ã€ŠElemental World Chaosã€‹


 Intro and first chapter: A bad evening

    Intro

    The Watchpoint Midpoint of the Multiverse, Earth 2015, Vamon 1012 AD

    The old man was tired. Still he looked at the lightly glowing crystal ball with the same intensity as he had been doing for hours. But the more he looked the more he came to the same conclusion: The barriers were breaking. The barriers separating the three worlds: Earth, Vamon and Abyss.

    Suddenly with a sigh the old man relaxed and started to look around his house. It was a small house in the style of the middle age but the insides were more comfortable than the outside suggested. 2 Floors made out of stone with dark woods lining the floors. There were Bookshelves on every wall at the ground floor and in the middle of the room a small launch table stood with 3 very cozy looking couch chairs. Next to the Launch was a small kitchen that surprisingly had a very modern look with electric oven and things that didn''t really match the rest of the house.

    The old man was on the first floor that was one big room with a bed to the side 1 bookshelf and a big table with a chair and a crystal ball in the middle. His gaze fell on the woman that was standing still and expressionless next to the stairs awaiting his orders. The woman seemed to be around 30 years old had pale almost white skin and dark almost black eyes. A slender and very trained body was wrapped in a maid outfit.

    The old man sighed again and said with a grave voice: "It seems we cannot wait any longer. I cannot get involved with the worlds anymore but you can at least ... get a stone rolling. I can give you at least that much power. Find him. All we can do now is bet on our last hope." The Maid gave no response but a bow. But that was enough.

    The old man closed his eyes and his right hand started to give of a faint light no more of an aura. He went towards the stairs and tipped on the maids forehead while muttering inaudible words. Sweat started to appear on his brow but he kept chanting. After a while the glow faded and the old man opened his eyes. The Maid had vanished instead a figure completely clad in a cape that seemed to absorb any light nearby. The old man took a deep breath and only said: "go". After his companion left he faced towards the stars above his tiny island that was hanging in the middle of space. Blackness all around and stars and planets could be seen in the distance. "Godspeed my child. If you fail, all worlds will end."

    Intro2

    A Room in Lannon Castle in Vamon, Earth 2015, Vamon 1012 AD

    Two men and a woman were sitting around a small table in a dimly lit room withing the castle of Lannon Continent. The human Kingdom of the Vamon World. The woman dressed in a lovely light blue dress was lazily drinking some whine glancing to the two men who both were black cloaks that completely hid their appearance.

    The woman began speaking with a voice that sounded so pleasant it could enslave you by just listening to her speak: "So... what you are saying is that the old geezer will definitely find someone capable of reuniting this world. Fair enough. I understand how this could hinder the lords plans but what exactly does that have to do with me? I have done my part so far. What do you expect me to do?"

    The woman who seemed to be in her mid twenties looked more and more irritated the longer she spoke. From her perfect posture and behavior no one would suspect but inside she was nervous. Very nervous. If her Lord was by any chance not pleased with her work... She didn''t want to think about it. The two men didn''t answer. The longer the silence lasted the more nervous the lady became. But she wouldn''t show it. She might not look it but she has been doing the political dance for more than fifty years. She wouldn''t loose her calm so easily.

    One of the cloaks broke the silence. "The Lord commands." With those three words the lady tensed. She slowly put down her stood up and kneeled in front of the two men. "This servant listens to his masters commands." Both men stood up, one went towards the door while the other said. "Prepare a summoning. The Lord has prepared sufficient evidence that will point towards a demon war and a Beast crisis. The Lord has detected 5 suitable souls on earth. Bring them here as heroes and destroy the demons and the Beast tribes. That should create sufficient disorder for the plan to proceed smoothly as well as stop that pesky old wizard." With this the man went to the other man and they left.

    The lady still kneeling whispered into the empty room: "This servant hears his masters wishes and obeys." With that she stood up. She had a lot to do.

    Chapter 1: A bad evening

    A Bridge on Earth, Earth 2015, Vamon 1013 AD

    Man I was tired. I have spent all day trying to get that computer working. Earlier that morning my good friend Rich called me and asked if i could come over fix his computer that wasn''t working anymore. Took me eight hours to figure out that the main board is broken. Basically the first thing i should have checked but well I am kinda clumsy. I tend to forget things easily and somehow i often mess up. But its not to bad.

    My name is or should i say was? Max and i was a 26 year old IT freak well at that time i studied IT as well. I was not hard working you could even say i was kinda lazy but i would say that i had compassion and i treasured my friends. So if asked i''d say even though i might not have been an amazing person i was at least a decent person.

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    Anyway that would change. Pretty soon even. But back to my story yes, i am going to tell you my story. The story about the collapse of the worlds, the story of a young man who the universe decided to give a real f*ck over. I mean seriously? You fucking kidding me what you have thrown at me? But i digress. On that fateful day i was as i said coming back on the bus from my friend rich. I was tired and fed up and a little bit stoned still. Well it gotta have good sides fixing someones computer right?

    Except for me only a young mother with her about eleven year old daughter were riding the bus. The girl had crimson hair. Yeah seriously crimson, never before have i seen this kind of red. Really fascinating. Not thinking about anything my eyes fall on the really really cute face of the young girl. She shyly smiles and i involuntarily smile back.

    Suddenly everything happens at once. I only hear a loud crash and already i am flying through the bus. Whats happening? uff. My back hits something. I let out a moan and open my eyes. Half the bus is hanging over the edge of a bridge and a hole is opened towards the fast flowing river. What the f*ck? Before i can collect myself my heart almost stops. The girl was hanging only on the almost torn coat outside of the bus. If the coat rips she is done for.

    Until today i don''t know what made me do it. I mean seriously I am not a hero! I wouldn''t say that I am a villain but i normally only do things that interest me or where i get something out of it. But well somehow i had this feeling i would forever regret it if anything were to happen to this little girl.

    I could see the cloak ripping. With all my might i jumped towards the girl and the hole in the bus. Just as she was about to fall i catch her but... fuck no no no no i loose my balance. Desperate i try to reach for the seats in front of me. The bus is sideways by the way with one side over the bridge and the hole in the bus facing downwards towards pretty strong flowing river. It had been raining a lot lately. Gravity takes its course and we start falling.

    Shit. I get an uneasy feeling in my stomach while we rush towards the river. I wrap the girl in my embrace just before we hit the water. ARGH. White flashes fill my sight and my right arm feels like its on fire. Shit that is definitely broken. Water all around me i can''t breathe. The water throws me us around while we are being washed down the stream. I am in real pain. The girl is clinging to me which is good it means i can use my left arm at least to get us above water. I trash the water with my arm and finally we break through the surface.

    Great it started to rain. Perfect. Just what i needed. I am surprised at my own useless thoughts and concentrate back on the situation. The sides are too far away but here and there bushes reach far into the river cause the water is so high. With all my might i try to reach one of the bushes only swimming with my legs and left arm and with almost superhuman tenacity i am finally able to grab a branch. The water still tries to grab us with overwhelming power but with my last bit of strength i manage to get on the shore.

    Panting like I have been running a marathon i lie on my back. I feel pain all over my body but my right arm is especially bad. After collecting my energy with deep steady breathing for a short time i turn my head to my left and look into the green eyes of the red haired young girl that''s lying next to me and ask: ?Are you alright?". She gives me a small nod and i sigh in relief. This might sound arrogant but i would have been really pissed if anything had happened to her after all that.

    What to do next. A hospital would be good i guess? I try to stand up. Waves of pain flow through me starting from my right arm but i am somehow able to stand up. Just that moment i hear a deep growling from behind. I turn around and see a small wood and from it... emerges a huge pitch black bear. The bear seems to swallow all light around it so i can''t make out any details. What do i know about bears? Nothing. Fuck. And what the fuck is a bear doing here? A bear has nothing to do here whatsoever. Fuck.

    Can''t change so deal with it. I look at the girl and have to decide what to do. Fuck. I really don''t like this. I shout: ?RUN!" And the girl turns around and starts running across the fields. I on the other hand turn around and run in the opposite direction towards the small gap between the woods with the bear and the river. Fuck this is not good. The bear starts running and i can tell: I wont make it. I shout on the top of my lungs: ?FUCK!" I try to run faster but i can''t. I just don''t have the energy anymore. I hear ragged breathing and before i can even turn around i suddenly feel a sharp pain at the back of my head and then: Nothing.

    The bear looks down on the young man. The darkness surrounding the bear starts to intensify and slowly the silhouette of the bear starts turning. After a short while a seemingly young woman stands where the bear was moments ago. She silently looks down upon the young man the same way the bear just did. She lets out a deep breath and speaks very quietly: ?Forgive me. For all that is to come but if there is to be a tomorrow he can''t have you." With that said she held up her hand pointed it towards the youth and the darkness creeps from her over the young mans body. Within moments the floating darkness has consumed the youth leaving nothing behind. The next moment as if nothing ever happened the woman vanishes. With this the wheels of fate start to turn.

 Chapter 2

    Chapter 2: Birth of a new prince

    Beastcountry Shura, Dragonking castle, Earth 2016 Vamon 1014AD

    Crying could be heard within the dungeons of Dragonking castle. The loud crying of new life resounded within the damp walls. In the seventh dungeonroom on the first underground floor Dragonking Bar¡¯ath Shadowwing stood emotionless in the corner watching the Birthhelpers give birth to his next son. He was of course in his human appearance. Everyone who could either change into human form like the dragons or was part human like the werewolve tribe were considered beastkin and Bar¡¯ath was their king.

    The beastkin country Shura was the weakest among the three countries on the continent. If the human country and the demon country weren¡¯t in a permanent struggle for supremacy the beastkin would have a hard time. For this reason Bar¡¯ath has created a plan. He had discussed this thoroughly with his closest advisors. They kidnapped women from the strongest races across the continent and had the king make children with them. He would then proceed to find the most outstanding among them and that child would be groomed into the ultimate fighting machine. An individual that can turn the scales of battle into their favor.

    At the moment a woman from the strongest Ashura demon tribe was laying on the table sweating and twitching in agony. Her black ?wings¡± were weakly hanging over the side of the table. They weren¡¯t really wings and more several extensions on her back a little bit like the skeleton structure of wings without a membrane. Powerful dark or lighting magic could be channeled through those giving the Ashura the ability to fly and hurl unparalleled magic power. If the lighting/darkness nature of the Ashura could be combined with his fire/darkness attribute¡­ It should produce outstanding results.

    But something was not right. Even though the baby looked strong and healthy the birthhelpers did not immediately approach the king. After a short while a very old completely grey werecat slowly walked up to Bar¡¯ath: ?Your Highness the Ashura woman has born you a healthy son but¡­¡± Bar¡¯ath took a step out of the shadows. A sharp face of a man in his fifties with short dark hair looked at the nanny with black piercing eyes. ?What?¡± One word and the pressure in the entire dungeon increased to a life threatening atmosphere. The old car trembled and managed to barely say: ?My lord, the baby¡­ I have never come across something like this. His magic power¡­ it is out of this world, my lord after being born he has the same amount as you who has accumulated power for centuries! However.¡± The woman took a deep breath: ?He has no magic attribute. He will never be able to use more than the most basic spells. Those will have an improved effect but¡­ just basic spells is not enough to fight.¡±

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    The king was stunned. He started to think but could only come to one conclusion: If he can¡¯t fight he is worthless. Gar¡¯ath sighed, it can¡¯t be helped. ?Keep him for the others. We will just throw him in with the rest.¡± Leaving behind those words the dragonking left. The rest of the room bowed while he was leaving responding ?YES YOUR HIGHNESS!¡± The by now dead body of the Ashura woman forgotten by everyone.

    Within the deepest part of dragonking castle. A small black box with inscriptions on it. Several thick chains with talismans were anchored in the room and connected with the box. For the first time after centuries the black box started to give of a faint black glow.

    Within the temple of the light goddess. The most holy room deep within the temple. A small pearl lay on a soft cushion within an empty room. But unlike normal a faint white glow could be seen coming from the pearl.

    Five more locations throughout Vamon experienced similar changes to similar objects. Times were changing. The seven emperor could feel that finally the time had come when they could return to the world.

    Darkness. I can¡¯t see. I can¡¯t breathe. Where am i? What happened? Confusion. I have no idea where i am nor whats happening. I hear unfamiliar noises. I open my eyes. Woah why am so high up. I look around and i see an unfamiliar scene. People gather around a woman that seems to be dying, i can¡¯t make out specifics but for some reasons it hurts me to see the woman like that. I open my mouth and¡­ scream. Huh? Why is the only noise coming out of my mouth crying. I try again. Crying. Wait a moment. I look down myself. HUH? Okay this is seriously strange. Suddenly something even stranger happens. One of the people in the room approaches me and picks me up. A woman with grey fur and cat ears¡­ grey fur and car ears? This is a dream of course! I was dreaming about bears and darkness and all this stuff and I will definitely wake up soon. Any moment now. I closed my eyes and tried to will myself awake.

    Nothing happens. Shit. I open my eyes again. The cat woman looks at me with very sad eyes. She says something. I can¡¯t understand it. If I had known back then what would happen to me¡­ I think i would have cried way more than i did. Well it can¡¯t be changed anymore. That was the beginning of my new life. From now on hell would start.

 Chapter 3

    Chapter 3: First words

    About the days to come i can¡¯t really say a lot. I spent almost all of my time either with an old rabbit beastman who taught me fighting and the cat nanny. The dragonking was very specific. Either you earn your worth or you are discarded. I definitely would not be discarded. Fuck this. Anyway it seems being an infant again is a blessing in disguise. I learn much faster than anyone else ever could (come on full experience of a 26 year old with the learning ability of a baby. That¡¯s pretty damn scary). It took me less than 2 months to figure out their language. But i kept silent. I mean a 2 months year old talking? Gimmie a break even if this is a different world, that¡¯s stretching it.

    Yes it is a different world. I have no idea what happened. I was absolutely sure i am one hundred percent and ultimately DEAD! And then i wake up here¡­ as a baby. Argh. But well i can only make the best out of it. Here is the gist of it: I was born as the 17th son of the dragonking Bar¡¯ath. My mother died when i was born she was a demon of the Ashura tribe seemingly the strongest demon tribe. So i had amazing magic power as well and i was supposed to be super awesome but¡­ as fate just likes to be a dick to me as you might have noticed and will notice as i go on further i had no magic attribute. None. Nada. No Darkness, no light, no lightning, no water, no fire, no earth, no wind. NONE!

    Meaning? Well you can use magic for example to strengthen your body. But no matter how much magic you have you will never be able to strengthen your body as much as for example an earth element user who infuses himself with the element of earth. You see everyone or almost everyone (yeah sucks to be me¡­) has an affinity to an element. He can then train with meditation and other techniques to gather more and more elemental energy in his body. The better your affinity the more elemental energy you can absorb. The more you absorb elemental energy the stronger you get. I think you know where this is going.

    So People combine their innate strength with the elemental energy they have gathered over their life. Think of the elemental energy in your body as a balloon. The balloon starts to fill up as you train. The amount that has filled can be used and will replenish when you recover. So what you can obtain permanently with training will give you permanent advantages. And well affinity to an element means how attuned your soul is to the element. The more familiar your soul with an element the easier you can absorb the elemental energy and the fast you can rise your power. Typically everyone has one affinity, two is considered gifted and three or more is considered rare geniuses. Of course always depending on how high the affinity is.

    So yeah back to me i have¡­ no affinity whatsoever. I think i mentioned that. So i can use some basic magics: make myself a bit stronger, a bit quicker but the grand spells of the elements, i will never be able to wield them and my father kind of has given up on me. He is stuck on this ideal to mate with other species to creat the ultimate warrior. Or something along those lines.

    It seems on this continent there are three kingdoms: humans, demons and beastkin. So humans and demons are at war and beastkin can¡¯t compete with either. How to tip the balance? Yeah make babies with a lot of women. Makes sense. Not. But anyway there is not much i can do. At the moment he has assigned teachers to all his children which amount to 25. We have an age ranging from 6 months up to 4 years old. 5 children were born from human mothers, 10 from different demon tribes and 10 from different beastkin tribes.

    It seems that when the youngest child has reached the age of 10 he will put all of us against each other and the last one standing will be raised as his successor. The teacher who taught the successful one would also receive the highest praise and honor. The teachers of the other children though¡­ well you got my dads character right? useless? no mercy! So yeah their lives were on the line as well. So no choice but to do it. Knowing that my time is limited when i was one year old i approached my teacher.

    There just isn¡¯t any time so i have to gamble on that there are just unusual things in this world so he doesn¡¯t ask for an explanation. When i was one the youngest child was just born therefore the clock started to tick that very moment. We all knew it. So i had to use the next ten years to the fullest. I had never left my room so i had to wait for an opportunity. One day my nanny left the small dungeon room that only had my crip, a bed for the nanny, a table and a small closet. She asked my teacher to look after me and went out to get some washing done. When she left the room i felt that i had my chance.

    A dungeon within dragonking castle, Earth 2016, Vamon 1014 AD

    Ka¡¯ahn was sitting on the bed of the small dungeon room that his pupil and the child¡¯s nanny were occupying. He was slightly depressed. His future aspects did not look very bright. He was put in charge of his highness the dragonkings 17th son, born from an Ashura woman. But even though his magic power was astounding he had no affinity! None whatsoever. But that wasn¡¯t the biggest problem. For some reason the child had inherited neither the strength of his father nor the physique of his mother. He looked almost human!

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    Black hair very dark blue almost black eyes that shone with a strange intelligence. His skin looked almost like scales but it was so subtle you could hardly see it. It gave his skin a very smooth look. Ka¡¯ahn was once the master assassin of his king. His name hardly known because he was so good and effective that his targets never knew what hit them. But the problem was he couldn¡¯t teach his method to this child! It is true that in theory the child could learn it. But it takes at least 15 years to master it to a degree that could give him an edge over his peers. And even if he would learn it the basis of his now extinct order was to teach children from the day they could learn and then accumulate their skill their whole life by either fighting or training over and over. But the foundation is build with magic!

    Because even the most talented and most gifted students would only be able to learn those difficult methods at the age of 7. When beastkin start to mature. Even the most gifted genius in history was only able to start at the age of 6. So as to make up for the lacking years in the most important period: Between 0-15, when beastkins learning ability is proofen to be at its highest from instinct and inheritance. Magic was used to accumulate the so called shadow skills.

    Shadowskills did not use magic perse it used familiarity with death, the shadows and ones self to accomplish feats normally only reserved for magic grandmasters. You would only need basic magic control to use those skills but painstaking training and above all an iron will to endure. Those who live in the shadows command the shadows. Thats the principle of his old order. But his thoughts were going in circles.

    There was no way he could go through with the entire training that involved poisoning for resistance, asassin skill training, combat training, shadow cultivating (basicly sitting in absolut darkness to gather something called shadow energy. Shadow energy is not magic. Its the opposite of magic. Magic is the energy of life even the dark magic springs from death which is in itself part of life. Shadow energy is the opposite, its the energy that takes life. Everything has its opposites. But shadow energy can only be cultivated between the age of 0 and 15 so to make up for the difference of those mentioned 6 to 7 years, magic is used to attract the shadow energy hence speeding up the process.)

    Therefore he thought his life to be over. There was no chance that his future disciple could survive the battle to come. He was about to sigh, get up and leave to do what he has been doing ever since he heard that he had been assigned as the 17ths teacher: getting drunk, when he heard it. A quiet high pitched voice saying: ¡°Sensei.¡± What in the world? Ka¡¯ahn went to the crib and looked into it. Staring back at him were to very intelligent almost black eyes that radiated displeasure. ¡°Sensei please stop looking like a retard and listen. There is not much time. From what i have gathered we are in a pinch. We have the worst starting conditions and the clock started to tick. I heard what you once were: the best. So my question: If we start now, can we do it? Can you teach me? Can you stop feeling sorry for your self get a grip and start doing what needs to be done? Or are you gonna lie down and die like a coward? Because i really have no intention of dying.¡±

    Ka¡¯ahn was flabbergasted. He didn¡¯t know what to say. He was getting lectured and chewed out by one year old infant. He wanted to reply but the only thing that came out was: ¡°you ¡­ what and me and now¡­ ?¡± The baby in the crib rolled his eyes and pushed himself up. ¡°Listen, i have been self conscious since i was born. I have started training my body in secret since i was one week old. Not much to train but i guess every little bit helps. I have one goal: Survival by any means. And i want you to help me so please: can you?¡± And suddenly Ka¡¯ahn felt a chill running down his spine. Maybe?¡­ Just maybe he wasn¡¯t lost yet? ¡­ Had the gods not forsaken him yet?

    It seems like the ugly duckling was actually the golden egg. With shining eyes Ka¡¯ahn looked down on the infant: ¡°Are you ready for hell young one?¡± And he was shocked by the determination that can be seen in the youngsters eyes: ¡°He named me Bar¡¯ath Shadowwing the 17th but i reject him. Him and his name. I name myself Asura in honor of my dead mother and even if i have to claw my way through hell and back i will survive and reclaim my freedom. The freedom to do whatever the hell i want.¡± Ka¡¯ahn knew at this moment, that a monster has awaken in the 17th dungeon on the first lower level in dragonking castle.

 Chapter 4

    Chapter 4: Days of training

    A training dungeon in dragonking castle, Earth 2018, Vamon 1019 AD.

    The sound of clashing blades could be heard within the quiet large training room within the 17th dungeon. Every son or daughter had a dungeon complex to himself but depending on your standing the size and comfort differed. Asura had only a very small dungeon with the room he lived in a toilet a room for his teacher and his nanny and the big training room. Asura never complained. Every time his master asked him if he is lacking he would quietly answer: ¡°As long as i can cultivate in darkness and train to my hearts content that is enough for survival.¡±

    And true to his word the boy was everything his master could hope for. After five years of careful fostering his pupil had exceeded all of his expectations. Asura was like a sponge drinking in all of his knowledge and experience. His Shadowarts cultivation as well was astounding. It seems Asura learned unconsciously how to use his immense magic power to accelerate his cultivation speed. He was now five years old but had allready cultivated to the 5th rank of the Shadowarts.

    You have to know cultivating Shadowarts is a long and difficult process. You sit in absolute darkness and atune your being to the darkness. By doing so the darkness accepts you as its own and starts to share its power with you. Similar to magic everyone had a certain amount of Shadowpower he or she could hold at once and by cultivating it you could increase that amount.

    Everyone has so called Power vessels. Those power vessels go throughout the entire body similar to the nervous system. Next to the heart are nine so called power cores. Eight cores around the heart and one above. The eight cores represent the seven elements and it is those cores that are refined using elemental energy. The last core though is refined using the Shadow power. The system for all eight is the same: On the first level you activate the core it starts to give of power that you can use, on the second level a gaseous form of the element is formed within the core supplying the power vessels within with elemental energy/shadow power to use, every time enough power is gathered within the core, it gets purified on step further.

    That is an extremely difficult process where you have to meditate in order to gain an understanding of your body and purify your energy by constantly rotating it through your power vessels. The biggest hurdles there are from rank 5 to rank 6 and from rank 9 to rank 10. That is because the form of the power changes state. When you reach level 5 you purify your energy into a liquid form that is tens of times more potent than the gaseous form from before. It is said that reaching rank 10 requires the purification of the liquid into a solid and that solid core would than permanently supply one with the surrounding elemental energy.

    It is a legendary state that has not yet been reached by anybody with any of the cores. One would then be the true master of his element, freely being able to wield it. So what did rank 5 imply? At the age of 6 it means that Asura already cultivated to the point where he only needed to liquify his shadow power in order to advance. His power would than definitely not loose to ordinary fighters of the 7th rank! There is no distinction between mages and warriors because everyone uses magic on way or another therefore everyone is referred to as a fighter.

    Long range, close range, etc. But Asura was training in the shadowarts. As long as there were shadows Asura had the advantage: Speed, accuracy, reflexes everything was trained to the limit. Combined with his superb understanding of his Shadowarts he was a deadly foe. And he was only six years old! Shadowarts are very different from the normal magic. They are anti magic! Shadowarts are specifically designed to battle against magic users which includes almost every fighter. At the moment Asura has mastered the five Basic skills that complete the basic first set of skills. Each skill corresponded with a rank up because every skill uses up more shadowpower and therefore needs a higher rank to be used. By mastering the first five skills Asura stepped from beginner Shadowdancer level to the intermediate Shadowdancer level.

    Six years old what a prodigy Ka¡¯ahn was incredibly proud of his pupil. While watching his pupil facing four mercenaries at the same time he thought back the past five years. The first thing Asura asked after he spoke to him all those years ago was to get him someone he can kill. With a serious face he explained: ¡°I know this might sound heartless, but¡­ i need to know and i need to be able to if i am to get thourgh this, no if we are to get through this. Therefore the earlier the better. But..¡± The infant looked at him and he looked vulnerable for the first time: ¡°Try to make it someone who deserves it please..¡±

    And then it started. The day after Ka¡¯ahn brought Asura a death row prisoner. While Ka¡¯ahn held him down, Asura went to the ground stood up and took a knife his teacher gave him earlier. He steadied his gaze and his posture and thrusted the dagger into the prisoners throat. The prisoner twitched a couple of times while he was dying but after a short while it was over. The same moment his victim stopped moving Asura threw up but his gaze was still determined. Never was Ka¡¯ahn so impressed. From there on out it was hellish training. Eating followed by exercise and muscle training, a short break then two hours of lecture about the body of different species their weak points and how to target them. Fighting theory, strategy. 5 hours a day were dedicated to studying, 4 hours strengthening training, 4 hours combat training, 4 hours shadowarts training, 5 hours shadow power cultivating and 2 hours of sleep.

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    Not really something an ordinary person could endure but Asura was surprising. It seems even though he lacked his fathers tyrannical strength and his mothers magic it seems he got crazy high endurance for it. His smooth slightly scaled skin didn¡¯t look like it but it was as hard as ordinary armor. Asuras growth rate as well was astounding: After 2 years he looked like 5, after 4 years he was more like a 7 year old and now with 6 you would rather think he is 11 or 12. It has been two years since his teacher started to bring Asura real opponent he had to fight to the death.

    Ka¡¯ahn would bring in captured mercinaries, demons or humans and would tell them they could leave alive if they are able to kill the boy. But Asura was ruthless and unkillable. When he fought it was with terrible efficiency and accuracy exactly the way Ka¡¯ahn taught him. ¡°Never waste your movement. If you go for the kill go for a sure one shot. Heart, eye to brain, arteries, those basic things are located almost on the same spot for every species. Memorize it. We don¡¯t fight for show, we don¡¯t play around. When we attack we aim to kill. Always use the shortest and surest path available for victory.¡± Asura was living that philosophy. Every attack was deadly. In the beginning he had problems, he would miss, he would get hurt, he almost died multiple times.

    But he always got through always came back over and over. Almost every day he would fight for his life and by now his instincts were frightening. By now his skills combined with the five arts he mastered: Shadow Shield, Shadow cloak, shadow sword, shadow doppelganger and shadow interrupt. A shield that absorbed magic and replenished the user, an ability that lets him hide in the shadows and pass through them unseen, a skill that wraps shadows around your weapon to increase its piercing power and speed, an ability to create shadow illusions to confuse the enemy, and an ability to disrupt enemies using magic. Combined with the deadly two handed, dagger skill called shadowdance even Ka¡¯ahn himself wasn¡¯t sure he could take him anymore.

    He focused back on the fight and again could only nod in satisfaction. While he was pondering Asura already dispatched of the first enemy by collecting shadows below his feet and suddenly dashing with astonishing speed towards the opponent. On quick stab into the armpit with one of his two feet long dagger that looked more like short swords on him and the mercenary¡¯s life ended with a stabbed heart. The next moment Asura already vanished and appeared just a breath later behind the second opponent. As his enemy turned around Asura leaned into the swing and stabbed his dagger through the brain from below. And again he vanished. The remaining two were by now standing back to back sweating profoundly. They would have never imagined that this little boy would be this frightening. They first thought they maybe had a chance to escape. How wrong they were. Suddenly Asura appeared above the two fighters and simultaneously stabbed both of them into the neck severing the spinal cord. The entire thing only took about thirty seconds to complete.

    Quietly the boy went back to his teacher and said: ¡°Sensei i have finished, please look for stronger opponents from now on the fifth rank is just not sufficient enough anymore.¡± Ka¡¯ahn had to laugh when he heard the displeasure in his disciples voice. What a thirst for strength! He was very fond of this young boy. ¡°I am not sure yet¡­ level six you don¡¯t know just how much¡­ The strength difference between five and six¡­ it is enormous.¡± In a very serious manner Ka¡¯ahn told him. He wanted Asura to be stronger sure but he didn¡¯t want to risk his priced pupil. He really started to look at him as his own. But the boy answered in a serious tone: ¡°Sensei, i have to go further, risk more, train more, and just be better. There is no time to waste we can¡¯t be careful! I need to be able to fight against people with higher cultivation.¡± There was nothing to respond. Ka¡¯ahns face hardened. That was the truth. ¡°Fine. Level six go eat and cultivate. Tomorrow you will have it rough.¡±

    <hr />

    If you want to read ahead: www.elementalworldchaos.wordpress.com</a> but the editing i will be doing here. When i am done with posting all the edited chapters i will update wordpress with the here edited chapters. Anyway enjoy guys.

 Chapter 5

    Chapter 5: Before the battle

    Hallway to the throne room, dragonking castle, Earth 2012, Vamon 1024 AD

    I walk through the upper halls of the castle. My goal is my fathers throne room. He has called for all of his children so i had no choice but to go. I hate the castle and almost everyone in it. All of them see me as the least likely candidate to make it through. No affinity. Useless trash. The whispers were all around me and not even concealed.

    Different beastkin, generals, higher ups etc. were standing around talking discussing the upcoming event. The shitty king as i like to call him has sent for everyone important in his entire kingdom to watch as his children battle it out. I could hear them talking as i am passing by. ¡°Have you heard the second princess has already mastered the 8th rank in water, it is quiet astounding and at the tender age of 24.¡±

    ¡°Yes yes indeed but do not underestimate the fourth prince! He might only have reached the 6th rank but his strong triple affinity make up for it and he is even younger with 23.¡± ¡°Ah yes but if we talk about chances i think all of them will fall short when compared to the seventh prince. He is on the verge of reaching the limit of the eighth rank in to elements and on top of that complimenting elements wind and fire! With only 21years old his future prospects are limitless.¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t even have to think about the younger ones, they don¡¯t stand a chance. Its useless.¡± Just as i was approaching this group of three reptilemen were discussing the prospects of us children.

    ¡°Speaking about useless.¡± The three turn towards me with a smirk on their face. ¡°The king of trash has arrived.¡± Their grin got even deeper. Nothing more satisfactory than trampling on the weak i guess. Well i don¡¯t really care to be honest. I knew they were wrong. As wrong as you can get. By thinking that i can¡¯t keep myself from recalling the last ten years. ¡°Hell¡± would be the understatement of the century! Is what i thought back than but¡­ nowadays.. Anyway i almost died. Multiple times.

    I remember every time i was sick when my master administered a new poisen. I could still feel the different kinds of effects: sweating, hallucinating, cramps, pain, blindness and many more. I endured. I remember almost getting mad when cultivating within complete darkness for hours. I remember pushing my body to the limit over and over again. I remember almost dying when battling mercenaries, monsters, prisoners, demons and sometimes even shadowbeasts. But i survived. I survived it all.

    My teacher once even put me in the prison block with the most dangerous people imprisoned, some of them monsters beyond description. That was the time i was closest to death until now. There were hundreds of prisoners after my master released them and i was drenched in blood after slaughtering most of them. Cuts, bruises, flesh wounds, broken bones and still the three strongest monsters remaining. A vampire that murdered hundreds, a demon from the succubus tribe that slaughtered hundreds of beastkin on the last battle against the demons and a thunder dragon in human form.

    I am lucky that my last sister the 25th princes was a dryad with a godly gift in healing. She was the only sibling i didn¡¯t hate well i didn¡¯t feel anything towards her really. But she wouldn¡¯t make it. She can¡¯t hurt a fly. As i remember all those things i ignore the three big mouths and approach the 2 wings of the doors leading to the throne room. I wait for the two werewolf soldiers to open the door and enter the hall. On both sides of the way to the throne there were pillars that had scenes or battle carved in them. The hall itself was enormous but not a lot to look at except for those damn pillars. Gives the right expression my dad thinks. I can only roll my eyes in my mind. Arrogant dick.

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    Well lets get this over with. I approach the throne on which my father was sitting and the rest of my siblings was gathered in a crowd before him. As i draw near the major domus an old birdman announces me: ¡°The 17th son Bar¡¯ath Shadowwin the 17th has arrived your highness.¡± Silent sneers and mockery could be heard from the other 24 but what do i care about dead people? They just didn¡¯t know it yet. I could kill them now but my father would be troublesome. Lets be patient therefore¡­ I grid my teeth sank to my knee and call: ¡°Hail the king, your son greets you lord father.¡± With a slightly disgusted look he answers back: ¡°Finally we can get started. The weakling making everyone wait. At least you didn¡¯t disgrace me by not turning up.¡±

    With that he turned away again discussing something with the major domus. Arrogant bastard. I silently make my way to the very back of the crowd and wait. The others all turn their back towards but well not like I am not used to it. I close my eyes and silently circulate my shadowpower. I might not be able to gather any shadow power but further refining is possible. It will speed my cultivation later and will bring me into top form for later. I wait quietly until the king finally decides: ¡°SILENCE!¡± Within seconds all sound vanishes from the hall.

    ¡°Tonight, we will find my successor. I have twenty five children but there is only one throne. Tonight we shall find out who is worthy among those youngsters.¡± Cheers resounded throughout the hall. Pleased the dragonking lifted his hand and the cheering came to a halt again. ¡°As you all know for countless years we have hunted the shadow beasts that serve us down in the lowest dungeon. The veil to the abyss is thin so many shadow beasts form over the years. For that reason only via the magic circle behind the throne can you reach it. Each of you my children will be send to a different location within the dungeon. Leave a soul imprint behind on a jade slate before you leave. Only when there is one survivor left, will we open the magic formation in the center of the dungeon. Kill your siblings, survive and come back. That is what you must do if you want to rule no if you want to live. So without further ado: LET THE GAMES BEGIN. EVERYONE LINEUP IN THE ORDER YOU WERE BORN.¡±

    After that we all got in line. One after the other we would leave a soul print on one of the jade slips that where neatly lineup in front of the magic formation. A soul imprint is when you leave a small amount of your magic power within an object that can store it. For example jade. The magic would reside within the object until the owner dies. After i channeled a small amount of magic into the 17th jade slip, i step into the formation and with a blinding light my path of carnage began.

 Chapter 6

    Chapter 6: A deadly shadow

    The light finally vanished and the second princess found herself in a small cave. In all four directions there were corridors leading god knows where. But the princess didn¡¯t panic. She had trained all life for this and she was quiet confident in her abilities. First she deployed a shield in case of an ambush. ¡°Spirit of the water lend me your strength and protect me from my enemies: WATER SHIELD!¡± With a quiet shout she completed her incarnation and a faint blue sphere started to surround the princess.

    She took in a deep breath than started to move. There was no light present except for the lightly glowing sphere surrounding her. It was kind of a flow stone cave, the ground was uneven and it was difficult to move. She was quiet nervous. There was no telling where her siblings were and shadow beasts could attack any time. Just as she thought that she heard felt a presence behind her and she jumped around. There were two spots of blackness that were much darker than the darkness around them. Shadow beasts. She couldn¡¯t make out what kind but that was unimportant, quick and decisive action was the key.

    She immediately started casting: ¡°Spirit of the water lend me your strength and destroy the enemies before me: WATER BULLET!¡± Before they could attack the two spots of darkness were bombarded by bullets made of water that constantly rained out of her shield. She stopped the rain of bullets when she felt the presence vanish. But with that noise she had to be extra careful now. Slowly she advanced towards one of the corridors. The corridors themselves weren¡¯t very long and made of plain stone. She passed two caves one bigger and one smaller than the first but she didn¡¯t encounter anything. This isn¡¯t right! There are supposed to be countless shadow beasts down here.

