sitting position panting heavily the feelings of sorrow and rage fading. All I see is the stone ceiling as my vision returns blurry, as I feel tears on my face.

    ¡°Unhand her¡± my left hand is twisted and I¡¯m shoved against the wall hard. I barely feel it. I look at who shoved me and I see one of the guards with his hand pressing me against the wall and his sword to my throat.

    ¡°What happened?¡± I blink and look to my left and see Elestia on her knees with tears streaming down her face. I know this woman. ¡°Efenia?¡± I look at her confused as she looks up to me.

    ¡°Moric?¡± she blinks a couple of times as she meets my eyes.

    ¡°Your Highness are you ok? What did he do? Do you want us to silence him?¡± the guard holding a sword to my throat says angrily while the other helps Elestia up. She closes her eyes as she stands and takes a deep breath.

    ¡°Unhand him and go back to your post. I am fine.¡± the guard holding me against the wall twitches.

    ¡°But your highness there was a surge of magic. He did something to you.¡±

    ¡°I said UNHAND HIM.¡± Elestia yells at the guard holding me with anger in her voice. ¡°Richard did nothing to me it was ylesviam.¡± What? That did not auto translate what is it? I look back to Elestia and meet her eyes. Her face and eyes are identical to the woman in the vision I just saw.

    ¡°What?¡± the guards hand pressure on my chest loosens and he removes his sword from my throat and looks at her in confusion. Is it just me or is the room suddenly very cold. I can see my breath and everyone else¡¯s. I think I can feel and or almost see something radiating from Elestia.

    ¡°Did¡­ you not¡­just hear me¡­Let HIM GO.¡± She lifts her hand toward the guard on the bed with me and a blue white mist rapidly bursts out towards the guard knocking him off the bed. I think I just witnessed my first use of magic. The nocked down guard quickly gets up off the floor and kowtows to Elestia. There is a layer of frost on his armor.

    ¡°Fa-fa-forgive me Pr-pr-princess I di-did not kn-know, n-no one ca-ca-could of known.¡± Damn how cold is he? I think the temperature in the room is below freezing judging how frost seems to be rapidly covering everything in it now. Strange! I dont feel the cold.

    ¡°Elestia I think you can forgive him.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Elestia looks at me.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think he new about ylesviam. Hell I don¡¯t even know about it.¡± She just looks at me and blinks a few times. ¡°I think I would have done the same thing if I was in his shoes. He was only doing his job.¡± She drops her arm, yet the strange energy I feel and see is still radiating from her.

    ¡°Sorry, you are right. I don¡¯t know what came over me.¡±

    ¡°No need to apologize to me I wasn¡¯t the one who got sprayed with ice.¡± She turns her head and looks back over to the guard on the floor.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I over reacted, for the revelation of ylesviam overcame me.¡±

    ¡°I am am sa-sa-sorry pr-pr-princess I sh-sh-should a-of m-m-moved right away.¡± The guard is shivering. I glance at the other guard at Elestia¡¯s side and he too is shivering.

    ¡°You are forgiven. You two may go back to your post.¡± The guard next to Elestia helped the other one up and they both walked back to their posts at either side of the door.

    ¡°Umm Elestia¡­ is it ok that I call you by name.¡±

    ¡°Yes you can call me that.¡±

    ¡°Well I see that you are handling the cold just fine as you created it and I don¡¯t seem to feel it at all.¡± Yeah that¡¯s strange but reminds me that I didn¡¯t feel the burning coals either. ¡°But I don¡¯t think the guards can handle this cold.¡± Elestias eyes got wide

    ¡°OH my, you are right. Give me a moment and I will correct it.¡± she closes her eyes and I see the energy radiating from her die down. Elestia lifts her arms with her hands before her as if she¡¯s holding a bowl. ¡°I¡¯m not very good with fire magic but this should heat up the place.¡± I see some kind of energy form between her hands. ¡°Candle light heat this place.¡±

    Ok that was different that was not translated at all, for it was pure English. Are chanted spells in English, defiantly something to look up? A flame appears between her hands, and a light pulses out from it. The room visibly heats up as all the frost evaporates and the guards stop shaking. When she spoke the words it sounded like there was a slight echo to each word as she spoke them. This is weird it¡¯s like magic vibrates with each word as they are spoken.

    ¡°Cancel.¡± The flame between her hands goes out and the energy I see dissipates. That word she just used was in English as well and was not auto translated. ¡°There much better.¡± She looks about the room. Elestia points to the chair by the single desk in the room. ¡°Levitate.¡± The chair lifts into the air and floats to her and she grabs it and puts it down next to the bed and sits on it. She looks at me then blushes and terns her head as her cheeks turn a bit red. ¡°Ah your blanket is slipping.¡±

    ¡°what?¡± I look down and see that the blanket was slightly below my waist. ¡°Shit sorry.¡± I quickly pull it back up and lay back down from my sitting position. I completely forgot I¡¯m butt ass naked under this blanket. I¡¯m just glad it was not revealed. Elestia giggles a little while holding her mouth. Damn that¡¯s cute. ¡°So what is ylesviam. Whatever is auto translating elvish for me is not translating that word.¡± She looks at me confused.

    ¡°Auto-translate?¡±

    ¡°Yes that¡¯s what¡¯s happening when I speak its coming out in elvish and I¡¯m hearing English when you speak even though I know and can tell you¡¯re not speaking English.¡± She still is looking at me confused.

    ¡°English?¡±

    ¡°Yes that¡¯s what I¡¯m speaking not elvish.¡±

    ¡°OH.¡± Her eyes go wide as she seems to understand. ¡°You are right. Now that you said it and I was looking for it I can tell that you are not speaking high elvish but some other language, yet I can onely hear the words in high elvish.¡± She lifts her hand to her face and puts a finger on her lower lip in a thinking pose. ¡°You never changed language? You spoke the same one to every one?¡±

    ¡°Correct. Did you hear a different language when I spoke to the others?¡± This is interesting.

    ¡°Yes, when you spoke to me and Hiladashin you spoke high elvish, but when you spoke to the captain it was in common elvish.¡± She cocks her head and blinks. ¡°hmm¡­ I can¡¯t sense any enchantments on you nor were there any recently casted on you.¡± She smiled a bright smile. ¡°It must be your celestial blood, for they have always been able to talk to all races no matter what language they used and be understood.¡±

    ¡°Well that¡¯s sure convenient.¡± Unless I want to fake being a speaker of some language while trying to hide from someone. It would be a pain to learn another language if everything is auto translated. ¡°I wonder if it extends to written languages as well.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea we should test it.¡± Elestia jumps up off the chair and rushes to the lonely desk in the room and picks up some parchment from it. Bringing the parchment over, she sits back down smiles and holds it out to me. ¡°Here see if you can read this.¡± With a smile of my own I take the parchment from her and sit up slightly. Looking at the paper the letters where unrecognizable to me for just a second until they blurred. Blinking then squinting I watch the blurry letters blur further then English letters become super imposed over the blurry letters.

    ¡°Yes I can read it, yet it was not instantaneous. The letters blurred then writing I¡¯m familiar with showed up over the blurriness.¡± I read what¡¯s on the parchment. The parchment was about my treatment and the resources that it cost. ¡°The cost of the crystals that were used to treat me was 108 gold echat? Is that a lot?¡± she smirks and shakes her head.

    ¡°Yes and no. It is a lot of gold because only two gold for a peasant family in this kingdom of Elhiam is the earnings for a year. Each of the crystals used in your treatment cost 90 copper echat empty, and 2 gold and 50 silver echat while full of magic.¡± She laughed a little and pointed her thumb over her left shoulder. ¡°Halidashin Cis¡¯Gorn has made a hefty profit off your treatment. Healers don¡¯t charge for treatment for magin syndrome.¡±

    ¡°So is Halidashin always so uptight and full of himself?¡± Elestia burst into a fit of laughter and tried to cover her mouth to stifle it. I smiled at her and felt good that I made her laugh. She took a large breath and composed herself and returned my smile. Feeling my heart melt at her smile I waited for her response.

    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    ¡°Yes he is and unfortunately nearly all elf nobles are to a degree lesser or more. Most elves even the common ones feel they are better than the other races because almost all of us can use some magic of some kind. But you don¡¯t have to worry about that, at least with me.¡± So¡­ most elves are elitist and or racist. Well atleast that goes with most elf fables in literature.

    ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± Her face terns red and she bites her lower lip and looks away from me.

    ¡°We are ylesviam.¡± She looks at me then looks away again as her cheeks and ears redden further. That¡¯s a cute way to blush.¡°It¡­ it¡¯s complicated. How shall I describe it? The best way is that we are soul mates and our souls are destined to be together. It means our souls are tied together by the gods for eternity.¡± Elestia looks at me and our eyes meet. I feel an instant pull on my chest as I feel blood rush to my head. Elestia face turns beat red and she looks away again.

    ¡°What how do you know that?¡± A pained look entered her face. Shit was my tone wrong? ¡°I mean there is nothing wrong with that.¡± I lift my arms in a defensive posture. ¡°I just would like to know how to tell?¡± she gives me another bright smile and reaches out and touches my arm. I feel a pleasant tingle on my arm and in my chest that calmed me.

    ¡°First thing is when we touched for the first time we saw a vision of the most emotional moment of our past together.¡° I grimaced remembering the disaster and hell I saw. She tilted her head and gave me a confused look. ¡°And once we come out of it we knew the true name of each other¡¯s soul. This is how you knew mine is Efenia and I knew yours is Moric.¡± That makes sense if you think about it, for as soon as I heard the name Moric I felt like it was my own.

    ¡°Yes that was a bit odd for me I don¡¯t know what happened there. It felt like I was almost on auto-pilot and just spoke a random name. Well maybe it wasn¡¯t random for I did say that name from the vision even if it was unpleasant.¡±

    ¡°Unpleasant what do you mean? It should not have been?¡±

    ¡°All I saw was smoke and fire and death. I saw a woman with your face.¡± I paused and closed my eyes. ¡°I called her Efenia right before she was killed. The grief and rage was overwhelming.¡± I can feel the grief and rage building back up as my eyes start to water. I grimace and bring a hand to my face in an attempt to calm down. Why am I feeling this way? What was that that I saw? A past life I lived?

    ¡°Ssh¡­ calm it was just the past, another life. We are alive today that is all that matters.¡± I felt her place a hand on my shoulder instantly calming my as the grief and rage rapidly recede.

    ¡°Sorry about that.¡± I wipe the tears away ¡°I¡¯m not usually this emotional, for I usually have a good grip on them.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s ok. Its un- owch.¡± What did she hurt herself? I open my eyes and look at her just in time to see a small cut on her cheek close up and disappear. Her bracelet on her right wrist was glowing.

    ¡°What Happened?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t mind it I¡¯m just dealing with a random curse.¡±

    ¡°Random curse, what do you mean?¡± This is odd and would suck if curses are real in this world. Her bracelet stopped glowing ¡°What¡¯s with the glowing wrist accessory?

    ¡°Oh that. My bracelet has an auto healing enchantment on it. I ware it all the time to prevent any possible injuries from killing me because of the curse.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m starting to sound like a broken record but what do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Broken record?¡±

    ¡°Sorry I meant I feel like I¡¯m repeating myself constantly with the same question for different reasons.¡±

    ¡°Oh ok.¡± She gave me a light smile. ¡°I have had a curse since I was born that no one has been able to cure or find the origin. I suffer random injuries without cause, for even when I¡¯m not moving and laying down I could suffer a broken leg suddenly. I have even suffered several stab wounds over the years without being stabbed.¡± Her bracelet started to glow again as she grimaced again.

    ¡°Do you feel all these injuries?¡±

    ¡°Yes, for when this lights up its actively healing me.¡± She lifts her right arm with the glowing bracelet. ¡°Right now I just felt a large blow to my gut.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s awful, and you say nothing can be done?¡±

    ¡°Nothing has been discovered in all seventeen winters of my life. But don¡¯t worry for the past seven years the injuries have been more limited to a specific times in a day. Speaking of which, it is the time for it. I would like to stay and talk more with you but I have to go before it gets worse.¡±

    ¡°Ok it was good talking to you Elestia, and thank you for helping me. I don¡¯t know what would have happened if not for your help.¡±

    ¡°I could not ignore your plea for help. Now I know why I could not.¡± She gave me a smile. ¡°Be well and rest. I will see you tomorrow.¡± Elestia stood up then winced and quickly raised a hand to her stomach. ¡°If you¡¯ll excuse me but I must go.¡±

    ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll see you later and be well Elestia.¡± She gave me a quick smile and a nod, and turned around then left as the guards opened the door for her. The guards left and closed the door behind them. I heard the door handle rustle and heard a click. Well damn they locked me in. looking around the bland room I contemplate what¡¯s going on. Thinking back on my conversation with Elestia I realized I may of used terms that may have given hints that I did indeed remember my past. I have to be more careful as to what I say if I want to maintain the farce, yet I find it very difficult to lie to her.

