《Laws of Defiance》 The Prologue Laws of Defiance Prologue Corpses of humans and beasts littered the ground around a large city like Fortress of stone and rocks. Mages and warriors just outside walls of the fortress fought valiantly against them. But the beasts were conducting a terrifying onslaught against the human race. They rushed into the mass of human bodies without thought for their own lives and wreaked havoc slaughtering where they could. Grimacing, a man in thick heavy armor on the walls clenched tighter on his ax, and said, ¡°This doesn¡¯t bode well, we are losing too many men, and we are not inflicting enough casualties on their side.¡± A young boy, hardly even fifteen, stood next to this towering man, and couldn¡¯t help but shake like a leaf as he said, ¡°We are all going to die!¡± Glaring at the boy, the large man puffed out his chest and said, ¡°Boy, right here is where legends are made. Do you want to make it through this day as a coward or a hero who defeat these abominations?¡± Gaining confidence from his kings¡¯ words, the boy¡¯s moral raised, and inspired he said, ¡°Yes, sir I want to be a hero!¡± Smirking and pounding his plated chest with his large ax, the man said, ¡°Well spoken, let¡¯s show these beasts what we are made of!¡± The man¡¯s name was Tius, and he had gathered together the remaining tribesmen and clansmen under his rule to help defend this last bastion for humanity. Mankind was on the verge of extinction, and had gathered together from all different parts of the world of Yeshir, to defend this last location, or die trying. This was a battle that would decide the future fate of Yeshir. It would decide the very survival of the remaining humans. Because these monstrous beasts had brought them to the edge of extinction and the human race could only fight in this final war to cling on for dear life. Yet humanity was still in its infancy, and was not considered very powerful. Out of the population, only a select few humans, like Tius, could stand up against the power that the countless powerful beasts possessed. A female, referred to as Astraea, both a warrior and a mage, stood at the head of the battle and struck out with a sword that shot out bolts of lightning with every strike. Ruler and herald of the remaining braklish clansmen, she and her company fought valiantly but were slowly being pushed back. Clenching her teeth, she yelled, ¡°Hold them back at all costs. Fight till you drop!¡± A man to her right was fighting against a vicious four legged chimera with a spiked tail, and was fiercely trying gain the upper hand. All of the sudden, the tail caught him by surprise, and speared him in the chest, flinging him against Astraea. This caused her to collapse on the ground holding him. The man coughed up blood and looked up into her green dazzling eyes and say, ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ so sorry.¡± He raised his hand up to touch her cheek and Astraea quickly gripped his hand and said, ¡°Please don¡¯t die, please don¡¯t¡­ no¡­ no¡­¡± His eyes slowly became lifeless and he said, ¡°I hope¡­ we bought enough time.¡± Those were the man¡¯s last words and he passed away bleeding out into Astraea¡¯s arms. She shook violently as hot tears streamed down her face. ¡°Jafron¡­ oh¡­Jafron¡± She said, then gripped tighter on her sword and stared angrily at the chimera and yelled, ¡°You will die by my blade!¡± The chimera seemed to think this as a farce and screeched out its wail of arrogance. Poising itself, the chimera flailed its spike tail around, baiting the foolish female to try to kill it. But before Astraea could even attempt her revenge, a loud roar sounded and a terrifying aura was suddenly pressured down on everyone present on the battle field. A large creature had suddenly taken to the field. Versus the terrifying beast menace, there was one in particular that the humans greatly feared. This was an evil and powerfully demonic beast, which humanity named as Fengle. Against Fengle¡¯s majesty no one could compare. His prowess far outstripped those of humans and beasts alike. With but a flick of his claws, he could destroy mountains, what could dare boast the same. Because of this creature alone, he had massacred population after population all throughout the world, until he had reached the central continent of Tolboud, where the humans had prepared their last line of defense. Once this beast arrived on the Tolboud continent, with just letting out a roar of rage, he had called all the beasts of the neighboring forest, and acquired a large army of beasts. In that singular moment, all the creatures of the woodland area were subservient to his might, and swore loyalty to his splendor. In total, this brute had amassed a force of nearly five thousand beasts to perform a single minded genocide against the remnants of humanity. Compared to this force the humans only had a meagre sum of three thousand to combat their crusade of fanatical vigor. Overall is seemed it would be an easy victory for the beasts, given that they were already naturally stronger. Tius grinned eagerly at Fengle¡¯s sudden appearance, and leaned towards the boy next to him, and said, ¡°Boy, now here¡¯s a real beast!¡± Looking over his men, he raised his ax in the air, and yelled, ¡°Men of the Yashabi, are we not fierce warriors, let¡¯s not cower behind these walls any longer! Charge and bring honor to humanity!¡± Giving one last look to the boy, he said, ¡°Mrago, my son, stay safe and fight well.¡± With that he griped the edge of the wall and leaped off the edge plunging down onto the other side and charging into the mix of beast and men. Mrago stared after his fleeting image as he slaughtered his way through the mix of beast inching towards Fengle. The boy was utterly terrified but knew he had to stay strong, and said, ¡°Father, I will give it my best.¡± Right at this moment Astraea was clashing with the chimera that had killed her dear Jafron and seemed to have the upper hand. Thrusting her sword deep in the flesh of the chimera the lightning struck out and scorched both the outside and inside of the wound. Howling in agony, the chimera shirked back and wanted to retreat, but Astraea didn¡¯t let the beast. She murmured some quiet spell, gathering elemental energy into her open hand, and shot out thick and heavy lightning chains that surrounded the chimera stopping and injuring him simultaneously. Constrained, the beast no longer could fight back, and Astraea rushed over to him and stabbed through the head, sinking her blade deep into his skull as lightning shot out from her blade. The chimera died instantly with everlasting feelings of hate, yet also regret. Unfortunately for Astraea she had no time to rest because although she killed a delegated pack leader for a portion of the beast army, Fengle himself arrived shortly after the chimera¡¯s death. Unlike regular beasts, Fengle could speak, and roared loudly before saying, ¡°I will kill you for what you¡¯ve done, and wipe your stain of humanity from Yeshir forever.¡± Standing valiantly on four legs, Fengle looked like a majestic white lion with wings. His aura was suffocating and easily pressed down Astraea like she was just an ant. But before he was about to engage into combat with her, a loud yell came from the side as Tius was rushing through the mix of beasts and men knocking down all that was in his way. He arrived just in time, and next to Astraea, they were ready to face Fengle together. Gazing thankfully at Tius, she replied, ¡°We only need to hold out for a little longer, they should be arriving soon with the help that was promised.¡± Tius turned to her, grinned and said, ¡°I know that¡¯s why, I Tius, will see just what is so scary about this Fengle!¡± ¡°Ha ha ha¡­ Laughable, truly laughable. You, a match for me?¡± The large white lion roared. Disdain oozed from the beast as he said, ¡°I don¡¯t know why you humans decided to name me as Fengle, but none of you will be alive after this day.¡± Without giving any warnings he suddenly pounced towards them and flung Tius thirty meters away with a simple back stroke of his front paw. Fengle then turned, facing Astraea, and gathered magical essence by breathing in deeply, and exhaled, as white fire spewed from his mouth towards her. The movements of Fengle were so quick that she couldn¡¯t prepare fast enough and got surrounded by the white fire, ultimately scorching her left side in the blazing heat. In an instant, both of the supposed heroes of humanity were put in their place, and were powerless against him. Yet their efforts were not in vain as they had indeed bought enough time. Horns sounded in the distance and the remaining forces of humanity were rushing to their aid. The total forces of humanity now added up to the promised three thousand. Fengle snorted, and didn¡¯t seem concerned because the beast army still vastly outnumbered the humans. What could the remainder of the humans possibly be able to do? Stolen novel; please report. But seven more powerful figures like Tius and Astraea had arrived and a frightening woman known as Eunomia lead this coalition. The seven quickly rushed over to where Fengle was to support Astraea and Tius. However, even with their help, Fengle still seemed to have the upper hand against the nine last heroes of humanity. Eunomia didn¡¯t give up hope however, and with blade in hand, she continued to strike out against Fengle. Using group tactics and mustering all their combined techniques they had available to them, the nine figures started to push Fengle back. Employing her mightiest technique, Eunomia gathered her blade aura, causing the blade to shine in a bright white light, and slashed down at Fengle. A cloud of dust and rock sprayed everywhere and everyone stood back, hoping for the good news. Eunomia swore she felt flesh on her blade but it was still to dusty to see if there was blood upon it. Suddenly a roar emerged from the dust, blowing it all away, and revealing the white lion without so much as a scratch. The humans instantly felt despair and some even fell on their knees out of the nine heroes, knowing that this was now the end. But Eunomia still griped tightly on her blade and stared fiercely at Fengle. Unexpectedly a large magical disruption permeated the surrounding area and shot out violent blasts that anything they touched vaporized. A ripping noise was suddenly heard and a blue light shined as a figure stepped out. The sudden appearance of the human like figure in such a fashion caused a shock for every one present, except Eunomia. The figure had the appearance of a man and he had a frightening blood-filled aura incomparable to even Fengle. Glancing over at Eunomia, the man said, ¡°This beast here?¡± Tightening fiercely on her sword till her knuckles became pale, she nodded. The man looked at Fengle, clicked his tongue, and slowly walked towards him. Nervous, Fengle backed off a bit and said, ¡°You¡¯re not human, why are you siding with them? You should know who I am, and where I am situated in the hierarchies of beasts¡­¡± The man stopped momentarily and said, ¡°Fengle, you are just a small fish in the grand scheme.¡± The ground underneath the man suddenly cracked as he pushed off the ground and slammed Fengle. He drew his two swords from his back and cut Fengle into pieces with short work. Amazed at how great this man was Astraea, choked on her words a bit as she said, ¡°Wh¡­ who are you?... A¡­ an¡­ and how are you so powerful?¡± Gathering magical energy around his body he enveloped Fengles remains as he said, ¡°I am an Ascended being. Once you can reach Ascension yourself, you will know.¡± The end result of the final battle was not as what would have been expected and the humans were able to triumph over the beasts because of that mysterious man. Stories and books would write down that the last of humanity banded together and under the leadership of a select few talented mages and warriors. In the end they valiantly slayed Fengle, and defeated the beast menace. Out of the group of mages and warriors that lead humanity out of the perils in its darkest hours, there were nine figures that stood out. These nine figures would create an indomitable religion to be passed down for next several millennia. The ancient religion would be known as the Church of Ascension. This religion would pass down Divine Laws and Laws of Cultivation which would become the basis for all warriors and mages to follow. Following the laws set in place, humanity would once again flourish and ten thousand years quickly passed by in a flash. Since the battle between beasts and humans, a new era was upon the world of Yeshir. This was the era of humanity. The planet was now vastly populated by humans throughout the five continents. However, unbeknownst to the world, a situation would occur once again on the Tolboud continent that would change the fate of history yet again. This event would occur within a forested area secluded from the rest of the world. These woods bordered the southwestern most edge of the continent where there was a large port city known as Domington. This city was a major trading port to the continent of Gramrot, which was located to the south west of Tolboud continent. A dense smoky fog swirled the night air in the forest and drifted towards this major city of Domington. Seeing this, citizens of Domington would quizzically look up at the smoke and just pass it off to be yet another foggy night. However in the center of the forest lay a small tucked away village, where fires billowed out smoke. The wind would then carry the smog westward towards Domington, covering the night air in a murky fog. Gruesome mutilated corpses were strewn throughout the village and blood ran down its streets and the pungent smell of death and decay wafted in the air. Completely apathetic to the smell, a flock of crows were flying around nibbling at the corpses and fighting amongst themselves over human remains. It was tragic sight, but the village had been completely ransacked and torched as the result of a bandit attack. The villagers of this miserable place were enslaved, raped, or killed. What remained was just the gruesome echo of the past. It was a ghastly place and would make most normal humans throw up at the scene of the violence and brutality exhibited in this village. Yet the crows didn¡¯t care about the scene of violence and instead were happily feasting on a free dinner. When suddenly, an unexpected rippling sound in the air could be heard and with a flash of blue light two figures appeared in the middle of this burning village. Frightened the crows hastily dispersed crying out as their dinner was disturbed. These two people wore long flowing grey robes with hoods covering their faces. They surveyed the carnal destruction of the immediate area and afterwards the figure on the left lowered his hood revealing an old weary face with wrinkles around his eyes. The old man held a worried expression and glanced around in an attempt to inspect the area one last time. His piercing green eyes, as he surveyed the area, showed his age as well as intelligence in them. Gliding through the air, using some form of unspoken magic, his hair fluttered in the wind as he peered across the entirety of the ghost town. Comprising of white and grey strands, his beard and shoulder length hair, became wild and unkempt. From his appearance it revealed him to be about sixty years old, when truthfully he was about a hundred and thirty, and held countless years of experience. Exasperated, the bearded old man exhaled deeply then speaking to his companion said, ¡°The bandits that attacked and pillaged the village, must have taken the treasure, since I cannot sense it with my magic.¡± The old man with the beard clenched his fist then slowly released it. Obviously frustrated he then said, ¡°If only I would have stayed I could have done something, perhaps even gotten my hands on it myself.¡± The robed man to his right was rather quiet but stated reassuringly, ¡°You were severely injured so you sought me out.¡± ¡°There is nothing you could have done here unless you sought your own death in that weakened state. Even now you will need the span of several years to fully recover.¡± He then said Bewildered, ¡°To think that you would be so heavily injured, it must have been quite a powerful treasure!¡± Shaking his head, he stated, ¡°Truly it would be a shame to just let it go.¡± Begrudgingly the bearded man let out a sigh letting his frustrations go, and said, ¡°Master, I promise I will take responsibility for my uselessness.¡± A glint of anger flashed in his eyes, as he said, ¡°I shall swear revenge on these bandits by bringing them to justice and handing to you the divine treasure they stole.¡± The elderly man appeared to seek approval from the robed man to the right he referred to as master. It was apparent who the stronger one was out of the two. Reassuring the elderly man, the master said, ¡°I will assist you in this matter. However, I have no need of this treasure. I know you grew quite fond of this village so it¡¯s the least I can do as your master.¡± The elderly man was quick and humble in replying, ¡°Master, I greatly appreciate any assistance you can provide me in with this matter.¡± The Master of this man nodded understandingly and said, ¡°We will make use of the nearby city of Domington for now. Come Amron lets depart.¡± The man now referred to as Amron bowed out of respect and said, ¡°Yes, master.¡± Once again a rippling sound could be heard and just as suddenly as these two men arrived they vanished with a flash of blue light. Chapter 1 The Birth of a Treasure Chapter 1 The Birth of a Treasure The forest known as Fengle¡¯s Mourning normally maintained an illusionary barrier protecting a small village in the center of the woodland area. Using magic, this obstacle made it so individuals approaching it would unknowingly walk around the barrier or enter it with a skewed sense of direction and directly leave that area in a confused state of mind. The illusionary barrier was a magic formation set up by the powerful magician known as Amron. Coincidentally, this magician was also considered one of the small village¡¯s elders. This village was known as Limwell, and whenever issues arose, he used his powers to settle the matter. Yet unexpectedly, he was not from this village, but had in fact stumbled upon it and decided to settle down in Limwell. Because it was here he found a sort solace in his training with the natural and serene environment of this forest. However, this forest wasn¡¯t always obviously peaceful. As you would expect most forested regions held dangerous wild beasts, yet for some reason Fengle¡¯s Mourning only had weak beasts that were of no threat. The reason was actually in the history behind this forest. As the story would tell, Long ago a demonic beast named Fengle, had once ravaged all of the five continents with many other powerful beasts approximately ten thousand years ago. Back in those days humans were still getting a foothold in the world. Sadly, it was normal for beasts to kill humans because they were considered insignificant. Fortunately, one day a group of powerful human warriors and mages arose, and by working together pushed back these devils, and at the same time wiping out most of Fengle¡¯s close kin. Enraged, he irrationally killed thousands of humans until reaching the central continent. Upon arriving in Tolboud he used his might gathering many powerful beasts from the nearby forest and attacked the group of warriors and mages that defended the last bastion of humanity. In the end this proved futile, as he and all of the beasts died, leaving this forest void of beasts except the few that roamed into it over the centuries. Justifiably, this forest then became a memorial to the defeat of Fengle, and the heroes who vanquished him announced the forest as Fengle¡¯s Mourning for all the beasts and humans who had died. Yet there is a rumor whispered that somewhere in the forest lays the tomb of Fengle, which the mighty Heroes created to honor such a tremendous foe. This however, was a myth that had never been proven. Interestingly enough, these terrifying beasts of legends were all either deceased or had disappeared from Fengle¡¯s Mourning, and hardly any beasts would wander near the village of Limwell. As time would have it, Amron has lived in Limwell for nine decades since he set up the powerful barrier, and with it in place, protected the village from bandits and any other threat. His age showed him to be that of sixty years old but he was actually nearing a hundred and thirty. With the barrier in place, he would only occasionally leave Limwell as he needed, and always left another Elder in charge of the village until his return. He was never gone more than a year during those times, so it was a trivial matter and he would resume his position when he returned. Weirdly enough, he forbade anyone from leaving the village. So every couple of years, when the village needed goods or wanted to trade, only he was allowed to leave to pick up goods from the nearest major city of Domington. There were no relatives here in Limwell that he could claim, but on his first arrival to the village, he was well received by the Elder of the clan that was initially in charge of the village. Since then, he developed an attachment to that Elder¡¯s family which belonged to the clan and decided to show them the kindness he was given. Unfortunately, since ordinary humans live short lives, the ones who he was acquainted with when he first arrived had long since passed on in death. The current generation of the family he cared for had a man named Geron, who was in his thirties, and had a family of his own. He was blessed with a boy named Tamlin, who was seven, and a girl named Amriel, who just hit sixteen. Seri was the name of his wife, and she was currently pregnant with their third child. Since Amron cared deeply for this family, he demanded them to show him their child every time there was a birth in the family so he could give them his blessing. While doing so, he would secretly probe them with his mind to see their aptitude in cultivation towards the magical laws and laws pertaining to be warrior. Sadly enough, almost every person in this village except Geron held absolutely no aptitude for cultivation in the laws. This was actually normal since the vast majority of the human population didn¡¯t carry any aptitude for the laws. Only a select few humans, who held the bloodlines of the first powerful warriors and mages, had any talent. This was because only the heroes of old carried the greatest of capacity for the laws. Yet, after the first practitioners of the laws, every following generation would dilute their chances for greatness especially if they married someone of a lesser bloodline. Although, Geron was not suited for magic, he did have a marginal capacity to cultivate into a warrior. This was the same reason Amron doted on him. He was a slow learner but even still Amron taught him from a young age. Diligently absorbing the basics, Geron strengthened himself so he was able to grasp the second rank of being a warrior. It was fairly difficult, but in order to be a warrior you have not only strengthen the physical body you also need to strengthen your mind to be in harmony with the movements of your body. For magic it was the opposite, you instead were harmonizing your mind with the elements of magic that were outside your body instead of looking to harmonize with your body. In fact, this act of using your mind to harmonize with your body or with elements was known as the laws of cultivation taught by the Church of Ascension. Seemingly, the better you were at being able to harmonize, the better talent for cultivation you possessed. According to the Divine Laws, there are nine ranks of both a magician and a warrior. For each rank there is a trial of the mind that must be passed for each corresponding rank. Potentially, these trials were also different for every individual as well so no amount of help can tell them what they will face in these trials. It was Regrettable but, Geron had to face these two trials of the mind on his own in order to have accomplished becoming a second rank warrior. The trials were not always easy either and Amron was only able to prepare him by sharing his own experiences trusting in Geron to succeed. However, if someone was not able to pass the trial of the mind then the mind would never again be able reestablish connection with the next stage. Causing you to be permanently stuck in the rank you are in for the remainder of your existence. Therefore passing the trials was clearly, very important. Thousands of years ago the Church of Ascension declared everything from the trials to the ranks to be known as the Divine Laws, and passed the knowledge down for generations. It wasn¡¯t commonly known that the trials could be lessened, because the knowledge of this was kept secret by high members of society. While deep in thought, Amron was sitting quietly in his study reading a book attempting to understand it. The room itself had books and papers sprawled on the floor and desk giving the feeling that of a typical mage. While wearing a long grey robe and playing with his grey beard, he sat there trying to solve a mystery that eluded him. Quite puzzled he had his brows furrowed in confusion over the text, when abruptly a knock at the door sounded. Because he was a village elder, naturally he had servants wait on him hand and toe. Raising his head and quickly dispelling his frustration of the text, he replied, ¡°Come in.¡± After short pause the door slowly opened revealing an elderly lady and a small girl of six years standing at the door of his study. The elderly woman was named Daphiel and she wore a magnificent green dress that had gold patterns embroidered on the sleeves. She had a weathered face with green eyes and grey-blonde hair that came down past her shoulders. Although, she may be old with leathered skin, she still showed a hint of kindness in the sparkle of her eyes. As the village¡¯s only midwife so she had to handle most of the child births. The little girl next to Daphiel was her granddaughter Rana. Wearing a simple yellow dress with adorable blonde hair and blue-green sparkling eyes she simply radiated light into the cluttered room. She seemed to wave around an enthusiastic carefree attitude and held boundless energy for someone of her age. Actually, if Amron was to even to have the slightest inclination to see how high her cultivation was he would have been fairly surprised, but alas he cared not for the other villagers of the clan other than that one family that initially received him. Smiling, Daphiel walked into the study and stopped just short of Amron. She then happily said, ¡°Elder Amron, Geron¡¯s wife Seri has been in labor since this morning it would appear the baby will be coming today.¡± A typical birth was forty weeks yet it had only been thirty-five since Amron announced Seri to be with child. As his magical prowess were vast and he could use a magical sensing ability, which discovered there were two lifeforms on Seri and not just one, so it was easy to conclude her to be pregnant. Confused on the matter, Amron¡¯s eyebrows rose slightly and replied, ¡°It¡¯s a little early¡­¡± In fact only being thirty-five weeks along would be considered a premature birth which could cause complications. Waving his hand in the air, like throwing off a matter to later think about, he held a smile and said, ¡°It¡¯s no matter go and see that this delivery is a success. I will want to see the child after.¡± Showing respect, Daphiel bowed to the Elder and taking Rana¡¯s hand, left the room. Amron watched them leave, while feeling confident in Daphiel''s capabilities, knowing she would indeed guarantee the birth a success. As Daphiel walked with Rana in tow and hurriedly headed towards Geron¡¯s small farm, she glanced at Rana smiling and started to think back to the past. Thinking back she recalled her own daughter, Joanna, who shared no interest in becoming the next village¡¯s midwife. In fact, this profession wasn¡¯t an easy one and she had decided to abandon the village four years ago, leaving Rana in Daphiel¡¯s care. Joanna was in fact taught how to be a midwife but she sought adventure instead. She left the village and traveled around the world only to return pregnant and full of tales about a man that could be dead. To be honest, Daphiel couldn¡¯t blame Joanna for leaving Rana with her since she was searching for clues of the man she once loved in order to find out if he was still alive; but she still pitied Rana for having a mother that abandoned her. Knowing that eventually she would have to tell Rana about her mother, she told her on her sixth birthday. Honestly, she didn¡¯t fully disclose everything but instead said to her that one day her mother would return with her father. It might have been a false hope for this little girl but it was a hope to keep her moving forward. Afterwards, she became intent to teach Rana how to become a midwife in her place because the village was going to be in need of a midwife after she passed on. Especially since she had doubts Joanna would ever return. From then on she put all her effort into caring for Rana and even though there was a generation difference between them she still treated her like she would a daughter. She placed all of her hope in Rana, that when she grew up she would be a strong presence in this village and make Daphiel proud. Finally, Daphiel and Rana arrived at Geron¡¯s residence and politely waited outside the hut. Raising her voice Daphiel called out, ¡°Geron, it¡¯s me, Daphiel.¡± Hesitant and giving a slight pause she then continued, ¡°Amron has instructed me to oversee this birth as a success much like your last two children.¡± It was unfortunate but giving birth didn¡¯t always create life, particularly with the complications of a premature birth. Sometimes without a midwife there would be complications and the child or mother could die, sometimes even both. Though, even with a midwife there could still be problems and a premature birth had its own set of issues she would have to manage. Opening the door the man known as Geron stepped outside the hut to let Daphiel and Rana enter. Physically, he had short brown hair and a well-built sturdy figure. He had a square face and a strong well-defined chin with brilliant green eyes. Contouring to his built figure, he wore a patchwork of leather and fur. Blocking them, he stood in front of these two women outside his hut, emanating a slight aura around him that showed he was quite powerful. Currently however, he wore an expression of worry and stood aside to let the two women enter his house. After they entered he closed the door to the hut and followed promptly behind them. Inside the hut, his son and daughter were also there sitting off to the side patiently waiting while holding grim expressions. Tamlin, his son, had short brown hair and green eyes much like his father. In fact, he was rather tall and well-built for his age giving off the impression he was older than he really was. He currently wore a brown shirt and leather pants that were tattered at the bottoms. Amriel, Geron¡¯s daughter, was a girl in her adolescence and had blonde hair that flowed down to her back with deep blue mesmerizing eyes complimenting her features. She had high cheek bones with a small nose and adorable elf-like ears. By wearing a bright blue dress her image was absolutely stunning matching her image. Although it was tragic, she had a couple of blemishes on her face due to puberty, but after she left that stage she would be an unquestionable beauty in the village. Geron¡¯s wife, Seri, was lying exhausted on a bed in a corner of the hut. In her condition you could see she had blue piercing eyes and blonde hair that was unkempt. She had high cheek bones and small facial features. Lying on the bed, she was currently in a great deal of pain from being in labor for hours and was moaning loudly. After Daphiel entered the hut behind Geron and the instant she heard the moaning of Seri, she hurriedly came to her bedside. Taking one glance at Seri, she quickly instructed Rana to get a bucket of water and a cloth. Turning back to Seri shortly after Rana left, she checked her dilation and found she was already nine centimeters dilated as well as her contractions were lasting more than a minute. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. With a hint of concern she said, ¡°This is your third child now, I need you to be strong.¡± She clasped her hand and gave her a bright smile saying, ¡°I¡¯m going to help you deliver this child and I will use some herbs like last time to take away the pain. Just remember, like your previous child birth, this herbal drink will allow you to walk around after.¡± Her smile slowly disappeared and was replaced with a sense of seriousness. She then continued, ¡°As you know Amron has instructed to see the child afterwards, so I need to make sure you are able to present your child to him.¡± Utterly Incomparable, Amron was the single most powerful figure in the village and if he requested something nobody dared to say otherwise. While grimacing from the pain Seri nodded her head showing she understood. After seeing Seri nod, Daphiel pulled out a gourd which contained the herbal drink to take away the pain and fatigue from childbirth. Holding it to Seri¡¯s lips she helped her slowly down the contents of the gourd. By now Rana returned diligently with the bucket and cloth and set them next to Daphiel. Feeling grateful, Daphiel turned to Rana and said, ¡°Rana you did a good job, I will take it from here I want you to head on home before it gets dark.¡± Obviously Rana was displeased, and wanted to say something but could only form a pouting face. Understanding her grandma¡¯s desire for her to leave, she gave a curt nod of acknowledgment then turned around and left the house heading back to her home. Normally seeing off Rana would be important to make sure she stayed safe. But this was a small village and it was protected by Amron¡¯s great and powerful magical barrier so there was essentially no need. Determined Daphiel turned back to Seri, whose face was pale. She nodded and said ¡°Ok, now the medicine should have kicked in. I need you to start to push.¡± Taking the cloth and dipping it into the bucket she put it over Seri¡¯s forehead and tried to help her through the pregnancy. Over a half hour passed by, with Seri¡¯s constant moaning and Daphiel¡¯s encouragement, when suddenly the crown of a baby¡¯s head started showing. Feeling exited Daphiel smiled and happily said, ¡°Your almost there just keep pushing.¡± Positioning herself she got ready receive the baby as it was born. But then unexpectedly, a brilliant white light came crashing down from the heavens unimpeded by the hut, and fell on the body of the baby. Illuminating the baby in a white light, it appeared as though Seri was giving birth to a divine being. The magnificent bright white light did not stop pouring from the heavens and stayed centered on the baby as it was born safely into the arms of Daphiel. Even though the beam of light was hitting the baby, she did not shirk her duties as a midwife and quickly used a small kitchen knife to cut the umbilical cord. Afterwards she stood there flabbergasted while staring at the newborn child in her arms that was enveloped in light. ********************************************************************************* Simultaneously, as soon as the beam of light from the heavens shot down and hit Geron¡¯s baby Amron splurt out blood from his mouth and started coughing up blood while his body rapidly grew weak. Just then the powerful magical illusion barrier he had set in place to stop anything from entering regardless of whom or what, got destroyed by the heavenly beam of light. The barrier had fought the force of heavens light for a short while, but ultimately it was destroyed and since Amron was the creator of the barrier it drained all of his magic. At that moment all protection for the village was gone and anyone could now enter the village. Although he was a seventh ranked magician, taking that large amount of heavenly force against his barrier severely injured him. His stamina and energy were all but drained from combating the effects of magic being drained from him. That was the terrifying power of the heavens light. Incidentally, if he was even a single rank weaker he most likely would have perished. He knew something was wrong with the barrier getting attacked, but he had no energy or stamina. Ultimately, he was completely powerless in his current condition and feeling the urgency he closed his eyes trying to meditate in order to gather back magical energy to reform the barrier. ********************************************************************************* With feelings of amazement at the white light beaming down Daphiel could only barely whisper, ¡°It¡¯s a boy.¡± Nonetheless, since the room was in complete silent everyone heard Daphiel but they were all dumbfounded because of the white light coming down from the heavens. An occurrence like this was rare and whenever it transpired, typically due to the laws of heaven, divine artifacts were left behind which allows someone to further their cultivation in the Magical Laws and the Warrior Laws. But that¡¯s not all, not only does it help with cultivation it can also help you overcome your trials making them very desirable. Unfortunately they were considered random occurrences so the chances to receive an artifact are slim. The specific problem here wasn¡¯t that any divine artifact appeared, but rather that the beam of light was hitting Geron¡¯s newborn son. Speechless Geron sat there with his mind reeling wondering exactly what was going on as the mysterious beam of light was continuously flowing into his son, and enveloping him in a bright white light. Stammering Seri became the first to speak staying, ¡°Our son¡­¡± Eventually, once her brain thought process clicked she grew ecstatic and continued, ¡°¡­seems to be a living divine artifact!¡± Likewise, Geron had similar thoughts, but then again was that just too crazy. He had never heard of divine light hitting a person and in fact this was indeed the first time for it to ever happen. Standing up, Seri took the baby from Daphiel and held him in her arms. Usually, a mother would be completely drained from giving birth but thanks to that herbal drink she was just fine. Although, white light still enveloped the child but she could clearly see the baby boy had brown hair and blue eyes. Looking close you could see he had a defining chin as well as high cheek bones. Seemingly, he shared the traits of both parents, while his siblings took after only the father or the mother. Happy, Seri couldn¡¯t help but smile as she stared down at the baby boy. Then something dawned on her, shocked and worried, she came to the realization that babies typically cry when they first are given birth. If a child didn¡¯t cry it¡¯s possible they were stillborn or had birth defects, but this child was not crying and was instead just looking around the room casually. Glancing around the room the baby¡¯s brilliant blue eyes first paused on Geron before he looked up at Seri. It was as if this new born baby knew exactly who he was and who his parents were, which startled Seri. An unnatural fire blazed from within the baby¡¯s eyes while his gaze seemed profoundly intense. Normally, a newborn cannot see with their eyes and can only make out blurs. Except this baby appeared to not only be able to see perfectly fine, but could also recognize who his parents were. Most importantly with the bright white heavens lights still enveloping the baby, he seemed like an impossibility taking reality. Over the course of time everyone became accustomed to the bright light enshrouding him. Suppressing their confusion everyone took turns in happily holding the little new born. Growing attachment to their newborn brother, Tamlin and Amriel both got their turns to hold him and coo over him, slowly forming their own bonds with their new baby brother. After taking their turns at holding their little brother for a time they unwilling handed their baby brother back to Seri. Time flew by and it quickly became four hours since his birth and suddenly the bright white heavens light slowly started fading away. Weirdly enough, everyone had gotten used to the light encompassing his little body over the hours and didn¡¯t know when it would disappear but just as suddenly as it appeared it faded away. ********************************************************************************* After several hours of meditation Amron opened his eyes. Luckily, he had gathered some Magical energy but he was not even close to a small portion of his original strength. After hearing yelling outside, Amron immediately stopped his meditation, and listening intently he could decipher the sounds of people screaming out of fear nearby. Taking less than a second, Amron used his magical sensing ability to scan the nearby area and was shocked to find a large group of bandits were currently killing, raping and sacking the village. Helpless, Amron knew in his current condition he couldn¡¯t do anything. Since his magic capacity was still nearly depleted he would just get killed. Hesitating, he decided to abandon the village in order to save his own life and return later with a vengeance. Stepping outside, he took out a small talisman that resembled a small spherical rock with green runes flashing on it. Closing his eyes, Amron put his remaining magical energy into the talisman while he thought of a location. This talisman was in fact a rare and coveted teleporting talisman, yet Amron carried one with him. A powerful ripping noise could be heard all of the sudden as the space itself surrounding him tore open. Finally opening his eyes, in the distance he saw the bright white heavens light in the distance slowly fade away. But before he could even think about the small hut of Geron¡¯s and the heavens light which enveloped it, a bright blue light enveloped him and he disappeared. ********************************************************************************* Shortly after the light disappeared from the baby, an abrupt bang came from the door to the hut as it flew open and ten men who looked like bandits rushed inside the hut. With the sudden appearance of those men, everyone in the hut quickly became frightened. Geron stood between the men and his family spreading out an intense aura of a second rank warrior. As anger coursed through his veins, he furiously asked the men, ¡°What is the meaning of this? This is my house and I did not give you permission to enter!