    Just as she thought that her foot bumped into something. In the faint light she couldn¡¯t make it out so she whispered: ¡°Spirit of the water lend me your strength and enlighten the path before me: WATER ILLUMINANCE!¡± A blue glow started to spread from her at the center and the scene before her eyes shocked her to an extent that can¡¯t be described with words. There were hundreds of Shadow beast bodies around her. And they were all around her even on the way she came from. Yes all those shadow beasts had been killed almost directly next to her without her even noticing a presence.

    Suddenly her eyes fell on a small figure sitting about ten meters in front of her on a broken stalactite. He looked around fourteen years old but she knew better. The youth in front of her was 11 years old had long dark hair bound to a pony tail. His black eyes that had a slight tilt to them giving him a slight exotic look. He was definitely good looking but in a cold cruel way. His face radiated coldness and the killing intent that was suddenly released from this small figure was thick and intense. The second princess could not comprehend it. The useless dropout, he was of no concern! He cannot have done this.

    He looked at her and slightly tilted his head. When she met his eyes she knew she had been wrong. Wrong all this time. He wasn¡¯t the weakest. He was the demon in appearance of a sheep. His eyes only promised one thing: Death. His killing intent alone left her unable to think about running away let alone using any magic.

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    He slowly got up and said: ¡°Dear sister, so nice of you to join me.¡± Relaxed as if they had just met by coincidence in the park he leisurely walked towards her. The princess had finally given in, her mind went blank and with a scream she prepared to fire all the magic she had in her towards this¡­ thing. But before she could even so much as gather her energy she suddenly felt a piercing pain from behind. She looked down and from her left breast the tip of a dagger showed. She could only whisper: ¡°How?¡± But at that moment life had allready left her. The dark shadow behind her silently vanished into the darkness while the image of the boy standing before the body of the princess slowly disappeared.

    The fourth prince didn¡¯t hesitate. As soon as the light vanished he immediately set up his defenses in case of any attacks. He possessed a combination of earth wind and lighting. And he was good at using all of them so he was quiet confident that he could at least put up a fight against anybody. ¡°Spirit of the earth lend me your strength and become the shield against my enemies: EARTH ARMOR!¡± Within the blink of an eye a thin layer of earth had covered his entire body. The thickness can be misleading, it is as hard as steel. He followed that up with: ¡°Spirit of the wind lend me your strength become a shield that protects me: WIND SPHERE!¡± At first one could think nothing happened but if you payed close attention, the air around the prince was in constant movement. Anything coming in contact with that sphere of slicing winds that surrounded him would be ripped to shreds.

    Now as for light. ¡°Spirit of lighting lend me your strength engulf my body and enhance my senses become one and let me experience your might: THUNDER FORM!¡± Suddenly his entire body became clad in lighting and started shining. This was a high ranking lighting spell that could only be learned once you had reached the sixth rank. It would clad the body in lighting enhancing reflexes, speed and strength. An added bonus was the light so the prince could see the flow stone cave he was in. Before he could even take in his surroundings he saw the small figure of a boy standing about ten meters away from him. A nasty smile started to form on his face. Look at that the dropout he thought. Lucky my first encounter is a tasty starter¡­ how could he have known?

    He was about to raise his voice when the boy suddenly disappeared. The prince was dumbfounded. Had he dreamed? No he was sure that the 17th prince stood there just a moment ago. Then where¡­ Before he could even end that thought a pain he never felt before bloomed in his chest. He looked down and ignoring the lighting on his body ignoring the layer of earth ignoring the sphere of wind a two feet long dagger clad with something that looked like moving shadows struck deep into his chest. On the other side of that dagger was his brother who said with a smile that could freeze hell over: ¡°Good night¡­ Brother.¡± Just like that his life ended.

 Chapter 7

    Chapter 7: The lost girl

    The 25th princess was scared. After the light vanished she couldn¡¯t move at first. After that she started shaking and sobbing. She didn¡¯t want to be here. She never asked for this. Her mother was a dryad. Gentle beastkin that have a strong affinity with earth and water. She inherited the very rare gift of recovery from her mother. Recovery was a magic that combined water and earth to form the vitality of nature and recovery was able to not just healing but even regeneration. Even lost limbs with enough time and magic could be healed. A truly divine gift.

    But not suited for combat! She had inherited form: the lower body that of a deer and her upper body that of a woman. Except for the two small horns on her forehead. She had a cute face with big eyes, round cheeks, green hair that were woven into a braid that fell onto her back and she looked adorable but at the moment she was just scared. Since she was born she had not hurt anybody. Her teacher gave up on her very early on and she focused on just developing her healing ability. Only when she was healing did she feel at peace.

    Her nanny took good care of her but there was no affection. She was truly alone. Like all children she was named after her father with the 25th added at the end. So she gave herself a name. Mia. She liked that short simple name. It fit her she thought. She would spend her days healing her siblings whenever they were hurt from their training. Therefore she didn¡¯t get as much scorn and hatred as for example her 17th brother. She felt genuinely sorry for him. But with her timid personality¡­ there was nothing she could do.

    Those and many more thoughts raced through her brain as she was scared stiff within the vast dungeon. After a while she started quietly talking to herself. ¡°Maybe someone needs help, yes maybe i have to heal someone i have to go i need to move.¡± She tried to make herself move by any means. One has to know that by now she was already overcome by fear. Her reasoning wasn¡¯t rational at all. But after a while she started walking. She had no reason to as she was sure that this was her grave but¡­ she had no reason not to either!

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    So she walked through cave after cave after cave. She kept talking to herself about all sorts of things and kept sobbing a little bit. After another corridor she had long lost count of how many she had past she suddenly walked into a rather small cave. If she had been a little bit less scared or nervous she might have thought why she never met anything but Mia just couldn¡¯t think straight at the moment. When she reached the center of the cave she suddenly felt a chill running down her spine. And something within her told her: That¡¯s it. This is where you will die. But nothing happened. Instead of dying Mia heard a very quiet voice talking instead: ¡°Living with all this scum and still being this innocent¡­¡± It sounded astonished.

    She knew that voice! ¡°Even when i hit you with my unrestrained killing intent there was not even the slightest intention of retaliation.¡± Mia was shaking from head to toe: ¡°se¡­ se¡­ seventeenth brother?¡± No response. But she forced herself to continue: ¡°A.. Are you hurt? I.. I can heal you.¡± She tried to smile. She failed. Suddenly the darkness in front of her seemed to part slightly and she could see her brother. He had an unbelieving expression. ¡°Mia we are supposed to kill each other why would you ever want to heal me?¡±

    Then something broke in Mia and she started to cry: ¡°I know i know i know¡­ but¡­ but¡­ i don¡¯t want to kill anybody and anyway i couldn¡¯t even if i tried. And this place and brother was always kind to me he never scolded me or or hurt me, so when i saw brother i thought i though that maybe if i can¡¯t live anyway then perhaps i can at least help brother the only person who ever said kind words to me, he even asked me for my name.¡± And she sobbed through every word. It was a heart wrenching scene. Suddenly irresistible killing intent rose throughout the cave. Mia was so shocked she stopped crying and backed away unconsciously. The source of it, her brother wore an expression of extreme sorrow and extreme hate. In an instant it was over. Panting Mia stayed where she was. Suddenly she felt a cool hand on her cheek. Again the darkness moved away and her brothers handsome face came near her: ¡°Mia do you want to live?¡± She couldn¡¯t help herself but cry again: ¡°Yeeeeeeeeeees.¡± She threw herself in her brothers arms. She had nowhere else to go either she died now or not.

 Chapter 8

    Chapter 8: A terrible mistake

    I was furious. At myself! Why did i even follow the orders of that bastard that i despised ever since coming to this world? He let my mother die he treated me like trash and except for having an orgasm which was good for him he did nothing for me ever. So why the fuck should i do what he wants me to do? Maybe because i was just born in this world i unconsciously accepted my parent¡¯s decision? Maybe whatever the case it didn¡¯t matter. When i saw Mia standing there crying and so scared that she wet herself, i for whatever reason decided to protect her.

    I think i mentioned it. I am not a very good person but¡­ in that situation even the heart i thought lost throughout the years of killing couldn¡¯t help but stop for a second, she had never done anything wrong. If anybody knew that it was me the only person who would talk to her. I could kill her right here. Kill the last person afterwards and be done with it but somehow¡­ I knew if i would do that i would turn exactly into the thing my father wanted to create. And seriously: Hell is going to freeze over before i let that happen.

    I focus my sight on the young dryad: ¡°Listen Mia. Take my hand, i will guide you. When i let go of your hand you don¡¯t move you will exactly where you are for me to return do you understand?¡± I sharply look at her. The way i treat her may be harsh but i have to think about how to get us out of here. I had a plan regarding her soul slip but apart from that¡­ not much. I just could not fight my father the king and all his men. Not doable. Damn it all.

    She nods timidly and grabs the hand i extended to her. Her skin texture resembles a plant a bit. Well she IS half dryad. Well before all else there is one more cockroach to squeeze before we can move on. A wicked grin started to form on my face. I was so looking forward to make that bastard cower in fear.

    The seventh prince was an arrogant bastard that looked for every opportunity to let others know that they are beneath him. Mia and i had to endure quiet a bit from his hands. Killing him, now that would be a treat. I knew perfectly well where he was. In fact i could feel the entire dungeon. I could feel every shadow it was like this dungeon was created for Shadow dancer. My awareness stretched a few hundred meters it was quiet convenient. Therefore it was no problem for me. As far as i can tell this dungeon stretches about 2 kilometers in every direction from the center.

    With my speed and the battleground so favorable it was child¡¯s play to get rid of most of the shadow beasts and all the weaker children. I swept through the dungeon like a death god within the first 15 minutes. There was nothing that could stand in my way everything fell with on lethal hit. All the while my heart grew colder and colder. I didn¡¯t feel anything anymore slaying a 12 year old girl. And when i was about to kill Mia i realized: that¡¯s exactly what that bastard wants! A killing machine with no feelings. One that can¡¯t even think for himself. And i was this close to becoming exactly that.

    But not anymore. It was time to leave dragonking castle! So lets get rid of this last pest and then: move on. So i lead Mia on the fastest way north. That was where i felt that bastard the last time. It didn¡¯t take us much time to find him. As soon as he entered my range of detection i stopped. I let go of Mia¡¯s hands and turned around. I make a serious expression: ¡°Mia don¡¯t move from here i will set up protection so you should be safe. But. You. Have. To. Stay. Here.¡± I emphasize the last six words. With teary eyes she nods and when i leave she doesn¡¯t move. Good. Well then lets visit our dear last brother.

    I move through the darkness as if it is a brightly lit summer day. With my shadow awareness i am completely aware of my surroundings. And finally in an average sized cave i finally found him. He was the son of a northern wind dragoness. So obviously like all dragons he possessed a perfect human form. Pale skin short blond hair and a face that seems to always frown. Thin but not unhealthily you could say he was rather attractive but that permanent mask of arrogance really destroyed that in my opinion. Well lets wipe that arrogant look of your face shall we. This one time i would not abide by the rules. This time i would let him feel the fear. I could play a little bit with him, i am after all far above him.

    I would come to regret that dearly. The prince was standing just about 20 meters before me. I was pretty sure he couldn¡¯t sense me yet. I took a deep breath and activated the rank six skill ¡°Shadow step¡± it allows one to increase his movement speed by applying shadow to the legs. Or it originally was meant to be. I have developed that skill even further by applying ¡°Shadow sword¡± and ¡°Shadow step¡± together. I can know clad my entire body and weapons in shadows improving all my abilities by leaps and bounds. I am faster, stronger, have higher reaction time and even all my shadowdance skills improve in power. I call it ¡°Shadow form¡±. But at the moment only ¡°Shadow step¡± is necessary. Since reaching rank seven i have mastered two more of the shadow dance skills.

    As mentioned ¡°Shadow step¡± and ¡°Shadow spike¡±. ¡°Shadow spike¡± is a nasty ability that can materialize a spike of solid darkness from any shadow. It is seriously overpowered! Even i think that i mean. A sure kill skill that always fires from the opponents blind spot? Sure! I take that any day. Anyway with ¡°Shadow step¡± active i close the distance to my target in the blink of an eye. Behind him i put my dagger on his artery and whisper: ¡°Hello brother. Did you miss me?¡± I could have killed him. The second i approached i could have stabber his heart, nick an artery, anything but no. I decided to do the most stupid thing of all of them. And after my teacher has told me over and over: A fight is not a game. You aim to kill. When you can kill: You do!

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    But i didn¡¯t and i severely underestimated my brother. The second i opened my mouth he released a pre incarnated spell. ¡°FIRE EXPLOSION!¡± To prepare a spell by incarnating it earlier, holding it and then releasing it when needed. It is a highly advanced technique that hardly anyone is able to master on the entire continent. And that son of a bitch pulled it off. Fuck. I sense the incoming danger and retreat full speed but¡­ too late my left side gets hit by the explosion and i get thrown away. I am in real pain and when i hit a stalactite it gets destroyed. Thank god for my shadow senses otherwise I¡¯d be a goner.

    Cause as soon as i land that son of a bitch immediately sent several wind blades in my direction. I use shadow form and with inhuman speed i am just able to dodge it. I retreat 20 meters with top speed dodging stalactites and random windblades. As soon as he lost sight of me he started to fire of massive amounts of windblades in all directions. Fuck how much magic power does that argh can¡¯t even think of an insult have? I can hardly dodge all the windblades coming my way even with my improved speed and reflexes. And then i see 4 blades coming in an angle that makes it impossible to dodge them all.

    So i jump and turn in midair to just get nicked on the already battered left side. Fuck that hurts like hell. That nick wasn¡¯t to bad but it was enough for the prince. Shit he could sense it. He turned and i could hear: ¡°Spirit of fire lend me your strength and wipe away all that stands in my way: FIRE BALL!¡± The trademark fire spell Fireball. But his scale was on a different level. Three massive fireballs were fired towards me in quick succession.

    Fuck no dodging that. Only one way: ¡°SHADOW CANCEL!¡± Moving shadows suddenly jumped out of the darkness towards the three fireballs consuming them within seconds. Shadowpower is anti magic. Shadow interrupt works in the way that shadows filled with Shadowpower attach themselves to the target(mostly through their own shadow, as i said really overpowered right?) and therefore disrupting their gathering of elemental energy causing their spells to fail. Well until the gathered elemental energy surpassed the shadowpower of course. So it was risky cause it could drain my power really quickly if my opponent is stronger than me. That aside i theorized that if i could disrupt the gathering of elemental energy i should be able to disrupt already gathered energy as well.

    After a lot of experimenting i came up with: ¡°Shadow Cancel¡± It uses shadow power to wipe out already cast spells using shadowpower. As long as i use the appropriate amount of shadowpower i can cancel out almost any spell. And it has less risks cause its not a constant energy drain. Anyway canceling those three fireballs really took a lot out of me. Breathing hard i kept changing position to not give him another target. Shit i am really low on power, no choice but to do it. Gathering my ¡°Shadow Form¡± i suddenly run towards the prince from the front. I release all my killing intent and it has the desired effect. He is hesitating for just a moment. Perfect. Only half a second he lost before starting to chant his spell but half a second. That¡¯s a world in a fight like this.

    Because just as he was about to finish his incarnation.. I am within ten meters of him. I gather all my remaining shadow power and concentrate it on the shadow behind the prince. Just when the prince wants to release his spell, i am a breath faster: ¡°SHADOW SPIKE!¡± Suddenly a 10 meter long thin shadow spear shot from the darkness behind the prince impaling his heart. It was finally the end of the seventh prince of dragonking castle. When the ¡°Shadow Spike¡± retracted the lifeless body fell to the ground.

    And i had to sit down myself. I was all out of juice and my left arm shoulder and leg all had sever burns. A few cuts here and there i was a bloody mess. Well i had worse before. I was just about to release my tension when i hear a sound that makes my heart skip a beat. A roar unlike any i have heard ever before resounded throughout the dungeon. And the direction it came from was the exact direction i left Mia. FUCK.

    All in all it could be said Asura did not do a lot of mistakes while down here. Even his arrogance that almost got him killed it could be said that was an excusable mistake. But he severely underestimated this dungeon. What he couldn¡¯t know that in the furthest corner of the dungeon There was a corridor that did not lead to another cave. It was way bigger than any other corridor about ten meters high. What he couldn¡¯t know is that this corridor went down quiet far. And down there about five kilometers below this dungeon there was another dungeon. And its size was multiple times that of the above. Down here the abyss and Vamon almost overlapped. It was a small small window in the deepest part. Below that window a black box sealed with chains was quietly resting. The power of this box was it that drew so many shadows from the abyss. Here the shadows mixed with the live energy of Vamon resulting in shadow beasts.

    What did that mean? It meant that all those hundreds of shadow beasts that Asura killed were only the tip of the iceberg and they were the weakest shadow beasts as they were to weak to remain near the black box that was attracting them. But there was something that attracted them even more: the smell of blood. And Asura¡­ had produced a lot of that in the dungeon above. Not realizing the true danger of this dungeon, that was his biggest mistake.

 Chapter 9

    Chapter 9: The ruler of darkness

    Of all the shadow beasts that have ever formed in this dungeon the strongest was without a doubt the one that made its nest directly next to the black box. Shadow beasts generally take on the form of already existing monsters, forming their general body with something that resembles black chitin. The hardness and durability of the outer chitin layer is directly corresponding to the power of that beast. And of all shadow beasts here this giant shadow dragon was definitely the strongest. The strongest beasts take on the form of the strongest monsters. And dragons were without a doubt one of the strongest races in the entire continent.

    On top of that this is below dragonking castle. The influence of dragons was quiet high here. The shadow beast king was slumbering next to the black box most of his time but something was different today. All instincts were telling this beast that there was something not normal. But what was it. It started to test out its surroundings. No hostile presences. Ah. It is the smell. And suddenly the beast becomes visibly excited. It is blood. It can smell blood. It quickly became aware of the direction the smell was coming from. The way to the weaklings above.

    Normally he wouldn¡¯t leave his den but if there was fresh prey to catch, maybe it was worth it. With that the shadow dragon started to move. Faster and faster it moved and just before it arrived at the top dungeon it smelled living prey. This smell was¡­ Wind and water and so gentle and so tender. Even more excited the beast sped up. When it was just a short way away from its target it let out a deafening roar. To let everyone know not to mess with his prey. Today it would feast on fresh meat.

    After the shadow dragon left it was quiet within his den. No sound could be heard as no other shadow beast would dare to come the den of the king of this dungeon. But suddenly a very quiet cracking sound could be heard. A small crack had appeared on a corner of the black box.

    In both of my lifes i never ran as fast as i did now. I ignored pain, wounds and caution. With top speed i jumped from stalactite to stalactite destroying them in the process just from the force i use propelling myself to the next stalactite. I left her three caves to the south and i only needed around 20 seconds to cross two of them. Then i hear i high pitched scream and while roaring: ¡°MIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAA!¡± I speed up even more. Faster. FASTER. I draw on my last bit of shadow power and burst out of the corridor into the cave where i left Mia.

    While flying out of the corridor i see a ten meter long shadow beast in form of a dragon dive towards Mia from the 50 meter high ceiling. I wont make it. I am 20 meters away from her while he only needs ten to reach her. Fuck fuck fuck. And he is faster due to the downwards momentum. I gather my last bit of shadow power: ¡°SHADOW SPIKE! SHADOW SHIELD!¡± I form a shadow spike behind Mia and protect her back with a shield. The spike shots out, hits the shield and shots Mia away from the dragon towards me. BOOM. The dragon hits the ground but misses Mia.

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    The next moment I¡¯ve got her. Even with her lower deer body she only has the total size of a golden retriever so i can handle that. I kick the ground in front of me hard and propel myself in the opposite direction. We need to get away from here. With top speed using the stalactites as footholds i speed through the cave to the corridor. But as I am about to reach it I have to kick the ground hard again to stop. My path and any other path for that matter, was blocked by shadow beasts maybe not as big as the dragon but all massive and they all gave off a dangerous aura. They were no small fries. If i were on top of my game not hurt and with full shadowpower then maybe only maybe i could have gotten rid of them.

    But in my condition? And protecting Mia on top of that? No fucking way. Even now i might have been able to get away.. but that would mean to abandon Mia. And well this might sound stubborn and stupid but when i have decided something i stick to it. That was one of my problems in my old life, i would not repeat the same mistakes. I would live and i would live the way i want to. Free. And now i want to protect Mia so no absolutely not an option. Besides i had this feeling, i don¡¯t know why but i had this feeling i have to protect her. Well lets do what we can for now. I released all my killing intent with no restraint.

    The advancing beasts all stopped. One has to know by now i have killed hundreds: Mercenaries, shadow beasts, monsters, even children in case of my siblings. This was true unrefined killing intent. The real deal. Even me hurt and they with the number advantage. Its not easy to advance against this kind of oppression. But it wouldn¡¯t last i knew that. Shit. I was starting to sweat. Damn talk about a freaking tight situation. Mia had already fainted due to my killing intent. Well can¡¯t really be gentle right now.

    And the worst part was: my strength was leaving me i was going on the reserve of my reserves. And then came the rage. From deep within my soul, honed in two lives my rage is not something that can easily be compared to anything. My killing intent rises to even newer heights and i shout with all my might: ¡°COME AT ME FUCKERS!¡± and at that moment the ground exploded. A black mass darker that anything i have ever seen pours out of the hole in the ground. It is as if a black hole became a mass alive and started moving. This black mass suddenly shot out towards all the shadow beasts in the cave.

    And within seconds¡­ all beasts even the dragon were swallowed whole. I was dumbfounded. I mean yeah i was pretty fucking angry but well i have a pretty good grasp on how powerful i am. I am absolutely not that powerful! That wasn¡¯t me right? No that¡­ ¡°thing¡± is not moving by my will. But it is true that is killing all the shadow beasts and not hurting me whatsoever. Well. That¡¯s fine then. Right? When all beasts had vanished the mass suddenly started to flow towards me. I would have tried to get away but honestly? I can¡¯t even move anymore. I am spent. As in empty tank. Nothing left. Ugh.

    But instead of attacking me it surprisingly started to form a figure before me. After a few moments the mass had built the perfect form of a human woman. And that was not the end of the surprises. That woman suddenly kneeled before me a voice that sounded as if it came from a grave spoke: ¡°Kam¡¯ya empress and ruler of darkness greets her master.¡±

 Chapter 10

    Chapter 10: A devil named Asura

    The entire throne room was in turmoil. Everyone was gathered around the soul jade slips. Everyone looking was stunned they could not comprehend what was happening. Right after the competition had started one slip after the other stopped giving of magic. Within 15 minutes all but 5 of the kings children died. Of course the three favorites and surprisingly the 17th and the 25th jade slip. Up till then people were surprised but thought it was to be expected.

    The three favorites were just that strong so obviously everybody assumed it was them who had swiftly started to take out the competitors. Never would they even dream that it was the 17th prince alone who took out one young beastkin after the other while slaying hundreds of shadow beasts. But when in relative quick succession the second followed by the fourth and seventh slip fell silent everyone was stupefied. The only two survivors were the two that were most unlikely to survive. What happened.

    While everyone was fixated on the jade slips in order to see just who would come out on top: The dropout without affinity or the healer who couldn¡¯t fight, the magic formation leading to the dungeon suddenly became pitch black. And rising out of the mass of darkness were exactly those two: the dropout and the healer. Suddenly everyone present could feel bone piercing killing intent. No one not even the king had ever felt something like this before. It was as if death himself had come to this hall to take them all away.

    Several people fainted the rest started to sweat and people started to slowly turn towards the magic formation. And what they saw their faces turned into a grimace twisted by fear. Before them stood the 17th prince. But a 17th prince unlike the one they could remember. Not anymore the timid human figure that would always stand furthest in the back not trying to draw any attention. No in front of them stood figure clad in shadows and darkness. It was bizarre how dark energy would crawl along his body while shadows twisted around him. One could clearly see that those were two different kinds of energy but no one could make sense of it. The sheer pressure generated by the figure in front of them was enough to subdue the entire elite of the beast kingdom.

    Not matter if ancient vampire, black dragon or higher werewolf. Not talking about those even the king could hardly move himself and he is regarded as one of the strongest on the entire continent. And suddenly the king was overjoyed. It worked! This young kid in front of him has even succeed him! They could finally take the fight towards the enemy.

    Suddenly as if revitalized he used all his force to resist the oppressing killing intent and started to speak: ¡°My son. It seems we have a devil in form of a human here. You have by far exceeded my expectations and you are surely a worthy successor to my title. So how about you get rid of that last nuisance over there and then come here to your rightful place. Where you belong.¡± He gracefully held his right hand out: ¡°By my side on top of the world.¡±

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    Silence. No one made a sound after the kings proposal. If a needle would drop right now, you would definitely hear it. Suddenly cold high laughter echoed throughout the hall. The oppressive atmosphere turned hostile and deadly and the king had to take several steps back. The prince suddenly walked out of his sphere of darkness. Holding his belly while laughing he still wore the same clothes as before even though they were burned and cut open now. A plain dark shirt with a light black leather armor above. A grey cloak with hood, black hardened leather bracers, black pants and his two two feet dagger hanging from his sword belt to both sides. Dark enough even without shadows and darkness it seems.

    His dark eyes fell on the king and he started to talk in a deadly voice: ¡°Dragonking Bar¡¯ath our relationship ends here. You and i have nothing to do with each other from today onward. I first wanted to kill you but to be honest? You are nothing you are not even worth killing. I will take my sister and leave now and you will leave us alone otherwise i will come back and i will wipe this nation of the face of the earth. If you think that i can¡¯t do that¡­ KAM¡¯YA¡± Suddenly a mass of darkness started to swirl around the prince and in seconds that mass of darkness turned into the shape of a human woman that seemed to suck all light in.

    ¡°This is the empress of darkness Kam¡¯ya. Kam¡¯ya should the dragonking or his subordinates harm me or Mia¡­ Wipe this place from the face of Vamon.¡± The black figure bowed and answered with a voice that seemed to come out of a grave: ¡°As you command master.¡± Empress! The empress of darkness! What did that represent? It was a legend. Legend has it that if you ascend to the tenth rank of an element the now solid elemental energy would give you access to the emperor of the corresponding element. The emperor are the rulers of their element. They have absolute control and command over their respective elements. They are basically the essence of magic.

    And before their eyes the empress of darkness has bowed to the 17th prince. That she was the empress of darkness there was no question. Everyone present could feel her absolute power. With those words the speaker turned towards the portal leading out of the throne room. ¡°Mia come.¡± And he started to leave followed by the young dryad. The empress meanwhile flooded back into the darkness but everyone could feel that she was still present. The leaving young man opened the door and as he was about to leave he turned around once more: ¡°One more thing: My name

    is Asura.¡±

 Interlude: Vamon

    Intelude: Vamon

    Well that concludes my childhood. Nice childhood wasn¡¯t it? I mean it had all the important parts! Torture, Combat, Near Death experience, poison. Oh yeah i received training in torture from my master as well. On my request. Lovely aren¡¯t I? An adorable child! Not! Oh well can¡¯t be helped. Anyway seeing that it is now time to make plans. Lets go ahead and look at then world of Vamon for a second.

    Surprisingly the planet, the continent AND the human empire are all called Vamon. Crazy right? Well but there seems to be a reason for it so let me elaborate: The planet Vamon seems to be separated into half land and half ocean. Na you know what? How about we just start at the beginning! Well this i won¡¯t find out until MUCH later therefore be grateful i am sharing already. Anyway you have heard of the big bang theory? Well apparently it is quiet close to the truth.

    At the beginning there was nothing. But well nothing is boring right? No one knows the truth but from nothingness the great being formed. What is the great being? I have no freaking clue. God? Mister Almighty? Seriously no idea, all i know is that the great being was the beginning. Just an enormous dense and hot mass of energy. If you want a closer explanation to the big bang theory: wiki/Big_Bang

    Anyway until now the story is familiar right? I mean of course except for the name but the ¡°Starting point¡± of the big bang theory is the great being. Anyway for some reason, guys really I am no scientist i can¡¯t explain this i can only tell you what happens after so PLEASE, don¡¯t ask, i don¡¯t know. Until now everything is fine right? All according to theory. Wrong! You might have guessed but there was more to it than we first thought. Because from the great being the spirits were born:

    The first spirit: Time, he took the created universe for himself and settled on earth. Leaving only a trace of his power behind.

    Next were the twins: light and darkness. They both took in the power left behind by time and then started to create their own world parallel to Time''s earth. The first parallel world: Vamon was born.

    So Vamon is basically a single planet, that¡¯s in a different dimension parallel to earth. Confused? No wonder, i will try to explain.

    We all agree that two things can¡¯t exist at the same place right? Wrong. Why is that wrong? The answer is easy: Time! Two things can occupy the same place just not at the same time. So because Light and Darkness took in some of Time¡¯s power. The planet they created existed on a different time stream than the rest of the universe. That is by the way the reason why time flows slower on Earth than on Vamon. Different time streams! Anyway after Light and Darkness left, the other spirits started to appear: Fire,Water,Earth,Lightning and wind. And they all left for Vamon.

    Therefore the only force ruling earth is Time: Hence no magic, no nothing. Anyway but the most important spirit is yet to come: The spirit of chaos. Where there is light, there is darkness, where there is order there is chaos. Everything has its opposite that¡¯s a universal law. So all those spirits that created worlds and life, they need to have a counterpart. And that is: The spirit of chaos. The spirit of chaos went neither to earth nor to Vamon, just light Light and Darkness he created his own world. Twisted and filled with energy that rips apart creation, it is a world filled with wicked shadows, formless but deadly. The Abyss.

    The Abyss is a true spirit world, where you don¡¯t have nor need a body. Only your soul or spirit could enter. Vamon on the other hand is like a mixture, half spiritual half physical. Hence magic can be used and beings derived from magic like beastkin and such developed. The problem was its relative close proximity to the abyss. The biggest threat for Vamon was always: the barriers between the worlds would crumble and the abyss would open into Vamon.

    Well on the other hand Earth or the rest of the universe is a full material plain. No magic can be used but the abyss is as far away as can be. So now the worlds were made the great being enveloped everything with the remainder of his body hence creating the triple layer universe. That name comes from me neat right? No? Well then f*ck off and think of something better! (It is actually called multiverse, i still think my name is better!) So that was the creation of the universe.

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    The new planet Vamon was made but there was a problem. They made Vamon from scratch alone unlike the universe that was made by their father and hence had to use some kind of blueprint. Unfortunately they didn¡¯t use earth they just used a rock where nothing can live on. Their brother time could have just sped up the time for the planet until there is a point where things can live on it (which time had already done for earth giving him a head start.) Not knowing what to do suddenly the other 5 spirits arrive. So they look at earth and copy!

    Seems we need soil. Hence Earth prepared the ground. Next is an atmosphere. Hence Wind created it. Water is needed hence Water created an ocean. (well he clad half the planet in water but can you not excuse him? He is just copying after all). Heat and light were needed hence Fire and Light combined their efforts and created a sun. A core seems to be important as well hence lightning created a core of pure energy. And the planet was good.

    They were very satisfied so now they started to create life! And again they started copying from earth. Darkness who had yet to do anything was first. At the moment we have the rule of the dinosaurs on earth so when darkness started to form his race, he took parts from everywhere and combined them with his own essence. Hence the demons were born.

    Light was next. By now humans had already started to take over the earth and Light was enchanted by those creatures. I want them is what she thought. So she copied the humans one to one. And after her the other spirits combined to create the rest of the races. It is unknown which races were originally created except for humans and demons. As they were the only ¡°pure¡± races. The other races were mixed children from all the other spirits. Over time the races would mix with each other giving birth to even more variety. The planet was only two thirds of the Earth¡¯s size. So half the planet could now be colonized.

    The demons took the mountain range in the north. The humans took the plains in the east and the rest of the intelligent creatures banded as the beastkin to take woods lands to the west. And all dangerous monsters and beasts that developed over time were driven into the dense forest in the center of the continent. When the spirit of Water wanted to create creatures of the sea though the spirit of chaos appeared. Chaos did not wish for harmony.

    The opposite, Chaos wished for the end of all. For everything to return to one. Chaos wanted everything to end and for the great being to assemble once more. You can think of chaos as the embodiment of destruction. So Chaos linked the ocean to the abyss and the shadows started to invade the world. By coming into contact with the semi physical world of Vamon they developed bodies according to the creatures living in this world.

    Though they were just a mass of chaospower that was given physical form. The other spirits were enraged and drove chaos back into the abyss. But they could not undo the connection of Vamon and the Abyss, hence in order to seal the abyss¡­

    Sorry gotta stop here i can¡¯t spoiler the fun :) Maybe some have worked it out maybe not but i really don¡¯t want to spoil the OHA moments therefore i hope that''s enough background information for now. I will write an interlude after every arc with additional information so when you don¡¯t understand things or if there are things you want to know, let me know in the comments or something and i shall pick it up for the next interlude. Anyway enjoy the story guys i hope you love as much as i love writing it. That concludes the first arc.

 Chapter 11

    Chapter 11: New goals and a spider?

    After i left the throne room, i felt more alive than ever since being born into this world. And as soon as i closed the doors behind me, for the first time i laughed. I laughed from the bottom of my heart. It was like eleven years of pressure and fear were released in a single moment. I don¡¯t think there are a lot of people that can understand just what kind of weight has been lifted off of me. With my hate and my determination i fell more and more into the cycle that my father had created.

    No not my father the dragonking. I have nothing more to do with that bastard. No not even bastard he is a nothing. And just like that i lost every interest in dragonking Bar¡¯arth Shadowwing. Unconsciously i might have released some killing intent while i was laughing cause all the guards within 100 meters backed off sweating. Which made me laugh even more! Suddenly i felt a slight pull on my clothes from behind. As i turned around, Mia was looking at me with slightly teary eyes.

    Oh damn, ahhh I am really really bad with people. No wait that¡¯s actually not true. I used to be really good with people even though i didn¡¯t like crowds. But when it was just one or two people i used to be quiet good with people. But that¡¯s an entire world away. Ah i don¡¯t care anymore. I will just do exactly what i want to do from now on. And just now i have decided that Mia had enough grief. I carefully embrace her fragile upper body and while i can feel the trembling on my chest i silently whisper: ¡°I am sorry Mia. Brother will protect you from now on, you don¡¯t have to be scared anymore. We will leave this hellhole and never come back. How about it, do you want to see the world?¡± i ask her gently.

    While sobbing she can only answer: ¡°yes¡± sob sob ¡°yes¡± sob ¡°yes¡±. I give her another firm hug then i gently remove her from my chest. I look into her teary eyes and give her a small smile. Come on I am really not used to smile, it is my first time in this world! But somehow Mia seems shocked. ¡°Something wrong?¡± I ask her concerned. The next words i really did not expect. I mean seriously that was like the last thing i expected to ever hear from ANYONE. ¡°Brother you¡­ you are beautiful when you smile.¡± Ugh. Beautiful? waaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit a minute. I am male so¡­ i really don¡¯t want to be ¡°beautiful¡±, good looking? yes. But beautiful is reserved for women!

    Oh well, she is my sister she can say what she wants. I slightly shake my head and say: ¡°Well that was unexpected. Thanks¡­ i guess? Anyway lets go.¡± I hold my hand towards her and she grabs it without hesitation. With that we finally leave dragonking castle.

    Ka¡¯ahn was very satisfied. He was happy that his pupil succeeded and the way he succeeded.. it was marvelous. He couldn¡¯t keep a grin off of his face when thinking about the look on the dragonking when Asura called for the empress. The empress¡­ Never would he have believed that it was his generation, much less himself, that would see the spirits reappear. The only problem is that the seals will weaken, well the barriers will brake eventually due to the rift within the ocean and in order to stop total annihilation, they will need the spirits and all of them.

    And the one who seems to be destined to unite them? It seems it would be his little Asura. Words could not describe the pride Ka¡¯ahn held. Asura was like a son to him and it would pain him greatly to leave him behind. But he had no choice. The rules were clear, when the spirits gather, the order needs to be reestablished to help the holder. Hence, because it was him who witnessed the awakening of a spirit, it would be his job to find all the scattered elders and find out about the locations of the other spirits.