    ¡°Moric?¡± That name sounded very natural to me. This is strange, for I never believed in soul mates before, yet it feels so natural looking at Elestia. Her being a princess and me being some random stranger to her and well everyone else here I doubt I would be able to associate with her. One thing at a time: First, if anything that the pompous Halidashin said was true then I need to learn as much magic as I can. Second find a stable place to live and source of income. Third I need to gain political power so I can indeed associate with the princess. Fourth get a noble title of some kind.

    Good goals I guess, for I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll ever make it back home, well better to act like it is impossible. Captain Lin''tel mentioned he was getting a sorceress to apprentice me. I guess there is nothing to do right now but to rest. Closing my eyes, let¡¯s see what tomorrow brings. Hopefully they will have something for me to wear when I wake up.

    <hr>

    ¡°Wake up. Wake up or I will wake you up.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m awake.¡± Damn that person is loud. Opening my eyes I see the captain from yesterday standing next to the bed. ¡°Good morning captain.¡± He snorts.

    ¡°Get up you are leaving today by order of the king.¡± I look at him. Well that was quick getting kicked out so soon. Well I guess I have been here for a month so to them it is not so soon. There is just one problem.

    ¡°Sorry unless you expect me to walk around buck ass naked I need some clothes. My previous crude clothes were mentioned to have been burned captain.¡± He scowls at me then turns his head.

    ¡°Torvil you had him measured to make him some clothes right.¡±

    ¡°Yes captain the princess commanded me to make him some travel clothes.¡±

    ¡°Well?¡± I turned and saw a new elf I never saw before. He must have measured me while I was being treated. He was slightly taller than captain Lintel with short blond hair, and a neatly tailored vest and pants, his clothes almost looked like I¡¯d assume a butlers would.

    ¡°They are on the table there; two sets of traveling clothes, leather shoes, a cloak, and one traveling blanket. It is everything that was ordered. Will there be anything else?¡±

    ¡°No you may leave.¡± Len¡¯til looked back to me as the other elf left. ¡°There you go, get dressed.¡± Sitting up I swung my legs off the bed. I felt good, that rest did me good. I guess Halidashin was correct one nights rest was all I needed. Standing up in all my naked glory I walked to the indicated clothes. I hear Len¡¯til grunt. ¡°You¡¯re a strong one with that body of yours. You must have been a warrior of some kind before you lost your memory.¡±

    ¡°I guess I do seem to be pretty toned.¡± Ha I look like a professional athlete. Grabbing some of the clothes and figured out how to put them on. Good thing the clothes are strait forward, and don¡¯t have any weird clasps, and any unknown nick knacks to confuse how to put them together. Both pants and shirt fit comfortably. The boots fit perfectly as well which was good, I was afraid they would not have any of my size. Both shirt and pants were dark green.

    After tucking in the shirt and pants legs into the boots I take the black cloak off the table. Putting on the cloak I close the clasps around my neck securing it comfortably around my shoulders. Looking back to the desk there remained only a backpack with a rolled up blanket tied to it. I¡¯m going to assume this is for me. I pick it up by its single strap and throw it over my head and onto my back. Hmm there seems to be more than just a pair of clothes in it.

    ¡°Good follow me.¡± Waving me to follow Len¡¯til leaves the room. Catching up to him I follow him down a stone hallway and up some stairs. At the top of the stairs was a door that he knocked on. The door was opened inwards to us by another similarly armored and armed guard that I saw yesterday. Stepping threw the door I was momentarily blinded by the bright light of the sun.

    ¡°Damn that¡¯s bright. I have been down there too long.¡± Rubbing my eyes I blink to adjust to the sunlight.

    ¡°Hurry up Richard Coldfire, for Shalinith Len¡¯til is waiting for us at the gates.¡± From the name I must be meeting someone from his family.

    ¡°Who and why are we meeting them at the gates and not here?¡± I jog a little to catch up with Captain Len¡¯til. Looking around I see that we are in a large courtyard. Spires jut into the sky with arches between them, as well as a large white structure between two of them. Looks like pristine marble and is that? Yes there are gold and silver looking decorations and carvings everywhere. Wow someone went art happy making this place. Everything looks quite expensive. I wonder how they all keep it clean. Magic most likely.

    ¡°Shalinith Len¡¯til is my niece and she is a great sorceress of the realm and will be your teacher before you hurt yourself or someone else. We are meeting her at the gates because she is not allowed on palace grounds¡±

    ¡°Why is that?¡± we kept walking toward a double door archway in the opposite direction to the palace looking structure I saw. Guess he will not answer that question. Let¡¯s try another question. ¡°Will princess Elestia see me off?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± we kept walking. Well that¡¯s odd and disappointing after all she said yesterday.

    ¡°May I ask why?¡±

    ¡°The king forbid her too, and has her overseeing some noble squabble at the moment.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± we stop at the double door we were headed to. Captain Len¡¯til knocks on the door and looks at me with an angry look.

    ¡°I¡¯ll make this simple for you.¡± He points at me and jabs his finger in the middle of my chest. ¡°You are a commoner, a stranger, and an abomination. You are unworthy of her.¡± Well that¡¯s rude as hell not to mention racist. I better not say anything tell I learn more about this world. Typical racist bigoted stuck up medieval nobles how well they fit the stereotype. I¡¯m beginning to not like these elvish nobles. Captain Len¡¯til walks through the door as it opens and I follow him in. We traveled through a couple more doors as the halls get bigger until we reached a large double door with a small door in it.

    Going through the small door we enter a small stone courtyard and continue to a large doorway with a portcullis raised up. Passing all the guards and crossing a drawbridge over a moat and onto a stone causeway I look around. The moat is quite large and deep looking. I can see what looks like a garden to the left. That must have been where I met the princess. Looking at the end of the causeway there were a couple of buildings. One looked like it had a stable with some fenced in horses, and the other is a two storied building and probably is a inn of some kind.

    Walking into the inn looking building I find myself in a room that resembled what I think a saloon looked like in all those old wild-west films minus the swinging entrance. Captain Len¡¯til waves me to a bench besides the door. ¡°Wait there while I talk to Shalinith.¡± Taking a seat on the bench and ignoring the disdainful looks by some of the other patrons. This place must be a stopover for people trying to see the elven king. The captain walks to the center of the room and looks around then walks left into a shaded area of the tavern like room.

    He walks to a table with a single occupant and starts talking to it. After a moment or two he looks back to me and waves me to him. Getting up I walk over.

    ¡°This lad is the reason we sent for you.¡± He gestured at me while looking away from me.

    ¡°I have a name.¡± I look at the one Captain Len¡¯til was talking to. She was an elfin woman who looked to be in her late twenties possibly early thirties, but probably far older. The woman was wearing black knee high leather boots with buckles all the way up it, tight dark leather pants with a belt. Her belt had a dagger in a sheath and at least 5 different small bags attached to it. She wore a fancy black leather blouse that cover her arms and neck with no skin showing. The woman also wore a black cloak that had a hood over her head. She had a black eye patch with a leaf etched into it over right eye. Taking her hood off and reviling black hair tied into a ponytail she looks me in the eyes.

    ¡°And what is this name.¡±

    ¡°Ma¡¯am my name is Richard Coldfire and I¡¯m pleased to meet you Miss Shalinith Len¡¯til.¡±

    ¡°Oh you know my name?¡±

    ¡°Captain Len¡¯til told me I was to meet Shalinith Len¡¯til his niece a distinguished sorceress of the realm, and I assumed it was you.¡± I put my left hand behind me and right on my chest above my hart and bowed imitating what I saw yesterday.

    ¡°A polite one, Good to know. Lad you don¡¯t need to bow to me I¡¯m no noble, as for distinguished, most so called nobles of the realm would debate that.¡±

    ¡°Thank you I will remember that. I erred on the side of caution. Better safe than sorry.¡±

    ¡°Good philosophy. So uncle how may I help the princess?¡± Captain Len¡¯til takes a chair and sits, I do the same.

    ¡°Richard Coldfire has just recently recovered from magin syndrome and needs someone to teach him to control his magic before he hurts himself and others.¡±

    ¡°Magin syndrome? Really? At his age? That¡¯s rare.¡±

    ¡°Yes. He should be trained soon and at his capacity Halidashin Cis¡¯Gorn recommends a sorcerer or a wizard to train him.¡± Shalinith grimaces at the mention of Halidashin.

    ¡°Ok that¡¯s reasonable. Let me take a look at him.¡± Shalinith reaches up and opens her eye patch revealing a green colored eye like her left, yet it is slitted like a cat¡¯s with a slight red glow coming from the pupil. What the hell. She closes her weird eye and some kind of glowing aura comes over it, and she opens it again. ¡°Ach.¡± Shalinith jerks her head to the left quickly reaching for her eye. And starts to yell and curse. ¡°Gods damn what the hell, shit that hurt like hell. Bright as shalutes butthole. Damn it Uncle you could have warned me.¡±

    ¡°Sorry Shali I should of warned you that he has an unusual sized mana capacity.

    ¡°Unusual sized? That¡¯s an understatement it¡¯s so big its leaking out of him like a gods damn flood. I think my eye is going to be blind for a week. Damn that hurt.¡±

    ¡°Um sorry I¡¯m new to magic and did not know I was leaking, and didn¡¯t know It could blind someone.¡± She was looking at me fine before. I wonder what she did with her eye that made her jerk away so fast. ¡°I hope you are alright.¡± Shalinith rubbed her watering eyes and put the eye patch back on.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± she waved me off. ¡°It will heal with time. I can see why a wizard or a sorcerer was recommended.¡± I looked around and noticed that no one seemed to have noticed her outburst. Odd?

    ¡°Strange no one seemed to pay attention to your yelling.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because I have a sound barrier in place.¡±

    ¡°Oh. That¡¯s convenient.¡± Captain Len¡¯til grunts.

    ¡°Shali I need you to take Richard out of the country as you train him.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± Shalinith leans back into her chair.

    ¡°What why?¡± Captain looks back to me.

    ¡°Kings orders. You are to leave the country.¡± What the fuck did I do to him to warrant him kicking me out?

    ¡°Uncle that seems a little sudden, even for the king?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but I can¡¯t tell you why, for I have been forbidden to speak of it.¡±

    ¡°Ok I will take him out, but I hope you don¡¯t expect me to walk the whole way?¡±

    ¡°That has been covered. This is from the princess.¡± The captain pulls two small bags out of a pocket in his cloak. One was obviously looked like it held coins the other smaller bag held what looked like one single flat oval object. Shalinith opens the coin pouch and whistles. ¡°That should be more then enough to cover your traveling expenses.¡±

    ¡°Quite generous the Princess is. That¡¯s why I love to work for her.¡± She opens the smaller pouch. Looking in she raises an eyebrow and looks back to her uncle. ¡°What¡¯s this for? I already have one.¡±

    ¡°Not for you. It¡¯s for him when he has control of his magic.¡±

    ¡°What? How? this is not just given out. Is it legal?¡±

    ¡°Yes the princess¡­ convinced her father to authorize it for him. It is now on record just needs to be activated.¡± Shalinith looks away from her uncle in deep thought for a moment then looks back to me.

    ¡°You are a lucky man to have this.¡± She closes the small pouch with the object and tosses it to me. I Catch it and start to open it.

    ¡°Don¡¯t do that. Put it away in a deep pocket and not on your belt, for you cannot lose this no matter what.¡± well that¡¯s dramatic I wonder what it is.

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Later I won¡¯t speak of it here. Don¡¯t ask me until we leave the city.¡±

    ¡°What city?¡± there is no city here just a big castle and two buildings. Shalinith looks at me with a strange look.