¡± Quickly detecting ill intent, he moved over to the chest near the bed and grabbed a long sword contained within, and boldly held it up with one hand whilst brandishing it towards the men. In fact, he had confidence in his strength as a second rank warrior. Yet, he was unsure of himself while up against ten men, especially when he did not know what their own cultivation levels were. It was regrettable but Amron was not a warrior and could not teach Geron the main laws pertaining to be a warrior. As a result only the basics were taught to Geron so he had no way to use the main laws of a warrior to perceive these men¡¯s strength since he couldn¡¯t read their Aura. Upon entering the hut and seeing a lone man attempt to stop them, the bandits looked at each other and laughed while brandished their own weapons. Nearly every bandit wore some form of armor and carried swords or axes causing a chilling effect since they meant business. Shoving others aside, a burly looking man in the center of the group pushed his way to the front. This man¡¯s name was Brumar. He was the largest of the group of bandits and wore thick leather armor that had plated metal on the chest. He had short black hair and a rough scraggly beard. Squinting with his black beady eyes he stepped forward and sized up Geron. Raising a large one-handed axe and pointing it at Geron he said haughtily, ¡°Under my commander¡¯s order we are to bring all of you to him. He has questions he wants to ask you.¡± Geron¡¯s face grew ugly. Obviously, he knew that this was about the divine light that hit down and the power that could be obtained gained from a divine artifact. Irritated he frowned and replied, ¡°There is nothing here your commander would want from us. You should leave and seek elsewhere.¡± Gripping tighter on his axe, Brumar snorted and said, ¡°Have it your way.¡± With Brumar words as a signal, the bandits instantly all charged forward at once. Taking the initiative as well Geron threw out an intense pressure of his aura, and then swiftly came to the closest bandit effectively displaying his swordsmanship. Clashing with the bandit, he landed a couple of well-placed strikes, over powering the man and drawing first blood with a simple cut on the arm. However, just as he felt like he had an opportunity to take the man¡¯s life Geron became overwhelmed as all ten of the bandits converged on him simultaneously. Understanding that Geron was a difficult opponent, Brumar fiercely yelled, ¡°Slice his legs to cripple him!¡± Geron parried blows like mad while still holding back all ten of the bandits at a lightning speed. You could tell his warrior status was not just for show, considering how he was holding off all ten men. But just as he started to gain confidence that he could possibly win, a white hot stab of pain shot out on the back of his right leg. Screaming in pain he collapsed, putting his right knee on the ground. Just then, Brumar had seized an opportunity to get a good strike in while Geron was fighting nine other combatants. Yet not giving up, he still madly parried a couple blows while half on the ground, but after the initial collapse on the ground another bandit wielding a short sword saw an opening and his left leg got cut too. With both leg tendons sliced, he had no support and fell face first onto the ground. Shortly after he fell to the ground face first, Brumar took the opportunity and stomped on his hand making him release his sword and immediately kicking his sword out of his hand. He was feeling utter despair knowing that with his defeat, his family was done for. The bandits were elated that now they took down the only obstacle, they could start to grab everyone to drag them outside. Just as a bandit tried to grab Daphiel, she suddenly charged at a man with a small kitchen knife. At first the bandit was startled, but then he quickly regained his senses dodging to the side. Moving fast he griped her wrist holding the knife and then slashed her down the back, most likely killing her as she bled from the wound profusely, staining her green dress. Still taking precautions the bandit wanted to make sure Daphiel was dead by stabbing her through the skull with his sword. It was unfortunate but Daphiel¡¯s death happened rather fast and after her death Geron¡¯s family gasped and sobbed. Not sparing any time, Brumar grabbed Geron¡¯s right arm to support him and motioned for another bandit to grab his left. Moving hastily, One by one the Bandits grabbed the family members and dragged everyone outside. Chapter 2 Harsh realities Chapter 2 Harsh Realities Located in a western part of the large forest of Fengle¡¯s Mourning there laid a mercenary camp known as Fengle¡¯s Grove. In actuality, it was only known as a mercenary camp to a select few, while everyone else considered it merely as a bandit¡¯s safe haven. The natural forests¡¯ area provided deceptive camouflage for the mercenaries and bandits hiding here. This was because the camp was situated in a hidden forest ravine adjacent to a mountainside, with only one entrance leading in. By using this perfect cover, the bandits and mercenaries could hide from the martial forces of the three large kingdoms without fear. On the continent of Tolboud, the current ruling kingdoms were the Azarasi, the Tolboud, and the Marizon Kingdoms. Although the continent was known as the Tolboud continent, the Azarasi Kingdom actually held the most power. Threatened by this sudden rise in power, both the Tolboud and Marizon Kingdoms formed an alliance to stop the Azarasi kingdom from further dominance. Because of the ever looming threat of war there were mercenary camps spread all throughout Tolboud continent, with each camp holding alliances to one of the three kingdoms. Although the other camps had pledged alliances to one of the three kingdoms, it wasn¡¯t known what alliance Fengle¡¯s Grove was loyal to since it was mainly seen as a bandit camp. This was because, if a bandit was running from one of the kingdoms forces, Fengle¡¯s Grove would shelter the fleeing bandit and take them in as one of their own. Built magnificently, Fengle¡¯s Grove was comparable to a fortress. It had seven meter high palisade walls surrounding the encampment area with a giant gate and two large watch towers on either side. Looking threatening, archers with longbows stood at the ready always overseeing and controlling who was permitted to enter the main camp and who was not. A vast number of tents were typically sprawled everywhere outside the main encampment area, where most of the regular bandits would reside. Yet inside the main encampment, behind the large palisade walls, was where the mercenaries and bandit leaders would take up residence. Typically, in order to enter the inner portion of the camp, a member from inside the encampment had to permit your entry. The only other way to gain entry was to have the badge of a Fiery Crimson Claw, which only the leaders of the camp wore. The current leader in charge of Fengle¡¯s Grove was a man named Azon. This impressive man was almost two meters tall with a decently built figure. He had attractive black hair that flowed down to his neck line complimented with a short stubbly beard. Altogether he was a figure that presented a rather menacing aura. In fact given his aura, he had no concept for mercy and his hazel eyes implicitly held an icy chill to his gaze to prove this point. Yet, a seeming resolve was expressed upon his face due to the hard life that he had lived up till now. This was because over the course of his life he had seen plenty of death and killed countless people. Since he was the leader of the camp, he proudly wore a badge of a Fiery Crimson Claw over his right breast. In fact on his leather armor he wore, it held the same symbol embroidered on the chest and even his cloak had a broach that also carried that same symbol. Being rather skilled, he was successful in achieving the fifth rank of cultivation in the laws of a warrior and he had gotten the position of leader by his own strength. The mercenary group he personally assembled he decided to call the Crimson Claw Mercenaries. However, even though he was in charge of the mercenary group, he had them operate like a group of bandits. Unbeknownst to everyone, even most people within the camp thought that it was just a highly structured bandit camp which it was not. Seemingly, only select few members behind the palisade walls knew the truth and he wanted to keep it this way. To tell the truth, he served the Azarasi Kingdom and acted like a group of bandits on the Azarasi noble¡¯s orders. They would intercept, kill, kidnap and steal from the citizens of the Marizon and Tolboud Kingdoms. It was the perfect cover story and because of them, the woodland area of Fengle¡¯s Mourning near Domington was thought to be plagued by a legendary group of bandits known as the Crimson Claw Bandits. Actually the reason they became notorious, was because they wore the symbol of the Crimson Claw. Using his Intelligence, Azon staged everything as regular bandit attacks and they were not pursued after because there wasn¡¯t a necessity for the Marizon and Tolboud Kingdoms to involve themselves with bandits, unless reasonable circumstances required them to deal with it. Sitting outside his tent, he carefully read a report from the Azarasi kingdom¡¯s nobles. Coursing his hand across the stubble on his face, he read the coded message in the report regarding information that was obtained about a caravan that may be passing through. Luckily, he was not alone in commanding this large force of mercenaries and had a second in command that was named Vanrus. The young man known as Vanrus stood nearby waiting for him to finish reading the coded message. He was sharp and fine young man that had long blonde hair that flowed off his shoulders and had dark brown eyes. Sadly, he was a tad shorter then Azon but, as good fortune would have it, he held a well-defined figure with a charming face that only a handsome noble would have. Standing next to Azon looking rather majestic comparatively, he wore leather armor that was highly decorated and had a cloak that enshrouded his figure with a broach also that of a Crimson Claw. With a fire blazing from his brown eyes, he carried a resolute and strong willed aura which might have been why Azon chose him as his second in command. He currently was in the fourth rank of cultivation and seemed to have an excellent aptitude for the laws. However, the exact reason he specifically decided to join Azon¡¯s camp was still a mystery to him, but he could recall that it was Vanrus who sought him out with a decree from the Azarasi nobles stating he was to be stationed at Fengle¡¯s Grove under him. It was surprising that nobles were lenient to Vanrus and gave him an option of what camp to choose from because usually they were assigned a location for a set period of years. Unfortunately at some point, Vanrus must have offended an important official and been sent off. In fact he probably held a bright future before, although after he got stationed here he did not seem dispirited in the slightest which was surprising. Because of his spirit Azon held great respect for him and was proud to make him his second in command. After pulling away from the past Azon in his usual gruff voice turned to Vanrus and said, ¡°It would appear a caravan will arrive in three days¡¯ time from the Tolboud Kingdom, it¡¯s heading to Domington. We have orders to intercept.¡± Nodding in acceptance Vanrus replied correspondingly, ¡°I will make the arrangements and the men will be ready. Luckily with the men taking care of it, there should be no need for you to trouble yourself personally with this trivial matter.¡± Satisfied, Azon smiled in gratification and nodded his head at Vanrus¡¯ capabilities at handling these matters so he could stay put and handle more pressing concerns. Following his reply, Vanrus put his fist to his chest bowed then promptly left Azon to stew in his own thoughts. Unbeknownst to Vanrus, he actually wanted to retire from the position of leader and hand the reins to Vanrus. In actuality, he was in no obligation to remain the leader and only did so to provide a sense of personal loyalty and honor to the Azarasi Kingdom. Many years ago, back when he was still in his prime, he had been exiled from the capital of Azarasi Kingdom after a small incident with the Church of Ascension and was not allowed to return to the capital. Set as an indomitable figure, the Church of Ascension was a religious order that was established several millennia ago by one of the original heroes, and she was known as Eunomia the Lawful. Sitting at the apex, the church was the most formidable power in the world which no one in the five continents dared to offend and because of this it had forced the Azarasi Kingdom to exile a promising aspect. If you were to compare the church in military strength to the entirety of the world it would be greater than, Tolboud and Vernef continents combined, which are in fact the top two militaristic continents almost making it unfathomable to want to cross. Located to the east of the Tolboud continent and across the ocean laid the Vernef continent. Mighty and fearsome, Vernef was full of powerful mages and warriors and the continent itself was constantly dealing with infighting amongst the empire that held power and its various kingdoms. Similarly, Tolboud also had constant wars, and while the quality of the armies was not high, the sheer amount of combined forces living in the Tolboud continent was enough to bend the knees of the martial forces on the other continents. While the size of the forces of the church was not large, but the quality was riddled with top class warriors and mages who sought to further increase their cultivation in the laws. This made offending the church impossible. In fact most nobles sent their sons and daughters to the church to cultivate, which provided great honor to the clan, and in the process made it easy to offend important noble families as well. Throughout the centuries that have gone by, the Church of Ascension had created many establishments throughout the five continents but the biggest one was centered in the Gramrot continent. After offending the church and in order to atone for his shame, Azon with his clan in mind, created the Crimson Claw Mercenaries and slowly built a camp located here in the forest of Fengle¡¯s Mourning. Not to long later after hearing of his group of mercenaries, his clan made contact with him and seemingly decided to make use of him and his mercenaries in order for him to wipe away his stain of disgrace and possibly regain honor again within the hierarchy of nobles in the Azarasi Kingdom. A long time ago, he had betrayed his clan in his youth by stealing forbidden knowledge and many powerful techniques and utilized those techniques to his own agendas. Unfortunately, he was discovered by his clan, but upon seeing his talent they instead decided to aid him in cultivation. This was all until one day he killed a nobleman who offended his clan in arrogance. Later investigation of the event would reveal that this man was actually an important figure to the church and this led to the eventual ordering of Azon¡¯s exile. Fortunately, the church decided he was far too talented and skilled to be put to death so they let him serve the Azarasi Kingdom in exile. However, with no longer having help in cultivation, he became slow at progression in the laws. The technique he had used to kill the nobleman was a forbidden technique he originally stole from the clan called the Crimson Claw. It was a difficult and not a well-known technique from the clan. Other than Azon, only the great ancestor within the clan could perform this technique. However, the ancestor desiring solitude had left matters of the clan to others long ago and hasn¡¯t been seen for several decades. The Crimson Claw technique required the user to have their fingers act like claws of an eagle. It was a brutally savage technique that would mar the opponent unrecognizable. It was precisely this same technique he used on the nobleman, killing him instantly and ultimately causing him, his exile. Sighing, he contemplated the past while looking to the horizon, where the sun still had a few more hours till it would disappear for the day. Nearing his fifties, he knew his life was more than half over and it was time to give the reins to a younger generation. Luckily, Vanrus was in his thirties and showed to be full of promise. As he was deep in thought, a sudden bright flash of light from the heavens shot down towards the center of the forest. Upon seeing this bright light, naturally he grew curious. Oddly, there were many mysteries of the world and the heavens above and yet whatever the beam of light was he wanted to know and if possible obtain it. Things like this have happened before and the individuals to search after the locations of those beams of divinity usually found divine treasures which would greatly increase their powers. Brightly filling the sky with its radiance, the beam of light shined down towards the edge of the forest nearest to him. Seeing the light come down from the sky, he naturally decided that he wanted to head in that direction and obtain the treasure. With great speed, he gathered together a small group of his men, and quickly taking to horses scouted deeper into the woodlands. Thoroughly searching deeper into the forest to his surprise, nearly a half hour later, he found a small village which was virtually unguarded. Remarkably, he had never seen this village before, even though it was relatively close to his hidden camp, and this entire area was new to him. Feeling excitement from this sudden discovery, he was eager to take his men and loot the village while hopefully capturing some of the villagers to sell as slaves on the slave market. Entitling him to richness, he could make quite a bit of profit from this endeavor. Upon this wonderful discovery they returned back to camp where he hastily told Vanrus of the situation. Seizing the opportunity, both Vanrus and Azon ordered up their men, desiring to set off before the beam of light completely faded. Shortly after gathering up a sizable force of the Crimson Claw bandits, they saddled up on their horses and headed towards the heavenly beam of light. While riding with his men for a good while he came across a farm with a small hut. Fortuitous fate would have it that the small hut near him was where the beam of light ended. Radiating an evil greed, he grinned maliciously and said, ¡°I want ten men to follow me.¡± Then turning to Vanrus, maintaining that devilish smile he said, ¡°Vanrus, I want you to take the rest of the men to loot the city and capture slaves that we can sell for a good price.¡± Putting his fist to his chest and bowing his head, Vanrus replied curtly, ¡°Yes, commander.¡± Taking the initiative he assigned ten good men to aid Azon, and then he ordered the rest of the men with him, leaving Azon with those ten bandits. Satisfied with the selection, Azon led the ten men directly to the hut. Looking around, he found the largest man there amongst the group who was named Brumar, and said to him, ¡°I want you to take these men and kick the door down and bring me those inside. However, be sure to bring out everyone inside alive to me.¡± Rubbing his hands together and grinning he said greedily, ¡°I have questions I want to ask those in that house.¡± Smiling with wicked intentions Brumar said, ¡°Of course commander, it would be my pleasure.¡± To satisfy his greed, Azon had to interrogate them to find out if there was indeed a divine treasure he could get his hands on. Without saying he still held quite a bit of ambition although his current circumstances prohibited him greatly. In fact, while wanting to quit the pretense of a bandit life after accruing a decent sum of money, he still held aspirations to pursue. Eventually, he could leave the role of leader to someone like Vanrus if such a time came. He wanted to get ahold of a divine artifact, and in doing so he could further his cultivation, and perhaps even one day be able to return to the capital as a powerful figure. In the past those that obtained divine artifacts were considered top tier warriors or mages and held extremely long life spans of hundreds of years, compared to people of lower cultivation capabilities; which unfortunately had no hope of living more than eighty years. Divine artifacts allowed them to reach a new efface of cultivation and granted them prolonged lives. Desperate, he needed the divine artifact badly, in order for him to progress further along with the laws of a warrior. Because just recently, he had reached a bottle neck in his cultivation and he could not see past it. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. However, before the men reached the hut, a beam of light enshrouding the hut slowly faded away. It was in fact a matter of pure luck that he acted as fast as he did, since the beam of light only seemed to have lasted a couple of hours, and he possibly could have lost this chance forever. Although, once he could obtain the divine artifact he would instantly become an immeasurable force to be reckoned with. Excited and rather expectant, he watched as his men smashed the door open wide and stormed in. Hardly ten minutes passed before his men remerged from the hut dragging out a man, whose legs were scraping on the ground, swiftly followed by a woman. The woman held a baby in a tight embrace against her bosom as one of Brumar¡¯s men held onto her arm, roughly forcing her outside. Following the woman, a young boy and a teenage girl were forcibly being taken outside. As cruel fate would have it, the man that was being dragged out was in fact Geron and the others were his family. It was regrettable, but one of the bandits was dragging out a bloody corpse of an elderly woman out of the house, which was in fact Daphiel¡¯s corpse. Sighing Azon shook his head in disapproval, as he had explicitly told his men to bring them to him alive. However in his eyes, the life of the elderly woman was not important. Geron had his legs sliced so he couldn¡¯t walk on his own and needed the bandits to hold him up using his arms as they swiftly dragged him in front of Azon. Seeing this scene Azon knew the man must have resisted and his men sliced Geron¡¯s legs to prevent him from further resistance. The bandits holding him roughly tossed him in front of Azon, causing him to fall face first into the dirt. Following their father, the bandits rudely kicked Tamlin and Amriel down into the dirt as well. Meanwhile, out of courtesy for the baby she held, the bandit that tightly gripped Seri left her standing near Geron. The burly bandit, Brumar grabbed a tuft of the Geron¡¯s hair on his head, and forcibly raised his head from the dirt to look at Azon. Threatening Geron, Brumar said, ¡°My commander has questions for you. Should you answer them, your death will be quick, if not...¡± without finishing his sentence Brumar snorted in an arrogant manner. Despair filled Geron¡¯s gaze as he realized his life was forfeit either way. Taking a moment to size up Geron, with sinister intentions Azon slowly smiled and spoke, ¡°There was a beam of heavenly light that struck here. My patience is thin and I will ask you once, where is the divine artifact?¡± Coldly peering up at him, Geron replied, ¡°Indeed, there was heavenly light, but no divine artifact came from it.¡± Laughing sourly, Azon retorted brimming with anger, ¡°Do you take me for a fool? I know for a fact, where divine light hits, there is always treasures to be held.¡± Understanding the situation was quickly becoming bad, Geron grimly replied, ¡°I speak the truth!¡± Pathetically begging with his eyes, he said with desperation, ¡°I have no reason to lie please believe me.¡± Snorting and not believing his words, Azon nodded at the bandits restraining Geron¡¯s children and said, ¡°Slit their throats then he might be willing to talk.¡± Horrified, Geron yelled out but he could only watch as the men holding his two children slit their necks. Petrified in terror, the children¡¯s faces held fearful expressions as the color from their faces drained and blood gushed down their necks. Uncaringly, the bandits who killed the children let their bodies fall on the ground as pools of blood formed under their corpses. Watching her children die, unbearable anguish hit Seri, and she let out a stifled yelp but she quickly kept silent as tears rolled down her cheeks. Also mourning at his lose, Geron broke down in tears watching his children die in front of him. Like a merciless devil, Azon present a slight demonic smile and responded to his reaction by saying, ¡°Tell me what I want to know, and you can join them with a quick clean death, if not you can watch your wife get killed then watch as your baby dies.¡± Sobbing and giving up what defiance remained in his heart, Geron replied, ¡°My lord, truly no divine artifact appeared here, this I swear!¡± The remaining stubbornness disappeared and letting out an anguished cry, screaming at the heavens and truly giving up everything, he then continued, ¡°The heavens light came as my baby was born.¡± ¡°Truthfully, I have found no artifact and the only artifact would be my child as the light enveloped him during his birth.¡± Mentally broken, he sobbed nonstop after telling Azon what transpired. Listening to his explanation, Azon¡¯s face instantly frowned. He had never heard of the heavens light striking down to the birth of a child. Considering his words, Azon¡¯s wheels circled in his head, suddenly his eyes grew wide. ¡°Indeed, this child may be a living artifact,¡± he thought. If he could wait for the child to cultivate, his potential could be exponentially high, and he could have a real treasure in his hands. Realizing, this could be a good opportunity for him but he had to keep this matter quiet. Quickly deciding his fate, he turned to the Brumar who was still holding the Geron¡¯s head and nodded, signaling to kill him. Obedient to his commander, Brumar let go of the Geron¡¯s hair and let him fall face down into the dirt. Before Geron could move away or even react, he pulled out his axe and chopped his head off in a clean strike. After Geron¡¯s head separated from his body, he kicked his head and watched it roll away. As the despicable human he was, Brumar couldn¡¯t help but smile and let out a hearty laugh. A grotesque scene was left behind, as blood pooled under Geron¡¯s severed neck and a trail of blood followed where his head had rolled. Completely dispirited and broken, Seri was in tears and fell on her knees in the dirt crying heavily. She had watched as her husband and two children were murdered right in front of her. Unable to bear the pain and grief anymore she knelt there and bawled. Snorting, Azon glared at the women and said, ¡°Bring me the baby, kill the mother or do whatever you wish with her.¡± Lustfully, all ten of the bandit¡¯s eyes shined with that information, she after all had a good figure and was well endowed. Quick to react, the bandit holding her arm ripped the baby from her grasp with seemingly little effort and handed it to Azon. Traumatized, she was too shook up to put up any resistance and the bandits effortlessly dragged her back to the hut for some personal time. Feigning ignorance of their actions, Azon lifted the baby up and took a good look at the baby. What surprised him was during this whole ordeal the baby had remained silent and did not cry even once. Glancing at the baby he noticed the baby¡¯s sparkling blue eyes gaze back at him. Giving off a creepy sensation, the baby¡¯s eyes seemed to pierce through his very soul. Shivering and shaking that feeling off, he lowered the child back down. Feeling rather quite pleased with themselves, after thirty minutes the bandits came back out of the hut and walked back over to his location. Still holding the baby, Azon then led the men toward the main part of the village. As they neared the village he paused momentarily and asked a nearby bandit on the outskirts of the village, ¡°Where is Vanrus?¡± Responding to him, the bandit pointed to a house down the road. This caused him to raise an eyebrow, but he nodded at the bandit and tossed him five silver coins. Clumsily catching them, the bandit smiled greedily and said, ¡°Thank you sir, you honor me.¡± He paid no heed to anyone else and abandoned the ten bandits following him, leaving them to their own devices. Currently still holding the baby, he trekked ahead towards the house that Vanrus was said to be in. Approaching the house, several bandits were stationed outside and he quickly learned that Vanrus was with a woman. In all honesty, he frowned on the concept of his men lying with women not belonging to them, but did not want to disturb his business and waited outside. Stricken by his previous delusion of greed, he already was quite disgusted with himself that he allowed the ten bandits to rape the woman who gave birth to the baby in his arms, and started to get restless with Vanrus for taking too long. A bandit stationed outside the house, upon noticing his restlessness, decided it was best to inform Vanrus that he was outside. Swiftly, the bandit entered the house for but a moment then promptly left the house. Just mere moments after, a pained shrill could be heard as Vanrus skewered the poor women. Almost nonchalantly, he stepped outside the house with blood dripping from his sword while wearing a satisfied grin. Approaching Azon, Vanrus quickly becoming more professional and put his fist to his chest bowed his head, and respectfully said, ¡°Commander.¡± In response Azon nodded his head, he understood men needed to be rewarded for service from time to time, while he was disgusted by some of it, he saw no disrespect in his actions. Suddenly noticing the baby in Azon¡¯s arms, Vanrus was shocked but said nothing. Guessing Vanrus¡¯ sudden shock, Azon smiled slightly and said, ¡°I will be raising this child as my own. Soon after we finish here, let¡¯s head back to Fengle¡¯s Grove, there we will split up the goods.¡± Money was always a good incentive, which caused even Vanrus to smile in greed. Delighted, he replied, ¡°Yes commander, I will have the troops gather and we will bring our score in tow.¡± Content with his reply, Azon nodded and left the house. Patiently waiting on top of his horse in the middle of the village, he sat there for about an hour while his men gathered up what loot they could carry and the slaves they captured. Fortune favored him, because there was a fair amount of money and slaves from the village raid. Bringing his horse up to Azon, Vanrus nodded respectfully and lightly said, ¡°Commander.¡± Once Vanrus arrived, Azon turned to the large group of bandits to address them, and yelled, ¡°Torch the houses and let¡¯s head back to Fengle¡¯s Grove!¡± Immediately, after setting fire to the village they rode back to the bandit camp with the slaves in tow. Wasting no time, as soon as the Crimson Claw bandits arrived at Fengle¡¯s Grove, Azon went directly into his tent with the baby and ordered a crib to be made. Sadly his little excursion to find the divine artifact failed, but it had instead yielded him a living divine artifact. He decided to not dwell on his loss long since he knew that the baby might be a bigger treasure. Actually, thinking about it made him realize he had yet to give this baby a name. Staring down at the baby, he was thinking of a name when suddenly out of nowhere almost like it was inserted into his mind, he had a name come to mind. Smiling, he looked down at the baby and said, ¡°Ornias!¡± Although already his late forties, he had no children of his own so naturally, he did not know how to take care of little Ornias. Pondering, he decided to have one of the slaves that they captured from Limwell to take care of Ornias. Forming a biased opinion, he thought if they were from the same village it would be far easier than having to actually buy a random slave to take care of Ornias in his weaning years. Confident in his decision, he headed towards the area in the camp where they kept the villagers they had captured, and he took a quick look at the stock of the slaves. Glancing around, he noticed a female who would make a good fit. She was in her late twenties and held mother like qualities that could potentially be a good fit to take care of Ornias. Her physical features entailed long brown hair and hazel eyes. Looking rather pitiful, her clothing was muddy and torn in places. While she, herself was a bit bruised up and beaten, but she had nothing was broken, so she would work just fine. Satisfied with his choice, Azon ordered the Jailer to bring her out so he could size her up a bit more. Unusually frightened, she didn¡¯t dare look at him as she was led out and stared intently at the ground. Seeing her close up, he discovered she was a rather curvy and attractive female, causing lust to suddenly swell within him as his gaze peered at the beauty craving her. After snapping back to reality, he quickly looked at the jailer and replied, ¡°I am taking this one. Here this is for your troubles.¡± Graciously, he pulled out three gold coins and handed it to the jailer. He knew that she was one of the more attractive ones and most likely was currently being used for the bandit¡¯s unwinding time. Of course, the jailor would be paid to let the men have some time with the women so naturally, he wanted to compensate him for his loss of stock. He turned and asked the female, ¡°My name is Azon, and may I ask what your name is?¡± Filled with fear the female replied, ¡°Cecilia, my Lord.¡± Nodding in approval, thinking it was a good name, he said, ¡°Cecilia, I am going to give you an opportunity to live a better life. Feeling generous, I even decided to take you in under my wing and have you serve me.¡± His gaze grew fierce as he said, ¡°I only require you to obey my commands the first time they are given, no questions asked. However, if you cannot obey me, I may punish you but I shall never hurt you. Do you understand?¡± Hastily nodding, showing she understood, she said, ¡°Yes, my Lord.¡± Putting matters aside, he led her back to his tent were Ornias was sleeping in a crib that he made his men create. Gesturing towards where Ornias lay in his crib, he said, ¡°All I need from you is to take care of this child, I obtained from your village, till he matures to a man.¡± He threw his thumb out pointing to himself, and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry I will protect you, and you will have status above most men in this camp. Also if any issues arise, feel free to speak with me, and I will resolve the matter immediately.¡± Clearly, he wanted to make it apparent that she was to be treated better since he wanted to make sure she would take good care of Ornias in return. With a noticeable sincerity her lightened tone, she replied, ¡°I am most grateful, my lord. I will take care of this child for you.¡± Satisfied, his usual cold gaze became warmer and he happily nodded and said, ¡°Please do not feel constricted here, in fact I will make sure you can move around as you like. I will even give you a pin that symbolizes your mine, and if you wear it and you should be able to freely walk around anywhere in camp.¡± Being generous, he pulled out a pin that held the symbol of the Crimson Claw and handed it to her. She was hesitant in receiving the pin, but regardless pinned it on herself anyways and gratefully bowed and said, ¡°Thank you, my Lord.¡± Puzzled upon receiving the pin, she walked over to Ornias and picked him up. Gazing innocently, his bright blue eyes stared at Cecilia. Peering down back at him, she looked deep into his sparkling eyes as she felt strange and started to seemingly lose fact from reality and felt as though her body was drifting out of existence. Mysteriously, his eyes seemed wise and unfathomable as his gaze caused her to feel as if she no longer existed in this reality. Shivering, she thought to herself, ¡°Who is this child that Azon wants me to watch?¡± Previously, she had served under Amron in the village of Limwell and was aware of how great a magician he was. She could even recognize when a power beyond her was present, and she knew this child was far more than what he appeared. Chapter 3 A New Beginning Chapter 3 A New Beginning Only a single day has passed since Azon settled the matter of taking care of Ornias. Duty-bound, he wasted no time and quickly instructed the mercenaries to split up the money and the cargo from the village raid. Then regarding the slaves they captured, he tasked the men guarding them to head towards Domington so they could sell them for a good price. Like-wise he also needed to leave Fengle¡¯s Grove, since he needed things from the city of Domington, especially now that he was to raise a child. While regarding Ornias, he was also rather desirous to obtain clothes for Cecilia, who wore mostly rags since her clothes were dirty and torn. His strategy was to follow the slaves to Domington; so correspondingly, he saddled up his horse as well as Cecilia¡¯s horse. After saddling up, Cecilia held young master Ornias in her arms as they rode out. Originally, her clothing was quite unpresentable, so until he purchased her new clothes, he had provided her with a crimson red robe which enshrouded her figure hiding her delicate features. Still cautious, she was decisive in keeping her hood up in order to prevent other men from seeing her pretty face and desiring her. Per his command, the slaves that they captured were being marched off from the stockades to Domington in order to put them up for auction. Catching the eyes of many, they galloped past a considerable amount of the slaves while heading to the forefront of the group; when abruptly Cecilia decided to slow down. Unabated and impolite she then yelled out, ¡°Master, I have a humble request if it isn¡¯t too much trouble.¡± Slowing down he turned his horse around presenting a slight frown showing his dissatisfaction. His gaze turned cold, because he knew these were all slaves from her village, and because this so called request was most likely in regards to that. Cautious, she paused almost reconsidering her suggestion, and then making up her mind she carefully spoke, ¡°Master, this little girl here.¡± She pointed at a girl in chains walking slowly with the other slaves. Hesitant in her decision to speak out and trying to convince Azon, she continued, ¡°I¡¯m certain this girl would make a wonderful slave for the little master when he grows of age.¡± Attempting to confirm her assessment, he looked over at the little girl she mentioned. Looking rather shabby, she wore a tattered dress that was covered in dirt and grim and what used to be blonde hair was soiled and gave off and dirty blonde color. She appeared to be no older than six, and had bruises and cuts on her body that most assuredly came from disobedience. Although beaten, she held a fire in her brilliant blue-green eyes that showed that even in her current situation she still had life in her. Taking careful note of this girl, he found that he actually agreed with Cecilia¡¯s judgement. Determining that it would be a missed opportunity otherwise, he spoke with the slaver leading the slaves to Domington and dropped a gold coin in his hands. After receiving payment to release the girl, the guard unlocked the chains on the girl and directed her towards Azon. Then the slaver quickly proceeded to make the other slaves move along and disregard the little girl¡¯s release. Taking the little girl aside, Azon hunched down to her eye level and spoke to her, ¡°My name is Azon, Little girl do you have a name?¡± Holding considerable defiance, the girl raised her head and stared at him straight in the eyes while fiercely saying, ¡°My name is Rana!¡± Rather Obvious, the difference between this girl and Cecilia was heaven and the moon. On one hand, there was Rana full of fighting spirit, on the other, was Cecilia who acted like a beaten down dog. Pleased with her spirit, he smiled and said, ¡°Rana, from now on you will follow me and I will take care of you.