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    When he was done with that he would return to his pupil to guide him once more. All of that and more went through Ka¡¯ahns head while he was waiting for Asura to come out of the castle. He himself left the second he heard Asuras proclamation that he would leave. He had expected as much. While thinking and waiting under a tree next to the road that would lead through the woods towards the human kingdom Vamon. Ka¡¯ahn figured that because of his appearance Asura would choose to go towards Vamon. Well seeing that they will be passing the dryad village, it makes a lot of sense to go this direction.

    Especially with Mia. That moment a black hole with a diameter of about two meters formed in the gate of the castle. Through it came Asura and Mia. Asura of course noticed him and came over followed closely by Mia. Not dense but most of Shura was wood. Not like the dense forest where the beasts live, no an open and friendly wood land that gave ideal living conditions to all those different beastkin alive. Only the roads were clear otherwise there were trees, bushes and so on. Many roads lead through the wood lands and many villages exist within. The two main roads though lead directly towards Vamon and Diakon the demon country.

    When Asura and Mia arrived by Ka¡¯ahn¡¯s side, the boy made a slight bow and said: ¡°Sensei, thank you for your teachings. I shall leave now and look at the world for myself. I don¡¯t want to be told what to do anymore and i wan¡¯t to see this world with my own two eyes.¡± Ka¡¯ahn looked warmly at his only student: ¡°Asura there is hardly anymore that i can teach you. Take good care of Mia and steer away from trouble.¡± Asura though wasn¡¯t finished: ¡°Sensei¡­ Who¡­ or what is Kam¡¯ya?¡± Ka¡¯ahn sighed and answered: ¡°Asura that is a question i cannot answer you at the present time. I promise you that when i found the answers i am looking for, i will come and find you. Then i will tell you everything i know. Oh and one more thing: an old friend of mine lives near the border to the human kingdom. Visit him i am pretty sure you could learn one or two things from him.¡±

    Asura looked at his teacher suspiciously but then shrugged his shoulders. ¡°Okay.¡± If his teacher thought it is not time yet, then it is not time yet and he would be the last to pressure his teacher. After all he was the only person close to him, well Mia was there as well and his nanny but he didn¡¯t need a nanny since he was self conscious so he never really got close. But his teacher was more like a father to him then the dragonking ever was. Hence he would trust his teacher. ¡°Then Sensei, i am off, take good care of yourself and thank you for everything.¡± He extended his right arm and Ka¡¯ahn grabbed it the way warriors do. Asura absolutely had earned that right. A last look and Ka¡¯ahn vanished into the shadows.

    Asura looked a moment and then started to leave with Mia towards the Dryad village. Suddenly: ¡°Outsch. What the¡­?¡± Asura put his hands to his neck and into his cloak¡­ and pulled a Shadowspider out.

    <hr />

    Yeah i know i wanted to finish arc 2 before posting again but i found some time to edit while eating ^^

    enjoy

 Chapter 12

    Chapter 12: A new companion

    How annoying. I was just about to crush it when i suddenly heard a voice. ¡°Please don¡¯t kill me.¡± Huh? Voice? But there was no voice and there is no presence anywhere around. That¡¯s slightly alarming. Again i hear that voice but now i realize: It¡¯s in my head! ¡°In your hand¡­ can¡¯t¡­ breathe¡­¡± I look into my hand and see: i almost crushed the Shadowspider. Surprised i ease up on the pressure.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Well let¡¯s first find out what the actual heck is happening here. ¡°Who or what are you?¡± i ask. I have a way with words right? And i definitely don¡¯t have a stupid look on my face right now! ¡°My name is Caro and obviously i am a shadow spider.¡± No way. Well let¡¯s first find out more: ¡°Something is not right here Caro or whoever. Shadowbeasts are energy given form by this world at least in the furthest sense. So there is actually no way for them to be self aware. Especially since they physique doesn¡¯t even have a brain as far as i know.¡± After a short while: ¡°I don¡¯t know if you will believe me but¡­¡±

    And so the shadow spider Caro told me her story. She was the same as me! I could hardly believe it. She was from Earth! When i heard that i almost cried. I was not crazy. It was all real. There was once before a boy with my name on the planet Earth. He existed! I really had wondered sometimes. Was it all a bad dream? Did my father do something with my head or the magic? But this here was proof! Sorry i got carried away.

    Caro¡¯s story. There was actually not much to it: She was shopping with friends, came home and got sleepy. Next thing she knew, she can¡¯t move her body the way she is used to, it¡¯s dark and a scary scenery, she somehow could see, surrounded her. The scenery obviously was the dungeon below the castle. Well that confirms a suspicion i had: The veil between the worlds was unnatural thin around Dragonking castle. The high amount of shadow beasts confirmed that.

    After Caro told me her story i was lost in thought and didn¡¯t even pay attention to the kind of annoying voice within my head. ¡°Hello? So what are you gonna do with me?¡± She asks kind of scared. It seems she used her small size so sneak out of the maze when the king and some of his men went hunting within the dungeon. After that she hid within the castle and started to learn this worlds language.

    It even seems that she is not as weak as she seems: She went all around the castle listening in on the lessons the different children of the king received. Seems she was quiet good at magic. Well the more firepower the better. So i decided: ¡°Fine, come with us, but don¡¯t cause any trouble.¡± I didn¡¯t tell her who i am. Do you think i am stupid? I won¡¯t tell a random stranger who i am. I got way to careful for that the last couple of years. Anyway now the a little smaller than my hand big shadow spider Caro now joined our little group. So finally we can get going. So we start our journey towards the Dryad village.

    Mia was confused at first. Why was her bother talking to that spider? Not until after they started to set of on the small road within the woods that she found out. On both sides of the road were a lot of trees and a lot of under wood but all in all it was a quiet and scenic road. While she was admiring the scenery because she never came out of the castle before, she suddenly heard a quiet pleasant voice in her head. It reminded her of her mother even though she had never heard her mothers voice. ¡°Hello i am Caro.¡±

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    Mia came to a sudden stop. As if he had eyes on the back of his head, Asura immediately turned around and asked: ¡°Everything okay Mia?¡± Mia was scared, as she didn¡¯t know if she imagined the voice or not just as she wanted to tell her brother she heard it again: ¡°Sorry that was my fault. I just wanted to greet her.¡± Asura gave a sigh and said to Mia: ¡°Mia, that¡¯s Caro, she is going to travel with us for a while. Be nice.¡± As he said that he pointed at the spider that was sitting on his right shoulder. ¡°Hello!¡± as she heard that in her head the spider raised on of her legs.

    Mia stared at her confused at first. But after a short while she answered: ¡°Hello Caro, i am Mia. Please take care of me.¡± She recovered quiet quickly, seeing that she lives in a world where nothing was impossible. From that day onward Mia and Caro became inseparable. Caro would always ride somewhere on Mia talking to her. Asura was more the quiet type, he hardly ever talked so the two girls were very happy about the company of the other.

    Caro told Mia her story and all that happened since she was born. When her spider friend first woke up in this dangerous and confusing world, she ran away from all the other scary dark figures that emerged from a dark spot. She than walked through that dungeon forever until she stumbled upon the king and his men. As they seemed better than all those scary creatures around her, she snuck in one of the pockets and hence, escaped from that dungeon. After she would hide within the castle picking up the language and some magic here and there. Mia was surprised to hear that Caro actually settled under her bed! She just met her unknown flatmate!

    From there Caro would delegantly cultivate her magic because her dream was to change her form back to human. She learned more and more until she was strong enough to move a book using magic. From there on she learned various types of magic by sneaking into the castle library by night. That¡¯s how she got to learn telepathy. Care seemed to be the carefree type. Considering everything that happened she would regularly tell Mia jokes about spiders and she would make fun of her own situation. Mia was really thankful for her presence as it made things a lot easier.

    With that the days went by quietly. They would walk most of the day and towards the evening Asura would look for a place where they could sleep. If there was no water nearby, Mia could conjure it so there was really no need to absolutely make sure they had a water source nearby. And after a bit less than two weeks, they finally arrived at dryad village.

    <hr />

    Yes i know that i have another chapter to go before arc2 is finished but i can''t write 24/7 so i decided before shopping i might just as well quickly edit another chapter. Anyway enjoy chapter12 PS: Arc1 and arc2 i will most likely revise and rewrite after i am done. But first get started, get experience, then write what you love about your story (arcs3-5 are gonna be awesome!!) and then ill go back to arc1+2 to bring it up to speed. After that look forward to the second book. Yep a second book is already done at least concerning story! Anyway enough of me talking enjoy the read.

 Chapter 13

    Chapter 13: Dryad village

    Well i am not sure you can call that a village. It was more like a collection of big trees. From what i have read and heard from Mia Dyrads seem to not live in houses or anything like it. They link to a tree. They establish something called soul link and it lets them tab into the trees magic allowing them to even fuse with the tree! Quiet handy i must say but it seems they can¡¯t go too far away from their trees at least not without a sufficient magic supply. Well seems like a drag for me to be bound to a not moving tree but well its not my problem.

    We could feel the change when we entered a clearing through two enormous trees. The trees surrounding that clearing only left two openings to the the north and the south. We entered through the south gate? Well i will call it gate. In the middle of the clearing a huge tree would immediately catch your sight. The air around it was breath taking. It felt old. Really old. Do you know this feeling when you look at something and you can respect just because you can see and feel how much it went through? Kinda like that. We slowly advanced towards the old tree with a feeling of thousands of eyes watching us. Well i guess we know where all the Dryads are. If my guess is correct, all those trees.. Well lets hope that they are not hostile. For them!

    As we approached a bright light suddenly shown from the center of the tree¡¯s base. From there a seemingly young Dryad appeared. Green hair similar to Mia with a deer bottom in a light brown and the top of a i¡¯d say around 25 old woman. But as soon as she opened her violet eyes, age and wisdom far beyond her appearance radiated within them and when she spoke it was a voice filled with power and magic. Light as the wind that blows through the woods but as sturdy as the earth her trees stand upon: ¡°What brings you here strangers? I am the matriarch of the Dryad tribe Melde and if you do not have urgent business i ask you to leave.¡±

    Somehow her pompous manner pissed me off. I mean seriously i am trying to bring back a lost child here you know? The best for Mia would be living with proper Dryads right? Well lets not start a fight. Being polite is the way to go right? ¡°Honored matriarch. We are children that have escaped the grasps of the dragonking. Obviously i won¡¯t ask anything unreasonable like taking care of me or anything. But at least let my sister Mia stay with you. She is a daughter of a Dryad and i believe that she will need other Dryads to take care of her. If you could take care of her i would be eternally grateful.¡± I bow my head which kind of irritates me even more. I mean i could wipe them out right here but oh well can¡¯t be picky when you are asking for favors.

    But things never work out as planned: ¡°Never. We Dryads keep to ourselves and we don¡¯t welcome outsiders. Especially not a filthy half blood. That¡­ thing is just proof of the humility the dragonking has brought upon our clan. Take it and leave before we make you.¡± That¡¯s it. Who the fuck does this Treehugger think she is? Ah lets go wild. When i was about to gather some Shadowenergy suddenly someone i tugging my sleeve. ¡°Brother Asura. Let¡¯s just leave. Please? I¡­ I don¡¯t want to cause anyone trouble.¡±

    When i turn around i see Mia with tears in her eyes. It makes me even more mad but what can i do? Not much. Destroying the Dryads would not solve anything. Well sure i would feel better after but it wouldn¡¯t help Mia. Fine. Lucky day Dryad scum but don¡¯t think i will forget this. I turn around again towards the matriarch and say while releasing all my killing intent: ¡°You better thank the half blood because she just saved your pitiful lifes. I will tell you this: you will regret this one day.¡± With this i grab Mia¡¯s hand and walk straight past the matriarch who got very very pale.

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    Seems she realized that it was a bad idea to be so arrogant. Oh well let¡¯s just leave it that. While i was walking towards the north gate suddenly i feel massive magic gathering behind me. I just wanted to prepared counter measures to a Dryad sneak attack when i saw the Dryad Melde look with shock towards the ancient tree in the middle of the clearing. Even though there was no wind going the many branches and maple like leafs where thrown around as if in a storm. With open mouths we watched a small tornado form above the tree shining with a strange inner light. Suddenly the storms and winds formed into the figure of a young man.

    His appearance was very difficult to discern similar to a summer breeze. You can feel it and kind of think you can see it but it seems to slip your attention. But the longer i looked the more i could see and it looked back! Suddenly a gust of wind hit me and the wind like man was kneeling in front of me. ¡°Masssssster iiii haaaaave waiteeeed soooooo looooooong. Thiiiiiiiis Tempeeeeest awaaaaaaits yooooour oooooorderrrrrrrs.¡±

    With a voice like a sharp storm he speaks to me. Before i can answer i hear in my ear: ¡°Master, this is my brother Tempest. Like myself he is sworn to serve you.¡± Seems like another spirit huh? Well i didn¡¯t understand it the first time i still don¡¯t understand it but one thing is certain. That being in front of me is powerful. Really powerful. And it wants to serve me? Hell yeah. ¡°So be it. My name is Asura and from now on i am your master.¡±

    The wind spirit? It seemed like a wind spirit at least bowed very low and answered: ¡°Assssss youuuu wissshhh.¡± With that he vanished. But somehow like the last time i could feel my own power rising. Endless energy was raging through my body it was really peculiar. It felt like being torn apart but surprisingly it didn¡¯t hurt. And like the feeling of something hot going slowly down your throat the power calmed down and entered me? It¡¯s difficult to describe like an empty stomach you didn¡¯t notice you had suddenly being filled. It was very satisfying when it ended. When it ended i opened my eyes and¡­ imagined a wind blowing through my hair. And really a weak wind came up and blew through my hair!

    Wind magic! I can control wind magic. I started laughing. No affinity? Take that, after the shadows and the darkness i can now control the wind. An annoying voice suddenly called out from behind: ¡°You.. You.. What have you done?¡± I turned around and looked at the shocked matriarch. I truthfully answered: ¡°I gained an excellent servant why?¡± ¡°This¡­ The spirit of the wind has been our guardian for eternity. Its keeping us safe. What are we supposed to do now?¡± Seriously? You are asking me that now? After your little speech earlier? ¡°HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA¡± i can only laugh. ¡°Is that my problem?¡± i ask her. ¡°When i respectfully asked for your help not only did you turn me down, you even had the guts to insult my sister and now you want my help? Dream on! Mia lets go.¡± With that i take Mia''s hand and leave towards the north. ¡°Wait! I am sorry!¡± She shouts after me but who would listen to that. I raise my hand and call back: ¡°Sort your own problems out. Isn¡¯t that what you told me? You Dryads keep to yourselves!¡± With that we leave Dryad village. Lets hope that visiting Sensei''s old friend will turn out better.

 Chapter 14

    Chapter 14: The old man

    Lucky for us it was not that far to the place Sensei had described to me. All we had to do was keep traveling south west towards the human kingdom Vamon. The place he described was on the edge of the beastkin woods where the plains towards the human kingdom started. There was supposed to be a small wooden house but when we exited the woods exactly where my Sensei had described it (well seeing that there was only one way leading out of the woods in that direction it was hard to miss the place where we were supposed to exit the beastkin lands.) But no matter where i looked i couldn¡¯t see anything resembling Sensei¡¯s description. Strange. I don¡¯t think my teacher would lie to me therefore something should be here.

    While i was looking around taking in the nice wide and green planes as far as the eyes reach i suddenly hear a voice behind me. ¡°Good afternoon young ones. It is a nice day is it not? How about having some tea with this old man?¡± Shocked i turn around. Not once since i have been reborn has anyone been able to sneak up on me but from the old man that came into my view as i jumped around no presence whatsoever could be detected. I was shocked. That around 160cm small old man with a white robe, a long white beard and two grey cat ears could have attacked me anytime and i wouldn¡¯t even have noticed.

    Talk about scary. Flabbergasted i could only mumble: ¡°What? How? Who are you?¡± Mia feeling my distress hid behind my back looking at the old man worried. That old cat on the other hand only laughed: ¡°Hohoho, who i am? Just an old man passing by and seeing that i hardly get any visitors these days i invited you to tea. Is that so bad?¡± he asked curiously. It took me a few moments to gather my thoughts. This was no ordinary old man!

    Therefore i couldn¡¯t hurt to be polite. ¡°Senior, i apologize for my lack of manners. We were looking for an old friend of my Sensei Ka¡¯ahn and it seems we got lost. If this senior could forgive my rudeness and maybe point us on our way after, we would gladly join you for a cup of tea.¡± See? I can still do it. Back in my own world i didn¡¯t have that many noteworthy skills. But talking? Yeah that¡¯s definitely something i am good at. My answer seemed to amuse the old man to no end.

    ¡°Hohoho so that brat Ka¡¯ahn is still around. Wouldn¡¯t have hurt to send a message or two no? Oh well cease your futile search if i don¡¯t want you to find my home you won¡¯t. But seeing i have already invited you to tea i might just as well hear what my old apprentice has to say.¡± That shocked me even more. Old friend? Screw this it seems i have Sensei¡¯s master in front of me. No wonder no wonder. I bow. It is common courtesy to bow to a master and this was without a doubt a supreme master.

    ¡°This junior greets his senior Sensei.¡± While hitting my right fist into my left hand. The old ways of paying respect. I did listen to my master. Sometimes. ¡°hohoho it seems you at least know how to behave yourself. Good good. So who is that lovely young lady there with you young one?¡± I answer without hesitation: ¡°That is my younger sister Mia. We are both the dragonkings children but to be honest i am sick of that place and so is Mia.¡± The old man was stroking his i gotta say amazing beard. He was only like 150cm big, quiet small to be honest but his presence was amazing.(When he was not hiding it) and his beard fell over his belly. Amazing beard right?

    ¡°hooooo? Interesting, interesting. Well then come on over don¡¯t be shy, don¡¯t be shy.¡± I liked that old man. From the get-go i had a feeling that was someone i could relate to. I took Mia¡¯s hand and went over to the old man sitting on a stone near the road. ¡°And who is the lovely young lady hiding?¡± That shocked me. He can even feel Caro¡¯s presence. Before i could answer i heard a voice in my head. Seems like Caro wants to introduce herself. ¡°Greetings old one. I am Caro reincarnated Shadowspider. A pleasure.¡±

    ¡°OHHHHHH¡± Like having found candy the old man got excited: ¡°ohhhh reincarnation is it? I thought that you felt strange. Now that explains a lot. hmm hmm¡± In a swift motion that i couldn¡¯t follow at all which shocked me again greatly the old man stood up. ¡°So then lets head out to my home. I have some refreshing herbal teas and i guess maybe i even have some cake left.¡± Cake? Here, oh well seriously? Nothing surprised me about that old car anymore. With that we headed off to what i would soon discover to be my new masters home. Well i planned to travel the continent but i never thought just how much time i would spend here.

    Well the next three years can be actually described very easily. It seems like the old man had left his name behind long ago. He was not just my masters teacher, it seems back in his days he was the leader of the sect my master belonged to. And i finally got my explanation. My masters sect was a sect dedicated to the entire continent of Vamon. It was their responsibility to maintain the barriers between Vamon and the Abyss. The Abyss. A world of pure power. Your physical appearance mattered little, it was your souls strength and your magic that would help you there. Well anyone sucked into the Abyss would already die just from the turbulent energy between the worlds.

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    The sect is dedicated to the seven spirits of this world: light,darkness,wind,water,earth,fire,lighting. And those two spirits that called me master? Well guess what: They are the great spirits avatars!! The spirits themselves vanished long ago but their powers were left behind at certain places. After a long time they had formed a consciousness and were waiting to find someone able to wield their power. They called themselves the spirit emperors. Basically reaching rank ten! Yes rank ten!! would grant you the power of a spirit emperor freely wielding the power of that element.

    For example i don¡¯t need spells or anything to cast wind or darkness magic. As long as i can imagine it, it can be done. It kind of feels like cheating. Not that i complain! But there were severe conditions for someone to be able to wield their power. You remember how magic is cultivated right? You need an incredible amount of magic to be able to use their powers and you cannot have any affinity!

    Before you cultivate your element that power core of your magic center is empty. Now then to completely and utterly fill those parts up (with solid elemental power) would give you rank ten. But imagine a room. If you try to put something into a room that has exactly the volume of that room it would fit right? But what if there is already something in there no matter how big? There are only two outcomes for that: either it doesn¡¯t fit or the room gets destroyed. Hence if anyone with affinity would try to bond with the spirits. It either wouldn¡¯t work or¡­ well you get the picture exploding room and so on you know? Not a pleasant experience!

    So to sum it up: my masters order has waited all these years for someone to control the emperors and seal the Abyss away for good. Guess who the lucky guy is who is supposed to do that. Yeah. Hell no. Who wants that kind of responsibility? But whenever i would say that i have no interest master would only laugh. (I called Ka¡¯ahn Sensei most of the time, so now i started to call the old man master. In my book master > Sensei oh well i used to be a book worm you know?) ¡°Destiny will always get us my young young pupil. The only question is: when the time comes are we up to it?¡± and with that he trained me.

    You have no idea what kind of training that was. He would bind my eyes and then attack me with lighting fast strikes telling me to dodge or block them without using my eyes. On top of that he completely erased his presence. Seriously what a nuisance. He would continue to beat me up until i couldn¡¯t stand anymore. At night i would of course continue to train my shadow arts. Why would i do that you ask? I know that i have immense power with my spirits but what good does that if i can¡¯t use it effectively? In the first place master could only teach me fighting and shadow arts and its not like i wasn¡¯t training in my magic. It¡¯s just that the shadow arts are most familiar with me and i like them.

    And my master showed me one thing very clearly: There is always someone stronger. A lesson that i thought i had learned here but... I was way too young and arrogant back then. Because even in a mock battle where i go all out even calling my two spirits my master would get the better of me. The next problem with my magic was understanding. For example a spell that creates an illusion to make something to look like something else, uses water magic in order to bend light rays in a specific way to create the looks of whatever you want. Well i had no idea how that worked! Hence even if i¡¯d control the spirit of water i could still not use this spell because i don¡¯t understand it.

    But Mia on the other hand, who practiced water magic, could use the incarnation to use that spell. She didn¡¯t have to understand it she only had to understand the spell. So everything has its advantages and disadvantages. Mia and Caro obviously weren¡¯t idle either. Caro was the most surprising. When master heard her story he asked her: ¡°So why do you stay a small little spider?¡± We were all surprised but he just said: ¡°You form is only bound to your soul and you strength. Maybe you can¡¯t escape being spider like but you can alter your body. At some point with enough patience and training, taking on a kind of human form should be possible.¡± So Caro was cultivating her magic over and over. By the way not surprising that Caro was best in darkness magic but she did have a strange affinity with lighting as well. Her telepathy was a combination of darkness and lighting basically sending electricity directly into the darkness of our brains transferring her thoughts. That¡¯s the basics but i don¡¯t understand it completely hence yeah you guessed it i can¡¯t copy the spell. Mia as well kept cultivating and master taught her tons of useful healing and defense spells. She never would be an attacker that much was clear but she had a strong desire to protect her loved ones. Namely me and Caro. And that¡¯s how we spend our days. Until that one fateful encounter that would start my story.

    Yeah sorry about that but this is the point where it really starts: I got my first two spirits, I got to rank 8 in the shadow arts (youngest prodigy ever! Reincarnation rules baby.) and i really felt there was nothing to fear. I mean we even had a rank 6 darkness/rank 5 lighting mage and a rank 7 water/earth healer! That is some serious fire power. Not even talking about master. Oh boy i would regret my arrogance. Deeply.

 Chapter 15

    Chapter 15: Despair

    The border of Shura, Vamon, Earth 2018, Vamon 1027 AD

    I was pretty satisfied with how things were going. Even though at some point i want to go out and see the world, at the moment things were going great. I became stronger by the day thanks to masters training and the girls were content as well. Mia in the end made the soul contract. What was interesting is that it doesn¡¯t have to be a tree you make the contract with. My master seemed to know quiet a lot he gave her a magical flower called Moonlight. Named obviously because it had the color of moonlight. Ever seen moonlight shine into a room through a window? That breathtaking play of colors? Exactly like that.

    Moonlight was a powerful magic plant that contained a huge amount if elemental water and earth energy. With the help of her Moonlight she could make miracles come true with her healing magic. I have seen her bring a bird that was on the brink of death back to life like nothing happened. It was astounding. But it wasn¡¯t meant to last. I still curse myself for that day. If i had payed more attention or¡­ well it is useless to fret on the past. On that day i was out catching dinner for me, master and Caro. Mia had no need to eat as long as her Moonlight got enough nutrients it would supply Mia with everything she needed.

    I was in the woods following a young deer that seemed perfect for dinner. Suddenly a gust of wind and: ¡°Massssssterrrrr therrrrre arrrrrre eneeeeemysssssss.¡± Tempest warned me as the first frost lance was about to hit me. A quick Shadowstep and i jumped to the next tree. Hiding in its shadows i survey the area. My senses sharpened to its highest i could make out 4 presences of considerable strength.

    What the hell? Well when someone attacks me there is no need for mercy. My newly acquired skill shadow travel should do me some favors here. Yes it is exactly as it sounds it lets me travel through the shadows. I close my eyes feel all the shadows around me which gets way easier because i have an emperor of darkness helping me. How to describe it? It was like my skin got thousands of times bigger. I could feel everything that was happening within the shadows.

    And with a thought i arrived behind the one who fired at me first. I form a blade of winds around my arm and with a swift strike severe the head. Huh? A human? Won¡¯t stop me. A blade of wind flew towards me through the trees from my left. A thought and tempest dispersed it. Shit they can track me somehow. Lets make this quick. I jump from shadow to shadow avoiding wind blades and strikes of lightning. Lightning really is hard to dodge. At least the idiots don¡¯t try to use fire spells.

    I appear behind the second one and he attempts to form a shield. No time for this. ¡°Shadow cancel.¡± I cancel his spell and quickly stab his heart. Two down. The third didn¡¯t even have time to react. ¡°Shadow spike.¡± Three down. The forth tried to retreat. Wait a minute. That¡¯s the direction of home. Why does he want to retreat there? Shit i have a bad feeling about this. Lending speed from Tempest i storm at maximum speed home. Two seconds: i am behind the last mage. His head came off before he could even shout. And on.

    I rush through the woods. Trees fly by at a frightening speed and the winds i produce tear apart any obstacle. I jump out of the woods towards the small wooden cottage. Only that there was no more cottage only smoking ruins. I stand there in shock. All gone. When i suddenly hear a silent moan. I rush towards a hardly moving body next to the cottage. No i can¡¯t be. No way. I arrive next to my master who was lying in his own blood. His ears were burned off and there was hardly anything left of his beard. Short and ragged breath could be heard but it was clear that there was not much life left within him. I could feel the tears running down my cheeks.

    The evidence of intense fighting was clear everywhere. Burned patches of grass, holes in the ground it must have been intense. Shit. Suddenly i hear the weak voice of my master. ¡°Asura.. my boy. They¡­. have¡­. Mia.¡± hacked and hardly audible he tried to speak. ¡°Master please hold on i¡¯ll get Mia and you will be okay.¡± ¡°No¡­. i¡­. i¡­. am too old. It¡¯s¡­.alright .. my¡­ boy¡­ humans¡­ Mia¡­ I ¡­sorry.¡± His eyes were about to close and my heart was about to be torn apart. Please oh please no. With his last effort he opened his eyes again: ¡°Don¡¯t¡­ be¡­ consumed¡­you¡­ are ¡­ a¡­ good¡­¡± with that the light in his eyes broke.

    Master¡­ There are not many people who were good to me since coming here. Master was one of them. He and Sensei were more my parents than that scumbag of a king. Darkness and wind were condensing around me forming a maelstrom destroying everything in sight. I was spiraling further and further into despair and the more i did the more my rage built up. I had a lot of rage even from my previous life. You want to mess with me humans? Wait for me. I will come for you and when i do i hope you have said your prayers even though they won¡¯t help you.

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    Galvin had a bad mood. Three days ago himself and the men under his command had to accompany the great Sage Argus von Hohenturm on a mission. It seems there was an old beastman who had been stealing from caravans that traveled near the border. It was never much but the caravan leaders were fed up with it and gave a request of removal to the magic academy. The academy would for a decent fee of course take on request from merchants or nobles or so one. They said it kept their skills and gave them some money to run their magic academy. As if the biggest academy for magic in the entire world needed the extra money. Nobles were putting in unbelievable amounts of money into that institute to get their children enrolled. You either graduate from the royal institute of magic or you actually don¡¯t have to graduate at all. It had that much prestige.

    The capital Vamos was located near the border anyway and it seems the great sage was bored. The stalemate between demons and humans led to him having nothing to do but be on standby in case of an attack. So he took some of his students and decided to answer the request of removal from the merchants. Little did he know what awaited him was no ordinary beastman. That old cat was something else.

    They arrived near the place where all the stealing happened and after casting a spell of detection the sage quickly led the group towards a small wooden cottage. Before we arrived sir Argus said to four of his students: ¡°It seems another one of those creatures lives here but left. He is about 1 mile to the east, go and get rid of him.¡± With that for of the mages split off towards the east.

    That left the great sage, two of his pupils and Galvin¡¯s twenty men. They thought when they arrived they could quickly get rid of the beast by burning down the cottage. But they were wrong. While they were still looking at the burning cottage a scream from behind and one of the soldiers collapsed bleeding. And the chaos began.

    The three mages immediately raised an earth platform to get themselves to safety but the soldiers were not so lucky. Withing seconds three other soldiers died a quick death all killed with frightening precision. They hardly could even see their attacker. It was like fighting a ghost. But Galvin was a veteran. He had fought demons and beastkin alike and he wouldn¡¯t loose his cool. Forming the rest of his men into a circle he was actually able to block the next attack. That surprisingly came from within their circle. From their shadows to be precise.

    But Galvin had excellent reflexes. As soon as he felt a sharp pain under his arm he threw himself to the side slashing with his sword behind him. He heard the sound of metal hitting metal and a surprised: ¡°hooo someone who can actually fight?¡± But before he could see his assaultant it vanished again.

    ¡°BACK TO BACK.¡± Within breaths all soldiers stood back to back. A few meters away from them an old werecat with a big white and a white robe appeared a few meters from them. He was panting, seems like all that action did take his toll. Suddenly a rain of fireballs came towards the old cat but he dodged them all and vanished again. But it seemed the great sage title was not just for show. The rubble that flew into the air from the fire explosions suddenly shot into every direction and with a shout the old beastman reappeared a few meters away from his original position.

    He was bleeding and before he could move another fireball flew from the earth platform hitting straight down. Galvin could hear a ¡°That¡¯s that.¡± as the earthen platform came back to the ground. That same moment a shout could be heard from the cottage and a Dryad came running towards the fallen body of the old beastman. But with a ¡°humph¡± the sage shot some lightning hitting the Dryad who fell unconscious.

    Before the great mage could finish her off Galvin interfered: ¡°Sir Argus please excuse my rudeness. Please do not kill this Dryad! Her kind is extremely valuable on the market and i want to compensate the families of the fallen soldiers.¡± The mage lowered his arm and answered: ¡°Sure. Take her. It was my miscalculation that we had casualties in the first place.¡± Which brings us back to Galvins current situation.

    He was now sitting in the barracks near the edge of town. And he could still hear the annoying crying from the prison even though it was an entire floor below him. The barracks were a pretty simple building, two floors quiet big separated into a prison on the underground floor and living quarters for the soldiers on ground level. All the four barracks around the four town gates were set up the same way. Galvin would have to wait another day before the slave market would open so that meant another day without sleep.

    That damn Dryad would not stop crying! It was annoying and he was worried. The four mages dispatched to get rid of the beastkin that left the cottage they attacked¡­ they never returned. So the sage decided that town would be safer than waiting in the wild. Oh well since he is back in the barracks there was nothing for him to worry about. With that thought his mood improved and he poured some more wine into his cup. Just¡­ what was that sticking out of his chest? He died before he could figure it out.

 Chapter 16

    Chapter 16: Revenge (part1)

    Rage. Uncontrollable rage is cursing through me. I drop the dead body of the guard. Seems like he was the leader of the soldiers. I haven¡¯t found the mages yet but all due in time. First things first. Find Mia. And then? Massacre every human being i can set my eyes upon. I will drown this country in a wave of blood. I spread my senses all around the building. Only one prisoner and that form is definitely Mia.

    Good. Oh? About forty men seem to be sleeping deeper into the building. A bloody smile crept onto my face. How about some fun before i go get Mia? Yeah let¡¯s do that. When i wanted to move suddenly: ¡°Really? You can take her and go but you prefer to kill? From what i have heard from your sister you are not a mindless killing machine but maybe she is wrong? Think you bloody idiot!¡± I can¡¯t hear the words, they are only in my head therefore i can only be: ¡°Caro.¡±

    With that the small shadow spider jumped from a dark corner onto my arm. That one little spider can express so much discontent with that small body is awe inspiring. To be honest i had no intention of listening to her. I was about to go and slaughter to my hearts content, when she talked again. It is seriously annoying when you can¡¯t shut someone out by for example closing your ears. ¡°Idiot! THINK!¡± That word sounded way too loud and i got a headache from it. ¡°Stop it. That hurts.¡±

    ¡°It was supposed to! That mage was enough to kill your master in two moves. Even if i had helped there was nothing that we could have done. And that was just! a! single! squad!¡± That actually managed to slow me down. I never once was able to win against master. So someone that can kill my master is not someone i can take on at the moment. Shit. All that rage made me stop thinking logically. I stopped walking.

    ¡°Furthermore we are now in their freaking capital! Do you get where i am going? That you killed that guard was already incredibly stupid but maybe we can still salvage this. So how about you go get your sister and on the way to any kind of safe place i will tell you what i have found out in the last three days? Then we can come up with a plan instead of getting killed because of your impatience and stupidity. Because believe it or not, i am pretty pissed as well about masters death. You might have realized but as a shadow beast i won¡¯t meet that many people who will treat me kindly.¡±

    Everyone who knows me will agree, this is very very rare: i was lost for words. My face must have looked hilarious. Absolutely dumbfounded. ¡°Get on with it!¡± After looking like an idiot at Caro i move through the barracks swiftly. It only took me moments to go through the relative simple building. Back to the front, slipping through shadows to escape the detection of the soldier on guard duty, and down to the dungeons. Pretty simple as well: one long corridor with cells to the left and right. Mia was directly in the first cell to the right. Seems like they wanted to get rid of her as soon as possible. I could hear her sobbing and my heart started aching. Something is seriously wrong with me. I should have first and foremost looked after Mia and not go on a killing spree.

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    Well at least Caro stopped me. Well can¡¯t help the already dead guard so i dissolved his body in darkness. Handy ability that i got from Kam¡¯ya. Quiet handy. That ability can dissolve anything on the level of atoms leaving no trace behind. Let the humans figure out what happened. I open the cell and rush to Mia¡¯s side. She looks up with tears streaming down her face: ¡°Brother¡­ i..¡± I didn¡¯t let her finish i draw her close into my embrace. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I am so sorry Mia it¡¯s all my fault. I will never be so careless again.¡± I really shouldn''t make promises i can''t keep.

    We stood there silently except for some sobbing until Caro finally said: ¡°Are you done? Cause you might have noticed we are still within a human prison. And i think we have decided not to stir up trouble?¡± Since when did that little spider get such a big mouth? Whatever. ¡°Mia, Caro. I front of town there is a small copse. Go there and hide, i will come after you as soon as possible. But i still have something to do here. Caro can you get Mia out?¡±

    She sounded annoyed: ¡°OI, what about planning and not stirring trouble. Are you stupid or deaf?¡± She really got a big mouth did i mention that? ¡°Caro, you are right, i can¡¯t go on a killing spree here or i will regret it. But i can¡¯t leave that bastard who killed master. You said you knew who did it?¡± It was hard to hold my killing intent back but we don¡¯t want to alarm anyone.

    ¡°Fine. Go get yourself killed but don¡¯t tell me i didn¡¯t warn you. The man you are looking for is the great Sage Argus von Hohenturm. He is the head of the local magic academy and word has it the most powerful human mage. The academy is hard not to find. Look for the biggest building aside from the castle and you will find it.¡± With that i had only a few more things to do. ¡°Tempest go with Mia and Caro and protect them.¡± A gust of wind blew by my ear: ¡°Byyyy yourrrr commmmmand masssssster.¡± Caro and Tempest should easily be able to get Mia out of town. Hence lets go. I vanish into the shadows and jump outside of the barracks. Wait for me Argus von Hohenturm. Your death approaches.