    ¡°How do you know? Never mind we will talk about that later as well. Uncle is there a time frame I have to leave by?¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately yes. You need to leave Erivenyeth by noon tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not much time. Please give my apologies to my mother for being unable to visit her. I only arrived in Erivenyeth two days ago and have yet to see her.¡± Captain Len¡¯til stood up.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry about that. I will see my sister and send her your love.¡± We all stand up and walk out of the inn. We stop in the middle of the road and Captain Len¡¯til and Shalinith hugged. The road looked like a stone paved road roman style. It was about twenty feet across. ¡°Be safe.¡± They let go of each other and turn to me. ¡°If anything happens to my niece while you are with her I will hunt you down and kill you. Do you understand me?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I will do my best to keep harm from her.¡± I say this and the captain grunts and Shalinith raises an eyebrow then shakes her head.

    ¡°You better.¡± He then walks away and heads back to the palace.

    ¡°Well?¡± I look at Shalinith. ¡°What now?¡±

    ¡°Now we procure two horses go shopping for enough supplies to get us on our way, and then leave in the morning.¡±

    ¡°Ok. Lead on Ma¡¯am and I will follow.¡±

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Damn writing this took longer then it should of. sorry about that, to much procrastination and distractions >_< damn you royalraoad. >_< stop updating all the stories i''m reading. Damn you video games and your addictiveness. I hope you all injoy this update of 7624 words.

    Note to you all im ganna attempt to finish the next chapter and update the first three chapters with what i have edited.  Soon i will merge chapter 1 and 2 and move chapter 3 into chapter 2 and add about 2000 words and make ch4 into chapter 3. In all the next update of chapter 5 will replace chapter 4. I will post a new chapter up with the update information and turn it into a Q&A chapter were people can make suggestions and IE rip on my grammar and such.

    It would be cool if any one in the replays to this chapter let me know what they like what wasnt working for them and what is.

 Book 1 Crossing the Eternals Ch5

    <hr>

    ¡°That man left Erivenyeth this morning your majesty. Was it wise to send him away, for he could of been an asset we could have used?¡±

    ¡°Wise or not it had to be done. I cannot engage my daughter too some random stranger, especially someone without status. If I had done what my little girl wanted the nobles would yell scandal. I would lose face before them. If what my daughter says is true then it will only be a matter of time until they meet again. When the time comes he should have some status if he¡¯s not dead.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right your majesty, at least two thirds of the nobles would not approve of you allowing her to marry some stranger with no status. They would definitely go against you since you have refused their engagement proposals for her.¡±

    ¡°Captian Len¡¯til, have you sent the followers I asked for after him?¡±

    ¡°Yes your majesty I have. They have been instructed to watch and report and remain undetected if they can, if not then to actively follow him and support him.¡±

    ¡°Ylesviam? I can hardly believe it, yet my dear Elestia has never lied to me. This puts me in a tight spot. From what you told me he could be extremely powerful one day, yes?¡±

    ¡°Yes your majesty. Your court healer Halidashin Cis¡¯Gorn claims the man¡¯s power could eventually be unfathomable. Letting the man¡¯s eccentricity¡¯s pass yes, for he is often correct when he declares something, so yes the man has great potential. His potential explains how he just walked through the gardens wards like they were not there.¡±

    ¡°Hmm pity he isn¡¯t full blooded elven. I could of given him a title and be done with this hassle. What of my daughter?¡±

    ¡°The maids say her room has frozen over and she trails ice where ever she walks. Princess Elestia is in a foul mood your majesty.¡±

    ¡°Post an extra watch I don¡¯t want her wondering off after him. Oh and be sure a couple of them are mages, regular guards won¡¯t hold her.¡±

    ¡°It will be done your majesty.¡±

    ¡°Good. I assume Halidashin Cis¡¯Gorn will keep his mouth shut about our former guest.¡±

    ¡°Yes your majesty, for I stressed to Halidashin Cis¡¯Gorn that this matter and information about our former guest¡¯s power is to be held secret.¡±

    ¡°Yes I think you must have enjoyed that part. Oh before I forget did you give him the reward for the merskit kill.¡±

    ¡°Yes your majesty I handed it to my niece with her payment and travel expenses compensation.¡±

    ¡°Good good, I don¡¯t want to be seen as ungrateful for his service. Very well carry out your orders and apprise me of any pertinent information about him.¡±

    ¡°Yes your majesty your will shall be carried out.¡±

    A great room of glittering gold and marble resembling an amphitheater is disturbed by a great number of murmurs from beings large and small some human looking others grotesque beyond mortal comprehension. A loud bang is herd like the sound of a thunderclap.

    ¡°Silence!¡± A great being sits on a dais in the center of the benches across from an open circle. The room quiets down instantly. ¡°Enter Observer.¡± Two large golden doors open and a woman in white robes walk¡¯s into the center of the room. She has white feathered wings on her back. She is wearing a golden bracelet on each arm and a gold and silver adorned necklace. A single blue oval gem on her forehead glistens as she nervously looks about the room. ¡°Report observer of what you saw.¡±

    ¡°Ye-yes.¡± She swallows and straitens her back flapping her wings once. ¡°Order and Chaos¡¯s Immortal weapon has returned.¡± Shouts and yells and some laughter erupt in the room drowning out the rest of the words the winged woman spoke.

    ¡°SILENCE!¡± The being on the dais slams his hands together creating another thunderclap of sound. The room calms down and the beings gathered again become silent. ¡°Precede observer why do you say such.¡± The winged woman bows then looks about the room.

    ¡°Since the banishment I was tasked to observe the world of Earth beyond the dimensional rift. I was tasked to watch the Immortal weapon. The Weapon has regained its soul and rematerialized on Arvien.¡±

    ¡°Where is it? Where is that thing now?¡± A man in red armor stands up to the left of the dais. The being¡¯s size is above average for the room and towers over most that sit about him. He has a handsome and powerful face minus the scars around the left eye. The eye itself was a metallic gold in contrast to his glowing yellow right eye. His arms were bare from his breast plate with a bracer only on his right arm. The skin of the man¡¯s left arm has a silver metallic sheen up to the shoulder.

    ¡°I-I cannot tell you that.¡± The winged woman looks at the man in fear.

    ¡°You will tell me woman. You will tell me right now unless you wish to parish.¡± A red aura reaches out and covers the woman. She screams and falls to her hands and knees covering herself with her wings.

    ¡°Please. I cannot tell you.¡± A streak of light disperses the red aura as a woman clad in white and gold lined plate armor stands before the winged woman.

    ¡°HOW DARE YOU. How dare you assault one of mine.¡± The man in red armor clicks his tongue and sneers at the new woman.

    ¡°Figures you¡¯d protect yours and your husband¡¯s creations. Your little one hid it from me before, she shall not do it again.¡± A ripple in the air forms before the man in red armor and a being forms before him.

    ¡°Is that a threat?¡± A dark being of equal height to the red armored man speaks to him with malice. The dark being was shrouded in darkness so thick that while peering into him you could not see an end. All that could be made out is an outline of spiky armor and two red lights glowing were eyes should be. The red armored man sneers at the dark being and reaches for his sword on his belt.

    ¡°STOP!¡± everyone freezes what they are doing. ¡°Draw that weapon here and face the consequences.¡± The being on the dais peers down at the two as they step away from each other. ¡°Violence among us is not permitted in these halls. You have violated this pact and have been warned, once more and you will be punished.¡± He looked around the room and stood up. This man towered over all others, and shined bright in his glory as a being made of pure energy and light. ¡°I declare neutrality in the inevitable event that will occur as it did once before. I declare this meeting over. Converse and disperse as you will.¡± In a loud rumble and crack the being of energy vanishes.

    The room immediately roars in his passing as many voices speak to their fellows. Haired women in a green robe, and a crown of flowers walks up to the winged woman. Helping her up she pets her lightly on the head.

    ¡°Has he?¡± the green haired woman directs her question to the winged woman in a light tone.

    ¡°Yes he has met one piece and is getting closer to another.¡±

    ¡°That is good maybe the coming disaster won¡¯t be as bad as before. Return to your vigil over him but be wary.¡±

    ¡°I will do so Great mother.¡± the green haired one nods to her. The winged woman looks to the white and golden armored woman.

    ¡°Go and be safe.¡± With those words spoken the white winged woman closes her eyes and hums. Within seconds she fades away with a pop. The being shrouded in darkness walks to the group in the center with several others trailing him.

    ¡°I have gathered our allies. Let us prepare for what is to come.¡±

    ¡°I agree, I will prepare my hosts.¡±

    ¡°Very well, I shall not let my daughter die again.¡± The green haired woman looks at them both with determination in her eyes. The others gather in-between the three. The being covered in darkness raises both hands up to his shoulders palms out. . Both the green haired woman and the white and gold armored women do the same. All gathered in the center of the chamber vanish.

    ¡°So where are we headed?¡± We have been on the road since early this morning, and we have hardly spoken to each other. It is now a bit over mid-day and the road and trees have not changed a bit. All I see are the giant trees I have seen since I found myself in this world. We are both riding horses with a third carrying most of our supplies.

    ¡°We are headed to Coritiam kingdom. Coritiam has probably the most lax rules and regulations against different races. In fact they have laws for equality that most kingdoms don¡¯t have.¡± I have been riding a horse behind Shalinith Len¡¯til all day. I probably should have asked her sooner, but oh well, for I¡¯m still trying to figure out what happened for the last two days. ¡°Coritiam is the best place if you want to attempt to make a living. Most kingdoms will take one look at you and discriminate against you just because you look like a cross between a moon elf and a Vedrin.¡±

    ¡°Why is Coritiam so different from its neighbors?¡±

    ¡°Probably because it borders 5 kingdoms three of which are not human. To its north is a desert where the Vedrin hail from. The elven kingdoms are to their west, which is where we are. Than you have the dwarves to their northeast and the two human kingdoms to their south and south east.¡±

    ¡°Is that all you didn¡¯t mention some directions.¡±

    ¡°Well there are scatterings of nomads, tribes, and orcs and some unclaimed land. Coritiam is pretty big that is why it is a good place to make a living. I do odd jobs there all the time.

    ¡°Ok, sounds like a good idea. How would you suggest I make a living?¡±

    ¡°Easy if you are any good with controlling your mana and manipulating it you can make a killing putting your services for hire.¡±

    ¡°When will you start this so called training?¡±

    ¡°Tonight, the sooner the better. Let¡¯s start with some knowledge first. What do you know of magic?¡±

    ¡°Almost nothing, my memory has not been so great since I suffered from that illness.¡±

    ¡°Take a guess what do you think magic is all about?¡± That¡¯s a simple to answer, lets answer her with some vague generality¡¯s from what I know from games and literature.

    ¡°Magic is the manipulation of the world around us through elements. Each person¡¯s magic is determined by their affinities.¡± I hear Shalinith snort and look at me over her shoulder and shake her head.

    ¡°Yes for the first part but completely wrong in the second. First there are no such thing as affinities to elements no matter what those stuck up Wizards will tell ya.¡± She had a little bit of contempt in her voice when she mentioned wizards. ¡°Magic is the manipulation of reality using mana as the catalyst. The so called affinities do not exist and no sorcerer will say otherwise. Every magic no matter what kind and element is determined by someone¡¯s knowledge of the world and pure instinct.¡± That description is different then what I¡¯m used to but not completely foreign.

    ¡°Ok but what do you mean by instinct? By what degree is determined by instinct?¡±

    ¡°Simple as it is sounds. Some magic can only be performed or learned from pure instinct. A lot of it has to do with the power or efficiency in the spell that¡¯s cast. And the more familiar you are with a spell the easier it is to cast.¡±

    ¡°I heard princess Elestia cast a spell with words. What was that?¡±

    ¡°Oh that! It was the language of the universe.¡± What the hell? How is English the language of the universe? ¡°Everyone who cast spells use the Language to a degree, some more than others. It is the primary focus for casting spells for wizards.¡±

    ¡°So¡­ if you could understand that language you could possible cast anything?¡± Shalinith looks at me over her shoulder again.

    ¡°Possible, but no one understands it fully. If I were you I would not start with it as your foundations it could limit you. I guess I should explain some differences between spell casters. I¡¯m going to list them from weakest to strongest. Practitioners, mages, witches and or warlocks, and it is still argued whether a wizard is stronger or weaker than a sorcerer.

