《Black And White》 Chapter 1 - Grand Master Liam "Thinking back. I don''t know why I started training martial arts. was it because my friends were being bullied and I wanted to be able to help? was it because I wanted exercise? maybe I just thought it would be cool to do? but looking back I think "Oh damn I have wasted my life" for one main reason. its boring. I am bored. when I fight the world around me grinds to a halt and my opponents are down before I get any fun. many have challenged me. some at the Grand Master level were able to give me a fight worth remembering. trading blow for blow counter for counter. a true fight. with instincts sharpened from countless training sessions and forcing our bodies over the edge we stood at the perfection of the physical body. yet it wasn''t enough. I had the bright idea of becoming so strong that I didn''t need to be worried about anything. When I was a white belt I studied what I was given until I had mastered it. I repeated the basic patterns over and over again until I was satisfied that it was to the standard of black belts. I mastered Saju Jirugi and saju makgi to the point of being purfect. I could do it perfectly. only then did I progress. I was not satisfied until it was purfect. the technique had to be exact and I added the purfect amount of power." I said with a calm smile from the soft chair I was sitting "So why did you continue to train if you were bored and why did you continue to fight if you say you can''t lose?" the reporter asked me with a full camera crew behind her. "I still train to keep my self strong. a goal for someone to reach. if I can make it I believed someone else could to. I had only the strength of mind to do what I did. I never truly put my heart into it since at first it was just a hobby but I put my heart into it after my first fight. it was against Rebecca Yin. she beat me into the ground because I flipped her skirt. she asked me while I was in a pool of my own blood. "Are you sorry yet?" in an angry voice. she must have lost her under pants and she was furious. I laughed lightly. "You hit like a girl" I said with a smile before she left me in hospital. I never got a chance to react. I had trained so hard and someone had shown me that even with what I had done there was still a way to grow stronger. still more to learn. she had thought me 2 things. the first was never to flip a girls skirt or they will beat you into the ground and the second was that I could still grow. forget being a gifted child I was frail and the doctors said I would die at birth. but I just said screw that and still grew up nicely. that is why I still train and as for your second question. I never said I can''t lose. I have never lost however I hope and pray someone out there is stronger then me. it will do 2 things. show that even I have room to grow. show me where I am lacking. and it will give me the spark I need to continue. I stand strong so people can use me as a goal. aim for me and say to yourself. if he can do it then I can to. train and train and train some more. I will wait any and all challengers and I will mop the floor with you. if you manage to beat me then you have came far but martial arts has a lot more you can progress through then just me. but for now I will wait with hope that I get a good fight once more before I die" I said with a smile. "you say before you die. Is it true that you are at the 4th stage of cancer and you still refuse treatment?" the reporter asked and I smiled even more "Yes. I am an old man now. in my prime I was much stronger and faster then I am now. but I still have a death clock on myself to remind myself that even I with all my strength technique can still die. I am only human. in my prime I joked with the people I lost with about not worrying since it was I who challenged a mortal. like I was any different but it made good humour to make my opponents angry at me. if you can beat an opponent and make them happy they will just stop and say I lost and I except you are stronger but if you annoy someone to the point of true anger they will train and train and will never except that I could be at the top when I act like such a clown. I could extend my life a bit more but what would the point of that be. I have very little to do with my life any more and I have already revolutionised martial arts as we know it. however when someone is happy with their life they should have the right to say I am happy and have nothing more to do with my life" I said with a wise tone. "Nothing more to do, but Liam you have never had any friends or any girlfriends. is this true?" the reporter asked a bit confused. I have many times said I have never had them so I guess I should explain myself. "Friends. people who are close and you can talk to and share a drink with and generally have fun with. I have tried to have friends however they end up pushing themselves away before they get to close since I am way above them in martial ability and apart from martial arts I have nothing going for me. maybe my devilishly handsome looks but apart from that not much. so people