 Chapter 17

    Chapter 17: Revenge (part 2)

    Argus von Hohenturm was worried. That old cat they exterminated the other day was stronger than anticipated. Very much so. If he wasn¡¯t there, he was sure that the group would have been wiped out. Common sense told him that there could not possibly be another beastkin with similar strength near the border. But something was bothering him. Those four mages never came back and if someone knew of their strength than it was him who taught them.

    He was seriously considering going out there again to investigate. But he knew that he can¡¯t always run away from his responsibilities. This and more was going through his head while he headed to the top of the north tower. The royal academy had one main building and four towers facing the North, south, west and east respectively. When he arrived on the top floor of the tower this feeling of something being wrong¡­ i got even stronger.

    He opened the door to his study went in and closed the door. That moment he was hit by an oppressive atmosphere he had never felt before. Killing intent was assaulting him unlike anything he could even imagine. As he started to sweat he could hear a voice coming from a dark corner of the room: ¡°Are you Argus von Hohenturm?¡± He put his willpower together faced that corner and answered: ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then die. SHADOW SPIKE¡±

    Shadow? That was bad, really bad. Argus immediately invoked all of his prepared shields. Five shields: lighting, fire, water, wind and earth respectively went up in an instant but Argus was still fired out of the tower through the window across the room. He was hit from behind which shocked him even more. What an outrageous attack such power and from such an unexpected angle. Anyone but him would be dead by now he was sure because not even a single one of his shields survived that attack.

    ¡°Spirit of wind lend me your strength. Be my wings that let me soar through the sky. SOARING WIND.¡± A spell that used air resistance to make you float. But again Argus was shocked because his unknown assailant was already upon him clad in pure darkness. What was this power? ¡°Kam¡¯ya erase him!¡± Spirit? A named spirit even? No wrong! The power that was now breaking free was far above that. Darkness and Shadow this must be a demon assassin!

    Both of the forbidden arts used at once. But that amount of power was not normal. It could not be. But normal thoughts were useless now, he had to act under the assumption he was right and he was facing a spirit emperor. He thanked the goddess that they were fighting on the academy grounds.

    ¡°Oh goddess of light, enemies have invaded your sacred grounds. Banish all those that are not from this world and let only shine your light upon this place. Magic circle invocation: GODDESS BLESSING.¡± Suddenly 4 lights lit up in the four directions and one above the ground. Within seconds the entire academy was surrounded by a diamond shaped field made of light. One could imagine that the other half of the diamond shape was under ground level.

    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    The darkness that had been gathering around his opponent suddenly vanished leaving only behind a figure clad in a black cloak. Finally Argus let out his breath that he didn¡¯t even notice holding. ¡°Young assassin, it was your mistake to engage me here. Within this barrier no spirit but the spirits of light can exist. Even one of the emperors would have to bow as this barrier was created using six elements. Therefore i advise you: give up. If you do i will guarantee you a swift and painless death.¡±

    His opponent didn¡¯t react except with two swift hand motions suddenly wind blades were flying towards Argus. He was shocked, preincarnated? He had still preincarnated wind spells. What kind of monster was he facing? Argus understood that he could not be lenient. Incarnations were out against an enemy with unknown amount of preincarnated spells. Hence he could only rely on his own preincarnated spells.

    A mage could depending on power prepare a fixed number of spells. Argus was without a doubt the strongest human mage there is and he had more than a hundred spells preinvoced. But his opponents abilities were unknown, therefore he was actually worried. If his opponent could overwhelm him with sheer numbers¡­ that would be bad. But no time to think. The blades came at him with incredible speed. He used a wind lighting combination to speed up his flying and dodged while firing two fireballs of medium size.

    But again did the assassin surprise him: Before the fireballs could hit they just vanished! To cancel a spell you have to counterinvoce it. You can¡¯t preinvoce counterspells. But he had ample battle experience. He wouldn¡¯t stop just because of something he can¡¯t explain. Argus knew if he let his enemy attack again he would be in trouble so he used all of his skills that he amassed in thousands of battles against the strongest demons you can think of.

    Using water he froze the humidity in the air around the cloaked figure while simultaneously removing all oxygen from that area with wind. No air, no resistance, as expected his opponent fell while struggling to breathe and one thousand small ice spears that had formed followed. But again as the ice spears were about to hit they vanished. No not all of them! Argus saw that from the enemy¡¯s back actually struck true. So his counter magic wasn¡¯t omnipotent. Could it be?

    Argus needed to confirm his suspicion. It would cost him a lot of magic and he would be out of it for days but it was all or nothing. He used most of his mana pool to raise several massive earth spikes that hovered all around his opponent and as he launched them he threw a massive fireball as well directly at the center. The assassin fell back with amazing speed but he predicted that. His spells were following and their aim was true. And his prediction was right: Most of the earth spike vanished but the fireball and one remaining strike hit and a massive explosion signaled the end of his struggle.

    Slowly Argus floated back to the ground and once he landed, he fell back breathing very heavily. There was nothing left on the spot that the fireball hit and only when he spread out all of his senses and couldn¡¯t feel any oppressive presence anymore could he finally feel relieved.

 Chapter 18

    Chapter 18: Revenge (part3)

    Shit I was in big trouble. That was not good! I never would have thought that he can banish spirits! Fuck without Kam¡¯ya I can hardly wield any darkness spells and besides: Without shadows or darkness I can¡¯t use any darkness spells and only shadowskills with the remaining shadow power I had, which was not a lot and most of them relied on shadows being around! I could use wind at least but against an enemy of that caliber?

    No way I can win. While thinking that I noticed: I can¡¯t breathe. Shit he must have removed the oxygen from this area. Oh crap no air no resistance is what I think as I fall. On top of that ice lances? Are you serious? Well more like ice needles but they are still freaking dangerous! Well no use thinking, can¡¯t dodge them so: ¡°SHADOW CANCEL.¡± I cancel as many of them as I can but..

    I missed one. A sharp pain from the back of my right shoulder tells me that I¡¯ve been hit. This is getting worse by the second. As I land I see big earth spikes rising from the ground and I immediately retreat at top speed. But they follow me! And even a freaking huge fireball after them. Holy crap.

    Shit flee! Lucky for me that fireball is creating a shadow behind me! The light barrier had until now erased any kind of shadow or darkness but this fireball is a threat and a chance. I gather my last shadow power and cast shadow cancel and shadow travel. I erase as many earth spikes as I can while falling into my own shadow but¡­

    The fireball explodes before I can get away and the resulting shock wave catapults me into my shadow. Pain. The left side of my face is completely burned, so is my chest. Fuck that hurts. Big time. That was not a very controlled shadow travel so I hardly know where I am. Seems I actually shot myself near the gate. Lucky.

    Groaning I try to get my shattered body to stand up but its hard. ¡°You stupid, fucking idiot. I¡¯d love to kill you myself right here right now. Why I even bother to come and get you is beyond me. I even TOLD you that you can¡¯t do shit without a plan. Who the fuck do you think you are.¡±

    I hear a welcome voice within my mind. ¡°Seems like I am no one hu?¡± I answer with a bit of self loathing. ¡°Damn fucking right you are. Anyway lets get you back so Mia can patch you up and next time: YOU BETTER FUCKING LISTEN TO ME.¡± Outsch that hurt. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind. My head is killing me.¡± ¡°I DON''T FUCKING CARE.¡± Outsch.

    That was unnecessary right? Well obviously it wasn¡¯t. ¡°Do you think you can get me out of here alone?¡± I heard something like a sigh in my mind. You know the kind of over the top sigh you do to make a point. ¡°Yeah, I guess you are about to pass out?¡± was the last thing I heard.

    When I woke up I expected to experience intense pain but surprisingly I felt kind of good. I opened my eyes and looked around. It seems I was out of it for the rest of the night and the sun had risen considerably. I looked around and could see trees. Slowly it all came back to me. The fight. The loss I should say.

    So it seems Caro managed to get me back to Mia. While thinking that I sense someone approaching from behind me. But that warm and kind presence is something i would never need to put my guard up against. ¡°Brother¡­ I¡­ I brought some water, are you thirsty?¡± Now that she mentioned it I really was thirsty. ¡°Yeah thanks Mia. Sorry I worried you, I was an idiot and I should have listened to Caro.¡±

    Just as I said that: ¡°Damn right you should have listened to me. You damn fool.¡± Uh when i hear Caro in my head i can only flinch. She is kind of right you know. But she is still pissed? Oh boy. But it seems she wasn¡¯t finished: ¡°Mia cried all the time you were gone and don¡¯t even get me started on how much work and magic she had to put in healing you. You are an inconsiderate, stupid, moronic, ¡± I interrupt her: ¡°Okay i got it. Sorry. Okay? Can¡¯t change the past, I will try to do better in the future.¡±

    ¡°TRY?¡± Outsch why does she always have to be so loud? ¡°You won¡¯t TRY! You WILL DO IT!¡± You sound like Shia LaBeouf girl. ¡°FINE. Just please give me some peace and quiet.¡± I sigh and turn to Mia: ¡°Again, sorry. Thank you for looking after me.¡± I got a bright smile back in return. Cute! She really should smile more often. ¡°You always look after me so it¡¯s okay. Just¡­ Please don¡¯t do such reckless things. I wouldn¡¯t know what to do without you!¡± She says while her smile turns to a concerned look.

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    Okay crap i really messed up this time. Memo to myself: Stop being conceited (yeah is if that will ever happen). There is always someone better. Am i repeating myself? Maybe. Well then what to do. ¡°Caro, again sorry but you mentioned you had a plan earlier?¡± Caro was turning her back on me. Sorry girl but to be honest with your size it¡¯s not very impressive when you act pissed. ¡°Oh so now Mister I know better than you wants to listen to the Oh the girl doesn¡¯t know a thing anyway spider?¡±

    Really? I massage my forehead with two fingers. ¡°I said that I am sorry, can you please get over it? I promise that I will listen to you next time okay?¡± She didn¡¯t answer for a few moments but then she relaxed. Seriously it looked funny to see a spider loose tension. She actually managed to cross her two front legs in an offended manner. That was some impressive body control.

    ¡°Fine. So listen up. I have been listening in to the soldiers and i good quiet the juicy information from them. The royal academy for magic is opening its new term in a week. So how about you use that human appearance of yours which I am still envious of just to let you know and infiltrate that place? Learn, become stronger and especially: Learn more about your enemies. With Tempest and Kam¡¯ya helping you, you have a decent shot at that sage. But you know jack! He has beat you in knowledge and knowledge is power, did you forget something this simple?¡± Yeah she still couldn¡¯t stop scolding me but what she said made sense.

    Even though i didn¡¯t like to admit it. ¡°Anyway, i have been studying illusion magic and transformation magic with master and i think with Kam¡¯ya¡¯s help we can make this happen. But the next week you will have to practice, practice and again practice. At least I heard that¡¯s something you are good at. Well it¡¯s something.¡± Seriously now she started to piss me off. But i swallow it. For Mia¡¯s sake.

    ¡°The humans must not catch onto your darkness magic or shadow powers. Both are forbidden arts. That i found out while listening in on the sage and one of his pupils. Good thing they were discussing magic theory on the way back. So you need to hide both. Well they only test for affinity so you should be fine. The bigger problem is gonna be to make them think you have affinity for wind. That is going to be Tempest¡¯s job. I have no idea about their testing method but that is something i can find out. While you train i will spy on the academy to get more information. If everything works out, you will get the chance to assassinate that annoying mage and then we can get out of here. In the meantime we will set up camp here in this copse. It is small but between Mia and me we should be able to avoid detection.¡±

    I have to say. As annoying as she sometimes is that was an amazingly well thought out plan. It even sounded doable! ¡°You just thought something rude didn¡¯t you?¡± Her thoughts sound suspicious. Seriously did she start reading minds now? ¡°Not really, it is just that it¡¯s so obvious what you¡¯re thinking. That¡¯s something we will have to work on as well.¡± That bad? Seems like it.

    Anyway so after the plan is laid out, all we can do is carry it out! Well not much to say about the next week: We thought up a cover story and Caro was teaching me illusion and transformation magic based on darkness during the night while spying during the day. Honestly when does she sleep? Or do spiders don''t need sleep? Oh well. And faster then i was comfortable with the start of the new academy semester was approaching.

    <hr />

    That''s it guys. Second arc is done ! And royal road is up to date with the story. Next up is uploading the edited chapters from here to my page and the next interlude. For that interlude: Let me know what you want to hear about! If i dont'' get any suggestions for an interlude till tonight i will write one from caros PoV how she spys on the academy to give you insight into the academy life because Asura is gonna spend quiet a bit of time there. The story will slow down considerably now! Prep work is done foundation is laid. When i am done i will rewrite arc1+2 as well: go more into details etc. make it a bit more round about, i think i can do that now with the experience i got from writing this. Anyway long ramble sorry about that enjoy the chapters. Tonight i will post the interlude and from tomorrow onwards... you can enjoy arc3!!

    Regards Max

 Interlude 2: Caro and Asura

    Interlude: Caro and Asura

    Caro was pretty pissed. After deciding on the plan Caro went out to spy on the academy. With her body size of about eight centimeter and her darkness skills in illusions and hiding it was a pretty simple task. But she was still angry about that idiot Asura. He was pretty strong she knew that. But why could he not think a bit more about Mia? At the end of the day whenever he went off to do something reckless it would be Mia left behind, worrying sick.

    Over the last three years Mia had become something of a sister to her. And even that stupid stupid idiot Asura was more of a brother than anything. But what pissed her of the most was: Couldn¡¯t he rely just a bit on his companions? Why did he always insist on doing everything alone? It irritated her to no end. This whole world was confusing and scary and she only had two people she could rely on: Asura and Mia.

    She couldn¡¯t bear to see them harmed and yesterday when she found Asura covered in wounds and almost dying, it was like her heart tore apart. But that has always been her problem even before being reincarnated: Whenever she was scared or worried she would lash out especially at those she was worried about.

    She approached the academy thinking about that and almost ran into a couple of academy students. Quickly hiding using a shadow mantle she started listening in on their conversation. Two young men around tewnty two she would say were standing in the park that surrounded the academy. Both wore the typical blue robes that all the student at the academy wore. Eye-catching were the stripes of color that were sawn into the hem of the robe: One of the men had four blue stripes and three green stripes, while the other had three yellow and three red stripes. Caro had an idea on what they meant but for now she would just listen.

    ¡°Did you hear yesterday? It seems there was an attack on the academy!¡± The one spoken to only retorted with a grunt: ¡°Stupid. As if anyone could win against the principal. The only human who can control all the magic types.¡± Well that explained how Asura would loose to him. Someone who can control all magic types? Wasn¡¯t that too powerful? But then she remembered: Darkness and Shadowpower were prohibited for humans. Well most humans didn¡¯t even know about Shadowpowers in the first place, most would mistake it for darkness magic.

    Anyway it seemed that there were not too many details known to the general populace which was good. Going through bushes that were planted alongside the walkways she made her way to the academy. She didn¡¯t think she would find out a lot tonight but she had to get away from Asura for a while. Because she couldn¡¯t calm down and she felt that Asura¡¯s patience was wearing thin.

    Hence she rather started to investigate than get in a fight with him. A fight she couldn¡¯t possibly win. She recently had reached the sixth rank in lighting and her guess was that normal mages or fighters were no match for her. But Asura was absolutely NOT normal. His speed of growth and power were frightening. If she didn¡¯t have seen his soft sides with Mia, her guess was she would have been scared stiff of him.

    That night she at least found out the general layout of the academy. It seems the four towers were designated to four of the elements: water,fire,wind and water. Lighting was taught in the main building and light seemed to have a special place that Care hadn¡¯t found yet. But form what she heard and found out, light magic was seen as holy hence she guessed that some kind of church or something would teach it. The light magic students seemed to be the VIP students of the academy so Caro assumed that some kind of holy ground must be within the academy to teach them.

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    In fact what she didn¡¯t know was that below the academy an entire complex was dedicated only to teaching students light magic. After all they would be the next generation of clerics. So after finding out that much Caro decided to return. She had cooled off as well so she might just as well go back.

    She came back to their camp around dawn. But before she could enter the small patch of wood, she was hit with an oppressive atmosphere unlike anything that was ever directed at her. If she could she would be sweating by now. Then she heard it from the darkness under a tree a few meters away:

    ¡°Let¡¯s make one thing very very clear. I held myself back for Mia but she is asleep now. I will not be belittled. I made a mistake yes. And i even apologized for it. But if you ever talk to me that way again, Mia won¡¯t be enough reason for me to stop. Do you understand?¡± Asura was not talking loudly. But every word could be heard clearly. His voice was ice cold and it actually made her body shiver. But she wouldn¡¯t be Caro if she backed out now. That in itself was impressive, there are not a lot of living things that can move when Asura released his killing intent.

    It took everything out of here but she managed to use her telepathy: ¡°Sorry. You are right i went over the top. But do you know why? Do you?¡± That seemed to surprise Asura. His killing intent became a bit less.

    ¡°I worry about you. You are important to me and so is Mia. Don¡¯t you get that? I am sorry about how i talked to you that was not okay. But it doesn¡¯t change the facts. We worry about you. We just don¡¯t want you to get into a situation, you can¡¯t get out off. Fuck i just don¡¯t want you to get yourself KILLED!¡±

    Desperate she actually ¡®shouted¡¯ that last word. That seemed to have calmed him down a lot. ¡°Okay.¡± Huh? Did he just say okay. Caro was dumbfounded and the oppressive atmosphere vanished as well. Asura chuckled. Wait a second. He laughed? And when she looked she saw: Mia was right. Asura actually was beautiful when he doesn¡¯t have that scary face that he normally wears. He came out of the darkness actually laughing.

    That shocked Caro more than anything. Even more than his looks. Seems like he cut his jetblack hair. From the lenght of his waist he cut it to shoulder length and bound it to a ponytail. Eyes that were so dark they almost looked black, a perfectly proportioned face which looked a bit aristocratic, skin that seemed so smooth it could be a baby¡¯s with a shine that came from the almost not see able scales he had. Caro knew even though he looked a bit fragile his skin was as tough as any armor. She walked over it before it was still so smooth even though it was tough.

    The mysteries of this world. 180 centimeters tall and not a gram fat too much when he smiled and not looked at you like you are prey then he was like a figure from a fairy tail. ¡°Surprised? Well you see I don¡¯t have many people who care about me either. But you should know: I am proud. And the way you talked you actually made me furious. And you should know it is not healthy to make me furious. But on the other hand it is okay to scold me when I do something stupid. But keep it down a bit or we both might regret it later.¡±

    If she could she would cry now. It seemed he actually cared. So there was only one thing she could say: ¡°Yes and i am really sorry. And i will try my best!¡±

 Chapter 19

    Chapter 19: Princess Theresa

    Finally after all this waiting it was Theresa''s big day. She had waited long for this but finally she was old enough to join the academy. Since she was told at the age of ten that she could become an amazing mage she had been looking forward to joining this prestigious school.

    She had diligently cultivate every day since then and for her age of sixteen she was already amazingly developed. Fire magic at the rank of four, wind magic at the rank of four and her light magic was actually already on the rank of six! The sign of a true prodigy! Not just did she have magic power that was ranked on eight only a step below the legendary principal of the academy Argus von Hohenturm, she as well had the highest affinity for light and very good affinity for her other two elements. Triple affinity with high magic power and good cultivation. Like all the other new students, she was standing in line before the great gates of the academy.

    In front of the gates two mages were standing who were testing the aptitude of everyone who wanted to enter. You could of course make the academy lenient towards your talent with enough money but at the end of the day the academy would never accept someone useless. Her own entry of course had been decided the day she was born and her talent had been measured. She was after all this empire''s first princess. Of course that fact was not widely known and she wouldn''t spread it willingly.

    She didn''t like the attention and she often had told her royal father that she would decide her own future and marriage. Theresa was obviously a very proud woman but considering her background it was justified to be so. But she wasn''t arrogant and exactly those traits gave her an air of dignity that you couldn''t ignore. Couple that with her good looks: Long blond hair that almost seemed golden, a lovely face with slightly tilted green eyes and a body that most women would kill for, there was more than enough reason why she had many admirers among the younger nobles that did know her.

    But she herself thought that only a man that could match her in looks and strength was suitable for her. But until now she had not met such a man but she wasn''t bothered. She was still young and had a bright future ahead. While thinking about the academy and what interesting things she would learn it was finally her turn. The two mages used the magic stone called affinity stone to measure her strength and affinity.

    And obviously after they saw the result they were delighted to have gained another excellent student. She was quickly then led through the gate but as she was about to head off towards the academy there was a slight commotion behind her. She turned around and saw two shocked mages standing in front of a young man.

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    Black hair bound to a pony tail at shoulder lenght. Dark eyes and pale very pale skin. Not unhealthily pale but paler than the norm. A very good build with no excessive fat the princess was quiet pleased with what she saw. But what she heard next shocked her most. One of the mages shouted:

    "How is this possible? An innate magic talent of ten? That''s higher than the principle! And even though only one element the highest affinity i have ever seen." That shocked Theresa quiet a bit. His magic power was actually ten! Ten meant it could not be measured with a mere affinity stone!

    Until now she had only heard rumors about it but it seemed that it actually had happened! With a bored expression the young man asked: "So senior. Do you think that i qualify to study at this academy? I am of common background so i don''t have any money i can only offer my talents."

    That seemed to snap the two testing mages out of their daze. "Yes. Yes of course, right this way." With that the two mages let the young man pass. Theresa''s curiosity was piqued. So she waited for that mysterious young man and when he approached she smiled at him. No one has ever been able to resist her smile. She was quiet confident in her looks.

    "Hello, my name is Theresa it seems we will be studying together. Nice to meet you. Please take care of me in the future." Even if he was of common background, his black, relative simple leather clothes together with what he said earlier made that quiet clear, with talents like his, he wouldn''t remain an unknown person for long. So it was always good to build up good relations.

    But the unexpected happened. A glance, and a cold one at that, was the only thing she got and with that the young man just went ahead towards the academy without saying anything. She was dumbstruck. That had never happened to her before! He could have done anything. Anything! But ignore her? Her pride would not allow that. It was a challenge! And she had never lost a challenge.

    "Wait and see, you WILL beg me later for my attention. When that time comes, see how i will react." Something about this young mage made her loose her reason. Normally something like that would not bother her really but this somehow infuriated her.

    But at this moment she still thought herself above him. That was not arrogance mind you but just the simple fact that she had been brought up to believe that she was the pinnacle of the elite. And how could a commoner compare to her upbringing, background and talent?

    <hr />

    Sorry the chapter was quiet short. But if i had put everything i wanted in it would have been waaaaaay too long. So i decided to split it into two chapters. Anyway enjoy the chapter

 Chapter 20

    Chapter 20: The royal academy

    The main hall of the royal academy was filled to the brink with students. It was a beautiful hall held in white marble with gold patters woven through. Pillars of the same pattern went from the main doors to the two stairs that led in an arc to the right and left up to the platform that the principal was now standing on. Hidden from view behind those two staircases were the ways to the various lessons.

    Argus von Hohenturm was quiet excited. This year his academy had gained some excellent students. He of course would always check on the results of the first testing. And what he saw pleased him to no end. Of course her highness Theresa was obvious that she would be formidable. But the degree of her cultivation was a pleasant surprise for him. But what excited him even more was this mysterious young man. It is very rare that head examiner Gorum would come personally to deliver the results but this time he came with an excited face. Argus remembered back a few hours.

    Gorum came running into his office with a look of pure extacy on his face. ¡°Principal! Principal! It is amazing.¡± Argus looked at him with one eye brow raised. His bushy white eye brows were amazing and the principal was quiet good at using them. A short white well cared for beard and his mentioned impressive eye brows were the main features dominating his older but wise face. Quiet short with only 170 centimeters but his presence made more than up for that. More curious than annoyed he said: ¡°Calm down old friend. What has happened?¡±

    Gorum took a deep breath: ¡°Principal it has finally happened. We have a student with an innate magic level of ten! And even though he has only affinity for wind, even that is of the highest level i have ever seen. And as if that wasn¡¯t enough with an age of fifteen, he has already cultivated to the liquid sixth rank!¡± Thinking back to that short conversation Argus eyes were still shining when he stopped onto the platform to address the students.

    It was not very hard to find that mentioned young man. Most of the students had formed small groups that were chatting happily but that man clad in black was leaning against a pillar, eyes closed. He held himself with a dignity that was hard to grasp. No one seemed to want to approach him but to Argus it seemed as if that suited this young genius just fine. Interesting, very interesting. Argus used a slight amount of wind magic to increase the volume of his voice. ¡°hm. hm.¡± he cleared his throat. Immediately the noise in the hall went quiet. So he started his speech:

    ¡°Welcome, welcome. All you young aspiring mages let me warmly welcome you into our family. The royal academy has been part of this empire since its founding and has always been the backbone of our dear country especially in holding back the demons. I expect great things of this new generation of students! After we are done here please head to one of the instructors present who will guide you to your appropriate class. Yes we start with classes immediately! Time is not to be wasted especially in the studies of magic!¡±

    In the short break he took in his speech six instructors, clad in: Gold,yellow,red,green,blue and brown, went took a step forward so the students could see them.

    ¡°After class your teacher will show you where you will be living. You live on campus! No exceptions, because in the studies of the arcane, we don¡¯t need unnecessary outside influence. Of course you can leave on holidays but leaving freely will only be possible again when you graduate! With that said: Put in all your efforts! For yourself and our beloved empire! Head towards the instructor of your main element please. For those who don¡¯t know: Gold represents light, yellow represents lighting, green represents wind, red represents fire, blue represents water and brown represents earth. With that said: Good luck, may the goddess of light¡¯s blessing always shine on you.¡±

    Thunderous applause started throughout the hall. Argus smiled and waved and finally backed off. That went well!

    Finally that long winded speech was over. Seriously why do humans always have to talk so much? That thought made me smile. Back in my world i was famous for talking way too much sometimes. Well times do change, don¡¯t they? Anyway the instructors finally came down the stairs. So i headed to the instructor clad in green.

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    He was rather young, I¡¯d say around thirty, plus minus 3 years. The students all parted ways whenever i came along. Made me laugh inside. Whelps. Well i was not planning on associating with them anyway. The plan was pretty simple: Find out how to break that annoying magic construction or if that is not possible wait for an opportunity when the principal leaves the academy.

    But for both I needed to be present here so I might just as well at least learn how humans use magic. To counter it of course. So i arrived in front of the instructor who had brown hair and a short brown goatee. All the other students lined up behind me. With a meter distance to me. Well i had suppressed my aura as much as possible but it was very difficult to suppress all that killing intent i felt towards that principal. That despicable human who killed my master. Calm down. A deep breath and I looked at the teacher.

    When our eyes met he became slightly pale. Is there any human with some decent willpower? Seems not likely. But surprisingly that instructor caught himself quiet quickly. Well gotta revise my opinion a bit, not too shabby. He cleared his throat twice and then said:

    ¡°Seems like everyone arrived. Please follow me to the west tower. The west tower is designated to study the mysteries of the wind magic. The living quarters are behind the academy and I will show you the way there later. Now please follow me to the classroom.¡±

    So we went behind the staircases and through a double door. ¡°This hallway goes around the great hall. The corners of this corridor lead to the four elements: fire,water,wind and earth. The stairs you have seen earlier if you follow them up there is a door leading to the lighting classes.¡±

    With that he lead us towards the west exit. One young girl asked from the back: ¡°Sir, what about the light classes?¡± The instructor stopped, turned around and looked at the girl with a serious face: ¡°Do you have the light affinity?¡± She answered a bit taken aback: ¡°No Sir.¡± Without another word he turned around again and led the way. I threw a glance to the back and saw the girl turn red. I shake my head in my mind. The message was clear: Don¡¯t ask questions, you know you don¡¯t need the answer to.

    We arrived at the door leading towards the west tower. A short corridor after and we arrived in front of a wooden door. It was kind of a tower inside the tower. The door lead into the inner tower while to the left stairs wound around that inner tower. So you either went inside the door or you went up. The instructor stopped and explained:

    ¡°On the ground floor is the classroom for basic lessons. When you advance in rank you will gain access to higher floors and therefore to advanced lessons. The library is on the second floor. All wind related knowledge can be found there but what you are allowed to read also depends on your rank. And I am not talking about your cultivation rank. That doesn¡¯t matter, what matters is how well you can control your element. There are monthly tests to discern a students rank. They are not mandatory but every student who wishes to advance should take part. For now I will hand out one green stripe. You are allowed so sew that onto your robes. Your robes will be ready at your living quarters so do not worry. Now form a line, take your stripe and sit down in the classroom. We will start immediately.¡±

    With that we formed a line and I took my stripe and looked for a seat in the back. The classroom had a height of about 3 meters and was setup similar to how universities set up their lecture rooms. Pretty normal: A desk in the middle with a big black board and rows of seats, with every row being a bit higher than the row before. I took a seat in the back on the highest row and as expected to my left right and even the three seats in front of me were empty. That actually made me smile a bit. Well let¡¯s see how humans teach magic.

    <hr />

    First chapter of the day, 21 and 22 will follow in like 2-3 hours for 21 and ~6h for 22. Enjoy :)

 Chapter 21

    Chapter 21: Magic lessons

    ¡°You are useless.¡± was the first thing the instructor said when we started class. ¡°No matter how talented you are, no matter how good your cultivation is, it is absolutely useless if you don¡¯t know how to control your power. Magic is dangerous but at the same time has so many uses. But as i said if you lack control, you will stay useless no matter how much power you have. You think I am repeating myself? Of course I am. Because it is a fact. So in order for you to control your magic we will today start from the very basics. So, how do spells activate?¡±

    He looked around the room. Obviously expecting someone to answer his question. A young student in the front row stood up and said: ¡°Sir, we use our mana, combine it with the elemental power and guide the resulting power through spells. That way we can activate elemental spells.¡±

    The teacher was obviously pleased. With a slight smile he continued: ¡°Thank you, yes that is correct, you can sit back down. Not very detailed but in its essence it is what mages do.¡± He looked around the room again:

    ¡°Can anyone tell me why we need spells?¡± A girl in the third row stood up: ¡°Sir, it is to guide the gathered magic power to do our bidding.¡± The instructor frowned. ¡°Well at least it is not completely incorrect. In theory we don¡¯t need spells at all. There is a theory that if you completely understand what a spell does you can use it without any incarnation. But it has yet to be done. With the spells we ask the various existing elemental spirits to guide our magic in order to do what we want it to do. The most powerful mages can summon their own spirit and then use the spirits power to preinvoke spells.

    But that is incredibly difficult to do and in the human empire only our principal is able to do it. The amount of preinvoked spells someone can hold depends on their magic power. Or mana reserve depending on how you want to look at it. Normally when you use a spell your mana is depleted by the amount the spell needs. With time that mana will be regained. Preinvoked spells on the other hand require you to give up a portion of your mana until the spell is activated. So as useful as preinvoked spells are, there are risks involved!¡±

    Now that is some useful information. So that¡¯s why that principal could throw one spell after another at me. Good to know. That limitation did not concern me though. Because Caro and me came up with something that got rid of most of my weaknesses. We had Tempest fuse with me! Yes at the moment i was housing Tempest within my body and that meant i had full access to his abilities. All I had to do to cast magic was supply Tempest with mana.

    And if I had something to spare, it was mana. Caro came up with the idea as well to have Kam¡¯ya and Tempest teach me magic in case they are not fused with me. Kam¡¯ya for example I left behind with Mia and Caro for protection. That meant i could use darkness magic but i had to do it the classic way: Understand what i am doing and then guiding the magic with my imagination to do it. Meaning?

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    I could at the moment only use a single darkness spell: I called it dissolving. The spell I used to dissolve the body of the guard. But wind magic i could use freely at the moment. Tempest was the one as well who handled the affinity stone. How could a simple stone compare to a spirit emperor? Answer: It couldn¡¯t! He basically told the stone what he was supposed to display and seeing that i had no affinity there was nothing more to detect but Tempest.

    Anyway listening to more lectures like this was pretty useless for me because I had Tempest teach me. How could mere humans compare to him? They can¡¯t! While thinking i heard the instructor: ¡°Young man, did you listen to me?¡± I looked at the instructor and answered: ¡°Nope.¡± That made the entire room speechless. ¡°I stopped listening after the preinvoked spells. That was the only interesting thing until now.¡± The teacher was dumbfounded. But he caught himself:

    ¡°If you are so sure of your abilities, how about a demonstration? Because as i was just saying everyone should introduce themselves and try a simple spell. The spell i just taught everyone.¡± Ah i understand. He wanted to punish me for not listening so he thought if i didn¡¯t listen to the spell I won¡¯t be able to do magic. Hence my answer was: ¡°Sure what do you want me to do?¡±

    While Asura had his first magic lesson Argus von Hohenturm had a very different problem. ¡°Sir, we cannot determine how that Dryad got out of prison. And Galvin is nowhere to be found. We detected some remnants of darkness magic but nothing conclusive.¡± It was very very worrisome. He at first had assumed that his attacker was a demon assassin but why would a demon assassin free a Dryad? That did not make any sense.

    Argus had no doubt that it was that mysterious cloaked figure that had freed the Dryad because it would be too much of a coincidence that two darkness mages were in the capital at the same time. Especially two dark mages that were able to hide their presence from him. He could no he would not believe that that was possible. Hence the only conclusion was that his attacker freed the Dryad before coming to him. Which could only lead to one conclusion: That old cat they had killed was more than he seemed at first.

    At this moment in time he was pretty sure that the four mages he sent back then were dead. It was quiet clear as well that the one living with that old beast man was that dark mage that had assaulted him. But who brought the Dryad out of town while he was attacked? Obviously he could have done that before attacking but Argus had this feeling there was more to it than he could see at the moment.

    He turned to the figure cloaked in grey that was kneeling before his desk. His most trustworthy spy. ¡°Investigate further. Something is telling me that this will turn into a disaster if we can not find out what actually happened.¡± ¡°Yes Sir.¡± With that the man vanished. Argus turned around to look out of the freshly repaired window. He felt it in his bones: Trouble was brewing on the horizon.

    <hr />

    There we go, 21 second chapter of the day. I will absolutely release 22 later on as well and the rate it is going atm i might as well get to finish 23! Anyway enjoy the chapter!

 Chapter 22

    Chapter 22: The wind prodigy

    Larius was a very proud man. He was the youngest teacher in the entire academy. He managed to reach the seventh rank of control by the age only thirty one! That was even faster than the principal in his age. He was widely acknowledged as the number one genius in wind magic. The highest rank of control was ten and it was that rank that supposedly will let you cast spells without having to invoke them.

    Rank ten control was equivalent to rank ten cultivation. One lets you use all the wind and air around you freely controlling the elemental energy. The other gave you perfect control over it bending the resulting spells completely to your will. Those were legends yes but Larius was determined to reach that stage. The principal had reached the highest rank of control thought possible at the moment: rank nine.

    But Larius was sure that it was possible to go beyond that. In the first place one should be able not having to rely on spirits to cast magic. Otherwise what was the point of giving humans magic in the first place? So while studying all aspects of wind magic two years ago he accepted the post as a teacher.

    Being a teacher at the royal academy basically gave you the status of a noble and it was a high honor. And Larius was since he had started considered one of the best teachers. But in all his years as a teacher or as a student he had never met such a bold pupil. That young man clad in black seemed completely uninterested! You could even say he had an air of boredom around him.

    For some reason that annoyed Larius to no end. He even openly admitted that he didn¡¯t listen! So Larius thought that a little lesson in respect was essential. He had heard about a young man who had never seen before powers in wind magic and Larius could easily make the connection. Only the gifted could be so arrogant. So he thought a little lesson now is essential. Mages should not be conceited.

    So when he heard that the young man did not listen to the spell he had taught the class, a simple spell that would make a slight wind blow through the room, he thought that would be the perfect opportunity to teach that brat a lesson and at the same time show the class how important it was to be attentive and not make mistakes.

    Wrong incarnations or bad use of them could lead to disaster. But Larius was confident that he could contain any mistake that someone in the beginners class would make. So when he asked that particular student for a demonstration he expected anything: excuses, apologies etc. but absolutely not him answering calmly:

    ¡°Sure. What do you want me to do?¡± How far did this guy''s arrogance go? He gave that student some face by not specifying his request meaning that if he knew some kind of spell he could use it. It was very unlikely that he knew a spell that would work but it was not impossible.