    Practitioners and mages are spell casters that generally do not have the stamina, imagination, magic capacity for anything else, or just one of the above. Both are very specialized in what they can do, for example you have healers, exorcist, and some minor enchanters, as well as spell swords.¡±

    ¡°Spell swords? I¡¯m going to assume they enhance themselves and their weapons for combat.¡±

    ¡°Correct. Than we have witches and warlocks who specialize in ritualized magic, and curses. Wizards cast most of their spells using the magic language as well as cast some spells like sorcerers. Sorcerers cast most of their spells by way of manipulating magic with their minds. Well to narrow it down more Wizards use precision while sorcerers use brute force.¡±

    ¡°Where would necromancers, and summoners fall?¡±

    ¡°Necromancers fall between both sorcerers and wizards with ritualized magic mixed in. As for summoners they are specialized wizards. We should find a good place to rest soon and I will see how well you learn.¡±

    ¡°What will we work on?¡±

    ¡°For starters I will go over how to sense magic and its flow. If you grasp that quickly then we will go over manipulating it.¡± This is going to be a long trip. Shalinith made it clear to me yesterday while we shopped for supplies that I was only a job and would not appreciate any flirting on my part.

    We traveled down the road for a couple of hours until we spotted a decent clearing in-between some trees. After tying off the horses I watched Shalinith lift both arms out in front of her as she used magic. She blew most of the sticks and twigs out of the clearing into a pile on the edge.

    ¡°That¡¯s convenient.¡±

    ¡°Yes it is. Set up the tents and bed rolls will you and unpack the horses.¡±

    ¡°Ok.¡± I proceed to do just that. I take the saddles off the two horses I don¡¯t even bother to take anything off of them. I just pulled them right off after unstrapping them. Being strong has its perks, for I didn¡¯t even break a sweat taking the saddles off, nor the pack off the pack-horse.

    ¡°That was fast. Put up the tents while I make us a fire pit.¡± The tents, if you could call them that, were basically a single piece of canvas that you prop up with some round poles that came with them. The tents were for one person each and barely came up to my waist. With two open ends on either side they were pretty drafty, but I guess they could keep the rain off you.

    I was able to get one tent up quickly when I felt a rumble under my feet. Looking up I saw Shalinith kneeled down with one palm on the ground in front of the tent I put up. I watch in fascination as the ground dimples down into a small divot in the ground, and stones sprouted to form a circle around it. She stands back up and brushes off her knee. I turn away and put up her tent. Looking up at the sky and locating the sun.

    ¡°Looks like we have about two hours of sun light left.¡±

    ¡°Plenty of time to get you started.¡± She points next to the fire pit. I feel another rumble and could have sworn I saw a swirl of something where she was pointing at. It looked like a heat mirage. A fairly sized stone came out of the ground, and it had a flat top. ¡°Sit there and we shall begin with the basics.¡± I comply and take a seat on the rock. ¡°Mana is in everything, and everyone, and your first goal is to sense it. first close your eyes and calm your mind.¡±

    I close my eyes and take a deep breath and exhale. ¡°Good now concentrate in my direction. Do you sense anything?¡± I sat still for a while trying to sense the energy that I felt her using earlier. At first nothing then I felt a flicker of something. Concentrating on the flicker further my closed eyes become flooded with light. This was easier then I thought, for I could now partially see her and my surroundings through my closed eyes. This is cool it is like I have some kind of sonar sense.

    ¡°Yes I can see you, I can see trees and the ground. Everything is pulsing or flowing as if it is alive. Even the ground looks that way and¡­¡± I see something deep underground, maybe a hundred feet or more below us. What I see looks like some kind of stream. ¡°Some kind of stream or river below us.¡±

    ¡°What? Can you really see the lay line?¡±

    ¡°If that is what it is then yes I can see something deep below us.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­ what direction is it flowing.¡± I look down with my eyes still closed.

    ¡°Southwest back the way we came from.¡±

    ¡°Interesting, usually it takes people years before they are sensitive enough to see the lay lines. Let¡¯s see just how sensitive you are. I want you to open your eyes and keep sensing mana while you do it. Do not lose the sense. Now slowly open your eyes.¡± concentrating on the feeling that allowed me to see with my eyes closed I open my eyes. I can still see everything like they were a bit transparent, yet everything is more detailed and more color coded.

    Shalinith is still looking at me. Nodding at me she raises both arms out to either side of her. ¡°Now you will tell me where my magic is in my body and what it is. This is a more advanced training but I think you are ready considering you nailed mage sight on the first try. (Must be your blood). Ready?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± The mana in her body flowed to her right hand and turned red. ¡°Right hand red.¡±

    ¡°Correct.¡± Her mana flowed again this time to her feet.

    ¡°Both feet brown.¡± It flowed again to her left hand with a blue color. ¡°Left hand blue.¡± This continued for a while as she got faster and even started to combine colors into deferent shades. The last one she did was cover her entire body with white mana. No not her entire body. ¡°Covering all your skin is a layer of white mana.¡± She lowers her arms and looks at me with narrowed eyes.

    ¡°Are you sure you have never been trained before?¡±

    ¡°Yes I¡¯m sure. How would I have suffered from that illness if I had casted magic before.¡± Hmm was I wrong in thinking the phenomena of slowing time down was magic. Shalinith took a deep breath and let it out slowly wile closing her eyes.

    ¡°You can cancel mage site now.¡± I close my eyes and take a breath and let it out as my vision of my surroundings disappears. I open my eyes back up.

    ¡°It¡¯s getting dark.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Shalinith turned towards the fire pit then looked around. Raising her left arm towards a fallen log at the edge of the clearing I felt her gather energy. The log lifted into the air and cracked as it broke into several small pieces. Dropping most of it she floated some into the fire pit. I felt another small buildup of energy and the wood in the pit ignited. She looked up into the sky.

    I look up as well and see that the sun was setting with a beautiful orange red flare, almost pink in color. ¡°Get some rest. I will set some wards and rethink the pace I will train you.¡± I nod

    ¡°A about that¡­¡± she looks at me. ¡°I don¡¯t sleep much. Only about every third night will I need sleep, for that¡¯s when I feel tired.¡± She stared at me for an uncomfortable amount of time without saying anything. ¡°Uh Ma¡¯am?¡±

    ¡°In that case I will set the wards then head to bed. Watch the fire and wake me at first light.¡±

    ¡°Yes I will do that.¡± She walked to the spare horse took her bed roll off. After putting her bed roll in her tent she went to her horse and pulled a book out of a bag. She walked up to me and handed it to me.

    ¡°Read this it should help you understand magic more and accelerate your training further if you understand it.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡± I watched as she casts a few spells. A few of the spells she even spoke out loud.

    ¡°Program, ward away beasts, fifty feet, anchor, execute.¡± A thin invisible energy wave came out of her and sailed fifty feet in every direction even up. ¡°Program, alarm, intruder, attach, execute.¡± Another energy wave came out of her that only went as far as the other wave and seemed to merge with the barrier that was formed. The words she spoke are English.

    ¡°Why did you say those words, I understand them but not the context you used them for?¡± Shalinith looked back to me startled.

    ¡°What! you understand what I said?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Why did you use those words in that order?¡± She stared at me with a thinking look on her face.

    ¡°I spoke the wizard¡¯s tongue. It was once called the tongue of the gods. I casted a spell to keep wild beasts at bay and a spell to wake and alert us if something else comes close. It¡¯s a bit early for me to talk about the order of the words. You can read about them in the book.¡± Shalinith walked to her tent and crawled in. ¡°Good night and don¡¯t forget to wake me at first light. I will answer your question in the morning after we get back on the road.¡±

    ¡°Good night then.¡± Still sitting on the rock I look around. It¡¯s good that I¡¯m no longer alone and I now have a goal and sort of know where I¡¯m at on this world. Everything has been rushed sense I woke up in the Elven castle. I wonder how Elestia is doing? It was quite rude how her father kicked me to the curb like that. This world¡¯s technology and apparently society resembles earth¡¯s medieval age. If I want Elestia I¡¯m going to need power, political power as well as martial.

    I need to learn this world¡¯s magic as fast as I can. If my guess is right I may have an advantage with their wizards tongue. Only one way to tell, let¡¯s see what this book has to say. Looking at the book I read the title. Fundamentals of magic a sorcerers and wizards guide. Hmmm sounds like magic for dummies. I open the book to the first page, time to cram.

    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.    With my night vision and fire I was able to read the book all night feeding the fire when needed. I went over it at least three times. The main thing I got about the book was that casting magic was very reliant on intent imagination and perception. It even covered how to suppress mana leakage from one¡¯s self. The book even talked about the elements fire, water, earth and wind. I guess this world barely understand that that those are only states of matter and not an element.

    With intent and imagination I was able to conjure up a light orb after a bit of concentration. I was able to sense a slight trickle of mana from me feeding the orb. The mana within me was regenerating so fast that I could hardly tell it was draining, for I had to look for it. Cutting the supply of mana made the orb despair.

    The book even covered some of what the wizard¡¯s tongue was. Spells that did multiple things were more easily used when using the wizards tongue. The book explained that spells should begin with the word program to start forming the magic. Then words are spoken to give the spell detail and direction, than you say the word execute to cast the spell. That was very interesting it was like computer programing.

    The book also said the more you understand the words and use your intent and imaginations you could shorten the spells and make them more complex. Thinking this over I decided to experiment with it. I imagined a woman made of fire standing in the fire pit. ¡°Program, shape, woman made of fire, two feet, fifteen seconds, execute.¡± The mana that formed in me as I spoke flew to the fire pit.

    The flames inside the pit formed into the shape of a woman for fifteen seconds then returned to normal flames. That was cool. Experimenting further I was able to have them move out of the pit. At one time I had five two foot tall girls dancing around the fire pit at once. I was even able to create one out of thin air without even saying a word just by using pure mana and intent. The book did not lie, using my imagination and intent did indeed control my mana. I didn¡¯t even feel a drain on my mana. I must have a lot like they said for all my casting to not even phase the amount I felt with in me.

    Looking at Shalinith Len¡¯til I compared her mana to my own. Shalinith mana pool felt like a small lake wile mine felt like a giant river that was dammed. Using my new found knowledge of magic I was able to suppress and dam up my mana pool as the book called it. Nothing leaked out except where I imagined a door in the dam.

    I spent the entire night reading the book and experimenting with the flow and density of the mana coming out of me using my flame girls. Birds started to chirp and I realized I should wake Shalinith up. Damn my night vision I almost didn¡¯t realize it was first light. Walking to her tent I reached in and shook her shoulder. ¡°Master wake up its first light¡±

    ¡°Wha? Oh. I¡¯m awake.¡± She opened her eyes and crawled out as I backed up. Shalinith stood up and stretched with a yawn with her eyes closed. Opening her eyes she looked to the center of the camp at the fire pit. She started to blink then rubbed her eyes then blinked again. ¡°WHAT THE HELL?¡± turning I looked at the fire pit. There are six two foot tall flame girls dancing around the fire pit in some kind of tribal dance.

    ¡°Oh damn sorry about that I forgot to cancel the spell¡± raising my hand towards the flams i spoke. ¡°Dispel¡± all six girls disappeared. ¡°There all done. I wanted to make more but I didn¡¯t want to catch the forest on fire so I only made a few and kept them around the pit.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Shalinith looked at me confused for a moment.

    ¡°Ah¡­ I read your book a couple of times over the night and experimented to understand it fully. After a few experiments I found that the concepts in the book were easy to understand and implement.¡± She looked at me blankly for a moment just blinking, than an angry look came over her.

    ¡°EASY, are you telling me you read and understood the book and skipped acolyte rank in magic strait to journeyman. And you just spoke a word I never told you the meaning to or ever spoke in your presence. HOW?¡± shit this isn¡¯t good. What do I tell her? Let¡¯s see¡­

    ¡°Ah um princess Elestia spoke the word in front of me and explained a little. And for the book all I can say was yes, after some experiments it was easy for me to understand. As for me understanding the words well¡­ The wizards tongue is natural to me. In fact I¡¯m speaking it now it¡¯s just automatically translated into what you understand best.¡±

    ¡°Now that you mention it, yes I do see that your mouth movement does not match the words that I hear.¡± She walked past me and sat on the stone that I sat on all night. ¡°So you say you are speaking the wizards tongue right now and I¡¯m hearing low elvish?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Then this means you understand the wizards tongue better than the wizards and probably know more words then anyone alive other than the gods.¡±

    ¡°I guess so.¡± She looks at me.