¡± He paused momentarily then gestured towards Cecilia and said, ¡°This woman here is called Cecilia and she will also take care of you. Now Rana, be sure to listen to Cecilia as well, she is your elder after all.¡± Glancing over where he pointed, she saw Cecilia and Ornias for the first time and immediately changed her disposition. In the end Cecilia was from her same village. While Ornias, being a newborn, she could deduce was most likely the exact same baby that her grandma Daphiel was helping giving birth to. With the sudden realization, she turned back to Azon smiled slightly and said, ¡°Little Rana wishes you to take good care of her.¡± At the sudden change in her disposition, his gaze grew slightly warm and he couldn¡¯t help but let out a hearty laugh. While feeling favorably towards Rana, he decided to place her in front of him on the horse as he galloped ahead with Cecilia holding little Ornias trailing behind. Unperturbed, Rana still held the defiance in her eyes as they rode but she knew that through this man she could escape a worse designated fate, so she casually put on a pretense of gratitude. Sadly, she didn¡¯t know that Daphiel was dead and she tried to look for her among the slaves as they rode, but she was unsuccessful and couldn¡¯t find her. It was rather traumatizing for a six year old girl to be all alone with no one to take care of her. Although Rana was smart enough to realize she would never see Daphiel again, she at least wanted to know whether she was dead or enslaved. So knowing that her circumstance was dire, she decided that Azon could provide her an opportunity. Considering how rich he was in being able to purchase her as well as have Cecilia and Ornias, she was positive she could live a better life. ¡°Indeed, this man Azon must be an important figure,¡± she thought. Throughout the journey she was not able to discuss anything with Cecilia while she rode with Azon and she decided to wait till they stopped to make camp. Given their pace the journey to Domington would at most take two days and they would need to stop to make camp soon. Without marching along with the slaves it could probably only take a day but marching with the slaves offered more protection because of all the guards. Finally after the sun lowered down and was about to disappear from the horizon, the guards that were escorting the slaves decided to make camp. Once the whole caravan slowed down and started to pitch tents, Azon took the initiative and slid off his horse. Leading the horses and tying them up to a log he then proceeded to help Rana off the horse by picking her up and was gentle in setting her on the ground. Then he moved to Cecilia, and trying to be delicate with her and Ornias, he carefully helped her off her horse as well. Leading the two women into the makeshift camp he instructed a couple guards to watch over their horses. By now Rana could tell Azon was indeed an important person because the guards of the slaves provided him with his own tent and catered to his every whim. She started to realize that he was most likely the Leader or an important figurehead of these men because of how they acted towards him and how he treated them. The admiration the men showed him was very amicable and his confidence in them was shown in return. A tent for them was already prepared by the caravan guards, and under directions of the guards, he lead them towards the tent provided. Closely following behind him, Cecilia and Rana were able to get a glimpse of a large tent surrounded by a series of smaller tents. It was apparent some men did not have any tents at all and would have to sleep on the ground outside. Arriving at the largest tent he lifted up the tent flap revealing that the tent was indeed very spacious and much larger than any of the other nearby tents. It was assured to be able to fit Rana, Cecilia, Ornias and him within the same tent. The tent itself seemed to be made for ten people but it was just to be occupied by the four of them. Obviously there were no beds, but rather comfortable animal furs were sprawled on the ground and pillows stuffed with feathers. Other men in the camp would not be as lucky as them and would definitely not be sleeping in such lavishness on the journey to Domington. Gesturing inside, he politely said, ¡°Go ahead and sleep here. However, I will not be sleeping with you and will be outside with the men tonight.¡± His words surprised the two women since they assumed he would rather sleep in comfort then on rocks. Seeing his resolute sincerity, both of the women grew some respect for the man. Flattered at the gesture, Cecilia took the initiative to respond sweetly by saying, ¡°Thank you your grace for your benevolence.¡± It was not as if she choked on bile while saying those words, because she was indeed truly grateful and touched. In fact it has been two days that she¡¯s been with him, and yet he still has not touched her like the other men did since she was enslaved. This left a very good impression on her, but she still felt guarded. She knew full well that she could not refuse him if he wanted her in that manner. As Azon exited the tent closing the flap, he left Rana and Cecilia holding Ornias alone. Instantly after Azon left, Rana let out a noticeable sigh. Cecilia also relaxed a bit and took but a moment to gently set down the sleeping Ornias on the animal furs. Afterwards she straightened herself back out and looked at Rana, knowing that they would now be able to finally talk about everything that has transpired. Slightly smiling Rana looked up at Cecilia and said, ¡°It¡¯s a bit unfortunate given the situation but it¡¯s good to see you Cecilia.¡± Without waiting for her to respond Rana ran over and gave her a big hug not letting go. Right now having someone Rana knew, now that her whole world was shattered, it meant a lot to her and she needed Cecilia¡¯s support. Cecilia gingerly patted Rana¡¯s head then hunched down and hugged Rana back. Throughout the entire time with Azon she had never cried, but now that Rana was hugging her, they couldn¡¯t help but cry together at how their lives changed. Tears streamed down her face as she mumbled, ¡°It¡¯s good to see you too Rana.¡± To be honest, Cecilia and Rana were actually related since they came from the same clan and Cecilia and Daphiel were actually close neighbors in the village so it wasn¡¯t strange they acted this way. Wiping away her tears Rana couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Cecilia do you know anything about my Grandmother?¡± Tears still plastered on Cecilia face, she became grim at the thought. She could only shake her head as she stammered, ¡°Ra¡­ Rana¡­ I didn¡¯t see her.¡± The bad news was already expected but nonetheless it still hit Rana hard. After all she was just six years old and she already had seen death and enslavement because of the events of the village raid. Almost unwillingly Cecilia continued staring at her recalling the horror of that day, and mumbled, ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t think¡­ she made it.¡± Tears welled up in Rana¡¯s eyes again but she kept her composure nonetheless. Seeing her strength, Cecilia also gathered herself together and said, ¡°These men seemed to have no interest in the elderly and only appeared to keep young and healthy clan members alive.¡± Understanding Cecilia¡¯s meaning she had to just accept the truth of the matter. Daphiel was most likely dead and she no longer had a grandmother anymore. She could only rely on Cecilia from now on because she was the only family that was not going to be sold off, never to be seen again. Somewhere out there she knew she would find her mother, but now that the village was gone her mother would not be able to find her. Instead she could only take the initiative to try to find her mother in her place. Resolving herself, she made a vow that she would grow strong and find her mother. After letting out their feelings both women were physically exhausted and fell asleep next to little Ornias. The following morning as the caravan was getting ready to move out, Azon woke up the two women and they saddled up again and headed out with the rest of the slave caravan. The caravan also quickly packed up their tents and got the slaves on the march again. Without any delays, the journey to Domington was not too much further and they should reach there by midday. On the last leg of the journey, Rana sat saddled between the horse and Azon again while Cecilia followed behind with Ornias. Last night Azon had decided to sleep with the fellow guards of the slave caravan for two reasons. The first one being that both these women were from the same village and he knew they would feel restrained with him present so he wanted to give them time alone to sort their feelings out. Secondly, he was concerned on the condition of the slaves. As the Crimson Claw leader, he wanted to make sure they were presentable for auction. Although the guardsmen might not care if they were missing teeth or were bleeding upon presentation there would be less money in their coffers. As they continued trekking along the road the trees surrounding them started to thin out and tree stumps and visible sign of human deforestation could be seen. Domington was a large trading port after all and was the third largest city in Tolboud so the amount of wood and resources it demanded was not a small figure. Passing the tree line of the forest, the slave caravan could now see farm lands with small huts stretching out for several next several miles. In the far distance a vast array of houses could be seen conglomerated together surrounding giant black stone walls which blocked the view of seeing further into the grandeur of the city. A sparkle of blue could be seen along the horizon as this city bordered the ocean of Melanra. The sun was shining high above and shined down on the Ocean giving it the beautiful blue glint. Neither Cecilia nor Rana have ever seen the ocean and were amazed at the vastness and beauty of it. Matching well to the contrast of the Ocean was the big dominating presence of Domington with its large black walls. As the caravan drew closer to the large walls the road started to become paved and grew larger. Azon galloped slightly ahead of the caravan since he was the basically in charge of this group. While Rana was positioned in front of him on the horse and so she had a good view of Domington. Looking around on the main road they were traveling along, she saw the houses lined up along it. The road itself wound slightly left and eventually met up with the large black menacing wall of Domington. The specific location of the wall the road went to was where big black massive doors were spread open inwards as people traveled in and out of the city. On the outside of these doors intricate figures were carved depicting the nine saints of the Church of Ascension. Domington was in fact one of the few cities that held an important acknowledgment to the church since it was a major port to Gramrot where the church¡¯s core was centered. The figures depicted were well defined sculptures and showed them reaching to the heavens in order to achieve the Ascension the church claimed it could provide. There was six female saints depicted on the mural, these six females were known as Eunomia, Themis, Astraea, Dike, Eirene and Iustitia. The last three saints of the Church of Ascension were Nomos, Tius and Forseti all males. Out of the nine saints at the forefront was Eunomia the Lawful, flying high in the air soaring to the heavens. Wearing light and decorated armor, she wielded a sword that pierced through the heavens leading the way for the other eight behind her. Following close behind Eunomia, there was Nomos who wielded a spear and wore strong study armor fitting of a man. Graceful and elegant next to Nomos, there was Themis who wore a set of magician robes as she wielded a staff poised and ready. Magnificent and dangerous, Astraea followed behind wearing loose garments and wielded a sword that shot out thunder. Next to her side was Tius, a rather big man in thick armor who wielded an ax and a shield as large as his body. Fanning outwards in a triangle formation, Dike soared behind wearing a dress of exceeding extravagance. While she personally held no weapons, she still held a frightening aura as she instead looked ahead with one hand out stretched and the other clenched into a fist by her side. On the other side of the formation, opposite Dike, was Eirene. She was also a magician and wore a light robe wielding a staff like Themis but held a book in the other hand. Forseti was directly behind Eunomia and in between Dike and Eirene. Putting off a powerful presence, he wore animal furs and wielded a large spear in one hand with a shield in the other. However, out of the nine saints, Iustitia was the furthest from reaching Ascension depicted on the doors. This was because breaking the triangle formation she still stood on the ground atop a large rock with her head held high. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. She wore a blindfold over her eyes with visuals signs of blood dripping onto her face and a cape embroidered with designs. The dress she wore conformed to her figure and lavishly adhered to her appearance. Upholding justice and right from wrong, she held a pair of scales in one hand and a long sword in the other. The power of this mural was explosive and it definitely conveyed a sense of superiority as these nine saints attempted Ascension through the heavens. Even though the appearance of the mural was split in two since the doors were open inwardly, the image was still conveyed properly. Unperturbed by the mural, Azon walked towards these large open doors with the slave caravan following closely behind. Nearly fifty Guards were stationed at these doors and they would inspect those entering or leaving the city. As he drew closer a small group of the guards made haste in approaching him. Only five or so of the men approached him, and ultimately the squad captain was the one who asked him a question directly. ¡°What¡¯s your business here at Domington?¡± The captain asked roughly. Taking a better glance at Azon and the slave caravan, the guard spoke again without letting him reply, ¡°This looks like a slave Caravan you came to sell your wares?¡± Trying to be polite to the rather rude captain, he smiled then nodded while saying, ¡°Indeed we are. I came here to sell a fine stock of slaves.¡± The guard condescendingly waved his hand gesturing them entry and snorted saying, ¡°Go on through, I don¡¯t have time to bother with you, just remember your slave sell tax is due before your leave.¡± Frowning, he forgot that they recently implemented a form of taxation on slave merchants so that the cities could reap profits for providing an environment to sell slaves openly without fear of someone wanting to stop them. It was a preposterous taxation, but slavery was not entirely considered humane either so to let them conduct the slavery business without troubles it was an ideal situation. Motioning forward he slowly led the caravan inside past those large black doors with the murals engraved upon them. Inside the city, past the doors, laid a vast network of house and manors. Some of the buildings were exquisite mansions and the most outstanding buildings were located in the center of the city. The largest building appeared to be almost like a castle but it was actually the main cathedral for the Church of Ascension in Domington. Further down the main road they walked on, a scene of shops and stalls were spread throughout the city. The main road then split off and on the left hand side the road started going downhill where further down the docks were located. The docks held a large market area were the slaves would be put up for auction. Azon motioned the closest caravan guard and spoke softly, ¡°Take the slaves down to the marketplace and put them up for auction. I have other matters to attend to. Just be sure to pay the slave tax and head on back to camp. Do not wait up for me.¡± The caravan guard nodded showing he understood and said, ¡°Of course commander, I will do as you ask.¡± The slave caravan that had accompanied them for the past two days, now walked past Cecilia and Azon¡¯s horses towards the market place, leaving them all alone. Getting off his horse, Azon gently helped Rana down. Then he proceeded to walk over to Cecilia and helped her down as well. Cecilia and Rana were in complete silence as they followed him take both the horses¡¯ reigns and lead them to a stable keeper within the city. Rather generously, he paid the stable keeper to take care of the horses until he returned. With that out of the way, he stared at the two women and shook his head. Cecilia, who was carrying Ornias, still wore the red robe that he had lent her and Rana looked absolutely dreadful with a muddy and ripped dress. In fact Rana¡¯s body seemed to look no better than her clothes, as she was obviously beaten by the slavers. Sighing he knew that new clothes, food and possibly a good bath for them were in order. His usual icy gaze seemed to be warming up with empathy to their suffering. Usually he was a cold and calculating man especially after his exile, but now had someone to protect and assume responsibility for. Slowly his character was changing. Although he could still make brutal decisions, since he was the commander of a group that was portrayed as bandits, his heart never truly felt right with some of the decisions he made as the leader. Most of the decisions came from the Azarasi Kingdoms nobles, but ultimately it was him that gave the order to kill or kidnap. He had to admit the incident of the village of Limwell was not something he typically would sanction, but he was power hungry for that divine artifact. In that hunger for power, he didn¡¯t care for the lives he ruined or the after effects because with a divine artifact he most assuredly could return from exile and be welcomed by the capital. Unfortunately he did not get a divine artifact and instead got Ornias. Glancing at Ornias in Cecilia¡¯s arms he smiled thinking dotingly, ¡°We can¡¯t forget about you either. I¡¯ll need to get you some things as well.¡± He felt if he raised Ornias as his own maybe Ornias could return his lost glory in his stead. With that thought in mind, he led the females and his adopted son he stole to their first stop which is getting new clothing. Being the smart person he was, he wanted to get clothes that would suit Cecilia well and get clothes that Rana could wear and also grow into. On that note, he bought several pairs of clothes for them and even allowed Cecilia and Rana to choose some of their own clothes. They seemed to open up a little more to him after the purchases, seeing that he was genuinely a pretty good guy deep down. Taking a decent amount of time, he scouted out good clothing for Ornias while he was at it since toddlers need clothes too. However, it was far harder finding clothes for babies, but luckily he found a store owner that recently had a baby and bought clothing from the man. Happy with their recent purchases, the group walked around the city while Azon was on the lookout for a good place to stay the night. They passed multiple inns until he found a good one called the Grey Domain Inn and led the women inside. Entering the inn there was a small area off to the right side where tables and chairs were set up around a bar. Around the bar area a few of people were sitting down at the same time as chatting amongst each other while drinking and eating. Azon looked at Cecilia and said, ¡°Wait here while I get us a place to stay for the night and a warm bathe for you two to clean yourselves.¡± Leaving the two women alone with Ornias, he walked up to the left side of the inn where the rooms were and approached the counter. The inn keeper was a middle aged man in a dusty set of clothes. The man lay back in a chair behind the counter quietly sleeping. Attempting to wake up the innkeeper, he cleared his throat and the innkeepers eyes peeled open. Startled the innkeeper rapidly looked around the room before calming down and noticing he had a guest. Composing himself, the innkeeper stood up and said, ¡°Welcome friend!¡± Flashing a warm smiling, he asked, ¡°Were you in need of a room?¡± Amazed at the man¡¯s quick adaption, Azon¡¯s mouth curved upward in a half smile and said, ¡°I would like two rooms preferably and a hot bathe prepared if possible.¡± The innkeeper nodded and said, ¡°Hmmm¡­ indeed we have two rooms I can prepare and I will have them get a hot bathe started for you immediately.¡± Satisfied, Azon gave the innkeeper his thanks as paid for the room and bathe. Standing where he told them to wait, Cecilia and Rana didn¡¯t move not because he told them not to but rather because they didn¡¯t know this city and didn¡¯t know anyone else here. The time they spent with him proved was also not entirely a bad man either. Even since he paid for them, he had not even treated them like slaves and seemed to be rather considerate to their needs. In fact on the journey to Domington, more than once Rana had to go to the bathroom and Azon would let her down off the horse and threaten that if anyone dared to watch her go to the bathroom that man would be expected to be a dead man. In short simple acts Azon proved to be a decent man although he was still the leader of thugs that destroyed their village, killed, and enslaved many members of their clan. If not for this fact Cecilia and Rana would have no issues with him but currently they still couldn¡¯t trust him. Wielding a pretty keen sense of hearing, Cecilia suddenly picked up a conversation taking place on one of the tables to their left. At the table, a man was chatting with a female who both appeared to be wearing magician robes. Excitedly, the man was saying, ¡°¡­I¡¯m telling you, that magician completely outclassed Gramus, the Master Magician from the imperial court of Tolboud.¡± ¡°Gramus was visiting here in Domington and was handling matters related to recent developments in Gramrot. The man who defeated him if I remember correctly¡­ I think his name was Novaron.¡± He placed his hand on his chin, stared off into the distance, and thought for a moment. The man pondered briefly then resolved himself, said, ¡°Ya, he called himself Novaron.¡± Resuming his previous excitement, he said, ¡°Shortly after beating the Master Magician, Novaron went and took his seat as Master Magician and handed it off to his apprentice. Now his apprentice is in one of the most powerful positions in the Tolboud court, and he isn¡¯t a weakling either.¡± The female magician that sat across from him was not amused and said, ¡°Stop spewing lies the Master Magician is at that of a seventh or possibly eighth rank. Unless this Novaron was a peak Magician in the cultivation of the Laws, there is no way he would beat Gramus, the Tolboud¡¯s imperial court Magician.¡± The man shook his head and said, ¡°I was there Tallia, and I saw him not only use the Laws of Magic to surpass him but he seems proficient in the Laws of the Warrior too.¡± The man leaned forward and said excitedly, ¡°Do you remember that dense fog a couple nights back, well apparently Novaron claimed that there was a bandit attack in his apprentices¡¯ village where bandits torched it.¡± ¡°He is demanding justice, and wants the imperial forces to take action against these bandits.¡± The woman named Tallia laughed and said, ¡°The imperial forces taking care of the Crimson Claw Bandits? What a joke they don¡¯t do anything about crime within their own capital what would make them heed this man¡¯s request?¡± A shine gleaned in the Magicians eyes as he said, ¡°Because¡­ he is from the Church of Ascension!¡± Gasping Tallia said, ¡°No way¡­ a real cultivator from the church? Damos you better be telling me the truth!¡± The man named Damos nodded and then shrugged saying, ¡°It seems that the imperial court is going to discuss the matter. It might take some time before they put pressure on the bandits¡± Puzzled, Cecilia eyebrows furrowed, since she didn¡¯t know if she should be pleased or worried; because she didn¡¯t know this magician called Novaron, and only knew of Amron. Was perhaps the Apprentice that Novaron spoke of Amron, and was it their village that they were talking about, unfortunately she could only guess. While she was deep in thought, Azon came back over and said, ¡°I got us two rooms and they have a bath for you two fine women.¡± Struggling, her heart was now in conflict over this man, wondering was he good or bad. Objectively, he had just gotten two rooms just so the women could have their own privacy. Yet, his actions as the Crimson Claw leader showed him as merciless. Without dwelling on it anymore, she thanked him and followed him to their rooms. After arriving at the rooms, the women thanked Azon and entered their own rooms while he proceeded to enter his own appropriate room next door. When Cecilia and Rana arrived in the center of their room where a tub of water laid, smiles cracked on their faces. They could now finally wash off the dirt and grime from their bodies. Ecstatic, Rana was the first one to ditch her clothes and spring into the warm water with Cecilia taking it slow and easing herself into the water. They decided to take turns to wash each other¡¯s bodies good and proper. After the wonderful bath they were happy and they both had a good night¡¯s rest knowing that life will definitely be better. Azon had decided to let the women have some personal time and elected to take care of Ornias that night. In truth he and the child rarely spent any time together so he wanted to form a better bond with the baby. Luckily, Ornias seemed to surprise him by being well mannered and not crying even once throughout the night. Feeling confused, it was a mystery to him because he knew babies normally needed to be fed at regular intervals yet Ornias was a bit special and only grew hungry a couple times in the day. He knew that the moment he stared into the baby¡¯s eyes for the first time, after he took him from his mother, that he was special. Even now the strange baby slept peacefully and would sleep long intervals like regular grown men. Growing tired himself, Azon eventually turned over and fell asleep with Ornias. The following morning after waking, Azon knocked on the women¡¯s door and woke them up as well. They then promptly gathered their belongings and left the inn. In a hurry to divide up the recent earnings for the slave sale he didn¡¯t want to waste any more time and wanted to head straight back to the camp. After he picked back up the horses for the stable master he decided he wanted to hold Ornias on the journey back and continue his bonding time with the child. Cecilia thought it was strange that he wanted to keep Ornias close to him all the sudden but relinquished Ornias to him regardless. The arrangement on the journey back to Fengle¡¯s Grove was that Rana would ride with Cecilia and Azon would keep Ornias with him. As they rode back the only times Azon didn¡¯t have Ornias was when he grew feisty because he was hungry. Thankfully, without escorting a caravan of slaves it only took a single day to return to Fengle¡¯s Grove. While returning back to camp they had no unfortunate encounters and returned promptly with few stops. Once they reached the camp Azon immediately led Rana and Cecilia to his tent, where he handed Rana a pin of the Crimson Claw just like he did for Cecilia. He stared intently at Rana then said, ¡°Rana, this pin is to show you are under my protection.¡± His mouth curved upwards in a warm smile as he said, ¡°If any problem arises in this camp you be sure to tell me and it will be sorted out.¡± Stunned, she hesitantly accepted the pin. This sort of treatment she did not expect in the slightest. Feeling rather grateful, she looked up at him and said sincerely, ¡°Thank you.¡± A warm light shined in his eyes as he chuckled at her sincerity and said, ¡°Of course, of course¡­¡± With a sense of sudden urgency, he realized that he other responsibilities that demanded attention and couldn¡¯t dally any longer. With this realization he politely said, ¡°Well I have other matters to attend to now, but please make sure you feel at home.¡± Excusing himself, he briskly walked out of the tent as he attempted to find the men that escorted the slave caravan. It took some time but after finding them he meticulously handled the earning from selling the slaves and distributed it amongst the men of the camp. Now that he took care of the most pressing matter, with slight reservations, he tasked his men to build him a small house outside the encampment area where he could raise Ornias efficiently but still reside over the camp. Using the recent amount of money from the village raid he paid for materials and commissioned his men to make him a nice place. In a couple of months with the completion of the house he would start a new life with Ornias and these two women. Delayed Chapter/Updates now and future *UPDATE as of 11/1* I apologize for the delay in giving you guys anything, but there are events in my life at the moment that are out my control and I cannot continue writing until things become resolved. I''m sorry for this inconvenience and I apologize for taking you on a journey that I cannot complete for a while. I am not ending this, I have far to much vested into it, but I am rather getting my own life in order so that I can continue. *UPDATE as of 10/5* I just posted chapter 8, and I apologize for the delay. I noticed combing over the first bit of chapters my timeline was slightly askew so I had to fix some dates to be able to exact the age of Ornias and Rana, just an FYI. I apologize for that and any confusion I caused. There is good news by the way. Chapter 8 was actually so big I decided to split it into two chapters. That means in the next day or two chapter nine will be out so look forward to it! Just a side note, I might be deleting older updates on here, because I don''t think they are needed, unless you guys want me to keep them. *UPDATE as of 9/26* I am working strongly on chapter eight and it''s a thick storylined chapter so it may take longer than desired. Also next week is my first set of midterms. So If we are luck, I can pull the chapter out, if not It will come out next week. Oh and I am reworking the first set of chapters again. Just an FYI. I always desire improving my story so that will be a time consumer as well. Hopefully everyone is enjoying reading my novel. *UPDATE as of 9/18* If you haven''t already seen, I have changed the prologue drastically. I have been meaning to do it for awhile but wanted to provide more chapters to you guys instead. So if you haven''t already, I would recommend rereading it, because it''s way better. *UPDATE as of 9/14* So if anyone took the time to read all these updates, I will most likely be posting a new chapter once a week give or take couple of days. My chapters are a little lengthy at 5000-6000 words and I do extensive research into many things before starting to write them. Unless you guys want to see shorter chapters like many novels on here have you will have to wait. On a separate note, hopefully you guys can see my writing quality has improved. I kinda wanna hear some feedback in that regard. Do any of you like my newer chapters I am releasing compared to my older and if so why? I will most likely be doing another major rework here in the next month is why I ask, and I want to improve them based on feedback. *UPDATE as of 8/23* I finished my first rework through all my previous chapters and I promise I have been working on chapter 4, so just bear with my procrastination a little longer. With that out of the way, I have been putting a lot of focus onto creating a website for my novel where you can support me and learn more about Laws of Defiance and its world. I plan on eventually having a map of the world and many other useful things so you can feel more immersed in the novel. If you want to check out my site I will post the link here. Stolen story; please report. Now to appease the few, I do have a teaser of chapter four ready to hold you over until it''s completely finished, and yes I purposely choose to end the teaser there because I''m evil. Also this week marks the start of, yep the dreadful time sucking thing, college classes. I am taking five classes this semester so I will not be able to promise a patterned schedule now that everything chaotic in my life just calmed down. But I assure you I will strive to stay motivated and keep active with releasing material or at least inform, you wonderful readers, why I''m just to pure lazy. Now, I want to thank everyone who has enjoyed reading my continuously improving novel and without further ado... I''ll post chapter fours teaser. *UPDATE as of 8/15* Partially due to mental exhaustion and just pure laziness I only ended up rewriting chapter 2 and still haven''t completely finished chapter 3 while on vacation. Upon returning, I have received additional feedback from fellow members here and I am trying to improve the chapters even more. I have been constantly going back to previous chapters to fix errors and change things that I have typed in a document. So sorry for the long wait to everyone but hopefully sometime next week we will start to see a slow continuation of the writing as I can get chapter 4 and so on out. *UPDATE as of 8/6* I have good news and bad news. The good news is I just concluded my last final today. (Hooray) I am also having health concerns(Slightly bad) so I have taken days off work following vacation time for this weekend and all of next week. So I should be able to devote my time to fixing my book and posting chapters again.(Good news) The dreadfully bad news is I am going out of town for the next several days and will not have any internet to update the progress I make as I go. However, once I return I will definitely have finished redoing the chapters for better readability and I most likely will have one or two chapters finished that I can post. I know most of you still don''t care, but to the select few that do I am posting this notice. Firstly, thank you for reading my novel it makes me feel proud I have a few readers whoever you are. Secondly, believe it or not I have been juggling four college classes during the summer while still taking time to write this, and well finals are upon me. I need to put my focus towards passing my classes and thus going to put off writing, but not completely. Lastly, I have been reworking my previous chapters from some helpful advice from the community here, thanks Unice5656. So chapter 4, Harsh Methods, will most likely be delayed so I can have it on the same standards as the reworked chapters will. Chapter 4 Harsh Methods Chapter 4 Harsh Methods Before knowing it, two years passed by in a flash and the house that Azon commissioned was already finished. Many things have changed in the past two years, but the most drastic change was that Azon acted as a father figure for Ornias. This was a very surprising development that occurred, and truth be told, it had changed Azon completely. The typical rigid, ruthless, and despicable man was gone. The cure for his change was the exact same child he stole while killing and enslaving an entire village out of greed. His heart of ice was melted by the young baby and he devoted everything to ensure to raise him practically as his own. Never having children before, this was an opportunity that he always desired. One day he would eventually tell Ornias his past and who he really was, while pass down to him all his skills and techniques. By giving him all the knowledge he had at his disposal he could pass to him all of his hopes. Even now, the shame and disgrace after the exile from the capital of the Azarasi Kingdom still stained his ego. Yet, he could find redemption in his newly adopted son. If Ornias could one day become powerful enough, he could reverse the Church of Ascension order of exile, and possibly even get a seat into the church himself. This was all still a farfetched dream and the chances of anyone become a member of the Church of Ascension, required them to be supremely outstanding individuals. But the fact remained, with the combination of Azon¡¯s knowledge and the strange circumstances of Ornias being a living divine artifact, he was sure it was more than a possibility. If perhaps Azon never got exiled, it was actually very possible for him to become a member of the church himself, since he was a very gifted individual. Yet, without the help of his clan to further increase his cultivation, and the ignorant slaying of the man who sealed his doom, he was stuck in his current predicament. Acting like a pawn, he had just finished another assignment for the Azarasi kingdom and was heading back to his house. Balancing his role as father for Ornias and as leader of the Crimson Claw Mercenaries was tough, and he had gone through some close shaves. Some of the missions were dangerous while others were not, and in this manner he had spent the last two years. Trudging back home through the forest, he led a group of warriors from the Crimson Claw Mercenaries elite core. Out of the group, Azon was the strongest ranked warrior, being a fifth ranked warrior. The warriors surrounding him were all around his same cultivation as well. Lately the missions have become increasingly difficult and he was being forced to use his most powerful members. Once they arrived in the vicinity of Fengle¡¯s Grove, Azon bade farewell to the other warriors and went off alone to his house just outside the perimeter. The house he had paid for two years ago was a rather large building. It sat at the edge of the encampment on a hill overlooking the rest of the area. Approaching his residence Azon could only admire the architecture every time. He was lucky and had found a mason within the men and quickly tasked the man to assist with building the house. The man proved his worth and even was able to speed up the estimated construction to only six months. Once the six months passed, Azon was able to move in with everyone and practically start a different life. Putting the past out of his mind, Azon finally arrived at the door and entered his house. After enter his own residence, Cecilia greeted him with a slight bow and said, ¡°Glad to see you back, I have supper ready.¡± Smiling apologetically Azon scratched his head while replying, ¡°Thanks, sorry to make you wait on my behalf.¡± By now he knew that they seemed to always wait to eat till he was present so naturally, he felt bad about making them wait on him again. While still feeling bad for his late arrival, a sudden little blur ran up to his leg and hugged him. Laughing, Azon smiled and looked down. That little blur was in fact Ornias. Now two years old, he was capable of running, jumping, and speaking words. He was a brilliant child who seemed to develop very fast. Looking up at Azon with his bright blue eyes shining, he said, ¡°Papa, I missed you. We was waiting to eat for you. Mama made food!¡± Tugging on his pant leg, he said, ¡°Come on papa, I¡¯m hungry!¡± Smiling Azon patted his little head. While he could get the gist of what was said, Ornias still didn¡¯t speak full sentences properly yet. Although, he did have a rather large vocabulary compared to most other children his age. With his devilish grin, Azon picked Ornias up into his arms and said, ¡°Ok, let¡¯s eat.¡± They followed Cecilia into the dining room, where the food was already laid out, and sat down around the table. Shortly after all the commotion of Azon¡¯s arrival, Rana came into the dining room and slumped down in a chair, participating in eating as well. She looked nothing like the Rana from two years ago. Now eight years old, she didn¡¯t much care for wearing dresses anymore and instead wore a simple shirt and pants. Even her complexion was miles apart from what it used to be. She no longer had any bruises or cuts on her body and her hair wasn¡¯t dirtied by mud anymore and instead shined a brilliant gold. Everyone finished eating and since it was late, Cecilia led Ornias to his room. Shadowing her, Rana trailed behind and helped change Ornias while Cecilia read him a book. Finishing changing the two year old, Rana excused herself and left his room. When Azon originally purchased Rana it was to help Ornias and do his bidding as he grew up. While she did help with Ornias, she was not forced to like planned, but instead did so willingly. The reason behind this was that everyone around him knew that he was a little special. Not to mention, he came from her same village, so she felt obligated to care for a fellow clansman. Cecilia was still reading to Ornias after Rana left. Soaking it in like a sponge, he quietly listened to every word of the book before falling asleep. In this manner, she usually put him to sleep once he started to understand speech and could talk. Amazingly, he held an unusually brilliant mind he always understood difficult things in his young age. In fact he could already tell that Rana was not related to him. But through his words, he seemed to think Cecilia and Azon was indeed his parents. At least that is how he treated them. No longer awake, Cecilia pulled a blanket over Ornias and left the room in a quiet manner. At this time, Rana had already retired to her room and was reading a book as well. After moving into the house almost two years ago Cecilia took charge of teaching her to read and how to become a woman. While she liked reading, she did not enjoy the ladylike etiquette, and seemed stubborn in that regard. For the first year that they have lived here, Cecilia had slept in her own room but now she slept with Azon. This was an unexpected development that had occurred, but it was a welcomed one by Azon. As she came into the bedroom, slowly undressing and moving towards the bed, she peered over at Azon laying there and said, ¡°You know, I can¡¯t help but worry every time you have to do those dangerous missions.