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    But even asking him for something specific. So Larius seemingly unfazed but smiling inside answered: ¡°How about some levitation?¡± Levitation was the basics of flying. It required at least the seventh rank of control because you did not just need to know the invocation but you needed to understand the flow of wind and what air resistance was.

    Without that knowledge one could not use this spell. Because even after releasing the spell one would have to keep it up using very precise mana and elemental power control. You had to get a feeling as in to where to increase the amount of mana as to not fall or where to decrease it as to not fly off and get hurt when coming back down. But he got surprised again.

    ¡°Well fine, just a quick question: What¡¯s the highest rank of control and what do you have to do to earn that rank?¡± Now Larius got really angry. There was a limit to arrogance. But he kept his cool: ¡°That would be rank ten. It would require you to control your magic without using spells.¡±

    And then something happened that made his mind go blank. Because that young man who seemed no older than seventeen, in fact Larius knew that he was fifteen, walked towards the front. What made everyone present shocked to the state that not a single sound could be heard within the classroom was:

    He walked through the air. He didn¡¯t utter a single word before getting up walking towards the first step down but instead of going down he just walked on! He walked until he was a meter in front and two meters above Larius looking down: ¡°So what do you think? Does that qualify me to rank ten?¡±

    Larius could not think of anything to say. He just opened his mouth and¡­. closed it again. What do you say when something from legends casually appears in front of you. The young man sighed and said:

    ¡°I take that as a yes. You said a demonstration and an introduction right? Well my name is Asura, I am fifteen years old and to be honest, I don¡¯t think I will learn more useful things here. Hence I will be leaving first.¡±

    With those words he floated down to the ground. Larius was still unable to utter a word. His mind just could not comprehend what he had just seen. That boy no that prodigy named Asura made his way to the door. Before leaving as if reminded of something he turned around.

    ¡°Sensei, do you know which room in the dorms i have?¡± That somehow woke Larius up but you could tell he was still in shock otherwise he would absolutely have more to say then:

    ¡°Just ask the dorm mother she will show you the way.¡± He then bowed, said: ¡°Thank you Sensei.¡± and left.

    That was the day when people started calling Asura the wind prodigy.

    <hr />

    Thanks to user bonifide</a> for the awesome idea of the spirits teaching Asura magic. I loved it! Anyway 23 is in the making as well and will be released tonight. But 23 is rather long so it will take a while. Until then enjoy chapter 22! :)

 Chapter 23

    Chapter 23: School days

    This first month of school was exactly what Theresa had imagined. She was acing all of her courses and she was pretty sure to be able to at least reach the fifth rank of control by the first test. That would be an even higher achievement than the principal himself!

    Every morning she would first spend three hours studying various aspects of light magic. That was done in the secret underground class and training rooms. They could only be reached through a teleport circle that was located in a chapel designated to the light goddess next to the academy.

    Most of the other students thought that they got trained in that chapel but obviously the light mages who were the clergy as well would not share their secrets so easily. So the only way to reach the inner sanctuary of the light goddess religion was through that teleport circle which again could only be activated using light magic. After the magic lessons another hour was designated to learn the ways of the light religion.

    Light mages were the top of human society. The light clergy had even more power than the emperor himself. After all an emperor could die, their goddess would always protect them. Afterwards she would have another two hours of magic lessons for her other two elements. In the afternoon she would of course continue to cultivate. One could not reach the pinnacle of magic without the proper effort.

    In the evening she had then time to spend with friends. Especially her best friend Maya. Maya was a very pretty fire and earth witch. Well it was kind of very rude to call someone a witch. Witch was quiet a rude way to address a female mage. Witch basically meant that you had a lot of mana and a good cultivation but very poor control. And that was certainly true for Maya.

    She had an incredible amount of mana rivaling herself and her cultivation was absolutely not lacking. But she had a lot of problems when it came to control. The best way to describe her would be a bomb. She could throw fireballs that had an insane amount of power. But that was all there is to her magic: Throw out everything you have!

    So even though it was rude the word witch kind of fit her perfectly. Maya didn¡¯t really mind though. She often even referred to herself as a witch. That was one of the things Theresa really liked about her friend: She could take most things with a laugh. She was quiet the carefree character. She hardly ever sweated the details. But she hardly had any friends because she was honest to a fault and she always spoke her mind. But again that was something Theresa really appreciated.

    There were not many people who were honest to her due to her position and talent. Maya looked a little bit childlike as well. Only 150 centimeters and a face that could belong to a twelve year old with short red hair and cute blue eyes one could think she was too young to be at this academy when in fact she would soon be sixteen years old. While thinking about her friend Theresa could not help but feel irritated. Ever since the opening ceremony she had been on the lookout for that young man that ignored her at the first day.

    But even in the wind classes she could not find him anywhere and because she didn¡¯t know his name it was hard to find out anything about him. Even her wind teacher Larius who definitely should know something seeing just how outrageous that guys talent was. But no matter how often or how she asked her teacher would always avoid the subject.

    Something was just not right and that bothered her. Just as she thought that, two students both possessing green stripes passed by and what she heard stopped her in her tracks.

    ¡°Did you hear about that rumor?¡± ¡°You mean the one that some kind of monster has taken up the top of the wind tower?¡± ¡°Not a monster. Listen closely this is something that the students are not supposed to know about yet¡­¡±

    The voices grew distant but before they were out of hearing range she turned around: ¡°Excuse me Seniors?¡± She walked after those two students. With her most dazzling smile she asked when she reached them: ¡°That conversation sounded really interesting, would you mind sharing that story with your junior sister?¡±

    Both of their faces immediately became red as an apple. ¡°Well, we are really not supposed to talk about this yet.¡± She put her hands together in a pleading manner: ¡°Pretty please?¡± The younger one seemed to struggle with himself and then said:

    ¡°You would keep it to yourself right?¡± She smiled even brighter: ¡°Of course this junior sister would never do anything do harm her seniors. It is just that i think i might know who you are talking about and i would like to return a favor to that person.¡±

    The two seemed to relax a bit at that. ¡°Fine. Listen up both of you. When i enrolled earlier this month, we all witnessed something no one could believe. But we saw it with our own eyes! On the first day in the first lesson one of the new students¡­ I still can¡¯t comprehend really what happened but he used levitation. Without any spell! Meaning that he claimed rank ten control on his first day. Something that no one has ever managed to do. Our Sensei had forbid us to talk about it for now. As you might know our wind department had never any good results within the annual tournament. So i think Sensei wants to keep him a secret until then. The highest room in the elemental tower is always reserved for the most powerful mage of the element right? So of course he now lives on the top floor of the wind tower.¡±

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    Theresa was dumbfounded. She had expected a lot but that was beyond her imagination. No wonder that youth seemed to be so sure of himself. The legendary rank ten. If this was real than he would outshine even her. There was no way that was possible. It had to be a trick of some sort. She absolutely would not accept this. She would find out what¡¯s going on here that was for sure! With that thought she regained her composure. ¡°Thank you seniors. Do you think there might be a possibility to meet that person?¡± They both looked at each other uncomfortably. ¡°He hasn¡¯t left the tower since and Sensei is not letting anyone approach. I guess asking Sensei would be your best bet. Maybe explain the situation?¡± One suggested weakly.

    She gave both of them another bright smile and said: ¡°Thank you so much seniors. I will no longer hold you off your business. Thank you for your time.¡± She gave a slight bow and left. He should appear at the monthly ranking. Otherwise he wouldn¡¯t be approved in his rank. She would get her chance there.

    The way things worked out were quiet favorably for me. I had my peace and quiet and that teacher I first thought was quiet incompetent actually turned out to be quiet useful. He would gather all the books I required and I had full access to the library. On top of that i got to live on the top floor of the wind tower.

    This actually wasn¡¯t too bad. Everyday I would have Tempest teach me wind magic during forenoon and in the afternoon i would research various types of magic. Of course with a focus on magic seals and constructions. But knowing about how humans use magic was quiet the advantage as well. I could now see a few ways to get rid of that hateful principal and even that magic formation wasn¡¯t that big of a deal anymore. I found out from Tempest that if he was fused with me that he could not be banished. But the big problem was:

    The humans actually had quiet a few capable mages. If the teachers would back him up¡­ I don¡¯t think that i can win yet. So either I had to become strong enough to take them all on or I had to somehow lure him away. Because outside of that formation even if he had all the backup in the world,i could send out Kam¡¯ya to deal with them while Tempest and me would handle him. Well all i had to do was to bide my time and in the meantime work during nights on my shadow cultivation and during the day on my magic and research.

    It wasn¡¯t until the second week that i had lived here that Larius would come and invite me to the principal¡¯s office. Well it had to happen sooner or later. I was mentally prepared or at least i hoped i was. It was not easy for me to meet the man who had killed someone equivalent to a parent but for my master¡¯s sake as well as for my own, i had to keep my temper in check.

    ¡°We both knew he would want to see you at some point.¡± said Larius when he told me that the principal would like to see me. I answered outwardly calm: ¡°Of course and i have been looking forward to it. To meet such an outstanding man is quiet the honor.¡± Arrogance or attitude wouldn¡¯t help me here. Larius seemed relieved.

    ¡°Good that you see it that way. I really thought you would get irritated that someone interrupts your research.¡± I was by now on a first name basis with that quiet young teacher. He was quiet nice. For a human. I told him that i was researching how i could reproduce the barrier that surrounded the academy on a grander scale to protect the entire empire.

    As if.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. He is the principal after all and the academy is providing me with everything i need, so i can¡¯t be too ungrateful.¡± I say that with a dry smile. We both knew that the at least the wind department was getting way more out of me than the other way round. ¡°Ah Asura, i can understand why you are so obsessed. But seriously i really do think you should get out some more. This can¡¯t be healthy being bottled up in here all this time.¡±

    I had told him a story of a young boy who¡¯s merchant parents had been slain by beastkin and how that young boy escaped and lived for years in the beast territory before finally returning. I had to tell this kind of story because anything else was too easy for the academy to ascertain. Incidentally I actually knew about a caravan that had been attacked and wiped out by my father years ago. Argh always gives me a bad taste thinking of that as my father. Oh well. ¡°It¡¯s fine, i have everything i need. Now then shall we go?¡± So let¡¯s meet that murderer again.

    <hr />

    My sister has poofread, edited and corrected all the chapters. I will update all chapters tomorrow with an improved version. As already mentioned the first two arcs are gonna get revised at some point. Story will stay the same but i will most likely go into more detail, improve the writing style etc. cause i really think that i got better over the course of the chapters until now. Anyway enjoy the last chapter for today ;) Actually got 4 out! Not sure i can keep that pace tomorrow though. Good night folks

 Chapter 24

    Chapter 24: Asura¡¯s talent

    Argus von Hohenturm was for once actually looking forward fulfilling his duties as principal. To think that this young man he heard about was this outstanding! He could hardly believe it that finally a rank ten control mage had emerged. Something he had been striving for his entire life! One could say that this was one of the highest accomplishments a mage could achieve.

    While thinking about that there was a slight knock on his door. ¡°Come in.¡± And into his room came Larius Sensei and a young man who by now was wearing the school uniform that was held in brown. Beginner students wore brown. After completing at least the fourth rank of control one was allowed to wear grey and finally after reaching the sixth rank was a student allowed to wear white. The white students were the elite of the elite. The best students the academy had.

    The teachers wore black and he himself wore red as the principal. The light students were an exception as the future clergy the were clad in silver. When they earned the right to join the clergy they would be allowed to wear the sacred gold. But all wore the school emblem on their robes: The signs for the five ¡®lesser¡¯ elements aligned around the symbol for light. The young man in front of him still wore brown but one could feel that the air surrounding him was different.

    He held himself with complete confidence and that alone gave Argus a pleasant surprise. Arrogance is no good but on the other hand a mage who was not confident was a failure as well. Mages should always walk that thin line between confidence and arrogance. Hardly ever before had Argus seen such composure on such a young man. He would call him a boy if it weren¡¯t for those eyes.

    These dark almost black eyes were the eyes of someone who had encountered many obstacles and had overcome them. Argus smiled: ¡°Ah welcome young genius Asura. Or should i call you the prodigy of the wind?¡±

    The young man in front of him bowed and answered calmly: ¡°This junior greets the principal. And to be honest I did not give me that name nor do i go by that name. The esteemed principal can of course call me whatever he likes but i am me: Asura. Nothing more but certainly nothing less.¡±

    What composure! Very impressive. ¡°Ah i apologize, that was rather mean. So student Asura, i hear that you can freely use your wind magic without using any kind of invocation?¡± The young man showed no reaction only answering calmly again:

    ¡°Yes, Sir. I have been for quiet a while and to be honest, I did not think it was such a big deal. You see I have not been living long within the empire.¡± Argus had heard the gist of the story from Larius. ¡°As far as I have heard your parents were killed near the border to the beast country?¡±

    Again no reaction. This mage must have seen more than one could imagine. Otherwise how could he not react to his parent¡¯s death in any way?

    ¡°That is correct Sir. It was when i was still very young so i hardly remember it. I was captured by them for whatever reason but one of my fathers loyal guards managed to free me. Unfortunately he succumbed to his wounds and i was left alone in the woods of Shura. Hence i had to survive on my own and all i had to do that was my magic. I really do not like to remember that time to be honest. The time i spent in Shura¡­ was a nightmare.¡±

    Now his unchanged face till now actually changed. And one could clearly see the deep emotional scars. So that¡¯s how it is. Certainly surviving as a child in Shura¡­ Anyone would have to either completely rely on oneself or die.

    ¡°A year ago i finally reached the empire again. But i hardly could remember the language and i had nothing. So i stole and learned. When i heard that there is a place where talent was more important than background, this lowly thief decided to change his fate.¡±

    Very impressive indeed. Something was off but Argus could not pinpoint it. Most likely Asura left things out that he did not wish to talk about. Quiet understandable. ¡°Do not worry. What you have gone through, no one will judge you. But i understand why you do not want to talk about your background. I will see to it that it will not become general knowledge.¡± Asura gave another bow and answered:

    ¡°Thank you very much esteemed principal.¡± Still, what a polite fellow. ¡°So i know this might be a bit sudden but would you..?¡± Before he could finished Asura raised his hand. ¡°Sure.¡± With just that wind started to gather all around him. What dazzling magic! Argus could clearly feel the flow of mana and elemental energy. But there was no spirit intervention! The wind around that immeasurable talent was moving as if it had its own will and Argus could not feel a single breeze!

    Perfectly contained around his own body this was definitely the pinnacle of magic control. Without a sound the wind vanished as if it was never there in the first place. ¡°Is that enough?¡± The principal was blinking as if waking from a daze. ¡°Yes, yes of course. Truely splendid.¡±

    With shining eyes he continued: ¡°In all my years have i never seen such a beautiful manipulation of magic. Which leads us to the topic that i have called you for. Larius Sensei suggested this and i quiet agree: Would you test the students in this month¡¯s ranking competition?¡±

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    That seemed to actually surprise him. Argus chuckled. ¡°It is tradition that the mage with the best control tests the students and with that display you have proven to me: No one can beat you when it comes to controlling wind magic.¡± Asura seemed to fall into deep thought.

    ¡°Of course, i would not ask something this unreasonable for free. Larius Sensei has told me about your research. I would grant you special permission to use my personal library. You will find that it is much more detailed than the books you can find within the tower of wind.¡± Hearing that the young man gave his answer without hesitation: ¡°Very well. I shall see for myself what level your students have reached.¡±

    Suddenly heavy knocking could be heard from the door. Before Argus could even say anything the door burst open and in came a man who seemed to be at the age of around sixty. ¡°Principal, what is this joke?¡± He immediately shouted while entering the room.

    ¡°I have been testing the wind students for twenty years and now some youngster who still needs his mother¡¯s milk is supposed to replace me? Don¡¯t make me laugh!¡±

    Enraged the man who had a grey short beard and no more hair glared at Asura. ¡°Are you the one who tricked everyone into thinking you were special?¡± Before Argus could say anything Asura gave a slight bow and answered:

    ¡°This junior greets Sensei. I don¡¯t know what you are talking about but if you want to know if the principal has asked me to take over the monthly ranking competition the answer would be yes. I have just accepted his proposal.¡±

    ¡°Outrageous! There is no way that I Brutus from the exalted von Niederschlo? family would loose out to some brat from¡­ What family are you from anyway?¡± While glaring at Asura who answered without even flinching: ¡°I am from common background Sensei.¡±

    ¡°WHAAAT? Argus how could you replace me with a commoner?¡± It was unthinkable that someone would talk to the principal like that. But the von Nierderschlo? family was main branch of Argus¡¯s von Hohenturm family. So if family is concerned Brutus had a higher status than Argus. But who was Argus von Hohenturm?

    The most powerful human mage and the principal of the royal academy. And now he was actually angry. When he was about to put Brutus into his place suddenly Asura said: ¡°Very well, than how about you show us how much more powerful you are? Use anything you like. If you can move me from this spot, I will resign from the position of examiner.¡±

    The already enraged Brutus got even more angry. How arrogant can a commoner be? ¡°Very well! I will show you not to underestimate your seniors! Spirit of the wind lend me your strength. Become the blade that grinds everything to nothing. WIND DESTRUCTION.¡±

    The strongest wind attack magic known. Argus was shocked and wanted to intervene but¡­ nothing happened. Everyone was dumbfounded. What happened? Argus clearly felt the elemental power gathering and Brutus absolutely would not mess up infusing mana. Asura was the only one who¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change.

    ¡°Is that all?¡± he asked and actually put on a bored face now. The old teacher actually became red and shouted: ¡°WHO ARE YOU MAKING FUN OF BOY!¡± With that he suddenly fired a bullet of compressed air towards the young man. Preinvoked spell Wind Bullet. He thought that that would teach him but¡­.

    the Wind Bullet disappeared before even reaching Asura. Now Brutus was really flabbergasted. He could not comprehend what happened. Suddenly Argus started laughing:

    ¡°Give it up old friend. He canceled your spells out. He just dispersed all the elemental energy you had gathered.¡± ¡°Im.. Impossible. That¡¯s impossible, it can¡¯t be done. Not without studying and analyzing and even then. No one has enough comprehension speed to cancel a preinvoked spell.¡±

    Asura sighed and answered: ¡°I don¡¯t have to. I can just make your elemental energy mine by manipulating it. When it¡¯s mine i can just cancel it with a thought.¡± Brutus couldn¡¯t help himself. He muttered: ¡°Rank ten.¡± Argus smiled and said: ¡°Give it up Brutus. You are no match for him.¡± Without a word the old teacher turned around and left the room. But before he went through the door he said:

    ¡°You will regret that boy.¡± Asura only shook his head: ¡°I doubt it. Sorry principal, is there anything else? Otherwise i would like to get back to work.¡± Argus came back to his senses and said: ¡°No, no everything needed to be said, was said. But let me apologize for the rude behavior of my colleague.¡±

    Asura only shrugged his shoulders: ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± With that he left. While leaving he almost ran into a young girl that was listening in on everything that happened. With a shriek she fell backwards onto her bum. He only said: ¡°Sorry.¡± waved his hand and left without even giving her a second glance.

    Theresa was picked up by a smooth wind and could only look after him. Completely shocked. Before the principal or Larius Sensei could see her, she left, thinking to herself, ¡®Just what in the world is he?¡¯ With a complicated expression on her face she muttered: ¡°Asura.¡± while walking back to her dorm.

 Chapter 25

    Chapter 25: The monthly ranking competition

    Over the past two weeks Theresa had tried her best to find out more about that mysterious young genius Asura. But that was quiet hard as it seemed that he never left his tower. Just who was he? And what kind of research was so important to him that he would spend all his time doing it?

    She couldn¡¯t even explain why she wanted to know so badly. But it was a fact that this boy called the prodigy of wind by those who knew of him held a certain fascination to her. She had convinced herself that she wanted to recruit him for the royal army after graduating. After all having someone with this much talent serve her family could only benefit them.

    As hard as it was she had given up on the thought that she could overcome him. But who was she? She was the first princess of the human empire and she would not allow anything not even her pride to stand in her way when it came to strengthening her family¡¯s position. After all her family was only able to rule this long because they always acted in their own best interests.

    And acknowledging talent and acquiring that talent was one of the skills most in her house held. It brought them this far and Theresa was determined to bring them even further! But how to make contact with someone who didn¡¯t like meeting anyone? She could try to use her status to arrange a meeting but something told her that was not a good idea. In the worst case he would flat out refuse and that could lead to further complications.

    So she decided to bet on the monthly ranking competition. So all she could do was cultivate, train and cultivate more until that day. And now that day was finally here. The ranking competition would traditionally be held in the eastern training grounds. These training grounds were normally dedicated to combat training hence they were sufficently big. Two hundred people could easily fit into those training grounds.

    Today rows of seats were arranged around the training grounds and in the middle were seven platforms. On those platforms the students that wanted to increase their tank could showcase their abilities and they would be judged by the teachers that stood on those platforms.

    But today was a little different. Because on the last green platform not a teacher but a student clad in white with ten green stripes was standing looking bored. Students that did not participate and the teachers who were free were sitting in the stands to watch the ranking. The ranking itself was always quiet interesting and one would always want to look at the improvements classmates or rivals had made.

    The ranks today though were in turmoil. Everyone was talking about the white clad figure standing on the last platform. A student ranking the students? And what was up with those ten stripes? He wasn¡¯t ranked yet, was he? That and similar comments could be heard from all over the place and it gave Theresa a small smile.

    If she hadn¡¯t stumbled upon that scene in the principal¡¯s office she might have reacted the same. But she wouldn¡¯t doubt Argus von Hohenturm. If this esteemed elder said that he had reached the tenth rank than he had reached the tenth rank it was as easy as that.

    Hence Theresa was not surprised at all. From behind her she heard her best friend Maya say: ¡°Wow, when you told me i had a hard time believing and even though i knew you were telling the truth¡­ Just wow.¡±

    Suddenly a loud voice could be heard. ¡°ALL STUDENTS THAT WANT TO BE RANKED GATHER IN FRONT OF THE PLATFORMS.¡± It was the principal who stood on the first platform bringing order into this chaos that had erupted ever since the first people noticed the white figure of Asura standing on top of the last platform.

    Around a hundred students gathered in front of the platforms. When everyone had quieted down the principal started: ¡°Welcome to the monthly ranking competition. Today we will determine what rank you have reached in the last month. Of course for our new students this will be your first big test.

    Everyone who has reached over rank two of our new students: Congratulations up front. You have a bright future ahead of you. To all the old students: Do your best this new generation is quiet remarkable. As for the procedure:

    The color of the platform responds to the element so form an orderly line in front of the element you want to be ranked in. People who want to be ranked in more than one element, as soon as you are done with your first element, go to the back of the line of your next element until you are done. With that said: Everyone good luck.¡±

    He didn¡¯t even mention Asura. That made Theresa grin. But it seemed the curiosity of some got the better of them. One arrogant voice could be heard over the crowd: ¡°So the wind element can¡¯t even afford proper teachers anymore? Now even children are allowed to rank? What a joke!¡±

    Those words came from a handsome young man clad in grey. Four green stripes, five red stripes and four yellow stripes. Not older than seventeen certainly that young man was one of the star students of this academy. The pride of the fire department.

    One has to know that when the students are allowed to wear grey they normally join a department. Those departments once a year clash in a grand tournament that would decide how much funding each department would receive. Obviously one could join only a department that corresponded to one of his elements. In all these years the light department had obviously always been on top directly followed by the fire department.

    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    And the wind department had been dead last for more than ten years now. The only exception was when Larius was still a student. He managed to reach the third place in the tournament securing his department a higher ranking. But since then the wind department had again fallen to be dead last.

    But the way that young man behaved was still absolutely disrespectful but before anyone could react be it the principal or Theresa who was about to step forward a cold voice could be heard:

    ¡°Everyone who wants to rank up in wind please line up here. The one¡¯s who get ranked the first time to the front please so they can go on to get their other elements ranked.¡± It was exactly that white clad youth that just was made fun of that ordered this.

    The grey cloaked student got completely ignored! With a red face he went towards the green platform pushing the younger brown clad students aside and stepping onto the platform. ¡°Oi i am talking to you. What gives you even the qualifications to stand here? It should be the strongest wind mage, my uncle Brutus standing here not some push over brat like you.¡± he said while pointing at the white clad figure.

    The former just answered: ¡°Did you say something? I normally try not to waste my time with trash.¡± After that the entire place fell silent and the insulted one¡¯s face became an even deeper shade of red.

    ¡°What did you say?¡±

    His opposite sighed and said: ¡°I said I don¡¯t want to waste time with you trash. You asked about my qualifications? But what about yours?¡± The now furious young man wanted to retort but before he could say anything a gust of wind knocked him of balance and he fell onto his backside.

    ¡°First rank of control: Move the air to create wind, any strength is fine. That means basic control.¡± With those words suddenly a slight breeze blew over the crowd. Deeply shocked everyone just watched and listened.

    ¡°Rank two: Direction. Make the wind blow into the direction you want it to.¡± With that he first pointed north and the wind blew north after he pointed south and the wind immediately changed directions by 180 degree.

    ¡°Rank three: Adjust your strength. Make it stronger.¡± Suddenly the wind took on power and all the robes were swaying with the now quiet strong wind. ¡°Or weaker depending on your will.¡± With that the wind calmed down to a slight almost not noticeable breeze. The youth gave no one time to react:

    ¡°Rank four: Give the wind form.¡± Suddenly a ball formed of wind formed on top of the youths outstretched hand.

    ¡°Rank five control the form.¡± With that the ball of wind lifted of his hand and started circling around his head.

    ¡°Rank six: Increase the amount of forms you can control.¡± Four more spheres appeared around him circling him as well.

    ¡°Rank seven: Levitation.¡± And he started to hover two steps of the platform. He was now shouting out the ranks and what you have to master to reach them in quick succession.

    ¡°Rank eight: Use the wind to enhance yourself.¡± Enhancing yourself with wind took a lot of effort and precise control. A bit too much power would tear you apart. Not enough power and the enhancement was useless. But it seemed that this youth could do anything he want. He disappeared and reappeared in an instant behind that grey cloaked youth.

    ¡°Rank nine: Use all of the above together!¡± With that wind came up, orbs formed and hovered around that white figure that was again standing in midair.

    ¡°And finally rank ten: Do all of that without relying on spirits only using your own knowledge. No more incarnations are needed. So little trash, tell me what gives me the qualifications to stand here?¡± The grey cloaked student opened his mouth and closed it again but couldn¡¯t say anything. The other just sighed and said:

    ¡°If you want to rank up show me how you form the wind. I am waiting.¡± Finally the arrogant young man got up and stuttered: ¡°Spi.. Spirit of the wind hear my call. Form a ball that blows away any hindrance. WIND BALL¡±

    A small sphere of wind formed but after a few seconds it burst into a small breeze. ¡°Failed. You can¡¯t even keep your form. As i thought i wasted time with trash.¡± And as if he had already forgotten about the last few minutes he again addressed the crowd in front of his platform:

    ¡°Now everyone please. One orderly line, the newcomers first.¡± But who was that grey clad young man? He was Alverin von Niederschlo?. He was the young master and heir of the von Niederschlo? family the leading military family of this country!

    He would never accept such humiliation. ¡°I challenge you to a duel!¡± Again the entire field went quiet. ¡°No magic only swords. They way real man fight. Do you dare to accept? Or will you chicken out?¡± Theresa was shocked. The von Niederschlo? family was the number one military family! Their children are taught the arts of fighting from the day they could walk!

    She had to do something. But again before anyone could step in. ¡°Fine, if that¡¯s what it takes to get the trash finally out of my sight. Let me know when and where and i will be there. Now please step down so i can get on with it.¡± Now absolutely furious Alverin answered: ¡°You will regret this.¡± and left the platform.

    Asura sighed and muttered so only he could hear: ¡°Nope again i really don¡¯t think so.¡±

    <hr />

    Became a bit longer than i thought and took me a little while longer. So i will grab a quick bite to eat and than immediately start 26. I''d say 1-2h until it''s out. Enjoy 25 until then :)

 Chapter 26

    Chapter 26: Before the duel

    By the end of the day the entire academy was talking about nothing else but the arranged duel between Asura the wind prodigy (the name has been spread by now) and the heir of the von Niederschlo? family. Everyone thought that the conclusion of this duel was predetermined.

    After all how could a commoner no matter how gifted compete with the resources of a high noble family like the von Niederschlo? family? Since young age Alverin had been training diligently with the sword you could say as expected of the heir of a general. On top of that he of course had the best instructors the empire could offer.

    On the other hand everyone with common background was rooting for Asura. Treating some of the more arrogant nobles the way he did was only a dream for them. But in a world where strength meant more than status how could they not look up to someone who had reached the pinnacle of magical ability at his age? If you don''t want to be bullied become strong enough so no one can bully you!

    The date of the duel was soon public knowledge. After all Alverin wanted to humiliate Asura in front of as many people as possible. So obviously he would spread the date and location. The location were the same training grounds one week after the monthly ranking competition.

    The entire week Theresa tried tireless to do something about this duel but to no avail. She tried to safe Asura from something that she thought was reckless. The day before the agreed upon time she was just on the way back from a meeting with general von Niederschlo?.

    The general shot down her request to talk to his son as if it was nothing. She still got furious when she thought about how arrogant the general had talked to her. "This is business between men. Women have no right to interfere. Even though you are the first princess please refrain from further comments. Furthermore that brat dared to behave arrogantly in front of my son. A lesson is in order."

    Just with this he had brushed her off. It was annoying but there was nothing more she could do. Just before she reached the dorms she heard a cold voice behind her: "What are you trying to gain by budging in on someone else''s business?"

    She turned around and there he stood. Bathed in moonlight she couldn''t help but think that Asura was indeed handsome to a fault. His pale skin smooth like a baby''s, the sharp eyes. It could take a lesser woman''s breath away. But Theresa was no ordinary woman. "I just don''t like people bullying others with their status."

    To that the young man only sighed. "Just stop it. I don''t need your help nor anyone else''s help. And talking about bullying. Watch the match tomorrow and decide after if I am someone to be bullied." With that he turned around to leave. But Theresa now was furious. This... This.... arrogant bastard!

    "I AM JUST TRYING TO SAFE YOU FROM YOUR OWN STUPIDITY." she shouted while actually stamping with her right foot. He stopped, glanced over his shoulder and threw her a cold glance. He left without another word.

    On the day of the prearranged battle between Asura and Alverin, Argus von Hohenturm was quiet anxious. If he had foreseen that development he would have interfered beforehand but like everyone else even he was captivated by that young genius''s display on the ranking competition. Such wonderful mana and elemental power control. Truly a work of art.

    He could not do anything about this duel. Asura had accepted in front of a huge crowd so canceling it was no good. But Argus knew as well that Alverin was a genius when it came to the sword. With his talent for magic and sword you could say he was the ideal successor for his father.

    Only his character had much room for improvement. As much as Argus wanted someone to put him in place he understood that there was hardly anyone in his age group that could. When it came to magic Argus was quiet confident that Asura could easily hold his own and even teach that arrogant von Niederschlo? a lesson. But how could he compare with that boys swordplay at his age? It was impossible! At least that was what he thought...

    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.Finally the day arrived. I was quiet irritated. Why did those kind of humans always look for trouble? I could have spent all this wasted time on a way to break this annoying magic formation or think up a plan to make the principal leave school.

    Instead I had to prepare to teach some brat a lesson. I mean come on, do you really think someone who had only trained in a safe courtyard could compare to me who had fought most of his life for survival?

    On top of that i had received instructions from the greatest blade master there ever was! My master was incomparable when it came to blade work. Be it dagger, sword or any other bladed weapon. My master had reached a level that even i could not compare to. Yet.

    I had deeply memorized his teachings and every night i was still training after cultivating my shadow powers. It was not even near my master''s level but to teach a self loving brat like him? My skills were more than enough. What bothered me the most was the time loss!

    Oh well let''s get this over with. I took my two daggers, strapped them under my robe and left towards the training grounds. On the way many students cheered me on but to be honest: I couldn''t care less. Get this over with and go back to work. That was the only thing on my mind.

    When i arrived at the training grounds there was already a huge crowd gathered. Practically all students and teachers had come to watch this match. Seriously don''t you guys have anything better to do? Oh well not my problem. When i walked towards the center the crowd formed a corridor for me to walk towards my opponent.

    He was clad in a fancy leather armor and an expensive looking long sword was in his right hand. His blue eyes and short brown hair combined with his really handsome face made for quiet the picture. Like a hero from some legend.

    I chuckled, so he was the type that cared about appearance huh? Well i should have gathered as much from our earlier encounter. Before anyone could say anything a loud voice could be heard.

    "Everyone welcome." The principal had invoked a small earth platform that he was standing on. "Today we have gathered to see this duel between Asura the number one disciple of the wind department and Alverin von Niederschlo? the number one disciple of the fire department. No magic is allowed, only swordplay. I myself will make sure that those rules are not broken. Now everyone please take your seats!"

    With that he shouted: "Spirit of earth please answer my call. Form yourself after my will. EARTH CREATION." With such a short incarnation the principal raised several stands from the earth for everyone to sit on.

    This alone proved once again how tremendous his powers and his knowledge were. I had to give it to him he was quiet something. For a human anyway. When everyone had settled down on the stands i faced my opponent who couldn''t miss the chance for some smack talk:

    "Oh can''t afford any battle gear? Do you want me to borrow you some?" is what he said with a sneer. Seriously that guy really is annoying. "No need" was all i said. It had the intended effect. He got angry.

    "You better not regret this later or make excuses i won because of my gear." he retorted while narrowing his eyes. I sighed. "Can we please get on with it? I have things to do afterwards." That seemed to annoy him even more. Good. This time he refrained from an answer.

    Huh? Seems like i have to give him at least a little credit. He was serious. Well credit meaning he got one out of a hundred points. A little credit you see? With that the principal took the word again:

    "Are both competitors ready?" He sounded a little anxious seeing i had not even drawn a blade. Why should I? To be honest I don''t really think I even have to draw my daggers. I just stood there arms crossed on my chest, eyes closed:

    "Sure." My opponent shouted: "I will wipe that arrogant look of your face. Yes I am ready to teach him a lesson." Does he always have to talk this much? "Then: START."

    <hr />

    Somehow this one chapter i wanted to write became longer and longer and longer. Again i had to cut the ''foreplay'' into a separate chapter. But worry not folks! I am on fire tonight. Gotta stay up for another two hours to bring you another chapter! Yes indeed expect 27 to be up in 1-2h! Enjoy 26 until then!

 Chapter 27

    I recommend listening to this while reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4DcWYnAZ7M</a> I listened to it all the time i was writing^^

    Chapter 27: Overwhelming

    Even though Alverin heard the start from the principal he didn''t immediately went in for the kill. No he wanted to savor this moment. Completely ridicule that arrogant bastard. Suddenly he had a really good idea. "Oi wind brat. How about a little wager?"

    When he said those words his opponent opened one eye. "Suit yourself." What was with that bastard''s attitude? "If you loose you will have to leave the academy and never set foot into the capital ever again."

    He was quiet sure of himself. His opposite had not even moved into any kind of fighting stance and Alverin could not feel any kind of blood lust from his opponent. He had fought veterans over and over during his training and they all carried a heavy air of fighting spirit around them. So he was very confident about the outcome of this match.

    "I mean of course only if you dare." After those words he actually dared to smirk! "Sure but if I win you will from now on be known as trash." Now he did it. He had enraged this great future general even further. He would utterly destroy him! He could be glad if he came out of this alive.

    "Agreed." he answered without hesitation. He would soon wipe that smirk of that annoyingly handsome face. A gasp could be heard from the audience but he didn''t care. This was his moment to shine. He settled into a fighting stance and the ones who were familiar with sword play were quiet astonished. His stance was nearly flawless not giving any opening to his opponent.

    "Here i come!" With those words Alverin kicked off. He launched himself towards his enemy swinging his sword in a perfectly controlled arch. The other side took a step back and narrowly avoided the strike. At least his reflexes are good was what Alverin thought.