    ¡°Intent and imagination with perception. A test then.¡± Shalinith looked at me with her eyes narrowed. ¡°Dispel the wards I placed last night without using the wizards tongue.¡± I looked around the camp then closed my eyes concentrating on the flow of mana about me. Locating where Shalinith anchored her wards I cause the clump of magic at the center to dissipate like smoke. My perceptions feel the barrier around our camp dissipate and disappear.

    ¡°Done.¡± Shalinith looks about then sighs.

    ¡°Did you learn to suppress mana leakage?¡±

    ¡°Yes I believe I did.¡± Shalinith lifts her eye patch open exposing her slited eye. Her eye started to glow as she looked at me.

    ¡°Wow I can hardly see any of your mana except where you left a flow regulator. That is an advanced technique how did you learn to do that so fast?¡±

    ¡°When I was experimenting to suppress my mana I found that I couldn¡¯t manipulate or control the mana in the environment, so I added a door to allow it.¡±

    ¡°Well you did a good job. With what you have done no one will be able to sense you. It will also be obvious to anyone who can sense magic that you¡¯re a wizard or a sorcerer just by looking at you.¡± She looks down and sighs again. ¡°In just one night you managed to control your internal mana and the mana in the environment. The speed that you learned it is amazing and unheard of. I have never seen anyone learn it so fast.¡±

    Shalinith stood up and faced me. ¡°I was expecting to teach you all this before we reached Coritiam. I never suspected you¡¯d learn it all in one night.¡±

    ¡°This is a good thing right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, for it means we skip the boring stuff and go straight to application of magic.¡±

    ¡°A Miss Len¡¯til now that I have control of my magic can you explain what this is?¡± I reach under my shirt and pull the small pouch I got from princess Elestia.

    ¡°Call me master like when you woke me. I¡¯m teaching you magic and that is the standard term even if you learn so fast. Go ahead and take it out.¡± Opening the tiny pouch I take out an oval disk. The disk was bordered in gold with silver plate in the center. The disk had small gems embedded into the silver in the shape of a tree. I can sense some small energy in it.

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°That is the emblem for Wizards and sorcerers of the Elven kingdom. It basically means you are recognized and protected by the kingdom. It will allow excess to any city that knows of it and will exempt you from having to register to any guild. By treaty your earnings for services rendered cannot be taxed by the kingdom you¡¯re residing in or any guild. But like usual people will still try to get you to do it any way. That¡¯s when you have to show this and prove it¡¯s real.¡±

    Master, damn that feels weird thinking of her that way. Master Shalinith pulls an identical disk out of thin air. ¡°Never lose it or hand it over to anyone, even if they ask you to hand it over for inspection. Do you understand me? Never give it up.¡±

    ¡°Yes, umm why?

    ¡°It will be bound to you. Because of that it can be used to track you, and remotely cast magic on you.¡±

    ¡°Ok that¡¯s unpleasant. How do I prove it¡¯s authentic?¡±

    ¡°First I want you to attach a tiny stream of mana from you to it.¡± I do just that. Shalinith nods at this. ¡°Now you must claim it in your mind and believe it is yours forever.¡± That¡¯s weird but ok. I think at the disk and say in my head this is mine forevermore. A light shined from the gems in the disk for a moment. ¡°Good now it is bound, and only you can show it¡¯s real. There are two ways to determine authenticity of the emblem.¡± She walked closer to me, about two feet away. ¡°Hold it out and touch it to mine.¡±

    I did as instructed and the gems shaped like a tree on both disks glowed white than green. Shalinith took hers away and the glow disappeared from the gems. ¡°The second is this.¡± Master held up her disk with the tree facing me. ¡°Emblem of the crown.¡± A green projection came out of the gems. The light formed into a 3d image of a tree with a crown rotating in the center of the trees trunk. Covering the disk with her other hand the glow and image disappeared. ¡°Now you try.¡±

    ¡°Emblem of the crown.¡± I repeated her gesture of the disk facing her instead. An identical image of a tree and a crown projected out of my disk. ¡°How do you turn it off?¡±

    ¡°Just cover the tree on the disk with something and it will turn off.¡± I do just that and the image disappears like hers. ¡°By treaty with the Elvin kingdoms no one is allowed to take it from you.¡± I nod and put it back in its small pouch and place it in a pocket.

    ¡°So what now master?¡±

    ¡°I want you to put away the tent¡¯s and bedrolls without touching them.¡± She looks at my tent. ¡°I guess you did not need to take out and set yours. After your done we shall head out, and I will have you do various spells, and teach you ways to use them.¡± Lifting and folding and rolling the tents and bedding was tricky at first but I got the hang of it quickly. The only trouble I really had was securing it to the pack horse. We proceeded on our way and ate on our horses as we traveled.

    Shalinith had me cast random spells some with words but most without. I changed the direction of the wind in our area lifted rocks and hurtled them at trees, created fire and water as well as stone in midair. This was easy as all I was doing was manipulating matter and its state. To create the stone I pulled the matter out of the ground. In a way I guess the law of conservation of mass in this world is malleable.This process or practice as I call it continued for a month as we stopped in a few towns along the way to get some supplies and sleep in actual beds.

    Shalinith even had me enchant a rock to hover around us, and have it do loops around us. The enchantment was very exciting. I created a visible window above the object. In the window I was able to visibly see the conditions of what I was enchanting the object to do. Enchanting my waydefinitely resembled computer programming.

    I was even able to learn why her eye was the way it was. Her mother was kidnapped by cultist in the past. The cultist had summoned a demon that possessed one of the cultists and had it rape her. They were trying to bring their master an arch demon into the world. They failed luckily, foiled by Captain Len¡¯til her uncle. It was soon discovered that she was pregnant and some demands of her death came about. Fortunately the Elven king decided not to kill her mother but instead had her fetus blessed and purified in a temple.

    There were still a few attempts to kill Shalinith before she was born but they did not succeed. After she was born it was shown that the taint was very minimal and only showed in one of her eyes. Most elves and nobility still shun her, yet they still use her services. She had long ago shown she had talent in magic that surpassed most people. She worked hard for the little respect that she had earned in the elven kingdom. She had traveled the continent for a while gaining a reputation as a great sorcerer, yet most kingdoms did not know she was demon tainted.

    She warned me to never tell anyone I had demon blood. She advised me to say I had draconian and moon elf ancestors to explain my looks. Apparently draconian are well respected and feared. With this explanation she said most of the common people would try not to get on my bad side.

    The people in the last town said we would reach the city of Farin today if we left in the morning. We of course left early in the morning and have been traveling for a couple of hours. I think it is about noon at this time. Shalinith has not had me cast a single spell today and I have been wondering why.

    ¡°Master are you going to have me cast anything today?¡±

    ¡°When we are in sight of the city I will have you cast one final spell and I will declare you adept rank. Even though you could probably cast master spells.¡±

    ¡°Ok.¡± We traveled for about another hour to half an hour until we rounded some trees. The path before us straightened out and we entered a clearing. I guess we are out of the forest. Before us are farms with crops in the fields. I could see people out harvesting what looked like wheat. Further I could see what looked like a decent sized walled city. From here it looks like there could be 8000 to 15000 people in it. Is that Farin?

    ¡°Yes it is. Farin is one of the trade cities of Coritiam. Four roads lead to it. One from the Vedrin in the north, one form the elves to its west and one to the human kingdom in the south, and of course the road that leads to Coritiam¡¯s capital.¡± Master stops her horse and gets off and ties it to the wooden fence next to the road. Following suit I tie my horse off and the pack horse.

    ¡°So what are you going to have me cast?¡±

    ¡°To be considered an adapt wizard or sorcerer one must be able to conjure something permanent that will not dissipate when the mana in it runs out.¡± What isn¡¯t that what I was doing when I conjured all the rocks she made me make? ¡°I want you to make something that is solid throughout and is real and permanent even if we walk away.¡±

    ¡°Ok. What should I make?¡±

    ¡°Form a metal sphere about an inch thick.¡±

    ¡°Ok.¡± Hmm what metal should I use? Something common like iron or copper? No to common I want to impress her. Gold? Yes I shall pull the gold molecules out of the earth and form a sphere. Yes that should be impressive a golden ball. ¡°Program, element gold, out of the ground, sphere before me, one inch, execute.¡± For a moment nothing happens as I hold out my hand before me. All at once gold dust starts to form in front of me as a sphere takes shape and grows into a one inch golden ball. ¡°There, is this acceptable?¡± I pluck the golden ball out of the air.

    Shalinith was looking at me with anger in her eyes. ¡°Did I do something wrong?¡±

    ¡°Yes you did. Conjuring gold is illegal. I asked you to make something solid and permanent.¡± She points at the ball and speaks a word. ¡°Dispel¡± nothing happens and she frowns. ¡°You have bonded it well. Hand it to me.¡± I give it to her as she snatches it quickly from me and throws it onto the dirt road. And points to it again and the ball melts into a gold puddle. The gold cools and hardens again. I look back to Shalinith and she has a surprised look with wide eyes. ¡°It¡­ it was real.¡±

    ¡°Yes? You asked for something real. I decided on gold instead of iron or copper.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s impossible all conjured gold is fake and can be dispelled or melted away. That is why it¡¯s illegal to make, for it will disappear after the magic keeping it together fades. How did you manage it?¡±

    ¡°Simple it¡¯s not fake. I pulled the gold directly out of the ground.¡±

    ¡°What? How? there is no gold here.¡±

    ¡°Actually there is. The gold is spread out and in tiny particles so small that you will never be able to see it with the naked eye. The gold I conjured out of the ground came from the area around us and underneath us.¡± She looked at me wide eyed for a while then looked back at the now solid gold puddle. Lifting her hand the gold puddle came off the ground melted and formed into a small gold bar. Plucking it out of the air she handed it to me.

    ¡°Tell no one you can do this. I have herd of people pulling iron and other metals out of the ground but no one has been able to pull it out when there was no evidence it was there.¡±

    ¡°So do I pass?¡± she put her hands on her hips and shook her head with eyes closed.

    ¡°Yes with flying colors at that.¡± Turning around she untied her horse and got on. ¡°Come lets head to farin.¡± Untying the horses we headed to the walled city.

    ¡°Are there any other rules I should know of?¡±

    ¡°Yes demon summoning is forbidding as well as manipulating and controlling souls. Necromancy is not illegal per say but it is widely frowned upon. Do not destroy, or curse people, or their objects. Simple stuff. I would advise you to go to a money changer and get cold coin for that lump of gold you have.¡±

    ¡°OK. Where are we headed after this town?¡±

    ¡°We are headed no ware. My job was to teach you and get you here. After tonight I will head home and you will stay and do what you will. I have nothing more to teach you.¡± We spoke no further as we approached the city. There was a small line of carts lined up before the open gate being inspected.

    ¡°Are we going to do anything about the two whom have been following us since Erivenyeth?¡±

    ¡°No they have done nothing to us for a month. They are probably not following us but only you.¡± Ok that¡¯s confusing why me?

    ¡°Why do you say that?¡± I follow her as we pass the line as several of them give us dirty looks.

    ¡°Because they were not following me until you showed up and not once have they been hostile to us.¡±

    ¡°How do you know that? The hostile part I mean?¡±

    ¡°I used a spell the first week I noticed them to determine if they had hostile intentions toward us. There was none. I repeated the spell every other week to be sure.¡± We approached the entrance. ¡°We will know for sure when I leave for home. If they are gone they are following me if they stay here with you.¡± she paused her words. ¡°They are yours to deal with.¡±

    ¡°Halt!¡± a human in a chainmail shirt walked in front of us with a spear resting on his shoulder. ¡°Do you have a pass to skip the line?¡±

    ¡°Yes I do.¡± Shalinith pulled out her emblem and held it up for the guard to see. ¡°Emblem of the crown!¡± The image of the tree and crown appeared before the disk. ¡°This is my pass I am a sorcerer of the Elven Kingdoms.¡± The guard¡¯s eyes went wide as he stepped aside quickly.

    ¡°Yes Ma¡¯am you may pass.¡± Putting the disk away we passed into the city.

    ¡°I shall show you around a little then we shall part ways.¡± Shalinith showed me where a good inn was in the merchant district. We passed a large building with that many armed and armored people were going in and out of.