¡± Smirking, Azon replied, ¡°You know I don¡¯t have much say in the matter, but I do enjoy your concern for me. To ease your heart, I may have to leave you with something next time.¡± (*note* This scene is a little heated so only view the spoiler only if you want so gritty details.) Spoiler : With that he leaned forward and kissed her softly at first, then took to kissing her deeply. He placed his left hands behind her neck while the fingers from his right hand gingerly caressed her thigh. Enjoying the sensation of their skin touching, his fingers trickled across her body touching areas that caused pleasure for both parties. Unable to resist any longer, he pounced on her, and howls of more than just wolves could be heard throughout the night. Exhausted from the physical activity, Azon was fast asleep. Cecilia however, was still awake staring at his figure thinking about how she got to this point. Originally she hated his guts and even had thoughts of murdering him several times over. The truth was he was the Crimson Claw Bandit leader that put her entire village in chains and burned it down. To be more precise, he didn¡¯t personally do it but it was by his orders. She had suffered deeply because of his orders. Because of him, she was forced to watch as her own family was put to the sword, while she was captured and used to sate all the bandits¡¯ lust at camp. It was absolutely horrendous that she was forcibly raped and beaten if she didn¡¯t do to what she was told. When Azon came and paid the guard for her, she at first thought he too just wanted to have a quick good time with her as well. Yet, after asking for her name, he stated he would be giving her a better life then the rest of those imprisoned. At first, she thought he just paid to permanently make her his so he could have more than just have a quick minute with her. Then by listening in to the other bandits while passing by she learned who he was. It was then she discovered, he was the Crimson Claws bandit leader, and she instantly had thoughts to kill him. After he led her into his tent that day, she thought that she knew exactly what he wanted from her. But when she entered, that wasn¡¯t the case, instead she was shocked to find out she was to take care of a baby. On top of that, she was given higher privileges than most of the bandits, and was handed a pin to show that she was not to be trifled with. She was flabbergasted, yet slightly happy with this rapid change. Indeed her life would be better from now on, but she knew she would most likely still have to lay with this man whenever he wanted. However, that day never came and they ended up leaving the bandit encampment and started living in a large house overlooking the entirety of Fengle¡¯s Grove. All the while he still never asked her for anything other than taking care of the child. Respect started to grow, as she started to like him and before knowing it, she found herself attracted to him. He was strong, smart, and capable. But most of all, she found herself worrying about him during his assignments tasked by the Azarasi Kingdom. Terrified, she had even cried in his arms when he came back covered in blood and wielding a new scar on his chest. After that, she couldn¡¯t lie to herself anymore. Because she was in love with him, and shortly after she started sleeping with him. Recounting the entirety of past events, she stopped staring at the man who changed her life for better or worse, and turned over then fell asleep herself. Per routine, Azon woke up around six and started his morning exercises like he did every day. He was a fifth ranked warrior on the verge of ascending to the sixth, and he could feel that the trial was close at hand. With a resolute mindset, he would practice sword techniques then do other physical activities trying to keep himself fit and in shape. It also helped that he was active in accomplishing tasks assigned by the Azarasi Kingdom and would regularly do dangerous missions. This provided him with regular combat experience to further cultivate his body and mind¡¯s harmony. Especially with the current predicament of his Crimson Claw Mercenaries, it provided him with more than enough time to do as he pleased. This allowed him to become more of a father figure for Ornias, but also spelled trouble for accomplishing his role as leader of the Fengle¡¯s Grove encampment. As a rather recent development, the Tolboud Kingdom which reigned over this area started to provide free military support to caravans and started patrolling and enforcing the area of Fengle¡¯s Mourning. According to recent reports issued by Azarasi spies, the supposed Crimson Claw Bandits offended a member of the Church of Ascension. While members belonging to the Church of Ascension held strict rules to not directly interfere with matters, they could put pressure on the situation through their connections. If perhaps a member of the church was killed, only then would repercussions be harsh and severe, and they would kill off everyone related to the matter. But whose might would be able to dare to match someone that got hand-picked by the church? This unfortunate situation put difficulty in completing his missions and made it so his hands where tied. Due to the current predicament, the Azarasi nobles stopped giving out as many orders and started to just prioritize important targets. But these missions difficulty were now on a whole other level, and Azon was forced to use his finest elite members. Luckily, he was a sharp and an intelligent tactician, outclassing and outmaneuvering every situation handed to him with limited casualties. Sighing, he could only focus on one thing at a time, and right now he needed to overcome the mental block of reaching the sixth rank. Deep in his own thoughts, he was in complete ignorance that another presence was nearby. That person was Rana, as she was lying in the grass outside reading a book near him. Every now and then, she would look towards him doing his exercise routine. It was normal for her to come out and read books on the grass, but today was a little different. Azon was deep in concentration, swinging his sword in a variety of motions like he was practicing against someone but instead he stood alone. After some time he stopped and sat down closing his eyes while performing breathing exercises. Glancing over and noticing that he stopped sword practice, she closed her book and stood up. As she was casually walking over to him, he noticed her presence and opened his eyes. Slowly considering her words, she paused a moment after approaching him, then said, ¡°Azon, can I ask you a favor?¡± Slightly puzzled, he raised an eyebrow and then said, ¡°If it is within my powers, go ahead and speak.¡± She smiled, and with a curious sparkle in her eye, she asked, ¡°Can you send me to an academy so I can learn the Laws of a warrior?¡± Stunned, he was speechless for a moment. Looking over the girl, he noticed in her left hand was a book titled, Laws and Trials of a warrior by Elmet Manigan. He snorted and said, ¡°Silly girl, being taught the laws of a warrior first require you to physically train your body. Reading books isn¡¯t going to get you any further in becoming one. Instead you need to train and then you can proceed to follow the laws.¡± Her cheeks turned slightly pink as she realized he noticed the book. Quickly hiding it behind her back, she retorted, ¡°I am willing to train my body!¡± Laughing at her embarrassment, he said consolingly, ¡°If you truly want to train, then tomorrow morning wake up early, meet me here and I will have you train with me.¡± Ecstatic she gave a big smile, nodded, and threw him a hug. Then she turned around and ran into the house. He couldn¡¯t help but chuckle since this was the first time that she had ever given him a hug or showed any affection towards him. The following morning, Azon got up as usual to do his early morning exercises, but there was one difference, because he was joined by someone. Taking special care to make sure she woke up early, Rana was already waiting for him outside at six in the morning. Rather surprised, Azon decided to keep his remarks to himself, since she was obviously determined. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Concluding to start off harshly, he walked up to her and said, ¡°First thing we need to do is run to get our blood pumping. We will run from here, around Fengle¡¯s Grove encampment, to back here with absolutely no breaks or stopping. This is a distance of about ten kilometers, so be prepared. Afterwards we will start to work on your basic body building exercises.¡± Rana knew it might be tough, but right from the start it felt he was going hard on her. Hesitantly, she nodded her head in agreement however. Although she currently lacked the ability, she didn¡¯t want to be another pretty lady like Cecilia. Instead she wanted to be strong enough to protect herself and others. They then proceeded to jog at a good pace. However only after jogging two kilometers, she was already short on breath and couldn¡¯t keep up with Azon and slowly fell behind. Stated rather matter-of-factly, he glanced behind him and said, ¡°Your muscles need air to breathe just like you do. You will need to create a breathing pattern while running and synchronize your breathing with your stride. With a regular tempo of breath, your muscles will be able to last longer. ¡± Listening to his advice, she then tried breathing in and out with her stride, and discovered her shortness of breath slowly disappearing. At the same time she started feeling more invigorated, as if energy from somewhere was flowing into her. This was actually because oxygen was needed for the muscles to work and by creating a tempo she was allowing them to breathe. After seeing her breathing was in sync with her jog, Azon smiled to himself. But he didn¡¯t slow down for her and continued jogging at his own pace. After jogging four more kilometers, her body started to hurt and she felt soreness in her legs, as they started to protest. But it was still bearable and she persevered. At this point although she was trailing behind, she could still see Azon in the distance. Men from the encampment around the borders watched as both Azon and Rana jogged and they all lightly showed respect to Azon as he passed by. Some rather new recruits were even jogging with them for a ways, doing their own daily exercises. However as soon as they started to leave the encampment area all the recruits continued to jog around Fengle¡¯s Grove and didn¡¯t follow. As she was finishing the last two kilometer stretch, she was fighting the urge to give up and stop jogging. By this time she no longer saw Azon since he was too far out in the distance. In fact, jogging this amount to him was child¡¯s play. But he felt he needed to start Rana off somewhere. So after getting Rana started and instructing her to develop a breathing technique, he started to jog at a pace that steadily increased until he got out of her viewing distance. Soon after making sure getting out of her view, he went at his own normal speed. His actual speed was terrifyingly insane, and was only visible as a blur to those who did not understand even the first law of a warrior. He quickly was able to loop around from behind and watch as Rana struggled through the last stretch. Gritting her teeth, Rana felt like she had pushed passed her limits as she finished the final two kilometers. After reaching back to their initial starting location, she didn¡¯t see Azon around and was slightly bewildered. Then from directly behind her, she heard his voice say, ¡°Good work, we will now start your body building exercises.¡± Startled, she almost jumped and looking behind her, she spotting him leaning against a tree. Holding a puzzled expression, she didn¡¯t see him there before, so she wondered where he came from. Just as she formulated a thought, she waved the idea from her head. It was impossible for him to be that fast. To be honest, she felt exhausted and her legs were feeling sore, so for Azon to loop around her was just silly. Breathing heavily now that she wasn¡¯t pacing her breathing, she asked, ¡°So¡­ what¡¯s next?¡± He smiled evilly and said, ¡°Now you will do¡­ Five hundred Squats! I want you to keep your arms outstretched in front of you and bend your knees till your butt touches your heels.¡± Hearing this, she almost cried as her legs were already protesting and now she had to do five hundred squats. She was positive that he was getting pleasure from her pain. But all she could do was just weakly nod and start doing the squats. As she started squats, he counted for her, and if she didn¡¯t go down all the way he wouldn¡¯t count the squat. It was slightly surprising that even though her legs were sore they still kept going. This was because she was using the same breathing technique she did while jogging. It wasn¡¯t until she rounded over three hundred where she felt like she couldn¡¯t do anymore, and during one of her squats she fell backwards. Disappointed, Azon clicked his tongue and didn¡¯t count that squat, since she fell back. Completely exhausted, she lay there for a minute. Determined to see it through however, she got back up and started doing squats again while gritting her teeth. After she finished off the last squats in that manner, her legs trembled uncontrollably then collapsed under her. She decided to lay there and wait for the next directions. Pleased with her effort for the day, Azon gave her a minute to sit there and let her gather her strength back. Truthfully, he was smiling on the inside. Because he knew that she took the breathing technique he told her to heart, and she used it well. All things considered, she was rather intelligent individual and had good talent. It was possible she might even have some terrifying hidden cultivation. Now that they worked out the arms, he wanted to strengthen up her legs. Using a harsh voice, he said, ¡°Now I want you to do pushups. These pushups however, you will not be doing them with your hands but with your fingers and knuckles.¡± He raised his right hand up clenched it into a fist then curled his hand slightly up so the knuckles of his fingers showed then he stuck his thumb out. Getting on the ground, he then demonstrated the push-up. Unlike regular push-ups or even normal knuckle push-ups, the brutality of this push up was extreme. It was a combination of a finger and a knuckle push up, by using the knuckles on your fingers instead of the knuckles on your fist. Grinning like the demon he was, he stood back up and said, ¡°I want you to do it like that and do them until your arms and fingers feel numb.¡± She could only grimace and started to do those brutal finger knuckle pushups. However instead of counting this time, Azon was looking around for something. Finding what he was looking for he chuckled sinisterly. Accomplishing about a hundred of those pushups, she could suddenly feel a heavy pressure on her back and sunk down from the weight. She then noticed that Azon had placed a large sized boulder on her back. Astonished that he could be so evil, she calculated it had to weigh about thirty-five kilograms. Continuously straining herself, she continued her pushups but it was far more difficult than before. With her arms wobbling, she did two hundred more pushups before she collapsed and the boulder rolled off her. Seeing that she was completely exhausted from doing pushups, Azon strolled next to her and said, ¡°You did well today. We will end here and pick up tomorrow, doing the same thing.¡± A year of training had passed in this manner, every time Azon increased the amount she had to do. During this time, occasionally Vanrus would visit, watch, or supervise her. Even little Ornias would come outside and give Rana some support. In fact one day as she was jogging, Ornias tried to jog with her awhile, but sadly he was too young and not conditioned for it yet so he fell behind. But it was the thought that mattered and it touched Rana¡¯s heart. After finishing a ridiculous amount of pushups, pull ups, and all manner of other arm and leg exercises, Rana laid heaving on the ground. Exhausted, she rolled over and glanced at Azon. Throughout the year he began to become less and less involved with her training. Instead of supporting her, he was sitting there mediating. Then suddenly opening his eyes, he stood up and strolled over to Rana. Holding a heartfelt smile he said, ¡°You have done well this past year. I have been giving it some thought and it¡¯s time we train your punches.¡± This type of training was brutal and was pushing her body to the limit every time, so she was glad to hear this bit of news. Using her wobbling arms, she stood herself up and realized that her legs still were sore from the fifty kilometer run he made her do today. Noticing her struggle to even stand, Azon smiled and chuckled to himself. Now that her body was in this weakened state, it was perfect to have her start punches and sword fighting. Because in real battle, no matter how your body feels you have to keep fighting. This was what he was going to teach her, without her knowledge. He had her take a stance where her right foot stood in front and left leg behind. Then he instructed her to raise her fists up to her chest and from there she would jab forward her right and left fists, returning them back to her chest in quick succession. She switched foot positions, per Azon¡¯s direction, and did the same with her left side. Teaching her the basics, he taught her how to weave and dodge, jab, counter and to use slight motions of open hand palm movements to misdirect incoming punches. After seeing Rana getting a firm grasp on many different basic styles of movements and punches over the next year, in addition to her regular training, he thought it was time to let her go to an academy. By this time, Azon had reached out to Vanrus, and some old connections in the Azarasi Kingdom. He wanted her to be able to attend an academy that was well established. So writing letters and stretching out what sway he once had, he acquired approval for Rana to attend Valburg Academy. This academy was located at the capital city, Caelestis, of the Azarasi Kingdom. The journey there would also be most certainly dangerous, so with that in mind he asked Vanrus for a favor. Just recently, Vanrus had revealed to Azon that he was not actually exiled or even banished for that matter, and instead willingly choose to serve and learn under Azon. What Vanrus truly sought after was the coveted secret techniques of his clan, so bargaining something Azon valued greatly, he convinced Vanrus to escort Rana to the Valburg academy and remain with her. After two year passed since her initial training, Rana¡¯s physique had changed greatly and Azon knew it was about time to send her to the Warrior academy to train her in the laws. He recognized that even though the initial laws of a warrior could be told by him, and she could the pass the trial on her own, he thought Rana would do better in an academy. Only there she would get strict supervision and guidance to be able to pass her first trial safely. Approaching Rana, who was doing her morning exercises, he asked her, ¡°Do you still want to go to an academy?¡± Instantly, her eyes shined and thrilled, she said, ¡°I do!¡± Supportively, he grinned and said, ¡°I will permit you to go. Actually I have already sent a letter and got a reply and Vanrus has already promised to take you. He will stay with you during your time there so you stay safe and have someone familiar to talk to. You will leave tomorrow so be sure to say your good byes.¡± Her heart dropped slightly. ¡°Tomorrow¡­ why so soon?¡± she stammered. Expecting a different response, a scowl replaced his smile as he said, ¡°I did you a favor. This school is the most prestigious in the Tolboud continent and only has a certain time frame of accepting students. Worse still, only a few get selected out of the ones submitted, so you should be grateful.¡± ¡°Since I have arranged for Vanrus to take you, he will arrive around noon tomorrow. Now silly girl, go inside and spend time with Cecilia and Ornias. Since who knows how long you will be at the academy,¡± He said while waving her off. Afterwards, both excited and saddened, Rana broke the news to everyone else. Before the appointed time she was supposed to leave, she spent time with Cecilia and Ornias in the morning, saying her good byes. Since Ornias was four and a half years old now, he understood that Rana was going to leave. So giving her a hug, he said, ¡°I will miss you Rana, train hard and come back a powerful ranked warrior.¡± He held her tightly and did seem to want to let go. Although he had never cried not even once in his life, he was definitely sad that Rana was leaving. Bending down and hugging him back, she whispered in his ear, ¡°I will come back a ranked warrior for sure, and when I do, I will tell you the secret that we have all kept from you.¡± She then turned to Cecilia, gave her a hug and said, ¡°Thank you for taking care of me all this time, from now on I will be taking care of myself.¡± Slight tears welled up in Cecilia¡¯s eyes as she nodded and said, ¡°I believe you will. Just take good care of yourself.¡± Lastly, Rana turned to Azon. Although she was fully aware that the attack on her village was by his orders, he had taken care of her for the past two years. In addition, he was intent on seeing her have a bright future that in the village she came from she never would have. Not to mention, he took time out of every day from the past two years to help train her body physically. Holding high regard for the man she should hate the most, she bowed her head and said, ¡°Thank you, for everything you have done.¡± Secretly happy, he wanted to say something back, but pride got in the way. He instead grunted and said, ¡°I expect you to work hard and listen well at the academy. All I have done for you is helped you train your body, the rest is in your hands.¡± Raising her head back up, Rana flashed a brilliant smile and said, ¡°I will definitely become strong, and when I do I will come back.¡± Suddenly in the distance the sound of horses could be heard, disturbing the tearful send off. Vanrus approached with several other men who wore armor and put off fierce auras. It would take several days to get to Caelestis, and it would be dangerous. So Vanrus brought some of his personal troops along. Looking at everyone one last time, Rana gave a final smile then turned around and left the house. She hurried over to Vanrus, where he scooped her up, and sat her behind him. Nodding in the direction of Azon, Vanrus gave his final respects, and then pulling on the reigns urged his horse forward. The group of horses followed after him and they were now well on their way to Caelestis. Once they arrived there, Rana would begin a new life at Valburg academy and learn to be a proud warrior training in the laws. Chapter 5 A Monstrous Talent Chapter 5 A Monstrous Talent As Rana rode away with Vanrus and his guard, Ornias sat there in puzzlement, wondering exactly what she meant by the secret they all were keeping from him. He was not aware of any secrets big enough to be kept from him. Unable to wrap his head around her words, he just shrugged it off and put it in the back of his mind to later ponder. Ornias was unlike any other child his age and had a very strong mind. His analytical and contemplative prowess would be considered simply outstanding. Whether it was his actual latent potential or not, couldn¡¯t yet be determined. He was after all born as a living divine artifact, which might account for his powerful mind. Regular divine artifacts would allow the user to integrate it with the mind of the user enhancing their cultivation capabilities. This also increased their mental skills of thought and comprehension. But like all things, divine artifacts do not last forever. After a year or two the artifact will be completely assimilated into the mind. Even though artifacts don¡¯t provide infinite enhanced cultivation capabilities, they still were considered extraordinary treasures, and were heavily sought after. For Ornias however, he was born shrouded in a divine artifact, so who truly knows what merits he could have gained from the artifact. It was very possible that he might have an advantage over regular divine artifact users if he could gain enough information at a young age. This is because, presumably, the artifact he contains within his body also will meld with his mind once he starts upon the path of cultivation. However, he has still yet to walk upon the path of Cultivation. Truth be told, his powerful mind was a hidden talent that even he didn¡¯t fully comprehend. If he was taught something however, he would quickly understand the concept. This was a double edged sword for him in his young age though. As a result of the neglect of stimulation through education, he did not understand many things, and instead squandered his hidden talent. If he wanted to be a truly terrifying person he would need to quickly gain insights before he started on the path of cultivation. The easiest method for this was to be taught by others. Luckily with Rana¡¯s departure, Ornias had resolved himself that he wanted to be taught to read, so it was only a matter time. When Rana was around he was not able to grab anyone¡¯s attention. Because Azon had been focused on training her body and Cecilia was intent on teaching her to become a proper woman. This left little room for Ornias, and the only time he had to learn was during his regular nightly reads from Cecilia. But now that Rana was gone, it would be an opportune time to steal some attention from Cecilia, and get her to teach him to read. He steeled himself for the next several days after her departure allowing her to relax over the fact that Rana was not around anymore. After all, it was understandable that she would have to sort out some feelings out before Ornias could wiggle his way into her vision. She had known Rana since her birth after all, and they were neighbors from the same village. But more than that, they were blood and kin through being from the same clan. Although their village was long gone now, for the past four years, they had bonded with each other unlike they could ever have as neighbors. Cecilia had treated Rana almost like a daughter as well as a friend. She had persevered in helping Rana cope with the changes besetting her, and taught her many womanly things. Upon reaching eight years old, Rana had in fact reached a woman¡¯s adolescence, and had to learn what that meant, the hard way. Although now ten years old, it was rather lucky that she had the wonderful support of Cecilia to guide her in her transitions. Now that several days had passed since her departure, Cecilia had begun to get a new hold on things without her around. By the fourth night of her absence, it was then that Ornias decided to make his move. Like always, Cecilia urged him to his room after dinner so she could read to him and put him to sleep. Plopping down on the bed, he sat there with his legs crossed listening intently to her read a new story that he had never heard before. Given his hidden intellect, he had already put together meanings of the words from the books she read him and understood the stories, but he was never officially taught anything. After concluding the short story, she closed the book and stood up, approached his bedside, and said, ¡°Okay, it¡¯s time for bed now.¡± But before she could tuck him in for the night he suddenly asked an abrupt question that stopped her movements. ¡°Mother, can you to teach me to read books?¡± He said, as his bright blue eyes twinkled hopefully. Stunned by the sudden request, Cecilia was quiet for a moment as she processed what she heard. Then finally she came to the conclusion that he was too young to place meanings to the words at his age, and decided to refuse him gently. Wearing an apologetic face, she said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry little Ornias but you are still too young to be able to fully grasp how to read.¡± Smiling with warm motherly kindness, she followed by saying, ¡°How about in a year I will teach you, by then you will be five and will be able to understand it easier.¡± Dissatisfied, Ornias wrinkled his nose and formed a pouty face. He immediately, jumped off his bed, stood up, all the while throwing a tantrum, and stomping his feet on the ground. Like any young child wanting their way, he said, ¡°You taught Rana to read! Why can¡¯t I?¡± He slumped back down on the bed and said in begging tone, ¡°I can understand it so please teach me!¡± Persistent in his pursuit to read, she finally shrugged while rolling her eyes and said, ¡°Alright I will teach you.¡± Ornias couldn¡¯t help but let out a big smile, after accomplishing his goal, and ran to hug Cecilia. He was rather earnest in his pursuit to learn, and said, ¡°I promise I will study hard and I won¡¯t disappoint you.¡± Ruffling his brown hair, she said, ¡°Alright¡­ alright¡­ I believe you. But, Ornias, it¡¯s already late and we need to get you to sleep. So, I will start teaching you tomorrow okay?¡± He looked up at her with his dazzling eyes, and said, ¡°You promise you¡¯ll teach me tomorrow?¡± Laughing and patting his bum in the direction of the bed, she said, ¡°Yes Ornias, now off to bed with you.¡± Without pestering her any further, he hopped into his bed and pulled his blankets over him. He turned onto his side and closed his eyes, while Cecilia quietly left his room. A satisfied smile curled onto his face and he soon fell asleep. The next morning, after he woke up, he quickly found Cecilia in the kitchen and had a hearty breakfast before she would teach him. It was just the two of them since Azon, was on yet another mission. The political situations between the kingdoms were not faring to well lately, and it was normal for him to not be around too much. Disregarding Azon, they ate in silence between the two of them and upon finishing their meal Cecilia cleaned off the table of any crumbs. After cleaning the table, she brought out a stack of papers, a quill, and an ink well. Following that, she took time to first teach him each letter of the alphabet, while writing it down on a paper, and showing him how each letter sounded. He audibly repeated her and quickly memorized the sounds. Within a week he could say the alphabet from memory and he was able to recognize what the symbols were with each corresponding letter of the alphabet. She was surprised to say the least, but recalled as a child she often read to him on her lap. This could possibly account for his easy understanding of the alphabet. Taking it up a notch, she decided to teach him some basic words and how the letters worked together in a word to pronounce those words. Yet again, he was able to gobble up that information at a fast pace, memorize it, properly pronounce it, and be able to say the words with ease. Over the course of a month and a half, the size of his vocabulary instantly skyrocketed, and he could now talk and communicate without any clear audible discrepancies. Apparently he understood the alphabet perfectly when he put together the symbols for letters as far as what they meant and how they sounded together. Altogether, his understanding to read took the span of two months. One week in order to learn the complete alphabet, and a month and a half to be able to read it proficiently. Truth be told, the reason he was able to quickly gain a grasp on everything so fast was because of the divine artifact that had melded with his body on birth. If not for that has level of understanding would be just a stagnated as a regular child¡¯s and could have taken half a year instead. Cecilia thought that he held monstrous cognitive and memorization capabilities which far exceeded anyone or anything she has ever heard about. But not only that, he was also able to get rid of any form of dialect in his speech. In all respects, his speech could be considered complete perfection. This left Cecilia with nothing more to teach him regarding reading and she ushered him off to bed after dinner. He had basically left her reeling on how quickly his mental capabilities were growing in such a short amount of time. But she resolved herself to continue to teach him and ended up falling asleep herself dwelling on it. That very next day, a letter from Rana had arrived, regarding her journey, and trip to Valburg academy. A bandit, called Framor, from the Fengle¡¯s Grove encampment would usually pass on messages in Azon¡¯s absence but this time he had mail that he delivered to Cecilia. Deciding it would be good practice for Ornias, she decided to ask him to read it aloud to her. So discovering, the little bookworm, trying to read what little material they had around the house, she handed him the letter. He took the letter, and smiling, realized it was from Rana. ¡°I want you to read it to me,¡± Cecilia said. Ornias nodded, and then opened the letter and proceeded to read, ¡°Don¡¯t worry everyone, I made it safe and sound to Valburg academy, here in Caelestis.¡± Letting out a sigh of relief, Cecilia said, ¡°Thank goodness, I hope the journey wasn¡¯t too dangerous.¡± Smiling he continued to read Rana¡¯s letter, ¡°I never had been so scared in my life on the way here. We had encountered two separate bandit attacks, and encounter a terrifying monstrous beast that killed more men than even the bandits.¡± Furrowing his brow in concern, Ornias looked at Cecilia as she clasped her hands over her mouth. Then looking back at the letter he continued, ¡°Luckily, Vanrus was able to kill the beast with the help of the other men he brought along. I¡¯m truly glad uncle Vanrus was around to keep me safe.¡± ¡°I need to remember to thank him the next time we see him,¡± Cecilia said, looking into the distance and feeling grateful towards Vanrus. ¡°Mmmm¡­hmmm,¡± Ornias grunted in return. Hunching over the letter he read the remainder, ¡°We arrived at Caelestis and I got fully enrolled in the academy. Don¡¯t worry, Cecilia, due to Vanrus noble status, we are staying at a rather luxurious mansion that is just as large as the buildings in Domington. Hopefully, I will start school here in the next week, so please everyone wish me luck.¡± ¡°Noble¡­¡± Cecilia said, rather shocked. Recovering from her surprise, she said, ¡°Well I¡¯m just glad things worked out. I hope she sends us another letter detailing what the academy is like when she starts.¡± Ornias said comfortingly, ¡°I¡¯m sure she will mom, and you don¡¯t need to worry too much about her, she has Vanrus there to keep her safe.¡± Smiling and nodding, Cecilia said, ¡°I suppose your right, I¡¯ll just worry about your father now. He might want to read her letter when he comes back home, so keep it safe.¡± Unfortunately Azon was always busy with his exercises or on missions for the Azarasi Kingdom so couldn¡¯t read Rana¡¯s letter. Naturally, he also had no idea that at this very second Ornias was easily one of the most intelligent four year olds on this planet. Several days passed since Rana¡¯s letter had arrived, and at the speed that Ornias gobbled up information, Cecilia decided she wanted to teach him how to write. Given that he could now read, writing was the next step. So that following week Cecilia approached Ornias. Warmly, she spoke to him with a smile, and said, ¡°Ornias, I know I had you recently recite the letters of the alphabet and you can read pretty well now. So although you can read, I want you to learn to write them next.¡± Giving him a scroll of paper, and an ink quill, she prompted him to draw the symbols of the alphabet himself. Disappointed, Ornias looked up at her and said, ¡°Mom, this request is far too easy.¡± Looking down at the paper in front of him, he quickly drew perfect forming letters of the alphabet in one go and then showed it to an astonished Cecilia. He had for the past two month, photographically memorized these letters, and paid close attention to Cecilia¡¯s hand movements as she had wrote them. He was simply a genius that paid attention to every detail. This made her jaw drop, and made her unable to form words, as her mouth just kept opening and closing while she stared at the perfectly formed letters. Quickly she gathered herself back together, and clapping her hands in excitement, she said, ¡°Well done! Now, I want you to put letters together to form words, and put them into a sentence next.¡± Ornias nodded and began to write in earnest again. Lifting up the paper, he had written on the paper, ¡°I would very much like some books to read, so I can learn more about the world.¡± With that written sentence, Cecilia shuddered, and thought to herself, ¡°What a genius this child is that his mind was so powerful, it is almost disturbing.¡± Instead of mouthing her thoughts however, she presented him a warm smile, and said, ¡°I will bring you some good books to read then.¡± She finally concluded that she didn¡¯t need to teach him anymore. So taking his request to heart, she requested a favor from Framor, the man who delivered them Rana¡¯s letter. She asked him to purchase several books from Domington that a growing boy would need to learn. It took a week to get the books, but Framor went to Domington and brought back several books on all sorts of different subjects regarding the planet of Yeshir. Looking over the stack of books, Cecilia was quite satisfied and handed Framor some silver coins. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.Azon had entrusted her with some money so she could purchase any needs she would have, which came in handy every now and then. Quite pleased with herself over the selection, she brought them in front of Ornias and plopped them down. She formed a wide smile on her face and said, ¡°I know it¡¯s a little late, your birthday was three months ago, but happy birthday Ornias!¡± A grin so big it seemed it would fall off appeared on his face, and swiftly he ran over and hugged Cecilia tightly. She was glad he liked it, and hugged him back. His eyes sparkled, and he was so overjoyed as he said, ¡°Mom, you¡¯re the best! Thanks so much, I didn¡¯t think you would be able to get books for me until dad got back home.¡± ¡°Ha¡­ Ha¡­ your right, I would have had to wait for your father if it wasn¡¯t for Framor,¡± she said truthfully. Looking puzzled, Ornias let go of Cecilia and said, ¡°Framor got these books for me?¡± Smiling Cecilia nodded and said, ¡°Yes, I¡¯m glad Azon entrusted him to help us.¡± ¡°Indeed¡­¡± Ornias said, while shifting through the pile of books. Laughing, she backed off and said, ¡°Well I leave you be, as I¡¯m sure you want to read in peace.¡± Quietly leaving his room, Cecilia left with a big smile, and thought to herself, ¡°I can only imagine greatness awaiting him when he grows up.