    But he would not let him get away! With that arch he started a sure kill combination that he had trained over and over with the veteran knights of his father. Every step he took, every swing he made pushed his opponent further into a corner.

    At the moment he could still dodge using nimble movements but that was not enough to startle an experienced fighter like himself! Admiring shouts could be heard from the crowd. It was clear that he was very talented when it came to the sword.

    Indeed for his age he was quiet advanced. Even the older long serving knights beside his father praised him whenever he trained his swordsmanship in the courtyard of their family home. Let''s see how long you remain expressionless when i have you cornered is what he thought.

    Slash by slash, step by step he drove that arrogant brat further and further into a corner. He would regret not having drawn his weapon when he had the chance because now he would not give him the time to do it. And finally with a quick stab that forced the white figure to take a step back he had him cornered. The principal had set a small ditch around an area of roughly twenty square meters. Leaving that area meant loosing so there was nowhere to go for this overly confident nuisance!

    Sure of his victory Alverin stepped forward for the final slash that would seal his triumph. And then it happened. With a fluid motion that hardly anyone of the spectating people caught let alone Alverin himself he moved past his sword! He could feel two light taps on his neck and forehead. He froze in place. Behind him he could hear that hateful cold voice:

    "You just died twice." Impossible. Alverin could not comprehend what just happened. It was a fluke! It could only have been a fluke. Deadly silence engulfed the entire training field. With a shout the young master of the Niederschlo? household turned around, draw his short sword that hung on his right side and attacked again.

    Faster than before and perfectly coordinating both swords Alverin now used all of his power to go for the kill! He had already lost his reason due to his anger. But Asura as if not concerned by his opponent dodged every strike with a bored expression.

    Not a single wasted movement as if dancing, Asura''s figure was dazzling. No one watching this duel made a sound. The were all mesmerized by those perfectly accurate movements. As if being here meant going on a stroll for him. Alverin started to breath heavier and heavier but he wouldn''t let up!

    Asura on the other hand was not even breathing hard and just kept dodging every blow that came in. "IMPOSSIBLE!" With that shout the agitated noble made a desperate strike with both swords but again his opponent shocked everyone present.

    With a casual turn and a high kick he trapped the long sword under his left foot while simultaneously catching the short sword between the fingers of his right hand. Another casual turn and Alverin had lost both weapons while Asura now held the the tip of the short sword between his fingers.

    The long sword was still trapped under the left foot now lying on the ground. "And you are dead again trash. Glad to give you a lesson." With just those words he threw the short sword towards Alverin''s feet, turned around and walked towards the academy.

    No sound. Nothing could be heard because no one could quiet take in yet what had happened before their very eyes. Asura without even using a weapon had ridiculed Alverin. Suddenly with a roar: "NO WAY. SPIRIT OF FIRE BECOME MY WEAPON THAT ERADICATES ALL. FIRE BALL."

    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    Theresa was dumbfounded. Never had she imagined that Asura didn''t say those words yesterday because he was arrogant. No he said them because he literally meant it. There was no need for anyone to interfere he was clearly superior in any way.

    Every attack that this idiot Alverin tried had been casually dodged as if he was just walking through the woods evading low hanging tree branches. It even looked as if he was bored!

    And there was the first move. He fluently dodged Alverin''s final strike and tapped him twice. And those two taps even though they were light, were lighting fast! "You just died twice."

    Theresa thought with this it was over for sure. But obviously there were people alive who did not know the difference between heaven and earth. With a shout that idiot drew his short sword and attacked again. But not even faced Asura continued to move as if having a pleasant stroll.

    Theresa was the first princess. Of course she was trained in the way of the sword. Her family made no difference between gender. Only ability counted. And she was by far the most gifted of all the current emperor''s children. So obviously she would have been trained in various arts concerning fighting, magic and politics.

    So she could tell. What she was witnessing was a master playing with a child. Because that was the only way to describe what Asura did. He played with his opponent. She was sure that he could have ended it any time he wanted but... He just didn''t bother.

    And again with ingenious movement he now even disarmed his contender! "And you are dead again trash. Glad to give you a lesson." With those words Asura left. But Alverin just didn''t know when to stop. As the young genius was leaving suddenly that idiot started to cast magic!

    "NO WAY. SPIRIT OF FIRE BECOME MY WEAPON THAT ERADICATES ALL. FIRE BALL." Theresa acted immediately. "Oh holy spirit of light. Protect those dear to me. LIGHT SHIELD." She didn''t even think about what she was doing or what incarnation she was using, she just knew: She can''t let anything happen to Asura!

    The light shield deployed stopped the fireball and that in itself was quiet the feat. Alverin was not weak and if Theresa would have been in a normal state of mind there was no way she could have stopped such a big spell single handedly. In fact even now she would have never been able to stop this alone but no one except maybe for the principal could see or notice the small but incredibly powerful wind barrier that was laid on top of her light barrier.

    Having stopped the attack she immediately rushed forward. "STOP THAT YOU FOOL. STOP BRINGING MORE SHAME TO YOUR NAME AND THE NAME OF YOUR FAMILY." she shouted enraged. Alverin jumped around and shouted back: "WHO DARES TO GIVE ME ORD...."

    and shut up as soon as he saw her. "Alverin von Niederschlo?. Junior Asura is absolutely right. You are trash! And I dare to give you orders. Or did your ego become so inflated that you now dare to talk back to the first princess?"

    Before the accused could say anything she continued: "Don''t even say a word. To actually break the rules of a sacred duel on top of that on this holy ground that is the academy and even further shaming your father by attacking from behind. You have no honor! Rest assured that I will inform my father his highness of your shameful behavior. NOW BEGONE."

    With a shocked expression Alverin tried to leave the field but.... suddenly a bone chilling aura enveloped the two of them. With cold sweat both of them turned towards Asura. But was that really Asura? Gone was the handsome young man. Instead a dark figure enveloped in thick killing intent approached them. Cold sweat ran down their forehead.

    "Trash. Let me ask you something. How many have you killed?" Asura leaned down and looked Alverin in the eyes. Theresa next to them could not utter a word. His words were spoken very very silently and Theresa was sure only she and Alverin could hear him.

    "I have spent my childhood in Shura fighting for my life every day. I have killed since i could walk and the number of beastkin i have slain are uncountable. So a little word of warning: Don''t mess with me. The next time you as much as annoy me, I will come for you. And when I do, I will introduce you to the god of death. Sounds good?"

    And with that the oppressive atmosphere vanished as if it was never there in the first place. Again Asura turned around starting to leave. Theresa knew it was now or never. With a fast beating heart that came from the killing intent before, that''s at least what she thought at that time, she called after him:

    "Junior Asura!" He actually stopped. "Sorry for meddling. But... still... would.... would you... consider tea at some point?" Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Her father always said that. And he actually turned around and looked at her! For the first time he actually looked at her.

    "I really like sweets." with that and a chuckle he left the still otherwise silent training ground. Theresa smiled but her face immediately changed when she had a foul smell in her nose. She turned towards Alverin and saw a small pool of water gathering below him.

    <hr />

    One of my favorite chapters till now! As mentioned earlier^^ But boy that chapter felt good! Anyway enjoy.

 Chapter 28

    Kalius von Hochburg

    <hr />

    The day after the duel Theresa was in high spirits. The way Asura had completely knocked the air out of that idiotic Alverin was a real treat. Especially because that idiot was one of those people that had been pursuing her forever and having seen him put into his place was... satisfying.

    Of course her mood had nothing to do with Asura''s answer to her question for tea. In hindsight she was really embarrassed. She asked him for tea of all things. As if she was an old lady or something. Every time she thought about that scene she couldn''t help herself but blush and obviously Maya caught on to that.

    So at the moment Maya''s favorite way to spend her time was to tease Theresa about the aftermath of that duel. Anyone else but her, Theresa would have already put into their place but Maya was after all her best friend. She was likely the only person who was allowed to tease her.

    Her embarrassment came of course from the fact that she did not represent the dignity of her family at that time. In no way was it related to Asura!

    Still being on good terms with him was important, yesterday made that even clearer than it was before. But now Asura''s fame undoubtedly spread and many factions would seek to gain his assistance. And not all of them supported the royal family.

    So her anxiety about him obviously came from that fact! But no matter how she tried to push her thoughts to the back of her mind and concentrate on her cultivation somehow today she couldn''t manage it.

    That actually annoyed her quiet a bit. As she was about to get up to get herself an early dinner someone knocked onto her door. ?Your highness are you there?¡°

    A familiar voice sounded through the door and as she thought when she opened her father''s most trusted servant the old Hili was standing there. He was quiet robust for his sixty five years of age had no more hair and kept his face cleanly shaved.

    He had been his father''s personal attendant for as long as she could think back. She smiled at him: ?Hili what can i do for you?¡° Hili''s serious face turned into a warm smile. Hili had been serving the royal family ever since he was a boy and he actually grew up with the emperor.

    His father had already served the last emperor as his attendant and he had taken over the job when his father died of old age. So the princess to him was like the daughter of a dear brother. He held her in high regards and had high expectations for her.

    It wouldn''t be the first time that a daughter of the imperial von Hochburg family succeeded the shining throne as it was called. He bowed with deeply felt respect:

    ?Your highness, your royal father asks you to attend dinner tonight. I have already contacted the principal and he gave his permission.¡°

    Normally Theresa would be a bit annoyed because she wanted to concentrate on her magic training. But tonight she couldn''t concentrate anyway so this distraction actually came at the right time.

    ?Sure, i actually thought of having an early dinner anyway.¡° That reply made Hili quiet happy. He too thought at first that the princess would be displeased but it seems his worries were unnecessary.

    ?Then is there anything your highness needs before we leave? I have taken freedom of already preparing a carriage for you.¡° Theresa smiled at him again: ?Always the faithful servant Hili? Thanks a lot, i don''t think i need anything else, let''s go.¡°

    She didn''t need to change her clothes. These silver robes showed her status more than any fancy dress could. As mentioned earlier the light students had quiet the high status within the empire and enjoyed preferential treatment in most aspects of life.

    Seeing that the academy was next to the royal palace, the way there was quiet short. After only half an hour they arrived in front of the impressive silver gates. The walls around the palace were more like a fence with the silver bars forming fantastic patterns.

    And most impressive were the gates: The bars actually formed a magic circle together giving the entire ''fence'' the strength of diamonds. Without magic it was impossible to break into the palace.

    After the gates quiet the long way through a perfectly maintained park lead to the high oaken front doors. Up to three meters tall and six meters width those two massive doors stood atop of two staircases that winded their way similar to the academy''s great hall towards those doors.

    The entire palace was made out of white marble and overall looked quiet impressive. The interior was quiet the sight as well. Comfortable carpets held in red were laid out on the way''s through the castle.

    Different kind''s of art lined the way through the halls. At every doorway two soldiers were stationed who all bowed as Theresa passed by with Hili.

    After a while they arrived at the eastern wing that contained the dining hall as well as the banquet hall. They went to the dining hall that was exclusively for the royal family and those closest to them.

    When they entered her father''s strict face softened a lot. He was quiet muscular, in his mid fifties, had an orderly trimmed full beard and short brown hair.

    ?Theresa you came.¡° Theresa smiled back which seemed to relax the emperor quiet a bit. After all even he was anxious when he upset his daughter and normally she wasn''t too keen on getting interrupted in her training.

    He really respected her diligence but sometimes he was just a father who would like to see his daughter. ?Father!¡° with that she hurried to her father and gave him a hug.

    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

    Of course in public they would never act this way but the dining hall was different. That and their sleeping chambers were the only rooms that were only for her family. Hili was included in that. Emperor Kalius von Hochburg was laughing out loud:

    ?Ah Theresa it is good to see you. How have you been? How is school?¡° Theresa let go of her father and sat down next to him. ?Is Katrin not here?¡° she asked while looking around.

    Her father answered: ?No she is taking care of some diplomatic issues with the military faction. The general is... displeased.¡° that last part he said with a chuckle. Theresa gave a relived sigh and couldn''t help but chuckle herself:

    ?Yes i can imagine that the general is displeased.¡° You could her a hint of satisfaction from her. Her father still heard that small sigh before. ?You still don''t like her?¡° he asked her anxious.

    Theresa sighed again, she knew it would come up. ?Father, it''s not that i don''t like her and her abilities are unquestionable but.... She is not my mother and i can''t shake of a bad gut feeling.¡°

    Katrin was the emperor''s second wife. Theresa''s mother died when she was born and ten years later Kalius remarried. It was a political marriage with one of the biggest faction''s daughters that opposed the imperial family''s rule.

    Katrin now von Hochburg turned out to be an excellent politician. She improved the empire''s finances and was able to quench quiet a lot of the noble''s quarreling. Combine that with her lovely looks even for a woman in her forties and you had the perfect empress.

    Even before she married into the family she had been working as her father''s ambassador with the emperor so she had been well known and well liked in the castle for a long time. So she was the natural choice for the succession of the late empress. Kalius sighed and said:

    ?Let''s not talk about that. So back to my original question. School.¡° Theresa laughed at that. ?Father you know perfectly well how my school days are going, i know that you have your people in the academy.¡°

    That seemed to make the emperor quiet uncomfortable. With a smile Theresa continued: ?Why don''t you ask the question, you really want to ask?¡° Her father''s expression was quiet sour. ?Can''t you at least let me pretend to be a caring father for once?¡°

    Hearing that she could only laugh: ?Father i love you and i know you love me as well but you have been, are and always will be an emperor first. So just ask your question.¡°

    With that Kalius gave up: ?Fine. But before that: Hili order the food to come and than sit down and eat with us.¡° Within this room Hili was part of the family but before the food was served and everything was to his satisfaction he would not sit down Kalius knew that but he said it anyway.

    ?Now tell me about that youth called Asura.¡° Theresa chuckled again. ?See that wasn''t so hard, was it?¡° No one but her would ever dare to talk to him like that. Maybe for the exception of Hili when the two of them were alone.

    Her father only looked at her with a raised eye brow. Theresa just smiled back: ?Whatever you have heard, it''s not even close. This kind of genius is someone you will only find once in a lifetime. To put it bluntly: I believe he could be the deciding factor in the war against the demons.¡°

    That surprised even the emperor. Never before had his daughter spoken so highly of another man.

    ?He can''t be older than sixteen but he has reached perfect control of his wind magic. It is as if all the wind in this world belongs to him. At the same time his combat ability is... out of this world. He treated Alverin like a play thing. I have never seen anything like it. To be honest i don''t think there is anyone in this empire who could take him on.¡°

    Kalius could only reply: ?Astounding. So do you have a plan? Should i invite him?¡° Theresa immediately answered: ?No don''t. I don''t think he would answer a summon from anyone. Either he decides to do something or he won''t do it. At least that is the impression i had. Well I...¡°

    Suddenly she stopped blushing. That shocked him even more. His daughter never had any interest in men and only worked towards the future of the empire.

    ?Dear daughter is there something you are not telling me?¡° he asked with a suspicious look. The shade of red of her face became even deeper. ?Don''t talk nonsense. I invited him to tea and he at least did not refuse. He just said that he liked sweets.¡°

    Now Kalius was grinning. ?Is that so.¡° Theresa glared at him: ?Father please stop grinning so slyly.¡° That just made him chuckle more. ?Well dear Theresa. I will leave it in your capable hands.¡°

    She shouted back: ?Father!¡° He kept grinning waving his hand: ?It''s fine. It''s fine. Let''s eat!¡° At this moment the servants started to serve the food. Still glaring at her father, Theresa prepared for dinner.

    <hr />

    As mentioned not sure if i will post again. I will lay back now for a bit and try to gather my motivation again. But no promises this time.

    Oh and i will put this under every chapter from now on: After the third arc i will rework the first two arcs and the third arc as well: Rewrite a couple of chapters that are just plain bad compared to my recent work and improve the font as much as possible to make reading as enjoyable as possible.

    Thanks to Apache for resizing the chapter! You are awesome man

 Chapter 29

    Chapter 29: Tea Time

    Asura''s PoV (1st):

    So she was that country''s princess. I see. Well she did kind of seemed different and I wouldn''t forget a beauty like her easily. I am after all a man. Still its not like i had the time or the interest in any relations with the humans.

    I know that i am human on the inside but in this world they had made me their enemy. So i pushed her to the back of my mind and went back to my research. It went rather well because i slowly understood how that seal was created. It had hardly any weaknesses except for the amount of magic power it consumed.

    I was pretty sure there was a source somewhere hidden within the academy. And the most likely place was their temple meaning the place where the light students were trained. Interesting. So I had two options:

    Find and destroy the magic source or have enough power to forcefully break through. The first would take quiet some time while the second was not doable at this moment. From everything i had found out i could calculate that i needed roughly the power of three emperors to completely nullify the magic circle.

    So the second method was out at least for now. Left me with option number one. That was the moment when i remembered: the princess was a light student and on top of that... She seemed interested in me. Slowly my face turned into a dark grin. I think i have just worked out how i can get my hands on that so called sage. How about some tea with princess Theresa?

    Theresa''s PoV(3rd):

    The next few days after she had visited her father were quiet uneventful. Maya still was not tired of teasing her with Asura but at least we managed to concentrate on her studies and cultivation again. She didn''t expect that her impulsive invitation from the duel would bear any fruits but it was a start. A small one.

    But it was just so difficult to get into contact with him. She could only hope for the next monthly ranking competition because she thought that would be the only occasion that he would leave his tower. By now it was publicly acknowledged that the wind tower was Asura''s. Rumors even had it that he had already taken control of the entire wind department but Theresa couldn''t believe that.

    She believed it would be way too much hassle for him. From the impression she got he valued his freedom highly. All these things and more she thought while walking towards her wind class with her friends. The girls around her were all chatting merrily but she was too deep in thought to realize that for some reason they suddenly had quieted down.

    They were only a few meters to the entrance of the wind tower but everyone had stopped moving. Theresa suddenly came back from the world of her thoughts when she bumped into Maya who had walked in front of her.

    ?Maya what is...?¡° But she stopped when she saw that Asura was standing in front of their group. He looked at them with an impassive expression but his meaning was clear: They were in his way. The others seemed to realize the same thing at the same time because everyone started to make way for this young genius.

    When he passed Theresa could her the whispers behind her: ?He is so cool isn''t he?¡° ?Yes and soooo handsome, I would give anything to go out with him.¡° That and similar comments came to her ears and for some reason she could not explain, it bothered her.

    Just as they were to go into class a cold voice from behind caught their attention. ?Princess, does your offer still stand?¡° If he had stripped naked and shouted he is the king of the world he could not have shocked them all more. But the most surprised was Theresa herself. Never would she have thought that he would actually take her serious!

    Flabbergasted she didn''t answer immediately not until Maya elbowed her from behind. ?ah eh yes, yes of course!¡° she answered and finally managed to put a smile on her face. His expression though still didn''t change. ?I happen to be free tomorrow afternoon.¡°

    With only that he left. Behind her the girls were back to their gossip. ?Must be good to be a princess.¡° ?Yeah if you can have anybody of course you would go for the jackpot right?¡° ?Ah i so want to have tea with him as well.¡°

    Theresa turned around and waved her arms: ?Shush, we have class and we are late already.¡° But in contrast to her calm outwards appearance, her insides were dancing and jumping around. Only because she succeeded of course!

    The next day Theresa was way more nervous than she should be. She had everything ready hours ago even though she knew that he would be coming in the afternoon and if there was one thing she knew: He would always do everything exactly the way he said he would.

    So of course she knew that she still had time but nonetheless she was nervous and her heart wouldn''t stop beating fast. She hardly could concentrate on her lessons earlier and now waiting for him proofed to be an even bigger challenge.

    Today for the first time in a long time she did not wear her robe but a light summer dress. Held in light blue it perfectly emphasized her near perfect figure without it looking over the top. She naturally had bright red lips and her slightly pale skin wouldn''t loose to even Asura''s. Paired up with her cheeks that had slightly reddened from excitement she was without a doubt the dream for any man.

    But she was not expecting ANY man. She was expecting the prodigy of wind the untouchable Asura. Everyone had thought that he could not be swayed by beauty but the rumor of him having tea with her had of course already spread throughout the entire academy. She would absolutely smack those girls when she had the chance!

    Her room looked lovely as well. A 140 centimeters wide and two meters long bed four-poster bed was as well colored in a light blue and stood in the far corner of the room. An oaken desk with chair stood on the opposite wall and one closet held the few clothes she had here. Next to it were shelves that held quiet a few books. A beautiful red carpet was laid out throughout the room and golden framed glass doors lead out to a balcony with a silver balustrade.

    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    On the balcony on a fragile looking table tea ware for two had been laid out with a tray of some of the best sweets that could be bought within the empire. Everything was ready only her guest was missing. The nearer the afternoon came the more nervous Theresa became. Did she do too much? Should she have been wearing her robe instead? What if he didn''t like women who dressed up? And why was she so nervous when she needed all her wits to convince him to support her family? And where is he?

    If she had any experience with men maybe she would have recognized what was happening to her. But in her innocence she didn''t realize: She had fallen madly in love. And she didn''t even know it. When she was about to go crazy suddenly from outside:

    ?Seems like the light students really do get preferential treatment.¡° She almost jumped but before she could rush towards the balcony doors she took a deep breath and walked instead. When she opened the doors she saw Asura floating just in front of her balcony as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

    This was one of the things she found fascinating about him. He showed amazing displays of magic as if it were nothing. When she didn''t say anything he sighed and said: ?Princess this is the point where you ask me in you know?¡°

    She blushed and answered a bit too quickly: ?Yes, yes of course. I am sorry, please, come and sit.¡° The corners of his mouth actually moved slightly up. Theresa was shocked: Did he just laugh? Did that ice cold mage that could discard common sense actually laugh just now but she couldn''t think further because just that small chuckle from him had turned the handsomeness of his sculpture like face into something beautiful.

    She would have never thought that she would call a man beautiful but when he smiled he was just that: Stunningly handsome and good looking. A face that every woman would dream about if she had only seen it once.

    While she still tried to regain any kind of composure he floated down onto the balcony and sat down on the white chair that was prepared for him. As if the smile had never appeared in the first place Asura looked at her again with a serious face and one eye brow raised:

    ?Princess, is there something on my face?¡° She slightly shook her head and stuttered: ?Eh well no, i''m sorry i just.. well¡° and her face turned into an even deeper shade of red. This was going horrible!

    So without another word she sat down and poured Asura some herbal tea that she had collected herself from the royal garden. It was her favorite tea that had a full aroma with a slight sweet touch. Both started to drink tea but conversation would at first not come up.

    After a while when the atmosphere became a bit awkward, he suddenly sighed and said: ?Well princess, I assume that the daughter of his royal highness did not just ask me here for afternoon entertainment? You have something to ask, so please: ask.¡°

    While he said that he took an eclair from the tray and took a bite. His eyes became slightly wider and he finished the eclair rather quickly. That actually made Theresa chuckle. Seems he really does like sweet things. She gathered what was left of her confused thoughts and started to answer:

    ?Well first of all, it''s good to see that you enjoy the tea and the food. And yes i do have a request. As you know the grand tournament is coming up. The grand tournament is not just an event that is exclusive to the academy. People from all over the empire will come to see not just the mages battle it out for the top but swordsmen, musicians and more are coming as well to find out who is the best of the best. It is a grand festival that is held once a year. The academy uses the mage tournament to rank the departments but i think you already know that. Well you might have found out already but the empire is not as stable as it seems. There are a lot of factions and all of them have their eyes on the shining throne. My father keeps them in check but we always have to be wary and it is a never ending political nightmare.¡°

    You could see the anger and sadness on her face: ?Especially when we are always facing the threat of the northern demons, we should be united not fighting among ourselves! People die because some can''t control the greed in their hearts.¡° She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She reopened her eyes and directly looked into Asura''s dark eyes:

    ?I wish you could participate in the mage tournament and the swordsmanship tournament in the name of the royal family. With your abilities it should be a given who wins and if those factions knew you support us... It would strengthen my father''s rule greatly and would most likely lead to a more stable empire.¡° When she finished Asura sighed and said:

    ?So you asked me here because of politics.¡° and he looked away into the distance. Was that disappointment she saw in his eyes for a second? She wasn''t sure but her heart ached heavily. Still she can''t stop here:

    ?You only have to declare that you support us and actually wouldn''t have to do anything. If you have any kind of wish my father and i will be glad to do anything in our power to make it happen.¡° After she finished she anxiously looked at him. After a while he sighed, emptied his cup, took one eclair and started to float over the handrail.

    Theresa looked down and was about to cry. She had messed up she understood that much. But suddenly: ?I really hate politics.¡° She looked up and saw him standing in mid air looking at her. ?But because it''s you i will think about it.¡° With that he left leaving behind a Theresa who''s heart was beating faster than ever before.

    <hr />

    Isn''t he smooth mv groove?^^ Anyway guys i have changed the formatting, posting here first instead of wordpress which got rid of the size problem. How do you like the new font? I changed my paragraphing and i made the text smaller and added a PoV "counter" so you know beforehand when the PoV changes. Do you like? Should i write all my chapters like this now? It''s a little experiment because when i have found a proper font I will try to change all my chapters like this. Anyway enjoy the chapter

 Chapter 30

    Chapter 30: Preparations

    Asura''s PoV (1st):

    Wow that princess was even more innocent than I thought. She was a nice girl and in different circumstances maybe I could even have liked her. But in the first place she wasn''t even my type of girl. Way to perfect. It might sound strange but when a girl seems too perfect in instinctively draw back and look for flaws.

    Well I could not find any with her. I mean she was nice to everyone, talented but not arrogant. She did not look down on people who were of common birth and only wanted the best for her family and her people. The ideal princess.

    Uh I think I''m gonna get sick. Seriously it makes me physically ill and scares me when someone has no obvious faults! Anyway things were going according to plan. Rope in the princess get access to the sanctuary (I randomly decided to name it myself), destroy the magic source of that formation, slaughter Argus von Hohenheim and everyone getting in my way, collect Mia, Caro and Kam''ya and then...

    Well let''s decide when that time comes. From the time I had tea with Theresa I had another month in order to prepare for the tournament. First of all I had resumed my daily training with my blades. Luckily I had not used my daggers in my fight against that sage so there was no risk to be found out that way and seeing that he thought I used to be a thief I guess you could consider me using daggers as normal.

    Second I made sure to sometimes ?randomly¡° bump into the princess. It took a while but after about two weeks she started to act more and more natural around me, well after that day she was of course flustered every time she saw me. Seriously such a sweet girl. Kind of ironic because I was the absolute opposite of sweet.

    Did I feel bad about using her? Only a little but those feelings were an entire world away. In both my lifes there had ever only be a single girl that I had really loved and she was lost to me even if I were still in my old world. So the kind of regret I felt was little compared to my desire for revenge. My master''s death would be avenged no matter what.

    But objectively as a person? Yeah as mentioned I really thought she was nice and I would still use her as I would use anything or anybody to reach my goals. Thinking mainly about my plans someone knocked on the door to my tower room.

    My room was quiet plain: A normal bed several shelves filled with books, a table for my work and a small trunk for my two sets of clothes. My robe and the black clothes I had worn when I had arrived here.

    There was only one person who dared to come here so i waved my hand and the door opened by itself. Larius came in with a sigh: ?Could you at least pretend not to know?¡° I only looked at him.

    Over the past weeks Larius had actually become something like a friend. Well aside from Theresa he was the only person I spoke with and at the same time the only person who dared to approach me.

    He chuckled: ?You can stop the scary look you know?¡° I just murdered him in my mind. When I didn''t stop staring he said: ?Okay sorry sorry. I mean no harm.¡° I sigh: ?What do you want Larius?¡° We had long been on a first name basis. As I said he was the closest thing to a friend I had here.

    He scratched his head and said: ?I know you don''t want to hear this but I am gonna ask anyway. Won''t you reconsider becoming the head of the wind department? The tournament is coming up and the impact you will undoubtedly have could become even bigger if we announced that you agreed to become our head.¡°

    I sighed. Of course that was the reason he came. I was just about to decline when I had an idea. Why not? If things don''t go according to the original plan maybe I could use the influence as a head of a department? Especially if that department happens to be first ranked... Maybe under the pretext of my research? I did say after all I wanted to replicate that barrier in a bigger scale using different elements. Maybe they would let me have a look at the magic source? Having a backup plan wasn''t bad so I answered:

    ?Fine. You are my vice and you do the work. If I do it then in name only.¡° Well even if both plans didn''t work out there was still that little quest I had given Caro. If my guess was correct than getting entry to the royal castle would be very advantageous.

    Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

    Anyway what i had said seemed to have caught Larius off guard. He had obviously expected a flat out refusal. His face lit up and she actually jumped while shouting: ?YES!¡° I shook my head and said: ?Calm down would you?¡° He just grinned at me:

    ?I will inform the others, they will be thrilled.¡° Before I could shout after him to not bother me further he was already gone. Seriously what a carefree fellow. At first I thought he was really strict but it seems he just tried to live up to the dignity of a teacher. I chuckle when I think about dignity.

    Theresa''s PoV (3rd):

    Theresa was in the best mood she had ever been in during the last couple of weeks. Only days after having tea with Asura he actually came to find her. He came to her! And what he said after had sealed her fate.

    She had to accept it: She was indeed in love with that mysterious young genius. That night he came to her room and this time he actually used the door. She had just been cultivating and was slightly irritated that someone actually disturbed her. But when it was Asura who stood before her door all the irritation was immediately replaced by pure joy.

    She at first did not know what to say until he asked with his usual expressionless voice and face: ?Do you want to ask me in or are we having this conversation in the hallway?¡° She blushed as she replied: ?No No of course not. Please come in.¡°

    With that she stepped aside. He came in and took a look around but he didn''t comment. Not that she expected him to. He ever only said what was necessary. ?Well princess I have thought about your proposal.¡° Now her heart beat even fast than it did before.

    ?And I have to decline.¡° And her heart stopped for a second. At least that was what it felt like. Looking down on the ground she said with a strained voice: ?I see. I apologize for...¡° But before she could finish he had suddenly put a hand on her chin and raised her head so she had to face him.

    While looking into those eyes the seemed to have an endless depth... and a certain loneliness he said: ?I won''t support the royal family. Rather I would support you if you want it.¡° For a long time both did not say anything. And then something happened she would not even have dreamed possible. Well she had dreamed about it but she had never dared to hope.

    Slowly she approached him and when he didn''t back down... She kissed him. It was something she had never felt before. His lips were cool but not uncomfortably cold. They were smooth, tender and sent electricity through her entire body. He embraced her around the waist and the kiss became even more intense.

    When their tongues intertwined her entire mind went blank and she lost herself in that blazing hot feeling that stormed through her. It was the greatest joy she had ever experienced in her life and she wished this moment would never end. Had she not closed her eyes at that moment she might have seen the cold glance that was in Asura''s eyes.

    <hr />

    Well I will try to post 31 as well because that''s the tournament we all have been waiting for! Any with the tournament i will kick things up a notch. But because I am invited to a birthday party i am not sure i can finish the chapter before that so no promises! Sorry. Anyway over the weekend I might only post a single chapter because i will be reworking at least the first ten chapters. I need to rewrite some stuff because I made some mistakes in character development and while i rework them i will edit them and put them into the new format as well. Anyway enjoy 30!

 Chapter 31

    This is only a short one guys to raise the tension a bit *g*

    Chapter 31: Welcome to the grand tournament

    Author''s note: Yes guys I do play Hearthstone :D Little tribute to my favorite gaming company.

    Kalius''s PoV (3rd):

    Kalius von Hochburg was very excited. It was finally time to open the grand Vamon tournament. The best of the best would be competing over the next few days to find out just who was the best of the best in their respective category.

    Normally he would of course look forward to the tournament seeing that it was a welcome distraction from his work as the emperor. But this tournament had filled him with unprecedented anticipation. He had of course realized his daughter''s change and he strongly suspected a certain wind mage to be the cause of it.

    He was happy for her especially considering what an outstanding young man this Asura was. He shared his daughter''s opinion about parentage. Ability should always be judged first and such obvious talent was always welcome. This was the way of the von Hochburg''s: There was no shame in a commoner joining his family especially not one as gifted as this young man was.

    So of course he was excited when his daughter had told him about Asura''s offer to support her. She had done so with a crimson red face and Kalius still had to chuckle whenever he recalled that scene.

    So at the moment he was sitting tribune for the royal family overseeing the countless stands that had opened up all around the huge ring in the middle. The tournament or more like the festival took place on the huge southern field in front of the capital. Over the past few days a small town of stalls, stands and tents had risen from the former empty plains.

    He was sitting on a grand chair that had been prepared on the royal tribune for him. To his right his wife Katia was seated while to his left was Theresa dressed in her silver robes. Next ot the royal tribune, extra tirbunes had been prepared for the nobles while stands for everyone else surrounded the 50 meter x 50 meter big ring in the middle.

    The size of the ring was of course mainly because of the last day when the mages would have their grand entrance. The mage tournament was always held until last as it was the biggest show. The common folk hardly ever had the chance to see any kind of magic at least not of this scale so it was the most popular contest.

    So on the first and second day contests in singinsg, playing instruments, dancing, poetry etc. were held. The third day held the first main point: The swordsmanship competition. The fourth day though was entirely dedicated to the mages. Well it kind of was the most important competition because the mages themselves used it to determine the current power ranking between the elements.

    Until now that hardly ever held that much signicicance but this year was different. Only because of one single name: Asura. Until now the clergy of light had always managed to claim the top spots followed by the department of fire. This year though for the first time the light''s victory was not assured. A rank ten control mage! He would certainly be the man to beat.

    Even the great sage himself, Argus von Hohenturm had asked Kalius if he could resign from the post of principal in order to participate. The principal by tradition was unable to enter the tournament. But Kalius had laughingly declined but he knew Argus didn''t mean it. He was on quiet good terms with the old mage and he knew that it was meant as a joke. But Kalius knew that even Argus was itching to test his powers against Asura. Which mage of considerable power wouldn''t?

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    After thinking about all that he finally stood up and made eye contact with Argus who sat to his daughter''s left. As the great sage and principal of the royal academy he naturally had a place on the royal tribune. When he saw him murmuring under his breath he knew that now his voice could be heard throughout the entire field. He took a deep breath and started:

    ?My dear dear subjects. Welcome to the grand tournament! In the next few days we are sure to see some amazing performances be it from the experts at arts of be it from our finest soldiers and mages. Hence without further ado we will now declare the grand tournament as opened!¡°

    Loud cheering and shouting could be heard throughout the fields while Kalius sat back down. After that the former genius of the wind department Larius stepped onto the stage. He was now known as the former genius because Asura had just outdone him in every aspect.

    He had volunteered to take the job as an announcer throughout the tournament. Kalius suspected that it had something to do with his fellow wind mage as he heard that Larius was quiet close to Asura. Well as close as one could get to Asura according to his daughter. Which meant Larius dared to talk to the young excentric mage unlike most of the other students and teacher at the academy.

    He himself had yet to meet this mysterious and much talked about young man but he deeply trusted his daughter''s judgement. He was of course most looking forward to the third and fourth day but throughout the next two days he thourougly enjoyed himself. As the emperor of course he would be one of the judges and even his wife could not stop him from personally testing everything at the cooking contest. Being in charge had to have some kind of advantage right? And after listening to countless performances and seeing all kinds of things in talent contests of many categories the third day finally arrived.

    Argus''s PoV (3rd):

    Argus was enjoying the show very much on this second day. At the moment everyone was captivated by a young singer that was flawlessly singing one of the best ballads ever written within their kingdom. It was a great performance. But suddenly he heard a light voice in his left ear: ?Master. This is urgent.¡° A displeased look crept onto his face. He closed his eyes murmured a spell and said very silently:

    ?Speak.¡° ?Master I have found a small copse that is surrounded by an incredible powerful barrier. I believe that is the hideout of that assassin you encountered the other day.¡° That made Argus think deeply. After a while he responded:

    ?Inform only our best mages but don''t bother Asura. I doubt that he would want to be disturbed and I really think that boy went through enough as it is. After the tournament we will go and deal with the rest of them. Seeing that there is such a powerful barrier we have to expect at least one more of similar power to the first assassin. Speak especially to high priest Sargos, we will need a suppression barrier with all elements so all the masters have to attend. Prepare everything but do not leak information. We don''t know if they there are spies or not.¡°

    That last bit was unnecessary. It was precisely that grey shadow that Argus had investigate weeks before. His most trusted subordinant. ?As you wish.¡°

 Chapter 32

    Chapter 32: True Dominance

    Crowd & Elros''s PoV (3rd):

    When the white clad figure entered the ring the entire crowd fell silent. Wasn''t that a mage entering that ring? What was a mage doing in the swordsmanship competition? That Asura would be entering this competition wasn''t a widely known fact and the people had a hard time connecting the frail good looking young man with the rumored mage that had bested a noble in a sword duel.