    ¡°What building is that?¡±

    ¡°That is the mercenary guild. You can get work there and or hire people to work for you. Do odd jobs and such.¡±

    ¡°Oh like an adventure guild?¡± Shalinith looked at me funny.

    ¡°No such thing as an adventurer guild only the mercenary guild.¡±

    ¡°Oh ok do they have ranks? Ones that determine what jobs you can take?¡±

    ¡°What no. Well sort of. They have test that determine your skill and knowledge. Some people will only hire people who have passed those test but they do not determine if you get hired or not. It mostly has to do with reputation.¡± Ok note to self not a standard adventure guild like in all those books I read about, but close enough. We stop in front of a large stone building. ¡°This is the money exchanger and where we separate. You can exchange that gold bar for currency and go rent a room in an inn. Good luck with your life.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for teaching me master, and showing me around.¡± with that Shalinith nods. As my tent and blanket come off the pack horse and flow to me. I catch them.

    ¡°You may keep the horse you sit upon. Good luck.¡± With that she turned and left. Watching her leave I went in and exchanged the gold bar for some gold coins. They had a mage inspect the gold and were amazed at its purity. I got an amount of gold coins matching its weight, which was almost 20 gold.

    After getting the gold I went to a tailor shop. It is time I looked like a proper sorcerer or wizard. I selected a light green and dark green long shirt that was neatly tailored. I got myself a blackish cloak with a green hood that had a red interior. The tailor was a little irritated that he had to put holes in the hood for my horns. I got a pair of dark green fingerless gloves fitted to my hands, they had some nice buckles I could use to secure them on. To be a little flashy I asked for a multi colored pants in a camo pattern.

    I got what I wanted and it only cost me 18 gold. At first the tailor complained that the pattern on the pants where ugly. When I had the full ensemble on he changed his mind saying that I looked intimidating. Thanking him for his work I left to go find an inn, for even though I hardly sleep I can¡¯t just walk around town all night. Picking a good inn that looked to be popular I paid 50 silver for a week up front. I was told the price included meals, and baths. Now it¡¯s time to plan.

    <hr>

    There we go sorry for the late update. Atlest it didn''t take a whole month between updates. Damn you royal road and your many storys, damn me for buying kindle unlimited subscription. i looked at my last update and realized i was taking to long. so i typed up 5500 words in 6 hours. damn I''m beat. this chapter is 7989 words.

    <hr>

 Book 1 Crossing the Eternals Ch6

    <hr>

    I find that all these extra hours of being unable to sleep has its advantages and disadvantages. One I¡¯m able to plan and think about things longer. The disadvantage is that I have more time to become bored. This is my first night in Farin and I find myself bored lying on a bed. The inn I decided to stay at seemed to be popular place for the locals to hang out and drink even late into the night.

    I may as well partake in the local beverages and see if they can put me to sleep. Heading down to the common room of the inn I take a stool at the bar and order a drink. After a pitcher worth of some flat beer I ordered something stronger. Drinking their strongest drink I sighed and looked to the wide eyed plain looking barmaid.

    ¡°So you have nothing stronger?¡±

    ¡°No sir. You seem to be able to take your drink better than a dwarf sir.¡± I point to my horns.

    ¡°I¡¯m part draconian.¡± Recognition showed in her eyes as she made an ¡®oh¡¯ face.

    ¡°Of course sir, that would explain it. We are sorry that we don¡¯t have any Sorrit ale. We don¡¯t get many with draconian blood here so it¡¯s not popular.¡± For draconian she says, must be strong if it can get someone with dragon blood drunk.

    ¡°Is it strong?¡±

    ¡°Yes sir. It is. Not even a dwarf could handle more than a few cups of it.¡±

    ¡°Really? Why? What does it do?¡± the barmaid smiles and laughs a little.

    ¡°We had a bottle of Sorrit ale a year ago. Two dwarves ordered some cups of it. One dwarf drank two cups while the other only made it to four. The dwarf who drank two frothed at the mouth striped off his clothes screaming that he was being eaten. We had to knock him out to stop him from clawing his own skin off. The other¡­well he died sir. He chugged four cups and just dropped dead.¡± Damn that has to be a strong drink and¡­ sounds like it has a hallucinogen in it.

    ¡°And if other races drink it?¡±

    ¡°Everyone who I have seen seems to see things that are not there. They only drink one cup and go crazy.¡± I smile at her and she blushes.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got to try that drink.¡± Sounds stronger then earth¡¯s hallucinogenic absinth drink.

    ¡°Yes sir. They always say the only one who can outdrink a dwarf is a draconian. Seeing as you are part, I think you could handle it sir.¡± The door to the inn opens and I take a look at who entered. Two elven woman with unstrung bows, and quivers on their hips walk into the inn. The two elven ladies look around then take a seat at an empty table in the back.

    If I¡¯m not mistaken these elven woman are the ones who were following me and Shalinith. Activating mage site I look them over. Yup these two are definitely the ones who were following us. Seeing as Shalinith is staying in a different inn, I think it¡¯s safe to say they are following me. I look back to the barmaid.

    ¡°Do you still serve food this late at night?¡±

    ¡°Yes sir we do.¡±

    ¡°What would you recommend?¡±

    ¡°Pirut stew sir it taste good and is only five copper.¡±

    ¡°Pirut?¡±

    ¡°Pirut is a local flightless bird some of the farms sell to us.¡± Hmmm sounds like this world¡¯s equivalent to chicken. Taking out twelve copper I place them on the counter.

    ¡°I will have a bowl. Also bring it and two mugs of your beer to the table with the two elves. I will be there with them.¡±

    ¡°Yes sir. The beers will be there shortly. The stew will take a bit more time as it is prepared.¡± I nod to her and get off the stool. Let¡¯s see why these ladies were following me. I walk up to their table pull a chair out and sit on it.

    ¡°So why have you fine ladies been following me?¡± they just sit there and stare at me. There movements and faces didn¡¯t even twitch as I looked at them. Staring them down did not solicit a response from them. This is odd most people would say something. The barmaid brings two beers and places one in front of each elf.

    ¡°Will you need anything else sir?¡±

    ¡°Not at this time thank you.¡± she looks at the elves. Both look at the beer then back to her and shake their heads as the bar maid looks at each of them.

    ¡°Ok.¡± She looks back to me. ¡°Your stew will be here shortly. I nod to her and she leaves.

    ¡°Ok I will be blunt. Both I and Shalinith noticed that you have been following us for the last month or so. The question that keeps popping into my head is why. I pose this question to you both. Why are you following me?¡± both elves look at each other than at me than back to each other again. They both sigh at the same time. Hmmm they both look exactly the same? Twins maybe, or just sisters? The only thing to tell them apart was their eye color for even their clothes were identical.

    ¡°We were ordered by King Hadrid Voean Cis¡¯Viacion to watch you and report your activities to him.¡± The dark green eyed elf on my left spoke. That¡¯s very similar to Elestia¡¯s name. So that is her father¡¯s name.

    ¡°I¡¯m assuming you are talking about the elven king, father to Princess Elestia Voean Cis¡¯Viacion.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± This time it was the elf on my right with olive green eyes who spoke.

    ¡°As we have been discovered we are to proceed to the second set of orders.¡± What? I sit straighter in my seat and gather mana in my limbs ready for a fight. The dark green eyed elf raises her hand palm towards me. ¡°We are not going to fight you.¡± I relax a little but not much.

    ¡°Then what are your orders?¡±

    ¡°If discovered and confronted we are to actively support and guard you as companions in your travels until we receive orders otherwise.¡± The dark green eyed elf spoke and the olive green one just nods.

    ¡°Ok.¡± I look at them both. ¡°I have a few questions. Will you answer them?¡±

    ¡°Ask.¡± The olive eyed elf spoke. This one seems to be a one word wonder.

    ¡°Very well we shall answer what we can.¡±

    ¡°Why did the king kick me out of his kingdom?¡± May as well get strait to what has been bugging me.

    ¡°You are unworthy.¡±

    ¡°Unworthy.¡±

    ¡°Please clarify?¡± both woman look at each other then back to me.

    ¡°Princess claims you are her soulmate. The king cannot marry you to her because you have no title or renown. If he did his nobles would rebel because he has refused to marry her to them.¡± This dark green eyed elf must be the spokesmen for them both. Now that I think about it this does explain why I got kicked out so quickly.

    ¡°Ok I believe you. How would you suggest I gain title and renown?¡± both girls look at each other for a moment then look back to me. Why do they keep doing that? Are they telepathic?

    ¡°There will be a tournament held in the capital of Coritiam one year from now. Win the tournament and you will have the renown and a title that the nobles won¡¯t complain loudly about.¡±

    ¡°How do I get in said tournament?¡±

    ¡°Sponsorship.¡±

    ¡°You need to be sponsored by a noble of Coritiam to participate in the tournament.¡±

    ¡°What title will I gain?¡±

    ¡°Unknown.¡±

    ¡°The title has not been announced. According to information we have received, the title will be announced the day of the tournament before the preliminary¡¯s and rules are announced.¡±

    ¡°So it could be a good title or a low one right?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Both woman spoke in unison.

    ¡°Ok since we will be traveling together I would like to know your names?¡±

    ¡°I am Tiat and my twin sister is Miat. We are of the clan Gorset from Orvonit.¡¯

    ¡°I do not know the place or clan?¡±

    ¡°Unimportant.¡±

    ¡°You do not need to know where we come from only that we will help you for now.¡±

    ¡°Very well I don¡¯t plan to leave this city for at least a week as I plan and prepare for what I will do.¡±

    ¡°Land.¡±

    ¡°To get sponsorship you need to own some land in Coritiam or own a sizable home in a city.¡±

    ¡°I guess I will purchase something somewhere. Probably at the capital considering how long it is until the tournament.¡± Both elven girls look at each other again.

    ¡°How?¡±

    ¡°How will you obtain the currency to buy such?¡±

    ¡°I have a way. Considering your both working for a king as some kind of agents, I can trust you to keep secrets. Well from others that is, besides your boss. I will show you tomorrow after you wake and eat.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Considering you won¡¯t sleep tonight we shall take your room.¡± They both stood there and stared at me. Just like that you claim my room? Freeloaders move fast.

    ¡°Very well, fourth door on the right.¡± Both elven women left me heading to the rooms passing the barmaid from before. She came to me and placed a bowl of soup in front of me.

    ¡°Here¡¯s your food sir.¡± She looked at the beers then back towards where the elves went. ¡°They didn¡¯t like the beer sir?¡±

    ¡°Nope.¡± I stood up and looked around the taverns main room. There were 22 people in here that I could count at various tables and stools at the bar. I need more information. ¡°I¡¯m a traveler and I got two free beers for whoever is willing to tell me information about this fair town.¡± I yell this out load and look around the room.

    ¡°I will take those beers good sir.¡± A young looking man who looked to still be in his teens got up from a table with several others at it. The young man had two three inch black horns jutting from his forehead. The boy¡¯s skin was a muddy red color. He must be a Vedrin I keep hearing of. The young man started to walk too me yet one of his table mates put a foot out and tripped him.

    I frowned and watched him fall on his face embedding his horns on the floor. The man who tripped him stood up. There is no mistaking this bearded man for anything else than a dwarf. The man was only about four foot tall and so muscle bound that his shoulders are almost as long as his arms. Definitely someone you don¡¯t want to mess with, for he looks like he could crush rocks in his hands. I never saw someone so small with so much muscle on them. The young man was cursing at his dwarf friend.

    ¡°If any ones getting free ale it¡¯s me boy. Be a good lad and take my stuff back to ma room when you dun unstuck yourself.¡± The rest of the table laughed with the dwarf and everyone else in the room returned to their own food and drink. The Dwarf took one of the chairs at my table as I sat down. He grabbed both beers and chugged them.

    Wiping the remains off his mouth and burping he looked me over. ¡°So what ya want ta know?¡± Good question. I need more money, so I will pull more gold from the ground later. I will need some guards when I go to Coritiam¡¯s capital. I need to learn as much martial arts and sword fighting I can before the tournament. I think I got magic covered so all I need is to take advantage of my physical strength.

    ¡°In a week¡¯s time I need to hire some guards to take me and two others to Coritiam¡¯s capital. There will be one cart¡¯s worth of goods transported as well. So what I¡¯m looking for is a trustworthy group, and I don¡¯t want to hire just anyone at the mercenary guild.¡±

    ¡°That be a month¡¯s travel. Give me another beer and I can tell ya a good group who won¡¯t rob ya for ya goods no matter it¡¯s worth.¡± Hmm that sounds good. Let¡¯s ripen his mood. I look around and I wave one of the barmaids over.