¡± Now all alone, Ornias looked over the stack of about twenty books. In the stack of books there were many books that had descriptions on the histories of the continents and the rise and fall of their empires. It also contained books on all known beasts living on each continent, and their respective power levels in each area. Some of the more intriguing books were regarding military strategies, forbidden and lost knowledge, and lastly the Laws. What piqued his curiosity most was the Laws, and so he grabbed that pile first. Within the stack of books regarding the Laws, there was a book on the Magical Laws and the Laws of a Warrior, but what caught his eye was a small ten page bound book that had red lettering titled, Laws of the Spirit. Quickly skimming through the book he learned that it was one of the lost Laws, and there was only evidence in the book to reference that at one time it was prevalent. But now only secluded high level experts or secret organizations currently hold the knowledge on the Laws of the Spirit. ¡°Perhaps the Church of Ascension was one of the organizations that hold this knowledge,¡± he thought. This caused him to sigh and he picked up a different book. The first book he picked up was the Laws of Cultivation. After all it was important to first get an understanding for how cultivation works. Flipping through the book he got a general understanding for how the laws of cultivation worked and set the book down. In this way, he started to read the books one by one and began to quickly enhance his understanding of the world and the Laws which dictate it. Several months passed by and Ornias had already turned five years old. Like clockwork, he woke up early every day and went to bed late every night in the pursuit of knowledge. Honestly, he had studied and finished all the books long ago. The only reason he was still reading some of them was because, after memorizing an entire book, he wanted to cross examine particularities from one book to another. What he was doing now was formatting his brain almost like a computer, so if he thought of something he would be able to pull out that information and everything regarding it. With such a powerful mind, he had a monstrous gift, and he was trying to use it to its upmost. After feeling smug about how he sorted the information in his head over the span of those months, he had another agenda instantly pop into his mind. While he was rather knowledgeable now, he had no physical strength. On that note, Rana had trained with Azon, so why couldn¡¯t he train with him. Things have settled down between the missions and the political issues between the kingdoms, so right now Azon was living back at home. While the pressure that the Tolboud kingdom was exerting on his force of bandits within the region seemed to only be increasing. But with Azon no longer needing to leave for long extended periods of time anymore, he could focus on commanding the Crimson Claw Bandits. In this way it was almost a last ditch attempt to rectify the situation that was only getting worse and worse. Calming his nerves, he would still train outside early in the mornings and forget about all the problems he had to deal with. This left Ornias a wonderful opportunity to speak with him. Nodding to himself, Ornias left his room and walked outside to where Azon was presumably performing morning exercise, like he did every day. However, today was different. Instead of exercising he was sitting down meditating outside and he seemed to have a pained expression on his face. His eyes remained closed and his brows were furrowed. Every now and then he would wince in pain and the veins in his forehead show themselves. His breathing pattern was regulated but a weird thick breath would disperse each time almost like the air was chilly, even though it was rather warm and pleasant. After a while his face relaxed and a dim white light enveloped him as a gust of wind blew outwards from his body. Opening his eyes, he smiled, and then stood up as the light and wind died down. Just then he noticed Ornias watching him and turned to stare at him. But his eyes were rather strange and dilated. This was because Azon had just ascended to the sixth rank of a warrior. Upon reaching the sixth rank, an individual can achieve full control over the chemicals and hormones injected within the brains system. His eyes were dilated due to the fact of being in fight or flight status using the chemical enzyme acetylcholine. After reaching a certain understanding of the laws of the sixth rank he immediately enlisted certain chemicals to enhance his chances to succeed in passing to the sixth rank. Slowly his eyes returned to their normal hazel color and a wide grin appeared on his face. Excited for his father, Ornias ran up to him, let out a big smile, and said, ¡°Father, did you just pass your trial and rise up in rank just now?¡± Azon was shocked, and said, ¡°You know the signs of a trial?¡± Ornias nodded, which caused Azon¡¯s brows to wrinkle in wonderment. Curiosity filled his mind as to how Ornias could tell the signs for a trial, when he has never been spoken about them. Quelling the current confusion spilling from his heart, he said to Ornias, ¡°I figure the reason you sought me out this morning wasn¡¯t to congratulate me in my passing of my trial. What can I do for you Ornias?¡± Acting suddenly fidgety, Ornias shrugged and with a smile said, ¡°Well Papa, I had hopes that since you trained Rana, you will train me as well.¡± Letting out a short burst of laughter Azon smiled, thinking that he was joking. After all, Ornias was still very young. But then seeing the seriousness engraved on his face, left Azon flabbergasted, and he had no choice but to think that he actually meant it. Thinking back, Rana had been eight when he started training her and although he was really tough on her, she had good cultivation for the laws, and persisted through. On the other hand, Ornias was only five, so how could he do half what Rana did. This made Azon slightly scoff at the idea and thought he might as well dash his dreams now. He cracked an evil smile, and said, ¡°Alright, if you can run ten kilometers around the encampment edge¡¯s and back to here in an hour and a half, I will train you like I did Rana.¡± Truthfully, Rana had taken two hours the first time. So in reality he was putting up an impossible goal for Ornias. However, Ornias nodded and asked, ¡°As long as I run it in that time frame, you¡¯ll train me?¡± Laughing at how na?ve Ornias was, Azon flashed his devilish smile, and said, ¡°If you can, I will not only train you, I will teach you all I know.¡± What he said was not a lie, because he had a vast knowledge of techniques, and even understood hidden aspects of the Laws of a Warrior. All his knowledge he had desired to pass to someone eventually, that person most likely being Ornias. With that Ornias started to jog, and then he turned around yelled, ¡°Remember you promised!¡± Watching him jog a ways, Azon chuckled, and then looking down at his body, he said, ¡°Huh¡­I actually made it.¡± Flexing his body and smiling, he said, ¡°¡­ The sixth rank, I finally achieved it after all this time.¡± It was imperative for him to understand the new changes, so he sat back down and started meditating to better understand his improvements. However, only after two hours of meditation he could hear the slight pitter patter of feet and looked up. ¡°What¡­ the¡­,¡± He said, but what he saw left him breathless. In the distance, he could make out Ornias jogging at constant pace and saw him as he was getting closer. He was startled to the say the least. Because the time it took Ornias to jog was almost the same as Rana, albeit just a tad slower. Yet unlike Rana, when Ornias arrived in front of Azon, he didn¡¯t have any shortness of breath and didn¡¯t seem weary at all. Instead he just smiled and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t make it in time. Guess I will try again tomorrow.¡± Stopping him, Azon said, ¡°Wait where did you learn to¡­¡± Cutting him off, Ornias smiled wryly, and said, ¡°Books.¡± With that Ornias went back into the house leaving Azon sitting there in a daze. Pondering exactly what sort of monster Ornias was to be able to accomplish that feat. ¡°Books¡­¡± Azon muttered, with his brows pointed down and a scowl appearing on his face. He shook his head and said, ¡°Just books can¡¯t teach you that sort of talent, Ornias.¡± The fact of the matter was that Ornias was almost five and a half. Yet, he ran what Rana did in same timeframe. On top of that he did it without Azon even telling him to train his breathing to be in sync. But he already seemed to be using a breathing technique, and it seemed to be a far better technique then Rana used. So utilizing a superior technique, his muscles still felt fine after running that distance. The only reason he didn¡¯t reach the distance in an hour and a half was because he wanted to get a feel for how it felt to practice the methods he read about, and try them out a bit. The breathing technique he used was from his book on a more comprehensive version of the Laws of the Warrior then what Rana had read. It offered a decent insight to a high level breathing technique used to make your muscles supplied with oxygen so they don¡¯t get tired. He had practiced this technique for several days beforehand, and felt confident in it, so he decided to ask Azon to train him. In fact Ornias was confident that the next day, he could sprint the ten kilometers easily, and would reach Azon before an hour and a half was up. Flowing with his overconfidence, Ornias greeted Azon the following day, and proceeded to run this time intent on reaching the goal of an hour and a half. He had this confidence because according to the book, he could focus his mind on his extremities, and exert more force from them. So by focusing his mind, and thinking about his legs, he envisioned himself soaring off the ground in short burst with each foot covering greater distances. He surged that mental thought into his mind, and pushed down into his legs, thereby telling them to use more force. It was a similar effect as when you send an electrical impulse of adrenalin through the brain to your muscles, in order to make your muscles exhibit extraordinary strength. Adrenalin was instead, a short lived burst of energy, and could cause you to be in a weakened state afterwards, and what Ornias was doing was slightly different. So unlike adrenalin, there was no risk in what Ornias was doing. He was unknowingly making his muscles contract or tighten with quick force. This is just like when adrenalin is used, except without the unnecessary burning of carbs. All the while, he still allowed plenty of blood flow and oxygen with his mental thought of sending power. The total combination of these things allowed him to exceed the natural human limits. It did not have a large effect however, since he was not completely in tune with his body yet, but there was indeed a significant difference. Every time when Ornias kicked down with his right leg, it exerted a larger amount of force, and he was propelled forward further. Then using his left leg, he would touch back down as he put the same amount of force into it, and again he launched forward. For the duration of the jog, he continued his high level breathing technique. He would seemingly inhale large quantities of oxygen, yet not truly take a deep breathes of air to get that much oxygen. The entire premise behind this technique was that there are impurities in the air, and he only wanted oxygen, so he would not inhale anything but the purest form of oxygen. Being able to separate out other impurities and only inhaling oxygen into the lungs was regarded as high level breathing technique. All this he could do, as a result of him trying to practice these techniques, from what he read in the book of the Laws of a Warrior. Making it look easy, he simply cruised around the encampments perimeter like a gazelle and within an hour reached back to where Azon was. Quite pleased with himself, a smile cracked on his face as he stopped in front of an open mouthed Azon. Dumbfounded, Azon tried to speak, ¡°You¡­¡± But he was shocked to the core and struck speechless. He saw that not only was Ornias moving at a fast speed, he was only inhaling with small short bursts, and looked not even a bit tired. Trying to size Ornias up, he could only reach the conclusion that Ornias had already mastered the breathing technique to an extremely high degree. In addition to that he recognized that Ornias could even do the basics of the Laws of a Warrior by enforcing more strength into his limbs. It was a fact, Ornias, was a peerless genius that Azon had the pleasure of being able to teach. If Rana was considered to have excellent talent in cultivation, then Ornias would be in fact considered monstrous. But what had Azon confused was where Ornias learned these techniques, and how he could already enforce them, at the age of five. To be frank, he hadn¡¯t even truly taught Rana any techniques, and just gave her hints about the breathing technique. The possibility that Ornias had mastered the breathing technique and could even use the first stage of empowering his limbs at five years old was utterly impossible. However, he recalled what Ornias said the day before, clenched his fist and murmured, ¡°Books¡­¡± Laws of Cultivation This post is strictly dedicated to provided you with the understanding of my ranking system among many other elements that may come up in the near future. This will be a easy gateway for you to understand and go back to if you have questions. So without further ado, I will give a brief definition of key elements and then provide you with a semi detailed table. Divine Laws - Set up by the Church of Ascension, Divine Laws were declared to state there to be nine ranks for both a magician and a warrior. For each rank there is a trial of the mind that must be passed before the mind could gain a full understanding of the new rank. Laws of Cultivation - This law follows the Divine Laws by which the ranking system of the world adheres to and the trials of the mind correspond with. It is a Law that each individual has different cultivation capabilities and can become more powerful accordingly. These are usually factored by genetics but can be altered by other things as well. Trials of the mind - These trials are different for every individual and are based upon the integrity of their mind. If a individual is not able to pass their trial of the mind then it is said that their mind would never again be able reestablish connection with the next rank. (Warrior Symbol) Spoiler : Warrior Trials - The trials of the mind for a warrior correspond with their current ranks mastery. If they can overcome mastering the ranks complete knowledge, only then are they able to obtain the new rank. (Mage symbol) Spoiler : Magical Trials - The trials of the mind for a magician correspond with their current ranks mastery in the elemental laws. If they can overcome mastering the elemental laws then they are able to obtain the new rank. 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Ranks of CultivationLaws of a warriorLaws of a Magician
First RankUnderstanding of your skinDiscovering your element(s)
Second RankKnowledge of your senses/ Smell,touch, taste,sight,soundForming of your own Aura/ sensing others Aura
Third RankGain understanding of MusclesLearn magical formations/ shields and barriers
Fourth RankUnderstand nervous system/ pain receptorsLearn creation magic/ summons and binding
Fifth RankKnowledge of BonesBody enhancements/ healing, limited strength, speed, ect
Sixth RankUnderstand neurological Chemicals / HormonesLearning of enchantments
Seventh RankLearn breathing endless air/ lung, oxygenNon spoken spells
Eighth RankUnderstanding veinsMulti casting spells
Ninth RankEnlightenment- Mind is one with brain all cranial activities can now be fully utilizedEnlightenment- mind is one with magical essences can meld separate magical essences into one
(I was trying to determine a way to call each rank something special but I couldn''t think of anything, except rank nine being the rank of enlightenment. If you have an useful input or questions regarding anything don''t hesitate to comment or message me.) I am nearing completion of my next chapter and hopefully in a short while I will have a map of the world available. Until then I also have a hierarchy ranking system that you can view as well. Since aristocracy starts to play a major role in my novel from now on. Spoiler : Chapter 6 The Training Begins Chapter 6 The Training Begins A carriage was being led by a pair of large well-bred horses towards a mansion that exhibited a breath taking landscaping. Shining with a brilliant lively green, there was vines that trailed up the side of the building and the trees were obviously well kept and maintained. The architecture of the building itself resembled a gothic stone structure with pillars and beautiful glass windows. But it had decorative lanterns hung up everywhere needed, and lively carved designs with wooden effigies. The roof was made of ceramic tiles and in each of the corners of the roof they were slightly inclined upwards with powerful carvings lined at the edges. The carriage driver couldn¡¯t help but gawk at the impressive structure as he approached. After he had the carriage stopped, a blonde youthful and developing woman hopped out of the carriage and walked towards the mansion. She wore rather exquisite and powerful clothing and walked brazenly with an odd unyielding strength. The clothing she styled had finely knitted linens and wools that were bound together to make a green blouse and leggings. Rare furs and leathers formed the boots and corset that bound against her tight figure. Yet the most striking part of her figure was the broach that held together a green hooded cape around her. It was there that she displayed the symbol of a warrior. The green cape and broach that she wore was a symbol of the mighty and powerful Valburg Academy. This stunning beauty was Rana, and she was returning from the academy which she attended. But upon opening the doors and entering the living room, the owner of the residence was deep in conversation with Vanrus. The landowner of the residence was a rather power figure known as Duke Chalmon of the clan Fortis, third in line for the throne. He was a thin man with short well-groomed blonde hair and displayed extravagant clothing. Yet, such an important man was speaking intently with Vanrus for some reason. Rana didn¡¯t bat an eye over this scene, because she recently discovered that Vanrus was truthfully related to Azon and both men were in fact from clan Fortis. Even though Azon did not know Vanrus, because of his exile, Vanrus was quite aware of him. This was precisely because Azon left quite the footprint within the clan¡¯s history. Breaking their conversation, Rana was walked towards them, and Vanrus casually stopped her by asking, ¡°So how did it go?¡± Smiling, she said, ¡°I have just entered the second rank. They helped guide me and I was successful in unlock the mysteries of all my senses.¡± ¡°Congrats Rana, you¡­¡± Vanrus started to say. The duke Chalmon quickly interjected before Vanrus could reply fully, and said, ¡°Amazing, simply amazing!! To think that a ten year old has surpassed into the second ranking so quickly, there is no words to explain how profound that is. You are certainly worthy of being Azon¡¯s foster child.¡± Looking over at Chalmon, Vanrus could only nod in agreement. The smugness Rana felt was not little and she grinned heartily at their responses. The truth behind her eligibility to even attend Valburg academy stemmed from both Azon¡¯s claim as her foster parent and the backing of the clan Fortis. If it wasn¡¯t for Azon flexing his connections and Chalmon accepting his request, there was no way she would be where she was now. Rana was rather intelligent and understood this was no easy task. She figured Azon must have paid a heavy price for her to attend the most well renowned Warrior academy. Slightly curtsying she showed her respect to both men, and said, ¡°Uncle¡­ patriarch¡­ I think I will take my leave and study my improvements now.¡± The Duke was obviously not a simple man and was not only third in line for the throne but actually the patriarch and leader of the current clan of Fortis as well. At the same time, while Vanrus wasn¡¯t necessarily her uncle, she still treated him as such. Sizing her up a minute, Chalmon nodded and said, ¡°Mmmm¡­ indeed that sounds like a good idea. I want to see you rise even higher only then will I be satisfied.¡± Chalmon laughed wholeheartedly after his remark and watched her leave. Now that Rana had left, Chalmon turned back to Vanrus and said, ¡°It would appear Azon¡¯s ascertainment has paid off. We have invested heavily in her and she has indeed exceeded expectations. Just where did he find this girl?¡± Almost perspiring, Vanrus said, ¡°Ah¡­ this¡­¡± he started but was hesitant to answer. Obviously Chalmon was not a patient man, and cut Vanrus off again by saying, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me it was from that village raid that has been causing the current debacle as of late?¡± Sighing heavily, Vanrus nodded and said, ¡°Indeed, it¡¯s the very same. We had no idea about Novaron¡¯s disciple, Amron, which was located there.¡± Infuriated Chalmon clenched his fist and cursed, then said, ¡°That man causes me headaches constantly. First he caused that problem, now this problem. Does he want to watch our clan to collapse?¡± Before Vanrus could utter any further words to respond, Duke Chalmon again quickly spoke preventing him from speaking. ¡°Ah¡­ that reminds me didn¡¯t you say that he had a baby boy that he was rearing?¡± Chalmon asked inquisitively. Vanrus combed his hand through his hair, brushing back his long blonde hair behind his ears, and said, ¡°Yes, father, he had the baby with him during the village raid. I can recall that the village raid was instigated by the sighting of a divine artifact. But we never did find it and Azon took the child from the man after killing him, in recompense for what he wouldn¡¯t tell.¡± Surprise rang in Chalmon¡¯s voice as he said, ¡°What??!! Why on earth would he take a baby boy from that village?¡± Shrugging his shoulders, Vanrus shook his head and said, ¡°Even I am unclear, but he does seem to be a rather special child. He grows fast and has an intelligence many cannot boast the same. In the correspondence letters that child writes to Rana, he seems more literate than you or I¡± Surprise showed on Chalmon¡¯s face but thinking things over for a minute, he sighed and said, ¡°I can see Azon is trying to restore his ruined name through these children. If only he could have not killed that man from the Kyros clan.¡± Irritation was a light way to state what showed on his face, and throwing a mix of anger into his voice, he said, ¡°It was already difficult enough for him to maintain his position when all the other families were clamoring over his misdeed.¡± Wanting to spit in anger and disdain, Vanrus retorted, ¡°You mean when he stole those forbidden techniques that we five great families hold dear? That was more than a misdeed but should have resulted in death.¡± Chalmon nodded, and his tone lightened and became reverent while saying, ¡°Yes¡­ but the great ancestor recognized his talent, and regardless what we families said, he still stowed upon him his previous rank, title, and placed him into our clan. But after that incident even our ancestor, with his great might, could not oppose the church¡¯s demand of his exile.¡± Smirking at the irony, Vanrus said, ¡°Indeed, who could have known that the man he killed was a disciple Teronus was considering taking in?¡± Clicking his tongue, Chalmon replied heatedly, ¡°Teronus¡­ That man, just because he is originally from the Kyros clan, he causes so many problems for us. He uses his sway with the church to knock down our clan¡¯s promising star and is probably laughing about it.¡± Vanrus snorted, and obviously wasn¡¯t swayed by the promising star remark and instead said, ¡°It¡¯s understandable, Azon was about to be accepted as a disciple himself by Zepharoth. The Kyros clan couldn¡¯t have that, and removed him as an obstacle.¡± Nodding and agreeing with that thought process, Vanrus smirked. Not enthused by his son¡¯s adamant hatred for Azon, Chalmon said, ¡°Don¡¯t remind me¡­ if only we could also have someone enter the church¡¯s ranks, we could have our clan become a threat against the other four.¡± Smiling, and waving off the previous statement, Vanrus said, ¡°Don¡¯t be disheartened father, although the techniques that fool gave me, I cannot comprehend, perhaps with Rana¡¯s talent, she can.¡± Glaring at his son, Chalmon said, ¡°It¡¯s not just the Crimson claw technique that makes that man frightening, it¡¯s the other one that even our ancestor was not able to master. Do you truly think this girl can master either?¡± Shrugging, Vanrus honestly replied, ¡°I don¡¯t know. Hopefully time will tell. We can only put all our resources into cultivating her.¡± Chalmon pursed his lips and said, ¡°And what about the boy he is raising?¡± With a short bit of laughter, Vanrus sneered and said, ¡°If she truly can achieve our ambitions, I say let¡¯s get rid of the extra variables.¡± ¡°Variables?¡± Chalmon questioned. An evil smile appeared on Vanrus and he said, ¡°Azon and the boy, of course.¡± Unconvinced Chalmon thought for a minute, ¡°Hmm¡­¡± then shook his head and replied, ¡°Not yet we still might have use for Azon when the war comes.¡± Sighing, Vanrus could only give up and said, ¡°As you say father. I believe supper should be ready soon, let¡¯s enjoy the company of our fine young lady and hear about her day.¡± They had servants that would serve at set times during the day, and the time for dinner was close approaching. So finishing their discussion both men walked toward the dining room area to see if supper was about to be served. Many Kilometers away, in a quiet forest elsewhere, Azon was sitting underneath a tree. He was enjoying the shade it provided and couldn¡¯t help but chuckle as he watched Ornias run. It was precisely because his adopted son was able to do what he thought was impossible for a five year old that he was forced to train him. At first, he was shocked by his accomplishment, but after he talked to Cecilia, he discovered that Ornias had terrifying mental prowess, and he started to understand. It was discovered that Ornias could devour information at a fast pace and not only understand the concepts it explains but also be able to formulate ways to improve the initial concept. He could do this by combining information he had learned about another subject with that concept. Yet the worst thing for Azon was that Ornias was even able to use some of the initial methods of the Laws taught from the books. While books could make you understand principles of the Laws, as he saw it, they meant nothing unless you trained your body to act accordingly. A good example would be when a technique is used that strains the body when the body doesn¡¯t have the capacity to handle the backlash of the strain. This would end up ultimately destroying that person¡¯s body piece by piece, and was not worth it. So he was of the mind that the body needed to be trained first, otherwise the body couldn¡¯t handle the task. With these thoughts in mind, he decided that he would make Ornias do gruelingly ridiculous endeavors in order to enhance his body. He also forcibly required him to not use any understandings from books and strictly use his own natural born talents. If Ornias was caught using any technique he would be punished accordingly. The only exception to this rule was the Breathing technique that he was allowed to continue practicing. This helped tremendously because it was at such a high level. After setting all those rules in place, Azon tasked him to run in the same circuit continuously around the Fengle¡¯s Grove encampment from dawn to dusk. Ornias wouldn¡¯t be able to run as fast around the encampment without using the initial steps of Laws of a warrior and instead would have to rely on his own natural strength. It was Azon¡¯s intention to break his confidence and be able to remold the broken Ornias into an impossible tool of absolute power. Sitting underneath that tree, Azon could only cruelly smile as he thought of what he had in store for Ornias in the coming months. After the sun started to go down on the first day, whilst pushing himself, Ornias was rounding upon his eleventh circuit. Although he utilized his breathing technique, that was indeed incredible, he couldn¡¯t seem to fix the muscle soreness in his calves and thighs from the all day running. Coming nearing the end of circuit, even though his muscles were sore, he persisted with a straight face and continued running. It had been nearly fifteen hours since he started to run and he felt fine other than the soreness in his legs. Crossing the last bit of distance between them, he stopped in front of Azon and placed his hands on his knees to rest. Without running anymore, the tempo was broken, and Ornias couldn¡¯t help but breathe sporadically. Exhausted and breathing heavily now, Ornias said, ¡°It would appear the sun is descending, and I ran from dawn to dusk like you asked.¡± Just after he finished talking his stomach growled which startled both men. Originally, Azon had plans to say some harsh words and had part of a mind to make him run one more lap. But with the growling stomach disturbing his thoughts he could only laugh instead. Seeing Azon bust out laughing, Ornias rubbed his stomach and couldn¡¯t help but join laughing. He lifted his head up in the air chuckling and said, ¡°Seems I am starving.¡± Smiling and waving off his previous evil notions, Azon said, ¡°Alright, lets have Cecilia make us something. I haven¡¯t eaten as well, so I¡¯m also starving like a wolf.¡± He paused a brief moment then his tone changed, and he said, ¡°I want you to start practicing more of those book techniques on your own. I will not permit you to use them during training but I want you to be able to utilize the basics.¡± An aura of seriousness expounded of him as he said, ¡°If you use them during training, your body will not improve much, and I cannot in good judgement allow you to do much more with such a small framed figure that you have now.¡± Reacquiring his initial hearty smile and demonic attitude, he said, ¡°Afterwards I want you to get some rest and you will run this again and again till you can match an hour time frame with a single lap like you could using that initial technique from your book.¡± Ornias smiled, rubbed his nose, and acting cocky said, ¡°Of course father I will train hard to be a son you can be proud of.¡± Azon smiled back but saw the haughty attitude coming from the boy and slightly frowned. This is why he was harsh, since he needed to make Ornias want to beg for lighter training or else this boy will always have an overbearing attitude towards others. While indeed he was a genius, it was getting to his head, making him rather cocky. What Azon desired was a calm collective Ornias, not an impulsive brat who will get himself killed facing the real world. With that he sighed and led Ornias back inside to eat. After eating, Ornias went up to his room and recalled what Azon said to him. With but a simple thought, he pulled out a memory from his mind and sorted through it till he found the information he wanted. This was a frightening ability of consolidating the mind, and was primarily used by extreme experts at high levels. Yet he was able to do it at his young age since his mind was so powerful due to the melding with the divine artifact. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Sorting through the information, he chose a technique that would help him greatly from the book of the laws of a warrior. He shouldn¡¯t strain his body at his age and decided to choose a technique that didn¡¯t undermine him for his youthful and weak body. The technique he selected was called the Stratum Corneum defensive membrane. The technique stated that the individual only needed to imagine a membrane of skin surrounding the outer body protecting it like a defense. This was in fact a skill to toughen the skin on the body to a degree and enhance its defensive capabilities. Closing his eyes and entering in a meditative state, he recalled what was written in the book and followed its procedure. First, he thought of a thin skin-like membrane of strong defense surrounding the entirety his body and surged that thought throughout his mind. After visualizing it, he tried to focus the thought on just his right arm. Opening his eyes, he stared intently at his right arm, while focusing on his skin, and thought of a membrane protecting it. The muscles on his face tightened in concentration and he slowly started to feel the skin on his right arm tingling almost like he was growing new skin. The sensation he was experiencing is the same as when you are sunburnt, and the dead skin is falling off, and new skin is being formed. While thinking of having tougher skin, a slivery shine started to sparkle on parts of the skin on his arm. It started to shine on his forearm first and began to encase his entire arm very slowly in the silver membrane. Strain couldn¡¯t help but be expressed on his face as he pushed harder trying to envelop his right arm in that silvery shine. Slowly covering his entire arm, it moved down from his forearm to his finger tips and also worked its way up to where his arm connected to his shoulder. After succeeding, he relaxed his facial muscles from the deep concentration and he felt immense mental exhaustion from focusing on his right arm. However he smiled and was quite satisfied with the result. Looking at his arm, he saw it was fully encompassed in that silver membrane, and content with his progress he went back to reading the text. What takes most practitioners months to just envelop one limb in the Stratum Corneum technique, he was able to do in the matter of an hour. Once someone puts a membrane on a body part they can spread that membrane to the rest of their body slowly and this process would take almost a year, for most individuals. According to the texts, after enveloping part of the body in the defensive membrane, he no longer had to exert much effort in putting the membrane on his limb anymore, and could use the technique with but a thought. There are also higher tiers of defensive technique. Silver was considered the lowest and was used by warrior ranks one through three. Once reaching the fourth rank, attacks could easily pierce through the membrane and so they would need to form a stronger layer that would be the color of jade. This layer would be enforced on top of the previous one and upon reaching the seventh rank the final layer would need to be formed. The seventh ranked layer was an Azure blue in color and was considered the strongest. Gaining an understanding for the new technique he had start to practice, he felt satisfied for tonight and plopped down on his bed and fell asleep. Tomorrow would be another long day of running and he knew he needed his sleep. As soon as the sun rose up, Ornias woke up with it, and he started to run around the encampment again. This became a routine for him and every night he would continue spreading the membrane on his body and everyday he would run. Just like Rana, the men within the camp became accustomed to Ornias, and even cheered him on as he ran. After a week of persistence he was able to encase the defensive membrane all over his body and he had also to complete thirteen laps in a fifteen hour time frame. He had seemed to make vast improvements constantly, and decided to train in another of the initial laws of the warrior. Although Ornias could perform the defensive membrane technique, most people needed to be at the first warrior rank to be able to utilize it. This was because it wasn¡¯t until the first rank that an individual would be able to gain a great understanding of the body. He had an exceedingly powerful mind however, which made up for the lack of knowledge of his body. Using his powerful mental prowess he could enforce a membrane on his body even without directly understanding behind the process. Normally, it would be extremely taxing on the individuals mind and so far only four recorded people in history have been able to form a defensive membrane on their body. All four individuals used just their mental prowess to form them and were not even within the first rankings of a warrior. Sitting in his room again, he flipped through more techniques, but most required him to be a ranked warrior, and since he was not, he could not train in them. Sighing and pushing all reason out, he decided to go back to the law which enabled him to enforce more power into his limbs. This technique was hazardous to an untrained body, but he didn¡¯t care, and since he couldn¡¯t use this technique during training with Azon, he desired to understand it on his own. Slowly he put his mind to the task, and tried to focus his mind on his legs again. He thought of putting more force into it, and thought of it moving faster, just like he did when he first used it. Raising his leg, and quickly tightening the muscles in his leg, as he kicked the air, it made a powerful whoosh sound. ¡°Just like this¡­huh¡± Ornias said with glee glimmering in his eyes. Irresponsibly, he continued the laws of strengthening limbs that was supposed to be a technique for ranked users. Yet he still wanted to pour more and more mental power into his kicks. Sure enough, they began to increase in speed and power. The kicks started to make whistling noises due to his body being slightly conditioned with running. A full two month passed in this manner and now Ornias was actually able to run twenty five laps in a day. His legs were sore and tired from running during the day and practicing kicking at night, but it didn¡¯t seem to bother him. Now that he reached the first goal, Azon wanted him to be able to run fifteen laps by noon now and he still had a ways to go. At night he continued practicing the strengthening of his legs and they started to cause ripples in the air. The air surged in all directions away from his kick which gave an idea to Ornias. Using his kick could he enforce power into it and make the wind move in a direction of his choice. He contemplated over this and started to practice harder. Three more months passed by and Ornias was now able to run fifteen laps by noon, and since he reached the second set goal he reported to Azon again. As always, Azon was usually in meditation sitting underneath a tree he seemed to favorite. As Ornias approached, Azon looked up at Ornias standing in front of him and smiled while saying, ¡°Good work these past five months.¡± He looked at Ornias extensively and noticed muscles starting to develop on his calves and thighs. This was the mark of the training proceeding smoothly and made him excited. The man¡¯s eyes shined with an evil light, and he said, ¡°Now you will continue running fifteen kilometers every day, and I expect the time frame to get even shorter. However, on top of that you will add more training to it.¡± He had a sinister smile and said, ¡°You will do squats till the sun drops down, and whatever your highest number of squats is by the end of the day, you will use that number to be your basis, and complete it in four hours.¡± Shock and dismay sprang on the boy¡¯s face. Completely unsatisfied with the ridiculous request he quickly started, ¡°That is absurd.¡± He snorted and with disgruntled anguish said, ¡°That is a high demand you know, and all I am doing is training my legs! When can I train my arms or even learn the how to pass to the first rank of a warrior?¡± Azon glared at him and said, ¡°Boy you will do as I say and do not skimp out! The most important aspect is being able to save your own life and you will need strong legs to run away! Do you want to die a dog¡¯s death?¡± Relaxing his face, and calming down, he reconsidered what Ornias said and then he sighed. Slightly retracting the previous statement he said, ¡°However it is true your legs are indeed being too focused on. So I will start a course for your arms and the rest of your body. But you will have to alternate between them.¡± Mulling over ideas for some time he then said, ¡°Alright here is how it will be, you will do the squats finishing today off. Then tomorrow I shall train you to do arm exercises. We will have you do legs, arms, legs, and the day after that I want you to work on the core region of your body.¡± Satisfied with his own decision, he nodded in agreement with himself, and said, ¡°You will alternate every day between arms, legs and core strengthening exercises. Once you hit my goals I have set for you, find me and I will increase the amount or I will give you further instructions.¡± Ornias seemed to like this decision better and happily turned away and started his squats, persisting all the way till the sun went down. When the sun disappeared he angrily sighed and said, ¡°That demon, Nineteen thousand and twenty one every other day! What a pain!