    The youth clad in a white robe looked gorgeous. The white robe went perfect with his pale skin and dark hair. Not many of the female spectators blushed as he entered next to one of the favorites winning this competition. Entering next to Asura was the winner of last years competition:

    Guard captain Elros. Elros unlike the crowd though was not pleased with his match up. He had heard of the duel between the young genius and the general''s son. And he had not risen to his current position if he were not an intelligent man. So naturally he was aware just who his first opponent was.

    But he was confident in his swordsmanship that was honed from battle. So he thought that his chances were actually quiet good. But being the captain of the guards naturally he was aware of the princess''s feelings for this young man and he himself had wanted to see his abilities first hand so he was regretful that he had to eliminate him so early.

    They stood opposite each other with a distance of about twenty meters between them. Then Larius stepped up the platform as well and used some magic before announcing with a booming voice:

    ?Ladies and gentlemen welcome to the third match of the first round of the swordsmanship competition. On the left side we have our well known and beloved guard captain Elros.¡°

    The crowd started to cheer and chant his name to which Elros responded by waving his hand. ?On the other side to my right we have the head of our very own wind department called the prodigy of wind and our academy''s number one genius: Asura.¡°

    Suddenly all the people went silent and all just stared at the white clad youth who had his eyes closed and arms crossed before his chest. As if not bothered he just turned towards the royal tribune clearly looking directly at the princess and gave a bow and the princess looked back and everyone present could tell just what kind of look she had on her face. That on the other hand made the crowd go wild.

    They now cheered for Asura almost as loud as for Elros before. What a duel! They will get to see their strongest fighter go against their greatest genius. And he seemed to have captured the heart of their princess! Of course the people would get excited. But no one could have expected the outcome of what can only be described as a slaughter.

    Asura''s PoV (1st):

    Well let''s get this over with. I gave the people a bit of a show before the match. Had to keep up my part of the bargain right? Anyway my opponent was definitely of a different class than Alverin that was for sure. When he took his stance readied his sword and shield there were hardly any openings whatsoever to exploit.

    Maybe I could even have some fun here! It had been a while since I had a worthy opponent to fight and he seemed just right to get back into shape. So from behind me I for the first time in the human kingdom drew my two black daggers. The guard captain looked at me with a displeased expression.

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    Do you think i am underestimating you? I had to make a small smile. To make me actually draw my blades is already giving you a lot of face you know? So as to start:

    ?Here i come.¡°

    And I kick off. It has something really pleasing to fully use one''s body. It took me just under a second to close the gap and my opponents face immidiately changed into a concentrated and slightly shocked expression. Well let''s go:

    With a quick right handed slash aimed at his throat that was expertly blocked with his left handed shield i slightly knock him off balance. With a quick turn i get into his blind spot and stab towards his exposed armpit.

    But again it seemed I didn''t overestimate him he did have some skills. He jumped away just in time and avoided my stab but i was already on the move. Quickly kicking off the ground again I keep assaulting him with quick precise stabs and slashes.

    More and more he is directed into a corner. As soon as i had him at the edge of the ring i dodged the desperate swing he made, dropped my daggers, dove under his sword and shield and delivered eight palm strikes to his vital points knocking him out of the ring.

    The entire fight took me less than a minute.

    I looked at my opponent who lay on his back out of the ring breathing heavily looking absolutely shocked. I gave him a courtesy nod. He held out almost a minute. Quiet respectable. The entire place was completely silent.

    Well not that it mattered. I turned towards the princess again who looked clearly excited. Actually quiet cute. Maybe i do like her. Anyway i gave her a smile and a bow and left.

    Kalius''s PoV (3rd):

    Kalius was utterly shocked. He of course has had high expectations but such a one sided fight against his very own guard captain was just out of the ordinary. How could a human move so fast?

    The two daggers that were a half arms length could hardly be seen like a blur they attacked Elros. The latter could not retaliate in the least and had to concentrate all of his effort on defense. Within moments he was already locked into the corner of the ring as if being toyed with.

    And then Asura showed that he clearly was still just playing because he did the unbelievable! After dodging a desperate swing from the captain he dropped his weapons! Why would you ever drop your weapons? The answer came immediately.

    With speed that could only be described as godlike he dove under his opponents weapons and delivered several palm strikes which blew the assaulted of the platform. He first thought maybe there was magic involved but he knew that Argus was always watching very closely that nothing unauthorized happened during the tournament.

    So clearly what he was witnessing was simply the pinnacle of skill. Crisp movement that was refined to perfection. While the entire place was still silent Asura gave his daughter a smile and a bow and simply left. Only then did he regain his senses and he started to clap which woke up the crowd who instantly started cheering, clapping and chanting one name: Asura.

    <hr />

    I apologize for any mistakes or so i am still slightly hungover :S but i hope you still enjoy 32^^ Posting quiet early today maybe I''ll post  again ;)

 Chapter 33

    Chapter 33: Untouchable

    Crowd''s PoV (3rd):

    From then on out Asura turned out to be one thing: Untouchable. The next two opponents showed clearly how much face he had given the guard captain. Both times he didn''t even draw his daggers.

    The first one was a young swordsman from a noble family. Expensive leather armor and a fancy long sword he looked like an image of a swordsman. But he never even started the fight. Asura only stared at him and took one step forward which made the other fall onto his back and declare his defeat.

    The one after that did a slightly better job at least trying to attack but it took Asura a single move and the seasoned veteran an old quiet experienced soldier that was nearing the end of his career collapsed on the spot.

    Not until the finals did Asura have to make more than a single move to dispatch of his opponents. In the finals though he was about to meet Alexus von Hochburg. The king''s son and the empire''s most gifted swordsman.

    He was twenty years old, shared his sister''s blond hair and had shining blue eyes. Paired with his fair face even though not as gifted with magic as his sister was by the age of seventeen he hardly had any more match among other swordsman and hence was extremely popular.

    Elros was the only one last year who could hold his own against him and had to rely on every ounce of his skill to scrap the closest of victories. But last year''s Alexius can''t compare to this year''s in the slightest. Knowing that most likely his sister would succeed the throne he had dedicated his life to becoming the supreme commander of the human forces.

    Every day he would study the art of war and hone his swordplay. Together with Theresa these two outstanding children were Kalius von Hochburg''s entire pride. He dearly loved them. Until now Alexius had won his duels in a similar fashion to Asura. Using one move: a lighting fast slash with his right sword, his left sword he had kept sheated the entire time, had always disarmed his opponents until now.

    So the anticipation of this match was extremely high. No one could predict how this would turn out so the excitment level rose by the minute. And finally those two prodigies entered the ring. Larius stepped on as well and shouted magic amplified:

    ?Ladies and Gentlemen. This is what we all have been waiting for. I don''t think I need to introduce any of them hence we will go straight into the action! Let the finals of the one hundred and seventy fourth swordsmanship competition begin!¡°

    With that he jumped of the platform. Alexius didn''t underestimate his opponent immidiately drawing both of his swords. When he took his stance Asura gave an appraising look and nodded in approvement. He drew his weapons.

    Alexius nodded back signaling he was ready. Again Asura started by kicking off the ground immidiately shooting towards his opponent. Alexius on the other hand steadied himself and took the attack head on!

    This was the first time someone had blocked Asura without having to back out. The crowd got excited. Asura started of with a flurry of attacks his daggers only a blur hardly anyone being able to follow. But he got blocked perfectly!

    Alexius did not move back even an inch and blocked with flawless swordsplay every incomming attack. The sound of clashing blades sounded throughout the entire field and the spectators could almost feel the wind created by every slash.

    Alexius with a highly concentrated face now started his own series of attacks and Asura actually went on the defensive! A high slash from the right Asura blocked with both daggers while he jumped over the incoming low slash from the left. He dodged more than he blocked unlike Alexius but he did so while manouvering around him so their position''s hardly changed.

    Circeling around each other and trading blows it was breath taking how those two clasehd over and over. A full five minutes had already passed since the two of them had begun but they were still not slowing down one bit.

    It would seem like they are evenly matched but if one would look very closely he would see that Alexius started to breath heavier and few drops of sweat started to build on his forehead. Asura''s face on the other hand had not changed one bit and he was still breathing normally as if going for an afternoon stroll.

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    Asura''s PoV (1st):

    Now this was fun! Seems like the prince can actually fight. I attacked and attacked but he still blocked everything I threw at him it was refreshing. It had a bit of nostalgia because this exact same way I used to fight every day with my master. We would spar in front of his little house while Mia was watching often chatting with Caro. I had really enjoyed those peaceful days with the three of them.

    But it seemed i can''t enjoy myself for too long. After only five minutes I noticed that his breathing became quiet heavy and even though he still fought back admirably his movements weren''t as crisp as before. Well it can''t be helped let''s at least give him face.

    So i jumped back and said: ?It seems I have found someone worthy enough for me to get at least a bit serious. Well done.¡° That''s more praise than I have ever given a human. I get into the first stance of the shadow dance.

    ?Careful here i come.¡° Until now I had just fought freely more on instinct than anything else. But now I would show him the greatest fighting style there is. At least some of it.

    The shadow dance was based on years of research about the human body and the way it works. The movements were perfected and it allowed one to draw out the maximum potential of his own body. It relied on concentrating all your power only on the part of your body that you need at that moment highly surpassing what was normally possible and that was without even using magic or shadow power.

    I revolved my strength. First: foot. I kicked off and for everyone Alexius included it looked like i vanished. Second: other foot. Break directly in front of him. Third: Arm. My right arm shot out with the dagger aiming for his throat. Last: Arm. The tip of my dagger was just a paper thin margin away from his throat. I released my breath and said: ?You loose.¡°

    Alexius''s PoV (3rd):

    When the fight began Alexius was still quiet confident. Yes Asura had shown amazing skill but it was not on a level he couldn''t follow and indeed after the fight had started he was able to go blow to blow with his opponent. It took him a while but after about twenty blows he found his rhythm and he became more and more aware of Asura''s movements.

    Nimble but after a while predictable. It seemed to him that Asura was the typical instinct fighter that fought however he pleased. For most that would be a disadvantage but Alexius was a genius after all so he was able to discern a certain pattern after a while. And that gave him the opportunity he was waiting for to press forward.

    Now it was him that threw slash after slash towards the young mage but he was surprised how easily the latter was able to dodge and block every blow he threw. No wasted movement at all it was simply outstanding.

    The longer this went on the more uncomfortable Alexius became because this high speed battle left him with less and less breath and unlike the audience he was aware of the fact that Asura was still breathing as calmly as he was at the beginning of the fight. So he was about to throw a last attack with all of his power when his opponent suddenly jumped back and said:

    ?It seems I have found someone worthy enough for me to get at least a bit serious. Well done.¡° He couldn''t believe it. He wasn''t even serious until now? As he was about to respond he heard: ?Careful here I come.¡° And then he vanished.

    In that same instant he felt an ice cold an piercing aura from below and when he lowered his eyes there was Asura in front of him and his dagger was about to cut open his throat. Cold sweat came down his neck and he knew that if this was a real fight he would have died long ago.

    It was not a case of Asura being stronger, no he was simply on another level.

    ?You loose.¡° came from the young prodigy that was already sheathing his daggers. Alexius forced his thoughts back to reality and bowed towards Asura: ?Thank you for the lesson.¡° And Asura actually glanced back and answered: ?Be proud. You are the strongest human I have faced so far.¡° With that he left.

    <hr />

    Well I thought I might just as well keep posting while I keep writing as the chapters flow in.

 Chapter 34

    Chapter 34: Bad timing

    Kalius''s PoV (3rd):

    Kalius was shocked beyond words. It seemed no matter how highly he estimated Asura he would still exceed his expectations. That last move he used to defeat his son Alexius was what one could call the perfection of movement. With complicated feelings he called together his family for dinner tonight. Even Alexius who normally would ate with the soldiers joined in.

    Kalius directly addressed his son: ?Alexius what do you think?¡° Alexius obviously knew what his father was talking about. It was precisely the reason he had decided to join his family for dinner.

    ?I can''t say. I am afraid this person is beyond my ability to comprehend. I was utterly unable to follow that last move and it seemed to me that was only the surface. Not even considering his magic that we have yet to see, this is not a person we want as an enemy.¡°

    Alexius had spoken the exact thoughts he himself had. Suddenly Alexius smiled: ?But luckily as far as I have heard my little sister has taken care of that problem for us right sis?¡° And he looked at her with a telling expression. Theresa deeply blushed and only mumbled: ?Mind your own business.¡°

    Kalius let out a deep laugh: ?Why so timid Theresa? You have a fine eye is all he wanted to say and I have to agree.¡° The longer he thought about it the better his mood became.

    No one noticed that the fourth person who had joined the table had a gloomy expression one could even say it was the kind of expression one makes when things are not going according to plan. But before Kalius noticed anything his wife Katia smiled at him: ?More wine my dear?¡°

    Caro''s PoV (3rd):

    Finally it was the fourth day of that tournament that Asura had mentioned. Caro was bored as hell because all this time while Asura had been planning, researching and training she had nothing to do but to cultivate.

    Well she could talk with Mia but Mia was cultivating like crazy and training her magic every day. She regretted that she never could do anything for her brother so she was determined to become stronger. Caro really admired her for that so she tried to not get in her way as much as possible.

    The only other one who was with them was the empress of darkness Kam''ya but that spirit would only listen to Asura''s commands otherwise she hardly ever showed herself. Only to convey messages from Asura as Kam''ya could talk with her brother Tempest over any distance. Something like where there is wind there is Tempest and where there is darkness there is Kam''ya. Caro didn''t really understand it.

    All she did most of the day was train her magic as well and cultivate so when the spirit appeared and told her about Asura''s theory she was thrilled. Finally something to do! Asura had thought that the likelihood of a spirit being within the royal castle was quiet high.

    Because in his opinion the spirits seemed to choose resting places at locations that are important to the different races. For example dragon king castle or the Dryad village. The Dryads were the oldest beastkin and had overseen the forest for hundreds of years while dragonking castle has always been the seat of power of the most powerful beastkin.

    So most likely either the royal castle, the academy or both should contain a spirit emperor. How true that was was quiet easy to affirm because Kamy''a should be able to sense one of her siblings if she is near enough.

    So Caro worked out a smiple plan in accordance to the information Asura had provided. On the fourth day of the tournament most of the humans would not be in the capital. So that was the best time for Caro to infiltrate the castle together with Kamy''a.

    Their job was only to find out if a spirit was present and if that was the case, Asura would use his connection to the royal family to simply go and collect it. So when the fourth day of the tournament came around Caro and Kam''ya left for the royal castle leaving Mia behind with a barrier.

    Argus''s PoV (3rd):

    The fourth day of the grand tournament had finally arrived. Argus von Hohenheim was happily looking forward to whatever kind of miraculous performance Asura had in store for them. Until now he had always exceeded any kind of expectations Argus ever had for the young man and that was pleasing him to no end.

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    It was unfortunate that some of the older members of the academy could not participate but Argus had chosen this last day of the tournament for the demon extermination precisely because it was less likely that any kind of innocent bystander would be involved. So while he was sitting down on the royal tribune he was in mental conversation with his ace spy.

    ?Make no mistakes. Lay down the formation and only then break the barrier. As soon as you broke the barrier don''t let anything live. Whatever made such a strong darkness barrier is not our ally. Hit them full force.¡°

    ?Yes Master.¡°

    Satisfied with the conversation Argus brought his concentration back to the Ring. Asura was seeded for the first match which the sage suspected had something to do with a certain announcer from the wind department. As Asura came up on the platform he heard in his ear:

    ?Formation is laid master. Beginning to break the barrier.¡° Argus concentrated on the ring again where Asura had not moved neither had his opponent done anything even though Larius had already declared the match as opened. Suddenly Asura''s opponent collapsed and the young prodigy suddenly started to talk mainly in the direction of the other contestants:

    ?The biggest weakness of a mage not of the tenth rank is that he has to cast spells. But what happens if there is no air around him? Sound can''t travel and he can''t invoke any spells. At the same time no air, means he can''t breathe and even preinvoked spells need you to collect your mana. Anyone confident enough that he can use a preinvoked spell within the twenty to thirty seconds it takes before a human faints is welcome to try and take me on.¡°

    All other participants went pale and one after the other dropped out of the tournament. Argus was flabbergasted never had he expected that something like this would happen. Asura with a single move had just defeated all of his opponents at once. Simple but effective.

    As he got up and started clapping finally the completely silent crowd one after the other fell in. That was the moment he heard: ?Master we broke the barrier, we will move in now.¡° Just seconds after the the middle of the ring exploded and while releasing ice cold killing intent that made quiet a few people faint Asura shot off with incredible speed.

    Argus was shocked because the direction was where his men were! Suddenly bits and pieces started to come together that didn''t make sense before and Argus became deeply pale.

    Asura''s PoV (1st):

    I had just explained to the mages why they could never beat me and I was just glad that this farce was finally over. I guessed that Caro and Kam''ya had more than enough time for their investigation and it would still take a while before anyone would return from this kind of festival. But I had enough of this because I really hate crowds.

    So I took the most efficient way I could think of to end this as fast as possible. Well it had worked. But as I was about to turn around and leave suddenly I hear Tempest voice in my head: ?Master, Kam''ya and Caro are still in the castle and the barrier around the copse where Mia is has been broken.¡°

    Tempest''s voice could be heard clearly in the mind because he doesn''t have to rely on wind to speak. I immediately went into fighting mode. My killing intent raised to the max and was released and at the same time I gather all the wind around me and shot off towards Mia.

    Shit please make it. While thinking about all the times she had patched me back together I raise my speed to the maximum. It only took me moments to arrive and just with my enhanced senses I can see before arriving that some of the older and more powerful teachers of the academy were gathered around Mia preparing to attack.

    The copse was surrounded by guards and Mia was holding onto her water shield that was the only thing between her and death. Like a meteorite with daggers drawn I directly land in the back of the leading mage ramming him into the ground with my two daggers piercing his back. He died instantly.

    Before any one could react I shot several wind blades decapitating all the other mages except for a figure in grey that narrowly avoided it. I glare at him and practically snarling: ?Get away from my sister.¡° and immediately after: ?Mia run.¡° While using wind magic to hide her.

    ?Tempest tell Kam''ya and Caro to take care of Mia. They have to hide and wait for me somewhere safe.¡° Suddenly I felt my power be highly restricted and I notice that more mages had arrived. Seems like they have deployed some kind of formation. After thinking about it for a second I raise my arms: ?I surrender.¡°

    <hr />

    Chapter 35: Betrayal coming up in about two and maybe I will even write 36 ;) Let''s see how it goes

 Chapter 35 (REWRITE)

    After thinking about it for a long time (pretty long yeah? :S) I decided to rewrite 35 after all. The chapter really felt rushed and after I look over this new monster of a chapter i now know why^^ There was much more to be said about how that went down. Anyway after being sick for more than a week and having no internet for a while and with uni starting i was hardly able to get anything done I am sorry guys! But there are very good news: The storyline for arc4 is finally done!! Meaning? Interlude is done I only have to write it down but that will have to wait until tomorrow. BUT tomorrow you will get: Interlude 3: The Demon Lords Daughter, and Arc 4 Chapter 1: Aria, look forward to it *g* Anyway until then: enjoy The remade chapter 35. I think you will find it much better than before. PS: because of illness I couldn''t do my makeover for the first arc sorry! My schedule for now is: 1 chapter new and 1 chapter rewrite a day from tomorrow onwards till sunday. Double new chapters if i get to it look forward to it ;) Anyway finally done with random rant^^

    Chapter 35: Betrayal

    Katia''s PoV (3rd):

    Restlessly Katia was pacing up and down her room. The way things had worked out were not good for her plans not good at all! She had carefully observed her prey over and over and had calculated that if she gave Argus the right information he would deal with that Asura problem for her.

    It was far outside of her calculations that that stupid boy would just surrender! Now there was the real threat of Asura joining forces with the humans. Not the plan ,not the plan!

    Something had to be done. And after thinking over it again and again she suddenly had an idea. Maybe, just maybe this situation could be salvaged. Maybe there was a possibility to even gain here. Slowly but surely a sly grin started to bloom on her face. It seems like her dear husband has outlived his usefulness.

    Argus''s PoV (3rd):

    Argus von Hohenheim was extremely nervous as he followed ten guards towards the underground prisons below the castle. He had by now pretty much put the story together: Asura was without a doubt that last resident of that old cat''s cottage. Assuming that the believed assassin survived his last attack it would fit the story.

    That would than obviously mean that Asura was here for revenge. The only thing that did not make any sense whatsoever was the fact that Asura gave in. With that boy''s power he could have massacred everyone present but he chose not to.

    Hence Argus was now on his way to interrogate him. No one else was allowed near as the depth''s of Asura''s power were completely unknown. After pondering so much he suddenly realized they had already arrived. The guards surrounded the cell door and he took a deep breath before opening the heavy metal door.

    Within the small cell on a pallet fixed to the wall sat Asura in meditation. Cross-legged with closed eyes he only reacted when Argus took a step into the cell.

    ?Leave the guards outside and close the door.¡°

    The entire atmosphere around him had changed. Gone were the self-assured slightly impatient air replaced with a cold dangerous and piercing aura. No wonder that no guard dared to approach the cells until he arrived.

    The guards looked unsure but you could tell they did not want to enter this cell. So with a hand gesture Argus signaled the knights that he was fine and to close the door. Darkness fell into the prison cell when the door closed behind him as no lights were lit.

    Cold sweat made its way down the principal''s neck but he needed answers. Before he could initiate any kind of question Asura spoke:

    ?Have you figured it out yet?¡°

    Argus took a deep breath before answering:

    ?More or less. I assume you were involved with that cat beastman?¡°

    A deep oppressive silence filled the cell before Asura decided to answer:

    ?My master and the closest thing to a father I had.¡°

    That verified what Argus had already suspected. Still left one thing:

    ?But why surrender then? My guess is you could have killed everyone present at the scene? Yes you would have been suspected but still I don''t know it doesn''t seem to make much sense to me.¡°

    He heard a small sigh:

    ?I don''t really hate humans. You might have guessed by now that I am not human. Dragon to be precise. But I have no interest whatsoever in those stupid conflicts between races. At the same time I have to take care of my little sister and to be honest the capital is not the worst place to be. I will still ask you to pay the price and you will pay it one way or the other but I am open to negotiations.¡°

    That surprised Argus but before he could say anything Asura continued:

    ?I have control over three of the emperors principal. Water, Wind and Darkness. Taking your live especially here where I have stripped the palace of it''s protective barrier and where there is no annoying formation like at the academy which now that i have acquired the third spirit emperor is actually pretty useless is an easy feat but during my time here I started to think more about the future and spending my at the academy doing research is not the worst thing in the world.¡°

    After saying that there was a long silence within the cell. Again the sage had to take a deep breath before saying:

    ?I understand. I will talk to his majesty. What are your terms?¡°

    ?Blood must be paid in blood. You owe me Argus von Hohenheim but unfortunately these humans need you. Therefore you are mine. You will serve me until I am satisfied. At the same time I killed where I could maybe have avoided it but they were threatening my sister hence I don''t regret it. But I offer to help out in the war against the demons at certain times as compensation. That should more than satisfy the emperor.¡°

    After a short while Argus answered:

    ?It''s not like we are in a position to refuse, are we?¡°

    The answer was merciless:

    ?It''s good that you understand. Now leave.¡°

    Theresa''s PoV (3rd):

    Theresa was extremely nervous. The only thing she had heard until now was that Asura had been arrested. Her father had only told her that Argus was on his way to interrogate him and that she had to wait until he returned.

    So now she was restlessly walking circles within her room. Her father had promised her to call for her as soon as any information arrived so she waited patiently. She only hoped that nothing had happened to him.

    She couldn''t ,no she wouldn''t believe that he had done anything wrong. That''s right this all had to be a big misunderstanding! While thinking those kind of thoughts over and over again after what seemed like hours to her it finally knocked on her door:

    ?Little princess are you in there?¡°

    She hurried to the door and burst it open:

    ?Thomaas what''s going on?¡°

    In front of her stood Thomaas the hero. Thomaas was twenty five years old and was chosen as this generations hero. The goddess would grant one youth of every generation her blessing marking him as the hero giving him special powers in order to fight against the demons.

    And this generation''s hero was her brother''s childhood friend Thomaas von Niederwall. Together with the last great genius that graduated from the academy Titus von Dunkelstein they were known as the three shining generals. They weren''t really generals but behind General von Niederschlo? the three of them were the commanders of the three human armies:

    Thomaas was commander of the first unit the Infantry. Alexius was in charge of the second uni the cavalry while Titus was leading the third unit the mage unit. Argus often was not on the front lines, only when he really was needed and that was only if the demon lord himself showed up which has not been the case for quiet a while.

    Even though Argus was known to be the strongest human mage, people suspected that Titus had surpassed him by now but no one knew for certain. And that brown haired, blue eyed hero was the one that now came looking for the princess. He was quiet handsome with his height of 180 centimeters, the brown hair held short on soldier''s length and his prominent face.

    He was smiling at Theresa saying:

    ?Little princess, your father is looking for you and asked me to get you as I was heading to Alexius''s chambers anyway. Gotta get some documents from the last campaign we had.¡°

    Titus and Thomaas were the only people that were allowed to call her little princess. They had done so since she can remember hence for her it was fine as they were almost like her brothers.

    ?Thanks Tom. Have to hurry.¡°

    Hardly even giving him a glance she was already rushing towards her family''s dining chambers.

    Thomaas''s PoV (3rd):

    Thomaas stood back scratching the back of his head: ?My my. Quiet the rush huh? So what do you think is the big deal T?¡°

    Suddenly a young man a bit over twenty with black short hair an almost boring face but piercing dark blue eyes appeared out of nowhere.

    ?I went around a bit, listening. Something smells really fishy Tom. This talk about demons.. We both know that the demons can''t do anything drastic at the moment and an assassin good enough to make it here? Or one as powerful as that Asura? No Aria would have taken care of it or at least would have let me know that something is up.¡°

    When Titus, yes the black haired youth was indeed Titus von Dunkelstein the third of the shining generals, mentioned his sister Thomaas face distorted slightly:

    ?Are you sure that we can trust her?¡°

    Suddenly a bone chilling cold emitted from Titus:

    ?Thomaas. We had this discussion before. You were at fault because you didn''t listen AND she is my sister. I trust her over anybody even you or Alexius.¡°

    Thomaas twitched as if hit and let his head hang down a bit:

    ?Yes. Sorry.¡° The chill vanished and Titus sighed:

    ?I can kind of understand you Tom, I really can but can''t you understand her?¡°

    Thomaas didn''t lift his head but answered very silently:

    ?It''s so difficult because i understand her.¡°

    Titus only shook his head and put a hand on his friend''s shoulder:

    ?Sorry I can''t tell you what to do, you have to figure that out on your own. But you are my friend so at least I will forgive you. But don''t expect the same from her.¡°

    With that he vanished. Thomaas didn''t move he only whispered into the empty hallway:

    ?I know.¡°

    Kalius''s PoV (3rd):

    Kalius von Hochburg was listening silently to Argus von Hohenheims report. For this rare occasion he had invited someone outside of the royal family into their dining chambers in consideration of his daughter.

    He knew how much that Asura had meant to her and he knew he couldn''t stop her being present in this discussion. But he did not want her future prospects to see her collapse or cry therefore he had asked Hili to lead Argus into the royal dining chambers.

    Now he was sitting at the top end of the table while his daughter was sitting on his right while Argus was sitting and talking to his left. Theresa''s face became more and more pale while listening to Asura''s story and his own face became serious as well. But what he heard was better than expected.

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    If Asura had turned out to be a spy or an assassin the entire situation would have become ugly but at the moment it looked like it could be resolved. Even though it was still severe but he was most worried about his daughter.

    Has Asura just used her for his own gains? Or was his change of mind maybe even because of her? But a dragon? On the other hand why not? He could take human shape and having a dragon''s bloodline in the royal bloodline? Wouldn''t that make his family''s future generations stronger than ever?

    The more he thought about it the better things looked. The only question remained: How true were Asura''s feelings for Theresa? That was a different question entirely. Well he would cross that bridge when it occurred. What was most important at the moment is:

    If he agreed to Asura''s proposal he would gain immense war potential.

    He was still pondering when he heard Argus say:

    ?So what is going to be your answer your majesty?¡°

    He looked up and first looked towards his daughter. She was quiet pale but she took it better than he had anticipated.

    ?We will accept his conditions. I am sorry old friend but I don''t see any other way here. We can''t loose you and we absolutely can''t make an enemy of him. On the contrary if we can gain his assistance with the demons maybe an end to this endless war is no longer a dream.¡°

    Argus gave a wry smile:

    ?Don''t worry about it your highness. I have already made my resolve and it was my mistake in the first place. Before meeting Asura I hardly ever have seen the beastkin as more than well beasts but I might have to reassess that position. We knew they were intelligent but I always thought they were savage only living for war but Asura is more sophisticated than most humans I know.¡°

    With that being said Kalius stood up and said to Hili:

    ?Hili send guards to escort the leader of the wind department back to his tower with a formal apology. Furthermore make sure word of this does not spread. Find the guards that brought him back and know about this incident. Same goes to you Argus. Find the mages and make sure they don''t talk. We handle this behind the scenes. Officially Asura was helping the unit out that was encountering demon infiltrators that''s why he had to leave the tournament. That''s all.¡°

    With that Argus and Hili gave a bow and left the room. Kalius was now walking over to his still seated daughter and asked softly:

    ?Theresa are you okay?¡°

    As if waking up she slowly looked at him:

    ?I think so. It''s just a lot to take in. I... I think i need some sleep and then later.. I don''t know, talk to him?¡°

    The emperor put his hand on Theresa''s shoulder:

    ?Don''t worry child. I am sure that he stayed because of you.¡°

    She gave a dry smile:

    ?You see, I am not sure what should scare me more. If he stayed for me and my boyfriend is an almighty dragon or if he didn''t stay for me and the man I have fallen for has just been using me.¡°

    Asura''s PoV (1st):

    I was finally back in my tower. It was long past midnight but this crappy day was finally over. I wasn''t sure how I should feel about how everything went down. I kind of have gotten my revenge but not the way I had hoped.

    On the other hand I now had someone that could protect Mia when I was not around. That was by the way exactly my intention. Argus would have to take care of Mia. Especially teach her! I wanted Mia to be able to look after herself but well I am really not a good teacher especially because I use magic differently than anybody else.

    Therefore when I was sitting in that cell meditating I came up with this idea to have Argus do it for me. He would be my servant for the rest of his life and I would make sure that he would work for what he had done.

    But I came to respect that old man a bit. He was quiet clever, pretty powerful and to be honest all in all quiet pleasant. For a human at least. And it seemed he really regretted what he had done.

    Not that that mattered.

    But well I kind of really don''t wish Theresa or the humans anything bad and Argus was it seems necessary for this country. So slight change of plans.

    ?Tempest, make contact with Kal''ya and let me speak to Caro through her.¡°

    It only took a moment before I heard Tempest in my head:

    ?She asks if you are alright.¡°

    I smile. I could imagine that small spider jumping up and down while mentally shouting:

    ?Is he okay, is he okay?????¡°

    ?Yes I am good. I made a deal with the humans. Are you safe, do you have a place to stay the night?¡°

    ?Yes we found a small wood not too far from the capital were we will camp for tonight. What do you mean deal?¡°

    ?We can live with the humans. Safety for Mia and us and that mage has to serve us for the rest of his life.¡°

    ?I am not happy that he is still alive after he killed master but servant doesn''t sound to bad to be honest. He was pretty powerful after all. Fine we will see you tomorrow. Don''t be too late. Mia misses you dearly.¡°

    With that I cut the mental connection and finally I went to sleep.

    ??? (will be revealed later) PoV (3rd):

    Maybe if Asura had not been as tired from all the things that had happened that day he would have heard the ruckus that would be happening a short while after he went to sleep.

    A black shadow was hovering in front of the window of the emperor''s sleeping chambers. It stretched out it''s hand and when the black ring on the hand touched the window, darkness seeped out of it melting the window away. The black cloaked figure than slowly hovered into the chambers.

    It walked over to the sleeping emperor and stretched out the hand with the ring again until the ring touched the emperor''s throat. With a scream the Kalius von Hochburg woke up but that scream turned into gargling within the time of two breaths. But that was enough: The guards burst into the room only to see a black shadow jumping out of the window and flying away.

    Argus''s PoV (3rd):

    Breathing hard Argus burst into the throne room.

    ?Is it true?¡°

    Looking back at him were Theresa with red eyes from crying being hugged by her brother. Next to the siblings was Katia the emperors wife and the last one was Larius. Katia who seemed quiet composed despite the circumstances answered:

    ?It is indeed. The emperor has been murdered an hour ago. The murderer was obviously a mage seeing that he flew away from the scene of crime. We tried to contact you but couldn''t find you at first so Larius came to investigate.¡°

    With a look Larius stepped forward and cleared his throat:

    ?The scene of crime had huge amounts of darkness and wind energy. The method to kill used was without a doubt as well darkness magic. Combined with the fact that the culprit did not use any incarnation to easily fly away after the deed we can come to only one conclusion.¡°

    Larius took a deep breath and said with a grave voice:

    ?Asura has murdered the emperor.¡°

    Just as Argus became even paler than he already was the doors behind him burst open again.

    ?Your majesty. We have lost contact with the assassins. He killed them all and is now on his way here.¡°

    Now even Katia looked shocked:

    ?No way.¡°

    The messenger continued:

    ?Further more the last thing we received when the contact was cut was ''You think you can stop the demon kings number one?''¡°

    Katia turned to Argus:

    ?Respected sage. Please you have to stop him somehow.¡°

    With a deep breath Argus straightened his shoulders.

    ?I am not confident but I shall try my best.¡°

    As he was rushing towards the next window he could use to confront Asura he was suddenly stopped by a familiar voice:

    ?Sensei wait.¡°

    Hearing those words he came to a halt turning around.

    Indeed there was the best pupil he has ever had: Titus. Titus was next to Asura most likely the greatest genius he had ever met. Titus was gifted in all elements except for light and had immense power and knowledge. Much like himself Titus had reached the ninth rank of control in all of his elements but he was obviously so much younger.

    That was talent you could rarely find.

    Together with his calm and collected character his high intelligence and hard working nature he was the kind of student every teacher dreamed of. And he was one of the people Argus had the most trust in.

    ?Titus. Perfect timing. It seems Asura is a demon assassin after all and on his way. Help me stop him!¡°

    Titus only shook his head:

    ?No Sensei, that is not the case. Something is not right here. I can assure you that the demon king has not sent any kind of assassin to us.¡°

    That confused Argus quiet a bit.

    ?How can you be so sure?¡°

    The answer shocked him more than he could have imagined.

    Asura''s PoV (1st):

    Furious I was flying towards the castle. How dare they sneak attack me after pretending to be all friendly. How dare they try to kill me. It had been a long time that I was as pissed as I am now. When the castle came in sight I was about to prepare the biggest magic attack i could think when I heard:

    ?Asura please wait.¡°

    Looking to my right I saw Argus flying up to me. Narrowing my eyes releasing my killing intent I silently say:

    ?Any last words old man?¡°

    I could see how pale he became but he did not back down:

    ?Please listen to me. Just for a second. Something is not right here.¡°

    That made me laugh:

    ?NOT RIGHT?¡° I shouted back. ?NOT RIGHT IS THAT YOU TRIED TO MURDER ME IN MY SLEEP!¡°

    Before I could continue:

    ?The emperor was murdered!¡°

    That stunned me a bit. Argus used that small time gap when I hesitated:

    ?Someone used darkness magic to kill the emperor and then fled the scene using flying magic without incarnation. The empress was furious so she sent assassins after you. You are framed! Someone wants you to get rid of the royal family and all evidence for them!¡°

    That made me think. If what he said was true I was even more pissed. One of the things I hate the most is being used. I absolutely despise it! Even though I whisper he can hear me clearly:

    ?Who?¡°

    He answers:

    ?I don''t know yet. But I will find out, I swear it on my life and honor.¡°

    I think for a while. I believe him. Everything else doesn''t make much sense. Neither Argus nor the emperor are stupid or fools. They know that they can''t take me.