    ¡°Sir can I get you something?¡± the barmaid I waved over was rather plain looking.

    ¡°Yes bring us two mugs of a drink stronger than your standard fair.¡±

    ¡°That would be 20 copper sir.¡± That makes it ten a mug, if memory serves that is there strongest drink they had in stock. I handed her the money and she left.

    ¡°Lad I think I like ya. What ya bee looking for is Herrits band. Just wonder off to the merc guild tomorrow and ask for Herrits band. They be skilled and won¡¯t disappoint ya. If they accept ya, and price not too steep for ya.¡± He laughed a good bellow then smiled as the barmaid put the drinks in front of us. ¡°You my friend may call me Brack.¡± I watch him chug his drink wile I take a few swallows of mine. Nice name sounds a lot like brick and just by looking at him he may as well be.

    ¡°Herrits band? How many are they? What jobs do they usually take?¡± I take a few spoonfuls of my soup as Brack finishes off his beer. Yup taste like chicken. I was right in assuming it was the local equivalent to chicken. Brack burps loudly as he slams the mug on the table. I give him a smile and eat more of my soup.

    ¡°They be two shy of twenty.¡± Hmm¡­ 18 not bad. ¡°They caravan guard mostly, not once have they failed to bring one threw the death wastes.¡±

    ¡°Death wastes? What is that and were?¡± Brack raises an eyebrow at me.

    ¡°Were you been dat you don¡¯t know the Waist¡¯s?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t matter please explain.¡± A barmaid showed up and put the drinks in front of us both.

    ¡°Here you go sir¡¯s. Will there be anything else?¡±

    ¡°No not at this time.¡± I waved her away without looking at her. She left. I waved at brack to continue. ¡°Please enlighten me.¡± Brack picks up his drink and lightly sips it and smiles.

    ¡°Good drink. The Death waist¡¯s be the rout from here to Vedrin land. It be a desert of death. Bandits and monsters lurk there.¡± A desert trade rout. ¡°The death waist be dangerous trade route ta take. It is the fastest rout from here to one of their big cities.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ interesting. Also I¡¯m looking for someone to train me a little in the use of a sword. Know anyone?¡± Brack put down his half-drunk drink and massaged his beard with his other hand.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    ¡°There are plenty lad. They keep a whole list of whose available in town and beyond at the guild.¡± Brack stood up and patted me on the shoulder. ¡°Good luck to ye.¡± Taking his drink with him he left to the hallway for the rooms. Good information. All I need now is to buy a cart and a canvas to cover the gold I¡¯m going to place in it. It is going to be heavy, so I need another horse as well.

    Looking back to my soup I finish it off. I spend the rest of the night gathering information from the local patrons from time to time. I would have experimented with magic but I didn¡¯t want to do that within city limits were every one could see.

    I was just getting bored out of my skull when the twin elves walked into the room and sat at my table. They ordered food as did I. The elven woman payed for their own meal. Apparently they can withdraw from a fund at city banks as they travel. Looking at them I tell them my plan for the day.

    ¡°After the meal I will trade my horse and purchase two horses bred for hauling carts. Then we shall head out of town. I want to experiment a little with magic then you will see how I plan to fund my activities. After that I¡¯m headed to the mercenary guild to hire an escort to the capital of Coritiam.¡± Both elves just stared at me.

    ¡°Explain?¡±

    ¡°Why would you need an escort, do you not have us to guard you, are you not a powerful sorcerer?¡±

    ¡°First it is for appearances. I don¡¯t want to look like some regular person when I arrive at the capital. As for my power, I have no experience in fights against other magic users. Who knows there may be some with some random bandit group. I¡¯m just trying to cover myself so I could concentrate on the magic user instead of his buddies.¡±

    ¡°Wise.¡±

    ¡°Not a bad plan. To really make an impression we suggest a band of mercenary¡¯s around 20 strong.

    I look at both women. ¡°How skilled are you with weapons? Would you be willing to train me in the use of the sword?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°We are proficient but will not teach you. We will only spar and not explain a thing. We are advisers and guards not teachers.¡± Well there goes that idea. Guess I do need to hire someone.

    ¡°Very well then I shall hire someone to teach me.¡± Both women looked at each other then back to me. What now?

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Why? You have great magical capability why fight with a sword.¡±

    ¡°Simple its back up incase my magic fails or someone gets through it. I also want to take advantage of my physical capabilities as well.¡± They both just stare at me. ¡°It¡¯s better to have the skill and not need it then need it and not have it.¡± They both nod and eat their food in silence as it is delivered.

    After the meal we went to the local horse seller just outside the east gate. I was able to get a good deal for the horses. I learned how to sense lies with passive magic last night when I was asking for information from the inns patrons. When I negotiated prices for the horses I was happy with the results for the seller is an honest business man, imagine that.

    The cart seller on the other hand was not so honest. He tried to lie about the makers and the quality of the wood for the carts. I showed some magic and demanded a fair and accurate price and told him I can tell he was lying. I will just say he was fairly rebuffed and backed down.

    I purchased a four wheeled cart with a bench for a driver. It was a dwarven made cart that had a steel reinforced frame. The wheels were steel as well, for I didn¡¯t want to replace the wheels on the road. With the two large horses I purchased and the cart I could probably transport close to 700 pounds safely.

    Driving the cart away from town we traveled about two miles away. I stopped the cart and got off. The twins got off their horses as well.

    ¡°I will need you to lead the horses for a bit is that all right?¡± The twins looked at me with questions in their eyes. ¡°We are going off the road for a bit and I will lift the cart. It would be less of a hassle if you could lead the horses so I don¡¯t have to lift them as well. I don¡¯t think they would like it if I do that.¡± They both nod, and I unharness the horses form the cart.

    Looking at the cart I raise my arm to it in a lifting motion. The cart rises up into the air. Ha this hardly required anything to do. Mana use is negligible and seems to be maintained by just intent. I think I can keep this thing in the air with hardly a thought.

    ¡°Do or do not, there is no try. Eat your heart out Yoda. HAHA the force is with me.¡±

    ¡°Do?¡±

    ¡°What? Who is Yoda?¡±

    ¡°Never mind that just temporary insanity, Follow me.¡± I wave the twins after me with my other arm. I maneuver the cart threw the trees for a good hour before finding a small clearing. I set the cart down.

    ¡°This is a good place.¡± Looking at both elves in the eyes I smile. ¡°I will now show you how I intend to fund my activities.¡± Turing away from them I walk to the center of the small clearing. Ok gold extraction time. I don¡¯t want to be detected by any one in town so I can¡¯t have a wide spell. Yes I can drive the spell deep and extract from below. I sit down in the grass cross legged, with both arms in front of me palms out. ¡°Program, element gold, extraction five miles deep, shape cone, origin small to large, form sphere before me, execute.¡±

    I feel the mana in the air flow into me and mix with my own before it flows into the ground below me. I wonder how much I should gather before cutting the spell. I look before me as a trickle of gold starts to form. Just a little amount of my attention is required to maintain the spell. All I have to do is keep feeding it mana and it keeps working as intended.

    A sphere starts to form in front of me. The sphere grew one foot across before the twins spoke.

    ¡°Gold?¡±

    ¡°Is that real?¡±

    ¡°Yes this is real gold. It is not fake. I¡¯m pulling the gold directly out of the ground. Specifically I¡¯m gathering all the scattered molecules of gold that is underground and condensing them so they can visibly be seen. All I¡¯m doing is gold mining with magic.¡±

    ¡°Amount?¡±

    ¡°How much do you plan on gathering?¡± I turn my head to look at them while not moving my arms.

    ¡°What? not surprised I can take gold out of ground were none can be found?

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°No we are not. We felt your power before you learned to suppress it.¡±

    ¡°Ok. I plan to fill the cart.¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Do not do that it would be unwise.¡±

    ¡°Then what would you suggest I need a lot of money if I want to gather enough attention to get a title.¡±

    ¡°Cover.¡±

    ¡°You can place a lot of gold in the cart but we sagest you cover it with another metal to hide the gold. Less likely to get robbed when we bring it back to town.¡± I frown. I can¡¯t believe I forgot about that possibility. Ok this is going be tricky.

    ¡°You are right. Ok this is how I¡¯m going to do it. I will form ingots out of this gold and stack them in the cart. After I get an amount I¡¯m satisfied with I will change the spell to another metal and cover the gold. I returned my full attention to my spell, and increased the flow of mana to speed up the collection.

    I collected the gold tell I had a sphere before me that was six feet across. I cut the spell and kept the sphere suspended. Concentrating I start to pull 6x2x2 inch ingots out of the sphere. Each ingot I pull out I form a skull with flames above its head on each one. Using the first one as a template I was able to change the entire sphere and stack them in the cart in under an hour.

    With the last bit of gold I made a foot long cylinder that was almost three inches thick. I form a hollow in its center then cut it into a 24 rings. Conjuring some cloth I wrap up the rings and tie it to my belt. I will use this to hire the escort.

    ¡°Picture?¡±

    ¡°Why did you put this picture on each ingot?¡± Tiat I think her name was standing at the back of the cart and was holding one of the ingots.

    ¡°That will be my coat of arms.¡±

    ¡°Interesting.¡± Miat was sitting sideways on the carts seat and was peering at all the gold with wide eyes. I don¡¯t think either of them has ever seen so much gold in one place.

    ¡°Interesting choice, this will definitely gather attention.¡±

    ¡°That was my goal it would be hard to miss and mistake. Now time to cover the gold.¡± I raise my hand out in front of me then pause. ¡°What should I cover it with?¡±

    ¡°Iron.¡±

    ¡°Iron would be good. But I don¡¯t think the horses could pull the cart well with more weight.¡±

    ¡°I will cast a light weight spell on it.¡± Both woman nod like it was expected. Casting the collection spell I gather iron and cover the gold with two layers of iron. I did not put my coat of arms on the iron ingots. Looking up into the sky to gage the time I decide it¡¯s time to head to the merc¡¯s guild. ¡°Alright I¡¯m done here. Let¡¯s head out.¡± Just as I was about to lift the cart I heard something pushing through the bushes loudly.

    ¡°Troll.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like a troll.¡± Both woman unslung their bows and nocked an arrow and pointed it towards the sound. I waved at both girls to get their attention.

    ¡°Let me handle this I need the experience.¡± They both nod and lower their aim, arrows still nocked. I turn back to the sound just in time to see a 9 foot creature come out of the woods. It was hunched over like a gorilla with massive arms and dark gray skin. Its face was flat and ugly reminiscent of a pug dog. It looked like it had taking massive amounts of steroids, for it looked like it had muscles on muscles. It stopped and looked at us. It opened its mouth and roared and started to charge the girls.

    I immediately raised my hand and imagined a invisible wall in front of it. It smacked into the invisible wall and backed up a step with a confused look on its ugly face. I box it in with three more walls. The walls I put in front of it and behind it are 15 feet tall. I look back to the twins. ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Troll.¡±

    ¡°It is a rock troll from the wastes.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s it doing out here?¡±

    ¡°The wastes are just north of us. Rock trolls don¡¯t come here often so it either got chased off by something stronger or food up there is scarcer then normal.

    ¡°Ok what¡¯s the normal way to kill it? Is it resistant to magic?¡± the rock troll roared out in anger and started to pound the invisible wall in front of it. I chuckled at it, for my magic walls handled the force just fine.

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not immune to magic, and its skin is quite flammable. Trolls have high regeneration so slowly beating it to death is not optional. Decapitation, drowning, suffocation are also ways to rid yourself of them.¡±

    Crossing my arms I look upon its futile efforts to get at us. How shall I kill this thing? This is a good opportunity to experiment. I walk up to the invisible wall and rub my chin looking at the troll. The trolls anger increases and it growls at me foaming at the mouth with bloodshot eyes. Let¡¯s try manipulation of space. I cover the top of the invisible box so nothing can escape.

    I form a barrier inside its body and start to expand it. For a few seconds the troll kept raging then stopped with a stupefied look in its eyes. Then it screamed loudly and started to claw its chest. I kept expanding the barrier inside of it bringing the troll to its knees desperately clawing at its own chest breaking the skin. Its eyes roll up and it falls on its face. I keep expanding the barrier as it rips the troll open exposing all its insides to open air.