¡± Tiredness was an easy way to explain how he felt since his legs felt wobbly from running and doing squats all day. This was a first for him since his breathing technique was so good he didn¡¯t need to worry about getting oxygen into his muscles. But this didn¡¯t stop the ache and pain from the constant strain of an all-day workout. Heading back to his room, he finally was able to kick the air with his foot and make a ripple sound forcing the air to push forwards with his kick instead of every direction. If he would have used this technique with his palm it would have been known as palm blast, and was actual taught at many prestigious academies for warriors. Yet this technique he developed was unlike the academies techniques. Because he could do this same technique with his foot and he didn¡¯t seem to need to do it with his palm. Eventually he wanted to be able to apply this same principle to his fist, knee, elbow, or even a weapon. Therefore this technique he developed was actually his own variation and he decided to call it the whirlwind force. Several more months passed, and Ornias became six years old. His birthday present was Azon forcing him to do the same pushups he taught Rana for arm exercises. On his birthday, of all days, he had to do push-ups with a large boulder on his back, weighing the same as when Rana first started as well. Following that, the regular regime he did for the past several months consisted of him bench-pressing a rod that held two buckets on each end. Those buckets carried stones weighing twenty-five kilograms and he had to balance it while bench-pressing, adding considerable difficulty to the challenge. Lastly Azon required him to put his hands in a basin with fiery hot coals. He had to put his hands all the way to the bottom them pull them back out. After that Azon instructed him plunge his hands into a basin of sand and transition constantly back and forth. One was hot and burned the hands and seemed to scorch the flesh. But it made the skin tougher and got him accustomed to pain. The other was cold and rough whilst scraping against a hand that was burning not too long ago. This method forced his hands to become perilously strengthened and tough. So in a year¡¯s time, if he was to use his fingers, he could pierce through flesh easily. This finished off the day and Ornias was too tired to read and fell asleep immediately. When he woke up he did his leg exercises and finished the day off again too tired to feel like reading. On the day he was to work on his core region Azon made him do sit ups and crunches to strengthen his core. Doing these exercises he eventually would work out nearly every major part of his body. So far doing the core was his favorite day since it was the easiest on him and he found after the day ended he was in the mood to read again. While strengthening the rest of his body he decided to enforce power into the rest of his limbs just like he did for his legs. In the end he would be able to perform the Whirlwind force technique with every part of his body. Late arriving news of Rana reaching the second rank arrived and this motivated little Ornias to push himself even harder. Writing a happy ninth birthday letter to her, he congratulated her, and told her he would try to catch up to her. He quickly began to be able to lift more and do more over the course of the next four months. The growth speed he exhibited was absurd and he could bench seventy-five kilograms in each bucket now and had a boulder that weighed a hundred and twenty on his back. As Azon lay in bed still awake, he was pondering to himself. Ornias had already surpassed the threshold of the first ranked warriors in training and possibly even the second ranked warriors. This was an amazing feat but he sighed and thought there was nothing he could do since Ornias was too young to have a trial of the mind. Trials of the mind have never been recorded to come before eight years of age, and Ornias was only six, albeit an impressive six year old. Unsure of what to do for an impressive youngster, Azon turn over and fell asleep to debate over it when the time came. In the room down the hall, Ornias was still up studying. Absorbed, he sat on his bed, and skimmed through the books in his mind debating what to practice next. In the end he decided to train in the laws of magic since all the rest of the laws of the warrior required him to be within the first rank. To use magic, it was important to first mediate and focus on your surroundings. Setting a rhythm to his breath, he arrived in calm state of mind, and continued to read the next portion of the laws of magic. The book stated that all around him the magical elements of the world existed, and to use the magical essences he would need to gather the force of the elements within his mind, and form it with a thought into a tangible object. The easiest way to do this is to calm the mind, and focus on the surroundings. Upon reach a heightened state of the mind, only then could an individual sense the elements around them. The greater the individual¡¯s potential in melding magic, and their mind, the more readily they can feel the power of the elements around them. Calming himself, Ornias sat attentively and was prepared to feel out the elemental essences that was located everywhere in the world. Yet, what the book didn¡¯t state was that making contact with your first magical was very dangerous to do alone. To form the initial connection with magical essence and achieve the first ranking, usually the assistance of a fellow mage is needed. This is because it is far too dangerous otherwise to tap into an elementals power. With the aid of a fellow mage he can guide the individual safely to form the first contract with an element. If an individual tried to form a contract by themselves it is dangerous, and the elemental energies that they try to communicate with their mind, almost always will create unstable vortexes of raw elemental energy that can cause disastrous explosions or other ill effects. But Ornias was unaware of such catastrophes that could occur. The book he had was a simple book and didn¡¯t explain the dangers properly, so he proceeded anyways. Chapter 7 Trial of the Mind Chapter 7 Trial of the Mind Ornias sat on his bed with his legs crossed and his eyes closed. Breathing in and out systematically, he relaxed his mind and started to focus on the elements in his surroundings, beckoning them to enter his mind. However, he was unable to initially sense anything. So he thought he went about it wrong and decided to pull out the memory from the book. He began to recall the passage out loud to himself, ¡°Within magic there are five principle elements that are known to the public. Out of those five, most magicians can only feel and grasp one or two of the elements.¡± ¡°It requires a very powerful mind to form connections with more than that. Since the total amount of elements that can be mastered is accordant to the power of the persons mind.¡± Feeling confident, Ornias rubbed his nose in a haughty manner and continued to read aloud. ¡°Each element requires significant mental power in order to understand it, which is the reason that magicians are limited to one or two elements. Therefore it¡¯s a given, that only a couple elements are possible to be learned. So choose wisely. However please note, there also is a factor for how well the individual can understand and sense the magical aspects of the elements as well.¡± After reading the text in the book mentally, he smirked and realized he would be one of those to have a powerful mind. Maintaining the relaxed state, he began to recall the rest without verbalizing it. The remaining chapter of text mentioned the vast majority of magicians only being able to see specks of colored light corresponding to the element they are attune with. Yet more proficient magicians who have thicker bloodlines can see a stream of the prospective element. Also to properly call out to the elemental essences, it is required for the Magician to enter a meditative state of consciousness. It is easier to form connection if there is a mental room created to view the elements in person. Dwelling on this, he once again, tried to enter a state of consciousness through mediating. As he tried once more, the Divine Artifact within his body activated all the sudden. Unaware to the sudden change, white light began enshrouded Ornias. With just a thought, a room within his mind was opened up through this method of meditation and assistance of the Artifact. Yet when he arrived in the room, darkness slowly started to engulf him, and the room in his mind became a room that had no light. He was slightly frightened because he was in a pitch black space of consciousness. But shortly after entering, he could suddenly feel a coherent existence that seemed to be entering the space he created in his mind. Quickly following the sudden manifestation, several other existences began to also converging into the room. Worry filled him since he didn¡¯t know what those presences were. What that could enter someone else¡¯s mind so easily. But he realized that there was no ill intent attached and came to the conclusion that he successful called out to the elemental essences. With time he could feel the elements surrounding him. Faint wisps of colors started to appear in the darkness of his vision and gradually began to swim and circle around him. Now that there was a place to congregate, the elemental essences were quite eager to meet in the room his mind created for them. At this moment he could even differentiate the elements since he could see several different colors surrounding him. They were vibrant bright colors. They speedily filled up the entirety of the once dark room, leaving him dumbstruck. He sat in the middle of a vast ocean of colors flowing and swirling around him. It was almost as if he was drowning in an actual ocean. But this ocean was the elemental essences of magic, surrounding him in the forms of rivers. It was rather apparent that he was not normal and for some reason. He was capable of seeing rivers of the elements, when most high tiered individuals could only see small streams. The connection he had with the elements was abnormally large somehow. The closest element to him was a large dark forest green river swirling in the ocean of elements. This element was the essence of all nature. Reaching out, Ornias put his hand through the stream and instantly images of trees, plants, and small living thing flashed through his mind. If he wanted to form a connection with this element he instantly knew that he would have to nurture living organisms to do his bidding. But this could definitely become a powerful magic. By gaining an understanding of living entities he could directly enforce his will into organisms, like trees, and create powerful Treefolk that would serve him. He didn¡¯t want to be hasty in his decision however and looked at the other rivers in the ocean of magical elements as well. The element of Earth was a river of a brown dirt-like color that made him feel sturdy and strong when touching his hand against it. This magic also held similar strengths behind the spells, like rock golems, but he retracted his hand once again. A lava red river that blazed and turned with grace caused his heart to skip a beat, and reaching out he could feel heat, warmth, and power from this element of fire. It seemed like it could burn away everything in its path. But once again, he retracted his hand and decided to feel yet another river. The sensation of the element of water and ice was a deep azure blue current which made him feel wet, heavy, and cold. He felt that the whole world was at his beck and call, since most of the world and living things carried water within them. But there were obviously restrictions to performing water magic on living things and disheartened he touched the last element in his immediate vision. A yellow river was the element of air and he could feel a tingling sensational wind as it flowed around him. Wind was persistent and with speed and skill, it could overwhelm and chisel down anything in its way. It was also the magic create powerful tornados and storms. Each river he touched flowed and mixed with each other moving in and out of other rivers, while continuously surrounding him. He was drowning in these magical elements that were so large that each river combined together, formed a complete ocean of elements. Those were the five principle elements taught in the book of magic, yet he frowned and scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. ¡°What are these other colors that are present in my ocean of elements?¡± He asked himself. They were not as large as the rivers of flowing elements, and could only be considered small in comparison. But a pitch black and a bright brilliant white stream also flowed in his ocean of elements. From the black stream he felt a smothering sensation of darkness and despair and the white stream was soothing and supporting. Almost like a mother¡¯s love for a child. In comparison to all the other elements, he didn¡¯t even notice a third, purple essence, in this ocean of elements. While he could feel the presence of the white and black streams, the elemental purple specks that floated about, he could feel nothing from these. So they were completely unnoticed and he remained deeply puzzled and curious over what the black and white elements of magic were. Unable to determine precisely what the white and black streams were, he decided to not pick any element to train in. Instead he shrugged off his puzzlement, and started to feel tired. Thus leaving the room of consciousness, he rolled over in his bed to sleep and ponder over this matter at latter time. Several months passed by and he continuously tried studying the laws of magic to discover what those black and white magic streams were. However most the time he just slept during the nights, since he was too tired from the physical training with Azon. His training throughout those months became harder and harder as Azon slowly started to challenge him to do harsher exercises. This progressively increased his muscles on his body and he started to form a well-built figure similar to his birth father. Out of the exercises, he would now run with weights on of approximately two hundred and twenty kilograms. Wrist and ankle weights were strapped on him that gradually became heavier and heavier over the course of the months. Each weight on his four limbs now each weighed a total of fifty five kilograms. But the worst part about his training was he had to keep these weights on him throughout every training exercise. Just because he had weights on didn¡¯t diminish his usual excruciating training. Consequently his training was also increased exponentially in difficulty. He would still run, do squats, and even do lunges around the encampment whilst carrying a bucket weighing a hundred kilograms in each hand. For his arms, not only did the amount increase on the pushups, he also had Azon applying pressure on his back. There were no longer any boulders that were large and heavy enough to put the force of weight required. So Azon had to do it himself with his strength of a sixth rank warrior. Not only that, but Azon also put pressure down on him when bench pressing with a hundred kilogram weighing buckets, causing him to only struggle and suffer. His hands also suffered as well, since the heat from the basin of coals was significantly hotter and the basin of sand was replaced over the course of training with iron ball like fragments. Although, this allowed his hands, and fingers, to become perilously tough. Now he could poke a hole through wood with his index finger, like it was butter. However, the worst exercise of them all was that he had to walk on his hands with all his weights on and two buckets hooked on each foot around the encampment. This was beyond cruel for Azon to make him do. Even the men from Fengle¡¯s Grove started to think that Azon was a cruel slave driver to punish Ornias in such ways. But every time Ornias heard such claims he dismissed them by saying, ¡°This is the training that I asked for.¡± or ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have it any other way, I need to push my limits.¡± Actually, within the encampment, his fame quickly grew widespread as a young boy that could outrun, out lift, and out think any other man out of the bandits. In fact it was common for him to mingle with the bandits, when Azon had to leave on missions, and couldn¡¯t supervise his training. Be it chess, arm wrestling, or any other form of fun sporting competition, Ornias always seemed to come out on top of the other bandits. This caused all the men to grow a huge respect for him and he quickly became a heated topic within the camp. Often men would wager on what he could accomplish when he grew up. If he could already surpass men within the second and third ranks of a warrior as an eight year old, what kind of figure would he become? The training Ornias was now doing was that of a typical fourth ranked warrior, yet he still hasn¡¯t ranked up. Yet, although many men speculated over his accomplishments, the person most baffled at his speed of development was Azon. He knew that an individual needed to be a warrior of fourth rank for most of these exercises, yet Ornias had passed the threshold of training again and again at his age. This made him nervous, but nonetheless increased his training to the next stage every time. Four months ago, he even decided to take a trip with Ornias to a deeper part of forest twice a week. He would make Ornias stand underneath a waterfall that had an intense amount of water force press down on him. Ornias would stand still, as he would casually hit him with a stick and order Ornias not move or else he couldn¡¯t eat dinner that night. This method trained him in being able to hold his footing during fights, so that he could take a punch or a kick and not be knocked back. Azon was ruthless in hitting him and even used the strength of a sixth rank warrior to punish him. Except for the last couple of months, twice a week, Ornias ended up not having dinner. But after a while he began to hold his ground and started to be able to withstand the blows completely. Reaching another successful day of not moving while being hit by Azon, they were heading back from the forest when they had actually even encountered a fourth rank beast. It must be understood that although Fengle¡¯s Mourning was indeed mostly devoid of beasts, occasionally one or two survived very carefully within the forest or migrated there from another area. But unlike most regions of the world, this area had expert warriors constantly comb the forest and kill off any beasts stronger than the second rank. This was due to a cleansing ritual, organized by the Church of Ascension, every hundred years to kill them off, in memorial of the day humanity survived. However, occasionally some second ranked beasts were able to achieve higher rankings over time, and once they did, they would be killed as well during the next purge. So catching Azon and Ornias off guard, the three meter tall bear-like beast stealthily struck out against Ornias from behind. But fortunately due to his training he withstood the blow. The attack was still mighty however and tore through his clothes drawing blood against his backside. Worried, Azon was about to kill the abomination but Ornias held his hand up in the air, and said, ¡°Father, let me show you what I have been training every night!¡± Smiling evilly, just like he was Azon¡¯s son, he started to surge the thought of his arm becoming more powerful. He darted speedily next to the beast, using his powerful legs from the training up until now. Then in an agile manner that even surpassed the fourth ranked beast¡¯s speed, he arrived to the creature¡¯s side. He hastily leaped into the air, contracted his muscles in his arm and punched out against the creature¡¯s side of the head. The blow rippled in the air and the force of his whirlwind Technique was also applied. His punching technique was still rather sloppy, but the power of the limb strengthening technique made up for the deficit. With a single powerful punch, blood was drawn on the beast, and it couldn¡¯t help but shirk back, screaming in agony. To make a fourth rank beast receive a blow that was powerful enough to draw blood was impressive. But it didn¡¯t kill the beast and given time, the beast could in fact kill Ornias. So Azon took the initiative and utilized the true power of the limb strengthening technique against the beast. The speed of his punch was so quick Ornias couldn¡¯t see it, and the power was absolutely devastating. With one punch against its chest an explosion sounded and the beast¡¯s innards ripped apart and blew out in every direction away from the initial punch. Blood and tissue from the creature splattered everywhere and the beast became nothing but a pile of flesh and bones. After the single punch, Ornias couldn¡¯t help but let his jaw drop. That was the power he wanted to have one day. Upon seeing that display he turned to his foster father, and said, ¡°Please teach me how to do that.¡± His eyes sparkled as he begged. Laughing calmly, Azon looked over at the guts that were hanging from his son¡¯s shoulder and he picked it up and chucked it off to the side. His face turned a bit stern, and he said, ¡°Ornias, to do that first you need to learn to punch properly. Then you need to learn the basics of fighting stances. Only then can your power truly reach my stage.¡± Eagerly nodding his head, Ornias, chimed happily, ¡°I want you to teach me. I want to punch like you just did.¡± Training in hand to hand combat was essential, so Azon decided to train Ornias like he did for Rana. Even though that incident took place two months ago, during the last couple months till now he first taught Ornias how to make proper stances and how to strike out properly with his fist. After that he instructed him how to weave, dodge, parry, and use martial arts skills to their fullest. Again, Ornias soaked it all in like a sponge as always, and performed the skills flawlessly. He was slightly surprised by how quickly Ornias adapted and soaked in the information. Not only did he start to punch properly he was able to fully utilize the stances. Confronting Ornias after these last several months of training, he smirked, and said, ¡°It is now time for you practice your sparing skills with me a little. I will throw out punches, and I want you to parry them or dodge them.¡± Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Ornias bowing curtly replied, ¡°Treat me well.¡± Throwing out a punch and performing a mock battle, Azon held back only his strength and speed, but not his punching stances, and techniques. Punch after punch, Ornias tried to block and parry the blows. As he was able to stop more and more blows, Azon had to up the ante and move quicker. During this time as they fought, Ornias was studying Azon carefully, and looking for any openings. He studied his patterns and started to plan out a proper time to strike. Thrusting out with a side hook, Ornias saw his opening, ducked, then lunged forward with a punch and landed it squarely on his chest. This blow was not even enough to tickle Azon, but he was mighty impressed that Ornias was able to see an opening and take it. He had been caught off-guard because he didn¡¯t see Ornias as a threat, but now he would have to reconsider his mindset. But suddenly, after being able to devise and deliver that blow, Ornias fell on the ground holding his head as he screamed. An intense migraine he has never felt before hit him, and he began to feel weak, as his skin started to crawl, and his muscles started to ache. Azon stopped and stared in confusion at the sudden change in Ornias and then a thought crossed his mind. But he shook his head and muttered quietly, ¡°It¡¯s not possible¡­¡± Although, Ornias has far surpassed the typical training required to hit even the third rank of a warrior, he was just too young to consider that he would have his trial for the first rank of a warrior. Constantly Azon thought Ornias was a monster, since his training already far exceeded that of a first ranked warrior. The speed of his advancement was too quick to be normal, yet Azon knew the signs for the first trial. Ornias was suffering these exact symptoms, which could make or break most humans setting on the path of a warrior. So Azon knew he would have to help Ornias the best he could to pass them. Concern entered his voice as Azon quickly spoke, ¡°Listen to me Ornias, right now what is happening is you are about to start your trial of your mind for the laws of a warrior.¡± His brows furrowed in worry as he quickly walked over to Ornias, supported him, and said softly, ¡°You need to start mediation immediately and try to listen to what your mind and body are trying to say to each other.¡± Pressing his head fiercely with his hand, Ornias looked up at Azon and nodded meekly showing he understood. He sat down on the ground with his legs crossed in a meditative position and started to use his breathing technique to calm himself. Tightly closing his eyes, his face scrunched in pain as he got sudden convulses of painful migraines. But just as he closed his eyes to enter into a state of consciousness to comprehend his trial, the bright white light from his Divine Artifact started to shine around him. This shocked Azon at first, but he came to the conclusion that the Divine artifact would now be used to help him proceed with his trial. Artifacts were used precisely for this reason and were devoured during the process. Just because Ornias was a living Divine Artifact, changed nothing, his artifact would do the same as a regular Artifact. Keeping the appearance of Artifact secret still, Azon crouched down near Ornias and spoke supportively, ¡°Ornias¡­ every trial is different for each person. My trial for the first rank made my skin feel like ants were biting me everywhere. I don¡¯t know what your trial will be like but you need to prepare yourself.¡± He paused to let in a deep breathe, then exhaled, and spoke with a caring paternal voice, ¡°Son, you must focus now. Think of your body transforming and learn what want your body wants to tell your mind. Listen to what it tells you and don¡¯t give in to the tortures of the mind.¡± Now he could only watch as Ornias started his trial, and he felt helpless that he had not helped Ornias prepare for this. He was worried that all the training was for nothing if Ornias couldn¡¯t pass his first trial. But he had faith that with the Artifacts help he could pass through safely and unscathed. Ornias kept his eyes tightly shut and tried fighting back the pain of the migraine. He could feel as body stiffened and became slightly unresponsive as his mind wanted to communicate with his body. Using a similar mediation method that he did for magic, his consciousness arrived in a room with a large door in front of him, and he could feel that the body¡¯s knowledge was behind that door. Yet it felt like his body couldn¡¯t communicate through the door, so his mind was fiercely banging on a door that would not answer back. The migraines were caused by the mind banging on the door and not being able to communicate with his body. He knew that in order for him to understand what his body wanted to say he had to open that door for his mind in order to communicate with his body. However when faced with wanting to open the problem causing door, he could see eight other doors within the same room. A curiosity overcame him and he walked around in the room and found that behind each door whispering sounds came from beyond. But the first door he was in front of was the only door that seemed to be screaming out. So pushing the other doors aside Ornias arrived back in front of the first door and nervously opened the door at a distance. A rush of information surged through his mind and he instantly unraveled many mysteries of his body. The skin that covered his body consisted of many separate layers. The Stratum Corneum technique he developed actually utilized the outer most layer of dead skin and changed it with accordance to the users will. He never fully understood how this technique was used in conjunction with his body, but now he knew. With these sudden revelations, a hunger filled his eyes for more knowledge, and understanding of his body. Glancing at the next two doors, a thirst for more power and knowledge urged him and he quickly open the second and third doors respectively. Sure enough more thoughts filled his head and bombarded him. Although constant information of his skin was still coming through, he started to gain an understanding of his senses as well. Theories of increased hearing, sight, smell, tastes, and enhanced touch all came to him. His knowledge of the anatomy of his body, and its full capabilities, started to expand even further, as concepts of muscular structure started to pour through his mind as well. With three different types of information suddenly converging, he buckled under the mental strain and collapsed on the ground. But the knowledge of skin hit its final threshold limits and began to deliver the first trial just then. Even with him still sorting through the thoughts of muscles, and the senses, he had to face his first trial. Instantly his face was wracked with pain as he felt his skin start to feel fiery hot and burn. He felt as if he had third degree burns all over on his skin. It itched like crazy and caused him intense pain with the sensation of his skin burning. Rolling on the ground, he screamed in pain, but nothing he could do would take the pain away. The information of his senses and muscles flooded his mind preventing him from single mindedly being able to handle a trial that could have easily been overcome with the assistance of the Divine Artifact. Alarmed, Azon looked at him and spoke sternly, ¡°I need you to focus, Ornias. This is your first trial of the warrior. Your body and mind need to connect with each other and your body will deliver its secrets to you.¡± Blisters and sores started to appear on his physical body as the skin felt like it was burning. Even though the trial was in state of unconsciousness, his body reacted to it. The skin started to peel and fester in areas. The likes of this has never happened before, and even Azon was puzzled over it. Worry swept his face and he frowned deeply. Stroking the stubble on his face, he thought, ¡°Ornias is way too young, and there has never been a recorded case of a child his age reaching the first rank of a warrior. Simply due to his age, his trial might be the hardest trial of the mind ever on the planet of Yeshir, which not even I can imagine.¡± He stared at him with unease as he watched the boy¡¯s face contort and perspiration roll down his forehead. Ornias was screaming in agony, and he could no longer maintain his breathing technique. The skin on his body still burned but the information of his senses now hit its threshold as well and started the second trial while the first one was still in progress. The pain became simply unbearable at this point. The flesh felt like it was rotting and all five senses started to only enhance his misery. If it wasn¡¯t bad already, his sense of touch made it worse, and further enhanced the sensation of the burns. The addition of touch caused him to bleed badly where the blisters and sores were on areas of his body. Muffled whimpers came of his mouth and for the first time ever tears streamed down the boy¡¯s face. The excruciating agony he was enduring was rather too intense. One by one his sense came to him. His ears started to hear really loud sounds at distances to far away for him to distinguish what they were. The constant bombardment of the sounds of nature and hearing Azon¡¯s breathing and heartbeat caused his ears to bleed from the excess sound. The sense of smell also became enhanced and was the only sense that didn¡¯t not causes him excruciating pain. But the vivid smell of burning flesh seemed to fill his nostrils. Although his eyes remained tightly shut, they began to transform with the knowledge available to him. A sickening squishing sound could be heard from his already enhanced bleeding ears as his eyes started to burn on the inside. The eyes of humans used to have two layers of eyelids yet genetics removed the purpose of the second thin layer used to block excess light. This eyelid is a sideways eyelid and remnants of that lost genetic trait still remains today if looked at in a glass mirror. Ripping and tearing itself out from the side wall and re-growing the second eyelid slowly formed as blood filled his inner eye cavities and seeped out. Usually trials would not access such traits that have been passed out by genetics, but this trial did. It might have been because of the Divine artifact being used to enhance the trials effects to their upmost, but this simply didn¡¯t help in the current situation. Instead it was causing more grief, because his mental powers were spread between the knowledge of skin, sense, and muscles. His sense of taste was also becoming enhanced, and the stomach and tongue were both simultaneously becoming transformed. Blood gurgled from his mouth and his stomach hurt like someone had just stabbed him with a sword. Poisons, toxins, and regular food would now be able to pass though his system unaffected. But this was not the only benefit since going to the bathroom was no longer needed. His body would almost always find a way to break down and use any form of substance and digest it. By even being able to break down cell walls from plants that the stomach usually can¡¯t, he was able to increase the amount of nutrients he could get drastically. Any substance that was not useful, the body would transfer it through the bloodstream, and out of the pores of his skin, since he already understood his skin perfectly to be able to do so. His breathing was rather uncontrollably rampant and rolling around on the grass, his body still felt like it burned. But blood loss was quickly becoming a concern because of the trial of his senses since he was bleeding from his eyes, ears, mouth, the boils, and the sores. In a regular trial this would be manageable since the individual usually has plenty of mental power to process the information and prevent the senses from being overloaded. But for Ornias he could do nothing to stop the overload since his mind was to spread thin soaking in information. At that moment, Azon watched as Ornias was writhing in pain and bleeding. Surprise was not enough to explain how he felt when he discovered that Ornias was also going through the trial of the senses in addition to the trial of skin. He didn¡¯t want to interrupt the trials because that could be very damaging to the person undergoing the trial. If they were interrupted by someone during the trial they could be damaged mentally and lose physical capabilities, but he knew that he might need to intervene. Even though they were not bound by blood, he truly considered Ornias his son. So seeing him enduring this much suffering was rather hard to swallow. Leaning next to his son, he whispered, ¡°If I need to¡­ I will knock you out and end your trial. All I need from you is to tell me to stop it.¡± Now that he told Ornias, that he could only put his faith in the boy. After all, even if he was undergoing two trials at once, he had the protection and guidance of a divine artifact. However what he didn¡¯t know was Ornias was about to experience his third trial. If Ornias wasn¡¯t suffering enough, the information of muscles in his mind also reached their threshold. Sure enough he started suffering a torture of his muscles ripping and stretching in every single area of his body. It was as if someone had a strand of his muscle tissue laid in front of them and strand by strand they pulled it apart and stretched it. The pain and concentration to not pass out was already reaching his breaking point. His breathing became very erratic. Then suddenly he lost all control as the pain he was experience became too great and the divine artifact shined began flashing very brightly. Part of his mind drifted away and strange image started to pass through his mind. Things he saw he didn¡¯t fully comprehend, but others he understood. The Artifact seemed to be giving him these images to preoccupy him his mind. But with his mind side tracked and his concentration no longer focused, the trials started to take their toll on his body. His body started to seize as his muscles tightened and he started to jerk around on the ground in a seizure. A whole two minutes passed by before his convulsing finally stopped. Blood filled tears suddenly streamed down his face, and mumbling out loud, a single word was barely audible. ¡°Father¡­¡± he said, the image of the father he was calling out was not Azon however. But true to his cue, and unaware that Ornias was not calling for him but another father, Azon quickly stepped forward and hit Ornias behind the neck. This caused Ornias to slump over and all the pain and misery he was feeling disappeared as he lost consciousness and entered a coma like state. Dread filled his heart, and Azon picked Ornias off the ground and rushed into the house and laid him down on his bed. Sitting next to him, he griped his hand tightly and whispered, ¡°Ornias¡­ please wake up. Wake up!¡± Tears streamed down Azon¡¯s face, and he said meekly, ¡°Please¡­¡± Although in a coma with his eyes closed, the eyes of Ornias shifted around in the dreamlike state as images continued to flood through his mind. But he remained completely unresponsive in any way to Azon¡¯s words. This was the child he had attempted to raise as his own for eight years, and he treated him like his own son. It was unbearable to see his son, covered in blood, and in an unresponsive coma. The last word from his mouth was, ¡°Father.¡± Even a grown man¡¯s heart would shatter after that. (*Author note* I will be posting any future updates on the delayed chapter post so if your curious on my status it will be posted there. Also please like on me on facebook. I hope you enjoyed the read!) Chapter 8 Plots While the Dragon Sleeps Chapter 8 Plots While the Dragon Sleeps A man with brown short hair and green eyes had his face in front of Ornias and blocked most of his peripheral vision. In the distance however, he could make out many other people who were gathered around. But for some reason this man in particular seemed to have a weird pull on him. It was as if this man was important, and everything he was, existed because of this man. The realization hit him and he thought, ¡°This is my father, my real father.¡± A joy filled him and Ornias tried to say, ¡°Father¡±, but no words seemed to come out. Everything he saw was like a flash of images in sequence and the man was moving his mouth but the words coming out of it seemed odd and he didn¡¯t understand them. A frown showed on the man¡¯s face and the whole world seemed to move as his face drifted away. The scenery seemed to change and worry filled Ornias as it did so but suddenly a woman¡¯s face was replaced in his immediate vision. She was a gorgeous woman with beautiful blonde hair and blue sparkling eyes. As sounds came out of her mouth, they seemed soothing and calmed his troubled heart. A warm feeling rushed into his body and he felt a powerful connection to this woman. This must be my mother he realized. All this was just so strange to him. He felt that they were his parents but what of Azon and Cecilia. In an attempt to gaze elsewhere Ornias attempted to look away but found that he didn¡¯t have proper control over the rest of his body. His head felt heavy and sluggish and he was able to only slightly move his fingers. Straining himself, when he did manage to view his own body, he found that he was in the body of a baby. Yet that was not the most shocking thing since his body was enveloped in a white light. The light seemed to hug him and looking closer he realized that it was not just white light at all. In fact his hand seemed to be tightly griping what looked like a bright white hand and there was a hazy figure that was embracing him while holding his hand. It was a semitransparent figure and it was merging itself slowly with his small body. As soon as the apparition noticed Ornias seemed mentally aware, a conscious response resounded within his mind from the ghostly figure. ¡°Child¡­ you have quite the powerful mind already, but sadly you will most likely not remember these events. What you see now is a fragment of my soul. I was once an ancient power but my soul was shattered into fragments. If you wish to see my past I will show you¡­¡± The images of events around him slowed down to a standstill as if time itself stopped. In its place the world transformed and instead of seeing flashing images he started to view things like they were through his own eyes. What Ornias was viewing was past events from when he was a new born baby. Memories of birth are typically forgotten but recent events re-awoke these memories. As these dreamlike images surged through his head, he remained in an unresponsive coma. During his comatose state, when he tried to call out to his real father in the coma, he had said father out loud in reality. Just like Azon had told Ornias, he was willing to end his trial prematurely without hesitation as long as Ornias asked him to do so. As the word, ¡°Father¡±, left his lips, he sealed his fate. If any chance of him passing the trial was possible before, now that Azon knocked him out, it caused those connections to fail. With using a simple forceful chop of his hand, Azon knocked the pain ridden Ornias into a complete form of unconsciousness. His mind was now severed from completing the trial, with a very minimal possibility of future reconnection, and an evener high possibility of impaired future functionality. In desperation, Azon even used a speed technique to move his foster son¡¯s body into his own room. As he stared down at the unconscious Ornias all he saw was his tiny chest move up and down as he breathed and all other functionality was now gone. There were sores and blood still covered all over his body. The state he was in was absolutely pitiable. Azon was a nervous wreck, but he tried to calm himself down. There was one thing that he had to do that was going to be rather difficult and he needed to explain it properly. He left the bedroom and quickly tried his best to find and tell Cecilia what occurred. She was in the kitchen cooking dinner in preparation for when they would be done with training. Azon gritted his teeth and approached her. When Azon first entered the house and place Ornias in his room he was using a special enhancing speed technique that was too fast for her to see. Noises were certainly made but without the sight of the activity she would pass it off as just the noises coming from the house. Now that he was not using any form of speed technique, she could hear him creep behind her. Smiling, she turned around and put down the knife she was using to cut the vegetables for dinner. Lifting her finger up and shaking it, she said, ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it. I¡¯m not going to let you grab a snack to eat yet again, while you let poor Ornias suffer through your evil training methods.¡± An uncomfortable emotion swirled within Azon as he gulped, and said nervously, ¡°Um¡­ Honey¡­ I don¡¯t know how to say this¡­¡± In a fluid motion Cecilia pulled off her cooking apron and smacked it down on the table. Anger peered through her gaze as she said, ¡°Don¡¯t play foul jokes on me Azon. I already told you, that you are not eating until Ornias gets to eat tonight.