    So a third party playing against me and the imperial family makes sense. I could kill Argus now, take my revenge and leave but.... That really would leave a bad aftertaste. Fine.

    ?One year. I will come back in one year and then you will present me a head. Otherwise I will just make sure and take all the heads. Are we clear?¡°

    Relieved he answered:

    ?Yes. Yes of course. I swear that I will find the culprit within one year.¡°

    Fine. Lets leave it at that. In the meantime, if we can''t live in any country why not make my own? Lets go and pick up Mia, Caro and Kam''ya.

 Interlude 3: The Demon Lords Daughter

    There we go third Interlude. This times interlude actually is basically the intro to the fourth arc. Sorry to inform you: Hardly any Asura in the fourth arc :( But worry not we will get three awesome new main characters and i think you already have guessed who it is ^^ anyway enjoy the third interlude and look forward to Chapter 36.

    Interlude 3: The Demon Lord''s Daughter

    Narrator''s PoV (3rd):

    After creating the races the spirits decided to seal their avatars all over Vamon. These Avatars would be the rulers of their element within their world. The reason was the last thing the Spirit of Chaos did. They knew one day their power would be needed if their world was to be saved from destruction.

    Because they knew their brother would not rest until everything had returned to nothing. So in preparation for the day their world would face certain doom they had sealed the core of each of their elemental power as Avatars throughout the centers of power of this world.

    Those places were the places where the barriers between the worlds were quiet thin. Raw power was leaking from the abyss but at the same time shadow beasts would form. To seal those dangerous places until the time they would be needed the spirits left their Avatars throughout Vamon.

    These places would later attract the core powers of the different races and their capitals, castles and centers of powers were all centered around those seven places.

    Olydia''s PoV (3rd):

    Born with only the bare minimum of a consciousness and character the avatar of light was sealed within the land that later the humans would claim. It laid there for year after year until suddenly it started to hear voices.

    At first it ignored the voices but slowly very slowly the first feeling was born within that still small consciousness: Curiosity. So it started to listen to those voices. It were the humans. But what were they doing?

    Carefully the the Avatar stretched out its awareness. A structure had been build above its resting place. And humans in silver and gold were all kneeling in front of the seal saying things over and over. For now it would just watch.

    As the years passed by it kept listening to the humans. No that was wrong. She kept listening to the people. All Avatars had three things given to them: A name, a gender and a mission. Olydia was her name and unlike her siblings she started to form a character.

    She could feel her mothers love for her people within them so after many years she finally decided to reveal herself. She had long now understood that she was worshipped by the humans and from the love she felt she had the urge to protect those weak creatures.

    So one day when a young woman in gold came praying to her alone she answered her prayers: ?Young one. Your prayers have moved my heart. I am Olydia the empress of light. Receive my blessing and safe your people.¡°

    Narrator PoV (3rd):

    Earth 1765, Vamon 512 AD:

    That young woman was Aria von Dunkelstein the first hero of the humans. Five hundred years before Asura''s birth in Vamon the human race was hard pressed by the demons. Driven back into their capital only steps from being annihilated the present high priestess Aria von Dunkelstein went down to the altar of the goddess and prayed for a miracle.

    And a miracle happened: Aria von Dunkelstein was the first human to be blessed with light magic. And it was not any ordinary light magic. Being granted by the Avatar of the light Aria had control over her magic comparable to rank nine and her cultivation as well started of at rank nine.

    With her new gained power she reclaimed the human lands driving the demons back into their own territory. As gratitude the goddess''s high priest had from then on forward always been chosen from the von Dunkelstein bloodline.

    Lyria''s PoV (3rd):

    A flower field near the boarder to the demon''s territory, Earth 2017, Vamon 1016 AD:

    Lyria von Dunkelstein was humming a song she had learned from her mother while she was plucking flowers. Lyria was quiet happy at the moment. Her boy Titus was by now ten years old and showed so much promise that even the saint himself Argus von Hohenturm gave him private lessons so he would not waste them before he entered the academy.

    Everyone had high hopes for Titus von Dunkelstein as he was the shining genius of this new generation. As high priestess Lyria came to this remote village near the border to help one of her fellow sisters to treat an infectous disease that was rampaging the boarder villages.

    Just this afternoon they had finally been able to break the what they have started to call it demon fevor. So naturally Lyria was in a really good mood so she decided to rest her spirit by spending some time alone in nature. She had always felt a strong connection with the land so within the free nature she felt most at ease.

    Just when she had closed her eyes lifting her head towards the sky enjoying the feel of the sun she heard the sound of static electricity, a pain in the back and everything went black.

    Ashura Demon''s PoV (3rd):

    Two Ashura Demons came out of the small forest nearby. Their wing like structures retracted to their back the dark almost black faces with smooth skin, two ram like horns curling on the sides of their heads, they looked menacing as they approached with emotionless faces.

    ?The lord will be pleased.¡°

    said the first. The second answered:

    ?Looks like we got ourselves a priestess. I kind of get that he wants revenge for his partner''s abduction but... I prefer Ashura women.¡°

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    The first made an displeased expression:

    ?Watch your mouth. Don''t question his majesty otherwise you might loose your head.¡°

    The other sighed:

    ?Yeah you are right. Let''s bring him his prey.¡°

    So they grabbed Lyria von Dunkelstein who would not see her family ever again.

    Olydia''s PoV (3rd):

    Pleased Olydia was watching her people when suddenly she felt a distant prayer. Normally she wouldn''t be able to hear a prayer over this kind of distance especially it came from the direction of the demon territory. That sparked her interest.

    Expanding her awareness she concentrated on that distant prayer. She pinpointed it and invaded the demon territory with the smallest amount of her power and consciousness. She entered a cave near the boarder and what she saw made her feelings ache.

    Her most beloved head priestess was laying on a stone table while sweating. Several imps were running around the room clearly preparing for childbirth. Imps were small little devils that had red skin small wings a small horn on their forehead but otherwise had a human appearance.

    An older female Imp was preparing hot water with clear experience. When Olydia approached her priestess the woman suddenly turned her hazy gaze towards her as if she was able to see. And finally she could hear what she had to say:

    ?Goddess please. I know it is too late for me but... but my child. Please give her your blessing so that she can live. I beg you.¡°

    Tears were streaming down her former beautiful face. She was clearly famined and it seemed like she had given all of her body to her child so that it could survive.

    For the first time in centuries Olydia was angry. She had loved her priestess dearly and seeing her in this state made her furious. But with what little of her power was able to come her there was nothing that she could do except to fulfill her highest servants last request.

    So she formed an ethereal body only visible to Lyria and approached:

    ?Worry not child, I shall bless give your offspring my blessing so that it may live where most wouldn''t.¡°

    With those words she put her hand on the woman''s stomach. A light only visible for those serving the light enveloped the young priestess and gradually seeped into her body. After that she retreated but not before she heard:

    ?Thank you.. Thank you so much.. And you little one, your name will be Aria. So that you will be as strong as our great ancestor. Always remember Aria, Mommy loves you.¡°

    She herself might not be able to help Lyria and maybe no one could. But she would get her child back. As far as she could remember her high priestess''s son Titus had astounding talent, with a little help he might be able to....

    Maou''s PoV (3rd):

    The current Demon Lord Maou the third was currently sitting in the throne room of his castle within the dark capital. Demons mostly disliked names as they could be used to bind them hence they hardly ever named things and their true names given at birth would never be told to outsiders.

    That''s why the demon king obviously wasn''t ruling using his real name. He was sipping a red liquid while lazily looking around the room. His five generals were present:

    The first general leader of the demon Army: The red devil Rorix. A legendary warrior who had brought despair and destruction over countless battlefields with his great axe and his water/darkness magic.

    The second general: Ruria. The Succubus was highly skilled in dark enchantment and charm magic and was cunning to no end.

    The third general: Nox. The oldest demon alive. With his seven hundred years he had ample experience especially because he was the last survivor of the great war five hundred years ago.

    The fourth general: Kyte, the only Imp that had earned the respect of the demon world. As an assassin he was unbeatable and his darkness hiding and sneaking skills were second to none. He lead the Information gathering and assassin troops.

    And last the fifth general: Nina a high vampire. The former human was driven out of her noble family home and went to seek the vampires to gain immortality and revenge on the humans that had driven her out. She now happily slaughtered for the demon army.

    Those were the core of the dark army as the demon lord''s army was called. Suddenly an old vampire wearing butler''s clothes entered the throne room:

    ?Your highness, it seems your fifth child has been born.¡°

    Maou took another sip of his glass:

    ?That priestess?¡°

    With a bow the butler:

    ?Yes, your highness.¡°

    ?The mother?¡°

    ?Dead, Sire.¡°

    ?Very well, that child might be useful, find someone to take care of it.¡°

    The butler gave another bow:

    ?It shall be done as his highness says.¡°

    Titus''s PoV (3rd):

    Titus von Dunkelstein was sleeping with a pained expression within his chambers of his family''s estate. For almost a year since his mother had vanished he had not been sleeping well and he would normally wake up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat as if running all night.

    This night though was different. Before his brain could torment him with nightmares again he heard a beautiful voice in his dreams:

    ?Wake up young Titus. Wake up.¡°

    As if he was not asleep in the first place he immediately opened his eyes which did not look sleepy at all. He looked around but couldn''t see anyone at first.

    ?You won''t find me young Titus. I am Olydia the empress of light and I need your help. I fear it is too late for your mother but if you hurry and accept my guidance we might be able to safe your sister.¡° Titus did not hesitate. He jumped from his bed and said:

    ?Lead the way.¡°

    <hr />

    PS: I might have to change a few small things concerning time and age. I think i might have been inconsistent so if you see a mistake with timing (things like Titus age doesn''t fit with Asura''s age concerning the story and so on) let me know so i can fix it. I will recalculate it later on again as well So that there are no mistakes.

 Chapter 36

    Wow i got the entire fourth arc in my head but the transition is more difficult than i expected :/ anyway enjoy the first arc4 chapter! Next one will be released tomorrow maybe i can manage a double release. Regards!

    Chapter 36: Aria and Titus

    A cave in the demon territory, Earth 2018, Vamon 1017 AD

    Titus''s PoV (3rd):

    Drenched in demon blood Titus stood within the imp cave panting. Countless corpses of imps surrounded the only eleven year old boy who emitted a savage aura. Burnt, cut, frozen crushed and many more kind of wounds could be seen on the demons that he had slain while approaching his mother.

    But all this killing could still not quench the pain he felt in his heart seeing his mother like this. After telling the goddess to lead the way she had appeared as a shining figure that had the outlines of a human woman but it was hard to tell. She then put her hand on his head and knowledge about magic and power had surged into him.

    Olydia had not been staying under a magic academy for nothing. Her knowledge of magic far surpassed that of any other being within Vamon. At the same time she granted Titus a little bit of her power unlocking his potential. Those two things combined made him most likely one of the most powerful humans that had ever lived.

    At the same time the goddess had projected the location of the imp cave to Titus. Using his new found knowledge he created a doorway leading there using a combination of wind, earth and lightning magic. Space-time magic was extremely difficult as it involved huge amounts of calculations but for the current Titus it was possible.

    Folding the earth using wind magic and penetrating it with lightning he stepped out of his room straight into the cave. And when he saw his mothers broken body his eyes became bloodshot and he started chanting like never before.

    What followed could only be described as a massacre. Imps were not the strongest demon race to begin with and against Titus who could already be described as an archmage there was no chance of survival. They still tried though but a barrage of spells from almost every element didn''t even leave intact corpses behind.

    It could be counted as a miracle or maybe Titus had some part of his consciousness left but his mother''s body and the infant laying on her breast were left completely unharmed by the destruction left behind by the young mage. Tears dropping down his cheeks Titus stepped forward towards the primitive stone table.

    Before his mother he whispered:

    ?I am sorry mom. So so sorry.¡°

    He then picked up his little sister who despite everything did not even cry. He looked into the emerald green eyes.

    ?Don''t worry little one. I will never ever let anything happen to you, I swear it.¡°

    Melanie''s PoV (3rd):

    A middle aged couple''s house on Earth, Earth 2018, Vamon 1017 AD:

    Melanie was crying and desperately trying to hold that disgusting man of her. How did it come to this? It all had started with that accident three and a half years ago. In that fateful bus accident her mother had died and she had only survived because that nice young man had sacrificed her life for her.

    Her father had left her and her mother already when her mom was still pregnant with her so after her mother had passed away she was sent from foster family to foster family. But because of her mood swings that could go from overly active to completely depressed no family would take her in for long.

    The older she got the more difficult it became and at the same time no one wanted to ''waste'' money on her therapy. Because no one had believed her statement about the accident she had been sent from therapist to therapist as well.

    The now ten years old Melanie was in the end sent to a middle aged couple that lived near her old hometown. But she didn''t know yet that this place would be her worst nightmare. The second day she had arrived her new foster mother went out with friends on a short holiday trip.

    And that night her husband showed why he absolutely wanted to adopt her even though she was a problem child. Everyone ''knew'' she was a liar and had mental problems and it seemed that he liked little girls.

    Which led to the unfortunate situation that Melanie was currently in: The almost bold and about forty year old man with his belly and sweaty palms was trying to take her clothes of. She fought back with all her might not wanting to let him near him so in the end she bit his hand.

    Enraged the man used his other hand to hit her hard in the face. Falling backwards from the bed he had dragged her on earlier she landed unfortunately with the back of her head on a paper weight that had been knocked of the table by her earlier struggle. Her body immediately went limp.

    A cave in Vamon, Earth 2018, Vamon 1017 AD:

    Opening her eyes Melanie had no idea what was happening around her. Strange red skinned creatures were busy around her doing something like cleaning. Then she heard a soft voice next to her and turning her head she was shocked.

    Not quiet the same but she was held by a woman that looked almost like her mother! Even though unlike her mom that woman had black hair, she had the same green eyes, the same heart shaped face, and even though she looked famined and weak and even though she couldn''t understand the words she could feel the love that radiated from those eyes tenderly looking at her.

    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    And then those eyes broke. A deep sadness filled her young heart but she couldn''t cry. She had not cried in a long time. After her mother had died she had cried for weeks every night. Then when no one believed her and she was sent from foster family to foster family at some point the tears dried up. She just couldn''t cry anymore as if the well of tears had at some point dried up.

    But still the sadness that filled her heart was no less then when she had found out that her mother had died. Still confused and not knowing what she was supposed to do suddenly loud noises came from a direction Melanie could not make out. It sounded like explosions and she could hear many high pitched voices cry out in chaos.

    The noise became louder and louder and it was evident that it was coming nearer. Shivering she closed her eyes. When she woke up she was still in an alarmed state because the last thing she remembered was that disgusting man assaulting her. Adding to that the confusing surrounding and the scary noise it was no wonder that she had lost her nerves.

    And suddenly everything quieted down. She then heard footsteps and some words in a language she couldn''t understand. Afterwards she felt being picked up and when she opened her eyes, dark blue eyes were looking back at her.

    When she looked into those eyes and being held by those arms somehow and hearing those warm words even though she couldn''t understand them, for the first time in a long while she felt safe.

    Aria''s PoV (3rd):

    Von Dunkelstein Family estate, Earth 2021, Vamon 1023 AD:

    The small figure of Aria von Dunkelstein was quietly hurrying through the corridors of the von Dunkelstein family estate. Her crimson red hair that went down to her waist was flying behind her. The six year old girl had emerald green eyes that slightly angled giving her an Asian feel. A delicate face with cute features that still held some of a baby''s roundness but one could see that she would be an exceptional beauty in the future.

    She was wearing a black and violet dress giving her a slight dark Lolita look. She was on her way to her brother to show him the newest spell she had invented. Aria von Dunkelstein was a well kept secret.

    The family head, Titus''s father Steven von Dunkelstein had at first refused to take her in but when Titus had threatened him to leave the house with her if necessary he gave in. Still There was no love between Lyria''s husband and Aria.

    If people had known about her they would have been shocked. Six years old and she was easily able to compete with her brother when it came to magic. Her attributes as well, she was the only known existence that combined light and darkness magic.

    And her aptitude for magic was astounding. From the age of two she had started talking to her brother and from then onward she had started to study magic and it turned out that she was even more gifted than her brother.

    At the age of five she defeated Titus for the first time in a magic duel. She was absorbing magic knowledge like a sponge and it seemed like she was cultivating just by breathing. Her magic strength and comprehension ability for her age could be said to monstrous.

    Little did anyone suspect that her magic was indeed cultivating itself. It was the heritage of the Demon Lord cursing through her veins that attracted darkness elemental particles whenever she was surrounded by darkness and the blessing of Olydia attracted light elemental particles whenever she was surrounded by light.

    Even before being reborn Melanie or now Aria had already and exceptional memory and comprehension. And now after maturing for six years and under the guidance of her brother that loved her dearly she was not falling short even compared to the genius that Titus von Dunkelstein was.

    But no one knew about it because Steven von Dunkelstein as family head obviously did not want it to be known that he was housing a half demon. He had loved his wife dearly and the constant reminder of what had happened to her that was Aria had all his grief directed towards her.

    Titus was the only reason that he allowed her to stay at the same time he was the only reason why she stayed. Her mind was sixteen years old by now and only she knew that she had not even shown half of her powers to her brother or anyone else so she could leave if she so desired.

    One has to know that high level demons like the demon lord would pass on some of her magic and some of their spells to their offspring. They were called hereditary magic. Magic the offspring would know by instinct to giving them a chance to survive in the cruel society that was the demon race.

    At the same time the more Aria learned about light magic the more the benefits of Olydia''s blessing showed. She learned spells very very easily and the spirits of light all loved her same as the spirits of darkness. She had succeeded in summoning her own spirits at the age of four so even preinvoked spells were possible for her.

    All for her brother. Since her mother had died in her last life her brother was the first person to completely accept her and love her unconditionally. And she loved him back just as much for it. She smiled when she thought that she was about to see her brother. It wasn''t perfect but she really hoped the small happiness she had found here would last.

    But the world is just not fair.

 Chapter 37

    BOYS I AM BAAAAAACK ^^ i apologize to all my readers! Two weeks of an intense influenza and almost another two weeks of catching up with Uni stuff lead to me being unable to write anything!! I am so so sorry guys. Anyway I have a new schedule that I am going to follow from now on which will be; 2 chapters during the weekend, 2 during the week and i will starting from next week update one old chapter per week. Then slowly but surely I will get to a point where I like even the first arc (Looking back it really is subpar compared to the later arcs.) Anyway enjoy 37 and look forward to 38 which will be released in a couple of hours as well.

    Regards

    Max

    Chapter 37: Leaving

    Titus PoV (3rd):

    ?And like this, if we remove all the heat from the water magic using fire magic we can combine both to create ice!¡°

    Aria explained proudly while sticking out her still very small chest. Sitting opposite of her on a comfortable couch within this small study room that belong to him was her beloved brother Titus von Dunkelstein. His study was a cozy small room with a couple of bookshelves, two couches and a desk for his intense studies. Of course he would make it as comfortable as possible seeing that he spent most of his time in this room studying magic.

    Yes ever since he had saved his sister from the Demon''s territory he had immersed himself in the studies of magic. It surprised him greatly when only two years old Aria one day suddenly came into his study and started talking to him about magic theory. What shocked him even more was that her understanding was even more profound than his own!

    No matter what kind of concept he confronted her with she was sucking it all in like a sponge. But the surprises didn''t end there. Not just her understanding of theory her cultivation speed as well was beyond anything he had ever heard of.

    When she was four years old she had already overtaken him in terms of cultivation reaching a monstrous seventh rank in all her elements. Fire, Water, darkness and this was what he couldn''t understand: light.

    Never before in the history of Vamon had anyone both affinity for light and darkness. Little did he know that just like Asura, Aria''s soul had undergone a fundamental change when she reincarnated. The power of perception, cultivation and the affinity to the elements all depended on the strength of ones soul and both Aria''s and Asura''s souls were special.

    They have been refined while they were reincarnated giving them a potential far beyond ordinary mortals. Combine that with Olyria''s blessing and her father''s hereditary magic she was nothing short of a monster. In fact the theory Aria had explained earlier to her brother was the first time a mage had attempted to fuse two different types of elemental magic and succeeded.

    The result was: ice magic.

    A magic completely unique to Aria and if his guess was correct she would in the future be able to fuse more. He couldn''t even imagine what kind of power she could achieve with that. His own understanding of magic made leaps and bounds since then which would later on lead to his reputation as a genius that only appeared once every thousand years.

    But his power was nothing compared to his six year old sister. When she was five he already wasn''t her match anymore and after she turned six it was actually her teaching him. There was a slight problem though. Soon he would be leaving for the royal magic academy and he couldn''t figure out what to do with his sister.

    Taking her was impossible because no one knew about her but leaving her here was not good as well. Without him what kind of life would she lead here? Not a happy one that was for sure. He dearly loved his sister. Even no other family member held the same place in his heart. He would go through hell if he had to if it was for her.

    The only thing he could come up with was not going to the academy but he doubted that Aria would agree to this and he was really looking forward to the academy as well. In addition it was widely known that he had a shocking talent for magic so it would arouse quiet a lot of suspicion if he didn''t go.

    He didn''t like having to hide Aria but he knew as well if people found out that she was half demon they would come after her. No that was not an option. While he was thinking about those things he suddenly heard a sweet voice:

    ?Brother did you listen to me.¡°

    His train of thought interrupted he looked up towards his pouting sister. She looked really cute like that with her red lips squeezed together and her eyes narrowed to slits while her crimson hair fell in twin tails to her sides. A block of ice was hovering above her hand reflecting the light from the candles lit. He smiled at her answering:

    ?Yes I did, that is indeed amazing Aria but you know i can''t copy that. Even though you have figured out the theory, I have made my own experiments and even though i can create ice using the method you have described, it is ordinary ice that is produced. Your ice is on a completely different scale! I can''t melt it with fire magic and you can freely manipulate it creating more ice of making it vanish. No matter what I do I cannot compare.¡°

    His expression was a little pained. Even though he loved his sister unconditionally he still felt the shame of being outshone by his six year old sister. But he shrugged it off with a self mocking smile. It was his little Aria after all so no matter what he couldn''t stay displeased. She meant too much to him. Her expression immediately softened as she walked forward put a hand on his cheek and said with a bright smile:

    ?Don''t worry brother. You are not weak. It''s just that this little empress here is too outstanding!¡°

    As if reading his thoughts she started to tease him. But all it did was bring a smile to his face.

    ?Alright you little rascal. Off you go to bed, it''s late. Even an empress has to have her beauty sleep!¡°

    Ever since he had called her the empress of his life as a joke she started referring to herself as such. It was a private laugh between the two of them. Lifting her head putting on a dignified face she answered with a snob like attitude:

    ?Hmpf, who are you to order me around peasant? I will freeze you right here!¡°

    She couldn''t keep it up though after only a few seconds she started laughing and Titus could only smile. He was glad from the bottom of his heart that his sister was now able to laugh and joke around. When she had started living here she would never cry never laugh only always making the same expression of coldness. It took him two years until the day she came to his study to be exact to change her a little bit.

    Since then she had gradually opened up to him until they finally reached the point they are at now. Mutual love and trust between siblings. He had always looked out for her and cared for her. She didn''t have a nanny it was him that had taken care of her. Changing her diapers well that he had to do only at the very beginning. Later he would just help her climb the toilet. It was him that fed her and educated her. You could say that it was Titus that had raised Aria.

    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    So in Aria''s mind there were only four people worthy of her love: Her brother, her two dead mothers and a young man who would often be part of her dreams. Even in another world she couldn''t shake the image of the young man dying to safe her. As for her stepfather or other humans she held no love or kind feelings. It was only her brother that kept her in check.

    Happily humming she left the study towards her bedroom which was a small room that was connected to her brothers room. Steven had redesigned one of the storage rooms next to Titus''s room so that he and the rest of the household had as little to do with her as possible. But Aria didn''t mind that in the least. After all she as well wanted to have as little contact as possible with other people besides her brother.

    A short while after his sister had left there was a knock on his study''s door. Titus opened with a curious expression only to find his father Steven von Dunkelstein. Surprised he said:

    ?Father, how can I help you?¡°

    With a solemn expression the latter answered:

    ?May i come in?¡°

    Titus stepped aside saying:

    ?By all means of course.¡°

    Quickly sweeping the books from the second couch that Aria left there he offered his father a seat. When seated Steven let out a long sigh saying:

    ?Titus, we need to talk. You will leave for the academy soon and we have to figure out what to do with.... your sister.¡°

    The last words sounded forced and Titus mood immediately went dark. Not noticing his father continued:

    ?I have thought about it. Near the border is a lovely orphanage run by the church. I have investigated and they really care about the children and take good care of them. I think she would be quiet happy there and you could concentrate on your studies, what do you think?¡°

    Titus calmed himself taking a deep breath before he answered his father:

    ?Father, as I have said before, if Aria doesn''t want to leave my side i won''t send her away.¡°

    Now Steven started to grow angry:

    ?Son reconsider. You have the brightest future ahead of you. Do you want to sacrifice all that. What about the family?¡°

    Now it was Titus turn to become angry:

    ?If it means her happiness? Yes I would gladly sacrifice my future prospects. And the family? Screw the family, what has the family ever done for us? Nothing!¡°

    The last word he actually shouted but Steven wouldn''t back down so easily:

    ?Rubbish! You say you would abandon your people for this.... thing? With your strength you have an obligation to help humanity! Your talent could be the deciding factor against the demons!¡°

    That was too much:

    ?SHUT UP!¡°

    That startled the von Dunkelstein family head.

    ?THAT THING HAS A NAME AND THAT NAME IS ARIA. SHE IS MY LITTLE SISTER AND I PROMISED HER I WOULD PROTECT HER SO DON''T YOU DARE SPEAK ILL OF HER IN MY PRESENCE ANYMORE.¡°

    That being said he stood up and left leaving behind a trembling Steven.

    Soon after Titus left, his father actually got up and headed towards his study as well not realizing that a shadow followed behind him.

    Steven''s PoV (3rd):

    When he arrived at his own study the first thing Steven did was head towards the huge glass case at the back of the room. Inside were several very expensive and strong types of liquor. He poured himself some whiskey that had a golden color and sat down in his chair pondering how he could get rid of that little monster.

    He had only sipped on his glass when suddenly the liquid inside started to become colder and colder. At the same time the temperature within the room started to fall quiet quickly and within moments the alcohol in his glass actually started to freeze. Alarmed Steven dropped his ice cold drink and the glass shattered but no liquid could be found it had all turned into ice.

    Suddenly an ice cold presence filled with killing intent could be felt from the door. Shivering his gaze fixed on the door that slowly started to open. In came not Titus adorable little sister but the person that would later be known as the ice empress.

    Her entire demeanor had changed and at the moment she radiated power, self confidence and ruthlessness. Titus didn''t know that but Aria had been roaming the nights finding magical beasts or bandits all around slaughtering them.

    She didn''t know any other way to quench the rage and sadness she felt inside all the time. She didn''t sleep very well because every time she did she would have to live through her first death or her birth again both were traumas she had yet to come to terms with.

    So instead she stilled her blood lust during the night hunting anything that looked like it could be a challenge for her. But nothing was. This was one of the reasons that her magic had progressed so quickly. Actual combat was always better than training or learning. Hence she had already killed quiet a bit throughout her life refining her killing intent.

    Cold sweat started to flow down his neck as he was staring at the small but intimidating figure of his wife''s daughter. Then she spoke with an ice cold voice:

    ?So I am a thing now?¡°

    He couldn''t answer he was too scared.

    ?Fine, I will leave but don''t get me wrong. I am doing this for my brother. I don''t want him to have problems in the future because of me. I love him too much for that.¡°

    Hearing that Steven felt quiet a bit of relief inside. But she wasn''t finished:

    ?But I am warning you. If anything ever happens to him, I will come back and then nothing not even your goddess will be able to safe your puny life. Steven von Dunkelstein you are a narrow minded coward and i despise you but you are still his father. Take good care of him because that is the only thing that''s keeping you alive at the moment.¡°

    Suddenly ice crystals started to whirl around the room and the next instant she had vanished. It was the first and last time that Aria von Dunkelstein left what had been her home for six years.

 Chapter 38

    Well guys sorry I tried my best but I had an awesome idea for chap 38 so i rewrote it but I couldn''t finish :( But I am way too tired now to finish it, it''s 3am here after all and i gotta work tomorrow >.< But here is a nice little Teaser so you know what you can expect tomorrow *g* As an apology i will release an extra chapter tomorrow! Hope that makes up for it but if i write on when I am this tired the quality will drop greatly and I think we can all agree it''s better to wait a bit longer for a good chapter instead of getting only a mediocre chapter right? Hope so at least ^^ Anyway enjoy the teaser and look forward to 38 AND the extra 39 I am going to release tomorrow

    Chapter 38: Revenge

    Maou''s PoV (3rd):

    Demon Lord Maou had been sleeping very uneasy the past couple of days. It was like a bad premonition was hanging above his head. He would wake often drenched in sweat. When he once again woke up instead of the usual disturbed expression he now showed determination. His family always had the ability to feel it when something was about to happened that threatened their lives and now he was certain that this was the case.

    Until now he had thought there was nothing in this world that could threaten his life. He thought himself the most powerful existence within Vamon at the moment but what he had seen while asleep shocked him greatly. Something was coming for him he was absolutely sure of it.

    He immediately sent for his generals to assemble. Within the hour everyone had gathered in the great demon hall, his seat of power. Within these halls in his mind nothing could possibly threaten him. His generals were already assembled when he entered walking towards his throne with large steps.

    His dark hair that had almost the color of dried blood was flying behind him and his pale face showed the typical features of the Ashura demon tribe. Black shiny skin, two horns stretching behind his ears and features that could only be described as cruel. Two bulges instead of eye brows gave him the look that haunted every humans nightmare that had the bad luck to have seen him. Six bone like limps that looked a bit like spider''s legs were folded on his back, harder than steel and able to unleash frightening lightning magic.

    The demon lord truly looked like a demon lord and only his strength was even more demon like than his appearance. One has to know that cultivation is not everything when it comes to strength. For example the shadow beasts that lived in the dark forest in the center of Vamon had no magic but there was hardly anyone that could compete with these beasts because they had high magic resistance and tremendous physical strength.

    Not even the demon lord or Argus von Hohenstein would dare to enter the Dark Forest. They might be able to deal with one of those powerful beasts but not with several and the Forest was filled with these kind of beasts. Legends say that deep within there are even some beasts that have developed intelligence comparable to humans. It surely was the most ferocious place within the entire continent.

    As Maou sat down on his throne his five generals fell to their knees shouting:

    ?Long live the Lord.¡°

    With a hand gesture he signaled them to get up. Lining up in front of him he looked at them one after the other.

    Rorix with his dark red three meter tall human like body. His head though showed clear reptile features giving him the impression of a huge snake with a lot of muscles. Two wings were folded on his back.

    Ruria that could seduce any human just by looking at them. Two horns on her forehead, pale almost white skin paired with a seducing face. Red full lips slightly angled eyes and a small nose that completed a slight Asian look that could drive any man crazy.

    Nox who was nothing but a black shadow that took a human shape for convenience.

    Kyte the small black imp from the black imp clan who had a single horn on his forehead. He seemed to have a permanent mischievous look on his face that looked surprisingly human. If imps weren''t smaller than humans and hadn''t horns and another skin color one could think they were human.

    And finally Nina. The former noble woman had blond hair and pale skin. With the glossy hair, the thin eyebrows, her big eyes and small mouth she would be quiet the beauty if she hadn''t a permanent look of dissatisfaction on her face.

    Satisfied that they all gave him their utmost attention he was about to speak when suddenly screaming could be heard from outside. Confused everyone looked towards the huge gates of the great demon hall. Before anyone could react suddenly white frost started to creep up those gates. Faster and faster in enveloped the almost ten meter high entrance to the hall.

    Before they could even react suddenly with a loud shattering noise the great gates that had even survived the great war fell apart. At first Maou and his generals could not see through the icy mist what was beyond the entrance but everyone was already prepared for battle but never would they have expected what actually came into the great demon hall.

    ?Hello Dad!¡°

    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    Stupefied Maoh looked at the little girl that leisurely walked into the room. An ice cold aura filled with killing intent enveloped him and his generals and cold sweat started to appear on his neck. Was he afraid? Never! He was the demon lord there was nothing he had to be afraid of.

    ?Who are you?¡°

    The girl with the crimson hair put on a pouty face:

    ?Can''t you even remember the face of your lovely daughter? Oh right I forgot you left me to rot with some imps when I was born.¡°

    His generals were all ready to attack but he signaled them to wait.

    ?What do you want?¡°

    Suddenly the temperature dropped even further.

    ?Your head.¡°

    Before anyone could even react his five generals had already turned into icy sculptures.

    ?You five stay where you are this is family business.¡°

    the girl said as she vanished into an icy mist. The demon lord was now very calm. He hasn''t lived through countless battles for nothing.

    His Ashura legs started releasing lightning that coiled around him in order to protect his body. Suddenly an ice spike shot out of the icy mist to his left. He jumped backwards and immediately shot a dark sphere into the direction.

    But to his shock the dark sphere started to freeze as soon as it entered the mist that blew in a constant rotation around him. He could only see a few meters forward and suddenly a constant barrage of ice spikes started to be shot from all directions. Increasing his physical reaction and speed by inducing himself with lightning he started to dodge.

    Left, right, front, right he jumped whenever he felt danger from a certain direction. Lucky for him every attack contained real killing intent so he could detect them somehow. For every spike he couldn''t dodge he would shoot lightning to deflect them but he couldn''t destroy them.

    Suddenly a piercing pain came from his right leg and he stumbled. What happened? He didn''t feel anything beforehand. But immediately he had to start dodging again but now he had to deflect more spikes than before. He was slower now.

    He still couldn''t understand what happened until suddenly his right arm got hit. His blood splashed and again he lost his balance and another spike grazed his side before he found his rhythm again. It seems the girl was attacking sometimes without killing intent. Of course an attack without killing intent was never aimed at a vital spot but by restricting his movement she could witter him down bit by bit.

    The thought made him angry. The demon king outsmarted by a little girl? Never! As his rage built up so did his magic power and charging his Ashura legs more and more he suddenly shouted:

    ?DEMON LORDS WRATH!¡°

    A terrifying discharge of electric energy exploded outward dispersing the icy mist. When the vision cleared the blood drained from his face.

    The girl stood in front of his generals as if nothing happened. His strongest attack and not even her clothes showed any sings of damage. Then she said again with a pouty face:

    ?Hmpf I wanted to have some more fun with you but you just had to go and spoil it. Oh well shall I take what I came for now?¡°

    The last bit she said with a sweet smile. The demon lord gathered darkness in his hands and jumped towards her:

    ?NEVER!¡°

    Suddenly a scythe made of ice appeared in her hands and just as Maou arrived before her she vanished.

    That was the last thing Demon Lord Maou saw before his head was separated from his body.

    Aria''s PoV (3rd):

    Aria looked down onto the severed head of her father. With an ugly expression she spat on it. ?Serves you right you son of a bitch.¡°

    At the moment again there was the ice empress not Titus''s sister that was standing in the great demon hall.

    Slowly she walked towards the Demon Lord''s throne and sat down on it. She put on a dignified expression before releasing the five generals with a wave of her hand. The ice around the five exploded and all give of them fell down shocked about their own powerlessness in front of this girl.

    Before they could collect themselves they heard a sweet voice:

    ?You have two choices: Follow my father into his grave or swear your loyalty to me.¡°

    The five of them stood up and looked at each other. One after the other bowed their knee and proclaimed:

    ?Long live the new Demon Lord.¡°

    Nox the oldest of them took a step forward:

    ?Milady how shall we refer to you?¡°

    Aria smiled and answered:

    ?I am the ice empress.¡°