see me as someone that can''t become a friend and more of a goal. and as for a girlfriend. the only women I have ever known closely have kicked the shit out of me or have lost to me. I knew them well only by the way they fought. so no that has never crossed my mind. I wish I could have friends and maybe a girlfriend but I am to old now." I said with a bit of a sadder voice. "Oh. that is all we have time for. there is more coming up after the break on Martial Artist World Champion Liam as we look back into the history of his martial art ITF TKD" the news reporter said while looking at the camera. I walked out of the studio and went home to my apartment. I walked into my bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. for a second I saw a flash of someone who had a joyful face yet it was one who had seen many fights. his eyes glew with the fire that burned brightly. his muscles were well toned and his hands were rough from training and his body only had a few marks on. but then the reality of time set in and there I was. I was an old man now, my eyes were empty even though my face would say I was happy. my muscles were wrinkled and torn but still strong. my techniques were better then they had ever been however a few old injuries were acting up leaving me sore. I felt slightly tired so I left the bathroom and went to my bed. I never made it all the way.... *BANG* Everything went out. my consciousness was gone my body fell limp and it was pure nothingness. the next thing I knew I was watching my own death on a tv on repeat showing it from multiple angles. the person who shot me was unfamiliar. he looked like he was just robbing my apartment but that must be wrong since my apartment is the worst place to rob. I may make a lot of money from winning martial arts tournaments but I only spend what I need and give the rest to charity. I see myself as good however I guess I was going to die eventually. but seriously. shot in the back of the head while getting into bed. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "HAHAHAAAHAAAAHAAAAAA. SO MUCH FOR STRONGEST. BLAM AND HE PAINTED THE WALLS A NEW SHADE OF RED. HAHAHAHAHAAAAA... oh your still here. I haven''t laughed like that for a while. I was suposed to give you 1 gift for your next life before removing your memory however that was damn hilarious. so I will let you role the dice and choose your fate with your memories intact" he said before handing me what looked to be a round ball but I could feel it. like a dice it had flat faces but it had countless faces. I looked carefully but I couldn''t see the words since they were so small. so this will decide my fate? I looked around and all I saw as a TV and a dice. everything else was a pure dark void. but I was standing on something so it had a floor. I rolled the dice with as much force as I could. it made no sound as it bounced across the abyss. when the dice stopped it had 1 word written on it. [Karma Scale] "THE WHAT? A KARMA SCALE? WE HAD ONE OF THOSE?" the voice asked loudly making my non-existent insides rumble. is he a god? "HE? I AM THE GREAT GODDESS OF CREATION AND YOU CALL ME GOD? HOW WOULD YOU PREFER BEING A FEMALE IN YOUR NEXT LIFE HUH?" the voice said with a painful ear shatteringly loud voice. "I am sorry I made a guess. your voice is so loud it is hard for me to hear and if I made a mistake I am truly sorry." I said really not wanting to be a female in my next life. "WHA... what is so bad being a female. you were a female in your previous life and the life before that. your mind set is built from growth and socialisation of yourself as a guy but that was only ever because you were a mortal that you thought that. you were born a man and you grew up like a man. you never questioned any possibility other then you are a man. some men do and get a sex change but no you never questioned why you were born a man. it was because of your soul being cursed. a soul usually sticks to one gender unless it goes through a mutation it never changes gender or personality. but you are a rare occasion. a curse from your original universe banished you and forcing you into the universe you took residence in. making your physical structure and growth change drastically. I was actually offering to fix this" the goddess said in a much more normal voice. listening to it made my ears stop ringing and I felt calm. she felt like she was saying a bunch of BS so I decided it may be in my best interest to decline. "No thank you. even if I was a woman originally I am a man now so it would be awkward..." I tried to put my point across but someone already knew my argument. she must have planed this entire thing out. "Ok then. I will make you a man however...." damn bitch of a god who screwed me over why didn''t you just make me a female since that would have been so much easier to deal with. "I will impose something else onto you. here is another dice and it is full of some things that will give you a huge head start in the universe you are going back to" the goddess said making me shiver. the dice I had before was blue and relaxing. the one I