¡± He raised his hand up outstretched denying the accusation, while saying, ¡°It¡¯s not like that Cecilia. Ornias¡­ He¡­his Trial¡­I just couldn¡¯t do anything¡­ so I put him in his room.¡± With him just barely mentioning Ornias entering his trial, Cecilia didn¡¯t listen to any further explanation and exploded into a frantic run into her son¡¯s room. When Azon re-entered his room, Cecilia was huddled over his body and was weeping. Greif and anguish was all that could be felt as Azon placed his hand on her shoulder and tried to comfort her. But in a misguided attempt to place blame she shrugged off his hand and stood up. Her lips quivered, and she said with a tear stained face, ¡°You¡­¡± ¡°This is because of you¡­¡± She said, as she placed all the blame upon him. Lightly hitting Azon with her feeble fists, she wailed, ¡°It¡¯s your fault¡­ It¡¯s all your fault!¡± The act of hitting him was an aversion and denial to the truth of the matter. She couldn¡¯t see how to release her current emotions any other way. But it didn¡¯t mean anything against a sixth rank warrior, and Azon grabbed both her wrists in an attempt to stop the punches. Unable to hit him anymore out of anger, she slumped her head against as his body, as she declared, ¡°You have to save him!¡± Helplessness consumed his body as Azon asked, ¡°What can I do to save him?¡± Wiggling out of his grip, Cecilia stood back a ways and berated him, by yelling, ¡°Well you had better find a way. He is in this condition because you didn¡¯t train him in how to pass his first trial.¡± Shaking his head, he said, ¡°It was not just his first trial, if I am correct he had three trials simultaneously.¡± Her fists tightened against her side as she screamed, ¡°Fool, you should have taught him to not do something so stupid as to attempt multiple trials.¡± At a loss for words, he started, ¡°I¡­¡± However he had no way to combat her claims, since the claims were quite accurate. The most he could do was to reach out and seek for aid, and hope that Clan Fortis, or someone else takes pity on his situation. Feelings of utter uselessness entered his mind, and slumping down on a chair, he sat in a daze with his hand on his head. The world was spinning out of his control. His original plan to restore his reputation, and get reinstated as a Prime Duke within the Azarasi nobles, was now far from reach. ¡°I will send out a request for help, dear.¡± Azon said disdainfully. He knew that there would be another high cost for his request. Last time he had to fork out secret information on how to cultivate two precious techniques he had stolen as a kid. Those techniques were a trivial matter though because the body had to be trained specifically for those techniques or they could not be used. But now what could he give? Remorse filled his gut, and raising his head, he said, ¡°There is always a price for these things, but for Ornias, and for your sake, I will do it.¡± It wouldn¡¯t do any good to stay mad, so Cecilia softened her voice as she replied, ¡°As long as we can make him better, I don¡¯t care what the price is.¡± That following morning, Azon wrote an urgent letter requesting for aid from Duke Chalmon. This was a desperate attempt in order to help his son reawaken from a failed trial. He then enlisted the aid of several second rank and third rank warriors to deliver the letter within a reasonable amount of time. Many of these men were those, Azon personally counted on. They were bandits whose achievements stood out the most. Men like Framor, Brumar, and Zalgon, were those he relied on. However, even with these men that he appointed, delivering a letter depended upon the quality of those sent to take it. With anyone under the fourth rank it usually took a month to arrive in Caelestis, given the dangers involved. These men left on their journey, and sure enough, a month passed by before they arrived in Caelestis. The city was a grand spectacle, even more so than Domington the so called gateway to Gramrot, which was the center of the Church¡¯s foundations. This was because it was here that humanity had restarted from those ten thousand years ago. The big walls still stood as menacing as ever and although ten thousand years have passed signs of war like history was evident upon those walls. As soon as the men entered through the heavily guarded gates to the city, they decided to split up. Because the other men wanted to explore the grand city of Caelestis, they left Framor with the task of delivering the letter personally. The city was the largest city in Tolboud so navigating it was a slight pain. Luckily carriage drivers were always parked by the city gates specifically for new arrivals. So calling up a driver Framor tossed him a few coins and asked to go to Duke Chalmon¡¯s Estate. As he arrived in the carriage, the man who received Framor into the mansion was not Chalmon but Vanrus. As son to Chalmon and of the noble ranking of baron, Framor had no choice but to let Vanrus read the letter. As Vanrus skimmed over the message he laughed bitterly at the irony in the situation. Unknowingly, recent events have suddenly favored Azon, but his son was now a cripple. As Vanrus laughed and he thought of how to respond to the current situation, his father arrived in the room. Although Chalmon noticed the letter in his hands, he saw Framor standing nearby and sought to greet an old friend. Grinning and opening his arms in receiving manner, Chalmon hugged Framor, and said, ¡°Ah¡­ I was just about to write a letter out to Azon. It seems good fortune that you are here, my good friend Framor.¡± ¡°...You were about to write a letter?¡± Confusion filled Framor¡¯s face. Laughing with a hearty smile, Chalmon nodded and said, ¡°My good man, have you not yet heard word? They seek to reinstate, Azon¡¯s former nobility ranking of duke!¡± Puzzlement was suddenly overcome with a sudden insight, as he said, ¡°Duke¡­Don¡¯t tell me¡­¡± Slapping Framor on the back, Chalmon grinned and said, ¡°Indeed, he has a wonderful foster daughter who has caught the attention of the Church. She is to be called from now on, Countess Rana Fortis.¡± ¡°It sickens me that his honor gets restored due to someone else¡¯s actions.¡± Vanrus muttered. A, ¡°Tch¡­¡± sound was heard, as Chalmon struck out a glare at his son, and said, ¡°It is not our call but the Church¡¯s. The fact that they are even considering Rana, as a promising prospect, is good for our clan.¡± ¡°That is indeed fortuitous news, but unfortunately, I arrive with rather bad news.¡± Framor said, as he shook his head with a down casted attitude. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Chalmon asked, and then stared at the letter in his son¡¯s grip. A silence spread between the men and he grabbed the letter from Vanrus and started to read. Looking over the entirety of the message, he sighed and thought, ¡°Seems karma must keep equivalent balances in all things.¡± After hearing the sigh, Vanrus interjected his father¡¯s thoughts by saying, ¡°You are not truly going to aid his crippled son are you?¡± A bleak grimace formed on his face, and Chalmon said, ¡°With his former rank as the Prime Duke of Clan Fortis being restored, I have no choice now.¡± The difference was between a regular duke and a Prime Duke was the privilege to have seat in line for the throne. It must be known that Chalmon was also considered a Prime Duke since he was third in line for the throne. Stumbling back a ways, Vanrus was thinking hard about ways to divert the current situation. He combed his hand through his long blonde hair, puzzling over the matter before he reached a solution. ¡°Ah¡­ wait¡±, Vanrus smirked while replying, ¡°Getting his rank restored means he can¡¯t avoid being directly involved in the upcoming war, isn¡¯t that correct?¡± Confusion filled the faces of both Chalmon and Framor. The bias Vanrus had for Azon was indeed public to everyone but the man himself, but both men wondered where he was going with this question. The brows on Chalmon furrowed, as he understood his son was up to no good. The question was indeed curious however, and Chalmon replied, ¡°I suppose that is correct, why do you ask?¡± A sadistic grin appeared, and Vanrus prided himself as a genius as he said, ¡°Well¡­ if he truly wants to restore his previous position as the Prime Duke, why not make him help initiate the war, and prove his worth?¡± The realization hit Chalmon as he thought, ¡°Azon¡¯s status has not yet been approved by the council.¡± Because of Rana¡¯s quick rise to the third rank of a warrior over the course of just a year, she had brought the attention of the Church. Yet upon their discovery of her as Azon¡¯s foster child, they quickly sought to rectify old hatreds, in the attempt to bring her into their fold. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.Unfortunately, unless the current king or great ancestor himself steps in, the raising of status takes time. It will require, not only the pressure from the church, but the consent of the current king¡¯s council of Prime Dukes. Nodding his head in agreement, Chalmon said, ¡°Hmm¡­ that does seem fair. I will speak with the other nobles. I have some sway with the current Prime Dukes, and a leader who has no involvement in our plans does indeed, not belong.¡± An entire month passed before Chalmon was able to get a satisfactory assignment for Azon in return for his son¡¯s aid. During this time, not only did Framor and his company stay with them but they were bound by magic oath to keep what was spoken secret as they returned with the reply. If by chance they tried to reveal any information regarding the past couple of days, a memory wipe would be instantly casted from the magic brand. It would erase everything within a year¡¯s time frame of their stay at Chalmon¡¯s residence. As Framor was on his way back with Chalmon¡¯s reply, Ornias turned seven. Although he was still in a coma, Cecilia treated him well. She would often sit in his room next to his bedside and hope he would wake up. Grasping his hand, and feeling a faint warmth from it, she said, ¡°It¡¯s your seventh birthday, sweetie. I have a new book to read to you today. I hope you enjoy it.¡± The book was titled the Dungeon Master and it was a very interesting tale about a man conquering many dangerous dungeons. Cecilia had taken care to continue reading to Ornias just like she did when he was a young child. Every day she would sit in a worn out chair, and read to him, hoping he would at some point break through his coma. His eyes shifted as he remained in the coma-like state, but no further improvements were made. It was as if he was just a lifeless corpse rotting away day by day. A mage had been hired that could force water and nutrition into his body, but when the mage was not around nothing could be done. Almost a full month passed by after Ornias turned seven and finally Framor and the other men arrived with the response. Luckily Azon was home, and taking the return letter from them, he dismissed the men. He then moved into the study as he read the response as fast as he could. However, what he read only angered him, and he smashed nearby furniture, causing quite the commotion. The sounds of things breaking interrupted Cecilia¡¯s daily readings, and she came into the study to see what the fuss was about. When she arrived, Azon stopped his tantrum, and attempted calming himself. Puffing out hot air from his nostrils, he said furiously, ¡°As you know, I wrote a letter about the situation. The requirements however, are that I fulfill a series of assignments before I can receive aid from the nobles.¡± A calm soothing tone suppressed his anger as she touched his arm, and said, ¡°Darling, do what you have to for his sake. He¡¯s just rotting away at this rate, if there is a way; I want you to take it.¡± He calmed down, and touching her hand with his, he said, ¡°Perhaps he may still wake up, so I want you to stay here with him as I complete this assignment.¡± What troubled him however was not just from this bit of information. The anger just now was also because of the remaining part of the letter. It was both good and bad news. Guiding the weary and pale faced Cecilia to sit, Azon gazed lovingly at her and said, ¡°There is more¡­ After I accomplish these tasks I must go to Caelestis.¡± Confusion entered her face, but Azon continued, ¡°Rana has achieved what I can only dream of¡­ the church has extended their goodwill towards us once again and seeks to restore my nobility.¡± Excitement ran through her, and the pale color from her face brightened, as she said, ¡°This is terrific news. Rana has achieved something wonderful for us.¡± Azon shook his head, and said, ¡°Not necessarily, she and I will obtain nobility, but it comes with a price. After Ornias is healed, I am sure they will use me as a pawn in their war games. With a clenched fist, he said, ¡°My position of Prime Duke always was a coveted position assigned to me by the Great Ancestor of the five great clans. Other Prime Dukes and those within their circle will try to remove or handicap me. We need to be careful from now on.¡± Cecilia understood the dire straits of the situation and replied solemnly, ¡°I understand¡± Grabbing Cecilia¡¯s hand, Azon said, ¡°I will leave immediately and I hope these missions prior to our conquest of Tolboud is quick and easy to deal with. Maybe Ornias will wake up before I am done and all this will be for naught.¡± Squeezing Azon¡¯s hand, Cecilia said, ¡°We can hope.¡± She stood up gave him a tight hug and said, ¡°Go see your son before you leave, and bid him farewell.¡± So before leaving, Azon knelt by his son¡¯s bedside gripped his hand tightly before giving him a powerful embrace. He then swore an oath to heal him by his tenth birthday then afterwards he turned around and left the house with a large company of the Crimson Claw Bandits. Over the next several months he would perform a series of missions that would pave the way for the future conquest of the Tolboud kingdom and many were quite dangerous. It wasn¡¯t easy but Azon utilized his wit and skill to accomplish them. Time seemingly flew by and waiting for Ornias to wake up didn¡¯t pan out as well as Azon had hoped. The missions took a considerable amount of time and nine months passed by. Finishing up the last mission, he was allowed to return home before departing to Caelestis. He took this time to be with Cecilia and Ornias for a week. Then on the seventh day he departed for Caelestis. The journey there was long and treacherous but because Azon succeeded in entering the sixth rank, he was able to cut the time frame down to two weeks. As he arrived he sized up the city and noticed that the appearance of the city didn¡¯t change a whole lot since his exile. However, the people who dwelled within the grand estates lining the roads had changed drastically due to the internal power struggles. Walking through the grand gates several powerful figures seemed to have already detected his arrival and stopped him. It has to be known that anyone higher than the fourth rank is considered an expert cultivator, so this was normal. Having obtained the sixth rank as a warrior of course men who could sense his aura wanted to know who he was. Out of the men to greet him, one was a disciple member of the Church of Ascension. This man approached Azon, and said, ¡°I sense you are a powerful warrior of at least the sixth rank. I don¡¯t recognize you or your aura, so I must ask what your business is here in Caelestis.¡± With a glance Azon could tell this man was strong as well and could be ranked close or equivalent to his own rank, so he knew it was best not to antagonize the unknown individual. ¡°My name is Azon, and the reason behind this visit is to seek council with Duke Chalmon.¡± He said with a calm and cool response. Shock appeared on the man¡¯s face, and he said, ¡°You are Azon? Ah¡­So I take it, you have heard the news about your daughter¡¯s achievements. You will shortly be reinstated to your form rank given time, I can assure you.¡± A polite bow came from the man, as he said, ¡°If you seek to visit your daughter at Chalmon¡¯s Estate by all means I will not keep you.¡± He then moved away and forced the other men that were curious about Azon to leave as well. Azon was gratefully for the respect he was showed by the Church¡¯s disciple and quickly called for a carriage driver. The driver took a single gold coin from him and led with haste to Chalmon¡¯s residence. When Azon arrived he knocked on the door and waited for a while before a butler opened the door. He was lead further into the estate where Duke Chalmon was already waiting for Azon. As he made his way across the room, both men smirked and Chalmon had a strange proud gleam in his eyes. He was looking at the man he hadn¡¯t seen in years, his best friend Azon. In a singular symbiotic motion, Chalmon and Azon clasped their hands, and moved to embrace each other tightly. A strong bond was once between these two men and only politics and greed separated them now. Hesitant, Azon asked, ¡°Chalmon¡­ About Ornias¡­¡± Just then a powerful aura was felt, and a gorgeous young lady walked down the central staircase towards them. Radiance shined off Rana as she appeared to glide with grace and ferocity. The achievement of a fourth ranked warrior was a feat none could boast in a two year span of cultivation. ¡°Let¡¯s not talk of this at the moment, Azon.¡± Chalmon hushed. Surprise entered Azon, as he had only heard she was a third rank warrior. What type of sickening speed was this that a twelve year old girl had reached the fourth rank? ¡°Rana¡­¡± Azon stammered, ¡°Is that you¡­¡± Laughing with delight in her eyes, Rana said, ¡°Indeed father, I am strong now and it¡¯s all thanks to you.¡± A smile beamed across his face, and a tear welled up in his eye. She had single handedly restored his honor. It was amazing that such a young beautiful woman was that powerful, but the most shocking thing was that she was Azon¡¯s foster Daughter. Azon had rocked the foundation of the five great clans many years ago with his surprising cultivation but now his daughter was even scarier. This made him very proud. The fact that a cold calculating man like him had raised a daughter like her could definitely be said to change a man. Azon spoke his true feelings were said as he said, ¡°That¡¯s wonderful news dear, Cecelia and I am already so proud of you. But now you surprise me yet again with achieving the fourth rank. I can¡¯t even explain it in words.¡± A mischievous gleam sparkled in her eyes, and she smirked while saying, ¡°I¡¯m even stronger than Vanrus in a mock battle.¡± As if on cue, Vanrus had entered the main room just those words were said and his face slightly flushed. That was a confirmation that what she said was in fact the truth. Since they were both in the fourth rank it was easy to be embarrassed by a getting beaten by someone younger. A hearty laugh escaped Azon¡¯s lips after hearing that, and he asked, ¡°Is this really true Vanrus?¡± A nervous meek smile appeared on Vanrus, and using this uncomfortable incident, he said, ¡°Ah¡­ well¡­um¡­ I have other business that¡¯s needs attending, so if you¡¯ll pardon me.¡± In a hurried speed he left the mansion as laughter followed him out. After leaving Vanrus scowled and clenched his fist while gritting his teeth at the embarrassment. He hated that man so much, Rana was tolerable, but not Azon. He took a carriage and ordered the carriage driver to take him into the deeper market areas of the city. This was a dangerous area but regardless of the peril, after arriving to the rather shifty location he got out of the carriage and walked down into an alley. Suddenly a strange man with a gold and green cloak appeared from the shadows and said, ¡°You kept me waiting too long. I know you are a busy man, but I am too.¡± Reaching into his side pocket, Vanrus pulled out a letter, and said, ¡°Hand this note over to the Kyros clan; it¡¯s strictly for the eyes of Teronus only.¡± ¡°Of course¡±, the strange man replied. As the strange man vanished back into the shadows, Vanrus grinned. The contents within that note would spell Azon¡¯s doom. In conjunction with convincing his father to send Azon on the mission to start the war, the contents of the note would ensure the removal of him. With that he felt that things would finally fall into place for him, and he headed back to the mansion. Once he arrived, Rana had already retreated back to her room, while Chalmon and Azon were discussing the situation with Ornias. The discussion of Azon having to initiate the war after his son¡¯s recovery seemed to have already been discussed. This caused a grin to appear on Vanrus since there was no evidence to implicate himself in Azon¡¯s downfall. Through tidbits of picked up conversation, Vanrus concluded that the Mage calling himself, Greystorm, would accompany Azon back and aid in healing Ornias. Yet just as discussion was wrapping up, Vanrus quickly interjected. An attempt at sincerity was made as Vanrus said, ¡°I will also accompany you, Azon. I want to visit your son and show my respect to you for being my former Commander¡± Grabing Vanrus by the arm and clasping him in a reminiscent hug, Azon said, ¡°I would enjoy your company. You are a skilled individual, and I could still use you around.¡± Then leaning forward and whispering in his ear, he asked, ¡°Oh¡­ did you end up learning those techniques I provided you?¡± Anger surged through Vanrus but he suppressed it and laughed instead, and said, ¡°No, It seems I can only ever look up to you as mighty figure that could learn such powerful techniques.¡± A satisfied glint appeared in Azon¡¯s eye because he did not want anyone else to achieve merit from those secrets. They had become his trait of power after all, and if others could so easily duplicate it then it would be bad for his image. He shook his head, and said, ¡°Ah¡­ that¡¯s too bad.¡± With a clap of his hand he changed subjects and said, ¡°Well we best head off then, as I¡¯m in a slight hurry, I want to make it before Ornias turns ten and heal him.¡± Using the power of a noble Chalmon gathered around twenty men to accompany Azon, Vanrus, and Greystorm. The journey took a turn for the worst however as bandits seemed to attack continuously and slowed them down. They still had a week till Ornias turned eight luckily and they just crossed over the Librest mountain range and headed through Valmor Forest. Valmor forest was not far from Fengle¡¯s Forest, but a strong powerful monster in the seventh rank suddenly appeared. It was a griffin with a missing eye that seemed to have been eaten by another beast. Fury burned in Azon, and he yelled, ¡°Hurry and run everyone!¡± If they were delayed any longer he wouldn¡¯t be able to keep his promise to his son. Yet, this beast was a rank higher than even he was. Not many beasts this powerful came out in the open but when they did it was hard to not sustain casualties even if you flee. The men scattered but the griffin was quick and swiped his talons killing one of the escorts instantly. The griffin then looked the group over, analyzing who was the strongest, spotted Azon and pounced. The beast was too powerful and it smashed Azon against the ground trapping him with his talons. The situation looked grim and Vanrus and Greystorm were out of sight. Noticing no one else was around; Azon realized he most likely had to find a way out of this one for himself. Chapter 9 Stirring the Slumbering Dragon Chapter 9 Stirring the Slumbering Dragon The Griffin had Azon trapped under his talon-like claws, and the thought of escape would be difficult. The one eyed griffin knew if it could kill the strongest person within the group, the rest would be easy. However, Azon wasn¡¯t going to go down without a good fight. He didn¡¯t want to use this last resort technique, but here he had no choice. Out of the two secret techniques Azon¡¯s body had been trained to use, this second one was the strongest. The Crimson Claw was a very powerful technique when the fingers of the user were trained to an extreme. Yet there was another technique, called the Piercing Wave, which utilized the entire strength of the hand. This technique used the fingers for piercing, knuckles for grinding, and fist for power. Striking the center of the claw, Azon put all his power into his fingers and thrust them forward. He gathered the air nearby with his thrust, and positioned the fingers close together, but made sure they were not touching as he struck out. As soon as they pierced through the claw the griffin, the power of the air that he gathered helped break the surrounding surface. In a swift motion before his fingers were even a centimeter deep, he quickly curled his hand inwards and used the might of his knuckles to grind the flesh. Then he immediately closed his hand into a fist and channeled the remaining air to do a combination of what the Crimson Claw technique does with force of the Resonation punch. The Crimson Claw technique condenses the wind into five separate individual and powerful streams to cut through the weak tissue. But the Resonation punch causes the air to vibrate and blow the innards of a victim outwards. Therefore this technique had five separate streams of wind vibrating and pushing everything in its path outwards. The effect was five separate explosions from within the griffin¡¯s claw simultaneously, blowing to pieces the talon that trapped him. Although this technique seemed to take a long time, it happened very fast, and the griffin had no time to react. With its front leg missing a talon to support it, the creature collapsed on the ground as a cripple. Azon had used a lot of mental power in the concentration of that technique and the backlash from it was immense as well. A head splitting headache ensued and blood trickled out from his nose. The griffin was in a weakened state now though, and Azon knew he had to finish it off. So gathering his remaining strength, he unsheathed the sword on his side and used the combination of a speed technique to supply ample force, and a limb strengthening technique to stiffen the resolve of the blade. In a clean stab, he pierced through the skull of the monster and finished it off. Then he slumped down on the ground and lay there exhausted against the corpse of the beast. Although the beast was now dead, the men were scattered and the magician was nowhere to be found. It would take at a considerable amount of time to find and regroup the men, if they were still alive, and not already food for other wild beasts. In the back of Azon¡¯s mind, he knew the wish to return before Ornias turned seven was shattered. Sure enough, it took a full three weeks to find Greystorm, Vanrus, and ten other remaining men, get them back together, and arrive at Fengles Grove. Once they did arrive however, all three men gathered inside the room with Ornias and began to make preparations for the healing ritual. They did this by placing highly concentrated elemental essence fragments around his comatose body. Greystorm had to not only heal what was damaged, but he had to know the extent of the damage to do so. The only method to do this was to delve into the mind of Ornias with a mental connection between him and Greystorm. In order to form a mental connection to Ornias, Greystorm had to impart a fragment of his mind into the healing process. So he combined his mental consciousness with the healing formation, and a form of energy with a blend the two was created. The energy swirled around the room and formed into a cloud. This cloud was a light bluish color and was semi-transparent. Concentrating on the energy cloud, Greystorm willed it to condense and flow into the head of Ornias. Now that the guided healing process was under way, Greystorm could take a look at the condition of the mind he was working on. This was not easy, and sweat dripped off his brow, as he said, ¡°His mind is in utter disarray, I¡¯m surprised he is still alive.¡± Fear clutched Azon, a tight knotted sensation occurred in his stomach. This was because news of the worst possible situation was what he almost expected to hear next, the failure of his son¡¯s trial. Yet, surprise suddenly appeared on Greystorm¡¯s face, and he said, ¡°What¡¯s this? Your son has actually reached the second rank of a warrior. The damage to his mind appears only related to the third rank, because he can no longer communicate with the muscles in his body.¡± Azon remained hopeful with this news, and asked, ¡°You can still help him right?¡± A pained expression appeared on Greystorm¡¯s face, as if he was contemplating a difficult matter, but he reluctantly said, ¡°¡­I can¡­ but the third trial¡­¡± Clenching his hands till they turned white, Azon asked anxiously, ¡°What is it?¡± A grim glance almost said it all, but Greystorm informed Azon anyway, ¡°His mind will no longer be able to function properly when controlling his muscles. At most he will be able to speak and maybe twitch some muscles, but full control will never be possible again.¡± Out of all the trials of a warrior for a typical practitioner, the worst one to fail was the third rank. This was because failure to move your muscles could inhibit you for the rest of your life. All the other trials were easier to get away with since a man can still live and function without his senses, or proper control of the skin. ¡°Is there anything that can be done?¡± Azon asked in desperation. A sigh escaped Greystorm¡¯s lips, and he said, ¡°There is one way, but this method will eventually eat away the remaining fragments of his mind and I cannot recommend it.¡± Azon was speechless, and could not imagine a life where that would be the case. Without the mental capacity to function, not only could you no longer cultivate, eventually you will become an invalid. No person would dare wish upon another person that life. A life without emotion, without thought, a meaningless life, forever disabled. Grabbing a burlap sack on his side, Greystorm handed Azon the sack, and said, ¡°In here is the parasitic Faomyalos* (*see note*) pills. These reopen all mental processes for a month at time. I can¡¯t say how long it will take for them to fully eat away at his mind, but with this he can live a normal life, for a time.¡± As he held them in his hand, Azon shook his head and tried to hand it back while saying, ¡°I don¡¯t think I can give these to him. Taking this is like throwing your life away.¡± A pitiable glance at Ornias, resolved Greystorm, and he said, ¡°His life is already rather sad, let him decide what he wants to do. Keep those till then, since there is enough for him to live a full twenty years worry free.¡± After saying those words the magician stood up and shook Azon¡¯s hand, before saying, ¡°Well I have done all I can do here. The rest of the healing process is up to that boy. So I will take my leave now.¡± A deep gratitude welled within Azon, and he said, ¡°Thank you for all you have done, Greystorm. Should you ever need my help, I will come, no questions asked.¡± With short goodbyes, the mage left and journeyed back with the remaining escort that they arrived with. After he left Azon, Vanrus, and Cecilia huddled around Ornias, hoping he would come back to them. Hours passed by and there was still no change in response. Azon and Vanrus were hopefully at first but as night crept around they fell asleep sitting in their chairs. Yet Cecilia attempted to stay awake and see if it was all just a false hope. Holding his hand, she whispered in his ear, ¡°Everything will be okay, just come back to us. Please come back to us¡­¡± Many hours had passed since the magician had casted the spell of mind recovery, but Ornias still seemed unresponsive. As all hope faded, Cecilia couldn¡¯t bear it anymore and broke down into tears. In this manner she ended up crying herself asleep on his chest. As the ritual had taken place, Ornias remained in his comatose state but his mind started to stir. Deep within the locked away cavities of his mind, the events that he saw from that ghostly figure¡¯s past had finally ended. The former patchy images started to shape back the room with his actual parents, and he regained the body of a baby. The bright white light from the figure remained wrapped around Ornias, and was almost completely melded with his body. Of course, many things were told to Ornias by that ghostly apparition during the flashback, but the most important things were told at the flashback¡¯s conclusion. The soul fragment of this ancient power was what the humans called as a divine artifact, and in fact, all divine artifacts were truly remnants of deceased souls. This information was not known to except maybe a few, so Ornias was told to keep this to himself. After telling Ornias this important matter, the ghostly figure felt the melding process was reaching its conclusion and desired to speak its last words before it no longer could. The voice of bright apparition entered his mind for the last time, and said, ¡°If you ever reach the ninth rank, and reach enlightenment with your mind, access to these childhood memories will be possible. Until then I can only hope you use my strength wisely and find my other soul fragments.¡± The light around him started to dim and the white figure eventually became absorbed into Ornias and with it the light disappeared. As the light disappeared, his real mother was holding him in her arms. Shock and surprise filled everyone¡¯s face in the room because the light seemed to have disappeared suddenly. The light had been there for hours, but now it had disappeared just like that. Less than twenty minutes passed after the light dissipated, before a loud banging sound was heard as the door to the hut flung open. It was difficult for Ornias to see, but it looked like ten bandits from the familiar Crimson Claw encampment had stormed inside where his real mother and father lived. This caused Ornias to feel startled and he could hear his father yell something in anger that he didn¡¯t understand. A large man with a scruffy beard pushed through the other bandits and yelled something back. This man was unfamiliar to Ornias but he tried to recognize his face. After getting a good look at the man and a couple other bandits, his mother turned and his view of the bandits became replaced by the view of the ground. Fighting and clanging noises sounded and only five minutes passed before all the sounds stopped. Shortly afterwards, the scenery of the ground blurred in patchy images as movement was happening and the world around him quickly became filled with greens, yellows and browns on the ground. More noises where heard and yelling and screaming sounded. A sudden wet tear drop fell on Ornias, which startled him. Not to long after a rough jerking sensation was felt and he was pulled out of his mother¡¯s embrace. The image he saw as he was pulled away, appalled him, and caused his stomach to feel sick. There were three bodies that lay on the ground with blood pooling around them. These bodies were that of his older brother, his sister, and lastly his father who appeared to be a headless corpse. A heart wrenching sadness pulled at him, until he noticed the big burly man from earlier hovering over his father¡¯s corpse. A sudden deep hatred burned in Ornias as wanted to kill this man. Eventually the movements of the surrounding slowed as he ended up in someone else¡¯s arms. Looking at who held him, a shock that could not be described suddenly struck him. He stared at Azon, the man he had always known to be as his father. A form of pure hatred was instantly seeded into his very bones for Azon. His parents had died, because of him. Yet just as he landed in Azon¡¯s grasp, the already blurry images became even fuzzier and the world turned black. His mind began to sense the reality around him as his actual body slowly stirred. With his eyes closed, the sounds of three separate heartbeats could now be heard. Other functions also began to reawaken and the strong scent of lavender suddenly wafted in his nostrils. As he awoke, his eyes had to re-adjust to the dark room. The secondary eyelid that formed during his sense trial remained closed while his primary eyelid was open. The view he experienced was blocked by a thin skin like layer that still covered the eyeball giving a veiny red tint to his vision. The vision he saw was shielded but he could just barely make out three figures beside him. Then just as the eyes became accustomed to the room, the second thin layer opened horizontally on its own, and revealed just who was around him. He found Cecilia sitting in a chair with her head lying on his chest as she slept. The brown hair on her head was sprawled everywhere across him, and his shirt was slightly wet. He now knew the smell of lavender was coming from her. Sitting in chairs further away from the bedside, he spotted Azon silently sleeping and the man he referred to as uncle from his childhood. Vanrus wore even more extravagant clothing than he could remember and he mainly recognized him by his long blonde hair. But not too long after Ornias started glancing around, Azon stirred awake and spotted Ornias with his eyes open. Excitement filled him, and shaking Vanrus next to him, he said, ¡°He¡¯s awake¡­ He is awake! I can¡¯t believe it worked.¡± Vanrus woke up slightly alert but quickly calmed down and realized what was going on. A smile spread on his face and he appeared happy in a most auspicious way. Jumping up, and rushing over to Ornias, Azon asked quickly, ¡°How are you feeling, can you move around?¡± ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I be able to?¡± Ornias thought, but sure enough as he wanted to sit up, he couldn¡¯t. Even his hand or feet didn¡¯t seem to respond to his commands. Trembling in fear, his mouth quivered as he said, ¡°I can¡¯t move¡­ I can¡¯t move my body! My muscles won¡¯t respond.¡± As the suspicion was confirmed, Azon said truthfully, ¡°I was afraid this would happen.¡± Pity entered his gaze and sighing, he said, ¡°You failed your trial, or at least, as far as I am aware, your third trial. But it seems you passed your trial of the skin, and the trial of the senses.¡± Dazed, Ornias had a heavy feeling sink into the pity of his gut. What Azon meant was that he had failed his third trial, the trial of the muscles, and his mind was now cut off from fully utilizing them. As the words truly sunk in, he slowly verbalized, ¡°¡­so¡­I am a¡­ cripple¡­¡± A venomous anger swelled from deep within, and yelling, Ornias said, ¡°Because I failed, I can¡¯t move my limbs and my mind severed the connection to most of my vital muscle ligaments? Is that correct?¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Azon¡¯s mouth opened, but no words came out, because he truly didn¡¯t know if it was possible to recover full muscle control after a failed third trial. Shame and regret filled his mind, and he could only think back on the magicians words. Because of the sudden yelling, Cecilia woke up and recognized a familiar voice that she hadn¡¯t heard for a long time. She raised her head off her son¡¯s chest and saw that he was awake and quickly embraced him. Although Ornias desired to embrace his mother in return, his limbs would not respond. Despair surged through him, and he started to cry. How could he have known the consequences for his greedy action that day? Pursing his lips, Azon stepped forward and then said, ¡°Ornias, there is a way for you to be able to move your muscles again.¡± Impatience entered his voice as Ornias said, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say so? Go ahead, tell me how I can.¡± As if battling a terrible evil in his head, Azon spoke carefully, ¡°There is a pill supplement left with me that can act as a mediator between your mind and muscles. This can allow you most of your previous movement capabilities.¡± A sense of foreboding peaked in Ornias as he said, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you mention this before?¡± Letting out a sigh, Azon scratched his head and said, ¡°There is a terrible price¡­ It eats your mental power in exchange.¡± ¡°I have already lost my capabilities for cultivation as a warrior. I have no need for a powerful mind if I can¡¯t even have a body to use it. Just give me the pill!¡± Ornias yelled in a distraught anger. With a bleak nod, Azon said, ¡°Very well.¡± He grabbed one of the Faomyalos pills Greystorm gave him, and walked over. Then waited for Ornias to open his mouth and dropped it in. The pill was quite miraculous and a slow tingling sensation could be felt all over the body of Ornias. The mind was now able to properly communicate with his muscles which caused a strange sensation throughout his body. It didn¡¯t feel like it was his body anymore but when he ordered it to move it did. He raised his body up with effort because his body had not moving for two years and everyone couldn¡¯t help but feel troubled by it. In fact, the muscles and fat on his flesh had deteriorated but otherwise he looked just fine. After he sat up, Cecilia grasped his hand and a tear dribbled down her cheek. While recalling the painful last two years, she said, ¡°It¡¯s been so long¡­ so long¡­¡± She squeezed his hand and reminiscing in the memories said, ¡°I tried reading to you every night, but you wouldn¡¯t respond.