    Looking it over with my mana sense I confirm its dead. I guess crushing its organs and splitting it open kills it as well. I point a finger at the corpse.

    ¡°Incinerate.¡± A blue flame covers the rock troll¡¯s corps faster than I could blink and consumes the corpse in a matter of seconds. I sigh. ¡°Weak.¡±

    ¡°Sorcerer.¡± I turn my head from the ashes dropping the invisible box.

    ¡°You are a powerful sorcerer. It is a given that you could kill it so easily.¡± I close my eyes and nod.

    ¡°Fair enough, let¡¯s head back to town.¡± I look up into the sky. ¡°We have about 4 hours of light left.¡± They both nod as they head to the horses. I maneuver the cart back to the road, and lower its weight as the girls hook up the horses to it. Showing the magic emblem allowed us to get back into town without having to pay its toll. It is time to find me some merc¡¯s.

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    The mercenary guild building in Farin was the third tallest building in town after the city hall and the local Nobles mansion. Well it¡¯s the third tallest if you don¡¯t count some of the trader warehouses. The metal reinforced double doors in the front were wide open.

    I Left the twins to watch the cart. I had asked them to purchase a thick canvas to cover the metal with, and then I would meet them back at the Inn. I walked into the building and the first thing I see is a long counter. The counter had iron bars coming out of it that reached the ceiling. I guess that¡¯s to protect the workers from disgruntled clients.

    There were six lines being served. People of all shapes and sizes were receiving money or being handed some papers. Some left and others went down a hallway that looked like it stretched the whole length of the building. Well this is a set up I recognize from my old world. I guess bureaucracy is universal go figure.Getting in a line I wait my turn. The line reduced quickly, and It was now my turn.

    ¡°How can I help you?¡± Behind the counter was a homely looking woman in her late thirties. She was looking at some list or ledger that she was writing on.

    ¡°Two things: I want to hire a good sword trainer, and I¡¯m looking to hire Herrits band.¡±

    ¡°Last I heard Herrit is in the building today. He will be at the end of the hall in the common room.¡± She stopes writing and looks me over. ¡°Length of the training?¡±

    ¡°I want someone who is willing to travel with me for about a year. There is a tournament I want to prepare for.¡±

    ¡°Then I guess you are after someone who is a skilled trainer who can train you at your pace, correct?¡± I nod. ¡°Then you are in luck a trainer just finished his last contract and has come to this branch looking for more work. It will be 50 silver for the reference.¡± Damn.

    ¡°Why so expensive for just the reference?¡±

    ¡°He is a skilled trainer with years of experience as a gladiator in the Vedrin Arena. Which means he was a former slave who earned his freedom with skill in combat.¡±

    ¡°That sounds impressive.¡±

    ¡°It is, for he is only the third this century to accomplish this feat most just die.¡±

    ¡°Sounds good.¡± I pass over the silver. ¡°Were do I meet him?¡± she writes something on a small piece of paper and stamps it with what I guess is the guild seal.

    ¡°Here.¡± She pushes forward two identical pieces of paper. She also hands me a quill. I look at the quill and see a mana trail. The quill was tied to the counter so you could not take it far away. The quill was also tied to what looks like a barrel full of ink. Nice! A pen by magic. I look at the papers. ¡°Please put your sign on the bottom of each paper. If you have a signet ring just press it to the paper and it will be imposed into it.¡±

    I pick up the quill and sign Richard Coldfire in English on both papers. I hand them back to her and she frowns and pushes them back to me. ¡°I didn¡¯t say to write runes on the paper sir wizard just your sign.¡± Well that¡¯s new information. I guess the English alphabet are considered runes here.

    ¡°I did. I wrote my name out in runes.¡± I push the papers back. She looks back at me with a weary look. I look at the papers and could see the letters I wrote glow a little with my mana sense. Damn I hope nothing happens.

    "Yes, sorry sir wizard. I had just thought you were enchanting the paper for extra security.¡±

    ¡°No just my name, and I was trained as a sorcerer not a wizard.¡± I could of swore I saw a hint of fear for a second before what I guess is her poker face returned.

    ¡°Sorry about that sir it is my mistake.¡± She passed one paper back to me. ¡°Give this to Gravin two doors down the hall so he will know you are interested in hiring him. If he chooses not to work for you come back to this counter, and present this paper, and you will be refunded two thirds your referral.¡± She gives me a slight bow.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± I pick up the paper and proceed to the hallway. The second door in the hallway had a painting of an armored man with crossed arms ?looking at a boy swinging a sword attached to it. Well is that just obvious. Opening the door I walk in. There are a few people in the room standing and talking. The room was covered in paintings of many types of training, physical, swords, bows, magic and even horse riding.

    Looking around I could see weapon racks all lined up on one side of the room. I notice that everyone in the room was looking at me.

    ¡°Can we help you?¡± A bald leather armored man in his mid-forties takes a step towards me.

    ¡°I¡¯m looking for Gravin.¡± The man clicks his tongue with an irritated look crossing his face, he points his thumb over his right shoulder.

    ¡°He¡¯s in the back.¡± I nod and pass threw them. There is a single man sitting on a single chair at a small table. He is smoking something and looking at me. He has one single broken horn on his forehead. The man wore studded leather armor and his face was scarred and wrinkled with what appeared to be a permanent scowl beaten into it.

    I walk up to him and he puts a gloved hand out, it is missing a finger. I pass him the referral paper. He glances at the bottom of the paper quickly and sets it down. He gives me a long slow look over.

    ¡°Why would a wizard need training in physical combat?¡±

    ¡°Sorcerer, I don¡¯t want to rely completely on my magic. I want to be prepared in case I¡¯m deprived of its use.¡±

    ¡°How long?¡± this guy jumps strait to the point.

    ¡°About a year I¡¯m preparing for a tournament. Anything further we can negotiate when the time comes.¡± I take two of the gold rings out and hand them to him. He looks at them both and places them in the pouch on his side after biting each. This guy didn¡¯t even flinch or change expression the whole time.

    ¡°When¡±

    ¡°In five days we will be leaving to the capital. We will form up in front of this building in the morning on the fith day.¡±

    ¡°Walk, horse or carriage?¡±

    ¡°I will be driving cart with some trade goods you may ride beside me or on the cart, or on your own horse. You may store your gear in my cart.¡± Gravin nods.

    ¡°Acceptable I will be there. Do you have a weapon?¡±

    ¡°No I do not, is there one you would suggest?¡± Graven looks me over again then stands up.

    ¡°Follow me over here.¡± I Fallow him to the wall with all the racks of weapons, yet he goes to a rack that has 8 horizontal mounted three foot length bars of different colors. He picks up one and hands the end to me. ¡°Swing this a few times.¡± I do just that. He snorts and takes the bar back. ¡°Looks too easy for you.¡±

    ¡°Ya hardly felt that I was holding it.¡± I nod. He is still looking at me with his unchanging face. He squats down and takes hold of the bottom bar. With some quick breaths he holds it, and lifts the bar standing up he turns to me. I can see the strain in his face.

    ¡°Take it.¡± I quickly grab the bar from him. I almost yank him off his feet. Woops I was thinking it was heaver. Taking a few swings one handed I could actually feel some weight with this bar. Graven whistles. ¡°Go ahead and put it back.¡± I place it back on the bottom of the rack. ¡°Now that I know the weight you can handle, Im going to assume you will need a free hand to cast spells.¡± I nod. ¡°I will go with you to the blacksmiths in town tomorrow to see what feels right for you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m staying at the Tired traveler inn. What time do you want to go look for a wepon to train me with.¡±

    ¡°Noon after first meal.¡± I nod and shake his hand.

    ¡°See you then¡± I turn and leave the room. Time to find me a merry band of mercenaries. This place keeps reminding me of a temp agency. Walking to the end of the hall, I enter into a large room that resembled a cafeteria. There is food being served to people on the one wall, and what resembled a long bar with stools on the other side. Well damn is there a bar and a restaurant in every building.

    There were a lot of people in here, most of them were armored and carrying weapons. The room was pretty loud, and many people were coming and going. Looks like people are showing some kind of token before they were giving a tray in the chow line in exchange for the token. This could be difficult to find Herrit. Walking to the closest group I ask for Herrits band. They directed me to the north east corner by the bar.

    I walked to the end of the bar, and found a group of four, a male human, female elf, male Vedrin, and a male dwarf¡­ its Brack.

    ¡°Brack my friend have you been drinking anything good.¡± Brack looked at me then jumped off his stool. We clasp arms as he reaches me.

    ¡°Good, good, you showed up. Was afraid ya weren¡¯t coming.¡± He turned towards the human and waved him over. ¡°Herrit this is the guy that wanted to hire us.¡± The other three got off their stools and came over to me.

    ¡°Greetings I am Feyallin Mroons.¡± I shook the hand of the brunet elf who presented a hand.

    ¡°I¡¯m Jerrit.¡± The vedrin male stood in the back of the group and gave me a nod that I returned.

    ¡°And I am Herrit Stills. It¡¯s good to see that you are real and not one of Brack¡¯s drunken delusions.

    ¡°Troll shit.¡± Everyone laughed as herrit presented a hand. I clasp wrists with him.

    ¡°I am Richard Coldfire pleased to meet you.¡±

    ¡°So Richard Coldfire how may my band of mercenary¡¯s help you.¡±

    ¡°Good of you to ask Herrit. I would like the escort of your whole band to the capital of this country.¡±

    ¡°Ok what are we guarding?¡±

    ¡°One Cart that has my goods in it, and yourselves mostly.¡±

    ¡°Not you?¡± The elf cocked her head and looked at me.

    ¡°I will be traveling with you but will take care of myself. I¡¯m a trained sorcerer.¡±

    ¡°So you want all 18 of my guys to guard your goods as we travel?¡±

    ¡°Yes essentially.¡± I give Herrit a nod as he scratches the stubble of a forming beard on his chin.

    ¡°So we are basically for show when you arrive at the capital?¡±

    ¡°Yes, and I may hire you further when we arrive.¡±

    ¡°Ok it is a month and a few day¡¯s trip to the capital. Let¡¯s talk price.¡± I give him a smile as I untie the cloth with the gold rings. Unwrapping it so all gold rings were exposed, yet unable to fall out I showed it to them.

    ¡°How long with this buy me?¡± All four of them went wide eyed. They were still staring at the gold as I rewrapped it. ¡°Well.¡± I gave them all a smile as I looked them all over.

    ¡°Boss the guys will kill you if you turn this down.¡± Jarrit spoke first.

    ¡°It is an easy job let¡¯s take it.¡± Fayallin put her hand on Herrits shoulder. Herrit looks me in the eye.

    ¡°With That amount you could have our services for two years if there are no unforseen expenses.. I don¡¯t want to overcharge a customer.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like a plan to me.¡± I smile even wider and motion for him to take the cloth of gold from me. Brack quickly snatches the gold from me and stuff¡¯s it into his leather armor. He looks left and right quickly.

    ¡°Its good boss no one else saw it.¡± Brack wipes some drool off his mouth before looking at Herrit. Herrit is looking at him with a frown.

    ¡°Well lord Richard looks like you have hired us. I must ask you to give us a few days to prepare. I assume we will meet in front of this building.

    ¡°That¡¯s the plan. Is meeting at the front on the morning in five day¡¯s ok with you.¡±

    ¡°Yes it is lord Richard.¡±

    ¡°Please call me just Richard. Why are you calling me lord by the way?¡± Harrit looks at me confused for a few seconds.

    ¡°All sorcerers and wizards are referred to as Lord even if they don¡¯t have a title. Wizards and sorcerers are uncommon enough that they are treated like low nobility.

    ¡°Very well I will see you in five days then.¡± Shaking his hand I turned and left. Exiting the building I see that Tiat and Miat had returned with the cart. Looking in I see that there was a thick canvas covering all the metal, for not a bit was showing. ¡°Let¡¯s head back to the inn and eat.¡± They both nod without a word

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    And here we go chapter 6 with 7195words. granted it was not my goal but it works.

    Once again i ask you to feel free to comment on just about anything you like or don''t like. I have 6 chapters so far please vote if you like it ^_^ keeps me motivated.

    Well thank you for reading. i hope you like it. Any suggestions or corrections are welcome.