am holding now feels like a time bomb waiting to go off and was glowing red. "What is the difference between the dice earlier and the dice now?" I asked and I wish I never did. "That dice is what we give people who piss us off" she said in a tone that could probably kill me if she wasn''t careful. was it because I called her a god or because I didn''t want to be a woman? she did kindly offer to go out of her way to help. maybe I should have just excepted? "Role the dice or I will do it for you." the goddess said and I without question rolled the dice. it went in a straight line just like last ...time ....wait what? I stand corrected. the dice span around and moved impossibly to show a face clearly chosen by the goddess with a ominous face up. [2 faced face: you get a positive and a negative decided at random forced onto you when you are born. the negative can be turned into a positive and the positive can be turned into a negative so be very careful of what you say and do] "Ahhh. I meant the other face... never mind that face is purfect I mean who needs [Torture In The 7th Layer Of Hell For All Eternity] anyway?" she said with a sarcastic almost saying ''shower me with your gratitude for I am your saviour who showed mercy''. hah. "isn''t that a little childish? I find it hard to believe the goddess of creation made a mistake like that so like hell I will believe you meant another face of the dice. I can''t even see the faces of them since there is so many so you could have picked any face and sure enough I would have been equally as screwed. also..." I feel a disturbance in the force. the darkness I was stood in glew white as a little immature looking girl came out of nowhere. long blond hair small in a white dress that looks like it is greek. maybe? all I know is she looks pissed. "I am childish?" the voice asked and I looked at her head to toe. "yep. you even have the body of a 10 year old" I said ignoring the overwhelming sense of death hanging over me. she looked down and her long hair blocked my vision of her face but my soul telling me to run was a good sign that she was angry. "are you a fool for trying to annoy me or are you just asking to die?" the goddess said confused. not all knowing then. "I think it is that I just don''t care about your power. and besides you are fun to annoy since it is like a game. you retaliate and I win" I said with a challenging smile. "ok then. you win" she said with a bright smile while looking right at me. I felt pure fear crawl up my spine but I kept a smile on my face. a goddess had to admit defeat. I am truly happy now. little did I know why my fighter senses were screaming since it was sensing something I had long forgotten but I ignored it foolishly since I reap what I sow. it is my fault if it is bad or good... +++++++++++++ I hope you enjoyed reading the first chapter of Black And White. if you have any personal ideas for the story let me know. also note the name is to represent the Karma and how it will measure any and all actions as either black or white. good or bad. no middle ground. Chapter 2 - A Mysterious Unknown Egg [Karma 0] [Distortion Ability: 1] [Evolution Stage: Egg] [Time Until Next Evolution: 1 week 2 hours and 53 minuets] I woke up in a bed feeling tired. my body was exhausted and my breathing was heavy. I tried to focus. I am a martial artist. I will calm down and just become a fighter again and see if this world has any fun to be had. I try and feel my body and namely my gender parts but I felt round. I wasn''t sure why but when I focused I saw a box that said I was an egg. I would look around but I don''t have eyes yet... wait what do I do if I am an animal that doesn''t have eyes. I hope I am humanoid at least. any other shape and my martial arts would be meaningless. wait... I am missing something. I need to wait 1 week? that is just... cruel. well since I have time to wait I may as well try and find out what a distortion ability is. but how do I use it? oh god don''t tell me I will be trying to use an ability like a drunk tries to use his legs. that would be embarrassing... (the distortion ability is set in stone. no choosing this I am afraid) Maybe I will have a flying evolution and I could fly around on my wings. no scratch that I need my feat on the ground to be able to fight how I am used to... aka I am not scared of heights. just falling from them. hang on. it says egg but what type of egg? am I a land snake? a bird? some sort of strange jellyfish? wait a jellyfish could work out... no, but humans don''t lay eggs. or does it mean I am an egg in my mothers belly? growing slowly? doubtfully. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.wait. dragons lay eggs. maybe? or I could be some sort of fantasy creature of legend? that could be cool. there are many cool myths about cool creatures... but this is a fantasy. could common things hatch from eggs. spiders hatch from eggs. I could be some sort of spider... but 8 legs may be hard to control at first. well maybe it will come natural? like how a baby spider can walk maybe I will be able to as well? wait. what if I am a summoned creature. I could be someone''s pet making me having a hard time to deal with things at first. oh god please don''t make me a pet. or if I am a nice house. wait if this is a fantasy could I be some sort of pet for the demon lord / king / abomination? scary thoughts... Hold it. what if... no that goddess wouldn''t would she? what if I am... (make your own idea) +++++++++++ What would you like our character to be. I have an idea for the story but there is so much to chose from so give a suggestion if you would like. if nobody gives me a suggestion I will (get depressed) just use a random Idea I pick out of a hat full of my random ideas. your suggestion could have a major impact on the story and if I think it sounds cool I could change a lot just for the awesomeness of 1 comment. Chapter 3 - Hatch [Your egg shell is now soft enough for you to break out of.] [Karma: 0] [Distortion Ability: 1] [Evolution Stage: Strange Baby Arachnid] [Information: You know absolutely nothing about your form or the world in general so you also don''t know what you can potentially evolve into] [Next Evolution: 2 days] [Stronger Evolutions can be accessed by acquiring DNA with a bite] FINALLY!!!! I got bored just waiting around to hatch. FREEDOoo..... I am a spider? I looked around and my egg was that of a spiders and my size was small. how did I know? because I was in a glass cage of some sort and there was a bunch of little kids looking at me. I guess they are technically older then me but yea they are just little kids at the ages of 7 years old maybe 8. and they are looking at me in amazement. they all had robes or armour on and they each looked like characters from some sort of rpg. there were elves beast men humans demons and a few unknown things but they looked so cool until they opens their mouths. they were so loud and I felt my body shaking from them pushing my glass case about. truly just brats like they were back in my old world. the teacher was failing to get them under control and they were surrounding me from all angles. my glass case was only a dome around the top of my case and the ground I stood on was soil. I was soon no longer standing on the soil when my case was pushed off the table and it fell sideways onto the ground making the glass shatter. the students were no longer all joyful and curious trying to see me through the glass they were now in a panic to get away from me. this gave me a view of the classroom and it looked like I was moved back over to Japan. besides that the magic crystal lights was much cooler then the light bulbs we have. "The Spider Is Out!!!" the students shouted pushing their way out the class room. what was I some sort of rare dangerous spider? I was unmoving standing where my cage was and as the teacher noticed this he stopped trying to get all the children out the class and looked at me curiously. when all the children were out the class room he shut the door and made some sort of barrier around the class room. [Karmatic Event: You have reached the point of making a decision that will influence your Karmatic Abilities by setting yourself on the road of being a good hero or being a selfish monster. of course it could just show if your a nice guy or a general jerk] [Good Karma Choice: Remain still and let yourself get put into captivity again. this will mean nobody gets hurt and the trust others will show you will be greatly increased] [Bad Karma Choice: bit the teacher and escape. this will mean you are no longer in captivity and are a free spider however you don''t know the effects of your bite so you will knowingly be taking the risk of a horrible painful death on the teacher or nothing at all and the trust shown by others will be decreased] "now that is strange. why are you not moving?" he asked himself not thinking I was able to respond. I wasn''t since I had no voice and my mouth was only good for basic tasks. he walked slowly towards me and hulled out another glass case. not wanting to get trapped again I took a few slow steps back and analysed my situation more carefully, is being good truly worth being in captivity? I am a nice guy and would prefer being food but is it worth it? Maybe my Karma will give me something cool though? "Easy there. you can''t go anywhere and I will make sure the kids leave you alone this time. you can''t escape little buddy so just calm down and relax" he said again to himself but in a soothing tone. I wonder if I can bide my time and just evolve slowly under everyone''s noses? that may be effective. however being domesticated by weak children may make it hard to grow. but before that I need to test something. "Distortion" I said but it came out as a screech. nothing happened. why did nothing happen? [Distortion Ability: 1] [Distortion Ability Information: the distortion ability is the use of your ideas to alter perception to the point of illusions. whoever is looking at you when you use it is forced under the effects of the Distortion Ability. only effects people with eyes and people looking at you even if it isn''t directly. Distort the senses of