¡± A feeble comforting smile spread on his face in an attempt to say everything is okay now. But just as he was about to say words to Cecilia, Azon stepped forward and proceeded to check over his condition. This caused Ornias to get slightly angry, and he said, ¡°I¡¯m fine, you don¡¯t need to look me over.¡± Vanrus walked near the bedside and said, ¡°I think it would be in your best interest to have Azon look your body over. He could evaluate your condition better than most.¡± With that, Azon nodded his head at Vanrus in thanks, and looked back at Ornias and said, ¡°Indeed, I am the highest ranked warrior around, so I would know more about the physical condition of your body if I could look you over.¡± An anger that was gurgling in the pit of his stomach could no longer be suppressed and Ornias unleashed it rather suddenly. ¡°Everyone out, I just want to be with my mother right now!¡± Both Azon and Vanrus were shocked by the sudden outburst but silently retreated. They knew that he had just experienced a traumatic experience so it was best if they did leave for now. They glanced back at Ornias one last time and then left the room. Calming down, Ornias blinked and both pairs of eyelids flashed closed, which gave off a creepy feeling. This unique facial feature slightly frightened Cecilia, and she couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°Ornias¡­ your eyes¡­¡± Cocking his head off to one side, he responded by saying, ¡°Huh?¡± She placed her hand over her mouth and said with a frightened tone, ¡°You have two pairs of eyelids, the normal vertical eyelid, and one that closes horizontally underneath it.¡± Confusion appeared on his face, and touching next to his eyes, he felt slight bulges on the sides of where the second eyelid curls in the corners. He was surprised but recalled that when he first woke up something was strange about his eye sight. In order to calm his frightened mother, he said, ¡°It seems I woke up with this extra eyelid. It must be from the trial of the senses.¡± She nodded her head and glanced away slightly at the mention of the trials. In an attempt to change the topic, Ornias recalled the images from his dream and decided to inquire about them. It was an uneasy topic to discuss but he steeled himself and asked the first question that he always wanted answered. Nervousness poured through him, but he still asked, ¡°Mother, I always wondered where I was born, can you tell me?¡± The discomfort lifted from atmosphere around Cecilia as she replied, ¡°Silly, here in the Forest of Fengle¡¯s Mourning, of course.¡± Sighing he said, ¡°Here¡­ huh¡­¡± Uneasiness was apparent in his voice, and then spelling out his fears, he asked, ¡°Mother, tell me¡­ Is Azon truly my father?¡± A twinge of despair struck her stomach, and shakily she replied, ¡°That¡­¡± He stared fiercely at her, and said, ¡°Are you even my mother?¡± As he said those terrible words it felt like her heart was ripped out and tears streamed down her face. This particular course of events was not her fault but the anger burning within him was being misdirected towards her. The blame did not lay with her, since the circumstances that lead Cecilia to even liking Azon was known as Stockholm syndrome. It¡¯s a situation where the victim of capture develops empathetic feelings towards their captor. When she was first enslaved, she was beaten and raped, but once she landed in Azon¡¯s hands the abuse stopped. After the abuse stopped, mistaken feelings of gratitude where felt for him and this eventually happened for Rana as well. The images of past events that flashed through Ornias had let him see the situation for what it really was, but Cecilia had been brainwashed through the emotional trauma. As her fantasy world of mother and father had been shattered, she gasped with stifled hiccups, and tears ran down her cheeks. She squeezed out the words, ¡°¡­Ornias¡­I¡­¡± but they were interrupted with gasping hiccup noises between both words. The next words that came out her mouth were painful to both of them as she said, ¡°I¡¯m not your mother¡­but I still love you¡­¡± A sharp pain reverberated in his stomach as he realized everything that he saw during the coma was actually true events of the past. He clenched his fist and gritted his teeth in anger, but he knew he was powerless to do anything. His desire for justice was strong but the reality of the situation was not in his favor. The feelings he had for Cecilia were unchanged however, because he would forever regard her as the mother who raised him. Griping her hand with his right hand and patting it with left, he said, ¡°Thank you for telling me the truth. I will forever consider you as my mother that raised me in my heart. I am weary right now so if you could let me rest, I would appreciate it.¡± That night he slept alone and tried to see what the collateral damage was for his failed trial. Gathering in a deep breath of air he began his breathing technique to start meditation. He quickly discovered that he was a second rank warrior that was mostly incapable of using his muscles except through limited uses through the pill he was taking. Nothing more could be gained from looking at his physical condition so he decided to peer into his magical side. Maybe there he could further his cultivation and bring meaning to his life once again. Therefore entering the magical room like he did before, he found it was pitch black. A burning rage filled him, because not a single element seemed to even enter his space at all. This was beyond disheartening for him. Why this was the case was because the divine artifact he had melded with at birth was the only reason he sensed magical energy at all. The soul fragment of the person was most likely a powerful mage and now that he devoured it, the magic capabilities were gone. The divine artifact had all of its energy used up during his overzealous desire for knowledge, however it did allow him to pass his first two trials successfully. The third trial was interrupted so it wasn¡¯t used enough to allow him to go through his third trial, ending him up in his current predicament. Distraught Ornias decided to go to bed and focus on things day by day. The following mourning as Ornias attempted to get up, he was stopped, as a knock on his door sounded. The door swung open before Ornias could say to enter and Vanrus stood at the door frame. He walked over to the bedside and knelt down on one knee. ¡°Ornias, I want to forewarn you, your father is going to leave tomorrow to wage war against Tolboud. I just finished discussing this with him and wanted to let you know personally before he mentions it.¡± The sudden discussion of these events came as a shock and Ornias felt dazed as he said, ¡°War¡­ huh¡­¡± An evil grin appeared on Vanrus, but with his head down Ornias couldn¡¯t see it. This was all part of his plans and he only needed one more piece in place. After this all his troubles would be solved. Speaking with a solemn sincerity, he said, ¡°Yes¡­ war. I know that you are not in the best condition right now but you are at least of the second rank, therefore I think you should maybe consider being by your father¡¯s side during this war so you can support and learn from him.¡± The brows furrowed on Ornias, as he said, ¡°Me support my father?¡± Lifting his head and peering with a powerful gaze, Vanrus said with conviction, ¡°You may not be aware but he actually went through a great deal in order for you to be healed. He cares deeply for you and I think that you should be by his side during the war to show your own way of gratitude for his sacrifice.¡± A gentle anger surged through Ornias at the mention of sacrifice, and he replied, ¡°I appreciate you for telling me all of this, but it¡¯s my decision and I would like to think it over.¡± With a quick motion, Vanrus stood back up bowed and said, ¡°Of course, I just thought I would be the messenger. I hope you would consider my suggestion.¡± He then left the room and closed the door behind him. It mattered not if Ornias truly accompanied Azon but it would make things easier for Vanrus if that was the case. So Vanrus attempted that route with a gentle nudge. After the visit from Vanrus, Ornias got dress properly and headed outside but stopped on the porch as he noticed a commotion going on out there. There were ten men that stood outside the house and there was one Ornias actually recognized. This man¡¯s face was from those saddening images he saw during his coma. Sudden anger surged through him, but he pushed it down. What could he do after all, he was essentially a cripple. Frustrated he stepped back inside and waited till when dinner came. The men left and Azon who was speaking with his captains returned inside to eat with them. As they ate Azon broke the awkward silence, and said quietly, ¡°I have to leave tomorrow on another mission for the empire. This one is vital, because there is an inevitable war on the horizon and I will be taking with me most of the encampment this time.¡± ¡°What??!!¡± Cecilia screamed and slammed her hand down on the table. Sighing, Azon attempted to reply calm and level headed, ¡°We have to strike the Tolboud forces within this region. This will secure the path for the Azarasi Kingdom to swoop in and take Domington. Our war will begin in this single move and our former peaceful lives will no longer be the same.¡± Screaming like a banshee, Cecilia wailed, ¡°Does the Azarasi kingdom think they need to rule the world? I don¡¯t want you to do this!¡± Azon shook his head disheartened, and said, ¡°I have no say in the matter. The Tolboud forces over the past seven years have become increasingly aggressive within this region and if they ever discover Fengle¡¯s Grove, they will not hesitate to kill us all.¡± Getting overworked into the matter, he said, ¡°This is just a pre-emptive strike. But I don¡¯t think this war will end until the Azarasi Kingdom succeeds in taking control over the entire continent.¡± A grim smile appeared on his face, and he said, ¡°And they consider my battle strategies pivotal in this war so I have to go.¡± Standing up, and yelling, she said, ¡°Well excuse me for not wanting to see us in an early grave.¡± Turning around, she stormed out of the dining room area, leaving an awkward silence between Ornias and Azon. Ornias realized now was not a good time to be around, so excused himself as well and left to go to his room. After that argument, he paced in his room as he struggled over what he was going to do with his life from now on. He could live a mostly normal life with the aid of those special pills, but he did not want a normal life. ¡°I don¡¯t know what to do anymore¡­ ¡± He said, as he sighed. The images he saw during his coma suddenly came to mind and clenching his fist he stopped his pacing. There is something that does need to be done. Reaffirming himself, he said, ¡°No, I do know what to do¡­¡± The next day in the morning before Azon was to assemble the troops and leave, Ornias rushed out the door and found Azon performing morning training exercises. Ornias greeted him and quickly demanded an odd request. ¡°Azon, I want to go with you on this mission.¡± (*NOTE* Pronounced: Fow- my-a-los) Chapter 10 The Defiant One Chapter 10 The Defiant One The first word out of Azon¡¯s mouth was, ¡°No.¡± Shaking his head, he said, ¡°Absolutely not. You just woke up after a two year coma, and on top of that, I don¡¯t think your muscles, inhibited as they are, will allow you to protect yourself.¡± In an absolute dreaded desperation, Ornias spouted fiercely, ¡°But I can provide assistance in other ways, I have read strategy books and understand important strategies that can be employed.¡± He produced a deep inhale before continuing, ¡°Also I may yet still find a way to protect myself, we cannot just decide on my limitations because of my muscles.¡± It was then that Azon realized Ornias had truly resolved himself for this, and resigning to his conviction, he said, ¡°Okay¡­ okay¡­ I see your point. How about this, you can come, but you must stay exactly by my side at all times.¡± Ornias had a glimmer of hope spring through his eyes, but Azon continued the good news by saying, ¡°In addition, I will let you be on your own, if you can prove to me that you can take care of yourself.¡± A resounding joy filled him, and he said with confidence, ¡°I will undoubtedly show you my capabilities.¡± ¡°This boy doesn¡¯t let the hard times hit him¡±, Azon thought, and replied to the determined boy by saying, ¡°Good, now we will be leaving in four hours, so gather what you need to bring, and don¡¯t forget to tell Cecilia...¡± Turning around Ornias clenched his fist and bit down on his lip, as he headed back inside the house. His thoughts were muddled over how he could pull off what he wanted to do. It¡¯s because he wanted that big burly man who killed his actual father to die, and he was going to see to that. The task would not be easy however, because he was going to be monitored by Azon at all times unless he could prove himself. So he had to find a way to utilize some cultivation techniques and prove to Azon his independency. Placing these thoughts out of his mind for now, he gathered up what items he thought would be useful and left his room. Then came the hard part, he had to tell Cecilia that he was leaving with Azon. So returning out of his room, he moved into the living room area. In the living room, he found Cecilia, reading a book. Slightly biting on his lower lip, Ornias struggled over how to tell her, and had to basically force himself to speak with her about his departure. With fists clenched he strode in the in front of Cecilia, and waited till she placed down her book and gave him her full attention. A stiff hoarse voice resounded out of his mouth, as he said, "Mother, I decided I am leaving with Azon as well." However the words out her mouth was different than what was expected, as she said, ¡°Before that, Ornias, darling¡­ I didn¡¯t tell you when you woke up because it wasn¡¯t a good time¡­ but I¡¯m pregnant.¡± The sudden unexpected news caused him to scream, ¡°What??!!¡± A pained expression appeared on her face, as she said, ¡°You see, I found it out before Azon returned with the mage who cured you. I was late in my cycle and I knew immediately that I was with child.¡± ¡°Does Azon know?¡± Ornias questioned. With a slight nod, she said, ¡°He knows.¡± Complicated emotions swirled inside Ornias as he tried to decide what to do now. After all, he couldn¡¯t just leave his mother who raised him whole life in this situation. The revenge would have to wait and he had to re-evaluate what to do about Azon. The big burly man was not solely responsible for his family¡¯s extermination, because it was by Azon¡¯s orders. Yet with the revelation of Cecilia¡¯s pregnancy, he just couldn¡¯t see himself kill that child¡¯s real father, like his father was killed. Reading the atmosphere, Cecilia was very wise and said, ¡°Ornias¡­ I want you to go with your father. Support him, and make sure he comes back alive to his child.¡± Biting his lip, Ornias felt speechless, and had too much to process. However, he was truly grateful for Cecilia being supportive and understanding to let him leave with Azon, even if it was for different reasons. A tight embrace was expressed between mother and son, and tears welled in Cecilia¡¯s eyes, as she said, ¡°Stay safe, and rely on your father¡¯s strength if anything becomes dangerous.¡± A meek grin appeared on Ornias as he nodded, and he glanced one last time at her and that at her stomach before turning to leave. His belonging were placed in the hallway before entering the living room, so he just scooped them up and left with no further exchanges between mother and son. As he arrived back outside, he spotted Azon holding the reigns on two horses by his favorite tree that he always sat under. Those horse were two fine large breeds that were bred for stamina and not speed. Noticing the approach of his son, a slight smirk appeared as he asked, ¡°You tell your mother?¡± Ornias glanced at him and nodded, and strode over to the horse that Azon held the reigns to, and in a swift motion, he leaped on top of it. Following suit, Azon leaped onto the other horse and directed it towards the encampment of the Crimson Claw Bandits. Although Ornias got on the horse casually, he had actually only rode horse a couple times in his life, and Azon had to hold the reigns of his horse, while they moved toward the encampment. As they rode towards the encampment, a half evil grin spread on Azon¡¯s face. His ploy to not get involved in that argument, payed off. He was glad he made Ornias do it, since he already had plenty of earfuls from Cecilia as of late. ¡°It must be her emotional levels due to her impregnation.¡± He thought to himself, but he knew nothing about women and their emotions to begin with. They had sexual intercourse before he left to Caelestis and getting Greystorm. Yet it came as a shock to Azon, when he discovered his woman was giving off an unusual aura. It was then that he discovered she was pregnant and asked her about it. This news was delivered at a bad time and he couldn¡¯t do anything about his role in this upcoming war. The only thing he could do was make it a quick and easy war, but time would tell. Both men had different thoughts as they rode into the camp, one on revenge and one on responsibilities. But both men were troubled over the recent news of Cecilia¡¯s pregnancy. These were thoughts that most assuredly would trouble them during the entirety of this war against Tolboud. As these motions towards war were coming into play, at this same moment in time, a dark shadow on the ground sailed through a heavily forested mountain side. It moved with a terrifying speed and weaved out of the way of obstacles before heading into a lit cave on the mountainside. This shadow approached a fire that blazed strong, then slowly emerged from the shadows and took the form of the strange man that Vanrus had given that letter to earlier. Inside this cave there was another man who appeared unwell and was sitting cross legged near the fire in meditation. An uncomfortable frown was on the man''s face and an oppressive pressure was emanating from him. The strange man who emerged from the shadows approached the man near the fire and knelt down onto one knee in his presence. It was obvious who the master was and who was the servant between the two men. Without moving or opening his eyes, the sickly looking man by the fire said, "Kaframa, what is the reason you intruded my meditation? I¡¯m in a rather foul mood of late and I don¡¯t wish to be bothered." Lowering his head and speaking formally, the man known as Kaframa replied, ¡°My lord, Teronus, I have a letter addressed to you personally from the son of Chalmon.¡± An eyebrow rose on the face of Teronus but his eyes remain closed as he said, ¡°That Fortis clan¡¯s boy addresses me personally?¡± Snickering with a distasteful resentment, Kaframa said, ¡°He seemed desperate that he would send a letter to his clan¡¯s arch-nemesis.¡± Kaframa pulled the letter out of his satchel kept his head lowered and motioned the letter towards Teronus. Yet Teronus didn¡¯t even move from his spot and instead the letter itself began to darken till it was pitch black and then dissolved, seemingly disappearing into thin air. The letter then re-materialized within the hands of Teronus. After holding the letter in his withered hands, he finally opened his old eyes as he skimmed through the contents. After finishing the letter, a smile wove across his face, and he seemed pleased. A burst of laughter escaped his mouth, as he said, ¡°Kaframa, you brought me some unexpectedly good news. To think I was troubled over this very matter, now it will be resolved finally.¡± Confusion was apparent on Kaframa, as he said, ¡°My lord?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ sorry, the contents¡± Teronus apologized, and then said, ¡°Chalmon¡¯s, poor excuse for a son, has done us a favor. He has set up a detailed plan to eliminate my biggest headache, but he asks for our help in the matter.¡± Trying to appear helpful, Kaframa asked, ¡°What is this help that he requires, my lord?¡± A smug grin appeared on Teronus, as he muttered, ¡°Brilliant¡­ absolutely brilliant¡­.¡± Then actually looking down on his disciple for once, he said, ¡°Kaframa, First you must know the reason he specifically gave me the letter.¡± A deep breath of air filled his lungs as he started to long windily explain, ¡°You see it is because not only do I bear a grudge against Azon for killing my Original Disciple, there is another reason.¡± He pointed to himself as he said, ¡°This other reason is because I am a member of the Church of Ascension. He wants me to use my influence with other members to get rid of this pest, that neither of us can touch, and I know just the man to let in on this information.¡± Ignorant over the matters revolving this situation, Kaframa said, ¡°My lord, I beg you to forgive my impudence, but why cannot you personally get rid of this Azon? Also, as I see it, Vanrus seems to gain greatly from this endeavor while you, my lord, only gets a justice well deserved.¡± Teronus gave him a sharp glance, before nodding his head and saying, ¡°It¡¯s true. I¡¯m sure he is only trying to serve his own self-interests, but this is a rare chance to kill Azon.¡± A frustrated grunt came from Teronus as he stated, ¡°As for the reason I cannot kill him personally, it¡¯s because our great ancestor of the five clans would know. He decreed back then, that although he would allow Azon¡¯s exile, he would not stand for his death. It¡¯s because he stated that any man who sought Azon¡¯s life within our five clan¡¯s, would die, regardless of who it was, and even if are members of the church.¡± Appalled Kaframa, spouted out, ¡°My lord, how can he dare be so overbearing towards members the church? The words he speaks is blasphemous and punishable by death. Lesser men have had their entire clan¡¯s extinguished for defying the church''s heralds and Laws, how could he state something such as that?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ Kaframa¡­ you¡¯re pushing a topic that I cannot discuss with just anyone¡­.¡± Teronus replied, and in an attempt to divert the subject, he said, ¡°Enough of that, let¡¯s go pay a visit to my good friend, Novaron in Domington, and see how his genius magician for a disciple is doing.¡± After speaking those words, Teronus took a minute to put out the fire himself, then melded with the shadows around him, and left the cave. Kaframa dutifully followed his leadership, and also became one with the shadows, and flew out of the cave. While Teronus and Kaframa flew at great speed towards Domington, Azon and Ornias had settled themselves inside the main encampment area of Fengle¡¯s Grove. There was three more hours before they would depart and Ornias needed to hurriedly discover a way to separate from Azon. The problem was that with the third trial ending in failure, most of his pivotal fighting capabilities became useless. The muscles were where the strength and power of every attack came from. Thinking hard he pondered, ¡°How can I show my strength, if it¡¯s because of the pills I am taking, that I can even use my muscles to perform basic functions?¡± Suddenly a radical idea sprang forth inside his head. The very notion of it was heretical and went against the very creed of the Laws. The Laws of a Warrior and the Laws of Cultivation, both state that a failed trial will cut you off from those connections. However, if he could use the pill to communicate with his muscles then how come he personally couldn¡¯t? He wondered. It didn¡¯t make sense to him. Therefore what he decided to do was strain his mind to the deepest depths it could reach, and grasp his muscles once again, by utilizing the connection the pill made. Entering into a senseless Zen-like state Ornias patterned his breathing and delved deep into the recesses of his mind like he had never done before. ¡°It must be possible¡±, he spoke out loud, and thought to himself, ¡°How else could this pill do it?¡± He knew that on the surface of the mind, was where one would create, the realm of a warrior and the realm a mage. From there the individual would then make each realm have their own distinct ways to cultivate the individual''s power. The warrior realm always had something like the nine doors to represent the warrior rankings and only from there it was possible to further develop ones fighting prowess, by delving into the secrets behind each door for that corresponding rank. The mage realm differed greatly because it was created for the purpose of speaking with the elemental essences. They would gather the elements together in a room and unlock their true powers of understanding collectively. For instance, if attainment in one element reached the third rank and an individual trained in two elements, the other element would communicate with the element that reached the third rank and it would also open up its secrets of the third rank. What Ornias sought however, was access to his muscles again. So he entered into the realm of a warrior and was placed once more in front of those nine doors. Starting from the far right he passed by the first two rooms which had dim lights shine from within. The lights would have been brighter but his cultivation capabilities were affected due to the failed trial. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Then after passing the first two doors he stopped and a bleak grimace appeared on his face as he stood in front the third door. The door to the third rank was open but the room beyond was dark. There was but a single ray of hope however, because a visible yellow string of light entered the door and seemed to extend deep into the room. The aura inside the room was foreboding and with a single strand of light piercing inside, it didn¡¯t brighten the insides of the room at all. As he stood outside he noticed that the string of light was inconsistent at times, and the light would disappear, before returning moments later. Any sane person wouldn¡¯t be willing to venture in that room after noticing that or else they would feel like they would lose themselves forever and never return. Ornias almost lost heart himself, but he thought, ¡°What is there to lose anymore? My real family is already dead, and I lost all martial capabilities to do anything about it.¡± The final resolve pushed him into a state of madness as he entered the door and followed the thin string of light. Walking deep into the room, it felt as though many hours had passed, and the entrance to the room became no longer visible. The light strand was the pill accessing the far recesses of his mind. Yet it was a strange thing because the strand of light would disappear at times leaving Ornias to just stand there till it reappeared. If he would venture on his own he knew that he would get lost for sure, so he had to play it safe and remain still until it reappeared. The further he continued the thicker the feeling of despair and foreboding felt pressured down on him. Finally the sentiments of sanity started to leave him, and he felt like he was losing grip of reality. He caught himself almost walking away from the strand of light suddenly, as if he did not have control of his own body anymore. The directions he ventured towards started to become skewed and forwards became backwards and left became right. When the strand of light bent to the right he would have to move his body backwards and to the left in order to continue. This loss of direction was frustrating and took a lot of concentration on his part. Then just as he started to get a hang of the change the directions, it began to alternate in random ways. At one moment going forward meant moving left, then it meant going right. This struggle to stay sane and keep moving in the correct direction became even more taxing on him. Yet his resolve was strong and he persisted to push forwards along the path the string of light shined. This time as the strand of light disappeared, it was gone for a considerable amount of time. When it reappeared instead of being where it was before, the strand of light appeared three meters to his left. The sudden change of where the strand of light appeared caught Ornias off guard and he forgot which direction to walk and began to distance himself further away from the strand of light instead. Panicking he stopped himself and attempted to correct himself and started to walk towards the strand of light, when it disappeared yet again. The speed it disappeared before was not this quick and it frightened him, because he might truly become lost in this vast nothingness. When the strand of yellow light appeared again it was ten meters to his left now. The distance away from him increased even further than before. This cause Ornias to become terrified and he began to run toward the strand of light, but the directions changed again. Instead of running to the strand of light he ran backwards and slightly to his right. An anger filled his gut, and he couldn¡¯t help but stop and try to get his bearing again. Just as he figured out the new directions and began running to the strand of light, it disappeared again. ¡°Why?¡± he screamed, ¡°Am I forever doomed to never obtain the connection with my muscles ever again?¡± The strand of yellow light appeared twenty meters to his right this time and Ornias felt powerless. Even if he ran over to the strand of light after knowing which directions to go, didn¡¯t mean he would make it there before it disappeared again. Sure enough the strand of light once again disappeared. Yet, when it did reappear, it reappeared over forty meters away to his right. A helplessness filled Ornias and he did not know what to do. If he chased after the strand of light he would be forever chasing after its shadow, and not after the goal at the end of the strand of light, his muscles. A sudden insight sparked inside him and began to run straight ahead instead of towards the strand of light. The strand of light continued to disappear and reappear but Ornias paid it no mind anymore. Instead he continued to run straight ahead and kept his eye on whether or not the strand of light turned or continued straight ahead. He may not be near the light but he was following its projected path. ¡°That would be good enough.¡± He thought. After all he was only after where the strand of light was heading. In this manner another passage of time zipped away and once again the difficulty raised up a notch. Clouds of pure pitch black darkness rolled in and blocked most of the vision of the strand of light. It became very difficult to determine where the strand of light was, and when it disappeared sometimes Ornias would continue running forward, even if the light strand started to bend right or left. Once again the distance from the strand of light became increased and he would have to correct himself and attempt to run in the correct direction, whilst knowing where the strand of light was. It was difficult and a lesser man would have already given up and became lost in the mists of darkness to forever be lost within his own mind. Ornias persisted however, and he attempted to maintain all these new variable while attempting to keep an eye where the strand of light was located. The dark clouds suddenly drifted away and the strand of yellow light became quite visible again which made Ornias question why the difficulty suddenly decreased. Yet as he trekked onwards, the darkness of the room he was in became increasingly brighter. Before knowing it the room turned into a very bright room and Ornias now understood why the dark clouds were not here. Because the strand of light was no longer visible in this brightness that room displayed. If the clouds were here, they would reveal the location of the strand of light. Anyone else would have been unable to continue any further than this, and would have been lost in this area, but Ornias had something no other human had. As the sheer brightness of the room flashed before his eyes, Ornias had his second vertical eyelid close and it blocked out all the excess light. The yellow strand of light that before was not visible in the bright room, could now be seen giving off a different color of light than the rest of the room. Ornias couldn¡¯t help but let out a loud laugh of excitement. These eyelids truly were beneficial to him. This made everything much easier and he continued to follow that yellow strand of light for quite some time until it lead all the way to a steel door. The strand of light went underneath the door and inside the room beyond. A familiar and lost feeling could be felt on his body as he stared at the door. His connection to his muscles were behind that door, he knew it. The body tingled with anticipation as he reach forward and opened the door. Within the white room that was about twenty four square meters across, there were strands of light that protruded from the ceiling and strung down into a ball in the center of the room that eerily resembled a beating heart. The strands of light glowed yellow and the ball pounded like a heart would while producing colors of yellow and then sometimes blue. The strand of yellow light that had mischievously guided him all the way to this room was connected to just a single strand that formed into the ball of strings. The sight of this surprised Ornias and he inched forward and touched the heart of all the strings of light. A sudden pain erupted throughout his body and he quickly retracted his hand. The muscles that he thought he had lost the connection to, began to reawaken. The feeling was amazing, and after the pain subsided, now when he flexed it no longer felt like it wasn¡¯t some foreign object, but rather his own. With just a glimpse of touching that beating heart, he didn¡¯t know why, but in this room he had just entered, he knew it was a treasure trove of information that was waiting just for him. It was not free information and he knew he had to learn it one by one, but it far exceeded the capabilities a regular trial of the muscles could give. An understanding of things that may have either been forgotten or suppressed by the rest humanity was now in front of him. The trails allowed quick easy access to all capabilities that the muscles could provide for the user, but the user never once learned the truth of the matter, or practiced its fullest of capabilities. Not only does the knowledge about the full capabilities of the muscles lie in this room, there was other hidden information. Information on the possible connections with the elemental essences to combine with your muscles and even pairing the muscles understandings with other parts of the body were also here. A question sprang into his mind over this matter. Because as he saw it no one would want to pass up the true function¡¯s the body can utilize, yet everyone was. The Divine Laws that dictate everything and the Laws of cultivation that were set in place by the church of Ascension seemed to contradict what Ornias had experienced. In fact what he had just done was a form of defiance against those very laws. These same indomitable laws that have ruled humanity since the great war of beast and men, were in fact contradictory to the reality of what Ornias was seeing. As he placed his hand on the heart at the center of the room again, he began to grow to understand them in their entirety, unlike what the Laws the church set in place. After placing his hand on the beating heart, a complete and total understanding to the basic functions and connections the muscles once again started to pound through his mind, making a mental schism suddenly erupt in his mind. A pain that could only be compared to his greed to obtain three trials, began to penetrate the deepest recesses of his mind. It felt as if it was destroying something and loud popping noises could be heard inside his body. After the pain and the noises stopped he laid down in the room panting heavily. A change had occurred within his body. Propping himself up against the walls of the white room, he stood up and tried to find out what was different. With but a thought, he left the room of muscles that he painstakingly attempted to get to before, and reappeared in front of the nine doors again. This time there was dim light coming from the three doors on his right, but something still felt off. He walked past the first three doors and walked in front of the fourth door. In a careful motion he opened that fourth room¡¯s door and sure enough, there was a major difference. The trial of the mind for the fourth rank did not hit him, nor did he gain an instant understanding for all process involved with his nervous system, and pain receptors, like he was supposed to. Instead the room was much like the room he had just entered for the muscles in the far back recesses of his mind. In the center of the room was a beating heart of strands of light and Ornias realized something major. The action he had just done was a defiant form of not submitting to the Laws set by the church of Ascension. The church taught methods on how to cultivate, but what Ornias discovered was that it was better to cultivate using his own power instead. Therefore what he did was heresy, and the Laws he now traversed were his own Laws of Defiance. However setting upon this new path, he knew that his current cultivation capabilities were insufficient and it would take longer to gain new understandings, but at least he could now continue down the path of a warrior in a different manner. Accomplishing what he desired, he reawakened from his meditative state and discovered Azon yelling at him. This shocked him greatly, and he was slightly worried how long he was out for. ¡°Wake up¡­ wake up!!!¡± Azon yelled. With an apologetic face, Ornias opened his eyes, and replied, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m conscious now.¡± Snorting, Azon grunted and let out a ¡°Humph.¡± He realized he may have been out for quite some time due to following that strand of light, and asked, ¡°How long was I out for?¡± A fierce glare bore down on Ornias, as Azon said, ¡°The whole three hours¡­ you¡¯re lucky I came into the tent when I did. Come¡­ grab your stuff we are heading out.¡± After grabbing his belongings, he followed Azon toward the horses. They mounted the horses and quickly met up with a huge force of men that the sheer number surprised Ornias to the core. Roughly a thousand men had been summoned in this valley area at the base of Fengle¡¯s grove encampment. At the head of the large force of men there were ten captains who issued orders to those lesser men. Out of those men, a few familiar faces were among them, and Vanrus was one of them, in addition to that big burly man, Brumar. As Azon and Ornias approached he did well to hide his bloodlust, and remained silent. Vanrus steered his horse and galloped towards them, and stopped in front of them. It was a slight surprise to Ornias when he learned Vanrus was one of Azon¡¯s original ten commanders but he paid it little mind. After he approached them, he said, ¡°Remember I will take a small vanguard force and besiege the city from within and open the gate to the city. The plan is for you to employ your skills to the fullest, till the main Azarasi forces arrive.¡± With a nod, Azon showed his understanding, and said, ¡°I know the plan Vanrus, I just hope things go as smoothly as you say.¡± A smirk appeared on his face, as Vanrus said, ¡°Just keep the main forces of Tolboud¡¯s response army busy long enough for us to fully claim Domington after our main army arrives. I believe you can do at least that.¡± A trouble expression showed on Ornias, because that meant he would most certainly be in dangerous situations. His understanding of his muscles was not completed yet, and he had not achieved the true third rank of a warrior, so this was problematic for him. He couldn¡¯t help but question his own strength, as only a first rank warrior with his slight unpracticed abilities. After all he need time to utilize the true strength of his muscles again. ¡°With the first rank of a warrior or mage as the standard in any military organization, how would I fare against the Tolboud standard?¡± He wondered. Breaking his thoughts, Vanrus said, ¡°I think Brumar, Dolgon, and Cherbin should accompany you in a single squad. And I, of course, will only need to take two other captain with me to besiege Domington from within. The last group of men should be your rear guard and watch the back and only respond during crisis. The assessment Vanrus gave was not a bad one, Azon nodded his head and said, ¡°That¡¯s sounds like a fair plan. Well let¡¯s split up and we will see each other again once this battle concludes.¡± A smug smirk spread on the face of Vanrus and he had his horse approach Azon before clasping his forearm and nodding as a show of respect. The he turned his horse around and a sickening grin of almost ecstasy appeared on his face as his plans were now taking fruition. ¡°Azon would fall in this battle and all the merits would go to me who held the city gates of Domington for our army. I may even be promoted in rank for this.¡± He thought. As he strode away, Ornias stared after his figure and couldn¡¯t help but get stuck on the words previously said by Vanrus. An almost similar grin that Vanrus was currently displaying also appeared on Ornias, as he thought, ¡°Brumar will be in my company.¡±