people. Control lasts 1 minuet and the time will increase with the level of the ability. how effective it is depends on you] Ahhh. That sounds pathetic. just illusions? what is with my horrible luck? [Luck: -9999 :P] Goddess Of Creation... I will make you pay for this. wait I was supposed to get a good ability as well. maybe I can make this into a good ability if I use it right? it only failed because I didn''t actively distort anything... but with the options I have in mind... I let him pick me up and put me in the glass cage. I felt sleepy anyway so I was in no mood for a fight. [Karma: 5] [Karmatic Rating: A Nice Arachnid] [Good Aura: people will be more trusting of you and if you do something good more people will recognise it with a chance of them ignoring something bad. ability grows with Karma Stat] "The spider is back in its case. now I need to write a report and get some stronger glass." he said before putting my case down on a table. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "Just hold on tight here buddy. your owner will be here soon to assess the damage and I will be able to find out how you are so well trained you didn''t go to bite anyone" the man said before walking out the sliding door and shutting it. I took a deeper moment to assess the situation. I was on the teachers desk or a Japanese style class room. on the black board was a full biological description of me... dear god what the hell am I? [Evolution Stage: Baby Mist Spider] [Information: Not much is known about this spider. it can give off a strange mist from its body that turns to a dense fog. this fog makes vision near impossible but is completely harmless on its own. the spider is thought to be able to see through the fog and can control it to the point of making shapes out of the fog and when the fog is no longer needed it can make the for dissipate. its Bite is paralysing and can make people unable to move for 30 minuets after they have been bitten while they can''t kill you the adults have never been captured so nothing is known about what they could possibly turn into. the baby''s don''t have the ability to make a web but it is unknown if this ability is gained later in life] seriously. what the hell am I? I am pathetic. no actual combat abilities? damn it this is useless. the bite may be useful but then what? drain the creature of blood until it dies? I am not big enough to do that much. my strength is only that of a spider so however... my kicking is now much more effective with 8 legs instead of 2? look on the bright side. I will just wait it out until I am huge and then I will eat them all. wait I am starting to hear someone talking. I turn to face the door and wait... "...nd that is why it is unwise to just" the teacher from earlier said in a panicked voice. "NO!!! it is my spider so it will listen to me" I heard from a spoiled little brat. ohh I am so testing my bite on her first chance I get. the door opens to the embodiment of spoiled little princess who is practically emitting the aura of "I am in charge and you will listen to me" the little girl said to me through the glass with a sign on her back saying spoiled rich noble who has never faced the real world in her life... wow I hit the nail on the head. she had long red hair in a twin tail and red eyes and a bright red dress with a fire design on it. gee I think she uses water magic. She grabbed the case and removed the glass part keeping me caged and then the teacher knocked her out using 1 swift knife hand strike to the back of the neck and then swiftly put the glass case back on. I emitted a small amount of mist and formed a wall of mist in-between her and me. the teacher could still see me from where he was standing and looked to get the message he was an average looking business man. he had glasses, a suit and short brown hair. "its ok. just try not to bite her or I won''t see the end of it and you will be killed on the spot" he said with a smile full of pity. "squeak" I said just making a squeaking noise. he just quietly took the girl away. [Satiety reaching dangerous levels 2/10] oh damn it... I look around for food, anything to eat but I was left without. my glass case was empty. please come back with something to eat or I will die again. you must know how to take care of a pet right? you feed it instead of leaving it in a box with nothing. I look around for something to feed on. anything, I then looked at the black board for anything that could help me. I looked up and down and then felt like an absolute idiot. it says that I can drain either blood or Mana with my bite. I then look around. I have 2 sets of eyes. 1 set looks at light and the other looks at Mana. the soil and anywhere those kids have been is full of Mana. I took a bit from the soil and it tasted nice. I didn''t eat dirt I just absorbed the Mana. I am crazy not stupid. [Satiety 10/10] I stop draining when I am at 10 satiety. this is useful. I look to the window and it looks like it is night time. the moon made the classroom I was in bright enough to see in. I would look outside but the desk I am only shows trees and a bit of the night sky. I can''t even see the moon from where I am. I just need to wait and then I will be fully grown. I don''t feel sleep though. I just decide to shut my eyes and wait for something to happen... +++++++++++++ Karma choices. I will now only put significant choices at the end of a chapter leaving a decision up to you. is he picking the bad choices or is he picking the good choices. of course there will be something fishy about the karma choices but if you discover it say nothing. it is a key plot element that anyone with an idea of what good and bad means will know. Also note that I had him pick the good option since he has no idea if he actually could escape if people could go around using all sorts of magic and skills. he would just risk making himself look bad so there was no real choice for him there. but this was an example of how it will work. Chapter 4 - Karma I opened my eyes the next day to find the classroom mostly empty. I guess it was a Saturday or something? the only person that was there was the annoying red head from yesterday looking at me through the glass of my cage. she looked like she was still in a bossy mood so I filled the entire glass case with a dense fog. "Spider. I guess you are slightly intelligent like the teacher said. look. I won''t shout so would you please show yourself" the girl said sounding less then enthusiastic. I removed the fog and she actually smiled. I had my bets on her not being able to. at least the person who temporally owns me isn''t completely heartless. "yay. you showed yourself. now its time to work out a name. how about Ruby or Sara? the girl asked. or even Mini Wendy" she said while announcing her name as Wendy almost blatantly ignoring the fact I am a male. I made my case foggy again and she looked shocked. "what? do you not like my names? what''s the problem?" she asked angrily making me slightly frustrated. how on earth do I tell her I am not a female without the ability to talk?... wait... "Distortion" I said although it sounded nothing more then a squeak. Wendy my owner would be treated to a nice surprise... Wendy''s POV I stood up from my crouching position next to the spider cage. what did I do this time? I tried being nice and he just ignores me. "Hello there mortal" said a strange high pitch voice that came from the cage. I looked at the cage confused but then it came again. "mortal. hey mortal are you listening to me. try and give me a girls name again and the lest you would have to worry about is me biting you. I am a man. are we clear?" the spider asked from within the cage. I found it impossible to believe but it was talking to me... "erm... if I agree to call you a man''s name will you stop ignoring me?" I asked hoping for my pet to at least acknowledge my existence. if a beast tamer can''t even tame their beasts it is the end of their road... I would be a laughing stock... "ok then mortal. however if you act like a spoilt little brat around me again and...." the creature started to say before I felt very cold very fast. I felt a set of really big sharp pointy teeth aiming directly into my throat but once I turned around all I saw was a bit of mist blowing away in the wind... so my spider is slightly stronger then I thought it was... it needs to be a grade S to talk and a grade SS to even think about sending magical power outside of that glass cage. and no beast tamer has ever gotten a grade A monster under their belt let alone an SS class... Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. "ok then... what name would you like?" I asked hoping it wouldn''t be hard to remember. "Liam." was the name my spider chose. at least it isn''t hard to remember. "great. together Liam. we shall take over the world!!!" I said with enthusiasm and then started laughing slightly at the thought. "so Liam. how exactly are you able to talk?" I asked a bit worried at the answer. as a beast tamer with the rank I have I am unable to control any beast higher then F ranked... [A Karmatic Event Has Been Reached} [Chose your next actions carefully as they will influence your Karma] [Good Karma Choice: Tell the truth to your owner about your powers. this could lead to unwanted consequences] [Bad Karma Choice: Lie to your owner and risk it being exposed to your owner at a later date that you are a liar.] --------------------------------------- Yes. I have been wanting to make this chapter longer. Yes. I am just going to let you chose what happens since this is very influential to the plot. if the good option is chosen the gig is up. its only an illusion and an illusion only messes with the senses. it doesn''t change what is actually happening. if it is let known that his power is to create such a thing you can imagine the consequences of telling the truth however telling a lie only to be uncovered later if it is allowed could have devastating effects to the social bonds the MC will form. Just to let this be known. chapters will be a lot longer once I solidify where the will be going and that banks heavily on the decisions you let him make. be it good or evil